510 THE 
AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 
[JULY 25, 
“94 year—Oats or Barley sown with Clover. 
3d year—Clover, twice cut, or mown for hay. 
4th year—Beans and Peas; Turnips between the Bean drills, 
eat off by sheep. 
5th year—Wheat. 
Thus, as Mr. Davis observes, he gets three green and 
three corn crops in five years, besides a vast quantity 
of fine keep for stock. His returns are great: 5 qrs. 
of the best Wheat, up to13 qrs. of Oats, and above 8 
of Barley, to the imperial acre ; and, though it may be 
presumptuous to judge from one cursory inspection, I 
do think the Wheat and Barley promised no less. The 
quantity of seed allowed to an aere has already been 
mentioned ; but those who may desire further particu- 
lars on this, or other parts of Mr. Davis’s management, 
would do well to send for his pamphlets on “ the Injury 
and Waste of Corn from Thick Sowing,” and also on 
“the Resources Farmers Possess,” which will amply 
wepay the cost and time of perusal. I inquired, too, 
"what establishment of men and horses was required 
to maintain the farms in their present clean and pro- 
ductive state. I was informed that they had five pair 
-of horses, which, beside the farm work, drag to market 
the wood of the coppice : that, in' addition to the five 
ploughmen, there were either two or three permanent 
labourers, besides“ an odd man” to look after the cows 
and buildings. There was a dairy woman of course. 
The hand-hoeing was done by men at 4s. per acre, and 
one hoeing was generally found sufficient for the corn 
crops, which after that covered the ground and 
smothered any weed that might spring up. Strange to 
say, all the corn was flail-thrashed, there being no 
thrashing-mill on the farms. Iam aware that doubts 
are entertained by some as to the fact of the small 
quantity of seed used by Mr. Davis. It has been as- 
serted, indeed, that he sows little less than other people. 
t, ind dently of the impropriety of such an alle- 
gation against any gentl unless fully supp d b 
proof, what could possibly be Mr. Davis’s object in 
putting forth such a misrep ion, or i ing 
a system which he himself does not pursue? The 
sneers of the surrounding farmers, indeed, and their 
obstinate antipathy to his practice, seem to vouch at 
least for its being very different from theirs ; while the 
superiority of his crops over those sown broadcast, and 
with full seed, by his neighbours, convincingly prove 
its advantages. Why, then, doubt what Mr. Davis 
asserts? Look even at the facts. Is not the quantity 
of seed he mentions, if carefully distributed, sufficient 
for an acre drilled at 12 inches? No doubt, if that 
seed be exposed to the ravages of birds—to the rotting 
influence of- moisture in undrained lands—to being 
choked by an abundant crop of weeds, which are suf- 
fered io grow with its growth, and smother it at their 
will—the plant which will reach maturity from that said 
quantity may fail of being sufficient ; but if three pecks 
of good seed be properly distributed in drills 12 in. wide, 
made inland, clean, well drained, and in good condi- 
tion, and kept clean by the hand-hoe until beyond the 
reach of weeds, we may, I do apprehend, safely look for 
a large crop from it—such, for instance, as Mr. Davis 
reaps. But much will depend upon early sowing; clean, 
dry, and well-conditioned ground ; and careful and suf- 
ficient weeding afterwards: and, until this system shall 
have been fully and honestly pursued from first to last, 
and found to fail we have no right to condemn Mr. 
