a 



503 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



P^r 28, 1855. 



lightenment of the locality in which for the season 

 it may collect together the cream of our agricultural 

 excellencies ; and every one will admit that Cum- 

 berland presents a fine field for such improvement. 

 From the railway, as we approached the great 

 Tortex of the week's attraction, how we admired the 

 forward healthy plant of Turnips, while the crops in 

 the south have been miserably eaten by the fly ! 

 But this is an advantage from the moist climate, 

 which works with a greater power against the corn 

 fields ; and while producing rich and luxuriant pas- 

 tures, soaks the arable land, rendering its drainage 

 costly and its husbandry difficult. And when we 

 examine into the condition of the farming, we dis- 

 cover no adequate means in use for counteracting 

 these disadvantages ; drainage is scantily performed, 

 high farming in low repute, drills but little used, 

 three bushels of corn per acre the ordinary seeding, 

 hoeing and weeding most imperfectly attended to, 

 threshing machines and iron field implements com- 

 paratfvely new. Some Cumberland gentlemen told 

 Mr. Mechi, after his lecture at Carlisle on Saturday, 

 that high farming, though ju*t the thing at Tiptree, 

 was not suited to their northerly climate ; but that 

 gentleman very judiciously begged of his large and 

 attentive audience of farmers to try what Rape-cake 

 and other food fertilisers can accomplish for them ; 

 to devote a little more study to the husbandry of 

 straw manure, the cleaning of land, liquid-manuring, 

 the employment of steam power, &c, and at least, 

 to try (as he had done) some land in each corn field 

 with one bushel of seed, just to find whether^ 

 thinner seeding than the lavish three bushels will 

 not answer as well. 



With a state of agriculture far behind the model 

 management which obtains on the first-rate Ne- 

 therby estate of Sir James Graham, and in some 

 points reminding a stranger of his neighbourhood to 

 wild fells and mountains, where cultivation is of a 

 low order because of little extent and importance, 

 every one will admit that much local good must 

 arise from the spectacle of the past week. We have 

 heard expressions of admiration from Cumberland 

 farmers at the work and workmanship of the com- 

 peting ploughs, the best of the paring implements, 

 the more efficient reaping machines, the drills, the 

 harrows, the cultivators, the horse-hoes, rakes, hay- 

 makers, and Turnip- thinners. We have heard ex- 

 pressions of wonder and approbation at the mar- 

 vellous feats of threshing and dressing machines, 

 chaff-cutters, Turnip-slicers, and the various orders 

 of farm-yard machinery. And besides this, the 

 appearance of the " real live steam cultivators," 

 smoking and delving ill their fields, must set many 

 a mind speculating upon the principles involved in 

 tillage, and the possible future now glimmering upon 

 our national agriculture. 



Concerning the general character of the Show, we 

 may say that the cause of the Implement depart- 

 ment being one-fifth short in number, may be ex- 

 plained by reference to the great distance between 

 Carlisle and the regions where our chief makers find 

 their customers ; and the live stock, being one-fifth 

 in excess, made up for any want of interest in the 

 Show. The horses formed a grand exhibition by 

 themselves ; and the special classes for Scotch 

 cattle and Cheviot sheep were everything that could 

 be expected. Upon the whole, we may congratulate 

 the Society upon a remarkable and most triumphant 

 anniversary, inviting the attention of our readers to 

 detailed reports of every portion of the proceedings. 



Home Correspondence. 



Sewage Manure.— The deposit from town sewage, 

 once so highly prized, and supposed to be of great value, 

 has suddenly fallen in the estimation of agriculturists, 

 and is now deemed scarcely worth carting on to the land. 

 Opinion has changed in consequence of analysis showing 

 that a large portion of the fertilising properties runs to 

 waste in a liquid state, and what remains as a solid is 

 insoluble, and therefore useless as regards vegetation. 

