THE AGRI CULTURAL GAZETTE. 



89 



J*o«ol .ever*! otner. r».r» » — —- k |||lo consid era- 



fi£t *« " roC 5SS J f n mad^< t'e Mayor and Town-Council 

 !£»nd*repr<senH^ the MON- 



^H??SlN« W K AIR shlll I betlden on the Wednesday next 

 JjSxthelMhof Febra.ry. MO NMOUTH SPRING FAIR 



fe?irS^*t" S?»^» on the WEDNESDAY 

 ISJTSter the 15th of FEBRUARV^ of ^ Town . Ccundl . 



pg^ this »7th dayJan^lS44. 



difference in the trial. It wu necessary, also, to try the | 

 one-horse system in the other branch of farm -carriage, 

 the carting of dung. This was done by Mr. Harris, of 

 Hinton. One day he led the dung with his own three- 

 horse carts ; the next day he led it to the same field with 

 the one-horse carts of Mr. Edmunds. The strength em- 

 ployed was as follows :-— 



Three-horse carts 

 One-horse-carts 



Carts. 



5 



Driving lads. 

 S 



4 



Horses. 

 10 



I 



&)t ®QtimltuvalJti*jWttt+ 



l AY. F*k f I 



T»cmwi- Feb tt 



Agricultural Society of England. 

 Affric Imp. Society oi Ireland. 



The economy of any practice is to be ascertained by 

 A comparison of its cost with the nature and quantity 

 nf its result This is sufficiently obvious. The actual 

 turn of money spent may be large, but it may be/; n;- 

 fublu spent for all that ; and if so, though a heavy, it 

 must* be considered an economical, outlay. 



In estimating the economy ot certain branches of 

 farm management one is apt to overlook this, and to 

 condemn an expensive outlay before ascertaining the 

 returns from it. This remark is, at any rate, appli- 

 cable to the* question we often hear discussed at 

 Farmers' Clubs- What is THE best way of keeping 

 tarm horses? In attempting to answer this ques- 

 tion it is certainly not right to keep one's eye resting 

 only on the cost incurred, that of food— oats, hay, 

 roots— and that of attendance, <*cc. ; we ought, indeed, 

 to look at the sum to which these amount in a given 

 time, but only in order to compare it with the quantity 

 cf work which has been accomplished by means of 

 that outlay within that time. If we wish to ascertain 

 whether our plan of keeping farm-horses is economical, 

 we must inquire, not how many bushels of oats are 

 eaten per week, but how much per acre, over the 

 extent ploughed in one week, does the weekly expense 

 amount to. If on any number of farms, of similar 

 •oils, which are cultivated alike, the management of 

 the farm-horses be different, then that mode is best 

 the expense of which, whatever it amounts toper 

 Jiorse> is least ptr acre. This is the test to which the 

 various ways of keeping farm-horses must be brought. 

 We propose to consider this important subject at 

 considerable length. It is believed that the expenses 

 connected with it are greater than many farmers 

 think. Indeed, notable differences, which we shall 

 hereafter notice, have occurred among members 

 of certain farmers' clubs, in their estimates of the sum 

 to which they amount per acre. Our present object, 

 however, is to determine the suitableness of the test to 

 which we have referred. When on two farms of 

 similar soils we compare the sums per acre to which 

 the expense of horse-keep on those farms amount, we 

 must remember that it is only in cases where the cul- 

 tivation is similar, that these sums are to be considered 

 as such a test ; and not only must the cultivation be 

 similar— not only must the work to be done be the 

 same— but the machines employed in doing it must be 

 similar; for it is evident that two farmers who adopt 

 the same management in their stables, mav differ 

 much in their expenses there, if the one uses' on his 

 farm cumbrous ploughs and heavy waggons, while 

 the other employs light ploughs and carts ; for the 

 iormer will require moie horses to work these imple- 

 ments than the latter. 



