^ * • • 



83S 



THE 'AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



rDr.c. 14 



pose with the least exertion of p>wer? It /the 



moulds- which is here referred to — the cutting | arts 

 of the plough, to the action of which much, perhaps rao«t, 

 of its dra ht is Owing, bare been alrra iy 001 -red. 

 I am persuaded tl he theoretical con eratiori of this 

 qeea ii of little utility. I believe that the form of 



mould-board of least res tnce will be si crently yearly 



for a very Ion.,' period. The inhabitants still use the 

 ancient dfefiaflT, although it is 100 years since it has been 



ipplantsd in this country by the Dutch Wheel; The 



advantages which the best machinery of the day possess 

 over th» distaff, are as 1000 to 1 ; yet, by means of the 

 distaff, these p<ople n 1 to manufacture their cloth- 



ing, which, under the circumstances, is very comfortable. 



pointed out by experiment. The qut ion is, however, I Their cultivation of the soil is as primitive as their 

 an interesting "one/ an I that perhaps chiefly on ace mnt ! manufacture of cloth. Their holdings are very small ; 



of its great co: lexity. It appears that in ordinary 

 cases, and more especially in ploughing turf, the friction 

 of the sod upon the mould-bo*rd is due to the. action of 

 two causes One of these is the wei t of t sod, .and 

 the other is its res: to beiog bt'nt — ' isticity. 



Let us divide the mould-board of the plough into two 

 parts : — first, the front part, which is employ in raising 

 the turf from the hoi nt-.l to the vertical position ; and 

 secondly, tl hind portion, which is employed in press- 

 ing the turf from the ver I to its ultimate position. 

 A little consideration will show tint iu the former 

 of these portions b f the above c act, while in 



the tatter only one of them acta. In the former, both 

 the weight of the tod en the mould-hoard, and the resist- 

 ance it offers to being twisted, concur in pressing on the 

 mould-board, and thi >y producing friction ; in the 

 latter the sod, so far from lying on the mould-hoard, 

 tends to fa'l away from it : its elasticity a e remains to 

 produce friction. It is evident that the twist of a sod 

 will be most easily effected if done gradually. If the 

 elasticity of a turf were all that was to be overcome, this 

 would be more easily effected by laying hold of it at a 

 distance of four feet froqi where it was attached to the 

 fast land, than if it were held and forcibly bent at a dis- 

 tance of only two feet from the same spot : obviously, if 

 the elasticity of the turf only were to be ov rcorne, the 

 longer the mould-board the more easily it would net. If 

 we now look at the influence of the mere weight of th 

 sod in pro icing friction, and thus adding to the 

 draught of the plough, we shall find that the shorter the 

 mo l-board the more easily it would act ; for the longer 

 the mould-board, the greater w 11 be the weight of 

 turf lying on it, and, < laequentty, the greater the fric- 

 tion doe to that weight. The inference f; a the results at 

 which we have thus arrived is, that the hinder part of the 

 plough, on v only the icity of the turf acts, 



should be as lon^ as is consistent with convenience, and 

 that the 1 jth of the front part of the mould-board should 

 be such I t the sum of the two portions of the friction 

 on it— the one due to the weight, and the other to the 

 elasticity of the turf — may be a minimum. With refer- 

 ence to the front part of the mould-board it thus appears 

 that the proper dimension liessoinewhere between the short- 

 ness, w h is in eordance with the one view, and the 

 length, wi 1 is in accordance; 1 h the other ; in which, 

 each kind of force bein ;en into consideration, the sum 

 of the forces r< ired to overcome each is a minimum. 

 It is the length of the front part of the mould-board 

 that forms the great . icnity of the question ; for consi- 

 deration must be kept alive to the fact, that as it varies, 

 one of the above \ tions of friction increases and the 

 ot' diminishes* and this too at very different rates. 



For all prac >1 purposes, however, we need not per- 

 plex ourselves thus ; for in nine cases out of ten the sod 

 has no e' icity whatever ; and I believe in almost — per- 

 haps in all — cases, when it loss elasticity, the limit before 

 alluded to, which is put to the shortening of the mould- 

 board by t an^le of repose of soil on iron, will insure 

 to the mould-board a length greater than what would be 

 given to it on a r. jw of the influences respectively of 

 the w htand of the elasticity of the sod--the one anxious 

 to shorten and the other to lengthen it. 