 Without in the slightest degree presuming to throw a 

 doubt upon the experiments that have been tried in the 

 laboratory, may it not be possible, amongst the variety 

 of soils which a farmer has to cultivate, differing as 

 they do in almost every acre, that some hidden ingre- 

 dients may be ready to convert what seems worthless to 

 the chemist into food for vegetable life ? So many dis- 

 coveries having taken place in the chemical world, which 

 a few years ago were never thought of, that agriculturists 

 need not despair of sewage deposit coming into favour. 

 Dressing with the liquid manure of towns being so 

 costly, and limited to a certain extent round each locality, 

 and the solid deposit having been pronounced of little 

 value, the best and richest manure in the country is, 

 somehow or other, thrown away without a chance of 

 becoming beneficial to farmers and gardeners. Of 

 what is the dung-heap composed ? It consists of 

 the refuse of the food of animals, after haviug con- 

 tributed to make muscle, blood, fat, &c, mixed with 

 straw, ashes, sweepings, and with many other odds and 

 ends. What is town refuse ? A compost stronger in every 

 respect, and better calculated to enrich the land ; yet 

 it is permitted to float away, by which millions of pounds 

 are lost to the nation. No doubt there are difficulties 



experiments commenced wi*h mrtAU 

 machines, their required motive power^e! 



tiittjjj 



Amos's dynamometer, and their ^f^Xftg 

 mg and winnowing by the state in whicTtL* ^ 

 the gram and straw of both Wheat and BmE 8 ^* 

 trials continued up to Wednesday at niw^ 7 ' ^ 

 pursued after the usual manner A «T* ^ *** 

 selected to drive the whole, which \hi s veTr Si! n ^> 



of Hornsby & Son. One hundred sheaves of U^! 

 ?^^^ d i^!?^^ a . n «P* "umber 5? 





year fell to fcu 



sheaves, and the prize is to be iwari^tbTnS!! 

 « that will best prepare the com for the 225? 

 dressing machine 1 ' in the portable machined? 

 and in the fixed machine class for the machin.?^ 

 will best prepare the corn for market." WhyLftf 

 ference we know not. It leaves a wide ques : 

 which has given rise to difficulties already. The JS? 

 as well as all other trials of power, have beeanaZv 

 Mr. Amos's admirable « Testing Machines" We 

 very delighted to know that he has effected a am £ 

 provement in these machines during the year X <2 

 is lost now in applying weights, as to the oldieur TV 

 new « totihaateur " applied by Mr. Amos renin fe 

 " weights 1 unnecessary ; and every unit of power « 

 during the experiment is recorded upon the"dUlTrf 

 the apparatus, and are read off in the easiest manner 

 By removing the crank and fly-wheel, and subsuwjJ 

 a pulley, the apparatus was driven by a steam «^ 

 and in its turn drove the steam chaff-cutters. The tzab 

 were quickly despatched, and in the most satisfan 

 manner. Ainslie's machine for brickmaking came aexj 

 before us ; the bricks were Veil made from began 

 to end. The chaff cutters were next tried by a sniff 

 " testing machine," but much time was lost for winttf 



in the way of saving this mine of wealth, but with the L another of capacity to try engines between large 



mechanical resources of the kingdom, aided by wealth threshing machines and such smaller things u ttae, 



lying idle (report says the money market is apoplectic), and the judges were idling for hours waiting fbrtbrir 



it is a reflection upon the industry and perseverance of use. We hope the Royal Agricultural Society i 



the British subject to publish to the world his inability ~" 



to make use of the best description of manure, because 



he cannot devise an inexpensive plan of carrying it on 



to the land. — Mangold Wurzel is most valuable food for 



pigs of all ages from March till August. In the winter 



it should be boiled and mixed with grains. Falcon. 



£ octettes* 



England will see to this before the Chelmsford 



On Saturday the yard judges were busily occupied 

 both with portable and fixed barn-works, and wii 

 numerous chaff cutters. On Monday and Tuesday the 

 threshing and dressing machines, chaff cutters, oilcake 

 breakers, grinding mills, Linseed crushers, Turnip 

 slicers and pulpers, &c, occupied the attention of tin 

 judges, who decided as to quality of work performed, 

 and of the Society's active engineer, Mr. Amos, and hia 

 coadjutor Mr. Appold, who ascertained the amount (I 

 power absorbed in the various operations. 



