tá — 
260 
THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 
[APRIL 18, 
Company" proposes at a cost surprisingly cheap com- 
pared with the conveyance of manure in the solid form. 
I think the landed interest should at the present time be 
alive to this most important subject. So much do I 
think of the advantages and value of this kind of manure 
that it is not improbable that I may have tanks in dif- 
ferent parts of my farm, cart the solid manure from m 
eattle-boxes in sheds, put it in the tanks (which should 
be covered), and convey the vegetable tea to the thirsty 
soil, sufficiently diluting it with water. I propose to 
convey it by pipes, as the best and cheapest method.— 
Agricola. 
On Manuring Meadow Land.—100 lbs. of hay con- 
tain—water, 1 s.; albumen, 8 lbs.; non-azotised 
matter, 684 Ibs.; and ashes, 7} lbs. (Dr. Playfair). 
100 parts of the ashes of meadow hay contain—silica, 
60.1; phosphate of lime, 16.1; perphosphate of iron, 
5.0; lime, 2.7 ; magnesia, 8.6 ; gypsum, 1.2 ; sulphate 
of potash, 2.2; carbonate of soda, 2.0; chloride of 
potassium, 1.3 ; loss, 0.8 (Haidlen). If the manure ap- 
plied does not restore to the soil all the ingredients re- 
moved in the ash of the hay, the land must sooner or 
later be exhausted, and sterility be the consequence ; if 
the land is naturally fertile the manure applied should 
not only contain all the above ingredients, but as near 
as may be in the above proportions, 
| M Ei 
vh dne: S| g 
A g ig gia yal slaja 
3 RE 5 $ 
Pace Bale d 
Mai e IEEE 
100 parts Ashes 
of Horse-dun 
contain 
son) > uenee. ee + $0.0 £1.25 100 
100 parts Ashes| 
f Cow-dung | 
(Haidlen)......|63.7| 20.9 | 8.5 | + | 3.1/1.3] 100 
150 parts Ashes 
of ITumanF:eces 
(Berzelius) . .. .|16.0}100.0 150 
100 parts Ashes 
of Wheat Straw 
_(Berthin). » $1.29. | ce 19,6 15:0 | 9.6. ms 
he urine of both man and beast consists, s ash, 
prineipally of urea, the salts of soda, potash, and am- 
monia ; also in that of the horse and cow of carbonate 
of lime, and in that of man of lactic acid. When it is 
eonsidered how much of the urine of animals is allowed 
to run to waste, we shall cease to wonder at the sur- 
prising effects occasionally produced by the application 
of the various salts. A careful examination of the 
above analyses will also impress on the farmer the pro- 
priety of varying his manures as much as possible. 
will also explain why, in the ease of the dairy counties, 
the application of bones (phosphate of lime) has been 
found to renovate the pastures in such a surprising 
manner; the small proportion of phosphates returned 
to the soilin the dung of the cow, their chief manure 
being readily accounted for when we refer to the analysis 
of milk, 1000 parts ^. milk yielded in one experiment 
67.7 parts ashes : in another 49 parts. 
00 parts of the ashes average 
Phosphate of lime and magne: 
Perphosphate of iron ... 
Salts.of soda and potash... 
The manure of all growing stock o be found to 
be wanting in phosphates, the food being comparatively 
} d of these ingredi enlarge the bones of 
the growing animal; on the other hand, the full-grown 
ox merely fattening will be found to yield in its manure 
a much larger proportion of phosphates than either the 
milch cow or the young bullock. The further applica- 
tion of the above I will now leave with your many 
readers.—G. B. C., Manchester, March 24. 
Horse Keep.—1 would like to see an article in your 
Journal on the comparative merits of Beans and Oats 
as food for horses, either mixed or otherwise. At pre- 
sent, a boll of good Beans (4 bushels) is worth 20s., 
and one of Oats, 16s. I find, by experience, that 
3 bushels of Beans broken, will bulk out to 4, of which 
the value will be 15s. They can be broken at any mill 
for ld. or lid. per bushel, and taking carriage into 
aecount, the expense will be about equal, bulk for bulk. 
