12 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



[J ax. 6, 



"|>er cent, or phosphate or lime. Now, as the Magdeburg 

 acre of Urn! contains 25,920 square feet ; as, rooreorer, the 

 roots of corn penetrate at least one foot in the soil, and as 

 the I henish cubic foot of earth weighs (at an average) 

 1 •><., the plants of one acre will bate 25,920 lbs. of 

 that substance to absorb, though the soil only contained 

 1 per cent, of the phosphate of lime. But the Wheat 

 crop of one acre of land contains at the'utmost only 5 lbs. 

 t)f phosphate of lime; and consequently the 25,920 lbs. 

 •will suffice for 5187 Wheat erop< ; nay, though the soil 

 contained only T £ c per cent., there would be enough of 

 it for 52 Wheat crops. The liarley crop of one acre 

 contains about G lbs. of phosphate of lime, and therefore 

 43-0 crops would be nourished by the same amount of 

 phosphate. A crop of Oats, grown on one acre, contains 

 • lbs of phosphate of lime, consequently 5187 crops will 

 •find a sufficient amount of the above mineral substance in 

 the soil. 



It is true that it cannot be assumed that the corn 

 will be able to abstract from the soil even the least par- 

 ticle of phosphate of lime, still this calculation will fully 

 prove, that the assumption of the author of the above 

 work, viz., that 80 corn crops will abstract from the soil 

 more phosphate of lime than any soil can possess, is 

 •utterly unfounded. The same is the case with the potash, 

 which the plants are said to generate in themselves by 

 tbetr luxuriant growth, the most accurate examination of 

 several very sandy soils and subsoils having shown to me, 

 that they often contain T \- — T ^ percent, of potash. Th's 

 potash was not combined with any acid into a soluble salt ; 

 on the contrary, it was always combined with silica into a 

 silicate insoluble in water ; but as this is gradually dis- 

 solved by the carbonic acid contained In rain-water, (car- 

 bonate of | ish, an easily [soluble salt, being formed,) 

 the roots sre able to provide themselves constantly with 

 the necessary amount of the alkali. By this wise arrange- 

 ment of nature, the silieated potass of the subsoil has 

 nourished for thousands of years the deep-rooted plants ; 

 and con-«idering the amount contained in the lower 

 atrsta of soil, there is no tbt'of its being yet sufficient 

 for many centuries to come. The root* of Mugwort pene- 

 trate four feet deep in the soil ; therefore it may on one 

 acre of land draw upon foor times'- -JO: vis., 103,680 



CaMe fret, Or 10 lbs. of soil. According to ex- 



periment, 100 lbs. of irth contain on an average one- 

 third per cent, of potash ; c n e rotrj the Mugwort found 

 on the area of one acre of land 20,73b lbs. of potash, from 

 which it might well re-rive those 936 lbs. or more of 

 carbonate of potash. I may as well mention that I never 

 subjected the subsoil of Berlin to chemical analysis ; but 

 I have examined similar soils of the diluvian formation, 

 and have often found more than one-fifth per cent, of 

 potash la them. These calculations, 1 think, prove that the 

 power which has been attributed to plants of forming 

 auhatances within themselves, is based on erroneous sup- 

 positions. We often do not believe that soils contain 

 the mineral substances which we find in the plants grow- 

 ing on them, and yet an accurate analysis shows afterwards 

 that they nre abund SBt Still at times the soil contains 

 •carcely a trace of those substances of which the plants 

 are nosed ; but even in this instance it is not neces- 



sary to assume that they are formed by the plants, as we 

 shall see hereafter th it the rain conveys annuallv more 

 than 50 lbs. of earths and salts to the soil of one acre. 



(To b>- confess***.) 



Home Correspondence. 



