160 



TUB AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE 





M 



— 



tons, 80 torn of which worttold at from 23#. to 'MU per each y waa'l <ns ; the 2d cutting, ascertained in 

 ton, according to the aeaaon; and the rew*re nearly t> acres | like manner, was 25 tons ; the 3d was 174 tons; the 



+f Wbtat, which yielded the extraordinary measured 4 th, in September, was Itf tons ; and after that a foot 



produce of 4 > bushefa. And it is an extraordinary i h of (irass was eaten down by sheep, which if it had 



tbutg to aa> i»t the 25 acres under irrigation wholly I i cut would have been 8 or 10 tons per acre. This 



kept those 48 cattle, that is to gay, that the grain, was 74 tons pert- »tch acre in one year. That was the first 



and ManjroU, and Cabbage sold will pay the hay and year of a crop sown in September of the previous season. 



Linseed, Bean, aud manure accounts. That they will Then must be added to it the two or three cuttings 

 SOt do so another year is probable, seeing that the ' of the next season before we get tlse quantity that one 



greater part of the Wheat aold at 111*, a bushel, acre will have yielded in the two years, corresponding 



Mr. Teller writes me— ** The food obtained for my to the two year- produce which I have estimated at 



cattle from the other 19 Scotch acres— that ia, nearlv ", ao to 100 tons per imperial acre. 



imperial-not under irrigation, is charged against them Mr Tc | fcrt farm IS AS I have intimated, a dairy farm, 



at the price it can I- pur. based m the taraet (sixty He finds it his intensr to -row food at ths hi-h pressure 



1SS4*, i.e. t 30 tons of («rass v and a quantity of hay, with rat ^,^.,1, he is 400 miles from the market for his 



Uata aud Oat-straw) ; 1 expect my safes of Mangold, b||t| ; His hutter come8 up to j er rnvn Street, and 



Cabh^ and VV heat to cover tins as well as all other , M *w it fetches as high a price as any in the 



purchased food." And in another letter 1 have received . or 

 from him he says—' My calculation at present is that 

 the grain, Man i, and Cabbage sold off this farm will pay 

 for the hay and Linseed, A.c, and manure accounts." t 

 Let me give the history of an acre of : . TVIfer'a Kve- 



It is sown in autumn, as I said of Mr. Kennedy's, 



--:• 



I Mr. Ralston put it, the Grass grew \>T ^ 

 during the season. » et in 



(General Conclusions.) 



Now, I do not wish to hold up the 

 these Ayrshire farmers as a foil or cont ******** * 

 prevailing anywhere else. There is manv^^** 

 tion of the enterprise and energy of rv.,« _:. "■•■la.. 



blood to he found, not only on individual? 00 

 over whole districts and even counties, both in^^V 11 

 and in Scotland. These instances of success' ul^* 



tion of Italian Rye-grass are to be taken asm 

 histories ; not for the purpose of putting anv ^. 

 practice in the shade— not for the purpose^ 

 son or contrast at all— but simply for consideraii 

 their own merits. I have not. mv»*i ii, A . Tl** 



tliat nntsin 



market ; and I believe that, notwithstanding the expense 

 of carriage and the high pressure under which it is 

 made, it readies Jerrnvn Street with as little on its 

 head per lb. to answer for, with as large a balance, I 

 mean, per lb. of profit to the maker of it, as any that is 

 sold. We surely all agree with Mr* Telfer that the power 

 through this Italian Rye-grass of producing a large 

 quantity of vegetable matter where milk brings so high 

 i •• . .... ji'ii i . . „ ' a price as it does in the neighbourhood of large towns, 



m*A 2S '\ "t> £ CUt 2TV 1 * £• h '" 8t ' become., far more important consideration to persons 



U »3f li* U T" *' ttm - '" Umt CftSe *'"»'ed near London, than it does to the tenant of an 



, t!at cJ^i, " fi «iT ^ >""',, *, T;; B "IT 85 «J»Wrn*Wn« And I quite expect, as the result of 

 in tnat case its nrH fl ding would be fdlnwed by a - 



first cutting in perhaps June, when 10 or 12 ions per 



acre m^ht be expected from it. Immediately after 



cutting, between :\ and 4 c*t. per acre of mixed 



Peruvian guano and sulphate of ammonia are sown 



B 4 ■ m a m 



about 4 bushels per acre, and brushed in and watered, J 

 and left till spring. Some tunes it is very late ami 

 when 1 was at Cunning Park the week before last, it 



down the pipes, and pumps, and tanks- 

 the cost of iron, and with fifty other things ; andonexa* 

 experience is not necessarily another's in aaa32 

 place and at another time : and it is not IikelraW 

 any person determining to enter on this plan will! 

 so without personal inquiry into this aspect of £ 

 subject. All I have tried to do is to show that 

 enormous stock per acre is kept upon Italian KV J! 

 cultivated in this manner— so large a stock that'll 

 I have given good reasons why any tenant farmer* 

 an interest in his land secured to him long east^t 



Ayrshire farm. 



tins dav's meeting, to find that Mr. Telfer's practice is 



being copied in the neighbourhood of Londou. 



