1844.] 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



46.9 



* 









ft! 



f* 





> 



^ 



'^ 

 V 



'* 



P^-T^r^OOO/.— be trusted that all meraocrs u. iuc 



fcAJ who intended to purchase the machine would 

 Society wn of ^ inventor . g accredited 



nhtmn it at " 6a "M , ., ,, , ... ■ _„r„„ Q „ rta t- n 



laud 



obtain 11 « "7cottam and Hallen, both in reference to 



t gC n\ lecuUar claims on the consideration of the pro- 



J^of agricultural improvement, and to the desirable- 



m .that no parties should experience disappointment by 



k rchase and employment of an inferior machine : 



l#hn,ipht"such a choice in their selection would not only 



t to 'to tie inventor, but a slight return to him in 



remuneration for the benefits he will have conferred on 



Sose persons who are so unfortunate as to have 



which requires draining. 



The Duke of Richmond then proposed the best thanks 

 nf the Council to be given to Mr. Cottam for his kind- 

 in explaining to the members the construction of 

 Srfi machine ; which were carried unanimously. 



"oithampton Meeting.— The Mayor of South- 

 ampton has communicated to the Society the rates at 

 which it has been determined to limit the prices for 

 lodein^s at Southampton during the ensuing meeting : 

 on which occasion no beds would be charged more than 

 half-a-guinea per night under any circumstances, while 

 others would range at prices considerably lower accord- 

 ing to fcituation and condition. Every facility would be 

 given to promote the comfort of the numerous visitors 

 expected on that occasion. 



r (To be continued.) 



he trusted that all members of the to keep their expenditure within the limits of their in- 

 come. This had convinced him of the necessity of a 

 good system, which could only be achieved by placing 



men of business at the head of their affairs Mr. A. 



Fewster, in moving the fourth resolution, said that it 

 would hardly have been deemed possible that any person 

 could have been found to oppose so desirable an object 

 as this, though experience proved the contrary. One 

 objection he had heard was that it would train up young 

 persons to be sort of dandy farmers, whom landlords 

 would not be very much inclined to have as tenants, and 

 indeed if they did, they would get no rent out of them. 

 Another thought the establishment of this college a 

 dangerous matter, as tradesmen's sons and other young 

 persons would be so well instructed as to drive M us old 

 codgers out of the market." These two objections he 

 thought entirely destroyed each other. It was prepos- 

 terous to believe that a person should be unable to cul- 

 tivate the soil because his mind was cultivated. He was 

 acquainted with the projectors of this college, and knew 

 their object to be to establish, not a theoretical institu- 

 tion, but one based on a sound practical foundation. He 

 gave agriculturists credit, as a class, for being fully 

 as industrious as any class of the community, though at 

 the same time he must own there was a great lack of 

 intelligence amongst them. And why should not agri- 

 culturists receive as good education as any other class of 

 the community ? It would be productive of advantage to 

 the higher classes, because the landlord would reap the 

 benefit of a skilful application of a larger amount of 

 capital on his land. The farmer, however, will be a 

 greater gainer still by the college — it would be the means 

 of imparting a purer and more healthy tone of moral 

 feeling amongst his children. It was gratifying to notice 

 what a change had taksn place in this respect since he 

 had first attended market, a period of 30 years. For- 

 merly the conversation at the market ordinaries was 

 calculated to produce anything but a good effect in the 

 minds of those who partook in it. At present, how- 

 ever, the conversation turns on the improvement of 

 stock, and the better cultivation of their farms, to advance 

 which latter object was the intent of this Society. 

 Farmers would thereby be brought into more immediate 

 contact than they generally are, and would be enabled to 

 combine science with practxe. The moral advantages, 

 too, would not be confined to this class alone, but would 

 also extend to the industrious labouring classes. The 

 improvements in the cultivation of the farms produced 

 by this College, with the means resulting therefrom, 

 would be such that there would be a very large increase 

 in the number of labourers employed in the cultivation 

 of the soil at the present time ; and what effect would 

 this produce on the manufacturers and the home market 1 



hilly, the subsoil on the hills being very stiff, while 

 towards the bottom it was much lighter, thinks five 

 yards apart quite sufficient on strong lands ; thinks ling 

 better than Furze ; next to draining-tiles would ose 

 picked stones, could sufficient be obtained; drains ought 

 to be '62 inches deep ; draws his drains obliquely across 

 the slope of the lands. For pasture land, if drained by 

 hand, thinks nine yards from drain to drain sufficiently 

 near. — It was ultimately respired, that in draining arable 

 land the spade is decidedly preferable to the mole-plough ; 

