778 THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 
[Nov. 21, 
besides the saving of more than a bushel in the seed. 
The straw was less by three trusses. It has been 
deemed almost an axiom in the cultivation of plants 
4 lbs. of sulphate of ammonia. The produce of these, 
too, must be compared with last year— 
that loosening the soil about their roots is beneficial to 
them, by giving the atmosphere access to their fibrils. 
The following experiments seem to be in contradiction 
to that opinion :— 
wW 
Corn. | Straw. per 
bu: 
Bshls, |Truss.lbs.| lbs. 
32 9 24 
1, Drilled Wheat, hand-hoed .... 
b» once horse-hoed 
as wice horse-hoed 
2. Drilled ditto and not hoed 
d-hoe: 
i hai ed 
3, Drilled ditto and horse-hoed 
pn not hoed 
pa broadcast, . 
The first of these experiments furnishes, I think, a 
key to explain the whole. The plants have been hoed 
too unmercifully, and though the rows were 9 inches 
asunder, the hoes have been too broad, which is most 
visible where the operation was repeated ; for there it 
is evident that it was injurious both to the quality and 
quantity of the produce, probably by cutting off the 
tender fibres, the effect being the same as that which is 
produced upon a fruit border by digging the earth 
instead of forking it, and that effect may of course be 
equally produced by an improper use of the hand-hoe, 
especially if the labourer was anxious to make his work 
as effectual as that of the horse-hoe ; but where that 
implement is wielded more carefully I have now to 
produce some strong evidence that it will do good 
instead of harm to Wheat, as well as to other plants. 
In pursuance of the plan which I adopted last year, I 
have again been trying whether the plant can be suffi- 
ciently supplied with tood in the shape of nitrogen, or 
one or other of the inorganie ingredients, in which the 
soil may be defeetive by steeping the seed in certain 
salts, or watering it afterwards with the solution. The 
same plots of ground which were tried last year and 
the year before, were tried exactly in the same way 
this year. All the seed was steeped, but only one-half 
was watered. Four of the salts were sulphate of soda, 
phosphate of soda, muriate of ammonia, and nitrate of 
potash. The space which each ocupied was divided 
into eight parts, one half of which was hoed and the 
other left untouched. The produce both in grain and 
straw was weighed, and these are the results— 
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Sre gon Ion ees. 
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BEBE iR ES 
$8 $ 
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Paras € papas p 
$8222 8 $2828 e 
Beaks & RSBLR A 
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BEES. BREL MEHR Saba E 
Boon uM A RUE ME 
In all these cases the hoed crops have the advantage 
over those that were not hoed, though not always in 
proportion to the number of hoeings. I say in all, be- 
cause the nitrate of potash is only apparently, and not 
really an exception to the rule ; for the straw which 
was hoed maintains its superiority in weight, and the 
ears were remarkably full and strong, and there- 
fore were more pecked by the birds. Indeed the dif- 
ference throughout is really greater than it appears, 
for the hoed crops invariably suffered more from 
the depredations of the birds than the unhoed. But 
the other object that I had in view was to com- 
pare the produce of this year with the produce of last 
year ; the soil being the same, the manure the same, 
the treatment the same, and the crops the same. ‘The 
account of grain stands thus :— 
Sulph. Soda., Phos. Soda. , Mur. Amm. | Nit. Potash: 
1845, | 1846. | 1845. | 1846. | 1845, | 1846. | 1845. | 1846. 
lbs. oz 
51.8 
Ibs. oz Ibs. oz Ibs. oz Ibs. oz bs. oz bs. oz 
60.2 | 56.6 | 60.10 6230 | 40.6 | 68:2 
lt will be observed that all the crops of this year 
were better than those of last year, although the differ- 
ence in the total weight of straw was not more than 
two ounces. Another experiment, with the same object, 
and also with a view to ascertain whether Art can correct 
the defects of Nature, was repeated this year. The same 
ground was sown again, one half with good grain, and 
the other with bad or tailing Wheat. Each of these 
was divided into four parts, as before. 1, left for the 
third time to take its chance ; 2, manured with 4 lbs. 
of phosphate of potash; 3, with 2 Ibs. of. phosphate of 
Potash and 2 lbs. of sulphate of ammonia; 4, with 
lbs. oz 
56.10 
Str: 
