SS S 
44—1846.] 
THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 
731 
much surface to the sun. 
of farmers in the whole of this distriet who have fol- 
lowed the 27 inches wide ridge mode systematically for 
the last ten years (two cases excepted). However, of 
late years this plan is perceptibly advancing, and will 
ere long become general, being the only mode by which 
farmyard manures can be covered. 
It is very difficult to estimate the average weight of 
Swedes and Turnips grown in this district ; but from 
my own experience, and opinions expressed by others 
on this subject, I am pretty well convinced that there 
are three fields of Swedes to be found under 8 tons 
clean bulbs per acre, for one which will be over;therefore 
I am inclined to fix the average weight all over this 
district at 7 tons per acre, and common Turnips at 103 
or 11 tons.—W. Fernie, Manchester. 
AGRICULTURE AS A PROFESSION. 
Wuar is the reason that there is so much wealth 
amongst manufacturers, and. so little among agricultur- 
ists! Who ever heard of an agriculturist. as amil- 
lionaire? Who makes a fortune now-a-days by farm- 
ing! and why should so many be made by manufac- 
turers? What consti'utes-the difference? These 
thoughts have often. occurred tome since circumstances 
have changed my residence from the country, and from 
ld. of 
asit would be for the. merchant to embark his whole 
capital on an article which he has not first ascertained 
will meet the views of his customers, The farmer 
rarely considers the amount of capital necessary ; he 
unhesitatingly enters on. farm three times the size of 
the extent of capital he possesses for its proper manage- 
ment; and thus, instead (as he should if his capital 
were sufficient) of putting the whole farm in the best 
possible position in.the first year of his lease, he is con- 
tented to dawdle on doing bit by bit every year ; his 
crops continue of the same average quality, and he thus 
realises no more than a low interest for his capital; 
whereas, if his farm had been in proportion to his capi- 
tal, he might have, in the first two years, got all bis 
improvements effected, and during the rest of the term 
be in the receipt of good crops paying him a high per 
centage for his capital, I would hero remark that the 
expense of farming well-cultivated and improved land is 
no more than that necessary to farm land in which the 
improvements necessary to insure good crops have not 
been carried out; so that the expenses in both cases 
are similar, while the returns are in many cases double. 
This will illustrate the advantage of beginning to im- 
prove early in the term. 
Men. possessed of intelligence, and occupying land in 
the society of farmers, to this the } the 
manufacturers. Among many other reasons the fol. 
lowing, two. may be adduced : education, and a proper 
application of capital. Suppose, for instance, a person 
às two sons to provide for, he determines that one 
shall become a merchant.and the other a farmer. He 
has laid by, we shall suppose, to start them in business 
40007., which he divides equally between them. If a 
farmer, himself, he is now on the look out for the first 
‘vacant farm ; we shall suppose the one adjoining his 
own becomes vacant—* 450 acres; a little too large it 
is true for his capital, but such a fortunate circum- 
stance; I shall have him near home, and such an op- 
portunity, seldom occurs.” . Without any weightier 
reasons than the above, off he starts to the landlord, 
secures the farm for his son, and a lease of 21 years. 
His son now enters on his duties; he was born and 
bred on his father's farm (rarely was from: home fur- 
ther than the next market town), of course pursues the 
same course of management that his father did ; his 
capital he finds barely sufficient merely to stock the 
farm ; it is out of the question to attempt any improve- 
ments this year. “The crops are looking well,’’ he 
says, “and I will put insome drains next year.” How- 
ever, the disease attacks: his Potatoes, or the epidemic 
his sheep, and he must defer the draining till another 
year; and so he muddles-on the best way he ean, trust- 
ing to the seasons. 
