788 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



[Nov. 23, 



good crop in that neighbourhood. The |>re:ent sample 

 is an average one, and was ouly kept by the bailiff of 

 Mr. Majoribanks for his own guidance, and not for pur- 

 poses of exhibition. There is a quantity of Wheat 

 lately arrived from the colony, and more is expecteJ. 

 I will procure a sample, and you can try a small quantity at 

 Chiswick. — Edward Barnard. [The ears are of average 

 length, and exceedingly well filled ; the grain— it is 

 white "Wheat — is a good sample.] 



Sea Buckthorn.— An " Old Subscriber" is informed 

 that the botanical name for Sea Buckthorn, or common 

 Sallow Thorn, is Hippophae Rhamnoides ; he will find it 

 mentioned in " Withering'* Botany ; or, Systematic Ar- 



the 



Oatcakes and " Bannocks of Barley meal." 1 trust, 

 therefore, experienced hybrid iters, whether horticul- 

 turists or agriculturists, will join in this good work, 

 which I think is rather too much neglected by our 

 agricultural Societies, and the result will be to render 

 service and duration to our country's happiness, by meet- 

 ing the wants of our commerce snd population. These 

 remarks were suggested to my mind by hearing a land- 

 owner, at a meeting of many hundred farmers, remark 

 that the powers of the earth was limited like our own, 

 and therefore it was of no use to expect greater things of 

 it than we had already seen ; and that all he wanted to 

 know was, how to make a dunghill; he ridiculed theo- 

 rists and German philosophers, as quite unworthy of any 

 confidence; and in all this he was much cheered. — T.A.F. 



his possession, " M. D. P." will add that it is found on 

 the sea- shore, in sand ; at Lindley Coast, Lincolnshire ; 



Sandwich, Deal, and Folkstone, Kent; Isle of Sheppy, 

 Cley, and Sherringham Cliff*, Norfolk ; between Whitby 

 and Lyth, Yorkshire. It is very easily propagated by 

 suckers or layers, or even by seeds. Rabbits do not 

 touch it ; it grows to 8 or 12 feet high, and forms a 

 brush-wood, or even shelter to other shrubs that will 

 grow in sandy soil by the sea-side. There have been 

 stveral editions of " Withering's Botany,"— the last 

 should be asked for. — M. D. P. 



Guano.— I have had for many months guano and 

 common salt in separate bags, standing a little distance 

 from each other in my barn. The other day I had occa- 

 sion to use some salt, and on breaking the lumps they 

 smelled almost as strongly of the guano as the guano 

 itself. How is this to be accounted for ? The salt has 

 evidently drawn to itself, and imbibed and retained the 

 volatile matter of the guano; and this, I suppose, must 

 render the salt more beneficial for agricultural purposes. 

 — Ulhwater, 



A Few Notes. — 1st. One of your correspondents has 

 said that flukes in rotten sheep are only found in the 

 liver, but I have seen them come from the uterus, with 

 the lamb on yeaning. 2d. Dr /.—Our country is 



capable of being improved more by drainage than by any 

 other means ; manuring is but a secondary article, com- 

 pared with draining. I calculate that there is in our 

 part of the country as much draining required as would 

 employ half the agricultural labourers for half-a-dozen 

 years at least ; but draining land, excepting the carriage 

 of the material, is a landlord's business, and not a tenant's. 

 It appears possible to double the value of some districts 

 by drainage alone ; and probably these neglected, un- 

 drained districts, amount to half the land in this kingdom. 

 Another important part of the farmer's business, inti- 

 mately connected with draining, is deep cultivation of 

 the soil, as compared with the poor shallow cultivation 

 now generally practised. Many farmers — cultivators of 

 the soil — dare not plough up the least quantity of clay, 

 or even marl ; they have been taught that it is injurious, 

 by their ignorant forefathers, and iJIe team-men are 

 interested thus to plough shadow, to save their ho s 

 the harder labour. But I maintain that deep cultivation 

 is what we want on all good land ; and deeper cultiva- 

 tion, with good drainage, on all inferior clay-'and. 

 3d. Mr. Morton, in his remarks " On the Culture of the 

 Land for Wheat," (see p. 74), has hit the mark in every 

 point; his remarks on this subject are exactly parallel 

 with my own experience. I see in the Gazette, for 

 March 2, loll, Mr. Morton is comparing note3 with 

 Professor Low upon the farmer's invested capital ; now, 

 as the former of these gentlemen makes his estimate at 

 13/. per acre of the land occupied, and the latter gentle- 

 man's estimate is 6/. per acre occupied. I think if a third 

 came in between, at 9/. or 10/. per acre occupied, he 

 ■would be nearer the truth than either. But, after all, it 

 may be set down as a well-known fact, that too many of 

 us farmers are sadly short of capital ; and how and when 

 shall we have it ? is a very puzz'ing question. 4th. Lime. 