The Berberry Blight.— It is somewhat remarkable that 

 both persons and plants will get characters frae the world 

 that they dinna deserve. The Berberry, I think, has come 

 m for a share o' muckle abuse that it disna merit. I mind 

 fu weel when I was a young callant o' wandering frae 

 home ae day, and in my wanderings came upon a large 

 Berberry-hush wV plenty o* ripe fruit on it ; I partook 

 o the fruit, and also broke off some o' the branches that 

 wrere well laden, to carry them hame. Before I reached 

 iny father's bouse 1 was met by an auld woman who was 

 looked up to by her neighbours for her superior know- 

 ledge; she saw the fruit I u n carrying, and speered gif I 

 bad eaten ony o't. « O, ay," says I. " a waraefu' o't. 



WesI, wcel, my man, ye bae been eating pousin, and 

 ye 11 may be no live lang." 1 canna describe the feeling 

 that came o'er me at sic an announcement ; I was instantly 

 placed under medical treatment, and forced to drink won- 

 derfe draughts o' buttermilk to conteract the evil effects 

 o the B.r berries,' besides receiving a lecture about going 

 to the Berberry-bush, ss if it had been the fabled fatal 

 t pas-tree ; and to this present hour the ideas o' Berber- 

 ries and buttermilk are often sssociated in my mind. 

 But as Mr. Wighton wishes to ken the reason whv the 

 Berberry is blamed for having nn "evil influence 'upon 

 Corn, perhaps some o' the following statement may 

 satisfy him as a reason why it is blamed. In the •• Quar- 

 terly Journal o' Agriculture " then is an article •' On 

 Smut, Canker, and Rust or Mildew ; " and it is there stated 

 that, " i n consequence of the leaves of the common Ber- 

 berry exhibiting a similar affection to the rust in Corn 

 farmers, both i n England and on the Continent, have 

 concluded that the infection spreads from the bush in the 

 hedge to the Corn in the field | and this notion is some- 

 times strengthened from the rust appearing in patches and 

 ■tripes among the Corn, ss if it bad been carried thither 

 by the wind from the Berberry-bushes." Now there was 

 •BOB a learned gentleman wha had some o' his Peach-trees 



trained over the tap o* his garden-wail, wi' their points 

 tow trds u^ anllpodes . he a , 80 wrote a trej|tjse r; 



Blight in Corn ; and appeared to countenance 'in 



some degree the popular belief respecting the evil .Meets 

 © the Berberry on Corn. He tells about •« Mildew 

 iKolesby, m Norfolk/' what an unco' place it was, where 



Berberry abounds and Wheat seldom succeeds ! 

