(26 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



Spenser, " not only increased its fertility, but gave 

 to the soil the solidity which is essential to the 

 growth of Wheat. By these means Clover and 

 other artificial grasses were raised, and the power 

 of keeping more stock was obtained." And the pre- 

 sent Norfolk mode of husbandry became possible 



; even more suitable than one that 



when here- 



by traction 



digs vertically ; and hence the 



after expelled from sticky clays and 



loams, may take refuge upon A ' 



Let us, therefore, encourage 



plough, 

 lys and 

 the thin 



bottomless 

 sands and 



tily-covered rocks m 



Mr. Williams in his attempted j steam-ploughing 



and profitable upon an infertile sand treated in this on the Wiltshire hills. • % 



F Our views should be comprehensive : not looking 



for a steam cultivator merely upon deep soils, fortu- 



manner. 



Lincoln Heath and Lincoln Wolds are othe r 

 notable instances of sandy and chalk wastes re~ 

 spectively reclaimed. Their history has been told 



often that it is useless to repeat it. Land formerly 

 a continuous rabbit warren is now w r orth 30$. an 

 acre to rent, and exhibits agricultural wealth od 

 the part of its cultivators such as no other 

 county boasts of. The means employed have been 

 the application of chalk to the wolds, after grubbing 

 up the Gorse which occupied the waste, and dressing 

 heavily with bone-dust ; marl too is applied along 

 the western edge of the chalk where it adjoins the 

 beds of calcareous clay lying beneath it in the 

 geological scale. These means, followed up by the 

 growth of large quantities of food for sheep con- 

 sumed upon the land, maintain the former waste 

 at its present high pitch of fertility. The Heath 

 district upon the oolite beds of Lincolnshire has 

 been rendered fertile in a somewhat similar manner. 

 Immense quantities of oil-cake are consumed by 

 sheep upon it, and large quantities of Eape-cake 

 and bone-dust are applied directly to the land. 

 These, and the manure from 



the consolidation as well as 

 thus civen to the 



the sheep fed upon it, 

 the fertilising matters 

 "noble crops upon 



given to the soil, 

 land for which a few years since the rent was paid 

 by two rabbits an acre." The full history of these 

 districts will be found in Mr. Pusey's report published 



in the fourth volume of the Journal, and Mr. Clarke's 

 published in vol. 12. 



A particular instance of the treatment of a 

 light sandy soil may be given here in which a 

 farm of many hundred acres is concerned. A 

 large portion is still under the thick close 

 coverir.g of ling by which the sandy waste is 

 covered. Immediately around the house, which is 

 sheltered by plantations of Larch and Fir, portions 

 of the land are under cultivation, and in pasture. 

 The first step towards the attainment of fertility 

 obviously is to remove the present vegetable j u P on ^ e upper chalk, the upper oolite, and the 



nately free from obstructing stones, but wherever 

 workmen and horses are engaged in cultivation. 

 Steam-power performing our principal tillage opera- 

 tion—that is, breaking up whole ground, burying 

 the last crop with its weeds, and turning up a fresh 

 seed-bed for the next— ought surely to be a radical 

 and gigantic improvement throughout our national 

 husbandry ; so that it behoves public-spirited agri- 

 culturists, in every part of the kingdom, to seek the 

 help of the mighty motor for whatever kinds of 

 tillage may be suited to their district. 



General opinions of the theory of cultivation, and 

 varying practical deductions from them, have tended 

 to bewilder while instructing the machinist ; and 

 have hitherto left him in doubt whether he is to 

 plough, dig, or grate into powder. But why should 

 not existing practice in all its adaptations to par- 

 ticular soils be taken as the guide in the first 

 instance ? Let the first aim of inventors be to make 

 steam-power plough where ploughing answers best ; 

 delve and fork where deep working is most effectual, 

 and scratch where such comminution is found to be 

 profitable. When this has been achieved, any 

 universal method fitted for all soils may be safely 

 left for future discovery. 



