■ Vr* 



1844.] 





THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



837 



DRAINING OF LAND. — THE WORKMAN'S 

 A LEVEL, invented by Mr. Bailkt Dentov, is made 

 and sold, as approved by him, by Messrs. Jones, Opticians, 30, 

 Lower Holborn, London, price 30s. 



Investigation bears out this statement. 



®f)e agricultural €fa?ette> 



SATURDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1844. 



MKEONGS FOR THE TWO FOLLOWING WEEKS. 

 Wi!Onk«day, Dec. 18— Agricultural Society of England. 

 Thl-hsday, Dec. 19— Agricultural Imp. Soc- ot Ireland. 



Thursday, Dec. 23— Agricultural Imp. Soc of Ireland. 



FARMERS CLUBS. 



, - -.- ----- l^enon j of produce and employment, to the extent we have 



the good pastures to which we in the first instance claimed, from the conversion of pasture into arable 



\S^^J^T^J7^ wouI ? P r „ 0(luce t0 the land, is an assumption, we shall in a future Paper 



prove that facts bear out our assertions.- 



t 



Dec. 19— Richmondshire. 



Grnvp Ferry. 

 Dec/20— Winntham. 



Stnke Ferry. 

 Dec. 21— Wimhcomb. 

 i„ Glo'&ter. 



Dec. 23-West Hereford. 

 Fairford. 

 Weolock. 



Dec. 24— Voxtord. 



Framlingham. 



Itayleigh. 



We refer our readers to the Report, in another 

 column, of the Smithfield Club Show of Fat 

 Cattle, &c"„ which has taken place during the past 

 week. We shall have a few remarks to make next 

 week upon the relative and actual importance of that 

 branch of farming which this Society takes under its 

 patronage. In the mean time, we have only to observe 

 that the animals shown were in no respect inferior to 

 those exhibited last year ; and, what is of importance 

 to the exhibitors, the weather has been such, that 

 the butchers have not been afraid to give full prices 

 for what has been sold. 



Let us now apply to the systems under discus- 

 sion — those of permanent pasture and arable 

 culture— the tests, the accuracy of which we last 

 week justified. How do pasture lands fulfil the re- 

 quired conditions? Do they yield much profit to 

 the occupier? Are they largely productive of food 

 for man ? Do they give much employment to the 

 labourer ? The very best pasture lands'— lands natu- 

 rally fertile, and upon which Grass is a natural crop, 

 and is, therefore, produced in abundance— answer 

 the first and second questions satisfactorily. They 

 afford a good profit to the owner and occupier, and 

 produce a fair amount of food, in the shape of beef 

 and mutton, for the public. The third condition, 

 however, is totally neglected ; they provide scarcely 

 any labour. The labourer's share is, in fact, ab- 

 sorbed by the owner, and that without gain to him. 

 For instance, upon soil of this sort the rent is never 

 less than half the gross produce. The same soil 

 under the plough pays only one-fourth its gross pro- 

 duce; though ordinarily the amount of rent is the 

 same in each case. If labour were employed in the 

 'former case, as in the latter, rent would necessarily 

 suffer a reduction. It is obvious, therefore, that the 

 former system yields too little produce, as the rent is 

 the same in amount in both cases, and that its pro- 

 duce is divided between the owner and occupier only, 

 instead of admitting the labourer to a share. To 

 admit him to a share without diminishing that of 

 the owner and farmer, a system must be adopted 

 which produces more. Whether this can be done or 

 not, however, he is entitled to his proportion, and in 

 this system it is forgotten. 



If we apply the same test to the medium and in- 

 ferior Grass lands— in fact, to three-fourths of the 

 pastures of the country, the demerits of the system 

 are fully developed. The profit upon them in the 

 shape of rent is small, and the interest to the occu- 

 pier, except in the shape of convenience or accom- 

 modation, is in most cases insignificant ; in many it 

 is on the wrong side of the book. The gross pro- 

 duce of such land, in the shape of flesh, is on the 

 same scale as the profits — fat, of course, it does not 

 supply. Indeed, there is a great proportion of our 

 inferior pastures which will not feed anything. 

 Upon these young stock exist, and the progress of 

 age is in some degree attended by growth ; the 

 stock, therefore, in time acquires an increased mar- 

 ketable value. In amount, however, this is trifling, 

 and would (were it not that such lands are but parts 

 of a farm, and are in some cases let for convenience, 

 and make part of a better bargain) afford a rent very 

 much less than they now pay. 



