ao 



THE AGRK ULTI UAL GAZETTE. 





lower lias shales and in Wiltshire the 



Clay in &€ nortbc i parts of the county, and chalk 



marl in the s ah, have furnisl 1 this h edient. 



Ina>mich, tl >re. U marls in different parts 

 of the count v-try as to geological position, so we 

 may expect them to differ in chemi< I constitution ; 

 and tl ^h aa yet an/ilysis of marls which ha 

 severally been ii*ed for manure is, to a threat extent 

 a desideratum, yet the following analyses, the two 

 first bv Prof r Way and the third by Professor 

 Voeixker, will sufficiently illustrate our present 

 position. These are examples of marls analysed 

 after their value manure has been long tested in 

 their respective districts; but in the present day we 

 may go further, and determine the value of a marl 

 before the expense of digging, carriage, and trial, ha 

 been resorted to. 



Oxford | the rural economy of this country, which is remark- the largest males. This opinion has done consider 



• ■ ■ mischief, and would have done more injury, if ujj 



Dot been counteracted by the desire of 





able for the life-like and accurate pictures it presents 

 of our national agriculture, and even of its local 



, FossiLiriK' 



<HMM* MaRI 



Soluh! 



in diln 



A: . , 



IlJHO 



luble in 



fill'ltH 



Acids 



. Gray MaXL 

 ob Malm. 



Soluble 



in dil-ite 



Acids. 



Silicic Add 

 (■ilica)... f 



Carbonic at 

 Ipbnrlc p 



Fhotiph cacid 

 Cbloi * ... 



lJiUIT 



M Aquaria 

 Protoxid^mici ) 



iron ) 



Alumina 



Note.— No. 1 !« from tl 



31.88 



i ndeter- 

 mil 



45 



3.76 



trace 



5.61 



.85 

 8/-M 



i 



2.06 



■ ■ 



« • - 







I 



16. 

 .74 



1.09 

 .45 



.si 



5.75 



Inso- 

 luble in 

 dilute 

 Acid-*. 



3. M a Ui 



FROM 



Wiltshire. 



29.16 



0.21 

 0.21 



41.5 



1.64 



2.20 



.11 



16.G3 





• # • 



■ ■ ■ 





1.71 

 trn<*e 



.07 



By Dr. 



r 0F KER 





• . ■ 



1 .5 1 

 .242 



tTf 



40.757 

 .325 



traces 

 traces 



5.57 



.T80 





I -pi f nation. 



Chalk irl " exttmively applied ft* nanure. 



I'roUbiy chalk i I, mad largely by farmere, who 



app'' < a powdered state both to pasture as to 



ax; 1m. 



Now these examples of marls still used show a 

 large potent n » of such important matters as phos- 

 phates ami the alkalies to which their efficiency 81 

 manure is maiulv due, and consequently where these 

 are absent marls can only act as mechanical ame- 

 liorators. Now from their/. ral sterility, where 

 unmitigated by accidental admixture . we know that 

 marls of the Ken per, the lias, and the Oxford clay 

 must he deficient in fertilising properties, which in 

 itself explains tl reason for abandoned marl pit 

 and neglect of marling in Worcestershire and Glou 

 cest» hire; whilst, on the contrary, the very fact 

 of marline being, even in the present advanced state 

 of agriculrmv, still followed out in parts of Wilt- 

 shire, and with advantage, wouhl lead to the con- 

 clusion lh it the marls in the latter districts con- 

 tained some important fertiliser, and chemical ex- 

 amination has proved this to he the case. 



Some time since, in company with Mr. It. S. 

