THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



309 



„d, from ail that he had heard -id 



£3Sd, being conviDcru , . . educlltion am0 .,g the 



"£ tbet •** a de "' a " X Jeans will be provided in 

 & cU ^ 5 . g L n ,^v or other for supplying it ; so that 



p.1 



pru 



* ', ',£ , He entertained the opinion that this country 

 ** 91 " ' ki, „f producing the muscle, bone, and even the 

 Valuer M estj's s'b-ects, if it were properly cu.ti- 

 fc j nVteokin- at the great increase which wastakipg 

 T .ted ; »* d >f '",* tioa> h | mast say, if he might use the 

 ^sln -i bo«t profaneness, that God never sent 

 22 without food to put into them, and he was m- 

 i S t think that the finger of Providence directed 

 ' !t rtion. which were now making to supply food for 

 ** f"" "' population. All were interested in the 

 n oX-ma"^tnreis among the rest-for if they 

 Slook at the immense proportion of their productions 

 Iwh was consumed at home, in comparison with what 



w^e h ipo a . S ted "abroad, they would see that they had 



an 



enutl interest in increasing the productiveness of the 

 land He himself was no farmer, nor did he own land 

 worth speaking of; but he felt strongly the advantage of 

 promoting agricultural improvement. He believed that 

 if the proposed institution were supported by the farmers 

 generally, there need be no fear of assistance from the 

 owners of the soil ; and he did hope, after the meeting of 

 this day, that no difficulty would be found in raising the 

 funds. Some individuals had asked the rate of interest 

 which was to be allowed ; but he had to state that those 

 persons who were looking for interest must go into the 

 various stock-exchanges, both British and foreign, where 

 the? would find ample investments for their money, and 

 not look to the proposed institution as likely to serve 

 their purpose, for he hoped that its supporters would not 

 bestow one thought on the question of interest. He 

 •hould invest his money with purer motives, and feel that 

 in doing so he was advancing the prosperity of agricul- 

 ture, which interest he believed to be the chief and most 

 important of all others to the country at large, and should 

 consider that it was yielding him greater interest than he 

 had ever received from any other investment. After 

 thanking Lord Bathurst for his kindness in taking the 

 chair, the meeting separated. — Abridged from Ciren- 

 cester Paper. 



FARMERS' CLUBS. 

 Probus. — At the monthly meeting of this Society, a 

 lecture was delivered by Mr. Whitley, of Truro, On 

 the Practical Importance of Geology to the Agricul- 

 turist. Mr. Whitley said, that the physical features of 

 a country, its productions, and the employments of its 

 inhabitants, were influenced by its geological structure. 

 To know more of the causes which produced these effects 



Was thprpfor* dpsirahlft. in order th»<" the rcaourcoo of n 



country might be developed, and its industry directed 

 into useful channels. Soil is generally derived from the 

 geological formation on which it rests ; and thus the 

 various formations have different and peculiar soils rest- 

 ing on them, agreeing in composition with the rock 

 beneath, being good or bad in their texture, according as 

 the rock has a tendency to crumble into a gritty or clayey 

 "ate. A knowledge of the nature and properties of soils 

 requisite, in order that the farmer may raise the 

 greatest amount of valuable produce at the least possible 



h P r S Ti?- nd in SUch a manner as not t0 impoverish the 

 na. i ni 3 knowledge may be obtained by chemical 



approximation to the mineral composition of the soil, 

 torv inTr cbemist is spending hours in his labora- 

 ■t onc P ti f atG and lntricate researches, a geologist infers 



the soil n ft granke 80il contains much potash— that 

 mten e «! n \ ?? ser P enti "e contains a large amount of 

 slate anH lron — th *t soils on greenstone, hornblende- 



Pl«it« ™ & eni r' arC ri0h iQ the inor S anic food 



of 



insight into h C ' Geolo S v will » in fact, give such a general 

 bilities mav h C ° m P osition °* the soil, that its capa- 

 tto«t omfifoH * ndersto °a\ and directed into the channel 



Che si 1 thC farm «--™« W*« ^iton. 