On these soils, however, the labourer is entirely 

 forgotten. Producing so small an amount of food 

 for the country— little for the owner, and less for the 

 occupier — there is nothing for the workman ; for the 

 amount of employment on bad Grass is not worth 

 naming. On each point, then, in which it is essen- 

 tial that a system of management should excel, this 

 fails. A method which affords little for anybody, 

 and nothing for some who ought to receive advan- 

 tage from it, cannot be acceptable to any interest, or 

 worthy of being practised by any enlightened culti- 

 vator. ■ 



The question is, however, now, How would the 

 arable system answer in these cases ? 

 m To plough out these soils, say many spirited and 

 intelligent advocates of the arable system, would do 

 all that we require ; would protect the two interests 

 which, under the other system, suffer most — the 

 country and the labourer — without injury to the 

 •interest of the owner and cultivator. 1 



labourer at least a quadruple supply of employment, 

 and to the country a doubled amount of produce; for 

 two excellent artificial green crops, and two grain 

 crops, would undoubtedly be twice the value of four 

 crops of Grass to be depastured. The profit, therefore, 

 would surely not be diminished, as there would be one- 

 half of the produce to pay the labourer and other ex- 

 penses, and still as much left for rent and profit as was 

 produced altogether under the pasture system. This 

 is evidenced by the fact already noted, that a similar 

 rent for land under the plough and under pasture, is 

 at least calculated at respectively one-fourth, and half 

 the produce. It is clear, therefore, that the produce 

 is in one case double what it is in the other, and that 

 one half of it is paid away in the extra labour, &c, 

 and still the rent and profit is as great upon the 

 arable as upon the Grass land. 



If these advantages accrue in adopting the system 

 upon even good pasture land, how much more 

 strongly must they be felt upon the ordinary and 

 inferior soils, where, in many cases, sterility is the 

 natural condition ? To such poor or unimproved 

 soils rich herbage is not natural: they will not, 

 therefore, voluntarily produce it. But by cultivation, 

 tillage, and manure, they may be made to produce 

 artificial crops, however inferior their natural one 

 was, and consequently they will, under such a system, 

 afford in a higher degree than when under Grass, 

 all the essentials we require— viz. profit, produce, and 

 labour. In illustration of this, on a moderate esti- 

 mate we may, on that half of the Grass which on 

 the alternate system would be under Turnips and 

 Clover seeds, keep quite as much stock as the whole 

 in bad Grass would keep. The country would suffer 

 no loss of mutton from the change. We should, in 

 addition, have the other half in corn, and this would 

 be so much clear gain to the country, and would be 

 equal in value to at least three times the former 

 produce of the whole in Grass. 



The gain to the labourer, and the profit to the 

 farmer, flea, are also evident. With the same per- 

 manent burthens (rent, taxes, &c.) to bear, and a 

 produce quadrupled, there is (taking the value of the 



11. 



IXCLOSURES FROM THE FRITH OF TAY. 

 M What is the best mode of bringing mud from the 

 sea into cultivation?" In answer to this qaery I beg to 

 say that the remarks I intend to make will hare refer- 

 ence only to the river Tay, and of course may not be 

 applicable in all cases, as much depends upon the nature 

 of the river, its currents, &c, and the geological forma- 

 tion through which it flows ; so that the alluvial deposit 

 of one river may differ from that of another. 



The subject may be divided into three divisions, and 

 a few remarks on each made. 



1st. The method of gaining land from the river. 

 2J. The method of protecting it when gained. 

 3d. The mode of cultivating it. 



1st. As to the method of gaining land from the river. 

 The process usually followed with the most advantage is 

 to run out at intervals double rows of stakes, driven fire 

 or six feet into the ground, leaving their tops three or 

 four feet above it, two or three feet apart from each 

 other, then firmly nllin;; the space between with twigs, 

 branches of trees, or tops of hedge.*, calculated to catch 

 the particles of mud but to allow the water to pass 

 through. A sediment thus takes place between the 

 rows, and gradually increases, and ultimately forms a 

 firm productive surface; care must be taken to prevent 

 all ditches or running streams from passing through it, 

 as they would prevent it from mudding up. Sometimes a 

 row of loose stones is laid between the current and the 

 deposit, or between high and low water mark, which will 

 similarly catch mud and sand, and while forming new 

 land will, by narrowing the channel, give greater im- 

 petus to the stream, and help to deepen its bed ; but 

 lately, since the dredging or deepening of the bed of the 

 Tay, proprietors hare availed themselves of the sand and 

 gravel excavated from the bottom of the river in forming 

 fine sloping benches, thereby Mvtng the expense of loose 

 stones. Sir John Richardson, of Pitfour, in particular, 

 Ins now a fine hard sloping be I of about two miles in 

 extent, along the extremity of about 10J acres in process 

 of mudding up. 



2d. As to the method of protecting it when gained. 

