218 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



upon the space cleared by the hoe; another well- 

 directed blow, a pull of the hoe as it returns, will 

 clear away the rest of the bunch, and then, of the two 

 or three helpless plants remaining, one may be selected, 

 and the rest cut off. A field thus treated looks very 

 forlorn immediately after hoeing, but the advantage of 

 the rough treatment shows itself in a very few days 

 by the vigorous growth of the young plants. 



We shall speak more fully, when on the subject of 

 Turnip culture, of the advantages of repeated 

 horse-hoeings as long as the rapidly-growing leaves of 

 the plants will permit it. At present, we leave the 

 cultivation of the Field-Beet till its harvest time. 



ON THE FERTILISERS OF COMMERCE. 



To the farmer who reflects that all increase in his crops 

 bejond the average which covers his costs of cultivation, 

 &c, it clear profit to himself, any mode by which such 

 increase is likely to be effected should be matter of serious 

 consideration. Attention has lately been called to the 

 very extraordinary returns from some of the manures of 

 commerce ; from the many which have been published I 

 shall content myself with citing the following instances. 



From nitrate of soda, applied to Wheat, the increase 

 has frequently been great. Mr. Bubb, in the report of 

 the Gloucester Farmers' Club for 1842, shows a profit of 

 19s. b\d. per acre ; for the last year he has informed us of 

 itill greater, and this upon a considerable scale. Mr. E. 

 Solly, in the third volume of the " Transactions of the Hor- 

 ticultural Society," second series, reports an increase of 

 more than ten bushels per acre ; and on certain trials, 

 which I reported in the second volume of the Royal 

 Agricultural Society, I netted 21. 17*. per acre. 



In the "Transactions of the Highland Society "for July, 

 1843, in the report of some experiments (for which the 

 Society awarded a premium of 20/.), made by Mr. Mac- 

 lean, of Braidwood, on the increase of Hay, by the use of 

 tome of these manures, we find, among others, these results: 



specimen which has also been analysed and contains more 

 than 30 per cent, of foreign matter. Mr. J. B. Lawes, 

 who, as a manufacturer of superphosphate of lime from 

 bones, consumes two tons of bones a day, and is therfore 

 a competent witness, states in the Agricultural Gazette 

 that bone-dust is sold containing about one-third of lime. 

 Suppose a farmer about to manure 20 acres with these 

 impure substances, what would be his loss ? 



I 



[Apr. 6, 



Manure. 



Guano 



Nitrate of Soda. . 

 Nitrate of Potash 

 Rape Cake 



Bones 



Price 



per 



ton. 



£ 



*. 



d. 



11 











19 











25 











8 











p. quarter 



1 







o 



Impurity 

 per cent. 



50 Sand. 

 25 Salt. 

 25 (2/) Salt. 

 15 (27 ) 



33 of Lime. 



Quantity 



used 

 per acre. 



Loss to 

 Buyer on 



20 Acres. 



About 

 3 cwt. 

 1 cwt. 

 1 cwt. 

 8 cwt. 



16 



6 

 6 



s. 



10 



15 



5 



8 



d. 





 

 

 



20 bushelsi 16 io o 



I 



Manure applied. 



Value of Increase, after deducting 

 cost of application. 



Rape Dust 

 Guano 



Saltpetre 



Nitrate of Soda 



£\ 

 3 



4 

 5 



6 

 18 

 15 









 

 



10 



Mr. Hannam, also, from near Wetherby, in Yorkshire, 

 in his elaborate series of experiments, for which the 

 Highland Society awarded a premium of 50/. (V. " Highland 

 Society Transactions," No. 4, new series), gives, among 

 a great variety of other interesting results, the following : 



ON TURNIPS. 



Manure applied. 



Bones crushed.. 



n burnt 



Bones and \ .... 



Guano /.... 

 Bones and > . . 



Rape Dust / . . 

 Guano, drilled.. 

 Guano, sown .. 



Quantity used per acre. 



16 bushels 

 16 ditto 

 12 ditto \ 



1 cwt. / 

 12 bushels \ 



6 ditto / 

 2* cwt. 

 2$ cwt. 



Increase per acre. 



ton. cwt. stone. 



8 7 4 



9 16 4 



10 7 (J 



10 14 



6 17 



14 10 





 5 



ON OTHER CROPS 



Manure 



applied. 



