THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



269 



B the manner in 



which that work has been per- 

 alue. 



"™ .nH its separate value. 



^'t of maintenance and farriery of each pair 

 4. n ^l a nd oxen ; including the separate charge 



a ^fLToTpresumed value, of each pair of horses 

 *" ,««d' with their gear, when put to work ; and 



i\ L .tlue'ftt the close of the comparison. 

 , t^rative number of o*en or h 

 °* . . --nired to do the sarr 



horses which 



me w 



- Wither there is a general tendency in England to 

 1 ' VvLf, the ox for the horse in Agriculture, parti- 



gubstitute the 



- 



„,!„!. in ploughing ? . 



Whether this tendency exists more m particular 

 ' nt jes ; and if so, to what motives it may be attri- 



count 

 buted : 



q Whether such preference has yet done any evident 

 iniurr to the employment of horses ? 



lH Whether there has been remarked any deteriora- 

 tion in the breed of horses generally ; or if, on the 

 contrary, the mixture more or less of pure blood in 

 all the breeds, has produced a sensible improvement, 

 ID d a more easy sale ? 



1] Whether this branch of commerce is failing or 

 prospering in the United Kingdom ? 



12. Results of trial and observation on any other topics 



of the inquiry. 

 Destruction of Rats. — Captain Forbes^ R.N., of 

 Winkfield-place, Windsor, having called the attention of 

 the Council to the fact, that many thousand quarters of 

 train are annually destroyed by rats, proposed that a pre- 

 mium should be offered by the Society, for the best mode 

 of effecting their destruction. 



Copies of Mr. Hannam's Treatise on the Economy of 



Waste Manures, and on the Nature and Use of Neglected 



Fertilisers ; the American Agriculturist, and the Jamaica 



Titnts, were presented to the Society by their respective 



author?. 



The Council then adjourned to Wednesday next, the 

 lit of May. 



AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT SOCIETY OF 



IRELAND. 

 The Annual General Meeting of this Society took place 

 on the 19th inst., at 37, Sackville-street. His Grace the 

 Duke of Leinster in the chair. A draft of the Report for 

 1843 was read by the Secretary. Some important 

 additions were made to the premiums for draining and 

 improving waste land ; and, in accordance with the request 

 of John Hawkins, Esq., it was resolved, that the Agri- 

 cultural College about to be established at Leopard's-town, 

 near Dublin, shall be under the patronage of this Society. 



FARMERS' CLUBS. 



Bromsgrove.—kt the late meeting of this Club, Mr. H. 

 F. Fardon read a second paper on the subject of Manures. 

 After speaking generally of the action of manures, he 

 brought forward some very interesting matter on the use 

 of salt. " Common salt," he said, " has lately attracted 

 much attention as a manure, and upon light soils it 

 w very valuable. I have received two,, letters on this 

 woject, containing the actual experience of two tho- 

 roughly practical Agriculturists. The first I received 

 irom Mr. John Wilson, of Aston Claverly, near Wolver- 

 namptom; the second from Mr. Matthews, of Park 

 nan, near Kidderminster. The following are extracts:— 

 - ir. w iJson says, 'I have used salt for agricultural pur- 

 viiJrVT 7 yearS with succes s, and am thoroughly con- 

 all mv I ? i ts utlllty * l am now a pp j y in s {t for Barle y on 



of v J »ki eSl SOlls ' contamin g any considerable portion 

 alio ob J ble u matter ' atth e rate of five to six cwt. per acre; 

 ■erint-n * . atof the autumnal sowing on the same de- 

 ^nption of soils, and at the same rate per acre. I did so 



• fair t -7k 6 [ eat success - l gave it, as in other years, 

 •alt wh k • ing a stri P in each field without the 



Moiths «f u eVery Case P Iainlv show ed itself in the 

 conwdernn . 7 ?"* June ' Particularly in the Wheat. We 



in the \ZJ a t0 bear white Wheat better than red » but 

 ter 7 much ° f May and the beginning of June it is 

 detrimental rT^ , Sub J e< : t to the red rust > a disease very 

 of "it and tvf* il is com pletely obviated by the use 



and much free f Sample is much nner » the y ield better » 

