

1844.] 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



787 





either obtuse or a right angle. On looking at fi: = . J 

 and 3, representing sections of ploughed land, it will at 

 once appear that the greatest surface will be exposed 

 when the sods are most angular. The smallest possible 

 angle at which a sod can be cut and turned is a right 

 angle; the sod should therefore be cut of a rectangular 

 form. In order to insure this, the plane in which the 

 coulter of the plough moves must, of course, be at right 

 aDgles to that in which the edge of the sock moves. 



I may at once state, without quoting the mathematical 

 proof of it, that the greatest surface will be exposed when 

 the turf lies at an angle of 45°, as in fig. 1 above, and that 

 the turf will lie in this position only when its depth is to 

 its breadth as about 7 to JO.— M. S. 



SKETCHES OF EAST LOTHIAN HUSBANDRY. 



Culture of Potatoes.- -The quantity of this valuable 

 esculent grown in East Lothian is not very considerable, 

 their culture being chiefly confined to the vicinity of the 

 towns and villages, where they are planted by a few 

 farmers for sale, and by tradesmen and labourers. Po- 

 tatoes are not cultivated to any extent as food for cattle ; 

 in the majority of instances they are planted merely to 

 supply the farmer's own house; each hind also receives 

 as part of his annual wages Potato-land equal to from 

 1200 to 150U yards, along a drill, or 5 bolls (2| qrs.) of 

 Potatoes in lieu of the ground. 



Potatoes are generally taken after a crop of Oats, but 

 they are also occasionally planted upon land newly broken 

 up from Grass, although this is an obvious violation of 

 the principles of alternate cropping. The preparation of 

 the land for Potatoes being, in most respects, similar to 

 that requisite for Turnips, detailed in my last Paper, it 

 is unnecessary to occupy much space, in noticing the pre- 

 paratory culture of this crop. The East Lothian farmers 

 do not pretend to extraordinary skill in growing Potatoes, 



performed at two stages— once very !y, while the 



stems are bu l short ; and finally, at a greater depth, about 

 the period when the plants are assuming their flowers or 

 blossoms. The Potato crop is generally taken up in the 

 following manner :— The plough is pissed with a deep 

 furrow along the side of each drill, which it reverses at a 

 single line, and the tubers thus exposed are immediately 

 collected into basket*, and emptied into carts, in which 

 they are conveyed from the field. Persons provided with 

 three-pronged forks or Potato-graips, as they are usually 

 termed, then follow, to shake up the earth and turn out 

 the rema'nder of the Potatoes. Each man is attended 

 by a gatherer, and there ate always some carts at hand 

 into which the contents of the baskets are emptied. 

 After the drills have been si! reversed by the plough, the 

 earth well shaken with the graips, and the tubers exposed 

 by these means all gathered up, the land is several times 

 harrowed for the double purpose of collecting the stems 

 or tops into heaps, and of bringing to the surface anv 

 Potatoes which may have previously escaped observation. 

 As this crop is seldom cultivated on a large scale here, 

 the tubers, on being taken up, are generally stored in a 

 house appropriated for the purpose ; but when house ac- 

 commodation cannot be afforded, they arc formed into 

 an oblong heap, in some convenient situation, first co- 

 vered with a layer of straw, and this again with a coating 

 of earth from 10 to 12 inchts in thickness. The stems 

 being carted to the yards, or to a heap for manure, the 

 land is ploughed for Wheat, by which the Potato crop is 

 always succeeded where the soil is suitable, and a small 

 boy or girl follows each plough to collect any Potatoes 

 which may be turned up. — T. Sullivan. 



Home Correspondence. 



Farm Book-keeping. — Below is a supposed statement 

 of Debtor and Creditor account in the form I make up 

 mine. Perhaps you will have the goodness to tell me 

 how I am to dispose of the stock portion of it : — 



Debtor. 





Creditor. 



Wages 



jecoo 



Wheat sold 



Tradesmen 



• 100 



Barley sold 



Miscellaneous articles 



i 



Oals and Hay sold to self 



bought . 



. 100 



Dairy produceaiul poultry 



Livestock bought . 



. 250 



Live stock sold 



Losses of live stock . 



. 30 



Stock taken in to feed 



Kent, taxes, &c. 



