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OF THE

ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY

OF ENGLAND/

VOLUME THE EIGHTH.

PRACTICE WITH SCIENCE.

SIAITHSONI AAS

APR 17 1987

JSRARES UF
LONDON:
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET.

THESE EXPERIMENTS, IT IS TRUE, ARE NOT EASY: STILL THEY ARE IN THE POWER OF EVERY

THINKING HUSBANDMAN. HE WHO ACCOMPLISHES BUT ONE, OF HOWEVER LIMITED APPLICATION, AND

TAKES CARE TO REPORT IT FAITHFULLY, ADVANCES THE SCIENCE, AND, CONSEQUENTLY, THE PRACTICE
OF AGRICULTURE, AND ACQUIRES THEREBY A RIGHT TO THE GRATITUDE OF HIS FELLOWS, AND OF THOSE
WHO COME AFTER. TO MAKE MANY SUCH IS BEYOND THE POWER OF MOST INDIVIDUALS, AND CANNOT

BE EXPECTED. THE FIRST CARE OF ALL SOCIETIES FORMED FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF OUR SCIENCE
SHOULD BE TO PREPARE THE FORMS OF

AMONG THEIR MEMBERS.

SUCH EXPERIMENTS, AND TO DISTRIBUTE THE EXECUTION OF THESE

Von Tuaer, Principles of Agriculture.

London: Printed by WiinrAm CLowes and Sona, Stamford Street.

CONTENTS OF VOL. VIII.

ARTICLE PAGE
1.—The Management of Bn eeD By; Robert Smith. Prize
Essay A . : 1
I1.—Account of Hall Farm, near Seven oan Kent, for Fight
Years, from March 25, 1838, to March 25,1846 . 33
I1I—Burning of Land for Manure. ey Thomas Rowlandson.
Prize Essay - ° . ° 46

1V.—Report of an Experiment with oe Manures, as altel
to the Growth of Turnips in the Summer of 1846. BY

Mr. Barclay ° : . ° 57
V.—On the Management of Wheat. By Edward Roberts jun.

Prize Essay é 3 : 760

ViI—On Burning Land for Manure. By John Peirson . 77

V1I.—On the Great Level of the Fens, including the Fens of South
Lincolnshire. By John Algernon Clarke. Prize Report 80

VIII.—Report on the Analysis of the Ashes of Plants. (Second
Part.) By J. Thomas Way, late Professor of Chemistry at
the Agricultural Coilege of Cirencester; and G. H. Ogston,
late Assistant to Professor Graham, of University eee’
London . : ° . ° : . 134

1X.—On the Cultivation of Field Beet (Mangold Wurzel). By
George Edmund Raynbird. Prize Essay : . - 209

X.—Turnip Manure. By E. Wagstatfe . : C : once
XI. —On Agricultural Chemistry. By John Bennet Lawes = 226

XII.—On the Farming of Suffolk. ey ues ie nbird. Prize
Report : . ° 7 261

XIII.—Report on the Exhibition of Tania at the Northampton
Meeting, 1847 _ . . ° ° » 330

X1V.—On the Cultivation of Flax. By Tasige M ea jun.,
Secretary to the Royal Society for the Promotion and Im-
provement of the Growth of Flax in Ireland. Prize Essay 361

XV .—Observations on the Natural History and Economy of a Weevil
affecting the Pea-crops, and various Insects which ji injure
or destroy the Mangold-wurzel and Beet. By John Curtis,
F.L.S., Corresponding Member of the Imperial and Royal
Georgofili Society of Florence ; of the Academy of See

Sciences of Philadelphia, &c. Paper XIII. . . 399

XVJ.—On a New Mode of perenne Bones fur Manure. By Ph.
Pusey, M.P. ‘ a uly
XVII.—Trial of Seedling Boesch By W. Miles, M. P. f . 420

XVIII.—On the Agriculture of Northumberland. By Thomas L,
Colbeck. Prize Report . ; : . 422

a3

1V CONTENTS.

ARTICLE FAGE

X1IX.—On the Cultivation of Flax. By George Nicholls. . 438
XX.—On Box-feeding with Linseed win By Pee

Nicholls. : 5
XXI.— Comparison of the Cansunetien of Food by Large diva a
Sheep. By George Shackel : : . 487

XXII.—The Sheep- -Pox; its Causes, Syinptonie peso and
Cure: in a Letter to the President and Council of the
Royal Agricultural Society of England. By J. Stanley
Carr, Esq., Honorary Member of the Royal Agricultural

~ Society of England, and several Continental Se ey
Societies . 3 : ; . . 489

XXIII.—Agricultural Chemin tarnins By John eucet Lawes 494
XXIV.—Improvement of Shepherd’s Corner Farm. By Lord Portman 565
~XXV.—Turf Draining Tiles. From the Duke of Richmond . . 570
XXVI.—Autumn Cleaning of Wheat-Stubbles. By Ph. Pusey, M.P. 570
XXVII.—On a Variety of Italian Rye-Grass. By W. Dickinson - 572

APPENDIX.
Council and Officers of the Royal Agricultural Society of Eueieud i
Honorary Members : ii
Report of the Council to the General Meeting, May 22, 1847 ° ili
Statement of Half-yearly Accounts ending 31st December, 1846 . Vii
Statement of Special Country-Meeting Account, Newcastle-upon-

Tyne, 1846 A 4 ; Vill
Awards of Prizes for Essays and Reports, 1847 : : : ix
Prizes for Essays and Reports on various Subjects, 1848 . . x
Rules of Competition for Prize Essays - : ; : Xlil
Dates of General Meetings of 1847-8 5 XIV
Council and Officers of.the Royal Agricultural Society of England XV
Honorary Members 5 ° ; “ xvl
Meeting at Northampton : . : . : . ain Val
Commendations : - : : : : ° XXIV
General Meetings of 1847-8. : : . . XXvili
Country Meeting at York in the year 1843. ; . : XXiX
General Regulations for the Exhibition of Implements . ; XXX1
Prizes for Essays and Reports on various Subjects, 1848 . a VE
Rules of Competition for Prize Essays . ‘ : © . xl

PLATES.

Map of the Great Level of the Fens, &c. of South Lincolnshire, to
face page 132.
», Of Suffolk, to face page 262.
Plate S, Insects affecting the Pea Crops, &c., to face page 416.
Map of Northumberland, to face page 436.

DIRECTIONS TO BINDER.

The Binder is desired to place all the Appendix matter, with Roman
numeral folios, at the end of the Journal, excepting Titles and Contents,
which are in all cases to be placed at the beginning of the Part or Volume.

JOURNAL

OF THE

ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY
OF ENGLAND.

I.— The Management of Sheep. By Roser Smiru,
Prize Essay.

SHEEP HusBanpry having long engaged my attention as a
breeder of male animals, and being fully convinced of the im-
portance of encouraging the present improved and established
breeds countenanced by the Society, viz.—the Levcesters, the
Southdowns, and the Long Wools, 1 do not deem it altogether
presumptuous in me to compete for the Premium. In doing so
I rely solely on the qualification which my motto indicates—
«« Practice and Perseverance.”

Sheep may be found in every quarter of the globe, but are most
cultivated in Europe; they inhabit every variety of climate, and
adapt themselves to the vicissitudes of heat and cold. In each
country they are cultivated, according to the wants and tastes of
the people, either for food, clothing, or the uses of commerce ;
and the management is governed materially by the climates where
they are produced. They are impressed at every change with
some peculiarity alterable only by a change of situation, and
varying (I might almost affirm) with the weather; for where the
temperature is equable, there does the animal preserve unchanged
an atmospheric stamp, while under a fluctuating sky we can edel
it at will, though in this case continued exertions are required to
maintain it for any length of time in an undeviating course.

Ina wild state sheep prefer to range at large upon open fields
and plains, and display considerable sagacity in the selection of
their food, which suggests the importance of change in their
domestic management.

No other animal is, in my opinion, worthy of so much attention
as the sheep, it being alike valuable to the farmer and to the
nation ;— to the farmer, because it is raised with ease, and in
situations where other animals could not exist; and in general

VOL. VIII. B

2 Management of Sheep.

makes a better return, for the quantity and quality of food con-
sumed, than any other animal;—to the nation, as supplying a
staple article of food, and giving employment to thousands of
artisans by the conversion of the wool into manufactures. In
fact, the production and general management of sheep claims to
be treated as the foundation of good and profitable husbandry.

The production of first-rate sheep is a “science blended with
practice ;”? consequently a proper knowledge of nature's laws (the
effect of climate and situation upon the character and disposition of
the animals) has led to important improvements in their form,
quality of flesh, and general management. As the present ‘‘im-
proved breeds” are.the production of man’s skill and enterprise by
propagation from their original state, were the breeders once to
relax their exertions, leaving the animals to nature’s course, so
soon would the various flocks degenerate.

The Leicesters, or what were originally termed the Dishley
flock, date their origin from the career of the celebrated Robert
Bakewell, of Dishley, in the county of Leicester, whose great
abilities, about the year 1755, dictated the cultivation of a style
of sheep previously unknown, and by which he subsequently be-
came so distinguished. ‘The precise plans he adopted in procur-
ing the parent stock are yet a matter of conjecture, he having
maintained great secresy upon the subject: but it is evident, and
indeed distinctly known, that by a careful selection of improved
animals through repeated generations, he raised a standard ap-
proaching to excellence, as well in regard to symmetry and light-
ness of offals as to propensity to fatten. Mr. Bakewell’s sheep
became the admiration of surrounding breeders, and were eagerly
sought after; but fully to carry out his designs he suggested a
plan which was adopted, viz.—the formation of a Society com-
posed of a certain number of the principal breeders, who adopted
the «« New Leicesters” as an improved breed emanating from the
Dishley flock: hence arose the permanent establishment of this
valuable breed of animals, which supplied an immense proportion
of meat for our increasing population, as well as a beautiful fleece
for the middle descriptions of our woollen manufactures. These
have been handed down from year to year by the great ability of
Bakewell’s followers, many of whom have spent an anxious life in
their propagation. It is, however, remarkable that, although so
many breeders have given their strict attention to the subject, and
have had the same conclusions in view, scarcely two have adopted
the same course.

Each, in fact, has had his peculiar idea of putting the male
and female together, to produce the style of animals which he
considered to possess the best essentials for producing the greatest
weight of wool and mutton per acre for the amount of food

Management of Sheep. 3

consumed. Amongst the more popular flocks at the present time
are those of the late Mr. Robert Burgess, of Cotgrave Place,
Notts; Mr. Creswell, of Ravenstone, Leicestershire ; Mr. Bennett,
of Bickering’s Park, and Mr. Pawlett, of Beeston, Bedfordshire ;
Mr. G. Turner, of Barton, Devonshire; Mr. Robinson, of Car-
naby, and Sir Tatton Sykes, Bart., Yorkshire; Mr. Stone, of
Barrow, and Mr. J. Buckley, Normanton Hill, Leicestershire ;
and Mr. Hewitt, of Dodford, Northamptonshire.

The general practice with the Leicester breeders, in what is
termed “setting” their flocks, is to select those ewes which pos-
sess the best form, quality of flesh, propensity to fatten, and light-
ness of offals, with fine long wool. So decided are the best
breeders in favour of asymmetrical appearance in their flocks, that
many exceedingly good animals are drafted in consequence of
some little want of uniformity in their general outline, or owing
to their possessing some line of blood which has proved injurious,
It is not uncommon with the ram-breeders to draft the whole pro-
duce from a sheep that has disappointed them, and they are ex-
ceedingly cautious in using young sheep that have not been proved,
preferring to see their produce, that they may proceed with a de-
gree of certainty. In stating the mode of managing the Leicester
flocks, it would be difficult to trace them to any particular locality,
as they are to be found in nearly every district of the United
Kingdom, though they are principally kept upon the turnip-soils
of the midland counties. When the ewes have been selected for
breeding, it is usual to give them better keeping, as those ewes
which are placed upon fresh keeping take the ram a week earlier
than those upon the stubbles.

The rams having also been selected to suzt the flock, particular
attention is paid by the breeders to have ewes drawn to those rams
which are best suited to correct their faults,

The general custom is to turn the rams loose with the ewes in
the field about the Ist of October. With well-bred animals,
however, this is found to be a bad practice, as it too frequently
occurs that, in consequence of their high condition, the ewes prove
barren. When forward lambs are required, the rams are put with
the ewes early in September: by far the better plan, and one which
is pretty generally adopted by the most successful breeders, is to
keep the rams in a convenient paddock, properly divided, and place
a teazer with the ewes, which are regularly brought up to the stocks
as they are noticed, there to be superintended by the shepherd,
according to the previous selection and arrangement—-a daily
register being kept of the proceedings.

When the ewes come up slowly they are served twice; but
during the busy part of the season once is considered sufficient,
as when the rams are in active work the ewes are more certain to

B2

4 Management of Sheep.

be with lamb, and produce more couples. ‘The ewes are then
turned away into a separate field until the end of a fortmght, when
they are again taken back to the teazer; or a fresh one is placed
with them, ‘which is the better plan, being then more easily noticed,
as they common! y return from the fourteenth to the seventeenth
day, if not with lamb. The practice is to mark them with ochre
every week as they are rammed, commencing the first week under
the near ear, then the near shoulder, midside, hip, &c., round to
the far ear, which completes the season of eight weeks. By a

careful observance of this plan they are readily drawn out from
week to week during the lambing season, and it saves both expense
and trouble. When the rams are removed, the ewes are dressed
with mercurial ointment in the proportion of 2lbs. to the score, to
cleanse them and assist the growth of the wool. The ewes up to
this season of the year (and in many situations much longer) are
kept upon the grass or meadow lands, where the farms are of that,
character ; but on arable farms with a short proportion of grass-
land, they are usually placed upon the turnip-lands, to follow or
clean up the peckings after the store-lambs, which are allowed to
go forward; and they do exceedingly well. On reference to my
own daily register, kept durimg seven seasons, I find the ewes
usually go with young 21 weeks upon an average, but vary slightly
from 20 to 22 weeks, and go with male lambs rather longer than
with ewe lambs. The ewes are drawn out a fortnight before lamb-
ing, and placed upon grass-land, if possible, near home; they are
shut up every night in a lambing-yard; a few turnips are thrown
to them in the field when convenient, otherwise they are allowed a
moderate quantity of corn, with cut hay or clover chaff; when ap-
plicable, the ewes are placed upon turnip-lands for a few hours
during the day, exercise being very desirable; those that have
Jambed during the day or night are removed to convenient sheds
previously prepared for the occasion, and thence to better quarters,
such as a prepared field of rye, or rye and tares mixed with a little
coleseed, but more commonly to young seeds or grass-lands which
have been rested for them, and there supplied with a few turnips
or corn. Upon arable farms it is frequently their lot to be again
placed upon the turnip-land, having rock-salt to lick in small iron
troughs. Salt is also frequently given with the chaff. In those
situations where the breeder has no arable land (which is the case
with a great many breeders in Leicestershire) the ewes are placed
with the ram much later in the season; they being with these
breeders fed entirely, | may say, upon grass throughout the year ;
but according to my experience it would be far better to supply
them with a moderate quantity of corn during the spring or lamb-
ing season, as the ewes are then frequently much reduced, which
causes great loss during the lambing time, besides stinting the’

Management of Sheep. 5

quantity and quality of wool, and occasionally the dam, offspring,
and fleece, are all culls in consequence.

In the case of a ewe losing her lamb, it is customary to place
the skin of her offspring upon another lamb intended to be put
with her. The ewe generally takes to the stranger in a short
time; but in the event of difficulty, a little gin rubbed upon the
skin of the lamb and nose of the ewe at once effects the desired
object.

When lambs are dropped between the visits of the shepherd, it
often happens that they are starved and unhealthy. In this case
a little gin and the ewe’s milk is given them, and they are
wrapped up in a fleece of wool and placed before the shepherd’s
fire. When bound or loose in their bodies, or even apparently
unwell, two teaspoonsful of castor-oil, with a little ginger, are
given; when swollen joints appear, an embrocation is instantly
applied to the part, and opening medicine given. In difficult
cases with the ewes in lambing, gruel and treacle are given as
support: in cases of pain a small quantity of laudanum and lin-
seed oil. When ewes appear to be swelling, the following receipt
has been found of great value :—2 oz. roach alum, | oz. white
copperas, mixed in a pint and a half of rain-water, kept well
corked. ‘Iwo tablespoonsful is sufficient for one dressing.

Upon turnip and seed-farms, where the object is to raise fat
wether lamb-hogs, the management of the lambs is commenced at
an early period. ‘They are promoted in regular succession, being
first separated from the ewe-lambs and allowed to take precedence
throughout the year. It is now the practice to wash and shear the
general flocks in the beginning of June (though this is considered
by some too early in the season). By this plan they are found
less subject to fly-galls, gain more weight during the summer,
have a more bulky appearance when sold in the autumn, and there
is no difference in the weight of wool, if adopted as a general sys-
tem. The custom of dipping the lambs directly after the ewes
are shorn is in my opinion a valuable one, and should never be
omitted. There is also a growing practice of having the whole
flock dipped at this period of the year, as it affords an excellent
opportunity for cleansing them. ‘The lambs are again dressed
with mercurial ointment the first week in October: if this be
omitted they are much tormented during the warm spring months.
The weaning of lambs is considered to be a nice point, as much
depends upon its being properly accomplished.

The plan of taking the ewes from their lambs to a distant field
reserved for them, rather than take the lambs from the ewes, is
preferred by these breeders: the lambs being accustomed to their
pasture, they remain more quiet than when removed to a strange
field, where they fret, become thin and exhausted with bleating,

6 Management of Sheep.

and too often incur fever and scouring, which are the forerunners
of other diseases, and the cause of their doing badly for weeks, if
not the whole winter following. The ram-lambs are put with
their dams into the clover or reserved spots for some few days
previously to weaning, where they learn to eat green tares, which
are found invaluable by those breeders who use them for a start.
Lambs should never be placed upon rested summer-eaten clover
pastures, however tempting they may appear, as they invariably
cause scouring, fever, and other severe ailments. Old grass, clover,
or grass-eddish is preferable until the autumn quarter commences,
which is considered an important one, as much depends upon the
manner in which the lambs are started, or taught to eat their
winter food.

In the middle of September the lambs are placed in moderate
lots upon grass or seeds, as, from the domestic habits peculiar to
the race, they are fond of picking their food at this season of the
year, cabbages being thrown to them upon the pastures, or cut for
them in troughs: after a short time a few white turnips are mixed
with them, as a preparation for the winter. As October advances
they are placed upon the common or white turnips. Some breeders
mix a little coleseed in the first sowing, which is an excellent plan.
After a short time the wether-lambs are given 4 lb. of oil-cake, or
corn to that value, each per day; at Christmas they are placed
upon the swedes which are cut for them, as are also the white ones
upon bad layer. As the spring advances, the oil-cake or corn is
increased according to circumstances, whether intended at once for
the butcher, or to be kept until Midsummer, or even later. The
ewe-hogs are kept entirely upon turnips and cut clover-chaff, with
plenty of salt. When the turnips are finished, the ewe-hogs are
placed upon moderate grass-land or old seeds. When the wether-
lambs are reserved for fat shearlings, they are placed upon the
young clovers to commence their work, and are sold by some
breeders about August or September, to make room for the lambs.
Other breeders prefer to keep fewer ewes, and keep their shearlings
on until the following spring, when they are again shorn and sold .
to the butchers in the neighbourhood, being too heavy for the
London trade. In this case the lambs are never separated at an
early age, but are kept together until 14 months old.

In many parts of Leicestershire the jambs are wintered upon
grass only, and are frequently sold fat as early as the following
August and September: some breeders keep them over until
the next spring or midsummer. It is the practice with some to
draft their ewes at the age of three years or three shears, and
place them with a horned Dorset or Southdown ram, for the
purpose of feeding what is termed “lamb and dam.” In this
case the ewes are usually sold in high condition at the Leicester

Management of Sheep. 7

October fair, and are much sought afier by different breeders
from the adjoining counties. At this fair a considerable trade
is carried on inthe sale and letting of rams, it being the con-
clusion of the season; but the leading breeders prefer letting
their sheep at home, which commences on the 8th of June, and
continues during the season.

The Southdowns are a breed of animals distinct from every
other race, and are best adapted to the warm heathy soils of the
southern counties. They are classed under the head of “the
Sussex, Hampshire, and Norfolk Downs.” The parent and prin-
cipal stock are indigenous to the county of Sussex, where they have
long existed, but they were first improved and brought into general
notice by the late Mr. John Ellman of Glynde, who, lke the
celebrated Robert Bakewell, suceeded in establishing his peculiar
views in breeding, and to whom this country will ever be much
indebted. Previously to his efforts the breed was little known in
England (except in their own localities, such as the South Downs
of Sussex, whence they derive their name), and was left to
chance or the management of shepherds, with whom it could not
be a matter of interest to sort or improve, more attention being
paid to numbers for going to fold than to improvement in their
form and quality. They were not taken to market before three
years old, when they were designated “ the old Downs,” and were
much sought after as possessing fine texture of flesh, and well
suited to the table of the epicure. A liberal price was paid
per lb., but this in reality amounted to a small sum per head,
owing to their inferior weight. The decided and popular results
of the late Mr. Ejlman’s enterprise drew the attention of other
breeders to the importance of improvement: his males were
eagerly engaged, and since that period they have been propagated
by the different breeders upon Bakewell’s principle with immense
success ; their character has been improved and their fleece and
form increased. From the increased importance of our manu-
factures, and the growing taste for finer descriptions of woollens,
as well as the preference given for fine-grained mutton, they now
fairly rank amongst the most valuable breeds, and are becoming
both a profitable and fashionable race. They are propagated
with success in many parts of England, particularly among noble-
men and gentlemen, who cultivate them alike for their quality of
mutton and general park-like appearance. On many farms the
rams are used for the purpose of crossing with the long-woolled
breeds. The more popular flocks are those of his Grace the
Duke of Richmond, Mr. Ellman, and Mr. Jonas Webb, the
Jatter having in fact created a new and beautiful style of animal,
peculiar to his ideas, which may be justly termed the “ Babraham
flock” of Southdowns.

8 Management of Sheep.

The Hampshire Downs were originally very large and coarse,
but of late years they have been improved by an admixture of the
Sussex Down; still, however, they retain an extra degree of size,
bone, and fleece to any other, and are easily distinguished by
those characteristics. Breeders who prefer strong sheep consider
this variety better than any other for enduring hardship and for
general purposes.

The Norfolk Downs were distinguished from the others by their
dark or black faces; they were found chiefly in Norfolk and
Suffolk, where folding was much practised; but, by the intro-
duction of the Sussex Down by the late Earl of Leicester, the
Norfolk Downs have been in a great degree supplanted. His
lordship took considerable interest in exposing them by the test
of experiments with the Sussex. The few that remain are found
upon the borders of Norfolk and Suffolk; the old Norfolks are
also nearly extinct.

The Sussex breeders, in setting their flocks, adopt the uni-
versal plan of selecting those ewes which possess the established
** Southdown” qualities of colour, uniformity of character, light-
ness of offals, thick of lean flesh, and propensity to fatten, with
beautiful fine wool. The Hampshire breeders prefer and select
a much stronger cast of animal throughout. Many breeders who
followed in the footsteps of the late Mr. Ellman, having noticed the
result of his experience in remodelling the animal, and increased
propensity to fatten, carried these views too far, and the animal
was becoming too refined ; but subsequently attention has been
paid to the essentials of size and constitution, from which much
good has resulted. The early management of these flocks up to,
and during, the lambing season is very similar to that of the
Leicester breeders; the principal difference is in their favour,
they being more hardy during lambing-time, and less loss is ex-
perienced amongst the lambs: the circumstance of these sheep
being raised specially for the downs, heaths, and thin arable soils
in the southern counties attached a degree of importance to their
after-management, they being more or less dependent upon the
scanty produce of the downs, unless provision be made to supply
other food throughout the year. In these situations they are sent
regularly to fold, with the exception of those put out for fattening.
It was originally the plan to. keep the wether sheep with the
general flock, and allow them to go to fold until drafted for the
London market; more recently they have been divided, and fed
at a much earlier age,—many are fatted at the age of sixteen or
eighteen months. With some breeders, who have good meadows
and other advantages, the ewes and lambs are not allowed to go
to fold, their system being to force their lambs forward for the
September fairs, when they fetch exceedingly high prices; others

Management of Sheep. 9

under less favourable circumstances send them to fold regularly,
and sell their lambs im a lean state at the same period, that being
the season at which the great transfer between the breeders and
feeders takes place. Of late years they have also found their
way into the more distant counties to be fatted upon the turnip-
soils. ‘The ewe trade has also materially increased, they being
sought after for the purpose of crossing with the Leicester or
Long-Wools; they are then included with the general flock,
rarely or never being sent to fold, and make great improvement.
When mixed with other breeds, they are found to produce more
lambs, and give more support to them, but produce less value of
wool and consume more food, which is shown by the following
experiment :—On the Ist of November, 1830, 100 Down ewes
were placed on the one side of a turnip-field of 7 acres, and 100
Leicester ewes on the other; they were each allowed all they
chose to eat: on their meeting, the land was measured on both
sides, when the Down ewes were found to have eaten a trifle more
than 4 acres out of the 7, the crop being an even one, and
the ewes penned across the lands. ‘The subject of folding is
peculiar to this breed of sheep. This practice was one of the
general objects and amongst'the earliest pursnits of our ancient
flock-masters, who, from the open state of our island, the
absence of artificial manures, and the national importance
attached to the flocks, looked upon it as the leading feature
of the then pastoral age; but by the rapid strides in the appli-
cation of artificial manures, the old system is fast going out
of fashion, it being now rarely practised, except by compulsion
upon the downs and heaths, where it is considered better to fold
on the land than allow the sheep to roam at large. In the general
practice of folding for the purpose of manuring the land for
wheat, or otherwise, it is found by repeated calculations that the
deterioration of the animals exceeds the return in the shape of
manure (when compared with the present price and easy access
of the new artificial manures), as the disturbance of the animal,
transferring the choice of their hours of feeding and rest from
themselves to the shepherd, and their being kept in large flocks,
each affect their domestic habit and constitution: the only true
feature is the transfer of the produce of the grass-land to the
arable, whereby the breeder may reap the benefit of both. In
situations where folding is compulsory, it is far better to have
prepared sheep-yards, regularly littered with straw or stubble,
_where they would raise a large quantity of manure, rest warm
and comfortable, and be supplied with cut clover, chaff, hay, or
vegetables, than to fold them thickly upon a bleak situation, or
more particularly when they are placed a second night in the same
unwholesome fold, which is usual when a “ good dressing”’ is

10 Management of Sheep.

required. The strongest advocates for folding are the “ Hill-
side” farmers, who state it to be better for the sheep to deposit
manure in those situations than by carting—an endless task.
Would it not, in such situations, be better to lay them down to
‘«‘sheep-walk,” or use artificial manure ?

Many breeders in the Southdown districts and southern counties
adopt the system of fattening a part of their lambs for the London
market. In this case those ewes that are intended to produce lambs
are drafted from the general flock the year previous, and put with
the ram atan early period. The management of lambs from their
birth is allowed by all breeders to be the most difficult task in
sheep-husbandry ; it is regulated throughout by the period or age
at which the breeder intends to realize. When they are intended
for the earliest markets, some breeders adopt the plan of producing
what is termed “house-lamb.” For this purpose they invariably
procure the Dorset ewes, which have been previously put to the ram
for the purpose of dropping their lambs at Michaelmas. After
the usual preparations for the lambing season, and the lambs begin
to come, they are (after a few days) separated from the ewes and
placed in a suitably prepared house, or large barn, well littered
with straw ; the ewes are taken to them three times a-day, but are
not allowed to remain beyond the time required for suckling, as
the extra heat occasioned by their presence for a longer period
would have the effect of producing an uneven and consequently
unhealthy temperature—a point to be avoided if possible, as upon
the lamb-house being kept at one regular degree of heat depends
the more certain and quick composition of animal food, by an
union of the elements of the milk, food, and oxygen consumed.
The ewes when turned from their lambs are kept as near home
as convenient, and supplied with a liberal quantity of turnips,
cabbage, coleseed, or other succulent food within reach at-this
season of the year, together with grains, broken corn, or linseed.
Chalk is supplied to the lambs in troughs, both in lump and
powder, to prevent looseness—particular attention being paid to
cleanliness and a free circulation of air. When the business of
drawing them for the London market has commenced, it is not
uncommon to suckle the next runof lambs upon the ewes that
have had their lambs taken off (in addition to their own dams)
which is done by the shepherd holding the ewe a proper time,
otherwise the ewes are turned away and made fat. If young, they
are sometimes kept on for another season, and sent to fold. The
lambs while fatting are also regularly supplied with sweet clover,
split peas, broken corn, or bran; in short, it being an artificial
production, both the lamb and dam, for the time, are given any-
thing they will eat. When they are intended for the next stage
or run, many breeders provide well-iittered yards, with covered.

Management of Sheep. 11

sheds all round them: these lambs are always kept in like the
~ © house-lamb.”

The front of the sheds are fenced with ‘‘lamb-trays,”” which
have upright bars ata sufficient distance to admit of the lambs
passing between them, the shed being entirely reserved for their
use, and they easily pass in and out when the ewes are brought
up for suckling; the only difference in their management being,
that these ewes remain in the yard all night. The next run are
usually kept up in the lambing-yard for a week, to gather strength ;
they are then taken with their dams to the turnip-field during the
day, and brought back to the yards at night for about a week;
after which they are allowed to remain on the turnip-land with
the ewes. By the use of the “ lamb-trays,” the lambs are allowed
to run over the unstocked turnips, and have their corn given them
outside the trays, apart from the ewes, which have clover-chaff;
thence they are removed to the young clover, until drawn for the
butcher. The late or grass-fed lambs are produced in the mid-
land counties with common treatment, but of course do not fetch
near the price; but as their cost of production is moderate, a
question arises whether they do not make as good a return for the
food consumed as the more early ones.

The Long-Wools are principally classed under the head of
Lincolns, New Oxfords, Cotswolds, Teeswaters, and Kents.
The long-woolled Lincolns were formerly the chief or only variety
produced in the county: they seemed formed for the then rich
marshy soils or cold situations (there being little or no heath-land
under cultivation), and their principal property was their long,
strong wool to protect them against the vicissitudes of the eastern
winds upon their bleak open pastures during the winter-months.
They were further known by their large white heads and ears,
long thin carcase, with exceedingly large bone; and, from their
wool-bearing propensity, they were scarcely ever fattened previously
to the third year. In consequence of the rapid advances of our
manufaciures in the production of finer woollens, and the altered
tastes of the people, this breed of animals has happily gone nearly
out of fashion; some few are yet to be found in the neighbour-
hood of Louth, Caistor, and Boston, and are sought after by
some breeders, who sell their lamb-hogs in the spring to the
marsh graziers, to be by them fattened—/f possible.

With the new era of improvement, when the heaths, wolds, and
rabbit-warrens were converted by the spirited breeders into till-
age, arose the great importance of adapting the large unwieldy
Lincolns (hitherto produced for the rich marshes) to the more
moderate production of the heathy soils under improvement;
consequently rapid advances have been made in their improvement
by judicious crosses with the Leicesters ; and at the present time

12 Management of Sheep.

they rank amongst the most valuable breeds for the purposes
assigned to them, and are shown in great perfection at the Lin-
coln, Caistor, Boston, &c., great spring fairs, at each of which
full 20,000 lamb-hogs usually change hands, from the heath
and wold breeders to the graziers and dealers from the surround-
ing grazing districts. But they are principally shown in condition
for the butcher ; and, instead of representing the old coarse breed,
to be fattened when two or three years old, they now combine to
a great extent the properties of the Leicester, upon a larger scale,
with a longer and heavier staple of wool; in this they have been
much aided by the judicious selection of males, from time to
time, by the spirited ram-breeders in the different districts in the
county, amongst whom I may mention Mr. Clarke, of Canwick,
near Lincoln; Mr. Kirkham, of Hagnaby, near Boston; Mr.
Dawson, of Withcall, near Louth; Mr. Brice, of Risby House;
Mr. Richardson, of Northlands, near Barton-upon-Humber ;
Mr. Thomas Casswell, of Pointon House; and Mr. G. Cass-
well, of Laughton, near Falkingham. The mode of feeding
and fattening the store-flocks depends entirely upon the soil and
situation in which they are kept. No breed of sheep vary more in
their character and management, from the circumstance of their
being bred to suzt the marsh-land or arable districts. ‘The flocks
suited to the former districts are most commonly bred in the
north and north-eastern parts of the county, and possess more the
character of the old style of Lincolns. The breeders of this
description of sheep make it their study, in setting their flocks, to
select those females that possess the longest wool, strong bone,
and largest size, their leading object being to raise a thick-fleshed,
hardy animal, suitable to their soil and climate, which, from its
coldness during the spring months, is only considered suitable for
lambs coming rather late in the season. Their plan of manage-
ment during the lambing season varies but slightly from the Lei-
ceister, with the exception of their having good grass reserved to
place them upon after lambing. The lambs are allowed to re-
main with the ewes until the Ist of August: they are then placed
upon clover eddish, and subsequently upon coleseed, and finish
with cut swedes. Corn is rarely given in this district; the study
of the breeders is to turn out large long-woolled lamb-hogs for
the purpose of grazing, when (unless sold to the graziers) they
are run very thickly upon their clovers, or middle descriptions
of grass-land, during the summer.

From the bleakness of the district, they are not shorn until the
beginning of July; and, as these breeders and graziers look more
to quantity than quality of wool, it suits their system.

During the month of August they are thinned out to other
parts of the farm; they are afterwards placed in their winter-

Management of Sheep. 13

quarters on the best grass-land for fattening. When they are
intended to be sold in March or April, they are allowed from
half a pint to a pint of old beans per day, that kind of food being
best in their cold situations; on the rich or warmer lands they
attain a sufficient degree of fatness without any artificial food, and
are also sold off about May. With the graziers they are replaced
with lamb-hogs at the late fairs, which is an excellent arrange-
ment.

Those shearlings that have been kept back upon the second-
rate grass-lands are put forward amongst the beasts on their rich
pastures during the summer; thence they go to coleseed, and sub-
sequently they are sold to the butchers in the neighbourhood,
being far too heavy for the London trade, as at this period of the
year they weigh from 30 to 36 Ibs. per quarter upon an average.

The sheep bred upon the heath and in the middle of the county
are the “improved Lincolns”’ (before mentioned), and their ma-
nagement is closely assimilated to the Leicester, particularly upon
the heaths near Lincoln. With the addition of their spirited
husbandry in supplying them with artificial food throughout the
year, the universal plan of these breeders is to sell their lamb-hogs
in the spring from turnips; consequently every movement is
brought to bear upon the production of first-rate fat lamb-hogs,
whereby an immense return is made in the shape of wool and
mutton, as also in the succeeding crops of barley, seeds, and
wheat. The effect of sheep-husbandry on the productiveness of
the soil is an important feature in the general rules laid down
upon the heath-farms; for, as the soil requires artificial aid, so
does the importance of producing sheep at an early age become
essential, By constant attention to an equal and proper distribu-
tion of the flock fed upon artificial food, immense results follow,
it being better to spend a portion of the money set aside for arti-
ficial manure in the purchase of oil-cake, Kc., to be passed through
an animal to the soil, thereby gaining a second return, than to
expend the whole amount in the production of vegetables.

Again, such are the propensities of the best sheep to fatten,
that an ample return of wool and mutton is made for the extra
keeping allowed them, and the land is manured at a cheap and
easy rate. Further, by the use of artificial food, the vegetable
produce.is much economized, the animal is kept longer upon the
land, and becomes more healthy and less liable to disease.

This result I fully proved by an experiment in the year 1836.
On the 26th of October part of a field of Swedish turnips was mea-
sured off, amounting to eight acres, and 80 wether-lambs and 80
ewe-lambs were placed upon them in separate pens, the wether-
lambs commencing on one side and the ewe-lambs on the other.

14 Management of Sheep. -

Each lot was penned across the lands, so that there might be no
difference in the crop or after-management.

The wether-lambs were allowed half a pound of oil-cake each
per day during the winter; the ewe-lambs were kept entirely
upon turnips; each lot had the turnips cut for them; and when
the roots were all consumed, and the lambs met, the land was
again measured, and the ewe-lambs were found to have eaten 4
acres () rood 32 perches of turnips; the wether-lambs 3 acres 3
roods 8 perches,—thus showing a gain of | rood 24 perches of
turnips by the use of the artificial food, and longer duration upon
the land. The field had been highly manured upon the ridge
system for the turnip-crop, which by a calculation (after weighing
22 square yards in an average part of the field) was estimated
at 223 tons per acre.

When the lamb-hogs were placed upon the turnips, 10 average
lambs of each lot were weighed and marked, and again weighed
every month during the time they remained upon the turnips,
which proved to be 16 weeks 2 days. Having no opportunity of
weighing the turnips daily to the respective lots, a calculation
was made, and it showed the ewe-lambs to have eaten, upon an
average, 224 lbs., and the wether-lambs 202 lbs. of turnips each
per day. The average gain of the 10 ewe-lambs during the time
proved to be 283 1bs., and the 10 wether-lambs 362 Ibs. each.
The 8 acres were sown with chevalier barley and mixed clover-
seeds in the spring, and each part harvested and thrashed sepa-
rately. They were found to produce—the 4 acres 0 rood 32
perches, 25 quarters 1 bushel, or nearly 6 quarters per acre; the
3 acres 3 roods 8 perches, 25 quarters 63 bushels, or 6 quarters
63 bushels per acre. The young seeds upon the latter, up to the
following May, looked weaker than the other ; but this I attribute
to the heavy crop of barley. The whole piece was grazed during
the summer, when the part fed off with the wether-lambs reco-
vered, and was by far the strongest and best crop. The following
March the land was sown with Friesland oats, but which were
not thrashed separately, the apparent result being so decidedly in
favour of the part eaten off by the wether-lambs.

The breeders upon the heaths, from their peculiar situation,
plough everything; they rarely or ever occupy any grass-land
except 1m some few instances: they procure a portion of marsh-
land, which is situated at a distance, and they then require it
most for the purpose of growing, or feeding their cattle raised
upon the ploughed farm. In setting their flocks at Michaelmas,
their object is to select those ewes which possess uniformity of size,
frame, fleece, and style. For producing large, well-proportioned
animals, they are also particular in having a long kind head and

Management of Sheep. 15

ears, as they consider it most essential to the finish of a first-rate
Jamb-hog, and are frequently known to reject a well-proportioned
male animal, unless possessing what is termed “good looks.”
The management of the flock during the lambing season is similar
to that of the Leicesters, except that in some instances, in the more
southern part of the county, mangel-wurtzel is used, and with
success, as is shown by the following correspondence with a lead-
ing breeder :—‘ When I formerly depended upon turnips for my
inlambed ewes, my loss was frequently very great: since using
mangel-wurizel during the lambing season, out of 500 ewes I do
not recollect ever losing more than three from the effects of
lambing. ‘The succulent nature of the root, and the large pro-
portion of saccharine matter it contains, gives it a great advantage
over any other vegetable in the production of milk, so essential to
the breeding ewes in suckling their lambs in the early part of the
spring.”’*

The principal breeders on the heath and wolds have a great
fancy to put forward their wether-lambs from the earliest period ;
they are separated from the ewe-lambs, and take precedence.
When taken off about the middle of July, they are still supplied
with corn or oil-cake upon the seeds, and thence they are placed
upon the turnips, cabbages being little used in this district, the
artificial food being continued. As the barley-thrashing advances,
they give them bruised barley and malt-comb with their oil-cake;
which it is to be regretted cannot be supplied to them in the
shape of malt, containing more saccharine matter. If malt-comb
be good for sheep (the mere shadow, or husk), what must the
substance itself be? As the spring advances, the artificial food
is increased with the cut swedes. The ‘hilling,” or getting up, of
the Swedish turnips at the close of the year is becoming a general
plan. The feeding qualities of the root are thereby preserved, the
land is not drawn by running up, and the vegetables are more
easy of access during the winter months. When this plan is
adopted, a portion is removed to the field intended for turnips
the following year, to be consumed at the latest period of the
season, that the turnip-land may be set free early for sowing with
barley and young seeds. When swedes are allowed to remain

on the land until they are daily pulled for the sheep, they ge

* After trying mangold for four successive years, I came to the conclu-
sion that cows fed on it gave quite as much milk, but much Jess butter and
cream, than when fed on turnips or carrots: also, that when ewes were
fed on mangold-wurtzel the lambs throve remarkably ill, which I attributed
to the same poverty of milk which had been proved in the case of the
cows. The kind was the orange-globe; the roots large, and perfectly
sound; were not used till after Christmas, and were grown on land of

rather weak staple, but what is termed hereabouts “ good sand land.”—H.
S. THompson.

16 Management of Sheep.

dry, and are inferior in quality towards the end of the season; the
sheep become tired of them, and are very restless; but in every
instance where the turnips have been “ hilled,” they are found to
do exceedingly well to the last day. Some breeders prefer keeping
their lamb-hogs until the late fairs, and allow them to take the
best of their young seeds ; others reserve them entire for the ewes
that are suckling the couples and wether-lambs. In some instances
the lambs are not castrated until the first week in August, to
produce extra size and constitution, when they are either cas-
trated, or what is termed “traped,” and are rarely known to
falter or decline eating their food after the operation.

The ewe-lambs are drafted early in the winter, and the culls
placed with the wether-lambs to be sold in the spring,—the best
being reserved for the flock, and kept entirely upon turnips.
The flock-ewes are inspected and drafted early in the summer,
and are removed from their lambs about the first week in June,
when they are prepared for the autumn fairs, and fetch high
prices, breeders from the surrounding districts being anxious to
procure them. In the southern or Grantham district, the wether-
lambs are kept upon moderate food during the winter, it being
the practice to sell them as shearlings in the autumn, when they
are purchased by the graziers for wintering upon their grass-land,
or for feeding off coleseed, where the land is intended to be sown
with wheat, which is a growing practice.

The New Oxfords are termed long-wools, but more from the
circumstance of their not coming under the denomination of
Leicesters than from their extra wool-bearing properties. They
are bred principally in Oxfordshire and the surrounding districts,
particularly in the neighbourhood of Broadwell, the residence
of Mr. Charles Large; Charlbury, the residence of Mr. Smith;
and Sevenhampton, the residence of Mr. Handy,—the most emi-
nent breeders, and to whom great credit is due for their exertions
in raising this valuable breed to its present high state of perfection.
They are of large dimensions, and have a great propensity to
fatten, arising chiefly from their wide frame, quietude, and open
texture of flesh, which is of quick growth, and consequently ex-
pands itself more rapidly than many other qualities ; but they do
not possess that exactness of form peculiar to smaller animals,
though they have a better carriage. For many years the male
animals have been eagerly sought after, with a view to increase
the size and frame of other long-woolled breeds.

The Cotswolds are a breed chiefly found in the same district of
country as the New Oxfords, but more particularly upon the
Cotswold hills, in Gloucestershire, whence they derive their
names; they are also frequently called ‘“ Gloucesters.” Their
general properties so nearly resemble the New Oxfords, with the

Management of Sheep. 17

exception of the slight deviation of their flesh, which is not so firm
or fine in its texture, that it is unnecessary to repeat them. This
breed of sheep has also shared in the fashion of the age, and has
been alike sought after of late years, particularly the flocks in the
neighbourhood of North Leach, the residence of Mr. Hewer, one
of the leading breeders; they have also been purchased for the
purpose of crossing with the short-woolled breeds, and to good
effect.

The two breeds, being so nearly allied, may be treated under
the same head of management; they are alike confined to the
hills and surrounding arable districts, the soil of which is more
or less of a thin character, and consequently requires good sheep
husbandry, which is practised to some extent. It is a leading
feature with the breeders to produce their sheep at an early age,
and folding is rarely practised by the best flock-masters in this
district of country.

In setting the flocks particular attention is paid to size, wool,
strength of constitution, propensity to fatten, and uniformity of
character and carriage, by which the animals are easily distin-
guished from other long-woolled breeds. The ewes are placed
with the ram rather early in the season, and care is taken to have
a reserve of fresh keep to remove them to about the middle of
September. The rams are continued with the ewes about nine
weeks—the latter part of the time they are kept upon white
turnips, as the hill soils produce but moderate keeping at this
season of the year; thence they are drawn out weekly upon the
plan adopted by the Leicester breeders. Great attention is paid
to their flocks during lambing-time, their yards being made very
warm and comfortable. The wether-lambs are put forward and
managed upon a similar plan to those upon Lincoln Heath; but
these breeders are more particular in having early spring feed
for them. ‘They are supplied with corn, according to circum-
stances, through the summer. When the clovers are going off
about Midsummer they are frequently removed to green tares
provided for them, the ewes being taken away and placed in
some distant field. When the lambs. are placed upon the tares,
they are either allowed fresh pens from time to time, as they re-
quire them, or the tares are mown and given them in racks, or
Jaid alongside the trays, to be eaten through them. The better
plan, when consumed upon the land, is to have a regular set of
tron trays, upon feet, coupled together by rings and staples.
These trays should be 12 feet long, upon oak feet 21 feet long,
which may be moved in an onward direction several times a-day,
according to the consumption through them. By this plan the
tares are much economized, and fed off without being the least
soiled. ‘These “iron trays,’’ being portable, are equally good for

VOL. VIII. C

18 Management of Sheep.

feeding off coleseed upon the same principle, and are much used
for this purpose in South Lincolnshire, where it is not uncommon
to see coleseed much higher than the sheep, particularly in those
situations where “ paring and burning” is practised, and the seed
drilled in with a portion of bones. ‘The feeding properties of
this coleseed are unrivalled by any artificial food.

When the feeding of tares is practised to any extent, they are
sown at different intervals during the spring, to hold out until
after harvest, at which time the lambs are removed to the barley
stubbles, or young seeds, and are supplied with white turnips
thrown upon the land for a short time. They are placed upon
the turnips at the end of September, and commence their winter
management with cut turnips and artificial food, which is increased
during the winter, About March and April they are sold fat to
the butchers in the neighbourhood, or sent to the London market.
Those breeders who bestow less care and expense upon their
lamb-hogs sell them in a store state at the principal fairs in the
neighbourhood, to be fattened by the graziers: the breeders, in
fact, make it their practice to clear them off when the turnips are
finished. ‘The flock-ewes are drafted and sold upon the plan
adopted by the Lincoln- Heath breeders.

Under the head of long wools the old Teeswaters may be men-
tioned, although the kind is nearly extinct. The animals were
originally bred more particularly upon the banks of the Tees, in
Yorkshire, whence they derive their name, and in those days were
thought valuable for that district of country, as they possessed
great size and constitution (similar to the Lincolns), and were
bred from the same stock. By the breeders paying more atten-
tion to size than to wool, they became a different style of sheep ;
but subsequently, by crossing with the Leicesters, they have be-
come more in conformity with the Yorkshire description, and
cannot now be traced to any particular locality. The sheep of
the Yorkshire class is a bold upstanding animal, with gay looks,
open wool, and open texture of flesh. The Yorkshire breeders
prefer selling their produce as shearlings in the autumn: they
make a great display at the Market Weighton Fair, on the 25th
of September. Their management is very similar to that ob-
served on Lincoln Heath—those animals fattened from turnips
being forced during the winter, and those intended for shearlings
are kept more moderate, and placed in the early part of the
summer upon the clovers, whence they are removed to early
coleseed, sown expressly for finishing them off, in which they
very much excel.

When the shearlings are sold, the wether-lambs are placed
upon the coleseed, to clean up previously to their going to turnips
and the land being sown with wheat: this is considered the best

o

Management of Sheep. 19

arrangement for finishing the shearlings, starting their lambs, and
preparation for the succeeding wheat-crop.

The Kents are principally confined to the county whence they
derive their name, but are mostly bred and grazed in Romney
Marsh; they were originally a coarse description of animal. A
prejudice in their favour still exists with some breeders, although
they acknowledge to have received a benefit in crossing with the
Leicesters. The principal feature in their management is the
entire change the animals undergo, from being bred upon the
marsh-lands and sent (about September) to winter upon the up-
lands or turnip-soils. They are taken back to the marshy dis-
tricts about the beginning of April for the summer, when, the
land being exceedingly luxuriant, they are placed very thickly
upon it, and remain so during the early part of the summer; they
are afterwards thinned out to other pastures, for the purpose of
fattening, which process is completed by the end of the season.
The ewes are placed upon the grass-lands for the winter until
lambing-time, which commences later than in most other counties,
the breeders making no extra provision for them, preferring, in
fact, to turn their ewes and lambs at once into their grass-
pastures.

The breeds I have hitherto mentioned comprise the long-wools,
adapted to the richest grass-lands and marshes, which yield pro-
duce suitable for the finest worsted manufactures; the Leicesters,
for less fertile soils and enclosed arable land (on which the
fold is not used), intended to supply a staple of wool for
the manufacture of coarse cloths, blankets, carpets, and worsted
stockings; and the fine short-woolled breeds, as the Southdowns,
for arable lands, heaths, and sheep-walks on which folding is
practised, for producing a staple of wool suitable for the ma-
nufacture of cloths of middle qualities, In addition to these
there is a hardy race for our mountain and northern districts,
such as the Scotch and Cheviot breeds, which, from their uni-
formity of character, have become, as it were, indigenous to the
locality in which they are found. On the lower hills at the ex-
tremity of the Cheviot range they have been frequently crossed
with the Leicesters, of which several flocks, originally Cheviot,
now possess a great share of their form and fleece; many have
been sent to the highlands of Scotland, where they have suc-
ceeded pretty well, but are not found so hardy as the heath or
black-faced kind.

DISEASES.

No department in our sheep husbandry is so little understood,
even by practical men, as the various diseases among sheep. It
would be a tedious and unprofitable task to enumerate all the

c 2

20 Management of Sheep.

minor affections, but it is highly requisite to notice those which
come more closely under our daily practice, such as the foot-rot,
(or foot-halt) diarrhoea, dysentery, scab, rot, sturdy, blind, red-
water, sore heads, and fly-galls.

The Foot-rot is a disease most common on old grass-land or
marshy situations, and most prevalent in wet seasons: it clearly
shows that an extra degree of moisture is injurious to the hoof, -
and that, by being softened or relaxed beyond the habit of the
animal, a fretful disposition is produced. It commences between
the claws, and ultimately forms a matter which spreads itself so
rapidly that, if allowed its course and not checked, it completely
undermines the hoof, and occasionally throws it off. So soon as
the disease makes its appearance in a lot of sheep, they should be
immediately had up and placed under cover, the shed being well
littered, to clean their feet; the whole of their feet should then
be examined, observing to rub in a small portion of the halt
ointment (afterwards named) between their claws, to dry up the
accumulating matter, or to act as a preventive with the sound
feet. They should remain in the shed until the following morn-
ing, and then be placed in a short pasture, or upon stubble-ground.
If the disease be found to have advanced, the hoof should be
carefully removed to the bottom of the disease, as the dressing
will cure just so far as it is applied. In fact, if one single par-
ticle of the matter remain untouched, it will continue its ravages—
hence arises the apparent difficulty in staying its progress.

When the foot has become much diseased from neglect, it
should be placed in an oil-cake poultice for 12 hours; then
washed clean with warm water, and the poultice renewed again
12 hours more; then to be again washed, and the diseased parts
probed to the bottom and dressed; then to be tied up in common
tar for 24 hours, and renewed when necessary, again applying
the ointment. Opening medicine will materially assist in the
cure of obstinate cases. The worst subjects should be regularly
removed from the general flock as they occur, the disease being
certainly infectious; it is, besides, more convenient for dressing
and shutting them up—a course that is highly essential, in order
that the feet may be kept clean and dry for a time after the
oitment has been applied, which I have found invaluable both
in staying its progress and curing the disease.

The Halt Receipt.

1 oz. corrosive sublimate, 1 oz. blue vitriol, 1 oz. spirits of salts,
1 oz. verdigris, 1 oz. horse turpentine, | oz. oil of vitriol, 3 oz. spirits
of turpentine, and 4 oz. sheep ointment.

(‘To be well mixed when prepared, and kept tied down when not in use.]

Diarrhea is most known amongst lambs after weaning, when

Management of Sheep. 21

they have been incautiously placed upon luxuriant keeping. The
young succulent grasses are most likely to produce it, or a sudden
transition from heat to cold, producing weak bowels, will cause it.
When the disease is observed to be coming on, the animals should
be instantly changed to older or dry keeping. If the disease has
advanced unnoticed, they should be taken up, kept warm, sup-
plied with dry food, and given | oz. of castor-oil, in half a pint of
gruel; if the animal has much pain or straiming, add 20 drops
of laudanum, with rather more gruel; if the discharge still con-
tinues, and the bowels have been cleared by this dose, it will be
proper to check it by astringents. The following is found to be
an excellent medicine, and rarely fails :—

4 oz. logwood, 1 drachm of the extract of catechu, and 2 drachms of
cinnamon, mixed with 3 pints of water, boiled for a quarter of an hour ;
strain it off, then add 60 drops of laudanum. Give half a pint night
and morning as long as the flux continues.

Dysentery.—Although some breeders class this disease with
the diarrhcea, I consider it to be very different,* being found most
amongst the older sheep during the summer months, particularly
in hot, sultry weather, or when they have been run too thick upon
short pastures, and are consequently more easily acted upon. It
is distinguished by the frequent discharges of slimy or green
matter; further on in the disease they are mixed with blood ; the
belly is drawn up, the appetite lost, the animal wastes rapidly,
and the disease proves fatal very quickly, unless it be arrested by
powerful medicine and warm treatment. The approach of death
is known by the black scour coming on, which is an aggravation
of the disease, being mixed with shreds of dark gangrene matter
from the decomposition of the intestines. If the disease has only
just commenced, bleeding is highly necessary ; but if advanced,
great caution should be observed, and the pulse attended to, to
avoid lowering the system too much. To effect a cure a reaction,
or perfect change in the system, is necessary, and may be best
produced by exciting the action of the skin. To effect this the
animal should be immersed in a tub of hot water for 15 minutes,
then given | ounce of castor-oil, with 30 drops of laudanum, in a
little gruel, taking care that the animal be kept warm by wrap-
ping, and placed in a warm shed. As the animal recovers, give
gruel freely, with a more moderate dose of the above; when the
appetite returns, give mixed food, such as hay and vegetables.

* Diarrhoea and dysentery are undoubtedly different complaints, and
one great distinction between them is, that an attack of dysentery is dan-
gerous from the commencement ; but diarrhoea is only serious when accom-
panied by dysentery, which it usually is after continuing for any length of
time: and I believe diarrhcea seldom proves fatal to sheep until dysentery
comes on.—H. 8. THompson.

22 Management of Sheep.

During this disease care should be taken not to pull the wool,
as it frequently falls off: a change of pasture, and not run too
thick, is the best preventive. I have also found either of the
following receipts to stay its ravages when given in time: they
may be adopted, when parties reject the hot-water plan, with
equal success :—

Noe

4 Tablespoonfuls of common salt,

1 Teaspoonful of turpentine,

Mixed with a little water, and repeated in a milder dose when
necessary.

NionZ:

1 Teaspoonful of laudanum,
1 Tablespoonful of either gin or rum,
Well mixed and given; repeat the dose if necessary, or in a milder
form.
No. 3:

1 ounce of alum in half a pint of warm water.

The above three receipts will also stay the progress of the diarrhoea
in lambs.

The Scab.—This is a disease familiar to all breeders—to some
from the dread they have of it, and to others from its constant
plague. In the open fields the flocks were formerly rarely ever
without it from their constant intermixture, and it is a fact that
the open-field shepherds were careless in staying its progress,
from the feeling that they always have it in the field. It is known
to exist by the animals becoming restless, with a constant desire
for rubbing; when the disease has become rooted, the animal
itches to such a degree that it is quite violent in pulling its wool
&c. When taken in the early stage of the complaint, little
specks are noticed, which are found to contain a minute insect
burrowing in the skin; then by rubbing the skin becomes fretted,
discharging an ichor, which hardens into crusts, and if the sheep
be not relieved it sinks under the accumulated miseries. This
disease is exceedingly infectious, but is never observed or known
to arise spontaneously in a flock. When first discovered the
whole flock should be carefully inspected, and the diseased sub-
jects removed to a separate field; it is best to give the whole
flock a slight dressing, as a preventive; no fear need be en-
tertained in dressing the inlambed ewes, as I have had occasion to
practise it at different periods, and have experienced no ill effects,
observing not to dress the belly or points. The mercurial oint-
ment in common use, prepared by all druggists, is found to be
sufficiently good, without resorting to other receipts: when
ordered, the party should take care to name that it is required for

Management of Sheep. 23

the specific purpose of curing the disease, that attention may be
especially paid to the grinding of the quicksilver. Jn mild cases
one dressing by an experienced shepherd, at the rate of 3lbs. to the
score for full-grown sheep, and 23 lbs. for younger ones, will
prove sufficient, plenty of shreds being the principal feature, and
also observing to dress the points pretty freely; care should be
taken to shut them up for one or more nights according to the
case, and afterwards. kept in a warmer situation, if possible, for a
time, and given a good supply of food. In bad cases it is proper
to inspect them weekly, until the disease be entirely removed, and
give opening medicine pretty freely. Should any die under the
operation, the remainder should be washed immediately ; if the
disease do not then stop they should be shorn, which is a certain
remedy.

The Rot.—It is beyond my power to give an accurate account
of this disease, as scarcely two breeders agree as to its origin.
By some it is thought that the animal takes up the larve of some
grub, deposited on swampy or wet situations, which find their
way to the vessels of the liver, and are there reared up and become
flukes, which absorb the chief nourishment of the blood of the
animal; hence the white veiny appearance, and the deficiency of
blood and general decline. Others think that the disease is pro-
duced by bad health or management at some particular period,
which becomes habitual. When observed coming on, the animals
should have dry meat, with a plentiful supply of salt to lick,
placed in small iron troughs: they take it freely. The following
simple receipt, given for three or four mornings fasting, has
proved of great value, and is the best (out of the many) I have
met with :—14 ounce of common salt, with three-fourths of a pint
of water, well mixed before use. In one experiment, a sheep
being killed one week after this dose had been given, 120 flukes
were taken out of its liver, most of which were dead. In support
of this, it is well known that sheep never have flukes when
pastured upon the salt-marshes.

Sturdy.—This affection may be the result either of pressure
upon the brain, from an animal growth, or from the accumulation
of a fluid, the excess of which leads to the dilatation of the skull
and to the absorption of its walls, when the bones can no longer
be made to yield; for this reason the skull, towards the termina-
tion of the disease, generally becomes thin and soft, and offers a
spot easily detected, and from its being easily pierced is fre-
quently made the seat of surgical operations; but they are rarely
known to succeed.

The sheep has a dull stupid look, turns round, and frequently
falls. ‘This disease by some breeders is said to be hereditary, and
often produced by close breeding ; but as it rarely occurs in sheep

24 Management of Sheep.

more than 18 months old, and having experienced it in the pro-
duce from a first cross, I attach but little importance to this
opinion, but think it more likely toarise from the malformation or
growth of the animal’s head, it not being known to occur after the
aninal has done growing.

The Blind.—This disease makes its appearance amongst the
young sheep more particularly, but it is hard to tell how they
acquire it; the animal sinks rapidly under its progress, unless it
be arrested at an early stage, which may be done by an applica-
tion of common tar, rubbed round the outside of the eye, to be
repeated in about four or five days, when they will recover their
former energies.

fted- Water is known most upon turnip-soils, during the time
the animals are feeding them off; an accumulation of this water
takes place, and cannot be passed off without aid, which may be
accomplished by the followimg receipt, when taken in time :—
1 oz. of common salt, + pint of water, and § a tablespoonful of
turpentine, well mixed in quantity for the number, and freely
shaken when used.

The best preventive is a constant supply of salt, either given
in chaff, or rock-salt placed in troughs to be licked at leisure.

Sore Heads and Fly-galls.—T hese are troublesome complaints,
which are much better avoided than cured. In woodland situa-
tions capping at an early period is decidedly the best plan, but it
should not be done later than the Ist of June or when the sheep
are shorn ; then by attention to keep the caps on their heads, very
little annoyance will be experienced ; but never place a cap upon
a sore head. When this plan is not adopted, the heads and flanks
of the whole flock should be dressed with a mixture or prepara-
tion of the dregs of whale-oil and brimstone, sufficiently thick for
use, to be applied with a round brush from a suitable tin or pot.
My practice is to clip the flock early, and then dip them at once
with Bigg’s composition, before they are affected with the flies,
and apply the preparation to their heads, which is repeated every
fortnight to the heads and flanks during the fly-time; they are
kept by this plan perfectly clean. When fly-galls have commenced,
a small quantity of spirits of tar may be mixed with the brimstone
and whale-oil and applied to the parts. When they are very bad,
a plaster of the following preparation will be found useful :—
Horse turpentine, tar, and wheat-flour, well mixed together.

Having endeavoured so far to comply with the Society’s in-
structions contained under the head of “The Management of
Sheep,’ I proceed to give the result of my own practice.

Before what is termed “ setting a flock” in any locality, due re-
gard should be paid to the soil, situation, and climate on which
they are to be produced, as that alone should govern the decision

Management of Sheep. 25

as to what breed or description of animals should be propagated
to produce the largest return. Having decided upon the variety
of sheep, care aban be taken to welect the dest of that particular
breed, as in every breed much choice is open to decision; this
principle should be strictly observed in the selection of females,
but more particularly in the choice of males, by no means being
influenced by over-fed animals, unless they are strictly in con-
formity with the rules laid down for establishing the flock. In
the production of male animals much depends upon the prin-
ciple laid down ; I have practised every plan by way of experi-
ment, but have joad none equal to what is termed “ breeding
in the line.” With “crossing” and breeding “in and in” |
have been most lamentably disappointed, there being no depend-
ence on the first, and no size to be procured in the latter; even in
“ breeding in the line,’ much depends upon the union or know-
ledge of matching the male and female, particularly if selected
from different families, even of the same race, which have been
for some time raised in other localities, and consequently in-

fluenced by climate, soil, situation, and treatment. When using
rams of the same flock, they should by no means be put together
nearer than a third remove in the same line of blood; I have, by
repeated experiments, experienced, by the nearer affinities of
blood, the most decided disappointment, but have raised some
first-rate animals by putting the third removes together, when
attention has been previously paid to the sort required.

From close observation I have found the quality and quantity
of wool to be governed by the quality or description of flesh upon
the animal; hence certain wool and certain mutton go together :
further, so often as the wool is observed to change upon the back
or otherwise of the sheep, so does the quality of flesh change,
commencing at the exact division of the varieties of wool—thus
showing the importance of selecting those animals that possess the
best description of wool and mutton. Now these carry but one
sort of wool upon their frames, and that of a mellow, moderately
long, thick, bunchy character, under which is found the mellow
flesh peculiar to first-rate animals, which flesh is found to spread
or expand itself more rapidly than any other, but with a sufficient
degree of firmness. Under short fine wool is found extra firm or
hard flesh, which does not expand or grow in proportion. With
thin-set, strong wool, we find the animal to have a white objec-
tionable head, with loose or coarse-grained flesh, wanting in
quality 1 in due proportion to the wool it bears; and the animal is
never, in consequence, known to spread wide, but represents its
degree of fatness along the back. In the selection of male
animals it is even better to choose a strong animal from a well-
bred flock of the same family than to step out of ‘the line” to

26 Management of Sheep.

cross with a large sheep of inferior blood, as practice has shown
that the produce from a large inferior-looking~sheep, selected
. from a pure-bred flock, has been far better than those produced
from an apparently good sheep selected from a cross-bred flock.
In matching the animals I have found it desirable that the
female should possess the larger frame for supplying an increased
support to the improved progeny, particularly when the object is
to produce male animals: thus it is equally important to keep up
the strength of the ewes to afford this advantage, which can alone
be done by strict attention to that object, by mixing strong sheep
with those ewes that are not termed “ ram-breeders,’ and the
well-formed sheep with the others, as the offspring invariably
partakes in the proportion of three-fifths after the male, again
showing the importance of procuring good males of pure descent :
hence the Leicesters will correct and assist what are termed the
larger breeds; but in no instance have the larger males improved
the best Leicesters, and more particularly when the “cross”’ has
been an extreme one, which is frequently shown in a ¢win produce,
as they often represent opposite qualities. Again, in_reference to
the principle of breeding, although the Leicesters will improve the
larger breeds, we find that, when mixed with smaller breeds, the
produce require equal additional support to maintain the increased
size ; for instance, our mountain breeds may be enlarged by cross-
ing, ‘but the progeny will not prosper on the hilly pastures of their
dams, and would be equally unprofitable on the pastures of their
sires, but succeed equally well on the intermediate situations, thus
clearly showing the importance of assisting nature, by suiting the
animal to the particular soil, situation, and climate, rather than
leaving it to climatize or adjust itself to the locality in which it is
placed.

Such is the effect of soil and situation, that when animals have
been equally divided and kept apart for twelve months, upon op-
posite soils, they have scarcely resembled each other when placed
together again, beyond the family head. It is said by some
breeders that a good animal should approach the form of a “soda-
water bottle ;’ but I prefer the upper and under lines to run
parallel with each other, and extend themselves to the very ex-
tremity of the animal’s frame, but have no objection to the oval
sides. It is important that the sheep should display a degree of
grandeur in its movements, which can alone be accomplished by
a proper formation of the general frame: for instance, when the
‘‘ soda-water-bottle’’ form is adopted, the animal has a thin neck,
narrow hind quarters, wide sides, or hanging fore flanks, and
invariably stands upon short fore legs, consequently it walks with
difficulty, and carries its head in a low position; but, on the
other hand, when the chines or shoulders are well thrown into

Management of Sheep. 27

the back, blended with well-sprung top ribs, long hind quarters,
the flesh or fat laid even, or in mass throughout the upper form,
the animal stands open and well upon the fore legs, and conse-
quently becomes habitually gay and easy in its carriage.

The crossing of the pure breeds has been a subject of great
interest of late amongst every class of breeders. While all agree
that the first cross may be attended with good results, there exists
a diversity of opinion upon the future movements, or putting the
crosses together. Having tried experiments (and I am now pur-
suing them for confirmation) in every way possible, I do not he-
sitate to express my opinion, that, by proper and judicious crossing
through repeated generations, a most valuable breed of sheep may
be raised and established; in support of which | may mention
the career of the celebrated Bakewell, who raised a new variety
from other long-woolled breeds by dint of perseverance and pro-
pagation, and which have subsequently corrected all other long-
woolled breeds.

Having determined upon a series of experiments for my private
information, and being desirous to ascertain the best and most
economical plan of producing good animals (and having subse-
quently confirmed at least the greater part of them), I proceed
to give them at full.

EXPERIMENT No. I.

On the 20th of December, 1842, 8 lambs were weighed and placed
upon the regular turnip-land (a red loam, with cold subsoil), to consume
the turnips where they grew, and were regularly supplied with what cut
swedes they would eat, which proved to be on an average 234 lbs. per
day. They were again weighed on the 3rd of April, 1843, being 15
weeks, and found to have gained upon an average, during the time,
254 lbs. each.

No. 2.

On the same day, 8 lambs were placed in a grass paddock, under the
same regulations, and found to have consumed, on an average, 19 lbs. of
turnips per day, and gained during the time 262 lbs. each.

No. 3.

On the same day, 8 lambs were placed alongside the No. 2 lot in the
grass paddock, and allowed to run in and out of an open shed during
the day, but regularly shut up at night. They were allowed half a pound
of mixed oil-cake and peas each per day, and consumed 205 lbs. of
turnips per day, and gained 33% lbs. each.

No. 4.

On the same day, 8 lambs were placed with the Nos. 2 and 3 lots in
the grass paddock, under the same regulations as No. 3, but supplied
with 1 lb. of mixed corn per day. Theyconsumed 20 lbs. of turnips
per day during the following 10 weeks, being again weighed on the
28th of February, 1843, and gained on an average 264 lbs. each.

28 Management of Sheep.
No. 5.

8 lambs were also placed in a warm paddock, with a shed to run under
_ during the middle of the day, but were shut up at least18 hours, and fed upon
14 1b. of mixed corn per day, and consumed 183 lbs. of turnips per day.
They were again weighed at the same time as No. 4, and found to have
gained 334 lbs. each during the 10 weeks.

No. 6.

On the 5th of January, 1843, 16 shearlings were equally divided, and 8
placed upon a grass paddock, and allowed 1 lb. of mixed corn each per
day. They consumed 24 lbs. of Swedish turnips each per day. They
were again weighed on the 2nd of March, being 8 weeks, and were
found to have gained 21% lbs. each.

No. 7.

On the same day the other 8 shearlings were placed alongside the
No. 6, in the grass paddock, and allowed 11b. of mixed corn each, and
consumed 204 lbs. of turnips per day. They were allowed an open shed
to run under during the day, and regularly shut in at night; and again
weighed at the same time as No. 6, and were found to have gained 24
Ibs. each during the 8 weeks.

No. 8.

On the 3rd of April, the 8 lambs (No. 8), having been weighed, were
placed upon young clover, and supplied with half a pound of mixed
corn, as before. ‘They consumed 12 lbs. of turnips per day during the
following month. Being again weighed on the Ist of May, they were
found to have gained 112lbs. each. They had a shed to run under
during the day, and were shut up at night.

No. 9.

On the 29th of May the 8 lambs (No. 8) were again weighed, having
been allowed, as before, half a pound of mixed corn upon the clover, but
no turnips, with a shed to run under at will. They were found to have
gained 16 lbs. each during the month.

To prove the temperature of the animal body during the hot weather,
I placed the two lots of shearlings, No. 6 and No. 7, upon moderate
clover, on the lst of July, 1843.

No. 10.

The 8 shearlings (No. 6) were weighed, and allowed I pint of peas
per day, and again weighed at the end of 21 days, and were found to
have gained 94 Ibs. each.

No. 11.

The 8 shearlings (No. 7) were also weighed, and given 1 pint of old
beans per day, and again weighed at the same time, and were found to
have gained 6 lbs. each, the peas appearing most suitable to the
animal temperature during the hot weather, and the beans far too hot.
What is more important, those sheep fed upon beans were getting full

Management of Sheep. 29

of humours in this short space of time, while those fed upon peas were
looking exceedingly healthy.

In the autumn of 1843, after making the above experiments, I de-
termined upon testing the qualities of the various vegetables open to our
use at that season of the year. On the 2nd of October, 1843, 30 lambs
were equally divided into lots of 10 each, and placed upon over-eaten
seeds. They were all weighed, and the roots regularly given them by
an experienced shepherd.

No. 12.

10 lambs, fed upon cut white turnips, were again weighed on the 138th
of November, and were found to have gained upon an average 15} lbs.
each.

No. 13.

10 lambs, fed upon cut swedes, gained during the 6 weeks, upon an
average, 11 lbs. each.
No. 14.

10 lambs, fed upon cut cabbage, gained during the time 163 lbs. each,
showing, as I fully expected, a preference in favour of cabbage, but,
to my equal surprise, a great difference in favour of the white turnip
over the swede. By subsequent experiments, I found, as the cold
weather advanced, the cabbage and white turnip became of less value,
and that the swede improved.

In the autumn of 1844, having placed my ram-lambs in their winter
quarters, and observing that those placed upon cole-seed were going on
apparently the best, I determined to weigh a part of them in comparison
with those placed in pens upon grass-land; consequently, on the 14th of
October, 1844, the following lots were weighed, as in previous experi-
ments, the 10 upon the cole-seed being selected from 24 others,
marked, and again placed with them.

No. 15.

10 lambs penned upon cole-seed, with cut clover-chaff, were again
weighed at the end of 1 month, and found to have gained 124 lbs. each.

No. 16.

10 lambs penned upon drumhead-cabbage, with cut clover-chaff, and
weighed as above: they gained 103 lbs. each.

No. 17.

10 lambs placed upon grass, and fed upon cut swedes and cabbage, of
equal quantities, with clover-chaff, gained 92 lbs. each.

No. 18.

10 lambs placed upon grass, and fed upon cut white turnips and cab-
bage, of equal quantities, with clover-chaff, gained 11 lbs. each.

Having frequently given my lambs carrots during the winter and
spring months, and to no apparent advantage, when compared with other
roots, I determined to test their qualities after the expiration of the above
experiments, and the No. 16 lot were supplied with what swedes they
would eat, and the No. 17 lot with carrots.

30 Management of Sheep.

No. 19.

10 lambs, fed upon cut swedes and clover-chaff, having been weighed
at the end of the other experiment, were again weighed on the 9th of De-
cember. They were found to have gained during the month 10 lbs.
each, and consumed 22 lbs. of turnips each per day.

No. 20.

10 lambs fed upon cut carrots and clover-chaff were weighed as above
on the 9th of December, and were found to have gained 9¢ lbs. each, and
consumed 22+ lbs. of carrots each per day,—

Thus proving that the carrot cannot be given to sheep with equal profit,
when compared with the swede turnip, the carrot being more expensive
and hazardous in its cultivation, and producing rather less animal food
from a given weight at this season of the year.

Thus, by a careful review of these experiments throughout, it
will be found that warmth is proved to be an important feature
in sheep husbandry, and is a subject affecting the rural economy
of the whole nation. For instance, taking the average tempera-
ture of a sheep’s body at 100 degrees, and the average tempera-
ture of our climate at 60 degrees, in every respiration of air the
animal loses by the exchange animal heat equal to 40 degrees, which,
if not again supplied by the elements of food, or artificial warmth,
the animal would cease to exist. Hence the animal frame be-
comes a machine for the conversion of vegetable food into animal
food, as the animal heat produced by the supply of food is gene-
rated by the combustion caused by the union of the oxygen of the
external air with the carbon, hydrogen, and other elements of
the food: thus, when the temperature of the animal body is below
the standard of heat,* it requires a proportionate artificial warmth
to economize the vegetable food, and assist the fattening propen-

* All our great authorities represent the variation of temperature of the
animal body to be confined within very narrow limits indeed. Liebig, in
fact, hardly allows it any scope at all. “The most trustworthy observa-
tions prove that in all climates, in the temperate zones, as well as at the
equator or the poles, the temperature of the body in man, and in what are
commonly called warm-blooded animals, is invariably the same.” —Liebig’s
Organic Chemistry of Physiology, p. 19. But, whatever be the exact
amount of variation of animal temperature, Mr. Smith, as an eminently
practical man, will, I am sure, admit, that in practice it would never do to
vary the treatment of our flock whenever the thermometer showed a mi-
nute alteration in the temperature of their blood, and that the simpler the
practical rule can be made which is founded on scientific principles, the
more likely it is to be generally acted on. I would suggest, therefore, that
instead of endeavouring to “keep the animal body at an even tempera-
ture,’ it would be better simply to recommend flock-masters to keep their
stock as warm as they can, consistently with perfect ventilation, and that
the principal points to pay attention to are—Ist, That the cost of the
shelter is not such as to absorb the profit arising from its use ; and, 2nd,
That the health and well-doing of the sheep should decide whether the
warmth and confinement are carried too far or not.—H. 8. THompson.

Management of Sheep. 31

sities of the animal, which are governed materially by the forma-
tion of the internal structure or frame; for imstance, when the
chest is contracted, the animal is restless, and the respirations are
more frequent than with the wide, open chest, which is the sure
guide to quietude, and consequently fewer respirations.

But when the animal body is forced beyond its standard of
temperature, the result is proportionably unprofitable: the animal
laws being impeded, Nature withdraws her support, and the
animal body becomes at once artificial, ungovernable, and exposed
to every difficulty: the animal frequently sinks under the pres-
sure which has been caused by extreme feeding, or improper
ventilation when placed in sheds, as the exhalation of the animal
would enter into a state of decay, or unite with the oxygen of the
air, and thus be again inhaled and conveyed to the lungs and in-
testines, the seat of all infirmities. Thus, having been supplied
with too great a stimulant, in the shape of food, for the amount of
oxygen inhaled, the system becomes deranged, and the digestive
organs cease to perform their functions ; and as the temperature
of the body exceeds the standard of heat (see experiment No. 11),
so advances the danger of inflammation and apoplexy, which can
alone be stayed by cooling medicine, and by the animal being
gradually exposed to the free temperature of the air, when, from
the additional oxygen received, combined with the exercise and
increased velocity of its respirations, the animal body is restored
to its standard of heat or health. Thus, to keep up the temperature
of the animal body for its required purposes, it is necessary to
supply food or warmth, according tothe temperature of the situation.
The principle, therefore, is confined to this: At all times endeavour
to keep the animal body at an even temperature, which must be
adjusted as the seasons roll on, or as the soil and climate vary in
the different localities ; for instance, when sheep are kept up in
sheds during the winter, and intended to be kept on through the
summer, a corresponding temperature must be observed, or the
animal machine would cease to perform its fattening evolutions,
which is beautifully shown by the increasing fatigue represented
by the sheep to support his warm winter coat as the spring months
advance, and which nature directs should be cast off at the expira-
tion of its functions, Many breeders have a dread of clipping their
sheep early. Experience has taught me to consider the animal
first, which dictates the removal of the fleece when the great
change of temperature takes place, as the animal loses flesh under
the sudden increased pressure of heat. By various experiments
carried on through the summer months to test the difference of
weight gathered by the different lots of sheep that had been fed
in the different degrees of heat during the previous winter, I found
that those sheep which had been kept the coolest increased most,

By Management of Sheep.

and that those fed in the warmest sheds made but little progress
when exposed to the free temperature of the air; thus proving
that all animals intended for the butcher should be sold from the
sheds. I have since adopted the middle course with rams that
were intended to be shown the following September, and have
provided a number of boarded trays, for the purpose of supplying
them at all seasons of the year with open sheds. The heads of
these are made of oak, 6 feet long by 4 inches square, and hooped
on the top: the frame or tray is 9 feet long, and boarded with
feather-edged board 4 feet deep, leaving about 20 inches to be
placed in the ground. Four of these trays, two at the back and
one at each end, make an excellent open shed for 8 or 10 sheep
(according to their size) to run under. These trays are placed
open to the south during the winter, and, being portable, are
removed with the sheep to the clover or tares for the summer,
when they are reversed, to keep out the heat, but regularly littered
with clean straw or stubble; this the sheep enjoy, and they are
induced by it to remain under cover during the heat of the day.
When placed upon clover, a constant supply of green tares, in
racks, during the heat of summer, is very desirable to cool the
system, or reduce the pressure of heat upon the animal body, that
the process of fattening may be carried on with greater success,
as on an even temperature of heat depends the composition of
animal food, and the consequent return for the vegetable food
consumed.

Thus, after many anxious reflections upon the principle which
“science” had dictated, ‘practice’ has shown it to be one of
great magnitude, and to develop the mysteries of past ages, by
pointing out those elements of the vegetable creation best adapted
to Nature’s laws, under the varied temperature of the seasons.
Experiments serve to elucidate and confirm this; but as the re-
sult of the experiments goes to show the average amount of animal
food produced from a given quantity of vegetable food under the
different degrees of “ warmth,’ I am bound to add (and this is
truly important), that the different animals in many instances
varied considerably in their gain ; consequently, while the experi-
ments confirm that a proper degree of “warmth is an equivalent
to food,’ I found, by close observation, they also confirmed that
the form and sort of animal invariably governed the difference in
the production or composition of animal food referred to.

Hence the importance of breeding and feeding robust, docile,
symmetrical animals, to produce the largest return for the quan-
tity and quality of food consumed.

Burley-on-the- fill, Rutland.

C383, *)

I1.—Aecount of Hall Farm, near Sevenoaks, Kent, for Eight
Years, from March 25, 1838, to March 25, 1846.

To Lord Amherst.

Alvechurch, near Bromsgrove, May 9, 1846.

My Lorp,—I have great pleasure in submitting to your consi-
deration the following account relative to Hall Farm, and the
more so, as I consider it a remarkable instance of what can be
accomplished by the judicious application of skill and capital.
The character of the farm, consisting as it does to a considerable
extent of a very inferior soil, and part of it a perfect sand-bed,
is too well known to your Lordship, and to all those in its imme-
diate neighbourhood, to require any comment from me; but it
will be well, before I proceed to the more practicable part of the
business, to give a short history of the farm for some time before
it came under the excellent management of your present bailiff,
Mr. Robert Jones.

Hall Farm is free of corn-tithes, and contains 250 acres, 3 roods,
and 2 poles, and is divided as follows: arable, 190 acres, 5 poles ;
pasture, 40 acres, 2 roods, 37 poles; hop-ground, 20 acres. The
buildings are complete for the occupation of the farm and hop-
grounds, and have always been kept in repair by the landlord.
Previous to the year 1827, the farm had been for a long time in
hand; and by reference to the accounts it will be clearly seen
that during that period a great loss was annually sustained. In
the year 1827 it was let upon lease for fourteen years, at a rent
of 200/., but the tenant, after holding it for six or seven years,
requested permission to give up his lease, upon the ground of his
losing at least 300/. per annum by it; and although the farm was
offered him for the remainder of his lease at the reduced rent of
100Z., he still urged his request for permission to give up his hold-
ing immediately, expressing a fear, that if compelled to occupy
the farm till the termination of his lease, he should sink the re-
mainder of his capital. He was allowed to give up his lease, and
in 1835 the farm was again taken in hand. From 1835 to 1838,
the farm being under very indifferent management, and no founda-
tion laid for future profit, the result was as in previous cases,
a great loss, amounting in the two years of 1835 and 1836 to
9731. Os. 10d., and in the year 1837 to no less than 6021. Is. 8d.

In the spring of 1838 Mr. Robert Jones took the manage-
ment of the farm, and I will now proceed to show the state in
which he found it, and the means pursued by him to better its
condition.

The state of it was such that it was found necessary to sammer-
fallow nearly the whole of the land for two years in succession ;

VOL. VIII. D

34 Account of Hall Farm

and it is a fact, that from many of the fields no less than 200
cart-loads of couch were carried off per acre. ‘The land was fre-
quently ploughed, no less than six or seven times in the year, and
in order to do this the 2-horse ploughs were substituted for the
heavy and cumbersome Kentish plough generally used in that
part of the country. A better rotation of crops was introduced
when the land became thoroughly clean, and the miserable sys-
tem of cross-cropping, or taking two or more white straw crops
in succession, was altogether abolished. Great care has also
been taken to provide sufficient shelter for the stock, by which
means they fatten faster and upon less food. Tanks have also
been provided for collecting liquid manure.

Owing to the greater part of the farm being naturally dry,
very little draining has been required, but that little has been
effected by the following rather ingenious method: wells have
been sunk to the depth of from 20 to 30 feet, at which distance
from the surface the Kentish rag, as it is called, or stone, is usu-
ally found. These wells receive the water from the different
drains which empty into them, and as the Kentish rag is of great
extent and thickness, and very porous, the wells are capable of
receiving any quantity of water which may issue from the drains.
Part of Knole Park has been drained upon the same principle,
and could have been drained in no other way without a very great
expense, as from the formation of the surface much difficulty
would have been found in obtaining a fall. The wells are arched
over at top, or filled up with stones, so that a stranger walking
over the farm would not be aware that any draining had been
accomplished.

The system of cropping introduced generally, taking a field
of 20 acres as an instance, is as follows :—

Ist year 20 acres of turnips.

DING Geatay poi netnee. barley.

Bide pe, yO Ome aan. seeds, generally mown once.
Athi yn | 20: ae. wheat.

othy yo) OL oo, rape.

seid Bea a LOR cess winter tares for summer keep.
Gti 200 ss oats, barley, or peas, &c.

Under this system, one half the land is in green crop; and the
result has been, that the quantity of produce of every kind has
been nearly doubled; and the stock, which consisted in 1838 of
10 horses, 14 cows, 222 sheep, and 14 pigs, in 1845 consisted of
10 horses, 12 heifers, 444 sheep, and 10 pigs, exclusive of 300
sheep which in 1841 were added to the farm from Knole Park.
Previous to the year 1841, the sheep in Knole Park were kept
distinct from those on the farm; but in that year Mr. Jones
stated that it would be an advantage if the two flocks were treated

from March 25, 1838, to March 25, 1846. 35

as one. This was allowed, with the understanding that, during
the time the sheep or any part of them were in the park, the
farm should be charged with an agistment price of 3d. per head
per week. By reference to the account it will be seen that the
flock now consists of 744 sheep, a most enormous flock, I admit,
for a farm of this extent. The privilege of turning the flock into
the park, although a great advantage to the farm, is not, how-
ever, so beneficial as at first sight may appear; for the whole of
the flock has been kept upon the farm during the winter months;
and in 1841, 1842, 1843, and 1844, the agistment amounted to
about 45/. only, equal to 300 sheep for twelve weeks, at 3d. per
week each; and in 1845 the agistment amounted to 601., equal
to 300 sheep for sixteen weeks at the same rate. It is well
known that the herbage of a park where a large herd of deer is
kept, as in this instance, is not very beneficial to other stock ;
and this remark is fully borne out by the circumstance, that the
sheep are entirely fattened on the farm, and that previously io
1841 it was customary to purchase Welsh and Southdown sheep
for the sole purpose of eating the coarse grass left by the deer. I
consider the advantage derived to the farm from the park scarcely
equal to what would be obtained from a good sheep-walk, which
many Southdown farms possess, and where it is usual to fold sheep
on the arable land from the sheep-walk, which is no¢ done at Hall
Farm. The privilege of turning stock into the park was always
allowed upon the same terms when the tenant required it.

A reference to the account will show that the main dependence
of a farm of this description must be upon stock; indeed, it is
impossible to keep a soil of this character in good heart and
condition without it, or without incurrmg an expense which will
effectually prevent any profit from being derived from its culti-
vation. During the five years from 1838 to 1842, the sums
received for sheep amounted to only 15651. 13s. 6d., while at the
same time the sums paid for sheep purchased amounted to 6791.
14s., leaving a balance in favour of the farm of 885/. 19s. 6d.
only, or 1771. 3s. ld. per annum. From 1843 to 1845, inclu-
sive, the sums received for sheep amounted to 13117. 13s. 3d..
while during the same period the money expended in the pur-
chase of stock amounted only to 44l. 8s., leaving a balance in
favour of the farm of 12671. 5s. 3d., or 4227. 8s. 5d. per annum.
The difference in the returns of the two periods arises from the
circumstance of a breeding-flock having been gradually substi-
tuted for a dry one ; and I trust there will be no occasion to pur-
chase much stock in future. The price of stock at the present
period may be alluded to as in great measure accounting for the
profit of the farm; but in answer to this I must remark, that the
present profit is not much greater than the loss sustained during

D2

36 Account of Hall Farm

the prevalence of the disease amongst the sheep a few years ago.
Great care has been taken in the selection of the flock, and also
in the management of it, as the price of the sheep now unsold
(and which are certainly not over estimated) will fully show.

The following statement may give some idea of the manage-
ment of the flock: in the first week of August, 1845, the flock
consisted of about—

300 full-mouthed ewes, selected for lambing the following spring.
250 ewes and wethers, from 14 to 24 years old.

300 lambs of the spring of 1845.

100 old sheep fatting.

950
Such of the lambs of the spring of 1845, and some of the ewes
and wethers from 134 to 23 years old, which are not wanted to
keep up the flock, are sold or fattened, and by that means the
flock is reduced, before the lambing-season of the following year,
to about 750. They are generally fattened on the farm.

In the autumn of 1846, such of the 300 ewes as were selected
in August, 1845, but which have since become broken-mouthed,
will be put aside, and either sold or fattened, and their places
supplied by younger ones.

now approach a subject upon which there perhaps exists a
greater difference of opinion than upon any other thing connected
with agriculture ; and that is the amount of capital required for
the cultivation of a farm of this size and quality; for while 47. or
ol. per acre is considered by some as sufficient for the purpose,
others contend that at least 10/. or 121. will be required. I do
not think, under ordinary circumstances, that 101. per acre will
be found more than sufficient, and in the present instance I con-
ceive that the following estimate will be found a pretty correct
one, On entering a farm the tenant should calculate upon being
twelve months without any return, and provide accordingly,

The stock on the farm, in the spring of 1838, consisted of and
were valued as follows :—

B BEM) ce Se ASA ER

10 Horses, at 25d. each yj. : -. 290080
4 Milking cows. ° . - | 86-0770
1 Calf . : : ‘ ; ; 2100
10 Barren cows ; , 3 » 465, (ORLO
2 Sows é ; : : : 5 JOueO
11 Store pigs . ; 5 : : 612 0
1 Boar ‘ ! ‘ ; A 2 a0 aa
77 Ewes, at 30s. —. : : eed © Vaya (0) fol)
143 Wethers, at 30s. ‘ ; . Qh 1072.0
2 Rams ; : i ‘ ; 3°00

Carried forward . . . £696 12 O

from March 25, 1838, to March 25, 1846. 37

Broughtforward |... .. . £696,120
The inventory, including tillages, manure,
implements of husbandry, &c. amounted
to ; é : : : oe On Oar
————— 1668 14 7
To this should be added fur ploughing and
sowing the spring and turnip crops,
taxes, and other expenses incurred be-
fore any return can be expected from

the farm, at least . F : : ; yea oO OO) 0
Add one year’s maintenance for the tenant
and his family, say . : : - #2007020
One year’s rent ; : > 30 08.0
— 350 O 90
£2318 14 7

—the capital which a tenant should have on entering a farm of
230 acres, 3 roods, 2 poles; or 190 acres, 5 poles, arable, and
40 acres, 2 roods, 37 poles, pasture,—being very nearly 10/. per
acre.

From further reference to the account it will be seen that
during the first seven years the receipts, after deducting the pay-
ments, were not sufficient to pay the rent and provide for the
tenant’s living, and consequently a further sum had to be annu-
ally advanced for that purpose :—

Le asilnids . Lie igand,

In 1838 the _ receipts And the payments to . » 971 2 7

amounted to. . . »« 935 9 1 | Addone year’srent . . 150 0 O
Sum required to balance at One year’stenant’s living, or
Lady-day, 1839 oe hiood 9 316 interest on 16681. 14s. 7d.,

the sum paid for tillages,
stock, &c. in 1838, at
lO percent... > loo 16. 0

£1287 18 7 £1287 18 7
To Lady-day, 1839, the sum required as above was . 352 9 6
»9 1840, 0 ” 286 8 0
. 1841, 33 e 183 4 9
_ 1842, H ‘5 470 1 10
¥ 1843, ss - 498 11 7
3 1844, - . 27 20
5 1845, fe 140 19 4

DUO SG 68 Gh ga PAI ZA 110)

Interest should be allowed upon these sums from the time they
were advanced to the spring of 1846, at the same rate as upon
the rest of the capital employed in the farm; but as the rent is
not usually paid till the end of the year, and the tenant’s main-
tenance is not paid all at once, I have allowed interest from the
spring of 1839 only.

The farm account is as follows :—

Account of Hall Farm

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panuru0a—o» SLNQNOODY WU JO AUVWWAS

42 Account of Hall Farm

N.B.—Mr. Cronk, who made out the inventory, states, that in addi-
_tion to the tillages, &c., valued according to the custom of the county
of Kent, a further sum of 3000. should be allowed for the improved con-
dition of the farm since 1838. I have not brought this into the account,
as I consider it doubtful how far a tenant could be found to pay that
sum in addition to the inventory, which amounts to 2043/. 9s. Had I
done so, the balance would have been 42/. 17s. 2d. in favour of the
farm, after allowing 10 per cent. on the capital invested.

To those who are unacquainted with the zaventory system which pre-
vails in Kent and Sussex, and some other parts of the country, the fore-
going account may appear rather difficult to comprehend; but as it is
not possible to make it out in any other shape, I trust the following
explanation may in some measure obviate that difficulty. The amount
of the inventory (2043/7. 9s.) includes all the ploughings and other pre-
paration for the crops of 1846 which had been made by the offgoing
tenant previous to Lady-day, 1846; it also includes the implements,
manures on the farm, hay and straw on the premises, at a foddering
price, turnips unconsumed at Lady-day, 1846, and many other little
matters. The incoming tenant ploughs and sows the land for the
spring and turnip crops, and takes the whole of the produce of 1846.
The difference between the amount of the inventory paid in the spring
of 1838 and of that paid in 1846 is no less than 10711. 6s. 5d., and
arises principally from the additional value of the implements, and also
from there being a much greater quantity of hay and straw and manure
on the farm at the latter period. The inventory system is most objec-
tionable in many respects, as the incoming tenant is too often called
upon to pay for acts of husbandry which have been most inefficiently
performed ; but still the evil cannot be got rid of unless the landowners
will take upon themselves to pay the amount of these inventories. If
they were to do so they might fairly charge an additional rent for the
land, as much less capital would be required to enter upon a farm than
is now the case.

From a careful perusal of the foregoing account, we find that in
taking a farm naturally so sterile and out of condition as this was
in 1838, a capital of not less than 1668/. 14s. 7d., or Tl. per acre,
was requisite in the first instance, and that in this case a further sum
of 2148/7. 17s. 10d. was required over and above the proceeds of the
farm to pay the rent and provide a maintenance for the tenant; so
that in fact the capital invested in the farm in the spring of 1846 was
as follows :—

See ss hd:

Inventory paid for in 1838 : : ° . ;, 1068) 145.7
Further amount required to pay rent, and towards

tenant’s living, &c. , ; A : . 2148 17 10

er

Total amount invested Eos 12:5

or about 16/. per acre. We also find that where a sufficient security
exists, the most stubborn and unproductive soil, if naturally dry, may

from March 25, 1838, to March 25, 1846. 43

by the application of great skill and capital be made to produce such
a return as will fully justify the expenditure of that capital; and we
further find, that where a farm is thoroughly out of condition it is in
vain to look for a speedy return; but, on the contrary, that many years
must elapse, and those probably attended with much care and anxiety,
before it can be even hoped for.

Before I close my remarks, I feel bound in justice to Mr. Robert
Jones to state, that it will be difficult, if not impossible, to meet with
a farm under better management than the one now under consideration,
and [ would earnestly invite the attention of all those who are interested
in the success of agriculture to it. A journey of a few miles will
be well repaid by the opportunity they will have of witnessing a
triumph of skill over obstacles of no ordinary nature; and although
they may return from the inspection of this farm without any desire
to undertake the cultivation of one similar to it, I feel assured they
will admit, that if success has been met with in this instance, there
is no reason to fear the result where they have a more genial soil to
deal with, and where the same means are applied as in the case
before us.

Hop-Ground.

In the case of the hop-gardens it is not necessary for me to
trouble your Lordship with many remarks. JI believe that if the
hop-grounds im Kent and Sussex were kept distinct from the
other part of the farm, as they ought to be, and all manures,
hop-poles, &c., were charged to the hop-account, as in this in-
stance, the hop-cultivation would not be so much esteemed as it
now is. There is, however, considerable benefit derived indi-
rectly from the cultivation of hops, and it consists in the great
employment it affords to the poor, not only in the hop-gardens
themselves, but also in the woods, which are very extensive in
the Wealds of Kent and Sussex, and are very valuable from the
growth of hop-poles. ‘The following account exhibits a profit,
for the eight years, cf 1140/7., or about 22 per cent. upon the
capital employed; certainly not more than ought to be calcu-
lated upon, considering that the cultivation of hops must be
regarded in the light of a speculation:

Account of Hall Farm

44

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“LNQNOODDY doF JO AUVNWAS

46 Burning Land for Manure.

In conclusion, I have only further to observe, that I called in
the assistance of Mr. Cronk, and directed him to make out the
inventory ; and I did so because he is well known in the neigh-
bourhood of Sevenoaks, and is much employed in valuations of
this kind, and is moreover a disinterested person. His instruc-
tions were to make out the inventory, upon the supposition that
the farm would be given up at Lady-day, 1846. Mr. Jones's
salary for managing the farm is included in the interest allowed
upon the capital employed in the cultivation. Hoping, therefore,
that the account may prove satisfactory to your Lordship, | beg
to subscribe myself

Your most obedient servant,

James Tomson.
To the Right Hon. Earl Amherst.

Il1.— Burning of Land for Manure. By THomas Row.anpson.
Prize Essay.

Few subjects connected with agriculture have elicited such oppo-
site opinions as that of burning land for manure; one party advo-
cating the practice as all that is excellent, the other maintaining
that it is utterly destructive of future fertility for the sole benefit
of the immediately succeeding crop. Ona little consideration
it will appear that the practice really has its advantages or disad-
vantages according to the nature of the soil on which the operation
is practised : now that it is admitted by all whoare in the slightest
degree acquainted with the recent researches on the chemical laws
which relate to the sources from which plants derive their mineral
constituents, the true rationale of the practice is of somewhat easy
elucidation. Admitting (and there cannot be a doubt on the
subject) that, ceteris paribus, on the abundance or scarcity of the
mineral constituents of crops existing in what may be termed an
active state in the various soils cultivated by the husbandman
depends the respective fertility of each; it will be apparent to
all, that the act of burning land for manure cannot add anything
to the soil, but can only have the effect of changing substances
previously existing therein in an inert or unayailable form into
an active or available form; in plain terms, into a state more
likely to be rendered soluble by the joint effects of carbonic acid
and water.

Respecting the dormant and active ingredients of soils a most
excellent paper appeared in the last part of the‘ Journal of Agri-
culture’ by Dr. Daubeny, being a part of his Bakerian Lecture
for 1845, in which he justly observes,—*“ Let us take the case of

Burning Land for Manure. 47

a natural soil, composed of certain kinds of disintegrated lava, or
even granite, in which it is even evident that an actual analysis
would detect the presence of a large per centage of alkali, not
improbably of a certain amount of phosphate of lime, and, in
short, of all those ingredients which plants require for their
support in sufficient abundance. Nevertheless land of this de-
scription, in consequence of the close union of the elementary
matters of which it consists and the compactness of its mechanical
texture, might be as barren and as incapable of imparting food to
plants, as an artificial soil composed of pounded glass is known
to be, notwithstanding the large proportion of alkali contained
in it.”

«In order, therefore, to ascertain the respective amount of the
active and dormant ingredients existing in soils, the writer di-
gested some soil for four or five successive hours in muriatic
acid, justly observing that whatever cannot be extracted from a
soil by such a digestion must be in such a state of combination
as will render it totally incapable of imparting anything to a plant
for such a period of time, at least, as cam enter economically into
the calculations of the agriculturist; and moreover that all which
muriatic acid extracts, but which water impregnated with carbonic
acid fails in dissolving, ought to be regarded as contributing
nothing towards present fertility, although it may ultimately be-
come available as food for plants.”

Dr. Daubeny, therefore, first ascertained the nature and
amount of the ingredients separable from a given weight of soil
by means of muriatic acid; and secondly, those obtained from an
equal weight by a definite quantity of water impregnated with
carbonic acid gas. Thus by a careful analysis he ascertained—
** That the soil of the Botanic Garden at Oxford contained within
an area of 100 square feet and a depth of 3 feet from the surface
3°5 lbs. of phosphoric acid, 6-9 lbs. of potash, and 2-9 lbs. of
soda, all in a state to be separated from the general mass by
muriatic acid.”

That the above, however, were for the most part in a dormant
condition, appeared from the much smaller amount of the same
which could be extracted by water containing carbonic acid; for
it was found that of all the alkaline sulphates* not 11 Ibs. could
be procured by these means instead of 19-2 lbs.

By operating in a similar manner upon soils of the same qua-
lity as the above, which had been exhausted by several years’
previous cropping, it appeared that the amount of the ingre-
dients alluded to as dormant in the soil did not much vary from

* The alkalies were estimated as sulphates, as it was found convenient
to unite them with sulphuric acid, in which state they admitted of being
heated and weighed without incurring loss.

48 Burning Land for Manure.

the above-quoted instance, but that the amount of the active
ones was beyond all comparison greater in the sample of un-
exhausted soil.*

I shall conclude these extracts by the following quotation from
the same paper :—‘‘ The dormant and active portions may both
be comprehended under the designation of its available consti-
tuents, whilst those which, from their state of combination in the
mass, can never be expected to contribute to the growth of
plants, may be denominated the passive ones.”

Every soil which is capable of yielding an abundant crop of
any kind of plant, after fallowing, must be assumed to possess
in itself an adequate supply of all the ingredients necessary for
its support in an available condition ; but it is plain that these
could not have existed in an active one, or such interval of rest
would not have been required for rendering them efficient.

Seeing that the inorganic constituents of plants exist in the
soil in three different states, which may be termed passive, avail-
able, and active, and that in one of these only (the active) are they
of service to the husbandman, it is evident that all operations
which will convert the first and second into the third state will
be of advantage to his labours.

When a chemist has to analyse a mineral that is refractory—in
other words, of difficult solubility by the ordinary agent—it is a
common practice to submit such a mineral or other matter to the
agency of heat, which sometimes wholly, but generally partially,
has the desired effect ; the remaining intractable matter, or the
whole substance, if found on subsequent trial unchanged, is mixed
with some alkali, as lime, soda, or potash, and again submitted
to the fire, on the withdrawal of which the constitution of the
matter under investigation will mostly be found so changed as to
become soluble in the ordinary solvents. It is, however, neces-
sary to be borne in mind, that the total solution of aluminous
and silicious soils is only obtained by treating the same with an
excess of alkali; such an amount of alkali as is necessary for the
purpose is never found in soils, and the process is only mentioned
in order that the farmer may the more easily comprehend the
true rationale of the action which takes place during the process
of burning land for manure.

From the preceding observations the reader will be prepared
for the information that the benefit of burning land for manure
will be found most beneficial on such soils as contain the largest
amount of the necessary mineral constituents of plants, in what
_has been previously alluded to as existing in a passive state, and

* See Table, p. 240, vol. vii., of Journal of the Royal English Agricul-
tural Society.

Burning Land for Manure. 49

on which the agency of heat will reduce the same to an active or
available form. At the head of these soils will be found stiff clays
and marls; next stiff loams, and loams thraughout their great
variety of gravelly, sandy, &c., down to silicious or sandy soils, on
which burning is utterly ruinous, except as will be mentioned
hereafter. Asa general rule, it may with safeiy be stated, that
in proportion to the sézffness of a soil will the benefit to be derived
from burning be found advantageous. Asa theory this rule may
be safely relied upon; there are, however, many circumstances
which act as drawbacks to its general application, arising from
the fact that soils variously situated may be found of equal
tenacity, but at the same time of exceedingly varied adaptation,
and requiring varied methods of burning in order to produce
beneficial results. The varied circumstances here alluded to
arise from the fact that soils taken from distant places may pre-
sent to outward appearance the same mechanical tenuity, whilst
their mineral constituents may be in a different state of mechanical
division, in varied proportions, or of a somewhat altered chemical
character ; so infinite are these varieties, that it would be impos-
sible, even if the limits of this paper would permit the same, to
describe all the qualities and the various modes to be followed
accordingly. :

Two great difficulties attend the burning of stiff soils—the one
arising from the heat engendered being so great as to bake instead
of to disintegrate the materials composing them; the other, that
the heat may not be raised sufficiently high to alter the inorganic
constituents of plants contained therein from a passive to an active
or available form. The first difficulty arises from permitting a
too great draught of air, and consequently causing a rapid and,
often through draughts, a partial but excessive combustion: the
second difficulty arises from either the heaps or kiln being made
up too closely or too.open; in the former case, the too free access
of air occasions the fires to burn languidly, and consequently de-
ficient heat through the absence of sufficient draught ; whilst, if
the clay or sod is packed too closely, the absence of air retards
combustion, and thus necessarily the amount of heat required for
the due perfection of the process, and combustion will not unfre-
quently be puta stop to altogether by the interstices becoming
filled with ashes, and by that means almost wholly excluding the
atmosphere. As soils vary so much with respect to their capacity
for burning for manure, it cannot be imagined that rules can here
be laid down for every case; in fact, unless a farmer knows from
experience the proper formation of heaps for burning, adapted to
the soil of his farm, it will be much better for him to make a few
experiments ona small scale rather than depend upon any written
or oral description. If in the course of these experiments he can

VOLs WITE, EK

50 Burning Land for Manure.

enlist the aid of a neighbour or labourer practised in the art, it will
greatly assist his efforts; notwithstanding such assistance, con-
siderable practice will be required ere he hecomes a proficient,
as most injurious effects may from apparently trivial causes arise:
as an instance [ may mention that, whilst in calm weather heaps
should be made as open as is consistent with arrangements neces-
sary for a due draught, in windy weather the heaps should be
formed as close and as large as possible, labourers being con-
tinually employed to stop up every crevice, particularly those on
the leeward side; for which purpose the whole of the sods should
not be heaped up at first, but a few be left scattered about, in
order to apply in the manner named. Should the soil yield to
the agency of a slight torrefaction, either through its composition
being such as not to have a tendency to bake, or through a large
amount of carbonaceous matters being present, it may be neces-
sary to throw on the lee-side some shovelfuls of earth. In stating
this I may say that the farmer may in tolerably open loams take
advantage of such a circumstance to burn double or treble the
amount of soil that he would otherwise have been capable of
doing. I have experienced the benefit arising from taking advan-
tage of such a circumstance, and can confidently recommend it to
others. In arranging the heaps, both as respects size and situ-
ation, it may be observed that on stiff clays, and particularly such
as only contain a small amount of vegetable matter, it will be
found impossible to make the requisite torrefaction in small heaps ;
whilst in more open soils, or soils containing a considerable
amount of carbonaceous matter, the heaps or steaddles—other
circumstances being favourable—can scarcely be too numerous ;
for this reason, that every heap burned on soils of the quality now
under consideration will torrefy the soil on which it is placed to
a depth of 2, 3, 4, or 5 inches according to circumstances, thus
greatly increasing the productive amount of ashes and torrefied soil,
at no increase, but rather a diminution, of expense and labour. In
dry weather I have frequently, when all the principal sods, &c.,
had been gathered up and placed in heaps, and whilst they were
in the act of burning, sent men round with large rakes to rake up
every particle of grass or other vegetable matter, and the small
crumbly clots of soil from the size of marbles to 2 or 3 inches’
diameter, which could be found between each heap, and throwing
a shovelful of fire amongst the soil so gathered, by which the
amount of ashes was greatly increased. Provided the weather
prove favourable, this will be found a most excellent practice.
The rakes I used were home-made, being merely a head com-
posed of ash, 2 feet 6 inches long and 14 inch square, into which
twelve two-shilling-the-hundred nails were fixed, in the following
manner, viz.—holes were bored in-the head of the rake by an

Burning Land for Manure. Dt

ordinary gimlet; the nails were then made red hot, and so
placed in each hole and driven up to about half the length of the
shank, when they were knocked out and allowed to cool, or else
put in water to cool more expeditiously. When cold, the nails
can be driven into the holes previously drilled into the head by
burning. Any rough straight stick may be taken for a handle,
which can be affixed to the head by a piece of iron riveted to
the head, with a’spike attached thereto to insert into the rake-
handle (8 feet long), which should have an iron ferrule at the
end of it, to prevent it (the handle) from splitting. Persons in the
habit of burning soil for manure in the open field should always
be in possession of a few such rakes, particularly as they are
extremely useful for raking up all kinds of rubbish and stubble.
On soils which are very stiff, and not containing much vegetable
matter, great care is required in order to form heaps that will
burn thoroughly, without too great a degree of heat or too little.
One of the principal rules to be observed is always to erect the
sods on end (if they are not square) ; the three or four first sods
which are placed in the middle only having their grassy sides
presented to each other, each succeeding row being placed with
the grassy side next to the earthy side of the preceding row; the
whole to be set up as compact as possible. When the heap is
thus erected of a dome-shape, fire should be applied at the top, on
which an ignited sod should be placed. Any clay with a mode-
rate degree of sward will thus, if carefully attended to, produce
a quantity of ashes suitable to the wants of the husbandman. It
may, and often does, happen that on clay-soils, on which burning
may be deemed advantageous, no sward exists ; the vegetable matter
principally consisting of weeds and grasses that only partake of
that character, the destruction of which in such a case will form
as prominent an object with the farmer as the production of
ashes. When this occurs, the best plan for the agriculturist to
pursue, whether it respects the abundance of ashes to be ob-
tained or the complete destruction of the weeds, is to burn the
same inthe clamp or kiln; for, inthe case now under consider-
ation, it will be found that, if the attempt is made to burn
the soil by the mode previously described, only a very small
amount of ashes can be procured, and the entire destruction of
the weeds will be problematical, as the clots of clay will be so
greatly divided, that it would be found extremely difficult to
construct an ordinarily formed heap of such materials as will
consume the entire vegetable matter contained therein.

Burning in clamps, or large heaps, can only be accomplished
successfully by practised hands, and its due management can only
be ascertained by a thorough practical knowledge of the operation,

4

52 Burning Land for Manure.

as adapted to the particular soil to be burned. In illustration of
this position, I may observe that Mr. Pym states, vol. i. ‘ Royal
English Agricultural Journal, p. 323, “ The great art is to let .
the clay burn slowly, which depends very much upon the proper
formation of the walls” (clamps), ‘ which are of turf, as the ashes
then turn out black for the most part, and are considered much
better than when they are red and clinking, like bricks.” Again,
p. 325, Mr. Pusey gives, on the authority of another corre-
spondent, ‘‘ The heat should always be slow and steady, never, if
possible, burning the clay red; though this is very difficult indeed
to manage, depending very much on the wind; and it is best
effected by making heaps of not less than 60 or 100 loads each,
and these will take from two to three months to burn. All inex-
perienced hands use too much fuel, get their fires too fierce, lay
their stuff too hollow, make a great deal of smoke—whereas the
less they make the better—get their heaps to a. red heat, and
burn them through in a week or ten days; and the consequence
is, that, when these heaps are opened, instead of ashes, or lumps
that will fall into ashes by exposure to the air, out roll knobs as
hard and as useless as brick-ends.” ‘“ Much also depends upon
the size of the clay lumps, and their state of humidity ; if too dry
they will burn too fierce, 7f too wet they will not burn at all.”
Other writers have found exposure of clay clods to the atmosphere
advantageous; yet in contrast to the above we have the eyi-
dence of Mr. Long,* who states, in allusion to this subject, that
on his soil—a thin, dry, flmty loam upon chalk—* the only
difficulty being, that many persons, and himself amongst the
number, at first produced a hard substance, more resembling ©
brickbats than powder.” ‘“ This difficulty he obviated by (previ-
ous to burning) well saturating the soil with water, working and
treading it to the consistency of mortar; for water will sepa-
rate any particles, however adhesive, and then the fire, expelling
the water and the carbonic acid gas, leaves the particles previously
separated, when burnt, in the state of very fine powder ; and if
any should not at first be quite separated, it slacks immediately
on the application of liquid.” Mr. Long further proceeds to state,
“ Having saturated the soil thus with water, as much as a spade
will hold is rolled up to the size of a large cannon-ball, and is
handed to a man in the kiln, who places it on the bars of the
coping of the brick arches over the furnace. He places each ball
as he receives it side by side, for two or three tiers, one above the
other, and then lights the bavins in the furnace,” &e. For further
particulars, as also for the plan of the furnace, I must refer to the

* Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society, vol. vii. p. 245.

Burning Land for Manure. 53

paper in question. I do so the more readily, as I conceive it
contains the best account of kilns for clay-burning, together with
their economical management, of any yet published. My imme-
diate object in drawing attention to the paper here is only, to show
that a considerable discrepancy of opinion exists as to the state of
humidity in which clay should be placed in kilns or clamps, in
order to be burned for manure. There can be no doubt that
both the remarks of Mr. Long and Mr. Pym are founded upon
actual experience and after due deliberation, yet how opposite
their conclusions respecting the state of humidity in which clay
should be prior to being placed in kilns or clamps for burning!
From the aboye-quoted description of each process, it must be
apparent to all that, reversing their order, there would be the
strongest probability that Mr. Long’s process would not be adapted
to the soil of Mr. Pym, nor Mr. Pym’s process to the soil of Mr.
Long—in fact, a compleie illustration of a previous assertion, that
the best mode of burning clay lands for manure can only be
ascertained by actual experiment.

A few other remarks may also be made on the above quotations.
Mr. Pym states that the great art is to burn the soil so that the
ashes shall turn out black, as they are then much better than
when they are red or clinking. With respect to clay being formed
into clinkers, there can only be one opinion, viz. their worse than
uselessness; yet if the burning process is not carried further than
merely to char the vegetable matter in the clay, and thus form
black” ashes, it will Be quite evident that the benefit derivable
from an application of such ashes will be slight indeed, being
merely that arising from the small portion of the inorganic consti-
tuents of plants set free from the charring of the vegetable matter
existing in the torrefied clay, and probably a slight amelioration
of the mechanical condition of the soil, rendering a stiff soil some-
what more porous, and consequently permitting a freer access of
the atmosphere to the roots of plants. It may with safety be
avyerred that any mode of burning clay for manure which stops
short of converting the protoxide (black oxide) of iron into the
red, or peroxide, is incomplete, and will not produce any strikingly
beneficial results. I am aware that some change may have been
made in the nature of the clay by the process described by Mr.
Pym; but all the evidence tends to show that this must be
mainly mechanical. Whether, however, it is possible for the
process to be conducted further with safety on soils such as
Mr, Pym’s, is a question that can only be decided by actual ex-
periment.

In Mr. ‘Long’s case it would appear that his soil consisted of
decayed minerals and flints in the state of rubble, but not inti-

54 Burning Land for Manure.

mately blended together, in which case the theory of the action
of the water, and mixing the soil into mortar, becomes explicable
in the following manner, viz.—when burned without mixing, the
finer particles of soil are apt to be acted on by the fire; but when
coarser matters become intimately mixed with the finer portions
of the clay, the fire is not sufficiently strong to vitrify the coarser
parts, although hot enough to flux the same when finely divided—
otherwise Mr. Long’s experiments would be quite in opposition
to the daily practice of the brick, tile, and earthenware manu-
facturers, who water and tread their clays for the express purpose
of rendering the same into a firm hard mass when baked. With
a few remarks respecting another class of stiff soils, viz. marls, ]
shall conclude this part of the subject. Marls that contain a
moderate amount of vegetable matter, and a considerable quantity
of lime, will be found to burn easily in moderately dry weather,
by being formed into heaps in the ordinary manner, viz. by
heaping the pared sods into masses about four or five yards’ dis-
tance from each other, and applying fire to the same. If, how-
ever, the marl consists of a tough blue character, so frequently
found as a subsoil, and in a great measure destitute of organic
matter, any attempt to burn the same for manure other than in
a kiln will be found fruitless, and for this purpose small coal
should always be used. ‘This description of marl will generally
be found the most advantageous soil to burn for manure, but the
greatest caution is required in conducting the operation. If the
same, from inattention, want of knowledge, or other cause, is found
overburned or baked, it will generally be found that an applica-
tion of cold water to the lumps will speedily disintegrate them.
Sandy soils should never be burned, except as a cleaning
operation: the same remark applies to gravelly soils. On both
the system to be pursued should merely consist of repeated
ploughings, harrowings, &e., and raking up the weeds and other
waste vegetable matters, and applying fire to them. In proportion
as soils proceed from stiff clays and marls, or rather from alumi-
nous to silicious soils, will the benefit to be derived from burning
soils be found to diminish ; whilst the stiffer the soil, the greater
the benefit. The ne plus ultra of burning a stiff soil is when
ashes are obtained of a deep red colour if the oxide of iron is
present, and in small rounded lumps that easily crumble into
a fine powder when pressed between the fingers, possessing a
eritty feel: such ashes will be found to possess every mechanical
advantage and all the beneficial chemical changes which fire is
capable of giving to soils. Deep vegetable soils, as bogs and
peat-mosses, are greatly benefited by paring and birning, for
which purpose the land should be pared by the breast or push

Burning Land for Manure. 590

plough, Dutch plough, or shim, cross-cut and torn about with a
harrow or cultivator, and then drawn into heaps by a horse-rake.
In this manner, especially where the Dutch plough is used, an
extensive breadth of land can be thus cultivated at a cheap rate
and in a short period. Should, however, the weather be dry,
great care must be taken that the heaps do not form pit-holes, in
consequence of the fire penetrating deep into the soil. On these
soils the beneficial action of burning is also mechanical and
chemical—mechanical in an opposite view to burning clay, as on
moory soils the ashes tend to consolidate an otherwise too porous
soli; and chemically by the same mode which attends the action
of fire on all soils, which has been sufficiently dilated upon
already.

Clamp-burning is effected by erecting the clay-sods, &c., into
large heaps of from 30 to 400 loads, with small spaces, as flues,
left at intervals. Soils burned in this manner which contain only
a small amount of vegetable matter will frequently require the
ald of furze, underwood, small coal, or other inflammable matter,
to assist the operation. Unless fagots or furze can be obtained
cheaply, or coals are very dear, the latter will in general be found
least expensive. ‘There exists on all the coal districts a great
amount of stiff clays and marls that could be burned advantage-
ously and cheaply by using some of the carbonaceous shales which
are now thrown aside, and form enormous heaps at the mouths of
coal-pits, that are not adapted to household or manufacturing
purposes, yet contain sufficient inflammable matter to burn clay :
the hint is worth attending to. In burning soils of every descrip-
tion this must be ever kept in mind, that, unless the farmer returns
an equivalent to the soil, in the fare of manure, for the crops
taken from it after burning, clays or any other soil will speedily
return to their original infertility. Taking crops after burning,
without returning such equivalent, are merely drafts on the re-
sources of posterity, as soils, such as the Botanic Garden at Ox-
ford, would by such means be deprived of the whole of the
mineral constituents of plants contained therein in the course of
ten short rotations. It is the practice so injuriously resorted to
by farmers, of taking crops from burned land without restoring
an equivalent, that has brought the practice so unjustly into dis-
repute, as it may safely be averred that there is not a practice
in the course of husbandry so advantageous as an assistant to the
fallow season as that of burning land, on all descriptions of soils,
except poor sands, gravels, and rubbles. On downs it has been
found advantageous, and particularly so on chalk soils which have
been some years previously under sainfoin. ‘This might be ex-
pected, as sainfoin sends its long roots many feet into the interstices

56 Burning Land for Manure.

of the chalk, drawing thence a supply of inorganic constituents not
attainable by the ordinary implements of husbandry, but which are
yielded up in a great measure-to the surface-soil when the roots,
&c., are burned. For preparing the land for burning no imple-
ment is so useful as the Dutch paring-plough, with a revolving
coulter. ‘The Berkshire shim is also a useful implement for such
purpose. The push or breast plough is better adapted to moss-
Jand than any other description of soil. Paring with an adze,
called in the West of England “a baating-axe,”’ or *‘ raibb batt,”
or paring mattock, is very generally practised in Ireland, where
it is the only method pursued for paring land prior to burning,
and is called graffing in that country. I had an opportunity of
comparing the cost of such operation, when accomplished by this
implement, in contrast with the Dutch plough; and although a
“ graffer”’ cannot earn more than 1s. per diem at this work, I
found the plough did the business at half the expense; in fact,
this and the push-plough should only be used in difficult or extra-
ordinary cases, as horses and ploughs will generally be found
least expensive and under the more immediate control of the
farmer.

Sufficient has been said as to the modes of burning Jand. It
may, however, with propriety be here remarked, that, when the
surface-soil is to be burned for manure in small heaps distributed
over the field, paring by the plough, and subsequently cross-
cutting, scuffling, and harrowing the same, will be found the least
expensive mode of preparing the same previous to burning. On
soft peaty soils the whole operation, including spreading the ashes,
may be done for about 12s. 6d.; on clays, or stiff soils, according
to their nature, it will cost 25s. to 30s, per acre, which will be
found the least expensive mode of fallowing.

Burning clay in clamps will cost from 4d. to 6d. or 8d. per
cubic yard; burning clay in kilns will cost from 8d. to 9d. per
cubic yard, and 80 cubic yards of clay may be considered a fair
dressing per acre.

Provided an adequate return is made to the soil for the crop
taken off after burning, no injury will be sustained by it, except
on thin gravelly and sandy moors, much intermixed with vegetable
matter, on which paring and burning will be found most destruc-
tive, as it destroys the staple of such soils. All such, and sandy
soils, should never be burned, except after well weighing the
advantages and disadvantages likely to arise therefrom. Generally
on such soils the disadvantages will be found to preponderate.

Gon)

1V.— Report of an Experiment with Special Manures, as applied to
the Growth of Turnips in the Summer of 1846. By Tuomas
PAGE.

To Charles Barclay, Esq., Bury Hill.

Srr,—In compliance with your request, I beg to present you with
a Report of the experiments made with Special Manures for the
Growth of Turnips, on your estate during the last summer.

In order that the nature of the several experiments may be the
better understood, and consequently a more correct estimate
formed of their different results, I will state as briefly as possible
the nature of the soil, the course of cropping which it had pre-
viously undergone, and the preparatory cultivation of the land
for the crop; together with any other attendant circumstances
which may serve to illustrate the subject.

The nature of the soil in question is a light blowing sand, very
shallow, with a considerable quantity of rubbly surface-stones,
resting on a subsoil of sandstone rock. In point of quality, I
believe I am justified in saying, it is almost as poor as any land
in the county of Surrey. ‘The part of the farm chosen, on which
the trial took place, was a field of ten acres in extent, an old ley
of three years’ standing, the layer commencing immediately after
a crop of oats. The land was broken up with the plough as deep
as it was possible to go, in the autumn of 1845. In the fol-
lowing April the land was again ploughed, in an exactly opposite
direction to that taken in the autumn. The plough was never
again used, the cultivation being completed by the use of Biddel’s
scarifier ; the couch and roots of the grasses were collected by
Grant’s lever horse-rake, some small part of which was burnt on
the land for the sake of expedition, and the remaining greater
portion carted to the yards.

From the backwardness of the season, and the multiplicity of
work which necessarily attends an extensive breadth of turnips,
the sowing was delayed till the 22nd and 23rd of July. The
seed and manure were deposited by a drill manufactured by
Smyth, of Suffolk, worked by two horses, drilling 3 rows at 18
inches apart at each breadth. Thekind of seed the “ red round.”

The field was divided into ten portions, containing an acre in
each ; but owing to some part of the manure not being sufficiently
dry to work quite properly, the divisions first made were neces-
sarily altered, which will account for there being but nine portions
mentioned below.

I here subjoin a tabular statement of the quantities and kind of
manure applied to each portion, together with the cost of each,
and also the weight of the whole produce per acre :—

a Ge a Le Ole ee LaeO) AG
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stunydyug ur paazos
“Sip souog paysnig

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‘soysy JIL ‘ploy
otumydyng ut paazos
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jo uodiioseg

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Jo Ayyuengy jo on

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t with Special Manures.

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| 0 £0 °° °° * poy ‘sq, PQ | Jaay, ‘ploy o1nygd
| 0 OLO ° ° sanog ysng 7 | -[aG UL poAdTossip
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0 £0 °° * * pry sql Ps | JUL ‘poy oungd
0 OLO ° °* sanog‘ysnqg F | -[ng ut pestosety
0 GI * syouyt JO speor g | souog paysnaD “onal o€¢ 0 T 8
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@ £20 .° * * ploy ‘sq, Fe | pue ‘proy ony
0 OL O - + souog *ysuq p | -[ng UL PECL
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60 Experiment with Special Manures.

It should be observed that the field was as nearly as possible of
uniform quality ; and the cultivation, both previous and subse-
quent to the sowing, on all parts exactly alike.

The weight of top and tail per acre may seem small in pro-
portion to fae weight of roots; but it must be remembered that
the weighing took place immediately after a month’s unusually
severe weather, the land being at a considerable elevation and
very much exposed. ° ‘The crop was hand-hoed twice, and thrice
horse-hoed.

On all the portions where dissolved bones were used, the plants
came forwarder to the hoe than where they were not used; but
beyond this there was not much perceptible difference in the
appearance of the different parts, until from a month to 6 weeks
had elapsed, when No. 7 began to grow less rapidly than the rest.
At the end of between 7 and 8 weeks No. 1 began to falloff; and
ina few days No. 2 followed. Further than this difference, the
eye could hardly detect where the separation of each kind of
dressing took place.

It will doubtless be looked upon by some as rather a curious
account; but Iam persuaded that it is by making experiments
such as these we shall practically arrive at that knowledge so
much to be desired, viz. the specific dressing which each crop re-
quires, and how this shall be varied to suit the different descriptions
of soil.

The crop of turnips, which, by the by, are considered exceed-
ingly good, are now being fed off on the land; after which, it will
be sown with barley, cow-grass following. The growth of these
crops will be narrowly watched, and any particular effects which
may be noticed will be reported at a future period.

I am, Sir,
Your very obedient humble servant,
Holmwood Farm, Dorking, Surrey, Tuomas Paar.

llth February, 1847.

V.— On the Management of Wheat. By Epwarp Roserts, Jun.
Prize Essay.

1.—Preparation of the Land according to variety of Soils.

WuEat, the most valuable of grains, is grown upon nearly every
description of land; but the soils best adapted for its culture are
those which are more or less clayey: indeed these heavy soils are
so peculiary fitted to its production that they are frequently dis-

Management of Wheat. 61

tinguished by the appellation of “good wheat-land.” It is well
known, however, that wheat will grow to high perfection upon
almost every soil, when the land is properly prepared for it.

Whatever may be the nature of the soil, it should always be the
aim of the farmer to grow full crops: partial and sometimes ex-
tensive failures will even then but too often occur; but to neglect
making the best-known preparation, or only to prepare for half a
crop, is an ill-judged notion, and has a direct tendency to unre-
munerating farming.

In order to prepare for luxuriant crops, the land, when of a
wet nature, must be liberated from all surplus water by proper
under-draining; it must be clean from couch-grass and all other
kinds of rubbish; not tired out by cross or improper cropping ;
must be judiciously manured, but not overdone with it, inas-
much as too much manure causes the growth of an unnaturally
large quantity of straw, which, if the season happens to be wet or
stormy, will be crippled and flat on the ground before the ears
could come to perfection. When this happens, it both lessens the
quantity, and very much deteriorates the quality of the grain. The
land being otherwise well prepared, it is perhaps upon the whole
more desirable to have a little deficiency of manure than too much,
as, if necessary, a partial top-dressing may always be added in the
spring. ‘The land must not be wheated oftener than the soil will
admit: some soils will bear it more frequently than others, and it
is essentially necessary that the kind of seed should be adapted to
the description of soil upon which it is to be propagated. An
entire change of seed from hot land to cold, and from cold land to
hot, will always be found advantageous, and especially from hot to
cold soils, in which case it will frequently bring the harvest nearly
a week earlier. In both cases it is generally allowed to increase
the yield, improve the sample, and preserve the stock in greater
purity.

It has now become very general to sow wheat after clover upon
all classes of soils. This is doubtless one of the best systems of
growing wheat: the roots of clover after becoming decomposed
afford much nutriment to the growing wheat, and the firmness
given to the land is another great recommendation. It has been
frequently observed when the plant of clover has been deficient
that the wheat-plant fails also. This, however, is not always the
case: at the same time it serves to show a peculiar adaptation, on
many soils, to the growth of wheat after clover. There are
several other methods of preparing land, varying according to the
nature of soils, which oftentimes produce crops of the first order.
Some of these are as follows :—

Ist, Upon clayey soils, a full summer's fallow is occasionally
resorted to as a preparation for the wheat-crop on much of the

62 Management of Wheat.

land in Essex, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, and other counties,
particularly when the land becomes foul with couch-grass, &c.,
and cannot very well be brought into a thorough clean state of
cultivation by partial fallows, connected with the growth of green
crops. Considerable benefit is also derived from summer fallow-
ing upon this kind of soil, as it causes a more perfect decom-
position of its constituent parts. This latter effect has been
proved in many cases by experienced farmers, and has come
under the observation of the writer. For instance, when this
kind of land has been repeatedly dunged, better crops have fre-
quently been obtained after a full summer’s fallow without dung,
than after a good dressing of dung without a full summer’s
fallow. In illustration of this statemtent, Professor Liebig, in
his work on the ‘ Chemistry of Agriculture,’ says—< In the
effect produced by time, particularly in the case of fallows, or that
period during which a field remains at rest, science recognises
certain chemical actions which proceed continuously by means of
the influence exercised by the constituents of the atmosphere
upon the surface of the soil ;” and in another place he says—<< It
is quite certain that careful ploughing and breaking up of the
soil, by producing the change and increase of its surface, exer-
cises a very favourable influence upon its fertility.” At no very
distant period farmers generally considered systematic summer
fallowing to be one of the most important points of agriculture ;
and there are some in the present day who have proved its peculiar
suitableness to a few of the wet clayey soils; though many speak
of it as an unnecessary waste of labour, and a sacrifice of the pro-
duce of the land.

In some parts of the midland counties, upon the heavy soils,
where a summer’s fallow is the preparation for wheat, about July
or the beginning of August, when the soil has been thoroughly
cleaned and puly erized, it is formed into two bout stitches | yard
wide, and manured in precisely the same way as for turnips,
putting on from 8 to 10 cart-loads per acre: others spread the
dung on the surface and plough it in, forming their land into
stitches from 2 to 8 yards wide. In both cases the land should
remain untouched from this period till the time of sowing. In
the latter case the seed is drilled in rows from 6 to 10 inches
asunder. When labour is plentiful the dibbling process is often
adopted, and then a Jess quantity of seed is sufficient. The horse-
hoe is sometimes used to cut up the annual weeds immediately
previous to sowing, which frequently grow very strong, and would
be too much for the harrows to eradicate. When the former plan
is adopted—namely, that of ploughing the land into two bout
stitches—the plough is sufficient, and there is no necessity for the
horse-hoe. The seed is sown under the furrow in the “spraining”’

Management of Wheat. 63

method; one seedsman to two ploughs, which merely reverse the
ridges that were made when the land was dunged. Small light
seed-ploughs are kept for the purpose, which leave a narrow fur-
row. Many farmers object to this method because of the numerous
furrows; but this is an erroneous idea, for when wheat is drilled or
dibbled the space between each row is often more than the width
of one of these furrows. Others object to it because the wheat
comes up similar to the broad-cast system, and they cannot very
well hoe it in the spring; but this is no valid objection, for if a
fallow has been properly managed the wheat will scarcely require
hoeing, since, by continually moving the land during the early part
of the summer, most of the seeds of annual weeds have been brought
sufficiently near the surface for germinating; and the land being
left quiet from the end of July until seed-time gives every encou-
ragement for the weeds to grow; there are consequently but few
seeds near enough to the surface for vegetating in the spring.
Three men, with two ploughs and four horses, can put in by this
system about 3acres per day. Last year, upon an extensive farm
known to the writer, more than half the wheat was sown in this
way, and proved remarkably fine, even more so than that sown
after clover.

In some parts of Scotland the wheat is sown with a drill-plough,
which drills the seed, and covers it in with the furrow turned by
the plough: the crop, of course, comes: up in drills, and this me-
thod is considered to prevent the wheat losing plant on wet and
loose soils.

It is well known that wheat should be sown when the land is
clung, and it is considered better to wait and have a late season of
sowing than to put it in when the soil is in a dusty state; which,
upon some land, causes the wheat to become root-fallen, and upon
sous of a closer texture, where this does not occur, the wheat sel-
dom flourishes so well as when put in after rain. The land is
never too wet for sowing wheat, provided it works at all kindly,
and the seed can be effectually covered. There are, however,
some soils of a peculiar mixture of sand and clay, which, if
stirred when very wet, will run together, and afterwards in dry
weather form a hard crust, which of course checks the growth of
the plant.

The best period fur sowing wheat on cold clayey soils is from
the last week in September to the middle of October, as it seldom
becomes winter-proud upon such land.

Many think that water-furrowing may be entirely dispensed
with where the land has been thoroughly under-drained, but this
opinion is not borne out upon very heavy tenacious clays. . [ have
observed that upon such soils the surface-water has not gone off
sufficiently quick without it.

64 Management of Wheat.

When this or any other kind of land has been previously got
into a high state of cultivation, it is frequently cleaned and made
ready in the autumn for dunging in the spring, and then sown
with turnips or mangold, which are usually carried off in the
autumn and the land sown with wheat. But sometimes the roots
cannot be removed till late in the season; the time of sowing is
then sometimes delayed till January or February, when spring-
wheat is generally sown. Upon ordinary heavy soils that have a
dry subsoil and do not require draining, white turnips, grown upon
the fallows and fed off with sheep during the months of October
and November, are an excellent preparation for wheat. When this
plan is adopted, wheat is generally grown three times in a double
four-course system of 8 years, namely—lIst year, fallow for tur-
nips; 2nd year, wheat; 3rd year, beans or peas; 4th year, wheat:
the next round being—®dth year, fallow for swedes; 6th year,
barley; 7th, clover; Sth, wheat. Upon some soils a heavier and
better sample is produced after turnips than by any other pre-
paration.

Wheat is often sown after beans. In this case dung should be
applied for the beans, which if kept clean will be a good prepa-
ration for wheat. ‘This is preferable to dunging immediately for
wheat, which often occasions blight; but, by having an interme-
diate crop of beans, blight is generally prevented, and better crops,
both of wheat and beans, are produced. If farm-yard dung cannot
be obtained for the beans, rape-cake drilled in at the time of sow-
ing the wheat at the rate of from 8 to 16 bushels per acre will
generally be found sufficient to produce a crop.

On the heavy clay lands of Norfolk and Suffolk, barley has
taken the place of wheat after fallow, and the wheat either follows
clover or beans and peas; the rotation commonly adopted being—
Ist year, fallow; 2nd, barley; 3rd, half clover, half beans or peas ;
4th, wheat. The dung isapplied to the pulse by the best farmers,
and the crop is well hand or horse-hoed. Wheat is drilled after
beans, though hand-dibbled by many after clover. Farm-yard
manure is used heavily on clover-layers, either on the young seeds
during winter, ora short time before ploughing the land for wheat.
The former method is preferred by many, because the clover has
the benefit of the dung, and the wheat comes “kindlier.”” This
system of exposing the manure to the atmosphere will appear to
tell against the generally-approved method of ploughing it in: at
the same time, admitting that much of its virtue evaporates into
the air, yet the clover absorbs a portion of that part of the manure
which suits its growth, leaving such properties to be taken up
by the wheat which are peculiarly beneficial to it. The system
of growing grain-crops on the retentive clayey soils of the eastern
counties is one that might be followed with some advantage on

Management of Wheat. 65

much of our heavy wet land, particularly that which is ploughed
in “ high-backed ’ ; lands. In’travelling through a heavy land dis-
trict how often do we see these wide and round lands laid up toan
enormous height by repeated ploughings in one direction, under
the fallacious fides, of draining the land; but how seldom does it
answer the intended purpose; though it ae this disadvantage, that
the crop in the furrow bears no proportion to that on the ridge.
There is also great injury sustained in the cultivation of the land,
particularly 1 in the operations of drilling or sowing the wheat-crop,
for there is not only the inconvenience, minichs aries, irons the
rounded form of the land, in carting and tillage, but there is also
a very great amount of injury from the treading of retentive land.
This is in a great measure prevented by the system of clay-farming
more particularly adopted in the eastern counties, Norfolk and
Suffolk, which are the acknowledged seat of the origin of drill-
husbandry. In those counties we see the width of lands or
“stitches,” as they are termed, adapted to the size of the drill,
either for one stroke or fora bout of the machine; and the horses,
in drilling, harrowing, rolling, and other tillage operations, inva-
riably walk in the furrows without trampling the soil.

Upon most of the light chalky or gravelly soils wheat generally
succeeds clover or trefoil ; but in cases where the plant of clover
fails, early peas are occasionally substituted, and as soon as the
peas are removed the land is sown with either coleseed, white
mustard, or tares, which are fed off with sheep, as a preparation
for wheat, and generally succeeds perfectly well. The clover or
trefoil is ploughed flat and shallow, the land rolled with a heavy
roll. The grooved drill-roller and Crosskill’s clod-crusher are both
excellent implements for this purpose, though the drill-roller can
be used when the land is too moist for the clod-crusher to make
effective work, and it raises a greater quantity of mould for the drill.
Rolling after the seed is sown, treading or folding with sheep, are
means adopted for the purpose of consolidating the soil, and by
that means preventing the plant being thrown out, and also for
stopping the ravages of the wire-worm. ‘The process of claying
light sandy or gravelly soils is essential for the production of a
good crop of wheat; it supplies materials that are wanting in the
soil, improves its mechanical texture by making it more adhesive
and less liable to be acted upon by continued drought. Itis com-
monly found that a greater quantity of seed peracre is used on the
light soils than on any other kind of soil; the end of October is
considered the best time of sowing.

Upon rich, deep, dry, loamy soils, wheat is successfully culti-
vated after potatoes, the potatoes being removed at the latest in
October, 1t is no uncommon thing on some tracts of land—such
as are extensively found in the neighbourhood of East Ham,

VOL. VILT. F

66 Management of Wheat.

Barking, Romford, Edmonton, Enfield, and other places—to grow
wheat and potatoes alternately for many years together. But in
order to carry on this system successfully, dung must be liberally
used for the potatoes; no dressing beyond this is required for the
wheat; the potatoes yielding from 300 to 500 bushels. per acre,
and the wheat from 30 to 40 bushels. Of course, as above hinted,
to carry on this kind of farming, manure must be made rich and
applied abundantly, or be obtained plentifully from large towns.
Upon this description of land 4 pecks of seed are amply sufficient,
and it should never be sown till the end of October or the begin-
ning of November ; if at all earlier, it becomes winter-proud and
produces too muchstraw. I have witnessed the large yield of full
50 bushels per acre throughout a field of 37 acres in the parish of
East Ham, in Essex, where the seed was not sown till the middle
of December, after. a full crop of potatoes. Upon other strong
yet rich Joams, containing a larger proportion of clay, wheat and
beans are successfully cultivated alternately. The beans, being
kept perfectly clean, frequently supersede the labour of ploughing
for wheat ; in which case the land is harrowed previously to drilling
or dibbling the wheat.

Peat-soils are of so loose a texture that they require to be ren-
dered as solid as possible by a good drainage—for peat holds
water like a sponge, and when the water is carried off it contracts
in a similar manner—by the admixture of clay or other inorganic
substances, and by rolling and pressing before and after planting,
to insure a medium quality of grain. As these improvements go
on in the fens of Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, &c. &c., the
quality of grain brought to market approaches nearer to that grown
on sandy and loamy soils, while the quantity greatly exceeds the
corn grown on light sands or gravels. ‘The fen-farmers have one
advantage with respect to the growth of a good quality of grain,
which is the absence of hedges and of hedge-row trees. A pre-
paration which appears adapted for peat-soils is to plough the land
shallow, drill-roll, and hand-dibble the seed in the grooves formed
by the roller, and then cover the seed with the harrow. The solid-
ity given to the soil by this method is what is absolutely neces-
sary on the spongy peat-soils. The rolling, and treading, and
depth at which the seed is deposited prevent the plants being
thrown out by alternate frosts and thaws; and, giving the root a
good hold of the soil, in some measure prevent also the crops being
lodged or becoming root-fallen. With respect to dibbling, we
may observe, that it is acknowledged to be the means of obtaining
a stiffer straw ; and hence the propriety of hand-dibbling at a cost
of 7s. or 8s. per acre on a loose peat.

On freshly broken-up grass-land oats are preferred to wheat ;
though, after the surplus vegetable matter of the soil has been

Management of Wheat. 67

reduced by burning, tillage, and the mechanical application of
suitable earthy matter, wheat can be grown of good quality. Of
course these remarks on fresh broken-up land are general, though
not applicable to every case.

It is an acknowledged fact, applicable to every description of
soil, that the land prepared for wheat cannot be too stale or solid,
provided it be free from weeds, and the surface sufficiently mouldy
to coyer the seed,

2. The application of Dung or Artificial Manures.

If a sufficiency of farm-yard manure could be obtained there
would be little necessity for any other, inasmuch as it contains all
the ingredients requisite for producing every kind of crop. But
let it be understood that the dung should be composed of the
excrements of animals well fed under cover.

It has been before observed, that when dung is to be applied
in liberal quantities for the benefit of wheat, it should, if practi-
cable, be put on the land previous to sowing a preceding root or
pulse crop; for thus those ingredients of the dung, which only
tend in their first effect upon the land to force an over-abundant
growth of straw, will have been extracted, leaving the land in a
good state for wheat. Where root or pulse crops are not grown
the dung should be applied to naked fallows for wheat as early
in the summer as possible.

Though the practice of manuring immediately before sowing
the wheat is objectionable, it is still adhered to in many parts of
the country. ;

A compost of earth and dung is highly beneficial on light
chalky and silicious soils.

Four or five loads per acre of farm-yard manure and half a
folding with sheep are a good manure for wheat, and frequently
adopted by the farmers of the midland counties.

A very large proportion of land is manured for wheat by means
of the sheep-fold alone, especially upon dry soils, where great
benefit is derived by its solidifying the ground; it has also a
tendency to kill the slugs and other destructive insects, or at least
to put a stop to their ravages. Folding upon fallows is likewise
adopted with advantage ; upon loose light soils, folding after the
wheat is sown is of adyantage.

Some farmers adopt the plan of ploughing green crops in; but
others consider it a better plan to convert all green crops into
animal manures, by feeding off with sheep or by soiling.

Pigeons’ and hen-house dung are frequently used as a top-
dressing for wheat, and are almost sure to be beneficial on any

soil. From 30 to 40 bushels are used per acre. Like all other
F2

68 Management of Wheat.

light manures, it is best covered by means of harrowing or hoeing,
or it may be drilled between the rows.

Soot is much used as a top-dressing for wheat, and is com-
monly found very beneficial. From 40 to 60 bushels per acre
are generally applied. It has a tendency to increase the quantity
and improve the quality of the wheat, without forcing an undue
quantity of straw. It should be sown in February or March at
the latest. It is however frequently sown as late as the month
of May; butif a dry summer follows, it is in that case of little
or no value. As ammonia is the principal ingredient of this
manure, it should be covered by means of the hoe or harrow,
being liable to waste by evaporation; and, as it is a very light
substance, calm and showery weather must be chosen for apply-
ing it. This manure is found to be peculiarly suited to the
county of Hertford, and consequently a very large proportion of
the soot made in the metropolis comes into this county. It has
been used in Essex, Kent, Middlesex, and other counties, but in
most cases without general beneficial results.

Rape-cake is a valuable manure for wheat. It may be applied
at the time of sowing the seed, or drilled between the rows in the
spring. From 8 to 16 bushels per acre are generally found suf-
ficient. Itis best adapted to ordinary heavy soils that are well
drained, or haye a dry subsoil.

Malt-dust, to the extent of from 30 to 50 bushels per acre, is
occasionally used as a top-dressing for wheat.

Bones may be applied with much advantage upon dry soils
previcus to sowing the wheat, at the rate of from 16 to 30 bushels
per acre.

Guano, at the rate of from 2 to 3 ewt. per acre, is sometimes
advantageously used at the time of sowing the wheat. ‘This ma-
nure is found most beneficial on poor loamy soils.

The nitrates of soda or of potash are occasionally used at the rate
of from | to 3 ewt. per acre, and applied broadcast in March or
April. Chemical analysis has proved that wheat always contains
a much larger proportion of potash than of soda; hence we may
suppose that nitrate of potash is the best of the two: it is, how-
ever, the most expensive. As to the application of nitrate of
soda to wheat when it has a yellow or sickly appearance in the
spring, if finely pulverized, and sown in moist weather, it will in
a few days alter the sickly hue to a luxuriant green. As it in-
creases the quantity of straw, it is best suited to poor loams and
gravelly soils.

Common salt is sometimes applied before sowing the seed, at
the rate of from 10 to 21 bushels per acre, and is often beneficial
in bringing the ears to perfection : it also causes a greater weight
of grain, but seldom increases the quantity of straw.

Management of Wheat. 69

These are the principal manures that have been proved to be
useful for wheat. There are many others; but even a bare enu-
meration would occupy too much space.

3. The time of Sowing.

The time of sowing wheat varies with the nature of the soil.
Upon very strong clays or cold soils the plant has been known to
flourish best when sown as early as the middle of September, It
takes a firmer and deeper hold of the soil before the frost com-
mences, and there is no danger here of its becoming “ winter-
proud.” Sowing early on this class of soils not only insures a
better crop, but brings it much earlier to harvest. Wheat seed-
time upon these soils begins about the 20th of September, and
lasts till towards the end of October. Wheat sown at the former
period has been known to be nearly a fortmight earlier to harvest
than that which was sown a month later.

Upon warmer soils, as before observed, the best period of sow-
ing is from the last week in October to the last week in November.
If sown earlier, the plants get too forward, and do not mat on the
ground; the plants become weak, and spindle into a long slender
stalk, and frequently lose their healthy appearance in the spring.
Varieties of spring-wheat are sown in February and March, and
succeed on good land, though a productive crop is rarely seen on
inferior sands and gravels.

Observations haying been made on the time of sowing in treat-
ing of the preparation of the Jand, any further remarks are un-
called for.

4. The Quantity of Seed.

The necessary quantity of seed varies from 4 to 10 pecks per
acre. It depends entirely upon circumstances, as the time of
sowing ; the manner of sowing, whether broadcast, drilled, or
dibbled ; when sown early, it requires less seed than when sown
late; the nature and condition of the soil, the variety of wheat,
and the quantity of vermin that consume the grain before or after
it vegetates,—all have some effect on the quantity of seed required.
The poorer the land, the more plentiful must be the seed. Ona
poor gravelly soil, where an abundance of manure is not attainable,
10 pecks are requisite, drilled at from 6 to 8 inches; and we
find, from observation of both wet and dry seasons, that when this
quantity is at all sensibly decreased, or the iniervals between the
drills increased to a material extent, the crops suffer a diminution
both in quantity and quality.

When the land is good, very little seed is required, for it
always branches out in the spring; but on poor land, when sown
late, many of the plants die, at the same time that others on good

70 Management of Wheat.

land are preparing for numerous branches. Nothing definite,
therefore, can be named as to the proper quantity to be sown.
Upon the broadcast system, where 24 bushels per acre are sown,
it is generally allowed that, if drilled, 2 bushels would be equi-
valent, and if dibbled 5 pecks. As an instance of the effect of
time, | may mention that upon a poor heavy soil, if we commence
in September with 2 bushels, by the middle of October we in-
crease it to 24 bushels per acre.

It has been repeatedly proved that upon land of the best qua-
lity, and in high cultivation, if dibbled and put in perfectly
regular, 4 pecks of seed per acre are better than more, inasmuch
as it leaves a roomy and healthy space between the plants, encou-
rages branching, and produces stiffer straw, with plumper ears,
than when sown thicker, and upon the whole gives the most cer-
tain and fullest production that the land is capable of. Thickly-
sown wheat on rich land grows much weaker straw, smaller ears,
and is liable to fall down long before the usual time for coming
to perfection.

We have heard of transplanting wheat, and I can assign no
good reason why it should not be more generally adopted. It is
true it would be a somewhat tedious operation to plant many acres
in this way; but when it is considered what a small portion of
seed would be required, it might repay the farmer for his trouble
and expenditure.

Varieties of wheat differ in their tillermg properties. The fol-
lowing experiment was made in 1843 :—

October 28th, 1843, planted 30 kernels of 6 varieties of wheat,
with a view of testing their tillerig property, and the time at which
they arrive at maturity. The wheat was dibbled, one kernel in
a hole, at equal depth and distance, on a piece of loamy ground.
The varieties each formed a row, distant from each other 10
inches, and from plant to plant in the rows 4 inches. The table
given below will show the result of the experiment :—

Number of | Time of {Number of Number of

Variety. Seeds coming perfect | Ears from

vegetated. | into Har. Ears. one Grain.
Bellevue Talavera White . . .. . 26 June 3 234 9-0
Marygold or Rattling Jack Red . 26 ia | 134 5°1
Spanish Talavera White . . .. - 26 5 ue 203 7°8
Spalding’s ProlaficiRed......° - sf don. 27 554 155 a: 7
Jonas Seedling White , . » « «-.« 26 sali? 168 6:4
Shirreff’s Hopetoun White . ¢ . . .« 25 apts 191 7°6

The Spalding’s and Marygold are the most productive of the 6

varieties, though in this case they tillered less than any of the
other kinds.

Management of Wheat. 71

5, The varieties of Seed and the change of Seed.

The variety of wheat must be suited to the soil and climate;
and the knowledge of the varieties best suited to a particular soil
can only be obtained from the experience of the farmers who cul-
tivate that soil. It is, however, bad judgment to be so far pre-
judiced in favour of one sort as to cultivate it to the exclusion of
all others. The best kinds deteriorate in course of time: new
varieties are constantly being introduced, some of which would in
all probability be found superior to the old.

More wheat is now produced per acre, by greater attention
being paid in choosing the most prolific kinds. It should, how-
ever, be borne in mind that the most prolific are also very fre-
quently of a coarse quality, and commonly lose in price what they
gain in quantity. At the same time it is admitted by those who
have put the question to a test, that the most productive are often
the most advantageous to the grower. Instances, indeed, have
occasionally occurred where heavy white wheat of the finest qua-
lity has been tried by the side of a coarser description, and has
equalled it in quantity; but this must be considered an exception
to the rule, and not the rule itself.

On rich soils, where an abundance of straw is produced, short
and stiff-strawed wheat yields the best crop, as the weak and long-
strawed wheat is liable to be spoiled by being laid. Such varieties
as Spalding’s Prolific and Piper’s Thickset are suitable for rich
land. On very productive wheat-land in Norfolk, Piper’s Thickset
produced such abundant crops, that on its introduction into that
county it at once obtained the name of Protection Wheat. On
the contrary, short-strawed wheats like Piper’s Thickset are very
inferior to long-strawed wheat on land that yields a light crop.
Mixed wheat (red and white) is sown in some parts of the country,
care being taken to select two sorts that ripen at the same time.
It is considered that two varieties are more likely to produce a
certain crop than one alone ; for undoubtedly it frequently occurs
that one kind produces the heaviest crop one year, and another
the next; and when equal portions of red and white wheats are
sown together, sometimes the white and sometimes the red pre-
dominates in the sample that is produced. It is well known that
a mixture of red and white wheats commands a higher price in
the market than red alone.

During the last few years many new sorts of wheat have been
introduced, though some are but new names for varieties long well
known. Some are noted for the earliness of their growth,—among
these are the Belleyue Talavera, Mexican Vicario, and the bearded
April wheat, which are all recommended for spring-sowing ; but
it has been confidently asserted, from observation, that the two

12 Management of Wheat.

former, though of superior quality, do not on a gravelly soil, in a
dry climate, produce an average crop, if spring-sown ; besides
this, the grain adheres with such tenacity to the chaff, that there
is extreme difficulty in thrashing them with the machine.

Among other faults which some varieties possess is an incapa-
bility to withstand severe weather, liability to shell when harvested,
or to grow in the ear, to which very chaffy kinds are more espe-
cially subject.

The advantages to be derived from a change of seed from a hot
to acold soil, and vice versa, has already been mentioned. Plants
removed from one climate to another will in some measure con-
tinue in the same habit of growth. Thus seed brought from a
warm country will produce an early crop, though it will be inferior
in hardihood to plants grown from seed brought from a cold cli-
mate; and it will be found, that, whilst the latter improves by
cultivation, the former deteriorates.

The following is the result of an experiment tried last year
upon red wheats by Mr. J. B. Brown, Elms Hall, Colne En-
gaine, given to the public, which will be found to contain valuable
information :—

Quantity | Weight | Weight of | Bushels of
Certara per per Straw Chaff

Acre. Bushel. | per Acre. | per Acre.

DAP aap: lbs. lbs.

1. Colne White Chath; cm 03042 003 4a ep 3250 £0
2, <Bristol’ 2:20 si '> aed mohnneny 1a 633 3510 75
3. Sharp’s, Goody's, or Crabb’s . | 39 0 14] 64 3415 70
A. Spalding's*.) (esi. te Fepliies) tat 653 3765 80
TO OeY ers [3,7 « iP ventheain o! | ot to) AaeaGo 3860 79
Gy Smoothy’s eae tees eee oo) eed 644 39895 65
7, Kent Red e2s ic "ei vein es) ee 30) tee) A 64 3759 65
8. Sewell’sis: sips) elie a a) eG BOG tyoos 3538 65
9. Piper’s Thickse sielseehe iOS. Ol nO Glues 2550 100
10. Kent Red. wens tic een oo. ual 64 3780 50

eee Eee

Proportional | Proportional
Weight of Weight of | Measure of
a Grain Straw in Chaff in
per Acre. comparison | comparison
with Grain. | with Grain.

Ibs.
1. Colne White Chaff . . . 2654 1-22 2°09
Peps tOlecegue sm fo °eks > 1 Pee 6 2520 1°39 1°88
3. Sharp’s, Goody’s, or Crabb’s . 2510 1-36 1°78
ANgSpalCigeisae his 16 ele te 2522 1-49 2°05
Dap SCYCLISls at) sh welt ts he abc 2458 1°57 1-98
6. Smoothy’s . a Gm, erp al ies 2368 1°26 N72)
de emt ede) sau eiis oli «| 4s 2340 1-60 Sei?)
Sa Sewellselts ABs Gaeete ae, he 17% 2291 154 1-80
OceRipers; Dhicksety sari. | shir. 2142 Oug) 2°91
HOE Weert Red Ve es ite aes) lite 2350 1-60 1°36

Management of Wheat. 73

The wheat to which the above tables refer was sown on the
28th of October, 1845, at the rate of 5 pecks per acre, with the
exception of No. 10, and that was at the rate of 10 pecks per
acre. The reader will of course draw his own conclusions as to
the merits of each kind of wheat; and also of thick and thin
sowing.

6. Lhe Treatment of the Crops in Spring as to Pressing and
Floeing.

Pressing in the spring during dry weather, and before the
wheat becomes too forward, is generally productive of good,
though especially required on soils that are naturally loose and
light in their texture, and on those soils which require draining ;
for where water saturates the surface soil, it becomes increased in
bulk during winter by its conversion into ice in frost, which, of
course, raises the soil, and when the frost goes away the plants are
partially thrown out. This is accounted for thus :—The frost causes
the ground to swell, and, as it rises, the root of course rises with
it; when it thaws, the ground shrinks, but the root remains in its
elevated position, and, by the action of alternate frosts and thaws,
is at last thrown entirely aboveground. ‘This must occur to the
greatest extent on soils containing superfluous moisture, though it
will occur on any soil, particularly those of a calcareous nature,
when frost happens to follow immediately after rain. Therefore,
when the soil treads loose in the spring, it is very important to
use the heavy roller, or some other means of consolidating the
soil. Crosskill’s clod-crusher is highly beneficial for this pur-
pose, but can only be used in very dry weather. Treading with
sheep is also an effectual way of fastening the roots. On the loose
soil of the fens the wheat is trodden by gangs of men and women,
each treading along one drill; by this means the soil is consoli-
dated effectually: it is not an expensive operation, and on the
loose vegetable soil of the fens is more efficacious than rolling.
The feeding off wheat with sheep in the early part of the spring,
when likely to run to too much straw, is useful on rich soils. If
the land be foul when the seed has been sown broadcast, it must
be cleaned by hand-hoeing, but, if drilled or dibbled, the horse-
hoe may be successfully used. In many places the practice is to
hoe wheat, whether foul or not. As a general rule hoeing should
be begun as early in the spring as the weather permits. Harrow-
ing is occasionally found beneficial, particularly when the ground
is crusty and the root les deep in the ground: it has the effect
of loosening the surface, and, whether that be done by the hoe or
harrow, an improvement will be seen in a few days by the fresh
vigour of the plants. Harrowing light sands and gravelly soils
obliquely across, or at right angles to the drills, is peculiarly

74 Management of Wheat.

advantageous, as it destroys the red-weed or poppy, and other
annuals that infest light land. For the destruction of the poppy
it is recommended to harrow when the soil is slightly crusted
with frost.

When, from the extreme luxuriance of the crop in the spring,
there appears a probability of its being laid, the process of flagging
is resorted to as a preventive. Flagging is executed by means of
the bagging-hook or scythe, separating the flag or blade from the
stalk. This should be done about May, before the formation of
the ear; and in doing it the stalks will require examination, that
the ears may not be cut off.

7. The Diseases to which Wheat is liable.

The principal disease, and one which can be completely
guarded against by the seed undergoing preparation previous to
its being sown, is that which is commonly known among farmers
by the name of smut.

This disease was formerly very common, but now smut-balls
among good farmers are seldom seen; when they are found it
may be attributed to carelessness in preparing the seed. ‘Tull
informs us that—

‘‘ Brining seed-wheat to prevent smut was first practised about the
year 1660, when a vessel of wheat was sunk near Bristol, and the grain
so much injured by salt water, that, though it would vegetate, it was
considered to be unfit for bread. It was taken out of the vessel at low-
water, and sown in different parts. It was free from disease at the
following harvest, when wheat in general happened to be smutty. This
accident led to the practice of brining.”

Salt water of sufficient density to float an egg is still extensively
used, A quantity of salt and water of the above density is pre-
pared in a tub, the wheat is put into the pickle, and, when stirred,
all the diseased or light grains will rise to the surface, which are
skimmed off. The wheat is then taken out of the brine, and a
sufficient quantity of new slaked lime sifted upon it to dry the
whole quantity.

Some farmers wet their seed by throwing over it, tie lying
in a heap, a quantity of urine; it is then well Ha and dried
with lime, as in the former anes

Water poured on caustic lime, and then thrown on the wheat
while effervescing, is a plan adopted by many.

But the cleanest, and perhaps the most eiieactons preparation
is that of blue vitriol (sulphate of copper) : 4 quarts of boiling
water poured on 1 |b. of blue vitrol is sufficient for three bushels
of wheat; this is well mixed upon the floor with the grain, and

thrown into a heap on the night previous to the day the aged will
be wanted.

Management of Wheat. 70

Others prepare a solution of blue vitriol ina tub, by adding
double the quantity of cold water to the above mixture; the
wheat is put into it, and the light grains are skimmed off. The
seed is then taken out and laid ina heap to dry. A convenient
apparatus for wetting wheat, is a tub sufficiently large to wet four
bushels at once, The solution is first put in, and then four
bushels of wheat; this is well stirred, and skimmed with a com-
mon fleeting-dish for ten minutes. The liquor is then drawn
from the tub into an under tank, and the wheat thrown out with
ashoyel. As soon as this is completed the solution is returned
to the tub, and we proceed in like manner with another four
bushels.

Another method is to have a “skep” basket, into which the
wheat is put, and plunged into the solution contained in a tub.

When the seed has been prepared, and cannot be used on
account of the weather, care must be taken to spread it thinly
over a floor, and give it an occasional turning.

There are many other diseases to which wheat is liable, as the
rust, blight, mildew, &c. &c. Some of these are owing to the
growth of parasitical plants, “fungi,” which arise from a want of
the proper constituents in the soil for the growth of the wheat-
plant to perfection, from an unfavourable season, or froma feeble-
ness of constitution inherent in the plant. Disease and havoc are
also caused by insects. But to describe fully the diseases to
which wheat is liable requires the pen of a man who has made
that subject his peculiar study, rather than of the farmer: the
latter may know from dear-bought experience how to guard, in
some measure, against these diseases, but cannot so well describe
their cause. ‘Those who are curious on the subject, and wish for
further information, will do well to consult the articles by Pro-
fessor Henslow and Mr. Curtis in the Journal of the Society,
also Baxter’s ‘ Library of Agriculture,’ 4th edition, and Sir J.
Sinclair’s ‘ Code of Agriculture.’

8. The Time and Mode of Cutting.

When the grain of red wheat can be squeezed between the
thumb and finger without any moisture being forced from it,
cutting may always be safely commenced. ‘The sample is never
better than when cut in this state: when cut later the wheat is
seldom so good in quality; in addition to which, serious loss is
sometimes sustained during high winds when it is standing in a
riper state. White wheats should stand somewhat longer. With
respect to the colour of the straw as a sign of maturity, we may
observe that, if in a healthy state, the ear “generally ripens before
the straw; the yellowness of the chaff and upper part of the straw
shows that the crop is fit to cut; and the uniform yellow colour

76 Management of Wheat.

of the straw shows that the crop has arriyed at maturity, and, if
standing in the field, is liable to be shaken out by the wind.
Those who wish for further information respecting this subject
will find an interesting account in Baxter’s ‘ Library of Agricul-
ture,’ vol, i1., p. 402, 4th edition.

The methods of cutting are either by mowing, bagging, or
reaping. ‘The latter mode leaves a large proportion of straw in
the field; a system in many parts superseded by the practice of
mowing, and the sooner it is generally superseded the better it
will be for those who cultivate the land—reaping being the most
expensive mode of harvesting the corn, and the most destructive
to the straw, as the stubble generally becomes rotten, and two-
thirds of it lost before it can be carted home. <‘‘ Bagging,” which
is performed with an instrument known as a bagging-hook, cutting
the straw close to the ground, is rather more expeditious than
reaping. The cost is ls. per acre less. Reaping wheat, when
performed by the piece, is in England chiefly done by the acre ;
but the Scotch method of reaping at a certain price per stook, or
shock (the sheaves being made of a certain size), 1s preferable
where the stubble is required to be left low; for there is an in-
ducement for the reapers to cut as low as possible, as the lower
part of the straw, being the ijargest, fills the sheaf quickest, and
another advantage of this method is, that the sheaves are never
made too large.

The cheapest and most expeditious way of cutting wheat is by
mowing. This is done with a scythe, on which is fixed a high
bale for laying the corn in one direction. One method is to cast
the swathe towards the standing corn, the other from it. The
general plan in those parts where the system is adopted is for the
mower to cut enough for a sheaf, after which he returns to gather
it, and then ties it up. One man will mow, tie, shock, and rake
three roods per day. ‘There is a very obvious loss of time in this
method in laying down and picking up the scythe. In other
parts of the country the practice is rather different; the best
method appears to be as follows:—A company cf men, say four,
are employed mowing; four strong lads will gather with their
hands and bind the wheat as fast as it is cut; and a couple of
men, with a boy, can stook the sheaves, rake the stubble, and
bind the rakings.

The great advantages of mowing wheat are—

Ist. Cheapness and despatch.

2nd. A breadth of wheat can be cut down early in the morning,
while the grain is damp, and tied up and shocked without injury
in the middle of the day.

ord. It is allowed that mown wheat is sooner fit to cart, and
sustains'less injury than reaped in bad weather.

Management of Wheat. 77

Ath. It leaves the land clear for the commencement of tillage.

5th. The securing a greater quantity of straw, and hence the
making more manure.

The objections to mowing hold good only on such land as
produce very bulky crops. ‘These are—

Ist. The loss of gleaning to the poor, which is no yalid objec-
tion, and only to a certain extent correct.

2nd. The crop is more expensive to carry and thrash.

The extra expense of thrashing mown wheat, by four-horse
machines, has been estimated at 2s. 6d. per 10 quarters; by flail
the expense is doubtless considerably increased; and where this
method is still in vogue, mowing wheat is rarely practised.

9. Thrashing and Dressing.

These operations are, by the majority of enlightened and eco-
nomical farmers, generally performed with machinery, frequently
at a cost of less than one-half what is usually paid for thrashing
by hand; the straw left free from grain, the grain sacked in better
condition, whilst it is not exposed to so much danger from pilfering.
Yet, notwithstanding these advantages, the flail is extensively used,
particularly in the southern counties. But it must be admitted
that, where the straw is saleable, and is carried to market, it does
not make so good a price from the machine as it does from the
flail. The best method of dressing is undoubtedly by a well-
constructed machine, such as those made by Cooch, Hornsby, and
others. Very few farmers, however prejudiced against machinery
generally, are now to be found without one for dressing.

Thrashing and dressing during dry weather have a material
effect on the sample, restoring a damp sample to better condition,
and enhancing its price; whilst, if these operations be performed
in wet weather, the wheat, though previously dry, soon handles
cold and damp.

Kingswood, Baldock, Herts,

May 20th, 1847.

V1I.—On Burning Land for Manure. By Joun Prirson.

Burnine of earth, or rather clod burning, is now very exten-
sively practised in Suffolk: it is adapted for heavy clay soils, and
with most successful results; producing most excellent crops of
mangold-wurzel and turnips; barley luxuriantly following, and
generally certain of a healthy plant of clover. Wheat grown in
the following year after clod burning, shows its advantage by in-
creased production. ‘The manner of doing it is to plough a piece

78 Burning Land for Manure.

of land in the spring of the year, or plough back a piece of wheat
stubble that has been ploughed once during the autumn, or the
first ploughing after tares, or a bean or pea stubble; but there is
seldom time in the autumn for this last. I mention ploughing
back a wheat stubble, for if previously ploughed and exposed to
the frosts of winter, it will become too pulverized for clod burn-
ing. Having ploughed it, you roll and harrow in dry weather
till the majority of clods are about the size of a large walnut; no-
thing so good as the clod-crusher to forward this operation: when
perfectly dry, collect them into rows about six yards apart, with
iron-teethed rakes; take a quarter of a whin faggot, or less,
according to size, previously cut into lengths by a man with an
axe ; place these pieces about 4 yards apart in the rows, cover them
with clods, putting the finest mould upon the top of the heap to
prevent the fire too quickly escaping; observe the wind, and leave
an opening accordingly ; having set fire to a long branch of whin,
run from opening to opening till two or three rows are lighted,
secure these, and then put fire to others: keeping a man or two
behind to attend to the fires and earthing up till the quantity de-
sired may be burned, which will generally take four or five hours,
say from 25 to 35 loads per acre of 30 bushels per load.

This work is often put out to a gang of men at about 10s. per
acre for labour, and the whins cost 4s. 6d. per acre, not including
the carting.

When the heaps are cool, spread and ploughin. The great
advantage of burning clods in these small heaps in preference to
a large one, is the saving of expense in collecting and spreading ;
there is much less red brick earth, and more black and charred ;
no horses or carts moving on the Jand whilst burning, and a large
field may be all burned in a day or two, therefore less liable to
be delayed by wet weather. In the heavy-land part of Suffolk
the farmers purchase whins from the light-land occupiers, and
often cart them a distance of fourteen or sixteen miles when there
is no work pressing on the farm. These are stacked up and se-
cured by thatching with straw, that they may be dry and fit for
use when required. Bean straw is the next best fuel to whins
or furze, and it is astonishing to see how small a quantity will
burn the clods, if they are of the proper size and dry. Observe,
if the soil is at all inclined to sand, it will not burn so well. I
will here mention, that I often sift and store up a few loads of
the best blackened earth to drill with my turnips instead of buy-
ing artificial manure, and find it answers remarkably well, and
assists in maintaining the position that a heavy-land farm in
Suffolk can be farmed in the first-rate style without foreign in-
eredients.

I know of only one objection raised that requires my notice;

Burning Land for Manure. 79

some are of opinion it tends to lessen the quantity of the soil, con-
sequently injures the real staple of the land, and that, however
desirable it may be once, it ought not to be repeated. I am not
of this opinion, and should say, if repeated at distances of 10 or
12 years, it would make no perceptible difference in the staple of
the land. It produces more straw, therefore a larger bulk of
manure returned to the soil. I should certainly not recommend
it three or four years in succession ; besides, the benefit would not
be so decided in that case. I do not know that I can better an-
swer these objections, and at the same time show the opinion of
the benefits arising from it, than by quoting the report of a far-
mer’s club, of which I am a member, on this subject, arising as
it does from a number of practical farmers, residing in the centre

of the heavy-land district of Suffolk.

Report. ‘The general feeling of the meeting was decidedly in favour
of clod burning. A calculation was made, that if 25 loads per acre was
burned and carried off the field, it would not reduce the soil more than
one quarter of an inch: this, however, is not done; the soil when burned,
is again restored to the field, although in an altered and more desirable
form ; by the operation of the fixe it is rendered light, friable, porous,
and highly absorbent of gaseous matters, and therefore well calculated
to improve the texture and fertility of heavy retentive land; it makes it
more pervious to both air and water (two grand supporters of vegetable
life), it increases the efficiency of the drains by letting the water more
freely to them, and being more friable, the land works better and at less
expense. It further promotes vegetation by converting into soluble
matters available to plants, vegetable remains; which in consequence of
the usually wet impervious nature of the soil, have become as it were
indigestible and therefore inert and useless: it likewise has the effect of
insuring the future benefits of such substances. It was also advocated
as being destructive of the roots and seeds of weeds; of insects, their
larvee and eggs ; and, as was pretty clearly demonstrated, it enabled land
to bear the same crop in quicker succession, by its supposed effects on
the exudations left by former crops.”’ |

Only one trial in Suffolk has come under my observation of
burning clay ina pit. The person who tried the experiment states,
that during the dry weather, the clay appeared to burn almost
immediately it was broken up from the side of the pit; that he
could burn it with only a little wood to begin the heap. The pieces
of clay were broken small when thrown on the fire; but a wet day
or two following prevented him proceeding with the experiment.
He is of opinion coals and wood are too expensive for this work
in Suffolk, if a constant supply is requisite to make the clay burn,
and with our uncertain climate it would be necessary to have a
roofed building to prevent the clay getting wet. That the attrac-
tion of burnt clay for ammonia must render this a most useful
manure for heavy soils; but at present the expense of preparing

80 Burning Land for Manure.

and burning clay, renders further consideration requisite before it
could be urged upon agriculturists as a profitable work.

The object, it appears to me, is to burn the earth only to a black
or charred state. This can be best performed in small heaps; the
continuation of fire in large heaps renders the centre perfectly
red, and as hard as a brick. I have read the Report by Walter
Long, in the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of Eng-
land, and am pleased with his skill in overcoming this difficulty ;
but whether the expense of erecting kilns and preparing the clay
according to his suggestions is practicable and profitable to the
tenant farmer, I have many doubts.

Wishing to promote the objects of the Royal Agricultural So-
ciety is my inducement for penning these remarks.

Framlingham, December, 1846.

VII.—On the Great Level of the Fens, including the Fens of South

Lincolnshire. By Joun ALGERNON CraRKE.
Prize Report.

Tut Great Level of the ens forms one of the most interesting
districts in the kingdom, as regards both its past history and its
present state. The mists that obscure its ancient condition, the
conjectural nature of its early history, and the abundance of cu-
rious remains found beneath its surface, afford the highest interest
to the antiquary and the man of science; an air of romance is
thrown over its early records by the battles of the Saxons against
their Norman invaders; while to the engineer and agriculturist
the progress and accomplishment of its drainage, and the improve-
ment of its husbandry, present a series of some of the mightiest
works that skill and perseverance have ever achieved.

This great level extends itself into the six counties of Cam-
bridge, Lincoln, Huntingdon, Northampton, Suffolk, and Nor-
folk, being bounded by the high lands of each. It is about 70
miles in length, and varies from 20 to 40 miles in breadth, having
an area of more than 680,000 acres. ‘Through this vast extent of
flat country there flow six large rivers with their tributary streams,
namely, the Ouse, the Cam, the Nene, the Welland, the Glen,
and the Witham. These were originally natural channels for
conveying the upland waters to the sea; and whenever a heavier
downfall of rain than usual occurred, and the swollen springs and
rivulets caused these rivers to overflow, they must necessarily
have flooded the level to a great extent. This, however, was not
the principal cause of the inundation of the Fens ;—these rivers
were not allowed a free passage to the ocean, being thus made

Great Level. 81

incapable of carrying off even the ordinary amount of upland
water, which would consequently flow over the land. The ob-
struction was twofold; first, the outfalls became blocked up by
the deposits of silt from the sea-waters, which accumulated to an
amazing thickness. The well-known instances of boats found, in
1635, eight feet below the bed of Wisbech river, and the smith’s
forge and tools found at Skirbeck Sluice, near Boston, buried
with silt 16 feet deep, show what an astonishing quantity of sedi-
ment formerly choked up the mouths of the great rivers. But
the chief hindrance caused by the ocean arose from the tide
rushing twice every day for a very great distance up these chan-
nels, driving back the fresh waters, and overflowing with them ;
so that the whole level became deluged with deep water, and was
in fact one great bay.

In considering the state of this region as it first attracted the
enterprise of man to its improvement, we are to conceive a vast
wild morass, with only small detached portions of cultivated soil,
or islands, raised above the general inundation ;—a most desolate
picture, when contrasted with its present state of matchless fer-
tility. ‘The first attempt to reclaim the Fens from the dominion
of the flood was most probably made by the Romans after the
subjugation of the Britons; and many monuments remain of the
mighty works they effected,—their banks for repelling the inva-
sion of the sea, and their drains for carrying off the Fen waters.
One of the most remarkable of their works is the “ long causey,”
mentioned by Dugdale, “ made of gravel, of about 3 feet in
thickness and 60 feet broad, (now covered with moor, in some
places 3, in others 5 feet thick,) which extends itself from Denver
in Norfolk through Grandford, Eldernell, and Eastrea Fen, to
Peterborough, 24 miles.”* It appears that Holland in Lincoln-
shire, containing about 100,000 acres, and Marshland in Nor-
foll, of 30,000 acres, were reclaimed from the sea by the Romans,
So great was the amount of silt deposited from the tidal waters
at the mouth of this great bay, that it increased to such a height
as to check the “ordinary flow of the watery element, and got
ground,”’ says Dugdale, “so fast upon the ocean, that those active
and industrious people, the Romans, finding the soil thus raised
to be much more rich and fertile than any upland ground, raised
strong banks of earth on that side towards the ocean, to defend it

* A cutting that was made across this road at Eldernell shows the
permanent manner in which the Romans did their work ; it is laid upon
the Moor, the first layer upon it being oak branches, then a considerable
thickness of the Northamptonshire rough flag-stone, and then alternate
layers of gravel with a small layer of clay ; which, together, have formed
a cement that nothing but the unwearied application of the pick can
remove.

VOL: VIIT. G

82 Great Level.

from the overflowing of the spring-tides.”” But whatever progress
might have been made in the work of draining by the Romans,
the Fens were in as deplorable a state as ever at the Norman
conquest. During the government of the Saxons many religious
houses had been erected,—amongst others, the famous abbeys of
Crowland, Thorney, Ramsey, Spinney, and Ely. The islands
upon which these buildings were situated are described as bemg
exceedingly fruitful in corn, abounding with all sorts of trees,
environed with alders, reeds, green canes, and rushes; being full
of fair gardens and fat pastures, shady groves and rich meadows ;
abounding with innumerable stores of fish and fowl, together with
harts, goats, and hares; so that there was abundant employment
for hunters, fishermen, and fowlers. But these fruitful spots
were but small patches amidst the deep and vast fens,—the access
to many of them being only by boats,—and the whole level may
be regarded as an immense lake and bog, the habitation of rude
husbandmen, and the resort of robbers and marauders, until the
reign of King Stephen. It must not be forgotten, however, that
considerable improvements were made in that part of the level
called Deeping Fen. Richard de Rulos, Chamberlain to William
the Conqueror, converted a great part of the common fen adjacent
to Bourn and Deeping into “ several,” for meadows and pastures,
He inclosed all his.lands extending from Deeping to the Roman
Carr-dike, “excluding the river of Weland with a mighty bank ;
because every year almost all his meadows lying near unto that
stream were overflowed with the continual inundation thereof ;
and erecting upon that bank divers tenements and cottages, did
in a short time make it a large town, whereunto he assigned gar-
dens and arable fields; and, by thus banking the said river,
reduced those low grounds, which were before that time deep
lakes and unpassable fens, into most fruitful fields and pastures,
and the most humid and moorish parts thereof to a garden of
pleasure.”’

An author, in the reign of Stephen, a.p. 1135, describes the Fens
as a very agreeable country to the eye, adorned with many woods
and islands. Another writer, in the time of Henry I1., a.p. 1154,
speaks of the country around Thorney as “a very paradise in
pleasure and delight,—it resembles heaven itself ;”—“ it abounds
in lofty trees, neither is there any waste place in it; for im some
parts there are apple-trees, in others vines, which either spread
upon the grounds or run along poles.” The Fens at this time,
therefore, may have been in a more flourishing condition ; at least
a far greater portion of the level than consisted of the islands
before mentioned may have been under cultivation; but at all
events the country soon after resumed its original wild and unpro-
fitable aspect.

Great Level. §3

The description, then, which has been given will suffice to
indicate the general state of the Great Level previous to the great
works of drainage, and will also give some idea of the magnitude
and difficulties of that undertaking, which the enterprise and
industry of man have so successfully accomplished.

The first great work was executed by Moreton, Bishop
of Ely, in the reign of Henry VII., a.p. 1478. He made a cut,
forty feet wide and four deep, from Peterborough to Guyhirn and
Wisbech, and also, as is reported, a new outfall to sea. This cut
was of great importance to drainage and navigation, and still con-
tinues so at the present day,—the cut from Guyhirn to Wisbech
still bearing the name of “‘ Moreton’s Leam.” The only improve-
ments, however, that were made prior to the reign of Charles I.
appear to have been local, and comparatively unimportant. In
the reign of Elizabeth the general drainage of the Great Level
began to be considered as a public concern, and frequent protests
were made to the Government against the deplorable condition
of this district, which was then, as it had been “ for the space of
many ages, a vast and deep fen, affording little benefit to the
realm other than fish or fowl, with overmuch harbour to a rude
and almost barbarous sort of lazy and beggarly people.” Accord-
ingly a plan was set on foot for draining the whole level; but
nothing of practical benefit was effected beyond the issuing of
courts of sewers, the surveying of the district, and the passing of
the first law for draining the Great Level in a.p. 1600, until the
accession of James I. Onthe 22nd of June, 1606, was passed
the first local act for improving the state of the Fens. Under
this act 6000 acres, called “ the ring of Waldersea and Coldham,”
in the Isle of Ely, were drained, the adventurers in the under-
taking receiving two-thirds of the lands as a recompense. In
1630, the illustrious Francis, Earl of Bedford, with 13 gentlemen
adventurers, undertook to drain the level, on the condition that
they should have 95,000 acres for their satisfaction. In order to
carry off the superfluous waters, the Earl and his associates
caused the following channels to be made, namely :—

1, Bedford River (now called the Old Bedford River), extending
from Earith to Salter’s Lode, 70 feet wide, and 21 miles in
length.

~ 2. Sam’s Cut, from Feltwell, in Norfolk, to the river Ouse.

3. A Cut near Ely (now called Sandy’s, or Sandall’s Cut), 2 miles
long, and 40 feet wide. .

4. Bevill’s Leam, from Whittlesey Mere to Guyhirn, about 10 miles
long, and 40 feet wide.

5. Moreton’s Leam, before mentioned, was new made.

6. Peakirk Drain, 10 miles long, and 17 feet broad.

7. New South Eau, from Crowland to Clow’s-cross.

84 Great Level.

8. Hill’s Cut, near Peterborough, about 2 miles in length, and 50 feet
in breadth.
9, Shire-Drain, from Clow’s-cross to Tyd, and thence to the sea.

Besides these cuts and drains, they erected a great number of
sluices, for the purposes of holding the tides out of the rivers and
drains, and for keeping out the land-floods, &c. During the
Commonwealth the work proceeded under the conduct of Wil-
liam, first Duke of Bedford, son of Earl Francis, united with a
new company of participants and adventurers. The famous Sir
Cornelius Vermuyden, a Zealander,—who had been engaged in
draining the Low Countries, and in draining and improving
Hatfield Chase, in Yorkshire,—was employed by this company
as director of the works. He had partitioned that part of the
level-lying principally in Cambridgeshire into three divisions,
called the North, Middle, and South Levels,—by which names
they are distinguished and known at the present day,—each of
these levels having its particular rivers, banks, works of drainage,
and outfalls to:sea; and the three taken together comprise what
is now called the ‘* Bedford Level,” a tract of upwards of 310,000
acres. A sufficient description of their situations in the Great
Level will be afforded by saying that the former drains by the
Nene, having its outlet below Wisbech ; the two latter empty
themselves by the Ouse, having its outfall at Lynn. The banks
of the Welland, breaking on the north side, overflows Deeping
Fen; on the other, the North Level. The banks of the Nene
giving way, deluges on one side the North, on the other the
Middle Level; and if the banks which confine the Ouse break
on one side, they lay the Middle Level under water, and on the
other the South Level. The exertions of this company were first
directed to the drainage of the North Level, 7. e. the lands lying
between the Welland river and Morton’s Leam. They defended
the Welland by a bank, 70 feet broad at the bottom, and 8 feet
in height. The waters of the Nene, descending from Northamp-
tonshire, were also restrained by a similar bank, extending from
Peterborough to Guyhirn. The natural drains were scoured out
and opened; and a new river, now called ‘‘Smith’s Leam,”’ was
made as a continuation of Hill’s-Cut (made by the former Earl) ;
thus improving the navigation from Wisbech to Peterborough.
The company also defended the Middle Level from the over-
flowing of the Northamptonshire waters (a sluice having been
previously erected at Standground, near Peterborough) bya large
bank from Standground to Guyhirn, where it unites with the
great Waldersea bank. The waters of the Ouse were restrained
by a great bank, extending from the high lands of Over, in Cam-
bridgeshire, to the Hermitage, near Earith, where a navigable

Great Level. 8)

sasse (or sluice) was erected, to turn the upland floods out of
their natural channe}], by Ely, into a new river called the « New
Bedford,” or “One Hundred Feet River” (parallel with the
old Bedford river, cut by Earl Francis), commencing a short dis-
tance below the great bridge over the old river Ouse, near the
Hermitage, and running thence in a nearly straight line to the
great sluice at Denver in Norfolk. The earth coming out of
this river was laid on the south side, forming a bank 60 feet wide
at bottom, 10 at top, and 8 feet high, for the protection of the
South Level. Another great bank was also made on the north
side of the Old Bedford River, thus leaving a large space of land
between the two banks liable to be overflowed by the two rivers.
This long strip of Jand, containing upwards of 5000 acres, called
«The Washes,” is used as a reservoir for the winter floods. The
company also cut or completed several artificial rivers, viz. Vermuy-
den’s Eau, or “ The Forty-feet Drain,” from Welch’s Dam on the
Old Bedford, to the river Nene near Ramsey ; ‘Thurlow’s Drain, or
«The Sixteen-feet River,” extending from the Forty-feet to Pop-
ham’s Eau; Hammond's Eau, near Somersham ; Stonea Drain,
near March; Moore’s Drain, or “'The Twenty-feet River,’ in
the parish of March; and Conquest Lode, leading to Whittlesey
Mere, and dividing the parishes of Yaxley and Farcet, in North-
amptonshire. They also cut a newriver, called “ The Tongs
Drain, or Marshland Cut,” sluices being placed at both ends of
the drain. Considerable improvements were made in Whittlesey
Dike, Popham’s Eau, and the old river Nene. Denver Sluice
was also erected, to turn the tidal waters into the Hundred-feet
River, as well as to prevent the upland floods reverting up the
Ouse, or ‘‘ Ten-mile River,” towards Littleport. Some trifling
embankments only were made (besides the great barrier bank of
the «* Hundred-feet,” already mentioned) for the protection of the
South Level against the upland waters descending by the Cam,
and also the Mildenhall, Brandon, and Stoke rivers. The greatest
work intended for the benefit of this level was the cutting of a
large river, called «‘ Downham,” or “ St. John’s Eau,’ of 120 feet
wide and 10 feet deep, extending from Denver Sluice to Stow
Bridge (nearly 5 miles), for the conveying away with greater
facility the flood waters descending from the several rivers within
the South Level. Sluices were erected at both ends of this river ;
numerous other sluices and dams were also made, and many
small drains, such as Grunty Fen Drain, near Streatham, and
others; Reach, Swaffham, and Bottisham Lodes were scoured
out, straightened ; and most of the works begun by Francis, Earl
of Bedford, completed.

Thus the face of the new country began to assume the appear-
ance of fertility and agricultural prosperity ; and Vermuyden states

86 Great Level.

that the North and Middle Levels were so far improved in 1652,
—the South Level not yet being sufficiently drained,—that there
were “about 40,000 acres then sown with coleseed, wheat, and
other winter grain, besides innumerable quantities of sheep, cattle,
and other stock, where never had been any before.”

Improvements were also made in the fens of Lincolnshire; the |
first attempt being to drain Deeping Fen—a large tract extending
between Spalding and Deeping, bounded on the south and east
by the Welland, and on the north by the Glen, and part of the
district between this and the sea, called South Holland. In
Charles J.’s reign a company of adventurers undertook the work.
They caused the river Welland, from Waldram Hall (near St.
James's, Deeping) to Spalding, and thence to the outfall, to be
made wider and deeper; the drain called “the Staker Drain,”
about 20 feet in breadth, to ease the river Glen; together with
Hill’s Drain and Vernat’s Drain, they likewise made new; and
perfected Exeter Drain from Cowbit Tunnel almost to the sea.
Near Spalding they also erected a great sluice, &c., by which
works the water was so well taken off that in summer this whole
fen yielded great store of grass and hay; and had been made
winter-ground in a short time, but for “the unseasonableness of
the times, and riotous letts and disturbances of lewd people,” so
that the banks and sewers being neglected by the adventurers, it
became again overflowed.

Northwards of Deeping Fen is a long narrow reach of fen-
Jand skirting the high lands, and extending from the glen to
Kyme Eau; being about 15 miles long, and varying from 2 to 5
miles in breadth. In the time of Charles I., Robert, Earl of
Lindsey, Lord-High-Chamberlain of England, became the under-
taker for the work of draiming this district, which was then called
« Lindsey Level.” He undertook to drain the whole 35,000
acres, accepting 24,000 acres as a recompense; and after
effectually draining it at a cost of 45,0002, the Earl and his par-
ticipants “did inclose, build, inhabit, plant, plow, sow, and reap
two years without disturbance; but the third year, in contempt
of the orders of parliament, fie country-people entered and de-
stroyed the drains and buildings, as also the crops then ready to
be reaped ;” so that it again became reduced to its former wet
and uncultivated condition.

North-eastward of this district, lying donna Wainfleet, and
bounded on the north by the Wolds—from Tattershall towards
the sea—on the south and west by the river Witham, and on the
east by a tract of rich land extending from Wainfleet to Boston—
is a large tract of land called the “ East,” “ West,” and “ Wild-
more” Fens. ‘These fens, containing about 40,000 acres, were
also drained, inclosed, and cultivated by a in the time

Great Level. 87

of CharlesI. It is probable that the undertakers and the king,
to whom a share was allotted, had taken to themselves a larger
portion of the fen than the country thought just and reasonable ;
for in the time of the great rebellion, a large mob, under pre-
tence of playing at football, levelled the whole of the inclosures,
burnt the corn and houses, destroyed the cattle, and lalled many
of those who occupied the land. They proceeded to destroy the
works of drainage, so that the country was again inundated as it
had formerly been, After the Restoration, however, the adven-
turers repaired their works, resumed their lots of property, and
began again to cultivate them.

Between the fens once called « Lindsey Level’? and Wildmore
Fen, extending towards Boston and Swineshead, is “ Holland
Fen,” a district containing 22,000 acres. This was called “the
Fight-hundred Fen ;’ “but anciently,” says Dugdale, “ Haut-
Huntre Fen.” The drainage was undertaken by King Charles I.,
a tax of 20s. per acre being laid upon 16,000 acres, to be levied
upon the inhabitants of Braytoft, Swineshead, Wigtoft, Soutterby,
Alderchurch, Fosse-Dike, Kirton, Frampton, Wiverton, Hole,
Dockdike, and Boston, claiming common therein. © But this tax
not being paid, the king was declared sole undertaker, having
for his recompense 8000 acres; and though several great drains
were cut, the fen still remained an uncultivated waste.

