Nov. 8, 1855.] 













THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



731 



jotallv different trom the other. So he says, 4k In the 

 wrn or homestead I observe the object is the manufacture 

 of a dead material ; and the essential element to ensure 

 success here is cast-iron undoubtedly — but this is the 

 field wherein the chief object is to mai 



manufacture a living 

 he continues, " it is of no use attempting t 



that department ot the tanner "s practice winch is carried 

 on in the field. Simple as Nature is the farmer's art, 

 and we must assist that simplicity, not seek to supersede 

 it. Charles EwcJiam, London* 





field 



material ; 



invent a machine, be it expensive or otherwise, unless 1 



obtain for it the essential element to ensure success in 

 tfie manufacture I am about to fashion it for ; of 

 what use will it be making a thing and puffing it into 

 ephemeral existence by stating it will do all that is 

 needed, when after a brief trial it will die a natural 

 death, and be no more heard of," So he asks himself 

 this commonplace question — u What is the essential 

 element to ensure success in the rearing or production 

 of life, for 1 must have it \ " And he finds the answer 

 is—" Attention, unremitting attention ." When he says 

 "Can I obtain this from cast-iron materials in chief? 

 No — for who ever heard of infants (which is 'life*) 

 being reared by cast-iron nurses, or of fine plants being 

 produced by cast-iron gardeners ? " Again he asks, 

 " Then from whence can I obtain this element 

 'attention,' so essential to ensure success in plant 

 production, which is the business for which I am 

 about to construct a machine ? " The answer he 

 obtains is only from the u head and hand of man." 

 Here he seems in what the Americans call a " fix." 

 He sees, lie knows cast-iron mechanism is, and has 

 been the chief and appropriate thing for the barn, but 

 that the " attention " of man is the chief thing for the 

 field. Now, this position is awkward, because he knows 

 full well nearly everybody thinks there is no limit to 

 mechanism ; that to start an idea in these latter days in 

 opposition, as that mechanism may have a boundary 

 and a limit, and be out of place in any one branch of an 

 art or manufacture, even though that manufacture be 

 one of iC life " itself, would be rank heresy and schism ; 

 to undertake to define where mechanism begins and 

 " man " ends, or man begins and mechanism ends, is a 

 dangerous and difficult task. However, knowing the 

 u terms" of invention, he perseveres in eliciting the 

 conditions of composition absolutely required to form a 

 tillage machine cheap, yet substantial and suitable to 

 the usual requirements of the farmer in the field. And 

 he succeeds in this way ; he says, " So I must have ' man f 

 in the field, because I require his c attention 'all the 

 year round ; " but there are certain preparatory but 

 temporary operations, which are purely mechanical, 

 which must be executed by mechanism and be per- 

 formed by the ordinary rules of mechanics ; so he asks 

 this question — * Hence, how can I obtain mechanical 

 command over a man, so as to cause him to become, for 

 the short time I may require him, strictly a piece of [ 

 mechanism?" He finds the answer to this is, "By 

 taking him off his legs," — by moving him, instead of 

 allowing him to move himself over arable land ! Now 

 I call your particular attention to this. Here the in- 

 ventor obtains the essential element to ensure success 

 in plant production, viz., attention ; and also discovers 

 the method whereby he can acquire the necessary con- 

 trol or command over it, so as to make it serve as a 

 piece of temporary mechanism in the composition of a 

 machine for executing tillage. 



Having found that man, the labourer, is the most 

 valuable piece of mechanism a farmer can have in the 

 field department of his business, he proceeds to dis- 

 cover how he can apply him to perform the mechanical 

 and temporary operation of tillage. He says, " There are 

 only two things absolutely necessary in field mechanism, 

 viz., leverage and steerage. By using the fixed point 

 (point d'apput) with my machine I obviate the necessity 

 of studying ' steerage' altogether ; hence the only 

 thing to provide for is ' leverage;' that is, to use 

 something which shall be capable of elevating or depress- 

 ing a lever, having tillage mechanism at its extremity." 

