1844.] 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAI TTE. 



801 



COTTAM and H ALLEN, Engineers, Iron- 

 founders. &C, &C, No. 2, WlNSLBY-STRKET, OXFORD- 



street, London - , and at Cornwall Road, Lambeth. 



HOTHOUSES, CONSERVATORIES, &e., made 



upon the most improved principle, cither of iron or of iron and 

 wood combined, which can be fixed complete in any part of the 

 Kingdom, at very low prices. 



HOT-WATER APPARATUS for heating Hothouses, 



Conservatories, and Greenhouses; Churches, Public or Private 

 Building;?, &c, with Cottam's Patent or Rogers's Boilers. 

 After 15 years' experience, and having- fixed u wards of 2000 

 Apparatus for the above-mentioned purposes, and by various 

 improvements which they have made during that time, C. and 

 H. can with confidence undertake the erection of similar Appa- 

 ratus upon the most extensive scale. 



Materials may be had for those who wish to fix their own 

 Apparatus. 



THE TANK SYSTEM on an improved principle, 



that will heat the house at the same time, without pipes. 



IRON HURDLES, best Wire for Strained Fencing, 



Ornamental Iron and Wire-work, Garden Chairs, &c, Sec, and 

 every description of Implement for Agricultural and Horti- 

 cultural Purposes. 



Show Rooms at their Manufactory, 2, Winsley- street. Oxford- 

 street, where a large assortment of the above can be seen. 



/^lONICAL BOILERS.— The Boilers invented by 



vy John Rogers, Esq., are made of several sizes, and may 



tural Society's Gardens, Chiswick; and' in the Gardens of the 

 Royal Botanical Society, Regent's-park. 



®t)e MQvimltiml 



\tM 



a?«tte 



SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 1844. 



MEETINGS FOR THE TWO FOLLOWING WEEKS. 

 WEDmnoAT, Dec. 4— Agricultural Society of England. 

 Thursday, Dec. 5— Agricultural Imp. Soc oi Ireland. 



Wednesday, Dec. 11— Agricultural Society of England. 

 Thursday, Dec. 12— Agricultural Imp. Soc- ot Ireland. 



As we informed a correspondent a few weeks ago, 

 the general result of Mr. Campbell's Process and 

 Material for Steeping Seed, so far as we know 

 it, has been unfavourable. The attention of our 

 readers was called to this subject in an early Number 

 of the Gazette, and there appears no necessity for 

 qualifying or retracting any remarks that were then 

 made. The season has been peculiar, and so severe 

 upon all our crops, especially upon those sown in 

 spring, that the results from such sources must, in 

 great measure, be considered consequences of the 

 weather — of Nature's rather than of the farmer's 

 treatment. In spite, therefore, of the failure of this 

 year's trials, we persist in recommending the subject 

 as a fair one for experiment. 



Though very probably original with Mr. Campbell, 

 his process is by no means new, as indeed several 

 correspondents have pointed out to us ; and the 

 practice which has been generally prevalent of steep- 

 ing seed Wheat in brine or stale urine, may be con- 

 sidered evidence of this, for, though it be professedly 

 for another purpose, it is doubtless beneficial also as 

 impregnating the seed with fertilising material. This 

 and the d priori probability that seed admits of being 

 benefited in this way, combine to render the subject 

 worthy of continued investigation. 



Of course, no practical man believes that these 

 steeps are to take the place of manures— they will 

 always be necessary — all that we can suppose them 

 capable of effecting is to give the plant a vigorous 

 start in life ; and, co. tiering the numerous foes by 

 which the young plant is surrounded, this is by no 

 means unimportant. 



The experiments we made on the subject this 

 summer have utterly failed, i. c, various circum- 

 stances at seed-time, and more especially the subse- 

 quent unequal and extreme ravages of game, have 

 combined to render their results worthless. Their 

 results have only been obtained within the last few 

 weeks ; and, had we not previously promised it, we 

 should not now publish them — as, if taken unqualified, 

 they are only calculated to mislead. 



One thing must first be specified ; Mr. Campbell's 

 system of steeping seeds — we shall have a word or 

 two to say about it presently — is in no way responsible 

 tor the following detail. It is not in the mere art 

 ot steeping seed ; it is in the choice of the material 

 to be used that the merit of the process lies. All 

 planner of evil consequences may arise from want of 

 judgment in this ; but so long as none of them are 

 attributable to the particular mixture put forth by 



Mr. Campbell, he, of course, cannot be consider* 



answerable for them. We have no wish to praise 

 up this gentleman's corn-steep, as it is termed; 

 indeed, the only evidence we have of its composition 

 —an analysis published in our columns some weeks 

 ago— is by no means evidence in its favour ; we only 

 wish that where blame is due it should not be laid 

 upon the wrong shoulders. 



