i 
8.—1846.] 
THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE, 
123 
your Journal on the use of superphosphate of lime as 
a manure. That it is a highly valuable one.I have 
already tested by my own experience, though for Tur- 
nips I do not consider it so efficacious as guano. Last 
year I tried it side by side with guano, as a top-dressing 
for Wheat, and the effect. produced was as nearly alike 
as possible ; both answered well. For Swedes, on the 
contrary, the result was very different. T set apart 
3 acres in a field of similar quality, and divided them 
into three equal portions: on the first I used 4 ewt. 
of the best Ichaboe guano; on the second 5 ewt. of 
superphosphate of lime; and on the third 5 ewt. of 
Boast’s inorganie manure. Each lot was mixed with 
10 bushels of ashes, and drilled below the seed. During 
the first six weeks, the two latter kept ahead, when the 
guano portion overtook them, and very soon far sur- 
passed them in growth. There is now an excellent 
crop upon all three pieces, but in the guano aere the 
Swedes are immensely large, and much superior to the 
perphosphate—i proporti at least five to 
four, whilst the latter is perceptibly better than Boast’s 
inorganic. My own opinion is, that Turnips require a 
considerable portion of nitrogenous manure applied 
directly to the soil in the form of some ammoniacal 
compound, and I would therefore recommend the use of 
equal parts of guano and superphosphate as a dressing 
for Turnips ; though I myself prefer, in addition to a 
little guano, a mixture of partially decomposed bones, 
like that which I alluded to in my last letter ; in which, 
by-the-bye, I omitted to state that I covered the whole 
mixture with a layer of common salt, which after a 
short time became thoroughly consolidated by the in- 
ternal heat of the heap, and thus with the previous 
layers of gypsum and dry ashes prevented the escape 
of the gases, which had been let free during the decom- 
position of the bones.—J. M. Paine, Farnham. 
On Draining Stiff Clay.—1 have seen some state- 
ments of late of the comparatively small cost of draining 
heavy clay land ; which, however correct as applying 
to some peculiar conditions of soil, are in my humble 
opinion calculated generally to mislead. Mr. Mechi, 
to whom the agricultural public is under many obliga- 
gations for zealous and disinterested exertions, in the 
Agricultural Gazette of February 7th, informs us inan 
article on “Deep Draining Stiff Clays,” that he has 
drained 33 acres at a cost of 37. an acre; the drains 
5 feet deep, 33 fect asunder, and the whole expense of 
digging, placing the pipes, and filling in, not exceeding 
6d. per rod. The drainage, it would appear, had proved 
effectual. Now I do not mean for a moment to impugn 
th t of this st Mr. Mechi’s cha- 
racter, judging from his writings, is too frank and 
generous to admit the shadow of a suspicion to rest on 
his veracity. I would, however, respectfully ask Mr. M, 
Whether the soil in which these draining operations 
have been performed fairly comes under the designa- 
tion of a “stiff clay?” “I presume that it does not, 
Since he denominates it a brick earth, strongly impreg- 
nated with iron, The cost of making drains, it is un- 
necessary to say, is materially affected by the nature 
and composition of the subsoil. From my own experi- 
ence, now of some years standing, in draining adhesive 
clays, and the pretty extensive observations which I have 
made on the practice of others, I have been led to form 
a different conclusion to that of your correspondent, 
not only as to the cost, but as to the depth and distance 
of draining the heavier soils. I have never found 
drains, whatever their depth, so wide apart as 33 feet to 
© effectual in a subsoil of adhesive clay, so as to 
Secure a perfect uniform dryness throughout the entire 
area of the field ; which is of course the great object of 
thorough draining. Again, I have never yet seen 5 feet 
rains made for 64, a rod, nor do I believe that they ean 
be so made generally on any soil so as to secure good 
Workmanship and fair wages. The quantity of earth 
taken from a 5-feet drain is very great, and the labour 
of only filling in is considerable. I question whether 
those who talk and write about this cheap draining have 
any very definite notion how greatly the labour is in- 
creased in proportion to the depth. A good way of 
learning this problem practically is to dig out and fill in 
a few rods of deep drain one’s-self, I can say from ex- 
perience that it would be found in all cases very la- 
t ] l 
beds of varying strata, such as frequently occur on the 
Hastings sand formation, deeper draining is to be re- 
commended. My practice in such cases is to descend 
till an adhesive stratum is reached, say 5 or 6 feet, in 
this ease the drains may be safely put wider apart. I 
have observed this winter several Hop gardens resting 
on a clay subsoil,where perfect drainage is so necessary, 
whieh have been drained 4 feet deep in every fourih 
alley, that is 24 feet apart, whieh, however, plainly in- 
dicate that to secure uniform dryness, just double the 
quanty of drains is required ; and I have yet to learn 
that in such soils deeper drains would materially alter 
the case. There appears to be, in the present day, a 
disposition to push even sound principles to an injurious 
extreme, and to make draining merely cheap, while the 
chief object should be to render it effective. All saving 
apart from this latter consideration is a false economy. 
