Pec. 1, 1855.] 



THE AGRICUI IM "HAL 



G A Z . T T K. 



7i> 



that the produce iu Northumberland will be found far 

 short of an average. Mr. Caird shows a pertinacity in 

 his opinion that the last harvest will not fall above one 

 million quarters short, and seems to lay much stress 

 upon the increased breadth of land sown with 

 Wheat last year. Mr. Caird must know something 

 of Northumberland, having in iis schools imbibed 

 in his youth an acquaintance with our system of hus- 

 bandry ; improvements since then have made as rapid 



creditable examples exi- nd « .tr. g.i 



trated bv ulan^. and bv thv exhibition ».f tiu» ^«,.»«^-_ k. -..«>» -..j 



tra | by plan*, and by the exhi i ■ th. ara- 



tive results of drained and und mined la. ] n a r«l 



iiai 68, land was represented b lent collet 



of ti anutactures of the leadinp ti. nil the 



tinentai states were pre*- y their while the 



United 3tat< showed its great mechanical applications in the 

 shaj tping maciiii Notwiths riding th large 



however, there was no' hi Qg new to be seen. Ti 

 prehended almost i ry varh ty known, even * ■> m 



remote periods. TI n is and somewhat lll-ntu 



• 







. 



I reta lie* tea clearly ti 



anlsh agnc re, I col- 



metit wetv n cha- 



«*d, possesaiafr, in many inataoces, a 



** runny tee aawci- 



ttoat in who art, an 



i\\ *.. the pure M breed re pre* 



Merino 

 I Ma rib, 



bai ■ 



lecti > iu the 1 



racier ami admiral 



particular ii re> 



- 



hu t h1 no the celebrated R* i let and the II i 



^nd thrae, aga eroaaed will K 



<>% 





lack 





l 



able s team-en ginea, and one of a novel < having a 



threshing machine attached, and being earned on 1 



travelling wheels. Tbe price of th waslflSl., * tt 



was stated to do 250 to 750 bush to 90 qrs.) per diem. For 



districts where it was customary to let out power and the 

 threshing machine, this appeared to he a px>d arran ment. 



_ V^ • i ■ ■• V • * • 



beintf efficient in action, and « • mical in c« rn.ct ion , seen in well nijrh c lines th* lirina*s: < n« whfeh 



Strides here as elsewhere, and the dormant productive S™«iw* ri .T \ ments, a great n, 



.. c mii «t puuuLinc ing machine*.. h.,rse l vanou^lv oaswnvii. :ue few in-.ve- 



properties of our soils have been called into active 

 operation by the numerous modern discoveries in agri- 

 culture, as shown in the astonishing increase in the 

 manufacture of beef and mutton, and in the additional 

 production of our cereal and green crops, but the extent 

 of land under tillage has rather decreased of late yeai 

 in Northumberland than otherwise. The repeal of the 

 corn laws, which unreflecting minds feared would 

 throw ail our arable lands out of culture, certainly did, 

 during the panic, convert many fields into pasturage that 

 had been under the plough ; and as the growth of beef 



and mutton has of late been equal ly as remunerative as the 

 cultivation of corn, consequently there has been no 

 relapse to the former system of husbandry with us. 

 Then, how far have the seasons been hurtful or favour- 

 able to an increased breadth of Wheat last year I The 

 autumn of 1854 was undoubtedly of the most auspicious 

 kind for the bowing of fallows, and even the month of 

 January was mild and dry beyond precedent ; but the 

 spring was one of the most untoward aid ungenial we 

 ever remember ; the sowing of spring Wheat upon the 

 fine dry Turnip loams of Glendale, Bambro, and other 

 favoured localities in Northumberland, was sadly cur- 

 tailed by the severity of the snow storms and intense 

 frosts which here prevailed till the middle of April, and 

 a less than usual acreage of spring Wheat was 

 sown. As the spring was late, so was the summer 

 cold and ungenial. July was a wet month (rotting 

 much of our new land hay); every farmer knows 

 that the most critical stage of the growth of the Wheat 

 plant is the blossoming time — it was easy to foretell the 



1 Sou iuwn 

 •1* have id i he ancient character 



8hort-st«| rino wo- This, howef< hi 



by a contioooi tarn of breading: in and 



the e* of a < arable devi< >n in the 



and otrtain valuable properties in the woe. The 1 



Dal Exhibit n, grand am! spacious as it was, could 

 its walla, do rail mstloe to Agriculture— the ne pr 

 tive industry— the real standard of a > v K<- 



its walls was reared another ranf* fcutldiafla. and flt*r* 



: n 

 • fine 



neiired 



and at 



animal, 



d 



the 

 at 



as well as in transport. The character of the h 



implements was well sustained in almost all the j>rac trials. 



