Jclt 21, 1855.] 



THE AGRICULTURAL OAZET 



TE 



Those, however, are 

 tK* cow must be about six montns m ci 

 J5£ is more abundant, but less rich. 



eptions. In these 



I believe 



abort 



tU Norman, 

 -■pared for 



gjhh weight 



_ ~ — - — - -- — — • 



The richest milking has been on a 



3w me the mid-day and the evening next, contrary 



^tLeooDts of dairy P roa * uce published in English works, 



te accounts 

 which m( 



ilf&mal Returns obtained by Mr. Scot', and referred to 

 t* la Paper read before the Agricultural Society. 



d^irr returns are given just as they came into my hands, 

 * having been kept back. They represent the produce of 



tpruto of M« °»s* 



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SUMMARY. 



• •. 



*^1 



2 



Ay, 



Drts 



milked 



in a 



Season. 



A ggregate 



yield. 



250 

 274 



514 



to pro- 

 duce one 

 quart of 

 Cream. 



2652 

 2524 



5176 



1220 

 10.01 



qts. 



22.21 



11.10 



Butter from 



one quart of 

 Cream. 



15.06 

 12.50 



oz. 



THE ROTHAMSTED GATHERING. 



Pbebrntation of a Testimonial to J. B. Lawm, 1 .. 



Oh Thursday a large number of the most influential 

 agriculturists of the county assembled at Harpenden, 

 Hertfnrdblnre, for the purpose of presenting a I 1- 

 momal to J. B. Lawes, Esq., as a mark of their gr '- 

 tude and esteem for the discoveries made by 1 i in 

 scientific agriculture. 



The testimonial consisted of a handsome silver cande- 

 labrum, with six branches, ornamented with a running 

 vine and hanging bunches of grapes. The inscription 

 was as follows : — 



"Presented to John Bennet Lawes, Esq., as an heir-loom, at 

 the same time with a laboratory erected for him by public con- 

 tribution on his estate, Rothamsted. Hertfordhhire, in acknow- 

 ledgment of the services he has rendered to the science and 

 practice of agriculture, July 19, 1855." 



The ceremony took place at Rothamsted, in a tent 

 adjoining the new Laboratory, where about 200 persons 

 sat down to an excellent dinner; at the termination of 

 which the Eight Hon. the Earl of Chichester, who pre- 

 sided on the occasion, after the usual loyal toasts had 

 been suitably proposed and responded to, presented the 

 testimonial. He said :— As chairman of that meeting 

 it became his pleasing duty to present the testimonial, 

 which then stood before him, as a mark of gratitude 

 expressed by the agriculturists of this kingdom 

 in return to Mr. Lawes for the service rendered 

 to his country. It had been his lot to be one 

 of the oldest and most zealous members of the Royal 

 Agricultural Society, and he must say that he had on 

 many occasions read with delight the valuable papers 

 so ably and liberally contributed by Mr, Lawes. He 

 had in some degree spoken as assuming to himself the 

 position of the Royal Agricultural Society ; but it was 

 well known how much Mr. Lawes's labours had been 

 appreciated, not by that Society alone, but by country 

 gentlemen and farmers generally. He thought it an 

 object worth a man's ambition to become a extinguished 

 agriculturist, and to have one's labours appreciated ; 

 and further considered that husbandry should be made 

 one of the elements of our education. The noble chair- 

 man then passed a high encomium on the character of 

 Mr. Lawes, on his assiduity and attention to agricul- 

 tural pursuits, and exhorted farmers to become reading 

 as well as practical men. The noble chairman con- 

 cluded by presenting the testimonial to Mr. Lawes, 

 amidst much applause. 



the wratl.fr during the m ng, and L»< eved that had 

 It been otherwise their number would have been con- 



iderably augmented. He, ho\ r, felt touch satisfac- 

 tion at the i rious burst of sunshine which greeted 

 Jl n on their noble chairman taking his seat. He 

 looked upon it as a favourable omen. The last speaker 



Dr. Gilbert) had called upon the variona farmers to 

 interest themselves in this grand undertaking ; now he 

 was from Kent, and would do all in his power in that 

 locality, and he hoped others would do the same 



The following toasts were drank with enthuaiaam *— Bv Mr 

 JM^?";^ andPractice «S Ta;riSZL- %& 



iannly. n y F ^ oodward, Es 4 ,— '■ Th* t hairman Treasurer 

 8 retary, and other members of the acting commie " T W ' 

