C) 3 4 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



much 

 their 



the quantity of phosphorus they contain 

 more than guanos do in the quantity of 

 ammonia. The former are artificial, and depend 

 for their composition on the skill as well as the in- 

 tention of the manufacturer, and in what these 

 result may be gathered from analyses before us by 

 Messrs. Wat, Anderson, Nesbit, and others. These 

 gentlemen have had samples of " superphos- 

 phate " under their examination which contained 21 

 per cent, of superphosphate, and samples of super- 

 phosphate which contained no superphosphate at 

 all ! The article by Dr. Anderson published a 

 fortnight ago in our columns tells us what may 

 reasonably be expected in a manure claiming this 

 name, and the assertion with which it concludes, 

 that many tons are sold containing but $ a cwt. in 

 the ton of what they are called, ought to be enough 

 to put farmers on their guard. Our columns have 

 before this shown instances in which either fraud 

 or the grossest carelessness in manufacture has 

 sent out superphosphates worth but 50s. a ton, the 

 market value of the name being 71. 5s. In July, 

 three years ago, we called attention to a case of 

 this kiDd, and we now republish the letter of Pro 

 feasor Way on which that exposure hinged : 



" The sample of superphosphate of lime is, as you 

 supposed, a very inferior article, and I am afraid from 

 its composition that its inferiority cannot be mercifully 

 i nputed to the mere ignorance of the maker. A good 

 superphosphate should contain 12 or 15 per cent, if not 

 more of soluble phosphate — the sample in question does 

 not contain 1 per cent. Moreover the total proportion 

 of phosphate of lime is so much smaller than it should 

 be that I cannot help believing that some of the gypsum 

 was put in as such — not produced by the ordinary action 

 of sulphuric acid. In fact, I believe that it is a mecha- 

 nical mixture of ground bones and gypsum, but I cannot 

 assert this positively. Anyhow it is a bad sample of 

 Superphosphate. I should not value it at more than 

 2L or 21. 10s. per ton, because it can only be worth the 

 bone it contains. Its analysis gave, 



Per cent. 



.Moisture ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... lS.uy 



Organic matter and ammoniacal salts 14.56 



Sand, &c. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 11.30 



Biphosphate of Ume (equal to neutral phosphate rendered 



soluble 0.61) 



Neutral phosphate of lime, insoluble 



H yd rated sulphate of lime (gypsum) 



Alkaline salts with some carbonate of lime 



it with a small windlass on the anchor, one boy can horse pulling 18 

 shift the latter forward as fast as required. A beam 



• • • 



• • ■ 



• • • 



0.41 

 13.00 

 37.27 



7.37 



100.00 

 Nitrogen 1.51 per cent., equal to ammonia 1.83 per cent.' 7 



Instances of a nearly similar kind to this are now 

 before us, to which a correspondent has called our 

 attention, where superphosphate compost has proved 

 on analyses by Professor Way to contain but 2.86 

 and 3 per cent, respectively of soluble phosphate of 

 lime. We do not know that our correspondent 

 charges fraud on the manufacturer from whom this 

 substance was obtained, but the result of careless- 

 ness is just as bad as that of fraud — and a manure 

 containing 2£ cwt. of water, 2 cwt of sand, 8 J cwt. 

 of gypsum, and 2 cwt of "chiefly common 

 salt," with only 2 cwt. of bone earth, and less 

 than 70 lbs. of superphosphate in each ton 

 is none the less a source of loss to the purchaser, 

 whether it be ignorance or fraud that overlooked its 

 manufacture. It is worth rather less than 50s., but 

 probably 150s. was paid for the ton of it, and 3 cwt. 

 only having therefore been applied per acre, the 

 Turnip crop is lost, and the loss of that affects the 

 productiveness of a whole rotation of crops. 



