86 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



ept. 1, 1855. 



Wheat crop in High Suthdk to be very good indeed. 



My own cuts up very good, far better than 1 had any 

 idea of. , 



Since our remarks were published on the chloro- 

 tised Oats received from Lancashire, our correspond- 

 ent has kindly forwarded additional examples, with 

 the promise of ripe seed on some future opportunity. 

 He confirms our conjecture that the original evil 

 was in the seed, inasmuch as the ridges in the very 

 same field, which grew from some of his own seed, 

 are quite free from disease ; and a further proof is 

 afforded by the fact that in two distant fields of very 

 different texture, and at a considerable distance, the 

 crop is similarly affected. We shall hope to make 

 an experiment with the seed of some of the diseased 

 plants next year, in order to ascertain positively 

 whether the "affection is capable of being propagated 

 by sowing. Should this notion be confirmed, there 

 will be increased ground for carefulness in the selec- 

 tion of seed, either from ocular inspection of the crop 

 when growing, or from confidence in the character 

 of the party from whom it is purchased. M. J. B. 



In further considering the causes of Fertility 

 and Barrennkss in Soils, W€ come to the second 

 division of the subject, which relates to what science 

 has ascertained upon the subject. And in the outset 

 we may remark that its teachings, too, are the result 

 of observation. It is too much the custom among 

 farmers to regard science as synonymous with mere 

 speculation and theory, than which nothing can be 

 more unjust to scientific men. Science is just 

 classified experience — the results of observation 

 arranged, or rather the truth which those results 

 when so ordered illustrate and exhibit. That which 

 is true in any particular case becomes a truth when 

 in a multitude of cases it has been observed, and 

 scientific truth may certainly be depended on so 

 much the more for the wide basis of observed 



The ears 



und, and the straw quite bright. 



for your inspection are a very fair specimen 

 whole ; and they are so bulky and well filled that I think 

 you will agree with me and many others that we are 

 not far wrong in stimatiug the yield at 6* quarters. 



A report like this, without an ulterior object, would 

 be valueless and obtrusive. But I conceive there are 

 circumstances connected with these results which are 

 generally interesting and conclusive as to more than 

 one point in this theory of growing Wheat. 



The leading point in this theory is, that if with ' a 

 deepened and pulverised fallow interval a due supply 

 of mineral food be provided for the Wheat plant, the 

 atmosphere will abundantly provide the organic 

 portion ; and that clays and loams generally, though 

 not universally, do afford this requisite mineral supply. 



The safe theory, further, is, that on soils which do not 

 contain all or any of the mineral constituents of the 

 Wheat plant, every such deficiency must be supplied 

 from without. 





When these conditions are fulfilled, the experience 

 of many years has taught me that, for this plan of grow- 

 ing Wheat, land cannot be too much exhausted of its 

 organic elements of fertility ; exhausted, that is, of 

 previous manuring, or of that which — so to speak — 

 naturally exists in the soil from the decay of animal or 



vegetable matter. 



And now to the proof. I have said that the crop on 

 the clay land was the best and heaviest I have ever had 

 — I may even add that it was the best crop of Wheat 

 I ever saw anywhere. And yet it was the tenth crop 

 in succession on a great portion on the same acre of 

 land, that original portion being the best of the whole. 

 Why was it the best crop \ Simply because the land 

 (referring to the original piece) was comparatively 

 exhausted in the sense I spoke of before. And if the 

 proof be required, not from mere reasoning, but from 

 fact, it is here : The fresh portion of this piece of land 



i send entrance of the Crinan Canal, we found a nrst-rate~hoteT 

 of the and posting establishment. The farm we visited is 



situated about six miles from the inn, on the high road 

 to Oban. It is called Killinochanoch, and is the pro- 

 perty of Neil Malcolm, Esq., of Poltalloch, who has a 

 very large landed property in the neighbourhood, and 

 whose splendid mansion, Calton Mhor, occupies a con- 

 spicuous place in the distant landscape. The farm 

 steading is placed on a rising ground at the base of a 

 hill, and immediately in front of it a vast extent of flat peat 

 Moss is being [gradually brought into cultivation. 