Now, in light-land farming, what sort of tillage 

 forms — and from the nature of the ground must con- 

 tinue to form — the fundamental or first operation : 

 is there most need for digging, ploughing, or grub- 

 bing 1 In answering this question, let us just refer 

 to the general character of our light soils, which, 

 from their extensive distribution, demand a share in 

 the benefits of steam-culture — although their mecha- 

 nical may be scarcely so important as their chemical 

 treatment. 



Tracts of light land are interspersed throughout 

 all our clays, such as those on the red sandstone 

 and plastic clay ; but are most prominent in England 



covering of the land, and that is being done by 

 breast plough, common plough, hook and grubbing 

 axe, and fire. The land, when ploughed and pro- 

 perly reduced, is partly sown with Oats, and partly 

 cultivated for Turnips ; and considerable dressings 

 of guano, bones, and Rape-cake are applied to ensure 

 a crop. The application of lime, too, has been of 

 essential benefit. The consumption of the roots 

 upon the land with sheep, their consumption 

 along with oilcake there, gives a manuring and 

 consolidation which prepares the soil for grain crops ; 

 and very soon, no doubt, simply by these means— for 

 clay has not been found within a profitable distance, 

 by which the mineral faults of the soil might be 

 corrected directly— land which yields now perhaps 

 less than it did when the "horned cattle" of Robin 

 Hood browsed its herbage, will be as productive as 

 the once sandy wastes of Lincolnshire and Norfolk. 

 The remedies then for this source of infertility 

 which ob rvation has recorded, are the application 



arenaceous deposits of the Hastings sand and various 

 other formations ; and in Scotland, upon the older 

 strata of granite, gneiss, trap, &c. The flinty chalk 

 soils are sucked dry by their open and absorbent 

 subsoil; and the tendency of both these soils and 

 those of the thin oolite stonebrash to let the r*' 



ains 



run through them, instead of closing up and retain- 

 ing the moisture like siliceous soil, leads the farmer 

 to plough and cultivate as little as possible in pre- 

 paring for a fallow crop. The stubble is broken up by 

 grubbing and broadsharing about 2 inches in depth, 

 and after being harrowed and cleaned, the land is 

 ploughed with a shallow furrow — generally burying 

 a dressing of yard-manure. In spring, another 

 scuffling or two, without any further ploughing, 

 completes the main part of the preparation for 

 Turnips. When the roots are gone, a light plough- 

 ing, followed by the cultivator, or on very dry light 

 soils by the press-roller, together with a harrowing, 

 prepares a seed-bed for Barley. For other green and 



of marl and clay, the use of bone-dust and of Rape- ! § rain , cro P s the tillage is much the same ; only in 

 cake and the consumption of green crops and of I ^reaking-up Clover lea for Wheat, a skim-plough 



oilcake upon the land by sheep. It is reasonable 

 to suppose that the earliest instances of reclamation 

 from the state of rabbit warren have been those of 

 greatest original promise, though Mr. Brett, Lord 

 Leicester s tenant, did not consider his 



. . . case very 



promising when he refused to renew his lease at an 



advance of 2s. per acre : but the sandy wastes that 

 still remain— those of Notts, and Hants, and Surrey 

 —though we do not see upon them rabbits burrowing 

 amidst nettles, as Young did greatly to his indigna- 

 tion on the wolds of Lincolnshire, are yet not 

 altogether without promise in the natural vegeta- 

 tion which covers them. The Fern and Gorse are 

 not altog. her absent, and there is many a tract, 

 specially in the southern countries, whose neigh- 

 bourhood geologically furnishes the remedy which 

 tneir light and ^andy character requires. 

 water as a fertiliser upon sandy soils— such facts as 

 nave any bearing upon that point— will be considered 

 ^n the sequel. 



