184*.] 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



365 





Ce never had . ny disease of the lungs in any one in- 

 Since, when the ai.L a l has been kept up ; though round 

 ml whole dairies have bee n swept away by the deadly 

 Si«ea«e in that organ, wlnJj has raged this year. I used 

 *o lo«e more when they we~ fa, the fields than since I 

 J . kept them up, and the same ground will keep 

 •Knre double— I should say tro^e the number. I 

 murht to have added, that I alwa w let them have 



♦ or three hours to rub themselves -» n d walk about 

 ?r°« small yard, and they go to water ab^t 100 yarJs 

 ♦-L a dav. For rearing cattle for dairy ma.agement, 



* r fJedinz I feel sure « X." will find it m*sh the 

 or for leeaing, * ■*» 



W svstem if he tries it fairly.— ^. #• F. 



AV« 'Cause of Failure in the Wheat Crop.-The* 

 h.ibrena remarkable failure of some fields of Wheat 

 around North Berwick, which has been ploughed down 

 «ithin the last few weeks. In early spring it promised 

 as fine a crop as any in the country. Plants however 

 here and there began to look sickly and to flag, which 

 lay w the e ! In the course of ten days. On examination 

 every stem of the plants attacked were found to contain 

 small grub, which enters about two inches beneath 

 the surface of the soil, eats its way up the centre of 

 the stem till it reaches the light, when it either dies or 

 becomes transformed. The plants appear to reproduce 

 fresh buds from the joint beneath the door of the grub ; 

 but the remaining vitality seems too weak to carry leaves 

 to the air lor respiration, far less to yield a crop. Mr. 

 Ross, steward to T. Richardson, Esq., Abbey Mains, 

 called lately with specimens of the plants containing the 

 grubs, which we showed to Professor Low and others, 

 who looked upon them as new evils on the farmers of 

 this country. It, however, shows the importance of 

 Entomology to the agriculturist, as perhaps the most 

 efficient preventive for such would be to detect the 

 insect flv when it appears to deposit its eggs, and keep it 

 from lighting on the field by the application of some re- 

 pulsive perfume, such as soot, guano, or sand that has 

 been immersed in gas-water, &c, dried and sown over 

 the field. Might not entomologists find it a profitable 

 employment to get up small cabinets of insects injurious 

 to vegetation, in their various transformations, with 

 details of the best known preventives and remedies for 

 the destruction of each species ? — R. Arthur, Edinburgh, 

 Indian Corn. — In reference to Mr. Colman's remark 

 upon Indian Corn being well worthy of a trial as green 

 food for cows (see page 306), I feel convinced that this 

 plant might be grown with much advantage for this pur- 

 pose, even in the north of England, and much more in 

 the south. Last year I grew about a score of plants of 

 seed I brought from the north of Italy, which, from Mr. 

 Colman's description of " the Canadian variety with small 

 yellow ears," I should think were the same kind. These 

 yielded so much excellent food for cows late in Septem- 

 ber, and they were so fond of it, eating Cob half ripe, 

 leaves and stalk, with the greatest relish ; but I have this 

 year sown all the seed I hud (two cobs), and am only 

 waiting for rain to transplant it. I should be very glad 

 to induce others to try it in the south, and state the re- 

 sult in the autumn. It comes in for cow food at a time 

 when Vetches are finished, when Clover is much better 

 eaten by sheep than cut again, and when it is wasteful to 

 give Turnips, as they aie fast increasing in bulk and good- 

 ness.— IV. D. F. 



^ Munures. — As it appears from Mr. Gyde's calcula- 

 tions in the last Agricultural Gaxette, p. 222, amply 

 borne out by those of Liebig and Mr. liree, that the 

 annual urine of each individual contains 67 lbs. of solid 

 matter, equal as to its manuring properties to guano, it 

 follows that its yearly value at the price of the latter 

 (10/. per ton) is full 5s., and consequently that, if the 

 urine of the 2,000,000 of inhabitants of London were 

 collected and applied as manure, its annual value would 

 be 500,000/., equal to ten per cent, on a capital of 

 5,000.000/.— a sum amply sufficient to pay for the out- 

 lay necessary to have a separate system of drainage-pipes 

 for the metropolis. Why, then, with our superfluity of 

 capital, U not a company organised for this purpose? 