The importance of good machines on a farm in 

 diminishing various items of expenditure, that of 

 Horse-keep among others, will be considered in the 

 course ot our articles on Agricultural Mechanics ; we 

 only refer to it now, because, before we can admit 



end" 



" Though the horses on the first day doubled those on 

 the second in number, Mr. Harris carried nearly or quite 

 as much dung on the second day as on the first. These 

 two trials seem decisive in favour of one-horse carts, 

 which are used not in the north alone, but in Bedford- 

 shire and neighbouring districts ; and as a cart with a 

 movable harvest-rail may be bought for 13/., I have now 

 no longer any doubt that, unless on very deep land, if a 

 farmer will part with all his waggons and heavy dung- 

 carts, buying a complete set of light one-horse carts in 

 their room, he will be quickly repaid by the large imme- 

 diate saving in horse-keep." 



Here we see that it takes twice the number of 

 horses to perform the same work with waggons as 

 with carts. Obviously, the total expense of horse- 

 keep incurred by a Berkshire farmer who uses wag- 

 gons, might be much greater than that incurred by a 

 Scotch farmer occupying the same number of acres 

 of a similar soil, who employs carts, without there 

 being necessarily greater economy in the stables of 

 the latter ; and the importance thus appears of con- 

 sidering these points before receiving evidence upon 

 the various ways of keeping farm-horses. 



But this difference not only exists between carts 

 and waggons, — almost as much appears in the trials 

 which have been made between one-horse and three- 

 horse carts. Thus, an article by the late T. J. L. 

 Baker, Esq., in the 1st vol. of the English Agricul- 

 tural Society's Journal contains the following passage I 



•• Two heaps of stone, of 32 tons each, were landed 

 from a barge ; they were to be taken to the same place, 

 about a mile and a quarter off. A farmer began the first 

 with two large carts and three horses, one cart wa3 being 

 loaded while the other was moving, and the horses were 

 taken of! and put on at every load. Finding that he could 

 not do it in the day, he gave over at the end of about six 

 hours, and set to again the next morning. • • • Their 

 work was completed at 11 loads (which of course is nearly 

 three tons to each load, or one ton to each horse), in nine 

 hours and fifty minutes. I began the other heap with 

 three small one-horse carts, and completed it in one day 

 at 21 loads (being nearly a ton and a half to each horse), 

 in six hours and one minute ; which was a saving of about 

 three hours and a quarter on nine hours and fifty minutes, 

 or rather more than one third. In this I had three de- 

 cided advantages— first, the saving of time by trotting 

 back ; secondly, the rest that each of my horses got in bis 

 turn while his cart was being loaded ; and thirdly, ;the 

 ease with which my carts were loaded in consequence of 

 being lower." 



From this account we may infer that a great saving 

 in horse-keep was effected by Mr. Baker by the use of 

 one-horse carts, because fewer horses were required to 

 do the same work in the same time than were needed 

 by the neighbouring farmer with his three-horse carts. 

 It should be stated, that there was some difference 

 here in the breed of horses employed, but that could 

 not account for all the difference in the work per- 

 formed by them. . 



Guided by these two cases, we shall be prepared, at 

 a future opportunity, to look somewhat narrowly into 

 the evidence on the subject of true economy in horse- 

 keep. Before doing this, however, we have to consider 

 in a similar way the bearing upon this subject, of the 

 variety which exists in the form of the plough. This 

 we hope to take up in our next Gazette. 



good six years' rotation. De Candolle't excrementory 

 theory was framed to account for this curious preference, 

 which certain crops have for the land off which certaia 

 other crops had just been raised. It is supposed that plants 

 exuded at their roots those portions of the descending sap 

 which were not fitted for their own growth, and that, 

 while this excrementitious matter was poison to them y it 

 was nourishing food for another class of plants : hence 

 the propriety of making the one kind of plant suc- 

 ceed the other. Another theory supposes that each class 

 of plants, taking from the soil one particular substance 

 necessary for its growth, will die after having at the end 

 of a course of years thoroughly exhausted the 6oil of that 

 substance ; but that for the growth of another class of 

 plants which does not require that substance, the soil is 

 as well adapted as ever. Neither of these theories ex- 

 plain the fact which often occurs, that land, after a 

 course of cross-cropping with only one kind of plant, as 

 the Teazel or Wheat, often become! so worn out, that it 

 will not yield a good crop of any other plant whatever. 

