148 



^I)C jTarmcr's iUont!)lij Visitor. 



J'Jl^HSM!! 



Bohemia. Notwithstanding the immense traffic 

 on railways in Great Britain, tlic revenue on the 

 turnpike road trusts increased froni £1,431,609 in 

 1834, when excepting the Liverpool and Man- 

 chester, there was scarcely a passenger line in 

 operation, to £1,53'2,95C in 1839, wlien most of 

 the principal rail-ways had been opened, being 

 an increase of about seven per cent. ; and what 

 is more remarkable is, that the greatest increase 

 was in counties most intersected by rail-ways. 



The number of inhabited houses in Great Brit- 

 ain in 1841, was 3,464,007, nearly double what it 

 was in 1801, and there were in 1841, more than 

 30,000 additional houses building. The increase 

 of houses was, from 1831 to 1841, two per cent, 

 greater than the increase of population, and this 

 not only through the country generally, but also 

 in large manufacturing towns, such as Leeds and 

 Manchester ; Liver|iool was one of the few ex- 

 ceptions to this gratifying result. 



In 1843, there were consumed 35,127,000 

 pounds of tea ; 92,779,000 jiounds of tobacco; 

 3,825,000 cwts. sugar ; and 39,814,000 bushels of 

 malt. 



Mr. Laing states the quantity of British spirits 

 which was consumed in 1843, to have been 35,- 

 1;)0,000 gallons ; but this must be an error, for 

 the entire amount of British spirits that paid duty 

 for home consunjption in 1841, was ,according to 

 the Parliamentary papers, only 14,2()8,453 gallons; 

 this could not have increased one hundred and 

 fifty i)er cent, in two years. There is also an er- 

 ror with respect to the wine consumed, which 

 Mr. Laing states at 7,000,000 of gallons. In 1841, 

 it was 5,582,385 gallons, and Mr. Porter states 

 that the consumption of wine does not increase 

 with the population, and the (|uaiitity of port wine 

 consumed in England in 1842, was 324,660 gallons 

 less than in 1841, or about forty per cent. The 

 Sherry and Spanish wines fell oft' 64,000 gallons, 

 and the Colonial and Cape wines about nine per 

 cent. The total decrease in all in]|)0rte(l wines 

 was 425,812 gallons. Supposing the stock on 

 band to have been the same in 1841 and 1842, it 

 would make the consumption of 1842 to have 

 been 5,15(5,573 gallons. This could not have in- 

 crease.l to 7,000,000 in 1843. 



The consumption of malt liquors of all kinds 

 in 1841, was, in the United Kingdom, 66.5,750,000 

 gallons, or about 25J gallons per head. But al- 

 though the British are called, and uixloubtedly 

 are "a beer loving people," they are outdone in 

 this respect by the Belgians, who are represented 

 by one account as consuming 37i gallons per 

 head annually, and by Mr. McGiegor, whose 

 statistical returns may he relied U|)on, the quan- 

 tity consumed by each person in Belgium,is sta- 

 ted at Sli gallons. 



The quantity of soap consumed in Great Brit- 

 ain in 1841, was 170,280,641 pounds. There 

 were 344 licenced makers of soap, and more than 

 one million cwts. of tallow were injported into 

 England for its manufacture and that of candles. 



In 1843, tiiere were in England, 855 marine 

 steamers, with a tonnage of 109,288, tons; in 

 France, 107, with a tonnage of 10,183. 



By Lloyd's returns, it appears that the annual 

 loss to the country bv shipwreck, is 610 ships, 

 £2,000,000 of pro[>erty, and 1,500 lives. 



In 1841, the coffee imjiorted into Great Britain 

 was 70,250,000 pounds, being nearly double what 

 it was in 1838 ; of this amount there was 27,298,- 

 322 pounds consumed in Great Britian, or nearly 

 one and a half pounds by each individual. Here 

 again the British are beaten by the Belgians, for 

 M. Dieteric, in his statistical tables, makes the 

 consumption in Belgium, seven pounds per head. 

 He states the consumption in France, as being 

 one and one-tenth pound per head, and that in 

 the German League, at two and a third poimds 

 per head. 



The taxes which have been repealed since — in 

 the settlement after the war— 1819, inay be sta- 

 ted in roimd ninnbers at £16,000,000 or £17,000- 

 000 per annum ; but the remaining taxes, in con- 

 sequence of the increase of I'opulation and the 

 hitherto prosperous state of the country, produce 

 nearly as great an anioimt as was formerly raised, 

 with the addition of those which have been re- 

 pealed. — JVattonal Intelligencer. 



