512 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



[July 27, 



which the plough is made to pass over the space occu- 

 pied by the old furrow, in order to clear a channel for the 

 free passage of water ; but where the land is dry and 

 light, not being so liable to suffer from the retention of 

 moisture as strong clays, this last operation is frequently 

 dispensed with. The two ridges are then ploughed toge- 

 ther, by turning the horses at the headlands to the right- 

 about ; that is, the ridges are hupped in, the successive 

 furrow-slices of both ridges inclining towards the farrow 

 between them. Another feiring is made, after concluding 

 three ridges, in the fourth furrow from that in which the 

 lastone had been drawn, and the adjoining ridges ploughed 

 together as before. Two unploughed ridges are thus left 

 between the four already accomplished, in ploughing 

 ■which, the ploughman begins at that side of either ridge 

 adjacent to the ploughed ones, lays in a small slice 

 directly over the former furrow, and does the same in 

 returning along the other ridge ; two furrow- slices of the 

 regular size are then ploughed up to these, and the plough 

 made to pass through as before, not allowing the irons 

 to enter the soil. These two ridges are then completed 

 by turning the horses at the headlands from right to left, 

 that is, they are winded out, the operation concluding at 

 the intermediate furrow, which, hence, becomes what is 

 termed an open furrow. By this manner of ploughing, 

 which is now the most generally practised on all kinds of 

 land throughout East Lothian, the f >rm of the ridges 

 and the situation of the original furrows are preserved. 

 All the furrow-slices of each two adjoining ridges incline 

 in the same direction, while those of the next pair lie in 

 the contrary way. 



The principal advantages resulting from this mode of 

 ploughing arise from the small number of open furrows 

 thereby occasioned, only every fourth being an open one; 

 and to any person accustomed to inspect Corn-fields, par- 

 ticularly in droughty summers, who compares the stunted 

 appearance of the crop, in and about those deep open 

 furrows, with the luxuriance and freshness of that in the 

 close furrows, as the others are called, the utility of 

 diminishing the number of the former will be abundantly 

 evident. To lessen their number as far as can be conve- 

 niently done, eight ridges, instead of four, are frequently 

 taken in at once — the feirings and open furrows occurring 

 only at intervals of eight ridges ; four of the latter being 

 hupped in and four winded out. But in this case, 

 where the field is not of considerable length, a loss of 

 time in so frequently turning at the headlands is una- 

 voidably occasioned. When the field, or ridge-lengths, 

 to be ploughed happen, therefore, to be short, only four 

 ridges are taken in at once ; but when ot considerable 

 length, eight ridges are ploughed with one feiring. This 

 mode of ploughing — casting the ridges — has been found 

 peculiarly adapted to strong clayey soils retentive of 

 moisture, in which the ridges had been raised by pre- 

 vious ploughings. 



The only material imperfection arising from casting is, 

 that the open furrows, from being made in the situation 

 of the previous ones, are necessarily deeper and barer of 

 earth than when, as in the case of crown-and-furrow 

 ploughing, they occur in the middle of the ridge. To 

 obviate this defecr, either of the two following plans is 

 sometimes adopted in ploughing lea : — Instead of four or 

 eight ridges, five or nine are taken in together ; the feir- 

 ing is then made either on the crown of a ridge or in a 

 furrow ; if on the crown, that ridge and the two at either 

 aide (supposing nine ridges taken in), are ploughed to- 

 gether as before, and the others winded out, concluding 

 in a furrow ; but when, as is most generally done, the 

 feiring is made in the open furrow, four ridges are hupped 

 in and five winded out, terminating at the crown of the 

 central ridge, which is thereby cloven into halves. When 

 next ploughed, this and the lour adjoining ridges are 

 gathered, the other four winded out, and all restored to 

 their original position. 



Whilst the ploughing of the lea is being carried on, 

 all the skill, taste, and anxiety of the ploughman are 

 brought into action. Each man has a certain number 

 of ri*iges to himself, and when several experienced 

 ploughmen, all nearly of a match in point ot skill, are 

 working together, the greatest competition prevails 

 amongst them. The ploughs and their irons are always 

 kept in the best working order, and every exertion is 

 made by each man in endeavouring to execute his work 

 in a style superior to that of his neighbours. To excel 

 in straightnessanu regularity, in cutting a good shoulder* 

 and in packing the furrow-slice closely together, is the 

 great ambition of every good ploughman. — T. Sullivan. 



