THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



59 



151* 



SSSSS 



i** 



^P^i a rLch.a g nesiatothe 



-fake** 



not convey so m 



tit 



Whan the neutral salt. It is 

 — hL lith humic earth has produced 

 r!keI ntnunngJit^ ^ 0llcd hy 



^ ff ftSKS is ^ be ascribed to the 



rf^TCthL^^ with lime will 



— Jrttifind »?; l ^. h CO ntain but little of it. 



^ •,£? as most Xated plants require 



£^k aft « x ? U,ne ' iTpnt It is true, that a soil 



**£k&*^?*Jw may yet contain 



*■' ^ « \tatt- but the latter will be found 



*2l wh h is of no avail to plants, as it 



tW^'tLin. nor carbonic acids ; or 



ittther 



.1 



* ia the state 



mm 



d 



or the vegetabl 



■"■' * nir is not soluble in pure water, 

 ^S2 carbonic add. In soils 



-"^iStSan close under their surface, chalk or 

 ltar A .Ufa contain c u ^ or nQ uge afc 



r^lffi^uK by the deep-rooted plants 

 t£T£Z Lrely weeds) conveying a sufficient quail- 

 2A *K u into the furrow-slice. It is asserted 

 K-iorio? with lime is injurious on fields which 

 £m*^«* the north. I confess that I cannot 

 S^Ak Perhaps there are other causes which here 

 2-LtoJiiT • still, it would be interesting if those who 

 IXmm JJiiVobfervation would bring their experience 

 m till laKect before the public. 



(To be continued.) 



ON THE ECONOMY OF STALL FEEDING. 



Ix i lecture on the fattening of cattle, delivered to the 



Uri Agricultural Society, and reported in the Gardeners' 



Ckmktt, I stated that some experiments were then in 



it Whitfield Farm, through the kindness of Lord 



_.__ I believed would confirm some of the theories 



ii that lecture. I now beg to redeem my promise 



mieatmg to the public the results of these experi- 



They were carefully superintended by Mr. John 



Moftot,ffom whom I have received much assistance on 



tttt ladoa Btny other occasions. 



LieMfcin kiswork on Animal Chemistry, has defined 



Mevately than any preceding writer the source of 



I fcat, and the constituents of the food used in its 



MpMit. He kas shown that warmth is an equivalent for 



food, ui that cold, on the other hand, renders necessary 



grater npply of food, by carrying off rapidly the heat 



eoBODstion engenders. He has also pointed 



■otion is always accompanied by a waste of 



ia the body, and it followed naturally from this 



eeoswsay of food was necessarily the result of an 



^•[° :ctioD - The experiments o"f Lord Ducie and 



f2j"»i upon feeding sheep in sheds, afforded a 



PWWiI practical illustration of these theories. The 



™ WBDiunicated by the sheds was equivalent to a 



n!»? , l T B f t ° f f ° 0d ' and the de P ri vation of motion 

 ——"> diminished waste of the tissues of the body, 



&5JJ" 1 ' » corresponding saving of aliment. To 



i*»S2i™7 T e My the follo ™g experiments 

 j»jj«d on five lots of sheep, each lot consisting of 



to in tLlfll^ °f ° f doors > and was tberefore exposed 



£ £ fen a „ t T PUeriC ChangeS ' 

 MU.^.?! kep . 1 uader an °Pen shed. 



wkkk ill 



require so much food to keep up the proper temperature 

 of their bodies as the exposed sheep. In these two cases, 

 both lots were similarly situated with regard to exercise. 

 In lots 3 and 5, a diminished space was afforded, but 

 without advantage, probably from disturbing the placid 

 temperament of the animals, as they were observed to 

 fret and lose their appetites when thus separated. The 

 result attending the experiment with the 4th lot is highly 

 interesting. The sheep forming this lot were confined in 

 the dark. In this state there were no inducements for 

 the sheep to move about, or even to remain in a waking 

 state, except when impelled by hunger to eat food. Hence 

 they passed much of their time in sleep. During sleep, 

 the voluntary motions ceased, and there was small waste 

 of the tissues of the animal, which now possessed almost 

 entirely a vegetative life, and increased rapidly in size, 

 with small consumption of food. Although eating con- 

 siderably less than one-half of the food consumed by those 

 sheep which were exposed to the weather and to the causes 

 of waste produced by voluntary motion, this lot increased 

 nearly as much in absolute weight at a relative economy of 

 food nearly three times as great. 



