4!>0 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



sour 



this is mere flooding— but by slow yet unceasing 

 filtering through every part of the crop, for if the 

 water be stagnant the usual effect of want of 

 drainage will be observed in the growth of 

 Grasses" and other weeds which mark wet land. 

 A gravelly or sandy subsoil recommends itself as 

 being best adapted for iirigation, and brooks or 

 rivers usually flow in valleys of denudation, the 

 worn-down rocks of which nearly always form a 

 substratum of loose materials of greater or less 

 thickness ; in all such cases, therefore, the two most 

 important adjuncts in irrigation, namely, water and 

 a favourable soil are usually combined. 



2d. Whf n these are present the next subject tor 

 consideration will be the best method to be adopted 

 in conduct Tag the water over the different surfaces 

 to be irrigated, in the due performance of which it is 

 necessary to consider, not only how to conduct water 

 to any part of the field, but how to cause it to flow 

 off again ; for without the latter part of the system 

 be as perfect in its action as the former, a fatal 



It, and hence it follows 



Table III.- representing increase in Money value under Irrigation' 



1st year of Irrigation, 25*. Kent the acre, 

 2d do. do. 35s. do. 



31 do. do. 505. do. 



4th do. do. 605. do. 



8th do. do. 1005. do. 



It is further worthy of remark, as respects the 

 meadow observed upon, that although only a part of 

 it could be irrigated, yet from the animals depas- 

 turing thereon having range over the whole meadow, 

 the unirrigated portion has been also much im- 

 proved, so that where all a meadow cannot be 

 brought under the influence of this agent, it might 

 be well to consider if only a portion can be so 



cultivated. 



4th. This necessarily leads to a consideration of 

 the advantages to be derived from the practice, for 

 if a whole meadow be improved by the irrigation of 

 a part, so may we not consider the utility of such 

 meadows to the farm in general. This will become 

 evident by a glance at the following facts : 



stagnation will be the 



that any system which will secure these important 

 ends wiih the least expense in the three following 

 particulars will be the best to adopt; these parti- 

 culars are : — 



a. The first outlay in the preparing the works. 

 h. The annual cost of repairs, and of necessary periodical 



attendance. 



C. The amount of land taken up in the construction of 

 the channels. 



Of course these are points which cannot be dwelt 

 upon at length, as they must vary with the locality, 

 position of the meadow, height to which the water 

 has to be carried, and a variety of ever-changing 

 circumstances, but the principles are in themselves* 

 simple, and require no less simple arrangements for 

 securing their due development. 



3d. The changes effected in the herbage of an 

 irrigated meadow are a no less curious subject in 

 relation to vegetable physiology than they are in- 

 teresting in an agricultural point of view; these 

 consist of the two following : 



a. Change of quality. 



b. Increase of quantity. 



A meadow observed upon the bank of the Churn, 

 in the neighbourhood of Cirencester, which, from its 

 slope could be only half covered with water, pre- 

 sented particulars which are tabulated below. It is 

 necessary to remark that the meadow had a subsoil 

 of oolitic gravel, and its pasture w T as that of a poor 

 upland. The table will supply information on the 

 following points : — 



1st. The names of the natural Grasses. 



2d. The proportions of these observed in the meadow 



before irrigation. 



3d. The changes effected in two years of irrigation. 

 4th. Those on the fourth year. 



Table I.*—Bepresenting the changes of Grasses under Irrigation. 



Proportionals. 



Botanical Name. 



• • • 



• • • 



• • ■ 



Alopecnrus prateiibis 

 Poa pratensiB 



p trivially 

 Briza media 

 Cynosurus cristatus 

 Aira c««pitosa ... 

 Agrotitis stolonifera 

 Dactylis glomerata 

 Avena fiavescens 

 „ pnbesrens 

 Hordeum pratense 



» • . 



• . 



. • 



. • 



Meadow foxtail- grass ... 

 teld meadow-grass ... 