 — The price here is about 10s. or \2s. per ton, and, at 

 some of the cheapest works or lime-pits, 8s. It is 

 common with us to use 3 or 4 tons per acre in liming of 

 fallows, once in ten yc ars ; and the best way to use it is 

 to get it well mixed with tie soil in the shortest time 

 possible — in a fine dry sta'e, both in the land and the 

 lime. — A Leicestershire Farmer* 



Hybridising. — As Horticulture and Agriculture are 

 united in the Chronicle, I know of no better place to 

 bring forward the subject of hybridising or crossing, as 

 I conceive thisjs far better understood by the horticul- 

 turist than by those engaged in agriculture. I believe 

 there are limits to the productive powers of the earth, 

 but there is no limit to what may be done with the 

 •vegetables upon it, so as to asfcimilate the powers of the 

 soil, more as it were to the use of man. Nearly all the 

 varieties of Wheat, Barley, Oats, &c, are, I believe, 

 accidental varieties. The real stap'e food for man is 

 left, as it were, to chance, while luxury and elegmre can 

 produce almost any tint of colour, or description of taste 

 they want. The greatest pains are taken by the gardener 

 and florist to produce artificially new varietiesof vege- 

 tables and flowers, and experience proves that this may 

 be done to a great extent ; and that species may be 

 moulded almost to the will of the practised hybridist r. 

 If, for instance, we had a variety of Wheat that would 

 ripen two or three weeks earlier in the south of England 

 than those we now possess, we might have an excellent 

 crop of Turnips on the drylands after it, and on stiff 

 soils succeeded with the Cabbage tribe. Again, if a 

 variety of Wheat could be found to grow and ripen at a 

 higher elevation than any we now posses?, it would 

 take, in many places, the place of Oats, and the people 

 in the north might have their Wheaten loaf, instead of 



W. Fisher 

 J. Villiers 



Societies. 



ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY of ENGLAND. 

 A Weekly Council was held at the Society's House, 

 in Hanover-square, on Wednesday last, the 20th of No- 

 vember. Present — Thoma3 Raymond Barker, Esq., in 

 the chair ; F. Burke, Esq.; James Dean, Esq.; H. 

 Gibbs, Esq. ; B. T. Brandreth Gibbs, Esq. ; 

 Hobbs, Esq. ; Prof. Sewell ; W. Shaw, Esq. 

 Shelley, Esq. ; and T. Tweed, Esq. 



The following new Members were elected : — 



Tbruston, John, Market- Weston Hall, Harling, Norfolk 

 IUorgon, William, Brampton Park, Huntingdon 

 Butler, Captain, Bowling; Green, Faxingdon, Berks 

 Hume, John, Beau-Regard, Jersey 

 Drury, John George, St. George's- street, Canterbury 

 Perceval, Hon. and Rev. Charles George, Caiverton, Stony- 

 Stratford 

 Davy, Robert, Ringwood, Hauts 

 Rnbinson, George, Wolverhampton 

 Humphrey?, John, Evan Hall, Oswestry, Salop 

 Manning, C I., Cranford Bridge, Middlesex 

 • Buun, Lockiniiton St. Lawrence, 60, King William-st., City 

 Price, Walter £., the Elms, KeDtchurch, Herefordshire 

 Gamier, B. N., Drayton L^dge, Norwich 

 Wingfield, John, Onslow, Salop 

 Hill, Clement Delves, Sandford Hall, Salop 

 Harper, George, Belvidere, Whitchurch, Salop 

 Bick, Michael, Park Hall, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire 

 Swan, William Robert, Wallsend, Newcastle-on Tyne 

 Bate, Robert, the Square, Bridgewater 

 Paddon, Joseph, Farenam, Hants 

 Hannay, Rev. James, Ashley, Stockbridge, Hants 

 Wynne, John Lloyd, jun., Coed Coch, Abergeley, Denbighsh. 

 BrentnaU, Benjamin Fildon, Hemel-Hempsted, Herts. 



The names of IB Candidates for election at the next 



Meeting were then read. 