Were there no other matter for consideration, this 

 wouhl at once determine the question of the form of the 

 mould-bonrd of least resistance ; for we have only to 

 ascertain the length of the mould -board, such that the 

 angle v :h its surface makes with a vertical plane across 

 the dire n of the plough's motion may always be more 

 than the 1 le of repo:c of soil on iron, and then the 

 surf • • of n; rm curvature of this length, which com- 

 mences with a horizontal line where it joins the share, 

 and terminates with a straight line hanging overbeyon* 

 the perpendicular at an angle of 45 9 will be the surface 

 of least re tance, which will answer all those conditions 

 required of a good mould-board.— M. S. 



TH YND OF LEWIS. 



At a late meeting of the Glasgow Philosophical 

 Soc Ir. Smith, late of Deanst , eave the follow- 



details of a visit to that island :— Lewis is the most 

 northerly of the western group of Scottish i nds, and 

 though y spoken of as a distinct island, is never- 



theh con: with Harris by a narrow neck of land, 



from which circumstance they are sometimes called the 

 longi id. T rocks are of the primitive or granitic 

 forma 1; and the rface of the country has altogether 

 a very peculiar aspect It appears that the peat moss 

 has begun to be formed immediately upon the granite 

 rock ; for when you get to the bottom you find at once 

 a rough grav mixed with smal' q atities of clay, and 

 hardly such a thing as a distinct alluvial deposit. The 

 whole surface ia covered with hog, from 2 to 10 feet, 

 and in s< te ] oea 20 feet in depth; although the 

 general depth may be stated at about 4 feet. Upon the 

 surface of this bog nothing grows but Bent Grass and 

 stunted Heath : it has a very dreary aspect. Not a tree 

 is to be seen ; and in the after part of the year, when 

 the Bent becomes decayed, the appearance is peculiarly 

 bleak and de ate indeed. The most remarkable thing 

 connected with the island, however, is this — that the 



the island has been for 50 or 60 years in the possession 

 of proprietors who had no money to improve, or with 

 which to encourage the people; and to this, in a great 

 degree, their present primitive state is to be attributed. 

 Their pnsse ions exteud only to a few acres each ; and 

 the people are congregated in, villages orlittle to wns, instead 



of being dispersed in forma over the face of the country, 

 ns is the case elsewhere. They have, therefore, their 

 little portions of land around for cultivation; and a right 

 to grazings in the neighbourhood. In regard to their 

 houses, they do not live in dwellings such as are seen iu 

 the mainland, for they are more like huts than anything 

 else. The whIIs are from 6 tb 8 feet thick, composed of 

 bog in the centre, and faced with stone inside and out. 

 There is sometimes only one apartment, butgenerally two, 

 and under th- me roof the people live and keep their cat- 

 tle. There is', h f»er, a fall of 18 inches from the apart- 

 ment in which the family live to the adjoining one in 

 which the cattle are kept. This may seem to some to be 

 rather a queer arrangement ; but the people themselves 

 consider that there ate points in it which contribute to 

 their comfort. The room in which the cattle are kept is 

 the entrance one, and as the air passes through ir, it 

 comes into the adjoining portion of the house, appro- 

 priated to the family, in a warm state. Where ponies 

 are kept, an outer hall or shed, beyond the cattle 

 apartment, is reared for their accommodation. Some 

 of the better houses have a division wall, which separates 

 the cow-house from the family apartment; but generally 

 this is not the case. Most people would think it strange 

 to live along with their cattle ; but the people of Lewis 

 have different notions on the subject, and when shut up 

 in the long winter nights, they consider it comfortable to 

 have the beasts in the next apartment, to hear them, and 

 see their motions, and occasionally to supply them with 

 food. One peculiarity in the building of their houses is, 

 that the roof is within the wall, instead of projecting 

 beyond it; and in this w«y something like a series of 

 terraces sometimes extend over half a town. One use 

 of tiem is, that when the children become troublesome, 

 or the mother is more than usually busy, the children 

 are disposed of on these terraces or high place-", and it 

 is quite amusing to see the little whitterets looking down 

 over the wall at what is going on below. The parents, 

 however, do all this in the most kindly manner^ They 

 have done all they can to cultivate their little possessions 

 in the best manner. Their cultivated portions are those 

 from which the peat has been cut away ; they then come 

 to the gravel, and gather soil from one part to add to 

 another. Two-thirds are taken from one part and added 

 to another third, and thus a soil is formed ; but in 

 winter a complete pool is formed between these ridges of 

 soil. They have done nothing in the way of draining ; 

