878 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



[Dkc. 28, 



■js * 



speriments by which his views are established. He 

 uys •' two or three penny worth of ammonia'' (or harts- 



of A'iricuiiure) expend much above a million sterling 

 yearly on lime, it must be of primary importance that rhc 

 action of" this manure be fully understood. Be promts* 

 to point out an "unerring method" by which any 

 ploughman may, for the merest trifle of expense, deter- 

 mine when lime is required by any soil ! According to 

 Mr. Rowlandson's view, " nine-tenths of the money 

 expended on lime are an utter loss to the farmer." 

 While occupying a large farm in Ireland he pared, burnt, 

 and limed a portion of peat-soil, and from it raised 

 splendid crops of Carrots, Potatoes, Turnips, &c. He 

 pared and burnt a contiguous portion of the same peat, 

 but gave it no lime, and the crops on it were an entire 

 failure. He observed that the burnt but unlimed portion 

 gave a deeper colour to rain-water than it had before 

 burning, while, on the contrary, the heaviest rains were 

 no more coloured on the limed part than on the most 

 fertile loams. He next gives a familiar account of the 

 experiments bv which his views are established, rie 



buy 



horn) from the druggUt, takes a specimen of the barren 

 pared and burnt, but not limed, peat soil, and another 

 of the fertile limed peat, goes to the kitchen, procures 

 from " the chime" two clean tall glasses, and with this 

 " complete laboratory for the purpose," he begins by 

 putting a portion of the barren in one glass and the 

 fertile peat in the other, labels the glasses, cove:s each 

 specimen for about a quarter of an inch with the harts- 

 horn, and sits down to mark the result. The glass 

 containing the unlimed specimen has its liquid soon 

 coloured deep brown. He wuits the limed specimen a 

 little longer, but its liquid continues perfectly clear. 

 He throws out the coloured liquid and its peat, cleans 

 the glass, puts another portion of the same unlimed peat 

 in it, fills up the glass with clear lime-water, goes to 

 bed, sleeps soundly, " rises with the lark," goes to 

 the glass with lime-water, shakes it up, and goes to bis 

 farm-work. After breakfast, he again visits this glass, 

 tastes the contents, and finds that the water has lost 

 its alkaline taste. He next takes oxalic acid, which 

 he tells the ploughman is poison, dissolves a little in cold 

 water, and pours some of the liquid from the lime-water 

 glass into the solution. If the lime had been still dis- 

 solved in the water, the oxalic acid would have made it 

 milky, and soon caused a white powder of oxalate of lime 

 to fall ; but all remains clear* Hence he infers that all 

 the lime has been removed by the peat. For some time, 

 he daily pours off the water, and adds fresh lime-water, 

 till at length, on testing as above with oxalic acid, he 

 observes a milky appearance, and from this infers that 

 the peat can absorb no more lime. He now pours off 

 the liquid from the peat, pours ammonia in its place, 

 and lets it stand for some days, to see if the ammonia 

 can be coloured by peat, after the peat has been saturated 

 with lime ; "but no such thing occurs." This experi- 

 ment taught him to lime the other burnt lot : he did bo, 

 and had splendid crops of Mangold, Cabbage, &c. He 

 supposes he has now fairly proved that the alkaline 

 hnmates are poisonous to plants, and that lime fertilises 

 •oils, not by rendering inert vegetable matter soluble, 

 but, on the contrary, by rendering the poisonous humic 

 acid insoluble, in taking it from the alkali. Though his 

 paper extends over lo" pages of the Journal, it is not all 

 published, and we are not told what is his " unerring 

 method" of determining when any soil requires lime. 

