44 
THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 
BEER VR 
5th— When a Cow dies the skin to belong to the Owner of the 
ow ; butif the carcase can be sold, the money to be paid to the 
Funds of the Club. ie 
6th—If a Cow dies in Calving, the Calf to belong to the Owner 
of the Cow. i : 
Tth—Any Member neglecting to pay his Subscription for 
"three successive months to be deprived of all benefit from the 
Club, and to forfeit what he may have previously paid. 
Sth—Any Member leaving the District, or ceasing eep a 
Cow, to be entitled to receive from the Treasurer his proportion 
ofthe Funds then in hand, after deducting therefrom ‘Twenty 
Pounds which was given by Lord Yarborough towards the 
Funds on the establishment of the Club. 
9th—A' new Member to pay on his admission, for each Cow 
e may enter, such a sum as may be the proportion of the 
general Funds to which each Cow in the Club would be entitled, 
‘after deducting therefrom Lord Yarborough’s Subscription of 
‘Twenty Pounds. 
10th—Ifthe Funds in the hands of the Treasurer shall at 
‘any time not be sufficient to pay the allowance for any Cows 
that may die, the Members immediately to make up the de- 
ficiency. : 
1th—The Monthly iptions to be di 1 at the 
discretion of the Treasurer, whenever he shall consider the 
Funds in hand sufficient as a guarantee, until reduced by 
deaths or otherwise. $ 
12th—On the first day of January, in every Year, the Trea- 
-surer to make out an Account, showing his Receipts and Pay- 
ments during the preceding Year, and the Balance remaining 
‘in his hands, and cause the same to be printed, and a copy sup- 
plied to each Member. 
— Stephen Gibbons, Treasurer and Secretary, Brock- 
lesby Park, Lincolnshire. 
Potato Disease not caused by Moisture.—l have 
‘been digging a plot of ground that has borne a crop of 
Potatoes this year, both red and white, which were 
nearly all bad. The same ground was Potatoes last 
year, and they^were nof very clean gathered. Several 
had got dug into the ground 5 or 6 inches deep, and 
these have produced Potatoes perfectly free from the 
disease, whilst those in the rows above, only 4 inches 
deep, were nearly all bad. ‘This convinces me that the 
«disease is not caused by moisture alone, or these would 
have shared the same fate as those that were planted in 
the rows above them, the land being both wet and 
strong.—J. P., Holderness. 
On ihe Management of Agricultural Societies.— 
I perused with much satisfaction your brief observations 
on the late Smithfield Cattle Show, with the whole of which 
i entirely coincide ; indeed, previous to reading them, 
the following reflections, and not for the first time, came 
across my mind, Are the beneficial effects of these 
meetings to agricul i ion to the 
meeting of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, 
heir advocates are not one jot the less confident as to 
their more profitable qualities, and boldly assert, that 
they will make more mutton out of a given quantity of 
food than the others. Now, how extremely desirable 
would it be, that such a question, and others of a similar 
character, should be decided, and how easy would it be 
for a society possessing such resources as that of Eng- 
land to institute experiments, so as to reduce matters of 
opinion to matters of fact, In making the preceding 
observations, I am far from being inimical to either of 
the Societies animadverted on, but I should like to see 
them attend more to the cui bono, and enable agricul- 
turists to gain profitable knowledge from every meeting 
they hold, and if, possible from every prize they bestow. 
How desirable would it be to give a certain number of 
prizes for the animals fed with the greatest profit to the 
mm 
i Hocteties. 
AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT SOCIETY 
F IRELAND. 
AT the late half year meeting of this Society, the 
report of the council was read, and we make the follow- 
ing extracts from it :—“ The Society having now com- 
pleted the circle of the four provinces, by holding their 
annual eattle shows conseeutively in each, the time has 
arrived for visiting the provinee of Munster again, and 
accordingly measures were taken for selecting the best 
locality in that province for the purpose. Several places 
were named aslikely to seek for the favour, but the 
council conceiving that the claims of the city of Lime- 
rick were to be preferred, have no hesitation in recom- 
mending their adoption. Accordingly, arrangements 
having been entered into with the local committee for 
that county, and the proper guarantee having been 
signed, and presented to the council, at Ballinasloe, the 
city of Limerick was there announced as the place of 
meeting for 1846. 