It will be seen that the whole of the Fens were thus intersected
with drains for carrying off the waters, and that by far the greatest
progress had been made in the drainage of that partof the fens
called “the Bedford Level.” In the reign of Charles II. the
«Bedford Level Corporation” was founded by statute, for the
continuance and preservation of. the works of drainage in this
great district, and consists of one governor (the Duke of Bedford),
six bailiffs, and twenty conservators annually chosen, who have
ever since conducted the affairs of the Level. No attention was
paid by the corporation to the improvement of the great outfalls
to sea, which still remained choked by the deposits of silt and
sand, so that the drainage was as yet very imperfect. In fact, the
Level became so inundated by the choking up of the internal.
drains, the defective state of the rivers themselves, and the neglect
of the outfalls, that an artificial system of interior drainage was
found necessary. ‘This was done by means of wind-engines,
which raised the water from the interior drains to the level of the
main rivers. Early in the reign of George I. an act was passed
for draining a private district within the Bedford Level, called
« Haddenham Level,” being the first private district in the Bed-
ford Level drained by mills, a plan which has since been brought
into the most extensive operation. Numerous districts followed
the example; each being embanked all around to exclude neigh-

88 Great Level.

bouring floods, ditches made to empty themselves into a “ mill-
drain” terminating near a river, and upon the bank of this a
windmill erected, which by means of a water-wheel.dashed the
water out of the mill-drain up an ascending curve into the river.
This system, however, proved a remedy only to some districts at
the expense of others; the general evil at the outfalls was unre-
moved, and as the inclosures on the high Jands multiplied, floods
became more frequent and destructive. In a.p. 1770 a breach
of the Nene Bank inundated the North Level, laying the whole
7 or 8 feet deep under water; the breach of banks in 1795 inun-
dated 25,000 acres, from Denver to Ely, much of it 6 feet deep,
and flooded altogether no less than 141,000 acres; and nearly as
much in the floods of 1799, which were the result of having an
insufficient outfall, the burden of water from the better-drained
uplands, and full 500 mills at work emptying into the rivers. In
1721 the attention of the Bedford Level Corporation was directed
to the imperfect state of the river Nene below Wisbech, and a
new cut (now called “ Kinderley’s Cut’’) was ordered to be
made, for the purpose of turning the channel of the river under
the Shire Drain Sluice, and keeping it confined within a nar-
rower channel. It was to be 2 miles in length, to begin at the
river’s end about 4 or 5 miles below Wisbech; and it was also
intended to carry the river, in a confined channel 2 miles further,
to a place named Peter’s Point, where there was a fall of 5 feet
7 inches. ‘This cut was not quite completed until the year 1773,
when, under the Tydd and Newton Drainage Act, the work was
performed, and it was found that this improvement tended essen-
tially to the security of the south bank of Moreton’s Leam, which
is the great protection of the Middle Level. In the year 1751
Kinderley proposed a plan, worthy of a real genius, for im-
proving the drainage of the Fens and the navigation of the great
estuary called ‘the Wash.’ Hedesigned to convey the waters
of the Ouse and Nene into the centre of the estuary, there to
unite with the Welland and the Witham, the consequence of
which would have been, first, avoiding all the shifting sands of
the Wash ; and, secondly, draining so much of it as would amount
to more land than the whole county of Rutland. Every one of
his cuts was proposed on the same principle that has governed all
the later improvements, that of ‘avoiding broad channels with
shifting sand-banks, and confining the rivers to narrow channels
in order to ensure depth by force and weight of current.” This
noble idea was never executed; and little was done for improving
the outfalls until near the commencement of the present century,
the Fens lying, in the interval, in a most deplorable state. In the
year 1762 the “ Witham Drainage Act’’ was passed. The river
Witham had been formerly navigable up to Lincoln; but the

Great Level. 89

outfall was at this time (as it had been for many years) greatly
obstructed by deposits of sand and silt, and the low Jands and
fens lying on both sides—containing upwards of 100,000 acres—
were frequently overflowed. By this act this vast tract of waste
land was to be drained, and a new river was cut, 11 miles in
length, the water being held up by a great sluice erected at
Boston, so that cargoes are conveyed from Lincoln to London or
other ports in the same vessels. ‘The expense of making this cut,
which formed a straight channel in place of the former most cir-
cuitous river, was defrayed by taxes levied upon six districts,
comprising more than 112,000 acres, supposed to be benefited
by the work. In 1794 an act was passed for improving the
outfall of the river Welland, and better draining the low grounds
and discharging their waters into the sea. A new canal or
channel was made from the reservoir, below Spalding, to Foss-
dike; an embankment was subsequently made inclosing Fossdike
Wash, and a bridge constructed over the improved channel. The
work of carrying this channel, in a straight course, into the sea is
still in progress, and will be noticed further on.

In 1795, after a hard struggle, the Eau Brink Act passed, for
giving a new outfall to the waters of the Ouse, between St. Ger-
main’s Bridge and Lynn; but the work was not commenced for
some years, as the requisite money could not be procured. In
1818 the work was begun, Telford and Rennie being engineers,
and Sir Edward Banks the contractor. The cut, which is two
miles and a half long, was finished in 1821, but was subsequently
widened in 1826, a bridge being erected over it at Lynn.

In the year 1827 an act was passed for improving the outfall of
the river Nene, from Kinderley’s Cut (before mentioned). to
Crab’s Hole, and for embanking the salt-marshes and bare sands
lying between that cut and the sea. This great undertaking was
completed in 1831, under the superintendence of Telford and
Rennie, and contracted for by Joliffe and Banks. The new
course from Kinderley’s Cut to the outfall at Crab’s Hole is
6 miles in length; and a new cut, called the North Level Drain,
was also made from Clow’s Cross to Gunthorpe Sluice in place
of the old Shire Drain; besides which, a bridge was erected at
Cross Keys (or Sutton Wash), and an embankment made across
the Salt Marshes; forming a high road, which, with the bridges
previously erected at Fossdike and Lynn, connects the northern
and eastern parts of the country.

Having thus attempted a brief sketch of the original condition
of the Fens, the progressive works of drainage which have been
executed, and the recent general improvements in the outfalls, it
will be necessary to notice each large district separately, in order

90 Great Level.

to afford a clearer view of the present state of the drainage and
agriculture.

The extent and boundaries of this great tract of flat country
have been already described, and a few remarks may be now
made respecting the nature and properties of the soil. The soil
of the fens in general consists of a deep deposit of peat or
‘‘moor”’ resting upon the Oxford clunch or fen clay formation.
This deposit is a vegetable substance in a partial state of decay,
being a congeries of the roots and fibres of about forty different
species of plants, mixed with earthy matter, and holding water in
excess by capillary attraction. This crust is of varying thickness,
in some places being several yards in depth, in others only a few
inches. The surface, however, is generally found to be mixed
with silt or other soil, and by tillage, cultivation, and the influence
of the atmosphere this upper part of the moor has become still
more decomposed, forming a black earth, between which and the
clay occurs a stratum of the original peat. This subsoil is gene-
rally a brown, spongy substance called “turf” or “ moor,’ which
is dug and dried for fuel; after being thus dried, it will expand
enormously when placed in water. This pervades nearly the
whole of the peat district, but by good drainage and cultivation
it is now, as the fen-men say, fast “wearing out.” On the
higher and better-drained lands this turf has become, by com-
pression, quite hard, losing its absorbing power, and being inca-
pable of expansion ; in which state, sometimes mixed with sand,
it obtains the name of “clunch,” or “bear’s muck,’’ according as
it is more or less tenacious. Though the peat principally rests
upon a thick stratum of blue calcareous clay called “ gault,” yet
in many parts beds of gravel varying in thickness are found be-
tween the peat and the clay, and in some places the bottom-soil
is silt. ‘The materials which compose the peat-soil contain the
tannin principle in a considerable degree, which has the power of
preserving animal and other substances for a great length of time;
and oxide of iron is also dispersed through the whole mass. In
consequence of this antiseptic property innumerable relics of the
ancient state of this country and its inhabitants are found. Large
trees, ina perfectly sound state, are discovered between the peat
and the clay; firs measuring 30 yards in length, and oaks 6 feet
in circumference ; fir-apples, hazel-nuts, acorns, and grains of
wheat. ‘The horns of red deer, bones, skeletons, coins, weapons,
implements, boats, ornaments, and human bodies have been found
in various parts of the Fens in a remarkable state of preservation.
All sorts of trees are found buried in the higher lands, but
mostly oaks; in the lower parts they are usually firs. Immense
quantities of shells, plants, &c. are found; roots standing firmly

Great Level. 9]

in the clay with gigantic fallen trunks beside them, all covered °
by the moor; thus affording some criterion of the sites and mag-
nitude of the forests which clothed this region before that stu-
pendous catastrophe occurred by which they were cast down and
overflowed by the waters; their leaves and branches decaying, to
form a protective covering over the huge trunks.

In some places a second bed of peat, with plants, &c., still
decaying, is found beneath 10 or 12 feet of clay, thus showing
the former surface of the earth, with a stratum the deposition of
ages resting upon it.* The tract of peat land extends from near
Cambridge, through Ely, March, Thorney, Crowland, Spalding,
and Tattershall, to Lincoln; in length being about 80 miles, and
varying greatly in breadth, though the average may be about 10
miles. The greatest breadths are those from Ramsey to Down-
ham, 24 miles; from Peterborough to Wisbech, 18 miles; and
from Bourn to Spalding, 9 miles. But this black fen land is not
continuous, being intercepted by alluvial soil deposited by the
rivers which pass through it ; and towards the surrounding hills
and in many other parts, broken by high lands (which were
doubtless the fruitful islands that once adorned the Fens) con-
sisting of diluvial deposits of sand, gravel, and clay, either separate
or mixed. Between this peat land and the sea is a level tract of
rich loam and salt marsh, extending from Lynn through Long
Sutton, Fossdike, and Boston, to Wainfleet, being in length
about 45 miles, and varying from 4 to 15 miles in breadth.

The peat soil naturally produces a coarse grass not of much
value, and abundance of straw when under arable culture, but
very little grain, and that of a weak light nature. The land is
so porous and spongy, that it holds a great quantity of water,
rendering it (when badly drained) so wet and soft that it is im-
possible to walk upon it; but, when well drained, it naturally
sinks down and becomes more firm; and it is of the utmost im-
portance to keep the water as low as possible, such being the
absorptive power of the soil that it is always saturated with mois-

* There can be little doubt that the clay found throughout all the fens
is a tidal deposit, probably washed down, originally, from the uplands
into the estuary, and by the tides taken up the rivers and creeks, which,
overflowing the whole surface, deposited this stratum of soil, for sea-shells
have been found in it even at the depth of 140 feet; and in the operation
of claying the old channels of creeks, &c. are found, with numbers of sea-
shells buried in the earth, the sides of the creeks being raw silt for 2 feet
above the clay on each side. The same buttery clay may be found above
a stratum of moor, which must he of great antiquity, as the bed (of moor
found 2 feet thick in making Eau Brink Cut) must have been a long period,
in forming from either a crowded field of vegetation, or a stagnant morass ;
and after it was formed the tides deposited 6 or 8 feet of clay, on which
(as shown in the Eau Brink Cut) the Romans made their embankments.

9? Great Level.

ture a long way above the water level; and this excessive moisture
is injurious not merely from its quantity, but pernicious in conse-
quence of its noxious, astringent, irony, and corrosive qualities ;
the roots of the plants suffer from this turf-water extremely,
causing them to turn yellow and sickly. Formerly the practice
of paring and burning was depended upon as the only means of
obtaining produce from the arable land; the common method of
farming ‘having been to pare and burn for coleseed (or rape), fed
off with sheep; after that, three or four crops of oats in succession,
and the land was then laid down with grass-seeds for six or seven
years. It was then pared and burnt again for coleseed, &c., the
produce of the oats rarely exceeding 4 or 9 qrs. per acre.

During the last twenty years an entirely new system of fen-
farming has been introduced and brought into universal operation,
that ate clay is lifted up and mixed with the surface-soil. About
the beginning of the present century Arthur Young thus writes :—
“In digging wells at Wimpole, Lord Hardwicke penetrates 140
feet of what, in Cambridgeshire, is called gault, that is, a pale
blue clay, seemingly free from sand, and consisting of impalpable
particles. Some of it being used to level the gardens allotted to
cottagers, and also spread on grass land, it was found to have con-
siderable fertilizing qualities. As there is a prejudice against
deep-ploughing, lest any of this substance should be touched, it is of
some consequence to ascertain the fact. His Lordship’s bailiff,
Mr. Patterson, from Lothian, is a friend to deep tillage, and has
yet found no evil to result from gault. Shells are sometimes
found in it, even at the depth of 140 feet.” The farmers were
actually afraid of that substance which time and experience have
shown to be an invaluable treasure. After this alterative has
been applied to the peat soil, which by itself is of little value for
arable culture, it forms the most productive of all soils, yielding
the most luxuriant crops of wheat, oats, coleseed, and turnips;
but whenever clayed land becomes wet, the greatest injury is
sustained, and in that state is often less productive than the moor
without clay. ‘The peat soil itself possesses the requisite fertility
and productiveness, but cannot fully exert and preserve those
powers and display its capabilities until it derives greater con-
sistency and solidity from the admixture of a heavier and more
tenacious substance, which thus prevents a too Tae evaporation
of moisture by the sun, &c.

The operation of ‘claying” is performed in the following
manner :—Trenches are made about 10 or 12 yards apart, parallel
to each other, across a field, and varying in width according to
the depth of the clay and the quantity requisite to be taken out,
but generally from 3 to 4 feet. ‘The workman commences at one
end by digging a hole as wide as the intended trench, and about

South Level. 93

6 or § feet long , when he arrives at the clay, which is found at
2,6, or even 10 feet from the surface, he throws it out, half on
each side the pit, taking out 2 “draws” (or 2 feet) deep: and
when a larger quantity is required, 3 draws. Another portion of
black soil is taken off in the line of the trench, and thrown into the
hole already made; another bottom of clay is then thrown up,
and the work proceeds in this way until the whole is finished,
the clay being spread evenly over the whole surface except where
the trenches are. When the clay is at a great depth “ pits” are
made (7. e. holes) instead of trenches. Such has been the pro-
gress of improvement, that the introduction of steam-drainage
and the adoption of claying have so condensed and consolidated
the land, as to render the practice of paring and burning nearly
obsolete; the Fens having now been retrieved from the desig-
nation of a swampy unfruitful plain, to be known as one of (if not
altogether so) the richest and most fertile districts in the kingdom.

Beprorp LEVEL.

South Level.—In noticing the different divisions of the Fens, it may
perhaps be as well to begin at the south of the Bedford Level, and so
advert to each whilst travelling towards the north. ‘The first,
then, is that portion of the Bedford Level termed the “ South
Level,” containing about 120,000 acres, south of the old Bedford
River, which runs for 21 miles in a straight line from Earith, in
Huntingdonshire, to Salter’s-lode sluice, near Downham, in
Norfolk. The whole of the districts into which this level has
been subdivided have now (or will shortly have) a steam drainage,
though many wind-engines still remain standing, to throw out a
little of the water as long as they can work without repairs; and
these will not be left long, for almost every time the Commis-
sioners meet, orders are given for pulling down another mill.

Over Fen has an engine of 20-horse power, which throws its water
into the ‘‘ West River,’ or Old Ouse. Cottenham Fen has two engines,
one of 40, the other 30-horse power, draining from 3000 to 4000 acres.
Haddenham Fen has a 60-horse engine which drains 7000 acres.
Stretham Fen, about 7000 acres, is drained by one 60-horse engine,
and all the above throw into the Ouse. Thetford Fen, about 1000
acres, is drained by a 15-horse engine; and Burwell Fen, about 4000
acres, by a 30-horse power engine, throwing into the Cam and Ouze.
Swaffham Fen has an engine of 30-horse power, throwing into the
Cam. Middle Fen has a 60-horse engine ov the bank of the Lark
River, draining about 14,000 acres ; and Burnt Fen, 2 engines of 40-
horse each, which drain about 14,000 acres, one throwing into the
Lark, the other into the ‘‘ Brandon River,’’ or Lesser Ouse. Milden-
hall Fen is drained by a 60-horse engine, throwing into the Lark river ;
Lakenheath Fen by a 40-horse engine, which throws into the Brandon

94 Bedford Level.

River; Feltwell Fen, by a 80-horse engine, also on the bank of the
Brandon River; Southery Fen, by a 60-horse engine, draining 7000
acres of fen and a large quantity of highland water, throwing into the
Ouze ; and “‘ Littleport and Downham” district, by 2 engines each of 80-
horse power, one on the bank of the “hundred feet,’ the other on the
Ouse, or ‘‘’Ten-miles River,” together draining about 30,000 acres,
besides which there is a private engine near Denver. The soil of this
Level is generally peat, with a subsoil of blue clay: some of it is soft
and ‘‘ buttery,”’ other parts of a harder texture ; underneath 4 or 5 feet
of peat-soil and moor. Over Fen has a surface of loamy clay on moor,
with a gravelly stratum beneath, and productive land. Cottenham Fen
is generally a strong fen land mixed with brown clay, on a subsoil of
moor and gravel; and Haddenham Fen is of a similar kind, resting
upon gravel; but both are productive land. Stretham Fen is princi-
pally moor, of several feet in depth, upon gravel. Thetford Fen is
strong, useful, good land, from highland warp deposited by continual
floods, and is but recently drained. Burwell Fen has a surface of weak
black soil, some parts on clay from 3 to 5 feet from the surface, others
too deep to be obtained for some years. This fen was drowned for
years by highland waters from chalk soils which brought no deposit ;
the previously named fens were formerly drowned by flood from the
clay soils, which brought down a large portion of soil and deposited
upon the fen lands. Swaffham Fen has been drained about 27 years
by steam ; the surface is a light moor, but it is now getting so reduced
as to allow of claying. Middle Fen (ear Ely) has a different soil, the
upper part being a mixture of clay and moor, the lower part moor upon
clay. The soil of Burnt Fen is moor resting principally upon clay,
which has been and is still being applied to the surface. The surface
of Mildenhall Fen is black soi! with sand under the moor, generally at
6 or 8 feet depth, and but a small portion of clay; it has been recently
drained by steam. The moor in Lakenheath Fen is very deep, with
sand generally under it; it has been drained by steam power about 3
years. In Feltwell Fen the clay and sand are too deep to be obtained
for some years, and the surface black, but very light because not well
drained, having a great deal of highland water running down upon it,
bad drains, and an insufficient engine. Southery Fen is peat, with
clay generally underneath it, and in many parts claying has become
general. Littleport Fen, between the Hundred-feet and Ouse, was
formerly badly drained by 75 windmills, but there are now two 80-horse
engines, one of which raises about 40,000 gallons per minute, lifting
it about 12 feet high. There are 26,000 acres of land taxable to the
Drainage Works, and about 4,000 acres of extra skirt land, taxable
only to the outer works, besides which it has upwards of 30 miles of
catchwater-drains, which take the highland waters into the great rivers.

Before these catchwater drains were constructed, the water
from 12,000 acres of high land flowed into the district, and in-
undated it before the engines could throw it out. The soil is
peat-earth and silt-land, made by the Old .Croft river and
branches from it; in some parts it is marl, which of itself is a

South Level. 95

poor soil much acted upon by the frost, but both this and the
black land are now extensively clayed, and are very productive ;
the depth of the moor varies from 2 to 8 feet, and is of good
quality.

Much of the soil which has a subsoil of sand (having thus no
valuable substance which could be incorporated with and give it
strength) yet remains in a wild state, growing very weak crops.
Clay has been carted on to it from adjoming lands with great
success, hut only in scanty instances, though it is certain that
wherever clay is applied to the peat it will answer. The general
aspect of the country, before drainage made much progress, was a
region of reed and sedge; a large portion of Littleport Fen
having been let at 1s. per acre, into which stock was turned
amongst the reed and “ turf-bass,” and not seen for days to-
gether. In winter the country was under water, and fishing and
fowling the employment of the inhabitants, who on a few dry
spots raised an acre or so of spring wheat for each family. After
this succeeded partial draimage, the inhabitants keeping dairies
and growing a few oats; but now the country teems with the
produce of corn, seeds, and coleseed.

A fine tract ‘of high land, being a diluvial deposit principally of
clay, rises in the centre of the South Level, running from Littleport
to Ely. From thence the same ridge continues westward through
Thetford, Stretham, and Wilburton, approaching the western
boundary of the Fens ; it then advances northward to Haddenham
and Sutton, and returns again by Witcham, Wentworth, and
Witchford, to Ely, encircling a basin of black land called
“ Grunty Fen.” This fen, consisting of 1280 acres, would make
excellent arable Jand, but in consequence of its being common
to seven bordering parishes, the inhabitants of each place turning
in cattle or sheep without any restriction as to numbers, it 1s
likely to continue uninclosed, uncultivated, and unimproved.
There is a considerable tract yet unclayed ; the principal part has
been done once, and some portions ¢2zce.

A large quantity of underdraining has been done on the Heh
erounds, both with tiles and pipes, which are becoming general,
and with turf. “ Turf-draining”’ is done by depositing sods of
dried turf (or “‘moor’’) in deep narrow-bottomed drains, so as to
form a wedge with the hollow drain beneath; the “turfs” ex-
panding with the moisture, form a compact and durable mass,
preserving open a good and effectual passage for the waters. On
the heavy land between Mepal and Ely, in the parishes above
mentioned, there are some good pastures, but the principal portion
is arable, the fields bounded by neat quick-fences, alarge breadth
being new inclosures. Barley, wheat, and beans are the principal
crops: seeds not being very extensively grown, and oats rarely

96 Bedford Level.

sown except for convenience. The land is too heavy for turnips,
and will not produce good coleseed, so that the system of “dead”-
fallowing is necessarily adopted. Consequently, very few sheep
indeed are wintered; perhaps only 3 or 4 acres of turnips being
grown on a large occupation of 300 or 400 acres. Leicesters
and Long-wools are bought in spring to eat off the grass and the
few seeds which may be sown, and sold in autumn. A great
number of beasts are kept during the winter upon hay, straw,
and oilcake, being sold in the spring as “stores.” Little under-
draining has been done on the low lands, but in most districts the
steam-engines can keep the water low enough to make an outfall
for the drains. The prevailing opinion of fen-farmers is, that
the peat-soil is so porous as to require little or no under-
drainage, and accordingly they are satisfied with cutting one or
two drains in a field and partially refilling them with wood or
thorns. But a good tile-drainage is very much needed to dry the
peat and provide a quicker passage for the downfall water, the
principal difficulty being that the peat has a tendency to insinuate
between the joints of the tiles, and the drain, lying on a dead level,
is liable to be choked by accumulations of sediment. This,
however, has been greatly obviated by the use of pipes with
‘collars,’ that is, rings of the same material which cover the
crevices between the pipes, each collar contaiming about 2 inches
of each adjoining pipe. ‘There is no regular system of low-land
management pursued; indeed, so much depends on the proper
admixture of the soils and subsoils, and the well making of the
manure, and use of artificial manures, that it would be injustice
to a good enterprising tenant to restrict his routine of cropping,
and difficult to preventa bad one from injuring the land.

The principal crops are wheat and oats, the alternate crops
being varied by beans, seeds, and fallow both for coleseed and
turnips. Coleseed is the chief green crop, and perhaps the fol-
lowing five-field course may be more general than others :—Ist,
coleseed ; 2nd, oats; 3rd, wheat; 4th, beans or seeds; 5th, wheat ;
or perhaps the following six-field course :—lst, coleseed ; 2nd,
wheat; 3rd, oats; 4th, wheat; Sth, seeds ; 6th, wheat.

A great deal of artificial manure is used in this Level ; bones
for the green crop invariably, guano as a top dressing for wheat,
beans, &c., and abundance of linseed-cake in the farm-yards.
The sheep grazed in the neighbourhood of Ely, and in Littleport
Fen, are Leicesters; sometimes Long-wools and the half-bred
Down and Leicesters are bought, but Leicesters are most general
throughout the level. Along the whole of the northern boundary
extends a narrow tract of land, called “the Hundred-feet
Washes,” included between the great barrier banks of the Hun-

dred-feet and Old Bedford Rivers, 21 miles in length, and

Middle Level. 97

varying from a few hundred yards to three quarters of a mile in
width, having an area of about 5000 acres. This is used as a
reservoir for the winter floods, and can be embanked only when
the outfall is greatly improved. It is therefore uncultivated, but
bears large crops of excellent hay; so that a great deal is used
by the neighbouring farmers. This hay is coarse and long, but
all kinds of stock will eat it; the eddish is stocked with cattle
and young horses (which feed exceedingly well on it) until the
winter months, when the floods may be expected. The fields
(being parted by ditches) are then cleared, the gates removed,
and when heavy downfalls come, and the swollen upland waters
descend, these Washes are laid 6 or 7 feet under water, the roads
across being traversed by ferry-boats.

Middle Level.—Northward of the Old Bedford River is
the Middle Level, containing upwards of 150,000 acres, be-
ing the largest of the three levels. This Level is parti-
tioned into the north, south, and east divisions, each being sub-
divided into numerous private districts, for the convenience of
drainage. Under “the Middle Level River Act,” passed in 1810,
about 70,000/. were expended in scouring out and deepening the
Old River Nene (whichis the main artery of this Level), and nearly
all the rivers and large drains, thus effecting a great improve-
ment in the interior drainage, whilst the Eau Brink Cut wonder-
fully aided the work of benefit at the outfall* The present
mode of drainage of the Middle Level is principally by wind-
engines, of which there are 150; and there are four steam-engines
draining about 30,000 acres, besides three private engines, which
drain about 1000 acres.

The Manea and Welney district engine is situated on the bank of the
Old Bedford River, which (as before observed) empties into the Ouse at
Salter’s-lode Sluice. This engine is of 60 horse-power ; the diameter of
the water-wheel is 32 feet, width of the “ladles”? 2 feet 9 inches,
making 35 revolutions in a minute. It drains 8685 acres, the cost of
coals being 7d. per acre. The Sutton and Mepal engine is built a little
higher up on the same bank, and throws its water into a small cut called
‘*the Counter Drain,” which empties itself into the Bedford River. It
is 80-horse power; the diameter of the wheel being 32 feet, and the
width of the ladles 4 feet, making 3% revolutions per minute. It drains
about 10,348 acres, costing 74d. per acre for coals, &c. The March Ist
District Engine is on the south bank of the Nene, about a mile eastward

* This cut gave an extra fall of 6 feet at St.Germain’s (the upper end of
the cut), and reduced the surface of the water in all the Middle and South
Level rivers in proportion. This relieved the pressure on the banks, and
prevented inundation, enabling the artificial works or mills to discharge
the low land waters. Steam soon after began to be applied, and claying
began to make great progress, so that the Middle and South Levels, trom
an oat-growing, became a wheat-growing country.

VOL. VIIT. IH

98 Bedford Level.

of March. It is 30 horse-power; the diameter of the wheel being
27 feet, the ladles 21 inches wide, making 4 revolutions in a minute.
It drains about 3000 acres, the consumption of coals amounting to 11d.
per acre. March 4th District, or ‘*‘ West Fen’ engine, is on the north
bank of the Nene, about a mile and a half westward of the town. It is
40 horse-power; the diameter of the wheel being 28 feet, the width of
the ladles 2 feet, and it makes 4 revolutions per minute. It drains
about 5000 acres, at a cost of 1s. 1d. per acre for coals. About 2000
acres of high-land water run into the two latter districts without paying
any tax. ‘The district drainage taxes are 4s. per acre in the two first
districts ; in the next 6s. per acre, and in the latter 5s. per acre; part of
the taxes going annually in liquidation of money borrowed for the
erection of the engines.*

It is believed that the artificial system of drainage is, in many
districts, an unnecessary expense; and a great improvement in
the main drains is now in progress. In the Session of 1844 an
Act was obtained for ‘“‘improving the Drainage and Navigation
of the Middle Level of the Fens ;”’ laying a tax of Is. 6d. upon
130,000 acres, varying from 2s, 3d. to 3d. per acre. The object
was, besides enlarging the old drains, and connecting them with
some new, to make a new outfall to a more northern point, and
therefore a lower level of the River Ouse. By this great cut
the Tongs-drain (or Marshland Cut) will be useless, a dam
being placed across this drain near the upper Tongs-sluice. This
new channel from the upper end of the Eau Brink Cut to the
Sixteen-feet River, about 11 miles long and 15 feet deep, is now
completed, after much difficulty ;—the weight of the banks having
in many places forced up the bed of soft blue clay, the banks
thus slipping into the drain. The other works cannot be exe-
cuted until another Act is obtained, increasing the tax at least Is.
per acre. These works will carry away altogether the waters of
Whittlesey Mere,—a lake spreading over more than a thousand
acres of rich soil not more than 4 feet under water, and sur-
rounded by extensive reed-beds, There is no doubt that steam
power would ultimately have usurped entirely the offices of the
windmills, had not these improvements been projected ; it being

* The engines generally “dip ” from 5 to 6 feet below the level of the
surface when first erected; but a few years of good drainage consolidates
the moor, and the surface is thus lowered very quickly. It is now gene-
rally understood to be the better way for a 40-horse engine to have
three boilers of 30-horse power each, two to be at work, and one ready
for cleansing or repairs if out of order. Experience has proved that two
boilers of 30-horse power each will generate steam for a 40-horse engine
with ess fuel than one 40-horse boiler, as the furnace does not want so
often disturbing to replenish the fire (thereby letting in the cold air), and
the combustion is more complete. The cost of a steam-engine, including
the building and fixing for purposes of drainage, is about 100/. for every
horse power.

Middle Level. 99

supposed that ten steam-engines, costing about 4000/. each,
would drain the land much more effectually than the 150 wind-
mills, By some it is hoped that the recent Act will give to
three-fourths of the land a natural outfall; and that whenever the
outfall below Lynn is improved, this benefit will extend to all. It
is confidently expected that for a very large quantity of land
neither windmills nor steam-engines will be required, and that
for the remainder the cost for coals will certainly not exceed half
the present amount.

The principal part of this Level consist of peat soil resting
upon blue clay. The ‘“‘ Manea and Welney ” district is princi-
pally moor, with generally good clay under it, and it is very pro-
ductive land; some parts of it have a hard clay and gravel subsoil,
but the surface is everywhere good. In “Sutton and Mepal”
district the surface varies, but is generally black soil upon gault
and gravel ; the upper part of the district towards the high lands
is mixed with brown clay, and the quality of the land good, and
very productive. March Ist (or “ Binnamoor”) district has a
considerable quantity of silt land; the remainder is peat upon
blue clay, and very productiveland. March 4th district, or “ West
Fen,” is black land, with good clay from 2 to 5 feet below the
surface, with some silty land made by creeks, which formerly
conveyed the tides. The neighbourhood of Whittlesey, towards
the north, is high land; a long strip of strong heavy clay extends
into the fens from Bury to Ramsey; and a ridge of clay and
gravel runs from March through Wimblington and Doddington,
to Chatteris, On the high lands above Ramsey, the usual rota-
tion is—Ist, a dead fallow; 2nd, barley; 3rd, seeds, sometimes
beans; and 4th, wheat. The chief part of the seeds is mown,
and the aftermath grazed; but sometimes the clover stands for
seed, which is ripe in September, about 8 bushels per acre being
reckoned a fair average produce. There is a great deal of pas-
ture land bordering upon the fen, which is most of it mown, so
that an immense quantity of hay is there used. About March
and Chatteris, both turnips and coleseed are grown on the high
lands,—which are some of them a mild clay, and others a strong
rich soil,—and after the green crop, generally oats; and wheat,
beans or seeds, and wheat again, In the parish of March are
5000 acres of this land, on which a considerable extent of under-
draining has been done. About Chatteris, Ramsey, &c., this
has been widely practised with tiles with great success; but very
little on the fen land, as the general drainage is not yet perfect.

Throughout most of the lowland, the clay is found at a depth
of from 2 to 5 feet, though in some places it is ploughed up, and
in others it is 8 or 9 feet beneath the surface; beds of gravel
(near the highlands), or sometimes a stratum of turf being found

H 2

100 Bedford Level.

under 2 or 3 feet of clay. The land has almost all been
“gaulted” once, most of it twice, and much of it three times.
The common method of performing this was, to let the clay lie as
long as possible to be pulverized by the frost; but by this means
it was quickly “lost” in the peat soil, and the land soon required
to be clayed again. The most general custom now is to plough
in the clay very soon after being spread, and by thus being un-
exposed to the air, it remains in small lumps, keeping the soil in
a more consolidated state for a long time. It has been previously
remarked, that the black surface soil consists of the ‘“ moor”
(which in most places forms the subsoil, 1 or 2 feet deep) in a
further state of decomposition, from tillage and the influence of the
atmosphere; and this substance (which is dug and dried into small
sods called “turfs” or “cesses,” for fuel) renders the land wet and
cold; so that the aim of the fen farmer is to get rid of it in the best
way he can. For this purposeit is torn up with a subsoil-plough,
sometimes having 6 horses;—the harder portions, called “clunch,”
rising up in immense clods several stones in weight. Thisis crum-
bled by the frost ; the land is soon after “ clayed,” and has then a
most valuable and excellent alterative applied to it;—the moor,
incorporating with the peat earth, becomes like it, and thus a very
deep rich soil is formed. Throughout the whole of the Fens, the
land which is not real peat-soil, having a portion of silt mixed
with it, is liable to “honeycomb” during frost; that is, the
frost separates about a 2-inch stratum of the surface soil into a
netlike assemblage of small lumps, the soil beneath this per-
forated crust remaining exceedingly soft and light. This hard
crust—pinching the blades of wheat whilst the roots are in the
loose earth below—appears to rise, and the young plants are thus
drawn out from their roots and laid on the top of the land. The
pure black soil is not subject to this smgular process, but freezes
into a solid piece; on the lowest and wettest portions of silty peat
it does immense mischief.

A very large quantity of land in this Level was a few years ago
subject to be drowned by a heavy downfall, and some districts
by a breach of the barrier banks from an overflow of high land
water ; but the improved drainage and practice of “ claying”’ have
improved the value of the land cent. per cent., and there are
many instances of farms being purchased (within the last 70 or
80 years) at O/. per acre, which are now worth from 50/. to 50/.
per acre. Thirty years ago a farm of upwards of 500 acres was
bought for 97. per acre, and is now worth more than 35J. per
acre. Wheat is the staple crop, and by high farming alternate
crops are grown, varying the intermediate ones with beans, clover
(both for seed and feed), rye-grass, &c., coleseed, and turnips.
In the parish of March (containing 14,000 acres of fen land)

Middle Level. 101

and in Chatteris Fen (about 10,000 acres) a common rotation is—
Ist, coleseed; 2nd, oats; 3rd, wheat; 4th, seeds; 5th, wheat ; or
when the seeds remain for two years the lea is deep ploughed in
winter for fallow. Or sometimes—lIst, coleseed; 2nd, wheat;
ord, seeds; 4th, wheat; and often 5th, beans; and 6th, wheat
again. A very great quantity of linseed oilcake is used in the
farm-yards, and bone-dust for the green crop invariably. Rape-
cake and guano are used to a considerable extent, and it is also
become a common custom to sow white mustard with guano, to be
ploughed-in for manure. About Ramsey and Whittlesey the
mode of management is much the same, the usual course of
cropping pursued on the estates of Mr. Fellowes being—lIst,
coleseed ; 2nd, oats; 3rd, wheat; 4th, seeds; 5th, wheat. Some
farmers occasionally take oats after coleseed (which has had 10
or 12 bushels of bones per acre), then wheat, next “clay” for
oats, and then manure for wheat again. Very few turnips are
grown, but some excellent crops of carrots and field-beet are pro-
duced. In many places some extraordinary yields of wheat have
been obtained ;—some farms averaging 6 qrs. per acre, and some
single fields producing 7 or 8 qrs. per acre. The most general
breed of sheep is the long-woolled; and they are fed upon cole-
seed for three-fourths of the year,—the principal part of the seeds
being usually mown.

Near Whittlesey Mere is Holm Fen, of about 5000 acres, which
not many years ago was an immense reed shoal—the resort of
almost all kinds of waterfowl ; but it is now inclosed, has been
wonderfully improved by claying, and bears abundant crops of
corn. Adjoining to it is Middlemoor, containing about 2500
acres, spoken of by Arthur Young, in a.p. 1800, as “a watery
desert, growing sedge and rushes, and inhabited by frogs and
bitterns ;” it is now fertile, well cultivated, and profitable land.
The clay in this locality is found at a great depth,—perhaps 7 or
9 feet from the surface—so that, although there are but few
pieces of land in this part of the Fens which have not been clayed
once, and many twice, yet it is not practised so much as is need
ful; the operation (at this great depth) costing about 4. per acre.
An encroachment has been made upon Whittlesey Mere (which
will shortly be completely drained) ; and a steam-engine has been
erected, which drains the new inclosure from the Mere—of about
900 acres—throwing the water into the Mere. Ramsey Mere,
containing more than 560 acres, and Ugg Mere, a smaller sheet
of water, were drained and inclosed a few years ago; each having
a windmill throwing its water into the Nene. Ramsey Mere,
which once grew enormous quantities of long reed (used for
thatching in the neighbouring counties), now comprises three
farms of beautiful land, on a igher level than the surrounding

102 Bedford Level.

fen. And this Mere has now farm-buildings built upon its bed,
a good gravel road running through the middle of it, and produces
fine crops of wheat and oats.

The drainage of the whole of this level, with the exception of
the steam-drainage before mentioned, is by windmills, the country
being divided into “small districts” and “ private drainages,’ too
numerous to mention. ‘These mills are generally attended to by
men who live in them; the millman, in the summer months, being
paid for the time during which his mill is of necessity going,
having his tenement thus rent-free; but in the winter months he
has orders to work his mill whenever there 1s a wind, and is paid
a continual weekly sum—generally about 2s. per day. In many
instances these “ districts” are tolerably well drained, except in
wet seasons, when there happens to be a layer of wind.

North Level and Portsand.—The North Level, and Port-
sand (which is united with it), containing about 48,000 acres,
comprises that portion of the Great Bedford Level which is
included between the north bank of Moreton’s Leam and the
south side of the Welland. Of these 48,000 acres, only
39,622 acres are taxable lands; the district called Newbo-
rough (formerly “Great Borough Fen Common,’ drained
and inclosed by an Act, passed 52 George IIJ.), containing
5276 acres; Flag Fen, Sutton St. Edmund’s Great and Little
Commons, about 2500 acres, being exempt from the general
North Level Taxes. The taxable lands are divided into five
districts ;—the water from the whole level being conveyed by the
Old and New South Eau to a place called Clow’s Cross, and
from thence by the North Level Drain to the river Nene, below
Wisbech, at Gunthorpe Sluice. Previous to the improvement in
the Nene outfall, this Level was in a most deplorable state. In
A.D. 1770, a great breach, which occurred in one of the river
banks, 130 yards long, and 36 feet deep, inundated the level—
laying the whole of it 7 or 8 feet deep under water. In 1795 all
the other banks gave way, only the district of Portsamd and
Thorney Lordship escaping the devastation of the flood. The
necessity for improving the outfall became more apparent as the
number of floods increased. During the whole of the winter
preceding the terrible floods of 1799, both of which happened in
February, the Hundred-feet and Whittlesey Washes (in conse-
quence of the bad state of the outfalls) were 2 or 3 feet deep in
water, and therefore afforded so much less a receptacle for the
waters poured in from the highland counties. The water of
those Washes was frozen to the ground, on which came fresh
floods ; so that at last the zce was, in some places, twelve or thirteen
Seet thick ; and it was the accumulating of the ice of these floods
at various points that did the principal mischief. This could not

North Level and Portsand. 103

have occurred, had the present Eau Brink Cut and improved Nene
Outfall been in existence. In 1809, Mr. Rennie made a report
upon the drainage of this Level, projecting extensive plans of im-
provement, both: as regarded the internal drainage of the North
Level, South Holland, the Hundred of Wishech, the Whittlesey
Washes, and the outfall to sea; but this plan was not persevered
in, the Level remaining in its lost condition until the passing of the
Nene Act in 1827. This included the drainage of the Fens as
follows :—

Acres.

The North Level and Portsand . : - 48,000

South Holland, including part of Sutton St. I Mary: 81 34 909
and 'Tidd St. Mary’ Sint s ° Q

Sutton St. Edmund’s 5 ; OW

Wisbech Hundred, including the parishes of Tidd
St. Giles, Newton, Leverington, and Parson> 117,700

Drove ‘ : ‘ : ;
Waldersea and Begdale : . ‘ ~ 8,000
Lands in Moreton’s Leam Wash : : pug c3i5 1010)
116,900
To this undertaking—

The Bedford Level was to contribute , . £48,000
The Corporation of Wisbech . ‘ ; - 30,000
Wisbech Hundred, and ‘Tidd-fen : 3 : 15,000
South Holland Drainage : ; : 7,000
Lands in Sutton St. Bamond’s, : j 1,700
Hamlet of Sutton St. James’s . : é ; 550
£102,250

These works, as before observed, were completed in the year
1831 ; a new cut, called the North Level Drain, about 6 miles in
length, being made from Clow’s Cross to the Nene ;—the water
thus passing through a wide, deep, and more direct channel to the
improved outfall, instead of winding round by the narrow and im-
perfect Shire Drain. This was an incalculable benefit ; formerly
the land would not remunerate the farmer for high cultivation
and quick succession of crops, but it has greatly improved since.
There were about thirty windmills, and one steam-engine (in
- Borough Fen, near Thorney) in this level; but in consequence
of the above, and other vast improvements, “there are now nel-
ther steam-engines nor windmills remaining,—the whole drainage
being accomplished by the natural descent of the waters to sea,
at an annual expense of 4s. or 5s. per acre. ‘The higher parts of
the level are exceedingly well drained, but the lower parts only

imperfectly, partly owing to the water being held up at Sutton
Bridge.

104 Norfolk. Fens.

The origin of “ paring and burning” in the Bedford Level was
in this district, about the middle of the 17th century. The
paring-plough, used in the neighbourhood of Thorney and Whit-
tlesey, was called ‘“ the French-plough,”’ and was probably intro-
duced by a colony of French Protestant refugees, who settled at
Thorney about the year 1650. These French families had been
driven into Holland, and thence came to Thorney ; brought most
likely by the report of the Dutch engineers, who at that time
were employed in the drainage of the Fens; and there is little
doubt but that these emigrants introduced the practice of paring
and burning in this part of the kingdom, as we know, by the work
of De Serres, that it was common in France fifty years before that
period. ‘This practice was universal previously to the improved
drainage; the usual system being to pare and burn for coleseed,
take two crops—one of oats, the other of wheat; and then lay
down grass-seeds for three, or perhaps more years. The soil,
with the exception of some high lands of clay and gravel round
Thorney, and alluvial soil in Portsand, &c., is peat or vegetable
mould, averaging not more than 12 to 18 inches in depth. Clay-
ing is now universal, and much the same mode of management
and cropping is adopted here as in the other districts ; the general
system now prevalent being a 5 or 6 course shift, viz.—Ist,
fallow for coleseed, or turnips ; 2nd, oats ; 3rd, wheat; 4th, seeds ;
and 5th, wheat; and next time, fallow for—Ist, coleseed; 2nd,
oats ; 3rd, seeds; 4th, wheat; 5th, beans; and 6th, wheat. The
“ third district,” or Thorney Lordship,—containing 17,588 acres,
the property of the Duke of Bedford,—is noted for its good ma-
nagement and neat farm-steads ; upon this estate, and other parts
of the Level, very much upon the fen as well as highlands, a wide
extent of underdraining has been done with a yery good effect—
improving the condition of the soil, and saving much annual ex-
pense in surface-draining. Much of the old pasture land, which
was good and valuable under the old system of drainage, has been
converted into arable, having been rendered too dry for pasturage,
and much more valuable and most productive for corn. The North
Level may be regarded as possessing altogether a more complete
and improved drainage and agriculture than any other district of
the Fens.

Norrock Fens.

Downham Fen.—-South of Marshland is a triangular por-
tion of fen land lying in Norfolk, divided into Bardolph and
Downham Fens. The latter, which contains about 1600 acres,
is drained under the authority of an Act passed in 1802; two
windmills (or one “ double-lift,’—that is, one mill working
behind another, to raise the water successively to the required

Bardolph Fen. 105

height) being erected upon the banks of Well Creek, dis-
charging the water through Salter’s-lode Sluice into the Ouse.
The “head” of water to be thrown against is sometimes 12 feet,
so that steam-drainage would be very expensive in so small a
fen, and part of it bad land. In 1840, an attempt was made to
introduce steam-drainage; an engine was erected, and made to
work neither a water-wheel nor a pump, but some of “ Hall’s
Patent Hydraulic Belts.” After a trial, however, it was found
that the scheme would not answer; and Downham Fen still con-
tinues under wind-drainage,—although “ the farmer, in the midst
of his confidence and hopes, with his crops ready for the sickle,
has sometimes experienced sudden and complete ruin from an
unexpected fall of heavy rains deluging his lands; while his mills
—his only hope—stood with their sails unmoved by a breath of
wind, and the fruits of the labour and industry of the past year
perished on the ground.” The soil is peat, about 5 feet in
depth ;—there are only one or two fields which have not been
clayed. The land is higher near the river, and a few tile under-
drams have been laid there; but the greater part is too low and
wet to admit of such an improvement. ‘The chief crops are wheat
and oats, but this fen has been badly managed, having had no
green crops on it for a long time, excepting a few patches of tur-
nips now and then on the higher lands, and a few acres of cole-
seed. Linseed oil-cake is used to improve the yard manure, a
few bones and a great many “mussels” are put in the Jand—
which lies contiguous to the river, these shell-fish being brought
up in barges. It is singular that nut-trees have been discovered
beneath the soil, with sound good nuts upon them; the roots
which are found are nearly all of the sallow. Fourteen or fifteen
years ago the Ouse bank broke, by reason of a tunnel blowing up,
and nearly the whole fen was inundated. The harvest-men were
obliged to stand on a platform to reap the corn, being carried to
and from the high land in boats; and the farmers were some of
them compelled to row boats into their orchards in order to pluck
the fruit from the trees. |

Bardolph Fen.—N orth of this district is Bardolph Fen—compris-
ing 5235 acres. The drainage is by two principal mills, standing at
the extremity of the fen next the Ouse, into which the waters are
thrown, between Downham and Stow Bridge. The soil is generally
a deep moor, about 5 feet; and both in this and Downham Fen
frequently occur white beds, at the surface apparently like chalk,
but consisting of decaying shells. ‘The same remarks which have
been made respecting the management of Downham Fen will
also apply to this district; most of it has been clayed once, but
the practice has been to keep cropping 1t one year after another,
with scarcely any fallow whatever, the course being coleseed, oats,

106 Norfolk Fens.

wheat, beans, wheat, beans, wheat, &c., but little or no seeds, and
not 100 sheep grazed on the whole fen. Artificial manures are
of course employed to enable the land to bear this; but in conse-
quence of the inefficient dramage, a great portion of the manure
applied, being washed downwards into the wet and spongy moor,
soaks through it into the ditches, and a remedy by underdraining
is scarcely practicable because of this wetness. A good steam-
drainage is much needed in both these fens, to dry and condense
the stratum of moor; and some good dressings of clay, com-
bined with deep subsoil-ploughing to break up the moor, are
required, thoroughly to improve them.

Magdalen Fen—North-eastward of Bardolph Fen is a part of
Marshland called « Magdalen Fen,” containing about 4000 acres,
which until the year 1833 was under the ruinous system of windmill
drainage ; and the following instance gives a striking contrast be-
tween the two methods of wind and steam. <A farm of nearly 700
acres, paying 2917. per annum drainage-tax, lost the occupier d000/.
during the last five years of that wretched drainage; after a
great deal of trouble and expense an engine of 40-horse power
has been erected, and the same farm is now well drained at a cost
of only 2541. per annum. This fen is on a lower level than
Bardolph Fen, having a “head” of 8 or 10 feet, and sometimes
12 or 13 feet; and in wet seasons the engine is hard-pressed to
lift out the water, a large basin (for the engine to throw into)
being required to hold the water, which can pass through the
sluice into the Ouse only at low tide. ‘The soil is black peat,
resting upon beds of clay and silt. Before the improved drainage,
the crust of moor was about 4 feet in thickness, but it has now
become so reduced and compressed that it is not more than
2 feet deep in any part, and in many places the clay may be
ploughed up.

The old system was to pare and burn for oats, next take a
crop of rye, and then let the land day itself down with couch,
grass, reeds, &c., for three or four years. In consequence of
this, too much of the peat has been burnt away, and the farmers
find that their land will, ere long, be mixed with too much clay
and silt. A great portion of this fen (all arable) has been clayed
twice: the first plan being to clay the coleseed stubbles, and to
sow oats upon the fresh clay just as it was thrown out from the
« dikes,’ without ploughing ; but it is now done before and after
any crops, as early as possible in the winter to have a good frost
upon it, and ploughed-in in spring. Immense quantities of
trees and roots are being constantly dug up in this fen, good fir-
poles are found, and the roots (which are all fir and burn fiercely,
being still full of turpentine) are so plentiful that, though every
year all that the plough touches are taken up, still numbers are

Marshland Fen. 107

every year found, and some of the farm-yards are walled round
with piles of them.

There is no general mode of management adopted here, but
the following rotation is highly approved of, viz.,—Ist, coleseed ;
2nd, oats; 3rd, wheat; 4th, seeds; of which half are mown and
the aftermath grazed (generally by equal numbers of half-breds
and long-wools), being ploughed up again for 5th wheat. ‘The
other half remains down and is grazed for two years, the crops
being thus,—5th, seeds; 6th, beans; 7th, wheat.

The wireworm is so destructive, especially on the silty or sandy
parts, that a wheat crop is often entirely lost; but where the land
is tolerably free from its ravages, 52 bushels of wheat per acre
are frequently grown. Bone-dust is invariably sown with the
fallow crop, about 10 bushels per acre, with ashes made by
burning side-parings from the ditches, &c., and guano answers
well. The drilling of guano with the coleseed had been objected
to, as in several cases it had killed the seed; but some farmers
have obviated this by sowing it with a double-coultered drill,
and fixing a thorn on each of the first or guano coulters to brush
it in before the seed is deposited, thus preventing the seed from
coming in contact with the manure. About 2 cwt. per acre have
produced some excellent crops. Oulcake is used in the straw-
yards, the cattle generally having 4 lbs. a-day each during the
winter, and are sold in spring ready to be ‘made up” on the
summer pastures. No under-draining has yet been attempted
in this fen.

Marshland Fen.—W estward of Magdalen Fen is another district
called Marshland Fen,extending towards Outwell, and divided from
Bardolph Fenon the south by the Old Podike. This tract of land
was inclosed and drained under an Act of the 3rd Geo. III., and
allotted to eleven different parishes in Marshland, which had pre-
viously rights of soil and common thereon. Prior to the drainage
this fen was a complete reed shoal, the resort of fowlers and sports-
men, and was used as a reservoir for other fen waters. In the
Drainage and Inclosure Act were included Marshland Smeath
(a similar tract bounding it on the north-west, at that time one
waste of water), Wellmoor in Outwell, and Broad and Short
Fens in Wiggenhall. It contains a total of 7263 acres. The
drainage was effected 50 years ago by 4 powerful windmills, quite
sufficient to have drained it effectually if they could have been
worked at all times, but from the uncertainty of the power, the
crops were often much injured. ‘This district has now shared
the benefit of the improved outfall, in being better drained with
only 2 mills than formerly by the 4. These 2 mills, standing at
the North extremity of Marshland Fen, throw their waters into
the “ Smeath-and-Fen ” drain, and thence by the new Marshland

108 The Marsh District.

drain and sluice, into the Ouse, above the Kau Brink Cut. It is
a great pity that these last mentioned districts should still rely on
artificial means of drainage, since, had there not been so much
opposition to the Middle Level Commissioners, when trying for
their late Act of Parliament, the new works would have been
carried out to sea (the outfall below Lynn being in a very bad
state, in consequence of its shifting and circuitous channei, and
numerous sand-banks), and these fens at any rate, if not the whole
of the Middle and South Levels, would have had a perfect na-
tural drainage.

The soil of Marshland Fen is a black peat, formerly so soft
that wooden shoes, that is flat boards, were nailed on the horses’
feet over the iron ones, to prevent them from sinking in; and
even now it is difficult for them to travel on the wet and spongy
roads. This soil was once very deep, but it is now so condensed
that the depth varies from only 6 or 8, to 18 or 20 inches. A
subsoil of good clay pervades most of the district, and the usual
custom now is to plough very deep, by which this is brought up
and mingled with the soil. ‘The course of cropping is much the
same as on other good fen land, turnips being grown as well as
coleseed, the fallow crop always having about 10 or 12 bushels
of bones per acre. No underdraining has been done, as the
water in the ditches is seldom more than 18 or 20 inches below
the Jevel of the surface; but though badly drained, this fen
is much improved in value, having been worth about 10/1. per
acre to the fowlers and fishermen, and selling now for 50/. per
acre.

The present state of the Great Level will admit of many im-
provements, all on the most extended scale, in order to secure as
perfect a drainage as possible. The Ouze, Nene, Welland, &c,
and all the minor rivers, must be deepened to the full extent
required; the “ Victoria ’’ project completed to the full extent of
Sir John Rennie’s Report, and the fen waters must then be
carried to the lowest point towards the sea before they are united
with the upland waters. This great scheme will doubtless be
accomplished before many generations have passed away; and
the Great Level, thus rendered the most fruitful district in the
kingdom, and a new country wrought from the waves of the
ocean, will be the marvel of a future age.

Tue Marsu District.

Having now run briefly over the various divisions of the Bed-
ford Level, with the contiguous Norfolk Fens, it has been deemed
not inappropriate to bring under consideration, before proceeding
upwards to the Fens of Lincolnshire, that tract of higher land

Marshland. 109

called “the marsh district,” which intervenes between the Fens,
properly so called, and the ocean. Indeed, so interesting a
country, originally reclaimed from the dominion of the deep, and
forming a large portion of what is, in its most extended sense,
the Great Level of the Fens, cannot properly be omitted.

The whole extent of flat country between the hills and the sea
may be regarded as an alluvial deposit, the principal part being
now a blue clay. The Black Fen districts consist of all those
localities where vegetation once flourished, but has since perished
and decayed; thus forming a crust of vegetable mould over the
former soil. Nearer to the sea, and principally in Lincolnshire,
is a breadth of the same deposit which has remained unelad by
those immense primeval forests, and is on a higher level; and
then, bordering upon the ocean, are still later deposits of loam
and silt, which constitute the Marsh district. The two latter
compose the level tract, which has been previously described as
extending from Lynn, through Wisbech, Holbeach, Boston, &c.,
to Wainfleet, and forming a margin, of considerable breadth, for
many miles up the various rivers which empty themselves into
the Wash. It may be estimated to embrace not less than 130,000
acres ; the accumulation of alluvial matter being of varied thick-
ness and texture, and deriving its character from the nature and
quality of the particles of highland soil brought down by the
rivers.

Marshland.—The first district then to be noticed is that of
« Marshland,”’ in Norfolk, the adjoining fens of which have just been
adverted to. It lies principally between Lynn and Wisbech, and con-
tains about 30,000 acres, comprising 17 parishes. The soil of the
whole is the subsidence of a muddy water, with what the waves,
powerful in their agitation, had washed from the bottom of the
adjoining gulf which forms the embouchure of two considerable
rivers. It is a mixture of sea-sand and mud, which is of so argil-
laceous a quality, probably owing to the stiff upland country
through which the Ouse flows, that the surface soil which covers
the sand is strong and tenacious enough to be regarded as clay.
The whole country having been a present from the ocean, there
still remain ranges of banks at a distance from each other,
showing the progressive advances which industry has effected,
eager to seize the spoils which so dreaded an enemy has relin-
quished. One of these banks is called the “* Roman ;” its distance
from the shore is not so great as it would have been, had the sea
in all ages been as liberal as it is in this. The whole country
was liable, upon a breach of the outermost, or “ sea-dike” bank,
to be inundated ; and history furnishes numerous instances of
such a catastrophe, the most terrible being one which occurred
i A.D. 1613. On the Ist of November, “late in the night,

110 The Marsh District.

the sea broke in, through the violence of a north-east wind, meet-
ing with a spring-tide, and overflowed all Marshland, with the
town of Wisbech both on the north and south sides, and almost
all the whole hundred round about ;” the loss of property amount-
ing to 37,000/. So wide was the devastation of the waves, that,
besides thousands of cattle and sheep swept away by the rage of
the sea, vast quantities of grass, hay, and corn lost, and hundreds
of dwelling-houses “ utterly destroyed,” numbers of people were
drowned intheir beds. At Terrington, “a frontier town,’ where
the breach was made, “in this distress the people fled to the
church for refuge, some to haystacks, some to the baulks in
the houses till they were near famished, poor women leaving their
children swimming in their beds, till good people adventuring
their lives, went up to the breast in the waters to fetch them out
at the windows: and had not the mayor and aldermen of King’s
Lynn compassionately sent beer and victual thither by boat, many
had perished ; which boats came the direct way over the soil from
Lynn to Terrington.” There is now little danger of such an
irruption, as the barriers have been extended further seaward,
and stronger banks constructed round the more recent inclosures.
Previously to the formation of the Eau Brink Cut, it was ex-
ceedingly badly drained. A greatnumber of acres in each parish
used frequently to be flooded, so much so indeed, that it was a
hazardous speculation to sow the low lands with wheat, although
there was generally some artificial means of draimage, by small
windmills, &c. From the beneficial effects of the Cut, the same
lands are now as well drained as can be desired ; and of course
are very materially improved in fertility. The great leading
drain into which most of the waters run, is the Marshland Great
Sewer, or “ Chancellor’s Lode,” lying south of the Old Marshland,
which conveys the waters into the New Marshland drain and
sluice, to the Ouse. The other chief leading drain is that
which conveys the waters to the West Lynn Gool, and by that
into the Lynn channel. The soil on the old lands varies very
much; some being a rich deep loam, some a very strong tenacious
clay, and some again a nice mixed soil. That part of this dis-
trict lying immediately between Lynn and Long Sutton is chiefly
under arable culture, and is a stiff clayey loam, producing large
crops of wheat and beans. ‘The more common course of manage-
ment in this marsh is,—Ist, a bare fallow, sometimes coleseed or
turnips; 2nd, wheat; 3rd, beans, or clover; followed by 4th,
wheat. If the fallow be a turnip crop, the land is sown to 2nd,
oats, and then 3rd, wheat; 4th, beans, and 5th, wheat. In each
parish there is a little fine old pasture-land, although a great deal
has of late years been corfverted into arable. Further back from
the sea there are large tracts of good grazing ground, the soil

s

Marshland. 111

being a richdark loam. These lands sustain very heavy stocking
—-from 8 to 12 half-bred Down-and-Leicester sheep per acre,
with | steer to 4 acres, The arable lands in this part of Marsh-
land are very productive, growing large quantities of potatoes,
besides several crops of corn and pulse in succession.

Marshland Smeath, containing 1572 acres, is an exceedingly
rich tract, being a strong heavy loam, with a subsoil of clay and
silt mixed, andi in some few places, moor, being “ skirty” along
the boundary drain which parts it from Marshland Fen. Due-
dale mentions “a famous plain, called the Smeath, which, being
common to all the towns in Marshland, maintaineth at least
thirty thousand sheep ; and yet is not of a larger extent, in the
widest part of it, than two English miles.’ This was enclosed
under the Marshland Fen Drainage Act, and is now most part of
it arable, with only a few pieces of pasture. It is so fertile
that, Ist, oats; 2nd, seeds; 3rd, wheat; 4th, beans; 5th, wheat,
&c., are continually grown; the land being thus cropped (with a
dead fallow at long intervals, and a great deal has never been
fallowed at all) ieiehout any manuring whatever. Very little
artificial manure is used in the whole of Marshland. Under-
draining has been introduced during the last six or seven years,
and will most likely become general in a short time, though not
a tenth of the land has been done at present. Wood-draining
has been done with good effect, and wedge, or sod-draining has
been found to stand well for five or six years; but both these
methods have now given place to the best and safest one of tile-
draining. The drains are usually about 18 yards apart, and 34
feet in depth; the tiles or “ pipes” are tubular, fitting together
in rings of 5-inch breadth, called “collars,” or sometimes ‘‘rests”’
are used, that is, half-collars, which hold the ends of the pipes
flush with each other. The general rate of payment to labourers
for this work is 5s. 6d. per “score,” that is, twenty 164 feet rods,
making about 3id. per rod; and the men will earn thus about
2s. Od. per day.

A large extent of land has been added of late years to this dis-
trict. Agios other acquirements, the tract of 786 acres, formerly
part of the Old Lynn channel, lying between the Old Marsh
lands and the Eau Brink Cut, may be considered as part of
Marshland. This, which is now becoming geod land, was once
the great impediment to the passage of the Fen waters. Marsh-
land Fen, as before stated, formerly served as a receptacle for the
flood-waters, and seldom any flood-water passed to sea until about
Christmas, or when the fen was full; and this being also the case
with the Hundred-feet Washes, the whole combined was one
great cause of the sand-banks forming: across the channel of the
old river, in consequence of haying so little ebb water for eight or

EZ The Marsh District.

nine months in the year; indeed, it was almost invariably the
case, previous to the Eau Brink Cut, that the deep channel for
the ebb water would shift alternately, summer and winter, from
one bank of the old broad river to the opposite one. Before the
new channel for the river Nene was made, there was a wide and
shallow gulf between Marshland and the Lincolnshire coast,
through the midst of which the old river pursued its winding and
variable course, greatly obstructed by sand and mud. The new
channel was cut along the Lincolnshire side, and an embankment
made, cutting off a great portion of the gulf from the sea, which,
with the bridge across the new river, forms a road connecting
Marshland with Lincolnshire. About 1300 acres of the salt-
marshes and bare sands called the Outmarsh of Walpole, were
thus reclaimed, and are now inclosed and cultivated, having
houses and farm buildings erected in different places, and pro-
ducing crops of corn. The outmarsh belonging to each parish is
stocked with sheep, although liable to be daily overflowed by the
tides; the first plant that appears is the marsh samphire, next
the “triticum. repens,” or ‘‘ sea-wheat,’’ and by degrees grasses
rise; and immediately after embanking, broken as it is by holes
and small creeks of water, it is stocked with cattle or put under
the plough. Since the 1300 acres were inclosed, in consequence
of a further accumulation of sediment outside the embankment,
another great work is in progress. Another breadth of the same
gulf is being reclaimed by means of a bank from the Marshland
coast to the new channel of the Nene. ‘This bank, which will be
34 miles long, projects at present only part of the distance; a
smaller one, called the Cradge Bank, has been extended across,
inclosing about 2500 acres, which is valuable land, having very
little light soil or creeks. When the main bank is shut up
(which will be in a few years, having been commenced in August,
1842), about 1000 acres more will be gained. ‘There are 2000
acres more, lying outside this embankment, which will be taken
in when considered fit for cultivation. Experience has shown
that the ground ought to be covered by nature with samphire or
other plants, or with grass, before an attempt is made to embank
it; there is particular danger in being too greedy. “If the sea
has not raised the salt marsh to its fruitful level, all expectation
of benefit is vain, the soil being immature, and not ripened for
inclosure ; and if, again, with a view of grasping a great extent
of salt-marsh, the bank or sea wall be pushed further outwards
than where there is a firm and secure foundation for it to stand
upon, the bank wall blow up, and in both cases great losses and
disappointments will ensue.”

The thickness of warp deposited by the sea varies much ac-
cording to the height of the Jand, some lowland having been

Marshland. 183

known to make up 2 feet in a year, and in some cases only as
many inches. When the sea is shut out from the new made land,
it continues depositing soil in the deeper water beyond ; and in
this manner it is proposed to reclaim nearly the whole of the
great estuary called “the Wash.” The district already inclosed
and in progress, comprising altogether about 5000 acres, is called
“Wing Land,” in honour of Tycho Wing, Esq., of Thorney,
near Peterborough, to whose energy and perseverance the im-
provement is mainly attributable.

An Act has been lately procured for the execution of a gi-
gantic and magnificent undertaking, called the “ Victoria Level.”
The plan is to conduct the rivers Ouse and Nene, Welland and
Witham, to a new general outfall in the centre of the present
estuary, and by means of embankments convert the whole bay
on each side of the proposed channel into valuable land. It is
estimated that there will be 150,000 acres in the new country,
extending between Wainfleet in Migrcobnsnines and Hunstanton
in Norfolk, of which 75,000 acres are already land at the re-
ceding of the tide, and 4000 acres are valued at 40Z. per acre.

But, to return from this digression: south of Marshland coun-
try are some very rich pasture lands. ‘There is also some good
arable land, and good grazing ground on the high lands which
run from Elm in the direction of March. South-west of Elm is
the district of Waldersey, principally a moory soil, containing
8000 acres. It was drained a few years ago entirely by wind-
mills, but they performed their work very badly, as it was cus-
tomary during wet seasons for boats to be rowed over the
land, which was the habitation of large numbers of wild fowl.
In 1832 a steam-engine was erected at a cost of 3000/. It is of
60 horse-power : the expense for coal is 150/. per annum, and it
drains about 6500 acres of very fine land at a drainage-tax of
4s. Od. per acre. <A portion of debt is paid every year out of
this sum ; when it is liquidated, the tax can be reduced to Is. 6d.
per acre. The waters are raised by one pump, 6 feet in diameter,
which lifts 63 tons of water per minute, from 10 to 20 feet high,
according to the height of the tide. A few mills still remain,
which are used in addition, upon some private farms, when there
is a great fall of rain. It is thought that if Wisbech and Sutton
bridges were either removed or enlarged, there would be a
natural drainage, without the great burthen upon the land which
now arises from the yearly expense of both steam and wind. The
Jand has not all been clayed, but will be in a few years. Under-
draining has been tried only as an experiment, and answers so
well that it will probably come into extensive operation before
many years have elapsed. Bone-dust is always used, and with
very good effect, for the fallow crop, coleseed, after which oats

VOL. VIII. I

114 Lincolnshire Fens.

are sown; then the stubble is manured with fold-yard manure
and sown to wheat, next clover or beans, and then wheat again.

The lands in Wisbech Hundred are about 17,700 acres, and
within this district some beautiful spots of high land have been
brought under culture, producing immense crops of potatoes and
grain. In the parish of Leverington, near Wisbech, is a pepper-
mint distillery, one of the largest in the kingdom, and the culture
of the plant for distillation has been of great benefit to the poor
in the neighbourhoood, producing employment for a great number
of boys (who are. engaged in its setting, weeding, &c.); this,
with the large breadth of potatoes annually grown on the same
land, has caused a vast increase of labour of a profitable kind.
For the growth of peppermint the land is thoroughly worked,
cleaned, and manured, so as to render it as rich as possible. In
planting, from 200 to 300 men, women, and (chiefly) boys are
variously employed—ain taking up the plants (which are generally
the offshoots of old fields or beds), leading them to the field,
setting, &c. Round holes are made with long wooden dibbers,
in which the young plants are set, in rows about 18 inches apart,
the after-culture consisting chiefly in hoeing and hand-weeding.
The crop is fit for distillation in the early part of harvest, when
the work of gathering proceeds with the utmost expedition. It
is cut green, iu its full growth, and taken to the distillery in such
quantities as to prevent fermentation.

LINCOLNSHIRE FENS.

South Holland.—North-westward of Wisbech Hundred, and
north of the North Level and Portsand, stretches that part of Lin-
colnshire called South Holland, bounded on the west by the Wel-
land, and on the north and east by the sea, containing about 80,000
acres. The whole country has long been an object of embankment.
Ravenbank, the origin of which is quite unknown, appears to have
been the third which had been formed for securing a small part of
this tract from the sea, leading from Cowbitt across to Tidd St.
Mary’s. About 6 miles nearer to the sea is another bank, called the
Old Sea-dike, or Roman Bank. A fifth bank, called the New
Seadike Bank, 2 miles nearer than the Roman, remains, but it is
utterly unknown when or by whom it was made. A curious cir-
cumstance is, that the surface of the country is 6 feet higher on
the sea side of the old Roman bank than on the land side, being
the depth of warp deposited by the sea since it was made. In
1792 another embankment was made, taking in certain salt-
marshes and low lands extending along the shore, having an area
of about 5339 acres. The lands lying in Peakhill and several

neighbouring parishes were formerly drained by the Welland, and

South Holland. 115

also by Lutton Leam, the waters having to pass through the
higher lands, viz., to the north and north-east, and thus a large
and very valuable tract of country was drowned three-fourths of
every year. In 1793 the proprietors procured an Act for the
drainage of South Holland, and in 1794 and 1795 a new drain
was made, extending from Peter’s-point (near Sutton Bridge),
where a sluice was erected to keep out the Nene tides up to
Peakhill, near Cowbitt Bank, 14 miles in length, together with
two other drains, viz., the “ Highlands ” drain, about 5 miles long,
and the ‘‘ Lowlands,” about 4 miles. The district thus drained
comprised about 32,000 acres, including the lands drained by the
Lords’ drain, which empties its waters into the Welland at
Wragg Marsh, near Spalding. In consequence of the engineer
taking the outfall to the wrong place, the proprietors, who paid
from 20s. to 30s. and 40s. per acre, received very little benefit,
and the drainage remained ina very imperfect state, the Nene
Channel being blocked up by sand-banks until the improvement
of the Nene Outfali in 1831. Prior to this work, the waters on
the cill of the South Holland Sluice have been known to rise,
during the summer season, with the sand-bed 5 feet on the apron,
and in winter the water was seldom lower than 2 feet 6 inches.
Now it has a fal} off the cil, at low water, of 2 feet 9 inches,
although the middle arch was lowered 12 or 14 inches. This
district has a natural drainage, but in wet seasons is not so well
drained as it ought to be: a new sluice being required, to be laid
about 4 feet lower than the present one. The parish of Sutton
St. Edmund’s, including a small part of the lands in Tidd St.
Mary, and Sutton St. James, containing about 5700 acres, north
of the Shire Drain, discharges its waters by that drain. The
lands near the sea drain by Lutton Leam, Moulton Creek, &c.,
besides which there are numerous tunnels through the sea-bank,
for the drainage of private estates.

The land near the Nene consists of a good thick loam upon a
porous silty subsoil; as it widens out from the river it becomes
more adhesive, being a fine deep alluvial loam, of a dark brown
colour, an admixture of clay, silt, and moor. In many places are
found evidences of too early an enclosure from the ocean, the soil
being silty, with too thin a surface of loam. This tract comprises
some of the finest arable land in the kingdom, having been
brought into cultivation for corn, potatoes, mustard, and woad,
with astonishing crops. The land most suitable for woad is the
richest that can be procured, and will bear from 38 to 5 crops in
succession, after which it is devoted to the growth of corn.
There are some large woad establishments in this part of the
country, which are moved about to different localities, as land is
obtained for the purpose. The buildings are such as may be

12

116 Lincolnshire Fens.

readily constructed, or removed to another site and rebuilt; a
commodious round hovel is erected for the mill, and the drying-
sheds are generally built in a quadrangular shape, consisting of a
light framework of fir-deals supported by stays or props, and a
roof of light weather boarding. Tiers of ‘ fleaks,” a kind of

wattled hurdles, are laid across the woodwork, upon which the
woad is dried. ‘The usual time for sowing the seed is about the
beginning of April; the land is prepared by good ploughing, &c.,
until a fine mould is obtained, the seed is then drilled, lightly
harrowed in, and the field all raked over by hand, every grass sod
or other refuse being carefully taken off. When about 4 inches
high it is cleaned by hoeing and hand-weeding, and when 8
inches high it is ready for plucking. This is done by a number
of men, women, boys, and girls, upon their knees, each having a
4-lushel basket to receive the woad as it is pulled, the payment
being according to the number of these baskets filled. Large
carts are generally in attendance to take the woad to the mill,
where it is crushed into a pulp by the rolling over it of large
wooden wheels, having teeth about 4 inches apart, shod with iron.
It is then laid ina heap for some time to “ heat’ a little, and
afterwards made into balls about the size of a 34 |b. shot, placed
in the sheds to dry, and finally, packed in large hogsheads for
market.

Lying between this tract and the fen is the usual breadth of
highland fen, consisting chiefly of clay and clayey loam; and in
the township of Long Sutton, extending to St. James’s and St.
Edmund’s, much valuable land is found, the arable in excellent
cultivation, producing mustard, coleseed, corn, and pulse, and
the grazing ground of first rate quality. The parishes of
Whaplode, Moulton, and Weston have the same kind of alluvial
loam already alluded to, part of the marsh adjoming the Welland
being a light silty loam, though there are some exceedingly good
grazing grounds. ‘The pastures in all the marshes, from their
proximity to the silt, cause looseness and scouring in cattle,
whilst the southern parts of all these parishes, being on clay, are
healthy and very nutritive. This bad property of the herbage on
the marsh Jands may perhaps be owing to the soak, which pervades
almost all the districts of the Lincolnshire fens having a st/¢ sub-
soil. ‘This subterranean water is found at various depths, usually
but avery few feet below the surface; it rises and sinks accord-
ing to the season, and is supposed, from its saline quality, to be
the sea-water filtered through a stratum of silt.

At the southern extremity of Moulton parish is the district of
Portsand, containing some high land, with pastures of first rate
quality. This is now united with the North Level drainage.
‘he mouth of the river Welland (which is the northern boun-

: Deeping Fen. 117
dary of South Holland) divides Moulton from Fossdike, which

contains much beautiful land. Nearly all of it is marsh and
highland, some of the lands westward of the village are very
strong, approaching gault in stiffness.

From this parish towards Boston are Sutterton and Algarkirk,
both possessing prime grazing and arable land. A Yorkshire
Company have taken a great breadth of the best Jands in these
parishes, at a high rent, on a 90 years’ lease, for the cultivation of
woad, chiccory, &c. They have an extensive establishment at
Algarkirk for the manufacture of chiccory, as a substitute for
coffee. The land is ploughed very deep in the spring and well
worked, every weed carefully picked off, and when reduced toa
perfect pulverization, about the third week in April the seed is
drilled in rows 9 inches apart, and harrowed lightly in, the
cloddy parts being raked off into the furrows. The plants are
hoed and weeded repeatedly, and at Michaelmas the crop is ready
for taking up, which is done as follows: the leaves, which are
exceedingly good food for all kinds of stock, are gathered off, and
either thus consumed or applied to manuring purposes, &c. ; the
roots are then dug up by large 2-pronged forks, cleaned, and
dried, &e., at the factory. Large breadths of potatoes, black
mustard, &c., are grown in this neighbourhood. The parishes
of Kirton G@ncluding Kirton Skeldike, and running many miles
westward from the sea to Kirton Holme), Frampton, and Wy-
berton (adjacent to Boston), contain much land of admirable
texture, capable of any course of cropping. Nearer the sea are
sume capital sheep lands, and adjoining the Boston road there
are bullock lands equal to any of the grazing grounds in the
district. |

Northward from Spalding are the parishes of Pinchbeck and
Surfleet, the former chiefly fen, the latter possessing a con-
siderable extent of good marsh, Stretching still further north
are the parishes of Gosberton, Quadring, Donington, Bicker,
and Swineshead: these towns and villages being in a line pa-
rallel with those mentioned above (viz., Algarkirk, Sutterton,
&c.), and about 5 or 6 miles more to the westward. They contain
fine grazing ground, with a portion of fen attached to them on
the west. The soil of Bickeris much of it hght and poor, having
formerly been an estuary of the sea, called “ Bicker-haven,’ the
banks of which are still remaining; and in one place a rabbit-
warren is still kept up. Between Donington and [orton is
Wigtoft, one of the richest in the whole district. Under-draining
is gradually coming into practice throughout the whole eatent of
this country.

Deeping Fen.—Leaving now the marsh and highland districts,
the first Lincolnshire fen which comes under notice is that called

118 Lincolnshire Fens.

“ Deeping Fen,” containing about 25,000 acres. The first Act passed -
for the drainage of this fen was in the reign of Charles II., a.p. 1661.
This was done by means of windmills, a practice which has there
continued until about the last 20 years. In 1801 an Act was
procured for draining, dividing, allotting, and inclosing Spalding,
Pinchbeck, Deeping, &c., Commons, comprising upwards of
13,000 acres, when two new drains were cut, called the “ North
and South Drove” drains; but the country still remained in a
very wet state, so much so that within the last 40 years boats
might in some places be rowed over the land. In 1823 another
Act was obtained, and two powerful steam-engines were erected
in 1824 and 1825 at Pode’s Hole, about 2 miles from Spalding.
The benefit of these engines, however, was not realized for some
time after their erection, as the drains were insufficient for car-
rying the waters to them. The windmills were still kept up on
the different farms until 1831, when all the internal drains were
deepened about 3 feet, and a new one cut on the west side of the
fen. There are now four large drains, having smaller ones
uniting with them, all coming to one focus at the engines. ‘There
are two engines, one of 80, the other 60 horse-power, both under
one roof, capable of lifting 300 tons of water per minute 7 or 8 feet
high ; the water is thrown into the Vernatt’s drain, which empties
itself into the Welland, about 7 miles from thence at the reservoir,
below Spalding. The engines drain about 25,000 acres ; namely,
10,000 acres called ‘“‘ Adventurers’ Lands,’’ 10,000 commons, and
5000 acres called “ Free Lands” (besides which they have to throw
out the great soakage of water from the rivers Welland and Glen),
at a cost of about 5s. per acre on the former, and 3s. per acre on
the free farms. ‘There were formerly 44 wind-engines, the com-
bined power of which amounted to about 400 horse-power, but
there is not a single mill now remaining. It is expected that the
improvements in the outfall of the Welland, which are now in
progress, will give this fen a complete natural drainage. ‘This,
like all the other fen rivers, “falls into the great bay called the
Wash, shallow and full of shifting mud-banks, through which at
low tide it winds its shifting course into deep water.”” The river
is now being carried in a straight channel out to sea in the fol-
lowing singular manner :—‘* Two rows of bush-faggots are laid
perhaps 50 yards in advance on the mud, at low water, on each
side of the river. After a few tides these faggot heaps are found
full of ‘warp,’ a mixture of fine sand and mud, which renders
them in some degree solid; another tier of faggots is then laid
upon the first, and is again embodied with them by the warp.”
This kind of embankment is continued ina straight line over sand
and through water, or across the old bed of the river, the faggots
being sunk in the water and bedded in the soft mud by means of

*

Deeping Fen. 119

earth, &c., thrown upon them out of boats. One row is always
advanced before the other on that side which will most impede
the current of the river; the tide, in coming up, overflows this
weak fence, filling it with warp and making it so strong that the
ebb water is unable to remove such an obstacle from its course,
and is compelled to dig out a new channel through the sandbank
in the intended direction. In this way the faggots are advanced,
taking care to keep the “scour” side foremost, and a new deep
channel is worn by the water. The works have now reached
nearly 4 miles in length, and the land on each side the new river
will be inclosed by cross-embankments, when considered high
enough for the purpose.

The soil of Deeping Fen varies very much, though it is principally
peat. At the south-western extremity, abutting upon the high lands of
Baston, Langtoft, &c., is a small strip of gravelly soil; next, a breadth
of about 3 or 4 miles stretching from the Glen to the Welland, is peat
with a subsoil of blue clay; next comes a tract of peat having a silty
subsoil, or lying upon a bed of red heavy clay, which is very good, and
as an alterative renders the land very productive ; nearer Spalding and
along the river side is a dark loam, having mostly a clay subsoil, in
some parts a silty subsoil, in others silt and clay mixed. Near the
Welland is some good grass land, the soil being about a foot of alluvial de-
posit resting upon moor, no doubt formed by the overflowings of the stream.
Near the western part the land consists of about a foot of black soil
above 10 feet of blue clay, which rests upon gravel.

During the last 12 years hundreds of acres have been wonder-
fully benefited by “claying;” but now there is no need for
claying with the spade, as the subsoil, both of silt and clay, is in
most places ploughed up and mixed with the peat. In the year
1799 Arthur Young writes—“ Twenty years ago the lands sold
for about 3/. per acre; some was then let at 7s. or 8s. per acre,
and a great deal was in such a state that nobody would rent it;
now it is in general worth 20s. per acre, and sells at 20/. per acre.”
This great improvement was effected under mill drainage, and at
a time when the system of paring and burning for oats, coleseed,
and rye was in fashion; the same land now, in consequence of
steam drainage and claying, has doubled in value, the average
rental of Deeping Fen being about 35s., and a great deal is let
at 2/. per acre.

The rotation of crops is generally a four or five-field system, viz.—
Ist, coleseed (turnips, mangold wurzel, and carrots are exceedingly
good, but coleseed is most common) ; 2nd, wheat ; 3rd, clover or seeds ;
and 4th, wheat; or when oats are grown they area last crop, thus,
5th, oats. Nearly half the fallow is sown to wheat, the other part is
usually 2nd, oats; 3rd, wheat; 4th, seeds; 5th, wheat; when beans
are grown, which is seldom, they are a first crop in the place of oats.
Occasionally, to improve the land with grasses, the course is, Ist, cole-

e

120 Lincolnshire Fens.

seed, the surface being scarified or lightly ploughed the next spring
and sown with seeds, which are grazed for two years, carrying about 12
sheep, and in some instances 20 sheep per acre for four months; next,
Ath, wheat; 5th, beans, manured; 6th, wheat, also manured. The
wheat grown is generally of a great weight, but not particularly fine in
colour; the oats are good; beans are rarely grown; barley is being
tried, but has not hitherto been cultivated with much success. The
long-wool breed of sheep are most commonly grazed, but during the
last few years many thousands of half-breds have been grazed on the
seeds (one-third of which are usually mown), and then fattened on the
coleseed.

The practice of all the best Deeping Fen farmersis, to manure
for every acre of wheat they sow except that after coleseed; and a
great many beasts are kept during the winter upon straw and
large quantities of oil-cake, to enrich the manure. Great quan-
tities of bone-dust, ashes, and bones dissolved in sulphuric acid,
are used for the coleseed. To obtain the ashes the land is some-
times pared (with a newly invented plough, which may be adjusted |
to skim the surface as thinly as possible, one inch deep, or more
if required) or by a cultivator, and burned in heaps, a portion of
the black soil being consumed, and the clay forming a beautiful
ash. Guano, rape-cake, and salt are also extensively used.

The principal part of Deeping Fen is well drained, but there
are more than 4000 acres of low land lying across the south-
western part, and west of the division of Holland and Kesteven,
which, notwithstanding all the improvements, are yet imperfectly
drained. The engines do not keep the water in the ditches
lower, upon an average, during the winter season than 15 inches
from the surface. The soil is therefore generally wet, and much
of the manure soaks into the ditches; this great evil requires to
be remedied, and it might be readily done by deepening the
drains, and lowering the water-wheel of one (or both) engines:
an umprovement which might thus take out the water from the
whole district, one foot lower, without any increase of power
being required for the engine, as the recent improvements in the
outfall have already lowered the « head’ of water about 1 foot.
There is a private engine on this low land, which kept the water
on one farm during last year 2 feet lower than on those around,
and consequently the crops were better and more equable. Im-
mense quantities of water are taken in from the Welland in the
summer, to water the fen: a practice which greatly hinders the
work of dramage, and injures the channel of the river by causing
a deficiency of backwater for scouring, &c.

Crowland and Cowbitt Washes extend about 5 or 6 miles along
the east side of the Welland, varying from a quarter to ihnee
quarters of a mile in breadth, and contain upwards of 1500 acres.

»

Black- Sluice Drainage. 12]
These Washes, like Whittlesey Washes, which contain 3500

acres, are mown when the season is dry enough, producing some
most excellent hay, but are often covered with water 6 or 7 feet
deep. This reservoir is not needed; and if the passage of the
river were better through Spalding, or a new cut made behind
the town in order to ease the river, or perhaps the mere embank-
ing of the Washes might suffice, the upland stream would force
its own way through, and thus deepen and improve the river and
outfall, leaving a breadth of good land to be brought under the
plough.

Within the last seven years some small extent of under-draining
has been done, both with tiles, thorns, and even stubble, with
good effect. The drains (on the higher Jands,—the low lands are
some of them partially done in several places, but have a bad outfal])
are generally about 30 inches deep, straight across the field, the
distance apart being regulated by the retentiveness or friability of
the soil. This operation has proved of great benefit on the
higher peat soils, taking away the water, keeping the surface dry,
and leaving the moor more compressed and solid, which is so
necessary to the production of corn and seeds. Within the recol-
lection of most farmers this district, now so much improved by
artificial means, was under water during the winter months; but
with the assistance of wind-engines and a tolerably dry spring,
they could manage to sow oats by the end of April, though the
greater part was not sown before the middle or latter end of
May. The aspect of the country was at that time wretched
indeed, with bad roads, miserable houses and farm buildings, and
the land almost covered with water; now there are comfortable
houses, a good turnpike road, excellent farmsteads, and a beau-
tiful church in the centre.

A little below Pode Hole is an engine of 20 horse-power
throwing into the Vernatt’s drain, draining a district called Pinch-
beck Fen. This contains about 1700 acres, lymg north of Deep-
ing Fen,—a small district and very expensive tax, yearly about
4s. or 5s. per acre. The soil is a shallow loam with a subsoil of
silt, but yields fair crops of coleseed, wheat, and seeds, few beans
being grown.

The parish of Spalding, with part of Pinchbeck, is drained by
a steam-engine of 20 horse-power, throwing into the ‘“ Blue
Gote” drain. This district runs up to the reservoir, but though
so near to the sea, it was very wet, until the engine was built in
1832, and great numbers of sheep caught the rot; it is now a
beautiful district of good rich land, of clay and silt, containing
between 4000 and 5000 acres.

Black- Sluice Drainage. —Northward of Deeping Fen, and
divided from it by the River Glen, is a tract of fen, called the

e

122 Lincolnshire Fens.
«“ Black Sluice drainage” district, stretching about 18 miles
northward, and varying from one mile to 44 miles in breadth.
This tract, containing about 35,000 acres, lies between the
high marsh lands and the hills, being bounded on the east
by the Old Hammond Beck (a drain dividing it from the high
lands), and by “ Holland Fen;” and on the west by the “ Carr-
dike,” an immense Roman work, which is supposed to have
served for preventing the living waters from running down upon
the Fens, and skirting the whole of them from Peterborough
to Lincoln, afforded a navigation of the utmost consequence to this
fertile country. ‘This district was originally drained by the Earl
of Lindsey in the time of Charles I., having its outfall at Bicker
Haven and Risgate Eau; but the Adventurers’ works (as before
observed) were destroyed, and their lands again became a waste.
Of late years, however, they were again drained, the principal
outfall being by Langrick Sluice into the Witham. By the W1-
tham Drainage Act, passed in 1762, the northern portion of this
tract was taxed; but instead of receiving any benefit from the
new cuts, their sluice was taken away, thus obstructing their
drainage altogether. A new Act was therefore needed, and in
1765 one was obtained, under which the South Forty Feet drain
was cut (some parts of it being only the old drain improved),
which runs from the Glen Bank, up the middle of the fen to
Holland Fen, through which it runs eastward to Boston (taking
in the waters of another new drain—‘ the North Forty Feet,’ in
Holland Fen—and the “‘New Hammond Beck’’), and pours
through the new “ Black Sluice” into the Witham. In 1770
this drain was made navigable ; and it is now an important means
of communication between the Fens and the port of Boston,—
being about 24 miles in length, and running up to the Glen
bank, over which goods, &c. are carried, and conveyed thence to
Bourn, &c., by the river.

An Act was passed during last Session, for making a still fur-
ther improvement. Under the superintendence of Mr. Cubitt,
the South Forty Feet is being made 7 feet deeper, a new sluice
will be erected at the outfall, and the Hammond Beck made a
good drain, which is expected to provide the whole district with a
natural dramage. ‘There are 65,000 acres (including several fens
not yet adverted to) of taxable lands which drain by the South
Forty Feet; besides many thousand acres which drain by it, pay-
ing no tax. ‘This drain divides a number of small fens, belonging
to the adjacent villages on the hill, from the fens attached to
different marsh villages on the east. ‘These are drained by about
63 windmills, principally on the west side of the Forty Feet, part
of the land having a natural drainage ; and those parts under mill
drainage are not very low, the “head” being small—about 1 to

wr

Black-Sluice Drainage. 123

4 feet. The soil of Bourn Fen is peat, with a clay subsoil; but
having been badly drained, the black soil has remained very deep.
A steam-engine has lately been erected at a place called ‘“ Guth-
ram Gote;” but great opposition was carried on by the Black
Sluice commissioners, so that an immense sum of money was ex-
pended in draining about 4600 acres. A 30 horse-engine throwing
into the Forty Feet, now drains well this district of very wet land,
subject to a breach of the Glen Bank, which generally destroyed
the crops. Previous to this improvement, it was not well ma-
naged ; but now that the farmers have a better security for the
outlay of their property, great improvements are going forward in
‘‘claying,’ and extra management generally.

Morton Fen is of a similar description, but more northerly than this
the soil becomes a deep black loam; and the farms are still subject to
the rumous system of wind drainage. The soil of Pinchbeck North
Fen, Surfleet and Donington, &c. Fens, 1s of a loamy nature, consisting
of a mixture of clay and moor, with a strong clay subsoil. The low
lands are drained by wind-engines, and therefore liable to be flooded at
certain periods. The country is principally arable, well planted with
thriving quick-hedges, and is in a fair average state of cultivation ; having
been in an improving condition for the last few years, but still capable
of much greater improvement by underdraining, which is not practised
to any great extent. Paring and burning is almost an obsolete custom,
and claying is not required on this soil, as it already contains a sufficient
quantity of clay. Perhaps the more general rotation of cropping pur-
sued throughout the whole of this district is a four-field system,—the
fallow being coleseed, then a white crop, next seeds or beans, and after
that, wheat. Bones are found to answer well on the higher lands, but
artificial manures are not generally used.

Westward of South Kyme Fen (the most northerly of the
district just described), and the Carr-dike, is another breadth
of fen, called by the Witham Drainage Act the Fifth District.
Anwick Fen, containing 1097 acres, was drained and inclosed in
1792, before which there was no road across it, and the whole
rental amounted only to 54/. The inclosure, however, raised the
annual value immediately to 703/., and it has now become ex-
cellent land. The moor is 3 or 4 feet deep, and most of the land
has been clayed. ‘The drainage is still by windmills. In North
Kyme Fen there are a great many mills here of Dutch construc-
tion, these fens having been drained by the tlemings more than
a century before the inclosure of Anwick Fen.

There is a great variety of sol in the “ Fifth District,”—clay,
gravel, and peat, with a subsoil of both. ‘The fens on the east of
the Carr-dike are better and higher land than those on the
west (including Anwick Fen, &c.) ; and but a small portion has
been clayed,—there being no need for such an operation, asa
great part of the black soil has been “lost” by burning, tillage,

124 Lincolnshire Fens.

&ce., and the remainder mixed with the clay by ploughing, before
the process of ‘‘claying” was generally known. ‘The old system
of farming was to pare and burn for coleseed, and then take three
crops of oats in succession, after which the land was laid down
for grass a number of years, and pared, &c., again. Coleseed
is not grown now upon the clayed land; turnips are the ge-
neral fallow crop; good seeds are grown, being for the most part
grazed ; no beans, and very few oats are sown, wheat being the
principal crop, and yielding on an average about 4 qrs. per acre.
These fens are on a low level and not well drained; but still
. many of the farmers have commenced underdraining ; it is, how-
ever, to be feared, that little benefit will ensue until a better out-
fall for the hollow drains is provided, by means of a better system
of drainage.

Separated from this district by the high lands of Billinghay and
Waicot, is a long reach of black land, called the « First District,”
in the Witham Act. It stretches about 20 miles,—from Lin-
coln to Kyme Eau. It varies in breadth from about 4 miles at
the southern extremity, and about 3 miles most of the way up, to
only half a mile towards the northern limits at Lincoln; and con-
tains upwards of 25,000 acres.

In the middle of the last century these fens (being now divided
into nine or ten districts, belonging respectively to each of the
villages on the neighbouring hills)—by the inundation of the
WwW itham, were a perfect sea; and it 1s a remarkable fact that no
longer than 60 years ago, a ‘thousand acres in Blankney Fen—
(now one of the richest districts)—were let annually by public
auction at Horncastle, the reserved bid being 10/. The first Act
passed for embanking and draining this waste, was in 1787 or
1788 ; and during the inclosure, the Commissioners sold portions
to speculators at 14/. per acre: these were cropped immediately
for 3 years with oats, each crop making more than the purchase-
money; and thus, by improved drainage, multitudes of individuals
—not only in this, but in every part of the Fens,—have realized
their fortunes. ‘Through a senseless opposition, an extent of a
mile in breadth, the whole length of these Fens, was left outside
the embankment,—lest the waters should be too confined, and
the other side of the river be overflowed. This screed of land
bordering the Witham was called the “ Dales,’ being a ‘ wash”
or reservoir open to the river and overflowed—like the rest before
inclosure—-for 9 months in the year; and windmills were erected
to throw out the superfluous water from the fens into the “ dales.”
But the mistake was soon perceived, another Act was obtained,
and this breadth was embanked, partitioned off as frontages to the
different fens, and an additional mill built to drain each. This
district consists of a number of fens, reaching in long narrow slips

Blach-Sluice Drainage. 125

between the hills and the river, the partitions being main drains
for conveying both highland and fen waters to the river; into
these drains the mills threw their waters, and the ‘‘ head” not
being high “ double-lifts” were not required. During the last
6 or 7 years, every one of the mills has been pulled down, and
steam-engines erected in their stead. Nearest to Lincoln is
Heighington Fen Engine ; the next is Nocton Engine, the jirs¢ that
was erected in these Fens, and the most powerful ; next is Mether-
ingham Engine, of 20-horse power; then Martin Engine, of 30-
horse power, which drains Blankney Fen; next to this is Timber-
land Engine, built in 1839; and there are several more,—every
separate fen having its steam-engine. Near Tattershall Ferry
Bridge, at the south extremity of these fens, is a powerful engine
which drains a very large tract, left at first uninclosed, called
« Billinghay Dales,” and also a part of North Kyme Fen. At
the village of North Kyme, the two divisions of the fen belonging
to it—the part under steam drainage, and that drained by wind—
meet ina narrow neck cf fen land between two ridges of high
land; thus forming a connection between the “ First District”’
now under consideration, and the “Fifth District,” or dasin,
already described. The drainings, however, are quite distinct, a
barrier bank, being constructed across this opening, to secure one
side from the floods which may desolate the other. On the op-
posite side of the Witham is a tract of fen land, called the
“Third District” in the Witham Act, which runs in a narrow
“reach” along the river from the high lands of Willingham, near
Lincoln, to the River Bane, near Tattershall. In this district,
which is only of small area, steam-engines have also been erected ;
the Bardney Engine of 30-horse power, draining Stixwould In-
closure—a ‘‘wash’’ recently embanked; the Kirkstead Engine,
&c.; and there is also one windmill at Chapel Hill, near Tat-
tershall Ferry Bridge—the sole survivor of all the numerous
mills, which once held both districts under the fickle and often
disastrous influence of the winds.

In consequence of the inclosure of the “dales,” &c., on both
sides of the Witham, when the pressure of upland water—(de-
scending from beyond Lincoln, Grantham, &c.)—is great, and
there is also a heavy downfall in these fens, there being no reser-
voir for the waters beyond the river, and the various intersecting
drains—there is a great danger of a breach in the banks. And
this sometimes occurs; last year one bank gave way, but was for-
tunately repaired before any great damage was done; so that some
improvement is needed in the great outfall to sea. The water is
held up by a great sluice at Boston, for the convenience of nayi-
gation, ‘Thus in fact the necessity for an expensive artificial
drainage has been artificially created ; and by some it is expected,

126 Lincolnshire Fens.

that, as railroads will ere long become the chief modes of transit,
the river being no longer needed for vessels, the sluice may be
removed, and these Fens will acquire a natural drainage.

The soil of the “ First District” is peat, upon a whitish silty
clay; the depth of moor varying from 8 inches in the southern
parts, to 5 or 6 feet, nearer Lincoln. ‘The usual depth is about
8 inches of decomposed vegetable matter; then a foot of moor,
upon 12 feet of clay; and underneath that is about one foot of
soil similar to the surface, mixed with branches of trees, &Kc.;
beneath this there is one foot of sand; and lastly, a bed of clay of
quite a different character to the upper stratum, being yellow,
and very strong and tenacious. ‘The whole of the surface is
black land, extending even a little beyond Lincoln; and there is
also a small breadth of it on the east side of the river. Claying
has been done once on nearly all these fens, but not many fields
have been done twice. It has been the usual method to make
the «‘dikes”’ four yards apart, and sometimes only two yards apart,
and one or two feet wide, the clay being taken out one “ draw”
deep. This practice, combined with the improved drainage, has
wonderfully augmented the value of the land;—Blankney Fen
(before referred to as worth little or nothing) 1s now worth 60/.
per acre, and the whole of these fens, which are all exceedingly
well drained, fetch a high rental—the worst letting for 25s.—the
principal part for 35s.—and the best for 2/. per acre. In Me-
thermgham, and some other Fens, there is a narrow skirt of black
soil which has a gravelly subsoil, being thus inferior land, but has
had clay carted upon it with good effect. This is rather north-
ward; and as a general rule, these fens improve in quality the
further they are south ;—each district being better than the next
above it.

These fens have, generally speaking, been badly managed ;
being chiefly occupied by farmers who live on the neighbouring
high lands; and their straw, mown seeds, &c., have heen canied
off the fen to the upland farms, no manure being returned beyond
the few bones sown with the coleseed. But there are many su-
perior managers who consume their straw, &c., on the fen, giving
their beasts a good quantity of linseed oil-cake, during the winter.
The old system was to tear up an immense quantity of the black
earth into heaps, with an implement called a ‘‘bob,’ and then
burn it, the ashes making a manure for coleseed ; after this, one
or two crops of oats were taken, and the land laid down to grass
for 3 or 4 years; and thus the surface has been lowered several
feet. ‘There is no regular course of cropping pursued, but a six-
field system is much approved of; thus—Ist, coleseed ; 2nd, wheat;
ord, seeds; 4th, wheat; 5th, oats; 6th, wheat. About two-thirds
of the seeds are grazed, with sheep of the long-wool breed ; and

Blackh- Sluice Drainage. 127

may be noticed, that whenever the seeds are eaten off so as to
leave the land bare, the following wheat crop is always very much
injured. The land is very subject to “ honey-comb,” and as a
preservative against its ill effects, a new plan has been lately tried,
which keeps the soil solid and unparched by the sun, and its
requisite moisture unabstracted by the wind. By means of a drill,
made with coulters similar to the tines of a scarifier, the wheat is
sown upon the coleseed stubbles without ploughing (and thereby
lightening) the well-trodden and compressed surface. This simple
method of wheat-sowing after a fallow crop is quite new; but the
trials already made have proved entirely successful,—the crops
thus sown having been stronger and finer than any others. Un-
derdraining has been practised only in the lowest and wettest
parts of the fields, in places where top-gripping (which is not ge-
nerally done) was found necessary. A great many quick-hedges
are being planted, which will be a great improvement to this
country; a trench about 3 feet wide and 2 feet deep is dug round
the field (thus taking out the obnoxious stratum of moor), and is
filled up again with a mixture of clay and peat soil, in which the
quick grows exceedingly well. Upon the whole, very little oil-
cake is used in these fens; but about 12 bushels of bone-dust per
acre are usually sown with the coleseed, any other kind of arti-
ficial manure being rarely used.

South-eastward of this long range of fens is “ Holland Fen,”
called by the Witham Act the “ Second District.” It is bounded
on the north-west by Kyme Eau; on the west, by South Kyme
and Heckington Fens; on the south, by the ‘‘ Hammond Beck,”’
which separates it from the parishes of Swineshead and Kirton-
holme; on the east by Boston, and north-east by the river Wi-
tham, from near Boston to Tattershall Ferry-bridge.

This fen, containing 22,000 acres, was drained and inclosed
under the Black-sluice Drainage Act in 1765; before which
period it was an open common, stocked by persons who claimed a
right, belonging to the eleven towns of Holland. The rental
before inclosure was 36001., but directly after, it let for 25,8002,
and ts now most beautiful and valuable land !

The drainage is a natural one by the Hammond Beck, the
North Forty-feet (which lies wholly in this fen), and other smaller
drains, uniting with the South Forty-feet, which empties itself into
the Witham at Boston by the Black Sluice. This is an excellent
drainage ; but will be still further improved by the works that are
now in progress for the benefit of the low lands near Bourn.

The soil of Holland Fen is a fine loam, having a subsoil of
clay, with a mixture of silt. ‘The most general mode of manage-
ment on the best lands is a five-field system ; on the inferior, a
four-field system. The greater portion is sown with wheat ; the

128 Lincolnshire Fens.

remainder with oats, beans, coleseed, and turnips, with a small
portion of barley.

A great deal of oil-cake has been consumed for the improve-
ment of the yard manure; and bones, lime, salt, and ashes have
been used to a small extent, all of which have proved to be very
beneficial. Very little underdraining has been done at present,
but there is every likelihood of its becoming general in a few
years.

Arthur Young, in 1798, mentions a farmer at Brothertoft Gn
this fen), who, “ before the draining and inclosure, paid 20s. rent
for a cottage and croft. His stock on the fen was 400 sheep, 500
geese, 7 milch cows, 10 or twelve young horses, and 10 young
beasts. Such a person, if ever one was heard of, must have been
injured by an inclosure ; for never could be known a more perfect
contrast between the rent and stock of a holding. But he now
rents about 50 acres of the inclosure at 25s. an acre, and greatly
prefers his present situation, not only for comfort, but profit
also.” And since that prodigious increase in the value of this
land it has still been progressing, letting now for upwards of 21.
per acre, and producing abundant crops of corn and pulse.

Wildmore Fen and West Fen.—On the opposite side of the
Witham from Holland Fen is “ Wildmore Fen,” and further
eastward is ‘* West Fen;” both of which form one district
of soil so similar in every respect that they may be both
noticed together. This tract is bounded on the south and
south-west by the Witham, from near Boston to Tattershall
Ferry-bridge; on the north-west by the highlands of Tatter-
shall, Coningsby, Tumby, Mareham, and Revesby; and on
the east by the high grounds of Stickford, Stickney, and Sib-
sey ; forming part of the “fourth district,” taxed by the Witham
Act. These fens—after the attempted drainage already noticed
in an earlier part of this Report—were under the superintendence
of a Court of Sewers, the drainage being principally carried on
by means of the Adventurer’s drains; but the river Witham being
neglected and nearly silted up, they became so much oppressed,
that application was made to Parliament in 1762, when the Wi-
tham Act passed, by which a number of drains were made suffi-
cient to carry off the downfall waters only—the upland waters
still pouring down upon the Level, so as to render the inclosure of
it impossible. Another Act was therefore procured in 1801, for
more effectually draining these fens; and another division of this
district, called the “ Kast Fen,” was incorporated with the “ fourth
district.” Some new drains were executed under the direction of
Mr. Rennie, a catch-water drain was cut round the base of the
highlands, and a proper outfall provided to carry the hill waters
separately to sea, thus draining a tract of 40,000 acres.

Wildmore Fen and West Fen. 129

Prior to inclosure, both West and Wildmore Fens were open
commons, stocked by the freeholders of the surrounding parishes
in the summer with horses, beasts, and sheep; but generally co-
vered with water during the winter months. Upon driving West
Fen in 1784, there were found 3936 head of horned cattle; and
in dry years it was perfectly white with sheep. Arthur Young
states that “in 1793 it was estimated that 40,000 sheep, or one
per acre, rotted on the three fens. Nor is this the only evil, for
the number stolen is incredible : they are taken off by whole flocks ;
as so wild a country (whole acres being covered with thistles and
nettles, four feet high and more) nurses up a race of people as
wild as the fen.”

The drainage of West Fen, containing 16,924 acres, and Wild-
more F’en, containing 10,661 acres, has been successfully accom-
plished by several large drains, which all empty themselves by
one outfall into the Witham, near Skirbech Church, a little below
Boston, and are kept in order by the Witham Commissioners,
who levy a tax of 2s. per acre on the whole district for that purpose.
The two fens are also intersected by numerous small drains, or
sewers (all emptying themselves without the aid of any engines
whatever), which are under the management of the “ fourth dis-
trict’? Commissioners, who also levy an interior-drainage tax of
generally 6d. per acre for cleansing them out.

The soil of the West and Wildmore Fens is most of it a rather
stiff clay, with an admixture of silt, having either a silt or clay, and
in some parts, a gravelly subsoil; and a small portion of the lands
adjoining Revesby, Mareham, Tumby, and Coningsby, consists of
a subsoil of gravel, covered by a top soil mixed with sand. Un-
derdraining has been carried on to a considerable extent; scarcely
any large occupier omitting to do some, and many of the far-
mers are doing a great deal. ‘The drainage of these fens is so
complete, that a good fall is obtained for the hollow drains ; and
the results have hitherto been all that could be desired. The
drains are generally made 10 yards apart, and about 24 or 3 feet
deep; the object being to reach what are called the “cold
springs,’ —that is, springs of water rising through the silt at about
two feet depth.

Wedge or sod draining has been tried, but proved unsuccess-
ful in consequence of the lightness of the silty subsoil; round
pipes, fitting together in “caps,” or collars, are becoming very
general; but tiles and soles have, as yet, been by far the most
common.

Nearly all the land is arable, there being merely a few fields of
grass land scattered throughout these fens; in Wildmore Fen
there is but one patch of grass which equals 100 acres in extent,
the rest being all in isolated pieces near the farmsteads.

WO, Vili. K

130 Lincolnshire Fens.

It would be difficult to give a correct statement of the varied
rotations of cropping, arising from the great difference in the soils,
&c.; but perhaps a five-field system prevails generally on the
clay soils, and a four-field system on the sands :—Ist, coleseed,
(a few turnips occasionally) ; 2nd, wheat; 3rd, seeds, about half
mown, and the rest grazed with long-wool sheep; 4th, oats or
beans; Sth, wheat. Some plough up their seeds for, 4th, wheat ;
Oth, beans; and then, 6th, wheat again. On the gravelly, or sandy
soils, the following “ wold” system is adopted :—lIst, turnips ; 2nd,
oats or barley; 3rd, seeds; and 4th, wheat. The clay land is
generally ploughed into 8 feet “lands,” which is requisite to keep
it dry, the clay being so stiff and retentive that water remains on
the surface wherever a horse sets his foot. It will produce excellent
turnips, and good crops of clover and ryegrass; but the seeds
must be always got after a first crop.

Artificial manures are not used to any great extent, it being
found that linseed cake given to beasts in the foldyard during the
winter is the most economical and beneficial method of improving
the strong clays; whilst bones, in addition, are used partially on
the sands.

These fens, when stocked by the commoners with horses, cattle,
sheep, and immense numbers of geese, were worth comparatively
nothing ; but a few years ago land was bought at 25/. per acre,
and is now (in both fens, though Wildmore has a portion of poor
land which makes it altogether not so good as West Fen) selling
for 60/. per acre. Since the inclosure, two new churches have
been built in Wildmore Fen, and two in West Fen, the land being
divided into as many parishes.. The whole country is. aow well
planted with neat quick-hedges, which are kept under the hook ;
the land is for the most part well farmed, and agricultural im-
provements generally are being carried out to a-~considerable
extent.

The highlands of Sibsey, Stickney, and Stickford, which divide
the “ West”’ from the “ East Fen,” are an excellent range of
stifish clay soil, upon a yellowish clayey subsoil. About three-
fourths of this tract is under-drained ; the principal part is arable,
usually managed on the four-field system; but there is some good
grazing ground about the villages, much of which is not sur-
passed.

The East Fen.—The “East Fen,” a tract of 12,424 acres, is en-
tirely separated from all the other fens. Thesoil of the marshes,

extending along the coast from Boston, through Frieston, Butter-
‘wick, Bennington, Leverton, Wrangle, Friskney, Wainfleet, &c., is
‘arich dark loam of admirable texture; and near the fen thereis a
‘breadth of very stiff blue clay. This tract of marsh contains some
‘of the richest grazing lands in the kingdom, which are “the glory

The East Fen. 131

of Lincolnshire ;” the soil of the best pastures being a black
mould, or mass of vegetable particles. The long breadth of land
between the boundary of the Wolds and the sea, bounding the
East Fen on the north-east, and running up to the Humber, is
called the Marsh and Middle-marsh; the former a rich marine
clay and loam, the latter a line of strong soil called “the Clays,”
lying between the Marsh and the Wolds.

_ The East Fen, being on a lower level than the West and Wild-
more Fens, and the natural course of their waters to sea being
through it to Wainfleet Haven, was in a far worse condition than
the other districts, previous to its drainage. About 2000 acres of
it were continually under water, from four to six feet deep, stand-
ing in pools from 60 to 600 acres in extent; and a great part of
the remainder was a shaking bog. The whole of this desolate
region had the appearance of a chain of lakes, bordered by great
crops of reed, abounding in fish and wild fowl. There were a
great many “decoys,” in which were captured thousands of wild
ducks, widgeon, and teal ; and one portion of the fen belonging to
Friskney was denominated the “ Mossberry, or Cranberry Fen,”
from the immense quantities which grew upon it.

This fen was drained and inclosed under the Act of 1801, when
a large drain was cut through the heart of the district—from the
base of the Wolds below Toynton to the outfall at Hobhole near
Frieston—by which the natural drainage of the whole has been
effected, and an invaluable medium of communication between
the interior and the sea has been also provided by its navigation.
About ls. per acre drainage-tax is paid to the Witham Commis-
sioners, and from 4d. to 6d. per acre for the management. of the
various interior drains; the fen being pretty well drained, and not
subject to overflow.

The soil is peat upon a subsoil of blue clay; thus forming a
perfectly detached district of fen, similar to the black lands before
described. In surveying for the East Lincolnshire Railway, bores
were sunk at every mile across the fen, and there were found to
be from two to three feet of moor, in which immense trees and
roots have been discovered; then a subsoil of good blue clay,
varying from 6 to 19 feet in depth; next a thin bed of white marl,
and beneath that gravel. The fen has all been clayed three, and
part of it four, times; the trenches being generally at intervals of
from 7 to 12 yards, and the clay is taken out three feet wide and
two feet deep at a cost of ls.8d. to 2s. per chain, or about 3/. per
acre. ‘There is a small part of the district which has a sandy sub-
soil, and has been dressed with clay, carted upon it from adjoin-
ing lands. This fen is nearly all arable, there being scarcely any
old pastures left; but no underdraining has been done upon
either.

rp

132 Lincolnshire Fens.

The general rotation of crops is 1st, coleseed; 2nd, oats; 3rd, wheat,
sown with, 4th, ryegrass, which is grazed or mown, and then pared and
burnt for coleseed again, or else for—Ist, turnips; 2nd, oats; 3rd,
wheat ; manured for, 4th, beans: but beans are not very generally sown.
Wheat sometimes follows coleseed, when it is intended to lay down seeds
(Timothy-grass and small seeds) for a few years; and the land is occa-
sionally laid down for grazing without a crop. The produce is usually
for oats, about 7 to 10 quarters ; and wheat, from 34 to 53 quarters per
acre; beans are very precarious. Swedes and a few white turnips are
grown as well as coleseed, though not to half the extent; the swedes are
sometimes used in the fold-yards with straw and oilcake for the beasts,
of which there are many wintered, eating from three to six, or even
seven, pounds of cake per day. Very little artificial manure is used,
but the des¢ fen farmers purchase a great deal of what they call ‘* Boston
manure,” such as night-soil, mussels, ashes, soot, and a little lime, be-
sides a large quantity of bones and sulphuric acid.

I have endeavoured thus to give a general outline of the his-
tory and condition of this Great Level, tracing its successive
transmutations, from being one vast bay of the sea with a surface
chequered by numerous islands, to a boggy wilderness; and its
change, after the commencement of the drainage by the first
adventurers,—into a region of wild and swampy country partly
cultivated, and partly overflowed, “ by which overflowings,”’ says
Dugdale, “in the winter time, when the ice is strong enough to
hinder the passage of boats, and yet not able to bear a man, the
inhabitants upon the hards and the banks within the Fens, can
have no help of food, nor comfort for body or soul, nor supply of
any necessity, save what those poor desolate places do afford. And
what expectation of health can there be to the bodies of men,
where there is no element good? the air being for the most part
cloudy, gross, and full of rotten harrs; the water putrid and
muddy, yea, full of loathsome vermin; the earth spongy and
boggy, and the fire noisome, by the stink of smoky hassocks.”
And thence, in the progress of its drainage, have been noticed the
works for improving the outfalls of the great rivers and the im-
provements in the interior drains; and lastly, its final change, by
the introduction of steam-engines, into the present fruitful and sa-
lubrious country. A rapid survey has been taken of the various
districts,—noticing the richness of their soils thus regained from
the waters; the extreme verdure and beauty of their pastures ;
the abundance and luxuriance of their crops of grain, pulse, roots,
and seeds, upon what in former times were drowned lands; the
advantages resulting from the navigation of the leading drains, for
the carriage of this corn and merchandise; the extensive works
of drainage, drains, sluices, banks, &c.; the method of keeping
tens of thousands of acres dry, by raising the water from the low
lands with windmills and steam-engines,— there being about

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The East Fen. 133

250 mills, and between 40 and 50 steam-engines (some of them
of gigantic power), which are exerting their immense force for the |
benefit of agriculture ; and still further, the improved yalue of the
land from being worth comparatively nothing to its rank now
amongst the first class of soils; the vast outlay of capital in clay-
ing and the use of artificial manures, and the consequently enor-
mous increase in the products of cultivation, and the augmented
supply of food for millions of the people. And now, in conclu-
sion, it is greatly to be desired that other fens should be improved,
that other wastes should be brought under culture, and other bogs
and swamps reclaimed. With such a noble example of the
success and profit which have attended the triumph of enterprise,
the achievements of skill, and the acquirements of industry, in a
work which,—not satisfied with laying dry the fertile hers of
Jakes,—contemplates and progresses in the undertaking of raising
a territory, yet unformed, from the hidden depths of the ecean ;—
with so magnificent an example as this to animate and encourage ;
surely the agriculturists, in the neighbourhood of bogs and fens,
will not allow them to remain much longer in their present wild
and uncultivated siate? Surely, in ARE age of enlightenment,
and especially in this time of necessity, prejudice for old customs
and circumstances—which proverbially « appertains to the character
of a farmer, and notoriously so to that of a fenman—will not be
permitted to impede so important an improvement ;—surely, the
much needed work of draining and inclosing the wastes and
morasses of England will not be abandoned because the present
class who own or occupy them declare that water is necessary
to make such tracts bear produce; and that if thoroughly drained
and dried, the soil will become infertile and useless! Such were
the assertions and expostulations of the fenmen in the Great
Level.—but despite their predictions, this region (which was once
“wholly overwhelmed with a deluge of waters,” and afterwards
came to a similar condition with the present swamps of England)
having an area of 680,000 acres, equal to that of the “« Low
Countries,” has been made into a most fruitful plain, yielding
yast stores of produce, enriching thousands of individuals, fnrnish-
ing multitudes of population with food, and adding greatly to the
wealth and resources of the empire. ‘This has been accom-
plished, and it cannot but follow that ere long all the waste
places in the land which are cultivable, will in like m:
the face of every difficulty—be compelled to manifest their s
bilities of production, and assist in replenishing the storehouses
and supplying the necessities of the people !

138)

VIII.—Report on the Analysis of the Ashes of Plants. (Second
Part.) By J. THomas Way, late Professor of Chemistry at
the Agricultural College of Cirencester ; and G. H. Oeston,
late Assistant to Professor Graham, of University College,
London.

In presenting our last report to the Society, we found occasion to
remark that circumstances rather than choice had led us to make
the cereals the first objects of our attention. In anticipation of
the harvest, we were enabled to make arrangements for collecting
specimens of wheat from different soils and localities, and the
result of their examination was communicated to the Society.
With wheat, we think, enough has been done for the present. Of
the other corn crops, however, we know but little, nor are we at
the present time in possession of a selection of specimens either
of oats or barley, that would repay the outlay of much time or
labour.* We hope in the coming autumn to obtain satisfactory
samples of these crops; but in the meanwhile it is our duty to
lay before the Society the results which we have obtained respect-
ing the more important of the root crops. On the whole, there
can be little doubt that this branch of the subject is of more con-
sequence than any other. It has been justly remarked, that the
turnip culture is the basis of all good farming ; it is the means, in
the hands of the intelligent farmer, of bringing his land into a
condition of cleanliness and fertility, and in the rotation the crop
is invaluable, both as a source of food for the manufacture of
mutton and beef, and as a preparation for the succeeding corn-
crop. ‘The necessary conditions of the growth and the peculiarities
of the mineral composition of the turnip and the root crops gene-
rally, must therefore be of very considerable importance and in-
terest, and should hold a prominent place in the research with
which our attention is at present occupied.

We have said that the root crops are means, when judiciously
employed, of increasing the fertility of the land—of rendering it,
that is, capable of bearing larger crops of the more valuable pro-
duce, wheat and the other cereals, which form the great staple of
food for man. Now, how do they effect this? Whence the effi-
cacy of the turnip and the mangold? What peculiar properties
do these roots possess, that their cultivation should form so im-
portant a feature in modern agriculture? They are most power-
ful, most industrious agents in the collection and preparation of

* With the exception of a series of specimens of barley grown by Dr.
Daubeny with different artificial manures, the analysis of which we had
hoped to complete for the present report.

Analyses of Ashes of Plants. 135

food, both mineral and vegetable, for the use of other crops.
They are continually employed, abstracting by their leaves from
the air the constituents of which their own vegetable substance is
made up. They never cease to collect by their roots, and to
bring to the surface the mineral matters which are essential to
their own growth, and to that of the crops which follow them—
and both these forms of matter, the organic or vegetable, and the
inorganic or mineral are (when the crop has been consumed by
sheep) in great part left in the soil in the condition most favour-
able for the purposes of the succeeding plants. It is chiefly,
however, to the accumulation of vegetable matter, that we are to
attribute the influence of the root crop generally in improving
the soil; for although the turnip does certainly add to the avail-
able stock of mineral ingredients of the surface soil, its own growth
is very mainly dependent upon the sufficiency of their supply,
and to obtain a very liberal return we must be proportionately
liberal in our grants of the materials which are indispensable to
the construction of the crop.

Root crops, from the great development of their gas-collecting
leaves, are comparatively independent of the soil for vegetable
nourishment. ‘They may in reality add to, rather than take from
the quantity of vegetable matter in the soil, even when entirely
removed—for land has been found after several years cropping
with turnips, all the produce being carried off, absolutely richer in
organic matter than it was at first, the plant having returned to
the soil more than it had taken from it.* How much more is
this the case when a large portion of the organic matter, after
passing through the body of the sheep, is returned in a highly
commiunuted state to the land. 7

It cannot, however, be too often insisted upon, that, whilst we
may fully restore by a green or root crop all the organic wealth of
which the soil has been deprived by the grain of a crop of corn,
we have no such resource for a renewal of its mineral ingre-
dients. The phosphoric acid, the potash, and the magnesia of a
plant must be obtained from the soil, and the soil alone. But
even in this respect much may be done; it may be safely pre-

* See Dr. Daubeny’s ‘ Memoir on the Rotation of Crops.’ So
little is known with regard to the excrementitious matter of plants that we
do not lay much stress upon this argument. There is little doubt that in
the circulation of the vegetable juices in plants there is a continual ejee-
tion into the soil of matters not required in the economy of the plant; but
whether the amount thus voided can at any time exceed that which is
taken in by the roots we have scarcely sufficient evidence to decide. It
is extremely likely that in broad-leaved plants of rapid growth this result
may occur ; but of the increase of organic matter in a soil where the green
or root crop is eaten off or ploughed in, there is not a shadow of a doubt.

136 Analyses of Ashes of Plants.

dicted that a time will come when, in the cultivation of land
already brought into a state of high fertility, the application of
artificial manures, except in rare cases, will be looked upon as an
unnecessary and unjustifiable waste of money. At the present
stage of agricultural practice, the only necessary loss of its mineral
ingredients which the land sustains, is comprised in that portion
which is sent into our large towns in the different grains and in
the bones of animals, and that other small (but unfortunately
often too considerable) portion which is lost by the drainage of
liquid from the stables and manure heap. The purchase of
bones to restore the phosphate of lime removed by the growing
by sheep and the milk of the cows, should hardly perhaps be
looked upon in the light of the application of artificial manures,
because nothing can be more reasonable than to give back what
we have taken from the soil; and the measures now in progress
for rescuing the sewage of our large towns, and an improved
system in the manufacture and preservation of natural manures at
the homestead, will leave but little on the credit side of the land.
But allowing a certain and considerable yearly diminution of the
mineral elements of fertility in land, we have yet, so to speak, an
almost infinite supply of these bodies in the soil itself, provided
we knew how we might economically avail ourselves of it. ‘This
(the item of expense) is after all, the turning point—most soils, if
sufficiently exposed by repeated stirrings and cultivation to the
action of the natural agents, water and air, would yield up abun-
dant materials for the growth of luxuriant crops of roots, and
through their means of corn.

We know from the constitution of the rocks from which they
have been produced, that all soils containing any clay, must con-
tain also considerable quantities of potash; and there is every
reason to believe that no sandy or chalk soil is absolutely deficient
in this alkali. Again, the experiments of Dr. Daubeny and
Professor Fownes have led us to believe that phosphoric acid is
a constituent of the chalk and limestone strata, as well as of
the older rocks; and the recent investigations of Dr. R. D.
Thompson * and of Mr. Sullivan, go a great way to prove that
this acid, so important to agriculture, is present in all the great
mineral masses of the globe, whether of ancient and igneous
origin, such as granite, gneiss, and all volcanic rocks, or the more
modern aqueous deposits of which so large a portion of the soil
of England consists. ‘The presence of phosphoric acid in the
older rocks is however the important point, because its existence
(as msoluble phosphate of lime) in the sedimentary deposits

* ¢Philosophical Magazine,’ xxvii. p. 310. Tbid-jape Ten:

Analyses of Ashes of Plants. 137

formed from the débris of the first, follows almost as a natural
consequence. But though it is quite possible that from the uni-
versal prevalence of the most important mineral constituents of
crops, sufficient working of the soil would enable us to dispense
with the addition of any artificial manures—it may be, and is, far
more economical at the present time to supply the requisite dose
of mineral matter directly, than to seek to furnish it from the
natural resources of the soil by a costly expenditure of mechanical
force. It must be observed, however, that there are other ways
of bringing into play the dormant energies of the land, besides
deep and subsoil ploughing and trenching. Some plants have an
extraordinary capacity and disposition to "seek food at great depths
in the soil—not vegetable food, for there is none in “such situa
tions, generally speaking, to be had, but mineral food ;—for this
they will send down their roots, in many cases, to many times the
depth which the most enthusiastic advocate of subsoiling would
hope to attain—and in their subsequent growth at the expense of
so distant a source of nourishment they effect a far more important
chemical addition to the surface soil than the subsoil plough
could accomplish.

The perfection of a fallow crop, either root or otherwise (other
circumstances of facility of cultivation, amount and feeding pro-
perties of the crop being equal), would be that which, whilst
requiring for the completion of its own structure a considerable
quantity of valuable mineral ingredients, should be possessed of
an energy and power of obtaining them quite independent of any
extraneous supply in the shape “of artificial manures. In other
words, a scientific review of the conditions of vegetable growth,
apart from circumstances of practical detail, would indicate as the
best fallow crop a plant with large spreading leaves, strong pene-
trating roots, and nutritive qualities in the feeding of stock, pro-
vided that at the same time its ash were in quantity and composi-
tion such as would benefit the cereals for which it is intended to
prepare the food.

Of this latter point there would be little fear, supposing that the
plant was really superior in feeding properties ; for an examination
of the evidence at present existing in reference to the ash of plants,
amply demonstrates that those parts of plants (such as the seeds
of the cereals) which owe their high nutritive powers to the large
quantity of nitrogenized bodies (gluten, albumen, &c.) they con-
tain, are also proportionably rich—invariably so—in phosphates of
lime, magnesia, and potash.

This question then might be resolved by either of two methods
of investigation. It might be decided practically—that is, it might
be ascertained by observation and experiment in the field what

138 Analyses of Ashes of Plants.

kind of crop grows most rapidly with least manure, furnishing
the greatest quantity of most nutritive food. Or it might be de-
cided by chemical analysis—in which case, however, the advan-
tages to be derived from the culture of any particular plant,
might be modified or entirely nullified by some practical diffi-
culties not anticipated by its scientific examination.

Should however chemical investigation succeed in bringing into
more favourable notice and general culture, any one plant of su-
perior capabilities in the abovementioned respect, it will amply
repay the attention which agriculturists are at the present time
inclined to bestow upon it. We shall have at the conclusion of
this report to compare the mineral composition of the most im-
portant root crops; and although we do not hope to show any very
distinct reasons why one of these should be preferred as a fallow
crop to others in use, we can only clearly state their relative
value in the preparation of mineral food for the cereals, leaving
the practical man to draw upon his own knowledge of the habi-
tudes of the plants for the practical application of the information
afforded by their chemical analysis.

Let it not be thought from the foregoing remarks, that we can
take only one narrow contracted view of the relation which the
culture of the root crop bears to the whole rotation, or that we
seek to explain the advantages of existing practices and modern
improvements, solely upon chemical principles. A_ practical
farmer will tell us, that there are twenty ways in which the root
crops are beneficial to his land. ‘That they are means in his
hands for altering the texture of the soil; that they afford him
opportunity of cleansing and well stirring it, &c. This is very
true; but after all, it will be found that their most important
function is (as before said) the collection and preparation of food
for the cereals. ‘The root crops may be called the nurses of the
tender and helpless corn plants; like nurses, they themselves re-
quire food, but their organs are of a nature to render them less
dependent upon the character of that food. Food is, indeed, the
first consideration to plants as well as animals ; give a man plenty
of wholesome nutritious food, and he will be comparatively safe
from the attacks of disease, and indifferent to the inclemency of
the weather. Stint him in his supplies of this first necessary, and
you leave him an easy prey to both. Is it otherwise with plants?
Surely not—they too must be fed; if nature does not supply
them liberally enough, the care of man must make good the defi-
ciency; but until he knows what they require his efforts can
hardly fail of being inmany cases abortive, or, where successful,
attended with unnecessary waste.

And here we come to the point from which we started; the

Analyses of Ashes of Plants. 139

cereals require two kinds of manuring, mineral and vegetable—
the roots require principally only one, the first of these.* Supply
your roots with mineral nourishment, and whilst by the increase
of their produce you are enabled (so to speak) to grow a larger
quantity of mutton and beef, and milk, you will ensure also a
more abundant return of the more valuable crops, for which the
turnip and mangold eventually become the mineral as well as
vegetable sustenance.

Now what is the mineral food which the different root crops
require ?

This is the question which we hope in some degree to answer
in the following pages; and we trust that the obvious importance
of the subject will be our excuse for entering into considerable
detail for its elucidation. :

The crops which form the subject of our present report were,
as in the former case, collected from different localities ; they are
in most instances the produce of ordinary culture. It has appeared
to us best at the outset to examine—not peculiar or anomalous
specimens, but those of ordinary average growth. As in our last
report, so in the present, we have given the histories of a great
many samples, that could not for want of time be subjected to
complete analysis. Of their mineral matter the quantity is deter-
mined, but its composition is unknown—it is right that they
should remain on record in the Society's publications, and they are
given with all the information which could be collected concern-
ing them. Our obligations to gentlemen who have supplied us
with specimens for analysis, are- here thankfully acknowledged.
We are indebted in this particular to Sir J. Johnstone, Bart. ; the
Rev. A. Huxtable; Mr. Arkell, of the Agricultural College
of Cirencester; Mr. Thomas Browne, of Cirencester; Mr.
Morton, of Whitfield; Mr. Guppy, of Bradninch, Devon; and
Mr. Wickham, of Batcombe, near Shepton Mallet, Somerset-
shire.

We have again to acknowledge with pleasure the invaluable
assistance received from Mr. Henry Tanner, of Exeter, in the
general prosecution of the research.

* Tt is never intended by this to assert that the root-crops can be raised
without any organic food in the soil; but there is great reason to believe
that, with a small supply of ‘“‘ stimulating” organic nourishment (as
guano), to enable them to form their leaves, the turnip or the mangold may
be raised without further vegetable supplies from the soil.

140 Analyses of Ashes of Plants.

TURNIPS.

SrpecimrEN No. 76.—Latne’s SELF-PRESERVER SWEDE.
From Mr. Arkell.

[ Sol, brashy ; sebsoil, stone; geologecal formation, the forest marble ;
undrained. After wheat. Manured for the Swedes with 3 ewt. of
Peruvian guano, 1 cwt. of superphosphate of lime, and 20 bushels of
ashes. Drilled on the flat at 21 inches, June 17, 1846. Appear-
ance of the crop fair. Collected in November. ]

Estimated produce in bulbs, 12 tons.

35 oe in tops, 1 ton 16 cwt.*
Per centage of water and ash :—
Water Neal Ash calculated
: i on dry substance.
Bulbs ° e ® 87:7 ° ° °79 ° ° 6:40

Tops ¢ ° e 86:0 e ® 1°88 e ° 13°40

Mineral matter on an acre :—

Bulbs e e ry e ° ° 4) 1 lbs.
Tops ° 6 © ry e e 716

———

287

SpeciMEN No. 77.—SKIRVING’S SWEDE.
From Mr. Guppy, Bradninch, Devon.t

[ Soil, a rich loam of moderate consistence ; swbsozl, a compact mixture
of clay and sand to a great depth, wzdrained but naturally dry.
Previous crop, 30 bushels of wheat; turnips manured with a com-
post of 15 cart-loads of farm-yard manure and 10 loads of highway
soil, and with 25 bushels of lime, and about 8 bushels of a mixture
of soot, night-soil, and wood-ashes, drilled with the seed. Planted
June 30, 1846. Collected Noy. 26.

Produce in bulbs, about 28 tons.
4). In tops, 3 tons 2 cwt.

Per centage of water and ash :—

Ash calculated
Water. ‘lic on dry substance,
Bulls eve ONO haa °88 Me 7°30

Tops, ie!’ «im, SOB ee Ale) eee

Mineral matter on an acre :—

Bul bs e ° e e e e 550 ] bs.
Tops ° ° e e ° e 76

—___—

626t

* For some remarks on the estimation of the proportion of bulb to top, see p. 168.
+ Grown by Mr. Alexander Read, of Werth Farm, Silverton.
{ From this amount we have to deduct the carbonic acid, which (whatever may be

Analyses of Ashes of Plants. 141

Analysis of the ash of the bulb :—

In 100 parts Mineral matter removed

in an Acre of Crop,

SSMINGIME Te ik gan ce” es 1°63 saa 9°0 ibs, *
Phosphoric Acid . . » «» 12°51 ake 68:8
Sulphuric Acid . .« « » 11°26 sts 61°9
Carbonic Acid POTS Va EN 9:54 eh a% 52°5
NEIiCMERO Ee oo a a te ROO ae *62°4
Magnesia e ° ry a s e 2 44 ; ° ° 13° 4
eroxide of Irom 2. «+ O28 Sh ts 1°5
Wotasneew peice ts “shiloh. cate OO? 1G ais 198°8
SGUHMeE co mtain, | sl ee a 5 4°99 atts 27°4
Chloride of Sodium . . .© 9°77 Ar eee 53°7
Chloride of Potassium . . none. none,

Motaltnes: “Lae &, Petr oO 94 519-4}

Analysis of the ash of the top :—
Io 100 parts, ‘Mineral mater removed

Silicate eae ef as AL = 3°1 lbs,
Phosphoric Acid . . . e 6°54 4S 5:0
Sulphune Acid .« « « « 6°50 ROE 4:9
Carbone Ack 4. « .« « 6°16 rh toed 4°7
Lime ° ° Py e e ° e 23 2 99 e e 18: 2
MENSA se) ew! 2 92 ees 2°2
Peroxide of Iron . 2 « 1°90 Re be 1°4
Potash Seetee oS a 20°86 oe 15°5
SOU CN Ler ie ee, ONE, ons none
Chloride of Sodium . . . 17°69 ike 13°4
Chloride of Potassium Sake OW eave 74

Total ® e ° e e 99° 94 P 75°8

SPECIMEN No. 78.—SKIRVING’S SWEDE.
From Mr. Arkell.

[ Soil, stone-brash ; sebsoil, ditto; geological formation, the great oolite.
After wheat. Manured for turnips with 63 cwt. of ‘‘animalized ma-
nure’t and 12 bushels of ashes (xo farm-yard manure). Drilled on
the flat at 21 inches, May 30th, 1846. Appearance of the crop mid-
dling: thin plant. Collected end of November. |

Produce in bulbs, 7 tons 15 cwt.
J namtOps, 112 ewt.

its origin) is not to be looked upon as one of the mixeral matters requisite to the well-
being of the plant, although it is necessary to take account of its existence in the ash.

In the present case the carbonic acid in both bulb and leaf amounts to 57*2 Ibs. on
the whole crop of an acre. In other instances, where the quantity only of the ash is
known, a deduction of about 12+0 per cent. on the bulb ash, and 10-0 per cent. on the
ash of the top, may be safely assumed as zear the proper proportion.

* We have thought it better to give these quantities in lbs, and tenths of pounds,
rather than in pounds and ounces, as in the last report.

+ These numbers are not absolutely the same as those before given—the proportion
being only worked out to the nearest tenth.

_ { Preparations sold under these names, but of which we do not know the composi-

tion,

142 Analyses of Ashes of Plants.

Per centage of water and ash :—
Ash calculated

CHES au on dry sabstance.
Bulbs e e e 87:0 e e : 0°60 o s 4:60
Tops s.- « 's (86°0 Fos heeco yy, | eee

Mineral matter on an acre :—

Bilbs:’/y Apereoge | Sa Oates
Tops... 2shs Mentone

128

SPECIMEN No. 79,_Suinvinete SweEpDE.
From Mr. Arkell,

[Soil and subsoil same as Specimen 78 (being a portion of the same
field). After wheat. Turnips manured with $ cwt. superphosphate of
lime, 3 cwt. guano, and 16 bushels of ashes. Drilled on the flat at
21 inches June 17,1846. Appearance of the crop fair. Collected
end of November. |

Estimated produce, bulbs, 12 tons.
” 9 tops, 153 cwt.

Per-centage of water.and ash :—

mee : E Ash calculated
Water. Ash, on dry substance.

Bulbs =. ou, B8*0- = .. 028i" gue
Top 4s. 84-07-20 ¢. pth Uae

Mineral matter on an acre:—

Bulbs ° ° e . . ° 216 lbs,
Tops ° e ° e . e 46

262

SPECIMEN No. 80.—SkKIRVING’s SWEDE,
From Mr. Arkell.

[Soil, subsoil, previous crop, &c., same as Specimen Nos. 78 and 79.
Manured for turnips with 74 ewt. “chemically prepared night-soil ”’*
and 12 bushels of ashes. Drilled on flat at 21 inches, May 30, 1846.
Crop looked middling but thin. Collected latter end of November.]

-Produce in bulbs, 10 tons 9 ewt.
93° ih tops; 133 cwt.

Per centage of water and ash :—

Water Ash Ash calculated
: mane on dry substance.
Bulbs. eee enol ae Wes 0°52 pee ee 4-0
Topsy. 2‘) aecaisa: O ; ; 1:76 5 3 11-0

* Preparations sold under these names, but of which we do not know the composi-
tion,

Analyses of Ashes of Plants. 143

Mineral matter on an acre :—

Bul bs e * a ° . > 121 lbs.
Tops : > e 6 e e e De

ee

148

SPECIMEN No. 81.—Skirvine’s SweDE.

From Mr. Arkell.

[Soil, subsoil, &c. same as three preceding specimens ; turnips entirely
unmanured. Drilled on the flat at 21 inches, May 30th. Crop
looked middling but thin.] ee ;

Produce in bulbs, 8 tons 15 ewt.
ss | An fOps, 15 cwt.

Per centage of water and ash :—

Water. ‘AGh. Ash calculated

on dry substance,
Bulbs. <= *. 86-0 ais: 0°71 aes d'11
Mops.) «.- 82°0 3 Re 1-44 oa ye 8:00

Mineral matter on an acre :—

BUDS: scars? 2 ss. DAE Ibs.
ROWS ts ye stnewe fe) ok lee, ip

165

SPECIMEN No. 82.—Sxirvine’s SweDE.

From the Rev. A. Huzxtable.

[ Soil, composed of the detritus of flint and chalk; swbsoil, hard chalk;
does not need draining. Previous crop, wheat 40 bushels an acre.
(Mildewed, See last report, page 624.) Manured with fermented
(almost spent) farm-yard manure, 20 single-horse cart-loads per
acre, and the seed drilled in 1 ewt. of bones and 4 cwt. sulphuric
acid, with 20 bushels of ashes per acre. ExcelJent crop, but very
much mildewed in growth. |

Estimated produce, bulbs, 20 tons.
tops, 2 tons 9 cwt.

33 3)

Per centage of water and ash :—
Ash calculated
Water. Ash. on dry substance.

Bulbs ° e-.e 87:35 s_ ore 0°75 e . 6:00
Tops .« + + 88:0 1°97 * 1G ae

-Mineral matter on an acre :—
Bulbs . Bate es oe 336 ibs.
‘Topsts «: :

—
=)
17,3)

144 Analyses of Ashes of Plants.

Analysis of the ash of the bulb :—

Mineral ma
In 100" parts. in an Aeon
Silica ® ° 6 e ° 9 2°69 ° ° 9-4
Phosphoric Net Sr el etcenite 9°31 wah 31°3
Sulphuric Acid « 2 « « 16°13 . * 54°2
Carbonic Acid Sees aon ipse en) KOU /2 ese 36°2
Lime « ° e e ° ° 11 °82 ° ° 39°7
Magnesia «sew oh ee) ey oes a 11°0
Peroxide of Iron». 7 « «. 0°47 Ai 1°6
Potash.) eb aie ts ee a eo enO ou he 79°6
Sodaea au. Sls STA 75 gS sg 49°6
Chloride of Sodiuns SO eRe 7°09 a i 23°7
Chloride of Potassium . © none. oN ne none
Total ° ° ® 6 © 99 " 94 336 3 3
Analysis of the ash of the top :-—
yn t00 pats, Mineral matter removed

Silica . . oy alte A deli tes PROMOLE gis 8:7
Phosphoric Acid 2 i a 1s eee pte 5°2
Sulphurre Acid wisi. « LOee6 5 11°2
Carbonic Acid —(. ene oe w Ochs Maen 6°6
EMG Ga ego Ne a eeu ba CORO Cn pie 30°8
NEAgMeSIA ve ss! ee ie) «em ‘ 2°8
Peroxide of Tro 3.6 ue us, le oe . 3°3
POCASI ais Vue yen elle meen Vey elie : 12°5
Sodaye.. «3 ie ee igen Dae) < 13°4
Chloride of Soin ce Meee «ul Opel 13°4
Chloride of Potassium . . . none, 4 none
Totals Mie she ia ie a ODO 107°9

SPECIMEN No. 83.—-SKIRVING’S SWEDE.
From the Rev. A. Huxtable.

[ Soil, dark mould; sabsoil, yellow clay; geological formation, clay
under lower chalk; drained; two years.in tillage. After good crop
of wheat; turnips manured with 10 bushels of soot, and 10 bushels
of pure cowdung mixed with 20 bushels of ashes, aud 1 cwt. of
bones with 56 Ibs. of sulphuric acid. Drilled early in May. Crop
dreadfully mildewed, and when collected (in November), three-fourths
of the Swedes rotten. ]

Produce in bulbs, 16 tons.
3) am tops, 92 tons 12 cwt.

Per centage of water and ash :—

Ash caleulated
Water. Ashi. on dry substance.

Bulbs . a . 89.0 < 4 0-76 3 : 6:90
Tops . i . 80°00 . A 1°95 Z a 13°00
Mineral matter on an acre :—

Bulbs ° C) e e 6 e 271 Ibs.
Tops a 2 wee ox LIA

Analyses of Ashes of Plants. 145

Analysis of the ash of the bulb .—

In 190 parts. Mineral matter removed

in an Acre of Crop.
SMe ieee as 5 LY a) A wm: LO Suemee 4:7
Phosplioric Acid: .° .°. .. 10°17 3 RBs 27°5
Sulphuric Acid . . . . . 1d°d3 a ees 42-1
Carbone Acid .. ... 4° -. 11296 at ae 32°4
Mitch is os ht STR 6 14933 =: called 33°9
INMiBGUESIAN ee ee a, O27 ager 8:9

Peroxide of Iron. .-9.0. -.. 0°61 meee 1°6
OMSHONS le. 8! Pe rel. 26288 BoM, 72:8
SOUMMEN ss eos co ante... LOCO] 36:1
Chionde of Sodium ..-... . 2°19 suede 5:9
Chloride of Potassium . . . none. salve none.

motile crac) epee « . 9998 270°9

Analysis of the ash of the top :—

Mineral matter removed

In 109 parts. in an Acre of Crop,

Sic ee a fa) skeias. . Lela ; 1+3
iphospnone; Acid *; 27... 6°21" aot
Sulpwenic Acid —.:...° . -. 12°20 ‘ 13°9
WAHOMICTACIG . aber & «ie 12 97 14:8
WRENS Gree sito ss es OUTS sine 31-6
MeneMestt ts ak ee ht, Ft wee LS oie 3°6
peroxide of Iron’; <2 . = 0°66 gs 0°7
ots. reece ts 8 SS 20879 #3 23°7
Sodweet .ufo | Fee # mone, het none.
Chloride of Sodium . . . g)=—(10°31 mr te 11°8
Chloride of Potassium . . « 2°09 Pinied 2°4

113.9

odors a. Be et. 4 9998

SPECIMEN No. 84.—Da.Le’s Hyprip.

From the Rev. A. Huxtable.

[Soil, subsoil, geological formation, &c., same as Specimen No. 83. Crop
in the previous year wheat; this is a stubble crop grown after early
peas this year. Manured with unfermented cowdung and ashes, and
1 cwt. of bones and 56 lbs. of sulphuric acid per acre. Drilled early
in August. Crop very thick, the roots nearly touching each other on
all sides. Collected middle of November. |

Estimated produce in bulbs, 20 tons.
» 9 in tops,* 10 tons.

Per centage of water and ash :—

7, Ash calculated
eer. Ass on dry substance.

Bulbs e e ° 88:0 ° e 1-01 “4 e 8:41
Tops ° ° e 89°0 e e 1°19 e e 10°80

* This would seem a very large proportion of top to bulb, but the proportion, as
ascertained by us, was as 67 bulb to 33 top. See page 168,
VOL. VIII. =

146 Analyses of Ashes of Plants.

Mineral matter on an acre :-—

Bulbs sac es Perth co eaenw 7452 abst

TOps: | cauceeh © eau eeeecOn

a : 719
Analysis of the ash of the bulb:— -

Mineral matter removed
in-an Acre of Crop.

Silica, «27. cele | CeO 12°4
Phosphoric Acid Feit arenas) 0) Ay Ss 39°6
Sulphuric Acid 7 ge. es led «Dis, ean
Carbonic Acid © sweat oe lene vee eg Be
Himes, ks ue ke? OO am 29°2

In 100 parts.

Magnesia . Diba ee ee Deo! Pai Lin 11:3
pereiie of Tae take alae 0°14 gat ee 0°6
Potash. 0 Ge oO Ua mn ees 166°8
Soda, ite pag ae 8:01 Hates 36:2
Chioride of Sodio Sl ak |) VOSOG Hu Bs 45+2
Chloride of Potassium . g none, a elke none.

otal y a porous 4515
Analysis of the ash of the top:— ee

Mineral matter removed
in an Acre of Crop.
Silica . - iy | OG 5 ee 3:4
Rhosphoric Acid Whig © . 4°58 eink 2 12:2
Salphurie: Acid, gy-Ge 6-71 amber 17:9

In. 100 parts.

Carbonic Acid sider ia, 28 UBES2) ees 36°9
Ming 9 So PRS, 2c7 Mo Om, sue 93°7
Maenesia . dae “., “Piva ied: 4°7
Peroxide of iran PU aL Aor 0°61 =e 1:6
Rotash. 2... Berge +e) Welsieos Pa 36°3
Soda wwe. eae Sage 4°60 F 12:3
Chloride of Cadi ogee LO as, 48°3
Chloride of Potassium . . none. Se none.

Total el ss ih, | OOS 267°3

SPECIMEN No. 85.
From the Rev. A. Huxtable.

[ Socl, composed of flint and chalk; swbsoil, hard chalk (soil, previous
crop, manure, &c., identical with those of Specimen 82). Drilled
early in August. ]

Estimated produce, bulbs, 20 tons.
” 99 tops, 4 tons 8 cwt.

Per centage of water and ash :—

Water, AGH Ash calculated
on dry substance.

Bulbs. . . 9220 sie 0°73 aie 9-06
Mops 2. ha COL anes 2°25 aes 16°10

Mineral matter on an acre :—

Bulg’. .s.:2- sie es een eee ellos
OWS «seg, enna abe ine tem

—_—-——

546

Analyses of Ashes of Plants. 147

Analysis of the ash of the bulb :—
In 100 parts.
Silica e ° ° ° ° ® Oly

Mineral matter removed
in an Acre of Crop.

Phosphoric Agia i Neiaayaiig ey) (LOS aL e 4. 34°7
Sulphuric Acid ~. . 4... 11°22 oh itys 36°4
@arbomevAcid: 60. = 60 6 ys,- 1205 Abts: 39°]
Lime ° ° e ° © e ° 8 ( 87 ° ® 28 °7
INGRHOMA Gs te. one ys 1 L298 she 6:2
Peroxide of Tron a saOumriea 0°63 Saas 2°0
Ofasnes le 6 ee ny OD OO be 105-2
Soda is le.” Sepik cie i Oerk Rann 4 21°1
Chloride of Sédium er 14630 Seer 46°6
Chloride of Potassium Geile MONE’ ens none,

99°93 323° 6

Analysis of the ash of the top :—
Mineral matter removed

In 100 parts. in an Acrs of Crop.

° ° d35 ° e

11-70 Bs 25°0

6°99 8 ee 15°5

6:10 eit he 13°5
24°27 since 53°
3°57 as 719
6

Biliga, es °
Phosphoric Acid .
Sulphuric Acid .
Carbonic Acid
Lime . ° ° ° e C) 8
Magnesia. . . « .» 9
Peroxide of Tron: . eps + 3:09 ames °9
OLAS a gs ie. E28 (12°35 aes 27°4
e
4
1

Sodars. é "none: Sere none,

Chloride of diam a ee 77 |) shies 50°

Chloride of Potassium . 1°84 Bike 4e
Motalias: to, wins, «¢ 99°96 221°8

SPECIMEN No. 86.—GREEN-TOPPED WuitTeE TurRNIPe.
From the Rev. A. Huxtable.

[ Soil, dark mould; swbsoil, yellow clay; geological formation, clay
under lower chalk; drained; two years in tillage. The crop in the
previous year wheat, but this is a stubble crop grown after peas this
year.* Manured with unfermented cowdung and ashes and 1 ewt. of
bones, with 4 cwt. of sulphuric acid. Remarkably thick crop, the
roots almost “touching each other on all sides. Drilled in August.
Collected middle of November.]

Estimated produce, bulbs, 20 tons.
” 39 top, 12 tons 5 cwt.

Per centage of water and ash :—
Ash calculated

Water. Ash, on dry substance.
Bulbs e aye 92°0 2 e 0°59 ° ° 7°40
Mops). sp G8BO0 es le82 .. « 15+ 20

Mineral matter on an acre:—

Bulbs e e ° ° e ° 268 lbs.
TOpse aces) =, ei or 6 OOD

768

2 es ee
* The description ata equally to this specimen and specimen 84, but it is here

IU, a

148 Analyses of Ashes of Plants.

Analysis of the ash of the bulb :—

In 100 parts Mineral matter removed

in an Acre of Crop.

Silica e r) ° r) ° ° ° 0 ‘ 95 e e 2 * 6
Phosphoric Acid . . « « 7°65 ou 20°5
Sulphuric Acid\) 6 vscxenve | 12°86 Sis 34°5
Carbonic Acid ot oe Gages eo nie 39°7
Lime e e e ° e ° e 6°73 ry ° 18°0
Miaonesiaji ier #1 Wiehe patoneet ld Shilo ane 6-1
Peroxide.of Irom... .«,4..02 «| 0266 ps 1 8
Potash e ry e ° ° e e 48°56 ° ° 130°0
SOGagy ston evita: dalle ercewun omens ERNOle. 616 none,
Chloride of Sodium . . e¢ 5°44 forte 14°6
Chloride of Potassium @') . anone: Le none.

99-94 267°9

Analysis of the ash of the top:—

Mineral matter removed

In 100 parts. in an Acre of Crop.

SiliGas feuuke mate Bete one 2°05 oe 10:2
Phosphoric Acid « . « « 3°13 ohare 15°7
Sulphunie Acid") Vole. 9 se thc 39°2
Carbonic Acid Pp liner eh mcrae Men 2 GOA} Metis 73°2
Mimes ie, 2 eee a Baie ent 143°7
Magnesia 5) “ss se oie ye) Pere Bo oe 14-2
Peroxide’ of Iron”; ~. 7." >. 0:80 suns 46
Potash SRG ly Sarwar seat RIGS eigite 63°4
Sodayera: ite Sl) ene te emOnMes oes none.
Chloride of Sodium . . © 10°67 ramayr 53°4
Chloride of Potassium . . 16°56 : 82°%

HLotaligi's | js fen ve | oo Oooo 499°8

SPECIMEN No. 87.—WuiITE GLOBE TURNIP.
From Mr. Guppy.*

[ Soil, sandy loam ; sabsozl, gravel ; naturally dry; old tillage. Previous
crop 30 bushels of wheat; turnips manured with 15 cart-loads of
farm-yard manure, as compost. Drilled with a mixture of soot,
night-soil, and ashes, July 20, 1846. Collected 27th of November,
very luxuriant crop. ]

Estimated produce, bulbs, 35 tons.

49 "3 tops, 6 tons 14 cwt.

Per centage of water and ash :—

Water Ash Ash caleulated
i 3 on dry substance.
Bulbs ° ° e 87°0 e 1°13 e ‘e 8°70
Tops Ah toy wines 7/2) mate 2:34 cme 18°00

Mineral matter on an acre:—

Bul bsyce 4 ver te tke) Vo ed, UO OOnlinge
Tops ° e ° e e e 351

1237

* Grown by Mr, Read of Silverton,

Analyses of Ashes of Plants. 149

SpecIMEN No. 88.—WuiITE SWEDE.
From Mr, Arkell.

[ Soa, clay; subsoil, clay and stone; geological formation, the forest
marble ; not drained. Previous crop wheat. Manured for the Swedes
with 10 one-horse cartloads of tolerably rotten yard manure; 14 cwt.
Fothergill’s superphosphate and 18 bushels of ashes, drilled with the
seed, June 27, 1846, at 21 inches on the flat. Crop looked fair.

Collected in November. ]

Estimated produce, in bulbs, 12 tons.
9 ” in tops, 1 ton 19 ewt.

Per centage of water and ash:—
Water! ate Ash calculated

on dry substance.

Bulbses. vex. 687°0 inte 0:94 Bg, 7:20
Hopes . <.0k 84:0 Pare 1-49 on ts 9°3
Mineral matter on an acre :—

Bishi iene svi vg: < ee DED. Ebs:
OPS Were ese 6 2 6D.

SpEcIMEN No, 89.—GREEN-TOPPED SWEDE.

From Mr. Arkell.

[ Soil, stone; subsoil, ditto; geological formation, forest marble; un-
drained. After wheat; manured for the turnips with 12 one-horse
cart-loads of tolerably rotten yard-manure, and 14 cwt. Fothergill’s
superphosphate and 18 bushels of ashes drilled with the seed on ridges
at 28 inches, June 26, 1846. Crop looked thin. Collected in

November. }

Estimated produce, in bulbs, 10 tons.
” 2 in tops, 174 cwt.

Per centage of water and ash :—

r is Ash calculated
Rater. BB on dry substance.
Bulbs * e ° 90°0 e ° 0°05 ° ° a*30
TODS, 6,» Oe 0 euive 1-51 “0 Ne 8°40

Mineral matter on an acre :—

ilbsaeva co: ven" te~ are t Sen oops.
Tops As BERG, MRO AES 30

~

150 Analyses of Ashes of Plants.

SrpecIMEN No. 90.—PuRPLE-TOP SWEDE.
From Mr. Arkell.

[Soil, subsoil, and manure same as Specimen No. 89. Drilled on ridges
at 28 inches, June 25, 1846. Crop looked thin. Collected in
November. |

Estimated produce, in bulbs, 12 tons.

9 99 in tops, 18 cwt.

Per centage of water and ash :—
Water. Ash.
Bulbs . «. 7 (90-0 state 0°56 ies
Tops og ee ese) ai ae 2225 Ghpilie 10°5
Mineral matter on an acre :—

Bulbsitje') 9. 0.) as ign) Se Solas:
Pops ih sh 6. 7) patent O

oe

Ash calculated
on dry substance.

196

Specimen No. 91.—GreeEen Rounp Turnip.
From Mr. Arkell.

[ Soil, brashy; subsoil, stone; geological formation, great oolite; na-
turally dry. Previous crop rye, eaten with sheep; seed drilled with
1 cwt. of guano, 2 bushels of bones, and 4 cwt. of sulphuric acid and
18 bushels of ashes, on the 12th July, at 21 inches on the flat. Very
fair looking crop.]

Estimated produce, in bulbs, 12 tons.
9 99 in tops, 1 ton 7 cwt.

Per centage of water and ash :—
Ash calculated

Water. Ash. on dry substance.
Buibsive se we. GOR. Ae 0°68 oe 7°20
TOPS ig fewer lye COO oe 1-54 ue 11°00
Mineral matter on an acre :—
Bullbs © ac eet eared ae SO allose

MOPS 4 dei 2 se\'dh's) us ue re maee

—_-

231
Specimen No. 92.—Purp.r-tror Scorcu Turnip.
From Mr. Arkell.

[Sozl, brashy ; subsoil, stone ; geological formation, great oolite. After
oats and vetches, fed with sheep; 1 cwt. guano, 2 bushels of bones,

Analyses of Ashes of Plants. 151

with } cwt. sulphuric acid and 18 bushels of ashes, drilled with the
seed, July 10, 1846, at 2] inches on the flat. Collected in November.
Crop looked very fair. ] |

Estimated produce, in bulbs, 13 tons.

- in tops, 1 ton, 9 cwt.
Per centage of water and ash :—
d : Ash calculated
Water. Alle on ary gabtasiee:
Biibs . = . 924 cee 0:61 Sis 8:00
Mops is: «. + 8d°*2 Jee 2°12 ah 14°3

Mineral matter on an acre:—

IBullbseet ete ote er nL ga LOS!
Tops ee REP ERS cheer ek 659

246

SpeciMEN No. 93.—GREEN-TOP SCoTcHh.
From Mr. Arkell.
[Soil, subsoil, manure, and entire culture the same as Specimen No, 92.

Estimated produce, in bulbs, 13 tons. _
“ ee in tops, 1 ton 12 cwt.

Per centage of water and ash :— ,
Ash calenlated

Water : aah on dry substance.
Bulbs’. = «-.92°2 mec 0°70 ote 8-98
Hops... «. 86°0 Bet 1-50 a cee OO

Mineral matter on an acre :—
Bulbs 73 “42 SS 22 2 20S Ibs;
ROUSi mcs a eee rN 3a Oe

——

258

Specimen No. 94.—Wurtte DECANTER TURNIP.
From Mr. Arkell. |

[| Sorl, brashy and thin; szbdsoil, stone; geological formation, great
oolite. Previous crop « grass and couch” (the turf pared and
burned). Drilled on the flat at 21 inehes, June 24, 1846, with
14 cwt. Fothergill’s superphosphate. Appearance of the crop good,
but the Jand foul. Collected in November. |

Produce in bulbs, 15 tons.
» imtops, 3 tons.

Per centage of water and ash :—
Ash calculated

Water. eel on dry substance.
Bulbs >> Ye" £29237 eae 0:48 sob 6°60
hops; =) « « S4*6- gop yuz 00 wie 13°00

152 Analyses of Ashes of Plants.

Mineral matter ou an acre :—

Bulbs @ ° e e ° e 162 lbs,
Tops) jcc eg) 71 io oe

296

SeecIMEN No. 95.—GREEN-TOP Scotcu TURNIP.
From Mr. Arkell.

[Sozl, brash and clay; sabsoz/, stone and clay; geological formation,
the “forest marble ;”? undrained. After wheat; manured for the
turnips with 2 cwt. guano, 14 cwt. superphosphate, and 17 bushels of
ashes. Drilled on the flat at 21 inches’ distance, July 9th, 1846.

Crop looked well. Collected in November. |

Produce in bulbs, 13 tons.
» Intops, 2 tons 12 cwt.

Per centage of water and ash :—

Water. itch Ash calculated

on dry substance.
Bulbs © e ° 90°0 e e 0°84 ° e 8°40
Tops © ry e 84°0 ® ® 1°92 e e 12:00

Mineral matter on an acre :—

Bulbs « « « i 3 ee4onbs
Tops e o e e e e 99

——=

344

SpECIMEN No. 96.—Scorcu Purpie-tor Butiocks Turnip.
From Sir J. Johnstone, Bart.

[ Soil, free hazel loam; subsoil, gravel; geological formation, the Ox-
ford clay, but here covered up with calcareous rubble from above ;
undrained. Previous crop wheat (heavy straw, much laid ; very poor
crop of grain). Turnips manured with 6 loads of gocd rotten farm-
yard dung, and about 3 cwt. guano and 20 bushels of ashes. Drilled
middle of June ; very even good crop for the district. Collected No-
vember 21st.]

Estimated produce, in bulbs, 15 tons.*
3 As in tops, 2 tons, 13 cwt.

* In this and the following specimens the numbers given for the crop must be con-
sidered only as an approximation, This crop of turnips, it is said, ‘would carry 200
hogs for a week per acre.” Jn calculating the produce, it has been assumed that a
hog will eat 24 ]bs, of turnips per diem (see Stephens’ ‘ Book of the Farm,’ vol. ii.
». 18); but of course any such calculation must be attended with much uncertainty.
We have, however, preferred giving these data rather than none at alJ, but it is not
proposed to use them as the basis of any argument.

Analyses of Ashes of Plants. 153

Per centage of water and ash :—

Water. Ash. Ash calculated

on dry substance.

Bulbs ry ° e 92°0 e e 0°65 ° . 8:12
ee er-O wy MORK... py 1480

Mineral matter of an acre: —
Wiallbseive. ve veel lal et es RQ Orbs:
Mops. 8s se te te oe LIS

Specimen No. 97.—PurRPLE-TOP SWEDES.
From Sir J. Johnstone, Bart.*

[ Soil, a free gravelly loam; subsoil, partly clay and partly gravel ; geo-
logical formation, one of the sandstone beds of the coal-grit series ;
undrained. Previous crop 4 quarters of wheat; manured for the
swedes with 8 loads of good rotten farm-yard manure and 14 load of
ashes. Drilled on the level about the middle of May, 1846; good
even crop. Collected November 21st.]

Estimated produce, in bulbs, 15 tons.
” ” in tops, 19 cwts.

Per centage of water and ash :—
’ Ash calculate

Water. Beh on dry substance.
Bmlbsie « « . 9020 Pago 0°82 ene 8:20
Tops - e ° e 82:0 ° ° 1°99 ° ° 10°80

Mineral matter of an acre :—

Palbsevesi ns ecu ee: A athe 1276 Abs:
Tops A ae Nags 41

317

Specimen No. 98.—Swepss (variety not known).
From Sir J. Johnstone, Bart.

[Soil, subsoil, &c., identical with Specimen No. 97. Manured with 11
loads farm-yard manure per acre, 1 cwt. of guano, and 14 load of
ashes. Drilled on ridges the first week in May, 1846 ; good even crop.
Collected November 21st.]

Estimated produce, in bulbs, 15 tons.

¢ iigpaee
.) a in tops, 125 cwt.

* Grown by Mr. Thomas Needham, Borget Farm, Harwood-dale, North Riding of
Yorkshire.

+ It is highly probable that this crop is underrated by our method of calculation, as
the land is said to be some of the best in the neighbourhood, and well adapted (it would
secm) for the turnip culture,

154 Analyses of Ashes of Plants.

Per centage of water and ash :—

Ash calculated
Water. Ash. on dry substance.

Bulbs yh 5 90°0 es 6, 0°42 ALEY ere act oh 4°20
Tops e ry e 85°0 ®.- @ 1°59 ® ; e 10°6
Mineral matter of an acre :—

Bulbs t.S4-. ceo. ge ces Se eat, lg
Mopse.t Fe se). eee ie ees

—e

163

SPECIMEN No. 99.—WuitE STONE TuRNIP.
From Sir J. Johnstone, Bart.

[ Sot, gritty limestone ; sebsoi/, limestone rubble ; geological formation,
a limestone of the oolite ; undrained. Previous crop 3 quarters of
barley (the barley was manured with 5 loads farm-yard dung per
acre); turnips manured with 3 cwt. of guano and 20 bushels of ashes.
Drilled middle of June; a fair even crop. Collected November 23rd,
1846.]

Estimated produce, in bulbs, 11 tons.

99 9» in tops, 2 tons 8 cwt.

Per centage of water and ash :—
Ash calculated

Water. Ash. on dry substance .
Bullbsiye 7! a ey aoe « yee see OSU = eee Os
LOPS) sacs | bien aRQOeU bo ek oe ebeene, emepe ei 2307.1)

Mineral matter of an acre :—
Bulbs seo ete, Bee el Onmllinse
OPS sive We tive taut el ae SO

———__=

273

Specimen No. 100.—Scotcu PurpPie-tope BuLiocks.
From Sir J. Johnstone, Bart.

[ Soil, free, light, sandy ; swbsoil,a red shale; geological formation, the
“* Kelloways rock ;’? undrained. Previous crop wheat (not worth
reaping, being choked with rubbish) ; turnips manured with 6 loads
farm-yard dung, 4 bushels of bones dissolved by sulphuric acid, and
20 bushels of ashes per acre. Drilled middle of June; very fair even
crop. Collected November 23rd.

Estimated produce, in bulbs, 138 tons.

2 rr in tops, 1 ton 12 ewt.
Per centage of water and ash :—
Ash calculated
Water. one on dry substance.
Bulbs’ & "2S Pea O76 BIE S 0°87 MER 10°90

Mops en iije kee cai O a Pee 2°08 {0h MIGROS

Analyses of Ashes of Plants. 159

Mineral matter of an acre :—

Bulbs te Ts see 6 (204 lbs;
ROWS Gait te ee wn ee

a

328

SPECIMEN No. 101.—Scotcn PurPLE-Top BuULLOCcKs.
From Sir J. Johnstone, Bart.

[Soil, subsoil, &c., same as Specimen No. 100 (being part of the same
field). 6 Joads of farm-yard manure, 3 cwt. of guano, and 20 bushels
of ashes. Drilled middle of June, 1846; good even crop (rather su-
perior to Specimen No. 100). Collected 23rd November.]

Estimated produce, in bulbs, 13 tons.
an ne in tops, 2 tons 10 cwt.

Per centage of water and ash :—
Ash calculated

Water, Ash. ‘on dry substance.’

Bulbs ° ° e 89:0 ° ° 1:10 2 e 10°00
eres Pee ogag he NO, SRR SV Lots ap ii7g

Mineral matter on an acre :—

Bulbs ° e he ° ® ° 320 lbs.
osm, Ba aniia bas lous ig dl

oe

391

SpectmMEN No. 102.—YELLOw BuLuocks.
From Sir J. Johnstone, Bart.*

[ Soil, free, variable; sebsoil, strong clay; geological formation, a
member of the coal-grit series ; drained. Previous crop oats, 5 quar-
ters per acre; manured for turnips with 10 cart-loads of farm-yard
manure per acre, and | cart-load of turf-ashes. Drilled June 28rd,
1846; not even, but an average crop. Collected Nov. 21st.+ |

Per centage of water and ash :—

Ash calculated
Maren. cli. on dry substance.”
Bulbs e e ° 89-0 e e 0°78 e e 7°10

Ropsimmaiere te 300" Siete 1°58 ose 11°30,

* From the farm of Mr. Thomas Leadlay, Surgate Brows, Harwood-dale, North
Riding of Yorkshire. |

+ We have no information respecting the amount of crop in this and the three fol-
lowing specimens; their history is, with this exception, complete, and is therefore given
above,

156 Analyses of Ashes of Plants.

Specimen No. 103.—GReEEN-ToP TuRNIP.
From Sir J. Johnstone, Bart.*

[ Soil, free sandy loam ; swbsoil, sand and clay; geological formation,
a member of the coal-grit series; undrained. After oats; turnips
manured with 6 loads farm-yard dung, and 8 bushels of bones, with
13 load of ashes. Drilled first week in July ; pretty even crop, thin
in places. Collected November 21st, 1846.]

Per centage of water and ash :—
Ash calculated

Water. Ash. on dry substance.

Bulbs.:« 13 ex_,9:1:+0 Cs 0°69 «is 7°70
TOPS), orf -sigie 000 cau Ee iy shake 12-00

Sepecimen No. 104.—Eyr-spricur Turnip.
From Sir J. Johnstone, Bart.+

[ Sozd, ** clum,”’ (?) ‘difficult to reduce to a fine tilth for turnips ;” szbsozl,
strong and stony; geclogical formation, coraline limestone (oolitic) ;
updrained. After very poor crop of wheat run to straw (the seeds
broken up for the wheat were well manured) ; manured for the tur-
nips with 3 sacks of bones and | cart-load ashes per acre. Drilled
June 19th, 1846; looked well. Collected November 23rd. |

Per centage of water and ash :—
Ash calculated

Water. Ash. on dry substance.
Bulbs e e ° 91-0 e ° 0:70 e ° 7°80
Tops ° r ° 81°0 e e PES} e e 13°60

SPECIMEN No. 105.—WuitkE Stonr Turwnips.
from Sir J. Johnstone, Bart.

[Soil, subsoil, &c., same as Specimen 104. After oats, six quarters per
acre; much straw. Manured for the turnips with six loads farm-
yard manure, 24 cwt. of guano and 1 cart-load of ashes. Drilled
May 28th, 1846; did not start well on account of the drought, but
when collected a middling crop. Collected Nov. 23rd.]

Per centage of water and ash :—

Watent Aa Ash calculated
on dry substance.
Bullbsae. “2 sy. 910 Says 0:64 4 7°10

MOPS’ 46) ie 20010 anlar 1:94 rN 14-90 =

* Grown by Mr. W. Parker, Harwood-dale, North Riding of Yorkshire.
+ Grown on the farm of Mr, John Cockerill at Hackness,

Analyses of Ashes of Plants. 157

MANGOLD-WURZEL.

Specimen No. 106.—Yettow GLoBpe Mancoup-WURZEL.
From the Rev. A. Huxtable.

[ Sodl, six inches of reddish mould, containing some clay ; sebsod/, chalk ;
geological formation, the upper chalk; does not need draining; 3
years in tillage. Previous crop 20 tons of Swedes ; land manured for
the mangold with ten bushels of pure dung of fatting beasts wzfer-
mented, mixed with 1 ewt. of bones, and § ewt. sulphuric acid (these, of
course, separately mixed previously), and 10 bushels of ashes. Dibbled
early in May (the manure being also dibbled); the tops blighted a
good deal, and half the crown of the roots blackened with the blight.
Collected in November. |

Produce, in roots, 22 tons.
ss) aim tops, 3 tons 17 cwt.*

Per centage of water and ash :—

hanya Ash ealeulated
pyatcr: eeble on dry substance,

Rootsived.« «»« -91°0 cee ers 1-02 a 11°32
Tops e ry ° 90°0 e e 1°40 ° e 14°00

Mineral matter on an acre:—

aliseaesaes co <yva e eee Oe libs:
OpSteey pees ue aaa lal

623
Analysis of the ash of the bulb :—
In 100 parts. Mineral matter removed
in an Acre of Crop.

SiliGAmP err can. ars ee ee Riis 11:1
Phosphoric Acidty, . . . . . 4°49 mee 22°5
SMlphuricwcidan sy 2) 7. S08 AGA 18°5
Carhbonter Acids fs. ole oe P18 a4 on 91°0
Lime BTR A SSC te A 1°78 ap te 8°9
MMasiesta (ss! atte. oc, he ho Bie so) 8°8
Reroxage of Iron. fest. 2 O74 Ps ae 3°7
Potash es oo) HPN ies oe D384 owe 118-2
Sodaweeicte se ced oe 19808 “Re 95-7
Chloride of Sodium . . . . 24°54 eae 123°3
Chloride of Potassium . . . none. ‘nae none.

Rotalisy = saute re nee 99906 501°7

* The produce in tops, according to Mr. Huxtable, is five tons, instead of that men-
tioned in the text. In all likelihood Mr. Huxtable’s is the more correct number, but
having given in the other instances (where we had no practical estimate of the quantity
of top) the relation as actually found in the specimen forwarded to us, we have thought
it better, for the sake of uniformity, to abide by the same method in the present case.

158 Analyses of Ashes of Plants.

Analysis of the ash of the top :— MR.

In 100 parts. in an Acre of Crop.

Silica . Bis 4 2230 ‘ane 2°9
Phosphoric INGE ee iehy Pee 5°89 gee view
Sulphuric Acid, )* 2" 6°54 Si he 7°9
Garbonic Acid) = <254) 9 Ps 6°92 ees 8°4
Paime yi “eee othe 8:42 Lt ee 10°5
Magnesia . ey Oe 9°84 . Liss
Peroxide of Tan SR ede 1°46 ee 1°8
Potash?) ar Sees 8°34 ue ie 10-1
Soda , enita.% 282% at PR 14°8
Chloride of Sodianh A Stich ah cig OO «tree 45:5
Chloride of Potassium . . none. oe hie none.
Total = Ae ey 8OeOG 120°9

SreecimMen No. 107.—Lone Rep Maneoitp-WuRZEL.
From the Rev. A. Huxtable.

[Soil, subsoil, and previous culture same as in Specimen No. 106, being
part of the same field. Manured for the mangold with unfermented
manure (without straw) of animals fed on linseed and corn mixed,
with 1 cwt. of bones dissolved in 4 cwt. of sulphuric acid per acre,
and worked up with ashes. Dzbbled (both sced and manure) early

in May. Collected in November. ]

Produce, in roots, 24 tons. :
5 in tops, - 3:tons 15 oe *

Per centage of water and ash :—
Ash calculated

MY gter. - 28th on dry substance.
Roots se «OO ete 0°64 er 7°10
Pops =. 7s. +900 * Leng Shia Nepes)

Mineral matter on an acre :—

Roots . oe) “Odanloss
Tops e ° ° e e ° 150

493
Analysis of the ash of the root:—
Mineral matter removed
in an Acre of Crop.
Silda: .. . = Note 1°40 wrigteers 4°8
Phosphoric eva Pe at A de 1°65 : .

In 100 parts.

5:7

Sulphunic Acid .- © .2Giog , 3°14 ee Es TON?
Carbonic Acid . . ipod Saran SCHL a ee 52°3
Bimeoss: 9. ee ae 1:90 ESLERK 6°5
Maanesia | 3.2 jp emake... 1°79 6-1
Peroxide of [ron amram 0°52 | ee 1:8
Potasive” *. ai ane wt ae 21°68 ; es 74:3
Soda . ieee 3°13 Ba 10:7
Chloride of Sudiin aioe is aH ats) | Bae 169°8
Chloride of Potassium . . none. none.
Total S Sighs de tant Se ; 342°7

* « Five tons”—Mr, Huxtable.

Analyses of Ashes of Plants. 159

Analysis of the ash of the top :—
Mineral matter removed
in an Acre of Crop.

Silica. F 2: 226 eg 3°4

n 100 parts.

Phosphoric Acid. Ae 5°19 , 7°8
Sulphuric Acid. a ae 4°60 tite 6°9
@Garbonic Acid. wit 6°45 ye 9°7
JLPOS hr ae cn 8:17 ae ite 12°3
Magnesia . amb Seb sa 7°03 ee 10°5
Peroxide of lina teh ig ar 0:96 har 1°4
anise a ky eee 27290 gens 41-9
Sodas. A 3:01 sete 4-5
Chloride of Seqium Bee gw S48:39 51°6
Chloride of Potasstum . , none, none

GOS9G So s8 fe 150:0

Specimen No. 108.—Lone Rep Mancoip-WuRZEL.
From the Rev. A. Huxtable.

[ Soil, dark mould; subsoil, yellow clay; geological formation, clay
under the lower chalk; drained; two years in tillage. After good
crop of wheat ; ihomared for he mangold with unfermented dang
(without aay worked up with ashes, and 1 cwt. of bones in 4 cwt.
sulphuric acid. Sown first week in May ; very fine crop. Collected
in November. |

Produce, in roots, 22 tons.
57 intops, 5 tons 10 cwt.*

Per centage of water and ash :—
; Ash caleulated

Water. Ash. on dry substance.
BOOS es, os - SOQ ng Se 1-00 ~ . 0 eee hOs00
Mops. « . 90°) seas 1 KO wee 19°10

Mineral matter of an acre :— geet:
ROOisee Gel se nee een AOS abst
MONS eee se ge ial 2oo

——ae

728
Analysis of the ash of the root :—
P t Mineral matter removed |
Teheo pen: in an Acre of Crop.
Biliea *: Be ee ES Al ais 20°2

Phosphoric @ear Li fogAk bat wine 15+3
Sulphume Acid... 2. . « , ddl al tis 16-3
Carbonic Acid; |... g = 21°61 es 1065

WSN hee a tn ee BOLE Sob ts ee 10:7
INEeMeSIAMON cE go Genk Se eG Sh 13 8
Peroxide of Iron . . .. . 0:56 amet 2:8
Palast on sc. ake! oe 3 2908 pes 143°3
Soda... » oe oo 0a ay orice 93°9
Chloride of Sabino ar aaeteh cee ALS oF e% 69°9
Chloride of Potassium . . . mone. ie none.

hota ee ee 94 492°7

* About six tons—Mr. Huxtable.

160 Analyses of Ashes of Plants.

Analysis of the ash of the top :—

In 100. parts Mineral matter removed
; in an Acre of Crop.

Silica «= « a eS ro les é ;

Phosphoric, Acid’ 9). iri. ic) ao bebe 10°3

Sullphurie Acid," fis). =e" 7 G26 Bi 14-7

Carbonic Acid’ “okie — <a ome 14°4

Lime ° ° e . e ° ° ° 9 : O06 e e 21 "

Magnesia) isos aioe ie, 4 PORRID cere Zl

3

4

Peroxide of Tron. go. 2... Oeas tiie Teed
Potastiv 2) a RE ee oes ant 64:8
Sodatin tude. ah eerie tee) nme Fares 1327
Chloride of Sodium <7 .0. i, 29285 the 70-1
Chloride of Potassium . . . ~ none, {us ‘none.
otal ys! Py Seis. « OIG 235.0

SPECIMEN No. 109.—GuLioBpe ManGoLp-WuRZEL.
From Mr. Guppy.*

[ Sod, red and gravelly ; swbsozl, gravel toa great depth. Previous crop
wheat, 27 bushels per acre; manured with 70 “‘ seams ”’ of half-rotten
farm-yard manure per acre, mixed with earth as compost. Drilled
first week in May ; crop rather thin, but fine healthy plants; turnips
sown to fill up. Collected early in November.]

Produce, in roots, rather more than 30 tons.}

(After the mangold was taken in there remained on the field half a crop
of turnips.) '

Per centage of water and ash :—

Water. Ash. Ash calculated
on dry substance.
Roots +. -. 86°0 « « 0:92 sae MGREO

Mineral matter of an acre :—
Roots «):6: #-« « wt AS0slbs:

Specimen No. 110.—GLtosprt Mancoitp-WURZEL.

From Mr. Thos. Brown.

[Soil, subsoil, and geological formation same as Specimen No.111. Pre-
vious crop 14 tons of swedes; manured for the mangold with coal-
ashes and night-soil. Drilled April 11, 1846; crop looked well.
Collected in November. ]

Weighed produce, in bulbs, 36 tons 14 cwt.

Per centage of water and ash :—

Mees Ash. a catstance.
Roots. . . 84:0 e 1°54 e in °

Mineral matter on an acre :—
Babs. 6 30 eee ae ce Gallas

* Grown by Mr, Thomas Dewdney, Silverton, Devon.
} The entire plant was not sent us. We have no information concerning the tops.

Analyses of Ashes of Plants. 161

SpectMEN No. 111.—Wuite BEtaian CARROT.
From Mr. Thomas Brown.

[ Soil, heavy red loam; subsoil, oolitic rubbly stones and white clay
mixed; geological formation, the “‘ Bradford clay ;” drained; under
spade-husbandry. Previous crop potatoes, 56 sacks (of 280 Ibs. the
sack) per acre; manured for the carrots with coal-ashes and night-
soil. Drilled with the hoe April 13, 1846; plants looked well, but
patchy; filled up with turnips. Collected in November. |

Weighed produce*22 tons in roots (besides the turnips).
Per centage of water and ash :—
Ash calculated

Water. Ash. on dry substance.

Roots ° . r) 85°0 r) ° 0:96 ° e 6°4

Mineral matter on an acre :—
Roots e ° e ° e e 473 lbs,

SPECIMEN No. 112.—Wuitr BEta1an Carrot.
From Mr. Arkell.

[ Soil, stonebrash ; subsoil, stone; geological formation, great oolite.
After wheat; only manure for carrots 4 Lushels of ashes per acre.
Drilled at 12 inches in April; crop thin. Collected in November. |

Estimated produce, in roots, 7 tons.
33 35 in tops, 1 ton 18 cwt.

Per centage of water and ash :—
Ash calculated

WEMehe Ash. on dry substance,
Roots ° e e 85:0 e © 0°77 e ® ied
Tops ° ° e 79:0 e 6 5:32 e e 21°30

Mineral matter on an acre :—
Rootsruc- Sic, Men ed Lee oD bs
Tops PM eee, Wea eohe Soy aLO
347

Analysis of the ash of the root :—
Mineral matter removed

In 190 parts. in an Acre of Crop.

Silica... Saas cS. OSG ei 0°9
Phosphoric Acid ARDS sa 3S 7 | tas 10:1
Sulphuric Acid’. 242°. %. .6034 Sieg Use
Carbonic Acid’ . . ... .. 15°15 ga 18°3
ame)... OS) See eee: hake 11-S
Magnesia. . Bree Melee rota os LO ae 4:6
eereide of Iron Se tare et? One Lida 0-9
atashatneee at, ca ee 6 ON SOD ara 45-4
soda... Ss bas LIMOS: sae fos
Chloride of Sodium Bee tre OE ssl He 3:9
Chloride of Potassium. . . none, ae none.

Co ee ie 99°99 120°9

NOL VEE. M

162 Analyses of Ashes of Plants.

Analysis of the ash of the top:—

Mineral matter removed

UU ess in an Acre of Crop.

Silva. B piese 7°39 16-7
Phosphoric Keak ee 2°59 5:8
Sil phuric Acid 27 tie. 6°68 15:1
@arbonic Acid ~; = ..,.. . 16-29 36°8
fame %.27,4 ‘te ee.2 oot 79-0
Magnesia : . PT tae 2°50 NGS 5:6
Peroxide of iron sade 4:06 Bias 9°2
Potash: 3 act. sane oe 7°28 eck 16°4
Soda . tie ee 9-46 tee 21°4
Chloride of Sodium oor. 8°77 obi s 19:8
Chloride of Potassium, , none, erie ® none,

Total h. Side i 6.8 -, 9 U20ON 225°8

Specimen No. 113.—Wuute Beretan Carrot.
From the Rev. A. Huxtable.”

[ Sol, dark mould; subsoil, yellow clay; geological formation, clay
under lower chalk ; drained ; two years in tillage. After good crop
of wheat ; manured for the carrots with 8 bushels soot, and bones and
sulphuric acid about 1 cwt., $ cwt. guano, and 20 bushels of ashes
per acre. Drilled (by hand) first week in May, 1846; splendid crop.
Collected middle of November. |

Produce, in roots, 27 tons.
55 in tops,- 6 tons 7 cwt.*

Per centage of water and ash:—

Water. Ash. * Ash calculated
on dry substance

Roots e t . 87-0 se . 0:82 . . 6°30
Tops 93. «76-0, . . - 4920 (2 eee
Mineral matter on an-.acre :—

Roots: + <2 «6 Ms “% *@ 240olbS
DOGS tees Alto) tine oe) een ee Oe

: 1094 °
Analysis of the ash of the root :—
In 100 pans,‘ Minetl yates removed

Silica (S475 Bee a 1:10 AY. 55)
Phosphoric cid. . soe pce hs 7°86 ne 39°0
Sulphune Acid 2 . 7. 1 6°G5 Pal 5 34°5
Carponre Acid’ ° sy . 7. a. 6%. Mone rae 88:1
Timers, ‘a oe --) .! eS SRG: epee 41-0
Magnesia. . ease ar 3+ 20 see 15°9
Peraxide of Tren se te eee ae 1°66 Peel 8°3
Potash. a, OS os a Re e800 ben wie 139°2
Soda? >. s+ So most OLgeee any ak 87:2
Chloride of Sediam Ce ce oe! OS ee ree
Chloride of Potassium . « . none. ¢ none.

Total . ° e ° ° Py 99 . 93 496 > vf

* About six tons—Mr, Huxtable,

Analyses of Ashes of Plants.

Analysis of the ash of the top :—

Sulted . «©. »
Phosphoric Acid
Sulphuric Acid
Carbonic Acid
Lime

WAGneSIa 4 (6 sé
Peroxide of Torivels os
Potash Sacre: <
Sedat: 5s
Chloride of Sodium
Chloride of Potassium

e ° e e e
e e e e e e

Mineral matter removed ;

In 100 parts. in an Acre of Crop.

1°83 ° °
1°12 ry 67
ote toad, eis Barf
22°75 Cyeaaseo
« 29°50 a Ya 176°3
ee Oe whe 18°1
° 0:90 ° e 5°4
ary a8} A 44°9
10:69 eh 64°4
° 17°14 e e 102°4
none, e ° none
99-96 597°7

Specimen No. 114.—Wuite Betaran Carrot.
From the Rev. A. Huxtable.

[ So, six inches of reddish mould, containing some clay ; sabsoil, chalk ;

does not require draining; 3 years in tillage.

163

Previous crop 20 tons

of swedes; manured for the carrots with 1 cwt. of bones and $ cwt.

sulphuric acid, 1 cwt. guano and 20 bushels of ashes.

Drilled end

of April, 1846; very good crop. Collected middle of November. |

Produce, in roots, 16 tons. ]
7 Ait tops,

Per centage of water and ash :—
Water.

Roots e e ry 85:0
hops; js «| « 82°0

Mineral matter on an acre :—

Roots .
Mopsiee a...

Analysis of the ash of the root :—

Silica’; .
Phosphoric Acid
Sulphuric Acid
Carbonic Acid.
Lime . A
Magnesia .- .: .
Peroxide of Iron.
Potash

Sodayr
Chloride of Sadaunn
Chloride of Potassium .

38 tons 15 cwt.*

INO Ash calculated

on dry substance.
: 0°92 ae 6:10
2°85 . 15°80

Ria a mieiut ee OO u LOSS.

ee ee oO

566

Mineral matter removed

In 100 parts. in an Acre of Crop.

SCD | 6+3
9017. *.). Hod 218088
Ds ae OE
191% 2) os ees SO
I1ieg9- yg Wl te AB882
5°89 19-4
1:37 4°5
21-40 70:6
14-21 47:0
5°52. 15-2
none. none.
99-97 329-7

164 Analyses of Ashes of Plants.

Analysis of the ash of the top :—

SCs 0 ae ie
Phosphoric Acid
Sulphuric Acid
Carbonic Acid -
Mime" 2 ec. ‘
Magnesia’ .:°'52° *¢
Peroxide of Iron.
POtashiin:ialce daseiyann
Soda ogee, eesce
Chloride of Sodium

Chloride of Potassium ,

In 100 parts.

4°48
1°34
5°86
14-92
33°44
3°23
2°26
6°55
12°76

Mireral matter removed
in an Acre of Crop.

10°6

SpecimMeEN No. 115.—Wuttrt BeLtaran Carrot.

From Mr. Morton.

[ Soil, deep sand; sedbsoil, rock (at some depth) ; geological formation,
old red sandstone; naturally dry ; 6 years in tillage. Previous crop
30 bushels of wheat ; no manure whatever for the carrots. Drilled
in rows 1 foot apart, second week in April, 1846 ; patchy crop (owing
to hares). Collected first and second weeks of December. |

- Estimated produce, in roots, 15 tons.
2 or 3 tons.*

os 9 In tops,

Per centage of water and ash :—

Water.
R oots . e e 88 . 0

Analysis of the ash of the root :—

Silica. fig a
Phosphoric Acic
Sulphuric Acid
Carbonic Acid
Lime . A :
Magnesia. .
Peroxide of Iron
Potash ae
Sodaten | gees a) oe
Chloride of Sodium

e e s e e e e@

Chloride of Potassium .

te

Ash,
1°06

In 100 parts.

1°16
8+09
3°37
17-69
6:08
3°d4
Le7,
4-97
8-18
6:82
none.

SOR)

above had lost their leaves before we received them,

Ash calculated
on dry substance,

8°8

Mineral matter removed
in an Acre of Crop.

o

4°]
28:
II)
63°

—
w
Cobo stow WD Oo

* We were late in our application to Mr. Morton for specimens of roots, and the

Analyses of Ashes of Plants. 165

Specimen No. 116.—White Betctan Carror,
From Mr. Morton.

[ Soil, clay loam; szbsoil, clay; geological formation, the upper silu-
rian; drained;.6 years in tillage. Previous crop 40 bushels of
wheat ; no manure for the carrots. Drilled first week in April, 1846,
in alternate rows with beans; the beans were harvested in August,
and their place was then cultivated, much to the advantage of the
carrots ; fair crop, but much eaten by hares. Collected last week of
November. |

Kstimated produce, in roots, 10 tons.

(lt must be remembered that this is really only half a crop; so that

were it fair to calculate at the same rate, the produce on the acre
would be 20 tons.)

