40—1846.] 
THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 
667 
With regard to those fields which are to be pared 
and burnt, they must lie till the spring ; but in ordinary 
seasons there will be no difficulty in getting them ready 
Part for Swedes and part for common Turnips. They 
may be pared either by hand or by plough ; in the 
latter case it is right to cut the land by circular shares, 
arranged on an axle and weighted, so that they shall 
Pierce the sward in lines about a foot apart. The 
Paring-plough in crossing them, and turning over a 
Urrow-slice about 10 inches wide, will turn over, not 
a continuous riband of turf, but a series of patches 
about a foot long, 10 inches wide, and l inch deep. 
These are more manageable in the burning. This 
ploughing, I imagine, will cost about 9s. or 10s. 
per acre. I have had no experience of it. 
arm was pared by hand, by the breast-plough, at a cost 
of About 12s. per acre, The burning, which should be 
done in as large heaps as possible, and as slowly as 
Possible —the one to ensure against the fires being put 
out by every passing shower, and the other to ensure 
black ashes—will cost about 10s. or 12s, an acre more ; 
and the'ashes where the turf has been cut about an inch 
eep, will cost 3s. or 4s. per acre to spread—the 
Urners being allowed the rubbish off and out of the 
adjacent grubbed up hedgerows to assist them. 
he next operation is to plough this land as shallow 
88 possible (say 3 inches deep), in narrow furrow-slices, 
m thus bury the ashes. The ploughed land should then 
if rolled hard, and then harrowed twice or thrice 
‘engthways ; and, lastly, twice or thrice across the 
Ploughing—and the soil should by that time be pretty 
Well torn to pieces. Let the land be then again rolled, 
and ploughed 6 inches deep across the former plough- 
ing. This will bring up the 3 inches of fast land below 
the ashes, and bury those 3 which had been on the sur- 
lace; the ashes, as before, being between them, or 3 
Inches deep in the ground. If the same succession of 
Yollings and harrowings be again repeated, the land 
Will be ready for that drilling up at intervals of about 
26 inches, which prepares it for the seed. The addi- 
tonal cost in preparing turf land for the seed, may 
‘airly be put at 30s. per aere over the cost of preparing 
arable land. In ordinary seasons a large extent of 
rass land may thus be broken up in one season, half 
of it being got ready for a erop of Swedish, and the 
Other half for a crop of common Turnips.—AZ, S. 
Home Correspondence. 
Small Farms.—The communication of your corre- 
Spondent « T, M. T." with your remarks upon it, as 
Contained in your last number, is of interest to others 
than himself," I believe that the system of small farms, 
rom 40 to 100 acres, may, under some cireum- 
incen, be made profitable, and perhaps more so than 
arger holdings, as allowing of more concentration of 
De ital, It becomes, then, a question of interest to 
“now how the small holder can carry out the principles 
of large holders. On a farm of, say 50 acres, how 
Many head of stock should be kept permanently ? What 
18 the most economical way of feeding them, both as 
rds the food itself and the proportion of such food ? 
uon also, is the most economical way of preparing 
l e raw material produced on the farm for market. The 
atter question is, in fact, the only one in a commercial 
Point of view, whether we regard the raw material of 
Pulse and corn crops made marketable, or whether we 
vegard roots and green crops made marketable in the 
RUE of beef and mutton. Regarding them, however, 
1 Separate questions. The stock is best fed on the raw 
ae of food, crushed or cut, and then boiled or 
famed, A considerable mechanical power is re- 
ee for cutting the roots, hay or straw, for crushing 
Linseed and bruising the Oats or Barley. 