Now, 3 bushels of Beans will weigh 14 stone, while 
4 bushels of Oats will only be 12 stone, or at most 
12i stone. What I wish to know is this: how much 
are the Beans better than the Oats? The price, ob- 
serve, is the same, ave known horses stand farm- 
work in summer on 2 bushels of Beans, whole (or 4 
broken) mixed with 8 bushels of coarse bran, and 
though they did not get fat, yet they remained in toler- 
ably fair condition. In my opinion, bran is little better 
than Wheat straw, so that the Beans alone must have 
done the work. The stock of horses on the farm of whieh 
I write, is heavy, and I will feel infinitely obliged could 
you, or any of your correspondents, answer my question. 
—J. A., Berwickshire. [We shall soon publish evi- 
dence on this point.] 
‘uano.—In a late Number you state that Messrs. 
Gibbs and Co. will not supply guano in a quantity less 
than 30 tons. Last October I applied to them, and 
they stated they did not supply less than 1 ton, and I 
had from them 2 tons, I believe that the price was 
10s. per ton less if 15 tons were taken, and lj. per ton 
less if 30 tons was the order.— Henry. 
Potato Disease.—Potatoes grown in my garden in 
pots, and from perfectly sound seed, as far as the eye 
could judge, have given way, first the leaf, and after- 
wards the stem becoming affected. The brown gan- 
grene had not shown itself on the tubers when I ex- 
amined them. I have had the stems of some of them 
n 
cut off to try the effeet, which was found to be so bene- 
fieial in many fields last autumn, aud on some of these 
the young leaves at the first joint seem to be growing 
fast. There are several sorts of Potatoes in frames, 
which as yet appear to be healthy, the stems having 
attained their full growth. In my fields I have had 
Potatoes planted in January, February, and March, 
both from whole and cut Potatoes. Although the land is 
heavy, and has, consequently, been moist during these 
months, the plants appear to be advancing satisfac- 
torily under ground. These have been planted both 
over and under manure. lam now preparing a field 
with the manure incorporated with the soil by frequent 
ploughings, and I have another field in preparation for 
Potatoes without manure, but in its stead I am to 
apply 150 bushels of lime per Scotch aere. The land 
is a rich alluvial soil.—John S. Richardson, Pilfour 
Castle, Perth, 
Potato Planting.—By some unaccountable fatuity, 
people in various parts of the kingdom seem to imagine 
that late kinds of Potatoes should be planted very late. 
Perhaps they should, for the market. Potatoes for 
seed, however, should not be selected from a sample 
grown for sale; and which may, to meet a given 
market, or rather price, be grown quite out of season, 
as regards the health and endurance of the future pro- 
geny. What would be thought of the gardener who 
made a point of planting his Dahlias, Gloxinias, or his 
Tropolums, in the end of May, or the early part of 
June, and even up to midsummer? Now, these, with 
the Potato, are all of South American origin; and, 
although not precisely like the Potato, in every respect, 
are amenable to the same general laws as to the im- 
portant principle of thorough ripening, rest, &c. &e. 
Late planting of the genera above-named might not 
show any extraordinary effects in the next generation, 
or for a few succeeding ones ; but certain it is that this 
downward eourse could not be long persisted in without 
some weakness, disease, or anomalism, presenting itself. 
To be sure, a gross appearance in the immature pro- 
geny may be kept up for a considerable time, by the 
application of manures ; and what is termed high culti- 
vation. But will it be contended that a gross habit, 
either in a plant or an animal (if I may be allowed to 
argue by analogy in this case), is at all times indicative 
of a robust and unimpaired constitution? To pursue 
the argument a little further, suppose that the South 
American tubers before-named, after abuse of that kind 
for a few generations, were to be subject annually to a 
most profuse sweating, or fermentation, of some 90? to 
100°, for a few weeks—at the very period at which 
nature had prescribed a rest, under a temperature in 
their own clime of 40° to 50?— could all this severe 
transgression of the laws of nature be expected to bear 
repetition for many generations, without some serious 
irregularity or disease presenting itself? In my opi- 
nion, the Potato has been endued with an extraordinary 
constitution to bear so long a series of accumulative 
evils ; although the common impression seems to be 
that it is very tender, and impatient of injury. If such 
be the ease, artificial treatment has made it so. 
