28 ... . THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 
i [Jan. 10, 
Scotland to lead the way. I shall attend to Mr. Ste- 
phen's suggestions, and shall have his * Book of the 
Farm" on my return, but before I do so, I can believe 
he is perfectly correct in saying that * his sentiments 
on the effects of the growth of Flax are in accordance 
with the experience of Scottish farmers ;" but as I can 
prove by experiments that Mr. S., having allowed those 
ideas to be his guide, he has published opinions that are 
found to be in error (if Mr. Beamish’s quotations are 
correct), I cannot see that he should take amiss my 
quoting practical men to prove that his teaching is 
erroneous. I noticed his remarks from a pure convic- 
tion that however valuable Mr. S.’s work may be on 
other subjects (and I have been told it is so), that the 
‘doctrine laid down on Flax culture was the same as 
was believed. in Ireland up to the last few years ; and 
knowing from practice, and the results of experiments 
made by practical men, that ideas so plainly stated in a 
work on agriculture would prevent experiments being 
tried, I did write in earnest, and ever will do so, in 
opposition to anything likely to prevent the cultivation 
of Fiax in Great Britain or Ireland, as I believe I act 
as the farmer’s friend, and the advocate and friend of 
the agricultural labouring classes, when I advise this 
country to produce what will keep her machinery going, 
in place of sending millions to the Continent to support 
a people that tax our yarns and linen made from their 
own Flax, 40 to 60 per cent., and are quarrelling 
amongst themselves about adding an additional duty.— 
J. H. Dickson, Bull and Mouth Hotel, Leeds, Dec. 20. 
*,* We have many ications from ,in 
type, and they are postponed only by wantof room. We hope 
the writers will be kind enough to excuse what is an unavoidable 
e 
a Societies. 
HIGHLAND AND AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
Tue first meeting for the season was held last month, 
under the presidency of the Earl of Roseb 
business of the meeting was commenced by reading an 
account of the experiments made by Mr. Lawson, the 
seedsman of the Society, in raising plants from the see 
of the Tussac Grass which the Society had obtained 
through Lord Stanley, her Majesty’s Secretary for the 
Colonies, from the Falkland Islands. The account was 
drawn up by Mr. Lawson himself in the shape of a 
Report to the Directors, and was read to the meeting 
by Mr. Stephens, in the unavoidable absence of Mr. 
Lawson. The experiments were conducted both in the 
open air and under glass, and commenced in September 
1844. The experiment in the open air was made in 
five different ways, namely—Ist, the seed was sown in 
peat and common mould mixed together in a damp 
situation ; and the result was, that several plants bear- 
ing resemblance to Tussae Grass came up in October 
and Mareh, and a great many other Grasses, such as 
Poas, Festueas, &c., also came up: those resembling 
"'ussae Grass were kept over; 2d,in common mould, in 
a damp situation ; and the result was the same as in 
the first experiment: 3d, in peat and common mould, 
mixed with medium dry soil ; and the result was that 
no plants resembling Tussac Grass came up, and those 
which did appear were the Agrostis stolonifera : 4th, 
in common mould, in medium dry soil, when no Tussac 
Grass appeared, and the same plants as in the last case 
eame up: 5th, in rotten dung, below hand-glasses, 
when two or three plants, very like Tussac Grass, came 
up, and which were potted in the end of August, 1845, 
and kept over. The experiments under glass were 
made in three different modes, namely—Ist, in the 
stove, where the seeds were sown in pots, each contain- 
ing respectively, black loam, brown loam, and peat soil. 
The pots of black loam exhibited in January, some 
oung plants’ of Grass, but which happened to be 
taken away before Mr. Lawson could form his opinion 
of what they were. The pots of brown. loam exhi- 
bited a fair braird of plants, but which all damped 
off about the middle of April, when about an. inch in 
height ; and the pots of peat still exhibited a fair though 
not a thick braird, and of several plants put into s ngle 
pots in April, 1845, 12 turned out to be the true Tussac 
Grass, the largest of which, 18 inches in height, was 
exhibited at the Society’s Show at Dumfries, in October 
Jast, and was placed on the table before the meeting. 