 applied T \J t lj 8 ht or diseased grains when salt is 



11 ^e rare of fl*" Salted a twentv - acre field for Barley, 

 length of the fl ia C *'' per acre ' leavin S a stri P the whole 

 tti *~nt hare «r wlthout 5 at harvest the greatest novice 



Ter 7 superior ° 0Vered the difference » «»e salted being 

 no *ed 300 bush 11 ! sam P le and colour. I last week win- 



a Constance i'vV 1 f th ° Ut a sin * le bushel of H S ht >— 

 whe re salt w ,« . h does not occur with us this year 



ten Tears a/o USed * This was g rown on land which 

 bein 5* wonderf. n . considered not worth cultivating, but 

 it now gr0W(s ™ y lm Proved by the use of bones and salt, 



***» writes a ?f P n rp ° Se ver y satisfactorily/ Mr. Mat- 

 lhor « of South k l0W8 . : — < lf 8alt were found only on the 

 ? f guano, I think > enCa ' and im P ort ed here at the price 

 {* at present \l , d be in more general use than it 

 **»* nevertheless > C D0 one attena pts to question, 



Pwience of i t8 P ff a PP llca tion is very limited. My ex- 

 *P°h such, I knn 6 i 1S connne <* to light soils ; and, 

 ^^eneficia, T g ° f n ° arti <^ «o greafly and so'gene- 



r,° Ck l r egard as inS° P1 ° US , USe to ever y description of 

 , C 0T ^ and Wh ea t ! ? dl8 P ensab le. For Turnips, Barley, 

 1 ! P*dre 88 i nK _ "' *?" e S uall y beneficial, used either as 



T\ N °r is it of ' f d lnt0 and incorporated with the 

 £ 0dQ ce, for I h ° a f J al " e °^J a « regards an increase of 



^P^ved where it \ a u ys fouad the ***** greaUy 



ere * has been u<^ i arKe %, |k| ^1 



yard should have an abundant supply; it should be 

 applied at the least once in every week. Upon Grass lands, 

 whether upland pastures or watered meadows, I have 

 found its use alike advantageous. I have generally applied 

 it in the form of a compost with soils, but I do'not con- 

 sider this as necessary. Last spring I dressed a meadow 

 of five acres with salt and soil, putting on about 30 cwt. 

 per acre of salt, ( !) the effect was most convincing both 

 in the Hay crop and aftermath. The sheep and cattle I 

 turned into it had access to an adjoining meadow, and their 

 preference for that which had been salted was really ludi- 

 crous ; they could not be induced to leave it when it was as 

 bare as a common, while the other meadow had abundance 

 of Grass upon it. Pray do the community the good service 

 of urging the more general use of salt, especially in the Rye- 

 land distrct. I am satisfied that every man whom you can 

 prevail upon to adopt its use largely, will ultimately thank 

 you for the good you confer upon him.' — These letters," 

 Mr. Fardon said, 4I afford practical evidence of the value 

 of salt, and I hope farmers on light land will try it. Salt 

 may operate in fixing ammonia by converting the volatile 

 carbonate of ammonia into the fixed muriate, being con- 

 verted itself into carbonate of soda, a valuable constituent 

 of manure. Salt may also benefit light dry soils by its 

 attraction for water, and it has the effect of rendering 

 herbage more palatable to stock." — The reading of the 

 paper was followed by a long discussion, chiefly on the use 



of salt as a fixer of ammonia and as a manure In reply 



to an inquiry made by Mr Wright, Mr. Elliott stated 

 that when common salt and carbonate of ammonia are 

 brought together in solution a double decomposition 

 takes place. — Mr. Maund quoted Mr. Solly to the effect 

 that such action would only take place in a concentrated 

 solution, and that consequently salt would not be likely to 

 fix ammonia in a manure heap. — Mr. Elliott replied that 

 the action took place in a strong solution, but it was out 

 of the power of any chemist to ascertain whether it had 

 taken place in a weak solution or not. Mr. Elliott con- 

 sidered that the chief merit of salt as a manure, consisted 

 in affording a supply of soda to plants rather than in fixing 

 ammonia. He considered that plants had the power of 

 decomposing common salt and obtaining the soda, but this 

 was merely a supposition which he intended to bring to 

 the test of ^experiment. — Surprise was expressed at the 

 statement of Mr. Matthews that he had used salt at the 

 rate of 30 cwt. per acre. It was considered that such a 

 quantity would generally prove highly injurious, and that 

 5 to 6 cwt. per acre was the utmost that should be used. 



