190 RURAL ECONOMY OF ENGLAND. 



season. The hay it gives is hard, but, consumed in the 

 green state, it is excellent. It thrives even in the coldest 

 districts, notwithstanding its name and origin ; and it is 

 fast coming into general use both in England and Scot- 

 land. If it realises the expectations formed of it, it 

 would seem to be superior to lucerne. 



As to the mode of distributing the liquid manure, it is 

 certainly the most original and curious part of the system. 

 It was invented by Mr Huxtable of Dorsetshire, the prin- 

 cipal promoter of the new agricultural revolution. It 

 is as follows : The evacuations of the cattle, after 

 falling into trenches running under the stalls, pass 

 through pipes into a reservoir, where they are mixed 

 with water and fertilising substances ; from thence other 

 pipes branch off underground to the extremities of the 

 property. At distances of every fifty or sixty yards are 

 placed vertical pipes rising from the conducting-pipe to 

 the surface of the ground, the orifice of which is closed 

 by a cap. When it is desired to manure a part of the 

 land, the cap is removed from one of the vertical pipes, 

 and a gutta-percha tube fitted on ; a pump put in motion 

 by the steam-engine drives the liquid through the pipes, 

 and the man who holds the movable tube waters around 

 him as from a fire-engine. A man and a boy are able to 

 manure in this way five acres a-day. 



The expense of the pipes and pumps amounts to about 

 80s. per acre where earthenware pipes are employed, and 

 4 where they are made of cast iron. The construction 

 of reservoirs and setting up a steam-engine constitute a 

 separate expense, and ought not to be included in the 

 estimate, since both the one and the other are hence- 

 forth indispensable in every well-ordered farm. The 

 laying of the pipes becomes then an economy rather than 

 an expense. The outlay for first cost and keeping up is 