 Overman, Esq., then , poaed « the health of the PaSdcnt. ' 



The noble Chairman briefly replied, expressing his 

 regret that he should be compelled to leave them at so 

 early an boor, and withdrew amidst a general display of 

 kindly feeling. r J he remainder of the evening was then 

 spent in conviviality and song, professional singert 

 having been especially engaged for the occasion. 



Mr. Lawes said he 

 to merit so beautiful 



27.56 

 13 78 



*t^ * T **age of i olf e prodDce of upwards of 1000 cows 'Bhow 

 » *"** QZ - ox butter from one quart of whole 



^Uiuui c T . Thos. Scott. 



^^to,Jalyn ,1855. 



scarcely knew what he had done 

 a building, accompanied by so 

 magnificent a present as that which was now offered to 

 him from the hands of a few of his private friends, and 

 was quite unable to return them adequate thanks. The 

 building in which he had hitherto prosecuted his experi- 

 ments was certainly neither suitable for work nor fit for 

 experiments ; it was neither more nor less than an old 

 § barn, and yet although he was now possessed of so 

 splendid a building, replete with every convenience, he 

 still entertained a great respect for that barn. He then 

 entered into a description of the commencement of his 

 labours some 10 or 12 years since, showing the progress 

 he had made from that period. He further contrasted 

 the progress of agriculture in Germany with the little 

 attention which had been paid to it in this country. He 

 then drew the distinctive line between manufacture and 

 agriculture, and said with manufacture they had iron, 

 coal, and capital ; but with agriculture, independent 

 of the supply of guano and ammonia, they were 

 limited in their operations by climate — the sun 

 was their capital — thus necessarily showing the vast 

 amount of skill required for beneficial production. He 

 complained that farmers at the present time looked 

 more to immediate return than to a lasting and more pro- 

 ductive future — their first question on being shown any 

 improvement was, " Does it pay ! " He then reverted 

 to his " infant" science, which he said some 12 years 

 ago had all the helplessness of a baby, but with the 

 appetite of a giant. It had, however, struggled on under 

 the careful nursing and skilful management of his friend 

 Dr. Gilbert, until it had obtained its present thriving 

 condition. He, however, had been informed that it was 

 reported in Germany that his baby was dead ; but he 

 thought the only corpse they would have to bury was 

 that of the old barn, whose spirit was now transferred 

 into this large and noble building (cheers). Mr. Lawes 

 concluded by expressing a hope that that building 

 would become their guiding star in the performance of 

 their agricultural pursuits, and once more expressed 

 his gratitude to those around. 



The Rev. A. Huxtable then addressed the meeting, 

 and said with reference to the old barn, he also enter- 

 tained a great respect for it, and would wish that it 

 should still be kept on. He then entered into a detailed 

 description of his experimental crops and manuring, 

 which we hope to give hereafter. He highly compli- 

 mented Mr. Lawes for his practical knowledge, stating 

 that he (Mr. Huxtable) was unable to approach him, 

 although he had tried ; but the fact was, he had begun 

 at the wrong end, for his friend had taken up practice 

 before theory, while he had taken theory previous to 

 practice. 



Dr. Gilbert alluded to his connection with Mr. Lawes 

 for the last twelve years, and spoke on the rotation of 

 crops and the feeding of animals. He thought that 

 every intelligent farmer ought in his own locality to en- 

 deavour to act on Mr. Lawes's plan, and become to a 

 certain extent an experimental agriculturist. 



