G10 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



decreasing to as the amount to be subtracted from 

 No. 1, #0 obtain the following results : — 



Number of Lots. 



I 



2 

 3 



4 

 5 



6 



7 



Width of rows. 



Grain per acre 



inches. 



9 

 is 



6 



13 

 15 



9 



9 



bash els. 



lbs. 



36 



50 



31 



14 



34 



47 



31 



56 



33 



39 



35 



40 



I 



' » 



10 or 



If this be a justifiable step in estimating the 

 results of this experiment — and from the manner in 

 which it assimilates the produce of the plots which 

 were sown equally thickly we may presume that it is — 

 then, though the weather has been such as most 

 remarkably to favour thick-sown crops of all kinds, 

 ~ et it has not been sufficiently dry and scorching to 

 inder the plants of plot No. 2 from as nearly as 

 possible equalling in produce those of plot No. 3, 

 though not,l>y two- thirds, so thickly planted in the 

 ground. 



The subject of the quantity of seed per acre from 

 which the maximum benefit is derivable, is one of 

 great interest to the farmer ; the seed- Wheat alone 

 of many farms equals a quarter of their rent in value, 

 it is a subject which we hope to see taken up by 

 many of our practical readers. We have this week 

 received an interesting account of experiments per- 

 formed last year near Bath, which we shall publish 

 in our next Xumber, and we hope that the expe- 

 rience of others will be placed at our disposal, in 

 order that from the comparison of numerous results 

 a trustworthy conclusion may be arrived at. 



We conclude by quoting from Mr. Davis's pam- 

 phlet the following defence of the practice of thin- 

 sowing Wheat. His practice on the large scale is to 

 sow but 3 pecks per acre. 



* The yield of an average ear of thick-sown 

 Wheat is about 30 grains (I say thick-sown, for thin- 

 sown yields very much more), and therefore, as the 

 ordinary return off every acre is at most about 30 

 bushels, it follows that this quantity, no matter how 

 much has been sown, can at most have come from 

 the growth of the ears from one bushel of seed (and 

 that, too, is allowing only one ear to grow from each 

 grain, and 30 grains from an ear). This being the 

 fact, of what use can more seed be, or rather let me 

 ask, must it not prove injurirv , mes of 



the remaining siv peel ed -which are 



comm— ' j 8 L :, e ( of pi ants ^ 



. ' ' > be gotten rid oi w hou injury 



j? ■ - In allow ear r i>iy to grow 



] VJ ' -at i tain onlv 30 grains, 



I arn,vrr m t what should be rhepro- 



; for a single grain, having room, .viil throw up 

 >r 12 and ti can will each contain from 



fifft ..*, so that in fact the yield, were room 



given to each seed to tiller out, instead of 30 for one, 

 which is all a bushel of seed allows, would be many 

 Hundred fold ; and hence any provision for the loss 

 ot seed from vermin or birds is unnecessary, for 

 supposing half, or much more of my small allow- 

 ance to be taken away or destroyed, the deficiency 

 ol plant will be immediately met by the tillering and 

 the larger size of the ear, which takes place wherever 

 room admits of the increase. Among the many 

 proofs 1 have had of the advantage from thin sowing 

 the following is a striking and, among my people 

 well-known fact. In the autumn of 1840, I had to 

 sow with W heat a field of eight acres, and to do this 

 seven bushels of seed were given out, but owino- 

 to an error of the drill-man in setting the drill, when 

 he had sown half of the ground, he found he had 

 not put on half of the seed ; then that I might not 

 discover, by the overplus, his mistake, he so altered 

 the drill as to sow the rest on the remainder of the 

 held, and in this way one half had little more than 

 two pecks to the acre, whilst the rest had nearly four 

 pecks. I did not know what had been done, and 

 was therefore surprised and frightened in the winter 

 by finding part of the field very thin, and, had not 

 tlje rest looked very much better, should have 

 Ploughed it up; but in spring and summer, a decided 

 superiority in the growth of the thinner portion 



£ f Pe ?T tib u le ', and at harvest this P ar * Proved 

 £ thfw u h °? ld never have known of the error 

 drill J^nll >l bu ! f ° r this resuIt havin S Educed the 



uriii man to point it out to me." 



ther of °! rW 7 ex F eriment and observation, whe- 

 thf f ° T gned 0r wcidental, but especially of 



the former character, that truth n theTat ter -can 

 be ascertained. matter can 



ON FLAX-SEED AS FOOD. 



