228 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



the average yield, -.., bush«b per mart D ©or 



agricultural rienda will take the trouble to plant, or 

 thin, small plots of their corn to about 6 inches by 12 

 apart r about IB plants to the aquare yard (the dis- 

 tance we believe proper for obtaining the fullest crop*), 

 their expectations will be folly reaHse<l. As the season 

 is now too far advanced to prove the correctness of this 

 statement on Wheat crops, if not already done, we do 

 trust tkat some nnprejudiced farmers will take the trouble 

 t© plant, transplant, or thin singly, about a rod at least 

 of their Barley or Oat crops, in the middle of their 

 lie *, when it has been up about a fortnight, and after- 

 wards keep it perfectly clean by hoeing it deeply with a 

 hack hoe ; then all their doubts of the reasonableness of 

 tliis expostulation will be removed. Hardy <£• S< «, Seed 

 Growers, Mai don , AW. 



The Manchester (luaxdian Society.— A Trade Memo- 

 r&ndwm.— Know'n^ that you are always ready to assist 

 the agricultural interest whenever you can by any 



1 



5nnSiiurs;aod the fenn> throughout 



una. the whole thiug .*» - — « f f*rmin* is 



rill ver bear inspection. Whatever course of ftm'M 

 adopted (and that nun U a novice ;n agrteu ew farms 

 without a system , the fallows mult be f "^'^V^J^ 

 and with no i> inlly or parsimonious hand and II -™ ust £ 



allowed to say, although some of our ™**™W™* U ™* 

 will tell you that fallows are unnecessary, i trow not and 

 although I am no friend to needless restrictions I hold landlords 



an, JsST&M in requinng that the farm ^U^Sted to 

 either with or without a green crop, as is 1 best adapted to 

 th* bo.1 receive a eood and efficient fallow. Isor is it 

 freely ' JET to the fnterest of the landlord than the tenant 

 (unless the latter is about to run away), that it •jto™J?J^ 

 Sir, I am free 



^aav U 6 advia«dlyrThave never stolen a crop in substitution 

 for a fallow, without ultimately drinking damage. The fallow 

 season U the starting post in the race If the land requires 

 draining, this is the time to effect it If double ploughing or 

 •nbsoiUng, it must be done now. If crooked and unsightly 

 hedges are to be reduced, there is no time more fitting for 

 the operation than the winter preceding the fallow In 

 pursuing this discussion, it will perhaps comport with tne 

 con ence of the Club, if we first attempt to show on what 

 •oils roots may or may not be profitably grown at all. I nope, 



tter is about to run away;, i»»i " »» v "~ -~ r" 

 to confess, after an experience of some 40 years— 

 er mei 1 have occasionally been naughty— but 



vating Turnips on the usual plan~~oT~Th« **^ 



fallowing about 5 or 6 inches deep, and aft*r J-??* 1 * 1 * 

 ings drilled his Turnips but IS inches apar?^*% 

 land. The consequence was— being a gravelly ion ** «** 

 the hot dry weather of August or September mfaltl? 1 ** 

 invariably mildewed, and got so stinted in their '^ i *** 

 three years out of four the unthrifty plants nrrSrS*^^ 

 but a number of little hard unsightly bulbs and^S^"^ 

 meanest quality. He now breaks up his land 10 !**&* **> 

 with four horses— does the greater part afterward?* ** 

 scarifier, harrows, and roller— adopts the ridge system*? <£•* * 

 in which he deposits from 12 to 15 tons of good cornor v*** 

 manure— has not found the water drill, so far *<- inni ?* * 1 * 

 soil, it producing, mixed with the superphosphate a**??* 1 

 crete which ruus the soil together where the seedu^ *** 

 like an hasty thunder shower. Nor has he found 

 manures generally pay the extra cost; but with the abowX 1 

 vations he can grow splendid crops of Turnips without tXr 

 of which, I must say, I have had ocular demonstration hl±. 



rer, to add, the soil (in fertilitv) is above in «lz 

 of the country. Having furnished these examples from <H5 

 parts of the country, I will now, sir, with your permiad^5 



justice, however, to aaa, tne son (in fertility) is above as m 



I 

 you as briefly as I can my own views on the subjectTl?f? 



permiidsi, 



I have the greater pleasure in giving to yon for by the by, this statement will not shock «7 of my fn^ndj 

