





Sept. 15, 18t 



Til AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



019 



Citable mutter present ha a soil ; many barren soil 

 have, in fact, been so, owing to the i> uencc of vegetabl 

 matfor in often. The following spt'ciinsns of the resul 



matter in txom. 'ine lonowmg sp 



of the cli« ileal examination of aoila are taken fr 



Is | be readily understood by the cultivator of the soil, and 

 we therefore now offer the landlord's touchstone of 

 value in the following table representing the average 

 rent : 



It 





Dr. Voelckri-'s SsmV ■■ * subject in Morton's M Cyclo- 

 pedia of Agriculture." 



ped 



1. 



"Water driven off at 219° Fab. . 

 Organic matter and combined 



waters 

 Potash 



Soda ... 

 Ammonia 



Lime ... 









■ 





- 





■ 



• 



■ 











> . . 





. • ■ 





■ 



. . . 











Magnesia 

 peroxide of iron 



Protoxide of a 

 Protoxide of manganese ... 



Alumina 



Phosphoric acid 



Sulphuric acid 



Carbonic acid 



Chlorine 



Soluble silica 



Insoluble silicate* (clay) 



Loss 







- 





- 













• • 











• • 







ii 



IS 



lOSS) 



I 



» . I 



ISO 



.350 J 



1JS4 



4<« 



i # ■ 







1J40 



. > 

 57 646 ( 



i 





16.T0 







.IB 

 M 

 .64 



I 



5.630 

 3 M i 



I ormation. 



l ~ tone brash, inferior oolite 



S. Btonebraah, great oolite 

 8. Corn brash 





■ 



• - . 





• •• 



• . . 



- - . 



• »• 



■ 



. . . 



Rent the acre. 



7s. to 20f . 

 1 4a . to '25*. 

 SO*, to 40s. 



ISO 

 Carbonate of 



- 



.78 



IS 



m 





J A 



SI 30 



0j02 



8.070 



.3bo 



(84.100 



1. Fertile soil in North Holland by Mulder. *. Poor sandy 



mould in Brunswick, by Sprcngel. S. Clay soil near CI 



by Dr. Voeleher. 



It would l>e easy to multiply i> mces in which Mich 

 diff< ices in mineral structure should occur in respect 

 of the alumina, silica, lime, magnesia, and in 

 vegetable matter, as creates those broad distinctions 

 amongst soils such as clayey, light and marly, cat can is, 

 peaty, moulds, J n.e,aande, clays, \c. ; but it would be 

 found that fertility is not so dependant on the relative 

 quality of these bulky ingredients as upon the presence 

 of phosphoric and at ionia alkaliee, and a certain pro- 

 portion of decaying vegetable matter in their midst | 

 not so dependant on the structure of the warehouse 

 provided drainage, Ate., have given as soeenu to it, 



upon its contents, namely, the quantity of those more 



important saboMsMSS present generally in small quan- 

 tities. It will l>e seen in Nos 



them 



u These facts tend to show that the reasons for prac- 

 tical results may be clearly made out l»y the scientific 

 inquirer, and from these he is enabled tu illustrate great 

 principles, a right understanding of which would, as 

 true knowledge always does, lead us to think more 

 modestly of ourselves ; for if we are fortunate enough 

 to live in a district where everything looks prosperous, 

 the crops good, and farmers rich, and, consequently as 

 the term oe% respectable, we are not always to con- 

 clude that this has arisen from our superior knowledge 

 or intelligence, for it may be after ail merely that there 

 are more bones in the soil." 



The same truth, namely, the need to fertility of these 

 mineral substances— phosphoric acid and the others 

 present in small quantity— is gathered from an exami- 

 nation of our manures, bone-dust, guano, &c, small 

 quantities of which applied per acre produce such 

 marvellous increase of fertility. The examination of 

 bulkier manures, farmyard dung, and even marl, is 

 equally illustrative of this truth. The following are 

 marls analysed by Professor Way, much used, and 

 deservedly valued as dressings ; and these analyses, 

 by a reference to the phosphoric acid and the alkalies 

 which they prove to te present, amply explain the 

 value which in practice has been attached to them. 



