594 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



[Aug. 31, 



Aorieulturat Character of the Maritime.— The bed 01 \ it should have hitherto been so little employed for this livestock. 



clay above the marlstone is of very little agricultural 

 importance, being of such insignificant extent. In one 

 field — the only arable one in which I know it to be 

 exposed — the soil is full of fossil shells of the ammonite. 

 It is a clayey soil on which good crops of Wheat are 

 raised. Clover seeds with Rye-grass have frequently 

 been tried on it, but, with the exception of one corner 

 of the field, which is lower than the rest, where the 

 marlstone is exposed, they have uniformly failed. The 

 Rye-grass sown along with them, however, grows well. 

 The soil on the marlstone differs from that on the upper 

 ias in being light r. It is a sandy loam of variable 

 depth, and is wet or dry, according as it overlies the 

 calcareous sandstone or 'the clayey strata of the rock. 

 When dry it is one of the most fertile descriptions of soil 

 occurring in the district. The general rotation over the 

 Dursley district, where the land is chiefly arable, is one 

 of three years' duration. Wheat is followed by Barley or 

 Beans, and that by seeds or Potatoes ; a portion of the 

 land being near the rock, and therefore brashy, is well 

 suited for the growth of Barley. The heavier portions, 

 again, are adapted for the growth of Beans. No Tur- 

 nips are cultivated in this district. The common field 

 system exists over a great portion of it, and the right 

 which, under this system, certain of the proprietors and 

 occupiers in the several parishes have, of folding their 

 stock over the whole of the uninclosed land during 

 winter, effectually hinders any attempts at Turnip cul- 

 ture. The average of the several crops is as follows : — 

 Wheat per acre, 2G bushels ; Beans, 30 bushels ; Bar- 

 ley, 30 bushell ; Potatoes, 70 sacks. The general seed- 

 time is needlessly late. Barley sowing, for instance, 

 rarely commences till the month of May ; the period of 

 harvest is consequently late. Wheat is generally har- 

 vested by the end of September. Beans by the middle 

 of October ; and it is thought sufficiently early if the 

 Potatoes be housed by the time of Dursley Fair, which 

 occurs on the 4th of December.— M.S. 



ON FLAX SEED AS FOOD. 

 In a series of Papers which have already appeared in 

 previous Numbers of the Agricultural Gazette, the cul- 

 tivation and management of Flax have been minutely 

 described ; hut as the application of the seed on the 

 farm has lately attracted much attention in several dis- 

 tricts in England, it has been suggested to me that it 

 would be desirable to place that subject more promi- 

 nently before the public than I have already done. With 

 a view of procuring further information in this new and 

 important department of husbandry, I have lately, in a 

 visit to certain parts of the eastern counties, where 

 attention has first been prominently directed to it, had 

 an opportunity of seeing Flax-seed extensively and effi- 

 ciently employed for this purpose, and the results of this 

 it is my present purpose to place before the readers of 

 this Journal. 



The practice described in the Papers referred to in the 



? receding paragraph is that recently "introduced into 

 reland by the Belfast Flax Improvement Society, and 

 it will be seen from a perusal of them, that the produc- 

 tion of fibre is there regarded as the especial purpose for 

 which the crop is cultivated, the seed being entirely a 

 secondary consideration. In the majority of cases, 

 indeed, so little importance has hitherto been attached 

 to the seed that it has been entirely disregarded, partly 

 from the circumstance of its value not being understood, 

 and partly, also, from an erroneous opinion being enter- 

 tained that the saving of the seed would be injurious to 

 the fibre. Under these circumstances it will be per- 

 ceived that the full value of the crop was not taken 

 advantage of, and from the returns thus obtained no just 

 estimate of the value of the Flax plant could be formed. 

 This will be more apparent when it is considered that in 

 circumstances unfavourable to the production of fibre 8n 

 extra quantity of seed will he obtained, and vice wrsci. 

