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10.-——1846.1 
THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 
155 
terests. And now it devolvés on me to state my 
opinions as to the means of finding increased employ- 
ment, I conscicutiously believe that if all the land in 
s properly and profitably cultivated, 
there would at the present day be a very great insuf- 
ficiency of agricultural labourers, I shall commence 
with the root culture, and I challenge any practical 
farmer to ride through the more fertile districts of this 
county, without seeing a great annual loss in the 
Turnip-erops, arisiug from ineffectual tillage and the 
want of manual labour—a loss amounting on some 
farms to many tons per acre, which would more than 
repay the proper eultivation of the whole erop (manure 
excepted). A heavy crop of Turnips cannot now b 
grown where lind has been long cultivated with that 
k) without great care and trouble. 
J ' suppose that you have succeeded in pro- 
ducing from 20 to 30 tons per aere of Swedes. Let 
them at the proper season be removed from the soil, 
and carefully stored (except on those soils which re- 
quire feeding off). It matters not what season follows, 
Such a system iu the end invariably pays a good per 
centage for additional labour, enables you to get your 
Spring crops sown in due season, and, what is of equal 
importance, preseryes the rich and saccharine juices 
of the Turni now come to the method of con- 
suming these roots. Every farmer is become aware of 
the advantages of box or stall-feeding, but I regret that 
excellent system is not likely to become general amongst 
tenant-farmers without the assistance of their landlords, 
for the majority of farm-buildings in this neighbour- 
hood are now one of the chief obstacles to good farm- 
ing, being not only dilapidated but constructed in such 
a manner as tend more to the destruction than the pre- 
servation of tle manure. In feeding cattle I would re- 
commend every farmer to make himself acquainted with 
the valuable properties of Linseed, boiled and mixed 
with cut hay, straw, chaff, or other provenders ; it 
makes excellent food in addition to Turnips, is generally 
relished by all descriptions of stock, and enables him to 
eep an increased quantity ; but its advantages can 
only be fully and justly appreciated by its being carried 
out in practice. 
Next comes the management of the manure made 
from the root-erops, and notwithstanding all that has 
been said and written on this subject, the most barba- 
rous practices are still in existence. I have lately seen 
drains eut aer the manure in yards to facilitate the 
escape of surperfluous moisture arising from the want 
of spout around the buildings. Previously to carting 
out manure, a good compost or layer of earth should be 
formed to receive it to the depth of 18 or 20 inches, and 
when lime is u it should be twice carefully turned 
before Placing the manure upon it, for the good effects 
of lime are parii ally destroyed in forming composts, for 
Want of a more perfect incorporation of the materials, 
This done, I will suppose the manure intended for 
Turnips to be placed upon the compost, firmly pressed 
and well covered. Three weeks or à month before 
required for use the heap should be turned, mixing with 
it one-half of the compost, and again covering it over ; 
about ten’ days after it should be again turned, ever 
particle of manure being now separated and thoroughly 
mixed with the remaining compost. It is in a great 
measure from want of proper attention in this respect, 
combined with careless hoeing, that our Turnip fields 
so fre "esent such an irregularity of growth. 
lyour attention to the unprofitable man- 
eee Rack ne espe nis consumed. Where 
e ass 18 required for fattenin purposes it 
Tee Ns and mixed with a portion of boiled 
vane d d 2 le early part of the season it is ad- 
This ol Some dry provender with green food. 
is pam, more than all others (of consuming our 
Grasses), would Prove a great saving, and increase the 
demand for labour, ps i 
Capt. Matt: Not 
[3 
and Capabilities, oceu 
Cussion, without feeli 
any experiments he 
'S Neighbours, 
9, which is no 
but there E n; generally speaking, little attended to j 
Rev. Mr, Huxtable’ exception in thé farming of the 
farmer, and hag piat 
success. The down 1 ] 
valued at 25. Gd, ee ES 
most wretched condition for i 
wai ai i i 
he has expended more i 6007, ores s 
s you ma i r e 
table an enthusiast, but T cay EBENE yee db he a 
c ever, wh 
ease of chemistry, which is the ae 
e y ieultuw: 
and ave come from all 
darm, which I will 
He attributes his success 
ests his 
ut upon open 
3 Large sheds are erected for the ae holding 
aa 50 to 120 each, the largest being divided into pens 
x 10 each ; they are roofed in, with a passage up the 
entre for feeding. Under the splints, the floor, which 
is excavated, is well puddled with clay,so as not to 
absorb the urine, and covered with sawdust, burnt clay, 
or dry mould, which receives the droppings from the 
animals. This manure is not removed till the spring, 
when it is carted away in almost a solid state and drilled 
with the Turnips. The results have been most success- 
ful, both in the health and well-doing of the sheep, the 
return haying been nearly 2s. per head weekly upon 
each sheep. , The same system is pursued in fattening 
his beasts, no straw being used except to litter his cart- 
horses, the pigs laying on sawdust. By this means an 
extraordinary quantity of cattle are kept, 600 sheep 
have been fatted without the use of hay, the straw being 
cut into chaff with half a pint of Oats or Peas daily, 
over which ground boiling Linseed is poured, The 
liquid manure from the beasts is removed to a large 
covered tank from whence it is pumped and applied to 
the Grass land, or elsewhere. he result in the 
Turnip erop is very satisfaetory ; for by this system 
he has sueceeded in raising a crop of Swedes averaging 
nearly 25 tons per acre on one of the most barren hills 
in Dorsetshire, the most unlikely spots having been 
selected for the experiments, and I have scarcely seen 
a finer crop this year in Norfolk. This improved 
system of farming must of course employ a great many 
extra labourers. | I understand Mr. Huxtable was 
paying 127. a-week for labour on a farm not exceeding 
230 acres, but he assured me that he was prepared to 
prove that the demand for labour was profitably in- 
creased. And however ineredible it may appear, I 
have no reason to doubt the truth of these statements. 
