846 
THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 
Wheat is capable of containing four millions:of spores ; 
it is therefore beyond. all. calculation what quantity of 
sporules these may send forth. Care of the seed is the 
only: way to prevent the encroachments: of this pest, 
whith will otherwise: appear: in almost: every field of 
Wheat: The way in which this happets, is by most 
syriters-on the subject considered to be that when the 
gtainvis threshed, or from» other causes, the bunted 
seeds are ruptured, and the cloud of sporules then 
escapes. They are of a greasy, oily nature, and conse- 
quently adhere: to the skin of the sound grains. Itis 
quite certain thatthe disease maybe at any time pro- 
pagated. by rubbing:sound Wheat against that which is 
infested by-the fungus. - If, then, the seed be sown in 
this:condition, the-result may be easily predicted. The 
methodvalso of counteracting the evil at once suggests 
itself,” Itis merely to cleanse the Wheat which is about 
to:be sown; from ali the bunt which may have attached 
itself to it by-veason of its unctuous character, The 
principle of effecting this object clearly must: be, to use 
means‘to convert/the oily matter which causesit to stick 
i ly, into à sap r soapy matter, whieh 
willallow it to! be readily washed off. Chemistry here 
comes to our aids. An alkali will eonvert oil into soap; 
and this is the basis'of all effectual. dressing, as it is 
called; of the'seed-corn.. Almost every distriet has its 
peculiar dressing, but/the best. are merely modifications 
of this'prineiple, - Whatever other ingredients may be 
used, the effective: constituent is-some alkaline matter 
inthe form of -a ley.: Lime, which-possesses alkaline 
properti has dingly been not. unfrequently 
resorted to: it must not, however, be too much slaked 
in mixing, or it loses these properties, and thus often 
fails. Common potash, and. substances. containing 
ammonia, as, for examples the liquid excrements of 
animals, have been adopted for remedies. Somer per- 
sons- employ brine, sulphate -of copper, arsenic, and 
other things not possessing alkaline qualities; When- 
ever these methods succeed it cannot be for the reasons 
advanced, but it may happen that they» destroy: the 
vegetative powers of the fungi, though they still remain 
fixed to the grain; It would be: well to follow the 
advice given by Professor Henslow, and to institute:a 
setof experiments on: these points. They are curious 
and interesting questions; and indeed» many things | 
relating to these fungi;still require minute and aecurate 
i igati It is-unquestionable, however, thata 
good-dressing of an alkaline ley thoroughly applied;com- 
pletely arrests the evil.: Whatevermay be the views of 
sone asi to the value-of sulphate of copper, it is obvious 
that the application of arsenic is undesirable, and in- 
deed improper, from the’ dangers»attendantion the use 
of so violent & poison, | Nor are such: things necessary, 
omaccount of thevefficacy of the dressings upon the 
principle. before mentioned. Indeed, in the fields: of 
careful farmers, bunt has happily-become rare. 
€ It is diffieuit to apply the-same précaution ‘against 
the smut; or Uredo segetum with equally good. effect, 
beeause-the scattering of the spores-atran earlier season 
diffuses them extensively: But Barley fields, where 
they often adhere longer than in» Wheat, ought to be 
more attended to than they are’; for a great quantity of 
this grain is almost every year destroyed by it. As 
knowledge advances, it.is to be hoped the’ prejudice 
which leads some to regard the appearance: of this 
fungus with the pl before ioned, will be 
removed. It may happen that the state of the atmo- 
sphere which is f: able to its develop ; tends to 
a good yield of Barley; but it should be remembered 
that every ear so destroyed is a loss of superior corn. 
By ail meáns dress Barley where there has been much 
smut the previous year, In this year, 1846, it is most 
lamentably prevalent. 
“ With regard to the Uredo fætida; although judicious 
dressing. has been found to check it to such a beneficial 
degree, that it is considered to be bad management to 
have much of it on any farm, it still abounds in districts 
where the agriculture is of an inferior kind. It is also 
found to prevail more in the spring than in the autumn 
sown Wheats. The safeguard is the perfect purity and 
cleanliness of the seed: When mixed with the flour it 
is excessively disagreeable ; but whether it is injurious 
to health is not quite decided, though it probably does 
produce ill effects on the constitution.” 
Miscellaneous. 
