













Oct. 27, 1855.] 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



Mr. Cox said Mr. Mechi claimed the credit of convmcing thrm 

 that draining was profitable ; but Mr. Hutley himself", and many 

 other farmers in the neighbourhood, were satisfied of that, and 

 had drained their land before Mr. Mechi came into the neigh- 

 bourhood. (Hear and cheers.) Mr. Mechi: Would not Mr. 

 Cox admit that the great bulk of the heavy land of Essex was 

 undrained? Mr. Cox did not know that he would. Mr. 

 Mechi: Taking the south side of the county— from Witham 

 to Tiptree, and from thence to the sea, was there any drain- 

 age worth mentioning? Mr. Cox said it was such a cold 

 uncomfortable part of the country that h« wry seldom visited it. 

 itfr. Mechi said the question was too important to be evaded. 

 There were tens of thousands of acres of land in Essex which 

 were not drained because the occupiers did not believe it would 

 pay. Take 10 miles round Witham, would they find the heavy 

 lands generally drained ? Several gentlemen said they believed 

 thev were; and Mr. Goooay said he was farming land which his 

 father drained 30 years ago. Mr. Jonathan Hutley said he 

 had cut land ditches in his Dengey Hundred land, and they did 

 not draw a foot on each side. Chalk took off the water a great 

 deal better than drains. Mr. Mechi hoped when they' got 

 statistics of the agriculture of the country the extent of drainage 

 on the different soils would be specified, and that would settle 

 the question whether the heavy lands were drained. The Chair- 

 man proposed the healths of Mr. Dixon and Mr. Thedam, as 

 gentlemen who had generally favoured them with the results of 

 experiments in farming. (Cheers.) 



Mr. Dixon wished first to advert to the question of 

 drainage, because, although he believed Mr, Mechi was 

 correct in saying that on the strong cohesive clays in 

 the south of the county very little drainage had been 

 done, he believed the reason to be this : the farmers of 

 that district had methods of getting the water off with- 

 out drainage ; and as they could grow as large a crop 

 as on any of the drained clays in the county, they 

 doubted if the extra benefit from drainage would com- 

 pensate the cost. With regard to the prejudices of the 

 agricultural mind, no doubt most men thought them- 

 selves pretty well at the top of the tree — (laughter) 

 but that applied to other callings as much as to farming. 

 With regard to his own land (without pretending to say 

 the system was one of universal application), he had 

 found the burning of clays and deep cultivation very 

 successful. The benefit of getting the lower soil upper- 

 most he believed to be that the solid bottom undis- 

 turbed by the plough had for ages received the sub- 

 sidence of manures and fertilising properties of the soil, 

 and a different implement to the plough was required to 

 bring them up — either the spade or fork. This year he 

 had cultivated 18 inches deep, and with 9 inches of the 

 bottom soil to the top, at a cost of M> per acre ; it 

 was planted with Potatoes, no manure having been 

 used but 1| cwt. of Guano and 1A cwt. of salt. Upon 

 5 acres three men had been engaged nearly three weeks, 

 and they took up on the average from 150 to 130 

 bushels per day, and of that quantity there were only 

 about 9 bushels small or diseased. The total crop 

 averaged 3 bushels to the rod and 480 bushels to the 

 acre. The kinds grown were the Fluke and the Scotch 

 Down : the latter, from not knowing their habit, he 



717 



whether there are not discoverable some symptoms that 

 may, if not taken in time, have a tendency to endanger 

 our future possession of the first rank. "For example, 

 let me ask whether the same zeal and earnestness pre- 

 vails now as formerly in supporting the periodical exhi- 

 bitions of sheep, by means of which those engaged in 

 their culture are enabled to compare the results of their 

 own efforts with those of their neighbours, to interchange 

 ideas, and adopt improvements ? During the period of 



pt improve 

 progress that existed in Sutherland in the early part of 

 the^ century, or at any rate during a large portion 

 of it, men made it their business to encourage these 

 exhibitions, which contributed to such beneficial results : 

 but is that the case now ! It is certainly the case that 

 the only sheep show at which I have been present since 

 coming to the county—that at Lairg— was a very in- 

 different one, indifferent not only in point of the numbers 

 exhibited, but in their quality ; and it was peculiarly 

 mortifying that the two first prizes were won by sheep 

 bred in the south and imported into the county. It lias 

 been my business to inquire of others whether these 

 impressions of mine were well founded, and I regret to 

 say they have been confirmed by those best able to judge. 