ES which is frequently required, and how is it to be 
- 
Sea cheap and effective engine. Till this shall be 
FE however, I would wish to inquire what I am to 
I hold 50 acres of land; how am I to thresh my 
Exall’ ^ had thought of having one of Barrett and 
the wie ane renung machines, but “T. M. T." says 
quise. is too hard for men, In your reply to my in- 
id on the 29th ult. you said that I must employ 
«TM PEDE for a threshing-machine. You tell 
What is that his farm will not allow of the outlay. 
to mes en must we little people do? I will endeavour 
ing site fins facts respecting the expense of erect- 
ats TA sing steam-engines which would be avail- 
should be yin purposes; and in the mean time 
would a QE iged by your informing me whether you 
chines I Tuve to SONUS oue of the threshing-ma- 
enan od bor whether I should continue to 
ent it is be M one [If we have been inconsist- 
Wee Tuo: cause the size of tho farm in question is just 
e limit when it becomes doubtful whether horse or 
d power (we mean whetli i 
er an er a large horse machine 
een he fti) as applied to threshing, - is the more 
i eaa Your farm will employ two horses, You 
N ern gt a E TAR das for two horses constructed, 
3 chit to one of the largest hand-threshi - 
€ ix you can obtain.] 5 RYMER 
?vperiment Shed- feedi: yh 
hy Perim on Shed-feeding Sheep.— The flock of 
Sheep consists of the pure Leicester breed, Southdowns, 
and half-breds,viz., between Leicesters and Southdowns. 
Consequently, to test the relative qualities of the Lei- 
eased Potatoes are examined, it will be found that 49 
out of 50 are affected only at the crown, which fully 
cesters and half-breds, there was 22 of each kind chosen | accounts for'the premature decay of haulm, and an un- 
from the flock, and placed in two separate yards, the 
size of the yards being 12 yards by 10 yards, including 
sheds for them to run under during the inclemency of 
the weather. I must here remark that at the time of 
folding up they were in condition that would be called 
fat, in consequence of which they did not gain so much 
weight as they might have done had they been in a 
much lower state when folded up. The kind and quan- 
tity of food given to each sheep per day was 3 lb. of 
Linseed cake, 4 lb. of Barley, and as many Turnips as 
they could eat. The following is the exact and monthly 
weight of each lot, being from the 13th December, 
1845 (the time .of their first being folded), until the 
13th April, 1846 :— 
LEICESTERS. | 
st. Ibs. 
207 6 ' Increase. 
224 4 .... 16 12 $ 
2412 .... 16 12 13th Jan., 222 11 .... 15 12 
13th March, 2579 .... 16 7|18th Feb., 238 18 16 
13th April.. 270 2 .... 12 7|13th March, 254 2 
=— | 13th April, 274 ll .... 
10| 
HALF- BREDS, 
1845. st. Ibs. st. 
13th Dec,, 207 9 Increase, 
1846. 
15 
1 
2 DES 
In favour of Half-breds 4 6 67 
67 2 
It will be' observed that the sheep of the Leicester 
breed increased more during the first months, when it 
will also be perceived that the half-breds gradually 
began to increase more, and continued so to do until 
the time they were slaughtered. It appears from the 
aboye tables of weights that the Leicester sheep would 
for a limited time, on first putting up, gain a greater 
weight than the half-breds, but if kept for a moderate 
length of time the half-breds will obtain the lead of 
weight, and continue so to do as long as it may be the 
wish to keep them, for I find that when the Leicester 
breed of sheep has obtained a certain weight, their in- 
crease afterwards is but a mere trifle compared with 
the half-breds, and, as far as my judgment and experi- 
ence goes, I should prefer for general feeding on poor 
soils the half-breds.— Richard Woods, Scafion Farm, 
Osberton, 18th April, 1846. 
Comparative Experiments in Feeding Cattle.—There 
is a consideration of no small importance omitted in all 
experiments that have been made on the properties of 
various substances used in feeding cattle. Two animals 
are selected ; each gets a different kind of food, and the 
one that gets fattest in a given time is held to have got 
the most nutritious diet, Now, it is well known that 
no two beasts are exactly alike in constitution, any 
more than human beings. It is impossible to say that 
the condition and power of assimilation of the digestive 
organsare exactly the same in any two cases, Suppose 
the experiment reversed after the animals become lean 
again, Suppose the one which got fat in the first ex- 
periment, to get in the second the food on which the 
other did not thrive, it is quite possible it will get fat 
again, and the other on the supposed best food may not 
et fat. The way to come at the truth is to feed onl, 
one animal with different kinds of food at different in- 
tervals, allowing it to get back to its normal state after 
eacl peri Notwitl ding all that has been 
done, I hold that we are yet ignorant whether Barley 
or Malt be the better food, —G. S. Mackenzie. 
