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Michº AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT; WITH AN APPENDIX. BY JOHN JOSEPH MECHL WE MUST NEVER FORGET THAT ACCURATE AND MUITIPLIED QUANTITATIVE FACTS FORM THE ONLY SUBSTANTIAL BASIS OF scIENCE.” Mr. Parkes in the Royal Agricultural Society's Journal, Fol. Fr. L O N DO N : PUIBLISHED BY ŁONG MAN, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONG MANS. PATERNOSTER ROW. Cºmmemº 1845. Price Is. 6d, sewed; or bound in cloth, 3s. c. WHITING, BEAUFORT HOUSE, STRAND, LONDON. --§ PR E FA C E, THESE Letters were originally never intended for general publication in the form of a book—my only object in circulating them being to stimulate the great and all-important cause of national Agricultural Improvement. Having, however, already distributed gratuitously 20,000 sets, with many Drawings, at an expense, including postages, of nearly Two Hundred Pounds, and still finding the demand increasing, I am obliged, in self-defence, to publish them. I do this at cost price, with a sufficient profit to the trade, but none to myself—that not being my object. This book is not put forth to enlighten those who are already well acquainted with Agricultural subjects; but merely to communicate to some, who like myself, know but little, and are desirous to learn more, such facts and common-sense opinions as may have come within my reach. If any man fancies himself a perfect Farmer, let him read the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society from its commencement; he will feel, as I have felt, how little we know, and how much we have to learn from EACH oth ER. If my publication causes some useless woods, timber, and fences to be removed, less weeds to be grown, more food to be produced, more profit to the Landlord and Farmer, more leases, more employment for the willing Labourer, with less pauperism and discontent, my object will be gained, and my reward is rich,--That it may produce these results is the sincere wish of I. J. MECHI. INTRODUCTION. ., A NATION is in peril when its willing labourers (the sinews of its strength) are looked upon and got rid of as incumbrances—when their cottages are considered nuisances, and placed as such in nooks and corners away from public view—when their gardens are curtailed and coveted by their wealthier neighbours. What would be said of a workman who, having to do a certain piece of work, casts away, despises, and is ashamed of the means by which he is to accomplish it P A nation having abundance of capital and labour, and sending abroad, or refusing to employ either, can only be compared to the able but idle workman --preferring poverty and danger to abundance and security. . A good workman will take a pride in his tools—see that they are bright and in perfect condition : his welfare depends on so doing. A nation is equally dependent on the employment, comfort, and education of its labouring classes; their wretchedness and ignorance are contaminous, and must infect the classes above them—Poverty and Demoralization are twin brothers. - ) © & & & º © Let a Tenant's improvements be fairly valued at their worth to the incoming Tenant, with Corn Rents and Long Leases, and we shall have millions invested in Agricultural improvements, where now we have but thousands, Improvements cause employment to the willing Labourer, and through him to the Merchant, Manu- facturer, and Trader. It is the millions that support Trade, Manufactures, and Commerce, not the wealthy few. Let us keep our men and our money at home. Would foreign countries be enabled, as they now are, tº compete with us in Manufactures and in Agriculture, but for British Loans and British Emigrants 2 Certainly not ; and yet loudly are we complaining of the very results we, ourselves, have brought about: that money and those Emigrants were wanted at home in A gricultural Improvements. It was a great mistake the sending away our surplus capital to employ the labour of other countries, instead of using it in our own. We have at home in Agricultural improvement an inexhaustible fund of employment for labour and for capital, but it is a sealed book; we have no available means of bringing to bear on our superabundant labour and unimproved land, the surplus capital of Trade, Manufactures, and Commerce. Nor shall we have, until there are Agricultural Improvement Companies, with adequate capital and knowledge, eminent Agriculturists and Capitalists, sitting side by side as a Committee of Directors. Let one such company show successful results (about which there cannot possibly be a doubt with common discretion and proper Imanagement), and you will have as many Agricultural Improvement Companies as you have now Railway Companies. The elements of and desire for Agricultural Improvement, exist extensively in every district and in every city ; but individual agricultural talent and science, of which there is an abundance, require to be called forth, marshalled, and applied by the force of ample concentrated capital. The almost certainty of our population becoming doubled in a few years, leads us to some very serious reflections. The acres do not increase in size. How then is the population to be fed 2 Stern necessity will compel us to sweep from the land those pleasing green ſences, trees, and pastures, whose agreeable- mess blinds us to their cruel unprofitableness. Like the Chinese (our superiors in Agriculture) our land must be gardened to the very edge of our roads—artificial rivers must be made to carry from our towns and cities to our rural districts those precious streams of excrements, the means of reproducing our own food and employing our own labour, which are now conveyed through expensively arched conduits to be wasted (would Nature allow it) in rivers and in seas—our moors and our wastes must feed men instead of game. Iet us, then, take time by the fore-lock, and do that willingly and profitably, which otherwise we must submit to grudgingly by stern compulsion, CONTENTS, B Y T H E A U T H O R. LETTER. I. PAGE Description of Improvements at Tiptree-Hall Farm ......... LETTER II. The Drainage at ditto ........ tº e º e º e s - e s tº e s m e º a 4 & 5 º a s is a ſº e º is a tº e ..... 1 to 4 LETTER III. Estimate of Remuneration for Capital invested............ 4 to 7 LETTER IV. On Agricultural Improvement—its necessity—how best effected—Defects in Farm Valuations—the Relation of Landlord and Tenant—Importance of Long Leases–Corn Rents—Removal of Timber, &c. ........ © tº ſº tº it a tº e & ..........8 to ll I,ETTER. V. l)escription of the Buildings at Tiptree-Hall Farm ......... 11 LETTER VI, On the Drainage of Surface Water from Heavy Land ......... 13 LETTER WIL On the Feeding, Housing, and Treatment of Farm Horses and Live Stock.................... * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ... 15 to 17 LETTER VIII. On the relative Position of Agriculture, with Trade, Com- merce, and Manufactures, and the Means of connecting those interests with Advantage to each, and to the general good . ....... * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 1S LETTER IX. General lèeport of the state of Tiptree-Hall Farm and its Crops, 1844. ........... tº w & it w & ºt * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * s • * * * 20 to 26 LETTER X. Report on Newberry's Dibbling Machine ........... . . . . . . . . . . 59 LETTER XL. : - PAGE On Subsoiling, Forking, or Digging after Drainage ......... 61 LETTER XII. Thin Sowing dependent on Deep and Clean Hoeing ......... 62 LETTER XIII. “On the Use or Abuse of Lime as a Manure, alone or com- bined with Common Salt.................................... 64 to 68 LETTER XIV, On Fattening Cattle...... * * * * * * * * * * * tº s e e º 'º e º e º º s º t t d is c & R & 8 & a º º & tº 68 to 71 LETTER XV. On Burning Earth ................................................... 80 º LETTER XVI. - Thoughts on Agriculture .......................................... 90 On Draining Heavy Land ............... *... s is a • * * * .u. tº 4 m tº s º º 3 e º e º 'º e is 4 34 The Importance of Draining Land.......... ...................... 35 Conclusions relative to Surface Draining........................ 36 On the comparative value of Chalking, or Draining and Burning............................................................... 81 On the Application of the Free Electricity of the Atmos- phere to the more vigorous Growth of Plants............... 87 One important Cause of Non-improvement in Agriculture. 90 Evils of Mismanagement .... ......... * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * e s - e. 9 I Instinct of Plants ......................... * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 9 l On Horse and Hand-Hoeing ................ is tº a tº tº $ tº e º tº tº º e º ſº tº a $º & & tº a 9 I | Description of Tiptree Heath ..................... tº e º 'º a t t t + m e º e º a 92 | My Correspondence in the Essex Papers .................. 92 to 96 List of Books forming my Agricultural Library............... 96 On Agricultural Leases ............................................ , 99 On the Subject of Game ................ * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * . 1 13 Cultivation of Flax...... tº e º 'º & e s a tº e s m e º a tº e º 'º - w is a tº 4 e $ a b & 4 & 8 tº e s e º 'º e º e º a 1 #6 When our Soil is Poorly, let us consult the Chemist ......... I lb Implements used on my Farm ... ............. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 117 | Agricultural Facts, Scraps, and Hints.......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... 117 * These are mere sketches. Those who desire detailed and accur consult Professor Johnston's admirable Lectures on Agricultural Chem With valuable agricultural information, and testifies to the talent and rate particulars of the operation of these substances, should istry and Geology. Every page of this scientific work teems TeSearch of its learned author. CONTENTS OF THE APPENDIX. Mr H in Yalta's D., won. , , ; , , ; , , or PAGE PA GE * Hinde S ºpe on Draining, read before the Ecclesfield Sturminster Agricultural Society. (The Rev. Mr. Huxta- loughing Club. ............................................., 27 to 32 ble's Speech) ......... ........................ * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * , 57 Editorial Remarks on the size of Drains and Review of my A good plan of managing a Manure Heap ..................... 60 Draining Theories. (From the Agricultural Gazette) ... 33 || On Farm-Yards and Dung-Heaps................................. 60 Extract from Mr. Josiah Parkes's Paper on the Quantity of Sketch of my Trench Plough....................................... 61 Rain Water, compared with the Quantity of Water evapo- On the Use of Salt as a Manure. (Two Letters read before rated, and its discharge by Drains........................ 37 to 41 the Bromsgrove Farmers' Club) .............................. 67 (This is a most important Document, I.J. M.) Comparative Value of various Modes of Fattening Cattle Spade Husbandry more profitable than the Plough. (Three with cooked and uncooked Food. (Extracted from Mr. Letters on this subject by Mr. Thos. Sargent.) ............ 41 Stephens's Book of the Farm) .......... & © º t e º e º 'º & © & 4 & 5 & 4 72 to 79 On transplanting Wheat, and growing it annually on the Extract from Mr. Karkeek's Prize Essay on Fat and Muscle 79 Same ground..................... * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 42 || Mr. Robert Baker's description of Burning the Soil in How much Corn, per Acre, is it possible to grow 2 ......... 42 Essex'........................... * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * , 8 l * (Tº Mr. Ch w ing Earth.................... 2 S. Fork or Spade Husbandry. (From Mr. Cuthbert Johnson). 43 r. Charles Randell on Burning Earth..................... 82 to 84 * Mr. Eli Turvill and Mr. Li -- ºr itto........ On the Employment of Labour by good Farming and Allot- Will and Mr. Litchfield Tabrum on ditto......... 85 ments. (Mr. Fisher IIobbs)..................................... 4 Salt should never be applied to Land with a Mixture of Sulphuric Acid and Bones....................................... 85 On Allotments. (From the Agricultural Gazette.)............ 44 p - ) I IXucie's E ~ Dr. Forster's Experiments in Electro-Culture ......... 86 to 89 Jord Pucic's Example Farm...................................... 45 (13 Quarters of Barley, per acre, grown by Free Electricity.) We must adopt the Crop to the Soil, or vice versä............ 46 Thin-Sowing—Report on Mr. Davis's Farm, by a Depu- The proper Period for IReaping Wheat. (Agricultural tation from the Maidstone Farmers' Club .................. 08 Gazette and Mr. Hannam)................................. 47 to 49 || On Leasing, by Mr. Fowler ....................................... 102 Proceedings of the Witham Labourers' Friend Society 49 to 54 || Expediency of Leases, by Mr. Maughan........................ 104. Mr. Haywood's Lecture on Agricultural Chemistry, before i Present Custom of Tenant Rights .............................. 1 O7 the Norton Farmers’ Club ........... ſº tº t e º e º ſº a tº e g º ºs e s tº e tº g º ºs e º is a ... 54 || On the Cultivation of the Sun-Flower............ Q is º º is a tº e º e º e º e ºs ll 4 THE question of establishing, by law, a tenant right in farmer's improvements, and a fair valuation of them, at their worth, to his successor, is worthy the attention of our legislators. I apprehend that having once legally established the general right or principle, with a sufficient definition, there would be no more difficulty in arranging the details by valuers on each side, according to local or uniform custom, than in the various other valuations connected with farm property. Improvements would not be then a matter of opinion, but one of ordinary calculation and common sense. Their worth would be the cost at which they could be most advantageously effected at the time of the valuation, without regard to their original cost. An improver would thus be placed on the alert to effect his improvements on the most approved and least costly prin- ciple, regard being had to their efficiency and durability, and whilst he obtained their market prices, as being neces- sarily and beneficial to good farming, his successor would be sure of having value for his money. There can be no question that the security of property so applied would lead to a much larger investment of capital in agriculture, and to a great increase of our food. It would also enhance permanently the value of landed property. Concurrent with such a measure, it would appear reasonable and just, that, as a protection to landlords, and to the general good, a right of entry, and claim for dilapidation or deterioration by improper farming, should be enforceable by similar valuation at any period when such deterioration or neglect became apparent, without reference to the termination of the lease. We might then hope to see realized, in every part of the United Kingdom, the following description by the Rev. Francis Trench, in his recent Travels:– “ ERENCH CULTIVATION.—COGNAC–ANG OULEME. “Occasionally we passed large tracts presenting the richest and most cultivated appearance. They were not enclosed, but occupied by all kinds of crops dispersed in small parallelograms. Every inch of soil was tilled. The lines between each division were as straight and fine as possible. Not a weed was to be seen. The stones were all carefully picked out and laid in regular heaps. At one part the land sloped towards us from a considerable distance, and I could not help thinking of it as like one vast and flourishing “allotment ’garden.” ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT, LETTER. I. S1 R, As Agricultural Improvement is the order of the day, allow me to mention an extreme Case- the expenditure of £6200 on a Farm of mine, 130 acres (Tiptree-Hall, near Kelvedon, Essex), that only cost £3250. In due course, when the results are accurately ascertained, I shall deem it my duty to submit statistical details and drawings of the buildings to every Agricultural Society in the Kingdom, in the hope it may give confidence to those who, having the means to improve their property, are doubtful as to such improvements paying a remunerating profit to both Landlord and Tenant. The expenditure above mentioned has been approx priated to—1st. The perfect and permanent drainage of the land with stones and pipes, 4 yards apart, and 32 inches deep—between 80 and 90 miles of drains.—2d. To the entire removal of all timber trees, which cannot be profitably grown in Corn Fields.—3d. To the removing all old, crooked, and unnecessary banks, fences and ditches.—4th. The cutting new parallel ditches and fences, so as to avoid short lands.-- 5th. The inclosure of waste, and conversion of useless bog into good soil.—6th. The economizing time and distance by new roads, arches, and more direct communications with the extremities of the Farm.–7th. The erection of well-arranged farm-buildings, built of brick, iron, and slate, in a continuous range, excluding all cold winds and currents of air, but open to sunny warmth.-8th. The building a substantial and genteel residence, with all due requisites for domestic comfort and economy.—9th. The erection of an efficient threshing machine, and needful apparatus for shaking the straw, dressing the corn, cutting chaff, bruising oats, &c., so constructed as not to injure the straw; avoiding by its perfect action, that immense waste of grain visible in almost every truss of straw we examine.—10th. The avoidance of thatching and risk of weather, by ample barn room, with con- venience for in-door horse labour at threshing, &c., when not employable without, so as to have no idle days for man or beast.—11th. The saving of every pound and pint of manure by a tank (90 feet long, 6 feet deep, 8 feet wide, with slated roof facing the north, and with well and pump), into which is received the whole drainage from the Farm-yard and Stables.—12th. The conveyance by iron gutters and pipes of every drop of water from the roofs of each building, so as in no manner to dilute the manure in yards.-13th. The perfect drainage of the founda- tions of the barn, and every building on the Farm.—14th. A cooking-house to prepare food for cattle. I am thus particular in detail, because it is from each of the above branches of expenditure that some portion of remuneration is expected. But, during the progress of my undertaking, I have been warned, entreated, and dissuaded by my farming friends, who protested that a profitable return for such an enormous expenditure was impossible ; my calculations, however, were made, and mere assertions without facts and figures weighed nothing with me. Although the operations were only commenced early in 1843, the results, so far as they go, are gratifying and convincing. As one instance of success, a field of oats, sown on the 16th of May, after drainage, was harvested and stacked, before another (sown two months earlier on better but undrained land) was ready to cut. Hereafter you shall have detailed statistics of every department in which saving is effected and increase produced. In a moral and social point of view, these improvements have acted beneficially. They have excited the energies of the Tenant and his Labourers, stimulating them to think, compare, and improve. They have awakened the attention and curiosity of the neighbouring farmers, who are watching the result, and already have they caused many undertakings in drainage, which otherwise would not have been thought of Had I invested my money in the Funds, there would have been an end of the matter; but now I have the satisfaction of having fulfilled a public duty (without injury to myself) by calling into action temporarily and permanently, a considerable amount of labour. I conceive that the highest order of charity, which, by providing employment to the willing Labourer, confers a favour unseen, and leaves uncompromised (his most valuable privilege) his self-dependence. If every one who has the means follows my example, where requisite, there will be little need to complain of the want of employment for our peasantry or our capital. Whilst every thing has been done for the Farmer's profit and comfort, the Cottagers have not been forgotten. A few gutters and pipes to their residences, and some drains in their gardens, have rendered the former dry and healthy, and the latter productive; and this at the trifling cost of a few pounds. I may be asked, “What can you, as a Londoner, know about Farming 7” I will answer, “I always loved the beauties of nature, the pure air of Heaven, the sports of the field, and the hospitality of our honest yeomen. I have seen one Farmer making a fortune, and his next neighbour losing one. I have seen one field all corn, and another nearly all weeds.” 2 ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. I asked, “IIow is this?"—enduired into the causes—noted the results—obtained from all the best Farmers and all the best Agricultural books within my reach, every information bearing on agricultural pursuits —practised on my own little garden, on a small scale, a variety of experiments; and after carefully weighing the evidence, I come to the conclusion, that want of drainage, both in land and buildings, waste of manure, shallow ploughing, and short leases, are amongst the greatest curses to this country; and I, as far as my individual means will permit, am resolved on remedying them. I am, SIR, Your obedient Servant, I. J. MECHI. 4, LEADENHALL STREET, London, March 15th, 1844. P.S. As Tiptree Heath is notorious for poor land, and as the Essex farmers, generally, are extremely sceptical as to these improvements answering, I would recommend their inspecting the crops (there will be no long fallow) about July next ; and then, having the facts before them, they will be enabled to draw correct conclusions. I may as well add, it is intended to trench-plough and disturb the soil to the depth of fourteen or sixteen inches. The implements used on this Farm are, Crosskill's clod-3rusher roller and liquid manure cart. The threshing-machine is constructed under my own direction, by Mr. Bewley, of Chelmsford, with rakes, chaff-cutter, corn-bruiser, and dressing-machine ; the drum is 3-feet-6, it has twelve beaters, takes in the straw lengthways, and does not break it. LETTER II. THE DRAINAGE AT TIPTREE-HALL FARM. 4, LEADENHALL STREET, London, March 28th, 1844. SIR, - As I have frequent enquiries, I will endeavour to give you a tolerably succinct account of my draining operations at Tiptree-Hall Farm. The land is of such various qualities, and so particularly adapted thereby for the retention of both top and spring water, that the Essex people considered it never could be improved even to become of tolerable goodness. About two-thirds of it was a strong yellow loam subsoil, in a state between putty and bird-lime, according to the season, here and there mixed with a hodge-podge of stones, to which its attachment was so affectionate that there was no separating them, and it was only by the constant use of water that the land drainers could get their spades into or get rid of this adhesive substance ; at intervals might be found veins of silt (the reverse of adhesive), and here and there the soil would assume a rusty appearance, indicating iron, with a bluish or slaty character ; then a patch of gravel occasionally amongst the loam in which would rise a small weak spring, sufficient, however, to ruin the crops in its immediate neighbourhood. Over this subsoil and between it and the cultivated soil, was a hard, dry and impervious pam, formed of the subsoil, but hardened and rendered solid by the heat of the sun and the constant action of the plough sole. The soil itself partook in some considerable degree of the nature of the subsoil, being, however, ameliorated by mixture of manures and by cultivation. Still so great was the fear of the wretched subsoil that the pan was never disturbed, conse- quently, there being but nine or ten inches of cultivatable earth with an impervious basis, a dry summer burnt all up, and a wet one ruined the crop by rotting the roots. A showery season was the only suitable one for this description of land. Now, however, after draining, in the short space of a few months, we are subsoiling to the depth of fourteen or sixteen inches, and working it like a garden ; the water having left it, and the frosty air following the water, it is as mellow and friable as could be desired. In fact, during the last month, whilst our neighbours were unable to move, we were harrowing on our wheat and beans like a rich garden ; the earth crumbling down aſter the drill like sand—very much to the astonishment of the Tenant and Labourers; and this after so much carting and disturbance, and so much of the subsoil thrown up, that two months previously it was thought a whole summer would hardly suffice to condition the soil. The drains cross, at a very acute angle, the slope of the land; they are four yards apart, with a leader to every fourscore rods—the leader being rather deeper than the other drains, but not wider. Still, as it never runs full, it proves in practice my subsequent proposition, that “the filtration of water, in strong soils, is far inferior to the velocity of its passage through the drains.” Each acre contains twelve score rods; and costs ten pounds”, requiring 3200 pipes and 360 busheſs of stones. The style of drainage applied to this part of the Farm is as follows: * To those who have stones at hand, my drainage will appear dear, but I had to pay one penny per bushel for them, and cart them three miles. My pipes 2-inch bore, and 13 inclies long, cost delivered, twenty shillings per thousand, but by Hatcher's Benenden tile machine, I presume they could now be made cheaper. There is also an admirable patent plan of socketing pipes into each other, which I should certainly have availed myself of, had it been then obtainable. , Valuable information on draining is contained in Mr. Parkes's intelligent and Scientific communication in the Royal Agricultural Society's Journal. ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. 3 First, a double turn of the plough takes out nine inches; then a narrow spade (sufficiently wide to admit the drainer's foot) takes out ten inches; then comes a still narrower spade (fourteen inches long, three and one- eighth wide at top, and one and a half at bottom), which removes thirteen inches more–making the whole depth from the surface thirty-two inches. The drain being well cleared out, we first fill in the drains, to the depth of ten inches, with nice clean gravel-stones, and then place, on the top of these stones, a drain-pipe, thirteen inches long and three inches wide outside, having a two-inch bore. This fits so exactly into the space made by the last or narrow spade, that it not only rests on the stones, but binds against the sides of the drain, thereby preventing the stones being choked by the superincumbent earth, but also forming the earth above it into an arch; which in the stronger soil would, it is presumed, retain its form even if the pipe were broken or decayed. As this is a plan of my own, and contrary to the entertained opinions, that the tiles should be at the bottom, I will give my reasons for so doing ; because, 1st. It is cheaper, (wide drains take so large a quantity of stones). 2d. It is more durable, and less liable to choke. 3d. There is a larger area of space for the escape or filtration of the water ; and this I consider of the utmost importance, and not sufficiently considered. It is quite evident, that the filtration of the water must be according to the area of the pores presented to the air in the drains. It might be illustrated by saying, it is of little use having a large passage unless you have enough side- doors to admit a sufficient number of passengers to travel down it. The pores, in contact with air, which are constantly admitting the water by its superior gravity, should form, if practicable, by admeasurement, a superficial area equal to the solid unoccupied contents of the pipe or drain (reduced to an area); the velocity of passage in the drain being certainly, in a general way, equal or superior to the velocity of percolation. It must be considered, that in dense subsoils, the continued Winter rains expand the particles and render filtration more difficult—especially during the first year or two after drainage; therefore, I prefer deep and narrow stone drains, protected from earth by a pipe over them, because they afford ready access to a large and porous surface; filtration going on both on the tops and sides of the drain. I would observe, that even on the recently drained strong loam, but little surface water ran away, most of it percolated, except in cases of the ground being frozen hard, and very heavy and sudden rains. It appears to percolate tolerably clear according to the season—but on this point my observations must be more extended. On cutting across some of the drains that had been made six months, the stones were found to be washed as clean as the gravel in a brook. The other third of this Farm was the reverse of the first two thirds, and required an entirely different system of drainage. It is mostly black, sandy, and boggy soil, with numerous springs rising at various points where obstructed by perpendicular walls or veins of dense clay or hard gravel, sometimes both. The drainage here has been effected by a person named Pearson, from Warwickshire, a man of extensive knowledge and ability in this department of drainage, who I understand has essentially improved Lord Digby's estates by his judicious sub-draining of the springs. His plan is to take his fall from the lowest point, and gradually work up to where the spring shows itself, having previously ascertained the whereabouts by digging, and by those plants that invariably show themselves over a spring. As springs are generally attended by sand- beds, a single drain will often lay dry a large extent of ground. In one case, where there was a swamp of four acres, the drain was opened at two feet, and continued in a trench till it reached eleven feet in depth—the sand boiling up at intervals like water in a cauldron, of course it was necessary to shore up the sides, and when his level was accurately taken, he commenced laying his pipes on hay (two half pipes, four-and-a-half inches diameter were put together, being internally nine inches by four-and-a-half), but so strong was the force of the water, it was necessary to have two strongly made iron skeleton arches with wooden sides, about thirty inches high, and the width of the drain two feet. . In these arches were laid the pipes, and firmly loaded to the top of the arch with soil to keep the pipes from being forced up by the boiling waters and sand ; when loaded, the arches were removed by a lever, the mouths of the pipes being carefully stopped with hay, till the next length of pipes was laid in the next arch (two always being in use, one in front of the other). & The result is, that one such drain laid perfectly dry four acres of bog (having a smaller spring carried over or across it); the first drain runs permanently 30,000 gallons every twenty-four hours, and several others nearly as much. It has laid our neighbour's wells dry, a quarter of a mile off (being in a bed of sand, below their level.) The land (which has been double spitted) is now always perfectly dry, although previously dangerous for cattle and entirely worthless. - In conclusion, allow me to say, I have derived most valuable information in draining from those excellent and standard works on Agriculture, “Stephens' Book of the Farm,” “Loudon's Encyclopædia of Agriculture,” and “Morton on Soils.” There may be found ample and satisfactory evidence and matters of fact in every branch of draining. It is with extreme regret I frequently see money completely wasted by placing tiles with- out soles, and pipes without stones, and temporary and imperfect draining by bushes. That soil in a few years becomes absolutely much worse than it was originally, for when the drains choke, there is a much larger accumulation of water to the destruction of the crops. Nº. 4 ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT, | hope that in time to come, Farming will be treated as a science, and that there will be as much uniformity in cultivating land as there is in manufacturing cotton. That can only arrive by our young Farmers deriving an uniform agricultural education—the mechanism for which does not at present exist. Let us hope it may hereafter, and that whilst we have collegiate education for the learned and other professions, we shall at least have agricultural universities and apprenticeships. There can be no doubt that agriculture is the basis of society—the most paramount interest in a pecuniary point of view—the regulator of currency and manufactures which are subservient to it. If we want a proof of this, let us consider that the stomacſ, cannot wait. day. its claims are paramount, and to hunger must succumb all our other enjoyments, whether of manufactures or luxuries. Let every Landlord and every Tenant improve their land, where opportunity exists, and the Anti-Corn Law League may visit other countries, whose fear of our exportations will then be great. For it is quite clear, that if all the land in this country that required it, were perfectly drained and cultivated, we should be quite as able to export our superfluous corn and meat as our superabundant cotton ; a result devoutly to be wished, when we consider the effect of ample food and employment to our labouring population in a moral, physical, and social point of view—to say nothing of the immense pecuniary advantage of employing our capital at home, instead of lending it to other nations, to enable them to compete with our own already insufficiently- employed countrymen. I am, SIR, Your obedient Servant, I. J. MECHI. P.S. As ten pounds per acre is deemed extravagant by the Essex gentlemen for permanent drainage, the following calculations will prove it to be the cheapest : — Twelve score rods per acre, done temporarily with scuds, bushes, &c. at £4 per acre, calculated to last ten years.............. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * g e is e e º 'º e e * * * = e s s a e s º is e º e º e a tº e e s = * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * e s e e s a Interest on £4 at 5 per cent. ....................... * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * s s a • * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 4 () Principal sunk in ten years is 8s. per year................................................... ... 8 0 Annual charge ....................... . 12 0 Interest on my permanent draining at 5 per cent. .............................................. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Annual charge...................... tº e º 'º º e s e º e º & • e º 'º e º e º 'º - e º 'º e s a s p & e s - a e e º e * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * .... 10 0 Annual saving per acre in favour of my plan................ .................................. 2 0 We find, during the last week, that whilst the stone and pipe drained part of one field is perfectly dry and friable, the scud- drained part of the same field, done the same depth, distance, &c. (about three acres), is a fortnight later in its drying. This is an important fact worth noting, the soil being exactly the same. It is well known that after six or seven years, the scud and bush draining becomes annually less and less effective. If so, how pre-eminent must be the permanent drainage in gain as well as in saving ! i will say nothing of the calculation that one extra sack of oats would pay this drainage charge, besides twenty other advantages that might be named. Sometimes a whole crop depends on a day or two—witness the clover seeds of 1842, carted into the yards for manure, all for want of drainage, which would have matured them a week or fortnight earlier. LETTER III. 4, LEADENHALL STREET, LONDON, June 11th, 1844. SIR, WITH reference to my improvements at TIPTREE II ALL (the expenditure of £6200 on a Farm of 130 acres that only cost £3250 as explained in my two former letters), I am so constantly told, in tones varying from doubt and pity to ridicule and censure, that “It never can pay: —“You will never see your money again”—“You are a bold man"—“ It is impossible it can answer, the cost is too great,” and so on—that I must endeavour to fill up the outline of my plan with details, and try to convince those whose comprehension of my success is impeded by prejudices, the natural result of long established usages, whose continuity would almost preclude a question as to their propriety. * Most of my operations are approved of separately, but there is a dread of the sum total, as if what were individually right could be collectively wrong. I shall show, then, 1st. How the Farm is to pay me, as Landlord, an additional rent of £240 per annum, with an increased benefit to the Tenant as compared with his former holding. 2d. The intended course of cropping, stocking, and management of the Farm. 3d. I will remark on the weak points in the present state of land and system of farming. 4th. I shall submit a few general observations on the non-application of capital to land; and on the importance of agricultural improvements in an economical, social, and other points of view. In making the following estimates, I have adhered strictly to matters of fact, which I am prepared to discuss and substantiate. I have expressly undervalued the benefits, because I know how suspiciously and sceptically my state- ment will be scrutinized by those whose minds are pre-occupied by doubts and prejudices, rather than by calculation. ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. 5 STATEMENT OF GAIN OR SAVING. & ºr a tº º e s tº e * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * s is a e º e s - w = 3 e e s a tº s º º 2 0 15 O (From this may be deducted Is. 6d. per week, the value of one horse's solid and liquid manure.) I value my wheat-straw at sixpence per truss of thirty-six pounds, or eighteen shillings per load of thirty-six trusses, which is the average price it could be sold for on the farm. My green tares I value at one shilling per rod, or eight pounds per acre. Of course where lucerne, clover, or rye are used, a due regard will be had to preserve the same relative cost. In winter a proportionate quantity of roots will be substituted for green food. I believe it is seldom accurately known what farm-horses do cost. I have asked the question frequently, and received for answer a shrug of the shoulders or a shake of the head, and the words “A great deal too much.” A first-rate Farmer and clever valuer told me, the farm horses always consume one-fourth of the produce of the farm ; that is, twenty-five acres out of every hundred. My own calculation was twenty acres ; but he is no doubt right on average lands. A gentleman writes me, that cutting hay very fine caused fermentation and griping amongst farm-horses, which he attributes to want of mastication : since he had it cut one and a half inch, no such injurious effect resulted. On our own farm, during several months' experience, our fine cut food has caused no injury, probably owing to our using so large a proportion of straw chaff and little or no hay. I beg to refer to my fifth letter for other particulars of my cattle management. I think, generally speaking, a loose box, with just room for the animal to turn in, is better than stalls—although I have not practically compared the two—nor can I say from cxperience, whether the total absence of light is more injurious to the animal’s health than any increase in its fattening. I should consider both light and air are necessary to health. Mr. Warnes's pamphlet (Longman & Co.) contains useful information on fattening cattle. The Rev. J. C. Blair Warren, of Horkesley Hall, near Colchester, applies the close-box system with judgment and advantage, and is in other respects a scientific practical Farmer. EXTRACT OF A LETTER FROM MR. C. R. BREE, OF STOWMARKET. WITH regard to your question about the application of wheat-straw chaff in the function of nutrition, I have much pleasure in offering you my opinion. Wheat-straw contains very little albumen, according to Playfair none. It therefore can be of no use in supplying the nitrogenous elements of muscle. But as you supply this in your green food, and more particularly in the beans, its absence in the straw can be of little importance. It will, however, have the same effect when given as you do, as vegetables have when eaten by human beings with meat. It will be useful in the following objects:— º First, In supplying the phosphate of lime to form the earthy part of bone. Secondly, It will assist in the formation of muscle by supplying the non-azotized portions of that structure. Thirdly, It will supply carbon in abundance. If this carbon is not required for the restoration of waste, it will assist i. forming a supply of carbonic acid for the performance of the function of respiration, and the supply of animal heat. Fourthly, By this appropriation it will permit the excess of carbon, taken in with the other food to unite chemically with the elements of water, and thus be deposited in the system as fat. Straw, ch emically speaking, differs from hay, in A: containing little or no albumen. IX. In containing rather more organic matter. C. Hay leaves as much again of ashes after incineration, I consider your union of straw with green food and beans as sound in theory. Beans have per se too much albumen for animal food; by uniting straw with them you counteract the effects of this excess, and by adding green food, you supply saline matter, which is indispensable to the due perſormance of the function of nutrition. Sº 3. I think your plan judicious as well as scientific, 1S ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT, LETTER WIII. ON THE RELATIVE POSITION OF AGRICULTURE, WITH TRADE, COMMERCE, AND MANUFACTURES, AND THE MEANS OF CONNECTING THOSE INTERESTS WITII ADVANTAGE TO EACH AND TO THE GENERAL COOD. EVERYTHING connected with Agriculture seems anomalous. A griculture and Manufactures Trade and Com- merce are really bosom friends. Still they appear to be sworn enemies—a gulf of non-communication yawns between them ; they are like a chain in two parts, wanting a connecting link to render it available. Throw across the chasm a bridge for the passage of Superfluous Commercial, Manufacturing, and Trading capital, and you at Ol) CG place them in their proper relative position. It will bind them by the strong tie of pecuniary interest. The connecting link in the disunited chain must be “Capitalized Companies for the Improvement of Agriculture * No investment is so safe as our own Terra Firma, and none can be so profitable. Agriculture and Manufactures are not antagonistic interests; but the reverse. They are as essential to each other as the limbs to the body-injury to the one must be suffering to the other. Agricultural production is the life-blood of the nation. That increase in food which the Almighty so incomprehensibly vouchsafes to us, and with which we cannot dispense for a day, is the artery of circulation; the veins of exchange bringing in return manufactures and luxuries. The precious metals or credit represent the balance between them, Agricultural production regulates all other interests, being by far the most important in amount, and of indispensable necessity. The stomach cannot wait a day ! It is a well-established fact, that there is in Trade, Manufactures, and Commerce, a superabundance of Capital, whilst in Agriculture it is as sadly deficient. Ask an improving landlord or tenant, why their various improve- ments are so scantily and temporarily effected—they will say, not that it is unprofitable to make them permanent, but because there is not a sufficient command of money to do so. It is painful to see talented and spirited Agriculturists crippled and restrained by the want of that Capital which in towns and cities so abounds as to scarcely command 3 per cent, and is in consequence forced into rash speculations, or invested in loans to foreign nations, with whom we may be to-morrow at war, and who now injure us in trade, &c. In Agriculture there are few or no bills of exchange, or other means by which an honest and industrious man may trade on the capital of his wealthier neighbour. In Trade, Commerce, or Manufactures, the abundance of capital permits all the advantages of an extended credit. In Agriculture but few such facilities exist. It is the want of capital that causes so small an employment of Agricultural labour. A good Farmer will readily admit, that every man's labour pays a profit, and that the more labour he employs the greater is his advantage. But then Saturday night comes | Where is the money to come from to pay them? 'Tis twelve long months, at least, before hat money is returned to him. Labour itself is the very best of capital when EMPLOYED, but we will Not employ it with money payments, nor allow it to employ itself without money payments by means of allotments. We grasp and grudge the industrious labourer's patch of ground, but inconsistently enough pay cheerfully heavy Gaol, Police, or Pauper Rates, to restrain or punish the crimes consequent on his non-employment, poverty, and demoralization. I mention these matters as strong evidence of the necessity of applying the surplus capital of towns to the improvement of Agriculture. A man with his cow, pig, and an acre of ground, has a stake in the soil. If non-employment and poverty fill your jails, it is a logical deduction, that employment and comfort can alone empty them. Self interest should alone induce us to take up the question, but the higher moral sense of justice to the general welfare commands us so to do. Honour is due to those counties, Lincolnshire for one, where their cottagers can keep a pig or a cow, without being suspected of robbing their masters. Those masters will be found to be, as a natural consequence, men of talent, capital. and education; and their workmen many degrees in advance of those without either cow, pig, or land (the comparative criminal records of these districts would be instructive), ragged, and half- starving, on seven or eight shillings per week. The condition of the cottager is too frequently a true index to the character and position of his employer. Want of employment under any circumstances is injurious to the cömmunity at large. Too much thinking, and too little muscular action, is prejudicial to the working classes, and politically dangerous. Non-employed individuals must not starve : but as they produce no food, they must be sharing the bread of the industrious—this is an injustice—an indirect one—felt but not seen. Let us inquire why capital finds its way readily to every foreign loan or hi zardous scheme", that tends to give strength to foreign Countries and to weaken our own. Why have we Companies, British and Foreign, for every object, except Agricultural Improvement? Is it because the 3 per cents, pay only 3 per cent. * Certainly not * October 12th, 1844. The two following paragraphs appear in this day's Spectator, page 969 :- - - R “A railway is proposed from Lisbon to Oporto, through Santarem and Coimbra, half the necessary capital to be raised in England, and half in Portugal.” * * * 3 z^{ . . . . “Ono hundred Thames Tunnel Shares-on which £5000 have been paid, were sold the other day for Thirty pounds.” Car Agricultural Improvement Companies turn out Worse than this P-I, J. M. • ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. 19 Is it because we do not feel confidence in our landed tenures 2 Is it that there is no disposition to improve the soil I answer—decidedly none of these causes. It is BECAUSE we HAVE No AUTHORIZED AND CoMPETENT CHANNEL FOR THE PROFITABLE INVESTMENT OF SURPLUS CAPITAL IN AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. - Ignorance and want of combination are at the root of the evil. Everything in this way is left, to individual enterprize. As well might a single Shareholder attempt constructing his portion of a railway, with all Its com- plicated accompaniments : Imagine him attempting such an object, himself without experience, and unaided by all the various aggregation of talent necessary for the details of such an operation. The idea is absurd—and yet the scarcely less complicated operation of landed improvement is up to this hour left in the position I have described. Ask a Capitalist why he does not invest his money in Land or Agriculture ? He will look sternly grave, and quote a hundred instances where individuals have ruined themselves by such a course. So now he rushes Into some foreign loan or project, to the great injury of his own countrymen, fearful of the “laws’ delay” in convey- ance with all its multifarious objections pro and con, most likely alarmed by the rumoured fate of some friend who having at last got his estate, knows nothing about the management of it, and after struggling with incompetent tenants or designing ones—new leases, valuations, tormenting applications for repairs to the old dilapidated buildings, appeals for returns of rent, and other vexations, finds his rental reduced to 2% per cent. or less, sells at a loss, and retires from the contest in despair. His example is quoted, and his mishap magnified to many other Capitalists, who ever after, from father to son, shun the dangers of meddling with so disastrous an affair as landed investment. As to Agricultural Improvements, why if a man has the courage to attempt it, he will at the outset encounter a host of doubts, prejudices, and obstructions—a hundred conflicting opinions, as to the width, depth, distance, and materials of his drains, will present themselves. Should he by good fortune settle this matter rightly, he is astounded with multifarious suggestions on subsoiling and courses of cropping, quantities and distances of seed, and state of crops for harvesting ; one will recommend mowing, another reaping, and a third bagging. As to artificial manures, a very host of nitrates and sulphates beset him in front and rear with soot, salt, and guanos on every side. He turns pale at the perspective of lime and chalk. Undecided and bewildered by their contending claims, he is coolly told that a perfect knowledge of Agricultural Chemistry, Geology, Entomology, and Botany, can alone enable him to decide correctly. Having pondered upon the respective merits of short horns, long horns, and no horns; Downs, Leicester, Cheviots, Kents, and Cotswolders ; and whether corn, cake, carrots, or coleworts, are most fattening—he hurries away to inspect a thousand complicated implements of Agriculture, which it would require a life of mechanical education and skill to effectually appreciate and discriminate. In despair he gives up the contest, loses his money or dies, leaving no authorized version of the knowledge he has acquired, but bequeathing to the venturous few the same course of toil, trouble, doubt, and disappointment; ; but had he succeeded, his motives would be misrepresented, his facts disbelieved, and his character blackened b those who consider that agricultural ignorance is bliss, and that improvement opens the eyes of the landlord to the injury of the tenant. Now all this might be easily obviated and prevented by a well conducted Company, having practical Directors, with proper Engineers and Officers (such men as the eminent Mr. Parkes for instance). Do away with the law of mortmain as regards such companies. Let them purchase waste or poor lands—drain, Behar, trench, crop, and let them. Let there be rival companies and their shares quoted at the Stock Exchange, the same as Railway Companies. Their success would depend upon their abilities and results, and a man disposed to invest his money in Agricultural improvement, could, without any personal trouble, buy or sell his shares or hequeath them without more anxiety or care than attends any other investment. */ - The importance of such companies is too obvious to need comment; all other undertakings, however useful or great, I consider secondary and subservient to the production of our daily bread and the provision for our daily labour. ºf our city capitalists and our great practical agriculturalists combine—let one find money and the other udgment: let them consider their interests inseparable (as they really are). How delightful will it be to see in pur daily papers lists of Land Improvement Companies for every county in England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, Huoted on the Stock Exchange! How pleasant to watch and comparé the management and success of a hundred Fuch companies, to read of their meetings of shareholders, and of their prospects ; to see those, whose Directors jossess most talent, energy, and discretion, publishing their annual reports, and stimulating or shaming the }luggard Agriculturist. How much more grateful to see Mr. Cobden and Mr. Baker on the same committee, ºxercising their great abilities to stimulate the productive powers of our grateful, but neglected soil—-throwing to the winds the question of foreign importation or protection. How pleasant to see in our shipping lists, that having bundance of corn, we are exporters of flax, oils, and other matters, which we are now obliged to purchase ! Could ye but produce food with as much skill as we do manufactures, we should, indeed, be a great nation—we have the #leans to do so had we but the method. Had such companies existed years ago, millions of our money lent or $ºsted to strengthen other nations, would have been employed at home in adding to our happiness and welfare. ºly earnest wish is, that I may be spared to see my suggestions in practical operation—it will be amongst the º ºppiest moments of my life! Our duty to our country and to ourselves claims our attention to this matter. I. J. MECHI. - P.S. There Ql’O already some Agricultural Colleges, Agricultural Drainage Companies, and no doubt there will be Loan ºmpanies, Improvement Companies, and Companies for the cultivation of Flax, Oils, &c., which are now purchased of foreigners. 20 apply in some degree to my farm, they only completed their operations in April ; much of the remainder was in a state of reclamation. There was also much road-making, levelling, and clearing-up, after the extensive Extra men and horses had to be employed. Of were thrown late and out of course. derangement caused by our alterations, building, and drainage. ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. LETTER IX. GENERAL REPORT THE STATE OF TIPTREE-HALí FARM, AND ITS CROPS-1844. December 12th. WHILST a bridge is being built or a railway constructed, mo return of profits is expected. This remark will One-third of my land was under the drainers’ hands during the Winter, and The crops course, under such circumstances, no correct financial account of its expenses or returns can be published this SCa,SOI), The first annual account will be for the year ending Michaelmas, 1845. imperfect, there being still some banks and fences to burn and earth to remove. will, under all the circumstances of a discouraging season, sufficiently indicate a progressive improvement and prospect of future remuneration. The Farm, in landlord's measure, with roads, &c. contains 128 acres: so that the actual quantity under the It was appropriated as follows: plough may be 120 acres. Even that must be slightly The present statement of produce - l 0 No. Name Number Description 7 r Exact Ascer- Estimated of of Previous Crop. of Ş. º tained Pro-| Produce Field. Acres. Present Crop. e * |duce ºf Acre. ºf Acre. A. R. P. Potter Row . . . . . . . 6 2 0 | Potatoes & Swedes; Wheat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |Nov. .. 29 August ... 9. 41 bushels Birch . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 0 0 |Clover . . . . . . . . te itto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . . . . . . . . . ." § . Thorne . . . . . . . . . . ; 8 0 0 |Peas . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ditto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . “ . .30 { % ... 17| 32; “ Three corners.... 6 2 0 |}}...”)||Pitto .................. Bec .. 10 “ . . 20 30 “ Crooked Ridges ... 6 2 0 |Swedes ditto .. Ditto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nov. , , 21 ç ç ... 10 22, “ Elm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 2 20 ! Peas . . . . . . . . .... Ditto . . º ... [March . 9 Septem. ... 13 16. “ Ash . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 3 16 | Peas . . . . . . . . . . . . Ditto . . . . . . . . . . ; “ . . 20 | “ . . 28] I 6 ‘' Beech. . . . . . . . . . . . 6 0 22 |Oats . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pigeon Beaus . . . . . . . . . . “ . . 20 & ſº ... 25! . . . . . . . . . . . . [28 to 32 bush. Willow..... * * * * 6 0 0 |Oats . Oats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . April .. 3|August . .22; 30 bushels - Spring Tares, part fed art seeded. Only Oak. . . . . . e tº 5 3 0 Wheat * * * * * * * * * * #aii, On a CCO unt of dry weather. 4% Swedes. . . . . . . . . . . . [July . . 9 December 9 tons Kept 100 Nine Acres . . . . . . . 9 0 0 |Oats . . . . . . . . . . . . 4}. Rapes . . . . . . . . . . . . July ... 13 Sept. & Oct. 3 feet high ºniº the yard. White Carrots. . . . . . . . March .28||Novem. . .21 5 tons . . . The carrots weigh- Black Sandys . . . . . 8 1 0 |Wheat . . . . . . . . . . Blanks, filled with { % • e s ºr e º a tº e º 'º º §:"..."; SWede: . . . . . . . . . . . • * * * * * * * * * | * * * * * * * * * * * * 1% e is © the bushel. ſº Italian Rye Grass, ` w | Fed. In bad coudi: | Chase * * * * * * * * c s sº 5 0 O Oats • * * * * * * * * * tº a 3 tion, being used as a ? l;" d in: ing the build- iug and drailuing Holly . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 0 0 |.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iłye for next Spring . . . . A poor affai - Swedes, in bad con- ) º 21 2 43 t f attair—ne. Pond . . . . . . . . . . . 7 0 0 | Wheat . . & ditiou after drainers J July .. 2 December 13 tons) veryegetated well until the rains The Bog. . . . . . . . . ] 3 3 0 }. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lucerne. . . . . . . . . . . . . . * * [ . . . . . . . w # 4 i s = a + b + tº ºr w w s - t 4 tº a tº * * * * * * * & º e s tº tº e º . . . 3 came, and then only part of a plant, and Home . . . . . . . . . 2 0 0 | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . } Used for building ma- my folks neglected w = * * * g iſ ºr & is as & º & tº º º tº e * s e º º º 0 terials and rubbish Uweeding it, The Slipe . . . . . . . . . I l 10 |... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pasture I could have sold the Swedes at 233, per ton, and the Qºhºl: º, ... . . . 4 0 0 |Wheat . . . . . . . . . ." Swedes ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . July . . 9|December 1, 5% tons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . jº Potatoes, ºn in- 2 0 0 advisable to rob the closed Waste. ſ |_* Farm in its present | 17 0 28 | poor State, Roads, buildings, cottagers' gar- dens, ditches, 1 1 0 0 and removed banks . . . . . . . . tº- 128 0 28 The Root Crops have all been accurately measured by bushels. frequently laid at double their real weight | I have reason to believe growing crops of Roots arc Strangely over-rated- A Barge-master who purchases largely by the ton for the London market, assures me he has almost invariably found it so, and I know it was so in one of my own fields last year. A square rod measured or weighed is no sufficient security against such an error. ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. 21 As soon as the three remaining banks and fences are removed and matters settled down to a regular course, the farm will be re-measured and re-mapped, so that next year's report will show the exact admeasurement of cultivatable soil, and the true space occupied by the buildings, cottages, roads, ditches, and external fences : ad interim, the before-mentioned is the correct measure of each field, minus the removed banks and fences, which may be one-fourth of an acre in each field. º By this it will appear that forty acres of our wheat, mostly after the roots were drawn off, yielded an average of thirty-two bushels per acre, a fine sample, much of it weighing sixty-four to sixty-six pounds per bushel. The wheats sown the 9th and 18th of March, could not be got in earlier on account of the land being in the drainer's hands. They went in well, came up quickly, but remained without a shower for fourteen weeks: on the 20th June, they did not cover the ground, being only a few inches high ; the rains came—and on the 31st of July, they were four feet. The sample is fair, although the quantity was diminished by the drought, and by the number of late unripe ears. In the middle of September it will not do to wait for these ripening—even if they would do so, which I doubt. Still it did as well as late barley or oats. Had there been the ordinary supply of moisture, I apprehend it would have quite equalled the Winter sown. Two other fields of wheat suffered much from the drought where the land was loose, a showery season would have increased our return at least £3 per acre, but we fared like our neighbours. This wretchedly dry spring rendered almost entirely nugatory the expense of drainage. In the Midland and Southern Districts the loss of clover and grass, the diminished crop of beans and barley, and the deficiency of roots for Winter feed, are serious drawbacks. The low price of wheat, and the necessity of pressing half-fat stock on the crowded meat markets, also cause loss, so that many Farmers will have “to write their profit down a loss.” In rich valleys, in the North of England, Scotland, and Ireland, where they have had more rains, these remarks will not apply. There they have abundance both in corn and roots. - The present unusually dry season has been to all poor Farms a very trying one, particularly as regards spring- sown corn, grass, and roots. In my case it was peculiarly unfortunate, because a considerable portion of the heavy land was under the drainer's hands until April. The dense yellow subsoil thrown on the surface dried suddenly, and became literally almost as hard as iron—certainly harder than burnt bricks. For fourteen weeks the clods were exposed to a burning sun; and so sharp were their edges, that the horses in working the roller, &c. often came in with their legs bleeding. The men called the clods “half-hundreds.” By frequently working Crosskill's powerful clod-crusher, the drag-harrows, &c., they were broken into smaller pieces; but still there was no pulverization or amalgamation till the 25th of June, when the rain came, we then got it into a rather better condition; and it had a healthy though late plant of Swedes. Our beans had a deal of straw for the season and abundant blossoms, but no rain came to set them. Our oats were short in the straw, and suffered from drought. The Farm, prior to the rains on the 25th of June, looked very barren and unpromising, and disappointed many visitors, who forgot they were on a poor heath, and had not made allowance for a very dry season, besides the land being only them in a state of reclamation from disorder and poverty. The absence of all trees and fences give it a naked appearance. . Of course two or three years must elapse before it attains a high state of cultivation and fertility. Our implements were also not completed, our stock not laid in, nor were my plans of cultivation in operation. I also farm forty-five acres of land adjoining mine, rented under a charity; but the accounts of this are kept separately. The 16% acres of Swedes are a full and healthy plant, although necessarily late—the land being in no condition to receive them till late in July. In fact, it is heavy land, that never carried a Swede before ; but I consider they loosen such soil wonderfully. The rapes, on heavy land, are of extraordinary quality for such soil, being now three feet high, except two lands on which no guano was sown with last year's crops: these appear, in comparison with the rest, dwindling and poor. The field was subsoiled during the summer, and well cleaned to the depth of 15 inches—three horses being used to the plough (before drainage nine horses could not work it). It is a striking fact, that rapes sown the same day, on the same description of land (unimproved) were only a few inches high and very sickly. Our four and a half acres afforded nine weeks feed to 100 lambs; cut up in the yard and mixed with wheat husk or chaff. My root and green crops will not be three-fourths trampled down and one-fourth fed. They will be all cut up fine and consumed in mangers. There is no excuse for destroying so much food, except the improper state of most farm-yards, which allow the liquid manure to be washed away or evaporated. Imagine our own eight weeks meals spread - uniformly over a limited space, on which we must not only tread, exercise, and repose, but must also use for depositing our exerements. I can see no distinction in the ease between animals and human beings ; it 1S a wasteful and improper practice, which common sense and decency tell us should be abolished. The cost of cutting, pulling, or cartage, in well-arranged farms of easy access, is nothing in comparison with the saving. . A good plan of summer feeding on the land, is a row of hurdles across a field, through which the sheep feed as in a manger; every º the hurdles are advanced, the width of the field and number of sheep being duly considered. By this mode they never tread on their food, and their excrements are deposited uniformly, Sº 22 ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. Nine acres of German white carrots : these, although not half a plant, are very luxuriant. They had a severe struggle with the drought", their case being nearly hopeless till the rains (25th June) when they rallied, some of them measuring between two and three feet, and weighing five pounds four ounces. The blanks were filled up with Swedes, doing well. This field is a black sandy soil, was wheat last year, and a very foul stubble. It was ploughed in the spring, and forked 12 inches deep under the plough. This is a plan recommended and practised by Mr. James Bendel, of Witham, Essex, and benefits the soil (where drained) very much. The cost is about 33s. per acre: I think, however, my plan of trench or subsoil ploughing, which cost but Ss. per acre, and is much more readily effected, will answer nearly as well. On this point I shall be able to form correct conclusions another year, but I have seen enough from what has been already done by myself, and from the experience of others, to convince me that trench or subsoil ploughing should be executed for every root crop. By doing this, and crossing the land with drag-harrows (strong harrows with times 12 or 15 inches long, mine are made expressly 15 inches) drawn by several horses across the land, you rake out the root weeds, which nine times out of ten are below the reach of the common plough, the soil is intimately commixed and pulverized, the action of the weather admitted, and the crops benefited in an extraordinary degree. It approaches the nearest to spade husbandry, which, in my opinion, is the very best of all+. What would our gardeners say, if we cried Stop ! when their spades are five inches in the ground. They are not afraid of deep cultivation; then why should farmers fear it? It only requires, at the first disturbance, a more ample supply of manure and a root-crop, with sufficient room to use a deep and frequent hoeing. | But whilst this is so beneficial on perfectly drained land, I have reason to believe that on undrained heavy or wet land, it would be most injurious, unless the open furrows were deeper than the disturbed surface, which would after all be a poor substitute for sub-drainage. It grieves me to see six or seven shallow ploughings expended on a clean fallow, whilst the root weeds are merely decapitated, and waiting for the next crop to throw out from below the plough-sole fresh heads, and luxuriate amongst the thick-sown standing corn. I consider one good trench ploughing, crab harrowing, rolling, &c., far superior to shallow fallows, and a great saving in time and expense. I would lay down as a general rule, that all deep and trench ploughing should be effected if possible in summer and autumn ; and in the spring only hoe, harrow, shallow plough, or scarify. Where the bog was last year, we sowed lucerne on the 20th March. This, like the carrots, struggled hard for existence during the 14 weeks drought, and came at last but a patchy plant. We shall probably plough up a part, and load the bog (mow as dry as felt) with marl or burnt clay. Generally speaking, the siliceous and peaty part of my Farm from which the springs were taken, will require marl or some of our heavier soil, being now like dust in the summer season. With regard to my crops for the ensuing season –I have one of Newberry's (of Hook Norton, Oxon) dibbling machines, with five rows of dibbles; this will dibble ci ght inches between the rows, and six inches from dibble to dibble in the row. The quantity of seed used will be about 2, pecks of wheat, barley, and oats, per acre. This is considered a rash attempt ; but when I find that Mr. Hewett Davis drills all his wheat, and only uses three pecks per acre, and that Mr. Morton has done the same at Earl Ducie's model Farm, 18 inches between the rows Ś, I fancy myself in the right path. My intention was to have had the machine to dibble a single hole in each square foot ||, and only use one peck per acre; but the machine-maker and some of my agricultural friends considered THAT absolute madness; so to please them, and make sure on so large a quantity as 60 acres of wheat, I very reluctantly consented to the following compromise: Twenty acres to be dibbled two to three kernels in a hole (about two-and-a-half pecks per acre).-Twenty acres to be dibbled five to six kernels in a hole (this is New- berry's usual quantity, about a bushel or five pecks per acre).-Twenty acres to be drilled in the common way, two bushels per acre)—doing one-third of a field each way. Feeling, however, convinced that I am right and that they are wrong, I shall have, hand-dibbled in each field, a stetch, with one dibble-hole in each square foot, and two kernels in each hole: this will afford a comparative test. The question should be tried and decided by other authorities, and especially by the leading members of the Royal and other Agricultural Societies. I hope to * On the subject of securing a crop of roots (and probably other corn), in a very dry time, I would strongly recommend the Earl of Essex's experiment (as detailed in the last number of the ſtoyal Agricultural Society's Journal). By mixing his carrot and turnip- seed with twelve times its bulk of powdered charcoal in the drill, he secured a good plant, which completely distanced, at the rate of ten to one, those sown Without the charcoal. I have found the advantage of it in one turnip field, and it is easily explained, charcoal having the power of attracting and absorbing ammonia and other gases necessary to vegetation, without losing its own material, as the root attached to the charcoal abstracts from its support, the charcoal attracts fresh supplies from the atmosphere. For this reason it should always be kept near the surface ; because in that position it has access to the atmosphere; and, secondly, because it will arrest and appropriate those gases (the essential parts of mamure), that are constantly escaping from the dried portion of the soil in very hot dry weather. I have heard of certain plants luxuriating in charcoal alone; but I apprehend that it can only appropriate the volatile gases, and not every material necessary for Seed, &c. Still, in dry weather, it appears to furnish to the young root of succulent plants supply of moisture and food, without the necessity of its going into the dried surface. Moist earth we know will sweeten a corrupt substance, by attracting and appropriating its ammonia; but charcoal will do so very much quicker, and without moisture—it always contains hydrogen : herein is the difference between them. I mean to drill charcoal with all my roots. f See Appendiv. f Sce his Pamphlet. § See Report in Agricultural Gazette of August. | See Appendia. ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. 23 hear of their results: it is highly important to the nation at large, whether ten pecks or one peck will produce the largest result. I apprehend the success of thin sowing depends on perfect drainage, perfect tillage, and a total absence of weeds. The ordinary grassy stubbles must be an effectual bar to thin sowing, and a dense undrained soil equally so. Several hoeings will be required. t º - * tº e Ön the subject of dibbling wheat there are many opinions. On light, dry land it must inevitably be the best mode, and also on heavy and other soils, if properly drained; but in wet, heavy, undrained land, dibbling in a wet season would not answer, I think (especially with a small quantity of seed) for two reasons :—First, because the dibble-hole getting filled with water, without means of escape, would increase the chance of rotting the seed; secondly, the action of the hand-dibble in heavy, wet land, naturally renders more dense and impervious the sides of the dibble-hole through which the young roots must push in search of nurture. I hope to see the time when, by wide drilling or dibbling, the horse-hoe and hand-hoe may, at intervals, up to the very eve of harvest, keep the surface of land, as it ought to be, in a pulverized state, without a single weed or blade of grass. Then would the growing corn have undivided access to every fraction of nourishment the earth, air, and water contained—then would light, air, and warmth, so cheer the bosom of the soil, and the roots it feeds, that our harvests would be considerably forwarded—then should we be enabled, by sprinkling a few turnip-seeds amongst the standing corn, to get a growing crop to show itself at the very moment the corn was removed, so as to derive the full benefit of a September growth. But now, especially in crowded and broadcast crops, the hungry and intrusive weed monopolizes a great share of the soil, and not unfrequently is allowed to leave a legacy of seeds that will defy a year's warfare of active extermination. I hope hereafter the term, “feeding the stubbles,” will be a saying of “other days;” at least I shall try to make it so at Tiptree-IIall, in spite of the affection of my workpeople for a { % few weeds,” and their assertion of the impossibility of extirpating them. . (At the very moment I am writing this, a neighbour tells me, he has just lost two valuable cows from eating hemlock off a bank in the field—an appropriate argument against weeds), I attach great importance to frequent and deep hoeing to all crops. Independent of its action as a summer ſallow in extirpating weeds, admitting heat, air, and the night-dews, its effect on the crop and subsoil is extra- ordinary. We well know all plants have a great tendency to throw out their fibres near the surface, preferring, like ourselves, good feed to indifferent, and so exhaust the top soil, by which they are sooner, in dry weather, liable to be patched up and their growth checked. Now, by frequent and deep hoeing or digging, we cut off or disturb these lateral surface fibres (much in the same way as we stop the growth of a shoot by pinching it off), and so force the tap or principal roots to run down deeply into the subsoil, in search of food and moisture. I am speaking of course of drained land. Dy carrying out this constant hoeing and horse-hoeing, you may force your plants or roots to a considerable size, and place them in a great degree out of danger of dry weather. You thus prevent your carrots, Swedes, mangold, &c. becoming fangy, the hoer taking care to hoe all round from the plant, avoiding dividing or injuring its main or tap-root. I have reason to believe in the hottest and dryest weather, the hoe is of the most essential service by allowing the moisture from below to rise up in the day, thus causing coolness by evaporation, and so prevent that shrivelling which the parched leaves undergo in a hot dry atmosphere (it never can be too hot if moist); at night the condensed vapour percolates the loosened surface to some depth, and so affords a supply of moisture for the ensuing day. The cause and effect of dews are beautifully illustrated by Mr. Parkes, in his com- munication in the Royal Agricultural Society's Journal, 1844. It is likely plants may flag or droop a little after hoeing, the natural consequence of losing a portion of their fibres, but this is but a temporary effect, and amply repaid by their subsequent vigour. No doubt some Farmers (not all) are preparing to laugh at any failure of mine, and strange to say, seem anxious to do so; but that will not deter me from following the dictates of reason. I cannot distinguish between an individual's garden and a nation's garden; the same means will produce the same results, whether on a large scale or a small one. The question is, is manual labour applied to land profitable f (who will deny it 2) If it is, the cost is of no consequence on the largest scale, provided there is CAPITAL. In another letter I have proved there is more than enough capital, but unfortunately that capital is not employed as it ought to be, in Agricultural In provement, but in loans to foreign nations, in foreign mines, and foreign railways. Shame ' shame ' shame ! that it should be so. As to Manuring.