394 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



setting the fly at defiance. The time at which they are 

 attacked is just after the seed has expended its strength, 

 when they are apt to make a stand, particularly if the 

 weather be ungenial or the ground about them unkindly, 

 and the longer they remain stationary the insects have 

 just so much longer time to prey upon them ; the object, 

 therefore, is to keep them growing, and get them into the 

 broad leaf as quickly as possible ; and the most certain 

 method of effecting this is, to have a close braird, as young 

 plants grow vigorously for a certain time when thick 

 together. It is not at all surprising that people should 

 have occasion to complain of the fly destroying their 

 young Turnips, when they allow only 1£ lbs. or 2 lbs. to 

 the acre, and that, it may be, sown broadcast or in rows 

 on the plain ground, 12 or 14 inches apart ; I only wonder 

 at the mercy of the flies in leaving them any at all. It 

 will be observed that 3 lbs. to the acre, sown on drills or 

 ridglets 28 inches wide, will give exactly four times as 

 much to each row as l.Jlbs. to the acre, with 14 inches 

 between the rows. Now, no man of common sense would 

 expect a braird thick enough to withstand the attacks of 

 the fly by sowing drills 28 inches wide, at the rate of | !b. 

 to the acre, which would be the same to each as l^lbs. 

 with the rows 14 inches apart. I sow all in drills about 

 28 inches wide, with the manure, whatever it may be, 

 directly under the seed ; and the very least I allow in the 

 finest soil, and under the most favourable circumstances, 

 is 3 lbs. to the acre, and I never suffer by the fly. Last 

 season, owing to the heavy rains that prevailed in May, 

 the ground was rather stale and unkindly for the seed, 

 and I just expected a slow growth of the young plants, 

 and its concomitant, a formidable array of flies. The land 

 I had for Swedes was a sandy loam — exactly that kind of 

 soil which requires the least quantity of seed, but, though 

 previously well prepared, owing to the state it was in at 

 the time of sowing, and the appearance of the weather, I 

 considered it advisable to allow between 4 and 5 lbs. to 

 the acre. I was, of course, laughed at by my neighbours 

 for * throwing away " so much seed ; but in a few weeks 

 I was amply compensated by a full growth of healthy 

 young Swedes, while they had a few half-eaten, sickly- 

 looking plants, standing from each other at the most 

 respectful distance. I could scarcely be blamed for 

 laughing at them in return. It may be worth mentioning, 

 that when beginning to sow, something more than half 

 an acre was gone over before I discovered that the 

 machine was depositing considerably less seed than I had 

 ordered, when I had it immediately altered. The flies 

 were over the whole field, but the damage done was not 

 appreciable, except on the part thin sown, which narrowly 

 escaped being completely destroyed, and remained inferior 

 throughout : except that, notwithstanding the complaints 

 of last season, 1 had not a single failure from the effects 

 of the fly on nearly 30 acres ot Swedes ; and the common 



Turnips, sown at a later date, were equally unhurt." 



John Morton, WhUJield, Thornbury. 



ON MINERAL AND INORGANIC MANURES. 



No. XVIII. 

 By Professor Charles Sprengel. 



(Conti/itifd/rum p 363.) 



A. Marl from Brunswick (stony, yellow, red and green 

 striped). J00,000 parts consist of 

 71,006 parts silica 



3,978 



6,477 

 1,080 



13,385 

 2,601 

 0,005 

 1,200 

 0,015 

 0,160 



alumina 



oxide and protoxide of iron 



oxide of manganese 



carbonate of lime 



carbonate of magnesia 



gypsum 



phosphate of lime 

 common salt 

 ,, potash and soda, combined with silica 



tt 



ft 

 a 

 ft 

 it 

 tt 

 if 



100,000 parts. 



Although this sort of marl has been used bat very re- 

 cently on loamy soils (500 cubic feet per Magdeburg 

 acre), it has been already recognised as very superior. 

