1844.] 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



free of all other charges. I may remark as an induce- 

 ment to landed proprietors to adopt the allotment sys- 

 tem, which I hare long considered as tending greatly to 

 add to the comfort, and also to improve the moral 

 condition of the working classes, that I have never, in 

 any instance amongst a considerable number of such 



the 



ays 





dangerous maxim to bet odds against the favourite." 

 StilU had they elicited a word of information in favour of 

 the new systems, a good end might have been answered, 

 and I might have been a winner. As only personal 

 altercation is the result, I will say no more on the sub- 

 ject than may defend me from being misapprehended. 

 I know tiles answer well in many situations, and do not 

 object to their use; indeed I have drained with them 

 myself. My objection extended only to the unscrupulous 

 way of crying down practices which have been found 

 beneficial, and which have the recommendation of expe- 

 rience, and taking up in their place new systems which 

 are more expensive and backed chiefly by the opinions of 

 theorists ; tiles being decidedly more expensive than the 

 Suffolk system of draining. My principal reasons given 

 in favour of the draining which is chiefly pursued in my 

 own county, are nearly as conclusive as the answer 

 given by a celebrated breeder of the Southdown sheep, 

 when asked why he preferred them to the Leicester:— 

 " Because they answer my purpose better." I referred 

 Mr. Girdwood to jMr. Pusey's Report on Draining, to 

 show that Suffolk farmers are aware of the existence of 

 the Royal Agricultural Society of England — which, by 

 the bye, does not seem to extend its communications 

 very far north ; if it did, it might have spared my ludi- 

 crous ideas a little of the lash that has been applied to 

 them. u To place tiles out of the way of any working 

 whatever/' they must be put little short of the bottom of 

 an Artesian well, for I have a tile-drain on my farm well 

 covered with stone, into which the worms have worked 

 portions of clay through the apertures which let in the 



w .* ter '»* *o~my feWifi^}"™! _ / or S°t» ™hen addressing 



surface of the soil to the bottom of a drain on , a 1 f8flU : i , J 



level field. " Drains answering well for twenty years" 



only prove tiles equal to straw or stubble. I shall 



trouble you with only one more observation in answer to 



Mr. Girdwood. When I see practical men agree "as to 



how water gets into drains," and as to the uniform depth 



and width apart at which they are best made (which 



from your report of the late Yorkshire meeting does not 



appear to be the case at present), I will have no opinion 



of my own upon the subject ; and I will give up my 



preference for transverse drains as soon as it appears J 



practically clear that those parallel with the ^-^cent before I thought the sample worthy of special preserva- 



answer better. I can assure the learned r*ofessor who 



has also, I find, noticed my rem»^«» and whose zeal for 



the advancement of science m Agriculture I duly appre- 

 ciate, that it is roily a fear of too much haste with too 



little speed, which has caused him to class me with the 



'* hair of intellect'' men who do not like " new-fangled 



schemes." — Farmer and Valuer, Stowmarket. 



Great Produce. — Having seen in Mr. Lowe's account 

 of the appearance of the crops for 1844, at the begin- 

 ning of which he speaks of the Oxfordshire Wheat-ears 

 of 80 grains in each, I inclose you one from this parish 

 which you will find has 5-set kernels, and contains in all 

 from 115 to 116 grains. This is not, by the bye, a 

 solitary instance in this neighbourhood this season ; 

 many persons have 6 and some even 7-set kernels. — 

 A. Bar field. 



Thick Sowing. — Some years ago I had a very respect- 

 able foreman, so bigoted to thick sowing that if I did 

 not watch him he would have his own way. To cure him, 

 I laid him a new hat that I would beat him, planting 

 (with a dibble) only 4 gallons of Wheat per acre, 12 in. 

 X 6, and he should sow 25 gallons (his favourite quan- 

 tity) ; at harvest he brought me the account, and 1 beat 

 him 2 bushels per acre. Mine was hoed only twice : it 



least thrice, and deeper. This 



occupiers, experienced any difficultv in obtaining 

 rent. I have omitted to state that the land is aU_,_ 

 highly manured for both crops, and cultivated solely by 

 the spade.— A Subscriber, Norfolk. 



Potato Failure — A great misfortune, of its kind, has 

 befallen me this year : my late Potato crop has com- 

 pletely failed. The tops were magnificent—finer in 

 many parts than I ever saw— yet the crop was absolutely 

 nothing, certainly not nearly enough to replace the seed. 

