THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



443 



riage, it ia preferable to common salt, because of the manurirg 

 matter it contains. 



And where used bark is ohjectionable (as in very light soils), 

 hedge oi ditch sods, or surface peat, may be substituted. And 

 where coal tar is too costly cartinge, ditch or pond mud mey 

 be tried instead (though not destructive to vcrinin). 



It may work in heap as long as desirable, but probably not 

 less than six months, including winter, or four montlis ia sum- 

 mer. How much to apply per acre can hardly be directed, as I 

 do not know of its ever having been tried on the principle of 

 fixiug nitric acid. According as it answers, farmers may ex- 

 pect to find out improved methods of making and using it. 



I. Priueaux. 



ROOT AND GREEN CROPS THE MAIN- 

 STAY OF ALL GOOD FARMING. 



Sir, — The high farajing on the four-course system and 

 under tenant-right, upon the Liucolnshire Wolds and Lincoln 

 Heath, and the vast improvement made upon thcsai 1 land, are 

 astonishing. Shiploads of bones and artificial manures have been 

 fetched from fsr distant clime?, to manure the said Wolds and 

 Heath. This, ouce a wilderness, slriucs thousands cf thinking 

 men with admiration, to see not only fine crops of corn, clover, 

 and root crops, but a fine breed of Bhort-horned cattle, long- 

 wooUed Lincolnshire sheep, and highly-valuable horses, upon 

 land, a great part of which, half a century back, was let as 

 rabbit warrens, cf 1,000 acres in each warren, at 2s. 6^^. per 

 acre; now let at fram 253. to 30s. per acre per annum. Half 

 the said land being clover, alias seeds and root crops, &c., end 

 being consume 1 upon the farm with cake aud corn, produces a 

 vast deal of strong manure, which fills a large stack-yard full 

 of gigantic stacks of corn and clover, acres of stacks, streets 

 of stacks, alias rows of stacks, like mountains, as long as 

 some streets iu London, all produced from land which a 

 century back, was as wild as the deserts in Africa ; 

 capital, skill, perseverance, generosity, and tenant-right, alias 

 justice, have brought North Liucolnshire farming to be a fine 

 example to all the world. The truth ia neither puflSng nor 

 flattery. If any raaa dispute my assertion, let him lake a 

 tour through North Lincolnshire any year, and he will find, 

 just after harvest, the monstrous stack-yards full of leviathan 

 stacks, and upon his tour let him particularly notice the Earl 

 of Yarborough's estates and his tenantry, many of whom 

 follow the fox and hounds in scarlet, aud their good and noble 

 lord is proud and pleased to see some of them upon horses 

 v/orth hundreds of pounds, each horse ; nay, upon horses 

 second to none in value. The above wealthy farmers ric'e 

 their horses boldly over gigantic fences, for profit ; nay, to sell 

 faint-hearted, timid, weaUhy men, their horses ?t a high price. 

 As the more brashes a farmer wins, the mere horses he sells 

 at a first-class price is the cause of farmers' throwing the dirt 

 in rich men's faces; oue pirty riding for pleasure, and the 

 other for profit. Samuel Arnsby. 



Millfield, Peterlioroitgh. Oct.. 19, 



SPIRIT OF ENTERPRISE AMONGST THE 

 AGRICULTURAL CLASS. — At the North West 

 Bucks Meeting, the Marquis of Chandos made the follow- 

 ing pertinent remarks in reference to the present improved 

 state of English agriculture. He said that he had been for 

 many years connected with agricultural pursuits, and felt 

 the warmest interest in them. When he first began to turn 



his attention in that direction, another large interest was 

 rising up, and threatening to overwhelm agriculture. Tho 

 manu<'acturing interest, it was said, was tj swamp it alto- 

 gether. He asked himself, at the time, why was it that the 

 agriculturists were not keeping pace with the manufacturers ? 

 He could not help thinking that much of the rapid rise and 

 success of the manufacturing interest was owing to the inti- 

 mate connexion they maintained, and the spirit of emulation 

 which animated them. For instance, if one man thought 

 that he ^ya8 not producing a p;irticular description of manu- 

 facture 60 fast or so cheap as liis neighbour, he would go to 

 his mechanist, an.l say, "You must make a better ma- 

 chine;" and those repeated applications for improved ma- 

 chinery in the manufacturing department of industry had 

 so quickened the invention of the makers, that they had 

 succeeded in turning out machines that had astonished the 

 world. Twenty years ago, they would all admit, that there 

 was little of that spirit of improvement, and very little of 

 that ability, as respected agriculture. But they all knew 

 what a struggle they had had to keep their position. He 

 believed, however, that it would be now admitted by every- 

 body that the art of cultivating the ground had been im- 

 proved more in this than in any other country in the world. 

 Farmers, as compared with manufacturers, had very great 

 difficulties to contend with. They had not the seasons 

 under their control ; their operation were not carried on 

 under roofs ; they could not always plough their land at a 

 time when it was convenient for them to do so. Having 

 then, to face these difficulties, what was the course which 

 they ought to pursue ? It was plainly this, that they must 

 so improve their machinery as to enable them practically to 

 disregard the weather, by performing those operations with 

 great rapidity which at present took a considerable time to 

 accomplish. They had. seen that day the experiment of 

 steam cultivation in afield near the town. Perhaps that 

 might not be brought into general use in the days of the 

 older farmers now living ; but he was satisfied that, sooner 

 or later, an invention so valuable would be generally resorted 

 to, and could not fail of success ; and it was no small credit 

 to the town of Buckingham that it now possessed an estab- 

 lishment for the manufacture of steam ploughs. Nothing 

 more surely indicated the existence of a spirit of enterprise 

 among the agricultural classes than the growth, here and 

 there, in the agricultural districts, of large establishments 

 for the purpose of supplying an improved description of 

 machinery for the working of the land. 



THE THISTLE QUESTION.~Sir William Bowyer 

 Smltth, at the Ongar Society, hit the mark fairly, when he 

 said, in proposing the toast of Prosperity to the Societj-, 

 " Vv'hat do you think about thistles? You profess to be 

 labourers' friends, and I don't know how you could be 

 better friends to the labourer than by solving that question. 

 If I could only raise a discussion in the county new^paper8 

 upon the readiest way of eradicating tliistles, or even upon 

 their different varieties, for really I have never been able to 

 discover the different species yet, I can only say that it 

 will be perfectly worth while naming it as the snbji-ct for 

 discussion this evening. It is a harmless one, and one upon 

 which there may not be much difference of opinion. I 

 therefore, gentlemen, invite your opinions upon the subject 

 of thistles. It was only the other day that I was playing 

 cricket on a hill across which a high wind swept westerl}', 

 where I declare the thistles were so thick that it was with 

 difficulty I could attend to the ball. I am sorry to say that 

 I Bee great neglect on the road-ways, in the little bits of 



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