 are informed, fan the "Library o' Entertaining 



and we 



. - g Know- 



ledge," vol. ii., " that the fructification of the Berberry is 



inc plete unless the stamens be irritated by insects, 

 when the filaments suddenly contract in a most remark- 

 able manner towards the germ ; the flowers are therefore, 

 by a beautiful arrangement of Nature, peculiarly attrac- 

 tive to insects, and thus the Berberry may become inju- 

 rious to neighbouring plants." And we are also informed 

 by the Rev. Dr. Singer that the views of Sir Joseph 

 Banks, and of some intelligent practical farmers relative 

 to the evil influence of the Berberis vulgaris, induced 

 the late Admiral Sir William Johnstone Hope to give 

 orders for the total extirpation of the Berberry-bushes 

 which inter ixed with thorns in the hedge-rows; and 

 since that was done, and for above 20 years* no such dis- 

 temper has appeared in the fields. But for a' that, there 

 are some auld farrant cheils, if they get a few facts to 

 stand by, they are just as stiff as the facts themsels, and 

 they will not believe in the popular creed, although it 

 should be supported by knighted philosophers or presi- 

 dents o' the Royal Society, or preached up by reverend 

 divines; and as lang as the twa-celled I'uccinia graminis 

 differs frae the pustulated iEcidium berberides they will 

 not believe. De Candolle Opposes the notion that the 

 Berberry is injurious to Corn, and says that he should not 

 have agitated the question, had it involved a plant less 

 important than Wheat, or a philosopher less distinguished 

 than Sir Joseph Banks; and Dr. Greville, when speaking 

 of the Berberry Blight in his Scottish " Cryptogamic 

 Flora," says, "This minute gastroraycus has given rise to 

 the vulgar opinion that the neighbourhood of Berberry- 

 bushes is extremely detrimental to fields of Wheat. It is 

 -.veil known that the disease called the rust in Corn is 

 highly injurious ; but the colour of the rust and that of the 

 present j at constitutes the only similarity between 

 them. They belong, in fact, to two different genera, and 

 of course cannot propagate each other." And gif ony o' 

 the readers o' the Chronicle, wha tak an interest in such 

 a subject, should turn to the ninth volume and 327th page 

 o' the u Gardeners' Magazine," they will find " Notes on 

 Mildew, from a Lecture by Professor Lindley ; " they 

 will there see figures of the different fungi that will, maybe, 

 convince them sooner than a' that, can be said about it 

 for a lang time ; and I may just conclude this notice by a 

 quotation frae » Paxton's Horticultural Register" on the 

 same subject, the writer says that " it would be no less 

 rational to maintain that a field of Wheat would spring 

 up if we should sow Berberries, than that the rust growing 

 on these should produce the Corn-rust. Should it be said 

 that it is the difference of the nutriment of the fungus 

 which causes the difference, I should ask whether a differ- 

 ence of soil would produce Rye on Oats when Wheat-seed 

 only had been sown?"— A Moorland Gardener. 



Experiments with Manures.— Table>hewing the quan- 

 tities and cost per acre of Five different Manures used in 

 a held of Mr. A. BubbV at Witcombe, in Gloucester- 

 shire, and their relative effects on the quantity and quality 

 of a "\\ heat crop, as compared with that in the same field 

 When no manure was used. The Wheat is valued at 6s. 

 a bushel, and the straw at 40s. a ton. The proportions of 

 salt and I:me were, salt 1, lime 2.- 



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As the 



The soil is sandy and of good quality. 

 Ravages of the Slur, on the IVheat ? Plant -»„ ,». 

 ravages wh,ch Sing, milke amoo.at yonng Wl^at r^de 



loon oC n f, / an - v r t,,od IikeIy t0 de *">? «"» -S-t 



boon o the farmer. I may perhaps be allowed to state 



he. V. i - m °r £ffeC ! Ua! W " y ' Where S 0011 st0 "« Hb. cannot 

 be had, is to scatter a number of Cabbage-leave, over 



j these puts of the field which i. worst affected, 7d let a 



number of boys or women look over themTeveTrT" 

 morning, and pick off what mav be attached to each 1*7 

 I dare say the jdan is pretty generally known and tdonS 

 amongst gardeners, but some farmers may hesitate abont 

 it on the score of expense, yet is it not nearlv so exr*? 

 sive as many would suppose ; and when the "land is tot 

 rably good it well repays itself. I may add that slices of 

 Swedish Turnips do as well as Cabbage-leaves, and eves 

 the tops may be used also, or anything like'ly to be 

 attractive to this destructive pest. — S. JV. V. 



Cultivation of Wheat — The following calculations were 

 made from Wheat grown in the year 1843, on land in xaj 

 occupation belonging to Sir Oswald Mosley, Bart* 

 situate in the parish of Tutbury, Staffordshire. "' 



Description 



of 



Wheat. 



Cultivation. 





No. of 

 bushels per 



acre 



weighing 



6.Ubs. each. 



Red 



do. 



do. 



White 



Weight of 



Straw 

 per acre. 



Drilled in 

 Ploughed in 

 Harrowed in 



Drilled in 



292 

 29i 



cwt. qrs. lbs. 

 31 2 6 

 31 23 

 30 3 4 

 20 3 22 



Average 



Weight of 



Corn per 



Imperial 



bushel. 



