302 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



Organic matters and salts of ammonia . 112— No, 1. 44— No. 2. 



Soluble saline matter, consisting of sul- 

 phates and chlorides of potash and soda 32 



Phosphates of lime and magnesia and 

 carbonate of lime . . ♦ .24 



„ 34 



i» 



»> 30 » 



2 68 



108 



»t 



These substances, with a trilling exception, must have 

 been obtained from the urine and faeces of the animals 

 of the yard, and are, in fact, identically the same as those 

 found in guano, which is the dung and urine of sea birds ; 

 and though they differ in proportions from guano, still 

 the fertilising agents in the two arealike, with this excep- 

 tion, that the former contains its organic or animal 

 matter in a fresher and more actively putrefying condition, 

 and is just as much better as a manure as it is more 

 dangerous to take as food. 



Now, only let any farmer, who, every time that he 

 passes the horsepond where his cattle drink has the mis- 

 fortune to see his face reflected on a dark-brown slimy 

 surface, imagine that it speaks to him thus: — " Why do 

 you talk or think of guano ? Here am I, full of the very 

 essence of guano, yet totally neglected by you ! In fact, 

 I am actually as if you had expended so many pounds 

 sterling in the purchase of guano, and had thrown it all 

 into water, and stirred it well up so as to compound 

 the richest of liquid manures; yet neglecting me as a 

 manure for your Grain-crops or Grass-land, you allow me 

 to be taken as food by your horses, for which, on the 

 other hand, I am a slow consuming poison ; you give me 

 as drink— a black, disgusting, nauseous draught — for 

 cows, from whose milk you make butter and cheese for 

 sale, or for oxen, upon whose healthy flesh and rapid 

 growth your profits depend. Your folly in thus neglect- 

 ing me is self-evident and would be sufficiently obvious, 

 though I should say nothing of the exhalations from my 

 surface, which poison your family, your labourers, and 

 yourself, which are now known to carry by the lungs 

 into the system the seeds of most of the fevers and agues 

 which human flesh is heir to, and which are also shrewdly 

 suspected by many to be one of the causes of the inac- 

 curatety-so-called Epidemic, which has so often decimated 

 the herds of this country, and from which you have pro- 

 bably suffered yourself." 



Such an imaginary address on the part of the horse- 

 pond may, doubtless, appear overcharged and ridiculous 

 to some ; but, unfortunately, it is in many instances 

 lamentably and literally true. If future space in these 

 columns be allowed, I hope to make this apparent to 

 many not yet aware of it, by showing in the first place, 

 by a few simple calculations, the money value of the lost 

 ingredients, measured, as nearly as may be, by the same 

 ingredients contained in guano ; and this, I think, will 

 tend to open the eyes of the farmer to the great amount 

 of valuable manure he in this way habitually throws 

 away ; and, secondly, by showing the positive mischief 

 done to cattle by allowing such large quantities of dele- 

 terious and putrefying matter to find its way into the 

 stomach of the living animal — Alfred Gyde^ Painswick. 



trust that those who may be inclined to assist in obtain- 

 ing the above information will have the kindness to pre- 

 serve a small portion of the prevalent weeds in the above 

 crops, and send them to me for examination and bota- 

 nical determination, together with all the information 

 that they may possess concerning the origin of the seeds 

 from which the crop was raised. A sample of the seeds 

 themselves should also be preserved. It is only by ob- 

 taining extended information of this kind that we can 

 expect to derive valuable hints for the guidance of the 

 farmer. The parts of the weeds required are, the flowers, 

 a few leaves, if the plant has any, the Dodder being 

 without them, and, if possible, the seeds. They may be 

 sent to me by post, addressed to St. John's College, 

 Cambridge. — Charles C. Babiigton. 



[May ii 9 



much to learn in almost erery departmeaToTTw 



fession. 



AGRICULTURAL WEEDS. 



