13 



the farmer, t i the great amount of the pro 

 and lie easy at ch« .ode of obtaining it ; but 

 certainl ^wer^ Mtwfttftorily the abundance and 

 facility of the i > which may in ti s wav be 



ensured was prorod, no evidence was adduced in 



We nevertheless be- 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZET TE. 



ace [ tion v have already ad verted to ; it will, we believe, 



result in a larger extension of the crop than ever and wasting urinary disease, so that the 



lieve in that 



weak point in the opening address be, as the Mark 

 Lane J *erts, its "non-production of evidence 



on that poim his is, we believe, a weakness merely 

 in the advocacy, not in the cause advocated. It 

 was, we think," however, a sound discretion which 

 led the discus n exclusively to the consideration of 

 the productiveness of the crop. If that be proved, 

 it becomes well worth the while of any one to 

 inquire into the means by which it can be ensured. 

 And though Mr. T; mi's experience, or that of 

 Messrs. Kenn >y and Ralston had been given in 

 full detai one r »uld-have r "^ed a large ex- 

 penditure with the view of treading in their steps 

 without iiujui r himself into the accuracy of 



the statement made, and the possibility, under 

 altered turns, &c, of verifying it elsewhere. 



The speaker^ who followed Mr. Morton, in dis- 

 cussing the merits of the Italian Rye-grass, referred 

 especially to the exh tu-ting character of the crop 

 and its watery character as food. On both points 

 we believe that much misconceDtion orevails. Mr. 



hitherto, and in an extended use of the irrigation 

 ys'em adopted at Tiptree and elsewhere. 



[We add to the above that the related subject of 

 Town Sewage is again to be discussed before the 



IXvRCH 

 less capable of hard labourTariT^bie^^ 



reference to its cheapness. We nevertneiess oe- lown oewag* « *$«*» ™ 7 Z\y„ JZa 4W 

 E™ 'thai as much i in the other ; and if the Society of Arts next Monday evening ; and that 



when it is closed we shall draw attention to the 



esults determined by it.] 



by M. 



ption prevails. 



Denton, who referred to the unsatisfactory character 



of a glass full of froth to a thirsty man, seemed to 

 think he had established a parallel case in placing 

 Italian K\ -gr s before a hungry animal, because it 

 contained <> much as 75 per cent, of water: but 

 76 per cent, of wafer is a rei rkably small propor- 

 tion in green food, as the analyses of Turnips, Man- 

 gold WuiwI, Clover, &c, prove; and it is needless 

 to quote such illustrations, seeing that Mr. MsoBl 

 fairly closed discussion on that point by recalling to i mation, "a 

 the recoller n that then ire 75 ] c cent, of water 

 in a beefsteak! The succulence of Italian Rye-grass 



According to official tables collected 

 Mot er in his work on the Agriculture of France 

 the number of mules in the south-east division was 

 in 1846 216,394, being in round numbers somewhat 

 less than one-third below the amount of horses; and 

 in the north-west the number of mules was 106,128, 

 the horses being more than three times as numerous. 



We know 10 little comparatively of Mule breed- 

 in this country that we are tempted to give the 

 substance of a fetter addressed by the late M. 

 Bcjault to the directors of the Haras of Saint 

 Maixent, in which he bitterly complains of the new 

 overnment system of improving the breed of horses, 

 because it directly led to the extinction of the old 

 description of mare that used to produce the most 

 valuable mules in France. 



The district in question is that surrounding 

 Poitiers, where about twelve millions of francs were 

 annually realised by the export of these animals to 

 Spain, Italy, and various parts of the central and 

 southern parts of France. 



Our author is an enthusiastic admirer of the 



a admirable " 



mule, which he distinguishes as " admirable " and 

 "superb," indispensable in the south of Europe, 

 while the horse is only "handsome;" even the 

 Arabian steed that bears the robber of the desert 

 on its back and does not toork is, in Bujault's esti- 



hundred-thousand times " less valuable 

 than the old Poitevin horses of ancient and honoured 

 race, created for the soil and improved by extreme 

 attention, from which had sprung the noble mule 

 of Poitou. The author makes some preliminary 

 remarks as to the influence of climate, soil, and 

 pas'turage on animals, and illustrates his argument 

 by what we must accept as a fact — that on a large 

 area of the locality around him several young horses 

 go blind, and he attributes this to the water which 

 they drink. 



suit able to 



entirely depends upon its age. At the period when it 

 is fit for h; making it is not less substantial than 

 other Grasses, and it excels them all in the palatable 

 character which it retains up to a later stage of 

 growth than is done by any other plant. 



The exhausting character which it possesses is 

 another feature in its character charged against it: 

 and justly so. Hut this is a feature which belongs 

 to it not as Italian Rye-grass, but as a productive 

 crop. The distinction between scourging and ame- 

 liorating crops no longer exists, according to Mr. 