j In nt nee to the cultivated < ps the lecturer said :— Rival 1 



the fine samples of hard Wheats from Alg a, were the white 



Wheats of Australia, Tasmania, the Cap < anada, and >wed< 



France, Spain, and lMgium also exhibited beautiful Wheats, 



both white and red — while the red Wheats of i i*\ were \ 



highly commended. Austria and Baden both furnished ver 



comprehensive and well arranged collection 8 of agricultural 

 | produce, and the quality ef the Wheat exhibited hv Turk \ 



showed the richness of her soil, while its dirty unmarketable 



condition testified to the want of care of its inhabitants. Den- 

 mark, Sweden, Canada, and Hungary exhibi I the€nes1 sampl. 

 I of Barleys, and Tasmania gent a sample of t >at pqual to any in 



the building. The specimens of Maize were very numerous and 

 : of admirable quality; the finest perhaps were 1 Uteris, 



Canada, Australia, Portugal, Hungary, and Bl La. Kye and 

 j Buckwheat, two crops hardly kn wn as bread - n in tie 

 j country, were contributed France, Bohemia. Denmark, 



| Sweden, and Canada, in which counti they are very largely 



consumed. Samples of JUee wen- eon tributed by Una, 



of remarkable size and colour. AJ friers, Por al. 'I md 



the Pontifical ites also exhibited their p iuoe. Bavaria. 



Bohemia, and Belgium, sent fine collections Hops of superior 



quality. Canada also exhibited samples, show g a marked waved triumphantly over the Champ de Mart. There mr the 



denied ad mi mi e n ai us; the inanimate productions of 



tanner's skill. These contained tin tfced r* pre son tan 

 needs r which the uniting eenntnee 



ce) the dark sheafed liola r and arge framed 



'h Nr> both famed for dairy d poses, were well repreaen tec. 



Alongside were seen the vrr neffeded German bleed, wttli 

 nprovemeat I an a <«. Spselcnena of the draus;ht 



cattle (torn the banks the diataut YlaCnla he cream coloured 

 Compb th m oxen ol ! . .: ae- -the brindhd Normal 



the amall framed Bretonne— and the milk wbHeCKsndal 



hived winch Mni.k . ,.r |.n K -i-|, , v .•« h- BSSJBSSSJm »H Ihe 



I'b ysical ou' line *n vabitHoefc. The fine k ><"eeHed 



hi <f Germany were ampl re.preser « bile the heavier 



bv.eds of Iraiice admirably ext >1tfted - haractes> 



istic-.s ol bsY rural poln Our "^n country, b*.. though 



iwwhat tardy in her aj ttion el the k item si aent speel* 



m-na »i her lea ig it- l» H rd% 



ieeet and «wn3- names now current sb id wherever 



viiteeaa a*.* ulturelekwrwe — animalav have done more 



tapiea. fli agHcu 1 tore in diatant landa than 



ail the treat iten at ha n renal vi d from the preea. i bis 



living Hpec'n n«, hie to the General 



Exhii u. rendered the : a^ri ral produce complete, 



and the banner of h Its intrrnatioaal qnarterings. 



while 



the unpropitious weather in July, upon the inferior 

 Wheat soils, of such considerable extent in Northumber- 

 land; the severe spring and cold summer operated no 

 less against an average crop, either in bulk or yield, and 

 the stack garths as well as the threshing floors at once 

 solve the problem you put in your circular "of 

 the probable yield of the last harvest/' In Wheat 

 we are deficient 20 per cent. Of other grain Barley is 

 the most productive crop, though exhibiting a stain and 

 unevenness in many samples. Oats are very deficient 

 upon all inferior lands, and cannot, upon the whole, be 

 pronounced a full crop. Beans and Peas, plentiful of 

 haulm, but wanting in pods, and will give a prolific yield. 