Allow me to call the attention of farmers to the 

 weeds which may occur in their crops during the pre- 

 eent season. It is quire unnecessary to occupy valuable 

 ■pace with showing that the neglect of weeds is sure to 

 be followed by a less plentiful crop, and that as the 

 Taluable produce is decreased so is the number of weeds 

 sure to be increased during each successive season. Most 

 weeds perfect their seeds before the crop is ripe, and 

 thus, filling the soil with them, provide a plentiful supply 

 of their progeny for many successive years; for, although 

 the crop may be so changed as not to allow the seeds to 

 vegetate in the two or three next seasons, still, when 

 the rotation brings favourable culture on the land, then 

 the seeds of the farmer's pests, which have lain dormant 

 during the unfavourable interval, spring up in abundance. 

 Thus it i* »K-**y Tor the farmer's 6enc.ni Lo expend pre 



sent money in clearing his fields of weeds, as by such 

 an expenditure he will insure a long succession of better 

 crops, and by producing a cleaner sample in the market, 

 command a higher price for his grain. But the object 

 had in view when commencing this communication was 

 to remind the farmer that it often happens that the 

 weeds which are amongst the most troublesome in his 

 crops are brought on to the land with the seed. The 

 seeds of many weeds are mixed with the seeds of Corn, 

 Clover, Lucerne, Flax, and other crops, as sold by the 

 importer (for it is chiefly foreign seeds that are in this 

 dirty state, more care being usually taken with those of 

 English growth), and it is strongly recommended that 

 all such seeds should be removed by means of a sieve, 

 for happily many of them are smaller than the valuable 

 seeds with which they are mixed. Should, however, 

 this not have been done, it is much to be wished that 

 farmers would carefully note down the name of the per- 

 son and the exact time when the seed was obtained, and 

 also its origin, either English or from what continental 

 country. This is the more desirable in the cases of 

 Clover and F ax since both of these crops are infested 

 with peculiarly destructive weeds, which there is everv 

 reason to believe is derived from dirry foreign seeds I 

 refer chiefly to the Doider. which has already been 

 noticed in the Agricultural Gazette, but not to that 



alone. It is probable that the dirty seeds all come from 

 particular foreign parte, and that by ascertaining the 

 origin of the seeds which have produced crops infested 

 with weeds, we may be enabled to supply farmers with 

 such information as will prevent them from purchasin - 

 the dirty instead of the clean seeds. I venture to re' 

 quest the co-operation of farmers in this endeavour, and 



SKETCHES OF EAST LOTHIAN HUSBANDRY. 



Agriculture is improved either by the more general 

 diffusion of information already existing, or by addition 

 to the stock of information on the subject, by discovery. 

