THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



390 



and coleseed crops upon which they were fed, and con- 

 sequently the absence of condition requisite to being put 

 to good grass : nearly all of these crops suffered from 

 mildew. From this cause also we anticipate a falling off 

 in the condition of the ciltle brought forward. It is 

 true, abuiidince of cake may, in a great measure, com- 

 pensate for the absence of quality in the turnip ; but 

 this abundance will not in all cases be given. Many 

 yards of cattle will come out in their usual splendid 

 state, the pride of their exhibitors, fit either for the 

 butcher or for further grazing ; but this chiss of animals 

 will form the exception, not the rule, this year. Nothing, 

 upon the geiitral average, will compensate for a de- 

 fective turnip crop : it must be felt in (he su'.'.iner's 



grazing. I therefore anticipate a short supply of well- 

 fed animals, both in cattle and sheep, for the grazing 

 department, and consequently a scanty supply of mar- 

 ketable meat for the first summer months ; this generally 

 leads to many animals being sent to market before they 

 are properly fatted, which tends strongly to depreciate 

 prices. One word relative to pork. The supply of 

 good gt'jre pigs has greatly increased ; and as these are 

 fatted as porkers, the tendency will be to produce a greater 

 reduction in the price of meat ; even at present, pork 

 does not retain its relative value in the markets. — [ am 

 well aware these remarks ars not of much worth; but I 

 am desirous to jirovoke inquiry, therefore they are meant 

 to be more suggt-stive than dogmatic. 



THE LONDON, OR CENTRAL FARMERS' CLUB. 



THE USE OF GUANO FOR ROOT CROPS. 



The ordinary monthly meeting for discussion took place 

 on Monday evening, April ,5, at the Club-house, Blackfriars, 



Mr. Owen, of Clapton, as Chairman for the Year, presided. 

 In cnsequenco of tlie meeting falling on Easter Monday, 

 the attendance was not large, but it included Messrs. R. 

 Baker, H. Trethewy, John Thomas, T. W. Granger, C. T. 

 James, L. A. Coussmaker, W. Gray, T. F. Wilson, J. 

 Wood, J. C. Nesbit, T. Hatfield, T. B. Chapman, James 

 Thomas, E. Purser, J. Howard, J. G. King, J. Cressing- 

 ham, J. Wood (Croydon), T. Congreve, S. Skelton, H. 

 Owen, G. S. Harrison, R. Marsh, W. W. Good, Owen, 

 jun , &c , &c. 



The subject for discussion assigned for introduction to 

 Mr. W. Sainsbury, of Manor House, West Lavington, 

 Wiltshire, was thus stated on the card : '' The Advantage 

 of Guano for Root Crops, and the Best System of Applying 

 it without Injury to the Germination of Seed." 



The Ch.\ir.man, in opening the proceedings, observed, 

 that the best method of growing roots must always be an 

 interesting subject to the farmer; and, knowing how great 

 Mr. Sainsbury's experience was in reference to it, he was 

 quite sure tliat gentleman would treat the topic in an 

 intereiting manner. He was sorry that at the present 

 moment the article of guano bore such a very high price in 

 the market; but he had no doubt that Mr. Sainsbury 

 would show that even with that price the use of guano was 

 attended with great advantage ; while, on the other hand, 

 as it was a most valuable manure, he trusted the day would 

 soon arrive when it would be obtainable at a far lower rate. 



Mr Sainsbury said : Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen, 

 the subject for discussion this evening is one, I think, of 

 the greatest importance to the farmers of this country. The 

 value of guano has been tested by many practical men, by a 

 comparison of it with a variety of artificial manures. I 

 have myself takt-n much care to give the thing a fair trial. 

 I well know how cautious I ought to be, in stating the result 

 of my experience, and I have no doubt there are many 

 practical men present who are much more capable than I 

 am of explaining in detail experiments in relation to this 

 subject. I do not presume to teach, or dictate in any way ; 

 I only wish to give an exact statement of what has taken 

 place 0:1 the farm i;i my occupation, with different manures 

 in competition with guano ; and I regret that the subject 



has not fallen, for its treatment, into the hands of some 

 member of this club who is more competent to expatiate on 

 it than mj'self. I consider that by increasing the weight of 

 roots per acre, wo secure the means of keeping more stock, 

 tliereby laying a foundation for good farming. (Hear, 

 hear ) It is my intention to state, on this occasion, the re_ 

 suit of three years' experience respecting the different kinds 

 of artifii-'ial manures wiiich I have used in competition with 

 Peruvian guano at the same expense per acre. In 1855 I 

 was induced to use as an experiment four different kinds 

 of manures for Swede turnips, three of which I purchased 

 from three eminent manufacturers of turnip manures. I 

 shall classify them as No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3. They were 

 all drilled at the same time, with Swede seed, and at the 

 same expense per acre, in competition with guano. The 

 swedes drilled with the three first-named came up, and 

 made equal progress up to the time of the first hoeing ; the 

 guano swedes, when they made their first appearance, 

 looked stunted in their growth, and anything but promising, 

 and were much more injured comparatively by the turnip- 

 fly, than those drilled with the three other manures. The}- 

 were not ready for hoeing for at least one week after the 

 three first-named, which I attribute to the seed not having 

 come in contact with the guano, as a preventive from in- 

 jury to the germination of the seed. The result was that 

 in the month of August, the progress made by the swedes 

 with all four manures, was about equal in appearance; in 

 the latter part of November, No. 1 and No. 2 swedes were 

 about equal in weight ; No. 3 were not so gosd ; but the guano 

 swedes were about three tons per acre more in weight. 

 In 18jG, in order to test the relative merits of Peruvian 

 guano ai compared with bones, a friend of mine drilled six- 

 teen bushels of bones per acre and I two cwt. of guano, the 

 land being about the same in quality. In the latter part of 

 November the guano swedes were full three tons per acre more 

 than those drilled with bones. In lfi.")7 I wished again to try 

 the relative merits of the same (Nos. I , '2, and 3, and guano) 

 at an equal expense per acre. All these manures were then 

 used on pieces of land of the same value, and drilled in ro- 

 tation at the same time with rapeseed. The result was that 

 Nos. 1,"2, and 3 took the lead at first, and the guano rape was 

 not so llourishiug -, but after the fir^t hoeing of the three 

 first-mentioned, the guano rape gradually overtook that 



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