. 800 



In granary end of year . 

 Hay in stick do. 



j£300 

 150 

 250 

 10 

 8U0 

 100 



60 



100 



jCISSO 



.€1960 



^ 1100 

 1000 



Value of stock beginning of the year 

 Do. endofthevear 



— E. 



[The value of stock at the commencement of the year 

 should obviously go to the debtor 6ide, and that of stock 

 at the end of the year to the creditor side of your ac- 

 count. The stock at commencement, -\- expenses and 

 purchases, will then be on one side, and that at the end 

 + amount of sales will be on the other ; the balance 

 ought not to satisfy you unless it amount, besides a salary 

 to yourself a practical farmer or bailiff, at least to 10 per 

 cent, on your invested capital.] 



Formation of Hop-Grounds. — So much depends upon 

 the soil and situation that no just opinion can be given 

 by a stranger, the ultimate success depending upon the 

 choice of situation as well asrofsoil. I think "Hnmnlol 

 would be decidedly wrong in removing the male (or 

 barren) plants under the idea of their being useless, as ex- 

 perience teaches me that the Hops grown in the vicinity 

 of male plants are certainly far superior to the rest of 

 the garden, both as regards quantity and weight ; and in- 

 deed this assumption is partly borne out by the faot that 

 one of the largest growers in the Farnham district, (who 

 has nearly 200 acres) is decidedly in their favour. I am 

 aware that in many gardens the growers will not allow 

 a hill of male plants to remain ; but th ; s I am convinced 

 is in opposition to all rules of Nature, with respect to im- 

 pregnation or the fructifying properties of plants. The 

 choice of plants should depend upon the nature of the soil 

 to be planted. I should recommend Williams's Grape, the 

 Golding, or the improved Green Bine, for rich deep lo*my 

 soil, producing greater weight and a clearer sample than 

 the old Green Bine, which will flourish on a thin gravelly 

 soil, producing a tolerably good sample with respect to 

 colour, but apt to be coarse and taily. Cuttings or plants 

 can be obtained from many growers at Farnham. — 

 Quercus II., late a Farnhnm Planter, 



Dr. Yelloli/'s For/is. — This implement I consider so 

 important, both for horticultural and agricultural pur- 

 poses, that you will confer a great benefit upon the 

 community by giving it every publicity in your 

 pages. I introduced it into this neighbourhood five 

 years ago, through the kindness of a gentleman at Wy- 

 mondham, Norfolk, who-e name I forget, and who cul- 

 tivates a farm of 200 or 300 acres principally by forking, 

 instead of the plough — manual labour, in the place of 

 horse labour. Our practice here, is to foik under the 

 furrow-slice after the plough, which follows to cover over 

 the forked work, so that the manured soil is kept upper- 

 most. This plan may not be the best in all soils. A te- 

 nant farmer employed upwards of 40 men last winter in 

 this parish at this work ; and his luxuriant Swedes give 

 satisfactory evidence of ample remuneration, even in his 

 first crop. In another field here, the proprietor has up- 

 wards of HO tons per acre of Red and White Carrots 

 in horse-hoeing, hand- upon forked land, notwithstanding the dry summer. If 



it suited the convenience of your correspondent, or any 

 other gentleman, to witness the operation, by a ride by 

 our railroad, he or they may readily acquire a practical 



but they are all perfectly aware that the more effectually 

 the soil is reduced and deprived of root-weeds, and the 

 nearer it is brought to a state deemed sufficiently pul- 

 verised for Turnips, so much the more certain will be 

 thepro pect of an abundant crop. As in the case of pre- 

 paring the land for Turnips, repeated ploughings, harrow- 

 ings, rclling, and grubbings, are given to that intended 

 for Potatoes; but the nature of the soil, and its condition 

 in respect of weeds, form the only guide for determining 

 how frequently these operations are to be performed. It 

 is of great importance, and particularly so in droughty 

 seasons, to get the soil as finely pulverised before plant- 

 ing the sets as possible, as it is well known that cloddy 

 drills, however well rolled after being formed, consider- 

 ably aggravate the evil effects of drought, besides dimi- 

 nishing the beneficial influence of moisture. 



