170 
THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 
[Mar. 14, 
of Cirencester ; but T do not ‘consider myself to be ad- 
yoeating a cause ore whit less imp t, when I 
maintain it to be at least equally necessary to adapt to 
their legitimate ends the schools for the juvenile popu- 
lation of our rural distriets. We shall only reach the 
head of the man through that of the boy ; and when we 
see the astonishing tenacity with which the most anti- 
quated and irrational prejudices are kept up by that 
type of all mistaken consistency, the agricultural mind, 
we shall own the necessity of carrying on the conflict of 
improvement in this as well as in the other channels 
proposed. 
Lam not aw: 
the agricultur: 
any more informati 
ful mind than what 
of some of the 
history and natural 
delightful ramif 
rural schoo'mast 
be instilled into the youth- 
sary to ensure a knowledge 
t business. As for natural 
nce, with all their varied and 
s instances are most rare of the 
r troubling himself to make his 
en with their merest elements. 
i to the 
intimate acquaintance with her 
perations, and a facility in the prac- 
these principles, that the light of 
2 om the proceedings of his mature 
years those vulgar errors and destructive prejudices 
which withered in his forefathers the very soul of en- 
terprise. Far be it from me to underrate the difficul- 
ties attendi only wise course of instruction ; for 
experience, no | certain than painful, tells me the 
hardest battle the rural schoolmaster has to fight is 
with the ts, not with the pupils, who are always 
i enough to from pounds, shillings, and 
nieresting history of an animal, or the 
1 The course pursued must, there- 
d with a prudence and a circumspection 
tunately, interest has to play a strong 
cations of an 
, by the sure i 
study of Nature, 
structure of 
fore, be mar 
in which, u 
part. 
Of Bota 
it would not be necessary to impart a 
scientific a 
uaintance, much less a critical knowledge 
pecies ; but the Grasses ought to be we 
should the Clovers, many Crue 
ignorance of which is, at least, 
1 both Vegetable and Animal PI 
avticularly attended to. 
be learnt in a little time by a 
zy is so necessary that it must be learnt in 
if the farmer chooses to abhor books, he 
i eable lessons still from his 
nip-tops, his smutted Wheat, 
ses. 
1 
ious consideration ; here a 
rous thing, indeed, both to 
rather more than 
pocket an 
i from. an 
avera 
aequain 
It is 
wound a singl 
hoped that none of these remar: 
eling in the b 
vesin good company, that 
stands in decided need of some im- 
on to mental advaneeme 
dawned; the year 1849 is im- 
there a time when the farmer ha 
upon his own latent and almost 
nding. € 
been so driven 
al poliey of Great Britain will 
so revolu 
him to use 
dreamed of, or 
eule and to cond 
ondition of the farmer as to force 
ways and means he has neve: 
: only thoug 
mn.—. 
= 
e 
it and spoken of to ridi. 
Malleson, March 5. 
HOW CAN i PRODUCE OF LAND BE IN- 
CREASED TO MEET X FALL IN PRICE? 
uld be glad to receive my com- 
The report is very imper- 
fect ; still y ill be able to understand my object, 
viz, by soi the cattle, or house-feeding, to keep 
as large, or a larger stock than is now kept, and 
grow more corn than is now grown. Itis surprising 
the acreage ired for 12 to 14 milk-cows out of a 
farm of 100 : Richard Barker, Whitehaven. 
* How can the produce of land be increased to meet 
a fall in p RU first, by preserving all 
manures w ow run to waste, and increasing the 
efficacy of se manures. Secondly, by keeping the 
stock in the house all the year as far as possible, thereby 
producing more manure, decreasing the breadth of 
pasture-land on each farm, and increasing the breadth 
of green erop and white crop, these being the sourees 
whence the farme ays his rent. I shall confine myself 
as much as possible to authorities bearing on the ques- 
tions to satisfy you there are fair grounds for believing 
that by improved linsbandry an average price of 45s. 
per qr. for Wheat, with other products in proportion, 
would enable the farmer to pay his present rent and be 
better off than he now is with a price of 55s., by apply- 
ing the same and enterprise to land that is 
applied to manufaetures, ‘First, then, “ What is the 
value of the manures now wasted in this country ?” 
always like to give the opinions of other persons on 
You 
yo 
ments on our 
iling 
ua 
m 
,as well as a political economist, is 50 well 
known, I shall quote him as an authority for our in- 
creased wants. Hesays—* We have, according to the 
caleulations of the Poor Law Commissioners (on the 
sanitary eondition of the people), the fact that the 
inerease of the population in England is 230,000 per 
annum, and that this is an increase requiring annually 
tenements; 27,327 cattle ; 64,715 lambs; 70,319 
sheep ; and 7,894 calves, which is equal to the produce 
of 81,000 acres of pasture land ; and, at 56 oz. daily 
or a man, wife, and three children, 105,000 quarters 
of Wheat, equal to the produce of 28,058 aeres of land, 
at 30 bushels (which is more than the regular average) 
peracre. Being altogether the produce of 109,000 acres 
of good land required every year to feed the inerease of 
our population.” 