—Our farm-yard manure will be supplied liberally to the heavy land in the immediate vicinity of the homestead, looseming the land and affording silica, which in light lands is always sufficiently available— (although silica abounds in heavy land) being affectionately attached to alumina by sulphuric acid, neither are avail- able to plants unless you detach them by lime or burning. The distant fields and light soil will have guano and artificial manures and so save cartage, I consider farm-yard manure is essential to heavy land, because it acts mecha- nically as well as chemically-loosening the soil. . In light lands it may act injuriously in a dry season by looseming it too much. Lime will be applied in such proportions as we may consider is required by the various crops, and also as regards its chemical action on the organic and inorganic portions of the soil. Professor Johnston's statements that every 100 lbs. of lucerne hay ashes contains 48 lbs. of lime, is strikingly illustrative of the necessity of adapting the soils to the crops, or vice versd. The want of lime and sulphuric acid, no doubt, occasions lucerne so frequently * See Appendia, 24 ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. to fail after a year or two. I do not consider we have yet ascertained the best way of managing our manure tank. It contains both the solid and liquid manure (as described in my 5th letter). The lower part is always moist enough, but near the top it was apt to over-heat or “fire fang.” To prevent this, we now daily or frequently, according to its condition, and the description of manure in it, pump up some liquid manure from the well at the end of the tank, and pour it on the dry or heated surface. This renders it more dense and solid, and less liable to over-heating. I have no doubt the addition of some sulphuric acid and water would be advantageous where there is fermentation : but my folks at the Farm have a great fear of this liquid fire, and my not having time at present to visit the Farm and instruct them in the use of it, prevents our availing ourselves of its benefits to its full extent. Gypsum, if genuine, is decidedly the cheapest and most available fixer in a farm-yard ; sulphuric acid being dangerous unless carefully used, whilst excess of gypsum is quite harmless. - Turning the heap, and bringing the moist bottom to the top, is decidedly beneficial. The liquid manure in the well does not undergo fermentation, being so deep as nine feet underground, surrounded by bricks set in cement and covered with stone, therefore none of its properties are wasted. I was fully convinced of this by adding to a pailful of it nearly a pint of pure sulphuric acid, but not the slightest effervescence took place, although on a summer's day. I presume it is well understood, that it is only whilst the liquid manure is in a state of fermentation that the sulphuric acid can combine with the released ammonia. The tank has been once emptied of its solid manure, which was applied to a very dense, poor, and cloddy field (the one I alluded to as having had no chance of pulverization after the drainers left it, owing to the continued dry weather). There was not enough to dress the whole field. It has now a healthy plant of Swedes, but you may trace to a line at a considerable distance the small plot to which the manure was not applied. The Swedes are there poor, dwindling, and mildewy ; no doubt next year's wheat will also exhibit the same contrast, proving the value and quality of the manure. I consider the tank of immense importance: when our manure was loose and strawy, we put a horse into the tank to tread it down solid; as we fill it and moisten it, the superincumbent weight and bottom moisture will, I think, effectually consolidate it. The top should always be well solidified. On the subject of the management of the manure heap, I recommend a perusal of Dr. Madden's remarks on Mr. Stephens's admirable Book of the Farm, vol. ii., pages 653, 654. The conclusion I draw from those remarks is, that a manure heap should be always moist, but neither wet nor dry—that it should have just as much moisture as it can retain by capillary attraction—that by frequently applying on the top of the heap a certain quantity of liquid-manure, we prevent the escape of ammonia, the oxygen uniting with the carbon in a warm moist state. The moister you keep it, the slower will be its fermentation according to the temperature of the atmosphere, and the mature of the dung itself. I attach great importance to the perfect decomposition of the manure heaps, because, independent of numerous other advantages, we thereby destroy every seed weed. This can only be accomplished by a moist fermentation; dung heaps are too frequently a complete nursery for weeds. My plan of cutting the litter into chaff appears to answer admirably, acting like a sponge in retaining the urine and moisture, and thereby promoting a moist and rapid decomposition. I am decidedly in favour of using gypsum in dung-heaps. It contains, if genuine, 58 per cent. of sulphuric acid, which leaves the lime, unites with the ammonia, and prevents its escape, the two forming sulphate of ammonia. When on the land, I apprehend it again decomposes, the root appropriating the ammonia, and the sulphuric acid entering into new combinations and decompositions. A very intelligent Farmer tells me, he derives great benefit by making a chalk bottom for his heap, and on the top of the heap placing layers of unslacked lime in lumps, gypsum, and charcoal. I presume if the lime did liberate the ammonia, the gypsum and charcoal would appropriate it. As he removes the heap, he has it all mixed together in the same way as brickmakers do their breeze and earth. ... I have my doubts about the lime. From the great pressure and variety of operations necessary for reclaiming the land and getting matters a littie smooth, we have not yet had sufficient time to devote to these experiments, it will take at least a year or two before everything is in its proper working order. The natives of Tiptree Heath have not been accustomed to first-rate agricultural pursuits. It requires time to break them in-I am loth to displace the old servants, as they are anxious to improve, and the pressure of other matters has prevented my personal attendance, except an occasional hasty visit of a few hours, º We used last year and the present, a considerable quantity of Peruvian guano. It was applied broadcast, and well harrowed in with the seed for roots. For wheat it was applied early in the spring, and well harrowed. The land should always be in a slightly moist state, to appropriate the ammonia, or it should be sown when there is a prospect of rain. Exposure to sun in the summer destroys its properties to a great extent. I consider it adapted to any crop, white or root, and far preferable to any artificial manure I know of certainly superior to dried night-soil, which I also used, and which this dry season had little effect. I am not able at present to say whether the difference of price is less or greater than the difference in quality between Ichaboe and Peruvian, but I have proved that 4ewt. of Peruvian per acre will grow a reasonable crop of either corn or roots on very poor land, either light or heavy. On light lands. I have always sown with it one sack of common salt per acre, and, in one instance, on heavy land also ; but I consider even on well drained heavy land salt unmixed with lime is objectionable, tending to keep the land wet and clinging. On light, sandy, or black land, ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. 25 salt is decidedly beneficial, especially for root crops, but how much greater a quantity than one sack per acre may be advantageously used, I cannot say, not having gone beyond that quantity. On this subject, I refer to the Appendix, although I shall hesitate at trying so large a quantity as one ton per acre, even on light land, except on a few stretches. It is very important to know to what extent and under what circumstances so cheap and accessible a manure as British manufactured salt can be applied. Near to the sea (see Professor J ohnston's experiments) it would be less effective than in inland districts. We have applied unslaked, the best Dorking lime on the very heavy land in quantities of 30 bushels per acre, taking care not to plough it in, but as it slakes keep it harrowed in with the surface soil, so that it may absorb its carbonic acid from the atmosphere, and that its solutions during rain may percolate the soil, thus causing all those chemical decompositions and re-combinations so admirably developed by Professors Playfair, Liebig, Sprengel, and others. Of course, I shall only apply lime tº heavy cold land previously undrained, or to boggy soils. To apply it with manure, or to porous richly manured lands, is very injurious, I believe, by dispelling the ammonia; nor should it ever be mixed with manure heaps. The following will be our usual course of cropping, although we may vary the details according to circumstances:—One-half wheat, one-eighth each beans, tares, clover, and roots. (The young clover plant having partially failed, we drill tares with it). There will be a few acres of lucerne and rye-grass. On the heavy land, wheat will alternate with tares, beans, and clover. On the light land, roots, rye for feed, and wheat, and occasionally stubble turnips after wheat. In fact, the produce of one-half the Farm will be consumed on the Farm by stock, with the straw of the other half, purchasing in addition for the cattle some linseed or oil cake, and for the distant fields, guano and bones. The only grain sold off the Farm will be wheat, with some pork, beef, and mutton to relish it. I shall hope by this course, ultimately, to get my land in very high condition, being convinced that the richer it is, the more profitable it will be. - Some of our beans will be dibbled, leaving the distance from row to row about two feet ; this will enable us to keep the land perfectly cleaned and deeply hoed. They will be harvested a month earlier than thick sown, and we shall adopt the Earl of Lovelace's plan of transplanting between the rows, in the moist weather of June, Swedes or cabbages. These will have September and October to grow in, and will afford some useful feed in the yards. How is it that beans in a garden are always ready in July—whilst in fields, they are on the ground the half of September 2 Because from their thick sowing and close growth, the ground is deprived of warmth, air, and light, and encumbered with a luxuriant under growth of rank weeds. I hope we shall see the time when by wide drilling and dibbling, no weeds will be allowed to grow ; there is no possibility of extirpating them on the miser- able broadcast, or close drilling system. As to Swedes, I purpose, as an experiment, sowing some in a seed-bed the last week of September, or early in October, and transplanting them in the spring, say March or April. They will be placed one in every square yard at regular intervals, so that the ground may be ploughed and cross ploughed, and kept perfectly clean between them, until such time as their leaves cover all the ground. The same treatment will be applied to the drum-head cabbage, giving them more room. I am assured by many gardeners, that by sowing Swedes late in September, there is no fear of their running to seed; and I believe, disturbing the ground constantly and deeply between the rows will prevent mildewing (if I recollect right, scientific reasons were given for this at one of the meetings of the Stewpony Agricultural Society). The Swede appears to me to be entirely of the nature of a hardy cabbage. It is possible I may transplant Scotch kale occasionally, as affording green food at a time when it is scarce. I believe we are not at all aware of the importance of size in Agricultural produce. A large number of small Swedes or potatoes seldom formed an extraordinary crop, but a few large ones have done so. A calculation of solid contents will at once convince us; a Swede three inches in diameter, supposing it to be square instead of round, would contain twenty-seven parts; another, six inches in diameter, will contain two hundred and sixteen parts, so that the latter contains exactly eight times the quantity of a three-inch one ; in fact considerably more, because there is a smaller proportion of skin; and in Swedes (see Stephens' Book of the Farm) the nutri- tious properties of the root increases with its size; one mine inches in diameter would contain twenty-seven of the three-inch ones. It is on this principle, that in a dry season, like the present, wheat, being a plump full kernel, is increased in yield in an extraordinary degree. A small number of large plants are beneficial, by allowing a perfect and deep tillage between them, and an entire extermination of weeds; in fact, a sort of summer fallow, admitting the night dews. I quite agree with Tull (who, after all, is our best authority on tillage, sainfoin, and lucerne), that the surface of the soil cannot be too frequently and deeply disturbed and pulverized in dry hot weather, provided there is deep drainage, so that the top or principal roots may run down in search of moisture and food. In thin skinned, undrained land, where the roots cannot go down, but are confined near the surface, such a course would be injurious in a hot summer. One experiment I tried on turnips failed, viz., One bushel of bone-dust was dissolved in forty pounds of pure sulphurie acid, and applied with 800 gallons of water. This was too much acid, it spoiled the turnips. I then added an extra bushel of bone-dust per acre, and the rye that followed looks healthy. I have since found the proper proportion is as at foot. - tºw 26 ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. How easy would it be for Farmers to try experiments without loss, by devoting a land or two in each field to any particular trial, either of manure or seeding. Experience has confirmed my favourable opinion of having abundant barn and loft room; and I am also satisfied I can do very well without a steam-engine. The facility of rendering two-horse power of our threshing machinery applicable to the chaff-cutting and grinding apparatus is all sufficient. I find our threshing machine answers perfectly; we can readily thresh and dress thirty or more quarters in a short day. Last year, when there was an usual length of straw, and our wheat mowed, we could hardly manage so much—but then, it being a new thing, neither men nor horses were accustomed to the work. I have substituted an efficient crushing apparatus for the mere rollers I at first had. Our steaming apparatus is also now quite complete, with a number of iron coppers, into each of which we insert, as we require it, a branch from the main-steam pipe, and so steam our potatoes, roots, boil our linseed or water in twenty minutes, with the greatest facility. The brewing copper is also boiled in the same way. This apparatus was fitted for me by Messrs. Eckstein & Co., of Holborn. I am indebted to Mr. Warren, of Horkesley, for the plan. As there are so many autumnal wet days, I attach great importance to having under-cover employment for men and horses; threshing, straw binding, chaff cutting, turning the manure heap, or cleaning the implements. All our wheat has been threshed and dressed in wet days. The anticipation of the barn being objectionable to the condition of our corn has proved entirely groundless, and we save something considerable in avoidance of loss by birds, waste, and thatching. Those gentlemen in the North, who feel surprised at my not having a steam-engine, should consider, that whilst they have coals and engineers close at hand, we should have to pay 22s. to 24s, for our coals, and send fifty miles to get a repair to the engine; and I am strongly in favour of preferring manual labour, where the difference in cost is but trifling. That difference is more than compensated by saving in pauper and county rates. I am, by experience, fully confirmed in my original position, that continuous buildings, without a break or opening, protected from the north, east, or north-west, but open to the South, promote the growth and fattening of stock most advantageously. It is very possible I may burn some of the heavy land in small heaps, as described in the Appendix, especially if foul and unmanageable. Plenty of farmers are convinced of the profit of this mode, when commons were enclosed; but they forget, that like manure, the dressing must be every few years repeated. Still how few think of doing it a second time; I am convinced where manure is expensive and the soil stubborn, burning is a most profitable operation, by permitting green and root crops to be fed on such land as was previously too pasty. I intend electrifying my ground on the principle so admirably practised by Robert Dewey Forster, Esq., of Fendrassie House, near Elgin, North Britain; as explained in a Lecture, at the Tring Agricultural Meeting, reported in the Times of the 21st of October. (See Appendix). As the details and results of this important question will probably shortly be treated of more fully by Mr. Forster, I will only say, I consider the Agricultural World deeply indebted to that gentleman for his scientific application of the free electricity of the atmosphere to the encrease of agricultural production. Many of these matters are experiments of course. If they do not answer, I shall be the sufferer; but those who visit my farm from year to year will have the opportunity of judging of their success or failure. It is quite clear some one should experiment with a view to improvement, as recommended by Liebig, Daubeny, Playfair, Solly, &c., and as explained in Bernay's admirable pamphlet. No doubt, in the neighbourhood of my farm, I shall, in endeavouring to apply the matter practically, get the character of a mad enthusiast, or something worse—but that will not deter me from fairly trying the experi- ment. I have long since ceased to regard mere opinions favourable or adverse, unless they are based upon well ascertained facts, or common sense and calculation. Remarks that arise from mere prejudice and custom, excite my pity not my anger. t - - T. J. MECIII, P.S.–Mr. Bernay considers the following as sufficient manure for a rotation of four crops : : : 200 lbs, of ground bones ......................... .................... *0 80 lbs. of pure sulphuric acid ....................................... 0 200 lbs. of guano .................... l 200 lbs. of carbonate of soda.......................................... 1 a s tº s : * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * a s is a ſº tº a º 23 1. 4. As to the mode of mixing and using, see his Pamphlet ; see also his Remarks on Salt and Lime. APPENDIX. O N T) R. A. IN IN G. THE subject of draining is so important and so indifferently understood, that I have ventured to annex considerable details, hoping they may prove useful to the inexperienced in this art.-J. J. M. ECCLESFIELL) PLOUGHING CLUB. [Ertracted from the Sheffield and Rotherham Independent, October, 1844]. The monthly meeting of this Club took place on Wednesday Evening, at the house of Mr. Matthew Stringer, innkeeper, of Ecclesfield. The attendance, owing to the absence from home of several gentlemen, was very small. George Chambers, Esq., of IJigh Green, occupied the Chair, and congratulated the Meeting that having now had the introductory papers, they had arrived at the practical part of the business. The topic of this evening's paper was of the greatest importance. e - Mr. HINDE, before reading his paper, expressed his regret that his absence from home prevented him from fulfilling his engagement at the last meeting. He should more have regretted it, had it not drawn from the Chairman so able a paper as he read on that occasion. He thanked the Chairman for the acknowledgment he had given of the services to Agriculture of non-agricultural persons. He was aware that persons not practically engaged in farming were likely to be called vision- aries and theorists. He hoped, however, that in their meetings, the subject of consideration would be, whether what was advanced was true or not, and not who said it. In conclusion, he had to present to the Club a series of letters, by Mr. Miechi, of London, detailing the experiments he had made on a farm in Essex. This was, no doubt, an extreme Case; but he apprehended that they could hardly spend a few winter's evenings better than in reading these letters, or could fail to derive benefit from them. Mr. Ilinde then proceeded to read the following paper : “In addressing myself to a society of experienced Farmers upon so practical a subject as that of draining, I feel under the necessity of claiming the utmost limit of their indulgence; for, whilst it is admitted on all bands to be a question of paramount importance in agricultural science, I find the opinions of practical men to be extremely various, and the systems now advocated by the most experienced and intelligent, far from meeting with general recognition. I much regret, gentlemen, that whatever I may say on this subject cannot have the weight of any practical experience of my own; but, in the absence of this, I will endeavour to illustrate and support my positions by a reference to some of the authorities from whence I have derived my information. In the few remarks which my time and other opportunities enable me to make, my object will be to direct attention rather to the principles than to the expediency of draining; for, young as our Society is, I trust we are sufficiently advanced to admit its value—I may add its necessity. “Before, however, we enter upon any system of draining, it is necessary to consider what description of ground requires it. First, then, I should say, that all land resting upon a strong clay subsoil, would not only be benefited by draining, but actually requires it before it can be cultivated to advantage. This description of land always requires to be ridged up in marrow lands, and to have the furrows well thrown out before it is cropped, and even then, it is exceedingly wet and spongy in a rainy season. In consequence, too, of the soil being thrown up in the centre of the land, it is rendered shallower towards the furrows, and what with the wet in the furrow itself, and the thinness of the soil on each side of it, a very considerable portion of the field, in the aggregate, is cultivated unprofitably, the labour and the seed being expended without any proportionate return. This is more particularly observable when the land happens to be flat. It is this description of land which is generally supposed to be wet from surface water. There appear to be no specific springs which render the land permanently wet in their immediate locality; but, after rain, the water is observed to stand for a time in the furrows, until it either runs off, or is absorbed, or evaporated, by a very slow process, leaving the land for a considerable time in a wet, cold, spongy state. The reason why the land appears in this state, is because the subsoil is already charged with stagnant water; for, if it had been dry and porous, the surface water would immediately find its way downwards, and become absorbed. I wish you particularly to bear this in mind when I come to speak of deep, and what I shall term ‘thorough draining;' for there is no more fatal error than that so commonly committed, of making shallow superficial drains with a view of carrying off this ‘surface water,’ as it is called. In speaking of this description of land, I should lay it down as a rule, that wherever ditches and water-furrows are required, you may depend upon it the land wants draining. If the water, instead of being at once absorbed as it falls, will either stand, or run off superficially, it is a proof that the subsoil is already charged with stagnant water—the most pernicious thing in the world to vegetation. It is true that a horse, for instance, walking on a naturally tenacious clay soil in a wet state, will make puddle-holes which will retain water under any circumstances; but, as such land, if well drained and subsoiled, will run itself dry in a few hours, it is the fault of the farmer if he suffers it to be entered upon in such a state. There is another description of land which may be termed springy—that is, with springs breaking out in particular places, and rendering considerable tracts of land in their vicinity exceedingly wet and spongy. These springs may be easily perceived in the beginning of the year, about January or February, by the water appearing in the furrows, or by the wet soft state they are found to be in on walking up them ; or a surer test is to dig a hole about eighteen inches or two feet deep, and if water stands in such hole, be sure draining it necessary. These springs are also very perceptible in the dry winds about March or April, when dark damp patches will be seen, upon which neither wind or sun appears to have had any effect, while other parts of the field or of the country have had the surface completely dried. These remarks refer principally to arable land; and I now come to speak of pasture land, or land in permanent grass. There are many, I know, who hold the opinion, that if grass land be a bit wet, considerably more produce is obtained from it in consequence, and that if the herbage be tolerably sweet, such as 28 ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. cattle will eat, there could be no advantage arise from draining. If I mistake not, I heard a member of this Club, who, I think, holds the appointment of joint secretary, express, this opinion in conversation at one of our former meetings. Now, I think, no one will deny that dry pasturage has at all events many advantages—the quality of the grass, for instance, is decidedly better, all kinds of cattle not only prefer it, but it is firmer and better food, is less aqueous, and contains more nutrition ; so that, if it be even true that something is lost in quantity (which, however, I by no means concede), there is a decided gain in quality. Another advantage is, that cattle can go on to it without treading it—or, as I believe the term is ‘poaching it at any season of the year; and it may be made to carry sheep (so beneficial to pastures), which, in a wet state, it would not do. Again, if it be true that stagnant water is uncongenial to the growth of all except aqueous plants, I have yet to learn, that by drying the soil and encouraging the roots to go deeper, we have to expect a smaller produce. The herbage will, I know, be finer, but it will at the same time be of a much closer and thicker description ; all the finer, better kinds of grasses springing up abundantly, which before would not appear at all. In all great grazing districts, the herbage of the best pastures is of the close thick character which I have described. Strong clay land is apt to burn up and crack very much in a dry season—the former, because the superabundance of water with which it was charged is evapo- rated, and the latter from two causes, viz., the hardness of the ground preventing the absorption of the dews or moisture from the atmosphere, and the shallowness of the roots of the plants. Now, if such land were drained, it would gradually become of kinder quality, neither baking to bricks in summer, nor going to puddle in winter, the grass roots striking down would assist in opening the subsoil, and letting off the water in winter, so that it would no longer run together and crack into solid masses of impenetrable hard clay in summer. “There may be many other peculiar descriptions of soil and outbreaks of water requiring the attention of the drainer; but I have endeavoured to refer to those soils which will embrace the principal part of the draining required in this neigh- bourhood. I now proceed to speak of the method of draining, and in doing so, I set out with this principle—that if drains are made deep enough, and of sufficient capacity and frequeney to thoroughly dry the subsoil, it is immaterial how they are formed, or how they are filled in above. Their arrangement (of which I shall have to speak hereafter) is of course important, but all the rest is a mere question of duration and economy. In order, then, to drain land thoroughly and efficiently, we will proceed to consider—1st, The depth of the drains—2dly, Their frequency—3dly, The materials and filling-in-And 4thly, Their arrangement. “1st. As To THE DEPT H to which you should go in draining, there can be no doubt that something may depend on the nature of the subsoil, and the kind of water you wish to carry off; but in all ordinary cases of draining strong lands, the prevailing opinion seems to recommend not less than thirty inches, while some prefer going as deep as three feet. The principle of draining is to dry the subsoil; and if you can effect this, you need be under no alarm about surface water. The way in which a deep drain acts is by first drawing off the water in its immediate vicinity; the land then begins to crack and give way, air is admitted into the drain, and insinuates itself into these cavities, and the consequence is, that the means for the water finding its way into the drain, gradually extend, the ground contracts on being deprived of its super- fluity of water, and this process goes on until the soil is rendered completely dry. It is the common practice to make drains in every furrow, and to continue to ridge up the land between, upon the supposition that the water draws from the centre of the land in each direction into the furrow, where it finds its way more readily into the drain. If, however, I have correctly described the process by which a drain acts, the cavities through which rain falling on the surface will find its way into the drain, will radiate from the drain in all directions from the horizontal line upwards, and the rain will naturally sink perpendicularly into the ground, and percolate into the drain through these cavities. Another advantage in having drains deep is, that they are much more likely to be durable; for the water having to draw or filter through a much greater body of soil, becomes disencumbered of its impurities and earthy particles, and enters the drain in a limpid state, which protects the drain against the possibility of warping up. The reason why thirty inches seems to be fixed upon as the minimum depth of a perfect drain is, because it is considered that there should be at least eighteen inches of soil above the top of the drain, to allow of the subsoil-plough being used with security to the depth of sixteen inches, and the remaining twelve inches will be required by the drain, and a few inches of permanent covering. I say permanent covering, because, if the soil or immediate covering of the drain were liable to be disturbed, it would necessarily follow, that the water passing through it into the drain, would carry with it many impurities, and in time warp up the opening. It seems almost superfluous to say any thing in favour of a deep and dry soil, but it may be well to observe, that not only is it far more productive under ordinary circumstances, but it is proof against the influences of either a wet or dry season. The reasons of this are obvious—roots are permitted to go much deeper ; the light, dry, open state of the ground admits of the circulation of air, which is highly favourable to vegetation, and soil in this state becomes an excellent body for the absorption and retention of moisture, whereas in a wet strong soil, the roots are confined near to the surface ; mo air can circulate, and in dry weather, the roots being so near the surface, are parched up and deprived of all mourishment and support. The advantage of deep draining may be comprehended under two general heads: First, the drying; and secondly, the deepening of the soil—the latter being, as a correspondent of mine calls it, the finishing stroke to the former, It may be contended that although deep drains may be the best, still that a considerable amount of good may be effected by shallower drainings, and that the expense of deep thorough draining deters many from adopting the system. My answer to such an argument is, that the good achieved by draining is not in the ratio of the depth of the drain, a shallow drain merely drying the existing active soil, and being much less lasting and secure, while a deep drain not only accom- plishes the same end, but enables you to double the depth of your soil, such additional depth being not only of the utmost value and importance in vegetation, and rendering your crops secure against the influence of drought, which can only operate upon the surface; but, being loose and porous, assisting most materially in the rapid and complete drainage and percolation of the water from the surface. Besides this, the expense even is by no means in the ratio of the depth ; your materials and leading are the same in either case, and it is only the difference of a little additional labour. There is, therefore, every encouragement to drain deep ; for while the advantages increase with the depth, the proportionate expense is diminished. “2dly. THE FREQUENCY of T H E JORAINs.-There will be two circumstances to consider in determining this point, viz. The nature of your subsoil, and the depth of your drains; and here, again, another advantage arises from making the ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. 29 drains deep, as the deeper they are the less frequent to a certain extent will they require to be. Nothing but º and observation on the nature of soils will enable you to determine with precision how far water will draw throug j but I think the prevailing opinion of the most experienced and intelligent appears, to be that in º strong Ian i. with a clay subsoil, such as prevails in most districts requiring draining, drains of thirty inches deep will require to i. made about every six yards; and I find in many instances recorded, that they seem to have acted well at . Or º yards distance. The more porous the subsoil, the less frequent may be the drains ; but in nº case reºš º: at . y should they be more than ten yards distant from each other... Mr. Smith; of Deanston, in 3 lecture delivere º: §: Royal Agricultural Society, at Bristol, in 1842, says, “The distance at which the drain should be placed will depen On the nature of the soil. If the field has been subsoiled, it is of less importance, because the plough will form artificial channels in the soil below. If it is a stiff soil, it will keep long upon the surface; and the more free the soil is, the greater tendency it has to allow the water to pass: so that you will find that on a stiff soil, such as the stiffer clays, taking into account the nature of the subsoil, and the soil itself, about the same drain will serve on all soils. The distances lil use are generally from fifteen to twenty feet. In some soils, individuals have been induced to put in the drains at twelve feet; but I con- ceive that that is, in some degree, throwing away money. From observations which I have made myself on all sorts of soil in different parts of the country, I am inclined to recommend about sixteen or twenty feet as the distance from one drain to another.” In this neighbourhood I believe it is a common practice to put the drains in every furrow at about four yards distance, making the drains about eighteen inches deep. This system is equally expensive, with a proper one of deep thºrough draining, without having any of the advantages of deepening as well as trying the active soil for cultivation. In reference to this part of our subject, I find in Mr. Stephens' excellent book of The Farm, the following striking experinº- A farmer in East Lothian, conceiving that a drain in every furrow in a tilly subsoil is attended with more expense than any anticipated increase of produce from the soil would warrant, put a drain in every fourth furrow, and that they Inight, as he conceived, have a chance of draining at that distance, he caused then to be cut four feet deep. The better to illus- trate the results, I have copied the figure:— : -- b (ſ d 6. : - - - ! (I b C C : - :€- “The black lines (a) represent the drains; the dotted lines are the intermediate and undrained furrows. The drains (a) have thus to dry two ridges on each side, b c and d e, of which it might be expected that the two ridges, b and d, being nearest to the drain (a) would be the first to be dried in the same time, and would of course be better drained. The result fully justified the expectations, for the two ridges, b and d, being nearest to the drain (a), actually produced nine bushels more of corn per acre than the two more distant ridges, c and e. This is a great difference of produce from adjoining lands under the same treatment, and yet it does not show the cmûre advantage of drained over undrained land, because it is very possible that the drain (q) also partially dried the distant ridges, c and e ; and this being possible, together with the circumstance that none of the ridges had a drain on each side, it cannot be maintained that either the absolute or comparative drying power of these four 4-feet drains was fully tested by this experiment. I also find in the same work another remark which bears strongly on this experiment. It is, ‘ that wet soil does much more injury to the dry soil in its immediate neighbourhood, than dry soil does good to the wet ;' from which remark we gather the necessity of thoroughly draining the land, and arranging it in such a manner, as that a wet field lying above one that is drained, shall not be continually testing the power of the drains by a continuous soak downwards into them. The plan is to begin at the top of the farm, and drain downwards as far as practicable, or at all events by a deep open ditch, with good fall at the bottom of each field, to prevent its soaking into the lands below. “I pass on now to the third section of my subject, THE MATERIALs AND FILLING-IN, which will involve the consideration of various kinds of drain, and the way in which drains act, You will remember, that I set out with the principle that if drains were constructed of sufficient depth, capacity, and frequency, to thoroughly dry the subsoil, it is immaterial how they are formed, or how filled in above. This principle is founded on the supposition that water will find its way into a cavity in the subsoil-that by drying the subsoil around the cavity or drain, contraction takes place, and pores are opened, which extend themselves throughout the whole subsoil in capillary form—that water falling on its surface, finds its way downwards into these pores, which are so many capillaries collecting and conveying the fluid to the drain which corresponds with the larger veins, again communicating with the main drain or artery. The first circumstance which led to the adoption of this principle was the successful working of the clay drain, or wedge drain, as it is called—a very cheap description of drain, and very, extensively and advantageously adopted in some neighbourhoods, though not, I believe, well understood in this. I find the author of the Prize Essay of the Royal Agricultural Society for the year 1843, “On the Draining of Land,” thus expresses himself on this description of drain : " Clay draining is a very good kind of draining, if done on the proper description of soils, and very much to be recommended on account of its cheapness and durability. I have known it partially in use about twenty years, but within the last eight or ten, it has made considerable progress in the districts I am acquainted with.' (The ºf riter dates from Swindon, Hills). It was first used on pasture, which, perhaps, it is most suitable for ; but it has answered the purpose on arable land; it also shows the way in which drains act more clearly than most others, namely, that the water enters them at the bottom, and not at the top, as is erro- neously supposed by some.” In the same essay will be found very particular directions on the proper method of construct- ing clay drains, and an account of their cost, which will well repay any person for the time spent in its perusal. On the subject of filling in drains, I cannot do better than read you a short paragraph from the same clever writer. [Mr. Hinde here read from the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society for 1843, an opinion in support of his argument.] “In confirmation of this opinion, I find Mr. Henry Stephens, in his book of The Farm, thus expresses himself: ‘ I am 30 ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. well persuaded that it is no matter what description of materials are used, provided there is always left an open and large enough space at the bottom to contain the greatest quantity of water that the drain can possibly have to receive, and pro- vided also that the opening shall be protected from any earth or mud getting in to intercept the flow of water.” “Mr. Mechi's system of draining is to use tile and stone; but inverting their ordinary position, he puts the broken stone or gravel at the bottom of the drain, and places the tile on the top. His drain, he describes to be thirty-two inches deep. This space is filled in first with ten inches of gravel, or rubble-stone, and the drain-tile is then placed on the top. The drain is very narrow, and is so arranged as to be the exact width of the tile at the point where the tile is placed, so that it is held firmly in its position by the solid sides of the drain. Ilis theory is, ‘That the subterranean area of porosity,” as he terms it, “should nearly equal the surface to be drained ; so that if the surface to be drained were one square yard, the sides and top of the drain should present an area for percolation equal to nime superficial feet, minus the allowance for pressure.' I confess this theory is not very intelligible to me; for so long as the subsoil is sufficiently porous to admit of the water filtering through it into the open drain below, it does not appear to me material what extent of area the sectional circumference of the drain may present. The concluding portion of the sentence is, however, important, as admitting that the deeper the drain is, the greater the pressure of water from above, and the less, consequently, according to the theory, may be the area of porosity. My objection, and I own my opinion alone is entitled to but little weight, but my objection to this description of drain would be, that being so very narrow (only one inch and a half) at the bottom, and that space filled in with gravel for ten inches upwards to the foot of the tile, the sediment from the water draining into the gravel below, and passing but slowly, as it must do through the gravel, must in course of time Warp up. I grant that the tile on the top fitting close to the sides of the drain, must tend to prevent sand, soil, or other impuritics from getting into the drain ; but the area being so marrow, and water pecessarily passing off very slowly through so much obstruction as the gravel presents, must cause a greater liability to warp up. Again : If the tile is to be of any use as a duct for water, the gravel below must first be filled with water, and the water passing off more rapidly along the open duct of the tile than through the gravel, the space below the tile becomes comparatively stagnant, and the drain for a time acts only to the depth of twenty-two instead of thirty-two inches. Mr. Mechi is, however, extremely ingenious, and at the same time candid in his arguments, and I recommend his letters to your attentive perusal. After all, the most perfect drain appears to be as follows: Say thirty inches deep, seven inches wide at the bottom, and twelve inches at the top (to admit of working) with a good tile and sole at the bottom, and filled in above to the depth of twelve inches from the bottom of the tile-sole with broken stones. This drain is described by Mr. Stephens as the me plus ultra of a drain, so far as the science has as yet advanced. I think the stones must necessarily assist in promoting the rapid filtration of water into the duct beneath—the eighteen inches of soil above is a sufficient protection against the too speedy current of water into the drain, so as to carry sand or soil with it, the stone causes the drain to act more immediately than it would do without it; and the open duct below carries off the water in the most rapid manner possible. , Here every object is effected that is necessary; and the only question that can be raised upon such a kind of drain is, whether the stone is or is not an additional and unnecessary expcmse. º w “I come now to the last section of my subject, viz. THE ARRANGEMENT of THE DRAINs, on which I apprehend it will not be necessary to enlarge much ; for, as a general principle, I take it to be pretty clear that drains should be in parallel lines, and in the direction of the greatest fall. Parallel lines will be found the most economical, by placing the whole of the land to be drained at the most regular distance from the drains, and thus effecting the most uniform and complete drainage, and the greatest fall necessarily carries off the water in the quickest and most effectual manner. If drains are placed across the line of the fall, the water, instead of coming in at the bottom of the drain, will find its way out of the top side of the drain from the pressure of the water above; and, unless the fall be good, it will have al tendency to filter through the land below the drain again. If you make a section of drains placed across. the fall, and draw the lines of filtration from the surface, and draw another section of drains placed in the line of the fall, you will at once discover how much more readily and completely the water will escape into the latter kind of drain. If your land is properly culti- wated and subsoiled, it is of no importance whether you plough in the direction of your drain or not, as the surface, when you have thoroughly dried the subsoil, may be entirely flat. In fields of irregular surface, it amay be impossible to observe both the parallel lines and the line of fall, but still the same principles will guide you. If, for instance, a field slope In two directions into one hollow, a main drain must be carried along the lowest level, and the slope on each side must be drained in parallel lines into it. The length to which drains should be carried without &l Il outlet, depends on many circumstances, such as the amount of fall, the nature of the soil, the capacity of the drain, the quantity of water to be conveyed, &c. &c. and on this, as on many other practical points, I must refer you to some of the numerous excellent treatises now published on the subject of draining iu general. - º - & “I should have liked to have had it in my power give some calculations of the cost of different kinds of drain; but, as this varies so much according to the facility of obtaining the various kinds of material requisite in different localities, I must leave it to the sagacity of the farmer about to commence draining operations, to ascertain what material to adopt most economically. I believe that perfect drains may be made either of tile or stone, or without either in some subsoils; but whatever description of drain may be adopted, he must not forget that it must be deep and durable, and that the drains must be of sufficient capacity and frequency to carry off with ease the greatest amount of water they may ever have to receive. If tiles are used, it is indispensable to a perfect and durable drain, that they should have soles to rest upon. “Before dismissing this subject, 1 must not omit to refer to what my friend alluded to (and whose letter I will pre- sently read to you), calls the “ finishing stroke” to deep draining—I mean the use of the subsoil-plough. & Qn this point, I cannot do better than adopt the language of its greatest patron and advocate, Mr. Smith, of Deanston. º There are many soils,’ says he, which, though capable of being converted into good soil, yet if brought up and mixed with the active soil, will so far deteriorate it as to make it for some time sterile.' It therefore occurred to him that the great |point would be to stir up the subsoil, still retaining the good soil on the surface. Stirring up the subsoil would, in the first place, very much facilitate the escape of the water into the drains 3 and, secondly, in consequence of the passage of the Water through the stirred up subsoil, and the attendant admission of air, it would be SO acted upon as to be converted into good soil, while at the same time he had all the advantages of working. the active soil as before. The application of this principle he found most successful in every instance in which it was tried. The proces; of applying the subsoil-plough is this—a common plough goes along first, and removes a furrow of the active soil. After that the subsoil-plough passes along below, and ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT, 3] scarifies the subsoil to the depth of from twelve to eighteen inches. This is continued furrow after furrow, the plough going first to lay the active soil on the part already opened up ; then the plough comes a second time and takes off a furrow from another part of the soil, and places it on that which is already scarified. As to the period at which the subsoil-plough should be applied, the same writer says, “That where the drains have much effect, it may be applied the following year; but, in clay soils, it is of great importance to give the clay sufficient time to dry, and to have it in a sort of friable state; because, in the application of the subsoil-plough, when clay subsoil has been recently drained, and it is not sufficiently dry more harm is done than good; the clay being worked in a wet state, is almost prepared for making bricks; and if ever worked in that state, it is long before it recovers its friable property again. In rather free soils, he thinks the subsoil- plough may be used the second year after drainage.’ He then urges the importance of executing the drains in the summer season, and recommends that one crop at least, and if the land be good, two crops, should be taken after drainage, before the subsoil is ploughed. During this season, the earth between the two surfaces has time to dry; it is much more friable, and the subsoil-plough will be much more efficacious in stirring it up. With regard to the direction of subsoiling, he prefers that it should be done at right angles with the drains, because channels are thereby formed from the centre to the side in all directions; and, although these may partially close up, an openness is given to the subsoil, which will permit the water to pass freely. He then strongly recommends that when land is subsoiled, it should be laid down flat on the surface without ridge or furrow. “Nothing,” he adds, ‘is more injurious than ridging it up ; because, water falling on a rounded off surface, naturally sinks to the lower level, that falling on the tops of the ridges being added to that falling in the furrows, which have consequently a great deal more than their own proportion of water.” I lay it down, indeed, as a rule, that the drainage of land cannot be perfect and efficient where the water has to run over the land, and filter from the surface through the filling in above the drains. “In conclusion, I will briefly refer to some of the leading advantages resulting from a complete system of drainage, the first of which is increased produce. Farmers are not, generally speaking, a class from whom correct statistical inform- ation may be obtained; indeed, the seasons, the condition of the soil, and so many circumstances are to be considered before correct conclusions can be arrived at. I find, however, a few instances recorded, which are so well authenticated and so striking as to be worth mentioning. The first relates to the cultivation of an acre (Scotch) of cold stiff soil, with a hard retentive subsoil before and after draining, and is in the abstract as follows. The particulars and the authority (Farmer's Magazine, vol. vi., 1842, p. 9), I lay before you:— UNI M P ROV EI) LAN ID. I AI PIR O W, EID U. A NID. 36 s. d. sé S. d. Expense of cultivation during a lease of 18 years 46 19 0 || Expense of 1st six years ........................... 44 5 O l{cturn ditto ..... tº 9 º' º º v Q & tº ſº a tº 3 & e º e º g º a s º º q à e º e º & B & tº º .... 52 13 0 Ditto 2d ditto ................................ . 28 S O Ditto 3d ditto ................................. 28 3 0 £100 1 1 0 Return of 1st six years............ C49 15 0 Ditto 2d ditto .......... ... .. 57 15 0 º Ditto 3d ditto ......... ... ... 57 15 0 — 165 6 () Profit per acre during the whole year ... e5 14 0 || Profit per acre during the whole lease ... seG4 11. O “The next instance is an estate of Lord Hatherton's, in Staffordshire, and is briefly as follows:–Land drained, 467 acres nine perches; value of the land in its original state, £254 10s. 9d.; cost of draining, £1508 17s. 4d. ; value of the land in its present state, £689 13s. Id. ; being an increase of £435 2s. 4d. a year by draining, with an expenditure of only £1508 17s. 4d., or 29 per cent, on the capital expended. “Last. Spring, in conjunction with my friend, Mr. W. Fowler, I published some suggestions for the formation of a Land Draining and Agricultural Improvement Association, in which is contained the following estimate of the return to be calculated upon from the outlay of capital in drainage. It was prepared with great care, and, I believe, will abide the strictest scrutiny. It supposes the sum of £100 to have been borrowed of the Society, to be repaid in ten years, with interest at £5 per cent, per annum, which is equivalent to a half-yearly payment of £6 6s. 8d. Dr. £ s. d. Cy". st s. d. To 20 Instalments, at £6 6s. 3d. ...... ... ......... 126 5 0 || By additional produce of wheat, three loads per Balance .............. * tº 0 tº e º 0 & 0 t t w y º e s a tº t w tº e s tº 4 • a s - a s h m e . . . 233 15 0 acre, at 20s. per load; four crops, at £60 per yed! . . . . . . . . . . . * G & © tº º ºr a u & e < * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * s 240 O O Four crops of other produce, say 30s. per acre additional, £32 per year ... ............ ... ..... 120 0 0 Two fallows............................................, 9 o o sC360 0 0 £360 0 0 1, grass; 9, wheat; 3, wheat or oats; 4, fallow ; 5, wheat; 6, clover or seeds; 7, wheat; 8, fallow ; 9, wheat; 10, clover or beans. This calculation exhibits a clear profit to the tenant, in ten years, of £233 15s. [On this part of the paper Mr., Hinde remarked, that a copy of this document had been sent to Mr. Bosville, of Ravensfield, among many other gentlemen. Mr. Bosville had since called on him, and stated that he at first regarded the profit calculated upon as ridiculous; but he had since made many inquiries among gentlemen and farmers, and the result of his calculations had corresponded with most singular exactness with those here stated.] - “At the expiration of the ten years, if the work has been efficiently executed, it is as good, and the land in a better state than at starting; so that the money being repaid, we may fairly compute the extra profit for the next ten years to be 4360 on the twenty acres. And if fallows are reſidered unnecessary, the gain is still greater from the two additional crops. 32 ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. “An intelligent friend of mine who had entered upon a farm late in the spring of the year, had two fields adjoining each other in fallow. He drained one, but having two farms on hand, and being a good deal occupied, he was obliged to sow it without manure: the adjoining field he manured without draining. He noted the produce of these two fields as compared with the relative expense of draining and manure, and told me that if the draining had endured but for a single year, he was satisfied it was the cheapest and most profitable mode of tilling the land for grain. “But this is not all ; for it is almost impossible to calculate the saving and economy of labour in cultivating dry as compared with wet land; for not only is it much more easily worked, but it may be entered upon in almost any season, instead of watching an opportunity when it is in a fit state. By this means the proper season for sowing is seldom or never lost; Every kind of crop may be produced where but few descriptions of produce could be grown before, and the dry state of the land will enable you to clean it at any period, without resorting to the expensive and unprofitable system of summer fallows. “In grass land, a thick sward of the finest grasses spring up where nothing but the sourest, coarsest, and most unpro- fitable herbage grew before, and your cattle can remain out with advantage much later in the year. The baneful exhala- tions from stagnant water or damp soil, shutting out the genial influence of the morning sum by vapours rising, which, as the autumn advances, condense into hoar frosts, highly pernicious to vegetation, are avoided, and a dry, healthful atmo- sphere is substituted. Indeed, as has been well observed, mankind at large will gratefully acknowledge the value of those improvements, which at once render our homes more salubrious and our fields more fruitful.” Mr. HINDE read the following letter, to which he had alluded in the course of his paper: — Eastwood, 28th August, 1844. “DFAR SIR,--It will afford me much pleasure if I can be of assistance in giving you any information on the subject you have to introduce to your Club on Thursday next. I think you have acted correctly in commencing with the draining of strong land as your first subject for discussion, seeing that land of that description cannot be profitably managed until it is thoroughly drained, although the cultivator may, in every other respect, be a good manager. “First question : I am decidedly of opinion that water enters from the bottom of the drain, and not, as many farmers imagine, from the top ; and that all drains ought to be cut at least twenty-eight or thirty inches deep, and then using tiles and plates. I do not think it of much consequence what the drain is filled in with. As a proof that the water enters into the tiles at the bottom, I will mention that, in some counties, they have for some years back used extensively the plug drain, which is made on the following plan —The drain is cut thirty inches deep ; a piece of wood called a plug, and formed something like a tile, is placed at the bottom. The clay is then put in and thoroughly rammed down ; the plug is then drawn on, and the same operation continued. This drain is found to answer for years quite equal to tiles. How then does the water enter the cavity ? As it is thoroughly rammed at the top, the water must of necessity enter at the bottom. This was one of the first arguments that led me to drain deep. A farmer ought not to be disappointed if his deep draining does not answer completely the first year. The land must have an opportunity, after draining, for the subsoil to become thoroughly dry, the depth drained : it will then crack and break; the air will be admitted ; it will become more porous, and its quality will continue to improve every succeeding year. “The Distance to drain.—On strong clay, six yards; on a kinder soil, eight yards; and a porous, but wet soil, a considerably greater distance,—bearing in mind that, if resting on a clay bed, the clay must be cut into, or no good will be done. “Parallel Lines.—Always drain with the best fall you can obtain, and in parallel lines. “The Material.—For several reasons, I prefer tiles and plates. A much larger quantity of land may be drained in a short time with tiles than stones; and unless the land has a very great fall, stones will make up. This is the opinion of the most extensive drainer in this country, Mr. Tebet, drainer to the Duke of Portland, Gally Knight, Esq., and many others; and I fully agree with him. Supposing a landlord will not find tiles, a small farmer may use stones broken very small,—only he must see to the putting in himself, as few men are to be met with who are to be trusted—a single large stone, placed in properly in the drain, Suſticing to stop it up. I have seen drains in this neighbourhood made by a tenant-farmer (paid for in part by his landlord) and made up within twelve months. “The Filling-in.—I would put the clay on the top of the tiles ; it is frequently injurious when spread on the land. “The Cost,--This must depend on the price of tiles. In Lincolnshire, I can procure tiles at 20s. per thousand, and plates at 6s, per thousand. Here tiles have been from 25s. to 27s., and plates 10s. per thousand. You may calculate about thirty-five acres of twenty-eight yards each, to a statute acre; thirty inches deep is worth from 16d. to 18d. per acre of twenty-eight yards, cutting, tiling, filling-in, &c. “With respect to grass land the same remarks will apply as to arable. , Make the subsoil dry, and the surface cannot be wet. Grass roots strike much deeper than most people inmagine. I have frequently examined strong clay, twenty-eight inches deep, and found it quite full of the finest fibre of the roots. They act as conductors for the water—in fact, they subsoil the land, and the deeper it is drained, the better the land will be. Subsoil ploughing is the finishing stroke to strong land, when it has been previously drained ; always bearing in mind, that when the subsoil plough is used, the land must be thoroughly dry, so that it will completely break up. In any other state it does more harm than good. I have drained one field (the strongest clay land in the neighbourhood) every six yards, subsoiling it, and now I have neither a grip nor a furrow in the field, and have never seen a drop of water on since, although I have frequently walked over it, after both heavy rain and snow. “If I can render you any further assistance, I shall be glad. “Yours truly, “ THOMAS TURNER.” “P.S.–In looking over my letter, I think it necessary to explain that, when I state that grass roots subsoil the land, I intend to say that they act on the same principle; they make the subsoil more porous, which is the intention of subsoiling.’ A prolonged conversation then ensued, in which the CHAIRMAN, WM. SMITH, Esq., Mr. MACHEN of Wardsend, Mr. SUnt EEs, of Wortley, Mr. STEAD, and Mr. GREAv ES took part. The conclusions to which the conversation led were, that drains should be not less than thirty inches deep, and should run), as nearly as circumstances would allow, in parallel lines to each other, and with the fall of the land; that deep draining is not more expensive than shallow, because the drains may be wider apart, and yet they will dry the land some days sooner than shallow drains; but that to give the full effect to draining, it must be followed, after time had been given to dry the subsoil, by the subsoil-plough. . A field occu- pied by Mr. W. Greaves, on Ecclesfield Common, was mentioned as a most striking proof of the value Of draining. It had heen for many years a poor rushy pasture, but having been, drained, though only twenty inches deep, it has this year produced so good a crop of oats, that the extra crop has sufficed to pay the expenses of draining; , The contrast between this drained field and the adjoining field, which was yet undrained, was stated to be most remarkable. A vote of thanks was unanimously passed to Mr. HINDE for his excellent paper ; and the meeting closed soon after nine o'clock. ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. 33 O N T H E S I Z E O F T H E D R A I N S. [From the Agricultural Gazette, September 28, 1844.] We have read with an interest, which has doubtless been shared by the great majority of our subscribers, the accounts of the agricultural improvements effected by Mr. Mechi, the spirited proprietor of Tiptree Farm, and we heartily hope they may fully answer the expectations of their liberal and enlightened promoter.” Some T H E 9 RetſcAL VIEWS on DRAIN Age are proposed by Mr. Mechi in our number for August 17, avowedly for the purpose of inviting discussion ; and, therefore, we have no scruple in submitting our doubts as to the correctness of some of them. The point particularly alluded to is the statement at p. 562, in the middle column. Mr. Mechi's proposition is as follows:--" The surface of the drains should nearly equal the surface to be drained; so that if the surface to be drained were nine square feet, the sides and top of the drain should present an area of nine superficial feet.” This proposition appears to be stated in much too general a manner, for we do not perceive that any necessary coll- nexion can exist between the area to be drained and the dimensions of the drain by which such area shall be effectually freed from the stagnation of surface-water; on the contrary, it appears to be very evident that the proper extent of porous surface, as well as of the internal dimensions of a drain necessary to dry a certain space of ground, must vary according to the climate of the locality for which the drain is intended, and not according to the area to be drained. To render this more evident, we have extracted from the meteorological journals, published monthly in the Annals of Natitral Histºry, the following table, showing the monthly quantities of rain which fell in 1843, at Chiswick and Orkney respectively. The table is as follows:— Months. Rain at Chiswick. Rain at Orkney. Inches. Inclies. January .... ....... 4.47 3 83 February ......... O 76 4.44 March......... e is e 1. 38 6.25 April ......... Q @ 3 2.35 1.32 May tº º º a º e º 'º a tº * * * ().47 2.46 June ................ 1.62 4.0.5 July ................ 5.26 2. 3 1 August ............. 1.62 1.04 September ..... * * * * 1 67 2.92 October ...... tº e º º is a 3.28 1.84 November ......... 0.93 2. December .......... 4.19 6.38 Total in the Year 28.05 38.89 From this it will be seem that the total quantity of rain last year was one-fourth more at Orkney than at Chiswick; and by Dr. Dalton's Tables, compiled from the T'ransactions of the Royal Society and other sources, we find that the annual mean quantities of rain in different parts of the country vary from sixty-seven inches, amongst the mountains of Cumberland, to twenty inches in Essex, the mean of all England and Wales being thirty-one inches. No uniform rule as to the area of porosity or the internal dimensions of drains can therefore be given, without reference to the locality and climate for which the drains are to be calculated. - The next objectionable proposition of Mr. Mechi is, the assumption that the superfluous surface-water should run off through the drains within the same space of time in which it fell from the clouds. Now if we attend to the actual state of things, as it occurs in nature, we shall find that though water falls, during rain, in equal quantities over the whole surface of a field, yet, as the drains by which it is to be carried off are placed at certain intervals in the field, the water must run into them unequally, some part of it having to filter through a greater distance in order to reach the drains than the rest. Whatever, therefore, be the area of porosity of the drains, the water cannot escape as rapidly as it fell. And further, it appears pretty certain, that it is not even desirable that water should escape so rapidly, even if means could be found to enable it to do so. The gentle percolation of rain-water through the soil, accompanied by air and other gases, is probably highly beneficial to vegetation. It therefore appears that the conditions of perfect drainage are sufficiently fulfilled, if the area of the drains be such that all superfluous surface-water is in a constant state of motion towards the drains till it is ultimately carried off by them. If we now proceed to offer a very rough approximation to the size of drains necessary to secure the condition of perfect drainage above described, we shall probably find that the dimensions of Mr. Mechi's drains, instead of being too small, are unnecessarily large, and that great waste of capital has been hitherto incurred in draining land, from the drains having been made much more capacious than necessary. We do not allude at present to the large deductions for evaporation, and for the consumption of the plants growing on the surface of the land, to be made from the amount of rain which falls in any locality before it reaches the drains. But assuming for a moment all the water which falls upon a given surface of ground in any locality to be carried off by drains, let us inquire what the size of the drains must be in order readily and surely to effect this at all seasons. Referring to the same meteorological journals as before, the following is a table of the greatest amount of rain which fell - e - - s - Rºy • in any day, and in any three days, in each month of last year at Chiswick and Orkney respectively:— - * ..." We by no means wish to be understood as approving, in all their details, the measures which Mr. Mechi has lately taken at Tiptree; but that does not hinder us from honouring his patriotism, and heartily wishing him success in what, at considerable risk of Private loss, it has induced him to undertake. ." D 34 oN AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. CIHISWICK. ORKNEY. MONTHS. Inches and Decimals of Rain on º Inches and Decimals of Rain on Total of Three each of Three most rainy Day S. Days. each of Three most rainy Days. mºny January ... . . . . . . . . . . . 0.87 O.67 O. 37 1,91 O.29 0.10 (),81 1.20 February . . . . . . . . . . . . . O. 32 0.20 O.09 O 61 0 59 O. 57 0.36 1.52 March ..... . . . . . . . . . . . . O. 29 O. 12 1.16 O. 57 O.92 O 71 0.51 2.14 April a e a • * * * * * * * * * * * * O 26 O 28 0.926 0.80 0.29 O.26 0.35 0.90 May . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O.21 0.08 0.06 (), 35 0.49 O 37 0.40 1.26 June ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ().2°2 O. 23 0.35 0.80 0.41 0.41 0.47 1,29 July ......... . . . . . . . . . . 1.26 O 53 O. 57 2.36 1.1 2 0.55 O 27 1.94 August . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O. 23 () 64 O.20 0.79 0.57 O. I 3 O. 2 O 92 September ............ 0.24 O .50 O. 16 O. 90 O 86 O 65 0.45 1.96 October ............... 1.03 ().61 O 95 2.59 0.36 O 25 O 25 O.86 November ............ O 52 O.20 0.24 O.96 O.29 O 36 O 24 i 0.89 December ............ 0.8 3 O. 34 0.52 1.47 O.60 O.47 0.53 1.60 N. B. In the above Table the three days’ rain were never continuous, but the three most rainy days are picked out of each month promiscuously. From the above table it appears that though the whole quantity of rain which fell in 1843 was much greater at Orkney than at Chiswick, yet that on particular days more fell at Chiswick than at Orkney. Probably, the soil would be less saturated with rain at Chiswick than at Orkney, so that the extra quantity which occasionally fell would be more rapidly evaporated, and therefore the extent of drains requisite to free a given space from water would still be greater at Orkney. We do not, however, at present, take into account the amount of evaporation. It appears that on only two occasions in the last year did the rain which fell at Chiswick in one day ever reach one inch, and only once in that year at Orkney ; if, therefore, drains are calculated to allow one inch of rain to run off in three days, they would have been sufficient last year. for either Chiswick or Orkney, without reckoning the amount carried off as vapour by evaporation, or for the supply of vegetation. What area of drains, then, is necessary, in order that the land shall be freed from one inch of surface-water in three days? Supposing the drains made at intervals of eighteen feet, each would receive the water from a distance of nine feet on each side of it, each foot of the length of the drain would correspond to eighteen square feet of ground, and these covered by one inch in depth of water, would carry exactly one cubic foot and a half for each longitudinal foot of drain. Hence, at the end of a drain three hundred feet long (which is the length recommended by Mr. Mechi), there would be four hundred and fifty cubic feet of water to pass off in three days. This comes to one cubic foot of water in ten minutes, or one hundred and seventy-two cubic inches of water to be discharged every minute. But as Mr. Mechi says, that a drain should not run above half full, let us estimate the quantity of water to be discharged at double its actual amount, or at three hundred and forty-four cubic inches per minute. Assuming a very small velocity in the water running out of the drain, viz. that of only thirty feet, or three hundred and sixty inches per minute, the area of the end of the drain would not require to be quite one square inch. This sectional area corresponds to that of a circular pipe not quite one inch and a quarter in its internal diameter, which would be all that would be necessary to hold double the quantity of water which, according to the above hypothesis, is ever likely to run through it, in the climate of Chiswick. It is evident that the upper parts of the drains might safely be composed of tiles of even less than an inch diameter, so far as their capacity for holding the water likely to run into them is concerned. Thus the quantity of water which would run through the drains made by Mr. Mechi, on Tiptree Farm, if only half full, would be above ten times the quantity likely ever to find its way into them at one time. But another most important element must be taken into account in determining the real size of drains requisite in any given locality, viz., the large portion of the water falling upon the ground which is converted into vapour, or taken up by plants before it can reach the drains. In the varied circumstances of different fields at different seasons, and under different management, perhaps nothing but actual experience can inform us what allowance it is safe to make for this mode of carry- ing off water in estimating the amount which must be carried by drains from a given surface. It would, therefore, be very important to have registers carefully kept of the actual discharge of surface-water, together with the velocity of the current, from the main drains of a certain number of acres of land compared with the fall of rain at the same place, and during the same period, measured by the rain-guage. The depth of the drains below the surface, their length and number should also be stated. If these particulars were carefully noted, we have little doubt that it would be found that draining has hitherto been made a far more expensive operation than it need be. These remarks, we hope, may turn the attention of our agricultural readers to the formation of a true theory of drains on the most economical principles consistent with perfect efficiency.—T. T. O N D R A 1 N IN G H E AV Y L. A. N. D. To the Editor of the Agricultural Gazette. I PERF ect Ly agree with you that there is frequently too much width in drains, and too little depth; the mass of earth to be removed, or stones to fill it, adding greatly to the cost. I will also admit, that the small pipes alone (as mentioned by you, and as described by Mr. Parkes in his valuable communication to the Royal Agricultural Society), will after a time (a year or two) carry off one day's rain in three days. But this is only an imperfect mode of drainage for several reasons: ist. Because it is two or three years before it will act perfectly, instead of at once drying the soil, and rendering it friable. ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT, - 35 2d. Because in dense soils, and to those my theories are applied, the retention of water forty-eight hours longer than is necessary must be very injurious, by depriving it for so considerable a period of the atmospheric action. It acts like drowning, or soaking earth in water for two days, and must unduly expand its particles, absorb heat, and retain in degree that sudden characteristic which drainage is intended to remedy. I consider it an axiom that the friability of the soil will be in proportion to the rapidity of percolation; filtration may be too sudden, as is well enough shown by our hot sands and gravels; but I apprehend no one will ever fear rendering strong clays too porous and manageable. The object of drainage is to impart to such soils the mellowness and dark colour of self-drained rich and friable soil : that perfect drainage and cultivation will ultimately do this is a well-known fact. I know it in the case of my own garden. How it does so I am not Chemist enough to explain in detail, but it is evident the effect is produced by the fibres of the growing crops intersecting every particle of the soil, which they never could do before draining ; these, with their excretions, decompose on the removal of the crop, and are acted on by the alternating air and water, which also decomposes and changes in degree the in organic substances of the soil. Thereby drained land, which was before impervious to air and water, and consequently unavailable to roots, to worms, or to vegetable or animal life, becomes, by drainage, populated by both, and is as great a chemical laboratory as our own atmosphere, subject to all the changes produced by animated nature. I apprehend that two days stagnation of water would endanger either worms or roots. Alr. Parkes justly observed to me, that worms act as assistant drainers, occupying the soil which before never contained any living thing; and it is through the innumerable conduits they make, that water finds its way so readily to a small pipe at a considerable depth ; but, I consider, and must maintain my theory, that he who carries the falling water through heavy land in the shortest period is the best drainer, and will the soonest render such land equal to the best. To do this there must be in the drain a large area of porosity. The means of effecting it may vary as opinion varies; but the drain, to be economic, must have the largest porous area in the smallest possible space that will convey the water. I consider that the falling water descending uniformly through the whole surface, and mixing intimately with each grain or particle of earth, is far preferable, cheanically and mechanically, to its forcing its way in streams towards the joints of the pipes, whilst the remainder is delayed, waiting a day or two, to take its turn in the same worm channel. . For this reason I object to waiting for gaping cracks to make drains act, because it is quite possible the water may rush down such cracks from the surface, and leave considerable masses of intermediate earth unmoistened. The principal utility in drains, is, in my opinion, to enable the earth to derive the full benefit of the various and all-import- ant manures with which the falling water and remewed air are so amply charged. Another very considerable objection to the “wait a day or two” plan is, that the greater quantity of rain falls in the autumnal or winter months, when every day's ploughing lost is of consequence, economically, and as regards the welfare of the ensuing crops. This alone should stimulate us to get rid of the obstructive water in a trice, for our autumns are never deficient in moisture, but the reverse. A small pipe will readily carry water when it gets in, but the question as to how and when it enters are subjects worthy the attention and experiment of your numerous and valuable agricultural correspondents. A comparative trial in various parts of one field would convince those who doubt. For my own part, I am practically satisfied that my drainage is not too sudden, but that if it errs at all it is in not being quick enough, in such dense yellow soil. It may appear a startling proposition, but I think we are justified in inferring that drains in the summer season, occasionally lay dry the soil below them. It is quite clear that if the porous portion of soil above the drain is deficient in moisture, earth below the drain must give up its moisture by capillary attraction, there being no impervious intervening substance between the upper and lower soil to prevent it. 4, Leadenhall Street. H. J. MECHI. THE IMPORTANCE OF DRAINING LAND. [This was written by me before I commenced draining my land.] You truly, remarked in your April number, that every thing resolved itself into various gases, taken up by the atmosphere, and not wasted, but reapplied to the formation of new matter. You have also, in subsequent numbers, justly reproached the farmers with allowing the most valuable portion of their manure to escape. Still more might be said with regard to drainage, without which, on heavy land, the greatest quantity of manure may be said to be absolutely wasted. In illustration—I cultivated two pieces of stiff brick earth, both richly manured—the one drained, the other not ; both, how- ever, having a considerable fall. In the drained land, every thing luxuriated and was early; in the other, the very reverse —all stunted and late. So wonderful a contrast convinced me that there were powerful chemical agencies at work. A reference to Henry's Elements of Chemistry, vol. i. p. 427, cleared up the mystery. There it is stated that hydrogen has the power of instantaneously absorbing, under pressure, seven hundred times its own volume of anmonia. W eli may Vege- tation improve after a shower, where the rain can percolate through the well-drained land, bringing down with it, to the roots, the much-desired ammonia; and equally clear must it be, that undrained land, already saturated with stalé water, can derive no such benefit, for the rain cannot filtrate, but runs off the surface. Again, without drainage, the only escape for moisture is by evaporation, which, it is well known, causes excessive coldness; besides, wet land, not being porous, is deprived of the rays of light, of heat, and of the nitrogen of the atmosphere, which would naturally occupy the pores vacated by the water in its downward course. It is lamentable to see the immense sums wasted in this country on undrained lands -in manure, extra manual and animal labour—with an unprofitable return of capital, Was there ever a farmer who drained, but would tell you it paid itself, principal and interest, in a few crops P There is little doubt that the perfect drainage of all the heavy and spongy land in the United Kingdom would increase the produce at least one-fourth, at a diminished expense, and render us no longer dependent on foreign supplies. I have heard many persons say, that ‘ their land, was so stiff it was of no use draining it,'-illustrating their remark, by saying, that “water will remain in a horse's foot-hole till it evaporates.' Do try and convince them that it cannot go down unless they make a way for it. I, J. M. STAMFORD HILL-Gardeners' Chronicle, Nov. 26, 1842. 2 36 ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT, CONCLUSIONS RELATIVE TO SURFACE DRAINING. December 21, 1844.—After all that has been said and written on the subject of surface-draining, and after all the theory, practice, enquiry, and observation within my reach, I have arrived at the following unalterable conclusions (unalterable, because based on well substantiated facts): 1st. That Mr. Parkes's statement annexed, is a convincing proof that one-inch pipes (without stones, straw, or bushes) placed four-feet deep, at intervals of thirty-feet, will effectually and permanently drain the heaviest soils of the utmost quantity of surface water that can possibly fall, at a cost of from £2 to £3 per acre. That in mixed soils, one-inch pipes, four-feet deep, and fifty-feet apart, will perfectly drain such soils at a cost of about 45s. per acre. 2d. That although those drains do not, the first year after being made, act so effectually as stones with pipes on my plan, which carries off the water at once; still the immense difference in cost, and greater depth, renders Mr. Parkes's plan by far most desirable. 