1844.] 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



449 



Jt 



•xrnRKSHIRE LAND-DRAINING ASSOCIA- 



1 TION -At a MEETING of the PROVISIONAL COM- 

 JrmtK held at YORK, this day, for the purpose of Allotting 

 JJe Shares applied for in the Association, and on other 



^"waTrcsolved, that the number of Shares now allotted 

 *Jnr amply sufficient to justify the Committee in proceeding: 

 § fhwith to carry out the objects of the Association, the neces- 

 2Vv Deed of Settlement be prepared for execution. And that 

 \m* of the Public as may vet be desirous of becoming Share- 

 tnlders and shall signify the same to the Solicitors, (Messrs. 

 J,' vfH \„ Dl Richaedson, and Gutcii, York), or to the Secre- 

 f«rv (Mr. Charnock, Wakefield), on or before the 3lst of July 



ext shall be admitted (if the number of unallotted Shares be 

 sufficient) on the same terms as the present Subscribers. 



York June )2, J844. Jamks Hambrton, Chairman. 



I 



%fy ^Qttcultural ©alette*. 



SATURDAY, JULY 6, 1844. 



MEETINGS FOR THE TWO FOLLOWING WEEKS. 



Wbpneshay, Jaly 10 Agricultural Society of England. 

 Thursday, July 11 Agricultural Imp. Soc- of Ireland. 



Wednesday, July 17 Agricultural Society of England. 

 Thumpay, July 18 Agricultural Imp. t>oc. of Ireland. 



FARMERS* CLUBS— July 9, Abergavenny. 



In a Lecture explanatory of the condition of soil 

 most favourable to the germination of seed, delivered 

 last year before the Highland and Agricultural 

 Society by Dr. Madden of Penicuik, figures were used 

 as illustrations, of which those below are wood-cuts. 



Fig. 1 



Fig. 2. 



k : 





IJL 



\ 



I 



Fig. 3. 



They are intended to 

 represent highly-mag- 

 nified sections of speci- 

 mens of soil in three 

 different conditions. 

 Under the microscope 

 soil is seen to be made 

 up of numerous dis- 

 tinct porous particles. 

 Fig. 1 represents it in 

 a perfectly dry state; 

 both the particles and the channels between them are 

 dry. Fig. 2, on the other hand, represents a soil 

 perfectly wet ; the particles themselves are full of 

 water, and so are the channels between them. Now, 

 as both air and moisture are needed to enable the 

 germination of seed, neither of the above conditions 

 are favourable to that process ; in the one of the cases 

 air is wanting, and in the other there is no water. 

 i he state of soil in which both are present obtains 

 when, as is represented in Fig. 3, the particles them- 



seves are moist, while the passages between them are 

 filled with air. 



Now, this condition of soil, which is favourable to the 

 ^ rmin{ fion of seed,isjust that under which the vigour 

 ot the p ant growing on it would also be greatest. The 

 material placed there by the farmer as vegetable food 



larm-yard manure— requires to undergo a putre- 

 factive process, before much of it can be available for 

 me nourishment of the crop ; and this process cannot 

 «*e place m the absence of air. In a soil full of 

 ^agnant water no air can enter; and this is one of the 

 "any reasons why such land is so unproductive, and 

 wil • -1 1SSUch a differen ce between lands other- 

 fir-flu ,' , tbe one bei "g drained naturally or arti- 



ficially, and the other undrained. 