The results of these experiments are very favourable to 

 the views brought forward in the lecture referred to. They 

 will, I trust, confirm, if proof be still requisite, the eco- 

 nomy of stall-feeding, and the principles on which this 

 practice depends. I am quite aware that considerable evils 

 have been found to attend the system in certain cases ; 

 but in every case which I have examined, the evils seem 

 wholly attributable to the manner in which the sys- 

 tem was carried into operation, and not to the system 

 itself. Cattle are confined in sheds built without any re- 

 gard to ventilation or cleanliness ; they become diseased ; 

 and stall-feeding is pronounced by the farmer, who thus 

 suffers the effects of his own want of care, to be very in- 

 jurious, and to be productive of evil consequences to the 

 health of his stock. If cattle are exposed continuously to 

 an impure atmosphere, the tone of their system becomes 

 depressed, and disease follows, sometimes exhibited in the 

 form of diarrhoea, frequently of rot, -very often of con- 

 sumption, or of one or other of the many diseases to which 

 cattle are liable. But none of them are the results of the 

 system, nor have they occurred when due regard has been 

 paid to cleanliness and ventilation. These are points 

 which retard the progress of fattening much more than 

 farmers are generally aware of. Attention to these cir- 

 cumstances would, I feel convinced, render more sure the 

 favourable results which follow from the communication 

 of warmth and the deprivation of excessive motion, and 

 would be further productive of economy in the returns for 

 food supplied.— Lyon Playfair, Royal Institution, Man- 

 chester. 



1 



ture the use of sand is well known — why not attempt to 

 carry out the principle upon which it is used upon a grand 

 scale? I ought to mention that the whiter the sand the 

 better, as the red sands sometimes contain more oxide of 

 iron than would be useful ; but this need not deter any 

 one from trying the experiment, as clay soils are generally 

 deficient in oxide of iron, a small portion of which is ne- 

 cessary to the growth of plants. 



. The importance, then, of obtaining, by correct analysis, 

 the proportion of sand and impalpable matter is very ap- 

 parent; and this knowledge may be obtained by very 

 simple means. 1 will principally confine my observ- 

 ations on this part of the subject in detailing these 

 means. Let Agriculturists only acquire the habit of scien- 

 tific inquiry, and the more minute processes will become 



easy and familiar. 



I proceed then to detail the method of distinguishing 



the following properties in all soils : — 



Firstly — Their retention of moisture. 



Secondly — The amount in a given quantity of soil, of 

 coarse sand and undecomposed vegetable fibre. 



Thirdly — The proportion of fine sand. 



Fourthly — The proportion of impalpable matter* 

 The apparatus necessary for this analysis are : — 



1st. A pair of small scales and weights. 



2d. A spirit-lamp. 



3d. A glass funnel and filtering: paper. 



4th. One or two Porcelain crucibles well bated. 



5th. An iron stand and glass rod. 



6th. A small pestle and mortar. 



7th. A graduated half- pint glass measure. 



8th. A phial ot muriatic acid. 



Any Chemist will supply these at a small cost. They 

 might be fitted into a box and sold together. The operator 

 must then proceed as follows :— A portion of the soil to 

 be examined must be taken from a few inches beneath 

 the surface, and exposed to the air in the sun until it 

 becomes sensibly dry. Four hundred grains, or any con- 

 venient amount, must be now carefully weighed, and ex- 

 posed to the heat of the spirit-lamp, a small piece of dry 

 wood or chip being placed at the bottom of the vessel. 