Sir J. M. Tylden referred to the unfortunate state of 



Home Correspondence, 



Chaffcnttcr. We have received the following testi- 

 mony to the merits of Memn. Richmond and Chandler 9 ! 

 chaffcutter :— 1 have for the last 20 tears used varioue 

 cutting machines, hut not until la j have I tried the 

 above, the result of which, with steam or horse-power, 

 is wonderful, and, deem it my duty to the public to make 

 this statement. Previously to using this machine, chop- 

 ping was a great labour and titrable, but now 1 can cut 

 very near a ton per hour. I do not keep any racks in 

 my stables, so that every particle is cut and eat up 

 clean, which is a great saving. Jknj. Tl Jeer, Mirjkld^ 

 Yorfah ire. 



Mangold and Pig Feedv —I see that doubts and 

 inquiries are afloat respecting the merits of Mangold 

 Wurzel for breeding sows. I have had it given to sowa 

 and stock pigs where we kept from 20 to 30 sows, and 

 never had but one case of their miscarriage during six 

 years either from that or any other cause ; and they 

 were fed on that alone except while they were suckling 

 their young, when they had a few boiled ones and bran 

 mixed with them, given a little warm, three times a day, 

 but they also had a supply of raw ones beside them, 

 which they enjoyed all the time. But as my state- 

 ment seems a little strong it may be as well to 

 state that they had them all the year, as we manage to 

 make the old meet the new. The effect might have 

 been very different had they been given only at times, 

 especially when the sows were with young. The breeds 

 were some of all sorts, but mostly the spotted Berkshire 

 and white Chinese. They all kept themselves in good 

 condition with nothing else but water, when the weather 

 was very dry and warm ; hut it is well to mention all 

 the drawbacks, though they may have nothing to do 

 with the feeding. Sometimes the young, after weaning, 

 got apparently too fat, and we lost some of them ; they 

 were what we called " bloated," and at last were unable 

 to move freely. But this, 1 think, was more the fault 

 of the breed, as only the white were affected in this 

 way. O. &, July 16. 



Agricultural Statistics. — As the resistance to fill up 

 returns on the part of so many farmers residing in the 

 counties selected for trial, makes it evident that there 

 will be considerable difficulty in obtaining satisfactory 

 data on the voluntary syst u to give atiy results that 

 can be depended on, it may be worth while to ask if a 

 compulsory system is to be adopted whether annual 

 returns will be worth the trouble and expense of all the 

 items selected for inquiry, or whether in respect to such 

 matters as " Flax, Hops, Osiers, bare- fallow, permanent 

 pasture, irrigated meadows, woods and commons," a 

 period of 10 years might not safely be allowed to elapse 

 before every farmer in the kingdom was again troubled 

 with such questions, and we will go further and say the 

 same of live stock of all sorts, which do not, except on 

 rare occasions, suffer sudden diminution or increase, 

 and cannot be of more importance to the country than 

 the number of people requiring them for food or labour. 

 By thus reducing the dimensions of the papers to be 

 filled up and simplifying the process to a statement of 

 the production ot corn and Potatoes, so that half a dozen 

 columns might be presented instead of 40, the objections 

 to such a system would probably cisappear, or be 

 evidently so absurd as to be no longer tenable, for after 

 all the real and pressing necessity of an annual return 

 is referrible mainly to the price of Wheat, by ascer- 

 taining how far our own production is available for the 

 nation's food, and how much therefore we shall need to 

 be procured elsewhere. This is the grand plea for 

 agricultural statistics, and we can imagitie no sufficient 

 reason for any intelligent well-disposed man to withhold 

 the desired answers to the questions of how many acres 

 of each kind ci corn and roots he may grow, or even of 

 how many bushels of one kind and tons of another he 

 may grow, as a public question of the highest import to 

 the nation. The nation has a right to be furnished with 

 this information annually, but as to the numerous and 

 (to many persons) perplexing queries about wastes and 

 gardens and Cabbages, and *■ rking oxen, why let them 

 be included in the census, when every master of *> family 

 may expect a goodly pamphlet of most ** questionable 

 shape," which will require most scholarly endowments 

 to reply to, and which dt mauds almost a 10 years* study 

 to write down clearly in good faith. /. JKj 

 borouoh. 



Peter- 



