THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



201 



*" ~~1 rn AfiRlCl'LTURISTS AND OTHERS. 



AJiALi >bf Vf MITC HEJX. Analytical Chemist (late of 

 r^tMcc^c'l^ti^.O, No. 5, Victoria Cotta.es, 

 8fw£ J Road. K"UA Town.^ ^^ ^ ^^ pup . ]f the 

 ■"SLTwrTM W"e«» to Agricult ure. Aoply as above . 



, 1KBH- AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY- - 

 rlEBIb^ X: hird Ed ition. 8vo. 10s. 6d. 

 -*-* .- ivimTi CHEMISTRY. Second Edition. 8vo. 9*.6d. 



W"!S4 CHEMICAL LETTERS. Second Edition. Fcap. 



USDLirS ELEMENTS OF BOTANY. Many Woodcuts. 



fro. *•**£ ruEMISTRY. Seventh edition. By Professors 



Tt'RNERs * gvo. 1/. 8s. 



Ll,il V. n fi? OF PROFESSOR LIEBIG. 7«. <«. 



f £SSi frrTAVtoi. Tand Walton, 2 8, Upper Gower-strect. 



SATURDAY, MARCH 30, 1844 



IT*** 



AftO i 



April* 



■tt»4t April 4 . Auric Imp. Society ol Ireland. 

 -ooa't. April 10 Agricultural S.niety of En pi and. 

 Miui, April 11 . Af rift Imp. Society ot Ireland. 



FARMERS' CLUBS. 



April 3 . 

 April 6 . 



April 8 • | 



To i ford. 



• \ Wtnlock. 



tW. Firlf. 



t Kramlinghtm 

 J Rayleigh 



Harleston. 

 Collumpton. 

 West Heieford. 

 W. Market. 



~ 



We have received from a correspondent who signs 

 himself " Alpha," the following interesting communi- 

 cation, commenting upon our remarks in a late 

 Number of the Gazette, on the filthy state of the 

 Water in Horseponds : — 



• Though I admit the impropriety of allowing the 

 drainage of the yards, or urine from cow-houses and 

 stables, to get into the ponds from which water is 

 supplied to horses and cattle, as demonstrated in your 

 leading article of the 9th inst., yet in establishing the 

 principle thus laid down, an important circumstance 

 seems to have been overlooked. The practice so justly 

 reprobated in that article is impolitic, not only as 

 rendering impure and unwholesome the beverage of 

 the domestic animals, which it is especially important 

 to guard against, but also as allowing this to be done 

 through the agency of matters which are in them- 

 selves of great value when properly managed. The 

 conclusion, then, arrived at— that ' there is no case in 

 which food of an organic character in a condition of 

 usefulness for vegetables can be safely administered 

 to animals,' must, we fear, be taken with some grains 

 of allowance. It is well known that the putrefactive 

 process must have proceeded a certain length before 

 animal matters can be rendered available as food for 

 plants; but the circumstance was overlooked by the 

 writer that a certain class of animals are almost 

 entirely supported by food which is partially and often 

 tot great extent decomposed. That such is a whole- 

 some article of diet I do not mean to assert, yet that it is 

 Z ufU° mnnnS 1S introverted by the circumstance 



E> f00d °/ the class of animals to which 



luchk not Tl "^ and h ma ? le ■" the Ca *e Of 



Z thTe J f? US to t her ^orous animals, which 

 certain Lpt[[ ed t0 , ,n U,e article in ^ estio »- With 

 3S b T^ ho ? ever ' a11 animal ™"e« ar * 

 indeed in whi JlT" ] ™ S > and the cases are rare 

 Sous to n p T y SUbstance P ro ™S decidedly 



punTtv by annr! t ^ be P artaken ° f with ™' 