3d. That Mr. Hammond's experiment, as detailed by Mr. Parkes, proves that my Theory of “the area of porosity in the drains,” as explaimed in my sixth letter, is an incorrect Theory. I therefore withdraw it as such, and at once admit I was so far in error—although it appears I am correct as to depth, influencing the distance of the drains and quantity of their discharge. The “area of porosity,” however, evidently expedites the time of action in the drains the first year. - 4th. That in my humble opinion, Mr. Parkes is our very best guide on surface drainage, and that we are perfectly safe in following, to the letter, his facts and recommendations. Mr. Parkes is the only authority that has given us correct data and matter of fact, as to the utmost quantity of water that can fall in a given time, on a given space—the size of pipe required to convey it away, the depth and distance at which such pipes should be placed—the relative duration of the water's filtration through the soil, its descent towards the joints of the pipes, its entry and escape. This is what was wanted. Hitherto drainage has been too much a matter of guess-work and variable theory, for want of the testing facts and figures so ably, and for the first time supplied in detail by Mr. Parkes. (Of course, I must be understood, as not in any way detracting from the great merit due to Mr. Stephens, for the knowledge on draining, communicated in his valuable “Book of the Farm.” Nor from Mr. Smith, of Dranston, to whom we owe so much.) I hope and believe Mr. Parkes will favour us with further calculations as to larger pipes, at extreme depths and distances, for the drainage of extensive surfaces of mellow soil, where a sufficient fall can be obtained. There can be no doubt that it is the DEPTII of the drain which regulates the escape of the surface-water in a given time; regard being had, as respects extreme distances, to the nature of the soil and a due capacity of the pipe. THE DEEPER THE DRAIN, EvºN IN THE STRONGEST Soils, THE QUICKER TIIL WATER EscAPEs. This is an astounding but certain fact. 5th. That deep and distant drains, where a sufficient fall can be obtained, are by far the most profitable, by affording to the roots of plants a greater range for food. 6th. That had I to redrain my heavy land, I should do so at least four-feet deep, with inch-pipes at intervals of thirty-feet, carrying each pipe with the fall of the land direct to an open ditch of ample capacity. I should thus economize several open ditches on my farm, which are at present a waste of ground. Each drain would thus be its own leader. I should place the pipes in the drains without stones, straw, or other matter, merely covering them with the clay itself, leaving the drains open as long as possible, as practised by Mr. Hammond. (See following extract.) I should thus save £7 per acre on the cost of my draining, and have a greater depth of soil. The loss would be the difference between a perfect and imperfect drainage the first two years. In conclusion, I consider the balance of evidence, where stones and pipes are used, is in favour of the pipe being placed at the bottom. Mr. Hinde's criticism on this part of my drainage is a very fair one. As a practical illustration of the depth to which water will filter in extremely dense soil, I quote the following:— At my Tiptree Farm, I had occasion to carry a clear spring of water into my farm-yard. To get a fall, we placed socketed pipes at a depth of two-feet, encreasing to twelve ; of course, we never dreamed that the surface water in such dense yellow soil would ever affect the colour of the spring water. To our annoyance, however, we found that during rains, the surface-water reached the pipes, and discoloured our spring water. This settles the question of deep drainage in heavy land. It may so happen that the fall is trifling or insufficient at the lowest point, whilst the field is a rising ground ; this will not prevent the drain being carried gradually deeper, as the rise may admit. I, J. MECHI, ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT, 37 ON THE QUANTITY OF RAIN WATER COMPARED WITH THE QUANTITY OF WATER EVAPORATED, AND ITS DISCHARGE BY DRAINS. Extracted from Mr. Josiah Parkes's Paper in the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, Vol. V., part i. 1844. [Every one interested, should read the whole of that excellent paper, till its details are fully impressed on their memories.] When a soil is naturally so porous, or is brought into such condition by art, that rain-water can sink down into the earth, it becomes a carrier, an alert purveyor, instead of a robber of heat; and tends to raise, permanently, the temperature of the mass of useful soil; and this more particularly and beneficially during the vegetative season. Rain-Water, at that time, conveys downwards the more elevated superficial heat of the soil, and imparts it to the subsoil in its course to the drains; it leaves the soil in a fit state to receive fresh doses of rain, dew, and air, and in a better condition to absorb and retain heat, at the same time that it promotes, in other ways, its fertility and productiveness; but a consideration of the chemical effects attributable to the continual circulation and renewal of water and air is foreign to the present discussion. In order to render the change of water perfect, and its action uniform throughout a field, all drains should be deeper than the active or worked soil, and covered. If drains are open, much of the rain precipitated on the surface necessarily passes into them, before it has permeated the whole mass; consequently it carries off with it heat, which would have been usefully employed in warming the lower strata; and it may at the same time, remove fertilizing matter. If drains are not deeper than the worked bed, water remains below in a stagnant state, which must chill the roots of plants, and diminish the temperature of the superincumbent mass. - Gardeners and florists are well aware of the injurious influence of water when supplied constantly to the pan instead of to the surface of the soil in the flower-pot ; and bottom water, as it is frequently and very appropriately called, produces the same ill effects when stagnating too near the surface of the great agricultural bed. Superficial drainage is comparatively of little value, and is, perhaps, exemplified in its worst practical form by land tor- tured on the ridge and furrow system. When land is permanently cultivated in high ridges, the crowns can contain but partial benefit from the action of rain. The gradation from the comparative dryness and warmth of the summit, to the suf- focating wetness and coldness of the furrows, is commonly evidenced by the state of the crops grown on land so disposed.* From the foregoing review of the physical properties of soils, in relation to heat and moisture, and of the action of water in warming or cooling them, it will be seen that a very remarkable difference obtains between the properties of the fluid and solid bodies. It appears that water absorbs heat rapidly, but can only convey it downwards by itself descending into the earth; that the heat which it receives from the solar rays is again projected into the atmosphere by radiation, and in combination with vapour, when it remains stagnant on or near to the surface; whereas, solid Substances impart the heat which they absorb to all surrounding matter, in all directions (though with different degrees of rapidity), as well as to the atmosphere. There is yet another important effect arising from the radiating force of solids to notice. As the sun verges towards the horizon, the superficial layer of the earth becomes colder than the atmosphere, causing the precipitation of dew, which the affinity of earthy matters to moisture enables them to absorb, and thereby to recruit in part, by night, the loss of moisture which has taken place during the day. Water also radiates heat powerfully, but it does not attract moisture to itself, except under very peculiar and rare circumstances; hence, again, the advantage of drainage. These important processes, viz., the absorption of moisture, and the radiation of heat, will be carried on with more or less energy in proportion to the inherent qualities of a soil, to its state of mechanical preparation, and to the proper adjustment of its supply of water. The genius of Davy would appear to have almost divined the mystery of dew-making, even before the complete revelation of its true and only cause by Dr. Wells, as may be gathered from the following profound remark:— “The power of soils to absorb water from air is much connected with fertility. When this power is great, the plant is supplied with moisture in dry seasons ; and the effect of evaporation in the day is counteracted by the absorption of aqueous vapour from the atmosphere, by the interior parts of the soil during the day, and by both the exterior and interior during the night.”—Agricultural Chemistry. If a soil be sufficiently permeable to air, and not saturated with water, it is in a state to receive accessions of moisture from the atmosphere, which is a constant and inexhaustible vehicle of humidity; and if the temperature of a sufficiently porous subsoil be at or below the dew-point, as will frequently be the case during some portion of the day, in the summer season, the process of depositing dew will take place in “the interior parts of the soil during the day,” at the same time that the exterior, or surface of the ground, may be projecting both heat and moisture into the atmosphere. This process is evidently dependent on the relative temperatures and degrees of aqueous repletion of the air and subsoil at a given time; and independent of the hygrometric power of the latter, which is, however, a potent auxiliary to the acquisition and retention of atmospheric moisture by soil, particularly in its interior parts. Thus, it is apparent that the acquisition of moisture by soils in the form of dew, is not limited to the period of the night only, nor to the surface of the earth ; and it has been shown that the precipitation of dew cannot take place without the communication of heat to the recipient substance: hence, the importance of sufficient pulverization to permit access and change of air to the interior parts of soil. One of the most beneficial effects of drainage may be also safely presumed to arise from its facilitating the access, and change of air to the very bottom of the bed; as in proportion to the escape of water, so will be the entrance of the air, which will, pari passu, occupy the place vacated by the water. Every observant farmer must have remarked that the amount of dew precipitated during the same night varies greatly * It would be curious—but, possibly, more curious than useful—to learn the origin of this remarkable artificial configuration given to land, which is, I fancy, peculiar to England and to particular counties. One would think that this system must have been invented previous to the discovery that water would fiud its way into cut drains; or, the inventor may have considered rain as his greatest enemy, and that he ought to prevent its entrance into the soil and get rid of it as soon as possible. I once put the question, as to the utility of this process, to a few farmers in Cheshire with whom I was in company. Their notion was that an undulating being greater than a plane surface, more stuſ: would grow on it. . It stood to reason that such must be the case ! This was debated at great length, I contending it was a fallacy. On a division I was left in a minority of one. 38 ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. on different soils in fallow, and still more on the leaves of different plants. Well pulverised soils attract much more dew than those which are close and compact, as the radiation of heat is effected from many more points in highly comminuted than plane surfaces. Sands appear to be powerful attractors, and in some countries to depend altogether on the nightly deposition of moisture for the support of vegetation. An extreme example of the derivation of the aqueous element from dew alone, and of its highly fertilising qualities, is afforded by the fact, that on the sandy plains of Chili, rain is scarcely ever known to fall; yet that soil, which under other circumstances would be sterile, is maintained in a productive state by the active forces of radiation and absorption. The temperature of the soil is moderated during the period of the sun's action by the large amount of heat carried off combined with vapour; whilst the exhausted humidity is replaced by dew, deposited during the resplendent mights of that tropical region. Instances are also on record of the flourishing growth of trees in Africa on sandy districts, never refreshed by rain nor springs, nor by artificial supplies of water : whilst soils of another nature, in the same latitude, and not far distant, require irrigation to enable them to sustain vegetable life. It is to the copious dews of our own country that we have in great measure to attribute the productiveness of the meadows bordering streams and rivers. The atmosphere, in the neighbourhood of currents of water, becomes more highly charged, with aqueous vapour than that of the uplands; and as the air transports and disperses this moisture over the adjoining fields, it is condensed and precipitated during the night by the process discovered and illustrated by Dr. Wells.“ The finely-divided and filamentous structure of the grasses renders them, in addition to their demand for aqueous nutriment, peculiarly suitable for culture in these localities. It is worthy of notice that the leaves of different plants appear to act in somewhat different ways as to their mode of receiving and disposing of dew. A blade of grass is sometimes Spangled over with dew-drops, but it usually becomes wetted throughout its whole surface by the running together of the drops, and thus conducts the water to the earth in minute streamlets; whereas, the leaves of the clover, cabbage, mastur- tium, and many other plants, will be found to collect it in distinct globules, which may be rolled about on the leaf without appearing to moisten it. These drops, in fact, do not touch the leaf, but rest and roll upon a pillow of air interposed between them and the substance of the leaf. I have not unfrequently procured a tea-cup full of dew, early in the morning, from the leaves of a single cabbage-plant; and, on very translucent nights, I have seen, whilst watching this elegant and interesting process, the tender clover-leaf bend beneath the weight of its crystal load, discharge it on the ground, and imme- diately begin to accumulate another globule. In the course of three or four hours I have observed as many collections and discharges of dew by the same leaf. The gradual diminution of the size of these drops of water, by evaporation, as the sun exerts its influence, has often struck me to be the means provided by nature for preparing plants to sustain his increasingly- ardent rays without injury ; and it is generally after nights of copious deposition of dew that the mornings are the brightest, , and the sun's heat the most powerful. Cup-formed and horizontal leaves and flowers seem to retain all, or nearly all, their collected dew for their special use, as if it were more beneficial to them when so applied than to their roots. In Britain we have, generally speaking, to combat excess of moisture, accompanied by a low and inconstant solar heat. It is one of my objects to show that, by establishing a free passage for water through the soil, the greater heat of the surface may be carried downwards, and the mean annual temperature of the mass of the soil thereby permanently raised. It appeared that during the six hottest months, from April to September inclusive, the mean temperature of the surface was 131°.4. Now it is evident that, if rain fell upon the earth when it was so highly heated, the surface must be cooled by it ; but it is equally evident that the substrata would be warmed ; for the temperature of the atmosphere in the shade, which was also recorded at the same hour, was 70°.4 ; and that of rain, had it then fallen, would have been much the same. Thus the rain, on reaching the earth, would acquire a temperature of about 100°, and communicate heat, as it descended, to the underlying portions of soil possessing a lower temperature. The inference may be permitted, even from these few experiments, that, in the month or June, rain-water carries down heat, and raises the temperature of the subsoil; whilst the loss of heat by the strata nearer the surface is quickly restored by the sun's rays. By an inspection of the Table no doubt will be left on the mind as to the truth of these inferences. It appears that at 7 inches deep, the temperature of the soil was subject to considerable diurnal increase and decrease, as well as from day to day, according to the state of the weather ; that these variations became of less amount at lower depths; and that at thirty-one inches, increase alone, for the time, was felt. Heat, is conducted downwards so slowly by all bodies, and by moist substances particularly, that rain-water would appear, when allowed to permeate the bed, to be the most active agent in the propagation of heat to the subsoil. Accordingly, we find the lower thermometers to indicate accession of heat more quickly after rain than in dry weather; and had a rain of longer continuance fallen, instead of short showers, it is probable that the lower thermometers would have been affected much more rapidly, and have indicated higher temperatures, as no water was observed to have passed through the soil into the drain. The first important fact disclosed is, that of the whole annual rain, about 42% per cent, or 11 § inches out of #5 inches, have filtered through the soil; and that the annual evaporative force is only equal to the removal of about 57; per cent. of the total rain which falls on any given extent of earth three feet in depth. (Table 2.) & Evaporation is the only matural agent for diminishing the quantity of water absorbed by retentive soils, but it is not at our command. When such soils are perfectly saturated, the superfluity must either stagnate on the surface Or flow away from it ; and proof is here offered that the force of evaporation is scarcely equivalent to the duty required of it during one- half of the year; also that it greatly falls short of the requisite power during the six colder months. The invention of subterranean drains supplies an effective artificial method of compensating the deficiency of the evaporative force in our climate, and it is capable of placing the retentive soil in the same favourable condition, as respects meteorological agency and the fruition of every agricultural process, as soils naturally endowed with sufficient porosity. But, it must constantly be borne in mind, that, in order to assimilate this artificial process to that of mature, drains should be deeply laid, as the floor of the drains forms the limit of their action, and determines the depth below the surface at which water must still remain in a state of nearly constant excess and stagnancy. **- * The French expression that a river bedevs (arrose) a country is more correct than the English one, that it waters it. The watering of land is, properly, an artificial, the bedeving of it, a natural, process. The distance from its banks to which a river can saturate soil with water is rarely great; though it is in this acceptation that I have known many persons and authors to understand and use the phrase watering. A river, deep within its banks, will bedev a country as well as one bank-full ; but the former acts as a drain to the land, and therefore does not directly moisten the surface of the soil. The term watering, in agriculture, should be limited to what we understand by irrigation. ÖN AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. 39 TABLE III. TOTAL OF EACH YEAR. Years. Rain. Filtration. Evaporation. Rain, per Acre. In. Per Cent. Per Cent. Tons. 1836 31.0 56.9 43.1 3 || 39 1837 21.1 O | 32.9 67. I | 21.37 1838 23.1 3 37.O 63. O i 2342 1839 31.28 . 47.6 52.4 | 3 | 68 1840 21.44 38.2 | 6.1.8 2171 1841 32.10 | 44.2 i 55.8 } 3251 1842 26.43 | 44.4 55.6 2676 1843 26.47 36 O 64.0 2680 Mean 26.61 | 42.4 57.6 | 2695 A study of the results registered in these Tables *puts us in possession of many other facts of import to the Agriculturist, as enforcing the warning—which experience cannot but have taught him—to adopt every appliance at his command for placing his soil in such condition as to derive the greatest benefit and the least evil from elemental influences; for, so variable are the seasons, that no average can properly display the changing amounts of meteorological quantities and forces. It seems that the discharge of water by drains occurs, on the average, during seven months of the year. In 1840 and 1841, however, rain was in excess over evaporation only during four months; though in the first year 2) # inches of rain fell, whilst in the second the earth received 32% inches, or 50 per cent. more rain in the latter than in the former year; yet the soil was equally dry in both years on the mean of the six hottest months, for the evaporative force was able to relieve the soil of all the rain that fell, though the quantities were so widely different, being 15% inches in 1841, and only 9% inches in 1840. But, turning to the six colder months of the same years, we find the case reversed, for the proportionate evaporation in 1840 was double that in 1841. It appears, too, that in 1836, when the quantity of rain was only about one inch less than the maximum in 1841, the force of evaporation was 13 per cent. less, and water filtered through the gauge in various proportions, during every month of that year, and the same in 1839. Thus, in preparing soil to receive the utmost benefit and the least evil from rain, however slight or excessive, it should be put into a state to refuse holding water in excess, but be capable of absorbing humidity freely and retaining it deeply; whilst the drains should admit water with facility, and convey it away with dispatch. The quantities of rain and filtration denoted by Mr. Dickinson's gauges are daily registered, and this record has enabled me to ascertain a remarkable coincidence between the action of the Dalton gauge, and that of Mr. Hammond's inch-pipe drains, as reported to the Royal Agricultural Society, vol. iv., p. 375. It appears, according to the rain-gauge, that §ths of an inch of rain fell on the 7th and 8th November last ; and by the Dalton gauge, that on the 9th ºths, or nearly the whole of this quantity, had passed through it. It was on the 9th that I inspected the drainage of Mr. Hammond's farm, recording the fact that, after a rain of about twelve hours duration on the 7th, I found the drains on the 9th, in a nine acre piece, 3 feet deep, just dribbling, and those in a hop-ground adjoining, 4 feet deep, exhausted; Mr. Hammond having observed, previously to my arrival, that the greatest stream at the outſall of each drain amounted to about the half- bore of the inch pipes. The times occupied in the discharge of the water by the gauge and the drains may, therefore, be considered to be identical, and as comprising about forty-eight hours from the commencement of the rain. in drawing this parallel between the action of the gauge and these drains, I am presuming that the fall of rain at Penshurst was equal to that at King's Langley ; and I think this may be assumed to be near enough to the truth, as I have learnt that a nearly similar downfall (#ths of an inch) was recorded at Birmingham northwards, and a rain of similar duration occurred at Brighton southwards. * - This experimental corroboration of the sufficiency of such small drains will have its weight with practical men; but I am further able to demonstrate, by simple arithmetical computation, how very small is the quantity of water required to enter the crevice formed by the imperfect junction of two pipes. The rain-gauge informs us, that ºths of an inch in depth of rain, fell upon each square foot of surface; in the observed time of twelve hours. This quantity is equivalent to 69% cubic inches, or 2% pounds, which, divided by twelve hours, gives little more than #ths of a pound per square foot of surface per hour for the weight of the rain. The drains were 24 feet asunder, and each pipe a foot in length, so that each lineal foot had to receive the water falling on 24 square feet of surface, equal to 60 pounds, or 6 gallons; and as the time which this quantity occupied in descending through the soil and disappearing was about forty-eight hours, it results that 141b, or one pint per hour, entered the drain through the crevice existing between each pair of pipes. Every one knows, without having recourse to strict experiment, how very small a hole will let a pint, of water pass through it in an hour, being only one-third of an ounce per minute, or about twice the contents of a lady's thimble. º The weight of rain, per acre, which fell during the twelve hours, amounted to 108,900lbs, or 48.1% tons, which on the whole piece of nine acres, is equal to 437% tons; and each drain discharged 19 tons, equal to about ºths of a ton per hour on the mean of forty-eight hours; but when the flow was at the greatest, I find that each drain must have discharged at the rate of five times this quantity per hour, which affords proof of the faculty of the pipes to receive and carry off a fall of rain equal to 2% inches in twelve hours, instead of half an inch, a fall which is quite unknown in this climate. Half an inch of rain in twelve hours is a very heavy rain. I learn from Mr. Dickinson, that his rain-gauge has never indicated so great a fall as 1% inch in twenty-four hours; and from Dr. Ick, the curator of the Birmingham Philosophical Institution, that only on — * See the original paper in the Society's Journal. 40 ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. five occasions has the raim there exceeded 1 inch in twenty-four hours, during the same period of eight years; the greatest quantity having been 1% inch on December 4, 1841. We may, therefore, consider the fact of the sufficiency of inch-bore pipes for agricultural drainage to be fully demonstrated both by experience and experiment. I will now mention an experiment which every farmer is competent to make, and which cannot fail to throw light on the action and effect of his drains, and on the relative condition of different pieces of land as to porosity, or filtrating activity —I allude to the simple ascertainment, by measure, of the quantity of water discharged from different drains, after rain, in the same time. In reply to numerous inquiries on this subject, I have only succeeded in obtaining sufficiently exact information from Mr. Hammond, whose intelligence had led him to make the experiment without any suggestion from me. He states—“I found after the late rains (Feb. 17, 1844), that a drain, 4 feet deep, ran eight pints of water in the same time that another 3 feet deep ran five pints, although placed at equal distances.” The circumstances under which this experi- ment was made, as well as its indications, deserve particular motice. The site was the hop-ground before referred to, which had been under-drained thirty-five years since to a depth varying from 24 to 30 inches, and though the drains were laid somewhat irregularly and imperfectly, they had been maintained in good action. Mr. Hammond, however, suspecting injury to be still done to the plants and the soil by bottom water, which he knew to stagnate below the old drains, again under-drained the piece in 1842 with inch pipes, in part to 3 feet, and in part to 4 feet in depth, the effect proving very beneficial. The old drains were left undisturbed, but thenceforth ceased running, the whole of the water passing below them to the new drains, as was to be expected. The distance between the new drains is 26 feet, their length 150 yards, the fall identical, the soil clay. The experiment was made on two drains adjoining each other, i.e., on the last of the series of the 3 feet, and the first of the series of the 4 feet drains. The sum of the flow from these two drains, at the time of the trial, was 975lbs. per hour, or at the rate of 19% tons per acre in twenty-four hours—the proportionate discharge, therefore, was 12 tons by the 4 feet, and 73 tons by the 3 feet drain. No springs affected the results. lience, we have two phenomena very satisfactorily disclosed : 1st, that the deepest drain received the most water ; 2d, that it discharged the greatest quantity of water in a given time— the superficial area of supply being the same to both drains. It would appear, then, either that the deeper drain had the power of drawing water from a horizontal distance greater by the ratio of 8 to 5 than the shallower drain ; or that the perpendicular descent of the water was more rapid into the 4 feet drain ; or that its increased discharge was owing to both these causcs combined. The phenomenon of a deep drain drawing water out of soil from a greater distance than a shallower one, is consistent with the laws of hydraulics, and is corroborated by numberless observations on the action of wells, &c.; but the cause of the deeper drain receiving more water in a given time is not so obvious. An opposite result, as to time, would rather be expected from the fact of water falling on the surface having to permeate a greater mass of earth, both perpendicularly and horizontally, in order to reach the deep drain. A natural agricultural bed of porous soil resembles an artificial filter, and it is unquestionable that the greater the depth of matter composing such filter, the slower is the passage of water through it. In stiff loams and clays, however, but more particularly as regards the latter earth, the resemblance ceases, as these soils can permit free ingress and egress to rain-water, only after the establishment of that thorough net-work of cracks or fissures, which is occasioned in them by the shrinkage of the mass from the joint action of drains and superficial evaporation. These fissures seem to stand in the stead of porosity in such soils, and serve to conduct water to drains rapidly after it has trickled through the worked bed; it is possible, too, that in deeply drained clays of certain texture the fissures may be wider, or more numerous, in consequence of the contraction of a greater bulk of earth than when such soil is drained to a less depth. However this may be, it is asserted by several respectable and intelligent farmers in Rent, who have laid drains very deeply in clays and stiff soils, that the flow from the deepest drains invariably commences and ceases sooner than from shallower drains, after rain. On this interesting and unexplored subject I hope to be able to furnish you with multiplied observations after next winter, and trust also to receive the co-operation of members of the Society in making them in different soils, and with due regard to all those phenomena which may influence the results, or be detected by them. The consideration of the depth of drains has been too generally limited to the mere exigencies of culture and imple- ments, combined with the natural desire to restrict expense when the materials used were dear, and the cost of earth-work great. These adventitious circumstances have certainly tended to obscure from view the true principles on which drainage should be founded, and on which the utmost benefits to be derived from it depend. The question of distance between drains is important on the score of expense, and it will be wise to err on the right side, and keep within safe limits; but insufficiency of depth can only be remedied by a new outlay. So far as experience can illuminate the subject, we know that many Agriculturists have, a second time, drained their fields to a greater depth; it may, however, be doubted whether any one has taken up deep drains, and placed them nearer the surface, or nearer together. The system of deep drainage now pursued in IXent has doubtless been encouraged by the cheapness, lightness, and approved action of the pipe-tiles, combined with the more moderate cost of the earth-work incident to their small dimensions, and to the facility of laying them. . The aggregate cheapness of the work has set the mind of the farmer free to contemplate more exclusively and attentively the perfection of the end in view ; and it is well worthy of remark, that experiment and experience have rapidly induced the adoption of a system of parallel drains considerably deeper, and less frequent, than those commonly advocated by professed drainers, or in general use. I gave several instances of this practice in Kent in the report of last year, already alluded to, and it is rapidly extending. Mr. 1] ammond stated to you (Journal, vol. iv. p. 47), that he drained “stiff clays, two feet deep, and 24 feet between the drains, at 31.4s. 3d. per acre,” and “porous soils, three feet deep, 333 feet asunder, at 2l. 5s. 2d. per acre.” I now find him continuing his drainage at four feet deep, wherever he can obtain the outfall, from a conviction, founded on the experience of a cautious progressive practice as to depth and distance, that depth consists with economy of outlay as well as with superior effect. He has found four feet drains to be efficient, at fifty-feet asunder, in soils of varied texture—not uniform clays-–and executes them at a cost of about 2l. 5s. per acre, being 18s. 4d. for 87 I pipes, and 11. 6s. 6d. for 53 rods of digging. Communications have been recently made to me by several respectable Kentish farmers, of the satisfactory performance of drains deeply laid in the Weald clays, at distances ranging from thirty to forty feet, but I have not had the opportunity of personally inspecting these drainages. ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. 41 The following little table shows the actual and respective cost of the above three cases of under-draining, fºllº on the effects really produced, i.e. on the masses of earth effectively relieved of their surplus water at an equa . I conceive this to be the true expression of the work done, as a mere statement of the cost of drainage per acre of sºr i. conveys but an imperfect, indeed a very erroneous, idea of the substantive and useful expenditure on any [. . system. This will be apparent on reference to the two last columns of the table, which give the cost in cubic yards anº square yards of soil drained for one penny, at the above mentioned prices, depths, and distances:- ; * - - - cº- iſ a rained' Depth of the Drains Distance between the Mass of Soil drained per Mass of Soil drained for Suſage ºf Soil º | in Feet. Drairis, in Fect. Acre, in Cubic Yards. 1d., in Cubic Yards. for Jai. in Square Yards. . | | i : i - ! b. 2 24 3226% | 4.1 6. 27 r i 3 33} 484 O | 8.93 - 8.93 i 4 50 6453 . 12.00 - 8.96 : i i I may here observe, that Mr. Hammond, when draining tenacious clays, chooses the month of February for the work, when he lays his pipes (just covering them with clay to prevent crumbs from getting in), and leaves the trenches open through March, if it be drying weather, by which means, he finds the cracking of the soil much accelerated, and the complete action of the drains advanced a full season. The process of cracking may, doubtless, be hastened both by a choice of the period of the year in which drains are made, and by such a management of the surface as to expose it to the full force of atmospheric evaporation. SPADE HUSBANDRY MORE PROFITABLE THAN THE PLOUGH. THE following, from persons of veracity, is strongly illustrative of the productive powers of the soil under proper cultivation and management, and suggests many reflections as to the profit and propriety of employing labour where we have the necessary capital. Lou TH, March 14th, 1844. SIR, IN answer to your letter of the 8th inst., I hereby transmit you the following particulars: -I have two acres one rood of land, which I have divided into two equal parts, which I crop every year with wheat and potatoes alternately : the plot of land you alluded to was one of them. The produce of wheat last year was six quarters per acre; and had the season been favourable for the wheat crops, I should have had considerably more. In the year 1842, I realized eight quarters per acre, and if the approaching season proves favourable, I am looking forward to a still more abundant production, as I am of opinion it is possible to grow ten quarters per acre. The system of management I adopt, is the spade-culture and dibbling, which system, if carried out on an extensive scale, would be found very beneficial to the Farmer, besides causing additional employment to the labourer. The quantity of seed planted for the production of the two former crops, has been about five pecks per acre, and I believe, if it can be accomplished, a smaller quantity of seed would be advantageous. Notwithstanding I have produced the before-mentioned crops, I must inform you, that our land is not the first nor yet the second-rate land in quality, therefore, you must allow much depends upon the system of husbandry adopted. I have at this time, a crop of wheat, whereby I have no hesitation of saying, if you or any other gentleman visiting Louth during the ensuing summer, will take the trouble to walk up to the Union Workhouse, you will be much gratified with the system throughout, and I can much better describe to you with the crop of wheat before us than on paper. I am, SIR, yours most respectfully, TúOS, SARGENT. Governor Union W. H. To M.R. W. OU ston, Hull. LouTH, April 5th, 1844. DEAR SIR, & IN your letter of the 18th ult, you desired me to inform you if our land was worked by ablebodied poor, unable to obtain employment. We have about three acres of land belonging to the Workhouse, which is cultivated entirely by the inmates, but chiefly by the old men, as we generally endeavour to find employment for the ablebodied men within the walls of the yards. We consider to work in the garden is not a sufficient test for ablebodied men. You further wished me to communicate the result derived from the system I am pursuing in pecuniary matters; I have well considered that part of the business, and have made ample allowance for all extra labour; and am confident, on an extensive scale, it would pay at least 50 per cent. I will give you a sketch of my calculations which I have made, Supposing wheat to be worth 56s. per quarter upon the old system of husbandry, you cannot calculate the produce to be more than four quarters per acre upon an average; the system I am pursuing, I do not hesitate to say, I can get from seven to eight quarters per acre, and a productive crop of potatoes every alternate year. I will allow for digging, dibbling, and seed, 60s. per acre, which I consider a price whereby the Labourer may make fair wages. Upon the old system of ploughing, harrowing, and sowing, and the seed at the before mentioned ratio which is required, will amount to 30s. per acre. When you receive this information, i have no doubt you will perceive the profitable benefit arising from such a system, in a two-fold point of view. First, the pecuniary profit; and, secondly, the increase of labour it is calculated to Produce, and would be a very great means in reducing the Poor Rates. I am, SIR, yours respectfully, THOS, SARGENT, 42 ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. LouTH, October 12, 1844. DEAR SIR, You intimated a wish to know the quantity of the produce of my wheat crop—I had two sorts of wheat, the one yielding eight quarters per acre, and the other seven quarters. The produce of the crop of wheat at Bootal has given me great pleasure, as it most strongly substantiates my former opinion as to the growth of wheat, which enables me to rally the farmers, who have ridiculed at different times my argument, and come to a decision that it was an impossibility to grow ten quarters per acre on any description of land. - I have got a very superior wheat from London for seed, which at this time I am very busy in getting it into the ground, anxious to embrace the opportunity of the fine weather. I am trying various experiments this year with artificial manures, and also trying different proportions of grain: I have dibbled from three to five corns in each hole, according to my usual mode, and one plot of ground with two corns in each hole; and another plot, with only one corn in a hole. If the latter answers, it will not require more than about three quarters of a peck of seed to the acre; I have a very great opinion of a small quantity of seed, provided the land is in good condition, and the seed good in quality. I feel very anxious to see you at Louth, as I think if we had an opportunity of meeting together, and having an hour or two in conversation upon the subject, many things might occur to the minds of us both than would have a tendency to benefit the agricultural interest, and you would then have ocular demonstra- tion of my management. I remain, yours, truly, To M.R. W.M. Oust 6 N, Prospect Street, Hull. THOS. SARGENT, Mem. by I. J. M.–If we have capital, why should we not garden the soil. Mr. Stephens, in his Book of the Farm, quotes a case of a Farmer who grows wheat every year on the same soil, cultivated with the spade; and our cottagers grow potatoes every year on the same soil, in many instances. ON TRANSPLANTING WHEAT, AND GROWING IT ANNUALLY ON THE SAME GROUND. SIR, Your letters on Agricultural Improvement, which have been published in the Hampshire Telegraph, lead me to suppose you will like to be informed of experiments in other quarters, I therefore send you the following:- A gardener named Cole, at Wellow, five miles from Bath, sows, in October, on E G ALLoN of wheat on two perches of land, and on the 1st April, or whenever the land is dry enough (for he never goes on it in wet weather), the plants are put out on one acre of ground, in rows fourteen inches apart, and the plants six inches from each other in the rows. The ground is either dug or ploughed, as he finds most convenient, according to the season and the employment he has for his men, and it is manured simply with soot, six bushels to the acre. Nothing could be finer than the crop I saw in August, three years ago, and I understood him that he used the same plot every year. . It was a square, in a large open field, growing chiefly strawberries, and the sides of the square were con- fined simply by hurdle-stakes (I think about six on each side of the square) with a doubled rope-yarn stretched from stake to stake near the top, and another about one-third from the ground. These two lateral ties effectually supported the crop, not a blade of which was laid. The saving of seed more than repaid the labour of planting, and the crop was eonsiderably larger in grain and straw than by the ordinary method. Perhaps you may think it worth while to try an acre of transplanted against an acre of dibbled. I am, Sir, an old Customer in Leadenhall Street, and yours, very truly, Bath, 12th Sept., 1844. P. S. I may as well mention, that the gardener of a friend of mine in Sussex, is of opinion that wheat would be much more prolific sown in August than in October. I saw in the garden last year several plants of wheat--one sown in August and left in its place (between two gooseberry bushes in a border of the garden), had, when I saw it, in July, one hundred and fourteen ears. Two others sown in October under a wall, and transplanted in April near to the first were also fine, but the largest had only seventy ears, the smaller fifty-six. Two others, sown in April on the same border, had one seventeen the other four ears. The four first were all treated alike, that is, when the blade was about three inches high, it was pinched off near to the ground, and this was done three times, each time seeming to cause a great throwing out of fresh stools in the autumn-sown plants. The inference is, that wheat sown in August, and either mown off or fed off, would be infinitely more productive than if let alone—of course space should be left for the vast increase of the plant, and Cole's distances seem very suitable for this. HOW MUCH CORN PER ACRE IS IT POSSIBLE TO GROW 2 The writer of the following is a well known and highly respected member of the Stock Exchange. There are plenty, no doubt, who will condemn these matters as impossibilities; but facts are stubborn things. I con- sider, before any one of us is presumptuous enough to deny a fact, we are bound to test it by a small experiment, which, as this gentleman justly suggests, may be done without cost or inconvenience, on a small scale. “ TO FARMERS. “At the end of August, 1843, I planted in my garden thirty-two grains of wheat, at six inches distance, an inch and a half deep; the seed was of the first-rate quality. This seed produced this year thirty-two plants, having from ten to ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. 43 twenty-eight stems and ears each ; the average number of ears, was sixteen; the average weight of º #. ãº"; An acre of land would contain, at six inches distance, 174,240 plants; the produce 304,940 †† % 3. tit f eed bushels, or forty quarters per acre. The expense of dibbing would be more than saved by the diminished quantity of see required. * * * * * * --> quº. I do not mean to state that such a result would be obtained upon a large scale; but I think jºyº; ...; we know that the average produce is only 2% quarters per acre, and that it is possible to grow º : 1ſ. W e allow d that there is ample scope for improvement. Try a breadth in your fields an inch and a half deep; F. .. and ONE only, in each hole—plant it at six or eight inches distant—be sure to plant good seed—get as much produce as you can, but GO FOR FORTY QUARTERS PER ACR E.” STock Exch ANG E, August 22, 1844. Mem.—I have a letter from a gentleman in Yorkshire who this dry seasºn grew some wheat and barley in his garden, planting a single kernel in each square foot of ground. Many, of the wheat plants had from twenty to fifty stems, and one of the barley plants sixty stems, and these from a single kernel!!! The wheat was six feet high Draw your inferences from this, and wish all England was a garden without weeds. How easy for each farmer to convince himself by a land in each field! I am trying it so this season. FORK OR SPADE HUSBANDRY. Mr. Cuthbert Johnson, in a paper on this subject in the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, says, “ When the soil is artificially deepened, by fork or spade trenching, or with the subsoil plough, the substratum is made porous to a much greater depth. The rain gradually sinks down to the whole depth of the porous substratum, and from thence to the furrow drains, and in time of great drought, the deep-moved ground will hold, by capillary attraction, a much greater supply of moisture for the nourishment of plants; so that thoroughly deepening and loosening the soil, not only assists the escape of superabundant water during heavy rains, but it affords additional means of supplying healthy vegetation with moisture at those times when it is most needed. - e . * “I have recently witnessed some rather extended operations in the introduction of the fork husbandry into farms of con- siderable extent, to which the farmer's attention can hardly be directed without benefit; and in this I do not allude to what is only practicable on a small scale—the exclusive fork husbandry—but to the use of the fork in conjunction with the plough. Some of these experiments have been carrying on for the last five years by Mr. James Beadel, a very intelligent and excellent farmer and land-agent of Witham, in Essex, on a farm of about 120 acres, whose soil is light, resting upon gravel.” Ile observes, in a recent obliging communication :- g & sº e & “I have annually dug from three to five acres for the last five years. The soil I have operated upon is light, with a substratum of gravel, sand, and tender loam. The expense for the forking is 2}d., per rod-38s 8d, per acre: but I always dig under the furrow left by the plough, which adds one ploughing to the expense, viz., 8s. By adopting this course, I do not bring up the inert subsoil till the second time of digging. The influence of forking on the crops seems to be that all root-crops are much increased in quantity, the cereal crops which follow less injured by drought, and the land becomes much more free from annual weeds, as well as from those which are of a more permanent nature. I had recently a person with me who has made a series of very carefully-conducted experiments, in which digging has been contrasted with ploughing. He tells me that he thinks the produce of the forked land was nearly double that of the ploughed.” And, when alluding to the comparative advantages of the spade and the fork, Mr. Beadel adds— • “1st. A man can dig a greater quantity of land in a given time with the fork than he can with the spade. My experience proves one-sixth, and it strikes me it must be so ; because the chisel-pointed ends of a three pronged fork can be more easily pushed into a hard subsoil than the continuous end of a spade. 2dly, It does not bring up so much of the subsoil as the spade, but mixes the earth more, a great portion slipping through between the prongs. 3dly, The bottom is left more uneven and broken by the fork, which I consider a great advantage. One great objection to the plough is, I think, the smooth, glazed surface which it leaves below, and which in many cases, I fancy, presents too great a resistance to the delicaté fibres of the plant. If, too, it is correct, that in most instances the present surface soil is nothing more than a por- tion of the subsoil improved by cultivation, it must be right to increase the quantum of corn-growing earth by subjecting more subsoil to the same operation.” The attempt thus described by Mr. Beadel (and it is a successful effort too) is one which was, with equal success, and on a still bolder scale, attempted in Norfolk, by Mr. Mitchell—an effort which the late Dr. Yelloly reported to the British Association, and that portion of his remarks which alludes to the results obtained I will give in this paper, since it answers very completely certain practical questions as to the working of the fork husbandry, which are sure to be proposed by those who have not seen the working of the system. The farm of Wattlefield, in the parish of Wymondham, where the fork husbandry on a bold scale was first introduced, some time previous to 1837, by Mr. Mitchell, consists of about 317 acres, of which 207 are arable, and 110 in pastures and plantations; . The digging was at first carried on with the spade, but this was speedily exchanged for a strong three- pronged fork, of fourteen inches deep, and seven inches and a-half wide, which is found to be more manageable and less expensive than the Spade. The fork cost 4s. 6d. instead of 6s. 6d., weighed Slb., and, when worked down, could be relaid at a trifling expense. The digging is effected by taking in about four inches of earth at a time, pressing perpendicularly, and getting to a proper depth at two thrusts. The earth, however, is not turned out of the trench to a greater depth than ten inches, although the fork may get down as far as thirteen or fourteen, but that which remains at the bottom in the state of what is called “crumbs" answers the purpose equally with the earth which is thrown out, of forming a permeable medium for the roots of the plant which is to grow in it. The men prefer working together, in order that their labour may be, as 44 ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT, mearly as possible, on the same description of soil, but each takes in about nine feet in width, so that his work can be easily measured. The plan is to have a breathing about every half hour, and the men never work more than the regular ten hours per day. Digging is, however, more laborious than the usual operations of agriculture, though it is much less so with the use of the fork than when the spade is employed. The labourers work the land in ridges of about nine feet in width, and the furrows dividing them are sometimes made by the plough previously to digging, and sometimes by the management of the labourers. The men receive for the ordinary digging after a white crop from 2d. to 2%d. per rod, of thirty square yards, the price varying according to the tenacity of the soil. Where the land is to have a fallow crop, such as turnips, mangel wurzel, or cabbages (for no part of the farm or the land in the immediate neighbourhood has ever a naked fallow) there is first a ploughing, which is done at a season when the horses can be best spared, and afterwards a digging at from 1ád, to 2d. per rod. In preparing for a fallow crop, there is also an expense incurred in harrowing and in draining a ridge with the plough, which last is worth about 7s, per acre. On the hungry gravelly soils of Lexden, in Essex, now farmed by Mr. Errington, a very considerable portion has been forked over within the last two or three years with the most perfect success. The Swedish turnips produced on these soils, in the season of 1843, far exceeded in produce those of any other fields in the district. ON THE EMPLOYMENT OF LABOUR BY GOOD FARMING AND ALLOTMENTS. The following remarks, delivered at the last meeting of the East Essex Agricultural Society (to which I belong) are deserving attention in more respects than one. The country is indebted to Mr. Hop Bs for his exertions to improve Agriculture. “Mr. W. Fisher Hobbs returned thanks on the part of the successful candidates, and said, he could only say that it was formerly an easy task for him to win the prizes, but now he found the competition was so severe that if he did not exert himself he should not be successful in future. IIe was proud that such had been the result of the society—it had created a stimulus and led to a most beneficial result. IIe was persuaded that good stock was what they required at the present time, little was the profit of grazing, and if they had not good stock he was sure they would not have any profit at all. Many of the animals formerly shown there stood conspicuous in the exhibitions of the country; and though he admitted the meat stock was not so good this year, they could not expect it would be when the animals were shown twelve or eighteen months younger. He should have liked to hear the opinion of the judges on the pigs, which he thought of great importance; he was told by the poor man his description of pigs consumed very little food, and he should continue the breed, for he believed nothing could exceed them. He would wish to make a few observations on what had fallen from Mr. Baker and Mr. Rebow. The subject of Allotment was alluded to by them, and he was sorry to differ from them on that question. Mr. Baker had said “The allotments ought to be Savings Banks of labour;” and Mr. Rebow observed, “If the labourer spent one day in the week on his own allotment it would be better.” His (Mr. H.’s) opinion was totally averse from that. Ife considered that in the present position of Agriculture, they ought to do all they could to improve the cul- tivation of the soil; and if they threw out labour to enable the poor man to employ himself as suggested, he thought it might lead to consequences which might make the allotments a curse and not a blessing to him. Ile found he had much to learn—did they not all find they had much to learn ? The more they had dived into science and the practice of Agri- culture, the more they found there was room for improvement and for increasing the production of the soil; and, therefore, instead of diverting the labour of the husbandman to the cultivation of allotments, they ought to make improvements in the soil, and landlord, tenant, and labourer, unite together for their mutual advantage. The landlord ought to assist the tenant by giving him a lease on a long term, by aiding him to make improvements by cutting down waste and useless timber, which was robbing the soil in a ten-fold degree—by assisting him in making improvements by marling, chalking, and other means—by seeing that the tenant was a good practical farmer, and had capital, to occupy the soil; and then it was the tenant's duty to employ his quota of able-bodied labourers throughout his parish. (Hear.) His opinion was, that there ought not to be an able-bodied labourer out of employment throughout the country. He believed if they would do this, ani endeavour to cultivate their minds, they would hear little of distress, little of disturbances. He never knew the labourers paid so well in proportion to the price of, corn as now ; and therefore something besides lowness of wages must have produced the disturbances in some, part of the country. . Therefore he said if they were to unite and endeavour to employ every able-bodied man they should do their duty. He hoped some arrangement would be made for the permanent employment of the labourers, and he thought that would do more good than the allotment system, for though he might look with favour on allotments it was not as a subsistence for the labourers, but as a means of employment in their leisure hours. (Cheers.) He hoped the labourers would be found employment to pass through the winter ; but, as he said, this could not be done unless the landlords supported their tenants in making permanent improvements; and this was a point to which their attention ought to be directed.” (Cheers.) ON ALLOTMENTS. On the subject of ALLOTMENT$ to willing and industrious Labourers, I beg to annex the following extract from the Agricultural Gazette of the 28th of September, 1844. ſº * The good effect of the system does not admit of a doubt. I know an instance (out of many) where a clergyman on entering upon his new living found the parishioners in an unsatisfactory condition, with five beer- shops. He devoted ten acres (at a fair rental) to Allotments, and in a very short time three of the beer-shops a- ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT, 45 were closed—the morals of the population improved, and crime diminished. Education and a provident Society followed : the farmers, who doubted the utility of Allotments, soon became its warmest advocates. A philanthropic friend of mine, a miller and farmer, accidentally passing some well-cultivated allotmºts, - asked a labourer, “What rent do you pay ?” “One shilling per rod (£8 per acre)," was the reply. º Bless me, this is very high—do you find it answer your purpose?” “Why, Sir, it is a good deal; but I shouldn't like to be without it !” The farmer's land adjoining was full of weeds and poverty, and the farmer himself struggling for existence with a rent of ten shillings per acre (one-sixteenth of the allotment rent). What an instructive lesson is this On the 11th of April 1843, a Committee was appointed by the House of Commons, on the motion of the Hol. W. Cowper, “To inquire into the Results of the A Liot MENT Syst ext, and into the propriety of Šetting apart a Portiºn of all waste lands which shall be inclosed by Act of Parliament, or of any lands which, under any Inclosure Act, shall have been appropriated to the benefit of the poor, to be let out in small allotments to the labouring Poor of the district, and also to inquire into the best mode of effecting the same.” e The Committee thus appointed presented a Report to the House, based on the evidence of numerous and competent witnesses. The evidence of William Miles, Esq., M.P., and the Report of the Committee, were published in the “ Labourers Friend Magazine;” and a few extracts from these, in addition to the facts which we have already adduced, will amply sustain our opinion of the benefits which the introduction of the Allotment System is calculated to confer on the labourer. Mr. Miles says:–“ I first of all commenced taking any interest in allotments about the year 1828, when I was resident in Nottinghamshire, on a clayey soil, in the parish of Caunton; there were about eight acres, or eight acres and a half, which had been left for the benefit of the parish ; ......... I called the attention of some of the parishioners to it; we called a vestry meeting, and, under the 59th of Geo. III., we offered to let this land in allotments to the poor, We dividcol it into allotments of about a rood to each individual. I was resident in the county, I think, six years afterwards, and I can state from my own experience that, though the soil was a stiff clay, and certainly the last of all soils that I should have taken for allotment gardens, by the assiduity and labour of those poor people it was brought to bear the very best of vege- tables: good crops of potatoes, and onions, and other vegetables. And I was informed by those who had the allotments, taking a good deal of interest, and going frequently to the gardens and talking to the people, that it was one of the greatest benefits that ever befel the inhabitants of Caunton that the ground left for parochial purposes was allotted to the poorer inhabitants of the place.” Mr. Miles afterwards states:—“About six years after this I went to reside in Gloucestershire, where I am at present resident; I then prevailed upon my father to allow me to give, in three different parishes, allotments to the labouring poor. I invariably chose the very best land I could, and that nearest to their own dwellings, I allotted in that way, in the three parishes, land to about one hundred persons altogether ; and I can state that invariably in all those places in which those allotments have been so given, the benefits produced to the poor have been something perfectly extraordinary ; you have only to go into one of those gardens, and take the chance of any person who may be working there, however, late or early, and you will be exceedingly interested, first of all in his manner of addressing you, and at the same time with the benefits which invariably (he says) have resulted from those allotments of ground to himself and to his family. As I understood it was the wish of the Committee, when last I appeared here, that I should state what was the result of the benefits to the poor man as nearly as I could, I went to the garden of one of the first men I saw ; I inquired what benefits had accrued to him as to the sale of vegetables, and, at the same time, as to supplying his family with food from his allotment. Ile stated to me that he occupied a rood of land ; that for that rood he paid 11. a year; that he had sold onions last year to the value of 24s. ; carrots to the value of 8s. ; and that his wife had sold gooseberries and currants to the value of 2s. 6d ; that he had a wife and five children, and that he had provided them from the allotment with every description of culinary, vegetable, with all their potatoes; and had only purchased for the year one sack of potatoes for the whole consumption of the family; at the same time I should mention that I never go into those gardens but thanks are given to me for what has been done.” The Il. per rood rent, included tithes and rates. The first branch of inquiry in which the Committee engaged was, “the effect of the arrangements under which the labouring classes are now enabled to hold and cultivate land on their own account ;” and the Report states “ The evidence received upon the first branch of their inquiry has been of uniform tenor, and has led them to conclude that the tenancy of land under the garden allotment system is a powerful means of bettering the condition of those classes who depend for a livelihood upon their manual labour, whether in manufacturing or agricultural employment; and it has this peculiar merit, that its benefits are not obtained at the expense of any other class, nor accompanied by any corresponding disadvantage.” LORD DU CIE’S EXAMPLE FARMI. The following is quoted to show the possibility (where there is the inclination) of growing one hundred and twenty acres of wheat wituout A weed. The account is evidently written by a person disposed to find fault. I have reason to know Mr. Morton grows extraordinary crops in ordinary seasons—in such a dry season as the present, I apprehend he is only one of some thousands who have lost their roots and clovers. ‘. Whitfield Example Farm, Gloucestershire, on Lord Ducie's estate, has been much spoken and written of. It contains, about two hundred and forty acres of cleared land, formerly under pasture; much under water, and destroyed With hedge-row trees; the whole of which were grubbed up and sold for £3,400. Then the whole farm was thoroughly drained with stºne and tile, and subsoiled with the Deanston plough, good roads made, all old fences demolished, the whole limed at therate of one hundred and twenty bushels per acre, and laid out without divisions into twenty-four fields 46 ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT, of ten acres each ; a good house and offices, with a steam-power thrashing-machine erected, and the whole put under a rotation of crops—in turnips, wheat, clover; wheat, roots; in turnips, carrots, potatoes, or mangel wurzel. “This season, then under crop, twelve fields, or one hundred and twenty acres of wheat—two fields, or twenty acres of carrots—two fields, or twenty acres of mangel wurzel—two fields, or twenty acres of turnips—two fields Or twent acres of potatoes—and four fields, or forty acres of clover. tº 3 y “The wheat is all good, and should average about forty bushels per acre; it is all drilled, some at six, nine, twelve fifteen, and eighteen inches apart, and sown respectively with eight, seven, six, one, and three pecks of seed. The nine inches apart is considered the most productive, although, had the season been finer, the fifteen or eighteen would have pro- bably outdone it. The whole has been twice hoed, and not a weed is to be seen in it. Seeds have also been sown |. they have not appeared. The carrots, white Belgian, are not very regular ; the mangel is patchy and inferior; the turnips sown, but not appearing; potatoes very poor, partly ploughed down; clover fine, and feeding off with sheep with a full supply to horses and cattle within doors. The general management good, but not so very extraordinary as has been repre- sented. The improvements were conducted by Mr. Morton, a Fifeshire man, who, with his two sons, have now taken a lease of the farm, on certain conditions, from Lord Ducie. It was formerly rated for the poor rates, at 7s, per pound, at 841, and it is supposed now to pay 600l. The outlay has been very great, but the proprietor says he has been paid as a landlord, and now will be recompensed fully by the advanced rent. The improvements have been six or eight years in progress. The tenant disapproves of frequent liming, or indeed of any liming at all, and thinks that by this rotation, and using all his straw and roots on the farm, he will be able to keep it in order without any extraneous aid—not even guano This seems problem atical to the writer, who has travelled thirty-six miles (seventy-two out and home) to see this far famed Example Farm, and is now waiting the coach to take him up, and returns on the whole satisfied—but no more—neither amused nor delighted beyond measure ; there is not sufficient variety of management or stock to his taste, although certainly the wheat and clover, crops are good for any year, and extraordinary for the present. IIe went thus far for the edification and amusement of his careful and kind correspondent and manager.”—Berkshire Chronicle. WE MUST ADAPT THE CROP TO THE SOIL, OR VICE VERSA. The following abridged account of PROF Essor Jon Nston's LECTURE is important, in showing that it is impossible to grow certain crops unless their component parts exist in the soil in sufficient quantities. This applies particularly to lucerne and clover. Who would have thought that 100lbs, of lucerne hay ashes contained forty-eight pounds of lime, and red clover twenty-seven pounds ! I apprehend it is the want of lime and phosphoric acid that so frequently causes the failure of lucerne and clover. The latter we know on dense soils seldom lasts long. I know an instance of a successful grower of lucerne on heavy land who invariably mixes annually a considerable quantity of lime with earth, letting it amalgamate, and in the autumnal months spreads it over the lucerne crop. Probably he may not know the chemical effect, but its quite evident his practice of liming is chemically correct. *. The Professor says, “The different substances of which plants are composed must exist in the soil on which they grow ; according to the nature of the plant to be reared, so ought the land to be manured. Thus, while wheat grain contained only two per cent, of ashes, hay contained ten per cent. Hence the wheat required a much larger amount of combustible aſſiment than hay. It was true that the whole of the combustible matter was not obtained directly from the soil, as a large portion of it was derived from the air; but from five to ten per cent. of the straw of wheat was obtained from the soilſ; hence the provision made in some leases that no straw should be carried off the land. Different kinds of hay carry off different quantities of inorganic matter from the soil, and consequently have different effects upon the land. The following table shows the quantity of inorganic matter in 100]bs. of hay. ln Rye-Grass Hay. Red Clover. White Clovel’. LucCrne, Potash ......... e tº e s tº $ tº e e e e g º e a 4 g º a s w w e º e s > * * * * * * 8.8 19.9 31.0 13 4. Soda ...... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.9 5.3 5.8 6.9 *s Lime ......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... 7.3 27.8 23.5 48.3 Magnesia. . . . . . . & s e º e e s a t < * e a e s m e º e g º e º ſº e. tº e º e s tº e ... O 9 3.3 3.0 3.5 Alumina... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . e g º e s ∈ e º ºs e a * * * * * * 0.3 2 1, 9 0.3 Oxide of Iron ....... . . . . . . . . . . e g º º a º º a s sº e < * * * * (), () 0.0 0.6 O.S Oxide of Manganese . . . . . . . e e e s tº a s & e s tº e º e º º () () ().0 () () O 0 Silica ......... . . . . . . . . . . . * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 27.7 3.6 l 4.7 3.3 Sulphuric acid ..................... . . . . . . . . . . ... 3.5 4.5 3.5 4.0 Phosphoric acid................ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... 0.3 6.6 5.0 13.1 Carbonic acid............ ........................ 9.1 3.6 2.1 3.2 The soil must contain all of the above, otherwise it cannot build up the plºt which contains them; and just in proportion to the supply of the necessary ingredients, in their prºper proportions, will be the luxuriance or stuntedness of the crop. Every plant that grows requires, in accordance with the nature and composition of soil, the proportion of the ingredients in its ashes. If no alteration of crops is made, nature will become exhausted in some of her resources, and the plant for want of nourishment must die. We have facts to prove that nature will not for ever grow the same plant on the same soil. The Black Forest consisted first of oak, them of pine, and now it is again covered with broad-leaved trees; and as with trees so with crops, and as on a large so on a small scale. Different modes of husbandry have been adopted. Instead of oats being grown fifteen or twenty years on the same soil, the rotation of three white crops and six years grass was adopted; this also has become antiquated, and now the preferable alternation of white and green crop is adopted. Alternating ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. 47 crops, and adding such manures as have been carried off by preceding crops, is the only profitable mode of cultivation, while mature wili also assist by the going on of certain circumstances, such as the decomposition of minerals, &c. &c. A soil containing just sufficient lime for a luxuriant crop of rye-grass would be far deficient for either clover or lucerne. The soil must contain in abundance what your crop specially requires, and consequently the necessity of selecting the manure to suit the crop wanted ; and skilful farmers will put this principle into practice, and also select crops suitable for the purposes to which they are to be applied; thus, if you wish to feed for milk you must select a plant containing an abundant supply of phosphoric acid; and this plant will not grow on land which has been exhausted of this acid, though it contained all other necessary ingredients in abundance. The ground becomes exhausted in many ways. By cropping too long with either one kind or different kinds of grain, and carrying off both grain and straw, it becomes exhausted very speedily. It becomes exhausted of some of its soluble matter by the action of rains, just in proportion to the wetness of the soiſ. By the application of proper manures the waste may be replaced. Feeding will replace a portion of the waste of solid matter; but a great portion of the soluble is lost, both by being, to a small extent, irrecoverable, and because of the direct waste by carelessness or ignorance. These soluble or saline substances are principally contained in the urine of cattle, and just in proportion as it is lost so is the direct waste. The urine of one single cow is valued in Flanders at 2/. per annum. What then must be the loss on the whole of the cows in Great Britain * Guano is not a more valuable manure than the urine of cattle, and yet farmers carry off this from their yards by large ditches, as if it were only, what it has too long been considered, a nuisauce; while they will give 10!, a ton for an article of no greater value, By building suitable tanks the whole of the farm-yard saline matter might be preserved, and 900 pounds of good solid matter, equal to the best Peruvian guano, would be the annual produce of one cow. Tanks ought to be made capable of containing all the urine voided in four months; they should be divided in the middle, and one end, when filled, should be allowed to fer- ment. This fermentation would be completed in about six weeks, when it should be carried to the land, and applied as we now apply guano and water. In the process of fermentation, the ammonia is apt to escape, but by mixing the urine with three times its bulk of water, this will be prevented to a very considerable extent, as shown in the following table:– Salime Matter and Ammonia in the Urine voided by a Cow in Twelve Months. l{ecent urine contains—solid matter....... ..... 900 lbs. Yields of ammonia ............ 226 lbs. Kept six weeks—Mixed with water... ......... 850 & Y § { 200 § { C & Unmixed .......... . . . ...... 550 & © ( & 30 We have frequently been astonished at the results of certain saline substances when scattered over unhealthy piants, by the first shower washed into the soil, and immediately consumed by the plant as its proper and necessary food; and just in proportion to the ease with which it gets the substances upon which it is supported, and of which it is composed, will it vegetate. Suppose any of the substances of which a plant is composed to be already in the ground in sufficient proportion, then any addition cannot do good. Suppose soda to be in sufficient quantity for hay, any addition would be unprofitable for a rye-grass crop, while it would be of immense benefit to double the quantity for clover or lucerne And again, some soils contain it in sufficient quantity for every variety of crop, consequently any addition would be unprofitable, Hence the reason of so many conflicting opinions respecting the utility of manures. A. B. has a field deficient in the due proportion of gypsum ; and by applying it to his crop he finds the most beneficial effects. C. D. hears of these results and applies it to his fields, which have already an abundant quantity of it, but require something else; and the consequence is, it does no good, and he pronounces it worthless as a manure; and his next neighbour, E. F., who would have been benefited by its application, has been dissuaded from applying it. Milk contains so much bony earth that in seventy-five years a cow pas- tured ou an acre of land will carry off a ton of bones; hence some lands used for dairy purposes in Cheshire had, in the course of years, deteriorated to such a degree that they were not worth more than from five shillings to ten shillings per acre, just because the cows pastured on them had carried away all the bone out of the soil. Bone-dust was at length applied as a top-dressing, and the results were so astonishing that the land increased 700 per cent, in value, and the Rector's tithes were increased five-fold. Any or all other manures, had they wanted bone, would have proved ineffectual. The bones added just what had gradually been taken off in the lapse of years, in consequence of the peculiar husbandry of the district. tº- THE PROPER PERIOD FOR REAPING W HEAT. I have reason to believe we all cut our wheat too ripe, by which we not only lose quantity but time, at a most important period—a week or more saved, in a moist season, is the salvation of a crop. - The iollowing seems conclusive on this subject:— . . It would appear, at first, that the Farmer cannot be wrong in allowing his grain-crops to attain maturity—to become fully ripe; ancient practice, so far as it goes, would certainly justify him in doing so. This, however, is not always a good guide to go by. *-- y y &y S & - If by the period of maturity the time be meant when a plant has acquired its greatest value as an article of food, certainly this stage in the growth of every kind of crop ought to be attained before it is harvested; it is, however by no means certain that maturity in this sense is not attained by our corn crops at an early period in the process of ripening . . º ay º be º sº has passed the period of perfection and has begun to lose its value ... it has €CO II) C (lea (I T1D62. 1 - ºn gº ºn frºm , s , * growth only u . () 8. & ... al his the testimony of all nature may be urged, that strength and vigour progress with General reasoning, however, of this kind could never have been so influential with any Farmer as to induce him to alter so important and time-sanctioned a practice as that of leaving grain to ripen thoroughly. And practically s eaking the question remained undisturbed, and we were vain enough to fancy that at icast we knew when our wheat was !. i. harvest, till Mr. J. Hannam, of North Deighton, near Wetherby, Yorkshire, in the Quarterly Journal of º: for June, 1841, boldly asserted that the practice of allowing wheat to become fully ripe was an injurious one. This asser. 48 QN AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. tion was based on the details of a careful and elaborate experiment made during the previous year, 1840. In 1841, Mr. Hannam continued his investigations on a still more extensive scale, and the results thoroughly corroborated his former conclusions. In September, 1842, the details were published in the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, and the question was discussed at length, the conclusion being that the best period for cutting wheat is when it is raw, i. e. from ten to four- teen days before it becomes thoroughly ripe. This decision has been since confirmed by the testimony of both science and practice. Professor Johnston, in his Lectures, quotes Mr. H.’s results, and confirms them by argument. He also states in his Elements, p. 188, 3d edition, as “ the result of theory and experience," that about a fortnight before full ripening is the proper time of cutting corn—as the skin is then thinner, the grain fuller, the bushel heavier, and the yield of flour greater.” Mr. Stephens, in his excellent Book of the Farm, corroborates Mr. H.’s position. Indeed, both the English and American Agricultural Press have sup- plied numberless cases in support of his facts and arguments. To these our limits will not allow us to refer ; we may, however, as testimony of peculiar value, name, that amongst the authorities who support the practice Mr. Hannam advo- cates, are several of our Farmers' Clubs ; those, for instance, of Leominster, Stewpony, and Wetherby, have each passed resolutions in favour of the early cutting of wheat. On Thursday of last week it was resolved by the Wetherby Club, that it is advisable to cut wheat at from seven to fourteen days earlier than is customary in the district. This Club is in Mr. Hannam's immediate neighbourhood, and its testimony is therefore peculiarly valuable. Such then being the case, we cannot do better at this time than call the attention of our readers to the subject, and direct them for a full statement of the case to Mr. Hannam's papers in the Quarterly Journal. To such of our readers as have not the means of referring to the back numbers of that periodical, the following epitome of that gentleman's researches will not be uninteresting: Mr. Hannam's first experiment was executed in 1840. Three samples were cut, viz. respectively:— No. I. Green .......... * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * e s : * * * * * * * * * cut Aug. 4, 1840. II. Raw........ * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * c e < * a v e a s g º e g º e s a a e º º “ Aug. 18. 11 H. Ripe .......... © tº º q tº 8 s tº a 4 tº º e º º is a tº e 4 * > * * * w a s s a e e ...... “ Sept. 1. These were thrashed and carried to market, when the following prices were put upon them : — No. 1. ............... • * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * & 3 e s tº a s a s e º 'º e s s a s • * * 61s, per quarter. II. ............... tº t e º 'º º e º 'º e < * ~ * * * * * * * * * * ~ * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ... ...... 648. III. “............ * f * * * * * * * * > * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * s te e º e º 'º e º 'º e º e º 'º 4 e 63S. In 1841, a more extensive experiment was instituted; by samples of half-a-rood each were cut, viz.