7—1 55 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



Vti» 



i^ca substances and farmyard manures, there 

 wThe wrote on the subject, one-sixth of the 



He complains also of the exhaust- 



107 



fjill 



. of corn-growing in the west of France 

 the soil admits of it, and of the miserable 

 so frequently diminished still more by un- 

 FjJlSe BfMons— the result being an impoverished 

 ^ilion without energy, and tortured by bitter want. 

 jfrhth of the hud only is cultivated in the wood- 

 SuSjities and the only food for cattle that are never 

 * i* according to the statement miserable natural 

 .^ ou *#& ,nev starve during 7 months of the year. 

 Effrnns are of 50 hectares, with one plough and very 

 w Trs __ because there is no employment for them. 

 H MUStbeu ni»st strongly the extended introduction 

 , gP^ficial Grasses and root crops for cattle feeding, 

 through die agencies of cornices, and of individual pro- 

 metors imitating the exertions of such benefactors to 

 fceouniry as tne * nte ^ Donibasle, at Roville, and of 

 M, BeJIa, at Grignon. Yet he would not innovate too 

 U or harshly, demanding unreasonable conces- 

 from the prejudices of the peasantry ; but make 

 convincing their minds, by example and 

 ^cultural education, so necessary to second the efforts 

 n amelioration, Mid he emphatically warns improvers 

 w ttfi hejr Iiew practices fully, lest any failure of 

 in them shou'd weaken their local influence, and 



found in Ireland, where the new red sand-stone is of I of nitrogen was found to have increased during the 

 rare occurrenoe. I believe that gypsum is discoverable course of feeding described in your journal, dJ 24, 



1853, from 62 nitrogen = 62 ammonia to .94 iiitroeen = 



only in parts of Ulster, and until within a comparatively 

 recent period its use in agriculture was not known. 

 Professor Kane gives this analysis of it : 



Sulphuric acid 46.5 



1A*M 3*2.6 



Water 20.9 



100.0 of gypsum or sulpha. o, 



and pronounces that "tl e practical value as a manure 

 is undisputed, although difference of opinion exists as to 

 the mode of its action ;" and " its peculiar value consists 

 in supplying lime for the rapid growth of Clover and 

 other papilionaceous crops, which its moderate solubility 

 in water enables it to effect Letter tlnai any other com- 

 pound of that earth." D. 



1.14 ammonia ; the value in the first being computed at 

 8s. 6d. 9 in the second 15$. per ton. I therefore assume 

 •i value in the present instance of 105. per ton. I com- 

 pute the cost of food : — 



Per week* 



••• ••• • •• U O} 



Rape-cake 4 lbs., bran 2 lbs. per day 

 Half a pound Bean meal per day .. 



sit length t0 * ne k rlloraD -t prejudices which it is their 

 object to overcome. Without a previous knowledge of the 

 pctLliariiits of soil and climate an agriculturist, how- 

 ever right in his general principles, may commit 

 blunders in practice which he would have avoided by 

 aodi/jfiiig his practice, according to local peculiarities, 

 K he bad been acquainted with them. In short, M. 

 Bijiult, in such case advises modern improvers not to 

 fate a system ou auy of the old-fashioned local culti- 

 ntow, hut rather to trust to time and example for the 

 emblisliiiu-nt of it. 



It apj ears that British farmers are not the only 

 fictuns to the frauds of manufacturers of manures. 

 Tkwir animal (produced from bones reduced by fire 

 to dust, and saturated with the dregs of sugar in the 

 refining houses) is mixed by French rogues with peat 

 ■ii, ground into powder for the purpose. 



M. Bajault goes largely into the subject of manures 

 mi alteratives for the soil ; but the only portion which 

 I think worth noticing under this head is that which 

 r&tes to gypsum, the value and use of which have 

 ken vexed questions among ourselves. 



After 30 yeaiV experience he came to the decision 

 tot gypsum (pldtre) is one of the best applications to 

 Griss land, and a mine of wealth wherever found, not- 

 Withstanding the objections that have been urged 

 yinst its efficiency— objections arising from ignorance. 

