772 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



[Nov. 16, 



removing them. The following method is adopted at 

 Studleigh, a place famous for growing Carrots of fine 

 quality. The operator tikes a Carrot by the topi, 

 ing them tightly as near the crown as possible, and 

 holding the knuckles upwards ; he then takes the body of 

 the Carrot in the other hand, with the knuckles held 

 downward ; the Carrot is then sharply turned over the 

 back of the hand which holds the green part, which sepa- 

 rates neatly from the root, leaving a small conical crown 

 onlv. The Carrots are stated to keep better than when 

 the' green is cut off, and the operation is performed in 

 about half the time. Dibbles.— Many years ago_ a 



description was given in the Farmers 1 Journal, oi a 

 method of dibbling Wheat, practised in Sussex (I think). 

 The dibble consisted of an iron cone of 3 inches in 

 length, inserted into a wooden handle with ■ T head, 

 and of suc'i length that a man could use it without 

 stooping. The workman walked backwards, having a 

 dibble in each hand, making a double row of holes in 

 each furrow-slice, and being followed by children, who 

 dropped two grains in each hole. The method was at 

 that time stated to be effective, a considerable savin- of 

 seed was made, and the treading of the mi.n and children 

 wasthoughtadvantageous. A simple implement of thiskind 

 is much more likely to answer the purpose than the one 

 described by Mr. W. Bartlett, which would be very likely 

 to choak, if the land were moist, and would require a 

 very level surface to work to advantage. I have used an 

 implement like Mr. Bartlett's, for planting Mangold 

 Wurzel, but I very much prefer the drill. — Lusor. 



Repealed Cropping.— Notwithstanding all that has 

 been said on the ne "ty of changing the kind of plant 

 grown on the same soil, as essential to good husbandry, 

 yet there are some soils which seem to contain an inex- 

 haustible supply of the pabulum required for the success- 

 ful culture of one species. I am well acquainted with a 

 small garden, which has been planted with Potatoes for 

 the last 55 years, and has always borne good crops, and 

 those of very prime quality. The crop just raised is 

 after the rate of about 17 tons per acre, chiefly of Kid- 

 neys and China Oranges, neither of which varieties are 

 great bearers, as compared with many others; and in 

 quality they are equal to any I have ever tasted. I saw 

 the produce of one plant of a red variety, of which I am 

 sure several of the tubers would weigh 2 lbs. each. The 

 soil is a marly loam, overlying tbe mountain limestone. 

 Of course, it has been liberally manured, from time to 

 time, and has once or twice been dressed with lime, and 

 occasionally trenched, as was the case last year. But 

 this quality of certain soils to produce good crops of tl 

 same kind of plant many years in succession, seems not 

 unusual ; it is well known that much of the alluvial dis- 

 trict of Somersetshire is capable of bearing good crops of 

 Wheat, year after year, with undiminished fertility: 1 

 have been informed, by good authority, that 25 succes- 

 sive crops "f Wheat have been taken from the same 

 field, near Yatton ; none of which were less than 30 

 bushels per acre, and some considerably more. — Lusor. 



Grass Land. — I occupy some meadows in Hertford- 

 shire—the soil col.i wet clay; they produce a coarse 

 Grass. The usual management for years past has been 

 to mo.v every year, and feed afterwards with cattle and 

 sheep. I can rind no tradition of any dung ever having 

 been put on them. They have of late been somewhat 

 improved by imperfect bush-draining, and I intend in 

 this and the succeeding year to drain the whole afresh 

 with pipes, and am now rolling with a heavy roller to 

 fill up the pits and holes made in a succession of years by 

 the feet of the cattle ; but though the tile-draining may, 

 two or three years hence, begin to tell, what do you re- 

 commend in the way of surface-draining ? Every dent 

 of a cow's foot becomes a dish, which the first shower 

 of rain tills with water, and it then remains a little pond. 

 I keep no stock, the hay is consumed in the stable, and 

 will hereafter be returned in the shape of dung and 

 stable-draining from a tank ; the aftermath is fed off by 

 the stock of my neighbours, who hire the feed. This is 

 but Cockney farming. I am desperately puzzled by my 

 reading of the agricultural part of your Paper, and by 

 the practical advice of my neighbours. It does not suit 

 me to break up my meadows, which are ornamental as 

 part of my gronnds, and I cannot keep stock. I wish 

 some of your readers would take my case in hand, and 

 give me some reasonable advice, 

 many in my situation to whom _. 



apply, though I hope few have so refractory a soil to 

 deal "with. This last year's drought prevented my Grass 

 growing till very late, and I did not mow till August, and 

 the principal part of my crop consisted of hard-heads ; 

 the more apparent, as it had time to flower, and, I fear, 

 in many cases, to seed. Is there any chance of partially 

 extirpating this weed without breaking up the pasture ? 

