140 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



[Mar. 2, 



board, about seven inches higher than the floor. A cer- 

 tain quantity of Furze, as brought from the field, is 

 trodden down on the flocr. The instrument used for 

 chopping is a wooden-headed iron-bound cleaver (such as 

 is used for driving wedges), into the head of which are 

 driven two knives, let into each other at right angles, and 

 wedged , together at the bottom. The subjoined is a 



wood-cut of this instrument, 

 pliced so as to show its knives. 

 The Furze is chopped till the 

 prickle is bo subdued that it 

 can be masticated without 

 inconvenience. An able-bodied 

 man will prepare from 20 to 

 25 bushels per day. If this 

 system (which we will call for 

 distinction, the chopping sys- 

 tem), does not prepare a suffi- 

 cient quantity of Furze for your 

 horses and cows, resort may be 

 had to the grinding system, 

 which is done by the stone 

 cider-mill, as used in the coun- 

 ties of Gloucester, Worcester, and Hereford; it is better 



that the trough and wheel be shod with iron. There 

 is only one objection to the iron, which is, that sheep 

 will eat, and like other animals no doubt, eventually like 

 the Furze, but they dislike (as I believe it is generally 

 allowed) any food bruised with iron. Preparatory to the 

 grinding, the Furze goes through Passmore's chaff-cutter, 

 which may be worked by hand or by a fly-wheel attached 

 to the axis of the cider-mi!l. The Furze, cut to the length 

 of an inch, is then ground in the mill till the prickle is 

 completely destroyed. The expense cf this apparatus 

 cannot well be reckoned under £* 9 while that for "chop- 

 ping'' may be erected for about GO*. I have seen other 

 plans for bruising Furze. The specimens exhibited at the 

 Royal Agricultural Society's shows were none of them I 

 believe considered of sufficient merit or utility to entitle 

 them to the premiums. Much, however, as it is to be 

 desired that some plan might be invented, whereby small 

 occupiers and poor persons living on commons or wastes, 

 may convert the wild growing Furze into food for their 

 cows during the winter, I am inclined to think, from what 

 I have seen of the working of the various implements, that 

 those only which involve the principle of a heavy 

 roller on a plain hard surface, can do the work speedily 

 and effectually. As to the quantity of food to be given 

 to each animal, this must depend on their size and con- 

 stitution, and it will require the constant watching ancl 

 judgment of the feeder. For some cows, three bushels 

 will be sufficient ; others will consume four bushels per 

 day. A small quantity of salt should be added to every 

 feed, and as Furze is of a binding nature, a single root of 

 Mangold Wurtzel should be given each day, either before 

 or after one of the feeds, when necessary. A. bait of Hay, 

 from three to five pounds per day, may also be given to 

 each cow or other animal, but it is not in ail cases neces- 

 sary, as from the time six Alderneys were put into the 

 yard, up to the 6th of April, 1840, they did not have a 

 single blade of Hay, and instead of Mangold Wurtzel, about 

 a month before and after calving, they had a few white 

 round or Swede Turnips. The quantity of salt, the size of 

 the root of Mangold Wurtzel, and the Hay (if given at all), 

 will be regulated by the feeder's observation of the animal's 

 excrement. One acre of tolerably strong Furze will keep 

 two cows about 20 weeks. The Furze must be of one year's 

 fihoot only, and cut close to the ground, and if the whole of 

 the field is not used, it must be mown off about March. At 

 this time it is necessary that the person usually cutting 

 the Furze should examine the whole field, and cut off 

 close to the ground any stubs that may have been 

 left, otherwise they become next year too strong for the 

 scythe. On food prepared as above, the cows do well 

 and are healthy, and the quality of the milk and butter is 

 Tery much improved both in sweetuess and richness. 

 I am inclined to think that your correspondent has 

 been misinformed about the large dairy now at Birming- 

 ham of two hundred cows kept on Furze during 

 the winter ; it may be the case ; but I think it 

 more probable that his informant has heard of an esta- 

 blishment that has been for many years kept by a gentle- 

 man near Worcester, to who*n your readers are indebted 

 fbr the subjoined figures; being a comparative estimate 

 of the expense of feeding 24 cows per week on Furze and 

 //ay, computed with the greatest accuracy. 