 The comparative importance of either is determined by 

 circumstances. When the various improvements in the 

 science and practice of husbandry are already made 

 available to the fullest extent, the attention will neces- 

 sarily be directed to the adoption of further improve- 

 ments, resulting from discovery. But there are few 

 farms in the kingdom, and still fewer districts, of which 

 this cao be said ; so that the more general diffusion of 

 information already existing will long continue an im- 

 portant means of improving the Agriculture of the 

 country. The practice of husbandry is, perhaps, no- 

 where so perfect that it would not be further improved 

 by the introduction, to a greater or less extent, of the 

 system of management elsewhere adopted ; and the 

 intelligent farmer, who is anxious to render his practice 

 as perfect as possible, will, so often as opportunity offers, 

 not fail to examine the practice of other districts for that 

 purpose, and compare it with his own. One district may 

 be famous for the rearing of stock, another for fattening 

 them ; while the manufacture of butter or cheese, or the 

 cultivation of grain crops, may be the chief charac- 

 teristics of others. Each, it may be supposed, will 

 present the most favourable examples of superior manage- 

 ment in its own peculiar department ; and an inspection 

 of each will not fail to instruct the farmer, whose labours 

 are more varied, and whose attention is necessarily 

 directed in a greater or less degree to them all, 



But acquiring information in this manner is attended 

 by a very considerable sacrifice of time and money — so 

 great, in fact, that few farmers are inclined to encounter 

 it ; and, in consequence, it is not unusual to find many 

 of the most intelligent farmers in the country, whose in- 

 formation, from personal examination, is confined to 

 perhaps from 20 to 30 miles round the farms which they 

 occupy. The same object is no doubt effected, although 

 in an inferior degree, by a perusal of the reports of 

 others in the various publications on the subject, which 

 now happily so much abound. However inferior instruc- 

 tion communicated by means of the press may be to that 

 acquired by personal observation, it is in the majority of 

 cases the only means available ; and of the value at 

 present attached to it there cannot be more conclusive 

 evidence than the existence of such publications as the 

 Agricultural Gazette. 



Premising these general remarks, it may be further 

 observed, that as the practice of Agriculture is so much 

 regulated by local circumstances, it seems manifestly 

 unwise to recommend the system of any particular 

 district, however excellent, for general adoption. Local 

 circumstances alone must determine the value of any 

 peculiarity of practice, although the details of the practice 

 of any well-cultivated district may afford useful hints in 

 some department to almost every reader. It is with these 

 vews that I conceived an account of East Lothian 

 husbandry might be perused, not only with pleasure 

 but also with profit by the readers of the Gazelle. Even 

 uuder the most dissimilar circumstances, instruction may 

 be derived from contrast as well as from analogy. I am 

 most anxious to confine myself to facts, leaving the 

 reader to draw his o«n conclusions. 



The LothUns have long been celebrated for their 

 superior cul.ivation. There are no doubt oner districts 

 IB England and Scotland in which the breeding and 

 management of live stock are better understood : but it 

 is to be recollected that East Lothian in particular is 

 chiefly a Gorn.growing district, the rearing and fattening 

 of hve stock being generally a secondary consideration 

 «th most of the East Lothian farmers. It is here aUo 

 that the thrashing-machine, now so essential on tillage 



wi 



Before entenng into minute details of practice » t_ 

 statistical particulars, together with a brief deJri ♦• 

 of the soil, climate, &c, of this interesting cn U n£ P * 

 not be unacceptable to the general reader, and wilifo* 7 

 a necessary preliminary to the more practical subject 

 which are afterwards to be noticed. The era of aerial 

 tural improvement in this shire is said to have comm J * 

 at the period of the Union in 1707. Fanners w™inr 

 duced from Holland by Andrew Meikle, in 1710 j?" 

 Walker, tenant-farmer at Beanstone, near Haddin»t 

 was the first who practised and showed the utiluv°°f 

 fallowing; and as early as 1724 summer-fallowing became 

 common on all strong clay-soils throughout the countv 

 The first park or pleasure-ground was one containing .500 

 acres, inclosed by the Duke of Lauderdale, at Lennox 

 Love, about the same period; but it was not till towards 

 the beginning of the present century that farms were 

 subdivided by thorn hedges or stone dykes as at present 

 It appears also that horse-hoe husbandry and Turnin 

 culture were introduced and practised by Wight of O 

 miston, in 173G ; that the Potato was first introduced in 

 1740, but that this invaluable esculent was not grown in 

 the open fields till about the year 1760. After the Union 

 the celebrated Cockburn, of Ormiston, by introducing 

 and granting long leases, did much to promote the agri- 

 cultural interests of the county, and to disseminate the 

 spirit of improvement amongst the tenantry. Since that 

 period East Lothian may be regarded as one great expe- 

 rimental farm for the advancement of husbandry, under 

 the care of a series of spirited individuals, who emulated 

 each other in the introduction and practice of useful 

 agricultural improvements. 



This county has the honour of being the birth-place o 

 some of the most distinguished Scotch agricultura 

 authors and mechanics; of whom, however, I shall here 

 mention only the names of two, — Robert Brown and 

 Andrew Meikle, — the former author of a well known 

 "Treatise on Rural Affairs," and original editor of the 

 "Farmeis' Magazine;" and the latter the ingenious 

 inventor of the threshing-machine. 