The usual period of planting is from the middle of 

 April to the middle of May. "When the ground is suffi- 

 ciently prepared, and the proper time arrived, the drills 

 are formed, precisely in the same manner as in the case 

 of Beans and Turnips ; but with this difference, that for 

 Potatoes the drills are made about 3 inches farther 

 asunder than for either of those crops. The manure 

 chiefly employed is farm-yard dung; it is invariably carted 

 out to the field during the previous winter, or early in 

 the spring, and is turned over to accelerate its fermenta- 

 tion, a week or so before being applied to the land. While 

 the drills are being formed by the plough, the manure is 

 carted from the heap and equally distributed along the 

 hollows of the drills. The sets are then placed at the 

 proper distance— from 8 to 10 inches— apart, upon the 

 manure ; both are immediately covered, and the drills 

 rolled with a light roller. 



Some farmers plant the Potatoes entire, with a view 

 of diminishing the risk of failure, and this practice is 

 gaining ground ; when divided into two or more sets, 

 which is the most general practice, the cutting is per- 

 formed on the day in which they are planted, and the 

 sets, in many instances, are dusted over with gypsum. 

 ■Besides farm-yard dung, guano is also extensively em- 

 ployed as a manure for Potatoes, and with the best 

 effects. The first culture given to Potatoes after being 

 Planted, is harrowing the drills with a pair of Grass-seed 

 arrows, just as the young stems are beginning to appear 

 ♦• ?| Ve l ^ e S rouna ', the objects of this operation being par- 

 tially to level the drills, to pulverise the soil above the 

 young plants, and to destroy any weeds which may have 

 commenced to vegetate ; but this process, though mani- 

 festly advantageous, is frequently omitted altogether. 

 a he subsequent tillage consists i 



hoeing, and weeding, repeated at intervals until the com- 

 plete destruction of weeds, and the pulverisation of the 

 ^u between the rows, are effected. The last operation 

 connected with the after-culture of Potatoes, is raising 

 t ne earth up to the stems of the plants, which is done by 

 passing a plough with two mould-boards along the inter- 



<r ? i t Ween the r0W8 ' the ear,h bein S loosened irame- -, — „-, 



"lately before by the drill-grubber. This eaithing-un is of Mr. Wilson, ironmonger, of this town, 5*. each. I 



wish further to state, that I am accessible to a call from 

 any gentleman interested in this matter. No 1 I should 

 be forked unless it be previously drained, if the nature 

 of the soil requires it. The practice of marling and 

 •'king land, referred to in your Leader of last week, as 

 performed near Ridge, in Hertfordshire, by sinking a 

 shaft and mining, was, I think, introduced by Dr. Lind- 

 ley, subsequently Bishop of LI Uff, at Tyttenhager, 

 just below Ridge-hill. 1 have a brother who farms in 

 that i hbourhood. and who adopted the plan some 

 years since with great success. If I have sn opportunity 

 of getting from him a detailed statement of the work, I 

 will send it f» you. The profitable employment of la- 

 bourers at adequate wages is an imperative duty upon 

 landed proprietors. — Henry Dixon, IVitUam. 



Turnip Fly. — Two methods of destroying the Turnip- 

 fly, which are said to be successful, are indicated by 

 Mons. Joly, in a very interesting Memoir on the little 

 beetle which is so destructive to the crops of Lucerne 

 in the Sou'h of France (Annales des Sciences, Nat. 

 3 serie, vol. ii. p. 34). They are not given on the 

 authority of Mons. Joly himself, but are extracted from 

 Collar's work on the Natural story of those Insects 

 which are injurious to Corn and Woods. The first con- 

 sists in pouring boiling water on a certain quantity of 

 common wormwood {Artemisia Absynthinm, L.), and 

 leaving it to infuse for ten or twelve hours, and then 

 sprinkling the young plants with the infusion. A wisp 

 of straw dipped in the infusion is used for this purpose. 

 It appears that the bitterness of the wormwood is so 

 strong and so lasting, that a single sprinkling is suffi- 

 cient, except very heavy showers fall immediately after 

 the sprinkling, in which case it may be expedient to 

 repeat the operation. This plan is said to be completely 

 successful. Mons. Windram asserts that he has em- 

 ployed it for many years with the happiest results. A 

 second method indica'ed by the same author is to powder 

 the young plants, when wet with dew, with dust from 

 the road- side. This plan, especially if the sun chances 

 to break out immediately n'ter in full splendour, so as to 

 dry the dust upon the leaves, is said to be equally effi- 

 cacious with the former. — M. J. Ii. 



