794 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



[Dec. 1, J855. 



to some fomiations, Air. Trimmer 

 tion as of 



When the 



as or agricultural importance. 

 Subsoil is clayey and retentive and the furrows in its 

 surface become filled up with porous materia] they 

 are natural drains, or would act as drains, if exit 

 were provided for the water which will gather in 

 them, and Mr. Trimmer accordingly advocates the 

 arrangement of the drains, not upon any regular 

 system corresponding to the uniform supply of the 

 water from the clouds upon the land, but upon a 

 system which shall correspond in some measure to 

 the irregular manner in which, owing to these natural 

 drains, the water arranges itself after it has sunk 

 beneath the surface. It is therefore recommended 

 that by sinking pits and otherwise examining the 

 Structure of the land, the direction of these ruts 

 beneath the surface be ascertained, and that then the 

 direction of the drains be laid as nearly right across 

 them as the fall of the land will allow. It is the 

 existence of these ruts, not the cause to which theory 

 assigns them, that is of any interest to agricultural 

 readers, and therefore it is not necessary to state 

 Mr. Trimmer's views upon the latter point : but it 

 may be added that he has found them generally 

 So far parallel as that having ascertained the 

 existence and direction of any one such groove 

 the direction of them all may be taken from 

 it, and that of the drains then laid down, so as to 

 combine in the best manner possible the line across 

 these grooves with the line of surface fall. Atten- 

 tion to this subject at Keythorpe has resulted, it 

 is stated, in a very economical and efficient drainage 

 of the land. Whether that condition of the subsoil 

 on which the system is based be so general as to 

 make Mr. Trimmer's researches into the subject 

 generally available remains to be proved. The 

 latent information on this and on every other aspect 

 of the subject will no doubt be fully brought out at 

 the meeting of the Society of Arts, which will, we 

 hope, be well attended and reported. 



In previous Papers (pp. 730 and 746) the history 

 of the Turnip has been traced until it has attained 

 a position in which it may be considered as safe 

 from its formidable enemy the Haltica, and the farmer 

 is satisfied with having got "a plant ;" but as a plant 

 is by iio means a crop it now becomes a duty to 

 examine into some of the causes which may operate 

 to prevent the realisation of those hopes which 

 success so far might have engendered, to which end 

 this paper will be devoted to an inquiry into those 

 injuries to which the plant is liable from the attacks 



called attt-n- food, or quietly introduced there by the intelligent 



Scorch caid^rier. who ever speaks of the mole 





and treats him -as a friend— how he came we 

 cannot pretend to say, but the mole established him- 

 self in the pait of the garden most infested by the 

 wireworm, and after two years' residence it dis- 

 appeared, and what is so much to the point the 

 wireworm has disappeared also. Much has been 

 advanced both for and against the mole, but this 

 much must be admitted, that he is carnivorous and 

 almost insectivorous in his food, and it may there- 

 fore be a matter of srave consideration whether the 

 injury he does by disturbing the soil is not more 

 than compensated by the good resulting from his 

 appetite, for we may be quite sure that like the 

 Indian he will only stay in his hunting ground 

 so long as it furnishes him with food ; failing this, 

 he migrates to a spot better adapted to supply his 

 appetite, which is of a most voracious description. 

 At the season of the growth of the Turnip which 

 it is our present object :o describe, the larva of the 

 Cockchafer (Melolontha vulgaris) is frequently one 

 of the most serious pests. In this species the beetle, 

 as is well known, may often be observed in thou- 

 sands feeding upon most of our deciduous trees in 

 the month of May — and hence the term May beetle, 

 by which it is often known : in this state it does 

 much injury by feeding on the leaves of the trees ; 

 its eggs are laid in the ground, and in a short time 

 these, on becoming hatched, present the larvae, which 

 are at first small, but gradually becoming larger, in 

 the space of three years forms a large fat grub, as 

 much as an inch and a half in length. This bulk is 

 attained at the expense of almost any crop among 

 which they may be located, and amongst others the 

 Turnip too frequently falls a prey to their ravages. 

 We remember some three years since a friend of 





of some of the species of insects which feed upon 

 the bulb in its young state. In doing this we shall 

 now direct more particular attention to the wire- 

 worm and the larvae of the cockchafer. From the 

 earlier state of the root growth until it arrives at 

 maturity the Turnip is liable to be eaten by 

 wireworms, which we need not stop to describe 

 any farther than to state that they are the larvae 

 or caterpillar state of some beetles ; these eat 

 into the very heart of the Turnip root, and by muti- 

 lating or destroying it either cause mutilated and 

 ill-formed roots or ruin the bulb altogether, accord- 

 ing to the severity of the attack. To destroy this 

 pest many expedients have been had recourse to ; 

 the use of salt, lime, and various plans of manuring 

 have from time to time been recommended and 

 abandoned, and now after all the care and trouble 

 bestowed in the inquiry the encouragement of their 

 natural enemies is found more to discourage their 

 increase than all other plans put together. Amongst 

 those we may especially number the mole, rook 

 and starling. 