 Maskkletni the Reader of Mineralogy in the Uni- 

 versity of Oxford, we examined a large marl pit 

 How 1 ing worked at Chisledon, Wilts, The exca- 

 vation was in the chalk mail of geologists, and 

 towards the bottom of the pit was a thin layer of 

 included nodular masses, from the size of a nut to 

 that of a Walnut, and somewhat of the same shape; 

 these, we found upon examination, yielded equal to 

 40 per cent, of bone phosphate, and we have no 

 doubt, were in reality coprolites. Mr. Maskeleyxk 

 subsequently informed us that he had made frequent 

 examinations of the marl with a view to determine 

 the amount of i pho hatic matter, and that in some 

 specimens he had detected 7 per cent, of phosphate 

 of hme, bur he estimated the average at li percent. 

 Of this important fertiliser. 



From thes- few remarks we may safely draw the 

 following practical conclusions :— 



IniIv. It is not true that every marl, as was 

 formerly supposed, is capable of acting as a manure 



or fertiliser. 



2dly. There are some marls exceedingly rich in 

 fertilising ingredients. 



3dly. The value of a marl therefore must depend 

 upon its included chemical substances, which can 

 as easily be determined by the chemist as the posi- 

 tion of the marl by the geologist ; and 



4thly. The present abandoned marl pits of Wor- 

 cestershire and Gloucestershire are an evidence of 

 the folly of expending money and labour on an ex- 

 tensive scale without fin* considering the prixciplk 

 upon which the ex, 1 good was ]ikeI to resn , 



We may also conclude that, though the Worces- 

 £ f arI P* h Z e th »* b ™»e monuments of 



w£?£ fbTTt^ th ° Se ° f the <**lkmarl of Wilts 

 attest that all marl are not alike valueless. 



One of the most i...^ IiailL ftiaoi) 



of Thi P f M T' P° NCR DE Latmow, one 



Institute of France, has published a volume on 



or contrasts 

 divisions of 



peculiarities.* 



It is greatly to the advantage of a description 

 when it depends not merely, nor so much, upon well 

 chosen and well ordered words as upon comparisons 



a I the agriculture of the different 

 France, well known to SI. de 

 Lwkrgne, is, with great emphasis to the lesson he 

 would teach, being continually cited in this work, 

 and presented to the English reader as the standard 

 of comparison by which the merits and the faults of 

 our agriculturists are exhibited. The work is 

 distinguished by its remarkable accuracy and the 

 kilful manner in which its topics are arranged. We 

 may add, too, that it is written in a vigorous, dash- 

 ing style— more after the fashion of a review 7 article 

 than of a formal treatise. 



We shall shortly call the attention of our readers 

 to it more in detail : at present we confine our- 

 selves to a mere enumeration of its contents. The 



of agricultural development 



Park 



abundant 



evidence 

 the 



agricultural 



exhibited in the Crystal Palace in Hyde 

 astonished foreigners even more than the proofs of 

 our commercial and manufacturing ascendancy : for 

 the latter they were prepared — the former, never- 

 theless, told a perfectly true tale. " English agri- 

 culture taken as a whole is at this day the first in 

 the world." 'What are the causes to which it owes 

 this proud position ? That is considered, and most 

 ably, in the first 10 or 12 chapters of the work. 



The remainder of the volume is devoted to 

 descriptive notices of agriculture in the southern, 

 eastern, western, midland, and northern counties, in 

 Wales, in Scotland, and in Ireland: and the last 

 chapters of this very interesting volume are occupied 

 with a statement of the origin of Ireland's difficulties, 

 and of the means through which she is emerging 

 from them. 



M. ni Lavrrgne has written a work which will 

 be as extensively read in its English dress as in its 

 original French. We shall again direct attention to 

 this volume. 



CROSS-BRED SHEEP. 

 Your correspondent, W. P. Ayres, calls attention to 



the successful crossing of Welsh mountain ewes with a 

 Southdowu ram, deducing the inference that the practice 

 of putting a large ram to small ewes is both profitable 

 and commendable. m That the breed of small sheep,*' 

 he tells us, "should be much improved in size by cross- 

 ing with larger rams, is quite in the nature of things/' 

 True to a certain extent, but the practice ought to be 

 regulated by extreme caution. If, for instance, he 

 reason from analogy that because the produce of a 

 Southdown ram and Welsh ewe is good, therefore that 

 that of a Leicester ram and Welsh ewe must be better 

 still, as being a larger male, I have no hesitation in 

 telling him his doctrine is both unsound and dangerous. 

