

t 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



233 



—- RESIDENCE AND SPORTING. 



-rcn to Rent, either Furnished or Unfurnished, 



^I'ANTEP.^ ' ^ce with 10 to 100 acres of Land, and 

 \\ . ■•*■»!**! f d SiT.g -over a well- preserved Manor. 

 ^ **»!« JS«J2J2S th»t the Manor adjoin or belong to 

 ■T»»* B ^ utd i^rMirticular S to be addressed to Messrs. 

 J, E^^-^'a^Land-agents, 10, New IBond-street, 



"^""•t^ClieudoD. _____ 



ggt a grtniKtiralJBaytte 



SATURDAY, APRIL 13,1844 



FARMERS' CLUBS 



iwiltS Gr«wf Ferry. 



r f Drbenhnm. 

 April j»{H4dlrl*h. 



A-.-i „_f Cardiff. 

 April 27 j Gloucester. 



Tt is unnecessary to enter fully into detail on the 

 ■ibiectof Potato culture, but there are two points 

 £ which we may usefully direct the attention of our 

 readers: the diseases to which the plant is subject, 

 and the manures suitable for it. 



The Potato plant has of late years been subject to 

 tttertl diseases which, though many remedies have 

 been suggested for them, still occasionally injure or 



destroy our harvests. 



The Curl, so called from the crumpled appearance 

 which the leaves assume under its influence ap- 

 pears to be owing to the over-ripening of the 

 tubers to be used as seed. The experiments of 

 Mr. Dickson, reported in the " Memoirs of the Cale- 

 donian Horticultural Society," show that, while sets 

 from the waxy seed of the Potato produced healthy 

 plants, those from the ripened seed did not vegetate 

 at all, or produced curled plants. For further parti- 

 culars on this subject see an article by Mr. Deans in 

 this Paper. ^ > 



The Rot, or Taint, which causes the entire destruc- 

 tion of the set, is also probably owing to a consti- 

 tutional defect, arising from circumstances connected 

 with the cultivation or treatment of the plant. It is 

 believed by many that the liability of the Potato to 

 this disease is owing to planting cut sets instead of 

 whole ones ; and the idea is corroborated by the fact, 

 that means taken to produce upon the cut sets an 

 Artificial skin, have occasionally possessed a beneficial 

 influence. Thus, in the September Number of the 

 "Quarterly Journal of Agriculture" for 1841, there is 

 a paper by Mr. R. White on what is stated to be "a 

 simple means of preventing the failure of the Potato 

 crop." It consisted in riddling over every basketful 

 Of newly cut sets a shovelful of hot lime, and then 

 turning them over and over again till the lime was 

 well taken up by the sets, when they were put into a 

 heap three or four feet thick, and kept for two or three 

 weeks. " The hot lime had the effect of stopping the 

 flow of the juice, and of encrusting a strong skin upon 

 the sets." '1 he experience of several years is quoted in 

 ww article in favour of this plan. We should think 

 that no good end was obtained by allowing the sets to 

 f ,n suc " a krge quantity together; the skin would 

 jorm wuh equal certainty on the cut surface without 



TrfTf ng them t0 risk of in Jury from heating. 