 Me admits, however, that on cold wet clay soils its utility 

 ■ very questionable, and suggests the expediency of 

 ■Ting its effects on different soils on a small scale before 

 * is largely used. Its application to cereal crops he 

 fODounces to be utterly useless, but on Clover, Lucern, 

 Bottom Vetches, and the leguminous plants generally, 

 «npon all the artificial Grasses, it has unquestionable 



«*7; and, contrary to the opinion of the scientific 

 JJtogaiilt, that (since ]ime is the valuabJe com- 



jw« part of it) the application of gypsum is of no 

 **e on calcareous soil, or in the precise phraseology 

 •£» great chemist, that gypsum acts only on those 

 "wi winch do not contaiu a sufficient amount of lime in 



under 



■J.itate of carbonate, the practical man 



■J«ce asserts that on such soil and especially 



«K > limestone exists, it does wonders and is more 



■hi 



ClOUS 



dung! In dry summers it will not 



Jwer, he admits, be active, nor will its effects in 

 ^ cue appear until the ensuing season ; but in a 

 j^WBimer the blades and foliage generally of the tribes 

 «ei and a U i8 con 8 enial > will have more fresh- 

 *tW ilZ i? l }** n atm °spheric moisture produces 

 feuLh Tt tl,e iute ™»tion of gypsum. As an 

 K b a or i ght S0il ? 0f his department; he considered 



■ h J j . IUel a £ e *it III Dromotinfir thfi innrpnep nf WM n 



agent in promoting the increase of green 

 er tor cattle, and consequently of manure 



un- 



j - d 7 fodd 



^ W. gJ J 8Um , 0U S ht t0 be calcined, or merely 

 cu*d in S r u efore s P readin g> has been dis- 

 *PPe*red >» T °1 • 1Dterestin g papers which have 

 **l use* V A 9 ncultuv <d Gazette, upon the quality 

 h ^iiptTC m '! Profess °r Way stated in 1 

 •to »Z! Royal Agricultural Society of England, 



^tSr 8 M differen <* ^tween burnt and 



^«£wil^f. lln i. al, ? >rbe,lt ' but that gJPsum m a 

 h ^ier to . T ? b80rb "nmoniA-tliat burning made 

 ^powdeK n ^ bUt b y thus wndering it a cementi- 

 **«& anV Wa8 1 more liafe le to cake when used." In 

 **H we lir° n ? conti uent of Europe, where it is 

 &P*m in ♦ T 6 ^ 6 universal Practice is to apply 

 f^d to a unburnt state after it has been 

 J^K thp ~, Very fine P° wder ? and to scatter it 



!S I hav/l! at 8 . eaaon - The French gentleman 

 40 Perennial r quotln g used to g» v e a dressing of it 



?*** farmed 863 i thr€e y ears out of four - He 

 2" Wi. llr 71° app 7 gypsum to a portion of Lucern, 



r%thelXd e d n ff nder ^ hh0Ut ^ and the nper- 

 U?0 ^ble to t d . ,fference m the productiveness, so 



S^icallv if ^^^ o f gypsum, to apply it 

 S>", hoSv i° Ugh the . En g lish u!an abuses it/ The 





STATISTICS OF CATTLE FEEDING. 



(Concluded j \ p. 91). 



^ As a feeder of cattle for the butcher I am differently 

 circumstanced to other of your readers ; having a great 

 proportion of my holding in permanent Grass, the 

 great bulk of my fodder consists of pasture and meadow 

 Grass, to which my root crops are an adjunct. I usually 

 finish off two sets during the year— one in the early 

 winter months, for sale in December and January ; the 

 other in July and August. 1 prefer purchasing for 

 feeding cows which are sold by dairy-keepers giving 

 too little milk for their purposes. I have shown that 

 with a yield of 6 to 8 quarts per day, which will pay for 

 their food, they gain on the average 7 to 9 lbs. per week. 

 I make up 15 to 20 heifers during the season; 

 these are usually bought on during the spring, and 

 turned upon the more distant feeding pastures till 

 October, when they are finished off with Turnips and 

 other winter food ; these are scarcely sufficiently long 

 on winter food to admit of a fair estimate of their gain. 