Davis's views or assertions as to thin sowing. Doubt- 
less, failures may, and will, take place occasionally, 
even when everything has been duly performed to in- 
sure success ; but this is no argument against the sys- 
tem. In reply to a letter I wrote to Mr. Davis on that 
subject, and in which I adduced my own failure (from 
worms) as a circumstance which might shake belief in 
the prudence of thin sowing, he remarks, that he could 
not see the good sense of providing for a casualty 
(which, if it does occur, is apt to do so wholesale, extir- 
pating the whole plant, or leaving it in patches, some 
too thick, and some too thin), by giving an overplus of 
seed—an injudicious measure in itself, and certain to do 
injury, whether] the plant comes up thick, or is eaten 
into patches by the worm. However the matter stands, 
I can at least vouch for this, that Mr. Davis’s system, 
whatever it is, does actually serve to produce an ample 
plant, and excellent erops upon very inferior land— 
crops immeasurably surpassing any I observed in their 
neighbourhood, and unsurpassed themselves by the best 
I have this season observed in any part of England or 
Scotland. Surely such a system is worthy of being 
known and studied. For my own part, I feel perfectly 
convinced that Mr. Davis is correct in asserting that his 
proportion of seed is sufficient; nay, that less would 
possibly do; but then the tilth and general manage- 
ment must correspond with this mode of sowing. We 
have all seen what a few seeds well-tended ina garden 
may produce, and there is no reason, save that of cost 
in labour, against a whole farm being similarly ma- 
naged. In the same way, dibbling is by far the most 
economical mode of sowing in respect to seed ; but the 
most perfect fair play must be given to the plants, that 
they tiller out freely and receive the whole nutriment of 
the soil. Drilling is the next best measure to reconcile 
economy of seed and labour ; but then the ground must 
be kept clean, in order to give the system fair play, Per- 
haps the best way, where extreme care cannot be relied 
on, would be to use the ribbing plough of six to 
nine coulters, 9 inches apart, to make the seed furrrows, 
after due tilth from the ordinary ploughs, harrows, and 
rollers ; and then to sow with the broadcast machine, 
The harrows drag all the seed into the furrows, giving 
“the full effect of drilling, and hand-hoeing can be per- 
formed as well as if really drilled. No Grass seeds 
should be sown till after the spring hoeing, and thus 
the seeds will have the start of the weeds as well as the 
corn. Mr. Davis purchases in ewes to give a crop of 
lambs and wedders to eat off his tares, roots, &c. ; and 
these he sells at prices which would make our farmers’ 
mouths water. I saw the last of the lambs with their 
mothers; the earliest had been sold, as the bailiff in- 
formed me, at 35s. each, and he hoped to realise 30s. 
a-head, or more, for the whole. The mothers, which 
had cost 22s. to 25s., from being early relieved of their 
lambs, fatten fast on the Rye and Tares, and sell, he 
said, at 40s. to 45s. This is the consequence of vicinity 
to good markets ; and a railroad would enable us to 
participate in such good things, as the railroads of the 
south have already done to the farmers there, reducing 
thereby the exorbitant monopoly prices of the London 
market. His wedders, after consuming Turnip, Cab- 
bage, &e., with oilcake in folds on the ground, sell at 
equally remunerating rates to the London butchers. 
Not a pound of guano, nor a bushel of bones, or other 
foreign manure, is ever used on these farms, nor is 
there such a thing as a bare fallow known. The 
manure made on the farm, together with eating off green 
food, is found sufficient for keeping the ground in heart ; 
while the horse and hand hoes—where everything save 
Clover seed is drilled —keeps the land clean, securing 
all its substance to maintain the crops, instead of per- 
mitting it to be exhausted by nourishing weeds. Since 
writing the above, I have found that Mr. Davis's 
system has been made the subject of remark by others 
as well as me ; for in No. 23, 1846, of the Gardeners’ 
Chronicle and Agricultural Gazette (for June 6), I ob- 
serve a pretty copious notice on that system, given by 
G. H. Ramsay, Esq., at Newcastle, to a club of which 
he is chairman, and who had himself repaired to Spring 
Park, to see and judge of its effects. He appears to 
have been equally struck with everything he witnessed 
there, and makes it known for the benefit of his neigh- 
bours. It is with this view, and in the hope of being 
of some use in publishing a system which sueceeds so 
well at Spring Park, that I venture to trouble you with 
this long communication—if it even tends to stimulate 
to the extirpation of weeds and cleaning the land, it 
will not have been made in vain.—J. B. Fraser, Easter 
Moniack, June 17, 1846, in the Inverness Agriculturist. 
