1844.] 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



125 



T^Tran-ot be" brought round by the ordinary | 

 fee* id! cmnnrt o *. ^ ^ may flppear 



pUc.t.on of farm yar ^ ^ ^ ow 



.& a toil genera 

 t ceiuiu kind of 



crop 



a 



nd that although farm- 



about 50 stone each, were put upon Swedes, and each draining, that when the subsoil consists of very stiff clay, 

 consumed about 15 cwt. of Swedes and 3£ stone of oil- the tile-soles may be dispensed with, and as the noles 



^?«e- P Hoed in the Carse of Gowrie. The farmer 

 S^e m'nTres a. usual with farm-yard manure. From 



the substance necessary for gf> 



Tin sufficient quantities in the farm-yard dung ap- 

 ts.ned in.umcien^i^ ^^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ & 



jSld .PPlication that'the requisite quantity is obtained 

 STfirit quantity of manure that he applies-suppose 40 

 25,-eontaint, it may be, a portion but not a large 

 J _***»<■* ciihcfaniw* which is necessary to 



*nou'h portion, of that substance which is necessary 

 Insure a good crop of Clover ; he is thus debarred fr 

 ine Clover for that year, and it is only in the second 

 -when he has added another 40 yards of manure- 



ensure 

 grow 



that a sufficient quantity of that particular substance is 

 collected. Suppose that this substance may be magnesia 

 or aoda what a Urge expense does he not incur by adding 

 80 yard-s of manure ; whereas, had he been aware of the 

 principle upon which the growth of plants depends, he 

 might have attained his object in the first year by giving 

 the land an extra dose of magnesia or soda, at the ex- 

 pense, perhaps, of a few shillings ! Thus we come to un- 

 derstand how a knowledge of the principles upon which 

 the cultivation of the soil rests, acts upon the profits of 

 the agriculturist— how his knowledge or ignorance of 

 the-e principles comes home to his pocket." 



Collinyham.— The monthly meeting of this club was 

 held on the 6th of Feb., when 35 to 40 members were 

 present. It being the anniversary meeting of this Society, 

 the officers had to be chosen, most of them being re-elected, 

 except the secretary, who resigned. A lecture upon the 

 Making and Repairing of Roads was delivered by Richard 

 Parkinson, Esq., of Knapthorpe, whose thorough know- 

 ledge of the subject, obtained by long experience, enabled 

 him to illustrate it in a very satisfactory manner. In his 

 description of the formation of a new road, he commenced 

 bj recommending that it should have a close, firm, com- 

 pact foundation ; and that the soil underneath should be 

 well drained, so as at all times to give the road a dry and 

 firm foundation. He then suggested that a layer of Ling, 

 Gone, or straight Thorns should be laid ; and above these 

 a covering of sand free from gravel, and when this was 

 sufficiently rolled by the action of carriage-wheels, he 

 advised the application .of the first covering of material, 

 which should be limestone, if it can be had, or otherwise 

 good clean gravel free from boulders, and mixed with a 

 little lime. The road must be kept level with the rake 

 until it is sufficiently firm to receive the second covering 

 of gravel or material, after which less care will be required. 

 The lecturer confined himself chiefly to gravel-roads, that 

 being the most obtainable material in the neighbourhood. 

 The mode of applying the)t> ravel deserves particular notice. 

 The necessity of separating it, by riddles at the time of 

 getting it, into three sizes before it is applied, was urged. 

 1 he expense of doing so will only be about 2$d. per ton ; 

 and the advantage of doing so shows itself in the greater 

 ease with which, in roads so made, the surface is kept per- 

 fectly level. The coarsest material is laid first, and the 

 finer sorts may be placed above it in layers one inch thick, 

 and in stripes covering about one-third of the width of 

 the road at a time, so that carriages may avoid the gravel, 



and a pleasant and safe road is then insured at all times 

 or the year. 