The Case of James O' Neill, of Garvagh: Advantage 
of Rape in Cow-feeding.— This. man wasa complete 
pauper when Lord Gosford bought the Graham estate; 
but, by the assistance and instructions afforded to him, 
had got his small portion of land into a good state, and 
last summer I lent him a cow, seeing that he would be 
able by proper attention to have kept-her in the house 
allthe year. He had not been possessed of one for 
years, perhaps never in his life; but his.conduet did 
not afterwards show him. to be-deserving. of -what had 
been done for him. He would not sow his Rape in 
proper time, as he was desired, and I was at last obliged 
to diseharge him from the work at Gosford, before he 
would be at the trouble of doing so. This neglect oeca- 
sioned the crop to be late coming forward in spring, and 
having wasted his Turnips, in beginning to them before 
they were ripe, and using them extravagantly, they were 
all finished before the Rape was fit for cutting, This 
being the case, he turned his cow into’ the Rape- to 
graze, by which the crop, was completely. de&troyed ; 
and.this failing, he put the cow to graze upon the young 
Clover. This being soon eat down, I found thé animal 
eating the tender shoots of the young quicks, in-one!of 
the new made ditehes, when, upon inquiry, all the fore- 
going circumstances’ came out, Being provoked at 
such conduct, I ordered the cow to be sold ; but, when 
the day of sale came, he was able; from. the improved 
state of» his’ farm, to: get: one of- his neighbours to go 
security for the payment of his arrears, his ‘rent, and 
the price of his cow; and also that he would buy Rape 
elsewhere, and feed his cow in the house, as I required; 
upon which I did not persist in my intention of selling 
her. He accordingly, bought a small piece of Rape 
ground. (10 Irish perches, or 70 yards long, and 2 yards 
broad), which, with a little dry fodder, kept his cow in 
full milk for 30 days ; and, upon that feeding, gave 14 
quarts daily, whereas, upon dry food, she had fallen off 
to half: the quantity. The immense produce of Rape, 
when well manured, is" beyond anything almost’ that 
can be imagined, if let stand until it gets into blossom, 
which was the case in this instance. Manure makes 
the stalk tender and juicy which would otherwise be 
hard and dry, so that if eut into small pieces, not a bit 
will be lost, and it: grows toa height of 6 feet. Iam 
almost afraid to-say that I believe, with the addition of 
some straw, an acre will keep 30. head of eattle in full 
milk fora month. I state these partienlars to show you 
the folly and blindness of this man. to his own interest. 
By neglecting to sow: the Rape in proper time, it was 
not ready to supply the place of his Turnips, and every- 
thing went wrong by this first neglect, which appeared 
to him of no importance. If the Turnips had been 
properly managed they would have lasted out longer ; 
if the Rape had been properly treated, it would have 
been ready sooner; and, if it had not been trampled 
down, would have lasted until the Clover supplied its 
place, and everything would have answered in its turn. 
Y has been obliged to buy from others, at the 
rate of fully 107. an acre; that Rape which his own land 
would have supplied him with in abundance, and he has 
injured his Clover so that he will lose half the benefit of 
E 
E 
Ei 
= 
R 
[4 
Ed 
ri 
& 
o 
ES 
S 
S 
[> 
Ej 
& 
g 
E 
= 
a 
Ei 
2 
S 
E 
E 
g 
B 
Ei 
fen 
kg 
any manure 
straw. You ought to pay him just as he was required to pay his 
predecessor. more libera! (in' reason) towards the 
outgoing tenant that his successor is required to be, the 
better. As regards hay, we haye farmed for years without 
'e will depend on 
corn, daily to the horses, in addition v 7-^ 
paid. You cannot give cattle better food 
Linseed and Beans, and hay chaff with Turnips, whieh Mr. 
Warnes recommends. Further, another tim 
as good and cheaper. 
is suitable in places where there is great ab 
dance of water and little fall; nine-tenths of the water goes to 
waste, and one-tenth of the water which passes through it in 
your case, would, we imagine, hardiy be enough for you. 
ram might be made as ornamental as you like, or it might be 
put altogether out of sight—the pump must not go within 
18 inches of the bottom of the tank—which must be cleaned 
outonce a year.— The gardener’s judgment of the strength of 
the liquid must just be acquired by experience. Weare not 
aware whether an instrument on the principle of the saccha- 
rometer would be applicable.—As regards the overflow of 
the manure tank, your haying no outlet, except through a 
neighbour's nursery, need be no difficulty ; he will be very 
glad to have the surplus. Some kinds of lime will set under 
water—that from the blue lias (in our neighbourhood) for 
instance: and with this you may build your tank. 
Farrine SmErP— Novicce— Our meanin. 8 this :—' That, as- 
ming the carcase of your full-grown sheep to weigh, when 
the animal shall be fat, 25 lbs, a quarter, it will consume 
every day now on an average, 251bs. of roots, as Swedes, &c., 
if fed on them alone. uy shearing she intend to 
give them cake, &e., as well as roots. You may do very well 
without hay if you give oil-cake, or some other dry food. 
