` was nearly as follows :— First Year : Beans, drilled at 
23—1846.] 
THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 
381 
tural world ; and, with permission of the Club, he would 
make a short report of what he had seen and heard. The 
soil was gravel with clay. There was nothing like it in this 
part of the country. It was neither what a northern 
farmer would call loam nor clay. In the south it was 
called London clay. Mr. Davies's course of cropping 
28 inches. They were hoed by horse and hand till 
quite clean, and Turnips were drilled between the rows 
in June. The Turnips were generally good—seldom 
troubled with the fly or other insects. The Beans were 
reaped when ripe, and the Turnips consumed on the 
land by sheep. Second: Wheat, drilled at 12 inches 
apart, Hand-hoed in the spring. Third: After the 
Wheat was cut the land was ploughed, and sown with 
"ares and Rye for spring-feeding with sheep, and fol- 
lowed by Swedes or Mangold Wurzel. Fourth : Oats 
or Barley, drilled and hoed.. Fifth : Red Clover, mown 
twice. 10 lbs: of Red Clover was sown to the acre. He 
never saw anything finer than the Clover. There were 
no misses. From one end to the other it was like a 
carpet. The cost of sowing Beans or Peas was 2s. 6d. 
per acre; and of sowing Wheat and other grain 4s. to 
5s. per acre. The second course was sometimes Peas 
instead of Beans. If so, no Turnips were sown. The 
quantity of seed per acre was the following : Wheat, 
3 pecks (expressions of surprise) ; Barley, 6 pecks ; 
Oats, Beans, and Peas, each 7 pecks. This was less 
than one-half the seed generally sown in Durham and 
Northumberland. Mr. Davies's farm was well drained, 
at 32 feet apart, 4 feet deep, and laid with 1}-inch pipes. 
All the land was flat. Wages of the men, 2s. per day. 
e farm was very clean. The Beans were about 
6 inches high at the date of his visit (March 31). Pro- 
uce of Wheat, from 4 to 5 quarters per acre. Barley, 
ood crops; also Oats. The Swedes were half eat on 
and half drawn off. Crop, 18 to 20 tons per acre. Laud 
only of middling quality. All the growing crops looked 
well—particularly the Red Clover. Tares very orward. 
Some excellent Barley, sown in January. ot an aere 
of bare fallow. "The hedges were well kept: the fold 
and stack yards neat. Rent, about 20s. per acre. The 
neighbouring hills were growing ling. He (Mr. R.) 
saw Wheat and Barley sheaves of the last crop, very 
excellent in quality. There was an abundance of plants 
on all the land. He i d the goodly 
of the farm to the drilling, hoeing, and eating-on by 
sheep. The quantity of manure used by Mr. Davies 
was, he believed, less than ordinary. The course gave 
Seven crops in five years—which was partly attributable 
to clear land and a good climate. If this system could 
be generally or even partially adopted, much seed corn 
Would -be saved. The Southdown sheep on the farm 
Were good ; but he could not say so much for the cattle 
or horses, The waggons and carts looked clumsy in the 
eye of a north-countryman. In this respect there was 
great, need of improvement.—Mr. J. E. WILKINSON, of | poor 
Dunston, now rose to bring béfore the members the sub- 
ject of which he had given notice, viz. “ The Mole 
Plough,” an implement more especially adapted for the 
occupiers of poor, retentive lands, with a clay subsoil. 
