My, 1842. 



THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR 



105 



tidii bones, nipe dust, nitrate of potash, nitrate of 

 Mid.i, );.vpvimi, Mi-iitf, (-OIIIIIIOII salt, soot, Lance's 



c.iilxiM, Liiiice's ! r^, Clarice's dessii-ated cotn- 



post, PoittevinV disinti-cted tiianin-e, Alexander's 

 Ciiiiiese nianiiie, riif?", graves, soap-ashes, fi.c. 



Of the chnii<re in asriciiltnral implements, il is 

 nniiL-cessnry to sny tliat it has liuen wonderful. 

 The tninsitioii fmni tiie state of thinu's nnder 

 wliicli the hariiiiiir and the nxe were the alpha 

 and ilif ornfj;.i of ilie liirmer's .stock of iniple- 

 iMiiils, (ivlii-n it was a sine qua non ainon!;>t tlie 

 p^•ll^||||lall's c]n.ilific.iiii)ns to lie able to make his 

 own plough,) is i-vidiMit to all. If, however, we 

 lo.ik at the adv-irice in the it)cchanism of imple- 

 nit'Ots within the hist few yc:iis, and take into 

 account the slinrt time in wh'irh the several chan- 

 ges have taken phice, we shall at once allow the 

 part to be more astoiiishinir than the whole; that 

 the improvemirits m ids! in the last dozen jears 

 aie far more m.-iiked than all that were made 

 previously. The fart is iliat the exhibilions and 

 rewards of our a^'rienhirral societies have giv 

 iin impetus to the spirit of experimental rcsear 

 in Ihe hosoiii of the meclianie, and the result 

 an adv.nice in kni)wled;;e efpial to that made 

 any other branch of Hie practice of aKricultiire, 

 by the ndoptimi anil agency of the same spirit. 

 A practical coimMcntary upon these remarks is 

 oftVieil by tlie fict th.'it one maker, (Rmsome, 

 Ipsicich,) exhibited no less than thirty-six varie- 

 ties of ploughs at tlie last meeting of the Uoyal 

 Agricidtin-al Socieiy of England. 



Ill the live stuck of the farm the working and 

 the results of the siiiie spirit are apparent. A- 

 boiit ten years after Tiill lannched boldly the 

 barrpie of thcoielic.d ••lu'ricidiine, and set opiii 

 forever the door of improvement, Mr. Bakewell 

 cnmmenced those experiments upon breeding, 

 which, as he liased tliem upon rational principles, 

 and upon a deep.md observing knowledge of the 

 tiaiin-e of the animals he wished to improve, were 

 aiiendetl wiili ilie niost decided success. Thus 

 the slieep which he introduced, and the Messrs. 

 Cnllev carried to perliiction, possessed the qiiif'ity 

 of lii'iiig faired at little more than two year? old, 

 while the old hired were scarcely ever tit tor the 

 shambles till tliey were twice thai age. This ad- 

 vantage was apiireci.ited, for we know that one 

 of his rams was let liir the season tor 800 guin- 

 eas, ami that the produce of one ewe and one 

 birth (three rams) were let for 1200 guineas. His 

 bulls, too, fetched 100 and 1.50 guineas each. 

 Since this time, breeding has continued to he a 

 brancli of nL'ricnltmal science by no means at- 

 taiiieil without time and study and capital. Yet 

 it is still growing more and more popular ; and 

 ulthongli the eradnal diff'iision of the sheep and 

 cattle descended from Mr. Bakevvell's slock lias 

 reduced the piices, a sood animal of any pure 

 breed is yet sought after with avidity, and piir- 

 cliased at n sum far idjove his intrinsic value for 

 atiy other purpose than breeiling. Thus we read 

 that Mr. Jonas Webb, of Babrahain, Sussex, let u 

 Ponthdown ram lor 100 euineas, to the Duke of 

 Kichmond, at his last show; and, (I take the first 

 case which comes to my hand,) Mr. Smith, of 

 Burley, let fifiy-ono rams at an average of £10 

 4s. each, and twelve at an average of £18 lOs. 

 each. The follow in^ statement of the prices 

 fetched by animals of the Short Horn, Hereford, 

 Sussex and Devon breeds, nt the latest sales of 

 each sort which we can meet with, will show in 

 what estimation well bred cattle are held. Thus, 

 Short Horns. 

 Bulls. 