From another parcel of seed sown on 28th January, 
1845, in peat soil, a pretty good braird came up in 
October, only four plants of which appeared to be 
‘Tussac Grass, the rest being Poa annua and Juncus squar- 
rosus. 2d, another set of experiments was made in the 
greenhouse amongst similar soils to'those just described, 
and the plants that made their appearance were all 
different from Tussac Grass. 3d, the third experiment 
was made in the cold frame with similar soils, and the 
ry. The 
£a 
, result was the same as that obtained in the greenhouse. 
It thus appears that the stove treatment is the most 
successful mode of germinating Tussac Grass seed, but 
when the plants are obtained, they succeed best in a 
cold shady frame. It is Mr. Lawson’s opinion that the 
Tussae Grass seed was pure, and that the other plants 
which appeared had probably sprung from seed lying 
dormant in the soils. 
The next communication, a letter from Mr. Alexander 
Shand, dated Marykirk, on 28th July last, addressed to 
the Seeretary, was read by Mr. Stephens. The object 
of Mr, Shand was to point out the fertilising cause of a 
peculiarly rich herbage of excellent quality, which he 
observed on the banks of the Loch of Forfar sometime 
previous to that date. The soil consisted of pure Moss 
(peat) which had not been changed from its Mossy 
character by cultivation, He at first thought that this 
excellent pasturage was caused by the waters of the 
lake, but this he imagined could not be the case, as Moss 
ground experiences no change by irrigation, and he 
then found it to proceed from the sewerage of the town, 
and from this the deduction seems evident that liquid 
manure, more particularly that from towns, is a specific 
in the cultivation of Moss ground. 
Mr. Sreprens remarked that he conceived Mr, Shand 
had stated the case too broadly when he had assumed 
that Moss experienced no change by irrigation, and 
should have confined the observation to undrained Moss; 
for he had seen pure Moss when drained, and in con- 
nection with irrigated meadows, produce fine crops of 
hay. And as to the production of pure Moss, when 
overflowed by the waters of a river, he had seen an in- 
stance on the side of the great bog of Allen, in King’s 
county, Ireland, where pure Moss was inundated by a 
river every winter, and in summer yielded very heavy 
crops of hay, as much as 600 stones per Irish acre, 
which are equal to 480 stones per Scotch, and 380 stones 
per imperialaere. He also stated, from his own know- 
ledge of the locality of Forfar, that large quantities of 
shell marl had formerly been excavated from this and 
other neighbouring lochs, and that upon those parts of 
the ‘margin, consisting of Moss, on which tempora 
depots had been made of that material, he had noticed 
a remarkable degree of verdure. 
Sir George MACPHERSON Grant, of Ballindalloch, 
stated that he was now engaged in improving Moss, 900 
feet above the level of the sea, after being drained, by 
laying upon it 2 or 3 inches of clay, and lime upon the 
clay, and harrowing them down together, and the crops 
of Oats after this process had been so heavy as to attract 
general notice, 
Dr. Mercer then gave an exposition and demonstra- 
tion on the present diseased condition of the Potato 
crop, ill d by the p 
Mr. SrEPHENS then. read a communication from Mr. 
A.Tod, market gardener, East d, near Edink j! 
on a successful mode which he had practised for several 
years past of raising Potatoes for seed, and which Mr. 