dpnpn^ 6 are ' ° f course > many other circumstances, 



which iT - upon lhe . effects of sta s nant water > b y 



thp ? • lmmense improvement consequent upon 

 thpm lna8e 0f Iand ma y be accounted for— some of 

 Rov^u Cre - Stated in a Lecture lately delivered at the 

 but it 1 f nstl 1 tutlon ' whi ch was reported in this Paper;- 



throuffl ^ - y - t0 P romote a circulation of fresh air 

 t a «^ g * , SGl1 is certainly one of its greatest advan- 



tase« A a uuiuy one 01 us greatest auvan- 



e7er' a n •• While dra i"age is a security against land 

 i s also th lng i! he conditi °n represented in Fig. 2, it 

 the soil u not so obv iously, a security against 



well-drainelfLn °v° ming thorou 8 hl y dl 7- Man y a 

 during X ** afforded a practical proof of this 



°cen so m pi ?? nt sea $on— the crops on them have not 



undrainetS^r 1 * 611 by the drv weather as those on 

 their n P ;^k . an otherwise similar quality, in 

 the ooS • hood >* and thi s fact is explained by 

 retentivl r / tl0n that a "nely-pulveriseu soil is very 

 drai nat r! „ ♦ m ? lsture - The dryness produced by 



fin 



88 a dra n- g ' , ,ch ' indeed > ought to be considered 

 ti, th to I ^ mg ' t ?° 1 ' h enables him to preserve this 

 T «e plam« f P l vhich was before impracticable. 

 tliem at a it 1 ? St ° res of moisture laid up for 



on which th P i ere the sun has no influence, 

 ™ they can draw in a dry season, while those 



on an undrained soil are parched for want of rain. 

 Drainage, in fact, tends to preserve land constantly 

 in the condition represented in Fig. 3; while, where 

 it is needed, the state of the land fluctuates according 

 to the weather between those represented in Figs. 1 

 and 2. Thus, comparatively speaking, drained land 

 is dry in winter and moist in summer. On this 

 subject, in the last Number of the Ayrshire Agricul- 

 turist, there is an excellent letter from an anonymous 

 correspondent, from which we shall make a few ex- 

 tracts. He says— " It is a very mistaken notion to 

 suppose that the only object of draining is to dry the 

 Iand, and that land can be made too dry by draining. 

 It is imagined that water is an evil to be got rid of. 

 It is only an evil when we do not make a proper use 

 of it, and the more effectually the land is drained, 

 the more moisture will be obtained when most re- 

 quired, during drought. This fact has been beauti- 

 fully exemplified during the late protracted drought. 

 The undrained, impervious soils have everywhere 

 been baked like brick earth, showing, when in Grain 

 crops, a yellow, sickly, stunted blade ; and when in 

 Grass, nothing but bleached windle-straws. Whereas, 

 on well-drained land, the crops have shown a dark- 

 green, luxuriant blade, and the pastures covered with 

 a close sole of white clover, while the fallows turned 

 up full of moisture." Again he says, with reference 

 "to the majority of the land in Ayrshire, and over 

 the greater part of Scotland, which is so stiff and im- 

 pervious as not to admit the rain that falls from the 

 heavens more than a few inches into the upper soil, 

 where it sours the vegetation, being aided by the 

 poaching of the cattle when in pasture, which form 

 little pools and do incalculable injury ; in winter this 

 land is never dry, but is always in a complete puddle 

 to the depth that the plough enters. In heavy rains, 

 all the best of the soil is washed away by the open 

 furrows into the nearest rivers. In time of drought 

 the water upon the surface is soon evaporated by the 

 sun and wind, the land cracks into wide fissures, and 

 the whole herbage is withered down to the roots. On 

 the other hand, when this land is drained to a proper 

 depth (two and a half to three feet), pulverised 

 effectually, and a good dressing of hot lime incor- 

 porated with it, the water that falls penetrates through 

 the subsoil into the drains ; a proper supply of 

 moisture is thereby constantly kept up throughout 

 the pores of the soil, while the surplus is discharged 

 by the drains, so that in winter it is never too wet, 

 and in summer it is never too dry. In this state the 

 land does not crack, as the moisture prevents it from 

 contracting. In the undrained land there is a con- 

 stant evaporation from the surface, chilling and de- 

 stroying vegetation, whereas on the drained, there is 

 a current of warm air passing downwards." 