 they have never attempted to* penetrate the hard subsoil, 

 which is often steeped in water. They have no system 

 of winter ploughing, but just move the land immediately 

 before planting the Potato crop or sowing the seed ; 

 and the only preparation they make is that of sometimes 

 pulling the *eeds in the summer season. Mr. Smith 

 then described some of the implements in use among this 

 primitive people. He exhibited the " crass-croom," 

 or hand and foot plough. It is an instrument with a 

 sole about 15 or 18 inches in length, thick behind and 

 sharp in front, which latter, being the part which first 

 penetrates the soil, is shod with iron. It is pushed 

 forward by means of a long handle fixed into it, and also 

 by a pin attached to the heel of the sole or sock, for the 

 foot of the 1 bourer. A more unlikely implement to have 

 the name of a plough it is scarcely possible to conceive. 

 The people lay the land over in furrows, by successive 

 movements of hand and foot, but of course the line is not 

 drawn in a continuous k 1. When two of the neigh- 

 bours have a pony each, they Occasionally use another 

 kind of plough, with only one stilt, the beam of which 

 rests on the ground. Mr. Smith exhibited this imple- 

 ment also, which appears to be scarcely a step in ad- 

 vance of the other. The great difficulty in providing 

 their implements is the scarcity of timber, of which none 

 grows m the island, and they have consequently to send 

 the mainland for it. As a proof of its value the 

 shaft or handle of the " crass-croom" (which is a piece 

 of wood about the size of a broomstick) costs 3.9. Gd. 

 From the scantiness of the soil, they do not, of course, 

 produce heavy crops. Good produce of Potatoes, Barley 

 —or rather Bear or Bigg, for the new kinds of Barley 

 are unknown to them— and Oats, however, are some- 

 times obtained, and they manage to produce these results 

 by the skillwith which they prepare the manure. It is 

 efficacious, m the first instance, ia the raising of Pota- 

 toes, and afterwards it produces a fine ifiTrley crop 

 When the Barley is ripe, they do not cut it as elsewhere', 

 but pull it up by the roots, and tie the whole up in 

 sheats. W hen it is " wen," and ready for the stack, the 

 straw is then cut from the sheaves below the band, which 

 has this advantage, that it enables them to stow away 

 the grain in small bulk— a matter of no small moment 

 in a country exposed to so much wind and rain. After 

 the grain itself has been thus preserved, t y take the 

 J straw which has been cut from it, and place it on the 

 roofs of their houses. They lay it loosely on, just as 



then tie it down with ropes spun from the Heath T 

 this position it is exposed to the smoke of their* 

 fires. The r 



there 



holes 



peat 



are 



are 



cause. 



manure is taken out, fever often prevails 

 :ie people, which is only attributable to this 



ie lire is placed in the middle of the room and 

 no vents; hut instead of this, a number of 

 ranged all around the top of the side waif 

 W lien the smoke ascends, therefore, and a portion of it 

 is forced back, it escapes by means of these holes. A 

 great deal of it, however, makes its way up through the 

 straw on the roof, and when approaching one of°thei 

 little towns, its appearance is to nothing more like tha 

 that presented by the smoke rising from a cluster of 

 heated grain-stacks. This straw becooies very valuable 

 from the great condensation of ammonia and other pro! 