I have yet to say a few words of Mr. Kennedy's farm, 

 where Italian Rye-grass goes to the manufacture of meat. 



bcfe, 



upon it, and 1 inch, or I do tona per acre of water are ' c ' g » aR ' ' ,ave Bft ' c ^» 750 Scotch seres, or 000 imperial 

 poured up.m it through the pipes, n tuning aoch a «hare ! ^ cr8 *» in extent 5 180 acres are in Wheat, 180 acres 

 of the liquid e re it of these 4K cattle as belongs to j n Turnips, Swedes, and Mangold Wurzel, 180 acres 

 the period siuce tiio hut pumping took place. Mr | n ^ fttB » ^ acres in one-year-old seeds, 180 acres 

 Telfer attaches immense importance to this immediate in t*o year-old seeds. Of these 180 acres kept two 

 manuring and flooding with water : and he lets the water )' PhV * "■ Grass, 42 are Italian Rye-grass ; 420 of the 



n direct from the pipes to the land; he does not 

 send it flying in a shower through 40 or 50 yards of it 

 nay be dry air, which would run off w.th half its excel- 

 >, but he sends it direct! v to the root** of the plant. 

 The flooding follow? the cutting immediately, the Italian 

 Rye- grass usee the animoniacal maniii « eepeciall v during 

 the early stage of its growth, and by applying the liquid at 

 once it gets the start of all weeds. In five week* the land 



will be covered 3 feet high with a thick luxuriant growth, 

 weighing dry, /. e. without dew or rain upon it, at least 1 

 to 20 tons per acre. This in cut and followed by another 

 manuring m a similar manner, and a third cat of 16 to 

 18 tons may be expected pretty early in September, and 

 a further manuring will give you 10 or 12 tons per acre 

 towards the end of October. In spring another dress- 

 mg of the water gives a cutting towards the end of 

 April, and a second and third cutting will be had, 

 together wetghm^ 4:, to &| tons per imperial acre, by 

 the tnd of August 1'he land is then allowed to grow the 

 crop nnassii ted, and a crop of hay or need may be had 

 in the early part of October, after which it is broken up 

 IMirtng the two years that acre will have yielded 

 litween 80 and 100 tons of green food per acre, 

 in seven cuttii », by the use of a ton of guano, sulphate 

 of ammonia, and nitrate of soda washed in with 700 tons 

 of dilute liquid I am not stating this produce as an 

 actual history but as what I believe to be a moderate 

 estimate, fonnded on the information 1 have obtained 

 of what any one of us may get under favourable 

 cimtmatances if we adopt Mr. Telfer's system. Mr. 

 Tel er states the produce, as actual history for one 

 year of his J Scotch acres-that is of 31 S™t*h 

 for the two years of their existenc 

 food besides the hay- 

 acre for the two years, __ 



lowing f«ts in connection with "th^'^o"^ from"?' 



t£n JnT* • Thr 7 1 * nd » h * ,f Scotch acres were 

 sown ,n he t-mmg „f 1853, and 3J Scotch acre, were 



S^ ; n ilT msj of l854 - The ,ormer y'"^ 3 cut. 



i!T Uwn .» ,,, »* e 1 d t0 «ed ; an,! the k acre* which h«i 

 been .own »o the latter year yfrldad 3 cuttinga • M ihTt 



he o!,l Oru. jr.eMe.1 2t«itiingB ; thatia to say, during 

 U.e th.rdcutt.njf .„ ,h, beginning of J„ly the «»th2 

 waa^opped.and tl.e liquid mnnurTwinwing it *J»Z 

 atopped-tl.e mow, , * being sent in to tl.e younger Gn»„ 

 *own that «jr| Bft M it WIMlld otIierwiM \„* I ^ 



feed, it will be seen, then, that owing to the seedin- 



two J °^ '" ali were obfai " d »' "> e J~r from the 

 S g W [" lt ' U "' ier more f*vour»Wc cirenn, ance,, 



ESto £ UTi 1 think ,l,at thal 5 of • cn " in - ««'v 



at 270 tons of gr en 

 i. e ., less than 80 tons per Scotch 



tt.-a :*. :_ • i . , .* 



obtained from ^ thaoi . ° lul r lcu "'"^»"Sl't have been 

 in one year It t i * Cre8 of } Ue t^o-year-old Gra« 

 there frThOn i^^^L^J 1 ^ ™P««-»«. ««l 



K-- „ t> „ .?>. t0 speculate ... what mi^it l,»v» 