 that the nature of the subsoil must determine the distance 

 between the drains ; that while on stiff or strong clay lands 

 five to six yards may be a sufficient distance, on loose- 

 bottomed gaulty soils there may be a distance of seven 

 or eight yards from drain to drain ; that 30 or 32 inches 

 is the proper depth for a drain. Tile-draining is most 

 desirable on tender or springy soils, but it being a per- 

 manent improvement the tiles should be furnished by the 

 landlord. That the mole or draining-plough is the best 

 for pasture land. — IV. G. t Hon. Sec. 



HIGHLAND AND AGRICULTUltAL SOCIETY. 



The halt-yearly meeting was held on Tuesday last; the 

 Earlof Levenin the chair. After electing 110 new mem- 

 bers, the secretary gave in the Report on the premiums 

 offered by the Directors for this year from the funds 

 left to their disposal by the general meeting in January. 

 Among the new premiums, 100/. is offered for experi- 

 ments with special manures, separately, or mixed in 

 certain proportions, and on the effect of such manures 

 on the succeeding crops of the rotation ; for reports of 

 experiments on various descriptions of food — as Carrot, 

 Beet, Potatoes, Beans, Oats, Barley, and Oil-cake, 

 afforded to grazing and fattening stock and to dairy cows 

 —50/. for an analytical examination of the grain of Oat, 

 as affected or modified by soil, manure, climate, or variety 

 of seed, intended as a commencement of a series of pre- 

 miums for analyses of the cultivated grains of the 

 country ; 50/. for an illustration, by chemical analysis, of 

 sound and healthy plants of different varieties of the 

 Potato, of the cause of the disease which has of late years 

 affected that valuable root. — Sir John Hope reported on 

 the Veterinary College, which he said had been most 

 successful, and, as a proof, in last April, 41 students had 

 qualified and passed their examinations. Besides those 

 in Scotland many students had come from different parts 

 of England and Ireland. The Professor had lately told 

 him that since the commencement of the College up- 

 wards of 700 students had attended his lectures. — Sir 

 John Graham Dalyell reported from the committee on 

 machinery, that at their last meeting they had awarded 

 three medals — two silver medals for improvements in the 

 internal economy of farm-yards, and a gold medal to 

 Lord James Hay, for the great trouble and expense 

 incurred by him in devising the manufacture of his con- 

 crete drain tiles, and laying the plan before the Society. — 

 Mr. Miller, Forrest, moved that the Society should use 

 its influence to have the markets for grain throughout 

 the country reported in a uniform manner ; almost every 

 market at present reported their sales by different mea- 

 sures, which rendered it a matter of extreme difficulty to 

 strike an average among them. — Thanks were voted 

 to the Earl of Leven and Melville ; after which the meet- 

 ing iti'mmed.— Edinburgh Paper. 



AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY ASSOCIATION. 



The usual half-yearly general meeting of the sub- 

 scribers to the Agricultural Chemistry Association was 

 held on Monday in the Museum of the Highland and 

 Agricultural Society. Lord Dunfermline in the chair. 

 The Secietary, Mr. Coventry, read' the half-yearly 

 Report, extracts from which we shall publish next week. 



C n R ^ CESTER AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. 

 Un Monday last a meeting of those interested in this in- 

 stitution was held at Cirencester, Earl Bathurst in the 

 chair, to report the progress of the committee in the esta- 

 blishment of the College. The Report will be found in 

 ■^er column, and will be read with lively satisfaction 



rJ i i" 6nd8 0f the undertaking. The Society has now 

 resolved itself into a tangible shape, and will immediately 

 commence operations. Port Farm, within one mile of 

 urencester, the pronerty of the Right Hon. Earl 

 ha h *' and in the P' e8ent occupation of Mr. Stevens, 



Mr Sk fiX6d Up0n a8 tne site for tne cxam P le farnQ * 

 • aotheroo, i n nronosino- th* first reaolution, observed, 



this college, 



FARMERS' CLUBS. 



