j 
7.—1846.] 
THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE, 109 
which our soils supply ? 
farmers should be able to select the best varieties of seed, but 
really there is no information to guide him. There is mone 
but what Sir G. Mackenzie has given us e referred to this 
subject some weeks ago, and hope to have the assista 
ur correspondents in keeping it before our reader: 
Farmers! Clubs would earefully consider tho matter they 
find their interest inging i 
great national Agricultur 
2 
1 importance, and so com- 
iuf ion is so much 
e refer all secretaries who may wish to bring this subject 
forward, to "ie wil 
the choice of Wheat : 
Mackenzie, Bart. Simpkin and Ma: 
GuznwsEv : Extraordinary Produce of Wheat.— At 
the exhibition of the Royal Soeiety of Agriculture, which 
took place on the 19th ult., Mr. Blondel, of the Frie 
-Báton, exhibited a sample of Wheat from one of his 
fields, the produee of which was at the rate of 92 
imperial quarters per English acre! Believing that 
there is no example on record of a similar quantity 
of Wheat per acre having been obtained, and being de- 
sirous of learning the circumstances under which this 
ecte 
S 0 
r Seed,” a pamphlet by Sir G. 8. 
rall. 
Sh 
xtraordinary produce had been grown, we applied. to 
Mr. Blondel for information on this subjeet, and in con- 
sequence received from him the following note :—* The 
field on whieh the Wheat was grown was let by me, in 
1839, for five years, having then been 15 years in Lu- 
cerne, My tenant ploughed it up ; but he neglected it 
so much during the whole term of the lease, that he 
barely obtained from it sufficient to pay the rent; and 
many persons who were not aware of the nature of the 
soil, seeing the. badness of the crops, declared the land 
worthless. hen, however, on the expiration of the 
lease, in 1944, I obtained repossession of the field, I was 
determined to show that it was owing to the want of 
manure and proper management, and not to the quality 
of the soil, that it was unproductive. A part of the 
field being wet, I drained it; and then, manuring it 
well with sea-weed, sea-weed ashes, and Stable-dung, I 
sowed it with Parsnips and Potatoes, of both of which 
Ihad a geod crop. In the autumn of the same year I 
again manured a vergée, or Guernsey acre, of this field, 
partly with sea-weed ashes and partly with guano, and 
sowed it with 701bs. Guernsey weight, or 77 Ihs. En- 
glish, of red Wheat; and the crop yielded as follows : 
535 sheaves, which gave 2675 lbs. of straw, and 1626 lbs, 
of grain, equal to 9 quarters and 28 bushels. The land 
is a stiff heavy loam.—John Blondel, Frie Baton.” 
Tn reference to the figures in the above Statement, it is 
to be observed that 102ibs. Guernsey are equal to 
112}bs. English ; and that the Guernsey quarter bears 
the same proportion to the imperial as the Guernsey 
acre does to the English ; consequently the above pro- 
duee of 93 Guernsey quarters to the vergée or acre, is 
equivalent to 93 imperial quarters to the English acre, 
We may here mention that, at the exhibition samples 
of Wheat were produced from fields which had yielded 
at the rate of 8, 7, aud 6 qrs, per acre.— Guernsey Star, 
= 
Farm Memoranda. 
Svrrox Warpron: mue Farms or tue Rev. A. 
