36—1846.] 
THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 
five quarters of Wheat per acre, and large crops of 
Turnips and Mangold Wurzel. Having an agreement 
in his tenure that he shall be paid for unexhausted im- 
provements, he drains his land with tiles, at distances 
varying from four to ten rods apart, and about 30 ins. 
deep, running the mole plough diagonally across these 
drains in every fourth or fifth furrow. This gives 
the land a partial draining, but evidently only a 
partial one, as might be seen by comparing the portions 
left unmanured, with land adjoining to Mr. Barnes’s. 
e sows his Turnips thickly, broadcast, not being 
able to use the drill, and afterwards cuts them out into 
rows by a horse-hoe. As he dresses for Turnips, with 
10 ewt. per acre of Peruvian guano, he generally gets, 
and in most cases promises to do so this year, a good 
crop of roots, either to pull and steam for his pigs, or 
to stand for seed. Mr. Barnes’s want of system of ro- 
tation much puzzled many of the visitors. Good crops 
of Wheat were seen after Turnip seed, the Wheat hav- 
ing been put in after broadsharing and harrowing,with- 
out ploughing. Rye-grass was sown in all or nearly al 
the Oats, these Oats having been sown after two years’ 
Rye-grass, and dressed with 5 or 6 ewt. of guano; and 
in other places Wheat had been put in after Rye-grass, 
with 3 cwt. of nitrate of soda. This was the case with 
one of Mr. Barnes’s best pieces of Wheat. In this 
piece the width of a stitch had been left unmanured, 
and there was certainly a quarter and a half per acre 
difference between the Wheat on that stitch and the 
rest of the field. Many of the visitors, who had always 
been of opinion that Rye-grass was one of the very 
worst preparations for Wheat, were much astonished 
at the fine appearance of this crop. Mr. Barnes sows 
from 2 bushels to 3 bushels of Wheat per acre, begin- 
ning with 2 bushels, Without offering any opinion as 
to whether one bushel of seed would have been sufficient 
for Mr. Barnes’s stiff soil, it was the almost unanimous 
opinion of those persons who had recently visited the 
farms of Mr. Davis and Mr. Mechi, that these gentle- 
men had obtained as good Wheat as much of Mr. 
Barnes’s, from a bushel per acre ; the ears in each case 
being very much finer than Mr. Barnes's. Mr. Barnes 
“bags” all his Wheat, by men or women, and that 
which was cut was very nicely done. His plants of 
Swedes and Mangold Wurzel were very good, notwith- 
standing the dryness of the season. Mr. Barnes has 
obtained a herd of tolerably good heifers and cows, and 
has got two or three superior boars to improve his bre d 
of pigs. Mr. Barnes’s pigs form, as far as the deputa- 
tion know of, an unique feature in farm management. 
He has some young ones, which were very promising ; 
and some 8 or 10 splendid animals fattening in the hay 
ofa barn. The greater number of these pigs, however, 
amounting to 300 in number, have liberty to go where 
they please, inand about the orchards, meadows, yards, 
&e., excepting at dinner and supper time. This fact 
Speaks highly for the state of Mr. Barnes’s gates, and 
fences, and the diligence of his swine herd. Mr. Barnes 
makes these animals dress one of his meadows some- 
what in the manner of folding. The pigman takes a 
sack of Peas on his back, and drops them in a small 
train along the ground as he walks, for the pigs to pick 
up, making a wider circle day by day, till the pigs have 
over the whole ground. Some amusement was 
caused amongst the visitors by an inspection of these 
pigs at feeding time. The party next inspected the im- 
plements. These consisted of the usual Kent ploughs 
and harrows, and two good honest iron rollers, also a 
wooden roller studded with spikes ; which Mr. Barnes 
said, sometimes, when loaded with a ton weight, passed 
over his heavy clods, the spikes entering them no more 
than an inch deep. "There was also an unused subsoil 
plough (which, it is feared, will disappoint Mr. Barnes's 
expectations, unless he drain deeper,) some drills, and 
other implements. A drill, on the presser principle, of 
Mr. Barnes’s own contrivance, with 6 pressers, and 
drills for Wheat, seeds, and manure from different boxes, 
the manure being covered in over the seed,—attracted 
much attention. Mr. Barnes had provided a substan- 
tial luncheon at his house, where his hospitality was 
done full justice to by his guests; after which they 
visited the more distant parts of the home farm. Where 
Mr. Barnes had tried different manures for Turnips 
and Oats, guano appeared superior to everything. 
