THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



States is deemed the better praclicej by causinj^ it 

 to be absorbed in heaps of earth, or other col- 

 lections of dry porous materials. 



There is another j)o\verful liquid fertilizer — sewer- 

 water — which is also of very considerable im- 

 portance, and this will, I trust, be remembered by 

 my friend Thwaites, and the other raetroj)olitan 

 commissioners, when they are constructinpf, in the 

 counties of Kent and Essex, the great intercepting 

 sewers for London and Southwark. The reader 

 must not, however, suppose that the strongest 

 sewer- water is nearly as rich in ammonia as the 

 urine of his live stock. Some specimens of London 

 sewer-water, examined by Way {Jour. Roy. Ag. 

 Sac, vol. XV., p. 153), contained about 4r26 

 grains per gallon, another 17"9C grains only. But 

 these, although poorer in ammonia than the urine of 

 the farm-yard sewage, have commonly the greater 

 advantage of being obtainable in much larger pro- 

 portions. And let me again repeat, in all ordinary 

 applications of solutions to our crops, more 

 especially to the grasses, the quantity applied can 

 hardly, in our climate, and on porous soils, be too 

 copious, or too frequently repeated. This fact is 

 constantly impressed upon me, in my own experi- 

 mental plot of grass land, watered by sewage. 



For wherever, through the occasional imperfect 

 repair of my distributing troughs, even a slight 

 dripping of the fluid takes place, there the grass 

 around grows with a far greater rankness than on 

 any other portion of the plot. 



We may conclude, then, as a guide for other 

 and more varied trials, that it is an error to sup- 

 pose that weak liquid manures can be usefully 

 applied to our growing crops in very limited pro- 

 portions, but that especially for our pastures we 

 can hardly repeat the watering too often. At 

 Edinburgh they thoroughly sewer-water their 

 grass at intervals of about 18 days, and the Scotch 

 farmers prefer it when in its richest state, that is, 

 when it flows to them in continued dry weather. 

 Let us remember these things, when we are apply- 

 ing liquid manures, and not fall into the too common 

 error of rendering a most valuable agent worthless 

 by over-taxing its powers. It is the more important 

 that the composition and use of liquid manures 

 should be well understood, since there is little 

 doubt but that the agriculturists of our country, 

 when the legal and other obstacles which have 

 hitherto retarded the use of fluid fertihzers are 

 removed, will reap a rich harvest by their extended 

 employment. 



STEAM CULTIVATION 



TRIAL AT TEDDESLEY PARK, STAFFORDSHIRE. 



Some years ago an amiable and chivalrous nobleman 

 sought to revive the gallant pastimes of the middle 

 ages. With no small trouble and expense he succeeded 

 in getting up a pageant, which was styled a Tournament, 

 and in which gentlemen most uncomfortably cased in 

 armour, broke innocent lances upon each other's plated 

 breast, and were duly rewarded for their prowess at the 

 hands of a Queen of Beauty. Happily for the good 

 sense of Englishmen this chivalrous re-enactment has not 

 been repeated, and other pursuits more in accordance 

 with national tastes and the spirit of our times now 

 engage the leisure hours of our aristocracy. 



It was a pageant of a very different nature that at- 

 tracted a large concourse of people to Taddesley Park on 

 Tuesday last. The interest all seemed to feel in the an- 

 nounced tournament must have exercised a very strong 

 sway over the visitors' minds, to have induced so many to 

 encounter the blast of the hurricane that blew, and the 

 torrents of rain that fell. The venerable old oaks, 

 and the magnificent beech plautation in the park, groaned 

 as they beat uuder the storm that hissed and howled 

 through their leafless boughs. The cattle themselves 

 had sheltered under the lee of hedges ; and yet men of 

 all ranks were seen plodding their way, bending to the 

 blast, some on foot, some on horseback, some in vehi- 

 cles, towards a large field at some distance fro:n the 



farmstead, where the trial was to take place. There 

 the four rival schemes for the application of steam to 

 the cultivation of the soil had been invited by the noble 

 proprietor of Teddesley to a challenge trial of their re- 

 spective merits. 



Although the weather was as unfavourable as it could 

 possibly be for the bystanders, its severity did some 

 service in reducing the trial to two competitors only. 

 Four systems had been announced for competition ; but 

 only three machines made their appearance on the field 

 of battle, and these were Mr. Fowler's steam-plougbj 

 Mr. Smith's cultivator, and Rickett's digging machine. 

 Bray's traction engine was nowhere to be seen. On 

 the day previous, each champion had selected his own 

 ground ; and at an early hour on Tuesday the steam 

 was seen torn in thin shreds by the wind on three dif- 

 ferent parts of the field. Rickett's digging machine^ 

 which had propelled itself that very morning from Staf. 

 ford, attempted to get upon the land ; but the most 

 strenuous efforts could not accomplish this object, and 

 it had ultimately to withdraw altogether from the contest* 

 Evidently Mr. Rickett's beautiful machine, ingenious 

 though it be, is not calculated for doing work upon moist 

 ground. 



Now the two earnest rivals had the ground to them- 

 selves, and, nothing daunted by the rain and wind, they 