 I speak feelingly on this point, having once suffered from 

 the experiment, both pecuniarily and ment illy, more 

 than just now I am either able or willing to divulge. 

 1 was many years since persuaded by a neighbour^ 

 join him in the purchase of a lot of Scotch mountain 

 ewes, to which we put (more shame* for us !) heavy 

 Leicester tups. Of all the pests that ever afflicted man 

 these Scotch ewes were about the worst. They coursed 

 the country like so many greyhounds. No fence could 

 keep them within hounds. They were a constant torment 

 to all concerned, from master to man. We were, how- 

 ever, content to put up with mere trouble ; but worse 

 remains behind. At yeaning time we lost, I am afraid 

 to say how many, of both ewes and lambs, from the 

 very circumstance held out by Mr. Ayres as an advan- 

 tage—the extra size of the lambs, which occasioned a cor- 

 responding difficulty in parturition. True, such lambs 

 as did struggle into existence and live, soon beat their 

 mothers out and out as to size and weight ; but their 

 numbers were deplorably few, and I never was better 

 pleased than when I washed my hands of the whole 

 concern— a matter I had no little difficulty in accom- 

 plishing— fer, to say truth, I was thoroughly ashamed 

 of the transaction from beginning to end, and in- 

 wardly resolved never to engage in such another 

 speculation, nor let others do so without duly warning 

 them of the probable consequences. I may be thought 

 to attach too much importance to a mere isolated 

 experiment, and to undervalue that related by Mr 

 Ayres. All I can say in answer is, that if his Welsh 

 ewes brought forth the usual average number of 

 lambs, with only a fair amount of casualties, on both of 

 which points he preserves, perhaps, a judicious silence 

 he may consider himself in high luck. Still I contend 

 the principle of breeding from large males is bad ; and 

 1 am fortified in this opinion by the late Henry Cline 

 Esq., whose able treatise * On the breeding and form of 

 domestic animals," I had not seen when I made mv 

 unlucky experiment, or probably I might have been 

 pared that act of folly. Only mark the words of that 

 accurate and scientific observer. « It has been generally 

 sup posed that the breed of anim als is improved by 



• The Rural Economy of England, Scotland, andlr^^"^ 

 LftwiCB de Lavebone. Translated from the French wmV«JZ 

 by a Scottish Farmer. Bl.ckwood and SoV ^*&j£ tt notes 



foetus of 

 must be 

 has also 



animals of the best form and proportions, which** 

 rarely to be met with in those of the largest shu 

 Experience has proved that crossing has onlysucceedS 

 in an eminent degree in those instances in which th* 

 females were larger than in the usual proportion i 

 females to males ; and that it has generally failed what 

 the males were disproportionally large." (P. 4), am 

 obtain the most approved form, two modes of breedim 

 have been practised ; one, by the selection of individuS 

 of the same family, called breeding in-and-in ; the other 

 by selecting males and females from different varieties 

 of the same varieties of the species which is calkd 

 crossing the breed. When a particular variety in. 