Guano and bone dust was next in success ; then super- 
phosphate of lime, The effect of the Cornwall white 
manure and the prepared night soil was searcely per- 
ceptible. Mr. Barnes’s success (for although his prac- 
tice seems a series of experiments, nearly every experi- 
ment has been successful) appears attributable in some 
measure to his partial draining, but more particularly 
to his deep and clean cultivation, and his very liberal 
use of guano. Heis, in these respects, much in advance 
of the district around him, and with deeper and more 
frequent draining and subsoil ploughing, the deputation 
believe that his practice would be made still more suc- 
cessful, He deserves great credit for what he has done 
under such adverse circumstances. The members of 
the two clubs dined together at the South Eastern 
Hotel, C. G. Whittaker, Esq. (the chairman of the 
Maidstone club), presiding ; and J. Hague, Esq., of the 
Weald of Kent Farmers’ Club, occupying the vice 
chair, The health of Mr. Barnes was proposed from 
the chair, and drank with enthusiasm, after which that 
gentleman entered into a general exposition of his prac- 
tice, A discussion ensued on its advantages and disad- 
vantages, by which the remainder of the evening was 
very pleasantly occupied. T. Law Hodges, Esq.; R. 
Springett, Esq. (chairman of the Weald of Kent 
Farmers’ Club) ; C. Willis, Esq., and several other gen- 
605 
tlemen, sent letters of apology for non attendance ; that 
of Mr. Hodges being aecompanied by a portion of the 
Pale Paignton garden Cabbage seed, for distribution. 
This seed Mr. Hodges stated he had obtained from Sir 
Charles Burrell, in Sussex, and that it was a valuable 
field Cabbage, as, if dressed with liquid manure, it 
might be raised to from 35 Ibs. to 40 Ibs. in weight. 
The reporting members in this case, as in the other 
recent reports of the club, have purposely refrained 
from making any quantitative estimate of the erops.— 
Grorce Warrine, Hon Sec. 
'The Hon. Secretary asked Mr. Punnett to state how 
that repórt had been prepared.—Mr. Punnett said that 
it had been formed on the report which Mr. Whiting 
had produced, the reporting members had struck out 
some portions and added others. They had taken great 
pains to give a fair report of what they had seen. 
Several other members said that they had gone through 
it line by line, and word by word, and that they believed 
more time and attention had been bestowed on this than 
on any report which had ever been sent outby thesociety. 
Mr. Whiting asked Mr. Punnett to be good enough to 
say, whether or not his (Mr. Ws) report, as presented 
in its original state to the members, was, or was not, a 
fair and liberal report }—Mr. Punnett said that it was 
a decidedly liberal sketch, and certainly quite fair to 
Mr. Barnes, for confirmation of which assertion he 
(Mr. P.) appealed to Mr. Hayes, and other members 
who were present. Mr. Hayes said that many of the 
passages struck out from Mr, Whiting’s report had 
been much more complimentary to Mr. Barnes than 
those which had been substituted ; a remark in which 
the members who had sanctioned the report generally 
concurred. As Mr. Barnes had been present when the 
Club had ordered the members who had seen his farms 
to be summoned to make a report on it, and when they 
had adjourned till that night expressly to receive the 
report ; Mr. Barnes not then having made the slightest 
objection to the course proposed,—the club now deter- 
mined, on a show of hands (only two hands being held 
up against it), that the report whieh had been read, 
should be printed with the other report, and circulated 
amongst the members. The ollowing resolution was 
then unanimously agreed on:— Resolved, “ That the 
members of this Club tender their best thanks to Mr. 