 0T an anon"' ^ following is extracted from a paper, 

 dub :_w J ymou8 ; writer, read at the last meeting of this 

 ni P 8 - The fi? i ad SOme ex P erien ce ID growing Tur- 

 with <mt a h , lng t0 be considered is the fallow ; for 

 P erl r manured" 1 ' thorou g hl y pulverised and pro- 



P lo «ghin» hpf ' a Cr ° P cannot be expected. The deep 



after it is° en , l WlUter Sli0uld never be o m i tted » and 

 be k ept i a . V,' the hed ges round the field should 



lt0 <* of all wVVr ' and the S ates locked, to prevent 

 Und thus trMj • treadin S ^ in wet weather. The 

 ac -ion of the f ™ U h& thorou g hI y pulverised by the 

 tDe «prinjr it fi r i° St , ; , and ia cr oss-ploughing the land in 

 ^hinf Tf ■ ™ be 8ti «'ed as deep as the previous 



^5 btean«i *f * d any dee P er ifc wiU cause a bad 



*° the sun IIa : • . land brought up, when exposed 



* m 'PeakiL Z L7 lDd ' r ]l bake int0 clods. Though I 



s °f alllinH ? y ° f our stiff limestone-land, yet 



fe^ewintS ^ impi °! ed byhaviDg a d6ep 

 :eial one I \Jll ♦ • _, • re g ard t0 manures, the only 



f n«tt^ " ^ on l- dMt - I« 1840, 1 drilled 



1*arte 



Slob. 



IT, 



rs o 



the 



nes on 2 acres, sown with white 



neld was G acres, and the crop by 



In 1841 I sowed a field of 



no ^niipa 



Qu?> "«? r!ZL r • ," 101t A ~wed 



£***» of so^t ner^ lt "ft 2 garters of bones and 2 



bere *r the 2o P t Lm? : ™* ™ UearIy a failure > a8 ' 



came m contact with it, the seed died. 



In 1842 I sowed a field of Swedes; the manure was 

 bones and coal-ashes, over three-fourths of the field, at 

 the rate of 4 quarters to the acre. I divided the field 

 into four parts of 2 acres each : — 



To lot No. 1,-3 quarters bones and l quarter ashes, 



bones and 2 .. ashes. 



»» 

 »» 

 »» 



No. 2,-2 





bones and 3 



ashes. 



No. 3,-1 



No - 4 »— 8 » ashes, per acre. 

 The crop on No. 1 was very strong, and the leaf luxuriant. 

 No. 2 was a heavier crop with a small top. No. 3 was 

 not far short in weight of No. 2. No. 4 was not a quar- 

 ter of a crop. The field was drilled the first week In 

 June. From what I have stated you will perceive there 

 was a waste of bones in No. 1 ; and that if the bones had 

 been equally divided over the field, there would have 

 been an even and a good crop. I think coal ashes 

 mixed with bones is better than bones alone. Two 

 quarters of bones and two quarters of coal ashes will 

 grow a better crop than four quarters of neat bones. 

 The bones and ashes should be mixed 3G hours previous 

 to sowing, because the mixture gets into a high state of 

 fermentation, and when drilled it decomposes very fast, 

 and causes a much more rapid growth of the plants than 

 if sown in a dry state. The next thing to be considered 

 is seed. Every farmer should prove his seed by putting 

 40 seeds into a pot, and covering them one inch deep 

 with fine mould ; should they all vegetate, 2 lbs. per acre 

 would do ; but if one fourth fail, which is often the case, 

 then 2\ lbs., and so on. Mr. Coke, the late Earl of 

 Leicester, made it a rule to drill 3 lbs. of good seed per 

 acre, and his crop never failed. He used to say there 

 was plenty for the fly, plenty to hoe, and plenty for a 

 crop. Mr. C. Blunt says, the best time to sow Swedes 

 is from the last week in May to the middle of June. In 

 1842 I sowed three drills on the 5th of May, and the 

 rest of the field the first week in June, and there was 

 more weight of Swedes on these three drills than on nine 

 of the others. The manure was twelve loads of dung to 

 the acre, ploughed in before Christmas. Last year I 

 repeated the same experiment on the same dates, and the 

 whole of this field was a good crop, but the three May 

 drills were double the weight of those sown in June : 

 the manure the same as for the first trial. It should be 

 borne in mind that a Swede is a much slower growing 

 plant than a common Turnip ; the latter will grow as 

 much in one month as the former will in two. In the 

 report of the Monmouth Farmer's Club for 1843, at page 

 34, we read of a liquid mixture applied to the soil as a 

 manure for Turnips, but I do not approve of the plan of 

 application there suggested ; it is a broad-cast applica- 

 tion of manure, and a drill system with the seed. If 

 farmers would take the trouble to collect the urine made 

 by the stock that is housed in the winter months, they 

 would be able to let the bones remain quiet in their graves. 

