236 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



[Apr. 13 



*nd the decayed leaves of Turnips not given to the cowg. 

 Indeed, if complete cleanliness is adhered to by cowmen 

 and dairymen, there will be little or no bad taste even 

 without nitre. I keep my cows upon Turnips as the 

 rucculent part of their food, upon at least nine months of 

 the twelve, and find no difficulty when cleanliness is 

 adhered to.— W. D. F. 



Experiments with different Manures on the Potato 

 Crop, — The following experiments on the application of 

 ■various manures to the Potato crop was tried last season, 

 and as the mode of culture adopted differs from the usual 

 practice, a few words of explanation on that subject are 

 necessary. The land is of very superior quality, consist- 

 ing of a moderately tenacious clay, through which a con- 

 siderable portion of an impure carbonate of lime is inter- 

 spersed, part of which is incorporated with the soil, and 

 part occurs in the form of small stones, which, however, 

 are rarely of such a size as to form any obstacle to the 

 operations of tillage. It had been previously many years 

 in Grass, and being merely marked out into ridges by the 

 common plough, the Potatoes were planted on the surface 

 without any manure. This practice is well known 

 throughout a great part of Ireland ; it is also usual to let 

 the land in this state to produce a crop of Potatoes to the 

 neighbouring cottagers, and from 41. to 61. per acre are 

 frequently obtained for this purpose. This is the Corn- 

 acre system, which has at different periods attracted public 

 attention, as one of the causes for much of the pauperism 

 in this country ; but to this subject it is not necessary to 

 make any further allusion in this place. The Potatoes 

 vrere planted on the 15th of April, and were of the variety 

 called Cups, which I believe are generally known. The 

 ridges were fite feet wide, five sets being placed across 

 the ridges, being thus nearly a foot distant across, and 

 nearly eighteen inches distant in the other direction. 

 These were covered about three inches deep with the 

 earth out of the furrows. Before the young shoots had 

 reached the surface through their covering, the various 

 manures were spread on the surface in the proportions 

 stated below. An additional covering of earth, two inches 

 deep, was then put over the ridges. The application of the 

 manures and the covering of earth took place the same 

 day, on the 20th of May. On the 15th of June the 

 •paces between the rows across the ridges were loosened 

 by the hoe and drawn up to the stems of the plants, form- 

 ing, in fact, drills as it were across the ridges. The Po- 

 tatoes were taken up on the 10th of October, and the 

 followine table exhibits the results : 



Kind of Manure. 



1. Guano . . . 



3. Bone dust 



1. Nitrate of Soda 



4. Nitrate of potash 



5. Muriate of ammonia 



6. Salt and quick-lime 



equal quantities . 

 7- Farm-yard manure 

 «. No manure applied . 



Quantity 



applied 



per acre. 



in 



3 cwt. 



18 bushels 

 •2 cwt. 

 2cwt. 

 I cwt. i 



8 cwt. 

 10 tons 



Produce Cost of 

 per acre, application. 



Tons Cwt, 





10 



15 

 16 

 15 



17 



U 

 16 



13 



11 

 13 



19 



5 

 15 



17 



3 



10 



1 

 2 

 1 

 2 

 2 



f. 

 2 

 5 



16 



14 

 15 



d. 





 

 8 

 



6 



13 



The farm-yard manure was that of the preceding season 

 which had remained over in the yard, and was therefore 

 well decomposed. Each of the other manures was mixed 

 with a small portion of dried earth a few days before being 

 applied. The common salt was obtained from a provision 

 store, and contained a considerable portion of animal 

 matter, as blood and pieces of fat, though its effects in 

 combination with the lime were not very great. The 

 whole of the manures applied were successful in so far as 

 having considerably overpaid the original outlay. An- 

 other circumstance I may here mention as worthy of ob- 

 servation :— The produce of two equal portions of the crop 

 to which no manure had been applied, the earth in the 

 one case having been hoed between the plants and drawn 

 tip to their stems, and the other not, showed clearly the 

 advantage of the former treatment, the difference in pro- 

 duce being no less than one ton and three quarters per 

 acre. This work was performed by boys and girls under 

 the superintendence of an experienced labourer, and the 

 entire outlay did not exceed 7*. 6d. per acre. It is per- 

 haps necessary to add that the statute acre is that referred 

 to in the preceding remarks, although here all calculations 

 are made in plantation measure of 49 square yards to the 

 perch.— tV. Smyth, Mitchelstown, Kelts. 