At all events we ought all to be much indebted to 
Mr. Huxtable for making these experiments, for it 
plainly shows that capital may be applied, and labour 
profitably employed in an improved system of farm- 
ing ; and I think you will all allow that these experi- 
ments on growing are of the greatest value just now, 
when from the depreciation which may take’ place in 
the price of corn, the attention of the farmer must 
more than ever be dirécted to that which is the most 
important and the most profitable. Having thus 
endeavoured to show the benefits resulting from an 
improved system of farming, I must for oné moment 
reverse the picture, and point out the evils of the 
opposite system; and need not go far for an 
instance, as there are many to be found in that 
same county, Dorsetshire. In the vale of Black- 
more (a very few miles from Mr. Hüxtable's), a 
friend of mine has some farms quite saturated with 
water, which be proposed to one of his tenants to drain, 
either finding all the labour himself and charging 5 per 
cent., or finding the tiles if he would find labour. Both 
propositions were declined, as the farmer was per etly 
satisfied to goon as he had done for the last 4 ürs. 
Now, I would ask, is such a man fit to be a farmer? 
Do you think that sucli a man, even if our worst fears 
are realised, can possibly be benefited by such a 
system? Would he not reap 30 per cent. by laying out 
his 5 per cent. In other words, would not the supply 
of labour be profitably increased? Protection cer- 
tainly has not benefited, and never ean benefit such a 
man. And I fearhe'is by no means a solitary instance. 
But mark the consequences. Here is a man with the 
labourers around him, calling (as Mr. Huxtable has 
justly observed), for labour and for bread, and he re- 
fuses to employ them even when it might be done pro- 
fitably to himself, The labourer is willing and anxious 
to work, but there is no one to hire him. A large 
supply and nó demand ; and what is the consequence ? 
The labourer is half starved, the land is half cultivated; 
his miserable cottage and poverty-stricken appearance 
in many parts of the country too plainly show that the 
rate of wages is generally very far below the average of 
the best cultivated disíriets. It is evident that such a 
state of things must continue wherever such a miserable 
system prevails; the land must be cultivated, the tenant 
impoverished, the labourer degraded, untll the agricul- 
turist becomes persuaded, by the success of repeated 
experiments, that capital may be safely inyested, and 
that alteration in his praetice may be profitably made 
in order to meet the inereased demand for labour. 
A very animated discussion then ensued, respecting 
those circumstances which affected the price of labour, 
and the amount paid in this district. 
Mr. Thomas Cubitt, of Willm, had examined his 
labour account, and found that during the last 5 years his 
labourers had received more on an average than 12s. 
weekly, andhe thought the majority of farmers in this 
district would find their labour exceeded this sum. 
ome Correspondence: 
Superphosphate of Lime.—The remarkable increase of 
Wheat which has followed the employment of super- 
phosphate of lime, on the farm of Mr. Strouts, will pro- 
bably induce many agriculturists to use'it on their corn 
erops,in the hope of obtaining similar results. Having 
manufactured the substance for some years in very 
large quantities, and. also having. carefully notieed the 
effect produced by it upon a variety of soils and crops, 
I will venture to offer some remarks upon the subject, 
which will explain ing very satisfactory manner the 
discordant results which have attended its application to 
corn crops. I believe that it would be difficult for any 
one to point out an instance where the judicious em- 
ployment of superphosphate of lime upon the Turnip 
crop has failed to produce.a decided benefit ; but when 
applied to a corn crop, its effect has, been most irregu- 
lar. In, some instances the crop has been increased 
one-half, while, in others, a total want of effect has been 
the result of its application, Its constant effect upon 
Turnips, and partial effect upon grain crops, point out 
clearly that its action upon those plants must depend 
upon circumstances essentially different. The effect of 
superphosphate of lime upon corn crops (and the same 
is true with any mineral substance) depends entirely 
upon the amount of azotised matter in the soil. When 
a soil has been deprived of its organic matter by inju- 
dicious cropping, superphosphate of lime is incapable of 
increasing the produce of corn. I have at present 
a field on my farm which has been under experiment 
for some years. It yields annually a certain amount of 
Wheat, without any manure whatever ; but no amount 
or combination of inorganic substances is capable of 
adding to this yearly produce. The following "result 
will explain this :— Weight 
Grain. Straw.7of bshl. 