 The nature of the root, I should fear, makes all attempts 

 at pulling it up hopeless. Would a severe scarifying it, 

 and sowing fresh seed, be of any use ? — Dodman. 



• Acorns for Pigs. — Some care is necessary to be taken 

 when pigs feed upon them, for otherwise they will be sub- 

 ject to a distemper ; to prevent which, the best way is to 

 moisten some Peas or Beans with water, and sprinkle over 

 some antimony pounded and sifted, or a little pounded 

 brimstone ; if this be repeated two or three times a week, 

 for one or two weeks, it will effectually preserve them from 

 the disorder ; or if the Acorns be collected and prepared 

 in the following manner: — Dig a hole in the ground, 

 in this let the Acorns be put, well moistened with water, 

 in which a handful or two of common salt has been dis- 

 solved : in a few days they will begin to heat and sprout ; 

 observe them therefore attentively, and when they have 



the hole and spread them to dry on a barn floor, and in 

 a day or two they will be fit to give the pigs. Ihis 

 matter must, however, bs managed with care and caution ; 

 they must not have too many given them at a time ; at 

 first, twice a day, say a quarter of a peck ; afterwards 

 three times a day. Nor should they while they eat this 

 food be confined in a stye, but suffered to run at large ; 

 for if their liberty be too much abridged they will never 

 thrive well, or grow fat on Acorns. Then to finish them 

 off wellj give them each about half a sack of Peas, and 

 half of Barley meal, penned in the stye, with water for 

 them to drink, which is always requisite in fattening. 



— R. R* r 



Action of Lime In the Agricultural Gazette, for 



January 27, Professor Sprengel writes :—" All crops 

 grown after lime will ripen the sooner for it." We 

 know by many years' experience, and scores of facts, 

 that the contrary "is the truth, and that all crops grown 

 after lime invariably ripen later than if no lime had been 

 used. In the next place he confesses his ignorance of 

 the cause of "lime being injurious to fields that slope much 

 towards the north." Now this is easily explained, because 

 these fields, experiencing the least influence of the sun, 

 are too cold of themselves, and by giving them lime we 

 make them colder. Many facts have proved to us that 

 the operation of lime, so as to do- good to the crop for 

 the first season, all depends upon whether that season be 

 a cold wet or a hot dry one ; for this makes all 

 the difference, as in a hot dry season that continues 

 for two or three months while the crop is growing, the 

 lime manure will always show plainly its superiority over 

 many other manures ; while on the contrary, in a cold 

 wet time on the crop's growth, most other manures have 

 the advantage of the lime ; indeed, in some such seasons, 

 we think that the lime does an injury by its coldness. 



Drainage.— In No. 3 of the Gazette Mr. Smith, of 

 Deanston, spoke a very great deal in a fev^ words, at the 

 meeting of the Irish Agricultural Society. One thing I 

 would remark, that the proper depth of the drains de- 

 pends entirely on the porousness or tenacity of the sub- 

 soil ; IS or 20 inches deep for common furrow-draining 

 may be enough where the subsoil is very tough and tena- 

 cious ; but where the subsoil is pretty open or full of 

 joints in the clay, or full of small sand-veins, then 2\ or 

 even 3 feet will be better.— A Leicestershire Farmer. 



Fullers 1 Earth A man at Bath, who rents fullers' 



I earth pits, excavates them, and sells the produce to the 

 cloth manufacturers in the neighbourhood, stated to me 

 a short time since, that in excavating this earth he had 

 had a good deal of the small at the mouth of the pit ; 

