19—1846.] 
THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 
305 
SALE OF DAIRY STOCK. 
O BE SOLD BY AUCTION, at Mains of Du- 
old, and, if not Calved, in Calf to a Jersey Bull, which was 
entered for competition at the Royal Agricultural Society's 
show at Southampton in 1844. 
o a few pure high bred Jersey and Alderney Cows, and 
some Shetland Heifers imported from the most northernly of 
these Islands, will be exposed for Private Sale, 
Coaches leave Carlisle daily for Castle Douglas, the journey 
being performed in about five hours ; and Steamers sail weekly 
between Liverpool and Kirkcudbright, 
UPERPHOSPHATE OF LIME, 77. per ton, at 
Mr, LAwzs's Factory, DEPTFORD REEK. 
URNT SEA-WEED, OR KELP, in a coneentrated 
and portable form.—'The value of this article is well 
Known in Scotland and Ireland, as well as the Islands of 
sey and Jersey. A Cargo has been lately received by 
the Subseribers from an eminent Foreign House, a sample 
of which has been analyzed r. Ryan of the Royal Poly- 
technic Institution, and found to possess 79 per cent, of Potash, 
Soda, and other fertilising matter. 
Delivered in London or Plymouth at 3l. 5s, per ton, or 
5s. per ton less when five tons are taken at once. 
much as tons has been supplied to one farmer. A copy 
of Dr. Ryan's analysis can be had on application, 
Ap) to Jonn Cuarance & Co., Cullum Street, Fenchurch 
Street, London; or WrzLiAM E. RENDLE & Co.. Plymouth. 
This Manure is most confidently recommended for 
the Turnip Crop. 
The Trade supplied. 
The Agricultural Gazette. 
SATURDAY, MAY 9, 1846. 
MEETINGS FOR THE TWO FOLLOWING WEEKS, 
Wroxxspay, May 13—Agricultural Society of Englan 
Tau: — M-Agricultu 
Wapsnspay, — 20f ion 
Ireland 
Taurspay, n c. of " 
: pham and Guiltoross, 
RSDAY, — 91—Agrieulsural Im, 
LOCAL SOCIETIES,—Renfrewshire—Shro) 
FARMERS’ CLUBS, 
May 11~-Hareford - Great Oakley— | May 12 
Wenlock— at: it 
t. Peters 
Halesworth -Wadebridge 
— 18—Botley 
— 19-Bromsgroye — Plympton 
3t. Mary 
xenventer— ord--Exm; 
ster— Welli- gton— Bakewell 
—Selby—St, Austell 
Tue Economy or AGRICULTURAL LABOUR is 
one of the most important departments of the 
farmer’s business—one than which no other exerts 
a greater influence on his success, or affords a bet- 
ter test of his ability. There is no point which 
generally distinguishes a well-cultivated district 
from one that is badly farmed more than the 
economical employment of its workmen. Its 
farmers may be better educated men and acquainted 
with the theory of their art, and doubtiess a portion 
of the greater profit they derive from their business 
may be owing to their superiority in this respect— 
they may be wealthier men, and much must be 
attributed to that—but the main point is that they 
possess tact and dexterity in the employment of 
their labourers, and can set them to work so that 
each shall be an assistance to his neighbour, and in 
a measure a surety for his industry. The labour 
bill of an arable farm is a large sum, and a reduction 
of it would often be a considerable saving to the 
farmer ; but if he possess the dexterity and skill 
that we speak of, he will benefit from them not so 
much by getting the same work as his neighbour's 
farm receives done by fewer hands than his neigh- 
bour employs, as by the larger returns of a higher 
cultivation, even though in its attainment a heavier 
labour-bill be incurred. Now, scarcely anything 
can be supposed to influence the performance of 
labour more than the mode in which it is paid for ; 
and these observations are therefore not irrelevant 
to the subject of Mxasunr Worx on which we 
would make a few observations. 
The labourer, whatever the work in which he 
may have been engaged, is paid for it in one of two 
Ways—either according to the time during which 
he has been occupied in it, or according to the 
quantity of work he has done. The latter method 
certainly appears on the first sight to be the more 
just. Two operations involving an equal amount of 
labour and skill, and equally well performed, ought 
to be paid for alike, whatever may be the circum- 
stances of those who performed them, and also (un- 
less, indeed, this be an element of value tothe farmer), 
whatever the time which either of them may have 
taken. To be sure, work is justly remunerated only 
when paid for according to its quality as well as 
amount ; but the former consideration is not left as 
the latter necessarily is to the will or ability of the 
labourer. Whatever bethe mode ofpaymentselected, 
the quality ofthe work to be performed ean be insured 
only by the personal attention of the master. The 
heedless carelessness of the idle man on day wages 
is as much to be feared as the dishonest careless- 
ness of the man paid by the piece who hurries over 
his work ; and it may, we think, be fairly concluded 
that, provided the master properly attends to his 
labourers, his choice of the mode in which he shali 
Pay them need not depend upon any anticipations 
of its influence on the quality of their work. 
influence on the quantity of their work is, however, 
a perfectly fair subject for the farmer's consideration, 
and payment by the piece is of course in this 
respect to be preferred. 
