European Agriculture and Rural Economy. 125 



REVIEWS. 



Art. I. European Agriculture and Rural Ecojiomy., from 

 Personal Observation. By Henry Colman. Vol. 11. Part 

 VIII. pp. 223 to 370. 



Mr. Colman has now thoroughly taken hold of the subject, 

 and the present number possesses a value which could not attach 

 to any of the preceding ones. The subjects discussed are few, 

 but they are important and valuable to all. They are as fol- 

 lows : — 



CVI. Crops (continued,) CVII. Flax ; CVIII. Live Stock ; 

 CIX. Dairy Husbandry ; CX. Manures ; CXI. General Re- 

 flections. 



These subjects are treated upon with that minuteness of 

 detail, which alone can make them useful to any farmer. 

 Actual experiments are recorded, and results givdn. Under 

 the head of crops, are enumerated all the improved varieties 

 of wheat, &c., and, in the chapter on live stock, the best 

 breeds are described, and a comparison of their value added. 

 The number is illustrated with a fine drawing of a Leicester 

 ram. 



In the chapter on manures, which we wish we had room to 

 copy, Mr. Colman adds the following to what he has previous- 

 ly stated on Guano : — 



Guano still maintains its reputation. No new facts have transpired 

 respecting it, but old ones have been confirmed. It continues to be applied, 

 at the rate of two hundred pounds, and even four hundred pounds weight 

 per acre, to various crops, with signal success, unless its efficacy is sus- 

 pended or defeated by drought, or unless it comes in immediate contact with 

 the plant, when it proves fatal. It is never safely applied alone, and the 

 preferred mixture is a very liberal proportion of mould. Its mixture with 

 ashes, strongly recommended by some farmers, is, as I have before observed, 

 of questionable expediency. In Devonshire, I witnessed the most extraor- 

 dinary effects from it, this year, applied at the rate of about three hundred 

 ponnds per acre upon grass land. The extreme luxuriance and richness of 

 the grass, where it was applied, were most remarkable, especially when 

 seen in contrast with parts of the field not guanoed. Nor is its effecacy lim- 

 ited to one year, but continues for a length of time as yet not determined. 



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