POTATOKS. 



Guano .... 

 Nitrate ofi 



Soda... / 

 Nitrate of\ 



Potash../ 



Quan- 

 tity . 

 applied. P eracre 



Increase 



Barley. 



Hay. 



5 cwt. 

 li cwt. 



bushels. 

 59-6 



76-9 



V • 



Quan- 

 tity 

 applied 



2 cwt. 



ii cwt. 



1 cwt. 



Increase 

 p. acre 





bushels. 

 1554 



1422 



11-16 



Quan- Incr. 

 tity per 

 applied.; acre. 



2 cwt. 

 1 cwt. 



1 cwt. 



st. lbs. 



52 



72 12 



25 10 



I have selected the above examples from amongst the 

 most successful, merely to show, when they do succeed, 

 how great the profit may be to the farmer. But it by no 

 means follows that there is not another side of the ques- 

 tion ; doubtless there is— failures perhaps are even more 

 numerous. These manures are very often most uncertain 

 and capricious in their effects — and I would strongly 

 advise that no one should embark in them largely without 

 first ascertaining, by trial on a small scale, the probability 

 of their success, both as regards the crop and soil to 

 which he thinks of applying them afterwards. 

 ^ Presuming, then, that this is ascertained in the affirma- 

 tive, these manures would seem to be of the greatest im- 

 portance to the farmer ; especially in those districts like 

 our Cotswold hills, where farm-yard or town manure is 

 seldom to be obtained in sufficient quantities. The intro- 

 duction of a substance which could be purchased at any 

 market-town, as for instance guano, at 1 1/. or 12/. per ton, 

 from - to 4 cwt. of which per acre would go as far as a 

 lair dressing of common dung, would be no inconsiderable 

 boon to the farmer. Now this is all very promising— but 

 it is not all gold that glitters. There are other drawbacks 

 against which due caution must be exercised. When we 

 have ascertained one year that the manure in question is 

 likely to succeed on a given crop, we are by no means 

 sure the next year of getting the genuine article ; thus a 

 serious loss to the purchaser may be incurred, not only in 

 the artide itself, but still greater on the year's crop, which, 

 under different treatment, might have given verv profitable 

 returns. Let us see how the case stands in figures. Mr 

 Potter, in a little pamphlet entitled " A word or two on 

 toe use of Guano," tells us that it is sometimes found to 

 contain 40 or 50 per cent, of inert sand. I have heard of 

 some said to contain f75 per cent. Dr. Madden states, in 

 one of his lectures " On the advantages of extended Che- 

 mical Analysis to practical Agriculture," that samples of 

 nitrate of soda have been analysed and found to contain 

 a§ much as 26 per cent, of common salt. I have seen a 



Thus a farmer purchasing guano or bones for 20 acres of 

 land would be a loser, first of 16/. 10*. on the article itself 

 •—and would only have half a crop on the land to which 

 it was applied. Any one using 20 tons of foreign Rape t 

 cake for food for cattle, which is said to be sometimes 

 mixed with sand, if it contained only 10 per cent, would 

 be a loser of 16/., to say nothing of the injury which his 

 cattle might sustain. It is by no means intended that 

 these instances of impurity are altogether the result of 

 adulteration. Indeed, it is known that most of these ma- 

 nures, In their natural state, are found mixed with large 

 and varying proportions of foreign matter — and, if adul- 

 terated, that it is done before it reaches the hands of the 

 merchant in this country; still, the loss to the consumer 

 is the same, no matter how it happens. But even this is 

 not the worst feature of the case ; a few instances of dis- 

 appointment will bring the genuine article into disrepute, 

 from which it will not easily recover, and the advantages 

 which might have arisen be lost to the country for years 

 to come. The question then is how to prevent it ? 



