754 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



[Nov. 9, 



Wheat-plant on this headland looked quite as well .t 

 other, until it went out of bloom, when from some un- 

 known cause, it wl<3 partially blighted, — an irregular 

 patch, from a foot to a yard in width, and extend in 

 almost from end to end of the headland, becoming hi n 

 and parched, as if affected by lightning, or some a 

 spheric visitation. With the view of making these re- 

 sults a little clearer to the eye, 1 subjoin the foil 



ibular statement of the produce per acre, in the different 

 parts of the field : — 



Bushels of 



per e acre. 



Guano alone 4 -4 



•i 



52§ 



49 1 

 5 



02 



49$ 



50 



5th 



Che. r.ical manure alone . • • • • • 

 Guano and chemical manure, with 24 cwt. of lime 



to the acre, but land unv.ib.-.niled 

 Do. do. but no lime . • • 



African do. do. and lime . 



Peruvian do. do. do. . • • • • 



Do. do. do. 3 times as much lime 



Do. do. do. 6 times as much lime 



Average crop throughout the field ... 



It may be as well to observe, that the total expense of 

 manure, and of its application, to that portion of the 

 field which produced 62 bushels per acre (including the 

 guano and the additional quantity of lime used), was at 

 the rare of Sis. per statute acre. Deducting the cost ol 

 the nitrate of soda, the utility of which, under the cir- 

 cumstances, I am inclined to doubt, it would have been 



63*. (til. 



I consider these to be very favourable results, and as 

 offering strong inducements to continue the eapeiiinent. 

 I have accordingly had the land ploughed up and 

 cleaned, and it was again sowed with Wheat on the 9th 

 instant. — T. J. CHiheroe. 



(To be continued.) 



nd umes as a reason for the supposed infe- Warnes states " tint tl 



ON FLAX SEED AS FOOD. 

 To many of the readers of the Agricultural Gazelle 

 an apology may be necessary for bringing this subject 

 8o frequently under their notice ; they may not be im- 

 pressed ith a clear idea of its importance to the farmer. 

 In a recent paper in one of the numerous agricultural 

 publications of the day, while advocating the advantages 

 of another addition to the list of cultivated plants in 

 Britain, the writer appears to entertain such very extra- 

 ordinary notions regarding Flax culture, and the appli- 

 cation of the seed as food for live stock, that he hopes 

 " the advocates of the one and the other are now so sen- 

 sible of their folly that they will hide their heads with 

 shame, and not encounter the indignant condemnation of 

 their countrymen, on whom tl y have so shamefully im- 

 posed." This is strong language ; so strong, indeed, that 

 it is quite apparent it proceeds both from gross igno- 

 rance and unconquerable prejudice. It is, in fact, lan- 

 guage which tho?e whose sole efforts are devoted to the 

 extension of useful knowledge among any class of their 

 fellow-creatures should be ashamed to employ. 



In already advocating the extension of Flax culture in 

 the pages of this Journal, I was particularly anxious to 

 guard its readers against entertaining orer-santruine ex- 

 pectations as to the results thereby to be obtained. 1 

 said, that the Flax crop was unprofitable or profitable 

 according to the management adopted, and that such 

 management, to be successful, requires a greater degree 

 of particularity in the performance of the several pro- 

 cesses connected with it than is necessary in the case of 

 almost any of the other cultivated crops. On these 

 grounds, then, it was especially recommended that such 

 farmers as had not previously some opportunity of ac- 

 quiring a practical knowledge of the mode of proceeding 

 adopted in the Flax-growing districts, should be cautious 

 in their first attempts to grow the article, and that their 

 operations should in the first instance be conducted only 

 on a small scale, until they ascertained how far they were 

 likely to be successful. In regard to the use of Flax- 

 seed as food, such precautions were scarcely necessary, 

 as the quantity of this substance used in a particular 

 form by British farmers, from an early period, has been 

 very great. Oil-cake has always been in high and 

 deserved repute as food for the domestic animals of t; 



oil-cake, a . 



