41—1846.] 
THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 685 
Bones and Sulphuri 
e rop of Scotch yellow Turnips, grown with bones and 
sulphuric acid, 4 bushels to the acre (purchased from 
Proctor aud Co., Bristol), on, I believe, one of t 
Poorest pieces of land in the county of Pembroke; the 
Soil not 2 inches deep on yellow clay. Last winter: 
cut several drains through it to carry off the water, but 
I have not yet subsoiled it. The bone and sulphuric 
sown Turnips far exceed those sown in the same piece 
of ground with guano, 3 cwt. to the acre.—Pedro, 
Pembroke, Sept. 29. 
[3 
Fa 
Miscellaneous. 
The Duke of Portland’s Tile-draining in Ayrshire. 
—The first tile-work erected in Ayrshire was that of 
Moorfield, near Kilmarnock, the property of His Grace 
the Duke of Portland, which from 1825—the date of its 
erection—to the present day has been under the able 
management of Mr. Taylor. Subsequently three others 
were erected on His Grace’s estates in Ayrshire—viz., 
at Purroch, Galston, and Newhouse. One of these has 
lately been given up, the clay having been exhausted, 
but the land in the district in which it was placed has 
been well drained: the other three tile-works are in 
full operation. At Moorfield alone upwards of thirty- 
three millions of tiles have been manufactured. These 
ave been from 2 to 12 inches diameter, and invariably 
12 inches in length. Weare informed that the seam of 
clay, allowing the same yearly quantity (the average of 
the above number) to be made, will last for at least 
20 years. At the Duke of Portland’s other works in 
Ayrshire upwards of twenty-five and a half millions of 
tiles have been made, exclusive of soles, of which a 
great quantity have been manufactured. 
Number of tiles manufactured at Moorfield .. 
At Purroch, Galston, and Newhouse .. . 
Total number .. ^ 
If 5,000 tiles, 12 inches long, is a sufficient number 
to drain an aere, we have thus 11,860} acres drained 
on the Duke of Portland's estates in Ayrshire within 
the last 21 years—a fact which, we may safely say, has 
not its parallel on any nobleman's or gentleman's estates 
in Great Britain. Since tile-making was first introduced 
into Ayrshire by the Duke of Portland, many improve- 
ments have been ‘made on the process ; not the least, 
certainly, is the introduction of machinery (although 
hand-moulding has invariably been followed at the Duke 
of Portland’s works), which, in Ayrshire particularly, 
has been greatly improved of late.—Ayrshire Agri- 
culturist. 
Metropolitan Sewage Manure Company : Analysis 
of Evidence. — The following account by Mr. W. C. 
Jolly, land agent, in Scotland, of the application of 
liquid manure, upon a farm in the neighbourhood of 
Glasgow, belonging to Mr. Harvey, is highly important; 
it has been iu operation for two years. The liquid em- 
ployed is the waste from the byres and stables, and 
from a distillery, collected and pumped up by the same 
process as I understand this company mean to use, 
over a stand-pipe, and carried out nearly two miles in a 
direct line through the fields, three to four miles of pipes 
altogether. Mr. Harvey keeps from 400 to 500 cows, 
and has a distillery on the premises ; it is all collected 
in a well; the steam-engine there is for the purposes of 
the distillery, which pumps this up over the stand-pipe. 
t also contains human manure to a very small extent. 
