136 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 3 



winter fiillovved, and in good tilth: part of the field | account, he conlinued wilh complete success for 

 was dressed with burned clay, and part with lim'3 upwards of eix years, during which time the en- 



tire of his arable land was manured wilh (he 

 ashes of burnt clay, his (arin dung being solely 

 applied to his hop-grounds, and u lew acres ul' 



Analysis. 



and clay compost. The crop was sown and treat- 

 ed on both parts alike, but that portion of the 

 ground to which the burned earth was applied pro- 

 duced by far the best quality of grain, and also a | potatoes.* 

 larger quanlity to the acre. 



2. On a moory field, prepared for a potatoe crop, 

 a heavy dressing of stronir clay and lime compost 

 was laid on, as the land was not considered sufTi- I The term 'burned earth,'' may be understood as 

 ciently stroiio; to take pure lime with advantaw; t implying any species of soil "^capable of being 

 part of the field remained undressed till the mid- i dried' up by excessive heat. Moory and liglu 

 die of May, when it was manured with burned j sandy soils, being deticietit in tenacity, caniK)t, 

 earth, which was dug from the headland, ami the : however, be so a|)plied wilh advantage; but clay, 

 crop was better than where the compost had been : of all sorts, and strong loams, are vvell adapted 

 applied. to the purj)ose. It has, however, been observed 



He then adds, that 'burned earth may be de- | by iiurrouii'hs, 'that this mode of preparing earth, 

 pended upon as manure fit to preduce abundant j as a manure, is upon a principle very diiferent 

 turnip crops, of every description, on a variety of i fi-om that of reducing it to ashes; and though the 

 soils; even the Swedes, so difficult to ^vow on | effect produced on the land to which it is a[)piie(l 

 light land, will prove a more luxuriant crop with j may be apparently the same, vet the torrefied,' 

 this manure than with farm-yard dung, and are i (dried by fire, or scorched) 'substance is by fiir 

 less liable to be cut off by the fiy. It may be sup- ! more permanent. The chemical ditlerence in 

 posed by some that any crop sown on this manure j their preparation is this: — In reducing the soil to 

 would be precarious in dry seasons, not containing, j ashes, much of its fertilizing properties are dissi- 

 as they may conceive, any enrichincj quality or i pated, and ils vegetable n'latfer destroyed; but 

 properties to preserve moisture: but this is by no j when only torrefied, those properties are preserved, 

 means the case, for it will be Ibund that an appli- , and its vegetable matter only reduced to a stale 

 cation of burned earth makes the land on which ! more valuable as the food of plants.' 

 it is applied more capable of absorbin-r moisture I (^i^g^g ^^^ ^^^.^ ^^,^,g ^j- turned earth,-lst, that 

 from the atmosphere; and, by minutely dividmg ^^^[^(^ j^ obtained from the surface, of which we 

 the soil, the roots oiplantscan search more lreelylh.^yg ^^1^^.^^,^ ^,^,,^^,x. and, 2ndly, that which is 



dug ti-om the subsoil.' 'Subsoil, calculated tor this 



lor nourishment. I have often observed that farm- 

 yard dung, unless very well prepared, does not, in 

 excessive dry seasons, supply sufficient moisture 

 to the roots of plants; and that, duritig Such sea- 

 sons, crops, sown on ashes, or burned earth, have 

 ;.initi.)rmly thriven, while those in dunged land 

 have gradually deidined. * 



General B.Mtson's liirm — which consists of 300 

 acres, 120 ot which are arable — was managed f^r 



purpose, may be said to be of two kinds, viz: ad- 

 hesive clay, and calcareous earth: the former sel- 

 dom possessing any fertilizing properties in its 

 natural state; but the latter is even in that state, 

 generally a valuable substance. As alternatives 

 to the soil, they may be good applications, if appro- ■ 

 priately applied, and may produce fertility accord- 

 ingly; but by putting them through a process of 



some years previous to his death under an entirely j j^-g,:^^.jiQ -l^g^yg^^- naturally deficient in fi^rt 

 novel system ot culture, fespectnig the details of | j^i,^^ ^rties, they can be converted into valua- 

 which we purpose giving some account in a future ^^^ manures, t 



portion of this work; ibr although it has been only 

 slightly followed in a few instances, there is yet 

 much of his practice which merits consideration. 



Mr. Naismith also saj's, 'that when cohesive 

 earth has undergone this operation, and is after- 



and every new plan, which is not decidedly proved I ^^ards reduced to powder, at its tendency to co- 

 to have failed, may be fairly deemed entitled to 1 herence is lost and its particles he compact, with- 

 candid investicration. The plan on which it had °^^ ^^'i'""S- It seems to have the perfect consist 



been previously conducted was so unprofitable, 

 that he had determined on abandoning the farm 

 altogether, when his attention was attracted to a 

 small enclosure, where he had four burnt clay ex- 

 periments, around which was a space unmanured, 

 and beyond it all the rest of the field manureil 

 with rotten dung at the rate of forty loads per acre, 

 the whole carefully scarified, harrowed, and drill- 

 ed, exactly in the same manner. Those clay ex- 

 periments not only maintained a very striking su- 

 periority during the growth of three sucessive 

 crops — the first being a mixture of tares and oats, 

 and the second and third wheat; but were also 

 perfectly clean, whilst the dunced part was abso- 

 lutely choked with weeds; they had each respec- 

 tively at the rate of ten, twenty, thirty and forty 

 cart-loads of the ashes per acre. This gave rise 

 to his subsequent practice, which, according to his 



ence of a li^rtile soil; for corn springs quickly, and 

 tillers abundantly on it; and if a little dung-juice be 

 given from time to time, it will grow luxuriantly 

 to maturity. It has also a strong tendency to pro- 

 mote fertility when applied to other soils; and 

 even a very slight torrefiiction of the soil has a 

 great efi'ect. J 



*He says that his wheat yielded a return of twelve 

 for one of the seed; or 33 per cent better than the 

 usual return in his vicinity, which, upon an average, is 

 only 20 bushels per acre from 2i bushels, if drilled, 

 and 3 if sown broad-cast. New System, &c. second 

 edition, pp. 82 and 108. 



\ Essay, No. 11, on Manures, p. 62, 



\ Essay in vol. ii. of the Appendix to the Gen. Rep. 

 of Scotland, p. 95. In his Elements of Agriculture, 

 he also says, 'the powder of burned clay lies always in 



. . ■ — j thathappy medium between cohesion and repulsion of 



* 'Essays, on Practical Husbandry,^ by Edward ' the particles, which is best adapted to give aduiissioD 

 Burroughs, Esq., No. 11, p. 75. j to the roots of vegetables,'— p. 340. 



