1844.] 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



857 



FARM WANTED, to contain from 50 to 100 Acres, 

 or thereabouts, of good light soil, of l£ to 2 feet deep, with 

 or without a residence. If within 20 miles of London and near 

 a railroad station it would be preferred. Particulars to be ad- 

 dressed to A. B., Mr. Wacey's, Old Jewry, London. 



tEfje Agricultural 



SATURDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1844. 



MEETINGS FOR THE TWO FOLLOWING WEEKS, 

 Thursday, Dec. 26— Agricultural Imp. Soc of Ireland. 



Wednesday, Jan. 1— Agricultural Society of England. 



mm — Highland and Agricultural Society 



Thursday, Jan. 2— Agricultural Imp. Soc of Ireland. 



FARMERS' CLUBS. 

 Dec. 23- West Hereford. | Dec. 24 



Fairford. 



Wenlock. 

 Dec. 24— Yoxiord. 



»F rami Ingham. 



RayUtgh. 



Wickham Market 



It may be thought by many very ill-timed to bring 

 remarks on hybridisinq under their notice in 

 the month of December— we shall not fail to recall 

 the subject to their minds at a more seasonable op- 

 portunity ;— our chief object in introducing it now is 

 to recommend it as one on which attention might be 

 • usefully bent during the still long interval which 

 must elapse before its processes can next be applied. 

 Here let us request the reader to refer to the Lead- 

 ing Articles on the horticultural side, at pages 443, 

 459, and 587. It is when discussing such topics as 

 these that the farmer and gardener feel themselves 

 to be standing on common ground— the principles of 

 vegetable physiology alike control or assist both : it 

 is on such occasions as this that the usefulness of 

 connecting a Gardeners 1 Chronicle with an Agricul- 

 tural Gazette most strikingly appears. At these pages 

 statements will be found of the natural law on which 

 the process of hybridising depends, and of the many 

 instances in which it has proved a useful instrument 

 in the hands of the gardener. It is unquestionably 

 a process to which— excepting where it has been 

 conducted by the hand of Nature— agriculture has 

 hitherto been but little indebted ; and yet, looking at 

 the triumphs which have been achieved bv it in hor- 

 ticulture, it is one from which, were it skilfully con- 

 ducted, the farmer might surely anticipate much 

 benefit. If properties purely ornamental have in this 

 way been conferred on some plants, it is reasonable 

 to expect that those which are useful may similarly 

 be conferred on others. There is nothing in the 

 principle of the thing more extraordinary in our being 

 able, by any means, to influence the growth of tubers, 

 bulbs, or grain, than in our ability to regulate and 

 increase the size and beauty of a flower : the latter 

 has been frequently exhibited by means of hybridis- 

 ing, in the hands of the gardener, and the former by 

 the same means, we may believe, is equally within 

 the reach of the farmer. But we need not reason 

 on mere probabilities, for we find, on turning- to 

 page 443, that the size and quality of fruits are capa- 

 ble of improvement by the process : the same truth 

 is illustrated in an article on the cultivation of the 

 Apple, in this day's Paper. And, what is perhaps of 

 still greater agricultural importance, we find, at page 

 587, that " to render tender plants hardy, to make 

 barren races fertile, to exchange early for late 

 varieties, are all results which have been gained by 

 hybridising, and may therefore be gained again." 

 Now, while we confess that this process, as an art, 

 has, so far as we know, been hitherto of little use to 

 agriculture; and that such inquiries as we have 

 made into the history of some of our varieties— for 

 instance, of Wheat and Turnips — in the hope of 

 finding that they had an artificial origin, have ended 

 in disappointment; yet, with the facts before us with 

 which the history of gardening abounds, it is impos- 

 sible to suppose but that hybridising might be made a 

 useful instrument in the hands of the farmer. We 

 know that the practice has frequently been tried, and 

 that difficulties exist in the way of its useful appli- 

 cation — difficulties, however, which, if we may reason 

 from the new and improved varieties every now and 

 then springing up in our fields (see p. 740, b), do not 

 appear to surround the process when Nature under- 

 takes the manipulation of it : but to all this we shall 

 at another time advert. 



While our object is chiefly to draw the attention 

 of our readers and correspondents to this subject in 

 its more immediate application, we wish also, before 

 concluding, to speak of its results in that portion of 

 the animal kingdom with which the farmer is con- 

 nected. These are well exhibited in such Shows as 

 that which took place at Smithfield last week, and 

 those which occur at the annual meetings of our 



* ■ ^ 



national and provincial Agricultural Societies Look- 

 ing at these exhibitions, we may safely adopt the 

 style of a quotation above, and say that — To increase 

 the size of cattle, sheep, and pigs, to improve the 

 quality of their flesh, to promote their aptitude to 

 fatten, to approximate their form to some assumed 

 standard of perfection, to excite the growth and 

 quality of wool, to exchange early maturity for a 

 tedious process of feeding, are all results which have 

 heen obtained by hybridising — that is, by attention k 



to what long practice has shown to be the correct art 

 of feeding. 



