2^2 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 4 



tions, BO great as lo prevent the operation. It 

 should, however, be observed that the compost is, 

 in many cases, chiefly composed of the scourings 

 of ditches, and of pond-mud, m which instances 

 the charge of labor must necessarily be incurred, 

 and a great portion of the cost is thus saved. 

 Another mode of reducing the expense, is also to 

 plough up the headlands of fields in which the 

 compost is intended to be laid. This is effected 

 by ploughing the land as deeply as it will admit; 

 and if tjie subsoil be not of such a quality as to 

 occasion sterility, this mixture of fresh earth 

 along with the surface-soil and lime, will prove 

 highly advantageous. Virgin earth, indeed, if not 

 in itself a manure, readily unites with lime, and 

 richer composts are thus made, than with earth 

 taken from the surface: the expense, too, is less, 

 for a smaller quantity of lime can be made to an- 

 swer the purpose. The lime should then be laid 

 on in the state ol' shells, before it is slaked, and 

 ploughed well in, to ensure its complete combina- 

 tion; the loose earth which escapes from the side 

 liirrows should then be shovelled up and thrown 

 over the heap, after which a fermentation takes 

 place within a very short time, if the weather be 

 damp and warm; and the compost should be im- 

 mediately laid upon the land, in quantity accord- 

 ing to the quality of the soil to which it is to be 

 applied. From 40 to 50 double cart-loads have 

 been found a full dose, to ordinary land, of which 

 only one-seventh part of the compost was quick- 

 lime, which was considered equal in force to one- 

 third of that which had been slaked. Nothing, 

 however, can be more uncertain than the quantity 

 of lime required, fbrit depends both upon the qual- 

 ity of the lime and of the earth with which it is to 

 be mixed, as well as the state of the weather; but, 

 from trials which have been frequently made, it 

 would seem that two bushels of lime-shells will be 

 sufficient lor a cubic yard of earth of average 

 quality; and 64 cubical yards of the compost — 

 when properly prepared and applied to the soil — 

 may be deemed a moderate dose for an acre of 

 land; indeed, 40 have been con-sidered a good 

 dressing for light land, though more might unques- 

 tionably be, in most cases, laid on with better ef- 

 fect.* A dressing of this kind has been frequently 

 found more effectual than one of farm-yard dung, 

 which has been proved by such numberless expe- 

 riments, that it is only necessary to mention the 

 following: 



1. The headlands of a strong sotl^ far from 

 being of good quality, and the scourings from the 

 bed of a small stream, having been collected and 

 ploughed up, lime was mixed in a compost to the 

 extent of about 96 bushels per acre, and laid upon 

 a summer-fallow: the remainder of the field was 

 dunged; but the superiority of the compost was 

 evident, especially after the first crop. Ti le effects 

 of the dung also sooner ceased; and the o-round 

 where the compost was used was more "^pliant, 



* Brown, of Markle, vol. i. p. 409. 'if Se cubic 

 yards are considered to be a p;ood medium dressing for 

 a Scotch, or 64 for an Eni^lish acre, ICO bushels of 

 lime-shells will be sufficieiit. Now, the length of a 

 liead-ridge opposite to four ridges of IS feet is 72 feet, 

 and its breadth 18 feet. If this space bo ploughed 10 

 inches deep, it will produce 40 cubic yards of earth at 

 each end of the ridges; while the wiiolo work may be 

 executed by horse-labor.'— Gen. Rei). of Scotland, vol 

 ii. p. 519. 



and easier wrought, than where it had been omit- 

 ted. 



2. Some old yards, of a soft and sandy loam, 

 were ploughed up with a deep furrow, and suffi- 

 ciently harrowed, in the beginning of winter. Lime 

 was then added, and turned in by the plough di- 

 Vectly, in which state the ground remained till the 

 spring, when it was ploughed and harrowed again, 

 and carted to the field in the month of April, pre- 

 paratory to barley being sown. A succession of 

 good crops, of the same superiority, was the con- 

 sequence.* 



It would from this appear that, whether the 

 compost consists of lime in a hot, or effeie state, it 

 will act effectually, provided the condition. of the 

 ground upon which it is to be used be such as to 

 render a calcareous application beneficial; though 

 there can be no doubt that the action of the for- 

 mer would be the most powerful. It must also be 

 observed that, if the compost be composed of allu- 

 vial soil from the scourings of ditches, or pond- 

 mud, orfi'om peat — which substance will be sepa- 

 rately treated of— perhaps three-fourths of the 

 quantity already mentioned may be found suffi- 

 cient. In contradiction to which, we extract, how- 

 ever, 'the following account of a trial made by Mr. 

 Bailey : 



3. This compost was of lime and decayed vege- 

 table matter cut out in draining a bog, the site of 

 an old pond of thirty-two acres: when mixed and 

 mellowed, after frequent turnings for two, three, or 

 five years — for some was not ready till then. It 

 was chiefly applied on the fallows of old worn out 

 tillage land, of a light nature, in one field of which 

 the ridses were covered with the compost, and 

 then missed alternately; and about 30 loads were 

 also spread pretty thick on a sandy-soiled grass- 

 field: but all without any apparent effect.! 



Upon which it may, however, be observed, that 

 the lime, if in a large quantity, may have been 

 improperly laid upon 'worn out tillage,' and that 

 the site of the pond, although described as consist- 

 ing of decayed vegetable matter, may have also 

 contained noxious substances which did not fall 

 under the notice of the surveyor. 



We cannot close this chapter without also ad- 

 verting to the very just opinion generally enter- 

 tained, that 'soi7s ought to be crossed;'' or, in other 

 words, that composts, of which clay is the basis, 

 should be administered to light soils, and the re- 

 verse. A petition has, indeed, been lately pre- 

 sented to the House of Commons, stating, 'that 

 there are a i^ew districts of the kingdom, however 

 steril, which may not be brought to a successful 

 imitation of naturally fertile soil by a ivell-propor- 

 tioned ynixture of day, sand, and limcfl and there 

 can be no doubt that this amelioration of" the soil, 

 by the addition of earth of an opposite quality to 

 that of which it consists, will, where such improve- 

 ment is rerpiisitc, be found of great benefit to the 

 land, for ench acts as an alterative, and imparts 

 pro[)erlies in which the soil was previously defi- 

 cient. The expense is, however, in most cases, 

 so enormous, in consequence of the vast quantity 

 which must be laid on to produce any sensible ef- 



*Fanners' Magazine, vol. iii. pp. 328, 329. 



t Survey of Durham, p. 219. 



I Petition of Edw. J. Lance, Surveyor, presented on 

 the 29 th of February, 1S32. 