1846. 1845. 1846, 
S. lbs. oz. | lbs, oz. 
13 8} 28 — | 2 4 
12 12 | 34 26 10 
13 10,26 12 | 2 2 
13 6} 25 24. 2 
11. 10,28. 8 |22 14 
10 14 | 22,12 | 28: 6 
17 8 | 26 8 {| 30° 14 
1610 | 24 12 | 28 6 
Upon the whole there is more corn this year and less 
straw than last year. The phosphate of potash, which 
was most productive last year, is the contrary this year ; 
but the bad Wheat in two instances yields not only 
much more than last year, but considerably more than 
the good grain of this year, for which the only cause 
that I can assign is one that seems at first sight not to 
be very favourable to the victor. It came up ill, and 
partly perished in the winter, and the ground was so 
bare in the spring that it was necessary to take up a 
large proportion of the survivors and transplant the 
divided roots to fill up the vacant spaces. Thus nearly 
the whole was moved and well trodden in the spring, 
and, by way of compensation, the new plants, when 
they had taken root, received a fresh dose of their own 
manure ; but this will not account for the unmanured 
part being better than last year. And now that I have 
shown what wonders may be effected by assisting 
Nature, I must conclude with a proof that she will not 
bear forcing beyond a certain point. In an Oat field 
the ground where the Turnips in the preceding winter 
had been fed off by sheep, produced 93 bushels per 
acre ; but that from which they had been removed, and 
which consequently lost so much manure, produced 
94 bushels, which certainly is a very large crop, but 
not the better on that account; on the contrary, the 
quantity injured the quality. The weight was not more 
than 33} lbs. per bushel, which is much below the 
average.—L. V. Harcourt. 
ON SHED-FEEDING SHEEP. 
Tr is certainly one of the greatest negligences of 
British husbandry, that our flocks are not more care- 
fully and considerately attended to than they are. We 
profess to be the first agriculturists in the world—to 
conduct even the smaller details of farm management 
upon scientific principles; and the press is making 
known to us the results of the investigations and dis- 
coveries of learned men, by which we may sometimes 
turn even the very minuti, of our business to more 
advantage. Your own Journal—amongst the varied 
Subjects on which it treats—is constantly insisting upon 
the “advantages of heat in the production of animal 
substance"; enforcing by the evidence of facts the effi- 
cacy of a practice founded upon the physiological prin- 
ciples explained to us by men of science like Liebig, 
Johnstone, Playfair, &e. But, notwithstanding all the 
information gained, both from theory and experience 
upon this subject, how few are the examples of shed- 
feeding to be found. In other countries, with climates 
much warmer, or, at any rate, less subject to the vicis- 
situdes of cold and damp, than our own—where agri- 
culture is at a very low standard, the farmers poor, and 
the animals of a very inferior kind—large airy sheep- 
houses are deemed indispensable ; but here, in our 
changeable and excessively wet climate—where agricul- 
ture is pursued as a science as well as a business—the 
sheep, though of a far better and more valuable kind, 
are left exposed in the open field to weather every 
storm. If the farmers generally will not believe, in 
spite of so many successful trials, that the saving of 
food is immense—if they cannot be induced to try the 
system of shed-feeding altogether, they must see that 
nothing conduces more to the healthy and profitable 
condition of a flock, both in rearing and fattening, than 
warmth and dry lairs. To what a pitiable condition 
has a beautiful flock of southdowns, quiet Leicesters, or 
still quieter long-wools, been often reduced by being left 
unsheltered from the cold blasts of winter ; every flock- 
master’s mind must be impressed with bitter recollec- 
tions of the severity of his losses. No one can fail of 
perceiving the importance of erecting shelters for their 
sheep during the winter, and the reason why it is not 
more generally practised, seems to be because of some 
fallacious idea of its unremunerative costliness. The 
fact is that the cost of putting up a shelter is a mere 
trifle compared with the advantages gained. We have 
been, for some years, in the habit of erecting the shel- 
ters, and find them so cheap, so easily constructed, and 
the henefit derived so great, that a short description 
may perhaps induce others to imitate them. Our 
sheep are now upon Rape ; not Rape as it is known 
in some parts of the kingdom, but grown upon 
ridges, 25 inches apart, the plants being about 
4 inches from each other, and from 24 to 3 feet 
igh; the stalks, in which the principal nutriment 
of the plant consists, thus attaining to 14 inch in 
thickness. The shelters, which are placed in the 
different folds, are square, the sides being made of 
what we call bullock-trays, that is, large hurdles 
with five bars about 7 feet long, and heads 43 feet high. 
These are driven into the ground, leaving a space on 
one side as an entrance for the sheep ; a few light poles 
are iaid across the top, above them old or broken 
hurdles, long thorns, or branches ; the whole being 
covered in with straw, ditch-roadings, &c., 14 foot thiek, 
and secured by poles, spits of earth, &c., to prevent 
their being blown away. Some common hurdles are 
then set round the shed, about a foot from the larger 
ones ; the intervening space is filled with refuse straw, 
and the place well bedded. Thus, with a few hurdles, 
poles, and a little straw, without nails or frame-work, 
we have a cheap, commodious, and very comfortable 
shelter. When the sheep are put upon the Turnips, 
they will have the same lodgings, which are readily 
and expeditiously moved, and the roots will be cut and: 
consumed out of troughs standing breast high. In con- 
sequence of this winter sheltering, the lambs, more 
especially, are in the spring in advance of other flocks 
around; this fact is apparent to the most casual ob- 
server, and the marvel therefore is that the provision, 
is not more generally made. 
