1844.] 



ir» i ANDOWNKaa, AGRICULTURISTS, BUILDERS, &c, 



JJpKIBBIN'S Improved ROOFING FELT is 

 M nJrallarly applieablfl as a substitute for Slate, Zinc, 



i„ aK l.er art.cles used for Roofing, from its ECONOMY, 



JVphTN-ESS, and DURABILITY. 



L The disadvantages attending other materials used in roofing 



«?nt inir in agricultural districts, many useful houses and 



p rJ! beirS erected or rendered waterproof, it is submitted that 



SJifnoroved Roofing Felt will in a great roeasure-and In some 



• .♦«««.* altogether— obviate them, and prove most servicc- 



1 Kin from its lightness, durability, and impermeability to water 



£d Jimp, in covering Houses, Cattle-sheds, Workshops Rope- 



SSJi &c and for the sides, as well as roofs, of light struc- 



JLrpVfor plants, being likewise a non-conductor of heat; be- 



«?Hps its economy in repairs, the timber where it is used ma; 



rf. liB . ht as to save its whole expense ; it requires no othei 



SUin* "and may be applied by any person of common inge 



««i v -beiDEflexible and portable also, it is free from breakage, 



fh# MDCD^e of carriage is inconsiderable in comparison wi.h 



cSatM tiles &c, and it is not liable to contraction like zinc. 



Sold in sheets 32 inches by 20, at 5c*. each (being less than 

 a. 6d ver square of 100 feet), with directions for applying them. 

 Orders will meet with prompt attention if addressed to H. C. 

 Rowdev 18, East India Chambers, Leadenhall-street, London, 

 or to the following agents:— Liverpool, Messrs. Grucber & Co., 

 11 Manesty-lane; Plymouth, Thomas Stevens, Esq.; Birming- 

 ham William R. Loyd, Esq. ; Sunderland and Newcastle-on- 

 Tvne Messrs. John Ritson and Sons; Hull, William Ward, 

 Esq •' Bristol, Messrs. Moor and Hewitts; Rarasgate and Deal, 

 Messrs Edward Hodges & Co. ; Whitehaven, William Todd, 

 Esc • Glasgow, Malcolm Carmichael, Esq., St. Enoch-square; 

 Cork' Messrs. Richard Wallis & Co. ; Belfast, Messrs. Grueber 

 &Co* Dunbar's Dock ; who have also on sale McKibbin's 

 Improved SHEATHING, BOILER. RAILWAY, and other FELT, 

 *»* The "Isipkovkd Rookixg Felt" will be found much 

 more durable than the Comm >n Felt made in lengths, and not 

 subject, like it or continuous sheets of other material, to be 

 stripped by storm; it can also be more easily repaired, and 

 from the simple mode of application recommended, the wet can 

 not percolate through nail-koles, being only fastened down at 

 th e over l aps. m 



STEPHENSON and CO., 61, Gracechurch-street, 

 London, and 1/, New Park-street, Southwark, Inventors 

 and Manufacturers of the Improved CONICAL and DOUBLE 

 CYLINDRICAL BOILERS, respectfully solicit the attention of 

 scientific Horticulturists to their much approved method of 

 applying the Tank system to Pineries, Propagating Houses, &c. 

 by which atmospheric heat as well as bottom- heat is secured 

 to any required degree without the aid of pipes or flues. 

 S. & C. have also to state that at the request of numerous 

 friends they are now making their Boilers of Iron as well as 

 Copper, by which the cost is reduced. These Boilers, which are 

 now so well known, scarcely require description, but to those 

 who have not seen them in operation, prospectuses will be for- 

 warded as well as reference of the highest authority ; or they 

 may be seen at most of the Nobility's seats and priucipal 

 Nurseries throughout the kingdom. 



S. & Co. beg to inform the Trade that at their Manufactory in 

 New Park St., every article required for the construction of 

 Horticultural buildings, as well as for heating them, may be 

 obtained upon the most advantageous terms. 



Conservatories, &c. of Iron or Wood, erected upon the most 

 ornamental designs. Balconies, Palisading, Field, and Garden 

 Fences, Wire Work, &c. &c. 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



641 



W§t &gr (cultural <£ra?ette* 



SATURDAY, SEPTEMB ER 21, 1844. 



MEETINGS FOR THE TWO FOLLOWING WEEKS. 