Per centage of water and ash :—

3 Ash calculated
Water. Ash. on dry substance.

Roots e e e 86:0 ® ® 0:95 » ° 6°8
Analysis of the ash of the root :—-

Mineral matter removed
a in an Acre of Crop.
Dulicoie eer tek 2 he fe SOO eee, 294
Bhosphoric’Acid 2-2. 4h 9°27

In 100 parts.

Rete 19°7

SulphumcyAcids «. os «4 4959 ‘ 9°8
Carbonic Acid Lin dnD e, eet LOeS6 oot te 35°9
Pinner ge MA a) ol 2 Bs U7 ates 17-4
WEMeMEStA on) Bhi fe «| O48 aie 7:4
Pecoxideof Iron) fart 2. 0209 eR 1:3
Potash Ee i Bie ae to OO jr 70°7
Soda Bree ee ee oe TO COG errs 32°1
Chloride of Sodium x Rae eee ener (GY pees a 16°2
Chloride of Potassium ., . .- none. aren none.
99-93 212°6

SPECIMEN No. 117.—JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE.
From Mr. Wickham.

[Grown on a light calcareous soil ; the manure, the amount of crop, &c.,

is not known.* The crop was luxuriant, the stems attaining a height
‘ of 10 or 12 feet.]

Per centage of water and ash :-—

Ash calculated

Water, Ash. on dry substance,
Tubers e e ° 84 G 0 e ° 1: 79 ry ° 1] 20
Stems: 3. =, ; 56°:0 Sone 1-94 Sos 4:40

eaves > 4. 914740 ee a 15:00 eo 3 28°30

* From a combination of circumstances, application was not made to Mr. Wickham
for these particulars until it was too late to obtain them,

166 Analyses of Ashes of Plants.

Analysis of the ash :—

Bulb. Stem. Leaves.

Silica ie Teta as 1°52 culate’ 1-51 aa A 17°25
Phosphoric Acid - 16°99 Cra vce 2:97 oh atte 0°61
Sulphuric Acid . . SOUL Pegs 3°23 Ar 2°21
Carbonic Acid . e 11°80 eee 25°40 Pale 24°31
Mee ei ie coe Pes 20°31 Lene 40°15
Mapnesta (it) shui? 771430 ° 1°91 a goke 1°95
Peroxide of Iron «> | 0:45 ah ete 0:88 ce 1°14
Potashingas We dieruio OOo, Sus 38°40 avnuive 6°81
Sodawielus ai hip ae we TlOne dials 0°69 ot re 3°72
Chloride of Sodium . none. ids 4°68 cts 1°82
Chloride of Potassium 4°88 aio none. oF A none,
99-94 99°98 99:97

Specimen No. 118.—Wuite Peas.
From the Rev. A. Huxtable.

[ Soil, chalk on the upper chalk; grown without manure (the peas
were an early boiling variety: the amount of crop is not known).]
The proportion of grain to straw, including pods, im this crop was found,

in two estimations on large quantities :—
First estimation - 1000 grain to 1240°9 straw
Second Estimation); 1000.) ,.° [13570
Mean . / 1000. ,,. nS ene
Per centage of water and ash :—
Water Neh Ash calculated
Ep : on dry substance.
Peas’ =. a) «8 viet ee 1-974 .
Straw* . «6 «© 15°64 ine 7°52 ons 8:92

Analysis of the ash :—

Peas. Pea Straw.

Silica ist live ee Lee) ee fo OG PT ee 2°53
Phosphoric Acid” Sa .2--..) . 24°20 BMD rc: 1°31
Sulphuric Acid Ie cee EAL O A oey Fe 1:85
Carbonic Acidtiis 3s eels [nhs 30°33
Die Ma ae ee ke me tect es ule Oly Wane 46°92
Miaonesiay sie Peis vis oe Ovo aes 8°36
Peromide of ilrom th ot Ba eet O25 Ale 3 1°14
Potash Sh Ramee apt ene iam a4 ALOU) Ril See 3°87
Soda Bor ae Sah ke en Le MONG Patt 1°86
Chloride of Sodium Sat gas MOR Ay Meanie 1°76
Chloride of Potassium . . ~~ none, te Sine none.

99°97 99°95

SPpeciMEN No. 119.—Wutite Peas.
From the Rev. A. Huxtable.

[ Sozl, clay loam; subsoil, blue clay ; well drained; sown without ma-
nure. |

* With the pods,

Analyses of Ashes of Plants.

Relation of grain to straw as 1000 grain to 1333 straw.

Per centage of water and ash :—

Water.

16°00
15°38

Peas e e °
SHAW » 2 ©

Analysis of the ash :—

Silica hls
Phosphoric Acid
Sulphuric Acid
Carbonic Acid
Me 6s
Magnesia ,
Peroxide of Iron
Potash sare
MOtiae 6 Fw
Chloride of Sodium ,
Chloride of Potassium

° e ° e e e e e e
es e ® 2 eo e@ @ e @

o ° ® o @ e e @ ° e «

OG ce, ote: )-8- 6: eRe. (ee

Pe
0:84
28°85
5°85
2°12
4°55
6:96
trace.
41°50
9°02
4+30
none.

59299

> e ee e @ © @ @

® «©. « 38 \S,. @=> ee <0 «@ se 86

Ash calculated
on dry substance,
2°68
9-40

Pea Straw.
1°94
Ibeg733
2°26

29°03
36°46
3'73
0°73
12°68
0:24
9°66
none.

99°96

167

SpeciMEN No. 120.—Beans (variety unknown—Common
Firtp Bran).

From the Rev. A. Huxtable.

[ Soil, clay loam, on blue clay; well drained; sown without manure. ]
Proportion of beans to bean-straw (including the pods) as 1000 beans

to 1012 straw.
Per centage of water and ash :—

Water.
CARS: et six ee LO°C0
Bean Straw* . 10°71

Analysis of the ash :—

Silica . ° e e
Phosphoric Acid. « «
Sulphuric: Acid . . ..
@arbonie Acid 9%. ss
Lime e . ° e .
Magnesia. -« «© e
Peroxide of Iron. . .
HOtdsne ka te tee Ge. Je
Sodauds mrs eerie “ore

Chloride of Sodium . .
Chloride of Potassium

o ig einer 4¢

Ash calculated
‘on dry substance.

2°65

e 3°56

Bean Straw
(including podsry).
2°61
0:49
1-40
25°32
19°85
2°53
0°61
32°85
2:70
11-54
none.

99-94

* Including the pods.

+ The roots were cut off close, and not included in any of the estimations.

168 Analyses of Ashes of Plants.

We will now endeavour to deduce some general principles
from the analyses which have been detailed.

It should be clearly understood, however, that any views that
may be advanced, cannot take from the reliance to be placed
upon the analyses themselves. We may be right or wrong in the
conclusions to which we are led by a review of the data before
us; but be this as it may, the results obtained must be looked
upon as matter of fact, and they are given in the fullest detail, so
as to afford to every member of the Society the materials for form-
ing his own judgment on the question. And first, let us examine
the evidence concerning turnips.

In the last paper on wheat, we endeavoured to show that a
consideration of the quantity of mineral matter removed by any
crop, must necessarily include the relation in quantity existing
between the different parts of the plant under examination. Were
the ash of every portion of a plant the same in quantity and com-
position, a knowledge of the gross produce in any given case
would suffice to indicate the amount of exhaustion produced. This
is any thing but the actual state of things. The parts of plants
differ in mineral composition fully as much as one entire plant
does from another. ‘To establish the relation between the grain
and straw of a cereal was not a difficult matter, and reasons were
given for believing that we had arrived at more accurate results
than could be obtained on the large scale.

In separating the grain from the straw of 50 or 60 heads of
wheat, there is every reason to believe that a correct average of
the whole crop may be obtained; the number of individual
plants being sufficient to destroy the effect of any one or two
which might differ from the rest. But in the separation of the
bulb of the turnip from the top, it is extremely difficult to say
where the one begins and the other ends, and a very little devia-
tion in this respect will undoubtedly influence the result of the
estimation. It 1s probable that, to ensure the nearest approach
to correctness, a very great number of turnips must be operated
upon; but as such an estimation was not within our reach, we
have adopted the best method under the circumstances, and trust
that the numbers obtained may not be far from the truth.

The specimens of turnips were, as before mentioned, obtained
from different localities, and many of them from great distances.
They were always perfect specimens,* that is, the leaves were

* The accompanying printed directions which were forwarded to all
parties who supplied us with crops, will at once show the precautions
which were adopted to secure perfect specimens.

Should any member of the Society be desirous of aiding the present in-
vestigation, by contribution of specimens for analysis, a copy of the paper
of questions which is employed by us to obtain information concerning

Analyses of Ashes of Plants. 169

entire and healthy ; they reached us with very little alteration, and
were immediately preserved for analysis; the tops were separated

any crop, will prove of assistance in pointing to the memoranda, which
it is necessary to preserve. We have therefore subjoined it. A similar
paper, with slight modifications, is made use of for other crops,

Directions for collecting Root Crops for Analysis.

The quantity of each Specimen should never be less than sz or more than
ten |bs., bulb and leaf taken together.

Do not collect the Specimens till quite ready to forward them, in order
that they may arrive perfectly fresh.

Select healthy-looking plants.

If the crop is uniform all over the field, take medium-sized samples, with
all their leaves.

If the bulbs are very irregular in size, take some small anl cthers large,
so as to give an average.

Brush off the loose dirt from the bulbs, but do not wash them nor remove
the roots.

Draw the leaves together, and tie a piece of thick paper round them.

Tie upon each Specimen a piece of paper with a number and the name of
the plant.

Put the corresponding number and the name on the accompanying paper
of questions.

Pack the Specimens in a hamper or bag, and direct them to

Questions relating to Specimens supplied :—
Turnip, Swede, and Mangold-Wurzel Crops.
. The name and variety of the crop.
. The name of the party furnishing it, the farm, parish, and county.
The system of cultivation adopted on the“farm.
The general character and value of the Jand on which sown.
. The geological formation.
. The nature of the soil.
. The nature of the subsoil.
. Whether drained or undrained.
. What length of time in tillage or arable.

hn oe

Oot a wh

—
j=)

. The previous crop and its yield.
. If any farmyard manure, and how much.
. In what state applied—as compost or from the yard

=|
hn eRe

—
ise)

. In what state of decomposition was the manure.

. Ifany artificial manure :—
Bones how much.
Bones and sulphuric acid how much.
Guano how much,

15. Any ashes, and how much.

16. Number of times ploughed, harrowed, &c.

17. The time of planting.

18. Whether drilled or sown broadcast. 19, The

—
TS

170 Analyses of Ashes of Plants.

from the bulbs at the extreme point of the latter, in such a way
however that the base of the leaves was always sufficiently com-
pact to hold them together when severed from the bulbs. At
this particular point, the vegetable matter partakes of the cha-
racter and consistency of both the bulb and the leaf; it may be
thought by some that the separation should have taken place
higher, by others lower in the plant; and there is no doubt that
estimations by two different persons would not perfectly agree,
with whatever care they might be effected. We claim for our
results, however, the merit of uniformity. They are compara-
tively, if not absolutely correct. The quantity of turnip and
turnip-top weighed, varied from 30,000 to 100,000 grs., and
generally included three or four bulbs. In order that the extent
of variation may be seen, a table is here given of all the turnips
examined together, with the quantity of ash found in their bulbs
and tops. The swedes and hybrids are included with the turnips
(properly so called), because, as will be seen, there is little or no
distinction between them, as far as mineral constitution 1s con-
cerned. (See Table I., following page.)

It will be seen from this table, that the proportion of bulb to
top is very variable; in one specimen (No. 86) being as 62 to 38
in 100 parts of the entire plant; in another instance (Spec. 98), as
96 to 4. These numbers represent, however, the extremes, so far
as the specimens we have examined are concerned. Out of 30
specimens enumerated, 24 or 4-5ths range within the limits of
84 and 94 of bulb to 16 and 6 of top in the 100 parts. The
mean of all the specimens is 86°8 of bulb to 13:2 of top; but if
those which exhibit the greatest deviation are omitted (Specimens
84, 86, and 94), we shall obtain for the remaining 27 specimens
a mean of 89 to I1.

These numbers would indicate a very much smaller. propor-
tion of top than is usually believed to obtain. As was before
said, we do not wish more reliance to be placed upon the estima-
tions than is their due; but there are good reasons for believing
that they are not far wrong. ‘Thus, 4 specimens of Skirving’s
swedes (78, 79, 80, 81), grown at the same time on the same

19. The appearance of the crop.
20. The time at which it was collected.

21. The yield per acre fe roots.
perches being weighed lin tops.

It is very desirable that precise information should be obtained with
regard to the crops intended for analysis. With this object, it is wished
that the questions above be answered as fully as possible. If, however,
any difficulty should arise, or any question appear objectionable, the an-
swer may be altogether omitted. :

|
| No.

| of Variety.
Speci

men

|

a ——

Laing’s Self-preserver
Skirving’s Swede.

Skirving’s Swede.

Skirving’s Swede. .
Skirving’s Swede. .
Skirving’s Swede. .
Skirving’s Swede. ,
Skirving’s Swede. .
Dale’s Hybrid . ,
Dale’s Hybrid . .
Green-top White. .
White Globe turnip .
WhiteSwede. .

Green-top Swede. .
Purple-top Swede

Green Round turnip.
Purple-top Scotch .
Green-top Scotch. .
Decanter Turnip. ,.
Green-top Scotch.

Scotch — Purple-top

Purple-top . .
mwede fy gin ie ie
White Stone turnip .
Scotch Purple-top .
Scotch Purple-top
Yellow Bullocks
Green-fop, .« . «
Kye-brights . . .
White Stone’. © ...;

Analyses of Ashes of Plants.

Relation of
Bulb t
in 1

Bullocks rp e e i

Bulb.| Top.
84.443
907); 10
93
94
94
92; 8
So) 1
86 | 14
67 | 33
82 | 18.
62 | 38
84 | 16
86 | 14
92 8
SY i a2
90 | 10
90 | 10
Sou 1d
75 | 25
86 | 14
Soni 1S
94 6
96 4
82 | 18
Soe el
84 | 16
86 | 14
87 | 13
89 pk
93 7

Turnips.

Bulb

o Top
00 as 100.

Top.

15°7
Lisl
7°5
6:4
6°4
8°7
12-4
16:3
49°3
22:0
61°3
19:0
16°3
C7

Water.

87°7
87:9
87:0
88:0
87:0
86-0
87°5
89-0
88-0
92-0
92-0
87:0

87:0
90-0
90:0
90°5
92°4
92+2
92°7
20-0

92°0

90°0
90°0
92:0

92:0
69-0
89°0
91°0
SiG
91-0

Bulbs.

Ash.

=49
°88
°60
"81
°52

Ash
ae Water.
substance.
6°40 | 86:0
7-30 85°8
4:60 | 86:0
6:72 | 84:0
4°00 | 84:0
5°12 | 82-0
6-00 | 88-0
6-90 &5°0
8-41 | 89-0
9:06 | 86°0
7°40 88:0
8-70 | 87-0
7:20 | 84°0
5:30 | 82:0
5-60 | 79°0
7°20 | 86°0
8-00 | 85:2
8°98 | 88-0
6:60 | 84:6
8-46 | 84-0
8-12 | 87-0
8°20 §2°0
4:20 85 0
10-03 | 90-0
10°90 | 87-0
10:00 | $0-0
7°10 86:0
7°70 88°0
7°80 |*81°0
7°10 87:0

al

Tors.

Ash.

1°&8
1°61
2°35
2°64
1-76
1°44
1°97
P93
T19
2°25
1-82
2°34
1°49
1°51
2°25
1°54
2:12
1°50
2:00
1-92

Liss)
1°95
1°59
1°42
2:08
1:27
1°58
le44
2°58
1:94

TABLE 1.—Relation of Bulb to Top, and per centage of Water and Ash in

Ash
calculated
on dry
sibstauce.

13°40
11-30
16°80
16°50
11°00

8°00
16°40
13°00
10-80
16°10
15°20
18-00

9°30

8°40
10°50
11-00
14°30
12-50
13°00
12-00

14°&0

10°80
10°60
14-20
16°00
12°70
11°30
12:00
15°60
14°90

172 Analyses of Ashes of Plants.

field, give very nearly a like proportion of bulb to leaf. The
same thing occurs in Specimens 92 and 93, grown in the same
field ; and again, in Specimens 97 and 98, where the leaf in both
is extremely small, but very similar in quantity. Another in-
stance may be mentioned : Specimens 84 and 86 are Dale’s hybrid
and green-top white, autumn planted; they were drilled in August
on pea stubble, and are remarkable for the large weight of their
tops.

The similarity of proportion in these cases would lead to the
inference that whatever errors may attend results obtained on so
small a number of plants, the general relation of bulb to leaf is
for many purposes sufficiently indicated by them. With the
causes which conduce to the observed deviation we have little to
do; these are no doubt various, the age of the plant, the period
of planting, the particular culture and manures employed, and
the peculiar habits of growth of different varieties (some of which
exhibit a greater tendency to drop their leaves than others), each
and all of these circumstances might operate in the production of
a greater or less quantity of leaf; the influence of such causes,
and the extent to which they may be made subservient to the will
of the cultivator, can only be satisfactorily ascertained by com-
parative trials on the large scale. It may not, however, be out
of place here to urge, upon scientific considerations, the import-
ance in the root culture of securing a great breadth of leaf.

In the cultivation of the cereals it is rather a desideratum (and
will become more so every day) to limit the production of straw,
a part of the plant of comparatively little value, but at the same
time very exhausting to the soil. In the turnip too, it would
appear that the leaf is not so valuable as the root, both from the
difficulty of preserving it from decay, and its tendency to produce
purging in sheep and cattle.

But there is this difference between the two cases. The straw
of the cereals requires a great quantity of vegetable matter for. its
formation, of which the greater part, 1f not all, comes from the soil.
But the turnip, as we before said, is not dependent upon the
soil for its organic food; and the increase of the leaves, instead
of robbing the tubers, is a source of greater supplies towards
their formation. ‘The larger the leaves the greater, ’tis true,
must be the amount of mineral matter required for these organs ;
but it will be seen presently, that even when the leaves are very
large indeed, their demand for the rarer mineral constituents of
the soil is not excessive ; and were this even so, it would be better
to insure a full supply of leaf at a small additional expense in
artificial manure, than to forego the benefits to be derived from
it in the increase of food for stock, and of organic matter in the
soil for the succeeding crop.

Analyses of Ashes of Plants. 175

Every means then it is thought should be made use of to pro-
duce an early and full development of the leaf of the root crops ;
and perhaps no more suitable period in the rotation could be
selected by the farmer for the expenditure of the sum which he
proposes to invest in artificial manures. This subject will, how-
ever, come before us more properly when we have considered the
mineral composition of the turnip.

The next point of attention is the proportion of water in the
bulbs and leaves of the turnip. It will be seen, by reference to
the table, that the quantity of water in the bulbs varies between
86:0 (Spec, 81) and 92:7 (Spec. 94) per cent. These are the
extremes; the mean of 30 specimens in the table will be found
to be 90:0 per cent. This is rather above than below the number
usually assigned to the water of the turnip bulb: but it is on
that account the more trustworthy, for it is easier to err in drying
these bodies too little than too much.* The water in the leaf
has a greater range than in the bulb. ‘The extremes are seen
in Spec. 90 and 99, the first of which contains only 70, the second
90 per cent. The mean of all the specimens is 85°5. The large
leaves appear to contain more water than the smaller ones. It may
be thought that the latitude in the proportion of water in the leaves
could be accounted for on the supposition that they had become
partially and unequally dry before the estimation was commenced.
This cannot have been the case, for—although it must not be denied
that in the transit of the specimen from a great distance, some small
amount of moisture may have passed off, especially from the leaves
—it will be seen that the discrepancies occur equally amongst those
which were similarly circumstanced in this respect, and that those
specimens which were operated on directly they were removed
from the soil (those from Mr. Arkell), exhibit an equal extent of
difference in the per centage of water.

The varying quantity of water in turnips is only seen to be a
matter of serious import when (as Professor Jolinstone has properly
observed) it is remembered that upon it very mainly depends the
value of the particular specimen in the feeding of stock. It is
true that the nutritive properties of any vegetable matter cannot
be exactly estimated by the amount of dry weight which they
represent; one vegetable containing a good deal of indigestible
woody matter, another much easily soluble and digestible sugar
and mucilage; whilst, at the same time, the flesh-ferming nitro-
genous principles may be in gréater or less abundance. But, in
ignorance of any differences in this respect in the samples before
us, we must estimate the value of each crop by the quantity of

* For the method of estimating water, see p. 207. We may mention here
that they were dried by a prolonged heat of 212° Pahr.

174 Analyses of Ashes of Plants.

solid matter it contains; 10 per cent. (or 2 cwt. in every ton)
the average amount of solid matter in the turnip bulb, but in
the table an instance is seen where the solid matter is as low as
7:3, another in which it reaches 14-0—in other words, 10 tons of
Specimen 8] contain very nearly as much solid nutritive matter as
20 tons of Spec. 94.

It is not easy to over-estimate the importance of this circum-
stance. If the table is examined it will be seen that the specimen
alluded to (No. 81) as exhibiting the largest amount of solid matter
in a given weight of bulb, has also (with two exceptions only) the
least water in the top—in other words, as a whole this particular
crop is weight for weight much more valuable than any other
in the table. Butif its history be asked for, it will be found
that it was grown without manure, and was consequently not
expected to be a good crop. For the sake of illustration let us
compare this specimen with No. 79, grown on the same field, but
in which, from the use of superphosphate of lime and guano, there
is an increase of 3 tons 5 cwt. on the acre :—

TABLE 2.
Water per Cent. Produce. Dry Weight in lbs.
Spec. bl pie Seno eM Ty ai ee en ee
Bulb: 4) Lop: Bulb. |. Top. Bulb. | Top. Total.
tons. cwt. ewt. | lbs. Ibs. lbs.
79 88:0 84-0 12.0 }o3 3230 263 3493
81 86° 0 82-0 Sy 0 15 2743 303 3046

It will be seen by this table that there is an increase in the dry
weight by the use of artificial manure, but by no means to the
same extent as in the wet produce :—

The apparent increase (that on the wet weight) is 35 per cent.
The real increase (that on the dry weight) is 14 per cent.

It were easy to draw comparisons between many of the crops
in the table, which would show that the gross weight of the crop
may but ill represent its value as compared with any other crop
of greater or less produce. It is obvious then, however destruc-
tive it may be of the confidence to be placed in the experiments
on record or the growth of turnips, that one vital circumstance
has been usually omitted—the dry weight of the crop. A par-
ticular manure may raise 3 or 4 tons more turnips on an acre, but
the greater crop may be even les§ valuable than the smaller pro-
duce, the excess of weight being more than counterbalanced by
the greater proportion of water.

The same remarks will apply to the relative value of different
crops in feeding sheep or cattle.

But this truth, unpalatable as it must be, should not discourage

Analyses of Ashes of Plants. 175

such experimental trials, but rather force upon our attention the
absolute necessity of conducting them in a scientific spirit. No-
thing can be done effectually in the way of establishing agricultural
_ Statistics of this description unless attention be paid to every
circumstance of the means employed and the result obtained.

We would not be thought to draw any other conclusion from
these data than such as would convey a sense of the great caution
‘necessary in all such experiments. ‘That artificial manures may
have a tendency in some cases to produce watery, ill-conditioned
(“ dropsical,’”’ as was said of the potato) plants is quite possible,
and it is no less proved, both from our experiments and from the
observations of practical men, that two crops may be widely dis-
similar in their solid contents.

Tt is by no means an unusual thing for a farmer to remark,
that a piece of turnips has carried so many head of sheep longer than
from its appearance he would have expected. May not this be
due to the circumstance which we have endeavoured to explain?
Be it remembered that a given weight of turnips which would
afford food to a flock of sheep for a fortnight, supposing that they
contained 90 per cent. of water, would carry the same sheep 3
weeks if the quantity of water were only 85 percent. That far
greater differences than this really exist, the table before given fully
proves, and, as we before said, this subject demands the most
patient and rigorous examination. In all experiments on the
growth of roots, it would be easy to make the corrections we have
spoken of by selecting one or two healthy turnips from each lot,
separating the tops, and after carefully removing the dirt by a
brush and a little water, and slicing the bulbs, setting the whole
to dry ina gentle oven or other moderate heat ; they should be
weighed at intervals of a week till they cease to lose weight. The
original weight and that of the turnips when dry being known,
we obtain the solid matter of the acre by an easy calculation.

This plan will afford the most certain data short of a chemical
analysis of the constituents of each crop, by which alone we can
ascertain whether the solid matter be always alike in character.

And now we come to consider the mineral matter in the turnip.
One column of the table (page 173) affords us the information
that 100 parts of turnip bulb, in its ordinary condition, may con-
tain from ‘48 to 1-13 paris of mineral matter. These are extreme
cases. The mean per centage of the bulb-ash in all the speci-
mens is ‘73. There is here certainly a very considerable latitude
in the quantity of mineral matter in different specimens of the
same root, a latitude which is not accounted for by the variations
im the proportions of water in the plants. This will at once be
seen by inspection of the column in the table which gives the ash
on the dry vegetable. The ash given by turnip-tops is in almost

176 Analyses of Ashes of Plants.

all cases twice, in many three times as much as that of the bulbs ; it
varies between the limits of 1-19 (Spec. 84) and 2:64 (Spec. 79) per
cent. ‘The mean of all the specimens will be found to be 1-84 in
100 parts of wet leaf ; the column which represents the ashon the
dry tops contains numbers quite as different as those which are
found for the tops in a wet state—that is, the, ash is by no means
the same in quantity in equal weights of the dry tops.

The following table gives at a view the mean proportion in
water and ash m turnips and turnip-tops :—

TABLE 3.— Water, Ash, &c., in Turnips.

|
|
{

| Water. Ash. | Ash, Dry.

| | | °
Highest.| Lowest. Mean. |Highest.) Lowest.) Mean. Highest. Lowest.| Mean.

-73 10-90 | 4-00 | 7-30
ALD aes fats

86°0. -90:-07| I-13 | 348
1990" Sar |) 20k | Lore

Bulb . | 92.7
Lope OOF

The mean numbers are those of the 30 specimens in the former
table; they need not necessarily be the mean of the high and low ;
but a little examination will show that they very nearly approach
these quantities—in other words, the per centage of water and
ash varies with tolerable uniformity both above and below the
averages above given.

We have been unable to trace any connection between the
amount of ash and the variety of the plant. The turnips, the
swedes, and the intermediate variety, the hybrids, are in no way
distinguished from each other by the quantity of mineral matter in
them. The soil and manure have, no doubt, more to do with this:
and yet in Spec. 82 and 83, one of them grown on chalk, the other
on clay with such very different manures, we observe a very great
similarity in the quantity of ash both in the bulb and the top, and
in other cases a difference is seen in the mineral contents of two
turnips of different varieties growing in the same field and same
manure. But the evidence, on the whole, is in favour of the con-
clusion that the mineral matter is regulated more by the soil and
manure than by the variety, although the distinctive character of
the root is never set aside. We were prepared to find much
greater diversity in the ash of the root crops than in that of the
cereals (at all events of the grain) ; it may be presumed that in the
perfect maturation of a seed, everything which is not required by
the organization is ejected into the straw ; the straw, therefore,
would be less uniform than the grain, which Jatter would not be
expected at any time to exhibit very striking mineral peculiarities.
In the turnip, as in every succulent vegetable, it must be believed
that there are two portions of mineral matter, one of which has

Analyses of Ashes of Plants. 177

already been built up with the vegetable organization, and is there-
fore essential to the plant, the other portion present in the vege-
table matter merely as it were accidentally—that is, the water
entering a plant by its roots, necessarily carries into the circulation
more or less of the soluble ingredients of the soil and manure, and
at the time a plant is removed from the soil, its mineral food is
about to be or has been selected from the mixed supplies so intro-
duced. We have not at present, and it is very questionable
whether we ever shall, the means of discriminating between the
necessary and “ accidental” ash of a plant,* and we can only there-
fore judge by comparison of one specimen with another how far
the ash which may in any case be examined is to be looked upon
as a mixture of the two.

Now the quantity of this accidental ash ought to be larger in
those plants which contain much water; and accordingly we
should, as before said, anticipate greater differences in respect to
turnips than wheat. Indeed it may be taken as a most decisive
proof, if such were wanted, of the intimate connection between
the organic and inorganic parts of plants, that notwithstanding
the large proportion of water, the difference of ash should be
comparatively so slight.

A ton of turnip bulbs contains no less than 18 cwt., or 2016
Ibs., of water. Now spring water, which has simply percolated
the ordinary porous strata of the earth, contains usually about
3 grains of salts of lime, potash, &c., in every pound, and very
frequently the proportion is found greatly to exceed this. 2016
Ibs. of water, at 3 grains in the pound, would contain 6048
grains, or nearly ] lb. of mineral matter: so that in a ton of tur-
nips, which gives usually from 16 to 20 lbs. of ash (see p. 182),
the water would retain in solution 1 |b. of the difference. But it
is not to be supposed that the water passing in by the roots of a
plant growing on a fertile and highly-manured soil is charged
with salts to the same extent only as that which has passed
through the hard and oft-washed beds of our sandstone and lime-
stone strata; and it is easy to conceive that a great quantity of
mineral matter may at any time be accidentally present in plants
containing so much water as the turnip.

* It might be possible to effect a separation of any soluble substances
merely passing through the plant, by causing it to vegetate for a few hours
in pure water after it is removed from the soil; there would, however, be
danger in this plan from the abrasion of the roots. No washing of the
plant for such a purpose would be admissible—for so soon as the organism
of a vegetable is interfered with (by cutting it up or otherwise), there is
no knowing what modifications of the essential mineral matter might
occur.

VOL. VIII. N

178 Analyses of Ashes of Plants.

There are other circumstances which must influence this re-
sult. The point of perfect maturity in a root crop cannot be
defined so distinctly as that of a grain crop; and it may well be
believed that as soon as a plant has reached this point, changes
will occur to modify extremely the nature of the mimeral matter.
Some of these may be thrown hack into the soil, and a difference
of a week in the age of the plant may alter materially the results
of the analysis. This question can only be fully enlightened by
the examination of specimens periodically; every week or fort-
night, that is, of their growth. We have long felt the necessity
of this plan, which has been ably advocated by Professor John-
stone in the last edition of his valuable treatise; but we think it
of more importance at present to limit our inquiry to the general
rather than particular subjects which are connected with the in-
organic constitution of vegetables. The composition of the ash
of different specimens of turnips will be best seen if we give ina
table the analyses before detailed :—

TABLE 4.—Composition (in 100 parts) of the Ash of Turnip Bulbs.

No. of Spec. 82 83 84 85 | 77 86 Mean
— a of the six '
Variety Skirving’s | Skirving’s| Dale’s Dale’s | Skirving’s | Green-top Specimens,
: Swede. Swede. Hybrid. | Hybrid, Swede. White.
Per Centage} | ; , ; f . :

RK hs ee 76| 1:09 | - +495 | Tm germ haa
Dillcay 6 ues 2°69 1°73 2°75 1°12 1°63 °96 1°81
Phosph. Ac. 9°31 10°17 8°77 | 10971 12°51 7°65 9*85
Sulph, Ac., 16°13 15°53 11-71 |) 11222 11°26 | 12°86 13°12
Carb, Ac. . | 10°74 11-96 12°66 | 12-05 9°54 | 14-82 11-96
Lime”... 11-82 14°33 6°46 8°87 11°36 6°73 9-93
Magnesia . 3°28 3°27 2°51 1:93 2:44 | 2°26 2°6]
Perox. Iron °47 61 “14 °63 °28 66 °46
Potash. . 23°70 26°88 36°93 | 32°39 36°16 | 48-56 34:10
S0Gd iss 14°75 |~ 13°31 8-01 6°71 4-99 e° 7°96
Chlo. Sodium 7°05 2°19 10-00 | 14-30 9°77 5°44 8°13
Chlo, Potass. Ar 4p AP 2. : oe

Total. 99°93 99°98 99°94 | 99°93 | 99-94 | 99°94 99-93

Analyses of Ashes of Plants. 179

TaBLE 5.—Composition (in 100 parts) of the Ash of Turnip Tops.

|
No. of Spec. 82 83 84 85 | 77 86 Mean

Ss of the six
Variet Skirving’s | Skirving’s| _Dale’s Dale’s | Skirving’s | Green-top |Specimens.
y Swede. Swede. | Hybrid. | Hybrid. Swede. White.
pa tt Wey) ae95 1 asto)) eras | 3 ee

of Ash.

eetimnere Sees | Gemmee eee [me

Silica e's 8:04 |]. 1:14 1°26 7°35 4-1] 2°05 3°99
Phosph. Ac. 4°85 6°21 4:58 | 11°70 6°54 3°15 6:17
Sulph, Ac..-| 10°36 | 12°20 6°71 6°99 6°50 7°83 8°43
Carb. Ac. . 6°18 | 12°97 | 13°82 6°10 6.16 | 14°64 9°98
Lime . . 28:49 | 30°38 | 35°10 | 24-27 | 23-99] 28°73 | 28-49
Magnesia . 2°62 3°18 1:75 O00 ye toeoe 2°85 2°81

Perox, Iron 3:02 66 61 3°09 1-90 +80 1°68
Potash es. 11°56 20°79 13°53 12°35 20°36 12°68 15:21
Dogars ew. 12°43 ste 4°60 a at 4 2°84
Chlo. Sodium} 12°41 10°31 18°02 22°70 17°69 10°67 15°30
Chlo. Potass. =i 2°09 BO 1°84 9°77 16°56 5:04

oe ee

Total . 99°96 | 99°93 99°98 | 99°96 | 99°94} 99°96 99°94

From the first of these tables we may learn that there is a
certain and somewhat close resemblance between the composition
of the ash of one turnip-bulb and another. The quantity of
phosphoric acid is seen to be tolerably constant, and the alkalies,
together, make up very nearly the same amount. In our last
report we remarked that there did not appear in the wheat crop
which we had examined, any corroboration of the doctrine which
supposes substitution of one alkali for another. The present
analyses would favour the opposite conclusion, for the deficiency
of potash in some specimens is to a certain extent made up by a
greater quantity of soda.” |

The second table exhibits far wider differences in the compo-
sition of the ash, the phosphoric acid of one (Specimen 85) being
double that of some others, &c. &c. We were prepared for this.
In the growth of plants of this description, the construction of the
materials is supposed to go on in the leaves, from which the vege-

* To those who are unacquainted with the laws of chemical combina-
tions, it may be necessary to remark, that soda and potash would not
replace each other in equal quantities. The saturating power of each base
is represented by a particular number, thus:—31 parts of soda (omitting
fractions) will go as far as 47 of potash in any application as an alkali—in
destroying the properties of anacid for instance. The same holds good in
regard to plant-ashes. It is not therefore absolutely correct to compare the
united weight of these bodies in one case with the same weight in another
specimen.

AG)
N «4

180 Analyses of Ashes of Plants.

table matter, when fully worked up, descends into the tuber, and
is there deposited. The leaves would contain, therefore, not only
their own proper mineral constituents, but the greater part of the
excess of such bodies which had entered the plant.

The ash of the top differs from that of the bulb chiefly in con-
taining less phosphoric and sulphuric acids, less potash, but a
great deal more lime. Neither in the top or the bulb is there
much silica, but the ash of both contains much carbonic acid,
and a considerable quantity of common salt. ‘The presence of
chloride of potassium in the leaf but not in the bulb is worthy of
remark. It should be understood that as we have no means of
deciding in what state of combination the chlorine exists in an
ash, it is usual to assign it to the metallic base of soda. Chloride
of sodium is therefore usually mentioned; but where the soda is
not in sufficient abundance for this purpose, the excess of chlorine
is given to potassium. Chloride of potassium may exist in many
cases; but in these cases it or some other chloride, besides com-
mon salt, must be present. If the potash of the plant be obtained
from chloride of potassium, then it is easy to see why it should be
found in the leaves but not in the bulb.

But though the ash of different specimens is in many respects
alike, more especially in the bulbs, its per centage is so variable
that one bulb might, weight for weight, contain twice as much
phosphoric acid or potash as another, A table of the quantity of
each substance in a ton of bulb and top will give a clear notion
of this :—

TasLe 6.—Mineral Matter (in pounds) in one ton of Turnip-bulb.

No. of Spec. 82 83 | 84 85 77 | 86 Mean
eS Se eee ee eee —| of the six
Variet Skirving’s | Skirving’s| Dale’s Dale’s | Skirving’s | Green-top |>Pecmens.
pee Swede. Swede. Hybrid. | Tybrid. Swede. White.
Per Centage f d : B. '
Niagn Tey 76 | 1-09 72 88 co ae
Silica. “45 29 | +67 “18 “32 “13 “34

Phosph. Ac. 1+56 1-74... 2-14 1-74] 2-46 1:01 1°77
Sulph.Ac.. | 2°71 | 2.66] 2°86] 1:82] 2-22} 1°70] 2°33

Ene? 1-99 2°45 1-58 1-44 2°24 *89 1:76
Magnesia . °55 °56 ‘61 °31 °48 °29 °47
Perox. Iron °08 °10 °03 -10 °05 °09 °07
Potash % 4. 4:00 4°58 9°04 5+25 7°12 6°43 6°07
Soda . . 2°48 2°28 1°96 1-09 °98 se 1°46
Chlo. Sodium 1°18 °37 2°44 2°32 1°92 “72 1°49
Chilo. Potass, @o oo oe eo eo ee eo

eed

Total , 15:00 15:03 | 21°33 14:25 | 17°79 11°25 15.76

Analyses of Ashes of Plants. 181

TABLE 7.—Mineral Matter (in pounds) in one ton of Turnip-tops.

No. of Spec. 82 83 84 77 86 Mean
of the six
: irving’ i skirving’s | Green-top |5Pecimens.
Fe ee eee errs | Hybrids | egrede: | ewhites
Per Centage : y : von oe :
ae 197 4 B95} Pe 19 161 | 1°82 4
Silica . 3°59 °50 °34 1°48 85 Leno
Phosph. Ac. | 2:15 2°71 1°22 2°36 1°29 2°60
Sulpb. Ac. . 4°57 5°33 1°79 2°34 3°20 3°46
ime sl 122 57 13°26 9°37 8°64 11-76 11-29
Magnesia . 1°16 1°39 247 1°05 Wel 1-16
Perox. Iron 1°33 °29 16 68 °33 72
Potash . 5°09 9°08 3°61 7°34 5°18 6°08
Suda © 7%. 5:49 ae 1°23 . ie 1:12
Chlo. Sodium] 5°48 Ad) 4°81 6°37 4°36 6°15
Chlo. Potass. a “91 ae 3°53 6°77 2°02

cs es | ne

Total . | 41°39 | 38°06 23°00 33°79- | 34°91 36°33

From the table it will be seen that Specimen 84, which gave an
ash with rather little phosphoric acid, does yet, on account of its
large amount of ash, contain more of this acid, when calculated
‘on the turnip itself, than several other specimens. Again, the
ash of Specimen 86 was found by analysis to contain much more
potash than the other specimens. Calculated, however, in its
proportion to the vegetable matter, the potash 1s brought down to
the usual average.

It will be at once noticed that in a ton of one bulb there may
be almost twice as much mineral matter as in another, and the
same is equally true of the leaf; but it is very singular. that if a
calculation be made of the mineral matter in the entire crop—
that is, in its relative proportions of root and top—much of the
discrepancy will disappear.

The following table is calculated so as to exhibit the mineral
matter removed by one ton of the whole plant (bulbs and tops),
in the proportion of those parts actually ascertained in our experi-
ments. It would seem more scientific to make these calculations
upon a decimal quantity of the vegetable substance, such as
10,000 or 100,000 grains, but it is onceived that by referring
the mineral matter to a ton of the crop, a double purpose is
served: the relation is sufficiently apparent, and numbers of prac-
tical application are obtained :—

182

Analyses of Ashes of Plants.

TABLE 8.—Mineral Matter (in pounds) in one ton of entire crop o

| 20°15

Turnips.
No. of Spec. 82 83 84 85 vii 86
eae! | Stirsine’s | Skievine's| Dalee | Dose minlnsiae en Ieee Gan
° iryving s Irving's ales ales irvings reen-to i
Variety. Srcte: Swede | Hybrids | Hybade | eSwedeaer mwiniet Seta
Relation of? |B.89 at 0-75 Ash| 96-0°76 | 67-1-09 | 92-0-72 | 90-0-88 | 62-0-59
Bulb to Top § |T. 11 = 1°97 14-1-95 | 33-1°19 | 18-2°35 | 1o-1°61 | 38-1-82
Silica . 0°79 0:32 | 0°56 | 0-81 | 0:44 | 0-40 | 0°55
Phosph. Ac. 1°63 1°88 1°83 2°49 2°45 1 ROE I> 1-90
Sulph. Ac. . 2°91 3°04 2°52 2°12 2°23 2°27 2°51
Lime 3°15 3°97 4-15 3°37 2°88 5°02 3°76
Magnesia . 0:62 0°67 0°56 0°57 0°53 0°62 0°59
Perox. Iron 0°22 0:13 0°06 0:36 0-11 0°19 0°18
Potash . ~« 4+12 sy | 7°22 5°42 7°14 5:96 5°84
Soda9°4 & 2°81 1°96 1°72 0°89 0:88 0:00 1°38
Chlo.Sodium 1°65 0.95 3°22 3°95 2°37 2:11 2°37
Chlo. Potass. Oe 0:13 he (VY 7 0°35 2°57 0°53
Total 17°90 18°22 21°84

[abe 20.26 | 19.61

This table exhibits the highly interesting result, that whatever
differences may occur in the quantity and composition of the ash
of either bulb or top, taken separately, upon the entire plant, the
ash is much more constant: thus in one ton of the entire crop of
the specimens here given, the ash is included between the
amounts of 18 lbs. and 22 lbs. There is, it is true, still some
considerable variation in the proportion of particular substances
(more especially of the phosphoric acid), but on the whole it
must be concluded that differences in the ash of either part of the
plant are in great measure counterbalanced by an opposite con-
dition of the other part.of the bulb. It would seem, indeed, as
if a certain quantity of mineral matter is distributed through a
given weight of the whole plant, without respect to the propor-
tion of the top to the bulb—sometimes the greater proportion
being found in the leaves, sometimes in the bulb.

We select three specimens which exhibit most strongly the
balance of mineral matter in the bulbs and tops :—

TABLE 9,
|
: Mineral Matter Ton of
Speci- Proportion per pon Ash. “entise Crops Guiles).
men,
Bulb.) | Top. Bulb. | Top. Bulb. | Top. .| Both.
84 1501 739 IEC) Ong) 15°15 8°79 | 23°94
85 1837 403 0°72 2°25 13°31 9:06 | 22°37
86 1389 851 0°59 1°82 8°22 15°48 23°70

Analyses of Ashes of Plants. 183

This table affords a most singular instance of the distribution of
the ash: the mineral matter of Specimen 84 seems to have changed
places with that of 86—in the one case its largest amount being
in the bulb, in the other in the leaf. It seems truly extraordinary
that with such deviating per centages of ash, the final result
should be so nearly alike. ‘This is, however, due to the differ-
ence not only in the per centage of ash in the bulb and leaf, but
also to the proportion between the bulb and top. Were we to
make the calculation upon the supposition that the top is the
same in all cases, the result would be very different. Let us
take the average of 90 of bulb to 10 of top. The results would
then he as follows :—

Mineral Matter in a Ton

Speci- of entire Crops.
mens.
Bulb Top. Both
84 20°4 2°7 23°1
85 14°6 5:0 19-6
86 12:1 Ae] 16:2

Here all similarity in the final result vanishes, without any uni-
formity in the mineral matter of the several parts being obtained.
The proportion of bulb to top is then one element of the calcu-
lation not to be neglected, and the results above given go far to
prove the accuracy of our estimations of these quantities. The
practical deduction from these facts is highly important. ‘The
bulbs or tops of any particular crop may contain a very varying
proportion of mineral matter—influenced, in all probability, by
its age and other circumstances which have yet to be ascertained ;

but a given weight of the whole crop will never very greatly vary
in its mineral constitution. Any calculations founded upon the con-
stitution of either the bulb or top separately must be taken with
very great limitations ; suppose, for instance, the tops of the turnips
to be left in all cases on the land, but that half of the bulbs (say
10 tons, the whole crop of bulbs beg 20 tons) are drawn for
consumption by cattle in the yards, the quantity of mineral matter
removed from the soil might in one instance be 112 Ibs. (Speci-
men 86), or in another case 213 lbs. (Specimen 84), whereas in a
given weight of the whole produce, the mineral matters would be
very nearly alike—(202 and 218 lbs.). We have said that this is of
practical importance: we should rather say that it is of great im-
portance in all practical experiments which are undertaken for the
sake of establishing the rationale of the growth of crops. If it be
sought to establish the relative effect of different manures on the
crops following that one for which they are applied, it will not
do to remove from each piece of land under trial a similar quan-

184 Analyses of Ashes of Plants.

tity of the bulb. This would appear fair and equal enough, but
it would not be so. Any application of the crop that is grounded
upon the constancy of its mineral composition must be made upon
the entire plant.

In the same way the manure of a ton of any specimen of
turnip-bulbs may be of considerably more value than that of a
similar weight of another ; but for all practical purposes, a given
weight of the root and top, in their proper proportions, will
always produce an equally effective manure, as far as its mineral
constituents are concerned.

It will be seen that the leaves of turnips contain much more
common salt (chloride of sodium) than the bulbs. The quantity
is considerable in some cases. In Specimen 85 it amounts to 114
Ibs. on a ton, or about 9 ounces on every cwt. of the green tops.
May not this circumstance in part explain the action of turnip-
tops in causing purging in sheep when they are first turned upon
this food from the pastures? ‘The other alkaline salts (such as
the phosphates of soda and potash, and organic salts of these bases,
oxalate, tartrate, &c., and which are known as purgatives) exist
largely in turnip-tops. We shall shortly, in speaking of mangold-
wurzel, draw attention again to the influence of salt in turnips and
mangold upon the feeding of sheep and cattle with these roots.

Mangold Wurzel or Beet.

The information we have obtained concerning this root extends
to a far smaller number of specimens than in the case of turnips.
Still it will no doubt be sufficient to give a tolerably correct notion
of the mineral characters of the plant. The following table ex-
hibits the relation between those specimens which we have
examined :—

TABLE 10.—Water, Ash, &c., in Beet-root.

Relation | ‘
N of Bulb Water and Ash in Bulb. Water and Ash in Top.
0.
of Variety.

Spee Ash ond Ash on d

n dry} sh on

- Water. 3 sabes Water. | Ash. Pee
106 | Yellow Globe. -02 | 11°32'>) 90 1-40 | 14-00
107 | Long Red, ° : : 7°10 | 90 1:79 | 17-90
108 | Long Red . . o 10°00 90 1:91 19°10
109 | Globe alte lies . C 6°60
110 | Globe LR ve Mliers 221] ° “ee 4: 2 9°60

Of the relation of bulb to top we have nothing to say; for the
number of cases is inadequate to throw any light upon it. No
doubt, however, it is correct as far as the individual instances are

Analyses of Ashes of Plants. 185

concerned. For the same reason no very decided conclusion is to
be drawn concerning the proportion of water ; in the three specimens
(106, 107, 108) it is remarkably constant both in the bulbs and
tops, and were it fair to decide from these we should say that,

weight for weight, beet contains less solid matter than turnips.

The other instances (109, 110) would interfere very much with
this constancy; but although we have given the proportion of
water as we found it, we confess that the results in those two spe-
cimens are somewhat questionable; the leaves were cut off before
the roots were sent to us, and some water might have escaped by
evaporation from the wounds.

There is nothing to make us doubt that, had a larger number of
specimens been examined, the per centage of ash in mangold
would have proved equally variable as that of turnip. In fact, in
the five cases in the table, one specimen is seen to contain twice
as much mineral matter as another.

The per centage of ash of beet does not greatly differ from that
of turnips either in bulbs or tops.

The composition of the ash next requires notice. The analyses
are placed side by side, in order that a comparison may be in-
stituted between them.

TABLE 11.—Composition of the Ash of Beet-bulb (in 100 parts).

Mean
of
the three

|
No. of Specimen. | 106 | 107 108

Variety. | ok oa Tous Specimens.
Ben@eneeeos Achill 1-02 | 0-64 | 1-00
Silicate... . 2°22 1°40 4-11 2°57
Phosphoric Ned | fr ike 4°49 1°65 3°11 3°08
Sulphuric Acid .. 3°68 3°14 3°3l 3°37
Carbonic Acid . . 18°14 15°23 21°61 18°32
LATING 25 Fr Seay Ratan 1°78 1°90 2°17 1°95
Magnesia . . . 1°75 1°79 2°79 2-11
Peroxide of Iron... 0:74 0°52 0:56 0:60
(Rotusne se) 5 | 2eeod | 2168 | 29-05.) 9 24°79
Soda c 4 19:08 3°13 19:05 13°75
Chloride of Sodium .| 24°54] 49°51 14°18 | 29°41
Chloride of Potassium a we ote :

99-95

Total. |. | ae 99°95 | 99-94

186 Analyses of Ashes of Plants.

TABLE 12.—Composition of the Ash of Beet-leaf (an 100 parts).

No. of Specimen. 106 107 108 en

a aa a a eee 0
the th
Variety. feeae hf gene Tong | Sp aie F
Per Centage of Ash . 1-40 1°79 1°91
Silica: VEU. Geet, 2°35 2°26 1°35 1:99
Phosphoric Acid .. 5:89 5°19 4°39 5°15
Sulphuric Acid . 6°54 4:60 6°26 5:80
Carbonic Acid . . 6:92 6°45 6-1] 6°49
Lime eat etyere Sr §°72 8°17 9-06 8°65
Magnesia PR eeee tic 9°84 7°03 9°10 8°66
Peroxide of Iron . 1°46 0:96 0:48 0:96
Potash (153 385 3 om, 8-34 27°90 27°53 21°26
Sodas -.f o 5608 2° 4% 12°21 3°01 5°83 7:O1
Chloride of Sodium, 37°66 34°39 29°85 33° 96
Chloride of Potassium! eo eo ee ce
Potalke: hove: 99°95 99°96 99°96 99-93

It will be seen by the first of these tables that different speci-
mens of beet bulb give an ash very much alike. Nos. 106 and
108 most nearly resemble each other, although of different variety,
which would lead us to believe that variety does not here, more
than in the case of turnips, exert on the composition of the ash an
influence sufficiently great to be observed over the other circum-
stances of the plant.

The chief features in the composition of the ash are, the large
proportion of alkalies present in it as carbonates, but existing in
the vegetable itself no doubt in great part in the form of nitrates,
which are well known to be constituents of beet. The phos-

horic acid, the sulphuric acid, and the lime are found in the
mangold bulb ash in smaller quantity than in that of the turnip.
The high per centage of common salt in beet is remarkable: in
one case it constitutes one-half, in another one-fourth, of the
entire mineral matter.

The ash of the three specimens of beet-leaf analyzed is very
similar in composition: indeed there is here much more resem-
blance than in the turnip-leaves. The ash of beet-leaves con-
tained more phosphoric and sulphuric acid, more lime and mag-
nesia, but less alkali, and a smaller amount of alkaline carbonates
than that of the bulb. It contains, however, like the bulb, a
very considerable quantity of common salt. The ash of both
bulb and leaf evidences a partial substitution of soda for potash.
A table of the mineral constituents in a given weight of beet will
afford us further subject of thought :—

Analyses of Ashes of Plants.

187

TABLE 13.—Muineral Matter (in pounds) in one ton of Beet-bulb.

No. of Specimen. 106 107 108 jean
moumnnecanal oO

the thre

Variety. aed eae he Specimens.
Per Centage of Ash 1°02 0°64 1°00

Silica . ; 0.51 0°20 0:92 0:54
Phosphoric Acid . 5 1°03 0°24 0:70 0°66
Sulphuric Acid : 0°77 0°45 0°74 0°65
Lime "5 : 0°47 0:27 0°49 0°41
Magnesia : 0°40 0°26 0°62 0:43
Peroxide of Tron. etre 0°17 0:07 0°13 0:12
Potash Bode 5°39 3°10 6:50 4:99
Soda 5 : 4-36 0°45 4°27 3°02
Chloride of Shdiuen 5°61 7°08 3°17 5°29

Chloride of Potassium ar ele ais és
Total. , 18°71 | 12°12] 17°54] 16-11

TABLE 14.—Mineral Matter (in pounds) in one ton of Beet-leaf.

No. of Specimen. 106 | 107 108 Mee
ieee ena 6)
i bed ~~} the-th
Variety. Yellow | Long | Long |gpecimens.
Per Centage of Ash 1-40 1°79 Tot
Silica , i 0°75 0°94 0°58 0°76
Phosphoric Acid . 1+88 2°07 1:88 1-94
Sulphuric Acid 2°08 1°84 2°68 2°20
Lime j A 2°77 3°27 3°88 3e3l
Magnesia 3°13 2°8]) 3°89 aioe 7/
Peroxide of Iron . 0°46 0:38 0°21 0°52 ~
Potash . , 3 2°65 11°16 11°79 7°86
Soda. 3°88 1+20 2°49 2°52
Chloride of Sodium i 12°00 13°75 12°74 12° 82
Chloride of Potassium oe Ae SS ;
Dotale rer wees 29°60 37°42 40:14 35°20

In Table 13 it will be noticed that the total mineral matter in
‘the bulb of the three specimens is very different. ‘The bulbs of
Nos. 106 and 108, ’tis true, agree pretty closely in this parti-
cular; but the resemblance does not extend to No. 107. On the
other hand, in the leaf (Table 14) Nos. 107 and 108 resemble
each other, whilst 106 stands apart. Inthe bulb of Specimen
107 there is very little phosphoric acid; in the leaf, on the con-
trary, there is a greater quantity than in the other specimen.
Weight for weight, the leaves are considerably richer in this im-

188 Analyses of Ashes of Plants.

portant ingredient than the bulbs; they also contain a very much
larger proportion of magnesia. The alkalies predominate in the
bulbs, whilst common salt, although abundantly present in both,
is found in larger quantity in the leaf as it is in that of the turnip.
A table of the mineral contents of a ton of entire beet, bulb
and top, will show us how far the differences between the speci-
mens are destroyed by the joint effect of the bulb and leaf ash.

TABLE 15.—Mineral Matter (in pounds) in a ton of entire crop of

Beet.
No. of Specimen. 106 107 108 a
ae oO
rt. L the three
Variety. Yellow Globe. Rede Rede Specimens.
Relation of Bulb to ! B. 85 at 1°02 ash.| 88—0-64 | S0-1-00
Leaf f L. 15 ,, 1°40 ,, | 12-1:79 | 20-1-91
Silica : : ‘ 0:54 0°29 0°S6 0°56
Phosphoric Acid . 1:16 0:50 0-94 0°87
Sulphuric Acid 0°96 0°62 1°12 0:90
Lime a te 0: 82 0°63 1°17 0°87
Magnesia A 0°81 0:59 1°28 0°89
Peroxide of Iron . 0°21 0-1] 0:13 0:15
Potash 4:98 4:07 7°56 5°54
Soda Bae cae 4:29 0°54 3°91 2°91
Chloride of Sodium 6°57 7°88 5:09 6°51
Chloride of Potassium ais | ste ae ue

Tote eae 20°34 [15°28 | 92:06 | 19-20

Here Specimen 107 is found to be still unlike its neighbours :
it contains, indeed, a smaller amount of all the ingredients with
the exception of common salt, which forms one-half of the total
mineral matter of the plant. Twenty tons of beet (including the
tops) might, according to this calculation, take up from the soil
11 cwt. of common salt. It is difficult to say whether this is
really essential to the plant ; we have no alternative, however, at
present but to believe that it is; and the resemblance of the three
specimens in this particular substance justifies such a belief. It
is plain, then, that a top-dressing of salt may benefit either turnips
or beet ; but especially the latter, by supplying a substance abso-
lutely required. A dose of 3 cwt. to the acre will not be consi-
sidered large when it is known that half of it is required by a
good crop, and from its solubility much must be wasted before
the plant can appropriate it. The quantity of common salt in tur-
nips and beet demands our serious attention, from the influence
which it must exert upon the constitutions of animals which are
fed with these roots.

Analyses of Ashes of Plants. 189

Let us suppose, with Mr. Stephens (‘Book of the Farm’),
that an ox eats 12 cwt. of turnips each day, and that a cow is
allowed one-third of this quantity, or about 65 lbs. a day; and
that sheep on the average of age and breed would eat (at least)
28 lbs. of turnips daily. ‘These numbers may not accord with
every man’s experience, and they are merely stated for sake of
argument. Any correction can easily be made if they are not
considered as fair averages.

Now 12 ewt. of turnip bulb will contain on an average rather
more than 2 ounces of salt. The same quantity of beet bulb
will contain about 74 ounces of salt. 65 lbs. of turnip bulb, the
daily allowance of a cow, will contain something less than |
ounce of salt. The same weight of mangold will afford to the
animal eating it more than 2 ounces of salt.

These calculations are founded upon the presumption that
cattle would generally be furnished with the clean bulb without
the leaves, which are left on the field. It must be otherwise,
however, in the case of sheep. When a flock of sheep are first
turned upon the turnips they will commence with the tops.

28 lbs. of turnip-tops contain on an average about 1+ ounce of
salt: they may contain (Spec. 85, table 7) twice this quantity, or
24 ounces. 28 lbs. of the entire crop will usually afford about
half an ounce of salt, and the same quantity of the clean bulb of
course not so much.

Supposing sheep to be turned upon beet, and that they con-
sumed an equal amount of this root as of turnips, then in 28 lbs.
of leaf they would always find 24 ounces of salt; and a similar
amount of the bulb, or of the bulb and leaf together, would on
the average contain 14 ounce of this substance.

Of the action of salt upon the animal economy, and of the ad-
vantages which are supposed to be derived from a free supply of
this substance to sheep and cattle, we do not pretend to be com-
petent judges ; our province is to point out that the arguments
which will apply to salt given separately, must also be held good
in the case of turnips or mangold, which equally convey this con-
diment into the stomach of those animals which are fed upon
them. |

It is possible that a farmer would think half a pound of salt
rather a large dose to give day by day for weeks together to an
ox-—yet such is the allowance which the animal would daily re-
ceive in his food, supposing the latter to be mangold-wurzel.

There can be little doubt that a moderate exhibition of salt will
conduce to the healthy exercise of the digestive functions, but when
largely administered it is considered to impair the secretion of the
liver, a result which, however it may conduce to the formation
of fat in an animal, must be considered as implying an unhealthy

190 Analyses of Ashes of Plants.

condition of the system, to be discouraged except for the specific
purpose of fattening an animal at the expense of its general well-
being. As far more deserving of attention than anything we can
say on this subject, we would beg to present the opinion of Mr.
Robinson, the experienced Professor of Veterinary Surgery at the
Agricultural College of Cirencester, on the use of salt.* This
gentleman says, “ I have for many years been perfectly convinced
that salt allowed in quantity is highly prejudicial to all breeding
animals, inasmuch as it has a direct influence in greatly diminish-
ing the necessary supply of milk for the immediate sustenance of
the young animal ; hence salt is the best medium to ‘ dry’ a cow of
ber milk, and ewes would also be benefited by free access to this
substance for one week when their lambs are taken from them.

«T am also convinced that salt has the effect of diminishing the
secretion of the liver, and that it is from this cause that the good
effects of salt are so obvious in the feeding of animals. It is well
known that incipient disease of the liver is favourable to the
production of fat.

“When lambing ewes are allowed a large quantity of turnips
with a small amount of other food through the winter, abortion is
a frequent occurrence—their supply of milk is very deficient, and
their lambs are dropped of very various sizes and far from healthy.
If the ewes are allowed free access to salt the lambs are still
more unhealthy, and many die from indigestion and disease of
the liver. The mortality of the lambs in these cases may, I think,
be fairly attributed to the amount of salt taken by the dam; for
admitting that a small portion only is directly given them, the
quantity positively taken in their food in the turnips 1s somewhat
considerable, as you pointed out to me from your analysis. This
is a point—the normal or natural quantity of salt—contained in
the different roots, &c. consumed by animals as food, which will
throw much light upon this most important branch of agriculture.
That the use of salt is highly beneficial to certain stock and at
certain times, there cannot be a doubt; but from my own know-
ledge it is no less equally true that the too free and indiscriminate
use of it to all stock and at all times is highly prejudicial.”

We must leave this opinion to the judgment of the readers of
the Journal—it is that of an experienced and careful observer
and therefore entitled to very considerable reliance. It would
seem perfectly safe, however, to say that, supposing Mr. Robinson

* The above (which is published by the permission of my friend, Mr.
Robinson) was hastily written in reply to my wish, that he should state in
a few words the result of his experience on this subject. I had some time
since mentioned to him the large quantity of salt found in the turnip and
beet, which it appeared was in consonance with his own observation of
their effects upon the milk of cows and ewes.—J..T. W,

Analyses of Ashes of Plants. 191

to be correct in his view of the action of salt, the free use of
turnips, and still more of mangold, must lead to similar results,
Here again the same remark will apply, as that which was made
relative to the varying value of turnip crops raised by artificial
manures.

Let us suppose that itis not denied that salt is injurious to
cows in calf or milch-cows, and to ewes before and after the
lambing season ; and let us further admit that, from the quantity
of salt they contain, turnips and mangold must be chargeable
with the same prejudicial effects. Are we then necessarily and at
once to be deprived of these valuable articles of food in so very
considerable a portion of their present application? Certainly
not; but it behoves us to inquire how we can do away with the
evil. Fortunately common salt is a very soluble body; and al-
though steeping of the bulbs m water would not, we fear, remove
it, it is most probable that boiling or steaming the turnips would
have the effect of dissolving out much of the objectionable sub-
stance.* In the latter method it would be necessary that all the
condensed steam should have free opportunity of escaping from
the turnips; and the more minutely these were divided the more
perfect would be the separation of the salt. We do not recom-
mend these plans; we do not even say that any precaution of the
kind is necessary ; but if it be so, some such plan would save the
necessity of discontinuing the use of turnips and mangold in the
particular cases before mentioned.

Of Carrots.

The only variety of carrot which we have examined is the White
Belgian. It would of course be well to possess analyses of other
important varieties of this root, and we shall at a future time
make good the deficiency. A review of the crops already de-
scribed, and a careful comparison of those whose peculiarities we
are about to discuss, would, however, make it questionable whether
any great results would follow from the examination of other
varieties.

* Boussingault has lately published (‘Annales de Chimie et de Phy-
sique,’ May 1847) an account of some experiments made by him on the
use of salt. Two lots of young beasts were fed during about four winter
months, with an unlimited supply of hay and beet; to the one lot salt was
given. Boussingault found that the quantity of food consumed, and the
live weight produced was the same in both instances, and no way in-
fluenced by the use of salt with their food; the animals which. received
salt drank, however, nearly twice as much water daily. He attributes ab-
sence of any effect from the use of salt in this case to the quantity of that
substance actually administered in the food. The above observations
were written before we had seen an account of Boussingault’s experi-
ments.

192 Analyses of Ashes of Plants.

The following table gives a comparative view of the specimens
of root examined :-—

TABLE 16.—Water and Ash in Carrots.

Relation of Water and Ash in Water and Ash in
No. Root to Leaf. the Root. the Top.
® of Variety.
Spec 7
Root. | Leaf. | Water. | Ash. Ash on ‘Water. | ‘Ash. Aish
dry. on dry

ee Ne ne

111 | White mal ry .» | 85-0 | 0°96 | 6-40
gian Carrot

112 Ditto 76 24 85:0 | 0°77 | 5°12 | 75:0 | 5-82 | 21°30
113 Ditto 81 19 | 87-0 | 0°82 | 6°30 | 76:0 | 4:20 17°50
114 Ditto 81 19 85°0 | 0°92 | 6°10 | 82°0 | 2-85 15°80
115 Ditto a oe 88:0 | 1:06 | 8°80
116 Ditto a ve 86:0 | 0°95 | 6°80

The proportion of leaf would appear rather larger than in the
turnips or mangold-wurzel; but it is unsafe to judge from so
limited a series.

The water in the roots is, if anything, less than in beet or
turnip, and most certainly so in the leaf—the leaf of carrots
should, therefore, be more valuable.

The ash in the root is no way different in quantity from that of
either of the root crops just mentioned, but that of the leaf is seen
to be very much greater. This is important, and will be noticed
again almost immediately. The analyses of five specimens of the
root ash are before given and included in the following table :—

TaBLeE 17.—Composition in 100 parts of the Ash of Carrot-roots.

No. of Specimen . .« 112 113 114 | 115 116 eee
0
nie 3 : A cal A the five
F White White White White White Ja.
Variety. Belgian. | Belgian. | Belgian. | Belgian. |‘ Belgian. = bceimens:

Per Centage of Ash .| 0°77 | 0°82 | 0-92 | 1-06 foros

ee | ee eee Se ee ss Onn k eee eee eS

Silica. ; 0:76 1°10 1:92 1:16 1-00 1°19

Phosphoric Aga. | 8°37 7°86
Sulphuric Acid . 6:34 6:95
Carbonic Acid . . 15°15 17°72
Lime hax tear Shih, 9°76 8+ 26
Magnesia 6 a ae 3°78 3°20
Peroxide of Iron % "2% 0°74 1°66
Potash +1. ann ce 37°55 28°00

Sodan) as . 12°63 17°53 14°21 8°18 15:06 13°52
Chloride of Sedu : 4:9] 7°65 5°52 6°82 7°62 6 50
Chloride of Potassium Ke aie ate ale

Ota ens "99° +99 "99-93 93 99° ~ 99°97 Rass | eee] eae) aT] | em] oa 99: 97 99" OSs a9" 94

Analyses of Ashes of Plants. 193

These analyses are, in many respects, very closely alike; the
chief difference to be observed occurs in Specimen No. 114,
which appears to contain more of the sulphate, phosphate, and
carbonate of lime, but less potash and soda. Throughout the
specimens there is an indication of the equivalency or substitution
of soda for potash.

The ash of carrot-root very nearly resembles that of turnips ;
but in place of much of the sulphates which occur in the latter,
carrot-root ash affords, upon analysis, a more considerable quantity
of carbonates. It will perhaps be better, however, to defer any
additional remarks on this subject till the analyses of each of
these roots can be placed side by side, which shall shortly be
done.

The table which follows exhibits the composition of the ash of
carrot leaves :—

TABLE 18.—Composition in 100 parts of the Ash of Carrot-leaves.

No. of Specimen . . | 112 113 114 | Mean
Oo
og | ae ig Xt. wee the three
Variety. | Belgian. | Belgian. | Belgian, SPecimens.
Per Centage of Ash . | 5°32 | 4:20 | 2-85
Silica 7-39 1-83 | 4:48]. 4:56
Phosphoric Ned 2°55 1°12 1°34 1:67
Sulphuric Acid . 6-68 5°47 5°86°| 6°20
Carbonic Acid . .}; 16°29 22°25 14-92 17°82
Lime = fe ah. 34298 29 -.50 33°44 32°64
Magnesia 5 Heme iat 265 3°03 3°23 2°92
Peroxide of Iron... | © 4:06 0:90 2°26 2°40
Potash 7°28 7°53 6-55 Tele,
Soda. | 9°46 10:69 12:76 VOU
Chloride of Sodium 8°77 Eat4 15:11 13-67
Chloride of Potassium | ee : ac :
Total . ‘ : 99-96 99°96 | 99-95 99°97

|
[

The ash of the leaf does not greatly vary in composition in
these instances. It contains but little phosphoric acid, but then
its per centage is high; as in the turnip and the mangold so in
the carrot, chloride of sodium is a much more considerable ingre-
dient in the leaf-ash than in that of the root.

The ash of carrot-leaf is peculiar in one respect; of the
alkalies potash and soda, the latter greatly predominates. ‘The
same thing occurs in one specimen of beet-leaf (Table 12, Speci-
men No. 106), and in one specimen of turnip-top (Table 5,
Specimen No. 82), but in no other cases that we have yet met
with. This is in reality an important as well as a singular cir-
cumstance. The alkali soda is much more available for agricul-

VOL. III. O

194 Analyses of Ashes of Plants.

tural purposes than potash, especially as the results we have ob-
tained * would induce a belief that a plant can obtain this alkali
from common salt (the commonest of all salts). If any plant be
found to content itself with this alkali, such plant will undoubtedly
be more easy of artificial culture than others which require potash
and refuse to take soda instead of it: it is not said that this is the
case with the carrot, but attention is drawn to the uniformity of
the result in the case of the leaves.

The mineral matter of a given weight of carrots will be seen by
the following table :—

TABLE 19.—Mineral Matter in one ton of Carrot-roots (in pounds).

No. of Specimen . . 112 113 114 115 116 Meee
0)
Si ana sl eos | IE, ao By | oe eee pel ee Scthetive
: Whit Whit Whit Whit Whit : 2
Ret yr Belgian Bel gia Beleiant Bela Belgian. ppevimenst
Per Centage of Ash .| 0°77 0°82 0°92 1:06 0:95
Silica pei amare nt te 0°13 0°20 0°40 0:27 0:21 0-24
Phosphoric Acid... 1:44 1°44 2895) Vole? oy 1°73
Sulphuric Acid .. 1-09 SD 1295 1°27 0°98 1-31
mimes), jy eee ee 1°68 1°51 2°45 1°44 1°79 Led
Magnesia nd eae 0°65 0-58 1-21 0°82 0°74 0°80
Peroxide of Iron. 0°13 0-30 0:28 0:28 0°12 0°22
Potash 0 2 eee 6°34 5°14 4:4] 9°96 7°09 6°59
Soda oe Ro is 2°18 3°21 3°04 1294 3°20 POT
Chloride of Sodium . 1°32 1°40 1:14 1°62 1-62 1°42
Tota sete 14°96 )' 1590541637") , 198525) walenioe 16279

TABLE 20.—Mineral Matter in one ton of Carrot-leaves (in pounds).

No. of Specimen . 112 113 114 Mean
oO
rae BRR | 14. | the three
Varnty. | ite | ae | site ei,
Per Centage of Ash .| 5:32 4°20 2°89
ilicas ee. bey ee 8-80 1°72 2°85 4°46
Phosphoric Acid . 3°03 1:05 0:85 1°64
Sulphuric Aci 7°96 oy bs) 37 5°61
Lime te ee, 41°69 H7f7/ 7 21°27 30°24
Magnesia : 2°98 2:71 2:05 2°58
Peroxide of Iron . 4°84 0:81 1°42 2:36
Potash 8°67 7:09 4:17 6:64
Sodan fia, 11°28 9-62 8-12 9-67
Chloride of Sodium 10°45 15:40 9°61 11°95
Chloride of Potassium Need ; x ‘s
Total °°. f* 998701" 70-62: 1°* 54a-CG pagoda

* We have not mentioned the data upon which this belief is grounded ;
indeed, in such questions it is better to defer a final decision until a greater
mass of evidence is collected.

Analyses of Ashes of Plants. 195

That the numbers in the Ist table should bear a general
resemblance to each other is not singular, inasmuch as neither
the per centage of ash nor its composition is subject to much
variation,

That the 2nd table should exhibit considerable variation is
evident from the per centage of ash being so dissimilar, more
particularly in the Ist and 3rd columns.

There is a certain consistency even here; the per centage of
ash in the leaf of the three specimens is, in each case, the con-
verse of that in the bulb. ‘The higher the ash in the leaf the less
is the quantity in the bulb. This circumstance, however, is not
sufficient to overcome the preponderance of ash in No. 112, as
will be seen by the following table :—

TABLE 21.—Mineral Matter in a ton of entire crop of Carrot.

No. of Specimen . . 112 113 114 Mean
Pee pe sit eeeeeetiey oe | eres oO
; ; the tl
Variety. White Belgian. aa Phe lSpoctinent:
: R. 76 at 7 ash| 8l— +82) 81— -92
Relation of Root to Leaf L. 24 ,, 5°32 ,, | 19-4+20| 19-285
SilicatecnG we flees 2-29 0°50 0:89 1°22
Phosphoric Acid . . 1°84 1°37 1°69 1°63
Sulphuric Acid 2°80 2°03 2°30 2°37
Baines ie eS 11°68 6°75 6:21 8°21
Magnesia . . « « 1°20 1:00 1:37 1°19
Peroxide of Iron. . 1:30 0:40 0:50 0°73
Potash. . < 6°91 5°54 4°35 5°60
Sa@ayi ult eis 6° is 4-44 4°48 4:06 4°33
Chloride of Soda . 3°60 4-20 2°84 3°55
Chloride of Potassium . a8 32 46 Re
36°08 26°27 | 24°21 | 28°83

The 2nd and 3rd columns of this table are, in many respects,
very similar both as to each individual substance and in the final
result. Specimen No. 113 contains rather more potash, soda, and
common salt than No. 114; but Specimen No. 112 is unlike
either of the others, more especially in the total quantity of
mineral matter: this arises from two causes; its leaf has a very
large ash, and there isa greater proportion of the leaf in the
entire plant. Were the calculation based upon the supposition
that the leaf is in the same proportion to the bulb, as in the other
instances, one-half of the total difference would be done away
with ; but, besides that candour would not admit of a proceeding
like this, there would still be a great excess of mineral matter in
No. 112. nee

We would rather, however, be inclined to attribute this want of

o 2

196 Analyses of Ashes of Plants.

correspondence to some accidental cause,* than to consider it as
destructive of the principle which we have before attempted to
elucidate; namely, that in the entire plant the mineral matter
will be found far more constant in quantity and composition than
in either the root or the leaf taken separately—the variations
which occur being counteracted by the alteration of the per
centage of ash or of the proportion of root to leaf.

One important point in reference to the mineral composition
of the carrot still remains to be noticed. A comparison of the
mineral contents of a ton of the entire crop of beet, turnip and
carrot, clearly shows (see page 199) that the carrot is fully
as rich in the more important elements of mineral fertility as
either of the other crops—indeed, if anything, rather surpasses
them; for although it contain on the average a very slight pro-
portion less of phosphoric acid than turnips, yet it will be seen
on the other hand to possess more magnesia and more alkali than
either mangold-wurzel or turnip. For most practical purposes,
however, we may consider these three roots as equal in mineral
wants and peculiarities. The carrot, then, requires as much
mineral food as the turnip or beet-root. But this being the case,

* The analysis of the leaves is subject to a source of error to which that
of the roots is not open; the leaves are frequently not quite free from dirt,
which they have acquired from various causes. Every effort is made to
cleanse them perfectly, but the difficulty of accomplishing this is very
great; and when it is considered how small is the proportion of ash in
comparison with the vegetable substance operated upon, it is easy to see
how the quantity of the former may in spite of all precautions be sensibly
augmented by small portions of foreign matter, which from their minute-
ness have escaped the strictest scrutiny. To this cause we are inclined to
attribute the very uniform relation which is observable in the analyses of
the ash of the leaf between the silica and peroxide of iron—wherever the
one is large, the other is large also. Now, as we have never been able to
discover alumina in very carefully prepared ashes (such as those of seeds),
we have not thought it worth while to embarrass our methods of analysis by
the separation of this body (should it happen to be present) from peroxide
of iron, which itself is a substance of little importance, and sometimes
scarcely detectible from the excessively minute quantities of it which are
present in the ash—as may be seen by many of our analyses—under the
head of peroxide of iron may sometimes then be included a little alumina,
and it is precisely these substances and silica, which a want of perfect
cleanliness of the leaf would introduce.

In the present instance it is highly probable that this source of error
may have interfered; for, by reference to the analysis, it will be seen that
the silica and peroxide of iron are both unusually high. It must, however,
be remembered that any accidental impurity of this kind only affects the
quantity of those substances of which any portion is so introduced: if
silica only is accidentally introduced, this will make no difference in the
quantity of any other body (as phosphoric acid or magnesia) in a given
weight of the vegetable, although the composition of the ash in 100 parts
is thereby altered.

Analyses of Ashes of Plants. 197

how comes it that we can raise good crops of carrots without
manure where, if turnips were planted, a failure must be in-
evitable? Carrots are constantly raised without manure, at all
periods of the rotation, and in all soils, provided they be deep
enough. This, we firmly believe, is the circumstance which will
afford an explanation of the readiness with which a crop of carrots
is obtained ; it is never meant that carrots will not be the better
for manure—on the contrary, no doubt a little assistance in
forming their leaves and roots will be invaluable to them; but it
cannot be denied that common observation is in favour of the
position we now wish to make good, that carrots will grow toa
crop where beet and turnips will not. Several instances have
been given in the preceding pages of crops of 20 or 25 tons
grown without manure. Now, it cannot be thought that the
carrot has less need of vegetable food than other root-crops; nor
certainly must it be said that it does not need so much mineral
food as the beet or the turnip, since our analyses prove that it
does. The carrot requires as much food, both mineral and vege-
table, as either of these crops; and the sole difference lies in its
powers of obtaining that food. We would hardly like to say that
it has more Falities for the collection of food from the atmosphere,
although its serrated Jeaves might justify such a belief; but it un-
deniably throws down its roots to a greater depth in search of
mineral nourishment—hence the supplies which enable it to
vegetate on a poor soil, provided only that the subsoil be good.

A stony subsoil is unsuitable to the carrot because of the mecha-
nical obstruction to its roots; but in a good deep clay its long
taper roots have been traced to a depth of 10 feet or more, and
from this depth they convey to the surface all those mineral
riches which are indispensable to the growth of the plant which
collects, and beneficial and necessary to the crop which succeeds
it. The carrot, then, will yield a crop without manure; not that
it does not require the rarest mineral food, but simply because it
has independent resources for the acquisition of that food. Is it
not, then, worth while to consider whether its cultivation is carried
to the extent that it might be? Were it a crop not requiring mine-
ral nourishment, then its cultivation would be worse than useless,
for we have analogy with us for believing that the most valuable
food for animals is that which in its own growth has drawn most
largely on the resources of nature. It must be so, indeed, for in
the animal economy matter is only appropriated (“ assimilated ”’
is the term) ; it is never built up from its elements—in order,

therefore, that the complex principles of the animal frame should
be formed, the food must be complex; and so far as research
has yet gone, it is a rule which admits of no exception, that the
most highly complex and at the same time most eminently
nourishing yegetable substances (gluten, vegetable albumen,

198 Analyses of Ashes of Plants.

casein, &c.) are associated with the most valuable mineral ele-
ments of vegetation, phosphorus, magnesia, and the alkalies.
No plant, therefore, which was wanting in those mineral matters
could by any possibility be valuable in the feeding of stock, both
from the circumstances just mentioned and from the absence of
the bodies which are required for the formation of bone.

And again, a crop deficient in mineral matters itself would
do but little for the crop succeeding it; it would add nothing to
the mineral resources of the soil. This is indeed too much the
case with the turnip; it does not labour; it feeds if you give it
food, but it remains a stunted and sickly plant unless it readily
meet with a supply for its wants. It is, however, no little recom-
mendation to the turnip that mineral nourishment is necessary for
it, because its imperative demands being supplied, provision is
made for a double supply to the white crop, mineral and vege-
table sustenance being in this manner supplied to it.

The carrot, on the other hand, is no way less valuable as food
tor stock ; indeed it may be questioned, from the greater quantity
of solid matter which our analyses indicate, whether it would not
be more valuable, weight for weight, than turnips. It is said to
be much-relished by stock, and its chemical character would re-
commend it as an easily digestible nutritious diet. There may
be practical objections to its more extensive introduction into field
culture, for it is said to be an expensive crop in cultivation. One
point must be borne in mind—the carrot, though it gets food
from the subsoil, does not seek it all there; it of course exhausts
the surface soil as well, and it must in consequence be eaten on
the spot, or if taken to the yard, the manure must be returned,
which is the same thing in the end; the crop must not be sold off
the farm without return of any kind. When it is considered that
a crop of carrots of 16 or 17 tons, with 3 tons of leaves, will take
from the soil about 30 lbs. of phosphoric acid, 50 lbs. sulphuric
acid, 22 lbs. magnesia, 1 cwt. of potash, 3? cwt. of soda, and
66 lbs. of common salt—a great deal more of these bodies than is
removed by the largest grain crops—it may be believed that,
however great a portion of this may be obtained from the subsoil,
much must be derived from the available working soil, if indeed
it exist there.

We think that it will be needless to offer any apology for occu-
pying the pages of the Journal with one or two more tables ex-
hibiting comparative views of the composition of the roots which
have been described; such tables will serve to place the whole
subject in review, and help to the formation of general conclu-
sions. The following table exhibits the average composition
of the ash of turnip, beet, and carrot. It must be remembered
that the numbers are the results of six analyses of the bulb and
six of the top of turnips—of three analyses of the bulb, and three

Analyses of Ashes of Plants. 199
of the top of beet—and five analyses of the root, and three of the
top of carrot. The numbers are of course provisional—that is,
they may be modified slightly by future researches ; but, as prac-
tical data, they may be regarded as sufficient to establish the
mineral composition of the several roots.

TABLE 22.—Comparative View of the Composition (in 100 parts) of
the Ash of Turnips, Mangold, and Carrot (the averages of the
Analyses).

Bulb. Top.

Turnip. | Mangold.| Carrot. Turnip. | Mangold.| Carrot.
Silica . Be es 1°81 2°57 1°19 3°99 1°99 4°56
Phosphoric Acid . . | 9°89 3°08 8°59 6°17 5°15 1-67
Sulphuric Acid . . 13°12 3°37 6°55 8°43 5:80 6:20
Carbonic Acid A 11°96 18°32 17°30 9°98 6°49 17:82
Lime ee cas 9°93 1°95 8°83 28°49 8°65 32°64
Magnesia: osc) sh... - 2°61 2°11 3°96 2°81 8°66 2°92
Peroxide of Iron ; 0-46 0°60 1-10 1-68 0:96 2°40
Potash...“ A Bee Oo) 24°79 | 32°44 15°21 21°26 7°12
Soda shite. s 6 7°96 13°75 {| 18°52 2°84 7°01 10°97
Chloride of Sodium 8°13 | 29°41 | 6:50 | 15°30 | 33°96 | 13-67
Chloride of Potassium és aie 5°04 On Ne

99°93 | 99-95 | 99-94 | 99-94 | 99-93 | 99-99

Such are the general features of the mineral matter considered
without reference to the quantity of it existing in the plants ; but
this is not the most important point connected with this subject.

In comparing one plant with another a knowledge of the com-
position of the ash is only of value as it serves to calculate the

mineral matter in relation to a given weight of the plant—the fol-

lowing table affords this information :—

[ABLE 23.—Comparative View of the Mineral Matters contained in one ton of
Turnip, Mangold, and Carrot (the average of all the Analyses).

SICA. rts

Phosph. hea

Sulph. Acid.
ime ti‘
Magnesia,
Perox. of Iron
Potash

Soma eh i é
Chlor, Sodium

Chlor. Potass.

15°76

Turnip.

*46
49

—

Mangold. | Carrot.

CO em Or Om OP ese

In one Ton of the Bulb, In one Ton of the Top. | In one Ton of the entire Plant.

Mangold. | Carrot. | Turnip. | Mangold, | Carrot. | Turnip.
0254 fh.0.94 | 1-73.) 0-76 | 4-46 | 0°55 | 0-56
0-66 1°73 2°60 1:94 1-64 1°90 0:87
0:65 1°31 3°46 2°20 5°61 2°51 0-90
0-41 1°77 | 11:29 3°31 (30°24 3°76 0°87
0-43 0-80 uG 3°27 2°58 0-59 0°89
Olde 22022015 O72 0°52. | 2°36 0-18 0-15
4-99 6°59 6:08 7°86 6°64 | 95:84 o'o4
3°02 5) QTL Leal? e202 9-67 | 1:38 2°91
+29 1°42 | 6:15 | 12-82 11°95 | 2°37 6°95]

a 302 (hoe in 4! 0°53 ae
“16-11 |16-79 | 36°33 | 35-20 [75-15 | 19°61 | 19-20
|

a a 2

200 Analyses of Ashes of Plants.

The columns of this summary must tell their own tale—they
are replete with useful information, which will be more easily
furnished by inspection than by any description that could be
offered. We may simply say that, whilst they show a greater
similarity in mineral composition between the three roots than
could by possibility have been anticipated, the points of difference
are well worthy of attention.

The Jerusalem Artichoke.

We are not acquainted with any very certain statistics of the
produce of this plant; and in order to calculate its power to exhaust
the soil, the proportion of stem and leaves to tuber should be
known. It is observable by the analysis that the ash of the
tuber contains very much potash, and far more phosphoric acid
than turnips, beet, or carrot. The quantity of ash is also consi-
derable. 7

The mineral composition of the tuber of the Jerusalem arti-
choke may be thus expressed :— |

TABLE 24.—Mineral Matter (in lbs.) in one ton of the Tuber of the
Jerusalem Artichoke.

Silica’!.. : ; i 5 LOG
Phosphoric acid . . «) Oss
Sulphuric acid ° ; a Lon
Lime. : A ; go eae
Magnesia : : : 0°52
Peroxide of iron . : ise (0)0.11 55)
Potash : A A 22)"40
Soda ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ : —
Chloride sodium : ; ‘ —_

Chloride potassium . . a ele9G

——$—_—_—

35°33

Here it will be seen that, weight for weight, this vegetable con-
tains nearly four times as much phosphoric acid, and three times
as much alkali, as turnips, beet, or carrot. The stems and leaves
are, in proportion to the tubers, too small to be of great im-
portance in the calculation; and, as we have just said, we do not
possess at present the data necessary to include them. The stems
will, however, remove a notable quantity of potash. Taking into
consideration the large produce of this plant, and the little
manure or cultivation required by it, we are at a loss to see where
it obtains all this alkaline phosphate, unless, like the carrot, it is
possessed of superior powers of acquiring mineral sustenance.

Analyses of Ashes of Plants. 201

Beans and Peas.

The analyses of these plants, before given, are only intended
to point out their general characteristics. We hope, in a subse-
quent report, to present a very full account of both, as crops from
the same seed are at the present moment being raised in different
localities for the purposes of this research.

With the caution that some modifications of the composition of
these legumes may be introduced by future analyses, we may
venture to place the results side by side for comparison.

TABLE 25.—Comparative View of the Composition of the Ash of Beans
and of Peas grown on Chalk aud Clay.

Peas. Beans. Pea Straw.

On Chalk.| On Clay. | On Clay. | On Chalk.) On Clay. On Clay.

Per Centage of Ash . Loe) ef 2°25 2°3

OBO See 7/08 4°97

—S= ————————— |

——}

Silicamemeee 2s a. |-. 1°76 0°84 0:42 | 2°53 1:94 | 2°61
Phosphoric Acid . . | 24°20 | 28-85 | 28°72 | 1:31 1:23 0:49
Sulphuric Acid . . 4°70 5:85 3°05 1:85 2:26 1-40
Carbonic Acid. . . 3°18 2°12 3°42 30°33 29 03 25°32
WIMP ety Mia vet: fs, es 6 97 4°55 5°20 46:92 | 36-46 19°85
Maenesia; . 3) «) (i 6°66 6°96 6°S0 8°36 5:73 2°53
Peroxide of Iron . . 0°25 trace trace 1:14 0°73 0-61
IRPotashtes os) . .. .. | 44°02 |-41-30 51:72 3°87 12°68 S225
Sodauhe, ari ty ois 5:02 0:54 1:86 0:24 2°77
Chloride of Sodium . 8°23 4°30 : 1°76 9:66 11:54

Total . . | 99°97 | 99-99 | 99-97 | 9-93 | 99:96 | 99-97

In examining this table we are struck with the very great simi-
larity between peas and beans, more especially the specimens
grown on the same soil, They are indeed as nearly alike as the
two peas themselves. The ash of bean-straw contains more potash
than that of pea-straw.

One particular feature about beans and peas is, that neither
the grain or straw contains a notable quantity of silica. Again,
their straw contains only a very small quantity of phosphoric
acid.

The produce of beans and peas is excessively variable. The
fairest way to compare the amount of exhaustion produced by the
two crops will be perhaps to make a calculation on equal amounts
of crop. Let us suppose that the produce of an acre, in each
case, would be in grain 1 ton, which is equal to 35 bushels of
peas at 64 lbs., and 34 bushels of beans at 66 Ibs. to the bushel

(rather a high estimate). The straw in each case is taken at the

202 Analyses of Ashes of Plants.

proportion of the samples analyzed. It is not supposed that the
produce of beans and peas should be the same on the same soil,
but these numbers will serve for the foundatien of a calculation.
The following would then be their relative composition :—

TABLE 26.—Comparison of Mineral Matter in Beans and Peas—both
on Clay Soil.

One Ton | One Ton | 2989 lbs. | 2270 lbs. Entire ~} Entire
of of of of Crop Crop

Peas. Beans. | Pea-Straw.|Bean-Straw Peas. Beans.

Silicas mer) = .sroee 0°42 0:22 4-62 2°95 5:04 3°17
Phosphoric Acid . . | 14°43 16°23 2°93 0°55 17°36 15°78
Sulphuric Acid 2:93 1:62 5°38 1°58 8°31 3°20
Laie arte centers ie 2°28 2°79 86°80 | 22:25 89°08 25°00
Magnesia. «<< _« 374 3°66 13°62 | 2°85 iby A) 6°51
Peroxide of Iron . . re ae 1°74 0:69 1-74 0:69
Potashts-2 ees ee 205 27°40 30°18 | 36°96 50°93 64°35
Sodapigts ieee ee ece 4) 2 DA | 0-28 0.57 3°13 3:08 3°41
Chloride of Sodium . 2°15 So 23:00 | 13°88 25:15 13°88

Total. 2 Pageiscclesiede © | 168-8401 eaeee | 2ez8 |436 00

The difference between the beans and peas, so far as the
grain is concerned, is very trifling. Nor are the numbers for
the entire crop very dissimilar. A crop of peas will require
more lime and magnesia, but less alkali, than beans. Peas there-
fore should flourish on a light calcareous loam—beans on stiff
clay. The trifling quantity of silica removed in these crops is the
all-important point. It will be seen by reference to our last
paper (Journal, vol. vu. p. 674), that a crop of wheat is in no
other way more exhausting to the soil than in requiring a great
quantity of silica, which beans and peas do not want. Beans,
indeed, are known to be a good preparation for wheat, and they
seem to follow it with equal advantage. It appears to us that
this may be in great measure due to the alkali contained in beans.
In explaining the benefits of rotations on chemical principles, it
is usual to say that one crop may follow another with advantage
because it requires a different kind of mineral food. A plant,
that is, which contains but little alkali would best precede or
follow one that drew largely upon the soil for potash. This, no
doubt, is true, but something more may be added to it. One
crop may really not only dispense with mimeral nourishment re-
quired by another, and therefore leave it for the benefit of its suc-
cessor, but it may be active in the preparation of such food for
the following crop. This, we believe, is the case with beans in
reference to wheat or barley. A crop of beans or peas requires
nearly as much phosphoric acid, and a great deal more potash,

Analyses of Ashes of Plants. 203

than wheat; but it must be remembered that the potash of clay
soils exists in them, as silicate of potash derived from the felspar,
&e., of the disintegrated granitic rocks, to which the clay owes its
origin. ‘The silicate of potash, in felspar, is composed of silica
and potash in tolerably equal quantity; but a crop of wheat takes
off 83 parts of silica for every 14 parts of potash, so that, to ob-
tain all the silica it requires, it liberates more potash than it has
any need of. A crop of beans just reverses this process. It re-
moves from the soil 70 parts of alkali for every 5 parts of silica.
It is then almost indifferent which of the plants comes first. The
one which follows in the rotation finds potash (if it be beans), or
silica (if wheat), ready prepared for it. We venture to suggest
that this may in great part be the reason why wheat and beans
follow each other without either appearing to suffer from ex-
haustion produced by the crop preceding it.

It will be seen that weight for weight beans require more potash
both in the straw and grain. ‘This is partly perhaps the reason
that they thrive on stiffer land than is necessary for peas.

On the Methods of supplying the Mineral Matters for the
Root Crops.

We have no intention of discussing under this head the different
methods of raising crops of roots by artificial manures: such a
subject belongs more to a treatise on manures than to the present
report. Itis only here necessary to allude to the quantities of
different compounds which must be added to the soil if we wish
to furnish the crop artificially with all the substances it requires.

Let us suppose, then, that we have a soil “at zero” (so to
speak) in mineral constitution,—in other words, that it is so poor
as regards phosphoric acid, sulphuric acid, magnesia, and the
alkalies that we could not depend upon it to supply any portion
of these bodies to the growing plant. ‘T’his is a purely supposi-
tious case, for it may well be doubted whether such a soil exists
on the face of the earth ; but it will serve to illustrate our meaning.
Let us imagine, then, that we have to provide on a soil so barren
as this for the growth of a crop of turnips, mangold-wurzel, or
carrots, and that we seek to raise a large crop of either of these
roots, say 20 tons of clean bulb; the question is, ‘‘ What mineral
matters must we add to the soil to supply the requisite food for
the expected crop?” It is not necessary here to repeat the argu-
ments by which we have arrived at the conclusion that the plant
requires these inorganic matters, and will not grow without
them. This is taken for granted.

Twenty tons of bulbs and four tons of tops will require the
following quantities of the different mineral matters :—

204 Analyses of Ashes of Plants.

Turnips. Mangold-Wurzel. | Carrots.

Phosphoric acid . . 45 lbs. 21 Ibs. 39 lbs.
Sulphuric acid: , .' 30 5; Da 5h
abrme’: og thee PSB OO haa De ia ie ie hale
Magnesia. Gem ieus- 14 D2 s. 29 ,,
Potashiawe, ade” uk, TOR 1335; 134 ,,
Soda Maree enean et OOMeN OPS 108 ,,
Chloride of sodium . 57 ,, 160.755 een

Now it is to be observed that, in the present favourite method
of manuring with bones dissolved in sulphuric acid, we make
provision for the three first substances. Recent bones contain,
in round numbers, half their weight of phosphate of lime, which
phosphate of lime consists of nearly equal weights of phosphoric
acid and lime. Bones, then, contain one-fourth of their weight
of phosphoric acid. To supply the 45 lbs. required by a crop of
turnips we must not employ less than 2 cwt. of bones, leaving one-
eighth of this quantity for loss. If the bones be dissolved in sul-
phuric acid (one-half their weight being employed), abundance
of this latter substance will be introduced into the soil; and the
lime of the bones, although not sufficient for the crop, will per-
haps be an adequate addition, considering the prevalence of this
earth in most cultivated soils.

But when bones and sulphuric acid are alone used, where is
the plant to obtain its magnesia and its alkalies? Certainly not
from the bones, for although soda and magnesia do exist in bones,
it is in very small quantity. Following out our supposition of a
barren soil, we must add about 2 ewt. of pearl-ash, three-quar-
ters of a cwt. of Epsom salts, and (trusting to common salt to
supply soda) 1 ewt. of common salt.

These are the quantities required for a crop of turnips. A
crop of beet will require only half the bones and acid, the same
quantity of pearl-ash as turnips, and twice as much common salt
and Epsom salts. Twenty tons of carrots and their leaves will
require the same quantity of bones and acid and pearl-ash, and
twice as much Epsom salts and common salt as turnips.

Now, it is to be understood that we are speaking of the addi-
tions that must be made to soils haying no available resources of
their own. It is anything but our intention to recommend such
methods as these, which would entail a considerable expense,
and would in many cases be needless. We, however, think that
sufficient attention has not been paid to the constitution of the
manures used in the turnip culture.

It is to be remembered that a turnip-soil is not that which
should supply the plant most freely with potash or soda, for these
alkalies most abound in the stiff clays which are not suitable to
the turnip; it is to no purpose that we feed a plant liberally with

Analyses of Ashes of Plants. 205

one element necessary for its growth if it is denied another
equally indispensable ; and it may sometimes happen that the
application of a smaller quantity of bones and sulphuric acid,
accompanied by some alkaline body and magnesia, inight, at the
same expense, prove more effectual than the bones and acid
alone, although in Jarger quantity.

Upon these grounds we would avail ourselves of the oppor-
tunity at present afforded us of inviting the members of this
Society to make a trial of some such composition as the fol-
lowing :—

2 cwt. of bones (unburnt).
1 cwt. of sulphuric acid.

1 cwt. of pearl-ash.

3 cwt. of Epsom salts; and
3 cwt. of common salt.

The bones should be dissolved in the acid diluted with an
equal bulk of water, and, after standing some hours, the pearl-
ash, and Epsom salts, and common salt should be added.

This compound might be mixed with ashes, and drilled with
the seed, or it might (previously mixed with ashes or dry soil)
be applied as a top-dressing to the crop upon the appearance of
the seed-leaf. It should be tried in the above proportion per acre,
and in half that quantity.

We repeat this is only suggested for experiment.* It would
appear wiser as a general rule to employ bones and sulphuric
acid in connexion with a moderate application of farm-manure.
Practice and theory are equally in favour of this plan.

The vegetable matter and ammoniacal salts of the manure
force the plants rapidly into rough leaf, enabling it to defy its
natural enemy—the fly; whilst the bones afford a lasting supply
of nourishment, organic and inorganic, during the whole period
of its growth.

Where farm-yard manure is employed there can be no de-
ficiency of the alkalies and magnesia, and therefore no further
necessity for their addition ; and it is certain that a combination
of the two classes of manures—a moderate dose of farm-yard
dung with a moderate dose of bones and sulphuric acid—gives
better results than a larger use of either alone.

It may be useful to recapitulate the principal points in the
present report :—

Proportion of bulb to top in turnips very variable.

Autumn-planted turnips appear to have much top.

* It might not be too late, even this season, to improve the crop of the
later varieties by this manure. Any results so obtained would be very
acceptable (no doubt) to the Agricultural Society. (Written June 19.)

206 Analyses of Ashes of Plants.

ee of producing an early and full development of the
eaf,

Proportion of water in the bulbs and tops very variable.

Value of the crop influenced thereby. :

Very small deviation in the per centage of water alters ma-
terially the value of the crop in feeding properties.

Ten tons of one crop may contain as much solid food as twenty
tons of another.

Necessity of ascertaining dry weight of each crop in all com-
parative experiments on the growth of roots by artificial manures.

Artificial manures may sometimes increase the weight without
increasing the value, the excess being water.

Correction easily made in such experiments.

Per centage of mineral matter in the bulbs and tops of DuEDIps
very variable.

But on the whole plant more constant.

A given quantity of mineral matter distributed unequally
through the bulbs and tops.

This circumstance regulated by the age of the plants.

No mineral distinction between turnips, swedes and hybrids.

The variations in the quantity of ash due to the large proportion
of water.

Greater diversity in composition in the ash of Le top than in
the bulb.

Soda appears to replace potash in the root-crops.

Chloride of potassium present in the leaves of the turnip, not in
the bulb.

Quantity of each Ingredient more uniform on the whole crop than
in the tops or bulbs.

Experiments made upon the grounds of the constancy of compo-
sition must be made on the whole plant.

The ash in mangold-wurzel quite as variable as in turnips.

Large quantity of common salt both in turnips and beet—more
in the latter.

More common salt in the leaves than in the bulb.

Beet and even turnips given alone may from the common salt be
prejudicial to lambing ewes and cows. Removed by steaming.

Ash of the white Belgian carrot very similar to that of turnips.

Large crops of carrots raised without manure because of their
penetrating roots.

Might be a better fallow crop than turnips.

Jerusalem artichokes contain much phosphoric acid and alkalies;
and yet grow on poor soil without manure.

Beans and peas contain little silica, either in the grain or stra.
The mineral matter uy the grain of beans and peas almost iden-
. tical. 7

Analyses of Ashes of Plants. 207

Very little phosphoric acid in the straw of beans or peas.

The entire plant of peas requires most lime, of beans most
potash.

Beans should flourish on a stiff clay—peas on a calcareous

loam.

Beans may with advantage precede or follow wheat, by liberat-
ing silica and appropriating potash.

Bones and sulphuric acid should not be used alone for turnips
on light land.

Pearl-ash (or wood ashes) and Epsom salts might be ¢rzed with
bones and acid.

Safest plan perhaps to use artificial manures in conjunction with
farm-. yard manure for root crops.

Ir has been represented to us, that it would be satisfactory to scien-
tific men perusing the Journal, to know the methods of analysis
employed; they are therefore here published as shortly as pos-
sible.*

Estimation of the water.—The grain of wheat, &c., entire—turnip
bulbs and leaves, &c. cut up into small pieces, dried at about 150° or
160° Fahrenheit for a fortnight; weighed, dried again for another week
or fortnight ; drying completed in water bath (at 212°) till they ceased
to lose weight.

Per centage of Ash.—100 or 200 grs. of wheat, barley, &c., from
60 to 80 grs. of dry turnip, &c., burnt in a small platinum dish (watch-
glass shape) over air-flame of gas—burning continued with wheat, &c.,
till ash quite white. With ashes that fuse but yet contain little silica
burning stopped before fusion begins; ash weighed treated with dilute
hydrochloric acid ; charcoal (seldom 1-10th ofa grain) collected, washed,
weighed, and deducted. In all specimens burnt for analysis, the esti-
mation checked by the larger quantity.

Burning of the Ash for analysis.—4000 to 6000 ers. wheat, barley,
carefully cleansed, &c., 1000 to 2000 ers. dry turnip, &e., burnt in large
platinum dish over a Black’ s furnace, supported in the opening at the
top by a solid iron ring; temperature never exceeding dull redness; per-
fect access of air; the ‘dish being 8 or 9 inches broad, and 13 inch deep
only ; ash stirred when necessary with thick platinum wire ; burning dis-
continued so soon as the charcoal ceased to glow at a dull red heat : ash
examined in case of any trace of foreign matter having been overlooked,
powdered, dried, and weighed.

Analysis of the ash.—15 to 25 grains of sath heated with water and
small quantity of nitric acid, filtered, precipitated by nitrate of silver

* The above description will be of no value to any one not perfectly
conversant with such subjects. We have been unwilling to cumber the
pages of the Journal with such matter, but it is a requirement of scientific
investigation which is never dispensed with. Want of time alone pre-
vented its introduction in the first report.

208 Analyses of Ashes of Plants.

for chlorine; the excess of silver removed by hydrochloric acid; sul-
phuric acid thrown down by chloride of barium.

15 or 20 grains analysed for carbonic acid in the usual apparatus.

If the ash be silicious, or contain much charcoal—40 or 50 grains of
ash mixed with its own weight of finely powdered pure and dry nitrate
of barytes; mixture thrown by platinum-knife by small portions into
large platinum crucible gently heated by a spirit-lamp; gentle deflagra-
tion occurs without loss; ash becomes quite white, and easily decom-
posed by acids; treated with hydrochloric acid, evaporated to dryness,
the silica separated as usual. Correction made for sulphate of barytes
present ; silica dissolved by boiling for half an hour with caustic potash,
filtered ; loss of weight ascertained. Silica again separated by acid and
evaporation. A certain measure of the liquid precipitated successively
by caustic, barytes, and carbonate of ammonia, with caustic ammonia-—
evaporated to dryness, residue ignited, weighed, dissolved in little water
and treated with chloride of platinum and liquid evaporated to dryness
in water-bath ; alcohol (containing a little ether) added; salt collected,
washed with same liquid—dried at 212°.

The remainder of the liquid precipitated by slight excess of dilute
sulphuric acid; sulphate of barytes ccllected and weighed ; it always
contains some sulphate of lime, which admits of calculation from the
quantity of nitrate of barytes employed. One portion of the filtered
liquid nearly neutralized by ammonia—acctate of ammonia added—
warmed, and the phosphate of iron collected. Lime precipitated by
neutral oxalate of ammonia; magnesia by phosphate of soda and am-
monia; to the lime is to be added that present in the sulphate of
barytes.

A second portion of the liquid filtered from the sulphate of barytes
nearly neutralized by ammonia; acetate of ammonia and free acetic
acid added; a solution of perchloride of iron of known strength added
from a delicate alkalimeter till the liquid is decidedly red—boiled till
the precipitate has separated, filtered; ammonia added to the filtered
liquid will throw down phosphate of lime if phosphoric acid has escaped
(in which case more iron must be added), or peroxide of iron with a little
phosphate of iron, if iron has come through. This latter, which is
always small in quantity, must be collected on a separate filter; but nei-
ther occurrence need be feared, if there be not too great an excess of
iron, if plenty of acetate of ammonia is used and the solution be well
boiled. ‘The peroxide of iron present in the ash, and that added, being
deducted from the whole weight of the precipitate, the phosphoric acid
is the remainder.

With ashes containing but little silica or charcoal the same method
adopted, but without deflagration by nitrate of barytes.

(This method of burning and of analyzing the ash gives accu-
rate results. We have made a series of experiments upon the
liability to loss either in burning or in the subsequent analysis,
and the results are perfectly satisfactory—they will shortiy be
published through some chemical medium.)

—_—]—_——

209 )

IX.—On the Cultivation of Field-beet (Mangold-wurzel).
By Grorce EpmunpD Rayneirp.

Priztk Essay.

Tue farmers of Scotland and the north of England are proverb-
ially famous for the superior management of the turnip crop ;
they often astonish their brethren who reside in the dry southern
or eastern counties with reports of crops, the weight of which it
would be vain for those to attempt to equal who live in a less fa-
vourable climate for the luxuriant growth of the turnip crop. ‘The
turnip, whether swede, white, or hybrid, succeeds best in a humid
climate, and hence some of the superiority of our northern bre-
thren; but though we are obliged to confess that we cannot equal
them in turnip cultivation, yet in the cultivation of beet the
farmers of the south, particularly those of the eastern counties,
will challenge competition with not only the north, but with the
whole of England. Beet, unlike the turnip, grows to the greatest
perfection where the climate is dry and warm, and therefore we
must not attribute all the merit of our large crops to superior
management, but rather to the genial climate, which is so favour-
able to this root.

A wild and worthless variety of beet grows naturally on the
sandy shores of the sea; and it is found that beet flourishes with
luxuriance in the country closely adjoining the coast.

Having thus briefly considered the climate most favourable to
the growth of the subject of our inquiries, we shall proceed to
describe—

1. The Soils best adapted for Beet.

It will be found, like most other plants, to produce the greatest
bulk ona rich loamy soil that is neither too retentive nor too loose in
its texture; it is not, however, at all peculiar to a particular soil.
Tt will flourish on retentive clays that are unsuited to the growth
of the turnip, better than it does on very light siliceous soils that
are more favourable to the turnip and carrot. On _ peaty
land, it is grown with much better chances of a good crop than
the turnip; and it succeeds pretty well on stonebrash.

The soils which may be considered adapted for beet are— |

Rich loam.

Clayey loam.

Loamy sands and gravels, or mixed soils.

Good peat or alluvial soil.

Sandy soils in the neighbourhood of the sea.

Calcareous soils that do not contain too great a proportion
of lime;

VOL, VIIT. P

Co Or GO ee

210 Cultivation of Beet.

And stonebrash that has a good depth of soil—say six or
eight inches above the rock.
7. Fresh broken- -up pasture of almost any deeeati ex-
cepting down or very light land.

- Those which are not suited for the growth of beet are—

1. Light sands and grayels.
2. Chalk.
3. Very stiff clay.

2. The preparation of the Land for Beet.
3. Manuring.
4. Time and mode of sowing.

Like other roots, mangold-wurzel succeeds best with deep cul-
tivation, and where it can be practised, the subsoil-plough should
be used, but there is land which cannot be subsoiled, and yet
produces excellent crops: for instance, the land dr ained with
shallow earth-drains, as in Essex, Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire,
and Suffolk, the drains would be injured by the double ploughing,
and hence on these soils a deep ploughing can only be given.
On the stonebrash soils, subsoiling cannot be practised with much
effect, as the share comes in contact with the hard rock; in all
probability, there is not much benefit derived from breaking up
the rocky subsoil too much at once, as roots of plants readily find
a way through the many interstices that occur in the shattered
subsoil. The peat soils are generally of so light a texture that
no advantage could be expected from subsoiling, as it would give
a still looser texture, which it- ought to be the endeavour of the
farmer to consolidate. On land with a retentive subsoil, and
where deep draining is practised, subsoiling will be useful, as
affording a greater depth of soil for the roots to derive food from,
which, if not broken through, would in all probability hinder
their downward progress. On gravelly and sandy land the deep
ploughing will give a greater depth of soil, the advantage of
which will be, that the roots will strike in deeper in search of
nutriment, and consequently will be further from the surface, and
less liable to feel the effects of drought; for it is a well-known
fact, that a deeply-pulverised soil retains and attracts moisture
during dry weather much better than a solid unbroken soil. As
a general rule, beet is grown as a fallow crop after wheat or oats,
and followed by barley or wheat.

We shall first consider the preparation of light land that does
not require draining for beet; not that we consider that this de-
scription of soil is more fayourable to its growth than any other,
for it is on rich loams and clays that beet is of such peculiar value

Cultivation of Beet. 211

to the farmer, from its early removal from the soil.. On whatever
soil, we would recommend the practice of mowing, bagging, or
reaping very low the wheat that grows on the land intended for
beet; for, by adopting the practice of cutting low, we take time
by the forelock. The preparation of the land may begin imme-
diately the wheat shocks are removed, instead of having to wait
for the slow process of mowing and raking the stubble, which is
often left in such quantities. The early period in the spring at
which the seed requires to be planted, demands an early prepara-
tion of the land in the previous autumn. If we delay the process
of cleaning the land for a week or two after harvest has been com-
pleted, we may perhaps be obliged, from unfavourable weather,
to put it off till the spring, and then in all probability the land
will work unfavourably, and the sowing be deferred altogether,
and turnips take the place of beet, or the seed will be planted on
land part cloddy, and the other part held together by couch-
grass. If the stubble is very clean, it will merely require common
ploughing, and the early cultivation will be less important; but
when the land is overrun with couch and other weeds, which is
too frequently the case after the wheat crop, the cleaning should
commence as soon.after the wheat is off as possible: this is
effected by breaking up the land with the skeleton-plough,
or scarifier, the land harrowed and rolled, and then scarified,
across the first time; or the skim-ploughing, the rolling, and
harrowing is repeated, and the rubbish collected by the harrows
in rows is removed from the land: if the land works very fine,
and the quantity of weeds considerable, they will be most effec-
tually removed by hand-raking, and afterwards picking up the
small pieces of couch. As soon as the rubbish is all removed,
and the weather and other more important operations will allow—
this may be about Christmas—the land is ploughed in 3-rod
lands, a subsoil plough following the common plough, stirring the
soil from 12 to 16 inches in depth. The subsoil-plough is drawn
by 3 horses, yoked to a steelyard whippletree: the horses in the
common plough walk on the land, and not in the furrow which
has been stirred by the subsoil-plough. The furrows of the land
are ploughed with horses at length in both ploughs, so that the
trampling of the horses on the fresh ploughed land is prevented:
in this manner the land lies light and pulverised for the action of
the weather during the winter, and requires no more preparation
till the time approaches for ridging and planting the seed, when
it will require nothing further than a slight scarifying, and har-
rowing and rolling. When from some cause or other the land
cannot be ploughed till the spring, the subsoiling is perhaps best
left out; as it gives a locseness and hollowness to the soil, which
requires in some measure to be rectified by exposure to the ele-
Pp 2

212 Cultivation of Beet.

ments. The land is therefore common-ploughed to a sufficient
depth in seasonable weather, and harrowed and rolled immediately
after the plough, so as to give a fine surface before the land has
time to harden into clods: this is repeated till a sufficient depth
of mould is secured for ridging. Farm-yard manure is mosily
applied for mangold, though a dressing of part dung and part
artificial manure, such as guano, drilled in with the seed, 1s,
frequently used, and is perhaps better than dung alone, though
for mangold it is better to depend on farm-yard dung alone, than
it is on artificial manure. Unprepared manure is very frequently
used, though there is some difficulty in covering it in; it is,
therefore, advisable that the dung should have some slight pre-
paration. With this intention, it is removed from the yards
during winter, and laid on a bottom of heavy soil in the field
intended for beet, the carts being drawn across the heap to con-
solidate it, and by that means prevent loss from excessive fer-
mentation: a short time before applying the manure to the land,
it is well mixed by turning ; so that at the time of carting it is so
far advanced in decomposition, as to force the young plants into
a rapid growth. The time for sowing is April and the beginning
of May; the time varying, of course, with thé state of the weather
and land. In commencing ridging and manuring, the following
is the plan of operations—the great object being to cover the
manure before it becomes wasted by evaporation, and to drill the
seed before the land gets dry on the surface :—Three acres are
ridged, manured, the manure covered in, the ridge rolled, and the
seed drilled in, and then rolled again. To effect this, one man
is employed drawing out the ridges at 27 inches, with a double
mould-board plough drawn by a pair of horses; and another man
with a similar plough splitting the ridges to cover the manure.
About 14 two- horse loads of dung are applied per acre; and to
manure 3 acres, it will require 3 carts and 5 horses, the manure
heap being conveniently placed in the field—viz. 1 cart filling at
hill, | cart going and returning to the hill, and 1 unloading; 3
men filling manure, 2 boys driving, 2 men throwing off the manure
from the cart, and 4 or 5 women or boys spreading the dung in
the ridges. ‘The manure is spread by the 2 men, one standing
on each side of the cart over 5 ridges, or rather 5 furrows, the
horses being kept at a slow walking pace, by a boy who rides the
shaft-horse. As soon as spread from the cart, the boys and wo-
men divide and shake the manure with forks evenly at the
bottom of the furrows, and the plough follows closely upon them
to cover in the dung before the gaseous parts fly off altogether,
and the liquid becomes wasted by evaporation. After the ridges
have lain exposed to the air a short time, they are rolled with a
fight roller, and the seed drilled, from 4 to 5 Ibe., according to its

Cultivation of Beet. 213

quality, with a one-horse drill (which sows 3 acres in about 2
hours), the coulters of which have universal joints, so that they
will admit of both lateral and perpendicular motion ; the coulters,
three in number, being fitted with handles, are steered by a man
and a boy. By this means the drills are kept exactly on the top
of the ridge (which would not be the case if the coulters were
fixed), and at equal distance from each other. This is important,
because the horse-hoe has to work between the rows. ‘The depth
at which the seed is deposited is thus regulated with great exact-
ness, for the person steering has nothing to do but elevate or de-
press his hand as the soil varies in solidity, and by that means
secure a uniform depth, which is essential in sowing beet, be-
cause, if planted very deep, the seed does not vegetate, and, if very
shallow, it does not grow if dry weather follow: as a general
rule, we drill beet-seed rather deeper than swedes. The light
roller is again used after the drill. The whole of the manure
(with the exception of about five ridges for the plough to begin
on next morning) being ploughed, and the seed drilled on all the
finished ridges, will complete the day’s work. When artificial
manure is used in addition to the dung, it is either spread by
hand on the dung in the ridges, or a manure-drill is employed,
but the spreading by hand is to be preferred.

Subsoiling will also in some measure apply to deep-drained
retentive soils, but on all close and adhesive soils, injury is done
by spring-ploughing, for at that season of the year the land either
ploughs up in clods, or adheres ‘o the plough; the autumn-
ploughing and manuring is therefore to be recommended. ‘This
is beginning to be adopted by some farmers in the eastern counties.
The land is ploughed up as soon as possible after harvest, and
between that time and Christmas it is ploughed into ridges about
thirty inches in width (two ridges are covered by the cart wheels),
the common single-breasted plough being used ; the Jand is now
manured with from 14 to 20 loads (14 cubic yard) of farm-yard
dung ; this is covered in by splitting the ridges; nothing more is
done in the way of preparation, for nature effects more in the
pulverization of the soil, by the alternate frosts and thaws of
winter, so as to afford a fine surface for the vegetation of the seed,
than can be produced by the artificial means of ploughing and
harrowing: by ploughing a retentive soil early in the spring, we
plough down that fine surface-mould produced by the weather,
which is so essential to the securing a good plant, and bring up
in return a mass of clods, which frequently defy our utmost
endeavours to pulverize: the carting farm-yard dung on heavy
land during the spring is also injurious from the treading of the
horses and cutting of the wheels: during the autumn and winter,
dry and frosty weather can be chosen for manure-cartng.

214 Cultivation of Beet.

Two contrary systems of management are thus advocated on
different soils. On light land, the manure being applied imme-
diately before the seed is sown, is attended with great advantage ;
on heavy and retentive land this system cannot be adopted with
any certainty, on account of the difficulty attending the cultivation
of the land. It may be alleged that it is a waste of manure to
cover it in the soil some months previously to the sowing of the
seed. ‘There is some truth in this remark, but it is only appli-
cable to light lands, in which manure decomposes rapidly, and
where there is no difficulty in obtaining a fine and garden-like
surface ; but the main point in the cultivation of roots on a heavy
soil is a pulverized seed-bed. If weeds spring up on the land that
has been ridged and manured during the winter, they may be de-
stroyed by harrowing or scarifying, taking care not to go deep
enough to bring the manure on the surface. If considered neces-
sary, a light double mould-board plough drawn between the ridges
will restore them to their former shape: and they will be ready
for rolling down with a light roller, either for drilling or dibbling
the seed.

We have mentioned only the ridge preparation; but the system
of autumn preparation and manuring is equally applicable to
drilling on the stetch or flat. Many beet growers, who pursue
the practice of ploughing-in the manure in the spring, prefer
growing on the flat, as they are more likely to secure a plant on a
cloddy flat surface than they are on a ridge of clods; the manure
is also more equally distributed over the land than on the ridge,
consequently the following crop will derive an equal benefit from
it. The latter is not much drawback to the ridge system, as the
manure will be mixed by ploughing across the ridges for the suc-
ceeding crop. We have mentioned the manner of sowing beet on
hight or mixed soil, and this will refer also to strong land, Though
generally in this neighbourhood dibbling is practised on strong
land, this is done with the common iron dibble, with which a man,
with a boy drepping, will do an acre in a day. Farmers in various
parts of the country use a single or double wheel, with dibs fixed
on the circumference, and others a flat frame of wood, with a
number of dibs; but, though these methods facilitate the opera-
tion, yet they are all deficient in the twist of the wrist given by
the man with his dibbling iron, by which the hole is prevented
from filling up directly it is made.* Many recommend steeping
the seed before it is planted; but perhaps the only case in which
it can be adopted with propriety, 1s when circumstances prevent
the seed being sown at a seasonable time, as the growth of the

* By using a drop-drill, or a larger dibber for making the holes, arti-
ficial manure may be deposited economically beneath the seed. 3

Cultivation of Beet. 215

seed may be forwarded a few days by steeping, especially if rain
follows the planting; but if seed which has partially vegetated be
sown in dry soil, or dry weather follows the sowing, the chances
are that the vegetation, which has been artificially commenced in
the seed, will be destroyed altogether. Another great objection
to the use of steeped seed is, that it cannot be delivered from the
drill with any regularity unless it is first dried, which will impair
the germination which has commenced.

The following is buta garden experiment, and therefore very
little dependence is to be placed upon it, though it was made with

a view of testing the practice of steeping on the vegetation of
seed :— ae i

Red mangold seed planted April 22, 1845, each quantity at an inch
ere deep.
April 30th.
30 seeds, steeped in Campbell’s steep for 64 hours 3 plants up.
30 seeds, for 14 hours in a solution of nitrate of soda 5 do.
30 seeds, for 14 hours in water 4 - 6 do. forwardest.
30 dry seeds ; ; é : . 10 do up.

In favourable weather mangold seed will make its appearance
above ground in 8 or 10 days. A small quantity of swede seed is
sometimes drilled along with, or directly after the mangold seed:
this is done to fill up any blanks that may occur. But the swedes
generally take the lead; and, by their growing more rapidly, pre-
vent the young plants of beet being seen by the man who hoes
the crop. This may be partially obviated when the seed is dibbled,
by dibbling the mangold at intervals of about 14 inches, and the
swedes between the mangold seed.

Farmers who imagine that the removal of the whole crop of
beet is injurious to the land leave one-fourth of the ridges to. be
planted with turnips, to be fed off with the leaves of the beet after
the roots have been carted off. This may be practised with
advantage on light soil suitable for folding sheep ; though on stiff
land that is injured by folding, we would recommend the land to
be planted only with mangold seed, as that will be the most likely
means of securing a crop; and should blanks occur, the best plan
of filling these up will be after the first hoeing, with transplanted
swedes, cabbages, or with beet, though the latter, when trans-
planted, run much to top, and seldom grow to a large size.
Swedes transplanted in wet weather never fail of growing to a
good size. As soon as. the mangold are well up, the horse-hoe,
skim, or common plough with a broad share drawn by one horse,
is used between the rows. Three acres can be done im a day, at
a cost of about Is. 6d. per acre. |

After this the plants are set out with the ‘hoe, the distance
varying from 14 to 18 inches, according to the richness of the

216 Cultivation of Beet.

soil; the ridges are well pulled down by the hoe; women and
children carefully look over the plants, singling all those left
double, taking care to remove the weakest.

The horse-hoeing is repeated, and, when necessary, deep hand-
hoeing is given, cutting up all the weeds, and pulling the soil
away from the roots. “The latter is particularly necessary on
strong soils, as it prevents the beet growing with too many fangs
or roots, to which beet is very liable on this description of land,
particularly if cultivated on the flat. Another hand-hoeing is
sometimes necessary, and horse-hoeing may go on till the mangold
becomes too large for the passage of the horse-implement ; for in
proportion to the pulverization of the soil will the growth of the
crop be increased, and as much benefit be derived from the pro-
duction of a valuable crop as though the land lay entirely fallow.

The following was the management for beet on a piece of
freshly broken up pasture. This was a very poor rushy pasture,
of little value, on a subsoil of sand, gravel, and clay: land broken
up in 1843, pared and burnt, the ashes spread, and land ploughed
for oats; 1844, land ploughed and peas planted ; after this crop
had been harvested the land was ploughed up, and sown with
mustard and rape fed off; 1845, about 5/. spent in draining, and
land ploughed for oats ; 1846, land clayed during winter, 40 cubic
yards per acre, at 83d. EAE Ss. 4d: During dry weather the clay
was harrowed and Tid: rolled, in order to pulverize it before
ploughing in. May 6th to 9th, ploughing the land very fleet, so
that the clay was not covered in much. May 13th, clod-rolled
and harrowed, and then began ploughing the furrows back, the
ploughs going deeper than before, thus mixing the pulverized
clay with the surface soil; land harrowed and light rolled after
the ploughs. May 20th to 22nd, ridging and drilling yellow
globe-beet, manured with 12 two-horse loads of unfermented
dung per acre, and 1? cwt. per acre of Peruvian guano, sown
in the ridges before splitting. June 2nd, mangold coming up,
though, from the dry weather, they made their appearance very
irregularly. June 20th, hoeing up weeds on the ridges; 22nd
to 30th, horse-hoeing; 25th, showery weather, transplanting man-
gold to fill up vacancies. July 10th to 24th, horse-hoeing se-
cond time. July 28th to August 4th, hand- -hoeing second time.
November 2nd to 12th, pulling and stripping leaves, carting off
with one-horse carts, and storing in adjoining field, the beet being
laid in a triangular heap, 6 feet wide at bottom and 4 feet high,
thatched with straw (44 waggon-loads), and then covered with
earth. Produce of 7 acres | rood, 252 cart-loads (about 3 of a
ton each). The whole crop was 189 tons, or about 26 tens per

acre.
The following is the cost of taking up and storing :—

Cultivation of Beet. 217

s. d 5 aia,
Pulling and stripping the leaves off 7{ acres,at 6 Operacre2 3 6
Filling into carts . . . eek wie ei OES. te
Driving away |. : : : AAA OLE ag) a Re Pale 8
Stacking roots in heap . . ° woes Cree cee) OTA)
Thatching : : : ‘ ar ris ae ee One oS
Banking up - ; ee One ee 1 OFFG
Carting with 3 ores “e days : aes: ot 0 sae os eae been! Ew
Carting and loading straw. : mt ON Geese SOee gas
Total cost : bh, OL
Cost of taking up and storing per acre . : : iO LO
Cost per ton about . : . . . . 0 0 9
Cost of crop per acre.
a se ta.
Claying, draining (permanent improvements), rent, &c. 20s) 0
Two ploughings . . : . : : Shel Ue aie
Two harrowings . . - : ° : at Orr ARO
Clod-rolling : - : : 5 ; LS ORCL
Rolling . - : - : : : = EO Oe76
Ridging : - . : : : ot 2 8 OteAgae
Drilling and eollines ° : ‘ é : Ga lia3
Carting and spreading manure . . . Og S420
Hand-hoeings . : . : . Oe L270
Horse-hoeing twice . . : ° . ae a Ola ()
Taking and storing the crop : sear OCG
12 loads farm-yard manure manure, at ds. per load 3. OF 20
13 cwt. guano . : . : (tea a 0
Total ° eee eet
Produce,
26 tons mangold, at 12s. a ton Ses lola

200 sheep folding on tops 15 days, at Ad. per week (per acre) 019 8

£1611 8}

5. Varieties of Beet.

The varieties of beet are very numerous, and doubtless num-
berless new varieties could be produced by hybridizing and other
means. Those that are most generally cultivated for feeding
cattle are the long red, the long yellow, the red and yellow globe,
and the horn- beet, which is closely allied to the long red.

Experienced beet-growers agree that the globe- heat 3 is better
suited for light land, aad that qe yellow neue may be given to
cattle earlier in the season than the red, without producing ill

ome parts; but, as we

have not had any experience in its cultivation, we decline to say

anything respecting it

in s

6

if Beet.
6. Mode and Expense of taking up the Crop.

~on O

e
a

3

Cultivat

‘How far the latter is borne out by chemical observation

we must leave scientific men to decide.
The sugar-beet is grown for cattle

218
effects.

fo

The usual time:
condition, and for their removal with the least 1

and twisting the leaves off. The cost of this,

ruled by the weather in our proceedings.
is from 5s, to 6s. pe

but the exact time cannot alwa

r

°
3

The beet

d in the rows of heaps a

ges 2, 2, 2, 2, on the row of heaps 6; the roots in the

Wi

lled and the leaves

ey are pu

?
a

four ridges, after th

F

&

stripped off, are laid in small heaps, the leaves being carefully

laid in a heap.

Cli SiN NA CNIS i

AKON

In order to do as little injury as possible in carting off the crop,

the beet on’
The following diagram will perhaps illustrate this.

growing on the ridges 1, 1, 1, 1, are lai

those on rid

eh, CA) AN: iA itrrenita res) auch! | U2 aN)
a face
Sotegss Sag
2ov,omegsgas
BE Pe aig oj Cue oe
ae Omie (Serine) ot ee ea
oa eS YS fo
7A%*congsStoed
Sa pe © 7 Aire ae
Soe a DO Se
= on cD) ro
Skat Fees Pag
ON ita Ny w gta
aaa ORT BE eSid
De Se OD 8S a4
2 Nn Qs Be Ses
Seo (Sirsa Si OQ, Sa a
i LOM oe al )
SJ CShtes S ge)
Ooo wm Ae o
oe > 8 oy els he
ra eS) ro bo & Se
ae {ok ©
cee
© 1H A cS cD) =
ee Seale, Se
Mm
fo) S
B08 BoB. gg SS
a =
> 2
682 Oras oe
~~ o op oO
Dh ice: ie fe) 3
eH ed) a Cae ae A
OSS yates
oon Cae cae
Oo q 26
aa oe ae
qo 2 S ee
Vo a8 |
cy Pea
Lo cP) wn
Bcotigee soe
pee me oS
“by (al (ae) (o)
BO ce ass
mos os Se

places women and’ boys do this work for about 4s. per acre.

Wiel AA Ulich ol
XK QQ GG QQ

Qu

)

ih

f : il
AO MATTING.

Q

Cultivation of Beet. 219

heaps c, c, &c.; and the leaves in the heaps d, d, &c. In carting
off, the horsewalks in the furrow E, the wheels covering two
ridges, and the two rows of roots a, b, are thrown into the cart.
In this manner the work proceeds expeditiously, and with as
little injury to the land by trampling as possible. The carts
should always be driven up and down the ridges, and not across
them, whether going with a load or returning empty ; because, by
adhering to this system, coniparatively small injury will be done
to the roots by carting over them, or to the soil by trampling.
The utility of laying the leaves in heaps may be questioned by
some, but a great deal may be said in favour of the practice.

The leaves, when intended to be fed either by sheep folded on
the land, or carted off and thrown out on pastures for cattle or
sheep, are always clean and fit food for cattle, which they are not
when thrown over the land and trampled on. Besides this, the
beet which has been pulled, and not carted during the day, should
always be covered the last thing before leaving for the night, and
the leaves, being laid conveniently in heaps, are used for that
purpose. Mangold standing in the ground, and protected by the
broad leaves, will stand a frost (if not very severe) without injury,
but a very slight frost will damage those roots that are pulled ;
therefore it is a wise precaution to cover up those roots that are
left at night. One-horse carts are the most convenient for carting
the crop, as will be easily discovered by those who assist in har-
vesting beet. We find that when the heap to which the roots are
carted is in the same field or field adjoining, that as many tons of
beet may be removed with three one-horse carts as with three
carts with five horses, and that with much less detriment to the
roots and land. With carts drawn by two horses there is a
loss of time in changing the trace-horse, and he is continually
doing damage to the roots, and to the soil when wet. This is not
a mere theoretical observation, but it is an opinion confirmed by
having for many years taken part in the beet harvest.

The following company of labourers may be kept at work in
storing a crop of beet, and with this arrangement the work will
proceed so that all will have equal employment; and no loss of
time will be occasioned by changing from one job to another.
Three horses will be sufficient if the mangold are stored in the
field; but if carted to a distance, the number of horses and carts
must be increased in proportion to that distance :—

6 men pulling mangold and stripping leaves.
4 boys filling into carts.

1 boy driving.

2 men stacking roots.

.1 man and a boy thatching.

220 Cultivation of Beet.

With this company upwards of 2 acres, or from 50 to 60 tons of
roots, may be carried in a day.

A crop of beet of about 20 tons per acre (not including top)
will cost to take up and store on an ayerage—

Day wages being 10s. per week. s. d. £6:
Pulling and stripping leaves . 4 Oto 0 6 O
Filling into carts . p of LOR OG
Driving (boys) . ° ., 0 ..6.5,, 0220s
Stacking roots in heaps ol 108, Ono
Thatching with straw. NO 5S On ale
Earthing up . : oi 3° 6 5, 0 ae 0

Manual labour . 1210, 016 6
Horse labour at 2s. 6d. per day 3 0,, 0 4 O
Carting and loading straw . O 5, nO BOY

ee

Total : « 16) 4) cele
Or from 9d. to 12d. a ton.

A bad crop will cost considerably more per ton to take up and
store than a good crop. If the roots are carted some distance
and stored where they are to be consumed, the cost will of course
be increased by the additional horse-labour required. When
intended for feeding cattle, it is perhaps the best plan to
store the roots as conveniently as possible for the cattle-sheds.
In a wet season the removal of a crop of beet from a retentive soil
is frequently injurious by the necessary treading in carrying the
crop: in extreme cases this may be entirely obviated by removing
the crop by manual labour ; and though the soil in our immediate
neighbourhood is not of that retentive nature, yet those who farm
wet land have occasionally recourse to the carrying the crop to
heaps at the side of the field in baskets or wheeling in barrows ;
and find that the cost does not greatly exceed the carrying the
crop with carts. Planks to wheel upon would facilitate the
operation.

7. Mode of Storing.

The plan of storing, almost universally adopted in this part of
the country, is that of laying the roots in a heap on a headland, or
side of a field, and covering first with straw or stubble, and then
with earth. The best size for a heap is about 6 feet wide and
4 feet high. ‘The annexed diagram shows a section of the heap.
The loads of mangold are backed close against the heap and then
kicked up, what remain in the cart are thrown out by a boy ; and
two men stand on each side of the hinder part of the cart, and
stack the roots in a regular manner at the outside of the heap (as
shown in the drawing). In this manner the heap is made till the

whole crop is laid up. We generally have a heap from 30 to

Cultivation of Beet. 221

39 perches long. As the heap is made it is thatched with straw
about | foot in thickness, and in a few days mould from the
trenches 5b is dug and placed over the heap, leaving the straw
exposed on the top of the ridge; to prevent heating, some place
faggots to serve as chimneys or ventilators; but these are not
required if the ridge be left open.

The trenches b b keep the bottom of the heap dry, and are
filled up when the moulds are thrown off. Some farmers take
the precaution of throwing another coat of straw or haulm over the
earth; but this is not necessary if the first layer of straw is
moderately thick. Mangold are best stored as dry and clean as
possible, and to remove the soil from the roots they are gently
knocked together by the persons who fill the carts; but if laid up
wet and preserved from the frost there is no fear of their not
keeping sound through the winter. The greatest danger is in the
spring, when the roots will sometimes grow and heat, and rapidly
become rotten. To prevent this the mould should be removed
entirely from the heap in the spring when it is no longer re-
quired to keep out the frost: this will prevent heating, and the
roots will keep sound through the summer. Some look the heap
over, picking out the decayed roots (if any), and rubbing off the
shoots, and then cover up again, or remove to a barn or outhouse.

There are many other modes of storing beet which answer the
purpose very well, but we question if there is any practice so
advantageous for a large quantity as that described above. To
cover two or three hundred tons of beet with straw only, laid on
sufficiently thick to keep out the frost, would require an immense
quantity of straw. Some of the other methods are to lay the beet
against a wall, and then thatch with straw; or to stack the beet
within hurdles and cover with straw. ‘The hurdles are double and
stuffed with straw.

On stiff land mangold leaves are best ploughed in for manure,
but on land benefited by folding they are certainly best fed off

923. Cultivation of Beet.

with sheep on the land; mangold leaves from their succulent
texture have a purging effect on sheep if given alone; but as before
said, if swedes are transplanted to fill up the vacancies in the
crop, and then fed off with the mangold leaves, they will act as a
corrective ; of course chaff or hay should be given in addition.
Barley or wheat follows the beet crop; the latter is to be pre-
ferred in a favourable season, and it will be found that if the
quantity should not quite equal that grown after clover, yet the
quality of the grain will be above the average.

8. The description of Stock to the use of which Beet is usually
applied, and the advantages of the use of Beet as compared
with other Roots, at the particular time at which it is so applied.

The great advantage of beet over other roots, is the ease with
which it may be kept ina sound state through the winter and
spring, and, if required, through the summer, and hence its value
for spring food; no other root grown for feeding cattle is found to
equal mangold-wurzel in keeping sound after it has been removed
from the land; the carrot will keep well till late in the spring,
but it is a difficult crop to cultivate on stiff soils that produce
heavy crops of beet. Turnips and swedes, though inferior to
beet im storing, are yet superior to it for the purposes of feeding
cattle durmg autumn and winter, and for folding with sheep ;
for the latter purpose beet will never be extensively used, from its
inability to withstand frost, and from its requiring to be kept some
time before it is suitable food: for even when stored on the land
in small heaps, which is sometimes done, and then fed off, it must
drive the barley-sowing too late in the season.

Mangold has the advantage over the turnip in its freedom from
disease or injury from vermin in its young state: it is suited to
strong land on which the turnip will not succeed ; and also from
its being off the land earlier, which is of particular advantage on
wet land; and last, though not least, it is greatly superior to the
turnip for spring food.

Mangold-wurzel will supply food to cattle after the time that
turnips and swedes have been consumed till the clover and grasses
have arrived at maturity; and it may also be given with great
advantage with green food during summer.

But the great object in the growth of beet, added to its easy
cultivation, its abundant produce, and great fattening properties,
is the supply of spring food either to fat cattle, milch cows, or
sheep.

Beet is given to fat cattle after the white turnips and swedes are
consumed ; and when the cattle are getting forward in condition,
a gradual change being made from one root to another. When
given early in the season they will always be found to haye a purg-

Cultivation of Beet. 223

ing effect, and therefore if used at all should only be given in
small quantities and in conjunction with dry food; thus from the
carly frost which has set in, we have been obliged to feed our
cattle when first brought into the yards on beet; and to obviate
the purging effect in some measure, the beet is cut smali with a
slicer, and then mixed in the troughs with straw-chaff; but unless
it is from necessity beet should not be given early in the season.

The yellow varieties are used first, as these are found to be
less loosening in their effects on animals.

The quantity of beet given in a day is about 3 bushels, varying
with the size of the cattle, with an allowance of corn, cake, and
chaff,

On a light land farm beet is of great use, when given in
troughs, to fatting sheep, when first folded on grass or clover after
the turnips are consumed; and they are also useful for the same
purpose on adhesive land; but on this description of soil beet is
best given to cattle or to sheep fed in yards or sheds. To breed-
ing sheep a limited allowance may be of great benefit in March
and April, either thrown out on a dry pasture or given in troughs.
Given to cows they are found to produce an increased quantity of
milk, which will amply repay an allowance of | bushel a cow per
day; and for this purpose it is superior to the turnip or swede,
though perhaps inferior to the carrot. ‘The late Earl Spencer has
proved that mangold is at ae equal to swedes in its feeding
qualities.

The following experiment is extracted from a pamphlet on
mangold-wurzel, written by Thomas Newby of Cambridge, and
published in 1828, a book which has, perhaps, had but a local
circulation :—

**On the morning of the 18th of October two milch cows which had
calyed in the spring were selected and turned out into an oyer-eaten
pasture, and fed every morning and evening with hay only—the milk
was measured at each meal, the cream was also measured, and the
butter weighed at each churning; and the result was as follows for one
week :—

Milk : . 101 quarts
Cream : : 5k,
Butter Al lbs.

The cows remained in the same pasture another week, and were fed with
mangold-wurzel and hay, each cow having half a bushel of the root
sliced, and given to them morning and evening; the result was—

Milk - . 1380 quarts.
Cream : E olde
Butter - , 62 lbs.

The cows remained in the same pasture one week more, and were fed

224 Cultivation of Beet.

every morning and evening with hay only, as first mentioned, and the
experiment produced only—

Milk y . Of quarts:
Cream ‘ ‘ bare
Butter. : 32 Ibs.”

Mr. Newby’s work is, in all probability, the most voluminous
report on the cultivation of beet yet written; it is a compilation
from the reports of gentlemen in various parts of the country, to
whom Mr. Newby supplied seed, of what was then considered
the only genuine stock, the long red variety. He mentions that
the mangold-wurzel was first introduced into this country for
general use about the year 1786, by Thomas Boothby Parkins,
Esq., then residing at Metz in France, who sent a packet of seed
to the late Sir Richard Jebb, Bart.; and among the earliest cul-
tivators of this root were Sir William Jerningham and Sir
Mordaunt. Martin, of the county of Norfolk. Mr. Newby in-
troduced its cultivation into Cambridgeshire in 1812.

To save seed, the best-shaped roots should be selected at the
time of storing the crop, and stored separately. About the
beginning of April they may be dug in; the distance from each
root being 2 to 3feet. Care must be taken that the top of the
roots are just under the soil, for if covered in very deep, it some-
times happens that the shoots will not make their way through the
soil; and on the other hand, if the mangold protrudes far above
the surface, it will shoot at first very well, but after a time will
suffer if dry weather follow, and will be liable to be broken off
by high winds.

The seed generally ripens in September, and may be cut and
set up in shocks, and when perfectly ripe threshed in the field.

The seed will require a keeper, as birds are very fond of it; it
may be preserved in sacks hung up, to keep the mice from it.

In concluding this report, I shall only remark, that much more
might doubtless have been written on the subject; but I thought
it best, and most conformable to the regulations of the Society, to
confine myself either to what has been practised by my father
during a space of twenty-seven years (in which time he has never
failed in securing a crop), or to what I have myself seen practised
by other farmers.

Hengrave, February 24th.

X.— Turnip Manure. By E. Wacsrarre.

Untit 1844, I generally manured with 20 loads of farmyard
dung and 8 bushels of bones per Scotch acre.

In 1844, instead of the 8 bushels of bones put in the drills
on the dung, at sowing time, I did as follows :—As soon as |
could get the dung into the field, in February or March, I calcu-
lated for every Scotch acre of land, 20 loads of dung, 63 lbs. of
vitriol, and 126 lbs. of bones, either dust or mixed drill. Thus:
I procured a few old treacle or oil casks, and put them by the
side of the dung-heap,—put 189 Ibs. (19 gallons) of water into
one of the tubs, and to that 63 lbs. of vitriol :—to this mixture I
put 126 lbs. of bones—one man (or
two) to let in the bones very slowly
out of a sack, another man stirring
the contents, as the bones fall in, as
fast as he can, with an implement like what they mash malt with
in brewing.

Let this mixture stand two or three days, if a week so much the
better ; stir it every day. Then put water to it til] you think you
have as much as 20 loads of dung will contain, without its run-
ning away to waste. Turn the dung over into a well-shaped
heap (or midden), and when turning it, to every layer of turned
dung, throw on this diluted liquid with cogs or pails. Shape up
the midden neatly, and put on a good covering of earth all over
it—rather more than the usual covering.

A little practice will show how many acres can be mixed for in
each tub at one time, and before diluting this first mixture, a
certain portion of it may be put into a separate tub to be diluted,
remembering always to stir it well before lifting it into the se-
parate tub, and also before throwing it on the dung.

The proportion of the first mixture to be, in weight, 3 waters,
1 vitriol, and 2 bones—whatever quantity you may wish to use to |
anacre. A gallon of water is about 10 lbs.

Comparative cost of the old way and new—

Old way, in 1845, 20 loads of dung at 3s.6d. . . . £310 O
8 bushels, of bones, at 35. 2.4; ».. -. =. Lai 0

£4 14 90
New way, same year, 20 loads of dung, at 3s. 6d. £3 10 0
126 lbs. of bones, viz., 22 bush., at 3s. O 8 3
63 lbs. of best vitriol, at ld. 1-5th . O 6 4
—— 4 4 7
Saving peracre .) . . £0 9 5
VOL. VIII. Q

226 Turnip Manure.

and in every instance, in 1844, ’5, and ’6, my turnips have been
declared by good judges to be a guinea an acre better by the new
way than by the old; and the crops following the new process,
particularly grass, have been earlier and better than those follow-
ing the old. And in |846 I was rather short of dung, and took
off 5 loads of dung per Scotch acre, and added 104 lbs.
(24 bushels) of bones, and 52 Ibs. of vitriol,—and with this
change, which was an additional saving, the turnips maintained
their superiority, over the old way, to the full extent.

The old way, as before stated, 20 loads of dung and 8 bushels
of bones: geo ue wlertolsl wy Shee are eee te

New way, in 1846, 15 loads of dung, at3s.6d. £212 6

230 lbs., or 5 bush. bones at 3s. . O15 O

115 lbs. of vitriol, at 1d. 1-5th + (40 ZAC AG

—

oa 9 20

Saving per PCTS, Vee yee O ilo 40

With regard to labour, I consider that the dung-heap has to be
turned in the old process, and that carting the bones to the field and
sowing them on the dung in the drills, at the hurried sowing season,
is more than equal to mixing the vitriol and bone liquid, and throw-
ing it on the dung-heap at an earlier and less hurried season.

Westerton, by Huntly, March 31, 1847.

X1I—On Agricultural Chemistry. By Joun Bennet Lawes.

Ir is a matter of surprise that so little is actually known upon the
theory of agriculture. Its practice is nearly coeval with man-
kind, while as yet it scarcely exists as ascience. Ask the most
experienced farmer to explain the principles which govern the
routine he is daily in the habit of practising? Ask him to deter-
mine the value of any rotation of crops, or their comparative ex-
hausting powers? Ask him what ingredients must be restored to
the soil to keep its fertility unimpaired? or the exact manner in
which climate influences his produce? His answers will be vague
and unsatisfactory.- But these, and a thousand other questions of
a similar nature, are capable of solution by science, and they must
be answered before agriculture can be said to rest upon a satis-
factory foundation.

Independently of the money which must annually be lost in fruit-
less experiments, the disadvantages attending the want of fixed rules
in agriculture are many. Numbers of men possessing capital are
deterred from farming by the proverbial uncertainty of the profits
attending it ;.and many who follow the profession of agriculture,

On Agricultural Chemistry. 227

and have the means, will not freely embark their money on
the improvement of their farms, for want of that knowledge
which would enable them to calculate their returns with any de-
gree of certainty. Hence, too, the tenant farmer is frequently
compelled to adopt a rotation of crops entirely prejudicial to his
interest, retained only because it happened to be the custom of
our ancestors a century ago, while the same rotation is enforced
upon the farmer who expends 8/. an acre on his land, as upon
him who expends only 31.

Liebig’s work on Agricultural Chemistry, published in the
year 1840, attracted very generally the attention of British agri-
culturists. In those pages they were first made acquainted with
the important aid they were likely to obtain from the science of
chemistry applied to the cultivation of the soil. The work of
Sir Humphry Davy upon the same subject can hardly be said to
have influenced the practice of agriculture. He applied the
knowledge of chemistry, as it then existed, with his usual sagacity,
but at the period in which he wrote organic chemistry was quite
in its infancy. ‘he labours of the German and French chemists
during the last thirty years have principally been directed to the
study of organic chemistry, which owes its present important
position to the number of accurate analyses they have given to the
world. It is much to be regretted that Liebig should have
altered, in the third edition of his work, so many of the views and
opinions laid down in the first; or that a hasty visit to England,
during which (as he says in his preface) he made himself ac-
quainted with practical agriculture, should have caused him to
pronounce as valueless the experiments of Boussingault, whose
opinions are entitled to respect, as coming from one in whom
are combined the scientific chemist and the practical farmer.
Without entering into the merits of the different opinions main-
tained by these distinguished chemists, I may here observe that
many of the errors into which Liebig has fallen, have, I think,
arisen from his not sufficiently considering what agriculture really
is. Practical agriculture consists in the artificial accumulation of:
certain constituents to be employed either as food for man or other
animals, upon a space of ground incapable of suppor ting them vn rts
natural state. ‘This definition of agriculture is, I think, import-
ant, as distinguishing English agriculture at least from the system
pursued in various parts of the world, where the population is
small and the land of little value, viz. of taking only the natural
produce of the soil, without any effort to increase it, and in time
abandoning it for a soil as yet undisturbed. If Liebig had sufh-
ciently considered this distinction, he would not have assumed
that certain substances employed as manures are of little value,
because plants and trees, in their natural state, are capable of

Q 2

228 On Agricultural Chemistry.

obtaining them in sufficient quantity for their use. The great
problem to be solved with regard to manures is, what substances
is it necessary to supply to the soil in order to maintain a re-
munerative fertility? ‘The solution of this question appears easy
enough, regard being had only to the composition of the crops
removed. Practically there are, however, great difficulties attend-
ing it, which can only be entirely overcome by a long series of
careful and costly experiments. If the ash theory advanced by
Liebig, and so industriously propagated by his pupils, were
founded on truth, a careful examination of the ashes of plants, and
2 few simple calculations upon the amount of mineral substances
exported from the soil in corn, meat, &c., would at once enable
us to explain and remedy the exhaustion of our soils. The
farmer, when he sends his load of wheat to market, would bring
back the few pounds of minerals which the wheat contained, and
the return of these to the soil would enable him to produce the
same amount of wheat for the market the following year. Un-
fortunately, however, the ground-work upon which this theory is
raised is unsound, when agriculture, as distinguished from natural
vegetation, forms the subject of consideration.

Agricultural plants, which practice has shown to differ widely
from each other in their respective relations to soil, climate,
manuring, and position in rotation, possess at the same time
widely differing powers of reliance upon the atmosphere for the
constituents which it is known to supply in a greater or less de-
gree. If grain crops held the same relation to natural and arti-
ficial supply of their organic constituents, as the leguminous plants
and turnips, the farmer would not require the assistance of the
latter crops ; but since, compared with these, the grain crops are
in some important respects far more dependent upon artificial
supply to the soil of certain organic constituents, of which the
price is high and the supply laageed! it becomes necessary to
employ cer tain plants which possess the power of collecting these
ingredients from the atmosphere, and such procedure constitutes
a rotation of crops.

For some years past I have been engaged in a very extensive series
of experiments upon my farm, with a view to determine some of
the more important questions which are constantly arising in the
minds of agriculturists. It would be impossible in a paper of
this description to enter into a detail of the plan I have pursued
in conducting these experiments. Keeping in mind the motto of
the Society, ‘ Practice with science, 1 shall now merely select
those results which bear most upon practical agriculture, and
which appear to me most suitable to my present purpose. The
greater portion of these experiments, and the various points of
science connected with them, will be discussed with more pro-

On Agricultural Chemistry. 229

priety in an independent work. The views which I have adopted,
and which I shall now endeavour to explain, have arisen during
the course of these experiments; but it is very probable I shall
haye reason to modify them as the investigation proceeds.

I certainly place great reliance on the experimental results
which I possess ; every operation has been conducted under the
eye of Dr. Gilbert, a gentleman who received his scientific edu-
cation in the best British and continental laboratories, and has
applied that accuracy which modern science demands, both to the
operations of the laboratory and the field.

In the first place I shall offer some general remarks upon the
growth and nature of the common agricultural plants, and after-
wards endeayour to show the effect of manures upon them.

The crops which form a rotation belong, botanically speaking,
for the most part to the three following natural orders of plants :-—
The Graminee, containing wheat, barley, oats, rye, and ihe
grasses which constitute our natural pastures; the Leguminose,
containing beans, peas, tares, lucerne, clover, trefoil, saintfoil,
&e.; and the Crucifere, containing turnips and rape. The
Solanee, yielding the potato, and the Umbellifere, carrots and
parsnips, may also be noticed. For the purposes of agriculture,
however, a different system of classification might be adopted with
advantage, having reference to the organor part of the plant which
is the object of cultivation. In clover, tares, and pasture, we
generally require leaf and stem, which may be termed the primary
organs of plants; in the turnip we require the bulb or intermediate
organ; and in the grain crops, peas, beans, &c., the ultimate
organ, the seed.

In considering this subject it is necessary to bear in mind that
the natural aim of every plant is to produce a perfect seed, and
that, when growing ina soil and climate adapted to its special
habits and peculiarities, it produces no more of each organ than it
requires for the healthy perpetuation and reproduction of seed.
When the leaf has fulfilled its office, the nutritious fluids circu-
lating through it are withdrawn, and it decays or dries up.
These fluids enter into the stem, and, rising higher and _ higher,
are at length deposited inthe seed. Plants are therefore required
by agriculturists in two distinct conditions, one in which the
nourishment is more or less circulatory, the other in which it is
fully elaborated and deposited: in one case water constitutes
above three-fourths of the weight of the produce; in the other it
does not generally amount to one-fifth. Although the agricul-
turist possesses the means of developing the circulatory or elabo-
ratory conditions of plants by manures and mechanical operations,
climate exerts the greatest influence over them. By climate |
mean the quantity of rain that falls, the number of days on which

230 On Agricultural Chemistry.
it falls, and the temperature during the period when the plant is
actively growing or forming seed.

As the experiments to which I am about to refer were per-
formed during the seasons of 1844, 5, and 6, I wish to make a
few observations upon the climate of each season, and to show
how the general condition of the crop was influenced by it. The
temperature and fall of rain I have taken from the tables
published by the Horticultural Society at Chiswick, frem which
my farm is little more than 20 miles distant, consequently the
climate may be said to be nearly identical.

TABLE l.

‘Number of days’ Rain during 30 wks. and 4 ail Inches of Rain during 30 weeks and 4 days.

; 1844 1845 | 1846 | 1844 | 1845 1846
Apnlie ee hoe eens April 0:33 | 0:99 | 3-84
May ves Opt 10 May . 0°26 2°88 1°35
June rainy 12 Sik 2 JUNC Hee ype ee 0-98 0:64
July EE eT 21 16 July x. 7s | lee 2°16 1°60
August. . ao 46 27 aes (em August 2:00 3°32 4:82
September. .| 12 al. se2y 6 September 1°27 1°68 1°39
October . | 19 LS waleeed October . 4°19 1:48 5°50

93

10:96 | 13-49 | 19°14

Mean Temperature during 30 weeks and 4 days.

Mean Temperature above or below average.

1844 1845 | 1846

1846

April 51-1 | 48-3 47:0 April. - | 4 above |1°0 above} Average
May . 54-2 49°5 55°7 May. 4 below |1:8 above| 3 above
June 62°3 61:8 66°3 June. 2 above |0°9 below; 6}. above
July 64°3 | 62:0 64-7 July. . |1°6 above |0°9 below] 2 above
August - | 60-4 58°9 65°2 August . . /2*2below|4°6 below 2:7 above
September. .| 60-0 | 552 | 62:5 |
October . «| 50:2 | 51:2 52°7

57+5 | 55°2 | 591

The season of 1844 was remarkable for bad crops of hay,
clover, late-sown barley, and oats, very fine wheat with very short
straw, and average turnip crop. In 1845 there was abundance
of hay and clover, bad quality of wheat, abundance of straw, and
one of the largest crops of turnips ever known. In 1846 the
grass and first crops of clover were unusually abundant, wheat
was of very fine quality, straw moderate, turnips deficient. Of
course, there are plenty of exceptions to what I have stated, and

On Agricultural Chemistry. 231

these remarks do not apply to those places in which the climate
varies much from that of London; but I have given what [ believe
to be the general character of the crops within a circle of 100
miles from London.

The soil upon which my experiments were tried consists of
rather a heavy loam resting upon chalk, capable of producing
good wheat when well manured, not sufficiently heavy for beans,
but too heavy for good turnips or barley. The average produce
of wheat in the neighbourhood is said to be less than 22: bushels
per acre, wheat being grown once in five years. The rent varies
from 20s. to 26s. per acre, tithe free. ‘The fields selected for
purposes of experiment had been reduced to the lowest state of
fertility by removing a certain number of corn crops without ap-
plying any manure, and wheat and turnips were chosen for the
subjects of investigation. ‘The wheat-field consists of 14 acres,
the crops removed since it was manured barley, peas, wheat, oats.
In 1844, the first experimental wheat-crop was harvested, and the
fourth is now growing. The turnip-field had not long been
taken in hand, and was known to be in so poor a condition that it
was at once put under experiment, and in 1843 the first crop of
turnips was sown and they have been continued each year since,
the produce beg removed and weighed. ‘The wheat-field was
divided into a certain number of equal spaces, of which one has
been left unmanured and one received 14 tons of dung every
year; the remainder of the plots received different descriptions
and quantities of artificial manures.

The following table gives the climate of the three years from
the beginning of May till the end of October. I have considered
the climate as affecting the grass to be that of April and May ;
wheat-climate to commence with May and end with August;
turnip season to begin with June and end with October :—

It will be seen that the two spring months of 1844, April and
May, were unusually dry; the quantity of rain and the number
of days in which it fell were both small; the summer was hot
and dry, and the autumn moderately rainy. An entire absence
of the climate necessary for an enhanced accumulative and cir-
culating condition of plants prevented the favourable growth of
the spring crops, and a hot and dry summer favoured the depo-
siting and elaborative condition, and produced good quality of
grain. In 1845 the great number of wet days and the low tem-
perature of the summer were highly favourable to a circulatory
condition of the plant, consequently green crops of every de-
scription and straw were unusually abundant, and grain of bad
quality. In 1846 the spring was very favourable to a circulating
condition, producing luxuriant crops of grass and clover. The
month of June, when the grain was forming seed, had a tempera-

bo
OO
bo

On Agricultural Chemistry.

TABLE 2.

1€44 1845 1846

No. of Days’ Rain eye April and May (Grass

S 14 36 28
eason) .
No. of Days’ Rain Ram May to end of August--17
weeks (Grain Season) _ . Le an 48
No. of Days’ Rain from June fe ent ie October—21} 67 74 65
weeks (Turnip Season) »- « «© + © «© «© « '

Inches of Rain during April and May (Grass Seen 0°59 3°87 5°19

Inches of Rain from May to end of August—17 wee ee ; Bey :
(Grain Season) . . Deny aoe onal

Inches of Rain from June to ‘end of October—21 1 weeks}

(Turnip’Season)"4," 10°37 9°62 13°95

Mean Temperature during Api aud May (Grass

Season) . °
Mean Temperature fro May to end of August=17
1

52°6 48-9 50°5

weeks (Grain Season). . Oe 4 e371

Mean Temperature from June to end of October—2
weeks (Turnip Season) »« + e« « are

above below above

Temperature above or below average from ene! to end 0-9 ys 3-9

}| sor | 57-8 | 62-2
of August (Grain Season) . . . ia

ture 61° above the average, with only two days in which rain fell,
and produced very fine quality of grain. The inferior crops of
turnips obtained that year, notwithstanding the large total amount
of rain, arose from the almost entire absence of rain for thirty-one
successive days, twice during the season. From May 2]st to
June 2ist no rain fell, and from August 22nd to September 21st
there were only three days’ rain, amounting to less than one-
tenth of an inch.

The following table indicates the effect of climate upon the
quantity and quality of the produce of the unmanured plots of
the experimental wheat-field (during three seasons) ; the average
results of the variously manured plots are also given :—

1816,

| 184. | 1845,

Corn, per acre, in bushels, pecks, and quarters . « 16 Zoe lide diobick
Straw, per acre, in pounds. . . « +» « ¢» e 1120 2712 Fols
Weight of corn, per bushel, in pounds . . . . 583 563 632
Per centage of corn to straw (straw 1000) . . . 821 534 797
Mean of all the plots— |
Weight of corn, per bushel, in pounds . . 602 563
Per centage of corn to straw (straw 1000) . 868 499

63
765

The effect of the climate of these three seasons, as indicated
in this table, is quite in accordance with the general character of

On Agricultural Chemistry. 233

those seasons. The lowest weight of the bushel and the greatest
amount of straw were obtained in that season which had the
greatest number of rainy days and the lowest temperature; the
least amount of straw with the driest season, and the finest
quality of grain in the hottest summer. On comparing the pro-
portion of grain to straw and the weight per bushel of the corn
obtained from the unmanured space, with the average results of
the various experiments, it will be seen how much they agree one
with another, and this is the more remarkable as manures of the
most varied kinds were employed, some of which doubled the
natural production of the soil.

It is highly important that experiments should be tried in dif-
ferent parts of England, having reference to the effect of climate
upon produce. A rain gauge and a register thermometer is all
the apparatus required. If half an acre of the different crops on
a farm were carefully weighed, and the relation of corn to straw,
leaf to bulb, and the quality of grain estimated, we should ina
few years be put in possession of sufficient data to enable us to
speak with certainty upon this subject. It would then be seen
that each shower of rain and each change of temperature had an
effect upon vegetation, which, when once ascertained, might
always be calculated on. ‘The farmer would be able to make an
estimate of the quality and produce of his crops before a grain
had been removed from his field. Even with the information
obtained by a careful examination of the above table, it is hardly
to be doubted that the farmers in Scotland and in the north and
west of England can produce turnips of finer quality and at less
expense than those who dwell in the middleand south of England,
and that the farmer in the south of England can produce the best
corn. By the application of capital and skill an artificial climate
may, to a certain extent, be obtained. I shall point out some of
the means to be employed when speaking on the subject of
manures. But where equal means are employed I think a farm
upon which there are a certain number of rainy days in the
summer and autumn possess advantages in the production of
green crops over another farm upon which the average amount of
rainy days is less; and, on the contrary, where the least number
of rainy days and the highest temperature exist, corn of the best
quality can be produced. The summer of 1846, with a mean
temperature of more than three degrees above the average of the
climate of England, having produced grain, weighing 63% per
bushel, upon any soil from which seven unmanured corn crops
had been removed, proves undoubtedly that high quality of grain
to a great extent is determined by climate independently of the
action of manures. We should, therefore, expect that those
countries enjoying a hotter and drier summer than our own would

234 On Agricultural Chemistry.

produce corn of superior quality, and such, indeed, is the case. In
spite of the wretched system of agriculture which prevails in
Spain, Russia, Poland, and Sicily, the quality of their corn will
bear comparison with that which the skill and knowledge of the
British agriculturist can secure. ‘The climate of Australia com-
bines in an eminent degree the small amount of rain and the
high temperature necessary for the perfect development of corn,
and the wheats imported from that island obtain a price in the
market very much beyond those of English growth. The follow-
ing table gives the average climate of Australia compared with
that of London during the summer :—

¢

| London. | Adelaide.’

Number of days rain in four months’. 2 “%) eye. = as euan 19
at inches os = SNe ee ekg te Eee 8°49 3°88
Mean temperature - . ERED gt hele tees 60: 79 F,

Although in producing good quality of corn the farmer labours
under a disadvantage with regard to climate in England, its low
temperature and moisture are exactly suited for our turnip crops,
and the advantage which he derives from this plant more than
counterbalances the inferior quality of his grain.

We now arrive at another important question—What is meant
by quality of wheat? Does it depend upon the weight per
bushel, or specific gravity of the grain? and if so, does this spe-
cific gravity bear any relation to the per-centage of gluten and
albumen ; that is to say, to the most highly nutritive constituents
of the grain? Before entering intoa consideration of this subject
it may be as well to state the opinions generally held regarding it.
The grain is composed of a variable proportion of protem com-
pounds, gluten and albumen; and carbonaceous compounds,
comprising starch, sugar, gum, oil, &c. The protein compounds
are employed in the organism of man and other animals in form-
ing flesh, while the carbonaceous compounds supply heat and
form fat. The protein compounds being of much the greatest
importance to the animal economy, it has been generally sup-
posed that the value of different descriptions of wheat depends
upon the amount of gluten and albumen which they contain ;
that the wheats of hot climates contain a greater proportion of
these substances than our own; that for this reason the miller
purchases them at a higher price; and that by employing rich
manures the farmer is enabled to increase the per-centage of
gluten in his corn. To the agriculturist it is of little importance
that his wheat is rich in protem compounds, unless they increase
its value in the market. Now millers, who are his principal

-

On Agricultural Chemistry. 235

customers, know nothing about gluten and starch; they judge
by the eye alone, and give the highest price for that which will
yield the greatest proportion of flour. The following table de-
monstrates that the value of different samples of wheat does not
depend upon the per centage of nitrogen which they contain.*

Por Price per Qr.

according to
ROT Cn General eS BN a History of the here, eae E ates
: in Dry
Matter. | pci
; S.
1 | 1844 | Grown by Superphosphate of Lime . . . 3°03 84
2 a As No. 1, with Ammonia Salts . . . . 2°65 86
3 | 1846 | Liebig’s Patent Manure . . Sites 1-81 96
4 ate As No. 3, with Ammoniacal Sali. co cue. 1°69 92
5 - As No. 8, with Rape Cake . 1-89 88
6 ce As No. 3, with ae Cake and Ammoniacal
Saltss: <6: )s6 a ae ee a 1°88 7

7 ns Exhausted Soil, eect : . 1-95 92
8 oy Ar, »» with Ammoniacal Salts : 2°01 92
9 A Af >, with Rape-cake. . : 1:85 92
10 >, with Rape-cake and iMrae ‘
oy Sa tacal Salts |) ss a Fila ANE a a i} 1:93 92
11 a Australian, No. 1 even ce teem © treats oe 112
12 i 75 INO Ih mer aah, ELS ERS eS fe 1-94 112
13 Ae op (Noone. (vy ohfusial faa) us. dele ws) Os 2°38 112

From this table it is evident that the samples of wheat most
approved by the miller are by no means those which are richest
in nitrogen. His choice is directed to those samples which have
the character of a perfectly developed grain, small, plump, and
thin-skinned. But laying aside the evidence of experiment or
common usage, would it not be more consonant with general
principles to suppose that a class of plants proverbially character-
ized as yielding starchy seeds, and whose predominant peculiarity
it is to produce carbonaceous substances, should, in their most
perfect state of development, be rich in starch rather than in
gluten and other nitrogenous compounds? We might, indeed,
expect to find the proportion of gluten and starch vary in dif-
ferent species of wheat, and in the same species under the effect
of different climates and seasons; but the more perfectly the
grain has been developed the richer in starch and the poorer in
nitrogen it would become, and millers who prefer a perfectly
developed grain probably pay the highest price for that which

contains the most starch.

* The wheat employed as seed in these experiments was the Old Red
Lammas: nearly 2 bushels were drilled per acre. The crops of 1844 and
1846 were sown in September, and that of 1845 in March.

236 On Agricultural Chemistry.

That the gluten and albumen in wheat would increase in pro-
portion to the richness of the soil and to the amount of nitrogen
and ammonia supplied in the manure seems so reasonable a sup-
position that its correctness is admitted without dispute; and
various experiments have been tried which appear to Beate this
opinion. Boussingault, in his ‘ Rural Economy,’ Says; that wheat
planted in an open field gave 2°29 per cent. of nitrogen, equiva-
lent to 14°31 per cent. of gluten and albumen, while that planted
ina rich garden-soil gave 3°51 of nitrogen, or 21-94 of gluten
and albumen; and jataamctndl: obtained from wheat grown—

In asoilunmanured . : - 9 per cent of gluten.
In a soil manured with cow-dung . 12 ditto.

3 sheep ditto . 22°9 ditto.

mas bullock’s blood 35 — ditto.

wis urine . -,/ 86) editte.

It is not stated how the gluten and albumen were determined,
but it is not improbable that some mechanical process was em-
ployed ; at all events, [ have great doubts about the accuracy or
the completeness of the experiments. Thirty-five per cent. of
gluten would be equivalent to nearly 6 per cent. of nitrogen, a
quantity certainly gr eater than wheat ever contains. My own ex-
periments do not give the slightest indication of an increase of
nitrogenous element of wheat grain by the employment of
ammoniacal manures, That the average produce of nitrogen in the
crop bears a certain relation to the ammonia supplied in the
manure is very evident; but the per centage of nitrogen in the
grain cannot be increased by means of it. Jn some experiments,
the quantity of ammonia supplied by the manures was from 60
to 7U lbs. per acre, and in some instances more; but the analyses
give no evidence of an increased per centage of nitrogen by its
supply, and the highest amount obtained in the series was from
an experiment where no ammonia was supplied in the manure.
Dr. R. D. Thomson, in his “ Experimental Researches on the
Food of Animals,” says, ‘ It is a sufficiently remarkable fact, that
oats increase in nutritive power in proportion to the increase of
Jatitude within certain limits, while wheat follows an inverse Jaw.’’
He seems here to have adopted the prevailing opinion that the
finest descriptions of wheat contain the most nourishment. The
oat, which is capable of thriving in a moister and colder climate
than either wheat or barley, would undoubtedly contain more
nourishment when grown in high latitudes, simply because the
climate is not favourable to the production of the important car-
bonaceous compound of gramineous seeds, starch. But with the
most fayourable condition of soil and climate the grain-producing
plants are undoubtedly governed by one and the same law. Al-

¢ On Agricultural Chemistry. Ste

though J have not at present traced the changes which take place
during the growth of wheat, it appears to me that when sown in
a soil containing abundance of azotized matter it employs this
substance at first in extending its leaf, and that where an excess
of ammonia is supplied the production of leaf is increased to an
extent greatly injurious to the next operation of the plant, which
is to produce stem. If an excess of ammonia is added late in
the spring the plant will no longer increase in leaf, but in stem
or straw, which also may be increased to an injurious extent.
When the azotized and mineral matters are properly balanced,
the plant will produce no more of each organ than 1s essential to
the favourable production of its seed. Up to the period of
blooming the compounds of nitrogen derived from ammonia are
probably in a fluid or suspended state, circulating through the
whole of the plant; but to what extent starch exists in the plant
at this period is doubtful. When the time of blooming is passed,
it is probable that the wheat derives but little nourishment from
the soil, at all events, if a crop shows symptoms of poverty, it is
always before this period. The circulating condition which has
prevailed throughout the plant, is now changed, and under a
favourable condition of climate (heat, light, and dryness) an
elaborative action commences; the compounds of nitrogen are
withdrawn from the leaf and stem, and deposited in the seed,
while starch is accumulated in a hard granular form. This de-
posit of starch only takes place perfectly under the influence of a
high temperature ; the seed is then hard, dry, and plump. In a
cold and wet summer the interstices of the grain are not perfectly
filled ; watery fluids occupy the place of starch, and, when these
have evaporated, the grain is thin and shrunk. ‘The wheat that
is grown in a wet summer might therefore contain as high a per
centage of nitrogenized matters dependent on the sap as that pro-
duced during a hot and dry season. The formation and elabora-
tion of starch and other carbonaceous compounds which for the
most part supply man with his respiratory or heat-producing
elements, are, it seems, greatly favoured by a hot climate, and it is
probable that the heat capable of being eliminated by the process
of animal respiration, must first have been rendered latent during
the growth of the plant.

Looking at the present state of man’s existence on the earth,
it may appear improbable that the value of corn should ever be
in proportion to its carbonaceous product. A time may arrive,
however remotely, when the surface of the earth will be peopled
with men very far advanced both in their moral and physical
condition, compared with its present occupants. Bread and meat
will then constitute the chief sources of food—the one supplying
respiration, the other nutrition; and they will doubtless bear a

238 On Agricultural Chemistry. +

more philosophical relation to each other all over the world than
at present. The system of cultivation in England may be con-
sidered as tending to such a result more nearly than that of most
other countries, and if the principles which it involves were
properly understood and carried out, we might become inde-
pendent of foreign supplies, even if our population were much
greater thanit is now. I have before stated that the ammonia in
a manure is employed by grain-plants to determine carbonaceous
products: the same principle is apparent in the economy of
animals. Dr. R. D. Thomson, in his experiments, found that
the cow which received the largest amount of nitrogen in its
food produced the greatest weight of butter; and the general
experience of agriculturists ascribes the most fattening properties
to those substances which contain the greatest proportion of
nitrogen. Although ammoniacal manures favour the elaboration
of carbonaceous matters in grain, we might expect to find a dif-
ferent result in examining the seeds of the leguminous plants.
The peculiarity of these plants is to produce a seed containing
a highly nitrogenous element, called legumen. In our own
experiments we find grain in the driest state contains one and
two, but rarely three per cent. of nitrogen. We find in the dry
subsianee of clover-seed as much as 7 per cent., and in beans and
peas 5 per cent. The proportion of nitrogen in the seeds of
these plants would, therefore, probably increase, within certain
limits, under the influence of ammoniacal supply. The following
results obtained by Dr. Gilbert seem to favour this view :—

Per centage of
Nitrogen
in Dry Matter.

Exp. 1. Exp. 2.

Beans-crown by minetal manure ie 16 -yo, 4 See pie eevee | 4°77 4-78
Beans grown by ammoniacal manure . od: 11 5°09

In the seeds of cruciferous plants, turnips and rape for ex-
ample, a non-nitrogenous product, oil, seems to abound, and we
might expect that ammoniacal manures would tend to enhance its
production in such plants, in hke manner as that of starch is
increased in the seeds of the gramineous family. Turnip- -seed is
not, however, cultivated in England with a view to its oily pro-
ducts, and I have only investigated the effect of ammoniacal
supply upon the leaf and bulb of the plant.

In reference to the circumstances under which the Gramactina
of the special product of plants seem to be increased, a few re-
marks upon the cultivation of sugar-cane may not be out of place,

On Agricultural Chemistry. 239

especially as there are so many agriculturists in this country who
possess property in the West Indies, and the application of
scientific principles would increase the production of sugar and
reduce the expense of its cultivation to an extent not very readily
imagined. Although sugar is found in almost every plant at
certain periods of its growth, it is only extracted profitably from
three or four, of which the cane is the most important. Sugar
belongs to a class of carbonaceous substances, all of which are
developed in the greatest perfection in the hottest regions.
Among these are starch, gum, and oil; and although each plant
possesses organs necessary to perfect its peculiar carbonaceous
products, the same laws must govern the formation of them in
all. In wheat I have shown that the carbonaceous product,
starch, increases with a supply of ammoniacal manures, under
the influence of a high temperature and the absence of rain;
owing, however, to the moisture of our climate, and the want of
that temperature which is required for producing and depositing
starch, there are difficulties in the way of increasing this carbon-
aceous compound, which would not be met with if the same
principles were applied to produce sugar in the cane. If I could
depend upon a constant climate in England similar to that of
1846, I could produce annually 40 or 50 bushels of wheat upon
an acre with the same facility that I now produce 33 or 34; but,
as it is, were | to supply the proportion and quantity of enitieral
and organic manures necessary to produce 50 bushels, in a wet
and cold summer—it would unduly develope the circulating con-
dition of the plant, its vascular structure would be inereased to
an injurious extent, and the crop would be laid. Those who
farm very highly have often experienced this misfortune, and con-
sequently they dread a wet summer.

To the farmer whose land is out of condition, however, a wet
summer is favourable, inasmuch as it increases the supply of
those elements of which his crop isin need. Inthe sugar-cane
the carbonaceous product is required in a circulating condition ;
therefore those substances should be apphed as manures which
increase the vascular action of the plant: at the same time the
soil should be rendered as dry as possible by draining. In soils
where the elements of fertility exist naturally, or where they are
properly supplied in the manures, the richest juice and largest
amount of sugar would be produced in the driest season. In
the absence, however, of the proper amount of organic matter
in the soil, the vital actions of the plant would, under the
same climate and circumstances, be weakened. The combustion
of the cane for fuel is a process which cannot be too much con-
demned. It involves the necessity of a much greater outlay in
manures every year ; for,if the mineral matter which remains after

240 On Agricultural Chemistry.

combustion is restored at all to the soil, it is very much less
efficacious than it would be if accompanied by the substance of
the cane itself. In a well-regulated sugar plantation, non-
nitrogenous products constitute the only export from the soil.
The nitrogenous elements, which are rendered insoluble when the
juice is heated, should be carefully removed, and either restored
to the soil directly as manure or after bemg employed as food for
animals.

The English farmer necessarily suffers an exhaustion of his
soil from the removal of various ingredients which have not place
in the constitution of sugar. In grain both nitrogen and phos-
phate are exported, both of which must be restored to the soil in
due course. We hear of plantations which formerly produced
many hundred hogsheads of sugar, now producing one-third the
quantity. This can arise from nothing but exhaustion of the soil.
It cannot be too generally known that the elaboration of carbon
bears a very constant relation to the supply of ammonia in the
manure. Every pound of sugar exported, and every pound of
the cane which is burnt, involve the necessity of a supply of
ammonia to the soil. ‘Taking into consideration the immense
advantage which a tropical climate affords, and the comparatively
high price of the product, the cultivation of sugar offers advan-
tages for the profitable employment of skill and capital greatly
superior to any that our agriculturists can hope for. It would,
however, be injudicious and improper, in defect of actual experi-
ments, to attempt to lay down rules in detail for the application
of a principle regarding which, as such, little doubt may be enter-
tained.

I now come to the action of manures, which are generally di-
vided into two classes—organic and inorganic. Although this dis-
tinction is by no means satisfactory, I shall adopt it as being gene-
rally understood, Organic manures are those which are capable
of yielding to the plant, by decomposition or otherwise, organic
matter—carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen—constituents
which uncultivated plants derive originally from the atmosphere.
Inorganic manures are those substances which contain the mineral
ingredients, of which the ash of plants is found to consist. Most
of the substances employed as manures contain both organic and
inorganic substances. ‘The greater portion of soils consist of
minerals in a greater or less state of decomposition, combined
with a small amount of organic matter. Every soil is capable of
yielding a certain amount of vegetable produce under the influence
of climate and season, without the assistance of manure: this may
be called its natural produce. The proportion would vary each
year, according to the amount of rain, the temperature of the

On Agricultural Chemistry. 241

season, and the description of the growing plant. It is known,
however, that although the climate of any place may vary one
year as compared with another, it nevertheless maintains a certain
average, It may be supposed therefore that the natural produce
of the soil, in any particular locality, would be uniform in a series
of years.

The effect of rain is to dissolve a certain portion of the mineral
matter of the soil: it also supplies carbonaceous matter and am-
monia. Liebig found ammonia in the rain at Giessen. The rain
collected in a vessel placed on the top of a tree in my wheat-field,
at a distance from any building, gave, upon evaporation, a liquid
having a foetid smell, and yielding ammonia to suitable re-agents.
The rain collected in a rain-gauge placed in a garden at Mam-
head, in Devonshire, had the taste of soot, although the wind was
blowing direct from the sea during its fall. ain is therefore
capable, to a certain extent, of supplying plants with ammonia.
Carbonic acid is also a constant and important constituent in rain-
water, as well as in the atmosphere itself. The atmosphere may
thus be considered the natural source of organic, and the soil that
of inorganic, supply. It is the object of agriculture to increase
the produce of the soil beyond its natural yield, which can be done
by various means, The field may be fallowed—that is to say,
the natural produce of the soil for two years may be concentrated
into one—the repeated exposure of the soil to the atmosphere, by
means of ploughing, causing a decomposition of mineral matter,
while the ammonia in the rain unites with the various acids in the
soil. ‘The produce of the soil may also be increased by means of
manures—that is to say, by supplying those ingredients which the
soil and the atmosphere are incapable of yielding in sufficient
quantity for an agricultural result. This process I shall now en-
deavour to explain. It will be remembered that the produce of
wheat and straw upon the unmanured portion of my experimental
field was greatest in the year when the atmospheric influence,
and therefore the supply of ammonia, was the most; but in no
case was a full agricultural crop obtained. ‘This may be attri-
buted to two causes: either that the wheat was incapable of assi-
milating what the atmosphere and rain could supply, for want of
an available amount of minerals in the soil; or that the minerals
in the soil were in excess, but that the wheat was incapable of
assimilating them for want of a sufficient supply of ammonia, or
other organic substances.

It has been argued by Liebig that the atmosphere can supply
the ammonia from which plants derive their nitrogen, in sufficient
quantity for agricultural purposes; and his views on this subject
have been echoed through England by a host of his followers.
This point, upon which so much difference of opinion exists be-

VOL. VIIT. R

242 On Agricultural Chemistry.

tween the French and German chemists, is perhaps the most
important to agriculture which chemistry can solve. It affects
the whole economy of cultivation, and the final solution of it must
materially influence the actions of all practical agriculturists.

With regard to the most important crop (wheat), my own experi-

ments are so decisive, and through the whole series the results
are so uniform, that it is hardly possible to have two opinions on
the subject; and, what is still more important, they are in accord-
ance with the dictates of reason and the practical experience of
agriculture. The first year’s experiments were drawn out prin-
cipally with the view of ascertaining how far mineral manures
were capable of restoring the fertility to a soil of which it had
been deprived by repeated cropping. On the space of ground
which was not manured, the acreage yield was as follows :—

Grain, 162 bushels; straw, 1120 lbs.

This may be considered as the natural produce of the soil, sub-
ject only to the atmospheric influence of that particular season.
The next experiment was with 700 lbs. of superphosphate of
lime, which gave—

Grain, 162 bushels; straw, 1116 lbs.

The superphosphate of lime employed in these experiments was
made from calcined bone only, and was therefore strictly a
mineral manure. By comparing this experiment with the last,
it will be seen that no increase of produce was obtained.

The effect of superphosphate of lime upon wheat has been the
subject of many experiments, and in some instances it has been
employed with remarkable success. It becomes therefore of im-
portance to inquire what was the probable cause of its inutility in
this instance. Besides phosphoric acid and lime, the ash of
wheat and wheat straw contains potash, magnesia, soda, and
silica; and as superphosphate of lime contains none of these sub-
stances, its failure in this case may be attributed either to the
absence of these minerals in the soil, or to a deficiency of azotized
er other organic matter.

The average results obtained by other mineral manures are
given below :* —

* The terms superphosphate of lime, phosphate of potass, phosphate of
soda, and phosphate of magnesia, by which it is convenient to designate
the manures, are not to be understood as representing the pure chemical
substances bearing those names. The composts were formed by acting
upon bone-dust by means of sulphuric acid, in the first instance, in the
cases of the alkaline salts and the magnesian salt, neutralizing the com-
pounds thus obtained by means of cheap preparations of the respective
bases. The silicate of potass was manufactured at a glass-house by fusing
equal parts of pearl-ash and sand—a clear transparent glass, slightly deli-

quescent in the air, was the result; it was ground to powder under edge-
stones,

On Agricultural Chemistry. 943

Bushels Pounds
of Grain.| of Straw.

—

Superphosphate of lime, 350 lbs.; phosphate of magnesia, 420 lbs.}_ 161 1100
Superphosphate of lime, 350 Ibs.; phosphate of soda, 325 Ibs, 163 1172
Superphosphate of lime, 350 lbs.; phosphate of potass, 375 lbs. 16! 1160
Superphosphate of lime, 560 lbs.; silicate of potass, 220 lbs, 163 1112
Superphosphate of lime, 350 Ibs. ; phosphate of magnesia, 210 lbs. ; 162 1116
phosphate of soda, 1622 | Pe co } :
Superphosphate of lime, 350 lbs. ; phosphate of magnesia, 210 is ; 171 1204
phosphate of potass, 187 lbs. . . . : ”
Superphosphate of lime, 350 lbs.; phosphate of magnesia, 210 Ibs. \ 17 1176
silicate of potass, 275 Ibs. f

Superphosphate of lime, 350 Ibs. Seales of eres 168 Ibs. } 178 1240
To a

phosphate of potass, 150 Ibs. ; silicate of potass, 110 Ibs.

‘The greatest increase obtained by these mineral manures over
the natural produce of the soil was less than 2 bushels of wheat
and 84 lbs. of straw. ‘The effect of minerals obtained from a
more natural manuring source (the combustion of dung), gave a
similar result. A quantity of farm-yard dung was weighed into
two portions, at the rate of 14 tons each per acre, one being
burnt to ashes, and the other ploughed into the soil. The results
were as under :—

Bushels Pounds
of Grain. | of Straw.

14 tons of farm-yarddung . « »« « -« 22 1476
Ash of 14 tons of farm-yard dung . . 16 1104

The absence of any agricultural increase of produce through-
out this series of experiments might be said to arise either from
some defect in the mineral constitution of the manures, or from
the minerals in the soil not being in a proper state for the wheat
to assimilate them ; but if, as is seen in the following table, the
addition of an ammoniacal salt can produce an increase of corn
and straw to a considerable extent, the minerals must have been
in a state available for the plant :—

|
| Bushels | Pounds
of Grain.} of Straw.

1. Superphosphate of lime, 635 lbs.; sulphate of ammonia, 65 lbs.} 214 1368
_2. Superphosphate of lime, 350 lbs.; phosphate of magnesia, ei
"1

lbs. ; phosphate of soda, 7 75 lbs. ; silicate of ne 110 lbs. 214 1480
sulphate of ammonia, 65 lbs. _.,.. 4...

3. Superphosphate of lime, 350 lbs. ; phosphate of magn esa ‘gt
lbs.; phosphate of soda, 75 lbs. ; silicate of Ee 110 lbs. i 222 1768
rape-cake, 155 lbs. .

4, Superphosphate of lime, 350 Tbs. ; “phosphate i magnesia, “106
lbs.; phosphate of soda, 80 lbs. ; ; silicate of Vg 110 lbs. bf 262 1772

sulphate of ammonia, 80 lbs) . «2 + -

244 On Agricultural Chemistry.

On comparing the produce of No. 1 in this table with that of
the superphosphate of lime as given elsewhere, it will be seen that
the substitution of 65 lbs. of superphosphate of lime by 65 lbs. of
sulphate of ammonia has caused an increase of 43 bushels of corn,
and 248 lbs. of straw. Again, the increase shown in No. 4,
where 80 lbs. of sulphate of ammonia were employed, is from 8
to 9 bushels of corn, and about 600 lbs. of straw, over the pro-
duce of the best mineral conditions as given in a former table.

The evidence afforded in these experiments regarding the im-
portance of ammoniacal manures caused us to discontinue the
employment of mineral manures alone in the second year. It
was highly desirable to ascertain whether the minerals supplied
during the first year, and also those naturally contained in the
soil, were capable of being taken up by future crops. For this
purpose ammoniacal salts alone were subsequently employed on
some of the plots:— .

Season. Same Space of Ground each Year. Grain. Straw.

. ek - ; Bush. Pks. Qts. | Pounds.
, |fSuperphosphate of lime, 560 Jbs.; silicate of

1844 potass,"220Ubset eso a csr |e ara te erate Herne al me
1845 | Sulphate and muriate of ammonia, each 13 cwt. Sitios L 4266
1846 | Sulpuate of anamonia; 2, cw. sow ewcnepes wie ale ie Vigilas2 2244

From the immense increase, both of corn and straw, obtained in
the second and third years, without any fresh addition of minerals,
it is evident that the deficient produce in the first year could only
result from the want of some power in the plant to assimilate
those already at its command, and that such a power was not
wanting in the succeeding years.

I shall only notice one more set of experiments in connection
with this point, and which were tried in the season of 1846 with
the wheat manure patented by Professor Liebig, and prepared
and sold under his name and authority. On referring to the
specification of his patent, it will be seen that his object is to re-
duce the solubility of the alkalies by fusing them with lime and
phosphate of lime, and to employ those substances which will
form a compound resembling the ash of wheat :—

aaah

Grain. Straw.

—

Bush. Pk. Gal. | Pounds.

1. Unmanured ‘acre: (52 6: ei n2.0> 6 wt w +0) oe ee ele 1513
2. 4 cwt. of Liebig’s wheat-emanure alone . . . . «| 20 1 2 1676
3. 4 ewt. of Liebig’s wheat-manure, with 4 cwt, rape-cake 22) 137 ll 1968
4, 4 ewt. of Liebig’s wheat-manure, 1 ewt. each of ayEne 39 0 3 9571
and muriate Of ammonia. % 96 46) « (6 96
5. 4 cwt. of Liebig’s wheat-manure, 4 cwt. rape-cake, 1 cwt.
Ce ae Le Bye oi 1D 3007
each of sulphate and muriate ofammonia . . «|!

On Agricultural Chemistry. 245

The superiority which Liebig’s manure, when used alone, ex-
hibits, as compared with the result of the unmanured space, may
be attributed to its containing a small quantity of ammoniacal
matter, which was distinctly perceptible to the smell.

The absolute necessity of supplying nitrogen to enable the soil
to produce more wheat than it could do in a natural state, is so
apparent throughout this series of experiments, that it is difficult
to entertain the slightest doubt upon the subject. As long as
any available ammonia exists in the soil, so long will mineral
manures increase the produce of wheat. If I had commenced
my experiments upon a field in high condition, full of animal and
vegetable matter, I might have been some years in arriving at the
true action of mineral manures: as it was, the first year almost
decided the question.

For the last seven years this field has suffered an immense loss
of minerals, rendered available to the plant by means of ammonia;
and the produce of last year (1846) showed that the mineral con-
dition was still little impaired. The crop now growing shows,
however, symptoms of an opposite condition of soil. In some
experiments, where no minerals have been supplied, the salts of
ammonia are not producing their accustomed effect: an excess of
the azotized condition is commencing, and mineral manures will
now have to be employed to increase the natural produce of the
soil.

The various contradictory results obtained by the application
of mineral manures to wheat are completely accounted for when
it is known that they only increase the produce in proportion to
the available azotized matter existing in the soil. Although I
have confined my remarks to the wheat crop, they apply equally
to the whole class of plants belonging to the same “natural order.”
Though they do not thrive equally well in the same climate and
soil, I consider them all to be plants in which the nitrogen sup-
plied in the manure is more than what is obtained in the produce.
They may for our present purpose be called nitrogen-consuming
plants, in contradistinction to those which are nitrogen-collecting
plants, and contain more of this substance than was supplied to
them in the manure. Common pasture belongs to the same class
of plants as our grain crops: hence we have an additional argu-
ment to the number already advanced, in favour of breaking it up
in every case where it is not required for ornamental purposes.