Furze principally. 

 560 bushels of Furze, 



coit id. per bushel 



grinding 

 Cost of cutting and 



carting heme 



S4cwt. cf Hay, at At. 

 per ton . 



10 cwt. of Mangold 



Wurtzel . 



Man's time 



j€1 15 

 16 

 4 16 





 



10 



12 





 



Hay entirely. 

 2 ton 16 cwt. at At. 

 per ton . . m £\\ 



Man's time 



12 



Expense of Furze 



11 



8 



16 

 9 





 





 



■a£8 9 



Difference in favour 

 of Furze . j$ 3 J 



I have endeavoured to lay before you these facts as 

 clearly as possible, and must leave your readers to judge 

 of the value of the Furze from these statements, which 

 ere grounded on the experience cf several years,— Vigora. 

 Lucerne. — I send you the following extract from Pro- 

 fessor Low's work on Agriculture, on the cultivation of 

 this plant.— " The best period of sowicg Lucerne is at or 

 before the middle of April. When sown broadcast the 

 quantity of seed per acre may be 16 or 18lbs.; and when 



* It is impossible to state any definite sum, as the carriage of 

 the stones composing: the mill will vary so much, with regard to 

 distance, land or water carriage. The stcnes themselves at the 

 pit arc not so very expensive. 





sown in rows lOlbs. The soil should be well prepared by 

 deep ploughing, and a previous summer fallow or fallow- 

 crop, such as potatoes, turnips, &c. When drilled, the 

 rows need not be more than 18 inches apart, which will 

 give room for tilling the intervals by the horse and hand- 

 hoe. After the seeds are sown, care must be taken to 

 keep down, by means of the hoe, all weeds that spring up 

 amongst the plants, and in the rows. In the month of 

 August of the first year, when in flower, the crop may be 

 mown, and after this cutting, the shoots may be kept down 

 by a slight pasturing with sheep, but not while the soil is 

 wet, nor continued till a late period. Early in the follow- 

 ing spring the ground is to be horse or hand-hoed, so that 

 all weeds may be kept down, and the earth stirred about 

 the roots of the plants. In the month of May the crop 

 will be ready for the first cutting. After being cut, it is 

 to be horse-hoed in the intervals. It will now grow very 

 rapidly, and when ready for cutting is to be cut again, 

 and after each cutting hand-hoed ; in this manner it 

 maybe mown four or five times in the season; it does 

 not, however, arrive at maturity till the third year ; it 

 requires to be manured at intervals, as every fourth or 

 fifth year; the manure maybe farm-yard dung, spread 

 upon the surface after the last cutting in autumn, or early 

 in spring." — M. S. 



Seaweed as Manure. — The Isls ofThanetis celebrated 

 for its fertility. It sends a great quantity of the very best 

 Wheat to the London market, and produces, in addition 

 to the more common $rain, large quantities of Carraway, 

 Coriander, Spinach, Radish, Canary, and other seeds. In 

 many parts of the island the soil is naturally very shallow 

 and poor, but these are rendered extremely productire 

 in cansequence of the extensive use of Seaweed as 

 manure. This appears to be a comparatively modern 

 usage. Lewis, in his History of Thanet, written in 1723, in 

 a short account which he gives of the system of agricul- 

 ture followed in this island says, •■ Within these few years 

 past the inhabitants of the North and East side of the 

 islund next the sea, have made great use of the Alga or 

 Sea Woor, which is often cast up by the sea in great 

 quantities under the cliffs. This the farmers carry ou 

 their maxhills, where thi y mix it with their other dung, 

 which it helps to rot. In this mixture they observe no 

 proportion, but endeavour to have one layer of dung and 

 another of Sea Woor, which they turn once or twice in 

 the summer in order perfectly to mix and rot it. But it 

 is observed that the Sea Woor is not so kind for the land 

 lying near the chalk as for the colder land; and that 

 where the land is very cold the best way is to carry out 

 the dung rough, without laying it into a maxhili at all. 