 This he finds the ordinary skill of man is fully equal to ; 

 the only precaution required being this, viz., that you 

 carry him instead of allowing him to carry himself. 

 By putting him in the gallery 84 feet long, he finds he 

 can readily fulfil this condition, and that one man can 

 manage a great length of tillage mechanism. So by 

 using a man, an inventor at once obtains a cheap and 

 plentiful species of " mechanism " ready made to his 

 hands, to till up an apparently long machine. Co sider 

 yourselves, what is there in tillage practice so elaborate 

 °r so difficult which the ordinary skill of man cannot 

 encounter and accomplish ; that man who can point pins 

 Of drill the eyes through a handful of needles with such 

 speed and dexterity that the unaccustomed eye can- 

 not follow him in his work — what is there in field 

 operations which he cannot do, provided you supply 

 him 



MR. CAIRO'S ESTIMATE OF THE HARVEST. 



[The following is portion of a letter addressed to the Times on 



this subject by Mr. Caird.j 



The English Wheat crop of 18.54 proved one of the 

 best on record. It appeared a large crop at harvest, 



sed 



<>t Win at is not likely t<» be maintained. But, if I have 

 materially erred in this, the deficiency may prove very 

 serious. Is this a question that should any longer be 

 left to doubt and uncertainty f The evidence taken by 

 the Lords' Committee on Agricultural Statistics last 

 "ii conclusively prOTed the nracucabil tv of obtain- 



ing accurate returns of the acreage under each crop 

 in the kingdom, which, if at present in operation, might 

 have been publn-hed six weeks ago, aud would at once 

 have given certaintv to the trade in corn, now fluctn- 



- r anng wih every new rumour from week to week. The 



fineness of the harvest weather perfected a bountiful present average price of Wheat is exactly Stfc a-quarter 

 crop. This was followed by a continuance of the same higher than it was at this time las t year '.' Each month's 

 propitious weather during seed-time, and, as Wheat was consumption is thus costing the country 1,500,000/. 



more than it did then ; and yet successive Governments 

 hesitate about an outlay of some 30.000L to obtain accu- 

 r:i returns, which would calm public anxiety aa t the 

 supply of food, and would remove that uncertainty and 

 apprehension which alarms public credit and paralyses 

 trade. Of all the mistaken economies ever committed 

 by a great nation there has never one more delu- 



sive than to grudge the cost of ascertaining facts upon 

 which the trade and welfar of the country are ao much 



dependent J<*me$ Caird, 6 9 Serjeant'* Inn, Temple, 



Oct. 2<X 



^ _, .» _ r% . ww „*, U .W.,C «<•«..*.«,«» ..U.W.J 



expected to see again, every acre that could be got 

 r^ady was sown with Wheat. So much for the autumn 

 seed-time. When spring came one bushel of Wheat was 

 worth two of Barley, and the advantage was plain 

 enough of substituting the one crop for the other 

 wherever practicable. Accordingly an unusually large 

 breadth of spring Wheat was sown last season. If we 

 suppose that only one-fourth of the usual breadth of 

 Barley land was sown with Wheat, that, on the tour 

 course system, would add one-fourth to the average 

 breadth of land under Wheat. 



The weather during May and June was too cold for 

 the Wheat crop, with late frosts, and at this period the 

 crop suffered considerably, especially in the south. It 

 was fully 14 days later than usual in coming into ear, 

 in some places three weeks. But July was warm and 

 forcing, and the weather on the whole was favourable 

 while the crop was in bloom. Towards the end of the 

 mouth the effect of blight made its appear ce, and it 

 then became manifest that the ear was partially 

 defective. On the 4th of August harvest was com- 

 menced on the Sussex coast, by the 15th it was general 

 over the south of England, and during the next six 

 weeks the weather w T as everything that could be wished 

 for the cutting and in-gathering of the crops throughout 

 the kingdom. Within that time all the valuable Wheat 

 crops were secured, and in excellent order. 



