Oct. 20, 1855.] 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



PERUVIAN GUANO, Bolivian Guano, Superphos- 

 phate of Lime, Nitrate of Soda, Sugar Scum, and every 

 description of Artificial Manures, Linseed Cakes, &c. 



\Vm. Inglis Carne, 10, Mark Lane, London. 



rT^nn^m, LOWING MANURES are manufactured 



A at Mr. La wes t Factory, Deptford Creek:— Turnip Manure, 

 77 per ton; Superphosphate of Lime, 1t\ Sulphuric Acid and 

 Coprolites, 61.— Oltice, 69, King William Street, City, London. 



N.B. Genuine Peruvian Guano, guaranteed to contain 16 per 

 cent, of ammonia. Nitrate of Soda, Sulphate of Ammonia, and 

 other Chemical Manures. 



THE LONDON MANURE COMPANY'^NITRO- 

 PHOSPHATE OR WHEAT MANURE FOR AUTUMN 

 SOWING.— This Manure, composed of blood, animal matter, 

 and dissolved hones with silicates, is most strongly recommended 

 to the notice of Agriculturists. It contains from 7 to 8 per cent. 

 ti nitrogen, in a form yielding ammonia by slow decomposition, 

 and is therefore particularly adapted for Wheat. The quantity 

 required is 2 to 3 cwt. per acre drilled in with the seed. Price, 

 per ton, 71 10s. in London. 



PERUVIAN GUANO, FISHERY SALT, and every other 

 MANURE on best terms, strictly warrauted. 

 40, Bridge Street, Blackfriars. E. Purser, Sec. 



OEWAGE CHARCOAL MANURE.— This highly 



O fertilising Manure, which is Peat Charcoal completely 

 saturated with London Sewage, will he found most efficient for 

 every species of crop ; more especially for Peas, Beans, Turnips, 

 Mangold Wurzel, and other root crops. It will produce a greater 

 return for the outlay than Guano or any other Manure at an 

 equivalent value : it also possesses the property of retaining its 

 fertilising power longer than any other Manures now in use. It 

 may be obtained at the SEWAGE MANURE WORKS, Stanley 

 Bridge, Fulham, at 41. per ton, and in quantities less than half 

 a ton, at 55. per cwt., for ready money only ; and in quantities not 

 less than a ton, will be delivered at the London Termini of the 

 Railroads free of charge for cartage. No charge for sacks. 



It may also be had from Messrs. G. Gibbs & Co., 26, Down Street, 

 Piccadilly, Agricultural Seedsmen, Agents for London, and from 

 all the other Agents of the Company. 



A RTIFICIAL MANURES, &c — Manufa^turersand 



-£L others engaged in making ARTIFICIAL MANURES may 

 tbtain every necessary instruction for their economical and 

 efficient preparation, by applying to J. C. Nesbit, F.G.S., &c, 

 Principal of the xVgricultural and Chemical College, Kennington, I 

 London. Analyses of Soils, Guanos, Superphosphates of Lime, 

 Coprolites, &c. and Assays of Gold, Silver, and other Minerals, 

 are executed with accuracy and dispatch. Gentlemen desirous 

 of receiving instructions in Chemical Analyses and Assaying, 

 will find ample facility and accommodation at the College. 



DRAINING BY STEAM POWER. 



JOHN FOWLER is prepared to undertake Contracts 

 for DRAINING LAND by his PATENT STEAM PLOUGH, 

 at prices varying, according to depth and distance, from 3J. to hi. 10*. 

 per acre, inclusive of tiles, main drains, and all other expenses . 

 Contracts executed with great rapidity, and tiles manufactured 

 onJhespoVwhere suit able clay e xist s.— Tem ple Gate^Bristol. 



q^HE GENERAL LAND DRAINAGE AND IM- 



- 1 - PROVEMENT COMPANY 



Incorporated by Special Act of Parliament. 

 Offices, 52, Parliament Street, London. 



Directors. I 



Henry Ker Seyjieb, Esq., M.P., Chairman. 



Sir John V. Shelley, Bart, M.P., Deputy-Chairman. 



George Thomas Clark, Esq. j William Fisher Hobbs, Esq. 

 John C. Cobbold, Esq., M.P. | Edward J. Hutchins, Esq., M.P. 



697 



pARKES' 



FORKS AND 



pOLLEGE op AGRICULTURE and CHEMISTRY 



V> and op PRACTICAL and GENERAL SCIENCE, 37 and 

 Lower Kennington Lane, Kennington, near London. 



Principal— J. C. Nesbit, F.G.S., F.C.S., &c. 



The system of studies pursued in the College comprises every 

 branch requisite to prepare vouth for the pursuits of Agriculture. 

