ei 
THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 453 
27—1846.] 
Reviews. 
Road Reform: a plan for abolishing turnpike tolls and 
` statute labour assessments, and for providing the 
Swids necessary for the public roads by an annual 
rate on horses. By Wm. Pagan, Writer. Wm. 
m Blackwood and Sons, P: ter-row, London. 
Tuis is a new edition, in a cheap form, of a work 
already reviewed in this Paper (see p. 89.) Though on 
àn apparently dry subject, it is full of interest—the 
author illustrates his subject most skilfully, both by 
anecdotes and statistics, all exhibiting the partial, un- 
Just, and injurious working of the present system of 
Toad management. 
. And this injustice and injury he proves ; he shows 
that the general publie are injured by the loss of that 
industry whieb, under other circumstances, would be 
developed, aud that individuals, especially those by the 
X on whom the roads are now, for the most part, 
maintained, and road trusts and parishes, have all a 
lreet interest in the abolishment of the present sys- 
em. We believe him to be perfectly right ; and so 
also, as far as we have had any means of knowing, does 
every one else who has read his book. The principle 
Which he advocates has been affirmed by large meetings 
m Fife and Forfarshire—the counties whose road 
` Statistics lie has brought to bear on his subject. It is 
Simply this, that in place of the costly and cumbrous 
System of toll houses, weigh bridges, and parish rates, 
Which now prevails, there should be established a tax 
Upon draught animals. hat a saving there would be 
1a the admini ion of r t were such a 
Method adopted! ‘Lhe net cost of road maintenance 
1a Fife and Kinross-shires is about 18,0007.—the real 
cost to the public is 33,000/.—for 15,0007. of this sum 
are lost in the expenses of collection ! 
he cost of management under this system is thus 
Upwards of 44 per cent. of the whole ; while under Mr. 
ü @gan’s system of a tax upon horses, it would amount 
9 little more than 8 per cent. Well, we take this to be 
à considerable difference, and it appears to be fairly 
velimated ; it is a difference, too, which would doubtless 
© paralleled all over the country, were the subject in- 
RSEN into. The difference between the two plans, 
en. is not confined to the question of cost. Con- 
"der their relative tendencies ; the one a direct and 
Proportionate tax upon industry, increasing if iż offers 
„mcrease, and thus keeping it down to the lowest 
EUH the other a fixed annual payment, the same 
z ether the animals taxed be at work or not, and thus 
San bonus upon their employment. We have no 
CICER in saying that a legislative sanction of Mr. 
us Pon pum of road reform would be of the greatest 
interest only to the agricultural but to every other 
Interes 
His gehen and read what the author urges in favour o! 
urge PUE j and then, themselves convinced, let them 
nie S truths upon their neighbours, and publie opi- 
n, thus excited, will soon effect the reform which it 
Will feel to be necessary, 
Miscellaneous. 
Burnt Clay for Wheat.—Several accounts of the 
good effect cf burnt clay as a manure have appeared in 
€ Journal: having used it with success, I am induced 
ks add my own testimony in its favour, chiefly on ac- 
Ens of the very bad quality of the land on which it 
m ied: It is a farm of about 500 acres, which I 
vere it Seven years since, on the Oxford clay, of the 
De Stiffest description, never ploughed with less than 
Soil sometimes with five or even six horses. The 
merg Tii like bird-lime in wet weather, and in dry sum- 
of t SF stone, requiring a pickaxe to break it. Many 
there p elds might be described as being all subsoil, 
Tage Jemg no real mould on the surface. The ave- 
ang JIeld of Wheat did not exceed 16 bushels an acre, 
n some fields the Thistles were more numerous 
Aun Stalks of Wheat. It had the worst possible 
man fa 80 that even in 1839, when prices were good, 
cup us farmers who looked at the farm declined to oc- 
ally H and I had great difficulty in finding a tenant at 
itis n Aviug bought the farm, however, chiefly because 
deed is most difficult sort of land to manage (said, in- 
A a d. defy improvement), in order to try what could 
at Wh te of it, as Lord Ducie and Mr. Morton have done 
Whole field with so much success, I underdrained the 
30 Ran the first instance at 10 feet apart, but now at 
make tl apart, and 34 inches in depth. In order to 
ome ] S land work more easily, I procured from Essex 
clay Si Oourers conversant with the mode of burning 
ces eee is there practised. Into the details of that 
ave 8 I need not enter, as excellent accounts of it 
p. 323 een given in this Journal by Mr. Pym (vol. iii. 
