‘and scanty coarse herbage. 
2.—1846.] 
THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 
29 
‘his, and a great many 
other experiments of the same «cl ter, made by Mr.: 
Trethewy, the manager of the estate, amounting alto- 
gether to 120 acres, and on all of which the effect of the 
bone was equally visible, induced the club to senda 
sample of the soil from each part of the field on which 
the first experiments had been made, to Mr. Hunt, late 
of Falmouth, and now “Curator of the Museum of 
Economic Geology,’ to be analysed, in order to ascer- 
tain if the bone could be detected at the present time, 
It should be observed that Mr. Hunt was kept alto- 
gether ignorant of the object of the club, and that the 
result was perfectly satisfactory, inasmuch as he readily 
detected the bone in that portion of the field, on which 
it had been applied some 10 years before. The fol- 
E lowing are the analyses :— 
No L' NG. 2, 
"Water,evaporated by stove drying .... 14,06 — 14,18 
etable and animal matters burnt off 12,01 — 12,05 
i : 49,50. 
d siliceous grit .. — . .. 49,54 
Oxi m 7,08 
Carbonate of lime . 
Carbonate of magnesia 
Bulphateoflime ..  .. 
Muriates . 
Alumina 
Phosphate oflime .. m 0,75 
Phosphate of magnesia |. 0,05 
Potash E e s 1,97 
Tumus and soluble alkalies 6,17 
Mr. Karkeek contended, from hat the 
and one which is considered a disputed question amongst. 
agriculturists, that the principal manuring properties 
of bone existed in the earthy matters, which constitute 
about two-thirds of bone, and not in the oily and gluti- 
hous parts constituting the remaining third. — An 
interesting discussion ensued, on the subject of the 
analyses, the club being of opinion that the organic 
parts of bone evidently had a powerful effect as a manure, 
but that it was next to an impossibility that any other 
than the earthy matter could have remained so long in 
the land—the whole of the animal matter having been 
probably consumed by the two crops of Oats ;—and 
they agreed with Mr, Karkeek that the principal 
manuring properties of bone existed in the earthy 
phosphates. l 
Farm Memoranda. 
Linconnsuire Fen Farminc.—The means for im- 
proving peat land are now very extensively employed by 
fen farmers. Throughout the greater part of the great 
level of the fens, claying is found to be indispensable. 
This operation increases the capabilities of the soil, and 
renders it much firmer. The peat is continually liable 
to be blown away by strong winds, but by an admix- 
ture of clay the whole soil becomes more tenacious. It 
also proves of great benefit in frosty weather. Before 
eing clayed, the peat land is very liable during suc- 
cessive frosts and thaws to lose plant, as it is termed. 
he clay prevents the occurrence of this by rendering 
the land drier and more solid. The clay is found at 
Various depths beneath the surface—in some parts it is 
eight or nine feet deep, in others one or two, and it 
Sometimes reaches within a few inches of the surface. 
It often varies a foot in the same field. It is a well- 
known fact, that the clay is considerably nearer the 
Surface than it was 20 years ago. Throughout the 
whole fen this has been observed. Two modes ef ac- 
Counting for this have been suggested—some suppose 
and from the great fall even from the lowest lands 
thus drained, to low-water mark, at the several outfalls 
into the sea, is very effective." ^ Under-draining is not 
much praetised, but it is evident that nothing would 
prove more beneficial to the soil and cropping ; for 
although the ditehes and drains may be kept from over- 
flowing, yet the undrained peat will retain too much 
‘water within it. In every instance in which it has 
been tried, it has been found to accelerate the percola- 
tion of the surface-water through the soil. ‘The clay 
forms a solid bottom on’ which the water rests, so that 
after heavy rain the water can sink no further, and 
thus remains stagnant, and keeps the peat sodden and 
wet. When the hollow drains are made, this water 
oozes through them into the main drains, and the land 
becomes dry in a little time. In some cases when the 
peat already holds as much water as it is capable of 
containing, and more rain falls, the water remains on 
the surface. 
penetrate the clay, and the moor cannot receive auy 
more, for it is full, and the land is thus “ drowned.” 
drains can be emptied, there will never be any water 
seen upon the surface, for it will sink rapidly through 
the peat, and the drains will carry it off to the ditches. 
This land, when well drained and clayed, becomes as 
rich and productive as any in the kingdom. In Hunt- 
ingdonshire particularly, and also over a great part of 
the fen, they adopt the following rotation of crops :— 
The fallow is sown almost invariably with Coleseed, 
Turnips and Carrots being grown only in small quan- 
tities. Oats are sown the next spring, and after this 
a crop of Wheat. If, after this crop, the land is still 
rich and in good condition, it is sown with Beans, and 
Wheat after them ; but if it will not bear this, it is 
aid down with seeds—i. e. Clover and Trefoil, and 
then it is ploughed up at Michaelmas for Wheat again. 
