24—1846.] 
THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTRE. 
395 
manure tolerably well decomposed, and in time for ap- | and that each plant if possible should have an equal 
plying to our last sowing. 
The pulverised manures used in my experiments are 
as follows : 
1. Bones, 
2. Rape-cake. 
3. Rich mould mixed with blood, &e., viz.—20 cart-loads of 
best mould mixed with 12 hogsheads of blood and some night- 
Soil; this mixture was frequently turned in March and April, 
during which it got exceedingly hot, throwing off very offen- 
i rning was continued until the heap was dry 
Sive efiluvia ; tur 
enough for riddling, and fit to go through the drill 
6. Malt dust. 
7. Kiln dust (from malt kilns). 
8. A mixture of bones with turf as 
9. A mixture of Rape-cak h turf-ashes. 
10. A mixture of bones, turf-ashes, malt-dust, and kiln-dust. 
_ With this latter mixture the greater portion of Tur- 
nips grown by me with pulverised manures have been 
treated as I found it to answer best, and the proportions 
and quantity per acre in which it was used nearly as 
follows : viz., 12 bushels bones, 24 to 30 of turf-ashes, 
and 6 or 8 of kiln or malt-dust; if these are put to- 
gether and well mixed a month or two before sowing, so 
Much the better. I procure ashes by paring off ant- 
hillocks on the poor pastures, and burning these with 
all weeds, turves, &c., which can be found about the 
farm, considerable quantities of ashes are obtained 
Yearly, This useful article may be obtained on a grea 
Many farms with a little attention in the dry season of 
the year, by paring off the turf at the sides of walls, 
hedges, farm-ronds, &c.; such a process would gra- 
dually and effectua! ly get rid of Thistlesand many other 
Weeds which are allowed to flourish and come to seed in 
Such situations, to all appearance purely for the pur- 
Pose of producing twice as many every succeeding year, 
or for the special purpose of a few pheasants nestling 
erein, 
This section may with propriety be concluded by a 
few remarks on the usual methods of applying farm-yard 
Manure, From several careful attempts made under 
My own direction, and from the almost universal prac- 
tise among farmers in midland and southern coun- 
ties, I never yet saw farm-yard manure in a moderately 
forward state of decomposition much more than half 
Covered with mould when attempted to be ploughed in 
broadcast; that is, by the common process of ploughing, 
OWever well the manure may be spread. Generally it 
Will be found that one-third of it is on the surface, and 
by the application of a light harrow to cover the seed, 
Whether sown broadcast or b y drill, one-third more of 
themanure is brought up, and although the land is most 
frequently rolled for the finishing stroke, still what was 
Intended for food to the Turnip is left on the surface to 
SVaporate and wither in the sunbeams; it is rapidly 
deprived of the greater and best part of its nutritive 
qualities, and ere many weeks pass, the lumps or pieces 
of manure becom: like bits of cork. No part of agricul- 
tural management deserves greater reprobationthan this 
mode of applying manure ; it is only carting it. out to dry 
and tobe lost, instead of being applied to aid the growth of 
the Turnip. Farmers as abody read far toolittle,and are 
behind every other class in this country for information 
Connected with their own profession, particularly a just 
knowledge of those valuable and correct chemical and 
Physiological phenomena of plants, and of the opera- 
tions and effects of manures in assisting in their growth, 
which can only be clearly understood by reading Liebig 
and other recent works on Agricultural chemistry. If 
the laying on of manure in the way above noticed ean 
be justified at all, it must only be if put on late in the 
autumn, and ploughed in with the winter furrow; Much 
less is exposed on the surface with this ploughing, as 
the furrow turns better over than the May or June 
Ploughings. That portion exposed during the winter 
Suffers little from evaporation, and the juices contained 
are washed into the ground by the repeated rains, and 
the whole gets thoroughly mixed with the mould by the 
Spring operations. However, I have never seen any 
advantage resulting from this mode, and it is not very 
Senerally practised for this reason, few farmers have 
much manure ready for going on the land at this season, 
unless they are buyers from towns. In this ease it may 
le desirable to manure part of the next year’s Turnip- 
m this period, more for the purpose of forwarding 
ficult to get performed in due time, rather than on ae- 
now of any advantage which is likely to accrue from 
omg so at that season. 
