362 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



[Juxe I, 



Now, if we compare the quantities of these different 

 ingredients with the same ingredients capable of being 

 yielded to the plant by 100,000 lbs. of ox urine, or /3/b 

 lbs., the dry matter contained in the above quantity of 

 urine, we shall find that the potash contained in it is more 

 than sufficient to supply the wants of all the plants grown 

 during three entire rotations ; that the soda contained 

 in it is equal to the demand made by the crops, for more 

 than five years ; that the magnesia is more than suffi- 

 cient to supply the plants for four years, or one rotation. 

 The sulphuric and phosphoric acids are more than equal 

 to supply the necessary quantity for a period of five 

 years, while the chlorine would supply the crops at least 



ten years. . . , 



Thus we find that the urine of the ox contains all the 

 inorganic constituents required by plants, and that in 

 considerable quantities; and although guano is richer in 

 phosphoric acid, and possibly in the elements of ammo- 

 nia, it is nearly destitute of the salts of potash and soda, 

 two very necessary constituents in the food of plants. 

 Hence we may infer, that the solid matter in urine is at 

 least equal to guano as a fertilising agent. But as a 

 proof of my former statement, that urine, if properly pre- 

 pared by fixing the ammonia, will produce most decided 

 effects on the crops, I need only insert the following ex- 

 periments, made with the dry solid matter obtained from 

 urine, by first fixing the ammoni a: — 



Crop. Quantity applied 



Produce per acre 



Turnips. 

 Pot at 

 Wheat. 

 Oats. 



I cwt. per acr 



• 



Undressed. 



Dressed. 



The fiars of each kind of grain are divided into three 

 classes, in the following manner :— The general medium 

 price, exclusive of the addition of 2\ per cent., being 

 ascertained, the gross value of the grain sold above that 

 price is divided by the total number of quarters also sold 

 above it, and the result, with the addition of 2\ per cent., 

 forms the first or highest fiars. The general medium, 

 as ascertained in the manner already stated, with the 

 addition of 2\ per cent., forms the second or medium 

 fiars. The gross value of the grain sold below the gene- 

 ral medium is divided by the total number of quarters 

 also sold below it, and the result, with the addition of 2 \ 

 per cent., forms the third or lowest fiars. 



As before observed, all the grain in the returns must 

 be the growth of the county, but it will be apparent 

 that only a portion of that sold within the county is in- 

 cluded in striking the averages. All grain sold upon 

 credit or for seed, all gray corn, and that not delivered 

 within the county, is excluded ; and further, all sold in 

 markets out of the county is also excluded. No fiars of 

 meal, flour, or other articles are struck. 



The notes of sales, depositions, and calculations in 

 striking the averages, are preserved by the sheriff-clerk, 

 and a separate record is kept, showing the several riars 

 prices for each year. This latter record exists from 1627. 

 After the fiars are declared in court, upon the first 

 Thursday in March, extracts are issued by the officer to 



those requiring them. 



The following are the East Lothian fiars, per imperial 



quarter, for the crops of 1842 and 1843 : — 



»» 



i» 



100 lbs. 



»» 



Tons. Cwt. 

 12 17 



12 15* 



43 3bushcls 



44 — 



Tons. Cwt. 

 24 11 

 14 10 



i 51 lSbushels 



54 2 



These results are sufficient proof of the advantages to 

 be derived from the use of urine, and certainly ought to 

 stimulate to exertion those faronrs who expend money 

 in the purchase of guano, while they witness with the 

 most perfect indifference the waste of a fertilising liquid, 

 capable of producing all the effects of guano, at a fiftieth 

 part the cost of that article ; and with which liquid they 

 produce disease, and often suffer the death of many a 

 valuable animal, by compelling it to drink a poisonous 

 solution of its own excrements from its owner's black 

 horsepond. — Alfred Gyde, Painsiuick. 



SKETCHES OF EAST LOTHIAN HUSBANDRY. 



As the method of fixing or striking the liars prices 

 of grain adopted in this county presents certain pecu- 

 liarities, as compared with that pursued in other parts of 

 Scotland, a brief account of it may not be here out of 

 place, in connexion with the subject of tenure occupying 

 my two last papers. The auihority for the continuance 

 of this peculiarity is immemorial usage, sanctioned by a 

 special judgment of the Court of Session, applicable to 

 the mode of striking the fiars, and bearing date 10th 



Dec, 1771. 