 ~. - ^ „ .•_" _ j r .. i-„Jl — *« ftrmtnri me. because it is the opinion of some of our more 



the benefit of your numerous readers a few hints as to j «wnd »£j*«^ ^ Turnip - g may aDd ougnt t0 ^ ^n 



forward., live stock and prodtfee to sV)rae parties 

 resident ui Manchester, several of whom combine 

 together and r» r as to character from one to another, 

 and by these weans have at various times during the 

 last six months obtained possession of some very 

 vnluahle pigs which have been sold for very little more 

 than the carriage. I have informed the secretary of 

 the Manchester Guardian Society of some of these trans- 

 actions, and he informs me that the owners have come 

 over after the pigs have been sent some weeks, but of 

 -course too late to do any good. Having taken several 

 prizes at Lincoln, and elsewhere, I have not only been 

 applied to but have had some of the pigs to which I 

 allude offered to roe at prices such as I would not sell 

 audi afcoc at, and upon inquiry ?oon found out " the 

 reason why. M Most of those I have heard of as coming 

 .to Manchester have been black ones ; in one case I 

 understood one of the pigs was invoiced at 20/. He 

 wan a tine bred small boar. I kept the man in treaty 

 for some days to try to tind out where it came from, 

 but was not able. The gentleman who sent it has since 

 vts ; «i Manchester, and my friend Mr. Cottam found 

 out where the pig was, but it had been sold. If I can 

 be of any use to any person who has such application, 

 i will with pleasure let them know who and what the 

 parties are if they will address A. B., Box 124, Post 

 Office , Manchester. 



y Urate of Soda v. Guano. — The experiments made 

 by Messrs. Mope, Finnic, and Russell on the compa- 

 rative value of different portable manures for top- 

 dressing Wheat, which you have published and 

 comm ted on, are doubtless of much interest to the 

 agricultural community. The result arrived at by each 

 of the experimenters, viz , the superiority of guano over 

 nitrate ot soda for this purpose, hitherto generally con 

 sideeed as the one for which there could be no question 

 of the superiority of the nitrate, is a little startling, 

 uery I Had the nitrate a fair trial ? It is the custom 

 of those using this manure much to apply it at two 

 differ t periods — one-half when spring growth is just 

 starting, the other half in two or three weeks afterwards 

 when the shot-blade is about forming. In neither of the 

 rx pertinents we have before us was this attended to. 

 The whole cwt. was sown at once. Hence, as regards 

 nitrate, the result may have been less satisfactory than 

 might have been the case had the method generally 

 adopted been followed by the experimenters. S. 



