282 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



[May 4, 



pipes from being forced up by the boiling waters and 

 sand ; when loaded the arches were removed by a lever, 

 the mouths of the pipe being carefully stopped with hay, 

 till the next length of pipe was laid in the next arch (two 

 always being in use, one in front of the other). 



The result is, that one such drain laid four acres of bog 

 perfectly dry (having a smaller spring carried over or 

 across it) ; the first drain runs permanently 30,000 gal- 

 lons every twenty-four hours, and several others nearly as 

 much. It has laid our neighbours' wells dry, a quarter of 

 a mile off (being in a bed of sand, below their level). The 

 land (which has been double spitted) is now always per- 

 fectly dry, although, previously dangerous for cattle, and 

 entirely worthless. 



In conclusion, allow me to say, I have derived most 

 valuable information in draining from those excellent and 

 standard works on Agriculture, " Stephen's Book of the 

 Farm," " Loudon's Encyclopaedia of Agriculture," and 

 " Morton on Soils." Ample and satisfactory evidence and 

 matters of fact in every branch of draining may be found 

 there. It is with extreme regret I frequently see money 

 completely wasted by placing tiles without soles, and pipes 

 without stones, and temporary and imperfect draining by 

 bushes. That soil in a few years becomes absolutely much 

 worse than it was originally, for when the drains choke, 

 there is a much larger accumulation of water, to the 

 destruction of the crops. 



I hope that in time to come Farming will be treated as 

 a science, and that there will be as much uniformity in 

 cultivating land as there is in manufacturing cotton. That 

 can only arrive by our young farmers deriving a uniform 

 Agricultural education — the mechanism for which does 

 not at present exist. — /. J. Mechi. 



TRIALS WITH SULPHURIC ACID AND BONE 

 DUST FOR TURNIPS, IN 1842 AND 1813. 



The Secretary of the Monmouth Farmers' Club 

 considering it to be of the greatest importance to raise 

 a good crop of Turnips at the least possible expense, 

 has much pleasure in annexing to this years' report 

 a statement of his own and other persons' trials with 

 sulphuric acid and bones, and other manures ; and, 

 although these trials have been made upon light soils, 

 be hopes that the suggestion made in the Agricultural 

 Gazette as to the probable value of sulphuric acid and 

 bones on clayey soils will be verified ; so that it may in the 

 fullest sense prove to be as Mr. Pusey says, — "That 

 these trials of the Morayshire Farmers' Club and the 

 Duke of Richmond afford good hope that this, the most 

 important saving which was ever held out in the use of 

 manure, will be found generally applicable." 



Trial of sulphuric acid and bone dust with other manures, 

 upon a worn-out arable field of a sandy soil, sown in the 

 beginning of Aug., 1843, with improved stone Turnips in 

 lots of a quarter of an acre. The ground was ridged up at 

 24 inches, the seed drilled on the ridge, and hoed out to 

 8 inches ; the Turnips were horse-hoed three times, and 

 band-hoed twice. The measure, weight, &c. are all cal- 

 culated per imperial standard : one perch of each lot was 

 pulled, topped, and weighed on the 8th January, 1814. 

 The expense and produce per acre are as under : — 



No. of Expense per Produce 



Lot. Mavurb per Acre. Acre. per Acre. 



sS. 8. d. Tons.cwt. qr 

 IB yards of Fat Pig's Dung, rotten 3 



3£ bushels of Hone Dust and 80lbs. 



of Sulphuric Acid . 

 40 bushels of Coal Ashes saturated 



with human urine in winter 



1842-3 



4. 20 cubic yards of road scrapings, 

 mixed with 280 gallons of 

 human urine, andtwice turned 

 over in 1842 .... 

 2 cwt. Guano, mixed with 12bushcls 

 of pure Charcoal Dust . . 



1. 



2. 



3. 







1 G 



15 



13 1 1 



1 3 



12 12 



5. 



2 3 6 



10 12 



7. 

 ft, 



. . l 



7 cwt. Urate 2 



15 

 1 

 14 







6 







10 



9 

 9 



5 

 11 

 1 



3 

 2 



1 



1 3 



8 ] 



8 

 8 



6 

 5 



17 



2 



13 



4 





 3 



1 

 1 



SO bushels of Bones (half dust) 

 6 bushels of Bone Dust and 20 

 bushels of Charcoal Dust 

 9. 4 bushels of Bone Dust and 20 



bushels of Charcoal Dust . 18 



10. 16 bushels of Bones (hnlf dust) .240 



11. 15 yards of common Straw Dung, 



half rotten . . . 1 10 



12. 40 bushels of pure Charcoal Dust 1 



The Turnips on lot No. 2, sown on the 8th of August, 



came into rough leaf before those on any of the other lots. 



