61 



THE AGRICULTURAL' GAZETTE 



16, 1S55 



and such as would not be 



But the former 



That 



enormous quantity 



supplied by several tons of guano. 



power which lime is believed to confer upon the 



soil, that of facilitating the absorption of ammonia 



from the air, is altogether new to agricultural theory, 



and though not vet certainly establ ■ hed by Professor 



WAY'sexperimentsisrendered probable by the results 



of very many of them, and it is consistent (in a 



somewhat singular manner) with known chemical 



analogies. 



This connection of lime with the absorptive 

 powers of soils leads us to the last topic we shall 

 have to treat of in enumerating the causes of 

 fertility which science has ascertained. This power 

 of the soil to remove from their solutions ammonia, 

 potash, lime, &c, which in the first of theie par- 

 ticulars had been observed by Mr. Thompson, of 

 Moat Hall, has been investigated with the most 

 valuable results, as has long been well known to the 

 agricultural world, by Mr. Way. His writings in 

 the Journal of the English Agricultural Society 

 must, of course, be consulted by those who wish to 

 learn fully the nature and the sources of this 

 obviously important power in fertile soils, 

 barrenness must for the most part follow the absence 

 of this power in soils is plain — for plants cannot be 

 dependent on the daily attention of the farmer to sup- 

 ply them with food. As a general rule, if that is given 

 once a year it is the most the cultivator can effect ; 

 and it is well that in the soil itself there are means for 

 retaining what is given it till the plant requires it. 

 These absorptive powers are no mere function of 

 the whole soil, arising out of texture, &c. but 

 seem to be dependent on the presence of certain 

 substances in it, so that the addition of these sub- 

 stances will remove any infertility arising out of 

 any deficiency of these power- But the principal 

 result of Mr. Way's investigation maybe best given 

 in his own words : " Soils were found to possess in a 

 greater or less decree the power of removing from 

 Solution in wafer certain animal and vegetable sub- 

 stances, but still more the alkaline bases, ammonia 

 and potash, and the earths, magnesia and lime. 