 Agricultural statistics are now occupying much atten- 

 tion. However satisfactory it might be to the statistician 

 to know to a quarter the produce of our harvest, yet I 

 confess myself one of those who have no faith in figures 

 as a panacea to the many ills which beset the farmer. 

 I have less in the certainty of obtaining correct re- 

 turns : and figures, assuming all the authority of 



they rest on the most fallacious basis 



be mischievous in their quotients, 

 the subject of agricultural statistics is 



present as a Shibboleth by the farmers' 

 friends, for lack of a more significant grievance. One 

 stubborn fact presents itself for the reflection of the 

 landowners — the waste, unreclaimed, but reclaimable 

 acres that yet disfigure the face of the country. Not 

 long ago Lord Stanley declared at an agricultural 

 meeting, that there are 77,900,000 acres in the United 

 Kingdom, of which 47,000,000 are under culture, 

 15,000,000 by nature unreclaimable, 15,000,000 re- 

 claimable waste. Why, surely here is a field ample 

 enough tor the profitable employment of what used to be 

 termed our surplus population. Fifteen millions of pro- 

 ductive waste lands, and philanthropy in distress at the 

 idea of a famine I P.S. A severe frost in the night of 

 the 7th September damaged the unripe Wheat seriously 

 upon our higher and later altitudes, otherwise the 

 weather throughout the harvest was delightful in the 

 extreme, and every sheaf housed in good condition. 

 S. Donkin, By well , Felton. 



improvement in quality since 1851. The advanced state of tl 

 I lax cultivation in France, Holland, I^lgium, and Austria, 

 was well represented— from each country u extengn 

 of samples of various qualities, and in the ditlerent stages 

 of preparation was sent. The Tobacco specimens, 1 was Informed, 

 were of extraordinary quality — in many cases, I am son 

 to say, superior to the samples of grain of the exhibiting 

 country. Those most commenih-d were contributed by Algeria, 



ce a 



deficiency which exists in the yield of almost every field France, Austria, Baden Spain, and Portugal. From (i 



Of Wheat whieh had hpoomp Indeed and riprAncrpH hv small collection of grain was sent, as also a pot of hon 



ui w neat, wjnui naa oeconie lodged ana deranged by Mounf Ilymettlls which agriculture, still faithful to th 



first tiro* the domestic 1 animals of iterant countnas wr 



lit her in fr ivalry F ra nee com pitted in the 



lianip de Mars *h*t Kngland began llyfe Park. The Wank 



then hit in industrial competition was tilled up, and an example 



wh I :■ hapi tee, has already been jr due- 

 tlve <»f good effects. The oxc* ent arrangements and the edtnir 

 able organise' ti of the show left nothing to be desired white 



the i that suggested, and the Unenelltj that eneenrafced, 



iis onward movement were acknowledged 1 ts^oite, I think, 



ney from who participated in it. A living " l'.«>ok ot the Farm" 



tptjtjid 



^ t _ w the tradi- on a scale and under conditions such as had never occurred 



tions of the poets', pronounced to be the bestir, the exhibition, befere. Each country had tent hf best, and these all stooi 



facts, 

 will 



ever 

 We suppose 

 taken up at 



iug link between the sugar Beet of the temperate and the i wish it i 



ir Cane of the tropical z S. This plant, owing to t lie pro- conclusion] which I ba given you has d but the surface 



—the salient points ol interest which naturally present them- 

 selves to the ordinary obser But a man cannot long remain 

 an ordinary observer whose dti * lead him day by day, and 

 week by * k, to the examination of these great and varied 

 evident >( Divine beneficent*. He cannot compare unmovetl 

 the productive rati' skilled and ( luistian Europe with that 

 of the dark unevars 1 nations < the Best. He cannot but 

 B the hand of Providence in adapting the wants and the 

 produce of a country to each other, whether he seeks for it in 

 the contributions from the ice-bound shores • Scandinavia, or 

 the sunny lands of south latitudes. He feels, after all. how 

 are raai efforts and how small is his b u coses, when, with all the 

 powers of advanced civilisation -the matured intellect, and the 

 deveh (1 skill— he cannot rival the beauty and the richness of 

 those productions whieh nature has bestowed on lands over which 

 her sway is still undisturbed. His intellect may originate— his 

 skill may apply — science and heart may lend -means for the 

 adaptation of nature' fts to his daily need, but his own finite- 

 ss must ever come borne to his i >d with the great truth that 

 "though as Paul he may plant and as Apohof Biay water, 'tis 

 God that Riveth the increase." (Applause.) 