 But as he ascribes the barrenness of soils which abound 

 in vegetable matter " solely to the presence of free 

 humid acid," and has already shown us how to detect 

 this acid, we may suppose that his method is detailed 

 in the above experiments. And as many farmers, if 

 not many ploughmen, may wish to try his method, I 

 shall give a brief plain sketch of the practical part of it, 

 as I suppose he would give it himself. If the farmer 

 wishes to discover whether one of his fields needs liming, 

 he may take a few specimens from different parts of it, 

 each from 2 to 4 oz. weight, put them, one at a time, 

 moist as in the field, into a clear tall drinking glass (a 

 quinine bottle, which may be had for 2d. or 3d. at the 

 apothecary's, is better), cover the soil for about a quar- 

 ter of an inch with common " spirit of hartshorn," and 

 when it has stood a little, observe whether the liquid is 

 coloured brown, and pour it off cautiously (withhold- 

 ing the soil) into another glass containing clear lime- 

 water. If ammonia has taken any " humic acid " from 

 the soil, the whole lime-water will now become turbid, 

 and a dirty brown flaky precipitate gradually falls to 

 the bottom. This, according to Mr. Rowlandson, gives 

 clear evidence that the soil needs lime, and if the am- 

 monia causes no brown turbidity in the lime-water, the 

 soil does not need lime. I do not vouch for the uniform 

 accuracy of this method ; but as the trial is so easily 

 made, and to reflecting farmers may lead to important 

 inferences, I think many might try it, especially for cold, 

 clayey, and peaty soils. To prepare the lime-water, take 

 a large clean bottle, put in it a spoonful of slaked lime, 

 fill the bottle nearly to the top with rain-water, agitate, 

 fill up, cork, and set it aside for several hours to let the 

 lime settle. It requires to be kept closely corked to 

 exclude carbonic acid.— P. Garden, Glence, in the 

 Dumfries Her aid. 



Management of Farm-yard Manure.— The best-con- 

 structed farm-yard and management of manure I evet 

 saw is Mr. Spooner's, the lately elected M.P. for Bir- 

 mingham. This gentleman has a farm of from 150 to 

 200 acres, situated near the city of Worcester, in the 

 highest state of cultivation, on which he grows the most 

 luxuriant crops, without having expended a shilling for 

 manure for many years (with the exception of a trifling 



SUm for those latP.lv.mtrndunPrl Tinrolrips hv n-ov rvf ov^ 



periment), but has sold much farm-yard manure to his 

 neighbours, not knowing how to dispose of it on the 

 farm. Although he does not possess an acre of watered 

 meadow, he has generally hay for sale. The farm-yard 

 is an oblong square, the back of the house occupying the 

 south end ; at the south-west corner is the piggery ; the 

 west side a cow-house, containing standing for upwards 

 of 20 milking cows, which is kept full all the year round ; 

 in the summer they are fed on Tares, Lucerne, and Grass ; 

 in the winter a little hay is given them in the morning, 

 Swedes or Mangold at noon, and as much bruised Gorse 

 (Fuize of one year's growth) as they will eat. They 

 have hay in lieu of Gorse on Sundays, as it is necessary 

 for the Gorse to be consumed on the day on which it is 

 prepared ; at the back are sheds for storing roots and 

 the hay-stack yard. At the north-west corner the Gorse- 

 mill is erected, communicating with a passage to the 

 heads of the cattle, for the purpose of feeding. At the 

 north end are the barns, with the rick-yard behind. 