It is taken out in cast-iron pipes, 3 inches in diameter, 
through the fields, and there are cocks at different parts 
and a hose is applied, which goes from any part, and is 
then distributed by tin pipes added on, so many of them 
about 6 feet 6 inches in length, and the others about 
3 feet in length. ere is no labour, but a single man 
or boy to watch it and distribute it over ; they may do 
it by jet. He does not use a jet. Some of the land is 
in ridges, and some of his fields are flat ; and it has a 
much better effect when the land is flat ; on a ridge it 
is apt to run into the furrows. It is found to distribute 
At very equally over the land; and though it is run on 
at every 3 feet or 3} feet, you would not know the dif- 
ference of the crop, unless they miss a bit, and then it 
is marked. I should say that the distribution of ma- 
nure in that way is by no means so offensive as by 
applications of common farm-yard manure. I saw the 
tanks full and empty, and particularly wished to examine 
whether there was any deposit; they have never re- 
quired to be cleaned out, except at first. They put up 
an agitator to take it all, supposing the article to be 
deposited was the best of it; they found out by expe- 
rience that it was by no means the richest part, and 
they have ceased to use the agitator, by which means 
the first tank it flows into requires occasionally cleaning 
out. He farms various qualities of land; and he has 
applied it to all sorts of erops, and with universally good 
results, On pasture-land it has had the most beautiful 
effect ; the cattle seem to like the parts done with it ; 
they eat it much more greedily ; ifa part is missed, the 
Cattle will leave that. I should say that land that for- 
merly he could not cut more than once, he will cut this 
year three times. It is common Rye-grass. This year 
he has applied it to Oats, after they were brairded ; 
Most of the people thought it would have destroyed 
them ; I went back afterwards, in five or six weeks, 
and the effects were wonderful ; I should say double the 
amount of the crop upon the part done with it, com- 
Pared to the part that was not, and so distinctly marked, 
that at half a mile distance you could see the parts 
missed; the field is cold clay land. I estimate the crop 
at double what it would have been without it. I could 
not say how many quarters, with any accuracy, at that 
c Acid.—I have an excellent stage of the crop. From the dressing he is in the habit 
of giving per acre, he has a much greater result than 
from any quantity of farm-yard manure I have seen 
applied. He has 300 acres, which is now nearly ail in 
fine condition from that; and I should think, from the 
supply, that he has equal to twice 300 acres ; he has 
more than he requires, so much so, that after this year, 
he will not require any solid manure ; he is selling it. 
He put up this apparatus two years ago, and he is so 
i ‘hl inced of the advantage of it, that he 
recommends it very strongly. The following evidence 
laid before the Select Committee on Metropolitan 
Sewage, by Mr. Chadwick, is highly important in refer- 
ence to the applicability of the plan of the Company :— 
“Inthe summer of 1842 I was staying with a friend, 
Mr. Thomson, of Clitheroe, where Dr. Lyon Playfair 
was also staying. Mr. Thomson has extensive print- 
works, where he employs about 1000 persons, and from 
the works has much liquid manure. Mr. Henry Thom. 
son pumped up the sewage water from a well or shaft 
into a tank made at the top of a field about 80 feet 
above the rest of the farm, He found that, under that 
80 feet pressure, by means of the hose, with the labour 
of two men (one to remove the hose, and another to 
direct the nozzle), they could distribute about 2000 
gallons of liquid manure in an hour. “The important 
result was this, that it was to be accomplished by the 
labour of two men ; and suppose we gtve 23d. or 3d. an 
hour, that delivery of the 2000 gallons was accomplished 
? "The expense of delivery of the same quantity 
by water-cart was, I think, about 5s.; the expense of 
loading and spreading stable dung was about lls. That 
was about the relative mechanical cost, 6d. for the deli- 
very by the hose, 5s. by the water-cart, lls. or 12s. in 
the distribution of stable manure : an equivalent quan- 
tity, and that close to the farm. Then, there was this 
great advantage in favour of the hose (though you 
cannot give an estimate in money value as to the rela- 
tive amounts), that, in the distribution by the water- 
earts, there is the poaching of the land by the weight 
of the cart and horse, and probably the damage of 
which would be more than 5s., and of course still 
greater damage in the case of the cartage of the heavier 
produce of stable manure. With the hose the experi- 
ment appeared to be complete with the addition of a 
very important fact, that you could by the hose get on 
the land at any time ; but with the water-cart, ‘or in 
spreading solid manure, of course, you are restricted 
by the state of the weather as to its application at cer- 
tain periods. So far as they could try, I think these 
2000 gallons of sewer water were found equal to about 
3 cwt of guano, and about 15 tons of stable manure. 