It is also calculated by many importers that guano will 

 be bought on better terms the next three months, than 

 will happen again for years ; for the number of ships on 

 their passage to load at Ichaboe island, and those re- 

 turning laden, will overstock the market, as the season 

 will be over before they can arrive. — W. H. Hanvood, 



Liverpool. 



Compost-heaps. — I have been in the habit of paring 

 the sides of roads, ditches, &c. for the last 30 years, and 

 have found much benefit from laying it up for compost and 

 trenching it into the soil. If farmers and cottagers 

 would follow my example, it would be a great benefit to 

 them. If a clause was inserted in the Turnpike Act, to 

 force all occupiers of land &c. to cut down all tall- 

 growing weeds, such as Docks, Thistles, Nettles, &c. as 

 far as their lands and premises extended, twicein thesum- 

 mer — say middle of June and middle of August — it. would 

 be of much benefit to the country at large. — F. X. O. 



Bran. — " H. Lawson," (p. 421,) will find in the first 

 volume of Boussingaults "Economie Rural," p. 464, that 

 bran consists of gluten and albumen 20. and gum, &c, 

 28.10, fatty matter 5.5, woody matter and ashes 45.7., 

 total 100. — C. J. Lancaster. 



Vitality of Seed. — With reference to Mr. Bernays's 

 communication in a late Gazette, it may be in your re- 

 collection that a few years ago, every other person one 

 met was swallowing quantities of Mustard- seed to 

 promote digestion — the whole of which passed off with- 

 out any other perceptible change than that of being a 

 little swollen, and thus, perhaps, made more ready to 

 germinate. Why, then, may we not presume that the seeds 

 of weeds pass equally unaltered through the bodies of 

 many animals ? A writer in a recent Number of the 

 Gazette, stated that one cwt. of salt would destroy all 

 the seeds in a ton of dung. Now if this be the fact, may 

 we not first destroy the seeds by mixing salt with the 

 manure-heap, and then, after a time, treating it with 

 sulphuric acid ? We should thus get rid of our weeds ; 

 and then by the reaction of the salt, sulphuric acid, and 

 ammonia, we should get the fixed salts of sulphate of 

 soda and muriate of ammonia. See Solly's " Rural Che- 

 mistry," page 41. — Agricola. [Our correspondent's sug- 

 gestion is probably correct so far as all animals that do 

 not chew the cud are concerned. We have heard that one 

 of the quickest ways of obtaining young hawthorn plants, 

 is to feed geese on the haws, and sow their manure. 

 In all except ruminating animals, if seed given in their 

 food be not crushed in the act of mastication, it will rarely 

 be injured by the precess of digestion. J 



Liquid Manure. — When the weather is wet, I pro- 

 pose carting the liquid at once upon fallow ground ; 

 having at this time a very good crop of Potatoes growing 

 on the very poorest piece of ground about me, entirely 

 owing to having in the winter carted out upon it the over- 

 flowings of my farm-yard. — A Beginner. 



We have made use of this analytic statemenToTthe 

 implements then at Derby, and, as follows, we have 

 added a column, giving as nearly as a necessarily hurried 

 examination would permit, a corresponding analysis of 

 this year's Exhibition. It may be mentioned in proof of 

 the accuracy of the first sentence quoted above as 

 applied to the Southampton Show, that the money value 

 of the implements exhibited, was upward of 9200/ 

 while that of those shown at Derby amounted to 7400£ 

 onlv. 



Home Correspondence. 



Guano. — Contracts for Ichaboe African Guano have 



been siloed to be delivered from March to middle of 



May, 184.'), at 6/. 6s. per ton, ex ship, port of Liverpool. 



