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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



in mind," says Stephens, treating on this subject, in his 

 '< Book of the Farm," " that, other things being equal, 

 the size of the field should in all cases bear some pro- 

 portion to that of the farm. That proportion I am not 

 prepared to define, although I have no hesitation in 

 giving it as my opinion that below 10 acres is too small 

 a field for horse labour to be employed in, and above 

 40 acres too large a field for quick despatch of work" 

 (vol. i., p. 360). Of these two extremes the mean is 

 25 acres, and if the reader will impress on his mind the 

 conception of a field 300 yards by 400 yards, and con- 

 taining this acreage, he will, in subsequent articles of 

 this series, find that step by step as he follows the argu- 

 ment, these dimensions will more and more recommend 

 themselves for adoption. In addition to the authori- 

 tative dicta just quoted, we here presume to remark that, 

 within the discretionary latitude indicated by Stephens, 

 there will generally be found ample scope for the farmer 

 exercising a sound judgment in apportioning the size of 

 his reformed fields mainly on the principles above advo- 

 cated ; yet without irrationally disregarding other cir- 

 cumstances of moment, merely to conform their magni- 

 tude and shape to any single abstract rule of economic 

 cogency. For instance, should a material difference of soil 

 present itself in detached areas within the farm, the 

 judicious reformer, in rearranging his fences, will 

 not, and ought not to, shrink from violating mere 



typical dimensions, whether la acreage or form, 

 should the doing so enable him to avoid the very grave 

 practical inconvenience of associating dissimilar quali- 

 ties of soil in the same enclosure — one perhaps heavy 

 and late, the other light and early — and which, if 

 coupled together, must nevertheless be tilled and sown 

 and reaped at the same limes, although both cannot 

 possibly be contemporaneously in seasonable con- 

 dition; 



But who is there, qualified by intelligence and habits 

 of reflection to follow up in his own mind the train of 

 reasoning suggested in the foregoing remarks, and im- 

 bued with energy to give practical effect to the conclu- 

 sions thence deducible, who does not believe in the ap- 

 proaching dominion of steam as the motor-agent in al 1 

 the prime operations of field cultivation ? Hence, then, 

 it is beyond measure important to know, as in a suc- 

 ceeding paper shall be demonstrated, that he who reso- 

 lutely commences the work of reformation in the ill- 

 conditioned fences of his farm, intending with all 

 convenient speed to persevere therein to the end, will be 

 doing that which not only is conducive to the economic 

 use of team work as long as animal power shall be em- 

 ployed in the field, but, at one and the same time, will 

 be thereby converting his farm into a condition fit to 

 receive the benefits of steam cultivation in ample mea- 

 sure end efficiency. 



FIELD-PRACTICE. 



Sib, — Yours being pre-eminently a " field paper," I can- 

 not do better than introduce to the notice of your readers a 

 little " field-practice." 



In the movements of our various rifle corps, we occasion- 

 ally read of their turning out for field-practice, and that part 

 of their field practice which I now beg leave to refer to is 

 their guessing distances. The rifle, aa a deadly weapon, is 

 superior to ordinary fire-arms on account of its longer range 

 and greater accuracy of aim, hence the drill consists in a 

 series of lessons respecting the elevation of the sight, to suit 

 the given distance from 100 yards to half a mile. The first 

 thing to be settled, then, before the sight is either raised or 

 depressed, is the distance of the target from the rifle volun- 

 teer. Whether that target he a painted disc, or whether it 

 be the veritable rank and file of mortal foe, there can be no 

 question as to the necessity of calculating the distance pretty 

 accurately ; accordingly we find that some persons are 

 shrewd enough to reckon distances correctly at a glance ; at 

 all events they hit the mark, and this is presumptive evi- 

 dence that the means were not much amiss that attained the 

 desired end. Most sportsmen are aware that when they 

 have accustomed themselves to shooting birds on wing in- 

 land, they have sadly mistaken the distance of birds on wing 

 over the sea, hence the old practitioners tell you never to 

 shoot at a sea-gull unless you can see the eye of the bird ; 

 and as that small object serves as a scale to measure the dis- 

 tance, it is a simple rule for guessing distances, as far as it 

 goes ; but unfortunately it goes a very short length. 



Educated men, with the use of instruments, calculate dis- 

 tances accurately either by land or by sea by triangulation. 

 A very short base line being given, and two angles, the per- 



pendicular length is easily ascertained; but let no one 

 imagine that I am going to quote Euclid, or even say one 

 school- word on the subject; We rll recollect that three 

 laths, of the respective lengths of 3, 4, and 5 feet, or of 6, 8, 

 and 10 feet, when laid down, forming a triangle, will have 

 one square corner like a carpenter's square, and this square 

 corner is called a right angle, whereas the other two sharp 

 corners are called acute angles. I must be allowed to state 

 that the gape between two lines is an angle ; bear in mind 

 that this one word " angle," rightly understood, is the key to 

 the hitting of targets. The finest guess-work in the world 

 could not hold the candle to the certainty of triangulation. 

 Take the foregoing example. Mark out a square on a floor 

 with chalk by a carpenter's square, and lay down the 3-foot 

 lath to the east, and the 4-foot lath to the south, on the 

 chalk lines, so as they meet in the square corner ; then lay 

 a wager as to the distance (without measuring) of the tips of 

 the two laths : you are sure to win. They will be found 

 exactly 5 feet apart ; and why? Because you had a mea- 

 sured base line, and a measured perpendicular line, and a 

 right angle. I need scarcely say that the base line, or 3-foot 

 lath, and the slanting 5-foot lath, laid down, the upright or 

 perpendicular distance would be got, and found to be 4 feet. 

 But as the taking of angles without instruments and out of 

 doors is no easy matter, I beg leave to state that there is a 

 species of drawing paper known to architects and engineers 

 as " section paper ;" it was extensively used by the late I, 

 K. Brunei, Esq. I think he had a patent for the particular 

 kind he used, printed from his own plates. This paper saves 

 all calculations or references to scale, being ruled exactly as 

 , a chess-board, in say 1-jnch meshes, and again subdivided, 