African Guano. — As you have made more than one 

 reference in your publication, to the recent importations 

 of guano from Africa, we beg to send you Dr. Ure's ana- 

 lysis of a cargo we lately received from thence, accom- 

 panied by his observations thereon. This cargo was from 

 Q different island, and considered much superior in quality 

 to that by the Levenside, alluded to in your paper, and 

 was sold deliverable from the ship at an average price of 

 <l. per ton. — Lodge, Prichard, and Co., Liverpool. 

 [Report, &c by Andrew Ure, M.D. F.R.S., Professor of 

 Chemistry, &c ]-This is the first sample of clean guano 

 from Africa which I have seen. It has been very care- 

 fully collected, and contains no heterogeneous impurities. 

 Its ; specific gravity is only 1.57 to water 1.00. Impure 

 and decayed guano is always much denser, being some- 

 times so high as .80 or 1.90. 100 parts of this African 

 guano contain 10 parts of ready formed ammonia, equi- 

 valent to about 32 parts of sal ammoniac, and to nearly 

 40 of sulphate of ammonia. 100 parts contain 21 i of 

 moisture, separable by the heat of boiling water- 100 

 parts lose 50 parts of volatile saline and organic matter 

 including the 10 parts of ammonia, by a red heat, besides 

 the 21 i of water, and leave 28£ of white matter, which is 

 chiefly phosphate of lime, with a little phosphate of mag- 

 nesia and some sulphate and muriate of potash, with a 

 little phosphate of the same alkali. 100 parts contain 

 only one of siliceous sand, showing the guano to be the 



genuine excrement of the birds. The whole constituents 

 may be thus stated : — 



Saline and org-anic matter, containing: 10 parts 



of pure ammonia 50. 



Water . 21.5 



Phosphate of lime and magnesia, as also potash. 26.0 

 Silica 1.0 



Sulphate and muriate of potash . . . . 1.5 



100. 

 London, March 12, 1844. (Signed) Andrew Ure. 



The Symphytum Asperrimum, or Prickly Comfrey is a 

 native of Caucasus. It grows to the height of five feet, 

 and is hardy enough for any soil or situation ; it produces 

 abundance of nutritious green food from the beginning of 

 May to the end of October, for cows, sheep, pigs, and espe- 

 cially for horses, it being glutinous and not purgative. It 

 is a perennial, a strong grower, when once planted, and 

 requires little trouble more than to be kept free from 

 weeds; it is particularly adapted for spade-husbandry, 

 and very suitable for those who have more garden ground 

 than they require for vegetables. The soil should be of a 

 nature to bear trenching two feet, and free from stagnant 

 water. The ground should be well manured when first 

 planted, and the distance from plant to plant should be 

 two and a half feet, 6962 to the acre; and as one plant of 

 the middle growth, when cut, will weigh eight lbs., this 

 will amount to upwards of 24 tons. When the ground is 

 good and well-managed, it may be cut four times in six 

 months, thus yielding 96 tons per acre per annum. It 

 should be cut close to the ground a few weeks after plant- 

 ing ; it will then be established, and at every successive 

 cropping produce more shoots and an increase of crop. 

 April is the best month to plant, but I do not know where 

 plants may be procured, but presume at the nurserymens*. 

 —-F. C. S. 



Manures. — It is well known to every cultivator of the 

 soil that no land will continue productive if some equi- 

 valent for its produce be not returned to it. If the land is 

 always yielding and never receiving, it must in a short 

 time become barren. However, there are particular soils, 

 like those of Egypt, which, being annually overflowed, 

 derive a valuable manure from the hand of Nature, and 

 therefore cannot be rendered barren by bad husbandry or 

 over-cropping. There are also some soils in our own 

 country which are not easily exhausted, in consequence of 

 being composed of materials which attract and retain the 

 food of plants. Taking these things into consideration, 

 we consider it a duty incumbent on all cultivators of the 

 soil to use every means to promote its fertility, in the 

 most simple and efficacious manner. We are fully con- 

 vinced that if more attention were paid to the making of 

 farm-yard manure, instead of running after every new 

 importation, which has nothing but a fine advertisement 

 to recommend it, and, in nine cases out of ten, fails to 

 produce the expected crop, they would, at the year's end, 

 find their purses heavier, and their land in better heart. 

 In the north of Scotland, the small farmers and cottagers 

 pay great attention to the making of manure from their 

 pigs, by bedding them with leaves, Moss, Rushes, Grass, 

 Fern ; all of which materials make excellent manure, when 

 trodden under foot and saturated with the urine of animals. 