Halesworth.—Kt the meeting of this club on Feb: 2, 

 a discussion took place as to " which is the most valu- 

 able root;, under general circumstances, Beet or Swede 



!?' j Tbe gentleman who introduced the subject 

 considered that the crop of Beet averaged several tons per 

 acre more than that of Swedes, and taking this increased 

 weight on light lands at only one- fifth part per acre, the 



J-!? Ut l a6e V lf the Beet possesses equal fattening qualities 



itn the Swede, must be very great, whilst on the heavy 



«nd§ there cannot be a doubt of its superiority. Another 



advantage arose from the greater facility of getting off the 



eet crop. Another member considered that a crop of 



eet can be more certainlv depended upon than a crop of 



are S; n and ' further > th *"t Beet can be readily kept, and 

 sut? f ° 0d throu ghout the season. It was also 



ciderli 8 u theresultof ex P er ience that the Beet had de- 

 Barle advant »ge over the Swede, as regards the 



*ith y " Crop succe eding them ; the same plan being pursued 



the 8 regard t0 both » viz -> both bein S g Qt off the land at 



intein l, ? :e ' and the to P s of both bein S Pl° u g hed in - An 

 eqaallf ° utcher g a *e it as his opinion that the meat was 



AeentI whether the cattle werefedon Beet or Swedes, 

 tion— h w ! 10se °P im on carried the greatest convic- 



fcavin lS P ™ ctical ex perience and general business habits 

 ■oboiifr 11 ,? . 0Uot of the corr ectness of his observations — 

 to ate t ■ folIowin gS experiment, which he had made 

 their fV m • the relative value of the two roots as regards 

 oa an temn S Properties ; and stated, also, his belief that 



Per acr age ' land wbich would P roduce 25 toas of Beet 

 the UnJ W k°" ld n0t P roduc e more than 15 tons of Swedes, 

 in pvp g manure d equally well, and treated alike 



■tone e partlcular - Te n beasts, averaging about 60 

 aumed w * ere put Upon Beet-root. Each beast con- 

 cake ne I 15i CWL ° f root 8liced ' and 3 * stone of 

 2^ ton/ w , .' therefore one acre of Beet-root, producing 



tion 71h W ° U i feed 0ne beast 33,;weeks, allowing in addi- 



' of wl-cake per day. Twelve beasts, weighing 



cake per week. Fifteen tons of Swedes is supposed to be 



a fair average crop in this neighbourhood, and each beast 



would thus consume that quantity in 20 weeks, with the 



addition of the 3J stone of oil-cake per week. It thus 



appears that assuming the above quantities to be the 



average produce, an acre of Beet would last a beast 13 



weeks longer than an acre of Swedes. The animals 



appeared to do equally well on either root. ! 



It was resolved, thatjthe opinion of the members present 



is decidedly in favour of the Beet-root over the Swedish 



Turnip under general circumstances, its weight per acre 



of the former, being much greater than that of the latter, 



and its fattening properties being fully equal in every 



respect, with this additional advantage, that the Beet is 



equally valuable as a food throughout the whole reason. — 

 IV. Reynolds, Secretary. 



ilcbittos. 



On Thorough Draining, and its Immediate Results to 

 Agriculture ; being a Paper read before the XV ak f field 

 Farmers' Club. By John H. Charnock, Land-Agent, 

 and Secretary to the Yorkshire Land-Draining Asso- 

 ciation. Rowland Hurst, printer, Wakefield. 

 This is a pamphlet which is likely to be practically use- 

 ful to the farmer and landowner. We extract the follow- 

 ing remarks upon the importance of drainage being 

 executed efficiently and permanently, and on the necessity, 

 therefore, of its being done chiefly at the cost of the land- 

 owner :— 



'* If there is one operation more than another in which 

 the maxim that ' what is worth doins:, is worth doing 

 well,' holds good, it is in draining ; effective and perma- 

 nent must be your work, or it is comparatively money and 

 labour thrown away. And for this reason, if for no other, 

 should it be done under the superintendence of the land- 

 lord ; it is in truth an owner's work ; it is principal in- 

 vested, and cannot, except by an occupier, be with justice 

 treated as a mere outlay for repair. It is a permanent 

 improvement of the fee, and if permanently and effectually 

 done, gives as surely a rental fully commensurate with the 

 outlay. At the same time, however, rather than farm 

 undrained land, it is the palpable interest of the occupier 

 himself to undertake the work, and especially if he previ- 

 ously concludes for any certainty of tenure. But the most 

 desirable arrangement is, that owner and occupier should 

 act mutually in the matter, and as the best interests of 

 each are so intimately bound together, they should mutually 

 concur in the execution of the work. And here I may men- 

 tion the plan which is adopted on the Greenwich Hospi- 

 tal estates in Northumberland, under the superintendence 

 and by the advice of that eminent Agriculturist, Mr. Grey, 

 of Dilston, which I think may be considered as perfectly 

 equitable and unexceptionable in all cases. The rule is 

 this : if the drainage is done during the first seven years 

 of the lease, the Hospital pays one-third of the entire cost ; 

 if during the second seven years, one-half the cost ; and if 

 in the last seven years of the term, it pays two-thirds of 

 the cost of draining, assuming the lease to be for twenty- 

 one years." 



