1 



THE AGRICULTURAL 6AZKTTE. 



93 



i~ Mr THeeanee •» retaroief. when precentric 



^.Wednesday next, the Uih of rebruary. 



FARMERS' CLUB. 



g> # . 3— The first monthly meeting of this 

 -i« on Monday the 19th ult. The subject for 

 ^the best method of •ummer-feeding farm- 



iatrodooed by Mr. J. Sandford, of Mountain, 



— . rmm which we extract the following :— 



i 



■■■■^ 





rash to offer an unqualified opinion on the advice |leen t 

 them in t!ii- paper. Still we can scarcely err in acknow- 

 ledging that the system it rrcommrmlt, in its general 

 principles, may be applied lo a considerable tancty of 

 toils, and is one of the best that a small farmer could 

 pursue. 



The grand feature of the system it the growth of green 

 and Corn crops alternately, so that an abundant stock 

 may be carried, and a good supply of manure produced 

 on the land. Tie principle of the alternate system is 

 recognised as sound by the best farmers of England, but 



| yield the elements of the crops, a race, in this 



the crop it merely the manure in a dilerei ' Or, 



fd. It may enable the crops to obtain their elementary 

 ingredients with greater facility from the toil, in which 

 case, of course, the increased crop, though produced 

 t la ouch the agencv of the manure, is realW obtained at 



„ and cheapest method of keeping farm-horses 



Tee semmer is to feed l || em °» L ""J D *; > °" it is far from being generally adopted. There are distr 

 , C enabled to cut the Lucerne three or tour times I s b J v 



rTv .J* § ummer ; so that I think two acres of land of 



-S3 * leality will bf mfficient to keep four hordes rive 



!!lSVtbe summer ; and 1 should give the Lucerne to 



TTk~e» oat of doors ; 1 mean in cribs in a fold-yard 



"• ^T^ it a shed, instead of in the stable ; this being, 



i -"-«• More healthy for the horses, and it is less trouble 



». 



prefer Lucerne 



it isquatii li- 



aise much c 

 tof Lncern 



«u» sometimes destroying the Vetch-crop, but 



octhe Lnceme. Lucerne will last in the same land 20 



hi ee IT** 1 vi « our ** CTer > raowin K tlirec tnd 

 aenwsseses foor times in a season. Its cheapness 



1 ... evident from the following calculation I — 



Take tear acres of middling land for Vetches, which 

 1 consider equal to keep four horses five months. 

 Now 1 shall charge two of these acres at half the full 

 rent, *fc, because the Vetches will be off in time to sow 

 Taraips,' and the other two acres I shall charge at the 

 fall raft, being too Isle to sow Turnips; and I shall take 

 two acre* of Lucerne, which I consider equal to keep 

 feer homes five months, the same quality of land, and at 

 tbf seme price per acre: 



mere* far Vetches, including: rent, tithes, 



aed taxes, at sat. per acre 

 T*oditt ditto cleared for Tnrnips 

 teed ft -teres, l o bushels at "*. 



lOWtag Mi aaiJUnhlf four acres* at I 



Cvttxag (our acres 



sf3 



1 

 8 



1 

 





 10 

 10 







8 





 

 

 

 



9 8 



Per horse for five months j£ 2 7 



seres Lucerne, including rent, tithes, and 

 •ties - - - jr?3 



^ree times, 2t. per acre - - o 12 o 



(or seed per year - -040 



3 16 





Per horse for five months £ 19 



»» 



Tbe discussion then turned on the best manner of cul- 

 tfottag Lucerne. Mr. John Sandford and myself advo- 

 cated the broadcast system, one of our reasons being 

 that we consider hoeing likely to injure the crown of the 

 roof, which in this plant spreads considerably after the 

 first year, and sends up shoots all round ; and provided 

 the Und it quite clean when the Lucerne is sown, we 

 think that it it likely to thrive better for any little surface 

 grata that may come among the plants, as this tends to 

 keep the ground cooler, which we consider preferable to 

 exposing the surface of the soil to the hot summer sun. 

 ©eteral of the members stated they had tried manure on 

 Lucerne without any apparent effect. I manured two 

 ridges «jth guano last summer, at the rate of two cwt. to 

 the acre, but there was no visible effect produced on the 

 1 ne plant.— A. Hall. 



Atria 



Utbtctos. 



svf* ** f ° ^ e P ro P er Management of pour Farms. 



Dublin : N. Clarke, Printer, 50, Great Britain-street. 