 Rough is h meadow-grass 

 Quaking-grass 

 Dogstaii-grass 



Hassock-grass 



Marsh bent grass 

 Cocksfoot- grass 



Yellow Oat-grass 



Soft Oat-grass ... 



Meadow Barley-grass 



Perennial Rye-grass 



• • « 



• • • 



• • • 



1 

 2 

 1 

 2 

 2 



1 

 1 

 1 



2 



1 



1 

 2 



2 

 3 

 2 



• •• 



* • • 



2 

 2 

 3 

 1 

 2 

 4 



4 

 4 

 1 



• • » 



• • • 



• t • 



3 



3 



3 



1 

 2 



6 

 '1 his neld lias trebled in value in four years. 



This table shows that all the good Grasses have 

 increased in quantity, whilst the unfavourable kinds 

 have decreased, and this may always be noted in 

 pastures — they improve by increasing good herbage, 

 which consequently smothers the bad ; the opposite 

 produces a reverse result. 



Nor is it only with those plants of the natural 

 order Graminece that changes occur : herbs of other 

 families present the same facts, which may be 

 gathered from : — 



T tblell. -Representing the cha nges of Herbs formed with the Grasses. 



Proportionals* 



Botanical 



Names 





• — ^ 



ELS 



s* 



- 



- 



Ranunculus acris 



h bulbosus 



Plant ago Ian ceo lata 



„ media 

 Trifolium re pens 



p pratense ... 

 Anthrfsoiv* viilsriirta 







%u 



*t 



• >• 



• • 



Upright meadow crowfoot 



Bulbous crowfoot 



Narrow-leaved Plantain ... 

 Broad-leaved Plantain 

 Dutch Clover 



Hroad Clover 



Common henked Parsley 



• • » 



• ■ • 



• • * 



• * t 



vege 

 by c 



ence, then , irrigation exerts great influence on 



* This table and the succeeding one are taken froi 

 Koyal Agricultural Society, Vol. xv., part ii. 



lattermath. 



a. Irrigation produces earlier pasture, 

 6. It always secures a good late herbage- 

 c. Its yield of hay is much more certain where plenty 

 of water can be commanded. 



Hence, then, this portion of our subject will need 

 no comment ; but if this be so in ordinary cases, 

 how much more so in a district like the Cotteswolds, 

 where the great breadth of the land is on uplands 

 of the porous oolitic rock. Such meadows in the 

 valleys assist sheep farming in an extraordinary 

 manner, as they enable the farmer in a not very 

 genial climate still to have pasture for his early 

 lambs, and thus to compete with those under more 

 favourable circumstances as to climate. It is on this 

 account that irrigated meadows are so carefully 

 managed in the neighbourhood of Cirencester, and 

 we shall, therefore, devote another paper to a 

 detailed account of their management. 



Some of the reports on Dairy Produce which have 

 reached us are published below. Those interested 

 in the subject will see whether Mr. Scott's or Mr. 

 Horsfall's statement is best borne out by them. 

 The most valuable of the series is that by Mr. Scott 

 himself, and quite corroborates his original account 

 of the average annual produce of a cow. This, the 

 completest record that exists upon the subject, 

 makes 200 lbs. a year as the average yield of butter 

 from a cow. It remains, therefore, for the compiler 

 of it to maintain his opinion of Mr. Horsfall's 

 ordinary experience if he can. 



DAIRY STATISTICS. 



How much milk does it take to make 1 lb. of butter ? 

 To answer that question correctly it is obvious that a 

 series of experiments would require to be gone into, 

 and the results minutely ascertained. My experience 

 being rather limited in regard to dairy management, I 

 have never taken the trouble to ascertain the quantity 

 minutely ; but a Mr. Williams, of this neighbourhood, 

 who has had the management of very extensive dairies 

 for the last 20 years, has taken the trouble to make out 

 the following calculations of the working of a dairy for 

 12 months, by which I think a pretty correct answer 

 may be arrived at. 





