496 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 8 



as this carriage is intended merel}' to be the loco- 

 motive engine for impelling a train of carriages 

 connected to it, the seats upon this are to be consi- 

 dered as of an interior class. 



Some of the most important features of the lo- 

 comotive carriage as now completed, viz. the pe- 

 culiar construction of the boiler and arrangement 

 of the working parts of the n)achinery, form por- 

 tions of the subject of a patent granted to Dr. 

 Church, on the IGth March, 1S35 ; the specifica- 

 tion of which, embracing other matters, is too ela- 

 borate for insertion in our present number, but will 

 most probably appear in our ne.Kt. 



As several partially successful, but, in our opin- 

 ion, very unsatisfactory attempts have been made 

 by other persons, to impel carriages on ordinary 

 roads by steam power, we consider it necessary to 

 point out some of the peculiarities in Dr. Church's 

 present carriage, which we consider to be its stri- 

 king features of' advantages. Firstly, though the 

 engines work at high pressure, the eduction of 

 steam is so efieciually condensed after passing 

 from the working cylinder, that no visible portion 

 of it escapes into the air, but the whole is convert- 

 ed into water, and re-conducted into the boiler in 

 a heated state. Secondly, the flues are so con- 

 structed and arranged, that no smoke is allowed 

 to escape from the chinmey ; and the consequen- 

 ces of these two novel features, as regai'ds locomo- 

 tive engines running on ordinary roads, are very 

 important, viz. that neither is there any percepti- 

 ble noise arising from the discharge of steam, or 

 any offensive effluvia emitted from the combustion, 

 so that the carriage proceeds along the road with- 

 out, in the slightest degree, attracting the atten- 

 tion of liorses which may pass it. 



We have only space to say further, that the 

 Birmingham and London Steam-carriage Compa- 

 ny, witli whom the Doctor is connected in this in- 

 vention, are perfectly satisfied with the carriage as 

 now completed ; and though alterations and slight 

 improvements may and will necessarily be adopt- 

 ed in the future exercise of the plans, yet they 

 deem the present carriage to be so fully effective 

 and satisfactory, that they have advertised for a 

 practical engineer to superintend the erection of 

 a sufficient number of these carriages at their 

 works, exactly according with the model produ- 

 ced. 



We understand it to be the intention of the 

 company to es.tablish three stations between Lon- 

 don and Birmingham for their trains of carriages 

 to halt at, and to supply a fresh locomotive engine 

 at each station, in order that the enyincs, after 

 running about twenty-six miles, may be severally 

 examined, and such little matters as cleaning, oil- 

 ing, and adjusting parts, attended to: which ar- 

 rangement will avoid subjecting passengers to the 

 inconvenience of delay, and tend gready to pre- 

 vent accidents. 



We have only to add, that having witnessed 

 the manner in which this carriage perlbrms its du- 

 ty on the public road, we have no hesilation in 

 saying that we are now satisfied that steam may 

 be safiily, and, we believe, economically employed, 

 in connection with J)r. Churclvs improved ma- 

 chinery, as an efl^ective substitute for horses, in 

 the ordinary transit of si age-coach passengers on 

 all the turnpike roads in the kingdom. 



From llie Cultivator. 



MKJIORANDA, FOR THOSE WHO WOULI) IM- 

 PROVi: lA HUSBANJDRV. 



Draining, manuring, alternating crops, and ro<;t 

 culture, are the best and cheapest means of in- 

 creasing the profits of a tillage lidrm — they form 

 the basis of good husbandry. 



1. Draining — The first requisite to divest a soil 

 of surplus moisture. Lands that are wet upon 

 the soil, or sub-soil, will not bring good grain or 

 grass. If the evil is owing to surface water, it 

 stagnates in summer, and becomes prejudicial to 

 crops growing upon it, and to animals. If it pro- 

 ceeds from s|)rings, it keeps the temperature of the 

 soil too low for healthy vegetation. In either case 

 it prevents the land being worked earl}', or during 

 wet seasons, and retards the decomposition of the 

 vegetable matters, which should serve as the food 

 of plants. When properly drained, wet or mar- 

 shy lands are among the most productive soils, as 

 they generally abound in vegetable matter, accu- 

 mulated and |)reserved by water. Without drain- 

 ing, they are comparatively unproductive, and are 

 often nuisances, 



2. Manures are the true food of plants, be the 

 speculations of theorists what tliey may. Every 

 farmer may demonstrate this truth in his practice. 

 We can no more obtain good crops fi-om a poor 

 soil, than we can obtain good beef from a lean 

 pasture. Vegetable matters constitute alike the 

 raw material for beef and for corn. The elemen- 

 tary matters of both are materially the same. 

 Every vegetable and every animal substance, or 

 whatever has been such, however nauseous and 

 offensive, contains food for our fitrm crops ; and 

 the fertility of our soil, and the profits of our hus- 

 bandry, will depend in a great measure upon the 

 economy with which we husband this vegetable 

 food, and the judgment u'ith which we apply it to 

 our crops. Without good crops we cannot rear 

 good animals ; and vvithout animals we cannot 

 have dung to enrich our grounds. Every crop we 

 take from a field serves more or less to exhaust the 

 soil of fertility; and unless we return to it some 

 equivalent in the form of manure, it will in time 

 become a barren waste. Again, as animal and 

 vegetable matters begin to ferment, and to dissi- 

 pate their fertilizing properties, as soon as they 

 are brought in contact with heat, moisture and air, 

 they should be buried in the soil in the spring at 

 farthest, in an incipient state of fermentation. And 

 as the hoed crops, such as corn, potatoes, beans, 

 rata, baga, &c. thrive best upon the volatile parts 

 of manure, the long manure should be led to them 

 The farmer who has a good soil should take care 

 to keep it good ; and he who has a poor soil should 

 strive constantly to make it better, as every ad- 

 vance he makes in improving it, increases his pro- 

 ductive capital. This preservation, or increase of 

 fertilit}^, cannot be well cfiected, without a due re- 

 gard to 



3. ^'lliernating Crops. Few soils will bear a 

 repetition of the same crop for successive years, 

 even with the aid of dung, without diminution of 

 product, whether in tillage or grass. One reason 

 of this is, that each kind of crop takes liom the 

 soil a specific food, which other kinds do not take 

 in like quantity. Hence, duriuii an intermission 

 oi" four or five years, there is ordinarily restored to 