The fiars are generally declared upon the first Thurs- 

 day of March annually, ami the averages ascertained are 

 those of grain of a particular crop or year, sold between 

 the reaping thereof and the second last Friday in Feb. 

 thereafter. On a few occasions, the fiars have been 

 ascertained, and struck a week earlier. 



In the" beginning of February, annually, a list of from 

 80 to 100 of the principal farmers in the county, who 

 sell grain within the same for ready money, is prepared ; 

 care being taken to select a proper proportion from each 

 district. These are then summoned to appear before 

 the sheriff on the last Friday of February, being market- 

 day in Haddington, there to depose to the quantities, 

 kinds, and prices of grain sold by them respectively of 

 the last-reaped crop, and requiring them to lodge with the 

 proper officer on the previous Friday a note of such sale9, 

 including those of that day, under a penalty of 10s. Each 

 return from these notes of sales is copied over in the form 

 of a deposition, and upon the day of appearance, the sheriff 

 administers an oath to each seller appearing, to the effect 

 that the note of sales there read over to him is true — 

 that the grain sold was by imperial measure — all raised 

 within the county — of the particular crop for which the 

 fiars are about to be ascertained — and all delivered within 

 the county at the prices stated. From the evidence in 

 these depositions, statements are prepared by the sheriff 

 clerk, showing the particular quantities or number of 

 quarters sold by each person at each price— the total 

 quantities sold at each price, as shown by the returns — 

 the amount or value of each total quantity sold at one 

 price — the gross amount of the quantities sold, and the 

 gross price thereof. 



From the data thus given, the average prices are easily 

 ascertained by dividing the gross price by the number of 

 quarters, the result being the price of one quarter. This 

 produces the general medium, to which an addition of 2\ 

 per cent, thereon is made to form the average or second 

 fiars for the particular grain under calculation. The 

 reason assigned for this- addition to the average prices is, 

 that it was long the custom to strike the fiars twice in 

 the year, at the terms of Candlemas and Lammas ; but 

 that the average of both fiars was found to be, during a 

 considerable number of years, nearly the same as that 

 struck at Candlemas, with the addition of 2\ per cent. 

 upon the amount. The tenants some time ago, having 

 strongly expressed their dissatisfaction with this method 

 of striking the fiars, had the matter legally investigated, 

 but failed to tflEect any alteration, aa the existing mode 

 had previously received the sanction of the Supreme 

 Court. 



time, and be particularly well fed at night. In boistero^ 

 weather it is well to protect the windward side with 

 wattles, or some such simple contrivance, especially t 

 the top of the kiln ; and in very rainy weather a watuV 

 or reed roof might be useful ; but I have known the 

 operation to proceed very well— though of course more 

 slowly — when a clamp was unprotected in the middle of 

 a wild bog, and under heavy snows. 



I mentioned that clay might be advantageouslv 

 roasted in the same clamps with Peat. In my experi- 

 ments on this earth, in conjunction with Peat I 

 employed it both in the friable state in which it is found 

 after clearing out ditches, and also in its natural com- 

 pact state, working the latter into small balls aud par- 

 tially drying them. Clay acts usefully by detaining heat 

 within the kiln, and it is itself torrified by the process. 

 In localities where clay is found contiguous to Peat the 

 combination of the two substances in the same kiln would 

 be little expensive ; but this must be received rather as a 

 suggestion for others to work upon, than as the result of 

 sufficient experience on my part. 



As regards the charring of farm weeds, it may not be 

 always convenient to remove them from a field ; and it 

 must be recollected that weeds when dried and burned 

 in heaps serve as fuel to roast or burn some of the soil. 

