156 THE 
AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 
[Man. 7, 
take place in the blood by having small-pox or measles, 
but we are sure there are changes, as the parties are 
no longer liable to infection ; that a change does occur 
from fermentation, I think is proved by the following 
facts. Let any one prepare a starch from sago, flour, 
or farina,and into that starch put a small quantity of 
unfermented flour whilst the starch is boiling, in a very 
few hours the starch will be decomposed and worthless, 
but if the same quantity of flour be taken from some 
that has been steeped in water and fermented asis usual 
in the cotton manufacture before it is converted into 
paste, the decomposition does not take place. Whilst I 
am on the subject of prejudices, I will mention another 
to which I would call the attention of your readers, but 
I fear with no more effect than will result from the 
attempt to induce them to use flour, which contains 
much gluten—it is the prejudice in favour of white 
veal ; this is carried to such an excess, in my opinion, 
that I doubt if one person in a thousand knows what the 
taste of veal really is in its natural state. To get it 
white the calves are bled (in many instances three or 
four times) to such an excess that they can scarcely 
stand after the operation ; and in addition to this they 
are kept in the dark and allowed to lick chalk, that the 
flesh may be as white as possible, although these pro- 
cesses rob the meat of all its flavour, as any one will 
soon discover if he will contrast and compare veal so 
prepared with some taken from a calf which has run 
wild in the fields, sucked its mother when it pleased, and 
never lost a drop of blood until it was killed ; why, one 
pound of it is worth a dozen of the other, and yet so 
strong is prejudice in this respect that the butchers 
assure me that the veal of a running calf can scarcely 
be sold except tothe poor. If I were alittle nearer you 
I would give you the opportunity of judging for yourself. 
—T.G. [As “T. G.” says, some of the changes in- 
volved in the ordinary manufacture of bread may be 
unknown ; but others are sufficiently well known. One 
of them is the absolute destruction of a portion of the 
flour which is used up in the formation of the gas 
by which the dough is puffed out, This loss is avoided 
in the patent process.] 
How can Landlords improve the Agriculture of their 
Estates 2—Some time ago Mr. Sturt is reported to have 
said at an agricultural meeting in Dorsetshire that he 
would willingly advance capital to those of his tenants 
who had not sufficient means to stock and cultivate 
their farms properly. Sir Robert Peel has, I think, 
recommended landlords to do the same thing, and it is 
very good advice to those who can follow it. It may be 
easy for those who have money to lend some ; but is 
this the most effectual way of assisting farmers? An 
advanee of capital in the shape of money has been often 
tried, and at least frequently without success. Now I 
have sometimes fhought that a landlord might supply 
histenant with sheep or other stock an ificial 
manure ; but I cannot point out how the parties ought 
to apportion the returns. If you will state the most 
effectual means of attaining so desirable an object, I 
think you will be doing a great and very general 
service,—* * [We should be inclined to answer the 
question by ding the loan of capital—not as a 
favour, but on terms which would obtain between one 
man of business and another—to those tenants who per- 
ceive the advantage of higher farming but want the 
means. And for the advantage of those tenants who 
do not recognise the importance and profits of higher 
farming we would advise the establishment of an exam- 
ple farm]. 
Indian Corn.—l was surprised to see in your Paper 
of Feb. 7, the statement of Mr. J. E. Rolls relative to 
Indian corn, repeated. Permit me to ask whether the 
letters signed “ Frumentum " in the Times newspaper 
in answer to the above (which had previously appeared) 
eame under your notice, as also the corroboration of 
“ Frumentum’s” assertion by General Napier! As 
an inhabitant of the parish in which the General lived 
10 years (to which place and period he alludes in his 
letter from Guernsey), I feel an interest in the subject, 
and am desirous that the publie should not be misled 
on the subject of Indian corn, If Mr. Rolls means 
Cobbett’s corn, the General proves that he grew it for 
10 years on the same plot of round (depending on 
intercultivation only for the healthiness of the succes- 
sive crops), strictly on Cobbett’s plan, and he asserts 
that at the end of 10 years his corn was finer than the 
original seed bought of Cobbett, If Mr. Rolls means a 
different species of Indian corn, it ought to be clearly 
stated ; but if not, then it is plain, as has been shown 
by others, that he forced the plants prematurely, and 
the first sharp night after he set them out in the open 
pone was fatal to their precocious state. Some notice 
rom you of the above point at this eventful time, when 
no needless alarm ought to be raised to the prejudice of 
a crop that may be useful to our farmers under the 
possibly altered features of agricultural industry, will 
be esteemed a favour.—G. W., Freshford, near Bath. 