One thing is obvious, that this department of agricul-. 
tural procedure loudly calls for improvement ; and in 
such stirring times as these, when we cannot hope to. 
succeed in any undertaking without pushing a little im 
advance of our fellows, and when this is to be done by 
pursuing some improvements hitherto neglected by: 
others, we cannot doubt that this simple and sdvan-. 
tageous practice will become more approved the more it: 
is known and adopted.—4. A. C. 
TURNIPS OR POTATOES ? 
Iris a disputed point whether Turnips or Potatoes 
are the most beneficial crop, and great difference of opi- 
nion exists among persons holding large clay land farms; 
where carting off Turnips poaches the ground, and also 
among those who make a trade of fattening cattle upon 
a large scale, who have in several instances preferred. 
the latter; but whatever idea: the large farmer or the 
cattle-feeder may entertain, it appears to me there ean 
be but one opinion upon the superiority of the Turnip- 
crop as regards the small farmer. In the first place the: 
saving of fuel is a material recommendation. Likewise 
the late period of the year at which they can be sowed, 
which admits of their succeeding Rape, winter Vetches, 
Rye-grass, Annual Clover, orearly Cabbage. The Malta: 
Turnip and White Globe may be sown at any time in: 
uly, with the prospect of a full crop, and if the season. 
turns out favourable, with plenty of manure and good 
cultivation, a good erop of Yellow Bullock and Dale's 
Hybrid may be obtained. Thus, it is clear that three 
crops may be obtained in two years, Turnips being ones 
besides this, it is to be considered that the principal use: 
of the Turnip crop to the small farmer, is the support 
of his regular stock, and the supply of milk and manure, 
Now a stone of Turnips will yield as much milk and 
manure as a stone of Potatoes, and the same land will 
yield 5 stones of the former atleast for one of the latter. 
Again, when they are applied to fattening and compared 
withPotatoes sold in the market (which is the usual mode 
of disposing of them by small farmers), it must not be 
forgot that the expense and loss of time in driving a fat 
cow to a fair, is nothing compared to the labour of at- 
tending the market with a horse and cart, day after day, 
to sell a quantity of Potatoes, when both the farmerand 
his horse might be both advantageously employed at 
home in the business of the farm, and that in the former 
case he gets his money in a lump, whereas the Poiato- 
seller receives payment in small sums, which perhaps. 
may be frittered away before it accumulates’ to any 
amount.* 
Itshould also not be overlooked, that even if only 
half the Potatoes were planted which the family might 
require in order to make room for such crops as would 
produce food for one or more cows, the value of the 
milk which would be thus obtained would buy more 
than twice the quantity of Potatoes which the ground 
taken would have produced ; and where there was little 
land, it might be very profitable farming io plant only 
early Potatoes where there was a good market at hand, 
to sell the whole off in the end of July, and sow the land 
with Rape and stubble Turnips for winter and spring 
feeding. The value of an early crop of Potatoes is very 
often superior to a late one, and the owner would have 
the money to lay in his supply in November, and would 
have besides all the winter and spring feeding, and the 
milk and manure which the after-crop would yield. A ju- 
dicious farmer should not consider himself bound to raise 
the Potatoes he will consume himself on his own farm. 
His object ought to be to manage his land in such a 
way as to produce him most money, which will always 
has shown tha! 
demand, that the price fell so low as to make it a losing crop 
to the farmer; although formerly it was that upon which he 
most relied to make up his rent. is was so generally the 
case, thatthe land was turned to the growth of Oatsand Barley 
to such an extent that, with the aid of but an indifferent har- 
vest, the quantity of Wheat has been so reduced as to restore 
the price to a remunerating rate; but I have no doubt that 
from the improvement of agriculture, more grain of all kinds 
will be raised in average seasons than there will be found con- 
sumption for at profitable prices, If this be a true view of the 
case, it is quite evident that you should turn your chief attene 
tion to cattle crops. It appears clear in ordinary cases we can 
do without any importation of foreign grain, but we have never 
yet been able to do without an importation of foreign butter, 
which.on the contrary has been annually increasing, This 
shows what is most wanted, and what is most wanted: will 
always pay him best who has it to sell; and accordingly you 
will find on calculation that an acre of Clover, or Rye-grass, if 
applied to house feeding, will yield you,upon an average, à larger 
return in the value of the milk and butter it will give, than any 
average produce from grain, the gain upon which latter I fear 
will yearly become less until the quantity at market shall be 
reduced by turning a larger portion of the soil to Flax, Hemp, 
butter, fallow, &c.,which might easily be done by the Legislature 
giving those crops the same protection as grain now enjoys. 
ne mai 