 .\/sbkt, for it is possible to grow any crop on any 

 land by the application of fitting n nures ; never- 

 theless, it s we believe the case, that after a heavy __ 7 ._._ ^ 



CTtting of Italian Rye-grass the succeeding Wheat ' hints that the improvers must° first posse 

 crop will be ]< I luxuriant than it will be after means and advantages as German 

 Clover. The heavier growth of the former crop has 

 not been obtained witl ut expense to the soil — it 

 would be 



ry extraordinary if it had. Suppose 

 that of two kinds of Turnip one is capable of a 

 more tl e of the fertility of the land than 



another, i greater consequent produce must more 

 perfectly exhaust the soil, and the succeeding crop 

 will suffer for it ; but it is the better Turnip of the 

 two for all that. Exhausting crops, in fact, are 



The sour herbage of the Bocage, though 

 the temperate, hardy and enduring 

 mule, he asserts to be quite unsuited to the sort of 

 cavalry horses which the Government introduced 

 into that locality. While he does not afr?ct to deny 

 the possibility of improving the native breed of 

 horses, as the Germans and English have done, he 



such 

 as uerman and 

 landowners have at their command. 



thus flatteringly described :— " The 



English 

 Some of ours 



are tnus nattenngly described :— " The English 

 nobility, who possess a great proportion of the soil, 

 have a mania for horses. I have before me an im- 

 mense list, containing the names of English and 

 Irish lords, who have from 150 to 1300 horses in 

 their stables [!!] This is astounding. They will 

 give 100,000 franc for a horse, and freight a vessel 

 to Arabia for sires and mares." Maniacs and mill- 



What we want It is the ' veiyart of the farmer to ionnaires he indeed finally designates thamTtet vet 



the fertilising matter of his soil into market- all powerful in effecting their object. His anmnW 



convert ^ 



able matters, such as milk, or grain, or meat ; the more 

 perfectly any agency does this the better will it 

 serve his purpose. It must depend upon himself to 

 fill the land with the raw material of his crops, 

 and it depends upon the due selection of these 

 crops to extract it all in the more profitable forms 

 in which, as vegetable or animal substance, it exists. 

 The Italian Rye-greet is one of the most thoroughly 

 exhausting— one of the most voracious plants we 

 can grow ; and in that its very merit lies. If con- 

 sumed upon the land, of course it so far reproduces 

 the material out of which it grew; if carried off 

 the land, of course it exhausts the farm as well as 

 the mere field from which it has been taken, 

 either case it cannot be made to yield the enormous 

 crops which Mr. TfiLfXa and others obtain, except b 

 aoses of manure which are quite as remarkable in 

 the \ tory of agriculture as is the extraordinary 

 produce m which they result. 



Among the speakers who referred to th 

 the crop were Mr. Bj 



ng tneir object, nis argument 

 against the usefulness of the Haras in Poitou is in 

 effect this— the mare of the old and true type for 

 producing first-rate mules has certain points of con- 

 formation, viz., short body, long ribs, wide haunches, 

 wide and low hocks, fleshy thighs, wide hoofs, heels 

 well turned out and hairy; in short, a thickset 

 animal of capacious body is the right mould for a 

 fine mule. Now the directors of the Government 

 tuds would certainly not approve of such a piece of 

 frame-work for moulding colts and fillies, though 

 according to the Poitevin farmers, it is for mule bear- 

 ing the perfection of symmetry. M. Bojault rather 

 dogmatically asserts that large mares with long lees 

 In ; or lengthy and slight body and elevated back are 

 generally barren. He affirms that of mares which 

 have been served by the ass only two out 

 of three become pregnant, and of these 

 several cast the foetus trom the 



e value of 

 of Writtle, who related 



an experience of it of some fifteen years' standing ; 



Mr. SiDNKY, who referred to its ™™iHnn in uXl 



of 



.t , - second to the 



seventh month, which he attributes to internal 

 incapacity for mule bearing. Five out of six mares 

 served by the horse will produce foals ; it would 

 naturally be inferred thence, that h 



™a 4k • • • referred to its position in Italy would t>e more nmuMZt^' }^ £°T* breedin S 



™£Z*l m ! »3*«H *°th & sewage and b£ we are here mSS^T^ ** *" 



contrarv, 



owner of a brood mare would rather that she missed 

 foal than have a colt produced : the high price 

 obtainable for one of the rare Poitevin hthiJf 

 mules renders the breeding of them- 

 be not prolific of them - more remunerative 

 >ur author informs U that the males of the mule 

 k.nd also, in warm climates, though larger Jd 

 handsomer than the females, are easily enervaLd 



JZ.Tt' M n Ume Mr " Mo •« who referred at 



M? lwf r ' 'T e *P«rieuce at Willeaden ; 



Mr Kk. ds„.uv, who spoke with fa ,ur of its use 



™nnini° V M "['"^^ "^ion in a course of 

 cropping ; Mr \\ iiiuw, who confirmed what had 

 been sa,d on the faabilrtv to damage from the choice 

 of inferior seed ; and Mr. Mich? who adduced his 

 own experience, now generally known. The resolu 



high-caste 

 thoi h marec 



cent less in value. Annual imuorti; 