' * Draining.—The council in their anxiety to guard 
against the consequences of the failure in the Potato 
crop, and to provide sufficient employment for the 
labouring population during the ensuing season, passed 
resolution requesting the government to give inereased 
ties to the draining of land, and the lowering and 
2 
fac 
at all in p 
expence of getting them up? Might they not under 
different arrangement be much more productive to the 
t of rivers, as being of vital importance to 
the improvement of husbandry in this country ; and 
eue i 
farmer in general, and indeed to the whole community? 
It is pretty generally acknowledged, that from the 
degree to which the fatting process is carried, a prize 
animal rarely, if ever, pays its expences. A great loss 
3s therefore incurred in order to prove on the one hand 
the point of perfection to which a particular breed can 
be carried, and on the other, the merit or superiority 
of the animals belonging to a particular person, so that 
that individual, if a breeder, should have attention 
drawn to him, and thus he may be compensated by 
Jetting and selling his stock at considerable prices, for 
the great expence and attention he has bestowed to im- 
prove them. Now, is the fact of an animal having 
gained a prize a sufficient proof that he belongs to a 
family possessing the merit of converting a. given 
amount of Turnips, Hay, corn, and cake, into the ut- 
most quantity of superior meat. Is not the pocket of 
the feeder very freq ly as much ducive to suecess 
as the feeding properties of the animal? The Smith- 
field Club has been established many years, but. has it 
added year after year, as it should have done, to the mass 
of knowledge which ought to be collected and dissemi- 
nated on the feeding and fatting of animals? Has it 
decided which of the three breeds, the Short-horn, the 
Hereford, and Devon, is the most profitable to graze or 
feed? These, with many other important subjects, are 
still matters of opinions, which are as dissimilar as the 
four winds of heaven, and arise in great measure from 
the partial experience and prejudice of individuals. 
One will contend, that there is nothing like a Short- 
horn, another that a Hereford is the most profitable, 
anda third that a good Devon is the best ; and there 
are not wanting those who will proclaim the superiority 
of the old Long-horns, or some other indigenous breed 
in their own locality. The tyro is disposed to exclaim, 
Who shall decide when doctors disagree ? The Smith- 
field Club and the Agricultural Societies ought to have 
decided all this long ago ; instead of which, nearly all the 
valuable knowledge which the: agricultural publie 
sess, has been furnished by various private individuals, 
who have experimented carefully,and published their 
experiments. For I'takeit, that it is of far greater im- 
portance to know what description of food, or mixtures 
of food, will fat an animal cheapest, than whether Mr. 
A.s or Mr. B.’s cattle are the fattest. And it is of 
greater consequence, certainly, for a farmer to know 
what description and breed of animal it will pay him 
best to tie up, and at whatage. The same observations 
will apply with equal force to the various Agricultural 
Societies scattered over the country, where the Chri: 
mas prizes for cattle are almost invariably carried off, 
either by neighbouring gentlemen, who fat for honour 
rather than profit, or by a few farmers, who possess ad- 
vantages with regard to grazing, which the bulk of 
farmers do not possess. It is seldom that cattle fatted 
on Turnips, in stalls or boxes, in the vsual method 
adopted on arable farms, are fit for the butcher before 
i The above remarks will apply to sheep 
Downs, or the pure Sussex. Although the former 
were not honoured with a prize at the Southampton 
y a der waited on the chief secretary 
at the Castle, for that purpose, who was pleased to 
express his full concurrence in the plan, and to state 
that he would bring it under the immediate notice of 
her Majesty’s government. The council have also to 
state that his Excellency. the Lord Lieutenant, in order 
to promote the system of Potato-planting and thorough- 
draining in Ireland, and thereby to procure additional 
employment for the labouring population during the 
ensuing season, has placed the sum of 5007. at the dis- 
posal of the council for that purpose, 400/. of it to be 
applied in such manner as the council might advise ; 
and the council having taken the subject into their 
serious consideration, and with a view to stimulate and 
encourage the large landed proprietors to come forward 
upon the present occasion, and to aid and assist their 
tenantry in the improvements of their farms and the 
general drainage of the land, come to the resolution to 
recommend to the general meeting that the sum of 4007. 