Sometimes the Clover lea remains down two years, and 
then to prepare it for a fallow, it is ploughed two furrows 
deep in the winter. Bone dust is generally sown with 
the Coleseed, and this plan of ploughing two furrows 
deep and sowing bone manure is found to answer much 
better than the practice of paring and burning, which 
not only burns up ‘the soil, but in a great measure 
counteracts the effect of the bones. his has been 
found by experiment, and so paring and burning is 
going out of repute, and deep ploughing has the pre- 
ference. Sometimes the land thus ploughed in the 
winter is not immediately fallowed, but sown with Oats, 
and then, after the white crop, it must be Coleseed. In 
some parts 0 bridgeshire and Li 0 
best and richest lands, they take Wheat instead of Oats 
after Coleseed, then two years seeds, then , Wheat 
again; after this, Beans, and Wheat again. Or some- 
times they take Oats after the Coleseed, then Wheat, 
eans,and Wheat again. On the inferior lands they 
grow Coleseed, Oats, and Wheat ; or Coleseed, 
Wheat, Beans, and Wheat; or sometimes Coleseed, 
Oats, one year's seeds, after the Oats, and then Wheat. 
The best part of these lands is not much clayed. Such 
good crops can be obtained from them, that it is thought 
that claying is unnecessary. All the very light fen is 
well clayed. In Bourn fen, which is very poor soil, 
bad moor resting on a subsoil of bad clay,.the course is 
generally much the same as the Cambridgeshire light 
fen system — Coleseed, Oats, ear’s seeds, and 
Wheat. On the best fen land, with pretty good 
my 
that the peat has become’ more p d and solid 
an Consequence’ of draining and tillage ; but the gene- 
rally entertained idea is, that the clay is actually, so to 
Speak, “eating up” the moor. This latter idea is evi- 
dently untenable—the idea of clay, a hard, tenacious, 
Wet, solid substance, absorbing a loose powdery soil! 
inute particles of black mould ‘might penetrate into 
the hard clay, but in such a case the clay itself would 
become changed ; this very process of absorption would 
form a new soil composed of both clay and peat, pos- 
Sessing in some degree the properties and the appear- 
ance of both. But when a clay dike is dug in a field, 
there is no such appearance to be seen—the clay is 
Quite distinct and distinguishable from the moor. 
There is a distinct line or boundary visible between the 
two beds. There is no conglomeration of the two soils, 
no transition stratum. The clay lying in immediate 
Contact with the peat has the same appearance as the 
Clay lying three or four feet from the moor. But even 
ifthe clay and peat did commingle, I do not see how 
it would follow that the unmixed clay and the surface 
should be nearer together. 1 should have imagined it 
—exactly the contrary way—that as the clay and peat 
, Continued to unite together, the level of the unadulter- 
ated clay. would be found so much the more below the | 
surface to make room for the new soil. "The fact may 
be easily accounted for by taking into consideration 
that peat in its uncultivated state contains an immense 
Now, after the land has been well 
1 moisture exhausted from 
they grow about 28 or 32 bushels of 
Wheat per acre, and where the farming is done as it 
should be done, in first-rate style, where plenty of bone 
dust is sown with the Coleseed, and a large quantity of 
yard.manure, from bullocks fed on rich oil-cake, is laid 
in the soil, 36 or 40 bushels an acre are often obtained. 
A good crop of Oats on this land is 80 bushels per acre, 
but only 48 to 60 are commonly grown. The Black 
Tartarians are found to yield more abundantly than 
any others. The good peat will produce 28 to 32 
bushels per acre of Beans. Barley is very seldom 
grown, and yields only 28 to 32 bushels. Carrots 
answer extremely well, they make good food for beasts, 
and prepare the land well for Wheat—from 1200 to 
1600 bushels an acre [!] is reckoned a good crop. Pota- 
toes are grown with large yields—640 bushels an acre 
are a very common crop, and 800 bushels not thought 
at all extraordinary. In working the land it is found to 
be so light, that the roller is constantly employed ; and, 
excepting on that which has been clayed, the young 
Wheat plant has often in spring to be trampled into the 
ground. The way in which this “trampling the plant” 
is done, is as follows :— The field is let out by the 
acre to some man who is called the “gauger ;’ he 
hires a large number of men and boys, regulating the 
amount of wages by the length of each individual's foot ; 
the longest foot will cover the most ground, and will be 
able to trample down the greatest piece in a day, so 
that in such an occupation a man does not pride him- 
self upon the neatness or elegance of his little foot, but 
the longer and more awkward his foot, the more is he 
valued, and the better chance has he of earning his 
living! The leader of the party commences at one 
corner of the field, and advances over a drill-row at a 
rapid pace, first placing one foot over the other, 80 as 
to trample upon every inch of the row he passes over. 
The next trampler takes another row, and so on with 
all the rest, until the piece is finished. This prevents 
the;soil from blowing away, and leaving the plant 
bare. It costs about ls. 6d. per acre. Whieat-seeding 
is generally begun about a fortnight after Michael- 
mas, but the late sown Wheat is found to produce 
the best and strongest plants. Guano is used a 
The water already in the moor cannot | 
But where hollow drains exist, as long as the main | 
| 
| 
good deal, and forces on the young Wheat.  Rape- 
cake is of benefit only on pieces of low, cold land 
and is not very much used. Bones are the favourite 
manure for Coleseed, Cabbages, Turnips, and Tares. 