It may be sufficient for the present that we have 

 called attention to the fact that very worthless stuff 

 is sold as superphosphate ; no quantity of this 

 manure should be purchased without the guarantee 

 of an analysis. It needs but little skill in manufac- 

 ture to ensure the value of the substance, and the 

 failures instanced are the less excusable. In the 

 little pamphlet recording his experience, which our 

 correspondent has distributed in his county, analyses 

 of superphosphates purchased from Mr. W. J. 

 Carne, of Markham, from the London Manure 

 Company, and from Mr. Lawes are given, and 

 the quantity of soluble phosphate of lime in 

 these varied from 15 to 28 per cent. Mr. Lawes 

 guarantees 16 per cent., and is manufacturing from 

 apatite a superphosphate in which he will guarantee 

 the existence of 30 to 35 per cent, of soluble phos- 

 phate. These facts will become known, and those 

 whose intelligence, good faith, and skill result in 

 composts of the composition quoted above, will 

 infallibly and happily lose their custom. 



of wood attached at right angles to the iron blade 

 prevents it from tipping over or rising out of the 

 ground ; and an upright iron standard carries the 

 pulley in a nearly horizontal position. 



The arrangement of the ropes we need not stay 

 to describe : merely observing that the endless hemp- 

 cord traverses up and down along one headland as 

 well as across the field in the direction of the plough- 

 ing, so that by an adaptation of the travelling-crane 

 principle, the pulleys can be shifted without involv- 

 ing any alteration in the length of the cord. To 

 fit different-sized plots of ground, the cord can be 

 cut and spliced again in a few minutes. 



Let us now proceed to the economical qualities of 

 the invention. By means of the apparatus already 

 described a steam-engine set in one corner of a field 

 causes a barrel to revolve upon a continuously- 

 travelling carriage ; and had any efficient digging- 

 cylinder been invented, it could have been actuated 

 just as well as this barrel, but in the absence of such 

 a tool, Mr. Fisken has employed the barrel to drag 

 behind it a series of ploughs, by winding along a 

 fixed rope. The carriage, with two ploughs attached 

 (as exhibited at Carlisle), weighs 15 cwt. ; and it 

 was set in motion by 400 yards of driving rope ; 

 yet it w r orked one plough at a pace of about two 

 miles per hour, when the engine had a pressure of 

 only 7 lbs. per square inch — and this engine was of 

 7-horse power at 45 lbs. pressure. From the con- 

 dition of the land at the time we saw it, we should 

 say that one horse would have easily ploughed as 

 large a furrow at the same pace ; but the trial per- 

 fectly proved how small a per-centage of power is 

 lost in the transmitting tackle. Concerning this 

 essential point, however, we are able to adduce the 

 testimony of a high authority, namely James Stir- 

 ling, Esq., C. E., of Edinburgh. 



In April, 1852 (for the steam-plough has been 

 hatching for some years), this gentleman was in- 

 structed by a Special Committee of the Highland 

 and Agricultural Society of Scotland to report upon 

 the invention ; and, having seen his report, we give 

 the following details. 



The inventors, Messrs. W. D. and F. Fisken, 

 first put their plough in operation upon the farm of 



miles from Auch- 



Bf the novel and admirable arrangement of the 

 ropes in Fisken's Steam-plough, which we have 

 before described, a wonderfully simple and light 

 form of anchor is rendered sufficient It consists of 

 a cast-iron plate 8 inches wide and a yard-and-a- 

 half long ; and this being laid edgeways in a crease 

 cut in the ground, presents a powerful resistance to 

 a sidelong strain ; while it can be easily drawn 

 forward endways in the soil. By means of a stake 



Bet down upon the headland, and a rone cnnnprtino- 



stones, does dutv equal t 

 30,492 lbs. lifted 1 foot per minute, which is consi- 

 derably under the usual estimate of a mechanical 

 horse-power (namely, 33,000 lbs. raised 1 foot per 

 minute). 