"Bnchnn Hero," (prize bull at Berwick) 

 gold to Messrs. Whittakerfc Tempest, 

 Yorkshire, for 200 



Messrs. HiiTiiinson & Wilson's "Sir Tho- 

 mas Fairliix," fhr 155 

 Mr. Jacques' ' (Richmond, Yorkshire,) 



" Clement i," LTO 



Mr. Wilson's (Yorkshire) "Young Sir 



Watkin," 100 



Cows. 



Mr. Jacques' "Mermaid," 165 



do. "Golden Drop," 160 



do. "Lilly Ann," 135 



do. "Raciiel," 100 



Mr. Higgiiison's (Yorkshire.) "Amazon," Via 



do. do. "Alexandrina," 140 



Mr. Wilson's " Brawith Bud," 160 



SUSSEX. 



Bulls. Guineas. 



Mr. Putland's old bull, 52 



Cows. 



do. one at 60 



do. do 50 



Devo.^. 



Bulls. 



One of Mr. Quarlley's (Molland) 18 mon. 97 

 Cows. 

 do. do. do. "Comely," 53 



Calves. 



One at 21. 4 



do. ]Si 



At Mr. Parkinson's sale last year, (1840) the 

 cow "Adelaide" sold lor 220 guineas, and a bull 

 calf, ("Collard,") for "iOO. 



To pigs, if possihh-, greater attention is paid 

 than to any other aniiiiids. The pig is the poor 

 man's stock, and of course is his sliidy, .so that 

 a knowledge of his " points" and qualities is more 

 generally difFii.sed than of any other animal. The 

 poor man loves his pig; he looks upon him as 

 his winter food, and it is rare that we find him 

 ignorant of what sort of an animal will inrn out 

 well. Rare too, i» it, lo find the pig badly kept. 

 The "pig first, and liiinily next," is the motto of 

 many. "We had better be pinched in summer 

 than in winter," vvas the expression of one wl o 

 practised this principle. Still more' rare, there- 

 lore, is it to find that the cottager's jiiilgiiient and 

 care are thrown luvay. The individual I alluded 

 to above, is an instance: The pig, though of the 

 short eared breed, at 12 months old took the first 

 premium, at the Weiherby meeling, as the " best 

 f!:t pig," and at 15 months, produced 440 lbs. ol' 

 bacon. 



At the last pig sale in this neijfhborhood, four 

 young sows of the Rev. Mr. Higginson, fetched 

 £75; and three, at three mouths old, sold Iin- 

 £45. 



Of the value, however, of our various breeds 

 of swine, the American farmer appears to be 

 aware; hence the large importation of each sort 

 into the new world, aiul Mr. Allen's tour will not, 

 I presume, diminish the demand. 



in breeding and tr.iining the horse, the Eng- 

 lish fiirmer has attained the highest possible 

 standing. The English race horses and himlers, 

 carriage horses, and cart horses, are the admira- 

 tion of the whole world. The extent of the 

 stock of English horses may he judged from the 

 tiict that one English dealer, (Mr. Elmore,) has 

 engaged lo supply the French government with 

 2.500 cavalry horses in three months ; and the ^ita- 

 i% from the circunistaiieestiiat though the agree- 

 ment is now nearly completed, our own stock is 

 so far from being injured, alisolutely relieved, 

 (the horses sent, being those hybrids, between the 

 inter and the chapman, which are the breeders' 

 "weeds;") and that even the horses rejected by 

 the inspecting ollicer, are readily sold at a mncii 

 higher [irice than tin; government gives. (Vid. 

 Niiiirod's Foreign Sporting New-Monthly fliag.. 

 No. 250, page 250.) 



The pure bred animals of each class are kept 

 at home at superior prices: the race horse vary- 

 ing is price from hundreds to tlioiisaiids ; the 

 hunter from £50 to £200; the carriage horse 

 from £30 to £100, and the cart horse from £5 to 

 £40._ 



Of the permanent improvement in the soils of 

 Enjland, which havo been made within tlie last ' 



century, but light mention can he made here. 

 Amongst the most important of the means used, 

 are draining, subsoil ploughing, irrigation and 

 warpi ig. Draining, irrigation,' and even subsoil 

 ploughing were no doubt known in the olden time; 

 'jieir extensive adoption, however, as a means of 

 lerlihzing ihe soil, is a modern improvement. 

 Thus though English farmers have known for 

 ages how to convey water from one place to an- 

 other by a drain, we do not find that it was ever 

 employed to thoroughly alter the constitution and 

 general temperature of a soil. It was not, then, 

 till the general reactions in the spirit of agricul- 

 ture took place, till Tull, by fanning ihe^spark 

 into a sudden flame, set others lo think as well 

 as himself, and till Bakewell had applied the 

 principle to breeding, that it began to be under- 

 stood fully. The labors of Dr. Anderson an<l Mr. 