Miscellaneous. 
Mr. Mechs Drainage.—My friend Mr. Mechi has 
favoured the farmers of Essex with some advice in your 
paper, the former part of which, describing his method 
of making surface drains, they will probably deem some- 
what unnecessary, considering, I think justly so, that 
the draining work of this county is as well understood 
and executed as any under his management at Tiptree 
Hall. My principal object, however, in this letter is to 
direct the attention of your farming readers to his 
remarks respecting the deep draining of our strong 
tenacious clay soils, and Mr. Mechi will excuse me for 
remarking that his authority in this matter is not quite 
infallible, for this is the second time within a short 
period in which he has come before the public recom- 
mending very opposite systems for the same purpose, 
the last hobby being, of course, the best. The former 
plan he admits has failed—the latter may. At present 
the question is not a settled one, that clays of the 
description before referred to will be improved by 
draining. The facts, however, already before the pub- 
lie show that in many instances this has been done suc- 
cessfully, and also, that deep surface work, say from 4 
or 5 feet, is better than the usual plan of 24 or 30 
inches. Now I maintain that Mr. Mechi’s inch pipe in 
this particular case must ultimately fail, as it probably 
will in all others, and that it is necessary to use pipes 
or tiles of a sufficient calibre to admit of a free circula- 
tion of air as well as a free exit for the water. These 
close-textured clays will not open or crack so as to 
admit of the percolation of the water to the drains, un- 
less the water which they contain is evaporated by the 
combined action of the air passing over the surface, as 
well as through the body of the soil, and this process is 
not immediate ; probably several years will elapse be- 
fore the full effect of such drainage shows itself. Not- 
withstanding the authority of Messrs. Pusey, Mechi, 
and Parkes, I pronounce these small pipes to be great 
bsurditi These gent] seem to think more of 
cheapness than of safety and durability. Draining is 
done very much in the winter months when the work- 
men have to contend with frost, snow, and rain, and 
when itis often impossible to keep the bottom of the 
drain free from thick water, And I ask any practical 
farmer or workman whether he can place these inch 
pipes at the bottom of a narrow, 5 feet cutting, with 
any pretension to accuracy, upon which success en- 
tirely depends. No tile or pipe should be put into 
any drain unless it is so substantially made that it 
will bear force and pressure so as to give it firm- 
ness and position ; and it is no bad practice for a 
boy to walk along the pipes and press them down with 
his feet, placing and replacing such as require it. Drain- 
ing will last for an indefinite time if executed properly, 
but it is hopeless to expect this with Mr. Mechi's one- 
inch pencil cases! I am not sure that Mr. M.’s former 
plan of filling in the drain to the depth of some inches 
with stone, and then placing the pipe upon the top, is 
not preferable to his present scheme. He further states 
that his drainage of last year, 33 feet apart on his new 
plan, has already proved itself perfect ; and with his 
usual courtesy, he invites parties who may be interested 
to inspect these fields. Of course with corn growing, 
and during the summer, this could not be tested, But 
I have yet to learn how rain-water can find its way 16 
feet, and if across the incline 30 feet in so short a time 
through stiff clay to the depth of 5 feet; even if these 
drains continue open, which I think is very problema- 
tical. Mr. Mechi closes his letter with some advice to 
pipe and tile makers, I proffer him the use of my 
establishment to carry out any scheme of manufacture 
that he may deem advisable and beneficial to the com« 
munity. Or I will have made for him, or for any gen- 
tleman, as many one-inch pipes, weighing from 1000 to 
1500 Ibs. per thousand, as he or they may order (not 
less than 50,000) at 12s. per thousand, credit price, I 
only stipulate that they must be ordered, for such 
things are not kept in my yard, because I have no res- 
son to believe that any man in this country except Mrz 
Mechi would use them. Mr, Mechi infers in his letter 
a criterion of value from weight and size. Some time 
since he sent me an inch pipe, 12 inches long, as a 
specimen of what he wanted for his work. I find this 
pipe weighs llb. $ oz. The common drain pipe de- 
livered from my yard weighs 3 lbs, ; for these I charge 
27s. per thousand ; and the tile which is much used in 
this neighbourhood, either single or doubled upon each 
other, for the mains to catch the water from the parallel 
pipe work, as well as for draining, weighs 5 lbs.; for 
this my charge is 35s. per thousand. It does not seem, 
therefore, that I can be charged with selling at ex- 
travagant prices. I wish to give as much information 
as I can on a subject so important to this country. 