Debenham. — The subject of discussion on June 28th, 

 1844, was the Drainage of Arable Pasture Lands. The 

 member who introduced it said he would merely state to 

 the Club the manner in which he drained his farm, which 

 has a flat surface, and a subsoil which he might call a 

 clay, only he could not dig a rod without either meeting 

 with a vein of sand or gravel. He preferred drawing 

 the drains obliquely instead of in the direction of the 

 furrows. He found eight or nine yards from drain to 

 drain sufficiently close; he opened the drains with the 

 plough as deep as possible, then followed with the broad 

 and draining spades, to the depth of 22 inches ; he 

 thought ling the best material to put in the drain, but on 

 account of its distance he is obliged to use straw, haulm, 

 bushes, &c. Where straw is used he would put it into 

 the drain loose, not twisted ; he would, of course prefer 

 tiles, but they ought to be found by the landlord. For 

 pasture land he had tried the mole or draining-plough, 

 but on his description of land he found it perfectly 

 useless. He had also ploughed out a deep furrow with 

 the common plough, and thsn used the narrow or drain- 



ing-spade only ; this he did not approve of; he t 



ui uiu- 



hought 



thai , tberoa » in proposing the first resolution, observed, 



and l »i Ut S1X month8 a 8° he fir8t heard of tui 



wonii n thou g h t it of so speculative a nature that it 



com never have been carried into effect. He had, how- 



ever en carnea into enecc. ne nau, uu»- 



was 'liki n n ° W entirel y brought to the opinion that it 

 culturi \*t l i be tactically useful to all classes of agri- 

 obtain a J he maiQ P oint in this undertaking was to 

 would ? 8 Jstem of management by gentlemen who 

 but «nu g u throu 8 h their duties in a hurried manner, 

 ■ancHnn k w no detail t0 be carried out without their 

 make th FUleS and meetin e s - He had ventured to 

 the for »r FeiDa ?"' a8 he had latel * takcQ some part in 



Bcbtefos. 



The History, Structure, Economy, and Diseases of the 

 Sheep. By \V. C. Spooner, V. S., &c. Craduck and 

 Co., 48, Paternoster Row. 8vo. Pp. 456. 



[Our readers will recopnise this title, as that of a volum b from 

 which we hive already been permitted to make several instruc- 

 tive extracts. See pp. 322, 41 6, Ap. Gazette,] 



" This work is divided into three Parts. The first, which 

 embraces the history or description of the breeds of sheep, 

 is arranged somewhat according to the plan adopted by 

 Professor Low in his large work on the Breeds of Cattle 

 and Sheep ; and the author has availed himself of this 

 work in the account of the various races of sheep found 

 in the northern part of the Island ; whilst he has relied 

 principally on his own knowledge for the description of 

 the more southern breeds. The most important portion 

 of the anatomical division of the work has been the 

 result of careful dissection ; and for the section on Feed- 

 ing, Fatting, and Breeding, the author alone is responsi- 

 ble. In the third Part, on the Diseases of Sheep, free 

 use has been made of the various papers contributed to 

 the 'Veterinarian/ &c." 