should be divided into 32 separate premiums to be dis- 
tributed among the different counties in Ireland for the 
p ion of th gh-draining upon the principles 
contained in the conditions of Sir Richard O'Donnell's 
gold medal, the eompetition for which was productive 
of so much benefit and advantage last year. With 
regard to the subject of planting Potatoes from the 
i of th i 
g 
original apples or seed, in p e suggi 
of his Excellency, the council are fully aware of its 
importance, and are most anxious to carry it into effect 5 
but they feel that the season is too far advanced, at 
present, to enable the council to offer any such pre- 
miums with any reasonable hope of producing any cor- 
responding benefit by doing so. The council, however, 
are of opinion that much benefit might be produced by 
her Majesty's government giving increased facilities to 
the importation of Potatoes for seed from such coun- 
tries as may be ascertained to have escaped the pre- 
vailing distemper." 
After a good deal of discussion as to the best method of 
rendering the sum placed at their disposal by Govern- 
ment, efficient for its intended purpose, it was resolved 
that the competition for the prizes placed at their dis- 
posal by his Excell the Lord Lieutenant, should be 
confined to the four provinces, on the principle con- 
tained in the terms of Sir Riehard O'Donnell's gold 
medal last year, and that three separate premiums 
should be given for the purpose in each, viz.:— 
* 1st Prize—To the proprietors of land within each of 
the four provinces of Ireland who, between the 13th of 
December, 1845, and the first of September, 1846, shall 
have effectually thorough drained, in the best and most 
approved manner, upon Mr. Smith, of Deanston’s, 
prineiple, the greatest quantity of land in the occupa- 
tion of tenants, not less than 200 statute acres, either 
solely at his own expense, or charging a reasonable 
per centage to his tenants for the outlay—or otherwise 
li tion of I 
100 statute acres, either at his own expense, or by the 
like instr lity.and ti A cup, or other 
piece of plate, of the value of 30 sovereigns. 3d Prize 
—To the like proprietor, who shall have executed the 
greatest quantity, on similar conditions, not less than. 
50 statute acres—A cup, or other piece of plate, of the 
value of 20 sovereigns. 
“ Conditions of C. ition.—That "shall 
declare for which of the above Prizes they respect- 
ively enter for competition, and shall not be admitted 
to compete with the same work for any other. 
a full report of the operations should be sent in to the 
secretary, on or before the lst September, 1846, con- 
taining a detailed statement of the different expenses— 
the quantity of drains executed, per statute acre, and 
number of perches, pursuant to a form to be supplied 
for the purpose—the nature of the agreement between 
landlord and tenants, the average price of labour, and 
whether by task rk, or otherwi Iso, that the 
labour in the execution of the work, shall be paid for 
in money and not in provisions or other commodities, 
or allowed in rent.” The Secretary read the following 
balance-sheet of the receipts and expenditure at the 
Cattle Show at Ballinasloe, as furnished by the Finance 
Committee :— 
Dr.—To amount of premiums awarded .. 0. 
Gold and silver medals, do... . 
Expenses of j iniit: ot LEE RE Id 
Sundry expenses connected with the meeting 
udges 
£8! 
Cr.—By cash received from local committee towards 
payment of premiums . Us oe 
Ditto entrance fees and 
Balance to debit of the society m E 
£: 
—Charles Roper, Chairman ; Dec. 15. 1845. 
Farmers’ Clubs. 
SUBJECTS FOR DISCUSSION. 
5. WHAT 1s TRUE Economy IN Farmine ? 
Itis that method of investing a given capital by which it may 
be made to yield the largest annual return. 