With respect to waste manures, which is the sub- 
ject on which we are now treating, Mr. Hannam 
says—* That the question of the economy of these 
matters is one at the present period of peculiar interest 
and importance, and will enable us, in some degree, to 
accomplish an object which we have shown to be of 
national importance —the production of a greater quan- 
tity offood at a less eost to the community than at 
present.” 
This is one means whereby the farmer may, in some 
degree, lessen his expences and inerease his returns If 
lam paying for that extra produce which I might by 
judicious economy obtain at no cost, and am in fact 
farming badly ; if I neglect the waste manures on my 
own farm and buy no other tillage, L am not producing 
as much as possible; and if I buy manure, I am not 
producing as cheaply as possib here is another item 
to which I might call your attention, that is the drai 
age of cattle sheds, which, says Davy—* Contains the 
essential elements of vegetables in a state of solution. 
s of urine will explain this ; thus, according 
to Sprengel, of 1000 parts of cow's urine, 926 are water, 
while of the remaining 74 parts, 40 parts are an organic 
substance, containing a large portion of nitrogen, which 
it affords the plants in the shape of ammonia." 
“ The greatest value of liquid,” says Liebig, “is when 
a manure is wanted which shall supply nitrogen to the 
soil”? And when we consider that, by every pound of 
ammonia which evaporates, a loss of 60 Ibs. of Wheat is 
sustained, and that with every pound of urine a pound of 
Wheatmight beproduced ; that each cow keptin the house 
would supply many hhds. annually, the indifference with 
which these liquid excrements are regarded is ineompre- 
hensible. The drainage from the manure heapsis scarcely 
less potent than that irom the sheds ; it is, however, cer- 
tainly not Jess valuable, as it consists of urine and 
a solution.of.the richest matter of the dung and com- 
post. Willit be believed that the manure heap loses 
no less than half of the fertilising properties, which, but 
for mismanagement, it would otherwise contain, The 
amount of loss which farmers sustain in this way is 
lamentable, Add to this the whole of the liquid, which 
is of more value, if properly applied, than the solid, as 
it contains twice the quantity of nitrogen and all the alka- 
line salts. The city of Strasburg, which is situated ina 
corn country, receives 12,0002, per annum, which is equal 
to 10s. per head upon the population. This ratio in Great 
Britain would amount to 13,500,0007., and on England 
alone to 7,500,0002 This is independent of the loss 
which is sustained in our farm-yards, which would 
amount to even a still greater sum. The amount and 
the quaiity of manure which might be obtained by the 
farmer from our gas works, would be something very 
considerable. There is no less than 7000 gallons of 
ammonial liquid annually thrown away at our gas- 
works, Abundant proofs might be given of this, but I 
trust that enough has been already supplied to satisfy 
you all that the annual loss which the country sus- 
tains in manure alone is immense and serio t 
when we consider the loss on applying the principle to 
the production of food, it appears still. greater, and I 
might rest the answer to the second question on the 
proofs already ‘adduced, as it is clear that loss of ma- 
nure is a loss of corn. Dr. Wilson, in his recent lec- 
ture, stated that three-quarters of the solid is lost from 
fermentation and wet, so that from out own farm- 
yards alone we lose more than would produce double 
the quantity of our present growth of Wheat. Are 
not these, then, worthy of our most serious considera- 
tion, sinee,. by attending to this single subjeet,; we 
should be able to {feed our population at such rates as 
would defy all the foreign competition that might be 
attempted! But as the second question comes more 
immediately home to the farmer, I must allude to it. 
I say then, having resolved to save all your manures, 
t^e system is incomplete unless you keep al! your stock 
in the house the year round, and till every acre of land 
(except where you have natural meadows that can be 
irrigated), to make it produee as large an amount of 
corn as possible forthe consumption of man, and an 
amount of green erop suffieient for double the number 
of cattle whieh you now keep. The author of * Outlines 
of Flemish Husbandry” says that, “ We {surpass the 
Flemish farmers greatly in capital, in varied implements 
of tillage, in the choice and breeding of cattle and sheep ; 
and the British farmer is, in general, a man of superior 
edueation to the Flemish peasant, but in the minute at- 
tention to the qualities of the soil, in the management 
and applieation of manures of different kinds, in the 
judicious succession of crops, and especially in the eco- 
subjects of such vital imptrtanes the one whieh T 
am attempting to diseuss; ‘and as Mr. Hannan has 
been engaged for a length of time in making practical | 
nomy of land, so:that every part of it shall be ina con- 
lit ‘State of production, we have still something to | 
learn from the Fleiings; but the auxiliavy of the! 
| experiments, and.as his general j udgment as a chemical Flemish farmer is the tank wherein are collected not 
only the liquid from the cows and horses, but also the 
drainings of the dung-hill? which, to the disgrace of 
ourselves as a people, are allowed to run down the ditches, 
fertilising, as they pass along, the ground which is appro- 
priated to no purpose. These tanks, which are about 
8 feet square, are frequently covered over with loose 
boards. The Flemish farmer would as soon think of dis- 
pensing with his plough as with his tank. The system 
of Flemish husbandry is well worthy of our attention : 
“The number of beasts fed on a farm of which the 
whole is arable land, is surprising to those who are not 
acquainted with the mode in which the food is prepared 
for the cattle. A beast for every 3 acres of land isa 
common proportion, and in very small occupations, 
where mueh spade husbandry is used, the proportion is 
still greater. In every farm a fifth at least of the land 
is sown with Turnips immediately after the harvest. 