 Exposed to the air during the winter, it will fall to pieces 

 pretty easily, still it does not yield such a fine powder 

 as the earthy marl of alluvial soils, inasmuch as all stony 

 marls take several years to be converted into earth and 

 ■oil. It acts (as might be expected) best on those soils 

 which are deficient in lime, magnesia, and phosphoric 

 acid. Used in the above quantity, it will not improve 

 the soil mechanically, as it contains too little aluu.ina, 

 and is not clayey enough. 



i. Marl from the subsoil of the marshes of the Weser 

 (in its dry state powdery). 100,000 parts consist of 



'8,910 parts silica and very fine quartz sand 



3,123 

 3,800 

 0,330 

 8,189 

 2,950 

 1,230 

 0,490 

 0,080 

 0.3C0 

 0,547 



tt 

 >» 

 tt 

 ti 



M 

 ft 



i9 



ty 



19 



alumina 



oxide and protoxide of iron 



oxide of manganese 



carbonate of lime 



carbonate of magnesia 



phosphate of lime 



gypsum 



common salt 



potash combined with silica 



soda ditto 



100,000 parts. 



As this marl contains a few marine shell?, and is to be 

 found not far from the seacoast, we may assume that the 

 sea-water has much contributed toward its formation 

 It is much used in the marshes as a manure, inasmuch 

 as it is taken from the ditches, made to a certain depth 

 for the sake of draining, and then conveyed on the moors 

 which a re very rich in humus. The effect of this opera- 

 tion is very great, which is easily explained by the 



2,795 



M 



2,568 



f > 



1,240 



M 



4,252 



W 



2,762 



tt 



0,005 



}t 



0,249 



tt 



0,050 



ft 



0,120 



» 



0,320 



M 



1,110 



IJ 



0,022 



M 



marshy soil obtaining thereby not only much silica and 

 lime, but also all other mineral substances required for 

 crops. The moors, which have hitherto yielded only 

 Oats, after the manuring with this marl, produce the 

 finest Rape, Wheat, &c. The quantity spread on one acre 

 is 100,000 lbs., in which case the soil will receive the dif- 

 ferent mineral substances just in the proportion men- 

 tioned in the above analysis. It is obvious that it will 

 improve the soil for many years to come. 



k. Marl from the subsoil of the Elbe marshes (in its 



dry state powdery and of a gray colour.) 100,000 parts 

 consist of 



84,507 parts silica and very fine quartz sand 



alumina (partly united with humic acid) 



ox'de and protoxide of iron 



oxide of manganese 



carbonate of lime (partly also humate of 



lime) 

 carbonate of magnesia 

 phosphate of lime 

 gypsum 

 common salt 

 potash united with silica 

 organic remains rich in nitrogen 

 humic acid 

 coal of humus 



100,000 parts. 



This marl, which also partly owes its origin to marine 

 shells, is often used in the marshes of the Lower Elbe as 

 manure, where it is called Kuhl, or Wuhl-erde. It is 

 dug out of large holes, made on the field itself at a great 

 expense, and then spread over the surface 2 to 3 inches 

 thick, so much so, t-iat about 200,000 lbs. are brought on 

 the acre, — double the amount of the quantities mentioned 

 in the analysis. The soil is improved by this marlfor many 

 years ; because, poor as it is in phosphate of lime, there is 

 plenty of it in the marshy soil, as I have found by ana- 

 lysis. Wheat, winter Barley, Rape, Oats, and Beans will 

 grow after it most abundantly ; Rape, for instance, will 

 yield at times 2200 lbs. of seed per acre, whilst Oats will 

 often bear 2400 lbs. of grain on the same area. But the 

 soil requires to be ploughed to the depth of 18 inches, 

 and manured every 6 or 7 years with 60,000 to 70,000 lbs. 

 of fat dung, without which, such extraordinary harvests 

 would be impossible. 