 These bases the soils were capable of separating 

 from their salts, and retaining more or less in spite 

 of the action of water. It was afterwards disco- 

 vered that a certain class of artificial double alkaline 

 silicates had a similar power, and for several reasons 

 it was concluded that it was to the presence of por- 

 tions of these double silicates thaf soils owed the 

 power in question." That is the main fact which 

 Mr. Wat's researches have determined. Upon the 

 relation of lime to this faculty of the soil, he further 

 says : " It was observed that an ordinary soil had 

 the power of collecting from the air and incorpo- 

 rating with itself gaseous carbonate of ammonia in 

 the atmosphere with which the soil was in contact 

 and as in the previous esse the ac on was referred 



of the whole 



available for this purpose, and vet 

 m; j of mineral matter concern I in this manufac- 

 ture not onlv doe- he find that it is thinly spread, 

 some 6 or 8 inches thick, in a layer over an enor- 

 mous surface, and there washed annually by four 

 times its own bulk of one of the most powerful 

 natural solvents ; but that positively this naimfac- 

 u re is most productive, its produce largest, where 

 this solvent is permit r I to run through the land in 

 its escape down w. ids to the sea. Fresh from the 

 manipulations of the laboratory, acquainted with 



the processes by which precipitates are d» rived of 

 any soluble mixtures which they may contain, 

 having himself patiently superintended the washing 

 of earthy deposits on his filter, how is he to recon- 

 cile the assertion of science, that fertility depends 

 on the presence of soluble matter in the soil, with 

 that of practice that fertility depends very materially 

 upon your enabling the water which falls upon the 

 surface of the land to pass through its whole 

 thickness, and escape through channels in the sub 

 soil, Mr. Way has satisfactorily removed the 

 difficulty. Not only does rain water, when allowed 

 to traverse that thin layer out of which our food is 

 made, improve the underground climate, on which 

 as we have seen, the luxuriant growth of plants 

 materially depends — not only does it by its pas- 

 sage act as waiter at the repast, carrying food to the 

 roots of the growing plants— not only does it bring 

 to the soil the riches of the air, and so add to its 

 wealth as a well filled storeroom— not only does it 

 by the additions which it thus supplies and the 

 activity which drainage gives it, and its own solvent 

 power, make the whole an active laboratory in 

 which food for plants is being prepared for nse; but 

 its liability to waste the contents of this storeroom 

 and the products of this laboratory by the access 

 and egress which it possesses, is held in check by 

 these means which Professor Wat has so well in- 

 vestigated — so that a fertile soil i^ really not only 

 one of the pleasantest sights on which the eye can 

 rest, but one of the most beautiful specimens of 

 ingenious and conservative contrivance on which 

 the mind can dwell. 



hitherto mad. much progress among the agricultural 

 eoiuiminity, although sometimes BBS have seen it work 

 admirably. 



S. Ilussey's with Dray's improvement^ attached by 

 Gardner, of Stirling, exhibited by Mr. Forrester, of 

 8tewarthall. This machine wei through all ita work 

 very well indeed, especially the Oats ami Wheat It is 

 destitute of the latest improvement by Dray ; and we 

 were rather snrpr d at its being preferred before 

 Dray's own wiih the latest alterations, which are most 

 certunly improvements. However, its work was fully 



equal to anything on the field, and it took the second 

 prize. 



4. Dray's Hussey with the latest improvements. The 

 principle of these consists of a protecting shield of zinc 

 to secure the stray stalks from getting entangled with 

 the foot, and preventing the tilting table from being 

 wrought easily. The work which this machine made 

 was very fair. It was, if any tiling, a little defective 

 among the Beans— cutting we thought, through a mis- 

 take, too high. In the Wheat, which was very much 

 laid indeed, and in fact altogether the worst crop we 

 ever saw cut with machines, it did its duty well, and 



cut comparatively clean and smooth. This machine cut 

 a 1 read tli of 5 feet, and was much admired by the prac- 

 tical men present. A great many are in use among the 



agriculturists of this locality. 



M'Cormick's origiual, exhibited by Mr. Alexander, 

 of Taylortou. This machine has been wrought l>y Mr. 

 Alexander for a \ ear or two, and has given great satis- 

 faction. It performed its work in good style, only stop- 

 ping once or twice to be put in order. 



6. Dray'* llu-\. exl ited by Mr Maclaren, of 

 Craigton. This gentleman is the agent in this locality 

 for Dray's machines ; and the one he has had at work 

 on his own farm was used by him on this oeoasion. Its 

 work annate the Oats was admirable, while in the Beans 

 it did not cut so clean, but on the whole there was 



preVlOttS 



to the presence of one or other of these double sili- 

 cates in the soil : and then follows his reference 

 to the theory regarding the fe -dm: agency of 

 lime — its relations to the absorption of ammonia to 

 which we ;il hided 



GREA 



REAPING 



AT 



MACHIM 



STIRLING 



COMPETITION 





probable, but only to some 

 extent confirmed by the experiments that had been 

 made. Mr. Way goes on to sa • : " An essential 

 different e presented itself. Ammonia could he 



removed by soils from its solution in water, in 

 virtue of their containing either the double lime or 

 double soda silicate — the two substances of the claws 

 supposed to be met usually present ; whereas it 

 was found that the lime salt alone was capable of 

 removing ammonia from its atmospheric solvent 

 In several soils that I examined a good deal of 

 the double silicate of soda was p resen t, and it 

 wemed probable that 



probable 

 corresponding lime 

 into a better conri 



is presen 

 its conversion into the 

 salt would put tl soil 

 a better condition for absorbing ammonia 

 from the atmosphere. Now as the natural fer- 

 tility of soils is evidently in some very distind 

 way connected with this absorption of atmospheri< 

 ammonia, it will at once be seen that a very im- 

 portant part would thus be f ind for lime to play, 

 in enabling thp soil in a given time to absorb alar, r 

 amount of valuable alkali. In this view the appli- 

 cation of lime would in fact be indirectly a manuring 

 with ammonia.'* The reader must be referred for 

 a detailed explanation of this theory, and for a 

 recital of the experiments on which it is based, to 



Professor Wat's lecture in the 1 • volume of the 

 Journal. 