 I have occasionally had animals of this class uuder 

 treatment from 16 to 18 weeks, when I have found 

 their weekly gain to average about 14 lbs. In your 

 Gazette (Dec. 24, 1853) I described the result of two 

 sets, each of eight heifers, on very similar treatment to 

 that 1 am now using ; the gain of each lot will be seen 

 to have averaged 14 lbs. per week, one lot being under 

 treatment 16 weeks, the other 12 weeks. On one lot, 

 and towards the close of feeding, I nearly doubled the 

 quantity of extra food during six weeks without increas- 

 ing in any degree the gain of w eight. My heifers of 

 the present season (18 in number) are doing remarkably 

 well ; owing to the fine weather of October they were 

 left on pasture till late in that month, and sold off chiefly 

 in December and January, being scarcely two months 

 in-doors ; I refrain from giving their weighing. I may 

 here state that by keeping my cattle over from October 

 to November, I enjoy usually a gain beyond what is 

 strictly due to the gain of weight, by a rise in price 

 after November— a month in which the Grass-feeders 

 throughout the country, who do not tie up, bring 

 their stock to market in whatever condition they may 

 be. Leaving this rise of price out of question, and 

 assuming again at the rate of 14 lbs. per week each, 

 which is the general rate I am able to effect— like other 

 cattle buyers I occasionally meet with animals which do 

 not gain their share ; if, however, the gain be very 

 materially under the average, I sell them off at a much 

 earlier period as soon as I can find a purchaser ; my 

 proximity to the towns where they are killed gives me 

 frequently an opportunity of ascertaining the cause ; I 

 usually learn that it is owing to some defective or dis- 

 eased organ, adhesion of the lungs to the side being the 

 most common explanation — assuming, then, a gain of 

 14 lbs. per week, and taking the same data for computa- 

 tion given in a former part of this, which, with this 

 gain, shows a return of 6s. at the uniform rate of 6d. 

 per lb. ; and leaving out of consideration the fluctuation 

 in price, or increase of value consequent on improved 

 quality, it will be seen that I calculate the carcase of 

 the fat and store animal at the like rate, though their 

 value to the butcher is very different. The computation 

 wi'l be as follows : — 



Per -week. 



Gain in feeding a light heifer Gs.Od. 



Yield of excrement, solid and liquid, per day (60 lbs.) 2 



14 lbs. Bean and Oat straw with rough seeds 

 56 Swedish Turnips, at 10*. per ton ~ ... 



• i • 



• •• 



Is. 2d. 

 1 9 



2 5£ 



Attendance, 6d., coals, 1£<1, cooking, ljd. 



• • * 



< • • 



2 11 

 9 

 6 1| 



^ Germai i r e /; i 00 " 168 ? ^ his ^probatm^ affile 

 ^_ «■; declares . thu* ««,:*v.^ ' _i 



P 



gypsum and 



S ^ mi U am that w Without gyps, 



* fequemly ttj™ U P 0Ur land " Though gypsum 

 ^r^^^^ very partially 



Total 8 



To ascertain the quantity of excrement, the yield from 

 11 heifers made during 14 days was weighed from 

 the tank, and found to be 0220 lbs.— 60 lbs. each day or 

 420 lbs. per week. The construction of my stalls, in 

 which a channel of 2 feet inches in depth by 2 feet 

 6 inches in width, under the tails of the animal?, and 

 covered by an open grating of wood, receives the whole 

 of the liquid and solid excrement which is drawn from 

 under the cattle when the tank is filled, gives me 

 peculiar advantages of ascertaining the weight of the 

 excrement, and I note this in my book of registry. 

 The following may be reckoned on as sufficiently accurate 

 (liquid and solid together) : 



For heifers of 7 to 9 cwt., 60 lbs. per day, or 420 lbs. per week. 

 Cows and hei fen of 1 1 to 12 cwt., 72 lbs. „ or 500 lbs. 

 Milch cows of 9 to 12 cwt., 80 lbs. „ or 560 lbs. 



The milch cow eats and drinks more than the feeder, 

 and with more of excrement, is by far the greatest 

 producer of food adapted to the use of man. My cattle 

 are supplied with water only to the extent of their wants ; 