 On the east side are the stables and sheds, a road at the 

 back, and an entrance adjoining. In the centre is the 

 manure-pit, six or eight feet deep, covered by a roof, and 

 surrounded by a dwarf wall, so as to prevent the possi- 

 bility of any water getting into it. It is entered by an 

 inclined plane, wide enough to back in a cart, opposite 

 the approach to the yard. Into this pit the dung from 

 the stables and cow-house is promiscuously thrown ; in 

 the middle of the side contiguous to the latter is a well 

 and a pump, which receives the drainage therefrom and 

 the stables, which is pumped up and spread over the 

 manure by a shute. The surplus liquid that is not ab- 

 sorbed is drawn off by means of a drain under the barn 

 into a receiving well in the stack-yard, where it is 

 pumped up into the liquid manure-cart, and drawn out 

 on the mowing-ground as soon as the Grass is cut, until 

 such time as it is laid up again ; in the spring it is other- 

 wise disposed of on headlands and heaps of soil. Liquid 

 and solid manure, prepared in the way above described, 

 preserves all its nutritious qualities ; the one is not 

 diluted by water, and the other not suffered to deteri- 

 orate by over-heating, and is of treble the value of that 

 made in the comman manner. — W. B. — Bell's Weekly 



Messenger. 



Rape for Winter Feeding. — What must the farmer 

 resort to for winter feeding, now that the Turnips have 

 utterly failed in many places ? I answer, let him still try 

 Rape Kale on his Turnip-field, without ploughing afresh. 

 The ground may be harrowed and then .sown; or the 

 patches of ground where Turnips have failed may be 

 sown with Rape-seed after a shower ; or steep the seed 

 and let it dry so that it may not clog in the sowing. If 

 after early Potatoes, the following plan has been recom- 

 mended : — As you lift your Potatoes, sow Rape-seed, 

 14 lbs. or 15 lbs. per acre, not later than the end of this 

 month (Aug. ). The price of the seed will not exceed 

 5s. per acre. If the season is favourable, you may lay 

 on two and a half scores of sheep to 4 acres, about the 

 middle or end of October. With the addition of the 

 produce of half an acre of Turnips thrown among the 

 Rape, you will have your sheep in first-rate condition for 

 the spring market. In one similar instance, which came 

 under my observation last season, the profit per score 

 amounted to 9/. 10s., not deducting the price of seed. 

 The land will be in excellent order for the reception of 

 spring Wheat, which will be found to yield better, and 

 the quality of the grain will be much superior to that of 

 winter Wheat, which is unsuited to early soil. Turnips 

 have been recommended on early soils after Potatoes, 

 but will not suit a cold situation. I would recommend 

 farmers to sow Rye and Vetches upon their stubbles for 

 spring feeding : they will find this a valuable assistant 

 where the Turnips have failed. — Correspondent of 

 Shrewsbury Chronicle. 



The Management of Heavy Soils. — Farmers have 

 often remarked.; that lime does least good to cold, wet, 

 clayey, and peaty soils, when spread on them in autumn ; 

 and that it can be profitably laid on them only in the 

 early part of the season, when in their driest state. The 

 reason of this is also plain : lime is dissolved more largely 

 in very cold water than in warmer water. The rains of 

 winter thus dissolve much of it, and carry it off. When 

 Turnips have remained on clayey soils till spring, the 

 crop has in part sheltered the soil from frost. It has 

 been farther consolidated or bound by the winter rains, 

 and the exclusion of air ; and when in this wet state 

 sheep are put on it, say in March, they soon reduce it to 

 mortar : in this state it is ploughed, and rises in adhesive 

 lumps resembling subsoil. The advanced period of the 

 season demands that it be sown as soon as the harrows 

 can break the top of the clods. The Oat-seed has thus 

 a thin scraping of coarse soil about it; but at the depth of 

 only 2 or 3 inches, the lumps of solid clay deny admission 

 to the roots. This evil is much increased when the ad- 

 vanced period of the season has rendered it necessary to 

 sow Barley instead of Oats. As this seed requires 

 a looser soil and a finer tilth than Oats, it is not to be 

 wondered at if it fail in such cases, especially where much 

 drought follows the stage of germination. Only the 

 strongest plants in the best positions come forward ; 

