supplement. HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. 1'_>S9 



contract to Jewish dealers, who dispose of them, either to their brethren in Warsaw, Cracow, and other 

 towns in Poland, where they are killed in the manner peculiar to the Jews ; or to Christian butchers 

 either in Poland, Prussia, or Russia Numbers are sent to Dantzic and other sea- port towns. An un- 

 limited supply of manure may be obtained from Warsaw at present, though it cannot be expected that 

 this: will long continue to be the case ; hut bones are abundant, not only in Warsaw, but all over the 

 country, and the supply of this manure will, probably, for many years, exceed the demand. A crushing- 

 mill has been, or is about to be, added to the corn or flour-mill on the estate. It is also in contemplation 

 to establish a steam-boat between Wilga and Warsaw, which will add greatly to the rapidity of convey- 

 ance between the two places. The flour might then be converted into bread, and the cattle, for Chris- 

 tian consumption, slaughtered on the farm ; for it is chiefly by manufacturing farm produce, that it can 

 be at all disposed of to advantage in such a country as Poland. The great drawback to farming in 

 Poland, is the want of moral principle in the labourers, who require continual watching both to keep 

 them at work, and from stealing and drinking ; but as this has arisen from the harsh treatment to which, 

 as slaves, they have been subject from their masters through many generations (see § 650.), it may be 

 diminished by kindness to the adults, and the education of the children. 



802r>. — 672. Food of the peasantry in Rtissia. Rye bread is the chief support of the peasants in the 

 north of Russia; but, in order to save the rye flour, and to make it last the longer, the inhabitants, 

 when compelled by necessity, mix with it fine ground oatmeal, the meal of buck-wheat, and the husks 

 of the field mustard seed (.Sinapis arvensis). Brandy is, in general, distilled in Russia from rye meal, 

 with a more or less additional quantity of barley, oatmeal, and barley malt ; but very seldom from wheat, 

 or buck-wheat. The Russians also distil brandy from potatoes juniper berries, and Sorbus aucuparia, 

 at all times with an addition of meal and malt They distil, in Astrachan, a sort of French brandy from 

 damaged wines, prunes, kernels of cherry-stones, and wild almonds (y/mygdalus nana). Some of the 

 distillers make use of the skin and stalks of pressed grapes, raisins, and the waste in sugar refineries, 

 with which they make good brandy. To the worst and common sorts of brandy belongs the dram of 

 Kamtschatka, of fleracleawi .Sphondylium, and another used by the Kalmucks, made from sour distilled 

 mare's milk, which is spirituous, hut rather of a disagreeable flavour. (Com. Board. Agr., vol. i.) 



8026. Agriculture in Livonia. The country, before reaching Volima, offers a tolerable specimen of the 

 present state of agriculture in this part of Livonia. Forests, both old and new, in considerable numbers, 

 are met with here and there, succeeded by corn-fields ; barren heaths ; farm-houses, consisting of one or 

 two wooden buildings, and a yard, in tolerably good condition ; small horses, and diminutive horned 

 cattle; no inclosures, except a kind of palisade, marking the divisions of property or protecting the 

 farm-houses from intrusion ; and extensive buildings serving as granaries to hold the crops. These are 

 the most prominent agricultural features of the country. The Livonians have the reputation of being 

 good farmers. {Granville's Russia, p. 397.) 



8027. — 673. Agricultural products of Russia. The hop is indigenous in the district of Petersburg; 

 a few are also cultivated in gardens, and the crop gathered the end of September. Hemp is sown 

 about the middle of May, and pulled in the beginning of September. Flax is sown in the beginning 

 of June, and pulled in the middle of August. Both these plants are grown only in small quantities for 

 private use. Bed clover is sown along with barley and oats, and cut the following year, about the end 

 of June, and the second in September; the plants are frequently destroyed by the early frosts. The 

 farinaceous plants grown in the district of Petersburg are the following: — Some winter wheat upon 

 good soil, sown in the latter end of August and the beginning of September, is reaped about the middle 

 of August. Spring wheat is sown on newly cleared lands in the beginning of May. and reaped about the 

 middle of August. Rye is sown, more extensively than any other grain, on most descriptions of soils, 

 and in the latter end of July and the whole month of August ; it is reaped the latter end of July and the 

 beginning and middle of August. Spring rye is sown upon high and sandy ground in the beginning of 

