1839]; 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



595 



wheat lands, ia<i(i'turniHgxlunsfl)il.is, wiiich atejo be 

 applied upon the 'clovel''. stubbles. Some of my 

 hands have n'^o, on riitierenr, days, been vvilh'Fair- 

 bairn at the ilirashing machine; as, l)esi<lc!3> seed 

 wheat and horse'corn, about lour hundredjiolis'or 

 barley arc afrendy thrashed.. In ..a ceaverstiiion 

 Iatei3' with, Mr. Jamiesqn,'!. was made to Uiider- 

 Ptand that th6 early part of the seas&rk'- wa^ ihe 

 fittest lime for thrashing barley, mcrchanLs beinii 

 then better disposed to make pureiii'.ses thi^n at,-an 

 after period. Most-ol'the straw lias bfi^eji slacked 

 in the court or farm-yard, to b^ taken down DtCT 

 casionaliy tor lilterinir i,hs winteriiig cati!6 \\fhich 

 were last week N-ouglu from the stubble^. T.hey 

 are divided iVito tiiree lots, eacli.of which occupies 

 a separate yard, and IWve pleiityif [n^sh oat-straw 

 furnished to tliem (our times a day, it not bein£»; 

 thouirht advantaiieous to ktjep a ifreaier number' 

 toifether. Howard, who sup-erin'teotlfe the cailJe 

 and sheep departnaetit, lei's'jr.a^,tif;it much' of the 

 after success depends upon fwari^ing the ditierenl 

 •/divisions, according to size and ' teinper^a'nd, in 

 particular, upon keepiigfr those ili;it?u'e po'ledj or 

 .wiihout horns, by themselves.' A pun>^)-well is in 

 «ach yard, which is a matter of imporii^nce. /Tiie 

 %rty oxen purchased at the 'stjminer markets are 

 now put to the sialyj, f\nd led' on turnlp.«:,_ihree men 

 being appo'nted to clei^n* and feml iha.m, arid'"tb 

 take care of. the- hundred eayje. on sirawl' Tups 

 were put to the ewes about foot'ieen days ago, in 

 the proporlion of one tup f^^/fifVy-. ewes, and ihey 

 are now rariging the clover st^iliob.^., They haytj 

 been rubbed with lobacc,oji,v\uor and tOrpeytiYi'e, ^ 

 as itch or scab may be peevejiteid. ,. . •♦ ./ 

 The wheat seed is nearly' o,v(ir, all being depos- 

 ited in the ground excepiiiig.'oa tliat part.- of thp 

 field under potatoes last crop, to ' wliidjr M r. 3a^- 

 tuieson vvisiies 10 give an additional furrow. , What 

 was sown after beans required- a great deabpf har^ 

 rowing before the surface was- reduced siifficiteiitly; 

 but as fine weather prevaile<i at the time, tije work 

 was accomplished in a satisti^otory manner. FiUy 

 acres of the cloverslubble havelikewise been seed- 

 'ded with wheat, which will give three hundred 

 acres under that grain next year, viz. one hundred 

 acres after naked fallow, the like quantity after 

 beans, fifty acres afterclover, fifteen after potatoes, 

 and thirtj'-five acres intended to be sown in spring 

 alter turnips. The clover stubble got a double 

 timeoftheharroivs, before theseed wasdistributed; 

 \and, being well laid over in the ploughing, little of" 

 tile turf was drawn up in the harrowini; process. 

 •Every field is neatly water-furrowed, and the cross 

 and headland furrows completely digged and clear- 

 ed out, so as water may run off without the small- 

 est interruption. Hitherto the ploutrhs have gone 

 two journeys per day; but next weel< Mr. Jamieson 

 proposes to limit their work to one journey of five 

 hours and a half, and to emjiloy the ploughmen 

 at any odd jobs about the homestead, after their 

 jiorses are loddered and cleaneu. 