Guano. — I see it is feared that the supply of guano 

 from Ichaboe, &c, will shortly fail. A vessel Ins been 

 despatched to ascertain if a supply can be obtained from 

 any of the islands on the eastern coast of Africa. No 

 doubt she will be successful. I am informed by a naval 

 friend that, some years ag^, when employed in surveying 

 the shores of Africa and Arabia, to the N. and S. of the 

 entrance of the Red Sea, he constantly saw boat-loads 

 of iea-fowts' dung brought by the natives from the 

 islands, for the use of their Date-gardens on the main- 

 land. From this, it appears that the Perufians were 

 not the ouly people acquainted with the use of guano as 

 a manure. The same gentleman informs me that the 

 dung from the numerous pigeon-houses on the banks of 

 the Nile is carefully collected and sent down to Cairo, 

 for the gardens in the neighbourhood of that city. By 

 the way, in many of the cane temples in Western India, 

 and in the catacombs near Thebes, Siout, &c, are consi- 

 derable quantities of bats'-dung, which smells exactly 

 like guano, and, probibly, would be equally valuable as 

 manure. The firs': specimen of guano I saw was in the 

 establishment of the Messrs. Drummond, at Stirling, the 

 smell of which instantly recalled that with which I had 

 so frequently been annoyed in the midst of the sublime 

 and beautiful \—Eskdale. 



Manures. — My little field is chiefly composed of 

 s^ndy soil and gravel, with here and there a little clay ; 

 it lies on the side of a steep hill. It was, when I first 

 d it, full of bad Grass and weeds. I have had it 

 trenched throughout and planted with Potatoes, partly 

 by sets, and partly with whole ones. The latter alone 

 produced plants this dry summer. I tried some rows 

 where tlie Potatoes had missed, with Turnip-seed, some 

 with Potter's guano, sirae with African, and some with 

 8 iperphosphate of lime. To my astonishment, though I 

 knew the seed to be new and excellent, scarcely a plant 

 s appeared. [No kind of manure will compensate for 

 want of moisture. The seed, probably, did not sprout 

 because of the drought.] In a corner of my butcher's 

 yard is a long hole, near the pigsties, in which is a de- 

 posit of the washings of the slaughter-house — blood, 

 dun2,entrai!s,sndothergT-b<>ge,and he also tells me, some 

 night-soil — (plenty of the liquid, alas ! as usual, runs down 

 a drain no one knows where — the gravy of the me^t). This, 

 he tells me, I may take ; is it not well worth having ? But, 

 should it no* b? thoroughly decomposed — if not, will it 

 not breed vermin ? Bnt what will decompose it ? Will 

 not the stench, &c, almost breed a plagne? Would 

 earth mixed up with it be enough to fix the ammonia ' r 

 and then, would the mixing be good for my field, or too 

 strong? If so, what should be the proportions of the 

 substances to weaken it ? — Xorthwood. [When a mass 

 of organic matter will not readily decompose by its ?lf, 

 the process of putrefaction may he hastened by mixing 

 it with matter in which it is rapidly proceeding. All 

 this valuable material should be made up into a compost 

 with ordinary farm-manure, means being taken by 

 covering over with veget ibie mould, or by such methods 

 as the Rev. Mr. Reade, in another column, recommends 

 to hinder the escape of effluvia.] 



Van D emeu's Land Wheat — The accompanying box. 

 contains a few ears of Wheat, which were grown this 

 year at Bushy Grove, near Stanmore, on a farm in the 



knowledge of the management and expense, as a party of occupation of Mr. Srewart Majoribanks, M.P. The 



12 or 15 men are now forking a field adjoining the 

 Witham station. I have also a set of labourers at the 

 same work within two miles: the forks can also be had 



seed was imported in 1841 from Van Diemen's Land, 

 and was sold as see 1 Wheat last autumn, in Mark-line, 

 at G8s. and 70s. per quarter. It yielded rather more 

 than 4 quarters per acre, which is considered a very 



