THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



43 



of them they are nursed at the root by the manure, 

 that Ihe fly and drought has no chance of hurting 

 them. I have always found this plan successful in 

 the very worst of till, after being drained. By care 

 being taken to harrow and roll as soon as the land 

 is ploughed, to procure a fine mould, and there is 

 no doubt of procuring a crop every year with the 

 first sowing. There has been great difficulty in 

 this case in this country for a number of years past, 

 the turnips being sown as often as three and four 

 times in one season, and as often carried off by the 

 fly. I believe, in most cases, the evil is occasion- 

 ed by sowing tlie seeds too near the surface, and 

 not down to the manure ; and by sowing so shal- 

 low the seeds will braird, perhaps in two or three 

 days ; and if it is a dry scorching sun, they are sure 

 to go otf by the fly— they have no hold of the ma- 

 nure to carry them on. But in a damp time there 

 is less to foar of tliem being carried off. By the 

 seeds being sown as before mentioned, they will be 

 from six to" ten days before they braird, and they 

 will be observed coming up quite strong, making a 

 crack in the top of the drill, and having a strong 

 hold of the manure, they come on so rapidly that 

 the fly is not fit to hurt them. But by sowing them 

 shallow, thougli successful, and not carried oft' by 

 the fly and drought, the plants are far longer sick- 

 ly, and do not come away so fast, nor to the same 

 maturiry, as if sown as before mentioned. Wlien 

 ■we sow any other kinds of turnips, — say hybrid, or 

 red-top Aberdeen,— we do not give more seed than 

 4 lbs. to the acre, as the seed is smaller, and sows 

 farther ; but we sow them on the same plan as be- 

 fore mentioned. We generally sow-Dale's hybrid, 

 and the Aberdeen red. top yellow. We find them 

 the best sorts. We have made it our practice, for 

 a number of years past, to try all sorts that we 

 heard of, and we consider these two sorts the best. 

 In sowing our turnips, we generally sow Swedish 

 in the first part of the soil. If there is a more stitF- 

 ish part in the field than another, we sow red-top 

 Aberdeen, or Dale's hybrid, as we find either of 

 these sorts answer a stiifish soil better than the 

 Swedish turnips. 



In preparing our dung for turnips, we generally 

 collect it into large heaps in the fields during tht 

 winter; and we generally give it two turnings be- 

 fore we put it into the drills. We study to have it 

 well rotted before it is used, and give it the first 

 turning about the middle of April or the end of 

 March, and the last about eighteen days before put 

 on. We study to have it with as much moisture 

 as possible. Wo make it our study to collect all 

 the urine that comes from the stall-fed cattle, and 

 drive it to the dunghills in the field ; and when we 

 are putting Uie dung out, if we find it has not 

 enough of°moistnre, we drive water from the near- 

 est part to the dunghill. We consider the dung 

 being put into the drills with plenty of moisture, is 

 a great benefit to the crop in dry springs, both lor 

 turnips and potatoes. 



rgiK^ — Above I send you a copy of an Essay, 

 which, 1 think, should lie interesting to your agri- 

 cultural readers. A premium of Xl was awarded 

 to it by the Ayrshire General Agricultural Associ- 

 ation ; it is from a very intelligent practical man. 

 Archibald Hamilton, Esq., of Caroline, his master, 

 has spared no necessary expense on the lauds at 

 Roselle ; they are completely drained, subsoil 

 ploughed, and levelled, and so clear of weeds that 

 the whole estate has more the appearance of gar- 

 den than farm around ; and as it has been frequent- 

 ly asserted that such high keeping does not yield a 

 remuneration corresponding to tlie outlay, I took 

 the liberty of enquiring as to this point, of the wri- 

 ter of this essay last summer, when he informed me 

 his opinion was, that when judiciously managed, 

 the outlay in such cases yielded a far greater re- 

 turn than could be obtained from more stmted man- 

 agement; and he statid, as corroborative of this 

 opinion, tliatthe preceding season, viz: 1838, their 

 crop of turnips was 35 tons per acre 

 24s. per ton, and other crops in proportion 



parted to it the animal juices, with which they feed 

 their hens, and it is unquestionable that they derive 

 a great advantage from it. Corn and oats parched 

 or browned in iTpot over the fire is a kind of food 

 that poultry are very fond of, as well as boiled 

 wrainofany kind, and an occasional change of food 

 Is found by long experience and observation to be 

 highly important in promoting the health and thrift 

 of domestic animals of every kind. Keep your 

 fowls dry and clean, give them good lodging, pro- 

 vide them with some dry dirt, ashes or old slaked 

 lime to rub themselves in, and give them a plenti- 

 ful supply of food, a portion of which should be 

 animal, and you will not have to complain for their 

 not thriving or laying eggs. 

 FuTJiier's Cabinet, 



Susan. 



hich sold at 

 1. 