It is worthy of remark that Nos. 1, 2, and 3, are now 



(the 8th of January) in a very growing state, the tops 



weighing nearly five tons per acre. The writer begs to 



call the attention of farmers to the plan used in lot 



No. 3, for every one can, if they please, adopt that by 



having all the chamber lye, soap suds, &c. collected in the 



house thrown daily upon the coal ashes, by which it will 



he seen that the crop nearly doubled lot 11 with 15 yards 



of common dung. The ashes were not kept under cover, 



but no doubt that would be an improvement, and if a 



quart or 41bs. of oil of vitriol diluted with 5 or 6 gallons 



of water, or 10 lbs. of calcined gypsum, or half a bushel 



of charcoal dust was sprinkled over the saturated ashes 



once a week it would prevent the ammonia flying off. In 



addition to the trial lot No. 2, there were nearly three 



acres with sulphuric acid and bone dust in the same field. 



To cover this quantity of ground with the solution two 



men and two horses were at work for nearly two days, 



•with a water-cart that holds 200 gallons, the water being 



about 300 yards from the field ; but when the men are 



accustomed to the work and the wafer is within the above 



distance, from two to three acres may be done in a day. 



Almost every farmer to whom I have shown the crop, or 



spoken upon using ^u'phuric acid, has exclaimed against 



the great trouble ; but surely it is worth a little extra 



trouble if we can raise a larger crop of Turnips with this 



mixture, now costing 13s. Sd. per acre, than with 20 



bushels of bones, nearly four times the expense. Should 



Mr. Fusey's plan of mixing with earth, or the Duke of 

 Richmond's by using only half the quantity of water, 

 answer, it will remove this objection by saving the trouble 

 which is so much thought of. As to a water-cart, every 

 farmer can make one by putting a hogshead upon a pair 

 of cart wheels, and thus provide himself with a most 

 valuable machine for taking out his liquid manure, &c. 

 The autumn and winter having been so very favourable 

 for the growth of Turnips, the crops would no doubt have 

 been much heavier, if a larger sort of Turnips had been 

 sown. Another thing which operated very strongly 

 against the crop, was the field being hill-side; the hail and 

 rain accompanying the dreadful thunderstorm of the 9th 

 of August, washed much soil and manure from each lot, 

 so that in the steeper parts of the field there were but few 

 Turnips ; so severe was the storm, that the seed that had 

 been planted the day before was actually washed out of the 

 ground, to the extent of about an acre, of the part manured 

 with the sulphuric acid, so that not a single Turnip made 

 its appearance: although, however, this part was not ridged 

 up again and replanted for 9 or 10 days, the Turnips grown 

 upon it were fully equal to those on lot No. 7, having 20 

 bushels of bones per acre, thus showing that the solution 

 had not been all washed away with the soil. The fact 

 that the storm did not wash away the solution in the 

 last acre sown (although in the steep parts of the field the 

 other manures except the dung were nearly destroyed) 

 shows that perhaps half the quantity will be sufficient, and 



that the great chemist Liebig, to whom we^rTlndebt^ 

 for this valuable discovery, is right when he says that , 

 much smaller quantity of bones and acids (viz. 40 lb 

 fine bone-dust and 20 lbs. sulphuric acid per acre) W '1I 

 produce a good crop of Turnips. In the Mark Lane 

 Express of January 3rd, 1842, a farmer signing " N. £ 

 Scotland " says he has used for Turnips sulphuric acid 

 and bones at the rate of 60 to 70 lbs. bone dust and 30 t 

 40 lbs. sulphuric acid per acre, for some years, and it has i° 

 every year produced a larger crop than 30 bushels of bones* 1 

 The present price of sulphuric acid is about one penny 

 per lb. in carboys or bottles of about 200 lbs. each. Th 

 writer will procure and deliver at Monmouth or Chepstow 

 during the first week in May any quantity at one guinea 

 per bottle, provided the order is given before the middle 

 of April ; and as he feels most anxious that trials upon 

 all descriptions of well-drained soils, whether sand or clav 

 should be made in this district, he will be most happy 

 during the ensuing season, to give attendance gratuitously 

 to any gentleman or farmer who may wish for his assist- 

 . — Pilstone, near Chepstow, February, 1844. [This 

 tracted, with Mr. Purchas's permission, from the Re- 

 port of the Monmouth Farmers' Club. This gentleman's 

 offer in the last paragraph should be followed by the se- 

 cretaries of other farmers' clubs : the price of a useful 

 article is often less the cause of its not being used than a 

 little trouble in obtaining it.] 



auce 

 is ex 



generated 



ING APPARATUS. 



The subjoined plan of a steaming apparatus we find 

 in general use in the north of Ireland, and we think 

 it might be of service to the Agriculturists of the south. 