The theory advanced by Liebig, that “the crops on a field
diminish or increase in exact proportion to the diminution or in-
crease of the mineral substances conveyed to it in manure,” is
calculated so seriously to mislead the agriculturist that it is
highly important its fallacies should be generally known. The
contempt which the practical farmer feels for the science of

246 On Agricultural Chemistry.

agricultural chemistry arises from the errors which have been
committed by its professors. They have endeavoured to account
for, and sometimes to pronounce as erroneous, the knowledge
which ages of experience have established; and they have at-.
tempted to generalise without the practical data necessary to
accomplish their end with success, Agriculture will eventually
derive the most important assistance from chemistry, but before
it can propose any changes in the established routine of the
farmer, it must, by a series of laborious and costly experiments,
explain this routine in a satisfactory manner.

Although the experimental results which have been detailed
undoubtedly prove that to produce agricultural crops of corn
nitrogen must be supplied to the soil in some form or other,
two important questions still remain unanswered, namely, first,
what amount of ammonia will be required to produce a given
amount of corn? or, in other words, what amount of nitrogen
must the farmer accumulate in his soil to obtain each bushel of
corn beyond the natural produce? Secondly, what are the most
economical means at his disposal for securing the necessary
supply? The solution of these questions is within the reach of
careful experiment and calculation; and, although any data at
present at our disposal may be incompetent to a proper treatment
of them, it may serve some useful purpose to apply such results
as we possess with the view of directing some general and ap-
proximative knowledge on points bearing so essentially on the
economy of agriculture.

[t may be considered for our present purpose that a bushel of
wheat contains one pound of nitrogen. It must not be supposed,
however, that 13 1b. of ammonia (equivalent to one pound of
nitrogen) supplied to the soil, will, even under the most favour-
able circumstances, add a bushel toits natural produce. Through-
out the whole course of my experiments upon the growth of
wheat by means of ammoniacal salts there has been a loss of
nitrogen far too great to be attributed merely to drainage and
evaporation from the land; and it is possible that a better know-
ledge than we now possess of the vital actions of plants will,
sooner or later, throw much light upon this interesting and highly
important phenomenon. I am inclined to think that, for prac-
tical purposes, we may assume 9 lbs. of ammonia to be required
for the production of every bushel of wheat beyond the natural
yield of the soil and season; at any rate, it will be useful to re-
member this as the amount until future experiments shall furnish
further information on the subject. In the following table, p. 248,
are arranged some of the results obtained last year (harvest, 1846)
in my experimental wheat-field.

Besides the bearing which these results have upon other points

On Agricultural Chemistry. 247

than that of the amount of ammonia required to produce a bushel
of corn, they will enable any one to judge of the probable exact-
ness of the estimate which has just been made. It should be
remembered, however, that as the season of 1846 was more than
usually favourable to the production of corn, any calculations
founded upon the results of that year might lead to an over-
estimate of what the ammonia would produce in an average of
years. he produce of the unmanured space and that of farm-
yard dung was—

Bush. pks. gals. Straw in lbs.
No manure 5 a SAT oY ces: 1513
lftonsofdung .- -. 27 0. 3 2454

It was my intention to conclude this paper with some experi-
mental evidence relative to the influence of climate and manures
upon the turnip and leguminous crops; but, having extended my
observations upon the corn-plants to a greater length than I had
at first contemplated, I shall defer the consideration of that
subject te a future period. I wish, however, to make a few ob-
servations upon the general principles of practical agriculture.
Some of them are apparent from the evidence I have already
brought forward, but some of them are indicated by the results
of other branches of the investigation than those which I have dis-
cussed in the foregoing pages.

_ I have said that soil and atmosphere are the two great natural

sources from which plants derive the elements of their growth ;
the former supplying the inorganic and the latter the organic
elements. Besides the minerals of which soils are principally
composed, they contain a certain amount of organic matter ca-
pable of yielding carbon and ammonia to plants ; and the annual
amount of ammonia which a soil is competent to yield under the
influence of the atmosphere must to a certain extent determine its
natural fertility. A Russian soil, said to be one of the most fertile
in the world, and which yields fine wheat without manure, gave
when analysed by M. Peyen, 244 lbs. of nitrogen in 1000 lbs. of
soil, or nearly 25 per cent. A very fertile soil sent to me by Sir
John Tylden from Somersetshire, and said to yield 40 bushels
of wheat annually without manure (a statement afterwards proved
to be incorrect), was analysed by Dr. Gilbert in my laboratory,
and gave 6:2 lbs. of nitrogen in 1000, or rather more than 3 per
cent. ; whilst from the soil of my experimental field, which yields
about 17 bushels of wheat annually without manure, he obtained
in 1000 parts only 2:0 of nitrogen, equal to 1-5th per cent. Al-
though the amount of nitrogen in a soil, independently of any
immediate supply, may determine to a certain extent its powers of
producing corn, it is not a sure criterion of the value of different
descriptions of soil. The rich clayey soils, in which the largest

try.

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On Agricultural Chemistry.

250

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On Agricultural Chemistry. 251

stores of nitrogen are generally found, are exactly those which
derive the least benefit from a rotation of crops. The amount of
nitrogen existing in a sandy soil may hardly be appreciable by
analysis, but by the free circulation of air through its pores, the
accumulation from the resources of the atmosphere through the
medium of green crops, and especially of turnips, to a certain ex-
tent counterbalances the deficiency. The actual value of a tur-
nip crop must vary yery much, according to the texture of the
soil, On heavy clays, the decomposition of soil by means of a
summer-fallow aided by lime, will often render available more
ammonia as well as mineral mixtures, than could be obtained by
means of a turnip-crop. Upon light soils, however, nothing can
advantageously substitute the collective powers of the turnip. In
one soil the accumulation of available stores may be effected by
combustion or lime, in the other they must be supplied by a dif-
ferent process. As almost every soil contains mineral matter in
an undecomposed state, it must evidently be advantageous to
favour its liberation by every possible means ; for the more pro-
duce a soil can be made to yield without manure, the less manure
it will require to bring its produce up to a maximum. It was at
one time supposed that by repeatedly hoeing and stirring the soil,
it could be made to yield perpetual crops without manure; and
although this was carrying the principle too far, it undoubtedly
proves the benefit of mechanical operations. Draining, however,
offers advantages to the agriculturist superior to any as a means
of obtaining the influence of the atmosphere upon the soil. Not
only is the surface of the soil exposed to the action of the air, but
its influence extends to the depth of the drains themselves. In
addition to this advantage, what may be considered as an artificial
climate is to some extent obtained. An increased temperature,
and the absence of moisture, conditions so essential to the pro-
duction of grain of fine quality, are the result of draining the soil,
Thermometers placed in two soils equally exposed to the sun’s
rays, one of which is moist and the other dry, indicate very differ-
ent degrees of temperature. The rays of the sun, which only
serve to evaporate moisture in the one, will raise the tempera-
ture of the other. It follows that plants would grow more rapidly
upon a well-drained soil than upon one in an opposite condition,
especially during the spring. It will be remembered how large
a quantity of ammonia [ found it necessary to supply to my soil
each year to restore the substances removed in the previous crop.
Besides being expensive, this ammonia cannot be procured in the
market in any large quantities; but by cultivating turnips and
the leguminous plants, a large amount of this substance is col-
lected by them from the atmosphere. A rotation of crops may in
one sense therefore be considered as an economical process for

252 On Agricultural Chemistry.

obtaining ammonia; but as the amount obtained by green crops
must depend very much upon their bulk, every attention should
be paid to their growth. In order to produce the great-
est weight of turnips, it is necessary that the soil should be
brought to the finest and lightest condition possible by mechani-
cal means, and that it should be manured bya large and available
supply of carbon and phosphates. Ammonia artificially supplied
is not essential if the soil be not deficient in carbonaceous sub-
stances; and where the phosphates are not supplied in sufficient
quantity it exerts a most injurious effect upon the plant.

The turnip is essentially a plant which requires artificial aid
for its development in agricultural quality and quantity. It is
singular that while my soil yields 17 bushels of wheat annually,
without manure, the turnips upon an unmanured space were re-
duced to a few cwt. per acre in three years, and in the fourth
only averaged the size of a radish. It is also remarkable that a
plant whose office it is to restore fertility to the soil should
scarcely be able to exist where wheat was yielding a tolerable
crop; but the different effect produced upon two crops by farm-
yard dung and superphosphate of lime at once explains this
anomaly. Eighty-four tons of farm-yard dung, consisting of de-
caying straw mixed with the excrement of the farm-horses, applied
to one acre of wheat and one of turnips during three years, at the
rate of 14 tons per acre per annum, did not, in the acre of wheat,
add much more than one-half to the natural produce each year:
the turnips, however, were increased to an indefinite extent.
Superphosphate of lime, which produced no increase of wheat the
first year it was applied, gave in succession three good crops of
turnips. The dung which I applied to my wheat increased the
produce to an extent equivalent to the amount of ammonia which
it may be estimated to contain; but it is evident that the great
bulk of 42 tons served little useful purpose, for we find that
salts of ammonia have produced each year a larger amount of
corn. ‘The whole of the solid matter of the residue, consisting of
organic matter almost destitute of nitrogen, could have been
assimilated by the turnip, under the influence of a due supply of
phosphates. On poor soils it is quite consistent with scientific
principles to employ rich azotized dung for the wheat crop, and
to convert the carbonaceous residue into the substance of the
turnip by an abundance of phosphates. _ It would, however, pro-
bably be advantageous to have a greater proportion than one-
fourth of the farm under turnips each year. At present, upon
the Norfolk system one-fourth of the farm is clover, but broad
clover cannot be obtained with certainty so often. If instead of
this, one-eighth of a farm was clover and three-eighths turnips,
a larger proportion of winter food would be obtained, and as

On Agricultural Chemistry. F535

much clover grown upon an eighth as has hitherto been grown
upon one-fourth of the farm. We have no reason to suppos?
that one grain crop possesses the power of exhausting the soil
more than another. The tenant-farmer should therefore be per-
mitted to grow that crop which is most suited to his soil. Oa
the heavy soils alternate wheat crops might be grown; oats might
also be substituted for barley with advantage, whenever the soil
has been rendered incapable of complete pulverization, by con-
suming the turnips upon the land in wet weather.

Having, I trust, shown upon scientific principles that a rotation
of crops is indispensable in order to carry out a system of prac-
tical and economical agriculture, [ shall now endeavour to prove
by a few brief observations that to obtain the greatest possible
produce from the soil, the production of meat ought to bear a
definite relation to the amount of grain exported.

The philosophical considerations to which this subject naturally
leads are of the highest interest ; but as it would be impossible to
treat of them at once clearly and at the same time as briefly as
our present object permits, it will be best to turn our attention to
some of the more practical bearings of the question.

In feeding stock but a small proportion of the nitrogen in the
food is converted into the substance of the animal; the greater
portion is restored to the soil as manure. The economy of the
production of meat as a means of obtaining manure arises from
the greatly increased value of the mitrogen in flesh, as com-
pared with that supplied in the food. Thus 28 lbs. of flesh, worth
14s., contains 1 lb. of nitrogen—28 lbs. of peas, beans, or oil-cake,
which contain about the same quantity, are not worth more than
2s. or 3s. To determine the exact proportion of the meat, or
rather the live weight of stock which must be produced upon any
farm to obtain the greatest possible produce of grain, requires a
long and careful series of investigation.

With the exception of one experiment performed by Boussin-
gault, we have no data from which we can calculate the loss of
carbon and nitrogen which a farm sustains by the vital processes
of the animals fed upon it, but it is evident that it is most serious.
In Boussingault’s experiments it appeared that a cow respired in
24 hours as much dry organic matter as was equivalent to
1001bs. of turnips. This forms a strong argument in favour
of the modern system of fattening animals rapidly by means
of artificial food. When turnips are plentiful and stock is
dear, farmers not unfrequently give their turmps to any person
who will bring stock to consume them. And it is a common
practice in some places to feed a quantity of half-starved
cattle upon straw for the purpose of converting it into dung. It
should, however, be understood that the passage of the straw

954 On Agricultural Chemistry.

or turnip through the stomach of the animal, far from adding to:
the quality of these substances as manure, abstracts a large pro-
portion of their valuable elements. There is no magical property
in the black mass called dung which did not exist in the straw.
Some of the elements may be rendered more rapidly available
by the decomposing agency of the animal; but the actual quan-
tity restored to the soil must be considerably reduced. In all
cases, therefore, where artificial food is not employed, or when
the consumption of food is not attended with profit, it is better to
restore the superabundance of green crop more directly to the
soil for the after-growth of corn, whilst any residue of our corn
crops, if it-cannot be used as litter, will, if returned to the soil in
its natural state, or after suffermg decomposition between layers
of earth, supply constituents to the succeeding fallow crop.

The increase of meat obtained by any particular food must
vary to a certain extent, with ammals of different breeds and ages,
as well as with the care and attention bestowed upon them. There
is, however, in all cases, a relation sufficiently evident, between
the increase of the animal and the nitrogen in the food, to enable
us to form some calculation upon the relation which should exist
between the production of corn and that of meat upon a well
cultivated farm. In illustration of this statement, in the first
place I may refer to some experiments made upon the farm of
the Earl of Radnor, regarding the feeding qualities of different
breeds of sheep. The results are quoted from the last number of
this Journal,

In the Ist experiment, 20 sheep received 847 Ibs. of hay,
1319 lbs. pulse, and 25,293 lbs. swedes, and the increase of live
weight was 400 lbs. In the 2nd experiment 1044 Ibs. of hay
and 17,254 lbs. of turnips produced 192 lbs. of meat. Calculating
the nitrogen consumed by the first lot, to be in the hay 84 lbs.,
in the pulse 45 lbs., in the turnips 38 lbs., and taking the per
centage of nitrogen in the increase of live weight at 35, we have
in the first experiment—

914 lbs. of nitrogen supplied in the food.
14 lbs. do. converted into flesh.

Upon similar calculations the 2nd experiment gives—

35 lbs. of nitrogen supplied in the food.
7 Ibs. do. converted into flesh.

In the first experiment 1 Ib. of nitrogen produced 4} Ibs. in-
crease of flesh, and in the 2nd, | |b. of nitrogen produced 5 lbs,
increase; not making any allowance for the probable loss by the
vital processes of the animals, and in the preparation of the dung,
we have for each pound of nitrogen exported, as much in the first
‘experiment as 6% lbs. ; and in the 2nd, 5 lbs. remaining for ma-
nure. :

On Agricultural Chemistry. 25

In the ‘ Gardener’s Chronicle,’ for the year 1844, are given
the results of some experiments upon feeding sheep conducted
upon the farm of the Earl of Ducie, by Mr. Morton; some of
these sheep were fed in the field, some under cover. Altogether
25 sheep were experimented upon, and they increased 611 Ibs.,
having consumed 31,080 Ibs. of swedes, 2775 lbs. of oats. Calcu-
lating the food to have contained 95 Ibs. of nitrogen, and the
increase of live weight to represent 21 Ibs. of nitrogen, 1 lb. of
nitrogen produced 6% lbs. of live weight, and for each pound of
nitrogen exported in meat, 3} remain for manure.

In an experiment of my own, two pigs which consumed food,
containing by analysis 12} lbs. of nitrogen, increased in weight
71 lbs. This gives about 53 lbs. increased live weight, and for
every pound of nitrogen exported in meat, andabout 4 lbs. remain
for manure.

In Bacon’s Essay on the Agriculture of Norfolk, there is a
table of the feeding qualities of oil-cake and swedes, compared
with a compound of boiled linseed with peas and swedes; six
oxen were selected for each trial, and the live weight of each
beast was taken at the commencement and the end of the experi-
ments.

The following are the results :—

1.—6 oxen consumed 106,792 lbs. turnips, 3,712 lbs. peas,
1,110 lbs. linseed.
The increase of the live weight being 1,722 lbs.
2.—6 oxen consumed 108,440 lbs. turnips, and 6,183 lbs.
oil-cake.
The increase of the live weight being 1,310 lbs.

In the Ist lot the nitrogen in the food was about 335 lbs.,
1 lb. of nitrogen gave 5 lbs. of increase live weight, and for each
pound of nitrogen exported 44 lbs. remained for manure.

In the 2nd lot, the nitrogen in the food was 389 lbs., 1 Ib. of
nitrogen gave 3,4; increase, and for each pound of nitrogen ex-
ported 74 remain for manure.

In consequence of turnips being employed as part of ihe food,
in all the results which I have given, it is impossible to make any
calculation respecting the economy arising from fatting cattle as a
means of obtaining manure, without first deciding at what expense
turnips can be produced. Upon this subject very great difference
of opinion exists amongst agriculturists, and indeed the effects of
soil and season so materially affect the question, that it is scarcely
safe to make any calculations respecting it. Some would value
them as low as 7s. per ton, some.as high as 20s.

By the kindness of a friend, however, I have been provided
with some results obtained by feeding upon marketable food
alone. As the results extend over a considerable number of

256 On Agricultural Chemistry.

years, in each of which 30 to 40 oxen were fatted, they may be
considered to afford very trustworthy information on the subject.
Each ox received for 22 weeks 20 lbs. of the best clover hay,
and 10 Ibs. of English oil-cake per day. They sold for 9/7. more
than they cost, and the average loss upon each was 41. 1] 2s.
Each ox received 3080 ibe of hay = nitrogen 49 lbs.
1470 lbs. oil-cake — do. 70 lbs.

Total nitrogen 119 lbs.
Estimating the increase in live weight according to the increase
in money value at 576 lbs., and the nitrogen to amount to 35 per

cent. of their weight, we have 20 lbs. of nitrogen in the meat.
1 lb. of nitrogen gives nearly 5 lbs. of increase live weight, and
for each pound of nitrogen exported 5 lbs. remain for manure.

99 lbs. of nitrogen remaining for manure are equivalent to
120 lbs. of ammonia.

To supply the 120 lbs. of ammonia in Peruvian guano of
average quality, it would certainly require more than half a ton of
that manure, which at the present time would cost 5/. ‘The price
of ammonia thus obtained would be 10d. per Ib.

In my experiments upon wheat, it required 5 lbs. of ammonia
to produce a bushel of corn. To obtain this amount of ammonia
by means of stock, there should be an increase of about 28 Ibs. of
live weight upon the farm; or in round numbers, to obtain | ton
of grain beyond the natural production of the soil, there ought to
be an increase in the weight of stock of 1000 lbs. In order to
bring an exhausted soil to the highest state of fertility, it will be
necessary to produce an amount of meat by means of imported
food (such as hay and oil-cake) as will be equivalent to the in-
crease of grain required. As the green crops increase year by
year, the same amount of meat will be produced, but the importa-
tion of artificial food will gradually decrease to the point at which
the internal and external resources of the farm are so balanced as
to secure the largest amount of produce from the soil.

I have not tried the comparative feeding qualities of the leaf
and the bulb of the turnip; but from the much higher per
centage of nitrogen in the former, as determined by analyses in
my laboratory, 1t may be inferred that it is much more nutritive.
This would be the case more particularly with the late-sown
turnips, when the circulation of the fluids in the leaf is still
active, and the plant has not had time to produce a full-sized
bulb. It is possible, however, that the relatively low state of
elaboration of the constituents of the leaf might interfere with its
otherwise evident applicability as a healthy food.

According to the rule which has been assumed—namely, that
the production of 1000 Ibs. of live weight increases the yield of

On Agricultural Chemistry. 257
grain by 2240 lbs.—the production of 576 lbs. of live weight, as

in the cases of the oxen cited above, would give 1290 lbs. increase
im grain, equal to 21 bushels of wheat.

This method of fattening bullocks may be considered as the
most expensive the farmer can adopt. The whole of the food
employed (hay and oil-cake) may be viewed as manufactured
articles: it is evident, nevertheless, that artificial manures would
have been a dearer source of ammonia than that afforded by the
feeding of the animals; but when the other constituents of the
several manures are taker into account, the balance will be still
more in favour of the fatting process. The dry matter contained
inthe food of the ox was nearly 4000 lbs; and of this quantity,
deducting the little that was converted into the substance of the
animal, the only remaining reduction, if the dung be properly
manufactured, is in the carbon respired by the sitet: which,
under the system of agriculture here advocated, is a consideration
of no moment. It may appear to some agriculturists that I have
entered into details on this subject which are both tedious and
unnecessary, but I would solicit a careful consideration of them.
I do not at all imagine that the precise relations of ammonia to
increase of corn, and of nitrogen in food to nitrogen of live weight
obtained, are really such as have been assumed for the purposes
of illustrating the views advocated in this paper. My object is to
establish as a principle, by which practical agriculture should be
guided, that the amount of meat or live weight of stock produced
upon a farm, should bear a fixed relation to the quantity of corn
exported.

If the truth of this postulate be once established, and the proper
proportions fixed, it will no longer be necessary to enforce upon
the farmer any particular rotation of crops. So long as a due re-
lation between his production of meat and export of corn were
maintained, there would be no fear of an exhaustion of the soil,
even if he grows no green crops whatever; and he might safely
be left to make his own choice of the means he would adopt.
His object being the production of a certain amount of meat at
the lowest possible expense, he would naturally devote his ener-
gies to the production of large green crops, in order to limit his
outlay in artificial food. Knowing, too, the most profitable con-
ditions upon which his corn could be raised, his chief attention
would be paid to the economical supply of food for his stock, in
full confidence as to the consequences of his course. In objection
to any rule which may assume a necessary relation between the
production of meat and that of corn, it may be maintained that
were any cheap and inexhaustible source of ammonia discovered,
the production of meat, as the means of exporting corn, should be
materially lessened. The difficulties, however, which we may

VOL. VIIT. S

258 On Agricultural Chemistry.

fairly calculate upon as standing in the way of such a consumma-
tion, as well as the physiological and commercial considerations
which would be involved in its influence, are such that we need
not now anticipate the result. Again, the supposition that the
artificial manures at present at our command, might, if directly
applied to the growth of corn, be adequate to its sufficient pro-
duction throughout the country, without the aid of green crops
in feeding, is satisfactorily met by such calculations as the fol-
lowing :—The county of Norfolk is said to comprise 1,338,880
acres of land: suppose one-half of this to be cultivated on the
four-course system, 334,720 acres will be under corn every year.
I believe it will not be considered an exaggeration to say that
cultivation in this county has increased the natural produce of
corn by 10 bushels per acre ; and according to my calculations, it
would require something like 50 Ibs. of ammonia to be supplied
in any artificial manure to produce this increase of corn; and
considering | ton of Peruvian guano to contain 224 lbs. of am-
monia, it would require an importation of 74,714 tons to supply
the necessary amount for one year. This calculation affords some
idea of the value of a rotation of crops.

It is not very difficult to arrive at a correct knowledge ofthe
action and value of artificial manures. They are generally com-
posed of two or three ingredients in a state of concentration, and
are far more rapid in their action upon plants than the manure
which is produced by animals. ‘They can therefore be applied
with greaier success to those crops which are required in an arti-
ficial condition, and the growth of which cannot be too vigorous.

If there be any truth in my experiments, all hope of obtaining
annual crops of corn by means of mineral manures must be for
ever abandoned. The employment of potash, soda, magnesia,
and silica, has been suggested by chemists, from an imperfect
knowledge of practical agriculture. Having found these sub-
stances in the ash of the plants, they have concluded that the soil
cannot supply them in sufficient quantity. I could bring forward
a great number of experiments, tried at my suggestion upon
various soils, which would prove that alkaline manures were quite
incompetent to remedy the exhaustion from which they suffered ;
but the general practice of the best agriculturists is more con-
vincing than a thousand such experiments. ‘Take the case of a
soil which has been in the hands of a farmer who has removed
from his land successive grain crops, and who has also sold part
of his straw and hay, bringing back perhaps a little soot, or some
hght manure. This system would exhaust the soil of its alkalies
to the greatest extent possible. Should it then come into the
possession of a man of capital and experience, he may in a few
years bring it into high condition without imparting to it a pound

On Agricultural Chemistry. 259

of potash or soda, though the course he would probably adopt
would indirectly increase the available sources of those sub-
stances.

The quantity of alkalies taken up from the soil by a crop of tur-
nips is very great, and yet the artificial manures most commonly
applied to grow these turnips contain but little and often no alkalies
whatever. As long as bone-dust, superphosphate of lime, or guano,
will produce a good crop of turnips, the farmer need be under no
apprehension of his soil being destitute of alkalies. The only
mineral which, under a proper system of agriculture, it is neces-
sary to restore directly to the soil, is phosphate of lime. Where
large breeding flocks are kept, the phosphate of lime exported in
the bone of the animal is very great, and many soils are incapable
of yielding this in sufficient quantity. Previously to the intro-
duction of guano into this country, large quantities of nitrate of
potass and soda were employed as manures. Their value was,
by many persons, attributed to the alkalies they contained; but
the almost universal substitution of guano shows very clearly that
the potash and soda were not the constituents to which their
effects were due. At one time | thought it probable that the
silicates of potash or soda might prove of some service to grain
plants, but repeated experiments with these substances have
caused me to alter my opinion.

The strength of the straw in grain crops seems to depend upon
a healthy condition of the plant, arising from a properly balanced
supply of mineral and organic constituents, as well as upon the
influence of certain physical conditions of soil, especially during
the early stages of growth. ‘Thick sowing, a cold wet summer,
and excess of ammonia, are all injurious to the strength of
straw. |

Unless straw is sold, there is a constant accumulation of silicate
of potash upon farms, arising from the annual decomposition of the
soil; and upon some farms the production of straw increases to an
injurious extent. It is a common opinion, that artificial manures
act as stimulants, and that the continual employment of them
tends to exhaust the soil. This idea is toa certain extent correct ;
and where they are used injudiciously (as, for instance, when a
mineral manure is employed upon corn crops) it would lead to
such a result. But if they are employed to increase those crops
which are consumed upon the farm, such as turnips and clover,
they then become valuable aids to the natural resources of the
farmer.

To obtain agricultural crops of clover, tares, and turnips,
purely artificial conditions of growth, quite at variance with the
natural tendency of the plant, are induced: and it is well known
that the crop of clover which wili yield the most hay is by no

260 On Agricultural Chemistry.

means that which would be selected for seed. These conditions
are secured by an artificial supply of certain elements favouring
the desired determinations of the plant; and therefore artificial
manures may for such purpose be employed with advantage.

If grain crops, as | have endeavoured to show, can be grown
at a cheaper rate by the production of meat, than by the direct
action of artificial manures, the propriety of adopting the former
course to its full extent becomes simply a question of capital. It
would require five times as much capital to produce the same
amount of corn by means of stock as could be produced by arti-
ficial manures. It is the same with the manufacturer who em-
ploys a high-pressure or a double-cylinder engine; with the
former his capital invested is small, but the interest paid upon it,
by the daily consumption of fuel, is very great, while with the
latter his invested capital is large, and his daily interest compara-
tively small. The want of sufficient capital among so large a
portion of our agriculturists cannot be sufficiently deplored in a
national point of view. They imagine that the greater extent of
land they can farm with a limited capital, the greater will be the
interest obtained for it; by which means the amount of labour
employed is reduced to the smallest possible extent. High prices
have hitherto allowed a system of agriculture to be pursued, by
which little more than the natural produce is obtained from the
soil. But if the average price of corn should ever be reduced to
the standard of other countries, a reduction of rent must take
place equivalent to this diminution, or the decrease in the value
of corn must be balanced by an increased average produced in
the soil.

J.B. Lawes.

Rothamsted.

( 261 )

XII.—On the Farming of Suffolk. By Huan Raynairp.
Prize Report.

In offering this report on the farming of Suffolk, I would first
observe that there are various causes which render it difficult to
communicate much that has not already come before the agricul-
tural world, though at the same time it makes the task of writing
a Report easier. Ist. The voluminous writings of Arthur Young
refer in a great measure to the county in which he resided.
2nd. All the neighbouring counties, Norfolk, Essex, and Cam-
bridge, have already been described in the Society’s Journal. The
cultivation of our heavy land resembles that of the adjoiming parts
of these counties, of our western light land that of the light land
of Norfolk, and of our fens that of the fens of Cambridgeshire.
Norfolk and Suffolk may be considered nearly as one county, as
they are generally named together ; and indeed Mr. Bacon, in his
report of Norfolk, has forestalled much that relates to Suffolk in
his able account of the celebrated Suffolk machine-makers, Ran-
some, Garrett, and Smyth. 3rd. Many of our countrymen have
already described several of the Suffolk practices in the Society’s
Journal, as Sir Henry Bunbury, on Cottage Allotments; Hill,
Essays on Cottages and on Draining; Rodwell, on Mowing
Wheat and Italian Ryegrass; Raynbird, on Measure Work and
the Cultivation of Beet; Burroughes, White Mustard ; Dobedo,
Fatting Cattle; Peirson, on Burning Soil; and Poppy, in various
publications on Mangold Wurzel, Burnmg Clay, &c. These
gentlemen have so recently written on the subjects here named,
that it would be but a repetition to enter very minutely into them,
except where they have omitted giving a full description.

Extent.—Suffolk presents a level and well-watered surface of a
crescent-like form. Its length from E. to W. about 48 miles,
and breadth from N. to S. nearly 30 miles. Its extent is reckoned
at 918,760 acres.

It is estimated that there are about 46,000 acres of rich loam,

*80,000 acres of marsh and fen land, 450,000 acres of a heavy
loam or clay, 250,000 of sand of various qualities.

The climate is one of the driest in the kingdom, hence the fine
quality of grain grown; but the turnip crop frequently becomes
mildewed when early sown, from a continuance of dry weather.
We have many county meteorologists, from whose observations
we may both tell the past seasons, what kind of weather we are
to expect in general, and compare the climate as to drought, rain,
frost, &c., with other parts of England.

VOL. VIII. uS

262 On the Farming of Suffolk.

1. The character of the Soils of the County.

In describing the soils of Suffolk, I have followed the example
of Arthur Young in giving a map of the soils, believing that this
will give a better idea of the distribution of the several varieties
of land than any other method. Though this plan will only be
an approximation to the truth, as variations are to be found in
every part, yet the surface soil of Suffolk is perhaps as clearly
defined as that of any other county possessing an equal extent of
land with the same distinct variations in the soil.

If a correct geological map, showing the substrata of the county,
had been added to this Report, it would have been more satis-
factory to the scientific agriculturist ; but as a great part of Suffolk
is covered by shallow deposits of sand, gravel, clay, and loam,
a geological map would not have exhibited the agricultural rela-
tions of the county more faithfully than the annexed sketch of the
surface soil. The latter will, at least, give an idea as to the kind
of farming a stranger may expect to see in any particular locality.
And the chalk and crag pits being marked, will be a slight index
to the subsoil.

It will be seen on the map that there are 5 distinct divisions,
each of which demands a description.

1. Strong loam. Woodlands.
2. Eastern sand. Sandlings.
3. Westernsand. Fieldings.
4. Rich loam.

5, Fen.

S. Woodward, Esq., has favoured me with the following inform-
ation on the geological character of the soil :—

“The lowest stratum in the county is chalk, which exists at a greater
or less depth beneath every part of it, except the small corner occupied
by the fens, which rest either on green sand or Kimmeridge clay. Pro-
ceeding westward from Bury along the road to Newmarket, the chalk
either appears on the surface, or is covered with a very moderate thick-
ness of sand, and throughout the whole of the western sand district, the
chalk is at no very great depth from the surface. The old warrens
used to indicate the locality of beds of sand. Even at Botesdale, east
of Bury, there are chalk pits. Further east the chalk inclines rapidly,
and is lost sight of beneath several hundred feet of clay, sand, and —
gravel, except in some places, for instance N. of Ipswich, where the
turnpike-road cuts through it; and there are chalk-pits at Debenham
and Stowmarket. In the neighbourhood of the valleys of E. Suffolk
the chalk is probably never far from the surface, as these are valleys of
elevation. The London clay makes its last appearance northwards in
East Suffolk; the base of the sea cliff at Felixstow consists of a dark
clay, containing the characteristic fossils of the London clay; it extends
iwards as far as Hadleigh, but is buried beneath newer clays and gra-

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On the Farming of Suffolk. , 263

vels. The next'stratum above the London clay, the Crag, is also limited
in extent. It is a ferruginous sand, full of shells, and was gnce much
used as a dressing for clay lands. At Walton on the Naze it is about
two yards thick, and abounds with spiral univalves, sharks’ teeth, &c.
At Harwich it is scarcely discoverable, and at Felixstow it is reduced
to a shingle bed, consisting chiefly of nodules coutaining 56 per cent.
of phosphate of lime. Mr. Lawes had several tons of this ground up
for manure. At Aldborough and Orford the crag becomes coralline, and
is often a complete coral reef. At Woodbridge there is the red crag,
with the same shells as at Walton; and near Southwold, the newest
beds of crag containing teeth of the mastodon and elephant, and shells
of mollusks still living on our coast. Between Southwold and Yar-
mouth the cliff consists of sand and gravel, with a bed of clay ‘till,’
sometimes forming their base, and again rising up to the middle or to
the surface. The ‘till’ is seldom a clay impervious to water, it usually
contains a great quantity of chalk; in other parts it consists entirely of
the wreck of the Kimmeridge clay, oolites, &c., which once filled up
the present ‘ level of the fens’ with a thousand feet of strata.”

Heavy Land or Strong Loam.—It will be seen by the map
that this district takes in the great body of the county, extending
from the S. to the N. extremity, and from the S.W. nearly to the
N.E. corner; this throughout its whole extent consists chiefly of a
' clayey loam on a clayey or marly subsoil, in some places the soil
takes more the character of clay, in others that of aloam. The
variations from this are but slight. On referring to the map, it will
be seen that chalk pits are dotted in various places—wherever
they occur, the soil in their immediate vicinity of course partakes
of a chalky character in a greater or less degree. About Wey-
bread and Mendham the soil im some places is of a sandy nature.
Along the course of the Waveney are rich grazing marshes com-
posed of alluvial soil. The low hills that border the Waveney
have frequently stiff clay on their summits, and light sandy land
in the bottoms. Throughout the “heavy lands,” as this is locally
termed in contradistinction to the “light lands,” or sandy dis-
tricts, the soil bordering on the rivers is the richest, the most
easily cultivated, and therefore the best land for the farmer, and
to be preferred to the retentive soil that generally occurs. |

Eastern Sands.—The tract of land on the eastern side of the
county, bordering on the sea-coast, is more or less of a sandy
nature, a great portion of which is highly cultivated, though in
some parts the soil is of a very inferior description, sometimes a
blowing sand, and still lying almost waste. A large extent of wild
heath land is to be seen in travelling from Wickham: Market to
Orford; the road passes over Tunstall heath, which has every
appearance of barrenness. And again, the country between Or-
ford and Woodbridge, and a large portion of Wilford Hundred,
the crops during my ride through that part in the summer gave

T 2

264 On the Farming of Suffolk.

ample evidence of a sterility which the existence of so extensive
a tract of waste land as Boyton, Iken, Chillesford, Sutton, and
Hollesley Heaths sufficiently corroborated. The heath land from
Sutton to the bridge over the Deben,* near Woodbridge, appears,
from the luxuriant growth of the ferns and whins, to be of a better
quality.

There is so great a difference in the quality of the land in the
eastern sand district, that I have the authority of a gentleman,
who is one of the largest tenant-farmers in Suffolk, in stating that
and may be found on nearly every farm, the value of which to rent
will vary from 5s. to 28s. per acre. In some parts of this district
the sand lies to a considerable depth ; and when this is the case it
precludes any improvement by the admixture of soils, unless at a
very great cost. In other parts the subsoil is chalk, marl, or
crag, and here the great means of the improvement of the texture
of the sandy soils is to be found. The admixture of the subsoil
with the surface has more than anything else contributed to place
the cultivation of the light lands of Norfolk and Suffolk in the
first rank in the scale of farming.

On the whole line of sea-coast there are tracts of salt marshes,
varying in value from 5s. to 25s. per acre, as they are more or
less subject to the influence of the tides. A great portion of the
marsh land is subject to inundation when the tides happen to be
unusually high, This may not occur for several years; but when
it does, it is productive of great injury to the marshes for many
years. :

Western Sand District.—This tract of country takes in some
of the worst description of soil, much of it being a blowing sand
on a subsoil of chalk or chalky clay (an some places} the chalk
appears at the surface) and is never ata great depth. In the
report of Arthur Young, it is mentioned as abounding in rabbit:
warrens and sheep-walks; a great proportion of these have been
broken up, and the district is altogether much improved, though
some of the land is so sterile, as to almost defy all attempts to
bring it into a productive state. The worst description of soil
occurs at Thetford, Brandon, Wangford, Lakenheath, [ckling-
ham, Cavenham, and West Stow. The S.E. portion of this
division, in the neighbourhood of Bury, is of rather a better
staple, the soil being a gravelly loam, and in some places the
characters of heavy and light land become intermingled.

Rich Loam.—This comprehends the greater part of Colneis
and Samford Hundreds, the lands of which may be considered
the best in the county ; and it cannot be better described than in

* Wilford Bridge.
+ The chalk appears at the surface at Barnham, Thetford, Brandon,
Eriswell, Newmarket,-and to a less extent at many other places.

On the Farming of Suffolk. 265°

the words of Arthur Young :—“ From the River Deben crossing
the Orwell, in a line some miles broad to the north of the River
Stour, to Stratford and Higham, there is a vein of friable putrid
vegetable mould, more inclined to sand than to clay, which is of
extraordinary fertility ; the best is at Walton, Trimley, and Felix-
stow, where, for depth and richness, much of it can scarcely be
exceeded by other soil to be found in others parts of the county,
and would rank high among the best in England.”

The last district, occupying the extreme N.W. corner, is com-
posed of fen land, the peat overlaying the clay, though on the
borders of the fens the subsoil is often sand. A narrow strip
of peaty soil extends along the banks of the River Ouse, and
also along those of the Lark; this is chiefly meadow land, gene-
rally producing a very inferior description of grass.

This small tract of peat land has perhaps undergone as much
improvement as any other part of the county. Arthur Young
mentions the fens as being partly under water; they are now well
drained by powerful steam-engines. By the application of bones,
and by the process of claying, very abundant crops are produced,
though the quality of the grain is not equal to that of the ad-
joining light land. In the time of Arthur Young the staple pro-
duce was oats and coleseed ; but the application of clay has com-
pletely changed the nature of the soil, and on the best cultivated
farms a four-course system is adopted of—lIst year, fallow for cole-
seed drilled with bones and the crop fed off by sheep ; 2nd, oats and
sometimes barley; 3rd, layer or beans; 4th, wheat. Fen-wheat
is considered a good change of seed for light land. Timothy
grass (Phleum pratense) ‘has of late years been grown on the fen
farms, and is considered an acquisition ; it is either sown by itself
and allowed to lay down three or four years, or it is sown with
clover ; for the latter purpose it must be well suited to this kind
of soil.

One cause of the improvement of the fens is that many of the
large light-land farmers are also holders of fen farms, and, being
men of education and capital, have raised the cultivation of the
soil.

2.— The Management of the Land on the Various Soils.

In describing the farming practices of the different soils I
shall divide the county into two divisions—the heavy land, in-
cluding the greater portion of the county; and the light land,
which may be subdivided into the eastern maritime sandy dis-
tricts or sandlings, and the north-west sandy districts or fieldings,
The fen district occupying the north-west corner of the county is
of so small an extent, and the similar soil of Cambridgeshire has
been so lately described by Mr. Jonas, besides being a subject

266 On the Farming of Suffolk.

for an essay for the ensuing year, that it can hardly demand much
attention in this Report. The farms in the heavy land district
seldom exceed 800 acres in extent; they are generally much
smaller, and many are found from 30 to 50 acres. There are
some large farmers (7.e. those holding several farms) but few
large farms, the land being subdivided, and many small landowners
farming their own estates. The farms on the light land are
much larger, and vary from 300 to 1500 acres.

Most writers on the farming of Suffolk have found fault with
four practices :—

1. Bad management of grass-land, and bad system of making
hay.

2. Want of irrigation, notwithstanding the number of streams
suitable for the purpose.

3. Heavy carts and waggons.

4. Inconvenient farm-buildings and large barns ; and astranger
travelling through the county would add a Sth, in the number of
hedges and hedge-row trees.

These are, however, no new complaints; for Arthur Young
condemns them all. However, the Ist and 2nd objection is in
process of removal by the pasture-land being at the present time
in the course of conversion into arable land. The 4th and 5th
are faults for which the owners of the soil are rather to be blamed
than the occupiers and cultivators ; but, though improvement has
been slow in these, yet it has made ample strides in those prac-
tices, which at the time Arthur Young wrote his report were
deemed much nearer perfection. Among the practices most
worthy of notice are— ‘

1. The system of thorough draining, which there is ample evi-
dence to prove has been practised for more than a century.

2. The system of t2/lage,—ploughing, harrowing, rolling, drill-
ing, horse-hoeing, &c., adopted on heavy land, by which the
injurious effects of treading 1s avoided altogether in these opera-
tions.

3. The universal system of ploughing with two horses, however
stiff the soil may be; and, as the Suffolk poet says,

‘* No wheels support the diving pointed share,
No groaning ox is doom’d to labour there,
No helpmates teach the docile steed his road,
Alike unknown the plough-boy and his goad ;
But, unassisted through each toilsome day,
With smiling brow the ploughman cleaves his way.”
BrioomriELp’s Farmer's Boy, 1798.

4, The practice of sowing spring crops on a stale furrow, the
action of the elements during the winter being found more
effectual in securing a fine tilth than spring cultivation.

On the Farming of Suffolk. 267

5. The cultivation of mangel wurzel.

6. The admixture of the subsoil with the surface, by claying
and marling light land.

7. The cultivation of roots, particularly carrots, on light land.

8. The manufacture and use of agricultural implements.

9. The breed of farm-horses.

Having thus enumerated the most striking features in the
farming of the county, I shall proceed to give a description in
detail of the

Management of the Heavy Land.

I shall first treat of the heavy land district, which is the most
extensive, as will be seen by reference to the map; and from its
extent, and the general superior quality of the land, it is also the
most important. Draining and the peculiar system of drill hus-
bandry have rendered it one of the finest corn districts in Eng-
land ; the increased cultivation of green and root crops, especially
mangold-wurzel, is rapidly contributing to place the farmers
among the largest graziers of fat sheep and cattle. A great por-
tion (the middle and northern part) was in the time of Arthur
Young the seat of the celebrated Suffolk dairies ; these have nearly
disappeared : it is said that there is not a tenth part of the number
of cows now kept. At that time the dairy farms consisted of grass
land; they are now chiefly arable, and what pasture remains is
rapidly being broken up wherever permission is given to do so.

The low price of butter and cheese, caused by the competition
with Ireland and Holland, and a reason which I have heard ad-
vanced by more than one farmer, viz. the difficulty of procuring
dairy servants, have mainly contributed to the disuse of the dairy
system. But when we consider it is now asserted by many who
were themselves dairy farmers that one-third more is paid for rent,
two-thirds more for tithes, and double the amount for labour than
was paid under the dairy management of the latter part of the
eighteenth century, it shows at once that the improvement in the
farming has been very great, particularly as this is a thickly inha-
bited agricultural district, where nearly the entire labouring popu-
lation has to depend on the farmer for its subsistence.

Hemp was grown in the time of Arthur Young to some extent
in that part of the county between Eye and Beccles, but its culti-
vation is very nearly discontinued.

The present system of drilling was in its infancy when Arthur
Young wrote his report; it is now become general, and on the
soil adjoining (the light land district) itis probably carried too far,
for here light sandy land is sometimes seen ploughed in narrow
stetches, with deep furrows between them ; this must occasion a
loss as nothing grows in the furrows, and also cause injury by the
deep furrows drawing the water from the soil.

268 On the Farming of Suffolk.

The land of this district being ploughed with great exactness
in 10 or 12 furrow stetches (73 feet and 9 feet), the drills are
constructed to sow either a whole or half a stetch at once, leaving
for wheat about 1 foot in the furrows unsown. A whole drill
(one that covers a stetch) is drawn by four horses (two in each
furrow) for wheat sowing, and three for drilling spring corn,
though six horses are used in the very large drills that cover a
12-furrow stetch. Half drills, for sowing half a stetch at once,
are the most generally used for 12-furrow work; in these the
shafts are quartered, so that the horses (usually two) walk in the
furrow followed by one wheel, the other wheel working upon the
top of the stetch; but in wet weather the path made by this
wheel is considered to be injurious, pariicularly if the wheel runs
upon a row of seed that has already been deposited: but to prevent
this, the half drills are fitted with a slip axle which admits of
being lengthened out that the wheels can be adjusted to go in the
other furrow, and thus do the work without any injury either from
the treading of the horses or the tracks of the wheels on the land.

The other implements, such as harrows, rolls, horse-hoes
(where used), are also constructed so as exactly to fit the stetches,
and the horses walk in the furrows. Horse-hoes, which are used
in some parts, though not in all, are fitted with adjusting axles
similar to the drills. The old common horse-hoe is used by some
farmers for horse-hoeing wheat, barley, beans, and roots; and
with such exactness is it managed that 6 and 7-inch rows are
often hoed without injury to the crop.

Barley and other light rollers are made double, and cover two

half-stetches, the horse walking in the furrow;

lee a small roller or ‘‘ follower,” as it is termed,

for rolling the furrow, is attached to the hinder

| | | part of the rolls by chains or by a frame of

wood thus. The shafts of the double roll ad-

mit of being altered, so that one roller may be used by itself; or,

when removed from one field to another, one roller can be conve-

niently placed before the other. Heavy rollers have the shafts
quartered or placed on one side.

Having thus described some of the principal features of this
district, I shall proceed to consider the rotation and manner of
cultivation pursued. In the course of cropping there is much
variation, particularly among the smaller farmers; but on the
largest estates and throughout all the best cultivated farms the
course of cropping is :—

1. Fallow: either clean fallow, tares, beet, or turnips.

2. Barley.

3. Half clover; half beans or peas; alternately.
4, Wheat.

On the Farming of Suffolk. 269

This may be taken as the general course. The modifications
which are occasionally made by good farmers are :—In the first
year having all long fallow on strong land, or all roots, or growing
rye-grass or trefoil for spring feed, and then breaking up for
fallow. In the second year the growing wheat after beet, and
sometimes after turnips, instead of barley. In the third year, the
growing tares instead of beans, and, what has lately been intro-
duced, the cultivation of Italian rye-grass instead of clover, by
which the repetition of the latter is removed from eight to twelve
years. And the growing of oats on freshly broken-up land, and,
to a small extent, in lieu of other white-straw crops for the pur-
pose of home consumption.

Variations, the usefulness of which is much to be questioned,
are the taking a third crop, as it is called, which is oats after wheat
and then fallow; the growing white-straw crops in succession on
freshly broken-up pasture: many instances are known of farmers
ploughing up a piece of sward, taking first coleseed, and then
wheat for three years running. Such scourging as thisis much to
be reprobated, and is productive of considerable injury to the
land, the farmer, and the nation at large; such deviations as
growing two white-straw crops in succession ought never to be
sanctioned, though deviations from any rotation, however good,
may frequently be made with propriety by the judicious cultivator
to suit circumstances. ‘The constant recurrence of one monoto-
nous round of cropping must after a time end in the failure, to a
certain extent, of one or more of the plants grown; and the
farmer being bound to this, is unable to exercise his judgment
in growing those crops which will command the highest price in
the market.

The four-course rotation, as adopted on the heavy land of Suf-
folk, is perhaps better suited to this description of land than most
others ; it is certainly better than any other that has yet been
tried.

The recurrence on the average of a long fallow once in eight
years is considered absolutely necessary by the best farmers for
the cleaning and amelioration of stiff land by repeated ploughings
and pulverizations; and there are a few who consider a clean
fallow is necessary every four years. ‘The failure of the clover
is generally prevented by its recurrence only once in eight
years. The growing of peas and beans to be followed by wheat
may be objected to by some who farm in a distant part of the
country, but without much cause ; the deep hoeings and clean cul-
tivation of the pulse makes it a good preparation for wheat—as
an instance of which, one farmer has grown wheat and beans
alternately for twenty years without any “perceptible deterioration
of the annual crop, in a part of the county where the four-

270 On the Farming of Suffolk.

course system is usually practised—while the system of beans and
wheat alternately, with a fallow every five years, is adopted in a
small extent of the county where the soil rests on the London
clay.

Ist Year, Fallow.—The number of ploughings to make a clean
fallow is 5, sometimes 6, viz.:—1, ploughing in the stubble; 2,
turning back the furrows; 3 and 4, ploughed overthwart (across
the previous ploughings) in broad stetches usually 2 rods wide, 5
stetched up for turnips, or if long fallow, for barley; some give
the stetches another ploughing before laying the land up for the
winter.

The first ploughing of a clean fallow is given generally pre-
vious to the winter setting in, though there are some who advocate
the practice that was common thirty or forty years ago, of als
lowing the land intended for long fallow to lie unploughed till
the spring, alleging that the land works much better. This is
entirely out of the question for roots, but there are feasible reasons
to give for its being adopted, it allows more time for the prepara- —
tion of the other fields intended for roots; and it does not spoil
the early partridge shooting, as there is no occasion for the imme-
diate removal of the stubble—the latter is not of much importance
to the tenant, though it certainly is to a few of the owners of
heavy land. Much, however, depends on the season; wet land
ploughed up, and then exposed to an open and rainy winter, will
most likely work badly in the spring, and probably much worse
than if allowed to remain whole. The advocates of breaking up
fallows in the spring will certainly allow that there is advantage
in exposing land to the frost, for the same farmers who objected
to the autumn ploughings of long fallows yet advocated the autumn
and winter preparation for roots.

Harrowings and rollings intervene between the ploughings,
though it is considered by some farmers that too many harrowings
are frequently given: the couch-grass and rubbish is got out of the
land after the second ploughing, it is brought to the surface by
harrowing and picking, and then burnt. After the second
ploughing overthwart, a marker of the exact width of the stetches
is sometimes used previous to ploughing the land in stetches—
this is a bar of wood or iron having two coulters at the required
width fixed behind a pair of wheels and shafts, usually those of
the horse-rake ; this is drawn over the land, and leaves straight
marks for the guidance of the ploughman. The land being laid
up for the winter before Christmas, the barley is drilled upon the
earth which has been pulverized by the winter frosts without any
other preparation than a light harrowing or scarifying.

As a rule, no advantage is ever derived from ploughing fallows
in wet weather, and very seldom from sowing the seed, whether

On the Farming of Suffolk. 271

of turnips, beet, or barley, directly after the plough. One of the
greatest difficulties attending the cultivation of roots on heavy
land is the getting the land into sufficient tilth; if the land is
ploughed when wet, the furrows harden into one mass, and if very
dry it breaks up into clods. By spring-ploughing there is every
chance of producing clods instead of mould, and hence the ad-
vantage of preparing land intended for roots in the winter or
autumn. ‘The ridge cultivation, so well adapted for the removal
of roots from a heavy soil, cannot be practised with the certainty
of securing a crop when the land is ploughed in the spring; on
account of the difficulty of bringing the land into good tilth
under the system of five ploughings, seed sown on a ridge of
clods is less likely to vegetate than when sown on the flat stetch,
hence the latter method has until lately been generally adopted.

When tares are grown on the fallow, manure is generally ap-
plied at the rate of from fourteen to sixteen loads per acre, the
land ploughed once, and the seed drilled at the rate of from ten
to twelve pecks per acre; half a bushel of oats or rye is frequently
added; when sown late in the season the quantity of seed per
acre is increased ; the purposes to which the tares are chiefly
applied are for soilmg the horses during the summer. Where
sheep are kept tares are sometimes fed off, either with hurdles on
the land or mown and carried on a pasture; when hurdled, the
tares are generally mown before given to the sheep. A few
farmers sow coleseed or turnips after the tares. A heavy-land
farmer who has practised the system of tare-husbandry for sheep
has given it up, having found that it is impossible to keep his
land clean; he allows that a good crop of tares has a cleaning
effect on the land, though he considers a bad crop to have quite
a contrary effect : by substituting a long fallow he is able to keep
his land clean, though he does not grow a heavier barley crop.

Tares are by some given to grazing bullocks; I found one
farmer was feeding on tares, beet, bean and barley meal, and
cake, in June, 1846.

Italian rye-grass and trefoil have of late been grown by farmers
who keep sheep for the purpose of affording spring feed; they
are sown on a wheat stubble; after feeding off in the spring the
land is broken up and sown with turnips or summer fallowed.

Turnips, §c.—The practice of reaping wheat still prevails, and
consequently the stubble has to be cleared off the land previously
to its being ploughed up: this is undoubtedly a loss of time, par-
ticularly on those lands intended for mangel or swedes; but the
question is, how are we to obviate this? ‘The mowing such
heavy crops as are generally grown is not likely to be practised
in every district, but still mowing, bagging, or reaping low will
further the preparation of the land for beet and swedes, as there

272 On the Farming of Suffolk. — ~

is then time to plough the Jand before wheat-sowing; this is an
advantage not to be despised, as it is one move towards se-
curing acrop. Several methods are adopted in the cultivation
of roots, each of which has its advantages; they will therefore
demand a separate description. I shall first consider the old
method, which is still generally adopted for white turnips, and
frequently for swedes and beet. In this the fallow is made in
the usual manner, but in time for the season of turnip-sowing.
Muck is applied by some; by others a dressing of burnt earth,
and on some land artificial manure (particularly where the crop
is intended to be folded with sheep), such as rape-dust, bones,
and guano ; white turnips are drilled from 14 to 18 inches apart,
and beet at proportionably wider intervals; the turnips are
hand-hoed at a cost of from 6s, to 7s. per acre. The late period
at which turnips are usually sown is the great objection to their
success on heavy land, which is not suited to the feeding with
sheep; for if late sown they remain on the land through the
winter, and the removing them day after day at a cart-load a
time in any weather must be productive of injury to the land ;
by early sowing, the roots may be removed from the land and
stored early in the season with comparatively little injury.

The early season at which beet is sown, and the little injury
it causes when carted from the soil, are the merits to which it
owes its extended cultivation; there are few farmers in the
heavy-land district of Suffolk of 100 acres that do not grow on an
average four or five acres of this valuable root. The more the
turnip-husbandry approaches that of beet in respect to the early
sowing and removal from the soil, the sooner will it arrive at per-
fection on these heavy soils. White turnips, which are apparently
cultivated to the greatest extent, should give place to beet and
swedes, both are superior in their feeding qualities, as well as
what gives them a greater value, their property of keeping when
removed at an early season from the land and stored in a con-
venient situation.

Beet.—I shall now proceed to give a description of the culti-
vation of beet, which has been introduced about thirty years,
during which time its cultivation has been continually on the
increase ; and it may be truly said that it is a crop which has
tended more than any other to improve the heavy land of Suffolk,
and I may with confidence assert that its cultivation is one of the
greatest improvements that has been introduced since the report
of A. Young in 1804. It has filled up a blank which used to
occur in the feeding of sheep and cattle on heavy land, the pro-
viding spring food.

Land intended for beet is ploughed immediately after harvest,
and the fallow made in the usual manner of ploughing the

On the Farming of Suffolk. 273

stubble in, ploughing back, thwarting twice, but instead of the
fifth ploughing or stetching up, the land is ploughed in ridges
from 27 to 36 inches wide with the common plough, a dressing
of from 16 to 20 chaldron-loads of farm-yard manure is applied ;
some use muck fresh from the yard, others compost dung; the
manure is then covered in by splitting the ridges, the land rolled,
and the seed, from 5 lbs. to 6 lbs. per acre, is either dibbled by
hand or drilled at the latter end of April or beginning of May.

Before hoeing, a plough without a breast and fitted with a
broad share, or a shim with a share and side-hoes, is used be-
tween the drills, and good cultivators repeat this several times
throughout the summer; the mangel is generally hand-hoed three
times, the first hoeing costs 3s. 6d., the plants being singled by
children after the hoer; the other hoeings cost about 2s. 6d. per
acre: it is found that the deeper the land is cut with the hoe, and
the more the soil is pulled away from the bulbs, the less lable
they are to grow with long fibres and fangs. The varieties chiefly
cultivated are the long red; the red and yellow globe varieties
have lately been introduced. Horn beet, a variety of the long
red, is preferred by some.

Beet grown on the stetch (usually four rows on ten-furrow
' work) has more roots than when grown on the ridge; this is
attributed to the earth not being so much pulled away by the
hoe. Mangel is harvested about the latter end of October or
beginning of November; the pulling and stripping the leaves is
often done by women and children at so small a price as from 3s. 6d.
to 4s. per acre; they are then carted off the land and laid ona
headland, or in a convenient place in a ridge-like heap about six
feet wide and four feet high; this is covered with straw or haulm,
and then with a layer of earth taken from the side of the heap ;
the top or ridge of the heap is generally left uncovered with
earth; some take the precaution of adding another layer of haulm
on the outside of the mould. In May the roots begin to shoot,
and are then likely to heat and rot; to prevent this the heap is
broken up, the shoots rubbed off, and the roots laid in a barn or
outbuilding. It is obvious that by the bulbs growing they will
lose a portion of their nutriment; it is, therefore, folly to allow
them to grow in the heap. Somedo not pull down the heap, but
merely remove the roots to the cattle as wanted, and yet find that
they will keep through the summer without decaying, but the
heap should not be made very large, and the roots should be dry
when laid up.

If wet weather occurs at the time of pulling, different methods
are practised to prevent injury to the land by carting ; some pull
the mangel and cover them with the leaves, and allow them to
remain in that state till dry weather comes for carting off.

274 On the Farming of Suffolk.

Another plan is to remove the roots entirely by manual labour ;
and I have the authority of Mr. A. Gissing, of Stradbroke, to state
that in a wet season he got his beet off a ten-acre field without
the aid of horses, at a cost of 9s. per acre; women and children
pulled the beet, while men carried the roots in baskets or wheeled
them in barrows to clamps on the side of the field. ‘Three
clamps were made on one side of the field and three on the other.
The people employed made good earnings.

Besides the employment of the labourer and his family, and
the absence of injury to the land from the treading of horses, this
practice, to judge from the above statement, appears to be quite
as cheap as using horses and carts.

Tn seasons dry enough for carting off the beet, wheat is grown
thereafter to a considerable extent instead of barley, and pro-
duces a superior quality of sample. Good crops of barley are
generally grown after beet; as a prepar ation the leaves are
ploughed in; it has been found that the barley-crop is inferior
where the leaves have been carted off.

Swedes are frequently cultivated on the ridge in the same
manner as beet, the seed being sown about the beginning of
June; they do best on the ridge in a wet season, but in a dry one
the ridges being cloddy and dry, the swedes do not grow well.
Those who fat cattle cart the crop off the land before Christmas
(November and December), and store in heaps near the fatting-
yards or along a headland in a stubble-field; some store them in
a similar manner to beet, the heap rather smaller, but covered
with straw only; some lay them in heaps between hurdles and
then thatch with straw; others only cover with straw at first, as
the swedes are apt to heat, but about three weeks after cover with
earth: in this manner swedes keep sound till the sprmg. How
much better this practice of carting roots from the soil and storing
them, than carting a load of roots from the field daily, which
are either covered with dirt or in a frozen state! By this tardy
management the farmer’s sheep and cattle are badly supplied
with food, and his barley crop spoilt on account of the late time
of sowing.

There is yet another way of managing heavy land for roots,
which is coming into notice and appears to have great advantages,
particularly as it does away with spring ploughing, and with
another injury so often complained of, that of carting the manure
on wet land in the spring.

The stubble is ploughed up early in autumn, and the land
ridged in about 30-inch ridges (these are sometimes turned
back), and then a dressing of farm-yard manure applied, spread,
and covered in by splitting the ridges; in these operations the
common plough is used. The land now lies exposed through

On the Farming of Suffolk. 275

the winter to the action of the frost, and no more ploughing is
given till the seed is drilled in the spring. ‘The ridges are made
across the direction the land is stetched up, so that when plough-
ing for the following year barley the furrows are laid in a con-
trary direction to the ridges of the root-crop ; by this means the
manure applied to the roots becomes equally distributed in the
soil, and the barley is a level crop and ripens altogether, which
would not be the case if the land was ploughed in the direction of
the ridges.

This is undoubtedly the simplest and most effective way of
securing a fine tilth for the seed. If weeds vegetate during the
winter, they are destroyed by using the scuffler, or horse-hoe, over
the land before sowing, and if considered necessary, the ridges
are then moulded up with a small double-breasted plough. In
that part of the county where this system is adopted, the mangel
and swede seed is dibbled: one man will dibble about an acre in
a day ; the plants are first singled by hand and then hoed deeply.
The shim, or horse-hoe, is used frequently between the ridges.
The Rev. Copinger Hill, who adopts and advocates this system,
has kindly favoured me with the following memoranda respecting
the beet crop which he has grown under this system; the average
of his crops is 20 tons per acre.

Memorandum of mangel crop, 1843; crop 20 tons per acre.
Expenses of pulling up, stripping leaves, drawing, earthing up,
and bringing haulm per ton, 7 3d.

Expenses of clearing mangel in 184] :-—

Sarid.
Pulling, Carting, and Stacking 18 tons per acre 11 O
Bringing haulm for two coverings . Siue a PAuseo
Farthing up . : ; : : Sey Whe Log RO

Total %, LON 6

Carrots—White Belgian carrots are grown by a few farmers:
the manner of cultivation is drilling on the ridge or flat without
manure, the seed being rubbed and mixed with sand to ensure
delivery from the drill. Oats are often sown with the seed to
show the rows, so that the hand and horse hoe can be used.

The subject of growing roots as a fallow crop is of so much
importance that, at the risk of bemg considered prolix, I shall
introduce the following description of growing roots, &c., as
practised by Mr. J. C. Downing, of Earl Soham, who advocates
the system of ploughing heavy land in 8-furrow stetches, using
a whole drill (one that covers a stetch at one movement, the two
wheels working in the furrows), and argues that roots may be
carted off the land at this width of stetch without injury to the
soil, as the stetch exactly fits the width of the wheels, and the

276 On the Farming of Suffolk.

horse may be made to walk in the furrow by quartering the shafts
of the cart.

ape ae i ih a Cabbages are not very
yy wy Qy generally grown, but Mr.
Downing’s plan appears to
Y Dp y be advantageous, as it se-
| K cures both a green crap
ne & sa and the benefits of a long
@ DY Y fallow. aaa a, furrows
peg | 54 feet apart; b 5b, cab-
es wy @ bages 21 inches apart in
c the row; rows distant from
Ne id e each other 52 feet, or 3
@ Dy Y rows in a rod.
oa By planting at the dis-
Y DY Py tance of 53 feet, the injury
@ Q@ @ done by carting on the ma-

nure and carting off the
cabbages is entirely pre-
vented, as the wheels of the carts always run in the furrows.
It takes 4826 cabbages to plant an acre (these, pricked out to 4
inches apart, are bought at ls. 6d. per 1000); the planting is
done from 4 in the afternoon to 7 or 8 in the evening; the
plants thus have the advantage of the coolness and damp of mght,
and by that means gain strength to stand the heat of the following
day, but during dull weather the planting may go on at any time.

The cultivation between the rows is done by the common plough;
the land is first ploughed away from one side of the rows of cab-
bages, cutting as close to the plants as possible, the soil is then
turned back, each other space is left unploughed for 4 or 5 days,
for this reason, that the ploughing is done so close to the plants
that it breaks off a great number of roots, and if the roots on both
sides were cut by the plough on the same day the cabbages would
suffer, whilst, by ploughing on the other side 4 or 5 days after-
wards, the roots that have been previously cut off short have time
to send out an increased number of young fibres, which support
the plant while the other side is undergoing the operation of
ploughing. The benefit to be derived from the cutting off the
roots is, the increased number of spongioles, or young feeders
sent out by the broken roots; the plants, being furnished with a
greater number of mouths, must, as a matter of course, take in
an increased amount of food, which acts upon the plant by pro-
ducing a quicker growth. The gentleman who practises this
system of cultivating cabbages was told that it would not answer
during dry weather, but he asserted that if the plan suited a wet
season, he was sure it would succeed in a dry one; the ploughing

On the Farming of Suffolk. 277

between the rows pulverizes the soil, and causes it to attract a
greater quantity of moisture; the increased number of roots would,
of course, extract from the soil a greater amount of water, and of
those substances held in solution by the water. The fresh pul-
verized earth given by the plough is very acceptable to the
cabbages; the land has an almost perfect fallow, and grows an
excellent crop.

The carting off the cabbages is done in such a manner as to be
productive of as little injury to the land as possible. Thisis done
with a quarter-cart, as it is termed in Suffolk, having the shafts
so placed that the horse walks before the right hand wheel ; in
other words, it “quarters.” With this cart the wheels and
horse are made to go in the two furrows, the body of the cart
passing over a row of cabbages which are filled into the cart as it
moves on.

Mr. Downing’s plan of growing swedes and beet is somewhat
similar to that adopted for cabbages, as it has the same end in
view of making a fallow, and pre-

venuneyimury to the- land by b @ b a@ ob a ob
carting. aa a, double rows of ae 7, a
plants 15 inches apart; b B d 8, a oy oe
furrows 4 feet 14 inch apart, or 4 oe ~Y
ridges in a rod; the plough, &c., a oS ¥ S
is used repeatedly between the nd © + es
double rows. The manner of By By oy
carting off is to have the horse / an ys
walk in the furrow, 6, and the ¥ & ws % 4s
wheels go upon the edge of the A *& “
ridge at a, where the plants stood ; S ¥ x ay, % %
but these have been pulled, topped, +, — %
and tailed, and laid on one side ay % | ~% % yy %

away from where the wheels go,

and are ready for throwing into the cart. Mr, D. uses a dibbler
of the following construction for dibbling swede and beet seed:
he gets a wheel from the iron foundry of about 18 inches dia-
meter, has holes drilled in this, 7 inches apart, for ls., then wooden

dibs about 12 inch, ale turned, and fixed in by

a nail, the other part wale by the wheelwright. If
too light, he has a stone weight hung on the bar, B ;
with this he dibbles mangel and swede seed at 7
inches apart, dropping the turnip seed from a bottle hl
with a large quill stuck through the cork, the seeds
are dropped with a jerk, and it does capitally. In
dibbling seeds like turnips, too many would be
dropped into each hole from the fingers; but by
VOL. VIIT.

278 On the Farming of Suffolk.

having a bottle as here described, the seed is dropped in equal
number, With the same dibble he marks the ridges for cab-
bages at 21 inches, passing over 2 holes, and planting the cab-
bage in the third; and when transplanting swedes, he leaves
every other hole. ‘Tosecure a plant, he dibbles beet and mangel
at 7 inches, but hoes up every other knot of plants, leaving them
at 14 inches. His dibbler admits of one end of the axle moving
further back, so that when dibbling ridges the man does not walk
on the ridge but in the furrow.

The root-crop is variously used, and it may be said with cor-
rectness to be given to cows, fat and lean cattle, sheep, and hogs.
Beet affords food for fat cattle during spring and some part of
summer, and is sometimes given to fat sheep, and to ewes and
lambs in the spring. ‘Turnips are stored by some for -fattening
purposes ; some remove them daily from the field where they
grow, to be thrown out on pasture land for lean cattle or sheep,
while others exercise the precaution of carting early from the
field, and setting them up close together in some convenient spot
of ground: the objection to this is, that the tops decay and make
the roots in a dirty state.

Draining on arable land is done during the fallow, and is as much

1 2
a ER a
Ysa Z ® j
2-1 |
aby 3s
GD YY s 17
GY, ZA aie
; ]
YY yy i 7
VAG v a

]. Drain before it is filled up. 2. Drain filled with tile. 3. Drain filled with turf.

Drain No. 1.
a 9 Inches ploughed out.
b 9 Inches dug with Broad Spade.
c 12 Inches dug with Narrow Spade.

30 total depth.

¢, Broad Spade for Digging Top Spit. e, Narrow Spade for Bottom Spit.
f, Scoop for taking out the Crumbs after the Narrow Spade.
10 10 20 30 40 50 Inches.

UA SU TST TS a ae

On the Farming of Suffolk. 279

practised on the heavy land of Suffolk as in any of the adjoining
counties ; but as the reporters of those counties have already given
full details of a similar system, I beg to refer to their reports,
and to the excellent article of the Rev. Copinger Hill on Suffolk
Draining, in the ‘ Journal,’ vol. iv. p. 23. It would be useless
to attempt to give a better description than that gentleman has
done. I shall merely give a section of the common drains, and a
sketch of the narrow spade used in taking out the lower spit, as
well as of a spade which is sometimes used in digging the upper
spit ; it is half fork half spade. In digging stiff land with this tool,
the advantage is in the ease with which it enters the land, and in the
soil not adhering as it does to the common spade in wet weather.
Drains are drawn across the stetches, that is, across the di-
rection the land is ploughed, and when new drains are required
(the time of renewal depending upon the nature of the soil,
though usually from 10 to 20 years) they are cut across the old
ones; the materials used in filling up are “ haulm” (stubble),
straw, “scuds” (twisted straw), ling, or bushes; these are all
used on the same principle, viz., that of a temporary means of
forming an arch, for these substances decaying after a time, leave
a passage for the water covered by a solid arch of soil. Plug-
draining and the filling with turves, brought from the fens (the
latter much used, as they save straw) are means of forming that

arch at once. Pipes, either circular or this shape c 2. (the latter

preferred because they fit the drain), are getting into use, par-
ticularly where supplied by the landowner; the drain is dug in
the same manner as for the other filling materials. In putting in
the pipes the man begins at the lowest end of the drain, and
walks on them as he proceeds in his work. The cost for labour
in digging out and filling in the materials, and the soil which has
been thrown out, is on the average 4s. per score rods for 30-inch
drains; when pipes are used the cost is rather more. Drains
for pipes are sometimes dug 3 feet deep by digging two spits
with the broad spade; this does not much increase the cost for
labour, and may be of advantage, as it removes the drain further
from the plough; it also admits of subsoiling, which is out of
the question in the common method of filling in, as that operation
would destroy the arch that had been formed. However, many
of the heavy land fields of Suffolk are nearly at a dead level : hence
it would be impossible to adopt a very deep system of draining,
as a fall of water could not be obtained; even at the present
depth difficulty is sometimes experienced in getting a fall, when
the openings of the drains are only just above the level of the
water in the ditch into which the drains run.

2nd Year, Barley.—On a long fallow the seed-earth is given

Uw

280 On the Farming of Suffolk.

before Christmas; the land then lies till February or March,
when it is scarified or well harrowed and the seed drilled at about
6 inches, with from 10 to 12 pecks per acre: a set of light har-
rows follow to cover the seed. The varieties usually grown are
the long-ear Nottingham, and the Chevalier. This last was in-
troduced by the late Dr. Chevalier, of Aspall, in this county ;
it is the finest, though not the hardiest or most productive kind
of barley grown. A full account of the origin of this variety is
given by Dr. Chevalier, in the Journal, vol. i. p. 11.

Land, for barley after roots, is ploughed as soon as the roots
are off; across the ridges if ridged, some plough twice, giving a
shallow ploughing first, and then a deep one; this is of advantage,
as it brings the land level, and mixes the manure that had been
applied to the root crop. The leaves of beet are ploughed in,
and found to be productive of much benefit.

An improvement has of late years been brought into practice in
some parts of the county, that of sowing about a peck of white
mustard per acre on the long fallows in August or early in Sep-
tember, and ploughing in the herbage about 6 or 8 weeks from
the time of sowing. To assist in covering it in, several methods
are employed: the roller is used before ploughing, a chain is fixed
to the plough, or, what is perhaps the most effectual plan, having
boys to put it in the furrows after the plough; the effect on the
barley crop is considered by practical farmers to equal half a
coat of muck, obtained at a cost of 2s. 6d. for seed, and the addi-
tional trouble of sowing and harrowing in the seed. White
mustard is sometimes sown for feeding, and it has also been sown
after peas for ploughing in as a manure for wheat. Mr. Kemball,
junior, of Buxhall, tested this practice by leaving a portion of
land unsown: he states that the difference of the crop was visible
to the eye ata considerable distance from the field; at harvest,
the wheat where the mustard had been ploughed in was 6 inches
the highest, and ripened 10 days sooner than the wheat on ad-
joining stetches where no mustard had been sown; this was on
a clayey loam. Barley is horse-hoed by some farmers; this is of
advantage, particularly where the system of late sowing clover
seed is adopted ; some consider that the land must be in a bad
state if barley requires horse-hoeing, and are therefore content
with hand-weeding. ‘

On an average, | peck of clover-seed is sown broadcast by hand,
or with the machine directly after the harrows which follow the
barley drill: the land then receives another light harrowing.
Another manner of sowing seeds, which is useful when the barley
crop is sown so early that it is likely to be injured by the clover,
is that of horse or hand hoeing the barley, and then sowing the
seeds broadcast and harrowing in.

On the Farming of Suffolk. 281

The manner of gathering barley at harvest is different from
that practised on the light lands; here the barley is mown
across the stetches or beds, and when 4g
fit to cart, is gathered by the wives
of the harvestmen, whouse hand-rakes | __ cn)
for the purpose of rolling the barley q
into rows; they rake the swaths off
three stetches into a shock, leaving [7 Cum):
a passage for the waggons in the fur-
TOWS, @ d.

Barley is harvested either in the
stack or barn, though more frequently
in the latter; a greater quantity is got into the barns by tramp-
ling with horses, though this practice is occasionally injuri-
ous, from the barley becoming mow-burnt when badly har-
vested.

By far the greater part of the barley is threshed by the flail, at
a cost of from 10d. to 1s. per coomb. Machines for havelling
barley, in leu of the old-fashioned barley-choppers, have lately
been introduced: these perform the operation perfectly, though
many farmers complain that from the machines cutting the
awns off so short, the barley does not fill the bushel so quickly
as before the machines were introduced ; however, as maltsters
will pay for even samples, there does not appear any likelihood
of havelling machines being laid aside.

3rd Year, Clover, Beans, and Peas—That portion of the
barley-stubble intended for beans and peas is manured with farm-
yard dung, usually from 14 to 20 loads per acre, and then
ploughed up; this is generally completed before the frosts of
winter set in, by that means exposing the land to the ameliorating
effects of the weather during winter, and this adds another link to
the system of avoiding spring-ploughing, and sowing ona stale
furrow, which are, I believe, the strong points in the husbandry
of the heavy-land farmers of Suffolk. Some farmers give a half
coat of dung for beans, and the other half for wheat; the dung
for beans is not ploughed in very deep, as it is considered that
beans require a firm bottom, and that by ploughing deep for
wheat the manure applied for beans will be brought nearer the
surface. When drilling beans and peas is practised, the land 1s
scarified before sowing to let in the drill, but for dibbling this is
not required. Beans are planted from 6 to 8 rows on a 12
furrow stetch (peas rather closer), the time of planting February
and March, but this depends on the weather. About 2 bushels
of common small beans are planted to the acre, about 4 of
Windsors and Mazagans, and from 3 to 4 bushels of peas. Beans
are hoed twice, and sometimes three times, with a heavy hoe (by

282 On the Farming of Suffolk.

some farmers the horse-hoe is used, and with much advantage),
at a cost of 4s. for the first hoeing, and of 2s. Gd.
A or 3s. for the second. Some plant their beans on

} ridges, either one or two rows; if two, 8 or 9

/ inches apart, the ridges from 2/7 for one row, to
42 inches wide for two rows, and then plough and
horse-hoe between the intervals. Beans are either
pulled by women and children or cut with a hook, (a)
“scrogged.” Peas are either mown, or the pea-

make (b) is used for the purpose.

Peas with eee are used to some extent for fattening pigs ;
beans for horses and bullocks. Bean-meal with oil-cake is fre-
quently used, and is reckoned better than if they were given
separately.

Manure is frequently carted on the clover in the winter during
frosty weather; when this is done the land is not dunged for
wheat; this is preferred by many, as the clover gets the benefit,
and the wheat-plant comes better than when the manure is laid
on a short time before ploughing for wheat.

Italian rye-grass is grown in some places in lieu of clover; it
must be useful on land that is clover-sick, as allowing a longer
interval to elapse before it is again sown on the land. Clover is
sometimes mown for “stover,” (that is, hay) the second crop
being either fed or mown for hay or for seed, though some cart
into the yards for horses. ‘The manner of making hay has
nothing remarkable in it to deserve a description.

Seed-clover is grown to a considerable extent ; the practice is to
feed red clover till June, and white till May (not folded), and
then shut up for seed; the feeding with sheep makes the clover
blossom more at once. Red clover is sometimes mown for hay,
and then seeded; but the lateness at which the seed is harvested
renders this an unceriain practice. Stones are picked off the
layer during winter, and the thistles and other weeds chopped up
a short time after the crop is shut up for seed. White clover is
mown early in the morning and late at night in dry weather, for
when damp the seeds do not brush off: this is not required for red
clover ; men or women follow the mowers with close-toothed iron
rakes, for the purpose of collecting the heads of clover that fall
between the swaths. ‘lhe cost of mowing is from 2s. to 2s, 6d.
per acre, that of raking about 1s. per acre. The clover is turned
and lifted as occasion may require, a rake following each man
that turns. When fit to cart, the seed is gathered in rows with
hand-rakes in the morning, while the dew is on the ground, ina
similar manner to barley, the intervals between the rows being
sufficiently wide for the passage of the waggons; in pitching, the
seed is handled as carefully as possible. When carting white

On the Farming of Suffolk. 283

clover, women and children follow the waggons to pick the locks
of clover left by the pitchers. After carting, the field is raked
while the dew is on the ground. ‘The seed is either threshed by
hand or by the machine; the cost of “ cobbing,” separating the
seed from the stalks, and “drawing,” separating the seed from
the husk by hand, is from 4s. to 5s. per bushel of 5 stone; seed
is drawn on a wooden frame on which the cob is laid, while 5 or
6 men hammer away with flails; however, this is much better
done by machinery. A crop of red clover-seed is 2 to 8 bushels,
of white 3 to 9 bushels (of 5 stone) per acre.

4th year, Wheat.—Wheat follows in the last year of the course
after beans, peas, and clover. From 14 to 20 loads per acre of
farm-yard manure, generally compost, are applied on clover-lands
for the wheat crop, either on the seeds during the previous winter,
or shortly before ploughing up the land for wheat; the clover-
Jand is ploughed up (not very deep) in September, allowing a
short time to elapse before planting. When the layers have been
fed, it is considered advisable, from the greater part of the manure
from the sheep washing into the furrows, to spread the first furrow
ploughed up; by this means the manure is distributed over the
surface; if this is not done, the corn that grows on the ridge or
top of the stetch is lodged. When manure is spread, it is never
thrown in the furrows, for these become by ploughing the top of
the stetch, on which the succeeding crop is grown; and it is found
that that is the part where the crop grows with the greatest luxu-
riance. Wheat is generally planted in October or November,
either with the drill or by hand-dibbling ; the latter is preferred for
clover-lands. The dressing to prevent smut was chiefly chamber-
lye and lime; this has been superseded in many places by a solu-
tion of blue vitriol (sulphate of copper). Arsenic is also used ;
this is done by wetting the wheat, and then sifting arsenic over it
from a dredging-box. Before dibbling the land is __
rolled. Dibbling is done by men who use two iron *
dibblers, one in each hand, walking backwards; one :
man finds employment for three children dropping |
the seed; the cost from 5s. to 8s. per acre; the dis-
tance between the holes varies from 3 to 5 inches,
that between the rows from 43 to 9; thus one row of }
holes is put in the centre of each furrow, or two rows
ona furrow; and some put 16 rows on a 12-furrow stetch, putting
two rows on the wide furrows, and only one on the narrow ones at
the ridge and furrow. After the seed is deposited, the land is
harrowed. Among the advantages of dibbling are—

Ist. The employment of the labourer and his family.

2nd. The saving of seed (from 6 to 7 pecks usually dibbled).

3rd. ‘That the straw grows stiffer, and is not so liable to be lodged.

<-—-——-- 85.10
<g>
peer
+

284 On the Farming of Suffolk.

Bean and pea land, that has been dunged for those crops, is not
dunged for wheat, though some farmers give half a coat for beans,
and the other half before ploughing the land for wheat. Clover
is considered the best preparation for wheat. ‘The bean and pea
land is cleaned after harvest by scarifying and harrowing, and then
ploughed. Drilling is generally practised on bean and pea land,
and by some farmers after clover; the distance between the drills
varies from 5 to 9 inches, with spaces of about | foot in width for
striking out the furrows. The wide drilling, which Arthur Young
speaks so highly of, has been laid aside, as it has been found,
after an experience of many years, that it does not equal that
drilled at narrower intervals. The land is harrowed both before
and after the drill, a light gang of harrows being used last for
covering the seed. The furrows are now struck out with a
double-breasted plough, drawn by one horse, which leaves the
wheat well laid up for the winter. The quantity drilled is from
8 to 10 pecks. The red varieties chiefly grown are, the Spalding,
the Copdock or marygold, and the old Kent red. The Tunstall
white, grown from a single plant at Tunstall, Suffolk; the Hard-
castle, a white wheat, brought into notice by a farmer of that
name living near Ipswich, and a great favourite with the Suffolk
farmer ; some grow red and white wheat mixed, a sample which
commands a higher price in the market than red only.

Horse-hoeing wheat is only partially practised, though hand-
hoeing and weeding are very general, but perhaps are productive
of some injury when done too late in the season.

By far the greater portion of the wheat is reaped, and for such
abundant crops as are generally grown this is preferable to mow-
ing; however, mowing or bagging is to be recommended on land
intended for beet or tares, requiring to be ploughed up immedi-
ately after harvest.

Harvestmen are cither paid a certain sum per month, or receive
about 10s. per acre for cutting, carrying, and stacking the grain,
from 10 to 12 acres being allotted to each man, the wives and
children assisting in the harvest when required by the men.

A great quantity of wheat is still threshed by the flail, at a cost
of from Is. 2d. to 1s. 6d. per coomb; and I believe that there are
covenants in some leases binding the farmer to thresh by flail, and
that some farmers prefer it, because they are able to employ more
labourers, who otherwise would be obliged to fall on the parish.
I think that landowners and farmers of this opinion require a little
more schooling to convince them that money saved by machinery
can be employed in improved cultivation.

Management of Light Land.

I have included the eastern and western light-land districts

On the Farming of Suffolk. 985

under one head: this may be objected to, but the prescribed
limits of this report will not allow of any other arrangement.
The management, in some respects, may be different, but, where
any difference occurs, it will be mentioned. Many of the light-
land farms on the eastern side of the county are of so varied a
character of soil as to require distinct systems of management,
and may be said to partake both of light and heavy land farming.
It would, therefore, require a considerable space to give all the
details, and this must be my apology if I have omitted any im-
portant features. Beet-root is grown largely on the eastern side
of the county on good soils, and has perhaps in some measure
superseded the cultivation of carrots, for which the light land was
celebrated in the time of A. Young. The proximity of the sea,
combined with dry and warm summers, no doubt render this
district favourable to the growth of that root.

The whole of this district is (with very little variation) farmed
on the four-course system :—

Ist year—Fallow, swedes, white turnips, carrots, or mangold-
wurzel.

2nd year— Barley.

3rd year—Seeds,

4th year— W heat.

On the very light sands swedes and mangold are not grown,
and rye is grown as a corn-crop; but the latter is not so much
cultivated as it used to be. Oats are occasionally grown instead
of barley and wheat.

lst year, Faliow.—On most of the farms in this district a
breeding-flock is kept, and in order to supply food for the ewes
and lambs in the spring, in the interval that elapses after the
turnips are consumed, and before the layers are sufficiently ad-
vanced for feeding, a portion ef the fallow is set apart for the
growth of rye for feeding off, to be followed by white turnips. As
soon as possible after harvest, a portion of the wheat-stubble is
ploughed up. The cleanest stubble is generally selected for this
crop, though on some farms the practice is to take rye for feeding
alternately on the several fields of the shift; one ploughing is
given, and the seed drilled or sown broadcast Gf drilled, the
coulters of the drill are as close as possible), at the rate of from 3
to 35 bushels per acre; the quantity of seed may appear great,
but it is generally considered that rye for feeding cannot be sown
too thickly. A few tares or rape-seed are sometimes sown with
the rye; this thickens the bottom of the feed. Within the last
few years an early variety has been introduced, for the purpose of
feeding off in the spring; it is called the giant or Tyrolese rye,
and it has the great advantage of coming a w eck or ten days earlier
than the common rye, though some farmers do not consider the

286 On the Farming of Suffolk.

produce equal to, or the feed to continue so long as that produced
by the common variety, but this deficiency, if it exists, is more
than compensated by the advantage of having feed 10 days earlier ;
this is of great importance to the flockmaster when the spring is
severe, or when there is a short supply of turnips. The time of
feeding off the rye is of course determined by the severity of the
winter, and by the time at which the turnip-crop is consumed.
The usual period being from the middle to the latter end of
April, if allowed to get too forward the sheep do not eat it readily.
The sheep are usually folded in hurdles on the rye, a fresh piece
being allowed them every day. Some of the hurdles are set so
that the lambs can get through and feed on the fresh rye at the
head of the fold, whenever they feel inclined. It is the practice
of some farmers (and one which is much to be recommended
when the turnip-crop is abundant) to cart the last of the turnips
into the rye-field, and give them to the sheep while feeding the
rye. The cost of carting the roots will be amply repaid by the
convenience of being able to proceed in the sowing of the barley-
crop at a seasonable time; the loss to the land by not being folded
can readily be supplied by some artificial manure. Green rye, in
a forward state, is often mown for horses, and cut into chaff with
a mixture of straw; it is useful as affording the first gradual change
from the dry food of winter to the green food of summer.

The cost per acre of rye for feeding is rather heavy; but, at
present, the Suffolk farmers have not discovered any crop that so
well fills up the blank between the consumption of the turnip-
crop and the time at which the grass and clover are ready for the
sheep.

As soon as the rye is fed off, the land is ploughed up and pre-
pared for turnips, which are drilled about the latter end of June
or beginning of July. The number of ploughings, scarifyings,
&c., which the land receives depends upon its cleanness, and also
on the difficulty that exists in brmging the rye-land into a suffi-
ciently pulverized state. Farm-yard manure is seldom used for
turnips after rye, but artificial manures, such as rapecake, bones,
and latterly guano and superphosphate of lime, are frequently
drilled in with the turnip-seed.

A farmer in the neighbourhood of Wickham Market grows
swedes and white turnips after rye with only one ploughing, and
never fails of securing a good crop.

On most farms a few acres of tares are sown for the purpose of
soiling horses, or occasionally for feeding sheep. The manage-
ment does not materially differ from the cultivation of the land
for green rye.

Having thus disposed of a portion of the fallow (on some farms
about one-fourth of the entire shift), I shall proceed to consider

On the Farming of Suffolk. 287

the plan of working the remainder. The manner of preparing
the land for turnips is not uniform in this district, and the practice
frequently varies on the same farm, one system being adopted
one year, and another the next. If a dry autumn succeeds an
early harvest, we shall in all probability see the whole of the
fallows cleaned of couch and other rubbish before the clover
layers are ploughed for wheat; but if it happens to be a wet
autumn, or-a late harvest, the cleaning is of necessity deferred till
the spring. The practice of some farmers is to skim-plough as
soon after harvest as possible, the skim being either a skeleton-
plough fitted with a share of from 14 to 16 inches in width,
with three short prongs of iron rising from the share
in the annexed form, for the purpose of breaking the
land ; or itis a common plough divested of its mould-
board, and fitted with one of these broad shares.
Upwards of 14 acre of hard land may be thus ploughed with a
pair of horses in a day.

The advantage of the skim-plough over the scarifier in breaking
up stubbles is that it will enter harder land, and it does not choke
as scarifiers and cultivators do in these soils, from the quantity of
hog-grass or wireweed with which the stubbles are sometimes
covered after harvest; besides, the sandy and gravelly soils are
more subject to couch than perhaps any other description of land.
After the land is broken up with the skim-plough heavy harrows
are used to pull the land a little to pieces, and to bring the clods
to the surface ; the roller is then employed to break the clods,
which generally leaves the land in a sufficiently pulverized state
for the lighter harrows that are now used for collecting the
rubbish into rows in regular lines across the field and on the
headlands. The man who drives the harrows is accompanied by
a strong lad, who assists in unloading them. The rubbish col-
‘lected in this manner is either burned or carted off. The scarifier
is now used across the ploughing, and the harrowing repeated,
when the chief portion of the rubbish is thus pulled out of the
land by the scarifier and collected by the harrows; any straggling
pieces of couch-grass are picked up by women and children.
The plan of raking the couch-grass and other weeds from the land,
after they have been pulled to the surface by harrows, is some-
times adopted ; and, when the land has been finely pulverized, it
is a very effective way of collecting the rubbish, Large companies
of women and children, accompanied by an overlooker, are often
employed either in picking or raking; and when the couch, or
spear grass, as it is here termed, only occurs in small patches, it
is very common to have these forked out piece by piece previously
to the stubble being broken up. After the land has been cleaned
in this manner, it is ploughed in wide stetches (usually 3 rods).

288 On the Farming of Suffolk.

Another system of fallowing is adopted by many, namely, that
of « ribbling ;” this is done by turning a furrow to the unploughed
land, and, in returning, to turn over this furrow and the earth upon
which the first furrow was laid, so that the land lies in ridges dur-
ing the winter months, and is thus exposed to the full action of the
weather. In the spring these are harrowed and scarified across,
and then ploughed.

Others merely plough the stubble in, and then let the land lie
through the winter, when the furrows are turned back, bringing
the couch grass, if any, to the surface; instead of turning back
the furrows, some adopt the plan of ‘“ribbling,” in the spring,
across the first ploughing, and by this means bring the couch to
the surface; the land is then cleaned with the harrows and scari-
fier in the usual manner.

The custom of ploughing in the stubble is the old-fashioned
method, which many still consider the best, and give the following
reasons for their opinion: the stubble, and all rubbish in the shape
of weeds except couch, will rot during the winter; and not only
spare the trouble of getting together and carting them off the land,
but will tend to increase the fertility of the soil. This is the opi-
nion of some: and undoubtedly it is good management when the
land is perfectly free from couch, and other creeping-rooted weeds :
but where an opportunity occurs of cleaning foul land in autumn,
it must be wrong to defer doing so till the busy time of spring.
How often it happens that the soil during the months of September
and October is in a better state for cleaning operations than at any
other period between that time and turnip-sowing.

The following description of the preparation of the land for
roots applies to a particular farm, though the system in some de-
gree resembles that practised by the neighbouring farmers. The
Jand on this farm is a sandy loam, in some parts inclining to brick
earth. The practice of ridging is adopted on the stiffest land, and
also that of subsoiling. In these respects the management differs
from that practised on the very light sands, where the turnips are
drilled on the flat; though where the land partakes at all of a
clayey or loamy nature, the ridge system is generally adopted for
swedes and mangel.

‘« Preparatory to ridging or ploughing in the manure, the land
is brought into as pulverized a state as possible ; this being consi-
dered indispensably necessary for the success both of ridge and
flat cultivation, No regular system of preparation is adopted ; as
this, of course, depends upon the weather, and on other circum-
stances requiring the exercise ef proper judgment as to the course
to be pursued. But one maxim is adopted: that of cleaning the
land from couch and other weeds zn the autumn, when possible ;
and to aid in accomplishing this end the practice of mowing wheat

On the Farming of Suffolk. 289

lends a helping hand. This cleaning is performed by the due
application of the skim-plough and scarifier, with harrowings and
rollings as occasion may seem to require. In addition to what has
already been stated, the spear-grass and other weeds torn out by
the scarifier are collected by repeated harrowings, rakings, and
hand-pickings, and are then carted off the land. When the land
is brought into a perfectly clean state—and when the weather and
the other more pressing operations of the season, such as wheat-
sowing, carting-off, and storing away roots, will allow—the plough
followed by a subsoil plough (the Rackheath or Reid’s sub-pul-
verizer), the latter drawn by three horses, is set to work. The
land is thus stirred to the depth of 14 or 15 inches, and lies ex-
posed to the full action of the frost during winter. This will in
all likelihood complete the preparation till the ploughing-in the
manure and drilling the seed. In order to prevent the trampling
of the horses on the subsoiled land, the horses in the common
plough walk on the unploughed land, instead of one walking in
the furrow where the subsoil plough has just been. The line of
draught is adjusted by altering the head or bridle of the plough.
In shutting up the furrows the horses are made to go at length
instead of abreast. By adopting this plan the poaching the land
is prevented. This may not appear to be very injurious at the
time; but the parts compressed by the horses’ feet will in wet
weather be found to hold water.

A wet autumn and winter will not allow these operations to go
on so smoothly. We mustthen be content with simply ploughing
the cleanest fallows, and with using the skim-plough or scarifier
across those that are foul. Any further attempt at cleaning is left
till the dry weather of spring commences; and having got rid of
the couch and rubbish by the same system of operations as before
described, ploughing is resorted to in order to bring a sufficient
depth of mould. But by ploughing at this season of the year,
clods are very likely to be produced. To pulverize these the land
is always kept harrowed and rolled ¢zmmediately after the plough.
If these do not bring the soil into a fine surface, recourse is had to
that very effective implement, Crosskill’s clod-crusher. Another
ploughing may succeed with the same accompaniment of harrow-
ing and rolling. And taking it for granted that these operations
have been done at proper seasons—viz. when the land is neither
saturated by recent rains nor hardened by long-continued drought
-—the field ought by this time to have a sufficient quantity of fine
moulds for ploughing in the manure, and drilling the seed to the
best advantage, and ina workmanlike manner. During the winter
the farmyard manure intended for the root-crop is carted to the
field, and laid in the most convenient places for its future applica-
tion on the land at the time of turnip-sowing. Wet weather is

290 On the Farming of Suffolk.

generally taken for carting from the yards: no particular season
is chosen. The muck is either laid on a bottom formed of clay,
mould, peat, or ditch stuff; or sometimes it is laid in a heap
without any heavy material. In unloading, the carts are drawn on
the manure heap, and kicked up; a man being employed spread-
ing the manure as it arrives. ‘The pressure given to the dung by
the loaded carts of course prevents loss by decomposition. The
manure is taken from different yards, so that the dung may be
mixed in the heap. A few weeks before carting on the land the
dung-heap is turned over; should it consist of dung and earth,
care is taken to mix these well together. Fermentation now com-
mences; and the manure requires to be applied to the soil before
this advances too far, or a great loss will be sustained in the bulk
of the heap.

The land and manure being thus prepared at due time, the
process of covering in the manure commences. It is first to be
considered which practice is to be adopted, ridging or flat-work.
On very dry land the latter has the preference: but on good land
ridging may be adopted with a certainty of getting a good crop.
On heavy clays, where there is no possibility of reducing the clods
to a fine state, no advantage will attend ridging, except that some
facility is obtained for carting off the roots. However, ridging
may be adopted on heavy soils if the land is prepared in the
autumn.

When the ridge-system is adopted, the ploughman begins by
drawing out a few ridges preparatory to the general beginning.
By giving him a slight start stoppage is prevented. ‘The ridges are

made 27 inches apart, and to keep

ene BB its, > these of the exact width a marker is

attached to the plough of the an-

nexed form; this is placed upon an

tl — iron pin @ at one end of the beam,

the other end being secured by a

line from the head of the plough. The part 6 of the marker

draws a slight furrow, in which the ploughman can go with un-

erring correctness; at the end of each furrow the ploughman
changes the marker to the other side of the plough.

When a few ridges have been ploughed in advance, the other
operations follow. ‘The manure is carted, spread, and covered
in; the ridges rolled, and the seed drilled, in rapid succession.
About 3 acres are completed with two ploughs in a day of eight
hours. The workmanlike style in which the ridge-system is
carried out by some of the Suffolk farmers will, I have no doubt,
bear comparison with the best cultivated farms of the north of
England.

In addition to the farm-yard manure, some artificial manure

On the Farming of Suffolk. 291

is sometimes drilled on the ridge; this is done with a manure
drill, the coulters of which are guided by rollers which at the
same time roll the ridges. The seed is not sown by this drill,
for as the manure coulters make a very deep furrow it would be
unwise to deposit the seed immediately. But by using a light
roll, this furrow is filled up, and the ridge levelled for the seed-
drill to deposit the seed at a regular depth. Guano is sometimes
sown by hand, in immediate contact with the manure; this is of
course done before the ridges are split.

Before hand-hoeing the turnips or beet, they are horse-hoed,
a man and horse getting over about 3 acres in a day; between the
first and second hand-hoeing the horse-hoeing is repeated, and
after this as often as may be required.

The spaces in the mangel or turnips, which have missed plant,
are filled up with transplanted swedes. Swedes are also trans-
planted after tares that have been mown for horses, and are found
to produce good crops.

The system of drilling on the flat is generally adopted on nearly
all the lightest land of this district, both for swedes and common
turnips: when farm-yard manure is applied, it is carted on and
spread just before the ploughs, so that as short a time as possible
elapses between the spreading of the manure and the covering of
it in by the plough—uit being so arranged that the men spreading,
followed by women and boys to divide the dung, are just able to
keep the ploughs in work. Some plough the manure in fleet,
and then plough deep before sowing. Most farmers drill directly
after the plough, and some, in order to ensure a good crop, drill
artificial manure with the seed, such as rape-cake, greaves, bones,
superphosphate of lime, &c.

On a few farms peat-ashes are used. I have before said that
there is a narrow tract of peat soil on the banks of the river Lark,
and this is prepared by being burnt in large heaps, at a cost of
about 5/. per thousand bushels for digging and burning; these
ashes have been used rather extensively on a few light-land farms
for turnips; they have likewise been found to be productive of
much benefit when applied as top-dressing on sainfoin and clover
layers. The gentleman who first introduced the use of peat-ashes
has also another practice worthy of mention, which is, the using two
drills, one to sow the artificial manure, and the other to drill the
seed; this is preferred, the seed being deposited regularly, and at
a uniform depth, which is seldom the case when the seed follows
immediately after the large manure coulter. This is a desidera-
tum which is still wanting in drills made for the purpose of drill-
ing manure with the seed. The time for drilling swedes is May
and June; white turnips, June: the average distance between the
drills 18inches. Some farmers have adopted the practice of horse-

292 On the Farming of Suffolk.

hoeing their flat drilled turnips, and it is a practice very likely to
increase ; as, in addition to the advantages derived from the pul-
verization of the soil and the destruction of weeds, the process of
hand-hoeing is rendered easier and more effective. Garrett’s
lever-hoe is used by many farmers on the light land of East Suffolk.
One gentleman, who farms 2200 acres, hoes turnips both between
and across the drills, cutting out the plants at regular intervals ;
these are singled by hand and then hand-hoed. In the first hand-
hoeing, or singling of the turnips, the hoer is often followed by a
girl or boy to single the turnips left by the hoe. In about a fort-
night the turnips are hoed a second time, the cost of both opera-
tions being about 6s. an acre.

Carrots are either sown broadcast or drilled. ‘The land being
ploughed deep or subsoiled, farm-yard manure 1s seldom used, as it
makes the roots fangy. “Che management of the carrot-crop is
frequently by contract labour ; the contractor finding seed, sow-
ing, hoeing, taking up and storing the crop: for this he takes half
the crop, or is paid 2d. per bushel. About 5lbs. of seed is sown
to the acre in April, the seeds being first mixed with dry sand to
ensure its delivery. As soon as the young plants can be distin-
guished, the weeds are hoed with a small hoe about
3 inches wide, having a handle little more than a
foot in length; this is a very slow and tedious opera-
tion. In a short time the carrots are set out at
about 6 or 7 inches apart with a wider tool, and
again hoed about the latter end of July. The cost
of hoeing varies from 20s. to 30s. per acre. The
carrots are taken up in October or November;
men and women take them up with forks, or with a spoon-
shaped tool; children cut the tops off as they are taken up.
They are then laid in long heaps, either
in the field, or carted to some convenient
spot; these heaps are about 5 feet wide at
bottom, and 22 feet high. They are first
‘ covered with straw, and then with earth,

See oP Hep except the ridge, which is covered with

straw only. In the spring the stored car-
rots require locking over. The tops are folded with sheep.

Drilling carrots is practised by some, and has several advantages
over broadcast, as, first, it lessens the cost of hoeing ; secondly, the
carrots are singled at wider intervals, consequently they produce a
heavier crop, as the roots are larger and the carrots being at greater
distances apart the taking up is not so expensive. Before drilling
the seed is mixed with sand, bran, or other substances to divide
the seed. One farmer uses powdered wood-charcoal ; the latter
produces a quick vegetation of the seed, and also prevents it from

>

n= D4 it

/ Y
Carrots. Wh

On the Farming of Suffolk. 293

adhering in the drill; it is thus drilled as regularly as the nature
of the seed will allow: the drillman will, however, most likely ob-
ject to this admixture, as the charcoal-dust gives him much the
appearance of a chimney-sweep. The land harrowed before, and
rolled before and after drilling with a very light roller; the dis-
tance between the drills on light land is about 1 foot. The carrots
are up in about three weeks, and in about a fortnight more the
rows will be sufficiently visible for a 6 or 8-inch Dutch hoe to be
used between them; in about a week or ten days after the Dutch
hoeing the carrots are singled out with the common hoe, selecting
all the strongest plants at about 8 inches apart; this costs from 5s.
to 6s. per acre, and in three weeks or a month they require an-
other hoeing.

The crops of carrots vary from 400 to 1400 bushels, or from 10
to 30 tons per acre. ‘The purposes to which they are applied are
feeding horses, cows, and fattening bullocks, for all of which they
have been proved excellent,

This is the system practised on the western light lands. I am
indebted to J. Rodwell, Esq., for a description of that of the

eastern district :—

« The Cultivation of White Carrots.

“* Choose a clean piece of wheat or barley stubble, supposing it to be
free from grass: in November or December give it a dressing of from
12 to 15 loads per acre of farm-yard manure, then plough it in with a flat
ploughing of about 4 or 5 inches deep: in about February or March
give it a ploughing of about 9 inches deep, followed by a subsoil plough-
ing of about 5 or 6 inches additional depth, making the soil all broken
at least 14inches deep: it then lies till about the middle of April, when
give it two or three heavy harrowings to destroy the surface weeds, then
follow this with a 2-horse roll to keep in the moisture and again to en-
courage vegetation ; it then lies in this manner till the time is come for
putting in the seed, which will be about the last week in April or the
first week in May; then give it two or more harrowings as may be re-
quired, followed again by a 2-horse roll if the land is dry or cloddy, if it
is not, a light barley roll is preferable; it will then be prepared for the
seed, which should be put on with the drill as follows :—

‘* The seed is laid in water in a bag for 48 hours about 8 or 9 days
before drilling; it is then taken out and spread on a floor about 9 or 10
inches thick, according to the temperature of the weather, so as not to
let it get too warm ; in about 6 or 7 days’ time it will be nearly sprouted,
when it will be quite time to put it in the ground, at 4 lbs. or 5 lbs. of
dry seed to the acre, which deposit by mixing dry sand with it, making
up altogether sand and seed mixed 4 pecks or thereabouts, according to
the dryness and fitness of the seed for working through the drill; then
follow the | or 2-horse roll with the drill as above mentioned, the rows
at about 9 or 10 inches apart, the land after the drill being left with the
drill marks quite open; the land is then left till fit for hoemg, which

WOE. VIDE. x

294 On the Farming of Suffolk.

comes on between the rows in about 20 or 25 days; the expenses of
hoeing will vary according to season, but average from lds. to 25s.
per acre, when the land is to be left quite clean, and the plants all
singled, so as to be about 8 inches apart in the rows. The time for
taking them up will be about October or November; the expense of
taking up will be from 8d. to 10d. per load of 40 bushels, according to
the crop, which, upon a good sandy soil, will produce from 20 to 20 tons
per acre of this ‘invaluable root.

“The method of preserving the crop is to pack them in heaps of 20
bushels each in the field, covering them with a little dry straw, and over
that about 3 to 4 inches of earth ; “they are then quite safe for the winter ;
but if the land is intended for an early crop, and it is necessary to remove
them from the field, then lay them in rows about 3 feet wide at bottom,
and throwing them up loosely in a conical form, and covering them with
dry straw and earth in the above method. They will be found very nutri-
tious food for every kind of cattle, and especially for the cart-stable,
where we substitute 1 load or ton of white carrots as an equivalent to a
coomb of beans when ground, or 2 coombs of oats, beginning to feed with
them in October, and continuing till May. Allowing 1 load of 40
bushels of carrots and 3 bushels of ground beans, or 6 bushels of oats,
to a stable of 6 horses, per week, giving them chaff with their corn and
carrots, this, with straw (having neither hay nor stover), constitutes their
food during the winter, maintaining them in good working condition.
After the crop is taken off the land, spread the tops of the carrots as
carefully as a dressing of farm-yard manure, then give it a good sound
ploughing, making an excellent preparation for a crop.

‘* Note.—A proof, if proof were necessary, of the great utility of this
root, is at this moment fully experienced on this farm, having horses,
colts, oxen, cows, and swine feeding upon a crop of upwards of 20 tons
to the acre, and this in a season when the white turnips are almost a
failure in quality, the swedes are deficient in quantity and quality,
and the beet-roots are entirely a failure; and when beans are 56s.,
aud oats 32s. to 386s. per quarter.

“ THos. SCOTCHMER,

** Bailiff to Joshua Rodwell, Esq.
‘“* Alderton Hall, Suffolk, Jan. 11, 1847.”

On those farms where only a breeding-fiock is kept, the whole
of the turnips are consumed on the land, and this is perhaps ne-
cessary on the very light blowing sands; but another system is
practised by some, that of carting off a part of the turnips for
feeding cattle, in the proportion of one-third or upwards, when the
land has been manured, and the system of grazing sheep on the
turnips: and wherever these two systems are adopted in prefer-
ence to the practice of consuming the turnip-crop entirely by
breeding ewes, the benefit may easily be seen. A great objection
to keeping only a breeding flock is the difficulty of providing
spring food for so great a number of sheep and lambs, while
grazing sheep can be sold at any time. It is generally considered

On the Farming of Suffolk. 295

by the best cultivators that a flock part grazing and part breeding
is the most profitable to keep. It is a practice of some farmers
(though not much to be recommended) to have their turnip-crop
fed off by other persons’ sheep at a certain rate per score. They
certainly run no risk by investing their capital in sheep, but they
are very liable to have their turnips fed off at an unseasonable
time. And I have known when turnips have been very abun-
dant, that those gentlemen who farm without any stock are glad
to have their neighbours’ sheep and feed them gratis, and some-
times give money in addition ; and even occasionally dispose of
part of their’ root-crop by ploughing them in.

Notwithstanding the prescribed limits of this report, it may
not perhaps be out of place to give the details of the practice of
grazing sheep on turnips. ‘The farmers who practise this system
either buy in lambs or shearlings, or fatten those they have reared.
These are hurdled first on white turnips and then on swedes ;_ the
practice of cutting is on the increase, the turnips having of late
years been cut with a machine and then given in troughs. This
makes a slight increase of labour, but it effects a great saving in
the food: the cost of tending amounts to about Is. a score per
week. Chaff (cut hay, the straw of oats, wheat, or peas, or the stalks
of seed-clover) is given night and morning both to ewes and
fatting sheep, the latter having generally hay-chaff, with the
addition of linseed-cake or corn. As the fold is frequently at a
considerable distance from the homestead, a supply of chaff and
cake is kept in a small wooden house on wheels, which not only
serves to keep the provender dry, but is also a comfortable
shelter for the shepherd and his assistants while getting their
meals. The troughs in which the dry food is given are usually”
covered, to prevent loss from the sheep refusing to eat the chaff
and cake after they have been wetted. Invery wet weather and on
a loamy soil the sheep are removed to some dry pasture for a
short time, as the trampling in very heavy rains is considered
injurious both to the land and to the sheep. Swedes for fat sheep
are stored in different ways: the usual one is in small heaps
of about 40 bushels each. The turnips are either topped and
tailed, or the tops only removed; the heaps are covered with straw
and haulm, and then a thin layer of mould, leaving the straw
exposed on the ridge to admit the air. The price for this varies
from 7s. to 10s. per acre, according as the turnips are cleaned or
not. Another plan is by laying three drills in a furrow; two
rows of turnips are first pulled and laid on one side to give pas-
sage for the plough, a furrow is drawn, and three drills of turnips
laid with their tops to the land-side; they are now covered by the
first-ploughed furrow being turned back. When wanted for use
the turnips are thrown out by running a plough along the furrow.

x2

296 On the Farming of Suffolk.

This practice, or modifications of it, is adopted for white turnips
as well as swedes, and is well suited for turnips that are left late
in the season, as the former is for feeding during the severity of
winter. The salutary check which the turnips receive by being
pulled prevents their drawing the land by sending up seed-stalks,
and, being in a more natural position than when stored in heaps,
they keep sound and in good condition. Beet and swedes for
feeding on the land with sheep are sometimes stored in the fol-
lowing manner on the eastern side of the county :—The roots are
pulled from a piece of land 6 yards square, and laid in the centre
of this piece in a conical heap; a few roots in the centre of the
heap are topped and tailed, the remainder are laid with the tops
to the outside and covered with earth 6 or 8 inches in thickness.
Roots stored thus are said to keep well. The employment of the
Jabourer and his children is not the least of the many advan-
tages which the harvesting or storing of roots affords.

Sheep grazed on turnips are sold fat from March to June;
the kind of sheep preferred for grazing is the first cross between
the Down and Leicester. The breeding of this kind of sheep is
much on the increase, as it unites the quickness of fattening of
the Leicester with the hardiness and quality of the Southdown.
This description of sheep is supplied by flock-masters who keep
a Southdown flock (buying in ewes of that kind as the crones
are drafted out), and hiring or purchasing Leicester rams of
farmers who keep a Leicester flock for the purpose of ram-
breeding. For breeding-ewes the turnips are never cut with a
machine, and but very seldom stored, white turnips being gene-
rally given. Mr. Freeman, of Henham, steward to Lord Strad-
broke, feeds his ewes on swedes, and I believe finds that they
do better than on common turnips.

The sheep are folded on the turnips at night, and in the morn-
ing are driven out on the heaths (on the very inferior soils), or on
some dry pasture, where they remain till about three o’clock ; they
then return to the fold toa fresh piece of turnips and a bait of chaff.
This system of management continues till lambing-time, after
which the ewes and lambs are generally put on rye, and then on
the layers, which carry them through the summer. The custom
of night-folding the breeding-flock is general.

2nd Year, Barley.—As the turnips are cleared off, the land is
ploughed for barley. Some farmers give only one earth, others
two, ploughing first very fleet, and deeper the next time, by that
means the droppings of the sheep are well incorporated with the
soil, and others again scarify or ribble after the fold, and drill the
barley on one earth; the plan of ploughing fleet and subsoiling
has been adopted by some. The barley (Chevalier or Long-
eared Nottingham) is usually drilled at the rate of about 3 bushels

On the Farming of Suffolk. 297

per acre, distance of rows from 4} to 8 inches; rape-cake is
sometimes drilled with barley, or sown broadcast before the last
ploughing. On one farm 2 bushels of seed, and sometimes
less, have been drilled at 44 inches, generally producing a better
crop than the larger quantity. It is generally found that the
early-sown barley produces the best crop, and hence the adyan-
tage of clearing off the turnip-crop as early as possible.

Ww heat has ieee substituted for barley of late years on some
farms after beet and carrots, and after turnips that have been fed off
early. Very few good crops are secured by this method after tur-
nips ; I have seen better crops after carrots carted off the land than
where the turnips have been folded. On the very light soils rye
is sometimes grown instead of barley, par- a
ticularly where the turnips have been fed GD
early. Some farmers prefer rye after tur-
nips. The manner of harvesting barley
differs from that of the heavy-land dis-
tricts. When fit for carting, the swaths are
gathered into shocks with a shack-fork,
(figs. @ and 6). In gathering corn with a
shack-fork three swaths are laid in one row.
The workman proceeds by pushing the
corn with his fork till he has it full; he
now lays this on the middle swath. At the
end of the field he turns back and gathers
the swath on the other side of the shock, the method of doing
this will be better shown by the following diagram.

The swaths @ a aa are gathered and @ 4 @ a
laid on those marked 6 6; the intervals : ene

Kvnnennnnennnnnn- SPIE ins“

a

b
e cc care also gathered, and inthis manner ; 10.
the shocks d, as they are here called, are ;
formed ready for pitching on the waggons. | A} | i)
= Akt? w

But previous to this the spaces between

the shocks are raked with a horse-rake. gineering:
Srd Year, Seeds.—The small seeds are : i) sate
by some sown at the same time as the barley; | \4) fabs A

by others after the barley appears above ' iit
ground. There is more difficulty of securing a plant by the
latter method; but there is no fear of spoiling the barley by the
seeds getting too forward. The manner of sowing is either with
a wide broadcast drill or with the hand; the quantity sown about
1 peck of red clover, 1} trefoil, ? peck of white clover, and 3 to
4 bushels of sainfoin respectively. Rye-grass is frequently sown
mixed with clover and trefoil.

Mr. R. Raynbird, of Hengrave, sows seeds (clover, sainfoin,
and rye-grass) in the followimg manner. Instead of the usual

298 On the Farming of Suffolk.

practice of sowing broadcast, the plan of drilling small seeds with
a light one-horse drill has been adopted :—This is not done till
after the corn has come up, sometimes it is even 4 or 5 inches
high; the drill is followed by a light gang of harrows, which
complete the operation by covering in the seed after the drill.
The land is drilled and harrowed across the rows of corn, the
distance between the seed-coulters 44 inches. Independently
of securing a good plant, the benefit derived from the destruction
of weeds, the loosening the soil, and breaking the surface-crust
amply repays the extra expense. The harrowing may appear to
be injurious by pulling up a few blades of corn; but the benefit
to the crop is visible a few days after. On very poor land the
seeds, trefoil and rye-grass, are allowed to remain two years, and
sainfoin sometimes for four years; the latter is perhaps one of the
best crops that can be grown on the light soils, and by laying the
land down for four years it makes no break in the rotation. Asa
substitute for clover sainfoin is sometimes sown, and the following
year ploughed up for wheat: it is generally believed that the
2nd and 3rd years’ sainfoin is much better than the Ist, but very
abundant crops of hay are produced by letting it lie one year,
and it 1s a good preparation for wheat. However, on land of
inferior quality, sainfoin is undoubtedly more profitable if allowed
to remain four years. Sainfoin should be mown the first year,
and then fed with lambs, for if fed with sheep they injure the
plant by biting off the crown.

The layers are chiefly fed off with sheep, though a portion is
mown for hay, and a portion is also occasionally seeded.

On the very poor soils the sheep have the whole field to feed
upon at once, but upon soils of a better description the layers
are frequently hurdled off with fatting sheep early in the season,
oil-cake, corn, and mangel-wurzel being given in addition to the
clover or grass. Sheep are regularly night-folded on the layers
through the summer and autumn; upon the inferior soils folding
is the principal preparation for wheat.

Management of Sainfoin for Seed.—Land rolled in the spring,
and the stones picked the same as for a hay-crop. The seed-crop
is usually fit to cut about the beginning of July, but the time
varies with the season ; this as well as all other seed-crops of the
same species of plant is best cut either early in the morning or
late in the evening, as the seed is much more liable to brush off
the stalk during the heat of the day than during the cool and
dampness of the mornings and evenings. ‘The mowers will rest
during the worst time for hard labour. Two or three days after
cutting, the seed may be turned, and, should it continue fine
weather, the crop will be fit to cart in six or seven days. In un-
favourable weather the swaths will of course require lifting and

On the Farming of Suffolk. 299

turning. On the morning of carting the swaths are gathered into
rows sufficiently far apart to allow the passage of a cart or waggon,
a horse or hand rake being first used in the intervals. The
gathering should be completed before the sun bears much power,
or much of the seed will be brushed out in the act of moving the
swaths. As soon as the sainfoin is dry the carters may be set to
work, but care must be taken to handle the seed as carefully as
possible, or some loss will be sustained. The seed is said to keep
best in the stack. The stalks appear rough and sticky, but if
cut into short chaff they will make useful provender, and many
farmers consider it equal to hay.

Italian rye-grass is grown instead of clover on some of the
better soils, and has produced very abundant crops,—the quantity
sown per acre is about 2 bushels. A description of the plan fol-
lowed by some farmers in harvesting this crop may perhaps be
interesting from its novelty.

Italian rye-grass for a seed-crop requires to be cut before it
becomes perfectly ripe, for if allowed to stand too long the greater
portion of the seed will be blown out by the wind. When the
seed is ripe—this may be known by examining the heads and
seeing that the seed is perfectly formed—it is mown early in the
morning, for when damp the seed does not shake out so much
as it does in the heat of the middle part of the day. When the
mowing is finished, should any docks or thistles, or any other
large weeds be observed in the swath, they may be picked out by
women and children; this will tend in some measure to secure a
good and genuine sample of seed, the sowing of which will not
produce a crop of weeds upon the land. The next day after
mowing, as early in the morning as it can be conveniently done,
the grass is tied up in sheaves in the same manner as wheat, and
then placed four sheaves in a shock. By adopting the practice
of tying, comparatively slight loss of seed is occasioned by the
operation of getting together and carting. ‘The straw must also
be more valuable than when exposed to the full action of the sun
and wind. The seed will be fit to thrash in a week or ten days
from the time of cutting; but this of course depends upon the
weather. It may also be carted sooner if thrashed in the field at
once than it can be if stacked or carried in bulk to the barn; for
if at all green this kind of grass is very likely to heat, and thus
spoil the seed. A hot, dry, calm day ought to be selected for
thrashing the seed in the field, and a smooth piece of ground may
be selected for the thrashing-floor in the centre of the piece.
Four or five thrashers may be kept at work by having a horse
and a light cart with a cloth laid across it to prevent the shed seed
being lost. A man and a boy carting with one horse will keep
four or five thrashers at work.

300 On the Farming of Suffolk.

The rye-grass straw may be stacked up immediately after
thrashing, and, if it is not made too much, it will be pretty good
hay.

The seed will require to be spread thinly over a floor and fre-
quently turned with a shovel to prevent heating, and on hot days
it must be laid on a rick-cloth in the sun: this will require to be
repeated several times before it is fit to put away in sacks.

When seeds fail, which is often the case on the poor soils, the
land is ploughed up and sown with peas. Occasionally the barley
is not seeded, and then peas or tares are grown after the barley ;
the tares are either fed or seeded; if fed, followed by cole-seed
also fed.

4th Year, Wheat—The preparation for wheat is claying,
dunging, or folding. Some apply the greater portion of their
farm-yard dung to the root-crops, considering that, if a good root-
crop is secured, it will be the means of laying a foundation for the
succeeding crops. The process of claying will hereafter be
described. The dung is usually carted out of the yards on toa
bottom of mould or clay. After lying for some time it is turned
over, the outside receiving a covering of earth. It is generally
considered that the dung for wheat should be carted on clover
land some time previous to the ploughing, so that the clover may
grow through the coating of dung, as where manure has been
ploughed in directly, the crop of wheat has been found to be
inferior, but the reason it is difficult to imagine. The old
layers are ploughed in September and October about 4 inches
deep, with the furrows laid flat, and then rolled in the same direc-
tion as ploughed: the implement used for this purpose is usually
the common drill-roll with three horses, or the common heavy
roll. The time of sowing wheat is October and November, the
quantity used about 24 bushels per acre.* Previous to drilling,
the seed is prepared by steeping in a solution of blue vitriol; the
following recipe is very generally used and found effective :—
Dissolve a pound of blue vitriol ina pail of boiling water, then add
three pails of cold water and it is fit for use. Let the wheat be
in the liquor ten minutes, during which time it should be stirred
and skimmed ; then strain it off through a skep over another tub,
and in twelve hours it is fit for use. “The wheat thus prepared is
drilled either im the direction the land is ploughed in or across
the stetches, the land being harrowed before and after the drill.
A drill drawn by three horses sows about 10 acresinaday. Arti-
ficial manure, such as rape-cake, is frequently drilled with the

* A few farmers may use a smaller quantity of seed per acre, but the
average of the light land would be nearly, if not quite, 23 bushels. This
quantity of seed may appear unnecessarily large ; but it is required on
the light soils, particularly where game is strictly preserved.

On the Farming of Suffolk. 301

wheat, or sown before the plough when no farm-yard manure has
been used. ‘The plan of sowing the rape-cake before the plough
is preferred to drilling it, because by the former method the
manure is deposited further from the seed, it does not force the
wheat early in the season, but in the spring when growth is
desirable. The varieties of wheat chiefly cultivated are the
Clovers Red, Marygold or Rattling Jack, and Spalding’s Prolific
—the latter is a very productive though rather coarse variety,
which is very generally grown throughout the country, and
owes its introduction to a labouring man named Spalding,
who lived at Barningham in this county. Thirteen years ago
Spalding, while thrashing in his master’s (Mr. Wiseman’s) barn
found three or four particularly fine ears of wheat; these he had
the foresight to pick out and plant in his garden; the next year
he again sowed the produce, and the third year grew a quarter
of an acre; he then sold his entire growth, which was sufficient
to plant LO acres—the produce of this was upwards of 8 quarters
per acre. A small subscription was raised by the neighbouring
farmers for Spalding; he died a few years since: there are still
some of the family living at Barningham. Spalding has done as
much for his country as many more public men; though un-
known, he has had his name widely disseminated, though perhaps
he did not reap any very great worldly benefit from his discov ery.

The Talavera wheat was largely grown a few years back with
much success, but it has so deteriorated that it is not much culti-
vated at the present time.

The cultivation in the spring is that of light harrowing across
the drills, usually obliquely, in the dry weather of March; this
destroys the poppies and pulls up those weeds that cannot be cut
with the hoe: the improved appearance of the wheat a few days
after is very apparent. Soon after harrowing, the wheat is hand-
hoed, and this hoeing repeated with weedings so late into the
season as June, at a cost of 6s. per acre in all.

Some farmers use horse-hoes, with which they are able to
hoe between drills only six inches apart. This consists of a
wooden bar 8 feet long on wheels. ‘The hoes, six in number,
work on levers, not much unlike those of Garrett's horse-hoe,
attached to this bar. The levers are separate, have universal
joints, and handles to each. One man or boy steers two hoes,
and aman leads the horse. The horse-hoe, in returning, hoes
those drills where the hoers walked in the first bout. About six
acres per day are hoed on 8-inch work. Rape-cake or nitrate of
soda is sometimes used as a spring top-dressing.

Wide drilling with two rows close together j is said to answer
remarkably well on light land; by this plan wheat or peas are
drilled in rows 4 inches apart, with a space of about 12 inches

302 On the Farming of Suffolk.

intervening between every two rows—thus. Of this method

much may be said in its praise and dispraise. Scientific men -
tell us that light and air are essential to the
production of a fruitful crop. Practice will
also tell us that wide drills are well suited for
horse-hoeing and stirring the soil during the

in) growth of the crop. But on the other hand, in
the wide drills there is much more space and
air for weeds to vegetate and grow. And it is
found on these poor soils, so favourable to the
growth of weeds and so unfavourable to the
growth of corn, that, should wet weather occur
during the hoeing season, it is impossible to
eradicate the weeds.

Rye is grown on the very poor soils instead of wheat, a propor-
tion of which is thrashed out during harvest, for which there is
always a demand for the purpose of being sown for green food in
the spring.

The practice of mowing wheat is on the increase; it is a
practice that cannot be too much commended, particularly for
harvesting the light-strawed crops of this district. The manner
of putting out harvest-work adopted in the western sand district
will be found described in the ‘Essay on Piece-work,’ vol. vi.
p- 119 of the Society’s Journal.

Stacking-stages are used by many farmers; one of the most
convenient is a frame fitted into a cart, which admits of removal
from one stack to another with great facility: the advantage of
this stage is the convenience to the men unloading when the
stack gets beyond a certain height ; it also saves the shelled corn,

Z s E hoo retin Aah
N C BOARS Ly 4)
Kor x e
IN) i 105 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 inches.
| a EE et
Se ee i=

On the Farming of Suffolk. 303

which either falls through holes into the cart or into a sack hung
on hooks.

The frame is fitted into a cart in a short time, and when har-
vest is ended it is removed from the cart and laid up ready for
another season.

Made of larch-poles the cost for materials and workmanship
is under 3.

The management of manures demands some attention. In the
heavy-land district the term ‘muck and manner ”’ signifies a com-
post formed of earth dug from borders, the scouring of ditches,
and other soil, which have been removed to form a bottom for the
farm-yard manure; where it can be conveniently obtained, chalk
is used by some for this purpose. The manure is carted from the
yards principally from Christmas to June, and either thrown from
the carts on these heaps of soil, or the carts are drawn on the hill
and unloaded by kicking up. By the first method fermentation
commences immediately, the manure quickly becomes rotten, and
there is consequently a great loss of bulk ; by the latter very little
heat arises, the pressure of the carts causing the manure to keep
as free from change as if it was still trodden by the cattle in the
yards. ‘I'wo turnings are frequently given, by which the manure
and heavy stuff become mixed; a portion of the earth is laid on
the outside of the heap to prevent waste and the escape of gases.
Manure fresh from the yards is used by some farmers for roots:
those who object to this system say that unprepared dung does
not so readily decompose in a stiff soil as it does in a light one.

Great loss of bulk is undoubtedly sustained by the method of
preparing dung that is frequently adopted; and this loss, being
occasioned by the escape of vapour and fluid, no doubt causes
some loss in the fertilizing power of the manure. Compost,
formed in the proportion of 10 loads of heavy stuff to 20 loads of
dung, leaves from 20 to 25 loads when applied to the land; this
is reckoned by some who do not manure for roots as a dressing
for an acre of land for wheat. It is a question not yet agreed
upon by the Suffolk farmers, whether the manure should be ap-
plied for green crops or for wheat; the latter on the heavy land
is frequently too bulky a crop, and is consequently laid, and
therefore one would imagine the manure is best for the green
crop, which can never be too heayy. Manure throughout is
chiefly manufactured in yards.

Cattle are generally bought in lean in the autumn, fed on white
turnips, then swedes, and afterwards beet, with corn and cake or
compound, and sold fat from February to June. Cattle are
chiefly grazed in yards, the polled home-bred ; and Galloway
Scots are considered to be the best, from their quiet nature, for
open yards, though short-horns are very often fatted. Though

304 On the Farming of Suffolk.

loose throughout the day, the cattle are usually tied up to the
trough while eating their bait of meal or oil-cake.

Mr. Edwards, of Wickham Skeith, as well as some other
farmers, fats bullocks and hogs in the same yard—a _ small
place being partitioned off for the hogs to go under and feed.
The bullocks do not appear to be at all disturbed by the
pigs, nor the pigs inconvenienced by the bullocks. This is
- perhaps one advantage that hornless breeds have over others for
fatting in yards, for they are generally more peaceable among them-
selves and also with other animals. The advantages of having
pigs kept with bullocks are that no loss of food is sustained, for
they not only eat the food thrown down by the cattle, but also
(particularly if the cattle are corn or cake fed) in a great measure
consume that which has already passed through the cattle. It is
thus exposed to the digestive organs of two distinct kinds of ani-
mals; and we may take it for granted that all the fat or flesh
forming principles are by that means extracted. The routing of
the pigs in the litter shortens the manure, and they also increase
its value by the mixture of different excrements.

Farm Horses.—TVhe manner of stabling horses is very different
from that of other parts of the country ; the horses are merely baited
in the stables with oats or beans (crushed) mixed with wheat and
barley chaff or cut hay, and in the night are turned out into yards to
which a good open shed is attached—in this are troughs and
racks filled in winter with hay or fresh barley-straw. In summer
the system is that of soiling in the yards, principally with tares,
though lucerne, clover, Italian rye-grass, and common meadow-
grass are also given. Some are still in the habit of turning their
horses out to collect their own food; the disadvantage of the
latter plan is obvious enough—it occasions a waste of food, and a
horse does not require exercise after a hard day's work. Much
may be said on both sides in favour of yard or stable manage-
ment; however, the Suffolk horses turned out into yards through-
out the year are not exposed to extremes of heat and cold, seldom
suffer from grease, and are I believe more free from disease than
those kept entirely in stables.

Sheep.—The greater part of the heavy land of Suffolk is not suited
to folding sheep, though fatting and breeding sheep are kept by
some farmers. Earth-drains are liable to be injured in the
common method of hurdling by the shepherd striking his fold-
drift into the drains; consequently hurdles on wheels or feet,
either of wood or iron, are used by many: these appear equally
adapted for light-land folding.

Mr. Harvey Denny, of Mendham, Suffolk, has had a fold of
this description in use for fourteen years, and the hurdles are
now in very good repair. Mr. Denny’s hurdles, of which I have

On the Farming of Suffolk. 305

given a sketch, are 18 and 21 feet long, on four iron wheels; the
axles of the wheels are one yard long. If the wheels were closer,
the hurdles would blow over.

Section.

An 18-foot hurdle is made from a 21-foot deal, costing 10s. 6d.,
four wheels 3s., making altogether something less than 20s. for
each hurdle. The fold is set in a quarter of an hour by a boy;
or if ona fallow where the soil is loose, a horse is hung on
and draws one side of the fold at once. Mr. Denny says the
advantages of these hurdles over those commonly used are their
durability, their little trouble in removal, particularly on hard
land ; they are not so liable to blow down, which common hurdles
frequently do on light hilly land similar to his farm. Strongly
as he recommends these, yet he would prefer iron hurdles on
wheels: these are used by farmers in the neighbourhood of
Mendham: some are made with iron rods between the top and
bottom rails.

On asking the cost of hurdles of this description in the neigh-
bourhood of Stowmarket I was told 16s. each; these were made
of larch poles sawn in two, 20 feet in length, with four iron
wheels.

Breeding sheep are chiefly a cross between the Down and old
Norfolk. Grazing sheep—half-bred Leicesters are preferred—
are bought in the autumn, and sold fat from March to June.

Some farmers throughout the winter feed their sheep during
the day on pasture-land, carting turnips for them from arable
land, and in the night drive them into a yard; by this ma-
nagement the injury done by treading the land is prevented,
and a good yard of manure accumulates during the winter
months.

Farmers who feed their sheep on pastures and then drive them
to fold on arable land are often of opinion that grass-land is in-
jured by sheep.

I find it is the opinion of a good practical farmer who folds on
grass-land that he has greatly improved his heavy-land pastures
by that means. As affording a valuable supply of spring food the fol-
lowing practice may be worth mentioning, and it is not the worse
for being an old system strongly recommended by A. Young. A
portion of the pastures are not fed in the autumn, or the after-
math, after the hay has been made, is shut up through the winter ;

306 On the Farming of Suffolk.

this is folded off in the spring with ewes and lambs, the lambs
being allowed access to the fresh grass at the head of the fold.
Tares afford feed during the early part of summer to some
flocks. :

A considerable portion of pasture-land has of late been converted
into arable, the manner of breaking up is by paring (breast-plough-
ing) and burning in the spring at a cost of from 25s. to 30s.
per acre. The flags are burnt in small heaps and the ashes are
spread on the land; some, to save fuel, burn in one or two large
heaps. Coleworts, white turnips, or swedes are taken the first
year, then oats, and (by some) wheat the third year, which can-
not be good management, though some take peas the third year
and then wheat, and then the usual rotation. ‘The land is drained
the first or second year after breaking up if it requires it. Clay
or heavy stuff is laid on new land, but this will be described -
under the head of marling.

Nothing of any moment has been said concerning pasture, nor
do I think that the subject demands that much should be said.
Under our present system of managing grass-land and the in-
creasing labouring population, | question whether there is any
great quantity (with the exception of marsh) that would not be
better broken up. A certain proportion of grass-land is un-
doubtedly required on every farm where stock is kept, but
speaking generally of Suffolk it ought to be a small pro-
portion.

Among the notes which were taken in my journey round the
county the following are the only ones relating to grass-land
worth mentioning. With respect to low-lying meadows one
farmer says he has made great improvement in the quality of the
grass by carting on road-scrapings, after the application of which
the rushes and sedges disappeared. Thistles abound on a good
deal of the grass-land, and attempts are made to extirpate them
by mowing off when grown to some height. Mr. Bond, of Haches-
ton, says they may be destroyed in three or four years by spudding
up when young.

3. The Improvements effected in the Farming of Suffolk since
the Report of Arthur Young in 1804.

I am indebted for the following description of the improve-
ments since the time of Arthur Young, to Mr. Rodwell, of Al-
derton Hall,—a gentleman whose well-known experience gives the
greater weight to the excellent remarks he has made on the
subject :—

“‘ Improvements in the Farming of Suffolk since the Report of
Arthur Young.
**'To our greatly revered countryman we must give the well-deserved

On the Farming of Suffolk. 307

and well-earned fame that has ever attached to his habits of industry,
perseverance, and foresight, his first object amidst his inquiries being to
induce farmers to lay aside their deep-rooted prejudices, and thus, as
he has often expressed it to me, ‘to make the farmers think for them-
selves; and that he accomplished this to a great extent the improve-
ments that have gone on progressively since his time are indisputable
evidence ; but to make any deductions as to the exact measure of such
a result could be effected only by collecting the statistics of corn and
cattle annually produced in our county now as compared with what
it was in the last century, and the comparative cost of such production.
This, however, is not an easy task; but a fair test might be taken from
the advance of rents, which, of course, must be some index, as they
can only be raised by an increase of production at a diminution of
expense. This, therefore, would give a result of 100 per cent. upon
the average of this county.

‘* If, however, we take our data on the above head by the systems
pursued by the present race of farmers in the details of management, it
would lead us into a wide field—too wide, I fear, for the object of your
inquiry. There is, however, one subject which I think demands our
especial remark, which is the greater care and improved management of
manures, not only by enlarging the quantity by the increase of stall-
feeding cattle and various other plans, but in the better application of
it when obtained.

“We have also a fresh stimulus in draining, and in the more fre-
quent use of clay, chalk, &c., as top-dressing on soils to which they are
adapted ; but they are to be mentioned rather as a continuation of
systems adopted formerly than of modern introduction.

‘* Then we have also great improvements made in the introduction of
new roots for general purposes, and amongst them we may rank the
Belgian carrot. Then also of seeds, grasses, &c.; and in this class we
must not omit to notice the greatly increased production from the
growth of Italian rye-grass (Loliwm Italicum), under which head one
of the most intelligent agriculturists in the county of Nottingham, Mr.
Parkinson, says by the introduction of Italian rye-grass he doubled
the quantity of cattle on the same occupation, both in rearing and
summer fatting.

“To enumerate all the improvements and aids given to our pursuit
by the science and perseverance of the justly renowned machine-makers
of this county would be a work of supererogation, for the names of
Ransome, Garrett, Smith, &c., are already too well known to need any
comment. It would, however, be only giving a just tribute to the long
established fame of the Leiston Iron Works if we were to acknowledge
the debt which our county owes to its firm for having brought to an un-
rivalled perfection its drills, its horse-hoes, and more especially its
threshing-machines, as their prizes will amply testify, not only at the
meetings of our National Society, but throughout the provinces.”’

In addition to the mportant improvements alluded to by Mr.
Rodwell we may mention the superior cultivation of mangold-
wurzel (this root is not mentioned in the report of Arthur Young,

308 On the Farming of Suffolk.

and therefore we may conclude it was very little if at all culti-
vated) and other root-crops.

The Improvement in the Breed of Horses, Sheep, and Cattle.—
Suffolk has long stood pre-eminent for its breed of horses, and
the unvaried success it has had in carrying off the prizes at the So-
ciety’s shows sufficiently proves that the Suffolk horses have not
deteriorated in their value as the dest for agricultural purposes. At
five out of the eight meetings which the Society has held, viz. at
Oxford, Liverpool, Southampton, Shrewsbury, and Newcastle,
the Suffolk cart-stallions have won the first premiums. At the
Cambridge meeting a Suffolk cart-mare and foal, and a horse,
bred by a Suffolk farmer, won the first prizes. At the Derby
and Bristol meetings I believe none of the Suffolk breed were
exhibited. The fact of Suffolk beating all England for six years
out of eight must convince the public, if that were now needed,
of the invaluable properties of the Suffolk Cart-Horse.

Suffolk cows, so noted for their milking properties, are still the
most general dairy-breed in the county; but the Suffolk farmers
wisely depend on other counties for cattle for grazing purposes,
and it may be truly said that the Suffolk farmers of the present
day are better feeders than breeders of cattle. But it is in the
breed of sheep that the greatest improvement has taken place.
The restless Norfolk is now rarely seen, their place being taken
by the Southdown, or by the cross between that breed and the
old Norfolk—a breed equally hardy, with greater fattening pro-
perties than the old Norfolk, though not in the latter respect
equal to the first cross between the Leicester and Down, which
cross in Norfolk and Suffolk is the favourite for grazing. If we
except Mr. Jonas Webb’s incomparable flock, some of the South
down sheep bred in Suffolk will challenge competition with the
best in the kingdom.

Great improvement has been made by converting pasture into
arable land by the bringing into tillage a considerable extent of
heath-land, on much of which good crops are now grown; by the
use of artificial manures; and, in a word, the general manage-
ment of all descriptions of land may be considered as greatly
improved.

4, The Antiquity and Extent of Thorough-Draining within
the County.

Evidence has already been collected on the antiquity of drain-
ing in this part of the country, which leaves but little to be said
concerning it, and reference to works already published, more
particularly to the article of the Rev. Copinger Hill, of Buxhall,
in the Society’s Journal, will give ample information both as to
the antiquity and extent of thorough-draining. That the practice

On the Farming of Suffolk. 309

of draining can be traced to the early part of the seventeenth
century is a fact well authenticated by many writers on the
subject.

Much of the heavy land of Suffolk has been repeatedly
drained, though, from inquiries which have been made in various
parts of the county, the system of close-draining has never been
carried to a greater extent than it is at the present time ; that it
has been progressively on the increase is shown by the state-
ments of old farmers, who allege that sixty or seventy years ago
the practice was just bemg introduced into the parish in which
they had been brought up, and that previous to that time the
system of thorough draining by placing drains at regular and
close intervals throughout a whole field was not practised, but
merely drains put in here and there to carry the water from a
particular wet spot.

The extent to which draining is carried is well authenticated
by the statement that throughout the entire heavy land of Suffolk
there are very few arable fields in which drains are not to be
found.

The following list of the quantity of draming done by the suc-
cessful competitors for the prize of 41. offered by the West
Suffolk Agricultural Society, will be a proof of the extent te
which draining has been carried by the modern race of tenant-
farmers. I have to thank Mr. Beeton, the secretary, for this
information.

The conditions for competition for this prize are—

‘To the tenant who shall have spade-drained within the last twelve
months the greatest number of rods in a husbandlike manner, relative to
the extent of his occupation.”

These conditions were altered in 1838.

To the tenant who shall have expended the largest sum in
spade-draiming within the last twelve months relative to the ex-
tent of wet land in his occupation :—

Rods. Acres.
1833, Mr. John Rollinson, of Ree drained 4609 Occupation 150
1835. — George Doel . = et OZ0 33 150
1836, — James Lee, W nenetenal » - 6435 rh 300
1837, — James ces. . 4059
1838. — John Simpson, W ae Hf all - 5858 (Wetland) 275
1839. — John Boldero; Rattlesden . . 70393 - 330
1840. — John Boldero . . « 7010 . 330
1841. — John Simpson, Wyken Hall » 5125 “ 2753
1842. — R.RB. Harvey, Norfolk.
1843. — James King, Felsham . . 4016 150
1844, — J.S. Flowerden, Hinderclay . 7105 (Wet "Yand) 120

1846. — H. Lugar, Hengrave . . 2415 (Wet land) 150
I have also to thank Mr. Manning ieee the Secretary of the
Kast Suffolk Agricultural Association, for a list of the successful
competitors for the draining prize to the tenant who should drain
VOL. VIIK Y

310 On the Farming of Suffolk.

the most during the last twelve months without any assistance
from his landlord,

nN.
Hod. | ee
1840, Mr. Robert Foulsham . 6 eh AG 235
1841. — Francis Skoulding, of Kelsale. . . 8689 270
1842, — Francis Skoulding, of Kelsale. . . 6725 270
1843. — Francis Skoulding, of Kelsaie. . . 4805 270
1844, — Samuel C. Goodwyn, of Huntinefield 6064 334
1845. — Charles Smith, of Sweffling . . . 1149 342
1846. — George Edwards, of Monk Soham 11,395 290
1847, — Henry Moore, of Badngham . . . 9075 279

I extract the following note from Sir John Cullum’s ‘ History
of Hawstead, in Suffolk’ (1780) :—

‘‘ The greatest improvement of which this strong soil is capable is
draining. The drains cut with curious tools made on purpose are about
two feet deep, wedge-shaped, and fitted at bottom with bushes, and
over them with haulm. Six or seven score rods are cut upon an acre at
a cost for cutting of 2d. a rod.”

“The difficulty of discovering the antiquity of thorough-draining
arises from its being by old writers confounded with spring drainage.
This latter was practised even by the Romans with drains 3 feet broad
at top, 4 feet deep, and 14 foot wide at bottom, filled half full of
stones, or the bottom was made narrow and a rope of twigs fitted to it.”
—London Ency. Agricult., 1831, p. 27.

To return to Suffolk thorough-draining. In the Suffolk Report it is
said that Mr. Makyns, of this county, was about twenty years ago
(1770) rewarded by the Society of Arts for a plough for cutting these
drains, but that it had been laid aside as more expensive than hand-
labour. James Young, Esq., of Clare, also describes the method then
common in that vicinity, which was exactly the same as that still prac-
tised. He mentions a field drained in 1773 which had every drain in
the field (except one) running in April, 1786. He drained 30 inches
deep, using the plough for the first 14 inches to 20 inches; put eight
score rods on an acre, and paid for digging only Is. 8d. per score rods,
for filling with stubble 4d. per score rods.

The following extracts from a book printed 120 years ago, styled
‘A complete Body of Husbandry, collected from the Practice and
Experience of the most considerable Farmers in Britain; particularly
setting forth the various Ways of improving Land by hollow-ditching,
draining, &c., by R. Bradley, Professor of Botany in the University of
Cambridge, F.R.S., 1727, will be additional evidence as to the anti-
quity of thorough-draining in Suffolk. Professor Bradley mentions
hollow-ditching or draining as lately invented, and introduced to the
North of Essex; and therefore we may take it for granted the same
system of draining was adopted at that time on the adjoining wet land
of Suffolk. It would take up a considerable space to extract the whole
of Bradley’s description of hollow-ditching, though I shall give suffi-
cient to show that the system then adopted resembles the present
practice, the latter being an improvement on the old method of
draining :—

On the Farming of Suffolk. S11

“These drains, whether they be the great or small ones, must be
made two full spits of a spade deep and half a spit, sloping on each side
from near three feet wide at the top to about half a foot at the bottom,
and then some large rough stones or cows’ horns* laid at the bottom
for the water to run through, with some straw over them; or else a few
boughs of elm, white-thorn, or hawthorn’ rammed into the bottom, and
straw laid over them, and then covered with the earth that was dug out.
When all are completed and settled, then you may plough the piece and
dispose it equally on such a level as it will bear. This method is
accounted the best and cheapest way of hollow-ditching or draining,
and will make the wettest squally land fit to bring very good corn, or
to be laid down for grass, or other uses. The common price for digging
and laying the stones or bushes and filling up the drains is about two-
pence halfpenny or threepence a rod in length, but the owner or pos-
sessor of the ground must find bushes and straw, which, together with
the digging and laying, will amount to about sixpence a rod. A large
field, I confess, will amount to some money, as suppose there may be
required one thousand rods of this work to drain twenty acres, the ex-
pense at sixpence per rod will be twenty-five pounds, or after the rate
of one pound five shillings for the improvement of each acre, which is
but a trifle considering that the ground before was neither good for
bearing corn or grass, and will now bring good crops of any kind.
This improvement is chiefly practised in Essex; I have seen it at
Navestock, in the forest, at an estate belonging to Aaron Harrington,
Hsq., and is lately brought from that part of the county to the north of
Essex about Wicken-Benant,+ and near Sir Kane James’s; and I doubt
not but will be generally used upon all the squally wet grounds in
England when it comes to be known, for it is bué a late invention : only
it is to be noted that the ground should lie sloping or declining one way
or other to be mended by this means.”

The prediction of Mr. Bradley that this improvement of wet land
would become general shows that his work on husbandry was not much
read by the farmers of the eighteenth century; for if they had been of
more studious habits they would, on trial of the practice, long ere this
have seen the benefits of (what is generally considered to be the modern
invention of) thorough-draining. That the system of which Bradley
speaks is a thorough-draining system is proved by his mentioning the
number of rods required on a given space, viz. 1000 rods on 20 acres,
which being 50 rods to the acre will make the drains about three times
the distance apart that they are at present in the eastern counties.

The term thorowgh-draining is perhaps derived from the old word
“thorrow,”? which Bradley mentions as ‘‘ a distinguishing character for
a trench cut purposely for carrying off of water.”

* Mr, Hill in his article on Suffolk Draining (Journal, vol. iv. p. 31), mentions
instances of old drains being found filled with bullocks’ horns,

+ Wicken-Benant or Bonhunt is a village in the north-west corner of Essex, 3} miles
from the borders of Herts, 53 from those of Cambridgeshire, 11 from those of Suffolk, and
15 from Great Thurlow, Suffolk, where Mr. Jonas has shown thorough-draining to have
been practised more than a century, 9

M's

312 On the Farming of Suffolk.

5. The process of Marling and the Soils benefited thereby.

The details of this very interesting and desirable practice in
the husbandry of Suffolk have been described by many writers,
among whom are the Jate Mr. Macro of Barrow, in the ‘ Annals
of Agriculture, and ‘ The Letter of Mr. Josiah Rodwell of Liver-
mere to the Board of Agriculture,’ in 1800, for which he was
awarded their Gold Medal. This letter is to be found in the
Report of their Proceedings, and in the ‘ Annals and Calendar ’
of Arthur Young.

By the process of marling I believe is to be understood what we
in Suffolk denominate claying, and perhaps improperly so, for
there is very little clay applied to the land that does not contain
a large proportion of lime; and the general test as to the good
quality of clay is the presence of sinall particles of chalk, or
chalk-stones as they are here termed. Notwithstanding this, I
have used the term claying, because it is so called in this county,
and in order that [ may not be misunderstood: but it must not be
taken for granted that I mean real clay, but a mixture of clay and
chalk, which ought properly to be termed marl.

The application of marl or clay may be said to be general both
on heavy and light land. On heavy it is used on freshly broken-
up pasture- land, and mixed with farm- -yard manure in the formoa-
tion of compost heaps. On light soils its application is of course
more extended, as it is here that the great benefits are derived by
the improvement in the mechanical texture of the soil.

The scouring of ditches on the heavy soil is carted to form
bottoms for the farm-yard manure, with which it is mixed by
turning, &c.

On freshly broken-up land, clay and other soil is carted on to
the amount of from 40 to 50 cubic yards per acre. ‘The benefit
derived from this is the better quality of the grain, and regularity
of the crop. New land, whether it is naturally of an adhesive
and retentive nature, or dry and sandy, or light and loose peaty
soil, is found to preduce a patchy crop of a bad quality of grain,
which is corrected in a great measure by the application of marly
clay. ‘The excess of organic matter in the heavy soil gives it a
looseness of texture which the clay corrects: the dry and loose
texture of the sand is rendered more adhesive and retentive of
moisture, and the peat is benefited by consolidation, and the
supply of inorganic matter.

In first beginning to marl or clay a field, if no pits have
been begun beforehand, it is usual to ascertain where the best
material can be most conveniently raised for carting. This is
done by digging down to ascertain the subsoil, and frequently the
marly clay is found within a foot of the surface. The soil is now

On the Farming of Suffolk. 313

dug and filled mto carts ; the digging proceeds in a sloping direc-
tion downwards, so as a form a mouth to the pit of a gradual
descent, for if very steep the horses are liable to be strained in
drawing the loaded carts from the pit. As soon as a suflicient
depth is obtained the plan of operations is altered; for instead of
picking and digging they now proceed to make what are termed
« falls,’ in a manner that is well known to all excavators: this is
done by picking or undermining at the bottom for a sufficient
distance along the side, and at the extremities of the undermined
part, a perpendicular crevice is picked out from the top to the
bottom. This having been completed, clay wedges shod with iron
are driven in at top with a heavy mallet or beetle, and this being
continued for a short time the clay splits down per- ,—_,,
pendicularly. In this manner as much soil is “ raised ” [- Hts

as will be filled into carts by three men in a day’s THA
work. Men employed in filling usually “raise” (if
falling down may be called raising) the clay when the 3
horses are resting, or afier they have left off for the ¥
day.
Fig. 3. Clay beetle, with iron hoops 1}1inch diameter
put on with nails; made of tough elm; the handle of

ash. ‘This is a clumsy and heavy tool, but not more so than is
required to drive the wedges.

Fig. 2. Clay wedge, 45 inches long, 5 inches gz
diameter at top, with 14-inch iron ring round it. l]

Iron part of wedge (shaded in the drawing) riveted
through the wood.

The labour of filling clay is generally paid for
by the cubic yard or load: for filling and spread-
ing from 24d. to 3d. per yard is paid. The work
is sometimes done by men who contract at so much
a yard (measuring the pit when the work is done)
for filling, spreading, and carting, finding carts and herceer the
price is about 7d. per yard if canted one furlong, Id. being added
for every additional furlong, but this has been already described
in the report on Measure Work. Ten yards a-day is reckoned
a fair day’s work for one man.

The season generally chosen for carting is during the win-
ter on fallows, and occasionally on layers ; clay is carted at
any period of the year for bottoms of manure heaps.

Carting clay or marl is an operation that will afford ample em-
ployment during the frost of winter, and it can then be done with
the least injury to the land. When carted in the winter, it is ex-
posed to the frost, by the action of which the hardest clods are
broken. Spreading should be done as soon as possible after cart-
ing, because in the event of wet weather this hecomes a trouble-

jue.

y

‘ EES
te RES NAS
Mie ESSE SSS
SSS SSS Sw
eee A
ST,

314 On the Farming of Suffolk

some operation from the clay sticking to the shovel, and also from
its becoming consolidated in the heaps.

After being spread, the stones, of which there are often a great
many, are picked from the land, and the clay pulverized during
dry weather by harrowings and rollings. Some employ people to
break the clods by manual labour ; but this can be done much
more effectually by Crosskill’s clod-roller.

The clay is ploughed in shallow; the next ploughing deeper,
so as to bring it again nearly to the surface. Many prefer claying
on clover layers; and when it is dry weather there is no better
time for laying on clay than during the few weeks preceding har-
vest. It isthen dry, and can easily be pulverized, and the furrow
for wheat is always a shallow one; the clay is well mixed up with
the soil by the deeper fallow ploughings.

The quantity usually laid on per acre is from 30 to 40 cubic
yards; though a much greater quantity is frequently applied to
fresh broken-up heath lands.

To show the extent to which the admixture of the subsoil with
the surface is carried by the tenant farmers of this county, I
give the following list of the successful candidates for the pre-
mium of 4/., offered by the West Suffolk Agricultural Association,
with the number of chaldron loads (86 bushels) spread by each
farmer, with the extent of his light or fen-land occupation. For
this information I am indebted to Mr. George Beeton, the Secre-
tary.

The conditions of competition for this prize are—“ A premium
of 47. to the tenant who shall have carried and spread the greatest
number of chaldron loads of clay, loam, or marsh-earth, within
the last twelve months, according to the relative proportion of
arable land in his occupation.” During the latter meetings this
rule has been altered to the relative proportions of light land in
the tenants’ occupation.

Loads. Acres.
1834. Mr. John Rollinson, of Rede, ees with 1245 Occupation 150
1835. — James Lee, Whepstead ° 1679 o 300
1836. — James Lee : ° : . 1145 is 300
1837. — James Lee ° ° . 1512 BS 300
1838. — George Gayford, Rymer ° ‘ 2556 hy 500
1839. — George Gayford . . . 8485 (Fen land) 160
1840. — John Boldero . “ : 1730 ; 330

9

1841. — Edward Witt, Fornham ° : 6776 (Fenland) 215
1842, — Hdward Witt ° : ° « 10,286 (Fenland) 215
1843. — Edward Witt . : : - 14,590 (Fenland) 215
1844, — George Gayford : ° 7 4513 a 500

— Kdward Witt . » ° ° 8876 (Fen land) 215
1845, — Edward Witt . : 3 ° 9325 (Fenland) 215
1846. — James King, Felsham ® . 1066 9 150

For a prize of the same amount offered to tenant farmers only,
by the East Suffolk Agricultural Association, we have—

On the Farming of Suffolk. 315

Loads. Acres.
1841. Stephen Oxborough, Capel . . « 3540 Occupation 1600
1842, Thomas Freeman, Henham . . » 1542 iy 400

In the fen district clay is used to a large extent, and with con-
siderable benefit : it consolidates the loose peaty soil, by supplying
inorganic matter to the vegetable material of the peat, and conse-
quently it produces grain of a better quality and stiffer straw, the
clay is dug in holes or trenches, and is not such expensive work
as Claying light sandy land, where the clay has to be carted to a
considerable distance.

Mr. E. Witt, of Fornham, whose name appears so frequently
in this list of successful candidates for the prize of claying, has
favoured me with an account of his method of claying on his
farm in burnt fen, by which plan, during the six years he has
held the farm he has dug and spread 51,798 loads (of 24
bushels) on 183 acres of arable land, at an expense, the whole
being manual labour, of 463/. 6s. 9$d.; besides having levelled
hills by carting and barrowing, and carted ditch stuff on the
same land to the estimated quantity of nearly as much more.
Very few instances of the admixture of the subsoil with the sur-
face in so short a time will be found to equal this; by this means
he has completely altered the nature and appearance of the soil,
has given employment to a great many labourers, and made a
permanent improvement for which he will be amply recompensed
by the increased quantity and quality of grain grown. ‘The
fields being full of hills and holes produced irregular crops; but
by removing the hills, and carting them on the black peat of the
low parts, the surface has been levelled, and the fields now pro-
duce even crops.

The manner of claying is as follows :—
Two furrows (d) are opened across the | ~
field, at intervals of two rods asunder; a Pe
man begins at one end of these and digs a |.
hole (a) about 3 feet wide by 6 feet long ;
when he reaches the clay he does not dig
down perpendicularly, but undermines a
little, and throws out two loads of clay (24 |8.-------------- woes ~~
bushels each), one on each side of the
hole; he then digs holes similar to the | —-——————__
first all the way up the furrow, leaving a
narrow space (6 6) between each to stop the water from running
into the hole he is digging, as well as prevent the sides falling in.

The peat dug from each hole being thrown into the preceding
one, he thus partly fills up the holes as he proceeds. The clay,
being thrown out on each side of the hole, is spread up to a mark
made with the foot across the field, midway between each row of

316 On the Farming of Suffolk.

heaps, as at “c.’ The peat varies in depth from 2 to 8 feet ;
the cost for digging and throwing out is about 3d. or 4d. per hole;
or if the peat is very deep, from 6d. to 8d.; the cost of spreading
10d. per score holes.

To complete the process of filling up the trench, adeep furrow
is ploughed in on each side, the horses going at length. After
the land has been ploughed once or twice across the trenches it
becomes perfectly level.

Fen land works much better after being clayed, as the soil does
not adhere to the plough. The land should be clean before it
is clayed, as that operation is more difficult to perform afterwards;
besides, the more the land is stirred the more rapidly will the clay
sink into the subsoil.

The following is a list of the number of loads dug and spread
by this method on Mr. Witt’s fen farm since 1841 :—

ae

Fields. Loads. Per Acre. Total Cost.

MS VaCKes) le acres DS a1 2 hilo Wee £3k0 6.0
4 ,, A pier icay at a0) 3.12 0 50 8 24
Torr; 5 | 3,990 215 11 41 6 8&8
ie, . 3,082 2 6 103 25 13 8
Or a. A 480 ae 4.4 9
Biles 7,622 318 9 81 14 2
10%. Spike 2,962 2: 6 2 23)) lass
Sees . 2,198 2) 40'4 10 16 0 64%
200 aiike 1 Ors
Ane etn ee 1-200 | 2 9°" 917 6
22) ie 4 6,718 2 16 10 62 9 5
256 . peee rey (U)
Ou. ° 970 roe: 812 42
134 cae 016 9
eae ets No thutte | 370 016 0 4 0 Q
103, ; $i ayes las tail almgeors li face
Hills carriel away | 5,140 \ ae 0 Ores
A ,, bank (strip) 1,286 2077.0 LOT C0
Wd cs awash te 4,452 210080 42 10 0O
Sia, sikae able 764 a Gat
183 0 183 51,798 Apc £463 6 92

This averages 283 loads per acre, at a cost of 2/7. 10s. 7d. per
acre.

Crag.—A sandy mixture; calcareous from the quantity of
shells it contains,—found in most of the parishes extending from
Dunwich to the Orwell; it has been used as a manure to a consi-
derable extent.

According to “ Kirby,” Mr. E. Edwards, a farmer of Leving-
ton, in 1718, accidentally discovered the use of this crag or shell.
Being short of dung, he carried several loads of crag, and spread
it over a part of a field, which to his surprise yielded a much

On the Farming of Suffolk. 317

better crop than those parts which he had covered with dung.
The origin of its being used on the black heaths is pointed out
by Captain Alexander, in his “Soils of Kast Suffolk,” and thence
copied in the Journal, vol. iu. p. 183.

Of the use of crag as a manure, Mr. Rodwell says :--“ The
dimensions and great antiquity of the crag pits of East Suffolk,
afford an indisputable proof of crag having been long used in
these districts, and of its fertilizing properties, but more espe-
cially in rendering the stiff and retentive soils more friable and
porous to the influence of atmospheric air. Upon these soils we
find large quantities are usually carried, and in some cases re-
peated again and again with very good effect, at the rate of 30 or
40 cubic yards to the acre.”

6. The process of burning Clay, and the soils to which it is appli-
cable.

The practice of burning the soil dug from the borders of fields
is very general in the heavy land of Suffolk: borders round the
fallows are usually dug up in March, and the flags placed on
their ends to dry, ‘The scourings of ditches are burnt by some;
these are either dug or ploughed up, so that they become dry;
and are carted to the fire as wanted, or laid in heaps round the
fire. The fire is prepared with straw, 3 or 4 faggots and blocks
of wood, round which a wall of flags is formed ; some mould is
laid on, and the fire is lighted on the windward side; the flags are
chopped in pieces before being laid on. Very little is laid on at
first; but after a few days the heap requires constant attendance,
because, if suffered to burn through, the fire is hkely to go out;
fresh clay must therefore be laid on 3 or 4 times a-day. Before
letting out the fire the side walls are drawn and the unburnt
flags are cut in pieces and burnt. The great art consists in
applying fresh material as soon as the fire makes its appearance
on the outside.

The cost for labour is from 8d. to ls. per chaldron load (36
bushels) ; the burnt earth is used on fallows at the rate of from 15
to 30 loads per acre. It is also drilled with turnips, and a dress-
ing of burnt earth is considered by some to be the best manure
for clover. Border-burning being practised throughout the greater
part of the heavy land district is a sufficient proof of its usefulness
on that kind of soil.

But there is another system of burning practised, more espe-
cially in that part of the county lying between Stradbroke and
Framlingham, viz., in Dennington, Worlingworth, Brundish, Bad-
dingham, Laxfield, Cratfield, and the adjoining parishes. This
is chiefly a deep staple soil. I obtained the following information
at Stradbroke respecting “clod-burning,’ which is the name

318 On the Farming of Suffolk.

given to this kind of burning. After the first thwarting of the
fallow (cross-ploughing), and as soon as the land is dry,
the clods are worked by harrowings and rollings into
about the size of a hen’s egg ; these clods are raked into
rows, and the accompanying drawing shows a fork which
is used to gather the small clods into heaps ready for
burning: the advantage of so many tines is, that the
i fork takes all the clods and leaves the dust. ‘The tines
<-ya--> are 1 inch wide, with 3 inch interstices,

The clods are burnt in small heaps, with haulm and bean-
stalks, or furze brought from a distance. ‘The burnt earth is
then spread on the land and thwarted in ( (that is ploughed across
the direction in which the land is ploughed when laid up in
stetches for sowing). The cost for labour in burning about 50
chaldron loads per acre is 10s. With this dressing of burnt earth,
it is asserted that better turnips are grown than with the usual
dressing of mixed manure, and that they are always certain of a
good crop of barley after burning: the soil is a strong loam.

The following information respecting clod-burning was obtained
from Mr. Cluttern, of Tannington, a farmer in the neighbourhocd
of Framlingham. He states that clod-burning has been practised
from 15 to 16 years; the present price of raking clods and for
burning is from 7s. to 8s. per acre, and a man will burn nearly
half an acre in a day; 2s. per acre is paid for spreading the
ashes. The quantity burnt per acre about 35 three quarter loads
(27 bushels) : and he considers that this dressing of burnt earth
is equal in effect to any coat of muck.

It takes | waggon load of “ haulm” (stubble) to burn 14 acre ;
1 load of furze will burn 24 acres, and 1 load of bean-stalks
2 acres.

In burning it is necessary to clear away the loose soil from the
bottom of the heap before the fire is lighted, and of course to
light on the windward side. ‘The fires are made about a rod
apart, and from 5 to 6 bushels is burnt in each heap. The
quantity done of this description of burning depends upon the
weather, though many farmers burn their fallows every 4 years.
The following crops were obtained from a single coat of burnt
earth, which shows its effect on this kind of soil :—

Ist year. Fallow, clods burnt for turnips, but too late for
roots.

2nd year. Barley, 7 quarters per acre.

3rd year. Peas.

4th year, Wheat, 6 quarters 1 pk. per acre.

oth year. Barley.

Burnt earth is considered by many farmers as the best prepa-
ration for turnips; and it certainly makes the adhesive soil work

<-fhini-->

On the Farming of Suffolk. 319

better, and perhaps reduces some of the insoluble parts of the soil.
Many farmers imagine that burning wastes the soil; but it only
reduces the organic portion, which is again supplied by the appli-
cation of farmyard manure. If by burning we are enabled to
produce a good root crop on a stiff retentive soil, there is no fear
but that the organic matter that has been consumed will be re-
turned to the soil by the turnip crop, and the manure which arises
from its consumption.

A great objection to the system is the quantity of stubble and
other fuel consumed which might be converted into manure; and
there is one injury likely to result from the practice, viz., that it
may lead farmers into a bad system of cropping—however there
is no reason why this should be the case. ‘The instance which I
have already given is not the only one; for some, I believe, have
begun the practice of burning the barley and wheat stubbles,
and then planting wheat. ‘There are of course no covenants in
such cases as these.

Paring and burning grass land has already been mentioned.

Clay dug from pits, and the surface soil of arable fields, is oc-
casionally burnt in large heaps, in a manner resembling the
practice of burning borders. Though burnt earth is of so much
benefit in heavy land, yet on light land unburnt clay has been
proved to produce better effects than when burnt.

7. The improvements still required in the County generally: as to
the lagher cultivation of existing farms, the reclamation of waste
lands, and the condition of the Agricultural Labourer.

In Suffolk, as well as in many other parts of the country,
farmers are frequently bound by covenants for the cultivation of
their land under a certain rotation, without sufficiently consider-
ing that one rotation or system is not suited to every description
of soil; or that more than one kind of soil occurs on the same
farm. That it is an error to imagine the 4-course or any other
rotation is the best that can be adopted, we may mention the opi-
nion of Mr. Pusey, who says, ‘‘ The merits of the 4-course system
are great; buta great defect too is its monotonous circle of wheat,
turnips, barley, and clover.” Hence, whatever crops are intro-
duced so as to remove to a greater distance the repetition of this
monotonous circle, without breaking the arrangement of growing
a corn and green crop alternately, is found to be an improvement.
The farmer is often obliged to adopt the same course of cropping
on a stiff clay as on a friable sand, although there are many un-
avoidable circumstances which render it impracticable always to
farm in the manner laid down, with the same profit that might
be obtained should some of these stringent conditions be taken
off the farmer’s shoulders. For instance, by being bound to

320 On the Farming of Suffolk.

plough his fallows a certain number of times—in Suffolk, fre-
quently 5 or 6—the farmer, if a little behind-hand, which will
frequently occur, either from an excess of dry or of wet weather,
will perhaps lose the opportunity of sowing his root crops, merely
because he has not yet given the regular allowance of ploughings
which he is bownd to give, and which the land is obliged to receive,
without considering whether he is doing good to the land or to
himself by such proceedings.

The farmer has often been told, and doubtless with some
reason, that he follows in the footsteps of his father and grand-
father without stepping out of the way to make improvements in
the cultivation of the soil; but as the manner of cultivating that
soil by a fixed system, is often chalked out by a lawyer who is
not competent to judge of its suitableness to the land, and from
which the farmer is not allowed to deviate, how can it be expected
that he should do otherwise than tread in the footsteps of those
who have preceded him ?

The amount of game is also a great drawback to improvement
on much of the light land; but any remarks concerning game are
uncalled for in this report, and would not in any degree promote
the interests of those who occupy farms where game is preserved ;
for these are entered upon with an understanding that the game is
to be preserved, and consequently the tenant pays a proportionably
lower rent: in other words, “ Game-farms are, or ought to be,
let at game-rents.”

The greater part of the farm-buildings of Suffolk, improved as
they may have been since the time of Arthur Young, are yet far
behind the cultivation of the soil, particularly those on the heavy
land. In every village are to be seen buildings arranged in
every form except that which would give economy in the manu-
facture of manure, or in the feeding of cattle. Large and ex-
pensive barns there are—necessary, perhaps, for flail-threshing
and seed-farming, but good and convenient accommodation for
cattle is nearly disregarded. In a word, many of the Suffolk
farmeries consist only of barns for storing and threshing grain,
of a stable and yard for cart-horses, and a shed for the shelter
of machines; the shelter afforded to cattle is frequently inferior
to that for carts and waggons; a horsepond, the colour of the
water contained in it giving evident indications of the presence
of liquid manure, is the indispensable adjunct to the buildings ;
and it may be said, that one of the greatest improvements re-
quired is in the erection of farm-buildings with greater accommo-
dation for the housing cattle and the manufacture of manure, the
threshine of grain, and the preparation of food for cattle. The
expenditure for the repair of buildings of this description, built
with a view to economy (where stone or brick cannot be obtained,

On the Farming of Suffolk. 321

there is no better material than clay for this purpose), would
not be greater than, if equal to, that yearly spent about the
present inconvenient structures. ‘The landlord would be de-
riving interest on the money spent in the erection of good buildings,
and the tenant would reap much more from the economical manu-
facture of manure, and comfort to his catile afforded by better
farm-buildings. For, in fattening catile, scientific men have of
late years taught us that warmth is equivalent to food; and I
leave it to any practical farmer to say whether it is cheaper to
supply this warmth by walls and roofs or by food.

Suffolk, so noted for machines, is yet backward in introducing
the acknowledged improvements of threshing-machinery, and in
substituting lighter carts for the clumsy tumbrils. Light one-
horse carts would he of great advantage on the heavy soils, as they
would not injure the land to nearly the same extent as the heavy
loads now carried. The substitution of one-horse carts for wag-
gons and tumbrils is not likely to be carried to any very great
extent by the present race of farmers; for though many of them
prefer carts, yet the disposal of the old carriages would be attended
with a very great sacrifice, and the change of a smart road-
waggon drawn by a team of Suffolk horses for a one-horse cart
would not meet with approval.

The very light and blowing sands that are under cultivation,
might be prevented from blowing by greater shelter, and be ren-
dered more adhesive by the admixture of clay and marl where
these can be obtained, and more productive by a higher system of
feeding sheep.

Belts of trees, chiefly larch and Scoich fir, and hedges of the
latter, afford shelter in some parts; but they require to be greatly
extended before they entirely prevent the sand from blowing—
high wmds being as productive of injury to the crops as con-
tinued dry weather. Furze or gorse flourishes well on these
barren soils, but is seldom applied to any other purpose than that
of affording cover for game, a material for draining, and for firing.
The kind of gorse used as provender is a variety closely allied
to the gorse which grows so luxuriantly on our heaths; and
therefore we may conclude that the former would grow with
equal vigour, and afford to the farmers of this sterile tract a
plentiful supply of food (of which there is much need) for their
cattle and sheep. Those who doubt the feasibility of this im-
provement will be convinced by referring to the ‘ Hissay on Gorse,’
by O. Roberts, vol. vi., p.379, of the Society’s Journal.

The heavy-land district is capable of improvement by the
general adoption of the system of autumn cultivation for the
root-crop, and by growing such roots as can be removed at an
early period from the land, and so doing away with the treading

522 , On the Farming of Suffolk.

of wet land during winter, the more free application of manures
to green crops on both light and heavy Jand, and a better ma-
nagement of pasture-land. On this head Mr. Rodwell writes:
“On the subject of grass-lands an essay might be well written,
not only in pointing out the management of the greater pro-
portion of every variety, but in suggesting improvements hy
following the examples of other grass counties. On this sub-
ject, however, I will not enlarge, and only repeat that which
I have long practised, and diffused to all where the position
of parties and condition of soils admit it: viz., that as a general
rule, pasture and meadow grounds are not only less productive in
every way to the landlord and tenant, but that the diminution
of labour and the very obvious loss of production to the com-
munity, are subjects well deserving the consideration of every
writer on agriculture, and feel assured that you will not lose sight
of so important a feature as the “converting pasture-land into
arable.”

I fear I shall be unable to do more than echo these suggestions ;
for Mr. Bravender, in the « Journal’ (vol. vii. p. 161) has so
well estimated the gain to the landowner, the tenant, the la-
bourer, and the community at large on various descriptions of
land, that [ will refer those who have any doubt of the benefit to
be derived from breaking up much of the pasture-land of Suffolk,
to the calculations that gentleman has made in the latter part of
his essay.

Reclamation of Waste Lands.—Much is still required in the
reclamation and enclosing of waste lands, particularly the com-
mons, some of which are even yet to be found in the heavy-land
district, and are doubtless of a productive quality. There is still
a considerable breadth of heath-land in the neighbourhood of
Orford and Woodbridge, and on the western side of the county ;
much of it has so sterile an appearance that unless more than the
average amount of capital and skill were employed in its reclama-
tion it would be a profitless task. However, if long leases were
granted, or compensation allowed to the tenant for improvements,
there is no doubt that farmers of sufficient capital and skill would
be forthcoming to render these barren tracts into a good state of
cultivation. One would imagine that these barren soils and
black heaths would be more profitable if planted with trees,
sorts suited to the soil being selected: it would at least be a
means of increasing the future productiveness of the soil, if 1t was
ever brought into cultivation. But it is the old enclosed part
of Suffolk in which there is the greatest room for the reclamation
of waste land; like other early enclosed counties, a great part
of Suffolk is disfigured in all directions with hedges and ditches:
many of these might be removed without injury to the drainage.

On the Farming of Suffolk. 323

The removal of the hedges that are not required, and the pollard-
trees with which so many of them are so thickly studded, would
reclaim more waste land than the bringing the tracts of heath
into cultivation; for these are worse than waste: they require an
annual expenditure to keep them in repair; their roots, by ex-
hausting the land, injure the crops to a great distance into the
fields; their shade delays the ripening and harvesting of the
crops, and harbours an infinite quantity of vermin in the shape of
birds and insects. Land is seldom at so dead a level that it can-
not be drained on the Suffolk system (of shallow drains) if the
fields do not exceed eight acres in extent (there are many of not
half this area) ; and where there is a good fall, from 12 to 15
acres would be a more profitable size for heavy land fields.

Asacommon example, J observed that the Brandeston Hall
estate, sold by auction by G. Robins in 1841, containing an
average of about 650 acres of land, was subdivided into nearly
160 enclosures.

The condition of the agricultural labourer has undoubtedly
improved; but much remains to be done by the landowners and
farmers of the present day. Since the introduction of the New
Poor-Law the Suffolk labourer has become more independent,
and he has not that disinclination to work for his living which
some of the worst-disposed of them formerly had under the
old system. ‘Though the wages at day-labour, 10s. per week,
may appear a small sum for the support of a labourer and his
family, yet this is far from being the sum total of his earnings;
during the five weeks of harvest the Suffolk labourer is in receipt
of upwards of l/. a-week; and at other times frequently earns at
piece-work from 12s. to 13s. per week. It would, perhaps, be as
well if the standard of wages was more generally fixed, which can
only be fairly taken by adjusting the price of labour to the price
of gram. The following system of paying labourers is adopted
by Mr. Cooper, of Blythburgh Lodge, who farms upwards of
2000 acres, and by other East Suffolk farmers.

He takes the average price of wheat as his standard, both as
being the most valuable production of the labourer’s toil, and the
principal article of his food :—

When wheat is above 5s. per bush. and under 6s. he pays 8s. per wk.

99 6s. FF) 2” OS: Ta ea wiasin 23

04 Ts. . i Sle eae MOSS cone
Thus increasing 1s. per week for every ls. per bushel increase in
the price of wheat.

Mr. C. also allows the labourers flour at the wholesale price.
Fle makes a bargain with the miller to supply his labourers ; in
this manner the labourer gets the profit of the flour-dealer. At
first, Mr. C. thought of buying flour in large quantities, and

324 On the Larming of Suffolk.

letting his labourers have it at cost price; but, as this would in-
terfere with the miller’s trade, he now pays the miller himself, or
engages to see him paid, and gets the money from his labourers
in weekly instalments: they may take as little as 2 stone, or as
much as half-a-sack; thus, when flour is cheap, they can lay in
a stock. Mr. C. gets a list of the quantity required by each
man, and the miller sends his cart round once a-week. It is, of
course, quite optional for the labourer to take his flour in this
way or not.

‘Taking the labourers generally, it would be to their advantage
if some means were adopted for a more general and efficient
education than they now receive at the village school.

Many landowners object to investing money in cottages,
thinking by so doing they will burden their estates with poor.
But this only drives the labourer into the hands of the speculator,
who builds cottages and lets them at an exorbitant rent.

The Rev. Copinger Hill, in his ‘ Essay on Cottages’ (in the
‘ Journal’), has proved that the erection by the landlord of com-
fortable cottages, with a garden attached, let at a reasonable
rent, will pay good interest for the money invested. Cottages
built of clay, the warmest and driest material that can be used,
may be let at 3/. per annum; and where this is done, the specu-
lator, who crowds a lot of cottages on a small plot of ground, and
lets them from 5/. to 67. each, will be driven from the field. All
agree that the condition of the labourers is improved by annexing
a large garden to the cottage; this does away with the necessity
of field-allotments, the usefulness of which has many advocates,
though some are of quite a different opinion respecting them.
«Spinning ”’ yarn by hand is now nearly superseded by the intro-
duction of machinery.

To conclude, | must apologise for having entered so minutely
into the details of management: my reason for doing so is to
render the report intelligible to farmers in a distant part of the
country, for there are many local phrases used in our farming
operations which would be perfectly unintelligible to the farmers
of another county.

I am deeply indebted to many of the Suffolk farmers for their
kind and ready assistance in affording me information on the
various subjects of this Report, and to these gentlemen [ beg to
tender my sincere thanks; and I hope the use that I have made
of the information which they have afforded will not be deemed
altogether unworthy. Ifthe Report possesses any merit, it be-
longs mainly to them: if it is considered unworthy of the county,
the agriculture of which it has been my endeavour to describe,
the disgrace rests upon myself; but should [ be unfortunate in
obiaining the good opinion of the agricultural reader, the Report

On the Farming of Suffolk. 325

may perhaps be viewed less critically when it is known that it
was written with a view of acquiring rather than of imparting
knowledge.

APPENDIX.
1. Linseed Compound.

Many Suffolk farmers during the last few years having substituted
compound in lieu of linseed-cake, a few observations on the system of
compound-feeding, derived from practical experience, may not be con-
sidered out of place.

Mr. Peirson, of Framlingham, a gentleman who adopts the system,
has kindly favoured me with a plan (which is here annexed) of his
feeding-shed, and an account of his manner of feeding.

STACK YARD.

\
it
ki

HNN EAA ATT

CATTLE YARD.

STRAW
HOUSE.

SoDVAY Bal EB.

*asusse,]

Entrance
Door.

Linseed
Meal ard é
otherCorn. &

*pasooyy

“MS Sune

PIG YARD.

Granary qT
Stairs.

@aey Brick Walls.
Iron Water js
Cisterns. SHED.
Manger.
Goo)
1 5 10 15 20 feet. :
Scale one-eighth of an inch to a foot. THE FARM HOUSE.

‘I am pleased my bullock-shed attracted your attention, believing
there is scarcely another in Suffolk combining the same advantages for
grazing, with economy in building. The elevation is 8 feet 2 inches
from level of ground to under-side of beams, which some persons have
thought 1 foot too much. The roof of one span, and covered with pan-
tiles ; the stalls are all sunk from 14 to 2 feet below the level ; the pump

VOR, Vila. Z

326 On the Farming of Suffolk.

is supplied by the troughs around the building, and seldom fails ox
water. ‘The width of passage between the stalls allows of carting in
turnips, &c. The stalls are adapted for tying up two beasts in each,
two polled or one-horned bullocks may be loose. I generally have two
in each stall during the winter, and one during the summer mouths.
When two are tied up, the manure taken from them is thrown into the
outer cattle-yards, and again foddered upon by leaner cattle. When
loose in the stalls, nothing is removed till quite full ; there is a drain-
age from the stalls and piggeries to the tank; the tank is a large
bricked arch running under the hay-house about 6 feet in depth.
Each stall having separate doors, I am enabled to regulate the heat of
my shed, opening the upper doors on the contrary side to the wind;
and, during the heat of the last summer, I closed them all. The shed
being dark, the bullocks were not troubled by flies, and the ventilation
in the roof kept them cool. Three strong ash rails divide the stalls,
fastened with pegs into the posts, that they may be removed in an
instant if required. The doors are also guarded by two ash rails
(removable).

“My plan of making the compound is to put 9 pails of water into a
copper; when boiling-hot, scatter in 2 pecks of crushed linseed, boil
this five minutes, then stir in 4 pecks of bean or pea meal; as soon as
this is done, take away the fire that it may not burn. With a wooden
shovel empty the contents of the copper into two small tubs, where it
may remain till next morning, when, being turned over, they will show
you two puddings of about 10 stone each (14 lbs. per stone). This is
ready to slice and give to the cattle. As the bullocks progress, I
increase the linseed. For the last two years I have cooked 20 stone
daily, with few exceptions.

“The cost of my pudding, including fire and labour, I estimate at 43d.
per stone; and this I believe equal to two English cakes at 6d.

“* T engage my man to be in the shed at 5 o’clock every morning, and
to give 1 stone of pudding to each beast as the first food. From 1 to 2
bushels of roots are given during the day, and 3 or 4 half-peck baskets
of hay or other chaff, generally mixing with it 1 to 2 pints of crushed
linseed, and 4 pints of bean-meal. Every evening at 8 o’clock, from
2 to 4 lbs. of uncut hay are given to each, if the stack-yard will allow
of it. When the bullocks are getting fat, I increase the pudding to 2
stone per head, and reduce the roots to 1 bushel each. The beasts are
supplied with water. By preparing common white turnips, swedes,
mangel wurzel, tares, clover, and grass, I have a succession of green
food the whole year. The food is prepared and placed in baskets near
each beast before any is given, so that all may be eating at the same
time, and, owing to this regularity of feeding, all the bullocks are gene-
rally laid within 5 minutes after eating their allotted quantity.”—
Dec. 24th, 1846.

In addition to these excellent observations, I beg to give a plan of a
boiling-house, two or three of which have lately been fitted up for the
preparation of compound on a considerable scale.

The boiling-house, of which the annexed drawing is a plan, occupies
the angle formed by the bullock-shed and piggery.

S

the Farming of Suffolk. 327

SECTION.

PLAN.

eee Ste Oa COLON eptect.

Reference to Plan,

1, 1. Iron boilers holding 100 gallonseach. Two boilers are greatly to be preferred
to one, as a man can tend two fires at the same time. The top of the brickwork is
covered with one-inch boards, the boiler-lids are made in two pieces for the conve-
nience of taking off, and they fit close into the covering of boards.

2. Flue,

3. The brick floor of this compartment is raised about 9 inches, and the part (4) in
front of the furnace is lowered about 9 inches. The floor at the back of the boiler
being raised gives great convenience for stirring and mixing the compound, and in
removing it from the boilers. The common situation of a copper at the side or in the
corner of a building will not admit of this arrangement, for the man employed in
stirring would be obliged to be elevated on a stool immediately in front of the furnace,
which is not a very agreeable position, or one in which the man is likely to perform
his work as it ought to be done. Some portion of this place may be fitted with tubs or
cisterns for the reception of the compound.

4, Place in front of furnace for tending the fire and keeping a supply of fuel.

5d. Steps.

6. Pump. The water is pumped directly into either copper; it also supplies water
to the cattle and pigs.

7. Piggery.

8. Bullock-shed.

Section,

a. Boilers, b, b, Furnaces. c, Flue.

d, Dampers for regulating the fire and putting it out when required. The dampers
are of great service, as without them there is some danger of the mixture boiling
over when the linseed is added to the water ; they also effect a saving in the fuel.

e, Pump.

The building is lighted by glass tiles in the roof, and the steam passes
out by a lever boarded window, and through interstices formed by
lapping the ridge-tiles over one another.

The grain and linseed require to be crushed, and the straw or hay
to be cut into chaff before it is prepared. Hurwood’s, of Ipswich, is

ra Pe

328 On the Farming of Suffolk.

one of the best mills for crushing linseed, oats, &c. ; but whatever kind
are used, they should admit of being driven by horse-power or by steam.
The mills are placed over the chaff-machine, and can be worked at
the same time, and driven by the same power, as the chaff-cutter.
The following is the actual time of crushing, the mills being each
driven by one horse, the increase of bulk by crushing, and the cost.
Parsons’ and Clyburn’s V. mill crushes | qr. of peas or beans in 40
minutes.
m.

ne
Hurwood’s mill, 1 quarter of linseed in 1 20
Las barley = (1 LG
Aas Oats ee a
Whole, Crushed.
lbs. lbs.
1 bushel of linseed weighs 51 32
eae orae barley +5. De 36
Ls se eas 55 OT 49
te ee oilleake ,, — 45

The cost for the labour of attendance, horse, and wear and tear of
the machinery is about 8d. per qr. for oats and barley, 10d. for linseed,
and about Gd. for peas.

Though grain cannot be ground to powder by these mills, yet their
use is a very great saving on the practice of sending grain to be ground
by the miller, whose charge is about 2s. 6d. per qr. Oats may be
ground as well by a steel mill, and linseed much better than it can be
done by stones.

{t would be an endless task to attempt to describe all the different
ways of preparing compound adopted by different farmers. linseed
being the foundation upon which the compound is based, the other
substances employed are barley, peas, beans, gold of pleasure, and
a cheaper compound of boiled linseed and cut hay, straw, &c. As a
general maxim, the constituent which forms the largest proportion in
the linseed compound is that which bears comparatively the lowest
price in the market; thus, in 1845, when barley was at a low price, a
great quantity was made into compound : it also affords a ready means of
converting dross and inferior grain into a nutritious food.

Estimate and manner of preparing a Compound of Peas, Linseed,
and Barley.

A 100-gallon boiler of compound is prepared in the following
manner :— 7

Stone lbs,
2 bushels of crushed peas weighing 7 0
2 re linseed Ne A'S
6 pf barley sshd ees

: 27 stone of 14 lbs.
64 gallons of water weighing . 45

oe

Wotaliges bays he
Sixty-four gallons of water being pumped into the boiler, 2 bushels

On the Farming of Suffolk. 329

of crushed peas are put in, and the fire lighted. The peas will require
boiling from 2 to 3 hours, till the mixture nearly resembles pea-soup,
and the peas feel soft and mealy ; one person now sprinkles 2 bushels
of crushed linseed gradually by hand into the boiler, while another stirs
up the mixture. The stirrer, or ‘‘ rudder,” is similar to those used by
brewers; the stirring part may either be made of wood or iron. When
the linseed is dissolved, the 6 bushels of crushed barley are gradually
stirred into the boiler, until the whole is well mixed and incorporated
together. The fire should now be put out by closing the damper ; this
will be of great use throughout the entire operation in regulating the
fire. The copper-lids are put on: if the compound remains in the
boiler it will be cool enough for the cattle the following day. The in-
eredients thus made will fill a 190-gallon copper, and will weigh about
68 stone, showing a loss of 4 stone by boiling.

From 1 to 2 stone of this compound is given with chaff to each bul-
lock per day, at 3 baits. For sheep, a quantity is removed from the
boiling-house to the field or shed in which the sheep are fattening, and
it is given night and morning at the rate of about 2lbs. per sheep per
day ; but this of course varies with the size and condition of the sheep.

Average estimate of cost of 68 stone of compound :—

“

?
.

PB WEAS clk Laks Ye. eee ss
15 st. 6 lbs. barley. . .

Art Sips. 1INSeed i 6 ot ve
Attendance and fuel. . .. >

aL 10," O
This will be rather over 5id. per stone, or 3/. 10s. Td. per ton.
2. Clay Walling.

Throughout the heavy land of Suffolk cottages and farm-buildings are
principally, and farm-houses very often, constructed with clay walls. Clay
houses whitewashed, plastered, or stuccoed, are not only neat in appear-
ance, but are warm and durable.

Clay walls appear peculiarly adapted for the walls of sheds and for
enclosing farm-yards; they are cheap, warm, never give out damp, and,
if kept dry at top and bottom, will last for a great length of time. I
have seen some that have stood 50 years with very slight repair, which
were in every respect as good as when first put up. Cattle are not liable
to injury by rubbing against them, as they are with rough stone walls.
Clay walls are placed on a stone or brick pinning of from 2 to 25 feet
high, or about as high as the manure rises in the yards; when com-
pleted, the walls are covered to prevent their being washed down by the
rain, the material used being a brick coping, slate, boards, thatch, &c.
The cost of building a wall 14 inches thick is 9d. per square yard, the
stone pinning 6d. per foot run extra, the thatching about ls. 6d. per yard
run. ‘This does not include the straw, or the cost of raising clay. The
whole expenditure for a 14-inch wail is about 1s. a square yard. For
further information as to the preparation of the clay, &c., see the Rev.
C. Hill’s ‘ Essay on Cottages,’ Journal, vol. iv., p. 356.

Hlengrave, Bury St. Edmunds.

(2330.9)

XII.—Report on the Exhibition of Implements at the Northampton
Meeting, 1847.