 This is a handbill which has been printed for circulation 

 •■*°f to* "mail farmers of Ireland. 



The writer of this paper opens his subject thus :— " The 

 J°' n,s * r ln *nich you manage your farms at present is so 



' .j lhc land is not improved, and the rent is paid 

 with difficulty. It is generally this,— yon manure for a 

 crop of Potatoes, then take as many Corn-crops as the 

 und will bear, and then let it out to rest." 



.. ™., „ uu luc „ lct 1C ouc lo r est. 

 Uethen states that in Scotland and England this syste 

 zfV?? en generally abandoned, and it has been foui 



m 

 found 



Possible 



yet improving by growing Corn and green-crops alternately, 

 we latter be ng manured. Food, he further states, isecono- 



M \T k* manure Baved b y tne practice of house-feeding, 

 ith proper management two acres ought to feed three 

 w » all the year round," and <* the produce of butter 

 <*igbt to pay your rent, and leave the Pigs, Corn, 

 Fo™*f°T f or your own consumption." 

 ▼arvbT Crent cour8es of' cropping are then suggested, 

 -fiH according to the size of the farm. 



*ery small farm the course recommended is, — 1st 



-oUtoes in drills, with Cabbages planted between in 



** Tear, Oats laid down with Clover ; 3d year, 



<£*r. lor aoilin 



>e tcheifoiu..j 



•ne 



e99nt ** * "'tie varied ; and on a larger farm a seven - 



•^i«f!i * 8 recom mended for adoption. Valuable 

 aoJi^ tn j ,?*' on tne preservation of every description of 

 dnat a J i , quid man « r e produced, and on the use of bone- 

 aa^° ,me » the application of the former of which, it 

 r £^h would cost the Irish farmer 5/. per acre. 

 to«a. \/' We ^ ave instructions for the cultivation of Pota- 

 r >ati \T °* old * w »rtzel, Turnips, Rape, Cabbages, Wheat, 



w -thftM Red Clover > and Vetches. 

 of IreUod 1 \ practical knowledge of the soil and climat 

 tie snail f ° thc ,y8tem of cultar e generally adopted b 



the soil is said, probably with reason, to be too stiff for 

 the growth of Turnips. Many such soils would be greatly 

 altered in their texture and converted into friable loams, 

 by thorough drainsge and deep perfect cultivation. We 

 cannot hope, however, to see them thus improved without 

 great additional capital being applied to them, and this 

 additional capital will not be applied without good security 

 for a return. It is astonishing how much capital might 

 be applied with advantage to a small quantity of land, if 

 there were a certainty that the cultivator would reap the 

 full fruits of his capital and industry ; snd we do n< 

 believe that the practice of Agriculture will be much 

 further improved in this country till measures of some 

 kind are adopted to give full scope for the employment of 

 capital, knowledge, and industry in the thorough cultiva- 

 tion of land. Theoretical knowledge of Agriculture may 

 be increased, but how is the farmer to apply his knowledge 

 without the requisite means and the requisite security ? 



Those in the situation of the smsll Irish farmer, holding 

 but a few acres of land, are, perhaps, the most likely to 

 improve it in a high degree, if placed in a right position. 

 Their land should be thoroughly drained ; they should 

 adopt some such system of cropping as that recommended 

 in the paper before us, and they should cultivate their soil 

 thoroughly by the spade or fork. What business has a 

 plough on a farm of six or seven acres? However 

 desirable or necessary this implement may be on a large 

 scale, it must be generally acknowledged that it is an 

 imperfect machine, and that although, like other ma- 

 chinery, it will enable a man to accomplish more work in 

 a given time than the simpler tool, it will not enable him 

 to perform that work better or even equally well. A soil 

 which has been thoroughly worked to a depth of 12 or 14 

 inches with the spade is in a state to which repeated 

 ploughings would not bring it, even if the subsoil-plough 

 were used, while the expense of cultivating land with the 

 plough and subsoil-plough to a good depth is little, if at 

 all less than would be incurred by manual labour. 



