7.—8146.] THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 107 
of the Literary and Philosophical Society of this town. | portant ingredient in much smaller proportion. By instances of the depressed condition of the labour mar- 
frites 3 bl 
These beg gs are most fi towards carrying | fermenting his fowl dung, however, with one-fourth its | ket, but are too common in most of the counties in 
out the usefulness of our Club. weight each of fine bone dust and salt, till the bone is: England. [There is a very singular variety in the 
purpose is to show that agricultural knowledge, | tender, he may obtain a near imitation of Peruvian wages of farm labourers in different districts. We 
as indeed knowledge of all other kinds, is more likely to guano, not inferior in fertilising power ; and by mixing | know of districts where 8s. per week is now the full | 
be gained by persons meeting together to diseuss dif- | in an equal weight, to the whole, of coal ashes, to pro- | wages of an able-bodied man ; and of others, again, in 
ferent subjects, under well regulated rules, than when they | mote fermentation, and twice as much damp peat, sods, | which that same man would receive 12s. to 15s. weekly. | 
accidentally meet and exchange ideasin a eursory manner. | or sawdust, to retain the ammonia as generated, it will! A good deal depends on the neighbourhood of a good | 
Take an instance—the next subject for disenssion which | eeonomise his material and give a mixture not too| market for labour, such as, at present, South 
will be brought forward by my friend Mr, Robson, will | strong for drilling with seed. A quantity of gypsum,| Wales and other manufacturing districts are.] 
here meet with an investigation very different to what | equal in weight to the fowls’ dung, will be, for most| Now the question to ask and answer is this: Can 
it would receive in a mere passing conversation, and | purposes, a further improvement ; say— any means be adopted to obviate the mischief and 
I have no doubt it will cause many of you to look | Fowls dung ++ 1 ewt. | Coalashes.. — .. 1yewt. hardships plained of? With confid: it may be 
over the best authors upon the subjeet, and it will per- BLA bone dust, ol GIPO Mu M : » replied, yes. Let us avail ourselves of the opportunity 
haps cause you to ask yourselves—Do I properlyunder-| y^p, "°° ** SAN A tt asic. offered in a redundant population, and apply the means, 
stand the practice of draining ? Have I already followed Smut in Wheat.—Some time back I observed the | 84pplicating at our very doors, in carryivg out the im- | 
the best methods! have I done it well and cheap? It subject of smut mentioned in your Gazette, and I was | Proved cul ivation of land, and turn useless capital into 
will make you ask yourself— Am I following the | jy hopes it would have been taken up and "thoroughly a remunerating market, for labour is the capital of the 
best meaus of tiling the land after being drained? | discussed. May I take the liberty to request you to | labourer, which he is compelled to lay up from his iso- | 
or do I require to change my plans? Am I following ' insert my experience and experiments with smut, and | lated position, and the door of speeulation being shut 
the most profitable system of cropping ? Am I sowing | my questions thereupon, trusting it may be the Pei n against him. It cannot be the dread of grain being too 
the proper quantities of seed? or applying the manures | of” exciting useful information. Several years ago, I cheap that prevents the employment of additional 
which will produce the largest return for my capital? began to bea Wheat grower on a very rich alluvial | labour, because the extra quantity of food produced ] 
Am I making such improvements as will keep pace with | goi] much embounded with hedges and hedgerow Elm | Would far outbalance the reduction of price, besides | 
the increasing demand for all kinds of farm produce? timber. At my commencement I first planted Beans and | Providing for the comfortable subsistence of our neigh- | 
These and many other ideas will and must occur to YoU, | had usually a good crop, which I followed with a single bours, which is of far more consequence, both in a 
and to every intelligent mind. And how are you most ploughing, sowing broadcastabout2 bushels peraere, Cone | oral and religious point of view, than the aggrandize- 
likely to obtain satisfactory answers to their questions. | Wheat ; to my Thokiftesuon and loss, it was frequently ment of one man. Keeping farm roads in repair is an 
Why, all you have to do is to originate a discussion on | thrown prostrate on the ground, and consequently it | essential piece of economy rarely attended to ; it should j| 
the subject at the club, and listen to the recommenda- yielded very inferior corn and generally very smutty. be recollected that a heavy draught causes a waste of | 
tion of your brother members, who may have proved Finding this slovenly way not answering, I tried other | Strength, in proportion to the exertion necessary to 
the best practice, or who may have ascertained the re- preparatory crops. such as Potatoes and Peas, which, | Move the load at a certain pace, and the horse requires | 
