34—1846.] 
THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 
571 
tentment, Although he may be surrounded with the | 
Means of obtaining an abundant livelihood, he will 
Squander away his profits in idleness and vice, unless he 
possesses good principles. These will lead him to be 
diligent and patient, to be peaceful and happy; in short, 
he only radical improvement of the labourer's eondi- 
tion will be aecomplished in an educated peasantry. 
The means for his social, mental, and moral improve- 
Tent must be universally adopted; and then the poor 
man's cottage will be as cleanly and comfortable as the 
rich man's habitation, and the gratitude of the cheerful 
labourers to their benevolent master will add a fresh 
Increase to the pleasure with which he shall behold their 
Prosperity. Let then the benevolence of the farmer be 
excited in his labourer's behalf, and these ennobling re- 
sults will assuredly follow.—J. A. Clarke, Long Sutton, 
Lincolnshire, 
ON MEASURE WORK. 
Prerartna GmarN ron Marxer.—There is little to 
be said under this head. Thrashing and cleaning seed 
1s almost always paid for by measure ; excepting, per- 
Naps, the ease of Clover seed, the winnowing of which 
18 such’ a long and tedious operation. Thrashing in 
Some districts used to be paid for by a portion (g) of 
the grain thrashed, and this, when the crop was an 
Average one, was a pretty fair wage. Thrashing Wheat 
and cleaning it costs generally about 5d. or 6d. 
bushel ; thrashing Oats from 14d. tò 23d. ; and Barley 
from 24, to 33d. ; Beans 23d. to 3d. ; and Peas 21d. to 
33d. ; the price of course must vary according to the 
Yield of grain, and the bulk of straw, There can be no 
Question as:to the excellence of the policy of using 
Machinery in the thrashing and cleaning of grain. To 
take the case of Wheat, it can be thrashed more per- 
fectly, and at the same time far more cheaply, by ma- 
Chinery than by the flail. And wherever the farm is 
extensive, there can be little question as to the policy 
Of using steam power (or, of course, water, if it is to 
be had), instead of horse power. A day's work of six 
horses, and one man to look after them, will eost 17., in- 
eed the ordinary charge for horses oughtto be increased 
1n this ease, for no kind of work is so injurious to them, 
Six-horse power 
1007. more than the horse wheel, the interest per 
annum on which, and wear and tear of the machine, 
divided over the 50 days during which the machine 
May be in use during the year is 3s. in the day ; add 
to this 2s. 6d. for the man * who looks after it, and 
Say 5s. for 7 ewt. of coal, which it will require, 
and you obtain 10s. 6d. as the daily cost of six-horse 
Power by steam, ‘This is much cheaper than horse 
labour, "Tt was a good reply which an intelligent bailiff 
9t my acquaintance made to a gentleman who came 
to see his steam-thrashing machine at work. The man 
as feeding his engine furnace. “Ah!” said the 
gentleman, who doubtless disliked this substitution, as 
2e considered it, of machinery for so much manual 
avour, «T find your horse requires food just as those 
Or more ordinary kind." — € Yes, sir,” returned the 
other, * but this is a horse that is never fed but when 
€ works.” —I find that an engine costing, as I have 
Shown, 10s. 6d. a day, can easily, during that period, 
thrash, clean, and, if the necessary machinery be sup- 
plied, sack up the produce of 140 cubic yards of straw 
(settled down) in the rick. The produce of this bulk 
Varies, of course, considerably, say from 80 to 180 
bushels of Wheat, the same of Barley, and perhaps 
from 120 to 200 bushels of Oats. find the 
Cost we must add 2s. 6d. a day for tedr and wear to the 
threshing machinery, and 6s. wages of three men, and 
3s. 4d, the wages of four women, and we shall have 
22s, 4d. as the expense of taking from the rick, threshing, 
building the straw, and cleaning and sacking the grain 
Sf 140 cubic yards, a rick of grain. This, taking the 
Yield of that bulk as above stated, will amount to from 
1d. to 33d. for Wheat ; from 14d. to 31d. for Barley ; 
and from 18d. to 21d. for Oats. 