-- No. I. Very Green.................. e e tº e º 'º e º e º º ºs e i < * * * * * ſº ſº tº e s tº $ in tº ſº º te Aug. 12. II. Green .......................... tº $ tº a s w w e º e º 'º e º e a e ............ Aug. 19. III. Raw............... ſº tº e º 'º e º e < * * * * * * * * * * * tº º e s tº e º e º e º e a e s a tº t e ..... Aug. 26. l V. Raw........... • e º e s e tº e s s a tº e º 'º e º e º 'º e º 'º e - e º e º a e < * * * * ~ * * * * * * * * * * * * Aug. 30. V. Ripe........ • * * * * * @ e º ºs e º e º s º w w e º º º tº e e º 'º e º 'º e & * * * e º 'º e º is tº e º 'º t → * * ... Sept. 9. These samples were threshed, and they were as follow:—No. 5 (ripe), was “bold but coarse;” Nos. 1 and 2 (green): “fine in the skin, but small;” and Nos. 3 and 4, “equal in boldness of grain to No. 5, and superior in clearness of skin,” being “unexceptionable as a sample.” This desiccation, or drying in, of Nos. 1 and 2, proved that it was taken too early. The whole of the samples were shown at the Annual Show of the Wetherby Agricultural Society, September 22, 1841, when the superiority of the raw-cut grain was confirmed by the Judges, who awarded to it “an extra premium, with a high commendation of the sample, No. 3, cut a fortnight before ripe.”— Yorkshi e Gazette, Sept. 25, 1841. * * Having in one trial ascertained the value of the samples by market, and afterwards by the opinion of a public meeting, in order to leave no loophole for doubt, Mr. Hannam determined to test their qualities at the mill. The gross quantity of each was ground and dressed by Mr. John Hardcastle, of Wetherby; and from the results we compile the annexed tables:— | | | Grain. Weight per bushel of Weight per cent. of No. . . . . . . Flour. Pollard. Bran. Waste. Cut. | Quantity. Weight. Grain. Flour. | Pollard. Bran. |Grain Flour. Pollard. Bran. busly. St. lb. St. lb. st. lb. St. l.b. lb. lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. J II. 3} 13 l () ! 2 (j 0 1 2 2 1 5 Raw. || 62 6. 7 || 49 5. 7 || 3 3. 7 || 8 2. 7 100 80 4 0.43 5 25. 43 13 21, 13 | IV. 3 11.6 | 0 6 || 1 2 3 || 1 3 2 5 9 DO. 62 22. 59 46 22.59 || 35.69 || 8 56.59 || 100 ZZ 8.22 7 15. 22 14 20.22 V. 3# 1 4 13 || 0 || 1 || 1 9 2 5 2 Ripe. 59 5. 7 43 1. 7 || 6 4. 7 || 9 3. 7 100 | 72 19:20 11 23.307 is 1920 ! “From this we see,” says Mr. Hannam, “ that the bushel of No. III, gives more flour than the bushel of No. V. by 6 4.7 lb., showing a gain of 15 1.7 per cent. in weight of flour upon equal measures of grain.” Again, we find, also, that there is an advantage of “nearly 8 per cent of flour in favour of No. III. upon equal weights of wheat.” º g The theory upon which Mr. Hannam explains these astonishing results is, that as the sugar in the green plant becomes changed into the starch of the wheat, so if permitted to remain till fully ripe, another change will take place, the starch becoming gradually converted into woody fibre; for it is a well known chemical fact, that sugar, starch, and fibre, are composed of the same constituent elements united in the same proportions, and are one and the same substance in various forms—in some such way as water, ice, and snow, are different forms of one combination of oxygen and hydrogen. This gradual change to woody fibre takes place in many vegetables as they ripen, and it is by taking,this into account that we can explain the curious fact shown in the tables, that the ripe wheat contains fifty per cent, more. “ flinty particles"— “pollard,” or “sharps,” than the “raw-cut grain.” Hence it is no wonder that the flour of the ripe should be less free in the grain. sº Hannam also claims a “better quality of flour” for the raw-cut grain, and quotes the analysis of Professor Johnston, to whom samples were sent, from which it appears (see Lectures, p. 734) that the raw wheat contains 9.9 per cent of gluten, ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT, 49 ripe wheat contains 9.6 per cent of gluten. The other advantages claimed for cutting early, are a better quality and greater quantity of straw, a better chance of securing the crop, &c. . tº . ſº & * : * ~ * The quantity, i. e. the weight of straw must, it is evident, be increased, and it is equally, true, that its quality is improved owing to their being more soluble matter in the fresh than in the dry straw. In fact, the additional weight of straw is nearly all an additional weight of nutritive matter, starch, sugar, &c. which would when dead ripe have become fibre; and therefore it is of great consequence to the value of the straw, either as an article of food or as a manure. We have not space to allude to the other indirect advantages which Mr. Hannam claims for early reaping wheat, nor can we follow his arguments or facts so fully as we would wish on the points alluded to ; if, however, we have been able to give our readers an idea of the case as it now stands, or to draw their attention to the further investigation of the subject, we shall have done them good service. * In conclusion, we give Mr. Hannam's estimate, based on his experiments of the money value of an acre of the same wheat cut raw and ripe, No. III. Cut a fortnight before ripe, £14, 18s.-No. V. Fully ripe, £13. 11s. 8d.—Agricultural Gazette, WITHAM LABOURERS’ FRIEND SOCIETY. I MAY be thought prosy in annexing the following Report from the Essex Standard of the WITHAM LABourERs' ERIEND SocIETY, but I do so because it is within six miles of my farm, and I am personally acquainted with Mr. Dixon, Mr. Hutley, Mr. Beadel, and Mr. Lungley, and know them to be first-rate farmers, and men of general know- ledge. Their remarks are deserving of attention, and I fully concur with them. Here, in the case of Mr. Hutley, is a wealthy successful farmer, holding fifteen hundred acres, expending £16 per acre on improving land held on a sixteen years' lease, and declaring it to be profitable to do so. Let us see what he adds to his annual rent. £16 capital sunk in sixteen years, is per annum .................. if 1 0 0 Interest on £16, at 5 per cent. per annum ........................ O 16 O Annual additional rent.............................. f. 1 16 0 and yet I am told that all my improvements at Tiptree Hall are not to pay me an annual gross rent of £2. 16s. It is impossible, folks say—How absurd ' Why Mr. Hutley's expenditure proves, that it is not only possible and profitable, but that it is impossible not to pay—with proper cultivation. Mr. Hutley's remarks on Burning Land I know to be practically useful. Mr. Beadel's remarks as regards Ireland are too true, as I have witnessed—the rich and verdant country undrained, uninclosed, and almost uncultivated ; and its intelligent and lively inhabitants in rags. Uncertainty of tenure and employment, oppression of middlemen, want of example, precept, and encouragement from landholders, have rendered them listless, and without inclination to repair their clothes or their huts, even, where materials and time are available, I noticed, particularly, that whenever I found among the rest a labourer with his clothes and person in good repair, it was one who had harvested in England and had profited by example. On asking several why they did not cross the water for employment, they answered with a feeling of diffidence and conscious of inferiority, “Indeed, Sir, we're not smart enough.” I believe the system of a noble lord in that country of charging a certain rent, and allowing them back annually one-half for improvements in drainage, &c. effected by themselves, is as beneficial to his property and his tenants—as it is creditable to his foresight and humanity. At the Annual Meeting of this Society Mr. Lungley said, that the most important among the trifling matters which he had taken the liberty to bring forward, was one with reference to the management of farm-yard manures. Perhaps, no subject had been more discussed, and none less defined, for there was very great difference of opinion as to the best mode. In order to prove it, he had made an experiment, but whether it was the best way he would leave others to judge. It had been attended with some trouble, difficulty, and expense, but he was more than recompensed by the pleasure which he found in working out these matters. (Cheers.) The following documents were here read to the meeting:— FIRST-EXPERIMENT UPON HORSE-KEEPING, WEIGHT OF FooD coxsuMED, AND QUANTITY or MANURE MADE. . Monday, the 24th of June, 1844.—Two cart horses, in good working condition, were kept loose in the stable seven days, without going out of it, kept upon green tares and corn. Consumed in the seven days 12 cwt., 1 q., 1 lb. of excellent green tares, then at the top of their growth, and before they had bloomed; dry weather, no waste. cwt. qr, lbs. Also one peck of oats per day per horse, that is the three bushels two pecks weighed. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * a s m e e s s a e s s a s is 1 1. 7. Also chaff * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , tº º ſº tº dº tº º * * g. tº it tº 0 2 4. Corn and chaff * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * tº is tº ſº $ 8 & e i º e º is a it s tº $ tº e 1 3 11 Tares tº dº à é º 'º e º e º is * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * e º 'º e º 'º e º a º ºs e º se a 12 1. 8 tºmsºmºsº, Two horses consumed in Olle week * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * , * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * , 14 () 19 7 O 9; \{ "S * ºn g . . . ; i ºn sov, One hol e consumed in weight 11) SèYC in days, ... n * * * : tº º : * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * f ~ * That is, 113 lbs. per day for one horse. E * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 50 ON AGRICULTURAL iMPROVEMENT. 1) rank six gallons of water per horse per day. - - Two horses littered for seven days ; one truss of wheat straw per day, 36 lbs. per truss, weighed 252 lbs. cwt. qr, Ibs, From 252 lbs. of straw and food.—Weight of manure in its raw state at the end of the week ................................. 12 2 3 Monday, 5th of August.—Weighed the muck made from the green tares after laying in a dry stable six weeks, stirred over four times, four pails of water (that is, 16 gallons) thrown upon it, as the dry muck required it every time to prevent its moulding. It was not very rotten : it was removed with a fork, no shovel used; weighed this day–Decrease in weight 5 - 2 24, Seven Trusses Of StrâW Weighed.............................................................................................................” () º - Increase of weight With tares and COrn. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 2 24. N.B.-The stable was a sound old brick floor, with a gutter in it; a ten-gallon copper was placed at the fall of the gutter and cemented carefully. No urine could escape. Only 21 quarts of urine in the seven days drained into the reservoir. S12COND.—EXPERIMENT ON THORSE-REEPING WITH TORY FOOD. Monday, the 7th of July, 1844. —Two cart horses (not the same as before mentioned, but of the same size and condition) were kept in the same stable, upon dry food, and not removed for seven days. cwt. Qr. Ibs. Three cwt. of excellent clover hay consumed in the seven days ..................................................................... 3 0 0 One peck of oats per day per horse ........................... Also chaff ....................................................... is 9 y º gº e e g º 'º e - © tº e º 'º - e º ſº tº * * * * * s a tº • * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * is s e º º a º • 4. 1 1. 7 & º e s - a w s a s a s - a s e s a s : * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 0 2 4. TWO horses consumed in On 6 week • * * * * * . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . " ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' 4. 3 11 One horse consumed in Weight, in seven days.................... .............................................................. “ 2 1 19 That is, 39 lbs. per day for one horse, upon dry food. One horse consumed per day, 113 Ibs. of green food; dittö, 39 lbs. of dry food. One horse consumed per day, on green food, 74 lbs. more than on the dry food. Prank three pails of water per day per horse. cwt. qr, lbs, Weight of manure in its raw state, from 259 lbs. of straw and food and water ................................................... 10 * * The same, after being kept in the stable six weeks, stirred over four times, four pails of water each time (great difficulty in preventing its getting mouldy) it weighed tº e º º tº e * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * • * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 6 O 2 - Decrease in weight • * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 4. 1 0 Qºly 13 quarts of urine drained from the dry food. Observe, Manure made from green food, when in a proper state to be carted upon the land .................. & e < * s s p * * * * * ... 5 1 10 Ditto, l]] § Il Ull'6, made from dry food & & W º & G & # * * tº t e ſº tº º q & d e º 'º e º º 'º g g g g g g º & • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 4. 1 () Difference in weight in favour of green food....................... & a 2 & 4 & 2 a. º. º. # 4 g is a g + 6 a. º. s 4 ~ * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 1. O 1 () Notwithstanding this increase of weight in the green food, it is presumed the manure made from the dry food is of the most value. MEMORANDUMS, MICHAELMAS, 1844. It will be remembered the barley last year succeeded after fork-subsoiling, was sown with red clover, no visible diſſerence was seen during the very dry summer. The following wheat crop, after the clover, will have due attention. Much has been said, and many publications given, respecting the management of farm-yard manure, some contending that rain or Water injures the quality of such manure, and renders it worthless. Others believe that such manure cannot be made without a considerable portion of water, as dry muck will mould, and lose all its fertilizing qualities. The following experiment was made this last summer, 1844:— On the 15th of November, 1843, ten Scots were put loose in stalls 12 feet square, fed with bean meal, cut hay, malt coombs and oil cake. Each bullock foddered or littered with one truss of good wheat straw per day, 36 lbs. per truss, carefully weighed, cleaned out once a month ; no urine escaped, all was absorbed by the daily large quantity of straw foddered. On the 13th of January, 1844, five stalls were cleaned out, and the manure weighed the same day, carefully laid by itself, and covered nine inches thick with earth—no evaporation escaped ; stirred over three times and watered each time, as the manure was disposed to mould very much. On the 4th of April weighed again, and carted upon the land for oats; not very rotten ; the carts were filled with forks, exactly three tons weight, and laid upon one quarter of an acre. On the same day, 13th of January, the other five stalls were cleaned out, and laid upon dry ground, all exposed to the weather, from the 13th of January to the 4th of April, weighed and managed exactly as the other five stalls, stirred on the same days, watered when stirred; a tank (a copper substituted) with a grip around it; very little drainage, what there was drained was thrown upon the heap of manure. Exactly three tons weighed and ſaid upon the same quantity of land. The whole thrashed directly out of the field, 24th of August; below the produce is stated :- One quarter of an acre of oats produced, from the manure closely covered up, 18 bushels 1 peck; weighed 38 lbs. per bushel. Straw 5 cwt. 1 q1... 13 lbs. - One quarter of an acre, not covered up, produced 17 bushels 1 peck; weighed 38 lbs. per bushel. Straw 5 cwt. I q1, 6 lbs. In tabular form they will stand thus— qrs. bush. Covered Manure, produce .......................................... 1 Wot covered............................................................ * * In favour of covered manure ........................... 0 1 bush. cwt. q1's. lbs. Produce of Straw, per acre, covered ..................... 21 3 10 Ditto not covered.................. 21 1 10 In favour of covered manure....... .,,,......... 0 ° 0 - * On the same day one quarter of an acre was manured with guano, weighed exactly one hundred, produced 19 bushels 374 lbs. per bus hel. Straw 34 cwt, 0 qr, 7 lbs. ON AGTRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. 51 Oats, guano manured, equal to 9 qrs. 4 bushels per acre: straw 24 cwt. 2 qrs, per acre. The guano manured exceeded 3 bushes of oats per acre more than the covered muck. N.B. The whole of this was a troublesome experiment to do correctly. Guano was sown on wheat, barley, oats, and caraway, upon another farm, a different soil, subsoiled clay; no benefit was observed. The drought continued a long time. ON THE VARIETY OF WAYS OF SOWING witHAT IN ONE FIELD GRAVEL, BURNING LAND, IN A DRY SUMMER. August, 1843, one quarter of an acre of a very gravelly soil—in a hot summer, produced but little ; was, after peas, ploughed four times in the day with six horses, 15 inches deep ; dibbled with wheat in October, produced at the rate of 5 bushels and 3 pecks per acre more than the land by the side of it, ploughed in the usual way for wheat, 5 inches deep. Straw 33 cwt. per acre more than the adjoining land of the same measure and same soil. This same field is subject to hoy or wire grass in the autumn : in a few weeks it is thickly coated. One acre was hoed and burnt: cost 10s, per acre. One acre by the side of it ploughed with a wheel coulter. All dibbled : no visible difference throughout the year, either in produce or in cleanliness of the land, during the summer or this autumn, 1844. One acre in the same field was folded 14 nights with 200 sheep, fed in the day time on stubbles; no oil cake or corn. The other part of the field all manured ; ten tons of good muck per acre. The folded wheat exceeded the manured wheat 2 bushels 3 pecks per acre. The folded wheat 1 lb. 4 oz. per bushel the lightest. Mr. Luard proposed the health of Mr. Pattison and the Committee. Mr. Pattison returned thanks, and observed that the room of the Witham Literary Institution would be at the service of the Committee. The Chairman said he was sure they would be glad to avail themselves of it, and proposed success to the institution, which was responded to by Mr. Proctor. The Chairman said he had had another paper put into his hand, dated Layer Breton Iłall, and having reference to the result of sowing different quantities of wheat upon equal quantities of land. This was a subject of great importance, for if one bushel of seed should be found as good as two, it must tend to increase the quantity of food in the country, and to make them more independent of foreigners. The result of the experiment was as follows: ACCOUNT OF THE PRODUCE FIROM DIFFERENT QUANTITLEs of WILEAT, DRILLED UPON EQUAL QUANTITIES OF LAND. No. 1. Drilled at the rate of 4 pecks per acre, rows 12 inches apart. qrs. b. p.k. pt. I’roduce—Wheat, best....... ...................................... 3 & 1 ° Seconds and tail.................................................. * c + c is e º e º 'º e º 'º a tº () 1. 1 5 * * * * * e e º ºs e s tº e º e º º e º e º 'º e º e e s Total............ 3 4. Q 7. Straw 12 cwt. 0 qr. 13 lbs. No. 2. Drilled at the rate of G pecks per acre, rows 6 inches apart. Wheat, best................................... $ tº º s a g º e º u e º a w s a 4 × 5 s is a 4 tº i t e º 'º - a 6 s ∈ e w 3 5 3 O Seconds and tail * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * a s s e s ss s = * * * * * * * * O 1 1 2} b- Total............ 3 7. () 2} Straw 15 cwt. 0 qr, 15 lbs. - No. 3. Drilled at the rate of 3 pecks per acre, rows 6 inclies apart. Wheat, best # * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * s s * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 3 6 1. 5 Seconds and tail.............................................................. 4 * * * * * () 1 3 3 Total............ 4 0 1 0 ammºmºmº Straw 15 cwt. 3 qr, 21 lbs. N.B. No. 1 was about a week later in ripening than the other two pieces. Mr. Dixon said that the paper just read went to prove that moderately thick sowing was best. The Chairman said that Professor Johnston was telling him the other day of three farms in Hampshire, of different soils, apon which thin sowing had answered very well, Ile believed a similar experiment had been made at Faulkbourn Hall, and perhaps Mr. Bullock could give them the particulars and the result. , Mr. Bullock said the halves of two fields of equal size were sown at the rate of six pecks per acre, and the other halves with eight pecks, and the whole of them cultivated in precisely the same way. The corn had not been measured, but it was he general opinion of every body who witnessed the crops that that from the six pecks was the best. (Hear, hear.) Mr. Lungley said that thin sowing would answer in certain districts, but farmers must always judge of the quantity of seed necessary by the quality of their soil. Mr. H. Dixon, in support of thick sowing, mentioned the practice of Mr. Robert Dixon, who, he said, grew more corn than many farmers with a greater space of ground. On all occasions he sowed at least two and a half and sometimes nearly three 2ushels per acre; and he (Mr. Dixon) saw the result on his own farm the other day. He had seventy-one acres of land, on which, during the last twelve years, he had grown 272 quarters of wheat, and the average of his crops for that time had been Yearly five and a half quarters per acre. (Ilear, hear.) This was from thick sowing, and with the wheat crops repeated almost *Very other year. In fact, Mr. Dixon grew as much wheat in two years as was grown in four under the usual system. Mr. Dixon was a very thick sower, and the produce of his two principal crops—wheat and beans, was truly surprising. IIe put in 9etween six and seven bushels of beans to the acre, and he (Mr. iNixon) knew of no one who could produce such crops—the Average of them was eight quarters per acre. (Hear, hear.) This year, for the purpose of testing them, he grew side by side wo sorts of wheat—Smoothy's red and Crab's wheat, both very productive kinds ; the produce was pretty nearly the same— *** six quarters six bushels per acre. (Hear, hear.) This land they should bear in mind would be of wheat again the year lſter next. How was it that they saw so much land badly farmed? Let them go right and left, they would find that good armers-men who farmed judiciously and profitably to themselves, were exceptions and not the rule. One way of remedying 52 ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. this, and at the same time of conferring a benefit on the country, would be by employing more labour, and by offering prizes to encourage them to exercise their judgment and talents. There was not, to his mind, any doubt, that, instead of talking of a redundancy of labour, if the land was cultivated to its capability, they should not have labourers enough. (IIear, hear, and loud cheers.) Ile had no idea of a redundancy of labour, when he saw so much land only half cultivated, and the enormous quantity not cultivated at all—land, too, which if properly tilled, must prove highly productive from its being fresh. He, therefore, thought it incumbent upon all, and especially those connected with societies like the present, to promote these and all other means by which the labourers might be relieved from the present pressure upon them. (Cheers.) In a neighbouring county a great deal had been said upon this subject, but it appeared to him that the main question had been avoided. It was perfectly clear to his mind, that with the increased talent and knowledge on this matter, and the great advantages we possessed in cultivating land, in consequence of that knowledge, they ought to employ capital to land more freely than at present, Gentlemen who were owners should see to this business themselves. (Hear and cheers ) It was not so much a question for the tenant, who had probably but a very short interest in it. No man could employ permanent and costly improvements unless he was protected for a sufficient time to reap the benefit of it. If he was so protected he would naturally endeavour to benefit himself by the application of his capital and his talent, and in another sense he would benefit the country by greater production, and by the employment of a greater number of labourers. Therefore, he thought it behoved all great landed proprietors to see that their tenants had such leases as would enable them to put their capital into the soil, so as to reap the benefit themselves, and at the same time to benefit others. (Cheers) IIe had no doubt that if the land of this country was occupied as it ought to be they should require treble the quantity of labourers as at present; and they might see it in this or in any other neighbourhood. No doubt the good farmer benefited himself by his spirit; for whilst they saw the poor farmer getting daily worse and worse off, the good farmer with a good lease not only benefited himself and his family, but those by whom he was surrounded. (Cheers.) Good farming was the exception, whether it was by landlords or tenants; many gentlemen farmed as badly as those with less means; but whether they took the one or the other, there was in almost every instance too much reluctance to apply capital to the soil. The great improvements carried on in the neighbourhood in which they were assembled, deserved some notice, and that was the reason why he put a question to the Chairman as to the title of the society. Since they met last year several agricultural gentlemen have spent much money, doubtless some thought lavishly, in decidedly permanent improvements upon the land. Mr. W. Hutley, for instance, had began a system of drainage upon his farm of a most extensive character. He was speaking now of deep drains, and he thought that no person looking at what had been done by Mr. Hutley would dare to say but that the improvements must be permanent. This, too, they must remember, was done by a tenant occupying his farm at a rent probably not very low, and yet he put his capital upon the land, no doubt expecting to reap benefit himself, while hereafter the landlord would come in for his lion's share. (IIear, hear.) Not only had Mr. IIutley drained his land, but he had been at the expense of levelling some of it by forking, and had also had the land burnt, which was of course another expense ; and he (Mr. Dixon) should not put the expense of cultivating this land at less than £15 per acre. (Hear, hear.) The result of these improvements it would be important to watch, for it must give ovidence either of its value or of its uselessness. He had no doubt it would be carefully looked after; and he must say that in no part of the kingdom would they find more spirited, skilful, or judicious improvements going on than in that neighbourhood. Mr. Butler also had been draining land which previously grew nothing but weeds; and had applied the same system to some gravel pits previously filled with water. These two improvements would not only prove a benefit to himself and to society, but were doubtless so to the landlord even now, and would be more so hereafter. Ile had himself done a good deal of draining, and he was happy to bear his testimony to the spirit of a gentleman at the other end of the table, who against the advice of his land agent, agreed with him (Mr. Dixon) to go into the question of draining, because their lands were near each other, protecting himself, as it was always proper to do, by an adequate return from the tenant. The tenant paid 40s. yearly for his outlay of £25. Now, this was land which it was before difficult to walk across, and was not worth anything. (Hear, hear.) The example which Captain IDucane (for he would take the liberty of naming him) had set upon this occasion was important : A tenant undertakes at an adequate interest for his expenditure; the landlord does the work, the farmer is benefited, the country is improved, the labourer encouraged, and in every sense an advantage had been conferred upon all parties. Now there was Mr. Méchi (a laugh)—he was advised not to drain his land, and probably the advice was sound (hear, hear)—but in spite of that advice he did drain it; and certainly it was as perfect a piece of draining as could be found in the kingdom. They might calculate upon its duration for ages, or at all events, generations. The nature of deep draining was such that time seemed to have no influence upon it; nothing but an earthquake could disturb it. Now in this neighbourhood this system of draining had been carried on in a very perfect manner, and to gentlemen who required them he could confidently recommend the services of Mr. Pearson, the drainer. He would say that two circumstances required attention—their extreme defects in farming, and the necessity of encouraging and upholding the industry of the country. By encouraging a better system, they would in time eradicate the former, while the country would derive great benefit from its becoming general. Iſe could not conclude without saying, that it was incumbent upon gentlemen living in that neighbourhood to see that a good deal of the land was farmed much better than at present. - - The Chairman said it was very public-spirited on the part of a gentleman, like Mr. IIutley, to set to work in the way he had done, with only a fourteen years’ lease. Iſis was quite an example farm in the neighbourhood, and was cultivated in a style which they had never before seen. He had no doubt that not only landlords, but tenants, would feel it worth while to look into it, and see how crop after crop succeeded ; for if it did succeed, it would be a great encouragement to landlords as well as tenants to lay out their money in a liberal way. Ile had observed lately that what Captain Ducane had done practically had been strongly recommended. It had been urged that money was so cheap that a landlord might easily borrow at 3 per cent., while his tenants would be glad to pay him 5 per cent, for all the improvements he made; and if this should be ſound of benefit, with such facilities for doing it, there was no reason in the world why improvements should not be carried out to a great extent. (llear and loud cheers ) - Mr. Martin, agent to the “London Society for improving the Condition of the Labouring Classes,’ returned thanks, and expressed the pleasure he felt at the step they had that day taken towards the establishment of a society for benefiting the labourers. There might be many methods of accomplishing this, but he particularly wished to call their attention to * * the results of the Cottage Garden or Field Allotment System, IIc scarcely knew at what part of the kingdom to begin; y ON AGIRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT, 53 but he would begin where his connexion with it commenced—in Kent. It began there in 1837-a time when incendiarism and other crimes prevailed to an awful extent. On one occasion an illegal assembly surrounded the mansion of a nobleman, who promised them that if they dispersed their case should be taken into consideration. A few days after, in fulfilment of this promise, a meeting was held on the subject, the result of which was the extensive introduction of the field garden system. From 3000 to 4000 families were thus relieved, and from that moment crime rapidly disappeared; fires were no longer seen, nor illegal assemblies heard of. (Cheers.) They had now something to employ their leisure time, of which they reaped the profit, and the result had been at once surprising and gratifying. The Chairman asked Mr. Hutley to favour them with an account of the forking and burning land. Mr. Hutley said that nothing would give him greater pleasure. When he took his present farm none could have been more out of cultivation. It was in extreme poverty, with plenty of thistles and all sorts of things that a good citizen ought to try to eradicate. He took a lease, and then began to cultivate it; and the first thing he did was to take the water out of it, which cºst him £200. (Hear, hear, and “What is the extent?”) ; It contained 165 acres. He cut more than a mile of deep drain, for the purpose of taking away the spring waſer, exclusive of the other drains. It was true that he had a sixteen years' lease, with a kind and liberal landlord up to the present time (for he always spoke of people as he found them). He had a great stock of pollard trees, which he felled, and when he drew them home he was bid the very large sum of 2s. each for them. (Hear and laughter.) After this he set about the tillage of his land, and he certainly went into it with a good deal of spirit; but he had no doubt the result would be beneficial to himself. It was true he gave a good rent, but he was satisfied, and he had no doubt his landlord was so too. The forking as he had done it, was to plough five inches and fork ten. The former cost him 10s., and the latter about 33s. 4d., per acre. Tie did not think that upon foul land the forking benefited it at all. It wanted jºst as much cultivation, and did not have the effect of killing the weeds; and, in fact, they must plough as often as if they did not fork at all. One of his fields was a perfect bog, and a part of it was so soft that it was fenced off to prevent the horses getting upon it. This was the outlet of his drain through the firm. After he had drained it he had the soil burnt, which cost him almost £6 per acre, while the forking was another expense of 3}d. per rod. Upon that piece of land he had now as fine a crop of turnips as ever were seen, and close up to the delivery of the drain they were as good as where it was nine feet in depth. The ploughing, forking, burning, &c. on this land cost him from £12 to £15 per acre. He had lately reckoned up his whole expenditure for the past year, without reckoning any of his stock, except horses, and he found it to have been as near as possible £3060. (Hear, hear.) He had now green crops such as no man in the county could show; and, in fact, he could show turnips and coleworts against any man in the kingdom, and his whole farm for cleanliness and productiveness. He thought it incumbent upon every landlord to select tenants with the capability and talent to improve the soil; and not only so, but to give them such leases as would stimulate them to lay out their money. They must not cripple an individual, but give him full opportunity to lay out their capital with a fair prospect of benefiting himself, and he was sure the landlord and the community would benefit also. (Hear and cheers.) He had seen a good deal of management, and a good deal of mismanagement; but he never saw a man without a lease who could farm well, or who had any energy to try. (Ilear, heat.) Now with regard to tenants, it behoved them to offer good rents to induce their landiords to get rid of the old pollard trees upon their farms, for they were not only of no use, but a very great injury to the land and to the crops. They could not grow timber and corn too; and let tenants offer 2s. per acre more for their land without the pollards, and they would find immense benefit; while the landlord, if he made his calculations upon the extra rent put into the land or the funds, would find the profit, compared with that of the timber, as ace to deuce. (ſIear and cheers.) It would in a few years produce more interest than the timber (he meant hedge- row) was worth. Let trees grow in woods, but let farms be cleared of them; add to this a good lease, and the tenant would have an opportunity of employing his skill and his capital, and benefiting himself and others, to an extent that nobody could calculate. (Cheers.) He knew many persons in that neighbourhood who had a great deal of timber, and he did not think they had much in their pockets, or much in their cupboards. (Laughter.) Ornamental timber was all very well in its place, but if he had an estate, so great was his love for it, he would cut down every stick. (IHear and laughter.) Wherever he was, and whether speaking to landlords or tenants, he always gave them this advice—“By all means get rid of your timber as soon as you can.” (Renewed laughter and cheers.) Mr. Beadel went on to remark, that he had lately had occasion to visit Ireland upon business, which brought him into contact with various classes of society; and he could not help drawing a comparisou between that country and England. Anybody travelling there must be struck with the remarkable difference between the two : and although he might be wrong in the reason which he assigned for it, he could not help thinking that it arose from the circumstance of there being no middle class in Ireland. They had very few of what were called in this country Tenant Farmers; generally speaking they were all small occupiers; and there appeared to be a feeling that neither they nor the labouring classes were cared for. In making these observations he should be sorry to cast any reflections upon the landlords; but it was evident that it was not there understood, as it happily was in England, that the interests of all classes were identified one with the others, and that no one link could be omitted without affecting and without disordering the whole chain, and the whole community, The practice of letting land in Ireland deserved, if he might use the expression, the severest reprobation ; and if the same plan had been followed in England their peasantry and tenantry would long ago have been in a worse state than those classes at present were in Ireland. (Ilear, hear.) The condition most unfavourable to the tenant was that he was expected to erect and keep in repair all the buildings required upon his land. His friend, Mr. Hutley, had been talking of the hardship of having timber upon their farms; but he thought they would feel it a greater grievance to pay a full rent and yet be called upon for this heavy additional expenditure. Another remark which he could not help making was the low state of the agriculture of the country: he scarcely saw, except perhaps in the immediate vicinity of Dublin, Limerick, Belfast, and one or two other large towns, a single instance of anything like good farming. Their course of cropping they would scarcely believe, for be had a difficulty himself in doing so, but it was repeated to him over and over again —Their system was to begin with potatoes; after that wheat; then four or five successions of oats ; then it was laid down at what they called “at rest;” during, however, the time it was at rest it was allowed to be overrun with weeds, and he saw upon some land docks and thistles bigger than himself, and he did not reckon that he was any of the smallest. (Laughter.) He walked over a farm with the occupier, and meeting with a field of this kind he inquired what they called it. “Oh,” replied his companion, “that's at rest.” (Laughter.) He replied, “We should not call this rest in England; we reckon that it requires as much strength to grow weeds as it did corn.” “Oh,” he 54 ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. repeated, “we let it lay for a year or two, and it comes round at last.” (Laughter.) Then with regard to implements, he never saw a drill or heard of a native tenant who had seen one ; there was not a single dressing machine, nor anything which deserved the name of a plough ; and as for horses, he did not see a single pair fit to draw one. (Héar, hear.) Tie did see a few tumbrels, which might perhaps make good carts; but he certainly must give them credit for one thing, and that was for a remarkably good breed of pigs. On riding into Ballinasloe one day, he saw written up on a wall “ Ballinasloe Agricultural Association,” and soon after heard that they had also a model farm. He began to congratulate himself that he should T. Ow have a chance of seeing something superior ; but he was grievously disappointed, for in a conversation with parties connected with these establishments he found, that they had not felt it to be a part of their duty to introduce any of those implements of husbandry, the utility of which had now been established beyond all question. While in Ireland he had to look over property the rent-roll of which amounted to £1 1,000 per annum, and of which the owner held 1500 acres. IIe met the proprietor i. Dublin, and remarked to him that his tenantry appeared satisfied; but that he (Mr. Beadel) was surprised that he was satisfied with their wretched manner of cultivation. The land would pay treble the present amount, if well cultivated. IIis remark was, that it was of no use talking to the people on such matters; they could do nothing with them ; and he (Mr. Beadel) thought that this was true, Ile believed they might as well sing psalms to a blind horse as to attempt to talk the Irish into anything. (Laughter.) But if this proprietor would cultivate his own land properly—if he would make use of those implements which had been found of so much benefit in this country, and show that he could thereby grow more corn than themselves, he would teach them a lesson which could not be slow to convince them, and, which they would be glad to imitate. (Loud cheers.) He suggested this plan to the gentleman referred to, and he at once said, that he had been thinking of getting a Scotch bailiff, and of introducing an improved system of cultivation, and he would do so immediately. (Cheers.) IIe was satisfied also that drills and other implements, which could be had on hire as in England, would be ſound of great benefit; but there was nothing of the sort. With a beautiful country, and with a fine climate (for though it was rather more moist than in England, it was much more favourable to the growth of corn), the farmers of Ireland considered that they worked their land very hard if they had it of wheat once in ten years. (IIear and laughter.) With all the advantages of nature which that country possessed, art appeared to have done little for her ; and those connected with her, still less—(hear, hear); and if compelled to assign a reason for it, he should say that it was attributable to there being no unanimity of feeling between the upper and the lower classes. (Hear.) In England they had lived long enough to know that their happiness, welfare, and comfort were identified, and could not otherwise be promoted than by endeavouring to promote the happiness and welfare of those around them. (Cheers.) Selfishness, whether in an individual, a class, or a nation, was sure to meet its reward: its effect would be seen in the degradation of those beneath them, and that degradation would engender a spirit of revenge and reck- Jessness, which would render both their persons and their property extremely insecure. (Hear, hear.) With this opinion he had felt the greatest possible pleasure in uniting with them to carry out the objects of the Association they had that day formed. I’ven admitting that what they did was from purely selfish motives, they were still fully justified in their proceedings, for in thereby trying to advance their own interests they were at the same time benefiting others; and they would be sure to meet their reward, not only in the improved condition of society, but in the increased feeling of security which they might hope to enjoy in possessing the affections of the people. (Loud cheers.) He would in conclusion make one remark upon what had been that evening said of good and bad farming. IIe thought one point well worthy of consideration, it was this :-whoever had in his hands a good deal of power, must feel his responsibility if he turned his attention to one ſact, which could not be denied— that the greatest enemy to agriculture and the country was the bad farmer. He was a curse to the neighbourhood, because he denied to the poor man that labour upon which he depended for his daily bread; he was a curse to his brother farmers, because he lays them open to the charge that they are not able to grow corn enough for the support of the community; and, lastly, he was a curse to himself, because as their Vice-President had observed, he was sure to have an empty pocket and an empty cupboard. (Loud cheers.) He would now sit down, hoping that this institution, established with the glorious object of improving the condition of those beneath them, would be successful in its efforts, and that they might hope for a perpetuation of its advantages, by such means they should benefit the community by increasing the amount of their produce; they should benefit themselves by an increased return from it; and, above all, they should add to the comfort and prosperity of those whom Providence had placed below them. (Loud cheers.) NORTON FARMERS’ CLUB. LECTURE ON AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. On Monday evening, October 14, 1844, the adjourned monthly meeting of the above Club was held at the Bagshawe Arms. W. J. Bagshawe, Esq., presided. A good deal of interest prevailed, owing to an arrangement having been made for the delivery of a Lecture on Agricultural Chemistry, by Mr. Haywood, Lecturer on Chemistry at the Sheffield Medical School. ** Mr. Haywood pointed out the importance of a knowledge of Chemistry to the successful practice of Agriculture. He called the attention of the members to those elementary constituents of soils, on which the growth and development of plants and animals is mainly dependent. In the three great kingdoms of nature, we recognised matter in an infinite variety of forms; but all these forms were found to be composed of very few elementary substances. The principal part of vegetables and animals did not contain more than four of these elements; but there were others contained in them in small proportions, which were equally necessary to their existence. Carbon was one of the most important constituents of plants. It formed the principal part of all vegetable substances, and was for a long time thought, by vegetable physiologists, to be derived from the soil, in the form of soluble humus. Humus, however, which is simply vegetable matter in a state of decay, was scarcely soluble in water; and the small portion which did dissolve would by no means furnish the large amount of carbon which is yearly assimilated by plants. The ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. 55 average quantity contained in the produce growing on one acre is about 1650lbs. ; and, instead of the humus decreasing in quantity in such soils, it is always found to increase. Soils on which oaks have grown for hundreds of years contained no carbon before the acorn germinated; but now a bed is found of a considerable thickness; the oak has grown to a large tree, and itself contains tons of carbon. From whence, then, had it been derived P. The soil did not yield it ; consequently, it must have come from the atmosphere. Considering the vast amount of carbon, in the form of carbonic acid, poured into the atmosphere by the breathing of men and animals, and the combustion of fuel, also the noxious qualities of this gas, we can easily imagine that a time would arrive when animal life would be destroyed by its accumulation, were not some means in existence to destroy it. One man, for instance, gives off, on an average, about twenty-five cubic feet per day, which contains about fourteen ounces of carbon. One ton of coals will form, in combustion, about 47,000 cubic feet, containing 1350lbs. of carbon. Taking the annual production and consumption of coal in Great Britain alone at thirty millions of tons, we shall have some idea that this quantity must be immeasurably great. Going on year after year, as it does, we should soon be able to detect an increase in the quantity of carbonic acid contained in the air, by chemical means. This, however, is not the case, for instead of there being an increase—it has remained exactly the same for several centuries past, viz., about one-thousandth part of its weight. Plants, then, must have the power of decomposing the carbonic acid, by fixing its carbon in their substance, and liberating the oxygen. This, in fact, they have been proved to do at all times during the day, but have not the power of doing so in the absence of light. Hence, the coal we convert into carbonic acid, &c., by burning to-day, may to-morrow, be again con- verted into vegetable matter, and its oxygen liberated to support combustion again. A continued circle of changes is thus going on, and the oxygen and carbonic acid in the atmosphere is maintained in one fixed and unvarying quantity. As the carbonic acid is entirely decomposed by the leaves of plants, the quantity decomposed in a given time will entirely depend on the extent of foliage, or the quantity of carbonic acid supplied. One plant decomposing double the quantity of another, will form double the quantity of wood ; and hence we see the use of humus, which furnishes carbonic acid to the roots of plants, which is an additional quantity of that supplied by the air, and will consequently bring them to perfection sooner; it can only be of service to green crops, where it will save time; to crops of grain, the ripening of which always requires a fixed time, it can be of no service, because this time cannot be shortened, and the plant can easily extract as much carbon as it requires from the air. The presence of atmospheric air was required to cause vegetable matter to decay, and furnish car- bonic acid. Ilence the use of lightening soils by tillage. Mr. H. then pointed out the absurdity of using oil as a manure, which consisted of carbon simply with the elements of water. Supposing it to consist entirely of carbon, one gallon would not contain so much as a score of turnips, and conse- quently could not possibly form them. On the contrary, the quantity of carbon given off by the breathing of five men would supply an acre; and all Sheffield, about 20,000 acres. Hydrogen and oxygen were two other elementary substances, which, combined with carbon, formed almost the entire weight of plants. These were derived from water which contained the same elements. Water had simply to combine with carbon to form the principal part of vegetables; but, in some cases, a portion of its oxygen was given off, as in the formation of essential oils. - Nitrogen was a most important elementary constituent, in consequence of forming the nutritive portion of all vegetable substances. It had been proved that plants did not derive it from the nitrogen of the atmosphere, but from the ammonia contained therein. . This ammonia was given off in the decomposition of all animal and vegetable substances. All the nitrogen they contained escapes, combined with hydrogen as ammonia. This would consequently accumulate in the air, if Some means were not in operation to decompose it. Plants do this, probably converting both its nitrogen and hydrogen into a part of their organs. This substance is extremely soluble in water, and is consequently brought from the atmosphere by the rains. The quantity contained in a pint of water is very small, but supposing it to be about one-fifteenth of a grain in, each pint, one acre would receive sixty-four pounds of ammonia, containing fifty-three pounds of nitrogen in one year, which is almost the quantity contained in a crop of wheat. Some substances, however, contain more than this, and it becomes a question whether such crops cannot be increased in quantity by the artificial application of ammonia, or such substances as generate it in the soil by decomposing. There can be no doubt that the quality of the produce is considerably increased by such additions, and the main object of agriculture, being the production of the greatest quantity of nutritious food for man on the smallest space, these manures become of the greatest importance. Whatever the quantity of food taken by a man may be in a given time, the whole of the elementa y constituents of that food will be given off in the liquid, solid, and gaseous excretions. These excretions, added to a soil, would again produce the same quantity of food a second time, and so on ad ºfttitum: In a report I had the honour to draw up for the visiting justičes of the Derbyshire New Lunatic Asylum, I showed by indisputable facts, that the excretions of one man would keep one acre of ground in a constant state of fertility on the four-course system, not only from the quantity of nitrogen taken and excreted, but from all the other constituents of crops. . Prom the present domestic arrangements in England, nearly the whole of those valuable materials are lost, and, which is far worse, a very large amount is suffered to run to waste by those very parties to whom it is of the greatest service; I allude to the drainage of farm-yards. These contain not only the greatest part of ammonia, but other ingredients of the greatest importance to plants. A great deal had been said about fixing ammonia by gypsum, &c., which might, in some cases, be of advantage, but the most preferable plan would be to add such materials to a soil as would generate the ammonia no faster than the plants require. [Here Mr. Haywood gave a description of the various manures, and their, comparative values in mitrogen, from a table published by him some time ago.] The real value of mone of these manures depended entirely on the nitrogen they contained, but on other substances as well. Guano, which must be con- sidered the most important manure we possess, from its containing all the elementary constituents of plants in a most concentrated state, and in the best form for assimilation, contains a large quantity of nitrogen. Its value had often been estimated by the quantity of ammonia it contained, but this was quite fallacious. The smaller the quantity of free salts of ammonia, and the larger the quantity of unformed ammonia the better; for the more it will yield in the soil. Its value, however, depends more on the Quantity of phosphates it contains, than on nitrogen in either form. Too little value had generally been put on African guano, in consequence of its containing the salts of ammonia in a free state, and altogether containing less nitrogen than the Peruvian; but as the phosphates increase, as the nitrogen diminishes, it is * 56 ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. possible that the African will in practice be found the best. English guano, of which there is a great variety, is generally made from might soil, dried by means of gypsum or lime; but as these seldom contain more than one-fourth the quantity of the elementary constituents of crops possessed by the real guano, its value must of course be estimated in the same proportion. Many soils had the power of absorbing ammonia from the atmosphere in large quantities, and giving it off when moistened. They also absorb oxygen and other gases which effect their decomposition. Soils containing peroxide of iron possess this power in an eminent degree, consequently nitrogeneous manures, simply as such, were of little service to them. After some other remarks on this substance, and the mode of supplying it, Mr. Haywood proceeded with sulphur as another constituent, which, although contained in plants, in minute proportions, was absolutely necessary to their existence. It was always found combined with the nutritious parts of plants, and was necessary to the existence of the animals which feed upon them. It was obtained by the decomposition of sulphates, and probably sulphate of ammonia would furnish it better than any other. Sulphate of lime or gypsum was the one generally employed, and was materially aided in its effects by common salt. There were many soils he had analysed, which required nothing more than a few hundred weights of this mixture per acre, to cause them to yield most abundant crops. There were still several other substances found as elemen- tary constituents of plants, which, although found in minute portions only, were absolutely necessary to their existence. A plant could not come to perfection, if one of these constituents was absent from a soil, however abundantly the rest might be supplied. These substances were potash, soda, lime, magnesia, iron, silica, and the phosphates. Potash was found in the ashes of all land plants, and was generally found in soils, combined with silica, in the form of an insoluble glass; by the action of the carbonic acid contained in rain-water, this silicate was slowly decomposed, and its silica and potash ren- dered soluble in water, by which means plants obtained them. Soda, lime, and magnesia were rendered soluble in a similar way. And it was remarkable that those soils which had been formed entirely from chalk, as the wolds of Lincolnshire, were now almost entirely free from it, on account of the rain-water having dissolved and carried it downward. Soils con- taining only a small quantity of silicate of potash require more than one year to render a sufficient quantity of these substances soluble, to supply those crops which require them in large quantity. Hence the use of fallow and rotation with such crops as only contain traces of silica, such as turnips and clover. Certain means were now practised to render these substances soluble more rapidly, such as liming and burning. These acted chemically on the silicates, and caused them to decompose sooner. By such means, successive white crops might be grown without any interval between them, providing all the other ingredients were added. Mr. Haywood then made some observations on the different classes of plants, which extracted different materials from the soil, and showed the advantage of their succeeding each other. These he called silica plants, such as the ceraliae ; lime plants, such as clover, &c.; and potash plants, such as turnips. ... He then called their attention to that most important of all the constituents of plants, the phosphates. These were assimilated by plants for the purpose of supplying bones to animals. Phosphates were also contained in the blood, muscle, and brain of animals, and consequently formed an important part of their food. . Wheat, peas, beans, hay, and all crops on which animals can live, contain them in large quantity; and as they extract them from the soil, an addition of them as manure is absolutely neces- sary. Were we to preserve all the excretions of men and animals, we should also preserve all the phosphates consumed by them during their lives, except that portion they carry with them to their graves, which is very small compared with the whole quantity taken during their lives. If this quantity was again added to the soil, it would not be impoverished in a series of ages. This, however, is not the case, for all these valuable materials are suffered to run to waste from all the large towns in England. This process being in operation for a series of years, was found to have exhausted so much from most of our soils, that nutritive food could no longer be produced. This was particularly the case on grassland, where the whole of the phosphates have been carried into large towns, in milk, cheese, and cattle. Bones were found to be a remedy for this evil; but it can only be a very partial one, for I find that every man will take and give off in one year about as much phos. phate as will be equivalent to about sixty pounds of bones. Iondon alone wastes more than the annual importation of bones can supply. The preservation of phosphates then becomes of national importance; for if this immense waste is suffered to go on, a great part of the land in England must, sooner or later, go out of cultivation. IIere Mr. Haywood made some observations on the best mode of supplying the phosphates, both as bones and guano, and stated that the African generally contained a larger quantity of phosphate than the Peruvian, and consequently, in many cases, would be found more valuable. After some other remarks on the native phosphates discovered near Bristol, he gave a short sketch of the injurious substances in soils, particularly those existing in the neighbourhood of Norton. , One of these was sulphate of iron, which could be converted into gypsum and oxide of iron by lime. He then concluded by explaining the phenomena of mildew and honey-dew. The former he stated to be caused by the rapid evaporation of water from the leaves of plants after a wet spring, when the salts the water contained were left on the surface of such plants as were already nearly matured, while others which were in a growing state appropriated them to their uses, hence this effect on the late Swedes, and not on early ones. Honey-dew was caused by an excess of carbon in the plant, which could only occur in dry weather, when the other ingredients could not be furnished for it to combine with. Mr. J. Green inquired if Mr. IIaywood had ever made an analysis of Derbyshire lime, and to what extent phosphate existed P Mr. Haywood.—The Derbyshire lime contains about one-half per cent. of phosphate of lime. The Chairman remarked, that to show the great benefit to be derived from the opinion of a practical chemist like Mr. Uaywood, a short time ago, in a little incidental conversation, he was explaining an opinion which he had derived from books, and said he should not purchase any African guano, on account of the inorganic matter which it contained : but if, as had been said by Mr. Haywood, it was the phosphate of lime, that showed that they should make themselves better acquainted with the subject. It would require some little knowledge of chemistry to know the use of many of the terms which they had heard; and ie thought that what they had heard would give them a thirst for the acquisition of that knowledge. He hoped that, as Mr. Haywood was going to reside at Sheffield, they should frequently have the benefit of his practical assistance. If they were to have a series of lectures, they would then come to understand more clearly the various points to which the i.ecturer called their attention, and which was a very difficult thing for many persons to understand. They had heard, in this lecture what the proportions of phosphate are in animals and vegetables; and to produce them from their land, they ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. 57 must also apply them. Agriculture was one of the most important subjects which could be taken in hand by any one, and they saw the importance of analysing their soils. T he time would come when they would have doctors and graduates, whom they would call in to ask their opinion, as to the nature of the soils upon their farms, and what manures were suitable. Owing to the great waste in manures, farmers had for years thrown away considerable sums of money. The importance of preserving all the manures had been taken up by the Health of Towns Commissioners; and he had no doubt that some very important results would ensue, not only to the health of towns, but also to the advantage of the country. Mr. R. Booker, jun., remarked, that the Lecturer had made a striking observation as to the relative value of the pro- parties of rape-cake. He wished to ascertain the opinion of the Lecturer as to whether the difference in value was caused by the nature of the soil which produced it, or from adulteration. The Lecturer was of opinion that the difference was caused by the nature of the land. . Mr. Bagshawe said, if they wanted to have fat cattle, they must give them nutritious food. There could be no question that the more glutin it contained, the more nutritious it was. It was not so much fat that they wanted as fibre. The Lecturer said, there was no more mourishment in a pound offat than in a pound of potatoes. Mr. Green thought that if the soils in Norton were analyzed, they would be found to contain oxide of iron. Mr. Bagshawe had no doubt of it; and as Mr. Haywood was going to reside in Sheffield for some time, it would be very important to have an analysis. & Mr. Haywood, in answer to a question, said, he did not think that shoddy would be an economical manure in this neighbourhood; and, in answer to another question, observed, that it was quite immaterial whether gypsum was used in its primitive or burnt state. Mr. Wright asked, if the gypsum would fix the ammonia when it was laid upon the land 8 The Lecturer recommended its being mixed with the soil. It might be laid on in a primitive state, but he would advise its being previously burnt. Mr. Wm. Wright said, that Mr. Paget, of Nottingham, had a great quantity of shoddy, which he used upon his land. IIe had frequently seen it in bags lying about the fields. Mr. Bagshawe said, he regretted they could not hear the Lecturer's remarks upon draining, Mr. Haywood said, that draining was carried to great excess in some places. Mr. R. Booker, alluding to lime, asked the Lecturer, if he would apply it in a caustic state, or after it had become mild P Mr. Haywood replied, that it was most beneficial in a caustic state. Mr. Bagshawe said, that upon fallows, the lime might be put on, and then ploughed in. Mr. Haywood said, that the phosphates would be of great importance in land. In answer to a remark from one of the persons present, Mr. Bagshawe said, that if they were to have an analysis of one part of their lands, one would do for most of them. He thought the Club were going on in the right way, and he hoped the interesting lecture which they had had the pleasure of hearing, would be attended with beneficial results. STURMINSTER AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. From the Agricultural Gazette, December 28th, 1844. At the late Annual Meeting of this Society, at which Earl Grosvenor presided, the Rev. Mr. Huxtable, of Sutton Waldron delivered an excellent speech, from which the following are extracts:—“Before I proceed to practical farming, I hope you will not object to my making an observation on the great question of emigration in reference to the labourers. I do not agree with those who consider emigration as the great panacea for the evils of the country, nor do I think, under present circumstances, that it is necessary to resort to this plan for the purpose of relieving us from what some term our redundant population. On the contrary, I am satisfied that, at present, in agricultural districts, we are far from having a surplus population, and that, instead of sending our labourers to a foreign land, away from their country and kindred—where there may be no dwellings for them, and where they would be without spiritual care, ſar from all churches, schools, and ministers of religion—we could profitably employ them in our own country. Why, my lord, I think, if the farms were cultivated as they ought to be, and if the necessary improvements were made, instead of sending our labourers out to Canada or other distant colonies, we should want to go abroad for labourers. And whilst this is true of our rural districts generally, it is emphatically true of Dorsetshire, where, in the Vale of Blackmoor, thousands of acres require draining, and where on the hills, thousands of acres of down land might be profitably brought into cultivation. Let us consideſ the extent of labour that would be created in breaking up waste lands. Each fresh acre taken into cultivation would call, at least, for an outla of 28s. a year in labour; and although gentlemen may love to gallop over those beautiful downs without control, yet . should remember that there is in the valleys a loud cry for labour, and for bread I do not object to the harmies and healthful recreations and sports of the country, but if we cannot employ our people in the valley, then I say, let us mount the hills, I § not, I ask, the demand for labour enough to move the sternest heart? What is it the destitute labourers ask from us P. They do not come knocking at our doors, as idle mendicants, asking alms, but they ask for work. I have seen such men at the cross of my parish ; and who can observe, in almost every parish, strong and yet peaceful men, standing at the cross-road, soliciting, not charity, but employment, saying, Here we are, Sir, able in body and strong in nerve and arm - won't you give us work P’ Who can see this, and not on his pillow revolve in his mind by what expedients this great power of our country, this noble race of fellows, more free from the taints of crime, more patient and enduring than perha S fill other class of their countrymen, may be turned to beneficial and practical uses P My own firm conviction is, that if º sº ourselves of improved arts of cultivation, remunerating labour may be found for all. First and foremost stands braining I have executed many miles of drains 23 feet deep, a perch apart, up and down the furrows, and I can truly state that, after the first season, the effect has been almost magical in the altered appearance of both soil and crops. No outlay, I am convinced, 58 ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. can produce so great a return. Why, then, do not gentlemen of capital employ their resources in this way ? IIow contemp- tible, in comparison are those miserable 3 per cents, above par! The Kohl Rabi and some of the wurzel shown this day in the yard, was grown on land which, before draining, was valued at 8s. an acre. Another means of employing our surplus popu- lation, as they are called, may be found in transplanting Mangold Wurzel, Swedes, and Kohl Rabi. The right practice is that the seed should be sown in a seed-bed, at the end of March or the beginning of April. As soon as the vetches, rape, rye, or other winter crop is consumed, the land should be ploughed into ridges, and good dung laid in them, to be then covered over by splitting the ridges ; after which the Wurzel, Swedes, or Rabi should be transplanted on them. This, I can tell you, is a certain means of obtaining a good crop, care being taken that the wurzel be nearly as thick as one's middle finger. It is only the sickly plants which fail. The expense of this transplantation can never exceed 15s. an acre, even when, in throught like that of this year, it becomes necessary to make a puddle with liquid manure to receive each plant. On my hill farm, upon land which, when in down, was supposed not to be worth more than 2s. 6d. an acre, in the burning month of June this year, whilst the chalk stones were quite hot, I succeeded in raising twelve acres of good turnips, in utter defiance of the fly. The plan pursued was to mix the turnip-seed with pig's manure, and then to dibble both together into holes \made with a bean-setting stick. This, of course, employed many hands, but the cost was not more than 7s. per acre in labour; and I invite any one to inspect the crop, and then decide whether the employment of surplus labour be not remune- rating. Generally, the plan of increasing the demand for labour is to grow more green crops, and more abundant ones. Last winter I subsoiled, eighteen inches deep, a field previously well drained, and before horses could stand on it this spring, I sowed with artificial guano in drills made by hand, Belgian carrot-seed previously steeped in liquid manure; and in con- sequence of using this manual labour I have gathered a harvest of twenty-nine tons of roots, and eleven tons of tops. Let me now, my lord, mention the success and particulars of a method, which I learned from the American translation of Burger's German work (and this will serve to illustrate the advantage of ‘book farming,’ when corrected by practice), of preserving the surplus leaves of our green crops as winter food for cattle. The plan I pursued was to dig a long and deep pit, say twelve feet long, six feet wide, and seven feet deep, in some dry spot, or made dry by draining ; then to put a bed of straw or vetch haulm at the bottom ; upon this a layer of leaves, carrot or mangold, was strewed a foot thick, and trampled firmly down by two or three men; then a layer of salt, at the rate of 4lbs. of salt to every cwt. of leaves, distributed evenly ; then another layer of leaves, and another of salt, until the pit was filled ; then it was covered with bavins, straw, and earth, so as effectually to keep off the weather, and to be as far as possible air-tight. In a few days a violent fermentation came on and a great subsidence of the materials; the pit was re-opened and again filled as before. This morning I opened one of the pits, containing carrot tops, to see, after three weeks' fermentation, in what state things were ; the appearance was at first certainly most unpromising ; it seemed to be a mass of greasy dung ; but, not dismayed, I carried some to the cows and found they ate it eagerly. So I have covered up my pit again, feeling assured that when, in perhaps a month, the fermen- tation is over, I have a large bulk of valuable winter fodder for my milch cows. Practical men will see the value of this plan, when they bear in mind that on taking up their roots they have on their hands from ten to fourteen tons of roots per acre. But there is another mode of employing our rural population, more important perhaps than any other yet suggested. That is in the cultivation and after-management of the flax crop, equally valuable for the fibre and the secd. Here, however, we are met with the general objection, that flax is an exhausting crop, and its growth forbidden in gentlemen's leases. But this prejudice I believe to have no other foundatioU than the classical authority of a line in Virgil's first Georgic. I have the experienced authority of a gentleman at Gillingham, who has grown flax for many years, and who declares that his best wheat crop is after ſlax | If we wish to estimate the value of a flax crop, we must recollect the following facts (for which, as well as for all the information which I possess on this subject, I am indebted to that able gentleman, Mr. Warnes, jun., of Trimingham). The importation of flax (from Belgium chiefly) amounted to more than five millions a year, viz. a sum very nearly equal to the amount of poor-rates of all England, and the value of this fibre consists chiefly in the labour expended on it. Now, besides these five millions paid by England for foreign labour, two or three millions more are sent, annually, out of this country for linsecd cake ; and what stuff it is I appeal to any gentleman who has examined it with a microscope, to bear witness of what incongruous and worthless materials it is, in a large measure, composed —of mustard and refuse seeds, &c., &c. (And ‘old rope, by Mr. Farquharson, which elicited a loud laugh). Whilst we are sending away all this money for fibre and seed, we might ourselves most advantageously be growing and manufacturing this admirable crop ourselves. In our farm-houses and cottages four acres of flax would cmploy from ten to twelve hands, the whole winter months, in shelter and amidst their families. And as to the value of the seed, I have learned, by the use of 2lbs. a day, grown on my own farm, properly ground, and diluted with boiling water poured over cut straw or chaff (consisting of straw and turnip-tops), to feed my cows at 2; d. a day, and to obtain unusually rich cream for the breakfast table, and this without giving any hay. Indeed, so great a discovery do I consider this, that I mean utterly to discard in future the use of that fodder (hay), hitherto considered so indispensable for milch cows and a breeding flock. I have two cows which I call my experimental cows. I assure you that when I first had them they were miserable-looking animals; but now they have sleek coats and are in good condition, giving excellent milk. I shall be glad to show them to any gentle- man who will be kind enough to pay me a visit.” After other observations, the rev. gentleman said, “This, my lord, is but a most imperfect and rudimentary sketch of some of the methods whereby we can, by improved husbandry, employ our rural population to their great happiness and our own advantage. On another occasion, if we are allowed to meet another year together, I shall, I believe, be able to set forth other approved plans of engaging all our people; but I have already trespassed too long on your indulgence (‘No, no'), and therefore, in conclusion, I can only lift my humble warning voice against any system which shall impress our labourers with the notion that we regard them as an incumbrance and a nuisance, instead of their being, as indeed they are, God's gift to us, and in the words of the Society's motto, which your lordship has so effectively set forth, “Our country's dependence.” (The rev. gentleman then sat down amidst loud and long-continued applause.) ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. - 59 LETTER X. REPORT ON NEWBERRY'S DIBBLING MACHINE. SIR,-As many agriculturists, who have not tried this implement, may be desirous of learning something about it, I think it my duty to state what I know of its operation on my own farm, without favour or prejudice. The quality and quantity of crops grown from it I cannot yet give any opinion about from my own experience, but that is not necessary, because the report published in the Royal Agricultural Society's Journal (March, 1844), is quite conclusive of their superiority over the drilled crops, My machine has five rows of dibbles, cost me £60, besides carriage and expenses of a man to instruct us in its use. I have dibbled with it one acre in several fields amongst the drilled corn, one-half of the acre having five to six kernels in a hole, the inventor's quantity ; the other half two to three kernels in a hole : this is my quantity. The former takes about five and a-half pecks per acre, the latter about two and three-quarter pecks. This will enable me next year to compare the result fairly, with a view to the most advantageous quantity of seed. I have also hand-dibbled one land in each field—one foot from row to row, and one foot from dibble to dibble— two kernels in each hole, as a still further comparison of the best distance and quantity of seed. Newberry's machine dibbles eight inches from row to row, and six inches from hole to hole. I received the machine too late for October sowing ; however, in spite of the prejudice of my folks against it, I resolved on trying it, with a view to reporting progress next year. . The quantity of wheat already dibbled is about twelve acres, and if the weather permits I shall have done a further quantity. So far as I have tried it, I come to the following conclusions:— 1st. That on sandy, light, or mellow soils, it is, in its present state, an indispensable and most valuable imple- ment, only requiring to take a greater breadth. 2d. That on heavy land, in a DRY state, it is also perfectly available, with some modifications and improve- ments hereafter suggested. 3d. That on dense soil in a wet or pasty state it cannot be advantageously used, the dibbles bringing up stones with the bird-line like clay. These stones choke the machine and interrupt its action, obliging one frequently to stop the horses to remove them. Being a very heavy implement it solidifies such land too much if in a wet state. Inde- pendent of the lateness of the season at which we received it, we had many difficulties to overcome which caused delay. I had several improvements to make, which I consider absolutely essential, where it is intended for heavy land, and which the inventor should attend to. These are— 1st. The scrapers being of cast iron, broke off piece by piece, when the stones I spoke of came in contact with them. I have substituted wrought iron scrapers. 2d. In its present form, the horses have all to walk in a line on the land before the machine. This is very objectionable on heavy land, even in a slightly moist state. I have arranged mine differently, so that two horses walk in each furrow, or where only three strong horses are used, two in one furrow one in the other. Even so, it requires judgment in the driver, because the weight being greater on one side than the other, a sudden start would cause the machine to deviate from the straight line, which does not look well. 3d. The machine in its present state covers about three feet six inches, one wheel on the land the other in the furrow. I would strongly recommend (even at the encreased expense) its being made to cover a whole land, so that one wheel might go in each furrow, same as a drill; six horses would draw it well, and it would economize time when it is too precious to be wasted, and where a day lost is six to eight acres unseeded. As to the quantity of work the machine will perform in its present state, I should say, on light land, four acres per day; on heavy land, in a dry state, not above three acres per day, much depending on the men and horses being perfectly used to it. Three strong horses, or four middling ones, are required. © Of course, it is well understood, that the machine drops the seed as well as dibbling it. I consider it perfectly available for oats, barley, peas or beans (except the large beans), using suitable rollers. For the information of those who may not have seen the machine, I will endeavour to describe its action. The hoppers contain the seed—the feed rollers are solid wooden wheels ; in their circumference or rim are small cupped openings, made to contain one or more kernels, as may be desired. These rollers revolve under the hoppers against a brush, which sweeps off all the seed except what is in the cupped rim of the rollers. And soon as the cup passes the brush, the seed or seeds fall out of it into the hollow dibbles. The dibbles are of cast-iron about the diameter of an egg, hollow within, and slit into two parts—one attached to the rim of a wheel, and the other moveable. After dibbling the hole, one-half of the dibble rises out of the hole before the other, and of course the seed slips out from the tarrying half. The operation is simple and certain. The dibbles in passing round are met by revolving scrapers, which remove the adhesive clay in heavy soils. In light dry soils they are scarcely required. There are many advantages in the seed being deposited so deep as two to three inches on a firm bed or basis the harrowed soil falls lightly on it. It is below the reach of birds, and difficult of access to insects, which cannot -> 60 ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT, follow the line of seed as in a drill. The plant is longer appearing, but having a deep root and firm support of earth on every side, it is less liable to be thrown out by frost or laid by wind. The greatest advantage of all is, perhaps, the ample room between each plant for deep and frequent hoeing. The solid bearing of the machine on the soil renders the land available immediately after the plough, without intermediate harrowing or rolling, provided it is clean. - . There can be no question as to this machine paying an ample interest beyond its wear and tear, in the diminu- tion of Seed and increase in produce, even on a farm of 100 acres. I. J. MECHI. & N.B.