(Continued from page 094.) 



Every farmer is aware of the value of oil-cako *« f™ 1 

 for cattle, which U merely the refuse matter of Fi^d 

 afer the expression of the oil. Indeed, . uc h a nutritious 

 article of food has this been found, and so muc h sum dor 

 for the production of fat to any article of farm produce 

 that animals fed on it have usually been disqualified from 

 competition at the national and local farming societies' 



11.3 



44.4 

 10.8 



7-1 

 15.1 



11.3 



Shows. I3ut much valued as it has hitherto been, there 

 is good reason to believe that it would have been still 

 much more valuable were it free from adulteration. 

 Flax-seed, like every other article of farm produce, is 

 very various in quality ; so that strict uniformity in the 

 quality of the oil-cake produced from it, is not to be ex- 

 pected. The variation will, however, be greater in the 

 quantity and quality of the oil than in that of the cake ; 

 so that, were no means employed for adulteration, the 

 quality of the latter would be found more uniform than 

 it usually is ; nevertheless, in nine-tenths of the oil-cake 

 exhibited in the British markets, the refuse of other 

 seeds, frequently those of weeds, will be found to consti- 

 tute a large if not the greater portion of it. Oil-cake, 

 however, still continues to maintain its ground among 

 cattle-feeders, notwithstanding the extent to which it is 

 adulterated by the admixture of foreign substances— a 

 fact which speaks volumes in its favour as an article of 

 food. It is, of course, impossible to state to what extent 

 its value is depreciated by such admixtures ; but the loss, 

 in a national point of view, from this source alone, must 

 be very considerable, when so much as from fifty to one 

 hundred tons of oil-cake are annually consumed, in some 

 cases, by individual farmers.* 



It does not appear that we are in possession of any 

 correct proximate analysis of the seed of the Flax-plant, 

 which is evidently of more importance in the estimation 

 of its feeding properties than an ultimate analysis, of 

 which latter several have been published. In the some- 

 what imperfect proximate analysis quoted by Professor 

 Johnston in his Lectures, the principal ingredients are 

 -tated to be as under — in 100 parts : — 



Oil 



Husk, &c. ..... 



Sugar 



Gum 



Soluble albumen (casein) ? 



Woody fibre, starch, wax, and resin, &c. 



This analysis, continues the learned Professor, shows 

 that the seed of Flax contains considerable proportions 

 of gum and sugar, and a large quantity of a substance 

 here called soluble albumen, of which nitrogen is a con- 

 stituent part, but which differs in its properties from 

 the gluten and albumen of the seeds of Corn-bearing 

 plants, and has much resemblance to the curd of milk. 

 Besides their fattening properties, therefore, which 

 Flax and other oil-producing seeds owe in a great 

 measure to the oil they contain — this peculiar albuminous 

 matter ought to render them very nourishing also ; 

 capable of promoting the growth of the growing, aud of 

 sustaining the strength of the matured animal. f 



It is certain that the loss sustained by the expression 

 of the oil in Flax-seed, as food for the domestic animals, 

 is much greater than the money value of the oil itself; 

 and that, therefore, besHes guarding against imposition, 

 in the form of adulteration, It would he more economical, 

 on the part of the feeder, to use the Flax-seed itself, in 

 preference to the oil-cake. Nor is the management to 

 be adopted in the latter case difficult to be carried into 

 effect. The seed is merely reduced to meal and boiled, 

 when a jelly is formed, abounding in mucilage and other 

 nutritious matters, which may be used in combination 

 with almost every other kind of food. For every pound 

 of meal, two gallons of water may be employed, to 

 which may be added, after the mixture has boiled a few 

 minutes, a proportion of bruised Oats, Barley, refuse 

 Wheat, or other similar matters, with a quantity of 

 cut Hay or Straw, sufficient to impart a degree of con- 

 sistence. After simmering over a slow fire for a few 

 minutes, this will absorb the mucilage, and the mixture 

 will be ready for the animals when cold enough for use. 