 Properly speaking, therefore, where advantage is taken 

 of both products a failure can rarely be experienced, 

 although where only one or the other is regarded, such 

 an occurrence may be expected occasionally to take 

 place. Where the fibre only is the object of cultivation 

 this is more especially the case ; and this circumstance 

 caused the extent of land appropriated to the growth of 

 Flax in Ireland to become annually less, so that without 

 the intervention of the vigorous measures resorted to by 

 the Belfast Flax Improvement Society, the cultivation of 

 Flax, one of the staple productions of Ireland, would 

 soon have been known only in name. 



The defective management so long practised in Ire- 

 land resulted chiefly from ignorance as to the value of 

 the seed apart from its application for the purpose of 

 reproduction. Until lately, the husbandry of that 

 country was wretchedly defective in every particular. 

 The domestic animals were for the most part dependent 

 for food on the spontanrous productions of the earth, 

 little attention being paid to the giowth of green crops. 

 Under these circumstances it may be supposed that the 

 use of oil-cake was entirely unknown. In this country, 

 however, where improvements in cultivation scarcelv kept 

 pace with those effected in the rearing and feeding of the 

 domestic animals, oil-cake has long been extensively 

 used, and justly esteemed as a rich and nutritious 

 article of food ; and the Flax-plant not being generally 

 cultivated here, large importations of that article an- 

 nually took place. The oil-cake is well known to be the 

 refuse of the Flax-seed after the oil has been expressed ; 

 the money-value of these ingredients being nearly in the 

 proportion of one to four in favour of the latter. The 

 value of ihe seed as an article of food before expression 

 is therefore apparent ; and it is not a little singular that 



purpose 



It is a curious coincidence that while exertions were 



being made in Ireland for the improvement of the 

 growth of Flax, having reference chiefly to the produc- 

 tion of fibre, attention was in this country directed to its 

 cultivation for the production of seed, the fibre being 

 disregarded, or at all events being a secondary consider- 

 ation. Indeed, the returns obtained by Mr. Wames, 

 of Norfolk, from the seed alone, are much greater than 

 those usually realised in Ireland from the fibre; and that 

 gentleman has satisfactorily shown that without taking 

 the value of the fibre into consideration at all, the Flax 

 plant could successfully compete with other cultivated 

 crops. The latter is, however, too valuable to be disre- 

 garded in any case, as, how ever inferior in quality it 

 may be, it can still be profitably disposed of to the 



manufacturer. 



Flax is usually regarded as a highly exhausting crop ; 

 and this opinion, has, in many cases, retarded the exten- 

 sion of its culture, even where'the returns obtained from 

 it were sufficiently remunerating. That it is in a greater 

 or less degree an exhauster of the soil must be admitted ; 

 and this quality may be supposed to be increased by 

 allowing the seed to ripen fully before taking up the 

 crop ; but the consumption of the seed on the farm will 

 alter the character of the crop in this respect, and render 

 it restorative instead of exhausting. 



The process of saving the seed has been already de- 

 scribed at length, and need not again be further adverted 

 to, the present paper merely relating to its application as 

 an article of food. It is perhaps unnecessary to apprise 

 the reader that this subject was first prominently brought 

 before farmers by Mr. Warnes ; and after a perusal of 

 the statements and experiments in the sequel it will be 

 seen that he has laid his countrymen under very consi- 

 derable obligations for his exertions. Having ascertained 

 the advantages to be derived from the system, he perse- 

 vered in advocating its extension until a society was or- 

 ganised in Norfolk for the purpose, which at present has 

 numerous auxiliaries in connexion with it in Norfolk and 

 Suffolk ; and considering that the culture of Flax was 

 previously unknown in that part of the country, and 

 that the management to be adopted in almost every stage 

 of it is very different from the usual farming operations, 

 it must be regarded as not a little extraordinary that the 

 extension of the crop has proceeded withundeviating re- 

 gularity, and that fields of several acres may be frequently 

 seeu throughout the districts over which the influence of 

 these societies extends. Although the seed is there 

 the principal object, the preparation of the fibre has not 

 been forgotten. In this respect, the example of the 

 Belfast Society has been imitated, the services of Belgian 

 and Irish operatives having been secured to teach the 

 different processes of the manufacture. 