nhich even hp W?r# Instance s are not uncommon in 

 Paruke freelv f °- r ° U ? animaIs have ***n trained to 

 ^W.£ B ^ fi ? ,d ; and ^o^^ch in a 

 ^an to cTrnivnrn ^ be more in jurious to them 



^eans follow K H^ufe yet U d ° es not bv anv 

 ' a little leaven dd P i ; 0Uk be P°^ n0U8 - No doubt 



tod ^e whole luinl * ^ ° f dou « h wil1 B P read - 

 quantity added f «V/? Ulre the con <lition of the small 



this circuma.nl ."; but the inference drawn from 



this circumstan ' 4 ,7 Dut the inference drawn from 

 in * d ecomrx, sin ^ t tbat a f mal1 quantity of matter, if 

 t J <al with thoteV r '• hose elements ma y be iden- 

 <*** of its death £ - V1 l! g anima1 ' niay yet prove the 

 a PPears to me i L"^ 11 ? 1 ^ 11 ° f; Cannot ' as h 

 * e article refemll aWlsh *?' The *"■*** which 

 de8erv 'ng of tliP m * condem ns, is unquestionably 



•ought to be estTw K e l' ere Censure ' but the principle 

 hast «ly adopted.'^ • d appears to have been too 



curri "g to fhis d snh| ta f e °,. this °PPortunity for re- 

 aders to a cL P t JeC -' t0 , direct the attention of our 

 of *Wch occur, in r l?. g o rec 5 vu P on it-a statement 

 *ork on « Set? n th » 8 ? lh P a S e of Dr - P^reira's 



u At the Nnitm u * Ira writes as Allows :— 

 ^edata trial nn 8 ^ru A T SsizW in Jul y l836 » il was 

 ** in a n .JSZd fi 1 * WaS a Witness ' that d >' sen ' 



^ of Wll £ ■2. 0nn 1 wa8cau « d in caltleby the 

 t ^tter, product C^^ S? P utresce "t vegetable 

 ?* ^he fi s h (I ? refl l Se of a starc h maufac 

 d ^).andfro Rsi n^ np chj 6"^^ V^e, roach, and 



f an ^ere destroyed F?^ lhrou 8 h * hich the br ook 

 b0 ^) which drantnf i • C mim ** (cows, calves, 

 V • ■ years the ,1 ,b !5 Water ^ ca ^ seriously ill 



* of a diU: dl£SSf ,0,t24 C ° WS and ° cdves 

 ^•ymptom y Y"^) ac eonipanied by nearly the 



^ctiinei reused I T also u shown that ^e animals 



*» to dnnk the water; that the mor- 



I tality was in proportion to the quantity of starch 

 made at different times, and that subsequently when 

 the putrescent matter was not allowed to pass into the 

 brook .... the fish and frogs began to return, and 

 the mortality ceased among the cattle. The symp- 

 toms of illness in cows were as follows: — the 

 animals at first got thin, had a rough staring coat, and 

 gave less milk (from two to three quarts less every 

 day) ; they then became purged, passed blood with 

 the fseces, and at length died emaciated and exhausted. 

 On a post mortem examination the intestinal canal 

 throughout its whole length was found inflamed 

 and ulcerated." 



Now, here we have proof to the great loss of their 

 owner — proof that cattle (horses, oxen, &c.) are liable 

 to disease and death, from drinking water containing 

 putrescent matter. It must be admitted, from the 

 circumstance mentioned by ■ Alpha" above, that 

 the proposition of organic matter in a decomposing 

 state being poisonous to animals, is not universally 

 true; the vulture among birds, and many other 

 animals, live almost wholly on carrion and half-rotten 

 animal matters; but, believing this proposition to be 

 true, so far as the farmer is concerned in the 

 matter, and that the putrid state in which many 

 horse-ponds are to be seen is not only disgraceful but 

 dangerous, we were glad to meet with the above pas- 

 sage so entirely corroborating this opinion. 



SALT AS A MANURE. 

 Owing to Mr. Edward Solly's valuable observations 

 on this subject in our Paper of last week, having by an 

 oversight been printed without the author's corrections, 

 we are under the necessity of reprinting two of the 

 paragraphs :— 



" When concentrated solutions of common salt and common 

 carbonate of ammonia are mixed at low temperatures, they de- 

 compose each other to a considerable extent, and a quantity of 

 bi carbonate of scda and muriate of ammonia is formed, whilst a 

 portion of ammonia is set free. The bi carbonate of soda being 

 almost insoluble in the solution of muriate of ammonia, may be 

 separated and obtained pure, whilst the muriate of ammonia 

 may be obtained by evaporating: the solution and separating it 

 from undecomposed common salt, and free ammonia. Uut if, in 

 place of separating the two substances, a quantity of water is 

 added, the bi-caibonate of soda dissolves, and the two salts re- 

 decompose each other, common salt and carbonate of ammonia 

 being again formed. In the same way, if solutions of carbonate 

 or bicarbonate of soda be mixed with solution of muriate of 

 ammonia, they mutually decompose each other, and form car- 

 bonate of ammonia and common salt. 



