Oct. 13, 1855. 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



3 



sufficient to yield a full crop for any given season, they 



had obtained little more than one-third of the supplied 



nitrogen in the increase : and inasmuch as when the 



amount of nitrogen employed was not very great, the 



one-half or two-thirds which was not recovered in the 



increase obtained in the ) ear of the application of the 



manure, had little or no effect on the next crop, it 



could not be supposed that the bulk of this excess of 



nitrogen still remained within the soil. It was worthy 



of remark that vegetable physiologists had frequently 



observed the evolution of nitrogen from the leaves of 



plants during their growth, beyond that which was due 



to the atmosphere with which they had been supplied. 



But as it had not yet been satisfactorily demonstrated 



that the cereals gave off more nitrogen in this way than 



the leguminous crops of rotation, further experiment 



was needed before the loss in question, and consequently 



the varying characters in this respect of the different 



plants in rotation could with full confidence be explained 



by reference to the functional action in question. The 



only explanation which had been suggested as special to 



the cereals was that proposed by Mr. Way — viz., that the 



silica required by these plants is taken up as a silicate 



of which ammonia is a base, and that this alkali or its 



constituents is evolved upon the fixation of the silica 



within the plant. It was, however, to say the least, not 



very favourable to this view, that the authors had found 



that water containing salts of ammonia dissolved 



less silica than pure water when percolated through a 



given bulk of soil. It must be admitted, however, that 



although the explanation of this loss of nitrogen with 



the cereals might require further investigation, which 



the authors had hoped to devote to it ; yet, as in the 



case of other crops they had recovered in a series of 



years a much larger proportion of the supplied nitrogen, 



they considered that the logs in question could not be 



wholly due either to drainage of soluble or the evaporation 



of volatile compounds of nitrogen* But, that the fact of 



a considerable loss in the production of a full crop of 



the cereal grains must be looked upon as an important 



and fundamental item in studying the rationale of agri- 

 cultural practices. 



Upon the whole, they concluded : 



1. That the manure indicated by the resultant re- 

 quirements of British agriculture has no direct connec- 

 tion with the composition of the mineral substances col- 

 lectively found in the ashes of the produce grown on, 

 or exported from the farm—and that the direct mineral 

 manures which are required, are not advantageously 

 applied for the direct reproduction of the exportable 

 corn ; but should be used for the green or fallow crops, 

 the office of which it is to collect from the atmosphere, 

 or to conserve on the farm, nitrogen for the increased 

 growth of the saleable cereal grains. 



2. That the nitrogen required to be provided within 

 the soil for this purpose is far greater than that con- 

 tained in the increase of produce obtained by it. 



3. That the effects of fallow in Increasing the growth 

 of the saleable cereal grains (so far as they are 

 chemical), are not measurable by the amount of the 

 additional mineral food of plants liberated thereby, 

 these being under ordinary cultivation in excess of the 

 assimilable nitrogen existing in, or condensed within the 

 soil in the same period of time, the amount of which 

 latter, therefore — the available nitrogen— is the measure 

 of the increased produce of corn, which will 

 obtained. 



4. That the beneficial effects of rotation in increasing 

 the production of saleable produce (so far as they are 

 chemical), are not dependent on the fact of one plant 

 taking from the soil more of the different mineral 

 constituents than another, but on the property of the so- 

 called green or fallow crops bringing on or conserving 

 upon the farm more nitrogen than is yielded to them in 

 manure, whilst the crops to which they are subservient 

 *re both Jar; ly exported from the farm, and yield in 

 their increase considerably less of nitrogen than is given 

 to them in manure. 



5. In a word, that in the existing condition of British 

 agriculture a full production of the saleable cereal grains, 

 W1 tn at the same time other exportable produce, is only 

 attained, whether by manures, fallow, or rotation, by an 

 accumulation of available nitrogen (normally an atmo- 

 spheric constituent) within the soil itself. 



A lengthened discussion followed the reading of the 

 P»per, in which Baron Liebig, the Marquis of Tweeddale, 

 professor Anderson, Dr. Daubeny, and Mr. Russell, 

 took part, after which Dr. Gilbert replied. 