I'' Preseevatio.n of Manuri!.— An English pa- 



•*per recommends the application of a solution of 



"common salt, (one pound to the gallon of water,) 



by means of a watering-pot, to the floors of horse 



stables, before clearing tlte dung out, for the pur- 

 pose of fixing the aiiunonia that is evolved from 

 it. By this means, he says all the ammonia 

 evolved will be converte<t into mmiale or ammo- 

 nia, and a portion of c;u'I)onute of so<la formed, 

 all which will he a valuable addition to the ma- 

 nure. A much easier, and as chea|> a jilan, is to 

 spread ground plaster of P.iris over the manure. 

 Indeed this should always be done ; all stable 

 maiune should be well mixed with plaster, that 

 none of its valuable properties be allowed to 

 eva|)orate. There is no one thing with which 

 farmers generally are so careless as they are with 

 manure. How common it is to see piles of horse 

 dimg under the stable windows outside, exposed 

 to the washing of rain iuid bleaching of the sun 

 for months together. If farmers will not or can- 

 not keep their manuies under cover, let them 

 apply [)laster of Paris as above, and at least pre- 

 vent its valuable properties taking wing and fly- 

 ing away. Even then, however, the rain will 

 dissolve much of the salts, and wash them away 

 into the adjacent grounds. Why not take care 

 of manure as well as any thing else ? 



Index. 



Waste JHanures. 



Carey & Hart have lately published one of 

 the best Essays we have seen on " The Economy 

 of Waste Manures." It was written by John 

 Hannam, for the Yorkshire Agricidtural .Society, 

 and should be in the possession of every farmer 

 who properly a[(preciates the value of the ferti- 

 lizing materials which he is in the habit of col- 

 lecting tog(aher— he will he vastly aided in his 

 operations by the judicious, practical au<l simple 

 inslructions of the writer: and he who does not 

 already thus appreciate his manure heap, will 

 hardly fail to be stimulated on this point in a 

 manner that will soon show itself on his increas- 

 ed cro|)s. Below is an extract directly to the 

 point. — Philadelphia Fanners' Cabinet. 



J\'othinf^ must he allowed to run aioay in ilte form 

 of a fuid, or to fty away in the disguise of a smell. 

 * * * Mark out a piece of ground on which 

 the dunghill is to be made, on a good slope, if 

 possible, and close by a pond. Cut a gutter all 

 round, and puddle it with clay, so as to make it 

 water-tight. Then, at the lowest part, outside the 

 place where the dunghill is to lie, dig a sink hole 

 eighteen or twenty inches deep; let this be well 

 puddled, and connected with the gulier already 

 spoken of Things being thus prepared, throw- 

 down a layer of manuring snbslances, about a 

 foot deep; tread them well down, and scatter 

 some fixer over it : finally, water it well. In this 

 manner go on with layer after layer, till the heap 

 is the desired height. * * * During the ope- 

 ration of making the heap, some water will have 

 drained away; in that case, it will have run into 

 the gutter, and been collected in the sink hole. 

 Scuppet the water out as the work proceeds, and 

 throw it back on the diUighdl. if the hole is not 

 large enough, another ran be made near it ; none 

 of the drainings must en any account be lost. It 

 should have, at least, once a week, for a month, a 

 good quantity of fluid thrown upon it. I'ot-hoil- 

 ings, and soap-suds, are much better than com- 

 mon water; but urine is prefi'rable to both. * * 

 By these contrivances nothing is allowed to leak, 

 but the dunghill becomes a soft mass, holding fast 

 all which belongs to it, except what flies away. 

 To catch the latter is tlie purpose of tlie fxer. 

 There are many kinds of fixers, — oil of vitiiol, 

 blue vitriol, salt and lime, (not either salt or lime 

 by themselves on any account,) gypsutn, &c., 

 may be used ; but some of them at all times, and 

 in some cases all of them, have the faalt of cost- 

 ing money. A substitute which costs nothing 

 except labor is, therefore, soug(it for. Such ex- 

 ists in cinder sittings, charcoal dust, good black 

 earth, peat or bog mould, rotten saw-dust, leaf 

 mould, black mud from ponds, bottoms of wood 

 slacks, soot, brick-dust, burnt clay, &,c. 



