Nov. 24, 1855.] 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTK. 



779 



mould plough, aud left iu that condition till the Potatoes 

 ffere lifted. 



The whole crop, but especially the Irish cap Potatoes, 

 grew most vigorously, and kept green till towards the 

 end of August, at which time the shaws of the cups were 

 not less than 4 feet high ; and while these Potatoes 

 were green and healthy, all those planted with dung in 

 the usual manner were blackened and withered awav, 

 and the crop was a complete failure. Willi rare excep- 

 tions this was the c*se, not only on my own farm, but 

 over the district. The Potatoes which were laid down 

 with guano in the manner already stated, were taken up 

 in the second week of October, and put into long narrow 

 heaps — not pits — covered with straw, and just enough of 

 earth to prevent the straw being blown away. After 

 lying thus for a fortnight, they were hand-picked. Those 

 exceeding one and a half inch in diameter were laid 

 aside for sale ; those again from that side down to one 

 inch in diameter were separated for seed; and all the 

 smaller, diseased, and broken roots were given to the pigs. 



In the end of October the Potatoes were stored for the 

 winter, by being laid on the surface of a piece of ground 

 lying to the south, in long heaps 34 feet at the base by 

 about 2 feet high. The heaps, till within 6 inches of the 

 ridge, were covered with Wheat straw, over which was 

 laid a thick coating of earth. The ridges were thatched 

 with drawn straw, the ends of the thatch being brought 

 over the earth already laid on, and a small quantity of 

 mould, carefully smoothed down, being placed above 

 them to retain the thatch in its place. The ridge was 

 thus left open for ventilation, while it was at the same 

 time perfectly water-tight. In the end of December a 

 slight covering of horse-dung was spread over the heaps, 

 which completely preserved the Potatoes from frost. 



The bulk of the Regent Potatoes was delivered in the 

 end of November 1852, and of the cup Potatoes in the 

 beginning ot March 1853; but a considerable propor- 

 tion of both kinds was left as stored till towards the end 

 of March. In each ton delivered, whether in November 

 or March, there was not a peck of diseased roots, and 

 this was the case also with those laid aside for seed. 

 Both varieties were all along treated alike, and the yield 

 was as follows : — 



V 



1st. York Kegent Potatoes— Gross per acre 

 Of this quantity, there were, of Pota- 

 toes exceeding 1J incli in diameter 

 Of Potatoes from 1 to 1J inch in diam. 

 Of small, broken, and diseased 



Tn. ct. qr. Tn. ct. qr. 



3 11 



2 13 

 14 

 4 



2d. Irish cup Potatoes— Gross per acre .., 

 Of this quantity there w^re, of Pota- 

 toes exceeding 1£ inch in diameter 

 Of Potatoes from 1 to 1£ inch in diam. 

 Of small, broken, and diseased 



The money value being : 



Ton. ct. qr. 

 York Regents ... 2 13 



2 18 

 1 1 

 5 



— 3 11 



4 5 



2 

 2 

 



— 450 



a certainty of the thorough putrid state having been 

 attained. In this condition the mass often became <irv, 

 light in weight, and brown in colour, wanting in 

 moisture, and wholly inactive. In Other cases moist 

 putridity was the st»te of its existence— Mack and 

 pulpy, soft and unctuous, and dry like soap and peat. 

 This practice continued till about the beginning of the 

 present century, or nearly 50 years after the cultivation 

 of Turnips had fairly entered into systematic use. 



By degrees the general observation was extended 

 that a very great I >f bulk was sustained from this 

 very reduced preparation of farm-yard dun.: ; and the 

 value for immediate use was questioned of a wholly 

 decomposed mass, that no doubt contained the e^8ential 

 elements of food, but in a d minished ratio, and in a 

 quantity insufficient for that large extension of Turnip 

 culture, which happened from the necessity of supply- 

 ing; the urgent wants of a vastly increased consumption. 