1. Foaailiferous gree 



marl. 



generally in small <{usm> MUsle add (tllioa) . 



1 and 2 above, that the arbootc acid 



trastin fertility between them is accounted for I y 



the dif m the alkalies, ammonia, and i tsphoric 



acid— substances which a: ij {lied in manure, and to 

 which the fertilising influence of manure is dne. It is 



obvious th that soils may either differ or be like one 



soother as regard* their texture or mechanical struc- 

 toe,and their fertility may be altogether independent 

 of such differences or resemblances. The following 

 analyses of hraahy nmlfl arc instrur VO on this point ; 



they are by Dr. Voelcker s 





Sulphuric acid 



its add 



• i . 



Soluble in 



dilute 

 acids. 



T 



Insoluble 



in dilute 



acids. 





- 







Carbonate of litne 

 Itagnesia 



Snip hate lime . 



Oxides of iron 

 Alumina . 



Photphori< add 



Soluble sills* 



in* i te lilioiens 



mattPr 



alkaline salts 



1 . Braah of t be . Hraahofth* 



Oerah 





t* 



M 



m 



4.14 



3.75 

 3*7 



.7*» 



Mi 



1 4?> 



124 

 1.016 



ir 



UnSe 



90-86 



- 



SHsfned 



Lime 



Magnesia 



Potash 



^vl*3s» 



Protoxide and per- 

 oxide of Iron 

 Almnina 



. - - 









si m 



Undeter- 

 mined. 

 .45 

 8.76 



Traee. 



561 



12.06 



8. Gray marl or 

 malm. 



Soluble in 

 dilute 

 acids. 



Insoluble 



in dilute 

 acids. 





■ 





321 



16.91 

 4 



• f • 



108 

 .45 



.SI 



5.75 



2.16 



29.16 



0.21 

 0.21 



0.08 



41.52 



.30 



M 

 UK 



£.20 

 .11 ) 



16JS8 









1.71 



A trace. 

 M 

 5.57 



n 



esjai 



.771 

 J41 



.177 



1.231 



4jr 



I ndetSffflSlntd 



P.4'. 



And Professor I luck man's comment on them 

 quite in keeping with our present subject : — u They all 

 iteembl*' one another in mineral texture, but differ 

 materially in agricultural value, a* their c mical n« 

 ttitution readily explains. These three stone brashes 

 represent, as nearly aa may be, a large tract of country 

 which occupies the middle of England, and rising more 

 or lest abruptly from the vales of I. rkelov, Glonscoter, 

 sad Evesham, forma the Cotteswold range of hills. Of 

 this range about BH half is composed of the inferior 

 oolite, which is for lie meet part but a poor sheep- 

 arming district Towards Cirencester, or the more 

 southern part of the Cot tee wolds, the great oolite sets in 

 there is at once a visible improvement in the land, and 

 an increase of produce ; but even thia improved state 

 of things meete with still great* improvmmer) with of 

 prenoeste »hei» will be found, here and there, die- 

 tacte of limit* stent covered with eombrafrh : the 



combraah 



1 I frrttn the green sand format! 

 Ho. 2. Chalk roar), extensively applied as a manure. 



It is on the natural wealth of the soil as a storeroom 

 of these substances — I refer to those which in the 

 above table are described as soluble in weak acids — and 

 the artificial addition of t l em, where naturally they 

 defic nt. that fertility in a great measure depends. 