[If the writer means that Indian corn can be profitably 
raised in this country, he is wholly wrong. Where are 
we to get the fierce American sun? We may ripen 
Indian corn in gardens sometimes, no doubt, but at 
what cost? The Channel Islands may be an exception, 
but we doubt it.] 
Road Making.—In a Notice to a Correspondent in 
last week’s Agricultural Gazette, I see you advise an 
enquirer to lay 3 or 4 inches of burnt clay as a founda- 
tion for 5 or 6 inches of gravel. Ilive on a clay sub- 
soil, and have to send four miles for gravel. I am now 
making some new roads, and find fetching the gravel is 
a very heavy expense, Will you inform me whether 
burnt clay will answer the purpose instead of so much 
gravel? Will it become muddy in wet weather ?— 
Clay Hall. [We imagine that burnt clay will not be 
a sufficient substitute for gravel, though, with a sub- 
stratum of it, less gravel will be required for the road. 
It should be burnt in stiff lumps, and then broken with | 
a hammer, 
Rooks.—In answer to an inquiry of “ R. W,” I can 
state'a friend of mine was anxious to establish some 
rooks near his house. A magpie came and built its 
nest. My friend obtained either four or five eggs from 
a neighbouring rookery, and put them in the magpie's 
nest in lieu of her own. She hatched them and reared 
them, and continued with them until the autumn. In 
the spring of the next year the magpies returned, when 
the rooks drove them away, established themselves, and 
now my friend has a considerable rookery.—A Sub- 
soriber. [We have received other letters recommend- 
ing “R. W.” to obtain old nests and place them in his 
Ash and Sycamore trees. ] 
Cutting Chaff answers admirably for manure, It 
instantly absorbs the liquid manure, and mixes inti- 
mately with the solid where trod, making a dense com- 
pact mass, requiring much less room and cartage, for a 
load of this is certainly equivalent to two of long loose 
strawy stuff. It is astonishing how small a space a 
truss of straw occupies when cut half inch ; of course 
there is just as much of it when cut as before, although 
some folks seem alarmed at the diminution in bulk. 
We cut with two-horse power and Wilkes’ (of Sheffield) 
cutter, We can cut 32 trusses per hour, but do cut 
about 22 to 26, at a common pace. I consider the cost 
of cutting is amply repaid by other saving. Of course 
decomposition proceeds more effectually ; there is less 
shaking, turning, &c., and far less waste by escape of 
ammonia than in large loose masses. In bedding our 
horses and cattle, we always put long straw over it to 
prevent their getting dirty by lying on the moist and 
filthy mass ; but for pigs this is unnecessary, as they 
will not dung near the bed.—JI. J. Mechi. 
Rp 
Dorieties. 
ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY or ENGLAND. 
A Monruty Counci was held at the Society’s house, 
in Hanover-square, on Wednesday last, the 4th of 
arch ; present, The Right Hon. Lord Portman, Pre- 
sident, in the chair ; Sir Charles Lemon, Bart., M.P. ; 
Sir John V. P. Johnstone, Bart., M.P. ; Col. Austen, 
.P.; S. Bennett, Esq.; W. R. Browne, Esq. ; Col. 
