THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



13 



T—* 1 * ' *■ 1 ■ 



in other words, 



Burner 



'.. h outer household affairs,' 

 _, fint refers to the _ou« ^ ft h „ been 



2- " Uh iSiSSU. «<» -t deS :,'e Tl e 



^.htttoo I" 6 ""?' dw ithlahoaran(lmanme. Ihe 

 ££ d matters connec ted «. ^ ffai „ the 



SJed refers to the » and UIlder this 



" IUOB,y i Si meneement and distribution of 



*W-K?»* e ^ ea ' aud the 



po^tiiic Economy, w 



v fX d are con 

 l^r. the duties 



^ k keepiog far™ founts. ^ _ _ 



Ererr rU. °' P < " ; "'ultimate expense, or profit- 



described under 



these heads i S referred to Us - hold ^ ^ eyes 



.bleoes. .for the real etare. er i ^ ^ ^ f 



°' *^<^ •«»»«' ° f What M iat " WlUC 

 m«n«re, aher a ge« p rnf « sor Burger considers— 



H^iMM manure. Irol >> J ^. » ;„„ wteBt „f land in 



) :o«mach.sneed dto etama character of 



Sr of the fodder on that of the manure produced by 

 it, consumption is taken into account. 



1 What number of animals are thus required ? 



t Wn weight of manure is obtainable from the con- 

 Option of a given quantity of a given ^ kind of odder ? 



T P \Vhat proportion, on a farm, must the production of 

 plant* for sale bear to the production of plants for 



6 C \i"bat rotation of crops must be adopted, in order 



that' on a given eitent of land, the supply of manure from 



,e manure-producing crops may be suited to the wants 



of the eihau*ting crops, so that the land be not gradually 



deteriorated? 

 The answers to all these 'questions are illustrated and 



enforced at great length by the details and results of 



numerous observations and experiments ; and putting out 



of sight the admirable arrangement of the subject, the 



•' Economy of Farming by Professor Burger " would be 



a most Taluable addition to our agricultural library, were 



it only on account of the number of facts and experiments 



recorded in it. Many of these, it should be stated, are 



introduced in the form of notes, and are extracted from 



the works of other German writers of high repute. 



In contusion, we extract from the translator's preface 



the following paragraph, from which the general character 



of this work may be gathered ; 



"The great distinction in German Agriculture, com- 

 pared with our own, is economy. The question is not 

 whether a great crop can be produced, or a fine story can 

 be told, what large animals can be raised, &c.,— but what 

 It the whole cost, the expenditure of labour, of land, of 

 manure, &c. For this reason computations have been 

 made, and the proportion of all the parts and processes 

 has been fixed. Economy compels them to weigh and 

 neuure their fodder. The minutest details have been 

 entered into the most difficult points examined, and the 

 results brought out." 



Miscellaneous. 



noi?ZTl nt r in m 3^nsJnre.^Ve proceed to give 

 SSu° f 7 r ~ts made by Lord Stair, on his 



So auent ™ oTk ^^ ™*™*to- *« call 



itaDct^iuS h i 6 SUbj6Ct t0 show that a11 circum " 

 -£ Z taffi I dlSadvanta S e . s ' ".I, climate, and outlay 

 're nc^f ^ CC0Unt ' the improvements at Culhorn 

 exhibit re/uh ?at PrP t- lmp0 ^ nt t0 the community, and 

 cultural w 0r d n f 7 Md ^antageous to the Agri- 



Provements on his ho ?• ^^ t0 Lord Stair ' s *«" 



^hire du L l^lT'^ Mq °r ted ** W * 

 ^ circumscrihf nt Ce years ' wiI1 understand that 



?«* ei D 4e by ^™ have b cen executed at so 



M 'Stownshire. The «« ?• r ° h,S extens ^e estates in 



?? w Eluded to as und P Pr - l0U ° f L ° rd Stair ' s home-farm, 



]i°r«' compel oVt?^ T, mCnt ' Kaybe slated a ' 

