



23-1 



a 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



3d:> 



entering on a brief description of the methods 



fining idifi4 l must a(lvert to t,,e rapidity with 

 'T . ultural improvement has developed itself. 

 ^u^manY it will seem strange to see it stated that 10 



mo » P»P e tile was a tl,ing unli ' nown and unthought 



\Xf» nf DilllHWl'l system of furrow draining was 



|Mnnniii. r to be accepted by the more advanced 



_zJlturists j^s a proved and practicable improvement; 



Shis pl an °^ "i *" ee * drain9 > fi^ ed ^om a fork with 

 JJaken stones, was the we pfos afrra of drainage en- 



■feerinf Such wm foe system followed in the major 



* 



altering. 

 STrt of the 



P* 



ith 8 inches of broken stones ; then 



*> ^ feet deep, with o incnes oi nroicen scones ; tnen 

 !!me tiles with boards below for soles, and broken stones 

 fkQ TC It was in 1848 that I put down the first pipe 

 ♦fles, 3 fret in depth. Increasing that depth to 3-1 feet, 

 Sj j pkeiny IJ-inch pipe drains in the line of descent, 

 At intcrvala oi 8 yards, we attain to what may well and 

 truly be termed ■ thorough drainage." 



J^rtiDtge on each of these systems has, I must say, 

 ban efficacious, whatever preference I may give to one 

 intern over another. No water, even after heavy rain, 

 SlS for above a few hours on the least perfectly drained 

 field. It is true that the run through stone drains is 

 rapid as it is through tiles ; that, therefore, the 

 vinjz power of the percolating water is less active, 

 but though this is a deficit in soils like mine containing 

 dileterious substances, in a soil free from these and full 



of nuDore the slow percolation is advantageous, inas- 

 much a* it carries off less of the fertilising substances. 

 Those who have observed the results obtained by Mr. 

 Hope, of Fen ton Barns, which are largest from land 

 drained on what the enthusiasts for deep draining would 

 consider very faulty principles, are cautious about trying 

 to "make good better" by going again over their 

 drained ground ; therefore I am content to allow my 

 land, stone-drained at 2± and 3 feet depth, to lie as it is. 

 Pipe tiles I have uniformly used without collars ; 

 and I see no reason for their use. Having last year 

 occasion to open a conduit through a field drained with 

 pipes in 18-48 (and these pipes of very indifferent make, 

 the manufacture being then a novel one), I cut through 

 many drains, and found no tendency to silt up with 

 •and, though the "subsoil when dry was found to 

 crumble into a state of very fine powder, containing an 

 admixture of very fine quartz sand partially rounded 

 and mixed with abundant scales of mica" (Professor 

 Johnston's Report). I must say that collars appear to 

 me a totally useless expense and complication of work. 

 Having quarries of red sandstone in my immediate 

 neighbourhood, the rubbish stones in which I had for 

 the carting away, all my conduits and outfalls have been 

 built wnh them. These vary from 6 inches broad by 

 9 inches high, to 9 inches broad by 12 inches high, and 

 tnrongh a conduit of this last size I would not hesitate 

 to conduct the drainage of 100 acres, provided there 

 We a good outf.ll. The labour of opening, building, 

 JBJ filling in such conduits is paid for at less than 6d. 

 P J»ro, a gum below the simple cost of pipes of much 



S^f P I^ ,ty, t. This is a point wortli y of the considera- 

 .-w i or tnose having somewhat of the same advantages 



proximity to stones. It is true that the cartage of 



rain water, and stirred with a pointed quill. Ammo- 

 niacal gas is immediately developed, but in much greater 

 volume when placed upon the warm grate till dry. The 

 mixture is then to be treated with boiling water suffi- 

 cient to bring it to a paste, stirred repeatedly, and left 

 in heat till dust dry, when the volatile ammonia will 

 have been totally expelled by the lime. The loss of 

 weight will be found to vary according to the quaiir f 

 the guano. In one experiment made by me it was 

 proved that a mixture of 50 grains of dry guano, and 

 only 26 of lime = 76 grains, so treated, had lost 64 

 grains. This loss, if assigned to ammonia only, would 

 indicate 13 grains in the 100 of the ammonia actually 

 existing as a base to some or all of those acids which 

 are found in the soluble ingredients of pure and sound 

 guano. If by repeated experiments of the kind, with 

 different samples, certain definite quantities are left, 

 and the loss of weight ascertained, a pretty correct idea 

 of the actual quantify of potential ammonia will be 

 attained, sufficient, at all events, to guide the judgment 

 of a discerning practical agriculiurist. Professors 

 Anderson and Way concur in the opinion that "there 

 are only two constituents which practically require to 

 be considered in the estimate of the commercial value 

 of guano and the phosphates." This is admitted, for 

 the phosphates which exist in some of the salts soluble 

 in water Contain ammonia. Yet the one most available 

 in Turnip culture is the bone earth (phosphate of lime), 

 which remains in the insoluble matters after water has 



taken up all that it can dissolve. These insoluble sub- French breeds' of cattle! 