I will con tine my remarks to the circumstances of tl 

 farm I now occupy, 387 acres of arable, 58 acres of 

 Grass land, the tillage land to be farmed on the four 



v> ith 4 » a t (»Uh mistake" for sayiag that '* Fisken's 

 plough lessens the strain upon the anchorages." Strictly 

 speaking, 1 never said anything of the sort. In an 

 course system, Grass land not to be broken up without j article in the Agricultural Gautte, Ho. 34,1 endeavoured 

 a special agreement, or subject to a penalty. If more . to show how Mr. Fisken has succeeded in "lsewoing 

 is required by the landlord to be laid down to perraa- the strain, or (in more • >rrect phrase), in working 

 nent Grass, a compensation to be made or longer with a less strain upon the anchors than any one else 

 tenure granted — this is my agreement. has ever worked with. If I have H failed in makiag 



Where the f;»rm requires only a moderate outlay for good my bold announcement," it is not because I am 

 improvements, a term of 21 years I consider a fair ;" unable to comprehend the facts of the case," but 

 base ; but where there is a large outlay required, and became in studying conciseness of expression, 1 may 



have failed to give a clear description of Fiski 's 

 invention. As to « re- action " urging forward Ushers 

 plough, and "rotatory action and eontiuu us pro- 

 gression " being a mistake, I can only say that, although 

 I may not have employed the term u re- action in its 

 strict sense, yet that the machine certainly propels 

 itself forward without any further pto> • r than is exerted 

 in thrusting the tools into and through the v. round. 

 Has « W. B." travelled by a steam-boat 1 Well : Ushtr's 

 rotary plough is like a paddle-wheel acting upon lnnd, 

 stirring up the soil, and by so doing, causing the carriage 

 which supports it to move forward. /. A. C. 



Beam for Horses. — There can be no danger in using 

 new Beans not hardened in the stack ; kiln-drying 

 would enable them to be crushed ; 4 Lubhels of Beans 

 uncrushed will nearly in cram to 6 bushele when 

 crushed ; and crushed Beans— say half a peck to three- 

 quarters per day, soaked in water and given with cut 

 hay, will keep a horse in excellent condition, will be 

 equal to a peck or more of Oats, but boiled Beans will 

 beat the whole for the nutriment furnished to the horse. 

 The grooms of entire horses are very fond of giving a 

 feed of boiled Beans with malt after a long journey It 

 is their prime feed ; also flour of Wheat mixed with 

 water <5 or G lbs.), and drank like milk by the horse, 

 will make them hog fat in a short time, although the 

 Wheat itself whole would half-kill them, and causing 

 them to shed their hoofs from inflammation attacking 

 the sensible lamina of the foot. In fact, a translation 

 of the disease, produced in the animal's Btomach, to the 

 feet, and which in an instance that came under my own 

 observation in a mare of my own was the saving of the 

 mare's life. The hoofs were reproduced after a lapse 

 of 6 or 8 months, but the mare never recovered her 

 former good plight. Boiled Beans are excellent food 

 for a horse that has tender or irritable bowels and liable 



that to be done at the tenant's expense, ao additional 

 term ought to be allowed in proportion to the extent of 

 the improvement required, where it is practicable. 



In this neighbourhood it would, I think, be necessary 

 to alter the day of quittance of the homestead, and one 

 or two pieces of Grass land, from the 25th of March to 

 the first of May, in order to give time to more fully 

 consume the green crops, fodder, and dispose of fat 

 stock, shutting up the young Clover on 1st November, 

 and all the Grass land, except the one or two fields to 

 be given up on the 25th March. 



* The letting agreement should require all off-going 

 tenants, after the harvest of the last year of their 

 tenantry, to plough, scuffle, or work by broad- share all 

 land required for Turnips or other green crops, to do all 

 winter ploughing, put the fences in good repair at a 

 proper time of year, plough and sow all the spring corn, 

 supply all kinds of seed at his own expense, prepare 

 the Turnip land, get manure out for Turnips and other 

 green crops, have roads, gates, and stoops[?] left in good 

 repair, the landlord supplying stoops and sawn timber 

 for gates, the whole of the Grass land, tillage land, 

 house, and buildings to be given up to the new tenant, 

 and the expenses of the outgoing tenant to cease on the 

 1st May. 