 In fact, if the small farmers of the north of Scotland did 

 not use some such materials, they could not afford to bed 

 their cattle with straw, which forms their principal food, 

 with Turnips or Potatoes, during the winter months. We 

 have lately noticed, in some parts of Ireland, bog-earth 

 employed for bedding cows and pigs ; this material 

 makes an excellent manure, especially if it has been well 

 saturated with the urine of the cattle. We have seen 

 better crops produced from land which has been manured 

 with these materials, than the produce of any of our new 

 importations. We do not wish, however, to condemn 

 these imported manures, but we would have farmers pay 

 more attention to the making of manure on their farms, 

 and when made not to allow it to manure the atmosphere 

 instead of the soil, which we are sorry to say ig too 

 common a practice, particularly in Ireland. We would 

 recommend farmers to adopt the following plan : To every 

 two cart-loads of farm-yard manure, add one of the scour- 

 ing of ditches, road-scrapings, or a matted sward ; if 

 these materials are properly mixed with the dung, he will 

 be amply compensated for any additional expense. The 

 use of intermixing the soil with the dung is to imbibe the 

 gaseous elements, and hinder their dissipation. When- 

 ever putrid fermentation is going on in his dunghill, he 

 should apply some earthy substance in sufficient quantity 

 to imbibe and retain all effluvia. Health, profit, and 

 cleanliness require such a proceeding. The farmer who 

 arrests the rank vapours which emanate from decaying 

 animal and vegetable matter, instead of permitting them to 

 pass into, and contaminate the air he breathes, causes the 

 atmosphere to be healthy, and supplies his crops with an 

 abundant food.— J. Mel., Hillsborough. 



JI Q T\ d ^ Z ^~~^\ Ed S ewort h «as somewhere 



;,: ] e ^ ,8 ] aes of life arise fr ° m «&*% 



things for granted ; ' ' and if such of the readers of th? 

 Gazette as have not before met with this golden aphorism 

 now treasure it up and act upon it, they, at least, will not 

 grudge the half-column which my blunder, from neglect- 

 ing it, has caused to be occupied by verbal criticism. The 

 fact is that haying always seen the root in question called 

 Mangel W urzel, when spoken of on its introduction many 

 years ago, I took it for granted - that this was its 

 genu.ne German name ; but on consulting a learned friend 

 versed in that language, he tells me that Mangold is there 

 given as a name common to many plants, chiefly to a kind 

 of Cabbage, and also to a sort of Beet, and consequently 

 you are warranted in using Mangold Wurzel ; and as 

 duplicate names are always objectionable, I would by'no 

 means advise its being called « Field Beet," or even by any 

 of is native appellaUons of « Runkeirube," & c ., quoted 



Points of Milch Cow 



—The following ma* k 

 to «G." in No. 12, on the points of & a m L U ' Cfa| 

 Guernsey, taken from the Report of the Gu P r °° W in 

 cultural Society :-l. Purity of breed and qualirl7 5** 

 dam for yielding rich and yellow butter 2 S m ,°k the 

 large and bright eye, small muzzle, encircled wilh T*» 

 or yellow, horns polished and slightly curved h -!* 

 with black tips, small ears, orange-colour within 1 

 Straight back from the shoulders to the tail and kJ' 

 wide. 4. A fine and loose skin, with soft and short k^ 

 and of a good colour. 5. Sides well rounded flank .m 

 between the side and haunch, tail fine. C Fo ul? 

 straight and well-proportioned, hind legs broad abo^lf 

 knee, fine and clean below, hoofs small, legs should 

 cross in walking. 7. Udder large, and the teats larire^ 

 springing from the four corners of the udder milk t 

 large and well defined. The above are the chief re "* 

 sites to entitle the animal to a prize.— Guernsey 



Festuca elatior.—l observe, that in answers to Ar n 

 cultural questions in a late Number, you say that Festne. 

 pratensis gigantea, and Festuca elatior are the same. I 

 grow both side by side, on the same ground, and the ob 

 servation of several years induces me to believe that th 

 are not identical. F. gigantea blooms very early etea 

 before the ordinary F. pratensis. F. elatior is consider 

 ably later in flowering. The husk and seed of F. gigantea" 

 when ripe, are of a very light colour, almost white, f' 

 elatior has seed of a dark-grayish brown, and does not 

 ripen for a considerable time after the other. I hare 

 more reason to think that Festuca gigantea is the same 

 as Festuca arundinacea, more nearly agreeing with it ia 

 its early growth, and the periods of flowering, and of 

 ripening its seed. — W. Pyle f Taunton. 



