360 EUROPEAN AGRICULTURE. 



In an experiment made in the Lothians, by one of the best 

 farmers in the kingdom, he gave me the following as the result : 



A piece of land, manured at the rate of eighty bushels of soot 

 per Scotch acre, costing threepence per bushel, the product was 

 7040 pounds of hay per Scotch acre. 



A second piece, manured in the same way, gave at the rate of 

 0671 pounds of hay per Scotch acre. 



A third piece, without any top-dressing, produced at the rate 

 of 5280 pounds per Scotch acre. 



The milkmen object to feeding cows upon land dressed with 

 soot, and to using the hay from such land, from its giving a bad 

 taste to the milk. This may be mere prejudice. I give the 

 fact of their objections, without vouching for their correctness. 



4. WOOLLEN RAGS. Woollen rags, the clippings of woollen 

 cloth obtained from the factories under the name of shoddy, and 

 wool dust, and woollen refuse of every description, make a most 

 valuable manure. Indeed, none ranks higher in value. Besides 

 its own intrinsic efficacy, it becomes mixed or strongly im 

 pregnated with oil, used in the processes of manufacturing. 

 Its effects are riot immediate, and therefore it is not to be con 

 sidered as a forcing manure, but they are very durable; and 

 when spread upon grass land, its efficacy is great and permanent. 

 It is deemed, in the highest degree, rich in all the elements of 

 vegetation. It is considered extremely valuable as an applica 

 tion to hop-grounds. The hop-growers in Surrey informed me 

 that it was to be preferred to any other manure. It is deemed 

 best to mix it very copiously with earth or mould ; and in this 

 way it should be repeatedly shovelled over, in order to assist its 

 decomposition. 



Mr. Hannam, in his excellent little treatise upon waste ma 

 nures, states the case of a farmer, who, on applying eight tons 

 of shoddy compost per acre, obtained nine tons of hay, in a 

 small hilly field, which before never gave him four tons. It is 

 transported in large sacks, and is a regular article of merchandise. 



5. LIME. The value of lime as a manure, if so it may be 

 called, is still, with many farmers, questionable. I found an 

 eminent farmer in Ayrshire, who considered its only value to be 

 as a mechanical divider of the soil ; and in respect to another 