 Engineering, Mining, Manufactures, and the Arts; for the Naval' 

 and Military Services, and for the Universities. 



Analyses and Assays ot every description are promptly and 

 accurately executed at the College. The terms and other par- 

 ticularsmay he had on ap plication to the Principal . 



CAUTION. 



STEEL DIGGING 



DRAINING TOOLS. 



Whereas very inferior descriptions of Steel Digging Forks are 

 now manufactured and sold, and I have been informed that pur- 

 chasers of the same have believed them to be the same as tho* 

 manufactured by me, and to which the Roval Agricultural Society 

 and numerous Agricultural Societies' prizes have been awarded. 

 I hereby respectfully inform the public that every Fork mamifar- 

 toted by me is stamped with my trade mark " J. P.," and that 

 Messrs. Burgess & Key, of No. 1*03, Newgate Street, London, are 

 my sole Wholesale Agents, and I have authorised them to re- 

 place to the purchaser every Fork of my manufacture found 

 defective; they will also on application send Wholesale and 

 Retail Price Lists, &c, post free. Francis Parkes A; Co._ 



FIRST PRIZE REAPING MACHINE. 



NOTICE. 



lyTESSRS. BURGESS and KEY beg respectfully 



l fJ to inform the public, and particularly the noblemen and 

 gentlemen whose orders they were obliged t decline for this 

 season on account of the manufacture not being fully arranged, 

 that the Royal Agricultural Society's First Prize of 30Z. was 

 awarded to them for M'Cormick's Reaper, with their patent 

 screw platform, at the trial at Leigh Court, near Bristol, upon 

 the 29th of August last. Amongst the competing machines wer 

 Bell's, by Crosskill: Forbush's, exhibited bv Mr. Palmer; and 

 Hussey's, with tilting platform, by Wm. Dray & Co. The 

 reports of farmers who have worked the machines during this 

 present harvest, show that the average quantity of Wheat. 

 Barley, and Oats which they cut was from 1} to 1} acre per hour. 

 Two horses work the machine with ease, and the only attendant 

 required is a man or a boy to drive. Further particulars and 

 prices sent free on application.— Burgess & Key, 103, Newgate 

 Street; and 52, Little Britain, London. 



What sort of result would the agriculturist obtain 

 from a practice of this kind ! And yet the produce 

 of the garden plot thus treated is -tated to be "good." 

 It was so owino; to that air, and sun, and cultivation, 

 which an isolated yard of ground may receive, but 

 which on many an arable farm it is impossible with 

 profit to give the million of them that many an 

 arable farmer grows. 



No doubt the inference is perfectly sound 

 that, air, and sun, and cultivation are very fertili- 

 sing things ; but how much of each can be profitably 

 secured for every plant upon a farm, and how much 

 the average produce of the farm can be thus in- 

 creased, are questions that Messrs. Hardy's experi- 

 ments do not enable them to answer. Let them keep 

 to the actual produce of their plots in their state- 

 ments, andif those plots areacres then, and then alone 

 inform us of an acreable produce. It has been 

 abundantly proved how largely individual plants 

 improve by the individual attention of the cultivator, 

 and by larger room for growth than in field culture 

 they generally receive— what we now want is the 

 experience of the farmer as to the influence of such 

 costly things upon the balance-sheet. That a 

 greater amount of both carefulness and room than is 

 common yet, is profitable, is plain from the 

 gradually diminishing quantity of seed that farmers 

 sow per acre. We believe that 4 or 5 pecks of 

 W heat per acre are in many cases a sufficient seed- 

 ing and that the 8 and 10 which still are common 



The 



Wilt &gt(ntltttral ©alette- 



SA TUB DAY, OCTOBER 20, 1855. 



♦ 



Messrs. Hardy & Son having sown 2 acres and 

 3 roods of land in 12 different ways and reaped the 

 produce, have published their experience, and some 



may in every case be considerably reduced, 

 present is the season when such considerations a- 



Messrs. Hardy have attempted to enforce should 

 receive attention, and this we bespeak for them 

 notwithstanding the extravagance of which those 

 are guilty who speak of 18 quarters per acre as a 

 result proved possible by garden cultivation. 



of their plots (Nos. 9 and 10, one square yard 



each !) being specially " reserved lor public ment, then, are we to arm the st 



specially " reserved 

 criticism," we are the more willing to give our 

 opinion of their experiment. It is shortly this — 

 that it is simply absurd to reason agriculturally 

 upon the produce of square yards. Yon may draw 



Thk mischievous effects of the plough (which we 

 are at present compelled to make shift with) upon 

 clay lands, have been long apo graphically described 

 by " C. W. II.," and admitted, we suppose, by all 

 candid agricultural thinkers. With what imple- 



-eng:ne, when 

 asking it to cultivate our obstinate but fertile fields? 