Tod considered might also be practised by farmers who 
wished to raise good seed Potatoes. After referring to 
the observation he had frequently made of Potatoes 
which had grown deep in the soil being mealy and fit 
for the table, while those which were formed near the 
surface of the ground were waxy, and consequently 
unfit for the table, yet made good seed—he alluded to 
the conviction which this circumstance brought to his 
mind of the propriety of always raising Potatoes for 
seed, and those for food in different ways, and he was 
the more anxious to treat the Potato differently for 
these different purposes, that he had suffered largely by 
failures in his early Potatoes. His suggestions for 
raising seed Potatoes are therefore derived from his 
own experience, and we;believe they will be best under- 
stood in his own words. ‘The remedy I venture to 
suggest," says Mr. Tod, “is simple and practical, and 
within the reach of almost every farmer, and of a cha- 
racter that it may be easily tried to a greater or less 
extent according to eireumstances, I propose that a 
portion of land most suitable for the raising of seed 
Potato should be selected, and if it require manure let 
it be applied and ploughed in during the autumn and 
winter months. In the spring, let the ground be 
wrought into a fine friable state, and plant the seed to 
the depth of two inches and no more. During the sum- 
mer, let the ground be kept loose and free of weeds, but 
do not earth up the plants. In autumn, lift the crop as 
soon as the stems begin fto lose their greenness, By 
this method the crop will be as large as by the ordi 
nary way; but what is of more i the germi- 
crop, and the effect of a dry season on its growth, that 
even in the few cases in which the crop was apparently 
very good, the amount of fibre produced was inconsider- 
able—this was particularly the case with that grown by 
Mr. Barker, of Ramsey—some of which was consider- 
ably longer in the straw than any grown this year, 
while the amount of flax produced from a given quantity 
was one-third less in weight than that grown by Mr. 
King and Archdeacon Berners. With reference to the 
great improvement in the quality of that grown during 
the present year,a comparison of the samples exhibited 
with those grown in 1844, will furnish the most striking 
proof of the progress which has been made, And 
your Committee refer with satisfaction to the opinion 
expressed at the exhibition of the Society for the Im 
provement of Flax in Ireland, of the samples for- 
warded for their inspeetion—they were described in the 
report as some ‘very fine specimens of English growth, 
from which the seed had been saved on the "Courtrai 
system—the quantity of seed and flax was large, ard 
the quality good.’ And in a letter subsequently re- 
ceived from Mr. M'Adam, the Secretary of thot 
Society, he says, * The flax was considered strong, well 
coloured, and of good quality for spinning—the only ok- 
jection made against it was that it did not possess much 
of what the spinners term ‘nature,’ that is, the oiliness 
and silkiness of textare, which renders the yarn more 
durable when wrought into linen. This may be owing 
to several causes, but the most usual is the delay in 
pulling the flax until the seed is approaching maturity. 
t is, however, almost a drawn question with us at pre- 
sent whether the fine flax produced by pulling green, 
which precludes the saving of perfect seeds, is likely to 
pay more than a coarse fibre and mature seeds.’ One 
of the samples exhibited this day, viz., that grown at 
Ipswich by the Company formed here for the purchase 
of flax, has been estimated by Mr. Rodwell, of London, 
at 807. per ton, which, it is believed, is the highest price 
that has yet been realized for flax grown in these coun- 
ties.” —Ipswich Journal. 
Farmers’ Clubs. 