moister climate enableTiTmorelr^iior ♦ — - 

 plough in spring upon the b^S* «* 

 that, in the more arid south must E 7 ^ 

 the grubber instead ; and fcesita S&^ 

 rag, the operation of ridging or drS P ^ 

 common. u & ^ Terr 



From the foregoing statements then «.* 

 that a steam-cult ivatl to be v^^5^ 

 must be able (m the first place) to cu 11 T? 

 mince, or else slice and divide firm era a 

 only 2 inches in depth. As the weight of !i * 

 engine would be little detriment to°such £!??" 

 locomotive principle, with an attached 3Jz 

 tiller seems appropriate ; but on the other 3 

 these light soils being generally steep or unduC 

 the difficulty of working the gradients on a i 

 rugged way points rather to the traction priadS 

 as being preferable. Whichever system is adopfi 

 the machine must be also able (in the next nWl 

 to slice and effectually invert a staple of E 

 stony soil 5 inches, or it may be only 4 tJicfcr *■ 

 depth, burying every portion of the old surface 

 together with the manure spread upon it; and 

 leaving the up-turned soil in pieces as firm and 

 closely laid as furrow slices are now 



plough, 

 by the 



as 



™ , left tyr the 



The work can scarcely be better done than 



plough itself; why not, therefore apply 

 steam-power to draw either broadsharing, grubT 

 or ploughing implements (as required)^ after I 

 Williams's or some other person's plan \ Let 

 by all means welcome attempts of this order, tb 

 shown by actual practice to be fitted for light laofe. 

 1, di. 0. 



is employed, which cuts off the Clover or Grass 

 roots from^ the upper edge of the furrow slice and 

 throws it in the bottom of the previous furrow, so 

 that there shall be no vegetation springing up from 

 the seams. The presser is also used to consolidate 

 the furrows and provide a firm seed-bed. Both the 

 upper chalk and upper oolite soils abound with 

 flints or rubbly stones ; and an implement afraid of 

 these will have a very limited field of action. 



The sandy soils of England are scattered in every 

 county, and are most prevalent upon the Hastings 

 sand, plastic clay, red sandstone, millstone grit, and 

 magnesian limestone formations. Scarifying, drag- 

 ging, and ploughing, some 5 inches deep, are the 

 principal tillage operations ; two ploughings being 

 sufficient in preparing for Turnips, while the grubber 



The use of .forms the chief 



drought. 



seam- 



the^Wh" f n 0b t en ' er of the iQ Wfect action of 



p g XL h ? a .r y ]aDd nia y rp S ard Jt as * 



'"""""' . B Pon light land it is very 



~j t"""6" "yon nea 

 doomed implement, upuu Ja 



new ; for the object tab li M JS?- ° f T^ 

 pulverisation a a moderate del it 1 " ^P mUCh 



growth of a crop. Wherever a thin **.^ w, \». tne 



. fallow v «J,i uiw~ 55££ :SB 



spring implement— from fear of 



art. A • i finest and mellowest seed- bed for 

 Wheat is obtained by simple ploughing and 

 pressing, and for no purpose is deep- working resorted 

 to. b or planting Potatoes and some other crops, 

 the plough is brought into requisition to bury the 

 needtul dressing of manure. 



We come next to the trap or whinstone soils 



and limestone gravels of Scotland-like the light 



ands already referred to, consisting of a loose 



brownish eanh, plentifully intermixed with small 

 stones. 



, Ploughing to a considerable depth is prac- 

 ticable in some situations ; but cultivation for Oats 

 and Turnips is carried up the hills wherever soil 

 enough can be got to cover the ploughshare. A 



EXPERIENCES IN LAND DRAINAGE. 