 A. little experience will show in what proportions the 

 various ingredients which may be used can be most 

 economically employed. Potatoes, or other roots, cut 

 Hay or Straw, Clover— in fact almost every article of 

 farm produce—may be used in conjunction with this 

 mucilage, as food for every one of the domestic animals. 

 But it is not necessary to dwell at great length on this 

 part of the subject, as no difficulty will be experienced 

 in the preparation of the food. 1 shall, therefore, pro- 

 ceed to describe the management at Horkesley Hall, 

 alluded to in my last paper on the subject, which I am 



r" m t0 D , d ° £ r ° Ugh the obli S in S at tention of the 

 itev. Mr. Blair Warren, whose course of management 



m reality seems to be well worthy of imitation? The 

 system which he carries so well into operation is, how- 

 ever that of Mr. Warnes, of Norfolk, whose exertions 

 in this department of farm management have been 

 noticed m my last paper on this subject. 



The preparation of the compound may take place in a 

 common boiler but where a considerable number of ani- 

 mals are to be fed, the process will be much more economi- 



nfjJ^ 0memtntly P erform€d by steam; and the ex- 



fnnr hi '??"!? ° f M a PP aratas *>r this purpose will 

 soon be repaid by the saving of labour and fuel thereby 



K' ?? ™ a . M of PiP es ^eam is conveyed from the 

 boiler in which it » generated to one or more vessels placed 



ZllTn ** ; a + i d the Water in the8e ves *els may be 

 boiled altogether through the instrumentality of the 

 steam thus introduced ; or a portion of it may be drawn 

 off from he boiler itself, by means of a stop-cock-in 

 which latter case the preparation of the food will be 

 materially hastened. While the water in these vessels is 

 kept boiling m this manner by the steam conveyed to 

 them, he required quantity of Flax and meal is to be 

 gradually added the mixture during the time being 

 stirred about. F ax-seed, in its whole state, is well 

 known to require lengthened boiling before it can suf- 

 ficiently impart its mucilaginous properties to the mix- 



lt 



lire 



but when ground into meal it 



[Sep*. 7 



hot It .. onl, in this state that i 6 "£ ;!° ™P**J 

 can be properly developed. After £ ■?.* pre «*«*"« 

 been added, and the wLe bo ed . u '^ ^ 

 farinaceous imtters to be afterward. .H.J7 """"«», 



sSraA*? . *« thl a Sr ed 8hooU * 



the* 



cally applied. But the prese r ^^7th« M S P - M,M * 

 matters, though desirable, is not absoln !. far,ni( *<*i 

 using Flax-seed jelly, ft ma/be adl ' 7 "**?* * 

 Ployed in conjunction' merely wTth cut ,,av ^8^ » 

 any description of green feeding, as Clover and oT' * 

 \ etches, Lucerne, &c, after being cut by th i . J? 

 to prevent waste. 6 " tne m »cbi w , 



The system of feeding on compound of Flax-seorf * 

 may be carried on in conjunction with nastnr ! ' & ° 

 other plan of house-feeding. Durin* the suml g ° r ?* 

 when the cattle and shee°p are on their n«T """I*' 

 may be supplied with a portion ot "he fc^** 

 once or twice a day ; and one of the benefc ,7e*^ 

 su-h a course of feeding will be, to make the .„Lu 

 relish and eagerly consume the most inferior d ^ri3£ 

 of herbage, on which they would otherwise starve T'fZ 

 supply of Grass may also by these means Z %J£ 

 economised, especially in the case of sheen f JdSTi 

 they may be confined by hurdles to a given extent ^.S 

 Grass until they have eaten it downf and this wiU t 

 only economise the Grass, by causing it to be all eat! 

