^■■^^^^■■^■i 



1844.] 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



875 







used, it must be carefully pulverised, which will cause 

 much trouble, if it be not done in a stamping-mill. It 

 is generally strewed over the young Clover, or the young 

 crops. If it contains (as is at times the case) much car- 

 bonate of lime, magnesia, &c, a greater quantity than 

 that above stated is to be employed. 



b. Thorn-stow is either beaten off the thorns which 

 have been used for 'he refining of the salt ley, and around 

 which it has formed a hard crust, or they are burnt, after 

 which they are pulverised and used as a manure. It 

 Consists, as I have learnt from several experiments, 

 mostly of gypsu n, as it contains only 5 per cent, of car- 

 bonate of Jime and magnesia, silica, iron, &c. If the 

 thorns are burnt, they manure, as a matter of course, 

 also by the ashes of the wood. It is used like gypsum, 

 and will avail all leguminous plants, Clover, &c, in the 

 same way as the former.— From the German of Pro- 

 fessor Sprengel. 



Home Correspondence. 



^ The No-pasture System.— No one can be a greater 

 advocate for abolishing permanent pasture than myself; 

 and I am convinced, from ex peri nee, that milch cows 

 and working horses are kept most advantageously by 

 being soiled ; but Mr. Mechi ought to tell us that he 

 has found, experimentally, that young cattle aod colts 

 can be reared equally well by soiling as by pasturage, 

 otherwise his system must be faulty. It appears to me, 

 also, that there is an objection to his favourite Lucerne 

 and Saintfoin, inasmuch as they interfere with rota- 

 tion, and are almost as bad in this respect as permanent 

 pasture. In other points they are certainly superior to 

 the Clovers, as, when established, they make us more 

 independent of the seasons, and afford a more frequent 

 cut. On the failure of the Clovers, we have no alter- 

 native but Vetches. Mr. Mechi has, I think, said that 

 he cuts all his green meat into short lengths. Does he 



dark-green colour. Such Clover, however, must be given 

 to cattle with some caution, as they become easily in- 

 flated thereby, which is, doubtless, caused by the great 

 amount of sulphur the plants contain, as it is known that 

 the gas, which mostly causes inflation, is sulphuretted 

 hydrogen. If gypsum is strewed over the Clover, 

 sown amongst Oats or Barley, immediately after the 

 former has germinated, it will, at times, grow so luxu- 

 riantly as to choke the crop; the same will at times take 

 place after the burning of turf, viz., if the ashes thereby 

 obtained contain much gypsum. On«e, after burning 

 turf, planted Clover amongst Oats, which flowered the 

 first year, and was 3 feet high. 



It has been also found that the straw of Peas, Beans, 

 or Vetches, which had been manured with gypsum, had 

 given horses the colic ; and it was believed to have been 

 caused by the gypsum which had passed into the plants. 

 Still, this may only have resulted from the crops (most 

 luxuriant a'ter that manure) not having been properly 

 dried before being brought into the barns, and that the 

 cholic was caused by the mould thus generated. It may 

 be taken as a general truth that all crops, grown after 

 gypsum, are more nutritious than usual, as sulphur is 

 one of the essential components of the animal body. 



Gypsum, applied in the usual quantities (80 to lOOlhs. 

 per Magdeburg acre of land), acts merely for 3 to 4 years, 

 the reasons of which have been stated above. It is never 

 necessary to use large quantities, partly because gypsum 

 is easily soluble in water, partly because the plants require 

 but little sulphur for their perfect development. In some 

 places Clover is manured after every crop; but then, every 

 time but a very little is taken, which deserves to be 

 imitated, especially in cases when the subsoil is 

 very pervious, because then the gypsum solved in 

 water would be quite lost for the crop, with the exception 

 of Lucerne. There are yet some other mineral sub- 

 stances containing gypsum, which are used as manures, 

 viz., the pan-stone and thorn-stone of salt works, which 

 are obtained by the boiling and evaporation of the salt 

 ley, and have long been known as superior manures. 



