760 



FARMERS' R E G I S r E R 



[No. 12 



employed for that purpose, who executed the work 

 by the job or piece. The lirains were cut I'rom 

 three to four and a halfieet deep, according to the 

 nature of the subpiraluni, two and a half leet wide 

 at the top, and sixteen inches at liotioni — the width 

 at the top varying in proportion to the depth. 

 Stones were tiien put in lothe height of thirty 

 "inches, an opening of six inches square being left 

 and built in the bottom to provent the sides of the 

 drain Ironi falhng in and thereby impeding the 

 running of tlie water. Above the stones, a cover- 

 inir of dried weeds, gathered from the land, was 

 laid, to prevent the mould from mixing with the 

 stones ; after which the drain was filled up, taking 

 care to throw in the subsoil first The expense 

 of opening and closing was two-pence per ell of 

 thirty-seven inches, and a hall-penny per ell for 

 carting the stones, making the whole expense of 

 the drains three-pence per lineal ell. This sum 

 appears a low price for the work, but an expert 

 laborer, allhough he should require to use the 

 mattock to gain twelve inches of the depth, will, 

 at the price, earn from two shillings to half-a-crown 

 per day. 



Blasting stones. — While the draining was go- 

 ing on, men were employed to blast the large 

 stones, some of which lay on the surface, while 

 other showed only a small portion above it, and 

 many were not discovered until the field had got 

 the first plouiihing. These stones, the greater 

 number of which would weigh several tons, were 

 blasted with gunpowder to a size which would 

 enable two men to lilt the pieces into a cart. Such 

 •of the stones as were below the ground, or had a 

 part only buried, the contractor ibr the blasting 

 was bound to clear around them, i. e. expose the 

 whole ot the stone to view, (or the reason that, 

 when the stone exploded, it might have room to 

 fly asunder. When this operation is neglected, 

 much labor and expense are lost. The expense 

 of boring, blasting, and clearing the stones, inclu- 

 ding gunpowder, was fifteen pence per loot of bore, 

 but latterly, by competition, was reduced to a shil- 

 ling |)er foot. Many stones required thirty feet of 

 bore to reduce them to a size fit for building stone 

 fences, to which purpose they were to be applied. 



Trenching. — As the two fields intended lor tur- 

 nips and fallow contained several acres of unculti- 

 vated ground, chiefly covered with haze!, alder, 

 and birch wood, these were trenched by the spade 

 to the depth of sixteen inches, turning tip all the 

 stones except those requiring to be blasted. The 

 draining and stone fences going on at the same 

 time, these stones were immediately carted off; 

 the large to the fences, and smaller "ones to the 

 drains. The expense of trenching varied consi- 

 derably, according to the hardness of the soil, 

 quantity of stones in it, and thickness of the brush- 

 wood: in general, where alt these prevailed, the 

 expense was (burteen pounds per acre ; when 

 not covered with brush-wood, eleven pounds per 

 acre. 



Fences. — On one side of a field in which drains 

 were cut, a ditch was usually formed, both as a fence 

 and as a conductor of the water from the drains, in 

 one side of which a hedtre was [)lanled, formed of a 

 single row of white-tliorn. paled on that side to pro- 

 tect the hedge until it should l)e able to protect itself. 

 The dimensions of the ditches are seven feet wide 

 at the top, three and a half feet deep, and eighteen 

 inches wide a; the bottom. The expense, inclu- 



ding the setting of the thorns, was sixpence hall- 

 penny per ell. 



It has been found fi-om experience that where 

 there is a considerable lall in the ground, as on tfie 

 farm described, the ditches wiiich follow the slope 

 of the hill should have been causewayed in the 

 bottom, to prevent the injury done to them by the 

 winter floods. This might have been done at a 

 comparatively trifling expense belbre the small 

 stones in the adjoining fields had been otherwise 

 disposed of. 



Wliere ditches were not necessary for the pur- 

 pose ol'carrying ofl' water, dry stone dykes or walls 

 were built, both as being the prelerable fence 

 where cattle or sheep are pastured, and Ibr the 

 purpose of using the stones which were procured 

 Irom the trenching and blasting. These dykes 

 are three feet at the base, and carried to the height 

 of four and a half feet of built work, tapering at 

 the top to a breadth of ten inches, and topped 

 above all with a Galloway coping, or stones pla- 

 ced on edire, of about ten inches high, making the 

 whole height five It'et lour inches. The expense 

 per lineal ell including the driving of the stones, 

 which the contractor ibr the dykes generally per- 

 forms, ran from ten pence hall-penny to a shilling. 

 The stones, however, were near at hand,, which 

 enabled the work to be so cheaply executed, and 

 grass was Ibund lor the contractor's liorses on the 

 unimproved ground. The price Ibr building is 

 sixpence per ell, and the difference was allowed 

 for the carriage of the materials. 



Preparation for turnips. — The field already 

 alluded to, which was intended Ibr turnips, being 

 sufficiently drained, and the stones and brush- 

 wood cleaied offfrom the arable and trenched land, 

 so many ploughings and harrowings were given 

 as were necessary to clean the field Irom quickens 

 or root weeds, which were, after each harrowing, 

 carelully hand-picked. The first three ploughings 

 were not made deep, the more effectually to bring, 

 up the weeds ; but after the cleaning process was- 

 ended, the land got a very deep furrow. 



Liming. — The land of the larm described being 

 generally of a rich and deep quality, but contain- 

 ing no calcareous matter, it was considered that 

 the application of lime would be attended with 

 beneficial efiects, and the result has exceeded the 

 most sanguine expectations. It beingwell known 

 that lime acts more powerlully on new soil than on 

 land which has been long in cultivation, it was 

 desirable that some liesh mould should be taken 

 up to mix with the old soil belbre the lime should 

 be applied. For tills reason a deep furrow, as 

 already mentioned, was given to the land. Some 

 persons Ibr this purpose use lour horses, but as 

 those on this farm are very powerful, and the land 

 not being of a cohesive nature, two were (bund 

 competent to the task. The lime, which was all 

 imported from Sunderland, was landed about four 

 miles distant (iom the firm, and when carted to 

 the field was laid down in a long heap or mound 

 contiguous to water, if possible on one side of the 

 field on which it was to be applied. Two labo- 

 rers are then employed to turn the lime, and a 

 third waters it. Wjfien the whole has been gone 

 over, it is allowed to lie Ibr four or five days, wlien 

 it is again turned, and if any part of the lime should 

 be found to be stii! unslaked,' more water is added. 



This mode of slaking lime is considered prefera- 

 ble to the very common one of laying down the., 