Lectures. — Communications were received from the 

 Duke of Richmond and Mr. Pusey, M.P., announcing 

 the progress of the arrangements for Lectures to be de- 

 livered before the members at their ensuing Christmas 

 meeting in the second week of December, when the 

 rooms of the Society would be thrown open in the even- 

 ing as formerly for their accommodation, and the 

 General Meeting held as usual on the Saturday of the 

 same week. 



Belgian Carrots and "Wheat. — Mr. Mechi of 

 Leadenhall-street, favoured the Council with samples of 

 the Belgian Carrot grown on his property in Essex, ac- 

 companied with the following communication in reference 

 to their cultivation and that* of the Wheat, of which he 

 had sent specimens for their inspection on a former 

 occasion : — 



"4, Leadenhall-street, London, Nov. 16, 1S44. 



" I send a few Carrots of my Tiptree growth. They are the pro- 

 duce of a black sandy field (9 acres) forked 12 inches under the 

 plough, and dressed with dried night soil (which, however, 1 con- 

 sider much inferior to guano, so lar as 1 have compared them). 

 They were several times hoed with a deep Bean-hoe. 1 consider 

 t v :e removal of their lateral fibres obliges the tap-root to go down 

 in search of moisture and food: the same remark applies to 

 Swedes. Had the season been an ordinary one, I should have had 

 an enormous crop of Carrots ; hut they struggled hard with four- 

 teen weeks' drought, and only then came to one-half or three- 

 quarters of a crop. We filled up the blanks with Swedes. Still 

 they will afford useful food. Forty acres of my Wheat (specimens 

 of which 1 sent you) averaged over 4 quarters per acre, weighing 



I to 66 lbs. per bushel; (one field produced 5 quarters 1 bushel). 



he two fields of March-sown Wheat failed, owing to the drought 

 (so many ears being unripe): producing only 2 quarters per acre of 



middling quality. 



(Signed) 



J. J. Mechi." 



The Council ordered their thanks to be returned to 

 Mr. Mechi for the favour of this inspection and commu- 

 nication ; aud, on the motion of Mr. Shelley, it was re- 

 solved, that inquiry should be made of Mr. Mechi, 

 whether the four Belgian Carrots he had sent to the 

 Council were fair specimens of the average crop of the 

 niue-acre field referred to in his communication ; and 

 also the amount of head and tail Wheat, and off how 

 much land grown. 



Socket Drain-pites. — Mr. Henry Dixon, of 

 Witham, in Essex, favoured the Society with specimens 

 of the socket drain-pipes made by him, for the use of 

 his own land ; and which, he informed the Council, 

 were particularly applicable to loose springy soils ; and, 

 from their construction, could not fail to be safe. He 

 had found that it was not necessary, as some had sup- 

 posed, to have the pipes made with holes in their sides. 

 The pipes in question might be made of any length, the 

 most convenient ones having been found by Mr. Dixon 

 to be from 15 to 18 inches, and the cost of the socketing, 



effected by the Ford's Patent Machine, which he em- 

 ployed, from 2s. fid, to 3s. 6d. per thousand. Mr. Dixon 

 inclosed with the pipes a curious evidence of the facility 

 with which the roots of trees will destroy drains, if care- 

 lessly placed: it consisted of a cjlindric mass of fibre* 

 from the roots of a Willow-tree, growing about 5 or 6 

 feet from a drain, which had been put down only 12 

 months ; the pipe from which the fibrous collection was 

 taken, was a 4 -inch socketed one. 



Thanks having been ordered to Mr. Dixon for the 

 favour of these specimens and the communication which 

 1 accompanied them, Mr. Fisher Hobbs fully corroborated 



the statement then transmitted to them by Mr. Dixon 

 whom he well knew as a landowner to a considerable 

 extent in his own neighbourhood, and as a disinterested 

 promoter of agricultural improvement. An interesting 

 discussion then ensued, in which Mr. Hobbs, Mr. Shel- 

 ley, and Mr. Dean favoured the Council with the results 

 of their own experience in reference to the accumulation 

 of large masses of water, suddenly formed under peculiar 

 local circumstances of surface in the case of continued 

 rains, and also in that of springs issuing in considerable 

 volumes from the sides of bills. 



Mr. Shaw presented copies of his Translation of 

 Thaer's Rational Principles of Agriculture, and the 

 Farmers' Almanack for the ensuing year ; and Profes- 

 sor Low, of Edinburgh, his work on Landed Property 

 and the Economy of Estates. The following presents 

 and communications have also been received : — 



The Health of Towns' Commission : two volumes of 

 their First Report. 



