THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



291 



appearance at the time of harvest. AVith the oat 

 crop my experiments were somewhat different 

 from those made with the green crops, my object 

 being rather to ascertain the amount of benefit to 

 be derived from the use of superphosphate applied 

 in a liquid form by the water-drill, than to test the 

 comparative merits of the two drills. I therefore 

 in every field — as near the middle of it as I could — 

 left one width of the drill without any manure. 

 These six rows I continued to notice at different 

 intervals throughout the whole of the summer. 

 When they first came up only a slight difference 

 was perceptible ; but as they commenced growing 

 the difference became more distinct, until they 

 reached the ' weaning time,' when those without 

 manure assumed a weak and sickly appearance, 

 whilst the others were scarcely checked in their 

 growth, and where the land was free from wire- 

 worms made rapid and surprising progress, which 

 made the unhealthiness of the six rows increasingly 

 visible. For my own information, and to aid me 

 in deciding upon my future course with reference 

 to the growth of oats, I attempted at harvest to 

 estimate the difference in the produce of the crop, 

 which I placed at three quarters per acre in two or 

 three different cases. My readers will be prepared, 

 therefore, to receive the statement that it is my 

 intention to continue the use of the water-drill and 

 superphosphate for this crop. I may here remark 

 that three of these fields of 14 acres, 16 acres, and 

 20 acres respectively, were lands which, previously 

 to the introduction of the water-drill, would 

 scarcely grow oats at all, and consequently they 

 were seldom or never sown. On two or three dif- 

 ferent occasions when I had made the attempt a 

 crop of five quarters per acre was the result; 

 whereas this year, with the water-drill, I believe I 

 have, in two out of the three fields just named, 

 from eight to nine quarters per acre. These fields 

 consist of a light and rather dusty soil, with the 

 gravel near the surface, and in dry seasons grow a 

 very small bulk of straw. The water-drill meets 

 this difficulty. On these soils it has enabled me 

 to change my rotation, and to adopt a five-course 

 shift of coleseed, oats, wheat, seeds, wheat ; where- 

 as formerly, I could only gro.v wheat after the 

 coleseed, and was consequently driven to fallow 

 every four years upon land which did not other- 

 wise need it, and was also subjected to the incon- 

 venience and loss occcasioned by being compelled 

 to eat off all my coleseed before the end of Octo- 



ber—wheat on these soils uuiversally failing if 

 sown later. 



" I now grow my coleseed and oat crops oi\ these 

 lands exclusively with the water-drill and arliRcial 

 manure, reserving the whole of the farm-yard ma- 

 nure for the wheat crops, and the system appears 

 to succeed well. I should observe that in feeding 

 off these coleseeds I always give the sheep either 

 linseed or cotton-seed cake, or some kind of corn." 



Mr. Ruston combats very successfully the argu- 

 ment sometimes advanced, that the use of the 

 water mixed with the superphosphate merely sti- 

 mulated the growth of the young plant in its early 

 stages, but not afterwards. He adds — 



" When the water-drill was first introduced, and 

 its influence upon the early growth of green 

 crops was recognized, it was thought and said 

 by many, that this excessive growth would not 

 be continued, but that the manure would 

 soon become exhausted ; and that the plant, 

 when approaching maturity, and most in need 

 of sustenance and support, would fall short 

 of nourishment, and evince symptoms of prema- 

 ture decline and decay. But in my own experi- 

 ence these theories, prompted by fear and founded 

 upon mere surmise, have not in any one instance 

 been confirmed by fact. A reference to the fore- 

 going table will clearly show that the rapid jiro- 

 gress made in the early growth of the crops was 

 fully maintained to the end. 



Upon the whole then, we can hardly, I think, 

 avoid the conclusion, that the use of water mixed 

 with manure, either by the drill, or by applying it 

 in a ruder form, in the furrows, as is the custom 

 in some continental places, is well worthy of far 

 greater attention than it has hitherto received. 

 The progress which the water-drill is making, 

 seems^to cheer us on in this inquiry. It is hardly 

 more than twelve years since the first implement of 

 this kind was produced, and already they are not 

 unfrequently met with in most agricultural dis- 

 tricts. We are, perhaps, rather too willing to re- 

 gard the water to be met with on or near to our 

 farm as less available than it is really the case. In 

 this instance, some of the Belgian, German, and 

 Swiss farmers have evidently been more atten- 

 tive; and even in the New World, long before 

 the days of Columbus, the Peruvian cultivators 

 were used to mix a small porportion of guano 

 with the water with which they fertilized their 

 thirsty soils. 



DAIRY MANAGEMENT GENERALLY IN NORTH WILTS. 



A paper on this subject was recently read at the 

 Crown Hotel, Faringdon, by Mr. E. Little, of 

 Lanhill, Chippenham, Wilts. The chair was taken 

 by Sir R. G.Throgmorton, Bart. Mr. Little said : 



It is with the greatest diffidence I appear here to 

 offer you any remarks on the dairy management of 

 North Wilts, for I feel assured there are many 

 persons present, members of your club, much more 

 capable of introducing this subject than myself. 

 For many years past I have not had any practical 



experience in the management of a dairy, my farms 

 being chiefly devoted to sheep-breeding and the 

 rearing of young cattle. I am, therefore, labouring 

 under considerable disadvantage in not being en- 

 abled to speak of this matter from my own present 

 experience; still I have an extensive knowledge of 

 the farms of the district, and frequent opportunities 

 of seeing the different systems pursued, and, from 

 inquiries and observation, I am enabled to lay 

 before you a short statement of the system and 