Couch is the greatest evil among weeds; it spreads 
all over the land ; it cannot pierce through the clay, 
and so it runs on the top of it, between the clay and 
the peat. In the driest lands it is a great nuisance, 
but on the wet land it flourishes abundantly, roots may 
be dug out of the soil many yards in length. Wire- 
worms are the greatest nuisances in the way of insects ; 
they abound in wet seasons, because the water which 
| remains just above the clay accumulates, and thus drives 
them to the surface. Slugs are not very troublesome 
to the fen farmers, weeds are their principal enemies, 
and take a great deal of time and labour to exterminate 
them. This dismal black land, the region of drains and 
green rushes, which was not long ago a dreary waste, often 
covered for miles with stagnant water, has now assumed 
not only the appearance, but the profits of cultivation. 
It is true that there are its wildernesses of, drains, banks, 
dikes, and swampy pools to be seen, but then it can ex- 
hibit fields covered with luxuriant crops ; and the great 
drains which intersect this sable district, and the hun- 
dreds of windmills which oftentimes crowd the view, 
have brought the land from a state of swamp, lake, and 
bog to dryness and fertility. Compared with, what it 
formerly was, the farming of this district has most 
wonderfully improved, and it is to be hoped, and, with 
a degree of certainty, expected, that it will approach 
yet nearer perfection.—J. A. Clarke, Long Sutton. 
Webdiehs. 
A Treatise on Sheep, the best Means for their Improve- 
ment, General Management, Sc. [By Ambrose 
Blacklock. R. G bridge and Sons, 5, Pater- 
noster-row. 
A TENTH edition has been published of this well known 
and deservedly favourite little book. For the benefit of 
those who are unacquainted with it we may just mention 
the character it has acquired as an interesting, simple, 
and sufficient guide on the subjects of which it treats. It 
contains chapters on the history and breeds of sheep, on. 
the wool trade, on the improvement of breeds, on the 
general management of a flock, and on the diseases to 
which the animal is liable. 
The Comparative Merits of Ploughing and Forking. 
Prize Essay. By Edward Wortley. — London: 
Simpkin, Marshall, and Co. 
Tuis little pamphlet was written in consequence.of the 
following announcement made-in 1844 at Mr. Baker’s 
Cottesmore Ploughing Meeting :—'* A premium of Five 
Sovereigns for the most approved statement on the 
comparative merits, between Ploughing and Digging, 
experiments to extend over not less than four acres of 
land: viz. two acres to be dug and two ploughed. 
Competitors will be expected to state full particulars as 
to their mode and cost of management throughout, to- 
gether with the nature, quantity, and relative value of 
their crops, and the description of soil. Statements to 
be delivered to Mr. Baker, Cottesmore, in November, 
1845 : the award will be declared at the Annual Meet- 
ing of the Rutland Agricultural Society,” and it received 
the prize which was thus offered, 
If any one wishes to see a simple account of a very 
fair experiment on the subject to which it refers, he 
had better buy this pamphlet and read it. The extent 
of the ground subjected to cultivation was four acres, 
two were ploughed and two were forked. One-half of 
each plot was sown to Carrots and the other to Mangold 
Wurzel. 
“ The soil consists of a light red loam, mixed with 
red sandstone. On the 12th of April the two acres of 
Carrots were drilled with five pounds of seed to the 
aere, mixed previously with one cwt. Urate for the pur- 
pose of assisting in the more even distribution of the 
seed—one ewt. being too small a quantity to have much 
influence as a manure. The two acres of Mangold 
Wurzel were drilled—the rows 18 inches apart—on the 
2d of May—the same quantity of seed as the Carrots, 
and mixed, to facilitate the drilling, with the same 
quantity of Urate. No farm-yard manure whatever was 
applied to any of the crops. So that, however scanty 
the fare of food allowed, they were nevertheless all 
treated alike. ‘The experiment was not for the purpose 
of tcsting manures, but implements. 
We must not enter into such detail on the matter as 
might prevent the perusal of the pages from which 
we take our extraets, but we may simply mention that 
the results were these—a difference of 3 tons of Carrots 
and of nearly 5 tons of Mangold Wurzel per acre in 
favour of the forked ground. We must confess that the 
crop recorded was in neither case remarkable for 
weight, but this is ted for by the non-applicati 
of any manure, and it only makes the difference the. 
more remarkable which was observed between the two. 
Mr. Wortley, who is himself a tenant-farmer, is so 
struek by the result of his experiment that he concludes 
his pamphlet thus :— 
“I shall only further'add, in closing these remarks, 
that I intend both to continue and extend the use of the 
fork, because I believe it to be a most excellent and 
profitable tool—a useful and powerful auxiliary in the 
cultivation of the farm, for, of course, on large occu- 
pations, it can only be used in conjunction with. the 
plough.” i 
We have only further to add, as regards the question 
oifFork versus Plough as a means of profitable farming; 