Now, we do not wish here to draw any fanciful ana- 

 logy between the vegetable and animal kingdoms, and 

 infer from all this that great im pro vem en tsin agricul- 

 tural p fonts will yet arise from the skilful practice of 

 hybridising— the probability of this we have already 

 shown ; but we may safely assert that the same acti- 

 vity and energy to which the above valuable results 

 are owing, and which have doubtless been in great 

 measure excited in breeders of stock by the annual 

 award of valuable premiums for the best animals of 

 their kind, may similarly be excited and maintained 

 in those whose attention is directed to the improve- 

 ment of vegetables. The comparative neglect with 

 which the claims of these to the patronage of our na- 

 tional Agricultural Societies have been treated, can- 

 not certainly be defended on the score of any alleged 

 insignificance of the subject Why! it is next to 

 axiomatic, that of the two branches of farming— the 

 production of food, and its conversion into beef, mut- 

 ton,^ &c. — the former is the more important ;— that 

 cultivation proper, to which we owe grain and other 

 esculents, food for man— as well as roots and forage, 

 food for beasts — is greatly more important than that 

 branch of farming which takes account merely of the 

 breeding and feeding of live stock. One reason of 

 the neglect to which we allude probably lies in the 

 difficulty of fairly estimating the value of vegetable 

 specimens ; they depend so very much on their treat- 

 ment, independently of any specific distinctions 

 which they may possess, which alone, it is to be ob- 

 served, should be the subject of reward. To this 

 question we shall return at some future period; in 

 the mean time, we take the opportunity of laying be- 

 fore our readers the following communication, from 

 the late Sir F. A. Mackenzie, in the spirit of which 

 we entirely agree: it was published in an early 



Number of the Gardeners Chronicle, for 1 84-2 :— 



" I am gratified to find that you advocate a cause 

 which I have earnestly espoused for several years, 

 though with but little success. I allude to the paying 

 more attention by our English and Scotch national 

 Agricultural Societies to that subject which is the 

 foundation of all agricultural wealth— grain and 

 roots — or, as many would term it, vegetable produce. 

 I had the honour — no pleasure, as it has turned out 

 a fruitless duty — to be named president of the root 

 and seed committees for the Highland Society, in 

 1839-40 ; and in our report of 1839 I specially 

 alluded to the absurdity of allowing so trifling a 

 sum — only five pounds I think — for the discovery of 

 new and superior kinds of grain or roots, whilst 

 hundreds of pounds were voted as premiums for 

 animals whose very existence and superiority de- 

 pended entirely on the quality and quantity of the 

 neglected roots and grain. Little attention was, 

 however, paid to that report, and I determined that 

 if again named president of that committee— which I 

 was— that I would propose some names of autho- 

 rity to act with me, who might have more weight 

 with our Society's committee of management than I 

 found allowed to my own opinions. Accordingly, I 

 got the names of my two friends, Col. Le Couteur 

 and W. Gibbs, added to our committee, and they 

 both very kindly attended our Aberdeen meeting, 

 and cordially agreed with me in drawing up our 

 report, which expressed more strongly than that of 

 the former year our opinion of the absurdity of 

 giving 20/. or 30/. as premium to one bull or other 

 animal, whose blood and good qualities could not be 

 spread over any great extent of country, whilst a 

 more perfect or earlier kind of Wheat, Barley, or 

 other grain, or a superior Turnip, Potato, or Carrot, 

 was almost totally neglected ; though, were its 

 merits made known by a handsome premium, it 

 would be introduced in a short time over the whole 

 country, benefiting thousands of our agriculturists, 

 and through them the nation. Can such be said of 

 prize bulls, rams, boars, or stallions, except after the 

 lapse of a great many years ? And what has been 

 the result of our report to the Highland Society ? 

 That a larger premium was offered for a short- 

 horned bull — 100 guineas — than had ever been given 

 before, whilst the despicable seeds and roots were 

 left in their former pauper condition, and the opi- 

 nions of such men as Le Couteur and Gibbs cast to 

 the winds, because they had not the good fortune to 

 be approved by the committee, who, of course, 

 knew better than the sub-committee what was most 

 valuable to the country. Will you have the kind- 

 ness to admit the above statement into your 

 columns ? and pray do not let the subject sleep, as 

 some Societies do who shall be nameless. The 

 hitherto fashion of setting a high value on animals 

 alone would subside, and not constitute the sole 

 object of our Societies ; but the public money in- 

 trusted to their care would be devoted to those sub- 

 jects really of greatest value, which 1 consider to be 

 our 'vegetable kingdom/ It is my intention this 

 year to propose that both our Royal and Highland 

 Societies shall devote at least as large a sum yearly 



in future to the discoveries of early Wheats and 

 other improved kinds of grain— to superior Turnips, 

 Potatoes, and other roots, as to animals ; and I hope 

 for the support of every well-wisher to our rich and 

 prosperous Isle." 



AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT. 