In drained land the system of cracks is all below 

 ground, and there they are a benefit instead of an 

 injury, for in clay land the efficiency of drains is 

 greatly increased by them. It is upon this that 

 Mr. Smith, of Deanston, rests his explanation of the 

 fact that drains in very stiff clays often, apparently, 

 do not commence to act efficiently till after the lapse 

 of years. He tells us that during this period the 

 cracks commencing at each of the drains, as under 

 their influence the subsoil in their immediate neigh- 

 bourhood gets drier, have been extending, until the 

 whole subsoil is dried by them, and then the surface 

 feels the influence of the network system of drainage 



below it. 



Mr. Stirling, of Glenbervie, another distinguished 

 Stirlingshire agriculturist, again, thinks that the 

 delay apparent in the action of drains in stiff 

 clays, is owing to ' the rain-water very slowly 

 carrying down lime and manure to the subsoil, and 

 thereby rendering it richer and more friable. He 

 states that he has proof that a large portion of the 

 soluble parts of the manure applied on the surface, 

 is often carried away by the water of drains. This 

 gentleman proposes a plan for expediting the action 

 of drains at the ordinary interval in clay land, which 

 is a very simple one, and in manv situations may be 

 easily and cheaply carried out. He states that where 

 the surface of the soil is furrowed an inch or two 

 deep in spring " it will crack to a depth and width 

 in proportion to the contractability of the soil, when 

 freed of its superfluous moisture by the summer 

 drought, and that the crack will follow the line so 

 marked. This might be done with a common plough 

 without a mould, and a narrow sock, the feather 

 being set high. The lines being drawn across the 

 drains, if the cracks when formed were filled with 

 dry sand, it would form a permanent filter towards 

 the drain, at a small expense." 



SKETCHES OF EAST LOTHIAN HUSBANDRY. 

 Implements. — As imperfect work is a necessary 

 consequence of defective implements, it will be found, 

 when agricultural operations are skilfully executed, much 

 attention is invariably bestowed upon the construction 

 of the implements and machines employed, and in adapt- 

 ing them to the particular soils and circumstances in 

 which they may be used. There is, perhaps, no county 



in the kingdom better provided with implements and 

 machines for executing and economising rural labour 

 than East Lothian ; and to this circumstance, in a great 

 measure, may be ascribed the acknowledged excellence 

 of its tillage farming. 



The principal implements used in this county may 

 with propriety be classed under the following heads :— 

 1, tillage implements ; 2, sowing machines; 3, hoeing 

 implements ; 4, barn machines ; and 5, wheel carriages 

 or carts. In a brief sketch like the present, it is quite 

 impossible to present anything like a minutely detailed 

 description of all the implements included under these 

 heads ; and my observations will, therefore, be chiefly 

 restricted to a few of the most important in general use 

 on every considerable farm here. 



1. Tillage Implements. — Ploughs. — Until a very 

 recent period, ploughs having wood for the beam and 

 handles, cast-iron for the side-plates, sole-plate, and 

 mould-board, and malleable iron for the coulter, share 

 and bridle, were the only ones in general use throughout 

 the shire ; but although not yet entirely displaced by 

 the improved iron swing-plough, they are now rarely to 

 be seen except on some of the upland farms. Men who 

 had long ploughed with these wooden ploughs invariably 

 agree in telling me that they preferred them to the iron 

 ones now employed, and that they made fully as good 

 work with the old as with the new plough. What is 

 called the Currie-plough, although not manufactured in 

 the county, is preferred by some farmers to any of those, 

 for ploughing lea, and all light soils. The increased 

 draught requisite for drawing this plough is its principal 

 fault. Carrick's plough, which is amongst the steadiest 

 going ones, is furnished with an iron rod, connecting the 

 bridle and that part of the beam into which the coulter 

 is inserted. This is what is termed a chain-bridle, and 

 its object is to diminish the draught. The only material 

 improvements effected in the construction of the East 

 Lothian ploughs, during the last few years, consist in 

 lengthening the handles, and in some slight alterations 

 in the shape of the mould-board. Small light ploughs, 

 drawn by one horse, are much used in paring the sides 

 of Bean and Potato drills, preparatory to horse-hoeing, 

 and in ribbing land to be sown with Wheat ; when rib- 

 bing, or moulding up drills, a spare mould-board is at- 

 tached, which converts it into a double-mould plough. 

