242 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



make it into a six-course shift by continuing the grass as a 

 pasturing crop for a second year, in which case there would 

 be sown, along with Italian rye-grass and red and alsike 

 clovers for the first year's cutting, a mixture of seeds for 

 second year's pasturing. The only objection is the distance 

 of time between the cleaning crops, which, leaving an inter- 

 val of three unfallowed years, might tend to make the land 

 foul ; but, as the two green crops follow iu succession, an 

 opportunity is afforded of thoroughly destroying every root- 

 weed ; and if surface or annual weeds are feared, they can 

 be kept down by drilling the corn and hoeing it either by 

 hand or machine. I think that even an improvement would 

 be made on this course by taking barley after the wheat 

 preparatory to laying down witii grass. It would then 

 stand a seven-course shift ; thus — 



1. Turnips and mangold. 



2. Potatoes. 



3. Wheat. 



4. Barley, 



5. Clover-grass for cutting. 



6. Pasture. 



7. Oats. 



Following out, however, the instructions before me, I take 

 the case of a farm of 300 acres on a four-couree shilt ; say — 

 75 acres grass cut for hay. 

 75 „ oats. 

 33 „ potatoes. 



37 „ turnips, mangolds, cabbage, and carrots. 

 75 „ wheat. 



I would apply to the grass, io March, 2 cwt. Peruvian guano 

 per acre ; aod iu April or early May, when showers are falling, 

 1 cwt. nitrate of soda. An early and a heavy cut of grass for 

 home consumption by horses and soiling cattle, and for 

 makipg into hay, would thus be obtained. Thus treated, I 

 would calculate oa a good aftermath, to be either sold or used 

 in the yards, followed by a rich sward for sheep, up to Christ- 



mas. It would then plough down for oats, with the prospect 

 of a heavy crop, without any further addition of manure, 



I v.'ould manure the potato and turnip breaks well, so as to 

 have a full produce from them, and the land ready, without 

 further manuring, for the autuiun wheat crop, storing the tur- 

 nips, &c., early in November. I believe that if a moderate 

 portion of oilcake or other feeding-stuffs is used along with 

 the turnip and mangold, &c., produced, in feeding cattle, the 

 oat straw may be consumed, and the wheat straw trodden 

 into manure ; that thus sufficient " muck" (the farmer's surest 

 frieud after all) will have been produced at home to give 20 

 loads per acre to ail the green-crop break. 



I would give the potatoes at planting 2 cwt. superphosphate 

 and 1 cwt. Peruvian guano pec acre, and top-dress them with 



2 cwt. Peruvian guano at the first haad-hoeing. This prac- 

 tice I have found by experiment to give the largest produce. 

 To the turnips, &c , I would give 2 cwt. superphosphate and 



3 cwt. Peruvian guano per acre at sowing, adding to the man- 

 gold 5 cwt. of common salt. 



Thus treated — of course presuming careful culture in other 

 respects — I have no doubt that even under a four-course 

 shift "the land would be maintained in high condition," 

 though I question, for the reasons already explained, whether 

 the produce would be so high of any crop as it would be under 

 a more exteuded rotation. 



We would, adopting the practice thus suggested, have a 

 total use of purchased manure to the extent of 



375 cwt. Peruvian guano, at 12s £225 



75 „ nitrateof soda, at 183 67 10 



750 „ superphosphate, at 73 52 10 



30 „ salt (six acres mangold) at Is. .. 1 10 



£346 10 

 Or a little more than 23s. per acre. This, though it may 

 appear a high, would, under the circumstances suggested, be, 

 1 believe, a wise, safe, and profitable rate of expenditure,-— 

 Journal of Agriculture. 



THE LEADING FEATURES OF THE IMPLEMENT DEPARTMENT 



OF THE WARWICK SHOW, 1859- 



Some idea of the importance and extent of this great 

 gathering of the votaries of Ceres may be derived by 

 those who had not the good fortune to take personal 

 part in it — from the simple announcement, that no 

 fewer than 235 exhibitors displayed at 245 stands a 

 variety of machines, implements, and apparatus con- 

 nected with agriculture, amounting in number to 4,733 — 

 the whole bting displayed within an enclosure of more 

 than twenty-five acres in extent. The important posi- 

 tion which agricultural mechanism has attained, as 

 exemplified at this Show, may also be illustrated by an 

 enumeration of the various " classes" of mechanism 

 exhibited at this the most successful of all the Royal 

 Society's Meetings. Taking them in their order as pub- 

 lished officially, we find that there were eight exhibitors 

 of (1) barley avellers or hummellers, four of (2) bean 

 mills, twenty-three of (3) barrows, five of (4) boilers, 

 five of (5) bone mills, twenty of (6) carts, thirty-six of 

 (7) chaff-cutting machines, six of (8) clieese-making 

 apparatus, seven of (9) cheese- presses, fourteen 

 of (10) churns, twenty-two of (11) clod-crushers, 

 thirty- five of (12) corn-dressing machines, five of (13) 

 corn-bins, twenty-two of (14) cultivators, grubbers, or 

 scarifiers, two of (15) digging machines, eight of (16) 

 dairy utensils, seventeen of (17) draining machines and 

 implements, three of (18) dibbling machines, fifty- 

 three of (19) drills, three of (20) dynamometers, 

 fifteen of (21) fencing, two of (22) fire engines, four of 

 (23) floui-dressing machines, three of (24) food for 

 cattle, four of (25) forges, seven of (26) forks, thirty of 

 (27) gates and posts, twenty of (28) grinding mills. 



eight of (29) grubbers, seven of (30) harness, 

 thirty-six of (31) harrows, ten of (32) haymaking 

 machines, seven of (33) hay racks, thirty of (34) horse 

 hoes, eighteen of (35) horse-power, twenty-four 

 of (36) horse rakes, four of (37) hose-pipe or 

 tubing for irrigation, &c., fourteen of (38) hurdles, nine 

 of (39) lifting-jacks, sixteen of (40) linseed or corn- 

 crushers, four of (41) malt mills, 6 of (42) mangers, 

 four of (43) manures, five of (44) manure-distributors, 

 thirteen of (45) sheep fencing, seventeen of (46) mowing 

 machines, four of (47), oat-bruisers, twenty-one 

 of (48) oil. cake breakers, forty-three of (49) ploughs, 

 eighteen of (50) pumps, seventeen of (51) rakes, eleven 

 of (52) reaping machines, three of (53) rick stands, 

 twenty-seven of (54) rollers, twenty-four of (55) root 

 cutters or pulpers, fourteen of (56) sack trucks, four- 

 teen of (57) saw tables or machines, thirteen of (58) 

 scarifiers, six of (59) screening machines, three 

 of (60) scythes, nine of (61) seed-sowing ma- 

 machines, four of (62) spades or shovels, nine of (63) 

 stable fittings, eleven of (64) steam-cultivators, forty- 

 three of (65) steam engines, seven of (66) steam 

 ploughs, three of (67) steam-cioking apparatus, three 

 of (68) straw elevators, thirteen of (69) subsoil 

 ploughs or pulverizers, thirty-nine of (70) thrashing 

 machines, eight of (71) tile and brick-making machines, 

 four of (72) traction steam engines, nineteen of (73) 

 feeding troughs, twenty-three of (74) turnip cutters, 

 four of (75) root or vegetable washers, four of (76) 

 ventilators, eight of (77) waggons, seven of (78) water- 

 carts, tanks, &c,, seven of (79) weighing machines; fire 