Mr. Charnock gives details of the amount of this cost, 



and means of diminishing it are pointed out; thus at 



p. 12 it is stated — 



(l That a due regard is not usually had in the cutting 



of the drains, so as to economise the labour consistently 



with full efficacy of operation. I allude especially to their 



being cut much wider than is necessary, considering that 



tiles of a very much smaller* area thau are ordinarily 



used would be fully as effective ; at all events, the higher 



extremity of each drain might be laid with them, and the 



size be increased in regular gradation as you descend to 



the outfall. It does not require to have a regular grove 



in your flesh to make it bleed— & simple cut is enough, and 



just so with the soil — only divide it ever so little, and j 



keep the sidts of that incision asunder, the water will flow, 



without converting your drain into a ditch. 1 ' 



There are some of the Author's suggestions in which, 

 however, we do not acquiesce. Thus, it is recommended 

 that some porous substances, - as broken stones, be filled 

 into drains above the tiles. The usefulness of doing this 

 depends on the rain-water, as it falls upon the land, flowing 

 over its surface down the declivity — the sides of a ridge, 

 for instance — till it reaches the drain (which, if this theory 

 be correct, should always be in the furrow), and there 

 sinking through the porous material into the channel. 

 But it should be the aim of the farmer to get rain-water 

 to sink into the land just where it falls, and thus to find 

 its way to the drains underground. Instead of having 

 porous lines through his land every 16 feet, which this 

 mode of draining would give him, it should be his aim to 

 get the whole of the land sufficiently porous to a depth of 

 16 or 18 inches; and when it is conducted properly, 

 there are very few soils on which the operation of subsoil- 

 ploughing will not produce this porosity. Land in this 

 condition will allow no surface-water to appear; the rain 

 as it falls sinks at once, and finds its way to the drains 

 underground. 



We also object to Mr. Charnock's plan of using tiles 

 without soles to support them in the drains. We quote 

 the following from a lecture delivered before the Highland 

 Society of Scotland, by Dr. Madden, of Penicuik, near 



Edinburgh. 



" It is stated by many practical men, in regard to tile- 



* M Mr. Thomas Hammond, ot Pensbumt, uow u*es no other 

 size for the parallel drains than the inch tile, and it may be here 

 stated that the opinion of all the fanners who have used them 

 in the weald is, that a bore of an inch area is abundantly large.— 

 Report on Drain- Tiles and Drainage, by Mr. Purkes."— Journal of 

 the Royal Agricultural Society of England, Vol. iv., Part n., page 

 3/5. 



are somewhat costly, the farmers are willing enough to 

 give them up, especially when they find that others have 

 done without them, and yet their drains have continued 

 to run well for some years. If, however, the opinion of a 

 scientific person had been requested, he would at once 

 have stated, that unless the drains rested ou the surface 

 of a rock, the tile-soies could in no instance be dispensed 

 with, because, as Prof. Johnston justly remarks, * There 

 are no clays which do not gradually soften under the 

 united influence of air and running water. In the course 

 of 10 or 15 years, the stiffest clays will soften and allow 

 the tile to sink, and many very much sooner. The pas- 

 sage for the water is thus gradually narrowed.' " 



It is right to say that the tile which Mr. Charnock 

 considers capable of acting alone, is of a peculiar form, 

 the edge on which it rests being widened in order to 

 hinder it from sinking. Although we differ from the 

 author of this pamphlet on these points, yet we cordially 

 recommend his work to our readers. It contains many 

 useful remarks on the practice of drainage, and much 

 sound reasoning upon the effects which would follow its 



general adoption. We entirely agree with the author in 

 the spirit of his concluding paragraph. 