Cutting Peat Drains.—At p. 636, Mr. Smith, of 
Deanston, appears to have said that the cutting peat 
drains is done by a particular process. It would be a 
great advantage to me and others who possess acres of 
peat many feet deep, to have this particular process de- 
scribed, Perhaps Mr. Smith will kindly oblige us 
with it, —L. 
Potato Disease,—My firm belief is, that the original 
eause of this calamity is still a mystery, and the remedy 
without hope. The cause has been assigned to electrical 
action, blight, minute fungi, and ammoniacal gas from 
uano. In all these cases the haulm must be first at- 
tacked (that being the part only exposed), by which the 
sap might become vitiated ; but as this fluid does not 
descend to the Potato, such theories are wrong. Be- 
sides, it is scarcely possible for any one of the above 
causes to have prevailed at exactly the same period in 
places 5000 or 6000 miles apart, with oceans separating 
them ; and as regards guano, I understand the disease 
is unknown in Peru (from whence, it is said, the Potato 
was originally brought), although this article abounds 
on its coast. The disease has originated from some un- 
known cause, and is certainly now latent in the Potato, 
having first shown itself to any extent in the United 
Kingdom last year, and then spontaneously about June 
or July. It appears that well selected (apparently 
sound) tubers impart disease to their young tubers the 
following season, and that a certain degree of heat is 
necessary for its development, because it takes place 
in forcing frames very early in the season, and not in 
I| the open air till June or July. The cireumstance alone 
of its arising in frames in January and February, which 
it is well known to have done, fully subverts the theor; 
alluded to. The diseased new Potatoes I possess were 
taken five or six days back from a heap of five or six 
bushels. The old tubers were carefully selected last 
autumn, and kept in a perfectly dry boarded floor store 
closet, with a well closed door ; and although there was 
no earth, no admission of blight, or ammoniated atmo- 
sphere, the young tubers, from a 3 to 2 inches diameter, 
or more, are more or less infected with the disease ; 
and, strange to say, many of them are in contact with 
the old tuber, although the latter in every case, exa- 
mined externally, appears perfectly sound, having, of 
course, no haulm to convey infection. 1f slightly dis- 
healthy secretion produces fungi, which has often been 
spoken of; not in any case can the latter produce the 
former. In slicing a diseased Potato, the fibrous por- 
tion will be shown by dark ramifications which are con- 
nected with 'the eyes ; and sections of apparently sound 
old tubers also show this mark, but in a faint degree, 
and which constitutes latent disease; the eyes from 
whence the young tubers originate being the conductors 
of the contaminating virus. We find in the Potato, 
farina, gluten, and fibrine. The first preserves the root 
from too speedy destruction ; the second, when vege- 
tating, passes into a state of fermentation, and, I have 
no doubt, materially assists that process by forming car- 
bonie acid gas, the fibrine conducting the fluid or sap to 
the eyes ; and when this first principle (the sap) of the 
ibs. | future tuber is diseased, the tuber must be also. I par- 
ticularly noticed, this season and the last, that Potatoes 
that were dug up before the middle of June are not dis- 
eased, whether planted in autumn or not ; and although 
autumn-planted Potatoes have the advantage, the skins 
setting, as it is termed, before the time the disease takes 
place comes round, which is about the end of June, and 
are consequently preserved from it, still the risk of 
general planting on most lands in autumn is very great. 
