THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



[Feb. lo, 



•alt as rainy as five or nit will cut op in the usual way. 

 The salt should be applied before lk« Thistles have attained 

 a Urge size, and great care roust be takrn thit it is n I 

 dropped amongst the Grass or other herbage, as it will 

 destroy it also — J. M. 7\, IlilUborowjh, Ireland. 



Manure — Besides giving a list of manures appropriate 

 to each description of plants, it might be possible to esta- 

 blish the quantity requisite for each. Thus, supposing a 

 plant grown in an inferior soil, a good plant of Wheat is 

 found to contain certain ingredients in certain quantities, 

 while on the soil in question it is found to contain only so 

 much of some of them. Might not the soil be analysed, 

 and such a proportion of suitable manure be added to it, 

 ea guided thus, we may assume to be required? If this 

 could be done, each field in a farm, when analysed, might 

 be registered, and thus there would he a ready and accu- 

 rate means of knowing how to prepare a particular field for 

 • particular crop. Something of this kind is already done 

 by almost all farmers, but not upon sufficiently scientific 

 principles. We know that this is also done, in a measure, 

 by draining, by ploughing, by exposure of the soil either 

 to heat or frost, and by serious other means, which will 

 all readily present themselves to the mind of a practical 

 man. If I sm correct in my theory, I should think 

 that when a superabundance of any ingredient existed, 

 which waa not suitable to a particular crop, it mi^ht be 

 temporarily neutralised by a manure of a suitable kind. — 

 M. B. (I. [ We refer our correspondent to Dr. Dau- 

 beny's lecture on the application of science to Agriculture, 



in the 3d vol. of the "English Agricultural Society's 

 Journal." J * 7 



Experiments on Mtnurex,—\ beg to forward you the 

 results of an experiment made by myself, on a small scale, 

 with some of the more simple fertilizing agents. The 

 ground I had to work upon was in the corner of a field of 

 ▼ery poor, sandy loam, with a mixture of cold day. Eight 

 perches, manured with 8 bushels of soot, produced of 

 Carrots, 12 cwt.; 8 perches, manured with the scrapings 

 of a wood-yard into which pigs and geese occasionally 

 intrude, but which consisted mainly of well-decomposed 

 sticks and leaves, and which was spread on the surface to 

 the depth of 4 inches, produced of the same crop, 14 cwt. 

 The same quantity of land, manured with 8 bushels of 

 lime, 8 c*t. ; 4 perches, dressed with the leaf-manure C> 

 inches thick, of Beet-root, 5 cwt. ; while the same quan- 

 tity of land, without manure, gave only 2 cwt. In refer- 

 ence to Beet-root, I may be permitted to remark, that it 

 was proved here by experiment on the milch cows that 

 those fed on this vegetable gave much better cream, and 

 in larger quantity, than those fed on Hay, Turnips, Carrots, 

 or Parsnips ; and it has often been matter of surprise to me 

 that the above-named root is not extensively cultivated 

 by Agriculturists, since it contains abundance of saccha- 

 rine and other nutritious matter, is eaten by all animals 

 with avidity, and is of most easy cultivation.— J. L. 

 Snow, Steinton Hardens. 



Berberry ///«//*»;.— The mealy blight observed by your 

 correspondent on the Berberry, is, Erysiphe ptnicillata, 

 • very curious ohject under .the microscope. In its early 

 • t§ *« of growth, like other species of the genus, it has 

 been described as an Oidium. The mildew on Peach- 

 trees is, I believe, the same species with that which 

 grows on Rose-trees, but it is very rarely perfected ; 

 though I have gathered full-grown specimens of Erysiphe 

 psnnosa late in the autumn on Peach twigs. This fungus 

 is far more distantly related to the mildew of Wheat than 

 the rust-coioured Berberry blight ; therefore, if there is 

 any connection between the two diseases, it must be one 

 of a more remote nature. It is not, however, probable 

 that it has anything to do with the question ; for other 

 plants, when covered with a species of Erysiphe, have 

 never been observed to be injured.— .If. J. Berkeley. 



Flavour of Butter.— At this season of the year at least 

 one-half of the butter made in the Agricultural counties 

 is rendered disgusting to many, and more or less offensive 

 to sll palates, hy the flavour of Turnips. The following 

 is an old-fashioned but complete « 4 antidote to the flavour 

 imparted by Turnips to milk, cream, and butter." Make 

 the strongest infusion of nitre, by pounding it in a mortar 

 and pouring boiling water upon it. Let a dessert-spoonful 

 of this solution for every two gallons of milk be stirred up 

 m the warm milk as soon as it is brought in, and all 

 flavour of Turnips will be removed i IT nreftwrfqft 



Dairyman. 