" It is perfectly true that very strong solutions of bi-carbonate 

 of ammonia and common salt decompose each other, and that 

 common carbonate of ammonia decomposes solution of salt, 

 when carbonic acid is passed through it; but it is equally true 

 that this only holds good when the solutions are concentrated, 

 depending, at it does, on the insolubility of the bi-carbonate of 

 soda, in the solution of muriate of ammonia; if dilute, no 

 such change takes place. When salt is employed as manure it 

 is exposed to the action of a very dilute solution of carbonate of 

 ammonia, for dew and rain-water contain a minute quantity of 

 that salt; under these circumstances It is not to be expected 

 that the salt will be decomposed; for it is not reasonable to 

 compare what takes place in strong solutions in close vessels, 

 with what occurs in the open air with abundance of water. 

 We can only compare the action of rain-water on salt, to the 

 action of very dilute solutions of salt and carbonate of ammonia, 

 and such solutions do not decompose each other. Although 

 chemical facts are certainly against the decomposition of salt by 

 carbonate of ammonia, or the fixation of ammonia by common 

 salt, yet this in no way diminishes the value of salt applied as 

 manure." 

 There are also the following errata: — 

 Line 27, from the bottom, after nia omit the comma. 



14 ,, for in organic read inorganic. 



4 „ for process read forces. 



3 „ after and insert of. 



»» 

 »• 



FARM BAILIFFS. 



The national importance of the Commission now acting 

 in Ireland, under the presidency of the Earl of Devon, to 

 inquire into and report upon the relative positions of land- 

 lord and tenant, has naturally attracted my attention, and I 

 entertain sanguine expectations that much practical benefit 

 will result to the country inconsequence of its investiga- 

 tions. That there is great need of improvement in the social 

 and Agricultural state of Ireland is indisputable; but the 

 question is, By what means the objects sought will be most 

 easily attained 1 I do not presume to meddle with the 

 political part of the subject, but I may hazard a few obser- 

 vations respecting the Agricultural bearings of the matter. 

 That a considerable impulse will be given to the deve- 

 lopment of the resources of the country in different ways, 

 I hare sanguine expectations ; that good landlords will 

 be led to persevere in their humane and rational efforts to 

 ameliorate both the moral and physical condition of their 

 humbler tenantry, and to promote those Agricultural im- 

 provements which common sense must show to be condu- 

 cive also to their own advantage, I fervently hope; and 

 that many bad landlords may be compelled, from the shame 

 of exposure, or the stringency of legislative enactment,to be 

 just,if not generous, tothe occupiers of theirland,and stimu- 

 lated to some laudable exertions, through the awakeniDg 

 interest on the subject, I also anticipate. The machinery 

 of our National Agricultural Society, with its numerous 

 auxiliary branches, may be worked with effective power, 

 in combination with other forces, and model schools and 

 farms will contribute in their respective departments. But 

 one of the chief wants — assuming that an extended sys- 

 tem of draining, subsoil- ploughing, and spade-trenchinsr, 

 &c, were set in motion — would be that of a sufficiency of 

 intelligent, well-informed, and hard-working Bailiffs, or 

 Stewards, as my countrymen choose to call these dignitaries. 



Now, there is a vast difference in England between the 

 sporting-looking bailiff, dressed in a knowing kind of 

 shooting-jacket, mounted on his smart cob, and enjoying 

 a snug salary of from one to two hundred a year, and the 



they have communicated, and the practice they have 

 bited for the imitation of the higher order of our far 



plain working bailiff, who in return for his weekly wages 

 of from 12*. to Ids. a week, and perhaps some extra per- 

 quisites of milk, or the keep of a pig and poultry, is thank- 

 fully content to take his share in the daily operations of 

 the farm ; who, from his own manual acquaintance with 

 the plough and the spade, can not only set a job to a la- 

 bourer, but can and will show him how to execute it in 

 the neatest and best manner ; a man, in short, who consi- 

 ders that his hands, as well as his head, ought to be en- 

 gaged in the service of his employer. The introduction 

 into Ireland, from time to time, by the land proprietary 

 of first-rate bailiffs from England and Scotland, has been 

 the means of establishing, on numerous demesnes and 

 estates, a highly improved system of Agriculture; and 

 among those bailiffs many admirable men have been found, 

 to whom our country is much indebted for the information 



eihi- 



farmers ; 

 but since the great majority of Irish landlords and farmers, 

 living by husbandry, cannot afford to pay high salaries, 

 with et ceteras, they must either personally superintend 

 their farm-labours (if they know how to do so effectively), 

 or in most instances be content to employ the common 

 working bailiff, whose wages do not greatly exceed those 



of the labourer. 