One fact of considerable import, and bearing, as 
I conceive, on the principle of seed ripening, 
is, that whilst generation after gencration of the late 
kinds of Potatoes pass away, require change, or, as it 
is commonly termed, become * worn out,’ the old 
Ash-leaved Kidney, the early Shaws, the Champions, 
&e., stand their ground, and require little renewal. 
Now these latter kinds always ripen thoroughly, whereas 
the very late kinds, from late plantings, are whipped to 
death by the chilling blasts of October. Another cir- 
cumstance worthy of notice is, that the Irish Cups, and 
the Scotch Pink-Eyes are (at least in this part of the 
country) the most highly diseased, Now it is well 
known that these Potatoes are in this district the off- 
spring of imported seed, or at least the descendants of 
such. Imported Potatoes come over in great bodies, 
and undergo a degree of fermentation that would totally 
destroy the tubers of some plants, Does not this seem 
to point out that hereditary disease is engendered by 
high degrees of fermentation? Iam of opinion that 
the most exhausted, or “worn out” kind of Potato, 
would be fairly restored to its pristine vigour, if planted 
early, so as to be perfectly ripe, and so kept through the 
winter as neither to become dry or ferment for a 
moment. Those who advocated the using of unripe 
tubers during the great prevalence of “ the curl," some 
20 years ago, advocated that which perchance checked 
the curl, but led to even greater evils still, The prac- 
tice of the Edinburgh farmers, as to using unripe seed 
from the moors, and thereby avoiding the curl, is 
often quoted with an air of triumph by those who are 
wedded to the unripe system; but these gentlemen 
seem to forget that the plant on the moors, although 
apparently late, possesses much better elaborated juices 
than the highly manured plant of the lowlands. Let 
any one apply the criterion of wellripened wood, as 
understood by all good gardeners, to these growths 
respectively, and he will soon discover a much shorter 
joint in the moorland, or hill Potato, than in that of 
the lowland on highly manured ground. In conclu- 
sion, I would strongly advise all interested in tracing 
the present evil, to plant their late Potatoes by the 
early part of April, and thus endeavour to retrace those 
steps which have, as I think, led us up to the present 
serious disease. — Robert Errington, Oulton Park, 
March 17. 
Judicious Crossing of the Breed of Pigs.—Observing 
in a late Number of your excellent Paper some remarks 
on the Berkshire breed of Pigs, and on the crossing of 
pigs generally, 1 am induced to give you the result of 
my own observation, which shows how very important 
it is that the farmer and the cottager should be par- 
ticular in the breeding and purchase of their stores. 
I have had for some time a boar of a small breed (Lord 
Howe’s), The produce from the large sows of the 
distriet, prineipally the Tamworth breed, by this boar, 
is found to keep its size, while the quality is much 
improved, and the aptitude to fatten at any age in- 
creased. I bad a litter the last week in June, 1845, 
by this same boar, from a large sow purchased in the 
market; one of the litter I had killed at seven months 
old, weighing 12 score, another at eight months weigh- 
ing more than 13 score, after being fed at very little 
expense, and a third, eight months'and a few days old, 
weighed 18 score, l6 lbs. This last was fed by a 
cottager, who gave me 26s. for it at ten or eleven 
weeks old, and who tells me its allowanee for the last 
month previous to its being slaughtered was three pecks 
of meal a week with bran, and a few Potatoes. Up to 
that period it did not eat more than half the quantity. 