The crop has now been tested in all parts of England, 

 and, while the yield is found to fall considerably short 

 of the great crop of last year, and in some particular 



districts, owing to special circumstances, is very defec- . . . 



tive; yet, on the whole it is believed to be nearly an light rope is mounted upon "horses, both the anchors 

 average produce per acre over much beyond an average bear a strain sufficient to hold up the double length of 

 surface. The farmers' deliveries of Wheat in the rope from touching the ground, to which must be added 



during the first week of the drag arising from the friction of the rollers upon 



shown by the the " horses." The strain upon the anchor at the end 



Home Correspondence. 



Fisken's Plough. — By the way of satisfying u W. B.,* 

 and preventing the future misapprehension of other 

 pe le, I will just re-state the facts of the case at issue. 

 [n Pieken's apparatus we have a wire rope laid along the 

 ground and fastened to an anchor at each end of the 

 field. This rope is passed one turn round a grooved 

 barrel upon a travelling frame to which the ploughs are 

 attached ; so that when the barrel revolves, it winds its 

 way along this stationary rope. The strain upon the 

 rope — and therefore upon whichever anchor the wind- 

 lass or ploughing machine may be approaching- -is not 

 greater than the draught of the machine. In order 

 to actuate the barrel, an endless hemp rope, 

 driven by a portable steam-engine, is pasted round 

 a pulley at each anchor (that is, at each end of the 

 field), and this rope drives a rigger upon the travelling 

 carriage, which rigger communicates motion to the 

 barrel by means of a pinion and spur-wheel. As this 



various English markets ««*... & 

 October for the Jast three years, 

 Gazette, are a pretty accurate indication of the correct- 

 ness of this conclusion. For the week ending October 6 

 the Wheat delivered was — 



1853. 1854. 1855. 



95,494 qrs. 151,801 qrs. 155,921 qrs. 



From these figures we should be almost justified in 

 assuming that any defect in the yield is compensated by 

 the increased breadth under crop. 



I am inclined, however — and I think it will be a 

 prudent calculation — to assume that the yield of the 

 last Wheat crop is something below an average. We 

 may take it at one- tenth, and then with the foregoing 

 data we have the following results as the produce of 



1855, viz. : — 



♦ Qr>. 



... 13.500.000 



Average. Wheat crop of tbe United Kingdom ... 



To wbich add one-fourth for increased breadth 

 sown in consequence of high prices, a favour- 

 able seed time, and a liberal use of guano 



... 



000 



Deduct one-tenth for defective yield of last crop 



.000 

 .600 



Total estimated Wh 

 stimated annual con sump 

 Kingdom 



» • ■ 



• • » 



t • • 



• . * 



♦ • t 



,187,600 

 .000.000 



,500 



of the field farthest from the engine is no greater than 

 the draught of the travelling machine plus the slight 

 strain due to the liizht driving rope as just ex- 

 plained. The strain upon the anchor nearest to the 

 engine is greater ; because, in addition to this, it 

 has to bear (or rather, may have to bear) a strain 

 equal to double the draught of the rope between the 

 engine and the travelling windlass ; the other pulley 

 having to do only with the slack rope. The driving- 

 rope having a velocity 1 1 times greater than that of the 

 machine it propels, its " draught " is 1 1 times less ; 

 thus the anchor nearest to the engine has to sustain a 

 total strain equal to the draught of the plough- 

 carriage, plus two-elevenths of the same draught, 

 plus the slight strain arising from the si. ension 

 of the driving rope and the friction of the small 

 rollers upon which it rests ; to which must be added 

 an allowance for the friction of the wheel work upon 

 the travelling carriage. In other inventions, in which 

 the ploughs are drawn bodily by an endless wire rope, 

 itself travelling at the same pace as the ploughs, the 

 pulley at the tar end of the field has to resist a strain 

 equal to double the draught of the implements plus 

 that of the heavy rope, which moves with great friction 

 over the ground. The above is a statement not of 

 opinions but of facts, which neither « W. B." nor any 

 one else can destroy, so that I maintain my assertion 

 that Fisken's plough works with very little more strain 

 upon tbe anchorages than is due to the simple draught 



of the implement. /. A. C. 