In referring to the extreme classes of bailiffs, I have 

 passed over some intermediate varieties — very good ones, 

 too — in which efficient and trustworthy men are to be 

 found, who are content with salaries far lower than the 

 maximum point, yet considerably above the wages of the 

 labourer; because the essence of the observations which I 

 would make, is confined (in my own mind, at least), to 

 the humblest description of bailiff*, which 1 believe to be 

 the most useful, yet the least easily obtainable in Ireland. 

 If men of this low class were a little elevated in their 

 grade of life, and a good deal advanced in acquirements 

 and skill, we have the description of persons critically 

 suited to our ordinary circumstances. A humble person, 

 who is honest, will be more cautious in the first place in 

 the expenditure of his employer's money, more alive to 

 profit, and therefore less disposed to speculative operations 

 than a more consequential sort of personage ; and from 

 his personal association with the workmen whom he leads, 

 he will be more likely to acquire their confidence than 

 one much elevated above them ; and without a cordial 

 feeling between the confidential manager and the labourer, 

 (I admit, however, that this very confidence may operate 

 very unfavourably, without a sufficient distinction between 

 them) there is danger of those acts of atrocious outrage 

 which so often paralyse the most promising efforts of the 

 patriotic and good of all parties. 



But it is difficult to provide in Ireland such a supply of 

 practical and inexpensive native superintendents, as 

 an improved and extended state of her Agriculture may 

 require. I have used the expression native, for, while I 

 most readily acknowledge the superior skill of the imported 

 British bailiff, a feeling of jealousy unfortunately exists, 

 more or less among Irish labourers, against any stranger 

 who may be placed over them. The alterations and im- 

 provements which our modes of cultivation so generally 

 call for, would, when suggested and applied by Irish heads 

 and Irish hands, be received and adopted with a cordial 

 interest in their success, instead of being obstructed by 

 that sentiment of distrust which would be entertained to 

 a considerable degree towards what would be designated 

 the innovations of a foreigner. If, then, we hope to effect 

 any great change with an uneducated class of land occu- 

 piers, we must begin with soothing their prejudices before 

 we appeal to their reasoning faculties — of which no people 

 possess a greater natural share than my countrymen ; but 

 we all know how constantly, even in the most intellectual 

 classes of society, the truth of the old adage is illustrated— 



•• A man convinced against his will, 

 Is of the same opinion still." 



Now, the difficulty in Ireland— where farming is so 

 defective— is to find the nurseries in which young men 

 can be sufficiently trained, even in practical matters alone. 

 In England thete are excellent bailiffs, of every rank 

 to be obtained, from that of the gentleman bailiff (all 

 these matters are relative), who has been highly 

 educated in his profession, to the working manager, who 

 acts in obedience to the orders of the experienced farmer, 

 who knows no superior, and requires no instructor. 

 In Scotland the great farmers, who are their own head 

 bailiffs, could find among some of their hinds, men com- 

 petent, on emergencies, to work the machinery of a farm 

 —long experience, and familiarity with the details of hus- 

 bandry, qualify them in a great degree ; but in Ireland, 

 our perfect models are very few indeed, whether in agri- 

 cultural seminaries, or on the private farms of the land 

 proprietary. The proportion of good farmers living by 

 husbandry is small, and it is among them that the most 

 practical bailiffs ought, in altered circumstances, to be 

 looked for and found. The farmer's house and establish- 

 ment is the true nursery for the class of men in question. 

 Why does the emigrant to Australia, or the Cape of 

 Good Hope, or any great sheep country, seek in Scotland 

 for an intelligent and experienced shepherd ? Because 

 sheep-farming, in all its branches, is perfectly understood 

 in that country. The Highland and the Lowland shepherd 

 have their distinct habits and practices, and there is no 

 district in which a suitable shepherd may not be found, 

 fully trained in his vocation by the sheep-farmer in whose 

 service he has been, perhaps, from boyhood. 



Again, for illustration.— In the north of Germany, a 

 young man who is to be trained as a bailiff of any class, 

 is required to work on the firm of a practical husbandman 

 for at least three years, as an apprentice, before he can 

 gain admittance into an Agricultural seminary, m which 

 he must pass four vears, in every kind of labour ; after 

 that servitude he mav obtain the situation of the lowest 