 *!'««!« moss ; 2d GivL i*""?* «doanrea :— 1st, 



> C ^ignerk ; Th erP t aPPle J 3d ' Fiemin S Park I and 

 SSlf- the farm fi st In' \f 00 \^ of work to be 

 £* *° take the mZV?J ? S ***** channels into 

 Rubbing of trees i ,v nd Water from tlie various 

 ST if ° f road *> &c ' p!f Uln S of old mound fences, 

 ^ eluded to had been I ° • these opcrationa, the 



^Practicable T^Zt^U « S ° far a ^ ™ 



SSJS I'd ^ii'So Sr? U TI ^ bCeQ C " ° VCr 

 -^uest and most unmo years. Tins was certainly 



%ti but ^'*ZTl e of aU the fieIda tak - 



^•»»15t!!r?^ ««d t? ai?T rtion of tbe ° ther 



*»* funSS?^ iUclf » renderini W 1 """* worthless, 



• ^h%S* ^ m. to wh ^ d 7' Good 

 •°**enced ?n ? ei1 u P°n this Jrn & . h ° weTer » h »8 made 

 f *t apart o°>^id m an Z nd i'o B ° rland MoM was 

 ^Mulntkvnft feet ^e ? 8 ^' wi ^ drains 15 



tile,, ti i yofb ^awooH '^ 00de n soles were used 



^^theVW P^W^? came ^e paring and 

 P *. Uy At^ This was partly 



1? ^ bfe l , ng 'WeTff admUted ° f ^ and 

 ^ ICt4 oa & f 1CCted * hean . i™ tUrf ' bratoble8 » 



^ ■***«. The fift Q S [ d b r , i rnt, / nd the ash " 



w « got dry aa d was ploughed j 



and sown with oats in spring 1841, yielding that year, 

 though wet and unfavourable, an extremely heavy crop of 

 straw, and, even as regards grain, fully an average crop, 

 of the growth of the district. After harvest the stubble 

 was heavily top-dressed with sand and gravel taken from 

 a bank in the upper side of the field ; this was ploughed 

 in and lay till spring, when the ground was well worked, 

 limed at the rate of 00 bushels (price 37s. fid.) per acre, 

 and the field was then manured for turnips as follows : — 

 About 10 acres received 30 single cart-loads of good farm- 

 yard dung per acre, sown with Swedish Turnip-seed, the 

 remainder got 15 such cart-loads and 15 bushels of bone- 

 dust per acre, sown with Dale's Hybrid. We saw the 

 crop, which was excellent. Indeed we do not think that 

 a better crop was grown on any soil in the South of Scot- 

 land last year. Many of Laing's purple-top Swedes, when 

 cleaned and the top and root cut off, weighed upwards of 



15 lbs. weight. This year's crop of oats on the same 

 field was too luxuriant, as a considerable portion lodged 

 with the heavy rains and did not quite fill ; but still good 

 judges estimate the gross produce of Borland moss, white 

 crop 1843, at between 50 and 60 bushels per acre, besides 

 a very heavy yield of straw. 2. Next — Glenhapple, con- 

 taining 56 Scotch acres — commenced also in 1840. 

 More than a third of this was bog and quagmire like 

 Borland moss, and a great part, even where ploughable, 

 soil of a very poor kind. About one-third was thorough 

 drained, — the field was levelled like the first mentioned, 

 and sown with oat3 in 1841. The crop was very fair in 

 the greater part of the field, but inferior in some thin 

 parts which had formerly been soured with water. In 

 autumn and winter the moorish parts of this division were 

 well top-dressed with gravel and other stuff, and another 

 oat crop taken in 1842, which was excellent, the quality 

 of the oats being upwards of 40 lbs. weight* This field 

 was well worked for turnip-crop 1843, and manured with 

 from 25 to 30 cart-loads of ordinary farm-yard dung, 

 together with 25 bushels of bones, or 3 cwt. of guano per 

 acre. The crop is an excellent one of all kinds, healthy, 

 thick, and will feed well. Third field—Fleming Park- 

 about 37 acres ; 20 acres drained, of which 8 acres were 

 very bad moss, white running sand below, and most 

 difficult to drain. Crop of oats 1842, good ; and this 

 year, after a proper top-dressing of compost, with lime 

 and ditch-cleanings, this field also yielded a very good 

 crop. Fourth field — Craignerks — 38 acres, formerly a 

 wet rushy pasture field, but of very unequal nature and 

 quality — though, on the whole, in better state than the 

 other fields— all thorough-drained, and sown last spring 

 with oats : the crop was a very superior one. In execut- 

 ing the improvements on Culhorn farm, a strict regard 

 was paid to efficiency combined with economy, — every 

 operation was entered upon with the view of obtaining a 

 profitable return for the outlay ; and how far this object 

 has been realised, the following abstract statement of ex- 

 pense of improving the four divisions of the farm formerly 

 mentioned, — the aggregate amount of produce of crops 

 1841-42, and 43,— the actual rent previous to improve- 

 ment^ and the present estimated value of these lauds, will 

 sufficiently testify. The expense of improvement will 

 stand thus : — 



Draining, say 94 Scots Acres with tiles, from 4 feet 

 to 2£ feet deep, being at the rate of about £? l6s. id. 