19 4 my os p gives the pref decidedly 
hd the use of farm manure in the ridge or Scotch sys- 
em for every variety of Turnip, when the land will ad- 
mit of being sufficiently pulverised to allow of that pro- 
cess being carried into effect, and if certain heavy 
tough Soils cannot be brought to such a state of tilth, 1 
iin of opinion such lands ought to be under other crops 
pan Turnips. By the ridge system, when properly per- 
is med, every particle of manure is covered, before there 
P time for evaporation, with a fine mould from two to 
Our inches thick; itis laid directly under the seed, and 
Teady to receive the rootlet as soon as it pushes down- 
Mout in search of food. On 
WO or three months after being put in the ridge, it ap- 
ira moist, although the earth all around looks dry and 
holt? H thus it seems to act something like a sponge in 
tia Ing moisture, which mixing with the nutritive par- 
es and exhalations of the manure, afford an abundant 
ipd constantsupply of food for the numerous mouths which 
die bant sends forth in search of aliment. Hence the 
Ortanee of having every partiele of manure covered, 
portion of that work, which is very heavy and dif-, 
examining the manure for | 
portion exaetly under it. 
5.—Modes of Sowing and Implements used.—1 shall 
now describe my method of sowing Swedes where farm 
manure is used, which is always done on the ridge sys- 
tem, and I may here state that the very same plan is 
adopted with all other varieties of Turnip with that 
manure. The land having been prepared as already 
described, a double moulded plough with two horses is 
started soon after five in the morning, and gets seven or 
eight ridges put up about 26 to 28 inches in width (this 
may be done narrower or wider according to fancy or 
the supposed capabilities of the land); but the best rule 
in this case to be guided by is such width as will just 
suit the cart-wheels, viz., when the cart with manure is 
brought on the ridges, the horse having his feet pro- 
perly in one hollow, each wheel should fit exactly into 
the next adjoining hollows. When this is correctly ob- 
served the ridges are not crushed down and put out of 
shape by the wheels in carting on the manure. "Three 
carts with a thiller horse to each, and two trace horses, 
two boys to drive, four men to load, and one to empty 
the carts, commence at six putting out the manure from 
the heaps in the field, and lay down in the middle row a 
sufficient quantity to serve nine ridges. Soon after 
o'clock seven or eight women with three-pronged forks, 
such as are used for digging Potatoes, proceed to spread 
the manure as regularly as possible by beating about 
the large lumps, and shaking it up, and placing an 
equal quantity in each hollow between the ridges, and 
when well done each opening should appear as if a flat 
rope of manure lay stretched in it from one end to 
the other. If the manure is very much decomposed 
or earthy, it is necessary to have a man or two with 
shovels taking up the bottoms of the heaps, and apply- 
ing it to the thinnest places. The spreaders should be 
placed in pairs at equal distances along the length of 
the ridge, in order to have the manure equally divided 
among the nine ridges ; with all this caution, constant 
and careful watching is necessary from the farmer, that 
this important process is equally and perfectly per- 
formed, and to accomplish this an extra hand or two 
should not be withheld. As soon as nine rowsare spread, 
another double moulded plough with two horses begins 
o cover the manure by splitting the first made ridges 
upon it ; this process completely overlays the manure 
with fine mould from 2 to 4 inches deep, and; encloses 
itin a moist steaming state before the rays of the sun 
have had any influence over it, indeed, three hours 
seldom elapse from the time the manure leaves the 
heap until it is covered up ; thus we proceed, each 
party, if possible, treading on the heels of those who 
precede them for 9% to 10 hours a day, the work-people 
and horses resting two hours, from 11 o’clock to 1, and 
on an average putting out 75 good cart loads of manure, 
and finishing about three acres per day. If we attempt 
to make the ploughs do more, the work is badly done, 
the land is so stony and hard below that the men cannot 
keep their ploughs steady; even at this pace they find 
the ridging work very trying and heavy, having to hold 
the plough so firmly in hand, and with so much eare, 
to prevent the stones from knocking them about ; many 
times in a day they have to stop and draw back several 
yards to mend a fault caused by some ill-bred stone, or 
some obstinate set-fast root. 