 Northamptonshire. — At a late meeting of the Agri- 

 cultural Book Club of this county, it was resolved that 

 the best methods of improving the condition of the En- 

 glish agricultural lnhourers are by establishing and en- 

 couraging, in every village, daily and Sunday schools for 

 useful and religious education ; by promoting the esta- 

 blishment of clubs upon a sound and permanent basis, 

 for providing funds, clothing, &c, for the relief of the 

 sick and superannuated ; by procuring cottage gardens, 

 not exceeding one rood of good land, as near as possible 

 to the residence of the occupier; by providing them with 

 comfortable cottages, containing not less than two bed- 

 rooms ; by paying the labourers weekly on a Friday, in- 

 stead of Saturday, thereby giving them an opportunity 

 of laying out their earnings to the best advantage ; by 

 adopting every possible means of giving constant em- 

 ployment to the agricultural labourers throughout the 

 year, and of paying them according to the work per- 

 formed, and not according to their necessities ; by press- 

 ing upon the attention of the members, composed of 

 landlords, land agents, and tenant farmers, the import- 

 ance of carrying out the spirit of the 6th Resolution ; by 

 devising means of increasing labour in such a manner as 

 will secure to the employer a return equivalent to the 

 additional outlay, without which the occupier cannot 

 afford the expense consequent upon such increase of 

 labour. 



aKebfttos. 



The Farmer. Compiled by George Nicholls, Esq. 



Charles Knight and Co. 

 This work details in very simple language the practice 

 of the farmer on the subjects which successively engage 

 his attention during the course of the year. It was 

 written with the view of being useful to small farmers, 

 by placing before them, in a simple and condensed form, 

 the results of a wider experience, and of a larger amount 

 of scientific research than they would else, probably, have 

 the means of access to. A similar compilation by the 

 same author has been extensively circulated in Ireland, 

 and has been useful there in stimulating to the adoption 

 of improved methods of cultivating land ; and the present 

 work is well calculated to produce similar results in 

 England. 



We are often asked to recommend simple and yet 

 complete works on Agriculture, suitable for small 

 farmers ; in future, we shall answer all such inquiries by 

 referring our correspondents to Mr. Nicholls's compil-i- 

 tion, "The Farmer." We cannot give a better speci- 

 men of the style and general character of this work, and 

 at the same time be more seasonably useful to our readers, 

 than by quoting the following passage on the Artificial 

 Grasses : — 



11 The Artificial Grasses.— No farming can be well con- 

 ducted, in which the artificial Grasses are not cultivated ; 

 for without them there cannot be a proper rotation of 

 crops, nor the requisite supply of manure for the land. 



Clover and Rye-gmss are the chief artificial Grasses in use 

 in British husbandry. They require the land to be in 

 good condition, and are generally sown with the corn 

 crop immediately following a fallow crop of Turnips, 

 Potatoes, or Mangel-wurzel. In choosing Ciover seeJ, be 

 careful that it is clean, and not mixed with other seeds, 

 which may afterwards spring up and become troublesome 

 weeds. The sorts of red, white, and yellow Clover seed, 

 may be easily distinguished from each other. The two 

 latter are perennial pasture Grasses, and the red Clover 

 is biennial and grows tall and luxuriant. Of Rve-grass 

 there are two sorts — the Italian, and the common peren- 

 nial kind, and there is no certain mark by which they can 

 be distinguished. The farmer ought, therefore, to pur- 

 chase his seed from a respectable dealer, in order to guard 

 against mistakes in this respect. When the ley is only 

 intended to stand two or three years, the Italian Rye-grass 

 is preferable, from its giving a more abundant crop than 

 the common variety; but the latter should chiefly be 

 sown for permanent pasture. 