R. 



Kilmarnock, Feb. LS, 1840.] 



Poultry. 



'•Dear me ! what a price eggs sell for " 

 Every person who is familiar with the habits of 

 fowls must have noticed their fondness for animal 

 food. Animal garbage, insects, slugs, and worms 

 arc sought for and devoured by them with avidity. 

 During our long winter season they are prevented 

 by tlie'frost from procuring a supply of animal tood,^ 

 and by many this is supposed to be the cause of 

 their ceasing to furnish us with the usual supply ot 

 etros. Some managlns house-keepers, who know 

 thatetrgs always bring'a good price during the sea- 

 son of frost, boil bran or shorts in pot-liquor, m 

 which meat has been cooked, and which has im- 



To the editor of the New York Whig are we in 

 debted for a variety of English newspapers receiv- 

 ed by the late arrivals. From the London Garden- 

 er's Gazette of Feb. 22d, we extract the following 

 articles. 



ExTRAonmsART PROLIFIC Barlev.— In the 

 spring of 1837, a man appeared in the Blandford 

 market distributing hand-bills, purporting that a 

 person on Lytchelt Heath had a quantity of barley 

 for sale, at tlie moderate price of eighteen pence an 

 ounce, or £528 a quarter, reckoning eleven score 

 to the bag; the history of Avhich, as given by the 

 grower to the writer of this paragraph, is as fol- 

 lows ; — 



He found at the corner of one of his garden plots 

 a tuft of some sort of grain, consisting of from thir- 

 ty to forty stalks, which ripened early in the sum- 

 mer. (June) and proved to be a very fine variety of 

 barley, containing, on an average, forty grains in 

 each ear. The root was suff'ered to remain, from 

 which, in the same year, he cut two more crops, 

 equally good. He continues to cultivate it with e- 

 qual and uniform success. He is, however, entire- 

 ly ignorant of the way in which the seed came in- 

 to Ins garden, and a clerical gentleman of Poole, on 

 hearing the circumstance, called it "Providence 

 Barley," by which name it now goes. A tenant of 

 Lord Portmans, Mr. HanviUe, of Blandford, on 

 seeing the hand-bill, with but little confidence in 

 its veracity, determined, whether or not,_ to sport 

 his eighteen pence, and give an ounce of it a fair 

 trial, which he did in the following manner:— He 

 selected a piece of common garden ground, about 

 one perch, struck it out in nine-inch drills, and dib- 

 bled the ounce of barlev six inches apart. It was 

 not put in till early in April, whereas it should have 

 been sown in the latter end of February. It came 

 up beautilullv fine, each corn producing from six- 

 teen to twenty stalks, crowned with an ear offrom 

 thirty eight to forty corns. This was hoed twice, 

 and prodliced, late as it was, a second crop. About 

 a iiuarter of an acre of common farm land, after 

 turnips, was sown in the same manner in the suc- 

 ceeding year, and proved equally productive. In 

 May ]8'39 (which, from unavoidable circumstan- 

 ces was too late by six weeks,) about ten acres, af- 

 ter wheat stubble, were drilled nine inches apart 

 with some of the produce, at scarcely a bushel an 

 acre, and notwithstanding the wetness of the sea- 

 son prevented hoeing, as intended, the crop will 

 average about six quarters an acre. The grain is 

 of superior «ize and quality, and as a new variety 

 of barley, will deserve the attention of agricultur- 

 ists. — IVilts Independent. 



AnVAKTAGES OK AGRICULTURE.— AgriCUlture is 

 the most certain source of domestic riches and true 

 liberty Where it is neglected, whatever wealth 

 may be imported from abroad, poverty and misery 

 will abound at hnrae. Such is, and ever will be, 

 the fluctuating slate of trade and manulacture, that 

 thousands of people may bein full employment to- 

 day and in begs;;ay to-morrow. This can never 

 happen to those who cultivate the ground; they 

 can eat the fruits of their labor, and can always, by 

 industry, obtain at least the necessaries ol lile. 



TliC late Mr. Holinshead. 



Sully, who was one of the greatest men France 

 ever produced, used to say, that it ought to be tlie 

 maxim of a sood government to advance agricul- 

 ture before rnanulacture, and to give to the latter 

 only a secondary rank in the State. In vindica- 

 tion of this opinion. Sully used to say, that he ever 

 preferred the products of the soil, which could not 

 easily be ravished from them, t6 those foreign con- 

 quesis which occupy the:atteiition of most govern- 

 inents, but which always rxcte rcsentmeu or jeal- 

 ousy. A large and increasing pioduce ol tlie laud 

 (said he) ensures the liberty of the people, while 

 it places foreigners in a sort of dependence ; where- 

 as the want of corn, the first necessary of hfe, gives 

 a dependence upon foreigners, who can either fur- 



nish the commodity or refuse it. The produce of 

 the land (continues he) cannot be consumed by 

 strangers, but to the profit of the inhabitants, that 

 is, by atrallic more advantageous than the posses- 

 sion of the corn itself; whereas the arts and man- 

 ufactures may possibly be carried off by the ar- 

 tifices of rivals, and pass away, together with the 

 artists themselves, into all the countries of the 

 world. 