 The idea ?wy generally pined -round of having a 

 larger quantity of farm yard dung by reducing the time 

 of preparation, and of lifting the matB in a more fresh 

 condition, but still fermented, and considerably advanced 

 into putridity. The necessity of having a quantity of 

 manure to be extended over the lar. area of ground 

 that was used in Turnip culture was a prime mover 

 to a new mode of preparation, and was assisted by 

 the opinion of its more ready if not superior efficacy 

 as a stimulus of vegetable life. Not that success did 

 not attend the application of a black pulpy mass of 

 farm-yard dung, but the extreme use of the mode of 

 j application as a dry snuffy material of more than a year 

 old wrought its own cure, along with the very urgent 

 necessity that appeared of having a much larger quan- 

 tity for use of the inestimable article of farm-yard dung. 



The next mode of preparation has been lorn: used, 

 and yet forms the most general in adoption in the best 

 Turnip growing countries. The system having b 

 established of consuming a part at least of the Turnip 

 crop by fattening and store cattle in the yards of the 

 farmery, that are divided into apartments to hold 

 two, four, six, or eight together, according to age 

 and quality ; the hay and straw of the farm are regu- 

 larly offered to the animals in these yards as food 

 and shelter, and are regularly as possible mixed with 

 the solid faeces and urinary excrements of the beasts, 

 and trodden together by the moving weight of the 

 animals. During the frosty weather of winter, when the 

 ploughing is stopped, mostly occurring in January and 

 February, the contents of the yards are carried to the 

 fields to be planted with green crops in the ensuing year, 

 and laid in a corner or in a lane adjoining, as conve- 

 nience may direct. The heap is raised to the height of 

 about six feet, and in regular banks of about four feet in 



farm-yards ben carried to the fields during the con- 

 vtnu nc« s of the winter, and laid in a heap that slopes 



at both ends to permit the ascent and descent of the 

 arts, which deposit the loads on the heap, over which 

 the n utters are spread. In this way the heaps are 

 formed at any convenient times till April, a cure being 

 still exercised that the matters are mixed — dry \* ith 

 wet — and that no large quantities of dry materials are 

 placed together. The heap is trampled into a consolida- 

 tion that prevents fermentation, when, as the dumr is 



Ditto 



■ • • 



14 



at 80s. per ton 

 at 60*. 



if 



. - . 



• • • 



£10 12 

 2 2 



£12 14 



required for Potatoes, Beet, and Turnips in succession, 

 the heap is turned over with forks, with a very careful 

 attention to break the lumps into small pieces, to throw 

 the outside into the inside of the heap, and to place the 

 whole mass lightly together. A very active fermentation 

 is immediately produced, during which, in abo !• 

 days from the commencement, the dung is laid in the 

 drills, and the seed or plants placed over it. The fumes 

 of evaporation reach the seeds and have a most bettefi- 

 ial effect ; the fermentation, though checked, will 

 continue, and the ultimate decomposition that was 

 commenced in the heap will b lone in the land, 

 which receives the advantage of it. In this mode of 



pr. paration a larger quantity of dung is obtained, and 

 the benefits of the active proceesea are secured more than 

 by the former method, both modes requiring a previous 

 attention to the mixture of matt, r- in the farm-yards. 



Our own experience has been \« ry long and cxten- 

 Ive in the most celebrated Turnip districts in Britain, 

 during which the application of farm-yard dung was 

 chiefly mule from heaps without being turned over, 

 and more latterly, but less extensively, in the last- 

 mentioned mode "of use. It would be difficult to 



establish an undeniable preference for either mode, the 

 expense and previous requisites of the materials being 

 nearly balanced. The first mode in the heaj »s that 

 are not turned over requires that the mass be formed 

 at one time or at twice, when the heap is put into shape 

 and finished, to remain untouched till used in dune. 