The last news from the Island of Ichaboe was that 100 



ships were then waiting their turn to load ; and in order 



to give dispatch to the vessels waiting their turn to take 



in their cargoes, the crews of other ships were assisting 



in loading the vessels in berth. It is also said by some, 



that in 12 months the stock of guano in Ichaboe island 



will be exhausted ; but it is said there are other islands 



equally valuable. If that was the case, why should so 



many ships accumulate and wait so patiently their turn 



to be laden ? The supply of African guano is very liberal ; 



and although a week back the trade was very dull, the 



late rains have given great encouragement for the s*ile. 



* This phrase, though well understood by ploughmen, i% not 

 easiy explained with precision. It means a particular form 

 or appearance presented by the furrow-slice after being: turned 

 over. The advantages of ploughing Grass lands with a gnod 

 •honlder are, "hat the surface is enabled to resist the winter 

 rains, and auerwaxd* to produce a proper covering: lor the seeds. 



No. of Articles 

 Exhibited at 



ANALYSIS OF THE EXHIBITION. 



-a 



TILLAGE IMPLEMENTS.— Ploughs. 

 Swing-, moulding and ridging included 

 One-wheel 



Two wheel, double-furrow included . 



Subsoil, common 



Ditto, various ....... 



Sub-pulverisers 



Ditto and Surface-ploughs . 



Ditto and hoes ...•••• 



Stubble and paring ...... 



Water-furrow clearing, or Boat-plough , 



Draining 



Drill-ploughs, one-row 



Ditto, three-row 



Hariiows. 

 Common, and improved . . . , 



Drag, and scarifying 



Extirpating 



Lever • , 



48 

 15 



55 



S 



6 



4 

 8 



2 



4 

 1 

 3 



9 

 1 



— 148 



19 

 S 

 1 

 2 



.c o 



■ 



y. 



51 



27 



65 



• • 



10 



*& 



4 

 — 16» 



• * 



Revolving and sowing i 



Ditto, vertically ♦ ♦ 1 



Ditto, horizontally i 



Cnainweb • .. . • 3 



Folding •»■•••••- 1 



Scarifiers.— Cultivators, grubbers, scufflers, 

 included ........ 



Clod-Crushers.— Various 



Rollers. * Various, cast and wrought iron . . 

 Couch-Rakes. — Various . • • • . 



DRILLING, SOWING, MANURING, AND 



HOEING MACHINES. 



Drills and Prbssbrs. 

 Drills for corn and seed, with manure . 



without manure 

 with manure . 

 without manure 

 with manure-cart 

 with manure 

 without manure 

 with manure . 

 without manure 



Societies. 



ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY or ENGLAND. 



Judging from the numbers and quality of the articles 

 —Implements and Live-stock — exhibited at Southampton 

 during the past week, as well as from the number of 

 visitors attracted thither from all parts of the kingdom, 

 we may believe that the late meeting of this Society may 

 vie with any of its predecessors in point either of interest 

 or usefulness. 



In reporting the proceedings of the past week, we 

 shall proceecTin the order of time, that being a simple ar- 

 rangement, and oue more likely than any other to pre- 

 sent an intelligible statement to those of our readers who 

 have been absent. 



The Judges of Implements having been occupied 

 during Monday in ascertaining their merits, by test as 

 well as examination, it was not till Tuesday morning 

 that the public were admitted to the Show-yard. In the 

 following imperfect description of what was there exhi- 

 bited, a comparison has first been drawn between the 

 Exhibition ot this year and that ol last, in order to which 

 advantage has been taken of the report by the Society's 

 Judges of the Derby meeting in a late vol. of the 

 Journal. 