.a. The pan-stone consists, according to the chemical 

 analysis to which I have subjected it, of 60 to 70 per cent 

 gypsum, at times 10 per cent, common salt, little chloride 

 of potassium, su'phate of soda, oxide of iron, and mag- 

 nesia. [Analysis will give very different results in 

 different specimens.] Although, therefore, the pan-stone 

 owes its manuring properties chiefly to gypsum, it is to 

 be observed that the common salt also will exercise 

 some influence. The other substances can avail the 

 plants but little, and tbe>y are contained in it but in 

 small quantities ; and as, moreover, the quantity of pan- 

 stone brought on a certain area is so trifling that it 

 cannot be expected to exercise any great influence. 

 ' On some soils the manuring with pan-stone, like that 

 with gypsum, will be quite useless, whilst on others it 

 ■will be excedingly beneficial. Similar effects always 

 follow similar causes, and it is clear that pan-stone can 

 produce no effect on soils which possess already a suffi- 

 cient amount of gypsum and common salt, as the plants 

 have previously satisfied their want of these two mineral 

 substances. It is also to be considered, that the amount 

 of pan-stone used (100 to 120 lb. per acre) conveys not 

 sufficient common salt on the soil for producing any 

 extraordinary result, as we shall see afterwards, that at 

 least 110 lbs. common salt must come on an acre, if 

 the result shall be favourable, and that area will obtain 

 through 100 lbs. of pan-stone (assuming it to contain 

 10 per cent.) only 10 lbs. of common salt. 



Pan -stone will prove it-elf useful to all plants to which 

 gypsum is of some use, this being its chief manuring 

 substance. It will especially advance the growth of Peas, 

 Beans, Vetches, Lime, &c. Previous to its being 



do it by hand or horse-power ? If the latter, with how 

 many knives ? I have broken a one-horse power ma- 

 chine by attempting it, owing to its clogging. Is there 

 any good reason for a cow giving more milk when the 

 hay she eats is cut into inch lengths, or when given un- 

 cut?— IT. C. [We know of none, excepting that the 

 process of digestion may be more effectual when the food 

 is administered in a somewhat reduced state. There is 

 not that reason for reducing the food of animals that 

 chew the cud, that there is in the case of the horse, and 

 others which do not.] 



Failure of Oats. — 1 am a reader of your very valuable 

 Paper, and have seen several articles which I approve of 

 upon rotation of cropping, but have met in neithes any- 

 thing accounting for the deficiency of a crop of Oats in 

 some parts of fields, whilst in other parts of the same 

 field a good crop is produced. This failure is by some 

 farmers called " blowing," that is, the Oats gro.v uutil 

 the ear is about formed, when it begins to assume a 

 stunted and withered appearance, and consequently 

 comes to little use. It generally happens after ley ; bu» 

 when the ground has produced a crop of Potatoes or 

 Turnips, and is properly cleaned, the Oats after are a 

 good crop. Is it a deficiency in the soil, or is it a weed 

 which robs it? I am inclined to think that it is the 

 latter, as the spots are much overgrown with plantain, 

 &c, and likewise the failure happening after ley. Would 

 Beans answer in such parts after ley ? Here we sow 

 Beans after Turnips, along with Grass-serds. Be so 

 good as to state what is the cause of failure of Oat?, and 

 if Beans would grow after ley in such soil. Our soil here 

 is, for the most part, a stiff loam. — An Aberdonian. 



Experiments on Nutrition. — The experiments of 

 Boussingault with his two cows fed on Mangold Wu zel 

 alone, are somewhat akin to those made by his country- 

 man, Macaire, on plants, some years ago, when the 

 excretionary theory was propounded. In both cases the 

 subjects experimented on were placed in such astite that 

 disease was sure to be the consequence ; in the one case 

 the fatty matters found in the milk and the excremenU 

 of the cows were proved to be produced at the expense 

 of the fat previously deposited in the animal tissu' so 

 the much-talked-of brown matter found in the water in 

 which Beans had grown (or rather had been soaked), 

 would, there is good reason to believe, be found to be 

 produced by the destruction of some portion of the 

 tissues of the seed or plant. No experiment of this kind 

 can be satisfactory unless it be so conducted that the 

 subject experimented on shall be continued in a perfectly 

 healthy condition. The experiments made by Earl 

 Spencer, as detailed in the 2d vol. of the " Journal of the 

 Royal Agricultural Society," were conducted on such a 

 plan that the health of the animals was preserved. 