But there was another important point which was esta- 
blished beyond a doubt, which was, that the friction 
through the hose, for a considerable length, was much 
less than we anticipated ; for instance, we used half a mile 
of hose, and carrying it on the surface, over furrows and 
through a ditch and over a hedge; I think at the end of 
800 yards it gave out a jet something, as near as I could 
judge, of 40 feet (nearly half the height due to the 
pressure). These experiments appeared to establish 
the fact, that the hose, in many circumstances, for the 
delivery of a given quantity of water, even considering 
it as a means for the distribution of simple water, would 
have been cheaper than the water-meadow itself, and 
you have the advantage also with that, of being able to 
apply the liquid manure to arable cultivation. With 
the water-meaddw you only apply it to Grass land. 
Putting the interest on the machinery and capital 
together, we could not put down the fair expense of this 
delivery by the hose at much more than ls. an aere, 
that is for 2000 gallons.” 
Witney.—The enclosure of Cambridge Downs extin- 
guished the race-course and its doings. These downs 
are now in a state of cultivation highly creditabl 
the skill and judicious management of the occupier, 
Mr. Wm. Grace. This is one of those striking instances 
of a soil not id d worth cultivating, producing 
abundant and excellent crops, with mutual advantages 
both to landlord and tenant. Here, in the face of the 
prediction of some score of wise-acres that * It could 
never be made to produce a new corn from an old one,” 
grow the finest specimens of all descriptions of agricul- 
tural produce, the homestall stands prominent in its 
pp rejoicing bulkn fold tells not only of 
the master’s judgment in his selection of the stock, but 
of the capabilities of the food produced upon the soil 
which instead of being farmed at all, ought, for the 
sake of protection consistency to have been kept out of 
cultivation.— Oxford Chronicle. 
Ages of Cattle.—When in your country a short time 
ago, I heard an article spoken of which however I was 
unable to see, which appeared in a late number of the 
Farmers’ Gazetle, respecting a heifer belonging to a 
Mr. M‘Lean, of Claremont-park, and purchased from a 
Mr. Watson, of Northumberland, in which it was stated 
that the said heifer must be older, judging from her 
marks of mouth, and appearance of horn, than was 
asserted—now what these marks and appearances in her 
may be, I am unable to say; but as an extensive 
breeder of stock, from the pampered and highly forced 
short-horn, to the hardy and rough kiloe, left almost to 
its own resources for a subsistence, I would venture to 
warn any person, how great soever may be his experi- 
ence, from giving a decided opinion as to the age of one 
of a class of animals so variously treated in youth as 
that of neat cattle. It is unreasonable to think, and 
unnatural, that in an animal rapidly forced forward 
from its birth, the bone, fat, muscle, hoof, and general 
c 
e 
size, should far exceed those of an animal kept as 
poorly as possible, and yet that the horn and teeth 
should not partake of that more rapid progress. Will 
any one deny that the teeth and horns were not more 
advanced in such animals as Mr. Grant Duff’s heifer, 
Carmine, which at one year old weighed 98 stones, of 
14 lbs. to the stone, live weight, or as my own bull calf 
by Guy Faux, out of Lovely, by Borderer, which at 8 
months old weighed within a few pounds of 40 stones, 
of 14 lbs. to the stone, dead weight, sinking offal, than 
in many animals of an equal age, which we too fre- 
uently see trying to earn a miserable livelihood by a 
roadside or on the edge of a bog. It isa general rule 
that yearling stirks can break their own Turnips, while 
two-year-olds are unable to do so, but it is well known 
when such are well kept, that after the beginning of 
January those rising one year old seldom can eat their 
Turnips without having them eut, and again these ani- 
mals will soon be able the following winter to break the 
Turnips without assistance, while those which retained 
their teeth during the first winter, will not have reco- 
vered them the second. Again it is well known among 
all sheep farmers, that while the wedder lambs which 
are well kept after weaning on foggage and seeds, and 
put early into Turnips, will have no teeth left by the 
new year; their sisters, the ewe lambs, which are 
poorly kept on rough or moorish grass during the 
summer aud autumn, generally retain their teeth till 
Apsil, and sometimes even till they go from Turnips to 
Grass in the beginning of May. And every horse- 
dealer knows well that the well fed and warmly housed 
blood colt sheds his colt-teeth several months earlier 
than the ragged cart colt which has been left running out 
all winter on poor keep, which facts all go to prove be- 
yond a doubt that as the maturity of any animal depends 
more upon the mode of treatment through life, than 
upon the exact number of days or years that it has 
spent in the world, so must every portion of that animal 
partake of that rapid or more tardy advance towards 
maturity ; and in horned cattle, which are born at all 
periods and seasons throughout the year, the uncer- 
tainty is much greater than in such classes as the horse 
or the sheep, which are, almost without exception, pro- 
duced at one season of the year.— G. A. Grey, Milfield- 
hill, Northumberland, in the Dublin Farmers’ Gazette. 