** * i 



_. <T m "* 



3 r - « £- 



CD 



CC 







p 



i 



CD 



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o o 



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p rc> a> <x fl, 



*. BB OB, &^ "{. 



p. Pj £ll p4 P' 



c o o © o 



> 



n 



8- 



40, 



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SB M ^t 



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3 S * 



P CC P 



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3 



O -i as sv "i 3 co 



O — — O P Oa 



00 ^ » c* 



p* 



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^ 



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t Z tz •-* »-* 



cr.cpQtco 



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IS 



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coo 



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c 



CO CO >&» rfk. CO CO P 

 *- C3 Cn CO CD h3 pi 

 O G. *» IC Ol CO en 



t-* J© to fcOCW w *d 



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10 



©«c 



to 



~ 





COCWO *■* 



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 CO CiCP 



CH Ci IC 





co co >&. c" »»» C3 



C5 



p 



03* 



i^> oa <i co O -q *d 



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BB 



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o oact ca co co 



H* G5 CD cs i— CO 



CO 

 C5 



HMMMM 

 »-*•»-* Cl CO ►**■ 



*►»**■ en CO -* 



to 

 Ci 



oa 



M 



<0 



r* »"^ P 



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K> 



tO tO tO K) tO tO tO 



CO 



co toto CO to COCt 



to 



en 



Q 

 coco to to to to ff. 



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 CO 



to 



to to to to to 10 to 



to 



to to to to to to 



*■»-»*- M- N»- NH U|- 



p 



CmSo ► 

 p ^Cl"* % < 





[July 21, isi 



lor the summer half-yemr, aiiTT^ai^ir' 

 winter half-year ; or for the 12 month, it ig^ 

 5 pints of new milk to make 1 lb. of butter anVo?!? 1 

 of cream to make 1 lb. of butter. 



» and 2J 

 The stock 



which the above experiments were taken wmTjS 1 

 what are generally known as the well-bred IHA* 

 and the produce from that animal, if well Belet^S^ 

 think as good as any. No doubt crop*™ .f .u.^J 1 



Vi 



uiiiiK as gooa as any. jn doubt crosses of the TW 

 and Durham produce also good dairy cows • hut iu 



as I have seen, the Durham is much better adtii3 5 

 the butcher than the dairy. ' The Ayrshire is tdJU 



for the dairy, with every tendency to'ViuentS - 

 :haDS better adapted for light soils than anv !T 



pernaps 

 other breeds. 



tki 



About 20 miles from this I knew* W 

 dairy of pure Devons ; they were a very xxtvyj^ 

 they gave milk of a rich quality, but much mSsh 

 quantity than any of the others. ^^ 



To ascertain the comparative merits of the difFem 

 breeds on the same pasture, and with the same tn* 

 ment, would be very desirable, and perhaps some tf 

 your correspondents might be iuduced to try the e*. 

 periment. David Barclay, Blarney, Cork, July U, 



The average produce of " butter " from a cow in &* 

 course of a year in this neighbourhood is about U 

 dozen (lbs.). I can mention individual cases in which 

 a dary of cows have produced 19 dozen per cow b* 

 this is a rare occurrence. One quart of cream mug 

 a pound of butter ; on one occasion I found that nbct 

 50 quarts [? gallons] of milk were measured oat tibt 

 they produced eighteen lbs. of butter, hi addi- 

 tion to the butter, we must bear in mind that a great 

 deal of Dorset (skim milk) cheese is made from oo 

 dairies. Many of our best dairies are kept on poor 

 land ; but if the cows are not " too thick" (ie. if day 

 have plenty of run), their yield is great and of the bat 

 quality. Dorsetshire. 