 The second preparation pernvts the formation of the 

 heap at all conveniences during winter from November 

 to April, the materials being regularly as possible 

 mixed in the cattle yards and spread evenly over the 

 heap when carried to it at the different times. On this 

 ground of convenience over an extent of time, and that 

 of affording a larger quantity of dung for use, ami of 

 receiving the benefit of active operations in the process 

 of fermentation, a preference may be given to the latter 

 mode with the acknowledgment of an equal success in 

 practice from both preparations. The latter mode suits 

 well for Potatoes and Beetroot, for which fresh dung 

 from the cattle yards has already been reckoned to be 

 sufficiently prepared. But an incipient fermentation 

 of farm-yard dung may be recommended for all crops, 



Irish cups 

 Ditto 



■ ■ • 



Ton. ct. qr. 

 2 18 2 

 112 



at 63^. per ton 

 at 605. 



V 



. . . 



£9 

 3 



4 



4 



3 

 6 



£12 8 9 



width, to which the carts are backed, and the contents ^ _ 



thrown upon it by means of forks. No pressure is per- vven on clay land fallows to be sown with Wheat, 

 mitted on the heap beyond the weight of a man and a 



lad, who spread evenly over the bank that is being give tlce and experience in Turnip farming have 



raised all the materials that are brought forward, gn ^ ested a th ; rd mode f us j ng farm-yard duug in a 



shaking out large lumps that adhere, and mixing as wll , lllv fpAflh ™ n aitinn from the cattle varda In three 



observations 



I would not, at the present date, have reported on the 

 result of this crop, were it not that, from the compara- 

 tive success I met with in it, I was induced in the 

 following year to try whether or not I could grow 

 Potatoes after a white crop with guano alone. The re- 

 turn, as compared with that I had from a fair applica- 

 tion of dung, was so satisfactory, that in spring 1854 I 

 planted a considerable extent of the fallow break with 

 Regent Potatoes, allowing from 41 to 5 cwt. Peruvian 

 guano to the acre in the drill. I at the same time laid 

 down some acres of the same variety with ordinary 

 court manure, applied in the drill, at the time of planting, 

 at the rate of 18 to 20 cart loads an acre. So remarkable 

 was the difference in the crop in favour, of guano, that I 

 had the ground measured, and found that, in round 

 numbers, there were 6 tons an acre of sound Potatoes 

 after guano, and only 3 after dung. The field on which 

 these Potatoes were grown was in good heart, and under 

 Oats in 1853, Grass pastured in 1852, Wheat in 1851, 

 and Turnips, well laid down and ate off by sheep, in 

 1850 ; and that part in which the Potatoes were grown 

 with guano got no dung from 1850 till after the Pota- 

 toes were lifted. It consists of a good dry loam lying 

 on a steep incline, and the Oat-stub hie got a strong 

 furrow down the hill only in the end of the year. 



I have taken the liberty of referring thus generally to 

 the crop grown by me in 1854, as, although I had not 

 two varieties tested by being treated alike, the result 

 shows very clearly the important advantage to be 

 derived from growing Potatoes with guano, and gives 

 me greater confidence in submitting this report on my 

 crop in 1852 for approval. Mr. Hosach in the Transac- 

 tions of the Highland Society. 



much as possible the wet and dry matters, and the 

 straw with the excrements. No dry matters are per- 

 mitted, or only in very thin layers, and well mixed 

 with moistened and very wet materials. When town 

 manures can be got, they are laid in mixture with 

 the farm-yard duug in the layers of the heap, and 

 spread regularly and thinly over the whole extent. 

 Much attention is required in building the heaps, that 

 the different matters are duly mixed— the hot dung of 

 the horse with the colder excrement of the pig, with 

 regular layers of the dung from the yards, and the 

 generally more moist and short materials from towns 

 and villages. In this regularity of mixture the heap is 



wholly fresh condition from the cattle yards, 

 instances, freshly voided dung from the cowshed was 

 carried to finish the mowing of Turnips, where the 

 quantity of fermented dung had (ailed, and produced 

 in every case a very superior crop that was visible to 

 my inspection. After three casual evidences on the 

 point, in the fourth year a fair trial was made in 

 equal quantities of freshly-voided fceces and from the 

 fermented heaps, and the result was full 30 per cent 

 in a superior crop, shown from the brairding of the 

 Turnip seed to the maturity of the bulbs. The experi- 

 ment was decisive, along with the proofs that formerly 

 appeared. 