How different is the ease of the son intended for à 
merchant? “Tom,” says the father, “ you must go 
and /earn to be a-merchant." . Well! he takes him to 
Manchester ; great care is taken to get him into one of 
the principal houses ; he stays there, say five or six 
years, going through all the departments, seeing and 
taking a part in the whole system; he thus acquires 
business habits and gets an insight into details. For 
the next two or three years he becomes a paid servant, 
acting as salesman or buyer, taking a little of the re- 
sponsibility on his own shoulders, and thus gets ac- 
quainted with the customers, &e. He will next, per- 
haps, be induced to go abroad as agent, and in this way 
he becomes acquainted with the tone of the foreign 
markets. He is inthis way enabled to meet, being ac- 
quainted with, the wishes of customers ; is thoroughly 
acquainted with the minutize of business, and has by 
this time acquired the necessary knowledge where and 
how he can invest his capital to most advantage. He 
will not purchase an article which: will stand on his 
hand; but knowing wha tis. mos:tin demand. w lsi 
his capital, at once in its purchase .and wii! be enap.e 
turn over nis capita: severa. times: m the course 0 
the year All this is the'effect of edueation. Now 
contrast the two: the farmer embarks n ms concern 
without more knowledge than his father possessed be- 
fore him, and thoroughly content. If his father be not 
a farmer, he acquires the supposed necessary know- 
ledge by living a year, or at most two, with a friend 
who farms. The merchant begins early in life, and his 
first.ten years is taken up with learning how to invest 
his money to advantage, and it would be strange: if, 
after that: time, he were not able to turn. it to advan- 
tage. The farmer’s capital is at once absorbed with pur- 
chasing the stock absolutely necessary for a farm which 
he has taken three times too large for him, leaving 
nothing for improvements. 
Now, what is the remedy. Let the son, who is 
to be the farmer, be sent at as early an age to 
the Agricultural College (there will be more of these 
by-and-bye), and let his first three or four years be 
taken up with being grounded in those sciences which 
bear on agriculture; let him become intimately ac- 
quainted with the theory and practice of agriculture as 
unfolded in the lecture or seen in the field; let him 
ut his hand to the various manual operations; 
get a knowledge in purchasing, rearing, and manage- 
ment of stock. After doing this, let him go abroad to 
the best farmed countries, see the operations carried 
outon a larger scale ; then, being now intimately ac- 
quainted with everything bearing on the subject, let 
Lad 
him take a farm in proportion to his capital, and start 5) 
and I am greatly mistaken if he does not double and 
treble the amount of interest for his capital which he 
would otherwise obtain. It is as inconsistent for the 
farmer to start business without having thus acquired a 
portion to their capital, would soon alter the state of 
our agriculture ; and we would then become a nation 
as distinguished for iis agriculture as it now. justly is 
prominently so with respect to its manufaetures.— 
T. C. M., Manchester. 
Home Correspondence. , 
Wheat Sowing.—As: the season advances I would 
recommend the advocates of thin sowing to be cautious: 
as to how they proceed in that practice. The following 
is a brief account of some experiments on thick and 
thin sowing, which. I was induced to make. from: the 
publication of a pamphlet which appeared.a few years 
since, from Mr. Hewitt Davis. And I have now in my 
possession a letter from that gentleman, in which: he 
recommends me to sow over my whole Wheat crop a 
quantity not exceeding three pecks. per aere. I was 
desirous of giving his system a fair trial, and about the 
middle of October, 1843, I drilled in a ten-acre field, 
on a good loamy-soil, three separate ridges of Spalding’s 
Prolific. No. 1, 4 peeks- pe xe, 11 inches apart; No. 
