1338 



ENCY( I.oi'.l.DIA OF AGRICULTURE. 



I 1-1 I l Ml M 



i the more loosely d itonei t me filled with water, which, of course, friezes, ii 



the temperature is sufficiently reduced; and from Its expansion during solidification, a peculiar pn>- 

 pert) possessed In a marked degree by water, the particles of earth "r stone, as the case may be, 

 are pushed so far asunder, thai when the thaw returns, it crumbles into fragments, which are again 

 an. I again acted mi until reduced to the state ol soil. Tin- crumbling by trust Isol the greatest Im- 



ce in the case of stiff clays, for two reasons : — 1st, because the) are thus rendered much more 

 imm to work ; and 2d, which is of far greater consequence, they are enabled to give up their alkalies 

 more readily to water ; and clayey minerals arc fortunately the quickest to disintegrate, or rather to 

 decompose, by the action of the weather ; and hence every means that facilitates that process Is valu- 

 able, because, as we bare already seen, those most valuable Ingredients of soil, potass and soda, are 

 of no to plants, unless they are soluble in water, and they do not obtain tins property until the 



il with which they have been associated becomes completely decomposed." (Dr. Madden In 

 Step/lens's Bool qfthe I'. inn, vol i. p. 641.) 



8265 —3240. Disadvantages qf irregular ploughing. As there is a certain stage in the progress of the 

 grain, at which, when cut, it produces more flour than any other, that is, when it is full but not ripe, it 



follows thai a field Ol COl n whirl), in consequence of bad ploughing, does not come regularly into Mower, 

 must be attended with decided loss to the farmer. Those seeds which have been buried too deep will 

 be the last to Bower, and consequently the last to ripen ; so that, if he waits till the whole crop appears 

 ready for the sickle, all the early seeds will be too ripe, by the time that the late ones are sufficient!] 

 dry to cut : so that by tliis error In ploughing there is a direct loss, by the production of less flour from 

 the early seeds, while the farmer is waiting for the late ones to ripen. (Trans. U. S., vol. xiv. p. 629.) 



PART III. 



AGRICULTURE AS PRACTISED IN BRITAIN. 



BOOK II. 



GENERAL ARRANGEMENT OF LANDED ESTATES, (p. 558. ) 



3266.— 3751. A machine fur cleansing public roads, described in Q. J. A., vol.iv. p. 875. Another in 

 Trans, il. S. vol.x. p. 349. 



s^i,7 3759. Keeping parish roads in repair on the mile system. This system consists in putting " a 



certain portion or district of mad under the side care of one man, from which he is never removed so 

 Ion,' as be conducts himself properly, and that the materials, instead of being carted and laid on the road, 

 at the time of repairing, should be contracted for so as to be brought and laid on the sides of the road 

 and trimmed up in one uniform way ready to be measured up some months before they are wanted for 

 use." [Journ. A S., vol. ii. p. 354.) 



8268. 3947. Slit planting. Mr. Corrie lays in all resinous plants, particularly larches, at an angle of 20° 



with the horizon, their tops pointing to the south-west, and finds this an effectual preventative to wind 

 waving, (fl. J. A., vol.xiii. p. 211.) 



8269. 3950. The perforator (fig. 1175.) is used as a substitute for the spade, in planting y g tap- 



„| trees in rough ground. It was invented by Mr. Munro, of the' Bristol Nursery, and, in that 



neighbourhood, in 1828, cost about eight shillings. In using it, one man employs the instrument, while 

 another man, or boy, holds a bundle of plants. The man first inserts the instrument in the soil, holding 

 it up for the reception of the plant ; round which, when introduced, he inserts the iron three times, in 

 order to loosen the soil about the roots : he then treads down the turf, and the plant becomes as firmly set 

 In the ground as it it had been long planted. Two men may set from live hundred to six hundred plants 

 in a day with this instrument. (Gard. Mug-, vol. iii. p. 215.) 



8270, 39K7. Pruning forest trees. A digest of five essays on this subject, by Grigor, Gorrie, Cree, 

 l'owlie. and an anonymous author, is given in Trans. II.S ., vol. xii. p. HI — 170. which may be con- 

 sidered the most satisfactory article on the subject of pruning that has hitherto been published. All the 

 writers agree in recommending a system corresponding with that of Mr. Cree's, but in some respects less 

 definite. 



s-J7 1 . - ln3-< Increasing the durability of timber, by cans ug growing trees to absorb certain liquid solti- 

 tions was tried by Dr. lioucherie in France, and Mr. Hyett in England. ( Trans. Ii. S., vol. xiv. p. 53ft.) 

 The subject cannot be considered as yet settled ; creosote and sulphate of copper appear to have been 

 found most effectual preservative substances. 



8272 4062. Sailing machines fur felling timber, of four different kinds, will be found described in the 



Highland SOC. Trans., vol ix. p 275. The most powerful of these appears to be a circular saw (fig. 1176.) 

 which consists, first, of a ground frame (a a), in form of the common hand-barrow, eight feet and a half 

 in length by two feet and a half in width ; on one side of which is erected a vertical frame (b b), of three 

 feet and a "half in height. The second compartment comprehends a traversing frame or carriage (c c) 

 ah .lit five feet in length, and two feet, in height; the vertical bar (d) being prolonged upward, and 

 having its top and bottom ends formed into pivots, on which the carriage, carrying all the working ma- 

 chinery, is made to swing. The saw (e), of twenty-four inches diameter, is fixed on the lower end of a 

 VI rticaJ Spindle, and immediately above it a bevelled pinion (/), which is driven by the wheel (g) ; the 

 winch handle, by which the power is applied, is fitted upon the same spindle. The saw pinion and the 