It cannot be expected that so time-honoured a 

 craft as that of mole-catching will be lightly given 

 up, but if we recur to the fact that the mole was 

 formerly considered as an enemy to the farmer 

 and gardener upon the erroneous supposition that 

 ™zf ed upon roots*, we shall in this case see reason to 

 believe that hehasbeen wrongly convicted, and if upon 

 further inquiry we find that he lives entirely upon 

 insects, and that the root-destroying wireworm is 

 his principal food, we ought, unlike the law, not 

 merely to grant pardon for offences never committed, 

 but to cherish the victim of our former injustice. 



As one practical case of the good done by moles 

 nas come under our own immediate observation 

 within a recent period, it maybe worth recording The 

 botanical garden at the Royal Agricultural College 

 was tor several years S o overrun with the wireworm 

 that no crop was safe-the garden esculents and the 

 experimental plots all shared the same fate. Whether 

 guided by his natural instincts to an abundance of 



ife for the benefit ot country air and exercfs*. and h» w*i 





recollect 



„J !' l ^J aower drooped so sadly that the plant was taken up 

 my ? - ii W v"/ tS m T r00t WM *»nd to have been eaten 



Sd LnLol^ 8 J blel 2" at °n?* *«nlmted *> "oonta" or moles, 

 ww vengeance of no ordinary kind was carried out against tbeial 





ours, who was a great enemy to rooks, came to us 

 in great glee at having at last, as he thought, made 

 out a clear case of felony against these respectable 

 birds, which he had detected under the following 

 circumstances. On passing the Turnip field he had 

 observed the rooks very busily engaged among the 

 plants from one end of the field to the other, and 

 upon instituting inquiries as to their occupation he 

 saw that the mere tops of the young plants eaten off 

 from just below the collar were thickly strewing the 

 ground heels upward, the bulbs which had just com- 

 menced forming having been evidently eaten away. 

 Here, then, he had hastily concluded that the rooks 

 with malice aforethought, and contrary to the laws 

 of our sovereign lady dame Nature, had been felo- 

 niously enjoying a vegetable refection of Turnip 

 roots ; but on a more careful survey we found that 

 the injury had not been just then inflicted; that 

 the tops, indeed, bore evidence of having been gra- 

 dually eaten away by a smaller creature than the 

 rook, and upon looking along the rows we soon saw 

 many sickly looking plants which were evidently 

 suffering from some injury then in the process of 

 infliction beneath the surface; and upon removing 

 the soil we were not surprised to find a number of 

 the larvae of the cockchafer, varying from one to four 

 at each sickly root. Here, then, was strong 

 confirmation of the error of hasty observation, 

 and consequent erroneous conclusions, as in this 

 instance the very creatures which were con- 

 sidered by our friend as enemies were doing the 

 part of [real friends ; and as they were afterwards 

 left in quiet possession of the field, it is not too 

 much to conclude from the numbers of the observed 

 larvae, that the saving of the crop was mainly attri- 

 butable to their labours. 



Again, some few years since, we saw. on a farm 

 in Gloucestershire, a Turnip field so infested with 

 these larvae that a crop was obtained only by setting 

 women and boys to grub About the plants, and hand- 

 pick the caterpillars, for which service the farmer 

 paid a few pence for every quart, and a tolerably 

 large party for two or three days in that way ob- 

 tained very good wages, the creatures, which formed 

 a good-sized heap, being afterwards destroyed. 



Now, the first of these instances occurred on a 

 farm where rooks are abundant, but from some 

 cause or other, perhaps from frequent molestation 

 they had gone far afield for their food, which they 

 would still have done, if indeed they had not been 

 executed on the spot but for a timely verdict of 

 acquittal. However in the second instance, rooks 

 are unusual, and if guided to the place by their 

 unerring instinct, the fact that a man was constantly 

 employed to " keep birds " who was by no means 

 chary of powder, is sufficient to account for the vast 

 quantities of these creatures which occurred esoe 

 daily when we consider that the enormous fecundity 

 of these lower tribes of animals is on purpose to 

 compensate for the myriads which if allowed would 

 constantly fall a prey to their natural enemies 



The rook, too, is an enemy to the wireworm, which 

 with the larvae just described, are among the most' 

 prolific sources of failure to the Turnip crop boUi 



oi them commencing their ravages alter the plant], 

 considered as safe, at which time ihe mischief is a » 

 the greater, inasmuch as the plants have been 

 thinned, and therefore cannot well be replied 

 Caterpillars, of some species of moth, are also 

 enemies at this time, but as these, like the preceding 

 are best kept under by insectivorous birds, we shall 

 not stay to describe them, but would conclude this 

 part of the history of the Turnip crop by earnestly 

 recommending farmers not hastily to destroy insect- 

 eating animals, for although under some "circum- 

 stances, especially if too thick, they may be compelled 

 to have recourse to vegetable food, yet on the whole 

 their tendency is so much to good that great evils 

 must arise from their indiscriminate slaughter. 