!»00 acres are under the system of irrigation by 

 underground pipea for the distribution of the con- 

 tents of the tanks. The green food of this farm, 

 along with certain portions of Kape-cake and Bean- 

 meal, and along with steamed straw keeps a herd of 250 

 large cattle fatting to 7 cwt. and upwards (a very even 

 lot of cattle, under capital arrangements as to feeding 

 and accommodation, I saw there the other day), 450 

 sheep (improved Cheviots), fatting to lb' or 18 lbs. a 

 ipiarter, and selling for 42.v. to 47s. a-piece ; and from 

 1 50 to 200 pigs and 25 large Clydesdale cart horses. 

 These are besides the sheep in the fields. Three 

 such lots of sheep are passed through the hands in 

 the year, the cattle may be kept longer— more nearly 

 five months than four on average ; but that stock, 

 excluding the sheep in the fields, is the average quan- 

 tity constuntly on hand, aud 42 acres of young 

 Italian Kye-grass, and 42 acres of two-year old 

 Italian Kye-grass keep them during about five months 

 of summer. The cattle get about 6s. or 7s. worth of 

 Raiw-cake and Bean-meal per month a-piece. The 

 •heep get half a pound of the mixed food a day, or not 

 much more than 8d.orld,/. worth apiece per month; aud 

 beside that from April till October they get only Italian 

 Rye :rass. The sheep eat fr-.m 10 to 15 lbs. of this green 

 fowl a day, and the cattle from 100 lbs. to a cwt. apiece. 

 It is the universal testimony there that the Italian 

 Kye-grass never palls upon them. Thev get tired of 

 Clover, but not of this Grass. The sheep are on open 

 boards in pens, 12 feet by 6, holding 10 ; there are two 

 rows in the width of a Jong L-shaped building, with a 

 central passage. They looked healthy, comfortable, and 

 prosperous. The labour of attendance on 450 sheep so 

 iept is only 16s. a week, tl.e wages of a man aud woman 

 who supply the food. The labour of providing the 

 Italian Rye-grass for all the stock (cutting and carrying 

 it from the field) is done by four horses constantly em° 

 ployed in carting, and two men constantly mowing 

 uuring the season, besides women raking. 



Mr. Kennedy states that he will undertake to keep 70 to 

 80 sheep per Scotch acre for five months of summer on 

 Jtahan Rye-grans cultivated in this manner. This is 



u arter P Th.' mperial ^ The - V fatten t0 181bs - * 

 the «« k .^nswupt.on may be 16 lbs. a dav on 



64? Li „f f T f °° d d * J1 - V for five m » n,1 's » 



b44 ton, o green iood per imperial acre ; and that I 



do not ,n the least doubt is not only a pos/iiility a Tan 

 «nd.v.dual fact, but it is a possibility as an averace 

 expenence. Besides the Hock of sheep, viz 4.5o in Z 

 house, some J sheep per acre are kept upon the CW 



ZT * U T e r' "I* 300 ° 8hee P in *" »re -old ^ off 



the farm to the butcher in the year. HowZttan 



IrreatTtocKfn 11 -^ ?""** of ma "»re which 



made Mr K P i * » l U " ng 8Ummer enable « to be 

 T^A a Ivelme ^ had "000 cubic yards of manure 



linniA «^r„!"* 7? e .. Wlia . 10 a Pl% gas-water with the 



was, is extraord 



have been is no 



« wory of tbatproU.ee, crippled aa i 



•etel history nf fr^h ich"?^ ^ ly the (oU °™' 

 the proluce of 16 £,tch Z r^ ff SSSt *" "'t * 

 jear as follows : _On April "V & * n U > e K r » M '•• 

 «d on e^h d,y . *^£tt£S*. 



the 



d water per acre into the 

 liquid manure is to be 



nig. 



possible 



per acre 



tank from which 



5000 <w W00 gallons per'acTe Shi ^ ^ ^ 

 Tii-» >i.~ l- j ," re ,s the usua dre«s 



lhat the hqu.d is of immense importance U \! 