 stoling is prevented at the proper season ; a thin yellow 

 blade is all that can be seen in May and June : the Potato 

 ground on the same soil affords a striking contrast. If 

 July and August are moist, after-growths continue to rise, 

 and a crop deficient in quantity and unequally ripened is 

 the result. Too many evidences of this, both in Barley 

 and Oats, were afforded by the crop, lately reaped after 

 Turnips. If Turnips must be eaten by sheep on heavy 

 soils, the fields ought to be cleared in time for their being 

 all ploughed by Christmas. But I r r 'se and store all my 



W. — lt is to be sown just as Sainfoin, usine 

 lei of seed per acre. You will not find it worth 



Turnips grown on heavy and medium soilsTand give them 

 to stock on the pasture fields, in the court, and in the 

 byre ; as good dung is liberally given for the Turnips 

 this keeps the soil open in winter, and the dung is thus 

 farther prepared for next crop. I find it most advan- 

 tageous in this case not to plough up the dung till the 

 approach of seed-time. On light soils it is highly ad- 

 vantageous to have the ploughing deferred, and, of course" 

 the eating of crop as long as possible.-- P. Garden 

 Glena, in the Dumfries Herald. ' 



Notices to Correspondents. 



*»* Will the author of the letter on Smithfield be good enoueh 

 to excuse our delaying its publication fur another week ? 



After-Grass.— A. L.— If you have a witness who cm prove 

 the agreement as stated, although only a verbal one, you mar 

 recover the amount agreed on. W. 7 



Burnet. — L.W. 

 about a bust 

 your while to cultivate it. 



Drainage.— W.F.G.F.— If the lines you have drawn in your 

 little plan are those of greatest descent on the field, they are 

 precisely those which you should maik out for the drains It 

 will take about 1600 tiles, 15 inches long each, to drain an 

 acre, at 20 feet apart. Cover the tiles with the turf reversed 

 and then fill in the rest any how. ' 



Farm Accounts. — G.B.M.— Swinborne's M Farmer's Account 

 Book" is pretty well; but, like all ot its class, it is imperfect 

 We shall return to this subject. 



Gas Lime.— G.B.M.— This is imperfec hydro-sulphuretof lime. 

 When exposed to air, it is gradually converted into sulphite 

 and ultimately into sulphate of lime or gypsum j three or 

 four cwt. per acre is a plentiful applic.it ion : 7«. 6rf. a chaldron 

 have been given for it. A Subscriber, Andover.— It is use- 

 ful as a manure, because, after long exposure to the air, it 

 becomes sulphate of lime or gypsum, the fertilising properties 

 of which everybody knows. You had be'ter not mix it fresh. 

 Three or four cwt. per acre spread now on the land, and 

 ploughed under in spring, would be hs effectual as a larger 

 quantity; and this would be a better way of using it than the 

 plan you propose of mixing it with bones. 



Gorse.— Niex.— Can any one give us information respecting: the 

 Furze that has no thorns? It is sometimes called Irish Furze. 



Murrain.— Maillew— We cannot give advice for the dis- 

 eases of cattle, unless the symptoms are described. The 

 term "murrain" is used in various districts to designate 

 different and distinct diseases.— W. C.S. 