have had gentlemen here from various parts of the king- 
dom who have already, or are about to establish works 
for manufacturing cylindrical pipes. For with the ex- 
ception of Essex, Suffolk, and Kent, till within the last 
three or four years, but little was known of this method 
of draining. One gentleman from Shropshire certainly 
advocated the inch pipe, but I found that his only rea- 
son was, that it was recommended by Mr. Parkes. I 
cannot but regret that the Royal Agricultural Society 
should have given its sanction to such a system without 
at least some pretension to inquiry.—Henry Dixon, 
Witham, May 20. (Essew Herald.) 
Wotices to Correspondents, 
ARTIFICIAL INCUBATION—OC S U—We have no personal experi- 
ence. 'he mean temperature of incubation is 100° Fahr. ; 
it may vary from 95? to 105°, and towards the close of the 
process may be suspended for one or two hours, or for & 
longer period, according to the degree of extraneous heat 
which the eggs may derive from their situation, without fatal 
consequences to the embryo." See Johnson's ‘‘ Farmers’ 
Encyclopedia.” 
oKs—Oonstant Subscriber — About Leases, &c., “Low on 
Landed Property :” and, for the other, next week, 
DRILL HusBANDRY— Young Farmer—Next week. 
Frax—A Sub wants a cheap and good machine for breaking 
and seutching Flax, Can any one tell him where such a 
achine is to be had ? 
GARDEN F. 
wu 
We have no 
. See also Mr. Bruce's experienc 
e, p. 488. 
cattle. 
Do not recommend 
n. In England we 
have usually moisture enough to wet any seed ; buta drought 
ing on, is year, is perfect destruction to 
steeped seed, Gibbs recommended steeping for a day, which is 
a bad plan 
ILDEW—A 
RECEIVED a curiously chafly ear of Barley, without anyaccom- 
panying reference to it, The specimen is the customary 
state of a naked Barley from Nepal, called Hordeum Ægi- 
ceras, It is aplantin a very anomalous state, but has never 
been examined critically by any competent person, 
REFERENCES—. We always take care to act fon the 
plan you suggest. That paragraph is wholly an extract, as 
is every paragraph under that heading, The reference is, aS 
you will perceive,to a past volume of the Journal from which 
the extract is taken. à 
Rick Croras—A Booth—Sorry we cannot give you an answer 
till next week. 
and same experience; and thus " 
quired the useful quality of hardiness, while spring Vetches 
possess that of rapid growth from the moment of germina- 
tion, with, however, a liability to injury by frost, 
Markets, 
SMITHFIELD, Monpay, July 20,.—Per Stone of 8 lbs. 
Best Scots, Herefords, &o 4; Oto 4s 9| Best Long-woo! EL 
B 
"1s ea 
Ditto (shorn) — = 
3 6| Ewesand seco 
alves - - - .40 46 o (shorn) 
BestDowns&Half-breds —  — | Lambs - - = 
itto (shorn) 
t Short Horns -8 alo 4 
Second quality Beasts . 3 (^ nd quality ane s 
48 5 
aan © 
Pigs, 
caste, 976; Sheep and Lambs, 11,8503 Calves, deat Midi feld. 
y 