HuxrAnLE, — [We take the following notes of a 
visit to these farms from the Sherborne Journal.]— 
Publie attention having been much exeited during 
the last few months by the frequent mention at agri- 
cultural dinners of the name of the Rev. A. Hux- 
fable; and the advice to visit his farms at Sutton 
having been again and again reiterated by gentlemen 
Who had seen them, we considered that a familiar de- 
Seription of those farms, together with an account of 
the new modes and systems adopted by Mr. Huxtable, 
Would be very acceptable to our readers, and accord- 
ingly, the rev. gentleman having given a very kind and 
ready invitation, in reply to an intimation of our wishes, 
We proceeded on the 5th instant to fulfil the visit of 
Which we now proceed to give an account. Mr. Hux- 
table occupies two farms—the Hill Farm and the Vale 
Farm the former being upon chalk, the Jatter on clay, 
and lying at a distance of three miles from each other, 
‘The Hill Farm of 135 acres was taken about two years 
since, when to the larger portion (about 60 acres being 
fair average down land) might well be applied the for- 
subsoiling and top-dressing could not make it produe- 
, In fact, it was then a portion of the most barren 
land in Cranborne Chase. It principally consisted of 
down of the poorest character, encumbered with stunted 
coppice wood, furze, and brambles, a portion of which 
is still left as a Sample ; and, in addition, was situated 
on such steep acclivities that it appeared well worth the 
Whole price of the crops that could be grown there to 
plant and gather them. Certainly, if anything can 
heighten the pleasing reflections with which Mr, Hux- 
table must regard the results of his labours, it is the 
then sow the coppice land half with’ Peas and half 
with Rape. The Peas were carted away, and the Rape 
fed off by sheep ; but it is rather remarkable, that by 
the application of 2 ewt. of guano to the land on 
which Peas had been grown, it was vendered more pro- 
ductive for Wheat than the land fed off by the sheep — 
& fact which may surprise those of our readers who pin 
their faith to the virtues of fold manu The land was 
then set to Wheat, and produced a fair average ; of the 
remainder, about 50 acres were sown with Swedes. 
On part of this fam are 5 acres of extremely barren 
land, called by Mr. Huxtable “his experimental hill.” 
On this land were grown the Swede Turnips of which 
an account was given at the Sturminster and Blandford 
dinners. We walked over it, and were as much sur- 
prised at the enormous dimensions of the Turnips, as at 
the stony, barren-looking soil on which they grew. 
From this land 21 tons of Swedes per acre have been 
obtained, and in proof of Mr. Huxtable’s assertion that 
he could grow a crop in a hole cut in a table, we may 
mention that we saw some of his finest Turnips growing 
in a hedge-furrow from whence the little quantity of 
soil originally found had been thrown to form a bank. 
Thus on flints and chalk (for those were all that could 
be observed) were grown a sample of Turnips that 
might challenge the produce of the richest lands in the 
county. These Turnips are the staple food used for 
the stock on the farm, and which, as they are treated 
in a somewhat different manner than us l, deserve a 
special notice. The sheep and oxen are fattened in 
sheds thickly thatched, the windward side being stopped 
up with turf, and the other penned with hurdles— 
through which sufficient air penetrates. The sheep sheds 
are very simple erections put together by the laboure 
on the farm. The following description of them was 
given by the rev. gentleman himself in a letter to J. W. 
Childers, Esq., M.P., containcd in the * Journal of the 
Royal Agricultural Society,” vol. vi, part. 1. :—“A 
couple off Fir-poles, 12 feet long, are nailed together at 
the top ; their extremities, at a distance of 15 feet, are 
driven into the ground ; another couple, 10 ft. distant, 
are united with this, and held firm by a ridge-pole 
nailed into and lyimg between the tops of the Fir-poles. 