The writer of the paper before us recommends that 

 Rape be sown in June, and transplanted after the Com 

 crop, to afford food for winter and spring. I have never 

 tried this plan, but I have transplanted Swede Turnips to 

 follow Vetches, and I think the practice in some esses a 

 good one. A small seed-bed will supply plants for an 

 acre. The seed should be sown in the spring thickly, and 

 the Turnips transplanted when about the size of young 

 Cabbage-plants, care being taken that the root is put into 

 the ground straight, and not bent at the tip. If this pre- 

 caution is not observed, the growth of the root will gene- 

 rally be much impeded, or altogether stopped. The chief 

 advantages of this practice are, that the ground is not re- 

 quired till much later for the crop, and all risk of serious 

 injury from the fly is obviated. With respect to Rape, 

 the following circumstance may be mentioned : — A small 

 patch of Rape was sown, for an experiment, about the 

 latter end of September, 1842. It went to seed in the 

 spring, but about the end of March the first crop was 

 consumed. Liquid manure was then applied, and the 

 ground was loosened between the rows ; and about the 

 latter end of May another good crop was taken. The 

 ground was shortly afterwards broken up. This experi- 

 ment indicates that Rape would be valuable as an early 

 crop for cows or sheep. Although light, it occupies the 

 ground at a season when it can be best spared. It would 

 probably not be desirable, however, to take more than a 

 first cutting in March. 



Although bone-dust is undoubtedly a powerful manure, 

 and may be a desirable application to some land, yet for 

 farmers who have plenty of manure from their stock, as 

 those following the pioposed system would, the expe- 

 diency of applying it at an expense of 5/. per acre must 

 be verv doubtful. 



The'cutting of Potato-sets is alluded to. Ought Pota- 

 toes to be cut, or planted whole? Has this question ever 

 been definitively set at rest ? The results of an experi- 

 ment which was performed in our neighbourhood 

 favoured the practice of planting whole, but no safe conclu- 

 sion can be grounded in Agriculture upon a single experi- 

 ment, and that, too, on a very small scale. We should 

 like to see the relation between the size and state of the 

 Potato-set, and the vigour of the future plant accurately 



determined. 



A brief summary has now been given of the contents of 

 this valuable paper ; the leading principles of the system 

 of culture it recommends have been pointed out, and a 

 few* remarks suggested by some of its details have been 

 offered. It is well worthy of being circulated among the 

 small farmers of Ireland, and of England also. If there is 

 one point in which the advice is defective, it is in the omis- 

 sion of a recommendation to cultivate the ground with 

 men and spades, or forks, rather than with horses and 

 ploughs. — II. F. F. 



Miscellaneous. 



Mode in which Manures act.— It has been most satis- 

 I factorily proved that there are at least two distinct ways 

 J in which manures may produce crops. 1st. It may itself 



lfo4eV» on the Advantage* 

 > i* se Agriculture. 



Recipe for Wound: vr — 1 can with the greatest conA- 

 dence recommend the following recipe for cuts, gall, and 

 broken knees. Compound Tincture of Benzoin, Tincture 

 of Myrrh, each one ounce, Nitrous Acid two drachms — 

 mix in a bottle for use. Apply with feather or syringe if 

 ti.e wound be deep. — //. /'. Odium. — Dublin Farmer's 



Gaxette. 



Application of Manure to Turnips. — The following 

 Table shows the result of an experiment, alluded to in a 

 former report, in growing Swedish Turnips with four dif- 

 ferent kinds of msnure, which was this season made by 

 Mr. Grieve, the intelligent land-steward of Mrs. 1 uaon 

 f Dirlcton, and on whose perfect accuracy every eenn- 

 dence may be placed. The Turnips were sown on the 20th 

 of Mar, and lifted and weighed on the 27th November 

 last. The field on which they were grown had, until lately, 

 bem time immemorial In Grass, the soil being a dry friable 

 loam. The value of the different manures speaks for 



was 

 were 

 earlier ready f the hoe, and kept ahead of the others to 

 the end, as if they had been sown at least a fortnight 



sooner. 



loan. 1 ne vaiur <>i me ninerrni manures spraas 

 itself; but it should be noticed that where the gusno 

 used the Turnips * < med to braird more ra ly, 



nt 1 r _ * I .11 I ft sT m 1 a % 



Kinds and Quantt. 



ties "I Manures 



used per acre. 



i Suano, lewta. 

 Farm door, II earts 



Po n es. 2<>9 btifchrlfl 

 Rape (I uat. 12 cwia. 



((itsman. 



Notices to Correspondents. 



Oca CoaansrOwDBWTS will notice us by n< mixing together 

 Agricultural and Horticultural questions, and by writing them 



on one side oi tbs paper only. Such precautions can give thee* 



no trouble, and will save ua a great deal. 