 In cases where this process is desirable and found to be 

 beneficial, it will probably be considered as the best and 

 most economical method of getting rid of weeds, and of 

 converting them to use, as it is done on the spot ; but 

 weeds from plantations, the thinnings of fences, small 

 brushwood, the clearings of ditches, &c, (perhaps even 

 leaves) might, I think, be turned to better account than 

 they commonly are, by charring them in clamps, mixed 

 or not with clay, according to the uses for which they 

 are destined. I also conceive that the produce from 

 field weeds would form a still more efficacious manure if 

 they were better dried, covered more thickly with earth, 

 and burned in much larger heaps than is usual, so as to 

 render the combustion very slow, which would reduce 

 more of the vegetable matter to the state of charcoal, 



and less of it to ash. 



There is another species of temporary kiln much used 

 in France, where vast quantises of peat charcoal are pre- 

 pared and used instead of wood charcoal, for cookery, 

 &c. I have also seen the same somewhere in England 

 or Ireland, but forget he locality. Wherj bogs are cut 

 away for the purpose of fuel, and that work is judiciously 

 performed by quarrying the bog with a perpendicular 

 face from top to bottom, and by bringing on the floor, 

 or original soil, flat and available for immediate culture, 

 a cheap and excellent charcoal kiln is formed by sinking 

 a cylindric hole (conical towards the bottom like a lime- 

 kiln) in the firmest part of the peat, and within a yard 



_, w „™,_« v .~- or two of the face of the cutting. A small hole is then 



In reply to your inquiries relative to the methods of pierced through the face into the kiln at the level of the 



•.harrin^ Peat, &c. alluded to by me at a recent meeting bottom, to draw off any water at first, and to let in as 



hen the kiln is at work. 



Crop 1842. 



Wheat 

 Barley 

 Oats 

 Peas 



First. 



£2 



1 

 1 

 1 



12 



10 



1 



0* 



H 



7i 

 IN 



Second. 



£2 

 1 

 

 1 



8 

 8 



19 



7 



11 



11* 



8i 



Third. 



£2 



1 







1 



5 



5 



18 



5 



n 



6 



Crop 1843. 



First. 



Wheat 

 Barley 



Oats 



Peas 



H 



£2 14 

 1 13 11 

 1 2 l| 



No return. 



Second. 



£2 11 3J 



1 11 io| 

 1 1 o| 



No return. 



Third. 



£2 8 84: 

 1 9 10 

 19 1 13 



No return. 



In most of the other counties of Scotland the fiars 

 prices are ascertained by a jury of respectable tenants 

 and proprietors. A large number, usually 45, are sum- 

 moned by the sheriff at the Candlemas terra, and a jury 

 of 15 balloted from among them. The fiars are then 

 struck by the jury in the manner already described, with 

 the exception, however, of any per centage being added, 

 as is the case in East Lothian. The ministers' stipends 

 are usually computed by the first or highest fiars, and the 

 rents generally by the second or medium fiars ; but this is 

 matter of agreement between the parties.— T. Sullivan. 



ON the MANUFACTURE of PEAT-CHARCOAL. 



* The land on which the potatota were planted received a 

 dressing of 40 cubic yards of dung per aero. 



char 



of the Council of the Royal Agricultural Society of Eng- 

 land, you are welcome to such knowledge as I possess. 



The clamps which I constructed in Lancashire were 

 small, being about 2 yards square within, and the wal's 

 about 1A yard high. These were rapidly and conve- 

 niently built of massive sods cut from the superficial 

 bog-earth, which had beenrecently turned|over by a pecu- 

 liar plough, in slices 18 inches broad by 9 inches deep. 

 The joints of the walls were plastered, where needed, 

 with soft stuff obtained from adjacent drains. I also 

 formed other clamps or kilns, both square and circular, 

 by raising walls with moist bog diggings, on the plan of 

 Pisa work. Since the purport of all ovens is to keep 

 air out, and heat in, it is obvious that any material will 

 serve a temporary purpose which may be handy to the 

 desired spot, cheaply put together, and which does not 

 burn away too quickly. Slabs of unburnt clay would 

 answer well, but my object was to use the materials fur- 

 nished by the bog itself, and in any part of it. Three or 

 four small holes, say 4 inches square, are left in the walls 

 at bottom to give air for kindling the fire, which is first 

 made pretty strong with dried Peats, in order to establish 

 a mass of red-hot fuel at bottom. These apertures are 

 diminished as the process goes on, and finally stopped up. 