 T> hat folly to send, at vast expense, for guano from Peru 

 and Africa, when we can have at home as good manure 

 lor less money ; for if the other contents of water- 

 closets be included, the product would be in value far 

 more than 5s. per head. Even in the little Italian state 

 of Lucca, the farmers (who rarely occupy more than from 

 JO to 20 acres of land each) readily give* a sum equal to 



\ a , year f ° r tlie content8 of the cesspool of a family, 

 and fttch it in large water-carts from Pisa— a distance of 



if in* 8 ; and as manure is at least twice as dear here, 

 " l0 »°ws that the annual value of the contents of the 



TT > J Cl ? 5ets ' &c *' of the 5,000,000 of families of the 

 -united Kingdom is 10,000,000/. sterling, of which full 



ton °f 5,0M ' O0O/ m iB waited— equal in value to 500,000 

 nhrn , ., gyano ' of which manure we are actually fretting 

 vXatl 1 P ° SSibility of exhaus.ing the supply, when we 

 lnnn * Waste an amount of manure at home equal to 

 iuuu cargoes of 500 tons each, of it annually ! And if 

 " una we add only half of Mr. Gyde's estimated amount 



we ha m 9n U n 6 fr ° m Cattle ( 30 »°00,000/.) as being wasted, 

 Urte VC ,000 > °W- every year thrown away— a sum as 

 tntnJ! WC C ° uld P° ssibl y gain even if our exports of 

 —their Ureswerc tr ebled, and increased from 50,000,000/. 

 know, fk 1 "! 8 ^ 1 amoun t— to 150,000,000/. ; for every one 



"? W ,\ that2 °.000,000/. '. . _,\™™nnnn; 



W0 JM be a large profit.- 



orse CA«a««f*_A traveller writes in the Elyste 



was at Geneva, in the autumn 



of 1837, I observed every one collecting carefully the greater proportion of the surface covered with trees.- 

 fruit of the Horse Chesnut ; and upon inquiry, I learnt Britain may be considered as neglected or mismanaged. 



. . .i i ._i ___j i..n _r : WA«„l,t ;» Th#» artificial strins and masRP* \\-ax* ppnprnllv tiptpt been 



the 



the 

 the 



**foll 



OW8 



hesnuts. — A. 

 •" Whilst I 



on an export of 100,000,000/. 



that the butchers and holders of grazings bought it 

 readily at a certain price per bushel. I inquired of my 

 butcher, who himself held an extensive grazing farm, 

 what was the object of this, and he told me that it was 

 given to those sheep, particularly, that were fattening. 

 The Horse Chesnuts were well crushed, something in 

 the way, as I understood, that Apples are, previous to 

 cider being made. They are crushed or cut up in a 

 machine in Switzerland, kept solely for that purpose, 

 and about two pounds weight is given to each sheep 

 morning and evening. Sheep eat it greedily ; but it 

 mu6t be portioned out to them, as too much would dis- 

 agree with them — it being of a very heating nature. The 

 butcher told me that it gave an excellent flavour to the 

 mea t — and the Geneva mutton is noticed for being as 

 high flavoured as any in England or Wales." Now, we 

 know that sheep eat the Horse Chesnut even when not 

 crushed ; but many thousand tons of it are annually lost 

 in this country, from their having no access to it, or its 

 being uncrushed. Many other fruits and leaves also, 

 doubtless, might be found useful, were they carefu.ly 

 examined, and their properties ascertained. While we 

 are constantly amusing ourselves in crossing Tulips and 

 Roses, it is surprising our horticulturists have never 

 thought of improving the properties of useful plants, 

 many of which might certainly be exceedingly improved. 

 Sheep, for example, like herbs, &c, that are heating in 

 their qualities ; as is seen even in the case of the Horse 

 Chesnut. Could the qualities of the Turnip or the 

 Ruta Baga, and the Radish, be in any degree combined, 

 sheep would doubtless prefer this compound to either 

 of the simple plants ; and as these are the days of im- 

 provement, and the Horse Chesnut is abundant this 

 year, some inquiries and experiments should, in 

 proper season, be instituted.— An Upland Farmer. 



Plantations In this country the forester and 



farmer ought to go hand in hand ; for, owing to 

 nature of the climate, the first process is to secure 

 shelter by raising healthy plantations, which can only be 

 done by thinning and pruning ; and this is easily 

 attainable by industry and perseverance. Perhaps 

 the principal cause of the mean appearance of many 

 plantations and hedge-row timber is to be attributed to 

 the want of due care having been taken with them in their 

 young and growing state; and, indeed, though the soil be of 

 the very best quality, we often find these plantations very 

 improperly laid down, in the manner of distributing the 

 trees in their respective situations. A question naturally 

 arises, What can be the cause of thousands of trees in 

 plantations being wasted in the heart; they being what 

 might with propriety be termed trees in the vigour of 

 their growth, considering their age? The trees of this 

 age ought, in ordinary circumstances, to be in the strength 

 of their growth ; and a person acquainted with the growth 

 of timber may, at first sight, have a competent know- 

 ledge of the progress they have made in past years. Is 

 it possible that trees thirty or forty years old, averagin 

 20 or 30 feet in height and 6 or 8 in diameter, and 

 standing only 3 or 4 feet apart, and without the aid of 

 the pruning-knife, can be in a healthy, growing state? 