 May, and reaped the latter end of August. Barley is sown in the beginning and middle of May, and 

 reaped about the middle of August. Oats are sown the latter end of April and beginning of May, and 

 reaped from the middle of August to the beginning of September. Buck-wheat is sown upon high sandy 

 lands in the month of May, and reaped in the beginning and middle of September. No oleaginous 

 plants are cultivated, except the sesamnm and the white mustard in a few gardens. The following are 

 the leguminous plants of the same district: — White and gray peas are sown in the beginning of May, 

 gathered green the latter end of July, and ripe the latter end of August. Beans are sown in the 

 beginning of May, and reaped in the middle of August: French beans are sown in gardens, but they 

 seldom do much good. (Com. Board Agr., vol. i.) 



Sweden. 



8028 688. General appearance of the country in Sweden. A bishop of Bergen is said to have given 



the name of Northern Italy to some districts of Norway and Sweden. The pine forests are very beau- 

 tiful, especially when the pale green of the young shoots contrasts with the older foliage. From the 

 appearance of some of these trees on lofty cliffs, it is easy to perceive how in alpine countries the descent 

 of the roots of the pine and the mountain ash, through fissures, contribute to the splitting of the rocks. 

 The Swedish milestones are raised on plinths to keep them above the snow. The roads, winding 

 through extensive pine forests, are picturesque in the extreme. (Brooke's Travels in Sweden ) 



8029 693. The cottages of the peasants in Norway have double fronts. This additional protection 



renders them warm and secure against the blasts of winter. The manner of building these cottages is the 

 same as in Sweden : and on the roof of each, a luxuriant crop of grass was generally growing, though 

 some were loaded with a thick coating of pebbles, and above them were two or three large fragments of 

 rock, to secure the whole from being blown away by the winter storms. (Brooke's Travels, p. 105.) 



8030. — 704. Stakes for drying newly-cut corn are also used in Sweden. They are generally made of 

 young pine trees, eight feet long, about one inch and a half in diameter at the top, and four inches at the 

 bottom. Both ends are pointed, and the thick end is let into the soil by the aid of an iron crowbar. The 

 first sheaf is put on the stake with the root ends of the corn downwards, and the other sheaves, to the 

 number of fifteen or sixteen, are placed in an inclining position. (Quart. Joum. Agr., vol. iii. p. 638., 

 and Professor Johnston in Joum. A. S. E., vol. iv. p. 196.) 



Bid TAIN. 



8031.— 800. The progress of agriculture in Britain, more especially in England, since the second 

 edition of this Encyclopaedia was published in 1831, has been singularly rapid; though it must he 

 acknowledged that it has hitherto been more in the direction of discussion than of actual improved prac- 

 tices; the introduction of the latter require time The first great stimulus to agricultural discussion in 

 England appears to have been given by the Report to the Agricultural Committee by Mr. Shaw I.efevre, 

 which was printed in ls:iti In this Report the frequent drain system, introduced in Scotland by 

 Mr. Smith, of Deanston (5 8299.), is mentioned as capable of reclaiming every acre of cold wet land in the 

 country, and raising it in a short time to a par with the very best soils. According to Mr. Lefevre's 

 idea, if this system were applied, whether with or without a corn law, the produce of Britain wo lid 

 become so abundant, that there would be no danger of prices rising for half a century to come. 

 Mr. I.efevre counsels the British agriculturist to accede to a total repeal of the corn laws, and to stand 

 on the field of free competition with all the world ; trusting to his improved skill and improved modes, 

 to bis capital, and to the aptitude of the soil:, of his country for improvement, to enable him to do so. 