 stances include more or less urate of ammonia 



agricultural friends our present crop of Wheat, growing 

 on common ploughed land, planted at the extremely 

 small quantity of trom 6 to 8 pints per acre, which we 



io!! 1Ure t0 back a 8 ainht anybody else* 1 full plant* from 

 118 pints, or above 20 times the quantity. Hardy it Sons, 

 cctd-yrowtrs. 



octettes 



a valu- 



THE GREAT CATTLE SHOW AT PARIS. 



* RiNCE is proving that she is as capable as ourselves 

 of directing attention to the arts of War and Peace at 

 the same time. Her great Palais de Industrie, which 

 is gradually becoming filled with her own handiwork 

 and that of other nations, is not the only proof of this • 

 an even more direct conversion of the sword into the 

 ploughshare is seen in the allotment of a portion of the 

 Champ de Mars for the purpose of a cattle show. A 

 large collection of animals (very fully illustrative of our 

 own breeds of cattle and sheep and pigs, and those of 

 France, Holland, and Switzerland) is here gathered 

 together. Thescheme is admirably adapted for usefulness, 

 especially, we think, to agriculturists of France, as our 

 own breeds certainly approach the nearest to the ideal 

 of form on which all are agreed as the proper goal for 

 which to strive, but also to English visitors, most of 

 whom must have been surprised at the distinctness 

 and uniformity of character possessed by many of the 

 French breeds of cattle. There was certainly nothing 

 ., . ,. L . . - — - for us to learn in the pigs exhibited by Frenchmen 



able ingredient, but requiring time and accuracy for its coarse, ill-formed, ugly specimens, such as mLght 

 development. Estimating it at 12 percent, and the have been seen half a century ago with us, were 

 bone phosphate at 23 per cent. ; also other organic and alone exhibited in the native classes. And the En- 

 saline matters at 16 per cent., with 2 or 3 per cent, of . gliah breeds, though furnishing many good animals, 

 sand m ail ; 47 per cent, may be taken (including from ■-■-—*--•• - ^ 



6 to 10 parts of moisture) as the mean average of all 

 the ingredients soluble in rain or distilled water. John 

 Towers, Croydon, May 10. 



Gas Water as a Manure for Grass Lands.— I have 

 this year seen at the rate of 1 tons per acre of gas 

 water applied against 20 tons of good rotten dung. I 

 was surprised to see it on April 3d, the Grass where 

 the water was applied having a fine green and grassy 

 appearance, and the other parts of the field as brown as 

 when the dung was put on. I have also seen gas lime 

 used at the rate of 5 cwt. per acre with great advantage. 

 R. Gilbert, Haxby. 



Mangold Wurzel. — I forked up and left in ridges 

 during the winter some land where I intended to plant 

 some Mangold Wurzel ; put on the land a good dressing 

 of farm-yard manure, and at the end of April planted 

 it with Mangold seed by dibbling it in. Here and there 

 patches of the seed have come up, but very weakly, and 

 on using my knife in places where no plants appear, but 

 where the seed was sown, I have found worms, some of 

 them in the seed and the seed generally eaten through. 

 I send you two of these worms. Can you tell me their 

 names, whence they arise, and acquaintance with a suit- 

 able preparation in which to steep the seed for the 

 future, so as to prevent their ravages I I propose to sow 



carta. 



More- 



^ danger from breaking and consequent sinking in, 



bfthifi nl P,pe fi 1 large di,nen sions is considerable, is, 

 ul dbiir' ,, butent| rely guarded against ; and this is 

 ject well worth some extra labour. I have not 

 ™ holes to give a circulation of air through the 

 eed,with stone-built conduits, such as I have 

 "tain 2 W C r° V u rS ° f * hich at frequent hollows come 

 circulation f • ? Urface soil > l am satisfied that a 

 ^. &»L! % V ta . ke ^ P lace without this assistance. 



drabs; 



fc*ribed 



eh i* " m " "' ""T AL ia wue u,at um ca rtage 01 j again those portions where no plants have come up, 

 bt the h C ° n * » e * tem > if paid for, but when done first of all using guano, then covering the guano with a 

 ZTL , e . 8 , of _ the farm > it is not more felt than the little of the soil, and soaking the seed in water, so as to 



expedite the growth of the plant and recover lost time. 

