12 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



his great activity, he had done an immense amount of 

 good throughout the kingdom (cheera). On this point, 

 however, he certainly must be allowed to differ from him. 

 Havini? analyzed straw over and over again, he had found 

 it to consist chiefly of woody fibre, with some soluble or- 

 ganic matters, mingled with a large amount of ash ; and 

 any one who said tliat strav contained 15 per cent, of oil, 

 said what would not bear examination. 



Mr. Alderman Meciii: As you have analyzed straw, 

 perhaps you can tell us what proportion of oil it contains ? 



Mr. Nesbit continued : If Mr. JMechi would send him a 

 specimen of his straw to-morrow, he would analyze it 

 (laughter). lie said distinctly that the straw which he 

 had analyzed did not contain any such amount ot fjum, 

 starch, and sugar as had been slated (Hear, hear). Now, 

 witrt respect to the various modes of culture which liad been 

 alluded to that evening, it should be recnllected that lands 

 and seasons and prices must vary the culture (Hear, hear). 

 In all his addresses to formers, he had laid it down that 

 there ought to be no attempt to regulate farming through- 

 out the country by fixed and invariable rules (Hear, hear). 

 It had been clearly shown by Mr. Bond that evening that 

 the farmer ought to be able to vary his cultivation with 

 the variations in circumstances, and should not be bound 

 always to adhere to the four-course shift ; and he thought 

 that, for that purpose, increased powers should, if possible, 

 be obtained under leases. 



Mr. F.J. Wilson (Essex) thought that the straw referred to 

 in Mr. liarifall's paper wa? not wheat straw, but bean straw, 

 and any chemist would tell them that the properties contained 

 iu those two kinds of straw were totally dilfertnt. i^Uea"-, hear.) 

 In Scotland, he might observe, it was very common for farmers 

 to fatten their bullocks with oat straw. In considering how 

 far whoat straw might be used with advantage, they should re- 

 gard it as a vehicle by which the stomachs of the snimals were 

 enabled to perform their functions. Its chief use was to keep the 

 stomachs iu proper tension. An aniaial would be starved if it 

 ate only mangold, contaiuing, as it did, 87 per cent, of water ; 

 and the animal that ate most straw in proportion to roots was 

 generally the one that did the roots most justice. This did not 

 prove, however, that straw was a fattening article; it only 

 proved that straw took away from the roots a deleterious 

 quality which belonged to them when conaunied alone. (Hear, 

 hear.) Theqncstiou which farmers had to determine for them- 

 selves was, how they couM accomplish the production of a 

 stone of meat, whether beef, mutton, or pork, not oidy without 

 loss, but with a fair profit. He considered that it was well 

 known that animals generally ate a fourth or a fifth of their 

 own weight per week, while a bullock was considered to be 

 going on very well if it assimiUted a stone a week. Consider- 

 ing then the enormous quantity of food that passed away ex- 

 crementitiously, the excessive use of oilcake must be a great 

 loss ; and surely if they wanted manure for their land, it was 

 better to apply substances to the land directly, than to give 

 £12 a ton for them, and let them pass through the animal, 

 lie should like to see a well-penned essay on the simple ques- 

 tion, how far meat could be produced profitably by a judicious 

 admixture of valuable and cheap food. The question before 

 them being, how stock could be fed profitably on heavy lands, 

 he should be glad to know whether the straw of which Mr. 

 Horsfall spoke was wheat straw or beaa straw? 



Mr. Miicni said, Mr. Horsfall said it answered his purpose 

 to pay 359. a ton for wheat straw, and 403. for bean straw. 