Flax-seed has been found to be equally suited to the 

 different animals of the farm, for all of which it is a nu- 

 tritive and valuable ai tide of food. It is not available 

 for this purpose in its natural state, as, if given whole, 

 it would pass through the animals almost unchanged ; 

 nor can it in any case be given in large quantities, for 

 then the effect of it would be at once to subject the 

 animals to violent purging. It is also necessary that it 

 lould be combined with other matters of a less nutri- 

 tive character, in accordance with the established fact 

 in the animal economy, that the ingredients necessary for 

 the support of life are not advantageously used in a 

 highly concentrated form, and that quantity no less than 

 quality must be regarded. The Flax-seed is ground into 

 meal, and at once combined with the other ingredients, 

 the whole being afterwards boiled or steamed, or it is 

 boiled alone with water, and then merely mixed with the 

 other matters. 



The indirect advantages obtained by the consumption 

 of Flax-seed on the farm are various. It is well known 

 that the chief difficulties to be contended with on the 

 heavier class of soils — and these constitute a very con- 

 siderable portion of the surface of the country— is the 

 production of a sufficient supply of nutritious or green 

 food to be consumed with the refuse grain and hay and 

 straw; but this difficulty may in a great measure be 

 removed by the use of Flax-seed. It will render any 

 mixture of these, however coarse, sufficiently nutritious, 

 not only for feeding, but for fattening. Though adapted 

 to a wide range of soil, Flax is best suited to those 

 of the heavier class, and it is on these also that the 

 production of green food is the greatest desidera- 

 tum. ^ Great difficulty is usually experienced on such 

 soils in converting the superabundant supply of straw 

 into manure, as no considerable portion of it can 

 be consumed by the domestic animals by itself; by 

 the aid of Flax-seed, however, it may all be converted 

 into nutritious food; and when such combination is 

 extensively used, every exertion will be required to eco- 

 nomise the refuse matters for litter, instead of otherwise 

 ineffectually attempting to convert them into manure. 



The use of Flax-seed may further be made auxiliary to 

 the extension of the practice of soiling or house-feeding 

 during the summer. The advantages of this system of 

 feeding are well known, as economising the supply of 

 food, by which an increased number of animals can be 

 maintained ; and also as greatly adding to the stock of 

 manure, and consequent increase of fertility in the soil. 

 On all the inferior kinds of soils, soiling has hitherto been 

 und impracticable, the natural produce in such cases 

 not being sufficiently nutritious for the maintenance of 

 animals in a state of confinement; but here the aid of 

 Flax-seed may be rendered available, as the- jelly pro- 

 duced by boiling it, combined with the coarsest Grass, will 

 Inform a nutritious compound, relished by every species of 



i 



m a JP 7 Ul at ° nCe be P erceived that the use of 



Flax-seed will add, among other advantages, in a great 



degree to the fertility of the soil, by the production of % 

 greatly increased quantity of manure, and that of a verr 

 superior quality. In no other respect, perhsps, can it be 

 regarded of more importance than in this, as the increase 

 of the productive powers of the soil should be steadily 

 kept in view. J 



Premising these general remarks on the subject, it will 

 perhaps be more satisfactory to the reader to detail the 

 management adopted in the use of Flax-seed, with some 

 of the results thereby attained. Here a reference to 

 facts is necessary ; and for this purpose I shall describe 

 tie system followed at Horkesley Hall, near Colchester, 

 by the Rev. Mr. Blair Warren, to whom I am indebted 

 for many of the statements which follow, which may 

 therefore be implicitly relied on. Though long aware of 

 the value of Flax-seed as an article of food for live stock 

 I cannot forbear expressing the surprise and great grati- 

 fication which I experienced in the inspection of the sys- 

 tem of feeding at Horkesley, where sheep and other stock 

 are fattened with a proportion of Flax-seed jelly, both in 

 houses and out of doors.—./. Sproule. 