Manure dropped in the Field.— Mr. Billington's re- 

 marks on this subject in your last Paper are very judi- 

 cious ; but the system he proposes, in my opinion, scarcely 

 *oet »r enough, and appears chiefly adapted to small 

 farms; besides that, his plan of spreading the droppings 

 every day » liable to the objection that the action of the 

 sun and wind will cause the evaporation of much of their 

 richness, before the land can be benefited by it. I shall 

 «ow proceed to detail a system I have pursued during four 



J!*7 u A greatCSt 9UCCCM ' w 't« manure dropped in 

 the field. On one hundred acres of pasture-land, stocked 

 with about sixty head of cattle, an old man and a boy col- 

 lect all the manure dropped, and wheel it into heaps in 

 convenient parts of the fields, where it is mixed with an 

 equal quantity of soil (scourings of ditches, road-scrapings 

 or any other refuse, will do for this purpose), and every 

 evening each heap is covered with soil to keep in all the 

 moisture; the man and boy also take up all thistles and 

 other weeds, and repair any fences that may be broken by 

 the cattle. These heaps are laid on the poorest parts of 

 the fields m winter time, at the rate of five tons per 

 acre— this manure being so rich that if more is applied 

 it causes the grass to become so rank during the following 

 summer, that the cattle will not touch it. The manure is 

 carefully spread, and early io spring the land both harrowed 

 •ud rolled. The results of this system are: 1st, all 



I 



coarse tufts of Grass gradually disappear, and the Grass 

 near the hedges becomes as sweet and palatable to the 

 cattle as that in any other part of the fields ; 2d, the land 

 carries more stock ; 3d, all weeds are eradicated, and their 

 place supplied by good herbage. This year 18 acres have 

 been manured with the droppings collected on the 100 

 acres mentioned above. The expense is as follows : — 



Wages of an old man and boy from May 10th, to £ s. d. 



timr. loth, («6 weeks) ; the man 9*., the boy 4a. 6d. 



per week — 13*. 6d 17 u 



90 tons of good manure, sufficient to manure IB acres 



at 6s 27 



Gain 



I 



./HO 





The practice of gathering and heaping the manure dropped 

 in the fields has been long known to the Leicestershire and 

 Northamptonshire graziers, from whom I borrowed the 

 plan, merely adding the soil which, in my opinion, is a 

 great improvement. So convinced am I of the great 

 benefit derived from this practice, that it is my intention 

 to adopt it on the whole of my grass-land, and I confi- 

 dently recommend it to the notice of my brother farmers. 

 — 11. F. S., Yorkshire. 



Gluten in Gram. — You quote from '* Smith's Produc- 

 tive Farming " on this subject. It is true that the mode of 

 cultivation may and does give rise, in some degree, to the 

 different quantities of gluten in Wheat, Rye, and Barley ; 

 but from the article you quote it may be inferred that this 

 is the primary, if not the only cause, which is not the 

 net* Climnto is the principul cause of the difference of 

 quantity of gluten in Wheat, as may be proved, if not by 

 theory, by observation. We all know that for making 

 biscuits Wheat is required with but a small proportion 

 of gluten ; thus we find Scotland produces flour famous 

 for biscuits ; and Naples produces flour famous for mac- 

 carom, which requires a preponderance of gluten, and 

 this flour contains so much gluten that bread from it is 

 not good ; hence the invention of macearoni by the natives 

 as a substitute for the bread of colder climates. I am 

 aware that this observation does not accord with Sir 

 Humphry Davy's statement of quantities of gluten iu 

 Wheat gro#n in different countries ; thus he gives — 



French Wheat . . . 13 per cent, of gluten. 

 Jlavariau Wheat . . .24 per cent. 

 English Summer Wheat . 21 per cent. 

 Do. Winter do. . . . 19 per cent. 