 Two reasons have been given me for the change. One 

 was given me by the gentlemen themselves who declined 

 to exhibit, and it was this, that they objected to certain 

 regulations under which sheep were admitted for exhi- 

 bition which permitted their owners to make them up ho 

 as to conceal their defects by means of rough clipping ; 

 that they did not choose to place their sheep clipped 

 honestly in competition with others -thus fraudulently 

 made up ; they also objected to artificial feeding. The 

 other reason assigned was certainly not given me by the 

 gentlemen who declined to exhibit, for it was to this 

 effect, that these gentlemen having gained or inherited 

 a certain reputation for the excellence of their stock, 

 were afraid to place it in jeopardy by running the risk 

 of being surpassed by the sheep of rival exhibitors, and 

 that for this reason they kept their sheep at home. Now, 

 it seems to me that both these reasons are fallacious. I 

 will confess that when the first reason was originally 

 named to me by a gentleman of great experience, it 

 weighed with me very considerably, and I thought that 

 he did right to abstain from a contest that seemed so 

 unfair. A little consideration, however, induced m* to 

 take another view. It seems to me that if the judges 

 appointed on these occasions understand their business, 

 they will be able to distinguish between what is fictitious 

 and what is real, and will be able to tell whether the 

 sheep submitted to their inspection are made up or not, 

 and that they will decide accordingly. For my own 

 part, I can only say, that were I a judge, and to find a 

 sheep appearing in this way under false colours, a pre- 

 judice would be more or less created on my mind against 



loss. Besides the injury to the Turnips caused by 

 exposure to the weather, I have no doubt the land is 

 robbed a good deal by letting them stay undrawn so 

 long. I think, then fore, that it will be the truest 

 economy on all farms to secure a sufficient quantity of 

 Turnips to carry us through the greater part of the 

 winter and the whole of the spring. On the generality 

 of soils in this district I think it is best to take half the 

 period of j crops to the yards, for consumption by the cattle, and 



leave half to he eaten on the field by the sheep. 

 Those for storing should be pulled when the land is 

 tolerably dry. so that the soil may be shaken from them 

 without much application of the knife, which should 

 only be applied to remove the small roots and the tops, 

 which latter should be cut off an inch from the bulb. 

 I have found it the best plan to take every alternate 

 eight rows, putting four rows Into one on either side, 

 which leaves a convenient space for the passage of a 

 cart between them. There are various methods of 

 storing Turnips for fold-yard consumption, but I believe 

 the best plan is to place two rows of five-barred 

 hurdles at such a distance apart that a cart will just 

 back up between them, wind them well with straw, aud 

 fill level with the top, and cover them with sufficient 

 straw to secure them from the frost. Those left in the 



field may be thrown together into convenient heaps and 

 covered with soil, in which way they will keep quite 

 fresh to a late period in the spring. In consuming 

 Turnips, whether by cattle or «heep, care should be 

 taken that they are ripe before they are used, as I am 

 sure that when given in an unripe state they are as un- 

 palatable and unwholesome to animals as unripe fruii 

 is to ourselves. In giving them to cattle they ought to- 

 be cut into such slices as will not choke them, and given 

 in quantities varying according to the age of the beast,, 

 and the purpose for which he is designed. When given 

 to feeding beasts they are generally used in too large 

 quantities, acting injuriously on them by over stimula- 

 ting their kidneys ; 70 or 80 lbs. a day, in conjunction* 

 with straw and a little flour, will be found ample 

 for most. 



Miscellaneous. 



The Return of the Irish Flax Crop for the present 

 year, as prepared by order of Government, has just 

 been completed, and shows a very considerable decrease 

 in the breadth of land devoted to this important pro- 

 duce. The return is as follows : — 



Return in ttatute acres of the extent of Flax in Ireland in 1855- 

 eomvil'il by desire of his Excellency the Lord Lieutenant, in anti- 

 cipation or the general tillage return : — 



planted too thick, or he had no doubt the crop would him, and I should feel inclined on that ground alone to 



have been still heavier : as it was he got 12 tons per set him on one side, 

 acre. 



COUNTIES. 



]v-,i. 



Mr. Mechi, reverting to the question of drainage, asked "Sir. 

 Hutley if he did not hold several hundred acres of heavy land, 

 which was undrained? — Mr. Hutley said he did, and he should 

 like to thresh his crop out against Mr. Mechi's and give him a 

 quarter in (Laughter). — Mr. Thedam said lie had made no ex- 

 periments this year; but he was surprised to hear thin seeding 

 brought up again, which he supposed was settled two years ago, 

 when many farmers suffered in their crops from that cause. 