Mr. Parkes has been for some years in the habit of drawing up
the Report of the annual exhibition, and the Stewards have, in
his unavoidable absence through illness, to crave the indulgence of
the Society for not being enabled to bring to the subject either
the ability or the knowledge which the consulting engineer has
invariably displayed in the construction of his reports. ‘They
have determined therefore to rely upon the reports of the Judges
themselves as their groundwork, and merely to make such addi-
tions to, or alterations in, the description of the implements sub-
jected to trial as the very faulty certificates originally sent in,
and printed in the catalogues, imperatively demand. The
absence of Mr. Parkes, however, from the Northampton Meet-
ing is the more to be lamented, as not only was the number of
implements exhibited greater than at any previous show, but
mechanical improvements had evidently much advanced since
the last meeting at Newcastle. By a reference to the entries
which have been made annually in the Implement Department
since the formation of the Society, it will be found that at—
Oxford* they were= : : 23

Cambridge 3 : : ‘ 36
Liverpool 3 ‘ ‘ 2 BZ
Bristol ‘5 : : » 455
Derby y é . ee o08
Southampton ,, : : eh A948
Shrewsbury as ‘ . oe
Newcastle < ‘ : ; 130
Whilst at Northampton they amounted to apqld2l

A yast increase! for which the Society is mainly indebted to the
hberality of the railroad companies, who transport to and from
the place of exhibition the animals and implements shown at its
annual meetings. ‘The Council, in the absence of the consulting
engineer, gaye full liberty to the Stewards to call in an engineer
in any cases of difficulty that might arise; but this privilege was
not exercised. :

The extraordinary feature of the show was the number of port-
able steam-engines produced: heretofore there have never been
above two exhibited at any meeting ; but the Council having acted

* The respective entries as given at Oxford and Cambridge do not in
any degree indicate the number of implements exhibited ; as the exhi-
bitor at these periods merely sent in a general certificate, and then for-
warded what implements he pleased, it being understood that the more he
sent the better. There were, however, at the two first meetings of the
Society but 23 and 36 exhibitors making entries, whilst at Northampton
there were 142, ;

Report on the Exhibition of Implements. 331

wisely in determining to ensure as much as lay in their power
the manufacture of machinery adapted to reduce the cost of pro-
duction, by increasing their premium given to this class of imple-
ments to 50/.; no fewer than seven portable engines, together with
One stationary, were entered for competition: and when we take
into consideration the number of useful engines produced, we
cannot but congratulate the Council upon the success which has
attended this their first attempt to give a stimulus to the exer-
tions of machinists, by holding out for competition a premium
worthy of their acceptance. Unfortunately the way in which the
premium was worded led to grievous disappointment as regarded
one exhibitor, Mr. R. Broadbent, who produced a stationary en-
gine before them, and which, it being impossible to test, had no
chance whatever in the competition, the Stewards recommend
that henceforward the wording of the premium should be altered
so as to exclude entirely stationary engines, the working of which
at an annual show it will be impossible for the Judges to inspect ;
should they not all be of a piece, which many are, to which
class competition should be restricted.

Connected with this subject, and well worthy of attention, 1s
the adoption hereafter of forms, to be filled up by the machinists,
relative to the power at which their respective implements are
formed to work. A proposition of this description was brought
before the Council too late for adoption, or indeed even for con-
sideration, this year. The Stewards were anxious, however, to
prove how far the system was feasible, and therefore gave instruc-
tions to the Judges to earry out as far as possible the plan pro-
posed by Colonel Challoner, drawing out a tabular form for the
Judges of steam-engines and thrashing-machines, and begging the
others to keep in mind, during their inspection and trial of the
respective implements, the plan proposed for their consideration.

In the resolution formally submitted to the Council, the fol-
lowing was the information required to be given to the Judges
previously to the trial of their respective implements :—

That instructions be given to the Judges of the Northampton Meeting
to ascertain from the makers of the machines, previous to trying or
examining them (if hand-machines), the number of turns of the
handle they have calculated that it ought to make, and the power in
Ibs. weight they require to be applied; and that, in trying the
quantity of work the machine will do, no greater speed be allowed
to be given to it.

That no horse-machine be allowed to compete that is calculated for

a greater speed than 30 turns per minute, and a greater power than
24 lbs.

In machinery driven by horse-power the Judges to obtain from the
*

332 Report on the Exhibition of Lmplements.

maker the speed he has calculated the machine to be driven at,
and the power he has estimated the horses to give, and that care be
taken that no greater speed be allowed under trial.

That no horse-machine be allowed to compete that is calculated to
travel more than 25 miles per hour, or 220 feet per minute, at a
power not exceeding 168 lbs.

In machinery driven by steam, the exhibitor to give the Judges the
pressure of the steam in lbs. per circular inch, the size of the safety-
valve, the length of the lever, the proportions of the lever, and the
weight upon the lever, the number of strokes the engine is to
make, and the number of feet it travels per minute; and that on no
account shall a higher pressure be used during the trial. The Judges
to adjust the safety-valve before trial, and allow no greater speed to
be used than the speed it is calculated for.

That no engine be allowed to compete with steam above 50 lbs. per
square inch, or 40 lbs. per circular inch.

The Stewards, in the endeavour to follow out this plan as nearly
as possible, called the Judges together previously to the inspec-
tion of the implements, and read to them the following instruc-
tions, upon which they begged them as far as possible to report :—

Hand Machines.—1, The number of turns of the handle calculated
that it ought to make.

2. The power in Ibs. weight required to be applied.

Instructions.—In trying the quantity of work done, no greate
speed be given than that specified.

Horse-power.—1. The speed at which it is calculated to be driven.
2. The power that the horse has been estimated to give.

Instructions.—No greater speed to be allowed on trial than that
specified.

Steam Hngines—1. The quantity of fuel necessary to get vp the
steam.

. The quantity necessary per hour to keep it at work.
- The number of herse-power.

- The pressure of the steam in Ibs. per square inch.

- The size of the safety-valve.

- The length of the lever, the proportions of the lever, and the weight
upon the lever.

7. The number of strokes the piston is to make, and the number cf feet
it travels in a minute.

a oF P CO HD

How far the Judges were enabled to carry out this plan will
be perceived in their subsequent report. :

The following were the prizes offered by the Society :—

at the Northampton Meeting, 1847. 303

For the Plough best adapted to heavy land . . . Ten Sovereigns.
For the Plough best adapted to light land . . . Ten Sovereigns.
For the best Drill for general purposes, which shall
possess the most approved method of Distributing
Compost or other manures in a moist or dry state,
quantity being especially considered. . . . . Fifteen Sovereigns.
[Other qualities being equal, the pisterende will be given to
the Drill which may be best adapted to cover the manure
with soil before the seed is deposited. ]
For the best Turnip Drill on the flat which shall
possess the most approved method of Distributing
Compost or other manures in a moist or dry state,
quantity being especially considered . . . . Ten Sovereigns.
[Other qualities being equal, the preference will be given to
the Drill which may be best adapted to cover the manure
with soil before the seed is deposited. ]
For the best Turnip Drill on the ridge which shall
possess the most approved method of Distributing
Compost or other manures in a moist or dry state,
quantity being especially considered. . . . . Ten Sovereigns.
[Other qualities being equal, the preference will be given to
the Drill which may be best adapted to cover the manure
with soil before the seed is deposited. ]
Homitesese carer 5... % 4,4. . +. Pen Sovereigns:
For the best Chaff-cutter . . . . « Len Sovereigns.
‘For the best Machine for making Draining Tiles or
Pipes for agricultural purposes. Specimens of
the Tiles or Pipes to be shown in the yard: the
price at which they have been sold to be taken
into consideration, and proof of the working of the
Machine to be given to the satisfaction of the

Judwes 294 3 pomereh sale e Dwenty-five. Sovst
For the best Harrow . . Five Sovereigns.
For the best Drill-Presser depositing “Manure and

Sted os . ate PEI E 7 : is «9 "Ten Sovereigns:
For the best Churn’ ao ML Sere Wa gy ee Ve SOvereipnst
For the best Weighing Machine for live Cattle and

Farm Produce ‘generally siyes . Ten Sovereigns.
For the best and most economical Steaming “Appa

ratus for general purposes. . an atv at) Len Sovercions:
For the best Skim or Paring Plough sis) abt ye lve NOVverelans,
For the best Subsoil Pulverizer . . se eG ken Sovereigns:
For the best Horse Seed-Dibbler . . . . . . Fifteen Sovereigns.
Porthe best Iinseed-Crusher . . . . . . . Five Soveréigns.
For the best One-Horse Cart . . . Ten Sovereigns.
For the best Thrashing Machine applicable to Horse

or Steam-power . . . Twenty Sovs.

For the best and most ae agentoal Set of Peale ue
Instruments for Draining purposes—

1. For laying Pipes i inlay. . ., . «4 [Five Sovereigns.

334 Report on the Exhibition of Implements

2. For laying Pipes in Friable Land . . Five Sovereigns.
3. For General Draining . « « Five Sovereigns.

For the best Portable or Fixed Steam Engine, appli-

cable to Thrashing, and other Agricultural pur-

poses. . Fifty Sovereigns.
For the most approved Model of a Permanent Rick-

yard, regard being had to economy, durability,

and protection from vermin. Given by the Pre-

SUACIUG ire ella. : - « Jwenty-five Sovs.
For the best Drain- Plough Eos cut out at one, io or

three cuts, to the oreatest depth, with not more

than four horses, so as to prepare a drain so far

for deeper cutting Cees 101. added °Yy Mr.

S1ANCY)\- Wass . .« Twenty-five Sovs.
For the best Plough to fill. in the soil cast. out of

drains, with not more than 4 horses (two and two

abreast), and not to exceed 5/. in cost. Given by

IMG SAUCE iain ne: F . . Ten Sovereigns.
For the best Corn- dressing Machine . . . . . Fifteen Sovs.
For the set of Harness best adapted for Agricultural

purposes . . 4k Jue teemiy ec eet . Five Sovereigns.
For the best Gorse- Bruiser tes sicrey ontheml Sovereigns.
For the best Implement for distributing pulverized

Manures broad-cast . . . .« Ten Sovereigns.

For the best Grinding-mill for breaking ‘Agricultural

Produce into finemeal. . . . . . . « « Fifteen Sovs.
Miscellaneous Awards. . . . . « |», » Lengsoverciens.
For the invention of any new Implement, such sum

as the Council may think proper to award.

The Judges selected by the Council were—
John Morton, “Whitfield, Thornbury. T. P. Outhwaite, Bainesse, Catterick.

Peter Love, Naseby, Welford. Isaac Everett, Caple, Ipsw ich.
Weston Tuxford, Boston. William Iesseltine, Worlaby, Barton.
Henry Taylor, Dilham, Norfolk. Thos. Crisp, Gedgrave, Woodbridge.

But on the Stewards arriving at Northampton on the Thurs-
day preceding the show, Mr. ‘Tuxford, of Boston, was objected
to as being himself an implement-maker, and having a machine
in the yard for exhibition made by himself, but exhibited by an-
other implement-maker. The Stewards, haying taken the objection
into consideration, determined not to employ Mr. Tuxford as a
Judge, and selected Mr. Shaw, of Far Cotton, near Northamp-
ton, to act in his place. The division of work assigned to the

Judges was as follows :—

To Mieseven Vinriontand Tove) 0): [plein re and Barn-machinery of
every kind.

To Messrs. Outhwaite and Hesseltine . Ploughs and general field-implements.

Dressing-machines, ‘Tile-machines,

To Messrs. Everett and Taylor . Drills, Carts, Steaming-machines,
and Dibblers.

To Messrs. Crisp and Shaw . .~ .« Miscellaneous.

at the Northampton Meeting, 1847. 335

The following were the awards :—

Kind of Implement. Prize. Nevot Ne: of Name of Exhibitor,
£.

For the best Plough for heavy land . . 10 56 3 | Mr. Busby.
For the best Plough for light land ° 10 48 2 | Mr. Howard.
For the best Drill for general purposes. 15 99 2 | Messrs. Garrett.
For the best Turnip Drill on the flat... 10 99 5 | Messrs. Garrett.
For the best Turnip Drill on the ridge. 10 99 6 | Messrs. Garrett.
Por the bestScarifier » « .« e« « -« 10 104 17 eye Sharman & Co,
For the best Chaff-cutter . . Nee 10 58 5 r, Cornes.
For the best Pipe and Tile Machine pee | 95 82 26 eae Williams, & Taylor.
Horithembest Harrows <6 «es. |e 5 82 1 | Sanders, Williams, & Taylor.
For the best Drill-Presser .« . . «© «© 10 46 10 | Mr. Hornsby.
For the best Churn . . Chesy elas 5) 33 4 | Mr. R. Robinson.
For the best Weighing Machine eins ett ts 10 115 3 | Mr. James.
For the best Steaming Apparatus. . . 10 33 1 | Mr. Robinson.
For the best Skim or “Paring Plough... 3 if 5 | Mr. G. Kilby.
For the best Subsoil Pulverizer . . . 10 60) 1 | John Read.
For the best Horse Seed-Dibbler « . . 15 ] 1 | Mr. Newberry.
For the best Linseed-Crusher. . . . 5 114 12 | Mr, Ferrabee.
For the best One-Horse Cart . 2. . . 10 105 22 | Mr. Stratton.
For the best Thrashing-Machine . . 20 99 15 | Messrs. Garrett.
For the best Draining. Tools for clay isd 4) 59 4 | Mr. Clayton.
For the best Draining Tools for friable land 5 75 76 Messrs. Mapplebeck & Lowe.
For the best Draining Tools for general

draining . . Ser eka en tie 5 75 78 | Messrs, Mapplebeck & Lowe,
For the best Steam- Engine ° sone 50 40 1 | Mr. Cambridge.
For the best Model of Rick-Yard . ahi ie 25 oe -. | Withheld.
For the best Drain-Plough aah eBid ts 95 ne oe Withheld,
For the best Plough to fill im drains . , 10 So -- | Withheld.
For the best Corn-dressing Machine . . 15 23 1 | Mr. Cooch.
For the best Set of Harness . . « . 5 =6 ee | Withheld.
For the best Gorse-Bruiser . . teal) o. «> | Withheld.
For the best Broad-cast Manure Meiipator 10 43 53 | Mr. Croskill. *
For the best Grinding-Mill . . . . 15 oe -. | Withheld.

MISCELLANEOUS.
’ Kind of Implement. Award. wens geouet Name of Exhibitor.

For the best Clover-Seed and Rye-Grass {| Silver os ae

Barrow . » Se aed ees : ° 4 Medal. \52 HO) 4) tebe Staavia
For the best Fire-Engine ANGCe ele! 20 eran A 60 4 | Mr. Read.
For the best Horse Drag Rake . © . 102 1 | Mr. Grant.
For the best Gardener’s Turnip-cutter . at 75 59 | Messrs. Mapplebeck & Lowe.
For the best Oil-Cake Breaker . « . 6 108 19 | Messrs, Wedlake & Thompson.
For the second-best ditto . . . « .« ae 77 4 | Mr. Nicholson.
For the best Horse-Hoe «6 « . « 5 99 12 | Messrs. Garrett.

On the different classes referred to their respective opinions
the Judges have submitted the following observations :—

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Report on the Exhibition of Implements

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“SUNIONGAVALS ATEVLYOd

at the Northampton Meeting, 1847. O37

The steam-engine exhibited by Mr. Cambridge on this occa-
sion materially differed in construction from those he has before
shown, for whereas, in the engine which was at Newcastle, the
cylinder and valve-box stood inside the boiler, and the crank
revolved in the top of the cylinder, presenting the greatest
difficulties in getting at the working parts in case of want of
oiling or repairs, the one now exhibited had all these objec-
tions removed, as the working parts are placed outside the boiler,
a greater length is given to the connecting-rod, and the working
parts are kept cool. The steam-pipes of this engine are fixed
above the boiler, which has the effect of preventing any accumula-
tion of water in the valve-box or cylinder. The fly-wheel is 15
inches in diameter larger, and the extra weight of it 2 cwt., caus-
ing the engine to maintain a more regular motion. It is altogether
more simple, and is made much stronger in all its parts, being
capable of working, if necessary, up to 6-horse power.

The portable steam-engine, applicable to thrashing or other
agricultural purposes (4-horse power); improved and manufac-
tured by Mr. Ogg.—The above has a locomotive tubular boiler,
with fire-box surrounded with water, and constructed to consume
the smallest quantity of fuel; a dome at firebox-end of boiler
for steam chamber, and ash-pan containing condensed water
from cylinders, for cinders to drop into; safety-valve fixed on
top of dome, and the pressure adjusted by the patent spring
balance ; whistle, for signal, when required; two steam cylin-
ders, supported by brackets upon frame at each side of boiler
in a horizontal position, with direct-action, expansive valves,
and exhausting into a cistern, through which the cold water
from the forcing pump is conveyed in a coil of small pipes
before it enters the boiler. By this arrangement the water
becomes heated, and thus prevents that condensation of steam,
and consequent waste of fuel, which would result from the injec-
tion of cold water. The pump worked by the engine, to supply
the boiler with water, is so constructed that it may be disconnected
from the engine, and used at anytime by hand-power, at a longer
stroke, to fill the boiler (when empty) with cold water. ‘The
tubes from the fire-box communicate with a smoke-box, placed at
end of boiler, upon which the chimney is fixed. At the top of
the chimney there is an apparatus which is called a spark-catcher,
the importance and advantage of which is, that it is perfectly im-
possible for sparks or small cinders to pass through it, even
though the draught through the fire and tubes might occa-
sionally be powerful enough to bring them into the chimney ; at
the same time the draught necessary for the effectual operation of
the engine is not in any degree diminished. The steam-engine
and boiler are fixed upon a strong oak carriage, with four wheels

338 Report on the Exhibition of Implements

(hind wheels 3 ft. 4in. diameter, the fore wheels 3 ft. diameter).
The weight of the whole, including carriage and wheels, is about
24 tons; the consumption of fuel per day, at full power, from
4 to 5cwt. The power of the engine may be used from either
side, either right or left, as required; and the connecting or
driving shaft attached in a direct line with the thrashing-machine,
thus simplifying the machinery, and making the best use of the
power. Price 2001.

A portable steam-engine, 5-horse power; invented and manu-
factured by Messrs. Barrett and Ashton. It is nominally of
5-horse power, but capable, from the capacity of the boiler and
cylinder, of working up to a much higher power. An agri-
cultural steam-engine being much exposed to the weather, and
consequently the frictionable parts lable to corrosion, brass is
introduced as far as necessary (being a non-corroding sub-
stance); this will be found of great service in preserving the
full power of the engine, and also its durability. The cylinder
is furnished with a brass metallic piston, insuring its being at
all times ready for immediate use; the rod of the piston is
cased with brass; and the force- -pump, being susceptible of
getting out of repair through corrosion, by hot and cold water
continually passing through it, is also made of brass entirely,
instead of iron. In this steam- -engine the principle of direct
action is carried out. The piston-rod communicates immediately
to a connecting link formed like a bow: to the upper part of
it the connecting-rod is suspended, so that when the engine is at
work the crank performs its revolutions in this bow. The object
of this contrivance is to bring the working parts of the engine
under the entire control of the person who attends it, and yet to
keep them at a convenient distance from the ground, so as not
to endanger them when travelling on bad roads. The engine
is capable of giving out from 60 to 300 revolutions per minute ;
and one uniform speed can be maintained throughout by means
of a governor. In thrashing, the variation of the feed to the
machine gives the engine a constant irregular motion, which
is not only injurious to the engine itself, but also to the work-
ing of the machine; but the governor or regulator always pre-
serves the same uniform velocity that is fixed upon: if the
machine be fed lightly, or if some other machine (which may
be working with the thrashing-machine) is disconnected or
stopped, the governor instantly shuts off a proper portion of
steam from the cylinder, and the reverse if a greater amount
of power is required from the engine. To prevent the bright
part of the engine being exposed so much to the weather, the
working parts of the entire engine are enclosed in a wooden
box, which can be locked up and made secure from the interfer-

at the Northampton Meeting, 1847. 339

ence of any inexperienced person when it is not at work. In the
boiler of this steam-engine the makers have, in designing a plan
for economizing fuel, not neglected the important point of pre-
venting danger “of fire from sparks ; but with the length of flue,
the means of subduing the draught, with the addition of a smoke-
box, this danger to hie stack-yard is obviated. The flues are
return and turn-over flues, and of sufficient capacity to be readily
cleaned out. At the end of the first row of flues is fixed the
smoke-box: the use of this is to prevent and receive any sparks
arising from the fire (as in the case of railway engines). The
boiler has all the advantages of the small tubular boiler, without
the danger and complexity, as sufficient steam-generating surface is
obtained without the liability of priming. This is of importance,
especially in rural districts, where the coal is often bad, and the
water strongly impregnated with earthy and saline matter. Every
part of the boiler is well strengthened by stays, and before leaving
the manufactory is tested at full double its working pressure. In
this boiler fuel is saved, by the water being heated hefore enter-
ing the boiler, as the waste steam is injected by the force-pump
through a vessel from where the supply of water is taken. To
the boiler is also attached a steam-whistle in connection with the
water-gauge, so that if the water by any means gets low the action
of the gauge is to open the cock of the whistle, and thus give
instant notice to the person in attendance. Price 189/.

Mr. Hornsby’s was a six-horse power portable steam-engine,
with locomotive boiler, 36 tubes in the horizontal part, fire-box,
and smoke-box complete; the engine simple in consiruction, with
governor to regulate the speed, very easy to manage by a farm-
labourer ; calculated for driving thrashing-machines, chaff-cutters,
or any other machinery used in farm purposes. Price 2454.

A five-horse power portabie steam-engine, with shafts, wheels,
&ec., complete; invented by Edward Bloxsom, of Gillmorton,
and manufactured by the exhibitor.—This engine is constructed
with the greatest regard to economy in its working. The prin-
cipal novelty is its capability of being worked at any required
power, from about one horse to five. The working parts are
placed under the boiler instead of on the top or side, which has
a two-fold advantage; for the works being nearer the ground,
the engine works steadier; and being more enclosed, are not so
hable to accident. Another important improvement is its capa-
bility of being worked either way. There is no danger to be
apprehended from the fire, as the fire-box is enclosed with the
cold-water tank, which answers the double purpose of supplying
the boiler and cooling the cinders, sparks, &c., and the chimney
is fitted with a dome which prevents the sparks from flying out at
the top. ‘The working parts are fitted with the greatest regard to

340 Report on the Exhibition of Implements

durability, with superior brass pistons, valves, tubes, &c., so that
it is not lable to corrode, and is ready for immediate use after
standing any length of time. Price 160J.

A portable steam-engine, of six-horse power, on wheels, with
shafts, &c., complete, for travelling; invented, improved, and
manufactured by Messrs. Ryland and Dean. This engine has
two working cylinders, fitted with superior metallic pistons, and
is so simple as to be easily managed by any intelligent farm-
labourer. It is manufactured and constructed with every regard
to economy of fuel, durability, and efficacy. Price 3001.

A portable steam thrashing-machine; invented by Messrs.
Tuxford and Sons, of Boston, Lincolnshire, and manufactured
by them for Thomas Johnson, of Leicester. The engine is
of six-horse power, simple and strong in its construction, and
not liable to get out of order. The boiler is small, and well
adapted for generating steam quickly, being amply sufficient
for this sized engine. It is furnished with wrought-iron welded
tubes upon the locomotive principle. The door at the back of
the smoke-box, and to which the force-pump is fixed, is double;
thus forming a heating chamber for the water, and security
from fire through the door becoming overheated. The chimney
is furnished with a spark-trap, so constructed that the sparks
are turned downwards into the trap, while the smoke, from
its buoyancy, rises. It is also furnished with an ash-pan, well
adapted to prevent accidents from fire: the ash-pan contains
about three inches of water, so that the ashes falling through the
bars, fall direct into the water, and are thus slaked. The front
of the ash-pan is furnished with a quadrant-regulator, which closes
up securely when the men leave off for their meals; which isa
saving of fuel, and at night a great security. ‘The thrashing part
is made a great width, to thrash the straw sideways, in order for
its being battened: this gives an appearance of bulk to the
machine that it otherwise would not possess. ‘The thrashing
part is furnished with rollers; so essential to clean thrashing.
These are frequently dispensed with, to enable the engine to do
more work, but at a sacrifice of good thrashing. It 1s capable of
thrashing from 50 to 100 quarters per day, depending upon the
length of the straw, &c., with a consumption of about 8 ewt. of
coals. Price 245/,

By a reference to the time each of the engines worked, it will
be perceived that Messrs. Cambridge’s and Ryland and Dean’s
alone continued in action for the whole space of time allotted for
the trial by the Judges. ‘This may in a great measure be ac-
counted for by the hurry in which some of the engines were got
up preparatory to the exhibition, and by the new straps which
several of the exhibitors used. Every engine worked its own

at the Northampton Meeting, 1847. 341

thrashing-machine, a circumstance most favourable to the level
working of both machines: nevertheless the writer cannot but
consider that all the machines were driven too rapidly; and, indeed,
an accident occurred to Cambridge’s thrashing-machine at the
conclusion of the ten minutes, which providentially was not
attended with loss of life, but which demonstrates the danger of
driving a machine too rapidly, as the material of which the drum
was composed in all probability not being strong enough to with-
stand the centrifugal tendency, the whole of the cylinder, torn
to pieces, was driven out of the machine, and in its transit
through the air knocked off the cap of the person who was feed-
ing the machine.

Ploughs.—No fault whatever could be found, by individuals
sincerely desirous of testing the value of these implements, both in
light and heavy ground, with the choice which was made of Mr.
Pickering’s farm at Moulton Park, and the fields of Messrs.
Seaby and Green adjoining the Rail Ground: the former land
being heavy clay, the latter good convertible soil, well adapted
for the trial of all the light implements. Owing to the dry wea-
ther which prevailed, and the consequent stiffness of the clay,
very many of the ploughs which were selected for the private
trial were broken, and, of 24 ploughs originally tested, but 10
were put aside for the public trial in the heavy land. The fol-
lowing is the report of the Judges relative to the trial of Ploughs
at Moulton Park :—

«The method adopted for trying these implements was to start
them at equal distances from each other. Ten or twelve of these
made very indifferent work, while that of the remainder was very
satisfactory, considering the dry and baked state of the land. It
was clear from the commencement that the old Y. L. plough in-
vented by Messrs. Ransome, with an improved mould-board,
myvented by the exhibitor, Mr. Busby, performed its work in a
superior manner. Although the land was so tenacious, this
plough worked more than eight inches deep, and turned the fur-
row-slice in good form; the land-side was also very cleanly cut,
and very level. The Judges had no difficulty in coming to a
decision in favour of this plough. The next best were those made
by Howard and Sons, and Sanders and Williams, and Samuel
Taylor, of Bedford.”

The prize plough of Mr. Busby is thus described in the cata-
logue :—*« A two-wheeled plough, invented, improved (with Ran-
som’s truss-beam), and manufactured by the exhibitor for strong
land. This implement is capable of working 12 inches deep
when required ; and with a lighter mould-board will not be found
too heavy to be used as a two-horse plough. Prize 52.”

The plough made by Messrs. Howard and Sons was the same
VOL, VIII. 2A

342 Report on the Exhibition of Implements

as that exhibited at Newcastle, which took the two 10/. prizes last
year, having been found the best both in light and heavy land; it
is made entirely of iron, principally wrought; is sufficiently strong
for 4 horses, as well as easy of draught in general work for a
pair ; it can be worked either with or without wheels, or with one,
as required, It has a broad share, fitting it for paring turf and
stubbles; also a share for subsoiling, and another of a triangular
form for ploughing between the rows of beans or root-crops. It
may be had with a furrow-turner for extra deep ploughing; or
with malleable iron or steel furrow-turners. Price 4/. 16s. ; if
fitted with skim coulter, 6s. extra.

Messrs. Sanders and Williams’ plough was a patent wrought-
iron plough, with two wheels, W.S., fitted as a swing or wheel
plough for two, three, or four horses. The inventors have made
several improvements in this plough. The mouldboard or furrow-
turner is entirely new, the bearings of which have an equal pres-
sure from point of share to heel of breast, which gives lightness"
of draught, and also causes the furrow-slice to be turned over
without breaking. Price 47. 15s. With steel breast 14s. extra ;
with skim coulter 5s. extra.

For the trial of ploughs in light land there were 22 selected ;
the work done by all except one or two was very excellent, so
that the Judges were obliged to examine the work scrupulously for
the purpose of coming to a correct decision; and ultimately gave
the preference to the plough made by Messrs. Howard and Son,
of Bedford. The Judges were quite satisfied with the numerous
and excellent qualities of this plough, which did great credit to its
makers. ‘T'he next best were those made by Mr. John Adams,
of Far Colton, near Northampton, and Mr. Busby, Newton-le-
Willows, Yorkshire.

The prize plough is thus described in Mr. Howard’s cata-
logue :—A patent iron plough, with two wheels, marked S. A.
(No. 2, maker’s list), invented and manufactured by the exhi-
bitor. On the same principle as No. 1, before described under
the head of heavy ploughs, but with a new method of fixing the
wheels, by which means the width of the furrow-wheel may be
altered more readily than upon the old plan. It is also superior
to the original method for deep ploughing, and upon dirty land,
where the soil accumulates upon the old sliding axle. Price 5J.;
if fitted with skim coulter, 6s. extra.

Mr. John Adams’s is an iron plough with wrought frame, ca-
pable of turning a furrow from 3 to 12 inches deep with
ease. It has also a lever-bar, so that the share may be put in and
out of the ground with ease and firmness ; the share being thus
capable of being worn up to the last bit, instead of being, as
is usually the case, rejected when half worn. Price 5. 5s.

at the Northampton Meeting, 1847. 343

Mr. Busby’s was a two-wheeled plough, invented, improved,
and manufactured by himself, adapted for all descriptions of soil,
with a moveable nose-piece, upon which the shares are placed,
which can be set more or less to land, with more or less pitch:
this has been found an advantage where cast-iron shares are used,
for, as they wear down, the plough will still retain the same hold
or inclination towards the soil.

Scarifiers.—In the construction of these implements consider-
able improvement has taken place. Seventeen were selected for
trial; and as the prize was specifically offered for the best scari-
fier, the Judges did not think it necessary to put these implements
to any other test than that of scarifying: they are, however, of
opinion that henceforward the word grubber should be combined
with scarifier in the specification for the future prizes, as scari-
fying appears to be comparatively unimportant when compared
with the subworking of the soil.* The state of the ground was
very much against the operation of scarifying, being so exceed-
ingly hard that very few of the implements would work the depth
required by the Judges, some going too deep, others not entering
the ground at all.

An implement invented by Arthur Biddell, and manufactured
by Ransomes and May, working with seven tines, was considered
by the Judges to make the best work. It was kept the depth
required, and without any visible variation during the time it was
under their inspection.

The next best was the Uley cultivator, manufactured and ex-
hibited by Mr. Grant, of Stamford. The remainder, though well
calculated for grubbing, were inferior to the above in scarifying.

The patent scarifier to which the prize was assigned covered
-4 feet 8 inches; from its improved construction the tines can be
shifted to different distances apart, and thus be readily adapted to
various modes of tillage; it is made principally of wrought iron.
Price 18/. 18s. ; delivered in London, 197. 15s.

The implement exhibited by Mr. Grant was the wrought-iron
five-tined Uley cultivator. Price 112. 11s.

Harrows.—The prize was awarded to Sanders, Williams, and
Taylor, of Bedford. There was nothing new amongst these im-
plements, nor has the slightest improvement been effected for the
last four years. They do their work as seed-harrows for finishing
after the drill very well; but the Judges consider the tines work
too near to each other to move the ground deep enough for the

* The Stewards perfectly agree in the justness of this last observation ;
but, instead of hereafter combining the word ‘ grubber’ with ‘ scarifier,’
would recommend the Council to offer a distinct prize for cultivators or
grubbers, to which the greater part of the money allotted to this class of
implements should be given.
2a2

aol

O44 Report on the Exhibition of Implements

reception of the seed: they would therefore suggest to the Coun-
cil to offer one prize at the next meeting for the best harrow for
preparing the land for the drill, and another for that calculated
most effectually to cover the seed after the drill. By such altera-
tions in the premiums some improvement in all probability will
be effected, so as to enable those implements to break up the
land considerably deeper with the same labour to the horses as at
present.

Messrs. Sanders, Williams, and Taylor’s harrows were a set of
patent four-beam diagonal iron ones, invented by Mr. Samuel
Taylor, of Cotton End, improved and manufactured by the exhi-
bitors. ‘These harrows obtained a prize of 5/. at the Derby meet-
ing, 1843; also at the Southampton meeting, 1844, and at Shrews-
bury, 1845. Their form is diagonal, and the set consists of three,
and are drawn by two horses; the teeth are so constructed that
each cuts a separate track. ‘The draught being from the centre
gives them an advantage over any other mode, and is so arranged
that, if one horse moves more forward than the other, the harrow
is not put out of its working lines by it. Prize 42. 15s. Iron
draught-bar, per set, 10s. extra.

The best Skim or Paring Plough.—This prize was awarded to
an implement which the Judges consider will be found very
valuable ; invented by Mr. Thomas Glover, of Thrussington ; im-
proved and manufactured by Thomas Johnson, of Leicester.
It was placed in competition with two others over a piece of un-
even ground, in one place faliing 10 inches, and again rising 2
feet, in a distance not exceeding 5 feet in length. ‘I‘he other
ploughs on entering the hollow part came to the surface, whilst
Johnson’s preserved the same depth through the hollow as over the
ridge. ‘The Judges were of opinion that this implement is cal-
culated to supersede the hand-spade in paring old grass-land.
The quantity of land a man and pair of horses can get over in a
day without being at all distressed they consider may be about
two acres, where no material obstructions occur ; it is also adapted
to pare stubbles, and is calculated to plough a common furrow
when required. Price 5/. 10s.

Subsoil Pulverizer.—The prize was again awarded to an im-
plement invented and manufactured by the late Mr. J. Read, of
Regent Circus, London. Ten implements were selected for trial.
The ground was exactly in that state in which it is generally re-
commended that a subsoil-plough should be used. Most of these
ploughs worked well, but were rather difficult to hold. The
Judges were glad to observe so much improvement in this class
of implements, which are daily coming into more general use, and
will as their value becomes better known. ‘The second best was
made by Mr. James Comins, Southmolton, Devon.

at the Northampton Meeting, 1847. 345

The price of Mr. John Read’s subsoil pulverizer is 5/. 5s., and
it obtained the prize of I10/. at Southampton, Shrewsbury, and
Newcastle-upon-Tyne. It works immediately after the common
plough, and is of easy draught.

Mr. James Comins’s subsoil pulverizer is made very light,
combined with great strength, and is light in draught. It will
pulverize from 1 to 13 inches in depth below the common furrow.
The pulverizers can be worked one below the other, or all three
can be worked at one depth: this is an advantage, as it will pul-
verize the furrow on the top very much, and will work with the
mould-share under, and the Jand will be laid open much longer
by working the hind or mould pulverizer 4 or 6 inches below the
two front pulverizers. This pulverizer can be worked with two,
three, or four horses, according to the depth or roughness of the
land. Price 32. 10s.

Drain Ploughs.*—Of this description of implement exhibited,
the Judges selected 4 for trial; but as the land was in a dry
crumbling state, there was no possibility of testing their merits.
The Judges would recommend to the Society, should they offer a
prize at future meetings for this implement, to select a more
proper season for the trial of them: the months of November or
December, when the land has absorbed a great quantity of mois-
ture, is the best time for trying them; and the report could be
published in time for the information of persons desirous of using
them during the winter and spring months, when they are worked
to the greatest advantage. Under the circumstances this prize
was withheld.

Ploughs for filling in Drains.—The quantity of the soil re-
moved to the surface by the drain-ploughs was so small, that the
Judges thought it unnecessary to try these implements ; they there-
fore recommended them to be kept for a deferred trial, when they
may be enabled to test them more efficiently.

Machines for Haymaking—Al\though no prize was offered for
this description of implement, the Judges considered Messrs.
Smith and Co.’s, of Stamford, the most complete machine; it is
raised and lowered to the ground as the crop may require by
means of a screw, which is very simply adjusted, and may be
altered most expeditiously.

Horse Hoes.—No prize offered; but the Judges awarded a
silver medal to the Messrs. Garrett for their patent horse-hoe, one
of the most valuable implements used in agriculture. Price 18Z.;
a smaller description, 167. This implement was awarded prizes

* “Tvery much regret that the Society has been induced to offer rewards
for these implements, which never can be used economically in draining.
The prize will only lead to expense on the part of the manufacturers, and
disappointment to all—J. Parxss.’

346 Report on the Exhibition of Implements

at four different meetings of the Royal English Agricultural So-
ciety. It is formed for the purpose of hoeing between the crops
of wheat, barley, turnips, or mangold-wurzel, not drilled less than
7 or 8 inches apart; and at the proper season will perform its
work in a more effectual manner and at less expense than can be
done by hand. 7

Clod Crushers.—Amongst these implements there was nothing
new ; it was, therefore, considered unnecessary to take Mr. Cros-
kill’s crusher from the yard, as its merits are everywhere so well
known and appreciated.

Drills for general purposes.—These implements were this year
of a very extraordinary description, which entitle the makers to no
small commendation; those of Mr. Hornsby were of superior
workmanship, and were the only ones in the least approaching the
prize-drills of Garrett. In the private trials the manure was of a
coarser description than that used at the public exhibition, which
accounts for the little difference then observed by the Stewards in
the working of the drills. In Garrett’s drill there is an internal
arrangement so constructed as not to require the careful prepara-
tion of the manure, as it actually tears the manure in pieces
before leaving the box, rendering it almost impossible for it to
choke. Such is the account given by the Judges ; but the writer
of this, who has been accustomed for three or four years to inspect
the filling of the manure-boxes before trial (a most essential office
in a Steward—as, in the enthusiasm caused by the anticipation of
the trial, the machinist’s nen, unless closely observed, will de-
ceive the most wary in managing to introduce into their manure-
boxes that particular description of manure, and no other, which
their drill is most competent to deliver), happened at this particu-
lar moment to be absent; and he was informed that Garrett’s drill
was already filled when one of his brother Stewards arrived with,
of course nominally, the coarser description of manure, with which
Hornsby’s drill, under the eye of the Steward, was charged.
The difference of the delivery at the private trial was certainly
extraordinary; Garrett’s drill performing its delivery, and that
well, in a much shorter time than Hornsby’s. The private trial,
however, was not, from the circumstances detailed, satisfactory to
the Stewards, and occasioned some little murmuring amongst the
implement-makers; the Stewards, therefore, determined to give
these two drills a perfectly fair trial under their particular inspec-
tion on the day appointed for the public exhibition. They were
tried, then, both with a fine and a coarser description of compost,
the latter mixed under the Stewards’ direction, whilst each party
exhibiting inspected the operation of the other. Precisely the
same weight and the same description of manure was placed in
each manure-box; and the result of the trial was, in the opinion

_at the Northampton Meeting, 1847. 347

of the Stewards, so nearly even, as would fully have justified the
Judges in awarding the prize either to Mr, Garrett or to Mr.
Hornsby,

Messrs. Garrett and Son were awarded prizes for the same de-
scription of drill at Liverpool, Derby, and Southampton. The
most recent improvement in its construction consists of the appli-
cation of Stratton’s patent hollow wrought-iron for the cells or
side-frame of the drill instead of cast iron, whereby much
greater strength is obtained without occupying so much space,
whilst it allows the wheels to come nearer the drill-box : in addi-
tion to which a dial-plate is affixed with a regulating screw, by
means of which the gear-wheels can be more easily regulated for
the delivery of grain. It is fitted with double-actioned levers for
depositing corn and manure, either together or through separate
conductors, burying the manure at any required depth below the
surface, and placing as much soil above it as necessary before the
seed is deposited. Price 46/. 12s. 6d.

Mr. Hornsby’s drill has received 4 prizes from the Society.
It is fitted as a 10-coulter seed and manure drill, and 11-coulter
corn and seed drill. The alterations made in this machine since
last year, when it obtained the premium, are—that the manure
barrel and stirrer turn either way, whilst the shape of the manure-
box is altered and improved. Price 53/.; if fitted with fore-
carriage and an improved steerage, 4/. 10s. ane

Drill-presser. —Mr. Hornsby’s drill-presser is a good imple-
ment, and fully entitled him to the prize: it has received the
Society's premiums twice before; and is a two-row drill-presser,
with coulters to conduct the seed and manure to the ground,
The same alterations have been made in the manure-box since its
last exhibition as that described in the drill for general purposes.
Price 167. 10s.

Turnip Drill on the Flat.—The prize was awarded to the
Messrs. Garrett for a four-row lever-drill for turnips or mangold-
wurzel. ‘The drill had before received a Society’s prize at Cam-
bridge. ‘This drill is also adapted for drilling beans, peas, and
carrots with manure at any intervals apart, which is an addition to
the implement exhibited last year. ‘The same additions as re-
gards the cill and regulating screw have been made as those de-
scribed in the general-purpose drill manufactured by the same
exhibitors. Price 26/. 10s.

Lurnip Drill on the Ridge-—Messrs. Garrett likewise obtained
this prize for a patent two-rowed lever-drill of the same descrip-
tion as that which obtained the prize in 1842, with the alterations
as before described in the drills for general purposes and that on
thewfat.. Price, 23/..5s.

The Judges remark that Mr. Hornsby’s two-ridge turnip- drill

348 fieport on the Exhibition of Implements

was a very complete one ; but that from some mishap the following
roller would not work at the trial, which without doubt in that
instance lost him the prize. The implement was the same as
that which received the deferred premium at Pusey. Price 241.

The Judges have to report very highly of Garrett’s Registered
Kent Drill, which was tried with coarser manure than either of
the others, and proved itself far superior in drilling that kind of
manure ; it was not, however, calculated to drill so small a quan-
tity as would be required of the fine kinds of artificial manure,
such as guano, rape-cake, bone-dust, &c., otherwise it would have
been entitled to the prize. ‘The Judges regretted that no award
could be made to this drill. Price 36/. 15s.

Broadcast Manure Drill.—Mr. Croskill gained this prize for his
portable manure-drill, 6 feet wide; much improved since it was
exhibited and gained a prize at Bristol, by the substitution of an
iron instead of a wooden roller, which distributes more equally,
and is not liable to shrink. Jt will contain 8 bushels of manure,
and distributes quantity in proportion to the speed of the horse.
Price, delivered in Hull, 102. 10s.

The Judges remark that for pulverized manures this drill
appears unequalled ; but that one exhibited by Mr. H. Smith, of
Stamford, has novelty, and when brought into working order will
be an implement for distributing rough manure far preferable to
the more complicated manure-drills.

Horse Seed-Dibbler.—Prize awarded to Mr. Newberry for his
7-rowed dibbling-machine; the same as exhibited last year, only
improved in the mode of opening the dibbler. The Judges re-
mark that, perfect as this machine is, the variation of the seeds
deposited in each hole was from | to 8. Price 601.

Corn-dressing Machines. —'The dressing-machines taken for
trial were seven ; the corn used of the roughest description. The
prize was awarded to Mr. Cooch; but Wheatley’s machine is
very good, and would have been, perhaps, more than a match
for Cooch’s, but for a defect in the hopper. The following were
the results of the trial :—

Price.

minutes. bls. pks. ESE

Caborn i: om. 3 3 nearly, Tail large’ €° & "ete dO)
Groundsell 3 2 Of Small it ecetenweteren eee O
Nicholson » 3 2 O04 Very large . 6: Swe DET)
Wheatley 3 ah 74 Very good indeed . . 14 10
Hornsby; -2) se, 20 0 0 A good machine, but no trial 13 0
Cooch ~¢'.. 3 7 1 g¢Riddled) Very little tail . . 18 0
Choyce* v6) d 2) 40 | first ba bad machine. . 9 O

Since Mr. Cooch’s machine was exhibited at Shrewsbury, the
following alterations have been made. The blast has been in-

No chance.

at the Northampton Meeting, 1847. 349

creased } by altering and opening the throat by the removal of
obstructions from the passage. A slide has been placed above
the aperture which admits air to the fan, which can be let down,
thus reducing the blast for the purpose of dressing light grain
one-fourth. The shape of the inclined feeding-board of the
hopper has been altered, so as to deliver the corn immediately
over the roller; the back part of the hopper, which was formerly
more oblique, is now formed with a canting incline; the sides of
the hopper are now perpendicularly flush; the motion working
the riddle has been altered from a crank to a pair of mitre pinions,
producing the same motion with four fewer bearings. Price 16/.

Steaming Apparatus.— Prize awarded to Mr. Robinson as the
most economical and useful of the three tried; in the cookery of
linseed and linseed-compound it will be found of essential ser-
vice, as in the old plan of boiling there is considerable waste
from its baking on the sides of the caldron, but in this case by
simply turning off the steam the boiling ceases. The improve-
ment made upon that which was exhibited and gained a prize of
ol. at Newcastle last year consists in the water-fountain being
placed above the boiler and surrounding the flue for heating the
supply of water, by which means the steam is kept continuously
up, the water being supplied to the fountain by pails. The
fireplace has likewise been enlarged for the purpose of using
wood and turf as well as coal. Price 9/. 10s.

One-Horse Cart.—Prize to Mr. Stratton. The Judges state
that this was a sore trial, for, although Howard’s is undeniably
the best cart on the ground, it cannot be called a one-horse cart ;
and consequently they came to the opinion that Mr. Stratton’s cart,
fitted with his liquid-manure cistern, was the best and most gene-
rally useful cart under this head. Mr. Stratton’s harvest-cart is
also particularly worthy of commendation; as are his new iron
wheels.

The one-horse cart was the same as that to which a medal was
awarded at Derby, and a prize of 5/. at Southampton, the sole
improvement being the substitution of a wrought-iron liquid-
manure cistern for the cask used at Southampton. Price of the
cart fitted only for solid manure, 17/7. 17s. ; if with cistern, 25J.

Linseed Crusher.—Six of these useful implements were tried :
the tabular form, p. 350, will show their work.

In all the above machines there is great merit; and had Mr.
Sharman’s machine been as perfect in its feeding part as in its
crushing, it would have had a good chance of the prize; but Mr.
Ferrabee’s machine, being a perfect article in all its parts, and at
the same time very expeditious, was awarded the prize.

The following is the description of the prize implement :—
A patent machine for crushing linseed, bruising oats, and splitting

390 Report on the Exhibition of Implements

beans; invented by George Parsons and Richard Clyburn, of
West Lambrook, Devon, and Uley, Gloucestershire; manufac-
tured by the exhibitor. This machine is fitted with a large and
small roller, with a series of grooves turned in each, in the form
of a V, and fitting each other. The sharp edge of the V pene-
trates the seed or grain, while the velocity of the grooves varying,
produces a grinding motion, The grooves are kept clean by
scrapers nehed to Fae frame, so ihae the work is quite uniform.

Price 127. 10s.

Maker. Stand. | Article.| Price. | Power. | Quantity. Time. How done.

<=

LAS. sel Min. Sec.
Messrs. Ransome &| 43 70 | 5 5 0/;2men|1 gallon| 2 0 | Well done.
Co.; exhibited by
Croskill.

Mr, Nicholson . 77 7 | 56 15 6 | 2men|} 1 gallon

10 | Exceedingly
| well done.
Mr, Garrett... .| 99 24 |5 50 | 2men| 1 gallon 0 Well done.

4
4
Mr, Stratton. . | 105 10 | 6100 |2men/1 gallon] 22 O | Rather mealy.
Mr. Sharman, ex- | 104 49 |138 00 |2men}1 gallon} 1 0 | Well done.

hibitor ; Messrs,
Bond, makers.

Mr, Ferrabee. . | 114 12 {12 10 0 | 2men]|1 gallon} 12 O | Beautifully
done,

Weighing Machine—Prize awarded to Mr. H. G. James for
nearly a similar implement to that which obtained prizes at the
Derby and Shrewsbury meeting: it is upon wheels and quite
portable, weighing up to 21 cwt. Price, wheels included, 201.

Model of Rick-yard.— Prize withheld.

Set of Harness.—Prize withheld.

Gorse Bruiser.—Prize withheld.

Grinding Mill.—Prize withheld.

Chaff-Cutters—Eleven chaff-cutters were selected by the
Judges fortrial. (The tabular statement received from them will
be found in the following page.)

There appeared to be a considerable improvement in the con-
struction of the boxes; and although there is merit due to most
of them, yet the Judges were of opinion that the chaff-cutter No. 5
of the stand 58, p. 66, invented by Mr. Cornes, of Barbridge,
Nantwich, Cheshire, was the best, and therefore awarded the
prize of Ten Sovereigns to him.

The prize implement may be thus described :—Achaff-cutting
machine, with three knives, invented and manufactured by the
exhibitor. This machine is similar in principle to the one which
obtained prizes at Shrewsbury and Newcastle, but larger in size;

at the Northampton Meeting, 1847. 351

Be
e AY t : Length | Time at 28 seek
Stand. | No. Maker. Power.| Price. Hat Work. Ete
icy nSs Minutes.) lbs.
8 7 | Richmond . | 1 man| 10 10 3 | 20 | Good work.
28 1 | Gillett . . | 1 man} 10 10 3 | 20 | Excellent.
42 2 | Cornes, Mar- | 2men| 7 10 3 31 | Good.
ket-Drayton,
Salop.
45 3 | Smith, of 2men| 11 0 3 | 35 | Not hard work for
Northampton. the men.
48 | 31 | Howard &Son,| 2men| §& 10 3 | 30 | Easy work for two
Bedford, los men.
54 | 23 | Barrett & Exall,) Lman| 5 10 || ¢ 3. | 12 | Easy work.
Newbury. 2
38 5 | John Cornes, | 2men| 14 0 = 3 | 40%) Easy work and ex-
Barbridge. on | cellent.
82 | 24 | Sanders and | 2men|.12 12 ~ 3 | 40 | Good work.
Williams,
Bedford.
86 12 | Smith & Co., |}2men/ 11 0 3 | 36 Ditto.
Stamford,
104 | 87 | Stanley . .|2men/ 11 11 3 Pivel Ditto.
104 | 40 | Stanley; © )1man); 4 0 \ 3 | 18 | A hard box; the
cut was of irregu-
lar length.

to be worked either by two men or machinery: breadth of cut
12 inches, depth 2% inches, and makes five different lengths of
chafi—two for horses, two for cattle, and one length of 4 inches
for litter. It is also fitted up with an additional pair of feeding-
rollers, which regulate the materials before entering the front ones
mext the cut, whereby the danger of the feeders getting their
hands entangled in the hay or straw is entirely avoided when the
machine is driven by steam or other power at a great velocity.
Price, delivered at Barbridge, 147.

Two machines for cutting straw for litter were commended
to the notice of the Council by the Judges :—

Stand.| No.| — Name. Power.

Price. | Length.| Time. | Quantity.
a £. s, | Inches. pres lbs. ¥ cs
118 |101 | 5 | Smith ] z 30 6 3 28 | Kasily worked.
147 |114] 5 | Fewlen Pvt oet0 4 3 15 Ditto.
a

Thrashing Machine.—Eight machines were selected for trial
by the Judges, and the general goodness and quality of the work
will be better estimated by the perusal of the report of the Judges
than from any lengthened eulogium of the writer: suffice it that

3o2 Report on the Exhibition of Implements

the two best upon trial ran so close to each other that the deci-
sion was postponed for a second day’s trial, when Messrs. Garrett’s
machine was declared the best under the following report :—

«The thrashing-machines submitted to our notice were Gar-
rett's and Hornsby’s. The latter, a six-horse power with bolter
barn-works, thrashed 50 sheaves in four minutes forty seconds ;
price GOl. The former, a four-horse power with bolter barn-
works, thrashed the same in three minutes fifty seconds; price
607. 10s. The grain in both cases was the same; but Garrett’s
thrashed the straw cleaner, and without breaking it in the least.
We are of opinion that both are good machines. The prize one
has a parallel movement in the concave,—a great improvement,
which would have entitled it to the prize if they stood on equal
ground; but price, time, and work are also all in favour of
Garrett’s.”

For the general working of the machines see next page.

The thrashing-machine which obtained this well-contested prize
was a four-horse power bolting thrashing-machine, invented and
manufactured by Garrett and Son. The prize of 25/. was
awarded to this machine at the Royal Agricultural Society's
Meeting at Newcastle, 1846. It thrashes every description of
grain, and is warranted not to injure the corn, or bend or bruise
the straw, so much as thrashing with the flail. It is fitted with
R. Garrett and Son’s patent cylindrical wire drum and regis-
tered iron levers or shafts. In districts where the straw is sold
this will be found a most invaluable implement. Price, as a
portable machine complete, 60/. 10s.; ditto, as a fixture complete,
532. 10s.; extra if fitted with the registered iron levers, each
lever 10s.; ditto of the thrashing part to be applied to steam or
water power, fitted with pulleys, 277. 10s.

The thrashing-machine which the Judges in their report par-
ticularly commended to the Council was Mr. Ferrabee’s, described
as a portable thrashing-machine, for two or three horses ; im-
proved and manufactured by the exhibitor. The horse-power of
this machine will admit of two or three horses being applied to
it. It is mounted on a pair of wheels, and furnished with a
liftingjack. ‘The machine is constructed with iron frame, drum,
and concave, the thrashing part being principally of wrought
iron. The regulation for different kinds of grain is effected by a
handle attached to a bar with eccentrics on it, and which always
maintain the concave and drum parallel to each other, their
proximity being shown by an index. Price 471. 10s.

Churns——Four of these implements were tested, and each
produced very good butter; it was a neck and neck race, and
the prize was awarded to Mr. R. Robinson, for a churn similar
to that for which he obtained the prize at Newcastle last year:

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304 Report on the Exhibition of Implements

the only improvement effected since being a small opening left,
which allows the heated air produced by the rotatory motion of
the blades to escape, rendering the butter firmer. Price 4.

Pipe and Tile Machines—The merits of the drain-tile ma-
chines taken for trial are perhaps pretty equal; not so their price,
varying from 305/. to 12/. 12s. Mr. Scragg’s is the most power-
ful, producing tiles and pipes at an astonishing rate: from 25,000
to 30,000 14-inch pipes might be produced by this machine (pro-
vided no stoppage took place) in ten hours; but, it bemg quite im-
possible to remove so large a quantity, or to find shed-room when
drying, we think a machine so costly, and requirmg so much
extra labour, cannot be entitled toa prize. Ainsley’s is a most
beautiful machine, but, not having any means of screening the
earth, had no clvea in the competition, The cutting apparatus
of this machine is well contrived, it being impossible to produce
tiles of unequal length. Mr. Webster, of Hornsdown, exhibited
a good machine, but, not being prepared with hands to work it,
we are unable to form any opinion now, but can speak highly in
its favour from personal observation elsewhere. ‘The prize was
awarded to Mr. Sanders’s simple, strong, and cheap machine,
which, being but a one-ended one, has a slip gear allowing the
piston to fall back instantly for recharging: it has also something
original in the lid leverage, which certainly has the effect of
removing much of the confined air.

The following is a table of the work performed, the power
used, the time in which the work was performed, and the price
of the different machines :—

NAMES. Pipes. | Inch./Tiles.| Inches. Horse. Men. Boye. Screened. Price.
nt Se
William Swain} 63 | 13 | 49 | 23 by 2 oo. |p sere le deal emenemumte: |i. (0
Thomas Scragg | 194 | 1) |108 | 24 by 3h] .. Zea First 35 0
Robt. Scrivener | 46 | 13 withdrawn sve ileal re go 0
Henry Clayton | 145 lz 21 by 33 2 | 33 First 26 0
John Franklin 55 |. He 1 1 2 | Sametime] 35 0
John Miles . 49 | 13 no tile-die 1 l First 21 0
Sanders . .- 62 | 13 | 48 | 24 by 22 1 | 1] Same time| 12 12
Welle . . | 165 | 14/99 | 22.by 28] .. | 1/2) wit || 25 0

It is difficult from this table to understand the grounds of the
Judges’ decision, for, although the precise time at which these
machines were worked is not given, yet it is apparent, whatever the
time may have been, that Scraggs, Clayton, Miles, and Weller
performed the task in less time than Swain, Franklin, or Sanders. *

* The numbers of pipes made, as given above, must not be taken as a

at the Northampton Meeting, 1847. 395

Clayton’s machine is certamly expensive in the working, but
the great desideratum in tile-making, as well as in all operations
whether agricultural or manufacturing, is to get over the work
fast and well. The description of the machines exhibited by
Scragg, Clayton, and Weller are therefore appended to this
report, particularly as Clayton now delivers the tiles horizontally
as well as vertically, which cannot be regarded but as a great
improvement. It will be seen likewise in the subjoined statement
that Messrs. Sanders and Williams, to whom the prize was ad-
judicated, do not themselves profess to work with less than one
man and two boys. ‘The followimg is their description of the
implement :—

A machine for making draining-pipes and tiles, invented, im-
proved, and manufactured by the exhibitor: the improvement
consists in enlarging the spur-wheel in diameter, which gives
additional power to the man turning it. The compartment
which receives the clay has likewise been enlarged, which em-
powers the man working the machine, from the greater quantity
of clay now contained in the box, to manufacture a larger quan-
tity of pipes or tiles in the same given time than he could have
done with the smaller box. The machine is calculated to make
6000 13-inch pipes per day with one man and two boys. Price,
with one die and one horse, 12/. 12s.

Each end ot Mr. Scrage’s machine is formed into a square
box lined with plates of iron, the lids of which open on hinges to
admit of the clay being put in, and when shut are secured by
cross bars. At the outside end of each box is a frame of cast-
iron, made to receive and hold fast the dies which give shape to

proof of the ability of the machines. Some makers were better provided
with hands than others; several worked at a desperate racing pace; while
others proceeded at a comfortable working speed. The Judges, after
giving the machines the most. careful attention, decided in favour of the
machine manufactured by Messrs. Sanders and Williams, as the quality
of the tiles was excellent, and the quantity made as great as could be
dried within a reasonable distance of the machine; and far more than could
be burned in an ordinary kiln holding 40,000, even supposing no time to
be lost in burning. Ainsley’s machines produced, perhaps, the best tiles,
but the numbers were very deficient and the labour in working great. It
will be seen that three machines produced immense quantities, but the qua-
lity was hardly equal to those produced by the prize machine ; besides which
the drying and burning processes could not be carried on at the same rate :
these machines also required greater capital to purchase and work them.
Perhaps, after all, too much importance is attached to these machines, as
the principal labour in tile and pipe making consists in digging the clay,
turning it over, watering, and carrying it to the machine ; and subsequently
conveying the tiles, &c., to the hacks or shelves; from thence, when
sufficiently dry, to the kiln to be set and burnt, and then taken out and
stacked for sale. These processes, it will be seen, can only be performed
by manual labour.—LVote by Messrs. Everett and Taylor.

396 Report on the Exhibition of Implements

the tile to be made, ‘The rack has pieces of wood at each end, »
which exactly fit the boxes containing the clay, so that as it
traverses backwards and forwards it forces before it the clay
through the dies. The rack is of such length that when one end
is close to the die-frame the other box is ready to receive its
supply of clay. The men working it are made aware when to
stop and reverse the motion by asteel spring strikmg upon a
point on the rack. The centre-part of the machine contains the
wheels, &c. which work the rack, and by which the requisite gain
of power is obtained. The frame is called the receiver, and is
made separate, for convenience of carriage and moving about; and
when the machine is used only for preparing the clay, the receiver
is laid aside. The clay is prepared and freed from stones, &c.
by being forced through a screen made of wires placed a little
distance apart. Awarded to this machine, 20/. at Shrewsbury
and 20/. at Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1845-6. Price, including
twelve sets of different-sized dies, 35/.

Mr. Clayton’s machine has the following description in the
catalogue :—A patent hand-working machine for the manufacture
of draining-pipes, draining and other kinds of tiles and bricks ;
invented, improved, and manufactured by the exhibitor. A hand-
working machine for the complete manufacture of draining-pipes
from one inch to six-inch bore, all kinds and shapes of draining-
tiles, flat tiles, and bricks. The patentee begs to observe that
this machine has undergone considerable and important improye-
ments since the Newcastle show, the chief points of which are
that it is now wholly made of iron, and constructed for working
either upon the “ vertical”’ or “ horizontal” plans, 7.e. combining
both plans in one machine (an advantage which cannot be offered
by any other manufacturer of this description of implement)—-a
combination rendering the machine applicable to the entire
manufacture of a tile and brick yard, with all the advantages of
strength, simplicity, durability, and productiveness, so desirable
ina machine of this kind. The machines are also fitted up so
as to be either ‘“ locomotive” or “stationary.” Although the
superiority and efficacy of the ‘ perforated metallic gratings”
are now so very generally known for the purpose of perfectly
freeing or separating clay from stones, roots, and other hard sub-
stances, without seignorage or royalty, the purchase of a ma-
chine includes the free use of it. Machine to work on the ver-
tical plan (without dies), price 262.

Mr. Weller’s patent drain pipe and tile machine is described
as invented by himself, and improved and manufactured by Garrett
and Son, <A prize of 5/. was awarded for this machine at New-
castle in 1846. This machine is for the purpose of making every
description of pipes and tiles used for draining, also of plain and

at the Northampton Meeting, 1847. BY i

ridge tiles for buildings, and copher-drain tiles. It is constructed
entirely of iron; and, being mounted on four wheels, may easily
be drawn from place to place, and worked in the sheds wherever
the tiles are required to be laid. The machine is made with
two cylinders vibrating on their centres, out of which the clay is
alternately forced, by means of horizontal pistons, through the
dies that are attached to them. When the cylinders are emptied,
they fall from their horizontal into an upright position, for the
convenience of filling. ‘The machine is worked by a man and
boy, with a lever purchase. Price, including two dies, with
tables and mandrills complete, 25/.

Draining Tools for Clay Land.—Prize awarded to Mr, Clay-
ton. Price: polished blades, 2/.; black blades, 17. 15s.

Draining Tools for Friable Land.—Prize given to Messrs.
Mapplebeck and Lowe. Price, for whole set, 35s. 6d.

Draining Tools for general Draining.—Prize carried off by
the same firm. Price per set Ll. 3s.

The Judges generally reported of these implements, that they
were well-made, good, and serviceable tools, and adapted for
working upon the different soils to which they were applicable.

Miscellaneous Department.

The Judges of this department report that, in reference to the
454 miscellaneous articles exhibited, for which only six medals
were allowed (and some of those were granted by other Judges),
much might be said; particularly as to the policy of having
Judges to go through them at all, and disappointing the hopes of
those exhibitors who really had some useful articles; and they
suggest that, for the future, it would be better either to leave it
to the Judges to award such medals as they may think fit, to
give a greater sum at their disposal, or to withdraw medals alto-,
gether for miscellaneous articles; either course of proceeding
would in their conception be more satisfactory to the Judges and
useful to the Society. With regard to the character of the mis-
cellaneous articles, there were many, very many, useful; and they
regretted that, after three days of hard work, they had so few and
such small rewards or distinctions to distribute. The few they
were enabled to give were strictly of an agricultural character,
viz. toa horse dray-rake, turnip-cutter, fire-engine, an oil-cake
breaker, and a clover and rye-grass distributor, the two latter of
which only presented novelty as well as merit.

Silver Medals were distributed to—

Mr. Smith, for the best clover-seed and rye-grass barrow, upon
a new construction, admitting the two kinds of seeds to be sown
at the same time by the delivery of them from chambers, thereby
remedying the defect hitherto existing from the two sorts of
VOL. VIIT. 2B

308 Report on the Exhitition of Implements

seeds being mixed, viz. the clover-seed settling to the bottom of

box. Price 6/. 10s. .
Messrs. Wedlake and ‘Thompson, for the best oil-cake breaker,

on a new construction: it will break the thick American or other

foreign or English cake into pieces. It is fitted with a double set
of rollers, and is easily regulated to break toany size. Price 6/. 10s.

Mr. Read, for the best fire-engine. Price 601.

Mr. Grant, for the best horse-drag-rake. It carried off a prize
at Newcastle, and has since been much improved and strengthened
in construction. Price, at Stamford, 77. 10s.

Messrs. Mapplebeck and Lowe, for the best Gardner’s turnip-
cutter. Price 41. 15s.

Messrs. Garrett, for the best horse-hoe, patent, and the same
that has received prizes at Liverpool, Bristol, Derby, and South-
ampton. Price 18/.

Mr. W. N. Nicholson, for a very strong machine for breaking
oil-cake for beasts and sheep; the principal advantage of which
consists in a simple and effectual arrangement for varying the dis-
tance between the rollers, by which they are always kept parallel,
the alteration being performed almost instantly, without the
least possibility of getting out of order: and also in a novel mode
of connecting the breaking-rollers. It is calculated to break
almost every description of thick foreign cake. Price 67. 6s.

Such is the Report which the Stewards have now to submit to
the Council of the exhibition and trial of implements at North-
ampton ; and they cannot but congratulate the Society upon the
rapid progress of mechanical science as applicable to agricultural
implements which has taken place since the Oxford exhibition.
The attendance at the yard and the respective trial-grounds this
year evince no flagging of public attention, whilst the orders
given to the different manufacturers prove that, in those districts
of country in which the appliances of agricultural skill have been
supposed to be most deficient, a spirit of inquiry and a determi-
nation to improve have been engendered likely to lead to the
happiest results, both as regards the cultivation of the soil and
the public at large.

P.S.—The following protest was made on the part of the
subscribing machinists against the decision of the judges as re-
garded Mr. Cambridge’s portable steam-engine, to which they
had awarded the 50/. premium :—

At a Meeting of the Exhibitors of Steam Engines at the Royal Agricul-
tural Society’s Meeting at Northampton, held this Wednesday, 21st
day of July, 1847. Present,

Mr. Oae, Jun., of Northampton, in the Chair ;
Messrs. Barrett, Ashton & Co., of Hull; Mr. Bloxsom, of Gillmorion ;

Messrs. Ryland & Dean, of Birmingham; Mr. Thos. Johnson, for Self
and W. Sharman, and W. P. Stanley ;

at the Northampton Meeting, 1847. 359

Tt was resolved unanimously,

That in the opinion of this meeting the judges are chargeable with
great injustice towards the unsuccessful exhibitors of steam-engines in
awarding the prize of 50l., offered by the Society for the best steam-
engine, to the one which, of all those exhibited, they consider the /eas¢
entitled to the prize; and that bearing in mind the determination, so
emphatically expressed by the judges, to pay particular attention to the
prevention of danger, the consumption of fuel, the pressure of steam,
strength and capacity of boiler, and to all poinis affecting the safety of
the public, this meeting are at a loss to account for so flagrant a viola-
tion of these principles as the award of the prize to an engine, which, it
is notorious, consumed nearly twice as much coal as some others exhi-
bited ; was working at a pressure exceeding 80 lbs. per inch, and ata
speed of from 240 to 250 revolutions per minute. The result of which
(as must be anticipated) was the partial destruction of the thrashing-
machine, at the imminent danger of all parties employed about it.

2ndly. That this meeting are further of opinion that a deception has
been practised upon the judges in the entry of Mr. Cambridge’s steam-
engine as one of four-horse power, whereas the capacity of the cylinder,
viz., 6 inches, with a 12-inch stroke, are only equivalent (at a pressure
of steam that may be considered as safe in the hands of inexperienced
persons) to about é#ree-horse power. That an erroneous impression is
thereby created as to the relative price of the engine; and that, under
these circumstances, the engine is disqualified from competing, and
therefore not entitled to the prize.

ardly. That this meeting are much disappointed that the disposal of
the prize for steam-engines has not been deputed to Mr. Parkes, or some
other practical competent engineer, and express their determination
neyer to exhibit sieam-engines at the future meetings of the Society
until such an arrangement shall be made as will ensure them an ample
trial and a proper adjudication.

(Signed) ur. Broxsom. ,
Barrett, Asuton, & Co.
Rytanp & Dean.
Davin Oce & Son.
Tsos. JoHNSON.

The Council having taken this protest into consideration. de-
termined temporarily to wituhold the prize awarded to Mr. Cam-
bridge, and submitted to the judges two queries, as to the diameter
of the cylinder and length of the stroke of the engine in question ;
to which they replied, that the diameter of ihe cylinder was
6 inches; the length of the stroke 121 inches. These measure-
ments were taken from an engine made by Mr. Cambridge, and
precisely similar in all respects to that exhibited by him at North-
ampton, in possession of Mr. Miles, of Leigh Court, near Bristol,
the working of which engine Messrs. Morion and Love privately
inspected on Monday the 13ih of September, and forwarded to
Mr. Miles the following report respecting its general working,
and reasons for their judgment :—

2B2

360 Report on the Exhibition of Implements

Whitfield, 14th September, 1847.

Dear S1r,—The opportunity which you gave Mr. Love and myself
yesterday of making a thorough examination of Cambridge’s portable
steam-engine (which you have had for 6 months), and of seeing it in
full work for 3 hours, has confirmed our previous opinion of its merits,
and of its adaptation to agricultural purposes.

The ‘‘ important data,’’ viz. “the diameter of the cylinder and the
length of the stroke,’’ which the Council required of us to enable them
to settle the question of merit, form, according to my view of the matter,
only part of the elements required for measuring the power of a steam~
engine. The Great Britain steam-boat had her steam-engines of 1000-
horse power according to measurement, but they were never able to
work up to 600 horse. The cylinders of the railway locomotive engines
are all of the same size, but their power is different, and this difference
is neither owing to the diameter of the cylinders nor to the length of
the stroke, but to the quantity of water converted into steam per mi-
nute at a particular temperature and properly used.

I have enclosed a diagram of the boiler, the safety-valve, the length
of the lever, and the weight of the ball, so that Mr. Parkes may be en-
abled to judge of the pressure of the steam. }

The greatest length of the lever is 14 inches; the diameter of the
safety-valve is 12 inches, the weight of the ball is 213 lbs.; 90 lbs. per
square inch is the greatest pressure when the ball is at the end of the
lever; but as the weight on the lever was only 10 inches from the ful-
crum while it was worked in our presence, the pressure on the square
inch was not quite 60 lbs.

The time I saw the engine at work (as I have already stated) was 3
hours: it was driving a 6-horse thrashing-machine, which your man
informed us required 6 of your most powerful horses to work before
you had this steam-engine, and he said that he can now thrash 48
bushels more per day than ever he did with the 6 horses. During the
whole time I was there the safety-valve was never luaded up to 60 lbs.
per inch. The greatest number of revolutions was about 150 per minute,
and the least 120.

I had the barn clean swept, and thrashed for 10 minutes, and had
5$ bushels of clean wheat measured up. This is at the rate of 330
bushels per day of 10 hours; during the 10 minutes I was beside the
engine, no steam escaped the safety-valve; the weight on the lever was
just 10 inches from the fulcrum, which is equal to a pressure of nearly 60
Ibs. per inch, and the engine made regularly 150 revolutions per minute.

The diameter of the cylinder is 6 inches, and the length of the stroke
is 123, and there was no deficiency of steam to keep the engine at work
all the time we were there, and your man informed me there never
was any stoppage for lack of steam. The length of the boiler is 8 feet,
its circumference outside is 9 feet 2 inches. It is constructed on the
Cornish principle: the fire-tube is oval, 2 feet wide and 18 inches high ;
this space forms the fire-place and the ash-pit. The water is heated in a
cistern at the end of the boiler by the heated air, which going from the
furnace into the smoke-flue, passes through this cistern: it is heated
to about 150° before it is forced into the boiler.

at the Northampton Meeting, 1847. 361

The following table of Mr. Templeton’s gives the diameter of cylinder
required for one-horse power, with steam at different pressures :—

Number
of Horse- Diameter of Cylinder in inches, with Steam at
power.

25 lbs, per inch, | 30 lbs. per inch,|40 lbs, per inch.|50 lbs, per inch,

1 33 3h 3 23
2 bt 43 dt z
3 64 6 5 4h
4 72 63 6 5}
6 9 gi 73 62
8 103 93 gL 7
10 113 11 92 Beat ee

Quantity of water in gallons per minute to each horse-power.

"45 °3 °61 °73

I was astonished to see, from a published letter of Mr. Ryland’s, that
Mr. Hudson had informed him that the prize to Cambridge was sus-
pended. From this circumstance I was induced to look at my memo-
randa, and there I find this information given to me by one of the
gentlemen of Messrs. Ryland and Dean’s concern :——“ The size of each
of the two cylinders is 54 inches in diameter, and the horse-poweris 53.”
I objected to this as not indicating the proper power with steam at
50 lbs. pressure ; but the gentleman disputed the point with me. Now,
according to Templeton’s table, a 54 inch diameter cylinder is equal to
4-horse power, so that two of these are equal to 8-horse power instead
of a 5% horse power, as stated by them. ‘The value of this statement,
as well as of the objections which Mr. Ryland has made to the decision
we came to, will, I have no doubt, be taken by you at the full amount
of what it is worth.

All the measurements in the above statement were taken in your
presence, and you will of course alter any which are not perfectly correct
in every part. I am, dear Sir,

Yours faithfully,
W. Miles, E'sq., MP. Joun Morton.

XIV .—On the Cultivation of Flax. By James MacApam, jun.,
Secretary to the Royal Society for the Promotion and Improve-
ment of the Growth of Flax in Ireland.

Prize Essay.

Amone the products which are raised from the soil by the in-
dustry of man, the various articles of food demand his first
attention, ‘The culture of those plants which afford sustenance

362 On the Cultivation of Flax.

to human beings, or to the animals of whose flesh so large a
proportion of human food consists, is necessarily his first care
“on emerging from the nomade or savage state. ‘This is the more
imperative in the infancy of a nation, when, from its limited
means of intercourse with foreign countries, it is dependent upon
the resources existing within its own bounds.

Next to food the supply of clothing is all-important, and is at
first exclusively obtained from the skins of animals, or the indi-
genous productions of the country, rudely fashioned for the pur-
pose. In a more advanced stage of cultivation, an extended
intercourse with other nations, and the ingenious application of
mechanism to the fabrication of textile substances, cause the use
of a variety of materials, the produce of a variety of climates. It
then becomes of importance to ascertain whether the country in
which such manufacture is prosecuted can produce the raw
material, and, if so, whether it can be produced at a cost equal
to or less than the import price, or, in other words, if the value
of the raw material, as established by the price paid for it by the

manufacturer, is such as will enable the native cultivator to realise
a profit by its production, equal to that given him by other crops.

‘This inquiry also involves many minor points, which are yet of
great importance in weighing the propriety of obtainimg the raw
material at home. ‘The quantity of matters forming the food of
plants which are abstracted by it from the soil, the amount and
nature of the labour required for its production and manipulation,
the relation which its home manufacture bears to the same manu-
facture abroad, are all points demanding attentive consideration.

The animal and vegetable worlds pretty equally divide the
supply of the principal articles of clothing required by the human
race. From the former we obtain wool and silk; to the latter
we are indebted for cotton and flax. Of these four substances,
which enter into the composition of at least nine-tenths of the
clothing of the civilized world, one (cotton) is the exclusive pro-
duction of the regions bordering on the torrid zone ; another (silk),
although it has, to a trifling extent, been cultivated in Great
Britain, may also be considered as naturally the production of
the same countries, since the silkworm does not thrive so cer-
tainly in our climate. A third (wool) is largely obtained at
home, and gives employment to a flourishing branch of British
farming; yet it is understood that the wool of our islands is
inferior for felting to that of foreign countries, and cannot be
substituted beyond a certain proportion, or for certain kinds of
cloths. ‘The last-mentioned, flax, is the only one of the four for
which our soil and climate are absolutely suited, and where a
native-grown article might be substituted to a very large extent,
if not altogether, for the foreign import.

On the Cultivation of Flax. 363

It becomes, therefore, a question of considerable moment,
whether a home-production would be advisable; and the Royal
Agricultural Society of England have declared as a subject for
essay, “the reasons, general and particular, in favour of extending
the growth of flax in this country, and what are the considerations
adverse to this practice, the most approved methods of cultivating
the plant, the best mode of saving the crop and preparing the
flax for market, and in what way the whole or any portion of the
seed may be saved with the least injury to the fibre, and how the
seed may be most profitably applied by the farmer.”

In the consideration of this subject, I shall divide the matter
under three heads; first, the demand existing for flax, as the
raw material of the linen manufacture; second, the mode of
culture and preparation of the plant for this manufacture, and the
economy of the seed; and, thirdly, the principal reasons fa-
vourable or adverse to its general cultivation in the British
Islands.

The plant Flax belongs to the class Pentandria Pentagynia ;
nat. ord., Griunales; genus, Linum. With but one species of
this genus we have to do—Linum Usitatissimum, thus botanically
described :—Calyx-leaves egg-shaped, acute, three-ribbed ; petals
crenate ; leaves lance-shaped, alternate ; stem commonly solitary,
erect ; stem nearly two feet high, straight, round, corymbose at
the top; flowers erect, with blue-veined peials.*

It is indigenous to several countries in the East, and is gene-
rally supposed to have come originally from the alluvial soils of
Egypt formed by the overflowings of the Nile.

From the most remote antiquity its fibre has been manufac-
tured into textile fabrics. Several incidental notices in the
Scriptures give evidence that it was grown, spun, and woven by
the Jews, while Egyptian mummies, embalmed nearly 1200
years B.c., have been found wrapped in swathing-cleths of fine
linen. But to follow such traces of the antiquity of this branch
of culture, however interesting, would be inappropriate to the
present essay; suffice it to say, that, originally a native of the
warmer regions of the globe, when introduced in the countries of
the temperate zone, the quality of the plant for the finer articles
manufactured from its fibre was considerably improved. At the
present day it is grown, to a greater or less extent, in all the
countries of the north of Europe; in Sicily, Italy, and the coasts
of the Mediterranean; to a considerable extent in the peninsula
of India; and latterly it has very much increased in Egypt.+

* Engl. Bot., vol. xix. pl. 1357; Engl. Fl., vol. ii. p. 118.

} The Azores produce a good quality of flax. It has also been tried
with some success in New Zealand ; and in the high lands of Brazil and
Mexico to a small extent.

364 On the Cultivation of Flax.

North America also produces much flax, which, like that of the
southern countries of Europe, and India, is principally valued for
the seed, although the causes which prevent the economising of
the fibre are widely different. To Britain it was brought by “he
Romans, but was probably known in Ireland at a much earlier
period, owing to the intercourse of that country with the Phe-
nicians,

The experience of late years, since the increase of the linen
trade, and the fabrication of the more delicate textures, having
caused more attention to be directed to the comparative value of
the fibre grown in different countries, has established that, out
of the temperate zone, the plant, although it flourishes, and pro-
duces a seed superior in many respects to that of cold countries,
does not yield a fibre of the same delicacy and elasticity ;* in
fact, a slow steady growth, from the germinating of the seed to
the maturity of the plant, is requisite for the quality and yield of
fibre. Hence it is found that, in countries approaching the
northern limits of the temperate zone, the short hot summers
induce too rapid growth, and, although the quantity of fibre pro-
duced is pretty large, it is never of a fine reed. ‘This is strongly
exemplified by Russia, as, out of an export frequently reaching
40,000 to 50,000 tons per annum, none sells higher than 48. ;
whereas in Belgium and Holland the price ofien reaches 1507.
and 18Q/. per ton. For the same reason insular countries, or long
lines of coast, whose position insures a more equable temperature
and a continued supply of moisture from spring till autumn, are
found to produce the best flax. In hot climates the character of
the plant materially differs from that which it presents in tem-
perate climates. It grows short and branchy, throwing out a
large number of seed-vessels, with seeds containing a much larger
per centage of oleaginous matter than in the latter, where the
plant springs up to a height of £0 or 40 inches ina straight
slender stem, with few or no branches, and only two or three
seed-vessels to each stalk. LEigypt is the only hot country which
furnishes any fibre to our markets. Favoured by the rich alluvial
soil of the Nile, the plant there attains great luxuriance, but the
rule before stated is again recognised, since, notwithstanding the
great efforts lately made by the Pacha to improve the culture and
preparation, its value has not exceeded 44. per ton.

The quantity of flax consumed in Great Britain and Ireland
annually will be learned from the following official list of imports
for six years ending 5th January, 1846, extracted from the Re-
turns of the Board of ‘Trade :—

* Between the parallels of 48° and 55° north latitude will be found the
best flax-producing countries of Europe,

O93
oa
Or

On the Cultivation of Flax.

Tons, Tons,
In1s40. . . 62,649 Tn,18432 \ in. 5 eu il BON
[es , 67 368 USAAy on cues Ad
Mean we. +. 0,113 TS45 iu see esa Oo LO

Estimating the quantity grown in the British Islands, chiefly
the produce of Ireland, as an average of 25,000 tons per annum,
and adding it to the above table, we learn that the consumption
yaries from 80,000 to 105,000 tons per annum. The greater
proportion of this flax, after being spun, is woven into linen
fabrics of all kinds, from the coarsest canvas to the finest cambric ;
but a Jarge quantity is exported, in yarn, principally to Germany,
France, and Spain. Flax enters into the composition of the
following articles: linens of all kinds, lawns, diapers and table-
damasks, cambrics and cambric Handkerchiefs, the delicate lace
textures of Brussels, Malines, and Valenciennes, canvas, drills,
sailcloth of all kinds, tapes, sewing and tailor’s thread, fishermen’s
nets and lines, ropes and twine, &c. &c. &c.

But, besides the fibre, a large quantity of the products of this
plant is imported in the seed, and oil-cakes manufactured from
the seed.

Taking the year 1844, we find the following imports of fibre,
seed, and oil-cakes, which will at once give an idea of the extent
to which we pay foreigners for the different items of flax pro-
duce :—

1,588,494 cwt. of flax at 50s. . . £3,971,200
616,947 quarters of flax-seed at 45s, 1,388,131
85,690 tons of oil-cakes at 150s. 644,175

£6,003,506

The flax was furnished by the following countries in the pro-
portions stated:—Russia, 70 per cent.; Prussia, 10 per cent. ;
Holland,8 per cent.; Belgium, 7 per cent.; [’rance, 33 per cent. ;
Germany, Egypt, Sicily, Italy, and Turkey, 1} per cent.* The
seed from the East Indies, Egypt, Russia, Sicily, Prussia, and
Holland. The oil-cakes from France, Germany, and the United
States.

With respect to the comparative qualities of native and foreign
flax, itis understood that, except for the very finest yarns, the
flax-spinners would give the preference to the homegrown fibre.

* Since that year the quantity from Belgium has increased, and Egypt
has furnished a considerable proportion, while a small per centage has
been obtained from America.

+ The following opinion on the capability of Great Britain and Ireland
for producing flax is extracted from the ‘ Enquéte sur |’ Industrie Liniére de
la Belgique’ in 1841, through the documents published by the Belgian
government :—“ Le lin d’Irlande, quand on le tire, est aussi bon que le
notre, mais les Irlandais sont négligents. Notre lin est mis de suite dans

366 On the Cultivation of Flax.

It has been exported from Ireland to France and Belgium, and
for particular grists of yarn, were it generally grown in Great
Britain, a considerable export might arise to those countries. The
hot summers of Russia and Egypt cause a dryness and brittle-
ness of fibre, and prevent it retaining that elasticity, pliancy, and
oiliness which characterise the flaxes of Belgium, Holland and
treland. Occasional samples of flax grown in Ireland have
brought as high prices as the best of Belgian growth; but these
have eccurred only under the most favourable circumstances as to
soil and water, and with the most careful management of the
plant. The best samples of British flax that I have seen have
brought 65/. to 70/. per ton. Some was lately grown in Norfolk
worth 85/., and some from Bedford sold in Leeds for 1002. per
ton. ‘The entire quantity of flax required for British manufac-
ture would occupy from 350,000 to 400,000 acres annually. This
would furnish the fibre now consumed, but the produce of seed
would fall at least 150,000 quarters short of the present con-
sumption for feeding cattle, even after leaving out of account
altogether the large quantity of oil-cakes now imported. Taking
all these points into consideration, it may be estimated that half a
million of acres might fairly be devoted to the flax-crop in Great
Britain.

I shall now proceed, seriatim, with the details concerning the
culture and management of the plant, with reference to its adop-
tion in this country.

Although our climate is peculiarly adapted to the growth of
the plant, some localities are more suitable than others. In
general, those districts which possess the most equable tempera-
ture will be found the most suitable. A regular supply of genial
moisture in spring, without an excess of wet in autumn, is most

Yeau ; les Irlandais vont boire et s’enivrer; pendant ce temps le lin peut
s échauffer 4 l’air. Nos paysans sont soigneux ; ils retirent leur lin tantét
au bout de Sjours et tantét au bout de 8 jours, suivant l’état du lin; les
Irlandais Je font quand cela leur plait. Notre lin est couvert de boue;
nous |’étendons sur une belle prairie, et & la premiére ondée de lJ’eau il se
nettoie : en Irlande on le jette presque au hasard. Les femmes chez nous
se chargent souvent des préparations; en Irlande ils se servent de moulins.
Nous ayons envoyés en Angleterre quelques familles qui sont revenues
depuis ; mais ces paysans m’ont dit qu’on pourrait avoir du bon lin dans
ces pays. Pendant la guerre nous n’exportions pas, la Hollande non plus;
les Anglais faisaient cependant d’aussi belles toiles qu’aujourd’ hui; alors on
récoltait de bons lins dans le Yorkshire, et en Irlande; aujourd’hui ils
ont plus négligé la culture. I] faut prendre garde de donner des encou-
ragements.” Again,—‘‘ Le paysan Irlandais trouve que cette culture le
paye; il ne se plaint pas: que serait-ce sil l’améliorait? Les Anglais cul-
tivent une certaine qualité de jin, mais depuis la paix cela a beaucoup
diminué ; on peut citer le comté d’York, et principalement les environs de
Selby et de Gainsborough.” :

On the Cultivation of Flaz. 367

favourable, and the plant will flourish at a considerable altitude
under such circumstances, having been grown with success in
county Wicklow, Ireland, at a height of 1060 feet above the sea-
level. Our climate is beiter adapted to flax, in some respects,
than that of Belgium, since the severe droughts which frequently
occur there in spring often destroy the crop, it being calculated
that once in every three or four years it fails from this cause. If,
after springing to the height of two or three inches, a long conti-
nuance of drought should occur, with a hot sun, the heat parches
up the earth, as the delicate leaves of the plant are unable to
exclude the scorching rays from the surface-soil, and the roots
have not penetrated sufficiently deep to secure a supply of mois-
ture. When the plant acquires a sufficient height to thoroughly
cover the ground, dry weather becomes comparatively harmless,
but occasional gentle showers are very needful to produce a
regular and vigorous growth. Hail-showers, if severe, fre-
quently destroy the young flax. While we possess a superiority
over our continental neighbours in the spring, we are not so
favoured in summer, as at the near approach to the pulling-time,
towards the end of July, the rains often injure the crop greatly,
by laying it and causing it to rot onthe ground. Flax suffers
greatly by lodging, the stems becoming discoloured, when they
are not absolutely rotted, and no after-care will eradicate the
tinge from the fibre. Hence, fields much sheltered by trees are
unsultable.

This plant will grow on a great range of soils. Sandy loams,
light and heavy clays, alluvial soils, marly, peaty, or chalk soils
will all produce it well under favourable circumstances. Buta
mixture of sand and clay is the most suitable, and especially
where the subsoil is red or yellow clay. Very light sandy soils
will not preduce good crops without a large supply of manure,
and the root-ends of the flax are generally dry and discoloured.
An admixture of peat, if the subsoil be clay, produces good
crops. I haye known flax grown on an Irish bog, reclaimed three
years previous, bring 70/. per ton. In this case the subsoil was a
grayelly clay. In choosing land for flax, care should be taken
that it be deep and easily pulverisable. This infers the absence
of water in a stagnant state; but soils which are very permeable to
moisture, and let it off quickly, are not to*be selected. The
fibres of the flax-root penetrate from 20 to 30 inches in a straight
line downwards, if they meet with no obstruction, and haye been
known in some cases to go 40 inches deep.

Annexed are two tables, showing the analysis of seven different
flax-soils, three Irish and four Belgian. The first table is from
the Report of the Flax Improvement Society of Ireland, fur-
nished by Sir Robert Kane.

368 On the Cultivation of Flax.

Irish, Irish, Trish, Belgian,
No. 1. No. 2. No. 3. No. 4.
Silica and siliceous’ sand) 5 “2 « “We 73°72 69°41 64°93 92°78
Oxide (of arom ete Gee ts eens tee ate 5°51 5°29 5°64 0°66
Alumina e e ° e ° ° r) e 6°65 5°70 8°97 1-11
Basic phosphate of iron Bille eats 1 ate eS eating 0:06 0:25 0°31 0°21
Carbonate of lime . . Ae 1:09 0°53 Ti6y7 0°35
Magnesia, alkalies, and sulphusi Ie and
muriatic acids . «© .« aaNes hare 0°32 0°25 0:45 O12
Organic matter, containing Ba gen 4°&6 6°67 9:4] 2°74
Water INE ight alike: WN at stay es MN OM as la 7°37 11°48 8°62 2°03

GV—_—_— cn = SO OO

99°78 | 99°78 | 100°00 | 100°00

The Irish soils were from the counties of Londonderry and
Tyrone, and were considered very good for flax. The Belgian
was from Duffel, in the province of Antwerp, and may be taken
as representing a third-rate class of flax-soil in that country, re-
quiring much manure, but producing good crops.

The next table exhibits an analysis by Professor Hodges,* of
Belfast, of three flax-soils which I had carefully taken iain Games
districts in Belgium. Nos, 1 and 2 are of the Pays de Waes, the
Courtrai giving a flax different in colour from, but of equal quality
with, the Reokencn. and both the best, perhaps, in the world ; No.
3, the Ypres, a good medium qually of fibre,

Courtrai, | Lokeren, apres,
No. 1. No. 2, Oo. &

—_———

°80 1°85 2°92

Analysis,

Wateryexpellediat 212 isin sists crete, 3
Orgauic matter, containing nitrogen . . .« « . 4°48 | 3:25 5°78
Sandzardsiliceousmmatter ine (ilsiauier: iene wna ouia 87°04 | 91°80 86°47
Peroxideorironie ce a euasen kee Wien) eee ee 1°96 1-16 1°57
AlmMmina 65 ies He eRe ahora Slee Der is ee een te 1°52 1°22 Liet
Carbonate ofilime 4%) kei vine re Olam ee Leoth er 0°96 0°55 0°49

Carbonate of magnesia . . Bi coli Reread 0°27 | traces 0°51
Sulphates and Eilonides polunlen in ayater Sk RA aaa ae 0°20 0°14 0:48

100°23 | 99:97 | 99°56

The place which flax should occupy in the rotation of cropping
must depend on the nature of the soil. It is not generally consi-
dered advisable to repeat flax at shorter intervals than 8, 9, or 10
years.

I annex some instances of the rotations common in flax-grow-
ing districts of Ireland and Belgium, the first three being from
the former, and the last two from the latter country.

* For Dr. Hodges’s remarks on these soils, see Appendix. ,

On the Cultivation of Flax. 369

No.| Yearlst,| 2nd, 3rd, Ath, oth, 6th,
1, | Potatoes or | Wheat. Fax, Grass-hay. | Grazing. | Grazing.
turnips. with clover
and grass
seeds.
2, Oats. Frax. Turnips. Wheat, | Grass-hay.| Grazing.

with seeds.

3. | Turnips or | Barley, Grass, Grazing. | Half Fiax, | Turnips or

potatoes. | with seeds. | cut for half oats. | potatoes.
soiling.
4. | Potatoes. | Wheat. Rape. Oats. Frax and | Clover-hay.
clover.

5, | Fiax, with | Clover, cut} Oats, and | Potatoes. | Barley or | Rye, sown

clover. | for soiling, | afterwards wheat. with
turnips. carrots.
Nowe) ath, Sth, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th,
is Oats. Fax.
2. Oats. Fax, Turnips, Barley, Grass- Grazing.
with seeds, hay.
3. Barley, Grass, Grazing. | Half oats,
with seeds. | cut for half Fiax.
soiling.
4, Barley.

It may here be observed, that both the Irish and Flemish have
been growing flax at much too small intervals of late on the
same soil, and in consequence the yield has not been so good
either in quantity or quality as when the plant was grown less
frequently. In Ireland, flax was formerly sown always after po-
tatoes, but this practice has gradually been giving place to sowing
on wheat, oats, or barley stubble, which ensures a much better
quality of fibre. The crop is not so luxuriant; but very rank
flax never gives a fine fibre, and is apt to be lost, if the weather
is showery, when the plant approaches maturity. Flax does not
succeed well after turnips. Many persons are in favour of sow-
ing wheat in the year after flax, and I have known instances of
good crops being obtained; but this plan will of course be in-
fluenced by the nature of the soil. A great advantage in flax
culture is, the short time that it occupies the ground; sown in

April, it is generally ready for pulling by the end of July.

370 On the Cultivation of Flaz.

Hence, a crop of some other kind may generally be taken afier
the flax is pulled. White carrots are often sown broadcast with
the flax in Belgium, and the pulling of the flax moulds the
young plants, which increase rapidly afterwards, being generally
top-dressed with liquid manure. In this country, grass and clover
are generally sown along with the flax, so as to give a crop in the
following year ; but rape, winter vetches, or turnips of the stone
or Norfolk globe varieties may be advantageously grown, and used
before the following spring.

As a general rule in flax culture, it may be stated, that after
any white crop the best produce will be had, except on very poor
soils; but in such case the application of manure will give an
equally favourable result. ‘The most valuable crops of flax have
been obtained from soil which had lain in pasture for a number
of years, and, on being broken up, had been planted with pota-
toes or turnips, followed by grain, and next the flax.

Immediately after the grain is carried the ground should re-
ceive a ploughing. The harrow should follow, to clear off roots,
weeds, and dirt. The furrows should also be cleared out with
the plough, so that they may carry off all rain and surface-water
during the winter. In December a second ploughing may be
given, and the surface, thus exposed, be left to receive the benefit
of the frost. As no crop requires a more thorough pulverisation
of the soil than flax, to none is the disintegration of the particles
of stiff clay by the expansion, in freezing, of the water they con-
tain, more beneficial. In spring this winter face must be well
harrowed, and a roller passed over the ground to consolidate the
surface. Care must be taken, in these operations, to lay off the
land in broad flats; since, when sown in ridges, the plants grow
of different lengths on the tops and in the hollows. After the
rolling, a short-toothed or seed harrow follows, to prepare for the
seed. This will be a sufficient labourmg on most soils, but very
heavy clays, especially after a rainy or mild winter, will require
an additional ploughing and harrowing about a month before the
last. Light soils, again, will do with one ploughing in Septem-
ber and another before sowing, harrowing thoroughly the second
time.

In the choice of seed great care is necessary. The Belgians,
whom we may take as standards in everything regarding flax cul-
ture, prefer the seed imported from Riga whichis the growth of the
year preceding its export. The seed raised in the following year
from this, in Belgium, is considered next in value, while in some
districts the preference is even given to it. In Ireland, Riga seed
is now almost universally the favourite; but Dutch is considered
by some superior for heavy soils. ‘This Dutch seed is also reared
from Riga, but is of the second year. The Riga seed, when sown

On the Cultivation of Flax. 371

in England, generally produces the stronger and hardier plant,
probably from the amelioration of climate being much more
striking than in the case of the Dutch. ‘The former always gives
a heavier crop; but the latter produces generally a finer fibre,
while, from the greater care with which it is prepared, it is much
cheaper than the Riga, which often contains 15 to 20 per cent. of
the seeds of weeds, causing a loss to that extent, and being difficult
to separate. Seed, the growth of the United States of America,
was formerly used to a great extent in Ireland, but has of late
got out of favour, since the plant grows branchy, and much fibre
is consequently wasted in the scutching. In Norfolk and Essex,
seed the produce of the country has been grown, year after year,
and goods crops obtained. ‘This practice cannot, however, be re-
commended, since in Flanders, where the management of the
crop approaches perfection, it is never done. Excellent crops
have been grown in Ireland from seed saved from Russian, and it
is much recommended that enough of the foreign should be pur-
chased by the farmer annually to rear seed for his sowing of the
following year, thus keeping up a fresh supply. Where home-
saved seed is purchased for sowing, care should be taken to select
from a suitable change of soil, the same as with the seed of grain-
crops. Riga seed is imported in barrels, containing 3) bushels,
and covered with a coarse linen bag. The barrels are branded
in Russia by officers named brackers, appointed for the purpose
by government, who classify the seed as it arrives from the inte-
rior, and arrange it under the terms ‘‘ sowing seed,” «“ rejected
sowing seed,” and “crushing seed.” Notwithstanding this, how-
ever, frauds are frequently practised, by mixing the first quality
with the others. Dutch seed is seldom adulterated, and is much
more carefully cleaned than Riga. It comes in old wine-hogs-
heads, which contain 7 bushels each, and are marked with the
initials of the shipper.* Each firm becomes thus, to a certain
extent, responsible for the quality of the seed which they ship, as
those most careful in the selection always command the highest
prices. Riga seed varies in price from 25s. to 57s, 6d. per
barrel (7s. to 16s. per bushel), and Dutch from 52s, to 95s. per
hogshead (7s. to 13s. 6d. per bushel). The price is regulated by
the demand, or the quantity of each year’s crop of a quality fit
for sowing. In selecting seed, care must be taken to have it from
a respectable dealer, and in Ireland a written guaranty is often
demanded that the seed is of the import of the season. Choose

* It may be observed that Dutch seed costs more in these packages
than if it were put in bags, by at least 9d. per bushel. This arises from a
prejudice in favour of the hogsheads in Ireland, to which the principal
exports are made, as the farmers have been accustomed to see inferior
crushing-seed brought in bags, and consequently prefer the casks.

of2 On the Cultivation of Flax.

shining slippery seed, not too plump, and of a brownish red
colour. ‘To separate the small weeds from Riga seed, use a wire
sieve, 12 bars to the inch. This must be attended to, otherwise
great trouble will arise in weeding the crop. It would be well,
before making a purchase of seed, to test some samples, by
forcing a certain ascertained number of pickles in a hot-bed or
dung-pit, and counting the number of sprouts which appear.
Very few grains of good seed will miss, while of old or bad seed
but a small proportion will germinate.

The quantity of seed to be sown per acre varies from 2 to 3
bushels ; the former for poor, the latter for rich soils. About 2
bushels, or 126 lbs., of clean seed is a fair average. Thin sowing
always causes the plant to throw out branches, which yield an
abundance of seed, but the fibre is generally coarse; and those
portions on the small branches are cut and knocked away in the
operation of scutching. Thick sowing, on the contrary, induces
the plant to spring upwards in a tall and slender stem, throwing
out only one or two little branches at the top, or, more strictly, a
mere bifurcation of the stem, of a couple or three inches, sup-
porting two or three seed-capsules. The fibre in this case 1s
fine, but the yield of seed small. Flax should be sown, if the
weather be fine, as early in April as possible, or even sooner if
the season be mild and favourable. Many persons delay the
sowing until May, but the quality of the crop is very inferior to
the early sown. For a fine fibre early sowing is indispensable ;
vegetation is more rapid in the latter part of the season, and the
fibre has not time to fine and mellow, the slow steady growth
from an early period being necessary for quality. Another ad-
vantage in favour of early sowing is, that, in case of the crop
failing from bad seed or other cause, the farmer can plough it up,
and replace it with some other crop; whereas, with late sowing,
he cannot know until an advanced period of the season if the crop
will succeed. ‘The seed should be sown by single semicircular
casts of the hand, the sower walking down the edge of each flat.
Clover and grass seeds, when sown along with flax, should be
cast by another person following immediately after the first: this
crop is a better nurse for grass and clover than any of the cereals ;
but, by preventing the circulation of air about the roots of the
flax, they frequently cause the moisture to discolour them, and
thus reduce the value of the fibre. Cover, alter sowing, with a
light seed-harrow, the teeth thickly set and short: if the weather
be showery a single turn will be sufficient; but, if dry, two are
advisable. Fimish with rolling, unless the ground be so wet as to
adhere in clods to the roller.

Throughout Belgium and Holland it is the almost universal
practice to manure the land for flax, Horse or cow dung, wood-

On the Cultivation of Flax. oO

ashes, lime, and night-soil are used ; the last is much esteemed.
But the favourite manure is tourteaux (oil-cakes) of rape, came-
line, and poppy, sometimes applied dry, but more frequently
dissolved in urine, at the rate of 100 cakes to the cent of land,
the quantity of urine being about 2400 gallons per acre. This
manure warms and forces forward the young plant better than
any other; and many farmers maintain that it conduces to fineness
of fibre. Some apply farm-yard manure at the first ploughing in
November, and the tourteaux in March, about eight to twelve
days before the sowing. In Ireland the farmers seldom, if ever,
apply manure, considering the ground sufficiently enriched by
the manure applied with the green crops two years previous, and
fearing rankness of growth and consequent injury of the crop by
lodging in the summer rains.* When the young flax-plants have
attained the height of a couple or three inches they should be
carefully weeded. So much stress is laid on this point, both in
Belgium and Holland, that they are sometimes weeded twice, or
even three times, at intervals. The chief reason is, of course, to
prevent useless vegetation abstracting a portion of the nourish-
ment; but weeds are hurtful, also, to the flax-crop, in retaining
moisture, and preventing the circulation of air; this invariably
causes a discoloration about the root-ends. The operation of
weeding should: be very carefully done, so as not to injure the
tender young plants, by women or children, who, after wrapping
cloths about their knees, should commence, in a creeping posture,
to weed the field, turning their faces always to the wind. By
these precautions the plant is not crushed into the earth, as it
would be by the weight of persons walking over it ; and, being all
pressed one way, facing the wind, is raised by the current of air
to its upright position in a short time. A breezy dry day will
therefore be most appropriate. Flax is in the most critical period
before it covers the ground sufficiently to keep off the rays of the
sun from the soil ; hot dry weather, coming on before this, parches
up the roots, and their delicate fibres are withered, the plant
droops, turns a whitish-yellow, and, if the drought continues long,
dies altogether on arid tracts of ground. In such a case I have
known flax to be watered with a regular water-cart, which will
go over an acre in the day, and much good to result from the ap-
plication.

During the latter end of June flax flowers; at which time the
plant, with its delicate blue blossoms, presents a beautiful appear-
ance. After the flower drops off, the seed-capsules, or bolls,
begin to form ; when they have attained their full-size, about the

* Guano has been applied without benefit to flax. Among Liebig’s
patent manures is one for this crop.
VOL, VIII. 2C

374 On the Cultivation of Flax.

middle of July, they are nearly globular, consisting of cells
ending in a point; each boll contains about seven to ten pickles
of seed, which consist at first of a whitish film, enclosing a
watery pulp; by degrees this becomes solid, and the seed changes
in colour to a pale-green. When this occurs it will be necessary
to examine the seeds daily, as their state 1s one of the best
criterions of the state of readiness for pulling of the crops. The
Dutch mode of ascertaining this is as follows :—a full-grown
stem is selected, and the ripest capsule is cut horizontally with a
sharp knife; if the interior of the seed-pickles is then found to
be firm, and of a dark-green, the flax is considered fit for pulling.
The entire plant will be observed to show signs of maturity ; the
stalk close to the ground has assumed a yellow colour and
hardened considerably, denoting the contraction of the vessels
through which the sap was conveyed. If allowed to stand some
days longer, the colour will be seen to change by degrees up the
stem, until it reaches the bolls, all the sap having then reached the
seeds and perfected them. Soon after this the plant sheds its
seed and dies; but it must be pulled at the earlier stage before
noted, to secure the perfection of the fibre, since, after the juices
of the stem have been exhausted, the flax becomes coarser,
drier, and of a much inferior quality; whereas, by pulling
earlier, it is found silky and elastic. Long experience has shown
early pulling to be the most profitable; for, although the seeds
have not become fully matured, yet, if dried slowly. they will
absorb from their integument a sufficiency of sap to render them
of a certain degree of ripeness, although, of course, not so plump
as in the other method.

If the flax be of different lengths, owing to a mixture of seed
or inequalities in the Jand, each length should be pulled up
separately. This can be effected by the pullers catching the
stems just underneath the seed-bolls, which allows the shorter
stalks to escape, and they can be taken at a second pulling.
These two lengths must be kept separate in all the subsequent
operations ; the reason for this is because a great waste occurs
when both are pulled and steeped together, as the shorter stems
continually fall out of the bundles; and when the flax is scutched
they are knocked away and lost among the refuse and tow.
The handfuls of flax, as pulled, should be laid separately on the
ground, taking care that the butt-ends be struck against 1t two or
three times to keep them even.

Three courses for the future treatment of the plant are now
open for choice :—

Ist. The flax may be rippled immediately after pulling, and
steeped at once.

On the Cultivation of Flax. O79

2nd. It may be dried in stooks of a peculiar construction, the
seed beaten off, and the stems steeped shortly afterwards.

3rd. It may be dried as above, stored past, the seed beaten off
during the winter, and the flax steeped in the following summer.

The, first plan is that most generally practised where flax is
grown in the British islands, in Holland, and most parts of Bel-
gium. After the flax has been pulled, as before described, it is
rippled. Rippling is the term used to de-
note the separation of the seed-bolls from
the stems by drawing them briskly through a
machine ( fig. 1), composed of a row of iron
teeth, about 18 inches long, half an inch
Square, a quarter of an inch apart from each
other at the bottom, and tapering slightly so
as to be half an inch asunder at the. tops,
which are sharpened. These teeth are
screwed into a flat piece of wood,* which can be bolted down
to a bench or plank set on upright supports about 8 or 9 feet
long, on which the operators sit astride, facing each other. A
winnowine-sheet i is spread underneath to receive the bolls; the
flax, as pulled, is laid in handfuls, crossing each other diagonal
at the right hand of each rippler. He takes up a handful, and,
grasping it with one hand, with the other he spreads out the top,
so as to present a broad fan-lke surface to the ripple. If the
seed-bolls are numerous, as in branchy flax, the points, merely,
of the stalks should be first drawn through the ripple, and then
the remaining part bearing bolls. Where the stems, as is
generally the case with fine flax, bear only one or two bolls each,
once drawing through will suffice to take them off. Indeed, it is
better, in all cases, to lose a small proportion of bolls by allowing
them to remain on the stems, than by drawing them too fre-
quently through to risk the tearmg or fraying of the fibre in its
soft state. Careless ripplers neglect spreading the points sufh-
ciently; and the force of the pull, which should always be
smartly done, drags out whole stalks, breaking others, and doing
much injury; hence has arisen a prejudice against this operation
in many parts of Ireland, where the value of the seed is not
sufficiently understood. The ripplers strike the flax through
alternately ; and, when well practised, four men, with two
rippling-combs, will take the seed off rather more than an acre
in the day. Flax is much easier to handle after rippling, as the
interlocking of the bolls makes it very difficult to separate the

handfuls and keep the flax even. ‘The ripplers lay down each

lay ile HRS HHSES HH Teas se
Fig. 1.

* Some persons prefer having these pins screwed into a cast meial
frame, as they do not then twist or warp.
Ze 2

376 | On the Cultivation of Flax.

handful at their left side, and they are tied up in sheaves, and
immediately taken to the steep-pool.

The bolls are riddled, to separate the long stalks that may be
among them, and are put through fanners to blow off the leaves.
If the weather be dry, they should be spread on winnow- -cloths,
in an airy part of the field, and turned twice or thrice a- day. In
this way they will soon dry thoroughly, and no more care will be
necessary than to stow them away in bags, or heap them on a
boarded floor. If the weather be showery, they should be thrown
into a heap before the heavy rain and covered with boards, and,
when it is again fair, spread out as before. But if the rain be too
continued to admit of this, they must be removed to a large loft,
where, by opening all the windows and doors, a thorough current
of air can be produced. By making them into long narrow heaps,
precisely resembling drills, and turning them twice a-day, con-
stantly presenting a new surface to the air, they dry slowly and
well. When nearly dry, they may be renmoned to a corn-kiln, and
by a gentle heat they will be thoroughly finished, so as to keep
any length of time without fermenting. Care must be taken to
spread a winnow-cloth on the tiles, as otherwise the cracking of
the bolls may allow some seeds to fall through, and, besides the
loss, cause a danger, by their ignition, of burning the whole. The
heat must not be above 60 or 70 degrees,

On the second system named above, the flax, when pulled, is
set up in long narrow stooks, the tops of the stems resting against
each other, in this form A. ‘The labourer sets them up by taking
a portion of flax in each hand, stretching out his leg, and resting
the butts of the flax on the ground, making the tops meet above
his knee. Fresh handfuls are reached to him, which he sets up
in the same manner, moving slowly backwards, the bolls inter-
lacing and assisting to keep the stems upright. He thus forms the
stook, retreating step by step, and adding the handfuls of flax in
a continuous line, until he has made it 6 or 8 feet long. The
seeds, thus exposed to the action of the atmosphere and sun, soon
mature, the stems becoming ofa golden yellow colour, and all the
sap being absorbed. A week or eight days
is generally sufficient for this, but the time
varies according to the state of the weather.
The flax may then be put up in sheaves
in the field, in a stack formed by sticking
poles into the ground in the shape of a pa-
rallelogram, and packing the flax-sheaves,
butts and tops alternately, in this frame,
to the height of 5 or 6 feet, thatching
lightly with straw, and placing brambles
eto: at the bottom to keep the flax from the

7

ie if
a

On the Cultivation of Flax. O77

ground and admit the air. ‘This mode of drying is generally
requisite, but in very dry weather may be dispensed with, the
former plan sufficing, and the seed may then be taken off, and the
flax steeped. ‘The seed may be thrashed out, or beaten out with
a tool made for the purpose (£77. 2, p. 376).

On the third system the same plan of drying is adopted, but,
instead of steeping the flax in the same season, it is stacked past
until the following year. ‘The seed is taken off at leisure during
the winter. ‘The most usual mode, in Belgium, of separating the
seed, is tospread two rows thinly on a barn floor, the tops meeting
in the centre, and two labourers walk along the flax, facing each
other, and giving the tops repeated blows, alternately, with the
simple wooden instrument formed for the purpose, fig.2. By
this means all the seed is beaten off without any injury to the fibre
of the top-ends, which would be risked by rippling it in this dried
state. I have seen the seed taken off here by a thrashing-machine,
a bit of wood being inserted between the rollers to keep them
open, and the points of the flax inserted, when the beaters knock
off the seed. This mode, however, is not so safe, though much
more expeditious.

To resume the operations, after pulling, with flax on the first
method, which is that which will be generally practised in this
country. ‘The first is the steeping process.

The stem of flax consists of three parts, the inner part, shove,
or wood—the pure fibre—and the guin-resin, which causes the
fibres to adhere together. Until the latter be completely sepa-
rated, the fibre cannot be obtained in a state fit for manufacture.
Mechanical means are quite inadequate for the purpose, as the
union is too intricate. Chemical decomposition is, therefore, the
only way in which this end can be accomplished. Various modes
of effecting this decomposition have been tried. The use of
diluted sulphuric acid, of solutions of caustic-potash and soda, of a
strong ley of black soap, of lime, having all been tried, are liable
to grave objections, which oblige us to set them aside. The action
of water, at a certain temperature, seems as yet the only effectual
means of freeing the fibre from this gum, and preserving its inte-
grity. There are three modes by which this has been done :—

Ist. The spreading of flax upon the grass, exposed, for several
weeks, to the action of the atmosphere, dews, and rains.

2nd. The steeping in slow currents of water.

ord. ‘The steeping in pools or pits filled with water.

The first of these is practised in the Walloon country and in the
United States of America. It is a tedious mode and attended
with many disadvantages. It may, however, be adopted when there
is little water to be had for steeping, or when the water is of bad
quality. In Hainault, four weeks are considered sufficient for

3/8 On the Cultivation of Flax.

this process, but the time will depend greatly on the temperature
of the air and the quantity of rain that falls. Linen made from
flax thus wetted requires a shorter time to bleach, as the colour
is already partly extracted from the fibre.

The second plan is practised to a very great extent in localities
of Belgium and France, through which the river Lys flows. This
stream is very sluggish and deep. It rises in the north of France
and flows through West Flanders. Such is the celebrity of its
water for steeping flax, that the latter is drawn from great dis-
tances to its banks, and even brought from Holland and France
to be steeped; and the steeping, which is carried on as a regular
trade, affords employment from April to September to great
numbers of people. A vast quantity of flax, saved on the drying
system described before, is steeped about Courtrai; and hence
this method of managing flax is often termed the Courtrai system.
The flax is packed in crates, made of round wooden staves, 10 to
14 feet long, 8 or 9 wide, and 3 deep. The sheaves are put in
perpendicularly, or should be, but latterly, m consequence of the
great increase in quantity of flax sent for steeping in the Lys, eco-
nomy of space has become an object, and they are pressed tightiy
in horizontally, although this does not allow so fine and even
wetting. ‘The crates thus filled are sunk in the stream, being
kept a few inches under the surface by large stones.

The great repute of this water for steeping flax induced me to
have a small quantity of it analysed. I accordingly procured in
the month of November a stone bottle full, from the middle of
the stream, in a part where much flax is steeped in summer. It
was submitted to Professor Hodges for analysis, and the following
is the result :—

A gallon contained—

Inorganic matters . : Esa 8) Oi
Organic matters. : : 2°86

22S

The inorganic matters consisted of

Chloride of sodium : 5 1°90
Sulphate of lime . 1-22
Carbonate of lime ; : 13°58
Carbonate of magnesia . : 1227
Oxide of iron j ‘ j Laks
Siliceous matter . : : 0:80

The steeping of flax in running streams cannot be made gene-
rally available in Great Britain, as most of them are too rapid.”

* In Ireland a clause in the fishery laws prohibits the steeping of flax
in rivers or streams, as it renders the water poisonous to fish, vast numbers
having been killed in the steeping season.

On the Cultivation of Flax. 379

It will therefore be necessary, in almostall cases, to have recourse
to the third method, viz. steeping in pools or pits filled with
water.

In selecting a site for a steep-pool there are many points to be
taken into consideration. The first, of course, will be its position
with respect to a supply of good water. Water fit for steeping
flax should be perfectly free from any ferruginous particles ; after
it has flowed over soil containing any metallic deposit, soluble in
water, it is quite unfitted for steeping flax, as it invariably dis-
colours the fibre, and the stain cannot be effectually removed by
bleaching. Again, what contains carbonate of lime in quantity, or,
as it is familiarly termed, hard water, and spring water in general,
are unsuitable. ‘The best description of water is such as has flowed
for some distance exposed to the action of the air, which mellows
it, and allows the impurities to subside. The pool should, there-
fore, be so placed that water can be admitted into it from a river,
brook, or small stream. As flax is improved by a very gentle
current flowing over it while in steep, so as merely to carry off
the scum which rises to the surface, it is advisable to try to make
this available by a careful regulation of the source of supply.
Water which has flowed over peat, or has lain on peaty soil for
some time, is very good for rotting flax, the antiseptic properties
of the peat correcting the usual defects of stagnant water—that is,
provided no bog fir-resin exists in it, which is injurious. <A pool
38 feet long, 3} to 4 feet deep, and 10 feet broad, will contain
the produce of an acre of flax. The description of soil forming
the bottom of the pit influences the colour of the fibre. A clay
bottom gives a yellowish-white tinge, alluvial soil a bluish shade,
while peat often gives a very pure white. If no river or other
running water be available, and spring water must be used, it
should be let into the pit six weeks before the flax is put in; it
will then have time to fine and soften by the action of the air
and sun, and the deposition of any calcareoussediment. Running
water need not be let into the pit until a day or two previous to
the steeping. It is advisable to cut a small drain, at the distance
of a few feet from the pool on every side, and about 6 or 8 inches
deeper than it, to intercept any water which might filter from the
soil into the pool, and prove injurious to the flax.

The flax, after rippling, should be immediately placed in the
steep-pool; the sheaves are packed loosely, resting on their butt
ends, anda little sloped. It is considered best to put but one
layer in the pool, though two are often packed, for the convenience
of retting a larger quantity at a time. When a plentiful supply
of the best water is at hand, many persons pack the flax in the
pit before letting in the water; the only advantage in this is, that
it enables the workers to place the flax more regularly. If the crop

380 On the Cultivation of Flax.

has grown of uneven lengths, each length, as before remarked,
should be kept separate, and steeped in a different pool, or a dif-
ferent part of the same pool. ‘The flax must be covered from the
hght by sods, with the grassy side underneath, or long wheaten
straw, kept down with stones or heavy logs of wood. ‘The object
is to keep the flax entirely under the water, and yet not resting
on the bottom of the pool. When it begins to ferment, or “ take
with the water,”’ the latter becomes turbid and discoloured, and
gas 1s evolved with an unpleasant odour. This, although dis-
agreeable, is quite innoxious, and the Belgians even say that
during the ravages of the cholera the steeping districts suffered
least. The water poisons fish ; but in small quantities, or much
diluted, it cannot injure cattle, since they are often allowed to
drink in the Lys, at a time when it is filled with flax for miles in
extent. Alder-leaves are sometimes put in the flax-pools in
Holland, to give the flax a bluish tinge; the Flemish frequently
cover the flax with the mud of the pits, which also gives a blue
colour.

When the decomposition is general, some additional weights
must be placed on the flax as it rises and swells in the water; a
thick scum appears on the surface, containing the grosser par-
ticles of the gummy matter, and this should, if practicable, be
gently floated away by a slight stream trickling over the pool.

The time necessary for flax to remain in steep, so as thoroughly
to separate the fibres from the gum, and to arrest the putrefactive
fermentation before it injures their strength, is entirely dependent
on the nature of the flax, the state of the atmosphere, and the
quality of the water. Six days is the minimum, twenty the
maximum for this effect. In sultry weather, especially if there
be occasional gentle rains, with a humid atmosphere, the decom-
position is rapid, and is greatly retarded by cold nights.* Fine
flax is more easily watered than coarse. When ready to take out
it will be observed to sink in the pool, but it requires a much
more careful examination from time to time. ‘The test in Hol-
land is as follows :—A few stalks of average fineness are selected,
and are broken in two places a few inches apart; if the inner
part or wood will then pull easily out with the fingers, and does
not break the fibre or drag any of it with it, the flax is considered
sufficiently watered; if allowed to remain longer, the fibre is
injured, and becomes weak and cottony; if taken out sooner than

* A patent has been taken out by an American for steeping flax in
water placed in wooden vats, with false bottoms, which are perforated with
holes. Underneath is placed a coil of pipes, into which steam is intro-
duced, and the water heated. A medium temperature of 90° is maintained,
and the flax is sufficiently steeped in 50 to 70 hours. This advantage
arises from the avoidance of alterations in the temperature of the water.

On the Cultivation of Flax. 38]

this test shows to be advisable, much of the fibre is knocked away
in the scutching, and the general quality is dry and coarse. The
test should be tried at intervals of three or four hours after the
fermentation ceases, for, if the weather be warm, the change for
the worse is rapid. When several trials have shown that the flax
is sufficiently watered, it should be very carefully removed from
the pool. The weights and covering of straw should first be lifted
off, and the latter taken to the dung pit, as, being saturated with
the water, it makes valuable manure. Flax in no state suffers
more injury from careless handling than when newly taken from
the pool. A person should stand in the water, lifting out the
bundles to the bank, and in no case should he use a pitchfork or
hook; others on the bank receive the bundles and set them up
on their butt ends, by which means the water 1s permitted to gra-
dually soak away, and the root ends have the longest maceration,
which makes up for their position at the bottom of the pool, where
the temperature of the water is not so high as at the top, and they
are consequenily left a little hard. The fibre becomes firmer
than if the flax were immediately spread. Care must be taken
that it be not too closely packed, or it may heat and spoil. If
much rain should fall while the flax is being taken from the pool,
it must not be spread for 36 hours, but in fair weather it may be
spread 24 hours after taking out. If very dry, a light covering is
useful, to prevent the sun from hardening the tops.

For spread-ground the closest and shortest pasture is preferable,
with all inequalities of surface, caused by weeds, removed by
cutting them. A grass field, newly mown, will also suit, and
the matters washed away from the flax by rain or dew give the
grass a good top-dressing. ‘The object of grassing flax is tho-
roughly to cleanse the fibre, and to improve its colour by exposure.
It must be thinly and evenly spread, a tape line being useful to
guide the roots of the first row, and a small space may be left
between each of the following rows. To insure a uniformity of
colour, turning the flax is necessary; this is done with wooden
poles, about 2 inches in diameter at the butt, tapering to the
size of a walking-stick at the top, and 8 or 9 feet long. Two
turnings will be sufficient, and they should be done just before
showers, the rain settling the stalks on the ground and preventing
them being blown about by the wind. ‘Three to five days will be
sufficient for grassing, if the weather be fair and the flax fully
steeped ; if the flax is a little hard, a day or two longer will im-
proveit. ‘The best test of its readiness for lifting is, to try a few
handfuls with the scutching implements. When the fibre is
thoroughly dried, it will be seen to separate from the woody
matter, and to contract, causing an appearance familiarly termed
“the bow and string.” When this is observed to be general the

382 On the Cultivation of Flax.

flax is quite ready to lift; when lifted, it should be neatly tied up
in sheaves and packed under cover, or neatly stacked and thatched
in the rick-yard. In this way it will keep well for years, and it
is understood that the quality of the fibre improves up to the
third or fourth year after steeping.

The flax is now ready to undergo the final operations which fit
it for the market. ‘The object now is to separate entirely the
fibre from the wood with the least possible injury and loss; this
may either be done by manual labour or by machinery, and the
preference is to be given to one or other according to circum-
stances. It 1s by manual labour that nearly all the flax in
Russia, Holland, and Belgium is dressed, and it employs a vast
number of persons; in Ireland a considerable quantity is also
prepared in this way, but the greater proportion is scutched by
machinery. In the case of a small farmer, or cottier, or where it
is an object to employ the labourer or the weaker hands, scutch-
ing by manual labour is preferable; but to the large farmer,
with a considerable crop and few labourers, it is tedious and
expensive, and machinery is much to be preferred.

Wig

i

(iy li Mh \

eS
me i

The flax prepared by hand is first bruised in a machine ( fig.
3) where two small rows of iron grooves (AA) meet on the flax
which is placed between them: so that each convex part of the
upper row falls into the concave part of the under one, and
bruises the wood without injuring or cutting the fibre. This is
worked by the foot pressing upon a flat moveable piece of wood
(B), which is attached by a chain or string to an iron spring (c)

On the Cultivation of Flax. 383

fixed at the extremity of the machine; or a spring-pole (p) will
answer the same purpose and give more power. ‘The operator
introduces the top-ends of the flax, and gradually slips it through,
bringing down the upper row of grooves quickly upon it until it
is sufficiently bruised, when a person at the opposite side of the
machine takes the handful out. A hard wooden mallet (marteauw)
and a flat stone or block of hard wood are used to bruise the flax
in many parts of Belgium; but this is a more tedious mode than
the other. After being thus bruised, the woody part of the stem
will part freely from the fibre in the operation of scutching,
leaving it in reeds. This is effected with a broad flat blade of
wood, about a third of an inch thick (fig. 4) and generally made
of bay-wood, black birch, or sycamore. ‘The operator holds this

Semen
Fig. 5.

in the right hand, and with the left introduces a handful of the
bruised flax-stems into the groove B of the stand a (fig. 5); and
by repeated blows of the scutch-blade, turning the flax frequently
to present fresh surfaces, and regulating the power of the stroke
to the nature of the flax, strikes away the bruised bits of woody
matter; a buff-leather belt is stretched between the stand and
an upright stake (c), which is inserted in the flat bottom ; and
after the blade strikes the flax it falls on and rebounds from the
leather, which saves much fatigue to the worker. Any remaining bits
of shove are scraped away with a broad blunt
knife (fig. 6), the flax being laid across the
worker’s leg, which is covered with a piece
of leather, and scraped in that position. An expert scutcher
can turn out from 8 lbs. to 14 lbs. of clean flax in the day, but
the quantity will depend on the quality: as, of hard, coarse,
badly-watered flax, not more than one-half or one third this quan-
tity could be done in the same time.

of Flax.

ton O

On the Cultivat

384

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manufactured by Messrs. MacAdam Brothers and Co., Engineers, Belfast.

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On the Cultivation of Flax. 385

The process by machinery is conducted on the same principle
as by hand-labour. The breaking or bruising of the flax-straw
is effected by metal groved-rollers, four pair being necessary,
fluted in different breadths. The flax is spread on a flat table (a),
just as grain in a threshing-machine; the first pair of rollers
taking it in and passing it on to the others in succession, until it
issues from the last pair (6) completely bruised. This is an improved
system of breaking, as it was formerly done in Ireland and Scot-
land by three wooden vertical rollers, and the flax had to be
frequently passed through; while the operation was attended
with great danger to the labourer, many accidents occurring by his
arm being caught in the rollers. ‘The action of the scutch-blade
is adopted in machinery by a number of blades of wood or iron,
(c) attached to arms (d) like the radii of a circle, and carried round
by a shaft (e) which is turned by the motive power ; the flax is held
by workers in a groove (f) similar to that in the hand-scutching
mode, and the blades in their revolution strike it quickly. The
stands are so cased in that the person is in no danger: a plate of
iron protecting his hand above and another underneath the strick
of flax. He has only to hold the flax until he sees that it has
been sufficiently struck, and then to present the other end, turning
it frequently that the blade may act equally on all parts. Mills
are generally made with 6, 9, or 12 stands. It is considered
best to divide the labour of cleaning each strick of flax among
three different stands ; a long table runs in front of them, and a
handful of flax, as bruised by the rollers, is laid on it. The first
man, or buffer, takes it up, presents it to the blades, and lets it
have a number of strokes at both ends and sides; he then lays
down on the table, when it is taken up by the second man, or
middler, who puts it through the same process with his stand,
handing it to the third, or finisher, who cleans it thoroughly in the
same way. The flax, when finished, is tied up in bundles of
16 lbs. or 24 lbs., the former termed the English and the latter
the Scotch stone. Each bundle consists of a number of handfuls
of flax, about 1 lb. weight in each, which are stretched straightly
and evenly on the table, a slight twist being given each to prevent
it mixing with the rest. It is tied round with three or four bands
of flax twisted tightly, and, if well made up, may be tossed about
without receiving any injury. ‘The power to drive the machinery
may be either horses, water, or steam. In the north of Ireland,
of late, much flax has been scutched by steam, as the woody
refuse of the stem supplies fuel without any other being neces-
sary. The refuse, on being knocked off by the blades, falls into
a pit behind the stands, and is cleared away during meal hours. *

* The refuse of four days’ work will drive the engine six days.

386 On the Cultivation of Flax.

The cost of the machinery of a mill, consisting of the rollers
and 12 stands, is about 120J. to 140/. exclusive of buildings and
motive power. A smaller set of rollers to break for 3 stands can
be made, but are not so efficient. All the casings of these mills
should be made of sheet-iron, which greatly diminishes the risk
from burning; and the handles or scutch-blades should also be
constructed of thin plates of iron, which are quite as efficient
as wood and do not require renewal.

The comparative merits of the two modes of seutching flax
must be judged of with relation to the peculiar circumstances
of the district in which flax is cultivated. Where labour is
superabundant, and it is an object to afiord productive employ-
ment in order to avoid the claims that would otherwise arise for
parochial support, hand-scutching is decidedly the most suitable.
The comparative amount of employment afforded by each system
may be learned from the following calculation:—A mill with
12 stands will break and seutch 80 stones (16 lbs. each) of flax
per diem, giving employment to 12 persons scutching and 2
breaking, at 2s. 6d. each, in all 12. 15s.

The same quantity of flax scutched in the same time, by hand,
would require (taking 8 lbs. as the average out-turn of flax from
each individual) 160 persons, earning one penny per tb., which is,
in all, 5/. 6s. 8d.

One shillmg per stone is the usual charge in the mills: but
the additional fourpence for hand-work is usually made up by a
larger yield of clean fibre, especially from fine flax; since the
lahoures, can regulate his stroke to the strength of the flax,
while, with machinery, it is impossible to save it ‘beyond a certain
point, and much of the fibre is often broken away, selling only as
‘“‘scutching tow,” at about a tenth of the value of clean flax.
Women and young lads can work as well at hand-scutching as
men; and the farmer can arrange the period for dressing his
flax according to the time when he has least work of other
descriptions for those dependent on him. ‘To the coitier this
system is obviously the best, simce it enables him to prepare his
flax at leisure, by means of the productive labour of himself and
the members of his family at periods when they have no other
occupation. In Belgium the winter is chosen to dress flax, and
the people work at it early and late; many persons in England
pay more than one penny per Ib. ; but it is not right to take a
higher basis in comparing the merits of the hand and machine
systems.*

When labour is comparatively scarce and the farms large,

* The farmers and flax dealers in Flanders pay eight to ten sous per
diem, and food, to their labourers employed in scutching flax.

On the Cultivation of Flax. 387

hand-dressing flax is much too tedious and the mill must be pre-
ferred. Where water-power or steam is made available for
thrashing or other farm purposes, machinery for scutching flax
can readily be attached. ‘Some practice is necessary to make an
adept at scutching in the mill, but men can easily be had from
the north of Ireland to teach the system. ‘The work, as in all
other cases, will, of course, be best executed when it is taken up
by some person as a trade, and at the rates paid for scutching it
is understeod to be a lucrative business.

Flax, after being scutched and made into bundles, should be
stored on a ground-floor, in a cool situation, but no damp should
be allowed to penetrate it. it keeps better thus than in lofts
or airy situations, where it gets dry and brittle and does not look
so well. Itis to be observed, also, that it never looks so weil
when just scutched, as after it has lain for a few weeks in the
store.

The great markets for flax to supply the spinning-trade of the
three kingdoms are respectively Leeds, Belfast, and Dundee.
There are commission-merchants in each, to whom flax may be
sent for sale, and through whose hands large quantities of the
article pass; the spinners also purchase individually. In all the
districts in Ireland, where flax is much grown, markets are heid
on appointed days, at which agents attend to purchase flax; the
farmers bring it in carts, and in a short time all is cleared away.*
This method, however, entails expense on the purchaser, and of
course lessens the farmer’s profit. Much of the flax is also bought
by jobbers, who resell it to the spinners and make profit by it.
In all cases, if possible, no party should come between the pro-
ducer and the consumer, except the agent through whom the
latter purchases, and whose commission is generally very trifling.
The finest yarns are made by the English spinners, with a small
proportion of medium and coarse. Ireland manufactures the
great bulk of the medium numbers, with some fine and some
coarse. Scotland produces generally the very coarsest, though
some fine also in particular localities. This information is of
use to the flax-grower, as, if his flax be fine, Leeds will be his
best market, while Belfast and Dundee will be better for the
medium and coarse.

Before taking up the remaining subjects of this section of the
essay I would revert to one or two points in explanation of some
of the processes.

The system of treating flax described under the third head, or
that commonly termed the Courtrai method, has its advantages.
It gives seed much preferable for sowing to the rippling system,

* 10,0007. worth of flax has thus been purchased in one day in a small
market town.

388 On the Cultivation of Flaz.

and it enables the farmer to store past his crop at a busy period
of the year, until a leisure time in the next spring, and does not
bind him down to any precise time for steeping, since he can
choose any time from May till September for that operation.
Flax thus treated requires a longer time to water than what is
steeped green, and is rarely of so good a colour or quality in this
country, although in Belgium it is equal to any, and superior for
some purposes. ‘This, however, may be owing to the peculiar
excellence of the Lys water for steeping, all dried in this way
being so retted. There is a mode of growing flax practised in
the neighbourhood of Cambrai which deserves a brief notice.
Double the usual quantity of seed is sown, and small sticks are
set up in the ground with branches of shrubs or brambles resting
on them a few inches from the surface. The plants push up
through this covering and are so supported by it that they can-
not afterwards be blown down by wind or rain, however violent.
The greatest care is given to the manipulation of the crop in
every stage, and after it has been carefully scutched the fibre
brings a very high price for the manufacture of lace thread.
This system is of course only suited to the small cottier who can
devote close attention to its management.

After the flax has been taken from the pool means should be
taken to make available for manure the water which it contains,
which holds dissolved nine-tenths of the organic matters that the
plant takes up from the soil. Its analysis is thus given by Sir
Robert Kane. It was evaporated to an extract, and yielded,
dried at 212 degrees—

Carbon F : . + 80°69
Hydrogen. 5 : sane
Nitrogen : . : oe Qoe
Oxygen 5 : : - 20°80
Ashes . ‘ ; - . 42°01

100-00

The large proportion of ashes was next analysed, and gave the
following result, in 100 parts :—

Potash . ‘ ; i 2. ets
Soda . 4 : ; , a eOne2
Lime . : ‘ s) A235
Magnesia . : ; ‘ 7°79
Alumina j : ; is 6°08
Silica « 5 : d 2 e385
Phosphoric acid. ; ~. 1OrSA
Chlorine ‘ ‘ 5 2°41
Carbonic acid ‘ ; ~ 16°95
Sulphuric acid : : 2G

On the Cultivation of Flax. 389

Sir R. Kane reasoned from this analysis that “restored to the
soil the steep-water should give back all that the crop of flax has
taken from the soil, and thus the valuable fibre being generated
by the atmosphere, the great source of expense in the cultivation
of the plant will be removed.” The quantity of nitrogen, phos-
phoric acid, potash, magnesia, and lime taken up by the flax-
plant from the ground renders it a highly exhausting crop; but
if the above analysis be correct, the conclusion may be safely
drawn that as the great mass of these substances is found in the
steep-water, with a portion also in the woody part of the stem,
and as the pure fibre is generated at the expense of the atmos-
phere alone, if the refuse parts of the plant be returned to the
soil, the exhausting effects of the crop are of course completely
neutralised. ‘This analysis excited much attention in the flax-
growing districts of Ireland, and was received with considerable
incredulity. Trials of the efficacy of the flax-water as manure
have, however, been since made by several individuals in all cases
with successful results.*

Different modes of rendering the steep-water available, without
much cost in carrying and applying it, have been suggested.
When the flax-pool is situated on an accliyity 1t can be ladled into
troughs, and carried by irrigation over grass lands; or the steep-
pool may be filled up with weeds, chaff, or refuse of any kind
that will absorb the water, and more added from time to time,
until the whole becomes a fermented mass of sufficient consist-
ency to carry in waggon-loads ‘to the fields. Watering-carts used
for liquid manure, with a perforated pipe to diffuse the water,
will also answer the purpose. The water should be applied soon
after the flax has been removed from the pool, as it loses much
of its value by exposure to the atmosphere, giving off gaseous
matters and depositing a sédiment. The pool, when cleared out,
should be paved so as to preserve it from impurities until the

* The subjoined experiments were made at Market-hill, county Armagh.
An acre of two-year old lea was flooded with flax-water, and in the season
after the produce of oats was double that obtained for fifteen years.

A two-acre field was divided, and one half dressed with 20 barrels of
lime, the other half with flax-water. The latter gave the best crop by 30s.,
and the additional cost of the lime on the other was 30s., which made a
difference of 3/. on the profit of the acre.

Another person applied the water to part of a field of potatoes, which
gave nearly double the produce of the undressed part. <A crop of flax
afterwards grown on the same field showed a remarkable difference on the
two portions: applied to oats, the portion dressed gave 128 stones; an
equal portion, undressed, 96 stones.

In another case, flax grown on land where the same crop had been
grown three years previous, and thus watered, produced a better crop than
another portion of the same kind of soil and on the same farm, in which
flax had not been grown for fourteen years,

VOL, VIII. 2D

390 On the Cultivation of Flax.

following season, or if it has been made shallow with sloping
banks may be sown with grass seeds.

The other refuse part of the plant, viz. the shove or woody
portion of the stem, is of but slight value as manure. Sir R.
Kane gives its composition as follows :—

Carbon. ° : : . 50°34
Hydrogen. : : on Aes

Nitrogen j : : : 24
Oxygen : ; - 2 A052

Ashes . s : ; : 2c 7¢

100° 00

It is therefore only the thirtieth part as valuable, weight for
weight, as the dried steep-water extract. It 1s with difficulty
decomposable under ordinary circumstances, or even when mixed
with highly fermenting manure. I[t may be advantageously used
for absorbing the steep-water, or may be mixed in the dung-pit.
When used as fuel the ashes should be carefully preserved.

Since this analysis was made, Professors Johnson and Hodges
severally investigated the subject, and published, as the result of
their labours, that every 100 Ibs. of flax fibre contained, on an
average, 2 lbs. of mineral matters, including lime, magnesia,
oxide of iron, carbonic, phosphoric, and sulphuric acids, and
silica. ‘This very small proportion showed Sir R. Kane’s deduc-
tions to be practically, if not literally, correct.

The following table will give a general idea of the weight in
different states of the flax-crop. Five roods, statute measure,
were sown with the different kinds of seed noted below, a rood
to each, and the quantity of seed was at the rate of three bushels

per acre. é

Weight after | Produce | Produce

Gaede: Weight when nek a
aes ates. : leanne soed.
: ewts. qrs. lbs. | cwts. qrs. lbs. lbs. bushels.
American) 3 se’. 12 4 2 42 1%
ga ea hema. 12 2 23 4 10 54 1}
Dettchii. sey tenn P20 Dl 4 1 6 49 13
Irish, saved from
Riga yi sion «ii. 13) 2) Ndi alar4 30,03) lf
Riga, of the former
year’s import. 10 3 24 3 1 0 45 I}

}

From this table we would infer that the average weight of the
crop as pulled is about five tons to the acre, after steeping and
drying 32 cwt., and of clean flax 416 lbs., of seed 104 bushels.
But as the season of 1846 was the worst for flax known in Ire-

On the Cultivation of Flax. 391

land for twenty years, the produce is unusually small, and the
yield of fibre is only an eighth, whereas it is generally a fifth,
of the weight of dried flax straw. ‘The general yield per acre
averages in common years 40 stones, whereas this has only given
26 stones.

The analysis of Sir Robert Kane has reference to plants which
have not perfected their seed. But as the seed is ripened toa
certain extent before the flax is pulled, its analysis must be taken
into account in estimating the matters which the crop abstracts
from the soil. It is given as follows :—

Ashes Phosphoric Acid Nitrogen

per cent. per cent. { per cent.
Capsules, with seed, contained 8°80 Aaa teh 0°39 oue 1°80
Husks of the capsules. . . 6°54 eine 0°38 sya 1°50
Seeds e e 6 ° e e . 5°18 ° ° 0°47 e 1°81

It will be thus seen that the husks contain a considerable pro-
portion of useful matters available for food, and that they may be
used advantageously along with the seed.

Notwithstanding the great value of flax-seed used as food for all
the domestic animals, and its use in Great Britain in very large
quantities, either in the simple state or when made into oil-cake,
it is only very lately that flax-growers in these countries have
saved it, the old wasteful system being to steep the plant with the
seed on the stalks, under the impression that its separation would
impair the quality of the fibre. As the seed has always been
saved in Belgium and Holland from the very finest kinds of flax,
it is astonishing that this ridiculous idea was not sooner exploded
here. |

It must always be a great object with the farmer to render a
large proportion of his straw and inferior grain available as food
for animals, to be consumed on the farm; a portion of the nutri-
ment they contain being thus applied to the support of the cattle,
and the remainder being again returned to the land in the form of
manure, enriching it, and preparing it for the production of
other crops. Under ordinary circumstances this is not always
practicable to any considerable extent, and the great mass of straw
is merely fitted for manure by the fold-yard system, which is con-
fessedly wasteful of many valuable products of its partial decom-
position with the manure and urine, which are evaporated and lost.
But if a highly nutritive food, in small bounds, can be added to
these bulky matters, a large quantity can be consumed by the
animals, with much profit to the farmer, the mixture being equally
palatable to them and advantageous to him. House-feeding
cattle enables the greatest number of animals to be maintained at
the least expense, but, on inferior soils, the food is not sufficiently
nutritive to empower the farmer to adopt this system. The pur-

2D 2

392 On the Cultivation of Flax.

chase of cil-cake and other costly feeding materials is frequently
unprofitable, but the production of flax-seed on the farm seems to
meet the difficulty at once.

The very large quantity of oil-cake annually consumed in
Great Britain shows the estimation in which this description of
food is held. Inthe manufacture of this cake the seed is crushed
between metal rollers, then ground under edge mill-stones, heated
in a metal vessel, in which it is kept constantly stirred by ma-
chinery, and the oil then extracted by pressure. The residue is
the cake. When made of the seeds of hot countries, India, Sicily,
Egypt, or Turkey, it is tolerably pure; but the greater proportion
made in England is from Russian seed, which is generally infe-
rior, and very much mixed with the seeds of weeds containing a
very small proportion of nutritious matter. The amount of olea-
ginous matters contained in flax-seed varies very much, and, in
the produce of warm climates, is always the largest. Thus, the
yield of oil from a bushel of East Indian seed is 143 lbs. to 16 lbs. ;
of Egyptian, 151bs.; of Sicilian, 143 lbs. to 154 lis of Russian,
I1 lbs. to 13 lbs. ; of English or Irish, 103 Ibs. to 12 Ibs. It is
evident that the expression of the oil bender the cake less valu-
able for feeding, as oleaginous matters contain a larger proportion
of nutriment. The oil has been actually used, with considerable
success, for fattening cattle, given with hay and turnips; and of
Jate, in Rutlandshire, this practice has obtained to some extent.
There is no doubt, however, that the seed is more wholesome.
But by itself it should be cautiously given, as it is apt to act asa
purgative. Ofcourse this is obviated by an admixture of straw or
other coarse substances.

To Mr. Warnes, of 'Trimingham, Norfolk, we are indebted for
the most economical and efficient mode of using flax-seed as food
for cattle, that has as yet been made applicable to the circum-
stances of the English farmer.

Black cattle have generally been fed in the way above described,
but it is also adapted to sheep, which thrive very well and take on
flesh rapidly. ‘The compound is given four times a-day, about 4
to 6 ounces of seed to each animal.

For horses flax-seed is peculiarly suitable, and will enable them
to do with a much less quantity of oats or other grain. Nothing
more conduces to a silky and beautiful hide than this food—an
unfailing sign of health in the animal.

To pigs also flax-seed may be advantageously given; and in
the north of Ireland young calves are given asmall portion, say 4 1b.
in the day, ground into meal, and about 2 quarts of milk added.
The ground seed is made into gruel, by steeping it in cold water
for 12 or 24 hours, and mixing it with the milk and a little luke-
warm water at the feeding time. The quantity of seed may be in-

On the Cultivation of Flax.

No. 3.

* ‘Fig. 11.

Fig. 9, by Mr. A. Dean, of Birmingham, for engine or horse power.

BALD Os BS Cr
Price, with Rollers, 9incheslong . .« 5815 0

3 Te) ere Se et OKO

; >> with Fly-wheel . . . . .:615 Oto810 0
Fig. 10, by Mr. A. Dean, of Birmingham, for one person to turn.

é Price . . ° piso et et¥tes Ke “eure (44,50) 110
Fig. 11, by Messrs. Bond and Harwood, Ipswich,

393

394 On the Cultivation of Flax.

creased, that of the milk lessened, and finally dropped, as the
young animal increases in size. It is equally suitable, whether
the calf is intended for vealing or to be reared.

In all cases where linseed is given, care should be taken to have
it perfecily crushed or ground into meal. The outer part or skin
of the seed contains a large quantity of mucilage, which water
causes to form in a jelly on the surface, and it becomes so slippery
that the animal finds it difficult to break it with the teeth, and
numbers of seeds are thus passed whole, the gastric juice having
only dissolved the gelatinous matter. For breaking the seed some
very efficient machines are made by the agricultural implement-
makers (figs. 9, 10, and 11, p. 393); metal rollers, either smooth
or slightly grooved, being the general mode of crushing. It is bet-
ter, in giving the ground seed, to steep it in cold water for several
hours, since boiling renders it tough, while the former mode re-
duces the whole mass to a syrupy consistence, bursting the par-
ticles and thoroughly dissolving the mucilage.

Having now finished a detailed account of the management of
flax both ior fibre and seed, it may be advisable to present some
notes as to the average profits of the crop.

It is very difficult to give a fair estimate for any kind of crop,
since the expenses and the proceeds are so much influenced by
the quality and composition of the soil, the value of labour in the
district, and the nature of the season; and the difficulty is much
increased in the case of flax, by the extent to which the degree of
attention bestowed on the different operations in its management
influences the yield and the quality of the fibre.

The annexed estimates, which are arranged from numerous
results in England and Ireland, may be taken as the average yield
in a favourable season, and at the average price of the fibre.

I have thought it best to give two estimates, No. 1 being for an
acre, sown thinly, with a view to having a large produce of seed,
which necessitates a coarser description of fibre, and No. 2 being
for an acre sown more thickly, producing less seed, but a finer

fibre :—

No. 1. Expenses on 1 Statute Acre of Flax.
SMS AINE on Se. Ch

Rent and taxes . ; : ° ae Oak,
Ploughing, harrowing, and rolling . . Bai ibhio)y yO
2 bushels of seed, at 10s. ° ° «|, Alay JO aa
Weeding, pulling, rippling, and steeping : 2
Taking from steep, spreading, turning, and lifting 11286
Scutching 38 stones, at ls. : : «gh Sr 40
Cleaning seed. : 010 0

Se 10) 6

On the Cultivation of Fiax. 395

ROE et ae Pens
Brought forward . 5 ; ;
Produce.
3S stones of flax (16 lbs. each) at 6s. 6d. pers ee ©
18 bushels of seed, at 6s. 6d. . : ; pense) Wea 0)
50 bushels of husks, at 4d... 5 : a0 FOr

Profit . A i VOLHOy 2

No. 2. Expenses on 1 Statute Acre of Flax.
Salis nd eset sind.

Rent and taxes . : : : : of Ds LOiae0
Ploughing, harrowing, and rolling . ‘ bli 8: 40
24 bushels of seed, at 10s... : : ay aly id, 0
Weeding, pulling, rippling, and steeping . sh gall dace oa)
Taking from steep, spreading, turning, and lifting 1 12 6
Scutching 30 stones, at ls. 4d. : ° sO a0
Cleaning seed . : ° : : Op G20
halts ae
Produce.
30 stones of flax, at 9s.6d. : : Pie Set)
10 bushels of seed, at 6s. 6d. . : : Pearse 2
Husks : : ; ‘ . ° Sa ILSieO
— 1718 0
8 14 6

In explanation of the above the following points must be no-
ticed :—The value of the flax in No. | cannot be less than 6s.
per stone under any circumstances of fair management, but that
of No. 2 may reach as high as 15s. or even 20s. under favourable
circumstances. The charge for scutching is higher in No. 2, as
fine flax requires to be dressed with more care to guard against
loss. In general it may be observed that the profits are usually
pretty equal, whether the flax be grown primarily for seed or for
fibre, the greater produce in the first case of seed, and the higher
value of the dressed flax in the second, maintaining a just equi-
librium.

It now remains for us to glance at the reasons for and against
flax, and to inquire whether the general resumption of this culture
at this time presents more advantages than formerly, and what
these advantages are.

The first and great objection urged against flax is, that it is an
exhausting crop, that it derives a large proportion of organic
matters from the soil, rendering it unfitted, without manuring, to
bear other crops luxuriantly. Per se, this is quite just, as flax
does abstract a larger amount of nitrogen from the soil than many
other crops commonly cultivated in Great Britain. In practice,

396 On the Cultivation of Flax.

these evil effects, having become manifest, led landed proprietors
to insert clauses in leases, prohibiting the culture of the plant.
But if we consider the mode in which the plant was managed,
we shall find that everything was taken off the land, while nothing
was returned toit. The flax was pulled and steeped without the
separation of the seed, which, of course, went to utter loss, and
no portion of the water containing the decomposed matter, so rich
in nitrogen, nor of the refuse stems, was economised for manure.
It is therefore not to be wondered at, that flax culture got into
discredit and was prohibited, more especially when peace brought
the large supplies from Russia into our markets, and reduced the
prices obtained in war time for this material. But at the present
day, by the introduction of the careful system of our Continental
neighbours in the manipulation of the crop, attention to saving
the seed and its use for feeding cattle, and the striking analyses of
Sir R. Kane, making known to us the value of the refuse parts of
the plant, this objection has been completely set aside. If the fibre
be composed chiefly of the elements of the atmosphere, secreted
by the plant during its growth and then assimilated, it of course
becomes manifest that the restoration directly of the steep-water
and woody stem to the soil, and of the flax seed in the form of
manure, after it has added to the farmer’s profit by the nourish-
ment of his live stock, will completely renovate the land and leave
it as well fitted to produce any crop as before the growth of the
flax. Or the same result may be attained by applying a manure
of the same composition, and in the same proportion, as these sub-
stances.* It certainly would appear to be a wonderful provision
of Nature, that the fibre which furnishes an article of clothing to
such multitudes of the human race, should be produced at such
small cost to the fertility of the soil, provided man exerts his in-
dustry and skill in following the hints which she gives. I con-
ceive, therefore, that the objection as to the exhausting nature of
flax, though perfectly conclusive as regards the former mode of
management, has now no weight whatever, from the light which
science has thrown on the economy of this plant.

The large amount of labour which is required in the growth
and preparation of flax, before it can be placed in the hands of
the manufacturer, requires a calculation of the circumstances

* Professor Johnson recommends the following manure, at the rate of 4 cwt.
per acre :—
Bone-dust (or bones dissolved in sulphuric acid) . 25 Ibs.

Gypsum . ° ° . ° P : 2 LO ee
Pearl-ash “ . : : : ° er 20
Soda-ash (dry) ° : : 5 : + oO oe
Slaked magnesian lime . . . ° =| 25. 55

On the Cultivation of Flaz. 397

affecting the supply of hands in any neighbourhood into which it
may be introduced. It must be taken into account that much of
the work can be done by women and children, and the scutching
may be executed by machinery, with a vast economy of labour, if
necessary. It will be readily seen that in the district where
labour is cheapest, the production of flax will be the most suc-
cessful, since it can undersell localities less favoured in this point.
For the same reason the small farmer or cottier can sell his flax
for less than the large farmer, since the otherwise unemployed
labour of his family will prepare his small patch of flax at a much
less cost than the hired labour for which the large farmer has to
pay. But the latter is placed in a more favourable position for
realising the full value of the seed, in feeding his cattle, and
hence the seed will be his primary object, while the fibre will be
the primary object of the small holder.

. The trouble which flax gives, in the various processes which it
- undergoes before it is ready for market, is often objected to.
This, however, will not be considered of weight by the careful and
enterprising, when they find that their profit increases in propor-
tion to the care and skill exerted in the different processes of
management.

Where labour is plentiful, and the farmer sometimes finds a
difficulty in employing all the hands dependent on him—especially
the weaker ones—the dressing of flax by hand is of great import-
ance in affording them a productive employment; and it can be
done at any time when there is a dearth of out-door work, and
many poor women may be enabled to earn what will support them,
when, otherwise, they would be thrown as a burden on the parish.*

The secondary advantages that would be derived from a general
extension of flax-culture in Great Britain and Ireland are very
important. The linen manufactures of the United Kingdom have
now attained such a perfection, through improvements in ma-
chinery, and the peculiar adaptation of the people to manufactur-
ing industry, that, in nearly every description of fabric, they have
gradually taken the lead in most of the neutral markets of the
world; and the continental nations are only able to sustain their
home manufacture by hostile tariffs. “There can be no doubt that,
if home-grown flax were substituted for the bulk of foreign, in this
manufacture, the quality of the fabrics could be much improved,
and would still further influence their sale. ‘The duty on foreign
flax was reduced about 1825, and again, by Sir Robert Peel’s
tariff, to a merely nominal amount. Notwithstanding this, the

* In the Belgian ‘ Enquéte,’ before quoted, is the following passage :—
“Dans ces hameaux il n’y a pas de pauvres. Le travail du lin oceupe
toute la population pendant lhiver.”

398 On the Cultivation of Flax.

growth in Ireland has increased considerably simce that period, as
the natural quality of the fibre is so much superior to the bulk of
the import. There is no branch of British manufacture where the
connexion between the agricultural and manufacturing interests is
so direct, and no case where greater common benefit would be
derived than from the extended cultivation of flax in these coun-
tries. At the present time, when the late changes in the laws
regulating the import of foreign grain have brought the food-pro-
duce of all parts of the world into direct competition with the
fruits of British soil, it is worthy of attention, that a vast aumber
of countries are formidable rivals to us, from the suitability of
their climate and soil for the growth of the cereal grasses; while
with respect to flax, very few can compete on these grounds, and
the amount of labour required in this culture effectually prevents
any country, where there is not a superabundance of population,
from producing it to any extent. :

In conclusion, after reviewing the entire question, I am strongly
of opinion, that the judicious introduction of this crop, managed
according to the improved system, into districts suited for it,
taking into account all the circumstances, already noticed, as
favouring it in peculiar localities, would be productive of great
benefit to British agriculture, in furnishing a valuable marketable
produce,—in the economy of cattle-feeding and the production of
manure,—and in the utilization of otherwise unproductive labour
among a section of the working classes for whom it has been found
very difficult to obtain work; while the nation, generally, would
benefit from the retention, in future, of the large sums hitherto
annually paid to foreigners for flax, flax-seed, and oil-cakes, and
the improvement in different branches of native manufacture by
which it would necessarily be accompanied.

APPENDIX.

Laboratory of the”
Chemico-Agricultural Society of Ulster,

rf ‘ Belfast, April 26, 1847.

Dear Sir,—I inclose you a statement of the composition of the flax
soils from Belgium, and also of the water of the river Lys, which you for-
warded to me for analysis.—I remain yours very truly,

JOHN F. Honess,
Chemist C. A. Society.

Som No. 1, from Courtrai.—Colour yellow brown, sandy; contained numerous
white particles of carbonate of lime, and also some brick-red grains resembling pieces of
decomposed sandstone. Its composition in 100 parts was as follows :—(See page 368.)

Sort No. 2, from Lokeren, in the Waes district, was of a greyish-brown colour,
and appeared to consist of a fine white sand mixed with dark grains, and also some
reddish mineral particles. It had the following composition in 100 parts :—(See
page 368.)

On the Cultivation of Flax. 399

Sort No. 3, from Ypres.—Colour somewhat lighter than No. 2; sandy; contained
grains of carbonate of lime, and also some pieces of charcoal and decomposed sand-
stone of a yellowish-brown colour. Its composition was as follows :—(See page 368.)

RemArks.—The composition of the above soils certainly presents no- characters
which should induce us to regard them as peculiarly fertile. Even when large quan-
tities of the suils were taken, but minute traces of phosphoric acid were observed. If
therefore these analyses may be regarded as representing the usual character of the
soils of Belgium, we must conclude that their superior productiveness is to be attri-
buted rather to the skilful management of its industrious husbandmen, and the
attention which they devote to the application of proper manures, than to any natural
superiority of composition, In all the soils examined the amount of lime was con-
siderable; and to Soils Nos. Z and 3 it appeared to have been largely applied. This
circumstance confirms the opinion which I have frequently expressed, that there is
nothing in the composition of the soils of the great central limestone plain of Ireland
likely to prove injurious to the flax plant. In the celebrated flax districts of Courtrai,
Ypres, and Lokeren, from which the samples of soil were selected, I find that the fields
from which they were taken had produced, for the two years preceding the flax crop,
Ist, potatoes, upon farm-yard manure; 2nd, a crop of wheat, without manure. In the
third year, for the flax crop, the ground was manured with cow-dung and necessary
dung, or the refuse of rape-seed.

The Water of the river Lys——The water was forwarded in a carefully-secured jar,
and when received was quite fiesh. 1t appeared muddy from a flocculent matter,
which subsided uponstanding. ‘The sedimeut was examined by a powerful microscope,
and whea magnified 240 times lineally, was seen to consist of vegetable matter and
the remains of numerous flax fibres. It also contained numerous species of infusory
animalcules. The water, evaporated to dryness, exhaled a strong flax odour.—For
analysis, see page 378.

Remarks.—There is certainly nothing in the composition of the above water,
judging from its inorganic elements, to distinguish it from many streams and rivers in
our own country. The amount of solid matter is indeed larger than is usual!y met
with in our waters, and might be supposed likely to injure its qualities for steeping.
In Belgium, however, the water of the Lys is recognised as peculiarly valuable for this
purpose. A consideration of the nature of the organic matter contained in the water
appears to indicate the proper direction in which our inquiries should extend. Jt is
singular that the sample of water examined, which is stated to have been taken from
the middle of the river, 300 yards above Courtrai, should contain at the present season
so large an amount of decomposing vegetable matter, chiefly the remains of the flax
plant. May not the water, charged with decomposing fiax matter, be in the proper
condition to commence and facilitate the decomposition by which the separation of the
fiax fibre is produced ?

XV.— Observations on the Natural History and Economy of a
Weevil affecting the Pea-crops, and various Insects which injure
or destroy the Mangold-wurzel and Beet. By Joun Curtis,
F.L.S., Corresponding Member of the Imperial and Royal
Georgofili Society of Florence; of the Academy of Natural

Sciences of Philadelphia, &c.
Paper XIII.

Curcutio (Orioruyncnvs) picipes. The pitchy-legged
Weevil.

Ix my Jast Essay the history of two weevils was detailed which
cause great mischief to the early pea-crops, and attack the broad-

400 Observations on the various Insects

ca
beans also: * I now find that another species assists very mate-
rially in the destruction of these plants.

Last Midsummer Mr. George Gill sent me many specimens
of a beetle alive ; and informed me, “ that they were making sad
havoc in the vicinity of Kettering, in Northamptonshire, amongst
several different plants, more particularly peas, turnips, and young
winter-plants, as savoy, kale, broccoli, &e.” A market-gardener
in the same neighbourhood had 4 rows of peas, 70 yards long,
destroyed by them, and the general crop much injured. About
8 poles of white turnips, just fit for the hoe, were eaten off in two
nights, and the same quantity of winter-greens, nearly in a state
for setting out, was also devoured.

During the day Mr. Gill observed the weevils remained in
clusters under the soil, but as soon as the sun was set they came
out and commenced their depredations, which they continued
until 4 o’clock in the morning, when they again retired for the
day. It is possible the Caterpillars of Noctua segetum and WN.
exclamationis, called surface-grubs,+ might assist in the destruc-
tion of the turnips and winter-greens; but no doubt Mr. Gill is
correct regarding the peas, for on putting 4 of the weevils into a
box with some shoots of peas and horse-beans, in two nights they
ate the holes in the stem and leaves as exhibited in the plate
(fig. 1), as well as others in different parts of the plants.

This weevil is sometimes a dreadful pest in gardens, commit-
ting sad ravages on vines in hothouses and on wall-fruit, during
the night, when they emerge from their hiding-places in old walls,
from under the bark and clods of earth, to revel upon the branches
of the new wood in April, or to feed upon the young shoots, which
soon become black. They likewise injure raspberry plants in
spring by eating through the flowering stems and leaves, and they
nibble off the bark, and eat out the buds of apple and pear trees
as early as February or March. ¢

The larvee also (fig. 7, 8 the same magnified) are very destruc-
tive to the roots of flowers and various plants in the autumn, win-
ter, and spring, when they change to pupe (fig. 9, 10 the same
magnified), in which state they remain probably not more than
a fortnight.

The larva or maggotsare fat, whitish, and wrinkled, with horny
hazel-coloured heads: they lie generally in a curved position,
and having no feet, remain feeding under ground, pretty nearly in
the same spot where they were hatched. Having arrived at their
full growth, they form an earthen cell, and change toa torpid
pupa of a whitish colour, with black eyes, exhibiting through the

* Jour. Royal Agric. Soc., vol. vii. p. 405, + Ib., vol. iv. p. 100.
{ Gardeners’ Chron., 1841, p. 292. |

affecting the Pea-crops, Mangold-wurzel, and Beet. 401

skin the limbs, folded up, of the future beetle. The horns, ros-
trum, and legs are compactly arranged, and the small wing-cases
are wrapped round the sides, exposing the body. From this
pupa issues the beetle or weevil, which is included in the OrpER
CoLrorprera, the Famity Curcuttonip®, and the Genus
OrroruyncuHus, or Curculio, and is described by Fabricius as

1. C. picipes; but Marsham gave it the name of Curculio vastator,
from its destructive habits. It is of a clay-brown colour, and so exactly
partakes of the complexion of the soil, that when it remains at rest or
with the limbs contracted, as it falls down when disturbed, it is scarcely
possible for the eye to discern the creature. The horny covering is
curiously tuberculated, and sprinkled over with minute scales, more or
less inclining to white, yellow, or coppery. The head is produced into
a short stout rostrum, which is dilated at the apex by 2 cavities like
nostrils, in which the horns are inserted: these are chesnut-brown,
hairy, and 12-jointed ; the basal joint is long, and forms an angle with
the remainder ; the 2nd is short and oval; 3rd twice as long; 5 follow-
ing, globose ; the rest forming an ovate-conic club; the eyes are lateral,
black, and orbicular; at the extremity of the rostrum is placed the
mouth, which is composed of 5 distinct pieces: the 2 mandibles or jaws
(fig. 4) are horny and strong, terminating in a pointed tooth, with a
smaller one inside: the maxillee, or second pair of jaws (fig. 5), are also
strong, with a spiny lobe, anda bunch of long hairs beneath, with a
triarticulate palpus or feeler on the outside (fig. ¢); the mentum or chin
(fig. 6) Is oval, concealing the lip and producing 2 minute biarticulate
palpi or feelers (d): the thorax or trunk is subglobose, and twice as
broad as the head: the wing-cases are soldered together ; they are very
convex, oval, and clouded, with 20 rows of pale dots formed by scales :
wings none: legs 6, strong and hairy; thighs stout, notched beneath ;
tibiz or shanks flexuose, dilated at the apex and pectinated ; feet 4-
jointed—2 basal joints reverse—trigonate; 3rd, bilobed; 4th, clavate,
terminated by 2 minute claws: fig. 2, the weevil reposing; fig. 3, the
same walking, but magnified.

From the great variety of trees and vegetables on which these
weevils will subsist, it seems scarcely possible to guard against
their inroads. As they are unable to fly, when they attack the
pea-crops no doubt they sally forth from the hedge-rows, which
frequently swarm with these beetles, for I have found them in
multitudes, feeding on black-thorns, elms, lime-trees, &c., in
May. A dressing of salt or gas-lime would, I expect, destroy
the larva, as either will the maggots of nuts ; but we seldom know
where they are deposited at this stage of their existence, and the
beetles are safer in their horny coats than a tortoise in his shell:
nothing but boiling water or spirits of turpentine seems even to
annoy them. It is difficult, therefore, to apply any remedy ex-
cept hand-picking. The crops in nurseries have been preserved
by men going out at might and drawing the branches through
their hands, and putting the weevils into large-mouthed bottles,

402 Observations on the various Insects

as well as by shaking the branches over sieves, which were
emptied into pails of water. The beetles are, however, so timid
and wary, that they are most successfully collected without lan-
terns; and if lights be used, the infested plants must be very
cautiously approached, otherwise the weevils will fall down and
escape. Possibly by dusting with soot, lime, or wood-ashes, and
watering with gas-water, the ground might be made disagree-
able to them; and rows of young peas might be, ina measure,
protected by boards, 3 or 4 inches high, set on each side, and
sloping outward. As soonas the peas make their appearance
above ground the boards should be tarred on both sides, so that
the beetles could not surmount them, and many of those enclosed
between the boards would, no doubt, be caught by the adhesive
tar.

We are, however, indebted to a genus of sand-wasps for reduc-
ing the numbers of these pests, which could not otherwise be
kept in check. ‘Their services are unceasing and invaluable—and
it is a law of nature that as the insect-plague spreads, the para-
sites that prey upon them increase in an equal or greater degree,
until the mischief is subdued. Some of these sand-wasps often
appear in vast numbers, especially in gravelly ground and sandy
banks, where they form burrows to lay their eggs and rear their
young, and for this purpose some species fly abroad im search of
a group of wild bees called Andrena,* whilst others are engaged
in collecting the weevils, which they bury in their subterranean
nests, to feed their young maggots as soon as the eggs hatch. Jn
the gravel-walk of a garden at Boulogne-sur-mer, in August,
there were innumerable holes made by these sand-wasps, and
the females were busily occupied in carrying home a species of
weevil closely allied to the Otiorhynchus picipes, and described
under the name of O. scabrosus. On digging about a foot deep I
found several of the beetles which had been thus buried, the
contents of whose bodies had been completely emptied out, and
nothing was left but the horny shells.| O. sulcatus is another
species; they have been detected carrying alive between their
legs: and a different genus of weevils, called Strophosomus,{ has
been recorded as falling a prey to them.

‘These sand-wasps are of the OgRpER HyMENopTERA, FAMILY
CreRCERID#, and Genus Cerceris. The species which buries the
weevils is named by Linnzus

2. C. arenaria, but it is the C. leta of Fabricius. The female
(fig. 11) is black, thickly punctured and pubescent; the head 1s large,

* Curtis's Brit. Ent., fol. and pl. 129. + Curtis’s Brit. Ent., fol. 690:
{ Curtis’s Guide, Genus 374> ; and Shuckard’s Fossorial Hymenoptera,
p. 235.

affecting the Pea-crops, Mangold-wurzel, and Beet. — 403
armed with strong jaws, &c.;* the larger eyes are long, vertical, and
lateral ; behind them is a yellow spot, and inside, on the face, is a patch,
a small spot, and between them an oval one on the nose, all yellow; on
the crown are 3 minute eyes called Gcelli, forming a triangle; the short
curved horns are inserted in front of the face, and are 12-jointed in the
females; they are rusty beneath at the base, the Ist joint being the
longest and stoutest ; 2nd, globose; 3rd, slender and longer than the
following, which are a little oblong, the terminal joint ovate: thorax
convex, oval ; 2 yellow spots on the collar, a transverse one behind the
scutellum, and an oval one on each side of the metathorax ; scapulars
yellow also: abdomen long and elliptical, attached by a narrow base ;
the segments contracted at their union; 6-jointed ; Ist joint small, pear-
shaped, with a yellow lunate spot on each side; 2nd, large, cup-shaped,
yellow, with a black triangular space at the base, 2 following with nar-
rower yellow margins, 5th with the yellow margin broader; apex with 2
elevated lines, forming an ellipsis: wings 4, tinted with brown, espe-
cially at their tips; superior ample, with a small rusty stigma; 1 mar-
gmal and 4 submarginal cells, the 2nd attached by a short nervure:
legs 6, strong, orange-coloured ; trochanters black, as well as the base of
the 4 anterior thighs; shanks spiny outside, spurred at the apex; feet
5-jointed, ciliated, with spiny appendages outside, and terminated by 2
claws and pulvilli.— Male smaller, face more yellow with a yellow patch
under the basal joint of the antenne, which are 13-jointed; yellow
marks of the trunk smaller, the 2 spots on the metathorax wanting, and
those on the basal segment of the abdomen are only minute dots; there
are 7 segments with 5 yellow bands, more equal than in the female; the
thighs are blacker, and the hinder pair are black also, excepting the
base; the hinder tibiz are likewise blackish at their extremity, and the
forefeet are not ciliated with spines.

‘Economic entomology,’ or a knowledge of those insects which
injure cultivated crops, is so vast a field of discovery, that every
season brings forth fresh subjects for investigation ; and although
this arises in a great measure from the neglect which has
attended this important department of natural history, it seems as
if a cycle were revolving, which exhibits species previously
unobserved, at intervals of greater or less extent; and whether
regular or irregular cannot be determined for want of data:
rare and unnoticed species, no doubt, become abundant or
scarce by changes of temperature; certain and continued currents
of air, a want of food in their accustomed localities, and similar
phenomena, may also change the regular course and geographical
distribution of insecis for a season; so that enemies to the
cultivator may suddenly become great annoyances in latitudes
where they had been previously unknown; and may there
remain until a counter-action takes place, either of climate or
by parasitic agency, which at once sweeps away the plagues and
releases us from those great armies which are employed by the

* Curtis’s Brit. Ent., pl. 269, for the dissections, &c.

404 Observations on the various Insects

Power who created them. ‘These are profound and mysterious
subjects which we cannot fathom, yet the divine book of nature
is open to all; but it will only prove profitable to those who
have a thirst for knowledge, and who delight in contemplating
the wonderful works of the Creator.

During the past summer the prodigious swarms of Aphides*
which suddenly covered the young shoots and under sides of the
leaves of almost every plant, so that the surface was blackened by
them, was unprecedented, as far as can be ascertained, and it
excited the attention of the public generally. The migratory
locust, which is an awful visitation on the Continent.t has this
year also reached our island. I have had several transmitted to
me from various counties; and during a short stay on the
eastern coast last August, I saw six specimens which had been
captured in a wheat-field by the gleaners, yet in all probability -
neither the aphides nor the locusts will be present next year;
indeed, the former died in closely-packed groups, with their
beaks thrust into the leaves, and their wings erect; and possibly
were either poisoned by feeding upon juices not adapted to their
constitutions, or they might have been held fast by the drying of
the leaves in which their rostrums were imbedded. A still
more remarkable instance of the sudden appearance of insects,
and the destruction of crops hitherto free from such depredations,
we shall give in the development of the economy of those species
which affect the mangold-wurzel.

SILPHA OPACA. The Beet Carrion-beetle.

Dickson § says, that mangold-wurzel is not injured by insects
or drought; and such appeared to be the case until the last two
or three years, when in France and Ireland the larva of a beetle
made its appearance in sufficient numbers to carry off entire
crops, and I find it now has several insect enemies to contend
with.

There is a carrion-beetle called Si/pha opaca, which was
known to Linneus, and is common enough in dead animals in
April: it has also been found in February at the roots of trees,
where, probably, it had wintered. In May I have detected it
under stones in sandy warrens, and also on the flowers of the

* From a careful examination of these insects, I consider them to be
identical with the bean-plant louse, Aphis fabe; and Mr. Francis Walker
entertains the same opinion. Vide Royal Agric. Jour., vol. vii. p. 416,
pl. R, figs. 20-23.

t The history of this insect will be given when we come to the pasture-
land.

Vide Kirby and Spence’s Introd. to Ent., 6th ed., vol. i. p. 185.

§ Practical Agriculture, vol. ii. p. 723,

affecting the Pea-crops, Mangold-wurzel, and Beet. 4005

mountain-ash; it seems therefore probable that it will live upon
caterpillars; and Dr. Calvert, some years since, sent me spe-
cimens he had found in his wheat-fields in Yorkshire, which
he suspected injured the corn. The most remarkable trait in
the economy of this insect is, that its larva will feed upon the
leaves of the mangold-wurzel, for it had always been considered
to live, like its parent the beetle, upon putrid animal substances.
Mr. Haliday, however, has found a few larvee of a Silpha at the
roots of artichokes in Ireland, and they are also abundant under
marine rejectamenta there; it is therefore possible that they feed
upon sea-weeds and any succulent or gelatinous vegetables
which approach animal substances in texture and fleshiness: but
here again, if such be the case, is a considerable difference in
the habits of the insects; because the larve hitherto known, only
live upon putrid animals, such as dead birds, rabbits, hares,
hedgehogs, &c., whereas those I am about to describe feed upon
the fresh-expanding leaves of the mangold-wurzel.

In June, 1844, my attention was first called to this subject by
W. Ogilby, Esq., who sent me specimens of the larva, for-
warded to him by the Rev. Edward Bowen; and he informed
me that they had eaten off all the mangold-wurzel on the farm
of John Ferguson, Esq., of Castle Forward, Londonderry.
Nothing further occurred until I received a communication from
the Rev. C. Maxwell, of Birdstown, Londonderry, dated 31st
May, 1846, with one of the larve, and stating that his mangold-
wurzel was being devoured by this animal; and, on June the 9th,
he added that every plant had been annihilated. The field had
been entirely dressed with common farm-yard manure: on the
23rd of April, about half a rood of carrots and the same of
parsnips were sown; next in order an acre of mangold-wurzel,
then Swedish turnips; and, on the Ist of May, beet-root.
Every crop promised to succeed, except the mangold-wurzel,
which was destroyed by the larve alluded to, They were
to be seen in large quantities in the mangold-wurzel ground, but
none in that portion of the field under other crops. Subse-
quently, however, the beet-root was assailed by the same insects :
it seems the crop was attacked almost as soon as it appeared
above ground, viz., about the 2lst of May, and the larve dis-
appeared at Midsummer, for only two could be found on the
24th of June; they were then in the pupa state, or might be
starved for want of food. It is the leaves they devour, leaving
only the fibres. In 1847, Mr. Maxwell says, in a letter dated
June the 12th, “ This destructive animal has again visited the
same crop this season, at the same time of the year, and under
similar circumstances; but in greater numbers and with in-
creased injury to the crop. The specimens transmitted are

VOL, VIII. 2E

406 Observations on the various Insects

smaller in size than those sent last year: not yet, | presume,
having attamed their full growth. The crop is so totally de-
stroyed, that it is of no use attempting any method to remove the
insects by lime or otherwise; but it would be very satisfactory to
ascertain their origin, and by judicious measures to prevent their
reappearance at a future time. ‘The mangold-wurzel is the only
crop attacked in a field sown with potatoes, turnips, peas, and
beans.” With the larve were enclosed some of the leaves which
were amongst the least injured, the greater part of the plants
having been completely eaten down to the root.

I learn, by a recent communication from Mr. Ogilby, that the
depredations of these larve are not confined to Londonderry, for
they have made their appearance this year upon his property in
the next county of Tyrone. He says, ‘A much larger breadth
of root-crops of all kinds, including mangold-wurzel, was put
down last year by my tenants than during any former season ;
partly owing to the failure of the potato-crop, and partly to the
offer of very large premiums on my part. Turnips, parsnips,
carrots, and cabbages have succeeded admirably ; but of the man-
gold-wurzel the whole crop was cut off by the insects, before
the cotyledon leaves had well penetrated to the surface—as soon
as ever they appeared the plants were attacked, and I may almost
say that they were never seen, so rapid was their destruction.
One crop, and, as far as I am aware, one alone in my neigh-
bourhood, that of the Rev. Mr. Brownlow, of Alla, sueceeded—
or, | should rather say, escaped.”

In manuring Mr. Maxwell's field, no bones or offal, beyond
what might have been accidentally thrown on a dunghill, had
been used. This was in answer to my supposition that these
larvee had been introduced into the mangold-wurzel fields with
the manure, either bones or seaweed ; such does not appear to
be the case; but with the few facts we have at present collected
relative to this new pest, attention must be given to every col-
lateral bearing. It seemed desirable to report Mr. Maxwell’s
observations as fully as possible, in order that the subject may be
carefully investigated, lest the cultivation of this valuable crop
should be abandoned in Ireland; and it is very remarkable that
although the insect 1s abundant in England, [ have not heard an
intimation of its appearance upon the mangold-wurzel. Indeed,
at present, it is unknown on this side of the water as an enemy to
the agriculturist.

It is not so, however, in France; for we learn from M. Guérin
Méneville,* who is indefatigable in the pursuit of every branch
of entomology, and has lately devoted himself to investigating the

* Annales de la Soc, Ent. de France, for 1846, p. lxxil.

affecting the Pea-crops, Mangold-wurzel, and Beet. 40

economy of the insects affecting the various crops of France,
that M. Bazin had sent him many larve of Silpha opaca, which
were more elongated than in the other known species: they were
shining-black, with a little yellow at the anterior margins
of the segments; they were found in great numbers in some
red-beet fields, and were accused of devouring the leaves of this
useful plant, and thus causing great ravages in the plantations
when the plants began to sprout. M. Guérin saw them eat the
leaves of the red-beet which he gave them, as caterpillars would
have done. M. Bazin and his son had detected these larvee in
their fields in great numbers, mounted upon the leaves of the
plants and eating them.

The distance from Londonderry being so considerable, the
larvee transmitted by post did not reach me alive; and conse-
quently I never had a chance of rearing the beetles to identify
them. M. Guérin has been more fortunate, for at the begin-
ning of July he saw a larva change to a pupa; the middle of the
same month many buried themselves three or four inches in the
earth, making a little oval cavity by kneading the soft earth with
their head, aided by pressure exercised by the back, &c. On
the 14th he saw a white pupa; and on the 24th the Silpha
hatched. It remained two days white in the earth, gradually
becoming brown, and eventually black, when it came forth.
Some of Mr. Maxwell’s larvee also changed to greyish-white
pupze, about three inches below the surface of the soil, but he
did not obtain the beetles from them.

It is quite possible that these larve may be the offspring of
different species of the genus Silpha, yet I am disposed to think
the French and Irish are the same, supported as this supposition
is by their similar economy. I observed some of the laryze were
longer and narrower than others, which may be merely a sexual
variation. It is not that they assume the broader form before
being transformed into pupz, for many of the small and young
ones were equally short and broad in proportion. I think the
one found at the artichoke-roots is not the same species as those
from the mangold-wurzel, for the antenne are longer and stouter ;
and whether those Mr, Haliday has observed under marine re-
jectamenta are identical with the former I cannot ascertain at
present.

These insects belong to the OrpER CoLEopPTERA, FAMILY
SILPHID®#, Genus SrL~pHaA, and the species is_ referred to

S. opaca.

The eggs are laid probably in the earth, but this remains to be
proved; and the larve must have been hatched ten or twelve days
when first observed, as they were 2 lines long (fig. 13); when full-
grown they are 4 or 5 lines long (fig. 14). They are very much the

2§E 2

4089 Observations on the various Insects

form of woodlice (Onise?) as shown at fig. 15, but are black and
shining; comprising 13 segments, including the head, which is some-
what orbicular, with two impressions on the face; and the mouth is
composed of 5 pieces: 2 mandibles or jaws (fig. 17), which are horny,
cleft at the apex, forming 2 sharp minutely serrated teeth, and inside is
a duplicate lobe (fig. 18), of similar form, but shorter ; this is a member
which [ have not met with previously, and has no analogue in the
perfect beetle. Below the mandibles are two secondary jaws called
maxille (fig. 19), which are articulated and terminated by a broad
hairy lobe, and to the outside is attached a longish palpus or feeler
(fig. g), which is 4-jointed, the apical joint conical; between these is
placed the chin (fig. 20), with a short cleft lip (fig. 2), and on either
side is a short stout tri-articulate palpus or feeler (figs. 27): the eyes
are composed of 4 minute lenses, situated above the antennz, which are
inserted in cups on each side of the head; they are rather short, slender,
hairy, and 3-jointed (fig. 21); the basal joint is cylindrical and scarcely
longer than the second, which appears to be notched inside near the
apex, the third is slenderer and elongated: the thorax comprises 3 seg-
ments, the first being the largest; they have the angles rounded, but
in the following segments they are acute and give the sides a toothed
appearance ; the apical segment, however, is furnished with an acute
spine on each side. It has 6 short legs, which are 5-jointed; being
formed of a hip, trochanter, a thick thigh, slender shank, and a strong
acute claw (fig. 22). In some specimens the body had a narrow tawny
margin (fig. 15), whilst others were narrower and more elongated
(fig. 16; f, the natural length.) When full-grown the larye bury them-
selves, and forming cells, change to pups in the earth, and from these
emerge the beetles called

2. Silpha opaca by Linné, but De Geer named them S. tomentosa, from
their being clothed with short, tawny, depressed hairs, which are generally
worn off ina short time, when they appear black, and exceedingly thickly
punctured all over, the hairs having been inserted in these minute pores :
the head is very much the form of that of the larva, and the organs of
the mouth are not very dissimilar,* but the eyes are large and oval, the
horns are twice as long, clubbed, and 1 1-jointed ; basal joint the longest,
2nd longer than the third, 5 following more or less globose, the re-
mainder forming a sort of club, the terminal joint reverse—pear-shaped :
the thorax is twice as broad as the head, somewhat transverse-oval, the
surface undulating from impressions ; scutellum rather large and trian-
gular: wing-cases depressed, yet slightly convex, the outer margin
reflexed, and there are three fine sharp ridges down each, curved next
the hinder margin, which they do not reach, the outer one being consi-
derably the shortest, and beyond the middle is a bump between the 2nd
and 3rd striz: the wings are ample, and folded in repose: the 6 legs
are stoutest in the male (fig. 23); the shanks are spiny and spurred at
the apex; the feet are bristly and 5-jointed, the 4 anterior with the 4
first joints dilated in the male, especially the first pair ; 5th joint clavate,

* Curtis’s Brit. Ent., fol. and pl. '742, where dissections and a coloured
figure of the beetle are given.

affecting the Pea-crops, Mangold-wurzel, and Beet. 409

and furnished with 2 strong curved claws. The female has slender feet
(fig. 24, represented flying and magnified).

It would be advisable to try experiments for the expulsion
of these larvee when they trespass upon our crops; for at pre-
sent no natural check to their multiplication has been noticed,
and it is possible there may not be any parasites to prey upon
them. Mr, Maxwell says, ‘neither salt nor lime seems to have
the smallest effect. I have tried both with no successful result.”
To hand-pick them appears to be hopeless, owing to their small
size and great numbers; but probably some trap might be in-
vented to decoy them to certain spots, where they could be more
readily destroyed in masses. It would not be amiss to distribute
sea-weed when they appear on crops near the coast: dead birds
and quadrupeds, as well as tiles and boards, should be placed
between the ridges, to ascertain if they preferred any of the de-
composing animals to the mangold-wurzel, or would congregate
under sheltered spots, like woodlice, earwigs, &c. As the parent
beetles can fly, something may attract them to particular spots
where they pair and lay their eggs ; and these are important points
to be ascertained in their economy. From the larve being so
young when discovered, it is evident they must have been bred in
the field, if not actually upon the quarter where the mangold wur-
zel was sown. I am not inclined to think the eggs were intro-
duced with the seed; yet itis not impossible, for we have testimony
that the beetles have been found inhabiting the flowers of the
mountain-ash, but for what purpose they resorted there is not
discovered. Some of the seed previously to sowing should be
subjected to sufficient heat to kill the eggs without destroying the
vitality of the seed; or, by steeping it in brine, sowing it away
from the rest, and examining it as soon as the larve made
their appearance upon the crop raised from the unprepared seed,
this important point would be settled, should there be no Jarve
upon the plot experimented upon. A careful examination of the
seed from an infected field should be made, to see if the eggs
could be detected, for they must be very abundant to produce
such large families; and repeated search ought to be made for
the beetles upon the mangold-wurzel plants, especially those
running to seed after the middle of July, when the Silphe or
beetles hatch, which are now made known by the figures in the
plate (23 and 24), as well as by the descriptions. By such modes
of experiment and search as are here recommended, and of course
by others which will suggest themselves to the intelligent agricul-
turist, valuable facts will be collected, and good results may be
expected.

Since the foregoing statements were made, I have received a
communication from Mr. Maxwell, dated 4th of October, 1847,

410 Observations on the various Insects

which greatly alters the aspect of this visitation; for it seems the
farmer need not despair of a crop recovering from the depreda-
tions of these larvae. Mr. Maxwell says, “ The beet-root plants
which remained after ploughing up the field, and whose leaves
suffered in the manner represented to you, have altogether reco-
vered from their injuries, and are in a most flourishing state; so
much so, that from my experience of this year I should certainly
not recommend the course adopted last year, but trust to the plants
recovering the injuries sustained by them during the month of
June, before the larva has buried itself to undergo its transforma-
tions. I observed again that the larve totally disappeared about
the Ist of July, appearing first on the 4th of June. Most un-
doubtedly the leaves are the only part of the plant fed on by the
insect, the roots being perfectly untouched.”

CASSIDA NEBULOSA. The Clouded Shield-Beetle.

M. Bazin, a proprietor at Mesnil St.-Firmin, to the south of
Paris, detected in 1846 considerable numbers of the curious larve
of this beetle feeding upon the leaves of the red-beet. They re-
side on the under side of the leaves, which they nibble by degrees
in small round spaces, and the leaves are thus riddled with little
holes.* They also inhabit Chenopodium hybridum (the Maple-
leaved Goosefoot), and feed upon the leaves in July.

The larve are of a pretty green colour, marked with white, and
the margins of the body are armed with barbed yellow spines
(fig. 25); they are oval and depressed, with a small scaly head,
furnished with teeth and three minute eyes in an oblique line,
like little black tubercles, and four others higher up; each side
is furnished with sixteen sharp spines, which are very, bristly ; at the
extremity of the body are two long spreading tails, which the animal
turns over the back when at rest, to support its shrivelled cast-off
skins and excrement, which, like a parasol, shade it from the sun,
and also protect it from being stung by parasites, but these tails
are stretched out when the larva walks: the six pointed legs are
concealed beneath the thorax. When they are prepared to change
to pupeze, they fix themselves by the under side of the belly to the
leaf which nourished them, and partially throw off their skin in
two or three days. ‘The appearance of this pupa is more remark-
able than that of the larva; it is oval and depressed, with a large
shield-like thorax entirely concealing the head; the margin is
ciliated, and there are two white spots on the back; the segments
of the body are cut on the sides like the teeth of a saw, the ter-
minal one is spiny, and produces a forked tail: it is of a bright
and lively green colour, with the margins of the thorax and abdo-

* Annales de la Soc. Ent. de France, for 1846, p. Ixx1.

affecting the Pea-crops, Mangold-wurzel, and Beet. 411

men whitish, and along the back are two yellowish-white stripes
(fig. 26).* In less than a fortnight, viz., about the beginning of
August, the Cassidz hatch.

They belong to the OrpER Cotroprera, Famity Cassin,
and Genus Cassipa, or Shield-Beetles, and this species was
named by Linnaeus—

4, C. nebulosa. When first developed itis green, but it gradually
becomes of a tawny colour above and black beneath (fig. 273 %, the na-
tural length) ; the little head is concealed under the large semi-orbicular
thorax, which is stamped with minute impressions, having two white
spots at the base; the black eyes are oval; the horns are inserted on the
forehead, and are 11-jointed, slightly thickened, and blackish towards
the extremity, which is pointed ; the scutellum is rather small and tri-
angular; the wing-cases are oval and convex, with a flattened margin ;
there are five double rows of punctures on each, with black dots sprinkled
over them: the two wings folded beneath are ample: the legs are short ;
the feet are 4-jointed, with the third joint bilobed, the fourth furnished
with a pair of claws.7+

The larve sometimes fall victims to a parasitic fly, notwith-
standing the protection we have alluded to; for M. Guerin says,
one which was not transformed to a pupa, produced, on the 20th
of July, from the middle of the back, thirty-nine very little Chal-
cidites,{ black, with yellow legs, the eggs of which had been de-
posited by the mother upon the living larva.

Axutica Nemorum. The Turnip Beetle or Fly.

Since my Essay upon this insect was written,§ I have detected
the little beetles hopping about the mangold-wurzel and punctur-
ing the leaves. Mr. Rootsey of Bristol has also made the same
observation. |

AntHomyia Beta. The Mangold-wurzel Fly.

It is generally supposed that animals closely related to each
other, and forming.a natural group, would not be very unlike in
their habits of life, but such is not always the case amongst in-
sects, in their larva state especially, and the genus of flies called
Anthomyia is a remarkable example of such a diversity. ‘There
are several species that annoy the farmer and gardener, which
bear so striking a resemblance to each other in their fly state, that,
except to the scientific observer, they would be considered as the
same species, yet nothing can be more different than the economy
of the larve. Some of these maggots live upon the seeds of the

* De Geer’s Hist. des Ins., vol. v. p. 168.

