514 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



with the expectation of a favourable return, either 

 of produce or of interest.* 



The first operation was thorough draining, which 

 cost £5 9s. 6d. per statute acre. After this the 

 Tweeddale plough and subsoil-trench-plough were 

 set to work, the combined operations of which cost 

 £2 13s. per acre, making the total cost £8 2s. 6d. 

 per statute acre. I now quote some examples of 

 the results from Mr. Stephens's work on the 

 subject, referring you to the work itself for fuller 

 particulars : — 



"The Moss Bents field, which had originally 

 been stiflf clay, containing 15| imperial acres, was 

 in oats in 1850, which produced 29^ bushels per 

 acre. It was bare-fallowed and subsoil-trench- 

 ploughed in 1851, and in 1852 produced 61 quar- 

 ters of good wheat, and 2h quarters of hght, equal 

 to 38^ bushels, and realised above £11 the acre. 



"The Long Bents field, of sandy clay soil and 

 subsoil, containing 16 acres, was in oats in 1848, 

 which produced 65 quarters, equal to 37 bushels 

 the acre. In 1849 it was bare-fallowed and 

 subsoil-trench-ploughed, and in 1850 it yielded 58 

 quarters of good wheat, and 4 quarters of light, 

 realising £10 an acre. In 1851 it was in grass, 

 and in 1852 the lea was deep-ploughed with the 

 Tweeddale plough 15 inches deep. In 1853 it was 

 in oats, which produced 104^ quarters, equal to 

 6l^ bushels the acre. 



"The Wa~Tree Park, which was originally of 

 stiff, tenacious clay soil and subsoil, containing 

 19^ imperial acres, was in oats in 1850, which 

 yielded 60 quarters, equal to 28^ bushels the acre. 

 In 1851, 6.T acres were bare-fallowed and subsoil- 

 trench-ploughed, and 13j acres subsoil-trench- 

 ploughed, and made with turnips. In 1852 the 

 6 J acres produced, of wheat, 28 ^ quarters of good 

 and 3i quarters of light, reahsing £15 7s. 4d. the 

 acre, and the 13^ acres produced barley, which 

 averaged 31^ bushels, and realised £6 Os. lOd. the 

 acre. 



" The Holmes Park, which was originally of 

 very poor, stiff, tenacious clay soil and subsoil, 

 and containing 24 acres imperial, was in grass in 



1850, and was deep-ploughed, 15 inches, with the 

 Tweeddale plough in winter. It carried oats in 



1851, which yielded 108 quarters, equal to 43^ 

 bushels the acre. In 1852 it was subsoil-trench- 

 ploughed 19 inches deep for turnips, which were a 

 fair crop. In 1853 it was barley, of which 79i- 

 quarters were good, and 18 quarters light, equal to 

 39 bushels, reahsing £9 I7s. 6d. the acre. 



"The Kitchen Croft, which was originally of 

 stiff, sandy, clay soil and subsoil, containing a 

 large number of boulders, and consisting of 8:^: 

 acres, imperial, was previously let at £8 15s. /or 

 the field [it appears to have been one of the best 

 fields], and it was thorough-drained in the winter 

 of 1848. In 1849 it was bare-fallowed and sub- 

 soil-trench-ploughed 19 inches deep. In 1850 it 

 carried wheat, of which 24 quarters were good, 5:^ 

 quarters light, equal to 34* bushels, and realisieg 

 £8 8s. Bd. the acre. In lS51 it was in turnips, 



* Tester Deep Land Culture, by Henry Ste- 

 phens. Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh and 

 London. 



which were good. In 1852, barley, of which 40 

 quarters were good, and 3g: quarters light, equal 

 to 53 bushels the acre, and was sold for £10 12s. 

 lOd. the acre." 



I might continue quoting similar examples from 

 Mr. Stephens's account of the improvements at 

 Yester, but the foregoing are quite sufficient to 

 show the very satisfactory nature of the results in 

 a financial point of view. The expense of draining 

 and subsequent deep ploughing was paid by the 

 first crop, and in the case of turnips the produce 

 has been fully doubled. The returns from the 

 land when in grass are also remarkable. "The 

 wheat and barley grown on the Yester farms now 

 realise the top prices in the Haddington market," 

 which, as Mr. Stephens very properly remarks, 

 " is a severe test on the value of any grain 

 presented at it, inasmuch as grain is shown there 

 that has been raised on as good soil, as favourable 

 a climate, and with as much skill as in any district 

 of the kingdom. But wheat that has attained 

 G61bs., barley 571bs., and oats 44lbs the bushel, 

 need not fear competition in any market, and from 

 any locality." 



Furthermore, a saving of 25 per cent, has been 

 effected on the horse labour on the farms, twelve 

 horses being now able to accomplish as much as 

 sixteen horses previous to the improvements ; there 

 is also a saving in manual labour, and in the 

 purchase of certain implements, such as clod- 

 crushers, rollers, grubbers, &c. ; and all this is 

 done, 7iot by abandoning tillage, but by con- 

 ducting it in a better manner. Besides all this, the 

 annual value of the land has been increased four to 

 five fold ; that is to say, land which formerly did not 

 exceed 8s. to 10s. an acre in value has now become 

 worth 40s. the acre; 



The Yester system has been very zealously, 

 efficiently, and extensively carried out on the estate 

 of Blackball, co. Louth, near Drogheda, a full de- 

 scription of which was given in the Farmers^ 

 Gazette, Sept. 3, 1859. In this case the original 

 soil was even of a more forbidding nature than that 

 of the Yester farms, the active portion being only 

 three or four inches in depth, and a cold, stiff, yel- 

 lowish gray clay, full of boulder stones. After be- 

 ing drained, the result of the Tweeddale system has 

 been to raise the produce of wheat from S barrels, 

 or IGO stones the Irish acre, up to 13, 14, and 15 

 barrels, without the application of manure. The 

 quality of the grain is at the same time good. 

 Heavy crops of grass are produced on land which 

 only yielded pasture of a miserable description pre- 

 vious to the application of deep culture ; the root 

 crops have also been very satisfactory, and al- 

 together the 160 statute acres which have been 

 subjected to this mode of treatment at Blackball 

 present abundant evidence of the immense value of 

 a properly regulated system of deep culture, and of 

 the peculiar advantages which the Yester mode af- 

 fords of effecting this object. I ought to remark 

 that the local position of Blackball is unfavourable 

 for procuring manure, other than artificial manures 

 — even lime not being easily obtained — and one 

 great object, therefore, which has bc^^n kept in view 

 whilst carrying out the system of deep land culture, 

 has been to a.scertain how far that system operates 