 which, finding it to be in his way, he distributed it over 

 the adjoining field, where there was a young crop of 

 Barley and seeds ; that wherever it fell the crop was 

 surprisingly flourishing. Having a great deal of this 

 earth on parts of my hilly land, I shall try its effects 

 next spring, notwithstanding I have a bank which was 

 sloped off six years ago to improve a roadway which con- 

 sists of a coarse bastard fullers' earth, and upon which 

 not a root of anything green has yet made its appearance 

 — not even a Thistle ; but be it remembered that too 

 much of a good thing is worth nothing. I know a man 

 who, having only a meadow of 8 acres, put the whole of 

 the manure of 8 horses on it until he killed all the Grass 



effectually. — Delta, 



Dibbling Wheat. — It is objected to dibbling "Wheat, 

 that labourers are not to be trusted in evenly dropping 

 the seed. Perhaps the object might be better obtained by 

 sowing the seed in drills, and thinning it out in the spring, 

 when the weaker plants might be drawn. But I must 

 insist that dibbling or drilling at 9 inches is neither 

 scientific nor good husbandry : the rows should be at 

 least from 18 to 24 inches asunder. I am firmly per- 

 suaded that at about that distance the produce both of 

 Corn and straw will exceed in weight Corn sown at any 

 other distance ; it has also the advantage of giving a 

 fallow, and will in the stirring of the intervals give much 

 employment, at a time of the year when the poor are 

 much out of work. How much better than factory work 

 for poor children !— J. M. Goodiffe. 



Guano. — Is it (as some suppose) the dung of birds 

 or a fossil earth ? Its being found in such immense 

 quantities in different parts of the world, renders it 

 almost impossible to believe that it is the former. It 



the decidedly beneficial effects which have followed the 

 application of liquid manure in sowing seed. I had drills 

 sprinkled with it for Vetches before depositing the seed, 

 and the thickness of the plant and the rapidity with 

 which it made its appearance above ground was surpris- 

 ing. The Potatoes alluded to are now being got up, and 

 they prove a very fair crop of excellent quality. — T. R. 



Kyanising. — Amongst the various timber preserva- 

 tives, I would give the preference to Sir W. Burnett's 

 for the use of a Buckinghamshire farmer. That of Kyan 

 appears to answer the same general purposes, but is 

 injurious to plants, is decomposed by salt water, and is 

 more expensive in proportion to the relative value of 

 zinc and mercury, of which these preparations are the 

 chlorides. I have had a tank for the Burnett prepa- 

 ration for several years, but cannot speak from long 

 experience. It certainly seasons green boards with a 

 rapidity perfectly magical, and equally affects yarns and 

 woollen. The particular uses to which a farmer would 

 put it would be to season sacking, cordage, rick-cloths, 

 and stuff for out-buildings, &c. A narrowish deep box 

 might be made of 1-J in. deals for the purpose of taking 

 in parcels of hurdles, or it might be built of masonry 

 sunk in the ground with the mortar made and used 

 quickly, and the inside rendered sound with Roman 

 cement. Mine is made so, and answers very well. The 

 above preparation appears to be adopted and used largely 

 by the Admiralty, which seems to tell well in its favour. 



— Micklewell. 



Cheap Method of Storing Mangold Wurzel.— As the 

 present is the season for gathering and preserving this 

 useful root, I beg to communicate an effectual and inex- 

 pensive method of storage, which several years of expe- 

 rience have proved to answer perfectly well. When the 

 roots are taken up and ready to be stored, commence 

 building a rick of Wheat- stubble, by laying the founda- 

 tion some 8 yards long and 4 yards wide ; when it is 

 about half a yard high, place three or four cartloads of 

 the roots in the middle, so as to fill up the whole of the 

 centre of the rick to within 1 yard of the sides and ends ; 

 then continue to build up the outside with stubble, and 

 the interior with Mangold Wurzel, as high as may be 

 necessary. Lastly, form a roof to the rick by adding 

 more stubble, till it is at least 2 yards thick upon the 

 roots. It needs no thatch, as neither rain nor frost can 

 penetrate so as to injure its contents. When the roots 

 are wanted for use, a hole 3 or 4 feet wide should be 

 pulled into the end or side of the rick, from which the 

 roots can be taken a few at a time as they are wanted, 

 without taking off the top covering, which will gradually 

 settle down as the roots are taken from below, so as to 

 form an arched straw house, which, with very little care, 

 may be made to stand entire until the whole of the roots 

 have been taken out as consumed. This plan will an- 

 swer every desirable purpose ; the roots will be found 

 dry, and not at all grown, as but little light and air can 

 penetrate into the recess, the entrance to which may be 

 opened and shut with a hurdle, as the roots are required 

 for use. Roots managed in this manner are stored just 

 where they are wanted for cattle, and therefore once 

 carting from the field to the stack will suffice ; and thus 

 the same rick will afford litter and shelter as well as food 

 for the cattle, all of which are matters of economy worthy 

 of attention. Doubtless other roots might be stored in 

 a similar manner, particularly Carrots and Swedish 

 Turnips. — H. ' — 



this 



ours. It does not suit or a fossil earth % Its being found in such imme nse no t meant to supersede the old mooe oi » ?' manure 



lichaie ornamental as quantities in different parts of the world, renders it supplement it where a sufficiency oi « e "^ silv carried ; 