 This is done bv raising a Urge earthen mound parallel 

 to the shore. The two sides of such a mound are gene- 

 rally formed on different slopes; that towards the land is 



manures and in other matters requiring the capital two feet to every foot in height— the power of the bank 

 and industry of the country. to resist the weight of the water, as well as to break its 



Upon these grounds, then, it will be evident that 

 the conditions which we consider essential, in order 

 that a system of cultivation may be beneficial to all 

 the. interests vested in the soil, are more fully answered 

 by the arable than the pasture method. We have 

 no hesitation in affirming, therefore, the truth of the 

 position which has been publicly propounded, that 

 the interests of the community require that the 

 change from the pasture to the arable method of 

 cultivation should be extensively adopted on 

 medium and inferior lands of the country. We sav 

 medium and inferior lands, because they are far the 

 greater proportion of the pasture lands of England; 

 and it is on them that the greatest and most striking 

 benefit would arise from the change of system. 

 Moreover, the best Grass lands are principally held 

 in small quantities, and along with other qualities of 

 land; they are, therefore, matters of great con- 

 venience to the farmer, allowing him to keep more 

 cattle in his yards during winter, to consume his 

 straw and improve the quality of the manure, as he 

 can feed them off in summer on this good Grass 

 land. Although, therefore, by ploughing out such 

 land we might obtain a greater annual produce, and 

 perhaps more profit, yet, paying as they do a fair 

 interest and affording accommodation in so many 

 instances, it can scarcely be expected that these lands 

 will be ploughed out solely because they do not 

 afford labour. Nor indeed can we wish for the 

 change while the medium and poor Grass lands 

 exist in such quantity, and promise so much more 

 beneficial results. In them the chance is from 



force when in motion, being inversely as its steepness. 

 Some of the banks are formed with a stone wall half 

 their height next the water, with a long slope, and then 

 a mound of earth at the back and over it; but the earth 

 alone is the most general mode, and seems better adapted 

 than the other. Mr. Stephens says, M An embankment 

 was thrown round the small island of Mugdrum in the 

 river Tay, to protect the land from being overflowed by 

 the tide, but it was made so steep that the first 

 " r | spring tides levelled the greater part of it to the ground ; 

 the j a second attempt was made, with the additional expense 

 of a stone wall facing the water, which shared the same 

 fate with the former bank. Since these failures, a third 

 embankment has been erected, with nothing but the 

 natural soil of the land, and the whole covered with thin 

 turf: the length of the present slope next the sea is five 

 times the perpendicular height of the bank, and the 

 inner slope three times ; the water meeting no resist- 

 ance rolls down the long slope without doing any injury." 

 Sluices or tunnels of boards, with a valve opening out- 

 wards on their exterior extremity, are introduced here 

 and there through the bank dyke, to carry off the water 

 within ; when the flow water from without approaches, it 

 shuts the valve, which remains in this state till the tide 

 recedes, when the height of the water within being 

 greater than that without, it presses open the valve and 

 escapes. 



3d. As to the mode of cultivating it. This does not 

 seem to be a very difficult process, as the soil, if not 

 taken in too soon, is comparativeiy dry, and naturally a 

 very fertile one. In 1826, about 80 acres were taken in 

 on the estate of Pitfour. The first year it was trenched 

 to the depth of 18 inches, the surface or the endecayed 

 vegetable matter thrown into the bottom of the trench, 

 then sown to Oats, next Potatoes, then Wheat, and, 

 with the exception of occasionally Clover, Oats, and 

 Beans, has been Potatoes and Wheat, alternately, ever 



nothingness, both as regards occupier's profit, gross 

 produce, and labour, to a fair proportion of each. 



And from being a burthen (for such we maintain | since ; in fact, this, generally speaking, is the mode of 

 they are to many farmers who, taking them in their j cropping followed, Potatoes and Wheat being held as 

 farms, are not aware what they pay for them, and staple articles. On a neighbouring estate, about 6 ) 

 are almost as ignorant of what they get from them) j acres were taken in two years ago i after allowing it to 



they become a source of wealth to the country, and a 

 means of .ministering comfort to our fellow beings. 



The case, indeed, is simply this : — We can grow 

 good crops, by artificial means, in soils which of 

 themselves will grow little. Are we to compel these 

 soils to be useful or not ? We can, in fact, increase 

 the value of the crop fourfold, and at the same time 



dry so as to carry the horses, it was ploughed, then 

 levelled with a levelling box, and Oats sown the first 

 year, then planted with Potatoes, the crop of which aver- 

 aged somewh re about 20 tons per Scotch acre. Perth- 

 shire has for a long time grown large quantities of Pota- 

 toes for the London market, and these alluvial or haugh 

 lands, as they are locally termed, are first-rate Potato- 

 growing soils. The average rent of such soils may be 



quadruple the amount of employment, and conse- i f rom 4/. to 5/, per acrej r an equivalent in grain.— A 



quently the amount of payment to the labourer. 

 The question, therefore is — Is it good policy to do 

 this at a time when both are objects of the greatest 

 national importance ? 

 As it may undoubtedly be urged that the increase 





Strathearn Tanner. 



THE PLOUGH. 



(Continued from p. 818.) 



We have now to consider the second question we 

 proposed — What form of the plough will effect its pur- 



