420 



THE FARxMER'S MAGAZINE. 



the Government and the judges of the show begged to 

 bear witness to the improvement every year made m the 

 aeiiculture of the north of France. 



The recipients of the prizes were nearly all farmers, 

 and in appearance respectable men, about the same as 

 our 200-acred tenants at home ; but in their homes 

 what a diflference ! what a life of discomfort, compared 



to the same men in England ! . I have been to two of 

 their houses, and shall go to a third next week (one of 

 the strongest tobacco-growers about here), to which 

 I shall devote my next letter, and will now conclude. 

 An English Farmer in France. 

 Lille, March 29, 1858. 



THE VALUE OF FURZE AS FOOD FOR CATTLE. 



The following are extracts from the testimonies 

 of respectable agriculturists ; addressed to the editor 

 of the "Cork Daily Reporter" : 



From Rev. Benjamin Williamson, Old Dromore, 

 Mallow — " I have been using furze for horses these 

 last three or four years, cut with a chafi'- cutter. I 

 commenced this winter on the fourth of October, 

 and am feeding all my horses, for pleasure and 

 otherwise, to the number of twelve, and a yearling 

 from that time to the present, and hope to continue 

 doing so for another month. They get nothing 

 else, and are in capital condition. One of the 

 riding horses is rather too fat. I have two furze 

 meadows, each about two acres, and have cut every 

 second year hitherto ; but in future I mean to cut 

 every year, as the second year it becomes woody. 

 The land on which the furze is grown is very poor, 

 not worth more than 7s. Of course the richer the 

 land the heavier the crop. I am cutting some two 

 years old for litter, and think of sowing another 

 field this year for that purpose. Sow with barley 

 or oats under the harrow, about 15 lb. to the statute 

 acre. A donkey can work the chaff- cutter without 

 bruising, which with young furze is not necessary. 

 By hand-labour (though mine is inferior to Rich- 

 mond and Chandler's £10 cutter which I intend 

 purchasing) two men and a boy feeding will cut 

 in an hour sufficient for twelve horses. Four hands 

 working got four firkins (equal to bushels), a little 

 packed at night, and no hay. There is a good deal 

 of grass growing with the furze, which is much 

 rehshed. The other horses don't get so much, but 

 always get a couple of gallons mixed with their 

 oats, which makes them masticate the latter better. 

 The furze is mown daily with an ordinary scythe. 

 The first crop I sowed without corn, but gained 

 nothing by the sacrifice, as it is very slow of growth 

 the season it is sown, not more than a couple of 

 inches in length." 



Richard Barter, Esq., M.D., St. Anne's, Blarney 

 — I have been using furze for nearly twenty years, 

 I prepare with a chaff-cutter, I have five farms, and 

 in all have water-power. The furze is cut very 

 green, with a scythe, every year. It is far superior 

 to hay for cows and horses, and the yield of 

 inferior land is superior to the best meadow." 



William Crooke, Esq., J.P., Derrun, Coach- 

 ford— " My mind is made up, after more than 

 twenty years' experience, that furze is the most 

 valuable forage plant we possess in scarce seasons. 

 Farmers from great distances come here to buy 

 furze by the half-acre, at high prices, which they 

 could so easily grow on their own farms. The 

 lowest price I ever got was £4 per acre (statute), 



which was not half its value. My plan of culture — 

 sow 28lb. of seed to each acre, as you would clover 

 seed in oaten tillage the day after sowing the corn ; 

 the oats will not injure the furze, nor the furze the 

 oats in mowing, unless the oats be a very heavy 

 crop, and should lodge, in which case it is sure to 

 kill the furze. Ton will have a great crop every 

 succeeding year — say from four to eight tons. On 

 no account let it stand more than a year uncut ; it 

 gets woody and bad for food. No beast should he 

 allowed in the field at any time, except that which 

 draws in to the farm yard. It requires no manure, 

 no weeding, and mine is yielding abundantly, after 

 more than twenty years' constant mowing. After 

 many years' experience, cuttmg every year, it has 

 been rising every year in my estimation. Good as 

 it is for food, it is equally good for litter. I have 

 found that furze passed through the catlle-house is 

 just as good manure as if wheaten straw had been 

 used. For food it must be used fresh : it will not 

 keep cut and bruised a second day; any left ought 

 to be swept into the manure pit. Water-power 

 works a powerful cutting machine, bought from 

 M'Kenzie, Cork ; works also a Gardner's turnip- 

 cutter, and it is astonishing in how short a time 

 turnips and furze are prepared for twenty head of 

 cattle." 



Mr. Hawkes, Passage West, adopted Mr. 

 Crooke's plan of cultivating and preparing furze, 

 and found it to be of the greatest advantage in sup- 

 porting cows and horses. This year the herdsman 

 varied the food with great advantage, giving half 

 furze with some turnips and hay, and never had 

 them in such a condition before. 



Mr. Samuel Lane, steward to the Hon. Mrs. 

 Austen, Hadwell, Aghada, writes that he has had 

 many years' practical experience of its great utility 

 as food for horses and horned cattle, and its value 

 as a substitute for hay. He had for many years 

 the superintendence of two large farms; and on one 

 he worked on his own account, furze ])ropagated 

 by plants from seed in previous spring, in November, 

 and mown every year, turned to best account. 

 Poor light or mountain land, which would be use- 

 less for other crops, will bring good furze, by 

 ploughing and digging, sowing 20lbs. seed to the 

 acre. Any farmer so devoting five acres of poor 

 land would find that they were the most valuable 

 and useful part of his land. His way of prepariug 

 was, first the cutting spade and pounder ; but in 

 1854 he bought a furze cutter from, as he truly 

 says, that first-rate seedsman and machine-maker 

 Mr. Thomas M'lvenzjie, Camden-quay, Cork, for 

 eight guineas. 



