THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



25 



- I all. 



_ . i T ns tru- all. 10 una niuob ayv, « 



John ^^JtSSL of Agricui- of its construction, viz. : 



"> > ng. - 2"^** *• -SS2RSSSK 



: SSgSSSass 



din a case, and sen __^ 



^fo^^hTa^^^ 2J* 



j£ *. rf. 



^ fitted 



I, 



1 BEC U " infor,n8 ■ t0 2-— ronaerratorj 



Ci5tern Fdrin&5 for 

 boxes, Ed^c 



100 Larch poles about 12 feet long . . 

 6 dozen hurdles for the yards (see woodcut) 



£ — 



,8n » 5 P e a atWorcon Cottage, 



•WB-"" 



*Sfe aa5*5=£2: 



J^oittiwi jsatftte 





-^^iS^ Kr 13j 



1844 



. "^^r^rT many experiments 



* **, mid » 1 e sub"ect y of the Shed- 

 been performed 01 haye been s0 3}1C . 



'»' ofSi,E !!:!?Is this way of managing 

 thet i S * hee P 



With 

 tare 



- - , * he first to direct atten- 



, Childers «■ among the ^ ^^ 



tfoo „ this subject He has £ rf ^ EngHsh 

 to eiperi>"tt in v ou >•• . thc) . e statecl that 



^ W 'Tltn each of Leicester wether hogs were 

 two kw. twenty «» ible . one lot 



**«"*> 8 f S1W \l V fa vard, and the other was 

 w « placed undo shelter m a ya ^ ^ ^ of 



Sff £ cuf tmip! If Ufa* half-a-pou„d of 

 lliarf «te half*P nt of Barley per sheep per day 

 SKrind a constant supply of salt. At first 

 i lituewy, a' quantities of food, 



?, after the third week, "there was a falling off in 

 tcimi^n of the hogs in the shed of 8 stone of 

 ^ipaJsy.' I. *, I lbs. apiece ; - and in the ninth 

 week Ihere was a falling off of 2 stone more Of 

 Linteed-cake there was also a falling off of 3 lbs. 

 i-day," i.ft, nearly one-third of the quantity given. 

 • The hogs in the field consumed the same quantity 

 of food from first to last. # 



1 The res ult of the experiment is as follows : 



These materials will last several years, and they 

 may be taken apart out of the way at spring, and put 

 up again every autumn at a cost of little more than 

 one penny for each sheep to be sheltered by it. No 

 charge is made for straw for thatch ; it is the produce 

 of the farm, and returns to the land, as it would were 

 it used otherwise. The mode of erection is this :— 

 Two Larch poles about 12 feet long, and crossing at 

 their extremities, where they are nailed together, are 

 thrust firmly into the ground at a distance of 15 feet; 

 they thus form one with another rather more than a 



right angle (see Fig. 2). , K - 



A series of such couples arranged, as in rig. I, at 

 distances of 10 feet, form the skeleton of the future 

 roof A ridge pole is then placed so as to connect 

 these couples ; it lies in the forks made by their 

 extremities crossing, and is nailed there. Four 

 other side-pieces parallel to this, the lowest one 

 being placed so far down the couples as to be within 

 the height of a hurdle from the ground, are then 

 nailed on each side, and the skeleton roof is completed. 

 The thatch is now merely laid on, and two other 

 poles, (see fig. 1), being laid above it, and tied through 

 the thatch to the couples below it, hold it last. 

 Hurdles are now placed around and within, so as to 

 form a series of little yards, 10 feet wide by 25 feet 

 in length, of which nine are under the roof, and these 

 being littered with straw are ready for the reception 

 of 1 sheep a-piece. The outside hurdles should be 

 wattled, so as to afford more shelter. The subjoined 

 wood-cut represents one part of the shed completed, 

 and the other part in its skeleton state. 



Fig. 1. 



fitted 



Jtr.aarjr 1st . 

 February 1st . 



March ut . . 



April 1st. . . 



T •*] Increise 



tighed 



Increase. 



st. lbs. 



St. 



lbs. 



1S3 3 







205 



2) 



11 



215 10 



10 



10 



239 9 



23 



13 



t • • 



56 



6 



20 Field Hogs 

 weighed 



st. lbs. 