" When land is to be sown for permanent pasture, with 

 white Clover and Rye-grass, the quantity of seed wiil vary 

 a little, according to the condition and quality of the 

 land, poor soil requiring most seed. White Clover should 

 only be sown in land intended for permanent pasture, 

 for which it is well adapted ; but it is wasteful to intro- 

 duce it into alternate cultivation. The red Clover is not 

 adapted for permanent pasture, although in its proper 

 place, and for soiling purposes, it is decidedly the best 

 plant in alternate husbandry, and its growth cannot be 

 too'extensively encouraged. The yellow Clover, or Trefoil, 

 is more permanent than the red, but not so much so as 

 the white, neither is it so much relished by cattle. 

 Grass and Clover seeds are occasionally sown with 

 all sorts of grain crops, but they succeed best with 

 Barley. In high situations, where neither Wheat nor 

 Barley prosper, they may be sown with Oats. The state 

 of the weather, of the ground, and the mode of sowing, 

 all influence the successful vegetation of the crop. A. 

 rough uneven surface will require a greater quantity of 

 seed than a finely pulverised soil. If the weather is wet 

 at the time of rolling in the seeds, they will be apt to 

 adhere to the roller. Calm weather should be selected, 

 if possible, for the sowing of these seeds ; and the time 

 of sowing must be regulated by that of the crops along 

 with which they are sown, or any time in March, April, 

 or May. The white Clover and common perennial Rye- 

 grass, judiciously intermixed and properly cultivated, 

 will ever rank high as a nutritive and wholesome herbage. 

 Through, the agency of these Grasses, extensive tracts of 

 land have been converted into rich pasture, and the pro- 

 duce of the dairy has thereby been greatly augmented. 

 Lime is the manure which has chiefly been used, and its 

 application has improved the soil and adapted it to the 

 habits of the plants, and the land has become progres- 

 sively enriched. Indeed, in the improvement of waste 

 land, and as a preparation for pasturage of white Clover 

 and Rye-grass, the most liberal application of other 

 manure will not always insure their successful growth, 

 without the application of lime. Surface applications 

 are now largely used around Edinburgh, for procuring 

 crops of white Clover and Rye-grass. Soot is applied to 

 a great extent, and has uniformly the effect of forwarding 

 the crop. Liquid manures are also extensively used, and 

 urine is collected with great care, for the purpose of 

 being applied to the soil. Liquid manures are much 

 more lasting in their effects than soot, and seem better 

 adapted for Clover. Saltpetre is likewise used occasion- 

 ally, and forms an excellent top dressing for seeding 

 Grasses. It is by the judicious use of such means as 

 these, that the agriculturists of the Netherlands have 

 been able to obtain abundant crops, and to keep up the 

 fertility of their lands during so long a period. 



" When perennial Grasses are fed or cropped very close 

 in autumn, they do not rise with such a vigorous growth 

 in spring, owing to the removal of that part of the stalk 

 which would have afforded sap for the first nourishment 

 of the Grass ; and even in spring, when the first shoots 

 are fed very close, the Grass does not again grow so 

 vigorously, and is found to yield a considerably less pro- 

 duce during the season than when it is allowed to attain 

 a good growth before it is eaten, and then is not eaten 

 too close." 



Lectures on the Theory of Agriculture, and on the Prac- 

 tices of Farming adopted in Cheshire. By Albert J. 

 Bernays. Roberts and Powlson, Manchester. 

 These lectures were lately delivered by Mr. Bernays, at 

 Siddington, in Cheshire, to the tenants of Mr. Daven- 

 port's estate. They are well calculated to impart a 

 knowledge of the theory of cultivation, and of manures, 

 to those who are unacquainted with the science of 

 chemistry. 



Miscellaneous. 



Connection between Chemistry and Agriculture. — I 

 have noticed with regret that almost all the popular works 

 hitherto written upon agricultural science have fallen 

 into the one common error of endeavouring to make a 

 chemist of the practical farmer ; the authors all seem to 

 think it necessary that, in order to the improvement of 

 Agriculture, every farmer must study chemistry. In 

 this respect, however, I hold a totally different opinion. 

 It appears to me that it would be a precisely analogous 

 case, if writers on climate had said that, in order to pre- 

 serve health, it were absolutely necessary that every in- 

 dividual should studv medicine. It is not an extended 

 knowledge of chemistry that is required— it is only a con- 

 fidence in the results obtained by chemists that is 

 absolutely necessary. If the farmer becomes acouaintca 