Blofield and Walsham. — At the last meeting of this 

 club, the Secretary recounted their proceedings during the 

 past year. Among the subjects which had been discussed 

 was, that of Solid and Liquid Animal Manures. The 

 opinion of the meeting was, that the drainings of farm- 

 yards, or other liquid manures, are most effectively 

 secured and best applied when taken up by refuse soil or 

 other compost. At the meeting in June, the subject of 

 Carbon in Cretaceous Soils, Vegetables, and Animals, 

 was introduced by the Rev. Edwin Sidney, in a very 

 instructive lecture. 



Orkney. — We have had the pleasure 6f receiving the 

 Annual Report of the Orkney Agricultural Society. We 

 are glad to see that the spirit of improvement, now active 

 on British Agriculture generally, is being excited and 

 preserved in this far northern district, by the annual award 

 of premiums, "for the improvement of the different kinds 

 of stock, the extension of green crop husbandry, the 

 draining of land, and the encouragement and advancement 

 of other Agricultural objects." 



iRebtetos. 



Report on the proposed Pauper Lunatic Asylum for the 



County of Derby. W. W. Pike, Corn-market, Derby. 

 We spoke last week of Dr. Daubeny's system of scientific 

 book-keeping, as applicable to the balancing of accounts 

 between what is brought on the farm and what is sold off 

 it, so that its fertility may remain unimpaired. Any one 

 who wishes to see an instance of a calculation upon this 

 principle will find one executed with skill, by Mr. Hey- 

 wood, in his Report, which is appended to this pamphlet, 

 on the best plan for establishing and conducting a Farm, 

 in connexion with the proposed lunatic asylum at Derby. 



Miscellaneous. 



^f+ 



fold- 





Guano. — The word guano was an old term, and one 

 which had been imported into this country from South 

 America. It was now, and had been long, given by the 

 Peruvians to the dung of sea-fowl, which, from the re- 

 motest era, had been gathered on certain islands on their 

 coast, and was still represented by the deposits collected 

 on the rocky promontories of South America. They 

 were all aware that many of the islands upon the Scottish 

 coasts were frequented by innumerable clusters of sea- 

 fowl ; but their droppings did not remain there. The 

 frequent rains which fell in our variable climate was the 

 obstacle to the accumulation of this kind of manure, for 

 by this means the valuable particles were soon washed 

 away and disappeared. But for 500 or GOO miles on the 

 coast of Peru and Bolivia scarcely any rain fell, and the 

 droppings of millions on millions of these sea-fowls had 

 been allowed to accumulate there in deposits of 60, 70, 

 and 80 feet deep, wherever the birds had permanently 

 settled. The value of this substance was well understood 

 by the ancient Peruvians, and so highly was it estimated, 

 that the various islands along the coast, such as Chincha 

 and others, were each allocated to a separate tract of 

 country, the inhabitants of which drew the guano to grow 

 their crops from a certain island, and no district of coun- 

 try was allowed to obtain the manure from any part but 

 that specially allotted to it. Persons were regularly ap- 



pointed to look after the birds, and it was an offence 

 punished with loss of life for any person to kill one of 

 them— so satisfied were the Peruvian rulers of the neces- 

 sity and importance of preserving and husbanding this 

 means of raising their corn. At the present day, this 

 substance was not only extensively employed upon the 

 coast, but it was carried on the backs of mules to vast 

 distances along the ridge of the Cordilleras, for the pur- 

 pose of fertilising the inland soils. Though the guano 

 might well be supposed to exist on our own coast, it was 

 not found there, from reasons which he had already men- 

 tioned. Still, a reasonable hope was entertained that it 

 might be found on other coasts, which were similar to- 

 Peru, viz., where no rain fell; but it was not until less 

 than two years ago that deposits had been found in other 

 parts of the world — deposits from the effects of which be 

 augured the most beneficial effects to the Agriculture of 

 this country. It was of great consequence that guano 

 should be found in large quantities on the coast of 

 Africa, for the voyage to it was comparatively short, and 

 they might thus entertain the expectation that in the 

 course of a year or two the price would be reasonably 

 reduced, and thus a greater extent of soil brought 

 under its beneficial operation. After this explanation* 

 he would proceed to inquire into what formed the com- 

 ponent parts of guano, and as the quality of different 

 kinds varied, he would show to them the result of the 

 analysis of several samples. The first two columns on 

 the subjoined Table contained the result of two different 

 samples brought from Africa by the Levenside. The 

 next two columns contained samples which had been sent 

 to him from the Star of the West, which had come into 

 Plymouth — the one sample being taken from the hold of 

 the ship, and the other from a quantity which had been, 

 brought in bags. The next sample was the guano which 

 had been imported into Glasgow from Ichaboe by Mr. 