Can ywi contrive to keep Tree Roots c of Pipe Drains, 

 or any sort of Drain whatever? — If too near, we want 

 an impossibility — nothing short of hermetically sealed 

 pipee will effectually prevent their intrusion. This 

 remedy would exclude water, and not dry the land, for 

 which purpose you put in your pipes. The attack is 

 made in dry times, when the tree wants a drink, and 

 down go the roots after moisture. Wherefore does a 

 dry March produce a good stiff standing crop of 

 Wheat ? Because the rootlets grow downwards in 

 such moist search. Then from such a state of growth, 

 throwing out very many deep roots, laying strong hold 

 of the soil ; and when the summer growing time arrives, 

 such formed vigour causes the plant to tiller well and 

 produce many stiff upright fruit-stalks. Let me, there- | 

 tore, boldiy advance with my drains straight np to the 

 tree, and take him in front, allowing neither an attack 

 from behind, nor on either flank ; in growing into the 

 drain in front it would do 



on all arable land. It is true, there are but few soils on which 

 you cannot cultivate Turnips. But the question we have to 

 discuss is— Can it be done economically, or will another system 

 leave the land in a better state, and the farmer more money in 

 his pocket? The fanning world is by no means agreed on this 

 point. There are those who will tell you that, only drain and 

 plough deep, and you may then plant the land with Turnips to 

 advantage, irrespective of the nature of the soil, or its situa- 

 tion as regards the homestead. On the other hand, so 

 much are we the creatures of habit, that I know there are 

 farmers situate in the clay land districts, who year by year 

 irsue the naked fallow system, without attempting anything 

 better, even on the more favourable spots of the farm. The 

 result of my experience, backed by close observation, leads me 

 to believe both these practices are far enough from the correct 

 one. but of the two, the man who recklessly drives at Turnips 

 rer all his fallows, however unfit for such a mode of cultiva- 

 tion, will, sure enough, be quit of his money first! In fact, to 

 pursue such a system upon the poorer dead tenacious clays of 

 land is, in my judgment, the roost rapid way to ruin a man 

 can well pursue; and for this simple reason— the cost of produc- 

 tion far exceeds their value in such situations, while the succeed- 

 ing crops will show vast inferiority to those the land produces 

 under a naked fallow, or where Tares have been previously fed 

 off with sheep. Close akin to such infatuation is that which 

 induces the farmer of clay land to go through the whole of his 

 farm, like a blind horse in a mill, with his naked fallows, because 

 his father before him did the same, without looking round to see 

 if there are not some portions of the farm contiguous to the 

 hom^stall where a crop of Mangold and Wheat might be grown, 

 perhaps alternately, to the great henefit of the farm, and some- 

 times other spots of newly broken up or woodland soil off which, if 

 not fit to depasture sheep in the winter, the crop might be 

 taken for the flock in the spring, with great advantage. In 

 addition to the soils above named, as not generally adapted to the 

 growth of Turnips, we must add, however, a large tract of fenland, 

 particularly in parts of Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, and Lincoln- 

 shire. It seems, however, it is not so much because the land 

 will not bear Turnips, or that there is difficulty in feeding them 

 off, but that stock are not found to do well with them from such 

 land. I am not at all sure, however, if this arises from an 

 absolute inferiority of quality, or if it is not the soil attaching to 

 the bulb, which mainly disagrees with the sheep; l( so, washing 

 the riots might obviate the evil. For the present, Rape, Mangold 

 Wurzel, and on the better land Potatoes, with here and there a 

 few Cabbages, are the vegetables chiefly grown on the fens, and 

 probably best adapted to the soil. Cabbages might, 1 think, be 

 profitably cultivated to a much larger extent. Having, then, 

 noticed, in passing on, what soils it is doubtful that Turnips can 

 be grown on with a profit, it is very gratifying to know that the 

 progressive improvements which have been made within the last 

 50 years in Turnip culture (and are still going on) have contri- 

 d perhaps to a greater extent to the production of human 

 food, and added more real wealth to the country, than all other 

 improvements besides. How, then, we may best make these im- 

 provements known, and progress still higher in the science, is 

 an object not merely worthy of the best efforts of this Club, 

 but, if I mistake not, of every true patriot in the land. For in 

 the teeth of these astounding improvements it roust be admitted, 

 in some districts good farming is yet the exception and not the 

 rule. Nor is the system of Turnip culture by any means uniform, 

 even among tolerably good farmers. What, then, is the best 

 mode of raising root crops, and at the least cost ? That is the 

 toint in hand. I have bestowed sorcep ains to get at the 



what it actually fills up ; and 



-continue to ooze on and not 



An A ged Practical Observer. 

 root* will follow. You had 



practice of some eminent agriculturists in different localities, and 

 I regret that it would be taxing the valuable time of this meeting 

 too severely to give the result of these inquiries at all at large ; 

 suffice it to say, there is no general uniformity of practice 

 among them, and perhaps with the variation in soils we must 

 not expect it. Mr. Henry Overman, of Norfolk, whose well- 

 earned reputation as an agriculturist and keeper of stock, 

 as well for his hospitality and general intelligence, makes 

 him an authority— this gentleman seems to favour ploughing 

 (on his quality of soil) only a moderate depth, and still 

 drills his Swedes and Mangold on the flat surface, 2 feet 

 apart; and if his Turnips are not the largest they are cer- 

 tainly the best preserved of any I have seen. Mr. Francis 

 Sowerby, of Lincolnshire, a very extensive and spirited agri- 

 " ! culturist, adopts the ridge system for all his Mangold and Swedes 

 with great effect ; has used the water-drill to some extent, and 

 i July last the Turnips so put in seemed, I am free to admit, 

 very much to take the lead, and I learn are still in favour. Mr! 

 G. Russell, near Woolwich, whom Mr. Caird describes as one of 



no farther nmrhipf thnn I? 16 i ' r * t 8J rower8 1 of " reen f^P 8 in the kingdom, prepares his land 

 no Winer miscniet than ; hv very deep ploughing in the autumn, but first uses manual 



probably the water would j labour, chiefly with a fork, to extract twitch or other noxious 



garden cultivation is right, there can be no question that to M 

 crops, as often as they occur, the soil ought to be mor«d 

 deeper than is at all necessary or desirable for the general 

 of the farm. I am decidedly of opinion, however, that y<*|S 

 your object far better, in the general way, by what I call 2 

 ploughing than by one deep furrow of 10 or 12 inches I ^^ 

 that furrow must be proportionately wider than the depth tote 

 it at all properly ; and on anything like stiff land yon will J! 

