1844.] 



r-^TTenei^lTto^tout rope passing round it 



r " jufalc helow the eaves. 

 Tn c o Suence of the variable climate to which this 

 t TU subject, much damage is often sustained by 

 ^CoinfronJ sudden or unexpected falls of rain. To 

 t income measure, prepared for such contingencies, it 

 ^customary on some large farms to have a band of men 

 £v for carrying on the process of thatching and roping. 

 The usual practice is only to half rope the stacks at first, 

 and afterwards to return and finish them off in as neat a 



«onner as time will allow. 



Harvest-time is peculiarly a period of anxiety and 



... x- useful hands are then allowed to remain 



inact We,' and no time is permitted to be lost or trifled 



,r Economy of time and labour is shown in various 



The straw ropes employed in securing the thatch 



Wa on the stacks are manufactured on the wet days 



run-in" during the summer ^nd harvest. Straw is also 



drawn into bundles for thatching when other operations 



cannot be carried on. In the wet and dewy mornings, 



when the leading in is suspended, the men engaged at 



it are busilv employed in setting up fallen stooks m the 



field in thatching and roping stacks already erected, and 



in preparing sites and kilns for others. By a studious 



attention to these minuti3e of management, the men are 



seldom employed at any operation on a dry day that may 



be done in a wet one ; the main work is never delayed 



when suitable weather for its performance occurs, and 



much valuable time of men and horses is consequently 



^Many of the stack-yards deserve a passing notice, not 

 only on account of the plentiful appearance they present 

 after the in-gathering of the harvest, but also from the 

 manner in which the ground is arranged. If naturally 

 wet it is in most instances perfectly drained, and after- 

 wards disposed into wide ridges raised in the crown, and 

 every third one reserved for a road, which is covered 

 with broken stones, coal-cinders, &c. A low stone dyke 

 frequently incloses the whole. An elevated well-exposed 

 stack-yard is, for obvious reasons, always preferred. 

 Wheat and Beans, particularly the latter crop, which, 

 from the succulency of its straw, and the late period at 

 which it is cut, is peculiarly difficult to be got sufficiently 

 dry in unfavourable seasons, are often stacked by them- 

 selves in some exposed situation near the field in which 

 they grew— a practice by which the best samples of grain 

 are obtained.— T. Sullivan. 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



627 



ON MINERAL AND INORGANIC MANURES. 



No. XXV. 



By Professor Charles Sprengel. 



{Continued from page 5/9.) 



b. Ashes of Soap-boilers. — Formerly all ashes of soap- 

 boilers consisted of extracted wood-ashes and lime, the 

 latter either caustic or combined with carbonic acid. 

 They were, therefore, a superior manure, as they im- 

 proved vegetation by the phosphate of lime, magnesia, 

 and gypsum, as well as the lime admixed. Since, how- 

 ever, many soap-boilers used soda instead of wood-ashes 

 or common salt, ashes are turned out which consist 

 merely of caustic lime or its carbonate, which have, 

 therefore, not so much value as mere burnt lime. Who- 

 ever, therefore, purchases ashes from soap-boilers has to 

 attend to that. 



If the ashes of soap-boilers consist of extracted wood- 

 ashes and lime, they are amongst the best mineral 

 manures, still a good marl is always preferable, as any one 

 can see by comparing the chemical constituents of both. 



How they act on the ingredients of the soil, does not 

 require to be again referred to in detail. It is also super- 

 fluous to speak on the manner in which they nourish 

 plants, as everything just said of extracted ashes applies 

 equally to these. It is the general opinion, that the ashes 

 of 6oap-boilers act especially by the potash contained in 

 them ; but this is a mistake, because, although I have 

 several times subjected them to chemical analysis, I have 

 always found but small quantities of that substance. 

 100,000 parts of a sort of soap-boiler's ashes, which ex- 

 perience had proved to be a superior manure, consisted of 

 3a,000 parts of silica. 



lime, mostly in a caustic state. 



manganese. 



alumina. 



oxide of iron. 



oxide of manganese. 



potash, combined with silica into a 



silicate, 

 soda, ditto, 

 sulphuric acid, combined with lime 



into gypsum, 

 phosphoric acid combined with lime. 



common salt. 



carbonic acid, combined with lime 



and magnesia. 