 Sicilian , . . .21 percent. „ 



Barbary .... 19 per cent. „ 



In all the above examples the climate where the Wheat 

 was grown should be ascertained ; for example, to talk of 

 French Wheat is an indefinite mode of speaking ; it is 

 French whether grown in the north or south, which pos- 

 sess vastly different climates, and a similar observation 

 may be made on the other examples, for in every country 

 climate depends on altitude, therefore the above exam- 

 ples say but little towards the establishment of any 

 theory ; but I believe it may be established by observa- 

 tion as a general rule that the cold climates produce 

 the smaller quantity of gluten in Wheat, and the warmer 

 the greater quantity. — J. G. 



of Friendly Societies, informing the CornidT7haT~~r 

 Society had been included in the list of institutions entitUJ 

 to exemption from county, borough, parochial, and otW 

 local rates on land and buildings. ^ r 



Conditions on Resignation.— The chairman of tf* 

 Finance Committee then called the attention of the Co *? 

 to the following paragraph in conclusion, of the report- 

 " The Committee have had submitted to them the list "^ 

 members expressing their desire to withdraw from th 

 Society ; many of whose letters contain simply an exnrei* 

 sion of such desire, while others assign reasons forth '* 

 so doing, at variance with the fundamental rules of tfT 

 Society. The Committee feel it their duty to recom* 

 mend to the Council the acceptance of such resignation 

 upon the payment of the subscriptions due ; but submit 

 to the council that they cannot recognise such reasons aa 

 grounds for their withdrawal." The question was the 

 put from the Chair, and the whole of the Report was 

 unanimously confirmed by the Council. 



Southampton Meeting. — Communications were re- 

 ceived, and referred to the General Southampton Com- 

 mittee, from Mr. Mayes, the chairman of the Local Com. 

 mittee of the Corporation, expressing the readiness of the* 



•» 

 ft 



9 . m 



ocietics. 



ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY ofENGLAND. 

 A Monthly Council was held at the Society's House 

 in Hanover-square on Wednesday last, the 7th of Feb. ' 

 present, the Right Hon. Earl Spencer, President, in the* 

 chair ; his Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge, his 

 Grace the Duke of Richmond, Viscount Torrington° Hon. 

 Robert Henry Clive, M.P. ; Hon. Captain Spencer, Col! 

 Austen, T. Raymond Barker, Esq., Samuel Bennett' 

 Esq., W. R. Brown, Esq., French Burke, Esq., Colonel 

 Challoner F. Clifford Cherry, Esq., H. C. Compton, 

 Esq., M.P ; Layton Cooke, Esq.; J. Evelyn Denison, 

 Esq., M.P. J Humphrey Gibbs, Esq.; B. Brandreth 

 Gibbs, Esq. ; Stephen Grantham, E*q. ; W. Good- 

 enough Hayter. Esq., M.P. ; W. Fisher Hobbs, Esq • 

 John Hudson, Esq.; W. H. Hyett, Esq. ; John Kinder' 

 Esq. ; Fielder King, Esq. ; William Miles, Esq , M p ' 

 Philip Pusey Esq M.P. ; Francis Pvm, Esq. ; ftofe^ 

 Sewell ; William Shaw, Esq. ; J. VlUiera Shelley, Esq • 

 and H. S. Thompson, Esq. B J»*»q. , 



The minutes of the former monthly and special coun- 

 cils having been read, G. J. Bosanquet, E»q.,ofBrox- 

 bourn Bury, near Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, was elected a 

 Governor, and the following gentlemen Members of the 

 Society : — 



Kenrick, Edward, Arnolds, near Dorking, Surrey 



Wray, John, 6, Suffolk-place, Pall Mall, East 



Lanffdale, Marmaduke R., Mountfield, near Tonbridge Wells 



Spur<in, Dr., Orplands, near Bradwell, Essex 



Rogers, London M., E.I.C. Service, Fitzrov Cottaire Hio-h™* 



Hankin. W HeUer's.placo, Bentworth, nea^A ton? HaST* 



Mcggisnn, George, 61, Cannon-street, City w " 