 184 4 

 199 8 



203 2 

 220 12 



Increase, 

 st. lbs. 



15 4 



8 8 



12 10 



36 8 



onsequently, the sheep in the shed, though they 

 consumed nearly one-fifth less food, made above one- 

 third greater progress." This result is confirmed by 

 our own experience. Of three lots of sheep, one 

 entirely covered in, another under a shed in the yard, 

 and the third entirely exposed, all of them having one 

 pint of Oats per sheep per diem, the first consumed, 

 on an average, between Nov. 18, 1842, and March 9, 

 1843, 8 lbs. of cm Turnips and other roots per 

 diem and increased in live weight during that time 

 ~3 J lbs. per sheep ; the second consumed 11 lbs. of 

 the same food, and increased 25 lbs. in weight ; the 

 third consumed 17 lbs. of cut Turnips, &c. apiece 

 each day, and increased in live weight 2a lbs. during 

 u* period. The several lots, it thus appears, did not 



♦ r\nl* nwa n ■ i. alii _ . * .1 ■» 



differ so much in their' "growth 



Moe in the 

 F*t a differenc 



kr u ri UC i . 1R their S rowth as in the case reported 

 L U,lkers > ^t there was a much greater 



so 

 to be 



Muni ' * i *"«*«• wnc mis resuu to U( 



C l^T 1 fr ° m a Similar treatment, which 



nun? Lnmft X T ans wish t0 infer ' twice a! 



"""J sneep might be kenr in o fatf;~ j:,.: 



-j -v. aucoua wisn to mier, twice as 

 tne tamo «nJK! , k , ept in a fattin S condition on 



S?SKBJ[ food umler perfect shelter > 



. sheep 

 the same 



• -,„ tc exposure. 



is one to which 



•^AW be usefd,y directeJ 



' W., situ ? tion s. during wintry weather, 



n weight — they 



Aeep 



-* • ;r~ «*> nut increa 



tne experience of 



*■ 



1 '■«■ 2. 



-feed: 



in the 



in V. i i involved in tne 



of 'he man ?« balance « b y the additional 



_ *e field is not S ° 0bt ?? ned ' as U P robabl y is 

 ft* ,n<1 »" iiuW?, l ry d,stant ' ,!,en a s a v »>S of 

 *» ?«r difference Vl e P roducti ^ of mutton is 

 1*^ m favour of I " f shcd - fe «Ung and folding 

 !?? ^«en ces X, ' f f ner " But there may be 



%" dla ^; roeanwhti d t0 tllese we ^ here- 

 •^Wied, which IZt !° rm of she<l "to yard 



;«7 much reducS' e xn P P Ut Up f in tbe fie,<1 ' ™* thus 

 S-"- 1 ls ^„ ? r e L X P n e,ls f of carting Theannexed 



&'"8 200 S C Pa ; 1 . ° f a Shed n °w in use 



*5 !l T as ^ per ion f ?•' ? f ereCtin g the 

 i"g n£ Ch in C! feet , ln len 8 th ' an 'l the 

 SSf W was *« on and r T? from a neighbour- 



a 

 mfficie 



nf > - ^auour nf 2 n °y tvvo men m 



tor shelterir^ ^ looT^u ] 00 feet of »heJ 



G 100 sheep thus costing 12*. in 



Let us take up another of the subjects suggested 

 by the Prospectus of this Paper. 



" No one man can be competent to deal with the 

 multifarious questions affecting Husbandry, and the 

 duty of the Editor of such a rafter as the Ayrwul- 

 tural Gazette is to make known the knowledge of all. 

 It is to practical farmers that the Proprietors trust for 

 the means of carrying out their views, and not to the 

 talents of any individual.'' 



We are anxious to impress upon our readers the 

 importance of a widely- spread Agricultural corn 

 spondence. 



the farmer vary, both in quantity and in kind, in the 

 different districts of our country, to such an extent 

 that the argument of any one who reasons merely 

 from what he sees around him is rarely applicable to 

 any other than his own immediate neighbourhood ; 

 so that a " Code of Agriculture ? of universal applica- 

 tion could be compiled only by a company of men, 

 among whom every district of the kingdom should 

 find its representative. Hence it appears to us, that 

 a body of statements, each accompanied by the condi- 

 tions under which it is correct, such as from a 

 widely-extended system of Agricultural correspond- 

 ence would ultimately accumulate, is the only source 

 from which any one might, without fear, draw in- 

 formation for hifl own guidance as a farmer. 