Here then, we would observe, let the owners of 

 rookeries and the farmers be content with the annual 

 thinning entailed by rook-shooting, not however in 

 anger as against enemies, for we are convinced the 

 more the natural history of the rook is inquired into 

 the more shall we be inclined to look upon him as 

 the farmer's friend, and that his behaviour to the all- 

 important Turnip crop when understood, will ever 

 ensure his being so cons dered. 



THE YIELD OF LAST HARVEST. 



My attention has been called to several letters which 

 have lately appeared in the Times from Messrs. Caird, 

 Turner, and others, speculating on the quantity of 

 Wheat which has been grown this season in the United 

 Kingdom ; but these gentlemen have not attempted to 

 inform the public how a larger Wheat crop maybe 

 grown during periods of scarcity, if not permanently, on 

 the strong Wheat-producing soils of England. I there- 

 fore venture to state what I have myself succeeded in 

 doing towards that desirable object this last harvest 

 My farm consists of 170 acres of strong clay land, which 

 five years ago was unable to produce more than about 

 150 quarters of Wheat. Within that period I have 

 drained, cleaned, aud heavily manured the entire farm, 

 and this harvest I am rewarded by a crop of the finest 

 quality of White Wheat, averaging as nearly as I am 

 at present able to estimate 5 quarters to the acre over 

 105 out of the 170 acres ; and of this 105 acres, about 

 20 carried a very heavy crop of Oats and Wheat last 



year. 



I have just now finished sowing some 116 acres, and 

 have 18 yet to sow, after the roots have been removed 

 by the aid of Crosskill's Railway, which by the bye, I 

 al ways use for this purpose, when the laud is at all wet, 

 as it has been this autumn. It will thus be seen that a 

 farm of the moderate extent of 170 acres can be made 

 to produce 500 quarters of Wheat, of the very finest 

 quality, without deterring J the cultivator from taxing 

 its productive powers, and a still greater extent for a 

 succeeding crop. The secret rests in a system of deep 

 drainage, thorough cleaning, and liberal manuring, with 

 deep and perfect cultivation. 



My growing Wheat crop looks as well as it is possible 

 to do, and notwithstanding the doubts W fears, and may 

 I add, hopes of many of my neighbours, I have every 

 expectation of as fine a crop next year as I have suc- 

 ceeded in growing this year, and my intention 18 to con- 

 tinue successive Wheat crops as long as I can get 9vs> 

 per quarter for my 5 quarters to the acre. /. O.SherrarC, 



Invernessiiire is of trivial importance as a gflua 

 growing county, the statistical returns for J** 

 showing that of its huge extent (upwards of 3 n 11 ""™ 

 of acres) the following only were appropriated to gW" 

 crops, viz. : — 



1684 acres Wheat. 

 3674 „ Barley and Bere. 

 13,674* „ Oats. . 



Of the Barley and Bere fully one half is grown m tot 

 upland straths and remote islands of the HebrideSjWa® 

 agriculture is very inefficiently conducted ; of the U 

 crop about two thirds may be ascribed to the i 

 districts. I do not suppose.that the acreage under crop 

 for 1855 will much vary from the above, as thougH 

 high price of Wheat in 1854 was an inducement to so^ 

 as much as practicable, the practicability was m« 

 limited by the extreme wetness of October 

 November, and the frozen state of the P° ma 

 March. The Wheat crop is deficient of an aver- 

 age to the extent of 4 bushels per acre. 

 Barley and Bere crop is about an average. The 

 crop is deficient to the extent of 12 bushels per w*^ 

 The apparent causes for this short-coming in W ~w 

 the severity of the winter months, during which n> 

 of the see«l sown perished, and the coldness ana 

 geniality of April and May, when the plants sWJ 

 have been tillering. Oats of course were subject _; 

 to the unfavourable influences of these latter m( *Tr± 

 from which Barley and April (bearded) Wheat, ojw 

 to their late period of sowing, were comparator ; 

 exempt. S, . jq 



Northumbkrland.— I think the crop of ^ he * 2e ; 

 this district will be about one-sixth below an * f ?rL r f 

 Barley and Oats an average in quantity, but hg r 

 bushel. Th*re will have been a little increase m 

 breadth of W r heat sown, on account of it being & ^ fl 



cases substituted for Barley. Potatoes above 



average of ihe last few years. Joseph Let, Dw&*' ^ 

 Whatever difference of opinion may. prevail u * ntf ai 

 aggregate yield of last harvest, I have, from » 6 



acquaintance of this county, no hesitation in 



same 