 We believe it was principally with a view to the pro- 

 fitable improvement of this Moss that the experiment of 

 the liquid manure system was commenced. We found 

 two houses or byres for feeding cattle, and one house 

 for sheep, all of which, together with the stables, house, 

 and other farm buildings and dung courts, are drained 

 into a small tank, and from thence the liquid is pumped 

 up by water-power into a large reservoir on the hill 

 above to an elevation of 100 feet. There are here two 

 tanks, one for a reservoir, the other a mixing tank. A 

 large reservoir of water fed by a small mountain stream 

 at a still higher level completes the arrangement. 

 From the mixing tank the liquid is conveyed in 3-inch 

 iron pipes to the fields on the flat below by gravitation, 

 and there applied by means of gutta percha 2-inch hose. 

 There are at present about 67 acres under pipes. The 

 whole of the buildings are built of stone and lime, with 

 slated roofs and cast iron posts, and appear most sub- 

 stantial, without any needless expense in ornament or 

 finish. The cattle sheds labour under the disadvan- 



I 



tage of not having been built originally for the liquid 

 system, but are, nevertheless, very complete. One 

 byre 34 feet wide contained 66 head of cattle, in two 

 rows of 33. A feeding passage ran along the centre 

 6 feet 6 inches wide, paved with asphalte. The cattle 

 are tied in single stalls 3 feet wide, with a stone division 

 between each 3 inches thick, 3 feet 6 inches high, and 



The length of the stall is 8 feet from the 



had been manured for a root crop two years ago, and J 3 feet long. _ 



was added at that time to the ; feeding passage to the heel drain, including the feeding 





When the chemist states 



more 



facts on which it rests. 



that phosphoric acid and ammonia are essential to 



the fertility of a soil, it is no mere fancy that he is 



teaching ; but a truth which he has laboriously 

 ascertained by the chemical examination of a mul- 

 titude of natural soils, and the agricultural trial of 

 many artificial ones.. And so, with every other 

 truth in agricultural chemistry, and in the geology 

 and botany of agriculture — in its mechanics too — 

 men who are acquainted with these several sciences 

 may be trusted by the farmer as teaching facts, 

 when announcing scientific truth. If they go 

 beyond this, and recommend a course of practice in 

 the field because it appears to them to be founded 

 upon this truth, then indeed they may be criticised 

 and doubted. The truth they teach, no doubt, 

 will ultimately influence practice ; but they may 

 not know how to make it influential : all they have 

 to do is to teach it independently, and let cultivators 

 find out how to use it. Farmers will turn it to a 

 profit ultimately ; but this, in order to be safe, 

 must he a work of time, and in the commencement 

 of the process it is a wise determination to attack 

 the giant difficulty with the usual sling and stone, 

 rather than trust to weapons that have not been 

 proved. Just as certainly, however, as "sling and 

 stone" have disappeared before the exhibition of 

 better modes and instruments of warfare, must 

 former practice yield where it is faulty before those 

 truths which chemists teach, and which must make 

 themselves felt whether in the inert soil or in 

 the living plant and animal. 



Perhaps the best way of communicating what 

 science teaches in reference to fertility in soils is to 

 consider (1), plants as beings needing food under 

 particular circumstances as to temperature and 

 moisture ; and (2), soils as a combination of labora- 

 tory, warehouse, and machine, by means of which 

 this food is manufactured, stored, and administered. 

 It is the latter division of the subject especially 

 that we wish to discuss. Fertility depends, according 

 to this illustration of it, upon the ability of a soil 

 to manufacture, store, and administer food for plants, 

 and to these points respectively we shall in future 

 articles address ourselves. 



trough, which is 2 feet wide and 1 foot 2 inches high. 

