10 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



JOURNAL 01' THE BOYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



The motto of the Royal Agricultural Society 

 of England is " Practice with Science," and the 

 Journal iasned semi-annually by the Society is 

 <K>ndiictcd in strict accordance with this idea. It 

 is not Practice and Science, but Practice with 

 Science. The articles are many of them eminently 

 practical, but the aim of the writers is to have 

 them ia accordance with scientific principles. On 

 thft otlier hand, many able scientific treatises are 

 puWisiied, but they have almost invariably a direct 

 bearing on practical agriculture. 



The last number of the Journal (No. XLIX.) is 

 one of the best that has yet appeared. There are 

 twenty-nine articles. Among the most noticeable 

 of them are the Report of some experiments with' 

 different manures on wheat for several years in 

 succession, on the same land, in Kent, by J. B. 

 Lawks and Dr. Gilbert — the results confirming 

 the conclusions drawn by Mr. L., from his exten- 

 sive experiments on land of a different cliaracter 

 at Rothamsted, in Herts. 



"We have also an account of the effect of different 

 manures as a top-dressing on wheat, at Cirencester, 

 by Dr. Voeloker — the most projitable dressing 

 being \\ cwt. of nitrate of soda, and the next 

 most profitable dressing, 2 cwt. of sulphate of 

 ammonia per acre. The former gave au increase 

 over ti»e unmanured plot of 14 bushels, and the lat- 

 ter an increase of 13 J bushels per acre. These 

 experiments, therefore, confirm what we have so 

 often asserted, that nitrogen or ammonia is the 

 principal substance needed to increase the yield of 

 wheat. 



Dr. VoELOKBB, chemist to the society, continues 

 in this number his valuable report on the manufac- 

 ture of cheese; and also furnishes an article on 

 the commercial value of artificial manures, as de- 

 termined by analysis and practical experiments. 



There is also an article on "Farmyard Manure," 

 by J. B. Lawes, showing the value of manure made 

 from different foods. The substance of this article 

 was published in the Oenesee Farmer for May, 1860, 

 page 143. 



A prize Esiay on Harvesting Corn (wheat), by 

 Peter Love, contains much valuable information. 

 One of his recommendations shows how important 

 the farmers of England consider autumn cultiva- 

 tion. He says : 



"For the cnnvenionce of autumn cultivation, all 

 crops should be cot low and shocked up in straight 

 parallel rows, pretty wide apart, so as to allow 

 cultivation to proceed, even though the weather 

 liionld retard the carting of the crop." 



He is strongly in favor of cutting the wheat 

 close to the ground, on account of the value of the 

 straw for litter and manure. 



"The custom of mowing barley and oats," he 

 says, "and carting tliem loose, is most slovenly, and, 

 as far as oats are concerned, very wasteful, be- 

 sides being at all times injurious to the fodder." 



He thinks reaping machines should take a wider 

 swathe, as much power is absorbed by dividing tbe 

 cut from the standing grain. 



"As we increase the width of swathe," he says, 

 " we at the same time reduce the distance to be 

 traveled by the horses in cutting, and the work- 

 men in gathering and tying up ; with a four feet 

 width of cut the horses must travel 2 1-16 miles 

 per acre, aud the binders the same ; while with sm 

 eight foot width of cut the distance is only 1 1-32 

 mile, or half the distance, which will lower the 

 expense of gathering and binding by at least 2 cents 

 per 100 sheaves." 



He has used reaping machines for nine years, 

 and estimates that they save aboat $1.76 per acre, 

 after allowing 20 per cent, on the cost of the ma- 

 chine for repairs, interest, &c, 



"We have next an article on " Destructive Insects 

 and Immense Utility of Birds," by Feed, ds 

 TsoHUDi, of Switzerland. It is an exceedingly in- 

 teresting and pleasantly written essay. Wo give a 

 few extracts to show the style of the writer : 



"For about half a century the culture of fruit- 

 trees has been steadily increasing in "Wurtemburg, so 

 that now it brings in a revenue of 1,700,000 florins, 

 ($708,850) annually, though a great part of the crop 

 is yearly devoured by caterpillars. Formerly but 

 little notice was taken of these invaders, but latterly 

 they have so much increased that many cultivators 

 have been discouraged from continuing their occu- 

 pation. Government has ordered all the trees to 

 be cleansed, both in spring and autumn, imposing 

 penalties for disobedience, but the desired result 

 has not yet been obtained. If Nature did not in- 

 terpose, man would of necessity succumb; but 

 these insects are pursued by other enemies who 

 become the allies of man. Ichneumon pricks the 

 caterpillar to death, the Limex sucks out its vitol 

 organs, beetles eat them, and the shrew-mouse, the 

 hedgehog, the mole, the lizard, the frog, the toad, 

 and the bat, are all excellent insect-hunters. Na- 

 ture, however, has shown most solicitude for us by 

 appointing, as the food most sought for by birds, 

 the eggs of caterpillars, larvaa, caterpillars, butter- 

 flies, flies, gnats, aphis, ants, snails, worms, dec, 

 and by giving to each species its assigned duty and 

 place in the work of destruction. Each has its ap- 

 pointed spot, either in the wood, field, bush, mea- 

 dow, garden or vineyard, on the rocks, or by the 

 river-side ; some attack one particular class of in- 

 sects, others another ; some are clever at pecking 

 them off leaves or branches, others snatch thenn 

 up as they fly through the air ; some unearth them, 

 others extract them from betwixt bark slits, or 

 pierce the wood that shelters them. Each aort 

 of bird is expressly formed for ths task it ia in- 

 tended it Bboold perform, in tbe varied shape of 



