FARMERS* REGISTER— TRAVELLING BY STEAM— WHEAT, &c. 



489 



opinion was very general, if not universal, that 

 fermented manures should be turned under with 

 the plough as soon as put on the land;— and that 

 otherwise, their value would be much impaired, if 

 not totally lost by evaporation. This was thought 

 especially necessary, if the n)auure used, was rough 

 or half rotted. 



I iiave thought much on this subject, and for the 

 last twenty years, marked the elfects of manure in 

 all its various modes of application, both on my 

 own farm and on my neighliors'— and now propose 

 to give you the results of my observation, leaving 

 it to persons more learned than myself, to reconcile 

 these results to the principles of philosophy. Fifteen 

 or twenty years ago, I observed an old man of good 

 practical sense, and successful as a farmer, carting 

 manure out in the month of July, on a field intend- 

 ed for Indian corn the next year: tliis was spread 

 as fast as carted, and remained in that situation 

 until the spring following. He justified this prac- 

 tice by a perfectly unanswerable reason, viz. that 

 continued experience had taught him, that both Ids 

 crop and his land were more improved by the use 

 of his manure in that way, than any other he had 

 tried. The confidence I had in the integrity and 

 good sense of this old gentleman, induced me to 

 make repeated experiments on this suliject, all of 

 which have been decidedly favorable to top dress- 

 ing, or surface manuring, and proved to my entire 

 satisfaction, "that manure, when in contact with 

 theearth, does not lose its strength by evaporation." 

 This, I was exceedingly loth to believe, and I made 

 many efforts to account for the fact— (for that I 

 could not doubt — ) and at length came to the con- 

 clusion, that the chemical affinity between the par- 

 ticles of manure and the earth, was too strong to 

 he overcome by the power of evaporation ; and 

 that the apparent evaporation, is nothing more than 

 the passing off of the water, which had been con- 

 tained in the manure. Whether this is so, or not, 

 I am sure 1 do not know. But I do know, that in 

 the many different experiments I have made, both 

 the land and the crop, are more benefitfed by the 

 application of manure on the land, than by turning 

 it under the land. I hope young farmers who are 

 not yet wedded to any set of opinions, will be in- 

 duced (at least,) to make the experiment. 



Not having fame as a farmer, to give weight to 

 my opinions, i shall sign myself arator. 



jYote.— The late M r Thos. West, brother of 

 Sir Benjamin West, settled on a farm in New- 

 Jersey, after he had reached the age of forty. His 

 object was to make it a grazing farm He used 

 no plough whatever, but the hoe and scythe to 

 eradicate briers, weeds, &c. He top dressed his 

 fields, or some of them every year, and in a few 

 years, he had the richest farm in the whole country 

 firound (See Memoirs Philadelphia Agricultural 

 Society.) 



TBAVELLIKG BY STEAM OX COMMON ROADS. 



From the London Spectator. 



On Saturday morning, September 7th, a steam 

 carriage, constructed by Colonel Macerone and 

 Mr. Squire, started from the wharf. No. 19, at 

 Paddington, with a view of running to Windsor 

 and back. The carriage contained, including Col. 

 Macerone, Mr. Squire, who guided it, and two 

 working engineers, one to look after the fire be- 

 hind, and one riding on the box before, eleven per- 



Voiv. I.— 62 



sons, and might weigh about three tons and a half. 

 The place of starting is about one mile from Hydei 

 Park Corner, making the distance to Windsor 

 I wenty-four miles. The carriage reached the new 

 fun at Windsor in two hours and fifly-six minutes. 

 Including stoppages it went at the rate of nearly 

 eight miles an hour; excluding the stoppages, it 

 travelled at the rate of twelve miles an hour. The 

 time was carefully marked between the mile- 

 stones; and it was found that the speed was at the 

 rate of ten, twelve, thirteen, eleven, and at one 

 time at fourteen miles per hour. On its return, 

 the axle broke, and its progress was stopped ; but 

 this is an accident which can be easily guarded 

 against in future. The carriage with which this 

 trip was made, consisted of an open chariot placed 

 belbre a steam boiler. The merit of the invention 

 consists, we understand, in the boiler. The engine 

 is of the high pressure kind, and has generally 

 been worked at the pressure of one hundred and 

 fifty pounds to the square inch ; but on the trip to 

 Windsor the pressure was not equal to that. The 

 whole of the machinery, except the boiler and fire- 

 place, which are beiiind the chariot, is placed hori- 

 zontally beneath the carriage, and between a 

 strong frame of wood-work. The size of the 

 whole is not greater than that of an omnibus, and 

 the carriage is capable of being made ornamental. 



Colonel Macerone, in a letter to the Morning 

 Chionicle, says : 



" I do not know what it may cost to work other 

 steam carriages, but it is essential that you should 

 be informed that, in our journey to Windsor and 

 back, (forty-eight miles,) we did not consume so 

 much as five sacks of coke ; which, at two shillings 

 a sack, makes ten shillings, the expense of pro- 

 pelling a carriage which "is capable of carrying 

 many more passengers, besides luggage, than a 

 four-horse stage-coach." 



He also adds, in allusion to the comparative cost 

 of running steam or horse carriages: 



" The former are exempt from all tax, while the 

 latter have to pay three pence or more per mile, 

 which alone, as I have shown above, is equal to the 

 whole cost of the steam coach's pro})elling power-— 

 the fuel ! Lord Althorp positively assured us, in 

 the House of Commons, in July, 1832, that he ex- 

 empted steam carriages on common roads from all 

 tax, for the sake of encouragement — '' not that he 

 Avas very sanguine as to their being speedily 

 brought to answer." As it is, we pay turnpikes 

 equaf to a four-horse carriage, although we have 

 no horses' feet to pound up the road, and our broad 

 vertical cylindrical wheels do more good thaij 

 harm. 



THE FIRST WHEAT IN NEW ZEALAND. 



From Poulson's Daily Advertiser. 

 The difficulty of introducing the greatest im- 

 provements among people who need them most, 

 is prettily illustrated by Williams' account (in the 

 vegetable world,) of the manner in which wheat 

 was first cultivated in New-Zealand by a native 

 chief who had visited the English settlements in 

 New-Holland. On leaving Port Jackson the 

 second time, to return home, he took with him a 

 quantify of it, and much surprised his acquaintan- 

 ces by "informing them that this was the very sub- 

 stance of which the Europeans made biscuit, such 

 as they had seen and eaten on boai'd of their ships. 