Hewitt Davis, for his repeated invitations to the mem- 
bers to inspect a highly improved system of agriculture, 
which appears to be most successfully applied by Mr, 
Davis to a variety of gravelly, sandy, and chalky soils, 
and which seems to be applicable to a very large 
breadth of similar soil; also for the friendly and able 
manner in which Mr. Davis has always explained his 
system to the members. They also present their best 
thanks to Mr. John Joseph Mechi, for his great spirit 
and liberality in expending a large sum of money in 
the formation of farm buildings, which appear admirably 
calculated to work out the improved system which he 
follows, of economising produce, labour, and manute ; 
for carrying out (as Mr. Davis has also done) the im- 
portant peri ts of thorough-draini subsoil- 
ploughing, and, perhaps, the still more important ex- 
periment of clearing an estate, to a successful issue ; for 
throwing these improvements open to public inspection ; 
for the great fairness with which Mr. Mechi has tried 
his experiments, and the candid manner with which he 
has met objections to his views. That the best thanks 
of the Club are also due to Mr, William Barnes, for his 
invitations to the members to witness his experiments 
on the growth of roots, and other crops, after partially 
draining and highly manuring with guano and other 
artificial manures, on the stiff Weald clay, on which it 
has been hitherto supposed that such crops could not 
ke grown ; and also for the pains whieh Mr, Barnes 
has taken, on the recent visit of the members, and on 
other occasions, to explain bis practice, and to convey 
to the members generally the results of his experience 
of the working of such soi The members also wish 
to express their great gratification at the result of the 
late agricultural excursions, which they believe to be 
calculated, beyond any other means, to stimulate a 
taste for, and di inat: f agricult 
improvement.”— Maidstone Gazette. 
a knowledge o 
Farm Memoranda. 
American Farwinc.—The New York State Agri- 
cultural Society offered for the year 1845, three 
premiums on farms, under the following specifications : 
* For the best cultivated farm, of not less than 50 acres, 
exclusive of wood-land and waste-land, regard being 
had to the quantity and quality of produce, the manner 
and expense of eultivation, and the actual profits : 
First Premium .. .. m 50 Dollars. 
Second Premium m m 
Third Premium. oe .. v.201 
A series of questions was propounded to which the 
claimants of premiums were required to submit written 
answers. The report of the committee appointed to 
consider the elaims and statements offered to the 
Society under this head, embraces a very large amount 
of valuable information. Itwas submitted by the Hon. 
J. P. Beekman, and is published in the Society’s volume 
of Transactions for last year. The report states that 
nine several communications were received in answer 
to the queries proposed; to the authors of three of 
which the Society’s premiums were awarded, and to the 
authors of the remaining six, were awarded full sets of 
ti Th ts ol ful 
» 
the T e the 
competitors are published in full, appended to the 
report, and an abstract is furnished of the other state- 
ments, embracing the most i tant facts which they 
E 
contained. We make the following extracts from the 
abstraet of the statements furnished by the competitors 
who did receive premiums. aniel Gates, of Sullivan, 
Madison county, obtains an average yield of 55 bushels 
corn per acre; sows 3% bushels Peas to the acre ; 
yield about 56 bushels per acre. His hogs generally 
weigh about 370 lbs. each. He destroys the Canada 
Thistle by ploughing first in September, and then four 
or five times the succeeding season, and sowin 
Wheat. His fences are stone, costing a dollar and 
five cents per rod; stone topped with cedar, 93 cents 
per rod; stumps ranged in line about 45 cents per 
rod; and rail fence costing about 76 cents per rod. 
