THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



287 



the boxes, shippon, and piggeries run iato it. A cold- 

 water valve is connected with it for the purpose of 

 dilution, when necessary, and the whole is drawn off by 

 another valve, and carried through pipes on to the 

 adjacent meadows, which do ample credit to their iron 

 fertilizers. 



The other two sides of the yard, which is paved with 

 flags set edgeways, were devoted, one to the bulls, and 

 the other to the cows and heifers ; and the projecting 

 ledge of the roofs serves both to protect their attend- 

 ants from the wet and to ward off the fierce heat in 

 summer. Four bulls'-heads thrust forth simultaneously 

 over the half-doors in honour of Necklace saluted us, 

 as she was turned out of her box for inspection. She 

 is by }3ooth's War Eagle from Niobe, and the winner of 

 six prizes, two of which were gained as a pair with Cas- 

 sandra. At first sight, the latter is the wealthier of the 

 two, and her great middle, good crops and hair, and 

 graceful horn, impress you more ; but, on examination, 

 she is not so level and true as her companion. The blue 

 roan Wojdbine, and her worthy daughter Wood Rose 

 by Heart of Oak (14683), a son of Grand Turk, were 

 next in waiting. The former, from Wrsteria, by the 

 Duke of York (6947), is only five years old this month, 

 and has won about 18 prizes. She is as level as a die 

 till you come to her hips, which are not quite in keeping 

 with the rest. Her quility is very nice, and her back 

 seems to tremble like a sea to the touch, as you lay 

 your hand on it. Wood Rose is more of a red roan, 

 with a neat open head, and thicker-fleshed than her dam. 

 Tlie next pair that came out fvere Ringlet by Lord of 

 the Valley (14837) from Rose Duchess, which in- 

 herits the eternal dewlap peculiar to so many of his 

 stock, along with a nice breast, and in this case rather 

 a higli rump. In the latter point, as well as the hair 

 and handling, the roan Vine by Hindoo (14707) 

 from Vivia had the advantage other; and Water Queen 

 — she of the twisted horn, and the winner of nine prizes 

 when only in store condition — struck us especially for 

 her peculiarly well-sprung rib and fine room for breed- 

 ing. If " Milk" were substituted for " Water" in her 

 name, it would describe her talents to a nicety. 



Frederick's Lad (16081) a son of Towneley Frederick 

 and from Vestris 2nd, was tlie first of the bulls which 

 came on to parade. He has great size, a fine forehand, and 

 generally well turned frame, but is somewhat plainish 

 behind. The forehand and shoulder points of Eclipse 



(15976) by Fugleman (14581) were not very pleasing ; and 

 Viscount Warlaby (17194) by Majestic (13279), a son of 

 Crown Prince, struck us as a lengthy and rather narrow 

 bull, with a good flank and top, but still rather wanting 

 time. He was bred by Mr. Carr, but the cream of the 

 Settle pastures came out fourth in the shape of the 

 beautiful hero of 12 prizes, Prince Talleyrand (16765). 

 He is by Prince of Warlaby, and all Booth with the 

 exception of one Gainford cross. During the time which 

 had elapsed since Warwick, he had not been idle either 

 in growth or service, and he looked quite in show trim, 

 after serving some thirty-three cows and heifers, with 

 Thorley's Mixture as an occasional tonic. It is difficult 

 to find a bull with a sweeter look, and of more perfect 

 proportions, save and except a slight deficiency of breast. 

 His first calf Portfolio from Actress was one of two resi- 

 dents in the calf-house, and struck us as being remark- 

 ably rich in its hair, and deep in its flank ; while Wood- 

 bine's somewhat odd-coloured calf. West Australian, had 

 a very bloodlike-head, but a tendency to be a little plain 

 about the rump. Then came Florence's twins, Prince 

 Alfred (16721) and Prince Arthur (16723), the latter 

 of which had just been sold to the Duke of Richmond. 

 Since then Prince Alfred has changed his settlement to 

 Mr. Carne's, of Churchill Heath, near Chipping Norton. 

 One of them takes after its dam, and the other after Lord 

 of the Valley, in colour ; but the cross had not exactly 

 hit, owing to the cow being too long for him, and there 

 was a lack of strength in both their middles. Royal Oak 

 (16780) by Heart of Oak (16193) from Alice had great 

 maturity i'or a ten months calf, with good hair, colour, 

 and touch to boot, and nicely packed in the quarter, but 

 hardly all we should have hoped for behind the shoulders. 

 In substance he beat Great Eastern by Milton (16568) 

 from Water Queen, and the winner of three prizes, but 

 the latter had quite the best of him with his snug neck 

 vein, and sweet head and muzzle. With him our York- 

 shire shorthorn inspection for the present ended, and 

 in another fortnight we were within sight of the bay where 

 his great iron namesake had been lying, and then 

 wended our way inland for a preliminary view of the 

 colossal herd at Broadhinton. 11^1] 



[In answer to many enquiries, we may state that we 

 propose to act strictly up to the title of our papers, 

 and extend them in due course to Herefords, Devons, 

 and the other established breeds of cattle.] 



THE DRY AND THE WATER-DRILL, 



BY CUTIIBEKT W. JOHNSON, ESQ., F.K.S. 



The advantage which is derived by the applica- 

 tion of small proportions of liquid to the soil is but 

 little known. The same remark, indeed, might be 

 extended to the use of water to the soil in general. 

 And yet there are several well-known facts which 

 might excite our attention, and induce us to insti- 

 tute very useful experiments — trials not fraught 

 with much labour, or attended with risk, or outlay 

 of money. 



The remarkable fertilizing effect of adding small 

 proportions of water to the soil with the seed has 

 chiefly been noticed by the growers of roots. Here 

 the soil, from the nature of our cultivation, is 

 usually very deficient in moisture. Our summer 

 fallows — the results of repeated ploughings, scari- 

 fyings, and exposure to the sun and the winds — 



very frequently render our turnip lands much 

 drier than is desirable. To remedy in some mea- 

 sure this over-dryness of our root-soils, several 

 plans have been suggested. Autumn-cleansing has 

 been adopted— the water-drill has been successfully 

 employed on by far the greatest number of soils, 

 especially on the eastern and driest side of our 

 island; and its use will probably be much ex- 

 tended as its advantages are better understood. 



It certainly contrasts, in its mode of depositing 

 the seed, very favourably with the dry drill ; for 

 although both may alike have to drill the seed into 

 a too-well dried soil, yet their action is diametri- 

 cally opposite. The dry drill usually deposits its 

 seed mixed with some powdered manure, such as 

 superphosphate of lime, and ashes, which are still 