 Looking at the wonderful success of spade hus- 

 bandry in raising garden produce from strong land, 

 bearing in mind the actual results of the Lois- 



physiological conclusions from single plants with Weedon deep digqing, and not forgetting the exten- 



confidence 



the examination of a single seed and 



Sir William Cnbitt, F.R.S. 

 Henry Currie, Esq. 

 Thomas Edward Dicey, Esq. 



Sir S. M. Peto, Bart. 

 William Tite, Esq., M.P. 

 William Wiishere, Esq. 



Empowered to execute Drainage, Road-making, and other 



^and Improvements, and to Erect Farm Buildings upon Estates 



under Settlement, Mortgage, or otherwise ; or Church property, 



and without investigation of Title to charge the whole outlay and 



•expenses upon the Estate, to be repaid by instalments spread 



over any period determined by Landowners within the limits of 50 



years for Drainage and Roads, and 31 years for Farm Buildings. 



Landowners may arrange with the Company for the execution 



of the works by their own agents, with the use of their own or 



the Company's Capital. 



The Company will afford equal facilities to Landowners for 

 the execution of works of improvement either by their own 

 Agents or by means of the Company's staff. 



William Clifford, Sec. 



CMITRF1ELD CLUB, 1855.— FAT CATTLE 



^ SHOW.— The ANNUAL CHRISTMAS SHOW of FAT 

 CATTLE, SHEEP, and PIGS, will take place on the 11th, 12th, 

 13th, and 14th of December, 1855, at the Carriage Bazaar, King 

 Street, Portman Square, when nearly SOOl. will be awarded in 

 Prizes and Medals. 



The printed forms of Certificates, properly filled up, roust be 

 returned to the Honorary Secretary on or before SATURDAY, 

 rJovember 10th. Prize Sheets and the necessary printed forms 

 of Certificates are now ready, and can be obtained on appli- 

 cation to B. T. Brandreth Gibbs, Honorary Secretary, 



Corner of Half-moon Street, Piccadilly, London. 



All communications on the Club's business should bear the 



words_^Smithfielil Club n the outside. 



'THE BIRMINGHAM CATTLE AND POULTRY 



,Tr SHOW, 1855.— The Seventh Great Annual Exhibition of 

 RATTLE, SHEEP, PIGS, and DOMESTIC POULTRY, will 

 se held in Bingley Hall, Birmingham, on TUESDAY, WED- 

 NESDAY, THURSDAY, and FRIDAY, the 11th, 12th, 13th, 



•net 14th of December next, when PRIZES will be awarded as 

 follows :— 



observation of its germination, growth, and produce 

 will teach the botanist — it will even teach the 

 farmer qualitatively many a useful lesson, but 

 quantitatively none. He may learn generally 

 nature of the circumstances favourable to 



the 

 the 



during 



any 



£ s. d. 



340 



PIGS, 



BATTLE.— Including Two Extra Prizes of 101. each 



and Two Gold Medals or other pieces of Plate 

 of the value of 20/. each, for the best Ox or 



QtI __ Steer, and the best Cow or Heifer 



fcttEEP.— First Prizes of 10*., and Second Prizes of 



52., for Leicesters, Long-Woolled Sheep not 

 being Leicesters, South or other Down Sheep, 

 Shropshire, and other Black or Grey-faced 



Short- Woolled Sheep— 10 classes 150 



■Including Prizes for Pens of Breeding Pigs of 



p nn a large and small breed 



uy f S. — Including a Silver Cup, value Five Guineas, 



PA f °r the best Collection of four different varieties 27 6 



SULTRY.— Including Nine Silver Cups, of the value 



of Ten Guineas each, for the best Pen of Pen- 

 cilled Hamburgh, Spangled Hamburgh, Polish, 

 Spanish, Dorking, Cochin China, Game and 

 Gold, or Silver Bantams; and for the best 

 four Pens of Pigeons, to be exhibited, espe- 

 cially for this prize 







69 



• •» 





- - - 



451 10 



vigour of the plant in each stage of its growth ; 

 but he cannot learn from an individual plant in 

 a border the produce he may expect from 50,000 

 of them in a field. This would be as likely to 

 mislead as the attempt to calculate an expendi- 

 ture per annum from the outlay 

 selected hour of the 8766 that make the year. 



It appears that off a single square yard of ground 

 Messrs. Hardy have obtained one quart of Wheat. 