riority of the former, that the seed may not have been 



:iently reduced before boiling, and that therefore a 

 portion of it may have passed a y through the 

 animals without having been sufficiently digested.* 

 The r action of the seed into meal before boil- 

 ing is essentially i essary to guard ag last the 

 casualty which is supposed, in this case, to have 

 taken place ; but having produced a good jelly, there 

 is no good reason assigned for the inferiority of the 

 litter to oil-cake. A. fe« days' trial is not sufficient for 



sertaining the compar merits of different article 



of food. Should carefully-con ducted experiments as to 

 the value of Flax-seed compared. with other articles of 

 food show the inferiority of the former, then good grounds 

 v.ill exist for considering it as an article of inferior im- 

 portance ; but in the absence of any such, and 

 with both theory and practice, so far as already adopted, 

 in its favour, it certainly seems a little premature to con- 

 demn it. 



The subject of Flax-seed as food is here considered 

 apart from the cultivation of Flax as a remunerating 

 crop. The chief supply, both of seed and cake, is at 

 present obtained from the Continent, from which, no 

 doubt, an increased quantity may be obtained, if required ; 



so that it is 

 how far it may 

 in preference to importing it from other countries. 

 When the seed is consumed on the farm, it is certain that 

 PI x is a highly restorative, and not an exhaus'ing crop, 

 as many have supposed y and from this circumstance, a 

 gradual increase ot the cultivation of that crop need not 

 sensibly diminish the production of Wheat. 



Experience having proved the great value of house- 

 feeding in almost evtry case la which it is practicable, 

 both as economising food and adding greatly to the stock 

 of manure, advantage has been taken of the unexampled 

 nutritious properties of Flax-seed to carry that system 

 of feeding into effect, where it could not without this 

 auxiliary be introduced ; and instead of the usual me- 

 thod of confinement by stakes and chains, 31 r. Warnes 

 introduced the plan of feeding the cattlo in boxes, some- 

 what similar to those in which sick horses, or brood 

 mares with their foals are confined, as a medium between 

 confinement by tying to the stake and mere confinement 

 in open yards, with shelter-sheds attached, as is usual in 

 the practice of Scottish farming. This system, while it 

 iTords ample opportunity for moving about in the inclo- 

 ire, secured a more uniform degree of warmth to the 



with the a 



altogether a matter of after-consideration 

 v be advisable to raise Flax-seed in Britain 



farm, and therefore it was no great innovation of esta- 

 blished practice to recommend the use of the genuine 



seed itself. Most farmers are aware of the extent to bottom ? f , the b .°™ t0 J h '. surface. 

 which adulteration has been practised in the case of the *«*» 4 inches _wid nd 2 teet high, i 



portable manures, and there are abundant grounds for 

 stating that a similar system lias prevailed in the case of 

 oil-cake, which, being a more valuable substance, held 

 out greater inducements for the adoption of such a course. 

 This imposition, however, can be guarded against b) 

 using the seed itself instead of the cake prepared from 

 it, and in the former article it is apparent that no adul- 

 teration can take place which the most simple examina- 

 tion will not be sufficient to detect. In the estimation 



of the nutritious ingredients respectively contained in the 



Fiax-seed itself and in the cake, the proportion usually 



existing in the former as compared with the latter is also 



much in its favour, even taking into consideration the 



difference in money value betw^n them ; other and 



important reasons also exist for a preference being given 



to the seed, which need not here be repeated, as they 



have been so recently detailed in former papers on the 



subject. 



