54 REPORT OP THE AGRICULTURE OF AYRSHIRE. 



shire was fully one-third of all grown in Scotland — viz., 1 1 00 

 acres ; but for several years back the acreage under it has been 

 lessening on the larger-sized farms, from want of sufficient heat 

 and sunshine to develop the roots. Mangolds can hardly be ex- 

 pected in Scotland to average one year with another as great a 

 weight per acre as Swedes. Swedes of late years, however, have de- 

 decayed much during winter, and to the vast majority of the dairy 

 farmers, growing only a few acres of roots in all, the mangold crop 

 is most desirable. By cultivating on the warmest and freest 

 patches of soil they have, and manuring heavily with well-rotted 

 dung and guano, mangolds, over wet seasons and dry, may always 

 be raised to be more profitable to them than Swedes. Even the 

 leaves of the " shot" plants are first-rate feeding, and very pro- 

 ductive of milk ; and the sound roots may also be leaved without 

 injuring the growth of bulb. Any further coniments on mangold- 

 culture are unnecessary, after the prize essay by Mr. Robert J. 

 Thomson, lately published in the Transactions. 



The cabbage portion of the green-crop break is used as feeding 

 to the milch cows towards the end of the season, when the pas- 

 tures are bared and the cows beginning to dry up. The " large 

 drumhead" variety is almost the only kind used for field plant- 

 ing. Cabbage was introduced into Ayrshire, generally, as a field 

 crop, between 1830 and 1840, and in 1857 had increased to 483 

 acres, being nearly one-third of the whole in Scotland. Previous to 

 1830 neither cabbage nor mangolds were at all common ; but they 

 are now grown more or less by nearly every dairy farmer — from 

 20 poles or so up to one acre or more of each, according to num- 

 ber of cows. Tew kinds of food, if any, are better than cabbage 

 for filling the udder with cjood untasted milk, and cows are re- 



OCT ' 



markably fond of them. But they must be treated to a large 

 dose of well-made muck to yield a profitable return in big weighty 

 boiled heads ; and thus treated they will produce more weight 

 of nutritious food off a given space than either turnips or man- 

 gold. Cabbage might be advantageously grown in Ayrshire to a 

 still greater extent. It is upon moist clayish loams that they 

 succeed best, and such a fine tilth as for turnips is not necessary, 

 — indeed, the crop is usually heaviest with the land at planting- 

 time rather cloddy, always granting that the muck is around 

 their roots in due quantum suft. One of the best growers of 

 cabbage in Ayrshire is Mr. Hugh Woodburn, Annandale, Cros- 

 shouse, Kilmaurs. The soil of Annandale is mostly a deep, rich, 

 clayey loam. Mr. Woodburn grows about two acres annually. 

 Gives one deep furrow in autumn, and has the plot again har- 

 rowed, grubbed, and drilled up in spring, much the same as for 

 his turnip crop, but not caring to reduce the soil so fine. Width 

 of drills, 31 inches. Manured at the rate of 60 to 70 cubic yards 

 of farm-yard dung (part sometimes ploughed- in in autumn), per 