— William Cov. [It is not stated from what extent of 

 land these calculations were made ; but we do not 

 think the difference between the several cases greater 

 than may be accounted for by variety of soil, or than pro- 

 bably would have appeared on the same plots though they 

 had all been cultivated alike.] 



Corn Weevil. — A correspondent of the Chronicle com- 

 plains of the depredation committed in his malt stores by 

 the Weevil. About 15 years since Messrs. Fison, of 

 Thetford, suffered greatly by this insect. They destroy 

 the farina, leaving the husk, to all appearance sound, 

 except at that end where it gained admission; after several 

 ineffectual attempts to get rid of them they determined to 

 try fire, which proved perfectly successful. It was applied 

 thus,— a large quantity of furze was procured, the pre. 

 mises were emptied, and they were fired on the floor; 

 plenty of help was provided, so that once kindled it was 

 continually stirred about to prevent the premises taking 

 fire. I have no doubt a better plan would be to fumigate 

 them with sulphur. A dish of charcoal, with one or two 

 pounds of sulphur, and the windows and doors well closed, 

 would be all that is required, and the expense less than 

 half-a-crown.— James Fison. 



Mrbtcfos. 



The Economy of Farming ; from the German of Prof. 

 Burger. With copious Notes from the Works of Thaer, 

 Sprengel, §c. By E. Goodrich Smith. Wiley and 

 Putnam. 8vo, pp. 132. 



The causes on which any agricultural fact or appearance 

 depends are very many and variable. This renders i: 

 difficult for individual farmers, though examining tba 

 results of their own experiments, to determine what por- 

 tion of them may be considered as owing to the causes 

 which they had put in action, and how much is due to the 

 natural causes over which they have no control. How 

 much more difficult, then, must it be to determine the 

 real meaning and value to be attached to reports of expe- 

 riments, when the results, indeed, are given, but only some 

 of the agencies described of which they are the conse- 

 quences. In fact, in a country like our own, covered by 

 such various soils, and experiencing such variable and 

 various climates, were there not away of subtracting from 

 the results of agricultural experiments, that portion of 

 them which is owing to the external circumstances of the 

 several cases, reports of such experiments would be value- 

 less, except in the immediate neighbourhood of their trial. 



The method alluded to consists in gathering together a 

 great many experiments on one subject, performed under 

 every possible variety of circumstances, and taking their 

 aver&ge result. Such an average will, in all probability, 

 be the proper effect of the artificial cause, whatever it may 

 be, that was put in action. For all the variable natural 

 causes, in the comparison of a number of cases in which 

 they pull in opposite directions, will be found to neutralise 

 one another. And thus it is that the remark made by the 

 Hon. and Rev. L. V. Harcourt, in his report of experi- 

 ments with manures, which will be found in another 

 column, is true of almost every question in farming, that 

 a great number of facts are necessary as the foundation ot 

 a conclusive argument on the subject. 



These observations are suggested by the perusal of Prof. 

 Burger's work on " the Economy of Farming." We have 

 nowhere seen such a great bodv of facts collected together, 

 bearing on the subjects treated of. We call them fuels; 

 they are reports of experiment and observation made in 

 many different quarters ; and though individually such 

 reports are to be received with distrust, yet a great number 

 being collected, the average result may reasonably be re- 

 garded with confidence. 



The subject of this work is necessarily of primary im- 

 portance to the practical farmer ; it is with him the only 

 test which determines the value of any proposed improve- 

 ment on his practice, however beautiful in other respects 

 the proposal may be, and «* the economy of farming" ought 

 therefore to be the object at which all agricultural writers 

 should aim. 



The object of the good farmer is to produce order, 

 cleanliness, and fertility, where his unskilful predecessor 

 had left all in confusion, not because these are things de- 

 sirable in themselves, but because they are means to a 

 profitable end ; for as Professor Burger states at the conir 

 mencement of his work : — 



44 The object of farming is that of all kinds of business, 

 ., by means of labour and money, judiciously employed, 