 Every gardener is aware, and the ordinary laws of Na- 

 ture will teach the most obtuse observer, that any plant, 

 to be allowed to reach to its natural size, requires a space 

 of ground corresponding to the size it naturally attains 

 under ordinary circumstances ; in short, if any plant 

 has not sufficient space, corresponding to its natural 

 vigour of growth, premature old age must overtake it at 

 an early stage of its existence. The general error of 

 planters evidently is, the want of thinning and pruning 

 at all stages of their growth ; and all this arises from the 

 mistaken idea that woods will not grow in an exposed 

 situation, unless thickly drawn up together. No doubt 

 the plan may do for a time, but where is the value of the 

 wood thus managed in the end ? We often see a good 

 healthy tree standing the storm, unsheltered and alone, 

 in the coldest part of the country ; and why should it 

 not, if properly managed, that is, carefully pruned, do 

 so equally well, standing at a convenient distance from 

 neighbours ? We see everywhere bare and waste lands 

 growing fair crops of Oats while exposed to sweeping 

 winds ; what would it not do if sheltered by woods ? I 

 need not answer the question, as it is evident to every 

 one ; and it may be anticipated that such will yet be the 

 state of matters in every part of the country. The ad- 

 vantages arising from shelter are— the arresting the pro- 

 gress of impetuous and dangerous winds, maintaining 

 the temperature of the air, regulating the seasons, less- 

 ening intense cold, opposing the formation and increase 

 of ice, moderating intense heats, dispersing hail, snow, 

 and watery clouds, and preserving the soil on mountains, 

 by which their external figure is maintained. The pro- 

 fits of planting are great when properly executed, and 

 this idea acids solidity to the enjoyment. Pleasure alone 

 may satiate ; but profit and pleasure united seldom fail of 

 producing a lasting gratification. Strength is gained as 

 effectually by a few branches, to form a head, as by many. 

 However much attention be paid to the article of pruning, 

 if the plantation be left too thick, it will be inevitably 

 ruined. A circulation of air, neither too great nor too 

 small, is essential to the welfare of the whole. Ihis 

 should not be wanting at any period of the growth of the 

 plantation ; but in cases where it has been prevented by 

 neglect, it should not be admitted all at once or suddenly. 

 Opening- a plantation too much at once is a sure way to 

 destroy its health and vigour. Though it has been more 

 or less fashionable for the last 40 or 50 years to form 

 plantations, yet it has been also so generally the custom 

 to neglect entirely their future culture, that by far the 



The artificial strips and masses have generally never been 

 thinned or pruned ; and the natural woods and copse- 

 woods improperly thinned or cut over. — An Upland 

 Farmer. 



Sborfttfef. 



ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY of ENGLAND. 



A weekly Council was held at the Society's House in 

 Hanover-square, on Wednesday last, the 29th of May; 

 present, the Right Hon. Eatl Spencer, President, in the 

 chair ; Duke of Richmond ; Marquis of Downshire ; 

 Earl of Hillsborough ; Lord Portman ; lion. R. H. 

 Clive, M.P. ; R. Archbold, Esq., M.P. ; J. Bainei, 

 Esq.; D.Barclay, Esq., M.P. ; J. Raymond Barker r 

 Esq. ; F. Burke, Esq. ; Rev. T. Cator, Col. Challoner ; 

 F. C. Cherry, Esq. ; E. D. Davenport, Esq. ; B. Gibbt r 

 Esq.; T. B. Glrgg, Esq. ; H. T. Grant, Esq. ; E. Hol- 

 land, Esq. ; G. Jacson, Esq. ; SirC. Lemon, Bart., M.P.; 

 Rev. T. Lewis ; Col. Macdouali ; John Mott, Esq. ; 

 J. W. Lennox Naper, Esq. ; J. Newell, Esq. ; T. New- 

 man ; Jos. Parkes, Esq., C.E ; E. W. W. Pendarves, 

 Esq., M.P. | W. J. Pickin, Esq. ; E. S. Chandos Pole, 

 Esq. ; H. Price, Esq.; P. Pusey, Esq., M.P. ; Prof. 

 Sewell ; W. Shaw, Esq. ; R. A. Slaney, Esq. ; Rev. T- 

 Slapp ; J. Manners Su.ton, 1 \-q. ; T.Tweed, Esq.; Dr. 