The numerous inquiries which are constantly being made 

 on the subject are, indeed, the best evidence as to the 



animals— a consideration of which modern science has 

 abundantly shown the importance— and guarded the ma- 

 nure made by the animals from loss by exposure to the 

 w her. This plan of box-feeding is, of course, appli- 

 ible in the case of other articles of food as well as Flax- 

 seed, and cannot therefore be regarded as a peculiarity 

 consequent on the adoption of that article of food. Many 

 inquiries have been made relative to the construction of 

 these boxes by persons anxious to make a trial of 

 Flax-seed, but it will be seen, that though a Irghly de- 

 si- able arrangement for feeding cattle at all times, it is 

 not necessary that the slightest change should be made 

 in the arrangements of the farm-yard for that purpose, 

 For the satisfaction of such inquirers, a description of 

 Mr. Warnes's boxes is given ; but it is hoped that these 

 observations will tend to remove much misapprehension 

 which at present exists on the subject, and remove one 

 of the chief obstacles to the more general introduction of 

 the system of feeding so strenuously and justly recom- 

 mended by that gentleman. The description which fol- 

 lows is that of his own boxes, and given in his own words : 

 — u The description of these buildings is difficult, because 

 however clear and explicit, it must convey ideas of 

 magnitude and intricacy, while neither exists. To make 

 ten boxes, a space will be required of 90 feet long and 

 12.2 feet wide ; then let a line be drawn from one end to 

 the other o\ feet wide, from the side most convenient to 

 the passage. Next let the mould, to the depth of one 

 foot, be excavated from the other part, and thrown on 

 the side intended for the front, and spread to the thick- 

 ness of a foot deep ; this will yive two feet from the 



A v. all of brick- 

 s next to be built 

 lound the inside of the part excavated, and intersected 

 at distances of 8.} feet. At each angle, the brick-work 

 should be about 12 inches square, which will both sup- 

 port the posts, and afford strength and durability ; upon 

 the wall a sill of wood is to be placed, for which purpose 

 lirge poles, split or square, are adapted. The founda- 

 tion being now complete, posts G feet long, and the 

 necessary sills and ties, may be placed upon it. Across 

 the ties the most ordinary poles may be laid to support 

 a roof composed of the trimmings from hedges and 

 ditches, and completed with a tha'ch of straw or rushes. 

 Two gates must be added to each box, one of which is 

 to move on hinges, and the other to be secured to the 

 top and bottom sills of the building, so as to be taken 

 down at pleasure. Presuming that advantage has been 

 taken of a barn or oth; r walls on farm premises, the ex- 

 ternal partis finished. The internal part has merely to 

 be parted off with a few poles between each bullock, and 

 the passage separated by the cribs, which are to move 

 up and down between the interior posts, which are placed 



ites that the cost of erecting simiUuonei, 

 d rant age of a wall, including such materials 

 and labour as could be fairly taken into the account 

 would average from 20*. to 23s. a box, which will be 

 repaid in less than a year. For instance, if the erection 

 of a box costs 20a., and the bullock fattened in it pays a 

 pound more than he would have done if grazed abroad 

 the money is of course returned to the pocket, and the 

 box remains free for future inhabitants. To be more 

 explicit, let 20 bullocks be equally divided, and 10 

 fattened in' boxes, and 10 in the yard or field ; I a<sert 

 that the former will pay 10/. more than the Utter. But 

 in justice to my own experiments I must aJJ, that the 

 advantage of box-feeding would be from 1/. to 3/. 

 per head on that in the field or yard, and the 

 extra expense of attendance amply repaid by the economy 

 of food." 7 



The directions already given for the formation of the 

 compound, are conceived to be amply sufficient for the 

 purpose, and that a repetition of them would be irksome 

 to most of the readers of this Paper. The details of the 

 system may, in fact, in every case depend on peculiarity 

 of circumstances, to which no general rules would apply. 

 It has been already seen that the farinaceous matters 

 may be composed of any of the usually cultivated grain 

 crops, the inferior portions also being available for the 

 purpose. The directions for making the jelly will be 

 found in page 610, col. b, of the Gazette, and the quantity 

 of this jelly to be employed is only ascertained by a little 

 experience, being determined by the nutritious qualities 

 of the substances to which it is to be added, as well as 

 the condition of the animals in regard to fatness. For 

 the largest size bullocks, somewhat less than a bushel of 

 Flax-seed will be a sufficient allowance for a week. — 

 J. Sproule. 



GEO-AGRICU1 URAL NOTES ON SOUTH 



GLOUCESTERSHIRE. 