The extent of East Lothian, according to the most 

 accurate admeasurement, is 282 square miles, or 180,480 

 acres, of which 104,530 acres are arable, the remainder 

 being occupied in permanent pasture, woods, wastes, &c 

 The number of farms, of all sizes, in the county is at 

 present computed at 418. 



The annual value of real property, as assessed in 1815, 

 was 251,126/., and the annual rental as assessed for the 

 year ending 5th April, 1843, 244,856/. 6$. 9$d. 



The population of East Lothian, in 1831, was 36,145, 

 and in 1841 it was 35,781, showing a decrease of about 

 one per cent. The number of agricultural families in 

 1821 was 3009, and in 1831, 2840, showing a decrease of 

 169 in these ten years ; arising, doubtless, in conse- 

 quence of the gradual enlargement of the farms, which 

 took place during that period. 



General appearance. — East Lothian is divided into 

 highlands and lowlands, — the former inland, and the 

 latter adjacent to the Frith of Forth. The highland dis- 

 trict is part of the extensive range of the Lammermoor 

 hills, which separate this county from Berwickshire. 

 From these hills the land slopes in the most pleaiin 

 manner towards the sea ; Nature has elegantly dispose 

 the surface of this shire into ranges of hills and fertile 

 dales, traversing the county from east to west, and pre- 

 senting a beautifully varying surface. On account of this, 

 its undulating appearance, East Lothian is saidtobearsome 

 topographical resemblance to Northampton. The entire 

 aspect of the county bears the stamp of long con- 

 tinued and judicious improvements, and their invariable 

 effects of general opulence and prosperity. ^ hen viewed 

 off any considerable eminence, such as the Lammermoor 

 and Garleton hills, or North-Berwick-Law— the latter 

 being an isolated, conical hill, near the town of that name 

 — the scenery all around is truly picturesque, and the 

 beauty of the landscape almost unrivalled. Elegant seats 

 of the nobility and gentry, surrounded and adorned with 

 well-kept policies, plantations, &c. ; compact and well- 

 arranged farm-steadings with their elevated steam-chim- 

 neys, extensive stack-yards, and other appurtenances, 

 meet the eyes of the observer in every direction. 



Soil.— Th* soil of East Lothian is, like the appearance 

 of its surface, much diversified. Its general character is 

 a strong stiff tenacious clay, naturally very fertile, but 

 moat difficult and disagreeable to labour ; commonly re- 

 quiring four or five ploughing*, and an endless number 

 of harrowings, rollings, grubbings, &c, even in favour- 

 aole seasons, before it can be sufficiently pulverised and 



perfection No shire in Scotland can compete with this 

 in the quality of its grain-none gives a larger return 

 when milled, or brings a higher price in the market. 



In presenilis the readers of the Agricultural Gazelle 

 with a series of pla.n articles, descriptiveof Ea*t Lothian 

 farming I wish it to be understood that I am by no 

 r,s desirous of representing the system there pureed 

 as approaching perfection in every resp ect . Science has 

 shown, and its greatest admirers must admit, that rhe 

 ti.iage husbandry of certain districts in that countv 



however deserving of the reputation which it has all 



saturated with it, requires a long time to become dry an 

 ready for working. When ploughed in a wet state, tue 

 soil adheres to the plough like mortar, the work is im- 

 properly executed, and the land greatly injured fr0U1 



mea 



poaching or tramping of the horses ; while, on 



the other 



hand, if ploughed when too dry, the soil turns upin lar » . 

 obdurate cakes, frequently defying the united forces 

 all the usual tillage implements to reduce them, nnti 

 receives a days' rain ; after which the clods crtt»MJi 



Diiti- 



and break down with the action of the harrows. 



cult and dis igreeable to labour as the strong clayey so 1 



ready acquired, and to which its present comparatively of this country undoubtedly is, yet in favourable seasons 

 advanced character entitles it, is still susceptive of H produces very abundant crops of Wheat, Oats, Bar- 

 great improvements and that its best farmers have yet | ley, Beans, Swedish Turnips, and Clover. These 