Annualproduceofsoil unmanured .. 923 1120  58y 
700 lbs. super-phosphate of lime. . 956 1116 — 58b 
630 lbs. super-phosphate of lime, 70 Ibs. 
sulphate of ammonia .. .. .. .. 1280 1368 62% 
By substituting 70 Ibs. of sulphate of ammonia for 
70 lbs. of super-phosphate of lime, we get an inerease 
of 334 Ibs of grain and 252 lbs. of straw, and the 
weight of the bushel has increased 4 Ibs, which shows 
how mucl the quality of the grain has improved. I 
have selected this experiment out of a multitude of 
others, all of which prove that increase of corn by 
means of mineral manures can only be obtained when 
the soil is rich in organic azotised matter. This 
fact, while it does great credit to Mr. Strout’s farming, 
sufficiently accounts for the little effect which others 
have obtained from the use of the superphosphate. I 
have long ago ceased to recommend this substance for 
corn, because I think the benefit derived from it is ofa 
very questionable nature. But those. who employ it 
must bear one thing in mind, that whatever increase of 
corn superphosphate of line produces, the whole must 
be consumed on the farm in addition to what is cus- 
tomary, otherwise the fertility of the soil will rapidly 
diminish. The azotised matter in a soil is very easily 
exhausted, but it is a work of time and expense to 
restore it again. The employ t of super-phosphat 
of lime upon the Turnip crop rests upon totally different 
grounds, and isnot liable to the same objections or abuse 
as in the case of corn. Turnips are always consumed 
on the farm, and he is the best farmer who can obtain 
the largest crop at the least expence. Rapidity of 
growth in the young plant is of essential importance, 
and super pl of lime*i inent in obtaining 
this. The Turnip moreover 
is p. 
is a plant which exposes a 
large surface of leaf to the atmosphere, and on this de- 
pends its power of obtaining azotised matter. I will 
now give the result of three years’ cultivation of Tur- 
nips, the whole of the produce being removed each 
year :— . 
Bulbs only. 
Tn. qi Tus. cwt. qrs. Ibs. 
Nomanure 4 3 3 2 
5 superphos, of lime 7 14 3 Nomanure 2 4 1 0 
ll superphos. oflime 14 0 0 Nomanure 0 9 0 24 
The amount of leaf removed was about half the 
weight of the bulb. We see here a striking difference 
between the Turnip and the Wheat plant ; one can sup- 
ply itself with organic matter from the atmosphere, 
when supplied with abundance of phosphates; to the 
other phosphates are useless, unless accompanied with 
azotised matter. A very remarkable fact is apparent 
upon looking at these Turnip experiments, namely—the 
vast amount of phosphates necessary to obtain the Tur- 
nips. The amount of phosphate of lime removed from 
the soil in the three crops I found by analysis not to 
exceed what was supplied in the superphosphate the 
first year.. And it will be found a rule without any ex- 
ception that the amount of phosphoric acid required to 
roduce a given weight of Turnips, increases in propor- 
tion as the soil is destitute of organic matter. cwt. ol 
super-phosphate of lime on one soil will produce a 
greater. weight of Turnips than 10 cwt. will upon 
another. | Whatever difficulty there may be in account- 
ing for this scientifically, the practical inference to be 
drawn from it is i that the « l appli- 
cation of mineral manures is limited to those crops 
which derive organic food from the atmosphere, and 
even in these its value is greatly reduced when the soil 
is deficient in vegetable matter.—J. B. Lawes. 
On the Value of Various Kinds of Wheat.—In one 
ox two of your recent Numbers you have published 
letters from Sir G. Mackenzie on the importance of 
determining the value of various kinds of Wheat b; 
the quantity of gluten contained in them ; subscribing 
most cordially to the truth of his observations, L would 
yet remark that he must overcome the prejudiee in 
favour of very white bread before he.can induce people 
to buy the strong Wheats in preference to the fine 
white. As far as my obseryations go some of the 
Wheats containing most gluten are red Wheats, and 
yet notwithstanding their strength the very white and 
fine skinned Wheats fetch a much higher price in any 
market in Great Britain, This may be regretted, but 
I don’t see how it is to be altered so long as appearance 
is preferred to intrinsic value.. Sir George seems to 
think that the patent.method of making bread is likely 
to supersede all others, and that good and bad flour 
will make equally light bread. This may be quite true, 
but I doubt whether. bread made in this way, will be 
equally wholesome, at all events I fancy that the sam: 
chemical changes will not take place in the flour whi 
occur in that fermented in the usual manner. I may 
be asked what are the chemical changes which take 
| place in fermented flour, and how I. know whether any 
| really take place at all. In reply, I say, that I no more 
know what the change is than l know what changes 
i 
ewt. 
4} superphos. of lime 