Challoner ; F. C. Cherry, Esq. ; J. W. Childers, Esq., 
M.P:; H. Gibbs, Esq. ; S. Grantham, Esq.; W. Fisher 
Hobbs, Esq.; John Kinder, Esq.; P. Pusey, Esq., 
M.P. ; F. Pym, Esq. ; Prof. Sewell; J. V. Shelley, Esq.; 
R. A. Slaney, Esq.; W. Cuthbertson, Esq.; A. E. 
Fuller, Esq., M.P.; Joseph Johnson, Esq.; James 
Marmont, Esq.; S. Solly, Esq. ; E. Tattersall, Esq. ; 
and T. Turner, Esq. 
The following new members were elected :— 
UE Albert, Steep Hill Castle, Newport, Isle of 
igh 
eae, Henry Porter, Calverton, Nottingham 
Smith, John, Goswick, Berwick-on-T weed 
Merrifield, Thomas Seare, Wainfleet, Lincolnshire 
Sankey, Richard, Nant, Holywell, Flintshire 
Hall, Henry, Neasdon, Willesden, Middlesex 
Roebuck, J. A., Milton, Christchurch, Hampshire 
Green, William George, Belford Villa, Belford, Northumber- 
Suns T, Low Trewitt, Rothbury, Northumberlan 
Fitz-Patrick, Richard Nelson, Granstown Manor, Queen's 
County, Ireland 
Cookson, John, Benwell House, Neweastle-on-Tyne 
Edwards, William, Brook House, Ross, Herefordshire 
Curteis, George, Canterbury 
The names of seven candidates for election at the 
next meeting were then read. 
FrANCES.— Colonel Austen, M.P., Chairman of the 
Finance Committee, presented to the Council the 
monthly Report of the state of the funds of the Society; 
from which it appeared, that stock to the amount of 
1200/7. having been sold out of the 3} per cents. to 
meet the inconvenience occasioned by the excess of 
payments over receipts on account of the Shrewsbury 
Meeting, the invested capital was reduced accordingly 
to 7000/. stock, with a current cash-balance in the 
bankers’ hands of (15897. The Council unanimously 
adopted this Report, and ordered that a letter should be 
addressed by the Chairman of the Committee to each 
member of the Society in arrear of his subscription, re- 
minding him of the and req g a re 
mittance of the amount by means of a post-office order 
made payable to the Secretary. 
Prize Essavs.—Mr. Pusey, M.P., Chairman of the 
Journal Committee, reported that 105 essays had been 
already received in competition for the prizes offered 
by the Society ; independently of those essays which 
are required to be sent in at a later period of the year ; 
namely, those on the Potato disease, by the 1st of June; 
those on the St. John's Day Rye, by the 1st of October ; 
and those on Peat Charcoal, as a manure, by the 1st of 
December next. 
AGRICULTURAL OCnEMISTRY.—Mr. Pusey, M.P., as 
Chairman of the Committee on the Analysis of the 
Ashes of Plants, then laid before the council the follow- 
ing Report of the Committee on that subject :— 
Report.—“ The Committee on the Analysis of the 
Ashes of Plants beg to report, that Professor Graham, 
to whom the design had been referred, waived the 
undertaking in behalf of Dr. Lyon Playfair, the Con- 
sulting Chemist of the Society, on that gentleman’s 
appointment as Chemist to the Museum of Economic 
Geology, to which office a Laboratory in London is 
attached. That Dr. Lyon Playfair, however, having 
re- 
been placed on several commissions under the crown, 
has not had time at his disposal for carrying out the 
Society’s views. That this delay has served greatly to 
strengthen the original grounds of the undertaking, 
since the hope then entertained; that after ascertaining 
those earthy materials of crops which are found in 
their ashes, we might employ the same chemical 
substances as artificial manures, has now been carried 
partially, and is likely to be carried more generally, into 
practice. That it is necessary, however, to obtain new 
analyses of these ashes, because differences are found 
in the results of former inquiries, which it is desirable 
to clear up, and to ascertain whether these differences 
have arisen from errors of the experimentalist, or from 
variations in soil, manure, or other causes affecting the 
produce itself, and consequently its mineral ingredients. 