i he s following remarks are extracted from the 15th 

 i-art of Mr. Stephens's "Book of the Farm :' '— 



Were seed Potatoes securelv pitted— not over- 

 npened before they were taken out of the ground— 

 " sets cm [rom the crispest tubers and from the 

 dn y Ju • dun £ fomented by a turning of the 



%Z \ J" pr ° per time ~ led out t0 the field > quickly 

 J*™, the sets a§ quickly dropped on j tf and the 



kjW quickly split, there would be little heard of the 



their eVe " ln tJle driest season— at the same time 



W I 3 " 11 , ! 1 of 0Dtain ™g seed frequently from an 



to Z i , e (listrict compared to where the seed 



<Bcu> V amed > should not be neglected. I own it is 



t to prove the existence of constitutional weak- 



b ne ?ny g i V t n tuber ' ™ its existence is only implied 

 n> v * ct 0I the f adure ; but the hypothesis explains 



"•enr ° r r tllan an y olher » tnan atmospheric 



^minr exam P le > producing the failure like 

 ^'c, diseases in animals, for such influences 



^lM\* ny yea / S a S° M wel1 as now - The lon ger 

 not "' l ! lt ! n of th e tuber of the Potato, which is 



* e *ct h persevered in » the more certainly may 

 •^lalo SCe US constitutional vigour weakened, in 

 tteai supf / t0 u ther plants P r( >pagated by similar 

 A PPnH ii aS e failure of man y varieties of the 

 cent tv* and of ^ cider frui,s of the 17th 



^yioii.nij ye f y seaso °, 1«43, contradicts th 



of h 



nei 



hJnn L°r Ught and heat as the primary cause 

 ...i.e"" 6 ' for u llas hitherto (to June) been 

 the 'ev of?' y ' - While il strikingly exemplifies 

 fin ^n nf ?l tl 1 tut !° nal we ^ness, inasmuch as the 

 Po Varm^ •« had so much over-ripened the 

 M -S Stl11 . w«»warc of the cause of the 



C'/ the ****« *e.v 1,a ve used for 

 ' dT ve~ r ; n ?, e , ned ~- lhat the sets thi * spring 

 W ^ht nV- all L even in *e absence of heal 



b"h and in th* nro«. r . 



Had the Potatoes been a little less over-ripened in ] which the land thus received, he used, with the greatest 

 1842 the sets from them might have produced only ' advantage, to apply about 25 bushels of soot per acre 

 curl this season, though it is not improbable that the | before planting the sets, 

 same degree of over-ripening may cause entire failure 

 now, that would only have caused curl years ago ; and 

 as over-ripening was excessive last year, owing to the 

 very fine weather, so the failure is extensive in a cor- 

 responding degree in this, even in circumstances con- 

 sidered by most people preventive of its recurrence, 

 namely in cold and moist weather. And observe the 

 results of both 1842 and 1843 as confirmatory of the 

 same principle, illustrated by diametrically opposite 

 circumstances. The under-ripened seed of the bad 

 season of 1841 produced the good crop of Potatoes of 

 1 842, in spite of the great heat and drought existing 

 at the time of its planting in 1842 ; while the over 

 ripened seed of the good season of 1842 has produced 

 extensive failure in spite of the coolness and moisture 

 existing at the time of planting in 1843. How can 

 heat, drought, or fermenting dung account for these 

 results?" 



The following are good varieties of the Potato for 

 field-culture : — Prince of Wales' Early, Shaw's Early, 

 Bread Fruit, London Purple, Pink Eye, Magpie, China 

 Orange, Red Kidney, Lancashire Kidney, and the 

 No-blow. And, as a Pig Potato, we know of no 

 variety which unites quantity and quality of produce 

 more profitably than what is known in Gloucester- 

 shire as the Irish White Apple. 



We allude to the subject of manures in connexion 

 with the Potato-crop, not because, in the experience 

 of the farmer, any manure has been found peculiarly 

 applicable to it that is not equally beneficial when ap- 

 plied to other green crops, but chiefly in answer to 

 several questions that have been sent to us by corre- 

 spondents. The best manure for the Potato is that 

 made in the farmyard from the consumption of roots 

 and cake, or corn, whether by horse, oxen, or sheep. 



ON THE CULTIVATION OF FLAX.— No. II. t 



{Continued from p. 216.) 



In the cultivation of Flax, the selection of the soil is 

 a primary consideration. In this respect, it has been 

 already remarked, it has a wider range than most of our 

 cultivated plants. The soil preferred for this crop in the 

 Low Countries, and other parts of the Continent, where its 

 culture is so well understood, is what is generally denomi- 

 nated strong loamy land, such as is best adapted for the 

 growth of Wheat. Adhesive clays and light sandy soils 

 are equally unsuited for Flax, as also all soils containing 

 any considerable portion of peat in their composition. On 

 heavy clay soils, it is difficult — indeed, almost impossible 

 — to attain that state of perfect pulverisation which is es- 

 sential for the successful growth of Flax ; and on the 

 class of extreme light upland soils, the inferior quality of 

 fibre produced sufficiently indicates that such are not the 

 proper soils for that crop. In the case of reclaimed bogs, 

 a great length of time must elapse, and the character of 

 the soil be completely changed, before it is fitted for Flax- 

 culture. Even when so far divested of its original cha- 

 racter as to be well suited to the growth of Wheat, it will 

 still produce Flax of a very inferior quality. In this re- 

 spect, Flax differs from most of our other Agricultural 

 plants, which usually succeed well on reclaimed bog, 

 when the altitude is not great, and the soil otherwise of 

 good quality. 