—An occasional kernel Qr two Will, when the hopper is full, pass the sides of the brush. This I think might easily be obviated, although not very material. A GOOD PLAN OF MANAGING A MANURE HEAP, Is detailed in the following quotation. It represents, very nearly, the system practised at my farm. “I was once a Devonshire farmer, and thought there were many clever and experienced men among us who know almost every thing, but my experience since has convinced me they were deficient in many things, and nothing more so than the slovenly way they managed their farm-yard manure. It is not unusual now to see the litter from the stable thrown out at the window, and the eaves of a long roof allowed to drip upon it, or to be wheeled out into the yard, and there exposed to the winter rains, the drainage of which frequently run into a road or ditch, or if a meadow happens to lay below, it is not sufficient to be of any use, but sinks away in the bottom of the gutters. After laying all the winter, it is thrown up in great heaps, and the essential qualities that are not pressed out by its own weight, are generally allowed to fly off in evaporation by overheating. Every scientific man must admit that this method is decidedly wrong, and is aware what is lost by such an injudicious process. The best constructed farm-yard and management of manure I ever saw is Mr. Spooner's, the lately elected M.P. for Birmingham. This gentleman has a farm from one hundred and fifty to two hundred acres, situate near the city of Worcester, in the highest state of cultivation, on which he grows the most luxuriant crops without having expended a shilling for manure for many years (with the exception of a trifling sum for those lately introduced novelties, by way of experience) but has sold much farm-yard manure to his neighbours, not knowing how to dispose of it on the farm. Although he does not possess an acre of watered meadow, he has generally hay for sale. This may appear rather strange, but not more strange than true. In the centre of his farm-yard is the manure-pit six or eight feet deep, covered by a roof, and surrounded by a dwarf wall, so as to prevent the possibility of any water getting into it. It is the same form as the yard, but leaving sufficient room for a carriage-way betwixt it and the buildings. It is entered by an inclined plane, wide enough to back in a cart, opposite the approach to the yard. Into this pit the dung from the stables and cow-house is promiscuously thrown ; in the middle of the side, contiguous to the latter, is a well and pump, which receives the drainage therefrom, and the stables, which is pumped up and spread over the manure by a shoot. The surplus liquid that is not absorbed, is drawn off by means of a drain into the receiving-well in the stack-yard, where it is pumped up into the liquid 1nanure-cart, and drawn out on the mowing ground as soon as the grass is cut, until such time as it is laid up again. In the spring it is otherwise disposed of on headlands and heaps of soil. Liquid and solid manure, prepared in the way above described, preserves all its nutritious qualities; the one is not diluted by water, and the other not suffered to deteriorate by overheating, and is of treble the value of that made in the common manner.”—-Correspondent of the Westcry, Times. ** **---------------- - -------- - - - -- - - -- ON FA R M_Y AIR DS AND DUNG HEAPS. The following summary on farm-yard manure gives the chief points which the author of the Huck Manual, in that very interesting and useful treatise, deems particularly worthy of the consideration of agriculturists:–1. To bottom the farm-yard with furze, fern, dry haulm, or any other loose refuse that takes the longest time to dissolve, and over that to bed it deep with straw.—2. To occasionally remove the cribs of store cattle to different parts of the straw-yard, in order that their dung may be dropped, and their litter trodden equally,–3. To spread the dung of other animals, when thrown into the yard, in equal layers on every part—4. To remove the dung from the yard at least once, or oftener, during the winter, to the mixen.—5. To turn and mix all dung-hills until the woody or fibrous texture of the matter contained in them, and the roots and seeds of weeds, be completely decomposed, and until they cumit a foul and putrid smell, by which time they reach their greatest degree of strength, and arrive at the state of spit-dung — G. To keep the dung in an equal state of moisture, so as to prevent any portion of the heap from becoming fire-ſanged. If the fermentation be too rapid, heavy watering will abate the heat; but it will afterwards revive with increased force, unless the heap be either trodden firmly down or covered with mould to exclude the air.—7. To ferment the dung, if to be laid on arable land during the autumn, in a much less degree than that to be applied before a spring sowing —8 To lay a larger quantity on cold and wet lands than on those of a lighter nature, because the former require to be corrected by the warmth of the dung; while on dry, sandy, and gravelly soils, the application of too much dung is apt to burn up the plants. Stiff land will also be loosened by the undecayed fibres of long dung, which although its put cfaction will be thus retarded, and its fertilizing power delayed, will yet ultimately afford mourishment.—9. To form composts with dung, or other animal and vegetable substances and earth, for application to light soils.—10. To spread the manure upon the land, when carried to the field, with the least possible delay ; and if the land be arable, to turn it immediately into the soil —l 1. To preserve the drainage from stables and dung-hills in every possible way; and, if not applicable in a liquid state, to throw it again upon the mixen.-12. To try experiments, during a series of years, upon the same soils and crops, with equal quantities of dung, •y ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. 61 laid on fresh, and afterwards rotted, in order to ascertain the result of their application to the land. The whole º to be first weighed or measured, and then divided. The fermentation of farm-yard manure is in fact, º of far greater importance than is generally imagined: for on a due estimation of its value mainly depends the individua º as well as the national prosperity of our agriculture. The experiments to which we point, cannot fail, therefore, to come home to the interests of every man: they may be made without expense, and without any other trouble than the mere exercise of common observation and intelligence. Leaving aside, however, the discussion concerning the disputed worth of fresh or fermented–of long or short-dung, let the farmer sedulously bend his attention to the accumulation of the utmost quantity that it may be in his power to procure. The manner and the time of using it in either state, must, º: governed by circumstances which may nºt always be within his control; and every judicious husbandman will rather accommodate himself to the exigency of the case than adhere strictly to his own motions of what he conceives tº be the best practice. In fine, whether favouring the one or the other side of the questiºn. lºt him collect all he can, apply it carefully to his crops, and then, trusting to events, “let the land and the muck settle it. LETTER XI. ON SUBSOILING, FORKING, OR DIGGING. AFTER DRAINAGE. How frequently we hear of farmers who having deeply disturbed or subsoiled poor thin-skinned land, find that their first crop is diminished thereby, particularly if a corn crop; and therefore subsoiling is at once condemned. Now this result might naturally have been expected. It is quite clear, if you disturb deeply a very shallow soil ºn a stiff clay subsoil, you ought to increase considerably your supply of manure the first two or three years, till the hungry substratum becomes full of roots and organic matter. You must bear in mind this undrained subsºil has been like stiff Suffolk cheese, a dense mass of poverty, unoccupied by roots or worms, and unacted upon by the gases of the atmosphere. - Of course by disturbing and intermixing it with the cultivated surface, it naturally robs it of parts of its goodness, and imparts to it a portion of its poverty. It often happens, on bringing up the subsoil, a crop of weeds grow up from long buried seeds. I therefore strongly advise a Root Crop after subsoiling, because then the land is well manured, often hoed, and when the crop is removed, a vast quantity of strong roots remain in the subsoil, and afford food for the ensuing crop. (I have seen a calculation, that each acre of wheat plants leave two tons of roots and fibres in the soil.) What must a crop of Swedes leave? All deep tap-rooted crops do well on newly subsoiled land, such as beans, roots, and rapes; but I prefer the land becoming more solidified for white crops, particularly wheat. I consider it profitable to subsoil or trench-plough for every Root Crop, even if you grow them alternately with wheat; it only adds (done with my Trench plough and drags) about 10s. per acre to the expense; and I am sure it makes much more than double that difference in the quantity of roots. There is frequently a strong dislike amongst Farmers to innovations; a new custom, even if it answers, is reluctantly approved. This Subsoil or Trench-Plough was made at my suggestion, by Warren, of Heybridge, Essex, under the arrangement and invention of a friend of mine in the neighbourhood : its cost is 30s. With a pair of horses we subsoil-plough one acre per day fourteen inches deep (following the common plough.) In light land, during harvest, when the ploughmen work extra hours, one pair of our horses subsoiled one and a half acre per day, which is great work. I think if made in iron, it would be preferable, because when the subsoil was hard and dry we have once broken the beam, with a pair of strong horses. The wheel in front regulates the depth; it may be set to eighteen inches or more, in which case it would require three strong horses; although I have seen a pair of our horses draw it some twenty yards or more at eighteen inches, in light land, but it was too great a strain for two horses. I have another subsoil-plough, but I find this work the easiest, and it turns over the soil, which I consider important. Having subsoiled, we use the drag or crab harrows, with fifteen-inch times; these well loaded and worked by six horses across the land, intermix the upper and lower furrow slice and bring up and break the clods; we can do six or eight acres per day. 62 ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. I once asked a Farmer what effect subsoiling had on a portion of his farm—“I saw no difference at all,” was his reply, in a deprecatory tone. A few weeks after, we were discussing the necessity of deep cultivation to eradicate weeds, and he said, “By the by, our land is over run with rattle-weed, the more you cut it off the more it shoots—but its a singular circumstance, the piece I subsoiled has no rattle-weed now, although the two unsubsoiled pieces each side of it are smothered with it.” Now here we have at once a proof, that the only way to get rid of root weeds is to disturb them at such a depth from the surface that they cannot again vegetate. T LETTER XII. THIN SOWING DEPENDENT ON DEEP AND CLEAN HOEING. “The cultivation of land, by tilling and loosening the soil, causes a free and unobstructed access of air—an atmosphere of car- bonic acid is therefore contained in every fertile soil, and is the first and most important food for the young plants growing upon it. “By loosening the soil surrounding young plants, we favour the access of air, and the formation of carbonic acid; and, on the other hand, the quantity of their food is diminished by every difficulty which opposes the renewal of air.”—Liebig’s Agricultural Chemistry, page 30. “The farmer, who expects to make profit of his land from what he sows or plants in it, finds unprofitable and hurtful woods, which come like uninvited guests, that always hurt and often spoil his crop, by devouring what he has, by his labour in dunging and tilling, provided for its sustenance.”—Tull, page 116. “The hoe, I mean the horse-hoe (the other goes not deep enough), procures moisture to the roots from the dews, which fall most in dry weather; and those dews seem to be the richest present the atmosphere gives to the earth. : “Hoeing has most of the benefits without any inconveniences of transplanting, because it removes the roots by little and little, and at different times ; some of the roots remaining undisturbed, always supply the moved roots with moisture, and the whole plant with nourishment sufficient to keep it from fainting, until the moved tools can enjoy the benefit of their new pasture, which is very soon.”—Jethro Tull, pp. 90, 91. I would ask the advocates for thick Sowing, why not as well put five or six beans in a hole, as five or six wheat or barley kernels. There is just as much sense in doing one as the other; or you might put five or six cabbage-plants or apple-trees in one hole. But, as I remarked elsewhere, thin sown corn must have all the ground its own; entirely free of weeds or grass—no competition for support with hungry and intrusive neighbours. The importance of frequent hoeing and weeding (let it cost what it may) was powerfully illustrated this very dry spring. The late sown corns had not moisture enough to vegetate at their usual period ; the dormant seeds of weeds having had the benefit of the winter's moisture, and no powerful opponents in the unvegetated corn, grew up and luxuriated. In many instances within my knowledge, they completely defied the ordinary hoeing, and monopo- lized the soil, having to be carted off or burnt in waggon loads after harvest. The seeds of these weeds should not have been in the soil—they were the legacy of previous neglect, but, as they were there, and vegetated, surely the hoe should have waged a war of extermination against them, three, four, or five times, if needful, even if it cost 20s. or more per acre. It is penny wise and pound foolish to spare the hoe and grow weeds, but we shall continue to have a splendid annual crop, so long as we have thick sown crops and our stubbles remain unhoed and unploughed from harvest time till March. The stock will not eat them, and the hoe is not allowed to remove them, so they naturally flower, and ripen seed enough to stock fifty times the ground on which they stand. No doubt there are many operations pressing on our hands in the spring (sometimes because we have spared hiring ploughs, or forwarding the work during autumn and winter) so that the necessary hands for hoeing cannot be spared. In such a case, Garrett and Sons' horse-hoe is a most valuable and desirable in plement, hoeing ten acres per day, at the critical moment of a dry time in early spring, when cutting up the weeds prevents their re-rooting, as some of them would do if hoed in moist weather. The use of this implement would not preclude hand-hoeing, when opportunity offered with a deep bean-hoe between the plants and rows, which I consider most beneficial, acting {lS fl, summer fallow amongst the growing crops, pruning or cutting off their surface fibres, and thereby obliging their roots to descend and obtain their food (in drained land) from below the plough-sole. When we consider (see Mr. Parkes's communication, p. 38) that the surface soil is, in a hot summer's day, at so high a temperature as 131°, at seven inches deep 66°, at thirteen inches 57°, at nineteen inches 52°, at twenty-five inches 50°, and at thirty-one inches 48°, we may safely draw the conclusion, that hoeing off the surface fibres in the early spring is advantageous, by compelling the downward roots of the growing plant to strike deeper in search of food, preventing the exhaustion of the upper soil, and reserving its nutriment for the subsequent growth of the plant. The roots are thus placed below the scorching heat of the surface. As the crop thickens and shades the ground by its height and leaves, the top stratum will soon become a net-work of root fibres, luxuriating in the moist warmth of midnight dews” Had the earth been but scantily hoed, the plant would naturally, in the first instance, throw out its fibres in and exhaust the surface soil, where, in a noonday sun, its very existence would have been at stake, and its growth checked or prematurely ended. It appears to be a clear general rule, that thin * See Mr. Parkes's Itemarks on DeWS, p. 37. ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT, 63 sowing or planting must have early, frequent, and deep hoeings. No doubt these delay the maturity of the plant, or rather prevent its prematurity, and promote, very considerably, its more perfect and vigorous development. . . The necessity for sufficient space and food for each particular plant is admirably and conclusively stated in the following extract from Professor Liebig, p. 150 :— - “If a given space of a soil (in surface and in depth) contains only a sufficient quantity of inorganic ingredients for the perfect development of ten plants, twenty specimens of the same plant, cultivated on this surface, could only obtain half their proper maturity; in such a case, there must be a difference in the number of their leaves, in the strength of their stems, and in the number of their seeds. “Two plants of the same kind, growing in close vicinity, must prove prejudicial to each other, if they find in the soil, or in the atmosphere surrounding them, less of the means of nourishment than they require for their perfect development. “There is no plant more injurious to wheat than wheat itself, none more hurtſul to the potato than another potato. Hence, we actually find that the cultivated plants on the borders of a field are much more luxuriant, not only in strength, but in the number and richness of their seeds or tubes, than plants growing in the middle of the same field.” After reading the above, and Mr. Hewett Davis's pamphlet, who will doubt the necessity of ample room ? Then comes the question, What is enough or too much space? A reference to the letter, at p. 42, where one kernel of wheat produced one hundred and fourteen stems, is strong evidence of what each kernel may produce with deep and clean cultivation and early sowing. The question of thick or thin sowing sadly wants deciding. It should be made the subject of trial by the members of every agricultural club in the kingdom. The following extract from the same author, page 101, proves clearly that the richer the soil the more urgent the necessity for ample space and a greater supply of air. This fact is illustrated also by the well-known occur- rence of dense and ruinously laid crops of corn on rich soil, in moist seasons. The latter part of the extract, relative to the removal of part of the plant, proves the propriety of an existing practice of flagging wheat when close sown in good land ; by removing part of the leaves we increase the produce of corn, and avoid the risk of its being laid, an irregularity rendered necessary by improperly thick sowing:— “The amount of food capable of being extracted by young plants from the atmosphere is limited : they cannot assimilate more than the air contains. Now if the quantity of their stems, leaves, and branches has been increased by the excess of food yielded by the soil at the commencement of their development, they will require in a given time, for the completion of their growth, and for the formation of their blossoms and ſtuits, more nourishment from the air than it can afford (?), and consequently they will not reach maturity. . In many cases the nourishment afforded by the air, under these circumstances, suffices only to complete the formation of the leaves, stems, and branches. “The same result then ensues as when ornamental plants are transplanted from the pots in which they have grown to larger ones, in which their roots are permitted to increase and multiply. All their nourishment is employed for the increase of their roots and leaves; they grow luxuriantly, but do not blossom. - “When, on the contrary, we take away part of the branches, and, of course, their leaves with them, from dwarf trees—since we thus prevent the development of new branches—an excess of nutriment is artificially procured for the trees, and is employed by them in the increase of the blossoms and enlargement of the fruit. It is to this effect that vines are pruned.” - I cannot agree with the learned doctor as to the deficiency of food in the atmosphere, because its compensating or equilibrium power is inexhaustible, as we may notice where there is combustion to any extent. The want of a due circulation of air, light and might dews in crowded crops, is, I imagine the evil—as there can be but little air in contact with the plant, under such circumstances the relative proportion of food must be also small. (but I may be wrong) that this is the rationale of the matter. The application of manure at various stages of the growth of plants is obviously necessary, but as this can seldom be. effected amongst grºwing corn after April, the reservation of the surface soil for their later fibres (as described 11] ºl. former part of these remarks) Seel]].S Q, reasonable mode of securing to the crops, when blooming and seeding, sufficient materials for their perfect "... This necessity for a due circulation of air is a powerful argument in favour of the diminution or removal of timber and large fences. Here is an unanswerable argument against flagging or removing leaves, &c. in favour of prolongation of growth by frequent hoeings, by the Professor himself, who says, page 31, I fancy “The size which a plant acquires in a given time is proportional to the surface of the organs destined to convey food to it. When the surfaces of two plants are equal, their increase depends upon the length of time that their absorbing powers remain in activity. The absorbing surfaces of fir-trees are active during the greater part of the year, so that (cactens paribus) they increase more than those trees which part with their foliage in autumn. Each leaf furnishes to a plant another mouth and stomach.” Then why remove those mouths and stomachs? Does not this justify us in inferring that the frequent removal of root fibres, by hoeing, obliges the plant to obtain a greater share of its organie food from the atmosphere, and that by so doing we reserve in the soil a more ample supply for the completion of its ultimate development. Professor Liebig also says, page 31, “Deficiency of moisture in the soil, or its complete dryness, does not check the growth of a plant, provided it receives from the dew and from the atmosphere as much as is requisite for the process of assimilation. During the heat of summer it derives its carbon exclusively from the atmosphere.” Here I cannot agree with the doctor, because the roots would dry up unless they reach a certain depth of soil Do not dense crowded crops prevent the earth's imbibing the warm night dews with its chemical components. robbing the roots, one might say— of their poeturnal repast : I, J. MECHI. ~2 64 ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT, LETTER XIII. ON THE USE OR ABUSE OF LIME AS A MANURE ALONE, OR COMBINED WITH COMMON SALT. I HoPE it will not be thought that I presume to impart any thing new on this subject, but I merely present a few facts for the consideration of those who, like myself, are desirous of knowing how certain causes produce parti- cular results. These I have collected from the best authorities within my reach, and am much indebted to Mr. C. R. Bree for his lucid explanation of the chemical action of lime on the soil. It is very desirable and important that we should avail ourselves, to as great an extent as is profitable, of cheap and accessible manures, whose produc- tion affords employment and profit to our fellow countrymen. Now to the greatest portion of our sour, wet, clayey, and boggy soils, when drained, lime appears generally well adapted, particularly in its unslacked state, whilst it is of no use, but injurious, on limestone, marl, or chalk. On sands and hot gravel it appears to act beneficially, particularly in combination with common salt.—(See Appendix). Its chief good, in many cases, results from its liberating certain inorganic substances in the soil, which although separately essential and beneficial to vegetation, are, in their combined state, useless or prejudicial. Its separation of those combinations is caused by certain members of them having a greater affection for the chemical components of the lime than they have for each other; so that, in fact, the lime itself becomes divided into its original elements, which enter into combination with the inorganic matters of the soil. Of course, in boggy or vegetable soils, a vast number of changes take place, by its union with the organic or soluble and gaseous parts of such soils.—(See Sprengel.) Let us consider its application to stiff heavy clays:— It may appear a startling proposition that stiff soils have nearly all the component parts of light, sandy, or gravelly soils—(See Liebig.) The principal difference being that the stony or silicated portion of the soil (some 70 per cent, or more) is, in heavy land, combined with sulphuric acid and potash (sulphate of alumina). This combination has an extraordinary affection for water, so that as we very well know there is no getting rid of it. Now unslacked lime has a decided affection for water, so much so, that one ton of quick lime requires seven hundred tons of water to dissolve it, but it also as readily parts with it as steam. This may be well exemplified by watching a bricklayer's labourer mixing mortar. Pail after pail he pours on the lime, and still in a few hours it becomes perfectly dry without any water draining from it—the fact is it goes off in steam, the lime, in its inordinate desire for carbonic acid, liberating an extraordinary proportion of caloric, or heat with moisture, in the form of steam. It is quite clear that if the labourer poured his water on clay there would be no heat or drying, but abun- dance of cold and wet. We must apply this knowledge of using quick-lime in sufficient quantities on dense wet soils. But we must not overdo it, if we do we impoverish the land past recovery; and why, because if we render soluble more of the potash than the crop requires for its use, it is dissolved by the rains, and carried away through the drains. Of course, then, the quantity of your lime must be regulated by the crop you intend to grow, and you will find, by reference to the Table of Constituents of Plants, that some, such as lucerne, sainfoin, and clover, contain much in their ashes, others but little. Its application, therefore, should be in a degree corresponding to the wants of the plant and mature of the soil, considered together. A reference to the mortar will show us that lime has a tendency to impart a certain degree of tenacity and solidity to sands, but sands being deficient in alumina (clay or alkaline earth), the addition of salt where clay cannot be procured, supplies abundantly the soda required. I know an instance where a mixture of thirty bushels of unslaked lime and fifteen bushels of salt were allowed to mix in the atmosphere for three months, then applied to an acre of hot light land. Though dome some years, its beneficial effects are still visible. It was put on in June for turnips. I also know another case, where weeds and other vegetation, well salted and limed, and occasionally turned, made a famous compost. Extract from MR. C. R. BREE's Letter, dated Stowmarket, November 6, 1844. “The alkali potash exists in clay in the form of alum, which is a sulphate of alumina and potash—what is called a double sall, “When lime (which is the oxide of calcium as quick lime, and the hydrated oxide as slaked lime) is added to clay, an 1 Inter- change of elements takes place, by the sulphuric acid of the alum uniting with the lime to form gypsum, and setting free the potash, which again unites with silicic acid (produced by the action of atmospheric air, or rather the oxygen of it upon sand), and thus forms the silicate of potash, which is essential to the straw of cereal (corn) crops, being the principle which gives strength and hardness to their stalks. If there is not sufficient of this in the soil, the small fungus, which constitutes mildew, grows freely in the stalk. r to - * * * “There can be no objection whatever, but, I should think, a positive advantage in using quick lime upon heavy soils, a sufficient time before the crop is sown, to allow it to become hydrated. . . t - tº ºt “The causticity of quick lime is owing to its affinity for moisture, which enables it to destroy organic matter to obtain it. Clay always contains moisture, of which it is very retentive; of course you will use lime with moderation for the reason suggested by you. Mem.—This reason was, if too much is used, it impoverishes the soil by liberating and rendering soluble too much potash, which might be washed away and lost to the succeeding crops. I, J. MECHI, ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. 65 Dr. Playfair says, in his Lecture before the Royal Agricultural Society, December, 1844, “Another process of the farm was what was called liming. When the Chemist, in his laboratory, wished to dissolve up potash and silicia from the soil he was examining, he used lime; and by this means he rendered available that which was insoluble before. Just what the chemist did in his laboratory by the use of lime, the farmer did in his fields; and this was the use of lime, that it rendered certain important ingredients of the soil more soluble than they were by nature. “In this way lime became a key, by which the ingredients in the soil were unlocked; it did not in itself become an important ingredient in the soil. - s º g “It may however happen, that where we add lime, we may not only be using a means for unlocking the ingredients of the soil, but we may also be adding an important ingredient of the soil. This was what made lime an important ingre- dient as a top-dressing, where clover and grasses were to be grown. “It would seem, then, that lime was not used principally as a manure: it was seldom required as a manure, for a manure added to the composition of the soil, its principal use was a solvent of other materials.” I quote the following from Liebig, pp. 160, 161, to show the danger of trusting to lime alone as a manure, Frequent repetitions of it, and the neglecting to apply OTHER manures, ruins the soil, as I well know is the case in Ireland and Wales, where lime is accessible and cheap. There are, however, some exceptions in fibrous bogs or peats, (Mr. Morton also bears witness to this in his work on Soils, pp. 171 to 181.) “When a soil contains silicates not prone to disintegrate, it may be able, in its natural state, to liberate by the influence of the atmosphere, in three or four years, only as much silica as suffices for one crop of wheat. In this case, such a crop can only be grown on it in a three or four years rotation, assuming that the phosphates necessary for the formation of the seeds exist in the soil in sufficient quantity. But we can shorten this period by working it well, so as to make it more accessible to the action of the air and moisture, in order to disintegrate the soil, and to procure a greater provision of soluble silicates. The decomposition of the silicates may also be accelerated by the use of burnt lime: but it is certain, that although all these means may enable us to ensure rich crops for a certain period, they induce at the same time an earlier exhaustion of the soil, and impair its natural fertility. “If the proportion of alkali and of silica liberated from the soil in the course of three or four years be sufficient only for one crop of wheat, we cannot in the interval, without injury to this crop, cultivate on the same soil any other plant, because the alkali necessary for the growth of the latter cannot be applied to the use of the wheat.” Speaking of the mixing of quick lime with heavy wet clay for several months, which by the by is the very best possible application to light, sandy, boggy, or hot gravelly soils deficient in alkalies, Professor Liebig says, page 134, “The clay is broken up by the union of certain of its constituents with lime, and what is still more remarkable, most of the alkalies contained in it are set at liberty—the alkalies which are indispensable to the existence of plants. “. In October, the fields in Yorkshire and Lancashire have the appearance of being covered with snow, The soil for miles is seen covered with lime. “It is found that lime heightens the fertility of a soil. The cereals require the alkalies and silicates liberated by the lime, and rendered fit for assimilation by plants. “In districts where fuel is cheap, an equally favourable influence is exerted on clayey soils by the system of burning.” I, IMD, AND ITS MANAGEMENT AS A MANURE, Lime is by far the most important of the fossil *nºtres ; and, indeed, it may be asserted, that no soil will ever be fit for much which does not contain a proportion of this earth, either naturally or by artificial application. Next to farm-yard dung, lime is in most general use as a manure, though it is one of a quite different character; and when judiciously applied, and the land laid to pasture, or cultivated for white and green crops alternately, with an adequate allowance of putrescent manure, its effects are much more lasting, and, in many instances, still more beneficial, than those of farm-yard dung. Fossil manures, Sir H. Davy observes, must produce their effect, either by becoming a constituent part of the plant, or by acting upon its more essential food, so as to render it more fitted for the purposes of vegetable life. It is, perhaps, in the former ºf these ways that wheat and some other plants are brought to Perfection, after lime has been applied, upon land that would not bring them to maturity by the most liberal use of dung alone. This being an established fact may be considered one of the greatest importance to all cultivators. With regard to the quantity of lime that ought to be applied to different soils, it is much to be regretted that Sir Humphry Davy has not thought proper to enter fully lū to the subject. Clays, it is well known, require a larger quantity than sands or dry loams. . It has been applied accordingly in almost every quantity from 100 to 500 bushels or upwards per acre. About 160 bushels are generally considered a full dressing for lighter soils, and 80 or 100 bushels more for heavy cohesive soils. One of the greatest advantages arising from the use of lime on gravelly or sandy soils, is its power of absorbing moisture from the air, which is in the highest degree useful to the crops in dry summers. In the application of lime to arable land, there are some general rules commonly attended to by diligent farmers, which we shall give nearly in the words of a recent publication.* * Farmer's Magazine, vol. xiii. p. 69. F 66 ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. ‘‘ 1. As the effects of lime greatly depend on its intimate admixture with the surface soil, it is essential to have it in a powdery state at the time it is applied. - “ 2. Lime having a tendency to sink in the soil, it should be ploughed in with a shallow furrow. “3; Lime may either be applied to grass land, or to land in preparation for green crops or summer fallow, with almost equal advantage; but, in general, the latter mode of application is to be preferred. “.4: Lime ought not to be applied a second time to moory soils, unless mixed up as a compost, after which the land should be immediately laid down to grass. ... “.5. Upon fresh land, the effect of lime is much superior to that of dung. The ground, likewise, more especially where it is of a strong nature, is more easily wrought; in some instances, it is said, the saving of labour would be sufficient to induce a farmer to lime his land, were no greater benefit derived from the application than the opportunity thereby gained of working it in a more perfect manner.” “In liming for improving hilly land, with a view to pasture, a much smaller quantity has been found to produce perma- ment and highly beneficial effects, when kept as much as possible near the surface, by being merely harrowed in with the seeds, after a fallow or green crop, instead of being buried by the plough. “The successful practice of one of the most eminent farmers in Britain cannot be too generally known in a matter of so great importance to farmers of such land, especially, when lime must be brought from a great distance, as was the case in the instance to which we are about to allude. ‘A few years after 1754,' says Dawson, having a considerable extent of outfield land in fallow, which I wished to lime previously to its being laid down to pasture, and finding that I could not obtain a sufficient quantity of lime for the whole in proper time, I was induced, from observing the effects of fine loam upon the surface of similar soil, even when covered with bent, to try a small quantity of lime on the surface of this fallow, instead of a larger quantity ploughed down in the usual manner. Accordingly, in the autumn, about twenty acres of it were well harrowed, and then about fifty-six Winchester bushels only of unslaked lime were, after being slaked, carefully spread upon each English acre, and immediately well harrowed in. As many pieces of the lime, which had not been fully slaked at first, were gradually reduced to powder by the dews and moisture of the earth, to mix these with the soil, the land was again well harrowed in three or four days thereafter. This land was sown in the spring with oats, with white and red clover and rye-grass seeds, and well harrowed, without being ploughed again. The crop of oats was good; the plants of grass sufficiently numerous and healthy; and they formed a very fine pasture, which continued good until ploughed some years after for corn. About twelve years afterwards, I took a lease of the hilly farm of Grubbet; many parts of which, though of an earthy mould tolerably deep, were too steep and elevated to be kept in tillage. As these lands had been much exhausted by cropping, and were full of couch-grass, to destroy that and procure a cover of fine grass, I fallowed them, and laid on the same quantity of lime per acre, then harrowed, and sowed oats and grass seeds in the spring exactly as in the last-mentioned experiment. The oats were a full crop, and the plants of grass abundant. Several of these fields have been now above thirty years in pasture, and are still producing white clover, and other fine grasses; no bent or fog has yet appeared upon them. . It deserves particular notice, that more than treble the quantity of lime was laid upon fields adjoining, of a similar soil, but which being fitter for occasional tillage, upon them the lime was ploughed in. These fields were also sown with oats and grass seeds. The latter throve well, and gave a fine pasture the first year; but afterwards the bent spread so fast, that, in three years, there was more of it than of the finer grasses.’ “The conclusions which Dawson draws from his extensive practice in the use of lime and dung, deserve the attention of all cultivators of similar land. “1. That animal dung dropped upon coarse benty pastures, produces little or no improvement upon them; and that even when sheep or cattle are confined to a small space, as in the case of folding, their dung ceases to produce any benefi- cial effect, after a few years, whether the land is continued in pasture, or brought under the plough. “2. That even when land of this description is well fallowed and dunged, but not limed, though the dung augments the produce of the subsequent crop of grain, and of grass also for two or three years, that thereafter its effects are no longer discernible either upon the one or the other. “3. That when this land is limed, if the lime is kept upon the surface of the soil, or well mixed with it, and then laid down to pasture, the finer grasses continue in possession of the soil, even in elevated and exposed situations, for a great many years, to the exclusion of bent and moss. In the case of Grubbet hills, it was observed, that more than thirty years have now elapsed. Besides this, the dung of the animals pastured upon such land adds every year to the luxuriance, improves the quality of the pasture, and augments the productive powers of the soil when afterwards ploughed for grain; thus producing, upon a benty outfield soil, effects similar to what are experienced when rich infield lands have been long in pasture, and thereby more and more enriched. “4. That when a large quantity of lime is laid on such land, and ploughed down deep, the same effects will not be produced, whether in respect to the permanent fineness of the pasture, its gradual amelioration by the dung of the animals pastured on it, or its fertility when afterwards in tillage. On the contrary, unless the surface is fully mixed with lime, the coarse grasses will in a few years regain possession of the soil, and the dung thereafter deposited by cattle will not enrich the land for subsequent tillage. “Lastly. It also appears from what has been stated, that the four shift husbandry is only proper for very rich land, or in situations where there is a full command of dung. That by far the greatest part of the land of this country requires to be continued in grass two, three, four, or more years, according to its natural poverty; that the objection made to this, viz. that the coarse grasses in a few years usurp possession of the soil, must be owing to the surface soil not being sufficiently mixed with lime, the lime having been covered too deep by the plough.”—Loudon's Encyclopædia, p. 805. * General Report of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 536, ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. 67 ON THE USE OF SALT AS MANURE. A LAND or two in each field of light soil, would satisfy those who doubt. I shall try it myself. I have frequently used a sack per acre with advantage. I. J. MECHI. The following Letters are taken from Berrow's Worcester Journal:— BROMSGROVE FARMERS’ CLUB. “At the Meeting of this Club, held yesterday (Tuesday) the following Letters were read by the Secretary:- “SIR, Aston Claverly, near Wolverhampton, March 23, 1844. “HAvi Ng observed in the Worcester Herald of the 7th instant, that you, at a meeting of the Bromsgrove Farmers' Club, introduced the subject of salt as a manure, and that the Club came to the decision of recommending it for trial, I conclude that salt, like a prophet, ‘Hath no honour in his own country,” otherwise a trial so near to Stoke or Droitwich would not now be wanted. I therefore trust you will not consider me obtrusive in offering a few remarks, and stating to you the result of my experience, and my opinions on the use of salt for agricultural purposes; and if you are able to obtain any the least useful hint from what I state, my purpose will be fully answered. “I believe the use of salt as manure, generally speaking, to be little understood, otherwise I think it would be more extensively used. It has been tried or applied to all descriptions of land indiscriminately ; hence its failure, and, in many instances, its condemnation. * “I have used salt, for agricultural purposes, many years with success—at first experimentally and very cautiously: and am so thoroughly convinced of its utility, that I use it very extensively. I am now applying it for barley on all my lightest soils, containing any considerable portion of vegetable matter, at the rate of five to six cwt. per acre; also on my wheat of the autumnal sowing on the same description of soil, and at the same rate per acre. I did so last year with great success. I gave it, as in other years, a fair trial, by leaving a strip in each field without the salt, which, in every case, plainly showed itself in the months of May and June, particularly in the wheat. “We consider our land to bear white wheat better than red, but in the latter end of May and beginning of June it is very much more subject to the red rust, a disease very detrimental here, but it is completely obviated by the use of salt, and the sample is much finer, the yield better, and much freer from light and diseased grains when salt is applied. “I last year salted a twenty acre field for barley, at the rate of six cywt. per acre, leaving a strip the whole length of the field without; at harvest the greatest novice might have discovered the difference, the salted being very superior in sample and colour. I last week winnowed three hundred bushels of it without a single bushel of light, a circumstance which does not occur with us this year where salt was not used. . This was grown on land which ten years ago was considered not worth cultivating, but wonderfully improved by the use of bones and salt, and now grows as good turnips and barley as any land I have. “I think the Bromsgrove Club will approve of salt as recommended for trial in fixing the ammonia in manures. I use it for that purpose very satisfactorily. “We are very subject to grow scutch, and many of us (to our shame) much more than we ought to do; but when we have it, we endeavour to make the best use of it, and I have now mine in a state of preparation for the land for turnips. I draw it in heaps in autumn, apply a considerable proportion of salt to it in the winter; after which, and turning and mixing, I add fold-yard manure; this I again turn and mix, placing a layer of scutch on the bottom of the heap, and also a layer on the top, over which I strew salt sufficient to keep the surface moist and prevent the escape of the ammonia. In this state it remains until about three weeks of the time I want it for the turnips, when I again turn it; and when used it comes out an excellent manure, which it would not do without the application of salt. “We also use it advantageously in heaps of vegetable compost for rough grass land of light or sandy texture; and I believe the greatest mistake in the use of salt is that of applying it to cold strong arable land, when I think it worse than useless; but when judiciously used on light soils, containing vegetable matter, it will be found very valuable for nearly every description of crops ; and as it is now to be had at a reasonable rate, I have no doubt it will, in these days of discern- ment, be extensively used, and that very beneficially. I remain, Sir, yours very obediently, To the Secretary of the Farmers’ Club, Bromsgrove. JOHN WILSON.” DEAR SIR, Park Hall, near Kidderminster, March 23, 1844. “I HAVE just had much pleasure in the perusal of the observations made by you at your Bromsgrove Farmers' Club on the subject of manures, as reported in the Worcester paper. They are judiciously made; and without going too far into the somewhat abstruse details of chemistry, they exhibit a perfect acquaintance with that science, and of the applicability of its principles to the subject you undertook to treat upon. “It is mainly on the subject of SALT that I now address you, as I am anxious you should know the good effects I have found to result from the use of it, and the extent with which I agree with you as to its value for agricultural purposes. “If salt were found only on the shores of South America, and imported here at the price of guano, I think it would #. im * general use than it is at present. Its value no one attempts to question, but, nevertheless, its application is very imited. “My experience of its effects is confined to light soils; and, upon such, I know of no article so greatly and so generally beneficial. Its copious use to every description of stock 1 regard as indispensable. For turnips, bailey, Člover, and wheat it is equally beneficial, used either as a top dressing, or worked into and incorporated with the soil. Nor is it of value only as regards an increase of produce, for I have always found the quality greatly improved where it has been used largely. The fold yard should have an abundant supply; it should be applied at the least once in every week. Upon grass inds whether upland pastures or watered meadows, I have found its use alike advantageous. I have generally applied it in th. 68 ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT, form of a compost with soils, but I do not consider this as necessary. Last spring I dressed a meadow of five acres with salt and soil, putting on about thirty cwt. per acre of salt: the effect was most convincing, both in the hay-crop and aftermath. The sheep and cattle I turned into it had access to an adjoining meadow, and their preference for that which had been salted was really ludicrous; they could not be induced to leave it when it was as bare as a common, while the other meadow had abundance of grass upon it. “Make what use you please of these remarks, and in the continuation of your paper pray do the community the good Service of urging the more general use of salt, especially in the Ryeland districts, and I am satisfied that every man whom you can prevail ºpon to adopt its use largely will ultimately thank you for the good you confer upon him. “I am, dear Sir, ever faithfully yours, To the Sceretary of the Bromsgrove Farmers’ Club. “J. MATHEWS.” We are indebted much for the above information. I would venture to suggest subsoiling, the deep drag harrow, and abundant hoeing, would speedily abate the scutch nuisance. I, J. MECHI. SALT IS MURIATIC ACID AND SODA COMBINED. THE utility of salt as a manure cannot be doubted—but great errors have arisen in its application. Its misapplication has raised against it many enemies. It is a pity Professor Liebig, in his most valuable work, has said so little about it; nor has Dr. Playfair enlightened us much on this subject. I have, therefore, again troubled Mr. Bree for his explanation of its operation, and with his usual kind desire to serve the cause of Agricultural Improvement, he at once favoured me with his opinion. We may lay it down as a maxim, that salt is most suitable as a manure for mellow or hot sandy, gravelly, or boggy soils, and that the most advantageous mode of applying it is with quick lime. By mixing the two substances in certain proportions, as described at first, we lose both our salt and lime, and get in lieu of them chloride of lime and carbonate of soda. The latter, a most important (because deficient) alkali in hot or sandy soils—the former, a great fixer of ammonia, which we know full well, light hot soils are too ready to part with. In heavy clayey soils it must be injurious, because we have in such soils already an abundance of acids and alkalies in combination, as sulphate of alumina and potass, which are now too retentive of moisture, such sorts require not salt but lime. JEatract from MR. BREE's Letter. “When salt is added to the soil it is decomposed by the calcareous matter, and its bare soda being set free, is appro- priated by the plant. The union of lime and salt, according to your friend's plan, is correct and judicious. I consider, in fact, the presence of lime in the soil essential to the success of salt as a manure.” LETTER XIV. ON FA TT ENING C A TTL E. The cheapest and best mode of fattening stock is an important matter to every Farmer, as well as to the nation at large. The extract which I have annexed from Mr. Stephens's excellent Book of the Farm, is a very interesting one. It opens a wide field for calculation and inquiry, as to the cost per lb. of putting on weight, according to the food the animal is fed on. There is, no doubt, a vast difference in the action of food in producing increased weight, depending upon its quality and description, the mode in which it is administered, the temper and breed of the animal, and, above all, whether the creature is placed in a cold, damp, and exposed situation, or, in mice. comfortable, warm and dry quarters.—(See Mr. Karkeek's valuable Essay on Fat and Muscle, Royal Agricultural Society's Journal, vol. v. part i., p. 262.) - But we will presuppose that all cattle are properly fed, housed, or sheltered, then comes the astounding relative difference of cost per pound weight of meat laid on, according to the description of food supplied. On a large scale, or on a small one (the principle being the same) the question is of vast importance. If Mr. Stephens' state- ment is correct, which there appears no reason to doubt, it is throwing away money to feed on oil-cake, &c. When the same result may be obtained at a much smaller cost by roots. . It is, on the great seale, a serious national loss, and should stimulate us to exertion in producing abundant crops of Swedes, carrots, and mangold. º Something like average uniformity in the valuation of the roots would be essential to currect comparisons. Mr. Stephens estimate of twopence per bushel is much lower than what they are valued at and sold for in Essex, four- pence to fivepence is a common price there, and this scarce season sixpence has been paid. º An important part of the question, and one not adverted to by Mr. Stephens, is the comparative worth of the manure from the various modes of feeding. There seems a general, and I imagine a reasonable preference for that from richly fed animals, but we have no graduated scale of value in this respect that I am aware of. No doubt it is ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. 69 the value and effect of the manure from linseed or oil-cake fed beasts and sheep, that compensates for the loss on that mode of feeding. * A Farmer tells me of a case where a field of roots was equally divided—on one side the sheep were oil-caked, on the other corn was given—and the latter was also manured. Still the oil-cake side produced the best corn. This seems conclusive evidence. Butchers, and their customers, certainly prefer the meat from stock fed on rich and varied food. I have heard butchers say they could distingush a cake and meal fed beast by the touch. The tabular statement, annexed by Mr. Karkeek, of the acreable quantity of materials for the production of meat, in the various crops, confirms Mr. Stephens statement that roots are the most profitable food. I consider, however, the estimate of twenty tons of roots per acre, much above the realized average. Root crops are frequently greatly over-estimated. Another important comparative question mooted by Mr. Stephens is, the superiority of yards and sheds oyer stalls. His facts on this subject are worth noting and trying. I think we may lay down as a general rule, that whatever conduces to the ease and comfort of the animal, tends to its early ripeness, and vice versa. Now, when a bullock is tied up, its movements are confined, and in some degree cramped by its fixed position. We can judge by ourselves, sitting or standing long in one posture becomes irksome, and a change is agreeable. The muscles, for want of exercise, get relaxed, and in many cases are unable to support the animal, when he attains to a great weight. But we must avoid the other extreme of too much freedom, or we shall lose fat by increased action and respiration. The happy medium appears to be just sufficient room for the beast to turn round in and no more. It is on this principle I, account for the superiority of the close-box feeding, as practised by Mr. Warnes and Mr. Warren. Another advantage is that the bullock can rub his hind quarters. This I compensate for in my stalls, by brushing them thoroughly every day, especially those parts they cannot reach to lick. They like it much. Whether the friction acts beneficially by electricity, circulation, or warmth, or all of these, I cannot say. It is possible some of the benefits of the close-box system may arise from non-excitement inducing more repose, whilst the smaller abstraction of caloric, and absence of draughts, ensures a higher and more uniform temperature. Less straw is required in stalls than in boxes, especially (where as at the Duke of Bedford's, at Wooburn), there is a fall of a few inches in the pavement, immediately behind the animal's heels, which prevents their laying back in their dung, as they are too apt to do. TEMPERATURE. There can be no doubt that temperature has a very material influence on the fattening of cattle. I remember to have seen in the Gardeners' Chronicle, an illustrative fact on this subject, in which it was clearly proved, that cattle laid on a much larger quantity of fat, in proportion to their consumption of food, during April, May, and June, than in the colder and moister months. This is consistent with the well known fact, that the rapid abstraction of caloric by a cold and moist atmosphere, renders necessary a larger quantity of food to keep up the supply of carbon. The food is therefore wasted—which, in a higher temperature, would be producing fat. We find the fact so in ourselves. Exposed to cold in open unsheltered situations during winter, our appetite increases strangely, whilst our weight remains unaltered. In a warm dry room no such effect is produced. Let us apply this knowledge. * tº I am sure, from facts within my observation, that feed cattle as you will you cannot make them fat on wet exposed ground in cold weather, moisture is so powerful a radiator or abstracter of warmth; or where they are exposed to currents of cold moist air, as is too often the case in our ill-arranged undrained farmeries. We know from our own sensations, how pernicious it is to stand in damp places. I am quite convinced the same remark holds good with cattle; give them a dry warm bed, and your pocket will be benefited. But whilst there is warmth, their must be ventilation. I find, in practice, a few small iron air bricks placed in the highest point of the stable, near the ceiling, in the back and front walls, answer admirably, allowing the heated foul air that passes from the animal's lungs to escape, whilst they admit a replacement of oxygen to compensate for that which is being consumed, a little more attention to ventilation in our own rooms would not be misapplied. I think we are safe in laying down as a maxim that the degree of temperature must be made subservient to the condition of the animals. ... ***S For a very lean bullock it may be many degrees higher than for one forward in condition. There is no fear of #, superabundance of carbon or sweating on the lean one—all he can eat being greedily absorbed in producing flesh. Not so in a highly fatted animal already well carbonized. It becomes a question whether he should not be clipped. I think we are justified m comparing them with ourselves. A twenty stone man seldom complains of cold, being nearly always in a perspiration, and gasping for air with the least exertion. The fat within him so confines his lungs, that there is no fear of his exhausting his carbon (or fat) by unduly expanding them. His respirations are short and frequent; not so his leaner friend, mere skin and bones—pinched up by cold, or cutting winds, he luxu- riates in a summer's sum or Christmas blaze, with plenty of warm clothing. So will our lean bullock. I believe, that in a certain state of fatness, we derive much substance from the nitrogen or azote of the atmo- sphere. Coombe says, in his excellent work on Physiology, that a strong man, labouring in hot weather, loses four to 70 ON AGRICULTURAT, IMPROVEMENT. five pounds weight per hour. If so, it is quite clear he must make good his loss, in a great degree, from the fifty- seven hogsheads of air that passes daily through his lungs, otherwise there would be nothing left of him in four days. But to return to the bullocks, I have heard graziers say, their cattle go on well when they sweat. No doubt sweating indicates fat, but in that case there must be loss, a dewy coat, or any thing short of sweating, is a more profitable condition. I imagine it is the difference in dryness, temperature, and shelter, that causes graziers to vary so much (25 to 35 per cent.) in their estimate of the cost per pound of putting on weight. One will tell you, that with Swedes, at twopence per bushel, his cattle only just “clear their teeth,” reckoning the meat to sell at sixpence per pound. Whilst another will declare it profitable to pay threepence or threepence-halfpenny per bushel. Although but a young grazier I hope Some day to be able to form an opinion of my own on this subject from facts. Our bullocks, approaching to perfect ripeness, do amazingly well at a temperature of 45 to 50° (January), at 55 to 60° we found they sweated profusely. A thermometer ought to be in every stable, it costs but 3s., and is a safe guide, whilst our personal sensations of temperature are not to be depended upon. MO DE OF FE E D IN G, T)FSCRIPTION OF FOOD, We have fourteen Galloway Scots, averaging each 110 stones of 7 lbs, each, butchers or net dead weight, and they are putting on fat rapidly. They consume daily for each bullock, - S. d. Four bushels of Swedes, cut one quarter of an inch (weighing 56 lbs. per bushel, at 6d. per bush.) 2 0 Three Oil Cakes, weighing 7 lbs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 6 Boiled Linseed, 3 lbs., at I d. per lb. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 4} Barley Meal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 1% 3 O (The roots are given uncooked—the linseed boiled and mixed with meal or barley). . . 12 lbs, of wheat straw chaff, cut one-eighth of an inch, part of it steamed, part dry, with a sprinkling of clover chaff. No charge is made for cooking or fuel—their manure being considered an equivalent. So that the quantity in weight they consume daily is from 246 to 250 lbs. . This astonishes some folks, but the almost daily progression of the animals prove it is well employed. The chaff is given partly steamed and partly dry. They are never allowed to want food, still the moment they cease feeding and lie down (they are almost con- stantly down) the food they leave, if any, is immediately removed for the pigs or sheep. The minute subdivision of the food, enables the stomach to contain at least 25 per cent. more in quantity than with loose straw and large angular pieces of dirty unwashed roots. I consider the cleanliness, comminution, and admixture of the food, so as to diminish its bulk without risk of fermentation, is greatly in favour of early ripeness, leaving more time for repose and rumination. Hay finely comminuted and unmixed with straw-chaff is dangerous for horses, causing gripes by fermentation. They are apt to swallow it greedily unmasticated. º e * One very important step towards fattening, is to vary the food as much as possible, and so stimulate their feeding; and, above all, not to force one uniform system of feeding on all. Although but a young grazier, I find, in practice, that cattle have, like ourselves, preferences and dislikes for particular descriptions of food. One will eat oil-cake or boiled linseed greedily, whilst another prefers a larger proportion of roots. Some days they will eat a great deal of straw-chaff; at another time will scarcely touch it. It is by a nice and watchful regard to the particular habits and wants of each animal that we can alone succeed in bringing them quickly to a ripe or perfectly fat condition, particular regard must be had to the state of their bowels, as indicated by the condition of their dung; relaxation and purging must be immediately checked, or we lose weight. This is soon regulated by diminishing or stopping their supply of water, and increasing the Proportion of dry food with barley-meal, &c. Constipation is not to be feared, if their food is properly and cleanly mixed and comminuted. Our roots are always washed before cutting. We generally administer their food prepared warm in cold weather, considering the presence of caloric a saving in carbon ; as we only steam every other day, the second day it is only blood warm. & & Our lambs and sheep eat steamed straw-chaff, with barley or other meal and linseed; of course inseed must always be crushed first, and then simmered ; but on this point I cannot do better than refer to Mr. Warne's excellent pamphlet, p. 11, containing directions for making cattle compound. I am convinced boiled linseed IS cheaper and more profitable than oil-cake, and we shall, when our stock of oil-cake is reduced, feed principally with linseed. Still a little dry oil-cake, at intervals, makes a change, and stimulates their feeding—straw-chaff in lieu of hay, admits of a larger consumption of linseed.—Our pigs fatten rapidly on steamed roots, &c. tº a ſº * I have been assured that His Grace the Duke of Bedford, at Wooburn, gives equal quantities of linseed and barley meal, with abundance of hay and clover chaft, to animals forward in condition; of course, due regard must ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. 71 be had to the leanness or forwardness of the beast, as regards quality and quantity. Mr. Warnes's proportions are three parts barley to one of linseed; and of two parts of water to one part of barley and linseed included. I attach very great importance to supplying cattle with abundance of straw chaff and a sufficiency of salt, The former affords phosphate of lime for their bones; the latter, muriatic acid for the gastric juices, and soda for the bile. These substances are indispensable, where no hay or clover is given with roots or potatoes.—See Liebig, p. 139, Agricultural Chemistry. IMPORTANCE OF CONDITION AND BREED. I AM quite convinced that it is more profitable to buy a half-fat or thriving animal than a very lean or half- starved one. The latter eats more, is longer getting ripe, and you have less weight to sell with a profit; but if you purchase a half-fat beast at 5d. per lb., and get him out of hand quickly at 6d. per lb., you get 20 per cent. without oost on what you bought, and in addition are paid at the rate of 6d. per lb. for all the fat you put on. It requires no conjuror to prove that this is the most advantageous mode of proceeding, presuming you buy your half-fat beast at the same rate per lb, as a very poor one, which you will most likely do, for butchers do not like half-fat stock; which should warn us not to over-stock, but always get our animals well up to the mark. I feel assured that the best-bred animals, although at a greater cost, pay better than those which are coarse, cross-bred, ill-shaped, large-headed, and big-boned, for make these as fat as you will they only command a second- rate price. One reason why inferior stock is so frequently preferred is this: An animal that has by good luck survived starvation and exposure on a common or bleak mountain, is less likely to be destroyed by the ordinary undrained land and miserable homesteads of many of our farmers. To bring a handsome well-bred creature, whether bullock or sheep, from rich dry ground and judicious treatment, to take the chance of much worse fare, has not been found to answer. Another reason is, that inferior stock absorb less capital. The preference that butchers show for fine-boned well-shaped animals, at an increased price, should teach us the right view of the matter. Although no judge of stock myself, I know what pleases my eye. Plenty of length, breadth, and depth in fore and hind quarters, large above the knee and hock, and small below ; a little head, with full, intelligent, and contented eye, a meat horn, a firm but yielding coat that fills the palm, and an outline level and pleasant to the eye, in fact, a sort of rotund squareness, BULLOCKS AND SHIEEB—WHICH ARE THE MORE PROFITABLE TO EATTEN ? I HAVE been at some trouble to enquire and practically compare which of the above are more profitable to keep, and I am quite convinced that beef should sell at least 20 per cent. higher than mutton to make them pay alike. I know several very respectable graziers who have not for years had a bullock on their premises, being practically convinced of their unprofitableness. I have at this moment 100 lambs thriving well, at a cost of 1%d. to 1; d. per day, valuing Swedes at 6d. per bushel (the price I could sell them for), whilst my bullocks are consuming to the value of 3s. per day each. Unfortunately I have not a weighing machine to compare the relative proportion of fat laid on in proportion to their relative weight, but I am quite satisfied the sheep pay best in proportion. To what are we to attribute this difference in fattening 2—Why, in my opinion, it is clearly owing to the difference in their coats. The wool of the sheep affords them a greater protection against cold. There is less caloric given off, consequently a smaller supply of carbon or food is required. . The bullocks having a thinner covering, lose more heat, and require more carbon or food, and consequently are less profitable. This is another proof how important it is to keep our cattle warm, and to calculate the cost in each department accurately. I. J. MECHI. 4, LEADENHALL STREET, January 8, 1845. P.S.. I am quite convinced sheep do well in dry paved yards, with sheds open to the south and west, and sheltered from the north and east. I have had one hundred lambs so placed since August last, their food ºil cut, and troughed. They are all in good health and thriving, have consumed much less food, wasted and trampled none. We have occasionally given them a run on a stubble or bare pasture for an hour or two in the day, by way of change, but not lately. I have had an opportunity of contrasting them favourably with others, that have had more food and greater liberty. Where bullocks are in close warm quarters, it becomes a question whether clipping may not be beneficial, and whether the wear and tear of a cloth would not be more than compensated for by the increased condition of the animal, owing to its having no coat to support—the food so required would go to produce fat; I shall certainly test it hereafter. I consider gypsum frequently sprinkled over the litter prevents foot rot, and by fixing the ammonia keeps the atmosphere pure. } 72 ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. EXTRACT FROM MR. STEPHENS’S BOOK OF THE FARM.” Mr. Brodie, Abbey Mains, East Lothian, made an experiment on feeding cattle, from October 1836 to June 1837, on different kinds of food. There were four lots of cattle, consisting of five each. The first lot was fed on turnips and straw, which, being the usual treatment, formed the standard of comparison. The second lot had half the weight of turnips and 30lbs. of oil-cake a day. A third lot was fed on the last quantity of turnips and beam-meal and bruised oats. And the fourth had distillery grains and ground beans. The value of the cattle, when put up to feed, was £11 a piece, and they were of the Aberdeenshire polled breed. This is a summary of the cost of feeding :- 36 s. d. Lot 1. White turnips at 8s. 4d., Swedes at 12s. 6d. per ton, cost .......................................... 53 9 10 Average cost of each beast per week ................ * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * O 6 3 Lot 2. Turnips as above, oil-cake, itſ 15s. per ton, cost....................................................., 48 6 O Average cost of each beast per week ...................................................... * * * * * * 0 5 9 Lot 3. Turnips as above, beam-meal, 5s., bruised oats, 3s. 6d. per bushel, cost ........................ 58 8 1 Average cost of each beast per week ......... 3 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * O 6 8 Lot 4. Turnips and bean-meal, as above, draff, 4s. 6d. per quarter, dreg, 2s. 6d. per puncheon, cost 63 3 2 Average cost of each beast per week ................................ * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * () 7 2 The ultimate results are as follows:— Lots. Live Weight. Beef. Tallow. Hide. St. st, lbs. St. lbs. St. lbs. 1 536 283 3 36 10 27 13 2 55.2 295 10 41 6 29 6 3 5 17 280 7 37 2 26 13 4 5.45 280 O 36 1 1 25 7 “Upon the whole,” concludes Mr. Brodie, “it is evident, by these experiments, that feeding with turnips as an auxiliary has been the most advantageous mode of using turnips, as, by the above statement, it is apparent that if the cattle of the first lot had only been allowed half the quantity of turnips which they consumed, and had got oil-cake in lieu of the other half, as was given to the second lot, the expense of their keep would have been lessened £4,13s., and from the superior quality of the beef, their value would have been increased £19, making together £14 13s.” Three remarks occur to me to make on the progress of this experiment: The first is, that if the cattle had been sold on the 7th April, 1837, when they were adjudged by competent farmers, they would not have repaid the feeder his expenses, as the prime cost of lot first, with the cost of feeding to that time, amounted to £95 1s. 8d, and they were only valued at £82 ; lot second cost £90 12s., and they were valued at £88 10s. ; lot third cost £93 4s., and were valued at £77 ; and lot fourth cost £97 4s. 5d., and their value was only £81 10s. And this is almost always the result of feeding cattle, because ripeness only exhibits itself towards the end of the feeding season, and it is only after that state of condition is indicated that the quality of the meat improves so rapidly as to enhance its value so as to leave a profit. As with sheep so with cattle ; with good beasts the inside is first filled up before the outside indicates fimeness. Another remark 1s, that this result should be a useful hint to you to weigh well every consideration before disposing of your fattening beasts, in the middle of the feeding season. T he last remark I have to make is, that the cattle of lot first, continuing to receive the same sorts of food they had always been accustomed to, throve more rapidly at first than the beasts in the other lots, but afterwards lost their advantage; thereby corroborating the usual experience of stock not gaining condition immediately on a change of food, even of a better kind, such as from turnips to grass. 8 Mr. Moubray, of Cambus, in Clackmannanshire, made experiments in the winter of 1839-40 on feeding cattle with other than the ordinary produce of the farm, but as the cattle were not all sold at the same time, I need not relate the details; and I mention the experiments for the sake of some of the conclusions that may be deduced from them. It would appear that cattle may be fed on turnips and hay as cheaply as on turnips and straw, for this reason, that when straw is given as fodder more turnips are consumed, and, therefore, when turnips, are scarce, hay may be used with advantage. It also ttle may be fed cheaper on distillery refuse of draft and dreg than on turnips and straw, but then the food appears that ca º e * : * • * > º he distillery requires more time to bring cattle to the same condition, which, in some circumstances, may be obtained from t an inconvenience.I. Tº , a : º r Linseed oil ii. been successfully employed to feed cattle by Mr. Curtis, of West Rudham, in Norfolk. The mode of using the oil is this ;-First ascertain how much cut straw the oxen, intended to be fed, will consume a week, then sprinkle the oil, layer upon layer, on the cut straw, at the rate of one gallon per week per ox. The mixture, on being turned over * Vol. ii., pp. 137 to 150. + - , , f Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, vol. viii. p. 331. # Prize Essays of the Highland and Agricultural Society, Vol. xiv. p. 61. ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. 73 frequently, is kept two days before being used, when a slight fermentation takes place, and then the oil. will scarcely be discerned, having been entirely absorbed by the straw, which should of course be the best oat straw. This mixture, when compared with oil-cake, has stood its ground. The cost of the oil is not great, its average price being about 34. the cwt. of 123 gallons, a gallon of fine oil weighing 9.3 lb., which makes the feeding of an ox cost only 25, 10d. per week.” . - Mr. Curtis has fed cattle for upwards of twenty years upon what he calls green malt, which consists of steeping light barley “for forty-eight hours in soft water, when the water is let off and the barley is thrown into a round heap, in a conical form, till it gets warm and begins to sprout freely. It is then spread out and turned over repeatedly as it grows. The only care required is, that the sprout or future blade does not get cut off, as the malt will then lose much of its nutritious quality.” He finds this substance, which costs with its labour 1s, a stone, preferable to oats at 104, in their natural state.t A method of feeding cattle has been adopted by Mr. Warnes, jun., Trimingham, Norfolk, which, in a manner. combines both the substances used by Mr. Curtis, and deserves attention. The substances consist of linseed-meal and crushed barley. The barley may either be used malted, that is, in a state of “green malt,” as designated by Mr. Curtis, or crushed flat by bruising cylinders. Crushed oats, boiled pease, and bean-flour may all be substituted for the barley, and used with the linseed-meal. The mode of making this compound is thus recommended by Mr. Warnes:– “ Put 168 lbs. of water into an iron cauldron or copper or boiler, and as soon as it boils, not before, stir in 21 lbs. of linseed-meal; continue stirring it for five minutes; then jet 63 lbs. of the crushed barley be sprinkled by the hand of one person upon the boiling mucilage, while another rapidly stirs and crams it in. After the whole has been carefully incorporated, which will not occupy more than five minutes, cover it closely down and throw the furnace door open. Should there be much fire, put it out. The mass will continue to simmer, from the heat of the cauldron, till the barley has entirely absorbed the mucilage. The work is then complete, and the food may be used on the following day. . \\hen removed into tubs, it must be rammed down to exclude the air, and to prevent its turning rancid. It will be seen that these proportions consist of three parts of barley to one of linseed, and of two parts of water to one of barley and linseed, included. Also, that the weight of the whole is eighteen stones when put into the cauldron ; but after it has been made into compound and become cold, it will be found in general reduced to something less than fifteen stones, which will afford one bullock for a fortnight one stone per day, containing 13 lb. of linseed. It will keep a long time if properly prepared. The consistency ought to be like that of clay when formed for bricks.” In regard to the nutritive properties of this compound Mr. Warnes testifies thus:–“ The last of my experimental bullocks for 1841 was disposed of at Christmas at 8s. 6d. per stone. He weighed sixty stones 5 lbs., of 14 lbs. to the stone, and cost £7 17s. 6d. thirteen months previously; so that he paid £17 10s. for little more than one year's keeping. His common food was turnips or grass; 14 lbs. a day of barley or pease compound were given him for forty-eight weeks, and an unlimited quantity the last five weeks; when, considering the shortness of that time, his progress was perfectly astonishing, not only to myself a constant observer, but to many graziers and butchers who had occasional oppor- tunities of examining him. Altogether the weight of compound consumed did not exceed 2 tons 4 cwt., at a cost of only £3 16s. per ton.”: This successful result obtained by Mr. Warnes, shows that cattle may be profitably fed on prepared food, though the results of several experiments which have been made by farmers in Scotland lead to an opposite conclusion ; yet Mr. Warnes's statement contains no comparison, for it is quite possible that the nutritious materials employed by him, namely, linseed-meal and bruised barley, would have fed a bullock equally well in their naturally cold state as when cold, after being cooked warm. As to the expediency of cooking food for cattle, Mr. Warnes goes so far in opinion as to say, that “neither oil nor linseed should be used in a crude state, but formed into mucilage by being boiled in water” (p. 10); but this opinion was evidently given when the results obtained by Mr. Curtis, on feeding cattle with linseed-oil in a crude state, were unknown to him ; for although he admits “that linseed-oil will fatten bullocks experience has placed beyond a doubt. Amongst the fattest beasts ever sent to the London market from Norfolk was a lot of Scotch heifers, grazed (?) on linseed- oil and hay ;”—yet he adds, “but the quantity given per day, the cost per head, or anything relative to profit or loss, I never heard.” (p. 10.) I should therefore like to see a comparison instituted between the nutritive properties of linseed- meal and bruised barley, or pease or beam-meal, in their ordinary state, and after they had been boiled and administered either in a hot or cold state, and also between the profits arising from both. Until this information is obtained, we may rest content with the results obtained by some very accurate experiments, conducted by eminent farmers, on the same food administered in a warm and in a cold state, and which go to prove that food is unprofitably administered to cattle in a cooked state. I shall now lay soune statements corroborative of this conclusion before you. The first I shall notice, though not in detail, are the experiments of Mr. Walker, Ferrygate, East Lothian. He selected, in February, 1833, six heifers of a cross, between country cows and a short-horn bull, that had been on turnips, and were advancing in condition, and divided them into two lots of three heifers each, and put one lot on raw food and the other on steamed, and fed them three times a day, at day-break, noon, and an hour before sunset. The food consisted of as many Swedes as they could eat, with 3 lbs. of bruised beans and 20 lbs. of potatoes, 3 stone of straw, and 2 ounces of salt to each beast. The three ingredients were mixed together in a tub placed over a boiler of water, and cooked by steaming, and the bruised beans were given to the lot on raw food at noon, and one-half of the potatoes in the morning and another half in the afternoon. It was soon discovered that the lot on the cooked food consumed more turnips than the other, the consumption being exactly 37 cwt. 16 lbs., whilst, when eaten raw, it was only 25 cwt. 1 q. 14 lbs., the difference being 55 lbs. every day, which continued during the progress of the experiment for three months. Steers were experimented on as well as heifers, there being two lots of two each. They also got as many Swedish turnips as they could eat, but had 30 lbs. of potatoes and 43 lbs. of bruised beans, 2 ozs. of salt, and stone of straw each, every day. The cost of feeding the heifers was as follows:– * a— * Prize Essays of the Highland and Agricultural Society, vol. xiv. p. 587. ** e # Ibid. Vol. xiv. p. 588. # Warnes’ Suggestions on Fattening Cattle, pp. 11 and 12. 