Adulteration of Manures.— In the address of Dr. 

 Anderson to the Scotch Agricultural Society is the 

 following statement :— " A very remarkable instance of 

 this occurred to me some time since. I analysed 

 manure professing to be manufactured by a particular 



with 

 endow his 

 ficial 



artificial means, and 



required arti- 

 will dis- 





certain necessary 

 hands and legs with the 

 power I Literally nothing, as you 

 cover when I come to analyse and pass in review 

 ^ operations of the field, and place them before 

 y^ur eyes and minds in their real " native" simplicity. 

 Modern improvers (well-meaning, no doubt), have tried 

 hard and long to throw the cloak of elaboration upon 

 that branch of the farmer's art, which is simplicity 

 itself ; but the best commentary on their past attempts 

 w « that not one single expensive elaborate attempt has 

 f^r succeeded, been profitable, held its ground, or 

 ^n imitated by others. By results we judge the 

 correctness of proceedings, and we can all of us em- 

 phatically y, that in ail our observation or experience 

 w e never yet saw an elaborate experiment or an elabo- 

 ^te mechanism succeed in the field. Hence what is 

 the infer, nee ? Why, that intricacy and elaboration are 

 °ut of place ; and that " simplicity'' is the very soul of 



Apparent deficiency to be supplied from abroad 2,81 



which is little more than one-half of the average annual 

 importation of the last five years. 



But there are two important circumstances to be 

 taken into account which will materially diminish this 

 apparent deficiency — the lateness of the harvest and 

 the economy of consumption caused by high prices. The 

 harvest was three weeks later than usual, and we may 

 thus save three weeks' consumption of the present crop. 

 This saving, however, is not one on which it would be 

 prudent to reckon, for in the same degree the stock of 

 old corn in the country must have been diminished ; proce , which it is unnec«sary to "P 1 ^ ; J™^ 1 ^ 



based en the regular market prices of these 

 ! substances ; so that it was possible for any person, by 

 mixing salts of ammonia, &c, to produce a manure of 

 equal value for that price. Some time after, I met the 

 individual for whom the analysis was made, and he 

 informed me that he had shown it to an extensive dealer 

 in manures, who had said, that he had no doubt it was 

 quite correct, but that he could himself afford to give 

 for the manure a much higher price than I had fixed, 

 hMuiM he knew that, in the present state of the market, 



on hand to meet unforeseen contingencies. 

 I economy of food caused by high prices is self-evident to tion was 



* • *» 1 * j. -a fc ...»*U 4l% AMA M t«ll i anhcton/>J 



and Flour, for which we shall be dependent on foreign 



supply. 



There can be little doubt that the present range of 



prices will procure this supply from America and 



Egypt alone, even should the northern European ports 



be closed against us by the detective crops and high 



prices anticipated abroad. h7could 'sell it for 4l or 51. per ton. Here, then, 



Now, if these figures could be relied upon, there ne co^ ^^ ^ specu] J e on the ignorance of the 



farmer, by inducing him to pay, for this substance, 

 nearly three times its actual value. It is scarcely P****** 

 to adduce a more striking illustration of the risk to which 

 .u- /— mer i 8 laid open by the want of chemical informa- 



If this is done to the keen and wealthy farmers of 



would be no further anxiety on the food question. I 

 cannot, however, ask for them any greater dependence 

 than may be given to the result of individual inquiry 

 and observation and a pretty accurate knowledge ot a 

 the Wheat-growing districts of Great Britain. It will 

 be obvious to those who have studied the question that 

 the result of this estimate is mainly governed by the 

 supposed increased breadth of land sown with Wheat 

 last season. 



if mv estimate snonld prove accurate, the present price 



tion. 



M 



„„„, ~.«. »— ~ r farmers 



ulture is in arrear \ It is a lamentable reflection 

 that farmers, working early and late, should be preyed 

 upon by a set of harpies, who thus swindle them out Of 