Mr. WiLLi.\MS (Baydon, llungerford) said he happened to 

 cultivate some of the stitf retentive soils of Wiltshire. He had 

 had very little experience in tlie feeding of bullocks, having 

 found nheep-farming more profitable on the hdls of his own 

 county, as he could cut a fleece of wool off the animal in addition 

 to what could be made of tlit carcase. Although the feeding 

 of young animals might he tiie most advantageous, it wr.s clear 

 that some one must feed the older ones, even though it was 

 done at a loss ; and with regard to thera it was perhaps desir- 

 able that as soon as they had got a certain amount of flesh 

 they should be sold, in order that the bone might produce as 

 much as possible. (Laughter.) That, if it did not secure a 

 profit, would at least prevent any serious loss. There was 

 one point to which he could not help just adverting. If a 

 man occupied a thousand acres of laml, he would require 40 

 horses; the horses would consume a vast amount of produce, 

 one-fifth of the whole produce of the farm ; and as stock farm- 

 ing ou Btiflf Ktentive soils required more horse-power than 



stock farming oa light soils, he thought it was desirable that 

 the occupier should have recourse to the steam engine, which 

 would displace one-half of the horses. If he were asked what 

 in that case was to be done with the produce which the horses 

 had consumed, he would reply, let the occupier feed young 

 bullocks in place of the horses which he had got rid of. He 

 should be glad if I\Ir. Bond would state whether or not the 

 cost which he set down for feeding bij horses on mangold 

 wurzel included attendance. In May, 1855, he had the plea- 

 sure of introducing the subject of the general applicability of 

 steam power to a.sjrirultural purposes ; and thouf;h he was then 

 considered a mere theorist, steam had since been brought into 

 extensive U'.e. He then introduced the question of providing 

 a portable shed. (Cries of " QuesHon.") He contended that it 

 would he much cheaper to haul the budding to the roots than 

 the roots to the building, and that question was well worthy 

 of consirlcrati,/ii iu relation to the cost of cultivation ; as in 

 thtse days of competition it would be wisilom iu us to adopt 

 the mode that would be most practical and economical. 



Mr. Mi.ciii said, having obtained the "Journal" cou- 

 taiuinji Mr. Horafall's paper, he would read the cost of fat de- 

 rived from 100 lbs. of the following subsiauces : — The fat ob- 

 tained from meadow hay cost Ss. Id.; from wheat straw, 

 Is. 7d. ; from Swedish turnips, 43.; from oilcake, 8s. 4d. ; 

 from locusts, 8s. 4d. ; from Indian meal, 8s. 4d.; so that in 

 fact they got for Is. 7J. from straw what would coat 83. 4d. if 

 it were obtained from some other articles. He recommended 

 them all to stu !y Mr. Horsiall's paper. 



Mr. Nesbit said, the amount of oil stated in this book to 

 be contained in wheat straw was only oue-half per cent.; 

 beyond that, they had nothing; more than an hypothesis that 

 there were other matters which would form a certain amount 

 of oil. 



Mr. Wells (Booth Ferry House, Ilowden) said, there was 

 one point introduced by Mr. Botid on wliicli he wished a little 

 more information ; he referred to what was said about the keep- 

 ing of draught horses m loose boxes. lie was not a cultivator 

 of strong clay soil, but as he had twenty-five pairs of draujjht 

 horses, he felt great interest in the questi .n which he had 

 mentioned, and he would be glad if Mr. Bond would tell them 

 whether what be had said was founded entirely on his own 

 practice. For upwards of twenty years he had ah^ays kept 

 his horses iu stalls. He quite agreed with Mr. Bond that 

 cleanliness and ventilation were most essential ; and what he 

 wished to know was, whether loose boxes were preferable to 

 stalls ? 



Mr. Smythies (Marlow, Leintwardine), coming as he 

 did from a part of the country where the bushel was not 

 much understood, should be glad if Mr. Bond would give 

 some weight by which the quantity of mangold w'urzel that 

 he gave his animals might be estimated. 



j\lr. Bond said, one imperial bushel of mangolds, as given 

 to the cattle, cut with Gardner's turnip cutter, weighs 

 2.2 stones, or 35 lbs. 



The Chairman, in ternaiuating the discussion, con- 

 gratulated the meeting on the great ability with which the 

 subject was introduced, and the practical manner in which it 

 had been discussed. 



Mr.^BoND then'replied. Adverting to the remarks of Mr. 

 Mechi on the character of the Essex farmers, he said, he 

 referred to two different phases of heavy land farming : be 

 alluded to those who farmed without roots and without cattle, 

 and to others who pursued the opposite course. In reply to 

 Mr. Williams, he said, the cost of the maugold wurzel, for the 

 young beast, included the cost of attendance. With respect 

 to i^lr. Wells's inquiry, in reference to his draught horses, he 

 observed, that he had kept ten horses in loose boxes for the last 

 five years, and he bad found that they required less straw than 

 before. With his stock system he wanted manure; he did 

 not want the straw to he trodden down. 



On the motion of Mr. Alderman Meciii, seconded by 

 Mr. Nesbit, thanks were voted to Mr. Bond for his able paper, 

 and the proceedings terminated with a similar compliment to 

 the Chairman. 



THE ANNUAL DINNER 

 Took place on Tuesday evening, Dec. 7, atRadley's Hotel 

 and was attended by upwards of 80 members and visitors. 

 The chair was taken by Mr.T. Ovren, of Clapton ; and 