FRENCH 



AGRICULTURE OF THE 



EXHIBITION. 



The winter session of the Edinburgh University com- 

 menced last week in the agricultural class with a lecture 

 on this subject by Professor Wilson, whose services in 

 connection with the Exhibition have been acknowledged 

 b y the French Emperor by the award of the Cross of 

 the Legion of Honour : 



Professor Wilson remarked that the Agricultural Section wa 

 certainly the most comprehensive, if not the most important of 

 the various divisions of the French Exhibition. It included 



the following branches :— Agricultural statistics, manures, agn- , ^J ^^^^^^ thVufaiiis of Hindostan. The extta 

 cultura, Panics ^«*^%J*^J^ *£* «g .SX^ ^d^e ^ *- ■-«*. *•-* 



In the French department, the numerous exhibitors moat 

 creditably represented the agriculture of France ; many of the 

 collections of Wheat contained sp nens wlw.se names indicated 

 their British origin. Here were represented the two o«w\y- 

 introdnced plants— the Dioscorea Batatas, with its elongated 

 fleshy tubers, indicating a capacity to become, in a suitable soil, 

 an advantageous substitute for, or successor i nnr old friend th 

 Potato ; the other the Sorghum Sacch., forming the climatal con- 

 nect 



•ig ar 

 portion of sugar it contains, obtained a? nee a high economic 



position, and has been the subject of experiments, both sci« nfine 

 and practical, upon a considerable scale. One exh itor from 

 Marseilles confined himself Bolely to the representat >f its 

 merits. The stem and aeeda were shown of the living plant, as 

 also a colouring principle obtained from them, and specimens of 

 its application to silk and woollen goo —sugar c stallised, 

 molasses, wine, alcohol, cider, and vinegar— farina, simple an< 

 in a manufactured state. I have refrained thus far from any 

 reference to the representation of British agricultural produce 



firstly, because it consisted only of a single collection exhibited 



by the Government and not by individuals; and, secondly, 

 because the whole responsibility of it was intrusted to myself. 

 When I recollect, however, how largely I was indebted to the 

 liberality and assistance afforded me by a well-known Edinburgh 

 firm (P. Lawson & Son), and that many of the most commended 

 specimens were contributed by Lothian farmers, I am sure my 

 motives will not be misconstrued if I teU you of the complimen- 

 tary manner in which it was noticed by foreigners as well as by 

 French authorities. [The lecturer read an extract from the Con- 

 servatoire des Arts et Metiers, speaking in high terms of the 

 English collection.] In woods used for construction, and for orna- 

 mental purposes, the English colonies of Canada, <uiana, 

 Jamaica, and Australia were without any rivals. The gigantic 

 dimensions of the soft timber of Canada were only equalled by 

 the strength of fibre and beauty of grain of the hard woods of 

 lower latitudes. Such a large collection of specimens offered an 

 excellent opportunity for testing their comparative values for 

 different purposes of construction : and a series of experiments 

 were carried out, the results of which, I have no doubt, will mate- 

 rially add to our knowledge of the relative strength of materials. 