B e now come to our last item in our long account. 
placksmith’s work may be bargained for per pair of 
Orses thus: we copy the agreement with our own 
f : “I engage to shoe a pair of horses, and per- 
orm all necessary repairs upon a plough, a pair of 
QUITO WS, a horse-hoe, on the iron work of a set of 
Tàüght bars, a pair of hames and plough chain; also 
st teep in repair a fork and graip for the use of the 
ME (all new metal and wood-work being paid for 
Xtra), for 3]. per annum, and the hauling of a load of 
Coals,” This will be found cheaper than to keep a 
Tunning account with the blacksmith for the various 
qendings, &c., as they occur at the customary charges 
Or each, 
. U, per pair of horses per annum for both plough and 
ba harness; the harness being in good condition to 
+ °8in with. I take the liberty of extracting the follow- 
14 Passage bearing on this subject from a report of the 
ole of Thanet Farmers’ Club. 
March 14, 1843.—This evening an inquiry was 
[ue into regarding ‘the prices paid by members of the 
Ub to their blacksmiths and collar-makers, for the 
Purpose of ascertaining whether it is preferable to con- 
i ‘act for the work or not, when it appeared that in one 
"56 107, per team per annum was paid to the black- 
Stith for all the iron-work, including shovels and forks 
2 
in À : 
about Spring, and we shall have no difficulty, or any scruple; 
machine and boiler will cost, say | — 
necessary on the farm, except wheels (the charge for 
strake varies from 2s. 6d., 3s., to 3s. 9d.) and new imple- 
ments; in another case 14/., where seven working 
horses were kept and one rider; in another 8/. per 
annum; in another 27. 10s. for shoeing only. The 
latter was not in the Isleof Thanet. On the production 
of the accounts of those members who do not contract 
they were found to exceed the above amounts ; and a 
resolution was thereupon passed, * That it is the opinion 
of this Club that it is advantageous for farmers to con- 
tract with the blacksmith.” 
On going into the collar-maker’s account, one 
member stated that he contracted at 127. per annum 
for 18 working horses and two riders ; another paid 57. 
for seven Sea giving half price for new harness ; 
another contracted at 12s. 6d. per year per horse; a 
member stated that he had paid in the last year 71. 5s. 7d. 
for 12 horses having used chain braces. 
Resolved—* That it is preferable for farmers to con- 
tract with the collar-maker.” 
With regard to the expenee of the management of 
live stock, I have but very few words to say. I have 
had no experience of dairy cattle, and. cannot say what 
number of hands may be needed in the management of 
a given number. But I may just say in reference to 
the keeping of the cattle and sheep (all under shed or 
in stalls), that one man and three boys clean and eut 
Turnips for, and feed and litter 45 head of cattle daily, 
eating about’3 tons of cut roots, besides steaming Pota- 
toes for feeding about 12 sows with litters. It must be 
remembered, however, that our buildings are very con- 
veniently arranged as regards the straw house, root 
house, and cattle stalls; and with this memorandum to 
be kept in mind here also, one lad about 17 years of 
age, earning 7s. a week, with two boys under him earn. 
ing 3s. and 3s. 6d. respectively, clean and cut Swedes 
and Turnips for 350 sheep in sheds, and also litter them 
every two or three days. These sheep also eat about 
3 tons of roots daily. I may also mention, as it is an 
understood thing, generally speaking, in those districts 
where sheep are folded on Turnips in the field, that a 
shepherd and his boy are needed to 300 sheep, and 
another boy is wanted to every additional hundred. 
M. 
(To be continued.) 
Home Correspondence. 
Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester. — There 
appears to be a good opportunity at this moment of 
benefiting three or four young men who have a practieal 
knowledge to a certain extent of farming, and who have 
the wish, but have neither means nor opportunity, of 
gaining scientific knowledge in connection with agricul- 
ure, Mr. Arkell, the farm superintendent at the 
Cirencester Agricultural College, requires assistance 
with the daily out-door class of pupils, and I think that 
ifeligible young men were to offerto take the superintend- 
ence of out-door classes in consideration of their being 
allowed to attend our lectures, and being provided with 
bed and board for a certain period (say the term of the 
course) in the College, the offers might be accepted of 
two or of three such men. I write to you on the sub- 
ject under the impression that you are more likely to 
know of such eligible parties, and more desirous of serv- 
ing them, than any one else.—Z. Holland, Chairman 
of the Royal Agricultural College Council, Dumbleton 
Hall, Evesham. 
Deep and Shallow Draining.—In an article on deep 
and shallow drains, I see my name introduced as an 
advocate for 2 feet deep only. Now, as I have always 
given it as my opinion that no rule can be laid down 
either as to depth or distance of drains without a know- 
ledge of the soil to be operated upon, and having been in 
the habit for years of burying tiles at all depths, most at 
3 feet, I am at a loss to understand why I am named as 
*sticking at 2 feet." If differing with Mr. Parkes 
stamps me as a shallow drainer, I confess I am one, for 
I consider most of the plans he recommends will fail. 
I am ready to prove, not on paper only, but on the soil, 
that the system of deep draining (4 to 6 feet) on strong 
clay soils for surface water, is not a new thing, but has 
been tried and failed—that a much better drain can be 
formed than by au inch pipe—that ramming the clay 
on the tiles will not answer on all soils—that having 
land made Jevel after draining is injurious on some land 
that has to be sown with Wheat late in the year—that 
this deep inch-pipe system of draining has neither the 
d g heap durability, or effect of drying 
the soilas it should do. I am also ready to prove that 
land cannot be drained at the prices stated by Messrs. 
Parkes and Pusey in the Agricultural Society's Journal, 
and that inch pipes cannot be made as stated by Mr. 
Hodges, the M.P. for Kent, 4s. 9d. per 1000, coal 28s. 
per ton, and the clay stoney. I can also point out 
places where the pipe draining has been done and 
failed, and that the most practical men in England con- 
demn it. I willfind Mr. Parkes from 100 to 500 acres 
of strong clay land that requires draining for surface 
water, to let him prove, if he can, that he is correct in 
practice, I paying all expenses unless he fails. At the 
same time, I will endeavour to show him there is a 
better plan than his—one that has been tested for years 
and found not to fail.— William Bullock Webster, 
Te " hen SPUTA 
, near ] „ Aug. 10. 
Mid-Lothian.—During the past month field opera- 
tions have been much retarded by the continued mois- 
ture, and the rain descending repeatedly in torrents 
materially tended to neutralise the arduous efforts of 
agriculturists to overcome that imperfect state of pul- 
verisation which is so genéral on all green crop land 
this season, arising from the want of frost during the 
past winter and the wet state in which the ground re- 
mained till late in the spring. The grain crops have 
suffered much from the weather that has prevailed, and 
neither Potatoes or Turnips have made the progress 
they were wont to do during the important month of 
July. The Wheat crop may be fairly stated as being 
of sufficient bulk, but serious doubts are entertained as 
to the yield turning out in proportion. Those farmers: 
who have commenced cutting down seem much disap- 
pointed, and confidently assert that disease exists to 
considerable extent. That such should be the case is 
not remarkable, taking into account the moist state of 
the atmosphere for such a length of time. Much will 
depend upon the weather that is to follow, whether this 
crop will turn out an average one, It would, indeed, 
require to be harvested under the most favourable cir- 
cumstances to justify such a conjecture at present. 
Harvest has commenced on several farms, but no cor- 
rect opinion can as yet be formed of the probable 
quality or yield for the new crop. Barley is thin upon. 
the ground, and generally short in the straw. The irre- 
gular manner in which it brairded makes it too evident 
that the quality will be defective. No doubt exists as 
to the yield being below an average. Should the wea- 
ther now clear up, with a fair proportion of sunshine, 
Barley harvest should soon be general. Some fields 
in the early districts are cut down, and it is quite 
apparent that neither the produce or quality of last 
year will be obtained when thrashing is proceeded with. 