 The stench of this weed when first laid on the maxhills 

 is very nauseous, but as it is in the open fields, is the 

 more tolerable." The Seaweed is now one of the main- 

 stays on which the farmer who is near enough to the 

 coast depends. Deep cuttings have been made through 

 the chalk cliffs for the convenience of carting up the Sea- 

 weed ; and as this is very hard work for the horses, the 

 team is in general peculiarly good. They do not wait for 

 any decomposition, but collect it as soon as it lias been 

 thrown up by the storms. The common custom is to lay 

 alternate layers of Seaweed and sand, which are turned 

 frequently till the whole is decomposed. I have not heard 

 that the manure is not found as good for the shallow land; 

 indeed, I believe the present fertility of a considerable 

 portion of the land depends mainly on the use of this 

 manure. Neither, again, have I heard that after a series 

 of years the land becomes deteriorated by the presence of 

 magnesian salts. Seaweed is, I believe, sometimes used 

 on the coast of Scotland in its rough state as manure, 

 without any previous decomposition, and is considered 

 very good for Potatoes. I don't know whether its use is 

 at nit general. The Potatoes in the isle of Thanet, it may 

 be remarked, are peculiarly good, which may possibly 

 arise from the use of this manure. — M. J. Berkeley. 



Hats. — Seeing that you recommend " Nemo M to smear 

 the holes and passages frequented by Rats with arsenical 

 ointment, I beg to state, that as accidents frequently 

 happen from the use of poison, perhaps some other method 

 might be acceptable. Slice a number of corks as thin as 

 sixpences, and then roast or stew them in grease, and lay 

 them in the way of the rats ; these will prove a delicacy, 

 and will be speedily devoured ; the rats that partake of 

 them will die of indigestion. Another method is to cut a 

 piece of sponge into small pieces, and fried and dipped in 

 honey ; these are placed along with shallow pans of water 

 in the neighbourhood of their holes. By eating the 

 sponge, and then satisfying the thirst which it produces, 

 their stomachs become so distended, that it generally 

 proves a fatal repast.— Herbert-, Sussex. 



Waste Lands, &c.—l quite aeree with " H." in think- 

 ing that "A National Agricultural Society" should be 

 formed to bring into cultivation the waste lands of the 

 British islands, and to inclose and reclaim from the sea 

 and at the mouths of large rivers, the vast tracts of land 

 which now are not only lying useless, but are dangerous 

 ^navigation. When so many hands are now unemployed, 

 and when so much capital is lying useless, no time could 

 be fitter than the present for the formation of such a 

 Society, and I hope it will be taken up in earnest. — P. 



Manure Dropped in the Field. — By neglect of the 

 simple means I pointed out in No. 4, page 59, Agricul- 

 tural Gazette, the greater part of the manure made in the 

 fields is lost, the common practice being, to allow it to 

 ain until the spring, when it is knocked and spread 

 it. But the misfortune is, that by that time it has 

 become like so many masses of dried tui f. It is in reality 

 then deprived of all its fertilising qualities by atmospheric 

 influences, whereas, were it managed in the way 1 have 

 described, I am quite sure that the results would be most 

 beneficial. I would suggest that profitable employment 



rem 

 about. 



would thus be afforded for aged persons, who are inca- 

 pable of more laborious work, and for women. It would 

 be much better and more economical paying for this labour 

 than hying out money in foreign, or any other manure • 

 and the poor and the infirm would be happier and better 

 satisfied thus engaged, than if imprisoned in a vrorkhous* 

 If those who read these observations would only just trv 

 the plan recommended, they will soon find how easy it \% 

 to improv-2 their land without being at any material ex- 

 pense, for the means are always at hand, and only re- 

 quire application. There is another subject which I bee 

 to bring under the notice of your readers. In almost all 

 parks, woods, and plantations, that have come under m? 

 observation, I have remarked that the annual waste of the 

 leaves of trees is very considerable ; I mean, these are 

 suffered to be dispersed, and have their virtues, as a ma- 

 nure, nearly dissipated by the effects of drying winds. 

 They are sometimes collected by the gardener, who is the 

 only individual who appreciates their value as an ingre- 

 dient for the composts he requires. If, instead of wast- 

 ing them, gentlemen would allow the poor, when unem- 

 ployed, to collect in the woods or fields, the leaves, weeds 

 and moss, and then purchase it from them at a reasonable 

 rate, what a valuable supply of litter it would brin^ 

 to their piggeries and sheepcotes. "When spread 

 in the yard, and mixed with the dung, it would 

 add greatly to the quantity and quality of the ma- 

 nure, especially if collected soon alter the fall of the 

 leaf, before its fertilising properties were diminished. 