 If the Peat to be charred be nearly dry, the clamp may 

 be speedily filled, always using the driest Peat first, and 

 covering the top with damp sods or diggings. The air- 

 holes must be quite closed when it is judged, by the 

 appearance of the volume and clearness of the smoke, 

 that sufficient heat is acquired below to carry on the 

 operation. As the contents subside fresh stuff is added, 

 care being taken to maintain the kiln quite full, to close 

 ail interstices in the walls, and to fill up holes at top as 

 they occur from shrinkage produced by combustion. 

 Flame must never be allowed to appear on the surface. 

 The clamp is known to be sufficiently filled with char- 

 coal when the added stuff settles but little. The opera- 

 tion should be stopped when the charred mass approaches 

 within 18 or 12 inches of the top; otherwise, the incum- 

 bent air, particularly in windy weather, may reach the 

 charcoal, which would then be quickly reduced to ashes. 

 The fire will gradually go out on carefully stopping the 

 access of air, and smothering the surface with'wet stuff, 

 but the best plan is to extinguish with water, which also 

 prevents the finer dust from being blown away when the 

 clamp is emptied. These are the chief observances to 

 be regarded in the management of such kilns, but there 

 is some skill requisite in giving air, from time to time, 

 at bottom, if the operation proceed too sluggishly, flee, 

 which must be left to the intelligence of the attendant, 

 and which a little practice would soon point out to him. 

 One man can attend to many such ovens, when the stuff 

 to be charred is close at hand ; or, if one kiln only be 

 used, it must be looked to twice or thrice in the day 



d rery superior methods of ™™Z* 

 d cut, as practised at Mennecy, Elbceut, 



much air as may be necessary w — 

 These kilns will serve many times in bogs of to erably nrm 

 consistency, if skilfully managed. The sides become 

 charred and hard, and charcoal being a very slow con- 

 ductor, heat penetrates but a short distance into the sur- 

 rounding mass, though the kole is of course eniargea 



each time of use. . wtt - * rt 



If the preparation of peat charcoal for manure were to 

 become a,, object of such importance and sale, that .* 



treme economy in the cost of its B»^° B J^ n tH! 



nient, other an 



could be pointed l-ul, as pi»^.^ -— - * . 



and other parts of France; also at Liverpool and a 

 Ireland by C. W. Williams, Esq., Director of ^the U* 

 of Dublin Steam Company. I have limited my ob^ 

 tions to the construction and maimgen ento that si 

 of rough and ready agricultural kiln which is most W 

 to suit the individual farmer ; but where an on P« 

 sesses a peat to which he might annually report tor 



supply of charcoal, it would be more ™™*}*?* w * 

 anoven of brick, than of the perishable «^n J^ 



mentioned. Even ashes would be »« ch ,^ et %7e«oied 

 and secured in a walled kiln, than as °' ,d " ial % W L fifl | 

 to the winds of heaven. — Josiah Parties, /, 

 College Street, Westminster. 



ON MINERAL~AND INORGANIC MANURES. 



No. XVII. 

 By Professor Charles Sprengel. 



( Continued from page 303.) 0Qn . 



e. Marl from Oldenburg, (clayey). 100,UWP 



sist of 



76,383 parts silica and quartz sand 



5.902 



5,696 

 0,210 

 4,199 

 1,100 

 3,339 



2,556 



0,250 

 0,015 



0,020 



it 



M 



>> 





alumina 



oxide and protoxide of iron 



oxide of manganese 



lime 



magnesia 



carbonic acid, combined v? 



ith H 018 



and 



JJKhTU coined .ith H- 



ph^hZc aeid, combmed rffc 11* 



common salt 



potash, combined with silica 



as 



100,000 parts. . t^.th-soil int0 



This marl is chiefly used for bringing he&w be . 



a state of cultivation, which it will ^P^Tj,, fop, 

 mically, but mechanically ; so much so that i^.^ ^ 

 Rye, and other crops may be raised at °" ce » <j U ce 



same soil manured merely with dung, "l 11 .^/^*** 

 Rye, Oats, and Buck-Wheat. This m» ri ! lt } s . ittle cO*' 

 tair^ but little potash and soda, but this is of WP 