 Now, there are 4840 square yards in an acre, and 

 there are 32 quarts in a bushel, and this yield is 

 accordingly announced as an acreable produce of 

 18 quarters. It is no such thing— it is a yield of 

 1 quart from a certain square yard of land, and that 

 is all that can be said of it. That yard may have 

 been an ordinary arable soil, but its produce depends 

 riot only on what it was but also on where it was. 

 Placed in an open border with air and sunshine 

 freely playing on it, and soil around unoccupied, in 

 which its roots might spread, a plot of Wheat would 

 yield very differently from what it would if sur- 

 rounded by a growing crop and by the land engaged 

 in growing it. 



What Messrs. Hardy's plot of land may be, or under 

 what circumstances its produce may have been ob- 

 tained we donot know, but we must not give these gen- 

 tlemen credit for superhuman power which alone can 

 accurately read in any case of growth all the causes 

 which have influenced it ; and, failing that ability, 

 no one can expect to reproduce in his experience 

 the 50,000 similar plots which would yield 180 

 quarters of Wheat from off the area of a 10-acre 

 field. The fact of course is, as every person knows 



that just as he cannot bring to bear on every 

 square yard of an acre the fertilising influences which, 

 selecting any single yard, he may apply, so he 

 cannot reap from that collection of square yards 

 which makes a field the produce which by horticul- 

 ture and the " rule of three" Messrs. Hardy would 



sive use of spade trenching and forking by our 

 celebrated Flemish neighbours, we cannot hesitate 

 to say, let us closely imitate the spade by our new 

 tillage machinery. From a practical point of view, 

 judging by the best modes of tillage now known, 

 we have inferred (in previous papers) that the clay 

 lands require a digging machine able to invert and 

 cultivate a staple at least 1 foot deep, leaving the 

 surface in rough clods ; or, when preparing a seed- 

 bed, raking, harrowing, or crushing the upturned 

 earth for a few inches in depth. In other words, a 

 steam cultivator should trench almost as well as a 

 spade, and have power to comminute the surface ad 

 libitum. 



From a theoretical point of view, however, the 

 subject presents a somewhat different aspect. 

 Setting aside all considerations of cleansing from 

 root-w r eeds and burying surface vegetation, chemistry 

 says, " expose your land as much and as deeply as 

 possible to the action of air and rain-water, in 

 order to prepare for plants the dormant stores of 

 nutriment abounding within it." It is the business 

 of agriculture to discover the best method of 



doing this. 



Temperature, electrical agency, absorption, eva- 

 poration, &c, are influences which the farmer may 

 control and regulate in the soil by means of culti- 

 vation ; and these, with the chemical operations 

 just mentioned, may be said to be combined in one 

 general process of Aeration. 



Now, as rain-water and air in a certain degree 

 naturally find their way down through the soil, the 

 most obvious means of facilitating their admission 

 is to open the ground with cavities and crevices, and 

 provide against any stagnation that might check the 

 inflow from above. Drainage, subsoihng, and all 

 stirring tillage operate in this way. But atmo- 



ses of the soil 



Pk? ttsl !? of SUver Medftl s to the Breeders of Cattle, Sheep, and 

 W% and Prizes in the Extra Classes aud for Cottagers' Poultry. 



Gnfi!; ' 0ttlev has also offered a Gold Medal, of the value of Ten 



colour*?' 1* an extra piize ' for tbe best Pen of Po1lsh Fowl of anv 

 Prt T to be selected from the several classes for this variety. 



*nav hi % V*' Certifica *es of Entry, and any further information 

 Sa^J* gained from the Secretary. The Entries close on 



Office SfV ' Jo ™ MoBoay, Jan., Sec. 



Ufll <*s-38, Bennett's Hill, Birmingham. 



£ '°u 3 L 16 ° I teach us that he can. 



What the force of just those influences, which 

 the farmer cannot wield (although the gardener 

 may), must be, may be gathered from the result of 

 No. 10 on Mr. Hardy's list. Here was a square 

 yard replanted on its harvest day with the seed 

 which, had been " that minute " gathered from it. 





spheric action in the cells and 

 cannot be so free, powerful, and incessantly renewed 

 as upon the open, uncovered surface : therefore it 

 is clearly expedient to raise the hidden portions of 

 the soil from time to time, and expose them in 

 clods or smaller particles to the wind, rain, and 

 other atmospheric influences. Of course such an 

 inversion of the staple accomplishes other beneficial 

 effects, — as, for instance, relieving and replacing the 

 upper portion of soil which has sustained most 

 vegetation in crop and weeds ; and again, bringing 

 up many valuable substances that have been washed 

 downward by the descending currents of rain-w^ater. 



Inversion (thus shown to be necessary) we 

 perform only in jpreparatory tillage ; opening, $t%r- 