It shall be imperatively the duty of the new tenant to 

 conduct the management of the farm from the time of 

 his entry to the end of the harvest upon the rules of 

 good husbandry. And as a compensation for all this 

 work that has been done by the off-going tenant, and 

 what is called a tenant right and custom of the 

 country, I propose to introduce into the letting agree- 

 ment an arbitration clause, each of the tenants to choose 

 an arbitrator, they an umpire ; the three gentlemen 

 shall go over the farm in some of the first ten days in 

 May, value hay, straw, and manure at a consuming 

 price, the work done, and the condition of the farm to 

 the first of May, by the off-going tenant, it being strictly 

 his duty not to neglect the proper time of planting 

 Potatoes, sowing Mangolds, if in his district it is cus- 

 tomary to sow them before the ] st of May ; take down 

 their remarks in a book, and sign the same. 



At the second meeting, after the corn is shot, the his " Cottage Gardeners' Dictionary/' has the following : 

 arbitrators shall with great care inspect the evidence " The Sunflower is now much cultivated for its oil, and 



to purging when put to work. A Constant Reader. 



The Sunflower.— I have read some remarks in your 

 Paper of last week relative to the Everlasting Pea, and 

 I should be glad to see the attention of your correspon- 

 dents directed to the Sunflower, which appears to me 

 to deserve more notice than it receives. Johnson, in 



be 



LANDLORD AND TENANT. 



lTbe following letter is addressed to — Gale, Esq., in reference 

 to the address on this subject delivered by him at a meeting 

 last year of the Botley Farmers' Club.] 



For a number of years my mind has been made up 

 that the first thing necessary to good farming is a 

 proper agreement betwixt landlord and tenant. In the 

 hardeners* Chronicle of the 14th of February, and 

 again on the 5 th of May last, I read with much pie? 

 ™e extracts of your address delivered to the Botley 

 farmers' Club, and with what you suggested at those 

 Meetings I agree on many points, and now venture to 

 ^bmit my humble ideas on the subject As it is now 

 vf. en U P by 80 high an advocate, I do hope much good 

 w »l result from your labours. 



1 believe such an agreement can be framed as will 



Produce good farming, security to the landlord, and keep 



j|"n and his tenants out of litigation. This can be done 



ImJ P reseQ tation of a proper agreement by the land- 



w or hi « agent at the time he wishes to let a farm. 



taken in the book, examine the Potatoes, Mangolds, and 

 Turnips, fix a value for seed, manure, and all labour that 

 has been expended on all the green crop land, from the 

 last harvest up to the 1st of May, fix a value on the 

 corn crops. The whole amount to be divided in three 

 parts, and in every case shall each tenant be entitled to 

 one- third of the valuation, and according to the good or 

 bad farming of the off-going tenant in his last year, 

 shall the arbitrators have the power to divide, as they 

 think proper, all or any portion of the undivided one- 

 third, to each or either of the late or pueseut tenant. 



In the event of either of the tenants being dissatisfied 

 with the award, I would give them a right of a final 

 appeal ; let the dissenting party or parties, within four 

 days after the award has been given in, give notice in 

 writing to the arbitrators of his or their dissent, when 

 the arbitrators shall request a magistrate not living 

 within 12 miles of the farm in question to send two 

 respectable farmers that have occupied land of similar 

 quality, or land that they have worked on the four- 

 course system, as arbitrators, and with the three pro- 

 ceed to view the condition of the farm, taking as evidence 

 the contents of the May book signed at the first meeting 

 by the three arbitrators, and agree upon an amount of 

 valuation. 



The f\\e arbitrators shall be the final jury, to give to 

 each, or to one only, the whole or any part of the un- 

 divided one-third portion of valuation that each tenant 

 by this agreement is entitled to. 