 per acre j£/33 19s. 3d 



Expense of sinking the course of the stream for out- 

 let to drains 24 8 6$ 



Paring and burning, and levelling old fences . 6i 6 5 



Grubbing: trees, whins, &c 62 12 3 



Erecting division and road fences . • e . 64 19 8 

 Making roads for use 01 farm— about • • • 30 04 



Total expenditure in permanent improvements £§17 6 2 



Crop of last three years stands thus :— 1. The oat crop 

 in Borland Moss, and Cowpark, and Glenhapple, in 1841 

 — together, 72 acres — amounted to 244 bolls of 12 Win- 

 chester bushels, or at the rate of 40 bushels per acre ; 

 weight, 39 to 40 lbs. per bushel. 2. In 1842 about nine 

 acres of Borland Moss and Cowpark were sown with 

 turnips, as previously mentioned, the produce of which 

 amounted to about 40 tons per Scotch acre. The re- 

 maining seven jacres were planted with potatoes,— pro- 

 duce, 252 bolls' of 8 cwt., or at the rate of 576 bushels 

 per acre. This was a very extraordinary crop ; and, 

 considering the worthless state of this field prior to im- 

 provement (only grazing two cows and their calves, 

 though 1G acres in extent), went far to liquidate the 

 expense of improvement — if, indeed, it did not reimburse 

 the whole. The second crop of oats from Glenhapple, 

 1842, and first from Fleming Park— together, 93 acres,—- 

 amounted to 48G bolls, or at the rate of 62 bushels per 

 acre ; weight fully 40 lbs. per bushel, besides 52J bolls of 

 in'erior grain. 3. The turnip crop in Glenhapple Park, 

 06 acres, this season, 1843, is altogether very superior, 

 and the actual weight of the fourth part of an acre which 

 has been taken up, and cleaned of top and root, amounted 

 to 8^ ions (and the crop is equally good throughout the 

 field), t.hus giving a produce of 34 tons per acre. The 

 quantity of manure applied to this field, per acre, as 

 noticed in the preceding part of this report, may appear 

 extravagant , but we would beg to explain that the quanti- 

 ties stated were applied only on such parts of the field 

 as had not at any former period been under cultivation, — 

 the other portions of the field receiving, per acre, about 



16 cartloads of dung, with 3 cwt. of guano, or 25 bushels 

 of bones. The .annual rent realised from these 147 acres 

 of Culhorn farm previous to improvement amounted only 

 to 112/., or, on an average, a fraction more than 15s. 2d. 

 per acre ; and we a.~e sure that in estimating the present 

 ▼alue at 30*. per acre, notwithstanding the current 

 agricultural depression, we are rather within the mark 



than otherwise. We x aake thew general remarks merely 



I 



! 



to show agriculturists what can be done by a judicious 

 outlay of capital on a naturally poor, barren soil ; and 

 we hope the time is not distant when the intelligent and 

 enterprising tenants, as well as landlords, of Wigtown- 

 shire, will find it their interest to apply their spare capital 

 and well-directed energies to the improvement and better 

 cultivation of their farms — thus rendering themselves the 

 benefactors of the district in which they live, by the 

 additional employment thereby given to the labouring 

 classes, who would consequently be enabled to live better 

 and educate their children. We have been led to notise 

 the improvements on Culhorn farm entirely from their 

 being so conspicuous. But as we have already noticed, 

 these are only a speck in the wide field of agricultural 

 improvement entered upon by Lord Stair. His Lordship, 

 has land in fourteen parishes out of the sixteen which. 