 Poitou of some hundreds of mule-breed ' 



d * 

 from Bas Poitou and Britanny, first"tend2 * 

 deterioration of the geuuine breed of mules j * 

 social revolution which turned the heads of ^ 

 slow-going people of western France, stimuSJ 

 farmers there to rear horses (through the im 

 tion of the Haras) that could go at a fast ^^"* 



irated 

 bodie 

 ice fo 



TIP 1 «— " an< l "V.UC- 



pecuharly formed mare which used to be vahwdW 



diligences, &c. __ ^ 



mule was superseded by the light-bodied Sul 

 stepping horse brought into existence for " * 

 of its 



are sent 

 may be, 



Thus the~celebraS P p* t !J 



ai 

 —"5"; "ii" whence tor the adu 

 speed. The strong, heavy, and someij 



rearing mules is out of fashion, and our aotW 

 mourns thus : — " Inspectors and directors of H^ 



to us— what their powers and priyiW 

 I know not— they are, however, reform? 

 and arbiters of our horseflesh ; they made u$ (2 

 our stallions from station to station, and have ruiS 

 choice stock for mule breeding, Nothing j 

 satisfy them but huge brutes with long neckg \m 

 bodies, and long legs— racers ! These are distingiriaW 

 by privileges ; every mare that brings into the worU 

 such an animal as I have described is honoured ail 

 receives la paie y and is allowed to compete forfc 

 Government prizes if she have borne offspring to <* 

 of the herring-gutted* horses of the Haras.* h 

 might have been expected that the old gentlena 

 who has so enthusiastically traced all the phytiod 

 conditions of the mare — the usual maternal parent of 

 the mule (the she-ass and horse engendering a T«t 

 diminutive and inferior sort) — would have hononni 

 the paternal donkey with some notice. But we Inn 

 no information from him as to the Poitevin JackiM 

 of high degree, and are left to conjecture whether 

 any of them equal those of Kentucky, which oce* 

 sionally stand 15, and even 16 hands high, and art 

 worth enormous prices. As he is silent on this sidi 

 of the family tree, we may infer that the true aris- 

 tocratic bearing of the Poitevin mule is on tk 

 mother's side. 



The demand for mules by our united armies in th 

 east is now considerable, and the south of France 

 and Spain will furnish the supplies needed. Tht 

 " superb M breed of Poitevin — now fast diminislffli 

 it would seem— is too costly to fall into the hands & 

 jobbers for the commissariat service. The itinerant 

 dealers have been in the habit of paying for tl 

 prime specimens about 500 francs each, at five yew 

 old, to the farmers of La Vendee and Deux Semj 

 who buy them when yearlings, in the seven oreiffl 

 communes of Poitou where they are bred, w 

 work them with careful tending until they reach the 

 full age for profitable labour. 2>. 



A LADY-DAY INVENTORY, 1844. 

 It included live stock, implements, tillage, and* 

 outgoing tenant's rights, which consist of the unex ™2 

 cultivation, in preparing and manuring 86 acres of ■• 

 which produced a crop of roots last year ; the <M% 

 made from the consumption of those roots 

 Wheat straw since harvest ; the manure ^PP. 

 34 acres of Clover, which were pastured by sheep awl 

 the summer ; and the farm produce of last J ear ^r 



which remained unconsumed, valued by 



on 



andfc 



part of the incoming tenant, and by 

 the outgoing tenant. 



No. l. — Live Stock— To 5 horsos, 2 cows, 

 118 sheep, 15 pigs, and 33 fowls 



No. 2. — Implements. — To harness for 4 horses, 



. 3 ploughs, 3 carts, 3 pair of harrows, 



1 cultivator, 1 Finlayson's harrow, 



Turnip drill, 2 rollers, 38 corn stad- 



dles, &c, and household furniture 



the part 



on* 

 g! 



£ 



336 



s. 

 4 







ill 



St 



No. 3.— Tillage, or acts of Husbandry.— To 

 233J acres once ploughed, 338 acres 

 harrowed, 128 acres drilled, 33 acres 

 cultivated; 175J bushels of Wheat, 

 and 37i acres of Clover seeds 



No. 4.— Tenant's Rights.— To 35 tons of 

 Carrots, 70 tons of Mangold Wurzel, 

 40 tons of straw, the unconsumed por- 

 tion of last years crop ••• luy 



No. 5.— To unexl isted cultivation in labour 

 and manure in producing 86 acres of 

 roots, the crop of 1843 ••' J14 



No. 6.— Manure.— To the manure dropped in 

 consuming 34 acres of Clover crop, 

 1843, and manure left in the yards, 

 produce of the consumption of 8o 

 acres of roots by stock, and the Wheat 

 straw 6 _ 



204U 







4 



The first and second entry of this inventory^C^^ ^ 

 stock and implements) are never reckoned 

 coming tenant except by special agreeing . J e #4* 



The third entry is a customary valuation ^ 



tenant by the arbitrators of the ^^ 



incoming 



mutually. The fourth, fifth, and sixth entn ^^ 

 taken any account of, the landlord genera \.^^0* 

 as belonging to the estate and giving 

 tenant at the expense of the retiring 



* We have taken a liberty with the f[^^d^ 

 which we think gives the exact meaning or w 

 u lator. 



them to W 5^* 