7 an experience of Mr. Ralato? £ Z" ^'^ 



2 *zj??*!P h p « f i~ -re 8 foi,o L S',: b . u : 



while with the liquid- 



render an outlay of the kind required prudent, *h 

 North and inquire into these facts for himself.' I 

 they may be parallelled in the neighbourhood nf 

 with even greater profit than is reaped by Mr. Telfcri 

 tlie neighbourhood of Ayr. The original ciuncfertf 

 the land seems to be of little importance. Mr. BdLif 

 Enferkine, has pipes under 40 acres of what rath* 

 called stiff clay land, and I was told that lit t» 

 lieves he cut 100 tons of Rye-grass per Scotch m* 

 last year. Mr. Telfer, on the other hand, groin 14 

 great produce on the lightest sand. The great*, 

 vantage of the plant^ is this, as Mr. Telfer puts it: 

 that you get a rapid certain growth when pkad 

 in favourable circumstances as to liquid manor* 

 that there is a much longer time during which it « 

 palateable for stock (for it is longer of getting dry toi 

 woody than any other Rye-grass) ; and that any Mi 

 with ammonia-and-water-retaining powers can be 

 to produce as large returns as the richest and mm 

 easily managed soils. If any one shall consider it wort, 

 his while to inquire further into the practice prefab. 

 at Myrentill, Lagg, and Cunning Park, it mavkis 

 encouragement to him to say that I found Mr. Kennedy, 

 Mr. Ralston, and Mr. Telfer as cordially frank, ui. 

 ready to meet my many questions as I could posji 

 have wished — as u ready to do good and to cooMMni- 

 cate" as any men I ever met. 



It may be right to add a word or two on the hay mail 

 from this plant. It is of course, under its ordinary 

 management, as proper for conversion into hay as icjf 

 other Rye-grass — more proper if excellence for tim 

 purpose depends upon abundant produce of palaeaMi 

 food. But under the irrigation system, where theieaid 

 cutting follows so quickly on the first — where suchnry 

 heavy, almost unmanageable, produce is obtained, aa< 

 above all, where the succees of the manage meat dep«di 

 upon the land being flooded with liquid immediately 

 upon its being cut, it is not advisable to make hay. H»J 

 is made from it, then, only in such cases as W 

 described by Mr. Telfer, when a cutting of the •» 

 Grass remains unfinished, while the first cutting of tk 

 new is ready— or whenever the growth accidentalf 

 or by mismanagement overtakes the coTWumpH*' 

 Then that which cannot be consumed at once is «< 

 and made into hay — and very good hay it mat* 

 You will perhaps expect that when speaking *b* 

 hay, I should make some reference to Mr. 

 hay crop about which he spoke to Mr. Caird and* 

 at Mr. Mechi's— and to the consequent statement wnw 

 produced go much excitement then and subsequetw/- 

 I am not, however, going to do anything of the"* 

 I submit that if any one shall insist upon inve»tig»wi 

 that, and ascertaining here and now what the exj 

 nature of the statement was, and who is resptfWf 

 for it, he will, for the sake of mere idle *»«**£ 

 doinor hia best to destroy the usefulness of tue 

 cussion which mav follow* this paper; for the Wg 

 feeling which has thus been raised, and P 1 ? 1 * 5 '? *T 

 be so again, is not the best in which to arrive a. try ^ 

 and I hope that the London Farmers' Club win , 

 their resolution this evening affirm the impor 

 the Italian Ryegrass as a forage plant, espec 

 use in the green state for feeding cattle. . 

 that they will recommend its cultivators to tuff^ 

 with a view to imitation, into the method of man ^ epre i 

 adopted ou the Ayrshire farms to which I have re 



One further remark in conclusion :— It is but * ^ 

 since men lived on salted meat alone during the ^ 

 months; the summer season was the only time wB ^ 

 was fed or could be fattened ; the introduction ol ^ 1tii 

 nip husbandry has changed all that, so that ° n 5^r 

 arable farm more food is now provided during ^ 

 months than there is for them during the » rf 



■ •* The g r0 . ^ 







"Telfer? 



lot 



hick 



I hop 





t 



especially during the early part of it — -^. 

 the crops which have° been "used to suppw 



Hye has been recommended as the reme 



winter Vetches. Cabbage. Rape, andean/ *"^ t 



ite produc* i two cuttings iu th 



mi Die r rv— was weicrli».l <w. "V7 ^"""^ LW " cuuinjjg in the vear— whih» wUU #i^ i 



some 

 Ice or thrice 



as 





■ 



deficiency of the summer produce. I |* lie *L t |, of - 

 no plan so efficient for this purpose as the g ^ 

 few acres of Italian Rye-grass, under irr'g* '^ 

 the steading. Eight or ten acres of it, UDae ^ uce of * 

 manure system, will yield an enorroOU !/ r ^ Df ||^* ,, 

 and the manure that can be made by its co 