As the details of these experiments will anMir in 



due course in the Society's Journal, we hasten to 

 ment upon the more interesting trials in the fiefcl 

 Respecting these, we have to complain of the ineoB- 

 venence to exhibitors and to the public of a want of 



Ihe very heavy rains of the past week have done 

 considerable damage already in beating down Wheat 

 which is as much laid wherever we have seen it or 

 received accounts, as any Wheat crop probably that 

 has of late years been harvested. If it is much 

 prolonged there can be no doubt of .serious injury 

 being sustained. We hope during the next few 

 weeks to publish full reports of harvest prospects. 



The Secretary of the Manchester Society of 

 Guardians for the Protection of Trade advises ns 

 that it is advisable to warn advertisers of Poultry 

 and other live stock of the risk they run in attending 

 to orders without some knowledge of those from 

 whom they are received. He tell us that during the 

 past week he has stopped some 401. or 50/. worth of 

 Cochin China fowls and other things on their way 

 to men of known character in the neighbourhood of 

 Manchester. People winning prizes, as some of 

 tiiose sending these birds had done recently at 



Kf7' 1 V Crt ! Se tJ ? em > and are too eageV to 

 attend to orders to make the preliminary inquiries 

 which are necessary ; and, generally speaking, these 

 ad ver Users are not members of Guardian Societies! 

 often retired gentlemen, officers, and their servants 

 who perhaps never heard of such societies, Ed who 



order and arrangement in the proceedings— no 

 knowing to a day, much less to an hour, when tali 

 plement was to be tried ; and the delay attending* 

 various changes from One class of implements to urn* 

 giving rise to continual complaints, and the disapp* 

 ment of the great company of spectators that w ™fJ 

 sometimes in a pouring rain, in search of the right Dil^ 

 or waited with exceeding patience until their m 

 came for witnessing the particular operation Wjm 

 come to see. Crowds of people assembled on foe wrwg 

 days to behold the great novelty of steam .cmJ" ' 

 and many, after a weary Monday spent in *«^ 

 minor trials, and when on their way home, le ^T 

 the reaping machines were to work at 5 o clott, 

 had to attenuate their strength and temper ***"T| 

 longer, or else lose the sight. One exhibitor raB«w 

 to us, when after 10 o'clock the implements tad » 

 started, « This is different to Lincoln, where ** 

 at work by 7 o'clock in the morning " 



The 

 a piece of heavy 



paring implements or scarifiers were trrjj 

 ! of heavy lea ground, and neither Uienn- 

 Ransome's Biddell succeeded in their attempt" 

 off a thin stratum of sward. Bentall s we. fc 

 broadsharer, however, thoroughly accompiw 



purpose. 



CAKLISLE MEETING OF THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL 



SOCIETY OF ENGLAND. 



Account of the Yard and Field Trials of Engines, 

 Implements, and Machinery, July 23.— On Thursday 

 at noon began the trial of steam-engines, including nine 

 portable and 10 fixed engines, and the result has been 

 the most extraordinary ever yet known, Messrs. Tuxford 

 and Son's portable engine having consumed a less weight 

 of coal per horse-power per hour, than any other engine 

 exhibited at any of the Society's Shows. It worked for 

 3| hours with 1 cwt. of coal, i.e., at the rate of 3| lbs. 

 of coal per horse power. And that this may be com- 

 pared with the trials of last year, we just enumerate a 

 few of the most successful results obtained at Lincoln : — 

 Hornsby & Co., 4.55 lbs. per horse power ; Rains - 

 den's, 5.1 ; Clayton & Shuttle worth, 5.19 ; Garrett, 

 6.62 ; Tuxford & Son, 6.42, up to .others which con- 

 sumed 12 and 13 lbs. of coal per horse power per hour. 

 What a saving will be effected if Messrs. Tuxford's 

 results at Carlisle can be realised generally, any one 

 who has calculated the cost of a horse per hour may 

 easily determine. 