 Several very important experiments were madewirh reference 

 to ship-building. Next to woods, vegetable fibres perhaps 

 occupv the first place of importance iu retpect to our pre- 

 sent "industrial requirements. Our demand for them has 

 increased so largely of late years, both for textile and paper 

 purposes and we have relied so much for our supplies upon other 

 countries that any disturbance in the markets of Europe imme- 

 diately affects our own, and makes us anxious to discover new 

 sources whence they can be obtained. It has long been known 

 that the indigenous flora of the lower latitude s contain mul- 

 titudes of plants furnishing excellent fibres, suitable for well-nigh 

 everv nuiaVose but it needed an industrial crisis like the present 

 to invest the specimens exhibited of different countries with the 

 importance they so well merited. In these, also, our colonial 

 took the lead— Guiana and Jamaica both contributing large 

 samples of their produce. In cottons there was little to notice 

 except the specimens exhibited by two new producing countriea 

 -Algeria and Australia. Those from the former were beau- 

 tifully prepared, and of several varieties, but with all the care 

 and expense bestowed upon then, were not the representatives of 

 a successful cultivation. From Australia only one variety -the 

 ordinary short staple cotton— was sent and that under its ordi- 

 narv commercial garb ; but what it lacked in appearance, when 

 compared with its showy rival, it possessed in value and import- 

 ance, and the reception of the produce in the home market will 

 no doubt ensure a successful development of its cultivation m roe 

 colony. In wools the number of exhibitors was very large : >■ 

 baoiy so large and comprehensive a collection was never before 



Specimens were sent from almost every country — 



together within the same wide area, i dels of their respective 

 races, standards of comparison by which the farmers of 1 ranee 



could estimate the native breeds, or stocks from which t 

 could draw supplies either to improve or to replace any that were 

 found deficient, i he s «ss of this great exaerimtt* was shown, 

 as regar nglaod.b} s renumerati ve results to our e> bitors; 



ds France, by its I etiti on on a more c« pre- 



hensile scale next In the interest* of agriculture 1 us 



ail kuobcm. This brief sketch .aid I'r jisi g nr Wiltsti in 



^ops, crops obtained without cultivation, farm stock, and agricul 

 ural economics. The first section contained few subjects ot 

 interest, and unfortunately the admirably organised statistics of 



d Bohemia w7reTf7he highest 'class, and were conOrtba 



from the most renowned flocks of those countries. Th from 

 ^aXoui^ gj—* TransyWania, ^^?^X^£ 



fcKly wirh .the r^y -d^iudic.^ our f soutTiern neigh- JM l^^ n ^ ^XZHi 



the quality of those from Brandenhurgh. ^^ e,t P hl1 ^ 



Lnc H «***/ d...A«k*^nA# ria^n cant Fr 



tours. Iu artificial manures the fish guano particularly claim, 

 attention, inasmuch as the practicability of the manufacture had 

 lately been the subject of much discussion in scientific, as well 

 *» in commercial, circles. Various proceaw of manufacture 



Silesia made us regret that entire fl had not been set it r n.m 



Spain the native pastures of the Merino, our ex pec tat i<ms were 

 no? realised; notwithstanding their geographica riv^m 



Mad 



ig villages on the north-east coast of Scotland, where there 



abundance of fish and fuel. The practice of drainage 



hardly yet commenced in France. Some few most 





Home Corre«pondence. 



Af/ricultural E<luccUion.—The following well written 

 pasaage is from the addreis of the president of the 

 Can tdian Agricultural Society at their Ute anniversary: 

 A roan is not deemed competent to make a coat or a 

 shoe who has not served an apprenticeship of several 

 years. Yet men are expected to manage farms who 

 are mere tyros in experience, and in great measure 

 ignorant of the science of agriculture. If the next 

 generation of farmers could be well educated in their 

 profession, it is almost impossible to estimate the vast 

 change which would take place in the world's progress. 

 What is urged is, Education, in the true and proper 

 sense of the t^rro, namely, the thorough training of the 

 mind with a special re rence to the practice of Agii 

 culture. It includes the theory and practice of the 

 profession, neither separately, but both combined. 

 Theory alone cannot make a man a good farmer. In 

 order either to do work well, or to be fitted to direct 

 others in the performance of it, a farmer ought with his 

 hands to have gone through the process. A 

 young man, when commencing his course, should 

 begin at the rudiments, and prwgres* step by step 

 V ts completion ; doing with his own hands, daily, the 

 labour in each department. But together with the 

 correct practice of farming, he must call in the aid of 

 science in order to make him a good farmer. Science 

 must assist him by telling him what sustenance each 

 kind of crop requires, whether it he organic or inorganic, 

 and from a careful analysis of the soil, whether such 

 substances be among its component parts, and in the 

 necessary proportions. No amount of merely practical 

 skill can in all cases indicate this ; science aloue can 

 determine it. How often ia the merely practical man 

 bitterly disappointed when, after preparing a field in hia 

 usual way, he finds that the crop falls far short of his 

 expectations. Such failures cannot be accounted for by 

 any incident and obvious causes; there is the want of 



wn 



t v AV _ „ .^ Inanr „„ something to complete the amount and kind of food 



J^SMEfS; A *5* *&£*£%"»£ I ™™<*y «* *. «<*, t»t b. «* ten what that - 