Thursday, Sept. 26 Agricultural Imp. Soc of Ireland. 



Wednesday, Oct. 2 Flax Imp. Society of Ireland. 



Thursday, Oct. .3 Agricultural Imp Soc ol Ireland. 



FARMERS' CLUBS. 

 Sept. 23 -West Hereford, W. Firle, Fairford, W. Market, Yoxford. 

 Sept. 24_FramIingham,Isle of Thanet, Kayleigb. 

 Sept. 26— Richmondshire. 

 Sept.27-Halesworth, Hadleigh. 

 Sept. 30— Chepstow. 

 Oct. 2— Hirleston. 

 Oct. 5-Collumpton, Abergavenny. 



A DESCRIPTION OF THE IMPLEMENTS OP CULTI- 

 VATION cannot be better prefaced than by an article 

 on those employed in drainage, for this process lies 

 at the foundation of all good — i. <?., economical Agri- 

 culture. Opportunities will hereafter occur of refer- 

 ring to the draining-plough, the mole-plough, and 

 other smaller tools required in draining : the first is 

 rarely useful, except on the most homogeneous clays ; 

 the second is used to a considerable extent on pasture 

 lands — by means of it a very imperfect, and by no 

 means permanent description of drainage is effected; 

 and the others are not individually of sufficient 

 importance to justify the occupation of space here 

 by further allusion to them. Our present object is to 

 describe the subsoil plough, which is, strictly 

 speaking, a drainage implement. 



Land cannot with benefit be rendered loose, to 

 any considerable depth, if it be wet. The subsoil- 

 PJoughis not useful to the farmer of wet soils; his 

 land must be dry, artificially or naturally, before this 

 implement can be beneficially used by him. We do 



f rK* ° Ur rea( * ers t0 depend on a mere assertion 

 ? !J ; . but > without defending the statement at any 

 length, it appears sufficiently obvious, that to deepen 

 a wet soil would be to render it almost uncultivable 

 °y horse-labour— for draught animals require a firm 

 looting, and this, in wet districts, it will be found, 

 is always preserved for them by the shallow cultiva- 



° n . which experience teaches such lands should 



ri ) IV -i* And lt is not un likely that the practice of 



suosoii-ploughing, (or stirring, as it might more 



properly be called,) which, we find, from some of 



igg^Q^yj^ Ports to the B oard of Agriculture,* 



follow^' m the Re P° rt of Lancashire, by Dickson, there is the 

 "Thisi* n °!u Ce of the "miner, or deep-stirring plough:"— 

 its naturp 1 i ■ u tOGl of the P lou & h kind » somewhat similar in 

 the •am- ,cn WM introduced into the c >unty nearly about 



Pl°UKlSha P rp r £ d SS 'i 16 trench -P lll »Rh- ^ si^Ply consists of a 

 ■heath onJ iv. nrm, y fi xed to a strong beam, by means of a strong 

 drawn hi ( handle ' without any mould-board. It is usually 

 furrow n o ° f more norsc8 » being made to follow, in the 



stir un thi , common P ,0 ugh, so as to penetrate into, loosen, and 

 8 to 12 inY l 6 " 011, without turning it up, to the depth of from 



A more arrnrlJ el ? w U,e tract in wnlch thal » ,lou & h had S one " 

 »s used tha« ■ description of the way in which the implement 



given now W contained iu tllis paragraph of 1813 could not be 



prevailed half a century ago, has died away in those 

 districts where once it existed, because it was un- 

 connected with any efficient system of drainage. It 

 was not till Mr. Smith showed, on his farm at 



Deanston, the great advantages following the adop- 

 tion of both these operations together, thai either af 

 them obtained that high place in the practice of good 

 farming which they now hold. 



Ma. Smith's Si 



Mr. Smith's subsoil-plough consists of the ordi- 

 nary framework of a plough, without the mould- 

 board, made strong enough to stand the shocks and 

 the strain to which an implement requiring the force 

 of four or six horses to work it must be subjected. 