quao and by Mr. Randell (vol. v. p.113). I burnt large 
of the Ps for the tenant, but until last year no recor 
Small wit had been kept, when, seeing him apply it toa 
rat el 1eat-field of 8 acres, I begged him to omit the 
ee ml on one corner of the field, that we might 
clay, d it was worth while to burn any more 
very & Mr. Cheer did so accordingly, The crop was a 
Onc.ej Ne 3 and after harvest he threshed out about 
as follows E an acre separately. He found the result 
Qno Acre, ^ Wheat. 
m yaris bum GRUT c epo Ne a ae 
i E ditto, and sheep.folded = ..  .. 47$ y 
ment, p be remarked that this is not a garden experi- 
» Put applies to a whole field of Wheat, and that 
the account was given in by the occupier of the laud. 
Now I have lying before me the valuation at which I 
bought this identical field, one of the worst on the farm. 
It is 10s. an aere for rent, or 14/. for the fee-simple. 
Thorough-draining with thorns, at 10 feet asunder, 
cost about 3/. 10s. It could now be done with pipes for 
2l. Dressing with 80 bushels of burnt clay cost about 
2l. 5s. The crop must have been worth this year about 
171., or nearly the fee-simple of the land and the cost 
of the improvements. It will be observed that on a 
third lot the land was dressed with sheep-folding, in 
addition to the burnt clay, but that the increase of 
yield was trifling. ‘The manure, in fact, was more than 
the erop would bear, and the Wheat was consequently 
the suitability of the soil, the state of cultivation, or the 
prices obtained. 
laid by the wet summer, This is a 1 proof 
that the burnt clay, in this instance, acted as a manure, 
and not merely mechanically. I do not mean that 
burnt clay will always aet as a manure, indeed I keow 
that it sometimes fails to do so, and there is yet much 
to learn on the subject; but this case of success being 
beyond suspicion of accident, I have thought it right 
to detail the circumstances of the trial, as an encou- 
ragement to the owners and tenants of the worst and 
most expensive kind of heavy land, which I believe to 
be the Oxford clay, where it is not covered with soil of 
a different quality. This farm at Longworth is that on 
which the trial of the ploughs reserved from Shrews- 
bury took place last autumn; and Mr. Parkes, in his 
report on the implements, bears witness to its obstinate 
nature.—Mr. Pusey, in English Agricultural Society's 
Journal. 
To avoid Exhausting the Land, by Growing Flax.— 
It has always been urged against Flax culture, that it 
exhausted the soil ; but this is not necessarily the case. 
If the seed be saved, and cattle fed upon the bolls, a 
valuable addition will be made to the manure heap, as 
perhaps the richest manure is produced by this kind of 
food. The putrescent water from the Flax pools should 
be carefully preserved, and either used as a top dress- 
ing for Grass, or mixed with the weeds, and other refuse 
of the crop, in a heap to ferment. By these means, 
almost all the matter abstracted from the soil, by the 
Flax crop, would be returned in the shape of manure— 
the fibre being supplied by the atmosphere alone.— 
5th Report, Flax Society. 
Hop Culture.—1I have submitted to several expe- 
rienced planters the following estimate of the cost of 
raising and cultivating an acre of Hops in the Weald of 
Kent, presuming the plantation to be in its fall vigour, 
and the cultivation liberal, 1, Raising the pisa um 
$. d. 
£ s. d. 