Many farmers of this description would willingly adopt 
a system of drainage, but were afraid of the (to them) 
enormous and ruinous expense. It was on this account 
that he came forward to point out a more economical 
mode than cutting deep tile-drains—which, where it 
could be earried out, was undoubtedly the. best. The 
mole-plough was a very primitive implement, exceed- 
ingly simple, and easily managed. It was in use on the 
Earl of Lonsdale's estates half-a-century ago. lt con- 
sisted of a beam of wood, with a strong shackle at one 
end, a pair of ordinary plough-stilts at the other, and a 
Strong iron coulter through the middle. At the lower 
extremity of the coulter, fixed transversely, there was a 
short piece of iron, 8 inches long, about 3 inches in 
diameter at one end, and tapering to a point at the 
other, This was called the mole, because it made 
a hole something like that animal's track under- 
ground. The plough was drawn by a moveable winch 
or windlass, worked by one or two horses. Acro: 
the winch was firmly fixed a 12.feet start, which 
Wound a chain round a cylinder or shaft a foot in dia- 
ee the horse or horses moving round and round, as 
ki A thrashing-machine, The winch is fixed at one end 
the field : the plough, attached by a chain, is placed at 
as Other—the coulter and mole being buried in the 
ieee and the beam resting on the surface. When the 
diüs]) or horses are set in motion, the chain is gra- 
EX ly rolled round the cylinder, and the plough is 
i iu towards the winch, making a drain in the soil as 
dr, ravels along. In this way two men and a boy would 
ums 2 acres a day, 12 feet apart, and 22 inches, deep, 
Bm Cost of from 10s. to 15s. per acre, including cutting 
tha tiles for the main drains ; which was much cheaper 
van any of the other modes, and, ina clay subsoil, was 
de efficacious. Mr. Bates, of Kirkleavington, a gen- 
S an v el X in the agricul 1 world, had fa- 
us him with a letter on the subject, in which he 
the that he had drained 850 out of 1000 acres with 
strong ene The soil was chiefly a sound clay or 
b the mole-plough answered well—particularly on 
> Grass.la; hi 
El 
a 
verted from a strong clay into a fine loamy soil to the| 
had been very great, both on the tillage and Grass- 
years—which he could not do before.—Such was Mr. 
Bates’s report on {the mole-plough. 
April, he (Mr. Wilkinson) visited Kirkleavington, 
had much pleasure in going over the estate of Mr. 
Bates, and examining all the drains, 
full from a 7.ineh tile from the main drains. The til- 
Grass, but the mole-plough had enabled Mr. Bates to 
grow good Tutnips in tolerable seasons.—He (Mr. W.) 
would be inelined to dispense with the windlass. He 
would take a plough constructed to turn a furrow 10 or 
12 inches deep and 8 or 9 broad. This he would do in 
every furrow of his Grass-land ; and as a man could 
water-furrow 20 acres of 10-feet ridges in a day, it 
might reasonably be inferred that the plough, with six 
horses, would do 20 acres of 12-feet ridges. This 
would cost 30s., or ls. 6d. per acre. If the ridges were 
broader, the expense would necessarily be less. He 
would then follow with the mole-plough and the same 
team (consequently at the same expense), 10 inches 
deep, making together 20 or 22 inches. He would re- 
place the furrow at 2s. 6d. per acre. 2s. Gd. more, for 
cutting mains and for tiles, would complete the cost of 
draining 20 acres of Grass-land in two days—the cost 
per acre being 8s., viz., first plough, ls. 64. ; second 
plough, 1s. 6d. ; replacing furrow, 2s. 6d. ; cutting and 
tiles, 2s. 6d. It was hardly necessary to repeat, that the 
mole-plough was best adapted for Grass upon. clay tole- 
rably free from sand aud stones ; and as it eould be ap- 
plied at a twentieth of the cost of tile-drains, surely it 
might be adapted by many farmers in preference to no 
system of drainage at all. In the course of his address, 
Mr. Wilkinson ventured to suggest whether pipes might 
not be introduced into the land by an adaptation of the 
mole-plough—a suggestion which tiekled the Club, 
although some of the members evidently thought the 
plan was practieable.—Mr. CoLBECK stated that he had 
seen Grass-land in Yorkshire drained very cheaply and 
effectually by the mole-plough.—Mr. N. Bunwmrr re- 
marked that the mole-plough was an old invention, and 
had been used with advantage ; but Mr. Bates, he un- 
derstood, in his letter to Mr. Wilkinson, preferred 
thorough-draining— and why improve an invention that 
was becoming obsolete }—The CHAIRMAN replied, tliat 
rude and imperfect processes were in many cases pre- 
ferable to those that were more refined and perfect. 