 Ure; J. L.White, Esq.; G. Wilbraham, Esq„ M.P. ; 

 and H. Wilson, Esq. The Right Hon. Lord Beaumont, 

 of Carleton-hall, near Selby, Yorkshire; Col. Jas. Mac- 

 douali, 2d Life Guards ; and John Boyd, Esq., of the 

 Borough of Southwark, were elected Governors, and the 

 following gentlemen Members of the Society :— 



Mackintosh, James, West stratton. Winchester 



Cousmaker, Lannay, Westwood, Farnham, Surrey 



Gower, Andrew W., Hook, near Hartford- bridge, Hants 



Morison, John Alexander, M.D., Portclew, near Pembroke 



Little, R. D., Secretary to the Agrl. Soc, Chippenham 



Fry, Robert, Tockington, Thornbury, Gloucester 



Vivian, George, Clavcrton Manor, Bath 



Hunter. Henry I.annoy. Beech-hill, Reading 



Trew, Thomas, Southampton 



Aldridge, James, Throop.farm, Christchnrch, Hants 



Parmiter, Samuel, High-street, Southampton 



Rendall, George, Quart farm, Ryde, Isle of Wight 



Roddam. William, Roddam. Wooller, Northumberland 



Lceke, Ralph, Longford -hall, Newport, Salop 



Charlton, Philip, Withyford HaU, Shrewsbury 



Fennor, J , Vcn ham, Andover, Hants 



Webb, William, Lee, Southampton 



Graeme, W., Winchester 



Bo'.dero, 11., Woolton House, Bedford 



Wioughton, Philip, Ibstone House, Stokcnchurch, Oxon 



The names of 38 candidates for election at the next 



meeting were then read. 



The reception and discussion of the numerous com- 

 munications laid before the meeting having taken place, 

 the Council adjourned to Wednesday next, the 5th of 



June. 





Uebfefos. 



A Prize Essay on Manure. By George Thompson, Jan. 



Simpkin, Marshall, and Co. 

 The prize offered by the Stewponey Agricultural So- 

 ciety in 1843 was awarded to this essay, by the Royal 

 Agricultural Society of England. In extracting from 

 this pamphlet the following Tables, giving the results of 

 experiments with manures, though they appear to con- 

 tain valuable evidence on the subject of manures, we 

 must express our entire dissitisfaction with the opening 

 paragraph ; the tendency of the opinion which it advo- 

 cates is most injurious. Let farmers hold a high opinion 

 of farm-yard manure ; it will keep them from carelessly 

 wasting it. We do not wish a higher value to be placed 

 upon it than really belongs to it ; but certainly the cir- 

 cumstance, stated by Mr. Thompson, that the farmer 

 gets a decent profit on his fattening animals independ- 

 ently of the manure which they make for him, is no 

 argument for putting its value below its usual standard. 

 But this is far from being always the case ; in some dis- 

 tricts of Lincolnshire, where large quantities of oil-cake 

 are used in feeding sheep and oxen, we are informed that 

 if three-fourths only of the purchase-money of th.s food 

 be repaid by the increased quantity of beef and mutton 

 produced by its consumption, then the farmer is satis- 

 fied ; for he knows that the superior quality of the 

 manure produced fully repays the remainder of the pur- 

 chase-monev, with a suitable profit on the whole of it. 

 It is highly 'important that farm-yard manure should be 

 understood to be what it is— the very sheet-anchor of 

 A-ricuIture, and that any carelessness in manufacturing 

 or°pre<=erving it is a source of great loss to the farmer. 



" In preparing the subjoined reports of experiments, 

 (which have, through the kindness of those who instituted 

 them come under the immediate inspection and observa- 

 tion of the author,) a lower price is placed upon farm- 

 yard manure than has been customary. Every money 

 charge made in the folio win g'reports, is made at the rate 

 of cost to a farmer. Farm-yard manure has been 

 generally valued at six shillings per ton, but extensive 

 inquiries amongst practical agriculturists convince us 

 that this is too high. 



All good managers will, in the average of years, gain 

 a profit upon their live stock, consequently, the manure 

 they make actually costs them nothing. If the <wnver» 

 be true, and the reports of those experiment* *>e C0TF ?ZJ 

 which are said to have been instituted tf fanne J* *!2 

 which show guano to surpass Farmyard ******** , 



shilling n.,tnn win- <\ not -*°Se ******* ^^Lr 



v*ta purchase guano, or other 



«* -i t^fs not this 'a proof that farm-yard 



artificial manures^-"** not uu^F* ; Rjt Jt ^ ^^ 



.is cheaper 