White, James, Goverland Farm, Isle of Wight 



The names of candidates for election at the next meeting 

 amounting to 91 in number, were then read, together with 

 the names of the members on whose proposition they were 



thTsociet D ° minated t0 the Council for admission into 



FiNANCES.-Mr. Raymond Barker, Chairman of the- 

 Finance Committee, presented to the Council the monthlv 

 report on the state of the funds of the Society, from which 

 it appeared, that on the 31st of January the current 

 cash-ba ance fa the hands of Messrs. Drummond, the 

 Society a banker,, amounted to 1,870/., and the stock 

 invested in the names of the trustees of the Society to 7 700/ 



the Cottage Tracts on Gardening and Cookery, Ion 

 Agricultural labourers through the medium of S 

 hers of the Society ; the addition of Mr. Brandreth X5l 

 and Mr. W R. Browne to the House ConSe, «d h 

 reception of a communication from the Certifying Barrister 





authorities at Southampton to co-operate with the Society 

 in the preparations for the meeting ; from Colonel Le 

 Couteur, president of the Jersey, and Mr. Dobree, presi- 

 dent of the Guernsey, Agricultural Society, explanatory 

 of conditions connected with the exhibition of cattle of 

 the Channel Islands' breed ; and from Mr. Matcham 

 agent of the South- Western Railway, offering to contract 

 for the conveyance of all goods and implements, from 

 the terminus of the Railway to the Show-Yard. Mr 

 Cuthbert Johnson presented to the Council the draft 

 of a bill u to authorise the Society to inclose common 

 or other open lands for the purposes of Show- Yards | 

 to protect their property, and to suspend during a certain 

 period the privileges of those who possess rights of com- 

 mon, and other claims to the land which may be from 

 time to time occupied by the Society." The Council 

 resolved, that their best thanks should be returned to Mr. 

 Cuthbert Johnson, for this instance of his attention to 

 the interests of the Society ; but that having the assurance 

 of unanimous votes of the commoners at two public meet- 

 ings, convened by the Mayor, at Southampton, for the 

 consideration of the question, and a full confidence in the 

 cordial feeling manifested towards the Society in the pro- 

 motion of its object at the ensuing meeting in July, by the 

 inhabitants of that town and neighbourhood, they think 

 the measure proposed would in every point of view be 

 inexpedient. 



Entry for Exhibition. — Mr. Raymond Barker, as 

 Chairman of the Special Committee, appointed by the 

 Council to inquire into the case of the parties charged 

 with an attempt at the Derby Meeting to effect the 

 entry of a churn by improper means after the date 

 of entry had expired, and who had consequently been 

 declared disqualified for future exhibition submitted 

 to the Council the result, of their inquiry. The report 

 stated the explanation offered personally by the represen- 

 tative of the parties in question before the Committee, 

 and concluded with the following paragraphs :— ." Under 

 all the circumstances, the Committee regret that they 

 cannot find sufficient cause to recommend to the Council 

 any alteration in their decision made on the 4th of August, 

 1843. The Committee are further of opinion that no 

 by-law on the subject referred to them need be intro- 

 duced, inasmuch as they conceive that whenever a case of 

 fraud or gross impropriety is satisfactorily made out, the 

 Society would, as a matter of course, without the autho- 

 rity of any by-law, visit such offence with its highest dis- 

 pleasure, and so far as it has authority, with punishment" 

 West Indian Agriculture.~A letter was read 

 from the Rev. Dr. Stewart, Hon. Secretary of the Jamaica 

 Agricultural Society, requesting the favour of com- 

 munication with the Society in reference to the common 

 objects of Agricultural interest in England and tbe 

 West Indian Colonies respectively ; and this request 

 being referred to the Journal Committee, the General 

 Agricultural Association of Jamaica was declared a 

 corresponding institution, and the Journals of the Society 

 ordered for the Jamaica Association accordingly. 



Library and Museum.— Mr. John Robert Hall, of 

 Grove-end Road, St. John's Wood, offered to place at the 

 disposal of the Society, at a valuation, the agricultural 

 library of his brother, the late Mr. Webb Hall, of Bristol, 

 originally formed by Mr. Arthur Young for the Board of 

 Agriculture, and bestowed, on the discontinuance of that 

 Board, on Mr. Webb Hall, their Secretary, in compensa- 

 tion for the loss of office he thereby sustained. This 

 offer was referred by the Council to the consideration 

 of the Journal Committee. Mr. Jardine, as executor 

 of the late Rev. W. L. Rham, presented to the Society 

 a Flemish plough, imported as a gift to the Society by Mr. 

 Rham, and at present lying at the Custom-house. This 

 present was accepted, with the best thanks of the Council- 

 A letter was read from Mr. Agnew, of Manchester, 

 expressing his hope to be able to present to the Society 

 the large painting of the Society's trial of Implements at 

 their country meeting, and which had been painted for 

 him at an expense of 1000 guineas. The Duke of Rich- 

 mond presented, on the part of Mr. Lewis, a map of 

 Southampton, on a large scale; Mr. Layton Cooke, a 

 copy of his work on the Value of Landed Property 

 (illustrated by diagrams) ; and the Yorkshire Society a 

 copy of the last part of their Transactions ; for which, 

 and numerous other presents, the best thanks of the 

 Council were ordered. The Council decided that Dr. 

 Playfair, as Consulting Chemist to the Society, should be 

 requested to analyse, under the direction of the Journal 

 Committee, the specimen of marl transmitted to the 



