490 



TOE FARMER'S MAGAZINE, 



which the poorer class of agriculturists laboured' was the 

 (ibseuce of cheap publications, those at present isened bciug 

 coiifined to those iu higher circumstances. He would like to 

 see one published at a penny or three half-pence, and he was 

 sure it would be appreciated by the farmers. There were 

 some, aud all honour to them, who had advanced themselves 

 even under ditficultie?, but that number would he increased by 

 cheap publinatiuus. If some had not advanc2d, even under 

 tryiog circumstances, th's country would have been a retro- 

 gressive country rather than a progressive one. Speaking of 

 the utility of salt, he said that he knew several farmers who 

 had top-dressed potato laud with a slight sprinkling of com- 

 mou salt, now very cheap, and it had proved an entire pre- 

 ventive of potato disease. Salt and other mineral manures 

 mixed with farm-yard manures were now used very advan- 

 tageously for general purposes. 



The chairman, G. I. Wainwright, Esq., said, it had been his 

 fortune to attend similar meetings to the present for the last 

 30 years, and during that time it had been his dcliaht to see 

 around him a set of tenant farmers, amongst whom he had not 

 seen the slightest discord or disseusio;; as affecting the lords 

 of the manor of Euxton. He hoped he might long live to 

 occupy the position he then held, and that the same feeling 

 might continue amongst those present. He next alluded to 

 complimentary toasts, which at such meetings occupied the 

 time which should be devoted to improTemeut ; if he were to 



tell them about thorough draining, deep ploughing, clean 

 weeding, and heavy manuring, they would .^11, no doubt, say 

 they knew all that al.eady. It was true tliey all endeavoured 

 to improve their farms, and draining was oi,c very important 

 part of those improvements, but it was a work of time, aud 

 could not be effected in a day. If it was not done as readily 

 as could be wished, the farmer must not blame the landlord, 

 nor the landlord the tenant, but they mu%t go on endeavovr- 

 ing to improve, as he hoped they had done. Improvements 

 were constantly being made in agricultural machines, but 

 these could not be obtained all at once, but no doubt by de- 

 grees many would be adopted. A very important matter for 

 farmers to notice was the construction of their farm-steads, in 

 order to make the most of what they pos-cssed. Tanks for 

 li:)uid manure ought to be made, in order that it might be 

 carted upon the land instead of trustiug to the -brooks and 

 streams to take it there. He much regretted to see the beau- 

 tiful strtam, the Yarrow, rendered stagnant and the fish de- 

 stroyed, all by the filth sent from certain print works, and the 

 sewage of Chorley ; thus instead of the stream being useful 

 to the farms aud the country, it was becoming a nuisance. 

 Thousands of gallons per day of this filth passed down to the 

 sea, which if proper arrangements were made, might be made 

 of great service to the farmer, and would tend materially to 

 lessen the price of guano. 



ENGLISH WHEAT SOWING. 



The agricultural year has again revolved, and preparations 

 for next wheat crop are now the order of the day. In War- 

 wickshire, seed-time has hardly commenced; for it is found 

 that early sowing runs the risk of becoming flaggy, tillering 

 out largely, and becoming lolged by the mid-summer rains, 

 or getting mildewed and blighted before ripening. This re- 

 mark holds good either with thin or thick sowing. At least 

 such has been the result of our own experience, with quan- 

 tities of seed varying from half a bushel to two and a-half 

 bushels per acre. By sowing later in the season — say during 

 November, instead of October — the latter quantity of seed 

 will require to be drilled; leas time is gi«en for till«ring, the 

 plant does not get " winter-proud," and a better sample, with 

 a more profitable return, is in this neighbourhood the result. 

 But this is a subject which ought not to be dogmatically 

 treated, as there are many matters iufluenciug the practices 

 in different localities. For instunce, a most accomplished 

 farmer near Leightou Buzzard — Mr. R. Vallentine, a Mcarns 

 man — writes us last week that his wheat sowing was entirely 

 completed, with the exception of a few acres from which the 

 mangolds were not removed. In days bygone, the Cotswold 

 farmers used to sow so earl}*, on their bleak and exposed es- 

 carpments, that they had frequently to use old seed, the har- 

 vest not being completed in time to supply them with that of 

 the new crop. Now they are to be found sowing wheat on the 

 turnip laud, after sheep feeding, nearly up to Christmas. 



Iu the order of preparation for wheat sowing, the bean and 

 fallow fields are the first to receive attention, and then the 

 seeds (or lea ground). Few farmers allow the latter to stand 

 more than one year, and many fields are noT being turned 

 over that show a capital herbage. To a Scottish grazier, who 

 would think of keeping the breeding ewes thereon for proba- 

 bly the next three months, this might appear ruthless van- 

 dalism. But with a fair breadth of permanent pasture to fall 



back upon, on most farms, the sacrifice is not recognised. In 

 breaking up the " seeds" for wheat, at this period of the year, 

 it is found desirable to attach a skim coulter to cut a thin 

 slice of herbage from the outer side of the furrow. Hence, 

 when well ploughed, no7ie of the grass shows itself above 

 ground ; but by so doing you generally get the furrow to lie 

 much flatter than is approved of in the north. Where a drill 

 is employed this is no drawback ; but for broadcast sowing a 

 sufllcient seam is not obtained. Of the two plaas we prefer 

 the oue named as obtaining in this district, and for the follow- 

 ing reasons : — First, it is well known that the wheat plant likes 

 a solid bottom, aud this is better obtained by ploughing a flat 

 furrow than by having it standing up — nice enough to the eye 

 certainly — in the way we have been used to see Barrowman'd 

 swing plough, and others of the high cutting ploughs generally 

 accomplish their work. The herbage is much more effectually 

 buried, aud thus earlier decays, eo as to form food for the root- 

 lets of the young cereal. Second, by the square cutting and 

 perpendicular face to the upward furrow to which we have re- 

 ferred, the rvJiole of the ground is moved to an equal and re- 

 gular depth — a point which iu the other case is often neglected, 

 and a species of undergtound ribbing (as most farmers know) 

 takes its place. Lastly, the use of a drill becomes a needful 

 accompaniment. On the advantages of sowing corn by drill 

 instead of the broadcast method it would seem presumptuous 

 in us to enlarge, as they are now so fully recognised. 



By the free use of the skim coulter, harrowing may be at 

 once proceeded with, and little or none of the sod will find its 

 way to the surface. B\it if it lie a week or two, so much the 

 better, as the furrows then lie better together, and form a new 

 solid s\irface, which, when harrowed, affords the beat possible 

 seed-bed. It will be readil}- seen that our remarks apply in 

 some measure to the use of the wheel plough, for which we 

 would again s.sk a full aud fair trial from the iutelligeut aud 