 The land is light, on gravel, well manured with stable- 

 dung, in many places with Potter's guano, and frequently 

 watered with liquid manure, of human urine and soap, 

 suds. The early Potatoes, called here Church's Seedlings, 

 bore very fairly, but never before have I seen the like 

 fa lure, with so splendid a promise from the stall 

 Now what was the cause ? The season ? perhaps so ; 

 as I fear a like result is found by some of my neighbours 

 who did not treat the growing crop as I did ; or is the 

 fault the system of manuring I adopted ? I am very 

 anxious to know, as this was my grand experiment in 

 consequence of taking in your Gazette. My crop of 

 Onions and Carrots have been excellent. Altogether I 

 am quite baffled, and shall feel greatly obliged by your 

 advice. I got tanks made on purpose for my garden, 

 especially for the Potatoes, which I grow in great 

 quantities. — R. [We do not know how to explain this ; 

 your fault must have been one of omission, if it be 



cannot be" blamed] a * * ]L The manures you applied 



Wheat.— .The productiveness of Wheat has been f- 

 quently made a matter of newspaper astonish mp- c « ana * 

 I am almost ashamed to add my hundred-an-' nrst won_ 

 der; but as none of the published ; Extraordinary 

 Crops " come up to anything •»/ ,>roaching to the pro- 

 duce of the " Mummy toS*/* I may as well be heard 

 in its just prai><~ in ? inclosed is a single root, the otT- 

 sprinp- ° r a single grain, and bearing 57 stems; there 

 ..ere 59, but 2 were broken off by accidental roughness 



ought to have been at 

 cured him.— R. W. P. 



Failure of Turnips. — As so many persons are com- 

 plaining about their Turnips, I think it fair to state what 

 has happened to myself. I took a small farm last year 

 which had been considerably impoverished by the former 

 tenant, and resolved to try what could be done with it. 

 Having worked and dressed the portion for Turnips very 

 *ell, 1 drilled the seeds with great care, but after sowing 

 twice I have only got a fair crop by considerable atten- 

 ™>n to transplanting in the places where they failed. 

 Anxious, however, if possible to secure the white 

 urnip, I procured some of Lawes' superphosphate of 

 o ; , on the manured ground I drilled the seed with 

 " f wt ' °. f the Phosphate, mixed with ashes sifted through 

 a nne wire riddle. I sowed two fields, and both have 

 come up well without any failure at all. They were 

 an T n F °P , a Sa turday and appeared the following Thursday 

 ■tr .f 7. They were speedily in the rough leaf, grew 



■ iron & bright, and healthy ; nothing has touched them 



sar ff i nothin S appears to threaten them. I am so 

 wisned of the efficacy of this stimulant that henceforth 



the, T* r S0W Turni P s of any kind without it. If 

 be i r ffi • 1S n0t manured l suppose 2 cwt. would not 

 really I4 lent ' but m my case il has been ample; and 

 object ~-fr Sn &Cre * s a sma ^ ex pense to secure such an 



ber of 'Jvf n 'i*-~ As you ex press the wish, in your Num- 

 tions of i i 7th inSt "' that the sub J ect of allotting por- 

 the m ! ri tlie work »ng classes may be kept before 

 that I ' . iU state, in accordance with that wish, 

 of Inti i ° 8t nme years eince l apportioned several acres 

 nu a mongst a certain number of agricultural la- 

 one of those allotments which 



con^V nd that 0ff - 



63 S '^ e ? ( th e portion which was sown with Wheat) of 



1 bu«» • i e occu P ier has just threshed out 3 qrs. 

 rate of 8 ,ndll , din S the gleaned Corn, being nearly at the 

 Per acre° ''tl^' as we in this county term it, 1G combs) 

 «mJ f fc ed 8 t j[ ls . man grows Wheat and Beans alternately, 



g reea . . e P'g 8 w * tn the Beans generally, whilst in a * »un tu j.ci awe, mubuvui, c umusuui . v~~_ 4 



ace. He pays me at the rate of 11. per acre,, of Italian Rye-gr&ss, 14 lbs. of Cow-grass, and 2 bushels 



tion : one of the eirs also accompanies it in this letter 



an average one, neither the longest nor the shortest. You 



will perceive that it contains 46 grains— call it 45 ; then, 



45x59=2655, or as many fold. The soil was new turfy 



soil, rather sandy, and entirely unmanured. My little 



crop was dibbled in grain by grain early in March, and 



cut early in August ; height of straw above 5 feet. Many 



roots approached near to the one I send in size, but 1 



believe it to be the largest ; and the fact, as you perceive 



(if worth anything), is a matter of ocular demonstration. 