Mr. Littledale writes from Liscard Hall as follows :- 

 I had churned on Saturday from a lot of cows, abott 

 3 months calved, and all of the large Yorkshire breed, 

 fed on Italian Rye-Grass, 42 gallons of milk, prodw, 

 19J lbs. butter ; to-day, 524 gallons of milk, produce, 

 23| lbs. butter. The produce of butter varies with Ik 

 breed of cows ; in a general way, we have found froi 

 the large Yorkshire cow it takes 3 gallons for a 

 of butter; Ayrshire less ; and an Alder ney still lea. it 

 one time I took a great interest in trying experiiM* 

 upon different cows, and the quantity of butter tier 

 would produce ; and the most extraordinary ykU, 

 which I have never seen equalled since, was from a a 

 the cross of an Alderney and a short-horn, after hani| 

 calved above 2 months ; she gave so rich a milk, thitl 

 the lactometer the cream did not separate from W 

 milk, and we had a pound of butter irom rather let 

 than a gallon of milk ; and although a small, par 

 looking thing, we had 14 lbs. of butter a weekfrom» 



We also had a large Yorkshire cow a great milker, m 

 after having calved upwards of 3 months, she g»« ■ 

 19 J lbs. of butter in the week; in the lactometer* 

 average of cream for that description of coww 

 8, this one's was 1 8. A cow gives much more raw 

 when she has calved about 3 or 4 months, i jm - 

 quantity of milk is diminished ; also a £«*!*" jj 

 depend upon the quality of the food. We cdu»/ 

 steam, and last summer we tried the shortest jw-^ 

 time we could do it in, it was a hot day, ■ nd .*** dfc 

 plished it in five minutes and a half, the e?8 ,ne Tg 

 300 revolutions per minute, and the 1 Mntlt { a J^Zg 

 of milk ; we have also found out in this very J»< A 

 that it pays us well to put American ice into 

 before churning, to reduce the temperature t°^ | ^ 

 more butter ; the result of the same ouanm) ^ ^ 

 without ice, 15 pounds of butter; 



with ice. 



•*- 



Cheshire, July 9. 



I am sorry I am not able to ^f d J°^»» 

 factory account, having never been at »u . rf 



the quantity of milk necessary to produce V"^, 

 butter, and indeed the difference in tne ■ -- 



pasture and the quality of the milk « ^ tJ * 

 must render it almost impossible to ascer ^ fffly * 

 quantity required. If you can make any ** m 

 week's experience, I will just inform }W ^ ^ 

 36 pails of milk (each pail 3 gallons), »■ * piet f if 

 butter. Our cows were feeding - ^J^bO* 

 pasture, eo that I conclude we never ma* 

 from the same quantity of milk. M -, *«W 



I have to tell you that on Friday, 10 q« J^ is* 

 were measured out .from the moimog s^^ 

 10 quarts m the evening , 



each lot*** 



standing 12 hours, and a second ^ time a ^ 

 longer. The 20 quarts of ™\f£tml **& 

 of cream, and. that F^^^»ot jjfiS 



1 lb. 13 oz. of butter. 



to make an average trial, 



the 



weather 

 flies have 

 A Diow 



very warm the past week, and tne t mnnth ^ 

 tremely troublesome to the *»«^ of w>~- 

 were making more than •^'J^. -J-jJ 

 same quantity of milk. ahe c J he jug , but ■«{• # 

 thick we could not pour ^^t^fe 



it out with a spoon. It has 



last 8 or 10 days. 



ther cow 



on 



Gi»* 



$■ 



By the above table it will be seen that it takes 

 2 gallons 6J pints of new milk to make 1 lb, of butter 



i 



Our cows, or r* 

 (two years old) have lived wii* y 

 Qloucestershire. 



In answer to your question < as to - rf bult rf^ 



quarts of milk rehired to gJ^UV **£& 

 to state that I have had tb*j ^ j^re 9^ 



the 



D0Wb fb« 



and have been assured that 



6 