 Where the land was good he thought 4 pecks per acre sufficient ; 

 and 6 pecks ample; but there were uncertainties of season to be 

 considered. With regard to burning, it might be benelicial upon 

 some soils, but he had known instances where a considerable ex- 

 pense was incurred in the process, and the land injured by it. lie 

 had tried it himself, and believed he • burnt his fingers." Upon 

 land like Mr. Dixon's it appeared to be efficacious; but the 

 facts he mentioned showed that there was no rule without 

 an exception. Statistics had been mentioned, and very 

 likely an accurate account of the crops, &c, might be a good 

 thing for consumers, but he did not believe it would be so | 

 good for the farmers. For instance, if the average produce of 

 U»e country was 16,009,000 of quarters, and the consumption 

 18,000,000, if there was a very plentiful year, and the merchants 

 had the means of knowing that the yield had been equal to the 

 latter quantity, it would put an end to all speculation, and the 

 farmer must suffer from that fact being known. (Hear, hear.) He 

 had been very much surprised this season at there being so little 

 <*>rn at Mark Lane? Mr* Mechi : Because the farmers don't 

 w-ant money. Mr. Thedam believed there had been more Wheat 

 threshed since harvest than in any of the last 20 years; but the 

 local demand was such that it was not taken to London. The 

 Lhairma* proposed "the health of Mr. Hutley," and alluded to 

 tne hrst-rate character of his farming. Mr. Hutley expressed 

 the interest he took in the Societv, and its benefit to the farmer 

 j J ", encour aging good workmen. With regard to what Mr. Mechi 

 «ad said about guano, he believed he used more guano before Mr. 

 fWM °egan faming than he (Mr. Mechi) had done since. 

 liAUgDter.) He should like to 1:0 into other matters, but his 

 wealth would not allow him. Mr. Mechi would be glad if Mr. 

 umey could mention dates. He (Mr. Mechi) used guano when 

 \ * as 20 *- a ton, and, with ail respect for his friend, he thought 

 *e had made a little mistake. 



Antrim... 

 Armajrh 



• • • 



• • • 



Cariow 

 Cavan 

 Clare ... 

 Cork, F. R. 

 Cork, W.U. 

 Donegal 

 Down ... 

 Dublin... 

 Fermanagh 

 Galway... 

 Kerry ... 



Golspie, Inv 



said : It 



ness : Sheep Farming. — Mr. Loch 

 is not a great many years ago, at any 

 r *te it must be within the memory of many living 

 ^ e o, that the sheep farmers on the border coun- 

 JBs> hitherto pre-eminent in their line, heard for the 

 tost time with some surprise that, through the skill and 

 ^terprise of a few energetic men, a remote region in 

 ***** north, amidst its brown mountains, and notwith- 

 standing its uncertain climate, was found capable of 

 gearing a class of sheep fitted to dispute the palm with 

 T 0Se 'wed on their own green hills ; and that the 



} ee P °f Sutherland, in spite of these difficulties and dis- 



^vantages which thus attended their culture, speedily 



required a pre-eminence that gave them the preference 



1 every market-place throughout the country. Happily 



is pre-eminence still continue— Sutherland sheep and 

 re U ,lerJ and farmers still retain, as they deserve, th 

 p^j^ 110 " which was acquired by the labour of their 

 1 e ecessors ; nor has anything yet been done bv 



** e *n to endanger it. ~ 



But, surely, without reference to 

 a feeling of this sort, good judges will always hare it in 

 their power to do justice to the true merits of the 

 animals on which they have to pronounce an opinion ; 

 and thus, I think, the first reason affords no good ground 

 for withholding stock from these exhibitions. As regards 

 the second, if it really exists as a reason by which 

 gentlemen are deterred from exhibiting, there can be no 

 difficulty in condemning it, for surely a motive of this 

 sort, if permitted to operate extensively, would sow the 

 seed of certain decay in the high position which the Ku Kenn j 

 sheep stock of Sutherland now deservedly occupies. 

 What could be more fatal to the continuance of this ex- 

 cellence than that the sheep farmers should take pains to 

 avoid subjecting their sheep to comparison with others, 

 lest they should discover that baring been once superior 

 they were so no longer ? Why, the v^ry object and 

 intent of these shows is to discover whether any change 

 of this sort is going on. Who can be interested in learning 

 the deterioration of a flock so much as the owner of that 

 flock ? He should seek for this knowledge, if the fact 

 be 60, and not shrink from it. How else is he to main- 

 tain his place, and how can we he sure that the county 

 will maintain its place, if its principal sheep farmers, 

 content to rely on a reputation already established, are 

 deterred by the fear of possibly losing it, from submit- 

 ting their flocks to frequent comparison with others? 

 They should bear in mind that in human affairs it is 

 frequently more difficult, and demands more constant 

 exertion and care to maintain a position than in the firat 

 instance to acquire it — and that this is now their case, 

 surrounded as they are by active and energetic rivalry. 