 G. P. [We did not receive the specimens sent. Soak 

 the seed in dilute liquid manure so as to hasten its 

 growth.] 



The Wheat Plant. — From various parts of England 

 and Scotland have been reported the loss of Wheat 

 plants from effects of the late excessive frosts and 

 droughts, inasmuch as hundreds (if acres have been 

 ploughed up as not worth standing. Judging from 

 similar cases in our own neighbourhood, such alarms 

 and proceedings may have been out of place. Many in 

 this district, who have here and there on arable land 

 lost some half or three-fourths of their plants from 

 frost, drought, wireworms, maggots, &c, and who have 

 had recourse to sowing afresh or ploughing the rest up, 

 will no doubt have cause at the fall of summer to repent 

 of their folly in not first rolling it with a heavy roller, 

 and turning on to it a flock of sheep for a day or two, 

 and then keeping it perfectly clean, thus securing the 



It 



Home 



^^^u^i af ^r'^ heBh ^ d ^ frauds Practised 



k>* are ml ? u* n lon S known and exposed, but 



loteh^-* , etected b y Practical farmers, who 



wh * * d«a£ £*? 1$ Wa , Dt a fW 1 * J U8t at a time 

 ** kind carl ! a and and read * t0 8eli ? A cas * •* 

 1 *^tbs2 5 der "V knowledge some time since, 



****** theLT termsof Purchase had been settled 

 n^ytj.™' It was then understood that the 



I therefore had,£T ° n th ? d ** followin g (10/. per ton) ; 

 ptotawive air • e ^° Ugh time to effect even a «l»ght 

 *» ounces H* • V san3 P le I received was about 



*** several v a ^ n - 8 n accustomed to experimentalise 



l ^^oeei?^ eB, il ^ ccurred t0 rae thaf > ^' a ^w 

 *^t idea Mrf \ Wou,d be P^Me to attain to a pretty 

 (*■** oueht \! ? moi8ture contained in a given weight 

 ***%<* 1! ^.^xceed 10 to 12 per cent.) of the 



¥• Otters T m * m the Boluble * a,ts > of the insol- 

 **pHafe in t m ° St valuable of which is the bone 

 **> thcreWi/ S ^ te of extre mely minute division. I 



w ' th * Proce?J eaV ,° Ur *? redte > in the most * im P le 



r?***ow lZT? d t(> those who have not at com- 

 ^ ^jUmined are dried 



^^r^hhJ hm Wei 8 hed *to ascertain" theToss 

 S?*^ of tha m V roa11 mortar to a fine powder : 

 *^ fc ijf quanmy (say 36 grains) of fresh a^r- 



a*4 , 0f toe irra.1 m J lke ma ™er, placed on the 

 W •** are thin f"5 6riUa11 ^ dried and weighed, 



^^ratelJ^o-S^ 11 t0gether " The Wei 8 ht 

 ^••^ •Wcer w 7 th ? y are transferred to a small 



chance of getting some 5 or 6 quarters per acre 



class 



were far from being so satisfactorily represented 

 they are at Birmingham or Leeds. Mr. Williams, 

 Mr. Northey, and II. R. H. Prince Albert are among 

 the prize holders in this class. 



Our sheep were fairly represented : four classes were 

 exhibited, — 1, Mirinoes; 2, Long-wools, including 

 Leicesters, Romney Marsh, &c. ; 3, the Dutch races 

 — also long-woolled, along with which were placed the 

 Cotswold Bheep ; and 4, South Downs. 



There were a great many pens of Merinoes of so 

 very even a character that they had quite the appear- 

 ance of one flock, but they came from widely distant 

 parts, and thus proved the very uniform and definite 

 character of the breed. The 2d class was due almost 

 wholly to English exhibitors, among whom were the 

 names of Kingdon, Radmore, Creswell, Watkins, Ash- 

 ley, and George Turner. The 1st prize for young rams 

 was awarded to Mr. Kingdon, of Thorverton, Devon- 

 shire ; the 2d to Mr. Creswell, of Raventon, Leicester- 

 shire ; the 3d to Mr. Radraore, of Thorverton, Devon- 

 shire. There were 22 animals exhibited. For old rams, 

 of which 24 were shown, the 1st prize went to Mr. 