— Martin F. Tupper, Brighton. 



Destruction of Turnip Crops. — The Cotswold farmer 



has moved my sympathy. I ascribe the evil to the effect 

 of the season, on a soft ill-aired soil, impregnated witi. 



an excess (?) of azotised manure. I am ignorant of the 

 character of the soil in question, but have seen similar 

 effects in like conditions. 1 beg to recommend the trial 

 of some of the cheapest disinfecters. One lot might be 

 moderately dressed with newly slaked lime, another with 

 chloride of lime, a third with common salt, a fourth with 

 a mixture of salt and nitre, a fifth with a mixture of sul- 

 phur, nitre, and salt. The nitre and salt may be in equal 

 weights, and I lb. of sulphur to 50 lbs. of the mixture. I 

 would try these mixtures on small lots at first ; give only 

 about one cwt. of each dressing (except the lime) to the 

 acre, and watch their effects. I could mention many 

 others, but their price forbids field use. If anything 

 better occur to any reader, state it, and let us soon he:ir 

 whether that malady is giving way. — G. 



Lucerne. — I have grown Lucerne this year for the first 

 time. I have had a capital crop, and have cut it twice. 

 It promises to be high enough and strong enough for 

 another cut. Do you advise it ? — J. M. [Yes.] 



Potter's Guano. — Having seen (page 620) what is 

 represented by your correspondent as an analysis of 

 "Potter's Guano," I think it only right, in justice to 

 myself, and out of consideration to those who may be 

 led to make the manure from the formula given, expect- 

 ing that it faithfully represents the composition of my 

 guano, to state that this is far from being the case. I 

 do not wish to impugn the accuracy of Mr. Mason, with 

 whose name, however, as an analytical chemist I am un- 

 acquainted ; but he has, in this instance, either got hold 

 of a spurious article, or an error has arisen from some 

 other cause. As it is not my intention as yet to make 

 the public a present of the secret of my composition, nor 

 to be entrapped by the putting forth of pretended ana- 

 lyses to declare what the correct analysis is, I shall con- 

 tent myself, in reference to Mr. Mason's, by saying, that 

 those who follow it, although they will succeed in form- 

 ing a very tolerable manure, will be sadly disappointed 

 if they think they can substitute it for my guano. I will 

 conclude by remarking, that although the analysis in 

 question fails to declare truly what Potter's Guano is, 

 yet it affords a negative evidence, at least, that it is not 

 composed of chalk, sand, &c, as some have asserted, and 

 that it is free from that cheap commodity water, which 

 farmers, it appears, are willing to buy to the tune of some 

 25 to 35 per cent, in the foreign guano, paying for the 

 same from 8/. to 10/. per ton, with a trifle more for car- 

 riage to their farms. — W. II. Potter. 



Vetches and Italian Ryegrass. — In reference to a 

 previous article on this subject, I beg to inform you that 

 I sowed per acre, broadcast, 2 bushels of Vetches, -J ditto 



of Oats.— W. Courtis, Swansea. [Sown, we presume, 

 not as a mixture, but successively on the same land.] 



Societies, 



AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT SOCIETY 



OF IRELAND. 



At the weekly meeting of the Council, on Thursday, 

 September 5th, it was announced that his Royal High- 

 ness Prince Albert having been pleased to cause the 

 sum of 50/. to be remitted, to be applied to the pro- 

 motion of agricultural science in Ireland, this sum had 

 been placed, by Lord Eliot, at the disposal of the Royal 

 Agricultural Improvement Society. A letter was alto 

 read from Lord Stanley, from the Colonial Office, accom- 

 panying a specimen of seads of the Tussac Grass, lately 

 imported from the Falkland Islands. The following 

 are the terms of a premium of 5/., given by Sir 

 Harry Verney, Bart., to be competed for in the county 

 of Galway, and to be decided at the next great national 

 Cattle Show of the Society, to be held at Ballinasloe, for 

 the province of Conniught, in the year 1815, viz. : "To 

 the landholder in the county of Galway, who, being 

 neither owner nor occupier of more than two statute 

 acres of land, and recommended by a member nf the 

 Central Society, shall obtain from his holding the largest 

 quantity of produce (not more than one-eighth beiv the 

 Potaties) during the year ensuing the mer Dublin." 