Side pieces are. nailed parallel to the ridge-pole, and 
small Hazel-wood is interlaced so as to support the 
thatch, which a labourer ties on with tar-twine. The 
thatch in front and behind reaches to about three feet 
from the ground ; behind, a bank of turf is rais 
meet the thatch ; the front is guarded by a hurdle, 
moveable at pleasure, to allow the sheep to go into the 
court, which is of the same size as the shed. It is im- 
portant that both ends of the shed should be protected 
with bavins only, which will sceure a free ventilation 
yet keep out rain, My sheds about 50 feet long (not 
charging the straw), eost about 41s.each. These sheds 
S 
Sight of the land which he has cultivated, but which in 
the onset would have frightened many less enterprising 
farmers than himself, The soil was so scanty, that 
here and there the substratum of chalk peeped through 
the green sward like the limbs of a beggar through m 
Tagged garments, and where there was soil it was not 
More than 21 inches thick. r. Huxtable’s first step 
Was to grub up the roots and barn the surface, at 
ld 
are covered with one-inch boards, separated (each 
strip from the other), by 3-inch interval The cost of 
the timber and mode of preparing the floor. were as 
follows :—White Pine-timber was used for its: c^ eap- 
ness, being 1s. 3d. the cube foot, which would therefore 
give 11 one-inch boards. On account of the particular 
width of the logs which I bought, the board was sawn 
into pieces seven inches broad and one inch thick, 
These, for eeonomy, are hand-sawn into three parts, and 
are nailed upon joists at a distance of 3-ineh. By this 
plan nearly one-third of timber is saved ; so that each 
sheep, requiring 9 feet of space, lies actually on 6 feet 
of one-inch board. The cost of timber for joists, nails, 
and earpenter's work, raises the total expense of placing 
the sheep on boards to ls. 4d. per head.” We may re- 
mark that these sheds have since been considerably im- 
proved by the addition of a gangway in tlie middle, 
along which a man passes to feed the sheep without (as 
before), being obliged to get into their pens and disturb 
them, The animals stand entirely on rafters placed 
about an inch apart, and thus allowing an aperture 
through whieh the dung and urine pass. Under these 
rafters is a small pit containing sawdust or burnt earth, 
burnt clay, ashes, or any other porous material which 
absorbs the salts of the manure. These pits are 
calculated to hold as much manure as will accumulate 
in three months—the time given for fattening— 
when the sheep are sold off and the pits emptied. 
The beasts stand only partly on these rafters, their fore 
feet resting upon sand or sawdust (in the absence of 
sawdust Mr. Huxtable recommends chopped straw). 
As these animals are, unlike the sheep, fastened to their 
mangers, it is not necessary that their floors should be 
entirely of wood. The shee 
superiority of this plan of keeping stock cons 
in the cleanliness of the animal; and secondly, in the 
preservation of the manure without the slightest waste 
of any of those essentials, whether solid or liquid, whieh 
escape in the usual method of fattening stock. The 
manure, after removal, is taken to caves scooped out 
of the chalk, being about 50 feet long, 9 wide, and 9 
deep, and thatched over; here it is mixed with dry 
clay or ashes, and left until required to drill with green 
crops, or to sow broadcast with corn. The various 
liquid matters that accumulate on a farm, (excepting 
those that have been alrendy mentioned,) are conveyed 
to a large tank under ground, from whence they are 
pumped up when required, Our readers may recol- 
lect a reference made at Sturminster to the value of 
dead horses reduced with sulphuric acid as manure. 
We were not fortunate enough to visit the farms at. a 
time when this process was going on, but we witnessed 
"Thus, on an improved system 
of farming, the very pests and Scourges of the farmer 
poured over 
chopped straw, with Barley or Pea-meal is daily 
The mows and ricks in the yard. 
are raised above the ground by brick pillars, and the 
earth being dug out between, space is thus afforded for 
waggons, carts, dry manure, &c. Under one of 
those mows, of not unusual dimensions, we saw two 
waggons aud a cart, and under another a large quantity 
of ashes, Besides economising the ground of a home- 
stead by this contrivance the cost of a waggon-house is 
altogether avoided, whilst the contents of the rick are 
preserved from the ravages of vermin. The barn- 
doors, instead of turning upon hinges, are drawn back 
upon iron slides, by which arrangement the effect of the 
wind, which is here sometimes very high, is greatly 
checked. The Vale Farm, of 95 acres, of which 4 acres 
are coppice, was a poor dairy farm when taken by Mr. 