But is not this mode of payment, as it has been 
frequently carried out, liable to serious objections ? 
It is generally connected in the mind with the idea 
of large numbers employed at once, and then paid 
off all together—a practice which certainly tends to 
produce improvidence and dissipation. This, how- 
ever, is no necessary part of the system. The 
farm work to be done in the different months of the 
year (and a benevolent master will endeavour to 
distribute it as evenly as possible), remains the 
same whatever mode of payment be adopted, and, 
if the farmer has resolved to introduce more gene- 
rally the mode of paying for work by measure, the 
number of his labourers need not on that account 
be altered, neither need their employment be the. 
less constant ; nor indeed (and this is an important 
cousideration) need the farm work generally be 
less qualified to bring up the lads employed in it, 
as steady and valuable farm servants. 
Let us shortly state a method of payment by the 
piece which we know to be in practice. Onthe farm 
to which we allude, in addition to ploughmen, cattle- 
man, and shepherd, &c., there are several labourers 
in constant employment; they have been chosen 
for their steadiness and ability, and on that account 
receive, even when employed at day-work, higher 
wages than are produced in the neighbourhood ; it 
is to these men in every case, except during corn- 
harvest, that the piece-work is let; and they may 
be thus employed, on, the whole, perhaps two-thirds 
of the year. When unable to do the whole them- 
selves, they engage other men, or women, or 
boys, from among any who may be unemployed in 
the neighbourhood, and at wages which are stated 
to the master and receive his approval, or on terms 
which render them parties in the contract ; the hired 
diately under the farmer's super 
men, women, and boys are thus almost as imme- 
f 3 
if 
of Furze, they will not regret having made the experi- 
ment. 
2. Botanists have characterised three distinct species 
of Furze as indigenous to this country, namely— 
1. Ulex Europea, The European Gorse, Furze, or Whin. 
2. Ulex nana, the dwarf or Cornish Furze. 
3. Ulex stricta, the upright or Irish Furze. 
The first and second species are said to be more abun- 
dant in England and Scotland than in any other part of 
Europe; and it has been remarked by botanical travel. 
lers that, unless in the South of France, Furze is but 
sparingly found in other parts of the Continent. Loudon 
states that at St. Petersburgh it is ranked among the 
most valuable greenhouse plants that flower in winter. 
When Linnzus first saw a large extent of Furze in 
blossom he is said to have been in ecstacy, and to have 
lamented that he could hardly preserve it alive in a 
greenhouse in Sweden. Dillenius was equally delighted 
with it ; and indeed every foreigner who passes through 
this country in Spring, when the Furze gilds every heath 
and hedge, cannot fail to be struck with its beauty. 
The third species is peculiar to Ireland, having been 
discovered about 30 years ago growing in the Marquis 
of Londonderry's park, in the county of Down, and it 
is generally treated as a garden plant. I have never 
seen it grown for agricultural purposes ; but in passing 
I may mention that a writer in one of the early num- 
hers of * Loudon's Gardeners’ Magazine” states that, 
in Carnarvonshire, and other parts of North Wales, 
the Irish Furze may be more profitably cultivated than 
any other kind, by reason of its branches not requiring 
to be bruised. It is propagated with great facility by 
cuttings which strike root as freely as the Willow, if 
taken off in autumn and made of the present year's 
wood.. They willbe fit for transplanting ia March, and 
in the succeeding autumn (that is 12 months from the 
cutting), they will be fit for use as fodder. 
. The Ulex Europea or common Furze is the best 
adapted for cultivating as a young forage plant, as it 
happens to be the most vigorous in growth and pro- 
duces a much larger quantity of green food per acre 
than can possibly be obtained from an equal extent of 
the dwarfer kind. It is, however, by no means suited 
for being introduced in any system of rotation with 
other crops, owing to the length of time it requires to 
arrive at maturity, and the number of years it may be 
MER 
as 
they had been engaged by himself, and their in- 
dustry is secured by their forming part of a com- 
any, some or all of whom have an interest in the 
speedy completion of their work. 
After the experience of a year or two, a satis- 
factory understanding grows up between the master 
and these men as to the real value of the several 
descriptions of work they contract for, and very little 
difficulty arises in settling the terms of the contracts. 