{Concluded from page 722.) 



Old Red Sandstone. — This formation, which with the 

 siiurian rocks lying below it, and the trap rock piercing 

 it, still remains to be described, consists in this district 

 of three distinct members : 1st, a fine-grained sandstone, 

 of a gray cr reddish-gray colour ; 2d, a coarse sandstone 

 conglomerate ; 3d, a red marl frequently alternating with 

 thin beds of sandstone. The first of these, the upper- 

 most, lies around the edge of the mountain limestone, 

 below which it dips. At Millbury Heath this band is 

 of considerable breadth. This rock affords a very good 

 building material, but is chiefly quarried for the flag- 

 stones which it affords ; when it occurs in very thin 

 beds it is sometimes used as a roofiig stone. The 

 second member of the series— the conglomerate — com- 

 mences near Tortworth, where it is obscured by the 

 marl of the new red sandstones, and runs in a narrow 

 baud below the sandstone just mentioned, round the 

 lower edge of Millbury Heath. Near this it is overlaid 



series commences at Tortworth, where it overlies the 

 upper beds of the siiurian system, and extends round 

 the edge of the hills by Whitfield to near Ihornbury. 

 It is broken through near Whitfield by a dome of 

 siiurian rocks, which rise through it. •_ 



Be^ow the old red sandstone lie a series of beds ol 

 clay, sandstone, and limestone, possessing characters 

 peculiar to themselves. Their occurrence in this district 

 is of limited extent. They have been divided mto 

 several distinct beds, to which names have been given 

 referring to those of the districts in which their characters 

 are respectively best developed. The I st of bem 

 which occur in this district is the Carad- c sand = toue, 

 which consists of a series of alternating beds ot clay and 

 sandstone. Commencing at Purton Passage, it extends 

 u, to Berkeley, and widens out between Stone and 

 Newport, dividing into two arms, the one stretch, g 

 ea't as far as Charfield, and the other south-west as far 

 as Fain eld, which embrace the northern end of the cob!- 

 b"«in. At Charfield and Damory this rock is ; quSrned 



M .how. the occurrence in large quan « ... ol 

 the mineral strontian, overlying the shale above this 

 rock The quarries at Whitfield and Falfield have ion. 

 been knWas the best sources of road-material m the 



^f is' through the Caradoc sandstone that the trap 

 1 It occurs in several places between Stone d 



v on 

 quarry 



at Whitfi 



system of feeding here recommended becoming more ' u P on the » n S ,e * of each box > and support the roof on the 



popular. That much misapprehension, however, pre- 

 vails regarding it, is evident from the nature of many 

 of the questions asked as to the manner of carrying it 

 into effect. A Gloucestershire farmer states that he has 

 xnadj good thick jelly from Flax-seed previously ground 

 into meal, but cannot satisfy himself that its effects in 

 fattening cattle are at all equal to that of the common 



passage side 



Further details regarding the construction of these 

 boxes may be found in a former article in the Gazette, 

 pagfC)'26,col.a,viherethearrangementsadoptedatHorkes- 

 ley Hall are minutely described. Regarding the expense 

 of construction, and advantages of these boxes, Mr. 



* Agricultural Gazette, No. 12, p. 592 c. 



Berkeley shows the much greater hardness of the torn, 

 iffl ural Character of the Old lied Sandstone. fe 

 aKUt in which the old red sandstone an the 

 siiurian .,.U.n. occur » ™t dis'mguiUied^ *% £ 



com- 



.rityofsorface-B It is generally well woo 

 Ices it has eluoet a forest- ike appearance ana c 

 I, ovfMhadowed by the hedgerow timber. li>e< » 

 L Elm are the tre . natural to it, the one : groivflg 

 on the clays, and the other on the wndatone ' "^ „„ 

 The soil on the upp r member of the old red sane*. ^ 



is a keen sand, generally near the rock. --- ft 



land is under arable cu ore In M iW . ''^"rhooe. 

 from that adopted on the light soils in its neighbour 