The expenditure on roads, fences, and gates not to be 

 valued,and if found in bad condition an amount to befixed 

 sufficient to put them in fair tenantable repair, and 

 deduct that amount from the sum that shall by this 

 arbitrators' agreement be awarded to the off-going tenant 

 or his or her representatives. And as a compensation 

 to the arbitrators, 107. each shall be paid to either three 

 or five, whichever may have been employed, by the 

 two tenants in proportion to the amount each one shall 

 be awarded. The incoming tenant at the 10th of May 

 shall pay to the outgoing tenant a sum of money to be 

 fixed by the arbitrators, an amount equal to what they 

 suppose he has spent on the farm, from the conclusion 

 of his harvest the previous year to the 1st of May, the 

 balance by two equal instalments, the one on the 1st of 

 October, the second and equal last part to be paid on the 

 1st of December in the year of his entry. 



Hoping from this you will work out something that 

 will be of benefit to the labourer, the tenant, and secure 

 to the landlord his rent by good farming. /. C. Etches, 

 Ilarly Thorn Stone, Staffordshire, Oct. 3. 



Home Correspondence. 



Fisken's Plough.— Your captious and rather unin- 

 telligible correspondent « W. B., London," charges me 



as a food for cattle and poultry. One acre will pro- 

 duce 50 gallons of oil, and 1500 lbs. of oilcake. The 

 stalks when burnt for alkali give 10 cwt. of potash. 

 Now, in these days, when Linseed and oil-cake are so 

 enormously advanced, might not the Sun-flower come in 

 as a substitute 1 In Hungary it is grown as a regular 

 crop; it is easy of cultivation, and thrives in our 

 climate. I have now some plants before my window 

 bearing each eight or ten flower heads, and some of the 

 heads containing above 200 grains. Tonbridgiensis. 



Suggestions for Agricultural Statistics. — 1. The report 

 of the Lords' committee is in favour of employing the 

 Poor-law Board for their collection, but we see no k und 

 reason for troubling the Poor-law officials, as, if the 

 returns are made compulsory there would be no occa- 

 sion to trouble the guardians of the union. Nor is it 

 desirable that the relieving officer of the union should 

 be diverted from his ordinary duties, which as a general 

 result give him full employment. For instance, in the 

 Hemel Htmpsted Union, comprised of five large 

 parishes, with an area of 25,000 acres, the relieving 

 officer has weekly to call upon 200 different poor persons 

 to distribute relief, living in widely separated parishes. 

 2. We are of opinion that the collection of the returns 

 should be made by the local officers of each parish, 

 either through the collector of the poor rates, or by the 

 collector of assessed taxes, who is not the assessor of 

 taxes but a permanent parish officer, who is in the 

 habit of sending out schedules to every occupier of land. 

 The Board of Trade to have the option of either one or 

 the other of such officials. 4. We consider it highly 

 desirable that the returns shall be re delivered by the 

 occupier at the residence of the collector, on or before 

 the expiration of the 14 days allowed for their com- 

 pletion after the 21st of October, as he would in 

 many instances, when calling for them, find the 

 occupiers from home, and some of the schedules 

 not filled up, which might lead to disputes. The 

 schedules may be filled up when deemed desirable by 

 the occupier, and addressed to the county inspector, 

 having the name of the occupier written on the outside 

 when Returned to the collector. 4. The employment of 

 the relieving officer of the union, even if re-delivering 

 of the schedules was enacted, would cause great incon- 

 venience to the majority of the occupiers, four-fifths of 

 whom live many miles from the residence of the 

 relieving officer, as the union is 10 miles in length and 

 8 broad, and contains about 250 occupiers. 5. The 

 county of Herts contains 12 anions, and the employ- 

 ment of the clerks of the union would not be required to 

 classify the schedules if they were sent to a county 

 inspector, to be appointed by the Board of Trade, whose 

 required salary need not be in excess of the proposed 

 payment to the union clerks ; and a further important 

 question arises as to who shall authorise legal proceed- 



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