 Downie ; and the last was a sample from Bolivia, which, 

 in many respects, it would be seen, differed from the 

 others. The Table to which he called their attention was 

 as follows : — 



Levenside. 



Water . 



Organic Matter and i 

 Ammoniacai Salts . J 



Sulphate of Soda and 

 Common Salt . 



Carbonate of Lime"! 

 and Magnesia . ) 

 Earthy Matter 



Phosphate of Lime 



58.09 

 6.94 



3.32 



2.83 

 15.07 



100 





V2.85 

 52.66 



6.51 



2.77 



3.11 

 12.10 



100 



Star of the 

 West. 



13.30 

 32.31 

 33.50 



1.58 



5.81 



1.30 

 12.00 



100 



27.66 



32.34 



9-80 



2.02 



4.12 



3.88 

 20.18 



100 



Icha- 

 boe. 



17-41 

 55.33 



4.92 



3.54 



0.57 

 18.23 







Boli- 

 via*. 



8.34 

 65.60 



0.J8 



1.12 



4.46 



19-80 



100 100 



Now, did these substances contain all that was necessary 

 for a perfect manure ? They had, in the 'first place, or- 

 ganic matter and ammoniacai salts, capable of imparting 

 the great essential of nitrogen to the plant. It generally 

 bore a large proportion in the manure. Then they had 

 sulphate of soda and common salt, which was also highly 

 necessary to the healthy growth of a crop. Then they 

 had carbonate of lime and magnesia, on the merits and 

 importance of which he need not enlarge. Next, they 

 had earthy matter, which should have been placed last on 

 the list, for the less sand they had in their guano the 

 better — the more valuable it would be. They had also 

 the phosphate of lime, so necessary for the inorganic 

 structure of plants. They all contained water to a greater 

 or less extent ; but here, also, the less the better, for in 

 proportion to the quantity contained, one kind of guano- 

 might be 10s. per ton superior to another. In the sam- 

 ples before them they would see how much the quantities- 

 varied. Even the two different samples of the Levenside 

 varied from each other by 13 to 22 — the one sample in 

 this respect being 9 per cent, better than the other. I*i 

 the Star of the West it varied from 13 to 27 — the one 

 sample being 14 per cent, better than the other. In the 

 Ichaboe sample there was 17 per cent., and in the Bolivian 

 only 8. The latter, therefore, so far as the absence of 

 water was concerned, was decidedly the most valuable. 

 He had, however, never seen more than one sample of 

 this valuable manure, and understood that no more was 

 to be had. That which contained the greatest quantity 

 of water was the least valuable, and the value of that 

 which had the largest amount of ammonia was, on the 

 other hand, proportionably increased. That substance, 

 viz., ammonia, would cost the farmer more to buy than 

 any other of the ingredients ; it was therefore the most 

 valuable, because to produce it artificially it would be the 

 most costly. The quantity of this valuable substance in 

 the samples of the Levenside varied from 52 to 58 per 

 cent. ; in the Star of the West it was 32 per cent. ; m 

 the Ichaboe 55 ; and in the Bolivian 65 — showing, there- 

 fore, that the quantity in the latter was double the amount 

 of the Star of the West. They would say, therefore, in 

 this point of view, that the Bolivian was the best, and the 

 Levenside the next best. Before coming to this conclu- 

 sion, however, let them look to the sulphate of soda and 

 common salt contained in each. This was a cheap article, 

 and got in Glasgow, he believed, for 4/. a ton — a price 

 much below what they were required to pay for the guano. 

 The proportion in the Levenside was 6 per cent. ; in the 

 Star of the West so much as 33 per cent., and in the 

 Ichaboe it was less than 5 per cent. It was still less in 

 the Bolivian, and, always remembering that this was a 

 cheap article, they came to the conclusion that the 

 Bolivian was the best, and the Ichaboe the next best. 

 The small quantity of earthy matter in the Ichtboe, com- 

 pared with others, also greatly enhanced its value. They 

 came next to the phosphate of lime, which was necessary 

 to make any manure valuable, and might be held as next 