That in order to secure the utmost attainable accuracy, 
Professor Liebig, who suggested this undertaking should 
now be consulted as to the methods by which it should 
be carried into effect, and requested to communicate his 
views to the Council, That the Committee reeommend 
the partition of th l ; and that application should 
in the first instance be made to those institutions which 
have already recognised agricultural chemistry as a 
distinet object of their researches. They therefore re- 
commend, that as the College of Chemistry has ap- 
pointed a Committee on Agrieultural Chemistry, en- 
quiry should be made on what terms a share of the 
analysis would be undertaken by that Society ; and that 
a similar enquiry should be made of the Agricultural 
College at C i They d that the 
names of several members eminent for their chemical 
aequirements should be added to the Committee." 
'This Report having been unanimously adopted, and 
agreeably with its recommendation, the names of Pro- 
fessor Liebig, Dr. Lyon Playfair, Dr. Daubeny, Pro- 
fessor Solly, and the Rev. A. Huxtable, added to the 
list of the Committee ; the following gentlemen were, 
on the motion of Mr. Pusey, M.P., elected Honorary 
Members of the Society, and also added subsequently 
to the Committee, namely, Professor Graham, Dr. 
Fownes, Dr. Wade, and Dr. Hofmann. 
A letter was then read from Dr. GARDNER, Secretary 
to the Royal College of Chemistry, communicating a 
suggestion from the Council of that body to the Council 
of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, that a 
ommittee of the Society should be appointed to confer 
with a Committee of the College, for the purpose of 
ascertaining the mode in which the prosecution o 
chemical inquiries, for agricultural purposes, as an 
object of common interest to both institutions, can be 
most efficiently carried out. The Council resolved that 
this suggestion should be referred to the Committee of 
Analysis, which should be authorised to communicate 
with the Committee of the Royal College of Chemistry 
on the subject. 
The Rev. A. HuxrABLE communicated, through Mr. 
Pusey, a letter substantiating the accuracy of his esti- 
mate of the expense of growing Turnips on barren land, 
chiefly with chemical articles ; the original pecking of 
the land having cost, not 6d., but 3d. only per rod. 
Country Merrines.—Mr. SHELLEY having reported 
to the Council the various results of the consideration 
of the General Newcastle Committee in reference to the 
arrangements for the ensuing county meeting of the 
Society, at that town, in the middle of July next, the 
Council decided generally on the following points :— 
1. That there shall be no Council Dinner this year. 
2. That a lecture on some subject of practical interest shall 
be delivered at Newcastle-on-Tyne at 5 o'clock on the 
afternoon of Wednesday the 15th of July. 
3. That the award of prizes by the judges shall be read at 8 
on the same evening. 
4. That the lecture-room shall be open to all members of the 
Society, on their being furnished with free tickets to be ob- 
tained at that period of the secretary. 
5. That all details on these points be left to the arrangement 
of the General Newcastle Committee. 
The Council then took into consideration the various 
offers made to the Society on the subject of the lecture 
to be delivered before the members at their ensuing 
county meeting. 
On the motion of Mr. Humphrey Gibbs, the following 
appointments for the meeting were confirmed :—viz. 
Director of the Show.—Mr. Brandreth Gibbs. 
Stewards of the Cattle Department.—Barl Spencer, Mr. Druce, 
Mr. Kinder. 5 
Stewards of the Implement Department.—Mr. Miles, M.P., Mr, 
Shelley. 
ey. 
The (eil having ordered that it be referred to the 
Rotation of Districts’ Committee, to take into consider- 
ation the expediency of holding the country meeting of 
the Society for 1847 in the South-Wales district, Mr. 
Pusey gave notice that he should bring that question 
before the Council at its next monthly meeting. 
Frax.—Mr. Pusey stated that it was the intention of 
the Journal committee, to take into consideration whe- 
ther it would not be desirable for the Society to offer a 
good prize on the subject of Flax cultivation. 
The following communications were then made to 
the most powerful microscope. 
8, Communications on the same subject from Mr, Fuller 
M.P, and Mr, Browne. 
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