Take certain cases (this is the only way to arrive at certain 
conclusions) :—For instance, to begin at the lower end of the 
scale, take the case of a man with perhaps not more than 507. 
to 1007. in his pocket—whose capital, in fact, consists for the 
most part in the labour of himself and his family. He takes a 
little farm of 15 to 20 acres; Is it his interest to purchase one 
or perhaps two horses, a cart, a plough, harrows, and other 
implements? Is it not rather his interest to cultivate the land 
by manual labour? by the spade or fork? There is ample 
matter for discussion in the question, Under what circum- 
stances is unassisted spade husbandry profitable? Take 
another case—that of a man with a capital of 10007. or more, 
or who can obtain credit to that amount, est method of 
roximate to the business o 
the market gardener. If some miles from market, on arable 
land, he may choose either to take a large farm and kalf culti- 
vate it, in the hopes of reaping a-large crop be 
a 
ecause an eaten- 
sive one, or hethay take a farm of half the size, of course pay- 
ing half the rent, and, being secured by a lease, he may 
thoroughly cultivate it, in the hope of reaping, though off but 
half the extent, an equally la crop, because an abundant one. 
Which method will be the more profitable ? 
Other cases may be taken involving the circumstances of the 
stoek-farmer, the dairy-farmer, the gra ier, &c. ; and similar 
questions may be proposed. These matters may, of course, be 
discussed (so to speak) qualitatively, i. c. merely upon the prin- 
ciple involved in them; and the only reasonable conclusion 
that can be arrived at is, that a farm too large for the tenant's 
capital tends to impoverish him. But every one will agree i 
this, because each will place his own meaning upon. the y 
“too large ;” and, therefore, if it is intended to be instructive, 
the discussion must be conducted quantitatively, i. e. certain 
cases must be taken, and the amount of capital per acre deter- 
mined in each, from which, under given circumstances, the 
greatest profit is derivable. These sums will vary so much as 
from perhaps SU. to 15l. or 201, per aere ; so true is it that the 
business of the farmer is entirely dependant on circumstances, 
and that however accurately defined may be the principles on 
which it is founded, these principles, rigid and unalterable as 
fhey may be, will nevertheless justify practices of the most 
opposite character in different districts of the country. 
But the discussion on this subject may involve the consider- 
tion of items of farm practice, in connection with which there 
may be a general and yet an unquestionable inattention to 
economy. ‘Take as an instance the ordinary management of 
farm manures ; and it may involve the consideration of other 
details, on which opposite sides doubtless will be, taken, and 
each of them plausibly supported. . Take as instances, the con- 
sumption of roots on the land by sheep folded over them in 
winter ; the consumption of the produce of our Grass fields 
f green (on the pastures) in 
2 
dried (as hay) in winter, instead of 
summer ; the policy of applying manure long and fresh as a top- 
i instead of rotten under ground. But economy i) 
farming, in point of faet, involves the whole principle and de- 
tail of farm practice, and these subjects will each of them sup- 
ply matter for discussion amply suflicient to occupy an evening. , 
Nortuampron Book Crus, Jan. 10: On the use of 
Lime, and the best mode and time of applying it.— Lime 
is extensively employed in agriculture in this county, 
and the subject excited an animated discussion amongst 
some of the leading members, who annually use large 
quantities of it; the following resolution was pa: ed 
unanimously, “ That lime is a necessary constituent of 
all soils ; and, when applied, it should be immediately 
and thoroughly mixed with the soil when the land is in 
a dry state, and that the application of it should be at as 
great a distance of time from the application of manure 
as the rotation adopted will admit of”’—Wm. Dunkley, 
Sec. H 
Iste or TmawET: The Annual Ploughing Match. 
—The dinner took place at the Fountain Inn, Mar- 
gate, Dec. 2. J. Cramp, Esq., of Garlinge, presided, 
by the mutual instr n p and- 
lord and tenant—A cup, or other piece of plate, of the 
value of 50 sovereigns. 2d Prize—To the like pro- 
prietor, who shall, within the same period, have effec- 
tually thorough drained, in the best and most approved 
manner, and on the same principle, the greatest quan- 
tity of land, in the occupation of tenants, not less than 
pp by several magistrates and gentlemen of 
note in the neighbourhood. In proposing Success f? 
Agriculture,” the chairman laboured to show its vast 
national importance, Quoting from “ Spackman $ 
Resources of the British Empire," and “ M‘Culloch’s 
Statistics,” he dwelt at length on the amount of capita 
invested, the number of hands employed, and the qua?” 
That - 