The Scotch have formed a society for the purpose of 

 employing a chemist at a salary of, I think, 600/. a year, 

 who is to analyse for its members, at the reduced charge 

 of a few shillings for each analysis, substances interesting 

 to farmers ; amongst others, especially these manures of 

 commerce, so as to give at once their agricultural and 

 commercial value. Thus a member of the association, 

 who is. desirous of testing any of them, has only to inclose 

 a very small sample by post to the chemist, with the 

 amount of charge for having any particular question an- 

 swered, from 35. to 6s., or thereabouts, and in a fewdavs 

 he will receive an answer, which will probably save him 

 from all the losses and disappointment before alluded to ; 

 and instead of paying for the article some 25 or 50 per cent! 

 beyond its real value on a large order, he would be sure of 

 his money's worth. Moreover, the chance of an impure ar- 

 ticle being ever sent into the country where a chemist is 

 appointed, would be greatly diminished by the knowledge 

 that it was likely to be analysed on its arrival. I am not 

 about to propose to you to enter on any scheme so great 

 as that of the Association of Scotland ; but in a much 

 smaller way it has struck me that results equally useful to 

 the practical agriculturist may be obtained. I have 

 applied to my neighbour Mr. Gyde, who, as an analytic 

 chemist, from the variety of delicate and elaborate analyses 

 in agricultural chemistry which to ray knowledge he has 

 performed, I believe to be as competent to the task as any 

 one, at least in this neighbourhood, to know whether it 

 would not be worth his while to offer his services to the 

 Farmers' Clubs in this neighbourhood on such terms as 

 would come within their means ; and I am happy to say 

 that he consents, upon being appointed chemist to any 

 Farmers' Club, with an annual retaining fee of 5/. 5s. from 

 each Club, to analyse for its members on terms similar to 

 those of the Scotch chemist. I am aware that the sub- 

 scriptions to Farmers' Clubs are very small, but I think 

 when the important objects above named are considered' 

 there will be no difficulty in raising such a sum yearly by 

 a subscription for the express purpose, from the richer 

 members, if necessary. For further particulars I refer you 

 to the letter of Mr. Gyde, advertised in this day's Paper 

 and if any Club think it worth while to encourage the 

 scheme, I will thank their Secretary to signify the same to 



^Voa ^^V^'**' ****** P ^swick House, 

 March 26, 1844._[This valuable article appeared in the 



Gloucester Chronicle of March 30tb, as a letter to the 

 Farmers Club of the West of England, and we are glad 

 to have the opportunity of publishing it here at the request 

 of its author.] * 



ON THE ORIGIN OF MOULD. 

 As you have noticed a communication made bv me to 

 the Geologic. Society in 1837, on the Formation of 

 Mould, I should be much obliged if you would correct an 

 error into which I have fallen. In a postscript to that 

 paper I state that marl was put on a pasture field, since 

 ploughed 80 years ago : I should have said 30 

 years as I mistook the figures in the paper sent me. I 

 found out this on visiting the place four years and a-half 

 subsequently, and examining the old occupier of the farm 

 Wishing to ascertain the accuracy of the stated depth at 

 which the marl now lies buried, I had three long holes due: 

 m different parts of the field, and in each I found the marl 

 together wuh some cinders and broken potterv, in a laver 

 13 inches beneath the bottom of the potato-furrows which 

 were about four inches beneath the general surface • so 

 that these substances are now buried at a depth of no'less 

 than 1 7 inches. They will never, probably, be undermined 

 by the worms, to any much greater depth, as they almost 

 rest on the general substratum of pure white /and I 

 particularly examined the occupier, whether the field* had 

 ever been ploughed to a greater depth than six or eight 



nu Icr u«u 0psil iv C ,, assured me that it nev^TT 

 My original informant, therefore, rather und^r 7 a d * 

 depth at which the marl now lies : alrhm,„i, , , tb « 

 the inters of four and .. U f yel'^Zt £$*» 