 Beside the alkalies and phosphoric acids, ammonia and 

 nitrate*, as supplying tne nitrogen that plants need, 

 especially to form seed, are of course essential elements 

 of all fertile soils ; and guano, farm-yard dung, and 

 other manures, owe their fertilising influence largely to 

 their presence. Fertility is to be maintained and in- 

 creased by the economical management of all sources of 

 such substances and the liberal application of them to 

 the land ; and seeing that the common forms in nhich 

 ammonia exists an volatile, the more care is needed to 

 ensure its preservation, whether in the solid or the 

 liquid manure to which the farmer has access. It is 

 right to add one word in reference to the influence of 

 depth of soils on their fertility. It is connected 

 especially with this aspect of the subject, for it is 

 obvious a soil >f double depth is a warehouse twice as 

 large, capable therefore of containing twice the food for 

 plants, and not so liable to exhaustion. One word too 

 must be allowed upon that barrenness which arises from 



I cross cropping, and from continuous export of dairy 

 and other produce ; it is attributable for the most part 



I simply to a more rapid issue of the contents of this 

 warehouse than either the direct supplies from withou 



in the shape of manure, or the defective agencies at 

 work as in a laboratory within the soil itself, permit Such 



mhr*.h t u ^ . t_ a. ■ _. , infertility accordingly is removable by manuring : the 



^oraati of all the braabe* being good natural com — n of bo|10 J^ to the papt ure lands of Cheshire 



•no, ana hence the nam*, ~hil* the oiher braahee only hm restored that fertility which had keen lost through 

 £■«■ corn that is. ** it rr wrung from them wit H of ^ iwt in tllP miJk and c heene sold off 



^ l ™ 0,,r * n *neemn. **- farm. i hv I v is also removable by giving 



bon 



The great r i*e of expense Is lbs obtaining: manure, 

 *^dttiuch of the PMSnt improve ments, which may every* 

 where be noticed, may be traced So the extended use of 



which have enabled the Cotteswold farmer to 



"icfreaee bis Tur p crop. Now, inaemush as bones 

 c onsjst of pboaplinrlc acid and lime, a glance at tb 

 «*ee artalyeen jost quoted will ehow how one rock 

 ^ix? * **"* naturally better than another, for No. 1 



yields .07, No 2, \24\ and No. S, .177 of phosphoric 

 J^'d, the «tant element of bones. The plain eon- 



•wion, therefcre. te that corn-braah affords the 

 •om-gro W j nfir land, beeans ham the most bones in it- 

 ^Jjs look In the average yield of grain for the three 

 ^•hee here commented upon, we shall see be same 

 <tts illuatmted m what may be termed the practical way. 



^"Sls per aere ; 



the 

 the 



fknsh life to all those agencies at work within the sod 

 tteelf for the supply of food for plants, and ss tillage has 

 to a certain extent proved the equivalent of manure. 



into this country in two or three months, of course the price of 

 srain would rise enormously. Let us calculate that, owing to the 

 suddenness of the demand, the rise might be about 6*. a quarter 

 beyond the natural rise that would have taken place il it had been 

 known before, i lien to these &s. there must be added, also, a 

 very considerable rise in the rate of freights; for instance, I find 

 that, daring 1846 and 1847, the freight from Odessa to this 



eoutitryfor talluw ruled from 50*. to 110*. a ton; and from the 

 Danube from 9s. to 21 a. per quarter; and from Alexandria from 

 Ss. to li'v. during 1846. Now, let it be admitted that, owing to 

 the suddenness of the rise, as we must have the grain speedily 

 brought in, the rat. of freight also should rule 6*. per quarter 

 hitfher than need he; that would make nearly lOi. a quarter, 

 whi' ^on six millions, would prove a loss to the public of 

 about 3,000,0007. sterling. And this may actually be ascribed to 

 our finding all at once to be i n want of large supplies, and to the fact 

 that for that reason speculation did not go on regularly from the 

 commencement of the season to the last. There are other reasons 

 besides in favour of obtaining such statistics as soon as possible : 