 huge untraceable lump of earth, which the weather of no t*£l 

 winter will penetrate or pulverise; whereas by taking it qS 

 two ploughs, the latter one being of higher constrncu«|2 

 casting the furrow to the top, thereby exposing th* not 

 ungenial soil to the winter frost and rains, yon leav« lt k 

 a far better state than even under ordinary spade cultinte 

 The P.P. Plough, lately invented by the Messrs. Howard, «J 

 which took the prize for deep ploughing at Lincoln, u tfe 

 that of Messrs. Ransom, which followed so close upon fc 

 heels of the former, appear to me admirably adapted fortiUw 

 out this second furrow. And I fully incline to the opS? 

 that almost at any time whenever you want to go brrvi 

 7 inches, requiring more than two horses, looking at Um i im- 

 proved state in which you leave the land, it is most ecooatfciL 

 I think the system far preferable to one moderately deep torn, 

 followed by the subsoil plough, because in the lat cue 

 of the strata below falls pretty much into its former 

 and the virgin soil receives but little benefit from the tetta o( 

 the atmosphere. The depth you go must depend www tea 

 upon the nature of the subsoil — but experience will of owntte 

 the best guide. It is but justice to say that I have not bitten 

 adopted the system at all largely, except as cultivatioi fir 

 Potatoes, Carrots, and Cabbages, but have done a consitfcnUi 

 tract for the planting of Fir trees, and it was astonishing vk 

 fine Carrots and other vegetables we grew between the treeiAr 

 two or three years, even on a weak soil, without a particle tf 

 manure. In adopting this system, if land be foul, it will k 

 desirable to do as much cleaning as practicable in the mtran 

 before you commence this operation. Indeed among ourtiy 

 best agriculturists autumnal cleaning, where Mangold at 

 Swede Turnips are to follow, is every year becoming wm 

 general. (Cheers.) It may be too much to say that the tptm 

 can be brought to bear on all lands, but in the majority of am 

 (to borrow a favourite phrase of our friend Mr. Mechi), " 1 thirt 

 I might stake my agricultural reputation upon its succeM." Wi 

 come now to the seeding operations (for the land so pkmfW 

 will require little else than the application of the sctrfj 

 harrows, and roller). It is evident that great authorities s9 

 differ as to the best mode of drilling. The result of mrm 

 experience, backed by much observation, is, however, nry 

 decidedly in favour of the ridge system 27 inches apart, nwn 

 especially where the Turnips or Mangold are to be carted tm 

 the land or stored in heaps — first, because in pnttiaf % 

 the manure (if the weather be at all shower)') yon cart W 

 soil less than by manuring on the flat surface ; and if the *l 

 quantity of manure is used, you certainly get a g"*^ 

 per acre with the manure directly under the plants than o«r 

 wise, and that not more from the contiguity of the miffl» 

 than the fact that you can move the soil later, clean tne w 

 more perfectly, and perform all the hoeing operations Utim 

 cheaply, than on the flat surface at nearer intervals, in aflonw 

 to which they are much more easily extracted when yona« 

 them up. Care should be had not to leave the ridges too ma 

 roll freely with a suitable roller, if the weather be ■dry, w 

 drilling, and not to be afraid of pulling them down with mm 

 as the ridges should be lost ere the hoeing »* wmpleteji, «"■ 

 quite a mistake to suppose that these kinds of bnll *J2 

 moulding up. Let them only have something good to ieei«r 

 underneath, and if you want fine handsome bulbs, yoa can "J 

 disencumber them too much. You thus make the land won? 

 and better for the sheep, and pretty effectually obviate w* 

 frequent irregularity of the succeeding corn crop "°V^J 

 cultivation. Had I been addressing a few raw ^"^^ 

 fanners. I might have guarded them against dn ^ 

 seed among dry clods, and referred them to the conpi«» 



(I think it is), who says — 



" Where clods prevail 

 The Turnips fail." -, 



should have said, goj™ "JJ 



do any material damage. I wee<ls " completing the cultivation with a scarifier, without the 

 [If water can get in the funher * ,d of tllft P lou ^ n ; manuring heavily both with solid and 



better, therefore, not let 

 water into the pipes when close to trees. Bed them in 

 <rement juat at those places.] 