Whether you would do better with it our experience cannot 
—Anon—Paré the hoof down to the quick, apply a 
mixture of muriatic acid and tincture of myrrh, and put a 
rag aboutit, Next day rub on and intoit a mixture of equal 
parts Me Pra ee gypsum, and Armenian bole. AM. 
inane dur 
it. Dutthe advantage-of the Rape is seen pi u 
in this; that, notwithstanding the high priee he paid for 
it, it was better for him to buy it than to feed his cow 
on straw, even supposing he had got the straw for 
nothing, which is very easily demonstrat d 
For the 14 quarts produéed by the Rape feeding, at 
14d. a quart, comestó ^ .. m n? uas dn 1s, 9d. 
The price paid for it only'cost 2d. per' day, to which 
potu stone of straw, 1d. (being at the rate of 16d. 
er 112 lbs., which is above the general price of that 
article), and thé expense, daily, comes to oe 
Leaving a pes profit, per day, arising’ from feeding 
B6, DEIS ant BORE Cog L 
When the cow had been fed y 
seven quarts, and very sóon^would have given still less, 
the price of which, daily, would be only 104d; there- 
fore, if he got the straw for nothing, he would only 
have l01d. a day by the cow; whereas, after paying 
for the Rape, he gained 18d; ; but if he had to pay for 
the straw (the cow would require 3 stone, which, at 16d. 
a cwt., would be 6d., and deducting’ this from’ 1034., 
the price of the seven quarts of milk), there would only 
be: a profit: by the cow of 44d. a day, in. place of the 
18d. a day yielded by the Rape; The same thing may 
be proved in regard to Turnip feeding in winter. If a 
cow calves at November, and is fed on Turnips, she will 
keep up her milking; but; if-fedon straw, she will fall 
off immediately to half the quantity, Now, allowing 
the acre of Turnips to be worth 107. which is more 
than any other crop generally produces, and. reckoning 
the produce at 30 tons (although, by good feultivation, 
Mr. Mitchell had 55 tons to the aere last year) : 
The 5 stone of Turnips, which I reckon good daily 
feeding for a milch cow, would cos: Er . 
And a stone of straw would cost, at 16d. a cwt, "m 
0s. 23d. 
0 ? 
Total cost per day for Turnips and straw m e. a 
whercas,3 stone of straw, which she would require if 
fed on straw alone, at 16d. per ewt., comes to 6d. à day; 
so that, by the use of Turnips in winter, it appears you 
can feed your cow (after ‘allowing 107. an acre for the 
farm) at 14d. a day less than upon straw alone, and you 
get double the quantity of milk ; so that one cow fed in 
this way yields you fully as much milk as two would 
give fed on straw, and the manure is also twice as ;valu- 
able.. This ought to shów you all the error you fall into. 
When you talk of keeping a cow all the winter upon 
straw, you merely talk of keeping her alive, but your 
object should be to keep her so as to yield you a profit ; 
and this ean only be done by keeping her on moist food, 
which, I have shown you above, it is more profitable 
for you to do than to feed her on straw, supposing the 
straw was made a present to you.—Blacker’s Essay on 
Small Farms, 
maie 
Manure it well, a 
Wurzel, } of an acre to Carrots, 4 of an acre to Lucerne, and 
the other quarter to Vetches, to be sown during the first 
open weather, and to be succeeded by Rye for fodder early 
next spring. A part of the Carrot-land should be devoted to 
the Early Horn variety (the remainder to the White Belgian), 
aj oon as d is cleared of that, which will be 
September, you can transplant some early Cabbage-plants 
for early spring food ; and a corner must. be found for some 
Cabbage-plants to be planted in March for consumption in 
August and September. But if you want to keep two cows, 
you must buy some hay for them in addition tó this. 
Brees’ R 2l i ion you ask for 
would be taxable asian advertisement: Mr. Biggs should 
advertise. 
Boors—W CardifF-—Blacker's “Essay on Small Farms ;" and | 
we haveno specific work on swine, except a. ‘‘ Prize Essay” 
by P. L. Simmonds; but there are chapters in most works 
on agriculture ; see Low on “ Practical Agriculture,” 
Devon PAnw—A Would-be Farmer—We would not take a dry 
grarable farm larger than our capital would cover 107, per acre | 
oe) Os aa Done 
on straw, she only gave! 
g 
TnosrED Turntrs—Constant Reader—They will rot shortly 
after'a rapid thaw ; and under any circumstances they will 
not keep so well; get them consumed as quickly as possible. 