William Capron, of Macedon, Wayne county, culti- 
vates 107 acres—pursues a regular rotation of crops, 
so as to come round once in six years. Begins with 
summer-fallow, followed by Wheat; next corn ; then 
Barley, followed by Wheat, seeded with Clover. Sows 
two bushels of Wheat to the aere ; leaves his summer- 
fallow, after ploughing, ready to sow in ridges ; sows 
and harrows lengthwise, so as to have the growing 
Wheat as much as possible in drills; sows early in 
September—if sown too early, there is danger of the 
Hessian if late, it is liable to rust.  Soaks his 
Wheat in brine, and mixes it with slaked lime, before 
sowing ; has never had any rusty Wheat. Wheat crop 
generally averages about 25 bushels per acre—never 
less than 20. Sows 3 bushels Barley to the acre; 
average crop, 30 bushels to the acre ; manures for 
corn 50 to 60 loads to the acre. Sows Clover and 
Timothy, from 7 to 10 Ibs. per acre ; meadows yield 
about 21 tons to the acre. He salts his hay, one peek 
to the ton, if any way damp—if perfectly dry, does not 
use it. . S. Wright, of Vernon Centre, Oneida 
county, thinks the Devons mixed with the native breed, 
are the hardiest animals and easiest kept. Keeps 209 
sheep ; his wool averaging about 3 lbs. per fleece, and 
sold the largest portion for 623 cents per Ib. His hogs 
at nine months, average 390 lbs. Rufus S. Ransom, 
E ville, Madison county, made the following experi- 
ment with Potatoes. On one row he put on each hill 
a teaspoonful of gypsum ; on the next, an equal quan- 
tity of lime ; and on the third, the same quantity of 
salt. The first row yielded 281 lbs. ; the second 300 Ibs.5 
and the third 282 lbs. The fourth row, where nothing 
had been used, yielded 273 lbs., and the row imme- 
diately before the first, 274 lbs. According to this 
experiment, the lime would have increased the product 
16 bushels per acre. The soil. vegetable mould mixed 
with clay, gravel, and a slight proportion of sand ; sub- 
soil clay and shaly slate— Albany Cultivator. 
Miscellaneous. ` 
Rippling Flax should be carried on at the same 
time, and in the same field with the pulling. If the 
only advantage to be derived from rippling was the 
comparative ease with which rippled Flax is handled, 
the practice ought always to be adopted. But, besides 
this, the seed is a most valuable part of the crop, being 
worth, if sold for the oil-mill, 37. per acre ; and, if used 
for feeding stock of all kinds, at least 4d, per acre. The 
apparatus is very simple. The ripple consists of a row 
of iron teeth screwed into a block of wood. This can 
be procured in Belfast, or may be made by any handy 
blaeksmith.* It is tobe taken to the field, where the 
Flax is being pulled, and screwed down to the centre 
of a nine-feet plank, resting on two stools. The ripplers 
may either stand, or sit astride at opposite ends. They 
should be at such a distance from the comb, as to per- 
mit of their striking it properly and alternately. A 
winnowing sheet must be placed under them, to receive 
the bolls as they are rippled off; and then they are 
ready to receive the Flax just pulled,— the handfuls 
being placed diagonally, and bound up in a sheaf. The 
sheaf is laid down at the right hand of the rippler, and 
untied. He takes a handful with one hand, about six 
inches from the root, and a little nearer the top, wi 
the other. He spreads the top of the handful like a 
fan, draws the one-half of it through the comb, and the 
other half past the side; and, by a half-turn of the 
wrist, the same operation is repeated with the rest of 
the bunch. Thus the Flax can be rippled without being 
passed more than once through the comb. He then 
Jays the handfuls down at his left side, each handful 
crossing the other, when the sheaf should be carefully 
tied up and removed. The object of crossing the 
handfuls so carefully, after rippling, when tying up the 
beets for the steep, is, that they will part freely from 
each other, when they are taken to spread out on the 
Grass, and not interlock, and be put out of their even 
order, as would otherwise be the case. If the weather 
be dry, the bolls should be kept in the field, spread on 
winnow-cloths, or other contrivance for drying ; and, 
if turned from time to time, they will win, Passing the 
bolls first through a coarse riddle, and afterwards 
through fanners, to remove straws and leaves, will fa- 
cilitate the drying. If the weather is moist, they should 
be taken in-doors, and spread out thinly and evenly on 
abarn floor, or on a loft, leaving windows and doors 
open, to allow a thorough current of air ; and turned 
twice a-day. When nearly dry, they may be taken to 
a corn kiln (taking care not to raise it above summer 
heat), and carefully turned, until no moisture remains. 
By the above plan of slow drying, the seed has time to 
imbibe all the juices that remain in the husk, and be- 
come perfectly ripe. If it be taken at once from the 
* The best ripples are made of }inch square rods of iron, 
placed with the angles of iron next the ripples, 3-16ths of an 
inch asunder at the bottom, }inch at the top, and 18 inches 
3ng, to allow a sufficient spring, and save much breaking of 
