THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



363 



aromatic plants in mountain pastures on dry soils ; but 

 if on heavy clays, we have coarse, oi' what may be called 

 "sour grasses," mixed with quantlties-of the XfnM/« 

 catharticum (purging flax), in which latter case scouring 



would be as sure to be produced as it would be to be cured cinal adjuncts to pasture. 



by depasturing the former. These facts teach us that 

 besides grasses there arc several other plants useful in 

 herbage, the effects of which, though various, may be 

 summed up under the heads of alimentary and medi- 



LONDON, OR CENTRAL FARMERS* CLUB. 

 THE MANUFACTURE OF MANURE. 



The usual monthly meeting of this club was held on Mon- 

 day evening, April 1, at the Club House, Blackfriar's ; Mr. 

 Skelton presiding. The subject for diacussiou, stauding in 

 the name of Mr. A. Ruston, of Aylesby House, Chatteris, 

 was, "Sheep v. Bullocks as Manufacturers of Manure, on 

 farms where the produce is not fattening-, and no roots but 

 mangolds can be grown." The attendance was very small, 

 which the Chairman explained to be in consequence of the 

 holiday time, the parish business on at Easter, and the num- 

 ber of members who were out with the different Volunteer 

 Corps. 



Mr. Ruston said! " Live and learn" is an old trite saying, 

 which the ever-changing hand of Time has left untouched, 

 and which is as forceful and suggestive now, as when the 

 world first heard it. We live to learn. The human mind 

 places no limit to its acquisition of knowledge ; but the more 

 it acquires, the greater restlessness it evinces in its search 

 after more. Energy and activity characterise our national life. 

 New inventions and discoveries succeed each other in such rapid 

 succession, that we scarcely rise to the comprehension of one, 

 than it is succeeded and superseded by another, siill more 

 marvellous and exciting. Life becomes a school of laborious 

 toil : genius and intellect are heavily taxed, not only in invent- 

 ing and discovering, but also in keeping pace with, and turn- 

 ing to the best practical account, those many valuable inven- 

 tions and discoveries which so thickly crowd upon us, in these 

 days of active enterprise and untiring energy. The cease- 

 less claims these present upon our attention and investigation 

 preclude the possibility of mental inactivity and sloth. 

 If we would live up to the times, we must work hard, and be 

 diligent students of the world's every-day occurrences. And 

 it is satisfactory to find that amid all this progression and, ad- 

 vancement and fast living which surround us, agriculture has 

 not remained stationary, but has been amongst the foremost 

 in its onward movements. Science, and mechanical skill and 

 genius, have alike largely contributed to this result. Im- 

 proved machinery, deep-drainage, the steam-engine, the water- 

 drill, and agricultural chemistry are amongst the compara- 

 tively modern contributions to British agriculture, which have 

 invested it with a deeper andmoreuniversalinterest, and have 

 rendered the cultivation of the soil a study and a science. 

 And we are still advancing. Onward is yet our motto. No 

 sooner, for instance, had the plough reached such a slate of 

 perfection, both as to its manufacture and mode of operation, 

 and had superseded and thrown on one side those antiquated 

 things with which we used to grub through the soil, and 

 which in our simplicity we called ploughs, and had excited in 

 our minds the firm belief that no further improvement was 

 DOW possible, than our Elysian slumbers were disturbed by 

 the shrill whistle and loud cry of " ateam culture." The 



steam-engine, hitherto so useful in the stackyard, is to be 

 dragged into the field, where still greater success awaits it, 

 and is doubtless destined very soon to supersede, to a great 

 extent, those very ploughs which we had just regarded with 

 so much favour, and which appeared to us such models of i^er- 

 fection. Agricultural chemistry, too, is constaiitly making its 

 discoveries, and is daily presenting its newly-ascertained facts 

 for our instruction and guidance ; facts which are not only 

 oft-tiraes startling, but which are frequently of great practical 

 value, teaching us how to secure the greatest possible results 

 at the smallest possible cost. But besides these subjects of 

 larger and more general interest, there are many other ques- 

 tions of minor, yet of practical importance, which are engag- 

 ing the attention of farmers in their respective localities-— 

 questions which local circumstances and peculiarities may to 

 some extent tinge and influence, but questions nevertheless 

 which are worthy the patient consideration of a body of in- 

 telligent agriculturists, whose motto is " Onward," and who 

 seek yet to " live and learn." The subject to which I have 

 more immediately to invite your attention this evening is one 

 of theie. It admits of only a limited application, but is, not- 

 withstanding, fraught with interest to all those who, like 

 myself, are farming iu the great level of the Fens, as also to 

 all others whose circumstances hi other respects resemble 

 ours. The subject as I gave it to the committee reads thus : 

 " How far sheep can be advantageously substituted for bul- 

 locks in the manufacture of manure, upon farms where the 

 natural food is not fattening, and where no roots but man- 

 golds can be successfully grown." But to adapt it for the 

 card, it has been put in a slightly different form, viz , " Sheep 

 versus Bullocks as manufacturers of manure, on farms where 

 the produce is not fattening, and no roots but mangukls can 

 be grown." In considering the subject this evening, I shall 

 take the wording of it as given to the committee, as it is 

 rather more clear and explicit, or as " A Practical Farmer," 

 who affects to be a critic, would say, " not so much involved." 

 It must be my business this evening to endeavour to evolve 

 all these iuvolutions, of which my cynical friend so strongly 

 complains. As I have already intimated, my farming life has 

 been spent in the great level of the Fens. Formerly, these 

 lands were submerged during the winter months entirely, and 

 supplied fresh-water fish for the sustenance of the small and 

 scattered population which inhabited the higher grounds, 

 technically termed " high lands." These elevated plots of 

 ground were free from the influences of the surrounding 

 waters, and were cultivated, and produced corn, and now form 

 the sites of the different towns and villages which are found 

 in the Fens. Successive schemes for draining these low and 

 inundated lands have at different intervals been designed and 

 executed, until they have at length become effectively drained, 