Reaping-hook v. Scythe.—Last week a fair trial of 
the merits of these two implements took place on the 
home farm of Orchil, belonging to Gillespie Graham, 
Esq. Two men with one seythe, and other two men 
with two reaping-hooks, had equal portions of a field of 
fine standing Oats assigned to them for a fair kemp. 
The work was to be well executed in cutting, binding, 
and stooking. Mr. Haldane to be judge of the work. 
To it they set accordingly, exerting all their skill and 
strength, anxious for the honour of their several in- 
struments, each party eutting about one-sixth of an 
aere, when the contest terminated in favour of the 
sickle by 40 minutes. Mr. Haldane declared that the 
work was equally well executed by both parties, but in 
oint of time the scythe was beaten by two hours per 
per acre at the same rate of workin: Scotch Paper. 
wn 
Calendar of Operations. 
OCTOBER. 
Wheat Sowing has doubtless commenced more than a month 
ago in the bleaker parts of the country ; whilst in others the 
autumn seed-time will not be oyer for a couple of months to 
There are sev 
rm-manure 
nd the pro- 
is chiefly applied, which we very much doubt. 
priety of using much or little seed per acre, v 
depends upon the circumstances under which the crop is 
In reference to the first of the s experience bas 
already su: a general rule of 
0g 
n 
si 
say 
y 
ri s the bulky, crude, and coarse manures so rich in ca: 
bonaceous matter, which the farm-yard supplies, are certainly 
better made use of for the growth of a large bulky crop, such 
as Turnips or Mangold Wurzel, than for the growth of Wheat, 
where the chief object is not straw but grain. This we are 
sure will be agreed to by all except those whose soils by the 
repeated robbery to which we have above alluded, are always 
at the lowest pitch of poverty. 
In reference to the question of seed, it is impossible to give 
any rule upon a subject which is so mani: y dependent on 
circumstances. All will agree that a certain loss of seed occurs 
every year from destruction by birds, water, and frost, wire- 
vorm, &c.; and it will also bé agreed that these causes must 
be much more infiuentialin some localities than in others ; add 
to this the fact that some soils will cause a seed to throw out 
20 heads, while others fail of producing five, and we can easily 
sce how it is that some farmers, speaking from experience, re- 
commend three bushels per acre, whilst others on equally un- 
answerable grounds have asserted three pecks to be more than. 
c is to sow about 1} bushels per 
atter deter- 
mine for himself what under his circumstances itis best to do ; 
vaste of 
g on the 
of plant. 
As regards the preparation of the land for this crop, the 
Wheat-plant likes a firm seed-bed ; it prefers a stiff soil, and is 
thus best sown on a stale furrow when the land is wettish, and 
it should be sown by drill or dibble, not broadcast. As regards 
the choice of varieties this doubtless must be left to circum- 
stances, and our adver 
ising columns publish many sorts of 