Agricultural State of Ireland. — It is inev- 

 idence, that the extensive arable territory of Ire- 

 land is not halfcultivated. There are five millions 

 of acres of wasie, capable of cultivation, and un- 

 employed labor is imploring for permission to ren- 

 der them productive. It is not an exaggerated cal- 

 culation that the reclaimed wastes of Ireland would 

 yield a rental of four millions, if brought into cul- 

 tivation; and if, in addition to this, a proper sys- 

 tem of agriculture were adopted, and the means 

 of internal communication extended, the present 

 rental would be more than doubled. Ireland would 

 be thus fully enabled to supply the agricultural 

 wants of England, whilst the augmented employ- 

 ment afforded to tlic people would greatly enhance 

 the revenue, and considerably increase the demand 

 for English manufactures. That Scotland is in- 

 ferior in soil and climate to Ireland, is known to 

 every one ; yet the revenue collected in the form- 

 er, in 1834, on articles also taxed in Ireland^ with 

 precisely similar rates, amounted to £2,377,386 

 per annum ; while the revenue collected in Ireland 

 on these articles in that year amounted to £1,97.>,- 

 331 per annum. Were trade and consumption in 

 proportion to the population and the country on an 

 equality of condition with Scotland, the Irish rev- 

 enue would have been nearly £8,000,(JU0. By rais- 

 ing therefore the condition of Ireland to an equali- 

 ty with Scotland, six millions a year might be ad- 

 ded to the revenue. — British and Foreign R'jvieip. 



Profit Extraordinary. — There is at this time 

 in the possession of a respectable farmer at Fenny- 

 Stratford, Bucks, a very fine sow, of the Berkshire 

 breed which has produced wi'jiin fourteen months 

 two titters of pigs; which pigs have been sold, and 

 fetched the extraordinary sum of £89 Is. 2 l-2d. 

 And, what is more surprising, the same sow has 

 now a litter of nine pigs by her side, worth at least 

 throe pounds. — jVortkampton Herald. 



French Duties on Foreign Cattle. — The 

 Commerce, alludivig to the petition of the butchers 

 of Paris for a r'jduction of the duties on cattle im- 

 ported into France, makes the following observa- 

 tions. Thi; subject is one in which all classes, but 

 especially the laboring and middle classes, are deep- 

 ly interested :— "The high duties upon foreign cat- 

 tle are generally complained of— the country, and 

 especially the department of the Seine, feels them 

 as a great evil. The markets of the capital are bad- 

 ly su'pplied, the cattle are of inferior quality, and 

 the price of meat is constantly rising. The higli 

 price of meat coincides with that of corn, and con- 

 sequently the laboring classes of society are suft'er- 

 ing dreadfully. The petition of the butchers ot 

 Paris reveals facts which cannot fail to fix the at- 

 tention of the legislature. In 1834 the average 

 price of meat in the contracts for the hospices and 

 hospitals of the capital was 06 1-2 centimes the 

 kilstrramme; in 1839 it was 1 fr. 4 centimes, and 

 it wTll not be less this year, thus showing an in 

 crease of 37 1-2 per cent, upon the price ol 18.34. 

 Another fact not less important, which is stated in 

 the petition, is the degeneration of oxen, which for 

 some years past have yielded one-fifth less of meat 

 and tallow than formerly ; the meat is not so good 

 and more cows are killed for the markets. In for- 

 mer years the number of cows slaughtered annually 

 f,.r the Paris markets was only 40U0, It is now 

 20,00U. We are suft'cring therefore both m price 

 and quality." 



A Remedy against "Bursauttee" ajionc Cat-, 

 TLE.— For some weeks past a vast number of horn- 

 ed cattle, at Purfleetand in the marshy lands in its 

 immediate locality, have been attacked with a dis- 

 ease which has. proved fatal to many ot them. The 

 disorder, which is by no means common in this 

 country, is, in tropical climates, termed "Bursaut- 

 tee," or the murrain of the rains, the sympt-ims ot 

 which are manifested by the tongue and the parts 

 of deglutition becoming much swollen and inflam- 

 ed, insomuch so, that the animal after a while is un- 

 able to swallow or even masticate its food In Ben- 

 cral and the (owcr provinces of India, this disease 

 i's b'v no means unfreqiient among cattle, especially 

 during the periodical rains. The method pursued 

 by the native cowherds in such cases is to .apply 

 the actual cautery (a hot iron) to the neck and fau- 

 ces, and to rub the tongue and palate with coarse 

 salt, administering to the suftermg animal shortly 