Burnt Marl. — The effect of marl is much improved 

 by burning, but this burning ought rather to consist in a 

 sort of roasting, because if marl was to be burnt like 

 lime, the lime would combine with the silica into 

 a silicate insoluble either in water, or carbonic or 

 humic acid, which would be very disadvantageous. The 

 merely roasting of marl, on the other hand, causes the si- 

 licates of potash and soda which may be contained in it 

 to be loosened, which will render them more easy of being 

 decomposed by the carbonic or humic acid. It will also 

 cause ammonia to be formed through the decomposition 

 of water by the oxide and protoxide of manganese. The 

 roasting will also be of use, by changing some of the car- 

 bonate of lime into caustic lime. If it be applied soon 

 after roasting, under the ground, it will strongly attack 

 the coal of humus and the vegetable matter in the soil, 

 decomposing them, and if it contains much clay, it will 

 act like burnt clay. As the latter is best when it con- 

 tains much iron (as we shall see presently), we may 

 assume that roasted clayey marl also will be best 

 when it is rich in iron. By roasted clayey marl, stiff 

 clayey soils may be improved mechanically, because, as 

 its argillaceous parts lose by burning the property of 

 mortaring with water, and will not form tough paste with 

 it, roasted marl will, like coarse sand, keep a clayey soil 

 loose. The roasting of marl is done like that of clay. 





[June 15, 



ON BLACK HORSEPONDS.— No. VI. 

 I The animals that are allowed to drink of these pol- 

 lute! water?, are exposed to the action of poisonous 

 matter in three distinct forms ; namely, putrefying or- 

 ganic matters and inorganic corrosive matters, both taken 

 into the stomach, and poisonous exhalations of a deadly 

 character, inspired by the lungs. We have seen, in the 

 last paper on this subject, that when putrefying organic 

 matters are either received into the animal svstem 

 through the stomach, or taken into the circulation by 

 the absorbents on the surface of the body, disease of a 

 formidable and often fatal character is produced, and 

 that irritating and corrosive substances, when received 

 into the body, destroy life, by producing inflammation 

 and disorganisation of the parts with which they come 

 in contact. J 



We have also seen that an imperial gallon of water, 

 taken from one of the black ponds at which the horses 

 ot a neighbouring farmer were allowed to drink con- 

 tained no less than one hundred and sixty-eight grains of 

 1st., putrefying animal and vegetable matter, held in 

 solution by the solvent action of ammonia on organic 

 matters ; and 2nd of potash, soda, ammonia, lime? sul- 

 phuric acid, phosphoric acid and chlorine, the saline con- 

 stituents, in fact, of putrefying animal excrements, hold- 

 ing in solution a large quantity of animal and vegetable 

 matter in a highly putrescent state. 



Now it is well known that water, holding even a very 

 small quantity of animal and vegetable matter in a state 

 of decomposition, in solution, acts injuriously on the 

 animal frame, producing dysentery of a very distressing 

 character ; even the small quantities mixed with 'he 

 river water below London, 30 gallons of which, according 

 to Dr. Lamb, contain 28 grains of carbonaceous matter, 

 produces most injurious effects on our sailors, when used 

 m a state of putrefaction, and, until it has completed its 

 fermentation, when it deposits a slimy matter, and is 



then fit to use. The beneficialelScTrTeTivTTir^ 



care as to the qualities of water, says Mr. Chadwick 

 now proved in the navy, where fatal dysentery formerly 

 prevailed to an immense extent, in consequence of th 

 impure and putrid state of the supplies, and care is now 

 generally taken on this subject by the medical offi^J. 

 of the navy. ""icers 



Dr. Pereira, in his valuable work " On Food and Diet" 

 relates a case tried at the Nottingham assizes in Jul' 

 1836, where it was proved on the trial, that dysentery fa 

 an aggravated form, was caused in cattle by the use of 

 water contaminated with putrescent vegetable matter 

 produced by the refuse of a starch manufactory. The 

 fish (perch, gudgeon, pike, &c.) and frogs, in the pond 

 through which the brook ran, were destroyedi All the 

 animals (cows, calves, and horses) which drank of this 

 water became seriously ill, and in eight years the plain- 

 tiff lost 24 cows and 9 calves, all of dysentery, accom- 

 panied by nearly the same symptoms. It was also shown 



that the animals sometimes refused to drink the water 



that the mortality was in proportion to the quantity of 

 starch made at different times — and that subsequently 

 when the putrescent matter was not allowed to pass into 

 the brook, but was conveyed to a river at some distance 

 the fish and frogs began to return, and the mortality 

 ceased among the cattle. The symptoms of illness among 

 the cows were as follows : — The animals at first got thin 

 had a rough s'aring coat, and gave less milk (from two* 

 to three quarts less every day) ; then they became purged, 

 passed blood with the faeces, and at length died ema- 

 ciated and exhausted. On a post-mortem examination, 

 the intestinal canal throughout its whole length was 

 found inflamed and ulcerated. The water when examined 

 was found loaded with putrescent vegetable matter, and 

 contained chloride of calcium. 



