216 iMmhcrt^s liwal AJfairs of Ireland. 



a|i|)lied to land (Iffuiciit in vti:ctal)lc and fibrous matter, will most assuredly 

 prove injurious; witiiout sneii matter, the lime will retain, lor a long time, 

 its caustic properties. It is this fii)rons and vegetable matter which yields 

 the carbonic acid, with which the quicklime combines and ultimately be- 

 comes mild, or carbonate of lime; and it is diuing the process of this com- 

 bination that the >;reater part of this vegetable and fibrous matter which 

 was insoluble is converted into soluble or fertile matter. Afterwards the 

 mild or carbonate of lime operates, as a manure, in a directly contrary way 

 to (|uicklime : (|uicklimc, by rendering matter which was inert, nutritive; 

 mild lime, i)y retarding the too ra])id decomposition of those very sub- 

 stances which, in its conversion from (]uick to mild lime, it had decomposed. 



If, then, it should appear that some judgment is necessary in the proper 

 a|)piication of common lime to agricultural purposes, and every farmer will 

 admit that he is frequently puzzled liow to apply it ; must not the difficulty 

 be infinitely greater when he has to ajiply lime made from magnesian lime- 

 stone, in which the afTuiity for carbonic acid is considerably less? Thus, in 

 the application of lime made from this stone, while any, the least i)art, of 

 the lime remains caustic, it attracts carbonic acid from the magnesia, con- 

 sequently the magnesia must and docs continue caustic and poisonous for 

 an indefinite period ; at least luUil |)cat or some other vegetable matter is 

 applied to afford a proper supply of carbonic acid, by which alone it can be 

 rendered beneficial or fertilising. It may be considered that these observ- 

 ations, if not irrelevant, are, at least, too minute on such a subject ; but, 

 as the use of lime as a manure is so general, perhaps they may not be 

 altogether out of place. The chapters, iSalt as a INlanure, Burning Land, 

 Fallowing, Top-ib'essing (irass Laml, Ploughing, Rolling and Pulverising 

 Land, are short, pithy, and useful ; but, under the head " Weeds," the 

 author has unfortunately substituted Sir II. Steuart's method of extir- 

 pating rushes instead of following the dictates of his own good sense. Sir 

 Henry's scheme for banishing rushes it seems, is nothing more or less than 

 deep-trenching the wlu)le of the ground producing ru>hes. " It is by deep- 

 trenching to the depth of 18 or 20 in. that the tenacious clay at bottom is 

 broken up, and the cause removed, when the subsoil is renilered porous for 

 the surface water to pass freely downwards. The bottom of the trench 

 should be carried on a hanging level, and the sanily or stony parts of the 

 soil thrown towards the bottom, which will be a sufficient drain, and ren- 

 der the land dry." 



Now, it may not be always [)ossible to find this " hanging level " (which, 

 by the by, soimds like a Ilibernicism) ; and sujjposeit were found, can any 

 idea be more prepo>.terous than that trenching a pasture, say from 10 to 30 

 acres, no less than from IH to -20 in. deep? Judicious draining will effect 

 the same object, at a fiftieth part of the expense. Rushes may be kept under, 

 if not entirely eradicatetl, by mowing them either in the spring or autumn 

 in fro-,ty weather, mornings or evenings : even Hooding*, as in water- 

 meadows, will destroy them ; as rushes will not grow in either very wet or 

 very dry ground, but delight in ill-drained land with a strong retentive 

 subsoil. 



The remainder of this little volume, which relates exclusively to farming, 

 includes the most ap|)roved modes of rotatory cropping : indeed, nothing 

 useful seems to be omitted; even the " prognostics ot" the weather" are 

 liappily introduced, with many iisefid and intelligent remarks. The breed- 

 ing and rearing of cattle, and the treatment most conducive to their health 

 in a wet climate such as Ireland, lorm no inconsiderable portion of the 

 work. An excellent plan of a sheepfold is given, which the author has 

 proved to answer well the cud for which it is intended. However, there 



* The reviewer j)lainly means ./uncus glaucus ; for ./uncus efliisus, a 

 species prevalent in some places, loves water too well to be ever killed by 



irrigation. — J. D. 



