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THK FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



as being of first and second yeara' growth, we can see how (by 

 seeding down a portion of the oats after roots) a five years' 

 courae could be coustructed— or something nearly approaching 

 thereto. Ou a well-mauaged farm of this size there would be 

 some 500 acres of ploughing anuually, allowing the roots to be 

 preceded by three furrows. I know there are many farmers 

 who would manage medium soils with less than 400. The 

 cultivator — and especially Biddell's scarifier in Norfolk — is to 

 some extent exchanged for the plough. A good Warwickshire 

 farmer, who has travelled in Scotland, and proQted by it, says 

 he is not in favour of the land being often ploughed, especially 

 if it is of a light description. " On my farm," he adds, " I do 

 not generally plough more than three times for five crops. 

 First, plough up the seeds for oats ; second, manure and plough 

 for beans and peas — then scarify for wheat ; third, give a deep 

 furrow for sw edes — afterwards scarify for barley, and sow down 

 to seeds again." But to return from this digression. With 

 126,471 working horses in Scotland, the strength for such a 

 farm would be about nine pairs. Although the calculation is 

 seemingly high, we simply give it as founded on these data 

 A saving of one-third in draught ought to show it somewhere; 

 either in the coru-bin, in the earlier finish of the operation, or 

 in effecting a deeper and more complete tillage of the soil. It 

 is not too much to say that it would show itself, to a greater 

 or less extent, in all these respects. If we take Sir John's 

 hypothesis of an hour per acre saved in the operation, from less 

 expenditure of strength, we gain at least eight weeks' plough- 

 ing of a pair of horses— no mean adjunct it will readily be 

 allowed. We beUeve, however, that the saving would mani- 

 fest itself in a less obtrusive, though not in a less tangible 

 form. Mr. Lenuie's Gold Medal Report of Ploughing Expe- 

 riment?, in the Journal of Agriculture, gives some tabular 

 results of a valuable character. Comparing the produce of 

 oats, after ploughing performed by Small's, Howard's, Tester, 

 and Carrie ploughs, he says — " Howard's prize wheel plough 

 gives the greatest amount of produce both in grain and straw, 

 taking its combined plots, as given in table No. III. The work 



was exceedingly well executed, especially of No. 4, the msH 

 having a premium awarded to him. The work of No. 9 (both 

 Howard's) was nicely cut ; but not so well closed as it should 

 have been. This plough, from its light draught, and being 

 easily held, promies to come into extensive use. It is so con- 

 structed that it can be adjusted to any kind of work in the 

 field by the ploughman with facility. The furrow-slice is rec- 

 tangular, the sole of which is cut flatter, and is cleaner taken 

 up than that of any other plough the reporter has seen 

 working." 



There arc other matters to which we might refer, were our 

 object to aim at " special pleading." We have endeavoured, 

 in the preceding remarks, to show that wheel ploughs are not 

 the complicated pieces of mechanism which some people give 

 them credit for being ; that they are simple of adjustment, and 

 can readily be repaired ; that they are decidedly advantageous 

 to the farmer in improving the work of his second-rate hands ; 

 that they are easier for the ploughman, lighter for the horses, 

 and of national importance as a saving of useful power. If 

 anything has been advanced contrary to facts I will gladly 

 acknowledge the mistake. If aught has been said in a dog- 

 matical or discourteous tone, the writer honestly regrets the 

 same. But he lays down the pen in the fullest conviction of 

 having adduced facts worthy of unbiassed consideration ; and 

 thoroughly believing that at no distant date will wheel ploughs 

 predominate on the North of the Tweed. I doubt not but 

 the leading manufacturers are disposed to do their part to- 

 wards it. It is for their interest to do so, for, as one of them 

 recently expressed it, " the Scotch are excellent in correspond- 

 ence, and prompt with remittances"— a character to my country- 

 men which I feel some amount of " Ilieland pride" in repeating, 



" Rear high thy bleak majestic hills. 



Thy slieltered valleys proudly spread ; 

 And, Scotia, pour thy thousand rills. 



And wave thy heaths with blossoms red." 



Sloneleigh Abbey Farm, Kenilworlh. 



WARWICKSHIRE FIELD CLUB. 



The annual meeting of this society was held ou Monday, Jan. 

 31, in the Society's Rooms, Warwick, when a very interesting 

 paper was read by the Vice-President and Honorary Secretary 

 on bone in the lias formation ; a subject of great importance 

 to agriculturists. The president's chair was occupied by C. 

 Wren Hoskyns, Esq.; and among the gentlemen and archrto- 

 logists present were the principal scientific men of the neigh- 

 bourhood, together with the members of the " Field Club." 

 In introducing the principal paper, the President drew the 

 attention of those present to the immense fund of knowledge 

 and observation which the field meetings gave, at the same 

 time noticing the operations of the societies having Warwick, 

 Worcester, and Gloucester for their centres. 



It may be necessary to state that, during the summer months, 

 the members meet together under the designation of the ' ' Field 

 Club," and explore or examine the botanical, geological, and 

 other peculiarities of the neighbourhood ; and last year the 

 bone-bed at Knowle was examined by the Club. The visit to 

 Wenlock-abbey showed them abundant relics of the ancient 

 Silurian epoch, principally coral, and long since passed away ; 

 and a splendid view from a plateau, similar to that of the cele- 

 brated city of Lisbon from the Tagus ; and, lastly, the dip of 

 the millstone grit with the Wenlock limestone. 



Mr. Brouie then gave his promised quota to the proceed- 

 ings of the day. The productive researches of the geological 

 section during the summer months induced him to draw their 

 attention to the result of the first meeting of the season, held 

 at Knowle. The lower beds of the lias, as its name implied, 

 consisted of layers of limestone, clay, and shale, containing a 

 variety of organic remains, chiefly marine shells, with occa- 

 sionally fish, lizards, and portions of insects and land plants. 

 Some of these strata, he continued to say, are well exposed at 

 Wilmcote and llarbury, in this county. We have here, at all 

 events, indications of terrestrial conditions, and a sea of no 

 very great depth, highly charged with carbonate of lime. They 

 are not only interesting on account of the many beautiful fos- 

 sils they contain (and of which the Warwick Museum has a 

 very fine and instructive series), but are also valuable for va- 

 rious economical purposes; more so, indeed, than any of the 

 upper portions of this formation throughout its range in Eng- 

 land, except in Yorkshire. The Bone Bed at Knowle. — 

 Some of these beds occur at Knowle with fossils ; but the suc- 

 cession there is less easy to trace out, because they are not ex- 

 posed in any open section, being quarried by a shaft ; and the 

 works are now discontinued. As far as he could judge, from 

 the small quantity of limestone and shale visible, he was dis- 