With his glass rod the operator must stir the soil about 

 until the chip becomes charred, when the application of 

 heat must be discontinued. The crucible being allowed 

 to cool, the soil is now to be weighed and the loss of 

 weight will indicate the amount of moisture. This is a 

 very important characteristic of soils, as their fertilising 

 properties are well known to be much influenced by their 

 power of retaining moisture.— C. R. Bree t Stowmarket. 



(To be continued.) 



>o.31ot 



hT* • ■---— °P en sbe(1 > and therefore 

 w the inclemencies of the weather. 



ao.3 to *i< ni lnn ; — — < U v, lC8 ui me weatner. 



•* ^i&S\S he lh S ep were ke P fc solitar y» u* 



- " - q * fined t0 a space of 3 ft. by 4 ft 



ced under a close shed in the dark. 



TW« different lots 



space 



^*^r^ti:^* »»* Swedes 



% determined n, ' *' eights consumed were 

 ** before the i««!!^ ei * ht8 °( the shee P were 



-■--cm cefore the rnm., "*"*,"« ui me sneep were 

 _ uents the results were as follows :— 



Increase in Live 



height for each 



100 lbs. of roots 



eaten. 



1-2 lbs. 



2-0 

 18 

 31 

 2-4 



In tW eta,- , 



Si^^Sj' thc ? ex P eri -ents, we may 



Cm** - a t h " the r ntit * of Corn su p- 



^rt l 0t or T*l • the same - Xt will be 





****** 





dark ^! JT^y ^ f food consumed 

 Attn 



* tfteir nZ 4€rgc a *ount nf r i 3 ™ nin « lj0d ies of the 

 ■ tfcS[ Pr0p?r temper! ° f food wa * necessary to sup- 



^St? ,,| w WE That this excess of tola 



^CZ^b^ZJt*?* ? 9 ™* entirel y lost 



jfSfty. lh < *l.t£ e f n f ! ***}*« ^ts is nearly 

 b^2r, ,nft? «ttr frt i Case for the f <> od con- 



2*y Sj ough ^St, T , hU8 ' also ' * win 



P«er »*K ,e !« ^anth efi l d lot of sbee P received 

 ^^t^ Wh ^lutelv!l 8 i' >; et . that 1^ reached a 



Kotect 





ON THE APPLICATION OF CHEMISTRY TO 

 AGRICULTURE UPON RATIONAL 



PRINCIPLES.— No. III. 



(Continued from page A3.) 



Thus we see how easily, with a little care and attention 

 to experiments, a series of standards of the fertility of 

 soils might be established. The same principle would 

 apply equally to chalky or peaty soils. The amount of 

 carbonate of lime indicating the former, and of vegetable 

 matter the latter. But as the greater experience of others 

 will not fail to suggest them, I refrain from mentioning 

 standards by which the fertility of these soils may be easily 

 fixed. The fertility of all soils is relative. One will pro- 

 duce a good crop of Corn, and a bad one of Turnips, and 

 another vice versa. This difference is almost entirely owing 

 to the disproportion of impalpable matter and siliceous 

 sand, and in many cases it is irremediable, except by a very 

 considerable outlay of capital. Thus, in the heavy soil 

 which I have mentioned above as containing 108 parts of 

 impalpable matter to 187 of sand, to make it a workable soil 

 it would be necessary to reduce the 108 by at least 10 

 per cent., and raise the proportion of sand as much. 