 the later we are in foreign countries for our purchases, the less 

 chanc we have to obtain the grain. Our harvest here is about 

 two mouths later than the harvest in Italy or France, and it is 

 natural that mmediately as these countries find their crops to be 

 very deficient, they should at once send fur supplies, and as they 

 are nearer to the Danube, from Marseille tor instance, than we 

 are, they get their supplies provided for from the Danube, Alex- 

 andria, and other places, before almost we know ourselves that 

 we also want then. This of course affects very materially the 

 commerce of the country. The influence of such suddenness of 

 rise in the price of grain, together with the rise of freight, has 

 also great influence on the rise or on the decline of the prices of 

 other articles of cor mption here, because the more we have 

 to pay for grain, the less we have to bestow upon other 

 articles, and our relations with such countries from whom 

 we receiv .uch articles of luxury ; our exports are also affected 

 from the same causes, and thus it acts and re-acts in many ways. 

 J have thus contented myself in indicating what are the evils 

 resulting from the pre- St want of correct agricultural statistics. 

 I 1 know hat estimates of the harvest are constantly made by 

 private merchants and farmers, and these are abundantly pub- 

 lished in the Mark Lane Express, and other papers; yet these 

 estimates are generally ncertain, and are often made by 

 interested parties. Indeed the conflicting nature of such informa- 

 tion is often the source of extraordinary fluctuation of prices. I 

 have not detailed the direct l^enefits of agricultural statistics, 

 whether of those referring to the number of acres under cultiva- 

 tion, and under the several crops, to the estimate annual yield, or 

 to periodical statistics of agriculture on an extensive plan. I 

 believe they are likely to prevent great fluctuation of prices ; to 

 diminish the speculative character attached to all transactions in 

 grain, and to enable us to obtain the necessary supplies for the 

 ear from foreign countries at lower rates, and with greater ease ; 

 and 1 believe, moreover, that such statistics will have a further 

 important effect in calling forth greater energy among our farmers 

 in the application of science into agriculture: in improving all 

 the prncesesn of cultivation, and In extending materially the 

 agricultural resources of the country. I consider the farmer 

 Stands upon the same level as the merchants, because, no doubt, 

 whilst the merchants have often to pay dearer for grain on account 



Si IBS ir i^MSBBSe, the farmOl SfteS m Hi a SUM quantity m the 



first Instance at lower prices than he was justified in doing; and 

 this is especially the case with those who, being least acquainted 

 * h the general state of the coi <->n selling; and, perhaps, 



after they have sold all they hav they find that those who have 

 been fortunate eno ugh to hold get double tor their produce. If 

 u formation were more general, they would only be disposed to 

 sell such portions as they are under necessity of selling, and that 

 would enable them all to participate in the rise when that rise 

 happesv. 



The witness is then examined on the subject of the 

 imports of grain and its variation in price. He says : 



And there is another curious observation out of these prices; 

 it appears that the months when the highest prices ruled were 

 saottiy July and An goat ; for this there may he two reasons. It 

 may arise from sudden deficiency in the quantities of grain on 

 < the old crop, from the non-arrival of foreign grain, or 

 the bad prospects of the next harvest. In many cases 

 where a sudden rise in August takes place from a sudden want, 

 it shows a want of agricultural statistics: because if we knew it 

 sooner we should not be all on a sudden finding our rick-yards 

 empty, and all on a sudden wanting extra supplies from abroad. 