A simple and inexpensive mode of culture might be re- 
sorted to with advantage, where a more effectual but 
more costly plan could not be pursued with profit; and 
he certainly thought that on stiff soils, free from stones, 
the mole-plough might be a valuable implement for a 
v farmer; but he thought the introduction of 
wheels would be an improvement. The Chairman 
amused the Club by describing an original mode of 
draining land adopted by a friend of his, whose. land- 
lord (a nobleman) would do nothing for his tenants 
(save accepting their rents); and when votes of thanks 
had been passed to Mr, Wilkinson and Mr. Ramsay, 
the meeting broke u Gateshead Observer. 
Farm Memoranda. 
Bincmwoop Park Farm.—This estate is in the parish 
of Leigh, about six miles beyond Ingestre, not far dis- 
tant from Fradswell Heath; and before Lord Talbot 
d his imy in 1841, d 
very much in regard to sterility with the adjoining com- 
mon. The soil is naturally a cold wet clay; but by 
adopting a complete system of drainage, and by the 
application of suitable manures, its capabilities have 
been so greatly improved, that last year 50 acres of 
'Turnips of great size, and which turned out perfectly 
sound were grown upon it. The land is still too cold 
and moist to allow of sheep to be fed out of doors upon 
Turnips ; and this eireumstance induced Lord Talbot to 
adopt a system of stall feeding for sheep, which promises 
to be attended with most satisfactory results. The 
building which has been erected for the purpose at 
Birchwood Park is a parallelogram, 60 ft. long by 50 ft. 
wide. The sheds for the sheep occupy three sides, and 
the fourth is intended to be used us a store for Turnips. 
The sheds are 15 ft. in width. On each side are the 
stalls, which are 2 ft. wide, 3 ft. long, and are separated 
from each other by a wooden partition, 2j ft. high. 
Each stall is supplied with a feeding trough or manger; 
a light chain, 9 ins. in length, is attached by a ring toa 
staple about the same length, which allows the chain to 
move up and down, and to the other end is affixed the 
strap which is buckled round the neck of the sheep. 
The stalls are not wide enough to allow the sheep to 
turn round in them. A tank or gutter, 2 ft. wide and 
2 ft. deep, built of brick, grouted with barrow lime, 
runs down each side of the shed immediately behind the 
sheep ; it is covered with a wooden grating ; the spars, 
which are 2 ins. in width, being only three quarters of 
an inch apart, and therefore allow the sheep to stand 
upon them with their hind feet without being entangled. 
The use of this tank is to receive the droppings from 
the sheep. A passage down the middle of each shed, 
3 ft. Gins. wide, paved with stone flags, has a very neat 
appearance. The sheds are entirely closed on the outer 
side to the roof ; but on the inner side the wall is only 
breast high, the space to the roof being left open to ad- 
mit air and light. The roof is formed of a framework 
of wood, covered with the patent asphalte felt, and has 
alight and suitable appearance, 
The building alto- 
and they were all acting efficiently—the water running | purpose. 
gether is admirably adapted for its purpose, and is by no 
depth of the drains (18 to 20 inches). The advaritage | means of an expensive style. Itis calculated to feed 150 
sheep. The sheep which are at the present time fed upom 
land. He could keep his sheep sound in the wettest sliced Turnips, are served with their food three times 
a day ; and a little saw-dust strewed behind them, and 
On the 6th of|swept with the manure into the tanks, serves to kee 
and | the sheds perfectly clean. 