A steam horse, could it w r ork without any loss of 

 power in the connecting machinery, would draw a 

 plough, therefore, at an average pace not only of 

 1.375, but 1.480 mile per hour, doing 1.11 instead 

 of only 1 acre in eight hours. Then, as it can work 

 ten hours a day instead of eight, it will do one- 

 quarter more than this quantity, or 1.387 acre per 

 day. The speed of the roughly made implement 

 in the above trial was 1^ mile per hour — rather 

 slower than the average pace of a team, but still 

 equal to 1.138 acre in ten hours ; and, as no time 

 is lost in resting and breathing the horses, and very 

 little lost in shifting at the ends of the work, the 

 2-horse power, water-wheel may be estimated to plough 

 as nearly as possible 1 acre per day. Messrs. Roger 

 of Stockton-on-Tees, have manufactured a neater 

 machine ; and w T ith some slight alterations in the 

 adjustment of the ploughs (and, it may be, a small 

 wire rope in place of the hemp cord, and a pitch-chain 

 instead of the wire drag-rope), we do not see why 

 the Messrs. Fisken may not plough any land where 

 two horses are the common team, and tumwrest work 

 no objection, for As. or 5s. per acre. 



The inventors, Messrs. Fisken, of Stamfordham, 

 by Newcastle-on-Tyne, have made considerable 

 sacrifices in a study foreign to their profession, in 

 order to bring this invention before the public ; and 

 as the machinery is inexpensive, and so easily 

 applied that a common portable steam-engine can 

 work it without any alteration or addition, merely 

 by attaching a rigger to the fly-wheel, we hope that 

 some landowner or occupier will now be found to 

 give the new steam plough a thorough trial upon 

 his farm. /. A. C. 



Gellyburn, in Strathearn (si 

 terarder, Perthshire), occupied by one of the 

 brothers. For the sake of a motive-power for 

 experimenting, they dammed a small brook passing 

 the farmstead and falling into the river Earn, and 

 set up a water-wheel. This was an overshot, 10 

 feet diameter, and 3 feet in breadth, having an 

 average speed of 10 revolutions per minute ; and 

 by means of a spur-wheel, pinion, and large rigger, 

 communicated to the driving-rope a velocity of 

 745 feet per minute. 



The travelling windlass or plough carriage was 

 differently constructed from the present one, having 

 two drums alternately coiling and uncoiling two 

 ropes : the ploughs also were made of wood, and the 

 workmanship of the entire apparatus had much the 

 appearance of a pocket-knife manufacture about it. 

 The principle, however, was just the same as in the 

 present machine ; only instead of the speed of the 

 driving-rope to that of the plough-carriage being as 



11 to 1, it was as 7 to 1 — the ploughs moving 108 

 feet per minute. By carefully measuring the quan- 

 tity of water passing to the wheel, and making all 

 requisite allowances, Mr. Stirling found that the 

 effective power of the wheel did not exceed 2 horse- 

 power ; and this propelled one plough at the rate 

 of about 1% mile per hour — ploughing a furrow 

 9 inches wide and 7 inches deep in " ground of 

 a moderate stiffness." The carriage itself weighed 



12 cwt. ; there were upwards of 500 yards of 

 driving-rope in motion ; and the greatest distance of 

 the plough from the wheel was 250 yards. Mr. 

 Stirling states his opinion that a calculated me- 

 chanical horse-power being greater than that of an 

 ordinary animal, the difference between the nominal 

 and actual horse-power will be sufficient to make 

 up the loss from the friction and inertia of the 

 transmitting apparatus — in other words, that a 

 2-horse engine will do with this machine the ivork 

 of two real horses. An economy of power equal to 

 this has never been approached by any other steam- 

 plough ; and to show that it is both satisfactory and 

 profitable, we invite consideration to a few figures. 



It will not do to calculate a horse's power from 

 the draught he may be pulling when walking at a 

 smart pace. Take the draught of a 2-horse plough 

 at 36 stones, and the pace of the horses 2£ miles per 

 hour ; and you find that each horse is doing duty 

 equivalent to 54,000 lbs. raised 1 foot high per 

 minute, which is equal not only to 1 but to 1.636 

 mechanical horse-power. But the fair way is to say 

 that, ploughing 9-inch furrows, the team accom- 

 plishes 1 acre in eight hours; the average pace 

 being not 2£, but 1.375 mile per hour; and each 



THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY'S 

 TRIALS OF REAPING MACHINES. 