The produce of the land depends on four things : 

 viz., the character of the soil, the nature of the 

 climate, the skill and judgment of the farmer, and the 

 amount per acre of his invested capital ; of all of which 

 it may be said, not only that the kingdom generally 

 contains them in most various degrees, but that a dis- 

 trict of only a few square miles cannot be named over 

 which one of them is constant. And, obviously, that 

 which is the best system of management, under one 

 condition of these important agents, is not neces- 

 sarilv the best under any other condition ; the same 

 skill' and sound judgment on the part of the farmer, 

 which would sanction one mode of farming under one 

 series of circumstances, would approve of another 

 altogether different when those circumstances had 

 changed. Many systems of farming may thus exist 

 in a country, and do exist in this one, each very dif- 

 ferent from the others, and yet each justified by the 

 circumstances under which it is placed. And the 

 opinions of any Agricultural correspondent, however 

 safely built upon facts, are not necessarily of general 

 application, because that which is fact in his neigh- 

 bourhood may not be fact elsewhere. Hence the 

 importance— and, indeed, to an Agricui turalJournal, 

 aiming at usefulness, the necessity— of having a 

 numerous staff of intelligent and practical corre- 

 spondents widely spread over the kingdom ^ _ 



And here, by the way, we may remark that it is a 

 very common practice to compare, or rather to con- 

 trast, the farming of certain distinguished districts in 

 the East and North of England, and in Scotland with 

 that of certain other districts in the South and VV est 

 of the kingdom ; but, though in such comparisons 

 the results of farming may be accurately stated, yet 

 it is manifest that no inference can justly be drawn 

 from them as to the skill of the farmer, unless, at the 

 same time, all that light be thrown on the question 

 which would be afforded by a description of the soil 

 and of the climate, and by a statement of the farming 

 capital invested. So entirely, indeed, does the ques- 

 tion-what is good farming depend for its answer 

 upon these three circumstances, that we believe it will 

 be found that the plan of farming which long expe- 

 rience has sanctioned in any district, however bad it 

 may appear to others, is generally justified by the cir- 

 cumstances of the case. And, in saying this, we are 

 quoting the opinion of Mr. Smith, of Deansjon, 

 who, perhaps, more than any other, struck boldly 

 out from the beaten path when he commence! farm- 

 ing Let us not, however, be understood to recom- 

 mend that, in such districts, themode of farming should 

 remain unaltered, justified though it may thus be. Its 

 faults may be remedied, and Mr. Smith's example may 

 safely be followed, if the obstacles to improvement 

 be first removed. The texture of a soil, its depend- 

 ence upon a variable climate, and the amount per 

 acre of the tenant's capital, are, to a great extent, all 

 under control. The last depends, of course, upon the 

 extent of the holdings; and the two former depend 

 greatlv upon the wetness of the soil, which may be 

 removed by drainage. And when a farm has been 

 improved in all these particulars, the same sound judg- 

 ment which was before fearful of changing the mode 

 of its cultivation will now recommend the adoption ol 

 another and superior plan. All that we wished to infer 

 was that a full statement of the Agricultural statis- 

 tics of the districts referred to would put a stop to 

 many of those comparisons which are drawn between 

 them in order to prove want of skill against the 

 farmers of some of them ; for it would show that the 

 differences in their Agriculture are often owing to the 

 peculiar circumstances in which each is placed; and 

 this would be beneficial, for it would tend to remove 

 prejudices and jealousies from between those who, 

 mutual interest certainly says, ought to be none 

 other than good friends. u 



We hope, therefore, that our readers, in their cor- 

 respondence with us, and with one another through 

 us, upon the activity and practical nature of wnicn 

 we hang all our hopes of usefulness will not only 

 state their opinions, but the facts which justify them; 

 and not only the facts, but the circumstances under 



which they have occurred. . 



There are many subjects upon which light would be 

 thrown by an accumulated correspondence conducted 

 thus The differences existing between many districts 



