THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



Iq some -.valU GOO yeiti old the lime has been found to have 

 absorbed only one-fourth of the carbonic acid necessary to 

 convert the whole into carbonate ; in others, built by the 

 Romans 1800 years ago, the proportion absorbed has not ex- 

 ceeded three-fourths of the quantity contained in natural 

 limestone. 



When slaked in the ordinary way, by the application of 

 water, lime fal!s to pieces without the absorption of but little 

 if any carbonic acid ; but when slaked and exposed to the air, 

 the absorption of carbonic acid is at first very rapid, but it 

 gradually becomes very slow, and probably the same definite 



compound of hydrate and carbonate of lime is formed as in the 

 case of air-slaked lime. 



The original limestone, or any other form of carbonate of 

 lime, then, is perfectly mild. By drivinar off the carbonic acid 

 by heat we get lime which is very caustic : by slaking this 

 with water we get a less caustic substance — hydrate of lime : 

 by allowing it to air-slake we get a still less caustic compound 

 — a definite compound of hydrate and carbonate of lime : and 

 by exposing it to the air for a sufficient length of time we 

 ultimately get the whole reconverted again into its original 

 mild form — carbonate of lime. 



THE OLD AND NEW SCHOOL, 



The true criterion of farm-management will be 

 found in the result ; and when we see different systems 

 producing nearly similar results, it is worth inquiry 

 how they have been brought about. We generally have 

 two classes of farmers in every district — the first, as 

 he is called by his modern neighbours, " one of the 

 old school" ; the second, as he is termed by the other, 

 "one of the new school" — both titles expressive of 

 their modes of proceeding. 



As regards the first of these, we have one who acts 

 methodically : he adopts a system, and pursues it, 

 M'ithout in any way diverging from it. His ex- 

 penses are reduced to a certain standard, and from 

 year to year are almost without variation in 

 amount. His returns differ only as seasons or 

 prices dictate, the proportions in acreable quantity 

 being always the same; and whether he adopts the 

 four, five, or six-course shifts of husbandry, his pur- 

 suing it for years together, without the slightest altera- 

 tion, enables him annually to estimate the result, so far 

 as external operating causes will permit him to do so ; 

 while the varying success or failure, in a single year, will 

 necessarily depend upon circumstanceswhich he cannot 

 control. Upon a farm of 400 acres of arable we shall 

 find regularly 100 acres in wheat, 100 in barley and 

 oats, 100 peas, beans, or clover, and 100 acres green 

 or fallow crops — such as rye, vetches, turnips, 

 mangolds, or rape. By pursuing this uniform 

 system the quantum of labour requisite for the 

 cultivation of the farm is invariably the same; and, 

 that being the case, all other proportions of expendi- 

 ture necessarily follow ; so that year by year the varia- 

 tion will scarcely be appreciated, excepting, as already 

 stated, when it has arisen from circumstances alto- 

 gether beyond his power. The prices may vary, but 

 the measure will remain the same : thus rent, labour, 

 and seed-corn continue in the same proportion ; pa- 

 rochial charges, tradesmen's bills, and tithe rent- 

 charge fluctuating only to a limited extent, but never 

 materially affecting the general result; and house- 

 keeping and personal expenses rarely vary more 

 than from five to ten per cent. Thus each year has 

 its fixed expenditure ; the farm thus striking, as it 

 were, its own annual balance of profit or loss as it 

 proceeds. 



On the other hand, we find the experimental farmer 

 adopting every theory as it arises : he pursues no 

 stated system. In some years his various descriptions 

 of grain crops far exceed those of others ; he has learnt 

 to autumn-fallow, and his principal exertion, if it 

 may be termed such, is to farm as little without it 

 as he may be able. He produces roots rather as suc- 



cessional than principal crops, adopts autumnal fal- 

 lowing as his system, purchases manures ad libitum, 

 produces grain crops in successive seasons on the same 

 land, abolishes every previous rule of rotation, and 

 consequently in some seasons his acreable quantities of 

 grain will far exceed those of others. His expenditure 

 also in labour varies greatly, but is generally materially 

 increasing in amount, both as regards horse and 

 manual. His outlay in implements, cattle, oil 

 cake, and cattle food is so large, he becomes subject, 

 to a great extent, to the fluctuations that attend 

 trade. His returns are doubtless increased; but his 

 outlay is in like ratio; and what perhaps is worst of 

 all, the current year does not exhibit its profit and 

 loss sufficiently clear to demonstrate to himself what is 

 the actual profit or loss, or how things are really pro- 

 gi'essing. 



It is not our intention to deprecate improvements or 

 high-farming ; but our object is to exhibit to farmers 

 that a methodical system, when carried out, is most 

 advisable, and generally most conducive to success ; 

 for just so far as a farmer strikes out a new path, he 

 becomes also subject to greater risks, and which, 

 without corresponding talent and adequate capital, is ^ 

 not likely to lead to any beneficial results. Whatever 

 is done well continuously carries its own reward ; 

 but an indiscriminate application of capital, without 

 a corresponding increase of skill and perseverance, 

 will be almost certain to lead to disasters ; 

 and we therefore caution experimental and ardent 

 cultivators to pause as they proceed ;' for although 

 we are quite awai'e that a large return of any particu- 

 lar description of produce can be sometimes obtained, 

 still there are certain limitations, to which, upon an 

 average, it must be reduced ; and even then much will 

 depend upon the skill used in arriving at such an end. 

 We have lately read of a very large expenditure about 

 to be macle upon an estate, very far exceeding the value 

 of the fee. We have before heard of this in other 

 quarters; and whether it be as example or experi- 

 mental farms that they come before our notice, it is not 

 sufficient to inform us that the production has been 

 doubled, if the investment and expenses have been 

 doubled also. The clear profits, after all, must become 

 the test by which the speculation has been carried on. 

 It is an old adage, but a true one, that we see the ships 

 only that arrive in port; those which have gone 

 down are forgotten. The successful agriculturists have 

 mostly been found amongst the class first named ; 

 and when we consider the operating causes producing 

 such results, we feel we shall be only anticipating the 

 conclusions of our readers that this must ever be so. 