 Barley when malted, will cause an animal to become 

 sooner fat than when unmalted. Will the disciples of 

 Messrs. Boussiugault and Dumas inform us how this 

 takes place ? — Inquirer. 



Gas -Water. — Having seen in your Paper lately an 

 article recommending one of your correspondents to add 

 gas-water to a heap of decayed leaves, &c, I intend to 

 fry the plan ; but on going to the gas-works I found that 

 there are two sorts or gas-water— one, a sort of brown 

 oily substance, which distils from the gas, and from 

 which, I believe, they make naphtha; and another, lime- 

 water, which is used for purifying the gas. Now, would 

 you be good enough to inform me which I should use, 

 and what quantity for a heap of about six cubic yards, and 

 oblige an — Amateur. [Two or three hundred gallons of 

 the former, which is the ammoniacal liquor, should be 

 applied per acre ; if you intend to apply these 6 yards of 

 leaves on an acre, soak them with that quantity.] 



Guano versus Farmyard Dung. — At a time when so 

 many conflicting opinions are afloat respecting the fer- 

 tilising properties of guano and other manures, I think 

 it but right that every one who has the opportunity and 

 the will to try experiments in this way, should give to 

 the public the result of such trials ; and having no doubt 

 but that the following particulars will be of interest to 

 some of your readers, I with pleasure record them, with 

 a fur her promise to report also the result of other trials 

 now in progress. Last spring, to test the efficacy of 

 guano as a manure for Potato crops, and also to try its 

 relative merits with good farmyard dung, I dressed about 

 an acre and a half with guano, at the rate of 6 cwt. per 

 acre, at a cost of 3/. \$s. per acre ; sowing it in the 

 drill, and covering lightly with mould before planting 

 the set. I also had drills opened and the dung laid in ; 

 the set being planted on the dung. In order to bring 

 the expense of manuring per acre as near as possible to 

 each other, I manured with dung accordingly, thereby 

 giving what we here term a good dressing : the land is 

 rather poor, inclining to a peat. Those sets planted on 

 the guano showed a very marked superiority in their 

 growth, even up to the very day of digging, when the 

 result fully realised my most sanguine expectations, and 

 justified me in my previous predilection for this new- 

 fashioned fertiliser, by giving the following return*:— 



I No. l.— Short row.. Dungr 6 bah. 6 galls. 



No. 2. -Ditto Guano 8 bsh. 2$ galls. 



Thus giving a difference of 1 bsh. A\ galls, in favour of 

 the guano; and this superiority was very general through- 

 out the whole crop. I have witnessed its very powerful 

 effect upon Grass land. In the beginning of Angus', 

 having selected a very poor miserable piece of lawn or 

 pleasure ground, I applied a dressing of guano, at the 



* I had not leisure to superintend the measuring of a larger 

 quantity ; but am quite satisfied, from my daily visits to ihe 

 men, that the measured part bore a fair proportion to the whole. 



j rate of 5 cwt. per acre, having previously mixed it with 

 a quantity of leaf-mould ; the effect was instantaneous, 

 for in less than a fortnight, the plot assumed a darker 

 hue, and rapidly recovered from that 6terile appearance 

 it had for two months previously borne ; and at the time 

 of cutting, which was less than seven weeks after the 

 application, the Grass had grown to fully 7 inches in 

 height, and of a most healthy appearance, while the 

 ground (for it could not possibly be called Grass) adjoin- 

 ing had more the appearance of a gravel walk than 

 otherwise; and at this period (December 1st), the se- 

 lected spot appears to have undergone quite a change, 

 still maintaining its verdure-like appearance. In order 

 to be quite sure that the lea'-mould had not a great 

 share in the improvement, I dressed another plot from 

 the same heap, but the continued dry weather prevented 

 its having any beneficial effect whatever ; consequently 

 I was qui'e satisfied that the astonishing effect was 

 attributable entirely to the powerful agency of the guano. 



— Qncrcus II. 