74 ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT, Three heifers on steamed food— cwt. qu.s. lbs. if s. d. Consumed of Swedish turnips 37 0 16, at 4d. per cwt. ................................. 0 12 4; e tº e ... Potatoes ...... ... 3 3 0, at 1s. 3d. “ ......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 4 8 © º e ... Beans, 1 bushel 0 2 7, ...... tº º e º e º e e q e º e º 4 & 6 s a e º e s m = • * . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... O 3 0 tº º º ... Salt................................. tº t t t e º e º t t e º e º e s a tº e º º is º º t e º 'º e tº a tº e º a tº . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... O 0 0# Coals and extra labour ........ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... 0 2 0 Cost of three heifers one week, or 7s, 43d, each per week ......... £1 2 13 Three heifers on raw food— cwt. qr. lbs. Consumed of Swedish turnips, 25 1 14, at 4d. per cwt. ..... • * * * * * * * * * * * * > * * * * * * * * . . . . . . 0 8 6} gº tº it, ... Potatoes, beans, and salt, as above .......... • * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 0 7 8: *-*- Cost of three heifers one week, or 5s. 5d. each per week & © tº e º e º tº e fo 16 3 Two stots on steamed food— cwt. qrs. lbs. Consumed of Swedish turnips. 28 2 0, at 4d. per cwt. ........... tº $ tº $ tº e & . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 7 10 © tº e ... Potatoes ......... 3 3 0, at 1s. 3d. “ . . ............... * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * O 4 8 & Q ſº ... Beans ............ 0 2 7, ................. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * e s a º e g º s a e ... O 3 O tº @ e º C & Salt e tº ſº tº º º e © e º e º a v tº e * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * e e e s a t < e < e º t < e < * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * e e tº º º O O 0} Coals and extra labour ............ & 0 & e º 'º a tº e º 'º e º 'º º tº e º tº e º 'º w tº * * * * * * * * * * * & © tº 4 & 6 º a º * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * is e O 1 6 Cost of two stots for one week, or 8s. 64d. each per week ......... £0 17 0} Two stots on raw food— cwt. qrs. lbs. Consumed of Swedish turnips 17 2 0, at 4d. per cwt. ................................. O 5 || 0 © tº e ... Potatoes, beans, and salt, as above ................. tº s e º e º 'º a e s - e & * * * * * * * * * * * ... O 7 8% Cost of two stots for one week, or 6s. 9}d. each per week ......... 360 13 6% The following table shows the progress of condition made by the heifers and stots: Average live- Average live- Average in- Average f CATTLE weight of tº: at *::::: of three crease : ye. º: f *:::::: *:::::::: *:::*. +\ 1 º COImmencement at end of weight in weight o \,-, : - of feeding. I} feeding. three months. Beef. Tºllow. Hide. Offal. º St. St. lbs. St. lbs. St. lbs. St. lbs. St. lbs. | St. lbs. Heifers on steamed food 74, 90 0 I G 0 50 0 7 1 1 3 12 26 9 Heifers on raw food ...... 74, 89 3 15 0 50 1 8 4, 4 4 26 10 Stots on steamed food...... 84, | O3 4. 19 O 5 G 19 8 II 5 12 28 3 Stots on raw food ......... 90 I ()6 5 15 0 58 6 8 8 5 4 || 30 4 The comparative profits on cooked and raw food stand thus:— Live-weight of heifers, when put to feed on steamed food, 74 st.=42 st. 4 lbs. beef, at 5s. 6d. 6 s. d. per stone, sinking offal ........................... * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 11 12 7 Cost of keep twelve weeks five days, at 7s. 4d. per week ................... 4 19 O Total cost ..... * * * * * * , 1 6 1 1 7 Live-weight of the same heifers, when finished feeding on steamed food, 90 st.=50 st. 9 lbs., at 6s. 6d. per stone, sinking offal ..... * * g º e º t e º 'º e º s a e i t e º º * * * @ 9 e tº tº e e g º º e º & t e º ſº º 4 º' tº e º 'º . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 9 13 Loss on steamed food on each heifer .......... to 2 53 Live-weight of one heifer, when put to feed on raw food, 74 st.=42 st. 4 lbs. beef, at 5s. 6d. per stone, sinking offal ........................... * @ is 4 e º 'º e º a 4 a tº º º e º e s e i u ę, s : * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 12 7 Cost of keep twelve weeks five days, at 5s. 5d. per week .................... 3 8 10} - Total cost ............ 15 l 5% Live-weight of the same heifer when finished feeding on raw food, 89 st. 3 lbs.=50 st. 1 lb., at 6s. 6d. per stone, sinking offal ........................ e tº e º e -e 4 a s tº a tº t t e º is a b d e tº e º 'º e º e e * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 16 5 5} Profit on raw food on each heifer ............... t1 4 0 ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. 75 Live-weight of one stot when put to feed on steamed food, 84 st.=50 st: 4 lbs., at 5s. 6d. per 36 s. d. stone, sinking offal ............ e e s s a s e º s , , , , s , s s , s , a * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * e s sº is e s : a e º a º 4 .................. 13 4 0 Cost of keep twelve weeks five days, at 8s. 64d. per week ...................., 5 & 4 sºmmemº Total cost ............ 18 12 4 Live-weight of the same stot after being fed on steamed food, 104 st. 7 lbs.=66 st. 10 lbs., at 6s. 6d. per stone, sinking offal ......................... tº G & 0 tº * * ........................................ 18 8 73 -*ssmºº Profit on each stot on steamed food ............ to 3 84 Live-weight of one stot when put on raw food, 90 st.=51 st. 6lbs., at 5s. 6d. per stone, sinking the offal ... .............. e e e s : * * * * * * * * * , , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 1 - t 4 2 10% Cost of twelve weeks five days' keep, at 6s. 93d per week ....... . . . . . . . . . . . 4. 6 1 Total cost ............ 18 8 114 Live-weight of the same stot after being fed on raw food, 106 St. 7 lbs.-58 St. 6 lbs., at 6s. 6d. per stone, sinking offal ............................... tº g º a t e i t t t + = * * e e < * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ... ... 18 19 94 ºmºmºmºm Profit on each stot on raw food .................. to 10 10 The facts, brought out in this experiment, are these:-It appears that turnips lose weight on being steamed. For example, 5 tons 8 cwt. only weighed out 4 tons 4 cwt. 3 qrs. 16 lbs. after being steamed, having lºst 1, toll 3 ºwt. 12 lbs. or ; of weight; and they also lost ; of bulk when pulled fresh in February ; but on being pulled in April, the loss of weight III steaming decreased to . Potatoes did not lose above ; of their weight by steaming, and none of their bulk. The heifers on steamed food not only consumed a greater weight of fresh turnips, in the ratio of 37 to 253 but after allowing for the loss of steaming, they consumed more of the steamed turnips. Thus, after deducting ; from 37 cwt. 16 lbs.—the weight lost in steaming them—the balance 29 cwt. 2 qrs. 17 lbs. is more than the 25 cwt. 1 qr. 14 lbs. of raw turnips consumed by,4 GWt. 1 qr, 3 lbs. All the cattle, both on the steamed and raw food, relished salt ; so much so, that when it was withheld, they would not eat their food with the avidity they did when it was returned to them. Steamed food should always be given in a fresh state—that is, new made ; for if old; it becomes sour, when cattle will scarcely touch it, and the sourer it is they dislike it the more. “In short,” says Mr. Walker, “the quantity they would consume might have been made to agree to the fresh or sour state of the food when presented to them. © º º º We are quite aware that, to have done a large quantity at one steaming, would have lessened the expense of coal and labour, and also, by getting sour before being used, saved a great quantity of food; but we are equally well aware, that, by so doing, we never could have fattened our cattle on steamed food.” An inspection of the above table will show, that both heifers and stots increased more in live-weight on steamed than on raw food; the larger profit derived from the raw food arising solely from the extra expense incurred in cooking the food. It appears, however, that a greater increase of tallow is derived from raw food. The results appear nearly alike with heifers and stots of the same age; but if the stots were of a breed possessing less fattening properties than cross-bred heifers, and Mr. Walker does not mention their breed—then they would seem to acquire greater weight than heifers, which I believe is the usual experience. The conclusion come to by Mr. Walker is this: “We have no hesitation in saying that, in every respect, the advantage is in favour of feeding with raw food. . But it is worthy of remark, that the difference in the con- sumption of food arises on the turnips alone. We would therefore recommend every person wishing to feed cattle on steamed food, to use potatoes, or any other food that would not lose bulk and weight in the steaming process; as there is no question but, in doing so, they would be brought much nearer to each other in the article of expense of keep. . tº in e Upon the whole, we freely give it as our opinion, that steaming food for cattle will never be attended with beneficial results under any circumstances whatever, because it requires a more watchful and vigilant superintendence during the whole process, than can ever be delegated to the common rum of servants, to bring the cattle on steamed food even upon a footing of equality, far less a superiority, to those fed on raw food.” One of the stots that had been fed on raw, and another on steamed food, were kept and put to grass. In their external condition, no one was capable of judging of how they had been fed. . They were put to excellent grass on the 20th May, and the stot on raw food gained condition until 20th July, when, perhaps, the pasture may have begun to fail. That on steamed food fell off to that time three stones live-weight. On the 20th August, both were put on cut grass, and both improved, especially the one that had been on steamed food, until the 18th October, when both were put on turnips, on which both became alike by the 10th November, relatively to what they were at the beginning of the season ; that is, the stot that had been on raw food increased from 108 to 120 stones, and the other from 106 to 118 stones, live-weight. Similar results as to profit were obtained by the experiments of Mr. Howden, Lawhead, East Lothian. “To me,” he says, “it has been most decidedly shown, that preparing food in this way (by steaming) is any thing but profitable. Local advantages—such as fuel and water being at hand--may enable some others to steam at less expense ; but in such a situation as mine, I am satisfied that there will be an expense of more than 10s. a head upon cattle incurred by the practice. A single horse-load of coals, carriage included, costs me 10s. ; and exactly six cart-loads were required and used in preparing the food for cattle, equal to 6s. 8d. each, and probably as much more would not be an over-estimate for the additional labour in the three months.” A few facts, worthy of attention, have been brought to light by Mr. Howden's experiment. It seems that raw potatoes and water will make cattle fat—a point which has been questioned by some of our best farmers. Potatoes, beans, and oats, taken together, will feed cheaper, in reference to time, than turnips or potatoes separately ; and from this urº- * * Prize Essays of the Highland and Agricultural Society, Vol. x., p. 253, 76 ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT, fact may be deduced these, namely, that potatoes, when used alone, to pay their expense, would require the beef fed by them to fetch 4d. per lb. ; turnips alone 3}d.; and potatoes and corn together 3d., and at the same time yielding beef of finer quality. There is a curious fact to be observed in the table given by Mr. Howden. Of six heifers, one in a lot of three weighed 102.2 lbs. ; and another, in another lot of three, weighed also 102.2 lbs., on 5th March, when both were put up to be experimented on ; and on the 5th June following, both were of the same weight, namely, 1176 lbs., both showing exactly an increase of 154 lbs. ; both being supplied with the same weight of food, namely, 140 lbs. of turnips, to the one given raw, to the other cooked. This is a remarkable coincidence ; but here it ends, and the superiority of cooked food becomes apparent ; for the beef of the heifer fed on raw turnips weighed 5 st. 12 lbs. and its tallow 5 st. 10 lbs. ; whereas, the beef of the one fed on steamed turnips weighed 44 st. 4 lbs., and its tallow 6 st. 22 lbs. How is this to be accounted for 2 Partly, no doubt, in the cooking of the food; but partly, I should suppose, from the state of the animal indicated by its hide, the thinner one of the heifer fed on steamed turnips weighing 3 st. 10 lbs., showing a greater disposition to fatten —that is, to lay on more rapidly the valuable constituents of beef and tallow—than the thicker hide of the other heifer fed on raw turnips, which weighed 4 st. 4 lbs. It is but justice, however, to the raw turnips to mention a fact to which Mr. Howden adverts. The turnips appropriated to the experiment were, it seems, stored against a wall, one store having a northern and the other a western aspect; but whether from aspect, or dampness, or other cause, those intended to be eaten raw had fermented in the store a while before being observed, and thus, becoming unpalatable, of the 18 tons 15 cwt. stored, about 2% tons were left unconsumed ; so that, in fact, the heifers upon raw turnips did not receive so much food, or in so palatable a state, as those on the steamed. It seems, steaming renders tainted turnips somewhat palateable, while it has a contrary effect on tainted potatoes, the cattle preferring these raw. Turnips require a longer time to steam, and, according to Mr. Howden’s experience, they lose 3 or 1, more of their weight than potatoes.* You may observe, from the state of the turnips in the store, the injudiciousness of storing them against a wall. Mr. Boswell, of Kingcausie, in Kincardineshire, comes to the same conclusion in regard to the unprofitableness of feeding cattle on cooked food. He says “It appears that it is not worth the trouble and expense of preparation to feed cattle on boiled or steamed food ; as, although there is a saving in food, it is counterbalanced by the cost of fuel and labour, and could only be gone into profitably where food is very high in price and coal very low.” His experiments were made on ten dun Aberdeenshire horned cattle, very like one another, and their food consisted of the Aberdeen yellow bullock-turnips and Perthshire red potatoes. The five put on raw food weighed alive 228 stones 11 lbs., and the other five on cooked food 224 stones 6 lbs, imperial. When slaughtered, the butcher considered both beef and tallow “to be perfectly alike.” Those fed on raw food cost £32 2s. 1d., and those on cooked £34 5s. 10d., leaving a balance of expense of £23s. 9d. in favour of the former. The opinions of feeders of cattle are not alike on all points. Thus, Mr. Boswell says, “That the lot on raw consumed much more food than those on steamed,” a fact directly the reverse of that stated by Mr. Walker. “Twice a week, on fixed days,” he continues, “both lots got a small quantity of the tops of common heath, which acted in the way of preventing any scouring; in fact, turnip-cattle seem very fond of heather as a condiment.” * * “The dung of the steamed lot was from first to last in the best state, without the least appearance of purging, and was free of that abominable smell which is observed when cattle are fed on raw potatoes, or even when a portion of their food consists of that article. Another fact was observed, that after the steamed lot had taken to their food, they had their allowance finished sooner than the raw lot, and were therefore sooner able to lie down and ruminate.” There is a curious fact mentioned by Mr. Boswell regarding a preference and dislike shown by cattle for turnips in different states. “When raw turnips and potatoes were put into the stall at the same time, the potatoes were always eaten up before a turnip was tasted ; while, on the other hand, steamed turnips were eaten in preference to steamed potatoes.t.” * - - 6 * * & Some curious and interesting facts have been arrived at by Mr. Stephenson, Whitelaw, East Lothian, in his experience of feeding cattle. They are detailed by him in a paper on feeding different lots of cattle, not with cooked and raw food, but with different sorts of food in a raw state. He divided a number of cattle into three lots, containing six in each lot, and fed one on oil-cake, bruised beans, and bruised oats, in addition to whatever quantity of turnips they could eat, and potatoes for the last few days of the experiment; another lot received the same sort of food, with the exception of the oil-cake; and the third lot was fed entirely on turnips. The live-weights of the lots varied considerably from 486 to 346} imperial stones. I need not detail the particulars of the experiment, which was conducted from November 1834 to March 1835, for seventeen weeks, as they present nothing remarkable; but their results are worthy of your attention. * Each beast in the lot that got oil-cake, cost, in seventeen weeks, £5 2s. 7d., or 6s, per week; an. the lot fed on corn, 4:3 17s., or 4s. 6d. per week; and in that fed entirely on turnips, £1 18s. 734, or 2s. 3d. a week. Estimating the value of the fed beef at 6s. 6d. per imperial stone, there was a loss of 124 per cent. sustained on the lot fed on oil-cake; a gain of 83 per cent. on that fed on corn; and a gain of 22 per cent, on that fed entirely on turnips. * g ſº tº This was the cost incurred for producing every 1 lb. of increase of live-weight, the lot fed on oil-cake increasing from 486 to 694 stones; that on corn from 443 to 544 stones; and that on turnips from 346) to 395% stones. The oil-cake cost 4% pence to produce 1 lb. of live-weight. corn ... 3i, & W º tº º turnips ... 4; tº a * * * tº º ſº It thus appears, that the joint agency of corn and turnips produces 1 lb. of live-weight at the cheapest rate of the three modes adopted. & g º g g Another conclusion come to from the data supplied by this experiment is, that it took— 90 lbs. of turnips to produce 1 lb. of live-weight. 40 lbs. of potatoes tº $ g # 4 ſº # * * 8%, lbs. of corn tº e 21; lbs. of oil-cake * Prize Essays of the Highland and Agricultural Society, Vol. X., p. 266. f Ibid., Vol. X., p. 271. ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT, 77 And the cost of doing this was as follows:— 90 lbs, of turnips, at 4d. per cwt. tº a º tº a º 3%d. per 1 lb. of live-weighi. 40 lbs. of potatoes, at 1s. 6d. per cwt. & º º tº E tº 6; * , º, tº ſº º 8% lbs. of corn, at 3s. 3d. per bushel of 60 lbs. ... 5%; tº e º e # 21% lbs. of oil-cake, at #d. per lb., or £7 per ton ... , 16# $ $ $ tº dº ſº Could these results be proved to be absolutely correct, there would be no difficulty of assigning the degree of profit to be derived from employing any of these substances in the feeding of cattle. Is not the enquiry, however, of as much impor- tance, even in a national point of view, as to deserve investigation at some sacrifice of both cost and trouble P You should not suppose that cattle consume food of any sort in a uniform ratio ; for see actual results. The lot that was fed entirely on turnips increased the first thirty-two days of the experiment only 8 stones, whereas the same beasts, in forty-six days immediately preceding those on which the experiment began, increased 48% stones; and in one eight days of the forty-six they consumed 160; lbs. each of white globe turnips every day, and increased 1 lb. of live-weight for every 65% lbs. of turnips consumed. The 90 lbs. taken above as the quantity of turnips required to produce 1 lb. of live-weight is therefore not absolute, but assumed as a medium quantity, for it will happen that 1000 lbs. will not produce 1 lb. of live- weight. What the circumstances are which regulate the tendencies of cattle to fatten are yet unknown. The fact is, cattle consume very different quantities of turnips in different states of condition, consuming more when lean, in proportion to their weight, than when fat. A lean beast will eat twice, or perhaps thrice, as many turnips as a fat one, and devour as much as # part of his own weight every day, while a very fat one will not consume 15: I had a striking example of this one year, when I bought a very lean two-year old steer, a cross betwixt a short-horn bull and Angus cow, for £6 in April; and he was a large-boned thriving creature, but his bones were cutting the skin. He was immediately put on Swedish turnips; and the few weeks he was on them, before being turned to grass, he could hardly be satisfied, eating three times as much as the fat beasts in the same hammel. Ile was grazed in summer, and fed off on turnips and sold in April following for seventeen guineas. Some stols of Mr. Stephenson's, in November, eat 2% lbs. for every stone of live-weight they weighed ; the year after the quantity decreased to 1% lb., and after the experiment was included, when their live-weights were nearly doubled, they consumed only 1% lb. The object which Mr. Stephenson had in conducting the experiment, the results of which are narrated above, were four-fold:–1. To compare cattle fed partly on oil-cake with those which had none ; 2. To compare those fed partly on corm with those which had none ; and 3. To compare those fed solely on turnips with those which had different sorts of food. The results were, that oil-cake is an unprofitable food for cattle, that corn yields a small profit, that turnips are profitable, and that when potatoes can be sold at 1s. 6d. per cwt. they are also unprofitable. “When any other food than turnips,” observes Mr. Stephenson, “is desired for feeding cattle, we would recommend bruised beans, as being the most efficient and least expensive ; on this account we would prefer bruised beans alone to distillery offal. As regards linseed- cake, or even potatoes, they are not to be compared to beans.” * ſº “We give it as our opinion, that whoever feeds cattle on turnips alone will have no reason, on the score of profit, to regret their not having employed more expensive auxiliaries to hasten the fattening process... This opinion has not been rashly adopted, but has been confirmed by a more extended and varied experience in the feeding of cattle than has fallen to the lot of most men.” 4. Another object he had in these experiments was, to ascertain whether the opinion is correct or otherwise, that cattle consume food in proportion to their weights. On this subject Mr.Stephenson says, “That cattle consume food something nearly in proportion to their weights, we have very little doubt, provided they have previously been fed in the same manner, and are nearly alike in condition. Age, sex, and kind have little influence in this respect, as the quantity of food consumed depends much on the length of time the beast has been fed, and the degree of maturity the animal has arrived at—hence the great difficulty of selecting animals to be experimented upon. To explain our meaning by an example, we would say, that two cattle of the same weight and which had been previously kept for a considerable time on similar food, would consume about the same quantity. But, on the contrary, should two beasts of the same weight be taken, the one fat and the other lean, the lean beast would perhaps eat twice, or perhaps thrice, as much as the ſat one; more especially if the fat one had been for some time previously fed on the same food, as cattle eat gradually less food until they arrive at maturity, when they become stationary in their appetite.” . . “We shall conclude," he says, “by relating a singular fact,” and a remarkable one it is, and worth remem- bering : “That sheep on turnips will consume nearly in proportion to cattle, weight for weight, that is, ten sheep of 14 lbs. a quarter, or 49 stones in all, will eat nearly the same quantity of turnips as an ox of 40 stones; but turn the ox to grass, and six sheep will be found to consume an equal quantity. This great difference may perhaps,” says Mr. Stephenson and I think truly, “be accounted for by the practice of sheep cropping the grass much closer and oftener than cattle, and which of course, prevents its growing so rapidly with them as with cattle.” y e Still another question. remains to be considered in reference to the feeding of cattle in winter, which is, whether they thrive best in hammels or in byres at the stake 2 The determination of this question would settle the future construction of steadings; for, of course, if more profit were certainly yielded to the farmer to feed his cattle in hammels than in byres, not only would no more byres be erected, but those in use converted into hammels; and this circumstance would so material change the form of steadings, as to throw open the confined courts, embraced within quadrangles, to the influence of i. sun, at the only season these receptacles are required, namely, in winter. Some facts have already been decided regardin the comparative effects of hamniels and byres upon cattle. Cattle are much cleaner in their persons in hammels than ; byres. No doubt they can be kept clean in byres, but not being so, there must be some difficulty incidental to byre-manage- ment, and it consists, I presume, in the cattle-man finding it more laborious to keep the beasts clean in a byre than in hammels; otherwise, the fact is not easily to be accounted for, for he takes no special care to keep beasts in hammels clean. Perhaps when cattle have liberty to lie down where they please they may choose the driest, because the most comfortable spot ; whereas, in a byre, they must lie down upon what they cannot see behind them. There is another advantage derived from hammels; the hair of cattle never scalds off the skin, and never becomes short and smooth, but remains long and mossy, and all licked over, and washed clean by rain, until it is naturally cast in spring, and this advantage is felt by cattle when * Prize Essays of the Highland and Agricultural Society, vol. xii., p. 61. 78 ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. sent to market in winter, where they can withstand much more wet and cold than those which have been fed in byres. A third advantage is, that cattle from hammels can travel the road without injury to their feet, being accustomed to be so much upon their feet, and to move about. It has been alleged in favour of byres, that they accommodate more cattle on the same space of ground, and are less expensive to erect at first than hammels. That in a given space more beasts are accom- modated in byres there is no doubt, and there is as little doubt that more beasts are put in a byre than should be: but I have great doubts that it will cost more money to accommodate a given number of cattle in the hammel than in the byre system ; because hammels can be constructed in a temporary form of wood and straw, and make beasts very comfortable, at a moderate charge, whereas byres cannot be formed in that fashion ; and even in the more costly form of roofs and walls, the shedding of hammels requires, comparatively to a byre, but a small stretch of roof; and it is well known that it is the roof and not the bare masonry of the walls that constitute the most costly part of a steading. I have seen a set of hammels, having stone and lime walls, and feeding troughs, and a temporary roof, erected for £1 for every beast it could accommodate, and no form of byre could be built at that cost. But all these advantages of hammels would be of trifling import, if it can be proved by experience that cattle afford larger profits on being fed in byres; and unless this superiority is established in regard to either, the other is undeserving of preference. How, then, stands the fact? has experiment ever tried the com- parative effects of both on any thing like fair terms? Mr. Boswell, of Balmuto, in Fifeshire, and of Kingcausie, in Kincar- dineshire, has done it; and it shall now be my duty to make you acquainted with the results. To give as much variety to this experiment as the circumstances would admit, it was conducted both at Balmuto and Ringcausie, and the beasts selected for it were of different ages, namely, two and three-year olds. At Balmuto four three- year olds were put in close byres, and four in open hammels, and the same number of two-year olds were accommodated in a similar manner at Kingcausie. Those at Kingcausie received turnips only, and of course straw ; at Balmuto a few potatoes were given at the end of the season, in addition to the turnips. The season of experiment extended from the 17th October, 1834, to 19th February, 1835. The results were these:— St. lbs. The four hammel-fed two-year olds at Kingcausie gained of live-weight ...... 45 8 ... four & ºr three-year olds at Balmuto • * * tº a 3 ... ... 45 0 St. 1 bs. 91 3 ... four byre-fed two-year olds at Kingcausie gained of live-weight 32 7 ... four ... three-year olds at Balmuto tº 5 tº * * * 36 O 6 tºº - 8 7. Gain of live-weight by the hammel fed 6 * * & tº 23 1 This is, however, not all gain, for the hammel fed consumed more turnips, the Aberdeen yellow bullock, than the byre fed. ton. Cwt. QrS. lbs. Those at Kingcausie consumed more by tº a tº go tº e 1 7 2 6 And those at Balmuto . . . tº tº º tº $ tº tº tº º 2 4 3 22 Total more consumed © tº º 3 12 2 O sºººººº sº-ºº: In a pecuniary point of view, the gain upon the hammel fed was this:–23 stones 1 lb, live-weight-183 stones beef; at 6s. per stone, gives £4.2s., from which deduct the value of the turnips, at 4d. per cwt., £1 4s. 2d., leaving a balance of af2 7s. 10d. It is a prevalent opinion amongst farmers, contradicts it; for the two-year olds in the hamme 320 stones 7 lbs., in the same time that the three-year olds in the hammels at Balmuto, of gaining 46 stones. Besides, the young beasts in the hammels at Kingcausi; gained 15 lbs., while the older cattle in the hammels at Balmuto gained over those in the byre only 10 stones. way, the young cattle had the advantage over the older. & § º Mr. Boswell observes, that “hammels ought never to be used unless when the climate is good, and the accommodation of courts dry and well sheltered; and, above all, unless when there is a very large quantity of litter to keep the cattle constantly clean and dry.” Shelter is essential for all sorts of stock in any situation, and the more exposed the general condition of the farm is, the more need there is of shelter; but be the situation what it may, it is, in my ºpinion, quite possible to render any hammel sheltered enough for stock, not only by the distribution of planting, but by temporary erections against its weather-side; and these means will be the more effectual When the hammelis placed facing the meridian sun, which it should be in every case. If these particulars are attended to, and a rail-water spouſ placed along the eave in front, to prevent the rain from the roof falling into the court, and an open drain, with con Venlel] t gratºgº. connected with all the courts, is properly made, the quantity of straw required will not be inordinate, as I have ºl sº ... farming dry turnip-soil. Mr. Boswell's testimony in favour of hammels, is mºst satisfactory º, it is this. l ..". Y e º t of my own experiment, as well as the unanimous opinion of every agriculturist with whom I have conversed on the su ject, I feej convinced that there is no point more clearly established than that cattle improve quicker, or, in other words, thrive better in open hammels than in close byres.” g g - f I have dwelt the longer on the subject of feeding cattle, because of its great importance tº the farmer, and because o the uncertainty sometimes attending its practice to a profitable, issue } and there is no doubt, that whether it leaves a profit or not depends entirely on the mode in which it is prosecuted. Many are content to fatten their º 1I] i. º or because others do so, provided they know they are not actually losing money by it, but if they do In Ot º Xe theil catt € º the ripest state they are capable of being made, they are, in fact, losing part of their value. 13ut how are thcy, you may ask, that young cattle do not lay on weight so fast as old. But this experiment is at Kingcausie gained 44 stones 22 lbs. on their united weights of weighing together 350 stones, were over those in the byre 12 stones So that, in either * Prize Essays of the Highland and Agricultural Society, Vol. xi., p.461. ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. 79 best to be made ripe 2 There lies the difficulty of the case, and it must be attended with much difficulty before a man of the extensive experience in fattening cattle as Mr. Stephenson, would express himself in these words: “We have had great experience in feeding stock, and have conducted mumbers of experiments on that subject with all possible care, both in weighing the cattle alive, and the whole food administered to them, and in every experiment we made we discovered sºme: thing new. But we have seen enough to convince us, that were the art of feeding better understood, a great deal more beeſ and mution might be produced from the same quantity of food than is generally done.” So far should such a declaration deter you from fattening cattle, it should rather be a proof of the wideness of the field that is still open for you to experiment in. EXTRACT FROM Mr. KARKEEK’S PRIZE ESSAY ON FAT AND MUSCLE. “ In the rearing of store cattle, the same care is not required as we have recommended for breeding ones—the object of the feeder, in this instance, being to obtain as much profit as he can from the food which the animals consume ; hence, their value must be determined by the profit which they yield to the breeder and feeder conjointly, from birth to maturity; but, even in this case, it may be worth the farmer's notice to be acquainted with the fact, that nearly the whole of the fleshy part of an animal, which will afford any profit to him, is assimilated chiefly during the period of its growth. When it has arrived at its full growth, the addition made to its bulk is chiefly an accumulation of fat, which surrounds and is intermingled with the substance of the muscle. Thus, the object of the farmer, whose purpose is profit, will be to force his stock on, during the period of their growth, by such kind of food as will produce the largest quantity of muscle at the least expense. * “ The farmer must now see the necessity of giving his growing stock peas, beans, and barley-meal, in conjunction with good hay, grass, and turnips, varied, of course, according to the seasons, and other circumstances. Experience has proved that health and appetite are best promoted by a change of diet, rather than by limiting the quantity and quality. There should be no cessation in the rearing and feeding of cattle, for those that are stuffed and starved by turns are sure to prove unprofitable to the feeder; and there is no more certain rule in the rearing of young stock than this—that those that suffer a deprivation either in quantity or quality of food, never become perfectly developed, either in bulk or proportions. * It forms a curious and interesting subject for the feeder to ascertain the respective quantities of the fleshing and fattening properties contained in an acre of the different crops commonly used in the rearing and feeding of stock. The following acreable table of nutrition has been constructed chiefly from Professor Johnston's calculations; the proportions of gluten, &c., from Boussingault's analyses, which indicate the fleshing properties; and the proportions of starch, gum, and sugar, the fattening properties:- Produce Weight of Weightof Gluten, weight of Starch, weight of One Acre of per Acre. Grain per Albumen, and Gum, Sugar, Water Bushel. Caseine. and Fat. per Acre. lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. Field Beans ........... e e º e º 0 ° 25 bush. 64 450 672 256 Peas .............. • s e s a s e º º tº e º 'º 25 “ 66 38O 845 208 Oats. ..................... e e e º e s 50 “ 42 290 1,168 336 Hay ............. & © e º 'º º e g tº e s e º 'º º 3 tons. *s 480 2,790 752 Potatoes........................ 12 “ -º-º-º: 600 3,330 20,250 Carrots ................. tº g : * ~ 0 tº 25 “ -* 1,120 5,800 47,600 Turnips............... g is tº e º e º e º 30 << * * 800 6,700 56,950 Wheat Straw ................ 3,000 lbs. -*. 40 940 450 Oat Straw .................... 2,700 “ -* 36 970 324 Barley Straw ................ 2,100 “ E-s-s ºn 28 646 252 The farmer meed not learn from this or any other table the importance of a turnip-crop, it being acknowledged by all that it is indeed the sheet-anchor of light-soil cultivation; for although the per centage of nutritious ſnatters is trifling in the turnips, when compared with that of peas, beans, oats, or barley, yet the immense weight of these roots which can be grown—sometimes as much as forty or fifty tons per acre-gives such a very, large quantity of nutritious matters, that Śwede turnips may well be called the raw material for the manufacture of beef. The farmer will also see the peculiar adaptation of the carrot crop to the rearing and fattening of stock—the nutritious, matters which they contain being greater than turnips, and being admirably fitted for the heavier description of soils, where turnips cannot be successfully cultivated. He will also see, from the immense weight of water contained in those roots, that it is desirable to give some dry provender to his sheep, such as oat or barley-meal, oat-straw, hay, or pea-haulm, which would prevent the frequent scouring of those animals, the consequence of so much watery food ; and by occasioning the food to remain longer in their stomachs, a greater quantity of mourishment would probably be obtained than when eaten alone. The hay-crop varies very considerably in its per centage of nutritious matters—more so, we believe, than any other; the consequence of difference of soil, and methods adopted in saving. In the blades and stems of the young grasses there is much sugar, which, as they grow up, is gradually changed, first into starch, and then into woody fibre; and the more completely the latter change is effected, the riper the plant becomes, and consequently the less soluble are the substances it contains. Both theory and experience, then, indicate to the farmer the necessity of cutting his hay before it has attained its full stage of ripeness. It is also very probable that, when exposed to dry in the sun and air after being cut, to a certain extent this change from starch to woody fibre takes place. Hence the more quickly the drying is effected, the less exten- sively will changes of this kind take place; and this shows the necessity of the hay being frequently turned during “saving,” and being rapidly dried.—Royal Agricultural Society's Journal. *** --wºme * I have not been enabled to obtain a correct analysis of the Swede turnip. 80 ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT, LETTER XV. ON BURNING EARTH. THE difficulty and expense of cultivating tenacious dense clays, especially on steep hill sides, and the impossi- bility of feeding stock on them advantageously, is motorious. If burning earth will enable us to cultivate these soils with roots, and consume them on the land, it is a pity it is not more extensively practised. One cause of its, not being repeated (for it requires to be re-burnt every few years) is the fear of injuring or diminishing the soil. This is a mistaken notion. We get rid of the 50 per cent. of fixed moisture, which always exists in aluminous earths, but doing so, is one of the principal benefits of the system. Dr. Playfair, in his recent eloquent and instructive Lecture before the Royal Agricultural Society of England, clearly proves that no injury or waste arises from frequent burning, but the very reverse: he says, “A like result to that of rotation is produced by many other processes on farms; take, for instance, burning and paring. By this process injurious organic matter is consumed. Plastic clays are quite changed in their character, not only by having all their constituents brought into contact with the oxygen of the atmosphere, and thus undergo change, but the clay itself acquires another character, it becomes absorbent, and takes up from the atmosphere ammonia, carbonic acid, and watery vapour, as well as affording more ready access to the nutritious substances which may be dissolved in water. But in this you see nothing is destroyed, and the inorganic elements of the soil are only brought more fully into contact with the absorbing organs of the plants.” ** The doctor might have added, the more solid yards per acre you burn, the greater will be your profit. I believe such is the case. We have also the valuable authority of Professor Liebig, in favour of burning clays, which he considers greatly beneficial and not exhausting to the soil. He says, page 135, “Common potters clay forms generally very sterile soils, although it contains within it all the conditions for the luxuriant growth of plants: but the mere presence of these conditions does not suffice to render them useful to vegetation. The soil must be accessible to air, oxygen, and carbonic acid, for these are the principal conditions to favour the develop- ment of the roots. . Its constituents must be contained in a state fit to be taken up by plants. “Plastic clay is deficient in all these properties, but they are communicated to it by a gentle calcination.” The Professor further says, “He saw an example of this in the garden of Mr. Baker, at Hardwick Court, near Gloucester. The soil consisted of stiff clay, and from a state of complete sterility, had been made remarkably fertile by simple burning. The operation in this case was carried on to a depth of three feet, certainly not an economical although a completely successful experiment.” The Professor also says, page 136, “ The mechanical operations of the farm, fallow, the application of lime, and the burning of clay, are the means of accelerating the disintegration of the alkaline silicates of alumina, and of supplying to plants their necessary constituents at the commencement of a new vegetation.” - This is conclusive evidence that we may from time to time “burn away” the soil, or rather the moisture in it, without danger, and with a very satisfactory result to our pockets. It will diminish, on the part of heavy land farmers, that longing after rich and mellow valley lands, which from their limited extent, are only available to the favoured few ; and it will convince landlords there is no necessity for restricting their tenants as to this mode of cultivation. Mem.—I attach great in portance to using lime with the burnt earth. It is much like using brick rubbish and mortar, which we know benefits heavy land amazingly. As there may be many not acquainted with all the details of this operation, I venture to annex, at the risk of appearing prosy, extracts from Mr. Robert Baker's “Prize Essay on the Farming of Essex,” and also from Mr. Charles Randell’s paper “On the Improvement of Cold and Heavy Soils, by the Application of Burnt Clay.”f The more carbonaceous, woody, weedy, or fibrous matter is burnt, the more profitable will be the result; I would therefore strongly recommend all landlords to allow their tenants to root up and consume all old useless timber, ugly pollards, huge fences, and weedy banks. They will be ready enough to avail themselves of the offer, and I will venture to predict, that, at the expiration of the lease, an increased rent of 3s. to 5s. per acre would be cheer fully paid by the same or succeeding tenant. In fact, it would be very desirable and equitable, in all cases of removing the growing timber, to agree for an increased rent of from 2s. to 4s. per acre, regard being had to the quantity and quality. In all cases of burning, manures should be applied occasionally, and drainage and liming not neglected; limo is essential, affording carbonic acid and lime; where coal or fuel abounds, the burning may be carried on through the winter. * Royal Agricultural Society's Journal, Vol. v., part 1. f Ibid, page 113. ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. 81 In the Agricultural Gazette, of December 28, 1844, is a statement, on good authority, that peat land burnt and not limed was unproductive ; whilst another portion, burned and liméd, produced abundance of roots. The unlimed portion was afterwards limed and rendered equally productive. The lime, it appears, neutralizes the free humic acid abounding in the peat, rendering it available to plants and prevents that noxious brown colouring liquid so destructive in peat soils. The lime also affords carbonic acid (which it attracts from the atmosphere), and is, in itself, an important constituent of certain plants. 4 T ~ * e tº º Most of us know, practically, that old brick rubbish, with mortar from buildings, is good for land. This is after all, only burnt clay and lime, with a little sand, hair, and coal ashes. Extract from Mr. BREE's Letter. “If you burn heavy land you will obtain a considerable quantity of potash, in the ashes, and a good deal of aluminous earth as brick-dust. I do not think you obtain much carbonaceous matter in burnt earth, unless it is the paring of grass land or the edging of ditches, &c. The amount of charcoal, depending of course upºn the quantity of vegetable matter in the soil. In ordinary soils, the carbonaceous matter exists principally in the form of humus, which is dissipated as smoke in the burning.” ON THE COMPARATIVE VALUE OF CHALIKING, OR DRAINING AND BURNING. It is no uncommon circumstance for a tenant Farmer, on a fourteen years' lease, to clean chalk his land, where chalk is distant, at an expence of £10 per acre, whilst he would be quite alarmed at the idea of paying his landlord an interest of seven per cent. on perfect drainage in the shape of increased rent. Let us see how the matter stands— £10 Capital, sunk in 14 years, is per annum, an increased rent of about £0 14 0 Annual Interest on Capital so expended, at 5 per cent. . . . . . 0 10 0 Annual increased Rent . . . . . . . . f. 1 4 0 Suppose he had drained the land perfect and permanently with pipes, as described at p. 40. At a cost of per acre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £3 0 0 And burned the surface, as described at pages 82 and 83 . . . . 2 10 O The account would stand as follows—f 5 : 10s. capital sunk in 14 years, is, per annum, An increased Rent of about . . . . . . . . . . º 0 8 0 Interest on Capital so expended, at 5 per cent. . . . . . . . . 0 5 6 Annual increase per Acre . . . . . . . 0 13 6 The advantages of the two systems, independent of cost, will not bear comparison. The latter mode of operation being by far the most advantageous, and immediately available, as well as the cheapest, except where chalk is near at hand, O N T H E FAR M IN G O F E S S E X.* BY MR. ROBERT BAKER. “The process of burning the soil for the purposes of manure being peculiar to this district, it will not be out of place to give a description of it here :- ... “Two methods prevail—the one the burning in large masses, and the other in small heaps; and two descriptions of soil are collected for that purpose, the one consisting of the green strips of uncultivated land lying round the sides of arable fields, which are dug up in spits, about eight inches in depth, and partially dried by the sun and air before burning: by the other, the whole surface of the field is ploughed up, with as thin a furrow as possible from a grass, sainfoin, lucerne, or other layer, upon which a large quantity of vegetable matter has accumulated, this being partially dried by exposure during summer, is collected into heaps containing about four square perches, and by a process peculiar to the district is burned so as to be reduced about one half in bulk ; the ashes and unconsumed matter being jº spread afterwards as manure for the succeeding crops. The labourer commences by placing some large pieces, by which he frames an artificial furnace, open to the windward side; he then places some dry stubble and ordinary wood or thorns upon the top, and partially covers with some of the driest of the collected earth; the fire is then applied, and as it progresses the whole is speedily covered with the earth, and by degrees the remaining earth is applied ; taking care not to allow the fire to burn through to the external surface of the hº without applying a fresh supply of the earth, and at the same time avoiding laying it on too thickly, so as to press down the heap closely in the first instance. With attention and assistance many of these fires are kept burning at once, night and day, until the whole field is gone over; and, with proper skill and attention on the part of the workmen, very little escapes the action of the fire in the first instance ; but should any escape it is collected and carried -a-um- * Prize Essay—Royal Agricultural Society's Journal, Vol. v., part i., p. 12. G 82 ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. forward to the next succeeding row and there consumed. It is difficult to burn the earth collected from around the sides of fields in the same manner, and the heaps are therefore increased to a larger size, the same process only being necessary of Constantly applying fresh matter wherever the fire is seen bursting through, for should that be the case to any extent, unless fresh wood is applied and relighted, the fire of the whole soon becomes extinguished. The objection to burning in large heaps arises from the strength of the fire being so much increased as to burn the earth red, and sometimes almost as hard as brick. Attempts have been made in districts where gravel is scarce, to burn it for the purposes of road-making, but the action of the frost soon reduces it to its original state, so as to make it in the end totally useless, unless a coating of gravel is afterwards applied. “The advantages attending this process have long been canvassed by agriculturists; the objections taken by landlords and their agents are, that by continual repetition it reduces the staple of the soil, and by concentrating the salts and other matter enables the tenant to avail himself of all their fertilizing properties at once, to the injury of his successors; but on the other hand it is contended that, as the application of the system enables the tenant to produce excellent crops of vege- tables upon a soil where none were originally grown, he is enabled to keep an increased quantity of stock, and thus more than repay by manure what he had exhausted by the fire. It is not the intention here to discuss the question, but to state a few facts that elucidate the point: the process undoubtedly when carried on in small heaps does not waste the soil as much as when in large heaps; the direct advantages are the destruction of the coarse vegetable matter it contains, thus pre- venting the injurious effects from wireworm and other insects, by killing their larvae, the production also of a clean surface, and the being enabled at once to bring the land into cultivation for rape, turnips, mangold-wurzel, and cabbages, all of which succeed well after burning without the aid of farm-yard manure. The land to which the ashes are applied becomes for several years afterwards more easy to pulverize; and the first grain crop succeeding the application is frequently increased in quantity and quality 20 to 25 per cent. Barley certainly partakes of the benefit more than any other crop, and the clover generally succeeds well afterwards. “These are all advantages; and as to the disadvantages they cannot be met better than in the statement of Mr. Litch- field Tabrum, formerly of High Roothing, Bury, an extensive clay-land farm; for upwards of twenty-five years the system was carried out by him in the most perfect manner, and the sums paid for labour were very great ; but from the fact of the number of sheep and meat stock being increased six-ſold at the latter portion of his term, and the productiveness of the farm so greatly increased as to induce the succeeding tenant to give a very considerably increased rent, we may infer that the advantages far outbalanced all those objections raised against its practice; and from the high eulogiums passed upon the system by Mr. Tabrum, and the success that attended his exertions throughout, added to his afterwards carrying out the same process upon his succeeding occupation with equal success, no one acquainted with him, or the facts attendant, can doubt of the benefit to be derived from his course of practice; other experienced farmers in the district, of whom Mr. Saltmarsh, of High Easter, stands most prominent, carry out the system with the same advantages. One point I omitted to mention is, that the quality of the barley as well as quantity is considerably improved, and 2s. per quarter is the lowest estimate at which such improvement can be calculated ; the soil containing a large portion of chalky matter is partially converted into lime, potash too is formed from the combustion of the inert vegetable matter, and other salts are generated, conducive to the increased production of crops of vegetables and grain. The cost of producing this manure is less than that of any other description equally beneficial to the land; it is produced upon the spot where it is required, without the expense of carriage, and the whole outlay does not exceed, in any case, 40s. per acre. The burning into ashes is paid for either by the cubic yard, or at so much per heap; for digging and burning, 5d. to 6d. per cubic yard of ashes is paid, and, in some cases, 7.d.; for burning in heaps of four perches each, of which there are forty to the acre, 8d. per heap, and the use of a horse or donkey and cart. Upon land containing a greater portion of silica the cost is increased, as the waste is greater than where pure clay abounds, as each heap will then contain about one and a half to two yards, and sixty to eighty yards will be given to each acre: when carted on from large heaps from forty to fifty yards per acre are usually applied, but this depends upon circumstances; when applied for turnips the ashes are sometimes spread in drills and ploughed in as other manure. It has been suggested and proved that if the finest portions are sifted from the coarser, and drilled in with the turnip-seed, the crop will be more benefited than by adding a larger portion in the ordinary way. Some farmers combine the ashes with bone-dust and other artificial manures with decided advantage; and setting all other considerations aside, the process assuredly induces a clean system of culture, and finds much useful employment for the labourers, not the least important consideration at this time.” ON THE IMPROVEMENT OF COLD AND HEAVY SOILS BY THE APPLICATION OF BURNIT CLAY.” IXY CHARLES RANDELL, Esq. “I can Not answer the inquiries contained in your letter, and that of Sir Robert T hrockmorton accompanying it, as to my experience of burnt clay, in any way that will be satisfactory to you without going somewhat into detail, and at the same time recalling to your mind the state of cultivation of my farm when I entered upon it, at Michaelmas, 1839. You will believe that it is not from any disposition to speak harshly of the tenants who preceded me upon. this farm (formerly in two) but because the extent to which it has been benefited by burning would not be appreciated, if it were not under- stocd that the farm at the time I mention was in an exceedingly bad state. Without further preface, then, I will proceed to describe what has been done in this way upon a few of the #. regretting that I cannot, in all cases, speak, with accuracy as to the results, not having expected that I should be called upon for them. . In One Or two CaSeS, however, I can do so. - “In speaking of what the several fields were worth, I give the price at which they were valued when the estate was pur- chased for your father, about twenty years since. The valuation upon which my rent was fixed—at least as far as regards the clay-land to which these remarks apply—is very nearly the same. * Letter to E. Holland, Esq.-Royal Agricultural Society's Journal, Vol. Y., part i., p. 113. ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT 83 “I will begin with the field upon which my first attempt was made, not only for that reason, but because it is the worst piece of land; indeed, I hardly need say, it is as bad as possible for the rent is but 5s. per acre; It is called, The Coal-pit Ground:’ eleven and a half acres of the worst description of clay, on the side of a steep hill, wholly inaccessible to the dung-cart, to which it has always been a stranger. It had been allowed to run down a few years before I entered upon it; and the former tenant being bound by the covenants of his lease to have a certain portion the last year in fallow (for which I, as the in-coming tenant had to pay 40s. per acre), had broken up this field for that purpose. After he had ploughed it once, I offered, in the middle of the summer, to take to it on the same terms as if a fallow had been made, in brder that I might at once begin burning it. This was agreed to, and I immediately began with the scuffle and drag to work the clods of couch and wiry turf to the surface, which, with the quantity of soil necessary to procure a good dressing of ashes, were shovelled and forked together, and burned in heaps of about a cart-load each, with wood cut from the wild neglected hedges surrounding the field; at the cost, including spreading, of £2 per acre. I scarcely, know how to put a value upon the wood used, as it would barely have been worth drawing home; the cost of cutting and tying-up would be about 5s. per acre. The weather, while the work was in progress, proved unfavourable ; and this, as it was the first, so it was the least effectively done of any I have attempted; nevertheless, the result has been highly satisfactory. The field, after the ashes were ploughed in lightly, was planted with vetches, which were eaten off, the succeeding summer (1840), by sheep, and then planted with wheat, which produced rather more than thirty bushels per acre ; it was sºn with seeds upon that crop, and continues down, carrying a much greater stock than it has ever before done. . Should | find it deterio- rate, as such land as this always does. I shali plough it again for vetches, having no doubt that it is now capable of bearing a crop sufficient, when consumed upon the land by sheep, to enable it again to grow as good a crop of wheat as the last, to be then laid down again. - “My next piece was upon part of a field, called ‘The Barn Ground,’ in the spring of 1840, and as I have done several others, under similar circumstances, and with precisely the same results, the description need not be repeated. This is a field of fifteen acres, six of which are a strong clay of tolerable quality, worth 30s. per acre; the remainder fair turnip-land: the clay part of the field was exceedingly foul, so that I had two objects to attain—first, to get rid of the cough by burning it in the clods; next, with the ashes so obtained, to render the whole field alike capable of bearing a crop of Swedes. In this I succeeded. The whole, after draining so much as needed, was limed and manured alike, and the crop was quite as good upon the clay as any part of the field. All the Swedes were consumed upon the land by sheep the succeeding barley-crop was much better upon the part that had rarely, if ever been planted with barley before : the seeds were equally good, but the wheat crop this year (1843), from the excessive growth of straw, went down early, and became mildewed, and though more bulky than the rest of the field, will not be so productive. The field is now ploughed for Swedes again; and the clay part is as healthy, and as likely to grow a crop, as that which has always been considered turnip-land. “I come next to two fields, upon which the fertilizing power of ashes is still more satisfactorily shown than in the last- mentioned, inasmuch as they were not assisted by any other kind of manure; and, in these two cases, I am enabled to speak with accuracy of the results. The first called ‘The Rough Hill' (five acres), adjoining the Coal-pit Ground beforementioned, not being considered quite as bad, is valued at 7s.6d. per acre. I entered upon it (1839), a foul beam-stubble; the fol- lowing May it was skin-ploughed to the depth of about one inch and a half, and all that the plough raised burned with faggots, at the cost, including spreading, of 42s. per acre. It was then ploughed and scuffled; and the weather being favourable, was lendered perfectly clean ; then planted in October with vetches, which, the following summer were eaten off by sheep folded upon them ; succeeded by wheat (1842), which produced two hundred and twenty-six bushels of sixty- two pounds; or one bushel more than forty-five bushels per acre. It was sold at 7s. per bushel; and this crop, therefore, produced more than the fee-simple of the land in its former state. This field is also laid down, and is looking very well. A small field of three acres, adjoining, was similarly treated at the same time, with nearly equal results; the difference in the wheat-crop, which was not quite so heavy, being attributable to the vetches having been eaten off by horses tethered on them, instead off by sheep. “The second instance of the power of ashes, unaided, in rendering exhausted land capable of producing a crop, is I think, even more conclusive than the first, as it may be said that the great crop of wheat produced in the former case was attributable to the manure left by the sheep in consuming the vetches; and this is correct in a degree, but I know not how that crop of vetches could have been obtained to create that manure without the ashes. In this case, however, the land received no such assistance. It is a field called the “ Brake Ground’—ten acres of exceedingly stiff clay, valued at 25s. per acre—and was, Michaelmas, 1839, an awfully foul piece of two years old—I was going to say seeds—however, it had been down two years; and, for want of something more fit, I was induced to plough and plant it with wheat, and a miserable speculation it proved. The seed time of that year, as most of us in this part of the country very well remember, was exceedingly wet. This, combined with the bad state of the land, left me no resource but to dibble it; this was done as well as it could be, and after being twice hoed the following spring, the crop was as nearly as possible sixteen bushels per acre. Here then was a stubble in the best possible state for burning, and the weather being dry after harvest, it was skim-ploughed, and attempted to be dragged, but that was impracticable—it was so tied together that it could only be parted with forks, which increased the expense of burning this piece to 50s, per acre; but it was well repaid : the quantity of ashes burnt could not have been less, upon by far the greater part of the field, than from one hundred and fifty to two hundred yards per acre. It was then planted, after being ploughed, with vetches; but such a crop of crowfoot, charlock, and rubbish of all descriptions came up the following spring, that I had all mown off together, and carried to the fold-yard. I then proceeded to fallow it, but, as if this field was to be unfortunate, the latter part of the summer proved wet, and it was very imperfectly done, and after draining was left till April, 1842. The whole of that month proved dry; the field was forked at an expense of 25s. per acre, and by that means rendered clean at last. No rain fell till the night of the 11th of May, and on the 12th and 13th it was drilled with barley, the produce of which, fit for and sold to the maltster, was fifty-six bushels per acre. The next crop was beams, mixed with a few grey peas, and certainly the greatest crop of straw I had ever seen; what the produce may be I cannot yet say, but I shall be enabled to inform you, as it is stacked by itself; but I should suppose nearly or quite as many bushels as there were of barley. It is now wheat, without manure; after that crop, my intention is 2. take vetches, wheat, clover, wheat—still without manure—in G 2 84 ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. order to see how severe a test the ashes can bear. The produce of each corn-crop I shall, if you wish it, be pleased to give you. “The field to which the inquiries of Sir Robert Throckmorton referred, is called the ‘Green Hill'—thirteen acres of stiff but tolerably productive wheat-land—and will come under what I have said relative to part of the Barn Ground : it was equally foul, was burned equally well, was drained, limed, and manured; and produced an excellent crop of Swedes— no turnips of any kind having ever been planted upon it before. This was done in 1841. It has grown barley and seeds since, as good as I could wish, and is now planted with wheat. I have also a piece planted with wheat, after vetches, for which the field-eleven acres of Very bad clay-land—was burned, and on which no manure had ever been laid : this, like the Brake Ground, must support itself for some years. “All these pieces of land to which I have now alluded had the ashes burned and spread upon the field, at the expense, as I have said, of from 40s. to 50s, per acre ; the greater part done with wood cut from the hedges, the value of which I can scarcely state. When that was all exhausted (a good deal having also been used to put upon the tiles in draining) I had recourse to coal, and can state the expense. Three tons of raked slack, which costs here from 9s. to 10s. per ton (at the pits 38.), will burn in the summer in heaps of about a cart-load each—more than one hundred yards to the acre. I have had in some cases much more than this done; and as the labour of burning with coal is rather less than with wood, the whole can be well done at a cost of £2. 10s. per acre. “But there is another mode of procuring ashes, which, though somewhat more expensive, has its advantages; these are that it can be done at a time of year when the other mode would be impracticable from wet, and also that in doing it the banks, borders, and high headlands, frequently seen in old enclosures, are removed; it is by burning these in large fires of fifty to two hundred yards with coal, and carting and wheeling the ashes upon the land. I have done a good deal in this way, and the cost, not including horse labour, which of course varies with the distance to which the ashes have to be drawn, is as follows: 36. d. One hundred yards per acre, labour to burning, at 6d. ....... tº e º 'º a w e º ſº tº .......... 2 10 0 Two tons of coal, at 9s. ........... * * * * * * * * * * * * * s tº e º a t < * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * e a e tº ºf a • * e s tº . () 18 0 Wheeling and spreading a distance of fifty yards from the heaps, and filling and spreading the remainder, one hundred yards, at 1%d............. ......... 0 12 0 .64 0 6 --> “I give you the following as an instance of the effect of this latter mode. “A field of clay-land, called ‘Bitton'—twenty acres, worth 28s. per acre–was wheat in 1842. During the following autumn and winter I had the banks and headlands all round the ground burned, which produced two thousand four hundred yards of ashes, four hundred of which were drawn to another field. Part of the piece, about five acres, was planted with vetches, which were mown while green for fodder for the sheep, to eat while consuming the turnips upon the other fifteen ; upon these five acres a dressing of ashes—one hundred yards to the acre—were spread when the vetches were removed, and after being cleaned by the requisite ploughings and scuffling, it is now planted with wheat. The crop upon this portion of the field must therefore depend entirely upon the ashes : it has derived no benefit from the vetches. Upon the fifteen acres, which were dressed in like manner during the winter, where no attempt was ever before made to grow turnips in consequence of the tenacious quality of the land, and without the aid of manure of any description, except the ashes, I have had a very excellent crop ; and the most extraordinary part of the matter is that, though the greater part has been eaten off in the months of October and November last, which were very wet, by nearly four-hundred sheep constantly kept upon them, the nature of the soil has been, for a time, so changed by the ashes, that I have been enabled to plough close behind the sheep, and drill the wheat as fast as ploughed. wº “I need not multiply these instances further. I have dressed, in one or other of the modes I have described, upwards of one hundred and forty acres, besides using a large quantity of ashes as bottoms for dung-heaps, and where it has been done a sufficient length of time to give any result, the effect has been unvarying. “With regard to the latter mode, I should observe that success will depend entirely upon how the ashes are burned. If dug, and thrown with the spade upon the fires in large pieces, a double quantity of coal will be consumed, and the ashes of no more value than so much brick-ends. The proper mode is to move the soil with a pickaxe, breaking it all the time as much as possible; it is then put lightly upon the fires with a shovel. I would, however, advise no one to commence opera- tions in this way without first seeing how it is done by men who have had some experience; no description would be sufficiently intelligible to enable any one, a stranger to it, to practise it with success. g “That the mechanical effects of ashes in rendering heavy land friable has a great deal to do with increasing its powers of production, there can be no doubt; but it is unfortunately as certain, that their effect in this way is not so great in subsequent years as in the first two or three, though it will always be considerable. This is accounted for by the natural tendency of ashes, like lime, to sink into the soil. T hey, therefore, in a few years become incorporated with a larger proportion of earth than at first, and their effect in rendering it more easily workable gradually diminishes; but that their virtues are not to be attributed to their mechanical effect alone, as I have heard it contended, I have proved by wheeling ashes upon the surface of part of a crop of vetches, when the part so dressed showed, in the succeeding spring, a superiority which was distinguishable as far as the field could be seen, and when the crop was cut (green) while the whole was heavy, that part to which the ashes were applied was completely rotten in the bottom. * For those who, like myself, have to undertake the task of getting a considerable tract of foul and poor clay-land into a tolerable state of cultivation, there are, to my knowledge, no means by which it can be accomplished in so short a time, and with so great a certainty, as by burning: let it be accompanied in all cases by draining; let the first crop be &l green one, consumed upon the land; and the land will be at once established, and may ever after, at the least pºssible expense, be maintained in a productive state, provided it be kept clean and cropped in a fair and reasonable manner. ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. 85 ON B URNING CLAY. BY ELI TURVILL.” BURNING land is much practised in the Roothings, containing nine parishes, and adjacent parishes, High and Good Easter, Roxwell, Mashbury, Pleshey, over a country about ten miles from south to north, and from five to six miles from east to west. The expense of burning land is from 20s, to 25s. per acre, according to the previous state of the land and the present price of labour. The fuel generally used is a good waggon-load of haulm per acre ; some give a small quantity of brush-wood, which is trimmed from the brows of hedges, or a portion of bean-straw in addition. Some burn the heaps at four perches square, 40 per acre, and each heap is expected to contain three yards of ashes. Some burn the heaps at eight yards square, 75% per acre, and each heap is expected to contain two yards of ashes. The eigh yard fires cost 2s. to 3s. per acre more than the four-perch fires. The whole of the ashes are spread, and the land fallowed in the usual way. It is repeated every ſour to six years, as may suit the rotation of crops. It is an excellent preparation for all kinds of corn; on the thin skin land white turnips are grown well after burning; it absorbs the water, the land dries earlier, can be worked and sown sooner in the spring. . The improvement on the crop amply pays for the outlay, as well as having the land much better for the following crops. Burning is a fertiliser to the soil, and the oftener it is burned the more it improves the staple and quality of the land. So far from destroying the soil, it acts greatly to its improvement, and is highly conducive to the growth of the cultivated crops; the effects may be seen more particularly in the clover. It is too early in the season to send some ashes, or clay which has been burned. * Mr. F. Mathews, of High Easter Land, owner and occupier to a considerable extent, burns all he can, and allows his tenants to break up old pasture, provided they burn. BY LITCHFIELD TABRUM.f IT is thirty years since I began the system of burning earth for manure, on a very small Scale, in an imperfect and very expensive manner; but in a few years afterwards I reduced it to a regular course of farming, commencing by sowing from 10 to 12 lbs. of the best trefoil seed, and from four to six pecks of rye-grass per acre, on the exhausting wheat crop, early in the spring, having it harrowed and rolled in, the expense of which is amply repaid by the autumn and spring feed it produces, enabling a much larger flock of sheep to be kept. There is a two-fold advantage in being liberal in the quantity of seed sown— º is, in the quantity of feed and in the increase of herbage, which materially assist the burning, and much improve the quality of the ashes. It is highly necessary to have the land well under-drained before it is burnt. I drained nearly all the Bury Farm about four yards apart (some only three yards, which paid the best) before I burnt it. I have now made up my mind to have them only six or seven feet apart, and from sixteen to eighteen inches deep, with the mole-plough and sixteen horses. I have proved it positively by experience that the mole-plough on the clay lands is far superior to the spade, independent of the comparative small expense of the former. If you observe as the mole of the plough moves on, you will see the earth heave up near a yard wide each side of the plough, and it loosens the subsoil much more effectually, in my opinion, than any other plough made for that purpose, and prevents the possibility of any stagnant water remaining on the land. It might then always be sown on the flat or Kentish mode, instead of the old-fashioned Roothing ridges, or high-back stetches; that is, if it is followed up by effectual burning about once in six or eight years, with an intermediate coat of yard manure or folding, and would double the returns of much of the Roothing land, both as to stock and crops; and (what seems to be so much overlooked by most of the landed proprietors, but what I consider, in these times in particular, of infinite importance) it would enable a farmer to employ double the number of labourers to advantage, and eventually increase the value of the land full twenty-five per cent. I believe I was the first who introduced the system on the clay lands; and although it cost me, for several years, £1000 per annum for labour, on little more than 500 acres, I am perfectly satisfied with the result as to myself, and I know the farm is let for more than thirty per cent. more to the present tenant. I state this, Sir, to satisfy you of the permanency of the improvement. I give your bailiff, Eli Turvill, much credit for the business-like manner in which he has stated the particulars—resulting, as they must, from an observing and inquiring mind ; and I think what I have stated here, from practical experience, fully bears him out. If you follow this system out, it will from the number of labourers necessary, require the vigilant eye of the master to do justice to it. I could say much more in favour of burning were I to go more into detail as to the results from my burning for the last twenty years, but I fear I have already troubled you too long. HAVING applied one sack of salt per acre on some turnip land, and afterwards applied one bushel of bones dissolved in its own weight of sulphuric acid, the turnips failed. Salt should never be used with sulphuric acid for the reasons kindly stated as at foot by Mr. Bree. “Your experiments with turnips clearly failed from the presence either of free sulphurie acid or salt in the soil, either of which will destroy vegetable structure. When salt is added to the soil it is decomposed by the calcareous matter, and its bare soda being set free is appropriated by the plant. “If you use it with sulphuric acid it is also decomposed, by the acid forming sulphate of soda ; but you also set free the muriatic acid of the salt, which is positively fatal to vegetation. The union is bad, and I am not at all surprised at its failure. Sulphuric acid must not be used in a free state. If in Saturating urine or decomposing bone-dust too much is added, positive injury must be the result. In decomposing putrid urine you have carbonate of ammonia and sulphuric acid. * From the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society, vol. iv., p. 267. it Ibid., Yol. iv., pp. 268-9. 