44 



MONTHLY JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE. 



the Lotliian ftinns may be remarked — a great 

 uniformity in the quality of the crops. Not, 

 as elsewhere, here a good fanner and there 

 a bad one, here a faihng crop and there a 

 middhng one, and here again a finer one — 

 but neai-ly all the same — shoicing that farm- 

 ing is there reduced to a science, leaving 

 nothing uncertain but the Seasojis. The 

 farms are divided into fields of fi-om 20 to 50 

 acres each, the hedges are clipped low and 

 tliin, and the ditches covered in, so as to oc- 

 cupy as little space as possible. There are no 

 trees in the hedge-rows, and few furrows in 

 the land ; and thus, between one thing and 

 another, the entu'e ai-ea of the farm is made 

 productive, and the expense of fences and 

 gates is reduced to a minimum. Another 

 thing worth noting is, that pennaneut giass, 

 either as meadow or pasture, is unknown, or 

 nearly so ; the only hay or pasture is derived 

 from artificial gi-ass sown in the regular rota- 

 tion of crops. The rent of the Lothian farms 

 is fi-om £3 lOs. to £7 per acre, [$17 50 to 

 $35 !] and these high rents the farmers not 

 only pay but thrive upon. They are enabled 

 to pay these rents and tlu-ive, partly by the 

 heavy crops arising from skiUful cultivatioii, 

 and partly by economy of management in 

 eveiy department. Actual wages, however, 

 are as high as in England, viz : 10s. to lis. 

 [$2 20 to $2 42] a week for a common labor- 

 er, 12s. for a plowman, and 9d. a day for 

 women — ten hours to the day. As to the 

 great amount of produce, it must be remem- 

 bered that all the land is under the plow. 

 Five quarters of wheat [40], ten of oats 

 [80], seven of bai-ley [56], and from thirty 

 to thirtj'-five tons of turnips, are reckoned a 

 good average to the acre. 



Economy of management is shown in the 

 division of employment confining the atten- 

 tion of the fai-mer to as few points as possi- 

 ble, in a due rotation of ci-ops, so as to have 

 no land lying idle or unproductive, and in 

 the use of machines and horses instead of 

 manual labor, whenever circumstances admit 

 of it. 



All the Lothian fonns are held on 19 years' 

 leases, and the rents wholly or partly corn- 

 rents, rising and falling with the yearly fluc- 

 tuations of the price of corn. Without a 

 long lease the farmers would not lay out their 

 capital in the free manner they now do, and 

 with a long lease they feel independent of 

 their landlords, more as if they were the 

 actual proprietors. Li consequence of this 

 independence and part ovraership, as it were, 

 of their ferms, men of much superior rank, 

 education and capital engage in the business 

 of farming than is the case in England, or, 

 indeed, than ever will be the case m England 

 under existing circumstances. 



The foundation of all improvements in the 

 Scotch farnung is the system of thorough 

 draining ; and so essential is this considered 

 that most of the land is deemed unworthy of 

 being fanned at all until it has undergone 

 this operation. The drains are made at reg- 



(92) 



ular distances, from 15 to 30 feet or more 

 apart, according to the nature of the soil, 

 and from 24 to 30 inches deep. The general 

 course of cropping in the Lothians is : wheat 

 after summer fallow ; turnip, barley, seeds 

 down for one, two or three years, as circum- 

 stances vary ; oats. When the land is very 

 stiff a crop of beans and peas is taken. 



I have thus endeavored to give, in a some- 

 what unconnected w-ay, the results of my ob- 

 servations on the Lothian fanning, where 

 high rents, high profits, and a well paid and 

 contented peasantry are all seen combined in 

 a pleasing union. It is an interesting ques- 

 tion, but one I am not going to enter upon, 

 how this improved system of cultivation can 

 be introduced into England ? I am inclined 

 to think the superior and more practical ed- 

 ucation of the Scotch has been at the bottom 

 of the improved state of things. Education 

 has given the know-ledge which has enabled 

 them to apply their capital with success, and 

 to extract from the land-o\\nier the long lease, 

 which enables them to invest their capital with 

 safety as well as success. Trusting these few 

 remarks will be found worthy a place in your 

 paper, BeUeve me, truly yours, 



Broadclist, Feb. 17, 1847. R. S. HEWS. 



Potash Wash for Fruit Trees. — It being 

 about time to attend to that work, I shall de- 

 scribe my method of using the potash. I usu- 

 ally dissolve ten pounds in two pails of hot wa- 

 ter, and for young trees I put a quart of that to 

 a pail of cold water, and when well mixed ap- 

 plj' it to the trunks and limbs of the trees, either 

 with a whitewash brush or a broom, and for old 

 trees I put two quarts to a pail of cold water, 

 and put it on as far as I can reach. If any moss or 

 other vegetable substance adheres to the limba, 

 I take a ladder, by which means I can reach and 

 wash the branches wherever the moss is ; or if 

 any lice or scales get on my trees, I wash to 

 the extreme ends of the branches, for no tree 

 can be healthy if it have lice. If the tree is well 

 washed it will remove moss, lice, scales, and all 

 of the thick bark that often adheres to large 

 trees, which are a harbor or a hiding-place for 

 insects to deposit their eggs, and for the borer 

 to escape from birds. 



I wash all kinds of trees, and think myself well 

 paid for it. Last year I did so, and was not trou- 

 bled with the fruit falling off', nor having it ra- 

 ined by worms. My neighbors, Emerson and 

 Thayer, washed their trees, and were equally 

 successful. I usually do it in Februaiy and 

 March, but it may be done in December and 

 January if the' weather is warm, or in April, if 

 it is not convenient to do it before. Tlie potash 

 that runs down the trunk is not lost ; it nouri.shes 

 the tree, and keeps off borers. I deem it almost 

 indispensable to the raising of good fruit to wash 

 the trees well. [New-England Farmer. 



Netti.vg for Sheep-Folds. — Messrs. Wil- 

 dey & Co., of Holland-street, Blackfriar's Road, 

 obtained a prize for this "netting," made of the 

 bark of coco'anut, at the Royal Agricultural So- 

 ciety's meeting, at Bristol, in 1842. It is also 

 strongly recommended in the Society's Report 

 of that year. It will wear out several sets of 

 tarred hemp netting, and is so light that a herds- 

 man can with ea-se carry 200 yards of it. 