The state of the land with regard to fertility, is also de- 

 serving of notice. The direct application of manure to 

 the Flax-crop is found to be most injurious, producing 

 fibre of so coarse a quality as to be almost worthless ; yet 

 a high degree of fertility in the toil by previous manuring, 

 or otherwise, is indispensable. These remarks have re- 

 ference to the manure of the farm-yard ; the value of the 

 portable manures, as they may be termed, not having yet 

 been sufficiently ascertained to warrant an opinion being 

 offered on the subject. So far as this crop is concerned. 



It need not be so well made or fermented as that an- therefore, a wide field is open for experiment ; and should 



plied to the Turnip, for it is not in need of any extra- *• c ! ass of manurcs , i ust . w f t ni T^. J™l** n *l " °I 

 ordinary supply of nourishment till, when in an ad- 



vanced stage of its growth, it commences the formation 

 of the young tubers. With regard to the fertilisers 

 of commerce, the only lengthened series of experi- 

 ments that we know of is that made in the Horticul- 

 tural Society's Garden by E. Solly, Esq. They were 

 not on so extensive a scale as for their results to be 

 looked upon by farmers with confidence so far as 

 quantity of produce is concerned, but they are very 



interesting as far as they go ; and we quote the fol- 

 lowing, being a compilation of some of them, extracted 



from Mr. Solfy's Report in the 3d vol. of the Horti- 

 cultural Society's Transactions : — 



Gas-liquor and phoaph.acid . 



Gypsum 



Nightsoil & bleaching powder 

 Putrid urine . . 

 Gas-liquor and nitric acid 

 Sulphate of iron 

 Gas-liquor . 



Night. soil, bleaching powder, 



and sulphate of iron 

 Gas-liquor and muriatic acid • 

 Nitrate of soda . 



Do. do. and salt cake 

 Guano . . . . 



Nitrate of soda . 

 Nightsoil and sulphuric acid . 

 Putrid urine & sulphate of iron 

 Epsom salts . . . . 

 Gas-liquor and sulphuric acid . 



Bone-dust 



Epsom salts , . 



Rotten dung . . 



Salt cake . . . . . 



Nightsoil . . . . . 



Danicll's Manure 



Sal ammoniac . . . . 



No manure . . , . 



Salt cake . 



Quantity of ma- 

 Dure per acre. 



Propjrtional 

 Nos. repre- 

 senting the 

 produce p. acre 

 of tubers. 



800 gallons 

 2 cwt. 96 lbs. 

 5 tons 

 800 gallons 

 800 gallons 



1 cwt. 46 lbs. 

 800 gallons 



5 tons 

 800 gallons 



2 cwt. 96 lbs. 

 2 cwt. 96 lbs. 

 16 cwt. 27 lbs. 



1 cwt. 48 lbs. 

 5 tons 



800 gallons 



2 cwt. 96 lbs. 

 800 gallons 

 76bu-hels 



1 cwt. 48 lbs. 

 5 tons 



1 cwt. 48 lbs. 

 5 tons , 

 20 b ishels 



1 cwt. 48 lbs. 



2 cwt. 96 lbs. 



85 

 132 



11/ 

 69 



9* 

 125 



98 



127 

 135 

 121 



H7 

 163 



144 



164 



165 



156 



151 



186 



167 

 184 



273 



179 

 185 



181 



128 

 240 



A correspondent from Bath will see that gas-water 

 neutralised by phosphoric acid, being in fact a solution 

 of the phosphate of ammonia, stands very low, as a 

 fertiliser, in the scale of these manures, but " it must 

 be borne in mind that these experiments were made 

 on garden ground, the composition and nature of 

 which is very variable and uncertain, and far too rich 

 to enable positive deduction to be formed of the rela- 

 tive value of the different substances employed as 

 manure." To this we may add that they were made 

 on very small plots of ground, and coupling this with 

 the known properties of some of the manures employed, 

 we may, perhaps, consider this table as illustrative of 

 Mr. Lawe's remarks in a leading article of last week, 

 rather than of the relative value of the manures 

 employed. 