 Price of iron plough, fully mounted, 3/. 10s. to 4/. 



Harrows. — The only description of harrows employed 

 here is the common angular one, made either of wood or 

 iron. The iron harrow is preferred on heavy soils, and 

 is coming into general use. Small wooden harrows, with 

 short teeth, are used in covering in Grass-seeds, every 

 farm having at least one pair. A truck or framework of 

 wood, on three low wheels, is employed on almost every 

 farm, for the purpose of conveying harrows to a distance 

 or along roads. Price of iron harrows, with draught 

 trees, 3/. to 3/. 10s. 



Rollers.— The rollers chiefly employed are made either 

 of cast-iron or wood. Stone rollers of small diameter, 

 are, however, still used in some farms. The usual length 

 of the cast-iron roller is 6 feet, divided into two segments; 

 and its diameter 22 inches. It is always drawn by two 

 horses, one before the other. The price varies, according 

 to the size, from 8/. to 11/., with framer. 



Grubbers. — The grubber is here considered to be 

 second only to the plough in point of importance and 

 utility to the tillage farmer. Finlayson's harrow has 

 been found of the greatest advantage in Turnip culture 

 on stiff soils, being well adapted for loosening the soil to 

 a considerable depth, and for dragging up root weeds 

 from beneath the surface ; and as doing so effectually 

 has in many cases superseded the necessity of many 

 ploughings. But notwithstanding the celebrity and effi- 

 ciency of Finlayson's harrow, it is now, on account of its 

 many apparent defects, almost entirely superseded by 

 other grubbers, constructed upon similar principles, but 

 posessing the advantages of which it is deficient. The 

 principal imperfections in Finlayson's harrow are, 1. Its 

 weight and dimensions. 2. The absence of any means 

 whereby the coulters may be lifted wholly out of the 

 ground ; and, 3. The inconveniently large intervals be- 

 tween the openings in the spring by which the depth is 

 regulated. These are rectified bythe instruments manu- 

 factured by Kirkwood of Tranent, and Scouler of Had- 

 dington, both of which are allowed to be amongst the 

 most perfect and efficient grubbers anywhere made. 

 Kirkwood's implement differs essentially in its construc- 

 tion, and in the shape of the coulters, from Finlayson's. 

 It is drawn by two, three, or four horses, according to the 

 nature of the soil and the depth to which it may be re- 

 quired to work : it rests on three wheels, and has seven, 

 coulters, so adjusted as to move at equal distances from. 

 one another, and will work to any required depth of soil. 

 The handles when moved act as levers, of which the ful- 

 crum is the axle of the hindmost wheels. An elevation 

 or depression of the handles elevates or depresses the 

 whole frame-work, and consequently causes the coulters 

 to move at any required depth in the ground, or disen- 

 gages them altogether, which prevents danger to the 

 coulters when turning at the land-ends, or when encoun- 

 tering rocks or other obstacles in the ground. The coulters 

 cover a space of 4 feet 4 inches in width ; they are 14 9 

 inches long, 2 inches broad, and about i of an inch thick. 

 The diameter of the hiudmost wheels is 22 inches, 

 and the weight of the whole grubber is about 4 cwt. 

 Scouler's grubber is constructed upon the same F ene ™ 1 

 principles as Finlayson's, but it is much * wa f**™ 

 lighter, and has, like Kirkwood's, the adv a « ta £f °/ /J"/ 

 simple apparatus, by means of which the depth s regu- 

 lated, and the coulters readily disengaged from the soil 

 when necessary. Scolder's two-horse grubber, the onlj 