The above, extracted from its Preface, is accurately 

 descriptive of this work. The name of Mr. Spooner, 

 who is a distinguished member of his profession, is a suf- 

 ficient guarantee for the accuracy and usefulness of its 

 contents. Let us extract from the chapters on Feeding 

 and Fatting, which he informs us are more particularly 

 his own, the following, as a specimen of the style in which 

 this section of the work has been executed : — 



" The various points in the form of a sheep, connected 

 with the aptitude to fatten, have received the utmost at- 

 tention from practical and sagacious breeders, although 

 some of these points are still matters of dispute. The 

 superiority of particular improved breeds is now gene- 

 rally acknowledged, and may indeed be considered to be 

 established on certain principles, though in arriving at 

 these principles it must be confessed that we are little 

 indebted to science, but to the long and attenlive obser- 

 vation and correct reasoning of sagacious and practical 

 men. It is, indeed, only very lately that anything like a 

 correct explanation could be offered for the various phe- 

 nomena that attend the fattening of animals, or why 

 one description of food should be more suitable for 

 the purpose than another. It had, indeed, been laid 

 down as a fact, that a large capacious chest and 

 lungs were necessary for the production of fat, and 

 that its secretion depended in a great degree on the 

 quantity of air that could be respired; whilst the re- 

 searches of modern chemists have shown that nothing 

 could be further from the truth. And now that the fal- 

 lacy has been exposed by chemistry it can also be readily 

 shown by anatomy, for we find that whilst the horse and 

 the camel have eighteen ribs, the ox and the sheep have 

 only thirteen. The absence of these five pair of ribs 

 must of course materially diminish the cavity of the 

 chest, and its greater breadth (necessary for another pur- 

 pose) does not by any means compensate for its dimi- 

 nished length. Animals of speed have rarely a propensity 

 to fatten, but in greyhounds, hares, foxes, deer, &c. we 

 find the chest b long and deep, though not wide, whilst 

 in pigs, sheep, and oxen we notice an opposite con for. 

 mation. The fact is, in proportion to the activity of the 

 animal is its respiration and its demand for oxygen, and 

 in proportion to the consumption of oxygen is the wear 

 and tear of the system and the consumption of the 

 elements of the food. If the exertions are therefore ex- 

 cessive that portion of the food that would have m- 



it best to pursue the same plan for pasture as he did for 

 arable land, excepting that he made his drains at distances 

 of 11 yards, which laid his pastures sufficiently dry. 

 — Another member said he considered draining in this 

 district of the greatest importance ; it was almost useless 

 to manure the land unless it was first thoroughly and 

 efficiently drained. He occupies a farm with a very stiff 

 subsoil, and therefore opens his drains only six yards 

 apart ; he also prefers his drains in an oblique direction, 

 instead of following the track of the ridges ; thinks the 

 drain cannot well be made too deep ; it ought not to be 



of less depth than 32 or 34 inches. He has purchased , J-^^ryXTSf the body is called for to support 

 Furze for filling in the drains; finds four score faggots creased the weigm vi j rr 



sufficient for one acre, costing on the heath 2* . p2r score, respiration. 



_ a * m. m & m a ia t v rt 



> 



He has also used the plashings of borders, ditches, &c, 

 for filling in the drains ; considers there are several ob- 

 jects gained by so doing; — First, employ is found for an 

 extra labourer, straw cr haulm, which would otherwise 

 be used, is saved for manure, and the borders, banks, 

 &c, are freed from Brambles, rubbish, &c. He is of 

 opinion that great attention should be paid to the filling 

 in of the earth turned out of the drain ; the clay drawn 

 by the narrow or draining- spade should be carefully 

 placed upon the shoulders and well stamped down before 

 the other mould is put into the drain ; he lays a pipe 

 about 12 inches long, and compressed at one end, in the 

 eye of each drain, to keep out rats, rabbits, &c His 

 pastures having also a strong subsoil, he has drained the 

 greater part at distances of five yards, and one piece 

 which immediately abuts upon his homestead, every tour 

 yards, with the mole or draining-plough, at a depth or U 

 inches.— A third member, whose farm was different from 



Present ^ aU ° n ° f an iQ8t »tution, which resembled the 

 College m n any res P ects — the Marlborough Proprietary 



have tali • h&d there 8een what error8 the y mi 8 ht 



\£^*£*& t^^^t^^^L inches.-A third member, whosVfarm was different ,rom lorm «e more = puj 



** *uue. f and by whose exertions they had been enabled the two preceding members', his land being much more trated by good engravings 



" In animals having a propensity to fatten, we find the 

 chest of a circular form ; the ribs spring from the spine 

 more horizontally than in others, almost at right angles ; 

 this is observed in the ox, compared with the horse, and 

 still more so in the sheep. The effect of this conforma- 

 tion is certainly in one respect to increase the width of 

 the chest, but another important effect is to increase 

 very considerably the size of the abdomen ; for in order 

 to obtain the greatest possible nutriment from the food, 

 it is essential that the organs of digestion should be ca- 

 pacious, which cannot be the case unless the cavity in 

 which they are situated la large." ., , 



This is a book which Farmers' Clubs ought to add to 

 their libraries, and as a work of reference, it ought tone 

 in the possession of all sheep-farmers. The nrs M 

 contains a great deal of very interesting reading, > 

 as well as the second and third Parts, which are keiy 

 form the more useful portion of the volume, K 



1/ 