2,8 pecks per acre, 6 inches apart; No. 3, 12 pecks 
per acre, 6 inches apart. The Wheat came up and 
looked promising through the winter. As the spring 
advanced No. 1 was well hand. hoed, and it had a most 
luxuriant appearance, but did not ripen till ten days 
after Nos. 2 and 3. It was much beaten down and mil- 
dewed, whilst. No. 2 and .3 were. a. beautiful standing 
crop. The Wheat was threshed immediately after 
harvest; No. l produced 1] eoombs 2 bushels per aere ; 
No.2, 18 coombs»2 bushels per» acre; and No. 3, 14 
€oombs per acre. The quality of No. 1 was much in- 
ferior to No. 2.and 3, and the weight of straw consider- 
ably less. This was a dry and productive: season, and 
had I followed the advice of Mr. Davis, by sowing my 
whole crop at the rate of 4’ pecks per aere, I should 
have sacrificed a sum exceeding 2007, and which is no 
trifling loss to a tenant farmer. In October 1844, I 
repeated the experiment, and the season proved the 
I do not know a dozen | knowledge of the theory and practice of his profession, | Von Thaer than that of Mr. Hewitt Davis—that in 
proportion to the depth. of soil, &c., should the quantity 
of seed be regulated, for in a very deep soil the roots of 
plants have a greater inducement to penetrate in a 
perpendicular direction into the earth ; while in those 
soilsof a more shallow nature, the roots of plants spread 
more laterally, and occupy a greater proportion of the 
surface of the ground.—W. Cubitt, Bacton Abbey, 
East Norfolk. 
Ayreement between Landlord and Tenant.—1 have 
perused the form of agreement between landlord and 
tenant, given at p. 697, and certainly I am more inclined 
to criticise its construction than its provisions. The 
words. in the three first lines, “had made and con- 
cluded,” and * in the year of our Lord," aresuperfluous, 
and only go to make up the folios of 72 words for each of 
which the lawyer pockets. ls. There is an omission in 
the 19th line of the words “with horses, carts, and 
other carriages,” after the word “servants.” But to 
come to the. more important points. With regard to 
the holding, the term “ legal notice ” would, I presume, 
constitute a. half-yearly one in the case of a yearly 
tenancy, A question arises whether such a notice 
would be sufficient to the. tenant — whether a mutual 
yearly notice might not much more be advantageously 
adopted. both by landlord and tenant. In such ease I 
would substitute, after the commencing period of hold- 
ing (the 29th September), these words, “subject, to the 
determination of the tenancy by 12 calendar months’ 
previous notice in writing to quit from either party.” 
But, supposing this could not be agreed to, would it not 
be advisable for the tenant to get the period of tenancy 
to-elapse, under the half. yearly notice, on a particular 
quarterly day, i. e on Michael d f 
ady-day, or vice versa. 
experiments he is adopting. the 
carrying. out—may, on. many accounts, render it pru- 
dent for him to guardagainstany uncertainty of his tenure. 
The following provision, added. to tuc requirement of 
the notice in the 33d line, would in such case be effec- 
tual; * such notice to expire on the 29th day of Sept." 
(or the 25th of March, as the ease may be). ' There is 
a little inconsistency with regard to the time of payment 
of the rent: the tenancy commences at Michaelmas, 
and the rent, is payable half yearly (at Lady-day and 
Michaelmas), although the first half-year’s rent is not 
made to be payable until the Michaelmas following (not 
Lady.day). There is some ambiguity in the wording 
with respect to the cultivation of the land. It may be 
a question as to what constitutes “a good and approved 
system of husbandry.” [That is specified in the suc- 
ceeding clause;] I think, for many reasons, that the 
fire-office in which the property is to be insured should 
be named, as well as the sum to be secured. I have 
thus scantily adverted to various points which have 
arisen in my, mind. There are, however, several 
clauses and conditions, not inserted in the agreement, 
and whieh may, or may not, be requisite on the part of 
the landlord, such as the power of re-entry in case of 
the non-payment of rent (after sufficient demand, and 
not having been tendered), &c.; the power to enter and 
view the premises, and require improvements and re- 
parations; and also for the tenant not to underlet or 
part with the possession of the premises without the 
landlord’s consent, The memorandum attached to the 
tit would be safer to embody in it.— Lez. 
y, inp to 
The state of his crops—the 
i he is 
reverse of the former, being-wet and unp . 
Grilled on a piece of rich. land three other ridges ; No. 
1, 6 pecks per aere; No, 2, 9 pecks per acre; No. 3, 
12 peeks per aere ; width of drills in proportion to seed. 