It may be remembered that we proposed steeping 

 seed Wheat in eight different salts, viz., silicate, sul- 

 phate, nitrate, and phosphate of soda(<7, b, c, and ,/, 

 respectively), nitrate of potash (e), muriate, nitrate, 

 and sulphate of amm nia [f, gt and h t respectively). 

 This was done early in March ; and after steeping in 

 sufficiently strong solutions for about 50 hours, 1 the 

 several parcels were taken out, and on that and the 

 following days they were sown (heed in) at the rate 

 of two bushels per acre, on plots of land each equal 

 to a quarter of an acre, with intervening strips of 

 half the size between each. When the process was 

 commenced, it promised, as we thought a continuance 

 of fine weather, but the Com had not been a day in 

 the water before it began to snow, and the seed was 

 thus put in the land under most unfavourable cir- 

 cumstances. In the course of three or four weeks, it 

 became evident that lots a and h had been killed by 

 the process ; fresh parcels of Wheat were therefore 

 steeped in silicate of soda and sulphate of ammonia, 

 only for a shorter time than before, and the plots 

 were re-sown, and they very soon exhibited a better 

 appearance than any of the rest, and were evidently 

 better also at harvest-time; but, owing to the irre- 

 gularity just stated, they are of course excluded from 

 the comparison which we have now to make. 



In May, the whole field had a fair and blooming 

 appearance, as we then stated toa correspondent, who 

 mourned over the failure of similar experiments 

 which he then had in progress; but rabbits and hares 

 were at work, and all the' upper part of the field was 

 soon eaten off nearly bare. 



It thus soon became evident that no dependence 

 could be placed on results calculated from the whol 

 of the field— that in fact the only parts of the plots 

 which could be taken as at all representing the 

 probable effect of the process were those at the lower 

 end of the field, which would be cut off by a line 

 across it, about 15 yards from the bottom. The 

 plots were thus reduced from fourths and eighths, to 

 pieces ]-20th and l-40th of an acre. Notwithstanding 

 the smallness of these patches, there is a singular uni- 

 formity in the amount of their produce. The 

 following is a Tabular account of the quantity of 

 grain threshed from each plot. It may be men- 

 tioned that the yield of straw appeared pretty uniform 

 over the whole ; there certainly was no such variety 

 as to indicate the difference in the produce of grain. 



per bushel. Sown in the last week of April ; reaped 

 16th SeptemViT. 



COMPARATIVE RESULT PER IMPERIAL ACRE. 



Campbell's Steep. 

 Seed. 3.4 bushels at 3*. Qd. £0 12 

 Steep . . . . 10 3 



Produce, 4.92 qrs, at 27s. 



£1 2 S 



6 2 11 ReturiKjC'5 10 8 



Guano. 



Seed, 4.2 bushels, at 3s. 6d 10 15 

 Manure, 1.9 cwt. at 9*. . 15 



1 



6 



£1 



10 7 

 Produce, 5.18 quarters at 27s. G 19 11 Rtturn 5 9 4 



Diff. in favour of Campbell's Steep per acre, £0 1 4 



— James Sime, Land Surveyor, Murray gate. 



Before we can admit the accuracy of this balance 

 of the accounts, we must know if any of the guano 

 that was applied remained in the land, as it is very 

 probable some did, after harvest. If so, no credit is 

 here given for it. 



The following is a very decided statement in 

 favour of the sti i — though we rarely like to attach 

 much value to mere estimates or "gut 



" with the Oat-steep the crop was good, upon 



bad land, at a guess Jour limes more than where nothing 

 teas used. There was a sa\ing of a bushel of seed per 

 icre. It was sown in a field where salt, guano, nitrate 

 of soda, and nothing had been applied* All ripened 

 equally, and were cut together. . ."'—Jo t Hunter, 

 Auchlcrarder House. 



Besides these, a variety of communications are 

 published, most of them indifferent; some abso- 

 lutely conclusive against the system ; and, as we said 

 before, if these are the best testimonies Mr. Campbell 

 can produce, we fear general experience this year is 

 against him. 



The season, however, has been exceedingly un- 

 favourable, and we hope some of cur readers will join 

 us in giving the process another year's trial. 



Refer- 



[ Weight of 



| Extent of 



Weight of 



Bushels per 



ence to 



grain in 



plot in 



grain per acre 



acre. 



steep. 



lbs. 



perches. 



in lbs. 





♦ 



68 



4 



1-720 



42 



b 



65 



8 



1300 



20i 



* 



68 



4 



2720 1 



42 



c 



7* 



8 



1480 



23 



* 



71 



4 



2840 



444 



d 



101 



8 



2020 



31 



* 



70 



4 



2S0O 



432 



e 



69 



8 



1380 



22 



* 



69 



4 



2760 



43 



/ 



106 



8 



2120 



33 



* 



76 



4 



304 J 



47 



8 



127 



8 



2540 



392 



* 



82 



4 



3280 



51 





* These 



1 are the nnst 



coped parcels. 