35,010 

 2,330 

 1,500 

 1,700 

 1,840 

 0,500 



0,180 

 0,190 



3,500 



0,090 



18,160 



>J 



M 



99 



» 

 V 



3? 



M 



100,000 



Of 



parts. 





gta V\ ^P-boiler's ashes, 2000 to 3000 lbs. (in a dry 

 lh« ^ generally used on one acre of land. By 3000 

 *• l he soil would obtain about 920 lbs. lime, 70 lbs. 



230 g lh Sla 'i 15 lbs> P otash > 5 lbs. soda, 12 lbs. gypsum, 

 which ; P - 9phate of lime t and 3 lbs. common salt, by 



nrnn ri * S t0 l)e seen ' tnat tne y owe tneir manu " n £ 

 V operties mostly to caustic and the carbonate of lime, 



Potash^ 1 9 V^ P h08 P hate of lime > as their 15 lbs ' 

 aiderabl * gynsum » &c -> ma 7 produce a very incon- 

 frned •,? ect » tae m °re so, as the potash is also com- 

 pter. the 8ilica into a 8u °stance not soluble in 



CloV P t rfJ n k anUrin§ with soap-boiler's ashes, plants of the 



benefit^ wlU grovv best » but a11 other cr0 P s wiU be 

 «a ; and the fresher they are, the more effective, as 



they then contain much of caustic lime, by which, espe- 

 cially, the carbonic humus, or the organic matter in 

 the soil are affected, and changed into humic acid. 

 Soils which contain very little lime, will be always best 

 improved by them, and in this case they will be very 

 useful, whether employed on fields or meadows. Ac- 

 cording to the amount used, this effect will last s 

 to nine years ; which, however, will be only the case 

 when the soil is not deficient in humus, and such 

 other substances of which the ashes contain but a 

 small quantity. 



Soap-boiler's ashes are strewn (like wood-ashes) either 

 over the crops already growing, for instance Clovers, 

 Lucerne, Grasses, &c, or they are harrowed in with the 

 seed of the winter or summer crops, and they act partly 

 like extracted ashes, and partly like caustic lime ; they 

 can be also used to great advantage on new marshes. 



* 



GEO-AGR1CULTURAL NOTES ON SOUTH 



GLOUCESTERSHIRE. 



{Continued from pnge 5/8). 



Lower Lias. — With the exception of the Bath stone — 

 the uppermost member of that portion of the oolitic 

 series which we have described — the strata constituting 

 the lower, or as it is generally termed, the Blue Lias, 

 cover a greater portion of our district than any other 

 occurring within its limits. From the edue of the hills, 

 under which it dips, being overlaid by the rocks we have 

 already described, it extends to the Severn, at Purton 

 Passage and beyond the northern limits of the district. 

 From Purton Passage, where it overlies one of the 

 members of the Silurian Beries, its western boundary 

 runs south-east, near Berkeley. The marl of the new 

 red sandstone here appears below it, and the junction of 

 the two is easily traceable by Lower Wick Green, along 

 the edge of a slightly rising ground by Charfield, up 

 the eastern side of the valley which extends beyond 

 Wickwar. Here its boundary is irregular ; the rock 

 being intersected by valleys exposing the marl and mag- 

 nesian limestone of the new red sandstone. From 

 Wickwar, the western limit of the lias runs south by 

 Sodbury, overlying the old red sandstone aod the 

 mountain limestone, along the edge of the basin already 

 described, of which, with the marl of the new red sand- 

 stone there exposed, it forms the eastern boundary. It 

 passes Waterleigh, Siston, andDoynton, leaving exposed 

 there a small district very curious in a geological point 

 of view, which shall be described in its proper place. 

 From Doynton it runs south-west by Barrow Hill, &0. f 

 to Hanham, where the line of its junction with the new 

 red marl crosses the Avon to Keynsham, and thence it 

 lies along the irregular edge of the hills to Bristol. 