The tanks are emptied when 
occasion requires, the wooden grating, in lengths of 
It was a wetday,|only about 6 or 7 feet, being easily removed for the 
When this operation is in progress the shee 
can be removed to the yard or area between the sheds, 
lage land did not show so much improvement as the, which is also intended to receive them when it is neces- 
sary they should occasionally feel the use of their legs 
and feet. This system of stall-feeding sheep, it is be- 
lieved, will answer many valuable purposes ; as in the 
case of Lord Talbot’s Birchwood Park Farm, where 
these useful animals cannot be fed on Turnips out of 
doors, though the land grows the food in abundance, 
they ean be fattened in these sheds. The economy of 
food will be great, as none will be wasted, and a smaller 
quantity will suffice for animals kept in a state of 
quietude. It is also expected that the sheep will fattem 
in a much shorter time. They will not be liable to foot- 
root, a disease so detrimental to sheep, and so common 
on wet farms. The manure collected in the tanks will 
be exceedingly valuable. When dropped in the fields 
its strength is wasted by evaporation ; here it will re- 
tain its virtues,and form a highly concentrated and 
pungent manure, equal, in point of utility, it is thought, 
to the richest guano. Perhaps a point of greater im- 
portance than any to.which we have adverted is that the 
mountain sheep, which are found so difficult to feed on 
account of their rambling propensities, will become 
quiet feeders, and thrive in an extraordinary manner, 
Welsh sheep can scarcely be induced to feed upon Tur- 
nips out of doors, but at Birchwood Park they may be 
seen in the stalls, and Cheviots likewise, enjoying their 
meal of Turnips, and submitting to discipline with as 
much gravity as our English Southdowns and Leicesters.. 
It is quite surprising to observe how fully reconciled 
the sheep become to this new mode of life. Timid, as 
they proverbially are, they do not seem alarmed by the 
approach of strangers ; and when the attendant uses 
his besom close at their heels they remain undisturbed. 
After feeding, they lie quietly down, and this state of 
repose has unquestionably a tendency to encourage 
their rapid fattening. . We had the opportunity, a few 
ago, of seeing this new system in operation at 
Birehwood Park, and have given the result of our ob- 
servation, for the i ion of our agri l friends; 
and we have no doubt that any of them, desiring more 
fully to inform themselves on a subject of so much im- 
portance, and to witness this novel and interesting sight, 
will be treated with the same civility and attention which 
were shown to us on the occasion of our visit.— Surrey 
Standard. 
Miscellaneous. 
| Weeding Flax.—If care has been paid to cleaning 
the seed and the soil few weeds will appear; but if 
there be any, they must be carefully pulled. It is done 
in Belgium by women and children, who, with coarse 
cloths round their knees, creep along on all-fours; this 
injures the young plant less than walking over it (which, 
if done, should be by persons whose shoes are not filled 
with nails); they should work, also, faeing the wind, 
so that the plants,laid flat by the pressure, may be 
blown up again, or thus be assisted to regain their up- 
right position. The tender plant, pressed one way, 
soon recovers ; but, if twisted or flattened by careless 
| weeders, it seldom rises again.—5th Report, Flax So- 
ciety. 
Horse and Ox Teams.—About 40 years since, oxen 
were regularly worked on road and field, but at present 
they are nearly altogether confined to the farm, and. 
their employment there too is gradually decreasing ; 
for, although the monotonous chant of the plough-boy 
may still bé heard on hill and valley, it is quite as 
common to see the plough worked by the ploughman 
and a pair of horses, without a driver. This subject 
was discussed at the Probus Farmers’ Club a short time 
since, and the resolution come to on that occasion will 
embody the present practice on the best-managed farms 
where working-oxen are kept: * That for the general 
purposes of husbandry, horses were preferable to oxen ; 
but that a few pairs of working-oxen on a farm ‘proved 
extremely useful during the busy seasons, and when no 
longer wanted should be fattened.” The farming ope- 
rations in Cornwallare very liable to be interrupted. 
through the changeableness of our climate, both at seed 
time and harvest, so that unusual efforts are oftentimes 
necessary, and then the ox proves a valuable auxiliary 
to the horse. The following calculations were made by 
the Club, which caused them to arrive at the above 
resolutions : “ In harrowing or rolling, a pair of horses 
will do 8 acres a day, whilst four oxen will scarcely 
perform more than 6 acres, In ploughing, a pair of 
horses will do an acre a day (customary acre *), whilst 
four oxen will scarcely accomplish more than $ths of 
an acre. In carting on the farm only, and that on very 
hilly ones, four good oxen may be fairly considered 
equal to a pair of horses. A pair of horses will require 
LR Maa eRe AES snc oU MU I 
* One hundred acres statute are 844. 0R. 4p. customary. 
The want of general uniformity in ** measures” in Cornwall is 
is employed. 
