150 



Fattening tiogs^, 



Vol. XL 



a depth of six or seven inches having been 

 first taken by the common plough, which 

 was followed up by the subsoil plough to an 

 additional depth of seven to eight inches. 

 Two acres were ploughed in the usual way. 

 In preparing for a green crop in spring, no 

 difficulty was found where the subsoil plough 

 had been in working through the crust or 

 pan. The whole field was equally manured 

 with a moderate supply of farm-yard dung 

 and guano, and was sown with yellow tur- 

 nips. The appearance of the whole crop 

 was similar till August, when that portion 

 of it in the subsoiled land took the lead, and 

 when it was lifted in the end of October, 

 the produce per acre where subsoiled was 

 26 tons 17 cwt, and only 20 tons 7 cwt. 

 where ploughed in the old way, yielding, at 

 12s. per ton, an excess per acre of £3 18s. 

 consequent on the experiment. The second 

 experiment was made on a field of deep earth 

 inclined to sand on a subsoil of sandy clay. 

 Two acres were subsoiled 15 inches deep, 

 two were ploughed six to seven inches, and 

 two ridges were trenched ploughed 13 inch- 

 es. The field was ploughed across in spring, 

 manured in the drill, and planted with pota- 

 toes. The crop was lifted towards the end 

 of October, when the quantity yielded by 

 each portion per acre was — subsoiled, 7 tons 

 9 cwt. 2 qrs.; trenched, 7 tons 1 cwt. 2 qrs.; 

 ploughed, 6 tons 14 cwt. 1 qr. ; which, at £2 

 5s. per ton, gave an excess per acre to the 

 trenched land of 16s. 3|fZ., and to the sub- 

 soiled of £1 14s. 3§(/. Another experiment 

 was made on a field intended for barley after 

 potatoes. The barley was sown about the 

 Ist of April : the subsoiled portion kept the 

 lead throughout; the crop was cut on the 

 22nd of September, and when thrashed, the 

 produce on the subsoiled land was 8 quar- 

 ters, 3 bushels barley, and 36|- cwts. of 

 sti-aw, and on the ploughed, 7 quarters, 4 

 bushels 3 pecks, and 28 cwt. of straw, the 

 difference in money being about £2 9s. per 

 acre in favour of the subsoiled. Another 

 small experiment was made when ploughing 

 a field in February, two ridges of which 

 were subjected to subsoiling to the depth of 

 12 inches. This was not followed by any 

 beneficial result, and the author questions 

 the propriety of subsoiling for a grain crop 

 when the ground is in lea, as it is diflficult 

 to lay the furrows so completely as they 

 should be for the reception of seed. Deep 

 or trench ploughing, he thinks may be ad- 

 vantageous to soils of a deep nature, but 

 sometimes injurious to those which are thin, 

 with a sterile and tenacious subsoil. Sub- 

 soil ploughing, however, if judiciously per- 

 formed, he considers can seldom do harm, 

 and that a great variety of soils, especially 



after furrow draining, will derive much bene- 

 fit from the operation, 



Mr. Girwood remarked, that he agreed 

 with Mr. Wilson, in his views of the soils 

 which should be subsoiled. The operation 

 had not been followed by any great change 

 in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh; that, 

 however, he attributed to the previous drain- 

 ing and deep cultivation, which had gradu- 

 ally affected what subsoil ploughing is meant 

 to produce. The immense crop of barley 

 detailed under one of the experiments was 

 well worthy of notice. — Kelso Chronicle, 



From the Farmer and Mechanic. 

 Fattening Hogs. 



To fatten a hog or an ox where there is 

 plenty of corn and potatoes, requires no 

 great skill, but to do it in a manner that 

 will render the animal more valuable to the 

 farmer when fit for market than the sub- 

 stance consumed in fattening would be, be- 

 sides paying for the trouble of doing it, is a 

 matter worthy of consideration. 



The summer of 1836 being very dry, my 

 corn and potatoe crop came in light, and 

 compelled me to try an experiment, which 

 I found to work so well that I have since 

 followed it to my entire satisfaction. It 

 was this; I adopted the feeding of apples, of 

 which I had an abundant crop mixed with 

 pumpkins, a few potatoes, and a small quan- 

 tity of meal prepared in the following man- 

 ner. For convenience I set in my swill- 

 house adjacent to the stye, a large iron 

 kettle holding about nine bushels, and then 

 had a wooden cylinder made that held from 

 twelve to fifteen more, and hooped with iron 

 bands, just large enough to set upon the arch 

 outside of the kettle, and by putting a little 

 clay or mortar on the arch before setting on 

 the leak — as I called it — I made it perfectly 

 tight, I then had a cover or lid fitted to the 

 top, which was also made tight or nearly 

 so, by laying on a piece of cotton cloth or 

 canvass underneath it, before putting it on. 



Into this kettle I first put about three 

 bushels of potatoes washed clean, then filled 

 to the curb with cut pumpkins, and filled 

 the curb to the top with apples, adding two 

 or three or more pails of water, in propor- 

 tion to the quantity of meal that I intend 

 to mix with it after mashing. After letting 

 this boil a while I remove the cover and fill 

 again with apples, and again make tight. 



The apples and pumpkins you will notice 

 are steamed by this process, and when all 

 are sufficiently cooked, they are taken out, 

 well mixed, and a half bushel of corn meal 

 or a bucket of ground oats and peas, or of 

 buckwheat and rye instead, added to the 