The dryness of the spring this year being so unfavour- 

 able to the action of artificial manures, that even the 

 nitrate of soda, which is not volatile, has failed to benefit 

 the Wheat crop, according to the testimony oi an intel- 

 ligent farmer in this neighbourhood, who had tried it 

 with success through several preceding seasons. I was 

 deterred from prosecuting my experiments with them on 

 a large scale, not only from the fear of loss to myself, 

 but still more, because it would not be a fair test of their 

 value. But there are other questions interesting to the 

 farmer, the resolution of which does not depend upon 

 the seasons ; two of these are, Which is the best mode of 

 putting the seed into the ground, whether by drilling it 

 or dibbling it, or sowingfit broadcast? and if drilling be 

 adopted as the best, which is the best interval between 

 the rows ? Perhaps it will be said that this is to call in 

 question the most elementary principles of Agriculture ; 

 that the superiority of the drill over the broadcast system 

 has been demonstrated long ago, and is acknowleged in 

 practice wherever the cultivation of the soil isfbest un- 

 derstood. This was my own conviction, and it was prin- 

 cipally with a view to convince those who still adhered 

 to the contrary opinion, that I determined to give both 

 systems a fair trial. Accordingly, in a field which was 

 very evenly covered witli an excellent crop, 4 perches of 

 each were taken for the comparison, and the produce 

 measured and weighed. I subjoin the results : — 



Straw per acre. Corn per acre. Weight of Bush, 

 trusses. lbs. bshl. gals. lbs. 



Drilled Wheat . 95 20 On _ 60 



Broadcast do. .9/28 6l 2 6l 



The spaces thus measured seemed, as far as the eye 

 could discern, to be perfectly fair samples of the 

 respective crops ; but for the sake of greater accuracy 

 two whole lands were taken for comparison ; when these, 

 however, were afterwards measured, they were found to 

 be unequal ; and I mention this, because the upper por- 

 tion of the field huving been more highly manured than 

 the rest, over a space contained within parallel lines, 

 that inequality gives an advantage to the broader land in 

 the computation of the average. The produce was as 

 follows : — 



Strawp.acr. Corn p. acr. Weight, 

 trusses, lbs. bis. gals. lbs. 

 SO perches drilled and harrowed ;o 16 48 — 6a£ 



120 do. or i acre broadcast .71 28 49 5 62 



Here the quality of the corn is in favour of the drilled, 

 but the quantity of produce is again more from the 

 broadcast ; more, however, was sown in the latter case 

 than in the former, 10 pecks instead of 9 : it will be 

 observed that the measurement on a large scale reduces 

 the calculation of the average by about one fifth; but 

 perhaps this is to be attributed to some variation in the 

 soil ; for ten other experiments in the same field, com- 

 prising altogether more than a quarter of an acre, which 

 is generally considered sufficient for accuracy, give an ave- 

 rage of more than 58 bushels -per acre, and when the field 

 was sown, the drill was stopped by the wet state of the 

 remainder, which on that account was sown by hand. 

 The results of the next experiment were still more para- 

 doxical, and contradict one of the soundest maxims of 

 good husbandry : it was tried in a field of very inferior 

 quality, the situation being high, and the soil shallow : 

 the quantity measured in each case was 6 perches. 



Straw 

 per acre. 



Corn 

 per acre 



Weight 

 per bushed 



Wheat drilled and harrowed 



truss, lbs. 

 36 10 



»» 



>t 

 »« 



drilled and horsehoed . 39 22 

 drilled and handhoed 

 drilled but not hoed 

 broadcast 



40 — 



40 — 



60 26 



bsh's.gals. 

 26 5 

 28 2 



28 ; 



33 1 



r- — 



lbs. 



62 



63 



63 

 63 

 62 



So, then, the less the ground was stirred the greater was 

 the quantity of corn which it produced ; a conclusion so 

 contrary to reason and experience, that it can only be 

 considered an exception to ordinary rules, and referred 

 to some unexplained cause ; but it is again to be 

 observed that the increased quantity of the broadcast 

 corn was obtained at the expense of its quality. In the 

 same field some Wheat was dibbled, but it never came 

 up, and the ground was ploughed up in the spring and 

 resown by hand ; but it was too late, and the produce 

 was only 25 bushels per acre : the grain was probably 

 rotted in the cups formed by the dibbles ; for the soil 

 over the chalk sometimes forms a most cohesive plaster, 

 through which the rain-water with difficulty percolates. 

 For the same reason another experiment in another field 

 was scarcely a fair trial of dibbled against broadcast 

 Wheat, the best of two portions of the former selected 

 for comparison yielding 8 bushels per acre less than the 

 latter. In the other experiments which I have to men- 

 tion, the facts were more in accordance with the theory 

 of good cultivation : — 



Straw ) Corn 1 Weight 

 per acre, j per acre, j per bushel 



Drilled Wheat hoed once gave 



twice 



t» 



Drilled Wheat handhoed 



not hoed 

 horsehoed 

 harrowed 



»» 



11 



trus 

 90 



91 



ss 



§2 



97 



108 



lbs. 

 12 



9 



32 



8 



8 

 32 



bshls.gals. 



54 



J} 



65 



56 



7 



58 



6 



60 

 68 



1 



lb 

 62 



62 

 61 

 62 

 62 



In the first of these instances a second stirring of the 

 ground appeared to be beneficial ; in the second the want 