PS Here are a number of eattle-sheds, similar 
to those at the Hill Farm, and several pig-houses, 
wherein these animals run about on sawdust, which 
plan renders the contrivances in the sheep and beast 
floors unnecessary. There is also, as at the other farm, 
a steaming apparatus, having attached two coppers, 
into each of which is fitted another copper. The steam 
is civeulated round the inner copper, raising the water- 
in it to a boiling heat ; and, by a simple contrivance, 
the steam can be immediately drawn off from one to 
the other of these coppers ; so that as soon as Linseed 
has been boiled in one, the steaming of Potatoes, or any 
other article, can be immediately commenced in the 
other, In these utensils Linseed, Potatoes, and chopped 
Swedes, are prepared. In 1814, Mr. Huxtable de- 
ailed at Sturminster the results of experiments in 
pickling Carrots and Mangold Wurzel tops. The 
Carrot-top experiment has answered perfectly, but sub- 
sequent trials have proved the failure of the Mangold 
Wurzel. Mr. H.'s opinion is, that in air and water- 
tight eaves the system would answer perfectly ; 
but he considers that the most econonsical use 
of these tops is their consumption, whilst green, 
by milch cows and breeding ewes, to both of 
which the large quantity of phosphates the tops con- 
tain is eminently serviceable. y the horse power 
which drives the thrashing-machine, a band attached 
to a drum cylinder is set in motion, and by this no less 
than three other machines are worked, viz., a chaff- 
cutter, a Bean-crusher, and a linseed-crusher (on Earl 
Duceie’s principle). These drop their produce through 
poekets into proper receptacles in the floor below. 
This farm, when taken by Mr. Huxtable, was, with the 
exception of 10 arable acres and a five acré coppice, 
wholly pasture—undrained—and let at only 807. per 
year. It has been thoroughly drained by 'tile, drains, 
put in 3 feet deep, and placed a perch and a half apart 
down the furrows, on Mr. Smith, of Deanston's plan. 
By the aid of this, and the home-manufaetured manures, 
something that will astonish the incredulous sti!l more, 
an average erop of Swedes has been grown even after 
two crops of Clover had been fed off the same year. 
The present stock maintained on the 230 acres of Jand 
consist of 31 fatting beasts, 400 fatting sheep, 240 breed- 
ing ewes, and 50 pigs. These are the numbers of stock 
at present kept on the farms, but Mr. H. calculates. 
that the supply of roots now existing would carry nearly 
double the quantity, which are to be provided as soon 
as the necessary buildings are completed. Asa proof 
that their novel mode of feeding do not deteriorate 
their quality, it may be mentioned that a pen of | 
wethers, purchased at Wilton fair, at 36s. a head, and 
kept in sheds for 11 weeks were sold to the butcher on. 
the day of our visit at 56s. It would be an act of in- 
gratitude to omit to acknowledge the kind and hospi- 
table reception we received —the perfect openness with 
which every thing was shown, and the readiness and 
courtesy with which the required information was given. 
.. Sücbítfns. 
The Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal, 
No. 79. 
ngmans. 
Wr just notice the current Number of this valuable 
periodical for the purpose of referring to one paper in 
it—that by Dr. Fyfe on what has been called Electro- 
Culture. The crop subjected to experiment was Cab- 
bages, and both Dr. Forster’s mode of conducting it 
was adopted and that method which has also been very 
generally tried of subjecting the plants to the action of 
a galvanic current, ‘The land was garden ground, ang 
the method of estimating the progress of the plants was 
the somewhat ingenious and very fair one of letting 
the gardener, in ignorance of all the experiments 
which were proceeding, cut! the Cabbages for the use 
of the house as they successively ripened. The following 
is the record of his proceedings :—27th June, Cab- 
bages cut from 6, 7, 8 (within the section acted 0n) ; 
30th, 1 cut from 3 (without) ; 8th July, many within 
the quadrangle not so far forward as those of 3 ; cut 
2 plants from 3 (without). At this time the gardener 
who prepared the ground and put in the plants, and 
who was not aware how the wire was situated, was 
requested to inspect the plants, and to report as to 
their condition. His report bears that many in 3 
(without) were farther forward, and better Cabbages 
than many of those in the rows from 4 to 9 (within)— 