Carrots, which have been sown in spring, either alone 
oramongst the Darley, Flax, or Colza, eomplete the 
winters provision.” 
Here we have a brief summary of the merits of 
Flemish husbandry. The cows are in the house all the 
year round, except perhaps on fine days for exercise. 
‘Two cows are kept for every 6 acres of land, that is, 
33 cows for each farm of 100 acres, and yet the land is 
all under the plough, and producing yearly heavy crops, 
maintained in his high condition by the liquid manure- 
tank and cart alone ; for they pay but little attention to 
solid manure such as we make, or rather it goes into 
the liquid as it is made, because they will not waste 
straw as bedding. Thisis an immense increase on the 
stock supported upon farms of the same extent in this 
country, and at the same time growing more corn ; but 
there is also another feature in their husbandry almost 
as important, which is, that they endeavour to obtain 
an extra crop from one portion of their land every year. 
As their cattle are supported through winter on roots 
and straw ( idering hay too expensi sow 
late Turnips and Rape or Vetches, “immediately after 
harvest.” - They also sow Carrots betwixt the rows 
of their Wheat and Flax—both drilled —and these 
crops pushed on with their “liquid,” yield a pro- 
duce that would surprise any farmer who has never 
used this manure. Their summer feed is almost uni- 
versaliy Clover. As I passed through the country from 
Brussels to Bruges in the month of October 1843, I saw 
Carrots and Cabbages growing whence crops had been 
taken, which very clearly shows that by growing more hay 
under a five-course rotation, our cattle would always be 
in good condition, our manure rich, and a large farm 
could be almost as easily managed as a small one. 
The small farmer might adopt the four-course rotation 
after his land was in good heart, and thereby increase 
his profit. It appears from the returns of nine farms 
in this neighbourhood that a stock of 12 to 14 eows and 
three or four horses are kept for every 100 acres, re- 
quiring from 30 to 40 acres for pasture for their sup- 
port during the summer, and generally showing from 
8 to 12 acres lying in fallow. This quantity of land I con- 
ler to be altogether lost to the country ; our system 
ing shows only half the breadth of corn land 
farms ought to produce, and I maintain that 
by adopting the Flemish system of husbandry a stock of 
30 cows could be maintained on each farm of 100 acres, 
and the following crops of corn be grown inaddition :— 
Ist year ..20 acres Turnips, Mangold, and Carrots : ground 
well prepared in autumn. 
2nd year. .20 acres Wheat. 
3rd year . .20 acres Clover and Rye-gra: 
4th year . .20 acres ditto, with liquid manure, followed by 
winter Vetches and Rape. 
Oats with liquid. 
crop, and keeping a stock of 30 to 38 
5th year 
Producin| 
milk cows. 
ON THE 
20 acre; 
ac 
STATE OF HUSBANDRY IN LOWER 
BRITTANY. 
WITH INCIDENTAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE CONDITION OF 
THE FARMING POPULATION THERE, COMPARED WITH 
THE SOCIAL STATE OF THE ANALOGOUS CLASSES IN 
IRELAND. : 
MARTIN DOYLE. 
ued from p. 138 
Tur Breton proprietor is often an advocate for plant- 
ing trees, instead of pursuing a system of alternate 
cropping, and being ignorant of Turnip culture, as 
pursued inthe county of Norfolk, where much of the 
soil is naturally as light and poor as the average quality of 
the /andes of Brittany, and objecting that the cultivators 
themselves could not consume all the vegetables that 
might be raised on the moors if they were to crop 
them with Cabbages and Turnips, &c., asks what would 
become of the produce if there were no towns near, 
whose markets might require them? ‘fhe answer is, 
they might cultivate them for their cattle, create a 
consuming class on their own ground, and thus, would 
they be amply repaid in the increase of manure and 
multiplication of stock. In England and Ireland the 
commons and other waste lands are now absolutely 
required for raising vegetables and corn for the sup- 
port of man. The time will come when the extensive 
landes of Brittany may be wanted too in a degree which 
will not admit of their remaining waste. 
The government of Louis Philippe deeming it^ ex- 
pedient to reclaim these wastes, of which, by the statistic 
reports of Agricultural Societies and other authorities, 
three-fourths are fit for tillage, meadows, or plantations, 
have passed a law to allow the communes to alienate 
their rights of commonage (if they can be prevailed 
upon fo do so) with the approval of the Prefét of the 
department; and some individuals have succeeded in 
prevailing ou thuse parochial eorporations to sell their 