>t keep stock I wish almost imF0Ssible to believe that it is the former . It . g £ ot t0 be had, or where it cannot oe y 



my case in hand, and appears by a late No> of the TimeSf that lhe number of and that guan0 can be obtained ana api ^^ 



I suspect there are ve88els now waiting to be loaded wiu bring t0 tWg me nt to the dung-heap at one-thintoi ^ ^ ^ 



it would equally well country more than 100,000 tons ; add to this the im- home-made article. Dr. Mcoi stare , , ^ 



so refractory a soil to mense quantities vearlv u , ed in tbe different provinces <mano he would have had no crop ai ai * 



FARMERS' CLUBS. 



Inverness. — At the late October meeting of 

 Sod a ^resting discussion ensued on the ques- 

 tion appointed for the evening- namely What are 

 tion appoi annlvine Guano as a Manure to 



the best ^° L deS 1 ^ f a (? r P 7 )S reared in the County of In- 



thedi s ?r n Thr perie ZTotZ f ar mers on tnis sub- 

 verness ? >. he "£', eKcee ded that of two years, but it 

 ject has no t™&™fj™ 'Zd encouraging so far as it 

 bas been qui e f^^ M&lM the old muck and 



has gone. Mr. c,aine "* om , 0S ed to the intrpduction 

 form-yard manure system ^W^ed 1 ^^ ^ 



of foreign imposts ana manures ^ 



°^ onuni ^^A^^^ ° f *"■*?• but t0 



not meant to superseue * farm-vard manure 



supplest it where a sum oene of farm £ ^ . 



- not to be had, r ^ er V;^ nd app ,i e d as a supple- 

 ,1 ti»«t- crnano can be ootameu aim 1 1 



mense quantities yearly used in the different provinces 

 of Peru, according to the accounts given in u Thomp- 

 son's Alcedo." See the Appendix in that excellent 

 work under the article M Haano," where it appears that 

 considerable doubt exists upon the point, and they go so 

 far as to say, " that naturalists have incontestably proved 

 that it is a fossil earth." — J. G. 



Potato Culture. — I took to a piece of orchard-ground 

 the herbage of which was bad. It was breast-ploughed, 

 and the turf burnt. Part of it was planted with Beans, 

 and the remainder, after being once dug, was left for 

 Potatoes. It was turned up in large lumps, and so 

 continued till rather late in June, when seeing no pros- 

 pect of rain, I had trenches made (the lumps, perfectly 

 hard, being taken up and laid between), and whole 

 Potatoes put in and covered with the ashes. So it con- 

 tinued until rain came, when the clods were broken up 

 with a stock-axe. The piece then assumed a very differ- 

 ent appearance. Soon after, more rain coming, the 

 ground was again gone over, and very good work was 

 made of it. The breaking up of the clods served to 

 mould up the Potatoes. I must not omit to mention 

 that the ashes were soaked with liquid manure before 



* 1 a 1 i -t a * ■ 



home-made article, .ur. ^^ r v *"7";r oxl his light soil 

 guano he would have had ^op^^ * « 



rary for one season, but con' «» nat ure of the 

 S^W: Z ^TdVwn, and on the 



crops grown aicer ,. -~ -~ , ts whic h they may 

 greater or less quanut, of s elemen s ^J^ 

 severally consnn-.e. Dr. Moo 1 . , (Qt the 



had only been enabled to ^app.y g ^ ^ ^ 



£S rveCn's vlSan object^ g cuhura , Jg 



h°e was y compelled to direct h,s atten^ on Jo t he 

 m eans of retaining mo.sture, and be had tne 

 with greater satisfaction than gu an o IIo to a dmm> 

 or .ilted it, and then attempted to crn b the re d 



observe them therefore attentively, and when they have that the ashes were soaked with liquid manure before r silted it, ana g " c '' """ » f refuse . Determm 

 made a shoot about two inches long, take them out of i they were put over the sets. And here I would notice \ but this gave a great propoi uv 



