GATES. 



GELATIN. 



grass between the streams of tar looked more 

 luxuriant, and the sheep fed on it in preference 

 to the other parts of the field. In the autumn 

 the whole was ploughed, and sown with wheat, 

 which looked much more flourishing on the 

 half-acre dressed with tar than anywhere else ; 

 the difference was so conspicuous from the 

 first, that the most casual observer could not 

 pass without remarking it; and at the present 

 time (August, 1839), there is a heavy crop on 

 it ready for the sickle, while the rest of the field 

 is light, and will not be ripe for a week or ten 

 days. I put some tar in the same way on a 

 piece of land, a month before it was ploughed 

 for spring vetches ; the vetches were sown two 

 weeks after the plough, and many of them 

 were destroyed ; but the crop of wheat which 

 succeeded was benefited equally with the one 

 in the other experiment. I have tried the lime 

 with great advantage, putting from 12 to 15 

 cart-loads to the acre, but I find it is better to 

 remain a time before it is ploughed in. All 

 these experiments were tried on a cold, sandy 

 clay, worth about 10*. per acre." In these ex- 

 periments, the quantity applied per acre was too 

 large, and the manure in a state much too power- 

 ful. It was only where it had become diffused 

 through the soil by time, that its fertilizing 

 powers were apparent. 



Coal tar is much improved in effect, when 

 employed as a coating for palings, by mixing 

 it with a small portion, say one-fortieth of its 

 weight, of grease ; this is easily united by 

 heating the tar. 



GATES. Good gates are no less essential 

 to the respectable appearance of a farm than 

 they are necessary for the convenience of an 

 occupier. There are few outgoings that cost 

 so much and are so little thought of, as the re- 

 pairing and renewing gates upon enclosed 

 farms. The most common defects are, 



1st. Not sufficient height, so that horses and 

 large cattle, when pushing against the gate, 

 break it, however strong it is, as the back 

 thereof comes in contact with that part of the 

 chest of a horse where the collar goes, and 

 without inconvenience he leans his weight 

 against the opposing bar, which, if a few 

 inches higher presses against his neck and 

 windpipe, and he makes no impression upon it. 



2d. They are generally hinge-bound, so that 

 in attempting to lift up the head, which is often 

 required to be done, the ledges and braces are 

 either pulled from the back head or broken 

 therein; the person lifting the head having a 

 nine-feet leverage, which enables him to do 

 this mischief. 



3d. The places of contact between the brace 

 and the uprights and the ledges are broad, and 

 it being impossible to keep those places of con- 

 tact dry, the parts become prematurely de- 

 cayed. 



The two great objects to be combined in a 

 gate are strength and lightness. In the Culti- 

 vator and some other American agricultural 

 periodicals, many useful observations, with 

 drawings of gates, may be found. 



Much has been written on the subject in 



England: see Quar. Journ. Jlgr. vol. i. p. 727 ; 



and the Trans, of the High. Soc. vol. ii. p. 260, 



where a self-acting gate, suited for the en- 



67 



trances to parks or the approaches to mansion 

 houses, is figured and described. There is also 

 a useful essay " On the Construction of Gates 

 for the common purposes of a Farm, the 

 causes of their Decay, and the manner of im- 

 proving them," in the Commun. to Board of jSgr. 

 vol. vii. p. 144 : see also Loudon's Encyc. of Ag- 

 riculture. 



Among the excellent observations upon the 

 subject of farm gates, to be met with in the 

 agricultural periodicals of the United States, 

 we would particularly refer to a paper in the 

 Cultivator, (vol. ii. p. 132,) headed Parker's 

 Farm Gate, giving the most minute directions 

 for constructing, accompanied with drawings 

 of the gate and its several parts. See also 

 Cultivator, vol. vii. p. 124, for the plan and 

 drawing of a cheap gate, which never sags ; 

 and more especially the same valuable pe- 

 riodical, vol. viii. p. 53, for Mr. Bennet's Com- 

 munication on Ornamental Gates, accompanied 

 with descriptions and drawings. 



GATHERING. Provincially, rolling corn- 

 swaths into cocks or bundles. Also a popular 

 name for Abscess, which see. 



GAVELKIND. An ancient custom or te- 

 nure annexed to all land in the county of Kent 

 (not especially exempted), and some other 

 parts of England, and which extensively pre- 

 vails in Ireland, by which the land of the lather 

 is equally divided at his death among all his 

 sons, or the land of the brother among all his 

 brethren if he have no issue of his own. Te- 

 nure in gavelkind is considered by Blackstone 

 to have been in the nature of free socage. In 

 most places the gavelkind tenant had the 

 power of devising by will before the statute 

 of wills. The same custom seems to have 

 been prevalent in Wales, where all gavelkind 

 lands were made descendible to the heir at 

 common law by the stat. 34 & 35 H. 8, c. 36. 

 In Kent the lands have for the most part been 

 disgavelled, or deprived of their customary 

 descendible quality by particular statutes ; but 

 lands in Kent are presumed to be gavelkind 

 unless the contrary be shown. Mr. Ross, in 

 his Survey of Londonderry, gives an interesting 

 account of this custom and its pernicious 

 effects. This notion of the equal and unalien- 

 able right of all the children to the inheritance 

 of their father's property, whether land or 

 goods, which is so general in Ireland, is one 

 great obstacle to improvement. However just 

 and reasonable the opinion may be in theory, 

 it is ruinous in practice. In spite of every 

 argument (says Mr. Ross) the smaller Irish 

 landholders continue to divide their farms 

 among their children, and these divide on until 

 division is no longer practicable ; and, in the 

 course of two or three generations the most 

 thriving family must necessarily go to ruin. 



GEERS. A country phrase for the harness 

 of draught or team horses. 



GELATIN. In chemistry the name given 



to an abundant proximate principle in animals. 



It is confined to the solid parts of the body, 



j such as tendons, ligaments, cartilages, and 



! bones, and exists nearly pure in the skin ; but 



it is not contained in any healthy animal fluid. 



Its leading character is the formation of a 



! tremulous jelly, when its solution in boiling 



2 Y 529 