I have just been calculating the cost of some draining 
which I completed a few days since. Tt is as follows :— 
5 feet deep, for labour, 94d.; 4 feet, 72d.; 31 feet, 51d. 
per rod of 16} feet. The subsoil alternates with clay, 
hard sand, and both light and stiff loam. There were 
but few stones, but some of the sand required the pick- 
axe, and in some places the clay was so compressed 
that it was difficult to dig. At these rates the best 
workmen averaged only 2s. 3d. a day. The drains were 
laid with pipes 1} inch diameter, cost 16s. a thousand, 
from 16 to 21 feet apart. It would much assist the 
cause of agricultural improvement, if practical men in 
different parts of the kingdom would eommunieate fully 
their experience in draining, in the columns of the 
Agricultural Gagette.—G. Buckland, Benenden, Kent. 
[We hope the suggestion with which our respected 
correspondent concludes will not be allowed to drop.] 
Forking.—1 believe **Subsoil? will find both a draw- 
ing and description of the fork which he wishes to use 
in the Agricultural Gaze:te of the 13th Dec., 1845. 
We here republish the woodcut referred to.] The 
blaeksmith in an adjoining village manufactures them 
for this neighbourhood, and I consider he has made a 
saan be 
orious, and in wet’ cold weather mely unp , 
and not tended wii iderable risk to health. A 
good drainer, I have always maintained, ought to 
earn at least half-a-crown a day. It was formerly the 
PRU in the Weald of Kent not to drain more than 
Aie 30 inches deep on clay soils, at a cost for 
pesi DS perrod. Oflate, draining has been done 
1 *ably cheaper, and with satisfactory results. The 
usual cost of cutting and filling in drains in this district 
may be Stated as follows:—Drains 3 fect deep, from 
4d. to Suis 4 feet, from 6d. to 7d.3 5 feet, from 8d. to 
9d, per rod. Of course this price varies according to 
the composition of the subsoil, but the above may be 
taken asa sort of average, T prefer, on soils resting 
upon a thick, uniform substratum of heav: clay, to cut 
the drains from 3 to 33 feet deep, and place them from 
14 to 18, or, at most, 20 feet asunder. I find this 
method secures a more uniform drainage than going 
deeper and wider apart. A drain has two duties to 
perform : Ist, to * draw” water, as it is termed ; 2nd, 
to convey it away in the speediest manner to the near- 
est outlet. On much of the land lying on the London, 
Weald, and Oxford clays,water will not readily “draw” 
More than 8 or 10 feet ; so that if it gravitates equally 
towards both sides of the drain, it follows that such 
drains ought not to be more than 16, or, at most, 2 
feet asunder, In subsoils alternating with several thin 
e 
p nt in them. There are three 
tines, which, instead of leaving square, he gives a sharp 
edge to the baek of, and this gives a facility-to its use 
on land that is at all sharp or stony. The lower end of 
the tines must be well steeled, and the handle longer 
and much stronger than that of a Potato-fork. If the 
information I refer to is not sufficient, I shall be very 
happy to communicate anything further that € Subsoil” 
may wish to know,.—Edward Wortley, Ridlington, 
Uppingham, 
White Turnips.—The following statement may be 
interesting to some of yourreaders. On the 4th of last 
November, Mr. V. (a land surveyor resident here) and 
myself, at the request of Mr, Middleton, weighed the 
Turnips off one rod of land on his farm at Blackwater, 
in the parish of Great Witehingham, Norfolk. We saw 
ihe Turnips pulled, and properly topped and tailed. 
