IS30J 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



591 



a help hath been lound out airiVinst the smooHng} were seldom at home at this troublesome period. 

 of wlie.it, at leastwise in soiiie iiood proporiiou ; j The thrashing machine was likewise so busily 

 I say the smootimr of wheat, which makes it a i employed after the weather settled, that our stack- 

 neo-ro, as miKlew"inakes it a dwarfo; viz. by I yard has become nearly empty. 



minjjIinjT the seed with lime as your husbaiidnien 

 will inlljrm you. 



"And lor my vale to this county, I heartily de- 

 sire that either God would of his ijoodness, spare 

 the fruits ol" the earth from so huiiful a casualty, 

 or put it into the minds of men (if it may stand 

 with his will) to find out some delensiiive in some 

 part, to abate the malignity thereof."' 



LETTERS FROM A!V AGRICU LTCRAL APPREN- 

 TICE TO HIS FATHER. 



(ContiiiuedTrom paga5J2. ) 



Froin;tlie|(Edinbiii-gli) Farmuis Masazine. 

 Class III, 



July 23. — Since my last, a°|material change of 

 weather lias taken place, which occasioned much 

 positive loss in the first instance, and a great deal 

 of additional labor al'terwards. It is under such 

 circumstances that the judgment and activity of 

 the farmer comes to be most completely ascertain- 

 ed; because the derangement of his usual plans 

 throws every branch cf vvork out of shape, and 

 causes a resort to measures of expediency or of a 

 temporary nature. In such a situation Mr. Jamie- 

 son shines conspicuously. His mind seems sto- 

 red with resources for every emergency, and the 

 dilHculty of the ^case appears to give increased 

 strength to his natural powers. He shapes his 

 conduct to the circumstances under which he is 

 placed, constantly preserving the greatest order 

 and regularity. 



Last week a violent and continued rain for 

 twenty-four hours occurred, which, to a certain 

 extent, floated the I'ullow field, wetted tlie hay 

 ricks, stopped the thinning and cleaning of turnips, 

 and lodged at least one half of the corn crops on 

 the farm. With such a number of people, many 

 liirraers would have been thrown into utter con- 

 fusion, or at least one half of those below them 

 would have remained idle, while others would not 

 have been much more profitably employed. Not 

 so with Mr, Jamieson; lor the rainy day was as 

 throng a one as ever I saw since I came here. 

 The several inventories were examined, and defi- 

 ciencies noted down with the greatest accuracy. 

 Two pair of fanners were set to Vv'ork in dressing 

 of corn. The lofts were sweeped, dusted and 

 cleaned; in short every one was sedulously eu)- 

 ployed. When the rain ceased, my whole corps 

 were instantly despatched to the lailow and turnip 

 fields, and express orders were given me not to 

 sutler a drop of water to stand on any of them; of 

 course I had not a dry foot while in the field, but 

 fortunately was not the worse of this treatment, 

 having taken care to shift regularly afier working 

 hours. When thus empluyed, Elliot and his 

 ploughmen were busy in removing dung from the 

 farm-yards, and middening it in a regular manner 

 on an adjoining field of grass-land, where it is to 

 be used next winter; and as two hundred bolls of 

 wheat had been lately sold, Mr. Jamieson took 

 this opportunity of delivering it to the merchant. 

 Even Howard and his herds were not idle; lor, as 

 several markets were held at the time, he and I hey 



Every thing seems now to be restored to order 

 except the hay, which will give us a little trouble 

 before it can be safely stacked. Mr. Jamieson 

 says it has received damage which cannot be 

 cured, and that I will soon see the extent of injury 

 done to hay, by a lail of rain, while in the cock. 

 fie adds, that it is much less hurt by wetness du- 

 ring the early stages of the winning process than 

 when in the cock; because the natural lermentation 

 which necessarily takes place is then reinforced by 

 artificial auxiliaries, consequently that a degree of 

 putridity ensues, inevitably injurious to the article. 

 Fairbairn has returned to the turnip field; and the 

 young plants being all thinned and set out, he ia 

 going over ihem a second time, correcting former 

 errors, and destroying every weed that has recent- 

 ly vegetatet!. 



August 4th. — The hay is now safely stacked, 

 though a good deal of work was required before 

 we got it into such a condition as lo satisfy Mr. 

 Jamieson. Three days ago, when fine sunny 

 weather and gentle wind prevailed, our united 

 strength was employed to take down the cocks and 

 expose the wet parts to their beneficial influence; 

 after which the whole was re-cocked, great care 

 being taken to mix the external and internal parts 

 together, so as the quality might be equal, and any 

 moisture remaining in the damaged parts absorbed 

 by what was in good condition. It stood lor the 

 night in these new made cocks, but next day pro- 

 mising good weather, the carts were set to work 

 about nine o'clock, and in that and the following 

 day the whole was got into the stack-yard. It is 

 put up in two stacks, each containing about five 

 thousand Scotch stones, or fifiy-five English loads. 

 The charge of superintending the loading of the 

 carts was committed to me, and I had full proofe of 

 the truth of Mr. Jarnieson's previous opinion res- 

 pecting the damage; those parts of the cock that 

 were wetted, though made perfectly dry, breaking 

 with the slightest touch, and appearing altogether 

 devoid of substance. Mr. Jamieson says the 

 damage will not be so apparent after the stack- 

 sweat has ensued, though perhaps he means that 

 the partial damage, being thus transferred to the 

 whole stack, will not be so discernible as when con- 

 fined to a certain portion of it. The stacks are to 

 be immediately combed down, completely covered 

 with straw and hard roped, so as they may be se- 

 cured from the storms of winter. I observed that 

 where clover was most plentiful, the hay had suf- 

 fered most; and, vice versa, that the cocks con- 

 taining the greatest quantity of rye-grass were 

 least damaged. Had the cock been of clean clo- 

 ver, I am almost sure that it would have been fit 

 only for the dunghill. 



August lOlh.—The fallow is now dunging, and 

 four heads of carts, or sixteen altogether, are em- 

 ployed at that business. Each head requires two 

 men to fill, and one to pull out the dung from the 

 cart, while the carter drives the horses regularly 

 forward; and one man and three women spread 

 the heaps laid down by each head of carts, so 

 that thirty-two men and twelve women are thus 

 employed besides the overseers. My post is at 

 the dunghill. Elliot looks after the carts in the field, 

 and sees that the dung is properly drawn out, while 