 tions, some soil may have been removed bv th 

 from beneath the marl. In the other fields fLJ!! 7 0rm * 

 mined, I found that the layers of lime and cinders ^ 

 almost every case, about an inch lower than thev nr wS/ 1 m 

 were. It was curious to observe in some of thTh i 

 how distinct three layers were preserved ; the un 

 of cinders being two inches beneath the surface^oTtT 

 former occasion one inch below), the middle layer of T 

 at four inches, and the lowest of cinders anH k 

 marl, at from 10 to 12 inches. I found this lowest h 

 wherever I dug, and likewise the other layers but I** 

 regular, owing to different parts of the field havine be?n 

 limed and cindered at different periods. When dire 

 in this field, after a long drought, I noticed, that onf 

 single clod of earth, about as large as a man's two hand 

 was penetrated by eight upright, cylindrical worm-holes 

 nearly as large as swan-quills, so that I could see through 

 them. Now this shows the quantity of earth in a small 

 space, which is often probably removed bv the worms and 

 brought to the surface. The boggy field mentioned in 

 the postscript to my Paper, on which two years aud a half 

 before a thick layer of bright red sand had been strewed 

 and which, I was informed, was then buried three-fourths 

 of an inch beneath the surface, I found four years and a 

 half subsequently (i. e. seven years from the sand beinr 

 put on) was exactly two inches beneath the surface. Iq 

 that field (also rather boggy) which I have described in 

 my Paper, as first reclaimed 15 years before, the burnt 

 marl was buried at a depth of four inches ; so that in 

 these two cases the rate of sinking, or more properly of 

 being undermined, has been nearly the same, namely, 

 about two inches in seven years. In the fields, however* 

 more particularly alluded to in this notice, in which the 

 marl that was put on thirty-four years and a half before, 

 then lay seventeen inches beneath the surface, the rate* 

 of being undermined has been much quicker, namely 

 three inches and four-tenths of an inch every seven years. 

 This field is dry, and consists of black, poor, very light 

 sandy soil. It has also been ploughed, which may make 

 some difference; though it is clear, from the uniformity of 

 the layer, that the marl must have sunk beneath the depth 

 at which the plough could disturb it before the pasture 

 had been broken up. I am surprised at the red sand on 

 the most boggy field having been buried as much as tiro 

 inches in the seven years, for I never saw a field on which 

 there were bo few worm-castings. One cannot, however, 

 judge of the number of worms in a field from inspection at 

 any one season. — Charles Darwin, Down, Kent. 



ON THE CULTIVATION OF FLAX.-No. I. 

 The cultivation of Flax engaged the attention of the 

 farmers of Great Britain and Ireland at an early period, 

 and in certain districts of these countries few farms were 

 without a portion of it, while in others it was scarcely 

 known. Before the introduction of cotton fabrics into 

 general use, the linen manufacture was necessarily one of 

 much importance, and, in fact, it is so still, but in a dif- 

 ferent point of view. Since the days of which we speak, 

 the manufacture has entirely passed into other hands. 

 Then, the farmer was not only the grower of the crop, 

 but, to a certain extent, the manufacturer also; it was in- 

 variably converted into yarn by the farmer's family ; and, 

 especially in the north of Ireland, it was also manufac- 

 tured into cloth, the linen-weavers there being invariably 

 small farmers. The Flax crop, therefore, in those days, 

 was one to which a peculiar value was attached, not only 

 as proving remunerating as an article of culture, but also 

 as affording employment for the female members of their 

 families in its subsequent manufacture. A small patch, 

 at least, was grown with a view of supplying the mate- 

 rials for the manufacture of the household liuen, which 

 every frugal housewife knew the value of having done un- 

 der her own superintendence. 



The extent of land devoted to the Flax crop has been 

 for many years past annually growing smaller; and, were 

 it not for the late vigorous movements to extend its cul- 

 ture and introduce a better system of management, its 

 cultivation would soon have been entirely abandoned. By 

 the extension of machinery of late, the quantity of FJU 

 consumed in this country, both for the home and foreign 

 market, has greatly increased, and the growth of the crop 

 having been neglected in this country, the small portion 

 grown being also badly managed, the manufacturers *eto 

 obliged to look to other countries for their supply. IM 

 consumption of oil-cake too, was considerable ; and to 

 this also the British farmer was dependent on the foreign 

 market. In the year 1841, the importations of Flax alone 

 amounted to about 80,000 tons, at an expense of trom 

 5,000,000/. to 6,000,000/., and if the sum paid for seea 

 and oil-cake be taken into account, the annual outlay 

 could not have been less than from 10,000,000/. i 

 12,000,000/.* The importance of raising this supply * 



with a view of ascertaining how far this couiu u* 

 gave the impetus to its cultivation, which is now so 

 pidly spreading itself throughout the country. , 



The cultivation of Flax in these counties had, indee, 

 for many years past been almost exclusively confine^ 

 the north of Ireland, but from the defective system ^ 

 cultivation in general use there, and the still inferior 

 thod of manufacture to prepare it for the »P inner ^j t - 

 sample produced was generally of a very inferior 4"* ^J 

 and consequently brought a low price compared wit 

 paid for the imported article. The smaUj^emrnaj^ 



* See Reports of the Belfast Flax Improvement Society. 