 Besides this tract, which extends the whole length of our 

 district, and varies from upwards of four miles as at 

 Purton and Pucklechurch to less than one mile in width, 

 as at Wotton-under-edge, there are numerous cases in 

 which it occurs in smaller extent capping the hills and 

 covering the highlands which occur on the other side of 

 the basin. Thus, proceeding from Bristol to Gloucester, 

 the first ten miles of the road lie along a district of this 

 kind. The boundary of this tract, commencing at Mont- 

 pelier by Bristol, runs along the edge of the hills by 

 Stoke as far as Itchington, where it crosses to Abbey 

 Common by the Gloucester road, overlying the mountain 

 limestone between the two places. From Abbey 

 Common it proceeds by Alveston, Almondsbury, Over, 

 Compton, round by the edge of the vale of Hen- 

 bury, by Charlton, above Westbury, near Redland, 

 to Montpelier, whence we started; thus inclosing a 

 tract of about 20 square miles in extent. Besides this, 

 which is by far the most extensive of these outlying 

 masses of lias, it occurs at Aust, at Henley Hill, and 

 the hills overlooking the town of Thornbury, on the 

 south; at Eastwood hills, and Whitecliffe Park, near 

 Berkeley, overlying the new red marl. It also covers 

 the red marl at Tortworth-coppice, also between Char- 

 field and Wickwar. Its occurrence so frequently, and 

 at such distances on nearly one level, shows that at one 

 time it must have covered nearly the whole of the vale. 

 The lower lias consists of two members :— an impure 

 limestone-rock, of a blue or white colour, deposited in 

 layers varying from 6 to 10 inches in thickness, with 

 thin seams of clay between them ; and a stiff calcareous 

 clay, of a blue or yellow colour. This last is the general 

 character of the lias in the northern part of the vale. 

 There is little or no rock to be found north of Almonds- 

 bury, Stoke Gifford, and Westerleigh. To the south, 

 however, of a line drawn through these towns, the lias 

 consists chiefly of the rocky member. The lias varies in 

 thickness ; in one instance, at Codrington, it thins away 

 altogether, and leaves a tract of mountain-limestone 

 exposed in the midst of it. The rock of the lias is burnt 

 for lime when lime of a better quality, as at Stoke Gif- 

 ford, Bristol, &c, cannot be had in sufficient quantity. 

 It is suited for underground and water-works ; the price 

 is generally 18s. a hundred bushels. The chief portion 

 of the expense in the quarrying consists in the necessity 

 of removing the great quantity of clay between the beds 

 of rock ; and hence, a quarry is frequently carried over 

 the whole extent of a field, three or four only of the beds 

 being dug, and the surface being thus lowered 2 or 3 feet 

 as the quarry proceeds. In the northern p»rt of the 

 vale— at Slinsbridge and Frampton, &c— the clay of the 

 lias is covered by beds of gravel, as has been already said. 



Agricultural Character of the Lias.— The surface of 

 this formation is in the northern part of the district, 

 which is chiefly clay, nearly level, the undulations being 

 very slight. South of Westerleigh and Dyrham, however, 

 where it is chiefly rocky, many valleys intersect it, leav- 

 ing ridge-like hills and abrupt eminences. It is very 



much covered by wood. This wood is chiefly Oak» 

 Down at Purton Passage the country has a most forest" 

 like appearance, and this is generally the case over the 

 clay of the lias. Thus, at Hawksbury, several square 

 miles of an Oak plantation occur on land otherwise 

 worth very little, as is attested by the wretched state of 

 the commons surrounding it. On the rocky part of 

 the lias the country is not 80 thickly wooded ; a view 

 of the country in the neighbourhood of Pucklechurch 

 from Hinton Hill, near that town, is very bleak. 

 The soil on the lias is of two kinds. It is clayey or 

 brashy, according as it is on the clay or the limestone. 

 North of Almondsbury and Dyrham it is a dark, nearly 

 black calcareous clay," the subsoil being either blue or 

 black. In the neighbourhood of Newport it is a brown 

 or light-coloured clay, the subsoil in this case being of a 

 yellow colour. Towards Doynton and Wick, the soil is 

 a black clay, full of fragments of the blue and white 

 limestone, on which it rests. Over the whole of the for- 

 mation the land is almost entirely in pasture, which is 

 very much overshadowed and soured by the hedgerow- 

 timber. The fields are generally small, and the hedge- 

 rows wide. The pasturage is of a very poor kind, as 

 might be expected on a soil which is so thoro> ly soaked 

 during six or eight months of the year. It consists, in 

 great part, of Sedges, with a few plants of Plantain, and 

 plenty of Rushes. The way in which these dairy farms 

 are managed varies greatly. It is generally allowed that, 

 to take more than one, or, at the most two, successive 

 crops of Hay off the land is bad management. The 

 value of the spring feed is nothing ; the land bring rarely 

 in a state fit to allow of being stocked, till it is time to 

 shut it up altogether for the Hay crop. The Hay is 

 harvested in the month of July. It seldom averages 

 more than 15 cwt. per acre. After mowing, the land is 

 stocked till November, or later, if the land be sufficiently 

 dry. If a crop of Hay is to be taken next yenr, the 

 farmer tries to manure so much of his land each year. 