We have nowhere seen any report of Liebig's manures, and 
of Ear! 
followed by Rye and early Cabbages, Parsnips, &c,; $ acre 
to Belgian Carrots, 
JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE—J/ asks for the experience of any o 
'ur corresponderits on the eut stems of this plant as food for 
(CAL MATTE) 
local matter—only such as can affect merely local interests. 
To do the former would be to exclude results oj 
and confine our remarks to. theory exclusively. 
ways anxious to give reports, 
local farming, as they are ing a merely local 
influence. same time, we are disposed to i 
in your criticism of the particular report to whieh you allude. 
—The Nimble Hog Pea may doubtless be obtained from any 
of the London seedsmen. The name is familiar to us. 
MANGOLD WORZEL—A Subscriber—Of course it will not do to 
shift the roots during frost. The chief advantage of trans- 
planting in autumn is, that the field they occupied may be 
sown with Wheat in proper season, 
— We must refer you to Professor Hens- 
are al- 
especially when in detail of 
MM. 1— 
low's letter at page 757, 
PourrRY-MOULTING—JD S E says, it is well known that the 
coats of horses are improved by feeding on grains, &c. ; 
can any of our experienced correspondents advise the like 
aid for the moulting of poultry? besides warmth and Hemp- 
seed, or Moss-seed, for cage-birds ?——In answer to T' S, 
D S E proposes to collect his data for his letters on Diseases 
of Poultry, if he should be restored to comparative health. 
SMALL Farm—Sub—On looking over your letter again, we find 
it does not state the value of the land, nor its character, nor 
the neighbourhood of market (or is all its produce to be con- 
sumed), &c. Particulars necessary for “M. S, now 
before he can assist you, which he will be happy to do, As 
regards your buildings, we would not recommend yards and 
sheds ; try boxes: and it would be better were the straw barn. 
nearer the cattle, : : 
'ardiff —Y ou. may apply 6 or 8 cart-loads per 
acre after they have been exposed to the air for some time. 
They consist of chalk and gypsum, and some kelp-ashes and 
salt, &c. 
SPRING WaEAt—F T—The sorts you allude to we know to 
answer very wellfor spring sowing; but the Bellevue Tala- 
vera is pernahe our best spring variety. 
To PRESERYE TURNIPS—A Subscoriber—Certainly ; keep them 
? n we recommended has the 
three merits of keeping out frost, of keeping them dry, and 
permitting free ventilation, About Guano see a Leading 
Article at page 761. 
WATERPROOF Boors— T G M—Warm them and then rub ona 
little melted mixture of bees’ wax and tallow, let-them stand 
i place for a bit, and then rub them dry, It will 
certainly make them stiff, but they will be waterproof, 
EnRATUM—At page 827, col. e, in article “To have layi 
Poultry," seven lines from the end, for *' satisfy,” Td 
“satiety.” 
.  SsBlarkets, 
POTATOES.—SouTHWARE, WATERSIDE, Dec, 14, 
The supply during the past week was very limited; but it 
was quite equal to the demand, and notwithstanding the cold 
and frosty weather the trade was by no means brisk. The fol- 
owing are the present prices :— 
York Regenta, 140s t0 1608 
Do, Shawa, 1208 to 1408 
Lincolnshire Regents, 1208 to 1405 
Cambridgeshire Regents, 12080 140g 
Cambridgeshire Kidneys, 100s to 190 
ent and Essex Regents, 1508 to 180 
Do. Shaws, — to — 
Do. Kidneys, 140s 
French Whites, 1108 to 1308 
‘Rucrary Harris, 
HAY.—Per Load of 36 Trusses, 
WHITECHAPEL, Dec. 15. 
Fine Old Hay - 70s to ott Clover 908 ta. 968 
. 55 6i 
Inferlor Hay Inferior — 7 80 | sea 368 10 395 
New Hay New Clover — — 
CUMBERLAND MA ji Deo. 17. 
Prime Ménd.Hay 708%. 76a} Old Clover 90510. 06r 
Inferior > B5. 63 [iic 75 .— 84 | Straw 39310045 
Néw Hayo + =  — [NewClover — 77 — 
Josnva Baker, Hay Salesman. 
—————————— 
HOPS, FRIDAY, Dec, 18, 
Mossra. Parranpen and Swirm, Hop Factors, report that the Market, is 
very firm, with a tendency toadvance, Fine Hops wish colour and quality 
were seldom so scarce at this season cf the year. T 
ns—H C—We would by no means excludé al. 