A difficulty is presented of using, as dung for Tur- 



outside to be dried by exposure In this state of light ™^ 



consolidation the heap quickly ferments and decern- ^ ™ ^ with th ^ fieces of (he animate, 



poses ; the dried outside is cut down and thrown on the engine, ana Deing mixea wiwi we ««™ -* 



top, which is lightly covered with earth, and sometimes 



IIlUiSVCiicu witu mam %»**«« 1 ■-- 



collected for the purpose in a rut around the heap. In 

 this condition the heap remains for use in June, when 

 it is found in a moist condition, pulpy, but not wholly 



they can be easily covered in the land. Another difficulty, 

 and a more serious one, is presented in the distance 

 between the cattle-yards and the fields in the season of 

 wing, and the length of carriage during the most 

 pressing season of the year. But there may be soon 



dnng from the yards, 1 

 but still appears, according to the condition of the 

 matters in the mixture when the mass was formed. If 

 the materials are rough and strawy when the heap is 

 made, a turning over with forks will be necessary, but 

 is seldom done, as the mixtures are made with 



ana accessiuie mvi-j *.»« "* ~ r ~-- — « 



circumstances, the fresh dung from the yards maybe 

 carried to the fields, and spread in broadcast, and 

 ploughed into the ground, or may be better mixed with 

 the soil by means of F.nlayson's harrow driven length- 

 wi*e and crosswise after one furrow of the plough, or 



The drills being then made with one 



care and attention. The yards are generally empneu JJ^JJ* J*[JJ; comm0 n plough, the Turnip seed is sown 

 twice during winter, the first time about Christmas and <. ommon two-drill machine. This mixing mode 



*t__ a *:„.« ^.,«;„rr wot wpathpr in March, after j 



ON FARM-YARD DUNG. 



When green crops were introduced into a regular 

 cultivation, as a systematic portion of the cropping of 

 arable land, now nearly 100 years ago, the application 

 of farm-yard dung was made in the form of a rotten 

 mass— biack, dead^ and mould from which all heat of 

 fermentation had departed— and also every form of 

 organisation that had existed in the straws and hays 

 that constituted a part of the mixture. So very tar 

 was this pr .ctice carried of having the manure in a 

 putrid form that it was most urgently recommended, 

 and in very many cases adopted, that the mixture should 

 be a year old at the time of application, in order to have 



the second time during wet weather in March, after 

 which month the dry weather prevents the proper 

 making of farm-yard dung in the necessary quantity. It 

 is best that the" heaps of dung be formed during wet 

 weather. So much as roads and ground will permit the 

 carriage, snowy weather suits well by the snow being 

 mixed with the dung, and producing moisture on 



m An D unqualified success has attended this mode of 

 using farm-yard dung in the most extensive practice 

 and a long continuation of it. It is yet most generally 



followed. " The idea still existed of having the largest 

 possible quantity of farm dung, and in a state ot fer- 

 mentation, so as to advance to putridity, and with the 



view of securing the benefit of the active P°*ers e come. For the presetu wpcriu 



p.oyed in the process of decay ; and *,s xdea e<i to tune ™*£™£ J^ J T putrid . J. D. 

 another mode of preparation in tne conicum 



may be more admissible without the low by evaporation 

 from exposed dung gains less credence m the agricul- 

 tural world ; for say what we may on that subject, the 

 theory cannot be sustained. 



Mr Mechi has written that • that the days of dung- 

 heaps are being numbered." This saying may soon be 

 verified There may not soon be settled the question 

 between solid and liquid manures ; but the superiority 

 n c f.^«h matt*™ that nossess the native caloric may soon 



artific 



application. If the liquid manure system prevails, tW 

 feces, with or without short straws, may be applied oy 

 Chandler's liquid manure drill ; but this must rest tor a 



~~ present superiority has 



mode 