We may mention, in conclusion, that an account of 

 very good Potato- culture is given in great detail by 

 Mr. Morton, in his description of the mode of culti- 

 vation on Stinchcombe Farm, in the 1st vol. of the 

 "English Agricultural Society's Journal." Mr. 

 Dimmerv, who occupied that farm, always grew 

 Potatoes 'after Turnips which were consumed on the 



able for promoting the growth of Flax as they have done 

 for that of most of our other crops, they will remove one 

 of the greatest obstacles to its culture, especially on infe- 

 rior soils. Liquid manure is, however, advantageously 

 applied to the Flax-crop in Flanders, and other Flax- 

 growing districts on the Continent, the quantity being re- 

 gulated by the wants of the soil. The effect of enriching 

 the soil beyond a certain degree, for this crop, causes it 

 to grow so luxuriantly, that the strength of the stem is 

 unable to maintain it in an erect position ; and when laid 

 down before being ready for pulling, the crop is altogether 

 destroyed. In this respect, Flax is subject to the same 

 rule as our cereal crops, to which an excess of manuring 

 proves decidedly injurious, and differs from the root- 

 crops, and the Clovers and Grasses for the successful 

 growth of which an excess of fertility can scarcely exist 



in the soil. 



The place for Flax in the rotation is after Lea, or a 

 Corn-crop ; and in the latter case it should be the second 

 crop after the land is broken up from Grass. This, in- 

 deed, is the proper place for Flax in the course, and its 

 introduction into general cultivation would, therefore, in 

 some degree, derange the order in which the several crops 

 of the farm succeed each other at present. It may be 

 successfully grown after the land is taken up from Grass, 

 as the first crop ; but the preparation for the Flax is in 

 this case more difficult, and a valuable Corn-crop may 

 then be grown without injury to the succeeding crop of 

 Flax ; nay, with absolute advantage. It should not, 

 by any means, come after Potatoes, or other green crop. 

 This has been a common practice in Ireland, though 

 always productive of coarse fibre. Another important 

 consideration in determining the place for Flax is, that it 

 must not be grown on land which has been recently limed ; 

 certainly, not sooner than the third or fourth year. On 

 many of the rich heavy soils throughout the north of 

 Ireland, on which Flax had formerly been grown with the 

 greatest success, it does not succeed from this cause alone. 

 Lastly, it must not be frequently repeated on the same 

 land— not oftener than once in every seven or eight years. 

 The Flemings consider this circumstance of much 

 importance, and arrange the divisions of their small farms 

 to that the Flax crop, which they consider their golden 

 one, shall not be cultivated on the same ground oftener 

 than every ten or twelve years. 



- The preparation of the land for Flax should be similar 

 to that for the Carrot— perfect pulverisation of the soil to 

 a considerable depth, and the thorough eradication of 

 weeds being the objects to be attained. The means to be 

 employed for attaining these conditions, it does not seem 

 necessary to describe at length in this place. The usual 

 early ploughing in the autumn, with two fuither plough- 

 ings in the spring, assisted by the action of the harrow 

 and roller, will, in general, be sufficient for this purpose. 

 Deep pulverisation is much more important in the pre- 

 paration of the land for Flax, than is usually imagined ; 

 it having been repeatedly ascertained tkat, under favour- 

 able circumstances, the roots of the plants will strike in to 

 the ground fully one-third of the eutire length of the stalk. 

 To ensure the regular and even germination of the 

 seeds, the surface of the ground should be fi™« n * ££ 

 fectly level before sowing. It is usual, immediately wnore 

 sowing, to give a good rolling to the ground, after wn 

 light harrows follow, before the seeds are sown, w 

 slight harrowing and rolling afterwards finish the 

 process. The proper seed-time is during he month o 



, -•— .« ltJC dubcnce ui neat rotaioes aner 1 urnips wuicu weic ww*>«..«~« ~ ~ piuccaa. auc r «^<w. - — -- — - . the Dfecsie 



m the presence of moist weather, land by sheep ; and in addition to the manuring ( April, and as early as possible ia tne mon , v 