No. l was again later in ripening than: Nos. 2 and 3, the 
straw being slightly mildewed and morelodged. After 
threshing, No. 1 produced 8 coombs 2 busheis per acre ; 
No. 2, 10 coombs per acre; No. 3,8 coombs 1 bushel 
per acre. These experiments were strictly and impar- 
tially carried out, and I therefore concluded that upon 
a ligood deep soils a great sacrifice must, under all cir- 
cumstances, ever attend a system of extreme thin sow- 
ing. And provided we could always insure dry seasons, 
it would be advisable on all deep soils to sow from 10 
to 12 pecks per acre. I could give many instances in 
proof, and will relate one in particular. In the parish 
of Happisburgh, on the sea coast, in the county of Nor- 
folk, was drilled, in 1843, a field of Spalding Wheat, 3 
bushels per acre, on a Pea stubble. It came up very 
thickly. The winter was favourable, and in the spring of 
the year it presented a remarkable appearance. After, 
the ear was fully developed it: became the admiration 
of the ding neighbourhood—i 2 
thick in the ground and had such a level and uniform 
appearance. Several bets were made amongst the 
neighbouring farmers. as to the acreable produce, and 
those. who ventured an opinion as to there being 
20 coombs, or 10 quarters, per acre, were severely ridi- 
culed by the knowing ones for their want of experience ; 
but, however, all came short of the mark, for the real 
produce was 22 coombs 2 bushels per acre. This isa 
well authenticated fact, as many respectable farmers in 
the district: can testify, It was published in. several 
of the leading agricultural journals, and an analysis of 
the soil was given in the Journal of the Royal Agri- 
cultural Society." Now, I would ask Mr. Davis, or any 
of his disciples, whether such: an enormous produce 
could have been grown from his system of thin seeding? 
And I could, if requisite, adduce other examples of pro- 
digious crops being grown: in this neighbourhood (and 
under my own observation) from quantities of seed not 
less ‘than 3 bushels per acre. But I know not of a| 
solitary instance where- a thin. plant of. Wheat. was 
known to produce a very. abundant crop. And I am 
more inclined to agree with the theory advanced by | 
| Manures.—As guano has been used as manure for 
some years, most likely you have had an opportunity of 
judging of the state the land is left in where it has been 
applied two, three, or more times. I think it tends to 
exhaust, and produce more coarse herbage than before. 
Will bones and sulphuric acid act differently, or will 
any of the other artificial manures have a better effect t 
Your opinion and advice- will oblige.—A Tenant 
Farmer. [The subjeet of your note deserves the atten- 
tion. of our readers, Can any one give their 
experience? We shall soon take the matter up in 
another part of the paper. ] 5 
Old Wheat as Seed.—1 am satisfied from experience 
that old Wheat will yield a better crop than new. 
Wheat when sown after fallow, Beans and Turnips, 
in the months of. October, November, and December ; 
but.an old farmer assures me that it is not so well 
suited for'sowing after Beans, because it is apt to im- 
bibe: too much. water, which induces putrefaction; 
whereas new Wheat is not liable to such a casualty. 
But if I understand the “Theory of Horticulture” 
aright, there is a flaw in my friend's assertion which 
cannot be amended, and I should suppose that it is 
quite the reverse in every season. Last season was 
but an indifferent one for the sowing of Wheat in the 
Lothians, and: yet I find that» in every case the supe- 
riority of the crop grown from old Wheat over that 
grown from new Wheat.in first-rate order, 64 lbs. per 
bushel, was most evident. Am I theoretically correct 
in my opinion of its superiority !—Tuaus. [We doubt 
it, but cannot decide. One thing is certain, Nature 
never sows old seed ; though she permits it often to-lie 
dormant for long.] 
Are Plump or Lean Grains best for Seed ? (see 
page 710, 1846.)—By this time the result of my experi« 
ment on the above point may be expected from me. I 
am, however, much disappointed at being unable to give 
it youithis. year, in consequence of one of those nume- 
rous ills which farmers are heir to, viz., the ravages of 
Nature's poachers, in the shape of small slugs ; the 
field. in which I had drilled the Wheat being infested 
with:them in such numbers as to surpass belief. I had 
once-or twice observed on the tardiness of the seed 
coming-up, when on examining the ground. one morn: 