 This, and many other objections, depending chiefly on the 

 minuteness of the experiments brought forward in proof 

 of either theory, have been urged by practical men against 

 them ; and it has been stated that the advantage of a rota- 

 tion of crops is owing more to differences in the nature 

 and in the cultivation of the crops which succeed each 

 other than to any alleged habit of plants generally,— the 

 account of which depends for its truth on the accuracy of 

 a series of the most delicate experiments. Thus, during; 

 the growth of the Wheat crop, the land receives one kind 

 of cultivation, and favours the growth of one kind of 

 weeds; during that of the Turnip crop, the land receives 

 another kind of cultivation, and thus another class of 

 weeds will spring up, if any are allowed to appear. The 

 propriety, then, of alternating these crops is evident. 

 Whether, however, the explanation of the necessity of a 

 rotation of crop be successful or not, that such a necessity 

 exists is established ; and the farmer, with reason, acts 

 upon the fact at once, and does not wait till a sufficient 



reason be given for it. 



It has been seen, then, that the fertility of land depends 

 on its mineral composition and on its cultivation. It 

 has been seen that, under the first, the soil may be 

 improved by drainage and by the admixture of mineral 

 substances, any alteration of this kind which it undergoes 

 being permanent; that under the second it may be 

 improved by a proper attention to the management and 

 application of manures— to the looseness and depth of 

 the soil— to the adoption of a suitable rotation of crops ; 

 and that any alteration produced by these means is 

 not permanent, but that any departure from the esta- 

 blished rules of good cultivation is followed by an imme- 

 diate decrease of the fertility of the land. 



From what .has been said it will appear that a know- 

 ledge of many of the sciences may be made available by 

 the Agriculturist la the improvement of his land. Che- 

 mistry will point out to him where its fault lies, and 

 Geology will often show him where to look for its remedy. 

 Both, if he make use of them, will assist in improving 

 his practice; and in all his experiments, by explaining to 

 him the success of this or the failure of that, will render 

 his business a source of much pleasure as well as profit. 

 Experience, indeed, may, in the end, lead to the same 

 results, and teach the same lessons as a knowledge of 

 these sciences; but the lessons of the one are but im- 

 perfectly learned at the end of a long series of years, 

 during which they have to contend with prejudice and 

 custom, and everything tending to subvert or distort the 

 truth ; while those taught by the others are learned, and 

 may be made use of at once. — M. S. 



evidence on our present subject, we must consider to 

 what extent it may be influenced in this way. 



lne two classes of implements we intend to take up 

 *re the cart, waggon, &c., and the plough in its 

 wious forms. With regard to the former, the folio w- 

 J? g M extracted from Mr. Pusey's article on Lincoln- 

 ""^arming in the English Agricultural Society's 



%\An tUttite U * 6 °f Carts and fVagffons.— The Lincoln- 

 noTth*? 6 ! 0118 are Very P onderous masses of timber. 1 n the 

 the nn oue-horse carts only are used ; and here, as 



will m eSUon of carts °r waggons is an important one, I 

 thre* C u U ? n an ex P erin *ent lately made at my request by 



Edmu 1 C farmers livin g near Farringdon. Mr. 



^j r t> ' w ^° has lately introduced one-horse carts, and 

 itre#/t eS ' who em P lo ys the hght Berkshire waggon, 

 from t COmpare the quantity of Wheat carried by them 

 road t*° fiC - dS ° f 8imilar crop, along the same kind of 

 follnL; ° th f ir ho «>e8tead8. The result appears in the 

 "Wowing table :— 



ON THE AGRICULTURAL VALUE OF LAND. 



( Continued from page 7 4.) 