 ducts which takes place in it. The people of Lewi* 

 plant their Potatoes without any manure whatever* but 

 when the plant has got up to the length of 2 or 3 inches 

 a general unroofing of the houses takes place, and the 

 &traw which has been preparing there all the season 

 is thrown upon the drills ; it is rarely covered up 

 excepting in windy weather, when a slight sprinkling is 

 put upon it to prevent i's being blown away. Well thU 

 manure gets into the soil immediately, and the Potatoes 

 forthwith come up with the greatest luxuriance. Indeed if 

 guano were to be scattered on the soil, the effects would 

 not be more rapid or complete than those produced by 

 this prepared straw. This certainly evinces ?reat inge- 

 nuity on the part of these people, who from the difficul- 

 ties of their position, are driven to it as the ouly means 

 of preparing manure. The people of Lewis, however 

 have also the manure produced from th^-ir cows, and 

 their care of it evinces a degree of intelligence superior 

 to that of farmers of much higher pretensions, for they 

 keep it constantly covered up, and all join in the opinion* 

 that if it was exposed it would lose, to a great extent its 

 efficacy. When the manure, therefore, is taken out of 

 the house for one crop, they immediately commence to 

 accumulate for the next, and thus they keep adding to- 

 rts bulk, till it is needed for the Potatoes or Barley. It 

 may seem strange that the people should live in the 

 next apartment to so much decaying matter ; but the 

 people feel no inconvenience from it. At the time, how- 

 ever, the 

 amongst the people, which is only 



Some of our best agriculturists are about to 

 follow this plan of keeping the manure constantly 

 covered up ; I do not say that they should live in the 

 same house with it, but it is of great moment tint the 

 manure should be constantly under cover. In Lewis they 

 certainly follow a strict rotation of cropping. They have 

 first Potatoes, then Barley or Bigg,then Oats— constituting 

 a three years' shift. According to this rotation they had 

 grown their crops for 100 years, and one might naturally 

 suppose that the lands would be worn out by it ; but this 

 is not the case, for they had generally fair crops, and 

 last> ear it was an extraordinary one. The Potatoes were 

 good ; and as to the Barley, though dark in the straw, 

 it presented in a marked manner that golden appearance 

 which indicated a healthy yield. On the who e, there is 

 no doubt that if these people were properly directed in 

 the best modes of cultivation, they would, with their 

 habits of industry, make rapid progress. Happy days, 

 it is believed, are yet awaiting them, for they have now 

 got a gentleman connected with them who ilevo'es his 

 money to work out the improvement of their country, 

 and otherwise promote their welfare. On their shores 

 there are millions of tons of shell-sand, which is so nicely 

 pulverised that it can be at once applied to the soil. It 

 would, no doubt, be much improved were it calcined or 

 burned, and mixed ; but even taking it in its native 

 state, great advantage will be derived from its appli- 

 cation to the ground. There is no lime cr coal, 

 but the want of the former would be made up Dy 

 this shell-sand, if they could only get easily at it. It lies 

 amongst the perpendicular rocks around the island J aua 

 as there are no roads, the difficulty of procuring and 

 transporting it is very great. When the roads arern^ 

 however, means will be taken by which the m»»bitante 

 will avail themselves of these deposits, and weywi 

 form a material element in fertilising the sod. bo rnucn 

 for the agriculture of Lewis. As to their ™nufaaur«, 

 they make their own dishes or vessels from the c y 

 found amongst the granite gravel. They fashion toe 

 vessel merelv with the finger and thumb ; ** a 

 strength and' thinness with which they are made, jro 

 the quality of their day. They turn over the nee* 

 mouth, and by putting a cord, or rather a leather Aoi^r 



I 



slightest improvement does not appear to have gone on the farmers here spread it over the top of "a stack and 



pwsijte to boil their contents when pw^« - 

 fire. They also make their creels, for carrying ; ^ 

 manure, and for other uses ; and the audie f n ^ lpDoc k. 

 surprised to hear they are made of the stem 01 11 a ft 



So much is this plant prized amongst them, tw Dockg 

 grows between the possessions of two farmers, is no t a 

 are carefully divided between them. lber is ver y 

 Willow in the island ; and the Dock, t nereI * r ! f the 

 much prized for its usefulness. Anotuer rno e# 



people of Lewis is that of feeding their cows on s ^ 



It is just the dulse tangle, which is olten see 

 the streets of Glasgow; and it is no unu ■ - ^ 

 w 



of 



gressrTiie^ows often seek it for themselves on *«j~ 

 side, especially in seasons when Grass is sea x ■• UfB 

 are some seasons, indeed, when they almost w^-^m 



uoon it. 

 sea-weed from 



At one time a Large revenue was a thfi 



from converting it into kelp , ou L w 



about 



various changes it has fallen in val«e Irom— .^ m 



'11. ] Qs. per ton 



Itdocsnot,thei ae,nowpy 