 The first 3 feet of pavement in the stalls are of brick, 

 the next as far as the heel drain are of asphalte, but 

 above this last is a flooring of wood, in spars 4 inches 

 wide, 3 inches thick, and 2 inches apart, with a 9-inch 

 drop into the h eel drain, which is 2 feet wide, and the 

 manure passage, which is 4 feet 4 inches wide. We ob- 

 served that the feeding trough, which is formed of 

 asphalte in a semicylindrical shape, runs the whole 

 length of the byre without division, and the water is let 

 in by means of a tap at one end. The supply of water 

 is ample, and the pressure being great, the whole is 

 kept very clean by means of hose and jet. 



Another byre contained tyings for 66 cattle on the 

 same principle. These sheds are ventilated by means 

 of sliding wooden spars, which run along the whole of 

 one side, and there are no roof lights ; consequently, 

 when the slides are closed there is but little light. This 

 was done purposely, to keep the beasts quiet, and keep 



away flies in summer. 



There was a house for feeding sheep, which seemed 

 very well adapted to its purpose, and at the same time 

 not expensive. The roof was slated, and supported on 

 iron posts, 100 feet long by 20 feet wide ; the side walls, 

 7 feet high, were built with stone and lime to the height 



LOIS WEEDON WHEAT GROWING. 



To the Editor of the Agricultural Gazette* 



DearSie, — I very willingly comply with your request 

 for a report u with especial reference to the standing of 

 my Wheat crops and the brightness of the straw.'" 



That on the four acre gravel piece, carried on the 

 18th, was excellent, the straw perfectly bright and 

 upstanding, with a slight bend from the weight of the 

 ears from west to east ; and you will judge of the 

 quality of the Wheat from the accompanying sample of 

 Lammas and Bristol red. 



The crop on the home piece of clay land, carried 

 to-day, was the best and heaviest I have ever had, 

 standing so thick that it shut out the intervals, and 

 seemed to cover the whole land ; not at all down, with 

 the exception of a few yards, which did not touch the 



on an after thought 

 original piece and sown with Wheat ; and all that fresh 

 portion was fearfully blighted last year, and the original 

 portion was comparatively clean. Comparatively clean, 

 for, as a further confirmation of the fact, out of the 

 triple rows the two outer lines which had readier access 

 into the intervals were damaged, while each middle 

 row was sound. That the original piece was blighted 

 at all was owing to the sort of Wheat grown (Payne's 

 bearded Wheat) which is unsuited to this deep mode of 

 cultivation on clays and heavy loams. 



With regard to this year's crop on the clay, the line 

 was distinctly marked to a foot between the old portion 

 and the new, the former being bright as fine gold, while 

 the latter was late and discoloured, and only saved from 

 mildew by the extraordinary season. 



The 4-acre piece of light gravelly loam is thoroughly 

 exhausted of organic food, having now borne five crops 

 in succession after Wheat in the ordinary four-course 

 rotation. Finding it deficient also in a due supply of 

 mineral ingredients for the Wheat, a portion of it before 

 the last sowing was dressed with clay. On the portion 

 not dressed with clay, the crop was weak, and that por- 

 tion of the field I am now supplying with mineral food 



by similar means. 



As a proof that a due supply of mineral substances 

 was wanting in that portion, and that mineral food alone of 3 feet, and above that were carried up to the eaves 

 was required, I must here state that the field being foul with wooden spars 6 inches wide and 1 inch thick, one 