There were 105 Turnips, which weighed 40 stones, 9Ibs., 
being at the rate of 40 tons, 124 ewt. per aere. i 
rows were 27 inches apart. ‘The whole field, between 
11 and 12 acres, appeared equally good. Some other 
parties made similar experiments on other parts of the 
field, and found the weight to be generally much the 
same as we did, This {farm came into the possession 
e 
of his old neighbours of the present improved appear- 
ance of the farm, and particularly of this excellent erop 
of Turnips, he was very incredulous : but when told 
which field produced it, he amazingly said—* Why that 
was the worst piece of land on the whole farm !? There 
ean be no doubt but that a similar judicious application 
of capital would produce results in many other instances 
—W. F. 
equally surprising to the same sort of peop! 
., the heat requi 
ing poultry artificially is 96° Fahr. ; i 
heat, never rising or falling more than a d 
a brood of upwards of 70 chickens was H 
60 years ago in London. Excess of h: 
injurious than a temporary diminution of i 
greatest difficulty in artificial hatching is the due regu- 
ation of evapo: 
I speak from experience, having had the m 
when a girl of an apparatus for hatching 
ferent birds—the common fowl, ducks, pea-fowl, guinea- 
fowl. We regulated the evaporation according as it 
appeared needful, on breaking an egg daily.— M. B. 
Particulars of an Experiment on Swedish Turnips 
at Sydenham, Devon, 1845.—The seed was Skirving’s, 
drilled at 27 inches interval. The manure placed in 
the rows, and the seed sown over it, with about 14 
Winchester bushels of mixed wood and coal ashes per 
acre, drilled in with the seed. 
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Observations.—No. 1 sown 26th May. No. 2 sown 28th: 
May. No. 3 sown 29th May. June 10th.—No. 1 well 
up, slightly touched by fly. No. 2 up and very fine witlz 
longer stalk. No. 3 not so well up. June 27th.— 
No. 1 not fit to hoe. No. 2, fit, but too wet. No. 3 
not fit to hoe. June 30th.—No. 1 partly hoed. No. 2 
‘hoed. No. 3 not fit to hoe. July Ist.—No. ¥ the re- 
mainder hoed. No. 2 still the strongest. No.3 hoed. 
July 14th and 15th.—No. 1 hoed a second time. No, 2 
ditto. July 16th—No. 3 hoed a second time, gaining. 
onl and 2, July 234.—No, 3 is now better than 1 
and 2. No. 3 continued the strongest plants till the ad 
of September or October, when a change in the leaf be- 
came apparent. No. 3 became more pale and sickly im 
the tops, so much go as to be plainly seen at a distance. 
There are more decayed Turnips in No. 3 than in the 
other two.—I. H. Tremayne, Heligan. 
Aftermath Hay.— Professor Johnston, in his lectures 
on eea One page 770, edition of 1844, 
gives a table by Boussingault, showing that aftermath 
hay contains a much larger proportion of nitrogen, for 
a given weight, than the first crop of hay of the season, 
and that, consequently, it is much more nutritious, This 
may be true in the feeding of stock, the muscular fibre 
of an animal requiring nitrogenised food for its support 
and increase, and my own experience proves that cattle 
may be kept in good condition, when fed on tbat alone, 
thatas the hay is changed from the first to the second 
crop of the season, both from the same land, the milk 
falls off in quantity, and vice versa. Ido not wish to- 
be understood as underrating the labours and researches 
of chemists; I estimate them very highly. My object 
is to induce practical men to make careful observations 
of the relative nutritiveness of different kinds of food Š 
and I have no doubt, if the results do in some cases differ 
and occupation of its present spirited proprietor five or 
six years since, 
in every respect. When the last tenant was told by one 
It was then in a wretched condition | 
from what might be expected from de bee en by 
the experimenta! chemist, he, calling phys to his 
on from the egg. I may tell you that - 
The soil a strong loam.. 