 I preeesae if we had agricultural statistics in time, the rise would 

 n take plane in August, but would take place in March or 

 April, or earlier still, and so on progressively from the corn- 

 men ment ol *he year; immediately, in fact, as the harvest 

 Operations are over. In 1847 the highest was in June; in 1&42, 

 IMS and 1851 the highest price was in July ; in 1841, 1843 and 



360 the highest prices were in August. I asa not now specifying 

 what were the reasons, as I said it may have arisen from bad 

 prospecta of the c ps in this or other countries, and again from 

 the eeanty remainder of the former vears. As to the lowest 



rices in 1840, 1841. 1*42. 1847. 184 and 1862, the lowest prices 

 ruled in December and January. If we had agricultural statistics 

 after a bad harvest, prices w Id generally begin to rise in 

 Dessmber and Jannarv, and yet those are the montfes when 

 nerally prices ruled the lowest. There are reasons to believe 

 that in those mouths prices under ordinary circumstances would 

 rule the lowest, because farmers have then generally larger 

 quantities on hand, and they bring it freely to market; at the 

 same tisao, if agricultural atati sties were to point out that prices 

 during the whole year are likely to rule higher than immediately 



alter use 1 arrest the farmer and speculator would at once become 

 acquainted * and the • wonM keep the grain back, and 



the ether would g * higher prices, and so would prevent price's 

 ruling very low up te » very considerably advanced period. As 

 it is, all on a sudden, the harvest msy 1» f *d to have been 

 very deadest and laslead laving abundance at ne. we * 

 a last moment reduced to the oaew obtaining from 



abroad very large quauHtftos at any "disss it can he had. 









Oh 



POULTRY, 





INFLU1 R OF \Ti FICAL INFORMATION 



ON THE CORN TRAD* 





If 







p »<JW 



i 



Tnf 







1. 



S&toSO 



rr> — "— — SS tO 80 



This table illuatratee 



4toneltt**h 

 Great oolite. 



Osrabvash. 



as to so 



40 to 46 



45 to SO 



which will 



; From the Minutes of 1> idence taken before the bards' 



Committee on Agricultural fttat ia t l e s j 



Laesre Lkvi, Eso., «r*m««ed.-— I believe merchants co n s id e r it 

 j^" | of very great importance t mem to be a« early as possible mads 

 "*** j.-qnaiased with the probable wants of the r nti in ma* -s 4 



mod : because I need net eay that the prises of rrain have a very 

 irrea nfleeeee en the prices of ail other articles, and the Mark 

 Lam JmrmZ is the barometer by which the aloe I all her 

 irles is regnla 1. It in also of the mos mportance to 

 mercha nts, i-n ordeT regmmt- icir* pecul at io ns and orders 



abroad for other a tHetes esnemaqpmsn, to he speedily imVnsed 

 whether we shall ha™ abundance of ffrain at home, or wb< 

 we shs have seek f foreign countries v v Ian -uppl i 

 The i esse Of SSmti uncertai upon the funds is always re- 

 markable, and upon the hssmna in the Bank The pssefMi 

 having to send a great deal of ?oid ahies ban ver 

 influence on private credit, diseouatinn hills. Ac. *c A I! 

 transactions are very considerable affected th« oty 



whteh prevails its to the result of the cms te tss> -usw 

 Snppose at the very last moment we should and ourselves to he 



ir* nant of ah ut fve Si six millions of fHatSSStSht 



FATTENS 



PR1Z? ESSAY. 



The femmmmr Paper is taken from t mal of the Yorkshire 



1 * ^AgriCTlturel i" 7-1 



» e « * * And Chaunteclere so free, 

 Song merrier tb a n the Mermaid in the see."— ri? at-. w.n. 



The esmsWeratien of the best method of Fattening Live Stock, 

 of aaj d— listlm may he most advantaireotisly arranged under 



namelv, the scientific principles whieh have been 

 mmsw respecting feeding ; and their practical application 

 as verified e* ienee. 

 Is the following essay these smBtSts will be treated in separate 



mire merelv the practical 



grain in 



hapten : so that these 

 details may emit the 

 which they are 



CBAFTtt I 



Scenes 1 



ion ot the act 



trains 



hie 



-TH* PaWCTPLKS OF Ffjbbxg. 



- Th* Purposes served by Food. 



The purposes served by food, when taken into the 

 body, are of several distinct kinds, and may be spoken 



of as — 



L The production of animal warmth. 



2. The supply of the materials required 

 growth and waete of the muscles, die. 



:.. 11m snpply oi th pjmmmj ajsl sa^nc SmWanmV 



I contained in the body. 



for thi 