 Elkington, (1761) showed at once that it was an 

 agent which if properly used would be of an im- 

 mense benefit, and how it should be used. Since 

 that time it has assumed the shape of progres- 

 sive system dependent on scientific principles, 

 and as such has improved in its practical details 

 and in its results. 



The advantageous effect of draining upon hea- 

 vy soils must be just as great ns the injurious 

 effect of 100 much water. What these evil ef- 

 fects are, Prof Johnston in his Lectures at the 

 Durham University, 'las shewn; and Dr. iMadden, 

 in an elaborate pape/ in the "Quarterlv Journal 

 of Agriculture," furthis month, (Dec. 1841) shows 

 most beaiitifiilly the mechanical as well as the 

 chemical aclimi by which too much moisture 

 injures the vegetative |.rocess. To quote from 

 either of these authorities tn this liasly sketch, is 

 not in our power. 



The gooil elfects of irrigation anil warping ; 

 both merely systems of applying weak liquid 

 manure in iiiiinense qiiiii.litie.<,and of the subsoil 

 plough as an instrument by which llie water is 

 periiiilted todillnse it.self more ^'enerally through, 

 and the atiiii. sphere to act upon the tenacious 

 subsoil, so as to make a chanL'e as it «ere in the 

 general character of the component parts ol the 

 soil,* may also be philosophically deinoastrated. 

 But it is in each case nmieces-iary. We have the 

 proof positive in millions of acres. Thus the 

 fens of Lincolnshire. Hiuuiiigdoiisliire, and Cam- 

 bridgeshire, which 50 years ai'o were stagnant 

 marshes, are now luxuriant pastures.f Chat 

 Moss (Lancashire,) in IS.'O, a yawniiii;- moru.ss, 

 and now a golden cornfield, studded with incipi- 

 ent villai^ and the statements of Mr. Deuison of 

 Kilnwich Percy, (Transactions of the Yorkshire 

 Agriculture Society,) of the Rev. Mr. Craft, (Jour- 

 nal of the Roval English Aaricniniral Society, 

 vol. 2, p. 32,) of- Sir Jas. Graham, (Journal of the 

 Royal English AgricidturHl Society, vol. I, p. 32,) 

 and of the aullior of Briiish lluVhandrv, (vide 

 Pamphlet on land draining, &c.) exhibiting as 

 they do a change from comparative sterility to 

 fertility, from a nominal to a fiiir rent, are practi- 

 cal evidences of the value of the perni.iiient im- 

 provements produced by ihaining, warpine, irri- 

 gation, and subsoil ploughing. They are evi- 

 dences too, wliich, while they profess to record 

 what the system has <li)iie lor iniliviiliihls, are 

 really illustrations of what it is doini' lor all. 



Such, then, is the brief sketch of the advance 

 made in the several departments of Eimlish ag- 

 riculture, up to the present period. Of the whole 

 progres.s, the one county of Lincoln is a lucid 

 epitome. Divided into three uatural portions, the 

 feiis, the heaths, and the wolds, the liirmer of 

 which, fifty years ago, was an un)irofiiable marsh, 

 and the latter, barren sheep walks or miserable 

 oatlands; yet now, by the aid of (Iraiiiinj,', 200,- 

 000 acres of the fi-nsare luxiuiaiit p.i>inrc s, which 

 bear a heavy siock .if as fine cattle as can he met 

 with in England ; while the uvlds and the heaths, 

 by the adoption of the turnip and clover culture, 

 and the use of bf>nes and rape dust, send to the 

 market countless flocks of sheep, and as fine 

 samples of wheat iis can be found any where. 



Tlius we learn from the evidence ol Mr-. R, J. 

 Atkinson, Mr Francis Isles, and Mr. John Hougli- 



* Vi(!. Evidence of .lolia Smith, Rsq 

 subsoil plough. Also, 

 P,," before committee or the House 



1 200,000 acres of the Liucolnshii 



:iimed. in other counties ra,iny r.cres h,'ivc been simi- 

 larly recl.iinicd. 23,000 .icrcs of Deeping Iin are drained 

 by two stcMi engines of 60 and SO horse power. 



i Vid, r.vidence of M. J. Ellis, before House of Com- 

 mone, 1837. 



of tho 



h, Ksqr. inv 

 i;t of T, F, Kennedy, M. 

 ions, I8!n. 