 This framework is about \5 feet long. A sole- plate, 

 on which a feather-shaped or pointed sock slips, is at- 

 tached to it by means of two uprights and a curved 

 coulter. The height of the plough, when held in a 

 working position, from the sole- plate to the beam, is 

 about 22 inches. It is thus enabled to go to a depth 

 of 20 inches. From the furrow side of the sock a 

 spur projects, over which the mass of subsoil cut by 

 the coulter and share is raised and broken, and falls 

 down again. By the action of this spur, and of the 

 whole implement, the subsoil is effectually stirred, 

 without any of it being lifted to the surface. The 

 effect of subsequent deep ploughing, after the action 

 of the air has thus sufficiently meliorated the subsoil, 

 will be beneficial, while withcut this previous culti- 

 vation it would have been injurious. The subsoil- 

 plough requires at least four horses to work it effi- 

 ciently. The draught in a rather clayey soil was 1 1£ 

 cwt., going from 16 to 18 inches deep. The draught 

 of the common plough, which preceded it, and turned 

 out the furrow in which it worked, was about 5 cwt., 

 so that the work for the horses was about the same in 

 either case. It is found that the wider the furrow is 

 turned out, the more efficient is the operation. In a 

 subsoil ploughing-match, held at Stirling in 1840, it 

 was found that the best work was done by that sub- 

 soil-plough which was preceded by the old Scotch 



son. Plough. 



plough, which casts a very wide furrow. It is ev* 

 dent* that this does not necessarily imply that the 

 subsoil-plough shall pa?s along a fewer number of 

 furrows in a given width of land than where the 

 furrow is narrower, for the width of the furrow de- 

 pends not on that of the furrow-slice, but on the 

 width of the plough, which thrusts the furrow-slice 

 from the fast-land. The expense of the operation of 

 subsoil-ploughing is considerable, varying from 24s. 

 to 305. per acre, according to the nature of the land; 

 and it is evident that in rough strong land, where the 

 pickaxe is afterwards required to remove the obstruc- 

 tions which the plough has met with, the expense 

 will be much greater than this. This is a statement 

 of the debit side of the farmer's account of subsoil- 

 ploughing. To find its credit side, he must compare 

 his land as it was — wet or scorched, according to the 

 weather, on which it was wholly dependent — with 

 his land as it now is after the operation, free and fri- 

 able, dry and open ; and he must take the crop he 

 raises now at less expense, too, than formerly ; for 

 the land, being drier, is more easily tilled ; and he 

 must compare this crop with that heu I to raise on 

 the same land. The difference will generally yield a 

 large per centage on the capital he has laid out; the 

 experience of Mr. Brodie, of Abbey Mains, East 

 Lothian, on this subject, is given by Mr. Sullivan in 

 another column of this Paper. 



Since the construction of the Deanston subsoil- 

 plough, one of a lighter form, made of wood, has 

 been invented by Sir Edward Stracey,of Ilackheath. 



Rackhkatii Sub 



It is used just as Mr. Smith's implement, but the 

 absence of the lateral spur which characterises the 

 Deanston subsoil-plough, must render it a less effi- 

 cient implement. In this, however, never having 

 seen it at work, we do not speak from experience. 



The Reading Subsoil Plough. 



The same objection exists to another form of the 

 subsoil-plough, of which a figure is given below, 

 which was invented and is manufactured by Messrs. 

 Barrett and Exall, of Reading. 



The triple-toothed form of this implement was 

 intended to diminish the force required to draw 



soil Plough. 



it. It will be easily seen that when in full work the 

 uppermost tooth is in advance of the second, and 

 that again in front of the lowest, so that the tenacity 

 of the soil and subsoil which hinders the motion of 

 the implement is, as it were, overcome piecemeal, 

 and probably with less resistance than would 

 be presented to the action of any other method, 

 'lhe efficiency of this implement as a stirrer 

 of all the subsoil is, however, far from perfect. 

 Attempts have been made to combine in one 

 implement the subsoil with the common plough 

 which ordinarily precedes it. Perhaps the 

 most successful of these is that which has 

 resulted in the construction of an implement 

 now manufactured by many parties, which 

 appears and acts firs't as a common plough 

 worked by two horses, and then, by a simple re- 

 moval or lifting of the mould-board, is fitted to 

 act as a subsoil-plough, and, in returning, to stir the 

 bottom of the furrow which has just been opened.^ 



The Charlbury subsoil plough, figured below, in- 

 vented by Mr. Pusey, and described in the first 

 volume of the English Agricultural Society's Jour- 

 nal, is the result of another of these attempts. 



The Charlbury Subsoil Plough. 