 with & full feed of Turnips or other succulent food, which 

 supply nearly double the quantity of water necessary, 

 their excrement will be proportionably increased iu 

 quantity without any addition to its value. From 

 analysis by Professor Way, made of the excrement of 

 my feeding stock on similar treatment, the per centage 





The Rape-cake and bran are computed at the rate I 

 have paid for them this season 54 15s. per ton, the 

 straw at 35s. Ad, per ton ; this is reduced by an ad- 

 mixture of rough seetfs or shells of Oats which I obtain- 

 at a lower price ; my Turnips at 1Q*. per ton. Since I 

 procured my weighing machine I have weighed portions 

 of this crop with a view to form an accurate estimate 

 of their yield per acre. I find them to average 24 to 

 25 tons of bulbs, with several tons of tops, which latter 

 are given to sheep on depasture. I am about 60 to 70 

 miles distant from the coast ; the nearest observations 

 of the rain gauge 12 miles eastward show an average 

 fall of rain of about 30 inches in the year. In 1854 it 

 was much lower, being scarcely 24 inches, yet my crop 

 of Swedes i-s more than an average, being nearly 20 tons 

 of bulbs to the acre. My mode of cultivation is the 

 same 1 have already described for Cabbages and Kohl 

 Rabi, but without intervention of Potatoes. After 

 autumn cleaning I plough in the fresh excrement as deep 

 as I can, when it is left till sowing time, and then 

 worked with the cultivator and harrow, and finished 

 with the Cumberland clod-crusher, an implement to the 

 use of which I am very partial. Before sowing on a 

 slight ridge I strew broadcast 2 cwt. per acre of Gibbs* 

 guano, which is worked in with a light harrow prior to 

 ridging and sowing. My land under the .plough is 

 strong retentive loam on clay, and in high condition. 

 I have been thus particular in describing my Turnip 

 crop and its treatment, with a view of conveying to your 

 readers an idea of my ability to grow them at the rate 

 I have mentioned — 10s. per ton. 



From the foregoing statement, it will be shown that I 

 am opposed to the teaching that live stock are necessary 

 evils, mere manufacturers of manure, and consumers of 

 a large amount of produce without attendant profit. 

 I look upon them and treat them as manufacturers of 

 food for man in milk and beef. I regard the excre- 

 ment or manure as the best means of resuscitating and 

 nourishing those plants which served as food, and from 

 which this excrement is derived. 



From the windows of my dwelling I look upon an 

 extent of rich pastures, which, from time immemorial, 

 have been browsed upon by fattening stock, from each 

 acre of which there will probably have been carried off 

 an increase of fat and flesh of 2 to 2\ cwt. per year. 

 These animals being well grown, the increase of bone 

 will have been nil or trifling, the nitrogen abstracted 

 by the increase of fibrine or flesh will have been restored 

 by the atmosphere, the phosphates and other minerals 

 will have been given back in the dung ; the nitrogen 

 applied to the maintenance and replenishment of the waste 

 of the animal will have been safely conveyed to the soil in 

 a torrent of water 100 times its own weight, in the non- 

 volatile form of urea. With this treatment, and pro- 

 bably without ever having received a spoonful of extra 

 manure, these pastures maintain the repute of carrying 

 the same stocks and of preserving their fertility, without 

 (as far as observation goes), any change in the cha- 

 racter or properties of their Grasses. In an adjacent 

 meadow, from w hich the produce is carried to the home- 

 stead for soiling and hay, the manure from this produce 

 is conveyed back to replenish the same ground for the 

 production of future plants. If we omit this, impoverish- 

 ment with decreased produce is the sure result. 



It is remarkable that if we apply other manures a change 

 of plants is the consequence. After a dressing of lime, 

 bones, or phosphates, we observe a greater comparative 

 increase of the Clovers and under Grasses, whilst from 

 an application of guano, soot, or other ammoniacal 

 manures, we find an increase of Cocksfoot, Dogstail, Oat, 

 Rye, and other stronger natural Grasses. Even if w© 

 add to the Grass and hay cake or other highly nitrogenous 

 food, we observe a like effect in the change of plants. I 

 adduce this as strongly corroborative of the soundness 

 of Liebig's teaching, that the excrements from plants 

 used for food are the best manure for those very plants 

 from which it is derived. 



In the vicinity of a large town, and at no great 

 distance, the land is principally held by small dairy 

 farmers, who occupy from 16 to 25 acres, and 

 seldom more than 30. I happen to enjoy such 

 relations with a number of them as enables me to 

 acquire information of their procedure. Their holdings 

 are in permanent Grass, meadow, and pasture. Some 

 of them have recently obtained leave to break 

 up a single field of 2 to 4 acres, which they alter- 

 nate with Oats and Swede Turnips, half the field 

 being cropped with a white, and half with a green crop. 

 On a farm of 16 acres 3 milch cows are kept in 

 summer on depasture ; in winter, on hay with liean- 

 meal, mixed with chaff or rough seeds, the mess called 

 lick (being moistened with water), and a sparing allow- 

 ance of roots. The extra food enables them to maintain: 