 Watkins, the 2d to Mr. Creswell, the 3d to Mr. Turner. 

 For pens of three sheep Mr. Turner, Mr. Watkins, and 

 the Vicomte de Curzay carried off the prizes, the last 

 as well as the others being English sheep. Among 

 othef long-woolled sheep, Mr. Beale Browne and Mr. 

 Ruck, near Cricklade, carried off the prizes with 

 young Cotswold rams; Mr. Handy and Mr. B. Browne 

 with old Cotswold rams; Mr. B. Browne, Mr. Burgess, 

 and Mr. Ruck with pens of Cotswold, Romney Marsh, 

 and Cotswold sheep. Of the 83 pens of sheep in 

 these two classes 68 were from England, and all the 

 prizes, except one, and that was for sheep imported from 

 Worcestershire, have also come to us. There is a very 

 good show of South Downs, as there always muBt be 

 when such men as Messrs. Jonas Webb, Rigdon, and 

 Ellman choose to exhibit. Six young rams are shown 

 by Mr. Webb, to whom was awarded the first prize in 

 that class, while M. Bella, of Grignon, took the 

 second with a ram, also imported from Worcestershire. 

 The first prize was not awarded according to English 

 judgment — other sheep of Mr. Webb's lot being con- 

 sidered superior to the one which received the prt 

 the aim of the French breeder is somewhat different 

 from that of the English, and their opinions ^f merit 

 thus do not agree. For old rams the first prize was 

 awarded to Mr. Rigdon ; the second to M. Allier, pere, 

 for sheep of Mr. Jonas Webb's breeding. The pens of 



season, 1854, of the universality of lost or thin plants of 

 Wheat, occasioned from extraordinary wet, &c, was 

 without doubt the chief cause of so unusual an abundant 

 crop ; for in many other respects it had to fight through 

 various unusual vicissitudes never before heard of, and, 

 on the whole, was not expected to prove a good Wheat 

 year. We allude to the circumstances of violent storms, 



the first prize being, however, awarded to sheep of Mr. 

 Webb's breeding. 



The show of sheep is eclipsed by that of cattle, which 

 is especially interesting to English visitors from the 

 very complete and satisfactory illustration it affords of 

 the native breeds of France. The first section, however, 



breeds, 



blights, fungus and rust in the blade, and other strange very well represented also. In it are, of course, included 



50 grains of the sample 

 in a paper, placed upon the 



t* 



atmospheric visitations, together with more abortive 

 ears than in ordinary seasons. So far as appearances 

 go, to inexperienced persons, at the present time the 

 magnificence luxuriance, fulness of the plants, and 

 verdure of Wheat generally in this district, present 

 themselves much more favourably than in the corre- 

 sponding mouth of May, 1854, and augur well so far 

 for a more abundant yield. But all is not gold that 

 glitters, and we cannot forbear to remark that no such 

 productions as last year can be reasonably expected 

 from the very unusual and extravagant full crops which 

 now appear ; on the contrary, we must indulge our 

 confidence that such as those which are called partial 

 or misplants will in the fall of summer prove very far 

 in advance, provided that such thin crops are kept clear 

 of weeds. In confirmation of the folly of sowing too 





Sussex, Ayr- 

 shire, and other dairy breeds ; together with the Dutch 

 and Swiss breeds. Among our own breeds most of the 

 prizes are, of course, carried off by Englishmen, though 

 ' foreign breeders have been successful to some extent 

 with all excepting the Devons. In Short-horns the 

 young bulls were all English but one, the first prize 

 being awarded to the Marquis de Talhouet, for an ani- 

 mal of Mr. Richard Stratum's breeding, Mr. Marjori- 

 banks carrying off the second, and the third being 

 awarded to M r. Botton-Levegues, for an animal of Mr. 

 Towneley's breeding. Among the old bulls the prises 

 were awarded to Lords Feversham and Talbot, Mtmertu 

 Crisp and Stratton, and H. R. H. Prince Albert— the 

 first to Lord Feversham for a red and white bull, bred 

 by Lord Ducie Cbv Duke of Gloater out of Beatrice), 



much seed, we respectfully invite to the notice ot our and bought by his Lordship at the Tortworth 