half of which is made to slide in a groove on small iron 

 wheels, so as to admit or exclude light and air at 

 pleasure, the same as in the cattle house. A feeding 

 passage 4 feet wide ran down the centre, paved with 

 asphalte, and on either side were the sheep pens, raised 

 30 inches from the ground, and floored with wooden 

 spars 1 inch apart, so that all the manure passed through 

 the openings on to the asphalte pavement beneath, 

 which sloped towards an open gutter bounding the 

 feeding passage for its whole length, from thence passing 

 through iron gratings into a drain beneath, which again 

 conveyed the whole into the receiving tank. A feeding 

 trough ran along the whole front of the pens next to 

 the feeding passage, and a smaller one with a continuous 

 stream of "water at the back. The rails which kept the 

 sheep in the pens in front were ingeniously contrived, 

 by being hung on pivots to move from the front to tn« 

 back of the feeding trough, in order to be able to fall or 

 to clean them without interruption from the sheep- 

 The whole cost of this building was not more than 1W. 

 or about 1 1, the running foot. The feeding of sheep WJ 

 been most successful We were sorry to observe tn* 

 the late winter had been too severe for the Italian Kj - 

 grass, the greater part had been destroyed—a tmj»o 

 always to be apprehended in severe winters irom i « 

 character of the soil, improved peat Moss, which irw 

 its spongy nature, although admirably adapted ,or ^ 



i 



with a century's filth, T pared the stubble before sowing 

 and burnt it together with the weeds on that particular 

 portion ; and wherever the heaps were burnt, neces- 

 sity leaving on those spots more ashes than were 

 spread elsewhere, there the crop was the heaviest and 

 highest by 6 or 8 inches. 



As a proof that exhausted land is best suited to this 

 plan of growing Wheat, being a security, to a great ex- 

 tent, against mildew and a bad sample, there is the fact 

 that the wljole crop of this original 4-acre piece, both 

 last year and this, was good in straw and in grain, while 

 an added piece of about two chain, which had been 

 manured for roots, and was in Wheat two years ago, 

 was badly mildewed the first year, and barely escaped 



it this, 



I have presumed to make public these details of 



growing Wheat without manure, because I cannot con- 

 sider it otherwise than a matter of some public in- 

 terest. For if out of an arable farm, say of 400 

 acres, a farmer could thus grow Wheat with profit year 

 after year successively, without manure, on the same 

 hundred acres ; if he could thus grow his most paying 

 crop, which, on this plan, neither requires nor will bear 

 to be forced, he would have his great want supplied, 

 and be enabled to dress the remainder of his farm more 

 abundantly for those other crops, which will not only 

 bear it, but, in most cases, absolutely require it. S. 

 Smith, Lois Weedon, A ugust 28. 





A 



SKETCH OF PIPE IRRIGATION 



SCOTLAND, June, 1855. 



IN 



mor 



(Continved from p. 571). 



The next farm steading we visited was in Argyleshire. 

 Taking a passage in the steamer which leaves every 

 rning at 7 o'clock, we sailed down the Clyde, aud 

 through the Kyles of Bute to Ardrishaig, on Loch Fyne, 

 arriving about noon. To those who do not know this 

 locality, we can only say that the earlier they make 

 themselves acquainted with it the better. The whole 

 sail is a continued series of pictures, mountain, wood, 

 and water, in endless variety of combination. At 

 t-Ardrishaier* which is a small village situated at the 



Italian Grass in summer by imbibing large quanu i 

 of the liquid manure, is on this very account ill aaa iV 

 for it in the winter, the young plant being apt to 

 thrown out of the ground by the expansion f 1 ^ 



consequent upon the alternations ot se> 

 \.,..„».;„ Thi* ov«fem beinff here onij 



This system being 



traction 



frost and warm sunshine. »— r< , y hut so 



in its infancy no pecuniary results can be given, o 

 far as it went last year on a small scale it paia *> 

 ciently well to justify its extension, and it is no* ' «* • 

 carried out on a much larger scale. The tanks 

 constructed to contain 275,000 gallons, and there a* 

 houses for cattle and sheep, besides horses, &c. 



Our next visit was to an establishment wlncli we i» 

 heard much spoken of in the same county. * i 

 situated in the island of Luing on t«e property 01 