 I am inclined to think that manure thus ir.ade would be 

 much better than if made from straw alone. Leaves 

 mixed with dung make excellent manure for Potatoes on 

 strong land. They might be employed in sheep-cctes 

 during the lambing season, as litter for the ewes. After 

 being in this way enriched by the dung of the sheep, if 

 mixed with earth and well decomposed, it will form a most 

 valuable and cheap compost ; and if simple vegetable leaf- 

 mould is of such vast importance to the Horticulturist, 

 what would it not be in this enriched state to the Agricul- 

 turist, for his Grass, grain, or root-crops? Cottagers, 

 also, are often at a loss for litter for their p ; gs, and farm- 

 ers do not like to diminish their own manure by giving 

 or selling their straw ; but leaves would answer the pur- 

 pose perfectly, if gentlemen would permit them to be col- 

 lected from their woods for the purpose. Those who 

 approve of these suggestions will, I trust, point out to the 

 cottagers such an easy way of procuring good litter, giv- 

 ing them permission, at the same time, with certain ne- 

 cessary precautions, to gather as many as they want. The 

 fertility of their gardens will then be increased, and feel- 

 ings of good-will towards their employers will be excited. 

 — W. Billington, UnderhilL 



Manure dropped in the Fields. — The plan laid dowa 

 by Mr. Billington is a great improvement upon the present 

 practice of totally neglecting the manure dropped from 

 cattle in the fields. Through him it is that you have the 

 excellent communication of " R. F. S., M whose practice 

 deserves the particular notice of all graziers. By collect- 

 ing all the manure and placing it in different situations in 

 each field, say one heap in each corner, an opportunity is 

 afforded for making a valuable compost each year. And 

 these fertilising means will be derived from sources which 

 have, as Mr. Billington justly says, been H hitherto almost 

 wholly neglected. " — </. West. 



Lime. — There are few counties in England where lime 

 is more universally used as a manure than in Devonshire. 

 The farmers apply it both to the Wheat and Turnip crops, 

 and many fields I was assured had never received any 

 dung or other fertilising substance during the memory of 

 man. At Castle Martin, in the north of Devonshire, the 

 limestone rock abounds, and is burnt for agricultural pur- 

 poses ; but limestone from South Wales al*o is brought 

 by vessels to be burnt there, and is preferred by the far- 

 mers although selling at a higher price. I collected some 

 samples of both, which yield the following analyses. / It 

 appears from these analyses that the value of limestones 

 for agricultural purposes depends in a great degree upon 

 the quantify of carbonate of lime contained in them. 



ANALYSES OF LIMESTONES. 



South Wales Stuiie 



%£ grammes, 

 Contained per cent. 



lat analysis. j 2d analysis. 



Silicious matter 

 Alumina 



Carbonate of lime 

 Magnesia 



Carbonaceous matO 

 ter and loss > 



0.55 

 0.15 



ys.25 



trace 

 1.03 



0.55 

 0.15 



98.95 



00.35 



Devonshire 



Stone. 



1.853 grammes. 



Contained per 



cent. 



100.00 



100.00 



Q.229 



1 .673 



8/.253 



trace 

 1.841 



100.000 



— J. B. Lawes. 



"Ought Potatoes to be cut or planted whole?"— I*** 

 in the habit of planting five or six acres of Potatoes yearly 

 and for the last two years I have planted the greater part 

 with whole Potatoes, and find they produce as good crops 

 as with cut sets, with this great advantage, I have scarce y 

 a Potatoe misses growing, whereas in cut sets I have olte 

 had a great loss from dry rot. When taking up tue 

 general crop, I pick out my seed Potatoes of a unuor 

 size, each weighing about l^oz. I plant thrm in r °* 

 two feet fcpart, and one foot in the row, and have 

 exceedingly good crops. — A. C. Horncastle. 



Seed Wheat.— I la*t year made the following experi- 

 ment, the repetition of which I think may prove interesi- 





top corn, and soired them in one flowerpot. I then r 





