1838] 



FAKMERS' REGISTER, 



729 



From British Ilusliandry. 



REPORT OF A FAI13I I.\ KYI,K, liV AYRSHIRE, 

 (SC0TLA\D.) 



Introduction. 



Tliere is no way in whirii a farmer may more 

 ailvaiita<^!:"oui5|y improve liimsell" in his irl, than by 

 ins|)L'Ctiiiii' tlie practice ofoMier ilisiricts and oi" 

 Qiher countries-; hu* as the ojiporiunily of inspec- 

 tion cannot always he connnaiuietl, the want may 

 be sup|)lioc] by ohiainino; circumstantial descrip- 

 tions. To derive the full benefit Irom either source 

 requires caution and the power of discrimination; 

 for in no art do so many circumstances combine in 

 the production of the results as in ag-riculuire, and 

 a difficulty u'enerally arises in determininii; to what 

 cause a particular efl'ect is mainly to be assigned. 

 Individual sagacity without scientific knowledge 

 may go a <freat way in solving this difficulty, and 

 in determiiiinir to what extent an o!d course may 

 safely be altered, or a new one introduced, why 

 liiiilure or success has ensued. We find that, in a 

 certain place, the accumulated sagacity of aijes 

 has, without being able to ascribe any general 

 principle ibr the effect produced, established, a 

 practice suitable upon the whole to the circum- 

 stances of the situation — but if the perfecting the 

 art in every situation be the object, the necessity | 

 of scientific knowledge cannot be too strongly im- 

 pressed. 



Theoretical and practical farmers have been 

 sometimes contrasted to the discredit of the form- 

 er. A mere practical fiirmer is a man who knows 

 how to manage to good advanTaire a certain piece 

 of ground. A mere theoretical li^rmer is a man 

 who understands the principles on which the ope- 

 rations of agriculture dependj without having ac- 

 quired dexteriiy in their application. The one 

 may be less successful than the other at first, but 

 place them in a new situation, or let them have to 

 determine on the introduction of a new practice, 

 there can be little doubt which of them, supposing 

 them equal in intellectual endowments, will be 

 most likely to succeed ; or in the description of 

 the farm to be here given, which will be most 

 likely to detect what part of the system is errone- 

 ous, and what correct. Experiments in agricul- 

 ture are carried on under many disadvantages. 

 We have it not in our power to vary at will the 

 circumstances in which they are tried, or to repeat 

 an experiment in precisely similar circumstances, 

 and thus we maybe led to ascribe to a cause what 

 does not justly beloni; to it. Fortunately, how- 

 ever, the results in agrirullure have their founda- 

 tion in sciences, in which we have sufficient con- 

 trol over circumstances, and in which the facts can 

 be generalized, and principles established with tiie 

 completest cprtaintv. Chemistry and veijetable 

 physiology afford the onlv sure means by which 

 the art of a<J-riculture can be b;-ought to perfection, 

 and Davy and Sinclair have done more towards its 

 advancement, tlian miirht have been accomplished 

 in centuries by practice unguided by science. 

 Much has been done where the knowledge of 

 general principles was wanting, but their use is to 

 diffuse the capacity lor improvement, to make its 

 progess more certain and more rapid, and to pre- 

 vent the adoption of error. Some person may, 

 for instance, have raised an excellent crop after 

 dressing his land with salt, and thousands of 

 Vol. V— 92 



bushels are immediately ajiplied as a manure, but 

 no man who undersiooil cliemislry and vegetable 

 |)hysio!ogy woiiki ever have imagined tl>.at land 

 could be made more ((.Ttile by such means. 



There is every reason to expect that these 

 sciences will soon be more generally understood/ 

 In tovvns, the means ol' acquiring the knowledge 

 of physics is supplied to mechanics; and all othef 

 classes will be Ibrced to keep pace with them. It 

 seems absurd that any human being who can be 

 kept at school for eight or ten years of his lile, 

 should arrive at the end of his education, in igno- 

 rance of the laws by which the events in nature 

 around him take place. In relation to the aptitude 

 of the human mind, this branch of knowledge 

 might well be taught prior to that which is denom- 

 inated literature, at least the one should accompany 

 the other, and it is not difficult to conceive plans 

 by which it might form a part of the course of in- 

 struction in even every country school, without 

 much additional demand of time, or of expense. 

 The usefulness of the knowledge here recom- 

 mended is very obvious, and it is unnecessary to 

 insist on the amount which it would add to the 

 sources of pleasure to all farmers, whether pro- 

 prietors or tenants. Every land owner living in 

 the country, is to some extent a farmer, or a plant- 

 er, or a gardener: there is not an object around 

 him that can occupy his attention lor a moment, 

 in which his interest would not be much increased 

 by the understanding of physical science; and yet 

 vvhat class in society is so generally unprovided 

 with this fund of intellectual' recreation, and re- 

 source against the tedium of idleness? 



Description of the farm. 



This farm, which lies in the district of Kyle in 

 Aryshire, contains 250 arable acres, imperial 

 measurement. Its offices are centrical. Its inclo- 

 sures, which are rather unequal in size, are re- 

 markably well accommodated with good roads* 

 It is above seven miles distant fi-om any place 

 where manure can be got in considerable quanti- 

 ty, and two acres and a half are the most that 

 have ever in one year been dunged from extra- 

 neous sources. In the above measurement are in- 

 cluded five acres of rich sandy loam on an open 

 subsoil, about four acres of mossy or peaty ground^ 

 and thirteen or fourteen acres dispersed in differ- 

 ent places, of a dee|) alluvial clay soil. Generally 

 speaking, however, the soil is poor, and rather te- 

 nacious,"and, though very various in depth, may 

 be slated at fourteen or fifteen inches as an aver- 

 age. The subsoil contains nothing noxious to ve- 

 fetation, but is quite impervious to water. As int 

 Ayrshire much rain fills through all the season* 

 of" the year, the conducting of agricultural opera- 

 lionsis, in these circumstances, extremely preca-' 

 rious and difficult. The ordinary farm establish-- 

 ment consists of a superintending servant, who di- 

 rects the details and also engages in the farm 

 work, two ploughmen, and two pairs of horses^ 

 two laborers, and a dairy-maid, besides a few 

 female laborers occasionally weeding in spring"^ 

 and summer. By this force also a good deal of 

 work not strictly connected with cultivation ha* 

 been done. When the iiirm was taken possessiort 

 of ten years ago, it was in a very exhausted conf- 

 dition. For seven years previously, the rotatjoff 

 had been either oats; oats; fallow; wheat; bean3>: 

 oats; hay; followed by a few years pasture— iftg- 