The following paragraphs retain their truth. We apply 

 them to the Exhibition of the preset year : — 



M The Judges have again the gratification of recording 

 that, in number, variety, and perfection, this Exhibition 

 greatly excelled all that preceded it. Perhaps a more 

 substantive proof of the progress made in this great de- 

 partment of the Society's solicitude cannot be adduced, 

 than hat the exhibitors annually outgrow enlarged show- 

 yards, and intreat more stringent and exact trials of their 

 implements. It is thought that the following analysis of 

 the contents of the show-yard may not only serve to 

 convey a just idea, but be a proper historical record, of 

 the magnitude and variety ot the collection ; and that it 

 may tend to confirm the Council in their desire to render 

 the catalogue of implements a perfect register of the 

 Exhibition. As such, the catalogue would become not 

 merely a momentary guide, but a useful annual work for 

 native aud foreigojmrchasers to consult, after as well as 

 during the Show. The analysis now given, as prefatory 

 to the award of premiums, and usual short account of 

 some of the implements, presents a concise classification 

 of the machinery employed in various departments of 

 British husbandry ; and it may possibly aid the Council 

 in selecting the objects or classes which more particularly 

 demand future encouragement by the Society. As a 

 digest of the nature, number, and value of the imple- 

 ments in habitual use by fanners, it cannot fail to 

 impress the mind with the importance of agricultural 

 mechanism as a branch of national industry, and as 

 consuming an immense amount of native materials." 



Ditto, ditto 



Ditto for Turnip-seed 



Ditto ditto, 



Ditto ditto, 



Ditto for seeds, 



Ditto ditto, 



Ditto and Pressers, 



Ditto ditto, 



Ditto for solid manures only . 



Ditto for liquid manures only 



Pressers, without drills . 



Seed-sowing Barrow, without manure 



Drill-plougUs— (see Ploughs.) 



DlBBLKRS. 



Five-row horse dibbling machine and sower 



Two-row ditto ditto 



Two-row hand or horse dibbling wheel . 



One-row hand ditto 



Horsk-hoks.— Broad, narrow, and variously con 

 trived, to suit drilled crops . . . 



HARVESTING MACHINES. 

 Hay-making. — Tedding machines . • 

 Hoksk-kakks : — Hay, corn, and stubble 

 Corn Gatherer • . 



BARN MACHINERY. 

 Horse- knoinks :— Various powers, 

 and fixed • • • . • 



STEAM-ENGINES . 



Travelling, for threshing:, &c. * 



Applied to Corn-mills, &c. . • 



travelling 



Threshing-Machinbs. 

 Driven by hand .....# 

 Driven by horse or steam power . 

 Threshing floor ....♦• 



Winnowing, Corn-Clbanino, and Barlbf- 



hummelling. 



Various 



Crushing and Splitting Mills. 



Various • 



Corn and Meal Mills. 



Metallic hand Corn-mills • • • 



French burr ditto ■ 



Grey stone ditto • • • • • » 



Mill, with two-horse power engine 



Mills for animal, engine, or other power 



Metallic meal-mills • • ♦ • • 



Hand dressing-machine • • • • 



Chaff-Cutters. 

 Various, adapted to manual, animal and steam 



power ...•••• 



Cake-Crushers. 



Various 



Corn Weighers and Mbtbrs. 



Weigher 



Meter, self-registering . • • • • 



FIELD, FOLD, AND YARD MACHINERY. 



Turnip-Cutters. 



Hand and portable ..♦••• 

 Attached to cart ....•• 



Root-Grating, and Squeezing Machines. 



Graters 



Cider-mill, Turnip,^nd Potato squeezer 



Potato-Washers. 



Various • * 



Steaming Apparatus. 



Various 



Feeding Apparatus. 



Consisting of iron pig-troughs, pens, cow ana 



sheep cribs on wheels, mangers, racks, «c. 



Fodder preserver - 



Weighing Machines. 



For carts, cattle, sheep, &c. * • 



Fire Engines, Sec. 

 Fire-engine, with irrigator, attached to wear - 



engine • • 



Ditto, hand and portable • • • • 



Garden-engines, various • • • • 



•31 



25 



7 



12 



4 



• • 



-28 



36 



13 



10 



5 



14 



1 

 16 



1 



1 



3 

 10 



6 



4 



1 

 1 

 2 



1 



—61 



1 



1 



1 



1 

 —4 



20 



V V 



• * 



73 



4 



7 



11 



3 

 3 



* • 



-7* 



—3 

 23 



13 

 1 



14 



> 



s 



4 

 11 



15 



7 



22 



3 



—32 



20 



36 



8 

 3 

 1 



1 



4 



2 

 1 



—20 



24 



48 



• • 



51 



14 



19 



1 

 1 



2 



56 



15 



2 



11 

 1 



—12 



2 



1 



9 



2 



14 



1 



4 



6 

 —11 



■ • 



—14 