Mr. H. S. Thompson, of Kirby Hall, at the late 

 meeting of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society, at 

 Doncaster, recommended the plan he adopted, 

 which was, "to have a pit dug in the earth, in 

 which to throw the manure, instead of having it 

 piled up in a heap. The bottom of the pit is 

 water-tight, and has a slope towards the ceirtre, 

 where a tank is placed so as to receive the drain- 

 ings from the manure. These drainings are fre- 

 quently poured over the manure, so as to keep u[) 

 a regular, but not excessive, fermentation. He 



was in the habit of collecting all the couch grass, 

 stubble, and other vegetable refuse which the 

 farm afforded, and spreading it on the bottom of 

 the pit, to tJie depth of six or eight inches. This, 

 when well soaked with the liquor that drained 

 from the manure, which was carted upon it, and 

 fermented together with that manure, was, he be- 

 lieved, as good as any other portion of the heap. 

 In this way he had, last year, on a farm of two 

 himdred acres of arable land, increased his ma- 

 nure by two hundred single horse loads, which 

 was equivalent to foiu' additional loads to the acre 

 tor his fallow crops. If the manure was wanted 

 tor immediate use, it should be lightly thrown to- 

 gether, and, after being well soaked with tank 

 liquor, have a thin covering of soil to absorb the 

 gases which would otherwise escape. In this 

 case, it must be carefully watched and well wa- 

 tered, from time to time, to prevent the fermen- 

 tation fVom becoming excessive. If the manure 

 is to be kejit six months or more, it should be 

 made solid by carting over it, and have a thick 

 covering of soil, which woidd nearly exlude the 

 air. In this way mantu'e may be preserved for a 

 year almost without loss. In very dry weatlier, 

 the drainings from the manure are not sufficient 

 to keep it moist, and it becomes necessary to 

 saturate it with some other liquid. If the liirmer 

 has other tanks on his premises, it would he bet- 

 ter to use their contents for this purpose, but 

 V here such are not at hand, plain water may be 

 used, and has been found to answer exceedingly 

 well." 



MR. WHIPPLE'S ADDRESS 



Before the members of the Merrimack County Ag- 

 ricultural Society at Jf'arner, October, 1844. 



It gives me much pleasure to see here assem- 

 bled from diflereut parts of the Coimty of Merri- 

 mack, citizens who are enqiloyed not only in ag- 

 riculture, but mechanics and professional men, 

 all united to promote a common cause, and one 

 which has aluays from the earliest jjeriod of our 

 history been cherished by the wise, the great and 

 the good — a cause which must at all times re- 

 ceive the support of every friend to his coimtry ; 

 for on this depends the happiness and I might 

 say the existence of the human fiimily. That 

 agricultural societies have been of great utility 

 not only in this State, but in every section of our 

 coimtry wherever they have been established, ad-, 

 inits of no doidit. We |)erceive the beneficial 

 effects of this society in this county ; and I haz- 

 ard nothing in saying that since the fonrjation of 

 this society there has been greater improvement 

 in the cidtivation of tlie soil, in the raising of 

 Slock and in all things connected with agricul- 

 ture than there was for doidjie the lime prior 

 thereto. I well remember, geullemen, before 

 your Pesident became a memher of this Society 

 a great portion of his stone wall was wider than 

 it was high ; — and if you view his farm now, you 

 will see that very same wall occupying much less 

 space on the ground and mnoh more in the air. 

 You can also see good stone wall where formerly 

 Vou would have seen hedges — and I know from 

 personal observation that since he has been a 

 member of this society much inqirovement has 

 been made on his fiirm ; and your own observa- 

 tion will go to substantiate facts of this charac- 

 ter in your own neighborhoods. 



The cause in which the liuiner is engaged is 

 one of dee|) and abiding interest to the prosper- 

 ity and happiness of maidiind. Stop the pro- 

 gi'ess of agricidture and yon sap the foundation 

 of all other liranclies of industry and enter[)rise 

 on v\lrich man is dependent for emijloyment both 

 of body and mind. To what are we to attribute 

 our uiu'ivalled and almost unexampled prosperity 

 and happiness as a people, but to -our agricultural 

 pursuits? Surely then the farmer is entitled to 

 the thanks of every class of our citizens, and not 

 oidy to their thanks, hut he is entitled to a great 

 share of the oflices which are within the gift of 

 the people. What would become of our inanu- 

 facturiiig establishments and oin- bcantifid vil- 

 lages which have sprung up as it were by magic, 

 if it were not lor the fiirmer? They would 

 cease to exist. What would become of all our 

 professional men ; of our njei'chants and of our 

 mechanics, but for the farmer.' They are all de- 

 pendent iqjon him; and without the farmer we 

 should he a beggared people. 



The great object of the farmer should be to 

 promote the science of agriculture — and now 