Mr. R. N. Bacon : Prize Report of the Agriculture 

 of Norfolk. 



Mr. H. Stephens : Book of the Farm, Parts 20 and 21. 



Professor Buckland : Address to the Mayor of South- 

 ampton and Artesian Well Committee. 



Mr. Doilond : Description of an Instrument invented 

 by him, for the self-registering of Atmospheric 

 changes for any period, as indicated by the Baro- 

 meter, Thermometer, Hygrometer, Electrometer, 

 Rain-gauge, Wind-gauge, and Evaporator, and 

 transferred mechanically, every half-hour, to the 

 self-recording cylinder of the machine. 



Mr. Munn : Description of the Bar-and-Frame Bee- 

 hive, invented by him ; and abstract of Wild- 

 man's Guide to the Management of Bees. 



Geological Society: Proceedings, Vol. IV., No. 98. 



Statistical Society : Journal for September, 1844. 



Royal Asiatic Society's Journal : No. XV., Part I. 



Agricultural and Commercial Society of Guiana : 

 Laws and Regulations. 



Royal Society of Lille : Memoirs and Programme of 

 Prizes. 



Royal Society of Lyons : Annals of Proceedings. 



Highland Society : Quarterly Journal for October. ' 



Farmer's Magazine for October and November. 



Veterinarian, for September, October, and Noveajber. 



Western Agriculturist, No. II. 



Jamaica Agricultural Society : Proceedings. 



Canadian Agricultural Journal, Nos. VIII. and X. 



American Agriculturist, No. X. 



Albany Cultivator, No. IX. 



Dr. Whitlaw : New York Farmer & Mechanic, No. II. 



Mr. M'Nab : North British Cultivator. 



Mr. B. Love : Chapter on Working Peopl?. 



Messrs. Roake andVarty: Mr. Ncwnham's Pamphlet. 



Mr. Skilling : Farmer's Ready Reckoner. 



Mr. Saunders : Paul Pry's Letters to his Countrymen 

 (on improving the condition of the Irish Cottager). 



Professor Tilley : Inaugural Lecture on Chemistry in 

 Queen's College, Birmingham. 



Mr. Westwood Baker : Prizes of Rutland Ploughing 



Meeting. 

 Mr. Lilley : Agricultural Tour in Ireland. 

 Sir John Tylden : on the Conversion of old Hop-bines 



into Manure. 

 Messrs. Herring and Co. : Analyses of Guano. 

 Mr. Morant: on the Quality of Common Salt as a 



Manure. . 



Mr. Evans and Mr. Gee : on the Re-publication in 

 Welsh of the Cottage-Tracts on Gardening and 

 Cottage Economy, in the Society's Journal. 



Mr. Babington : on the Botanical Designation of Italian 



Rye-grass. 

 Mr. Frere and Mr. Testy : on the Mustard-plant. 

 Rev. Jos. Nodder : on the Distribution of the Society s 



'journal among Farmers' Chio*. 

 Mr. Saul : on an Improved Turnip and Potato Machine. 

 Mr! Bowden : Sample of Mac Kibbm's Improved 



Roofing Felt. 



Mr. Sheppard : on Guano and Gypsum. 



Mr. Rea : on Dutch Butter. 



Mr. Towers : on Results of Dibbling. 



Mr. Wills : on Allotments. 



Mr. Waldron : on Drainage of Land. 



Mr. Stevenson : on bruising Oats, and on the Sub- 

 terranean Telegraph. 



Mr. White : on Unemployed Labour, and Spade Hus- 



The Council then adjourned for a fortnight, to the 

 4th of December. 



AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT SOCIETY 



OF IRELAND. 

 At a late weekly Meeting of the Council, a comm««j 

 «„n ... ».d from the Trustees of the Agricultural 



in the hands ot me council, iu u* m..— ~- -t r 

 the purposes of Agricultural Education , e, her ■ , to 

 provinces of Munster or Connaught. The &*«"•£ 

 stated that the premiums, to the amount of « 

 together with 6V in medals, which had been awarded <* 

 the late Cattle Show in Dublin, had been paid off, and 

 vouchers received for the same. Prizes to the amou- 

 of 40/. and upwards still remain unpaid, subject to pro 

 „ qualification by the claimants. The who e expenses^ 

 the Cattle Show had been also discharged, and « i 

 statement of proceedings would be laid before the Society 

 at the next half-yearly meeting, which was fixed tc t»K 

 pice on Friday, the 29th of November to receive to 

 1 Report of the Council. The premium sheet for the nex 