No. XVI. — Successful in every in stance. — Drwii 

 parallel ; and from 3 feet 6 inches to 4 feet 6 inches 

 deep, depending upon the fall to be obtained, and upa 

 the stratum in which the water usually lies.— Four f«t 

 is the average wished for. — Meadow land has fos 

 usually done in the same way, but the distance between 

 drains about one-third wider. — The drains are with At 

 fall. In meadow land the furrows are usually followed ; 

 in arable land seldom, unless the ridges are very wide, 

 and consequently high. — In this "neighbourhood 2-inch 

 pipes are aimost always used for minor drains, 3 and 

 4-inch for mains. In the west riding of this county I 

 have sometimes used collars where a good bottom wu 

 not to be procured, and the depth of minor drains is ref- 

 lated by the fall to be obtained.— I have used air draini 

 in Cumberland — 1^-inch pipe and collared minor draioi 

 —with great benefit. With Government grants of 

 money, the Assistant-Commissioners do not think tbem 

 necessary.— The average number of acres discharging 

 at one outfall I cannot give, as it depends entirely on the 

 fall, from 3 or less to 40 or more acres.-! have drained 

 from poorest clay to richest . loam, and then ag &,n * 

 weakest peat and sandy soil. Subsoil stiff day witt 

 shale, clay, occasional seams of gravel, *™g** 

 Francis Parker, Rokeby Grove, Greta-bridge, l^**** 



No. XVII.— Successful in all cases where the land m 

 been drained at a depth of 4 feet and upwards^ 

 have adopted a parallel system, taking the ?**■ 

 descent, and draining 4 and 4h feet deep.-ln w» 

 land the drains are laid on a greater distance ap»J ■» 

 for the most part at a greater depth, as " .j. 

 considered necessary to have the water w <] I 

 carried off Grass land as tillage.— I have , /f^L \- 

 the greatest fall, excepting where the old forrow5 



very deep, and lying not far out of the line JJJ^ 

 greatest descent, as I consider there is more m ^ 

 extra cutting caused by crossing the high "jS^ 

 gained by taking the greatest ? esc . ent ' . u direct**, 

 have only been followed where lying in ar ig u . ^ 

 and falling at the proper distance apart, e * c J h ^fc* 

 cular cases, as before named. — The tiIes use , $&tff 

 2-inch for the parallel drains, and 3, 4, o, an • ^ 

 the mains. Collars have been used in m «^ ^ 

 the subsoil was of a sandy nature.-— I have ^ 



giving air to drains, as I consider it could wo ^ 

 sible benefit, but might possibly do i amage \ ^ 

 flood water, &c., to get into the tomi*^ 

 possible to have made the pipe a perfec ^ 



water would be forced in with increased ye oc ^^ 

 the water got discharged from the Mf"*. » 

 naturally follow.— The average acreage d ^ wi f hw hkfc 

 an outfall depends upon the size of thep»P ^ 



the main drain is laid ; I consider a ;/-/"" ^ 15 • 

 average and in porous subsoil will disciu ^ ^ 

 15 acres : a 5-inch pipe, 20 to 2, ^Zn^t 

 from 30 to 36 acres, but so much ^P^^ &* 

 soil and the distance of the drains apart. ^ ^ ^ 

 subsoils drained have been various wjuere ^ ^ 

 description and on tillage lands the^ dwg ..,** 

 deep, are laid on an average about I - y ^ t re* 

 the subsoil is a tenacious clay, not mur 



apart. G. M. Dixon, Netherington * *4 » 



rS. vunr Successful, provided the^a F _ 



tf 



with the 



tance of the drains correspond *iu ^vm 



tenacity of the subsoils.-A P^ a "^,/ eTe n **** 

 adopted where the land has a ^^'ie made bflj 

 Drains 4 or 44 feet deep.-Thed.flerenee ^j 



arable and Grass draining is 0"'J "^, nee e**Q ^ 



tance the drains are put apart, it ; b clo"^J{ 



arable land should have the P a " lle ' m ote *% 

 the water should, after heavy rains , . F~ an ^ 



off.— The minor, or parallel drams, ar 