Ploughing and subsoiling vs Dale} 
Harrowing .. E os . 05 0 
Manure—50 loads of dung, at 2s, 5 0 
Setting out hills .. "m oe .. 0 6 
Digging holes, avd filing up with 
manure .. ve .. m E TU a 9 
Plants, 5000 at 6d. per hundred. . 3551.15 45: 0, 
Planting m e 080 
Expenses of planting .. m ete 15 6; 
Skimming, or horse-hoeing, 5 times .. 1 5 0 
Four-feet-poles, one to each hill, ani 
labour E m es e 050 
Chopping round the hills, at 8d. per 
hundre m E .. E CD 6 8 
triking furrows and shovelling vec S7 
Draining, 240 rods, at 9d. oR ais ADS: 05:0 
Rent, taxes, and tithe 200 
Total expense, first year LSS eras 
2. Cost of cultivation from the second to the sixth 
ear, both inclusive : — 
Striking up and furrowing x Re 
tripping and stacking poles ;. — ;. 
Digging, at 21d. per hundred 
fanure, carting on, &c. .. os ae 
Dressing (pruning), at 6d. per hundred 
Sharpening poles and poling, Is. 6d, per 
hundre oe m] y z, 
Tying, at 10d. per hundred 
Ladder tying Va ae ee 
Chopping, at 9d. per hundred ;. 2! 
Skimming, or horse-hoeing, 5 times, 
rolling, &c. in "s a E 
Hilling at 3d. per hundred oe ee 
Setting up poles, and incidental expenses 
Poles, carting on, &c, . T mm 
Rent, rates and tithe RE iw 
Interest on capital, 307. per acre 
Cost of cultivation per annum. . oe 26 19 4 
Estimated growth, 10 cwt. per acre. 
Picking oe we ¢ 0 0 
Drying, packing, &c. 310 0 
Duty .. m m RG 814 6 
——— M 4 6 
Total cost per annum ae $ £43 17 10 
The above calculation will probably somewhat ex- 
ceed the actual cost per acre of an entire plantation, 
consisting of several gardens of different ages ani 
strength, as in such case the poles would be thoroughly 
worn out, and a few other expenses diminished. 
must nevertheless be considered as a fair average of 
the class of Hops to which it relates. In Mid-Kent the 
cost per acre is several pounds higher. The Mid-Kent 
Hops, however, consist mostly of the finer sorts; and 
will command from 15 to 25 per cent. higher prices 
than those of the Weald; the duty in each case being 
precisely the same. It must be observed that there is 
no crop the first year, and that the second is generally 
but trifling. I have added nothing for interest on the 
original cost of rearing the plantation, since draining is 
a permanent improvement, and Hop-gardeus, when 
grubbed are in a much improved condition for every 
purpose of cultivation. The following is a summary of 
the produce, &e. of a Hop-plantation in the Weald of 
Kent for ten years. The pl i y be dered 
quite an average for the district, cither as it relates to 
au 
Years. Acres. Growth. Sold for | Average p. Acre. 
Cwt. qrs. Ibs.) £ s. d.| Cwt. ars. Ibs. 
315 0 «(Olds 5 0| M1 923 
248 0 0| 80 ll 2 8 0 18 
907 0 0| 727 10 0 Tag: cog 
à 2989 2 0|120 5| 31-2399 
|ms. ee 9399 40. 0.15 d d 
PR 4 we] 430-9 6 009727 35 
| 23 0 11 0 7 9 8 18 
|9)8 8 6 14 6 10 . 60 19 
914: 70:250; 3 3 10 3 0 
78 2 23 9 38 2 9 Ss 
[2213 2 5909 13 TE RT 
Average value per acre for 10 £3617 0 
years.. —. 
Average value per cwt. after deducting ex- 
penses of carriage and commission 6 
* The price per ewt. ranged between 48s. and 150s, in the 
above case during the ten years. 
In this statement neither the duty nor the expenses 
of picking, drying, &c. have been charged—a sum 
usually computed at 35/. a ton, or 17. 15s. per ewt.— 
Mr. Buckland in English Ag. Soc. Journal. 