At the first establishment, however, of such a sys- 
tem, there may be some difficulty of this kind, and 
the best way to meet it is, to start the party at day's 
wages, and from their progress at the end of the 
first day (during which they have been kept from 
idling by constant superintendence), to calculate 
what the work is really worth. It may be men- 
tioned, as a matter of detail, that it is of the greatest 
importance to the ultimate satisfaction of both par- 
ties, that the terms of the contract be fully under- 
stood by each before the work is commenced. Do 
not let the master start his men, saying, “ Ah, well, 
you can commence, and we can settle the terms to- 
morrow ;” this will be sure ultimately to breed dis- 
content. And it is also well always to abide by the 
terms of the contract, even though the labourers 
should be losers; it may be made up to them on 
another occasion, by offering terms more favourable 
than fairness would require, but not by an extra 
sum as a recompense for their loss ; for this would 
tend to give them on future occasions hopes of 
wages to be earned otherwise than by industry. 
We have made the above remarks as an introduc- 
tion to a series of papers which we propose laying, 
at intervals, before our readers, on the method and 
cost of executing the farm operations which, during 
the year, successively require the farmer's super- 
intendence. 
ON GORSE AS FOOD FOR CATTLE, 
1. Tur value of Gorse as a forage plant is well 
known, although its cultivation for that purpose appears 
to have been almost entirely overlooked, or to have had 
much less attention paid to it than it is justly entitled 
to. From time immemorial it has been used as food 
for cattle in various parts of the kingdom ; but it is 
only the smaller class of farmers in England, and the 
cotters in Scotland, who resort to it, as a means of pro- 
longing the little stock of fodder they may have stored 
up for their winter supply. To them it is of no small 
importance, and the avidity with which it is eaten by 
cattle and horses, after being prepared, shows very 
clearly that it must possess some valuable qualities 
which would almost render its cultivation desirable. It 
is to be hoped that the mode recently adopted by Lord 
Kenyon, through the Royal Agricultural Society, to 
bring this much-neglected plant into notice will be suc- 
cessful, and induce some of our landed proprietors to 
make trial of it as forage, by way of example to their 
tenantry. Whoever may do so, I feel confident that, 
g grown in the same situation after it has 
once taken possession of the ground. Under these cir- 
cumstances it may be asked, why should the culture of 
Furze be so strongly recommended to farmers when it 
is admitted not to be fit for introducing into a regular 
system of husbandry? The answer is simply. because 
it is not intended that it should displace any of the crops 
in general use, or be grown on land which can be more 
profitably occupied ; but only on such outlets or waste 
pieces of ground as are unfit for anything else. Of 
these there'are plenty belonging to many of the smaller 
farms or tenements in every county, which with a little 
trouble and expense may be rendered far more valuable 
than they are at present, if cropped with Furze and 
managed in the way I shall hereafter describe.— 
M. E. H. 
MANURE FOR HOPS. 
[Tux following correspondence on this subject we 
extract from the columns of the Maidstone Gazette :] 
To the Editor of the Maidstone and South. tern Gazette. 
ir,—The accompanying letter was kindly sent to 
me by Mr. Lawes, on my asking his opinion as to the 
manure recommended by Mr. Nesbit for Hops, and he 
has since given me permission to send it to you for 
publication, should you think, with me, that it contains 
matter well worthy the attention of all Hop-growers and 
other agrieulturists. Mr. Lawes is the best practical 
and experimental agricultural chemist of the present 
day, sparing neither trouble nor expense to carry out 
his views by a series of careful and valuable experi- 
menis, and, as such, his opinion is of much value. At 
any rate, it is of value to hear both sides, and thus we 
are more likely to arrive at the truth. I certainly have 
very great confidence in Mr. Lawes, as every experi- 
ment tried at his recommendation has been with me 
successful. I remain, sir yours respectfully, 
"Milstead, April 21, 1846. . M. TYLDEN. 
* My dear Sir,—I have much pleasure in forwarding 
to you my opinion upon a pamphlet, * On the Analysis 
of the Hop, and the Nature of the Manures beneficial 
to its growth, by J.C, Nesbit. It is of essential ser- 
vice to agriculture that correct analyses of the ashes of 
the cultivated plants should be made, and the author of 
this pamphlet deserves the thanks of those interested in 
the cultivation of Hops, for having shown them the 
nature and quality of the minerals which are annually 
removed from the soil by that plant. But when he says 
that the large quantity of potash taken out of the land 
by the Hop is the main reason for the necessity of ma- 
nuring this plant so highly, he adds another to the rash 
theories which Liebig and his followers have been of 
late years advaneing ; and which, if true, would have 
quite overthrown those principles of agriculture which 
the accumulated experience of all ages has pronounced 
correct. In the ash of the Hop, Mr. Nesbit found 
more potash than any other substance, and from this 
he concludes that manures are valuable in proportion 
to the amount of potash they contain ; and he argues 
that as guano only contains 3 per cent. of potash, and 
dung about the same proportion, that farmers can 
supply themselves with potash from sources very much 
cheaper. Certainly, if potash was the essential ingre- 
Its | where the soil and situation are favourable to the growth | dient in these manures, it would be an act of insanity 