7 Vide Curtis’s Brit. Ent., fol. and pl. 127, for figures and dissections.
i Annales de la Soc. Ent. de France, for 1846, p. Ixxi.-

§ Journal of Royal Agric. Soe., vol. ii. p. 193.

a2 Observations on the various Insects

lettuce whilst growing upon the plants ; others revel in the decay-
ing stems of cabbages, the bulbs of turnips and of onions; whilst
others reside between the two skins of the leaves, feeding upon
the pulp—and these have received amongst naturalists the name
of mmers. A gentleman at Cranford, who is well known for his
scientific researches,* has made me acquainted with a fly whose
larva mines in the leaves of the mangold-wurzel, and I am in-
debted to him for the following sketch of its economy :—< The
maggots were brought to me from Surrey on the 26th of June,
found feeding between the plates of the leaves, the integuments of
which they cut rapidly, giving the parts attacked a blistered ap-
pearance, ‘They were of a greenish colour, a quarter of an inch
long, pointed at the head, and rather abruptly cut off at the tail :
they turned to pupe in siti, as you may see by the frag-
ments of the leaves, and hatched July the 17th and 20th: Mr.
Frogley told me they had destroyed the plant where he got them
from. I found my sugar-beet attacked in the same manner, but
immediately employed some boys to pinch the blisters between
the finger and thumb, and by attacking them in that helpless
situation their operations were effectually stopped.”

[ may remark, that the maggots are very similar to those of
the turnip ;{ like them, they change to an oval brown pupa, and
from them issues a fly which exceedingly resembles Anthomyia
Ceparum, which is bred from putrescent onions, but, as I cannot
imagine they are the same species, I must distinguish them by
naming the former, and shall call it after the beet or mangold-
wurzel :—

5. A. Betee, The males only are known at present: they are much
smaller than the Onion-fly, being only 2 and 3 lines long, and expanding
about 5 lines: they are of an ashy-grey colour, clothed with black
bristly hairs; head semi-orbicular ; eyes large, brown, nearly contigu-
ous above, with 3 minute ocelli on the crown; face satiny-white, with
a bright chesnut-coloured line down the middle, in the centre of which
are placed the little black drooping horns, the 3rd joint being the
largest, elliptical, and producing a naked bristle on the back; the pro-
truded lip and palpi are also black: on the trunk are 3 or 5 indistinct
longitudinal stripes; the 6-jointed abdomen is linear, with a dorsal black
triangular spot atthe base of 4 of the segments; the 2 wings are ample
and transparent, a little tinted with tawny at the base; the nervures are
pitchy; poisers ochreous ; 6 legs, longish, bristly, and pitchy, the shanks
with a tawny tinge.

These insects will seldom cause any loss to the mangold-wurzel
crops, should they ever abound to any extent; but whether
they would prove injurious to cattle when the eaves are given as

* Mr. I. J. Graham, author of a Prize Essay upon the Potato Disease.
+ Royal Agric, Jour., vol, iv. pl. H, figs. 35 and 36.

affecting the Pea-crops, Mangold-wurzel, and Beet. 413

food Iam not prepared to say, but I should think not, as the
skins are very tender, I have seen the leaves of docks and bur-
docks as well as the celery,* blistered from the mining of the
maggots of different species of flies to a large amount, and the
only remedy is to nip them in the leaf, for they are so delicate
that a very slight pinch will maim them. Parasites no doubt
keep them under, and we may trust to them for assistance.

TipuLa OLERACEA. The Crane-fly, or Daddy-long-legs.

This universally distributed and mischievous gnat, by dropping
its eggs in the field, garden, and pasture-land, annually causes
serious losses to the cultivator by the destruction of various crops
as well as flowers.; Not having space to illustrate the insect
here, I shall leave its economy for a future opportunity, and
merely state now, that two crops of mangold-wurzel plants were
successively carried off by the larve, or grubs, as they are called,
which are the offspring of these flies, in the spring of 1845, near
Southall, in Middlesex ; and in the second week of June they
destroyed a large plot of the same plants in a field at Hayes.
On examining the dead and dying plants, we found the maggots
about an inch below the surface of the soil, and close to the
roots of the infested plants, which had been eaten through by
them. As they swarm in all grass-lands with other allied species,
it is not safe to sow beet or turnips immediately after pasture-land
has been broken up, without previously paring and burning,
salting, or liming the land.

In the autumn, if the crown of the mangold-wurzel begins to
rot, it is immediately taken possession of by numerous varieties of
insects. I remember, at the end of October, 1846, finding vast
numbers of specimens of a small beetle called Cercyon bolcto
phagum,{ which were inhabiting the cavities eaten probably by
slugs. It is very smooth and shining, oval, of a pitchy colour,
with the tips of the elytra, or wing-eases, ochreous; the clubbed
horns and legs are tawny; it is not larger than a small turnip-
seed. With them were multitudes of a minute, shining, tawny
Acarus, oval in form, and looking like seeds when the six short
Jegs were folded up. It appears to be the Acarus, or Uropoda
umbilica, which attaches itself to beetles.§

This terminates the history of the insects which more or less
injure the mangold-wurzel crops, and the following is

“ The maggots in the dock-leaves produce a fly called Anthomyia so-
lennis. Those in the celery-leaves change to a handsome fly named 7Ze-
phritis Onopordinis. Vide Gardeners’ Chronicle, vol. i. p. 660.

‘+ Gardeners’ Chron., vol. i. p. 612.

& Curtis’s Guide, Genus 115, No. 9.

§ Journal of Royal Agric. Soc.,vol. v. p. 226, pl. J, fig. 49.

414 Observations on the various Insects

A Summary of the present Essay.

A Weevil, called Otiorhynchus picipes, destroys the young pea-
crops, &c.

The Weevils conceal themselves by day, and feed only at night.

The same /Veevils injure vines, wall-fruit, apple and pear trees,
raspberries, &c., early in spring.

Their larvee or maggots live in the earth upon the roots of
flowers, Kc.

They change to pupe or chrysalides in the earth.

These /Veevils swarm in hedge-rows in May, feeding on black-
thorn, elm, and lime leaves.

The larve might be destroyed by a dressing of salt or gas-lime.

Dusting with soot, lime, or wood-ashes might banish the beetles,
or watering with gas-water.

Larred boards would protect garden-crops.

Hland-picking the most effective remedy in nurseries.

Sand-wasps, called Cerceris, capture the Weevils and bury
them to support their young when the eggs hatch.

They swarm in some sandy situations, where the paths, banks,
and gravel-walks are riddled by them.

Insect plaques suddenly appear from changes in the atmosphere,
and as suddenly disappear through the agency of parasitic tribes,
KC.

Bean Aphides swarming on alinost every plant last summer.

Migratory Locust also not uncommon in various parts of Lng-
land.

Mangold-wurzel supposed formerly to be free from the attacks
of znsects.

Larva of a beetle, called Silpha, feeds upon the leaves, and
destroys the young plants in May and June.

They have been detected in the North of Ireland and in
France, doing great mischief from 1844 éo the present time.

In 1844, 5, and 6 they seemed confined to Londonderry, but in
1847 they carried off the crops in Tyrone.

They leave only the jibres of the leaves, but do not touch the
root.

LVo bones were used in manuring the fields in Londonderry.

In England these larve are well known, but have never affected
the crops.

In the department of the Oise, in France, they have destroyed
the fed-beet.

The beginning and middle of July they change to pupe, and
hatch towards end of the month.

Possibly more species than one may have the same habits, as the
Jarvee vary in form, or this may be a sexual distinction.

Are the eggs laid in the earth ?

affecting the Pea-crops, Mangold-wurzel, and Beet. 419

They probably hatch the end of May or beginning of June.

Neither salt nor lime seemed to have the slightest effect upon
the larve.

Sea-weeds and dead animais distributed in a field might decoy
them, when they could be destroyed more readily.

The parent beetles can fly, but the larve are bred in the field.

Were the eggs introduced with the seed ?

Seed should be steeped in brine or subjected to heat before
sowing, to ascertain if either would free the crop from the larve.

Examine the seeds of an infected crop, to learn if the eggs be
amongst them,

Search for the beetles after July upon the stems running to
seed.

From the healthy state of plants accidentally left in the field
where the crop was eaten off, it seems possible the planis may
recover from the attacks of the larve.

Larva of a Shield-beetle, called Cassida nebulosa, feeds upon
leaves of mangold-wurzel.

They reside wnder the leaves, and also live upon Chenopodium
hybridum in July.

The Shield-beetles hatch the beginning of August.

A minute parasitic fly, one of the Chalcidites, inoculates the
Jarvz with its eggs, which hatch and feed upon the fat, &c. of
the victim.

The Turnip-beetle, <Altica nemorum, is now found to feed
upon the leaves of the mangold-wurzel as well as on the turnip.

Larve of flies greatly resembling each other are often exceed-~
ingly different in their economy.

Maggots of Anthomyia Bete discovered feeding on the paren-
chyma or pulp in blistered leaves of mangold-wurzel and sugar-
beet, the end of June.

The fies hatched the third week in July.

The maggots may be destroyed by merely pinching the blisters
visible on the leaves.

They change to brown pupe in the blistered leaves.

If the maggots do no harm to cattle when the leaves are used for
green food, little mischief is likely to arise from their presence.

Larva of the Crane-fly, Tipula oleracea, is a most destructive
maggot in the mangold-wurzel fieid, carrying off entire crops by
eating through the young roots.

Not safe to sow mangold-wurzel on fresh broken-up pasture-
land, without paring and burning, salting, or liming the soil.

fiotten places and holes eaten by slugs in the roots of mangold-
wurzel are inhabited by swarms of znsects, and amongst them are
large broods of a little beetle called Cercyon boletophagum, and
an Acarus, Uropoda umbilica.

416 Observations on various Insects affecting Pea-crops, §c.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE S.

Fig. 1. Shoot of a bean as eaten by Curculio ( Otiorhynchus) picipes.
a. Portions of excrement deposited by the weevils.
Fig. 2. <A female weevil in repose.
Fig. 3.* A male walking.
6. The natural length.
Fig. 4.* One of the mandibles, or jaws.
Fig. 5.* One of the maxillz, or second pair of jaws.
c. The palpus, or feeler.
6.* Labium, or lower lip.
d, Palpi, or feelers.
Fig. 7. Larva or maggot, dead and shrivelled.
Fig. 8.* The same magnified.
Fig. 9. Under side of pupa.
Fig. 10.* The same magnified.
Fig. 11.* Cerceris arenaria flying; a little larger than life.
Fig. 12. A young mangold-wurzel plant, eaten by the larva of a Silpha.
Fig. 13. The young larva feeding.
Fig. 14. The larva nearly full grown.
Fig. 15.* One of the larve.
e The natural length.
Fig. 16.* Another of the larvee.
j. The natural length.
Fig. 17.* One of the mandibles of the larve, the inner lobe shining
through.
Fig. 18.* The inner lobe detached.
Fig. 19.* The maxilla.
g. The palpus, or feeler.
Fig. 20.* The mentum, or chin.
h. The labium, or lip.
7, he palpi, or feelers:
Fig. 21.* One of the horns, or antenne.
Fig. 22.* A leg detached.
Fig. 23. A male of Silpha opaca, running ; scarcely larger than life.
Fig. 24.* The female magnified, and represented flying.
Vig. 25. Larva of the shield-beetle.
Vig. 26. Pupa of the same.
Fig. 27.* Cassida nebulosa, the beet shield-beetle.
k. The natural length.

Obs.—Those numbers with a * attached refer to the objects which
are represented larger than life. AJl the figures are drawn from nature,
excepting figures 25 and 26, which are copied from De Geer.

(The Copyright of this Paper is reserved to the Writer.)

Hayes, near Uxbridge, Oct., 1847.

Errata in the last Report, Vol. VIT., p. 405, line 20.
~ The paragraph ought to have been thus worded :—There were, however, both gar-
deners and farmers (uniting a close attention to the operations of nature with steady
perseverance) who eventually succeeded in detecting the real cause of the mischief.
Plate R, fig. 21, exhibits the pupa of the bean aphis.

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XVI.—On a New Mode of preparing Bones for Manure. By
Pu. Pusey, M.P.

Havine succeeded in discovering a simple process for the cheaper
use of bones as manure, I beg to state shortly the grounds which
led me to the inquiry, and the proofs of its success.

In a few pages of this Journal, on the use of bones and sul-
phuric acid, I mentioned (two years since) that, if bones and moist
peat-ashes are thrown in a heap together, the mixture heats
violently, and the bones in a few days almost disappear, while
their strength as manure is found to have greaily increased.
This effect I ascribed to sulphuric acid contained in the peat-
ashes; but it was a mistake, for the mixture, when examined
chemically by Dr. Hofman, showed little or no sulphuric acid ;
and that Professor suggested that the decomposition must arise,
as in many animal and vegetable substances, according to Baron
Liebig, from the presence of moisture,

This hint was the more encouraging, because, if peat-ashes
were not a necessary ingredient of the process it would be no
longer confined to those farmers, a small number comparatively,
who have peat-ashes at command. I therefore procured three
cart-loads of crushed bones, and, having wetted them, mixed one
cart-load with two loads of peat-ashes, another with two loads of
coal-ashes, and the third load of bones with two loads of sterile
white sand, dug up from some depth, and quite unfit in itself to
support vegetation. ‘The three heaps were made up as com-
pactly as possible side by side. In a few days they all heated
equally, becoming too hot in the middle to be borne by the naked
hand; in a few more the bones had disappeared in each heap
equally, being reduced in general to a blue mouldy substance.
Some corroded fragments, indeed, remained in the centres; and
the outsides, to the depth of five or six inches, were unchanged,
because there the heat was insufficient.

The experiment having so far succeeded, the next step, of
course, was to try the effects of the dissolved bones on the land,
and in May, 1846, they were used upon half-acre lots of early
turnips in equal proportions; the crops produced by each mix-
ture were equally good. Butas a single experiment does not,
I think, justify one in putting forth the recommendation of a new
practice, I waited for the result of another year’s trial, which I
will now lay before the Society.

It was made in July of the present year with common turnips.
The object was to test the new preparation by comparing it, on
the one hand, with unprepared bones, and, on the other, with
bones dissolved by sulphuric acid, called superphosphate.

The land is a hot stonebrash newly taken in hand and very

418 Ona New Mode of preparing Bones for Manure.

much out of heart. Bones act upon it very strongly; for the
trial-lots are part of 70 acres of turnips and swedes, a good crop
produced by superphosphate, notwithstanding the drought; but
wherever that preparation was purposely missed, the yield was not
more than four, or at most five, tons to the acre.

The trial was made on the supposition that certain quantities of
each manure were likely to yield equal produce ; and it was pro-
posed to test the difference, not of produce from the same cost of
manure, but of cost for nearly the same amount of produce.
The mixture was made in this case by throwing together a
waggon-load of crushed bones wetted, and, by a mistake of the
workmen, half that quantity only of sand. The heap, however,
heated violently, and was in a few days fit for use. Three
bushels of the mixture are valued higher than two bushels of
bones, because the heap sank during the process one foot in
four, showing, as [ had suspected, that, from the shrinking of the
bones, there Hold be more than two bushels of bones in three
of the mixture.

First Haperiment.

Cost of Manure Produce

Bushels of Manure per Acre. per Acre. per Acre,

‘ £ s: dd. ons. ‘cwts.
1, 17 bones ; : - et Geeg 13 5
2. 4¢ sulphated bones . . ULaReane 14 5

3. 84 heated bones andsand. 1 0 9 13. 5
The amount of produce was nearly equal, as I had hoped it
might be, and both preparations show a large saving as against
unprepared bones. In another experiment a larger quantity of
each manure was applied with the following result :—

Cost of Manure Produce

Bushels of Manure per Acre. per Acre, per Acre.

fe Son ee Tons. cwts.
4, 253 bones : ; 5 Vo ORO 145
5. ‘4 sulphated bones . 2 Oe 14 5
6. 122 heated bones and sand. I 11 O fia

On the three last lots it will be seen the manures were applied,
each at the rate of about half as much again as on the first three
lots. ‘The reason was this. I proved in a former Journal, by a
careful experiment devised for the purpose, that some manures,
when applied in increased quantity, do not produce a corre-
sponding increase of crop—have in fact a limit beyond which it is
vain to apply them. This view, having since been confirmed by
the experience of others, may now be regarded as founded in the
laws of vegetation. It is also strikingly confirmed here, for, by
increasing the dose of sulphated bones rather more than one half,
we get no increase of turnips: and by increasing the rough bones
one half, while swelling the expense from 46s. to 70s., we get no

On a New Mode of preparing Bones for Manure. 419

increase worth speaking of. It would be a fallacy, therefore, to
compare different manures without knowing whether each had
been used to the proper extent and no further; and this is the
exaggeration which | wished to avoid.

The result of the whole seems to recommend decidedly the
mode of preparing bones which I propose, and, but for the mistake
of my men in mixing so small a proportion of sand, I believe the
effect would have been stronger. Practically I think that the
manuring virtue of bones is increased from three to four fold by
this simple process, which cannot be said to cost anything. It
is within reach of every one to practise on a large scale and ata
few days’ notice. ‘Though I mixed barren sand with the bones
for the sake of experiment, any light loam would no doubt answer
as well or better—the soil itself, in fact, of any farm where bones
themselves are likely to answer ; and the labour is so trifling that
it is not worth speaking of.

The quantity of bones applied should be between 5 bushels
and § bushels per acre. Bones prepared in this way do not pro-
duce at first so lively an effect on the young plants as bones pre-
pared with sulphuric acid. Thus, in this trial, lot 6 looked for
many weeks worse than its neighbours, yet in solid food that lot
has turned out the best of the whole.

This mode of preparation has been tried, at my suggestion, by
a neighbouring farmer, Mr. Edmonds, who mixed up 80 bushels
of bones with sand in a single heap of a circular form, and,
having applied them at the rate of 8 bushels per acre, tells me
that he shall henceforth use bones in no other manner. Thisis no
doubt the right shape for a heap, because the exterior being
cool will always remain unchanged, though this defect might be
removed by a covering of earth. Some bulk of bones is neces-
sary, | think, to produce the heat, and the bones, as well as the
material mixed with them, should be moistened if dry,

Another farmer, Mr. Davy, who tried the mixture of bones
with ashes at my suggestion, informs me that 16 bushels of un-
prepared bones, 4 bushels of heated bones, and 2 bushels of
sulphated bones, or superphosphate, gave each the same yield of
swedes. The principle at work is evidently Putrefaction taking
place in the gelatinous substance of the bone; but no disgusting
smell is produced, merely a strong odour of ammonia when the
heap is opened. Most of this ammonia is probably drilled into
the land—an advantage over the process of dissolving bones in
acid, which seems to drive the ammonia away.

In proposing this simple method I do not mean that other in-
gredients may not be mixed up advantageously, if experience
should prove their necessity. But this is less likely, as the whole
doctrine of manuring planis with the ingredients of their ashes is

420 Trial of Seedling Potatoes. *

rendered very doubtful by Mr. Lawes’s careful experiments. In
any case, however, the process now proposed will be equally
applicable. Since this inquiry was begun, I find it mentioned
by Baron Liebig that moistened bones generate heat and enter
into putrefaction. ‘The application of this principle is what [
now feel warranted, after two years’ careful trial, to recommend
to the notice of English farmers. It is the same principle as,
when carried to excess, shows itself in the formidable shape of
spontaneous combustion; but I entertain the hope that this law
of nature, which has hitherto only been known to us by setting
fire to our ricks, or kindling the cargoes of ships, may at last
become a willing handmaid in enriching our fields.

Pusey, Nov. 7, 1847. Pu. Pusey.

XVII.— Trial of Seedling Potatoes. By W. Mixes.

To Mr, Pusey.

My. pear Pusry,—You may recollect that early in March this
year some potato-seed was distributed amongst the Members of
the Council: to my lot fell about half a table-spoon of seed and
charcoal mixed, which I immediately sent down to my gardener,
with instructions to him to do the best he could to procure the
greatest number of plants, and the largest quantity of potatoes
from each plant, so as to ensure a stock of tubers from seedling
plants, the parents of which had appeared to have been in no-
wise infected by the prevalent disease. The following is the
report sent in to me from my gardener :— |

On March 15th the seed was sown in a shallow box about
4 inches deep, and placed in an early vinery; as the plants came
up they were kept pricked off three in a large 60-sized pot, and
still kept in the vinery until the plants were about 3 inches high,
when they were potted off singly into 48-sized pots, and put into
a green-house, where they remained until the 15th of May, when
they were planted in the open ground, at 2 feet distance from
plant to plant in the row, and 3 feet from row to row. In plant-
ing the plants were turned out of the pots with the balls entire,
placed on the surface of the ground at the above distance, and the
earth then drawn to the plants, leaving only two joints or leaves
above the surface, after which they were well watered with a rose-
pot to settle the earth round the plants. About the middle of .
June the roots were found appearing very strong on the surface,
when 3 inches more earth was added to them, the same system
being continued as often as the roots appeared on the surface.
On the 5th of August six of the weakest plants were observed
ripening off, and were taken up; the others remained in the ground

Trial of Seedling Potatoes. 42}

until the 15ih of September. The following tables show the
produce of both kinds :—

Potatoes taken up August 5th.

| |

u

| |
| uantits | Number of
No. | ? of : ee Soits. | diseased
Potatces. Sah Potatoes.
bt soz: | |
1 a hy Kidney | 0
es Ls l O Ditto Q)
S 7 On? Round 0
4 19 eae 4 Ditto | O
5 Bee nO 4 Kidney | 0
6 14 | On fe Dats 0

No disease whatever appeared in these early sorts.

Potatoes taken up September Lith.

) | |
|

|

vantity : Number of
| Eee Total |

10. 3 an Sorts. isea:
: ete. Weight. | See
| DSS O25. 1
1 260 672r2 <7) Round | 20
Pe 92> i) 6) Bo) Ditto Pee
eee |o- » LEO 3 12 | Round red | 3
A | 80 See sal EP itto | 0)
SE fix -9'60 85029u / | Kidney.« | 0
6.5 80 Si) ho ob uLeO | 8
(ha 50 OF wih Reoune 14
8 3 2, 0...) Kadney. 0
9 Sea ee OR Oe 0
10 60 actly alten | Ditto 1
my | 25 Lee vee Reoundes. a 0
12 Boe Vist at GENE Ditto | 0
13 36 1 4 | Ditto 0
14 36 jeeeeil l Ditto 1
RS 21 One EI Ditto 0

The actual weight of tubers thus raised from 21 seeds was
44 lbs. 84 oz., discarding all fractions, say upon an average 2 lbs.
of healthy tubers to each plant. The number of plants thus
raised per acre would be 7260, which multiplied by 2, the aver-
age weight of the produce of each of the plants will give
14,520 lbs. = 6 tons 9 ewt. an acre, or taking the sack at 24 cwt.
to 514 sacks per acre.

VOL. VIII. 2F

42? Agriculture of Northumberland.

The result of this experiment is extraordinary from the weight
as well as the size of some of the tubers produced from these
seedling plants: the course of disease seems to have affected the
produce from untainted stock precisely in the same manner as
the field crops: for here the early sorts were entirely sound; but,
from the appearance of those I am now digging, the late sorts are
considerably affected. In the case of the seedlings planted con-
tiguous to each other, about one-half were more or less affected,
whilst the remainder wholly escaped infection: and it will be well
worth while hereafter, should the disease continue, to mark
whether the untainted seedlings show as a crop the same capa-
bility of withstanding the disease.

W. Mites.

Leigh Court, ith Oct. 1847.

XVITI.—On the Agriculture of Northumberland.
By Tuomas L. Cotzeck.

Prize Report.

Situation and Climate-— Owing to the situation which this
county occupies between the German Ocean, and the hills of
Scotland and Cumberland, the weather is subject to great and
sudden changes, causing difficulties and hindrances to the farmer,
unknown in the southern and midland counties of England.
Description of Surface-—The west part of the county consists
of bold hills, ranging from 800 to nearly 2000 feet in height, and
affords excellent pasturage to the hardy sheep of the district.
Although this part is mostly unenclosed and unimproved by at-
tention of any kind, great numbers of sheep are yearly brought
from it into the other parts of the county for fattening.
Description of Soil.—Adjoining these hills, and especially if the
subsoil be porous, there are some superior grazing farms. Gene-
rally speaking, the centre and south-east of the county consist of a
poor, wet, heavy soil, producing, comparatively, inferior crops of
corn, unless within the reach of manure. The grassland of this
district is employed in rearing short-horned cattle. At some
points along the coast a very superior wheat soil is found; but at
present by far the most valuable land to the farmer is the turnip
district on the banks of the Tweed, Aln, Coquet, and Tyne.
Size and Tenure of Estates.—In this county there are estates
of every value between the smallest dairdship and the princely
domains of the Duke of Northumberland, Earl Grey, and others ;
and, with few exceptions, the tenure is freehold.
Tenure of Karms.—Although the advantages of long leases are

Agriculture of Northumberland. 423

yearly becoming more understood, a great proportion of the farms
in this county are still let from year to year. It will indeed seem
strange, that so absurd a custom should be persisted in, when the
ruinous consequences are so apparent.

The usual form of lease, although slightly varying from local
causes, has nothing in it peculiar to the district. The time of
entry is generally ‘the 12th of May; the tenant paying no rent
until one year in possession, and allowing his predecessor the
crop from one half of the land, with the use of barn and stack-
yard, for one year after he has left. Upon the estates of the
Duke of Northumberland, and a few other landowners, the term
of entry is the 25th of March, the entering tenant obtaining pos-
session of the whole crop by paying the previous tenant, for seed
and labour. It is difficult to say which of these methods is the
best, as the best practical men are divided on the subject. In
general the owner repairs all outbuildings, the tenants being ex-
pected to cart the materials for any new erections required. Few
of the tillage farms exceed 1000 acres, and in the neighbourhood
of Newcastle there are many not more than 100 acres. The
grazing farms are much larger, many adjoming the Cheviot Hills
being very extensive.

Annual Value of the Land.—The figures on the accompanying
map will supply every information respecting the value of the land
in this county, better than a written description could have done.

Draining, §c.— Draining has been carried to a great extent
within the last few years. Some landowners charging 5 per cent.
on the entire cost, and others supplying the tiles, and the tenant
executing the drains. Instances are, however, by no means rare,
when long leases are granted, of the tenant executing the whole at
his own expense.

Frarm- Buildings, §c.—There has been a gradual improvement
of late years in the farm-buildings of this county. ‘Those erected
by the Commissioners of Greenwich Hospital, under the direction
of J. Grey, Eisq.. of Dilston, contain every convenience a farmer
could desire. There are also many farm-buildings in the north
of the county, which cannot be exceeded.

Tithes.—The late Tithe Act has happily removed many just
causes of complaint.

Poor-rates.—The poor-rates in the agricultural districts of the
county are very moderate, relief to able-bodied men being un-
known. At the time the New Poor Law came into operation,
some of the unions were highly complimented by the Commis-
sioners, for the contrast they afforded in this respect to the de-
grading practice of the southern counties.

Fig ighoa y-rates.— The highway-rates are moderate, and seldom
a serious burden to the farmer.

Os a

424 Agriculture of Northumberland.

Implements, §&c.—The implements in use in this county are
of the most improved description. The light single-horse cart is
gradually replacing the old heavy waggons and “carts : and the
Scotch swing-plough, drawn by two horses abreast, certamnly looks
neater, and produces as good work in the hands of ordinary work-
men as any of the south-country whecled ploughs. The great
disadvantage, attending many of the excellent implements shown
at the agricultural meetings, is their great complexity and conse-
quent high price.’ ‘hese two circumstances unfortunately place
many of them out of the reach of the ordinary class of farmers.
Many of the seed and manure drills, Crossgill’s patent clod-
crusher, and others of the same description, are thus unfortunately
prevented from coming into general use.

There are now few farms without a thrashing-machine ; and
the steam-engine, as applied to it, is one of the most striking ad-
ditions to the improved farm-buildings already named. Where
the farm is large it is a great acquisition. Grant's patent horse-
rake is yearly becor ming more generally used—a sure proof of its
value. ‘he writer hes een a large one of the same pattern for
several years, and finds it very useful in hay-harvest. Two men
and one horse will sweep together from 12 to 14 acres of hay per
day with it. The Hainault scythe for corn-harvest, has been
lately introduced, and is found to be a valuable acquisition.

As the turnip season is one of great consequence in the dis-
trict, the most improved turnip-drills are eagerly sought after.
The above seem to be the only farm-implements in use in the
district, which require special notice.

Description of Farming.—The systems of farming, in this ex-
tensive county, are as various as the soils and situations already
mentioned, but they may be described under three heads—

A. On Wheat Soil ;

B. On Barley or Turnip Soil; and

C. On Stock or Grazing TBlevan —

Of which I shall now pr oceed to treat in detail.

A. On Wheat Soils—-which have been described as generally
occupying the middle and south-east of the county, the fonr-
course system is universally in use, namely :—Ist year, fallow ;
2nd year, wheat; 3rd year, clover or beans; 4th year, Oats:
The improvement recently effected by draining, even on the most
stubborn wheat soils, has led to some variation in this system of
cropping. The usual practice is to allot from 12 to 15 acres of
fallow to each pair of horses, and of these about 3 to 5 acres are
in potatoes or turnips, which will make the rotation as follows.
Suppose a farm of 60 acres, of these —

Agriculture of Northumberland. 425

1. Fallow Ms See

Potatoes or turnips

10

9)

ea ASI. LO eres.
meevineat a e+ 2. 10

Barley PO aA, aie 5
tO eg Erope
see Glover, beans, or peas =. 6. Ld .,,
SEO PAGS a va). far eR EP AN a Halo? ker BOM? 95

G60 acres.

]. It is scarcely necessary to point out the advantage, of being
able to add turnips to this rotation, and since the value of guano as
a manure for this root was fully known, there seems to be no limit
to its production; thus furnishing the farmer with an increased
quantity of farm-yard dung for Te corn-crops, on which the guano
has a much less certain effect than on the turnip-crop. ‘The land,
intended for turnips, is ploughed immediately after harvest, and
as soon as it is sufficiently dry in the spring it receives one furrow
across the ridges; and afterwards, until sufficiently reduced, three
or four ploughings in the direction of the intended turnip-drills.
When a sufficient quantity of farm-yard dung can be procured,
it is sometimes spread on the level surface ; ; and drills about
28 in. wide raised with the ordinary plough. More commonly
the drills are raised, and the manure deposited in small heaps for
every three drills. After being spread on by women and children,
the dung is covered by a double mouldboard plough, reversing or
splitting the drills, and the land is ready for the seed. During its
growth the crop receives the usual attention of horse and hand
hoeing, and finally furrowing up so as to he dry during the winter.
Of late years several different varieties of turnips have been intro-
duced, but at present the favourites seem to be the swede, hybrid,
and border imperial for winter storing; and for early use none
can be more suitable than the common white globe.

2. After the turnips are sown, the remainder of the fallow receives
four or five ploughings during the summer; the manure or lime
being laid on and covered in by the last ploughing but one, which
is, if possible, done before harvest. The quantity of manure varies
with the sztwation of the farm, and the means of the farmer, be-
tween 15 and 30 loads per acre. As in turnips, so in wheat,
several different varieties have lately been introduced. Few of
them have however withstood the test of experience ; it being
found that the fine wheats from the south of England are apt to
become coarse and unproductive when sown in this county. Spar-
ling’s Prolific, and a few others, are deservedly favour ites. As the
names of the new wheats are mostly local, a mere list of them
could convey little information. This grain is usually sown broad-

426 Agriculture of Northumberland.

cast at the rate of 2 bushels per acre. From carefully conducted
experiments the writer is of opinion that the crop is generally as
productive by this method as when sown by the drill, the only
gain being about a quarter of a bushel of seed per acre, unless
the land be intended for after-cultivation, when the drill is indis-
pensable. Previous to sowing, the wheat is always carefully
steeped in chamber-lye and dried with quicklime, which is
found to be a complete safeguard against smut. In wet cold
springs this crop is sometimes seriously injured by rust. Draining
seems to be the only remedy for this disease.

Lime, when it can be procured, is found to be of great value
on the land we are describing. Unfortunately throughout the
district, it is found in such small quantities as to render it impos-
sible for the farmer to obtain sufficient of it, to produce the full
benefit of its chemical and mechanical action, on the retentive
clays of the middle of the county. Should any of the proposed
railways be the means of placing this substance within the farmer’s
reach, it would be a valuable boon.

3. The artificial grasses mostly cultivated in this rotation are
common broad clover, white clover, cow-grass (trifolium medium),
hop clover, rye-grass, annual and perennial, and sometimes the
Italian rye-grass. They are sown upon the wheat or barley as
early as possible in the spring. Of all the crops which the farmer
cultivates, there are none which he finds so unmanageable as the
red clover ; and, next to the improvement effected by the culture
of turnips, the most valuable is that produced by the bean and
pea. It is found that after clover has been cultivated a number
of years, on the same ground, it at length fails altogether ; nor can
any after-cultivation or cropping, except the bean, restore the
land to its original fertility. The general plan is to sow one half,
or at least one-third, of the wheat-stubble with beans or peas, so
that the same land is only in clover once in eight years, or twice
in twelve. The only preparation the land receives for beans, is
one furrow early in winter, and about 4 bushels per acre is the
usual quantity of seed. The drill is universally used for this
crop, horse and hand hoeing being indispensable. The produce
varies very much; about 20 bushels per acre will be near the
average.

In the neighbourhood of Warkworth and some other parts of
the county, whilst the soil is sufficiently strong to bear excellent
crops of wheat, the subsoil is dry enough to be worked early in
the spring. It is the practice in that neighbourhood, to drill up
the land intended for beans in the same way as done for turnips—
a most admirable practice, as it allows the free application of the
horse-hoe, and leaves the ground in as perfect a state as can be
desired for after-cropping.

Agriculture of Northumberland. 427

Cow-grass and Italian rye-grass have only lately been intro-
duced. The former is found to be exceedingly valuable, as it
will grow on land which is tired of broad clover, though it does
not produce a good aftermath.

The common vetch grows very well on the wheat stubble, and
is used as green food for the farm cattle.

The hay-harvest is slower than in the south of England, as the
weather is more changeable and liable to frequent showers, The
swathes are not broken up until the hay is sufficiently dry to keep
in small temporary stacks containing | or 2 cart-loads, in which
it is allowed to remain until in a fit state for the large stacks.

On the description of land now under consideration, neither
turnips, tares, nor clover are consumed on the ground; they are
either made into hay or eaten by the stock in the farm-yards or
stables.

4. The Tartar, Hopetown, and Potato oats are all cultivated in
this district. On the high land adjoining the sheep pastures, at
the west side of the county, oats are sometimes sown, after turnips
or fallow, it bemg found that they will ripen when wheat cannot
be profitably cultivated. With this exception, they are sown after
beans, peas, or clover.

When the rotation that we are describing is followed, there is
not much stock kept, the permanent grass, of which every farm
has a proportion, being either made into hay or employed in rear-
ing young cattle. <A tract of land near Stamfordham is, however,
an exception to this remark, as the grass-land is of such good qua-
lity that considerable quantities of heavy stock are yearly turned
off it, fat.

B. Barley and Turnip Retation—The low price of grain for
the last few years has caused more attention to be paid to this
system of farming than that which we have been describing. The
part of the county where this rotation is mostly practised, has been
already described, and, as it is in the hands of men of capital,
presents a striking contrast in the style of management to the
wheat-farming already alluded to. The farm-buildings are also
erected in a style of elegance and convenience which will bear
comparison with those of any part of the kingdom, perhaps of the
world. ‘The northern part of the county especially, has long been
justly praised.

A dry porous subsoil is an essential requisite for this descrip-
tion of farming; where this is found, throughout the county the
rotation is—

1, Turnips—2. Barley—3. Clover and grass seeds—4. Ditto
ditto—5., Oats.

1. Yurnips.—So much has the cultivation of this valuable root
increased since the general use of bones and guano, that large

498 Agriculture of Northumberland.

quantities are now sent by shipping to Newcastle from the north-
ern part of the county. [tis indeed impossible to over-estimate
the value of these manures, their effect upon this crop being so
certain. Before they came into general use, the only resource the
farmer had was his farm-yard dung, which could only raise a suf-
ficient quantity of food to keep the stock alive, instead of fattening
them, as now, during the winter.

Early in February the bustle of preparation for turnip seed-time
commences ; the horses are worked with but little intermission from
five in the morning until dark, so that each pair will put in about 17
acres during the season. ‘The preparation of the land and after-
culture of the turnip do not differ from that already described, ex-
cept in the substitution of bones and guano for the farm-yard
dung; they are now generally used mixed, at the rate of 4 ewt.
per acre. No effectual remedy appears to have been discovered
for the ravages of the fly or caterpillar. It is found that after
the turnip has been cultivated a number of years on the same
ground, it is attacked by what is here called “ fingers and toes,”
which is caused by a small beetle. Lime is said to remedy this
evil, but the only certain cure 1s either a bare fallow or a crop of
potatoes instead of the turnips. ‘The ground is seldom stripped
entirely of the turnips, that being found too impoverishing. The
usual practice is, to pull off every alternate 6 drills, for the use of
the cattle in the folds, and to eat the remainder on with sheep ;
the dry character of the land rendering this easy, and more
beneficial than any amount of manure that conld be applied, for
the after-crops.

2. The preparation of the land and after-culture of the barley
do not differ from what has been already described. The Che-
valier is usually grown, and, if it follows a good crop of turnips,
will yield as far as 50 bushels per acre. Although this rotation
is commonly called the turnip and barley system, it might with
nearly equal propriety be called the turnip and wheat, as a most
striking change has taken place of late in the extent to which
wheat is grown on light soils, where its culture was formerly
thought impossible. It is found, when the turnips are eaten on
the land with sheep, abundant crops of wheat can be grown, if
sown before February or even March.

3 and 4. As in the previous rotation, clover and grass seeds are
sown upon the wheat or barley in the spring.* On all but the
very richest land, the grass remains two years at least. It is gene-

* On wheat soils, the following is the quantity sown :—Broad clover,
5lbs.; hop clover, 1]b.; and white, 1]b.; with } bushel of rye-grass per
acre. On turnip-land the writer has been informed that the following
never fails to produce a good crop :—Broad clover, 5]bs.; white, 3 lbs. ;
hop, 2lbs.; rib-grass, 2]bs.; with 1 bushel of rye-grass.

Agriculture of Northumberland. 429

rally mown the first year, and pastured the second. In the neigh-
bouring county of Berwickshire the five-course system is uniy ersal,
and permanent grass dispensed with altogether.

5. The oat-crop is managed precisely as in the previous rota-
tion, although the better varieties are commonly grown, such as
the Potato and Hopetown.

It must not be omitted to mention, that the pea takes the same
place in this system of cropping that the bean does in that already
described, and with equal advantage to the clover-crop.

The farms under this rotation are generally on long leases, thus
giving proper security to the spirited farmer, who rarely fails to
benefit both himself and landlord by the use of costly artificial
manures, and by feeding his cattle with oil-cake. Lime is also
frequently carted a distance of forty miles, and found to repay this
greatexpense. Whatever may be said by interested parties against
the farmers as a class (sometimes with too much truth), here it 1s
undeserved. We have no hesitation in saying, that a more enter-
prising body of men does not exist than those who farm in the dis-
trict we haye been describing.

Though the potato is not so extensively cultivated as the turnip
in this county, it deserves some notice, forming as it does so seri-
ous an item in the food of all classes. The supply for the wants
of the county is, in a great measure, drawn by railway from Cum-
berland, and by shipping from Scotland. ‘This root requires a
rather stronger soil than turnips, and is here cultivated in pre-
cisely a similar manner in drills, the lazy-bed system of the
southern counties being unknown. If the statements of the old
farmers are to be relied on, there is a yearly increasing difficulty
in securing a good crop of potatoes, so much so, that the kidney
potaio, formerly the universal favourite, has long ceased to be a
profitable crop. Experiments of every kind have been tried in
the county to prevent the ravages of the disease, but hitherto with-
out success. Notwithstanding all that has been said and written
on this important subject, we feel ourselves compelled to agree
with a speaker at the late meeting of the British Association, ‘that
we literally know nothing about either the cause or the remedy of
the potato disease.

C. In describing the stock, and system of stock-feeding in
Northumberland, ie writer thinks he will be best understood by
dividing the subject into three heads :—1. On the Hill or Br ceding
Fars: 2. On the Turnip Farms; and 3. On the Graz ing
Farms, with Turnips.

1. On the Hill or Breeding Farms.—A great portion of the
western and north-western parts of Nor thumberlan ad, as already
named, are solely adapted for sheep pasturage, and the Cheviot
breed is mainly if not altogether kept. ‘The farms in this district

430 Agriculture of Northumberland.

are strictly breeding farms. The usual practice is to cast the
spare stock at May and October, but principally in the autumn.
It is only off farms which will not keep their wethers until 24
years old, that a cast of hogs and dinmonts takes place in the month
of May, or that a very prosperous lambing season has thrown the
tenants into a larger stock, than the farm may be safely trusted to
keep, on account of eating the ground too bare and rotting the
stock, which misfortune, however, does not now so often happen
since more attention has been paid to draining. The ewes are
cast in October, at five or six years old, and generally sold to
farmers occupying the lower and better land of Northumberland,
where they are fed the same season, the more backward ones re-
ceiving a few turnips. The tups are put to the ewes on or about
November 22, and have their first lambs at three years old.
The lambs are taken from their mothers in June, and generally
sent away for a month to be spained, or weaned. It is a received
opinion among stockmasters, that the harder lambs are kept dur-
ing the weaning month the healthier they become. Places, having
a great proportion of black heather, to which the lambs are sent
for amonth, are carefully selected so as to get them well birned, or
hardened. But as many as four or five to the score of young hogs
are sometimes lost by sickness,—though this has also been much
remedied by greater attention to draining. ‘The young wethers,
as they are called, are cast at the same time, and sold at the same
fairs as the other sheep. Those in good condition, and off the best
farms, are bought for turniping—the inferior ones are wintered
again, without turnips, and fattened the nextsummer. ‘The latter
usually come into the market in September.

A great improvement has taken place in the breed of this class
of stock within the last few years. A keen and praiseworthy
competition now exists amongst the stockmasters as to who can
produce the best stock, for which local shows have been esta-
blished in Reidwater and North Tyne. ‘The Messrs. Robson, of
Keildor, seem to have taken the lead as breeders of this stock,
having been the most successful competitors.

The first and principal improvements to be made upon hill
farms are draining and planting, and much judgment should be
exercised in so laying out a plantation as to throw shelter over
the largest quantity of ground. It is a fault too commonly com-
mitted in making shelter for sheep upon hill farms, to plant small
enclosures. These certainly give shelter in a stormy night, but
in a continuance of severe weather they do more harm than good,
by inducing the sheep to run to shelter; whereas if large belts of
plantations, stretching along rising ground, were made, they would
give shelter to the lower ground for miles in hard weather; and
the sheep would get out to feed. It is in keen nipping weather,

Agriculture of Northumberland. 431

when the wind is high, that sheep run most to shelter, and
lose their condition, which might be greatly avoided by judicious
planting.

2. On Turnip Farms.—As already named, the great object
with the farmers in the north and north-eastern part of Northum-
berland, is to raise as many turnips as possible, one half of which
are usually consumed on the land by sheep, and the other half
drawn off to feed the cattle in the folds.

On the farms between Wooler and the Tweed, which are all on
the five-course system, a breeding stock of pure Leicester sheep
is generally kept, and great competition now exists who can pro-
duce the finest stock. The ewes are drafted off for sale in Sep-
tember, at four years old. In the year 1846 from 46s. to 48s.
per head was obtained for the primest lots, but on an average of
years from 30s. to 40s. is the usual price. They generally have
their first lambs at two yearsold. On farms where larger breadths
of turnips are sown, the Wedder lambs are netted upon them in
October, and full fed. The swede turnips are invariably cut for
them. ‘This is quite necessary, as full-fed hogs shed their teeth
in February, which prevents them from breaking the hard turnips.
They are generally brought into the market, after being shorn, in
May and June, and vary in weight between 15]bs. and 18 lbs. per
quarter. But if, as is often done, they receive corn and oil-cake,
they are often 20 lbs. per quarter. ‘The ewe lambs not required
to keep up the breeding stock are marked out in the autumn, and,
although well fed, are scarcely so highly treated as the others.
Besides the sheep, the tenants occupying such farms as we are
now describing rear a good many calves, mostly contriving to
bring up three for each cow during the winter and spring. These
are grazed on the new grass, and kept till one year and a half old,
after which they are fed fat with full turnips in the yard, and will
bring at two years as much as 15/. to 18/7. The extra cattle, re-
quired to consume the turnips, are purchased at the district fairs,
or from south-country dealers. Itis necessary to pay great atten.
tion to the feeding cattle, to see that they are kept clean, and get
their meat at different times of the day; keeping them clean and
warm being,in the words of a respectable farmer, “as good as half
meat.”

On the turnip farms to which a stretch of hill land is attached,
such as some west of Wooler, two kinds of stock are kept—on the
low lands the Leicesters, and on the hills the Cheviots. In order
to keep up their Cheviot stock, many farmers breed from the
young ewes to a Cheviot tup, and in the last year or years, from
the ewes they are going to cast, they commonly take a cross of
lambs by a Leicester tup: the lambs by this parentage are called
half-breds. 'They are generally half-turniped in winter, that is,

432 Agriculture of Northumberland.

they are kept on the turnips till mid-day, and then allowed to
make out to the hills in the afterpart of the day. The ewe hogs
are generally fed off grass the following summer, and sold fat.
The wethers are grazed, and either sold in October, to feed on
turnips, or kept and fed by the breeder. When it is not intended
to feed hogs off turnips, but to graze them the following summer,
it 1s best to allow them to come to turnips as soon as they come
from their Jair in the morning, and to make off into rough land in
the afternoon, as by this means they get to more bone and grow
to a larger size, and produce the finest quality of mutton. ‘The
sheep also get fuller in the loins by being more gradually fed.
The variety of food has also the good effect of keeping the sheep
in health. However simple the above fact may seem at first
sight, itis found to be of first-rate import tance by men of expe-
rience ; where no such heathy ground is at the farmer’s command,
it is always advisable to give the sheep hay or pea-straw, as either
has the effect of making them relish the turnips, and keeps their
teeth clean.

The Leicester and Cheviot sheep are both exceedingly well
adapted to the situations in which they are kept and the treat-
ment they commonly receive. ‘The Leicesters only do well oa
low, dry, warm, and level lands; being of a quiet, domestic, and
inactive nature, yea should procure their meat easily, and have a
great deal of rest during the day. ‘The Cheviot sheep, on the
contrary, are of a sprightly, wild, active nature, and lightly made.
They take little rest during the day, and wide ranges to seek their
food, which circumstances recommend them above every other
breed to the Northumberland hill farmer. ‘fhe Cheviot sheep
are superior to the Highland black-faced sheep, as they are not so
wild as the latter, and come earlier to maturity.

As sheep for grazing purposes, there are none equal to the
half-breds, already named, especially if intended to be fed off grass
of second quality, without having had good treatment the previous
winter. ‘They perhaps do not fatten so readily at an early age
as the Leicester sheep, but were they to receive as good treatment
from their birth, and kept to two years old, they would make as
heavy sheep, and worth more by the pound. ‘They possess in a
medium degree, when fat, the best points of the Leicester and
Cheviot sheep. Both these breeds are spotty in their points when
fat; the former may be considered prime when they have fat ribs,
Joins, and good breasts, without being fat on their tail-heads, and
with small neck-veins and legs; the latter may be said to be
prime, with fat tail-heads, good neck-veins, loins, and legs, with-
out being fat on their ribs and breasts. ‘The half-bred sheep,
when fat, possess all these good qualities in a happy medium, and
justly deserve to be called the nicest muttoned sheep fed in

Agriculture of Northumberland. 433

Northumberland. The excellence of a fat sheep does not consist
in extreme fatness, but being full in his loin and fine points, such
as neck, ribs, legs, &c. ‘The half-bred are the most fashionable,
and most liked by the butchers having the best retail trade. In
summer they command a higher price by $d. perlb. The Clieviot
sheep fed off turnips from January to May, if good, will certainly
command as good a price in the market as the half-bred, as the
weather is then cold enough to admit of the mutton being kept
until tender; besides, the loin Jooks so black in sunny weather,
that it is not to be compared to that of the half-bred sheep. It
is therefore the writer’s decided opinion, where the situation is
suitable, that the half-bred sheep are the finest, and most profit-
able to the farmer, especially for feeding off grass. They are also
longer in their shapes and quarters than the Leicester sheep, which
advantage they derive from the Cheviots. This confirms the
writer in his opinion, that after coming to a certain age they would
get heavier sheep. For full feeding and early maturity there are
no sheep equal to the Leicester, but the mutton is not so good in
quality, and without flavour ; consequently, it does not bring so high
a price; and what still contributes to make the half-bred the more
valuable is, that their wool is worth from I3d. to 2d. per lb. more.

3. On Grazing Farms with Turnips.—It will be perceived
that, in the previous article, the writer has anticipated his subject,
as far as sheep are concerned: nothing now remains but to de-
scribe the system followed in grazing and feeding cattle.

The quality of the land, of course, decides the kind of stock
purchased for it. We feed, upon all land that will graze fat,
from a Durham ox to a Kyloe heifer. If the land be of first-rate
quality, of course the Durham ox is preferred, as he will grow
more than any other description of stock fed in Northumberland,
and possesses a greater aptitude to fatten. In selecting feeding-
stock, it should always be kept in mind to choose such as are
likely to grow in size, and at the same time have a disposition to
feed ; which two important qualities the Durham ox seems to
possess to a greater extent than any other breed, and is therefore
most profitable to the farmer on good land. Heifers of this breed
will graze upon land of an inferior quality from that required by
oxen: they also feed faster, though they do not grow so fast.
Next to the Durhams, the most profitable stock fed in the county
is the Argyleshire heifer. An ox or stot of this breed requires as
good land as the Durhams to feed on; and sometimes they will
make as much profit, as they are highly prized by the butchers
who have a good retail trade, on account of their cutting out so
well in their fine points, and having so little coarse beef about
them. They are generally one, and sometimes two years older
than the Durhams, when put up to feed, and, of course, do not

434 Agriculture of Northumberland.

grow so well as the latter; which induces the writer to give them
the preference to the Argyleshire cattle. The Durhams feed
best at three years old, and the Argyles at four. A heifer of this
breed will feed on much inferior land to that required by a Dur-
ham heifer: while the latter requires land worth 30s. per acre,
the former will do well on land from 12s. to 20s. per acre. One
other striking difference between the two breeds is, that the Ar-
gyles swell more out, but do not grow so much as the Durhams.
There is, however, no class of stock sells better than the Argyles
between September and Christmas, if between 34 and 40 stones
weight. ‘The grazing of this class of stock has much increased
within the last few years in Northumberland; and, now that
travelling is so easy, most of the extensive farmers attend the
large Scotch trysts in the autumn, where they purchase heifers to
graze on their inferior grass-land, which they suit better than any
other description. The black-polled Angus-shire cattle have
also lately been introduced into Northumberland. ‘They are the
principal breed of cattle in Fife, Perth, and Forfar, where stall-
feeding is adopted, for which purpose they are preferred by the
farmers in that district. Where attention has been paid to the
breed, these are found to be excellent cattle, and have been
brought to great perfection by Mr. Watson of Keillor, and some
others. Ofall the plans for fattening cattle, there seems to be
none which possesses so many advantages as stall-feeding. Eco-
nomy and variety in food, together with perfect cleanliness, can
be secured by this means alone. The collection and saving of
the liquid manure can be managed with ease and certainty, in
vain to be expected in open folds. Although considerable atten-
tion has been directed to it lately, the writer is not aware that it
has been adopted in Northumberland except for milk cows,
When such expensive food as linseed, peas-meal, and crushed
corn are used, unless the cattle are stall-fed, there is great waste.
Although these articles named may seem too expensive for cattle,
yet the improvement which always follows a variety of food, as
well as the increased value of the manure (particularly with lin-
seed cake), is found to remunerate the farmer, as the cattle fatten
more than when confined to one diet, such as turnips. And if
food is thus judiciously given, a less weight of nourishment will
produce the same results as to weight of beef. ‘The Irish cattle are
found to do very well on land of similar value to that required by
the Argyle heifer, though much inferior in feeding qualities to the
latter. The breed has been much improved by a judicious cross
with the Durhams. ‘They are most suitable for wintering in an
open fold, when poor keep only can be procured, and do not
answer so well as the Argyles, which do not require better land
to feed on.

Agriculture of Northumberland. 435

In concluding this brief notice of the stock-farming in N orth-
umberland, the writer has found himself at a loss how to express
himself sufficiently concisely, as scarcely two farmers can be found
to agree in their plans and mode of procedure. ‘The foregoing
remarks will not, however, be found far from the truth as applied
to any part of the county, though most applicable to the northern,
as the most important cattle-feeding district.

Horses are not reared to the same extent in the county as for-
merly, in consequence of their decline in value for several years.
Several of the wealthy proprietors have, however, their racing and
hunting studs. Perhaps the most celebrated was that of the late
Mr. Ord of Nunnykirk, the owner and breeder of the famous
Berswinc. ‘The farm-horses are generally light, clean legged,
and active, at present worth about 35/. each, although a few years
ago the same horse would scarcely have brought 20/. The old-
fashioned plan of feeding farm-horses on hay is fast creeping into
disuse, and the less expensive one of giving them straw, and boiled
or crushed corn, during winter, and tares or other green food
during summer, is fast gaining ground. Bean straw is the best
of this description of food, the only precaution necessary during
the time the horses are fed with it, is to supply them very regularly
with turnips and boiled corn, as they are hable to inflammation
and colic, if neglected. Along with the steam thrashing-machines
already mentioned, it has become usual to attach a corn-crushing
. mill, whichis said to save about one-fifth of the corn. Hay-cutters,
although in use in gentlemen’s stables, have not yet become
general in the county.

A few years ago the writer had an opportunity of comparing
the condition of the farm-labourers of Northumberland with
those of Somerset, Dorset, and Devon, and never can the difference
be forgotten. At that time, the labourers here were receiving at
least 50 per cent. more wages than in the southern counties, and,
as already named, relief to able-bodied paupers is entirely un-
known in Northumberland, the demoralizing, degrading effect of
which practice upon the people is too well known to need any
comment here. Although not so ambitious as our neighbours in
Scotland to secure a classical education for the poor, there are
very few of our farm-servants who do not manage to procure for
their children the common rudiments of an English education.
This combination of circumstances has produced in Northumber-
land a decidedly superior class of servants to those in many of the
southern counties. In the populous districts, it is now customary
for a great majority of the men to enrol themselves in “ Self-
supporting Sick and Burial Clubs ;” and though they may not
be on the best possible plan, they are a pleasing sign of a wish
amongst the poor to place themselves above (what they consi-

436 Agriculture of Northumberland.

der) the degradation of applying for parochial relief. It is still
usual, in many places, to pay the yearly servants in the pro-
duce of the farm; however, as the men are beginning to find
that they receive less actual wages in this case than when paid in
money, the custom is fast dyig away. The work on the farms
is now principally done by resident married men, as their wives
and children are found very useful, and more to be depended on
than those of the neighbouring cottagers. ‘The married men are
always engaged for a year, and at present receive 14s. per week,
with house and coals. ‘The young men, who always reside in the
farmer’s house, receive about 20/. per annum, and the female
servants about 9/.to 10/. There is every prospect of a rise in the
price of labour, consequent on the demand caused by railways, and
the general briskness of trade in the district. For the ordinary
work on the farm, females are employed at 10d. per day, and
nearly the whole of the harvest-work in the county is done by
women, who are paid from 2s. to 3s. per day. Where they can-
not be procured, Irish labourers are employed, generally at so
much per acre and their food, the price varying with the crop.
With little fear of contradiction, it may be asserted that no por-
tion of England has made such rapid improvement within the
last forty years as Northumberland. At the time of Bailly and
Cully’s Report, it seems to have been usual to take two white
crops in succession for one fallow (as is still done in the worst
part of Ireland), and to continue to do so, until the land was
worn out; after which, it was allowed to remain as many years in
grass as it had been in tillage. ‘The day in which such farming
could be tolerated has, however, long gone by. In perusing the
Report already named, it will also be observed that the point prin-
cipally insisted on is to maintain a proper proportion between the
grass and tillage Jand on each farm. However necessary such
a plan might be at a time when the artificial manures were un-
known, oil-cake as food for cattle unheard of, and the artificial
grasses but little cultivated, no such necessity now exists. Indeed,
as we have named, on the best turnip-soils old grass has long been
dispensed with. Since the beginning of the present century, the
farming of this county has undergone every species of trial between
high prohibitory duties and free trade, notwithstanding which
there has been a general steady rise in the value of land; and
many estates, especially in the turnip district, now bring nearly
the same rental they did when wheat was 150s. per quarter. It
is mentioned in Bailly and Cully’s Report that the weekly show
of stock in Morpeth market was 80 cattle and 1600 sheep. This
market was removed to Newcastle five or six years ago; and on
the 28:h November, 1846, there were shown 287 cattle and 4) 28
sheep! These figures certainly show a greatly increased produc-

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Agriculture of Northumberland. 437

tion; and there is no doubt but if the same means of comparison
existed, there would be found an equal or greater increase in the
production of grain. We have no hesitation in attributing this
improvement mainly to the improved turnip husbandry, as the
increase in cattle is in the face of many thousand acres of grass
land having been brought under the plough: thus proving the
striking fact, that we now can, with much less grass land than
formerly, actually feed more cattle, as well as grow more corn. lt
must, however, be admitted, that whilst a part of the increased
growth of corn is to be attributed to the grass land, brought into
cultivation, and the application of artificial manures, some of it is
owing to the draining, which has been extensively practised in
the county for several years. As it is yet an undecided question
how this improvement, draining, is best carried into effect, it
appears advisable to state the different plans adopted, and leave
it to experience to decide the question. On the Duke of
Northumberland’s estates, under the direction of Mr. Lorrain,
the drains are cut 3 feet deep and 20 feet apart, the clay that is
cut out being carefully spread over the land, and the tiles slightly
covered with straw, or stones, if procurable. Soles, or tiles with
bottoms, are always used. The entire cost is about 7/. per
acre, upon which the tenant is charged a per centage. On some
other estates it has lately been the practice to cut the drains 5 feet
deep and 30 feet apart, and the tiles are carefully puddled over
with clay. Near Newcastle a third plan is followed: whenever
springs or outbursts are seen to exist, they are first carefully cut
off by deep stone-drains ; afterwards furrow-drains are made, 2
feet to 24 feet deep, and 20 feet apart ; if of a greater depth than
this, they are filled up ¢o the level of the plough with some porous
material, and the clay, taken out of the drains, spread over the
land as far as possible from them. Whilst such very opposite
plans are followed by persons of great experience, it is almost
presumption in the writer to give his opinion, especially as the
advocates of each plan are equally sanguine of success : there seems
at present no other course but to look forward to the speedy sei-
tlement of the dispute, with anxiety commensurate with its im-
portance,

It must, however, be acknowledged, that though much has been
drained, sadly too much remains to be done. On some estates
in the wheat district, which require it most, scarcely anything has
been effected.

bo
Q

VOL. VIII.

( 438 )

XIX.—On the Cultivation of Flax. By Grorecr NicHotts.

To extend the cultivation and improve the management of
flax in its several stages of growth and preparation, are objects
well worthy the attention of our English agriculturists, involving
as these objects do highly important considerations, both in a
social and an economical point of view; for an extension of flax
culture, coupled with an improved system of management, will not
only add to the national wealth by the production of a highly
valuable commodity, but will at the same time conduce to the
well-being of the working classes by enlarging the field of labour
and the means of profitable employment. |

The cultivation of flax is of very great antiquity. It is noticed
as one of the crops grown in Egypt in the time of Moses,*
and “fine linen” is spoken of in many parts of the sacred
writings. Flax has been cultivated in India and Central Asia
from the remotest periods, and is still grown there, chiefly, how-
ever, for the sake of the oil obtained from the seed. It was
known to the Greeks and Romans, who used the fibre for making
linen and other purposes, and it has continued to be grown for
like objects throughout Europe to the present day.

The flax-plant is not restricted to any particular soil or situa-
tion, but flourishes over a great extent of the earth’s surface, in
the cold regions of Russia and America, as well as in the warmer
climes of Asia and Africa. Hitherto it appears to have attained
the greatest degree of perfection in Belgium and Holland, espe-
cially in the former country, where the utmost care is bestowed
on its cultivation, as well as on the preparation of the fibre; and
to this, rather than to any peculiar advantages in soil or climate,
is to he attributed the general superiority of the Belgian flax.

Flax is indigenous to England, but when it was first cultivated
here is not known: most likely i in the time of the Romans, who
were accustomed to its use, and knew the purposes to which the
fibre was applicable. lis culture was probably continued after
the Roman period; but we find no mention made of it in any
public record until 1175, when flax was included in a list of tithe-
able articles, and when its growth must therefore be presumed to
have been considerable.

With wealth and civilization the use of linen would no doubt
increase, as would the demand for flax, which of course would
lead to its extended cultivation. Still, however, it appears not to
have been cultivated to the extent required, for in 1532 the legis-

lature passed an act (24 Henry VIII., cap. 14) requiring that

* Exodus, Sth chap., 3ist and 32nd verses,

On the Cultivation of Flax. 439

every person occupying land apt for tillage, should for every 60
- acres sow 1 rood at least with flax. This provision was re~
enacted in 1541 ; and in 1562 (5 Eliz. cap. 5) the quantity was
increased to 1 acre under a penalty of 57. In 1691 (3 Wm. and
Mary, cap. 3) with a view to encourage its cultivation, the tithe on
flax was fixed at 4s. per acre, which was afterwards increased to
5s. by the 11 & 12 Wm. III. In 1713 a bounty of Id. per ell
was granted by the 12 Anne, cap. 16, on the exportation of British-
made sail-cloth; and in 1806, 46 Geo. III., a bounty was offered
for the importation of flax and hemp from our American colonies ;
and finally, in 1809, the sum of 20,000/. was appropriated to en-
courage the saving of flax-seed in Ireland.

These enactments show the importance heretofore attached to
the growth of flax, and they likewise lead us to infer that our
supply of home-grown flax was never equal to the demand; in
consequence of which our manufacturers were then compelled, as
they are compelled at the present day, to resort to foreign markets
for an article which ought to be raised at home. Flax was never-
theless grown more or less in every part of England; and its use
for domestic purposes was everywhere observable, the spinning-
wheel being seen in almost every dwelling, from the cottage to
the palace; and the thrifty housewife used to exhibit her stores of
snow-white linen, the handywork of her own household, with as
much pride as a modern fine lady now feels in exhibiting her
worsted work and embroidery. The spinning-wheel is now rarely
seen, and stores of linen are only found in the warehouse of the
manufacturer, or in the shop of the retail dealer.

Hitherto one of the chief impediments to an extended growth.
of flax has been the notion generally entertained of its being a
peculiarly exhausting crop. It was not unusual a century ago,
and the practice is not altogether discontinued at the present day,
to introduce covenants into leases restricting tenants from its cul-
tivation, or limiting the extent and frequency of the crop. De-
spite of these restrictions, however, flax has continued to be culti-
vated, especially in the county of Somerset; and although for the
most part it is roughly and imperfectly managed, so as to be fitted
only for the coarser purposes, it has not, we may presume, been
on the whole otherwise than remunerative to the grower.

The prevalent notion as to the very exhausting effects of the
flax crop, was, nevertheless, it must be confessed, not altogether
an exaggeration, for under the old system it returned nothing
to the soil. ‘The fault, however, lay in the management, not in
the nature of the crop. All crops are more or less exhausting, in
proportion to what they abstract from the soil, and to what they
again return to it in the shape of manure; and measured by this
test, flax under a right system of management will be found less

?) o>
“#GaZ

449 On the Cultivation of Flax.

exhausting than grain crops, and probably as little so as any crop
whatever.

It is well known that plants and vegetables of all kinds derive
part of their nourishment from the earth, and part from the atmos-
phere. Ifthe portion derived from the earth be again returned
to it, no exhaustion takes place, and successive crops may be
raised without injury to the productive energies of the soil. Now
no crop will return more of what was derived from the soil than
flax, provided a right application be made of the seed and refuse
of the plant. It has been shown in a series of carefully conducted
experiments by Professor Sir R. Kane, that the fibre of the flax-
plant is obtained entirely from the atmosphere, that no part of it
is derived from the soil ;* and therefore, if the other portions are
returned to the soil, as they may and ought to be, its powers will
remain undiminished, whilst the fibre, the most valuable portion
of the plant, would be left for the benefit of the cultivator.

One great object to be aimed at therefore in flax culture, and
which is in fact hardly second in importance to that of producing
the best description of fibre, is such a disposal of all the other
portions of the plant as shall ensure their return to the soil in the
shape of manure. ‘This object has hitherto been little attended
to, and hence the prevalent notion as to the peculiarly exhausting
nature of the flax crop; but now that the value of the seed for
fattening cattle has been so fully proved by Mr. Warnes of Nor-
folk and others, every farmer will be enabled, by applying the
seed of his flax crop to that purpose, to obtain a supply of the
richest manure, which, with the offal separated from the fibre in
course of preparation, will serve to renovate the soil and secure its
undiminished fertility.

The chief difference therefore between the mode of cultivation
hitherto practised, and that now recommended, consists in this :—
by the old plan the seed and refuse were wasted or sold off the
land, and nothing was returned to the soil: but by the new plan the
seed and refuse are carefully preserved, and the former is applied
to the fattening of cattle; and thus every portion of the plant
except the fibre (which as before shown is obtained from the
atmosphere) will be returned to the soil. This would doubtless
be the proper practice under any circumstances, but it is pecu-
harly applicable to England, where animal food is so largely con-
sumed. In no other country can flax-seed be applied to feeding
purposes with greater advantage ; and if restriction of any kind be
resorted to, it should be not to prohibit the growth of flax, but to
prevent the tenant from selling the seed off the farm, and to re-

* See extracts from a Memoir by Professor Kane, as given in the appen-
dix of the third Report of the Irish Society for promoting the growth and
improvement of Flax,

On the Cultivation of Flax. 441

quire him to use it for fattening cattle and increasing his stock of
manure.

Another circumstance which operated to discourage the culti-
vation of flax in this country, was the introduction of cotton, and
the application of steam-power and machinery to spinning and
weaving the cotton fibre, which so greatly reduced the cost of
fabrics made of that material, that they in a short time almost en-
tirely superseded linen in the ordinary clothing of the people, and
flax became less in demand.

But within the last twenty years, the ingenuity of our mechanics
has succeeded in applying steam-power and machinery to the
preparation and spinning of flax; and the great difference which
before existed between the prices of cotton and linen fabrics has
in consequence been so much reduced, that at present the latter
may be considered as cheap as the former, having regard to the
durability of each. This has led to a more extended use of linen;
and as the home growth has not increased, or at least not at all in
proportion, the quantity of foreign flax imported has of late years
been very considerable, as appears by the following statement ab-
stracted from the Parliamentary Returns :—

Tons. Cwt.
1842, Flaximported . . 57,287 19

1843, a Ede HTS OT LO
1844, cf ea ONe TA a
1845, “ staan T0921 a8

ee ee

Average of four years . 69,810 6%

If we assume 50/. per ton to be the average value of the flax
imported in the above four years, it will have cost the country
3,490,5207., or close upon three millions and a half per annum,
to obtain an article which might have been produced at home
with profit to the farmer, with benefit to the labouring population
by the increased employment it would have afforded, and with ad-
vantage to the whole community.*

* Mr. Nicholls is a very able advocate, and in this excellent report he
brings fully before us all the advantages likely to result from the ex-
tended cultivation of flax. It could scarcely be expected that he should
also argue the opposite side of the question; but, whether treated asa ques-
tion of grave national import, or merely as one of individual profit and loss
to those about to commence flax growing, it appears to me very import-
ant that, together with the above startling items of national expenditure,
we should also have before us a brief sketch of the set-offs which must be
entered in the national iedger, before a balance can be struck for or
against this particular crop.

It would doubtless, at first sight, be considered hyperbolic to state, that
by growing in the United Kingdom the amount of flax now imported (va-

442 On the Cultivation of Flax.

Seeing then that flax is not of necessity an exhausting crop,
but on the contrary, under proper management, a highly restora-
tive crop; and seeing that the application of machinery to the
spinning of flax has so reduced the price of linen as to bring it
into successful competition with fabrics formed of cotton, thus

Jued above at three millions and a half per annum), we should displace
corn now grown in the British Islands to at least three-fourths of that
amount; yet that such is the fact, a few sentences will suffice to show.

To avoid ‘even the appearance of impugning in the smallest peelee Mr,

Nicholls’ statements, I will take his figures as the basis of my calculation,
and assume in round numbers that 70,000 tons of flax are annually im-
ported, and that (as is subsequently stated) forty stone of flax (value
7s. 6d. per stone) is the average produce of a reasonably well cultivated
acre of flax. At this rate the 70,000 tons of imported flax would require
280,000 acres of land for its production. In what state must this land be
to produce forty stone of flax per acre? Mr. Nicholls very justly con-
‘siders it indispensable that the land should be ‘clean and in good tilth,”
1.e., precisely in the state in which it is best fitted for producing corn.
Now, if in England, asin America or Australia, there existed an almost
unlimited extent of fertile but uncultivated land, then, indeed, it might
be taken for granted that any article of import which could be grown at
home, would be a saving to the nation of the whole sum formerly paid on
that account, because the previous products of the soil need not be dimi-
nished to make room for it; but in England every acre, of even moderate
fertility, has its work to do, and no new crop can be introduced without
displacing an old one. The only way therefore of calculating the pro-
bable advantage of extending the cultivation of the flax crop, is by
striking a balance between the net produce.of an acre of flax, and that of
the same acre if otherwise cropped. From personal observation in Bel-
gium, I can state that itis there an invariable rule to put the land into
higher condition for flax than for any other crop they cultivate, and if the
land is not in this high condition before sowing, they apply very large
quantities of liquid manure to the growing plant. If further confirmation
of this were needed, I would refer to Mr. Rham’s Report on the Agricul-
ture of the Netherlands (see Journal, vol. ill. p. 245), where the ma-
nure for an acre of flax is stated at 12 tons of dung, 50 barrels of urine,
and 5 ewt. of rape cake. I do not suppose that any such manuring as
this would be requisite or even advisable in this country; but J have no
doubt that an acre of Jand which is able to produce forty stone of flax
(value 7s. 6d. per stone) would, in an average season, produce at least four
quarters of wheat. The 280,000 acres required to produce the flax now
imported, would therefore produce, if cropped with wheat, 1,120,000
quarters worth (at 7s. per bushel) 3,136,000/., which approaches tolerab! y
near to the estimate given by Mr. Nicholls of the value of the imported
flax, viz., 3,490,0007. The value of the flax-seed has not been taken into
account, conceiving that what was not required to sow again would be
consumed on the farm: should it, however, be valued for sale, credit must
on the other hand be taken for the wheat straw, which is also supposed to
be converted into manure. It is clear from the preceding rough calcula-
tion, that though the cost of the flax imported annually into the United
Kingdom is very great, yet that the balance in favour of substituting it
for other crops is not so large as to make it a matter of great importance,
independently of the question of employment for the Jabourer, which is too
extensive a question to be discussed in a note. H. S. Tompson.

On the Cultivation of Flax. 443

making England less dependent upon the cotton-producing
countries in case of failure of the crop, or interruption of the
supply from political or other causes; and seeing moreover that
the home growth is very much below the demand, and that its ex-
tension would be fairly if not highly remunerative—having regard
to all these circumstances, it hardly seems necessary to state other
reasons in favour of extending flax culture in this country. But
there are nevertheless a few other considerations which ought not
perhaps to be altogether passed over, and to these I will now
briefly advert.

The quantity of flax imported in the last four years has just
been stated—I will now state the quantity of linseed and oilcake
imported within the same period, in order that the entire value of
flax produce imported may be seen at one view.

Linseed. Oilcake.
Qrs. Tons,
In 1842 there were imported 367,700 67,2934
1843 ? F 470,539 63,2674
1844 i“ ys 616,947 85,890
1845 # a 633,293 74,6814
Average of the four years 522,120 72,783

Taking the average of the four years, and assuming the average
price of the seed to be 2/. 5s. per quarter, and the average price
of the oilcake to be 8/7. 10s. per ton, it will give 1,174,7707. as the
value of one, and 618,655/. as the value of the other, and show
an outlay for both of 1,793,425/., which, added to the cost of the
flax as before stated, gives a total outlay, on an average of the four
years, of 5,283,945/., or five millions and a quarter sterling per
annum.

If, however, the cultivation of flax were to be so extended as to
supply home-grown fibre sufficient to meet the entire demand, an
importation of foreign seed and oilcake might still be required,
the latter for feeding purposes, and the former for extracting the
oil, linseed oil being an article in very extensive use. A demand
for foreign linseed and oilcake might thus continue, although it
would to some extent be lessened by the quantity of home-grown
seed produced; but if this latter, as well as the imported oilcake
and that procured from the oil-pressers, were applied to fattening
cattle, an additional supply of valuable manure would thereby be
obtained, which would give increased fertility to the land for other
crops.

The quantity of flax which ought to be cultivated in any locality,
must in some measure be governed by the quantity of labour there
obtamable; for as the management of the crop in all its stages
requires a considerable amount of labour, the farmer must propor-

444 On the Cultivation of Flax.

tion the quantity raised, to the means at hand for its management.
One acre in a hundred, and one in fifty, have each been named as
a suitable proportion to be applied to the growth of flax. It has
been seen that in former times the farmer was by law required to
cultivate one acre with flax, out of every sixty acres occupied. All
such rules are, however, obviously incapable of strict application.
The quantity must in every case be governed by local circum-
stances, and be left to the farmer’s own discretion ; always bearing
in mind, that the more flax the more employment for the people,
the more fattening material for his cattle, and the more manure
for his land.

If the quantity of flax grown be limited by the labour which
can be obtained, so may the amount of obtainable labour be said
to indicate the extent to which flax culture ought to be carried in
any locality. ‘To keep the rural population fully and profitably
employed, 1s unquestionably the interest both of the farmer and
the landowner, they being each liable to support the people,
whether employed or not; and there is no description of crop
which affords so much employment as flax, or that yields the
same return for the labour employed upon it.

It is calculated that an acre of good flax as it stands in the
field, containing, say about 50 stone of fibre, will afford employ-
ment for from twelve to fourteen weeks to a man skilled in the
several processes of its preparation. A woman, or young per-
son less skilled and less able, would require twice that time, at
least, before the flax could be made ready for the manufacturer.
It must not be inferred from this calculation, that the work is
to be performed by men singly, or by women or young persons
singly. The preparation of the flax in its several stages affords
employment for each, but in a much larger degree for the two
latter classes, the labour being for the most part light, and well
suited for women, and boys and girls. All such estimations, how-
ever, must be taken as approximations merely, without pretension
to minute accuracy: but the above will serve to show the great
amount of employment afforded by the flax crop in its various
stages, and more especially to the class of persons for whom em-
ployment is most difficult to be found, a large portion of the
Jabour being usually performed by females.

In this point of view, the extension of flax culture becomes an
object of important consideration with reference to the social
condition of the agricultural labourer, for if eligible employment
can thus be found for his wife, and also for his children as they
attain a suitable age, it will be a great relief to him, and of in-
finite service to them. The females will then no longer be
necessitated to resort to fieldwork in common with men, and the
union or the parish will not be habitually applied to in every

On the Cultivation of Flax. 445

interval of employment. Indeed, such intervals will then be less
frequent, for flax may be worked at any time, winter or summer,
and in any weather, and will thus supply a great desideratum by
rendering employment continuous.

Such has been the result at Trimingham, in Norfolk, where
the labourers used to be frequently out of work; but since the
cultivation of flax has been introduced into that parish, every one
finds employment, and the poor-rates have been reduced nearly
one-half within the last three or four years—not, however, it
must be observed, through the direct employment afforded by
the preparation of flax alone, but likewise by the use of the seed
in fattening cattle and in making manure, by which the quantity
of other crops has been greatly increased, and the amount of
employment proportionably extended. On all these accounts,
therefore, the cultivation of flax cannot be too strongly urged
upon our agriculturists of every class.

In Belgium flax is called “the Golden Crop,” and in Ireland
it is called “the Rent-paying Crop.” There is much truth in
both these designations, which I have no doubt would be equally
applicable to this country, if the same attention were here paid
to its cultivation.

It has been disputed whether flax is most to be valued for its
seed or for the fibre. The zealous agriculturist stickles for the
seed, as affording the means of fattening his cattle, and providing
manure for his land. The manufacturer, on the contrary, con-
tends for the fibre, and cites the high price which flax of superior
quality commands in the market. Both parties are perhaps cor-
rect in their estimate of the great value of each portion of the
produce, and flax might possibly be cultivated for either the one
or the other singly with advantage; but there is no necessity for
such a separation—the seed and the fibre may both be obtained
without injury to the quality of either, and flax will thus become
a double crop, equal, if not superior, in value to any other which
can be raised from the land.

Various estimates have been formed of the profits to be ob-
tained by flax culture, ranging from six and eight, to ten, fifteen,
and twenty pounds per acre, and even still higher. Of this more
will be said hereafter, and it is only necessary here to observe,
that the flax crop, under average circumstances, affords such a
reasonable expectation of adequate return, as will warrant any
prudent farmer occupying suitable land, to enter upon its culti-
vation, Before doing so, however, he ought to obtain all requi-
site information for enabling him properly to conduct the ma-
nagement in its several stages, and this information it will be my
endeayour in the following pages to afford.

446 On the Cultivation of Flax.

Having stated thus generally the importance of extending flax
culture in this country, and pointed out its advantages to the
farmer, and the benefits it would confer upon the agricultural
labourer, I now proceed to describe the mode of cultivation best
calculated for ensuring the perfect growth of the plant, and the
mode of preparing the fibre in its several stages until it becomes
fitted for the market; after which, I shall advert to the import-
ance of preserving and rightly using the seed.

I must premise, however, that in these several processes there
is nothing more difficult to learn or to practise, than in the ordi-
nary operations of husbandry. In hand-scutching, for instance,
a person would ‘find about as much difficulty at first, as on first
attempting to plough, or to use the scythe, the flail, or the sickle.
Each will be found more or less difficult, until familiarised by
practice. But there is this difference in the two cases—in most
operations of husbandry, considerable strength and muscular
energy are required, whilst in the preparation of flax, sharpness,
tact, and agility are the chief requisites ; and hence it is a species
of labour peculiarly fitted for women and young persons of both
sexes. A lad not more than 12 years old, was pointed out to me
at Trimingham as one of the best scutchers in the parish, and
he certainly handled the swingle, or scutching tool, with per-
fect facility, and seemed to take great pleasure in the occupation.

It will, [ think, be convenient to take the several operations in
the following order :—

Ist. The cultivation, which includes the preparation of the
land, sowing the seed, and weeding, and pulling the flax.

2ndly. he preparation of the fibre, which includes the se-
veral processes of stooking, stacking, rippling, beetling, steeping,
spreading, lifting, breaking, and swingling or scutching.

ordly. The preservation and use of the seed.

Ist. Cultewation of the Flax.

The growth of flax is not limited to any particular soil or situa-
tion. It flourishes in the light soil of Flanders, in the deep allu-
vial deposits of Holland, in the limestone and the peaty soils of
Treland, and on almost, if not on every variety of land in England.
It has been grown on the Wicklow mountains a thousand feet
above the level of the sea, and has flourished even at that eleva-
tion on cold granitic moory soil, which in its natural state pro-
duced nothing but heath. Like our grain and other crops, flax
may show a preference for certain soils and situations, but it will
flourish and attain maturity in all, if proper care is bestowed on
its cultivation.

The land must be clean and in good tilth. ‘This is necessary

On the Cultivation of Flax. 447

for every description of crop, but it is especially necessary for
flax ; as, unless the ground is well worked and brought to an even
surface, the seed cannot be evenly sown, and even-sowing is essen-
tial to the even growth and perfection of the plant.

The advantages derived from draining and subsoiling are now
so well understood, and so generally admitted, that it is needless
to say more with respect to these operations, than that they are
as necessary for flax as for any other crop. But although the
land should be well drained, flax will bear a good deal of mois-
ture, and in fact thrives best in a moist climate. Hence the pe-
culiar suitableness of England for its growth, our climate being
generally more humid than that of the continent, especially in
the western counties. Indeed, long continued drought is the
chief enemy the flax grower has to dread. He is rarely injured
by excess of moisture, provided his land be thoroughly drained.

Flax generally thrives best after wheat, and on new soils, and
it may often be advantageously grown on rough unbroken land if
it be properly worked. In Ireland flax is seldom grown after
potatoes, for which the ground being in general highly manured,
causes the flax to grow rank and coarse. The same objection
would apply in this country ; but in either case, if new land be
broken up for the potato crop, flax may often succeed with ad-
vantage. It is not, however, found to thrive after turnips, at least
there are instances recorded of its failure when sown immediately
following a turnip crop, which ought therefore to be avoided.

Flax does well after wheat, and wheat does well after flax,
The two crops appear to have a peculiar relation, neither ab-
stracting from the soil the kind of nourishment required by the
other. It would be worth while to ascertain how long alternate
crops of wheat and flax could be grown without deterioration to
either. Such an experiment might be useful as a guide in regu-
lating the general rotations. Flax does well, likewise, after peas
and beans; and as these crops are especially useful when com-
bined with the flax-seed in cattle-feeding, they should be included
in every rotation of which flax forms a part.

The extent to which flax can be advantageously grown in any
particular case, must depend in great measure upon the size of the
farm, and the nature of the rotations to which it is subjected.
On small farms it may be included in the general rotation with
some degree of regularity; but on extensive farms, where the
enclosures are large and the breadth of crops considerable, this
can hardly be done ; and flax may there most conveniently come
in for a portion of the land in turn for turnips.

In Belgium it is the usual practice to grow flax after corn, and
seldom oftener than once in five years. Some persons recom-
mend intervals of seven years, and oihers of ten years; but if the

448 On the Cultivation of Flax.

land be properly managed, I know of nothing in the flax crop
requiring different treatment in this respect from any other
description of crop, whether green or yellow.

Various rotations are recommended as having been successfully
practised in different localities, and a few are inserted by way of
appendix at the end of this article,* in order that the judicious
farmer may select the one which appears to him best, or devise
from the whole something most suitable to the nature of his land
and his own particular position.

In Flanders a great variety of crops is raised, the farms being
for the most part small, the majority varying from 8 or 10, to 20
and 30 acres. House or stall feeding the cattle is there, likewise,
universally practised, which gives a large supply of manure, and
enables the farmer to keep the whole of his land under crop, and
thus to have a greater variety of rotations, flax, however, being
never omitted; for every Belgian farmer, whether large or small,
grows flax sufficient to keep himself and his people employed when
not at work on the land.

Sowing.— We will assume that the land is in all respects pro-
perly prepared—that it has been thoroughly drained, is in good
heart and good tilth, and has been ploughed three times at least
in autumn and spring; that the harrow and the roller have been
in active operation, the clods broken and completely pulverized,
the root weeds carefully picked off, and the ground brought to a
smooth and level surface. These are all essential to good hus-
bandry, and must on no account be omitted in the cultivation of
flax, which will not thrive under slovenly management. If the
surface be rough, uneven, and imperfectly wrought, the seed
cannot be equally distributed, and the plants will grow patchy and
irregular, to the injury of the crop both in quality and quantity.

Proper care having thus been taken to prepare the land for
receiving the seed, the next consideration is the time of sowing;
and on this point the great importance of sowing early cannot be
too strongly urged. In nine cases out of ten, early-sown flax will
be better than that which is sown late. As soon as the ground
can be got ready, put in the seed. ‘This may generally be done
in March, and if in the first week so much the better. The ear-
lier you sow, the better will be your crop, and the sooner will it
be ready for pulling, which is an important consideration ; for it
will interfere less with the general harvest to pull the flax early
in July than if it runs into August, as it will do if sown late.
Moreover, if the flax is off the land early, a crop of turnips or
rape may often be obtained after it; or, if this should not be de-
sired, the ground will haye the benefit of half a summer’s fallow.

* See Appendix A, p. 469.

On the Cultivation of Flax. 419

When the seed is sown, it should be covered by two strokes of
the light seed-harrow, once up and down, and once across, then
finish with a light roller, leaving the seed equally covered about
an inch in depth. Broadcast is the best mode of sowing flax-seed.
Some persons advocate the use of a drill, set very close, as is
sometimes used for grass-seeds; but on the whole, it seems nowy
generally admitted that broadcast is to be preferred for flax.

The quantity of seed to the acre depends much on the kind of
flax required. For fine flax, sow thick. If flax of a stronger
and coarser description is wanted, or if the seed is a principal
object, sow thin. When thickly sown, the flax grows tall and
straight, yielding little seed; but the fibre will be of superior
Jength and fineness. When sown thin, the flax grows more
coarse and branchy, producing much seed, but affording an infe-
rior quality of fibre.

As a general rule, 3 bushels of seed per acre should be sown
for fine flax; 2 bushels per acre for flax of a medium quality,
yielding both seed and fibre; and six pecks where seed is the
primary object. If particularly fine flax is desired, such as the
Flemings raise for their finest lace and cambrics, very thick sow-
ing must be resorted to, as much as 33 or 4 bushels to the acre;
but the demand for this description of flax is comparatively small.
The medium quality is most in demand for the purposes of the
manufacturer, and a large quantity of the stronger and coarser
kind is required for every day use by our traders and handi-
crafts of every description.

The Seed may be either home-grown or foreign, flax equally
good being raised from both. It should be clean, plump, and
heavy. If light, thin, or dull in colour, it is of inferior quality,
and should be rejected. Much loss and disappointment occurred
in Ireland three years ago by using foreign seed of this descrip-
tion, which turned out to have been kiln-dried, and its vegetative
principle thereby destroyed. A change of seed every second or
third year is advantageous for flax as for other crops, and an occa-
sional use of Dutch Belgian or Riga seed may be resorted to as
affording the completest change, care being taken to sift and
thoroughly cleanse it from the seeds of weeds with which all
foreign flax-seed is more or less mixed. American seed is said not
to answer so well as Riga and Dutch, the flax growing coarse and
branchy.*

_ * The cultivation of flax appears to be extending in America, especially
in the Canadas. The following is an extract of a letter dated June, 1846,
frem Newmarket, Upper Canada :—*In the spring of 1844 I sowed 22
acres, which yielded me 500 lbs. of clean scutched flax per acre, and 22
bushels of excellent seed per acre. I was so well satisfied with this, that

450 On the Cultivation of Blas

I must not omit to state, however, that of all the flax-seed pro-
duced at market of late years, that grown in England appears to
be the best, both for its great weight and freedom from weeds.
It is true the quantity raised is at present small, but this will not
always be the case, and we may reasonably expect at no distant
day that Ireland will obtain from us the seed required for sowing,
affording in return the seed required here for like purpose. ‘The
two countries will then be enabled to supply each other’s wants
in the best manner, without resorting to foreign aid.

It has been recommended, as a means of obtaining a change of
seed, to sow a patch of land with foreign seed, Riga being consi-
dered the best for the purpose. The seed is to be sown thin, and
the crop allowed to stand till thoroughly ripe, the fibre being in
this case a matter of no importance. The seed obtained from
this crop will be ready for the next year’s sowing ; and the farmer
may thus not only secure clean and perfect seed, but he will lke-
wise obtain a change in the most convenient way. This plan
may be followed as often as fresh seed is required.

Weeding.—lf the land has been properly cleaned and pre-
_ pared, and if all the root weeds have been carefully picked off
before sowing, there will be little need of weeding afterwards. If
any of the stronger weeds appear, they must be removed, and this
may readily be done by women and children, who should be cau-
tioned to tread and trample the flax as little as possible. The
smaller description of weeds will soon be overtopped by the flax,
which grows rapidly, and is therefore a smothermmg crop, and
helps to clean the ground.

Pulling.—Various rules have been given for ascertaining the
proper time to pullthe flax. If pulled too soon, the fibre may be
fine ; but there will be great waste in scuiching, and the seed will
be of little value. ‘The best rule is to pull as soon as the seeds
begin to get firm, and change to a pale yellowish or greenish
brown colour, and when the stem has become yellow for about
half or two-thirds its height from the ground. A little practice
will, however, be the surest guide on this point; and on the whole
there is, perhaps, less danger from pulling too early than from
pulling too late.

I sowed, in the spring of 1845, 13 acres of fiax, and 3 acres of hemp.
This also turned out well; and I have now in the present season 45 acres
of flax and 8 acres of hemp. I find it difficult to obtain first-rate flax-
dressers. I could afford to give a good flax-dresser piece-work, so that he
could earn 18s. per week, and in long days as much as 1/. per week, Hali-
fax currency; and I could give two or three families constant work in the
flax business.”

On the Culiivation of Flax. 451

Upon uneven or imperfectly cultivated land, the plants will
grow unevenly, and of various lengths; and under the best culti-
vation some will grow to a greater height than others. This must
be attended to in pulling, it being important to keep the different
lengths separate. The Dutch and Flemings accomplish this by
first pulling a handful of the longest, seizing it just below the
bolls, and then pulling the shorter. Each kind is laid separate
on the ground in rows, and kept perfectly even at the ends, the
bolls of one handful being placed by the root ends of the other ;
and each kind is separately stooked. This mode of pulling and
separating the stalks according to their lengths causes a little ad-
ditional labour at the time, but it will be fully recompensed by
the greater ease with which the after processes are performed, and
by the increased value of the fibre. Should there be any weeds
mingled with the stalks, they must be removed at the time of
pulling, as they would be apt to stain and injure the colour of the
flax.

It is not unusual with the Belgian farmers to sell their standing
crop of flax to a factor, who takes upon himself all the subsequent
expense andrisk, The factor pulls and removes the flax to some
favourite locality for steeping, where the several operations are
performed on a large scale by expert workmen, which enables
him to obtam a more yaluable description of fibre than the far-
mers would, probably, be always able to produce. This factor-
ing system has been recently introduced into Ireland, and is
recommended by the Irish Flax Society as a means for effecting
improvement in the general management of the flax crops in that
country. The factors employ persons who understand the busi-
ness to conduct the several processes with due care and punc-
tuality, thus setting an example to the small Irish farmers, who
are unfortunately often prone to be negligent and remiss, where
precision and exactitude are required.

It is likewise a frequent practice in Belgium, for the farmer to
pull, dry, and stack his flax, and afterwards sell it to the factor,
who removes it to a steeping station, and there conducts all the
subsequent operations in the same way as if it had been purchased
green. When thus dried and stacked, the flax may be kept for
any length of time, and be steeped and prepared for market
whenever it best suits the farmer’s or the factor’s interest or con-
venience,

The practice of factoring, as above described, might no doubt
be introduced with advantage i in this country, especially i in the vici-
nity of good steeping-places, which would most probably be found
in lakes or large ponds, or pieces of ornamental water supplied
by a brook or stream. The flax might there be sunk in crates or
frames, similar to those used in the neighbourhood of Courtrai ;

452 On the Cultivation of Flax.

and if similarly treated, there can be no reason why our English
flax should not be in all respects as good as is there produced.

If steeping establishments under the charge of persons skilled
in that particular department, were formed in eligible situations,
the neighbouring farmers would bring their flax for steeping on
their own account, whenever they deemed this more advantageous
than selling it to a factor, as in some, if not in most cases, it pro-
bably would be. With reference to these stations, I must not
omit to state that it has been proved by experience, that fish are
not affected by the steeping of flax when it is freed from seed—a
fact of some importance to the owners of lakes and ornamental
waters, who may allow flax to be steeped therein, without danger
of injury to the fish.

The value of an acre of standing flax has been variously esti-
mated. In Belgium it is said to be from 191. to 257. In Somer-
setshire, where most of our English flax has of late years been
grown, it is estimated at 21/.; and in Ireland as high as 271.
These estimates appear high, and are probably somewhat in
excess; but it may on the whole, [ think, be reasonably assumed,
that an acre of flax, if well grown and of fair medium quality, 1s
worth between 15. and 20/. to the grower, including the seed.
What deduction should be made in dealing with a factor, in case
the farmer decides upon selling his crop standing, the factor
taking all the risk and expense of preparing it for market, must of
course depend very much upon local circumstances, and be a
matter of arrangement between the parties at the time.*

2. Preparation of the Fibre.

Assuming that the flax has been pulled as directed under the
last head, each handful being laid separate in rows on the ground,
the bolls of one handful by the roots of the other, and all kept
perfectly even at the root ends—the next thing to be done is

Stooking.—In doing this, the long and the short flax must be
kept apart, in separate stooks. Women and children are employed
to carry the handfuls to the stocker, who sets them up in rows,
with the bolls resting against each other, and the root ends extend-
ing outwards in the form of the letter A. The stooks may be made
of any length most convenient, each end being strapped together
by a few stalks of the flax, to prevent their being blown down;
and here the crop may remain secure from the wind and weather,
to dry and ripen in the field as long as is necessary. After it has

* It is true that 30/., 407., and even 50/. per acre are sometimes realised
in the best flax-growing districts, but such instances are comparatively
rare, and the return above estimated must be considered sufficiently remu-
nerative on an average of years.

On the Cultivation of Flax. 453

been in stook a few days the stooks must be turned, in order that
all parts may be equally dried, which is rapidly done by a person
accustomed to the work.

When the flax has become sufficiently dry to prevent its heating,
which it generally will be in a week or ten days, according as the
weather is favourable or otherwise, it must be tied up in small
sheaves or beets, and may then be carted home, and be either
housed or put into stack, at the farmer’s option. When the
crop has thus been secured, the farmer can choose his own time
for beetling and steeping, and also for the subsequent operations
of scutching and preparing the flax for market. This is a great
advantage attendant on flax culture, affording the means of em-
ployment at periods when other farm employments have ceased,
and when the labourers’ families, if not the labourers themselves,
would else be out of work.

Beetling.— Before the flax thus secured is steeped, it is necessary
to separate the seed by beetling; and this is usually done by a
beetle or block of wood, about 9 inches long and 4 inches square,
into which a handle of convenient length is fixed, and with which
the seed is readily beaten out.

Where flax is steeped green, the seed is separated by rippling
as soon as the flax is pulled—that is, by drawing the stalks through
a row of iron spikes set upright in a wooden frame, and so close to
each other as to catch and separate the bolls as the stalks are
drawn through. In this latter case of rippling, the bolls which
contain the seed must be dried before the seed can be separated,
and it must then be carefully sifted and cleansed before it is laid
by. In the former case of beetling, the seed is already dry, and
has merely to be winnowed, like grain, to free it from the chaff.

Steeping.—This is sometimes called watering, and is usually
performed in spring, but it may be continued throughout the
summer and autumn. Steeping is the process by which the vege-
table matter connecting the stem and fibre is decomposed by im-
mersion in water, and after which these portions of the plant are
readily separated. The value of the flax depends very much
upon the manner in which this process is performed, and the
Belgians and Dutch pay great attention to this part of the ma-
nagement. In Flanders the water of the River Lys is considered
par ticularly good for steeping, and vast quantities of flax are sent
thither from great distances for the purpose. Steeping is there
carried on as a regular trade, by men constantly employed in it.
The flax is put into frames or crates prepared and kept for the
occasion. ‘These are floated into deep water, and sunk by weights

below the surface, but not so as to touch the bottom; and the
VOL, VIII. 2

454 On the Cultivation of Flaz.

whole operation is conducted in an orderly and business-like
manner,

The softest water is unquestionably the best for steeping, and
hence river water 1s preferable to sprmg. A slow-running stream
is likewise better than stagnant water, inasmuch as it carries off
impurities, and gives the flax a better colour, which is an important
consideration, as respects its market value.

But it is not always that access to rivers, nor even to lakes or
large ponds, which are held next in estimation, can be obtained
for steeping; and where this is the case, recourse must be had to
other means. Steeping-pools must then be constructed, and these
may be most conveniently formed by the side of rivulets or small
streams ; or if there are none such sufficiently near, the water may
be conducted into the pools from distant brooks or springs. With
every care, however, steeping-pools may not always give the best
colour to the flax, and whenever practicable, it should therefore
be sent to the most approved steep, even although it may be distant
and expensive; for it will well repay the cost, by the enhanced
price the flax will command in the market.

The steeping-pool may be made from 4 to 6 yards long, and 2
yards wide, a little more or less according to circumstances, and
4 feet deep. It should be well puddled, and be protected from
the influx of surface water. If a small stream can be carried
through the pool, so much the better ; but if filled from a spring,
the water should be let in some time before it is used, in
order that the sun and air may soften it, and it should be per-
fectly clean, and free from mineral and vegetable taint of any
kind,

When crates or frames are not used, as they rarely will be
except in rivers or large waters, the bundles or beets of flax must
be placed in steep with their root-ends downwards, and be laid
close, a little slanting, and in regular rows. They must then be
covered lightly with straw or rushes, over which hurdles should
be placed, weighted with flat stones, logs of wood, small tubs
filled with water or any weighty substance. The flax must be
kept 4 or 6 inches under the surface of the water, but it must not
touch the bottom, and weights must be added or lessened to keep
it suspended in this position.

In from 7 to 10 or [4 days, or sometimes even longer, according
to the nature of the water and heat of the weather, the flax will be
sufficiently steeped ; and it is important to know when this is the
case, for it would be injured if kept too long in the water. The
Dutch test in this respect is to try a few stalks by breaking them
at two places, about 3 inches apart, near the middle of the stem ;
and if the 3 inches of the wood so broken separates easily on being
drawn downwards, without tearing the fibre, the flax is sufficiently

On the Cultivation of Flax. 459

steeped. This test may be relied on, and the trial should be
made twice a-day after the fermentation subsides, for the change
is then often very rapid.

If, notwithstanding every care, it should be found that the flax
has been taken out of steep a little too soon, the error may in
great measure be rectified by allowing it afterwards to remain a
little longer on the grass; but if permitted to remain too long in
steep, the evil is irremediable.

The steeping-pool, if properly constructed and properly attended
to, will answer nearly as well as the larger waters for flax of average
quality, although the best colour may not thereby be obtained.
It will, however, if rightly managed, be far preferable to steeping
in ditches, mingled with every kind of filth and impurity, as has
been the common practice in this country, thereby injuring the
texture of the flax, and making it of a dark and dingy hue, in-
stead of the soft yellow or light straw colour which is so much
prized by the manufacturer.

Spreading or Grassing—When sufficiently steeped, the flax
must be removed carefully from the water, without being broken
or crumpled by rough handling, and either set up on the root-
ends to drain for a short time, or it may be immediately spread ;
but it will soon heat if allowed to remain in a heap. If the
weather is rainy, it need not prevent the spreading, for which a
clean short pasture should be selected; and the flax must be laid
evenly, in regular rows, and so thin that the grass may be seen
through the stalks.

When it is not intended to grass the flax immediately that it is
taken out of steep, as is sometimes the case, the bundles are first
left an hour or two to drain, and are then untied and formed into
what are called caps, of a conical form, having the appearance of
very small tents. This is done with great rapidity after a little
practice ; and when they have stood some time, these caps are
turned inside out with like rapidity, in order that the whole of the
flax may be exposed to the sun and wind, and be thoroughly dried.
It may then be tied up in beets, and carried home, and stacked
or housed until it is wished to grass and prepare it for market.

From 3 to 6 days, or longer, according to the state of the
weather and nature of the fibre, will be required for the flax to
remain on the grass, and whilst spread it must be repeatedly
turned, in order that every part may be equally bleached. The
turning is effected very rapidly, without disturbing the order of
the rows, by means of a rod about 8 feet long slipped under the
flax as it lies on the grass. Wherever the flax is spread, the grass
will be found to grow with great vigour. ‘This is particularly the
case in the spring, and may be taken advantage of by the farmer

2H

456 On the Cultivation of Fluz.

to obtain early feed for his stock, the grass always shooting up
luxuriantly under the flax.

Lifting.—lf on rubbing the stalks a few times from top to
bottom in the hand the wood separates easily from the fibre, the
flax has been long enough on the grass; but if there is any doubt
on the point, try it on the hand-break. When thus proved to be
ready, proceed to lift it, if perfectly dry, keeping the lengths
straight and the ends even, and tie it up into small beets or
bundles.

If not perfectly dry, it will be advisable to lift the flax and set
it up in caps for a few hours, before it is tied in bundles ; and in
damp and fickle weather the beets should be put up in small
stacks, loosely built, so that the air may pass freely through them,
and thus prevent their heating. It is important that flax of the
same quality and colour should be kept together, and this ought
to be attended to in lifting. Select the best of every row in the
first instance, and place the bundles separate; then gather up the
next best in like manner, and so on till the whole is arranged in
distinct lots, according to quality. A mixture of qualities always
Jessens the value, and this should be guarded against in lifting.

The colour of the flax will mainly depend upon the way in
which the steeping and grassing have been conducted, and its
value in the market will depend very much upon its colour, which
should be of a clear soft yellow, approaching to white; but if it
is at all dull or dark in colour, as will be the case when steeped
improperly or in bad water, or if not well attended to whilst on
the grass, it will command a less price from the manufacturer.

Breaking—is the act of bruising the stem of the flax, and break-
ing it into short lengths, so as to admit of its being easily separated
from the fibre in the process of scutching. Breaking is performed
either by the hand-break, or by machines, of which there are
several kinds. The hand-break is a very simple instrument, well
calculated for use in a small way. It consists of two pretty sub-
stantial frames, made of wood, and fixed on four legs; each frame
is about 5 feet long and a cnet wide, and has four or five bars or
battens fixed lengthwise within it. The frames are connected by
a hinge at one end, and the upper one has a handle fixed at top,
by which it is worked up and down, whilst the operator with his
other hand draws a small quantity of the stalks slowly between.
The batiens are so fixed in each frame as to form grooves of cor-
responding widths, fitting loosely into each other; and the upper
frame being forced down by successive rapid strokes upon the
lower, bruises and breaks the stem of the flax, and thus prepares
it for the scutcher.

On the Cultivation of Flax. 457

If the quantity of flax be considerable, instead of the hand-
break, recourse may be had to the breaking-machine, which con-
sists of four or six pairs of deeply fluted rollers, fixed horizontally
in a frame, and worked similarly to a thrashing-machine. The
rollers may be formed either of wood or iron, but the latter
is decidedly preferable. By this instrument, breaking is very ra-
pidly performed; and wherever there are horse-works, or steam
or water power on a farm, the break (being portable) may be
attached to the gearing, and the whole process will be speedily
and cheaply accomplished. A few women, or a few boys and
girls, will be required to hand the bundles to the man attending
the break, and to receive them after they are passed through.
The flax must be placed straight and regular in the break, and
order and promptitude should be observed throughout the whole
process.

Scutching or Swingling—is the act of clearing the fibre from the
woody part of the stalk after it has been bruised and loosened by
the break. This is the last step in the process of preparation,
and the vaJue of the flax will depend, in no inconsiderable de-
gree, upon the manner in which it is performed. If the flax has
been well grown, the fibre will be long and even; if it has been
well watered and well grassed, it will be of a clear pale yellow
colour; if well scutched, it will be silky in texture, and per-
fectly cleared from every portion of the stalk and other rubbish,
the presence of which would detract from its value.

On the Continent, scutching is invariably performed by hand ;
but in Ireland, the growers, after having steeped their flax at
home, often send it to some scutching-mill to be dressed. In the
north of Ireland there are several of these mills driven by water,
and in the south mills are being erected through the intervention
of the Flax Improvement Society; but hand-scutching causes less
waste, and if well performed cleanses the fibre more effectually.

In hand-scutching, the only apparatus required is a swingle or
scutching-tool made of some tough wood, a small iron scraper,
and a board 4 feet long fixed upright in a stand, having a slit or
opening on one side into which the scutcher slips the flax,
grasping it firmly with his left hand, whilst with the swingle held
in the right he quickly and sharply strikes it downwards, turning
and working it at the same time until it is soft and silky, and
entirely freed from the stalks and other impurities. Hand-
scutching affords a good deal of employment, and is performed
with great rapidity by persons accustomed to the work, which,
like every other branch of flax-management, is easily learnt,
quickness and attention being the chief requisites.

Several kinds of scutching-mills have been imvyented, and they

458 On the Cultivation of Flax.

certainly facilitate the process, and render it both cheaper and
quicker ; but they occasion more waste, and on the whole, if there
be a sufficiency of hands for the purpose, hand-scutching is I
think to be preferred to every other mode, especially where the
quantity is not very considerable. In Ireland, notwithstanding
the existence of mills, so important is hand-scutching deemed,
that the Irish Flax Improvement Society have instituted a school
for teaching the practice, under the superintendence of one of
their chief instructors. They also furnish scutching-tools of the
most approved construction, and send trained instructors into the
several districts to teach the people—an example worthy of being
followed in this country.

With scutching the process of preparation is completed, and
the flax is then laid by ready for the market, each bundle being
slightly twisted to keep it distinct, and prevent the fibre tangling.
It is always important, with a view to the price, that flax of dif-
ferent lengths and different qualities should as far as possible be
kept separate ; for if indiscriminately mixed, it will not sell for so
much as if it were divided into distinct lots of equal length and
quality.

The farmer may select his own time for disposing of his flax,
Should no market be conveniently near, factors or agents will
find him out, and be ready to purchase his flax, as they now pur-
chase his wool; so that he need give himself little concern about
selling, provided the article be of good quality, for such will always
be in demand.

ae eee

The course of management just described, is the one most
approved of wherever flax is most successfully cultivated. It isthe
mode practised in Belgium, where flax is generally kept till the
second, and sometimes till the third ‘year before it is steeped,
and is considered to be improved both in colour and quality
by keeping. It is likewise the mode generally practised in
Holland, and is becoming more and more practised in Ireland,
under the auspices of the Flax Improvement Society.

The management of the little flax hitherto grown in England,
has been for the most part so imperfect and void of system, as to
make it difficult to say exactly what has been the prevalent prac-
tice; but it is certain that here, as in Ireland, and to some extent
even in Holland and Germany, growers have been accustomed,
immediately the flax is pulled, to throw it into the steeping-holes
with the seed on, and to complete the other processes forthwith,
so as to get it to market as speedily as possible.

Now there can be no doubt that good flax may be obtained by
steeping green; and by sending it to market the year it is grown,

On the Cultivation of Flax. 459

the farmer obtains the benefit of a quicker return: but having
regard to all the circumstances connected with flax culture, it is
certain that for general practice the advantage lies decidedly with
the method just described—that is to say, mn drying or harvesting
the flax when pulled, and stacking it ready for after-preparation,
as opportunity serves. Both the flax and the seed are improved
by this treatment, and the steeping and subsequent operations
may then, as stated before, be performed at a time when little
farm-work is in hand, and when it becomes especially important
to find employment for the people.

As, however, steeping green, and preparing the flax for market
immediately, may nevertheless be found convenient or necessary
in some cases, I will now describe the mode of proceeding in this
respect.

Let it then be assumed that the flax has just been pulled, and
the long and the short lengths kept separate, the root-ends of one
handful laid opposite the bolls of the other. The next step is

Rippling —This is the act of separating the seed capsules or
bolls from the stalk, and is done in the field immediately after
the flax is pulled. The ripple is a simple implement, consisting
of a row of iron spikes 18 inches long, screwed or fixed in a block
of wood about a quarter of an inch apart, and spreading out
at top to the width of about half an inch. This is secured on the
middle of a plank 9 feet long, to be placed on two stools, so that
two ripplers may sit astride, one at each end, with the ripple
between them. A large winnowing-sheet must be spread under,
to receive the bolls.

All being ready, the flax is handed by women or children to the
ripplers, and placed conveniently at the right hand of each. The
rippler takes the handfuls so placed in succession, spreads the
top out like a fan, draws first one half of it and then the other
through the teeth of the ripple, and thus separates the seed bolls,
which fall on the sheet below. He then lays the handfuls down
on his left side, where they are tied up in small sheaves or beets,
ready for removal to the steep-pool.

The bolls thus separated, must be carefully dried, in the field
if the weather be favourable, or else spread out thin in a barn or
loft. In either case they must be frequently turned until per-
fectly dry, and then the seed must be sifted and separated from
the chaff for future use. The chaff should likewise be preserved,
it being, like the chaff of corn, highly useful for feeding pur-
poses.

The seed being separated by rippling, and the flax tied up
neat and even in small sheaves or beets, of equal size, it is next
to be carried to the steeping-pool. This should be done the day

460 On the Cultivation of Flax.

it is pulled if possible, or the day following at latest, especially
if the weather be bright and dry; for the sun is apt to produce a
discoloration of the green flax, which steeping and bleaching
will not afterwards remove.

The process of steeping green flax is in all respects the same
as when it has been dried, and the directions already given under
this head apply equally to each, as they do likewise to all the
subsequent stages of spreading, lifting, breaking, and scutching,
and they need not therefore be here repeated. It may however
be remarked that the water from the steep-pool, especially if the
flax be steeped green, constitutes a valuable manure either for
grass or arable land, and should not be allowed to run to waste if
it can possibly be prevented.

Reference has been made to the peculiarly fine flax which
the Flemings raise for the purpose of making their fine lace and
cambric. This delicacy of fibre is obtained by sowing very thick,
pulling early, rippling the seed, and steeping green. The quan-
tity of this description of flax required is, however, comparatively.
trifling, and need not therefore be further dwelt upon, than merely
to state, that by similar treatment a fibre of as great fineness and
delicacy may be obtained in this country as is now produced in
Belgium. Very thick sowing and early pulling, however, neces-
sarily involve a sacrifice of the seed, which would be an important
consideration if the practice were to obtain to any considerable
extent; but this is not likely, for the reason above given.

There is yet another way of preparing the flax, much resorted
toin the West of England, which ought to be noticed. It is called

Dew-Retting, or Dew-Ripening.—By this process steeping is
altogether dispensed with, instead of which, the flax-stalks are
spread thinly on the grass, and allowed to remain (being turned
every three or four days) until the moisture from the earth and
the action of the atmosphere have decomposed the vegetable
matter connecting the fibre and the stalk, and thus allow of their
being easily separated. Dew-retting is generally practised by the
flax-growers in Somersetshire,* and is in fact equivalent to steep-
ing, but the process is slower, and the flax so prepared is gene-
rally much stained, and suited only for the coarser purposes, and
commands a proportionally low price in the market.

A meadow is best for the purpose of dew-retting, there being
more moisture than on high land. The flax may be spread at any

* I have inserted in Appendices B and C (pages 470 and 471), two
statements of the mode of cultivation pursued in Somersetshire, which I
obtained from two intelligent practical farmers resident in that county ;
and it will be useful to compare these statements with the directions
herein given for the management of the flax crop.

On the Cultivation of Flax. 461

season, and snow has a very beneficial effect in ripening it. ‘The
grass on which the flax has been spread grows with great luxuri-
ance afterwards, which may be an object of some importance to
the farmer. The test for knowing when the flax has been suffi-
ciently dew-retted, is the same as fon ascertaining when it has been
sufficiently steeped and grassed—namely, when the woody part
of the stalk separates easily from the fibre—it 1s then fitted for
breaking, and may either be stacked, or be broken and scutched
immediately, at the option of the grower, all the processes being
precisely the same as those already described.

Before concluding this portion of the subject, I will venture to
give an estimate of the value to the grower of an acre of flax;
for although any such estimate must at best be uncertain, de-
pending as it does upon variable contingencies, it may neyer-
theless not be without its use in this place.

The produce of flax per acre, under a good system of cultiva-
tion, is generally found to be from 40 to 50 stone, although 60
stone is not unfrequently obtained, and this quantity has in several
instances been grown in Norfolk within the last few years. Forty
stone per acre may therefore, I think, be assumed as a safe ave-
rage. ‘The price for flax of average quality may fairly be taken
at 7s. 6d. per stone of 14 lbs., but that of the finer qualities is
much higher. The general yield of seed per acre is from 16 to
24 bushels, but 1t sometimes rises to 30 bushels, and 20 bushels
may therefore be taken as a moderate average. The price of
linseed varies from 8s. to 10s. per bushel for the finest sorts for
sowing, to 6s. and 7s. for the common kind, such as is used for
crushing and cattle-feeding, and 7s. per bushel may therefore be
assumed as a fair average. Against these estimations must be
placed the rent of the land, and the charges of cultivation and
preparing the fibre for market. The account for an acre of flax
will then stand as follows :—

PayMENTS, RECEIPTS,
seen aS lS (ths
Rent, rates, and taxes, say . 110 O | 40 stone of flax,* at 7s. 64. 15 0 O
Zbushelsiof seed, at 9s... 1 2. 6 | 20 bushels ofseed, at 7s. . 7 0 O
Tillage Seis ] O 0 | Chaff, refuse flax, and tow Or TO. 0
Pulling, steeping, ¢ &e, 10) 0
Beetling 20 bushels seed, ‘at Is, 22 10 O
and re-tying thewlaxys i. tl 40) 0 Deducticutlay ie. enn LOne eG
Breaking and scutching 40 stone, SS
at 2s, per stone : 0 Leaving a balance in favour
—— of the grower of 19." %. “Sl2er 7-6
£10 2 6

* In last October Mr. Warnes sold, in the open market at Leeds, the
whole of his flax raised and prepared at Trimingham, and obtained 85s.

462 On the Cultivation of Flax.

This may be considered a large profit from one acre of land,
perhaps too large to be reckoned on for a certainty, or for a per-
manence; yet higher estimates are given, even as much as 281.
and 30/. per acre. Other estimates have, no doubt, been given
lower, some considerably lower; but, looking to the defective
management on which these were founded, they can hardly apply
to the improved system which it is the object of this article to
recommend. Making every allowance, therefore, for unfavourable
seasons, and the other contingencies to which flax-growing, in
common with all other agricultural operations is subject, a profit
of 102. or 127. per acre may, I think, be reasonably expected by
the grower of flax, provided he attends properly to the business,
and makes the most of the fibre and the seed.

In corroboration of this estimate, I insert the following state-
ment by Mr. Samuel Druce, of Ensham, near Oxford, of the
outlay and returns upon 4 acres | rood and 24 perches of land
cultivated with flax under his management.*

OUTLAY. RETURNS,

Sneueos fie lsat ch

Rent and taxes .f ..< . HO 0:)) 1349 ¥bs.. flax, .sold/ Uby ni:
Ploughing 4a, 1R. 24P. at Schwan, deducting expenses 25 10 6
10s.peracre . « . . 2 4 0 | 106 Ibs. flax, soldin Ensham 213 0
102 bushels seed, at 7s.6d. . 318 9 | 372 ]1bs. tow, do. do. 413 0

Sowing, harrowing, and weeding 1 12 0 | 104 bushels seed, worth in the
Pulling, tying, thrashing, spread- market 7s, 6d. per bushel . 39 0 0

ing, and preparing for scutch- Tail linseed, and chaff and re-
ing, at-d0s; peracre .\.. 26.12 40 fuse, after scutching . . 110 O
Carting and stacking . elite ona) —_——_
1455 lbs. flax scutched, io 6 6
at 2d. per lb. . £12 2 6 Deduct outlay . . . 4015 3
372 lbs, tow scutched, a

at Ed. per Ibe) Yi 1.1 0 Profit on 4a. 1 Rr. 24P., being

———13 13 6 at the rate of about 8/. per
cee AICTE: '6)) 9 6 uNis; ie rom wOm aL 3

£40 15 3

This appears to be a detailed statement of the actual payments
and receipts, and although it shows a less profit per acre than we
have estimated above, it yet comes sufficiently near to be cited asa
kind of corroboration. Mr. Druce describes himself as a “ young
beginner in flax culture,” and it 1s certain that the quantity which
he obtained per acre (viz., 23 stone) is little more than half the
average produce. His flax is moreover described as being of
very inferior quality, which, indeed, 1s proved by the low price it

per ewt. for the finest sort, 70s. for the second quality, 65s. for the third,
and 53s. for the coarsest. This last thus fetched 5s. 7d. per stone, and the
finest kind 10s. 73d. per stone; and it would have fetched considerably
more, the quality of the fibre being much approved, but that it was defec-
tive in colour, owing to imperfect management in steeping, an error that
will be avoided in future.

* See ‘The Wiltshire Independent’ of February 4, 1847.

On the Cultivation of Flax. 463

fetched, that is, only about 5s. per stone. With better culti-
vation and better management, there can be no doubt that Mr.
Druce will obtain better crops and secure higher prices, and his
returns will then be proportionally increased.

3. Preservation and Use of the Seed.

The importance of preserving the seed, has been already ad-
verted to in the first part of this article; and the mode of sepa-
rating it from the stalk, by thrashing or beetling when the flax is
dry, or by rippling when it is green (the former being, however,
in all respects the preferable mode), has been explained in the
second part. On these points, therefore, it is only necessary further
to add, that the seed must be kept dry, and treated like any other
grain.

The great value of flax-seed, as a constituent portion of the
crop, cannot be too strongly impressed upon the cultivator. It is
in fact the element, by the preservation and right use of which,
flax culture will not only be rendered profitable in itself, but
may be made conducive to an increased production of other crops,
both grain and green, by the supply of valuable manure which
it will afford.

At one time little care was taken in this country to preserve
the seed, and it was often altogether neglected, and thrown into
the steep-hole with the flax stalks: whilst in Ireland it was
common, even recently, to see the seed rotting in the steep-pool,
or floating along in streams by the roadside. This I have often
witnessed, and as often endeavoured, with more or less success,
to convince the peasantry of the wasteful folly of the practice.
Since the establishment of the Irish Flax Improvement Society
however, there has been a marked alteration in this respect ; and
I do not despair of seeing the Irish cultivators as careful in the
preservation of the seed, as under the tutelage of the Society they
are now becoming in the management of the other portions of
the flax crop.

The great importance attached to the seed by the flax-growers
on the Continent is well known, and the large quantities annually
imported from Holland, Belgium, Germany, and Russia, prove
its value in this country.* As flax cultivation extends, our home-
grown seed will no doubt be purchased by the oil-pressers, for
whose purpose it must be at least as good as the foreign seed ;
but if the farmer, instead of selling his seed, shall find it more
advantageous to apply the seed grown on his own farm to fattening
his own cattle, the oil-pressers will continue to obtain foreign seed

* See page 441.

464 On the Cultivation of Flaz.

for their purpose as at present; and after the oil is expressed,
the residuum in the shape of oil-cake will likewise, as at present, be
found a valuable addition to the farmer’s store for winter feeding.

‘The use of linseed may therefore be considered as established,
and its value certain; and if to the uses to which it has been
hitherto applied be added a new use, or a material enlargement
of one heretofore but little practised, an increased demand for
the article will be created, up to the limit to which the new use
extends ; and unless there be a proportionate increase of supply,
the market value will doubtless be enhanced.

Now linseed has hitherto been little used for general feeding
purposes. It has, indeed, been rather extensively used for fat-
tening calves, but the quantity required for this particular object
is not considerable. Farmers were not, however, altogether igno-
rant of the fattening qualities of the seed, and a few of them here
and there applied it to cattle-feeding, but never systematically,
and as an essential part of agricultural management. Flax-seed
thus continued to be used in a small way for feeding calves, and
to a trifling extent in a few districts for fattening cattle, until
Mr. Warnes established his system of box-feeding at Trimingham,
and called attention to the subject by his several publications,
smce which the use of the seed for feeding purposes has been
rapidly extending.

I visited ‘Trimingham last autumn, for the purpose of inquiring
into the mode of management adopted by Mr. Warnes. He had
previously explained his system of cattle-feeding very fully ina
work which he had published,* and I likewise received various
explanations from him personally; but an inspection of the
premises, and an examination of the management in all its details,
appeared necessary for forming a judgment of the system.

Instead of being tied up in sheds or stalls of the usual form, the
cattle at ‘Trimingham are kept in boxes of from 8 to 10 feet
square, very similar to horse-boxes, and in which the animals
moved about with ease and freedom. In these boxes they are
fed, and here they remain, from the time they are put up until
they are ready for the butcher, which rarely exceeds six months,
andis often less. ‘Iwo sets are thus fattened in the course of the
year, the feeding being continued winter and summer. Lach
box is sunk two feet, and forms a kind of tank at bottom, in which
the manure is allowed to accumulate, fresh litter being added
from time to time, as the bedding becomes wet or soiled. All
the dung and urine are thus absorbed by, and mingled with the
litter, which is trodden into a solid compact mass by the animal,
so that no portion is lost by evaporation or otherwise.

* Warnes on the Flax Crop and uses of the Seed, 1846,

On the Cultivation of Flax. 465

The animals did not seem to suffer in any way from standing
continually on this accumulation of manure. ‘They appeared
sleek and healthy, and evidently in a thriving condition; and
as far as I could judge from what I saw, and from all that
I learnt by inquiries on the spot, the boxes appeared to answer
perfectly with respect to the cattle, whilst the manure obtained
by this method is unquestionably great, and I believe superior
in quality to that obtained by stall-feeding in the usual iman-
ner, all the excrementitious matter, both liquid and solid, being
preserved.

The important distinction, however, between the mode of
feeding at Trimingham and that usually practised, consists in the
large and systematic use of linseed, which 1s, in fact, the foun-
dation of the system. The seed is ground into a fine meal, and
is then put into boiling water, and becomes a rich mucilage ; ia
which state it is mingled in certain proportions with grass, clover,
hay, and pea or bean haulm cut into chaff, or with barley, or pea
or bean meal, or with turnips, mangold-wurzel, potatoes, or carrots
steamed or boiled. The cattle are fond of these compounds,
which are all highly nutritious, and are moreover one or more, if
not all of them, obtainable in all seasons, so that the feeding can
be carried on continuously throughout the year, which is an im-
portant consideration forthe farmer. The animals fatten rapidly,
and statements were exhibited to me, showing that by the use of
these compounds cattle are fattened sooner, and at a considerably
less cost, than by the usual mode of feeding.

It does not exactly come within the limits assigned to this
article to describe in all its details, as | should otherwise be pre-
pared to do, the system of box-feeding with linseed compounds,
as it has been established at ‘Trimingham, or to compare it with
the old system of house-feeding so generally practised. - Each
will have its advocates, although each can hardly be equally ad-
vantageous to the farmer; and there cannot, I think, well be at
this time a question of greater importance to the agricultural
interest, than to ascertain by actual experiment to which systein
the preference ought to be given.

In the absence of such specific inquiry, I can now only advert
in general terms to the fattening properties of linseed, and recom-
mend its extended use by our farmers, and an extended cultivation
of flax, not for the fibre only, but in order to obtain a supply of
home-grown seed.

The use of oil-cake in feeding cattle has long been known, and
the quantity imported,* added to the probably still greater quan-

* See page 443,

466 On the Cultivation of Flax.

tity obtained from the oil-pressers in this country, shows the
estimation in which it is deservedly held. But if the oil-cake is
found so valuable for feeding purposes, we can hardly doubt that
the linseed itself will be more so, the cake consisting of little
more than the husks, after the oil has been expressed, that is,
after the most nourishing portion of the seed has been abstracted ;
yet this refuse is found highly nutritious for cattle, which fatten
on it very rapidly.

It has indeed been doubted whether the cake will not answer
better than the seed, on account of the latter being so rich as to be
apt to disagree with the cattle, if given in any quantity. There
might be ground for this objection if the seed were given singly,
but this is never done. As before mentioned, it is reduced to a
state of mucilage, and mingled with other substances: and the
compound may be made more or less rich by adding more or less
of the mucilage, which it will be necessary to give in small quan-
tities at first, in order to bring the cattle gradually to the use of a
richer description of food than that to which they have been accus-
tomed.

In whatever form applied, however, the linseed would still be
the chief fattening ingredient; and its extended use, conjointly
with an extension of house-feeding, would enable the farmer to
fatten more cattle, and, as a necessary consequence, to obtain
larger and better crops from his land, |

It is a common saying among farmers that nothing 1s gained
by cattle-feeding, although the old maxim, that “muck is the
mother of money,” is, I believe, a universally admitted truth ; but
how can “muck” be obtained without cattle-feeding? The
whole runs in sequence—the more stock, the more manure—the
more manure, the more produce—the more produce, the more
money ; and the thing to be aimed at is, so to adjust the working
of this sequence, as to give the best return upon each branch of
it, and the largest return upon the whole.

Now, having regard to the fattening qualities of linseed, there
can, I think, scarcely be a doubt that the best results in all these
respects may be obtained, by an extended use of this seed in feed-
ing cattle; and if by its use, then surely by its growth; for in
addition to the advantages that would accrue from thus using the
seed, the farmer would have the benefit of the flax, a highly
valuable commodity in itself, and most valuable as affording in-
creased means of employment for the labouring population.

To enable the farmer to derive the full advantage from this
use of the seed, however, it is obviously necessary that he should
adopt house-feeding, either in stalls or boxes, as a regular portion
of farm-management. Without this, his cattle would obtain less

On the Cultivation of Flax. 467

advantage than they ought from the use of the seed, and he would
obtain a comparatively small increase of manure.

In Belgium, house-feeding is universal ; cattle of any kind are
rarely seen in the field; and hence the small Belgian farmer, with
very restricted means, is enabled to raise abundant crops, and to
keep the whole of his land under constant cultivation. Without
house-feeding this could not be done, for there would not be
manure to sustain such a constant course of cropping ; but by
feeding his cattle of every description in the house, and carefully
preserving every portion of excrementitious matter, both liquid
and solid, the Belgian farmer obtains a sufficiency of manure for
renovating his land, and is thus enabled to obtain a large amount
of produce from a very limited extent of surface.

It would be well if the English farmer would follow the ex-
ample of the Flemish farmer in this respect. Ido not mean that
the Flemish system, in all its details, should be entirely adopted
by us; for under the circumstances existing in this country, it
would probably be found impracticable: but our farmers might
certainly feed much more stock than they do at present, by
adopting house-feeding more extensively, and by the use of lin-
seed in combination with grass, turnips, hay, and other substances,
This would enable them to fatten more cattle at a less cost, and
they would obtain sufficient manure for keepimg more land under
crop, and would thus secure a greater produce.

No one will deny that the best mode of feeding is that which
fattens quickest and at the least cost, and which gives the largest
supply of the best manure; and in all these respects house-
feeding is decidedly to be preferred. If the stalls or boxes are
properly prepared, the catile will be protected from the effects of
changes in the atmosphere, and be kept in a state of repose and
comfort; whilst in the field they are exposed to sun, wind, and
rain, to perpetual torment from flies and insects, and to constant
effort and irritation, which greatly retard their fattening, and the
manure is nearly or altogether lost. Even in the fold-yard cattle
suffer from these causes, although in a less degree; but in boxes,
such as I saw at Trimingham, the animals are protected from
every annoyance and make progress accordingly.

It has been said on good authority, that the grass which would
feed one bullock in the field, will feed three if cut and given to
the animals inthe house. This affords a strong argument in
favour of box or stall-feeding generally, and is very important as
regards the use of linseed, which requires to be given in com-
bination with grass and other substances; and this can be done,
as before stated, with the greatest advantage in the house.

468 On the Cultivation of Flax.

I have thus endeavoured, in the terms prescribed by the Society,
to state the reasons “in favour of extending the growth of flax in
this country,” and to explain the “most approved method of culti-
vating the plant,” and “preparing the flax for market.” I have
likewise shown that the seed may be preserved without injury to the
fibre, and have endeavoured to point out the way in which ‘‘ the seed
may be most profitably applied by the farmer ;” and if the directions
herein given be judiciously carried out, the result under each of
these heads can, I think, hardly fail of proving satisfactory.

It must, hlieveyihelees: be admitted that written directions, how-
ever accurate and precise, are not the most perfect guides in
matters of this nature, neither are they always sufficient without
other aid. Some instruction in a practical form is frequently
necessary for giving a practical knowledge of subjects like the
present, and this can only be imparted by practical teachers.

The Irish Flax Improvement Society were aware of this, and
resorted to the only remedy, by employing trained instructors.
These, in the first instance, they obtained from Belgium, and
afterwards they sent young men to that country to be “instructed
in all the operations connected with the growth and preparation
of flax, who on their return instructed others; and the conse-
quence of this proceeding is, that not only has the quantity grown
in Ireland been greatly increased, so as in 1845 to amount to the
estimated value of 1,750,0002.;* but Ivish flax, instead of being
as heretofore coarse and inferior, has, within the last six years,
become equal in quality to the Belgian fiax, excepting perhaps
the very finest sort, of which only a comparatively small quantity
is required,

I found that Mr. Warnes had acted on the same principle as
the Irish Society, having engaged two Belgians to superintend his
flax operations at Trimimgham. ‘These appeared sensible in-
telligent men, perfectly skilled in their vocation ; and, in addition
to going out to the neighbouring farmers and others requiring
their assistance, they have Tnomaeree a number of youths and
young men, and fitted them for becoming teachers. This may
be sufficient, as far as that particular district is concerned ; but to
ensure an early and general extension of the system throughout
England, some more general and combined effort will probably
be required ; and if this be adopted, we may reasonably hope that
it will be attended with like success.

* See the Society’s Reports for 1845 and 1846. By the last Report it
appears that twenty-six instructors are employed by the Society, to advise
and assist the people in the management of their flax crops in every part
of Ireland

On the Cultivation of Flaz. 469

APPENDIX A.

Referred to at page 448.

Tue following Rotations will serve to show the way in which the flax
may be included in the course of cropping, and they may be varied or
combined according to circumstances :—

A Four Years’ Rotation.—1st year, wheat; 2nd year, turnips; a
portion more or less, according to circumstances, being appropriated to
flax, with a chance in favourable seasons, of obtaining a late crop of
turnips after the flax has been pulled; 3rd year, barley or oats, with
clover-seeds; 4th year, clover-hay; then the rotation commences again.
This gives a quicker return of each kind than is generally desirable; but
the flax crop may be varied by taking a different part of the turnip land
at each return; and potatoes, carrots, or mangold-wurzel may be occa-
sionally introduced, so as to give a greater variety without departing
from the general rotation.

A Five Years’ Rotation.—1st year, wheat manured ; 2nd year, flax ;
3rd year, turnips, potatoes, or mangold-wurzel manured; 4th year,
barley or oats, with clover and grass-seeds; 5th year, hay; and then
the rotation again commences. ‘This gives a sufficiently quick return
for flax or any other crop; and it may be stated as a general rule, that
the more varied the rotation, and the longer the interval between the
same description of crop, the better will it be for the land and the better
will be the produce.

A Six Years’ Rotation.—I1st year, turnips, potatoes, or mangold-
wurzel manured ; 2id year, barley or oats with clover-seeds ; 3rd year,
clover hay; 4th year, flax, with or without a slight dash of manure ac-
cording to the strength of the land; 5th year, wheat manured, and the
flax having been pulled in July gives half a summer fallow for the
wheat; 6th year, barley or oats. Neither of the foregoing rotations
include peas or beans, which may, however, be introduced so as to pro-
long each of the courses a year. |

The following Stx Years’ Rotation has been found to answer well in
Ireland, viz., Ist year, potatoes, turnips, or mangold-wurzel manured ;
2nd year, wheat or oats; 3rd year, flax with clover and grass-seeds sown
therewith; 4th year, clover hay; 5th year, grass; 6th year, oats or
wheat.

It is, however, a disputed point whether clover should be sown with
flax, and conflicting opinions for and against have been urged ; but it is
admitted on all hands that clover does well after flax, the early pulling
loosening the soil and encouraging the growth of the clover. As far as
I have been able to ascertain, there is no well-grounded objection to the
practice ; but on this point, as on all others, experience is the only sure
guide, and the best course will be to try it in a small way at first. If it
succeeds, persevere—if otherwise, abandon the practice.

A Seven Years’ Rotation.—1st year, turnips manured; 2nd year,
wheat ; 3rd year, flax half-manured as for wheat; 4th year, barley, with
clover and grass-seeds; 5th year, clover hay; 6th year, beans or peas;
7th year, wheat or oats; and then the same rotation over again. This

VOL. VIII, 21

470 On the Cultivation of Flax.

would give two wheat crops in seven years, and requires good land and
liberal management.

An Eight Years’ Rotation.—I\st year, turnips manured; 2nd year,
wheat; 3rd year, flax lightly manured; 4th year, barley and seeds;
oth year, clover hay ; 6th year, grass; 7th year, peas or beans, manured
more or less according to the nature of the land; 8th year, oats; and
then the rotation commences again.

APPENDIX B.
Referred to at page 460.

Observations on the Cultivation of Flax as practised in Somer-
setshire. By *— *— of S— P—.

Soil.—F lax requires a dry soil, either naturally or artificially.
Loam, mild clay, stonebrash, and gravelly soils are well adapted for
its growth, especially a good dry rich sandy loam; but whatever the
soil flax is to be grown on, it must first be put ina high state of cul-
tivation and freed from weeds to ensure success.

Preparation for the Seed—Flax will succeed best after potatoes,
wheat, or clover-leys, or perhaps best of all on newly broken-up maiden
land. The land should be ploughed in the autumn, so as to lie all the
winter exposed to the frost and the action of the atmosphere, by which
slugs will be destroyed, which are some of its greatest enemies, and a
good tilth ensured for the reception of the seed. The general practice
amongst the best flax-growers is, either to fold the land with sheep at
the rate of from 1800 to 2000 per statute acre, twice, one folding in the
autumn before the first ploughing, and the other during the winter, or
early in the spring if the weather permits, or one folding and from
25 to 30 yards of good compost of dung and earth. The land requires
to be in a fine tilth, with a firm bottom, previously to receiving the seed.

Seed.—The usual practice is to obtain Riga seed in barrels of about
3 bushels each (when freed from dirt and seeds), which will be a suffi-
cient quantity to sow an acre and a half; although some growers prefer
sowing 9 pecks per statuie acre. ‘This seed may be sown three years,
when it will be advisable to procure more “barrel seed,” as it is pro-
vincially termed in this county. If, however, the seed is not changed
about every three years, the flax plant will degenerate, which may be
observed by its throwing out lateral shoots, and not attaining its former
height. When this is the case, the stem will be coarse and the flax not
of so good quality. The great desideratum to be aimed at in growing
this plant is to get it tall and fine. The general custom is to sow the
seed broadcast, about the first week in April, if the season will permit ;
I have known it sown as early as the last week in March, and as late as
May, though seldom with success ; but within the last four or five years
a considerable quantity has been drilled at 6-inch intervals; and I am
of opinion that this practice is increasing, as it affords greater facilities

On the Cultivation of Flax. 471

for healing the seed, and of afterwards hoeing and weeding, much
damage being frequently done to the young plants by the women and
children trampling it for the latter purpose.

Harvesting.—The crop in ordinary seasons is ripe enough to be
pulled about the middle of July, but the usual criterion of its being ina
fit state for that purpose is the leaves having dropped off the stalks
about 6 inches from the ground. It is then pulled, and either stripped
of the seed-bolls at once in the field, or tied up in small sheaves, and
carted off to some convenient place where the sheaves are again opened
and spread thin for drying. They are afterwards tied up again, and
removed to some convenient place for ‘‘ stamping’’—this is done on a
dry dirt-fl8or, with a large wooden mallet, when the bolls are “ stamped”
off. The flax is then again tied up and ricked, where it remains until
it is wanted for spreading, previously to ‘‘ swingling ;”’ or if intended
to be immediately prepared for market, it is spread abroad on a piece of
grass-land or stubble, where it remains (being turned over at intervals of
about three days if wet weather, or it may remain a much longer time if
dry) until it isin a fit state for “ swingling,” an operation for separating
the fibre from the stalk, previously to which it is dried over a slow fire,
which renders the operation more easy and perfect. It is then tied up
in “ dozens,’’ which are bundles of 12 lbs. each, which is the last opera-
tion of the grower, and is then fit for the spinner. From forty to fifty
dozens an acre is a good average crop, and is worth at the present time
about 5s. 6d. per dozen.

It is not unusual to plough the land on which the flax grew imme-
diately on the removal of the crop, and sow it with early turnip, rape,
and in some instances mustard-seed, which will on an average of seasons
be fit for feeding with sheep in about nine or ten weeks from the time of
sowing. The feeding off the crop on the land with sheep being com-
pleted, the land is then immediately prepared for wheat, thus getting
two crops off the land, and a third sown in the same year.

APPENDIX C.
Referred to at page 460.

The Management of Flax in Somersetshire.
By *— *— of Y—.

_Flax requires a loamy soil, in good condition, well drained if pre-
viously inclined to be wet, and the principal thing to be attended to is to
obtain as fine a texture as possible. For this purpose the land should
be ploughed early, so as to expose it as much as possible to the action of
the frosts and weather.

The best crop for flax to succeed is young grass; but in good land it
answers well after stubbles, if previously well manured by folding with
sheep, and this is generally the best manure for the growth of flax.

if the land be wet, it should by all means be drained, or the plant
will probably be attacked by a disease called the rust, which ae through

Pas

472 On the Cultivation of Flaz.

the fibre, separating it into short lengths, and converting a great portion
of it into tow in the after-process of manufacture.

In selecting the seed, the flax-grower should be particular to obtain
that which has not grown in the same place more than three or four
years, or he will probably find that the plant will have considerably
degenerated from its general character. If the seed be good, the plant
will grow erect and clean in the stalk; but if, on the contrary, the seed
be from a plant which is degenerate, the stalk will abound in small
branches, or become, as it is called, “‘sprigged.’? It is therefore ad-
visable to change the seed every three or four years; but whether this
change be effected by the use of foreign seed, or by the use of English
seed from a distance, does not appear to be material. Théseed most
preferred is that which has been sown one year in the place intended to
grow it. The seed should be thoroughly cleaned by the use of sieves
made for that purpose, and be sown broadcast at the rate of about
2 bushels to the acre. It is occasionally drilled, but there does not
appear to be much advantage in adopting that plan, as the ground should
be covered by the plants. The best time for sowing flax is between the
last week in March and the first week in April. It may, however, be
sown as early as the first week im March, or much later than the first
week in April; but the time first mentioned is to be preferred, if the
state of the land and the weather should permit. The plant is not
killed by moderate frosts; but if subjected to much of such weather, it
becomes too much checked in its growth to recover its proper strength.

In considering the most proper time for harvesting a flax crop, it is
to be first determined whether the crop of fibre or of seed is to re-
ceive the most attention. If the former be the chief object, then the
plant cannot be pulled too young, if full grown; but if the latter be
most required, then it should remain on the ground until perfectly ripe.
The custom in this county generally is, to secure as nearly as possible
an equal share of these two advantages; and in order to do this, the
plant should be pulled when the leaves about the lower end of the
stalk begin to fall off, and this will take place about the second or
third week in July. It may, however, be necessary to harvest the plant
before this, as for instance if it be much laid, or if attacked by the rust
before alluded to. In the latter case it will always be desirable to pull
it early, and this is most likely to occur in damp places or in wet
seasons.

The flax, having been harvested, is spread out to dry, the seed then
stamped out, and the flax subsequently spread out in order to prepare
it for the operation of swingling. ‘The best land to spread the flax
upon is a stubble field; grass-land is very commonly used, but in such
case the fibre is most likely to be injured by worms. Some experience
is required to determine when the flax is ready for the operation of
swingling. It should be in such a state that the skin will break
easily from the interior fibre. If it remains out too long in wet weather,
it is likely to rot and yield a disproportionate quantity of tow; but
if it does not remain out a sufficient time, the flax will not readily
separate from the outward coating. It would certainly be better to
thrash and spread it out in the long days, there being then a greater

On the Cultivation of Flax. 473

chance of carrying it dry; but as this happens at a busy time of the
year it is seldom done.

The best flax in this county is grown in the neighbourhood of Wel-
lington. It is known in the market as Taunton flax, and will fetch
from 5s. to 10s. per pack more than that grown in other parts of the
county,

XX.—On Box-feeding with Linseed Compounds. By GrEorcE

NICHOLLS.

Tue general recommendations contained in the preceding article
on Flax Culture, with respect to the application of the seed to
feeding cattle, are all that seemed to come fairly within the
limits prescribed for that subject; but the question is in itself of
so much importance to the farmer, and is so intimately connected
with the extension of flax cultivation in this country, that I have
thought it right to prepare this additional article by way of con-
tinuation, in order that both may appear together, if honoured by
acceptance.

In recommending house-feeding as a regular branch of farm
management, I did not, in the article referred to, speak de-
cidedly as to the particular mode, whether in sheds, stalls, or
boxes. Each may possess certain advantages, and each may have
its advocates; but it is only by extended observation and experi-
ment, that the really preferable mode can be ascertained with
such certainty, as to warrant its being recommended for general
adoption in preference to all others.

In order to obtain information on this point, I last summer
visited Trimingham, where I understood a system of cattle feed-
ing had been adopted by Mr. Warnes, comprising a liberal use
of flax-seed in conjunction with other farm produce; and having
carefully examined and inquired into all the details of the system
of box-feeding there established, I felt it impossible to doubt its
efficiency at least, if not its actual superiority over every other
mode heretofore practised—that is, superior as regards the cattle,
superior with respect to the quantity of the manure, and superior
as affording the best and most economical mode of fattening of
stock. This system I will now describe.

On my arrival at Trimingham, I found thirty bullocks put up
in the boxes for fattening. They were of a mixed character,
mostly of the short-horned or polled kinds, some Scotch, some
Irish, and some home bred. Several of the animals were nearly
fit for the butcher, others in various stages of forwardness, and
some had only just been takenup. These last were kept upon cut

474 On Box-feeding with Linseed Compounds.

grass without linseed, it bemg necessary to bring them gradually
to a richer description of food. A constant succession is thus
maintained, lean beasts coming in as the fattened animals are
taken off, generally within six months of their being first put up ;
and thus the boxes are never empty.

Nothing can be more comfortable in appearance than the
animals which had been up some time. They had become ac-
customed to their boxes, were protected from every annoyance
arising from heat or cold, the weather or insects, were kindly
treated, and appeared the very pictures of animal enjoyment.
On entering the boxes, instead of being shy or alarmed, they
approached and solicited attention, and seemed pleased at being
scratched and handled. Their eyes were bright and clear, their
coats sleek and glossy, scarcely a speck of dirt or soil could be
seen on any of them, although each moved about unrestrainedly
in its box. Some were eating the compound of cut grass and
linseed, some were lying down ruminating their food, some
sleeping, but all evidently in thriving condition, and partaking of
a joyous existence.

The contrast between these animals, and a number of feeding
beasts which I afterwards saw in a large field adjoiming part of
Mr. Warnes’s farm, was most striking. The weather was hot and
the gadfly troublesome, and these poor beasts were running and
racing about to escape from the enemy, worried and heated, and
in a state of great irritation and discomfort. In the boxes the ani- |
mals were screened from the sun, protected from flies, and in the
enjoyment of perfect quiet and repose, so essential for fattening ;
whereas in the field the cattle were in a constant state of effort
and excitement, preventing the development of flesh or fat. In
.the boxes the dung and urime are preserved, mingling with the
bedding, and forming a most valuable manure, always available
for application to the land. In the field the dung and urine are
for the most part lost, the finer particles being washed away by
rain, or carried off by the atmosphere. How widely different
must the results be to the farmer in these two cases, especially
when tested on a large scale !

If such be the advantages of box-feeding over feeding in the
open field, it possesses advantages similar in kind, if not equal
in degree, as contrasted with the fold-yard, where the stronger
animals tyrannize over the weaker, driving them about and
preventing their eating. Hence the inequality so frequently
observed in the fattening of folded cattle; and hence, likewise, it
is often seen, when some of the animals have been removed, that
the others which did not thrive before, will fatten apace after
being relieved from their oppressors.

All these evils are avoided in box-feeding. The animals are

On Box-feeding with Linseed Compounds. 475

protected from annoyance, and can feed and take their rest undis-
turbed, and each animal makes progress accordingly. The food
is not wasted in the boxes, but in the yard much of it is trodden
down and lost. If grass be cut and given to the cattle in the
house, it is generally admitted that the quantity which then feeds
three, would only feed one grazed in the field ; and it may, per-
haps, be said, that the food of one beast in the yard, will feed two
in the boxes: besides which, there is, as before stated, a greater
economy of manure.

Farmers commonly assert that nothing is to be gained by fat-
tening cattle, and as it is now generally practised the saying may
not be without some foundation; but is this absence of profit
unavoidable ?—might not the result be different, if a different
mode of feeding were pursued ?—This is an important question
for the English agriculturist, and to this question the system of
box-feeding established at Trimingham appears to afford a con-
clusive answer.

But it is not for the fattening of cattle alone that this system is
to be commended—it likewise enables the farmer to obtain the
largest amount of produce from his land—the two things, in fact,
move together. By a regular system of box-feeding winter and
summer, three times the quantity of stock may be kept, and kept
profitably ; and the more cattle the more manure; and the more
manure the more produce. All other things being equal, this
may be regarded as an invariable rule.

There is an old saying that “‘ Muck is the mother of money.”
This is certainly true, and it is equally true that box-feeding is
the mother of muck; for not only are the animals fattened in the
least possible time, and at the least possible cost, but the largest
quantity of manure, and that of the very best description, is in
this way accumulated. The litter absorbs the excrementitious
matter of every kind, so that nothing is lost; and the whole, if
properly preserved and properly applied, wili constitute the
element of future fertility to the farmer. In this respect there is
no country so favourably circumstanced as England, for in no
other country does animal food enter so largely into the ordinary
mode of living of the people, and here therefore the greatest
amount of produce ought to be obtained.

The large quantity of fertilizing manure which is acquired by
box-feeding, will enable the farmer to dispense with fallows and
keep the whole of his land under’ crop, not only without ex-
hausting it, but with an actual increase of its productive powers,
provided a right rotation be observed, and that a due amount of
labour be applied to its cultivation.

The mode of feeding which fattens quickest, and at the least
cost, and which yields the largest quantity of manure, is unques-

476 On Box-feeding with Linseed Compounds.

tionably the best; and by extending flax culture, and applying
the seed conjointly with other substances raised on the farm to
box-feeding, the farmer will, I believe, be enabled to keep thrice
the number of cattle, and to fatten them quicker and cheaper
than in any other way, whilst he will at the same time secure a
proportionably large supply of the very best manure for the pur-
poses of his farm.

Oil-cake has long been extensively used for cattle-feeding by
our English farmers, and on an average of the last four years
73,000 tons have been annually imported for this purpose.* The
largest portion of the oil-cake used in this country, however, is
obtained from the imported seed after the oil-pressers have ex-
tracted the oil: but in whichever way obtained, there can be no
doubt that the use of oil-cake for fattening cattle is highly advan-
tageous to the farmer; and this alone, if other argument were
wanting, seems to indicate the expediency of resorting to home-
grown seed for a like purpose. If oil-cake, which is merely the
residuum, the husk and refuse of the seed after the oil has been
expressed, is found thus profitable, can we doubt that the seed
itself, before its fattening qualities are reduced by passing through
the pressing-mill, will be equally if not more so?

It may possibly be said that the seed is too rich, too full of
oleaginous matter, too fattening in short; and that the cake being
less oily, less fattening, and more bulky, is not so likely to disagree
with or derange the health of the animals. Food may, no doubt,
be too rich for cattle, as well as for man; and bulk is necessary as
well as nourishment in what is taken into the stomach ; but wher-
ever there is an excess of nourishing properties, how easy the re-
medy! We have only to dilute by mixing other materials less
rich, less nourishing. In the present instance, ground linseed in
the shape of mucilage is to be mixed with other substances the
produce of the farm, namely—grass, clover hay, or pea‘and bean
haulm, cut into chaff, or the chaff of corn and flax, or barley and
pea and bean meal, or turnips, mangel-wurzel, carrots, cabbages
and potatoes boiled or steamed. These materials compounded
with the linseed, give bulk and substance as well as variety, and
thus become the medium for imparting the largest amount of
nourishment in a form most agreeable, most conducive to the ani-
mal’s health, and best calculated to ensure its speedy fattening.

On these views the system of box-feeding established at Tri-
mingham is founded. It combines shelter and comfort for the
cattle, and a sufficiency of the most nourishing description of food,
with the means of obtaining the largest quantity of the most fer-
tilizing manure. This systein I will now endeavour to explain ;

* See p. 443,

On Box-feeding with Linseed Compounds. 477

and the most convenient way of doing so will be, first to describe
the several arrangements there in use, making such observations
upon each as appear necessary ; and then to describe the mode of
feeding, with a like commentary.

Ist. The arrangements for Box-feeding.

The cattle-boxes are roughly and cheaply formed, but they appear
well calculated for their object. They are arranged on three sides
of an old farm-yard, the fourth side being occupied by the barn;
and in the centre of the quadrangle, facing the barn door, stands
the straw shed, and near to it is the pump. The cooking-house,
having two zron boilers, one of 50 the other of 30 gallons, is in one
angle, accessible from all the boxes ; and in another angle is the
forage-house, i which stands the chaff-cutting machine, where
clover, grass, hay, straw, and forage of all kinds, are cut into chaff
ready for use. This likewise communicates with the cattle-boxes ;
and near it is the root-house, in which turnips, carrots, mangel-
wurzel, or potatoes, are stored for use as required. ‘The cooking,
forage, and root-houses, are all formed out of old portions of the
premises, which were previously used for other purposes, but they
answer their present object perfectly. There is likewise a small
room adjoining the cooking-house, in which stands the crushing-
machine, for grinding or cr ushing the flax seed into fine meal.

The foregoing constitute the entire of the offices in connexion
with the cattle-boxes, and nothing can be more simple and unpre-
tending than the whole of the arrangements, or more obviously
formed with a view to convenience and economy. ‘The boxes
themselves vary somewhat in size, but they are in general about
S$ feet square, inside measure. Some of them, however, were
8 feet by 10. They are enclosed next the yard by a roughly-
made double gate the whole width of the box. One half the gate
moves on hinges, the other half is bolted to the frame-work ; but
both are readily opened for removing the manure, or any other
purpose. At the inner end of the boxes, and running the length of
the entire range, there is a passage about 5 feet wide for the con-
venience of feeding and attending to the cattle. This passage is
separated from the stalls by the crib or trough in which the food
is deposited, and which is capable of being raised or lowered for
the animal’s convenient feeding, according to the height of the
bedding at bottom of the box.

The boxes standing in the same range are separated from each
other by three rough rails, secured to the upright posts which
support the roof; the space between the upper and middle rail
being greater than between it and the lower, to allow of the bul-
locks putting ther heads through when moving about the box,
and thus to tread the bedding close to the rails, making the

478 On Box-feeding with Linseed Compounds.

whole of it solid and compact in every part, which prevents its
heating.

Some of the boxes are formed.as leantos against the stable-wall,
which is 12 or 14 feet high, whilst the roof of others rests upon a
part of the yard-wall 6 feet high. They are all sunk 2 feet below
the surface; and each box thus forms a kind of tank, which is
effected by excavating to the depth of a foot, and depositing the
earth on the outside. The passage at the head or inner end of the
boxes is not sunk, but remains at the natural level. A lining of
stone or brick 4 inches thick surrounds the bottom of each box, on
the angles of which upright posts 6 feet long are fixed, and on these
the tye-beams and roofing rest, all being formed of rough spars
of the cheapest description. The roof consists of thorns, gorse,
and other rubbish, and is thatched with straw. ‘The boxes are
thus 8 feet high within, from the bottom to the tye-beam, which
allows 6 feet in the clear, when the bedding by successive addi-
tions shall have risen to the level of the surface. When this is
the case, the whole must be removed, and a little dry mould, sand,
sawdust, ashes, or other absorbent, strewed upon the bottom,
before fresh litter is supplied.

Such are the cattle-boxes in use at 'Trimingham, and similar
ones may be formed with very little assistance by any farmer who
gives his attention to the subject. Mr. Warnes estimates the cost
of each box at 30s. ‘This may seem a low estimate; but allow
double, or even treble that sum, and it would still be worth the
outlay.

No doubt more expensive, and, with respect to appearance, more
complete structures might be raised; but it is doubtful whether
they would answer the purpose better. A slated or tiled roof, and
more space within, may seem preferable to a roof of faggots and
thatch: but the latter is cooler for the cattle in summer, and
warmer in winter; and 6 feet is sufficiently high, if a few open
spaces for ventilation are left in the back wall, to be opened or
closed as circumstances require. ‘To protect the cattle from the
sun and flies in summer, a screen of coarse canvas is hung on the
outside, which effectually answers the purpose without excluding
the air. The weather was oppressively hot when I inspected the
boxes, yet I found them cool and shady, and the cattle in a state
of perfect enjoyment.

The precise arrangement of the boxes and attached offices must
of course depend in some measure upon the locality, an arrange-
ment suitable to one place being probably unsuitable to another.
In many instances, old existing buildings may be converted into
cattle-boxes at a trifling cost; and wherever there are stalls or
sheds, or spare out-buildings on a farm, they may thus be readily
conyerted. In Belgium, where stall-feeding is universal, and

On Box-feeding with Linseed Compounds. 479

where cows or cattle are scarcely ever seen in the field, their farm-
buildings are arranged in every variety of form, two essentials,
however, being invariably attended to, namely—the comfort of the
animals, and the preservation of every particle of manure, both
liquid and solid ; and these are the essentials to which our English
farmers must attend, if they wish their cattle to thrive and their
farms to be productive.

The straw-shed is an important part of the establishment in box-
feeding, straw being required for litter, as well as occasionally for
chaff in forming the compounds. The size of the straw-shed
must depend on the size of the farm, and the number of cattle;
but as the large quantity of rich manure obtained by box-feeding
will enable the farmer to keep a considerably larger extent of land
under tillage, the size of the shed should not be limited to the
quantity of straw at present raised on the farm, but it ought to be
sufficiently large to receive the additional quantity to be raised
hereafter, under a better system of management.

The floor of the shed should be sunk 5 feet below the ground,
and the sides walled up 3 feet above it, leaving a space at one angle
for a door. This will economize space, and the straw may be more
easily thrown in thanif the shed were built on the surface. It will
allow likewise of the straw being trodden down occasionally by a
horse, to compress it into a smaller space, and the closer it is
packed the better it will keep. Uprights 6 feet long are placed
on the walls to support the roof, and the eaves should project well
beyond the walls to throw off the rain. The shed will thus be 14
feet high from the bottom to the roof, and may be of such length
and width as the farmer thinks fit.

The cooking, crushing, forage, and root-houses require no expla-
nation, their names importing the uses to which they are respect-
ively applied, and also indicating the most eligible size and situa-
tion for the several objects. The crushing-machine and the
chaff-cutting machine may each be worked by horse, steam, or
water-power, if such exists on the farm, or if it be deemed de-
sirable to provide either for this or other objects.

The foregoing brief descriptions will, it is hoped, be sufficient
for conveying a tolerably distinct notion of the premises and ap-
pliances required for box-feeding; and I will now, in like manner,
describe the mode of feeding, and the general management to be
observed.

2ndly. The mode of feeding.

Linseed must never be given to the cattle singly, nor without
being first ground into meal. If given singly, it would be too rich

480 On Box-feeding with Linseed Compounds.

and oily, and apt to disagree with the animal; and if unground,
much of the seed would pass through the intestines without being
digested, and would consequently be useless towards fattening the
animal. When ground and mixed with boiling water the linseed
meal forms a rich mucilage, in which state it is mingled with
other materials, forming a highly nutritious compound, of which
in a short time cattle become extremely fond, and on which they
are speedily and economically fattened.

The cattle-compound may be formed with any kind of farm pro-
duce, provided it contains a proper quantity of the linseed. If
barley, beans, or pease be used, they must be first ground into
meal; if grass, clover, hay, straw, or pea and bean haulm be used,
they must be first cut into chaff; if turnips, carrots, mangel-wurzel,
cabbages or potatoes are used, they must be first boiled or steamed ;
after which al! or any of the above materials may be formed into
the compound, the only implements required for making it being
a couple of large tubs or half-hogsheads, three or four buckets, a
wooden rammer, and a fork.

The compounds are essentially of three kinds:—Ist. The
cornand pulse compound. 2nd. The root compound. 3rd. The
grass and chaff compound. ‘These may all run into and mingle
with each other, according to circumstances, but they constitute
the three leading distinctions, under one or other of which all the
cattle compounds may be classed; linseed being, however, in
each the chief ingredient for fattening. I will now describe these
compounds, and the mode of preparing each.

Ist. The Corn and Pulse Compound.—A. mixture of three
parts of barley, oat, pea, or bean-meal, incorporated with one
part of linseed meal, forms a most nourishing compound. ‘The
linseed-meal is to be first stirred into the requisite quantity of
boiling-water, in the proportion of a pound of meal for a gallon
of water, until it forms a mucilage. The barley, pea, or bean-
meal should then be added, stirring it rapidly ; and, as the mass
cools, it may be given to the cattle either singly or together with
other compounds, or with cut grass or turnips, according to the
season. Bran, or the chaff of corn or flax, may be stirred into this
compound if desired. These substances will add to its bulk and
somewhat increase its nourishing qualities; and it may, therefore,
at times be desirable by way of change to add them to the mass,
but more water will then be required. ‘This compound will keep
for a week, or even longer, if properly prepared and rammed
down close, so as to exclude the air and prevent its fermenting.

2nd. The Root Compound.—To form a compound with tur-

On Box-feeding with Linseed Compounds. 481

nips, carrots, mangel-wurzel, cabbage, or potatoes, the process is
equally simple with the above. Clean the roots from dirt, and
cut or slice the larger ones into moderately sized pieces; then
put them into the boiler with one or two pails of water, according
to its size and the quantity of materials. Cover the boiler close ;
and as the steam rises it will soon cook the roots, which are then
to be removed, portions at a time, into a tub or trough placed at
hand for the purpose, and there mashed with the rammer, a boy
scattering the requisite quantity of linseed-meal over the smoking
roots as they are mashed and turned, which thoroughly incor-
porates it with the mass. Proceed thus until the whole is pre-
pared, and it should then be rammed down firmly in the tub, and
smoothed over at top with a shovel or trowel, in order that it may
retain its heat, and thus thoroughly incorporate the linseed-meal
with the otheringredients. The tub or trough should have a stout
bottom, to stand the action of the rammer.

3rd. Grass and Chaff Compound.—This is formed of clover,
rye, or any other kind of grass; or of hay, straw, pea, or bean-
haulm; or the chaff of corn and linseed, or all or any of them
combined. Each of these materials possess more or less fattening
qualities in themselves; but they act at the same time, and
principally, as a useful medium for conveying the linseed-meal,
the most fattening of all substances, into the stomach of the

animal, and the effect of the compound thus becomes extremely
beneficial.*

* Tt is to be regretted that Mr. Nicholls does not give Mr. Warnes’s ex-
perience as to the comparative advantage of using one or other of the
above-mentioned compounds. Some very accurate experiments, made at
the suggestion of the Highland Agricultural Society, and published in the
‘Quarterly Journal of Agriculture,’ make it appear that the expense of
cooking turnips, or other roots, is not repaid by any corresponding im-
provement in the cattle fed with them, and my own experience quite
agrees with these results. I should therefore venture to recommend to my
brother feeders as a general rule, that turnips and other roots be given raw,
and that the compound used for winter feeding, be chiefiy made with cut
straw or chaff (described above as Compound 3rd). The cheapest, and I
think the best way of making this compound, is to mix it on a smooth
brick floor immediately adjoining the pan or boiler in which the linseed
mucilage is prepared. Upon this floor throw down the cut straw or chaff:
mix with it whilst dry, the meal intended to be given: upon this heap,
flattened at top, pour the mucilage by bucketsiul: nothing more re-
mains to be done, but to turn the heap over with a shovel. The partial
cooking of the mixture by its own heat (mentioned above) is perfectly
well effected in a heap such as I have described, if smoothed over witha
shovel and left for half an hour before being served out to the cattle. The
advantages of this mode of mixing are, that it is more quickly done; that
there is scarcely any limit to the quantity of food that can be prepared
without any additional utensils; and that a few minutes suffice to wash

482 On Box-feeding with Linseed Compounds.

The grass, clover, hay, and straw, must all be cut into chaff by
the chaff-cutting machine; and the linseed mucilage is to be
prepared by stirring the meal into the requisite quantity of
boiling water, at the rate of a pound of meal toa gallon of water:
or, ina larger way, at the rate of a pailful of the meal for every
six pailsful of water. In a few minutes the mucilage will be
formed, and a large tub being placed ready, a quantity of the
chaff is put into it, and the linseed mucilage is then ladled over
it, stirrmg and turning it quickly with a fork at the time. Then
add more chaff and more mucilage, continuing to stir it as before,
and ramming it down until the whole is mixed and formed into a
compact mass. It must then be covered over close until it
becomes partially cooked by its own heat, and when sufficiently
cool it may be given to the cattle; if allowed to stand too long it
is apt to turn sour, which the cattle dislike. In winter the
animals like their food warm, and it is then probably more easy
of digestion and more nourishing. Any kind of chaff or bran
may be added to this compound, or it may be given alternately
with the first or the second kinds, at the option of the farmer.

The quantity of these compounds to be given at one time will
depend very much on the size and condition of the animals. It
may, however, be laid down as a rule, that every feeding beast
should be allowed as much as he can eat without injury to his
general health, which must be attended to by the person in charge,
and the animal’s appearance will immediately indicate if anything
is wrong. Another rule is, that the animal should be fed fre-
quently, a little at a time, and often, which will prevent his
hanging over or nauseating his food, and help materially towards
improving his condition. He should also have a little clean
straw frequently added to his bedding, which greatly conduces
to his comfort; he will then lie down and ruminate as soon as he
has eaten his food, and seldom rise but to eat again.

A compound, with rather less of the linseed mucilage, may be
used with advantage for farm-horses. Mr. Warnes says,* “In

the floor clean after each mixing. In tubs, the compound cannot be tho-
roughly mixed without a liberal use of the stirrer and rammer, and where
there are many cattle, and consequently several tubs, the whole process
of putting in successive layers, stirring and ramming, has to be repeated
in each. Taking the compound out of the tubs also, after it has been
rammed down tight (especially from near the bottom), is tedious com-
pared with shovelling it up from a heap on the floor, and each tub must
be washed or scraped very clean, otherwise the small fragments remaining
turn sour, and give a disagreeable taste to the next mixing. In all the
feeding establishments in Yorkshire that I am acquainted with, mixing on
the floor is preferred to the use of tubs. H. S. Taompsoy.

* See Mr. Warnes’s work on Flax, and the use of the Seed, pages 183
and 236.

On Box-fecding with Linseed Compounds. 483

April last my farm horses were fed with wheat-straw, cut into fine
chaff, and immersed in boiling linseed-meal and water till all was
absorbed; with this they worked ten hours a-day, and looked
better than when fed on hay and corn.” And one of his corre-
spondents states :—‘ I am now feeding 14 horses and colts with
straw and hay compound. My planis, to 8 bushels of cut hay
and 8 bushels of wheat-chaff are added 28lbs. of crushed linseed,
boiled in 18 pails of water; I give the horses this quantity at
night in the yard. In addition they have 1 pint of pea-meal per
day, and 1 cwt. of straw per week; the boiling linseed is poured
upon the chaff, and both are thoroughly mixed together. I
intend giving my young stock I3lb. of linseed-meal with a
bushel of chaff daily ; my cows the same.

For sheep, a compound is recommended consisting of linseed-
meal and barley, the latter pressed flat by a crushing-machine.
The linseed mucilage is to be prepared as before directed: a
pound of the meal for every gallon of water; then add 35 lbs. of
the crushed barley for every pound of the linseed; the barley
will shortly absorb the whole of the mucilage, and the grains will
swell out to nearly their original size and shape. It may then
be given to the sheep, which will eat it with avidity, and thrive
upon it, as indeed they will upon any of the grass or chaff com-
pounds.*

Every farmer ought to be careful of his straw, and should
economize its use in winter, when so much is usually wasted in the
fold-yards. It will be wanted either as bedding for his cattle,
or, if other provender run short, for cutting into chaff to mix with
hay and other materials in forming compounds in spring. The
straw-shed will greatly help to preserve the straw, by keeping
it dry; and if there be more straw than the shed will contain, it
should be stacked and thatched, and be thus preserved until it is
wanted for use.

Grass is more abundant in some seasons than in others, and
the farmer may in some measure guard against a failure in the
grass-crop, by having a piece of lucerne, more or less, according
to the size of his farm, to fall back upon in case of need. Lu-
cerne thrives best on a dry deep soil, and if it be kept clean and
well manured, it will give four good crops in the year. It is
perennial, and will last many years, if properly managed; and is
likewise of hardy growth, and well calculated for the small farmer.
Cattle are fond of it, and it answers as well for compounds as
either grass or clover. bd

There is nothing intricate in the foregoing directions. Nothing

* See Mr. Warnes’s work on Flax, and the use of the Seed, p. 122,

484 On Box-feeding with Linseed Compounds.

difficult in the preparation of the compounds or in the mode of
feeding the cattle. The whole is quite simple, and will be easy
to manage when once understood. The amount of labour like-
wise is less than might be inferred, from reading the directions, the
minuteness of which make them appear rather burthensome : but
method and regularity are, in truth, the chief requisites; in proof
of which, it need only be mentioned, that the cattle-boxes at
Trimingham are in the charge of an elderly man, with the assist-
ance of a boy. The man is blind, but he has acquired a perfect
knowledge of every beast, and can tell by handling the progress
each is making; he moves about the passages from one box to
another without being ever at a loss, and the animals know him
and come to him and solicit his attention, showing how perfectly
they are become domesticated by kind treatment.

The grass-compound was being used when I visited Triming-
ham; the grass having been cut and carted home in the usual
manner, and deposited in the forage-house. It is there cut by the
blind man just mentioned, who worked the chaff-cutting machine
very expeditiously, and cut a considerable quantity whilst I was
present. When thus cut, the grass is compounded with the
linseed-mucilage in the way I have described, and I saw the
cattle eating it with great avidity. ‘The addition now and then of
a little salt to the compound, or placing a piece of rock-salt or a
piece of chalk in the crib occasionally for the animals to lick,
would, I think, be found useful as a stimulant and corrective, and
benefit the health of the animals. At any rate it might be tried.

The foregoimg explanations will, it is hoped, be sufficient for
enabling the reader to understand the objects as well as the
several details of box-feeding, which may be adopted by any
farmer, however limited his means, if he begins in a small way at
first, increasing the number of his boxes and other appliances as
success enables him to advance. Wherever the landlord affords
encouragement, by furnishing materials and assisting in the con-
struction of the requisite buildings, all difficulties will at once be
overcome ; and there is, I believe, no way in which the landlord
could more effectually assist his tenant, than by encouraging and
enabling him to adopt a system of box-feeding, coupled with the
cultivation of flax for the seed and fibre.

It may perhaps be questioned, whether boxes of the form
described are really essential parts of the system, and whether
the cattle cannot be fattened with the linseed-compounds in the
fold-yard, or in sheds or stalls of the usual form, as well as in
boxes ;* whether, in short, the boxes, although valuable as

* The results of my experience are, that cattle fatten equally well in
stalls and boxes; that in stalls they take up less room, and require less

On Box-feeding with Linseed Compounds. 485

adjuncts, are still not essentials—the system resting upon the
cattle-compounds, by the use of which feeding can be carried on
uninterruptedly winter and summer, in the best and cheapest
manner.

It may, perhaps, be further said, that in sheds and stalls as
usually formed, the cattle being tied up and prevented from
moving about, will fatten faster, and may be kept cleaner. That
fresh bedding every day, or every second day, will be more
wholesome for the animals than where it is permitted to go on
accumulating for a length of time, as such accumulations would
be liable to emit noxious effluvia in the process of fermentation,
which might prove injurious to the animals.

These and similar objections may very possibly be raised, and
may have more or less weight with intelligent persons, who have
not had an opportunity of witnessing the system of box-feeding
herein described.

With respect to the first objection—whether resulis equally
satisfactory might not be obtained by house-feeding in the usual
manner, I am not prepared to speak with confidence. Possibly
the animals might thrive as well, if similarly fed; but I cannot
assert that they would, neither can I say they would not. [x-
perience must settle the point; and where stalls already exist on
a farm, the obvious course will be to use them, feeding the animals
with the compounds as herein directed. But, in order to test the
relative merits of stalls and boxes, a few of the latter should be
prepared; and if found to answer better than the stalls, with
respect to the cattle and the accumulation of manure, as I believe
will be the case, the number of boxes may then be increased at
discretion.

With respect to the second and similar objections, I can only
say that I saw no ground whatever for entertaining them when I
visited ‘Trimingham. On the contrary, the boxes appeared clean,
sweet, and wholesome; the cattle were evidently thriving in them,
there was no noxious efiluvia, every particle of manure was pre-
served, and the general management appeared to answer perfectly
in every respect. And J may further add, that all inquiries
which I have since been enabled to make, confirm the impression
I then received of the perfect efficiency of the system for the
object contemplated.

However the cattle may be fed, whether in stalls or in boxes,
the manure is always a matter of primary importance. This
really constitutes an essential part of the system; for, unless the
manure be properly preserved, the largest amount of produce

straw to keep them clean and comfortabie ; but that in boxes the manure
is better made and preserved. Hf. S. Toomrson.
VOL: VIII. 2K

486 On Box-feeding with Linseed Compounds.

cannot be obtained from the land. Now, in the boxes not only is
the largest quantity of manure obtained, but the whole of it is
preserved, none runs to waste, none is lost; and all that is required
to be done, is to scatter a little fresh litter from time to time as
the bedding becomes wet or soiled. The cattle move about in
the boxes, and tread and tramp the whole down into a solid mass,
so close and compact as to prevent fermentation; and when
this solid mass of fertilizing material is removed, at the end
of every two or three months, as the case may be, if it were
immediately applied to the land, perhaps the greatest amount of
productive energy of which the land is susceptible would thereby
be imparted to it.

But, with house-feeding in the usual way, the management is
and must be different. ‘The cattle are tied up in stalls, having
no more room allowed than is necessary for enabling them to lie
down, and fresh litter is supplied every second or third day, the
whole of the old bedding being then removed and carried to the
manure-heap; in doing which it is impossible to prevent loss,
especially of the finer and more valuable portions. Then, unless
the manure-heap be kept covered in some way, it will be washed
by rain, and will heat and throw off its more volatile particles, and
the fertihzing qualities of the manure will thereby be greatly
reduced. Indeed, it is essential in order to preserve it in its
most effective state, that all manure should be protected from rain,
and from the action of the atmosphere, until the time arrives for
its application to the land; and when removed, it ought to be
deposited on dry mould, ashes, or other absorbent, to receive the
drainings which escape from the heap.

As regards manure, therefore, the mode of management in
connexion with box-feeding, appears to be decidedly preferable to
that in use for feeding, in stalls, and I believe the boxes will like-
wise be found preferable in most other respects. They have
answered exceedingly well wherever they have been tried; and
as example is in general of more weight than precept, I give at
the end an instance of the results of box-feeding obtained from
Mr. Warnes, and which he permits me thus to use.

A great man of the present day, who seems to possess the
faculty, intuitively as it were, of seeing the truth at a glance,
however deep in the well it may be immerged, remarked on a
late occasion :—‘‘I have long been telling my people that they
depend too much upon the barn-floor ; they should attend less to
the barn-floor, and more to feeding stock.” Now this is prac-
tically the substance of all that can be said on the subject ; and if
our farmers will take the advice, and rely less exclusively upon
the barn-floor, and look to other objects as well—especially to
caitle-feeding, without which the barn-floor will after all be but

On Box-feeding with Linseed Compounds. 487

slenderly furnished—if they do this, they will speedily find their
advantage in the change; and one important means to this end
will be found in extending the cultivation of flax, which will
give feed for their cattle, abundance of manure, and increased
produce from their land: and lastly, but not least in importance,
it will give profitable employment for their people.

Result of six months’ box-feeding the following stock, by Mr.
Warnes, at Trimingham.

2 Me ee ao ser th

7 Durham bullocks, purchased for 5910 O sold for 136 10 O
10 Scotch ditto ditto LOO OF EO dittos> 215.70) 0
1 Cow ditto ditto Bae 0 ditto 50 0
164 15 O 366 10 0

MCUWCL COS apogee woe 3 we 16415 0

Profit exclusive of keep . . 201 15 0
The above cattle, together with ten small steers and
heifers fed in ike mauner, consumed 19 acres of turnips,
14 quarters of linseed, a few bushels of barley-meal, and
a proportionate quantity of hay and pea-straw chaff;
the 10 steers and heifers were not sold with the others,
but the increase in their value during the six months is

estimated at . . ° : . : e.) BEr 0! 28
Profit on the whole exclusive of keep . 285 15-10
Deduct 40/. for the 14 aaa of linseed, and At for the

barley consumed . - . gaia: <2 8a | a

Leaves a return for feeding as above, for the turnips, hay,
and straw, without reckoning the manure thereby ob-
tained, of . : . e ° : : é. Bale 15-8

XX1.—Comparison of the Consumption of Food by Large and
Small Animals. By Gror@et SHACKEL.

To Mr. Pusey.

Dear Sir,—I was from home on the arrival of yours dated
30th September, or I should have answeredit earlier. The lambs
which I mentioned to you as having wintered last year were both
of the Hampshire breed, 100 in each lot. I will with pleasure
repeat what I stated on Wednesday last respecting the feeding
and quantity, and also give you an account of the cost of each lot
as well as the proceeds of the sale when they were fat. ‘The two
lots were fed at the same time on the same food, and penned on
the same ground, but were kept separate from the commence-

2m 2

488 Consumption of Food by Large and Small Animals.

ment. I allowed each lot when on turnips (because we did not
slice the turnips, only the swedes) the same sized piece per day ;
and when on swedes, which we began about Christmas, 33 bushels
(sliced) per day, and 18 bushels of excellent clover-chaff to each
lot; and on the 20th of February, 1847, we gave them 1 |b. of oil-
cake a-day on an average until they were sold out.
Bought in the last week in October, 1846. ‘
100 very large Hampshire Down lambs cost perhead . . 2
100 Hampshire Down lambs, weighing about 1} stone less
than above and very much smaller, cost perhead’ . . 115 O

pa &
Ss

The latter were in much better condition than the large ones.

Sold out from 28th March to 10th May, 1847.

1C0 lambs which cost 41s., sold at Smithfield and Southall
markets, realized on average, with wool . . . jae)

100 lambs which cost 35s., sold at the same Spears.
realized on average, with wool: -4 2 @ vies eee co

—_——

In favour of largelambs . . « 012 3

—
©

T ought to add that the markets were about 2s. per head in favour
of the large lambs, the trade for mutton being about that difference, or
rather more, when the large Jambs were sold, which would leave 10s. 3d.
instead of 12s. 3d. in their favour.

Nothing would be more conclusive and satisfactory than a fair
trial, in the same manner, between 100 of Sussex and 100 of
Hampshire Downs, both lots of their breed of equal value; that
is to say, 100 of best Sussex against 100 of best Hampshire, kept
on the same land and fairly tested out of doors, as a farmer would
wish to winter them.

Perhaps you will be able to cet a eee between the large
and small breeds, and then publish the result, which would be
more satisfactory than mine.

With much respect, I am, dear sir,
Yours truly,
Gero. SHACKEL.

Reading, Oct. 4th, 1847.

Nore sy Mr. Pusey.

The above trial seemed to me well to deserve a place in the
Society's journal, as throwing light upon the question whether
large and small animals of the same race do or do not consume
food in proportion to their respective bulk. This question is not
merely interesting as a point of physiological science, but also in
practical farming. A large body of farmers defend the Hamp-

Consumption of Food by Large and Small Animals. 489

shire or West Down sheep, notwithstanding their plain appear-
ance, by saying that this plain breed comes to a greater weight,
and therefore makes a greater money return, than the Sussex or
true South Down. The breeders of South Downs reply that, if
their sheep are smaller, more of them can be kept on the same
farm. Here then the abstract question has a practical bearing.
Last winter I saw a little Devon beast by the side of a large
Hereford preparing for the show of the Smithfield Club, and
Mr. Trinder’s feeder informed me that the small one ate about as
much as his more bulky neighbour. In this second instance there
was a very decided difference between Mr. Shackel’s two lots, yet
the larger lambs were satisfied throughout with an equal allowance
of each kind of food; and, though of the same breed, made a
better return by 4s. a-head than the smaller sheep. This plain
fact seems to warrant me in calling the attention of practical men
to this point of farming.
Pa. Pusey.

XXII.— The Sheep-Pox; its Causes, Symptoms, Prevention, and
Cure: in a Letier to the President and Council of the Royal
Agricultural Society of England. By J. Sranrey Carr,
Esq., Honorary Member of the Royal Agricultural Society of
England, and several Continental Agricultural Societies.

To the President and Council of ‘the Royal Agricultural Society
| of England,

My Lorps ann GENTLEMEN,— Having learned with much
regret, not only through the English newspapers, but private
channels, that the Sheep-pox, with whose ravages in this country
I am well acquainted, had unhappily been conveyed to Britain
by some recent importations of sheep from Hamburg, I hastened
to contribute my mite towards checking the progress of so great
an evil by sending, by last post, a letter to the Mark Lane
Express, briefly stating the course adopted in these countries
when the malady appears in a neighbourhood ; and promising
to give further directions on the subject, in the shape of a
pamphlet. This pledge I had intended to redeem by a treatise
of some length, but reflection on the urgency of the case, and the
sad probability, that, while scientific men are experimenting,
whole flocks will be lost, has induced me to bring the substance
of such information as | have to offer, at once before the public;
and by throwing it into the form of a letter to you, Gentlemen,
secure the attention of the farmers of England, feeling assured
that the motive will excuse me in your eyes for thus addressing
you through the medium of the Press.

490 On the Sheep-Poz.

The Sheep-pox is well known in Germany, appearing occa-
sionally in different and widely separate localities, and as its
ravages are both great and rapid, its treatment has deservedly
occupied an important place in the writings of theorists, as well
as in the careful attention of sheep-owners. ‘The result has
proved the benefit of such pains-taking observation; for, al-
though the malady was formerly very common in Bohemia, yet at
present, when more care is bestowed on the tendance and nourish-
ment of the flocks, it has become much more rare, making only
occasional outbreaks in different seasons and districts,;—more
especially in deep-lying, moory, swampy soils (or such as are
subject to be flooded), and where the generation of miasma is
facilitated and fostered by a warm climate. In healthy, dry
situations, where the sheep-houses are suitably constructed, and
the pastures of sound quality, there is little ground for apprehend-
ing a spontaneous occurrence of the sheep-pox, which, though
highly infectious, is not generally regarded as epidemic. It
strongly resembles, indeed, in all its stages, the small-pox, as
exhibited in the human subject, and is found to yield to the same
remedy. Like the small-pox, too, it occurs in two varieties—the
mild and harmless, and the malignant and deadly. The first
symptoms of incipient taint are, loss of appetite, swollen eyelids,
a somewhat staggering gait, and slight fever. Close examination
will easily detect an unusual redness of the skin, and after the
lapse of three or four days, small, raised, purple spots may be
discovered on the parts where there is least wool—(as inside the
thighs, under the shoulders, and on the head)—generally about
one-eighth of an inch in diameter, surrounded by a red ring, and
flattened in the centre, These fill by degrees with a thin, trans-
parent lymph, which, in process of time, assumes the nature of
matter (pus), at which stage of development the animal appears
relieved, and, lastly, the pustules dry into a scab and fall off.
Such is the progress of the mild variety. When, however, the
disease appears in a malignant form—and which, unhappily, is the
more frequent occurrence—the pulse becomes increasingly rapid,
the mouth dry and hot, the breath fetid, and the eyelids, and
even head, so much swollen, that the creature can scarcely be
recognised. ‘The pustules, being very numerous, become con-
fluent, and form a mass of matter, which, especially in warm
weather, is apt to assume a putrid character, degenerating into
malignant ulcers, by which the poor animal is rendered blind,
lame, or loses parts of the lips, and is at length carried off by
violent diarrheea.

In such sad circumstances, the certain destruction of the
greater part of the flock may be anticipated ; and as remedies,
whether external or internal, can avail nothing in those advanced

On the Sheep-Pox. 49]

stages of the disease, the only hope of saving those less affected is
at once to kill the leprous sheep—thus freeing the others from
their pestiferous exhalations—and to bury the carcasses, wool and
all, in some far-isolated spot. Previously, however, to things
having reached such extremity, the attendance of a skilful and
intelligent veterinary surgeon may be successful in warding off
the catastrophe from at least a proportion of the flock. But as in
no case the proverb, ‘ Prevention is better than cure,’ can be
found more pointedly applicable than in relation to the sheep-
pox, I strongly recommend all sheep-owners who hear of this
frightful scourge having appeared in their neighbourhood, or who,
from living near thoroughfares by which imported sheep are
accustomed to be driven, have reason to anticipate the possibility
of their sound flocks coming into casual contact with strange, per-
haps infected, animals, or the ground which such have passed
over, to lose no time in adopting the safe, easy, and often-tested
antidote against this justly dreaded disease, which INOCULATION
affords them.

This is practised in two ways: either regularly from year to
year on the lambs, as a preventive of natural sheep-pox, in
localities where the disease was formerly of frequent occurrence ;
or it is resorted to occasionally, when the malady has shown itself
in the vicinity, or even in one’s own flock (for the premonitory
symptoms are always such as must attract the notice of a careful
shepherd), and an immediate resort to inoculation will not only
generally rescue nine-tenths of the still unaffected sheep from all
dangerous attacks, but often lighten the disorder to even those
individuals of the flock on which symptoms of disease had already
manifested themselves. As practice justly weighs more with
Englishmen than theory, however plausible, I shall here shortly
relate my own experience of the sheep-pox, and the result of
inoculation both as a preventive and curative remedy,

About seven years ago I heard of the disease having appeared
in this neighbourhood, and resolved at once to try inoculation, of
the good effects of which I had both read and heard from credible
sources. On close examination of the flock a few sheep were
found to be already infected. These were, however, along with
all the others, lambs included, inoculated in the ear, in conformity
with the published recommendation of the Austrian Government
in Bohemia; and the result was in the highest degree satis-
factory, as we did not lose above one per cent. of sheep, and six
per cent. of lambs. I cannot now recall to mind, whether any of
those evidently infected before inoculation died or not; but I
know all did not: and particularly remember that several South
Down ewes, which I had shortly before imported from England,
and about which I naturally felt very solicitous, had the disease

492 | On the Sheep-Pox.

so strongly as to lose part of their ears, yet not one of them died.
Lhe inoculation plan was equally successful with many of my
tenants, who followed my example and urgent advice; but in
another village on this estate, where the peasants, from a dislike to
novelties, suffered the contagion to take its course, there was not,
to the best of my recollection, a single sheep left alive.

For the sake of distinctness, I shall now proceed to state the
mode, the most favourable time for, and the general effects of,
inoculation, when it has been effectively operated, as well as some
rules to be observed in the treatment of the inoculated animals.

Mode of Inoculation.— Where yearly inoculation is practised, it
Is customary to reserve a stock of inoculating materials from one
year to another, always taking particular care to obtain it from
individuals reh have the disease in a mild form, and which are
apparently otherwise in a sound state of health. In cases of
sudden emergency, arising from already existing or dreaded in-
fection, the inoculating virus must of course be procured with all
possible dispatch, yet with as careful selection as to mildness of
form as circumstances will permit. If the inoculation be only
precautionary, a very small quantity of lymph will suffice to
inoculate a few sheep, which must be immediately severed from
the rest, to prevent the disease being conveyed by contact, and
thus introducing a natural sheep-pox, which, like its congener in
the human subject, is always more virulent than the artificially
produced. From these first inoculated, a supply of good healthy
lymph will be obiained for inoculating the remainder of the flock.
The places best suited for the operation are the inner side of the
flap of the ear, or the under part of the tail, close to the root. The
instrument employed is a kind of needle made for the purpose,
with a fine, somewhat flattened point, which, having been dipped
in the virus, is carefully inserted between the upper and second
skin, cautiously avoiding piercing so deeply as to draw blood,
which is found to render the success of inoculation less certain.
Of course, in the absence of such a needle, a lancet will answer
the purpose.

Time for Inoculating.—The most favourable season for yearly
inoculation is late in the spring, or early in the autumn, say the
latter half of April; or from the beginning of September to the
middle of October. In cases of feared infection there is unhappily
no room for choice.

Effects of Inoculation When the operation has proved ef-
fectual, symptoms of fever appear about the fourth or sixth day ;
the inoculated parts become red, and throw out pustules, which,
on the ninth or tenth day, will be found filled with a thin trans-
parent lymph, which is then fit to be used as inoculating virus.
As, however, even with the utmost care, many animals do not

On the Sheep-Pox. 493

take the infection by the first inoculation, it is requisite to
examine the whole flock after the lapse of six or seven days from
the date of the first operation, and to inoculate a second time
wherever the first has proved abortive.

Treatment of the Sheep after Inoculation.—1st. Care must be
taken to provide them with airy and roomy stabling, so as to
prevent them as much as possible crowding together, which is
very apt to induce a malignant state of the disease, even when at
first disposed to assume a mild form.

2nd. It is absolutely necessary to keep them carefully guarded
against cold, and especially thorough draughts.

ord. Although, during warm and dry weather, both of the above-
mentioned evils are avoidable, by placing the sheep during the
daytime in a dry, sheltered, and not too distant paddock; still it
must be remembered, that exposure to rain, dew, or fog would
prove highly dangerous to them. ‘They must therefore be housed
at might, and when housed fed, in addition to good hay, with
coarse meal, some of which ought also to be mixed with the water
they get to drink,

If all the foregoing measures have been adopted, and the
disease appear in a mild form, internal medicine may be entirely
dispensed with. Should, However: symptoms occur which render
it desirable, the following powder may be advantageously ad-
ministered :—

Take equal parts of saltpetre and sulphur, reckoning one
drachm of the mixture to a dose, to which must be added, for the
first three days, two or three grains of rock-salt in powder; these
ingredients to be intimately incorporated with raw oatmeal, and
left beside the sheep for them to lick it; after three days cam-
phor may be substituted for rock-salt.

From the time that pus begins to form in the pustules, as well
as during their scabbing and drying off, a slight acidulation, by
means of vitriolic acid, i the water given to the sheep to drink,
has been found useful. ‘This summary, simple and easily practi-
cable as it is, contains the substance of all the theories on the
subject of sheep-pox on which experience has stamped the seal of
approval, Precautionary measures on this side of the North Sea
for ascertaining the soundness of sheep about to be shipped could
scarcely be enforced, since incipient taint may exist, and yet no
symptom appear till drawn forth by the warmth of the hold.
The sanitory cordon must therefore be drawn in England, if
anywhere; and it might perhaps be advisable to appoint com-
petent persons at all sea-ports to which sheep are imported, to
examine the animals on landing, and empowered, when suspicious
Sy paplams appear in any one of a flock, to subject the whole to a
weck’s quarantine, during which the existence or non-existence of

494 On the Sheep-Pox.

the sheep-pox among them must be evidenced. I would also
venture to suggest, that it might be worth while to make experi-
ment with the cow-pox on sheep, since it may possibly produce
an amelioration of their disease, similar to that which the human
race has derived from the introduction of vaccination. With the
earnest desire that, meanwhile, the adoption of moculation may
be found as efficacious in England as it has long proved on the
Continent, for the suppression of so terrible a scourge,
I have, &c.,
J. Sranuey Carr.
Tiischenbeck (Duchy of Lauenberg),
October 18th, 1847.