Afrf 



Societies. 



ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY op ENGLAND. 



( Continued from page 22 1 .) 



Odessa Wheat. — The Hon. Sidney Herbert, lf.fi. 

 Secretary of the Admiralty, communicated through Mr. 

 Pusey, the wishes of the Agricultural Society at Odessa 

 to enter into correspondence with the Society and receire 

 its Journals ; when the Council unanimously resolved, 

 That the Imperial Agronomical Society at Odessa should 

 be placed on the list of Corresponding Societies, and have 

 the Journals in future transmitted to it, from time to time, 

 as published. — The Hon. R. H. Clive, M.P., took that 

 opportunity of calling the attention of the Council to the 

 peculiar merits of the Odessa Wheat, and the importance 

 of introducing and establishing its cultivation in thii 

 country. His brother, the Earl of Powis, had once pos- 

 sessed the variety in question, but by some unfortunate 

 accident had, to his regret, again lost it. He regarded it 

 as one of the most extraordinary Wheats ever grown, 

 being a white soft Wheat of gigantic size and most beau- 

 tiful colour. It was known at Odessa as the Taganrog 

 Wheat ; imported, he believed, into Taganrog, on the 

 northern coast of the sea of Azov, from the surrounding 

 agricultural districts, and shipped as an article of general 

 commerce from Odessa, on the shores of the Black Sea, 

 for western Europe.— Mr. John Hudson stated that large 

 quantities of this variety of Wheat were to be obtained aC 

 Mark-lane ; but being, as Mr. Gibbs remarked, kiln-dried 

 before its exportation from Odessa, its vegetative powers 

 were of course destroyed, and its employment for the pur- 

 pose of seed- Wheat rendered useless. — Mr. Miles, M.P., 

 hoped that by means of the new communication thus 

 opened with the Agricultural Society at Odessa, a supply 

 of the genuine Taganroe: Wheat, in its natural state, anil 

 fit for seed, might be obtained in sufficient quantity to 

 enable 30 or 40 members of the Society to cultivate an 

 acre each, and report their results to the Council. — It was 

 then resolved to refer the question to the Journal Com- 

 mittee. 



Southampton Meeting. — Colonel Challoner, ^ice- 

 Chairman of the General Southampton Committee, trans- 

 mitted to the Council the final Report of the Committee 

 on the subject of the arrangements for the Pavilion ana 

 Show-yards at the ensuing Country Meeting in July ; lM 

 Pavilion to be erected at Fairfield at an estimated ex P en ~ 

 of 620/., and the Show-yards at Portswood at tusl M 

 1523/., exclusively o( the inclosures required by the stew- 

 ards for the trial of implements to effect their ar ^ an ^' 

 ments in the most advantageous manner. This Kepo 

 was received and adopted by the Council. „ 



Heavy-Land Implements. — The Hon. M. » • * 

 Nugent, of Higham Grange, near Hinckley, Leicestersmn% 

 suggested to the Council, as the result of his close a 

 constant attention in effecting the cultivation of 40U a 

 of some of the stifTest and unworkable soil in that coun • 

 that the land at Southampton upon which the P lo JJ s f d aJ 

 working the stiff clay are to be experimented, s ^ ou trial( 

 soon as possible be ploughed in preparation for toe ^ 

 and not again interfered with, but allowed in that sta 

 retain its moisture until the ploughs to contend lor 

 stiff-clay prizes shall be brought to plough it across p 

 the day of such trial ;— a clean furrow-slice, under ^ 

 circumstances, upon stiff retentive clay previously p 5 

 and suffered to keep all the damp in it, being, m 

 Nugent's opinion, the criterion of a perfect P oug . ia 

 land of that character ; so that it may be worked ea ^ ft 

 the spring and prepared for green cropping 1 0? j^ 

 plough as will not gather the stiff soil before the m 

 board and run it before the mouth of the P lou & b ^ c0 J. 

 lumps ; every single plough, he added, hi ther ^ g 

 structed, being guilty of this greatest of faults in * eea 

 stiff, cold, retentive clay in a condition midway . g 



wet and dry. The Council referred this suggestion 

 Stewards of the Trial of Implements. ^ on ( 



Annual Country Meetings. — On the J" ^ 

 Mr. Miles, M.P., it wis resolved : •■ That in l«" ur 