 compose the entire county ; and ever since his accession 

 to these estates, the leading operations of permanent 

 improvement— erecting farm-houses and making fences- 

 aud drains — have been in rapid progress over the length 

 and breadth of his possessions. There are two extensive- 

 tile-works on his Lordship's estates — one at the upper, 

 the other at the lower end of tbe county, at which there 

 are made annually about fifteen hundred thousand drain- 

 tiles, besides a corresponding quantity of soles. Sincet 

 spring 1340, there has been made at these works, and 

 used on the estates, the enormous quantity of three mil- 

 lions one hundred and sixty- four thousand five hundred 

 and twenty-eight drain-tiles, — these tiles are each four- 

 teen inches in length ; and when we apply the foregoing 

 quantity in lineal measurement of drain finished there- 

 with, we bring out a total of upwards of six hundred and 

 ninety -nine miles of drains,—* besides many miles that 

 have been finished with broken stones previous to the 

 erection of the second tile-work ; and all this within the- 

 short space of three-and-a-half years. Lord Stair has thus 

 not only set an example to his teuantry and the agricultural 

 district at large, by the recent improvements on his home- 

 farm, but in the spirit of genuine liberality has kindly 

 placed within the reach of his tenants, great and small, an 

 opportunity of experimenting for themselves. Three 

 experienced drainers have very properly been selected 

 and placed in different quarters to take the entire manage- 

 ment of .the drainage on the estates — not leaving sr> 

 important an operation to uncertainty, or to individual 

 caprice or fancy, but securing what is both necessary 

 and prudent, the proper execution of the work. The- 

 practice on the Stair estates therefore is, that the pro- 

 prietor pays the whole expense of the drainage and charges 

 5 per cent, per annum on the outlay. The ground 

 work of a better system of husbandry has thus been laid 

 by Lord Stair for his tenantry ; and it is particularly 

 gratifying to see the happy results of such a course in the 

 more extensive green crops now cultivated, — and these 

 certainly of a decidedly superior quality to what could be> 

 formerly raised under any management however good, 

 [The Scotch acre alluded to above is J larger than the 

 Imperial acre.] — Wigtownshire Free Press. 



The Duke of Cleveland on Leases. — At an agricultural- 

 meeting the other day, the Duke of Cleveland said, within 

 three miles of the place where he had resided for the last 

 nine years was a place which had long been rented as a* 

 rabbit warren ; a spirited farmer acquainted with it 

 applied to Sir William Welby, and said if he could have 

 a lease for 14 years that he would break it up and bring 

 the land into cultivation, his rent being allowed to remain 

 at the same amount as that paid by the warrener. This 

 offer was accepted, and the farmer being satisfied that the 

 undertaking would ultimately repay him, entered with 

 spirit upon it. In the fourth or fifth year after the 

 warren was broken up, he (the Duke of Cleveland) saw 

 this farm, and he could testify that it was bearing the 

 best crops in the county ; and last year, in the month of 

 July, he again saw it, and would not wish to behold finer 

 crops of Wheat, Barley, and Oats, than those which he 

 witnessed growing upon this very farm. (Applause.) This- 

 showed what could be done by a spirited farmer. At the 

 end of four or five years after he entered on the cultivation 

 of this farm, the tenant applied to his landlord to erect 

 suitable buildings upon it. Sir W. Welby observed that 

 the rental was so small, that he could not be expected to. 

 incur an outlay of that description. This farmer, how- 

 ever, not having the necessary confidence in a lease of 

 14 years to induce him to erect the necessary buildings, 

 made an offer, that if his landlord would extend it from 

 14 to 21 years, he would build himself a complete range 

 of buildings. This was agreed upon, and a better and 

 more perfect set of buildings could not be seen than he 

 had erected. Now, the tenant would no doubt be amply 

 repaid for his outlay ; the landlord, although he would 

 have to wait so many years before he took any advantage 

 from the improvement, would ultimately find his farm, 

 trebled or quadrupled in value.— Chester Chronicle. 



The comparative Advantage of Opening Drains with 

 the Spade and Plough. — At the second monthly meeting 

 of the Stirling Agricultural Improvement Club, Mr. 

 Alexander, farmer, Taylorton, read a paper on the above 

 subject, and after a good deal ot useful and interesting 

 discussion it was unanimously resolved, '* That in general 

 cases the plough is preferable to the spade for opening 

 drains, both as regards expedition and economy." Mr. 

 Alexander stated that with the drain-plough he could 

 drain 40 acres in the almost incredibly short space of 

 four days, and that too with such exactness, that manual 

 labour is scarcely necessary, save for the purpose of placing 

 the tiles in the drains. He stated that the reduced rates 

 at which drains can be opened with the plough, compared 

 with those done with the spade, might be estimated at. 

 follows :—An ordinary day's work of both ploughs going. 



at the same time can accomplish 10 Scotch acres ; aud the 