How is this to be done ? exclaims the intelligent owner 

 of the soil. Where is the value of a science which de- 

 scribes to me a disease, but fails to suggest a remedy ? In 

 answer to these queries I would observe, that the first 

 step towards the cure of a disease is to investigate its 

 nature. If the disease is beyond remedy in its severe forms, 

 it may be quite manageable in its milder stages. So it 

 is with Chemistry as applied to Agriculture. Though it 

 might be impossible in the above case to carry on 

 I to the land sufficient sand, to raise the elements of the 

 soil to workable and fertilizing proportions, it would be 

 by no means difficult to do so were the difference less, 

 in districts where the material could be obtained. It is a 

 well-known common practice to carry clay on to light 

 lands where the impalpable matter which contains the 

 aluminous earth is deficient. The utility also of carry- 

 ing marl on to heavy soils is well known. Now marl, 

 which is an impure carbonate of lime, can only be of use 

 in two ways, either by rendering the texture of the soil 

 looser— an important means of admitting moisture and 

 air into the interior of the land— or it may be useful by 

 absorbing moisture which contains ammonia, and thus 

 indirectly contributing to the support and nourishment of 

 the plant. A small amount only of the carbonate of lime 

 (chalk or marl) is absorbed by the roots of the plants, 

 and the experiments of chemists have proved that the 

 carbon necessary for the support of plants is derived from 

 the carbonic acid of the atmosphere, and not from mor 



ganic matter in the soil. 



•On the contrary, silicate of potash or soda is essential to 

 the growth of Corn and Grasses so that, when it is practica- 

 ble, much greater benefit may be presumed to be derivable 

 from mixing sand instead of chalk with heavy soils. 

 Farmers will sometimes go a long way for chalk, when 

 they could obtain sand much more easily. In Horticul- 



Home Correspondence. 



Manure Dropped in the Field.— I take the liberty of 

 submitting a few remarks on the national as well as indi- 

 vidual advantage that might be derived from fully carrying 

 out a method which I have practised for some years, and 

 which I will call— an economical mode of applying that 

 portion of manure upon a farm which is in a great measure 

 annually lost for want of knowing how to make the most 

 of it. I have read most English writers on the various 

 ways of preparing and applying manures, but among them 

 all I have not seen a single remark on the method which 

 I have for some vears put in practice, with much advan- 

 tage to myself, and which I am quite sure would, if gene- 

 rally adopted, be of great benefit to every occupier of 

 land. It is obvious to every one who knows anything at 

 all of the matter, that in pasture land, where horses or 

 other cattle are kept, the greater part of the dung voided 

 by those animals is entirely lost, so far as the real improve- 

 ment of the land, or the increase of such herbage as tne 

 cattle will cat, are concerned. In the heat of summer it 

 is mostly dropped under trees, and near hedges or planta- 

 tions, and in the places where the animals resort for 

 shade ; and in the latter end of autumn and in winter, ia 

 similar places, where they lie the greater part of the night 

 for shelter. It is because of this that the Grass in such 

 situations is very rank and unpalatable ; in fact, it is 

 scarcely ever eaten by either cow or horse, but gets 

 trampled upon, so that much herbage is wasted, la 

 meadows, the Grass in such places is generally so very 

 rank, and so much earlier than in other parts of the field, 

 that it gets lodged and spoilt before the rest of the i field 

 is ready to be mown. Much the same result will occur if 

 the land be in tillage, as it causes the crops to grow too 

 rank and to lodge, so as to be of little 7 lu J5/^ p c « *?• 

 richest land becomes of no real value to he occupier 

 To prevent such waste, I recommend the following simple 

 method, which I know to be beneficial from long ex- 

 perience ; it is not theory that I am advocating. In the 

 spring of the year, when the cattle first go out to Grass 

 and their dung is thin, I generally carry a broad shovel 

 with me when I fetch them in or take them out for milk- 

 ing, and all the dung which after lying down they drop in 

 one heap, I spread out as wide as it will go, so that what 

 covered one superficial foot I make to cover two or three. 

 I thus manure double or treble the space that would be 

 manured if the droppings were left as they fell from the 

 animals ; and instead of the herbage on those spots "being 

 lost for the season, or rendered so rank that nothing will 

 eat it unless forced by scarcity, it will all along be in- 

 creased in quantity over a larger surface, and will be 

 beneficially consumed, the land being thus enabled to 

 carry more stock through the season. When the dung is 

 harder or crusted over, it can be spread out with the foot 

 or, in case of slight frost towards the latter end of the 

 year, it can easily be removed to a fresh place, where 

 most wanted, to be there spread out as 1 have recom- 

 mended. The dung of horses is of a different nature from 

 that of cows, and sooner loses its fertilising: Parties , 

 the heat of the sun soon evaporates its "Oiature, and 

 insects extract its rich juices, so that in a few days it 