86 ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. “The carbonate of ammonia, a pungent salt—the acid the strongest known in chemistry. “But what is the result it is this:— Carbonate of Ammonia A e- –M Carbonic Acid. Ammonia. Sulphuric Acid. (given off) \– J V- Sulphate of Ammonia; which is a salt harmless in its physical character, and totally unlike either the ammonia or sulphuric acid, of which it is composed. “. It is the salt which forms the basis of soot and of guano. But, per se, it will not grow corn It contains, however, one of the most valuable ingredients of manure—the nitrogen, which is necessary to form the gluten in wheat, and, subsequently, the muscle in animal structure. - “In urine, however, you have most of the other ingredients, and when added to stable manure all of them. You have the materials in fact, with a generous soil, to grow corn as heavy again as it has hitherto been. This is my firm opinion. “Let me recommend you to collect (for an experiment the next wheat crop) all the urine you can get into your tank— human urine if you can get it ; when putrefying add one part of sulphuric acid diluted with two, three, or four of water ; add it until effervescence ceases. Apply this in different proportions to your wheat land, and carefully note the result. “You will perceive from what I have said, that the union of lime and salt, according to your friend's plan, is correct and judicious. I consider, in fact, the presence of lime in the soil essential to the success of salt as a manure.” - ELECTRO-CULTURE. ON THE APPLICATION OF THE FREE ELECTRICITY OF THE ATMOSPHERE TO THE MORE VIGOROUS GROWTH OF PLANTS. My object in quoting the following paper is to draw the attention of scientific and intelligent Agriculturists to the possibility of increasing our supply of food, at but trifling cost, by conducting to the earth the current of free electricity in the atmosphere. g The subject, in its details, involves a vast many points for experiment and enquiry as to the most desirable proportion of electricity—how far increased space affects that proportion, whether more numerous wires may not increase the supply, and how far that supply depends on the height at which they are placed. Also, whether copper wire or iron is most advantageous ; the former being a better conductor but not magnetic, the latter being magnetic. No doubt we shall hereafter be favoured by Dr. Forster with further details of his next experiments; mean- time I shall electrify some fifty acres or more of my Tiptree Hall Farm with a view to results. Of course, if greater crops are grown, the land will afterwards require more manure. - It is quite clear Dr. Forster has grown the enormous quantity of thirteen quarters of barley per acre, and straw in proportion. I have had the pleasure of an interview with Dr. Forster, who is indefatigably employed in collecting Electro- Cultural facts from our most eminent electricians. I am deeply indebted to Mr. J. Adam Gordon, of Knockespoch, for this introduction, and for the facts. That gentleman's zeal and personal trouble in bringing this important subject before the public, with a view scientifically to stimulate Agricultural Improvement, does him great honour, and entitles him to our thanks. Dr. Forster, in his letter to Mr. Gordon, of the 29th of November, 1844, communicates the following interesting quantitative result of his experiment, which will no doubt astonish many. “I can only now give you'the good news that the day before yesterday, I threshed, weighed, and measured the Electro- Cultured Chevalier Barley. The space it occupied was twenty-three English poles (more than one pole of the twenty-four pole-electrified spot having been occupied by Victoria Barley). The product was from the twenty-three poles–15 bushels of barley; the bushel weighing 54}lbs. (23 lbs., beyond the usual average), thus giving 13 quarters or 104 bushels per acre.* “The weight of straw from the twenty-three poles was 1350lbs., equal to 9300lbs per acre. - “I do not know the usual average of barley straw per acre, but it is easily to be ascertained and compared with this. “The Rule of Three will easily demonstrate the gain, but I believe that (the tail-corn and chaff were not weighed the straw will be found as the product of the barley is, double the average weight and measure obtained from the acre.” Those who feel a desire to make themselves acquainted with the principles of free electricity and the extraor- dinary conducting power of vegetation, should read Noad's Book, which is full of interesting electrical facts and experiments. - * * * : * * * : * * Electricity (lightning) appears to pervade every body, animal or yegetable. Vitality, light, heat, and electricity, seem closely allied and depending on each other; but I am no electrician. w º I. J. MECHI. * It appears from Stephens's Book of the Farm, page 1070, that of a very large crop of barley of sixty bushels, the straw weighed 3080lbs. per acre, so that instead of double, the straw was more than treple the average, ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. 87 P.S.–Care must be taken to have the lines of wire true from east to west, and the eonnecting wire to the magnetic or compass, north. Otherwise, Dr. Forster tells me the electricity will make to the north-western corner. He imagines the side wires may be hereafter dispensed with, but would not recommend it at present, There is a tendency in electricity to travel northward between two wired plots, but westward plots are not similarly affected. In recent experiments during January, the plots electrified show a visible change to deeper tints of green. ELECTRICAL EXPERIMENTS ON THE GROWTH OF PIANTS.* In our last Number we directed attention to a report in the Times newspaper of some electrical and galvanic experiments on the growth of plants, performed by Dr. Forster of Findrassie House, near Elgin. Mr. J. A. Gordon of Knockespock, first brought the subject before the public at the annual meeting of the Tring Agricultural Association, the proceedings of which were reported in the newspaper before-mentioned ; and hence the publicity Mr. Gordon's statement obtained in all parts of the kingdom. As it appeared to obtain a narration of facts contrary to the natural laws of voltaic electricity, we addressed a note to Dr. Forster, asking for a detailed account of these experiments, to which he was kind enough to furnish a prompt reply. He says—“The Times of the 2d October contains the first public announcement of my electric experiments, and the details are pretty full, and, except in a few parts, they coincide with the written lecture which I sent to Mr. J. Adam Gordon.” Thus authorized, we now give the report, copied from the above-named journal “Many years since Dr. Forster read in the Gardeners' Gazette the account of an experiment made by a lady, which mainly con- sisted in causing a constant flow or supply of electricity (to be afforded by a common electrical machine) to proceed from a summer or garden-house, and which was diffused by wire to a fixed portion of the surrounding ground ; and the effect was (as reported), that vegetation did not cease in the winter on the spot under the influence of this wonderful power; and that what Snow fell during the continuance of the experiment never remained, as it did on the rest of the garden around. This impressed Dr. Forster Yery much, and induced him to place a small galvanic battery in action on a grass plot; and although the power from it was very small, still the effect produced fully confirmed the lady's experiment This, and other facts which Dr. Forster collected, led him to think that the electricity of the atmosphere (a constant current of which was found to proceed from east to west over the whole of this earth’s surface) might, by some arrangement, be usefully employed in agriculture ; for Mr. Crosse, of Taunton, had long since proved that the free electricity of the air might be easily collected by wire suspended on poles of wood at many feet from the earth's surface, the direction of the wire being due north and south by the compass ; and many very interesting and important facts and experiments had been recorded by Mr. Crosse, and mainly collected from a careful observance of the electricity proceeding from the suspended wire. Dr. Forster next placed two poles four feet high in his front lawn, which had been recently laid down with chevalier barley and grass (after draining and subsoil ploughing it), and over those poles, which were due north and south of each other, he stretched a common piece of iron wire, fixing the two ends of it to stout wooden pins, driven in close to the earth, and on the edge of the plot of eight English poles, and around the edges, which were straight lines, he sunk about two or three inches beneath the earth two wires of equal length, the ends of which were fixed and in contact with the two ends of the suspended wire, which were meant not to be too tight, for its contraction in cold mights would break it in two, or pull away the fixtures, and thus defeat the object. Dr. Forster formed two of these plots for experiment, measuring eight square poles each; and then proceeded to criticise his work, and to do so accurately sought the aid of “ Noad's Popular Lectures on Electricity and Galvanism,” and almost the first half-hour's perusal showed him that there was such an error in one part of his plan as would effectually defeat his intention. This was, that the point of a blade of grass or young corn-plant has the most extraordinary faculty or power of attracting or appropriating to itself all the free electricity present at four times the distance that the finest point of metal would or could. So that when the points of the barley-plants should reach one foot high, all the electricity that the suspended wire might before that have collected and conveyed through the buried wire to the roots of the plants would be abstracted by the points of the barley, and thus the suspended wire, getting nothing from the air, could not, of course, supply anything, by which all the induced electrical influence would cease. Dr. Forster, therefore, next day placed poles eleven feet high above the surface with wires, &c., exactly the same, except that the space surrounded by the buried wire was twenty-four poles English measure. - --- “All the results are yet imperfectly known, but these were evident: The barley plants on the two smaller plots (of eight poles each) soon became darker in colour, and grew faster until they had attained to about a foot in height ; the darker green colour then gradually disappeared, and at the end of a fortnight after, there was no perceptible difference but in the height of the young barley plants, and even this ceased to be very apparent as the crop advanced. When the barley of the larger, or twenty-four poles plot, was six inches high, it assumed the same lively dark green, and grew faster than the surrounding unelectrified barley plant, and this difference is maintained up to the last, except that the colour of course in time became yellow, and it was curious that this change occurred later than in the rest of the crop. The number of stooks or shocks was also greater, and each larger when reaped, the ears from one grain of Seed were more numerous and longer, the corn also was larger and harder. To make assurance doubly sure. Dr. Forster fixed to the short four-feet poles of one of the smaller plots pieces of dry pine-wood eight feet high, and suspended two wires to them, one at that elevation and another a foot lower down, and was pleased to find that after some time this plot partially resumed its former darker green colour.” - - Dr. Forster, in his letter to us, then continues :-‘‘ In the Elgin Courant of last week (November 8) you will find that my conclusions and opinions; but not my facts, are made the subject of attack, in a letter signed ‘ R., and headed ‘Galvanism and Electricity.” In the same newspaper, published to-day (November 15) you may find my reply; and I venture to tell you that it is a pretty conclusive one. It has, moreover, I am disposed to believe, the announcement of a fact, as regards the electric state of the globe, not before generally known.” - These two letters we now lay before our readers; and, first, the one bearing the signature of “R.” “TO THE EDITOR OF THE ELGIN COURANT. “SIR,--In your paper of last week, under the head of “Galvanism and Electricity applicable to Agriculture,' there is an account of certain experiments performed in this neighbourhood by means of metallic wires, arranged with a view to convey the electricity of the atmosphere to the soil. The result is stated to have been a considerable increase of the crop operated on ; but, though the --- • A-r ºr *--- *, * * From the Scottish Farmer of December 2, 1844. 88 ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. fact must be received, I think that the following observations will throw some doubt on the cause to which the increase is to be attributed. The intensity of the electricity given off by any charged surface is known to vary inversely as the square of its distance from that surface. Therefore, as in the experiment under discussion, it must have been at a maximum along the line of the buried wires, the most luxuriant part of the crop ought to have coincided with that line, and to have diminished on either side of it, accord- ing to the law above mentioned. Thus, if at one inch from the wire, the intensity of the electricity were sufficient to augment the height of the barley by nine inches, at two inches from the wire it would add two and one-fourth inches ; at three inches, only one inch ; and, at a fraction of an inch greater distance, the effect would entirely cease. “The interior of the plot, thus necessarily left in its natural state, would be encompassed by a very sharp ridge of the stimulated crop, corresponding in outline to that of the subterranean wires. As, however, the soil, in its natural state with respect to moisture, conducts electricity in a slight degree, the influence would extend to a somewhat greater distance from the wires than appears from the above calculations, and, consequently, the ridge would be less acute, but still too conspicuous to escape observation. Instead of this being the case, the exciting agent appears to have operated in an equal degree over the whole plot inclosed by the wires, and, indeed, to have produced the same effect as a top-dressing would have done if applied to a similar surface. “From these considerations, I am inclined to refer the excess of crop to local superiority of soil, or some other not very apparent cause—certainly not to the effect of electricity. “Moreover, although the electric intensity of the atmosphere augments in ascending from the earth's surface, it is ascertained that, except during storms, the air, for three or four feet from the ground, is in a neutral state, both as regards the soil and the superincumbent atmosphere ; and from this we have every reason to believe, that the electric condition of the two regions connected by the wires would be almost identical, since, in the experiment in question, their distance from each other was only eleven feet. “Before concluding, it may not be out of place to examine into the probability of our ever being able to avail ourselves of atmos- pherical electricity as an agricultural aid. “The relation of electricity to vegetation is no new subject of experiment ; but, among the distinguished philosophers who have directed their attention to this inquiry, many have failed in producing any appreciable result on either seeds or plants submitted to electric influence. Others, however, have been more successful, and, though some of them made use of voltaic, and others of frictional electricity, all agree that a plant negatively electrified is in the most favourable state for growth. Now, the atmosphere is almost always positively electrified with respect to the earth ; if, therefore, by any means, we bring down atmospherical electricity to the soil, the latter is rendered positive, or, at all events, less negative than it was before, and, consequently, so far as we know at present, less likely to promote vegetation.—R.” To the foregoing letter Dr. Forster wrote in reply — “‘R.’ quotes a well known electric law as a means of disproving the plain inference deducible from my facts : namely, that ‘the intensity of the electricity given off by any charged surface is known to vary inversely as the square of its distance from the surface,’ forgetting that that law refers to the passage of the electric fluid through the air, or other nearly non-conductor ; and the air, unless very moist, is a very indifferent conductor of electricity. He then at once applies this law to a very different subject and state of things, namely, wires buried beneath the earth's surface three inches, which, I find, will always contain moisture and roots sufficient to render it a very tolerable conductor. This, Sir, you will see, is very different from the nearly non-conducting air, to which the crushing, on which his argument mainly rests, almost solely applies. * º “To make this subject more intelligible to those for whom I now write, we will suppose the three following experiments to be made, and I venture to give their results : — * t * * * “1st, Let a blanket, perfectly dry, be held up by four persons, one at each corner, stretched in a horizontal position, and a charged Leyden jar brought in contact with one of its sides, and the opposite side by a wire being put in communication with the outside coating of the jar, neither of the persons will feel any electric action or sensation. This is that which occurs when the earth is perfectly dry—-a very rare circumstance, if it ever takes place. º “2d, Let the same blanket be moistened by steam or dew, and held in the same manner—a fifth person, With a metal rod, touching the centre ; and let the jar, again charged with electricity, be brought in contact with the sides of the blanket, and all the five persons will receive a shock. This represents the usual state of the earth three inches beneath, as to moisture and conducting power. If the galvamic battery were used, there would be a continuous sensation given to all five persons, although possibly not exactly in equal proportions—similar to the effect of electro-culture. gº tº * 3d, Wet the blanket, and hold it as before, and then all five will receive a strong shock. This is the state of the ground when soaked with rain or melted snow. When electro-culture is employed, we believe rarely will shocks be obtained by the suspended wire eleven or twelve feet from the surface ; but, assuredly, a continuous and nearly permanent current of electricity, such as would be the state of the moist blanket and its supporters, if a galvanic battery, or common electrical machine, in action, Were brought in direct communication by wire, &c., with the blanket. 9 g * * “That there is this continuous current at right angles with the poles of the earth, any person may satisfy himself by this simple experiment:-Place a rod of iron, or a barrel of a gun, about north and south, or vertically, and while it is so held, let a common mariner's pocket compass be gently carried along close to either side, from one end to the other ; and the change in the position of the needle will show that the rod or barrel is, for the duration of the trial, a magnet. This effect agrees with the established electric law, that electricity, passing over iron (and some other metals) at a right angle to their length, renders them temporarily, and, if sufficiently strong, permanently magnetic. Now, turn the barrel or rod, so as to place it about east and west, and no such disturbance of the compass-needle will be observed, unless the iron subjected to this trial was previously magnetic. It should also be observed, that this result is found at the level of the sea, and on very high hills. This must be the reply as to the supply of electic-fluid, and also shows nature's mode of imparting it to the vegetable and animal world. tº § ig * e - “May I recommend your correspondent to try the wet blanket as a defence against electric action ? but with the caution that he does not receive too great a shock, unless one corner touch the earth. & ſº y & & “‘R.’ informs you that many philosophers “have failed in producing any appreciable result,” by means of electricity, on the development of vogetables. True ; but some have succeeded. . Mr. Noad, I believe, failed in consequence of passing the electricity vertically instead of horizontally, as nature does. The next point is as to the kind of electricity required to advance the growth of vegetation. R.’ says, “All agree that it should be negative.” Not so M. Pouillet, for he found seeds geminating give off positive electricity. Mr. Pine, of Maidstone, that, with seed of mustard planted in three vessels similarly, the ones supplied with positive in fourteen days had shot, or produced plumulae 24 inches long ; those with negative, 2% inches (a slight difference, considering the imperfection of instruments, &c.); and those unelectrified Ji inch-so that electrical excitement, of either kind, is of advantage. Mr. Weeks, of Sandwich, Kent, used positive electricity in his experiment with mustard-seed, and they germinated several days before others planted and treated in otherwise a similar manner, unelectrified. ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. 89. “I need scarcely refer to ‘R.'s' surmise of local superiority of soil; as he, and the agriculturists and, horticulturists who are the persons most concerned in the matter, are aware that there were three plots of corn subjected to experiment, and, that which is not before mentioned, at a distance from each other, and that in all at first were greener and taller than the surrounding corn ; that they were all benefited until the height of the braird in the two smaller plots, according to the law mentioned in your paper of the 1st instant, abstracted the whole of the electricity in the vicinity from the suspended collecting wires. “But that which closes the argument as to soil, or other than electro-culture, being the cause of the change observable by all who saw the corn, is, that the darker green colour was resumed in one of the smaller plots, by having more elevated collecting WIre suspended over and adjusted to it. The higher collecting wire could not, I suppose, all will admit, alter the nature of soil in a few days, nor produce one other not very apparent cause of this change, except that referable to the increased supply of electricity. “It is generally admitted, that the main source of the superabundant electricity of the atmosphere arises from evaporation at the surface of the globé; are we then to be told that there is none there 2—that for three or four feet the air is in a neutral state as to its electric condition ? “I could easily have increased the list of electro-cultural experiments, but must conclude by remarking, that although such attempts, by means of galvanic and frictional electricity, are ‘no new subject,” still the use of electricity obtained from the air, for such a purpose, and so applied, is.-Yours, very truly, R. DEWEY FORSTER. “ P.S.—The editor of the Spectator, London Newspaper, of 28th ultimo, in the leading article, referring to the experiments at Findrassie, has this expression, he ‘turns the materials of the thunderbolt to manure,' which—as some sanguine people may most seriously miscomprehend, expecting that less manure will be required, where this aid to culture is employed—it may be as well to state, that it is my conviction that, if there be any change in this respect, more of the common manure of the farm-yard will be required, but with this advantage, the crops will be much more than proportionably increased if the electric fluid be joined there- with than without its stimulus and support. R. D. F.” “From these materials (Dr. Forster writes us), and the following short description and plan of my heretofore mode of experimenting, I hope you will have no difficulty in rendering the matter comprehensible :- “I first fix the length and breadth of the plot for experiment, preferring an oblong square—then get a rope of the length, and while holding one end, and with a compass on the earth, cause the other to be taken out by an assistant to the north or south, as the case may be, and by observing the middle of the compass, cause the other end to be affixed to a stake, due north and south with the one that I was at. Next, by means of the compass, taking with the same rope the half width of one end, and having a stake driven at that spot due east of the starting-point, and afterwards due west, I have the profile of one end of the plot finished. By transfering the line to the stake that the assistant first fixed, and by the aid of the compass, first taking the half width first due east and then due west, I have obtained the six main points of the plot. I have only further to fix the points into which the long poles are to be sunk, and the whole field-plan is complete—thus: — PLAN OF AN EXPERIMENTAL PLOT OF A QUARTER OF AN ACRE. Wooden Pin.5 • * : W. ; }Il The line of the buried Wire. º : Wooden Pin. ºt 3 : : s * : : - O * e * O Gº - Strong Wooden Five pºd The line of the suspended Wire. R. 3. § º *. Aº $—t Hooked Stake. } º Yard vºy wº † : 8. Tú S. 3 ſº # S * & G. : & : * > 3: : # *E*- {A} > “On the important subject of leases,” Mr. Knight said, “I certainly think that it is no more than equitable that the tenant should be secured in obtaining a full remuneration for the capital which he lays on the land. I know that in this neighbourhood, the common practice is, to hold farms from year to year; but the landlord may be called a Way at any moment —the estate may be sold—the tenant may incur considerable loss; I am, therefore, decidedly of opinion, that leases for a term of years would be more just to the tenant, and more advantageous to the community at large. And I think that leases of that description could be arranged on such conditions as would be safe and equitable for both parties concerned I think they would be so if they were carried out on the principle which has been adopted in the Tithe Commutation Act. According to that principle, the rent is governed by the average of the price of corn during the seven preceding years. This I propose to take for my model, The lease which I propose, would be a lease based on a fluctuating corº rent, with regard to the rent with which the leases would begin, whether for a term of fourteen or twenty-one years, I should equall propose to take the Tithe Commutation Act as a guide. But, on this point, I will not look to the last seven years ( . seven years immediately preceding Christmas, 1843) because during some of those years corn was selling at imusual high prices, and the effect of taking those seven years alone, would be too much against the tenant. I will therefore º the whole seventeen years which have elapsed since the averages were first ascertained under the Tithe Commutation Act and I find that the average price of wheat during those seventeen years is little more than 56s. per quarter; I should. therefore, consider it fair to take 50s, as the sum with reference to which the rent shall at first commencë which Tellt, a I have said before, would fluctuate according to the price of corn in succeeding years. This would secure the Fº becoming the victim of any changes that might take place, and at the same time would secure to the landlord as much as i fairness he ought to receive. To this plan objections may be made as regards the farmer ; it may be said that, by tº: the average of the price of corn during the preceding seven years, as the rule for the rent, it might happen that the tenant 104 ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. would have to pay a high rent in a year when his corn was selling at a low price; but no man would undertake a farm of any magnitude who has not an amply sufficient capital; and, if he is possessed of such a capital, it would enable him to meet such contingencies without inconvenience; on the other hand, it may be said that the landlord might suffer because the tenant might run out his land in the latter years of his lease, and leave the farm in an exhausted state. In many instances,” he said, “ that the landlord might lose that control over his tenant which he obtains through the yearly tenure; but so far as I am concerned, I have the satisfaction of thinking that I have honest men, and men of good sense to deal with ; and with regard to control, the only influence over my tenants which I desire to possess, is that which is the natural, and I am sure will be the lasting consequence of the recollection of benefits received. I will add, that as such leases would, in some sort, be a concession to the tenants, I should consider it fair that the expenses attendant upon their preparation, such as the new valuation, the engrossments, stamps, &c., should be equally divided between the two contracting parties. Such, gentlemen, is the nature of my proposition. It is too important a one for me to expect any reply from you, on the subject at the present moment; I only desire you to take the subject into consideration, and should any of you, after due reflection, wish to have leases on such conditions, you will find me ready to practise what I preach.” Also one of lord Stanley's, which he read also :- “But this I say, and as one connected with the land, I feel myself bound to say it, that a landlord has no right to expect any great and permanent improvement of his land by the tenant, unless that tenant be secured the repayment of his outlay, not by the personal character or honour of his landlord, but by a security which no casualties can interfere with —-the security granted him by the terms of a lease for years. I do not speak of a lease for lives. In my experience, with some exceptions, wherever I have found fields badly cultivated, and buildings dilapidated, I have found that the property is held under a life lease. I speak of a tenant who is prepared to join his capital, and go hand in hand with his landlord in the improvement of the farm. The greater the improvement you expect, the greater ought to be the lease you give. I consider it unjust, if you call for improvement, not to give to the temant the moral certainty that the improvement he effects shall repay him during the course of his lease for the expense he incurs. . I will go further than this, and say that there are some expenses of so permanent a character, that while I repeat it again, that it is an inadmissible argument against improvement, if the tenant repays himself for his outlay, that at the expiration of his term, he shall leave his land in a better state than he found it—while l hold this to be an inadmissible position, and admit and contend that in proportion to the amount of improvement expected from the tenant, ought to be the duration of his lease: I will add further, that there are some expenses, more especially with the class of farmers of whom the great majority are composed, which it is idle to expect that they should undertake. If they are to add a permanent value to the land, they ought to be undertaken by the landlord himself, charging on the tenant such an amount of interest as may repay him for the outlay he has made, and at the same time afford a reasonable profit to the tenant.” The CHAIRMAN said that he should be glad to hear some discussion on the opinions expressed in Mr. Fowler's paper ; and with regard to leases, he wished to know what Mr. Fowler meant by long leases. Mr. Fowler said 21 years. , Mr. Machin wished to know how he would fix the rent for the first seven years. He replied, by taking the average of the preceding seven years. STEWPONEY FARMERS’ CLUB. THE twelfth Monthly Meeting of this Farmers' Club was held O]] the 2d of December, 1844, when Mr. Maughan, of Dudley, read the following Essay “On the Expediency of Leases.” F irst, As to the objections against leases:– I find some brought together by an annotator on Tuke's Survey of the North Riding of Yorkshire. Ile observes, it is the popular fashion of the times to rail at tenancy from year to year- to assert that a country,so held must be devoid of improvement, the tenantry oppressed, and the landowners deprived of that share of rent which they ought to . . their lands let on what they call a more durable tenure. He observes, that the permanency of tenure under lease is held to be one of the greatest inducements to cultivation ; but he contends that, with tenants from year to year, Occupation is more durable than with the former—that the occupations of the latter are rarely changed, except for faults; and so far as leases prevent such changes, they are evils. He alleges that few estates let to yearly tenants can be pointed out where the same families have not remained on them for many generations. He contends that where leases are common, the greater part of the tel) all tS are changed at their expiration, for no mutual tie, cither of friendship, honour, or attachment, existing between landlord and tenant, the former is bound only by interest to the latter, and the latter, presuming upon the º of his lease, gives probably some occasion of offence, which is not forgiven when it expires. It is º º: ill i. tenancy from year to year, rents are not so frequently advanced as on estates where leases {l TG g º all Cl that º ". mency of occupation and moderation of rent, tenancy from year to year is most in favour of le º i. t . or such jºration, the landlord has an ample return in the attachment and good. offices of his tenantry. In Othel O Jection, on behalf of the tenant, made to leases is, that if a rent be reserved fluctuating with the price of produce, th; rent bears hardest on the tenant when he is least able to discharge 1t. Another objection to leases made ºn behalf of lº ds 1S, that leases fairly granted on fixed money rents— I mean fairly granted with reference to º existing º time of the contract—often become, by a change of circumstances, altogether one-sided, and in favour o º: º 5 i if the prices of produce advance, the landlord cannot share in the benefit; but if, on the other hº prices all, Ile º iged to #educe the tenant's rent, to keep him (as the phrase goes) on his legs.-Secondly, As regards the º º }}} favour of leases. It is said that no prudent tenant farmer will venture his money in the º º | 18 - and yº security; that is to say, not all absolute certainty that the money expended will be retº ne to º ". º in the opportunity of conducting and of carrying out, in a Series of years, that course of º w nic § < t Il C º: ment, his calculations Were founded, and whereby alone he could hope to redeem ) IS º w - º or the time bestowed, the labour imparted, and the hazards incurred in the enterprise. Another º . ſº O l º is derived from experience of their benefit in many parts of the kingdom, where º . Jº leious # * ºtel. in connection with this subject it has been, perhaps not unjustly said, that in almost every field in the country there is an 49 ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. 105 unworked, or an imperfectly worked mine of agricultural wealth, but that it cannot be brought to light wº * º: ture of money, which, once sunk in the soil, can only be recovered in the course of years; and it is asked, 3.]] i *. * who has his farm from year to year only, with justice to himself and his family, enter freely upon this .. • * º ordinary confidence reposed in landlords, and in the agents of landlords, will not overcome those prudential consic º: the thought that his security is not real, alarms the worldly prudence of the tenant, and banishes all idea of º or outlay. This is a fact of which we may convince ourselves by the evidence of our own ey; that, under ...”. . tenancy from year to year, the lands of this kingdom generally are cultivated imperfectly. There is good and, . management by yearly tenants here and there to be met with, but it is the exception, and not the rule, ſº examining t º arguments of writers upon leases, I have nowhere found so much said, and so well said, In their behalf, as in an article written by Mr. Hannam, of North Deighton, in Yorkshire. As I doubt whether, it be possible to add much to his concep- tions upon this subject, or to improve upon his manner of expressing them, I shall, with this willing º: borrow freely from Mr. Hannam's paper. After speaking of the disadvantages with which the tenant farmer often ge i. to contend—fickle seasons, fluctuating markets, insolvent customers, and other evils—he proceeds to remark, that greater than all those is the disadvantages arising from the uncertainty of the tenant being allowed to continue unmolested º: occupation, after his money shall have been embarked in improvements requiring more than that average outlay which is necessary for ordinary and routine management. Mr. Hannam observes, that upon the system of yearly tenancy there are other attendant evils; one is the facility which it affords to men without skill or capital tº obtain farms; and another, the temptation it holds out to the needy man to make a temporary convenience of a farm. Hence, we continually See tellan tS with a capital of £500 upon a farm requiring £1000; for as the occupier is a tenant from year to year, there is not generally that investigation into his qualifications which there ought to be, and which there undoubtedly would be were a lease for a long term of years about to be granted ; and on his side the tenant is often impelled to take hold of an engagement, though not to his mind exactly, as a convenience, and until he meets with something that suits him better. The result, he observes, of these contracts may easily be defined. If the farm be out of order at first, the tenant who takes it as a conve- nience (i.e. on the determination to get all he can from it without much cost), soon finds that 1t will not bear robbery; but he finds out also that it will not do to expend money on it; he is therefore content to take what it gives, and to return to it nothing ; and he robs it, or it robs him, till after a time there is no more left to rob. In the other case, the tenant finds himself on a farm with a supply of cash below the demand, his farm requiring improving, but, “ it must be done bit by bit; he must see how it answers,” are his cogitations; and of course—as under this sort of management it grows Worse- his land goes half stocked, his crops fail, and he finds himself in difficulties before he knows how to turn himself; the capital he had is melted, and that without making any reform in the condition of his farm ; and in a short time he is left penniless and in the possession of a farm which, after such a course of negligent management, requires a capital. double of what it ought to do. So much, then, for the evils of the system, which the advocates of leases would abolish The advantages of the one they recommend may be stated to be the prevention of those very evils which the other produces. They would endeavour to raise up a class of men possessing capital to expend, and they would give them confidence to expend it. It is not, however, as Mr. Hannam remarks, to be asserted that all tenants holding from year to year are bad managers; on the contrary, there are many, very many, first-rate farmers, who are tenants merely from year to year. But then, as tenants it may be said their lines have fallen in lucky places, or they would not risk the outlay generally necessary to superior management. And even in these cases we may rest assured that those tenants who do much without the security of leases would do more, much more, if they possessed such security. They are, consequently, not such good farmers as they would be were they secure, for a series of years, under the stipulations of a lease. It will perhaps be urged that the farmer will, under a lease for fifteen or twenty years, be too much effected by a depression of prices, unless his contract be a very advantageous one; and that, under such circumstances he will not be able to procure any relief from his landlord. Now, it is true the tenant will not be able to say, “You must reduce the rent of my farm, or I must leave it.” There is, however, no reason to assume that this demand will be made. A contract which has to be in force for a length of time would be considerately made ; it would be based upon the prices of products for a number of years preceding the contract. But when the holder of a lease takes a farm, he values the gross products of the same in its present condition. If, there- fore, he can make it produce one-fourth more than it did formerly, his lease insures him the benefit of it, and encourages him to continue his improvements ; and when a depression of the market takes place, if his produce does not fetch so much as it did once, he finds he has more in quantity, so that the aggregate value shows still in his favour; but, should brisk markets come, he has both good prices and an increased quantity of produce. I deem it too obvious to require it to be argued that the rent reserved ought not to be a fixed money payment, but should fluctuate with the fluctuations in the prices of produce—in most cases with those of grain. By this means, the landlord and tenant are alike protected. But some will say that if this arrangement does good to the tenant at one time it does evil to him at another; for, since high prices are not only caused by increased consumption, but also by decreased production, when the price of grain rises, owing to a deficient yield, or to a bad harvest, the farmer will have to pay an increased rent. This may, in the opinion of some, be a weighty objection. But it really is not a weighty objection, when the subject is duly examined; for, if all the circumstances producing fluctuations in prices are considered, it will be found that the tenant holding under a lease, at a corn or other produce rent, will have three points out of four in his favour. I particularly invite attention to what Mr. Hannam so well says upon this branch of the subject. Take the case of a corn rent for the purpose of illustration. Thus, first, If prices are low from a limited demand, he has a reduction in rent—Second, If prices are low from increased production, he has more grain, yet, at the same time, a reduced rent —Third, If, on the other hand, prices are high from an increased demand, he has a higher rent to pay, but then he has more money to pay it with.-Fourth, It is only when the advance of price arises from decreased production that it operates against him. Then he has a higher rent without any advantage of market; for it is probable that the advance of the value of his grain is more than counterbalanced by the diminution of the quantity. But it should not be forgotten that this diuminution in the quantity of his grain is not all loss to the farmer, Ilis original rent is founded upon the presumption that his land will grow a certain quantity per acre; but this quantity is the average of a number of years, so that if in one year he falls short of the quantity, it is reasonable to suppose that in other years he exceeds it. When we consider, too, that he is, or ought to be, making improvements, it is fair to presume that he exceeds the estimated quantity upon which his rent was originally based, much more frequently I06 ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. and more largely; than he falls short of it. Whilst, however, I am of opinion that the agriculture of England and Wales generally is retarded by the practice of withholding leases, or rather of not insisting upon their acceptance, I wish it to be understood that I do not for a moment recommend an indiscriminate granting of leases to occupiers of farms. The owners of small farms, for instance, will feel that they can seldom enter safely into contracts for a long term of years with the class of tenants who compete for small farms. Their narrow means, their want of capital, renders their covenant of little, if any value. And again, if upon many large estates the owners were suddenly to require and to insist upon a change involving a spirited and enlightened system of farming, and were even at the same time to hold out to their tenantry the security of leases on corn or other produce rents, it would be utterly impossible, in numerous cases, to carry out the cºmmendable objects of such landlords, with the bulk of the tenantry existing upon such estates. An immense proportion of the soil of England and Wales is occupied by men of inadequate capital; another large portion is held by men devoid of energy and enterprise, who are so wedded to their antiquated ways that they will hardly look over their own hedges to see what is being done by their more spirited neighbours. There cannot be any doubt that if it were the practice of an estate to insist upon the acceptance of leases, landlords or their agents would be constrained to sift the resources and circumstances of applicants much more closely than they do at present, when letting farms merely from year to year. The consideration weighs with the landlord or agent that the contract is but for a year, and that if the tenant does not go on pretty well he can be removed by a six months' notice; but we all know that such is the generosity and forbearance of English landlords, generally, that when once an indifferent tenant becomes seated in a farm, he is generally allowed to remain there; he is tolerated and borne with long after a proper regard either to the landlord's interests or the public interests has suggested the reasonableness and the propriety of his being removed. I have lately availed myself of an opportunity of witnessing the effect of leases for twenty-one years, granted in a sºmewhat indiscriminate manner about fourteen years ago to a tenantry occupying an estate of some extent in Cheshire. The Beeston Castle and Peckforton estates, of about 4000 acres, at the period referred to, belonged to the late Sir Thomas Mostyn, as tenant for life, with remainder to a party whose pecuniary embarrassments gave grounds for apprehension that he would, if he came into possession, bear hard upon his tenantry. Sir Thomas—than whom a better landlord, or kinder hearted man never lived-offered, under the powers he possessed, leases for twenty-one years to such of his tenants on those Cheshire estates as might choose to apply for them, and his agent might deem fit to be entrusted with them. Thirteen of the principal tenants on those estates asked for and obtained leases—the only test of fitness applied to the applicants being their having paid up their rents. The leases have been granted about fourteen years. I went over the estate in September last, with my relative and namesake, who has been familiar with every corner of the property for thirty years, and who settled the terms of the leases fourteen years ago, which were very well and equitably arranged. The farms in question being dairy farms, the rents were made to fluctuate with the price of cheese. From the testimony of my relative, and that of some intelligent parties who accompanied us, and from my own recollections of the property, I can state, that only two individuals out of the whole number of thirteen have made the least use of the security and advantages afforded them by their leases. As to eleven out of the thirteen, they and their land have remained alike, as it were, in statu quo; the idea of improvement never for one moment appears to have entered into their minds. Some of those men—the greatest part of them—had not the necessary means of effecting material improvements: they were needy men ; some few were in better circumstances, and better results might have been expected. There were, however, two individuals, whom I may hope without offence to name, who had tfie good sense to set to work at once, to put their land into condition. The names of those tenants are, Mr. Bird, of Beeston Hall, and Mr. Jones, of Park Gate, a farm near Beeston Castle, both near Tarporley. Their process of improvement consisted in draining and in dressing heavily with bones. They drained extensively, and they manured with bones at an expense altogether of from £10 to £12 per acre. Mr. Bird's leasehold consists of two farms, one of about 330 acres, the other of about 84 acres. I heard Mr. Bird affirm, that such was the change produced by management upon the farm of 84 acres (where he, when he was first married, was by his late father placed to live) on nearly the whole of which he expended £10 per acre at the commencement of his term, that where his predecessor made about 25 or 30 cwt. of cheese per annum, he (Mr. Bird), made upwards of four tons, and maintained besides as much stock in horses and young cattle, unproductive of milk, as had been before maintained. Other portions of Mr. Bird's land, besides the 84 acres farm, have been much improved, and he has been repaid, and is being repaid, in a degree that is satisfactory to him, and to which his good management and industry entitle him. The case of Mr. Jones is scarcely less striking. His farm is about 200 acres. ... Ile adopted a course of treatment similar to that of Mr. Bird. It is known to all his neighbours, and I heard him admit it, that before he drained and boned, he kept only twenty-three cows. His land now maintains forty-six, and such of his lands as were in tillage before are in tillage still, and partake of the good management bestowed upon his grass lands. I consider the case of those Cheshire estates very interesting, in connection with the subject of leases, and I give the names and addresses of Mr. Bird and Mr. Jones, that those who take any interest in the matter may, if they please, take occasion to see them and their farms. This case proves how important, in a national as well as individual point of view, would be the effect of granting leases to well-selected tenants, and how absolutely necessary it would be, under a system of leasing, to constrain the drones and the incapables to move on or out of the way. If individuals who advocate leases imagine that material advantage would ensue from the granting of leases to tenants indiscriminately, those individuals labour under great mistake. There must be a great disturbance of the present occupiers—a great severing of old connections, and a great uprooting of old attachments, if the system of leasing is to be suddenly attempted with a view to national and to individual benefit. Landlords cannot, with common prudence, demise their estates for a long term of years, and accept the covenants of parties who have nothing to lose, and who, iſ they had leases to-morrow, would not be able to turn them to the least advantage. In reference to the length of leases, I think where much improvement is to be made, our English term of twenty-one years, or the Scotch term of nineteen years, very fair. If a farm, when leased, be in good condition, there is less necessity for extraordinary outlay, and consequently less necessity for the security of a lease which extraordinary outlay requires. In many cases, however, where outlay is to be made by the tenant, a lease for seven years certain, and afterwards from year to year, and until a two years' notice to quit be given, would afford perfect security to the tenant, and would be conceded by the generality of landlords with less hesitation than a term of nineteen or twenty- one years. I think, whatever the term may be, in the event of the death of the lessee, the lessor should, 1I] addition to his ordinary powers of re-entry, for breach of covenant, have power to determine the tenancy before the expiration of the term ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. 107 by a two years' notice to quit. This period would afford time and opportunity to test the qualifications of the party intro- duced into the tenancy. If his management were good, public opinion, if the right feeling of an English gentleman were wanting in the landlord, would generally secure the tenant against unfair disturbance or molestation. I think such a power to determine farming leases as the one I have suggested, ought to be reserved to lessors, and I think it is one with which English landlords may safely be entrusted. At all events, such a reservation of power to the landlord might be made perfectly unobjectionable, by a stipulation that, in the event of its being exercised, the tenant should be paid for all pering; ment improvements made with the acquiescence of the landlord or agent, of which he had not had time to reap the full benefit. As far as my experience of estate management and of farming leases goes, I should say that there is hardly any system of letting worse than that of leasing upon lives, I have had an intimate acquaintance with some extensive estates (particularly in South Wales) which had been demised for three lives at low rents, a consideration in money having been paid for the leases when granted. I first knew them at the period when the leases were beginning to drop in. The farming was in almost every case the very worst in the country, and although the rents were only one-fourth or one-third of the rack-rent value, most of the tenants had been reduced to beggary by their indolence and bad management. It seemed as if towards the expiration of their leases, when their leases hung upon one or two old lives for instance—it seemed as if the uncertainty of their tenures had paralysed all their exertions. They would not improve, considering the time was near at hand when the lease must expire, and an advance in rent ensue. Another topic to which I will briefly advert, is that of the rate of interest to be charged on money invested by landlords in improvements on farms already let at fair and equitable rents. How often do we see gentlemen, in their desire for extended landed possessions, who, whilst they already have lands almost totally unimproved, imperfectly drained, imper- fectly fenced, with bad roads, and worse buildings—lands on which capital may be made sufficiently remunerative—how often do we see them borrowing money at four or five per cent. to pay for estates bought to pay two or three per cent. i. submit, it is very obvious, that instead of indulging the passion referred to, it would be better for the interests of agriculture, and certainly, in a pecuniary point of view, much better for such purchasers and their families, were they to expend capital on such of their lands as allowed of permanent improvement, although that improvement might not be calculated to admit of the tenant bearing an increase of rent to a greater extent than five per cent. on the outlay. The tenant farmer, however, must obviously lay his account for a better rate of interest ; for, in addition to the interest of his money expended in per- manent improvements, he has his capital to redeem. If holding under a lease, it will depend upon the term remaining in such lease ; if holding under a tenancy from year to year, it will depend upon the confidence he may have in the honour and fairness of his landlord, how he ought to lay his calculations for redemption of outlay. In connection with our present subject it may be remarked, that where a tenant is highly rented, and somewhat crippled in his circumstances by the drain thereby cecasioned, a landlord, instead of reducing the rent, may often, by a little judicious expenditure in promoting, or altogether executing, an improvement, sustain the rent, and confer a greater boon on the tenant than a reduction of rent would have conferred. It is always unatter for the exercise of judgment and discretion, whether the landlord should charge any per centage at all upon an outlay made under such circumstances. I shall now bring my observations to a close, merely observing that it is impossible to travel through England and Wales, in any direction, without feeling a strong con- viction that there must be some serious obstacles to the investment of capital in agriculture The people at large are deeply affected by every measure which has a tendency to fetter the productive powers of the soil, and to depress one of the largest and most valuable classes in the country. It is clearly their interest that corn and other provisions shall be supplied in abundance: and, perhaps, the people of England and Wales may justly complain of the want of leases as one of the principal causes which check the improvement of their own territory.” On the conclusion of the Essay, it was proposed by Lord Lyttleton, and seconded by J. H. II. Foley, Esq., “That the thanks of this meeting be given to Mr. Maughan for his very valuable Essay.” The motion was, by acclamation, carried. Both Lord Lyttleton and Mr. Foley, in speeches of considerable length, expressed their concurrence in the views on leasing embodied in Mr. Maughan's Lecture, and avowed their readiness to act upon them. After an animated conversation on the subject, the following resolution was carried :- “That it is the opinion of this meeting that the present system of letting farms—large farms especially—to tenants to hold from year to year, begets, on the one hand, incaution in the landlords in the selection of tenants as regards their pecuniary resources and personal fitness ; and on the other hand, affords mischievous facilities to men without calculation and com. petency for obtaining farms exceeding their skill and capital to manage, and begets in tenants generally holding from year to year an indisposition to hazard any outlay not required by ordinary and routine management; and that it is further the opinion of this meeting that the granting of farming leases for a term of twenty-one years, or thereabouts, on corn or other produce rents to tenants carefully and judiciously selected, would tend, in an eminent degree, to elevate the pursuit of agriculture, and would incite to the general adoption of the best systems of husbandry.” k- ON TENANT RIGHTS. The question of Tenant Rights is, in my opinion, as important to landlords as to tenants. It is quite clear that the improved condition and increased value of land depends upon a re-modelling of our at present wretchedly unfair and defective system of valuations. I am induced to transcribe the following Report, although a long one, because it entirely coincides with m own views, is full of common sense, and I have no doubt will meet with a response of sentiment in the minds of the great body of landholders and tenant farmers in the United Kingdom. So long as the present system exists of enabling a bad farmer, for a trifling increase of rent to pounce upon and apply to his own temporary uses, the improvements and good cultivation of his more able predecessor, so long may we give up all hope of permanently raising the quality of the soil, and the character of its cultivators. Sº I. J. MECHI, IOS ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. REPORT OF A DISCUSSION ON THE PRESENT CUSTOM OF TENANT RIGHTS, AND THE BEST WAY TO IMPROVE THEM, At a Quarterly Meeting of the Loughborough Agricultural Association, held at the King's Head Inn, September 26, 1844, the Chairman, by way of preliminary to the proceedings, read the circular convening the meeting, and stated the subject of discussion which was to be introduced, namely, 'Til E PREs E N T Cusro M of TENANT RIGHTS AND IN wri At WAY THEY MAY BE IMPROVED. He (the Chairman) trusted that no gentleman in possession of information, and inclincă to impart it to others, would wait until called upon by himself, but that he would afford them the advantage of his science and experience without that preliminary, otherwise it might happen that those who were able to give such information, might be unknown to himself, and consequently overlooked. He begged, however, to call upon Mr. Paget to lead the discussion. Mr. G. Paget, of Sutton Bonnington, on rising to introduce the subject above-mentioned to the meeting, said he did so by the desire of the committee of that institution, and for this reason, he did not feel himself at liberty to refuse when called upon by the Chairman to lead the discussion, though well aware there were many others there, who possessed a far greater knowledge of the question than he did, and who would be able to bring much more practical information to it than he was enabled to do. But, he trusted he should always be ready as far as lay in his power, to assist in developing any subject which might be brought before the meeting. When he thought of the vast importance of the subject, he wished the task had fallen into other hands, seeing that upon the excellence of the relation between landlord and tenant depended so much the improvements which were likely to take place in farming, that the importance of the question could scarcely be overrated. Upon this arrangement depended how far a tenant could expect to reap the value of any improvements he might introduce, and how far he might feel at liberty to spend his time and capital upon improving the property of another with a prospect of advantage to himself. In fact, a fair tenant right must be the first step towards good farming. Agriculturists had had their times of trial, and he was afraid they would have still further trials. Let them then make the most of those times of adversity, and if they could improve their property, by lessons from sad experience, he thought it possible that in ſuture they might not look back upon them with any ill-feeling. IIe thought even that times of adversity, by leading to increased exertions, might be more useful than those of prosperity. He was quite sure that the greatest improvements had taken place in times of a low price for agricultural produce. He thought it very likely they might have those low times again, if so, he trusted they would be met by increased exertions and self-reliance. Perhaps it would be better for him shortly to review the relation of landlord and tenant—to begin, in fact, from first principles, and from those principles to arrive at the relative rights and duties of each party, and, judging ſrom those rights and duties they might be the better able to trace what should be the feeling between them. It appeared to him, that the origin of rent was simply this:–That the landlord had a certain machine which would produce food, and the tenant was able to obtain a certain quantity of produce by the working of that machine. IIe (the tenant) knowing the cost and knowing the value of the produce, was willing to give the landlord a certain portion of the profit for the use of the machine. That portion must depend upon the general profits of the country. The tenant would first expect to obtain the usual rate of profit for himself; the residue would be paid over to the landlord. This he would take to be the “rent.” Suppose, by way of illustrating this position, that any of themselves should be able to obtain £3, for every £100 of capital, and supposing that by farming, they would obtain £10, they would be willing to pay to the landlord 24, retaining £6 for themselves. He merely took this imaginary case to show that the rent of land, must depend upon the profit derived from the sale of produce over the cost of production; the tenant taking first the usual interest for his capital and payment for his labour. It was obvious then, that increased profits arising from improvements must. ultimately increase the rent, because it increased the value of land. In fact, all the science they could bring to bear to increase the produce, and all the machinery to decrease the cost of production, must eventually increase the rent, and find the way into the landlord's pocket. It was true that the best educated, most active and industrious tenants, would be the most pros- perous, because, paying the usual rent of the country, they obtained a larger produce at less cost, and, therefore, gained a larger increase than the usual profit of the country. If, them, the landlords were so much benefited by improvements, he thought they might be fairly called upon to take their share of the expense necessary to obtain so desirable a result. He did not think it should be considered entirely as a tenant's question, because he was sure there were a great many, improve- ments which the tenant could not, and which it would not be prudent for him to make, which yet would answer exceedingly well for the landlord himself to undertake. The distinction would be this—that such improvements as would last for a short time only, as in tillage, manuring, and in the general working of the farm, would fall to the share of the tenant. But improvements which would last for a long series of years, made at a great expense, and from which it would take some time ere the tenant could reap any benefit, the landlord should bear the greater share. It was on that account that he (Mr. Paget) did not look to the legislature for their interference, for the remedy lay with themselves. The way, in his opinion, to get an improved tenant right, was by an increase of knowledge, coupled with an increasing desire bétween landlord and tenant to meet each other fairly as to the things which should tend tº the benefit of each. The usual tenant rights of that neighbourhood he had been kindly furnished with by Mr. Stokes. In the county of Leicester it consisted generally of two-thirds of the fallow crops of wheat or seed, and labout, and upon all brush crops, ploughings, workings, sced and sowing, and the payment of lime bills and carriage put on the last year, ºf the occupation, and also for manure which has been bought; no allowance being made for lime or manure when one white crop has been taken after it has been put on the land. The manure on some farms belongs to the landlord, on others to the tenant. In all cases where the manure belongs to the landlord the hay and straw are valued at a consuming Price, and where the manure belongs to the tenant, the hay and straw at the full value—no allowance to the tenant for turnip fallows, or improvement,. on account of the crop, to the land. Now, he (Mr. Paget) should much prefer that in all cases the manure should belong to the tenant, because the capital laid out, and the skill employed, required a larger return than, in the event of his leaving, the improvement would be valued at to him. He did not deny that it might be valued fairly, because no incoming tenant would object to paying a reasonable price for improvements upon the land. The custom in the county of Derby, as regards the tenant right, was two-thirds of the fallow wheat, and in most parts of the county one-half of the brush crops of wheat, ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. 109 barley, and oats, or beans, seed, and labour, with the payment for any lime put on the land for the crops, with carriage, and also of manure, if purchased. The turnips are considered a sufficient remuneration, without any allowance to the out- going tenant for extra manure or cultivation. The manure generally is the property of the landlord. In the county of Nottingham the custom was very much the same. Now, he (Mr. Paget) should say, that the defective part of the custom of tenant right was, in the first place, that no purchased manure, or even lime, was allowed for, if one white, crop were taken. They were quite sure that the whole value of manure was not exhausted by one white crop. There were many manures which remained in the land for many years. In Lincolnshire it was customary to consider that bones remained for seven years; and in all manures it might fairly be stated that it required some years before the extra value could be taken away. They re-produce themselves in the increased produce, and so manure upon the ground, would be increased in quantity, probably as much as the value of manure brought. In Scotland he knew that a good dressing of lime was calculated to last fourteen years. If that were the case generally, surely one white crop was not a sufficient remuneration. In Norfolk, marl was supposed to remain more than twenty, and even thirty years, in the ground. He believed the benefits from it had been observed for more than thirty years. As far then as manures themselves went, he could not think there could be much difficulty in changing the custom of the country. The greatest difficulty appeared to be in the costs for draining, irrigating, and in buildings; and here this difficulty must always arise ; could a tenant be remunerated for costs incurred, which it would possibly take fifteen or twenty years to repay, and where the farm would, in fifteen or twenty years, be as much benefited as at the time of the outlay'? He confessed it appeared to him that the only way of solving the difficulty was to consider it the part of the landlord to make the permanent improvements, such as draining, irrigating, building, &c., and that the tenant should pay a reasonable per centage for them ; he was sure it was the fairest way—he was sure it was the most economical plan. Six or five per cent. would remunerate the landlord very well for an expense which, in twenty or thirty years' time, would still yield the same profit, while twelve or thirteen per cent. for the probably short period of his occupancy, would not more than remumerate the tenant. In conclusion, the speaker observed, he had simply thrown out those hints, in order rather to hear the opinions of others than to give his own. Ile would conclude, however, by proposing, as a resolution for their adoption, “That it is the opinion of this Meeting that the custom of tenant right in the Midland Counties does not give sufficient security to the tenant for his improve- onents.” Mr. Paget resumed his seat, amid considerable applause, and, in returning thanks, on his health being proposed from the Chair, and heartily responded to, expressed his satisfaction that the meeting had so, kindly taken the will for the deed, in his desire to be of use to them. He hoped, however, that at least his remarks might have the effect of eliciting the opinions of others upon the subject. Mr. C. Stokes, of Kingston, seconded the resolution, and said, that in rising to make a few remarks upon the subject so ably and so fully introduced by Mr. George Paget for discussion, he would observe, that it had been often and truly said that the interests of the landlord and tenant were the same. If he thought the important subject they were then met to discuss would in the slightest degree cause a separation of those interests, he would not take any part in it. From considerable practice and experience in valuing tenant's rights, and from the most mature reflection, he was fully convinced that the present custom of tenant rights are capable of great improvement to the mutual advantage of both parties; and he trusted he should be able to show to the meeting that the landowners and occupiers would be equally benefited by adopting an improved system. . Without any intention of detaining the meeting with many details on the subject, he should state a few facts, showing how the present customs affect the tenant farmers, and injure the landlords. They had heard from Mr. Paget's statement that if he (Mr. S.) or any other occupier of land, were to put on five hundred quarters of lime, or one hundred pounds worth of manure, and take one white crop before quitting the farm, that they would be debarred from all claim to remuneration for such lime or manure; although every intelligent agriculturist knew that the benefit derived from the use of lime extends over a period of from eight to ten years, and that of manure for not less than four. Here, then, were two cases at once clearly showing that some part of the capital of the out-going tenant is left unexpended, and for which he could make no claim. Now, what was the effect of these customs upon the occupiers & Did not prudence and common sense at once admonish them to be cautious in applying capital in the management of their farms 3 and from this cause much less lime, manure, and artificial dressings were used than otherwise would be, under a more liberal system of tenant rights. Ile would recommend that no buildings should be erected but by a special agreement in writing between the landlord and tenant: that all draining should be done by the landlord, and, where this could not be done, the tenant to be allowed a certain number of years occupation for remuneration, or compensa- tion to be made, if he quitted before that time; and that an allowance should be made for all lime, manure, oil-cake, bones, or any other manure, according to the time such manures might be found to improve the condition of the land. He would now call their attention to the great benefits that would be conferred upon the landlords by adopting an improved system of tenant rights. He considered it would place landlords in a much better situation, in their connection with their tenants by enabling them to call upon them to apply more money in the cultivation of their farms, by the application of manures, lime, and any other necessary improvements. Another great advantage, arising from the use of more money in the cultivation of land, was, that it would require tenants with more capital to occupy farms, thereby giving greater security to the landlords for their rents, and increasing the respectability and intelligence of the tenants; and by introducing a system of good cultivation, the value of the estates of the proprietors would not be deteriorated, nor would the owners be obliged to occupy farms out of condition for two or three years, at a considerable loss, before they could let them. Ile trusted he had clearly shown that it was for the interest of the landowners and farmers that an improved system of tenant rights should be adopted, by which a greater outlay would be made by the tenant, the land kept in higher condition, and greater security given to the landlords without that loss which they now sustained by bad farming on their estates. By these means a much greater return would be made from the land, which was of the greatest importance to the public, and still more so when they reflected upon the great increase taking place in the amount of our population every year. He was aware that much had been said about placing confidence in landlords, and no one entertained a higher opinion of the character of the noblemen and the gentlemen landowners of England than himself. He believed, that, generally, they, desired to see their tenants prosperous and happy; but this was a matter of business, not of honour. The interests of both parties should be fairly arranged without injury to either ; so that the security of the tenant should be increased, and the outlay of his capital encouraged; which would not only have the effect of benefiting landlord and il() ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. tenant, but, as he (the speaker) believed, of producing an increased supply at a less cost. Mr. Stokes sat down amid very general cheering. The Chairman said he should take leave to propose to the meeting, the health of a gentleman of great practical experience, and who possessed the ability to bring that experience so ably into discussion. They had been highly gratified by the clear and business-like manner in which the resolution had been seconded, which must carry conviction to the minds of all present, that there really was something wanting to better the condition in which the present occupier stands in regard to his landlord. He proposed the health of Mr. Stokes. Mr. Stokes returned thanks. Mr. Henson, of Walton, agreed with the preceding speakers as to the want of a better defined tenant right, but at starting, the question did not strike his mind as it did that of Mr. Paget. A piece of land was to let, the landlord fixed his price upon it, and if one did not take it another would. This had been the case ever since he (Mr. H.) had been in business. The great thing was, to bring the landlords into the mind that the tenant's right was not sufficiently secured, then, to fix upon some definite plan which could be adopted within the circle of that Association. With regard to what had been said as to liming, he thought if he could get it at a cheaper rate, he should lime oftener. Mr. Stokes said ten years, but he, thought a moderate dressing every six years would do very well. [Mr. Stokes: I was speaking of a full dressing..]. He thought a plan might be adopted of paying, as it were, by instalments—in this way, manure certainly lasted, at least, four years, therefore, a tenant on quitting his farm would be entitled to one-fourth, one-half, three-fourths, or even the whole expense, providing he had had no crop at all; and the same with regard to lime, extending the time to six years and reducing one-sixth every year until the above period had expired. Some gentlemen present would probably furnish them with a better plan than his own as to other manures, he (Mr. II.) not having had much experience in them. As far as draining went, he thought it should extend to ten years, and that would make it easy for both partics; and he had no doubt, that as many of the landlords had supported them hitherto in carrying out their views, so they would again. If this plan were carried out, then a mam, disposed to farm, might lay out his capital with some degree of certainty as to having it again, and a better rent might be given. Not that he supposed the landlords expected a better rent than they had now—if they did they would be mistaken—but the rent would be more certain, by reason of their farms being in the occupancy of good tenants, who would use the land well. Some were of opinion that long leases were desirable. Now, he did not believe that the landlords would take an unfair advantage; but it might so happen that from unforeseen circum- stances the tenant might be induced to leave the farm. He might hear of a better situation ; his death might occur, or the landlord might take an objection to his tenant; and in the event of any of these contingencies, the farmer would not reap the benefit of the money he might have expended. He thought the landlord should bear the expense of the improve. ments in building, irrigating, and erecting flood-gates (where the latter happened to be necessary); for though the tenant might get his ten or twelve per cent. he did not think that an equivalent for his outlay. If some plan were adopted for the increase of their security, a great deal more money would be expended by the tenants in lime, manure, bone-dust, &c. Mr. Henson's health was then given from the Chair, and that gentleman returned thanks. Mr. G. Kilby, of Queniborough, on rising to address the meeting said, the importance of the question to which their attention had been called that day, was so great that it concerned every owner, and every occupier of land in the country. That importance must be taken as an apology for any remarks, which though but a small occupier, he might feel himself called upon to make. They had been highly gratified by the remarks of Mr. Paget, and, indeed, of all the speakers they had heard. Mr. Paget said, the rent was the portion of profit which went to the landlord; he (Mr. Kilby) only wished that after the rent was paid there might always be a profit remaining for the tenant. The matter of tenant right was of great importance, and that of fixity of tenure was perhaps greater ; indeed, they were so intimately woven together, that it was almost impossible to keep them separate, as it was, however, his intention to do. The tenant right, he considered, was not exactly a matter between the landlord and tenant, but between the off-going and incoming tenant. Therefore the question was, whatever alterations might be made, how far would it affect the interests of tenants generally. The interest of the landlord would not be affected in any degree. Ile would appeal to Mr. Stokes, whether everything was not valued from the off-going to the incoming tenant. Mr. Stokes:—I beg to state that the landlord is considered to be the responsible person as regards the tenant right. The Chairman thought the question of leases was a fair part of the discussion, if the speaker were disposed to enter upon it. Mr. Kilby resumed:—IIe thought the present question was one of such high interest, that it would take their whole time to discuss it, and he would, consequently, rather confine himself to it. As to the question whether the landlord paid the tenant right or not, it had not been the case within his own experience, for as far as he had ever been concerned, the incoming tenant always paid what the out-going tenant received. It had been said, that the tenant right in this county was below the mark. The custom of this county might differ from that of any other ; he would, therefore, read an extract from Bayldon, a person who was, perhaps as good an authority upon the valuation of rents and leases as could be referred to :— “Tillage (says that author) implies ploughing, harrowing, fallowing, manuring, and all other operations performed in the annual culture of arable land. There is no direct law to point out the extent of a tenant's right in the property of tillages that remain unex- pended at the time of quitting land, except where held under lease or agreement ; and if the tenant cannot prove that any valuation was paid by himself, or his predecessors, at the time of entry, he is entitled to none at the time of his removal. [So, continued Mr. Rilby, the tenants at will are completely at sea as to what is right or not..] As to the growing crop there is an old established custom founded upon an ancient law, that “He who sows the corn shall reap the crop ;” but, if the tenant sows after the notice to quit is given, the landlord can reap the crop ; because the tenant has no right to sow corn when he knows that he will not have possession at the time of reaping. This law does not relate to contracts or leases. If a tenant plough up any grass land without leave from his landlord, and does not leave as much of the farm in grass as on entry, he is liable by the law to remunerate the land- lord for the damages thereby sustained, which are generally determined by charging half of tillages which are required for a perfect fallow, and a proportionate quantity of hay seeds and sowing.