Turnips.—The introduction of artificial manures, and 
of the manure seed-drill, has effected an important 
change in the cultivation of this invaluable root. 
Swedes should properly succeed the Wheat, or lay Oats ; 
and when this takes place the land is ploughed as soo: 
applied, either a smaller quantity of those manures or 
ashes of some kind are commonly drilled in with the 
seed. On many of the cliff lands on the south coast, 
sea-weed is extensively employed for this crop, ploughed 
under the furrow with the first ploughing, in most in- 
stances producing a crop of white Turnips ; but gene- 
rally, dung, bone, or ashes are employed also, in order 
to secure a good crop;of Swedes. The cost of producing 
an acre of Swedes, grown after Wheat, is thus estimated 
by two farmers :— 
3 ploughings, at 6s... £0 I8 0 p ploughing 7 6 
aTe 
econd cross plough- 
4 harrowings, rollin P Er e E E a 
andcultivating, &c. 0 15 0| Harrowingandrolling 0 7 0 
ii | 20 loads of dung, at 
Scwt.Peruvianguano* 116 0| 2s 6d. . .. .. 210 0 
| Carting & spreading 0 4 6 
Seed .. .. .. .. 0 2 0| Third ploughing 0620 
| Harrowing and roll- 
Drilling .. .. .. 0 1 0| ing once over EPISC En x 
| 12 bush. of bone-dust, 
2hoeings & singling 0 10 6| t 20s .. 10 0 
| Drilling.. .. .. 0 
Dhoeings & singling 0 10 6 
&4 2 6 
In the Turnip prizes that have been obtained for the 
last five years at the winter meetings of the Cornwall 
Agricultural Association, the Swedes average 25 tons 
per aere, and 198 roots to the perch. The usual time 
of sowing white and yellows is from the 24th June to 
the 25th of July. For Swedes, from the latter part of 
May to the middle of June.1— Mr. Karkeek, Eng 
Agricultural Sociely’s Journal. 
One-Horse Carts.—The advantages derived fiom the 
use of one-horse carts I shall here point out in the 
order in which they were brought under my notice on 
my own farm, and which are cf course to be realised 
on all farms in proportion to their size. The first ad- 
vantage I derived was in. stocking my farm, which con- 
tains about 230 acres, all arable, and would, under the 
waggon system, have required four waggons and four 
carts, which, if purchased new, would have cost as 
follows :— 
£6 7 6 
2 waggons, at 301... Fe .. £60) 0 0 
2 harvest do., at 151. m OE TUR 
4 carts, at 197, A RS 34 BU 0 
Total .. £198 0 0 
a. oe 
But by using one-horse carts, with fittings for harvest- 
work, my outlay was — E 
4 carts complete at 130. ++ .. £52 0 0 
In order to prove, however, that there was a saving of 
86/., as appears here, it will be necessary to show that 
Iam in no way inconvenienced by the entire substitu- 
tion of one-horse carts for waggons and carts of a 
larger description. In the first place, there is no farm- 
ing purpose to which waggons or large carts are ap- 
plied for which one-horse carts are not also adapted, 
and it will be seen in the following table (which I have 
* From 2} to 3 cwt. of guano are used per acre. he 
Ichaboe was tried last on, and answered exceedingly well. 
I have witnessed some exceedingly good crops produced by 
24 cwt. of Ichaboe guano per acre. 
1 2s. 6d. per load is considered to be full value for farm-yard 
manure, such as is generally made in Cornwall. 
t Storing of Turnips.—The Cornish farmers have a dislike to 
the loss of the tops of the Swede Turnips, and a very common 
plan of “storing” is to cart the Swedes in their entire state to 
some convenient meadow near the farm-yard, and there place 
them close to each other on the surface ofthe land, just in the 
same state as when growing—this is called “pitching.” Others 
ndiseriminately, without any protection from the 
ails.” Others 
Geach, of Cornwall. 
SS 
