SUPPLEMENT. 



SCIENCE AND ART OF AGRICULTURE. 



1337 



of the yard, and connected with this passage, they can be conveniently filled, and the cattle are induced 

 to divide, which mixes the dung more generally through the yards. 



B256. The piggeries (p), from their situation, may be conveniently supplied from the kitchen or boiling, 

 house, and are in both yards. Pigs are very beneficial to the manure, from their turning it over, and 

 mixing it ; they also eat up any particles of corn among the horses' dung that may not have been digested. 

 One small enclosure is provided with a trough for feeding young pigs, and they are thus protected from 

 the cattle while eating ; but they have no house or sty, that they may be induced to go out among the 

 cattle, and to lie down about the sheds. By this arrangement, they have healthy exercise, and are 

 enabled at the same time to provide a part of their food, and to be beneficial to the manure in both yards. 

 Another sty is provided for putting up a pair to feed. 



8257. The gates to the straw-yard may either be of the common form, or be huns, like sash windows, 

 with stout ropes, pulleys, and weights. This last is perhaps the best plan as it secures them from the 

 risk of damage when the dung is being carted out of the yard ; and also enables them to be raised as the 

 straw in the yard rises. 



8258. The cistern-house (w) is of such a height that pipes may be taken from it to the dwelling-house 

 boiling-house, calf-ward, &c. It may be either supplied from a spring, if one is to be found in the neigh- 

 bourhood ; or a well may be dag, and a pump placed within the cistern-house. A water-trough is placed 

 in the division wall between the straw-yards ; and a ball-cock is fixed in the centre of the said trough, 

 and shut in by boarding, overlapped by the upper part of the wall, which thus protects it from injury by 

 the cattle. By this self-acting supply, the cattle at all times have the command of water, and none of it is 

 wasted : if supplied from a spring, no attention is necessary, as the supply may be regulated by having a 

 ball-cock in the cistern. Two troughs are placed on the outside, for the horses and the milch cows, and 

 are also supplied with ball-cocks. The roof water, in the inside of the court, is carried round with rave 

 spouts, and with rainwater pipes at the south extremities, leading it into drains. It is a material object 

 to carry off the roor-water, without allowing its admixture with the manure in the courts. 



8259. Estimate. — Masonwork, excavations, and paving - 



Carpenter's, glazier's, and smith's work 



Slater's and plumber's work - - - - 



Plaster work ------ 



The above estimate is made out upon the supposition that stone may be got for the working, at a dis- 

 tance not exceeding one mile from the building ; and that the land carriage of the timber (which is all 

 foreign) and of the lime should not exceed from five to ten miles, and that of the slates from ten to 

 fifteen miles. 



8260— 2976. Whin or furze fences strongly recommended as occupying less ground, and being ulti- 

 mately cheaper than thorn fences. " Quick in growth, hardy, easy of culture in all dry, lightish soils, of 

 unknown longevity, prospering under the knife, affording as an evergreen a 

 pleasing object to the eye, the best shelter for stock, adapted for food, and not 

 suffering, but rather benefiting from being cropped." Impressed with this con- 

 viction, W. Bell, Esq., of Hunthill, Roxburgshire, planted this fence, exten- 

 sively, and after a great number of years he is entirely satisfied with them. 

 {Trans. H. S.. vol. xi. p. 471.) 



8261. Wire and netting fences. An excellent substitute for hurdles or cords 

 is manufactured of wire at Whittington. Stoke Ferry, under the direction of 

 Mr. Taylor, in the form of netting, and sold at very low prices. Messrs. Cottam 

 and Hallen, of London, also manufacture a cheap netting for sheep folding 

 from cocoa nut fibre. Mr. Taylor's wire netting is particularly valuable for 

 rendering garden and poultry-yard hedges impenetrable by rabbits, foxes, &c. 



8262 3075. Field gates. The most advantageous forms, and the lightest 



and cheapest materials, are pointed out by Mr. Buist, who recommends the 

 ties or stays to be made of iron, and the struts or stiffening pieces of wood. 

 He recommends wire gates of a very light construction, which cost from 1/. 

 8s. to II. 15s. These are figured and described in the Gard. Hag. vol. for 

 1840, p. 193. ; and in Trans. H. S., vol.xiv. p. 603.) 



8263 3104. A fall-down gate-stop (fig. 1174.) has lately been invented, 



which deserves adoption wherever double gates are fastened in the middle 

 by a bolt attached to the lower bar, and entering a hole in a stone or other 

 body fixed in the road. This gate stopper is formed of cast iron, and is 

 sunk in the ground till its upper surface is level with the road, its lower 

 end being placed on a stone to" prevent its sinking too deep. The gate-stop 

 has an ear («), which is raised up when the gate is shut, so as to form a 

 stopper and a hole for the bolt ; and it is put down (4) when the gate is open, 

 to as not to present an obstruction to the feet of horses. Sold by Messrs Cottaui and Hallen. 



BOOK V. 



THE OPERATIONS OF AGRICULTURE, (p. 506.) 



g264 3239. The use of ploughing is for the purpose of loosening the texture of the soil so as to admit 



the free circulation of air and moisture, in order to promote the decomposition or disintegration of 

 the stony parts of the soil, and facilitate the extension of the roots of plants in it. " However well 

 vou may manure your land, however thoroughly you may drain it, you will never obtain the crops it is 

 capable of yielding, unless ycu pulverise it ; nay, so important did Jethro Tull think tins, that he felt 

 firmly persuaded that if vou pulverised your soil well, you need not manure at all. Always hear in 

 mind" that the impalpable powder is the active part of soil, and that no other portion has any 

 direct influence upon vegetation; and you will then, at all times, be sufficiently impressed with the 

 necessity of thorough plowing, harrowing, \c. ; indeed, you may rest assured thai, except upon 

 some few very light sands, vou cannot pulverise the soil too much: economy alone must li\ tin- 

 limit of this useful operation". Several chemical processes of considerable consequence as respects 

 the fertility of soil, occur after it has been ploughed, which either take place very slowly, or not at 

 all, while it lies unstirred : and, moreover, some of these take place to the greatest advantage during 

 winter. This is especially the case with the disintegration of mineral masses, nothing tending bo 

 powerfully to reduce even the hardest stones to powder as sudden changes ol temperature, combined 

 with the presence of much moisture. During rain or thaw after snow all the clods of earth and tnc 