ceived theory. These are advantages which clubs pos- | peine well'elenned! during the time of growth, produced a greater we ght of food to supply sinew, bone, and 
sess over many other methods ob tiae information. |a fine seed-bed ; and, instead of sowing broadcast, Į | musele, to compensate for the loss sustained in pulling | 
And not only will the ad tage of this inter r ~ | drilled (without ploughing) in rows 9 inches apart, the cart over an uneven track ; thus abad road is more | 
cation be the bond of our union, but the pleasure also— about 4 pecks. From this mode I had much improve-|9Xpensive than a good one. The waste of time and | 
i.e. if I am any judge of what every one feels as a mem- | ment ; still my erop was smutty. Visiting the Cots. | money laid out in restoring harness, carts, &c., with the 
ber of a useful society, as having gained intelligence, or wold Hills, I was told if I sowed year-old seed I should | extra subsistence for animals, would more than meet 
as having added to the comforts or intelligence of others. | po free from smut; but here I was disappointed. the expences of keeping the roads in order, besides | 
I fearlessly add that farmers are free from the fault of | though not to the usual extent. I then began experi. saving the horses from the chance of illness from being | 
withholding or keeping back the results of their expe- menting, and I tried two years old seed—still, smut, | over-worked and over-heated.— Falcon. i 
rience from others; there is no narrow-minded jealousy | [ Phi diti seed which was clean, both of my own| Condition of Labourers’ Cottages.—The spread of f 
| in carrying on their business. , produce and foreign, enveloped in smut, and I have had | those evils which the working classes unhappily too 
Now, I believe that agricultural improvement, in | elean produce therefrom, and I have sown the seed | Much indulge in are, in a great measure, ascribed to 
breeding stock and growing corn has made rapid without enveloping, and I have had it smutty, and vice | their uncomfortable dwelling at home. In my own 
sirides. In 1845, one million and a quarter of | yerea, I have used blue and green vitriol ; sometimes | county, that of Berkshire, Mr. Parker, in Mr. Chad- 
money was expended in guano alone, and for many |I have been fortunate and sometimes otherwise. Now, | Wick’s * Sanatory Report,” observes that “ the floors of 
years previous to that large sums of money had been then, comes the question, What is smut? In sowing the cottages are laid with red tiles called * flats,’ or with 
expended on bone and other manures, yet I think much smut-balls with seed Wheat, how do they affect the | bricks of a remarkably porous quality, and as each of 
remains to be done. And I believe that with deep crop only at the maturing of the seed? And how is it | these tiles or bricks will absorb half a pint of water, so 
ploughing, changing of seed, manuring oftener with | that in various instances we find only two or three | do they become the means by which vapour is gene- 
proper fertilisers, improved methods of feeding all grains smutty inan ear? Is smut a fungus! are the | rated. The cleanly hous&wife, who prides her-elf upon | 
domestie animals, all aided by: science, and more par- sporules annuals ? and, if so, may they not germinate | the neat and fresh appearance of her cottage, pours | 
f 
[ ticularly chemical science, a knowledge of which is to and perfect in the corn in store, aud may they not again | Several pails of water upon the floor, and when she has 
be diffused by Farmers’ Clubs, will eventually make | and again fructify ? or may not smut be produced by | Completed her task with the besom, she proceeds to 1 
| our country the garden of the world. inferior seed corn, eonfined situation, badiy drained | remove with a mop ór flannel so much of the water as W 
What affords more pleasure than the business of the bottom, or by some atmospheric action à— C. the bricks have not absorbed. After having cleansed i 
farm ? and what is more likely to entice men of capital Town Sewerage.—In your Agricultural Gazette, for | the cottage, the fire is usually made up to prepare the 1 
than a profitable investment in a line of life where Jan. 31 (p. 76), you make the following communication : evening meal, and vapour is created by the action of j 
pleasure as well as profit are to be obtained? To gain | « Companies are being formed for ite bolas ion and | the heat on the saturated floor. Thus the means 
those advantages let us unite and endeavour to make | sale of town-sewerage man ires, and we shall soon direct | adopted to purify the apartment are equally as injurious i 
our Club the instrument by which to obtain them ; let | attention to their operations," Permit me to thank | to the health of the inmates as the filth and dirt, fre- i 
us act in concert, and then I have po doubt of our you, as a favour, for this notice. A greater boon can | quently too abundant in the cottages of labouring per- | 
Society becoming of great utility in diffusing agricul- hardly be offered us, if only the said companies will deal | sons.” In the adjoining county, Buckinghamshire, Mr. 