SUBJECTS FOR DISCUSSION, 
3. Corn Renrs, 
See Agricultural Gazette, 1845, p. 789 : See a very elaborate 
article on the subject in the 7th and 8th Chapters of Layton 
Cooke “On the Value of Land”: Bacon’s “Report on the 
Agriculture of Norfolk,” p. 69: Low “On Landed Property,” 
p. 48 : Stephen’s ** Book of the Farm,” vol. 3, p. 131 
“Practical Farmer," p. 44: Sinclair's * Codé of Agric 
59: “ Quarterly Journal of Agriculture,” vol. 8, p. 543: An 
Essay “ On Corn Rents,” by H. Hart, V.P., of the Lewes Far- 
mers’ Club, W, Strange, Paternoster-row, 
ci 
We then 
We next remarked, that the proportion between stock rent and 
grain rent is naturally regulated by the rotation of cropping, 
Our next con- 
P » 
nating powers ofthe Potato will be found greatly im- 
proved and invigorated ; for the greater number of the 
tubers having grown above ground, will have the ad- 
vantage of the light and air to form and strengthen in 
the buds or eyes, and therefore will be much hardier 
and not so easily injured by rain or frost as those grown 
in the ordinary way.” In conclusion, Mr. Tod says— 
* Before I adopted the above method I had for several 
years failures in my crops of early Potatoes, more 
especially in the Ash-leaf Kidney and the Adelphi 
Early, but observing that such tubers as were acciden- 
tally growing above ground, exposed to (light and air, 
had well formed, strong and vigorous eyes or buds, Í 
resolved to adopt the said method of growing my seed, 
and have done so for the last four years ; and the re- 
sult is, that my crops are considerably larger than they 
were, and have now no blanks.” To a question put 
from the chair, Mr. Tod replied that he cut his seed 
into sets when the Potatoes were large, but planted the 
small Potatoes whole. He considered it, however, of 
the greatest importance to manure the soil in autumn 
or winter. 4 | 
NATIONAL FLAX SOCIETY. 
Ipswich Branch.—At the late annual meeting of the 
above Society, at Ipswich, Mr. B. B. Farrow read the 
report, from which we extract the following :— In re- 
ferring to the causes which have temporarily retarded 
the progress of flax cultivation, your Committee allude 
particularly to the long-continued drought in the spring 
of 1844, while the luxuriant crop of the present year 
sufficiently testifies that the effect of moisture which is 
usually most to be apprehended in this country is ad- 
vantageous to its growth. That the erop of 1844, as 
regards the fibre, was a failure, as in that part of Ire- 
Jand where it is cultivated, is sufficiently shown by the 
G 
samples exhibited here to-day ; very little of that grown 
being worth the expense of working up, and it is pecu- 
liarly observable as exhibiting the character of this 
ifying this imperfecti 
; nd, finally, we alluded and ob- 
jected to the present practice of fixi two or three different 
average prices of grain, and more especially without dividing 
the grain sold info two or three corresponding lots of deter. 
minate weights per bushel.” We extract this passage be- 
cause itis, as it were, a table of the contents of this valuable 
article, and may induce a more general perusal,of it, 
4, SuED-FEEDING 
See Agricultural Gazette, 1844, pp. 1845, p. 6t 
“Journal of English Agricultural Society,” vo 407; vol. vi, 
p.242, * Quarterly Journal of Agriculture,” Oct., 1843, p. 167; 
J 5, p. 399 
an., 1845, p. 399. 
It is found that sheep fed in sheds make more mutton upon 
less food than those exposed in the fiel hat they are less 
liable to certain diseases—and that foot-rot, to which they are 
more liable can be avoided by proper management and 
attention. 
Pnonvs : Bone Manure.— At the last meeting of this 
club, a paper on the analysis of the soils of Carnwiniek 
Farm,—the property and in the occupation of C, H. P 
Hawkins, Esq.—was read by Mr. Karkeek, of "Truro. 
Its object was to prove the durability of bone dust as a 
manure for a period of ten years. It appears that, in 
(1835, a piece of waste ground was broken from the 
common, and tilled to Turnips, the larger part of which 
was manured with bone dust, at the rate of three quar- 
ters to the acre.* In the two following years it was 
successfully cropped with Oats, and with the last crop, 
laid down to permanent pasture, in which state it has re- 
mained ever since. At the present period, the éffect of 
the bone dust can be plainly distinguished—the Grass as 
far as th reach havingarichG sward—whilst 
the adjoining part, where no bone dust has been applied, 
has a coarse sterile appearance ; the difference being as 
great as ifa line had been drawn between rich pasture 
* It should be properly added that the whole of the Turnip 
lant was carried off by the fly ; consequently, little or none of 
the bone-dust was used in that crop. This will partly account 
for its evident durability, 
rent were ' 