manure to be laid sometimes on little more w* ^0 

 fallows-having to finish, if they complete at all, f|" -^ 



*a 



porti 



only; but rather use it with caution, laying oD 

 quantity of the former, eking it out with blood, sin* » r^j 

 guano, Lawes's Turnip manure, Kape-dust, or sucujj^ rf 

 as may be most 

 for Wheat where 



novice. In putting manure into ridges, use j»" "^ & 

 together, one opening and the other closing ir ' ™* . IHJ 

 after the spreaders, avoiding exposure to the atrao ay ^ ^ 



approved, and he who leaves a P"' do )b* 

 •e most wanted (as many good former" ^ 



2_*~ ~;*lrraw line Dufc fcf A* 



long followed the practice of dragging over tne r ^ ^ 

 piece of timber, or strong Larch pole, reRCni f ^ f tfce* 



the top 





Farmers' Clubs. 



DUrmtirm m (he Cultivation of Jtoot Crops On 



Monday evening last, the monthly meeting for discus- 

 «:on of the Central Farmers' Club/was held at the York 

 Hotel, New Bridge Street. Mr. Sherer in the chair. 

 Subject, « The Cultivation of Root Crops." Proposer, 

 Mr. Bennett, of Cambridge. He said :— 



ttl 1 ^? fSlilE "'"J"' w,,e1, ni,r ■Rrtruimre is making 



r^r„^.^ lmB ad, "'"*r«, dtmMn*. a. Sir Jam. - 

 brabatn very aptljr expresses it, « to the Terv hill tnn " it is 



scarcely Meemry for me to say' to the , n «ghte ed Sric, l.i- 



rbta I see before me. that, with the jtdici, „, , Tt vatk£ of the 



J™ C JZ? » '".mediately onneeted (1 had a most said) M 



that to great and magnljeent in agricnltnre, and that Detail* 



] t he , ^ 0U cr1S: 0a ^^^ * * '"^ -t.tio.of a,. 



iiiLcivms, uu« even in m^w *..w~, - yoll W 7 * 



to place them on smaller , ridges, by J ^ fae ' young JJJ 



once, sweeping off any of the manure on um ^ gat8 |d«i 



is (to all who know him) no mean authority as' an a^cSSt g«f * "»**> binwrer,«> enamoured^ ^ cirCll * 



On a naturally weak soil, he commences his cultivation for 



Turnips and Mangold by very deep four-horse ploughing, and 



tl i sometimes drives the sol il plough through the chalk 



strata below, after which the common plough has about finished 



its work, the scarifier, harrows, and roller doing the rest when a 



moderate portion farm-yard manure is applied with the boutin- 



plough, and 4 or 5 cwt. of blood, superphosphate, or the same cos°t 



."fpTt^to.^ Ploughs to a ^-"n^V*- 



you mav witne-N next'antumn clnsl hJ ♦ i J * • \r t^ *7 straight ridges at a time, about 22 inc "* ^ I ^L. 

 rta\&boK artificial 5 manure by the same «pe»J ^^jffi 



Turnips per acre, growing most lu.wiantlv * It i bn wS *« ! Where Tl,rni P s are t0 be fed wpon V^ hrinKin* the *£tf* 

 say tile General 'firm, his own land, a~n1 % dUbMes/ n?on ' ^ * ^ ^ it8 ^ nta ^-SS <*> ^W 

 its improvement, almost regardless ot expense. iVut it onlv 

 shows what may be done by skill and capital in the war of 

 cultivation I understood thy General to have also commenced 

 ploughing two furrows deep for Wheat ; in the succesa of which 

 however, I must be excused for remaining an unbeliever till l 

 have the honour of paying the gallant General another visit 



more 



effectually, without smothering "•» ftt tacaW J* 

 I have practised this system extensively^ o^ fftfg jiifS 



«W"a* 



drill 



a close-and I fear I have already tre ^ rt)d „ced t» Jjn 



I assure you I hf^VricultunW 



rathi 



your indulgence— I assure you i ""^"^ricuitut'"^** 

 to elicit the sentiments of the enlighteneo^^ thaB^JV 



rally bring us Xo this conclusion -th » t^ ^ br*^* 



Uub, and so get them before the P u $ l £ "^ i 

 maticatiy to propound my own. v* n j {n i 

 backed by the experience of others, nius » 



Th. T ffiLJfZaiSL W ? CC * ,iftl1 rotation of all X wi » «*• »«* oro* other example. Mr. Uharles I imrard of I u^ g U V° th l? ?* i.V the land dry W* 

 The fallows neglected, or only imperfectly | Bedfordshire, a young but spirited s^^gj^^ \ gjgjj £de«Tl£^^^ ** ** 



