1838] 



FARMERS- REGISTER. 



103 



Boston Sugar Refinery, by Havre merchants, to 

 scml here lor all the reluse bone bhick, whicli 

 ihey wished to purchase lor agricuhural use in 

 France. 



Is it not a shameful fact, that the French farm- 

 ers are so much our superiors, tliat they can af- 

 ford to send here for manure, and then raise wheat, 

 beans, corn, and other vegetables, cheap enough 

 to supply a large share to our market? Such you 

 will notice by the importations last year is the 

 fact. 



If our farmers knew more respectmg the chemi- 

 cal nature and methods of amending their soils, 

 then we might indeed look to our own fields lor 

 broad, but alas ! there is a great deal of empiricism 

 in agriculture, and it is no wonder that farmers 

 distrust what they call "book learning," when 

 they obtain so very little practical information 

 from it. The fault is on both sides, first, because 

 the books we have at present are very inaccurate; 

 secondly, because the farme.'-s generally do not 

 know how to apply the infornmtion contained in 

 books, since they do not know the composition ol" 

 the soils in question. 



If the Agricultural Survey is supported as it 

 ought to be, and a degree of liberality is extended 

 towards it, such as its importance merits, then we 

 should soon be able to say with truth, that agri- 

 culture is a science. 



In order that we should come to this result, we 

 have to learn 1st, fhe geological origin; 2d, geo- 

 logical distribution; 3d, chemical composition; 4th, 

 capabilities of soils. These three topics I shall 

 endeavor to discuss in my Geological Report to 

 the legislatures of the two states of Massachusetts 

 and Maine. We must not expect to make a per- 

 fect work at once; several years of assiduous labor 

 must be devoted to each of the questions belbre us, 

 before a good book on agriculture can be pro- 

 duced. All the old works are too inaccurate to 

 be relied upon. The light of modern science is 

 required. 



There are, I believe, several other questions pro- 

 posed for discussion; but time will not allow me at 

 present to enter upon them. 



I will therefore now conclude this letter by of- 

 fering you my best wishes for your success in the 

 Agricultural Survey of our state; and shall be 

 most happy, when my present labors are complet- 

 ed, to co-operate actively in your important avoca 

 tions. Most respectfully, your ob't. serv't., 



Charlks T. Jackson. 



For the Farmers' Register. 

 WHICH IS THE MOST PRODUCTIVE CORN? 



Malhews, Feb. 21.sf, 1838. 



Those farmers who have had sufficient experi- 

 ence with the Maryland twin corn, are requested 

 to state which is the most productive — that or 

 the common corn? No subject in our mode of 

 farming is more important, than a satisfactory 

 knowledge of the most prolific species of corn. 

 It is our staple, and if, as has been asserted, the 

 twin corn will produce 20 per cent, more than the 

 ordinary corn he who will satisfactorily establish 

 such a fact would deserve a crown of laurel. 



S. 



From the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture. 

 ON FATTENING CATTLE ON UIFFERENT KINDS 



OF Foon.* 

 By Mr. John Brodie, Amisfield Mains, Haddington. 



Agreeably to the conditions, the Committee of 

 Management, immediately after I had intimated 

 my intention of competing, appointed an efficient 

 sub-committee to assist me in dividing a lot of 

 tvyoiity Aberdeenshire polled cattle, into fi)ur lots 

 of five each, and also to superintend and report 

 upon the manner in which the experiments were 

 conducted. 



The cattle were bought at Falkirk on the 12th 

 of October, and on the 24th were lotted, and put 

 into separate yards, each of which had ample 

 space, and shelter ft-om the weather, by covered 

 sheds, for the several lots which were distributed 

 among them; and conceiving that the object 

 which the Agricultural Society^ had in view in of- 

 liiring this premium, was to find out a substitute 

 ibr turnips, each lot of cattle had a mixture of food 

 allowed them, with the exception of lot No. 1, 

 which was altogether fed upon turnips and straw, 

 and may on that account be designated the trial 

 lot; No. 2 had half the quantity or weight of tur- 

 nips which was allowed to No. 1, vviUi 30 lb. of 

 linseed-oil cakes, as a substitute for the remainder 

 of the turnips; lot No. 3 had the same weight 

 of turnips which was given to No. 2, and had 

 ground corn in place of the oil-cakes; the fourth 

 lot got offal from a grain whisky distillery, and a 

 portion of ground beans, which was mixed into 

 their draff every morning. Ey following out this 

 arrangement, we have a'scertained the quantity of 

 turnips saved; the value of the turnips in feeding 

 by themselves, contrasted with the other sub^ 

 stances; and their value as an auxiliary feeding 

 when used with those richer substances, which^ 

 without some coarser food, will neither be an eco- 

 nomical nor a beneficial food for cattle. All the 

 lots had fresh straw given to them daily, which 

 vyas not weighed, and below is a statement of the 

 food consumed, and the expense incurred in the 

 fattening of each lot: — 



Lot No. 1. fed on Turnips. 



18,S6. 



October 12. To price of iive cattle, £55 

 24. 10 days' keep of ditto 



on turnips and straw, 

 at 8d. 1 13 4 



January 1. 34 tons white ^lobe 



turnips, at 8.s. -Id. per 

 ton, since 24 October 

 till tliis date, being 

 10 cwt. per day, 14 3 4 



April 7. 38 tons, 16 cwt. ruta- 



baga, at ]2s. 6d. per 

 ton, since 1st Janua- 

 ry till this date, be- 

 ing 8 cwt. per day, 24 5 



At this date the Judges appointed by 

 the Committee of Management, 



£95 1 8 



* Report made by Mr. Brodie in 1837 on this sub- 

 ject in competition for the premium offered by the 

 United East Lothian Agricultural Society.— Editok. 