 1 believe, as I said before, that the sheep farming of 

 this county still deserves, as much as it has ever done, 

 the high reputation awarded to it — and that that against 

 which I have ventured to caution you is as yet but a 

 symptom, which we are in ample time to correct. 



■ • • 



• • • 



• ■ • 



• • • 



• - • 



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King s ... 



Leitrim... 

 Limerick 

 Londonderry 

 Longford 

 Louth ... 



Mayo ... 

 Meath ... 

 Monaghan 

 Queen's 



Roscommon 



•Sligo ... 



Tipperary, N. K. 



Tipperary, 8. ft, 



Tyrone... 



Water ford 



Westmeath 



Wexford 

 Wicklow 



■ * * 



* •• 



« • • 



• a. 



' 



:::i 



■ • ■ 



• ? * 



• • • 



... 



■ ■* 



• • ■ 



* • • 



• . • 



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. . . 



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■ . - 



• • 1 



• • « 



■ • 



.« • 



• • • 



> ■ • 



• . • 



A 



8924 



16,295 

 32 



90.9 



2595 



729 



26,061 



19,896 



6 



34S0 



7&5 



673 



54 

 211 



10^2 



316 



17,2*i 



592 

 CM 

 999 

 481 

 1G,222 



11 



430 



493 



108 



91 



22,453 



it 



260 



466 



5 



i 





1855. 



Decrease. 



Acres. 



A era*. 



6740 



2184 



9446 



6849- 



81 



• • * 



6021 



i 2sn 



902 



T 



19S2 



613 



422 



307 



15.7SD 



10,281 



11,131 



8764. 



■ • | 



5 



2' 07 



1473 



544 



241 



651 



22 



6 



# •♦ 



44 



10- 



• * 



•«• 



718 



304 



244 



72 



11,760 



5470 



264 





191 



5 



701 



29a 



.53 1 



1 228 



11,809 | 



4403 



7 



4 



382 ! 



48 



377 



1W 



61 



47 



42 



& 



13 r 2S3 



9165 



43 



.#. 



201 i 



m 



1 



1 *•« 



I 



4 



Total in statute acres— In 1854, 151,403; in 1815, 97,192. 



Total decrease in statute acres, 54,211. 





Knighton. — On Preserving the Turnip Crop.- 



Smythies read a paper on this subject, from which the 



following is an extract : — Every one that has grown a 



good crop of Turnips is fully aware that it can only be 



done at considerable cost ; it must surely, then, be very 



false economy to grudge a small outlay 10 preserve it for 



If you cut 



Total extent of Flax £rown in Ireland in the following^ 

 years:— 1850 f 9 1 ,04 I acres ; 1851, 140.536 acres; 

 1852,137,008 acres; 1853, 174,579 acres; 1854,151,403- 

 acres; 1855, 97,152 acres. 



Cultivation of Sand-hills.— At the late meeting of the 

 British Association, the Rev. Dr. Paterson, of Glasgow, 

 read a paper * On the Cultivation of Sea Sand, or Sand- 

 hills." The writer assumes that in Britain there are 

 many hundred thousands of acres of sea sand, driven. 

 Mr. into heaps by the wind, and absolutely useless. Being 

 ' on the level of the sea, such deserts enjoy the best of 

 climate, but continue hopelessly barren, on account of 

 the hitherto unconquerable difficulties of dealing with' 

 the subject. The shifting nature of the mass from the 

 action of winds— very like the driving of snow — render* 

 every effort abortive, and soon obliterates what the 

 hand of industry had wrought. Should these diffieultie 



T 



consumption in the best possible condition 



a Turnip through that has been well stored, and compare 



it with one that has been exposed to all the changes of however, at a moderate cost, be overcome, the en- 



_ x e t .. i.~ ~~„*r\„~.,A «>rktii<AirpmPTit is immpnsp — sav a million nf acres turned 



temperature of a 



of the superior feeding qualities of the former, even 

 supposing the latter be not wholly rotten and useless. 

 In a hard winter like the last, the loss caused in this way 

 by the frost is almost incalculable. Not only do Turnips 

 exposed to the frost become rotten, hut they are bad 



w food for stock whilst they are frozen, and they cannot 



But let us for a moment consider even be taken up during a frost without great waste and 



long winter you must be convinced I couragement is immense— say a million of acres turned 



- into Clover and waving corn, instead of waves of desert 



sand. The writer has seen a small sheltered comer 



reclaimed which yielded 10J. per acre of annual rent; 

 and the soil was originally no better, and in fact no 

 other, than that of the common sand-hills. The method 

 proposed is first to have a command of water raised 

 from the sea, or from the nearest river or brook, and 