tural knowledge.— William Glover, Hon. Sec. with the publie honestly, and not mix up ingredients in | Parker observes the construction of the cottages is fre- I1 
their composts, which can do nothing but cause disap- | quently unwholesome. He says * the improper mate« i 
3 pointment. I am myself at the expense of drawing rials of which cottages are here built, and their defec- l 
“ome Correspondence. from a neighbouring town (I call it neighbouring, be- | tive construction, are also the frequent cause of the 
| The Best Wheats.—1t affords me much gratification | cause my nearest, although 10 miles distant) many haun- | serious indisposition of the inmates. Next to good | 
to see the article in the last Gazette from Mr. Gyde. | dred tons of manure, at a greater cost than the amount | drainage and thorough ventilation, the foundation of Wi 
| I did not make any remarks on the effeets of manures on | of my yearly rent ; and should hail with great satisfac. | à cottage is the most important consideration. A 
| the constituents of Wheat, being desirous to establish tion the prospect of being enabled to procure, in a con- | gentleman who has observed attentively the condition " 
| the previous faets, that the constituents of Wheat differ centrated form, a fertilising material which could be| of the dwellings of our labourers, prefers the Irish mud i 
Í in their proportions in different varieties, and that those | relied on as to genuineness, to save me some of this | cottages to many of them! At length Lord Lincoln’s | 
which contain the largest proportion of nutritive matter never-ending expense. Night-soil, desiccated, would, I | Bill contemplates taking a step in the right direetion.— f 
are not the best adapted for the ordinary process of | should suppose, answer the best to both the vendor and H 
aking. Whas are the best Wheats cannot be known | the consumer. And there can beno doubt but that any Savings’ Banks Improve theCondition of the Labourer. f 
but by means of analysis.; and that the patent process company who would sell at such a price as farmers | —1t has been remarked by an able writer, that of all | 
of baking secures to the consumer the largest amount | could use extensively an article of that description, and | the plans devised for beitering the condition of the | 
Of nutriment, is also a fact I wished to establish ; and | Jona fide none but that, would soon become known to labouring classes not one has so successfully promoted | 
Ma short time I shall be able to communicate some | the publie, through your pages, and other channels, and | that object as the establishment of savings’ banks 3 an | 
further information on that subject. To ascertain what | secure a trade that would neither fail them, nor be un- | assertion which long observation and past acquaintance | 
are the varieties of Wheat containing the largest pro- | remunerative. With a view of keeping this subject | with these institutions enable me to confirm. These H 
Portion of nutritive matter, is the first object. When alive, and under public observation, I ask the favour of | excellent economic institutions have created a habit of i 
We have found some of these, or even one, suitable to | your introducing the above remarks into your columns, | forethought and economy, a frame of mind disposed to 
our climate, then we may endeavour, by means of ma- | JF. P. L. regard a future and substantial benefit rather than a 
Lures, to increase the proportion of nutritive matter. Price of Labour, and Means of Employing it. V- ys t Let us illustrate this : it is | 
But it will surely be best to begin with those whieh, ing failed in persuading any individual to respond to my | too well known that many of the evils with which a | 
under ordinary circumstances, exhibit the highest qua- questions relative to the amount of wages paid to agri- | rural population is surrounded proceed chiefly from | 
lities. Mr. Gyde would confer a great favour on agri- | cultural labourers in the rural districts during the years | habits of sloth and intemperance, which produce impro- i 
culturists by communicating the results of his analyses, 1844 and 1845, I must make use of the materials I | vident habits and lead to want and mis ry, thus | 
T think it was formerly stated that all the Wheats. the | have at hand to show that my picture of ihe distress | casting a burden on the inhabitants of the district, A 
a analyses of which I published, grew together under existing amongst farm labourers was not overdrawn, I|penny will buy a pennyworth of beer, and a man may 
precisely the same circumstances of soil and climate. am far from wishing to exaggerate the poverty of my | spend it daily without thinking himself the worse for it; 
Unless that has been the case, comparative analyses | feliow creatures, but when 1 know thatthe wants of the | but as every penny saved tends to give a man the habit 
| are of little use in ascertaining the best variety. Such | working man might be alleviated, not only without in* | of saving pennies, so every penny spent in beer tends 
Comparisons could be best made on an experimental | juring the farmer, but with a positive benefit accruing | to cause him to spend more. Suppose, however, the 
farm, well conducted at the expense of a publie body, | trom the increased employment of the indigent but | penny only saved one year: will he squander this at 
or the Government; or, if the Editor of the Gazette willing population, I cannot refrain from raising my | the alehouse or in idle dissipation after resisting the 
Were to devote a small portion of his farm to this ob. | humble voice in attempting to point out the error | temptation through the year? Besides, after five years’ 
Ject, a good deal might be effected. — G. S. Mackenzie. | under which tenants act in refusing to make use of the | savings at the rate of a penny a day, the accumulation 
| Fowls’ Dung and Guano.—" A Tenant Farmer" in- | sinews of man as a means of more thoroughly tilling the | would enable a man to emigrate where he might, by 
|| Quires, in your last Number (p. 76), the chemical soil, and producing a greater weight of food for general | persevering industry, acquire enough to purchase a 
difference between fowls’ dung, salted, and guano. | consumption. To prove my statement as to the low/ piece of land, and, if blesssed with moderate length of 
i Agrecing in eontaining the powerful urinary matters, | point to which wages had fallen, I will refer to the words | life, he might be the cultivator of his own estate. But 
|j Wa solid form, which are voided liquid by cattle, they | of the labourers at the Goataere meeting, a more satis- | besides the cultivation of a disposition to save, he would 
i Still differ in relation to the food from which they are | factory proof to some of your readers than merely speik- | be secured from want in old age, when too many end 
excreted, The sea-fowl living mostly on fish its exere- ing from my own knowledge of facts ; however, I rust | their days in misery, a burden on their parish. I have j 
Ment is rich in phosphate of lime ; whilst the barn-yard | add that I can bring forward similar cases from sther | before me « A Friendly Address to the Prudent and 
x — 
fowl, feeding chiefly on seeds, its dung contains this im- | counties, The statements there-made are not si:gular | Industrious on the Ad ges-of Savings’ Banks,” dis- 