 This is sometimes laid on not long after the mowing, in 

 August or September, though generally it is done during 

 the frosts of winter. If the land is not to be mowed the 

 next year, this manuring is put off till next autumn, the 

 land being depastured during the interval. In general, 

 however, one year's grazing supplies the place of manur- 

 ing. After all, the manuring the land receives is not 

 calculated to do it much good. The scrapings of the 

 ditches, mingled with the droppings from the cows that 

 have been collected from the field*, where they have been 

 consuming the Hay during the winter and spring, is all 

 that it gets, and this is not laid on plentifully. In a 

 great many instances, however, the land does not receive 

 such good management as this. Frequently two- thirds 

 of the land is mowed, and the other third depastured 

 each year ; that which is furthest from the buildings being 

 mowed, and that next the farm and the buildings, and 

 therefore more convenient for the dairy, being grazed. 

 None of this land is efficiently drained; it is always 

 soaked during winter; indeed, the farmers deny that 

 it is possible to keep it dry. The prejudice, how- 

 ever, which still exists iu many places against under- 

 ground draining, is disappearing gradually. Many 

 farmers would willingly pay bl. per cent, on money laid 

 out by the landlord in this way. But the chief way m 

 which water is carried off is still by open gups, 

 which are cleaned out once every two or three years, and 

 the earth laid in heaps and mixed with the cow-droppings 

 to be spread over the land. The mole-plough is in con- 

 siderable use also. It is either worked by a windlass or by 

 horses— in the latter case a great many are employed ; I 

 know of one instance in which eighteen horses in a row 

 were used by a farmer to make a drain only 1 8 inches deep. 

 The loss of power in such a case must be immense. A 

 more effectual way of draining land is also to a consider- 

 able extent adopted ; this is termed clay- draining. The 

 labourer stands on the surface of the ground, and, with a 

 tool for the purpose, digs a trench about 20 inches deep, 

 2 wide at bottom, and perhaps 10 at the top ; after 

 clearing this out, he uses a wooden mandril, made of 

 pieces of wood of the size of the drain, connected together 

 by hinges, so that it is to a certain extent flexible ; this 

 fits the bottom of the trench, and fills it up to a depth of 

 6 or 7 inches; clay is hammered on this, and the drain 

 is filled in ; the mandril is then drawn forwards, clay is 

 hammered down on it again, and the drain is again filled 

 in, and so the work proceeds. This is much more 

 effectual than the mole-plough, but not so permanent as 

 draining with stones or tiles. The general objection to 

 draining deep with tile or stone is the statement that 

 water will not sink through the clay to them : the use of 

 the subsoil-plough is thus called for, and if the pastures 

 were broken up and well cultivated, and properly laid 

 down again after the use of this implement across a 

 thorough drainage with tile, their value would certainly 

 be greatly increased. This effect would also probably 

 follow the use of the mole-plough across the direction of 

 deep stone or tile drains, although the land were not 

 ploughed up, but merely pastured with sheep for four or 

 five years. There is, as has been said, very little arable 

 land on this soil. Many farms are entirely pas'nre; 

 some, however, have a few acres under the plough. 

 This is generally cultivated without any s J^ m > 

 Wheat and Potatoes being the chief crops, and these 

 are taken to supply the house. When it occurs m 

 larger quantity the system on which it is cuii- 

 vated is not only generally faulty, but the way m 

 which it is carried into effect is slovenly : m many 

 instances nothing but Tea-les are grown, of which jcca 

 sionally good crops are raised on this soil I ****"*' "™ 

 not pay for the injury which the land must rece.it from 

 1 so scourging a crop, repeal 80 many successive years. 