After the splitting process, and so soon as the ridges 
are sufficiently dry, sowing commences ; in fine weather 
this may be begun by 2 or 3 in the afternoon, but the 
surface must be quite dry, or it makes very slow imper- 
fect work, the rollers of the drill getting clogged up 
every little while ; and as there is no silex in this soil, it 
is the more troublesome, therefore I never force sowing, 
but wait until the soilis dry enough not to stick to the 
first roller of the drill, the hinder roller, even in this 
dry state, will require some attention in clearing, as 
the moist mould which the seed coulter throws up ad- 
heres to it. I prefer a machine to sow one furrow at a 
time, as the seed is then deposited on the middle of the 
ridge, and consequently right over the manure; the 
rows of plants are also produced equidistant from each 
other; this is of considerable importanee where the 
horse hoe is set to work, for I have frequently seen this 
implement drawing the plants up in going between the 
ridges one way, and too far from them in returning be- 
tween other two, the consequence of a two rowed drill 
being carelessly set, or of the ridges not being made 
uniform in width, which it is impossible to do on thin, 
unequal, stony land. N 
I have tried several kinds of one row drills, but lat- 
terly have found one made by Leiths, White, and Co 
of Worksop, Nottinghamshire, answer pretty well, but, 
like all other ridge drills which have come under my 
notice, is deficient in two points, viz., a lever seed coulter, 
to be guided in its depth by the hinder roller, and the 
cup apparatus for lifting out the seed being the most 
sure and perfect mode of supplying it. This drill sows 
pulverised manure when required very well, it requires 
a man, boy, and horse to work it, and will sow much 
quicker than the ploughs ridge up, as the horse may go 
considerably faster without doing the work imperfectly; 
I sow from 2 to 2} lbs. of seed per acre, and have 
always found it abundantly thick, and, unless a shower 
interrupts, we drill up to the covering plough every 
evening before it gets dark ; next day, if the ridges feel 
very soft and loose under-foot, or if the hinder roller 
of the drill has lifted the mould in a troublesome way 
when sowing, I run a light one-horse roller over, to press 
them moderately down ; this brings a still finer surface, 
which is most effective in keeping the drought out, and 
genial for the young plants pusbing their heads through. 
By proceeding thus, it will be seen that the sowing of a 
field is generally finished in a few hours after the dung» 
carts leave it. 
Home Correspondence. 
Liquid Manure Tanks.—When clay is plentiful, a 
liquid manure tank may be made readily and cheaply, 
without mortar or mason. Make two centres and two 
wedges, similar to the drawing; the backs of the centres 
should be of 3-inch seantling and the bows of inch 
boards ; when these are placed together, back to back, 
with inch wedges between them, they will describe a 
circle, say of 6 feet. Dig a hole as for sinking a well, 
say 9 feet deep and 8} feet in diameter; cover the 
bottom with clay, well puddled, 9 inches thick ; lay the 
floor of your tank with bricks, flat ; describe on this 
area a circle of 6 feet 9 inches diameter; on this place 
the centre, raising it 44 inches from the floor; seta 
circle of bricks on end round it; put clay round the 
outside of the bricks ; tread and puddle it well; drive 
here and there a pebble into the openings on the outer 
margin of the bricks, to make the arch firm ; trim your 
work by rapping those bricks into place, that, by the 
treading of the clay, have been driven out of upright ; 
knoek out the wedges; raise your centre, by loose 
bricks, 9 inches, and proceed with another circle of 
When you have arrived at the re- 
quired height, remove the centres, and your tank is 
made. If you wish to cover it, place a floor of rough 
boards on the loose bricks which supported the centre 5 
make a dome of earth, and on this an arched covering, 
with an opening for thegpump, which should ‘be large 
enough to admit a man and bucket, to clean out the 
tank when requisite. The arched covering should be 
with mortar, and may require a mason. Several of 
these tanks may be made to communieate ; and for this 
purpose, in one of your eircles of brieks, near the bot- 
tom, three bricks should be placed horizontally on each 
other; two of the perpendicular bricks on which the 
three rest can be taken out, and a communieation 9 
inches by 6 formed with the adjoining tank, taking care 
to puddle well the short drain between the two. Ihave 
a plan for a concrete tank, which I intend to form ina 
property where clay is not found. I will, if you wish, 
furnish you with it when I have proved it. I need not 
send you a ealeulation of the number of bricks and 
cubical contents of the above tank ; any parish school- 
boy ought to be able to compute these.—G. 