3. The way in which the nature of the crops cultivated, 

 and the mode in which they are made to succeed one 

 another, influences the fertility of the soil, is a point 

 which has been much discussed ; that it does possess this 

 influence is very evident, from the wretchedly poor state 

 in which some farms are to be seen on which no attention 

 is paid to it, Corn crops being taken off the same land 

 during many successive years ; and from the good state of 

 cultivation, on the other hand, to be seen on farms, where 

 a proper rotation of crops is adopted. It is, indeed, an 

 acknowledged fact, that a crop of any kind will exhaust 

 the land it is raised on, and, that if taken off the same 

 land for many successive years, it will, at length, tire it 

 out altogether. Some, however, possess this property in 

 a greater degree than others. Seed-bearing crops, for 

 instance, exhaust the land more than green crops, and a 

 fact arises from this, which seems to have been forgotten 

 by some farmers, namely, that if weeds be allowed to seed, 

 the farmer suffers, not only by their increase in the 

 following years, for ■ one year's seeding gives seven years 

 weeding," but also by the exhaustion of his land which 



they occasion. .. 



It is also an acknowledged fact, that while, generally 

 speaking, Corn crops thrive after green crops, each Corn 

 crop has its particular green crop, after which it thrives 



u - -v ,-„«-., m best : thus, Barley succeeds Turnips, Oats succeed brass, 



,» , C , cro P carried with waggons was a little thicker upon and Wheat, Potatoes or Beans ; and 1, Wheat ; 2, Turnips ; 

 u* land than the other but Sot so much as to make much 3, Barley ; 4> Seeds • S, Oata ; 6, Potatoes, constitute a very 



Hr 



Brook 



Driving 

 lads. 



lir£ d r ^ kc »' 3 waggons 2 

 ' ^^nds' 4 carts 3 



"Th 



Distance Acres of 



Time. in Wheat 



h. m. Furlgs. Horses, cleared. 



4 50 5 7 * 



5 4 2 5ths. 4 9 



ON THE WEEDS INFESTING FLAX FIELDS. 

 As it seems probable that the culture of Flax will be 

 considerably extended in this country within the next few- 

 years, it is desirable that attention should be drawn to the 

 prevalence of certain weeds in that crop. Several weeds 

 of a large size are constantly found amongst Flax, which, 

 as they flower sooner than the time for pulling the Flax, 

 may easily be removed by the hand ; and as their seeds 

 are introduced into the soil, intermixed with the seeds of 

 the crop, it is of much consequence that the plant should 

 be removed from such crops of Flax as are intended to 

 afford seed for future cultivation. 



There is, however, a weed of a far more destructive cha- 

 racter, which it is much less easy to destroy, since it can 

 scarcely be removed by hand without very great injury to 

 the crop ; and as, at the same time, it is of a very destruc- 

 tive character, it has long appeared to me to be deserving 

 of considerable attention. Accordingly, I have endea- 

 voured, in different ways, to call the attention of Flax 



cultivators to it. 



The weed to which I refer is the Flax Dodder, which 1 

 have seen destroying very considerable portions of the 

 Flax crop in England, Scotland, and Ireland. It is a plant 

 which germinates in the ground, and sends up a slender 

 threadlike stem, which, twisting itself about, soon touches 

 one of the stems of the Flax amongst which it is grow- 

 ing. As soon as this takes place, the Dodder twists 

 itself round the Flax, and throws out from the side 

 next to its victim several small processes which pene- 

 trate the outer coat or cuticle of the Flax, and act 

 as suckers, by which the parasitical Dodder appropri- 

 ates to its own use the sap which has been prepared 

 in the Flax, upon which the growth of the Flax de- 

 pends. The Dodder then separates itself from the 

 ground, and relies solely upon the Flax for its nourish- 

 ment, producing long slender leafless stems, which attach, 

 themselves to each stem of Flax that comes in their way. 

 Thus large masses of the crop are matted together, and so 

 much weakened as to become almost useless. This plant 