 '' ^Vov. 30. — The snuill patch of wheat after po- 

 tatoes, was finished a lew day.s ai1er the date of my 

 last letter; since which, Elliot has been busy with 

 the ground intended lor beans, one half of which 

 he has ploughed across, an I the other he is now 

 ploughing in length, intendini; to 21 ve this portion 

 a cross-furrow in spring, preparatory to the drill- 

 ing process. You will rememberthal I mentioned 

 this plan in one of my fii"st letters; andfvlr. Jamie- 

 eon is resolved to jiive it a fair trial. There can 



I be 1*0 doubt of* success, provided the weather is 

 dry at that season; but that provision must be risk- 

 ed, and indeed such risks are unavoidable in 

 ^evccy branch of lann-management, where good 

 weatjier is a necessary appendage to their success- 

 ful completion. At all events, as the land is well 

 gi,uhered up, it must be much sooner dry in the 

 beginning of spring, than the fielil ploughed across 

 the ridges, though the strictest attention was paid 

 to water-furrow the latter in the compleiest man- 

 ner-.-. .. 



A very GQtisiderable quantity of grain has been 

 delivered 10 (he merchant ihis month, three Ibuiths 

 ■of our barley being thrashed, besides several hun- 

 dred-bolls of wheat and oals. Fairbairn's people 

 ar-e seldom out of the null, being either thrashing 

 or dio-liting; and as there is plenty of barn-rooni^ 

 two pair of fanners are constantly employed when 

 the latter operation is going forward. Hitherto, 

 the working horses have been fi^d upon hay since 

 the green Ibod \j'a3 finished; but now they are to 

 lip put upon beai) straw, which is to be regularly 

 tied up iu bunche.s, under my direction, as it comes 

 from the thrashing null. Two feeds of oats, ofsix 

 1. pounds avoirdupois each, are given to every horse 

 j per day; ^nd, though lately hard wrought, Ihey 

 i -are. iri' tolerably goqd cohdiliQn. J\]r. Jamieson, 

 i, about a f^ri.nii,dii. a<To, purchased four ii-esh horses, 

 I five or sn:-yea'r$ of age, to replace the like number 

 {.that wej-e gettit^g superannuated, andiniijr.ms me 

 I thatbe- is aiivayjs well satisfied when a irreater 

 f supply ii? iict- annually required. He gave two 

 htahdretl gijineas fbrtheie lour horses, which will 

 Lshovv ypu ihe extent of expense required to sup- 

 I port t-ii^e tear and wear of h's working stock. Few 

 I Vasualtie-s.'or diseases have occurred, since I came 

 'her.rt, with this branch- of the stock, and only one 

 ■concluded-jataily. This, was with a horse afiected 

 with <lry gripes, ox hellj'-ache, which ended in 

 mortification, and killed him in iwenty-fbur hours 

 iifier he was seized.' 



The turnip caide are doing well, and reijularly 

 looked aliei'. A-s the tield, whence the turnips 

 are brought, is at a considerable distance fioiu the 

 (arm-yard, two carts "are constantly employed in 

 driving them home, with an additional number on 

 Saturday, so as Sunday's maintenance may be 

 provided; but Mr. Jamieson means immediately 

 to store a considerable quantity in Ihe stack-yard, 

 as a resource, should snow fidl, or fi-osty weather 

 set in; a measure, undoubtedly, of materia! impor- 

 tance. I consider the expense of carriage home 

 as not short of three pounds sterling per acre, 

 which in one respect might be saved^ were the 

 crop consumed by sheep on the spot; but then, how 

 and in what manner would the immense quantity 

 of straw on the premises be converted into dunsf? 

 Holding this important circumstance in view, the 

 system adopted must be considered as hiirhly ben- ' 

 eficial, even though attended with a heavj- ex- 

 pense, therefore deserving of imitation. No turnips 

 liave as yet been given lo the breedin^r ewes; and 

 I understand they will not receive any till the mid- 

 dle of January," unless a^snow storin happens be- 

 fore that time. 



Dec. IS. — "VVe were all much alarmed latelv by 

 a severe indisposition v>?hich attacked our worthy 

 master ; but provid<'ntia!Iy these fears are now re- 

 moved, by his complete recovery. On the second 

 day oC his illness, when a violent feVer was dread- 

 ed by the medical people, he sent for his five head 