Sheep Farming, Manurb,&c— E.— Your object clearly is, that 

 the tenant should buy as much of as valuable manure as the 

 hay would produce were it consumed upon the lard. If he 

 knows the value of manure he will be able to do this for less 

 than three-fourths of the value of the hay. One-half its 

 value so spent would, we think, be quite a sufficient security 

 for the fertility of the land. In the country, here, we should 

 say that the whole of the value of the straw, if allowed to be 

 sold, should be spent in manure ; but near town, where this 

 part of the corn crop is so much more valuable, and where 

 rent, on this and other accounts, is so much higher, this, we 

 presume, would hardly be a fair arrangement. Three- 

 quarters of its value spent in manure would probably be more 

 just. If your farm of 150 acres, under a five-shift course of 

 cropping, be in good cultivation, and capable of yielding, on 

 an average, 22 tons of roots, 30 cwt. of Clover hay, and 

 25 cwt. of straw, per acre ; then, besides your cow and six 

 fatting beasts, you ought to be able to keep a flock of 200 

 breeding ewes, which we may suppose to yean 220 lambs 

 every spring ; of which 50 may be sold fat by July, and 130 

 may be sold fat as shearlings in the month of May following, 

 along with 20 old ewes, whose places may be supplied by 20 

 of the ewe-tegs ; or, as we should then call them in this part of 

 the country, chilver tegs, or theaves ; the remaining number 

 of the lambs go to balance the profit and loss account of 

 disease and death. The following is our calculation :— The 

 produce of the farm will be off 60 acres of grain crop, 30 acre* 

 of roots, 30 acres of one-year-old Clover, and 30 acres of two- 

 year-old Clover. The first will yield 75 tons of straw, the 

 second 66o tons of roots, the third 45 tons of hay and 30 acres 

 of aftermath, and the fourth 30 acres of pasture. This last 

 will keep 170 ewes, and so many of their lambs as remain, till 

 the 1st of October. The aftsrmath is equal to the keep of the 

 cow and six horses in Clover, and also of 30 ewes and lambs 

 till the same period. We suppose, however, 50 lambs to be 

 sold in July, so that on the 1st of October there will be 

 6 horses, 1 cow, 6 fatting beasts, 200 ewes and 150 tegs j to 

 keep which till the 1st of May there are 660 tons of roots, 4a 

 tons of hay, 73 tons of straw; and 15 tons of oilcake will 

 need to be bought. This will be consumed as follows :— 



Oil- 



Hay 



6 horses will eat daily, besides Oats and 

 straw, 5 lbs. of hay, 20 lbs. of roots: 



equal to 



\ cow, at 12 lbs. of hay and 40 lbs. ot 



roots daily ; equal to . 



6 beasts at 5 lbs. of hay in their chaff, 



60 lbs. of roots, and 6 lbs. of oilcake 



daily, till 20th Feb. ; equal to 

 200 ewes, at 2 lbs. of hay each, daily, and 



12 lbs. of roots, till 1st Feb. -, then 2 lbs. 



of hay and 30 lbs. of roots 

 150 tegs, at ^ lb. of hay chaff, daily, and 



lib. of oilcake, and 20 lbs. of roots ; 



equal to ....•• 



Roots. 



cake. 



12 IS 



o 



Supposing all this stock to be kept under shelter 40 (tons 

 straw may be needed for litter and food, leaving 25 for sale. 

 Turnip Machine.-.*/. Saul.-We have your drawing by iu, 

 and shall call attention to your machine, when, m « 

 course of our articles on Agricultural Mechanics, we toucn v 



Wheat?— GjLu.— Bellevue Talavera will probably suit you 



Ea^ATUM.-For the word "feeding," in the 2d line from the 

 top of the 2d col., at page 857, r ead " bree ding. 



HAY.— Per Load of 36 Trusses. 

 Smithfield, Dec. 26. 



Prime old Meadow , New Hay -. t o_. Cover 10J> , 



Hay 106. to lid I Inferior Hay 90 100^ I btrajr^ ^^ 



Cumberland Market, Dec. 26. 



Superior Mead. Hay 105. to 112s I Superior Clover 114. to 118. 34, to I* 



Inferior - 90 98 Interior „ 98 108 Stra 



New Hay - - - I * '« Clove J r oiH0 7BAK»7, Hay Sale.ma" 



Whttechapkl, Dec. 27. 



Fine Old Hay - 105. to 110. . Old Clover 120. 126. . ^ t0 



. 90 100 I New Clover 105 116 j Straw 



• „ Inferior — — 





m 



tol** 



38 



* 



New Hay 



HOPS, Fkiday, Dec. -27- . ., | . f »ii» 



Wi have had a good trade in Bag. thi. wee k and *•« » » »£ ! ™ V U 

 for Pockets, which we think must soon go C0Mlde ™g*W**&j.r •#»>'* 