Dr. Playfair and Mr. G. W. Johnson suppose the ‘dis- 
ease to be an ulceration or decay of the tissue arising 
from the absorption of oxygen, which, I think, cannot 
be the case; for having made very careful analysis of a 
number of old tubers, I find that the cellular tissue re- 
mains perfectly sound, but the ramified discolourations 
which may be seen throughout is the latent disease, 
viz., sap in an unhealthy state, capable under certain 
conditions of reproducing the disease in the young 
tubers, the liber in many hecoming ulcerated, and, like 
all other matters or bodies in the same state, the putre- 
factive process is induced : all this is the consequence, 
not by any means the origin. Oxygen is not absorbed 
by the Potato in a dormant state, unless the putrefac- 
tive process is present, and it always commences on the 
exterior; and old tubers capable of reproducing disease 
in young ones, and sections of which clearly indieate its 
presence, are, nevertheless, perfectly free from putridity. 
—G. L. Smartt, Enfield.—— had some Potatoes planted 
in a pit, which turned out to be an excellent crop, 
free from disease. They were taken up in the begin- 
ning of June. I left the old seed in the ground, the 
haulm of which is now full grown, and as clean as pos- 
sible, and some of the young tubers look as well as 
those taken up in June. By this it appears that the 
blight only comes at a certain period, and these not bein 
above ground are uninjured, while the remainder o; 
my erop, although growing close to them, is destroyed. 
Therefore, where seed can be spared it would be a 
good plan to plant in October, and then the crop 
would be fit for taking up*by the beginning of June, 
when the old seed might be planted as above, or the 
ground might be planted with something else. This 
would be preferable to planting in April, May, or later. 
Littlegreen, Sussex, Sept. 24. 
Experiment in Planting Potatoes.—On the 23d of 
March, 1846, I planted the following sets of Potatoes 5 
sort, Early Shaw; soil, sandy loam or gravel; had 
been well manured :—No. 1. Nine sets, containing 15 
eyes peeled off the Potato, the peel being rather thicker 
just opposite the eyes. No. 2. Nine wholesets. No. 3. 
Nine half sets. The sets were all taken from Potatoes 
of the same size, and containing as nearly as possible 
the same number of eyes. o. 1, seven plants grew; 
of 2 and 3, all grew. The plants flourished and looked 
vigorous and well until the 23d of August, when they 
were attacked with the epidemic, and a week after the 
haulm was mowed off. They were taken up on the 
18th of Sept., and yielded the following produce :— 
Size. Number of Potatoes. Weight, 
. Middle, good  .. 6 ^ i lbs, 
. Largest, fine se 
. Smallest, fair .. ve 188 .. va 87 
it will be seen that the produce from half sets 
was considerably larger than that from whole ones, and 
that the seven peels which vegetated produced 46 Po- 
tatoes, weighing 83 lbs. Asa comparative experiment 
it is defective, inasmuch as the number of eyes in the 
peels were much less than in the other two; but I am 
inclined to think if two peel sets had been placed in 
each hole, that the produce would have equailed, if not 
excelled that of No. 3. Not one of the tubers was 
diseased.—C. R. Bree, Stowmarket. 
Farmers’ Clubs. 
HARLESTON: Sept, 2, 1846.— The Planting of 
Wheat, thick or thin, early or late sowing, dibbling or 
drilling, and the cultivation of Bean stubbles for Wheat. 
—Resolution,—It was arranged that the discussion on 
the first two points of the question should be taken 
together, and on the other two separately; and also de- 
Ti. e^ 
81 m 
1 
cided that in this district 10 pecks per acre might be 
considered thick, and 5 pecks per acre thin sowing ; 
that the early part of October might be called early, 
and the latter part of November late sowing. The dis- 
cussion having commenced with the above explanation, 
it was considered that as regarded the first point, viz. 
thick or thin sowing, no positive rule could be lai 
down, as the quantity of seed must always depend on 
soil and season ; that however desirable it might be on 
good land and very clean to sow a thin seed early, yet 
with the general farming of the kingdom it would be a 
dangerous practice. Several members of the club who 
farm highly, stated it to be their constant practice to 