Should these particulars be likely to give a hint to any 
of your readers as to the judicious erossing of so valu- 
able an animal, I should be obliged by your insertion 
of them, even at the risk of detracting from the merits 
of the Berkshire breed which your correspondent tells 
us attain to “20 score at two years old."—South 
Derbyshire. 
Adulteration of Manure.—Your notice of this sub- 
ject will do us all good service. I lately had occasion 
to buy 100 qrs. of crushed bones, but I took the pre- 
caution to send the sample I obtained from one manu- 
faetory to a friend for examination; the answer I 
obtained was, “Your sample, weighing 2% oz. I have 
carefully examined, and after picking out the pieces of 
bone I find one-half to be rubbish, consisting of chalk, 
lime, and ashes."— W. S. 
Societies. 
HIGHLAND AND AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
Tux usual monthly mecting of this Society was held 
in the Museum on the Ist instant. Mr. BAILLIE, of 
Coulterallers, read the first paper—a communication 
on the present condition of farm servants in Scotland, 
by Mr. John Birss. Mr. Baillie stated that the paper 
was interesting not only from its contents, but from 
being the very creditable production of one who, hav- 
ing been himself an agricultural labourer, was well 
qualified to express an opinion as to the condition of 
that class. He acknowledges in the essay the great 
progress which of late years has been made in this 
country both in the science and the practice vf agricul- 
ture, the means actively adopted to disseminate inform- 
ation, and the readiness with which every suggested 
improyement is followed up; but he laments that the 
condition of the farm-servants is retrograding, e 
considers that their amelioration is chiefly to be looked 
for from the landed proprietors ; and he has been in- 
duced to bring the subject under the notice of the So- 
ciety, in the hope of calling attention to it. The great 
proportion of ploughmen and men of all work, particu- 
larly in the north of Scotland, are single men, few 
farms having cottage accommodation for families. The 
essayist enters minutely into a description of the treat- 
ment and habits of this class, and of the accommoda- 
tion afforded to them, the details of which he became 
acquainted with, to use his own expression, “by dear- 
bought experience.” The greatest neglect is evinced 
in providing anything like comfortable or decent sleep- 
ing accommodation for the servants in a farm-steading. 
Their dormitories are either in the stable loft, orin an 
outhouse ; in either case, the floor is covered with all 
the old lumber that accumulates about a farm, render- 
ing it a matter of impossibility to clean the apartment, 
and entailing on its pants all those itants of 
filth, which are graphically alluded to in the essay. In 
the stable loft the beds are placed under and so close 
to the beams, that a man can searcely creep into them; 
between them and the roof there is no covering except 
that of the spider. In front are the hay-racks, which 
in spring harbour creeping things innumerable ; while 
the effluvia of the horses ascending from the stable 
complete the discomforts of the bed-chamber. Mr. 
Birss considers, with some justice, that this particular 
part of the g of a fa: teading has been 
too much overlooked by the landed proprietors, and that 
in the erection of new buildings, all the improvements 
of the day are carefully attended to, with the exception 
of providing accommodation for the servants, properly 
ventilated and lighted, and so finished and arranged as 
to be kept in a state of cleanliness and'order, Of late 
years the condition of the farmer has undergone a con- 
siderable change, his social position is better, and the 
house accommodation afforded to him by his landlord 
is much improved. He consequently does not mix with 
his servants so much as in the olden times, and his 
evening is frequently spent with his family in the 
parlour. This change has had a bad effect on the moral 
tone and character of the servants. If they are riot- 
ously disposed, they are not under the restraint of their 
master’s presence, while, if they are inclined to read, 
the book-shelf is no longer an appendage of the kitchen, 
The essayist strikingly shows how much the farmer, 
for the sake of his family, is interested in having a 
moral and orderly set of servants ; he thinks that much 
might be done with very small means, by promoting 
the purchase of cheap instructive works—clearing some 
of the lumber from the sleeping places—placing in 
them one or two articles of furniture, so as to enable 
their inmates to read or write, and generally by en- 
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