 as gone over, but will also contribute materially to mriS 

 the land, by the folding of the sheep. I„ B ^ 

 in fact, a plot of ground is gone over regularly by piece: 

 meal,^with as much uniformity as if undergoing Z 

 operation of the scythe. In certain situations sheen or 

 cattle cannot be fattened during the summer months 

 advantageously, owing to the innutritions quality of the 

 herbage 8 but it will be apparent that in combination 

 with the mixture described, the most inferior natural 

 herbage may be successfully employed for fattening. Bat 

 the ultimate effects of this course of management in such 

 situations, as regards the improvement of the soil itself 

 are even more important than the immediate one of being 

 able to put on flesh. It is evident that if persevered in for 

 a time, whether the Flax-seed employed be of home or 

 foreign growth, the fertility of the soil will eventually be 

 permanently increased, by the production and applica- 

 tion of the increased quantity of valuable manure which 

 is thereby occasioned. Compared with such a system of 

 manuring, the application of guano or any of the nu- 

 merous fertilisers to which attention is now directed, is 

 comparatively unimportant. It is an important fact to 

 bear in mind that no manu:e can ever successfully enter 

 into competition with that of the farm-yard, when of 

 home production. Being a bulky article, however, its 

 value is seriously diminished when it is to be conveyed 

 any considerable distance ; and hence the advantage pos- 

 sessed by the portable manures in this respect. — J. 

 Sproule. 



(To be Concluded next week.) 



ON THE APPLICATION OF SCIENCE TO 

 PRACTICE IN AGRICULTURE. 



Last year I made an effort to stimulate the farmers of 

 Suffolk to adopt a system of experimenting on a cheap 

 and easy scale, for the purpose of securing a multipli- 

 city of facts by which men of science might be able to 

 test their theories, and elicit the principles upon which s 

 correct practice of Agriculture depends. More than a 

 twelvemonth's additional experience has added to mj 

 convictions that very few farmers possess any just notion 

 of what is meant by the application of real science to 

 practice. I perceive, indeed, that the subject is com- 

 manding increased attention, and that numerous attempts 

 have been made and are making with various success in 

 the right direction ; but still I think the application of 

 science to practice ought to be advancing at a much more 

 rapid rate than it is. I have already directed attention 

 to some remarks of Sir John Herschel, in his popular 

 " Discourse on Natural Philosophy," and I shall here 

 extract another passage which places the difficulties in 

 the way of applying science to practice, in a just poim 

 of view. I quote it as preliminary to a few remarks I 

 wish to make upon some observations of practica* men 

 (which I have lately noticed), with reference to certain 

 attempts which they consider to be failures, in the ap- 

 plication of scientific principles to the improvement W 

 Agriculture. " Art is the application of knowledge ta J 

 practical end. If the knowledge be merely accumulate 

 experience, the art is empirical; but if it be experience 

 reasoned upon and brought under general principles* l 

 assumes a higher character, and becomes a scientific ar . 

 " Applications come late ; the arts continue slowly pro- 

 gressive, but their realm remains separated from tnat 

 science by a wide gulf, which can only be passed t>y 

 powerful spring. The whole tendency of empirical art 

 is to bury itself in technicalities, and to place its P rlde "| 

 particular short cuts and mysteries, known only to a " e P^ 







I. 



"• 





] k 



* Mr. Warnes's *« Suggestions for Fattening Cattle on Nafiv* 

 instead of Foreign Produce.»-London, i 8 42. 



t See Professor Johnston's Lectures, &c, p. 772. 



particular suui t uuio auu lupoid loo, Miunii u»'j * — * 



to surprise and astonish by results, but to conceal p 

 cesses. The character of science is the direct contrary- 

 it delights to lay itself open to inquiry, and is not satis- 

 fied with its conclusions, till it can make the road to the© 

 broad and beaten ; and in its applications it preserves 

 same character, its whole aim being to strip away 

 technical mystery, to illuminate every dark recess, 

 to gain free access to all processes, with a view to ^ 

 prove them on rational principles. It would seen ? 



i 





prove 

 a union 



iem on rauuuui principles. *«- wv-»« --- 



of two qualities almost opposite to each other 