Feeding Horses.—In alate Number of your Paper, a 
correspondent inquires respecting the relative value of 
Oats and Beans, for the purpose of feeding horses. In 
reply to those queries I beg to offer a few observations, 
which, I confess, are more of a theoretical than a 
praetieal nature; but I trust they may induce actual 
experiment to be made to test the correctness of the 
theory. In Boussingault’s work on “ Rural Economy,” 
he gives a table of the relative value in nutriment of 
various articles as food for animals ; ranking them ac- 
cording to the relative quantity of nitrogen which, on 
analysation, they have been found to contain—nitrogen 
being one of the most important constituents of muscle ; 
and muscle, not fat, being an undoubted essential in 
the capacity for the patient and effective endurance of 
fatigue. In the table in question, 100 Ibs. of good mea- 
dow hay are taken as the guiding standard of caleula- 
tion; and it then sets forth what quantity of other 
descriptions of food it will require to yield the same 
quantum of nutriment, or, in other words, ithe same 
supply of nitrogen. I find it there stated that 68 Ibs. 
of Oats, or 23 Ibs. of Beans, are equal, in point of 
strength, to 100 lbs. of hay; therefore, the relative 
value, in capability of producing muscle, is, accordin 
to theory, very nearly as 3 to 1 in favour of Beans over 
Oats, or as 23 are to 68.. In point of economy, there- 
fore Beans are far superior, as the difference in priee 
per lb. between the two is only trifling. In many parts 
of the country I understand that 20 lbs. of hay and 
14 pecks of Oats per day, or 140 lbs. of the former and 
104 peeks or 105 lbs. of the latter per week, are con- 
sidered a good and ample allowance of food for a farm- 
ing horse, equal to 294 Ibs. per week, or 42 lbs. per day 
of hay alone. Now, supposing that a horse were given 
9 lbs per day, or 63 lbs. per week of Bean meal, this 
allowance would be equal, in point of strength of food, to 
274 Ibs. hay, leaving the equivalent of 20 Ibs. of hay to 
be supplied by other means. Admitting that Beans are 
really a very strong food, their nutriment is in too con- 
densed a shape, and would require dilution or expansion 
in bulk, by adding some other food less nutritious, and 
greater in capacity, This desideratum may be obtained by 
using chopped straw, which cont: ly ab rt 
as much nutriment as hay, and therefore 80 lbs. of 
straw may be made use of, in order to supply the 
deficient equivalentzof the 20 Ibs. of hay. But again, 
80 Ibs. of chopped straw would not be of sufficient bulk 
to distend the stomach of the animal in an adequate 
degree, nor afford a sufficient supply of carbon necessary 
to keep up the quiekened respiration during the hours 
of work. I should therefore recommend that the 
quantity of chopped straw be increased to 20 Ibs. per 
day, or 140 lbs. per week ; and in order to correct the 
binding nature of the Beans, should also recommend the 
addition of 3 lb. per day of crushed Linseed. According 