The other competitors with Messrs. Tuxford, who 

 approached the nearest to them, were (1) Messrs. Clay- 

 ton, (2) Barrett, (3) Hornsby — their engines consuming 



respectively 4.05, 4.42, and 4.83 lbs. per hour per horse 

 power. 



The two last put upon trial were BoydelPs traction 

 engine, a most unwieldy affair, and Usher's engine 

 attached to his steam plough ; these were, however, 

 not in competition for the prize, but to try their powers 

 of draft. Those put into competition were divided into 

 two classes— the portable steam engine and the fixed 

 steam engine ; for both classes prizes are offered. 

 There were nine competitors for the portable engine 

 class, i.e., Messrs. Crosskill & Son ; Ransomes & Sims ; 

 Clayton, Shuttle worth, & Co. ; Garrett & Son ; Tuxford 

 & Son ; Boydell & Glazier ; Barrett, Exall, & An- 

 drews ; Hornsby & Son ; and J. Lee, of Walsall ; for 

 fixed engines the competitors were Hornsby & Son ; 

 Clayton & Co. ; Barrett & Co. ; Dray & Co. ; Holmes 

 & Son ; Ransomes & Sims ; Gray & Co. ; Tuxford 

 & Sons ; and Smith Brothers, whose place of precedence 

 was arranged by ballot. The judges of this class were 

 Mr. J. V. Gouch, C.E., Engineer to the Eastern Counties 

 Railway, and Mr. W. Owen, C.E., of Rotherham, whose 

 decisions appeared to give general satisfaction. We 

 may mention that in Tuxford's engine the cylinder is 

 placed in a house above the crank shaft instead of 

 below; and the neatness and compactness of the 

 arrangement of all the working parts, the manner in 

 which they are sheltered from dirt, and yet most ready 

 of access, were admired by all who inspected it We 

 must say, however, that we should much prefer the 

 well-known flue boilers made by this firm for dura- 

 bility and farm-yard wear. Messrs. Clayton & Shuttle- 

 worth's engine obtained the 2d prize for the 8-horse 

 engine, which consumed 4 lbs. of coal per horse-power 

 per hour. stones exist to make it jump, w ""^" ofl ~ 



On Friday the engine trials were concluded, and the and easier than it was on this oc 



. i 



plo 



bs*" 



Ploughs.— Eleven « general purpose Jr?^ 

 placed in competition upon the "light land , ^ 

 this was a field of stiff loam, covered with » »«^ ^ 

 sward of Grass and Clover. AH but _ one ■ ^ 

 ploughs, and more than half the ™*^ * ^t* 

 ploughs! Very few minutes sufficed to ^^ » 

 great advantage of double wheels, and tne ^ 



long and very gradual mouldboards. B*n«J£ ^ 



Ball, and Busby, * « rst "^Jg . *** rf 

 however, the contest became evidently arq* ^ 

 that last year, the first two makere bemg^^ 

 competitors. Ultimately, we believe, me n ^ ^ 

 of practical observers was in bfl 'our « ^ 

 evenly laid furrow slice, and sttarp i 

 by Howard's plough. The prize jfJJ^rf *J 

 awarded to it. The dynamometer J* apP ^ *£ 

 gave nearly an equal evidence for each ^of* ^ ^ 

 ments. Everybody adm.red the neata«j ^ 

 the skim coulters enabled the ploughs ^ * 



blade of vegetation, and still » . t , ]0se pWTJ 



■0 



Indeed 



I*. 



tightly and in workmanlike 9t ). le -- J'^ddiuon, **£ 

 unfortunately without this admirable ^ ^ ^* 



to work upon the principle of *»«£« 

 sheep after^he.ploughing = eonduded 



Cotgreave's ingenious trencmu,, v tolD ly v**~ 

 action'upon the slme lea groun d and c^ ^ 

 the top soil, and brought up and spr ^ j^fcjjj 



of the subsoil, going ^ff % wr *»>*£* 

 Its motion in an alluvjal clay or^j ^ ^ ipp- 