 proaches perfection in form, breeding in-and-in may I* 

 the better practice, especially for those who are not wel 

 acquainted with the principles on which improvemet 

 depends. When the male is much larger thai 

 the female, the offspring is generally of an imperfect 

 form. If the female be proportionally larger than the 

 male, the offspring is of an improved form : for instance, 

 if a well-formed ram be put to ewes proportionals 

 smaller, the lambs will not be so well-shaped as their 

 parents ; but if a small ram be put to larger ewes, the 

 lambs will be of an improved form. The proper method 

 of improving the form of animals consists in selecting 

 a well-formed female, proportionally larger than the 

 male. The improvement depends on this principle, that 

 the power of the female to supply her offspring with 

 nourishment is in proportion to her size, and to the 

 power of nourishing herself from the excellence of her 

 constitution. The size of the fcetus is generally in pro- 

 portion to that of the male parent ; and therefore, when 

 the female parent is disproportionately small, the quail- 

 tity of nourishment is deficient, and her offspring 

 has all the disproportions of a starveling. But when 

 the female, from her size and good constitution, 

 is more than adequate to the nourishment of a 



a smaller male than herself, the growth 

 proportionately greater. The large female 

 a greater quantity of milk, and her off- 

 spring is more abundantly supplied with nourishment 

 afterbirth." (P. 7—9). The following observations are 

 so judicious, and bear with such force on the case men- 

 tioned by Mr. Ayres, that I cannot resist transcribing 

 them : — 



"It may be proper to improve the form of a 

 native race, but at the same time it may be very in- 

 judicious to attempt to enlarge their size. The size of 

 animals is commonly adapted to the soil which they 

 inhabit. Where produce is nutritive and abuudantthe 

 animals are large, having grown proportionally to the 

 quantity of food which for generations they have been 

 accustomed to obtain* Where the produce is scanty 

 the animals are small, being proportioned to the 

 quantity of food which they were able to procure* 

 Of these contrasts, the sheep of Lincolnshire and of 

 Wales are examples. The sheep of Lincolnshire would 

 starve on the mountains of Wales. Crossing the breed 

 of animals may be attended with bad effects in various 

 ways, and that even, when adopted in the beginning, OB 

 a good principle ; for instance, suppose some larger 

 ewes than those of the native breed were taken to the 

 mountains of Wales, and put to the rams of that country, 

 if these foreign ewes were fed in proportion to their size 

 their lambs would be of an improved form, and larger 

 in size than the native animals, but the males produced 

 by this cross, though of a good form, would be dispro- 

 portionate in size to the native ewes, and, therefore, if 

 permitted to mix with them, would be productive of » 

 starveling ill-formed progeny. Thus a cross, which at 

 first was an improvement, would, by giving occasion to 

 a contrary cross, ultimately prejudice the breed. The 

 general mistake in crossing has arisen from an attempt 

 to increase the size of a native race of animals, being & 

 fruitless effort to counteract the laws of nature." (P. 13.) 



A few words on the practice of breeding in and 

 in; or, in other words selecting individuals of the 

 same family, in contra-distinction to the system ^ 

 breeding from males and females of different varieties 

 of the same species, called crossing the breed. Very 

 strong, and apparently plausible objections used to be 

 raised against the in-and-in system, and I am free to 

 confess that I was at one time of the number of the 

 objectors ; but I have since had reason to think I was 

 in error, my chief ground of change in opinion being the 

 system pursued by my friends Messrs. J. and T. Bro** 

 of Denver, in Norfolk, with which, as a neighbour and 

 pretty constant yearly visitor, I bad ample means of 

 making myself acquainted. For more than half * 

 century has their excellent flock of new Leicesters been 

 managed on the in-and-in principle. They let many 

 scores of tups annually, which are justly held in the 

 highest repute by every one who has made use of them; 

 and yet, strange as some people may think it, Mesfl* 

 Brown have never on any occasion gone beyond their o** 

 flock for the purposes of its improvement and reno^ 

 tion. In fact, it has now arrived at a pitch of perfect^ 

 as to form and blood, as to render recourse to any other 

 aid completely unnecessary. I have said thus much OB 

 the in-and-in system, under judicious manage* *^ 

 because, though not perhaps immediately connect^ 

 with the main subject under d iscussion— the supp** 8 ", 

 improvement of mountain sheep — yet it is indirectly •J' j 

 and, at all events, is a striking and an authentic p**! 

 that it may be adopted, not only with impunity, but W w 

 decided advantage. T. y Gloucester, Jan. 4. 