In the Marie Lane Express of this week I observe an 

 article from the North British Agriculturist upon the 

 trials of reaping machines, in which it is attempted to 

 be shown that the tests of reapers generally, and at the 

 last trial in particular, at Leigh Court Farm, were not 

 sufficiently comprehensive and practical, so as to 

 realise the object of such trials, viz., that the decisions 

 of the judges may so thoroughly be relied upon, that 

 agriculturists run no risk in acting upon their judg- 

 ments by purchasing reaping machines according to 

 their conclusions. 



Now, though it would be easy to show that the Royal 

 Agricultural Society have rendered an immense benefit 

 to the agriculturists of Great Britain by causing a great 

 number of valuable new implements to be brought into 

 general use which would either not have been invented, 

 or if so merely been used locally, had it not been for 

 the existence of the Society, the proof of this assertion 

 I leave in abler hands, nor shali I attempt on paper 

 to prove that the judgment passed upon the reaping 

 machines at the late trial on the farm of W. Miles, 

 Esq., M.P., was according to evidence, or whether the 

 evidence was complete; but I intend to try to prove in 

 the field, that as far as my machine is concerned, the 

 judges did not make an error in awarding me the 20?. 

 prize ; to those who think otherwise I beg to say that 1 

 hope that they will not decide upon the assertions of 

 the North British Agriculturist, but will see the machine 



at work. 



The first trial will take place to-morrow, the next on 

 Tuesday, on a farm in the parish of Melsonby, Darling- 

 ton, and another trial or two will be announced by 

 advertisement. g 



Justice to myself as an exhibitor at Leigh Court 

 farm, and an earnest desire to see the long debate** 

 question of reaping by machinery settled, are the pes 

 excuses I have to offer for occupying your columns. 

 John Palmer. Stockton-on-Tees, Sept. 18. 



METHODS for COLLECTING AGRICULTURAL 



STATISTICS. 



[Evidence given before the Lords' Committee by Mr. HaO< 



Maxwell and Mr. Caird.] m 



J. Hall Maxwell, Esq., examined. — Will you ^P 1 ? 112 ^ 

 the Committee the mode which you adopted to obta V* ^ 

 returns, and what success you met with? — The mode . vL-4 

 then was very much the mode which was followed in 1J ^J 

 and is now in course of operation; for example, ta * 1! J° _ our 

 county of Roxburgh, we divided it into certain districts torw 

 purpose, grouping the parishes with a view to their agncuiii",^ 

 features, so as to have, as far as possible, a district similar 1 

 agricultural products, and in the character of its ^ TU } in ^' V amt. 

 selected and secured the services of an influential, inteiUo , 

 active practical farmer in each district, as the enumerawr,^ 

 we gave him a committee to aid and to work under h*™' ^2L n t 

 ing of farmers of a similar stamp, connected with the aiu* 

 parishes, so that in fact each parish in the district was w^ 

 wented at the committee. I prepared a form of schedule, °V w been 

 I hold a copy in my hand; in some respects it has since ^ 

 altered, and in one important point in particular we " ft ™ f 

 deviated from the plan of 1853. The necessary mm ^! ict8f 

 schedules were then sent by me to the enumerators ot fl " I i nd: 

 by whom they were circulated amongst the occupants ox _ 

 they were returned to him, examined, and sent by ^} m . * t *M« 

 and then 1 tabulated and booked them. Now, we found tn *\_ ftl 

 system did not work well ; I found, particularly iu the ^^^ 

 districts, that there was a decided disinclination to P*^ P jhu* 

 up schedule, containing answers to the queries, through tne > 

 of any neighbour, however respectable or well liked lie xmg 