Now the symp'oms here described, with little excep- 

 tion, were precisely those shown in an instance which has 

 come under my own notice, of three valuable cart-horses 

 that died in a short period, belonging to the owner of 

 the horsepond, the analysis of the water of which I have 

 given above. The first appearance of disease showed 

 itself in the coat of the horses becoming rough and 

 staring out, diarrhoea supervened, and after a time symp- 

 toms of inflammation of the bowels set in, which soon de- 

 stroyed the animals. On a post-mortem examination of 

 two of the three by a veterinary surgeon, extensive in- 

 flammation of the mucous membrane of the stomach and 

 bowels was discovered. After the loss of the third horse, 

 the farmer suspected the pool to contain the source of 

 disease, and ordered his horses fresh waer, after which 

 all appearance of disease disappeared. 



In the case related by Dr. Pereira, as well as that in 

 which the contents of the horse-pool produced such inju- 

 rious effects, much is to be attributed to the deleterious 

 action of the decomposing nitrogenous matters contained 

 in the water ; since it is well knjwn that the most deadly 

 organic poisons contain nitrogen as one of their elements. 



In the manufacture of starch, after the first portion of 

 starch is separated by washing, the water in which it has 

 been washed, and which contains the vegetable albumen, 

 gum, and sugar of the grain in solution, is allowed to 

 putrefy, when a fresh portion of starch is deposited ; the 

 water is then of no farther value, and is run off as refuse, 

 carrying in solution the putrefying nitrogenous and other 

 vegetable matters of which the cows drank. 



In the case of the horsepond, besides the nitrogenous 

 and vegetable matter, in a state of putrefaction, obtained 

 from the urine and faeces, and the decaying straw in the 

 yird, we have a powerfully-irritating poison in the salts 

 of ammonia, acting in conjunction with the organic 

 poison, and tending to bring about a more rapid state of 

 inflammatory action in the mucous membranes. \Yhen 

 we consider the state of the black horsepond, can it be a 

 matter of surprise that three horses died from drinking 

 at it ; since, if each horse drank 5 gallons of water every 

 24 hours, it must have received into its system, in the 

 water alone, no less than 840 grains of soluble ma " er 

 every day, of a highly poisonous tendency, or 51 lo*» 

 annually ? Alas, for the health of the animals, and for 

 the quality of the beef, or butter, or cheese, made from 

 animals fed with such materials \— Alfred Gi/de, Pams- 

 wick. 



SKETCHES OF EAST LOTHIAN HUSBANDRY 



(Drainage, Continued from pnge 378.) 



Should the field be in Grass at the time of drai ^ ng .' . 

 breadth and position of the drain are marked oft wit 

 spade and line in the usual manner, and the s urface * 8 

 laid carefully aside for after use; but in al most evey 

 other case the drains are marked off, and partly °P 

 at the same time, by a plough passing up the f urr0 Tj c j 1 

 be drained, and throwing out a deep furrow-slice. * 

 materially abridges the labour in cutting. The plan 

 almost universally adopted is to contract with on 

 more skilful workmen to execute the cutting or open b 

 of all the drain?, to be made for a stipulated raw 

 wages, per rood of 18 ft. The contractor employs 

 many assistants as may be found necessary for t n c 



pletion of the work within the assigned period, and 

 responsible to the farmer for the faithful execution v ^ 

 job. When the drains are not very long, eat *J?*" em ent 

 one toh 



which usually wtuca mo uuwun.o w- - pxecutio 



tion, thereby securing the proper and speedy e 



of the work. Two sizes of spades, a pick and aw ^ 



shovel, are the only tools employed. The wor 



cutting throw the earth to both sides of the drain, »" 



to facilitate its ploughing in afterwards, it •». 1 £ iQ 



superfluous to observe in this place that the cu in 5 ^ 



every case commenced at the lower, and the nm g 



\ hen the drams are not very long, c«» - mcn t 

 imself,and completesits opening— an arran,.^ 



isually excites the labourers to a kind of co J 