But we must not pursue this subject further- It 

 is chiefly, we may add in conclusion, by means of 

 this adm rably conducted research f Mr. Wat's 



into the absorptive properties of ami*, that an ex 



planation is giv 



This competition came off on Thursday last on the 

 adjoining farms of Stewarthall and Muirton, tenanted 

 respectively by Mr. Forrester and Mr. MacLaren. The 

 interest excited was not of course so great as in former 

 years, in consequence of this being the third competition 

 that has taken place here, and from the fact that no 

 new machine was on the ground. The place selected 

 for the competition was exceedingly est ment, and 

 very nearly the same as the ground that was travelled 



over last year. The crops in general were good, bu ?f 

 anything too ripe. This was especially applicable to the 

 Barley, which should, we think, have been cut nearly a 

 week ago. The most noticeable feature sf this year's 

 rial was that no new machine was entered for competi- 

 tion, there being only the three distinctive prinetp 

 represented, namely, Bell's, Husaey's, and MTormick's. 

 These were of course varied by the difjjr- it exhibitors, 

 but no new prii iple was brought out. *Rleven mach. 

 were entered for competition last year, while this year 

 only eight made their appearance. These were as 

 follows :- 



1. CmffflkiU'uBell. 



2. M >rmick's improved by Lord Kinnaird, and made hf 



Bar of Mylnefteld. 



S. Drays Himey. exM mi by Mr F un ti l , flswartliall. 



4. Dray's Hosssy, exhibited by himself. 



5. M 'Cormick's, «Xl> *d by Mr. Alexander. Tayl«Tt«n. 



6. Dray's H assay b ited by Mr Mac Laren, Craig I. 



7. Dray's Hu* ted by Mr. Ms . K ersepatrkk . 

 a Barfs, exhibited by Mr. M'Qneen, Arnbleve. 



It will thus be seen that the priaeiple best represented 

 on the field was that of Messrs. Dray & Co., who are 

 the makers of Huseey. This nrobahly arises from the 

 fact that this machine is the favourite in this locali 

 among the farmers ; and three of thrni exhibited their 

 own machines 



1. Crosskill's Bell. The first grain eat by Bell's was 

 Oats, a full crop, a good leal laid In this the work 

 was very well performed, an i tl ree quarters of an acre 

 cat down in a very short space of time. Afterward* it 

 was sent to the Barley, and fonr cuts having satisfied 





nothing to find fault with. 



7 1 >ray's 1 lussey, exhibited by Mr. Mackie, of Kerse- 

 pat rick. There was no difference between this and the 

 other machines manufactured by Mr. Dray. 



8. Bell's, as exhibited by Mr. M 'Queen of Arnheive. 

 This machine wrought equally well with the rest, cutting 

 th i arions crops with cleanness and efficiency. 



It will be seen from the above report that all the 

 machines were as near perfection as possible ; and the 

 judges must have had a very arduous task to accomplish 

 in eciding between them. 



The judges were M* sers. John Miller, C.E., of Mill- 

 field ; John Gibson, Woolmet ; Robert Walker, Port- 

 letlian ; Peter M'Ewan, Blackdub ; and James Stirling, 

 C.B., Edinburgh. Thair award was as follows :— tt We, 

 judges appointed to award Ike premiums offered by the 

 Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, for the 

 most approved reaping machine of the values under- 

 mentioned, and competed for this da* on the farms of 

 Stewarthall and Muirton, under the auspices of the 

 Stirling General Agricultural A s s o c iatio n, do hereby 

 award the same as follows, via., the premium of 20/., 

 for Hie beat reaping machine of any price, to No. 1 of 

 the ruraittee'a list— M'-tva. Wn, Croeskill and Sow, 

 Beverl . % ; and the presasum of 302. for the beet leaping 



machine not Ok< lin* 2iL in price, to N 3 of the 



< osjsjttee's ttsl Mr Win, Femur's HosseT f with 



Dray's nm-r vement attached by Gardner, of Stirling. 