From this it appears that the ammoniacal salts and 

 the phosphate of soda are the best, or rather, to be in 

 accordance with the figures, we should say, the least 

 injurious of the steeps. These results certainly could 

 not have been anticipated; it is difficult to ac- 

 count for them. The seed may have been steeped 

 too iong, and its vegetative powers may thus have be- 

 come injured. Be this ;;s it may, we shall not be 

 deterred from repeating the experiment this year; 

 but instead of trying each salt by itself, we shall use 

 only two steeps — the one recommended by Professor 

 Johnston, as published lately in the Gazette, and the 

 other, sold by Mr. Campbell. 



The experience of that gentleman this year, though 

 probably better than our own, has certainly, if one 

 may judge from his published circular, not been verv 

 favourable. The following are among the most en- 

 couraging testimonies he has received : — 



On a farm in Forfarshire. — The soil, originally 

 moorish, on a retentive bottom, having been for upwards 

 of half a century under superior management, has now 

 the appearance of a blackish loam, of moderate depth and 



nsistency, with an admixture of old red sandstone 

 chips and debris. Nine ridges, containing 2.3 imperial 

 acres, were sown with eight bushe's of Barley, subjected 

 to Campbell's Steep. Cost of the Steep 24s. ; crop, 

 10 quarters, weighing 52Jlbs. per bushel; and \\ quar- 

 ter weighing 50£ lbs. per bushel. Nine ri s con- 

 tiguous to the former, containing 2.30 imperial acres, 

 were sown with 10 bushels of Barley, manured with 

 4 cwt. guano at 9s. Crop, 10 g quarters, weighing 

 52$ lbs. per bushel; and \\ quarter, weighing 50$ lbs. 



AN EXPERIMENT ON POTATOES. 

 By John Grey, Esq., of Dilston. 



Although the instances of fiilures in the Potato 

 crop in this district are fewer, and to much less extent 

 this year, than is many former seasons, a detail of an 

 experiment which I have now proved, showing the com- 

 parative produce of autumn and spring-planted Potatoes, 

 both of which were very full crops on the ground, may 

 throw some light on the subject, and at all events shew 

 that the fear of the plants being destroyed by frosts in • 

 the winter, on tolerably dry land — and no one should 

 plant Potatoes on any other — is visionary. 



Immediately after the harvest in 1843, I had a p : ece 

 of Oat stubble turned up with three horses in a plough, 

 as deep as the soil would admit of. The land was a damp 

 loam, on a retentive subsoil, but had been thorough- 

 drained the previous year ; it was then ploughed across, 

 and made up into drill-rows of the width of 30 inches. 

 About the 20th October, when the Potatoes of that year 

 were taken up, it was planted, partly with small Pota- 

 toes whole, and partly with large ones cut in two, 

 having had a moderate quantity of dung, but slightly 

 fermented, applied to it ; the drill-rows were then 

 ploughed up pretty deep, so as to give the plants a good 

 cover. In the latter end of April, 1844, a harrow was 

 run along the rows, to break the crust and admit the air, 

 as well as to give an opportunity of picking off any 

 couch or roots that might be turned up. Very soon 

 after this operation, the shoots of the young crop 

 appeared in great vigour, to the surprise of some of my 

 good neighbours, who thought that I was adopting a 

 very heterodox practice. The land underwent the usual 

 course of hand-hoeing and scuffling, until the time came 

 when, the tops being sufficiently large, it was necessary 

 that the rows should be earthed up. Before doing so, 

 I had 1 cwt. per acre of guano sown broadcast over 

 them, which the plough immediately following, turned 

 up against the plants. I did this on the ground that 

 the tubers, which are thrown out laterally from the 

 stem, require more support to bring them to perfection, 

 than they can derive from the manure which is placed 

 in the hollow centre of the drills. The crop went on 

 with a promising appearance throughout, but did not 

 exhibit any unusual bulk of tops. On each side of this 

 plot, a piece of ground was worked and planted with 

 Potatoes in the end of April, in rows of the same width, 

 and receiving in every respect the same treatment, ex- 

 cept that the dung having lain longer in a heap, and 

 become more compressed, must have been applied in 

 rather a larger proportion. The plants in this case con- 

 sisted entirely of large Potatoes cut in two ; and the 

 same application of guano was given to then as to the 

 others. In these plots no failure occurred; the ground 

 was well covered, and the tops were more luxuriant than 

 in the autumn-planted piece, so that it seemed very- 

 doubtful which of the two would in the end be the most 

 productive. The tops of the autumn-planted ones fell, 

 indicating ripeness, a fortnight before the others, and 

 were taken up in the beginning of October. The 

 adjoining rows of each plot were carefully taken up with 

 the grape, or three-pronged fork, and put into sacks, 

 so that no mixture could take place, and afterwards a 

 row in the middle of each plot, so as to come to a 