 Communication* fi m the following OoaatarowDSKTa are in 



U pa, and arc only waitim 11 room can be found l<>r them : — 



A gaaaersser, A Perthshire Farmer. T, K., o\, J. Cuird, t. M., 



A Surm/ farmer, Yeoman, and A. Halt. 



Aokkijlturai. CeaniSTav.-T. 7?«//rr.- Analyses of soils are 

 rarely useful, unless they enter ao perfectly into detail, and 

 therefore require such skill, as entails great expense upon th« 

 operation. It is very questionable, we think, whether gentle- 

 men, though of known ability, would obtain sufficient practice 

 in this way to justify them in devoting their whole time as 

 Agricultural chenikts. 



Aoricvltl'rai. <i azktte.— Bufujap.— Send us a post-office 

 order for 6*. 6d., and we will take care that you are supplied at 



that price. 

 AMPLICATION or l,m«.- An Amateur Farmer. -You are n*ht in 



not applying lime at present to the land under the circum- 

 stances which you describe. But you have, we think, 

 trenched your land rather too boldly. You should hare kept 

 the top soil uppermost. However, the do yards of manure per 

 acre will probably give you a good crop of Oats and Grass. 



Bukthbks on Lakd.— An Inquirer.— We cannot obtain lor yon 

 the actual sum per acre to whit h these on an averare amount 

 In England and 8 and ; but the advantage which Scotch 

 farmers possess over English in this reapect, probably does not 

 lie in their average payment as rent, bring less for similar land. 

 The amount of poorVrate, road and church-rates, &c, as weiL 

 as the annual sum paid to the landlord, are all taken into ac- 

 count by the English farmer before he enters on his farm, and 

 they must, therefore, all be considered as rent, and this rent 

 will b« found generally to be pr« ned alike in England and 



Scotland, under similar circumstances, to the quality of land. 

 But the advantage possessed by the Scotch over the Englisk 

 farmer lies iu bin rent being generally variable according to 

 the price of produce; while of ihat paid by the English farmer,, 

 the landlord's portion is almost universally a fixed money- pay- 

 ment; while of the rest, which is sometimes the larger half, 

 the greater part— that paid to the poor— varies innrrsrlp 

 as the price of produce, being greatest in amount when Corn is 

 lowest. You were right, when speaking of the burthens on the 

 English farmer, as compared with those on the Scotch, in 

 calling them " vexatious" rather than heavy. 



Da a i v ac a. —James Denham.— Please to giva the address of the 



party who would give the required information. A New 



Subscriber.— We are aware of no work exclusively upon the 

 drainage of high lands. On drainage in general, see a pam- 

 phlet by Mr. Smith, of Deanston, and an Essay in the present 

 Number of the English Agricultural Society's Journal. We 

 sheuld be glad to publish a statement specifying the character 

 of the land, that of the limestone, fcc, and the amount of be- 

 nefit derived from the practice of manuring your vale lands 

 with crushed limestone. We never heard of the practice be- 

 fore, with a compact limestone. We doubt whether, where 

 coal is so near, burning lime is not the cheapest method of re- 

 ducing it to powder. Low's " Elements of Practical Agricul- 

 ture" is one of the best general treatises on the subject. Those* 

 you allude to are, however, both valuable works. 



Drbsbivo roa Mossr Laki».— H. W. B.—lt you have not g< 

 farm-yard manure apply lime. The rushes will gradually dis- 

 appear if tbe land is efficiently drained. If, instead of burning 

 the refuse bark of the tan-yard, you were to soak it with liquid 

 manure, you would obtain a valuable compost. 



Gas-watkr.— Wem.— Soak the tan with gas- water, and turn it 

 frequently. The addition of sulphuric acid to the water will 

 1 "rm in it the sulphate of ammonia. We do not know how 

 this is manufactured on the large scale, but will endeavour to 

 ascertain for you. 



Golo of Plkasv hk.— Anonpmous.—" Almost all Cruciferous 

 plants yield more or lesa of oil. One of these, Camelina sa- 

 tiva, cultivated Camelina (Gold of Pleasure), is a plant pro- 

 duced in various parts of Germany and Italy for this pur- 

 pose. This plant is an annual, and is raised with facility, it 

 grows spontaneously over a great part of Europe, and is a 

 frequent weed amongst Flax. It grows best on light, sandy 

 soils, and in the south of Europe two crops of it cante pro- 

 duced within the year. The oil it produces is said to be fine m 

 quality, retaining a good flavour, and in burning it does not 