I hat while the Iges were unanimous in the f««SgOing 



ard, they think it right to express their satisfaction 



with he performanee of the other machines on the 



was. on the whole, superior to that of 



former year*." 



This award will give, we believe, much satisfsctkB, as 

 it was the opinion of every practical man with whs* we 

 conversed that those two made the beet work on the 



ground, which 



From the Stif limg Jounml, 



THE SOIL AS A ROR) ROOM 01 FOOD 



1 )R PLANTS. 

 Thk maxim " the more stock the more corn " is re- 

 lated to the subject of the series of papers on Fc ^'y 

 which have been published in another section of twi 

 Journal, through the fact that a fertile soil is a store- 

 room of food foi plants : bat the practical aspect of w 



the mmtlv and econondeal management oi 



nii-1 must pi 



of the 



m lestion — the supply and econ 



manures — has already been dl 



merely named here. I will now state some 



©f the ehemieal analysis of SOils. The esWin- 



ns of soil and *>r 



hydrogen , 



nation of plant* provee that 



coses to carbon, oxygen 



i 



m of that gT 

 which meet the student on 

 of his readings on the 

 turp. He is told that 



a food manu factnre ; tha the produce of its pro- 

 cesses i$ made of materials exit ig in the air 



Iy substances Soluble in water are 



agricultural paradox 



Usr very threshold 



cheaiatrr of agnail 



agriculture is simply 

 the nm 



the judges, it was next sent t Beans, of which it made 

 excellent work, and we most say, 1 ftter than snythir 

 on the field. In Wheat it also did well | hnt the rr 

 being very much laid indeed, the work was not nearly 

 so well accomplished as in the case of the other kinds 

 of grain. The great objection to this machine is ts 

 high price, 42/., which is, we believe, to be raised : an 

 the great draught upon the horses. The pair we 

 in the machine were fatigued to such an extent that the 

 perspiration was running off them as if they had been 

 hed. The horses were, however, shif 1, snd th* 

 work on the whol went on mr tisfsetorily. The 



breadth cut by this machin was 6 feet 2 inches. 



2. MTormick's, improved by Lord KmnaM. There 



was no apparent improvesaent upon this m aehioe since 

 last year. It performed ts work very indifferently 

 sometimes, and ones or twice stock altogether. Its 

 peculiarity essjsJsts in the application of the endless web, 



(whieh are supol 



water 



acid, 



All fertile 



ammonia (found both in the air an< linf 1« •°|j*!j 



alkalies-potash and soda ; the • WPlhi T JJJ 

 an magnesia ; eertain metallic oxides — those o 



especial}; . t not exclosiTely ; and certain acids-P"^ 

 phoric, silir . hydrochloric, and sulphuric. 



ssiis, theretoe, msMsji their hulk of mineral a 



sand and clay and lime in due proportion, so as to "* 

 aboot a flttim eoasieteney and texture— must con 



ammonis. the mineral alkalies, P ho *P honr , ^i^foe 

 acid (in soluble silica), sulphur acid, and c f° 

 Add t« this that all fertile soils have » nta *£2£i 

 table matter, and therefore, it is presumed, masr co 

 it. Such matters by their decay furnish organs ^ 

 sanmsjsjss toes for plants m the fittest s**e far «J* W 



at the ansae time act as ferments in the ^/* c ^ dir 



sfui as teu , »* r> 



are 



Fertility is, 



SOP 









further disintegration ; they 



*~ - good texture of eoiL . 



however, not by any means ^^ |y " f 



Corsaiek's, It has not i peaed i«roponioued in any degree to the qoan 