XXLT.—Agricultural Chemistry. Turnip Culture.
By J. B. Lawes.

EXPERIENCE is a legitimate and trustworthy guide in all the
great practical arts affecting the physical condition of the human
race, and, tor agriculture as for many other branches of industry,
has attained a considerable degree of progress independently of
the aid of science; but in so far as experience, as distinguished
from principle, is relied upon, must we be content that the soundest
practices should only be adopted by that small proportion of the
entire masses who exercise an intelligent observation, and have
arrived at rules for future guidance more or less by the lessons of
past error. But although the results of investigation into the
rationale of well recognised practices should prove them to be
in the main consistent with philosophy, rather than show them to
be fundamentally erroneous, yet, when it is remembered that a
well understood and simply explicable principle is much more
easily acted upon and by a much greater number of individuals
than are the dictates of the most acute empiricism, the claim of
science as an improver, as well as an exponent of the economic
arts, must be fully admitted. The young man of average talent
and education, by the assistance of principle, attams comparatively
early the position which otherwise half a life is spent in seeking.
Granting, however, what we are by no means called upon to do,
that the best practices of the age are beyond the aid of science,
and that their more current adoption rather than their improve-
ment is to be expected, a better knowledge than is now prevalent,
regarding the first principles of vegetable growth, will serve to
protect the farmer from the many snares into which either fraud
or ignorance would lead him. [f, then, the results of investigation

Agricultural Chemistry— Turnips. 495

should tend to explain and to enforce good old practices, rather
than to put forth those which are new and untried, the utility or
even the necessity of the application of science to the improve-
ment of our national agriculture will not be the less evident.

The question with the agriculturist is not so much what are
the constituents which must exist in his soil for the growth of a
given amount of produce? but what constituents or class of con-
stituents does this or that crop exhaust, relatively to another con-
stituent or class of constituents? Looking at the subject in this
point of view, we are of opinion that the increased growth of corn
may be considered to have a very intimate relationship to the
amount of nitrogen supplied to the soil: and since, owing to the
scarcity and high price of ammoniacal salts, or other direct nitro-
genous supplies, it is impossible to rely upon these sources, a
rotation of crops, and the importation of food for stock, come to
be not merely the only generally applicable, but the most eco-
nomical means of restoring fertility to the soil. Under such a
course for the special accumulation of nitrogen, it will be found
that there is always secured an abundant coincident supply of
mineral and carbonaceous substances, and hence the direct im-
portation of these latter substances is seldom necessary.

The results of our experiments upon wheat and other plants of
the gramineous family have indeed shown, beyond a doubt, that
the character of the exhaustion which the soil suffers by their
growth is essentially and pre-eminently nitrogenous; and since
common usage bears ample testimony to the efficiency of alternate
cropping, it is to be supposed that an examination into the com-
position, habits, and sources of growth of the plants which enter
into a rotation, would bring to view important functional differ-
ences and peculiarities in the different plants, and such as should
give confidence in general principles and tend to improvement and
economy in practice.

The greatly varying form and appearance of the various agri-
cultural plants, implying, as undoubtedly they do, essential
differences in their sources of nutriment, have led, from but
superficial observation of them, to erroneous assumptions regard-
ing the true office of certain plants in a course of agricultural
cropping. Thus it is by some maintained that the large surface
of leaf put forth to the atmosphere by the turnip, taken in con-
nexion with the general character and utility of the crop, be-
speaks an almost exclusive reliance upon the natural resources of
the atmosphere for its carbonaceous supply; and the direct appli-
cation of nitrogenous manures has accordingly been recommended
with the view of favouring to the greatest extent the develop-
ment of leaf as a means of securing bulb.

Again, agricultural plants haye been arranged according to

496 Agricultural Chemistry— Turnips,

their botanical alliances; and distinctions between the necessary
conditions of artificial supply of certain constituents have been
made, which are inconsistent with the dictates of experience, and
equally so with those to which we are led when other circum-
stances besides the (nevertheless important) botanical distinctions
are brought into consideration. The varying quantitative reliance
upon the atmosphere and the soil of different natural families of
plants constitutes indeed a most interesting and iniportant point of
study, and the principles upon which the natural system is founded
may derive essential confirmation from chemical researches ; but
in referring the varying agricultural value of different plants to
the functional characters of the several natural orders to which
they belong, it must always be first decided that the natural aim
and tendency of the plant and order are favoured by our methods
and objects of cultivation, and that the agricultural value of the
plant is in no way dependent on a monstrous or artificial develop-
ment at variance with that of its individual health and reproduc-
tive tendencies.

The cultivation, habit, and uses of the turnip are well suited to
form a contrast to those of our grain crops; and the plant itself
may, to some extent, be taken as the type of the green or fallow
crops, a main effect of which is the preparation of the soil for the
after-growth of corn. The essentially artificial condition which is
induced in the cultivation of the turnip plant, for feeding and
manuring purposes, is most strikingly illustrated by the effect of
climate and manures upon the quantity and composition of the
produce.

We shall now proceed to discuss in detail the results of experi-
ments which have been in progress in the field and in the Jabora-
tory for several years, and which were undertaken with the view
of elucidating some of the general effects of rotation. From the
commencement of the inquiry it has been our wish to avoid, as
far as possible, the bias of any of the conflicting opinions which
have of late years been put forth upon the important subject
under examinaticn, and it will be our endeavour, as we proceed in
our Report, impartially to lay before our readers such results of
direct experiment as will enable them to form their own estimate
of the soundness of any views which we may advocate or adopt.

At the outset, however, it may be well to caution the agricul-
turist against expecting what we by no means presume to exhibit.
The object of the experiments has not been the production of
immense crops, but to trace, as far as we were able, the real con-
ditions of growth required by the turnip, and to distinguish these
from those of the crops to which it is to a great extent subservient.
To attain our object it will be necessary to speak of amounts of
produce which may at first sight excite the ridicule of those who

Agricultural Chemistry—Turnips. 497

do not fully appreciate the nature of the question at issue; but
those who choose to go through the details which we are about to
quote will, it is thought, find that a true understanding of them
tends much to explain the principles upon which the best agricul-
ture is founded.

Before entering upon a consideration of the turnip results them-
selves, we shall remind the reader of some of the leading facts
which may be assumed, regarding the conditions of growth of the
wheat plant.

In the paper on “ Agricultural Chemistry ” in the last number
of this Journal, a series of experiments was quoted for the purpose
of showing the effect of season and manuring upon the growth of
wheat; and a careful consideration of them led to some very
important conclusions regarding the nature of the exhaustion by
corn-cropping, and also as to the varying nutritive and marketable
value of specimens of grain, having different characters and com-
position, traceabie to known conditions of growth.

It was seen that the varying quantity and the quality of the
produce of a plot of land, unmanured during several successive
seasons, were materially dependent on the number of rainy days,
the inches of rain and the temperature, of the months of May,
June, July, and August, during which periods the accumulative
and elaborative processes of the wheat plant are most actively de-
termined. The average annual produce of the soil and season,
unaided by manure, amounted to about three-fourths of the
estimated yield of the neighbourhood under ordinary cultivation—
to two-thirds of that of a plot manured by farm-yard dung—and
to fully half as much as might be expected from as high a course
of farming as the soil and the climate with which we have to deal
would justify us in adopting. It is remarkable too that, whilst
the quality of this natural produce, as indicated by the relation of
corn to straw, and the weight per bushel of the corn, varied year
by year according to season, yet the characters of the crops grown
by very various and, in some cases, rather high manures, were for
each season somewhat similar to those of the produce of the
unmanured plot. It is evident then, that the conditions favourable
to an increased growth of wheat are perfectly consistent in hind
with the natural tendencies of the plant, and that they only differ
quantitatively from the natural resources of soil and season, and
less indeed in this respect than might have been supposed.

The following table exhibits the influence of season upon the
produce of turnip-bulb unaided by the supply of manure. The
soil upon which the experiments were conducted was a somewhat
heavy loam, not well suited for turnips; the previous crops since
manure having been wheat, clover, wheat :—

498 Agricultural Chemistry— Turnips.

No Manure.
SEROH Average weight
Bulb per Acre in of buibs in lbs.
and tenths.
Tons. ewts. qrs. lbs.
1843 4° B85 0°52
1844 By 7) die bey DEO 0°36
1845 OMS Za ee 0-11

It is seen that in three years the produce of this unmanured
plot was reduced from 4} tons to 134 cwts. per acre; in the
fourth season (1846) the bulbs only averaged the size of a radish,
and were considered to be not worth weighing. ‘This result
strikes us as the more remarkable when we reflect that to the
turnip is attributed a power of reliance upon the atmosphere for
its organic constituents, to which it is supposed is due its efficacy
in restoring fertility to the soil, and increasing the after-growth
of corn, which itself attains to a moderate crop under the influence
of soil and season alone. The evidence here afforded of the
totally artificial conditions which are induced in the cultivation of
the turnip for feeding and manuring purposes, is of the clearest
kind; and we shall have occasion further on to refer to other
points than those here given, as illustrating so curious a result.

Our present object is to show the entire absence of any bene-
ficial influence of season upon the growth of the turnip, inde-
pendently of artificial supply of constituents. An inspection of
the two following tables, giving the results obtained by various
manures during three seasons, and the characters of the seasons
themselves, affords some insight into the general influence of climate
upon the growth of the cultivated turnip. It must be admitted,
however, that the relation is by no means so quantitatively definite
as in the case of wheat; whilst the conditions suited to the favour-
able growth of the two plants are very opposite in kind :—

Average weight of Bulbs

Bulb per Acre, in Tons, ewts., qrs., and Ibs. | rn The a tone

b Mixed
Season, 12 Tons Superphosphate vei ee 12 Tons Super- | earthy and
Farm-yard Farm-yard | phosphate eee
y of Lime. Phosphates and ¥ BOOSE Phosphates
dung. Sulphates. dung. of Lime. and
Sulphates.
Tons. ewts. qrs- lbs. Tons. cwts. qrs. lbs.|Tons. cwts. qrs. lbs.
1843 9 i 2 Sill 17) 2-0) Te86 1°47 135

1844 410° 15° VOLT O14 (S270) bo Poe 2) 0 a 18 0°81 0°68
US4517 0 “3 O12, WSs Slay We See ron 1°17 1:16

Agricultural Chemistry— Turnips. 499

A detailed consideration of the produce of the several seasons
under different conditions of manuring, as just given, cannot fail
to show in which were the climatic influences most favourable to
the growth of the cultivated turnip. It will be remembered that,
without manure, the produce of the first of the three seasons was
much below the most meagre agricultural amount; and that in
the third and fourth it dwindled to almost nothing. This table,
on the other hand, shows that under a course of manuring the
third season yielded the largest crop, and the second invariably
the least. ‘The average produce of the first season, where farm-
yard-dung is employed, is not superior to that of the second
season under similar conditions of supply, though it is so in each
of the cases where mineral manures alone are used. If we look
to the average weight of the bulbs, however, as given in the
table, it will be seen that the development was superior in the
first year to that in the second, though inferior to that in the
third. The seeming depreciation in the first season, indicated
by the average yield, arose from the adventitious circumstance of
the greater destruction of plants by disease in that season, from
which cause their number was greatly diminished. The dis-
crepancy is therefore apparent rather than real; the result
beimg dependent, not upon the amount of supply by season and
manure, but upon injury which is more frequently connected with
rich than with poor manuring. Again, neither the acreage pro-
duce nor the average weight of bulbs, where mineral manures
alone were employed, shows so marked a superiority of the third
season as compared with the first, as is evinced in the case of
the farmyard-dung, by which a large amount of organic matter,
was supplied to the plants. We shall have occasion to show
however, when treating of the effects of manures upon the growth
of the turnip, that there was a deficiency of carbonaceous supply
in the soil in the cases where mineral manures alone had been
used, which gave to the farmyard-dung its superiority in the
third season. Upon the whole it is evident from the results,
that of the three seasons the third was by far the best suited to
the growth of the turnip for feeding purposes, and that the
second was the least so. Of the real character of these seasons
some judgment may be formed by an inspection of the following
table, in which is given a summary of the statistics provided by
the rain-gauge and the register thermometer, in reference to the
climate of the three seasons during the months of July, August,
September, and October, which may be considered to include
the period of the active growth of the turnip :—

500 Agricultural Chemistry— Turnips.

During July (last 14 days). During August.
Mean No. of Inches Mean No. of Inches |
Season. | Tempera-| rainy of Season. | Tempera-| rainy of
ture, days. Rain. ture. days. Rain.
1843 | 59-7 11 1-04 | 1843 | 63-4 12 3°38
1844 | 65-8 3 0-55 | 1844 | 59-7 lf 1-84
1845 | 59-4 7 0°97 | 1845 | 59-0 17 2+79
During September. During October.
Mean No. of Inches “Mean No. of Inches
Season. | Tempera-| rainy of Season. | Tempera- rainy of
ture. | days. Rain. , ture. days. Rain.
1843 61°9 5) 0:98 1843 49-0 15 2°62
1844 58°9 14 1+38 1544 50°2 17 4-13
1845 54:8 14 ead 1845 50°0 10 Li39

By such a summary as is here given, of course only the gene-
ral differences in the seasons are brought to light; but our
readers will probably admit that the greatly increased labour of
examination, were the table more extended and in detail, would
scarcely be compensated for, if the main characters, requisites,
and offices of the turnip season can be ascertained without it.

A relatively large number of rainy days, an enhanced actual
amount of rain, anda low degreé of temperature, are prominently
the characters which distinguish the assumed turnip season of
1845 from that of the two preceding years, and during a con-
siderable portion of the period, especially, from that of 1843.

Thus taking the items somewhat in the order in which they
are given, we find that in the latter half of the month of July,
upon the character of which so materially depended the early
development of the plant, and on this its future growth, in the
seasons of 1843 and 1845 the temperature was lower than in
1844; and in 1845 the number of rainy days is more than double
that in 1844, though somewhat less than in 1843, whilst the total
amount of rain was much greater in 1845 than in 1844, and
nearly equal to that in 1843. In August we have in 1845 the
lowest temperature, the greatest number of rainy days, and,
though not the largest actual amount of rain, a quantity large
compared with 1844, though below that in 1843. September
indicates still the lowest temperature in 1845, a number of rainy
days equal to 1844 and far exceeding 1843, and also the largest
actual amount of rain. The month of October, on the other

Agricultural Chemistry— Turnips. 501

hand, shows in 1845 the smallest number of rainy days, as well as
actual fall of rain, and a mean temperature not so low as in
1843.

In these facts, even though so general and limited in their
indications, there is scarcely one which does not show that the
most fayourable conditions of growth for our cultivated, bulb-
forming turnips are, relatively to those for the seed-producing
gramineous plants, a low degree of temperature, a large number
of rainy days, and a large actual amount of rain. The seeming
deviation from this general postulate, which is indicated by the
character of the month of October in the third or best turnip
season, is, however, by no means inconsistent with our estimate
of the requisites of such a season, but rather conduces still further
to account for the observed superiority of effect; for whilst, com-
pared with plants which are cultivated for highly elaborated
products, such as the cereal grains, we should expect the mainly
accumulative and deficiently elaborative processes of the bulb
and leaf forming turnip would require a lower degree of tem-
perature and a greater amount of moisture favouring the circu-
latory determinations of the plants, there is, nevertheless, a point
at which depreciation in temperature is injurious to vegetation.
Indeed the full growth of the turnip crop depends greatly on the
postponement of the winter temperature, and hence probably
arose a real advantage from the relatively high (though actually
low) temperature in the October of 1845. Again, the lower the
temperature, the less important is a continuity and large amount
of rain.

As a general fact, it 1s evident that the amount of the produce
of the turnip is very materially dependent upon the climatic
character of the season, not only as in itself a resource, but as an
essential agent in the appropriative power of the plant, however
liberal and complete may be the supply of constituents within
the soil. Whilst, however, it may frequently happen that the
physical characters of the season may be such as not to render
available to the plant, and at once profitable to the farmer, the
constituents which he has provided by manure, it is evident from
the results which have been given, that, without an ample
manuring, the best adapted season is incapable of yielding an
agricultural amount of turnips. It is to be feared, however, that
it is more frequently the essential condition of artificial aid,
rather than that of natural climatic agency and resource, that is
in defect.

Common usage seems to attribute to the turnip and green
crops generally a power of collection from the atmosphere which
is not recognised in our grain-yielding plants ; and it may at first
sight appear inconsistent with this view, that the growth of the

VOL. VIII. Zi

502 Agricultural Chemistry —Turnips.

turnip in agricultural quantity should be so essentially dependent
on artificial supply as our results would show to be the case.
There can be no doubt that there is some truth in this current
supposition, but there is little doubt that the power of collection
from the atmosphere very materially depends upon the quantity
and quality of the supply to the soil by manures; in fact, that
upon the judicious and liberal provision of certain constituents by
art we must rest our hopes for atmospheric accumulation.
Having shown, then, that climatic agencies constitute an impor-
tant element in the necessary conditions of growth of our culti-
vated turnip, and that these are only available when associated with
an abundant artificial supply of certain constituents, the question
arises— What are the substances which it is essential should thus
be provided? This brings us to the second branch of our subject,
namely, the influence of manuring upon the growth of the turnip.

Having discussed in some detail the comparative characters of
the first three seasons during which we have been conducting an
extensive series of experiments, under very various yet known con-
ditions of manuring, we are prepared to consider the results of
those experunents; and it is believed that those of them which
were obtained in the three years referred to will amply suffice to
undicate the nature of the necessary supply by manure, and also
to lead to some interesting and important explanations regarding
the true office of the turnip in a course of agricultural cropping,
and the sources of its economic value. We would again remind
our readers that the object of the experiments was not the pro-
duction of large crops, but to learn, by the effects of different and
known conditions of supply, in what respect and to what extent
the plant was dependent upon the resources which must be kept
up by the farmer, and how far he may rely upon the natural yield
of the atmosphere ; for it is the item of source of constituents, as
well as that of quantity and quality, which should influence our
selection of plants and manures under a truly rational and eco-
nomic system of agriculture.

The experiments were commenced in the season of 1843, the
early part of which, it will be remembered, was greatly superior
to that of 1844, and equal to that of 1845 in suitableness to the
growth of the turnip; but in the middle and latter periods it was
inferior to either of the two succeeding seasons. The soil was a
somewhat heavy loam, not well adapted for turnips; but as the
plant is cultivated on such land with admitted advantage for rota-
tion purposes, it was well fitted to answer our special ends. The
previous crops since manure had been wheat, clover, wheat; so
that in an agricultural point of view the soil might be considered
as somewhat exhausted, and therefore in a fayourable condition

Agricultural Chemistry— Turnips. 503

for an inquiry into the influence of supply by manuring. The
description of seed was Norfolk Whites. The manures and seed
were drilled together on ridges, there being 25 inches between
the rows. The plots allotted to each experiment comprised six
rows, and consisted of about one-third of an acre. The crop was
calculated, from weighed quantities taken from measured portions
of land, of about one-eighth of an acre for each lot, and extending
across the series in three different places.

TABLE showing the results of ExpeRIMENTS upon the GrowTH of TurNips by ManvrEs,
at RoTHAMPSTED Farm, HERTs.

First Season, 1843.

n
3 DescRIPTION oF MANURES. aoe ee
| weight [Number| 2°7° |Bulb peracre, in|Bulb per acre, if
E ay: : , Wels om- E g a ewiaha
= | Quantities expressed in weight per acre. |of Bulbs Eolants i d t <z 4 plants in a
A Each lot made up at the rate of 14 | in Ibs, |! P@" eth Oe square yard =
2 bushels per acre, with clay and weed- and per acre. ae qrs., and lbs, 19,360 in an
= ashes. tenths, eae acre.
1000.
Tons. ewts. qrs. lbs. Tons, ewts. qrs. lbs.
1 | 12 tons farm-yard dung . ~ . Se leSG fiasco k P. eens S-952, = Stl Mario 0) 1.9
' 2| Nomanure . ‘ : 3 - + | 0°52 | 17,940} 1000 Zi S= Bil ok 240 8527 26
3 | 62 ewts. rape cake. = : - ~ 1°08 17,043 1967 Sieve 23 12 Dae 6 25) 2)
4 | 54 ewts rape cake, 2 bushels yeast . : 1°16 15,467 1926 SAT | Oe Oss | T
i Be eae yas “ : - F ge of ae ° 1°21 20,240 | 2622 TOT on ol OU aL One Sarre ka:
6 ewts. superphosphate of lime, = _— é :
saighaiesrarhsmania, 4 bushels of yeast } A EEE i aes ee ie Pe a a es et
7 oe lbs. sulphate of ammonia - - : 1°03 14,996 1653 6 18 1 25 SP Sa.Ob 5
2% ewts. s 2
& ae ie wns Stewts-21 1.69 | 16,096 | 2894 |12 2 1 21/14 12 0 14
9 | 14 cwts. superphosphate of lime, 54. cwts. || 1°52 15,295 2490 EO 5S tS B A AS Se eB 17
rape cake . - ° . sn
10 | 3$ ewts. superphosphate of lime, 1 ewt. 1°58 | 18,019 3042 1S 143 6 bs ts 0 13
rape cake . . : ° .
' 11 | Refuse matter containing much reat 1°42 17,928 2734 EE Sob O tea ea (Swe, 2S
tated phosphate of lime, rape cake, &e.
12 | 24 cwts. superphosphate of lime, 2 cwts. 1°48 17,112 2720 Term ae Tele hes loam. oO
rape cake, 20 lbs. sulphate of ammonia
13 | 1} ewts. superphosphate of lime, 1 cwt. 1°42 16,617 | 2531 LOG 2 Oa] Onl beee Suede OS
rape cake, 40 lbs. sulphate of aainonts ¢
14 | 13 ewts. superphosphate of lime, 33 cwts. 1°23 | 17,790 | 2340 9 15. 3 25 | 10-12 2 12
rape cake, 10 lbs. sulphate of seeds
15 | 3$ewts. superphosphate of lime, 23 cwts. 1°75 | 15,088 284] PE PROS LSU AS 29 2. 6
rape cake, 20 lbs. sulphate of ammonia ‘
16 | 3% cwts. superphosphate of lime, 13 cwts. 1*39 | 19,975 Sua 1s. Sho St ie ON. 3
phosphate of magnesia-manure . i
17 | 33 ewts. superphosphate of lime, 150lbs.2 | j+3¢ | 19,928 | 2804 TP 12 32 19711 GIbdo O.. 9
phosphate of potass-manure . '
18 | 34 cwts. superphosphate of lime, 84 lbs. ) | : Siegen
phosphate of magnesia, 75 Ibs. phos. \ 1:35 | 19,642 | 2835 | 11 17 2 Of] 11 13 1 12
phate of potass . : F * M ud
19 | As 18, with 30 lbs. sulphate ofammonia. | 1°49 | 19,113 | 3045 | 12 5 0 13) 12 17 6
20 | 3}cwts. superphosphate of lime, 14 cwts. 2 9 23 112 35 0 138
_rape cake, 16 ibesea phate of ammonia ie cei ra PR sy | z
21 | Unburnt bones decomposed by sulphuric {} }.4 17,675 | 2804 | 11 14 3 19|12 15 3° 9
acid, 7 bushels . 4 tH : j ;
22 | 44. cwts. superphosphate oflime . . | 1:47 | 18,446} 2908 | 12 3 2 8/12 14 Q-10
23 | Clay and weed-ashes only, 15 bushels . | 1°32 | 18,745 | 2650 | 11 1 3 21 11 8 0. 20

The terms superphosphate of lime, phosphate of potass, phosphate of soda, and phosphate of magnesia,
as found inthis table, and others which follow it, are not to be understood as representing the pure chemical
substances bearing those names. The composts were formed by acting upon calcined bone-dust by means *
of sulphuric acid in the first instance ; and in the case of the alkaline salts, and the magnesian one, neutral-
ising the compound thus obtained, by means of cheap preparations of the respective bases.

at Pe

504 Agricultural Chemistry— Turnips.

Were we to look at the results of this Table with a purely agri-
cultural eye, the column of acreage weight of bulb would be suf-
ficient to guide our judgment as to the efficiency of the various
manures ; but since the object of the experiments is rather to pro-
vide a key to the requirements of the turnip than to afford exact
examples of manuring, other items than that of the actual acreage
results obtained must be taken into consideration in forming an
estimate respecting the nature of the conditions which cultivation
should be calculated to supply. Manures, indeed, cannot be re-
garded only as containing certain constituents convertible into the
substance of the crops, but also as agents acting beneficially or
otherwise according to the form or combinations in which they
are supplied, and their adaptation to soil and season. ‘Thus it is
known that the casualties and tendencies to disease or prevalence
of insects often prove more destructive to the young turnip-plant
under high farming, when the soil abounds in animal and vege-
table matter, than when it is deficient in such substances; and the
number of plants per acre may by such causes be so greatly re-
duced as to show a better acreage yield under bad than under
liberal cultivation. ‘The number of plants per-.acre must not
therefore be overlooked in considering the results of the Table.
The average weight of bulb may also be taken as to some extent
indicating the relative effects of different conditions of growth,
Where we have an increased average weight, as well as a large
number of plants, both agency and supply have been favourable
to the requirements of the plant; and although the efficiency of
either of them is dependent on that of the other, it may as a
general fact be assumed that a high number of plants indicates a
favourable condition, and a large average weight a favourable
amount of supply. Bearing in mind these considerations, we have
given in the last column of the Table the estimated acreage yield,
calculated from the actual average weight of bulb, and supposing
a uniform number of plants per acre, namely, 19,360, or 4 in a
square yard. Such an arrangement would give about 12} inches
from plant to plant along the rows, and may be taken as affording
a more just view of the effects of the manures, independently of
the contingencies arising from the manner of their application.

In reference to the results of this first season it must further be
remarked, that the previous course having been wheat, clover,
wheat, the peculiar exhaustion of the soil would be that induced
by corn-cropping ; and if there be any truth in the opinions which
we have given elsewhere on this subject, this would imply a defi-
ciency of nitrogen relatively to other constituents, so far as the
future growth of wheat would be concerned ; and it would appear
from the amounts of produce without manure durimg the three
seasons, as already given, that in some important respects the con-

Agricultural Chemistry— Turnips, 505

ditions of exhaustion most favourable to an investigation into the
effects of supply for the growth of the turnip, were not so promi-
nent in the first season as afterwards, when the unaided yield was
little more than a weed, so that the entire produce under manures
could then be attributed either to their agency or their supply.
The following selected results, showing the average weight of
bulbs and number of plants per acre, yielded by manures which,
compared with each other, are respectively mineral, nitrogenous, or
carbonaceous, will point to some of the conditions which it is essen-
tial to provide for the healthy and rapid growth of the turnip :—

SELECTED RESULTS.

Number | Are,
Plot Description of Manures. Plants |, Bulbs
- per here, | MUbs.and
2 No manure > e e 2 ° e ° ° e ° . 2 ° 17,940 0:52
SmiGyycwisetape cakes ss 6) of ete ge) &. e |, 17,043 | 1-08
199 Glbs, sulphate of ammonia. + 9. « « ». » | 14,996 | 1°03
16 | 34 cwts. superphosph. lime, 14 cwt. phos. of magn. manure | 19,975 | 1°39
17 3% 5 »» 150 lbs. phos. potass. manure | 19,228 | 1°36
18 a3 as 3, 84 1bs. phos. mag. 75 lbs. phos.
pot. manure-:. . » ~- | 19,642 1°35
22 43 cwts 99 99 ° ° ° r) ® e ° 18 , 446 1°47

The figures in the first column show a great destruction of
plants under direct ammoniacal supply, as well as considerable
depreciation where rape-cake was used; and common experience
teaches us that, however useful rape-cake and ammoniacal salts,
or guanos containing much ammonia, may be as manures for
turnips, substances of their description are never safely applied
near to the seed. Other instances than those quoted above from
the table at page 503 distinctly show the injurious influence of
organic manures when drilled with the seed ; indeed, it may be
laid down as a general rule that, especially for all spring crops,
it is much more safe to apply such matters broadcast, and incorpo-
rate them well with the soil. The conflicting accounts which are
given of the effects of guano and ammoniacal salts when they are
supplied to spring corn crops, and of these manures and rape-
cake when used for turnips, are, it is believed, mainly attributable
to differences in the manner of their application ; and whilst with
avery wet season no injury, or perhaps benefit, may arise from the
use of the manure drill in such cases, by far the safest course is
to sow broadcast.

The second column of the selected results shows for this season
of 1843 a considerable superiority in point of development, as well
as number, of surviving plants, under purely mineral by the side
of organic manures; and, compared with the unmanured plot,

506 Agricultural Chemistry— Turnips.

those having manures only mineral indicate a growth almost three-
fold in the same space of time, whilst the actual acreage amount
of produce is in these cases very nearly as great as in any of the
series; indeed, mineral manures alone have nearly trebled the
unaided produce of the soil and season.

These results might almost lead us to question the importance
of organic manuring for the turnip crop, and to assume that a
deficiency in mineral matters was the source of impoverishment in
the case of the soil selected for experiment; but as we proceed
it will be seen that, however marked may have been the effect of
mineral matters in developing the powers of growth of the plant,
as long as a sufficiency of organic food remained, yet a point of
exhaustion was arrived at when, by a less aimoGnt of mineral
matter, if in conjunction with organic supply (especially such as
could yield carbon to the plants), the rapidity of bulb formation
was materially enhanced.

Before leaving these results it is as well to observe, that not-
withstanding the large amount of potass required by the turnip,
the direct supply of that alkali did not give a produce superior
to that by superphosphate of lime. We shall have occasion to
recur to the question, whether part of the effect of the latter
manure is not due to its liberation in the soil of alkalis not other-
wise available to the plant. All we wish to call attention to at
the present is, that there was an abundant amount of alkalis in
this corn-exhausted soil, which could be rendered serviceable
under suitable management.

The next quotations which we shall make from the table (page
503) will serve to illustrate the effect of the artificial supply of
matter for organic formations, aided by certain mineral agency
and constituency :—

SELECTED RESULTS.

Average| Number

No Description of Manures. weight | of Plants
: of Bulbs.| per Acre.
8 23 cwts. superphosphate of lime, 32 cwts. rape-cake . . | 1°69 | 16,096
Did 4, os 5 ea AN fi ellie al, 15,205
10 38 1 1°58 | 18,009

12 94 ewts. superphosphate of lime, 2 ewts, rapes -cake, 20 Ibs,
“sulphate ofammonia . 1°48 | 17,112

13 | 1} ewt. superphosphate of lime, 1 ewt. " rape- cake 49 Ibs.
“sulphate Ol ‘ammonia’ “% pss : 1°42 | 16,617

14 | 1} cwt. superphosphate of lime, 32 oni rape-cake, 10 Ibs,
* sulphate ofammonia . 1:23 | 17,790

15 | 3% ewts. superphosphate of lime, 28 ewts, “rape-cake, 20 Ibs.
sulphate ofammonia .« .« «© « « «+» € E76 7°15, 088

19 | 34 cwts. superphosphate of lime, 84 Ibs. phosphate, magnesia,

"75 Ibs, phosphate of potass, 30 lbs. sulphate of ammonia . | 1°49 | 19,113
20 | 31 cwts. superphosphate of lime, 14 cwt. rape-cake, 16 lbs.

sulphate ofammonia 2 2 6 6 © + » © » #& |L°o8 1 165916

Agricultural Chemisiry— Turnips. 507

It may be objected that the average weight of bulbs as stated
above is in itself small, and that the differences exhibited are
too slight to be relied upon as showing a result. We would beg
to say, however, that the estimations were taken from the whole
of the bulbs that were weighed in each case, amounting to nearly
2000, and that we believe they may be depended upon for our
present purpose.

It will be remembered that with mineral manures alone there
were, on an average, rather more than 19,000 plants per acre,
but a glance at the results just given will show how uniformly the
direct supply by the drill of “ organic manures” tended to lessen
the number. Again, it has been seen that the highest average
weight of bulbs (indicating the degree of development) was, by
purely mineral manures, 1:47 lbs., ‘by sulphate of ammonia 1: 03,
and by rape-cake alone 108 lb. ‘The fact that these conditions
of manuring, employed singly, fall far short of their effects when
combined, helps us to form some judgment as to the point at
which the one or another class of constituents seems to fail,
either in quantity or in adaptation to the wants of the plant.

Taking the lots 8,9, and 10, we find the largest number of
plants where the proportion of mineral supply to that of rape-
cake is the greatest, and the smallest number where the rape-cake
is. relatively in excess. The weight of bulbs is least where the
mineral matters are most in defect, and greatest where neither
condition was to the other so prominent as in the other two cases.

Again, taking Nos. 12, 13, 14, and 15, in which superphos-
phate of lime was united with both rape-cake and ammoniacal
salt, the largest weight of bulb in the entire series of the season
is found to be in that case where, with a fair supply of each, no
one of the several manures predominated so much as in either of
the three other instances just mentioned,

Were we to place unconditional reliance upon mere sinply of
constituents for actual conversion into the substance of the plant, we
should expect that the farm-yard dung would give, in every
respect, the best crop in the series; but agency, as distinguished
from mere supply, seems to constitute a most important item,
affecting the development of those truly artificial conditions of
growth which the cultivation of the turnip, for feeding and ma-
nuring purposes, so pre-eminently implies. In the farm-yard
dung we had undoubtedly the largest provision of nitrogenous, and
especially of carbonaceous matter, and it may be supposed that
it also brought to the soil such an abundance of all the mineral
substances as would be contained in a much larger crop than was
produced by it.

The results arranged below will sufficiently prove that, how-
ever liberal the supply of all required constituents, the health

508 Agricultural Chemistry— Turnips.

and vigour of the plant, or its power of appropriating the food
presented to it, depends upon other circumstances than the mere
amount of that food.

SELECTED RESULTS.

ee Description of Manures. weet abet
Bulb. per Acre.
1 | 12 tons farmyard-dung . . 1°36 15,571
8 | 2% cwts. superphosphate of lime, ‘33 cwts. rape-cake 1°69 16 ,096
15 38 ewts. superphosphate of lime, 22 cwts. rape Ege
20 lbs. sulphate of ammonia. 1°75 15,088
18 | 3} cwts. superphosphate of lime, 84 Ibs. phosphate of
magnesia, 75 lbs. phosphate of potass . .« . 1-35 19,642
22 | 43 cwts. superphosphate of lime. . + +» « « 1-47 18,446

We see that the farm-yard dung gave a number of surviving
plants nearly as small as any in this series, and very far short of
that obtained by mere mineral, or frequently by mixed mineral
and organic supply. Again, the weight of bulbs is only equal to
the lowest resulting from pure mineral manuring, and inferior to
that in other cases of such manuring. In Nos. 8 and 15, on the
one hand, the amount of supply, especially of matter for organic
formations, was much less thanin No. I, whilst the average weight
of bulb was materially greater. On the other hand, the mineral
supply was in these cases less than in 22; but there being in that
instance no provision by manure of organic matter, the increased
mineral supply was unavailing.

Clay and weed-ashes alone, as in No. 23, are seen to more
than double the unaided produce of the soil and season, to give
a fair number of plants, and an average weight of bulb nearly
three-fourths as great as in any case in the series. ‘This is a
curious result, and indicates that certain mechanical as well as
chemical conditions of soil, in immediate proximity to the young
plant, are essential to a favourable and healthy development of its
organs of collection. We learn, too, that in some important re-
spects the resource of focd within the soil itself could not have
been so low in this first year as it appears afterwards to have been.

There are other points indicated by the results already given,
than those to which we have directed attention; but as a consi-
deration of the experiments of the succeeding years will bring
them before our readers, we need not enter upon them in this place,

Having examined in detail the results of the first year’s experi-
ments, it may be well to reiterate some of the more general and
important facts and conclusions which have been elicited. It is
clearly shown that, under the influence of the same season, and
in a soil which, by corn-cropping, had been brought to that con-
dition of exhaustion which common usage would remedy by the

Agricultural Chemistry—Turnips. 509

growth of turnips or other green crops by means of manure, the
attempt to grow such restorative crop without supplied aid,—that
is, manure,—is quite unavailing. We see that agency as well as
supply is an essential element to be considered in the choice of
manures, and that unless such agency or condition of healthy
function be secured, a liberal provision of the materials of which
the plant is built up may frequently, to a great extent, be
useless to it. The matters which are most favourable to the
healthy action and rapid accumulation and assimilation by the
turnip, are the so called “ mzneral manures,’ under the influence
of which a great regularity of plant and vigorous power of growth
are attained. At any rate, in the soil in question, when in a
condition of agricultural exhaustion, the supply of potass by direct
manures seems unessential. But the direct supply of phosphoric
acid, whether by its reaction upon the soil or a special effect upon
the young plant, or from a combination of these influences, seems
to enhance the assimilating actions of the turnip to a degree much
beyond what could be attributed to it as a mere constituent, rather
than in some sort an agent also. We shall recur further on to
this interesting subject.

Of the substances which we may term pure constituents, “ or-
ganic matters,’ and especially such as abound in carbon, must be
supplied for the production of agricultural crops of turnip-bulbs.
These manures, as well as those which are chiefly nitrogenous,
should never be concentrated near tothe plant inits earliest stages
of growth, but only within its reach, when, under the immediate
influence of mineral manures, the young plant has so far developed
its organs of accumulation, and its healthy vigour, as to be com-
petent to grow faster than the natural atmospheric and soil re-
sources of nitrogen and carbon enable it to do. These are, we
conceive, the most prominent indications afforded by the results
of this our first season of experimenting upon the cultivation of
the turnip. As we proceed in our inquiry we shall see how far
they are confirmed by those which succeeded them, and which we
shall now endeavour to detail.

The whole produce, leaf and bulb, of 1843, was carted off the
Jand. In the second year the manures had some reference to the
condition of soil as effected by the first year’s treatment, and the
same division of the land, and the numbering of the plots, was
adopted. ‘The manures were again drilled with the seed, and the
mechanical culture of the land before and after sowing, the estima-
tion of the crop, and its entire removal, were conducted as before.

The entire series of results of this second season (1844) are
given in the following Table at one view, but we shall make se-
lections as before, for the conyenience of detailed examination.

a ‘

a VONEE MICS CHU eC IaoEs eae

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22
23

510 Agricultural Chemistry— Turnips.

TABLE showing the results of Experiments on the Growth of Turnips by Manures, at
Rothamsted Farm, Herts.

Second Season, 1844.

DeEscrIPTION OF MANURES. Average Bulb per

weight |Number, CT |Bulb per acre, in|BU!D per acre, if |

Quantities expressed in weight per acre. | of Balbs Hie Bea are loud plants in a

Each lot made up at the rate of | in Ibs, |of Plants] pared | tons, ewts., Square yard =

14 bushels per acre, with clay and weed- | and__|per acre. with qrs., and Ibs, | }9,360 in an

ashes. fanthe: Be as acre.

Tons cwts qrs. lbs.

tons farm-yerd dung > P F 1°19 | 20,096 | 4875 8 - TOs HO eb ue) 99

nmanure ° ° ° ° ° 0°36 | 13,736 | 1000 OB UO aS
7 cwts. rape-cake . 0°27 5,488 294 OTS 0) te 0 2 Gh" 9
4 ewts. superphosp ate of lime 4 ewt. 4 Le ;

phosphate of ammonia . O59? Tete rieee, alas Ste ieee 18.0.8
4 cwts. superphosphate of lime, rn cwt. A

sulphate of ammonia. 0°80 14,206 | 2498 Bey TON 1 1b
3 ewts. superphosphate of lime 15 Ibs. F

phosphate ofammonia . : . iy le is ie eee yee 9 OS tee ne ie
3 ewts. ground apatite . 0°38 | 17,864] 1382 Dee lecOhie Ole esuetionne 120
3 cwts. of apatite, decomposed by sul- é :

phuric acid, containing 200 lbs. apatite OnTl pehyeae | B0%6 Gop pee ae
As No. 8, with 56 Ibs. hydrochloric acid

mdded Ginter 1izey oe 0°80 | 20,399] 3320/99 “6 2° 8} 6 1s 1. 4
4 ied superphosphate of lime, 4 ewts. d iis | 13,256] 3173 HOO Oo ho 8s 3 Od

4 ewts. superphosphate of lime, 4 ewts.
rape-cake, 15 lbs. phosphate of am-
monia . .

5 ewts. superphosphate of time, land
dug Ginches deep ., .

Wor) 10,320 2697 Ole Os OM OM Dl iS) 26

0°97 20,152 3968 SO 20 Sees US)

4 cwts. superphosphate of lime, 4 cwts.
rape-cake, 2 cwts. common salt.

5 ewts. superphosphate of lime, land
trenched with the spade 18 in. deep .

l cwt. superphosphate of lime, 4 ewts.
phosphate of soda.

1 cwt. superphosphate of lime, 4 ewts.
phosphate of magnesia.

§
i
5
A:
5
1 ewt. superphosphate of lime, 4 ewts. “t
i
s
i
:
z

0°30. | 7,952) 1 asa ewe Deed eeo mo Tene eat aio
0°99 || 18,360 |. S663 .\8 oy 1S at Ol 8 Tap
0°76, 119,504.) 200 J) Gus Ob Oule Got y 1” 1S i
0270. | 21)3365)\(o8024 4 Mer mae eOul bu Tho. 0 i
|
|

phosphate of potass 0°66 20,552 2775 Galera 30 Bi l4° 0 9

2 cwts. superphosphate of lime, 1 cwt.
each of phosphate of poe soda, and.
magnesia .

Same as No. 18, with 15 Ibs. phosphate
ofammonia ,

2 ewts. superphosphate of lime, 4 ewts.
rape-cake, 56 lbs, sulphate of ammonia

374 lbs. apatite, decomposed by sul-
phuric aci», containing 104 lbs. sul-
phuric acid, 270 lbs. apatite °

5 cwts. superphosphate oflime .

2 ewts. superphosphate of lime, 56 Ibs.
sulphate of ammonia, nie ewts. nitrate
ofsoda . : °

0°68 18,624 2572 BEI 0) 5 1% 2 4:4

0°73 20,352 3107 6 AS yee 20 GG) 10. (208 Ih

0°78 6,832 1084 PD So larh sha) Gyl4es. 8

0°85 (18.728 |) S2d7o eye OM a 6 3 20
0°81. j: 21,205 | « 3508s) welds ON OO.) 1

0°83 10,072 1700 SeelaeOy Wes0 ilps: 20

On reference to the summary as already given of the climatic
conditions of the turnip seasons of 1843 and 1844, it will be seen,
that in the latter half of the month of July, the low degree of
temperature, the number of rainy days, and the actual amount of
rain, are all most favourable to the early stages of the plant in
1843. ‘Throughout the months of August, September, and Octo-
ber, on the other hand, the conditions ‘of turnip growth, so far as
season 1s concerned, are more favourable in 1844 than in 1843.

Agricultural Chemistry— Turmps, 51]

A glance at the mean results of the two years will, however,
clearly show that if the climatic influences of the second year were
in the main superior to those of the first, some other circumstances
must be looked for, as accounting for the great falling off in the
development of the plant.

SeLECTED AND MEAN RESULTS.

Average Weight | Number of Plants
of Bulbs. per Acre.

Description of Manures.

1843. | 1844.| 1843. 1844.

Nomeamirer tes |. kets 8. s G | 0°52 | 0°36 | 17,5940 | 13,736
Mean of mineral supply only -« «© + ¢ ¢ | 1°39 | 0°73 | 19,323 | 20,377
Rape-cake only a0%s) ee Se ee we | 1208 | 0°27 | 17,043 | 5,488
Mean of mixed mineral and organic supply . | 1°50 | 0°97 | 17,230 14,774

It is here seen, that with a more favourable season, excepting
during the first few weeks in 1844, than in 1843, we have never-
theless an inferiority of development under every variety of
manuring, and a very marked depreciation in the number of
plants, unless where mineral manures alone were used. ‘The
destructive effects of organic manures, especially in the absence of
rain during the early stages of growth, is here very evident ; and
the maintenance of healthy action, even under these same climatic
circumstances, when purely mineral manures are employed, is
clearly shown. We observe, too, that whilst under the influence
of this defect of rain during the first period of the season, both
the weight of bulbs and number of plants is much less where
rape-cake is used alone than even where no manure at all is pro-
vided ; yet the admixture of mineral manures with the organic,
gives the best result in the series so far as development is con-
cerned.

That the cause of the depreciation in average weight of bulbs
during this season was, nevertheless, connected with a deficiency
of matter for organic formations, and not of mineral supply, the
following extracted results will show.

512 Agricultural Chemistry— Turnips.

SELECTED RESULTS.

Average
a Description of Manures. eee ne
and tenths.
15 | 1 cwt. superphosphate lime, 4 cwts. phosphate soda, manure. 0°76
INC We ieee ae 4 ,, phosphate magnesia, manure 0:70
1 hy a hb ea $3 4 ,, phosphate potass, manure . 0:66
DSi i es ts 1 ,, each phosphate potass, soda,
aud magnesia, manure . . eee iain Ain RED Lae, 6 Re 0°68
19 | As 18, with 15 lbs. phosphateammonia . . . « oye ig 0°73
22+|' 5. cwtssisuperphospbate lime!) <3) enh men eid lenew etiam 0°81
5 | 4 4, oo 2 cwt, sulphate ammonia « . . 0°87
NO 2 Ay Ne Bay 4 ,, rape-cake . : 1°18
Dele die as 4 5; as 15 lbs. phos, : amm.| 1:29

Thus, of the purely mineral] manures, the superphosphate of lime
(No. 22), as in the first year, gives a higher weight of bulb than
any of those where alkalies are also supplied. The substitution
of 1 cwt. of superphosphate of lime, by half a ewt. of sulphate of
ammonia (see Nos. 22 and 9), raises the weight of bulb from
0:81 to 0°87; by 4 ewt. of rape-cake (No. 10) to 1°18; and by
4 ewt. of rape-cake, with 15 Ibs. of phosphate of ammonia, to
1:29, the highest weight obtained during this season—that by
fae not excepted.

The farm-yard dung, as in the previous year, must be supposed
to have afforded the most liberal supply of all the matters
necessary for conversion into the substance of the plant; yet we
find that 4 ewt. of superphosphate of lime, with 4 ewt. of rape-
cake, and 15 IJbs. of phosphate of ammonia (No. 11), give a
higher average weight of bulb than the farm-yard dung; that by
the former being 1°29, and by the latter 1:19. We have, how-
ever, 20,096 plants per acre by farm-yard dung, and only 10, 320
by the artificial organic compost. This deficiency of plants is,
however, easily accounted for, by the fact that the dung was
ridged in, and the artificial compost drilled with the seed; so that
ihe! defect of rain during the early stages of the plant, whilst it
might only retard growth in the one case, would lead to positive
destruction in the other.

The very great destruction of plants, as well as the small
weight of bulb, in the case of No. 3, where rape- -cake alone was
drilled with the seed, further show the impropriety of applying
organic manures near to the seed or young plant, and the in-
efficiency of mere supply of constituents if the healthy develop-
ment of the collective apparatus of the plant be not secured,

Agricultural Chemistry— Turmps. 513
The effects of ammoniacal salts, as they have been before
described, depending upon a proper combination with other
constituents, are further exhibited in the results of this second
year. The variations in the number of plants and weight of bulbs,
in Nos. 4, 5, and 6, and also in the results of these numbers as
compared with those of Nos. 11 and 20 here given, may be
adduced in illustration of this fact,

SELECTED REsuULTS.

|

Average | Number
ee Description of Manures, meu of Plants
let per Acre.
4 | 4cwts. superphosphate lime, 4 cwt. phosphate ammonia . 0-92 | 16,768
ae, ne 39 4 cwt. sulphate 55 al Os 87, 14,256
6 ee Ai 15 lbs. phosphate ,, 0°65 | 21,632

11 | 4 ewts. superphosphate lime, 15 lbs. phosphate pramioniae
4cwt.rape-cake . . . : 1:29 | 10,320

20 | 2 cwt. superphosphate lime, 4 ewt. sulphate ‘ammonia,

Avcwis wape=GAKely ia; Viel iailia Sel ° 0°78 6, 832

=a

Thus there is a slight superiority in No. 4 over No. 5, both in
development and number of plants ; phosphate of ammonia
being used in the former, and sulphate in the latter. In No. 6,
as compared with the two preceding, the amount of phosphoric
acid is diminished, but in a greater degree. ‘That of ammonia,
to which body may be attributed an injurious effect upon the
health of the plant when in excess, or not sufficiently incorporated
with the soil, and a beneficial one after not only necessary
diffusion has taken place, but the plants themselves have attained
some strength and vigour. As might be expected, then the
number of plants is greater, though the average weight of bulbs
is less in No. 6 than in 4 and 5.

Comparing with each other Nos. 6 and II, in which the
amount of ammoniacal salts supplied by manure was identical,
we find that an increase of superphosphate of lime by 1 cwt.,
and the addition of 4 cwt. of rape-cake (No. 11), whilst they
reduced the number of plants from 14,256 to 10,320 (an effect
certainly not due to the superphosphate of lime), at the same
time raised the average weight of bulb from 0°65 to 1°29;
showing the benefit of the supply of organic matter in those cases
where it had not proved injurious or destructive to the plants,
and the other conditions were such as to favour their healthy
growth, Again, in No, 20, as compared with No, 11, the
amount of supply by rape-cake is equal; that of ammoniacal

514 Agricultural Chemistry— Turnips.

salt much greater; but that of the important constituent and
agent, superphosphate of lime, is diminished. The result is a
very great depreciation, not only in number of plants, but in the
average weight of bulbs.

We have now given and examined the results of the first two
seasons of our experiments upon the joint effects of climate and
manures on the growth of the turnip bulb: and comparing the
general character of the one season and its results with that of the
other, we see, that although the climatic or vehicular and accu-
mulative agencies were, during the largest portion of the time of
growth, more favourable in 1844 than in 1843, yet the produce
was, in the main, much inferior under the superior circumstances
of climate. This can only be attributed to deficiency in some
essential agency or supply, apart from those of season alone; and
since those instances in this season, in which mineral supply is
most liberal, show by the number of plants a degree of healthy
condition, and yet an inferior rate of growth, we conclude that
the soil was exhausted of matter for organic formations. ‘That
the defect is carbonaceous rather than nitrogenous, is learnt from
a careful comparison of the effects of rape-cake and of am-
moniacal salts.

Again, the conclusions elicited by a close examination of this
second year’s experiments, are seen to be identical in kind with
those to which we were led by the first year’s results; and in
their degree afford even clearer testimony—rather than mere con-
firmation—on most of the pomts which had been previously dis-
cussed. It is the less important, however, to give a recapitulation
in this place, as we have yet the entire results of the third
season (1845) to detail; and, having accomplished that part of
our task, we shall be prepared to give a réswmé of the three years’
series.

The destructive effects of some substances, when applied near
to the seed, led us to sow the manures and the seed separately in
the third year of our experiments. The same division into plots
was observed as previously ; but besides the drilled manures,
which, though for the most part mineral, were sown before the
seed, and at a somewhat greater depth, the entire series of plots
was crossed by bands 72 yards in width; which were sown
respectively with rape-cake, ammoniacal salt, and rape-cake and
ammoniacal salt together, a sufficient portion being left having
drilled manures only. ‘These cross-dressings were sown broad-
cast, before the ridges first drawn out had been split and turned
over, so that there could be little danger of injury to seed and
young plants. By this arrangement of manuring, for each of the
more than 20 conditions of ‘ash-constituent’’ supply, 4 of varying

Agricultural Chemistry— Turnips. 515

resource of matter for organic formations were secured; so that
the number of experiments was raised to nearly 90.

It is to bé regretted that in the first two seasons of our experi-
ments, the acreage produce of leaf, and the relation of leaf to
bulb, were not taken; as climate and manuring have a marked
influence on the character of the turnip-crop in this respect,
besides that which is known to depend upon the mechanical
qualities of soil. A consideration of the relative and actual
amount of leaf is moreover found to be of materia] impertance in
estimating the feeding value, degree of maturity, and probable
resources of further growth of the plant. All the statement
which we are able to give on this subject in reference to these
two years is, that both the acreage weight of leaf, and the propor-
tion of leaf to bulb, were much greater in 1843 than in 1844;
there being in the former case a much more liberal provision
of organic matter remaining in the soil, thongh, at the same
tame, a less amount of rain and a higher temperature. The
leaves were weighed in the third year, and so far as the effects
of different conditions of manuring, under the influence of one
and the same season, are concerned, the results obtained are of
some interest.

The results of the third year (1845) are given in 5 sections or
divisions: and for the convenience of reference and examination,
the statement of the manures is attached to each of these divisions,
The different degrees of maturity exhibited under the influence
of the varying supply for organic formations, provided by the
cross-dressings, led us to weigh some of the crops at twice. that
their progressive changes might be ascertained. The order of
maturity which was observed was as follows:—lIst. The lengths
under drilled manures only (chiefly mineral), 2nd. Those
having rape-cake added. 3rd. ‘Those having ammoniacal salt
added; and 4th. Those with both rape-cake and ammoniacal salt
in addition to the mineral manures. ‘The first weighing was
taken in December, when the leaves under mineral supply had
considerably drooped and changed colour; the rest exhibiting
degrees of retained vitality in the inverse order indicated above.
The second weighing was taken early in January, and three
weeks later than the first, as will be seen on inspection of the
tables.

516 Agricultural Chemistry— Turnips.

72 yards,
72 yards crossed with 72 yards, —
crossed with Rape-cake crossed with 110 yards,
Rape-cake. if and : pmnioninead minerals only. ~
pommoniaes alt.
5 | | | a
a | | | :
r0 | | | ‘
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co | | °
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ipere toe

|
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ly
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The plan of the field given above will further show the method of manuring
adopted in 1845. In the two previous years each experiment extended from one end
of the field to the other; in 1845, 72 yards down the field was sown by hand across
the rows respectively with rape-cake, equal to 10 cwt. per acre; 10 cwt. rape-cake and
3 cwt. sulphate of ammonia; 3 cwt. of sulphate of ammonia: the manures given as
drilled manures were then drilled down the entire length of the field. Thus, from 3
to 24 inclusive, each space of land which was on experiment in 1843 and 1844
was, in 1845, divided into 4. The figures represent the same spaces of land each
year. For example, No. 2 was unmanured in 1843 and 1844; in 1845 one part was
unmanured, one was crossed with rape cake, one with rape-cake and ammoniacal salt,
and one with ammoniacal salt. The plan adopted in 1845 has been continued in
1846 and 1847,

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24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11°10
242322 21 20 19 187-16" 15 14 (3 12> 11-10

517

Agricultural Chemistry— Turnips.

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Agricultural Chemistry— Turnips.

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Agricultural Chemistry— Turnips,

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522 Agricultural Chemistry—Turnips.

With such a mass of experimental evidence before us, it is
difficult to select a starting-point such as will lead us to the most
natural order of illustration, and the clearest comprehension of
their most prominent indications and conclusions. In many
respects these results are most interesting, confirming as they do
the opinions suggested by those which have preceded them; and
affording at the same time data, the consideration of which enables
us to determine other important questions than those already
attended to.

It will be recollected that the statement given of the character
of this third season, compared with that of the second, was, so far
as all the conditions shown to be essential to the vigorous growth
of the turnips were concerned, very much in favour of the one
about to occupy our attention; and it is seen that the acreage
produce is pretty uniformly nearly doubled where artificial supply
for organic formations is much the same. It is true that the
number of plants per acre being much greater than heretofore,
some of the actual acreage increase may be attributed to this
cause ; but all we wish to maintain is the general effect of season
upon the growth of the cultivated turnip.

The absolute necessity of a liberal supply of constituents, even
with the most favourable climatic circumstances, and under the
influence of the best observed conditions of self-reliance, or col-
lective power depending on mineral supply, is, however, clearly
proved by the results of the farm-yard dung, the unmanured
plot, and the mean of the purely mineral manures. They are
here gen in illustration.

SELECTED ReEsutts.

Average

aie ; weight of pguaber
Description of Manures. Bulb per Acre, in Bulbe. in mol fe
tenths. | Pe Acre.
Tons. cwts. qrs. lbs.
Unmanured ° ° ° ° e e e e e 0 13 2 24 0: 11 13,296
Mean by purely mineral supply . . . 12. 8+ 2. “Gf ) Sst»), 23,5882
Harm-yara. dung * “5 750s Ge 6 se 17. O53" 36 1°61 23,731

Thus, in the best suited of the three seasons to which our ex-
periments refer, the unmanured plot gives a produce of only 13
ewts. per acre, an average weight of bulb under 2 ounces, and a
number of surviving plants little more than half that observed
under conditions of artificial supply. In this same season, on the
other hand, the farm-yard dung gives the largest acreage produce
obtained throughout the entire series of seasons and experiments,
a weight of bulb higher than any other manure in the same

Agricultural Chemistry— Turnips. 523

season, and a number of plants nearly identical with that under
mineral manures only. Again, by mineral supply alone, to which,
indeed, as we have seen, may be attributed an influence upon the
growth of the plant apart from that which can be traceable to
the mere provision of crop-material, we have as many tons of
produce as the unmanured plot gives ewts.,a weight of bulb more
than ten times as great, and a number of healthy plants nearly
double. By the side of the farm-yard dung, however, which we
presume to contain a sufficiency of all the constituents of a large
crop of turnips, (though, excepting under the influence of con-
tinuity of rain and a relatively low temperature, not calculated to
develop the most healthy conditions of growth,) we find that the
purely mineral manuring, with a number of plants per acre
almost identical, shows a formation of bulb within an equal
period of time little more than two-thirds as great. We shall
presently see that the largest weight of bulb formed in a given
time is not to be taken as affording an unconditional index to the
value or promise of the crop; but in the instances now cited it
nay, in a pre-eminent degree, be quoted as such; for we know
that whilst the plants under minerals only had, when weighed,
arrived at their full growth, those having farm-yard dung had
still vitality and resources.

Before tracing any further the probable source of the superiority
of farm-yard over the purely mineral manures, we will refer to
some other of the points which our arrangement of manuring
elucidates. In the two former years it was observed that, where-
-ever either ammoniacal salts or rape-cake were drilled with the
seed, a great depreciation and irregularity in the number of
plants per acre resulted ; and it may have appeared to some of
our readers that we have, without sufficient ground, referred the
deficiency of plants to the manner of applying these organic
manures; and that, omitting the indications of the actual acreage
results, our reasonings are fallacious. The following summary of
the number of plants obtained, when ammoniacal salts and rape-
cake are sown broadcast and ploughed in, and of that resulting
from the use of mineral manures alone, will show how highly
important it is not only to select a manure such as the plant
requires, but so to apply it as to ensure a beneficial rather than
an injurious result. |

The uniformity under the various classes of manures in this
.season, as compared with others, is very striking; though, as
before, the mineral manure gives somewhat the higher number.
The coincidence throughout the entire series of about 90 different
combinations of manures (see Division 4of Table) is such that,
for the first time, the acreage amount of produce may be taken as
a somewhat true measure of the value of the manures. The drilled

524 Agricultural Chemistry— Turnips.

manures, as has already been stated, were this year sown alone
before the seed, yet the detailed results given in division 4 of the
Table still afford instances of the injurious effect arising from the
proximity to the plant of certain manures, though in so slight a
degree as to be almost immaterial.

SuMMARY.*
j Number
Description of Manures, of Plants
per Acre.
Mean of mineral manures alone er Ree Orie: Chol oo Acie BIA
x with rape-cake added » «1 «© »© «© « «© | 22,596
53 o with ammoniacal saltadded . . « « . | 23,598
Ah ra with both rape-cake and ammoniacal salt . . | 22,954

The influence of climatic condition, not only as of itself a source
of constituents, but as rendering available the supplies provided
by the farmer, is strikingly illustrated by the details next quoted :
wherein it is seen that notwithstanding the comparatively large
number of plants in 1845, which might be supposed to prevent
individual development, there is a marked increase as compared

with 1844. 7

Number of Plants | Average weight
per Acre. of Bulbs.
Description of Manures. Sa eae Te 5 || a re
1814, 1845. | 1844. | 1845.

ey

Farm-yard dung . . 0 ef e «:«) e «| 20,096 | 23,73 119) 1-61
Mean of purely mineral manures . . e¢ o | 20,377 | 23,882 | 0°73 | 1-16

It is here seen that, even with so great a number of plants, the
average weight of bulb is very considerably higher in 1845 than
in 1844. In the case of the dung the supply by manure is not
supposed to be better than in 1844. In the case of the mineral
manures, however, the quantities were larger than before; but
the accumulation of organic constituents must have been almost
entirely from atmospheric resources. A comparison of the
results of the one year with those of the other, as given above,
sufficiently prove then the essential influence of climatic agency
for the development of the turnip-bulb in full agricultural
quantity ; but the great defect in formation of bulb within a given

* Tt will be remembered that in former years the plants were set out with the view
of retaining about four to a square yard, or 19,360 upon an acre; the design in this
third year was to increase the number to about five instead of four, which is equal to
24,200 to the acre, and hence the actual numbers in the table just given are much
htgher than hitherto.

Agricultural Chemisiry— Turnips. 525

time, under the influence of one and the same season, when a full
supply of mineral manure only is provided, as compared with
that of organic matter, also again teaches how imperative it is
that there be a liberal provision of such matter in the soil, if we
would produce the largest crop which the characters of the
season admit of.

The results already selected from the table do not, however,
show us whether this required supply by manure of matter for
organic formations should be more prominently nitrogenous, as in
the case of wheat, or carbonaceous. ‘This point we shall presently
recur to; but, before doing so, shall study the effects of varying
the mineral supply by manure. ,

The average weight of bulb, as effected by the amount of free
phosphoric acid, or - superphosphate of lime, supplied to the soil
by manures, is here given :—

Average weight of Bulbs, in lbs.

Drilled '

Plot Drilled Drilled Drilled | Manures,
Oo

Nae Description of Drilled Manures. Manures, | Manures, jand 10 ewt.

Manures and 10 cwt. and 3 ewt. | Rape-cake
Rape-cake Sulph.Am.| and 3 ewt.
only. per Acre. | per Acre. |Sulph. Am.

per Acre.

a

8 | 400 lbs. calcined bone-dust . . . 0:92 1°10 0:96 0:97

9 | 400 lbs. calcined bone-dust and
hydrochloric acid = 268 lbs. sul-
phuric acid :

10 | 400 lbs. calcined Bonecatist and 134
{bs. sulphuric acid .

1] | 400 lbs. calcined bone- ane cle 268
lbs. sulphuric acid .

21 | 400 lbs. calcined bone- dust ands 400
Ibs. sulphuric acid. . A

Mean of the results by sulphuric acid | 1°21 1-37 Jie Ke 1°13

1:02 1°16 0-99 0:87

CHE FO SSA Maas pe pay
—
« « —
oo
iy
we)
(ws)
—
Ww
Ou
—_
—
fo)

It is seen that, under all the varying conditions of organic
supply, the undecomposed bone-dust produced less effect than
the decomposed. Hydrochloric acid has caused a slight increase
in bulb where there was no organic manure, and where rape-cake
or ammoniacal salt only was added; but where ammoniacal salt
and rape-cake were employed together, the formation of bulb was
less than by undecomposed bone-dust. But a reference to divi-
sion 2 of the Table of collected results will show, however, a
much larger quantity of leaf under the action of hydrochloric acid,
—and, in fact, there was more general growth than by undecom-
posed bone- dust, though but little tendency to form bulb; yet
there is little doubt that eventually, if allowed to mature, the

526 Agricultural Chemistry— Turnips.

decomposed bone-earth would have given much the largest
amount of bulb as well as entire plant.

Sulphuric acid, as the decomposing agent, indicates in every
case a considerably more rapid determination to bulb than either
the undecomposed earth or that acted upon by the hydrochloric
acid; and, excepting where ammoniacal salt is superadded, there
is a perceptible progression as the amount of acid is increased.
Where the ammoniacal salt was used, though the formation of
bulb is not greater under an increase of acid, there was here, as in
the case of the hydrochloric acid, a larger development of /eaf.

_ The effect of an equal amount of superphosphate of lime on
land ploughed in the ordinary way, or which had been dug 9 or

18 inches deep in the previous year, is here shown :—

Average weight of Bulbs.

Drilled
Drilled Drilled Drilled | Mannres,
ret Land, how Tilled. Manures, | Manures, | and 3 ewt.

Manures |and 10 ewt.| and 3 cwt. Sulph.Am
Rape-cake |Sulph.Am. and 10 ewt
only. per Acre, | per Acre. | Rape-cake
per Acre.

eee a ———

1-20 1°39 1°19 1:07

]2 | Land dug 9 inches in 1844 (11 ewt. i
superphosphate of lime) .
-14 Land dug 18 inches in 1844 (11 ewt,}
superphosphate of lime)
22 | Land only ploughed (11 cwt. ecuae
phosphate of lime). . . .

1°30 1°33 1°20 1-19
dag 7) 1°33 1°06 Lt lke

Excepting in column 2, the rapidity of bulb-formation is
slightly the greatest where the land is deeply trenched, and in
the exceptional case a larger development of leaf was found. The
jand dug 9 inches deep also shows a’slight superiority over that
which was only ploughed. The differences are not quoted as
offering any adequate advantage for so expensive a process as
spade- digging; but the facts themselves help to indicate the
character of the conditions required in turnip culture.

We shall next show the result of the yearly supply of alkalis,
compared with that from a plot (No. 21) which had been
drained of them by a course of ordinary cropping, succeeded yy
the removal of two crops of turnips :—

In the first two columns, where, as we shall presently show, the
balance of organic constituents was more favourable to bulb- forma-
tion than in the other cases, we find a greater development of
bulb in an equal period of time by superphosphate of lime alone,
than when the alkalis, either separately or united, were supplied
with it. Jt is remarkable, too, that in No. 17, where potass was
employed, there is a general inferiority observable. Again, of

Agricultural Chemistry— Turnips. 527

Drilled
Drilled Drilled Drilled | Manures,
Plot Manures, | Manures, 3 cwt.

Description of Alkaline Manures (drilled). | Manures [and 10 ewt.| and 3 ewt. |Sulph.Am.
Rape-cake |Sulpl. Am.|and 10 ewt.

only. per Acre. | per Acre. | Rape-cake

per Acre.

te ot een | ns | He | SS

1°22 1-41 1-10 1-18

Nos.

‘a1 | 400 The een i aR Ee ae 400
lbs. sulphuric acid .

15 | 400 lbs. calcined bone-dust, 420 lbs.
sulphuric acid, and 315 lbs. soda I?ll 1°37 1°14 1°10
ash .

16 | 400 lbs. BAibided Banecdust 420 Ibs.

sulphuric acid, and 220 The mag- 1-ll 1735 1°21 1°14
Bean ligacatone - A
' 17 | 400 lbs. calcined pone dust. 420 lbs.
sulphuric acid, and 470 lbs. aoe
BS a tits
18 | 400 lbs. Guleiied porcranee 105 ites
soda ash, 74]1bs. magnesian lime-
stone, see 157 lbs. pearlash 3

1:02 1°27 1-16 1-13

1:16 1°33 1°18 1*25

ee

Mean by alkaline oe seewilika tend 1°33 1:17 1-15

the several alkaline conditions, that where potass, soda, and mag-
nesia are used together is the best. The differences exhibited
are at any rate sufficient to show that there was no advantage
derived by the use of alkaline manures in this soil, which had
been subjected to an unusually severe exhaustion of them.

We have, indeed, uniformly observed, not only in the case of
turnips, but of other plants, that by the direct supply of alkalis no
‘good effect has resulted in the season of the application, though
the succeeding crops have apparently, to a small extent, been
benefited. it is our opinion that, in the ordinary course of
farming, the special supply of alkalis to the soil is exceedingly
rarely requisite,—and, if ever it be so, they should. never be ap-
plied in an alkaline condition (which seems to be very prejudicial
to healthy vegetation), but always supersaturated: by acids. Fur-
ther, alkalis should not be drilled, but should always be sown
broadcast, and well incorporated with the soil. In the case of
turnips especially is this to be carefully attended to; and, indeed,
it might be almost laid down as a general rule, that those manur-
ing substances which take their value as mere constituents of the
plant (alkalis and organic manures), should be well distributed
through the soil; and those which further exercise an influence
upon the health and vigour of the plant, such as superphosphate
of lime, should be drilled near the seed.

Whether or not superphosphate of lime owes much of its effect
to its chemical actions in the soil, it is certainly true that it causes
a much-enhanced development of the underground collective appa-
ratus of the plant, especially of lateral and jibrous root, distribut-

528 Agricultural Chemistry— Turnips.

ing a complete network to a considerable distance around the
plant, and throwing innumerable mouths tothesurface. The ex-
tent and direction of the underground range of the turnip are at
the same time very much dependent on the mechanical condition
of the soil; and it is universally known that ¢z/th is of the highest
importance to the favourable formation of bulb. We know that
the best relation of bulb to leaf, and, in fact, the best acreage
produce of bulbs is in the lighter soils, where there is compara-
tively little obstruction to the development of fibrous root, and it
is in these that the special efficacy of superphosphate of lime has
been most observable. We believe that, if the turnip is to be
valued for its bulb-formation, the aim of our culture must be, not
to increase the aboveground organs of collection (the leaves), but
the underground fibrous roots.

We shall now consider the effects of “ organic manures”? upon
the production of turnip bulb; and the facts that will come before
us will tend to confirm the views just maintained regarding the
essential development of rootlet rather than leaf accumulation, as
a means of obtaining the turnip in agricultural quantity and
quality.

The results collected below will illustrate some of the effects
of ‘organic manures”’ upon the growth of the turnip :—

i Mineral
| Mineral | Mineral | Mineral | Manures,

Manures and l0cwt. and 3 cwt. Rape-cake
| Rape-cake Sulph. Am. and 3 cwt.
per Acre. | per Acre. Sulph. Am.

| per Acre.

| Manurez,| Manures,| 10 ewt.
Description of Mineral Manures.
t
1

only.

Mean of entire series of purely mineral) |
MANUTES; S15. Ls - ef gs Hijet a) oe elke otssl
Mean of four experiments with alkaline} |

] 1-10 1°33 bebe “F415
supp ye . . . = ° - ; 3 =i fal
Mean of three experiments with superphos-) | ; :

phate of lime . ry . Py e e ° ef | ] 21 1 37 1 18 1 13

We may explain that the results in the first column were ob-
tained by means of mineral manures alone, and that, the previous
crops having been entirely removed from the land, the organic
supplies must have been chiefly derived from the atmosphere.
The development of leaf was less in these than in any of the other
cases. In column 2 there was, besides these same mineral ma-
nures, 10 cwts. rape-cake, which may be estimated to provide
perhaps 50 lbs. of nitrogen. It was, however, employed in these
experiments as supplying a large amount of carbonaceous matter,
in which it abounds, In the 3rd column the effects are due to
the addition of 3 ewts. of sulphate of ammonia to the mineral
manures. In these cases about 60 lbs. of nitrogen is supplied,

Agricultural Chemistry — Turnips. 529
but no carbon. In the 4th column we have the effects of the
addition both of the rape-cake and of the ammoniacal salt to the
standard mineral manure ; consequently the supply of nitrogen
by manure would amount to about 110 lbs. per acre.

It is seen that, whichever mineral condition be taken, the sup-
ply of carbonaceous matter has given the largest bulb. Of the
two mineral series, the acid and the alkaline, the former exhibits
a general superiority in each case, excepting in the 4th column,
where the defect is very triflmg. In this case, notwithstanding
there was a carbonaceous supply equal to that in column 2, the
excessive amount of nitrogenous matter has prevented a favourable
formation of bulb. These mean results clearly show that carbona-
ceous rather than nitrogenous organic supply is favourable to
bulb-formation, and the eo is confirmed by the following indivi-
dual cases :-—

SELECTED REsuLTS.

Drilled
Drilled Drilled Drilled | Manures,
Plot ‘ ae! | Manures, ae cwt.
: ripti i N - Tanures jand 10 ewt.! and 3 cwt.| Rape-cake
Nos Description of Drilled Manures Rupescake isuiphiAadi andl Sei
only. per Acre. | per Acre. |Sulph. Am.
per Acre.
18 | Superphosphate of lime, with potas, i 1°16 1°33 1°18 1°25
soda, and magnesia. .
19 | As No. 18, and 1 ewt. sulphate of 1°16 1:24 1°02 1:09
ammonia e
20 | As No. 18, and 3 ewt. rane.calee cas 1°28 1°40 1°18 1°18

In all these cases the mineral manure was the same, and in all,
the 2nd column under the cross-dressing of rape-cake shows the
best result. Further, looking at each column separately, we find
that No. 20 always gives a heavier bulb than No. 19, and, ex-
cepting under the cross-dressings of ammoniacal salt, than No. 18
also. The amount of the differences is not indeed great; but
when we remember that the results are calculated from nearly
2000 plants in each case, their uniformity and constancy demand
that reliance should be placed in them. It is clear, then, that

carbonaceous manures aid the development of turnip bull. We
shall give one more quotation on this subject :—
Cros: none a
és : dressed Sorted
No Cross- | dressed by 10 ewt.
by 10 ewt 3 wt. | Rane-cape
y ce Sulphate pe cep
dressing. | Rape-cake | 4 oo onia | and 3 ewt
la
per Acre ea as Sulph. Am,
Lae + | sper:Acre:
No drilled manure (third season) . . - 0 11 0:67 0:07 0:50

The instances before us are of high interest in many points of

530 Agricultural Chemistry— Turnips.

view, but we are not prepared to consider them fully until we
have detailed the results of an analytical examination of the
crops—a subject which we shall presently enter upon. Resuming
the question in discussion, we see that whilst ammoniacal salts in
no degree restored fertility to this exhausted soil, rape-cake gave
a sixfold development. In the 4th column, under an equal
amount of rape-cake, we find as usual that the excess of nitro-
genous manure has deteriorated the tendency to bulb formation
exhibited in column 2.

The contrast observed in the effects of ammoniacal salts upon
wheat and upon turnips is very remarkable, and affords a striking
illustration of the widely differing requirements and sources of
growth of the corn-exporting “ white crops” and the home-con-
sumed, meat-producing “green” or “tallow crops,’ of which
classes respectively the two plants may be considered as the
types.

Hitherto we have only considered the effects of organic manures
upon the formation of turnip bulb, the amount of which is thought
to determine the value of the crop when cultivated for feeding
and rotation purposes. It has been seen that a liberal supply
of available phosphates and of organic manures abounding in
carbonaceous matter are pre-eminently favourable to the desired
habit of the plant, and that nitrogenous supply, so essential to the
increased growth of corn, is so here only to a very limited extent.
Under the influence of ammoniacal manures, however, the pro-
duction of turnip leaf is much enhanced, as the following results
will show :—

Proportion
of Leaf to
1000 of
Bulb.

Description of Manures, Bulb per Acre, in Leaf per Acre, in

Tons. cwts. qrs. lbs.|Tons. cwts. qrs. Ibs.
Mean by purely mineral manures. | 12 8 2 3] 4 4 9 14 326
Mean of mineral manures, with
10 cwt. rape-cake added } Ee A RAUL 1 ce eat
Mean by mineral manures, and
3 cwt. sulphate of ammonia added}
Mean by mineral manures, |
|

M1 AS es 6.15. 0; Al 559

3 cwt. sulphate of_ ammonia?;| 12 65 0 13} 5 14 O 17 466
(second gathering) . . «.

Mean by purely mineral manures,

and both rape-cake and ammo-;7} 11 6 1 11 fT: §) 21g 669
nracal salte, a 2

Mean by purely mineral manures, .
aud both rape-cake and ammo-;| 12 4

niacal salt (second gathering) . |

co
for)
fo)
—
Or
w
—_—
fon)
Or
Or
=

Thus comparing lines | and 3, we find that whilst, by the addi-

tion of ammoniacal salt in the latter case, there is in an equal

Agricultural Chemistry— Lurnips. 531

space of time half a ton less of bulb, there is an increase in leaf
by 24 tons; and, as shown in the 3rd column, the proportion of
leaf to bulb is more than half as much again. ‘Taking lines 2
and. 5, the addition of ammoniacal salt, as in 5, gives nearly 2 tons
less bulb, but nearly 2 tons more leaf, the proportion of leaf to
bulb being again increased by one-half. ‘The gross produce is
seen therefore to be greater in one of these cases, and as great in
the other, under the addition of ammoniacal salts. We have
before remarked, however, that whilst at the time of gathering,
the crops by mineral manures alone, as in line 1, had probably
more than fully arrived at maturity—the leaves having drooped
and changed colour—those under rape-cake addition only had
but just attained full growth, and those having ammoniacal salts,
as in lines 3 and 5, evidently possessed yet unexhausted vitality,
especially in No. 5, the case where rape-cake was also supplied.
It might be supposed, therefore, that in due course bulbous de-
velopment would succeed as the increased leaves drooped. ‘The
results of the second gathering, taken when the leaves under am-
moniacal salt without rape-cake had considerably fallen (those
with it being still vigorous), show this to have been the case to a
greater or less degree. A comparison of lines 3 and 4 shows an
increase of bulb in three weeks of 7 cwt., at the expense of 19
ewt. of fresh weight of leaf. On the other hand, line 6 gives an
increase in the same period of 184 cwt. of bulb, at the expense of
only 14 cwt. of fresh leaf. Under ammoniacal salts alone there had
therefore been an actual depreciation in fresh weight, indicating
at least a loss of vitality, though there was probably no real loss
of solid matter. Where there was rape-cake also, however, we
find an actual gain in gross weight, and we had undoubtedly
a vitality and resource of growth still unexhausted. Comparing
line 4 with line 1, the latter has still the largest weight of bulb;
and comparing line 6 with line 2, the former is still a ton in
advance. Were we to admit, however, that if the crops could
have been taken each at the stage of its best yield of bulb, there
would have been a slight superiority under the nitrogenous ma-
nuring, the quantity yielding the effect in these instances could
in no form have been economically obtained, even were there no
other objection to its use.

The effects of an excess of nitrogen in tending to an unprofit-
able habit of the plant are further exhibited in page 552 :—

It is here seen that whilst farm-yard dung, itself containing
some nitrogen, and certainly a very full allowance of carbonaceous
matter, gives 17 tons of bulb, we have more than 2 tons less bulb
when ammoniacal salt is superadded; but there are at the same
time 3 tons more leaf than by dung alone. The 3rd column
shows that the actual size of bulb, as well as its acreage produce,

532 Agricultural Chemistry— Turnips.

Proportion

| ; : Average of Leaf to

Bulb per Acre, in Leaf per Acre, in | Weight of 1000 of
Bulbs. Bulb

es eS ee

Tons. ewts. qrs. lbs. Tons. ewts. qrs. lbs

12 tons farm-yard dung. |17 0 3 6{ 7 7 3 2] 1°61 433
12 tons farm-yard dung,
and 3 ewt. aa gate of) 14. 18 «3 12 [410.0 8 63 wID| oie4s 700
ammonia . j

|

was less, under the excessive supply of nitrogen; the 4th, that
under the same circumstances the proportion of leaf to bulb was
increased by more than one-half. So far as supply of constituents
is concerned, we could select from the series of experiments
several instances where we may reasonably suppose that every
constituent, excepting carbon, existed more fully in quantity and
more favourably in combination than in the dung, yet with its
larger carbonaceous supply to the root we get the largest crop of
bulb in the series. The excess of nitrogenous manure, however,
is seen greatly to enhance the leaf-forming tendencies of the plant,
which it is true may probably aid carbonic acid accumulation
from the atmosphere, but at the same time gives a less profitable
appropriation of the resources within the soil; and we shall after-
wards see it to be by no means clear that there is with a large
production of leaf a proportional gain of nitrogen from the atmos-
phere.

Admitting, then, that the organic manure required for the
growth of turnip bulbs should be carbonaceous rather than nitro-
genous, there is still evidence that, under the influence of a due
provision of nitrogen, the vitality or longevity of the plant is
greatly increased; and since the turnip crop is required to brave
the winter frosts, at early and perfect ripening, such as would be
induced by a defect of nitrogen relatively to carbon, whilst it
might be coincident with a more rapid bulb formation, “would by
no means be a desideratum. We believe, however, that in the
ordinary course of farming, the special supply of nitrogen to the
turnip crop, by means of artificial manures, is seldom if ever ne-
cessary ; for there is no ample source of available carbon which
does not provide at the same time a considerable amount of
nitrogen. As therefore, in the case of wheat, we need not study
the supply of carbonaceous manures, so, in the case of turnips, it
comes to be unnecessary to devote special care to the provision of
nitrogen. In the one case the means adopted specially to secure
nitrogen to the soil, brings with it enough of carbon ; and in the
other the peculiarly carbonaceous manures are associated with
sufficient nitrogen.

We have argued that for the growth of turnip-dulb a soil is

Agricultural Chemistry— Turnips. 533

required in such a mechanical condition as shall render it easily
permeable to the atmosphere and to the fibrous roots of the
plants,—that healthy action and a tendency to development of
very extended underground collective apparatus should be induced
by the use of the so-called “ mineral manures,” these never being
in an alkaline state, and always containing a considerable quantity
of phosphoric acid easily available to the plant,—that after the
early stages of the plant are passed, its rapidity of growth de-
pends upon an abundant provision in the soil of constituents for
organic formations, especially of carbon,—that nitrogen must be
provided by cultivation, though seldom by special manures,—
and lastly, that all these requisites being provided by the farmer,
the degree in which his efforts will be availing depends essentially
upon certain climatic conditions, comprising a considerable con-
tinwity and amount of rain as a means of taking up the stcres
of the soil, keeping up a vigorous circulation in the plant, and
supplying the dissolved gases of the atmosphere.

These conditions compared with those which are required in
the culture of wheat are opposed to one another in almost every
particular, but as we proceed we shall see, that of the observed
differences much is doubtless due to the essential distinctions
between the tendencies of the natural families to which the plants
belong; yet much of it is also attributable to the fact, that in the
case of the turnip it is not the seed that is the object of our
culture, but a monstrous accumulation which could only take
place under a somewhat unnatural or artificial balance of the
constituents of supplied food, and under such a condition of
climate as should be adverse to seed-forming.

It is known that where the turnip is grown for its natural seed-
product, oil, a heayier soil, richer manuring, and, during a con-
siderable period of the growth of the plant, a much Ingher tem-
_ perature, are required than when the bulb is to be produced.
Under these circumstances there will be much less fibrous root
thrown up to the surface,—the root is scarcely bulbous, but fusi-
form, tapping rather than spreading laterally; the leaves and
stem are much larger, both actually and proportionally to the
root, and the organic manures should contain more nitrogen and
less carbon. Were we then to cultivate the turnip for its most
natural products, the treatment it would require would much
more nearly approach that adapted for wheat than at present;
the deviations from it now observed, and which have been referred
too exclusively to the natural specialities of the plants, would be
greatly lessened, and the character of the plant as a “fallow crop”
would be lost. It is no objection to this assumption that in
selecting plants to transplant for seed from which to grow bulb
those having the most symmetrical bulb are chosen rather than

WOE, WNL. 2N

=

534 Agricultural Chemistry—Turnips.

such as are more fusiform, and betray a more abundant seed-
forming habit—in this case it is not the most abundant natural
seed that is the object of culture, but a seed having a special
habit of growth, which habit it is wished to propagate.

There being an evident understood subserviency of the leaf of
the turnip to the bulb, and a sort of succession in the order of
maturation of these different organs, the latter not being perfected
until the former has lost much of its succulence and vigour; this
fact, and the special conformation of the plant, as before adverted
to, have, in theory, led to an appreciation of forcing a large
amount of leaf, which is not consistent either with the full
efficiency of the conditions which our researches show to favour
bulb formation, with the character of the soils best suited to the
growth of the turnip-bulb, or that of the plant which is most
approved by the practical agriculturist. It is true that rela-
tively to wheat and many other plants, the turnip exhibits a large
surface of succulent leaf. which, it is admitted, indicates a greater
reliance in one way or other upon the atmosphere; yet all expe-
rience, when judging not between the turnip and other plants,
but between one turnip and another turnip, values the one in
which the proportion of leaf is least and the tendency to bulb the
greatest. The description of soil which is called a turnip-soil,
again, is just that which is best adapted to formation of fibrous
root, and that which always yields a proportionally small amount
of leaf. Moreover the soils which yield the largest amount of
leaf are known not only by their general mechanical condition,
but by their comparative richness in nitrogen, to be exactly those
in which the results of our experiments would lead us to anticipate
that the leaf-forming tendency would predominate. In these too,
as compared with the lighter ones, an excess of nitrogen in the
manure is the more likely to give an undesirable development, for
in the latter any increased vigour of growth arising from niiro-
genous agency may more easily extend the underground organs
and determine to bulb-formation than in the former.

We have now given a history of our experiments upon turnip
culture during the first three seasons of their course, so far as the
conduct of them in the field is concerned, though none, as yet,
of the results obtained in the two succeeding seasons, the last of
which is now drawing to a close. Details of this kind having,
however, already taken up much space, and sufficed, we hope, to
elucidate some established rules of practice, we shall defer until
a future occasion a further consideration of this branch of our
evidence, and enter at once into an account of our researches in
the laboratory, as tending not only to confirm or confute con-

Agricultural Chemistry— Turnips. 535

clusions otherwise arrived at, but as opening out points of interest,
both in science and in practice, not hitherto brought to view.

The atmosphere and the virgin soil being originally the exclu-
sive sources, the former of the “ organic,”’ and the latter of the
“ tnorganic’’ or “‘ mineral” constituents of plants, it has been sup-
posed that the amount of produce which a given space of ground
would yield must depend upon its richness in those substances
proper to itself, namely, the mineral constituents; and that these
being supplied in full quantity, according to the indications of the
analyses of the ashes of the crops it is wished to grow, the atmos-
phere would always prove an ample available resource for the
more peculiarly vegetable matters. It will be readily understood
that on such a view as this, economy in agriculture would be
attained by a very different course of practice from that required
were it to be shown that cultivation should effect an artificial
accumulation in the soil of those constituents primarily derived
from the atmosphere, rather than of such as more especially
belong to its own constitution.

The theory referred to has led to the analysis of the ashes of a
great many agricultural crops, and upon the data thus obtained
(rather than upon a consideration of the requirements actually
induced by an artificially enhanced vegetation, or of the real
source and destination of the constituents under a course of prac-
tical agriculture), recommendations to the agriculturist have been
founded, the validity of which it was desirable should be tested
by actual experiment, as well as by the presumed dictates of ex-
perience. The field results which we have detailed, both upon
the subjects of wheat and of turnips, are unfavourable to these
opinions and recommendations, and analysis will be found to bear
testimony in the same direction.

A knowledge of the composition of our crops, as affected by
climate and cultivation, is however of great importance, not only
as showing what are the sources which must be relied upon for
the various constituents, but as assisting a judgment of the feeding
value of the produce, and of the economy of the means to the
adoption of which the variations in composition may be traced.
It is more especially with a view to these points of interest that
our results have been sought, and that their bearings will be now
considered.

In the course of an analytical examination of an agricultural
specimen, the first steps are to determine the per centages re-
spectively of dry vegetable substance and of mineral matters. For
this purpose a known weight of the produce is exposed for a
length of time to such a temperature as will only expel all the
water it contains; a portion is then burnt to an ash, which is
presumed to retain all the “ mineral,” but none of the “ vegetable,”

2n2

~

536 Agricultural Chemistry— Turnips.

substances of the specimen, the latter having been consumed and
vaporized by the burning process. The knowledge which these
simple experiments may afford is never to be overlooked in con-
sidering the composition of an agricultural product, and estimating
its probable value, or the economy of the manuring, or other
means which have been employed in its growth. A judgment
formed thus alone, however, of the comparative characters of
different specimens would be fallacious, owing chiefly to the facts
that the dry matter of different specimens of the same kind of
plant may differ much in composition, and that a very large pro-
portion of our agricultural produce is not allowed to ripen its seed
and attain a somewhat fixed condition of dryness not materially
affected by collection, storing, and transmission, but is taken whilst
the vital circulation of the plant is still proceeding with consider-
able vigour, causing, long after removal from the land, a rapid
exhalation of watery vapour, tending very much to mislead as to
the amount of dry matter really contained in the substance under
examination. Unless, then, a series of such specimens—the com-
parative characters of which are to be estimated—be treated in
every respect similarly, as to time of gathering, weighing, &c.,
serlous errors must occur.

When ultimate ripened products are the subjects of examina-
tion, there is little difficulty in conducting a series of drying ex-
periments, so that the results shall be true indications of the
differences really dependant on climate and culture; and although
in such cases the range of variation in the amount of dry matter
is small, yet the variations themselves are very significant, bespeak-
img at once the conditions of growth, and, within certain limits,
the probable qualities of the products.

There can be little doubt that, after reliable standards have
been fixed, a knowledge of the true undoubted per centage of dry
matter in specimens of green produce also might materially aid
our judgment of their other characters, but, as yet, neither have
we these standards, nor are the methods of different experimenters
so uniform that their results can compare one with another. So
little, indeed, is really fixed and generally admitted regarding
both the methods of and the proper inferences from such experi-
ments, that the results of the same operator will, in his own view,
be the more doubted the more he learns of the lesson they are
calculated to teach; and before there can be any common argu-
ment or comparison conducted on such subjects, there must be
some uniformity of method agreed upon. In illustration of this
necessity one or two experiments only are needed.

A quantity of turnip-leaves were taken direct from the field to
a barn about sunset, and were immediately weighed into lots of
25 and 59 oz. each. These bundles were laid upon straw, and

Agricultural Chemistry— Turnips. 537

on re-weighing the following morning were found to have lost
more than 6 per cent. If the leaves gathered in the evening had
not been weighed for drying until the following morning, an error
of 1 per cent. or more in the estimation of dry matter would thus
have arisen, We have elsewhere stated that 100 0z. specimens
of green wheat-plant lost invariably from 7 tc 9 per cent. during
the process of separating from each other the leaves, the ear, and
the stem, although two persons were employed in the operation.

Again, five turnips, with their leaves, were found to weigh as
soon as gathered 16 l|bs. 43 0z.; after exposure two days and
nights upon straw, under cover, they weighed 15 Ibs. 5% oz. ;
and after three days and nights more, 14 lbs. 83 oz. Thus, if
after being gathered 48 hours, 100 oz. had been taken for a
drying experiment, it would have been equivalent to 106 oz. of
fresh plant; and if after five days, to 1120z, Five plants were
next taken, and the leaves cut off, leaving, perhaps, two inches of
stem upon the bulbs. The turnips, thus freed of their leaves,
weighed 12 lbs. 84 oz.; after 48 hours on straw, under cover,
12 lbs. 440z.; and after 3 days more, 1] lbs. 320z. In this
case, 100 oz. taken after being gathered 48 hours would have
represented 102 oz. fresh bulb; and after 5 days, 1060z. These
turnip experiments were made in cold October weather; but the
amount of loss sustained would of course depend much upon
the vigour of growth of the plant, upon the state of the weather
at the time, and the temperature of the place where the plants
were kept. :

It is evident, then, that very serious errors may arise when
specimens are received from a distance, or even when they are
not, unless special precautions be taken, according to the nature
of the produce under examination. Indeed it is exceedingly
difficult, when fully aware of these circumstances, so to conduct an
extensive series of comparative experiments on green or succulent
substances as to obtain results which shall be both actually and
relatively to each other open to no objection.

When, in the experiments quoted above, bulbs with the leaves,
or the leaves alone are taken, the loss is seen to be much greater
than when the bulbs alone are operated upon. ‘This is what
might have been anticipated, and shows clearly that the effect is
due to the continuance of the natural circulatory processes of the
leaves after removal from the land.

in operating upon bulbs or roots which are in contact with the
soil, we meet with a difficulty of another kind. In such cases
there is always a quantity of soil adhering to the specimens,
which, if not removed, will affect to some extent the determination
of dry matter, and still more seriously that of the mineral matter.
A single bulb may be cleaned sufficiently by careful picking and

538 Agricultural Chemistry— Turnips.

wiping, but an extended series of determinations cannot be con-
ducted under equal circumstances and with the necessary despatch
without washing, by which soluble substances may to some extent
be removed, or an absorption of water may take place. With
the view of ascertaining the degree of error to which the washing
of bulbs for drying and burning may lead, six lots, consisting
each of five turnips, were taken, and the leaves were cut off,
leaving a sufficient handle ; three of the lots were carefully cleaned
without the use of water, the other three being scrubbed with
a brush in water, in which they were allowed to remain for ten
minutes or a quarter of an hour; they were then taken out, rubbed
dry with a cloth, sliced, and weighed. After exposure to a tem-
perature of 212° for a sufficient time, the per centages of dry
matter were as under :—

|
| Without | With
|

Lot washing. | washing.
if | e ° 8: 36 7 ¥ 96
y) | - 8°03 7°79
3 | - 7°64 7°30

| Average 8°01 7°68

There was evidently some difference in the specimens them-
selves, but the washing process gives in the main a less per
centage of dry matter than the other. Without washing there
must always be expected a small excess, and with it a slight de-
ficiency. In the particular instances quoted the deficiency was
likely to be greater than in the usual conduct of the process, as
the operation was purposely rather prolonged, that the extreme
effects might be ascertained. It is admitted, however, that wash-
ing is an objectionable procedure; but when drying and burning
experiments are conducted on an extended scale, the results will
be more uniform in character and more comparable one with
another than were any other method adopted, as all such either
take up so much time that the specimens must, with the risk of
change of weather, be collected at different times, or so many
persons must be employed that the desirable surveillance is im-
practicable.

Having given thus far some general statement as to the manner
in which our drying results have been obtained, those of our
readers who understand such matters will be able to decide for
what purposes our figures may be relied upon, and wherein they
are likely to be wide of the exact truth. For ourselves, we are of
opinion that, taken in series rather than individually, they may be
trusted in discussing any points with which our general knowledge

Agricultural Chemistry— Turnips. 539

of such subjects will lead us to deal, and that they very closely
represent the exact facts.

The following dry-matter results refer only to the produce of
the third year’s experiments (season 1845). The entire series is
tabulated.

Were we to consider each of these results sertatim, with a view
to trace the variations in the produce to variations in the compo-
sition of the mineral or of the organic manures, we should find nu-
merous exceptions to any generalization to which we might thus
be led. When we look, however, at extreme instances, or at
series strictly comparable one with another, we cannot fail to
see some undoubted general connexion between the amount
of dry matter on the one hand, and such character or stage
of growth as we have already observed to result from certain con-
ditions of manuring on the other. We must be careful, however,
to bear in mind the nature of the substances on which we have
been operating, and the various circumstances which have
been pointed out as tending to vitiate the legitimacy of any
comparisons ; otherwise we may place undue reliance on single
results, or, finding these discrepant with others, come to the con-
clusion that we have no lesson taught us by so extensive and
laborious a course of experiments. With our present limited
knowledge, it is, moreover, desirable to exercise great caution in
applying to practice the indications of results of this kind.

It must be remembered, then, that the turnip plant cultivated
as food for stock is gathered at no well-defined stage of its growth,
but whilst containing a vast amount of circulating fluid, the pro-
portion and concentration of which is subject to constant variation
under the influence of the still active vital processes of the plant,
the varying stores of moisture and of food presented to the roots, and
the circumstances of temperature, light, and moisture of the at-
mosphere, to which the leaves are exposed. In fact, we might
hiken the growing turnip to an animal whose gross composition
would vary according to his resources of food and drink, and the
condition of exhaustion or waste to which he is exposed. At one
time his stomach and blood-vessels are full, and at another their
contents bear a much lessened relation to the more fixed portion
of the body.

The water existing in the Norfolk white-turnip bulb is seen to
constitute more than nine-tenths of its entire weight; and if it
should appear that the proportion varies according to the stage of
growth, it will be admitted that the degree of maturity of a suc-
culent plant which is to be the subject of a drying experiment,
must be regarded, in deciding its probable yield of solid food, as
resulting from various manures; for if the amount of water is
found to decrease accordingly as the plant matures, that one which

Agricultural Chemistry—Turnips.

540

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Agricultural Chemistry — Turnips. 541

after an equal period of growth is found to contain most water
would conditionally indicate a more extended further growth, and
the manure under which it had grown might be beiter rather than
worse than that to which the more solid turnip owed its character.
Again; a series of plots under different manures, though they
will be characterized by an undoubted difference in the stage of
maturity of the plant, will each within itself exhibit a wide range
of variation in this respect, and it is impracticable to gather spe-
cimens which shall certainly and exactly represent the characters
induced by the manuring of the plots. In our experiments, from
ten to twenty plants of average size, and which appear to be sound
and firm, are selected from each plot, and from these, when
washed and sliced, a weighed quantity is taken; in some cases
100 oz., and in some 150 oz.; in some more and in some less.
The results given in the table were obtained from specimen lots
of 150 oz. each, and the soil, season, variety of turnip, and time
of sowing and gathering, were the same throughout.*

From these remarks, our readers will be able to judge for
themselves whether too much or too little is based upon our re-
sults. We feel, however, that it will be much more conducive to
the interests of agriculture that the error should be in the latter
rather than in the former direction.

The following mean results exhibit the general bearings of the
experiments more clearly and safely than individual selections
would do :—

Drilled
Drilled Drilled Drilled | Manures,
Manures, | Manures, | and Top-

Description of Drilled Manures. Manures | and Top- | and Top- ‘dressing of
dressing ofjdressing of Rape-cake
only. |Rape-cake.JAmm.Salt.|and Amm,

Salt.

Mean of 13 purely mineral manures . . 8°34 7°94 7°41 7-48

Mean of 4 experiments with alkaline Ee 8-98 7-90 9°57 1°53
PINLCSBO Uni ed iss se) es ee -

Mean of 3 experiments with superphosphate} 8-09 4°97 1°50

yO
sale f*vd
of lime ° e e ° e ° ° e e °

These means show a striking uniformity in the amount of dry
matter in each column taken separately,—that 1s, under the influ-
ence of various mineral manures, but a like resource for organic
formations. Comparing column with column, however, we find
a difference which, though not actually great, must be admitted
to have some meaning, when we bear in mind the uniformity
within the columns themselves. Were we to compare these

effects of organic supply upon the percentage of dry matter with

* The conditions of manuring alone were different, and we may therefore
rely upon the general indications of the experiments, so far as the effects
of manures are concerned.

542 Agricultural Chemistry— Turnips.

those of the same conditions upon the average acreage produce, no
correspondence, either direct or inverse, would be clearly defined ;
for we see in the table just given a pretty uniform depreciation
from the first column to the third, and the fourth is not wide of
the third, but the acreage amounts of produce were as under :—

Average acreage produce of Bulb, in tons, cwts., qrs., and lbs.

| :
: | Drilled Manures, Drilled Manures, Drilled Manures,
Drilled Manures | and and and Top-dressing of
ele | Top-dressing of Top-dressing of Rape-cake and
a | Rape-cake. ~ Amm. Salt. Amma. Salt.

— ee

Tons. cwts. qrs. lbs. | Tons. ewts. qrs. lbs. | Tons. ewts. qrs. lbs. | Tous. cwts. qrs. lbs.

128" 2 3°) 13 4° 2 20) 11 is) oat eee
|

We have before stated, that at the time of the first gathering of
the crops, a short time prior to which the specimens for analysis
were taken, the plants growing by purely mineral manures were
very markedly the ripest, their leaves having much drooped ;
next in order, in this respect, came those having rape-cake in ad-
dition ; then those having sulphate of ammonia; and, lastly, those
with both rape-cape and ammoniacal salt. The proportion of leaf to
bulb at the time of weighing shows this to some extent. It was
as under :—

Drilled
Drilled Drilled’ | Drilled | Manures,
Manures, | Manures, | and Top-
Manures | and Top- | and Top- {dressing of
dressing of |dressing of |Rape-cake
only. |Rape-cake.;|Amm,Salt.jand Amm.
| Salt.
|

ee | ee .

rae oes of leaf to 1000 of bulb . . . 326 421 559 669

Mean percentage of dry matter «Nee oe moe WT, 7°41 7°48

We have, then, the largest amount of dry matter with the
ripest bulb and poorest supply of organic manure, very
nearly the smallest amount of dry matter with the plants
least advanced to the points of heaviest bulb, but which had the
largest stores of food in the soil, and probably the prospect of the
longest life and fullest eventual growth, at least of entire plant, if
not of bulb itself. The second weighing of the crops did indeed
show in this case an increase in bulb and a decline in the propor-
tion of leaf to bulb. Here, then, the influence of manures is
indirect; for the proportion of dry matter is seen to be mainly
dependent upon the degree of maturity of the plant,—and that this
is affected by manures has been already shown; and since the
largest proportion of dry matter may show an early advanced stage
of maturity, frequently arising from an exhaustion of the materials

Agricultural Chemistry— Turnips. 543

of growth, it may in fact bespeak the worst manuring condition,
all other circumstances being equal. It is evident then, that,
even supposing the percentage of dry matter to be an uncondi-
tional measure of the feeding value of any particular specimens,
no comparison could be drawn respecting the efficiency of the
manures by which they were grown, unless every other condition,
whether of season, soil, maturity or variety, were considered in their
influence; and then, indeed, the effects of the manures may be
due to a forcing rather than to a supporting power. We shall
have further proof, however, that the amount of water existing in
the turnip depends upon the proportion of circulatory to the more
fixed matter, and that as the plant matures that of the former di-
minishes and that of the latter increases ; and it will also be seen
that equal weights of dry matter may differ very greatly in pro-
bable nutritive value.

Before leaving the results of the table, we may observe that by
this series of nearly 100 different manures, the utmost variation in
the proportion of dry matter in the Norfolk white-turnip bulb is,
after an equal period of time, 2°65, or about 24 per cent., not-
withstanding that there was a vast difference in the stage of
maturity of the plants; and it is thought thatif the specimens
could have been taken each at the point of its fullest growth, the
variation strictly dependent on manures would have been much
less. The highest percentage of dry matter in the entire series
is 9:3,—all the rest are below 9, more than half below 8, and
several below 7; the limit of difference, even under the actual
circumstances, is, however, in by far the larger number of cases
within 1 per cent. Boussingault gives 7°58 per cent., which
agrees pretty well with our determinations, the mean of which is
7°83; other observers having founda range in the proportion of dry
matter of the turnip-bulb from this amount to nearly double, have
attributed much of the variation to the conditions of manuring ;
but the foregoing facts, in conjunction with those we shall now
state, will show that no judgment of the effects of manures in this
respect can be formed unless the experiments are made with the
same variety of the plant.

The specimens here referred to were grown in different fields,
and by different manures, and several of them in the ordinary
course of the farm. The 90 lots of experimental Norfolk whites
give a number for the mean percentage of dry matter identical
with that found under farm-yard dung, and their extreme varia-
tion is 2°65. The two specimens of green common turnips show
the same amount of dry matter with a difference of manuring.
The various swedes again differ considerably from one another,
yet in a greater degree from the common turnips. The extreme
yariation in the entire series quoted is from 6°65 in the Norfolk

544 Agricultural Chemistry— Turnips.

Percentage

of Dry

Description of Turnips. Matter in
Turnip
Bulbs.
Norfolk White (lowest of experimental series) . 2 «© «© «© «© « « | 6965
9 » (highest of experimental series) . 2 . - . « «© . 9°30
: »» (mean of experimental series). « © se) «eee tunel Mie Hind OO
99 DY: farm-y ard dung in experimental series »« .« . «© « 7°83
Green common tumip, by farm-yard dung -.- °. +. “s =. “sells os 7°94
»» by superphosphate ‘oflime . . Sheps f1). ¥4 4:
Swede, Skirving’ SUSTCCIinLO Dime Jajtne etal fa Yolanne 0. ely te) allel) Re peirnamestlhy c19104
39 9 purple top e ° 6 e ° e e ° e 5 ° ° . 9: 61
9» purple top (old variety, name unknown) .« »« «© © « «© « | 12°25

whites to 12-25 in the purple-topped swede, or more than 55 per
cent.; but there is little doubt that it is dependent on the variety
of plant, rather than upon any effects of manure or culture.

As a general inference from our results, we may state that the
mineral and carbonaceous manures, which we have before seen to
favour bulb-formation,—that is, to determine to an early maturity,
are those which in a given time will yield the largest percentage
of dry matter in the bulb; but nitrogenous manures, on the other
hand, which when in excess do not enhance bulb-formation (a
process of deposition), but rather an extension of the leaf or more
vascular system of the plant, involving a prolonged tendency to
active circulation, and consequently a higher amount of vehicular
watery fluid in proportion to fixed substance, will afford a smaller
percentage of dry matter in the produced bulb.

Were we, assuming bulb-formation to succeed leaf-formation,
to judge from some analogy furnished by other plants, we might
expect that the earlier organ, the leaf, would contain a less per
centage of dry matter than the later one, the bulb; but inasmuch
as the dry matter is frequently about twice as great in the former
as in the latter, any such reasoning would imply a wrong. con-
ception of the physiological relationship of the two organs.

We regret that the entire series of leaves of this 3rd year of
our experiments was not collected for drying, and that indeed
none were taken until after the first weighing of the crops, a few
weeks later than the specimen-bulbs were gathered. We shall
not, therefore, employ the results for any more important purpose
than to show how far the effects of manures are the same in kind
as in the case of the bulbs, determining to the depositing or to the
more circulatory tendencies of growth.

Here again we find no considerable variation, yet sufficient in
amount and in uniformity to render the mean results reliable for
our present purpose. ‘The plants by mineral manures alone, in
the first column, which were the furthest advanced in maturation

Agricultural Chemistry— Turnips. 545

Percentace of Dry Matter in Norfolk White Turnip Leaf.

Drilled
Drilled Drilled | Manures,
Manures, | and Top-
Description of Drilled Manures. Manures | and Top- |dressing of
dressing of |Rape-cake
only. |Sulph.Am.jand Sulph.
Ammonia.

13°63 13°23 12°57

Plot Numbers.

9 | 400 lbs. calcined bone-dust, hydrochloric eee)

é = 268 lbs. sulphuric acid.

4 | 11 cwt. superphosphate of lime (land trenched ae an ot
18 inches deep in 1844) . . i Hee) Uae Wee

18 | 400 lbs, calcined bone-dust, "420 Ibs. an

acid, 105 lbs. soda ash, 74 Ibs. magnesian;| 13°79 13°48 13°46

limestone, and 157 lbs. pearlash . °
21 | 400 lbs. calcined bone- dust, and 400 Ibs. sul- 13-33 | 13-12 | 12°68
phuric acid. z

22) 11 ewt. superphosphate of lime . es 13°97 3290) ) 12°91

Mean results e ° ° ° ° ° ° © 13°73 13°31 12°87

(or almost past that point), give the highest. percentage of dry
matter in the leaf as well as in the bulb. ‘Those under the addi-
tion of ammoniacal salt give in the leaf a percentage uniformly,
but not so far relatively lower as in the case of the bulbs; but it
must be remembered that the leaves were gathered much later,
and indeed, when, in these cases as well as in those by the purely
mineral manures, the point of maturity and exhaustion of soil-
supplies for organic food had been approached or past. We
find again that the more vigorous plants under both rape-cake
and ammoniacal salt have, coincidently with the greater preva-
lence of vascular “action, a less percentage of dry matter.

Whilst we are writing, the specimens of the present season’s
- growth are being operated upon in the drying bath, but as we
have not given any account of our experiments since 1845, we
need only say that succeeding results indicate the same general
facts on the subject of dry matter as those to which we have
drawn attention.

Having argued that, supposing the dry matier in the turnip
were of uniform composition, a high percentage can only indi-
cate the amount of solid substance in a given amount of produce at
the period of growth at which the determination is made, and
does not by any means unconditionally show the efficiency of the
manures employed, we shall turn our attention to the composition
of the dry substance itself. It has been stated that dry vegetable
produce contains the so-called vegetable or “ organic’’ consti-
tuents, and the “mineral” or ‘tnorganic,” the latter being that
portion which remains after the former is burnt away.

546 Agricultural Chemistry— Turnips.

We shall first speak of the composition of the organic or vege-
table part of the turnip, and shall endeavour to show its de-
pendence on the manures by which the plant is grown, and the
probable relative feeding values of different specimens.

We do not pretend to have reached further than the threshold
of this inquiry, but still hope our results may furnish some inter-
esting inferences. ‘The organic matter of the turnip-bulb is com-
posed of several complex bodies, some of which consist chiefly of
carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, whilst others contain nitrogen in
addition to the other three elements. Other substances, such as
sulphur and phosphorus, are also found in these compounds, but
in small quantities, and their presence or absence is immaterial
to us just now.

Those of the compounds which contain nitrogen are in less
proportion in plants than those in which it is absent; but nitro-
gen is a very important constituent in all food, so much so indeed
that the comparative feeding value of different articles of produce
may frequently be estimated by the amount of nitrogen they con-
tain; and we shall, to some extent, act upon this assumption in
what we are about to detail.

Those who have read the paper on Agricultural Chemistry in
the last Number of this Journal, will bear in mind the remark-
able fact there indicated, that the larger the amount of the nitro-
gen supplied by manure for the growth of wheat, the less was
the percentage of that substance in the produced grain. This
is not consistent with the views generally maintained on this sub-
ject, but it seemed to us not only sufficiently proved by our ex-
periments—but, when it was remembered that wheat-grain was
peculiarly a starchy seed, and that starch contains no nitrogen, it
was thought that whatever tended to the healthy action of the
plant (as nitrogenous manures were found to do) would of neces-
sity develop the special aim and products of the plant, and that
in fact it was more natural to expect that the seed would under
these circumstances be more starchy than that it would be more
nitrogenous and less starchy. In growing wheat-grain, then, by
means of nitrogenous manures the percentage of nitrogen in the
produce was rather diminished than increased. The following
results will show whether a similar effect is observed in the
growth of turnip-bulbs :—

This is not the place to give any detailed account of our methods
of analysis, but we may say that we think considerable confidence
may be placed in the results, as a comparative series; and we
believe them to be, moreover, not wide of the exact truth. If we
had to give an opinion, however, as to the probable direction and
extent of any error, we should suspect it to be in defect rather
than in excess, and that if it exist it is pretty uniform throughout

Agricultural Chemistry— Turnips. 547

Prercentaces of Nitrogen in Dry Turnip Bulbs, the produce of different

Manures,

5 Drilled
3 Drilled Drilled Drilled | Manures,
€ Manures, | Manures, | and Top-
3 Description of Drilled Manures. Manures | and Top- | and Top- |dressing of
A dressing of |dressing of | Rape-cake
6 only. |Rape-cake. |Amm. Salt. and

aq Amm. Salt.

S. 400 lbs. calcined bone-dust, hydro-
chloric acid = 268 lbs. sulphuric 1°46 1°93 2°82 2°22
acid.

22 | 11 cwt. superphosphate x inte asus 1°58 1°89 2°89 2:44

~2)

Wreamervesaligs: ew lke 1°52 1°91] 2°86 2°33

the series; that its probable extent is 0°10, and its utmost range
0:20. Should such general deficiency pervade our results, it is
dependent partly on the fact that succulent specimens cannot be
fully dried in air at 212° without some loss of nitrogen, and in
part also upon certain practical difficulties attending the conduct
of the determination of nitrogen in substances in which the actual
percentage is so small as in the instances before us. We may
add that each of the results given in this paper is the mean of
two determinations at least, and when there has been a difference
of 0-10 a third has always been made.

Referring to the results of the table, and taking the columns
separately, we see a very marked coincidence ieecen the figures
in each, and as marked a contrast between column and Calerine :
and if we call to mind the peculiarities of the several organic
conditions of manuring, we shall see the influence of the nitro-
genous supply to be ‘exactly opposite to that observed in the
case of wheat-grain, and in fact that the per centage of nitrogen
in the tur nip-bulb bears a direct instead of an inverse relation to
the predominance of that substance in the manure.

Thus in the instances quoted the percentage of nitrogen in
the dry substance of the produced bulb is by mineral manures
alone 1°52; by the addition of rape-cake, which contains, besides
a large amount of carbon, a considerable quantity of nitrogen, we
have 1-9] per cent.; by ammoniacal salts, supplying abundance
of nitrogen, but no car bon, 2°86 per cent.; and when to this ex-
clusive nitrogenous supply rape-cake is superadded, we have
2°33 per cent. There is here seen, then, very evident connexion
between the percentage of nitrogen in the substance of the bulb,
and the supply of it inthe manures employed. It is worthy of
remark, however, that it is not the actual acreage quantity of
nitrogen, but its proportion to other constituents thet is so clearly
indicated, ‘Thus in the third column, with an acreage supply of

548 Agricultural Chemistry — Turnips.

about 60 lbs. of nitrogen by manure, we have a percentage of
2°86 in the dry matter of the produced bulb, whilst in the fourth
column, with a supply of about 110 Ibs. per acre, we have only
2°33 per cent.; but when we remember that in the latter case
there was a large amount of carbon in the manure, and in the
former none, we have a clear illustration of the close connexion
between the provision by manure and the composition of the pro-
duce. ‘To render our meaning more intelligible we may further
explain that the nitrogen in the turnip, and indeed in food-
products generally, exists in combination with carbon, hydrogen,
and oxygen, itself comprising nearly one-sixth part of the thus
constituted nitrogenous compound; the remainder of the dry
matter consists of the compounds destitute of nitrogen, of which
the chief constituent is carbon. Now in column 3 there was no
carbon in the manure, but in column 4 a large amount was pro-
vided in the rape-cake, and notwithstanding that there was in this
case not only the same amount of nitrogen supplied by ammonia
salt as in column 3, but further, all fats of the rape-cake, raising
the total amount to nearly double, yet the supply at the same
time of carbon favouring the formation of non-nitrogenous com-
pounds, gives a less proportion of those which are nitrogenous.
Again, if we compare the mean of these results with the mean
percentage of dry matter under the four conditions of manuring,
we find with the lowest per centage of nitrogen in the bulb the
largest amount of dry matter, and with the highest percentage of
nitrogen the lowest amount of dry matter. There is then with
the highest percentage of nitrogen more of circulating fluid and
less of fixed deposited substance than with the lowest; and since
there was moreover not only a less matured bulb, but a less
acreage produce of it ina given time than where the nitrogenous
supply was less, we are led to infer that the high percentage
of nitrogen indicates a relative deficiency of carbonaceous sub-
stance, rather than a favourably increased amount of nitrogen.
Indeed these results will confirm the opinion already ursed,
namely, that turnip-bulb formation is very dependent on an
abundant supply of carbonaceous matter te the roots, and that the
more the nitrogenous condition of manuring prevails over the
carbonaceous, the more will vascularity and the less will special
deposition be enhanced. Thus the highly vascular seed-forming
turnip-plant is to the less vascular bulb-forming one, as the well-
conditioned breeding or working animal is to the stall-fed fatting
one; a considerable amount of nitrogenous as well as carbo-
naceous food is essential to both of these; in the one case, how-
ever, exercise tends to consume what in the other increases the
bulk of the animal: so that whilst the food taken may indeed in
the two cases be very similar, yet the balance of it retained in

Agricultural Chemistry— Turnips. 5A9

the animal will be as different as, in the cases of the two plants,
is attained by more directly varying the supply, and the peculiar
habits of life and growth will be developed accordingly.

The following results further show how truly dependent is the
composition of the turnip-bulb upon the provision by manure :—

PerceNTAGEs of Nitrogen in the Dry Matter of Turnip Bulbs, the produce of different
Manures,

Gmanered 9. we lee lw | COL 2°17 2°98 2°93
| Scwts. rape-ccake. «6 « © «© « | 2°28 ei 2°80 3°00

|
|

on Standard
o Standard | Standard | Standard | Manures,
= Manuures, | Manures, | and Top-
= Conditions of Standard Manuring. Manures | and Top- | and Top- [dressing of
4 dressing of |dressing of Rape-cake
iS only. |Rape-cake.|Amm. Salt.) and
a Gaeias Salt.

1 | 12tons farm-yard dung . . « . 1°56 2 2:04 ee

2

3

We see that the percentage of nitrogen by farm-yard dung is
1-56, which differs little from either the results obtained by
mineral manures alone, when all the organic supply was derived
from normal sources, or from the number observed by Bous-
singault, which was 1:70. The addition of sulphate of ammonia
to the farm-yard dung, raises the percentage of nitrogen in the
bulb from 1°56 to 2°54, or by two-thirds of the usually observed
amount. Here, however, we have in the manure a large pro-
vision of carbonaceous matter, and, as before noticed, a coinci-
dently less percentage of nitrogen than when there was ammo-
niacal salt alone.

In the second line of the table we have some most interesting
results, consistent with what have gone before, and, further, afford-
ing a new and significant illustration of the office of the turnip as
a fallow-crop.

It will be recollected that the average weight of the bulbs on
the unmanured plot was in this season of 1845 less than 2 oz.,
and that the entire produce was only 154 cwts. per acre. We
find, however, that these stunted bulbs give a percentage of
nitrogen higher than any in our series, even than those which had
an unusually excessive supply by manure, and twice as high as
the amount supposed generally to exist in the cultivated bulb.
We may reasonably infer that, under the influence of season and
a soil reduced to the lowest conceivable state of exhaustion, as
regards its fitness for the growth of the cultivated turnip, the
natural supply of nitrogen was, in proportion to that of other con-
stituents, abundantly available to the special accumulative powers
of the plant. Inthe same line we find, in the second column,

VOL. VIII; 20

550 Agricultural Chemistry— Turnips.

that the supply of a top-dressing of rape-cake to this otherwise
exhausted plot, raises the acreage produce of bulb from 133 cwts.
to 74, tons, and the average weight of bulb from less than 2 to
nearly I! oz., and notwithstanding the nitrogenous supply of the
rape-cake, we have, with its large provision of carbonaceous sub-
stance, the percentage of nitrogen reduced from 3:31 to 2:17.
In the 3rd column, where there is added to the natural supplies
of soil and season nitrogen, but no carbon, we had an evidently
unhealthy condition ; for the acreage produce, the size of bulb,
and the number of plants, were all less than where there was no
manure whatever. Again, with these unfavourable circumstances
of growth we havea very large percentage of nitrogen; less, in-
deed, than in the unmanured bulbs, but considerably higher than
when rape-cake alone was used. In the 4th column we have the
same supply by manure of carbon and nitrogen as in column 2,
with the addition, however, of the nitrogen as in column 3, and
we find, as in other cases, that although the actual supply of
nitrogen is greater than in column 3, it being proportionably less,
the percentage in the bulb is reduced.

Ti the anduane the standard manure is rape-cake, the extra
dressings being, as usual, a further addition of rape-cake, of am-
moniacal salt, or of both. Comparing the percentage of nitrogen
by the drilled rape-cake, as in column 1, with that by farm-yard
dung, we find that the rape-cake gives the highest, and we would
suppose the sproportion of nitregen to carbon would be greater.
In column 2 the amount of rape-cake being greater, the per-
centage of nitrogen is greater: the supply of nitrogen to that of
carbon is not, however, greater than in column 1; but we have
before seen that a full quantity of rape-cake, without extra mineral
manure, 1s not conducive to the most healthy growth of the
turnip-bulb; nor indeed would the carbon so supplied be so
completely and rapidly available as the nitrogen. ‘The addition
of ammoniacal salt in column 3 raises the percentage of nitrogen
from 2°23 to 2-80, and in column 4, as compared with column 2,
from 2°79 to 3:00.

We have made other determinations of nitrogen in turnip-bulb,
with a view to some more special points, but as we cannot discuss
them in this paper without extending our remarks to an undue
length, we shall defer notice of them until a future occasion.
The results already given are moreover, we think, sufficient to
aid our estimation of the characters of the turnip as a food and
rotation crop.

An important fact elicited is, that within a certain range, which
indeed is wider than has generally been supposed, the organic
composition of the turnip bears a very direct relation to that of
the manures by which it is grown. It is seen that the proportion

Agricultural Chemistry— Turnips. 551

of nitrogen usually found in the cultivated turnip-bulb may be
nearly doubled by means of ammoniacal manures, and since we
have stated that the feeding value of a crop may to some extent
be measured by its percentage of nitrogen, it might be supposed
that we should be led strongly to advocate the use of such ma-
nures in the growth of the turnip. Our field experiments have
already shown, however, that this would be a one-sided inference
from these departmental results; and when we come to make
some general application of our varied evidence to practical and
economic agriculture, the true position and bearing of the dif-
ferent branches of the question will be indicated.

We regret that we have not as yeta sufficient number of deter-
minations of nitrogen in the turnip leaf to enable us to decide
satisfactorily whether the percentage be as clearly dependent upon
the supply by manure as in the case of the bulb; the vigorous
leaf being, however, highly vascular, and containing much of the
still circulating unassimilated food derived from the soil, we might
anticipate it would be so; but, on the other hand, if we look at
the bulb as a reservoir of matters which are in excess so far as the
natural seed-forming tendencies are concerned, we might expect
the less artificial organs, the leaves, would be more constant in
their composition. The following results will not assist us much
in deciding these questions ; they are, however, not without in-
terest :—

PERCENTAGE of Nitrogen in the Dry Matter of Norfolk White Turnip Leaf,

Specimen

“ : dried be-
a Dried low 200°,
= at and Nitro-
z Description of Manures. gen calcu-
a 9490, {lated upon
zr) * | fully dried
a Substance.

1 | Farm-yard dung. . 3°24 3°60

2 | Unmanured.. . . 4°22 A*35

Here are given the results obtained from specimens of leaf, in
one instance dried fully at 212° in the water bath, and in another
dried much below that temperature; the percentage of nitrogen in
this case being calculated upon the fully desiccated substance.
The fact before alluded to, that succulent specimens frequently
lose nitrogen at 212°, is thus illustrated; in one instance there is
a defect of 0°36, and in the other of 0:13. We have met witha
similar result with other succulent substances.

It will be remembered that the turnip-leaf was found to contain
a proportion of dry matter more than half as large again as the

bulb; and it is seen that in the case of the dung specimen the dry
202

552 Agricultural Chemistry— Turnips.

matter of the leaf has a percentage of nitrogen twice as high as
that of the bulb. A given weight of the fresh leaf would there-
fore contain more than three times as much nitrogen as an equal
amount of bulb. Since, however, the bulk of the leaves at the
time the turnip crop is gathered or consumed are past the condi-
tion in which our picked specimens were taken for analysis, it
would be unsafe to employ these results for purposes of acreage
calculation ; yet they are in other respects to be relied upon.

Comparing the characters of the cultivated with those of the
uncultivated plants, as shown by the analyses which have been
given, we observe the decrease by cultivation in the percentage of
nitrogen in the dry matter is in the leaf only °75, but in the bulb
1-75 ; from which, again, we may perhaps gather that the cul-
tivated bulb is the result of a continued accumulation of secreted
matters, formed in quantity beyond the essential requirements of
the plant as such: the leaf, on the other hand, containing, besides
its own special structures and products, little more than those sub-
stances derived from immediate supply,—has, therefore, a com-
position in a less degree varying according to the constant
circumstances of growth, but comprising a larger proportion of
unsecreted matter.

The fact that, notwithstanding the large nitrogenous contents of
turnip-leaves, they should only be to asmall extent valued as food,
doubtless arises from the large amount of matters which they con-
tain only brought within the range of the organism, themselves as
yet unorganised, and existing as saline and other changeable
fluids, to which we may readily attribute a medicinal and purga-
tive, rather than a direct nutritive effect ; elaboration to some
extent being, as we are aware, an important element in the con-
dition of food for animals. The low degree of stability in some
of the nitrogenous contents of succulent substances, as indicated in
the drying process, as well as our conceptions of the offices and
physiological position of the different parts of a plant, bespeak,
indeed, that where an active circulation is still proceeding, there
will be found not only the actual and fixed, but also the prospec-
tively possible constituents, the latter as yet only in a vehicular
condition, and little influenced by the selective and appropriative
powers of the organism. It is true that the varying character of
the vital apparatus of different animals adapts them to the use of
vegetable food in varying degrees and states of elaboration ; but
there seems to be a point in this degree of elaboration below
which constituents lose their food-qualities; or eyen, it may be
doubted whether, in such cases, the matters are not really as little
truly vegetable as would be the watery extract of the soil as it is
taken up by the rootlets, and from the condition of which little
deviation has hitherto resulted from the vital actions of the plant.

° . ‘ rR
Agricultural Chemistry—Turnips. D099

Such substances, indeed, may perhaps be considered as still be-
longing tothe mineral kingdom, upon which animal life cannot be
sustained.

Referring to the more special lesson of the experimental results
last given, we notice, that whilst the leaf grown by farm-yard
dung contains 3°60 per cent. of nitrogen in its dry matter, that
grown without manure of any kind in a turnip-bulb exhausted
soil has 4°35 percent; and it will be remembered, the bulbs cor-
responding to these specimens of leaf give respectively 1-56 and
3°31 per cent. We have, then, in the leaf as well as in the bulb,
a larger proportion of nitrogen in the more natural but agricul-
turally useless turnip than in the cultivated one; and if we are
right in considering that, within certain limits, the composition of
a succulent imperfectly elaborated vegetable will bear some direct
relation to the supplies of food within its reach, we must conceive
that there was, independently of art, a resource of nitrogen avail-
able to the uncultivated plants far beyond that of other necessary
constituents. If, then, the powers of reliance upon normal sup-
plies of nitrogen here observed are to be fully developed and
turned to economical account, it is more especially by means of
an artificial provision of the other constituents that this object will
be attained,

We think that in these facts we have a beautiful illustration of
some of the physical and physiological characters upon which
depend, materially at least, the economic value of the turnip in
rotation with corn. The true economy of alternate cropping,
whilst, however, it is intimately associated with functional differ-
ences, such as we have shown to exist in the selected plants, yet
depends much also upon the destination and uses of the produce,
independently of which, the peculiar accumulative tendencies of
the different crops could not be rendered profitably subservient.
We shall not, however, consider the connexion between the various
sources of the economy of a rotation of crops, until, having detailed
all the evidence which it is our intention to bring forward, we
come to sum up and apply our departmental results to the prac-
tice of agriculture.

We shall now give some account of the mineral substances
found in the turnip. Our experimental results referring to this
branch of the question are very numerous, and it was our wish to
have considered them somewhat fully; but as our permitted space
is already nearly exhausted, we must defer doing so until a
future opportunity, and confine our remarks on this occasion to
some explanation of the nature of the subject, and to indicating
the general bearing of our evidence upon the conclusions which
have been arrived at in the foregoing pages,

554 Agricultural Chemstry—Turnips.

The knowledge which we at present possess of the amount, the
composition, and the office of the mineral matter found in com-
bination with the various definite organic compounds of which the
solid and fixed substance of a plant is made up, is very limited ; yet

iis such as by no means leads us to assign to all the constituents
of the ash of a crude vegetable product an essential position in
the constitution either of the parts already elaborated, or of those
which would result from the continued growth of the plant. It is
obvious that an examination into the nature and constancy of the
circumstances of growth, with which variations in the quantity and
composition of plant-ashes are connected, cannot alone provide an
explanation of the uses and importance of the mineral substances
in the plant; it is, however, an essential step in the inquiry, and
the results attained by it must materially direct and aid any col-
lateral course of investigation.

In entering at once upon this part of our evidence, we may
again state that we did not determine the amount of dry matter in
the produce of the first two seasons’ experiments: we are unable,
therefore, to give the percentage of ash in the dry matter in the
specimens of those two seasons, and it will afterwards be seen that
this particular 1s more significant than that of the percentage in the
fresh produce. On this account, and as we wish to compress our
matter as much as possible, we shall not give any statement of the
results of those two years, but only remark that a close examina-
tion of them affords like conclusions to those to which the third
season’s experiments lead us.

The percentage of ash in the fresh bulbs, the mean of the pro-
duce of each of the four conditions of manuring, frequently
referred to before, are given below.

Percentage
of Ash in
Fresh Sub-
stance of

General Deseription of Manuring. “Norfolk ~
White ”

Turnip

Bulb.

Season 1845. Mean of 13 experiments by purely mineral manures . . 0°58
Season 1845, Mean of 13 experiments by mineral manures and rape-cake

addedig se /ecne chick og. 6. eh eo?

Season 1845, Mean of 13 experiments by mineral manures and ammonia- 0:61

Cal Salt) (G3 eG OG eg ai. Sieh, 7 nea ee eS

Season 1845, Mean of 13 experiments by mineral manures, and both am- 0°60

moniacal salt and rape-cake)..... 2 , a. yin) suleeenene }

These results are the actually found percentages of ash, without
any deduction for adventitious substances, such as_ siliceous
matter and charcoal. The figures exhibit very slight differences,
snch as could not justify any important conclusions, were these

Agricultural Chemistry— Turnips. 559

contrary to otherwise probable indications ; we find however, that,
slight as the differences are, they are such in kind as other cir-
cumstances would lead us io anticipate; and we need only notice
that the percentage of ash is seen to be highest where the nitro-
genous condition ‘of manuring was predominant, and lowest where
the carbonaceous was more characteristic.

The variations are, however, more apparent when the per cent-
ages of ash upon the dry, rather than upon the fresh, matter are
are given. ‘The mean percentage of the dry matter itself, and
of its ash, in the specimens last quoted, and of the nitrogen in
the dry matter of two of the specimens in each case, are here
tabulated :—

Percentage | Percentage| Percentage
of Nitrogen

of Dry of Ash in Dry

General Description of Manuring. Matter
Matter in| in Dry |(Specimens
Nos. 9 and

Bulb. Matter. 22).
1845, Mean of 13 experiments by purely mes 8-34 6«99 1°52
PGMEECS OS Ie 3s, ges °
1845, Mean of 13 experiments by mineral manures

peeet\ctrou ik ge21. | 1-91
and rape-cake . 2 «©

1845. Mean of 13 experiments by mineral 1 manures | 1°41 8-24 2:86
and ammoniacal salt . . °
1845, Mean of 13 experiments by mineral a)
and ammoniacal salt and rape-cake .

7°48 8°08 2°33

The coincidences here brought to view are of considerable
interest, and clearly show a constant decrease in amount of mineral
matter as the deposition of solid vegetable substance progresses.
We have with the highest proportion of dry, the lowest proportion
of mineral matter; and with the lowest amount of dry matter, the
highest of mineral substances; and even with the slight increase
in dry matter exhibited in line 4, compared with line 3, we have
a decrease in the percentage of mineral constituents. We can
scarcely fail to recognise in these results a marked distinction
between those constituents of the bulb which are as yet merely
circulatery and unappropriated, and those which are secreted and
fixed, the former being indicated by a small amount of dry matter
and large amount of ash, and the latter by a large amount of dry
matter and a small amount of ash.

The connexion between the amount of dry matter and its per-
centage of ash being admitted, and that between the amount of
nitrogen, that of dry matter, and the condition of maturation
having been pointed out before, it is seen that the views taken
are fully confirmed by the relation of the ash in the dry matter to
that of the nitrogen in the same. Thus we have in the Table,
with the most fixed matter and least nitrogen, also the least ash;

506 Agricultural Chemistry— Turnips.

and with the most ash and most nitrogen, the least dry matter.
The relative tendency to bulbous deposition, or active vascular
circulation, under carbonaceous and nitrogenous manures respect-
ively, is here again exhibited.

It will be remembered that the specimens of turnip-leaf which
were examined, were gathered very late in the season—the few
that could be selected green being taken. All were, however,
far advanced in stage of growth, and it was found that, whether
owing to an uniformity in the stage of growth, or to the essential
tendency of the leaves, as different from that of the bulb, there
was very little variation in the proportion of dry matter, compared
with that observed in the bulbs, The following mean results will
illustrate this :—

Percentage} Percentage | Percentage
of Dry | of Ashin | of Ash in

Matter in Fresh Dry
Leaf. Leaf. Matter.

Reference to History of the Specimens.

Mean of 9, 14, 18, 21, and 22, with mineral ipa, 13°73

onl e e ° . e . s

Mean of 9, ie 18, 21, and 2 22, ah mineral manures
and pmocueal eaten é

Mean of 9, 14, 18, 21, and 22, i Pnerien manures,
rape- deake! and fmmionincal SalGi., scsi Gauk a seuke mine

1°31 9°52

SH) 13-31 1°96 | 9-49
wes MT 19.57 1°95 | 9-72

The differences here seen are, as we have already implied,
small; nor are the results so undoubted in their bearing as most
that have been quoted; yet still we have with the smallest amount
of dry matter, the largest per centage of ash in the dry matter.
The centre column shows the lowest percentage of ash in the
Sresh leaf in this case; but it is of course the percentage to water,
rather than to dry vegetable substance, that is there indicated.

The comparative ash results that have been given, whether of
the turnip-bulb or leaf, lead us then yet again to draw some distinc-
tions between the fixed and the circulating constituents of a suc-
culent plant, and to trace the proportion of these respectively to
the stage of maturity of the organ, whilst this has been found to
depend greatly upon the supply by manure.

Were we to compare the composition of the leaf, as thus far
shown, with that of the bulb, and to attempt to apply on all points
the same kind of reasoning as between bulb and bulb, or leaf and
leaf, we should at once meet with inconsistencies, for we find in
the earlier product of the plant—the leaf—a much larger amount
of dry matter than in the later one—the bulb. And again, with
the higher percentage of dry matter in the leaf, we have at the
same time a much larger amount of ash in that dry matter. Such
comparisons are, however, physiologically, quite inadmissible.
Looking at the question in another view, however, we haye attri-

Agricultural Chemistry— Turnips. D7

buted to the bulb, notwithstanding its large amount of water, in
some respects a higher condition of elaboration, or fixedness in
its solid constituents, than to the leaf. We have, indeed, supposed
that bulb formation, in the degree in which it is developed for
feeding purposes, is a deposition of matter existing in quantity
beyond what is essential to the health of the natural plant, much
as depositions are known to take place in animals under some-
what analogous circumstances.

The following comparative statement of the proportion of ash
in the dry matter of the leaf, the bulb, and the seed of the Norfolk
white turnip, will favour the view that the composition of the bulb
implies a more advanced selective process than that of leaf :—

Leaf. Bulb. Seed.

—_———

Percentage of ash in the dry matterof. 6 e« » « 9°5 6°9 4°5

There is then, comparing one organ with another, as well as
different specimens of the same organ, a diminution in the pro-
portion of the mineral to the organic constituents of the plant the
further we advance towards the matured results of the vital process.
It is true that even in the seed the amount of mineral substances
is greater than our conceptions regarding the composition of the
definite compounds of which it is made up would alone have led
us to anticipate; but numerous experiments with wheat grain
show that, however small may be the differences exhibited in a
series of specimens which can be compared with each other in this
respect, yet they will indicate the less percentage of ash in the
dry matter the higher the percentage of the dry matter itself—
that is to say, the more completely ripening processes have been
developed. An excess of mineral matter in any such case may to
some extent therefore be owing to an increased proportion of
vascular contents to perfectly elaborated substance.

Admitting that the mineral substances found in the leaves of
the turnip and of other plants are such in variety and in amount
that we cannot suppose them to be all destined to enter into com-
bination, and actually to constitute a portion of the fixed and
essential formations of the plants, yet their presence within it is
not on that account quite inexplicable. ‘The experiments of De
Saussure and others show that the rootlets of a plant take up the
dissolved substances presented to them, exercising but litle of
selective power, whilst suchas they have is rather of a mechanical
than of a more purely vital kind. It is not to be wondered at,
then, that the composition of the ash of highly vascular vegetable
substances should exhibit a wide range of difference, according to
climate, manuring, and soil. In such cases a large proportion of

598 Agricultural Chemistry—Turnips.

the mineral matters are distributed, not as constituents of the
organized substance of the plant, but in its vessels and fluids,
owing their quantity and character, to a great extent, to the ex-
ternal influences just referred to, but little, comparatively, to the
selective processes of the organism.

The following mean results of analysis seem to show that the
more the truly vital processes have been exercised, the more
special does the composition of the mineral matter become :—

Leaf Ash. Bulb Ash.

Mean of 24 Mean of 24

Analyses by Aualyses b

Gansu Dr. Gilbert,
Potass: . SE ete 22:05 44-84
Chloride of Hotasstnas oe 4°84 0-34
So@abuscts ae siete 0°19 1:79
Chloride of apaaenit Seheote 6°15 6+ 86
PAM} tae) Ces let wets 30°53 11°40
Magnesia . Sorat 0:82 1°46
Phosphoric acid oT os 3 5°05 7°89
Sulphuric acid ° IOS 10°63
Carbomic acid’...°¢ 4 ¢ (Ls 17°82 14°79

| 100-00 100+00

These results being the mean of so many analyses as twenty-four
in each case, the general character of the distinctions they exhibit
may be fully relied upon. It is to be regretted that we have not
an actual analysis of the ash of the seed of the Norfolk white, to
place by the side of those of the leaf and of the bulb. We know,
however, that phosphoric acid, potass, and magnesia are eminently
seed-ash constituents, and that the existence of the vehicular ele-
ment, chlorine, in a perfectly ripened seed is doubtful. ‘The in-
crease in the percentage of the more special, and decrease in
that of the less special constituents, is clearly shown in the results
given above, as we proceed from the earlier formation to the later
one, the composition of which is more influenced by the peculiar
elaborative action of the organism. Of the soda salts, indeed,
the actual amount is somewhat larger in the bulb than in the leaf,
but their proportion to the potass ones is much less.

It has been observed that the ash analyses of green crops seem
to afford confirmation of the much discussed theory of the substi-
tution of potass by soda in plants, but that those of grain crops,
on the other hand, do not serve the same purpose. It seems to
us, however, that if in green and succulent substances, in which

* In the analysis of the leaf and bulb ash, the phosphorie acid is calcu-
lated from the bone-earth precipitate, taking no account of the small quan-
tity of iron salt usually present.

“

Agricultural Chemistry— Turnips. 359

there exists a considerable amount of matter admitted by the
roots, with but little of special selective power, the proportions of
potass and soda may vary according to the variations in the soluble
contents of the soil, but the further we advance towards the ulti-
mate results of the organism, the larger is the proportion of potass
to soda; there is in such a fact evidence against the supposition
that the vegetable organism can substitute the one alkali for the
other, for in the case assumed soda would seem to be present
only before the vital selective processes had been exercised upon
the matters brought within their sphere of influence. If, then,.
the theory referred to suppose a replacement of potass by soda,
as an actual constituent of vegetable products, we think that facts
hitherto observed are such as should tend to disprove rather than
to prove its validity. On the other hand, we may well believe
that the large amount of mineral matters admitted into a plant,
beyond that which is likely to become fixed and combined with
its structures or deposits, has, nevertheless, some office to perform.
We know too little, however, of the means employed by the vital
processes to enable us to assign special agencies to special sub-
stances; yet the presence of mineral matters not actually to take
part as constituents, is by no means improbably of essential im-
portance in determining the changes to which the circulating juices
of the plant are subject; nor is it impossible that in such an office
as this soda may substitute potass, and one acid another, that is
to say, as agents, if not as constituents. It is, indeed, only by sup-
posing some other requirement in the plant than that of mere pro-
vision of actual constituents, that we can in any degree account either
for the extraordinary effects, which a large supply of mineral sub-
stances is in some cases found to produce, or for its possession of
the power by virtue of which so large an amount of such substances
is taken up by its roots and distributed throughout its living organs.

It was our intention to bring forward many more results, both
of the field and laboratory, relating to the important subject of
root-culture, had our space permitted it. We have still eighty ash
analyses obtained from turnips, the history of the growth of which
is detailed in this paper. It would also have been advantageous
to give, in less technical language, a short summary of the results
arrived at in the course of these experiments, for the convenience
of those readers who are more conversant with practical than with
‘scientific agriculture. Having, however, through the kindness of
the Journal Committee, already extended our article to a length
beyond what is usually allotted to contributors, we must conclude
with a brief explanation of the means to be employed in the pro-
fitable cultivation of roots, and of the pecular properties which
they possess, and which constitute their value as fallow-crops.

260 Agricultural Chemisiry— Turnips.

A practical farmer, accustomed to consume his turnips upon his
land every fourth or fifth year, might be mclined to doubt the
correctness of any conclusions drawn from a set of experiments so
artificial as the removal of five successive crops of turnips from
the same field. It should therefore be distinctly understood that
the object of these experiments is not to provide any examples for
direct imitation in practice, but to enable us to ascertain the real
characters of season, soil, and manuring required for the growth
of the turnip, in order that, the principles of its culture being
better understood, the practice of it may be more economically
carried out. In our experiments upon wheat, given in the last
number of this Journal, we showed that the produce of grain,
beyond that which the soil and season gave in successive years,
was dependent upon the supply of nitrogen; that 100 lbs. of rape-
cake, containing 5 lbs. of nitrogen and 80 to 90 lbs. of carbonaceous
matter, gave no greater increase of corn than a salt of ammonia
containing 5 lbs. of nitrogen and no carbonaceous matter; and
that the produce from 14 tons of farm-yard dung upon the same
space of ground year after year, was invariably less than that
which was obtained from 2 cwts. of ammoniacal salts. The farm-
yard dung and rape-cake increased the produce of grain in pro-
portion to the amount of nitrogen which they contained; but as
the rape-cake contains only 5 per cent. of nitrogen, and dung
frequently not a 4 per cent., or one pound in 200, to what pur-
pose can this bulk of carbonaceous matter be applied? As long
as corn is cultivated, it is evidently of little use. Our experiments
upon turnips answer this question in a most satisfactory manner.
They show distinctly that the production of turnip-bulb depends
upon the supply of carbonaceous matter in the soil, and that the
true office of the turnip and other root-crops consists in converting
the otherwise useless refuse of our corn-crops (straw) into a suc-
culent and nourishing food for animals. During the five years
over which our turnip experiments have been carried, in only one
instance has the acreage weight of bulbs reached 17 tons. We
know that the mineral matter required by the turnip has not been
deficient, and in many instances very large quantities of nitrogen
have been supplied; but the essential substance, carbonaceous
matter, required for bulb-formation, has been but moderately
supplied in the form of rape-cake ; in one instance, where it was
supplied in a larger quantity by dung, the greatest produce was
obtained. Having, therefore, shown that to obtain heavy crops of
bulbs, large amounts of carbonaceous matters should be supplied
to the soil, and that dung is the cheapest source of this substance,
the question next arises, What are the best substitutes for it ?
Dung is an article in which our farm-yards are very apt to be de-
ficient. It might be supposed that if sufficient carbonaceous

Agricultural Chemistry —Turnips. — 561

matter were once placed upon a farm exporting only corn and
meat, the loss in these two substances would not be greater than
what would be supplied in return by the atmosphere; but the ex-
periments of Boussingault and Dr. R. D. Thomson show that
the amount of such matter respired by an animal, and therefore
lost to a farm, is very great; indeed we should not be far wrong
if we said that in feeding a crop of turnips by stock one-half of the
carbonaceous matter in itis lost to the farm. ‘To restore the loss
of organic matter most economically, various processes are recom-
mended : some advocate the consumption of artificial food with the
turnip; some the employment of ammoniacal substances to collect
carbon from the atmosphere; and some maintain that if the mine-
ral substances composing the ash of the turnip were restored to
the soil, it could supply itself with organic matter. To commence
with the mineral manures,—Analysis has shown that a great por-
tion of the ash of the turnip consists of the alkalies, potass and soda,
and of magnesia—and these substances have been recommended
in the formation of mineral manures; we think, however, that a
careful examination of the position which the turnip-crop holds
in a rotation, and the manner in which its organic and inorganic
matters are applied in farm practice, will show that the artificial
supply of alkalies can rarely if ever be advocated. A fair crop of
turnips would contain in leaf and bulb about one ton and a half of
dry matter, of which 250 lbs. would consist of minerals. Omit-
ting those minerals which are of less importance, we may consider
the composition of the crop as follows :—

Dry organic matter 2 SLL
Potash : . iO 2F
Phosphate of lime : 50
Sulphate of lime . ‘ 40

Of the organic matter, more than one half of the carbon, but
probably scarcely one fourth of the nitrogen, is lost to the farm
by the respiration and increase of the stock.* The amount of
phosphate of lime removed would vary greatly with the nature of
the stock consuming the turnips. A breeding flock or young
growing animals abstract large quantities to be employed in the
production of bone, while full-grown animals require very much
less. Of the alkalies contained in the ash of the turnip the
stock return to the soil all they take up. Barley generally fol-
lows after turnips, the greater part of which is taken to market.
A crop of 40 bushels carries off phosphoric acid equal to about
28 lbs. of phosphate of lime and 9 lbs. of potash. The clover
following the barley, being consumed by stock, causes a further
Joss to the farm of organic matter and phosphate of lime, but no

* This retention upon the farm of nitrogen specially demands more notice
than our space permits.

562 Agricultural Chemistry— Turnips.

alkalies ; while the wheat removes about 12 lbs. of potash and 30
lbs. of phosphates. We see, therefore, that much of the organic
matter of the turnip is lost to the farm by respiration, the
phosphate of lime largely in the formation of bone; while the
export of potash is so small that the quantity contained in one acre
of turnips would not be entirely exported under twenty years. It
is clear, then, that unless by actual waste, there is, under an ordi-
nary course of farming, without the use of imported food, a com-
paratively small decrease in the amount of available alkalies in
the soil; but when we consider the vast amount of alkalies existing
in the soil itself, and set free by annual decomposition, and that
in every well-cultivated farm there will be a considerable quantity
imported in cattle food, there can be little doubt that, under or-
dinary circumstances, the alkalies accumulate in the soil. It may
be further remarked, that in our experiments the alkalies, in
whatever form we applied them, were always injurious to the
vigorous growth of the young plant. Although the export of
pbosphate of lime from a farm is very much larger than that of |
the alkalies, the continual use of itas a manure for the turnip-crop
could not be advocated upon the ground of mere exhaustion ; for
it could be proved that where the supply of it to the turnip- crop
during successive years has been much greater than what has been
removed in produce, the effects of further applications were equally
successful.

We are therefore inclined to limit the economical application
of mineral manures to phosphate of lime alone, and even then in
most cases it is employed not as an element of which the soil is
deficient, but as an agent for promoting to a remarkable degree
the early and vigorous development of the young plant, and car-
rying it with rapidity over those stages, any delay in which is at-
tended with great injury, and often with the destruction of the
whole crop. The sources of phosphate of lime are guano, bones,
and the compound of bones and sulphuric acid, called super-
phosphate of lime. ‘The latter manure is the form which is found
to produce the greatest effect upon the young plant, and espe-
cially upon the development of a large amount of fibrous roots.
Although strongly acid, it may be drilled with the seed without
the slightest injury to it. It must, however, be clearly under-
stood that the bulk of an agricultural crop of turnips depends
materially upon the amount of organic matter contained in the
soil, without which the development of the power of growth by
means of the phosphate will be unavailing. The first application
of a mineral phosphate is liable to produce heavier crops of tur-
nips than those which follow, unless the carbonaceous matter
taken from the soil by the turnips, and lost by the respiration of
the stock consuming them, has been made up by imported cattle
food. Rape-cake, as containing a large amount of organic matter,

Agricultural Chemistry— Turnips. 563

is an admirable manure for the turnip as a substitute for farm-
yard dung; it may be employed in conjunction with superphos-
phate of lime —the former being sown broadcast, and the latter
drilled with the seed. Peruvian guano, which contains a large
quantity of ammonia as well as phosphates, i is found to be a much
more certain manure for turnips in Scotland, where the fall of
rain is large, than in those parts of England where it is much
less. Indeed the natural agencies of season are much more
favourable to the growth of turnips in Scotland and the north
and west of England than in the eastern counties, where the ap-
plication of skill and capital, upon a soil well suited to the plant,
has gained for them a high reputation. In the south of England,
and wherever the comparatively small amount of rain that falls
renders the production of the turnip-crop uncertain, the cultiva-
tion of the mangold-wurzel might be extended with considerable
advantage: it can be sown sufficiently early in the spring to enable
it to extend its roots deep in the soil before the dry weather sets
in, it is not liable to injury from insects, and it is capable of pro-
ducing a larger amount of solid food than any other crop ina
rotation. ‘The objection raised against it as an exhausting crop
arises partly from the small amount of produce which it yields
from a given weight of manure compared with turnips; but as
the percentage of dry matter is greater, the objection may not be
valid. The following Table shows the amount of dry matter
contained in various root-crops grown this season upon Rotham-
sted Farm under ordinary cultivation :—

Percentage of dry matter in Long Red Mangold-wurzel : 12°7
ditto, ditto, Yellow Globe ditto’? % 11°34
ditto, ditto, Common Swede (name unknown). 12°2
ditto, ditto, Skirving’s Swede, purple top ° 9°4
ditto, ditto, ditto, ditto, green top ‘ 9°4
ditto, ditto, Green common Turnip ° : 7°9.
ditto, ditto, Norfolk White . ° : : 7°83

We see by this table that 10 tons of mangold-wurzel contain as
much dry matter as 15 tons of white turnips, and that the differ-
ence in bulk between a crop of Skirving’s, compared with one of
the older sorts of swedes, is due to the difference in the pro-
portion of the water. ‘That the soil on this farm, although nota
turnip soil, is capable of producing good root-crops, under a proper
supply of manure, may be inferred from the fact that this year,
which is anything but a good turnip season, an acre of swedes
was weighed, the bulbs of which gave 20 tons 10 cwt. Number
of plants per acre, 20,120; average weight, 2 lbs. 38 oz. Ten of
the largest were found to weigh 112 Ibs.

We found in our experiments that the usual percentage of
nitrogen could be nearly doubled by the use of ammoniacal
manures; but we do not recommend the general direct use of

564 Agricultural Chemistry — Turnips.

such manures for turnips, notwithstanding that the value of our
produce as food depends much upon the percentage of nitrogen
it contains.

On some future occasion we shall endeavour to show that,
excepting rape-cake, the manures in the market containing nitro-
gen are more advantageously employed for clover, and other crops
of the like kind, than in any other place in the rotation.

If a proper quantity of imported food be consumed upon a
farm, the direct supply of nitrogen to the turnip crop by means of
artificial manures will certainly not be necessary. An excess of
nitrogen in the soil produces too large a proportion of leaf, and
too little tendency to form bulb. It is true that a crop of turnips
having a large proportion of leaf will give a larger amount of
manure to the land; but its yield of food will be comparatively
small. But, since the manure obtained in such a case previously
existed in the soil, the economy of the crop, even so far as its
manuring influence is concerned, may be doubted. In fact, so
far as our experiments upon this subject enable us to judge, we
believe that where the supply of nitrogen to the soil is very great,
the amount of it collected from the atmosphere is less, and thus a
part of the benefit of the crop would be lost. All the specimens
in which we found a high’percentage of nitrogen were those in
which there was a great development of leaf with a compara-
tively small tendency to form bulb; and we believe that the high
percentage was due to a deficient accumulation of carbon by the
plant. Whiist, then, a high percentage of nitrogen may indicate
an abundance of it in the soil, the growth of the plant has been
in other respects defective. It is probable that the full-grown
bulb of such a plant as has only a due proportion of leaf will sel-
dom have a percentage of nitrogen much higher than that which
has been usually observed; for with an increased supply of ni-
trogen there is an excessive production of leaf, and a bulb which,
though richer in nitrogen, is not profitably developed. There is,
however, a casual advantage in having a somewhat full supply of
nitrogen in the soil for those of our turnips which are to be eaten
Jate in the season; for the plants so grown, whilst they may have
a less favourable proportion of bulb, yet, owing to the increased
vitality and hardiness which result from the nitrogenous ma-
nure, the bulb is better fitted to stand the winter temperature
without injury. A sufficient importation of food for stock will,
however, render the purchase of nitrogenous manures for the
turnip crop quite unnecessary; but where such manures are em-
ployed, rape-cake will be found to afford a sufficient, and in other
respects the most advantageous, means of supply.

Lastly, it must not be forgotten that the tillage of the soil con-
stitutes a most essential element in turnip culture; and that he
who sows his turnip-seed upon a badly-cultivated soil is only

Agricultural Chemistry— Turnips. 555

throwing away his time and money. The naturally light and
porous nature of a turnip soil points out what are the require-
ments of these plants; and when the necessary degree of tilth has
been obtained, and the seed sown, the introduction of air beneath
the surface of the soil by means of the horse and hand-hoe cannot
be too frequent; for it is useless to place a large amount of dung
in the soil to be converted into the substance of the turnip, unless
the free action of the air is provided for at the same time, by
which alone the decomposition of the dung can be effected.

J.B. Lawes.
Rothamsted, November, 184.

Nore.—In placing my name to this article I must observe that whatever
merit may be assigned to it is mainly due to the skill and talents of Dr.
Gilbert, upon whom the responsibility attending the investigation has
devolved. Those who have endeavoured to conduct with accuracy only a
few experiments in agriculture will be capable of forming some estimate
of the labour which so extensive a series requires.—J. B. L.

XXIV.—~Shepherd’s Corner Farm. By Lorp Portman.
| (Continued from Vol. IV.)
To Mr. Pusey.

Dear Pusry,—I send you herewith the final statement of my
farm at Shepherd’s Corner, that you may insert it in the Journal
of the Royal Agricultural Society of England. I must remind you
that I have made my experiment under circumstances peculiarly
unfavourable to profitable farming. I have, however, converted a
district formerly unproductive into a fruitful farm without any
loss at the end of my work, but, on the contrary, with the small
gain which the account shows. I have changed the rental from
2s. 6d. per acre into the average rental of the neighbouring arable
lands, and thereby augmented the value of the estate to my heirs.
I have let the farm to an excellent tenant for a term of twenty-
one years, and | have the pleasure of seeing it covered with good
crops. I would draw attention to the Field No. 3, where in 1843
1 obtained a good crop of turnips by the aid of great pressure of
the fold, but in spite of it I had to grapple with the wireworm
in 1844, and saved the oats only by a repetition of pressure.
Also to Field No. 2, where in 1845 I first tried rape as a pre-
paration for wheat, and succeeded so well, that I have ever since
adopted the system on my Bryanston farm with great success.
In the account of Shepherd’s Farm, in the Journal of 1843, there
is an error which [| wish to correct, as it is important. ‘The mis-

VOL. VIII. 2P

566 Shepherd's Corner Farm.

take is, “ where the surface-soil was Nor deeply buried, the crops
were least good.” It should have been “most,” instead of “not.”
The whole of my experience has proved that it is not wise to
bury the surface-soil in the way I adopted in Fields No. 1, 2, 3
of this farm, but it is desirable gradually, year by year, to mix
the surface and subsoil, and thereby to improve the fertility of
the farm.

I have the pleasure of seeing my neighbours, who occupy
lands of similar quality to this farm, converting unproductive
districts into fertile farms, avoiding my errors, profiting by my
experience, and [I am thereby fully rewarded for my labour.
I hope that the publication of the accounts, as well as of the
system, may be useful to the agricultural community.

Yours, truly,
PorTMAN.
Bryanston, June 24, 1847.

Shepherd's Corner Farm, Durweston.
Field No. 1\—South Free Down—36 a. 2R. 22 P.

1843. One year’s ley—mown for hay: the crop about 1} ton per acre ;
the after-crop pastured by sheep.

1844. Two years’ ley—pastured by sheep and prepared for wheat: 14
acres folded by sheep, and manured extra with ground rags, or
shoddy. 22a. 2R. 22 ~. manured with yard-dung and once
ploughed.

1845. Wheat. 14 acres dibbled last autumn; seed about 14 bushe
per acre. The season turned out peculiarly unfavourable for
thin-sown wheats, and here it proved an almost entire
failure—the crop harvested not more than 3 sacks per acre.
22 a. 2 Rr. 22 p. Chidham’s wheat drilled; seed 3 bushels per
acre; crop nearly 6 stacks per acre. This wheat is not well
adapted for this description of land. The straw grew weak and

very spongy.
Field No. 2—North Free Down—34 a. 2R. 37 P.

1843. Oats. A very good crop of Poland and Tartar oats; 13 sacks
per acre, and the straw very heavy. The land seeded with
1 bushel rye-grass, 10 Ibs. trefoil, and 2 Ibs. Dutch clover
per acre.

1844. One year’s ley. 8 acres fed off by oxenand sheep. 26a. 2R. 37P.
mown for hay; crop 1 ton per acre.

1845. Two years’ ley. 18 acres of this field dunged and folded, and
ploughed as late as April for rape and turnips; the ground
once ploughed and the seed drilled in with ashes only: the
crop very good. 16a. 2R. 37P., two years’ ley, pastured

Shepherd’s Corner Farm. 567

by sheep and oxen, well dunged with farm-yard manure, and
ploughed once for wheat.

[The present tenant reports that in 1846 the best sample of
wheat was after the rape and turnips; but that the plant of
wheat on the dunged land always had the best appearance.
The yield of each piece per acre was about equal. ]

Field No. 3—Willetts—37 a. 1 Rr. 25?.

1843. Green crops. 10 acres winter and spring vetches mown for

soiling ; the land afterwards drilled with rape and turnips, and
manured with guano and ashes: for late feed the crop was
pretty good. 7 acres peas of various sorts: crop only 4
sacks per acre: the rape which was sown after the peas failed
entirely. 2 acres potatoes; a good sample; produce 65 bags
(240 lbs. each) per acre only. 54 acres hybrid turnips; an
excellent crop; a part of the ground was muckled and heavily
folded, the ground thoroughly well worked, and the seed drilled
with ashes. The remainder of the ground was heavily folded, but
not muckled. After the ground had been ploughed some con-
siderable time, it was well dragged and harrowed, and the seed
drilled deeply with ashes: this part also bore an excellent crop.
This experiment gave satisfaction, as no turnips which could
be called a crop had before been grown upon this field.

13 acres Italian rye-grass; sown last autumn immediately

after wheat-harvest. This did not afford very much feed, the
ground being too poor and cold for it, and the plant was very
much thinned by the severe winds of March.

1844. The whole field sown to oats; the wireworm becoming very de-

1845

1843

1844

1845

structive, the field was rolled twice with a four-horse (a 30-cwt. )
roller, which stopped further mischief, and saved the crop:
the produce 9 sacks per acre. The land sown to grass and
clover seeds as before.

- One year’s ley. Mown for hay; crop about 1 ton per acre.

Field No. 4—Higher Ball—34 a. 2R. 37 P.

. Wheat. A wonderful crop of straw; produce of grain 6% sacks

per acre, the grain not very well filled out.

. Twelve acres folded over twice for swedes, and manured with

guano and ashes: the plant was completely destroyed by the
fly. This was afterwards drilled across the former rows with
common turnips without any manure: for so late a crop it
was pretty good. 22a4.2R. 37p. drilled to hybrid and com-
mon turnips, dressed with various artificial manures and a
quantity of ashes: the crop very fair.

. Oats. Mown very early to improve the straw for winter fodder :

produce 11 sacks per acre. The land seeded with saintfoin.
2p 2

568

1843.

1844.

1845.

1843.

1844,

1845.

1843.

1844.

1845.

Shepherd’s Corner Farm.

Field No. 5—Lower Ball—354 4. Or. 35pP.

Wheat. 19 acres manured with Lance’s humus and bone: a
very heavy crop of straw; the produce of grain 64 sacks per
acre; the sample inferior to the grain of the adjoining piece.
15 acres spring nursery wheat 74 sacks per acre: this was
thought to be the best sample of corn that had yet been grown
at Shepherd’s Corner.

Two acres potatoes ; ridged and dunged; the crops 53 bags per
acre. 13 acres peas: crop 43 sacks per acre. 12 acres rye;
fed off by sheep; the land afterwards drilled to turnips and
manured with bones and ashes: 17 acres only gave a good crop
of turnips. 7 acres vetches mown for soiling: the land after-
wards sown to turnips, which produced a partial crop only.

Turnips. Manured with dissolved bones and ashes: about two-
thirds of the field a good crop; the best produce after the peas
and potatoes.

Field No. 6—Bittern Field—23 a. 3R.

Two years’ ley. 8 acres of it pastured by sheep. 154.3R.
mown for hay: 1 ton per acre of hay.

Wheat. 8 acres ploughed last autumn, and then dressed with
Daniell’s patent manure, which was covered with a light
furrow: the crop only 2% sacks per acre. 5 a. 3R. drilled
with Chidham’s White Wheat; Daniell’s patent manure drilled
immediately under the corn: crop 6 sacks per acre. 10 acres
folded over by sheep, and drilled with red and white wheat:
crop 6 sacks per acre.

10 acres common turnips, the land folded over by sheep: a very
good crop. 134.3 R. swedes; avery good crop. Both lots
were manured with a sack of dissolved bones (our first experi-
ment with this manure), and mixed with about 40 bushels of
ashes per acre.

Field No. 7—Mare Close—10 a. 2 R.

Two years’ ley. Mown: 1 ton per acre of hay, and then dunged
for wheat.

Wheat, red and white, but separate; a beautiful sample and an
excellent crop: harvested 9 sacks per acre; lost about 1 sack
per acre by the beating of the very rough winds at the time of
harvest.

Self-sown wheat and vetches; an excellent crop; fed off by
sheep, the land afterwards sown to swedes, and manured with
dissolved bones and ashes: being late sown, the swedes were
i0t a heavy crop.

569

Shepherd's Corner Farm.

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XXV.—On the Use of Peat-Tiles for Draining. From his
Grace the Duke of Ricumonp.

THERE was, close by the park of Gordon Castle, a pretty large
loch surrounded by swampy ground, altogether from 22 to 24
imperial acres, famous for wild ducks breeding in. This place
was, in 1837, cleared of alder bushes, and a deep open leading-
drain cut across it. In June of the same year a great quantity
of peat was cut in the shape of drain-tiles_(-\_ but a great deal
thicker : they were carefully dried on the moss where they were
cut, and then put under cover for the winter till they were re-
quired. As soon as the drains in the said swamp were cut, peat-
tiles were laid in them, in July, 1838. The drains were from 24
to 50 inches deep, and 36 feet apart; and they have dried the
ground as effectually as any other tiles would have done. There
were not peats enough to do half the ground, but the wettest of the
ground was done with the peats; the rest of the collecting-drains
were done with water-stones. ‘The ground is now in a high state
of cultivation. Some yards of one of these peat-drains were
opened on the Ist of November, 1847, and the peat-tiles taken
out, and all found perfectly sound and hard, and the drain was
quite clear, and showed that it had work to do in wet weather.
There is in the drain a fall of only 1 foot in 84 feet length. With
the proper spade for cutting these tiles out of the moss, a man
can cut about half the quantity that he could of fire-peats.
E. WaasTArFF.

XX VI.—On the Autumn Cleaning of Wheat-Stubbles upon Light
Land. By Pu. Pussy, M.P.

In so old an art as farming, the adoption of new inventions is very
hazardous: but a good local usage, when we can find one, unites
the promise of novelty with the warrant of practice. Now Mr.
Raynbird, in his excellent account of Suffolk farming, printed in
the present Journal, states that on the light soils of that county,
“if a dry autumn succeeds an early harvest, we shall, in all pro-
bability, see the whole of the fallows cleared of couch and other
rubbish before the clover layers are ploughed for wheat.” This
method appears to me the greatest improvement that could be
introduced on our south-country farms. Our present habit is to
break up our stubbles—often full of couch-grass—during the
winter; and about May to prepare them for turnips by three or
four ploughings, with harrowing, raking, and burning. ‘The dis-
advantages of this practice are plain to practical farmers: first,
the wear and tear of horses, with the wages of labourers ; these
form a heavy item in the valuations of outgoing tenants for Acts

Autumn Cleaning of Wheat-Stubbles. 571

of Husbandry, and are set down at not less than 2/. an acre.
Next, if the weather be wet, the work is most imperfectly done.
Lastly, even if it be dry, the land is reduced to a dusty and
hollow state, unfavourable to the turnip, which on some light
soils at least strikes best upon land that has settled down, some-
times called a stale furrow. Yet if farmers used to this dilatory
proceeding were told that swedes and turnips could be sown
after one ploughing, they would smile at the proposal as a pure
vision of abstract philosophy. Some incredulity is indeed wise
and prudent, nor should any advice be adopted on a large scale
without the stamp of experience. I am desirous, therefore, to
strengthen Mr. Raynbird’s statement by the evidence of another
Suffolk farmer, Mr. Bond, jun., of Hacheston, near Wickham-
market. His account, which deserves serious attention, is as
follows :—

“Tn this district the labour of making fallows has, within the last few
years, been greatly diminished by the practice of forking out the couch-
grass before ploughing the wheat-stubbles. By far the greater portion
need only be ploughed once, as a preparation for the root-crop: and by
some the lands are sown with rye, tares, or winter-oats. These crops
are intended for sheep-feed, and thus the number kept is greatly in-
creased.

** When this practice of growing green crops, instead of fallowing, is
adopted, women and children are employed to look over the wheat-
stubbles directly after harvest (accompanied by a man to see the work
carefully performed) to take out couch-grass and docks. This, on a
well-cultivated farm, from being made a system of, is quickly and
cheaply done.

*< Rye is largely sown, coming soonest to feed, and is drilled at the rate
of two to three bushels per acre ; the more seed the earlier and greater
will be the quantity of feed. Rye is indispensable to the flock-master,
and carries the sheep from turnips till grass. A small portion is some-
times manured in order that it may come stronger and sooner; this is
mown and carried home to be cut into chaff with straw, and given to
the horses.

‘“<'Tares are drilled at from 8 to 10 pecks, to follow in succession for
spring feed after the rye is finished. |

‘*Winter-oats are drilled at the rate of 3 or 4 bushels per acre.
They last longer than rye or tares, if fed close (and they cannot be fed
too close), when they will continue to sprout quickly till stopped by the
plough. On farms where this system is pursued, rye is first fed off, and
the land ready to plough; then tares ; and lastly, the winter-oats. After
whichever it may be, the land generally ploughs up in a friable state,
and may be brought to a fine tilth by rolling and harrowing, when
globe, beet, or swedes are drilled. If not ploughed by May, the land
is generally drilled with white turnips. By some the rye, tare, or oat
stubbles are scarified with Biddle’s scarifier previous to ploughing.
Beet and turnips are grown quite equal to those on land made a fallow
of, and worked about in a regular way.”

E72 Autumn Cleaning of Wheat-Stubbles.

This last point is the only one about which there may be some
doubt; at least farmers think that, after yetches, some land is not
kind for turnips. Mr. Bond’s whole statement, however, is most
valuable; not that it is new to grow either rye or vetches for
spring keep. What is new is to grow them on so large a scale:
what is especially new and especially deserving the attention of
us south-couniry farmers, is the autumn-cleaning of our wheat-
stubbles. I say—of south-country farmers, because it is now an
admitted fact that we cannot sow swedes or turnips early, nor
thus compete in the bulk of that crop with the cooler parts of the
island, Feeding off rye and vetches and winter-oats will there-
fore less interfere with our turnip-sowing. During our June
droughts the vegetation of young crops on our shallow soils is
almost suspended. We have no choice, then, but to take an
early green and a late root crop, if we would make the most of
our land. Two objections, indeed, may be made to the early
cleaning of wheat-stubbles ; one by the landlord, who wants har-
bour for partridges; the other by tenants of the old school, who
let their flocks run over this poor but dear keep, feeding on couch
till December. I am sorry to say that in taking to land I have
had this kind of food valued to me at 10s. per acre. But such
prejudices will, of course, give way. For my own part, I have
found already the advantage of the practice, and intend to follow
it up. I hope to raise sheep-keep on most of my wheat-stubbles,
except those intended for mangold, which should be sown early
in spring; and the point I shall aim at will be, as far as prac-
ticable, never to see my land naked. I have now very few acres
of wheat-stubble left to clean, and the greatest part of my farm
is green within three weeks of Christmas. The change of system
may, of course, require time, and the more time the fouler the
land. But if a farmer will only believe that the change has been
made by others, will consider the expense and worry to be saved
by cleansing his land once for all, as well as the advantage of
early keep for his flock, I think he will admit that the Suffolk
practice deserves imitation.

Pusey, Dec. 5, 1847. Pu. Pusey.

XXVII.—On a@ Variety of Italian Rye-Grass. By W.
DICKINSON.

To Lord Portman.

My Lorpv,—Your Lordship’s request that I should furnish the
readers of the Royal Agricultural Society’s Journal with all the
information I possess as to the culture of Italian rye-grass is the

On a Variety of Italian Rye-Grass. 573

only apology I shall offer for troubling them a second time on
that subject.

In the first instance, J had to communicate a new method of
cultivating a peculiar plant, the result of which was as startling as
it was new, whereby nine or ten crops of excellent green food had
been obtained between March and December; being cut in the
former month and watered with liquid manure, consisting of one-
third of pure horse urine and two-thirds of water, distributed
from a London street water-cart passing once over the plant
immediately after the grass was cut, one watering being sufh-
cient for one crop. That report created considerable interest,
and induced noblemen, gentlemen, farmers, and traders to test
the system with the same object, the result of whose practice
upon various soils, with different treatment, I now purpose to lay
before the readers of the Journal, feeling assured there is matter
well worth the consideration of practical agriculturists. I think
it important that all the information I have been able to collect,
bad as well as good, should be set forth; if, therefore, my paper is
somewhat tedious to read, it may be a palliation to know it was
much more troublesome to collect.

The method I then recommended was to prepare the land by
ploughing, cleaning, and reducing it to a fine surface in the
month of August or September, to sow by a broadcast machine
two bushels of seed per acre (three, I think, is better, sown at
twice by crossing the land with one bushel and a half each way),
or four bushels per acre by the hand, to harrow lightly in, hand-
weed the first growth, and, as soon as there was about 18 inches
of grass, to cut it for green food ; watering the plant with the
liquid day by day immediately after the grass was removed, and
so continue to cut and water, cut and water, from March till
November. ‘The plant is a biennial; after two years the land
may be ploughed and re-sown if requir ed: it will be seen in how
few instances this plan has been adopted, and, when it has, in
almost every case, in all kinds of soils, success has followed the
operation.

I have applied to about 90 persons, to whom I supplied seed,
for information, and have received 44 answers; 12 of which
give no information at all, and so must be omitted.

I shall now proceed to the details, classing the reports into
soils and subsoils, showing the means used and the amount of
produce obtained :—

1. Sand upon Limestone.—Shallow and hot; entirely failed.—
Hon. P. J. Prerreponr.

2. Sown August; no manure, no urine; first crop 3 feet high in

May; second, 2 feet 6 inches first week in August.—Rev. Tuomas
CaTor.

O74 On a Variety of Italian Rye-Grass.

3. Light Dry Sand upon Red Sand.—Sown September; no urine ;
produce, two crops, each 18 inches; as hay one ton and a half per
acre.——His Grace the Duxr of Beprorp.

4, Light Soil, Sandy Subsoil—-Sown October; light dressing,
stable-dung ploughed in, and dressed after cutting with tank-water from
the village; seven crops; fed twice; mown twice, with 3 feet 6
inches of grass to each crop; fed twice again, and had 16 inches of
grass standing September 14; the crops weighed as green food 30 tons
per acre.—J. WuHiTwortThH, Esq.

5. Red Sandstone.-Sown September and October; dressed with
13 cwt. of Ichaboe guano to the acre, and produced a net profit of
Tl. 9s. 8d. per acre. This valuable paper is attached entire, and is
highly recommended for perusal.—Capt. BuLuer.

6. Sand, Subsoil Stonebrash, 12 inches of Sand upon Stonebrash.
——Sown September; dressed with farm-yard liquid ; two crops; one
cut green, and one for seed; as hay, 25 cwt. to the acre.—R. S.
Hotrorp, Esq.

7. Sandy Loam upon Sandstone Brush.—Sown October; dressed
with rotten dung before sowing in the spring with 2 cwt. of guano to
the acre, and with tank-liquid after first crop; two crops; one 18
inches, one 14 inches high.—C. Waker, Esq.

8. Sand upon G'ravel.—Sown September; 3 feet sand upon gravel ;
dressed with rotten dung; two crops; May, 2 feet of grass; July, 1
foot and thin.—THomas Turner, Esq., President, Veterinary College.

9. Sandy Loam, Open Subsoil-—Sown February; dressed with
urine before sowing, and 14 cwt. of guano to second crop; three crops,
18 inches each, 20th May, 10th July, 10th September.—Tuomas
Butmer, Fochabers, Gordon Castle, Scotland.

10. Light Soil, Gravelly Subsoil—Sown November; dressed with
farm-yard dung in October; no urine; three crops; 3 feet of grass to
each.—C. PorcueEr, Esq.

11. Loam upon Gravel.—Not drained, no manure, no urine, except
upon small quantity, and considers crop would have been treble with
plenty of urine ; fed with ewes and lambs in spring ; yielded two crops,
one of seed; 172 bushels off 3 acres.—G. Woon, Esq.

12. Heath upon Hard Native Soil_—Sown October; dressed with
farm-yard manure ploughed in, and guano dissolved in water; two
green crops six weeks apart; a third crop of seed; grass very long, and
now feeding it off (September 17).—Lawrence Wy tie, Esq.

13. Light Black Mould upon Yellow Sandy Loam and Gravel.—
Sown September; dressed with cows’ urine, house drainage, soapsuds,
water-closets and farm-yard water. Four crops: April 14, June 8 (cut
too late, and made into hay); August 6, for seed; and, September 10,
grew so strong, and so covered the land, it killed all the weeds. First
crop 2 feet high, and as thick as it could stand upon the land; was
ready earlier than rye on one side of it, and lucerne on the other.—
Rozert GUNTER, Esq.

On a Varvety of Italian Rye-Grass. 575

14. Light Soil, and various Subsoil; Light Surface upon Sandy
Marl.—Sown October; drained 3 feet ; dressed with farm-yard dung
before sowing, and with urinal dressing after each cutting; three crops,
3 feet each— W. Hrar Hurcurinson, Esq.

15. Sandy Loam upon Clayey Chalk Marl.—Sown October ;
drained 3 feet deep; no dressing, no urine; three crops up to August 23,
each 2 feet 4 inches high.—G. GinuiarrT, Esq.

16. Loamy Subsoil, Stiff and Sandy.—Sown September ; drained
2 feet 6 inches; no manure; four crops, 18 to 20 inches high.—
EDWIN East, Esq.

14. Light Clay Loam.—-Sown September; not drained; dressed
with tank-water after cutting; four crops in six months._-Rp. Dyson,
Ksq.

18. Clay and Flints, Subsoil Chalk.—Sown September; three
quarters of an acre; not drained ; lightly dressed with dung; no urine;
kept forty-one year-old Southdown sheep from April 22 to May 25;
cut for seed July 2; produce 37 bushels; cut for horse-food August 15,
which it kept twenty-one days; the seed-crop made into a stack of hay
30 feet in circumference.—Rev. J. PHELP.

19. Clay upon Gravel.—Sown end of October; no drainage, no
manure, no urine, and wet; one crop half a ton to the acre, and fed
once.—R. ALLFREY, Esq.

20. Strong Surface, Clay Subsoil, Stiff Marl on Clay.—Sown in
September; part drained, and part not; dressed on surface with dung,
no urine ; succeeded admirably in part, and failed in part.—G. Harrti-
SON, Hsq. 5

21. Good Loam, Retentive Subsoitl_—Sown in October; drained 30
inches, and subsoiled ; dressed after first cutting with 10 tons of rotten
dung, spread on surface ; two crops of seed, 20 to 24 inches of grass to
each.—W. H. Lirrxe, Esq.

22. Séaff Loam upon Ciay.—Sown in September ; drained 2 feet ;
London dung ploughed in; no urine, but used nitrate of soda after
second with success. Three crops up to September, and partly fed ;
two first crops produced 6 loads of hay to the acre.-—Josian Hunt,
Esq.

23. Stiff Mould upon Stiff Clay.—Sown September ; partially
drained; dressed part with tank-water, part with nitrate of soda, and
part with guano. Three crops: April 28, 2 feet 6 inches high; June 1,
2 feet; July 1, nearly 2 feet, and thn.—Jno. Horer, Esq.

24. Sandy Loam upon Clay; Fresh Land.—Sown October ;
drained 3 feet; no manure, no urine. Three crops: May 1 for hay;
July 10, seed; September 8 for seed again, 2 tons per acre. Each crop
of hay double any other crop of grass.——D. S. Haywarp, Esq.

25. Fresh Common Land upon Clay.—-Sown October; no drainage,
no manure, no urine ; four crops from April 4 to August 8.—J. CHEAL,
Esq.

26. Heavy Loam upon Clay.—-Sown September; drained 30 inches ;
dressed lightly with turf and night-soil, and watered with cows’ urine.

O76 Ona Variety of Italian Rye- Grass.

Six crops: March 5, May 1, June 8, July 17, August 19, end of Sep -
tember ; each from 2 to 3 feet high.—_Jas. BowLey, Esq.

24. Sandy Loam upon Clay.—-Sown October ; partially drained ;
dressed with stable-dung in October, and watered with urine and water.
Four crops, 2 feet 6 inches to 3 feet high, and fed in November.—
EK. TATTERSALL, Esq.

28. Strong Land.—Sown the last week in October; badly drained ;
exceeding wet in winter, and hard as bricks in summer; each crop
watered with cow-shed drainage. Three crops to July 3: cut in April
rather less than 3 loads to the acre; in five weeks rather more than 3
loads to the acre; the third in seed, July 3.—Messrs. NoBie and Mrz.

29. Strong Loam upon Clay.--Sown August; drained 33 inches ;
dressed with dung and urine, part three crops, part four, and part five;
with 14 inches on land in November; in March, 18 inches; May, 33
inches ; July, 28 inches; August, 26 inches; one crop of seed.—J. A.
SLAcK, Esq.

30. Loam, Subsoil Clay upon Sandstone.-—-Sown October; drained
2 feet 3 inches; watered, after each cutting, with tank-water, as long as
the horses were in stable; afterwards 7 lbs. of guano were put into
water-cart, and filled with water. Five crops: March 24, May 19,
June 25, August 1, September 7. First, 14 inches of grass; second,
2 to 3 feet; third, 3 to 5 feet; fourth, same; fifth, 18 to 24 inches.
Part of second crop, cut and weighed green, 164 tons the acre; dried
and made into hay, 44 tons. Part of third weighed with the same
result ; fourth equally good; first and fifth estimated each at halfi—
W. R. STANSFIELD, Esq., M.P.

31. Clay upon Clay; Strong Clay upon Yellow Clay.—Sown Sep
tember ; not drained; dressed with stable manure before sowing; three
crops, 18 to 20 inches high.—Messrs. J. and E. WALKER.

32. London Clay.—Sown September; badly drained; dressed with
slaked lime. In Septemher fed with sheep, and one crop of grass 3 feet
high. One or two lands watered with urine, with no better effect.—
EK. SPENCER TROWER, Esq.

Copy of a Letter from Captain Buller to W. Dickinson.

S1r,—I think I can give a satisfactory answer to your inquiries re-
specting the Italian rye-grass. The 20 bushels of seed which you sent
to me last year were sown, at three different periods, on 6 acres of
ground, part of my farm at Whimple, in the county of Devon, half way
between Honiton and Exeter. The ground is of moderate quality, on
the red sandstone formation, worth from 35s. to 40s. per acre rental.
This particular field had been only partially drained. In 1843 it was
sown with barley and clover-seed; and in 1844 and 1845 it had been
three times mown. In July, 1845, I ploughed it, and made what we
call a bastard fallow. On the 13th of September I manured 24 acres with
13 cwt. of Ichaboe guano, and sowed 8 bushels of grass-seed. On the
27th of September I manured 23 acres more, and sowed 8 bushels more
seed ; and early in October I sowed the remaining acre in the same way.

The seed first sown came up remarkably well, and soon covered the

Ona Variety of Italian Rye-Grass. 47

ground with a luxuriant herbage. The second and third sowings were
much thinner in the plant, and much less vigorous in appearance all
through the winter. Still the whole field was of a luxuriant colour, and
the appearance of the crop was much remarked by agriculturists in the
neighbourhood. Jn the spring it grew most vigorously, but the excessive
wet made it difficult to know what to do with it. However, on the 23rd
of March we began to stock it with sheep. The grass was then about
18 inches high. The sheep were frequently removed in consequence of
the rain, but an account was kept of the numbers and of the days; and
by this account it appears that 23 acres of grass kept fifty-three sheep
and forty-eight lambs for fourteen days between the 23rd of March and
the 2nd of May. On the 2nd of May we began to mow the remaining
33 acres for the horses and bullocks in the yard. The produce kept
eight large cart-horses, four feeding bullocks, and one bull, for thirty-
five days. The horses were in constant work, and both horses and
bullocks were kept exclusively on the grass: they appeared to like ir,
and did well. I should state that the bullocks had been previously kept
on mangold-wurzel and hay, and the horses on hay, carrots, and corn.

In May I had the grass from one square rod of ground cut and
weighed. The weight was 144 lbs., or 103 tons per acre. We finished
mowing on the 6th of June, when the grass was left for seed, which we
began to cut on the 2nd of July. The seed was cut as it ripened; and
the weather being fine, it lay in the swarth for one whole day, when the
mowers quietly gathered it into small bundles or sheaves, tying it with
the grass itself, which was about 3 feet in length.

As the seed shells very easily, I had provided some coarse cotton sheet-
ing, which cost about 4d. a square yard, and had it stitched together in
tivo pieces of about 20 feet square. These were laid down in the field,
the sheafs nearest at hand laid on the sheeting, and lightly tapped over
with the flail. The process is very simple, and two men and a boy will
in this manner readily thresh 3 acres of seed in a day. It is necessary,
however, to be very careful both as to the time of cutting and the time
of tying up, or otherwise the best of the seed will be lost.

The five acres yielded 96 bushels of clean seed, and the remaining
acre about 19 bushels—total 115 bushels.

As soon as the seed was threshed it was put into bags and taken toa
large loft, where it was spread thinly over the sheets on which it had
been threshed. It hasa strong disposition to heat, and a man was con-
stantly employed in keeping it turned, while in fine weather it was taken
out and dried in the sun.

As soon as the seed had been cut and the ground cleared, the field
was manured, part with good rotten dung at the rate of 10 loads per
acre, part with liquid manure from the farm-tank, and the remainder
with guano at the rate of 4cwt. per acre; of these the guano seems to
be most efficient and the solid manure least, but I rather think the liquid
manure had been too much diluted. At this moment (Sept. 2) the grass
is again running up for a second crop of seed, and may probably be fit to
cut by the latter end of this month.

There were about five loads of straw, apparently of excellent quality,
and not much inferior to hay.

578 On a Variety of Italian Rye-Grass.

I will now give an estimate of the cost and the produce of the crop.
It is an estimate only; but I shall state each head, both of expense and
return, separately, that others may form their own opinion and correct
what may appear to them erroneous.

In estimating the keep of large cart-horses in constant work at 7s. per
week I think I am under the mark, and I much doubt whether I usually
keep my horses during the month of May for less than 10s. per week.
In this, however, as in other respects, circumstances vary, and the cor-
rection 1s easy.

Dr.
3 ploughings, 6 acres, at 7s. per acre
Rolling, dragging, working, and
sowing, at 7s. per acre . e« e
1 ton 12 ewt. of Ichaboe guano, at
Sloper tony ses, ae eine re
20 bushels of seed, at 8s, per bushel

£ Cr
6
2
2
8
Carriage of ditto . . oh ee E
3
1
3
8
0
6

S. : £
6 | 53 sheep, 14 days, at 6d. per week 2 1
48 lambs, ditto, at 3d. per week . 1
8 horses, 4 feeding bullocks, and
1 bull, 5 weeks, at 7s. per week
each.) 2) ci shinee mmeemnteanerane orl)
115 bushels of seed, at 8s. per bushel 46 0
5 loads of straw, at 25s. perload. 6 5

Mowing, threshing, and carrying,
at- 10s. per acre. 2 se

Sheeting 7 pao) sti sao elie

10 loads of manure, at 7s. per load

1 ton of guano Sigs ee tniee tides

Watering with liquid manure

1 year’s rent, rates, taxes, and tithes 1

2
6
0
0
0 Totals oy) jeger erst he ain pee ko: Ld
0 Expenses (ents Eee 62 19
0
0
5
0

Balance! 30 08!) Coole ts

Totaly seis pee) erase

To this must be added the crop of seed now ripening,

worth at least 207. (say) .s. =, - soy 19 See 0
Stfaw-e lat) e0)d bu la bane ele 4 Sie eee sO
And a further crop of grass to be cut in October, or left

as keep for sheep in the spring (say). . « . » 6 0 O

Profit per dere. se.) ue taee este oe

I have estimated the seed at 8s. per bushel, that being the price that I
paid to you last year, but by inquiring this day in London I find that the
present market price is lls. 6d. per bushel.

In the spring I intend to plough for oats. It is to be observed that
so rapid is the growth of this grass that no weed can live or can seed with
it. The ground seems perfectly clean, and I consider that in condition
it has much improved, and that it will be in excellent order for oats.

Much as my expectations were raised by what I saw on your farm last
year, I have no reason to be disappointed with the present experiment ;
and I am now about to sow 9 acres more for another season. At the same
time, I think, there is one thing which, not being attended to, is likely to
occasion frequent disappointment in the growth of Italian rye-grass. [
think it isnot generally sufficiently considered that no plant which yields
an unusally large and valuable produce can be grown without an unusual
supply of manure. No land will support without exhaustion crops of
extraordinary burden with the ordinary supply of manure. I believe
this rule to be without exception, and not applicable to Italian rye-grass

On a Variety of Italian Rye-Grass. 579

alone, but to all heavy and at the same time valuable crops. Iam led
to this remark by what has already occurred, for when I have been asked
what dressing I have used, and mentioned 9 cwt. of guano per acre, the
reply has always been, “Is not this enormous?”? ‘To which I can only
answer—‘* Look at the produce.”’

From what I saw at your farm last year, as well as from my own ex-
perience in this, I have a full conviction that upon good deep heavy soils,
with abundance of manure, and especially liquid manure, it is possible to
grow 40 or even 50 tons of rye-grass per acre in a single season; and if
so, the question for a practical agriculturist is, What is the value of a
ton of rye-grass, and what is the value of a ton of manure; and he will
then be able to say how many tons of manure he can apply with a pros-
pect of profit.

It seems especially calculated for deep heavy lands near the farm-yard.
A capacious liquid-manure tank, with a liquid-manure cart so contrived
as to take out the liquid manure and bring back a load of cut-grass,
would greatly increase its value, and in the absence of these guano will
be found no bad substitute.

I am, Sir, yours very faithfully,
T. W: Butter:
15, Sussex Gardens, London, Sept. 2, 1846.

These practical deductions inform us, my Lord, that this valu-
able plant may be grown upon almost every kind of soil by judi-
cious treatment with unbounded success ; and it may be interesting
to know the loss of weight by drying it. A yard of grass was cut
for Captain Buller, September 19, being the fourth or fifth crop
of that year, and after seed had been taken, it weighed as grass
Oo lbs. (12 tons 8 cwt. to the acre); dried twelve days in the air
it became reduced to 2# lbs. (5 tons 18 ewt.); hung up three
days in a kitchen, with 65 to 75 degrees of heat, it became 2 lbs.
10 oz.; then roasted in a sack before the fire till it would rub to
powder in the hand, it weighed 2 Ibs. 64 oz. (5 tons 8 cwt. the
acre).