 The boiler is an American invention, known under the 

 name of **Jenning's American Patent;" the steam is 



great despatch, — the water rising 

 between the two inner cones 

 (which are of malleable 

 iron), so that all the surface 

 exposed to the flame is 

 surrounded with water, 

 thereby insuring safety from 

 cracking or explosion. An 

 important advantage in this 

 apparatus — the invention 

 of Mr.Robinson.at Lisburn, 

 Ireland — is the power ot 

 heating the water before en- 

 tering the steam-boiler, as 

 shown at 2 in plan, in a 

 vessel surrounding the flue,*! 

 and by which the supply 

 can be self-regulated. In 

 tne plan, 4 cooking vessels 



are shown which may be used for any kind of food for 

 steaming, either separate or mixed ; the vessels are sup- 

 ported on a bench made of wood, as in plan, but any 

 number and size of vessels may be attached, or the steam 

 may be applied to various purposes of heating. The 

 great advantage of this apparatus, over all others which 

 have come under our notice, is the simple manner of 4 its 

 construction ; and, being portable, it may be fitted up in 

 any situation, either under cover or out of doors. Refer- 

 ence to Plan : — 1, steam-boiler; 2, the water-vessel, in 

 which the supply is heated before entering the boiler ; 3, 

 flue ; 4 4 4 4, cooking-vessels, made of white iron (or, 

 for farm purposes, of almost anything — casks answer very 

 well) ; 5, bench on which the vessels are placed, and kept 

 secure by being inserted in grooves, as in plan; 6, steam- 

 pipe, which may be made to any length, according to the 

 number of vessels to be heated ; 7, vessel for a supply of 

 warm water; 8, pipes conveying the'steam to the ves- 

 sels, the steam entering through the holes in the bottom 

 of the vessels, as in plan; 9, safety valve; 10, inside 

 safety case, made of malleable iron; 11, gauge-cocks; 

 12, extra branch-pipe, which may be applied to different 

 purposes ; 19, cock which regulates the supply of heated 

 water to the boiler; 14, pipe conveying the supply of 

 water to boiler; 15, cocks which regulate the supply of 

 steam to vessels. — J. Mcl. 9 Hillsborough. 



ON ASCERTAINING THE WEIGHT OF CATTLE 



BY MEASUREMENT. 



The importance of proceeding on correct principles in 

 the rearing and feeding of live-stock, is now so generally 

 admitted, as to require no illustration. With the feeder, 

 it is especially important that a disposition to arrive at 

 early maturity should be encouraged and secured, so far as 

 the acceleration of this desirable property is within his 

 reach. In this respect much has been done of late, but 

 much still remains to be done. Early maturity is not 

 attainable without hi^h feeding uninterruptedly, from the 

 birth of the animals until they have attained to maturity ; 

 and this can only be attained where a superior system of 

 cultivation is practised, as it is there only that a proper 

 supply of food is available at every period of the season. 

 Infertile districts the aid of cultivation is net necessary to 

 produce the required supply during the summer season, 

 as this is obtained from the pastures; but even in these 

 cases it is by no means rare to find stunted animals, 

 resulting from the winter treatment. The finest cattle are 

 not by any means universally found in the most fertile 

 districts, especially when early maturity — one of the best 

 tests of excellence — is taken into account; so that im- 

 proved cultivation is not only followed by superior crops, 

 but also by a superior description of live-stock ; and in the 

 mixed system of husbandry of the United Kingdom, it 

 must be recollected that by far the greater portion of the 

 proceeds of the farm is obtained by animal products. 

 But, however desirable it may be to possess a proper 

 I knowledge of the correct principles on which the treat- 



ment of live-stock should be founded, it is also important 

 to be able to ascertain their value when ready for market, 

 or to ascertain their progress while feeding. Experience 

 and accurate observation are obviously the essen ia 

 requisites for obtaining this knowledge; but it is to 

 kept in view that the opportunities of the farmer m w 

 respect do not bear a comparison with those o 

 butcher, with whom he has to deal. The latter has * 

 never-failing test, by which he can try the accuracy o to 

 calculations, in having the animals afterwards kulej flj a 

 weighed ; and thus, from time to time, he is enabled w 

 modify his views, and correct his more imperfect estima 

 —opportunities which the farmer rarely or never p - 

 sesses. Long experience, indeed, will enable the farm 

 to form a tolerably correct estimate as to the value oid 

 cattle when slaughtered ; but, even with the aid ot this, 

 is still important to be able to test the correctness .» 

 opinions thus founded. To the young and inex pe rie " ce . 

 farmer it is still more important to be able to do so. i 

 knowledge may be obtained by measurement, and j 

 calculation; or frorn tables constructed for the purp* 

 for the use of which the length and girth of the anim** 



only are required. TO „n«ure- 



The ascertaining of the weight of cattle by ™ easur £ 

 ment is not a recent invention, tables for that purpo 

 having been long in use. It may not, bowever, P™ ve 

 interesting to those who may not have turned the. at 

 tion to the subject, to know on what data ?«^ ca,cuI X te 

 are founded. This will also, by explaining the 

 process, enable the farmer to determine with more 