Oats generally speaking during the earlier part of the 
summer had a most unpromising appearance, more espe= 
cially on stiff clays and very light land, the drought 
being rather severe. The rains, however, that fell about 
the beginning of July, serve in many cases to give in- 
creased length of straw, and although in some instances 
bulky erops of this grain are seen, such is rather the 
exception than the rule. No one can possibly estimate 
this crop at an average. If the weather proves favour- 
able the quality may be good and the yield in proportion 
to the straw. Some casual observers are apt to be mis- 
led by witnessing several fields flattened by the recent 
heavy falls of rains, and concluding from that circum- 
stance that there is likely to be an abundant produce ș 
but this test cannot be relied upon, as the rapid streteh 
the straw made after the rain succeeded the dry wea- 
ther, only induced, in the advanced state of the plant, d 
weakly stem, which will not be favourable to the pfo- .. 
duction of a heavy and well-filled head of grain, In-' ^ 
deed this weakly stem has eaused it in many cases to suf- 
fer more from the late floods we have had. Beans and 
Peas.— This grain has been more extensively sown this 
year in consequence of the severe loss from the Potato 
disease of 1845. Judging at present, Beans and Peas 
will neither be productive in straw or grain. Evidently. 
the stems in many cases are affected with some malady. 
In short, the prospect to the farmer as regards this por- 
tion of hiscropis farfrom encouraging, Potatoes through- 
out the country are an inferior crop, and it isquite appa- 
rent the disease of last year has fairly manifested itself, 
and likely to make rapid strides. What may be their state 
at lifting time remains to be seen ; but there can be no 
doubt the cultivator of this root must lay his account with 
experiencing a loss beyond even that of last year. The 
seed for this erop was much more expensive, and the 
other necessary charges for cultivation were likewise 
more in proportion, arising from the unkindly way in 
which his green crop land worked this spring, and all 
this taken in connection with an inferior produce from 
the cereal grains, cannot fail to place him in a most 
disadvantageous position. Turnips, throughout the 
country, brairded most irregularly, from which cireum- 
stance many fields have as yet but a very patchy ap- 
pearance. Generally speaking, plants have all come up, 
but being so young there is a great probability that the 
bulbs will not be large. Of late, however, they have 
made considerable progress, and should the autumn be 
free of frost, a fair crop may still be anticipated. The 
plaints of Fingers-and-toes are more general thisyear 
than in former years. Hay has been a light crop, and 
not secured in the best condition. Little Red Clover 
appeared in the first cutting, but the aftermath is rather 
better stocked with it. In our live stock markets, graz- 
ing cattle and sheep have fallen in value, and are likely 
to be cheaper yet ; fat cattle have experienced a reduc- 
tion of fully 1s. per stone, and mutton has followed in 
proportion. Pleuro-pneumonta has made great devas- 
tation among grazing cattle, and the mortality of dairy 
cows has been truly alarming. The Edinburgh cow- 
feeders are much to be sympathised with; in many cases 
whole stocks have been swept off, depriving that most 
industrious class of both their capital and income. 
From a recent calculation, there ‘are? at present 600: 
fewer cows in Edinburgh than there were in Nov. of 1845. 
The wool-market is flat, but hopes are entertained 
of an improvement. Grain has been rather depressed, 
but the chance of low prices is not great for this season 
yet, should the labouring classes remain in steady em- 
ployment. The manner in which farms have been 
letting in Scotland cannot be received as a safe indica- 
tion of the profits realised from the profession. The 
present rent of land cannot possibly be maintained, and 
those who are qualified to judge from experience know 
well they can never be paid from the produce. To use 
Sir Robert Peel’s own words, when talking of the rail- 
way mania, there is a “periodical mania” amongst 
farmers after a season of good prices, which leads them 
to forget the past, and believe a reaction will never 
occur in future ; and with all due respect ‘to the intelli- 
gence of Scotch agriculturists, there ismo class of the 
* 