 Royal Agricultural Improvement Son" the premiums 

 The secretary stated, that nejw, amounting to near 

 awarded at the lite CaMhd discharged, with the ex- 

 700/., had been paj&fc W ere subject to the conditions 

 ception of th^gj. am i that all the medals awarded 

 above JJ^'^Qp ^-re now in preparation, and would be 

 , -'cajy'tn v " delivered to the parties, on application, in a 

 few days. 



SOCIETY FOR THE PROMOTION OF THE 

 GROWTH OF FLAX IN IRELAND. 



On Wednesday, 4th September, the monthly meeting 

 of the Committee of this body was held at Belfast. The 

 secretary read a Report of the quantity of Flax-seed im- 

 I irted into, and sown in Ireland, this season, prepared 

 by a member of Committee, from the most authentic 

 sources :— 



FLAX'S BID IMPORTKD INTO IRRLAVD, FOB SOWIVO, IN TUB 



VEAR 1844. 



Ports. Riga brls. Dutch hhds. American 



hhds. 



Belfast .. .. 20.123 



2705 



Derry and Portrush 23,069 



900 



Newry .. .. — 



— 



Dublin . . . . — 



_ 



Limerick, Cork, and 





other ports . . — 



— 



200 



Total 



■13,183 



3G05 



200 



Supposed quantity of home-saved seed sown 



Deduct quantity on hands .. «. 



Grand total of hhds. of Flax-seed sown this year 

 ¥otal quantity sown in 1843 



• • 



Total in 



hhds. 



12,706 



12,030 



8800 



2500 



3500 



40,196 



1200 



41,396 

 500 



40.S9G 

 37,400 



Increase over 1813 .. .. .. .. .. 3496 



From the above analysis of the importation this year, 

 some interesting facts may be gathered. The quantity of 

 American seed imported this season is only 200 hhds., 

 while last year it was 4080 hhds. The decrease may be 

 Principally attributed to the strong manner in which the 

 Society has cautioned the farmers against sowing Ame- 

 rican seed, which produces a branchy stem and coarse 

 fibre. Home-saved seed has been sown extensively, and 

 with success, many persons having very fine crops of 

 Flax from it. It will be seen that Flax culture continues 

 to increase in a steady progression. On the supposition 

 that each hogshead would sow three statute acres, the 

 quantity of land under the crop, in 1813 was 112,200 

 acres, and this year, 1844, is 122,688, an increase of 

 10,488 acres on the previous year. At the lowest aver- 

 age, each acre will produce 6 cwt. of clean scutched Flax; 

 thus, the entire produce of Irish Flax last year was 

 30,465 tons, and this year, 39,611 tons— an increase of 

 3146 tons on the season's growth. The value of this 

 3146 tons, at 40/. per ton, which is a very low average, 

 would amount to 125,840/. This large sura would other- 

 wise have been paid to the Continental farmers, but is 

 now retained in our own country. The superior elasticity 

 and durability of Irish Flax over the Russian article is 

 becoming daily more apparent, and the English spinner* 

 are more inclined to look to this country for their future 

 supply. The committee resolved to allocate the sum of 

 50/., in prizes for Flax and Flax-seed, at their Annual 

 Show, in November this year, in addition to the 55/. 

 already advertised as prizes, to purchasers of Flax on 

 the foot. 



FARMERS' CLUBS. 



I Wiltshire.— At the Annual Meeting of this Society. 

 Mr. W. R. Browne, alluding to the condition of the agri- 

 cultural labourers in Wiltshire, as compared with that 

 of the labourers of some other counties, stated the ave- 

 nge rate of wages in Wilts to be between 7s. and 8s. 

 a week, and showed that, while there was a great redun- 

 dancy of labourers, there were about 87,000 acres of 

 uncultivated land in the county. He contended that if 

 this land were, as it might be, brought into cultivation, 

 the wages of the labourer would be raised, and his con- 

 dition greatly improved ; the poor-rates of the county, 

 which now average 3*. in the pound— Is. above the 

 average of England— would be diminished, and the wel- 

 fare and happiness of all placed on a firmer basis. Mr. 

 Browne referred, in proof of his assertion that the 