Feeding Cows. — I keep two cows tied up day and 

 night in the cow-house, except on fine days, when they 

 are turned out into the yard for two or three hours in 

 the middle of the day. I give them as much meadow hay 

 as they choose to eat, and each cow has one oil cake, 

 about 31b., divided into three portions, for morning 

 mid-day, and afternoon. I have plenty of Potatoes — 2<K> 

 bushels at the least — but no apparatus for steaming, no 

 copper large enough to boil the Potatoes in, and firing 

 is very dear. My question is, May I venture to give the 

 cows the Potatoes in a raw state ? and if so, in wha 

 quantity? I have made many inquiries a-nong the 

 neighbouring farmers, and have confl cting answers. 

 Some say, the Potatoes will do the cows no harm — others 

 that raw Potatoes will ruin the cows, make them poor, 

 lousy, and the milk no better than mere water, with 

 many other objections. — Hatfield. [The results of expe- 

 riments on feeding with Potatoes, strange as it may 

 ippear, have as often been favourable to using them when 

 raw as when boiled or steamed.] 



Inclosure of Land from the S a. — If the " Strathern 

 Farmer" will refer to the Agricultural Gazette of Oct. 

 26, and the following Numbers, he will find inquiries 

 made on the subject he is anxious to give information 

 upon. In the case referred to he will see that the diffi- 

 culty was to get rid of the superabundance of salt. It 

 does not appear whether there was any great admixture 

 of salt in the overflowings from the Tay — probably much 

 less than in the case before inquired into, which related 

 to a tide--iver in the south of England. Having seen 

 the Tay, I should suppose there was more fresh water in 

 that noble river than in ail the rivers that flow into the 

 sea, in Sussex or Hampshire, at any time of the year, 

 except, perhaps, in very wet winters, for during the dry 

 months the quantity of fresh water, compared with what 

 flows in by the tide, is very insignificant. Alter the tide 

 is gone down, the water left in the pools is still so salt 

 that common sea-weed flourishes in it. Of mud there is 

 no deficiency, but, from the superabundance of salt in it, 

 it is hardly fit for the purpose of manure by any process 

 I know of. There is no doubt an alluvial deposit from 

 the fresh water above the tide-way, brought down by 

 heavy rains from the land above ; but no land, fit for 

 cultivation, can be gained from the river, as is described 

 to be the case in the Tay. The directions as to the slope 

 of the banks to the sea are very valuable. The sea has 

 been excluded from about 30 acres, which in September 

 last was very dry. It will be brought into cultivation 

 whenever the best method of getting rid of the salt can 

 be ascertained. Any information as to what will accom- 

 plish this will be thankfully received. The " Strathern 

 Farmer'' will perceive that I am enough of a Scotchman 

 to answer his questions by asking another ; but I con- 

 ceive he is far more likely to know how to convert his 

 reclaimed mud into carse land than I am. — J/» D. P. 

 [" M. D. P." shall soon have evidence od this suoject 

 from another quarter.] 



Allotments. — Not long ago, a correspondent from 

 Tottenham wrote in the Agricultural Gazette ab )Ut 

 the many difficulties in the practical working and letting 

 of allotments, and especially as regards the trouble of 

 getting them into one's own hands again out of those of 

 bad tenants. I meant to have let some land for allot- 

 ments this Christmas, bur thy correspondent has alarmed 

 me, and unless he can put me in the way of letting, so 

 as to be safe, and so that they will require but little 

 trouble, 1 must reluctantly decline. 1 think he says 

 that he has managed allotments for 20 years ; and if so, 

 he surely by this time must have hit upon some well 

 defined plan, and rules, and regulations,and agreements, by 

 which the matter may be managed almost, to a certainty* 

 If he would furui-h such to 'he world through thy 

 Paper, it would doubtless be useful to others as well as 

 to myself; or if he will not do that, perhaps he will 

 communicate his plans and modes privately to me, 

 through thy introduction. I hope to see something 

 about it in next Number, or to hear from him this week, 

 as the time is drawing so near when the labourers would 

 like to begin, and I understand they are very anxious to 

 do io.—liobert Warner, 8, Crescent, Jcu-in-street, 

 London. 



Hedgerow Timber.— I wish to call attention to the 

 management of hedgerow timber, the early pruning of 

 which is generally totally neglected ; although from its 

 unsheltered position it more especially needs judicious 

 treatment. It is commonly left entirely to the discre- 

 tion of such farm labourers as may chance to be, at in- 

 tervals, engaged in making and repairing the hedges in 

 which it stands. They, of course, seldom feel much in- 