(To be continued.) 



NOTES OF A JOURNEY THROUGH SOUTHERN 



AND WESTERN ENGLAND. 



I do not pretend either thoroughly to know the Eng- 

 lish farming, or to be capable of entering into a minute 

 investigation of its merits or demerits, for I have spent 

 little more than ten days in the country, and those have 

 been chiefly occupied in travelling on railways and 

 coaches ; but there are various points so obvious as to 

 strike the eye of the most cursory observer. 



The following remarks have reference to Berkshire, 

 Wilts, Gloucester, Worcester, Stafford, and Cheshire. 

 On leaving London by the Great Western Railway, and 

 proceeding through Middlesex to Reading, we pass 

 through a fine, level, rich country, a considerable exteut 

 of which is in crop, principally Wheat, which presents a 

 good appearance, and (August 3d) is mostly ripe ; Oats 

 are generally a light crop. To the west of Reading the 

 railway runs through cuttings of chalk, mixed with flint 

 nodules; at the Oxford junction line the soil is poorish, 

 low-lying, and mossy ; from that to Chippenham is a 

 fine country, lying chiefly in meadow Grass, subdivided 

 into small fields, surrounded by hedge-rows, ditches, and 

 trees ; around Chippenham it is hilly and rather poor, 

 and on to Bristol still hilly ; between Bristol and Glou- 

 cester is a fine undulating country, still principally in 



Grass. 



I believe I am correct in saying that in the whole of 

 the country named, and on to Birmingham and Liver- 

 pool, there is not above one-third in crop, if so much ; 

 and the remaining two-thirds are lying in meadow Grass, 

 a portion cut and made Hay, the rest pastured ; the 

 modern improvements of draining, soiling cattle, proper 

 rotation of crop, including Turnip, Clover, and Rye- 

 grass, deep ploughing and thoroughly cleaning the land, 

 seem to be anything but generally adopted. W hen we 

 see the fields laid out into ridges of 2 or 3 yards m 

 breadth, the furrows in many instances being almost bare 

 of crop, how can we account for it but on the supposition 

 of the land being wet ? Again, I do not think I exceed 

 the mark when I say, that for every 10 acres of surface 

 there is 1 acre rendered useless— nay, worse than useless, 

 absolutely injurious— by hedge-rows, ditches, and trees; 

 almost every paltry field of 2 or 3 acres must have its 

 hedge and ditch, and in very many instances its row of 

 trees. Did these hedges do no more harm than occu- 



to be at all wet, the erop must be lost from the want of 



are annuall/emigrating to other count «•». "J «^ t 

 to themselves a home in remote quarters o I the globe 

 seems strange that so large a port.on of the « ne a ,r 

 LrtUe soil of England should remain only half cutti 

 'at d ; tZt we should assist in exporting ;ou, -co un ry 

 men to reclaim wild land in America and Australia beiore 

 first properly cultivating our cwn. , nr nriged 



In travelling through these counties one is surpnseo 

 to see Tn ome pert.* ploughs (large, clumsy, wooden 

 art cles with two large wheels fixed at the end oMhe 

 beam) drawn bythree or four hors, s in a line, with 



man or 

 and one 



it raf dTmore' woTk 'yoked 'abreast to a plough than 

 four voked before each other in single file, because some 

 of [he power of the foremost horses is always wasted m 

 Us passage along the sides of the hind horses, and when 

 turning, the hindmost one hue the whole dra ugh t to bear 

 In ScoUand, and many well-cultivated parts of England. 



