266 



Agricultural Dinner at Sir Robert PeePs. 



Vol. XII. 



tions of grubs and wire-worms. As to dead 

 fallows, he entirely objected to them as 

 wasteful and useless. On his clay land, 

 when in turn for fallow, he planted vetches, 

 and on his gravel, rye, and rye and vetches. 

 For cleaning his stubbles after harvest, he 

 employed the implement called a two-edged 

 "skim," which he strongly recommended as 

 a cheap and most valuable modern invention. 

 Mr. Woodward then pointed out what he re- 

 garded as the best manner of breaking up 

 inferior pastures, and converting them into 

 arable ; and concluded a very instructive 

 speech, by forcibly pointing out tlie absolute 

 necessity of sending back to the land ichal- 

 ever is removed by a crop, and by expressing 

 his entire agreement in opinion with Mr. 

 Woolwich VVhitmore, Mr. Hu.xtable, and 

 others, that farming properly and cjjiciently 

 carried out, with capital and skill, may be 

 made as profitable an investment as railways 

 or other branches of commerce. Being asked 

 whether he held his land on lease, Mr. Wood- 

 ward replied that he did. But even if he 

 had not, he, nevertheless, was of opinion that 

 the expense he incurred in the improvement 

 of his land would have answered his purpose, 

 for his improved wheat crop repaid those ex- 

 penses immediately. Mr. Woodward having 

 expressed a desire that Mr. Mechi would 

 bring under the notice of the meeting the 

 result of his high farming in Essex. 



Mr. Mechi responded to the call. His 

 practice in agriculture coincided so nearly 

 with Mr. Woodward's, that it was only ne- 

 cessary to say, that he grew alternately grain 

 and root or leguminous crops, endeavouring 

 as much as possible to grow wheat alternate 

 years. He had originally drained his land 

 two feet eight inches deep, with pipes and 

 stones, at a considerable expense; but since 

 he had had the good fortune to meet with 

 Mr. Parke's, he had amended his errors, and 

 was draining more deeply and effectually 

 with pipes alone, at one-third the cost. He 

 rented some land adjoining his own; although 

 he held but a seven years' lease, he drained 

 it five feet deep with one-inch pipes, at a 

 cost of from 3.5s. to 50s. per acre [say $8 to 

 $12.] He could not afford to deprive him- 

 self of the benefit of drainage. He found 

 it very unprofitable to farm such land un- 

 drained. The very first wheat crop remune- 

 rated him for the whole cost. The result of his 

 improvements at Tiptree had been to double 

 the produce of his farm and of his labour. A 

 portion of it was formerly a swamp, not pro- 

 ducing 5s. [.$1 25] per acre. He had been 

 entreated this year by a gardener in the 

 neighbourhood to let those four acres to him, 

 at an annual rental of jj5 [$2.5] per acre. 

 He had removed three and a hulf miles of 



unnecessary banks and fences. Taking the 

 arable acreage of the United Kingdom, he 

 thought they might safely dispense with 

 500,000 miles of unnecessary fencing, which, 

 with its timber, displaced much food and la- 

 bour. He considered the agriculture of this 

 country in a very backward and unsatisfac- 

 tory state, compared with its manufactures. 

 The agricultural mechanical appliances were 

 rude, costly, and unprofitable. The farm 

 buildings generally were bad and uncentri- 

 cally placed, causing a national loss of some 

 millions — each ton of produce or manure 

 costing an average carriage of 6d. per mile, 

 renders the position of the building an im- 

 portant national consideration. Wagons 

 were a most unphilosophical contrivance. 

 It was quite clear that a long, light, low 

 cart, on two wheels, having an area of capa- 

 city equal to a wagon, and only costing half 

 as much, was a much more sensible and pro- 

 fitable mode of conveyance. The question 

 was not now an open one, having been tho- 

 roughly discussed and decided upon at the 

 London Farmers' Club; therefore the sooner 

 the wagons were got rid of the better. With 

 regard to the quantity of seed, his experi- 

 ments — conducted now for three years, and 

 publicly recorded — had uniformly been in 

 t'avour of thin soicing — say from four to five 

 pecks of wheat, and six to seven pecks of 

 barley and oats. Some of the best tarmers 

 in his neighbourhood adopted this system 

 successfully. It was highly important, in a 

 national point of view, that this question 

 should be settled ; for, if the qaantities he 

 had named were available, adieu at onee to 

 the necessity fur foreign imports. It ap- 

 peared to be admitted on all hands that, if a 

 bushel of wheat vegetated, it was an ample 

 seeding; and it was reasonable that it should 

 be so, because if each good kernel produced 

 only one ear containing 48 kernels — and that 

 was not a large one, — there was no allow- 

 ance for increase by branching or tillering, 

 which we knew would take place to a con- 

 siderable extent in well-farmed land, con- 

 taining an abundance of organic matter. 

 Thin sowing delayed the ripening three or 

 four days; consolidation by pressure pre- 

 vented the developement and action of wire- 

 worm and slug. He had found salt tended 

 to a similar result. He salted all his wheat 

 at the rate of four to eight bushels per acre, 

 and was determined to use much inore. He 

 knew a gentleman in Northamptonshire, 

 whose wheat crops could scarcely ever be 

 kept from going down until he used salt, 

 which had efTectually kept it standing. He 

 (Mr. M.) salted the manure in his yards. 

 He found that it sweetened them — he sup- 

 posed it fixed the ammonia. It was a sin- 