'* Agricultural Societies might add materially to their 

 usefulness, and to the general good, by directing their 

 attention somewhat more palpably towards the improve- 

 ment of the soil; bullocks, sheep, and pigs are now all 

 fully up to the mark, let us see if the land itself cannot, 

 under the same auspi< , be brought into something like 

 a corresponding state." 



Mr. Charnock is secretary to the Yorkshire Land- 

 draining Association, which has secured the services of 

 Mr. Smith, of Deanston, as draining engineer. •» This 

 Association is formed for the purpose of affording to the 

 Agricultural interest, by means of its collective capital, 

 the funds necessary for the thorough draining of land ;" 

 without which these funds cannot be economically and 

 efficiently applied; and now that capital as vvell as capa- 

 bility of applying it may be hid on reasonable terms, 

 there is reason to hope that the work of Agricultural 

 improvement will progress rapidly ; and in districts where 

 tenants have a lengthened interest in their farms secured 

 to them by lease, we have no doubt that the facilities 

 afforded by Associations like this will be eagerly taken 



advantage of. 



Miscellaneous. 



Improved Method of Sowing Wheal. — After the de- 

 struction of so much of the young Wheats late in the 

 spring of last year, it occurred to me, that by adopting a 

 different method than what is at present practised in 

 planting the seeds a similar disaster might in future be 

 prevented. My idea was this : — to plough down the* 

 seeds, and that in such a way, if possible, as that the 

 braird may come up in rows at equal distances between the 

 drills ; and instead of the usual practice of harrowing 

 immediately after sowing, to allow the drills as left by the 

 plough to remain entire throughout the winter and spring. 

 The furrows, or drills, left in this manner, would, I am 

 persuaded, form a shelter to the plants against the frosty 

 winds which generally prove more or less desfruciive to 

 Wheats in the months of March and April. In the ca«e- 

 of drift, which is sometimes hurtful, the drills would retard 

 the snows filling up the openings between them, thus 

 covering up the plants in perfect safety from the changes 

 in the atmosphere. Independent of drift, we have often 

 a course of dry withering weather in spring, with strong 

 sunshine during the day, which, with frosty nights, gene- 

 rally prove very injurious to young Wheats. Against 

 this danger the drills, by the action of the weather, would 

 be continually operating ; for, mouldering down t^iey 

 would give, as it were, a constant hoeing to the plant r 

 keeping the tender stem warm and dry. — Correspondent 



of Ayrshire Agriculturist. 



Furrow Drainage.— ¥or effectual furrow-drainage, the 

 drains require to be made 30 inches deep, 20 inches 

 broad at the top, and about 5 at the bottom, each drain 

 6 yards apart. They are to be laid with suitable concrete 

 tiles, either made with moulds or made in the drain, or 

 filled to the depth of 9 to 12 inches with stones, properly 

 prepared, if to be had in the neighbourhood, with suitable 

 soles where required, and these covered with large gravel 

 to the depth of 6 or 8 inches, or some suitable substitute, 

 upon which the soil taken out will then be used for filling 

 up with. The tiles are to be made of Concrete or Hed- 

 derwick lime and gravel, mixed up with water to a proper 

 consistency. When the field has been thus prepared, it 

 is then to be worked to the depth of 12 to 15 iuches with 

 the subsoil-plough, according to the nature of the soil. 

 A Scottish acre will contain about 900 yards, or 150 

 roods of six yards each, of drains, and will, therefore, 

 require about 2700 tiles, each 12 inches long. It is 

 understood that a boll of lime, with a proper proportion 

 of gravel, will make about 1000 tiles of that length. The 

 cost of the whole, with soles where required, tilling up 

 the drains, cartage, and any other extras, will amount to 

 from 21. 10s. to 3/. per acre. Mr. Gladstone proposes, 

 that those of his tenants whose farms are under fifty 

 arable acres, should drain and plough in the manner above 

 stated, and in the present season, not less thau '-'■} acres ; 

 about fifty and under one hundred, not less than five 

 acres ; and those above one hundred, after the rate of not 

 less than five acres for each hundred acres. In consider- 

 ation of such work being done effectually and thus com- 

 pleted, to the satisfaction of Mr. Sheriffs, or some other 

 competent judge to be appointed by him, Mr. Gladstone 

 agrees to pay to each of his tenants the sum of 3/. per 



acre, and to charge each of them with interest thereon at 



/ 