No. 1. The hot limestone entirely failed.

No. 2 produced, without manure, solid or liquid, up to the first week
=n August, 5 feet 6 inches of grass.

No. 3, sand upon sand, produced without Jiquid but little at Woburn,
while in Warwickshire (Nos. 4 and 5) it produced seven crops by Sep-
tember 14, and in Devon (No. 5) a net profit of 7. 9s. 8d. per acre,
with the enormous outlay of 13 cwt. of guano to the acre.

Nos. 6 and 7. Two growers have sown the plant in sand upon stone=
brash without success ; pains seem to have been taken in these cases; it
must be said to have failed in both, and this is the only soil in which it
has not generally succeeded.

Nos. 8 to13. Sand upon gravel. Allremunerating crops except No.8.
The whole of these soils were unlikely to produce good crops in so hota
summer, and perhaps many of them would have grown very little grass
of any other kind.

580 Ona Variety of Italian Rye- Grass.

Nos. 14 to 18. Light soils, various subsoils: none less than three, and
most of them four crops in six months.

No. 19, Clay upon gravel; no drainage, very wet, no manure, no
urine, very little produce.

Nos. 20 to 30. Loam upon clay. Three, four, five, six crops have been
obtained from these soils; the better drained have been most successful.
The produce from No. 30 is well worth close attention ; for while 7J. 9s. 8d.
net profit per acre has been obtained from No. 5, with 13 cwt. of guano
to the acre, a much larger quantity has been produced in Yorkshire by a
small quantity of guano reduced to liquid; 18 tons of hay, or 66 tons of
grass, per acre, being the amount of produce.

Nos. 31 and 82 are London clays, without drainage, with bad crops.
Upon this soil, moderately underdrained, my experiments were commenced
and have been carried on. JI have never failed to produce every year, from
a portion of grass not kept for seed, from seven to ten crops. I have
known five produced in one summer without a single atom or drop of
manure. I have found the plant sickly and weak where my subsoil was
wet, healthy and vigorous where it was dry. I have been convinced for
some time it luxuriates in a dry subsoil rather than not retentive, that it
will grow rapidly in the strongest clays if not poisoned with stagnant
water, that it grows fast in any light soil well irrigated with liquid ma-
nure. I have grown it in sand from the sea-shore, moistened with liquid
manure. The dressings I should place in the following order:—Urine
decomposed in a close tank, one-third urine, water or dung-water two-
thirds, guano dissolved 2cwt. or 3cwt. in 3300 gallons of water for an
acre, during the months of March and April; if the surface of the land
be wet the guano may be used solid, asthe cart injures the plant in wet
weather, and then I should advocate a larger quantity. In June, July,
and August, I think nitrate of soda, 2 cwt. dissolved in 3300 gallons of
water to the acre, or powdered only, will be found an excellent dressing.

As the sun loses its power I would again adopt the warmer
manure—urine or guano. I do not place guano as an equivalent
to urine; I place it as a substitute when urine has not been saved
in sufficient quantity. It may be had in large quantities upon
every farm: by taking asa preliminary step the construction of
tanks, and draining the stables, cattle-sheds, piggeries, men’s
urinals, privies and water-closets of dwellings into them, before
the land is ploughed to sow the seed, a larger quantity is collected
than is usually calculated. I think no man has, in the first in-
stance, made tanks enough to contain the urine made on his farm
during the winter months to be applied during the summer.

Knowing something of the value of urine, and the profit to be
derived from it, I am the more anxious to induce others to try it,
and will therefore take this opportunity of saying something about
the mode I have adopted to collect it and the expense of the
tanks to retain it, which may be useful to those who have not yet
set about so important an operation in agricultural pursuits.

My land is clay, 250 feet deep; in this soil only have I had

On a Variety of Italian Rye- Grass. 581

experience, so for this only do I prescribe. Having well con-
sidered where the liquid is to be used as well as where it is made,
and resolved upon the most convenient situation, I have a hole
dug full 7 feet in diameter and 12 feet deep, the bottom being
shaped like a basin and well rammed with a little water into good
puddle. The construction of the tank is commenced by the brick-
layer forming a circle with bricks (4-inch work) round an open-
ing of 5 feet, leaving a space behind the brick-work to be filled
and rammed well in with clay-puddle by the labourers as the
building is worked up, no mortar being used with the bricks or
anything else till the dome is to be formed; mortar or cement is
then required, the roof is arched in, a man-hole left in the centre
of each, tank and covered with a S-inch yellow deal cover (2-inch
oak would be better). One of these tanks, containing 1000 gallons,
costs 2/7. 17s. 6d. in the following items, calculating to farmers who
have the horses and carts in possession :—

Sp, 1S. ae
Two farm-labourers, each $day . . O 2 O|Occupied in digging
Two labouring lads, each l day . . O 38 of the hole, carting
Qneman,iday . 6 « ¢ i « O 2 Of awayclay, preparing
Two others, 1 day . . « « «. O 5 OJ} puddle,andramming
Onevbricklayver, I day. . ... 0 4
@newditto labourer, i day. . . OF 26
Three horses and carts drawing away
; mile, for want of nearer shoot,
TER ace oF Cw ww OO 4G
8 feet of 3-inch deal for cover, at 54d.
Bemus 6 kl O's 8
Pajoumandmais:. . . .. - ..0 010
Eimevandsand for man-hole . . . 0 2 6
CUsemicctomcks Ph LTO
£2 17 6

Several of these tanks should be made adjoining each other ; they
then form a most excellent filter to keep back any hay or straw
that would prevent the egress of the liquid from the water-cart,
receiving it into the first from the stables, and pumping it out
of any other one of them. It must be observed, also, the tanks
being formed, the drainage into them is.the next feature to be
considered. I have adopted a mode economical and effectual by
laying down in the pavement what is called at the iron-works an
angle-iron gutter of very small size, and covering the surface of
it with a flat iron bar, just to lay within the surface of the gutter,
wherein all the urine is received and conveyed away imme-
diately, and all the straw, dung, and dirt is kept out; this is
highly advantageous, as the urine is conveyed away immediately,
without escape of ammonia, and the little gutter may be un-
VOL, VIII. 2

532 On a Variety of Ttalian Rye-Grass.

covered as often as you please, and swept out with a
broom. There is no under-drain to get stopped; all can be
seen and kept in order by a commonly useful person without
the aid of what is called a tradesman. I should like to see
three of these little gutters down a stall, whereby all the urine
would be caught; 3 gallons per day from each moderately sized
horse, more from cart-horses that drink freely, considerably more
from cows, and a much larger quantity from pigs than is usually
calculated. If all the water is caught from farm-horses, cows,
pigs, farm-servants, household servants, the tanks would be filled
very quickly; and whenever the tank containing 1000 gallons of
urine is filled the second time and properly applied to Italian
rye-grass, the result will show it is not too high an estimate to
calculate the tank and drains paid for. The first application
will convince the grower of 10 acres of this grass that his
present stock 1s insufficient to eat it. He must add to it, and
thereby increase the quantity of urine considerably, and so go on
to keep a much larger farming stock altogether. ‘The often-asked
question, “ How shall I obtain urine enough?” will cease to be
asked, and the amount of solid feeces so much increased as to
obviate the necessity for a constant outlay of capital to procure it.

I have the honour to subscribe myself,

My Lord,

Your Lordship’s very humble Servant,
Wm. Dickinson.
7, Curzon-street, May Fair, London.

END OF VOL. VIII.

a ee Re
London; Printed by Winu1am Cowes and Sons, Stamford Street,

INDEX

TO

THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL

VOLUMES ONE TO EIGHT.

A.

ABoRTION of wheat, ii. 25.

Absorbent powers of various substances,
v. 126,

Absorption of moisture by soils, i, 48,
195.

——— of oxygen by svils, i. 197.

Acacia, the, iii, 272.

Acid and bones, see Bones and Acid,

Acland, Sir T, D., on nitrate of soda as a
manure, iv. 276.

Acreable produce of food in different
crops, v. 264,

value of different crops, iv. 148.

Adams, W., on an improved dibbling-
wheel, iii. 163.

Adhesiveness of soils, i. 188.

Adjectives applied to soils, meaning of, 1.
192

Agricultural (see) Education, Institutions
on the Continent, Implements, Me-
chanics, Societies, Statistics.

Agriculture and Geology, i. 3, 271 (198,
App.) ; iil. 21; v. 580; vii. 444.

application of science to, iil.

——_—

136.
Board of, i. 89.
—— Chemistry of, viii. 226, 494.
Government patronage of, iv.
201.

importance of, 1. 1.
of (see) Cambridgeshire,
Cheshire, Cornwall, Denmark, Eng-
land, Kssex, Flanders, France, Ger-
many, Ireland, Kent, Lincolnshire, Ne-
therlands, Norfolk, Northumberland,
North Wales, Nottinghamshire, Rox-
burghshire, Scotland, Spain, Suffolk,
Sweden, Wilts.
progress of, in England, ii.
239; ili. 169.

risks of, 1, 15.

theory of, iii, 213.
“ Ahl,” see Dung-water.

Albumen, composition of, iv. 216.

Alder, for fence wood, the, vi. 225.

Alderney and Kerry breeds compared, the,
ii. 420.

——_———. cow, the, v. 43.

Allix, C., on the preservation of Swedish
turnips, vil. 275.

Allotment system, the, v. 96, 391; vi.
38, 301 ; vil. 20.

Alluvial district of Norfolk, vi. 472.

soils, i, 373.

Almack, B., on drill husbandry of turnips,
iv, 49.

on tenant-right, vii, 234.
— on the agriculture of Norfolk,
v. 307.
Amherst, Lord, on Hall Farm, viii. 33.
Ammonia in manures, loss of, iv. 539,
in rain-water, 11, 255.
sulphate of, as a manure, vy.

601.
Analysis, cost of, ii. 36.
— mode of chemical, viii, 207.
— of ashes of plants, report on, vil.
593; viii. 134,
of green plants, viii. 536.
of guano, v. 287.
—— of soils, i. 46, 274; iv. 547; v.
614. See also Composition of Soils.
Anatomical structure of animals, indi-
cating their feeding propensities, iv.
256.

Anbury, i. 13; iv. 121.

Anglesey, soils of, vii. 564.

rents in, vil. 584.

Animal manures, 1. 455.

Animalcules in wheat, ii. 20.

Annatto, 1. 385; vi. 122.

Antiquity of drainage, v. 8; vii. 252;
vill. 308,

Aphides, natural history of, ili. 493; vi.
503; vii. 416.

Apoplexy in sheep, 1. 299.

Apples, blight in, iv. 267.

different kinds of, iv. 386; vi. 278,

B

2 INDEX TO THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL.

Arable land, maintenance of fertility in
new, vii. 283.

Arachnides, natural history of, v. 226.

Arboriculture, v. 606; vii. 679.

Arbuthnot, Right Hon. C., on deep drain-
age, vi. 129, 573.

Argyleshire cattle, 1. 348.

Arkell, J., on indications of fertility, v
429.

T., on land-drainage, iv. 318.

Artichoke, Jerusalem, ii. 258; iii. 81 ;
vi. O78.

ee composition of
ashes of, viii, 165, 200.

Artificial manure. See manures for car-
rots, grass, hops, tares, turnips, wheat.

Ash-tree, the, 111. 271.

Ashes of (see) analysis, artichoke, barley,
beans, carrots, flax, hop-plant, man-
gold-wurzel, oats, peas, peat, plants,
potatoes, rye, root-crop, turnips, wood.

Aspect of land influences its fertility, v
578,

Australian reaping-machine, v. 284.

Autumn clearing of stubbles, viii. 570.

Aynesley, J. M., on manure for carrots,
iv. 270.

Ayrshire, compared with the Kerry breed
of cattle, i. 441; iv. 436,

— cattle, produce of, iii, 225.

Azote, in plants, il, 254.

B.

Babington, C., on flax-dodder, 11. 63.
Baker, B., on grafting turf, v. 600.

R., on agriculture of Essex, v. ].
Kssex draining, iv. 35.
rye, as green fodder, vi.

—

ae

179.
-—_—_——__——— the wheat-midge, vii. 273.
——— J. L., on the draught of horses, i.

429,
Bakewell’s improved Leicester sheep, viii.

Balmer, T., on rotation of crops in Scot-
land, iv. 194.

Barclay, D., M.P., on guano as a manure,
iv. 175,

on nitrate of soda, asa

manure, i. 423; ii. 117.

on thick and thin sow-

ing, vi. 192.

Barker, J. R., on nitrate of soda, as a
manure, 11, 133.

Barley, Chevalier, i, 11.

composition of, iv, 529; v. 249;

vii. 642, 674.

cultivation of, 11. 164; iii, 249;
v. 6, 326; vi. 11, 425; vii. 47; viii.
280.

—— hummeller, v. 383.

——— midge, vi. 151.

Barley, produce of, i. 74, 88, 99, 373,
412, 418; i. 129, 136, 158; iv. 23;
v. 20, 39, 273, 444; vi. 233, 271, 407,
413; vil. 173, 538, 567; viii. 14.

Barrenness, indications of, v. 443, 567.

Barton, J., on sulphate of ammonia as a
manure, v. 601.

on the successful industry of
a labourer, iv. 587,

Bathing lambs, on, v. 279.

Beans and cabbages, culture of, v. 112.

composition of, v, 249; viii. 167,

201.

339 5

cultivation of, v. 29, 333,
vi. 28, 255; vii. 54; viii. 281.

——— insect enemies of, vii. 404.

produce of, i. 260; v. 20, 36, 39;
vi. 271, 285; viii. 426.

Beart, R., on draining, iv. 411.

on tile-making, ii. 93.

Bedford Level, the, viii. 84, 93.

Bedfordshire wheel-plough, i. 142.

Bee, the humble, vii. 412.

Beech-tree, the, iii, 271.

—_—_—_————. as fence-wood, vi. 221.

Bees, management of, i. 503.

Beet carrion- beetle, viii. 404.

the field, see Mangold-wurzel.

Beetle, the pea, vii. 418.

the turnip, ii, 195.

Beetling flax, on, vill. 377, 453.

Belgian carrot, 11. 40; i. 243. v. 281.

plough, ii. 58.

Berberry on wheat blights, influence of
the, ii. 13, 223.

Biddel’s scarifier, i. 357 (65, App.) ; viii.
343.

extirpating harrow, 11, 110, App.

Billyse, E., on bones for grass land, ii. 91.

Binding-rake, Kentish, i. 444.

Bituminous shale as a top-dressing, iv.
276.

Black earth of Central Russia, the, iii,
125.

Black fox-tail grass, iv. 270.

“ Black muzzle” in sheep, the, 1. 303.

“‘ Black water”’ in sheep, the, i. 316.

Blackie’s rotation of crops, i. 284.

Blacker, W., on the agriculture of Ire-
land, iv. 437.

Blight on apples, the, iv. 267.

“ Blind ” in sheep, the, viii. 24.

Blood, composition of, iv. 216.

Board of Agriculture, the, i. 89.

** Bobbin joans,” iv. 431.

Bog-land, fences for, vi. 224,

— improvement of, vi. 182.

Bone-mills, v. 384.

Bones and acid as a manure, iv. 164, 408;
v. 443, 452, 594, 605; vi. 71, 244,
324,

ee compared with
guano, vil. 581; vill. 58.

VOLUMES ONE TO EIGHT. 3

Bones and acid as a manure to apply, v.
466.
io prepare, vil.

150.

as a manure, i. 10, 96, 111, 418;
iv. 87; vi. 49.

for turnips, 111. 423.
new mode of pre-

paring, vill. 417.

permanence of, vi. 443.

substitutes for, 111. 164.

cost. of, 11. 92; vi. 68.

fermented, vi. 325; viii. 419.

for grass lands, 11. 91; v. 89, 94.

Book-keeping, scientific, ii, 145.

Botrytis infestans, vil. 313, 363.

Bowly, Ed., on one-horse carts, vi. 156.

Box-feeding, v. 319; viii. 473.

Boys, H., on the Kentish corn-scythe, 1.
444,

Bramston, J. W., M.P., on narrow and
wide drilling of wheat, i. 294.
Bravender, J., on breaking up grass-lands,

vii. 161.
———- on indications of fertility,
v. 559.
Braybrooke, Lord, on an oil-cake, i11. 439.
Bread, composition of, ii. 144.
Breaking grass-land, ii, 182; iv. 80, 88;
vii. 161, 500.
Breaking-in young horses, on, v. 529.
Breeding, characters of male, i. 22, 332.
crosses, i. 25.
detection of pregnancy, 1. 170 ;

—

ii. 113.
ewes, 1.336.
faults corrected by, i. 25.
feeding propensity hereditary,

i, 23.

flock, management of, villi. 3.

gestation of the cow, 1. 165.

horses, on, v. 508,

in-and-in, 1. 331.

relative size of male and female

compared, i, 25.

ot cattle and sheep, i. 17.

Breeds of cattle, see Ayrshire, Argyle,
Hereford, Kerry, Shorthorns,

sheep, vi. 361; and see Cheviot,
Cotswold, Devon, Leicester.

Bricks, cost and maunfacture of, i. 353.

Bristol, exhibition of implements at, ii.
338,

Brown, H. H., on land-drainage, iil. 1695.

Buckland, G., on the agriculture of Kent,
vi. 251.

Buckley, J., on a disease in ewes, 11. 116.

Bugs, corn, vi. 509.

Buildings, farm, ii. 190; iv. 1; v. 100;
vi, 276.

Bull, to tame a, iv. 559.

Bunbury, Sir H. E., on the allotment
system, v. 391,

Bunt, il. 4.

Burgess, J., on nitrate of soda as a ma-
nure, ii. 131.

Burke, F., on cottage economy, ili. 83.

on land-draining, 11. 273.

on the Crown estates in Kerry,

1,435; iv. 435.

, J. on horses, v. 508.

Burness, C., on marling light soils, iii.
233.

Burning clay as a manure, iil. 323; iv.
267; v. 12, 113; vii. 142, 245, 297;
vill. 46, 77, 317.

peat-ashes, vil. 136.

peat-charcoal, cost of, vil. 546.

stifle, v. 173.

Burnt clay as a manure for wheat, vi. 477.

— cost of, v. 117; vil. 299; viii.
56, 317.

Burrell, Sir C., on the productiveness of
different wheats, 11. 147.

on the white carrot, v. 281.

Burroughes, T. C., on white mustard, vii.
31.

Butter, manufacture of, iii, 229.

ae — in Holstein, 1. 376,

—e

386.
Butterflies attacking cabbages and turnips,
ili, 306.

C.

Cabbage and beans, cultivation of, v.112.
turnips, relative value of, as
food, vi. 368. -

— as food for lambs, viii. 29.

— cultivation of, v. 25, 340; viii.

—

276.
growth of, 1. 391.

— insects attacking, iii. 306.

Cake-crusher, ii. 16, App.; v. 382; vi.
321; viii. 358.

manure, y. 313.

Calendar of cottage gardening, 11. 341.

Calves, produce of, ii. 112.

Cambridge, agriculture of, vil. 35.

exhibition of implements at,
11, 138, App.

Cambridge, W., on reducing the number
of hedges, vi. 333.

Campbell, T., on steeping seeds, iv. 557.

Canary seed, culture of, v. 38.

Capital, farm, vill. 36.

Caraway, culture of, v. 37.

Carr, J. S., on destroying vermin, 111. 428,

on rural economy abroad, 1.

124.

on rural economy in Ger-
many, i. 371.

—_—_—_—_———. on sheep-pox, vill. 489.

Carriages, v. 380.

Carrots and. turnips, relative value of, vi.
369,

Bo

= INDEX TO THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL.

Carrots, composition of, v. 249; viii. 161,
192.

cost of harvesting, vi. 129.
cultivation of, i. 244; vill. 275,

292.

manures for, iv. 270.

produce of, i, 18, 422; 11. 40, 42;

li, 202; iv. 23, 270; viii. 161.

the Belgian, ii. 244; iii. 202; iv.
269; v. 281.

“ Cars,” a district in Notts, the, vi. 40.

Cart for liquid manure, i. 136, 501.

Carting, cost of, vil. 229.

Carts and waggons, cost of, ii, 88; vi.
156.

one-horse, i. 431; i1. 733; vi. 156,

320, 375, 398; vil. 223; vill. 349.

versus waggons, 1, 192; iv. 305,
491; v. 356.

Case, H., on Biddel’s scarifier, i. 357.

Casein, composition of, iv. 216.

Caterpillars, surface, iv. 100.

turnip, i. 364.

Cattle, Argyleshire, i, 348.

ascertained by measurement,

weight of, iii, 337.

Ayrshire, i. 4413; iii, 225; iv.

436.

Cheshire, v. 70.
compared, Ayrshire and Kerry, i.

441,

Cornwall, vi. 450.

diseases of, iv. 253.

epidemic, i, 387, 192, App.3 ii.

119, App.

Holstein. i. 386.

Kerry, i. 441; 11. 420; iv. 436.

management of, 11. 177.

on feeding, iv. 86, 215, 275, 443 ;

vi. 74, 237; vii. 391.

Sussex, vi. 292.

Cess-pools in drains, vii. 270.

Chaff-cutters, i. 64, App.; ii. L11, App. ;
iii, 352; iv. 487; v. 381; vi. 316;
vii, 6915 viii. 350,

Chalk as a top-dressing, i. 7; iii, 184;
iv. 299,

district of Essex, v. 2.

of Kent, vi. 252.

of Wilts. v. 161.

Challoner, Colonel, on the management of
roads, ii. 353.

Charcoal peat, v. 507; vii. 539.

————- as a manure, v. 280.

Charlbury subsoil plough, i. 433,

Charlock, vii. 41.

———- to destroy, iv. 56; v. 6.

Charnock, C., on shale as a top-dressing,
bbe CoN lp

Cheese-manufacture of Cheshire, v. 88;
vi. 102, 120.

in Holstein, i, 378,
386.

Cheese presses, v. 385.

produce of, vi. 104.

Chemistry, agricultural, viii. 226, 494.

Cherry, sorts of, vi. 279.

Cheshire, agriculture of, v. 57.

Chesnut, the Spanish, iii, 269.

Chesterman’s steaming-apparatus, v. 283.

Chevalier barley, i. 11.

Cheviot sheep, i. 77, 97, 107; 11. 174;
vill. 431,

Chicory, culture of, iii. 251.

Childers, J. W., M.P., on shed-feeding
sheep, i. 169, 407.

Choking of drains, vii. 260.

Christopher, R., M.P., on turnip manures,
il. 267.

Churns, v. 385; vi. 318; vill. 352.

Cider-making, iv. 398.

Clarke, J., on breaking-up of grass lands,
vil. 500. :

W.., on nitrate of soda, iv, 276.

Classification of plants, viii. 229.

of soils, 111. 139, 156.

Clay, applied to peat, 1,5; ili, 427; vii.
71; viii, 131,

oe

——_—————- sandy soils, 11. 67; ii. 3,
181, 216, 234; v.309; vii. 71; viii. 312.
burning, ii, 323; iv. 267; v. 12,
113; vi. 477; vii. 142, 245, 297; viii.
46, 77, 317.
cultivation of turnips on, i. 451.
draining, iv. 327.
farm, account of a, 11. 262.
- farming, v. 5, 33; vill. 267, 424.
—— improvement of poor, i. 260.
pasturage or cultivation of, vil. 513.
walls, viii. 329.
the diluvial boulder, vii. 461.
Claying land, cost of, ii. 406; iii. 163;
vii, 1383; viii. 131, 313.
Cleave, H., on diseases of sheep, i. 295.
Cleveland horse, i. 430.
Click beetle, the, v. 217.
Climate, on produce, effect of, ii. 31; viii,
232, 498.
Clive, Hon. R., on subsoiling and thorough
draining, i. 33, 248; ii. 346.
——_—__———— on the drainage of Pole’s
farm, vi. 229.
Clod-crushers, ii. 16, App.; v. 3723 vi.
3115 vii. 6933 vill. 346.
Crosskill’s, iv. 560.
Clover, composition of, iv. 5382; v. 249.
cultivation of, v. 327; vi. 12;
vili, 282, 297,
failure, i. 13, 291, 502; iii. 223,
326 ; iv. 279.
nitrate of potash, as a manure for,
i. 277.
nitrate of soda, as a manure for, i.

426.

plants injurious to, i. 173,
produce of, ii. 111, 139; v. 20.

VOLUMES ONE TO EIGHT.

Clover seeds, method of cleaning, i. 175.

seeds, produce of, v. 4, 30.

Clowes, F., on some experiments with ma-
nure, iv. 281.

Clutterbuck, J., on the theory of deep
draining, vi. 489.

Cockchafer, v. 475.

Colbeck, T. L., on the agriculture of
Northumberland, viii. 422,

Cold pastures, cultivation of, vii. 167,

Cole as food for sheep, viii. 29.

Colour of soils as affecting their warmth,
i, 202.

Colour of soils as indicating their fertility,
v. 560.

Colza or rape, culture of, i, 125 ; iii. 251;

— vi. 480.

Composition of (see) alluvial soils, albu-
men, ashes, barley, beans, blood, bread,
carrots, casein, clover, crops, flax, flax-
water, flesh, food, gluten, gorse, granite,
grauwacke, guano, gypsum, hops, horn,
hornblende, marl, plants, rape, rye,
serpentine, soil, turnips.

of food, elementary, v. 246.

—— of various plants per acre,
iv. 520,

Compost heaps, i. 84, 135; ii. 57.

Compounds of mineral manures, ii. 418,

Compton, H., M.P., on swedish turnips,
ii. 269.

Cone-bearing trees, iil, 274,

Consistency of soils, i. 185,

as indicating fertility, v. 563.

Constitution, importance of, i. 23. ~

**Consumption”’ in the sheep, i. 318,

Consumption of meat in England, i, 415.

——- mangold-wurzel, viii. 222.

Cooke, G., on claying peat soils, ii.
406.

Coriander, culture of, v. 37.

Corn bugs, vi. 509,

crops, insect enemies, v. 469; vi.

131, 493; vii. 78.

crushers, v, 383; vii. 509.

—— dressing machine, v. 382; viii. 348,

rents, i, 72.

scythe, Kentish, i. 444,

Cornwall, agriculture of, vi. 400.

wheat culture in, v. 158.

Corringham, R. W., on the agriculture
of Notts, vi. 1.

Cost of (see) analysis, barley-culture,
bean-culture, bone-manure, breaking
up grass-land; bricks; burning clay,
peat, &c.; carting, carts and waggons,
claying land, cottages, Deanstonising,
dibbling, digging, ditching, drainage,
drain-tiles, faliowing, farming, fences,
flax-culture, food for cattle, game,
gypsum; harvesting barley, mangold-
wurzel, wheat, &c.; harvest-work,
hawthorn-fences, hoeing ; hoeing turnips,

9)

wheat, &c.; holly fences, hop-culture,
horse-keep, inoculating grass, irriga-
tion, Italian rye-grass, keep for sheep,
kiln for tiles, labour, larch plantatious,
liquid-manure tanks; manures for car-
rot, turnips, wheat, &c.; mangold-
wurzel culture, ox-labour, paring and
burning, pea-culture, plantations,
ploughing, potato-culture, power-drain-
age, reaping; reclaiming bog, heath,
&c.; rye-culture, scutching flax, steam -
ing apparatus, subsoil ploughing, task-
work, thatching, tile-making, turf-
draining, turnip-culture, warping,
water-meadows,
Cottage economy, iii. 83.
gardening, il, 322.
calendar of, ii, 341.
gardens needed, vii. 20.
Cottages, construction of, iv. 356.
for farm-labourers, v. 237.
need of good, vii. 16, 28.
Cotswold breed of sheep, vil. 294; viii.
16.
Cotton-like substance deposited from the
Thames, 1. 505.
Cough in sheep, i. 317.
Covenants between landlord and tenant,
vi. 47; vii. 234.
Cowie, J., on horse and ox-labour, v. 52,
Cows, detection of pregnancy in, i. 170;
i. 113.
food of, i. 384.
gestation of, 1. 165.
in Jersey, v. 43.
the Netherlands, ii, 56,
Cox, H., on the potato disease, vii, 486.
Crab as fence-wood, the, vi. 215.
‘“¢ Crag,” as a top-dressing, the, iii, 183,
the, vii. 458.
Crane-fly, the, viii. 413.
Creyke, R., on warping, v. 398.
Crops, composition of, 111. 433.
per annum, two, 1. 13.
rotation of, see Rotation of Crops.
Cross between Argyle and Hereford cattle,
i. 349.
Crossbred sheep, vii. 294.
Crosses in breeding, i. 23, 332.
Crosskill, C. W., on the preservation of
agricultural implements, ii. 150.
Crosskill’s clod-crusher, iv. 560.
Crown estates in Kerry, i. 435; iv. 435.
Cultivation of (see) barley, beans, beans
and cabbages, cabbages, canary-seed,
caraway, carrots, chicory, clover,
cold pastures, colza, coriander, down
land, flax, gorse, Italian rye-grass,
lucerne, mangold-wurzel, oats, parsnip,
peas, potatoes, rape, rye, sainfoin, spurry,
Stinchcombe farm, vetches.
Cultivator, the Uley, ii. 109, App,
Cultivators and scarifier, 111, 345.

6 INDEX TO THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL.

‘** Curl” in potatoes, vi. 161.

Curtis, J., on cabbage butterflies, ii. 306.

———— on insects attacking beans and
peas, vii. 404.

v. 469; vi. 131, 493; vii. 78,

corn-Crops,

the _pea-
crop, vill. 399.

~ turnips, ii.
ili, 49, 306; iv. 100.
the wireworm, v. 180.

193, 364;

D.

Dacre, Lord, on nitre as a manure, i. 278.

Dairy implements, vi. 124.

in Holstein, i. 376.

management of, ili. 259.

—--— theory of, iv. 248.

vessels of glass, i. 380.

Daniell’s manure, v. 277, 395.

Daubeny, Professor, on agricultural insti-
tutions on the Continent, iii. 364.

on the ‘application of

science to agriculture, ili. 136.

— on the chemical com-

position of crops, iii. 433.

— on the ingredients of the

soil, vii. 237.

— on phosphorite, v, 406 ;

vi. 329,

—on the theory of ma-
nures, li. 232.

Davis, H., on Spring park farm, vii. 524.

—w— P., on bones and acid, vi. 244.

Deanstonising, on, i. 6, 29, 36, 95.

De Candolle’s theory of crop-rotations, i.
286.

Deep drainage, theory of, vi. 129, 489,
573.

ploughing, i. 30; vil. 57.

Deeping-fen, viii. 86, 118.

De la Beche, Sir H. T., on the connection
of geology and agriculture, 111. 21.

Denison, J. E., on French agriculture, i.
262.

on the Duke of Portland’s

water-meadows, 1. 359.

Denmark, agriculture of, 111. 400.

Density of edible roots, iv. 143.

Depth and frequency of drains, iv. 323,
412.

Derby, exhibition of implements at, iv.
453.

Detection of pregnancy, i. 170; 11. 113.

Dew-retting flax, viii. 460.

-— theory of, v. 130.

“ Diarrhoea” in sheep, 1. 306 ; viii, 20.

Dibbling, cost of, vii. 129.

— machines, iis! 107.) Appss “aii.
163; iv. 316; v. 377; vi. 3143 vii.
690; Vlil. 348.

Dickenson, W., on liquid manure, vi. 575.

Dickenson, W., on the Italian rye-grass
vill. 572.

Digging, cost of, vii. 130.

Diluvium, vii. 449,

Dimmery’s mode of cultivation, i. 388,

Direction of drains, iv. 332, 415.

Diseases of cattle and sheep, i. 387.

— of ewes, ii. 116,

— of sheep, i. 295; vill. 19.

—in potatoes, iv. 431; vi. 161,

343, 429, 532; vii. 300, 357, 486 ; viii.

421.

—of wheat, ii. 1. 220; v. 329;
vill. 74.
theory of certain This AO
Dissolved bones, see Bones and Acid.
Distance between drains, ii. 288.
Ditching, cost of, vii. 131, 520,
Dixon, H., on socket draining-pipes, v.
603.
W., on compost heaps, i. 135.
Dobito, .G., on fatting cattle, vi. 74.
Dodder flax, 11. 63.
Double culture, v. 112.
Down and Leicester sheep compared, viii.

Down-land, cultivation of, vii. 161.
—- to break up, iv. 88.
Drainage, antiquity of, v. 8;
vil. 308.

cost of, i. 382, 36, 95, 248,
259; ii. 33, 277, 279, 346; ii. 166,
176; iv. 34, 37, 172, 377, 430; v.11;
vi, 125, 229, 296; vii. 118, 132, 256,
520.

vil. 252;

Elkington’s method, vi. 31.
——-— in Scotland, history of, i. 71,

85, 93.
necessary before subsoil-plough-
ing, i. 259.

to irrigation, i. 363.
— of land, on the, ii. 29, 273 ; iii
18, 165; iv. 23, 318, 369, 411; vii.
249 ; vili, 278.

of Cambridgeshire, vii. 52.
— of Cheshire, v. 77.
-——_—. of Cornwall, vi. 421.
— of East England, iv. 23.
— of Essex, iv. 35, 38; v. 8.
— of Norfolk, iv. 43; v. 308.
of Northumberland, viii. 437.
of peat, ii. 394, 400.
of Pole’s farm, vi. 229.
of running sands, vil. 115,
of Suffolk, iv. 23, 32;

—_—_.;

Vill.

——

308,

—of the fens, iv. 292; vii, 64;
vill. 83.

— on bush, v. 9.

———— on clay, iv. 327.

———~— on deep, vi. 129, 489, 573.
————— on implements of, iii. 101,

— on reducing the cost of, vi. 125

VOLUMES ONE TO EIGHT.

Drainage, sanitary effects of, iv. 151.

——— theory of, v. 119; vi. 489,

— turf, ii. 262.

Draining, depth of, i, 311, 355,

— level, vi. 247.

-———— plough, Pearson’s, vi, 283.

———-~———_——_ i. 68, App.; viii. 345.

Drain-tiles, cost of, 1, 353; ii. 93,101;
iv. 370; v. 79, 551, 555; vi. 462.

manufacture of, i. 2% is

93; iv. 369; v.551 3 vi. 462: sii, 692
See Tile Machines.

Drains, choking of, vii. 260.

depth and frequency of, iv.

323,

412.

direction of, iv. 332, 418.
discharge of water from, v. 146.
distance between, ii. 288.

drive “rot” from pasture-land, i.

367.

durability of, iv. 379.

mode of action of, iv. 411.

on filling, iv. 330, 421.

peat tiles for, viii. 570.
superiority of deep, v. 154.
tile-pipes for, iv. 273 ; v. 603.
Draught of cart-horses, i. 429.

— ploughs, 1.14], 219; 11. 104,
114, App. ; 11. 9, 186, 355.

as affected by depth
of ploughing, 1.228.

—

—— by soil, 1.
236.
————_—__ —___ by speed
of ploughing, i. 241.
by weight

of plough, i. 143, 230.

Drewitt, R. D., on bones and acid, vi. 581.

Drift, the Norfolk, vii. 461.

Drill husbandry of the parsnip, i. 421.

Eo — turnip, 1. 67; iv.49.

Drilling wheat, narrow and wide, i, 294.

manures, on, iv. 186.

Drill-machines, 1.68, App.; 11.15, App. ;
1. 341 ; iv. 476; v. 374; vi. 312; vil.
688; viii. 346.

—— pressers, vil. 689.

the drop, i. 69, App.

Dropsy in sheep, i, 314.

Dry-rot in potatoes, vi. 161.

Ducie, Earl of, on the early horn-carrot,
ui, 42,

Dudgeon, J., on the Agriculture of Scot-
Vand21. 59:

Dugdale, W. S., M.P., on nitrate of soda
as manure, 11, 259.

Dung-water as a manure, i. 479,

Durability of drains, iv. 379.

Dustbrand, 11. 6,

Dykes against the sea, i, 372.

Dynamometer, i. 143, 219.

Dyock oat, the, iii. 387.

Dysentery in sheep, i. 306.

NJ

K.

Early harvesting, i, 15.

— horn-carrot, 11, 42.

——- maturity, indications of, v. 259,

——-~ spring food, ii. 215,

~— vetches, iii, 236,

Karth of Central Russia, black, iii. 125.

weight of various kinds of, i, 180.

East England, drainage in, iv. 23.

Education, agricultural, iii, 152, 364, 377.
— establishments in Sweden, iy.

202.

—-— of the labourer, vii. 11.

Elaters, v. 181, 217.

Elder-tree as fence-wood, the, vi. 225,

Electricity, its influence on the soil, i. 207,

Elevation of land, its influence on fertility,
v. 979; vi. 97.

Elkington’s drainage, vi. 31.

Ellis on blight of apples, iv. 267.

Elly, S., on gorse culture, vi. 523.

Eln, the, iii, 270.

Embankments, i. 372.

Enclosures, advantages of, iv. 302,

-—— mischief of numerous, v. 420.

England, agricultural statistics of, i. 413,

agriculture of, 1. 1.

Epidemic in cattle, i. 192, App. ; ii. 119,
seth wana

“ Epilepsy ” in the sheep, i, 300.

Ergot, ii. 14,

Kssex, agriculture of, v. 1.

drainage in, iv. 35, 38; v. 8.

Earl of, on stacking sainfoin, v. 622.

on charcoal as a manure, v.

280.
Estimates of the profits of agriculture, vi.
234; vil. 163, 174, 178, 183 ; viii. 37,
569.
Etheridge, F. W., on tile-yards, vi. 463.
Etheridge’s tile-machine, iv. 370.
Evaporation from plants, vii. 305.
consequence of, v. 122,
Evans, H., on Norfolk draining, iv. 43.
Kveritt, I., on experiments with manure,
v. 623.
J., on nitre as a manure, i. 281.
Ewes, diseases in, 11, 116.
Excrements of the horse, i. 488.
ox, 1. 460.
Sie ig yA,
————— poultry, i. 493.
sheep, 1. 481.
Excretory theory, i. 330,
Exercise wastes faod, iv. 225.

F.

Facts the only foundation of agricuitural
science, i. 20.

Failure, clover, i, 13, 291, 502; ii, 223,
326 ; iv. 279.

8 INDEX TO THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL.

Fairy-rings in grass-lands, vii, 549.
Fallowing, cost of, v. 6.
— details of, vii. 40, 50.
need of, viii. 269.
summer, 1. 64.
Farm-buildings, ii, 190; iv. 1; vi. 276.
in Cheshire, v. 100.
——_—_—_—__———. Northumberland, ii.190.
Farm, history of a, ii, 262; iv. 23, 88,
340; v.39; vi, 229; vii. 524; viii. 33.
Farm-servants, management of, ii. 183.
Farmers’ clubs, subjects for discussion by,
iii, 221,

Harleston, 1. 19.
Farming, cost of, vi, 233 ; vii, 532: viii.
37 x”

178, 183; viii. 37, 569.
Fat and muscle, essay on, v. 245.
— circumstances affecting growth of, v.
253.
Fattening cattle, on, iv. 215; vi. 74.
Faulkner, C., on composts, ii. 418.
—_—_—_—_———— on forest-trees, iii. 263.
Feed, early spring, ii. 215,
Feeding cattle, on, iv. 86, 275, 443; vi.
74, 237; vii. 391.
cost of, vii. 392, 395, 398.
horses, 1. 19, 239, 244, 268; vi.

455.

———— in house or in field, i. 163.

in sheds, i, 129, 169, 407; vi.

242, 371.

propensity hereditary, the, i. 23.

- indicated by anatomi-

cal structure, iv. 256.

qualities of different breeds of

sheep, viii. 9, 19.

rapidly, on, iii. 207.

sheep, 1. 409 ; viii. 27.

stock, 1. 9; ili, 430.

——___——— on prepared food, iv. 234;
vil. 391.3 vill. 325, 480,

Felspar, composition of, vi. 410.

Fences, 1. 71; v. 99; vi. 194.

cost of, vi. 211; vii. 131.

for bog-land, vi, 224,

for poor soils, vi. 223.

on pruning, vi. 213, 336,

removal of old, iv. 306.

wood for (see) alder, beech, crab,
elder, furze, hawthorn, holly, pine-tree,
sloe, willow.

Fen, Deeping, viii. 86, 118.

—— district of Cambridgeshire, vii. 62.

Holland, viii. 114.

pees clay applied to, viii. 131,

312,

Fen-farming, iv. 291.

wer drainage of, iv, 292; vii, 64; viii.
8

the great level of the, viii. 80.
—-~— the Lincolnshire, viii, 114,

profits of, vi. 234; vii. 164, 175, |

Fermented bones, vi. 325; viii. 419.
Fertility, indications of, v. 429, 559.
———— influenced by aspect, v. 578.
climate, iii. 31.
fibrous covering,
vil. 277.
the elevation of
the soil, v. 579; vi. 97.
—________—____— the nature of the

soil, iii. 32.
— instances of, 1. 403; ii. 158,

of a farm dependent on its pro-
duce of meat, vili. 253.

the
available ingredients of its soil, vil.
237.

—— of Oxford clay, i. 273.

how to maintain, vil. 283.

Fever in lambs, remedy for, vi. 366.

Fibrous covering, influence of a, vii. 277.

Filling drains, on, iv. 330, 421.

Fingers and toes, iv. 121.

Fir-trees, ili, 274.

Fire-engines, v. 386.

Firmness of soil, i. 185.

Fish as manure, vi. 255.

Fisher, R., on bathing lambs, v. 279.

Rev. R. W., on the Dyock oat,
iii. 387.

Flack on Hertfordshire drainage, iv. 33.

Flanders, agriculture of, i. 4; ii. 43; iii.
240.

Flax, composition of, viii, 388.

cost of, vill. 394, 461.

culture of, iii, 254; v. 5473; viii.

361, 438.

dew-retting, vill, 460.

Dodder, ii. 63.

on grassing, vill. 455.

on skutching, viii. 383, 457.

produce of, viii, 395, 461.

water, on the composition of, viii.
378.

Flesh, composition of, iv. 216.

“Fly galls” in the sheep, i, 326; vill.
24

Fly, the turnip, 11. 195; viii. 411.
Fodder, relative values of, iii. 78.

rye as, vi. 179.

Folding, practice of, i. 485; viii. 9.
Food, acreable produce of, v. 264.
cabbage and turnips as, vi. 368.
carrots and swedes as, vi. 369,
—— cole as, viii. 29.

—— composition of, v. 246,

density of edible roots, iv. 142.
early spring, ii. 215.
economized by warmth, iv. 222,
for cattle, prepared, iv. 234; vii.
391; vili. 325, 480.

for lambs, viii. 29.

—— milk as, iv. 238, 247.

of a working ox, v. 54.

VOLUMES ONE TO EIGHT. )

Food of cattle, vi. 239; iv. 228.
of cows, i. 384; i11, 258,

mangold-wurzel as the, viil.

223.

— of plants, ii. 247; iv. 498.

of horses, v. 534; vi. 454.

of sheep, i. 169; iii. 229; vi. 368.

produced on a farm, i. 405.

quantity proportioned to size of ani-

mal, vii. 487.

required by different animals, iii, 82.

(see) gorse, salt, &c.

salt in, iv. 236; viil. 4.

—— swedes and mangold-wurzel, ii.
296,

value of crops as, iv. 139.

value of different articles as, vi.

560.

wasted by exercise, iv. 225.

“ Foot-rot ” in sheep, i. 318.

Ford, W., on Irving’s tile-machine, ii.
398.

Forest-trees, management of, iil. 263.

Fownes, Dr., on the food of plants, iv.
498,

‘France, agriculture of, i. 262.

meat consumed in, i. 415.

Freeman, T., on draught of ploughs, i.
104,

French, J., on one-horse carts, vi, 375.

rotation of crops, 1. 292.

schools of agriculture, i. 264.

Frequency of drains, iv. 323.

Freshwater beds of Norfolk, vii. 459.

Friendly societies, vi. 459.

Frost, influence of, on soils, 1. 190.

injuring red clover, iil. 331.

Fungi, composition of the ash of, vii.
550.

growing on diseased potatoes, vii.
309, 363, 366, 369, 383.

on wheat, parasitic, i. 2.

the cause of the potato disease, vil.

300.
Furze, vi. 224, 379, 523.

G.

Gabell, C., on a subsoil plough, il. 421.

Galloway cows, produce of, iv. 436.

Galton, E., on taming a savage bull, iv.
-5959.

- on the improvement of a shak-
ing bog, vi. 182.

Game, cost of, iv. 309.

—— mischief done by, viii. 320.

Gardener’s turnip-cutter, i. 16.

Gardening, on cottage, 11. 322; vii. 20.

Gas lime as a manure, i. 45.

—— water as a manure, i. 45; ii. 123.

Gault, soil upon the, vi. 269.

Geach, W. E., on harvesting turnips, ii.

225.

Geology and agriculture, relations of, i. 3,
271, 198 App.; ili. 21; v. 580; vii.
445,

explaining farm experience, ii.
26.

of Cambridge, vii. 36.

——— of Essex, v. 2, 18.

— of Norfolk, vii. 444,

German agricultural schools, iii. 370,

agriculture, i. 124.

— landowners, meeting of, iii. 217.

Germany and Denmark, rural economy
of, i. 371. -

Gestation of the cow, i. 165.

———— of the ewe, i. 835; viii. 4.

“‘ Giddy ” in sheep, the, i. 296.

Gilbert, Mrs, D., on tanks for liquid ma-
nure, i. 499,

Glass dairy-vessels, i. 380,

Gluten, composition of, iv. 554.

mode of ascertaining the presence
of, iv. 554,

Gorse, composition of, vi. 397,

crusher, ii. 14, App.; vi. 397.

cultivation of, vi. 879, 523.

— food for cattle, vi. 390.

SA ae patronage of Agriculture, iy.

oe R. S., on turnip-culture, vi.
88.

‘Grafting turf, on, v. 600.

oe F, J., on the potato disease, vii,
o7.

——— Sir J., on Deanstonising, i. 29.
-on _ subsoil-ploughing,

&c., i. 244,
Granaries, insects living in, vii. 89.
Granite district of Cornwall, the, vi. 404,
composition of, vi. 405,

Grant, J., on the mischief of numerous

enclosures, y. 420.

Grass, foxtail, iv. 270, .
, Italian rye, ii. 214; v. 284; viii.

572.

Grassing flax, on, viii. 455.
Grass-lands, bones as a manure for, ii. 91;

v. 89, 94.
fairy rings in, vil. 549,
nitre as a manure for, i, 278.
on breaking up, ii. 182; iv.
80; vii. 161, 500.
on laying down, v. 32, 690.
produce of, i. 347, 365; ii.

125, 1355 viii. 566.

Grauwacke, composition of, vi. 410.
———— district of Cornwall, vi. 408,
Gravity of soils, specific, i. 49, 179,
Gray, J., on white mustard, v. 360.
Greaves, W., on nitrate of soda, ii. 137.
Green crops in Ireland, culture of, iy. 448.
Greenrose chaffer, the, iii. 317.
Greensand district of Kent, vi. 270.
Grey, J., on cottages for labourers, v. 237.

10 INDEX TO THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL.

Grey, J., on farm-buildings, iv. 1.

on guano, iv. 211.
———- on nitrate of soda, ii. 134.

on the agriculture of Northum-

berland, ii. 151.
Grieve, J. H., on harnessing horses, vi.
248.
Grignon, school of agriculture at, 111. 365.
Grigor, J., on the management of fences,
vi. 194.

Ground beetle, the, v. 469.
Growth of cabbages, i. 391.
cattle, vi. 238; vii. 397.
fat, v. 253.
meat, vill. 254,
the larch, 111. 275.
Grubber, the ili. 119; and see Scarifiers.
Guano, analysis of, v. 287.
compared with other manures, vi.
175; viii. 58.
composition of, iv. 543; vi. 442,
on, 11. 301; iv. 211; v. 91, 270,
“ Giille” (mixed excrements), 1. 479.
Gypsum, ii. 106.

H.

Hainault scythe, v. 611.

Hall, J., on the composition of soils, iii.
434,

Handley, H., M.P., ona meeting of Ger-
man landowners, ili. 217.

on prize wheats, ili.

3ole
on wheel and swing

ploughs, i. 140.

Hannam, C., on the culture of peas and
turnips, vil. 589.

Hannam, H. J., on one-horse carts, 11, 73.

— on the draught of ploughs,

i. 9.
Hannam, J., on dissolved bones, v. 452,
594,

oe

177.

on rape-dust as a manure, iv.

on salt and other manures on
oats, v. 267.

Hardiness of certain varieties of wheat, i.
43, 114, &c.

Harleston farmers’ club, the, i. 19.

Harnessing horses, on, i. 238, 256; vi.
248,

Harrows, i. 70, App.; ili. 347; iv. 473;
v. 373; vi. 31235 vii. 688; vill. 343.

Hart's plough, i, 223.

Harvesting, i. 447,

— barley, vi. 13.

— carrots, vil. 129,

— early, i. 15.
mangold-wurzel, viii. 220,

—

275.

se 7 samsie i, 396; ii. 38; vii.
, 495.

Harvesting turnips, i. 453; ii. 225.

— wheat, viii. 75.
with sickle or scythe, i. 447.

Harvey, R. B., on the productiveness of
wheat, 11. 148,

Hawthorn fences, on, vi. 203, 211.

Hay, produce of, iv. 282; vi. 407, 522,

Haymaking machines, iii. 347; v. 388;
vi. 321; vii. 690; viii. 345.

on, ii. 173.

Hayter, W., M.P., on the improvements
at Linslade farm, iv. 340.

Heat, power of soils to retain, 1. 200.

Heath-land, improvement of, 11. 44; vi. 79.

Heathcote, Sir W., on thick and thin sow-
ing, vil. 535.

Hedgerows, injury arising from, v. 420;
vi. 195, 246, 295, 333, 479.

Hemp, the culture of, ili. 257.

Henslow, Professor, on rust and mildew,
ii. 220.

———— on the diseases of

wheat, ii. 1,

on the wheat-midge,

—__—_———_—— on the wheats contri-
buted to the Society, i. 271.

Hereford breed of cattle, 1. 349.

Hertfordshire, drainage in, iv. 33.

Highland Society of Scotland, i. 61.

Hill, Rev. C., on cottages, iv. 356.

————_—— on drainage in Suffolk, iv.
23.

Hillyard, C., on swedes and mangold-
wurzel, iv. 274.

— on
cattle, ii. 337.

on the productiveness of

wheats, ii. 65.

——_— on wheat culture, iii. 297.

History of a farm, 1i. 262; iv. 80, 88, 340;
v.39; vi. 229; vil. 524; viii. 33, 565.

drainage, vii. 252.

the fens, vii. 80.

Hodges, T. L., on drain-tile making, v.
dol.

Hoeing, cost of, vii. 43, 126; viii. 273.

— on, iv. 188.

turnips, on, iv. 68, 77; v. 325.

wheat, cost of, v. 329.

Holcombe, Rev. F., on the culture of a
clay farm, ii. 262.

Holland, dairy management in, ili. 259.

— fen, viii. 87, 114.

“ Hollow” draining, vii. 52.

Holly as fence-wood, vi. 216.

Holstein cattle, i. 386.

— dairy-management, i, 376.

Hop-bines as a manure for hops, v. 604.

culture, vi. 269, 272, 285, 287; viii.

the measurement of

44,
Hopeton wheat, ii. 344.
Hopper, R., on drawing turnips, i. 160.

VOLUMES ONE TO EIGHT. 11

Hops, composition of the ashes of, vii.
212.

manure for, vii. 222.

produce of, vi. 288.

Horn, composition of, v. 260.

Hornbeam, the, iii. 271.

Hornblende, composition of, vi. 420,

Horse, excrements of the, i. 489.

hoes, ii, 110, App.; 11, 344; iv.

78, 482; v. 379; vi. 321; viii. 345.

management of the, v. 508.

on the, i. 266; v. 508.

power of the, i. 237, 429.

labour on a farm, i. 240; i. 86,
184; iii. 192.

Horses, breeds of, v. 519.

Cleveland breed -of, i. 430.

cost of keeping farm, 1. 239; v.

542,

on feeding, i. 18, 239, 244, 268;

v. 935 ; vi. 455.

improvement of the, i1. 413.

to waggons, on harnessing, vi. 248.

versus oxen, V. 52; vi. 456.

Horsley, J., on labourers in Lincolnshire,
v. 282.

* Hove ” in sheep, the, i. 304.

Humble-bee, the, vii. 412.

Hummelles, the barley, v. 353.

Humus, i. 48.

Huxtable, Rev. A., on shed-feeding sheep
vi. 242,

on turnip-culture, vi.
355.

Hyett, W. H., on nitrate of soda, ii. 139.

———- on the nutritive value of
different crops, iv. 139.

i

Implements, agricultural. See barley
hummeller, corn-dresser, dairy, dib-
bling-machine, draining-level, drain-
age, draught-bars, drill-presser, drills,
drop-drills, dynamometer, fire-engine,
gorse-crushers, harrows, hay-making
machine, horse-hoes, paring-spade,
ploughs, Rackheath subsoil plough,
rick-ventilator, scarifiers, scythes, sickle,
steam-engine, threshing machine, tile-
machine, trench-plough, turnip-cutter,
water-furrowing machine, web-harrow,
weighing- machine, winnowing-ma-
chine.

annual exhibition of, i. 64,
App.; 1. 13, App.; iii. 338; iv. 453;
v. 361; vi. 303; vii. 681; viii. 330.

in Belgium, ii. 57.

preservation of, 11. 150.

of agriculture in Danish Ger-

many, 1. 374.

in Cheshire,
v. 81.

Implements of agriculture in Cornwall,
vi. 460.
in Mecklen-
burgh, iii. 220.

— — in Northum-
berland, ii. 178.

in Nottingham-
shire, vi. 36,

in Scotland, i.
69, 80, 85, 98.
in Wiltshire,

vi. 171.
of drainage, ili. 101.
of the dairy, vi. 124.
Indications of early maturity, v. 259.
of feeding properties, vi. 74.
of fertility, v. 429, 559.
Inclination of land on its fertility, influ-
ence of, 1. 204.
Industrial schools, iii. 377.
“ Inflammation” in sheep, i. 316.
Ingredients of the soil, vii. 237.
Inoculating grass-land, on, v. 32, 600.
Tnorganic manures, vill. 245.
—________—— for turnips, viii. 505.
Insect attacks on potatoes, vil, 316, 385,
on cabbages, iti. 306.
on beans and peas, vii. 404.
———___—— on corn-crops, v. 469; Vi.
131, 493; vii. 78.
on mangold-wurzel, viii.

399.

on peas, vill. 399.

on turnips, 11.193, 3643 iii.
49, 306; iv. 100.

Insects living in granaries, vil. 89,

, parasites on, v. 226.

Institutions on the Continent, agricultural,
ii. 364; iv. 202.

Inventory of a farm, vili. 42.

Ireland, agriculture of, iv, 437.

Irrigation, 1, 346, 359 ; v. 167, 287; vi. 39.

cost of, vi. 520.

drainage necessary to, 1. 363,

history of, vii. 59,

theory of, 1. 152.

Irving’s tile-machine, iii. 398,

Italian rye-grass, 11, 214; v. 2843 viii.
572, 578.

J.

Jersey cow, the, v. 43.

trench-plough, ii. 40.

Jerusalem artichoke, ii. 258; iii. 81; vi.
578; viii. 165, 200.

Jeston, J. W., on bees, i, 503.

Jesty, G.,on the mustard-plant, iv. 587;
v. 308,

Johnson, C. W.,on gypsum, ii. 106.

on liquid manure, i. 147,

on the improvement of peaty soil,

u. 390,

%

12

Johnston, Professor, on a tour through
Denmark, iii. 400.
on guano, il. 301,

— on Swedish agriculture, iv. 196.

Johnstone, Sir J. V., on the application
of geology, i. 271.

Jonas, S., on Cambridge agriculture, vii.
35.

on Suffolk draining, iv. 32.
Jutland, agriculture in, iii, 413,

K.

Karkeek, W. F., on fat and muscle, yv,
245,

Kelp ashes, as manure, i. 123.

Kent, agriculture of, vi. 253.

Kentish binding-rake and corn-scythe, i.
444,

Ketton short-horns, vii. 202.

Kerry breed of cattle, i. 441; ii, 420.

cows, produce of, iv. 436.

——- Crown estates in, iv. 435.

Kilns, tile and brick, 1, 352; ii, 943 vi.
468.

Kimberley, G. on prize wheats, iii. 395.

on saltpetre, as a manure,

i, 275.
King’s plough, i. 223,

L.

Labour, cost of, see Wages.

demand for, i. 3.

on arable land, vii. 504.

- to increase the demand for, vii. 5.

Labourer, advantage of high eultivation
to, vii, 197.

condition of, 11. 183; vil. 1.

cottages for, v. 237.

—————— education of, vii. 11.

management of, ii. 183.

——-—— in Lincolnshire, v. 282.

in Norfolk, v. 357.

in Northumberland, ii. 1895;
vill. 435.

in Suffolk, viii. 323.

——— success of a, iv. 587.

Lambs, fever in, vi. 366.

food for, viii. 29.

management of, 1, 341.

on fattening, vill. 10.

to bathe, v. 279.

Langston, J. H., M.P., on Newberry’s
dibble, iv. 316.

Larch, the, ili. 275, 295; vii. 680.

Large and small properties, 1. 264.

Lawes, J. B., on agricultural chemistry,
viii. 226, 494.

Laying down grass-lands, on, v. 32, 600.

Leases, advantages of, i. 63; ii, 156,

effects of, ili. 6, 8.

of land, v. 345.

——

INDEX TO THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL.

Leaves, importance of their full develop-
ment, vill. 135.
of carrots, composition of, viii.

194,

of potatoes, vii. 304.

of turnips, composition of, viii.
542, 558.

Le Couteur, Col., on the Jersey cow, v. 43.

on the Jersey trench-

plough, iii, 40.

on the parsnip, i. 419.

on wheats, i. 113.

Lefévre, Right Hon. S. C., on subsviling,
i. 38.

Leicester breed of sheep, the, i. 107, 333 ;
vill. 2,

—— compared with Downs, viii. 9.

the feeding properties of the, vii.

295.

Leigh, J. H., on stall-feeding, vi. 237.

Lemon, Sir C., on a disease in potatoes,
iv. 431.

—-—— on French agriculture, i.

411.

on the medical treatment
of trees, v. 606.

Level of the fens, viii. 80.

Levelling machine, ii. 61.

Lice plant, iii. 49 ; vi..503; vii. 416. |

Light-land farming, ii, 233; viii. 284,
427.

on plants, influence of, vii. 306.

Lime, action of, 111, 212.

as a manure, ii. 429.

application of to peat, 11. 396, 410.

effects of, ii. 180.

gas, 1. 45.

necessary to peat, vi. 93.

superphosphate of, see Bones and
Acid,

Liming, to be guided by geological
knowledge, i. 273.

Lincoln-heath swing plough, i. 143.

Lincolnshire, agriculture of, iv. 287.

fens, viii. 114.

sheep, vili. 11.

Linseed-cake, as food, ili. 439 ; iv. 300;
vi. 20.

— compound, as food, viii. 325,
464, 473.

——— crusher, vi. 317; vill. 349, 393.

— oil, viii. 392.

Linton, W., on the admixture of soils, ii.
67.

vii, 115

ee
—_—
Se

draining of running sands,

— turnip culture, i. 451.

Liquid manure, i. 1385, 147, 464, 475,
479; 11.47; vi. 575; vii. 292; vii. 581.

cart, 1. 136, 501.

composition of, vi. 442.

Literature, influence of agriculture on, i.
29, 83, 90.

VOLUMES ONE TO EIGHT. 13

Little, E., on the agriculture of Wilts, v
161.

Liverpool, exhibition of implements at,

_ ii, 103, App.

Live-stock in Scotland, history of, i. 75,
81, 86, 97.

Loomes, E., on one-horse carts, vi. 398,

Long, W., on burning clay for manure,
vii. 245.

Long-wooled breeds of sheep, vill. 11.

Love, P., on one-horse carts, vil. 223.

Loughborough Agricultural Association,
on tenant-right, vi. 46,

Lovelace, Ear] of, on the culture of beans
and cabbages, v. 112.

eee! —— man-
gold-wurzel, iv. 21.

Lucerne, culture of, iii, 238; v. 103.

M.

M‘Adam, J., on flax-culture, viii. 361.

Macaire’s experiments on the secretions of
plants, i. 287.

Machines, see Implements.

Machinery, advantages of, to agriculture,
i, 16.

of threshing, i. 15.

Mackenzie, Sir F. A., on manures, i. 418,

Main, J., on cottage-gardening, 11, 322.

on plants injurious to clover, i.

173.

Maidstone Farmers’ Club on thin seed-
ing, the, v. 597.

Maggots in peas, vil. 420.

Male animals, selection of, in breeding, i.
22.

Mangold-wurzel, ii. 298; iii. 201; iv. 21,
274; v. 21, 322, 528; viii. 209, 272.

action of guano on, vi.

528.
ashes of, vill. 157, 185.
— composition of, 11. 298 ;
civ. 141.
consumption of, vill.
222.
cost of harvesting, vii.
128.
— fattening properties of,
ii. 296.
—— —— fly, the, viii. 411.
—— for cows, vili, 223.
—— insect enemies of, vill.
399.

produce of, iv. 23; v.
20; vi. 530; viii. 157, &c.

Manures, see ammonia, animal, arti-
ficial, bones, bones and acid, burnt
clay, cake, chalk, charcoal, crag,
Daniell’s, dung-water, fish, guano, gas-
lime, gas-water, gypsum, hop-bines,
kelp-ashes, lime, liquid, marl, mineral,
mould, night-soil, nitrates, peat, phos-

phorite, Poittevin’s, rags, rape-dust,

salt, sawdust, shale, soot, waste.
Manures, action of, iv. 535.

as substitutes for bones, iii. 164.
— compounds of mineral, ii. 418.
— cost of turning and filling, vii.

135.

drilling, iv. 186.

effects of different, on turnips,
ii, 264; iii. 423; vil. 297; viii. 503,
510.

— experiments with, 1. 418; i1,
264; iv. 281; v. 623; vi. 3380, 333, 528;
vii. 297 ; vill. 57, 508, 510.
— for carrots, iv, 270,
— for hops, vil. 222.

for trees, v. 608.

for turnips, ii, 267; iv. 64, 211;
viii, 205.
— for wheat, vii. 677.

influenced by age of animals, i.
457.

— inorganic, vill. 245.

— loss of ammonia in, iv. 539.
— management of, 1,9, 70, 84,
96 ; ili, 208; viii. 303.

nitrogen 1a, vili. 245.

on the potato disease, the in-
fluence of, vii. 491.

quality of, 1. 457.

sewage, i. 158; v. 610.
superiority of summer to winter
made, i. 139,

of yard to fold, i.
162,

tanks for liquid, i, 155, 499 ;
viii. 581.
theory of, 1. 455 ;

ii. 232; viii.
240,

————

149.

——.

the stimulating action of, iii.

town, 11.56; v. 610.

————. used in a rotation, iii, 245.

Manuring, theory of, by folding, i, 232,
485,

Maps. See Illustrations at end of Index,

— model, iv. 496.

Mare, desirable points in the, v. 512.

detection of pregnancy in the, 1.

170.
Marl as a manure, i. 126; vi. 439.
composition of, vi. 439, 575.
of Norfolk, vii. 452.

Marling land, on, v. 309; viii. 312.
- cost of, 11. 69; vill. 312.
sandy soils, on, ii, 693 iii. 3,

181, 216, 233, 427,

Marquis of Tweeddale’s tile-machine, ii.

148,

Marshall, J., on feeding cattle, vii. 391.
—on substitutes for bone-ma-

nure, ii. 164,

Marsh-land, draining of, vii.

115,

14 INDEX TO THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL.

Marsh-land, improvement of, iv. 580.
—— of Norfolk, viii. 108.
Material for draining, iv. 314, 420.
Maynard’s drop-drill, vii. 46,
Measurement of cattle, 11. 337.
Measure-work, iv. 315; vii. 119.

Meat, consumption of, in England, 1. 415.
in France, i. 415.
on a farm, produce of, viii. 253.
Mechanical structure of soils, 1. 51.
Mechanics, agricultural, iii. 100.

Mechi on burning clay, vii. 297.

— thick and thin sowing, vii.

537.

Mecklenburgh, agriculture of, 1, 124.

Meeting of German landholders, iii, 217,

Merino sheep, the, 1. 127, 265.

Meteorology applied, v. 147.

Mice, to destroy, ii, 428.

Midge, barley, vi. 151.

wheat, ii. 22; iii. 86; vi. 137,
493; vii. 278.

Milburn, M. M., on early spring feed, ii.
215.

Mildew, 11. 220.

on the turnip, ili. 199.

Milk as food, iv. 238, 247.

produce of, i, 442; 111. 225; iv.

436; v. 50. d

quality of, from different cows, 11.
420.

Miles, W., M.P., on culture of swedes, 11.
298.

on manures, v. 394.
on Poittevin’s manure,

i, 416.

— on seedling potatoes,
vill. 420. :

—_——-—. on wheats, iii. 391 ; vi.
566.

Millipedes, v. 228; vii. 404.
Mineral ingredients per acre of the crops,
iv. 178.

of plants, iv. 623.

——— manures, use of, i. 161; vill. 245,
258.

Mixed solid and liquid excrements of
animals, i, 475.

Mixture of soils, advantage of the, 1. 4;
ii, 57; iii. 32, 162.

Model farm, i. 265.

in county of Kerry, i. 438.

Monteith, Sir C., on liming peat soils, il.
410.

Moody, Lieut.-Col., on tussac-grass, iv,
17; v. SL; vu. 72.

Moorland improved by clay, iii. 427.

— shallow culture of, vi. 187.

Moore, E. W., on the feeding qualities of
sheep, vii. 204.

Morton, J., on wheats, 1. 39.

on the cultivation of Stinch-

combe farm, i. 388.

Morton, J. C., on agricultural mechanics,
ii. 100.

on Belgian carrots, ii. 40.

on the maintenance of fer-
tility, vii. 283.

Mould, vegetable, as manure for turnips,
vi. 488,

on potatoes, vii. 309, 363, &c.,

383
Mowing grass and wheat, cost of, vii. 124.
Murchison on the black earth of Central
Russia, ii. 25.
Murton, J., on marsh lands, iv. 580.
Mustard, culture of, v. 334, 358.
— plant as food, iv. 587; v. 358.
— seed, produce of, v. 37.
white, vil. 31.
Muscle, essay on fat and, v. 240.

N.

Narrow and wide drilling of wheat, i, 294.

Nesbit, J. C., on the composition of the
hop, vii. 210.

Netherlands, agriculture of,i. 4; 11. 43;
il. 240.

Nets for folding, ii. 169.

Newberry’s dibbing-machine, iv. 316.

Newcastle, exhibition of implements at,
vil. 681.

Newman, C., on nitrate of soda, ii. 260.

Nicholls, G., on box-feeding, viii. 473.

on flax-culture, v. 547 ; viii.

438,

——e

on the labourer, vii. 1.

Night-soil as a manure, i. 494.

Nitrates of potash and soda as manure, i,
275, &c., 418, 426; ii. 117, &c., 259;
iv. 276; v. 267.

Nitrogen in manures, importance of, viii.
245,

in plants, ii. 254; iii. 1473 viii.
547.

Nockolds, M., on Essex draining, iv. 38.

Norfolk, agriculture of, v. 307.

— agricultural improvement of,

ov eyil le

— agricultural labourers in, v. 356.

——- draining, iv. 43; v. 308.

— geology of, vii. 444.
rotation of crops, 1. 13, 283,

— tenure of land in, v. 341.

Northampton exhibition of implements,
vill. 330.

Northumberland, agriculture of, i. 151;
vili. 8, 422.

_——_—_.

— drainage in, viii. 437.

farm-buildingsin, 11.190,

— labourers in, vill. 435.

North Wales, agriculture of, vii. 553.

Nottinghamshire, agriculture of, vi. 1.

Nowlson, J. S., on the rotation of crops,
iv. 409.

VOLUMES ONE TO EIGHT. 15

Oo;

Oak, the, iii. 268.

Oat, composition of the, iv. 530; v. 249;
vil. 645, &c.

cultivation of the, iii. 249; v. 59.

produce of the, 1. 74, 88, 99, 258,

373, 412, 424, 438; ii. 70, 129; iii.

389; iv. 81, 175, 213; v. 20, 36, 268;

vi. 81, 233, 271, 285, 407, 4133 vii.

173, 567, 645, &c.; vili. 566.

the dyock, iii. 387.

Oil, linseed, viii, 392.

Oilcake, an feconomical, iii. 439,

— consumption of, iv. 300.

One-horse carts, on, i. 431 311. 73, 86 ; vi.
156, 320, 375, 398; vii. 223; viii. 349,

Oolitic district in Wilts, v. 172.

*¢ Ophthalmia”’ in sheep, i. 302.

Orchards, management of, iv. 380.

Organic and inorganic manures for tur-
nips, vill. 528, &c.

Ortolan, the, iv. 244.

Overman, F. W., om marling land, iii.
234,

Ox, excrements of the, 1. 460.

— food of the, v. 54.

Oxen for labour, i. 402; v. 52,331; vi.
456.

— cost of, v. 56.
Oxford clay, fertility of the, i. 273.
exhibition of implements, i 64,

ADD: oe
sheep, viii. 16.
Oxygen gas absorbed by soils, i, 197.

P,

Page, T., on experiments with manure,
vii, 57.

Palin, W., on the agriculture of Cheshire,
v. 57.

Parasites on clover, i. 173.

— on insects, v. 226.

Parasitic fungi, ii. 2.

Paring and burning, vi. 82; vii. 129.

— spade, vi. 101.

Parker, H., on the shallow culture of
mossy land, vi. 187.

J.O., on Essex draining, iv. 39.

Parkes, J., on "Tand- -drainage, iv. 369 ; vil.
249.

— on reducing the cost of drain-
age, vi. 125.

— on the Society’s exhibitions of
implements, v. 361; vi. 303; vii. 681.
— on the temperature of soils, v

LI9;
Parsnip, culture of, i. 419.
produce of, 11, 41.
Pastures, cultivation of cold, vii. 167.
on breaking up, iv. 80; vii. 161,

500.

Pawlett, T. E., on the management of
sheep, vi. 361.

Paxton, W., on water-meadows, i. 346.

Payne, S., on a drain-level, vi. 247.

Paynter, J., on gas-water, i. 45.

Pea carrion-beetle, vii. 418.

Pearson, J., on burning land, viii. 77.

Pear-tree, different kinds of, iv. 391 vi.
279.

Peas and turnips grown in alternate rows,
vii. 589.

ashes of, viii. 166, 201.

—- cost of a crop of, v. 30.

cultivation of, vil. 54,

—— composition of, v. 249; viii.

166,

—— insect enemies of, vii. 404; viii. 39¢.

——- produce of, 1. 74; v. 20, 39; vi. 271,
285 ; vii. 589 ; vill. 166.

Peat, application of clay to, i. 5 ; iii. 427,

—— asa manure, 1.1395; 11.417; 111. 224,

—-— ashes, composition of, ii. 392; vil.
220.

—— charcoal, v. 507; vii. 539.

drainage of, ii. 394, 400.

——. lime necessary to, vi. 93.

—— reclamation of, vi, 40.

—— soils, cultivation of, vii. 517, 542.

— improvement of, ii. 390, 400.

—— tiles, viii. 570.

Pedigree, importance of, i. 22, 27.

Peel, Sir R., on land-drainage, iii. 18.

Pepper-brand, ii, 4.

Pepper-corns, 11, 19.

Perry, to make, iv. 387.

Philips, G., on the potato-disease, vii. 300.

Phosphoric. acid, general presence of, ii.
244,

in plauts, ii. 144.

Phosphorite as a manure, vi. 329,

in Kstremadura, v. 406.

Physical properties of soils, i. 177, 210.

Physiology applied to cattle-feeding, iv.
215.

Pickle wheat, to, 11. 8.

Pig, excrements of the, i. 491.

— of Cheshire, v. 73.

Pine-tree as feuce wood, vi. 223,

— on rocky soils, the, iv. 197.

Pipe-tiles for drainage, iv. 273, 372; v
603

Plane-tree, the, iil. 272.

Planting potatoes, on, i. 393 ; vii. 493,
trees, on, 11. 281.

Plant-lice, iii, 49 ; vi. 503; vii. 416.

Plantations, iii, 293; vi. 290.

Plants, classification of, viii. 229.

composition of, 11. 240; ili. 158;

iv. 003, 5203 vii. 323, 593; viii. 134,

171.

food of, ii. 247; iv. 498,
indicating fertility and barren-
ness, v. 443.

16 INDEX TO THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL.

Plants, influence of light on, vii. 306.

Playfair, Dr., on physiology as applied to
agriculture, iv, 215.

aa on the composition of a
marl, vi, 575.

on the potato disease, vi. 532,

Plough, the, ii. 112, App.; iii. 107, 359,
361; iv. 467; v. 367; vi. 309; vii. 686
viii. 341.

Bedfordshire wheel, i. 142.

Charlbury subsoil,"i. 433.

construction of the, i. 8, 1415 ii.

1793 in. LOM,

draining, i. 68, App. ; viii. 345.

—— draught of the, 1. 140, 219; ii.
104, 114, App. ; ii. 9, 186, 355.

——— Hart’s, i. 223.

Jersey trench, 111. 40.

King’s, 1. 223.

Lincolnshire heath, i. 143.

swing, i. 143,

of Belgium, ii. 58.

one-horse, ili. 12.

Pearson’s draining, vi. 283.

potato-setting, 111. 47.

ridge, 1. 66, App.

shares, 1. 145.

subturf, 1, 253.

surface-pulverizing, ii, 356,

the Scotch, i. 220.

wheel and swing, i. 140.

Ploughing, cost of, vi. 130.

——_—_——. deep, i. 30; vii. 57.

—— shallow, i. 194.

—- subsoil, i. 6, 29, 33, 38, 244,

|

|
|

|

TILT

248.

Poisons, 1. 316.

Poittevin’s manure, i. 416; ii, 267.

Popham, W., on town manure, v. 610.

Poplar as fence-wood, the, vi. 225.

— the, iii, 272.

Poppy, C., on burning clay, vii. 142.

on the culture of the, iii, 254.

Poor soils, fences for, vi. 223. ~

Portland’s, the Duke of, water-meadows,
i, 359.

Portman, Lord, on measure-work, vii. 140.

pe on Shepherd’s - Corner

farm, iv. 88; viil. 565.

on the potato disease, vi.
343; vii. 158, 498.

Potatoes, bones and acid for, v. 461.

composition of, iv. 523; v. 249;

vi, 169, 536, 556; vii. 323,

——— cost of, vi. 355, 428.

———— cultivation, 1.391; 11. 331; v.
338 3 vi. 345.

Potato disease, the, vi. 161, 343, 429, 532;
vii. 300, 357, 486 ; viii. 42.

in Poland, vii. 678.

——— experiments on the growth of, vii.
158, 498.

insect attacks on the, vii. 316, 385.

Potato planting, 1. 244.

——— on harvesting the, i. 396; ii.38;
vii. 379, 495.

—-—— on preventing the curl in, vi. 161.

—-—— produce of the, i, 397, 412; vi.
349, 407, 556.

——— seedlings, viii. 420.

—-—— setting plough, iii, 47,

——— structure of the, vi. 534,

——— varieties of the, i. 392; v. 102.

——— washer, v. 388; vi. 322,

Poultry, excrements of, i. 493.

Power-draining, on the cost of, viii. 98,
103, 113.

Pregnancy, detection of, ii. 113.

——_—__——____—_—_——_ in the mare and
cow, i. 170.

Preservation of implements, ii. 150.

Prices of food, vi. 560.

their influence on agriculture, i, 82,

91,

Prize-wheats, ili. 895, 399.

Produce of (see) allotments, barley, beans,
cabbage, calves, canary-seed, caraway,
carrots, clover, coriander, dairy, flax,
food, Galloway cows, grass, hay, hemp,
hops, Italian rye-grass, Kerry cows,
larch plantation, lucerne, mangold-
wurzel, milk, mustard, oats, parsnip,
potatoes, peas, rape-seed, rye, turnip,
water-meadows, wheat.

— of land increased by breaking

up grass, vil. 198.

— influenced by climate,

iii. 31; vill. 232, 498.
covering, vil. 277.

Profits of box-feeding, viii. 487.

— breaking up down-land, vii, 163.

cultivating Italian rye-grass, viii.

578.

—— farming, vi. 234; vii. 162, 174,
178, 185; viii. 37, 569.

—— flax culture, viii. 395, 462.

— hop culture, vi. 287; viii, 44.

Property and population, relative increase
of, vii. 3, °

Pruning fences, on, vi. 213, 336.

— forest trees, on, iii. 286.

Purchas, R. W., on bones and acid, v.
446 ; vi. 244 ; vii. 273.

Pusey, Ph., M.P., on a new mode of pre-
paring bones, viii. 417.

— on bones and acid, vi.

324.
—_—_—__———-— on burnt
wheat, vi. 477.

—— on selected wheats, iv.

clay for

583.

——__-——— on the agriculture of
England, i. 1.

on the agriculture of
Lincolnshire, iv. 287.

VOLUMES ONE TO EIGHT. VW

Pusey, Ph., M.P., on
drainage, iv. 23.

the antiquity of

on the autumn clear-
ing of stubble, vill. 570.

on the beet root, vi. 528.
on the Charlbury sub-
soil plough, 1. 433.

on the cost of drains,

——$——

vil. 520.
—_————— on the
ploughs, i. 219.

draught of

on the improvement of
peat-soils, 11. 400.
on the making of drain-

tiles, v. 551.

—__—___—_-—— on the progress of Bri-
tish agriculture, ii. 169.

———-—_—-—_ on the St. John’s-day
rye, vi. 177.

Putrefaction of urine, on the, i. 470.

Pym, F., on burnt clay as a manure, iii.
323.

Q.

Quality of manure dependant on age of
animal, 1. 457.

——

on food, i,

458.
—— of milk from different cows, 11.
420.

of wheat affected by manures,
vill. 234,
nitrates as

manures, 11. 143.

Quantity of certain substances in the soil,
ili. 434,

—- of food required by different-

sized animals, vill, 487.

R.

Rabies, 1. 301.

Rackheath sub-turf plough, 11. 37.

Rags as.» manure, ili. 211; vi. 273.

Rain-water, ammonia in, 11. 955.

Ram, on the selection and treatment of
the, i. 336.

Randall, C., on burning clay for manure,
v. 113.

Rape, composition of the straw of, 111. 409.

cultivation of, 1. 125; 111, 251; vi.

430.

———-———- on peat soils, 11. 401.
—— produce of, i. 573.

——- dust as a manure, i. 96, 418; iv.
Wid sv. 267.

Rapidity in feeding, iii. 207.

Rats, to destroy, ili. 428.

Raynbird, G. K., on the culture of field-
beet, viii. 209.

—H., on the agriculture of Suf-

folk, vill. 261.

Raynbird, H., on measure-work, vii. 119.
= on peat-charcoal, vii. 539.

Read, J., on pipe-tiles, iv. 273.

Reaping, cost of, ii. 163; vil. 125.

Reaping-machine, 1. 314; v. 28.

Rearing young stock, y. 74.

Reclamation of waste-lands, 1, 254, 435

vi. 793 vill. 322.

Recipes for diseases in sheep, i. 343.

Reducing the cost of draining, on, vi. 125.

Red-water in sheep, i. 314; viii. 24.

Reece, H., on stable-ventilation, iv. 278.

Remuneration for permanent improve-

ment, 1. 439,

Rent of land in Anglesey, vii. 584.

in Essex, v. 17, 33.

——-—— in Deeping fen, viii. 119.

In fen-landss ville 27.

=== in Kent,:vi.,30,.

in Northumberland, ii. 159,

160; vill. 437.
—— in Roxburghshire, i. 109.
TNS COMAMO Scie OU. Od.

—— in Suffolk, viii. 264.
in the Vale of Clwyd, vil.

567.

Rest required by land, ii. 236,

Rbam, Rev. W., on the analysis of soils,
i, 46.

on fodder, the relative

value of, 111. 78.

on the agriculture of the
Netherlands, 11, 43; ii, 240.

EEE on the nitrate of soda, 11.

138.

on subsoiling, i. 257.
Richmond, Duke of, on bones in acid, v.
443, 447.

on __ peat-draining

tiles, vill. 570.

on sulphate of am-
monia and bones as a manure, iv. 164
408,

Rick-ventilator, v. 388.

Ridges, narrow, on, v. 5.

Rippling-flax, viii. 374, 459.

Risks of agriculture, i. 15.

River-water, i. 151.

Roads, management of, 11. 353.

Roals, J., ou water-meadows, vi. 518.

Roberts, E., on wheat-culture, vin, 60.

— O.O., on gorse, vi. 379.

Rodwell, J., on lucerne, 11, 238,

on Italian rye-grass, v. 284.

ou wheat harvesting, 1. 447.

Romney breed of sheep, vi. 263, 299,

Rooks, usefulness of, 11. 379.

Root of the potato, vu. 300.

Roots entering drains, vii. 264.

density of edible, iv. 143.

Root-crops, artificial manure for, vill. 205

ashes of different, vill, 199.

—__——- use of, vii. 134.

C

18 INDEX TO THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL.

Rope-twister, vil. 691.

Rose-chafer, the green, ili. 317.

Rose, Sir G., on the Hainaulf scythe,
v. 611.

Rot removed from land, i. 369.

— in sheep, 1. 307; viii. 23.

Rotation of crops, i. 12, 63, 63, 79, 100,
125, 284, 292, 374, 388 ii. 45, 161,
182, 408; 111. 3, 232, 241, 245, 247,
410%; iv.’ 225 194, 342%? vy. 2, 20, 34,
162, 173, 322, 331, 5983 vi. 7, 23, 254,
257, 260, 262, 264, 271, 275, 280,
282, 434; vil. 49, 70, 502, 505, 514,
517, 530, 567; viii. 34, 64, 96, 101,
T1045 107 Vl To T3003 13255, 229%
265, 285, 318, 367, 424, 427, 469.

Rotation of crops, considerations on, i.
283.

~ De Candolle’s theory
of, 1. 286.

experiments on, i. 150.
——-—— French, i. 292.
———_—— for heavy land, iv. 194,

409.
———————- manures used in, iii.

245.
Macaire’s

—

ments on, i. 287.

experi-

theory of, as founded
on exhaustion, 1. 290.

Rowlandson, T., on agriculture of North
Wales, vil. 553.

a on burning land for ma-

nure, vill. 46,

Roxburghshire, agriculture of, i. 102.

Running sands, vii. 115.

Rural economy abroad, i. 124.

— in Germany, i. 371.

Rust in wheat, ii. 9.

Rust and mildew caused by same fungus,
ii. 220.

Rutland plough, i. 143.

Rye, as green fodder, vi. 179.

—— as spring food, 11. 215.

— composition of, iv. 529; vii. 647.

— cultivation of, 1.14; iii. 242; viii.
285.

— grass, Italian, 11.214; v. 284; viii.
572.

—- grass, common, ii. 216.

—~ produce of, i. 412.

— St. John’s Day, vi. 177; vu. 334.

—— seed, to clean, vii. 351.

S.

Sainfoin, cultivation of, v. 17; vii. 61.
management of, viii. 298.
on stacking, v. 622.

Salt as a manure, v. 267.

as food, iv. 236; viii. 4,

for the dairy, i. 383.

Saltpetre as a manure, see Nitrates.

Sand as a top-dressing for peat, 11. 415.

Wasps, viii. 402.

Sanatory effects of drainage, iv. 151.

Sands, to drain running, vii. 115.

Sandy soils improved by marling, 11. 67;
ili, 181, 216, 233,

Saw-dust as a manure in composts, 1.
135.

Saw-fly, the, vi. 131.

“Scab” in sheep, the, i. 323 ; viii. 22.

Scarifier, Biddel’s, i. 357,65 App. ; viil.
434,

Scarifiers, 111,119, 345; vi. 311; vii. 687 ;
vill. 343.

Schools in Germany, iii. 370.

Industrial, 11. 377.

of agriculture in France, i. 264;
ill, 365.

Science applied to agriculture, iii. 136,

“ Scientific bookkeeping,” ii. 145.

Schubler, Professor, on the physical pro-
perties of soils, 1. 177.

Scotland, agriculture of, 1. 59, 101, 106 ;
iv. 194.

Scottish ploughs, i, 220.

“Scour ”’ in lambs, the, v. 279.

Scutching flax, on, viii. 383, 457,

Scythe, Hainault, v. 616.

Kentish corn, i. 444.

Sea embankments, i. 372.

Seeding of the flax crop, viii. 371, 449.

turnip crop, iv. 61.

——_—_—_—_—_— wheat,i. 11, 113; 11. 162;
v. 329, 353, 597; vii. 535; viii. 69.

Seedling potatoes, viii. 420.

Seeds, advantage of steeping, iv. 557; vill.
215.

Selection of males in breeding, i. 22, 29.

Serpentine, composition of, vi. 419.

Servants, management of farm, 11, 183.

- Sewage manure, i. 158. -

Shackel, G., on the food needed by dif-
ferent-sized animals, vill. 487.

Shale as a manure; iii. 161.

Shallow cultivation, vi. 187,

ploughing, iii, 194.

Shed-feeding sheep, on, i. 169, 129, 407;
vi. 371, 242.

Sheep, breeding and management of, ii.
169, 174; vi. 361; viii. lL.

— Cheshire, v. 71.

— Cheviot, i. '77, 97, 107.

—-— Cornish, vi. 448.
cost of the keep of, 1. 409; ii, 171,

4

Cotswold, vii. 299; viii. 16.
diseases of, 1. 295, 387; vii. 19.
—-— Down, viii. 7.

excrements of the, i, 481, 484.
food of the, i, 169; iii. 229; vi.
368; vill, 487.

washing, i. 128.

——- Wiltshire, v, 169..

VOLUMES ONE TO EIGHT. 19

Sheep, growth of, 1. 408; iv. 275; vi. 243;
vill, 488.

Leicester, i. 107, 333; vil. 295;

villi, 2,

—- Lincoln, viii. 11.

- long-woolled, viii. 11.

Merino, i. 127, 265.

—on the feeding properties of, vii.
294.

——- Norfolk, v. 351.

North Wales, vii. 583.

Nottingham, vi. 17.

——— pox, viii. 489,

——-— South Down, viii. 7.

— Suffolk, viii. 305.

Shell lime, iii. 34; vi. 440,

Shelly, J., on selected wheats, iv. 584.

Shelter, advantages of, i. 163, 169, 407.

Sheppey, isle of, vi. 257.

Shirreff, P., on the Hopeton wheat, ii.
344.

Short-horns, 1. 26, 108; ii. 176; vii. 201.

Shrewsbury exhibition of implements, vi.
303,

Sickle versus Scythe, i. 447.

Size of animals affecting the food they re-
quire, vill. 487,

Size of short-horns, vii. 205.

Sloe as fence-wood, vi. 215.

Slugs on wheat, remedy for, v. 355.
Smith of Deanston, J., his evidence before
Agricultural Committee, 1835, 1. 29.
Smith, R., on the management of sheep,

vill. 1.
“Smut,” ii. 6, 220; v. 329.
Smut balls, ii. 4.
Societies, friendly, vi. 499.
— of agriculture in England, 1, 89.
ances.

Scotland, i.
61.

Socket drain-pipes, v. 603.

Sod-draining, i. 167,

Soda, nitrate of, see Nitrates.

Soils, absorbing powers of, 1. 32, 48, 195.

adhesiveness of, 1. 188.

admixture of, i. 4; ii. 67; ii. 32,

162.

alluvial, i. 373.

analysis of, i. 46, 274; iv. 5473 v.

614,

classification of, 111. 139.

composition of, i. 59, 178, 215; i1.

28, 30, 35, 110; iii. 131, 328, 435,

ASTeE ve GOT siwis 44715773, vil. 70,

237, 258; vill. 368, 434.

consistence of, i. 1853; v. 563.

indicated by their peculiar vegeta-

tion, 111. 30.

influence of drought on, i. 193.

influence of frost on, i. 190.

influence of colour on, 1. 202.

Soils, influence of inclination on, i. 204.

influence of moisture on, i. 203.

meaning of adjectives applied to, i.
192.

—— of Anglesey, vii. 564,

of North Wales, vil. 553.

of Suffolk, viii. 262.

of the chalk, i. 7.

of the fen district, viii. 90.

on the useful part of, vii. 237.

origin of, iv. 498.

—— physical properties of, 1. 177.

—— structure of, 1. 57.

Solly, S., on claying moor-land, iii. 427,

Somersetshire culture of flax, viii. 470.

Soot as a manure, 1. 394.

Sources of the food of plants, iv. 509.

Southampton exhibition of implemeuts, v.
361.

South-Down sheep, viii. 7.

Spain, agriculture of, iv. 344,

Spanish chesnut, iii. 269.

Spencer, Earl, on breeding, 1. 22.

on swedes and mangold-

wurzel, ii. 296,

on the average produce of

calves, ii, 112.

on the gestation of cows, 1.

165,

on the improvements in
W. Norfolk, iii. 1.

Spooner, W. C., on bones and acid, vi. 71.

Sporting versus Farming, iv. 309; vill.
320.

Sprengel, Dr., on animal manures, i.
455.

Spring food, early, 11. 215.

Spurry, cultivation of, 11. 418.

Stable ventilation, iv. 278.

Stace, W., on rotatious of crop for heavy
land, iv. 169.

Stall-feeding, v. 27, 319; vi. 237.

Stallion, points desirable in the, v. 516.

Stanhope, J. S., on arboriculture, vii.
679.

Statistics of British agriculture, vii. 195.

Cornish agriculture, vi 401.

Cambridgeshire agriculture,

Villelooe

English agriculture, i. 1,413.
French agriculture, 1. 411.
North Wales agriculture, vii.

553.

—_——..

106,

Roxburghshire agriculture, i.

— Scottish agriculture, i. 101.

Suffolk agriculture, viii. 261,

Steam-engines, iv, 806, 484; v. 385; vi.
323 ; vill. 336,

Steaming apparatus, v. 283; vi. 317;
vil. 402; vill. 349.

Steam power applied to drainage, vii. 67;
Vili. 93.

c 2

al

20 INDEX TO THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL.

Steeping flax, on, viii. 379, 453.

Steeping seeds, on, iv. 557.

Stem of the potato, vil. 333,

Stifle-burning, on, v. 173.

Stinchcombe farm, on the cultivation of,
i. 388,

Stimulating action of manures, iii, 149.

Stock, on feeding, iii. 430.

Stock farming, viii. 429.

Stock kept on a farm, viii. 36.

Stock kept per 100 acres, vi. 413,

Stokes, C., on tenant-right, vi. 46.

Stones versus tiles for draining, ii. 293.

Stoppage of drains, vii. 260.

Stracey, Sir E.,on the Rackheath sub-turf
plough, 1.253; i1. 37.

Straw and grain, relative weights of, vii.
651.

Strouts, W., on superphosphate of lime, v.
605.

Stubble, autumn clearing of, viii. 570.

‘Sturdy ” in the sheep, the, viii. 23,

Subjects for discussion by Farmers’ clubs,
111. 221.

Subsoil, improvements of, 111. 407.

plough, i. 6, 33, 433; ii. 421,

113 App.

ploughing, on, i. 29, 38, 95,

244, 248, 257; i. 26, 346; iii. 104,

17933" VoA18's) vi 422:

cost of, 11. 34.

drainage necessary be-

fore, 1. 259; 11. 346; iv. 172,

pulverizer, iii, 353; iv. 469; v.
3713 vi. 311-3 vil. 6873 viii. 344.

Subsoiling versus trenching, 1. 31.

Subterranean forest, vii. 460.

Substitutes for bones as manure, iii. 164.

Sub-turf plough, 1. 253; 11. 37.

Sulphate of ammonia, v. 601,

Sulphuric and bones, see Bones and
Acid,

Superphosphate of lime, see Bones and
Acid.

Suffolk, agriculture of, viii. 261.

drainage of, iv. 23, 32; viii.

SS ey

——

308.

labourers, vill. 323.

Summer fallowing, 1. 64.

—_ food for cattle, iu. 203,

Surface grubs, iv. 100.

Sussex breed of cattle, vi. 292,

Sweden, agriculture of, iv. 196.

Swedes and carrots, relative value of, vi.
369.

and mangold-wurzel, ii. 296; iv.
274.

Swedish turnips, experiments on, ii. 269.

Swine, excrements of, 1. 491.

Swing ploughs, 1. 140.

Sybray, J., on lime as a manure, Iii.
429

Sycamore, the, i11. 271.

TE:

Tabrum, L., on burning clay, iv. 268.
Tame a savage bull, to, iv. 559..
Tank for liquid manure, i. 155, 499; il.
47; viii. 581.
Tares, culture of, 111. 236; v. 339.
Task-work, iv. 315; vii. 119.
Taunton, W. P., on black fox-tail grass,
iv. 270.
vil, 334.
Teeswater breed of sheep, viii. 18.
Temperature of soils, v. 119, 137,
Tenancy-at-will, vi. 30.
conditions of, vi, 47, 4343 vii.

on St. John’s-day rye,

234,
Tenant's property, out-going, vill. 42.
— right to unexhausted improve-
ments, vi. 44, 46; vil. 234,
Tenure of farms, v. 84.
—— land in Norfolk, v. 341.
influence of, on agricul-

ture, 1, 375.
Texture of soil improved by manuring, i.
135.
Thanet, isle of, vi. 259.
Theory, Excretory, i. 287; iii. 330.
of agriculture, ill. 213.
-———-— cattle diseases, iv. 253.
feeding, iv. 215.
———— dairy management, iv. 248.
— dew, v. 130.
draining, ii. 101, 262; v.120;

—————

vi. 489,
— fertility, vii. 284.

—————— guano as a manure, ii. 310.
—— inorganic manures, vil. 593 ;
vill. 245.

— irrigation, i. 152.

— manures, i, 232; 11. 232; viii.

240,

— rotations excretory, ii, 330.
the action of bones as a ma-
nure, vi. 49.

-—_—————-— burnt earth, viii.

ss

48.

liquid manure,

i, 148.

— the potato disease, vi. 532; vii.
328, 489.

Thick and thin seeding, v. 354; vii. 535,
537,

seeding, vi. 192.

Thin seeding, i. 11; iv. 190; v. 358,
597.

Thompson, H.S., on subsoil ploughing,
il, 26,

on the prevention of
dry-rot and curl in the potato, vi. 161.

Thorough draining, 1, 29, 33, 248, 257.

Thorpe, Rev. W., on the clover failure,
iii, 326; iv. 279.

VOLUMES ONE TO EIGHT. 21

Thorpe, Rev. W., on the feeding of stock,’

i. 430.

Threshing grain, on the cost of, vii. 137.

machines, i, 15; 11. 348; v.
383 ; vi. 321; villi. 351.

Thripps, the, vi. 499,

“ Thrush ” in sheep, the, i. 303.

Ticks in sheep, i. 328.

Tile machiues, 1 i. 98, 148, and 17 sa 5
ili. 398; 3 iv. 370; ; v. 388, 503; vi.
318; vii. 692; vili. 354.

Tiles, cost of draining, 1, 353 ; 11, 93, 101;
iv. 370; v. 79,551; vi. 474.

manufacture of, 1. 350; ii. 93; iv.

369; v. 551; vi. 463; vii. 692.

peat, vii. 570.

—— pipes, iv. 273, 372; v. 603.

yard, on establishing a, vi. 463.

factory, cost of a, vi, 471.

kiln, i. 351; ii. 94,

-Tillering of the wheat-plant, i. 43.
Tomson, J., ou Hall farm, viii. 33.
Top-dressing grass-land, on, i. 138.
Torrington’s farm, Lord, vi, 274.
Towers, J., on the rotation of crops, i.

283.
Town manares, ii. 56; ii. 151; v. 610.
Transplanting, ii. 252.

wheat, vill. 79.

Trees, on the medical treatment of, v.
606.

Trefolium incarnatum, i, 291; iii. 336.

Tremayne, J. H., on wheat culture, v.
158.

Trenching, advantages of, i. 4.

Trench plough of Jersey, iii. 40.

— ploughing, ii. 55.

—_——— versus subsoil plough-
ing, 1. 31.

Trimmer, J., on the geology of Norfolk,
vii. 444.

Trimming fences, on, vi. 213, 336.

Tuber of the potato, vii. 303.

Turf draining, ii. 262; iii. 167,

on grafting, v. 600.

Turner, G., on hedges, vi. 479.

subsoil ploughing, v. 418.

the clover failure, i. 502.

on the white carrot, iv.

269,
Turnip beetle, ii. 195.
butterfly, 311. 306.
caterpillars, ii. 364.
cutter, 1, 16; 11. 115 App.; iii.
346; v. 382.
——— gall-weevil, iv. 119.
——— saw-fly, 11. 364.
— fly, 11. 1955; viii. 411.
‘Yurnips and beans alternately, vii. 589.
peas alternately, vii. 589.
composition of, ii. 298; iv. 533;
v. 249; viii. 140, 178, 544, 547, 558.
consumption of, 11. 169.

Turnip culture, 1. 67, 79, 390, 451; ii.
164 ; i. 250; iv. 49, 76; v.24, 40,

322; vi. 7, 355, 426, 488; vii. 41;
vill. 271, 288, 494.
— cost of, v. 24; vi. 427,
——— insect enemies of, ii. 193, 364 ;

iii. 49, 306; iv. 100.

——— manures for, i. 416, ee li. 267;
ii, 423; iv. 64, 193, 211; 358,
488 ; vii. 297; viii. 57, 225, 503, &e.,
528.

- —-— mildew, iii. 195.

——-— on drawing, 1. 160.

— on harvesting, ii. 225.

——— produce of, ii. 167, 266, &c. ; iil.
425; iv. 23, 164, 211, 285; v. 444,
450, 458, 623; vi. 63, 243, 330.

Turvill, E., on burning clay, iv. 267.

Tussac grass, iv. 17 ; v. 50; vii. 72.

Tylden, Sir J. M., on, hop-bines, as a
manure for hops, v. 604.

Uz.

Uley cultivator, ii. 109, App. ; viii. 343
vil. 119, App.

Uppleby, Ww. on peat charcoal, v. 507.

Ure, Dr., on analysis of guano, v. 287,

soils, v. ae

Urine as a manure, i. 470, 474.

composition of, i. 156,

— of man, i. 156, 497

the horse, i. 157, 490.

ox, 1. 157, 464.

——————— sheep, i. 484,

—

—E

V.

Vacey, C. R., on fibrous covering, vii.
277;
Value of different crops as food, iv. 139.
— fodder, relative, iii. 78,
land, increase in, ii, 160; vili.

100.

- turnips as food for sheep, vi.
360.
Varieties of the apple, iv. 386; vi.278.
— barley, vii. 642, &c.
————— the cherry, vi. 279,
mangold, vii. 217,

——_——— the pear, i. 391; vi. 279.
a potato, 1. 392; v. 102.
——~——— rye, vii. 353.

wheat, i.. 39, 113; ii. 65,
147, 271, 344; iii. 196, 301, 391; iv.
583; v. 3, 60; vi. 285, 566; vii. 600,
&c.; 642; vui. 71.

Vegetation indicating
fertility, v. 567, 574.

Ventilation of stables, iv. 278.

Vermin, on destroying, iii, 428.

Verney, Sir H., on Spanish phosphorite,
vi. 331,

barrenness and

Paps INDEX TO THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL.

Vetches, on the cultivation of, 1.3893; iii.
236 ; v. 339,

= early, 1 236!

Veterinary schools, i. 265,

Vibrio tritici, 11. 20; vi. 5138.

Vincent, Rev. J. V., on peat as a manure,
1. 417.

W.

Wages, ii. 186; iv. 82, 315; vii. 199.
— by task-work, vii. 139,
—-—- in Cheshire, v. 87.
—_———- Cornwall, vi. 459.
Essex, v. 17, 31, 39.
——— Gloucestershire, 1. 395,
—_———— Jutland, iii. 416,
————— Kent, vi. 261, 265, 270, 273.
—— Lincolnshire, v, 282.
———— Mecklenburg, 1. 129.
North Wales, vii. 571, 585.
— other times, vii. 120.
Schleswig, i. 379.
Suffolk, viii. 323.
Wilts, v. 177.
of a ploughman, ii, 186.
Waggons, ill. 192; iv. 491; vi. 156.
— on harnessing horses to, vi. 248.
Wagstafie, E., on turnip manure, vill, 225.
Wales, agriculture of North, vii. 533.
Walkden, T., on breaking up down-lands,
iv. 80.
Walling, clay, viii. 329.
Warmth, advantage of, viii. 30.
—— of soil, i. 202; v. 1i9.
— saves food, iv. 222.
“Warp”? of the Norfolk drift, the, vii. 465.
Warping, on, iv. 295; v. 398.
Warpland, on draining, vii. 266.
Waste lands, enclosure of, iv. 307.
improvement, 1. 254 ; vi. 40,
79, 444; viii. 321.
manure, 1. 10; vi. 268.
Water furrowing-machine, v- 110.
— gas, 1. 45.
——— ‘in the head ” in sheep, 1. 295.
— in edible roots, viii. 173, 184, 192,
537.
— of dungheays, i. 479.
Water-lifting machine, v. 387-
Water-meadows, 1. 150; iv.313; v. 167;
vi. 39, 518.

——

cost of, 1. 367.
Duke of Peortland’s,

—_—_—_—_—__—— produce of, 1. 365.

Water of the Thames, i. 152.

relations of soil to, 1. 48, 190, 195,

213; v. 119.

— the food of plants, i. 148.

— urine should be diluted by, i. 148.

Watson, J., on reclaiming heath-land, vi.
79.

Way, Professor, on fairy-rings in pasture,
vil. 549.

—_—_—. — the ashes of plants,
vii, 593; viii, 134.

Weaning of lambs, viii. 5.

Weald of Kent, the, vi. 281.

Web-harrow, ii. 115, App.

Webb, Rev. D., on varieties of wheat, iv.
585.

Weeds, v. 572.

Weevil, the, vii. 95.

— in peas and beans, the, vii. 405.

— peas, vill. 399.

— the turnip, iv. 119.

Weighing-machine, vi. 317; vii. 691.

Weight of cattle ascertained by measure-
ment, i11, 337,

—— ploughs, as
draught, 1. 143, 230.

soils, i, 179.

Welles, EK. F., on Argyleshire and Here-
ford cattle, 1. 348.

Wheat, animalcules in, 11. 20; vi. 513.

composition of, iv. 525.

ashes of, vil. 58,

affecting their

660, 666.

Cornish cultivation of, v. 158.
cost of harvesting, vii. 49.
culture, cost of, v. 6.

—— of, i. 399; i1. 248, 297,
391, 395, 897; v. 328; vi. 14, 423;
vil. 48, 54; viii. 60, 284, 300.
-——— diseases of, 11. 1, 220; v. 329;

vill. 74,
experiments on different kinds, i.
39, 113,
——— Hopeton, 11. 344.
——— manures for, vil. 676 ; vili. 67.
midge, ii. 22; iti. 86; vi. 1387,
493 ; vii. 273.
—narrow and wide drilling of, i, 294.
nitrate of soda applied to, i. 424,

——$———

Kes

— on burnt clay, for, vi. 477.

harvesting, vill. 75.

——— prices of, 1. 62, 82.

produce of, i. 41,74, 88, 99, 115,

117, 251, 255, 261, 294, 399, 412,

424, &c.; 1. 28, 70, 118, 130, 137,

142, 147, 344; iii. 301; iv. 23, 80,

174, 276, 583; v. 20, 30, 35, 115, 276,

397, 606; vi. 15, 193, 233, 271, 285,

328, 333, 407, 413, 570; vii. 173, 537,

600; viii. 72, 243, 248, 566.

sowing, i. 11.

straw, composition of, iii. 409 ;
vil. 660.

——— to clean, ii. 8.

——— varieties of, i. 39, 113; ii. 65,
147, 271, 344; iii. 196, 301, 391; iv.
583; v. 3, 60; vi. 285, 566; vii. 600,
642; viii. 71.

Wheel ploughs, i, 140.

VOLUMES ONE TO EIGHT. ys

Whey, butter, vi. 121.

Whin, see Gorse.

White carrot, see Belgian.

—- mustard, v. 358; vii. 31.

—-R., on draining and subsoiling, i.
30, 248 ; 11. 846; iv. 172.

—— the Kerry and Alderney

cows, ii. 420,

H., on Cheshire cheese, vi. 102.

Widdrington, Captain, on the agriculture
of Spain, iv. 344.

Wiggins, J., on the manufacture of tiles, i,
350 }

Wilson, Hon. H. W., on nitrate of soda,
li. 136.

Williams, W.J., on early vetches, iii. 236,

———. G. M.,, on tenant-right, vi. 44.

Willow, as fence-wood, vi. 226.

Wilts, agriculture of, v. 161.

Wingate, W. B., on improving peat soils,
1. 407.

Winnowing machines, i.
382; vi. 322 ; vill. 348.

Winter-keep for stock, iii, 202; vi. 76.

69, App. ; v.

Wireworm, the, v. 180.

affected by Crosskill’s clod-
crusher, iv. 560,

Wolds of Lincolnshire, iv. 297.

Wood, composition of, 11. 253.

— ashes, composition of, vii. 219.

Wood, H., on liquid manure-carts,i, 501.

Wool, merino, 1. 128, 131.

Wools, exhibition of, iii. 219.

Worms in the soil, action of, vil. 266.

Wounds in sheep, i. 321.

Wright, J., on short-horns, vil. 201.

Wurzel, Mangold, see Mangold-wurzel.

Yi.

Youatt, W., on detection of pregnancy in
mares and cows, i. 170.
Young stock, to rear, v. 74.

Z.

Zetland, Earl of, on nitrate of soda as a
manure, 1, 280,

ILLUSTRATIONS.

Anatysis of soils, instruments employed
in, 1, 50, 182, 186, 195, 208; v. 621.

Bean flies, vil. 416.

hook, viii. 282.
Beart’s tile-machine, ii. 98.
Bee-board, 1. 503.

Belgian implements, ii. 58.
Biddle’s scarifier, 1. 357.

Cabbage butterfly, ini, 322.
moth, &c., iv. 137.
Carrot fork, viii, 292,
Charlbury subsoil-plough, i. 434 ; 111. 106.
Cheshire dairy implements, v. iii.; vi. 124.
Clay “beetle,” viii. 313.
——- drainer, iii. 104,
kiln, vii. 247,
Click beetle, v. 215.
Clod-riddle, viii. 318.
Cooking apparatus, ii1. 95,
Cultivator, 1. 454,
tines, 111. 123.

Dairy implements of Cheshire, v, iii. ; vi.
Diagrams of carts, 11. 81.

Dibble, a, iii. 253; viii. 283.
Dibbling-wheel, iii. 164; viii. 277.
Drainage implements, iv. 29, 326, &c.
Drain-level, vi. 247.

Draught-bars, iv. 494.

Dung-forks, v. 323.

Dynamometer, i. 143,

Farm-buildings, iv. 9-17; vi, 27635 viii.
329, 327.

Figures of various wild plants, v. 573.

Finlayson’s scarifier, 111. 120.

Flax beetle, viii. 376.

scutcher, viii, 382, &c.

Fungi on diseased potatoes, vii, 309, 311,
313, 363, 364, 366, 369, 370, 353.

Garratt’s horse-hoe, iv. 79.

Geological map and sections of Comal
vi. 462,

—- sections of Cambridgeshire,

vil. 37,

— of Norfolk, vii, 482-
486.

Gorse fence, vi. 385, 386.

- mallet, vi. 388.

- mill, vi. 397, 527.

Grain moth, vii. 114.

Hainault scythe, v. 611.

F.annam’s harvest-cart, ii. 73.

Harrows, 111. 118.

Hart and King’s ploughs, i. 223.

Hedge-tools, vi. 214.

Horse-crib, v. 320.

Jersey cow, v. 46. \

— trench-plough, iii. 47.

Land presser, v. 110.
Limestone meter, v. 621.

24 INDEX TO THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL.

Linseed crushers, vill. 393.
Liquid-manure cart, 1. 502.
tank, i. 499.

Map of Cornwall, vi. 462.
Lincolushire, iv. 303.
Northumberland, viii. 436.
North Wales, vii. 588.
Suffolk, viii. 262.

the Fen District, viii. 132,
Mildew, ii. 220.

One-horse carts, vi. 161.

Paring-spade, vi. 101.

Pea-weevil, &c., and plant lice, vii. 442,
443.

Plan of beet-field, viii. 218.

bog land, vi. 186.

cottage, iv. 369; v. 240, &c.

drained field, iv. 415.

peat charring-ground, spade, and

kiln, vii. 544.

tile-yard, i. 350-356; vi. 475, &c.

water-meaclow, 1. 346, 359.

Plant lice, iii. 77.

Ploughs, i. 148, 220, 223; iii. 108, 112,
356.

Plough-heads, iii. 114.

Ploughed land, iii. 113.

Potato-grub, vii. 335,

house, vil. 379.

—-~ leaves, vii. 373.

——- plant, vii. 300.

—- root, vil. 302.

— scoop, vi. 553.

Pulverizing plough, iii. 356, 358,

Rack Heath plough, i. 253.

— subsoil-plough, ii. 37.
Rape-seed butterfly, ii1. 323.
Rippling-machine, viii. 375.

Scotch plough, i, 220.

Section, geological, vii. 37, 482, &c.

of beet-heap, viii. 221.

— of compost-heaps, i. 138.

of drains, 1.34; iv. 27, 28, 417,
418, 420; v. 558; viii. 278.

drained land, ii. 101; iv. 338;
vi. 183, 490, &c.; vii. 58.

of drain-tiles, iv. 48.

of fence, vi. 205, 336, &c.

of hayrick, v. 622.

of potato, vi, 535, 536, 540, 541;
vii. 325, 333.

of ploughed land, vii. 57.

of roads, 11. 359.

of tile machinery, i. 356.

of town sewers, v. 610.

*¢ Shack-fork,” viii. 297.

Sheep-hurdle, v. 328; viii. 305.

Shock of wheat, v. 329.

Sieves for analysis, i. 50.

Sluices, i. 3'74.

Stacking stage, viii. 302.

Steam-engine, vi. 462.

Steaming apparatus, v. 283; vii. 404.
Subsoil-plough, i, 32, 249; ii, 421.
Surface caterpillars, iv. 138.

Tile-kiln and sheds, ii. 96.

To tame a savage bull, iv. 559.
Turnip-fly, ii, 213.

saw-fly, ii. 388.

Tussac grass, vii. 75.

Uley cultivator, iii. 122.
Underground potato-stem, vii, 387,

Waggon-pole and draught-bar, vi. 250.
Wedge-shaped fence, vi. 215.

Wheat fly, v. 506; vi. 517,

grub, v. 505.

Willow fence, vi. 226.

Y moth, the iii. 78.

London ; Printed by Witt1am Ciowes and Sons, Stamford-street.

Ropal Agricultural Society of England,
1846—1847.

PBresiVent.
THE EARL OF EGMONT,

Trustees.

Acland, Sir Thomas Dyke, Bart., M.P.
Braybrooke, Lord

Clive, Hon. Robert Henry, M.P.
Graham, Rt. Hon. Sir Jas., Bart., M.P.
Lawley, Sir Francis, Bart,

Neeld, Joseph, M.P.

Portman, Lord
Pusey, Philip, M.P.
Richmond, Duke of
Rutland, Duke of
Spencer, Earl

Sutherland, Duke of

Vice-PBrestVeits,

Buckingham, Duke of
Chichester, Earl of
Downshire, Marquis of
Ducie, Earl of
Egmont, Earl of
Exeter, Marquis of

Fitzwilliam, Earl

Gooch, Sir Thomas Sherlock, Bart.
Hardwicke, Earl of

Talbot, Earl

Wellington, Duke of

Yarborough, Earl of

Members of Council.

Austen, Colonel, M.P.

Barclay. David, M.P.

Baring, Rt. Hon. W. Bingham, M.P,
Barker, Thomas Raymond

Bennett, Samuel

Bramston, Thomas William, M.P.
Brandreth, Humphrey

Browne, W. R.

Buller, Edward, M.P.

Burke, J. French

Challoner, Colonel

Clilders, John Walbanke
Crompton, John Bell

Druce, Samuel

Ellman, John

Garrett, Richard

Grantham, Stephen

Hatherton, Lord

Hayter, William Goodenough, M.P,
Hillyard, C.

Hobbs, William Fisher

Hudson, John

Hyett, William Henry

Johnstone, Sir John V. B., Bart., M.P.
Jonas, Samuel

Kimberley, George

Kinder, John

King, Fielder

Lemon, Sir Charles, Bart., M.P.
Miles, William, M.P.

Milward, Richard

Pendarves, Edward W. Wynne, M.P,
Price, Sir Robert, Bart., M.P.
Pym, Francis

Ridley, Sir Matthew White, Bart.
Sewell, Professor

Shaw, William

Shaw, William, Junicr

Shelley, John Villiers

Slaney, Robert Aglionby

Smith, Robert !
Sotheron, T. H. S. Estcourt, M.P.
Southampton, Lord

Stansfield, W. R. Crompton, M.P.
Stokes, Charles

Thompson, Henry Stephen
Torrington, Viscount

Turner, George

Umbers, Thomas

Wilson, Henry

Secretary.
JAMES HUDSON, 12, Hanover Square, London.

Consulting-Chemist—

Consulting-Engineer—Jostau Parkes, C.E., 11, Great College Street, Westminster.
Seedsmen—Tuomas Gisss & Co., Corner of Halfmoon Street, Piccadilly.
Publisher—Joun Murray, 50, Albemarle Street.

Bankers—H., A.M., C., A. R., G., and He. DrumMonp, Charing-Cross.

VOL. VIII.

b

Wonovary Members.

Austria, His Imperial Highness the Archduke John of.

Buck.anp, The Very Rey. WiLL1AM, D.D., Dean of Westminster.

Carr, Captain J. Srantey, Duchy of Lauenburg.

Cotman, Henry, Agricultural Commissioner of the State of Massachusetts.
Davuseny, Cuarzzs, M.D., Professor of Rural Economy, University of Oxford.

De La Becue, Sir Henry Tuomas, Director of the Ordnance Geological Survey.
Everett, The Hon. Epwarp, President of Cambridge University, U. S.

Fownes, Dr. GeorGe, Professor of Practical Chemistry, University College, London.
GraHAM, Tuomas, Professor of Chemistry, University College, London.

HeEnsLow, The Rev. J. S., Professor of Botany, University of Cambridge.

Hormann, Dr., Professor of Chemistry, Royal College of Chemistry, London,
JOHNSTON, JAmEs F,. W., Reader in Chemistry, University of Durham.

Liesi¢, Baron, University of Giessen.

Morcuison, Sir Roverick I., K.S.P., President of the Royal Geographical Society.
Prayrair, Dr. Lyon, Chemist to the Ordnance.

Sorty, Epwarp, Professor of Chemistry, Hortic, Society, and Addiscombe College.
SpRENGEL, Dr. Cuar_es, Secretary to the Pomeranian Agricultural Society.
STEVENSON, The Hon. ANDREW, Washington.

VAN DE Weyer, M. Sytv1an, Belgian Minister.

Way, Joun THOMAs,

Girone 5

Ropal Agricultural Society of England.

GENERAL MEETING,
12, HANOVER SQUARE, SaTuRDAY, May 22, 1847.

REPORT OF THE COUNCIL.

Tue Council have to report, that, since the last General Meet-
ing of the Society in December, they have had their attention
particularly directed to the following general subjects of inquiry,
v1Z. :—
I, FINANCES;

Il. Country MeetTINes;

III. Diseases or CATTLE GENERALLY;

IV. Anatysis oF ASHES OF PLanTs.

At that time the funded property of the Society consisted of
70002. Stock; it has now been raised by further investments of
capital to the amount of 8999/. Stock: since the same date the
sum of 3671/. has been received on account of annual subscrip-
tions and life compositions, of which 487/. consisted of arrears
paid up on account of former years. The following arrears,
howeyer, amounting to 3862/., still remain unpaid :—

PONS ee i en Ea

Perec or en Be eh SoG

PAG faldos. ved ioaess

ISAG TE ols ie nectce wu Shf
In order to afford increased facilities to Members in the payment
of their subscriptions, the Finance Committee have made arrange-
ments for their collection within the range of the London district.

b2

lv Report to the General Meeting.

During the last half-year, 45 Members have died, 140 have been
struck off the list, and 147 new Members have been elected.
The Society now consists of
91 Life Governors,
195 Annual Governors,
607 Life Members,
5478 Annual Members,
20 Honorary Members ;
making a total of 6391 Members. The Finance Committee will
lay before the Members a statement of the accounts of the So-
ciety for the half-year ending on the 31st of December last, as
audited, agreeably with the bye-laws, on the 21st instant, by the
auditors elected on the part of the Society.

The Council have received from the authorities of Northamp-
ton the liberal subscription of 1200. towards the expenses of the
Country Meeting of the Society to be held in that town in the
month of July next; and on account of the well-known position
of Northampton, its central situation, and the ready access to it
from every part of the country, there is every reason to expect a
numerous assemblage of visitors. From the circumstance of a
larger number of implements having been entered for this Meet-
ing than on any former occasion, and in consequence of the very
extensive applications daily making by intended exhibitors for
eniries of stock, the Council anticipate a most gratifying exhibition
in each of the departments of the show. The local authorities of
the town are engaged in making every arrangement for the com-
fort, convenience, and economy of the visitors expected on the
eccasion; and the directors of the London and North-Western
Railway have signified their willingness to promote, by every
means within their power, the convenience of the Society and the
accommodation of the public generally during the period of the
Meeting.—The Council have decided that the Rev. Mr. Hux-
table should be requested to favour the Members, on the Tuesday
evening in the week of Meeting, with a statement introductory
to a practical discussion on the subject of the Growth of Turnips

by means of artificial manures, the particular combination of

Report to the General Meeting. v

manure best adapted for particular cases, and the readiest mode
of detecting adulterations in the several preparations now so gene-
rally on sale; and that Professor Way should also be requested
to favour the Members on the same occasion with a Scientific
Outline of the conditions affecting the growth of the turnip, and
a chemical explanation of the action of the different manures em-
ployed. ‘The Council have further decided that, on the Wednes-
day evening in the week of meeting, Mr. Thompson should be
requested to favour the Members with a statement introductory
to a practical discussion on the comparative advantages and
disadvantages of the Thick and Thin Sowing of Wheat. The
Council have no doubt that the discussion of these important
topics will lead to the communication of many valuable results of
practical experience. The Counc:l kave decided to hold the
Country Meeting for the Yorkshire District, in the year 1848,
at the City of York; and they have defined the District of the
Country Meeting of 1851 to be that comprising the Counties of
Kent, Surrey, and Sussex.

The Council have decided to discontinue, after Michaelmas
1848, the appropriation of the sum of 200/. per annum to the
Royal Veterinary Coliege; and to appoint a Committee to re-
commend the best means of improving the Veterinary Art, in its
special application to the Diseases of Cattle, Sheep, and Pigs,
conformably with the eighth object indicated in the charter of the
Society.

Professors Way and Ogston having conducted the important
chemical investigation confided to them, on the inorganic sub-
stances which are found constantly to occur in the constitution of
plants, their report of the results obtained during their research
has been made known through the medium of the Society’s Jour-
nal ; and they are still actively engaged in the prosecution of their
arduous task. ‘The Council earnestly hope that those Members
of the Society who have time and opportunity for the purpose will
avail themselves of the striking facts adduced in that communi-
cation, and endeavour to ascertain, by actual trial, the practical
value of the inorganic elements essentially required by cereal

vi Report to the General Meeting.

crops to complete their growth under the most favourable circum-
stances.

The Council have the satisfaction of witnessing in every direc-
tion the beneficial effects resulting from the operations of the
Society, in the increased energy with which all parties interested
in agricultural pursuits concur in their efforts to advance, as the
mainspring of national prosperity, a sound and scientific agricul-
tural practice, combined with every available means by which the
produce of the land may be most abundantly, and at the same
time most economically, increased.

By order of the Council,
(Signed) JAMES HUDSON,

Secretary.
London, May 21, 1847.

Vil

Statement of Accounts.

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‘OF8ST “ENAL-NOdD-ATLLSVOMAN ?}LNQOOOV ONILENH AULNAQOD IVIORdS

Essays and Reports.

I. AWARDS IN 1847.

To Tuomas L. Cotsecx, of East Denton Cottage, Newcastle-on-Tyne,
the prize of Fifty Sovereigns, for the best Report on the Farming
of Northumberland.

To Huew Rayneirp, of Hengraye, Bury St. Edmunds, the prize of
Fifty Sovereigns, for the best Report on the Farming of Suffolk.

To Epwarp Rozgerts, jun., of Kingswood, Baldock, Herts, the prize
of Twenty Sovereigns, for the best Essay on the Management of
Wheat.

To Epwarp Jarman Lance, of Blackwater, Bagshot, the prize of Ten
Sovereigns, offered by Major Curreis, M.P., one of the Governors
of the Society, for the best account of the Hop Fly, and of the
means for effecting its destruction or preventing its ravages.

To Georce Epmunp Raynazirp, of Hengrave, near Bury St. Edmunds,
Suffolk, the prize of Twenty Sovereigns, for the best Essay on the
Cultivation of Beet.

To Tuomas Rowxanpson, of St. Ann Street, Liverpool, the prize of
Ten Sovereigns, for the best Statement on the Burning of Land for
Manure.

To Rozerr Smirn, of Burley-on-the-Hill, near Oakham, Rutlandshire,
the prize of Twenty Sovereigns, for the best account of the Manage-
ment of Sheep.

To Joun ALGERNON CLARKE, of Long Sutton, Lincolnshire, the prize
of Fifty Sovereigns, for the best Report of the Great Level of the
Fens, including the Fens of South Lincolnshire.

xs Prizes for Essays and Reports.

II. PRIZES FOR 1848.

All Prizes of the Royal Agricultural Society of England are open
to general competition.

I. FarMING oF THE NortH RIDING OF YORKSHIRE.

Firry SovEREIGNS will be given for the best Report on the Farming
of the North Riding of Yorkshire. ~
Competitors will be expected to describe—
1. The character of the soils of the county.
2. The peculiarities of the agricultural management.
3. The improvements effected in the farming of the North Riding
of Yorkshire since the Report of John Tuke in the year 1800.
4, The improvements still required in the Riding generally, as to
the higher culture of existing farms, the reclamation of waste
lands, and the condition of the agricultural labourer.

N.B. The writers of County Reports are requested, if possible, not to exceed the
length of 40, or at most of 50 printed pages.

II. Farmine or tHE East RipinG or YorKSHIRE.

Firty SovEREIGNsS will be given for the best Report on the Farming
of the East Riding of Yorkshire.
Competitors will be expected to describe—
1. The character of the soils of the county.
2. The peculiarities of the agricultural management,
3. The improvements effected in the farming of the East Riding
of Yorkshire since the Report of H. E. Strickland in the year
1812.
4. The improvements still required in the Riding generally, as to
the higher culture of éxisting farms, the reclamation of waste
lands, and the condition of the agricultural labourer.

III. Farmine or tHE West Ripine or YorRKSHIRE.

Firry Sovereians will be given for the best Report on the Farming
of the West Riding of Yorkshire.
Competitors will be expected to describe—
1. The character of the soils of the county.
2. The peculiarities of the agricultural management.

Prizes for Essays and Reports. xl

3. The improvements effected in the farming of the West Riding
of Yorkshire since the Report of Robert Brown in the year
1799.

4, The improvements still required in the Riding generally, as to
the higher culture of existing farms, the reclamation of waste
lands, and the condition of the agricultural labourer.

IV. Farmine or GLOUCESTERSHIRE.

Firty Soverrtens will be given for the best Report on the Farming
of Gloucestershire. : |
Competitors will be expected to describe—
1. The character of the soils of the county.
2. The peculiarities of the agricultural management.
3. The improvements effected in the farming of Gloucestershire
since the Report of Thomas Rudge in the year 1813.
4, The improvements still required in the county generally, as to
the higher culture of existing farms, the reclamation of waste
lands, and the condition of the agricultural labourer.

V. FARMING OF DEVONSHIRE.

Firry SovEREIens will be given for the best Report on the Farming
of Devonshire.
Competitors will be expected to describe—
1. The character of the soils of the county.
. The peculiarities of the climate.
The course of cropping in the various parts of the county.
. The management of the orchards.
. The formation and management of the water-meadows, both
in the valleys and on the hill-sides.
6. The improvements which have been made since the Report of
Charles Vancouver in the year 1808, and those which are still
required.

ok OO bD

VI. Cattue.

Tuirty SoveREIGNs will be given for the best account of the Ma-
nagement of Cattle.
Competitors will be required to describe—-
1. The various breeds of cattle.
2. Their respective merits for milking, working, and feeding pur-
poses.
3. The various modes of breeding and rearing; of working; and
of fattening.

Xl Prizes for Essays and Reports.

VII. Lime.

Twenty Sovereicns will be given for the best Report on the use
of Lime as a Manure.

Competitors will be required to state—

1. The kinds of soil to which lime is usually applied.

. The properties of the various kinds of lime.
. The mode of application, and quantity to be applied.
. Its effect on various crops.
. How far high cultivation supersedes the use of lime.

or BP co bo

VII. Grass-Lanp.

Tuirty Soveretens will be given for the best Essay on the Manage-
ment of Grass-Land.

Competitors will be required to attend to the following points :-—

1. Actual practice in management of downs and inferior pastures,
meadows, and grazing-ground.

. Time of applying manure.
Haymaking.
Consumption of after-grass.
Eradication of weeds and coarse grasses.

oR WN

EX.; Hops:

TwEnty Sovereigns will be given for the best account of the best
mode of Managing Hops, in its various branches.

X. Farm-Horsss.

Twenty SovereEiens will be given for the best Essay on the Ma-
nagement of Farm-Horses.
Competitors will be required to attend to the following points :—
1. The various breeds.
. Breeding and rearing.
. Keeping, whether in stables or in the open air.
. Feeding, in different seasons.

XI. Hemp.

Twenty SovereiIcns will be given for the best Essay on the Culti-
vation of Hemp.
Competitors will be required to state—

1. The soils suited to hemp.

2. Mode of culture.

3. Mode of obtaining the fibre.

4, Average amount and yalue of crop per acre.

me W bo

Prizes for Essays and Reports. Xi

XII. Pueuro-PNEUMONIA.

Firty Soverztens will be given for the best Report on the Pleuro-
Pneumonia amongst Cattle.
Competitors will be required to state—
1. Mode of infection.
2. Precautions against infection, ‘
3. Premonitory symptoms.
4. Treatment of the disease.

These Essays must be sent to the Secretary, at 12, Hanover Square, London,
on or before March \st, 1848.

Contributors of Papers are requested to retain Copies of their Communications, as
the Society cannot be responsible for their return,

RULES OF COMPETITION FOR PRIZE ESSAYS.

1. All information contained in Prize Essays shall be founded on experi-
ence or observation, and not on simple reference to books or other sources.

2. Drawings, specimens, or models, drawn or constructed to a stated
scale, shall accompany writings requiring them.

3. All competitors shall enclose their names and addresses in a sealed
cover, on which only their motto, and the subject of their Essay, and the
number of that subject in the Prize list of the Society, shall be written.

4. The President or Chairman of the Council for the time being shall
open the cover on which the motto designating the Essay to which the Prize
has been awarded is written, and shall declare the name of the author.

5. The Chairman of the Journal Committee shall alone be empowered to
open the motto-paper of such Essays, not obtaining the Prize, as he may
think likely to be useful for the Society’s objects, with a view of consulting
the writer confidentially as to his willingness to place such paper at the
disposal of the Journal Committee.

6. The copyright of all Essays gaining prizes shall belong to the Society,
who shall accordingly have the power to publish the whole or any part of
such Essays; and the other Essays will be returned on the application of the
writers ; but the Society do not make themselves responsible for their loss.

7. The Society are not bound to award a prize unless they consider one
of the Essays deserving of it.

8. In all reports of experiments the expenses shall be accurately detailed.

9. The imperial weights and measures only are those by which caicula-
tions are to be made.

10. No prize shall be given for any Essay which has been already in print.

11. Prizes may be taken in money or plate at the option of the successful
eandidate.

12. All Essays must be addressed to the Secretary, at the house of the
Society.

(oy sexi)

General Meetings of 1847—8.

The GreneRaL DeceMBER MeeEt«NG, in London, on Saturday,
December 11, 1847.

The Generat May Meetine, in London, on Monday, May
23, 1848.

Tue Annuat Country Meerrine, at York, in 1848.

Corrace Economy.—Mr. Main’s article on Cottage Gardening, and Mr. Burke’s
compilation on Cottage Economy and Cookery, have each been reprinted from the
Journal in a separate form, for cheap distribution. Hither or both of these tracts may
be obtained by members at the rate of 1s. per dozen copies, on their enclosing to the
Secretary a Post-office money-order for the number required; at the same time stating
the most eligible mode of conveyance by which the copies can be transmitted to their
address. They are also sold to the public, at 2d. each, by the Society’s Publisher,
Mr. Murray, 50, Albemarle Street, London.

VoLuMEs OF THE JouRNAL.—The first Volume of the Journal consists of four parts,
the second and third Volumes of three parts each (the second and third parts of the
third Volume being comprised in a double number), and the fourth of two parts. The
Journal is now published half-yearly, namely, the first half-volume for each year
about the beginning of July, and the second about the end of December or beginning
of January.

SupscripTions may be paid to the Secretary, in the most direct and satisfactory
manner, by means of Post-office orders, to be obtained on application at any of the
principal Post-offices throughout the kingdom. They are due in advance, for each
year, on the lst of January; and are in arrear if unpaid by the 1st of June ensuing.
No Member is entitled to the Journal, or to any other privileges of the Society,
whose subscription is in arrear.

Ropal Agricultural Soctetp of Cuglany,

1847—1848.

PresiVent.
THE EARL OF YARBOROUGH.

Trustees.

Acland, Sir Thomas Dyke, Bart., M.P.
Braybrooke, Lord

Clive, Hon. Robert Henry, M.P.
Graham, Rt. Hon. Sir Jas., Bart., M.P.
Lawley, Sir Francis, Bart.

Neeld, Joseph, M.P.

Portman, Lord
Pusey, Philip, M.P.
Richmond, Duke of
Rutland, Duke of
Spencer, Earl
Sutherland, Duke of

Piee-resivents,

Chichester, Earl of
Downshire, Marquis of
Ducie, Earl of
Kemont, Earl of
Exeter, Marquis of
Fitzwilliam, Earl

Gooch, Sir Thomas Sherlock, Bart.
Hardwicke, Earl of

Hill, Viscount

Talbot, Earl

Wellington, Duke of

Yarborough, Earl of

4iembers of Council.

Austen, Colonel

Barclay, David, M.P.

Barker, Thomas Raymond
Barnett, Charles

Bennett, Samuel

Booth, John

Bramston, Thomas William, M.P.
Brandreth, Humphrey

Browne, W. R.

Burke, J. French

Challoner, Colonel

Childers, John Walbanke, M.P.
Crompton, John Bell

Denison, John Evelyn, M.P,
Druce, Samuel

Ellman, John

Garrett, Richard

Grantham, Stephen

Hamond, Anthony

Harvey, Robert Blyth

Hayter, William Goodenough, M.P.
Hillyard, C.

Hobbs, William Fisher

Howard, Hon. Captain Henry, M.P.
Hudson, John

Hyett, William Henry

Johnstone, Sir John V. B., Bart., M.P.
Jonas, Samuel

Kimberley, George

Kinder, John

Lemon, Sir Charles, Bart., M.P.
Miles, William, M.P.

Milward, Richard

Pendarves, Edward W. Wynne, M.P,
Price, Sir Robert, Bart., 41.P,
Pym, Francis

Ridley, Sir Matthew White, Bart.
Sewell, Professor

Shaw, William

Shaw, William, junior

Shelley, John Villiers

Slaney, Robert Aglionby, M.P.
Smith, Robert

Southampton, Lord

Stansfield, W. R. Crompton, M.P.
Stokes, Charles

Thompson, Henry Stephen

Turner, George

Umbers, Thomas

Wilson, Henry

Seevetarp.
JAMES HUDSON, 12, Hanover Square, London.

Consulting-Chemist—Joun Tuomas Way, 23, Holles Street, Cavendish Square.
Consulting-Engineer—Jostan Parkes, C.E., 11, Great College Street, Westminster,
Seedsmen—Tuomas Gipss & Co., Corner of Halfmoon Street, Piccadilly.
Publisher—Joun Murray, 50, Albemarle Street.

Bankers—H., A.M., C., A.R., G., and H. Drummonp, Charing-Cross.

MOL Vili.

c

( xvi)

Bonorary fHembers.

Austria, His Imperial Highness the Archduke John of,

Bucktanp, The Very Rev. Wit11am, D.D., Dean of Westminster.

Carr, Captain J. Srantey, Duchy of Lauenburg.

Cotman, Henry, Agricultural Commissioner of the State of Massachusetts.
Dauseyy, Cuartes, M.D., Professor of Rural Economy, University of Oxford.

De ta Becue, Sir Henry Tuomas, Director of the Ordnance Geological Survey.
Everett, The Hon. Epwarp, President of Cambridge University, U. S.

Fownes, Dr. Georce, Professor of Practical Chemistry, University College, London.
Grauam, Tuomas, Professor of Chemistry, University College, London.

Henstow, The Rev. J. S., Professor of Botany, University of Cambridge.

Hormann, Dr., Professor of Chemistry, Royal College of Chemistry, London.
JouNsTON, James F. W., Reader in Chemistry, University of Durham.

Lizsie¢, Baron, University of Giessen. -

Murcuison, Sir Roperick I., K.S.P., President of the Royal Geographical Society.
Piayrair, Dr. Lyon, Chemist to the Ordnance.

Sotty, Epwarp, Professor of Chemistry, Hortic. Society, and Addiscombe College.
SpRENGEL, Dr. Cuar.Es, Secretary to the Pomeranian Agricultural Society.
STEVENSON, The Hon. ANDREw, Washington. |

VAN DE Weyer, M. Sytvian, Belgian Minister.

Way, Joun Tuomas, Consulting-Chemist to the R.A.S. of E.

C oavit)

SHMeeting at Northampton,

PRINCIPAL DAY OF THE SHOW, JULY 22, 1847,

AWARD OF PRIZES.
Cattie: I. Short-Horns.

Joun Parxinson, of Ley Fields, near Newark: the Prize of Firry
SOVEREIGNS, for his 4 years 11 months and 38 days-old Short-
horned Bull; bred by Thomas Lax, of Ravensworth, near Rich-
mond, Yorkshire.

Joun Booru, of Killerby, near Catterick: the Prize of Twenty SovE-
REIGNS, for his 2 years 9 months and 1 week-old Short-horned
Bull; bred by himself.

WILLIAM Smita, of West Rasen, near Market Rasen: the Prize of
Twenty Soverriens, for his 2 years and 6 months-old Short-
horned Bull; bred by Thomas Lax, of Ravensworth, near Rich-
mond, Yorkshire.

Wituiam Linton, of Sheriff Hutton, near York: the Prize of TEN
Sovererens, for his 1 year and 7 months-old Short-horned Bull ;
bred by himself.

Ricuarp Boorn, of Warlaby, near Northallerton: the Prize of Twenty
SoverEiens, for his 3 years 2 months and 3 weeks-old Short-
horned Cow ; bred by himself.

Marquis oF Exeter, of Burghley House, near Stamford: the Prize
of Ten SovEretens, for his 7 years and 3months-old Short-horned -
Cow; bred by himself.

Ricuarp Booru, of Warlaby, near Northallerton: the Prize of FirreEen
SovEREIGNs, for his 2 years 3 months and 3 weeks-old Short-
horned in-calf Heifer : ; bred by himself.

RicHarp Boot, of Warlaby, near Northallerton: the Prize of TEN
SovEREtGNS, for his 1 year 4 months and 2 weeks-old Short-horned
Yearling Heifer; bred by himself.

eZ

XVIL Award of Prizes at Northampton.
Cartie: Il. Herejords.

SamucnL Aston, of Lynch Court, near Leominster: the Prize of Pirry
Sovereiens, for his 3 years and 6 months-old Hereford Bull; bred
by himself.

James Consett, of The Sheriffs, Lyonshall, near Leominster: the Prize
of Twenty Soverriens, for his 4 years 8 months and 13 days-old
Hereford Bull; bred by himself.

Georer Pirt, of Wellington, near Hereford: the Prize of Twenty
Sovereriens, for his 1 year and 8 months-old Hereford Bull ;
bred by himself.

Joun Netson Carpenter, of Eardisland, near Leominster: the Prize
of Ten Sovereiens, for his 1 year and 11 months-cld Hereford
Bull; bred by himself.

Witiram Auuart, of Glinton, near Peterborough: the Prize of Twenty
SoverriIGns, for his 5 years and 2 months-old Hereford in-calf
Cow; bred by Richard Whiteman, of Ashford, Herefordshire.

Samvurnt Aston, of Lynch Court, near Leominster: the Prize of ‘Tren
Sovereiens, for his 10 years and 4 months-old Hereford in-ealf
Cow; bred by the Rev. J. R. Smythies, of Grey Friars, Colchester.

Eowarp Wituiiams, of Lowes Court, near Hay: the Prize of Firrren
SOVEREIGNS, for his 2 years 10 months and 6 days-old Hereford
in-calf Heifer; bred by John Nelson Carpenter, of Mardisland,
near Leominster.

SAMUEL Aston, of Lynch Court, near Leominster: the Prize of Tren
SoveREIGNS, for his 1 year and 10 months-old Hereford Yearling
Heifer; bred by himself.

Carrie: IL]. Devons.

Tuomas Benn, of Bishop’s-Lydeard, near Taunton: the Prize of lirry
SovEREIGNS, for his 3 years and 6 momiths-old Devon Bull; bred
by Richard Merson, of North Molton, Devon.

Duxe or Mancuestrer, cf Kimbolton Castle, Hunts: the Prize of
Twenty Soveretans, for his 2 years and 11 months-old Devon
Bull; bred by himself.

Duke or Mancnester, of Kimbolton Castle, Hunts: the Prize of
Twenty Sovereriens, for his § years and 3 months-old pure Devon

Cow; bred by the late Duke of Norfolk, at Fornham Abbey, near
Bury St. Edmunds.

Groncr Turner, of Barton, near Exeter: the Prize of Ten Sovr-
REIGNS, for his 9 years-old Pure Devon Cow}; bred by John Moge-
ridge, of Molland, Deyon,

Award of Prizes at Northampton. XIX

Evwarp Popr, of Mapperton, near Beaminster: the Prize of Firrren
Sovereigns, for his 2 years and 4 months-old Pure Devon in-calf
Heifer; bred by himself.

4

James Hour, of Knowle House, near Dunster: the Prize of Tren
SovEREIens, for his ] year and 4 months-old Devon Heifer; bred
by himself.

Catrite: IV. Any Breed (not qualified to compete in the foregoing
Classes).

Wititram Umsers, of Wappenbury, near Leamington: the Prize of
FirTEEN Sovereriens, for his 6 years and 4 months-old Pure
Long-horned in-milk Cow; bred by himself.

Dvuxe or Bucxinenam Anp Cuanpos, of Stowe, near Buckingham:
the Prize of 'TsN Soverricns, for his 2 years 1L months and
2 days-old Pure Long-horned in-cali Heifer; bred by himself.

Duxe or Buckincuam Anp Cuanpos, of Stowe, near Buckingham:
the Prize of Ten Soverrians, for his ] year 8 months and 3 days-
old Pure Long-horned Heifer; bred by himself.

HorssEs.

Freprerick Tuomas Bryan, of Knossington, near Oakham: the Prize
of Forty See arene! for his 4 years-old Cart Stallion; bred
by Richard Brown, of Elsworth, Cambridgeshire.

Duxe or Mancuester, cf Kimbolton Castle, Hunts: the Prize of
FIrrEEN Sovereians, for his 6 vears-old Cart Stallion of the
Suffolk Breed; bred by Thomas Catlin, of Butley Abbey, near
Woodbridge.

Viscount Hitt, of Hawkstone, near Shrewsbury: the Prize of Frrrren
SoVEREIGNS, for his 2 years-old Cart St allion of the Suffolk Breed ;
bred by himself.

Greoree TowNnsHENnd, of Sapcote, near Hinckley: the Prize of Twenty
SovEREIGNS, for his Cart Mare and Foal; the sire of the Foal
belonged to John Hipwell, of Swinford, near Lutterworth.

Antuony Cutpnaui, of Bromham, near Bedford: the Prize of Tren
Sovereiens, for his Cart Mare and Foal; the sire of the Foal
belonged to himself.

Wiriiam Barwses, of Byfield, near Northampton: the Prize of Ten
Sovereiens, for his 2 years-old Filly ; bred by himself,

Sueep: I. “etcesters.

Tuowas Epwarp Pawtert, of Beeston, near Biggleswade: the Prize
3 b)

of Forry Soveretenys, for his 16 months-old Leicester Ram;
bred by himself,

XX Award of Prizes at Northampton.

Tomas EpwarpD Paw ett, of Beeston, near Biggleswade: the Prize
of FirrrEN Sovereriens, for his 16 months-old Leicester Ram ;
bred by himself.

Rozsert Situ, of Burley-on-the-Hill, near Oakham: the Prize of
Turirty SoveREIeNns, for his 28 months-old Leicester Ram; bred
by himself.

Wittiam Sanpay, of Holme Pierrepoint, Nottmgham: the Prize of
Twenty Sovereicns, for his pen of five 16 months-old Leicester
Shearling Ewes; bred by himself.

Roserr Smirnu, of Burley-on-the-Hill, near Oakham: the Prize of Tren
Sovererens, for his pen of five 16 months-old Leicester Shearling
Ewes; bred by himself.

Surep: Il. Southdowns.

Jonas Wepp, of Babraham, near Cambridge: the Prize of Forty
Sovereiens, for his 16 months-old Southdown Ram; bred by
himself,

Jonas Wess, of Babraham, near Cambridge: the Prize of FirtTren
SovereEIens, for his 16 months-old Southdown Ram; bred by
himself.

Joun Harris, of Hinton, near Abingdon: the Prize of Turrry
SovEREIGNS, for his 40 months-old Pure Southdown Ram; bred
by himself.

Joun Harris, of Hinton, near Abingdon: the Prize of Firreen
SovereEiens, for his 40 months-old Pure Southdown Ram; bred
by himself.

Duxe or Mancurster, of Kimbolton Castle, Hunts: the Prize of
Twenty Sovereiens, for his pen of five 16 months-old South-
down Shearling Ewes; bred by himself.

Davip Barcray, M.P., of Eastwick Park, Leatherhead : the Prize of
TEn Soveretens, for his pen of five 16 months-old Pure Southdown
Shearling Ewes; bred by himself.

Surep: III. Long- Wools.

Cuarues Larce, of Broadwell, near Lechlade: the Prize of Forry
SovEReEtIens, for his 16 months-old New Oxfordshire Long-woolled
Ram ; bred by himself.

CurisToPHER FauLKNer ALLEN FavuLxkner, of Bury Barns, near
Burford: the Prize of Firrren Sovereiens, for his 15 months-old
Improved Oxfordshire Long-woolled Ram ; bred by himself.

Award of Prizes at Northampton. a e.6

CuHarues Lares, of Broadwell, near Lechlade: the Prize of Tuirtry
SovEREIGNS, for his 40 monthe-ald New Oxfordshire Long-woolled
Ram; bred by himself.

Epwarp Hanpy, of Sevenhampton, near Andoversford: the Prize of
FirtEen Sovereians, for his 40 months-old Improved Cotswold
Long-woolled Ram; bred by himself.

CuHARLEs Lares, of Broadwell, near Lechlade: the Prize of Twenry
SovereErens, for his pen of five 16 months-old New Oxfordshire
Long-woolled Shearling Ewes ; bred by himself.

CuHARLEs LarGE, of Broadwell, near Lechlade: the Prize of Ten Sove-
REIGNS, for his pen of five 16 months-old New Oxfordshire Long-
woolled Shearling Ewes ; bred by himself.

Pics.

Eart Spencer, of Althorp Park, near Northampton: the Prize of
FirTEEN Sovereiens, for his 2 years-old Berkshire Boar of a
large breed; bred by himself.

Moses Cartwericut, of Stanton Hill, near Burton-upon-Trent: the
Prize of Five Soveretens, for his 1 year and 2 months-old Boar
of a large breed; bred by himself.

WixiiaM Fisuer Hosss, of Boxted Lodge, Colchester: the Prize of
FIFTEEN SoveReEiIGNs, for his 10 months 3 weeks and 1 day-old
Improved Essex Boar of a small breed; bred by himself.

Moses Cartwricut, of Stanton Hill, near Burton-upon-Trent: the
Prize of Five Sovererens, for his 9 months-old Boar of a small
breed ; bred by himself.

Moses CartwricHt, of Stanton Hill, near Burton-upon-Trent: the
Prize of Ten Soveretens, for his | year and 7 months-old Tam-
worth Breeding Sow of.a large breed; bred by himself.

WIiu.iAM Fisuer Hosss, of Boxted Lodge, near Colchester: the Prize
of Ten Sovereiens, for his 7 months 3 weeks and 5 days-old
Improved Essex Breeding Sow of a small breed; bred-by himself.

Earu oF Rapnor, of Coleshill, near Faringdon: the Prize of Ten
Soveretens, for his pen of Three under 52 weeks-old Coleshill
Breeding Sow Pigs of a large breed of the same litter; bred by
himself.

Wiutiiam FisHer Hozss, of Boxted Lodge, near Colchester: the
Prize of TeN Sovereiens for his pen of Three 7 months 3 weeks
and 4 days-old Improved Essex Breeding Sow Pigs of a small
breed of the same litter; bred by himself, )

XXIl Award of Prizes at Northampton.

CHEESE.

Wituram Norman, of Ashow, near Kenilworth: the Prize of Tren
Sovereians, for his sample of One Hundred Weight of Warwick-
shire Cheese; made by himself.

IMPLEMENTS.

Wititam Bussy, of Newton-le-Willows, near Bedale, for the best
Plough adapted to heavy land. : . TEN SOVEREIGNS.

Joun Howarp, of Bedford, for the best Plough adapted to light
lands. . . : : : - TEN SOvVEREIGNS.

Ricwarp Garrett, of Leiston Works, near Saxmundham, for the best
Drill for general purposes . : - FivTren SOVEREIGNS.

Ricuarp Garrett, of Leiston Works, near Saxmundham, for the best
Turnp Drill on the flat’. : : . TEN SoOVEREIGNS.

Ricuarp Garrett, of Leiston Works, near Saxmundham, for the best
Turnip Drill on the ridge . : 3 . TEN SOVEREIGNS.

Joun Woop Saran, of Wellingborough, WiLuram Proctor STAN-
LEY, of Peterborough, and Tuomas Jounson, of Leicester, for the
best Scarifier : 4 f ; . TEN SovEREIGNS.

Joun Cornes, of Barbridge, near Nantwich, for the best Chaff
Cutter . . : s ; : - TEN SOVEREIGNS.

SANDERS and Wiuurams, of Bedford, and SamueL Taytor, of Cotton
End, Bedford, for the best machine for making Draining Tiles or
Pipes . ° . : : TWENTY-FIVE SOVEREIGNS.

*Sanpers and Wixitams, of Bedford, and Samurt Tayuor, of Cotton
End, Bedford, for the best Harrow . . Five Sovereicns.

Ricuarp Hornspy, of Spittlegate, Grantham, for the best Drill Presser,
depositing manure and seed : ° . TEN SovEREIGNS.

Ricuarp Rosrtnson, of Lisburn, county Antrim, for the best
Churn . 3 : : j . Five SovEREIGNS.

Hersert Georce James, of 44, Fish Street Hill, London, for the
best Weighing Machine for live cattle and farm produce gene-
rally . . ; ; , , . Ten SoveEREiIGNsS.

Ricuarp Rosinson, of Lisburn, county Antrim, Ireland, for the
best and most economical Steaming Apparatus for general pur-

DOSES). « . ° . : ; - TeEN SOVEREIGNS.
Georce Kirsy, of Queniborough, near Leicester, for the best Skim
or Paring Plough . : . . - Five Sovereiens.

* This prize has been suspended by the Council, in order to allow a trial to be
made, at the request of Mr. John Howard, of Bedford, under the Patent-Right Clause,
in the report of the Council to the General Meeting on the 22nd May, 1846.

Award of Prizes at Northampton. xx

Joun Reap (Exors. of the late), of 35, Regent Circus, London, for
the best Subsoil Pulverizer : : . TEN SovEREIGNS.

James Wiimor Newserry, of Hook Norton, near Chipping Norton,
for the best Horse Seed-Dibbler . : Firreen SOVEREIGNS.

Joun Frerraser, of Phoenix Iron Works, near Stroud, for the best
Linseed Crusher . : ; ‘ . Five SoOvEREIGNS.

Ricuarp Stratton, of Bristol, for the best One Horse Cart
TEN SOVEREIGRS,

Ricuarp Garrett, of Leiston Works, near Saxmundham, for the best
Threshing Machine, applicable to Horse or Steam Power
TWENTY SOVEREIGNS.

Henry Crayton, of 21, Upper Park Place, Dorset Square, London,
for the best Draining Tools for Clay Land Five SovEREIGNS.

Marpirseck and Lowz, of Birmingham, for the best Draining Tools
for Friable Land . : ; ‘ » Five Soverrians.

MapvpLeseckx and Lowe, of Birmingham, for the best Set of Tools for
General Draining . ° : : - Five SovereEIans.

Wiuuiam Camprince, of Market Lavington, near Devizes, for the best
Steam Engine applicable to Threshing and other Agricultural pur-
peses . ; 5 Z A ; Firty ©OVEREIGNS.

Josuua Coocn, of Harleston, near Northampton, for the best Corn-
Dressing Machine . ° > ° FIrrEEN SOVEREIGNS,

Wii1aM Crossk1L1L, of the Beverley Iron Works, Beverley, for the
best Broad-cast Manure Distributor . -« TEN SOVERrIGNs.

James SmytuH, of Peasenhall, near Yoxford, for his Clover-Seed and
Rye-Grass Barrow . : : : ob SrLVER Mrpat,

Joun Reap (Exors. of the late), of 35, Regent Circus, Piccadilly,
London, for his Agricultural Fire Engine . SriivEr Mepat.

Josep Cooke Grant, of Stamford, for his Patent Lever Horse Rake
SILVER Mepaun.

Mappieseck and Lowe, of Birmingham, for their Patent Turnip
Cutter . : ° ° . ° : SILVER MEDAL.

Wepiake and Tuomrson, of Union Foundry, Hornchurch, Essex, for
their American Oil-Cake Breaker : » Siuver Mepatr.

Wivuiam Newzam Nicuoxson, of Newark-on-Trent, Notts., for his
powerful Oil-Cake Breaker, with adjustment for .the Parallel
Rollers . . ; : : > “ Stnver MeEpar.

Ricuarp Garrett, of Leiston Works, near Saxmundham, for his
Patent Horse Hoe . ° ‘ : . Sitver Mepat,

XXIV Awards at Northampton: Commendations.

Sommendvations.

Cave, Hanzpury Leies, of Pontypool Park, near Pontypool: for his 4 years and 5
months-old pure Short-Horned Bull; bred by himself.

The Marauis of Nortuampton, of Castle Ashby, near Northampton : for his 2 years 6
months and 23 days-old Durham Bull; bred by John Beasley, of Chapel Bramp-
ton, near Northampton. : :

*RicHarpD Booru, of Warlaby, near Northallerton: for his 1 year 2 months and 2
weeks-old Short-Horned Bull; bred by himself.

* ALEXANDER BANNERMAN, of South Cottage, Chorley: for his 7 years and 18 days-old
Short-Horned Cow; bred by John Booth, of Killerby, near Catterick.

*Juun Booru, of Killerby, near Catterick, for his 4 years 2 months and 3 weeks-old
Short-Horned Cow; bred by himself.

*RicHaRD Boots, of Warlaby, near Northallerton: for his 3 years 2 months and 3
weeks-old Short-Horned Cow ; bred by himself.

“WILLIAM DE CapPELL Brooke, of Market Harborough: for his 6 years 17 weeks and 4
days-old Short-Horned Cow; bred by himself.

*The Duke of Buccteucu and QuEENSBERRY, of Boughton House, near Kettering: for
his 5 years and 8 months-old Short-Horned Cow; bred by himself.

*The Duke of DevonsurreE, of Chatsworth, near Chesterfield, for his 5 years and 5
months-old Short-Horned Cow: bred by Henry Watson, of Walkeringham, near
Bawtry. :

“The Marquis of Exeter, of Burghley House, near Stamford: for his 7 years and 3
months-old Short-Horned Cow; bred by himself.

*Joun Hatt, of Wiseton, near Bawtry : for his 7 years and 8 months-old Short-Horned
Cow; bred by the late Karl-Spencer, of Wiseton, near Bawtry.

“Sir Cuar_es KnicuT ey, of Fawsley, near Daventry: for his 7 years and 3 months-
old Short-Horned Cow ; bred by himself.

*W. D. Mannina, of Rothersthorpe, near Northampton: for his 7 years 2 weeks and
5 days-old Short-Horned Durham Cow ; bred by himself,

*The Marauis of NortHampton, of Castle Ashby, near Northampton: for his 6 years
and 2 months-old Durham Cow; bred by the Rev. John Sutton, of

*“FREDERICK SARTONS, of Rushden Hall, near Wellingborough : for his 9 years and 6
months-old Short-Horned Cow; bred by John Musson, of

*Lorp SourHAmpton, of Whittlebury, near Towcester: for his 9 years and 10 months-
old Short-Horned Cow ; bred by John Beasley, of Chapel Brampton, near North-
ampton.

*Lorp Sournampton, of Whittlebury, near Towcester: for his 6 years and 10
months-old Short-Horned Cow ; bred by Charles Stokes, of Kingston, near Keg-
worth.

*Lorp SourHaMpTon, of Whittlebury, near Towcester; for his 5 years and 4 months-
old Short-Horned Cow ; bred by W. D. Manning, of Rothersthorpe, near North-
am pton. : : é

RicHarD Boots, of Warlaby, near Northallerton: for his 2 years 3 months and 3
weeks-old Short-Horned In-Calf Heifer ; bred by himself.

Joun Bowers, of Braunston, near Daventry : for his 2 years and 1] months-old Short-
horned In-Calf Heifer ; bred by himself.

The Duke of Buccteucu and QuEENSBERRY, of Boughton House, near Kettering: for
bus 2 years and 4 months-old Short-Horned Durham In-Calf Heifer; bred by him-
self,

Lorp Feversuam, of Duncombe Park, near Helmsley: for his 2 years and 3 months-
old Short-Horned In-Calf Heifer; bred by himself;

Joun FLavet, of Harleston, near Northampton: for his 2-years and 3 months-old

SW eee In-Calf Heifer ; bred by Thomas Gross, of Harleston, near North-
ampton,

Awards at Northampton: Commendations. XXV

JOHN FLAVELL, of Harleston, near Northampton: for his 2 years and 2 months-old
Short-Horned In-Calf Heifer ; bred by himself.

Tuomas Ivens, of Lutterworth: for his 2 years and 4 months-old Short-Horned In-
Calf Heifer ; bred by the late James Hill, of Broughton Astley.

The Marquis of NortHampton, of Castle Ashby, near Northampton : for his 2 years
and 2 months-old Durham In-Calf Heifer; bred by himself,

Cuar.es Barnett, of Stratton Park, near Biggleswade: for his 1 year and 7 months-
old Short-Horned Yearling Heifer; bred by himself.

CuArLEs BARNETT, of Stratton Park, near Biggleswade: for his 1 year and 7 months-
old Short-Horned Yearling Heifer; bred by himself.

*“SamueL BENNETT, of Bickerings Park, near Woburn, Beds: for his 1 year and 6
months old Short-Horned Yearling Heifer; bred by Charles Stokes, of Kingston,
near Kegworth.

RicHarD Bootn, of Warlaby, near Northallerton: for his 1 year 4 months and 2 wecks-
old Short-Horned Yearling Heifer ; bred by himself.

The DuxeE of DevonsurreE, of Chatsworth, near Chesterfield: for his 1 year and 8
months-old Short-Horned Yearling Heifer; bred by himself.

The Marquis of Exerer, of Burghley House, near Stamford: for his 1 year and 7
months-old Short-Horned Yearling Heifer; bred by himself.

Lorp FrEvEersHAM, of Duncombe Park, near Helmsley: for his 1 year and 11 months-
old Short-Horned Yearling Heifer; bred by himself.

JouN Forrest, of Stretton, near Warrington: for his 1 year 8 months and 23 days-
old Short-Horned Yearling Heifer; bred by himself.

Joun HAtt, of Wiseton, near Bawtry: for his 1 year and 8 months-old Short-Horned
Yearling Heifer; bred by himself.

Joun Hatz, of Wiseton, near Bawtry: for his 1 year and 5 months-old Short-Horned
Yearling Heifer; bred by himself.

Viscount Hirt, of Hawkstone, near Shrewsbury: for his 1 year 5 months and 20
days-old Short-Horned Yearling Heifer; bred by himself.

Str Caaries Knicutcey, of Fawsley, near Daventry: for his 1 year and 2 weeks-old
Short-Horned Yearling Heifer; bred by himself.

The Marquis of NortHAmpTon, of Castle Ashby, near Northampton: for his 1 year
9 months and 13 days-old Durham Yearling Heifer; bred by the Rev. John
Sutton.

Epwarp WILLIAM SmyTHE OWEN, of Condover Hall, near Shrewsbury: for his 1 year
and 8 months old Short-Horned Yearling Heifer; bred by himself.

*Joun Parkinson, of Ley Fields, near Newark: for his 1 year 4 months and 3 days-
old Short-Homed Yearling Heifer; bred by himself.

JoHN Parkinson, of Ley Fields, near Newark: for his 1 year 4 monthsand 1 day-old
Short-Horned Yearling Heifer; bred by himself.

*Joun Netson CarpENTER, of Eardisland, near Leominster: for his 11 years-old Here-
ford Bull; bred by the late Thomas Jefferies, of the Grove, near Pembridge.
*JosErH Lusu, of Kilmington, near Wincanton: for his 3 years and 5-months-old

Hereford Bull; bred by himself.

*EpwarbD WILLIAMS, of Lowes Court, near Hay: for his 2 years 9 months and 5 days-
old Hereford In-calf Heifer; bred by John Nelson Carpeuter, of Kardisland, near
Leominster.

*THoMAS WHITE FourAcreE, of Durston, near Taunton: for his 3 years and 10
months-old Devon Bull; bred by himself.

*GEORGE TuRNER, of Barton, near Exeter: for his 6 years and 3 months-old pure
Devon Cow; bred by James Quartly, of Molland, near Southmolton,

*Darwin GAtron, of Edstone, near Stratford-on-Avon: for his aged Cart Stallion of
the Cleveland breed; bred by Thomas Moss, of Scargil, Durham.

*James Howarp, of Plum Park, near Towcester: for his 7 years-old Cart Stallion:
bred by John Edwards, of Blakesley,

os

XXV1 Awards at Northampton : Commendations.

Samvue and Rosert Spencer, of Flecknoe, near Daventry: for their 6 years-old Cart
Stallion; bred by Richard Smith, of Draycote, near Dunchurch.

Henry Eppison, of Gateford, near Worksop: for his 2 years-old Cart Stallion; bred
by himself.

GEORGE TOWNSHEND, of Sapcote, near Hinckley: for his 2 years-old Cart Stallion of
the Leicestershire breed ; bred by himself.

*EpWARD SPENCER TRowe_R, of Watton House, near Ware: for his 2 years-old Cart
Stallion, mostly of the Suffolk breed ; bred by himself,

*ALFRED Lee, of Haddenham, near Aylesbury; for his Cart Mare and Foal; the sire
of the foal belonged to Richard Harding, of Finmere, Oxon.

Lorp St. Joun, of Melchbourne, near Higham Ferrers: for his Cart Mare and
Foal; the Mare was bred by himself; the sire of the foal belonged to himself.

Samus. Bennett, of Bickerings Park, near Woburn, Beds: for his 16 months-old
pure Leicester Ram; bred by himself.

Tuomas Epwarp Paw ett, of Beeston, near Biggleswade: for his 16 months-old
Leicester Ram ; bred by himself.

SAMUEL BENNETT, of Bickerings Park, near Woburn, Beds: for his 64 months-old
pure Leicester Ram; bred by Robert Smith, of Burley-on-the-Hill, near Oakham.

SAMvEL Bennett, of Bickerings Park, near Woburn, Beds: for his 40 months-old
pure Leicester Ram; bred by himself.

Tuomas Freestone, of Irthlingborough, near Higham Ferrers : for his 52 months-old
Leicester Ram ; bred by the ate Thomas Freestone.

RicnharD Hewitt, of Dodford, near Weedon: for his 40 months-old Leicester Ram;
bred by himself.

RicuarpD Hewitt, of Dodford, near Weedon: for his 52 months-old Leicester Ram ;
bred by himself,

THomas EpwarpD Paw ett, of Beeston, near Biggleswade: for his 40 months-old
Leicester Ram ; bred by himself.

Tomas Epwarp Paw ett, of Beeston, near Biggleswade: for his 28 months-old
Leicester Ram; bred by himself,

THoMAS Epwarp Paw Lett, of Beeston, near Biggleswade: for his 28 months-old
Leicester Ram; bred by himself.

SamuEL WAL Is, of Barton Seagrave, near Kettering: for his 53 months-old new
Leicester Ram; bred by John Manning, of Orlingbury.

*Cuarves Lange, of Broadwell, near Lechlade: for his 16 months-old new Oxford-
shire Long-woolled Ram; bred by himself,

CuAr_Les Lares, of Broadwell, near Lechlade: for his 16 months-old new Oxford-
shire Long-woolled Ram ; bred by himself.

Epwarp Hanpy, of Sevenhampton, near Andoversford: for his 40 months-old im-
proved Cotswold Long-woolled Ram; bred by himself.

*ViscounT Hit, of Hawkstone, near Shrewsbury: for his 11 months and 19 days-old
Hawkstone Boar, of a small breed ; bred by himself.

*WiILLIAM Fisuer Hopss, of Boxted Lodge, near Colchester: for his 7 months 3
weeks and 4 days-old improved Essex Boar, of a small] breed; bred by himself.

* WILLIAM FisHER Hosss, of Boxted Lodge, near Colchester: for his 7 months 3 weeks
and 4 days-old improved Essex Boar, of a small breed; bred by himself,

*Puitip Puszy, M.P., of Pusey, near Faringdon: for his 2 years and 7 months-old
Berkshire Sow, of a large breed; bred by himself.

Moses Cartwrienat, of Stanton Hill, near Burton-on-Trent: for his 9 months-old Sow,
of a small breed; bred by himself.

Viscount Hiri, of Hawkstone, near Shrewsbury: for his 11 months and 19 days-old
Hawkstone Sow, of a small breed ; bred by himself.

WitiL1AM Fisner Hoss, of Boxted Lodge, near Colchester: for his 1 year and 8
months-old improved Essex Sow, of a small breed; bred by himself, ;

Awards at Northampton: Commendations. XXVIL

Putte Pussy, M.P., of Pusey, near Faringdon, for his Pen of Three 35 weeks-old
Berkshire Breeding Sow Pigs; bred by himself.

W. D. Manning, of Rothersthorpe, near Northampton: for his 4 years and 9 mouths-
old Short-horned Cow ; bred by himself,

* WILLIAM SHERLEY, of Staines, Middlesex: for his 10 years-old Grey Stallion; bred
by John Brears, of Green Hammerton, near Wetherby.

*Cuarves Larce, of Broadwell, near Lechlade: for his 8 years and 4-months old new
Oxfordshire Long-woolled Ewe; bred by himself,

[These Commendations are arranged in the order of the numbers of the Certificates to which
they refer. The mark (*) signifies ‘‘H1g@HLY COMMENDED;” the omission of it, ‘‘ com-
MENDED ;”” by the Judges.]

( -xxvar )

General Peetings of 1847—8.

The GenerRAL DecemBer MEETING, in London, on Saturday,
December 11, 1847.

The Generat May Meetine, in London, on Monday, May
23, 1848.

Tue Annuat Country MEETING, at York, in 1848.

CortacEe Economy.—Mr. Main’s article on Cottage Gardening, and Mr. Burke’s
compilation on Cottage Economy and Cookery, have each been reprinted from the
Journal in a separate form, for cheap distribution. Either or both of these tracts may
be obtained by members at the rate of 1s. per dozen copies, on their enclosing to the
Secretary a Post-oflice money-order for the number required; at the same time stating
the most eligible mode of conveyance by which the copies can be transmitted to their
address. They are also sold to the public, at 2d. each, by the Society's Publisher,
Mr. Murray, 50, Albemarle Street, London.

VoLuMES OF THE JouRNAL.—The first Volume of the Journal consists of fowr parts,
the second and third Volumes of three parts each (the second and third parts of the
third Volume being comprised in a double number), and the fourth of two parts. The
Journal is now published half-yearly, namely, the first half-volume for each year
about the beginning of July, and the second about the end of December or beginning
of January.

SupscripTions may be paid to the Secretary, in the most direct and satisfactory
manner, either at the office of the Society, No. 12, Hanover Square, London, between
the hours of ten and four, or by means of Post-oflice orders, to be obtained on appli-
cation at any of the principal Post-offices throughout the kingdom, and made payable
at the General Post-office, London; but any Cheque on a London Banker, or other
House of Business in London, will be equally available. They are due in advance,
for each year, on the Ist of January; and are in arrear if unpaid by the Ist of June
ensuing. No Member is entitled to the Journal, or to any other privileges of the
Society, whose subscription is in arrear.

(sxx)

Ropal Agricultural Society of Englany,

COUNTRY MEETING AT YORK IN THE YEAR 1848.

PRIZES AND REGULATIONS FOR AGRICULTURAL
IMPLEMENTS:

Subject to such Conditions as may hereafter be decided upon by the
Council.

The Prizes are open to general competition; Members having the privilege of a free
entry ; and Non-subscribers allowed to compete on the payment of a fee of 5s. on
each certificate. There will be no sale by auction in the Show Yard.

Forms of Certificate to be procured on application to the Secretary,
12, Hanover Square, London. All: Certificates for the entry of
Implements, Sc., and the space-required for their exhibition, must be
returned, filled up, to the Secretary, on ov before the First of May,
1848; the Council having decided, that in no case whatever shall
any such Certificate for Implements be received after that date.

Prizes.

For the Plough best adapted to heavy lad . . Ten Sovereigns.
For the Plough best adapted to ight land . . ‘Ten Sovereigns.

For the best Drill for general purposes; od. of
shall possess the most approved method of
distributing Compost or other Manures in a; Fifteen Sovereigns.
moist or dry aS auennty being specially]
considered : hens

N.B.— Other opieliies Lellig equal, the preference will be given to
the Drill which may be best adapted to cover the manure with soil
before the seed is deposited.

For the best Turnip Drill on the flat, which shall
possess the most approved method of Distri-
buting Compost or other manures in a moist or¢ Ten Sovereigns.
dry state, quantity being especially ul

~ GIST CDCANG TRA Ny Io Sire ae Ne aiaer dt te, BRvaNaear

N.B.—Other qualities being equal, the preference will be given to
the Drill which may be best adapted to cover the manure with soil.
before the seed is deposited.

XXX Prizes for Implements.

shall possess the most approved method of

For the best Turnip Drill on the ridge, od of
distributing Compost or other Manures in a | Ten Sovereigns.

moist or dry state, quantity being especially

CONSICETE 6! he iis farm cre idles are it eee

N.B.—Other qualities being equal, the preference will be given to
the Drill which may be best adapted to cover the manure with scil
before the seed is deposited.

For the best Hand Driiling Machine for Deposit-
ing Carrot, Mangold-wurzel, or Turnip Seed .
For the best Scarifier or Grubber - . . . « Ten Sovereigns.
For the best Machine for making Draining Tiles
or Pipes for Agricultural Purposes. Specimens
of the Tiles or Pipes to be shown in the Yard:
the price at which they have been sold to be / Twenty Sovereigns.
taken into consideration, and proof of the
working of the Machine to be given to the
satisfaction of thendges:f. 17a) nna
For the best Harrow... «= «+, « Je) MiWencomencionc,
For the best and most economical Sieaming Appa-
ratus for general: purposes). %) = \7«ua eu
For the best Skim or Paring Plough. . . . Five Sovereigns.
For the best Horse-Seed-Dibbler. . . . « Ten Sovereigns.
For the best One-Horse Cart. . =. . . « Hive Sovereigns.
For the best Waggon. 4. ° 2) 9°.) 104 Mena Semencrais.
For the best Threshing-Machine applicable to
Forse or Steam-power .) 2) j,i. eee
For the best portable or fixed Steam Engine, ap-
plicable to Threshing, or other Agricultural> Fifty Sovereigns.
PUTPOSES: < he el Sy veuaawniie rile papeneane
For the best Corn-dressing Machine . . . « Ten Sovereigns.
For the best Gorse-Bruiser . « ~. « © « Five Sovereigns.
For the best Implement for distributing Pulver-
ized. Manures broadeast, oye... 4s Me eta
For the best Grinding Mill for breaking Agricul-
tural Produceinto fine Meal... 1.) See

For the best and cheapest Grate or Stove for Cot-
tages, combining safety and economy of fuel> Five Sovereigns.
with effectual warmth and facility for cooking.

Miscellaneous Awards . . . Not exceeding Twenty Silver Medals.

For the Invention of any New Implement, such sum as the Council
may think proper to award.

} Five Sovereigns.

Ten Sovereigns.

Twenty Sovereigns.

Ten Sovereigus.

Fifteen Sovereigns.

a no ne RS

Gi Se)

GENERAL REGULATIONS FOR THE EXHIBITION
OF IMPLEMENTS.

Certificates.

1. The necessary printed forms of certificates may be obtained from
the Secretary, at No. 12, Hanover Square, London, by persons who are
desirous of exhibiting implements, &c.

2. No implement will be admitted for exhibition unless the necessary
certificates, filled in on the printed form prescribed, complete, and
signed by the exhibitor (or his agent), in the manner directed have
been delivered to the Secretary, or sent (postage free), directed to him
so as to reach No. 12, Hanover Square, on or before the First or May,
1848 (any additional particulars or specifications of such implements
need not be delivered until the Ist of June, 1848). For the satisfaction
of Exhibitors, the Secretary will take an early opportunity of acknow-
ledging the due receipt and registration of such certificates.

3. A description of each article intended to be shown must be written
on one side only of the certificate; it must state the name and address
(when they are known) of the inventor, the improver, and the manu-
facturer: it must also detail the improvements (if any), peculiarities,
&c., of each implement.

4. The certificate must state the space each exhibitor will probably
require (the sheds being 20 feet wide), in order that the Director or
Stewards may apportion the standing-room among the various parties
who make application.

5. The certificate must state the lowest selling price of each article ;
and each Exhibitor shall be bound to execute all orders given him in
the Show Yard, at the price stated in his certificate.

6. If an article is intended to compete for the prize offered for any
new agricultural implement, it must be entered as such in the certificate.

7. Ifa prize or medal has been awarded at a previous meeting of the
Society, to any implement which is entered for exhibition at York,
the certificate must state whether it was a prize or medal, or both, and
the date at which it was awarded ; if a prize, the amount must be stated.

8. If any improvement has been made in the implement subsequently
to that award, a description and drawing of the improvement must
accompany the certificate.

9. Persons who intend to send their own horses and driver to work
in the field, must declare, in the certificate, their intention of doing so;
otherwise they will not be entitled to the remuneration stipulated in
Rule 25.

10. In order to check the entry of Implements which are not in-
tended to be exhibited, a fine of 5s. on Implements under 10/. in value,
and a fine of 10s. on Implements of 10/. and upwards in value, will be
charged on each Implement entered and not exhibited, unless a Cer-
tificate shall be sent to the Secretary on or before the day of Exhibition,
that the non-exhibition is caused by unavoidable accident.

Ole VDL: d

XXX Regulations for the Exhibition of Implements.

Arrival of Implements, §c.

11. All implements, &c., entered for exhibition, must be brought to
the Show-yard before nine o’clock on the evening of Thursday in
the week preceding that of the Show.

12. No implement, &c., will be admitted into the Yard for exhibition,
unless it has been described as a separate article, in the form prepared
for that purpose, attached to the certificate delivered to the Secretary.

13. A ticket, bearmg the number corresponding with the certificate,
must be attached to some conspicuous part of each article, before it is
brought to the gate.

14. The admission-order, which will be sent for articles properly
entered, must be delivered to the gate-keeper of the Yard by the person
who brings the articles for admission.

15. No implement, having upen it paint or varnish that is wet, will
be allowed to enter the Yard.

Arrangement of Implements.

16. All implements must be unpacked and arranged in each stand, by
the exhibitor, according to their numbers, and in the same direction as
the numbers of the different stands run, consecutively. As no day has
been set apart this year for the arrangement of implements, exhibitors
are requested to have them arranged by nine o’clock in the evening of
Thursday, in the week preceding that of the Show, as the Judges will
commence their inspection early on the following morning. All Imple-
ments, &c., that are not unpacked by that hour, will be removed from
the Yard.

17. No implement will be allowed to be painted or varnished after it
has entered the Yard.

Trial,

18. All implements admitted to the exhibition will be liable, upon the
recommendation of the Judges, to be proved by actual trial.

19. Ample private trial will be given to such implements as the
Judges shall select, and at the time and place appointed by the
Stewards.

20. A public exhibition of “implements at work ”? will take place;
but of such implements only as may be selected by the Judges, or of
such as have gained prizes at previous meetings of the Society.

21. No person will be permitted to remove any implement from the
Yard to the Field, unless by the express orders of the Director or
Stewards, upon the recommendation of the Judges.

22. Exhibitors are requested to be in attendance during the trials,
and in the implement-yard, while the Judges are inspecting the impie-
ments, in case any explanation may be required from them.

23. No implement will be allowed to commence work in the field,
unless by the express orders of the Judges or Stewards.

24. Notice of the nature of the soil, upon which the trials are to take
place, will be given to the exhibitors, by the Secretary.

ae

—

Regulations for the Exhibition of Implements. XXXI1

25. An option of sending a pair of horses and a man is given to the
exhibitors of implements, if they declare such intention at the time of
returning. the certificate : the Society paying to the man 5s. for each day
he works at the trial of implements, and 2/. for the pair of horses for
the three days, to be employed primarily at the exhibition of the
master’s implements; but should these not be in work, to be under the
directions of the Stewards.

26. Chaff-cutters, corn-crushers, and other small implements, will be
removed, for trial, into the space attached to the implement-yard, into
which space the Judges of implements, and the exhibitor, during the
trial of his implement, will alone be admitted.

27. Hay, straw, turnips, &c., may be brought with the implements
for the purpose of being used in the trial of those implements.

Consulting- Engineer.

28. The Consulting-Engineer will not act as one of the Judges of
Implements, but only as mechanical referee, in case the Judges may
deem it necessary to call in his aid.

29. The Consulting-Engineer will be in attendance in the Yard, and
during the trials, to examine the Implements.

Departure of Implements, $e. (After the Show.)

30. No implements, excepting those selected for trial, can be re-
moved from the Yard, until 6 o’clock on the evening of Thursday, in the
week of the Show.

31. The “‘ Delivery Order,” filled up and signed by the exhibitor or
his agent, must be delivered to the gate-keeper: no implement can be
removed without it.

General and Miscellaneous Regulations.

32. Non-Subscribers wishing to exhibit implements, &c., are required
to pay 5s. for their standing-room during the Show. This payment
must be sent by a Post-Office Order made payable to the Secretary, and
enclosed with the certificate: a neglect in making such remittance may
invalidate their entry.

33. Implements which have been removed to the field must be
brought back to the Yard, and replaced according to their numbers,
either on the Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning in the week of
the Show, by 6 o’clock.

34. No fire will be allowed to be lighted in the Show-yard for any
steam-engine or other implement.

35. After the Consulting Engineer’s Report on the implements has
appeared in the Journal, a copy of that Report will be delivered gratis
to such exhibitors of implements as may not be members of the Society,
upon their making application for it to the Secretary, at No. 12,
Hanover Square.

d 2

XXXIV Regulations for the Exhibition of Implements.

36. On Tuesday and Wednesday, in the week of the Show, the
price of admission into the Implement Yard will be 2s. 6d.

37. Exhibitors of Implements will have a Free Ticket sent to them
along with their ‘‘ Admission Order.”

38. The Judges’ decision in all cases to be final.

39. Any person who shall have been proved, to the satisfaction of the
Council, to have been excluded from showing for prizes at the exhi-
bition of any society, in consequence of having been convicted of an
attempt to obtain a prize by giving a false certificate, will not be
allowed to compete for any of the prizes offered by the Royal Agricul-
tural Society of England.

Lnstructions to the Judges.

The Judges will have the Friday, Saturday, and Monday previously
to the Show for making their adjudication and signing their award.

The Judges will be instructed neither to divide nor to increase any —
of the specific prizes. If they should not award any specific prize
mentioned in the Prize Sheet, they will be instructed not to appropriate
that sum to any other description of implement.

If, in the opinion of the Judges, there should be equality of merit,
they will be instructed to make a special report to the Council, who
will decide on the award.

The Judges will be instructed to withhold any prize, if they shall be
of opinion that there is not sufficient merit in any of the implements
exhibited for such prizes to justify an award.

The Judges will be requested to observe that, in addition to the
specific prizes, there are not exceeding Twenty Silver Medals, which
they have the power of distributing in awards among the exhibitors
of such miscellaneous articles as they may decide to possess sufficient
merit.

The Judges will be instructed to deliver to the Director their final
and complete award of all prizes and medals before they leave the Yard,
on the evening of the Monday previously to the Show, im order that the
necessary placards may be placed on the Prize Implements.

The Judges will be requested to observe that it is left to their discretion
to select the implements for trial, and also to determine which of them
shall be publicly exhibited at work in the field.

In making their decision, the Judges will be instructed to take the ©
selling prices of the implements into consideration.

The Consulting-Engineer of the Society will be in attendance in the
Implement Yard, and also during the private trials, to give his opinion
as Mechanical-Referee when required by the Judges.

Instructions to the Stewards.

The Director and Stewards of the Implement Yard are instructed to
take care that no Governor, Member (including the Council), or
Stranger, be admitted into the Implement Yard before the Tuesday
in the week of the Show. They are also instructed not to admit into

Regulations for the Exhibition of Implements. XXXV

the Trial Yard, adjoining the Yard, any person excepting the Judges
and the exhibitors during the trial of their respective implements.

The Stewards are empowered to make such regulations for the trial of
implements as they may consider requisite; and previously to the time
of the meeting to place the land which they may select under such
culture and management as may ensure a fair and perfect trial.

The Stewards of the Yard, on receiving a notice in writing that any
invention is considered to be an infringement of the right of another
party, are instructed to inform the Exhibitor that he will be at liberty
to direct the trial under the inspection of the Judges, and if on such
trial his invention should be found to merit the prize, the prize shall be
awarded, subject to the condition of payment being suspended for a
reasonable period to allow the trial of the rights of the parties at law ;
and that if no steps at law are taken in the next term, the award shall be
absolute.

The Director and Stewards of the Yard are requested to report the
names of the parties who have not exhibited any of the Implements
entered by them, or who neglect to pay the fines.

All Exhibitors’ Servants in charge of Implements will be subject to
the orders of the Director and Stewards.

The Council also delegates full power to the Director and Stewards to
enforce all the above regulations.

** All Exhibitors and persons admitted into the Show-yard shall
be subject to the Rules, Orders, and Regulations of the Council.

Cit exexocyiny <)

PRIZES FOR ESSAYS AND REPORTS ON
VARIOUS SUBJECTS.

1848.

All Prizes of the Royal Agricultural Society of England are open
to general competition.

I. FarMING oF THE NortH RIpING oF YORKSHIRE.

Firty Sovereiens will be given for the best Report on the Farming
of the North Riding of Yorkshire.
Competitors will be expected to describe—
1. The character of the soils of the county.
2. The peculiarities of the agricultural management.
3. The improvements effected in the farming of the North Riding
of Yorkshire since the Report of John Tuke in the year 1800.
4, The improvements still required in the Riding generally, as to
the higher culture of existing farms, the reclamation of waste
lands, and the condition of the agricultural labourer.

N.B. The writers of County Reports are requested, if possible, not to exceed the
length of 40, or at most of 50 printed pages.

II. FARMING oF THE East RIDING oF YORKSHIRE.

Firty SovererIens will be given for the best Report on the Farming
of the East Riding of Yorkshire.
Competitors will be expected to describe—
1. The character of the soils of the county.
2. The peculiarities of the agricultural management.
3. The improvements effected in the farming of the East Riding
of Yorkshire since the Report of H. E. Strickland in the year
1812.
4, The improvements still required in the Riding generally, as to
the higher culture of existing farms, the reclamation of waste
lands, and the condition of the agricultural labourer.

Prizes for Essays and Reports. XXXVIl

Ill. Farmine oF THE West RiIvDING oF YORKSHIRE.

Firty SovEREIGNS will be given for the best Report on the Farming
of the West Riding of Yorkshire.
Competitors will be expected to describe—
1. The character of the soils of the county.
2. The peculiarities of the agricultural management.
3. The improvements effected in the farming of the West Riding
of Yorkshire since the Report of Robert Brown in the year
L799:
4, The improvements still required in the Riding generally, as to
the higher culture of existing farms, the reclamation of waste
lands, and the condition of the agricultural labourer.

IV. FarminG or GLOUCESTERSHIRE.

Firry SovEREIGens will be given for the best Report on the Farming
of Gloucestershire.
Competitors will be expected to describe—
1. The character of the soils of the county.
2. The peculiarities of the agricultural management.
3. The improvements effected in the farming of Gloucestershire
since the Report of Thomas Rudge in the year 1813.
4. The improvements still required in the county generally, as to
the higher culture of existing farms, the reclamation of waste
lands, and the condition of the agricultural labourer.

V. Farmine or DEVONSHIRE.

Firty SovEREIGNs will be given for the best Report on the Farming
of Devonshire.
Competitors will be expected to describe—
1. The character of the soils of the county.

2. The peculiarities of the climate.

3. The course of cropping in the various parts of the county.

4. The management of the orchards.

5. The formation and management of the water-meadows, both
in the valleys and on the hill-sides.

6. The improvements which have been made since the Report of

Charles Vancouver in the year 1808, and those which are still
required.

XXXVil Prizes for Essays and Reports.

VI. CattTue.

Tuirty SoVEREIGNS will be given for the best account of the Ma-
nagement of Cattle.
Competitors will be required to describe—
1. The various breeds of cattle.
2. Their respective merits for milking, working, and feeding pur-
poses.
3. The various modes of breeding and rearing; of working; and
of fattening.

VII. Lime.

Twenty Sovereicns will be given for the best Report on the use
of Lime as a Manure.

Competitors will be required to state—

1. The kinds of soil to which lime is usually applied.

. The properties of the various kinds of lime.
The mode of application, and quantity to be applied.
.- Its effect on various crops.
. How far high cultivation supersedes the use of lime.

VIII. Grass-Lanp.

Tuirty Soveretens will be given for the best Essay on the Manage-
ment of Grass-Land.

Competitors will be required to attend to the following points :—

1. Actual practice in management of downs and inferior pastures,
meadows, and grazing-ground.

. Time of applying manure.
. Haymaking.
. Consumption of after-grass.
. Eradication of weeds and coarse grasses.

o ® & bY

iX. Hops.

Twenty Soverriens will be given for the best account of the best
mode of Managing Hops, in its various branches.

Prizes for Essays and Reports. XX KIX

X. Farm-Horses.

Twenty Sovereicns will be given for the best Essay on the Ma-
nagement of Farm-Horses.
Competitors will be required to attend to the following points :—
1. The various breeds.
2. Breeding and rearing.
3. Keeping, whether in stables or in the open air.
4. Feeding, in different seasons.

XI. Hemp.

Twenty Sovereigns will be given for the best Essay on the Culti-
vation of Hemp.
Competitors will be required to state—
1. The soils suited to hemp.
2. Mode of culture.
3. Mode of obtaining the fibre.
4, Average amount and value of crop per acre.

XII. PLeuvro-PNEUMONIA.

Firry Soveretens will be given for the best Report on the Pleuro-
Pneumonia amongst Cattle.
Competitors will be required to state—
1. Mode of infection.
2. Precautions against infection.
3. Premonitory symptoms.
A, Treatment of the disease.

These Essays must be sent to the Secretary, at 12, Hanover Square, London,
on or before March ist, 1848.

*.* Contributors of Papers are requested to retain Copies of their Communications,
as the Society cannot be responsible for their return.

xl Prizes for Essays and Reports.

RULES OF COMPETITION FOR PRIZE ESSAYS.

1. All information contained in Prize Essays shall be founded on experi-
ence or observation, and not on simple reference to books or other sources.

2. Drawings, specimens, or models, drawn cr constructed to a stated
scale, shall accompany writings requiring them.

3. All competitors shall enclose their names and addresses in a sealed
cover, on which only their motto, and the subject of their Essay, and the
number of that subject in the Prize list of the Society, shall be written.

4. The President or Chairman of the Council for the time being shall
open the cover on which the motto designating the Essay to which the Prize
has been awarded is written, and shall declare the name of the author.

5. The Chairman of the Journal Committee shall alone be empowered to
open the motto-paper of such Essays, not obtaining the Prize, as he may
think likely to be useful for the Society’s objects, with a view of consulting
the writer confidentially as to his willingness to place such paper at the
disposal of the Journal Committee.

6. The copyright of all Essays gaining prizes shall belong to the Society,
who shall accordingly have the power to publish the whole or any part of
such Essays; and the other Essays will be returned on the application of the
writers; but the Society do not make themselves responsible for their loss.

7. The Society are not bound to award a prize unless they consider one
of the Essays deserving of it.

8. Inall reports of experiments the expenses shall be accurately detailed.

9. The imperial weights and measures only are those by which calcula-
tions are to be made.

10. No prize shall be given for any Essay which has been already in pring.

11. Prizes may be taken in money or plate, at the option of the successful
candidate.

12. All Essays must be addressed to the Secretary, at the house cf the
Society.

.,
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P Ps

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION LIBRARIES

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