—As to MANURE it is a settled principle, that what IS made from the produce of the farm cannot be removed, but is handed over to the incoming tenant when no agreement exists. [Mr. Stokes –It depends upon the custom.]—LIME. By some valuers its influence is supposed to cease after four White, crºps, and is estimated accordingly, and six years on pasture land. So, if applied only one year, six-fifths of its primitive value is due to the off-going ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. 111 tenant. The custom of the country allows a valuation for lime upon arable land, whole tillage after fallow Or turnips, half tillage after one white crop, and no valuation after two white crops—[there is this difference, observed. Mr. Kilby, between the custom of this county, that there is no allowance after one white crop]—but the cost of carriage, spreading, and watering, is added to the cost of lime. Ashes, earth or clay, when taken from the farm and properly burnt for a manure are valued according to the labour and Cxpenses which have been incurred ; allowing full tillage when laid upon fallows or turnips and valued before producing a crop of corn, and half-tillage after one crop.–BONES. A valuation of six years is allowed when laid upon pasture, and four years on grass successively mown. On arable land, one tillage more is allowed for bones than farn-yard dung. After one white crop has been taken, two-thirds of their value and the labour in producing them are allowed. After tWO white crops, one-third remains, and after three the valuation ceases, but this varies in different counties.—DRAINING. It is a prevailing custom to allow 3. valuation upon draining for ten years, making a deduction of one-tenth of the value of the drain for every year that transpires betwixt the time it is made and the time of valuing. If the drain has been made one year, nine-tenths of its cost is allowed, and so on in propor- tion till the expiration of the ten years. A valuation upon this labour cannot be demanded by law, unles; it has been contracted by agreement, or the off-going tenant can prove his having paid for draining when he entered upon the land. Now draining was the basis upon which the good culture of the land must be pla ced. ... It ought not, however, to come into contact with the rent. He believed it was the opinion of owners and occupiers of soil, that the improvement effected thereby would last for a century. If properly drained, in fact, there was no telling when the profit from it would cease; therefore it was very certain that the landlord should be at the greater proportion of the expense of that portion of Improve- ment on a farm. If a proper system of drainage were to be generally carried out, he was of opinion that the value of land would be increased to such an extent that it was impossible to estimate what this country would produce. There were other improvements, too, which rested with the landlord, but before he went further, he would state that he did not think the landlord should drain entirely at his own expense, and without the tenant contributing aught towards it. By no means: the tenant should contribute something, because he would reap a certain portion of benefit. He thought no tenant could reasonably object to the payment of five per cent on the cost of every tile his landlord might lay down. There was, how- ever, another matter to be considered, namely, the putting the tiles in the ground ; which was an expense generally borne by the tenant. . [Mr. Thornbill:—I put all mine in at my own expense..] So did he (Mr. Kilby), but he thought the landlord should bear that expenditure, and a very great improvement, indeed, would be the result. He had copied from the same author he had previously quoted, the valuation of the tenant right of 241 acres of land; a portion of which was arable. From his valuation what belonged to the out-going tenant of 240 acres amounted to £1,001 16s. 13 d. That appeared a vast amount of capital to be laid out and paid by the incoming tenant, but he thought it very right that a liberal allowance should be paid to the outgoing tenant for the improvements he might have effected. If that were more generally the case, they would not be running over each others heads quite so fast as they now were to get farms, nor would men of straw so easily get hold of them. The more capital there was laid out upon land the better for the landlord, and the better for the tenant. But when they considered the rapid increase of the population of the country, it was of some importance that every acre of land should be occupied, and those improvements introduced tending to produce the greatest quantity of food for the people generally. It might be considered at first that the interests of landlords and tenants-at-will were separate; but, he contended, that they were inseparable, and he would like to see more of an amalgamation of their interests than at present exists. He wished for the time to come when the landlord shali say to his tenant, “So long as you manage my land as you ought to do, I will take care that you have a share of the profits arising therefrom. I do not wish to put the whole profits into my own pocket, but you shall share them.” If (Mr. Kilby proceeded) they could get to such a state of things as that, each of them would be on a better footing than they now aré. He hoped, however, we were coming to the time, when this system would explode entirely, and be no more seen. They all knew, if the landlord had been changing his tenants year after year, or even somewhat longer periods, to what a degraded state of cultivation the land was reduced to, and so it goes on, till he is obliged to take it into his own hands, and eventually breaks and runs away, and the sooner he did so the better. Mr. Rilby concluded by apologizing for the length of time he had trespassed upon their time, which arose solely from a heart-felt wish to see the soil of this country cultivated in the best manner, and a good understanding existing between landlord and tenant. The Chairman said they had again been entertained by the lucid and forcible manner in which the last speaker had dealt with the subject. They had many times had occasion to notice the services that gentleman had rendered; but he (the Chairman) did not see that their proceedings Would be, characterized by too great monotony if, having thanked him before, they thanked him again, and drank Mr. Kilby's good health. Mr. Kilby, in returning thanks, felt he did not deserve the compliment w happy so favourable an opinion was entertained of his services. Mr. R. Smith, of Ilathern, late of Dishley, said it might be anticipated from him th should have a few observations to offer to the company: they would be but few, present subject was simply a discussion to define whether an alteration was necess right between landlord and tenant, or his out-going and incoming tenants. If that were the only point to be discussed, everything that could be said on the question had been said. But, differing from all those who had gone before him, with regard to the particular systems upon which the tenure ought to be based, he wished to know from the chair whether he should be in order in giving his opinion upon those systems at the present moment. He felt doubtful upon the point, but would hear the Chairman's decision. IIe would observe that he saw no reason why any measure should be confined to a district of some ten miles round, or even to the Midland Counties. What was wanted was a legislative enactment for the country at large. Why should a tenant's right on the south side of a bridge or a river be placed in so different a position to his neighbour on the north side of it? He would be Sorry to offend the feelings of any person; but if he were to give yent to his, he might make use of words that might be offensive to some; for there were few there who did not know that he had suffered heavily as a tenant or occupier in that neighbourhood ; and although he was not an occupier now there to any extent, he felt it to be a duty incumbent upon him to stand up and defend the rights of the tenants of that neighbour- hood as much as if he were one of the largest occupiers. If the Chairman would inform him, however, whether the subject he had mentioned was the only point for discussion, and if there were other resolutions to be brought forward, he should reserve what he had to say to a future period. - hich had been paid to him, but was only at upon the present subject he but the first point was whether the ary in the present position of the tenant I 12 ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. The Chairman said, the only ground he was aware of, upon which to settle the question, was the circular by which the meeting was convened. It was there stated that there was to be a subject introduced upon the question of tenant rights, and upon what way they might be improved. Of course, the application of the words to his (the Chairman's) mind, was exceedingly comprehensive, and he was of opinion that they were at liberty to take under their notice and deliberation any lmode by which the tenure might be improved. Mr. Smith then proceeded, and looking upon the subject as fairly launched, and based upon the principle of free and full discussion, said, it had been alluded to and very justly by Mr. Paget, and replied to by Mr. Kilby, as to what was the basis of rent. It was perhaps as indefinite and difficult to describe how the rent was to be fixed as a principle of right between landlord and tenant. The only principle upon which he had seen that the rents could be placed upon a proper basis, and the only one of equal justice, would be a corn rent. Then the landlord, by the price of corn, knows what is made, and would get his remuneration, the tenant his, and the labourer his, in proportion to his employment. With regard to the building and draining, the landlord certainly ought to be at that expense, and the tenants pay a per centage, be that lier centage what it might. It would be infinitely better to pay even more than five per cent. than not to have thorough drainage, and eyery improvement required. The tenant ought to be so situate that he could employ his capital and his industry to the best advantage. Suppose a landlord was involved himself, was the tenant, because he happened to be placed under him, not to improve the land? Were his labourers to be deprived of their labour and employment from the same cause he said, No ; make it a legislative enactment that the buildings erected, the permanent improvements, and those which were made at the expense of the tenant, that at the expiration of his tenancy he should receive a proper remunera- tion for such expenditure. Then, with the present state of agriculture, and the progress of science, he was certain there would be no limit to the ultimate expenditure of capital in the cultivation of the land, nor lack of energy on behalf of the tenantry, if they had the security they ought to have. Then, instead of sending the labourer to other countries, it would be found there would not be enough here to do the work required. What a saving would be effected in the poor-rate, and what profit to the landlord himself! If these first principles were agreed on, let them be laid down more clearly, and let them be improved ; but he repeated the measure must be universal in its operation. Further, he would take the thousands of acres at present in this kingdom uncultivated, and ask how much would not the interests of the industrious poor be advanced by their culture? That they would be most materially benefited there could not be a shadow of a doubt. He was proud to have an opportunity of expressing his feelings upon the subject, and he hoped to see it taken up by all other Societies connected with agriculture—he hoped to see it made the topic at their meetings, and so be disseminated through the kingdom. After some further observations, the substance of which appears in the latter part of Mr. Smith's address, that gentleman thanked the meeting for the patience with which they had listened to him. He was of opinion that a general legislative enactment would be sooner obtained than the application of any plan within a district of ten miles only, and felt sure it was only for the tenants to join cheerfully hand in hand to ensure success. The Chairman then proposed Mr. Smith's health, who returned thanks. Mr. Stokes begged to be allowed to propose a toast. He did not know any gentleman who had spent more money in trying to get good crops, nor any who had succeeded better, than Mr. Charles Paget, whose health he proposed for their acceptance. Charles Paget, Esq., of Ruddington, and sheriff of the county of Nottingham, said he was exceedingly obliged to the meeting for the honour done him. It had been a great object with him for many years of his life to be a good farmer, and since he had gained the opinion of Mr. Stokes that he had succeeded at last, it was a source of high gratification to him. He had listened to the discussion with great interest. It was second to none in importance to the landlord, to the tenant, to the labourer, and the community at large, and he was glad to see the tenantry was alive to its importance, for it was impossible the landlords could make those alterations unless called upon to do so. From the opportunities he had had from his connexion with large landowners, he knew their feeling was decidedly with the tenants. He knew there was a want of that security which would induce a tenant to lay out his money upon the land (and in saying that he threw no reflection upon the landlords themselves); but they would suppose a tenant had entered on a farm ; he had been there five years, and expended £1000, upon improvements: the landlord dies; a minor probably succeeds, and the trustees send over to value the land, and it is valued as it is found. Look again at the man who was compelled to sell his land, which might arise from various circumstances. The person about to purchase examines it, and expects rent from it as he finds it, and the tenant's outlay is sunk. He could adduce many instances to show that there was a want of a fair, honest, and safe tenant right. There could not be the slightest doubt that it would be equally beneficial to landlord and tenant. The tenant, who occupied his land under such advantageous circumstances as were required, could afford to pay a better rent than he who was placed under restrictions with regard to improvement. He trusted that would not be the last discussion which would take place in the country on this subject. The resolution by no means confined it to a district of ten miles. The discussion showed that the arrangements were not sufficiently safe for the security of the tenant farmer. It was better to coufine themselves to what they knew : other parties would follow their example, and, iſ that were so, he did not hesitate to give them his decided opinion, that very shortly they would have the reform they wanted. Mr. Rilby said he was not about to address the meeting again upon the subject of that day's discussion, but upon another of a very agreeable mature. He was sure the company would truly estimate the value of the gentleman's services whose name he was about to offer to their notice—a gentleman who had presided over them so frequently, and to whom the society was so much indebted, not only for his able presidency, but the information he imparted to them, and which was always calculated to sink deeply into their minds, and to do them great service. . It was always painful to speak of any one in his presence, and, therefore, without further eulogium, he would give them the health of their worthy Chairman, Mr. Wild. The toast was drank amid much applause, which having subsided, The Chairman, in returning thanks, said—Mr. Fowler and Gentlemen, the favourable--the too favourable kindness which I always receive at your hands in my endeavours to carry out the objects for which this special branch of the society was formed, requires my unbounded thanks, I am not aware that in me lies that fund of information which has been attributed to me; but the small measure which I possess is at your service, and to the best of my ability I will endeavour to co-operate with you. You know it has been my desire, and that desire has frequently been expressed by me; that more, many more of the larger landed proprietors should be amongst us; for I am quite certain that the very great advantage we oN AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. 113 might derive by co-operation cannot be effected by a section only of those deriving their substance from º: farming, I am quite aware that the tenant right is not sufficiently uniform, fixed, and satisfactory to induce . i. º to expend his money in producing the largest growth from the soil. This is a loss to the tenant, it is a loss to the an i. 3. and it is a loss to the community. I myself would go greater lengths, than some of you have proposed, and not with the object of serving the tenants only, but because I believe it to be for the common good, I do not think this º is restricted simply to the yearly tenant, but I think it may be extended to those who are under lease ; not those that have fixed rules laid down in their present leases but prospective as to the tenure on those terms. The land has been #. sented to you not unaptly as a machine. If the tenant, by his skill and industry, is enabled to produce a facility in the working of that machine, I consider he is entitled to remuneration for his talents as well as for his capital. If he i. produce one quarter's increase of corn per acre on his farm, he, and he only, for a certain term of years at least, is entitle. to that increase produced by his skill, his industry, and his outlay. I should propose, that if the farmer had been so hº in his conceptions, and so industrious and adventurous in carrying them out, that if he were from any disagreement with his landlord to leave his farm, or some accident should occur to the continuance of his tenure, he should have some com- pensation for bringing the land into the condition in which it is found. I do ng, see that the valuers have any right, except for their own private information, to say “How much have you expended ?” because the person for want of skill night throw away a vast sum of money. The farmer who should marl his clay, or throw lime upon chalk, would deserve no remuneration ; but if, on the other hand, he had employed these important aids to farming in a judicious manner, to him, and to him only, let the cost be what it would, should be derived the profit accruing from his good management. It may be objected that such a procedure might subject the landlord to annoyance from a tenant to whom he had an objection; but, if it were so, the landlord would be at liberty to pay him for the disadvantage of his instant removal; or if it were inconvenient to the landlord to do this, he should continue to the tenant the quiet possession of the farm for a certain number of years by way of compensation. I would say with regard to the machine—the word has fallen rather musically upon mine ear –that if in a manufactory one of the artizans employed were to discover a defect, which by some ingenuity he could amend, he would not go to the owner of the manufactory and say, “It is for your advantage that I have made this discovery,”—but he would take out his patent and reap the benefit arising therefrom himself. If it should *Pºº the tenant farmer then that he could improve his culture, by the same reason, is he entitled to the advantage P. With regard to irrigating, draining, and building; if the plan I suggest were adopted, they would come under the same catagory. Though it might be excessively inconvenient to some proprietors to be at the least expenditure, it certainly could not be inconvenient to allow the tenant possession until he had derived a compensation. It is true the theory of rent is as Mr. George Paget has described it. I fear persons here will say it is not uniformly the practice, and if in this densely populated country, we could have any law laid down to protect the tenant from being deprived of his fair gains, it would be an inducement for him to lay out his money with the full consciousness that nothing but his own stupidity, or want of industry, could deprive him of his property again. Gentlemen, I again thank you. Perhaps it would have been sufficient had I dome so without detaining you with any observations of my own. (No, no.) That response satisfies me that I have not misused your time,'and I feel gratified that I have been enabled to throw in one spark amidst the blaze of your information. Mr. Kilby proposed, that a committee of that Association be formed, with power to add to their number, to consider the present system of tenant right, and report at a future meeting their opinions thereon. Mr. G. Bakewell, of Lockington, seconded the motion. Mr. Wood, Surgeon; Woodhouse, moved a vote of thanks to the Chairman, which being seconded by Mr. Smith, and carried by acclamation, the chair was shortly afterwards vacated. - ON THE SUBJECT OF GAME, Tirº is much outcry, perhaps in some instances very justly, but I know practically there is a very great tendency to over-rate the damage game does. A few bushels of Swedes or turnips, and a few runs, make a great show ; and in the letting of farms by noblemen this is often considered in the rent. In all cases compensation by a fair valuation should be granted to the tenant; or, what is far better, allow him to sport himself on his own land, and he will have an interest and a pride in keeping up a fair head of game, both for himself and his landlord, by trapping stoats, &c., which are far worse than poachers. Well-stocked preserves, in their present form, are a great nuisance. Their evils might be easily mitigated by the proprietor cultivating within the preserve a few acres of roots, corº, Šº on, which the game could feed undisturbed. Every man ought to feed his own game. Every occupier should be allowed, either as a cottager, gardener, or farmer, to destroy game without a licence as vermin, on his own land, or the land he rents, where it adjoins a preserve not the property of his landlord, or he may be ruined for the pleasure of strangers with whom he has no connection. tº tº I presume the most enthusiastic advocate for the abolition of the game laws is not prepared to deny the rights of property. A man's land is as sacred as a man's house—and his house is his castle, "Let us suppose an anti- game law advocate quietly enjoying a game at cricket on his own premises, or mayhap feeding his tame pheasants or rabbits on, his lawn ... I apprehend intruders on his sport or pleasures would not meet with a very welcome reception. The Law of Trespass must remain in force, or we may lose our sheep as well as our game. No doubt there has been undue severity in enforcing the game laws, owing to game-preserving magistrates having to pass sentence in their own cases. Public opinion will modify this. I cannot see that an Englishman's amusements should be abolished because of their occasional abuse. Besides, I am quite sure, that many who run riot about the *T* **, fully appreciate the merits of a plump partridge or a jugged hares and do not at all contem. plate being deprived of their enjoyments in this respect. I. J. MECHI I --- | 1.4 ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. SUNFLOWER CULTIVATION. I annex some details connected with the growth of sunflowers, and their application, with a view to stimulate experiment. . I believe we are all apt to be too sanguine and over-rate any thing new, such as flax, &c. &c. but that is no reason for neglecting to avail ourselves of all the means in our power to produce at home with our own labour and capital those raw materials or products, which we are now purchasing to the extent of some millions sterling from foreigners, who, of course, derive that profit and employment for labour and capital which might be our own. We are too apt to attach such vast importance to the importation of foreign meat and corn, that we overlook other products of equal or greater pecuniary amount, and neglect producing our own flax, oil cake, and oils. With regard to the sunflower we all know that it is a coarse, strong, quick-growing plant, that thrives anywhere, provided the land is deeply drained, with plenty of air and space. There is no doubt its expansive leaves derive much mourishment from the atmosphere, and as a green crop must afford abundant food. . Probably its seeding may be exhausting to the land; but then, if the cattle consume the seed much of it will be returned. We have no right to complain of exhausting crops of any sort, if we take care to repay to the land what we borrow, with deep and constant cultivation,-spade or fork labour, if necessary. A crop of sun- flowers ploughed in would enrich the surface soil with the usually unavailable treasures of the undisturbed subsoil : for there is no doubt its roots dive down, in drained land, proportionately to its gigantic superstructure. It is quite certain that in seed and in leaf its excellent properties are relished both by animals and by birds— as you will find to your cost, if you omit watching the field at a certain season. I have annexed a very long extract from a Prospectus issued some time ago by a proposed company. The returns, profits, &c., are evidently strangely over-estimated by its sanguine projectors. But it is worth our while to enquire into the matter, for even if the profit per acre were only 30s. to 40s., instead of the estimated £20 to £25. it might be an extremely useful crop in a rotation, abstracting, as it must do, much of its support from the atmos- phere, and much from the neglected subsoil, and affording employment for our labourers at a slack time. I had one cone full of seed which weighed sixteen ounces, and, I believe, four to six such comes are a fair allowance to each plant. Of course an average come would be much smaller, much depending in this, as in all other green crops, on the depth of drainage and general condition of the soil. One fact comes out in the following statement, which, if correct, is a painful one indeed—that whilst we are studying emigration to get rid of our surplus population (the sinews of our strength), we have several millions of acres praying to be cultivated. Add to these at least another million or two occupied by useless fences and unpro- fitable timber—what a field for investment of labour and capital ' ' ' With a considerable portion of our cultivated land merely half-farmed in labour and capital ' ' ' I. J. MECHI. “ VALUAB LF, P R O D U CTS OF THE SUN FL () W E R. (From the Prospectus of the British and Irish Sunflower Company.) “I. THE SEEDs.-The seeds, unhusked, form the best food for cattle, horses, sheep, swine, rabbits, pheasants, turkeys, geese, and poultry generally ; rendering the flesh of all more firm and valuable than it would be by the use of any other food. Nine pounds per day, with the leaves as fodder, suffice for a milch cow, producing the largest possible quantity of the richest milk; yielding, in its turn, the largest possible portion of thick cream, and rich, firm, finely flavoured butter. Fowls, fed upon them, thrive better than upon grain, producing the greatest possible number of eggs of the largest size. “But the chief uses of the seeds will be found— - “First, In the employment of their farina as food for man; the kernels, when pressed and ground, being equal to the finest flour for making, bread, pastry, and biscuits. “Secondly, In the pressure of their oil, which is the richest and sweetest ever used for the table or the kitchen ; not excepting even the best almond oil. No olive or foreign oil whatever, is equal to this for salads and other culinary uses; as it retains, for a long time, the delicious taste and flavour of the ripe filbert. Hundreds of tuns would annually, meet a ready market in London for table uses alone. “Sunflower oil may be used, also, by fullers and clothiers, for softening and preparing their wools for the card and loom ; being much more valuable than the rancid and spoiled Florence, rape, and linseed oils, which they usually purchase ; also by cotton-spinners, curriers,"&c.; and for anointing all kinds of machinery. It is capable, likewise, of other important uses. “II. THE STEMS AND LATERAL BRAN ches.—These yield nearly their own weight of a beautiful silky textile, and white vegetable fibre, capable of becoming the chief staple for paper of all fabrics and qualities; as well as for ropes, mats, cordage, and canvass. - “ III. THE LEAves.—By gathering the leaves daily, as they arrive at maturity, the stems, lateral branches, and flowers will thrive much more vigorously than they would if the leaves were allowed to remain a burden, to drain the plant of its juices. No fodder, however, is eaten with more avidity by milch cows than these large, substantial, and succulent leaves; and horses, sheep, rabbits, &c., are as fond of them as cows and oxen are. They have been proved to be at least equal to mangold wurzel; and, in a dry state, they are said to be as valuable as hay of their own weight. “IV. THE IRIs, CoNES, AND Roots.-As if nature had intended that no part of this valuable plant should be useless to man, the roots are considered in India to be medicinal; and the flowers which compose the iris, encircling the cone, are used for dying; in this country, the latter have been dried and used as an aromatic tobacco. Still, if the roots, cones, flowery iris, seed-husks, and refuse generally, were of no other use, they may, by burning, be easily converted into potash or pearlash of the very best quality, which, applied to soap-making or other manufactures, or returned to the land as manure, forms no mean item in the productiveness of the sun-plant. ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT, H 15 ECONOMICAL OR PROFITABLE RESULTS OF SUNFLOWER CULTIVATION. “Practical Estimates.—The abovementioned products demonstrate the value of the Helianthus Annuus to the rural economist, the manufacturer, the merchant, and indeed to the nation at large; including a Vast body of field and other labourers, of both sexes. - -- “The quantities of each article to be produced per acre, under an approved system of cultivation, are as follow :— “ Estimate, No. 1.-1} ton of seeds, worth (as food for cattle, poultry, &c.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q is a s e s a • ... . . . . . . . . . . 3615 O O “Two tons of stems and branches, which, stripped and steeped, will produce 13 ton of silky fibre, for the best writing, drawing, and printing papers, at a penny per pound (rags being more than twopence) 14 9 9 “And half a ton of coarse fibre, at a halfpenny per pound..................... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . e s e s a s e º s • * * 2 6 8 “Two tons of leaves, or cattle fodder ............ • * , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ........... 3 0 0 “Potash or Pearlash .................... s s se . . . . . , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , s • * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * e g s = < e < * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ..... 1 0 0 Total produce per acre .................. e e s e a e e s ∈ s • * 2835 6 8 “Expenses.—Rent and Tithe ..................... • * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * c{2 O O Seed .............................. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * e s e s > y e = * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 1 O O Manure ........................... s e e s s , s s e s s , , , , , , , , , s • * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 4 O O Labour of ploughing, sowing, harvesting, steeping, and stripping ...... 8 O () Clear profit per acre ........................... ... ... fºo 6 8 “But if the seeds be used for the production of oil and farina, the value of an acre's produce will be as follows:– Estimate, No. 2.-One ton and a half of seeds, husked, will produce half their weight, or 1680 lbs. of kernels; which, pressed, will yield 840 lbs. or 93 gallons of a pale bland oil, at 4s. 6d. per gallon............... 2O 18 6 And 840 lbs. of farinaceous matter, equal to the finest flour, at 1d. per pound .......................... . 3 10 O Two tons of vegetable fibre for paper, fine and coarse, as above ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . & ſº º a tº a tº a s is a n e º 'º - tº * * * * * * * * * * * * * 16 6 8 Two tons of leaves for fodder, as above ........................................ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 O O Potash, including that from 1680 lbs. of husks ............ º g º ºs e º s v e º 'º w w w w s : º, º a # * * * tº @ ſº e º 'º - a w w tº a tº e & * * * * * * * * * * * * 2 O O Total produce, per acre .............................. fºã 15 2 “Expenses.—Rent and Tithe ............ tº ſº ſº tº ſº ºn 4 & 3 W tº e º 'º º º a tº a tº º º ............. .................... £2 0 0 Seed ...... e - e º is e < * * * * * * * * tº * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * tº e e g tº dº e s - 4 & 8 w w w e < * * * * e e º 'º a tº e º 'º - e. • * * * * * * * * * 1 O O Manure...................... tº Q & Q & s a s tº a º & tº tº $ tº º a º º s º t e º 'º a w w is a e º e a tº e º e º 'º e º 'º º e a e = . . . . . . ... + 0 0 Labour of ploughing, sowing, harvesting, steeping, and stripping ...... 8 0 0 Husking, oil-pressing. and flour-grinding ... ................................ 6 O O — 2 1 0 0 Clear profit, per acre........................... ...... 3624 15 2 “By the first of the foregoing estimates, it is evident that the seeds, used as a cheap but rich food for milch cows and other cattle, or sold at the exceeding low price of little more than one penny per pound, will defray all charges ; so that the vegetable fibre, fodder, and potash, worth twenty pounds, will be a complete bonus per acre to the cultivator. “By the second, it is equally evident that the vegetable fibre, fodder, and potash, will cover all expenses of rent, seed, manure, and labour; so that the oil and flour, valued at upwards of twenty-four pounds, will be a clear profit. “SUPERLATIVE VALUE OF THE SUNFLow ER To AGRICULTURE –British and Irish cultivators look for profit to wheat, oats, barley, rye, beans, peas, clover, turnips, and potatoes; and by far the greater number of them complain that the average of their returns is insufficient to maintain them as industrious capitalists ought to be maintained. How different would their condition be were they to cultivate the sun-plant; or were it even to enter into their system of rotation crops only once or twice in seven years. “Let us look at the average and comparative productiveness of the crops hitherto yielded by the arable soils of these kingdoms. In the year 1800, a Committee of the House of Lords, being appointed to inquire into the causes of the scarcity which then prevailed, directed the Board of Agriculture to circulate queries to farmers and other experienced persons, as to the productiveness of different species of grain in the various districts; and the result was the following average quantities per acre (as published in the Committee's Report); to which are here appended the prices of the present Wear : — */ Grain or other; Quantity, as per Present Price, Value, 1844. Total Value, Produce. * of Committee. 1844. —— 1844. - Grain. Straw'. S. <& S. £ s. 36 s. Wheat ...... t 3 quarters 55 8 5 || 1 5 9 10 Barley ...... 4 & & 3. 6 16 0 14 7 10 Oats ......... 4}. “ 22 4 19 || 0 15 5 14 Peas ......... 2} “ 36 4 10 || 1 () 5 10 Beans......... … 3} “ 34 5 19 0 7 6 6 Potatoes ..... 250 bushels 1 ... ......'......... 12 10 Present Money Produce of Six Acres... ..............] 4:47 0 | 16 ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT, “THE SUNFLow ER ON Bogs AND WAst E LANDs.-The foregoing estimates regarding the cultivation of the sun-plant have been made with reference to arable lands only : let us see of what the waste lands of Great Britain, and the bogs of Ireland, are capable. In survey-returns to the House of Commons, we find the following statement of reclaimable waste- lands (that is, highly improvable land, at trifling labour and expense):— England.................. º e º tº e º w w w s a e s is a t t e º 'º e s tº e & tº e º 4 & e º s : * * * * * * * * 3,454,000 Acres. Wales............... tº º e s a tº e s p * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * . 530,000 “ Scotland............................................................ 2,000,000 “ Ireland (chiefly bog-lands)........................ e e º 'º e t w w = w a w 2,831,000 “ Total....... & © a w s a m e º 'º a # 4 º' s 8,815,000 “ “Messrs. Nimmo, Griffith, and other skilful engineers, have represented the bogs of Ireland as capable of being easily drained and converted into good champaign lands, on account of their great elevation, and contiguity to numerous rivers which empty themselves into the sea. What a field for the cultivation of the sun-plant. THE cultivation of flax is an important feature in our national agriculture, 1st.—Because, under certain conditions hereafter described, it is a profitable crop, without being an exhausting one. 2d.—It is a crop affording much employment to a class of our population, not generally otherwise engaged. 3d.—It will enable us to fatten our cattle and make our linen with home produce instead of foreign. I will say nothing of the manufacture of oil, because that would be no gain ; no seed can be so employed without robbing the farm, and demanding a restoration in purchased manure. . It appears to me there are many reasons why flax should be cultivated. It is a tap rooted plant adapted to our heavy soils when drained. It is an instructive crop ; for any agriculturist who attempts its cultivation, will find out by dear bought experience that t is of no use to attempt to grow flax and weeds. These must all be plucked out, let the cost be what it may. This would probably lead to a weed reform in our corn crops, wanted badly enough. º º The operation of pulling, stooking, tying, stacking, thrashing, dressing, steeping, grassing, sorting, breaking, scutching, scraping, &c., would have a tendency to give a little more mechanical activity and forethought to our at present rather lumpy agricultural population, and put money in their pockets. There appears to be no particular difficulty in its cultivation. The land must be clean, perfectly and deeply drained, and not too light. If you grow for seed you may sow but little and give space. If for flax and seed (which is by far the most profitable plan) there must be an ample sowing of seed to ensure a finer stalk. It is a strong coarse growing plant if you alloy, it much room. It is proved beyond a doubt, at a recent meeting of flax farmers in Ireland (see Agricultural Gazette— Market Hill meeting), that the external fibre (the flax) takes but little from the soil : and no doubt chemical analysis could readily re-apply a restorative, composed of its constituents. The WATER in which the flax stalks are steeped, containing the dissolved internal portion of the stem, Must ALL BE TAKEN CARE OF, ANP RETURNED To THE soil. The seed (linseed) boiled and given to cattle with other food, will only deprive the soil of a portion of its goodness, equivalent to the value it adds to the cattle—their manure being restored to the soil. Of course no person, one would suppose, could be stupid enough to waste his seed by soaking it with the flax : but I believe there are many who absolutely do so in Ireland, and then let the water run to waste !!! Like all other crops it requires a season and a market, sometimes paying admirably, at others but so-so. But it is a good crop for a farmer of intelli- gence, whose capital is fully equal, or superior to his holding, as he can take his own tline to prepare and dispose of it. The details of its growth and management are clearly developed in the following publications : 3 y * “Proceedings of the Society for the Promotion and Improvement of the Growth of Flax in Ireland. Printed by Finlay, Calendar Street, Belfast. Mr. John Warnes on ditto: Longman's. Mr. Sproule on ditto : Lºgº S. And some other publications. I. J. MECHI. WHEN OUR SOIL IS POORLY, LET US CONSULT THE CHEMIST. I Hope the time is fast approaching when we shall, for complaints of the soil, get advice from proper analytical chemists, as readily as we would for ourselves, so that they may investigate the disease and prescribe a proper remedy, depending on the patient's constitution and the nature of the ailment, whether chronic or transient, whether arising from plethora, starvation, or dropsy, too much water, without the means of escape, a very usual complaint in earthy patients. * • e Farmers make frequent mistakes when they trust to their own motions of doctoring ; they readily perceive, by the external symptoms, that their patient is in an unsatifactory state, but make sad havoc with their nostrums. How frequently do we see a dressing of dung forced on an already satiated patient, who cries out for an alterative of chalk or cold clay. Another administers a strong stimulant of lime, where the sufferer is already exhausted by previous excitement, and requires a tranquillizing tonic of good old mellow manure. A third gives alkalies, where acids and phosphates can alone avail. They do not consider, that if troubled with stone, gravel, or density of the sub- stratum, a gentle operation with the subsoiler might give ease by causing a loosening of the parts; or that in cases of scurviness and poverty—light, air, cleanliness, exercise, and good feeding, might prove a restorative. º ºr , ** { ... s - * , a º , º g * . • e º 'º' e e > w * P : : ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. I 17 To be serious, it would be invidious in me to mame particular individuals as well calculated to give proper analysis and advice; but, I apprehend, every farmer's club and agricultural society will find their interest in seeking and availing of those talented individuals who abound, and would be most happy to benefit agriculture and them- selves, by the application of their chemical knowledge to increase the powers of the soil. I hope we shall live to see a complete change in this respect; and that the frequent demand for such information will cause it to be given at a cheap and available rate. Much money and trouble would also be often saved by consulting competent surveyors and engineers, prior to altering and draining our estates. I. J. MECHI. IMPLEMENTS USED ON MY FARM. 1. My Trench Plough, as described at page 61. 12. Wilks's Chaff-Cutter. 2. Read's Subsoil-Plough. ! Cuts coarser—thirty-two trusses per hour, two-horse power. 3. Garrett and Son's Horse-Hoe ; that takes a land º º 13. Bond and Co.'s Lins 'usiner. seven feet two inches wide. _) C Co.'s Linseed Crusher | Answers admirably for lins 2ed and oats. 4. Morton's Expanding Horse-IIoe, for deep hoeing - * º - *. between root or bean crops. 14. Threshing Machine, complete with Rakes and 5. Earl Ducie's Drag. Dressing Apparatus - * w e p - - * T - * .” : ) T - {*. - _* 6. Cottam and Hallam's Chain Harrow, for pulverizing | 15. New berry's Dibbling Machine. in dry Weather. - (See my Report, page 59). 7. Crosskill's Clod Crusher Roller. ) 16. Crosskill's Feeding Carriage. 8. Ditto Liquid Manure Cart. \- 17. Ditto Potato and Turnip Washer. Most valuable and indispensable implements. y J S. Ditto Iron Wheelbarrows. 9. Gardner's Turnip Cutter, 4-inch. 19. Ditto Circular Iron Pig Troughs. 10. Ditto Turnip Breaker. All necessary. g ; 20. Bean Mill. 11. Ditto Chaff-Cutter. i ean ill. An excellent machine – cuts very fine. 21. Oil Cake Crusher. No waggons are used on the farm. One-horse earts are more convenient and profitable. I know of none so well adapted to road and harvest purposes as those made by Mr. Stratton, invented by Mr. Hannam, of Bristol. By - • e - * - - * * - - • * attaching rings and short chains to the back of each cart, one man or lad readily drives two single-horse carts, or even three on an emergency. - Our farm horses are all clipped, at a cost of 8s, each ; and strong cloths for them cost 9s, each. The ease and comfort with which they do their work proves this to be a most essential and beneficial operation—a saving in corn and condition. By placing one clipped and one unclipped horse at a plough together, the contrast is very striking and convincing, and they do not catch cold. The economy of time in their grooming and rest is a matter of in. portance and a comfort to the ploughman or horseman. We have a number of little conveniences in which many farms are sadly deficient; such as a light crane to load and unload the carts—enables an old man and boy to do this work easily. Proper cart covers, a few brushes > * **->3 curry-combs, thermometers to regulate the heat of stables and bullock houses, and an abundance of ropes. Our little steam-house contains six iron tubs or pans, all steamed by one boiler; fitted by Eckstein and Co º - * * º * - ºf 3 Holborn; some contain eighty gallons, some less. Our pigs thrive admirably on steamed potatoes and Swedes, mixed with meal, &c. º Care must be taken not to give the food too hot, or it may alarm the animal and take him off the feed for some time. º * tº º y w ( * * Aº - wº º º * e REAp's Sunson.-Plough 35, Regent Circus, £ondon-Fortunately before closing my publication I have been enabled to inspect Mr. Read's subsoil-plough, so favourably noticed in the Judges' Report of the Southampton Meeting. It is, without a doubt, the very best subsoiler existing, breaking up with ease the indurated substratum in the dryest weather, and this with a pair of horses only. It is also perfectly adapted to form the very best skim scarifier, horse hoe, drag harrow, and (I hope) plough. The principle of its formation suggested to my mind the possibility and probability of our ploughs being formed as mere shells without any sole or and side, the dragging friction being entirely removed, and the resistance or leverage of the coulter, share, and breast transferred to the hind * r * * e º t º º º - wheels of the carriage. These are merely opinions of mine, with which, however, Mr. Read seemed struck, and in which he coincided. It appears to me, with a plough so arranged, we should be enabled to take a much deeper and wider furrow-slice with the same power as is now employed for a shallow one ; and possibly a pair of horses on light land could wºrk &l double furrow. I am convinced the dragging of the Plough sole, in adhesive soils with the ploughman's weight, causes an immense deal more friction than when the resistance of the coulter, share, and breast is transferred to the axis and circumference of a moving wheel, the ploughman merely guiding n ss; * ROt Sº Y Orº " . . . . . handles. ploug y g § pressing on the l 18 ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. As To A STEAM-ENGINE.-In spite of the opinion I formerly expressed, I am convinced where new buildings are to be erected, it is much more desirable than horse-power, because it requires so much less space and expense. It might also be rendered available to steaming a number of food coppers—when not at work; and of course would cut chaff or grind at any time. I find a short time suffices for breaking in the farm labourers to the management of machinery. Fifteen-feet iron hurdles on four wheels are available for folding sheep in any weather, and with very little trouble. I am convinced from what I saw, that Earl Ducie's chaff-cutter is an admirable implement for either hand, horse, or steam power ; but having two useful ones I did not purchase one ; and Messrs. Ransome's ploughs are beyond all praise. Where machinery is required, I would strongly recommend an application to first-rate manu- facturers, for truth and nicety in work is of the utmost importance, and economizes horse and manual labour. A clumsily made and unnecessarily heavy implement takes away half the power ; I often used to compare, in my own mind, a heavily laden four-horse coach from Birmingham or Sheffield, weighing several tons, flying along at ten miles per hour, with our ponderous snail-like waggons, a load in themselves, without a load; the friction of their badly-made axles being equivalent to the waste of one-horse power, their unnecessary weight equal to another. But then Prejudice says, “Lighter machines won't do on our land.” Have you tried them “No, but I’m sure they won’t do.” These prejudices will some day disappear in company with timber and fences. ON THE CHOICE OF IMPLEMENTs.-In these days of invention, a man may, if he listens to each Inventor's tale, expend a little fortune in implements, and still not have the best. One of the most important benefits conferred on agriculture by the Royal Agricultural Society of England is their periodical report upon implements exhibited at each meeting. I would strongly recommend every agriculturist to consult these reports before he listens to any recommendation of a particular implement. Mr. Parkes, the Company's Engineer, is so perfectly competent, by his profound mechanical talent and experience, to form a correct judgment on the manufacture and working of machinery, that we are perfectly safe in relying on his unbiassed opinion, aided by the judges. These reports are published in the Society's Journal, to be had of Murray, Albemarle Street, e It is quite clear from the great discrepancy in the stated price of drain, tiles, and pipes, in various parts of the United Kingdom, that many agricultural societies are not at all aware of the existence of some cheap and effective draining tile machines. There are four well known to be effective:—Mr. Charnock's. Wakefield, Yorkshire; the Benenden Machine, by Messrs. Cottam and Haller, Winsley Street, Oxford Street, London; Mr. Etheridge's Machine, by Messrs. Ransome and Co., Ipswich, Suffolk; and Mr. H. Clayton's Machine, 21, Upper Park Place, Dorset Square, London. Mr. Parkes states, p. 390, that at the works of Messrs. Squire, Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, one-inch pipes, twelve inches long, were selling at 12s. per thousand; their prices rising, through intermediate sizes, to 18s. for two and one-eighth of an inch in diameter. This machine is represented as being now capable of throwing off 25,000 pipes daily. * * * It appears to me that there are a number of implements that might be let out, on hire with considerable advantage to farmers, and a fair remuneration to the proprietors, on the same principle, as drills and threshing: machines. Such, for instance, as Crosskill's Clod Crusher Roller ; Ditto Liquid Manure Cart; Garrett and Son S Patent Horse Hoe, that would hoe ten acres of wheat per day, at eight inches between the rows ; the long-timed Drags, or Crab Harrows ; Newberry's Dibbling and Dropping Machine; the Subsoil Plough, and other implements that are only occasionally required. sº e The introduction of a general system of lending out on hire, must of necessity accompany an improved system of culture, with smaller holdings and larger capitals. It would afford small farmers a better chance of competition, provided they could see their own interest identified with an improved system of culture. I think we are on the eve of seeing some useful and cheap machines that will facilitate the employment ot labour in dropping and dibbling. Farmers generally would use this mode, but fºr the uncertainty of uniformity in dropping. Mr. Parkes in his last report, Royal Agricultural Society's Journal, pages 378 and 379, says, “A hand-dibble, the invention of Mr. Richard Smith, of Upper Hall, near Droitwich, highly deserves record, in the opinion of the writer, as likely to prove a very useful implement. He finds no mention of It in the judges' notes. This dibble plants the seed, and possesses a principle of action which, if not already perfect, is an important step made towards the construction of a perfect self-feeding, self-depositing implement. On the tºp of a hollow stem is fixed a seed-box, with a delivering apparatus immediately beneath it. Below this again two handles project from the stem, one on each side, which work up and down in slides or slots formed in it. From the centre of these handles a rod descends, with a tapering point, passing at bottom through a hollow conical termination of the stem, and forming part of the extremity which enters the ground and makes the hole. One of the levers of a small bell-crank is also worked by the handles, the other lever giving motion to a slider pierced with the hole which measures and lets fall the seed from the seed-box. The action is i. follows:—when the dibble is pressed down into the earth, the modicum of seed is discharged from the box, and falls to the bottom of the stem; but its extremity being then closed, none of it can escape, and no more can follow. On withdrawing the dibble the rising point is first liberated from the hole, whereon the seed instantly tumbles from the hollow stem into the hole. Next the dibble, or entire instrument, is raised out of the ground; a fresh hole is made, and SO Oſl. These . last apparently distinct actions are in fact only one to the user; since the dibble itself cannºt rise until the man has lifted the handles to the top of the slot, whereby the whole instrument is raised out of the ground. ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT, 119 “This account may not render the construction of the implement very clear, and there is perhaps no greater difficulty in descriptive writing than the illustration of a very simple piece of mechanism unaided by a diagram. The Principle may be more perspicuously explained. It will be comprehended that the dibble is pressed vertically into the earth; that the seed is safely berthed in its bed before the dibble is withdrawn, which last action being also vertical, no crumbs can displace or interfere with the seed; that uniformity of depth and a considerable degree of firmness of seed-bed are also attained. In all practical respects the implement is handy and convenient to the workman. “The writer has made many experiments as to the accuracy of its discharge of seed. The result has been that the variation in the number of grains let fall is little greater than what is due to the difference in the aggregate, bulk of their number. As a garden-tool, its utility must be very great, from its certainty and convenience; and if hand-dibbling be considered too slow for general agricultural purposes, this instrument will be found to be of great value in filling up spaces or spots short of plants. It will be found to be particularly useful for experimental culture, and possibly for cottagers allotments, as its price (35s) places it within the reach of a number of small cultivators. Since its exhibition at Southamp- ton the inventor has much improved it, by making the shell of copper instead of tin; and he is now occupied in removing one or two objections elicited from its use by practical mem.” Mr. Bentall, of Heybridge, Essex, has patented a dropping machine for the use of children, which only weighs 1}lb., and will cost 5s. It is not made public yet, but Mr. Bentall has favoured me with a view of it, and I have reason to believe, from what I saw of it in its unfinished state, it will be very certain in its action, dropping about three kernels in each dibble hole. If so, it will be a great desideratum, as affording employment to families, with advantage to the farmer. DRAG HARRows.-I attach very great importance to the use of this implement, and it is with extreme regret I so seldom see it in use. The plough turns over the soil, but does not comminute and intermix it. ... I find in practice my land is vastly improved in condition by always crossing and recrossing the ploughed soil with these harrows. This is consistent with Tull's statement and Mr. Parkes's; but the very best plan is, in my opinion, the the following:—To plough two depths, one plough following in the track of the other. Then, when the land is mid- dling dry, cross with the heavy drags with times fifteen inches long (mine are of that length, but I shall have a set made eighteen inches long in the teeth). The effect of these harrows is surprising on drained land—the air is admitted in every direction, and the clods brought up or broken. Those that remain should, when dry, be thoroughly crushed by Crosskill's roller, and then the land dragged again. Of course frosty and other advantageous states of the atmosphere, may spare the use of the roller occasionally. One principal use of this trench ploughing and dragging is to effectually remove all deep-rooted weeds. Every one should read Mr. Dimmery's practise with the drags and roller, as described in Mr. Morton's book on Soils. This illustrates forcibly the importance of disturbing the soil, and, to a certain extent, the roots likewise. It confirms the evidence of the great Tull, the father of tillage, that the soil, between plants, cannot be too fre- quently disturbed. But this, amongst Market Gardeners near London, whose very existence depends on forcing the finest possible crops, is a truism that would never be questioned ; and I can speak from my own labours in my garden that the comminution and constant disturbance of the soil is extremely beneficial to plants. I hope we shall hear no more of “liking to see a few clods,” as my late tenant once said; clods may be neces- sary on sodden undrained land of which there is unfortunately so much in Essex; but my folks shall subsoil, plough, scarify, clod-crush, crab-harrow, light-harrow, and chain-harrow, till the soil is as fine as dust, taking care to do it when the land is in a suitable state ; and they must horse-hoe and hand-hoe till not a weed can be seen. Without the use of intermixers and pulverizers that admit atmospheric action and decomposition it is astonishing how unaltered earths will remain. I have seen after three years of surface and imperfect cultivation, lumps and patches of yellow earth turned up in their original state ; but soon acted upon and changed to a darker colour by atmospheric exposure. AGRICULTURAL HINTS, SCRAPS, AND FACTS. --- I have heard farmers complain they had so much straw, they could scarcely make it into manure. In such a case I would recommend their adopting my plan of cutting it into chaff: with a two-horse power cutter, by Wilks, of Sheffield, we can cut up about thirty-two trusses per hour. As my Bailiff says, “You may almost carry away a truss in your shooting-jacket pocket when it is cut up.” I find in practice, that it absorbs the urine as it falls like a sponge, the liquid entering at both ends of the short cut lengths, decomposition takes place rapidly, the manure is 1Y1Ore equally moist, and very soon made, one cart load so treated is equal to two of long straw, so we save half our Cartage; an important matter. It is quite clear that long uncut litter must remain dry until trodden down and broken longitudinally to admit of moisture, the best part of which is often washed away before the straw is in a state to absorb it. If you desire to keep your horses and stock clean, it is necessary to spread a little long straw on the chaff bed, the latter holding so much moisture. As I said elsewhere, our solid and liquid manure alſ goes into one tank, and is generally carried on the land in five or six weeks, occasionall º me of the liqui . A on the top of the heap. 2 ionally pumping some of the liquid from the well WHITE MUSTARD Foº FEED.—There is in the last number of the Royal Agricultural Society's Journal (vol. v.) conclusive evidence that white mustard seed sown broadcast at the rate of twelve to sixteen pounds per acre, pro- duces ample feed in a short time; say in three to four weeks on light land, and four to five weeks on heavy #. 120 ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. according to season, &c., that it is of better quality than rape, and affords more food in less time—that it is not very susceptible of frost--that it is not particular as to soil, light or heavy, provided, of course, it is pro erly manured, and it will grow during spring, summer, or autumn. I shall try it as an intermediate occasioni . either with manure, or if short of that, two to four hundred weight of guano well harrowed in. It appears to . when ploughed in, an excellent preparative for wheat. Every one must have noticed its rapid growth in a garden. 2 CARBONIZING PREFERABLE TO OPEN BURNING.—In the Royal Agricultural Society's Journal, vol v. page 507 is a confirmation of this fact, and I know other instances where peat burnt to ashes in an open fire have been of little avail—whilst by being charred in a close smouldering heat, with as little admission of oxygen as possible their application has been exceedingly beneficial—the carbon not being dissipated. 85 2 In the case above alluded to, the fires when about half-burned through, are pulled down and sufficient water applied to prevent the fire being anywhere perceived. If any symptom of bursting through, water is immediately applied —a gentle Smouldering heat, without smoke, being the desired object. ęs IMPORTANT Points. IN AGRICULTURE.-There are several very important points in Agriculture at present under trial, accounts of which will be found in the various numbers of the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England. S y The first is, Steeping seeds in various preparations. I have read an instance of tares being soaked in the common li- quid manure of the farm-yard for thirty-six hours, and that these tares took the lead in time and quality and main- tained it over the other part of the field. Possibly the same means would improve peas, beans, and other corn. It is very easy to try these experiments on a land or two, with but little trouble or risk. It is an important matter to have seeds vegetate quickly in dry weather particularly. We steep our wheat, and find that advan- tageous, why not our other seeds, varying the time according to the size and nature of the seed ? I shall try coal or wood ashes soaked with liquid manure, and apply them in the drills under the seed, with a view to a rapid growth. - - The second is, Gurneyism, or the promotion of growth in grass lands by a covering or net-work of straw, which is found to increase produce and continue its growth during the colder months; whether this acts by electricity or mere shelter, or both, remains to be proved. tº & The third is, The application of a small quantity of bones, say one to two bushels per acre, dissolved in its weight of pure sulphuric acid, and about 800 gallons of water. This appears uniformly to answer as a dressing for turnip crops, applied in the drills by a water-cart, and has been found to surpass farm-yard manure with large quantities of bone dust, From practical experience I must caution farmers never to use bones and acid where common salt has been recently applied to the land. I spoiled some turnips by so doing, as explained in another page. In the Royal Agricultural Society's Journal, vol. v., part 2, is a full detail of this important matter. Important indeed, if we can effect for £1, or less, what has hitherto cost us £4 or £5. A FACT ABout PotATOEs —An intelligent farmer tells me to-day he never loses his potatoes in dry or wet seasons, since he has treated the sets or cuttings in the following manner — As the eyes or sets are cut, they are dusted with fresh slaked lime (slaked immediately before using) until they are coated with it all over. The lime forms a paste over them, which prevents the moisture running or exuding, and thus removes the danger of shrivelling or rotting in a dry season like the last, when the results were forcibly illustrated. A portion of the field was planted with sets in the usual way (without lime) on an abundant dressing of farm-yard manure. These shrivelled, were slow in coming up, and were but a moderate crop ; on the rest of the field the limed sets were deposited without manure—came up quickly and regularly—were an uniformly fine crop of large potatoes, superior in every respect to the dunged portion ; the limed portion received a dressing of two cwt. per acre of Peruvian guano, applied at two intervals after the plant appeared. This is the third season of so treating the potato sets. I have no doubt the same result is partially produced by the practice of Mr. Dimmery, a successful potato grower (as quoted in Mr. Morton's book on Soils). Mr. D. spreads soot in the drills on which the sets are deposited. In this case I imagine the soot adheres to the moist surface of the set, and prevents the escape of sap. Both soot and lime must act as a manure, perhaps by supplying carbon. The plan is deserving of trial and seems reasonably advantageous. I. J. MECHI. Feb. 7, 1845, Riven WEEDs As A MANURE.—An intelligent miller and farmer tells me he has very much improved his soil by applying on it the weeds he removes from his mill-stream—they are ploughed in as soon as laid on in their fresh state. It is very desirable occasionally to remove all bird's-nests and obstructions from the troughs or gutters that convey the water from the roofs, particularly on the approach of autumn. Trench or subsoil ploughing, of which I have executed some quantity, is exceedingly beneficial, but where labout is abundant, I am of opinion forking the land with, Dr. Yelloley's forks, twelve inches deep, at a cost of 2}d. per rod, or 32s. 8d. per acre, is preferable on heavy land, in winter, or late in autumn, when the soil is moist and clinging. There is no trampling of horses, a most objectionable matter on such soils. The plough leaves a polished solidified surface beneath the sole, not so the fork. ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. -- - - 121 The cost of double ploughing such land in subsoils previously undisturbed, is not much less than 24s, per acre, to which you must add 2s. to 3s. per acre for dragging with deep-tined drags. . , T * e It requires three horses to each plough, and you must go ten bouts on an eight-furrow stetch if you disturb all the land, which you must do to enable the drags to act effectively. After. all, heavy land is much better subsoiled in dry and hot weather, when it is just ploughable, it solidifies so soon in winter weather. The fork brings up too much of the dead soil in land previously undisturbed (in this case, the plan described at page 43 should be adopted). #The trench or subsoil plough gradually intermixes it with the surface soil. I prefer subsoiling or trenching to forking lon light land, as you may do one acre and a half in a long day with one pair of horses, and the deep-tined drags #work readily in such soils. The trampling of horses is not objectionable. I consider the plough an imperfect implement of tillage, it merely turns over the soil, without breaking or commixing it. To complete the operation, we must use the drags with spikes long enough to intermix and disturb the soil the entire depth to which it is inloughed, as practised ably and successfully by Mr. Dimmery (see Morton on Soils). The spikes should be at least fifteen inches long. * * . * © In sowing carrot seed, as it is so slow in appearing, it has been suggested to mix it with mustard-seed, which icomes up quickly, and enables us to hoe and clean the ground between the rows without injury to the line of seed. łSome sow oats with the carrot seed. With all root seed, I shall always mix twelve times its bulk of fine charcoal }lust, as it is proved beyond a doubt it facilitates their rapid growth in dry weather. r As there prevails annongst many farmers a doubt as to water percolating through heavy land, I would suggest their convincing themselves cheaply and readily, by having dug some holes, 2, 3, and 4 feet deep. They will then find after rains the deepest holes show the water first, and so satisfy themselves that deep drains always act quicker #han shallow ones, and that water enters always at the lowest point or floor of the drain. I employ permanently on my Farm and the adjoining one I rent (together 173 acres, landlord's measure) ten then and four boys, with a considerable amount of casual labour, besides occasionally hiring some ploughs and #artage. I consider it wretched policy to allow your work to get into arrear for the value of a little extra labour. 'ormerly, £2 per week paid all the wages on this farm. Whilst we have a proper feeling towards our labourers, and a desire to see them fully and profitably imployed, with every advantage consistent with their position, we must see that they perform their “duty #o themselves” and to society. We must enforce meatness in their places and gardens, check irregularities ºf any sort, and point out to them the advantages of good conduct and good management. Encouraging the industrious, and discouraging the idle and intenperate. Firmness, good example, and , regularity in the haster, will induce and stimulate corresponding conduct in the men, Experience has taught me that whilst Findness, and a regard to the personal comforts of our servants and workmen are grateful and profitable, they must hever be allowed to interfere with the strict enforcement of their duties and propriety of conduct whilst under our fontrol. In my own manufactory, certain fines are levied for irregularities in time, &c. These with a gratuity added by myself, afford during the summer months, a pleasant day and good dinner in some rural district. On these ºccasions, myself and my wife join their circle after dinner for an hour or two, partake in their festivities, and test Their vocal powers. This has been my custom for many years. The few exchanges in my establishment, and he general intelligence and good conduct of my workmen is gratifying to my feelings. They know full well that I ºnsider our interests are concurrent, and that we are depending on each other with mutual obligations. * * I shall use an abundance of guano and London manure, chalk, lime, &c., when I require to force a crop. If º pays the Yorkshire men to buy London dung, bones, guano, and supply London with potatoes, surely, we in Essex ho are nearer, should not hesitate to do so. My plan will be one crop out another in. Potatoes after green rye, heat after potatoes, roots after tares, beans and wheat alternately, being governed by weather and circumstances. ly friend V., who practises this system advantageously, says, his neighbours call it the “everlasting shift.” |r. Hewitt Davis's rotation is a good one. * * RATs.--If each rat costs one penny per day in what he eats and destroys, 240 would deduct daily from the ºrmer's profit one pound sterling. But even take it at one-half or one-quarter that amount, it is a serious affair. often heat of parties killing 200 to 400 rats in a day ; a friend of mine recently dispatched 267 on a small farm in he day. The best mode of keeping them down is by paying a certain sum to the rat catcher annually, rats or no its. Thus he will have an interest in preventing their increase. Good sound brick and slate buildings &Te 3D. ºn ficient preventive. CoMPARATIVE VALUE OF LAND:-The immoveable or stationary propensity of our farmers is stron gly illustrated the comparative rent and value of land of the same quality in different counties. In one 20s, or more, per ºre ; in another 10s. or 12s. It is too frequently the case that low rents and bad farming go together ; and that he higher the rent (irrespective of the quality of the land) the better and more profitable the farming—the more mfortable the position of the labourer. This fact suggests a great many considerations: 5s. an acre differen. in at is thought much more of than the loss, by mismanagement or bad farming, of one sack of wheat per acre |hich is worth 28s. * Y-> * t . 3. *: K 122 ON AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT. AN ARGUMENT IN FAvour of DRAINING-Strange as it may appear to those unacquainted with Chemistry, it is a fact, that the air we breathe contains all the elements or materials of solid matter. The earth and its inhabitants, the sea and its fishes, the birds of the air, the diamond and the feather, the granite rock or plastic | clay, are alike formed from air and resolvable into air. The Almighty wisdom, by the laws of attraction, cohesion, gravitation, and compensation, prevents any alteration in their relative positions. A magazine may explode, a city burn away to air, an island disappear, but the general economy of mature is undisturbed—order reigns in tranquil grandeur. If air then is so important a material, how essential is it that by perfect drainage we should admit its passage through our sodden and at present impervious soils, and so render available to vegetable production our subterranean territory. - CHALK Bottoms FOR FARM-YARDS.—I have a very high opinion of chalk as a basis for cattle and stock in farm-yards. It is always dry and comfortable—cool in summer and warm in winter; and can be readily removed and applied advantageously to the soil. Where there is subdrainage into a tank, I am convinced chalk would be less liable to give foot disease than any other bottom, being a powerful absorbent. In our moist climate, a dry basis seems most important for cattle in winter, both as regards their health and condition. Any one who compares sheep or lambs on the chalk downs with those on other soils, must be forcibly struck with the contrast in their appearance, especially in winter, although more exposed to cold or open downs. Dampness is our greatest enemy. SALT AND LIME.—I imagine that salt and lime, mixed, must be a famous thing in a crowded farm-yard, par- ticularly in hot weather, to promote health by preventing effluvia, and to improve the quality of the manure. Why so P Because, by mixing the two, we get carbonate of soda, an excellent manure, and chloride of lime, a well known purifter and fixer of ammonia. Either with these, or with gypsum, taking care never to use both at the same time, I shall hope to keep the feet of my stock clean and free from disease, and their general health good, by purity of atmosphere, and absence of smells. I am using gypsum at present—I am convinced filth and neglec causes so many feet diseases; and putrescent smells affect the lungs and glands. We take care to wash out the feet of our mag-horses and change their litter. Why not attend to our other stock 2 h GYPSUM.–I have reason to believe we can entirely dispense with gypsum, because we have, in all heavy clay soils, abundance of sulphuric acid, in combination with potash, alumina, and silica, as sulphate of alumina. Now, b storing up a sufficiency of heavy clay in dry weather, or allowing it to dry under a shed, and reducing it to powder, spreading it over and intermixing it with our manure heaps and in our sheds, and stables, the sulphuric acid joins the ammonia, or smelling salts of the dung, forming sulphate of ammonia, and leaves the alumina, silica, and potash of the clay free, with an entirely different character to what it previously had. TREATMENT OF CATTLE.—In the fattening of cattle I consider an hygrometer quite as needful as a thermometer. In damp weather we must increase the temperature as much (or more) as in frosty weather, Why? Because moisture is a greater radiator, or abstractor of caloric, than frost, or quite as much so. We can judge by ourselves in a misty damp day we often feel more chilly than in a dry brisk wind or frost. Why? Because the damp i carrying away our heat more rapidly. w I think we may look upon stock generally as being merely “necessary evils;” bad customers for our roots and green crops, and dear manufacturers of manure. Supposing, in the very best case, that they come in at satisfactor prices, we treat them with punctilious attention, bed and board them in the best possible manner, and then whe they are thoroughly fat and comfortable, introduce them politely to the butcher. What is our reward? Why, undei favourable circumstances, we must be content to receive their excrements in payment for their bed, and not unfre quently, as in the case of bullocks, for a portion of their board too. Our sheep may choose tº return to us baré cost price for our oil-cake and corn, and may perhaps pay us three-pence per bushel, or ten shillings per ton for ou Swedes; but no extras will either allow—no charge for epidemic or casualities of markets. Bullocks are mos ungrateful fellows, and by no means favourites of mine. Although but a young grazier, I fancy sheep pay me one penny per bushel for roots more than bullocks, and pigs (if well bought, kept warm, and their food cooked) one penny mor than sheep. It fact, I have a great notion that it pays uncommonly well, when corn, &c., is cheap, to layout f 100( per annum, or £10 per acre, in purchasing food for pigs or other stock, provided we can make them return that amouſ or near it, over and above their prime cost, and leave us their manure as a profit. This at present I have succeede in doing with pigs. . But whilst abundance of stock must be the farmers sheet anchor of manure, woe be to th unfortunate wight who neglects to keep them warm, dry, and well fed, and who wastes their manure by washing * down the brook. His account book, if ever such a man kept a correct one, would show him a ruinous pecuniary loss In my Third Letter, containing items of expected remuneration for improvements, I estimated the increase profit or stock at f:15. I have reason to believe from the facility and quickness with which our pigs, sheep, & are fattened, that four times that amount will be nearer the truth. As I have said elsewhere } the benefit of per fectly sheltered, drained, and well-placed buildings, with a cooking apparatus for pig's food, is equivalent to a su of 10s. per acre, and when the farm is in condition probably a great deal more. I am also convinced I have not a all over rated the saving or gain in manure. The same remark applies to the threshing-machine. All machinery however, works easier when boxed in or protected from dust, which mine is not. I consider bands work easid than cogs. THIE ICNI). Printed by C. WII ITING, Beaufort House, Strand, London. - - - º: - - | - --> |- ºf III" #. ==>= tº | mº = ~ º º G º "|Nº|| - se | | --> | - - - º - - ºſ º º º - | | ſº | | | I I | | - | | | | | º | - - - - - =º- --- º - === - - º- ===E E_- With its Rakes, that discharge the straw into a Loft, 35 yards long, over the Stabling, &c. ill. | T | T | | - |ll. l - º --- - - THE THRESHING MACHINE, The Threshed Grain falls through gratings into the Dressing Machine, whose fanner blows the chaff or husk into the Chaff-house, the Corn remaining in the Granary. Six horses are used in threshing, but only two work the Chaff Cutter, or grinding apparatus, the rest of the machinery, except one rake, being thrown out of gear by a lever. The Chaff-Cutter, by Wilks, of Sheffield, cuts about 32 trusses per hour. We have also another excellent one that cuts exceedingly fine, made by Gardner, of Banbury. The cut chaff falls through a trap-door under the Cutter into the Chalf-house, from - which there is a direct passage to the Bullock Mangers and Cart-horse Stables. The Bruising Rollors are in the Granary. BURNT CLAY DRAIN PHPE. This is a diminished Representation of the Draining on the Heavy Land, at Tiptree Hall Farm. 2-inch bore, 13 inches long. | // - - __ Z// . . .” -*/ - in º/ ///// s = : |_ : -º-º-º-º-º-º-º-º: January 10, 1845.-Since the above Engravings were made, I have ascertained practically the following facts :- 1st. —That it is not the size or form of the Drains that regulate perfect drainage; but the depth at which they are placed. The depth also governs the distances at which the Drains should be cut, according to the quality of the soil. 2d. —That pipes of one-inch bore without stones are amply sufficient placed at four-feet deep and 80-feet wide in dense soils—and the same depth and 50-feet wide in mixed soils. 3d. —That deep Drains receive more water than shallow ones, and consequently lay dry a greater extent of ground. 4th–That deep Drains begin and end running sooner than shallow ones, and carry of more water in a given time. 5th–That where shallow drains are made and deep ones cut below them, the shallow ones no longer act, all the water passing to the deeper drains. - 5th–That when round stones are used as well as pipes, the latter should always be placed at the bottom, as I find, practically, water flows more quickly through pipes than amongst stones. Before persons begin draining, I would recommend their perusing attentively the facts developed by Mr. Parkes, at pages 39 and 40, pines made to s - - - ...-- ~…~. - and my Remarks at page 35. 。 Ķ } %% §. ¿- *-w. 4） * … ~~•• „”- * … * * * …，-- ~ ~~ , . ; * * - -* º ș.- * …* • ... … • * • • • JOE #' ~ -*** • ）, * * ، * & & ? ?- .* ~* -! *>', • • , --* → ș*į ****· sº.* ****- -ſºº,* ș.ae &* · - . '× ? - → ș {};, , º į $ſ.%%%%%* „ ， ！