810 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



[Dec. 8, 1855. 



a portion of the excellent addre ielivered bj Air. 

 Lawes on the occasion of the presentation. 



We 



intended trial of Fisken's steam-plough at Tiptree 

 next Week will not take place. 



In our remarks on the Turnip crop at p. 777, an 

 attempt was made to point out the true nature of 

 Finger and Toe is roots. This defect was defined as 

 a branching or forked method of growth in such 

 roots as Parsnips, Carrots, and Turnips, as distin- 

 guished from the smooth outline and unbranched 

 condition which mark well developed root crops. 



It was attempted to be shown that a tap root 

 {fusiform), with a clear and unbranched outline, 

 is not natural to the Parsnip, Carrot, or Turnip 

 but can only be obtained from wild plants by 

 careful cultivation, and the general conclusion 

 arrived at from an examination of this interesting 

 subject is that finger and toe is not a disease in the 

 strict sense of that term, but the natural result of 

 the early staije of change from wildness to civilisa- 

 tion, and so this malformation taking place in culti- 

 vated examples is a mark of a downward tendency 

 from civilisation to wildness. . 



Now, it will be seen that finger and toe is viewed 

 as a natural method of growth, and not the result of 

 direct injury to roots, and hence disconnected, or at 

 least not necessarily connected, with the injuries it 

 is the object of this paper to describe, namely those 

 which result 





Irregular 



in the true anbury, and which at 

 starting we may shortly discriminate as follows : — 



Finger and Toe. — A 

 branching or forked method 

 of growth of roots, the 

 branches (dictations) of 

 which gradually lessen 

 downwards — attacks all 



root crops. 



Anbury. 

 swellings of the main bulb, 

 root, or its rootlets — 

 tumour-like excrescences 

 upon the under-ground 

 growth of common and Swe- 

 dish Turnips— not affecting 

 other root crops. 



In tracing the history of anbury, it will be well 

 to glance at the derivation of the term. In a book 

 called " Cheape and Good Husbandry for the well 

 ordering of all Beastes and Fowles," published in 

 1631, the anbury is described as "a bloody wart on 

 any part of the horse's body, the cure of which is an 

 hoteyrm to seare the one plaine to the body." These 

 tumours are now known to be caused by insects 

 laying their eg^s in the horse's skin, which bring 

 about swellings, in which the larvae (maggots) of 

 some species of flies are hatched, giving rise to what 

 are now called Warbles, and the searing cures it by 

 killing these larvae. Hence then the original appli- 

 cation of the term anbury to forms of the Turnip 

 disease would appear to have been perfectly sound, 

 inasmuch as it described a malformation in the root 

 depending upon similar causes to those which pro- 

 duce the excrescences in the horse ; it is, therefore, 

 not a little surprising that modern observers should 

 have confounded this not only with finger and toe 

 but with all other malformations of all kinds of 

 roots from whatever cause arising, so that all dis- 

 tortions of Turnips are spoken of under the heading 



iwedish, are disfigured by raised tubercles upon the 

 bulbs and smaller roots at all ages of their growth ; 

 these on being cut into expose the larvae of an 

 insect, which ultimately arrives at the beetle known 

 as the Turnip gall weevil, admirably figured and 

 described by Mr. Curtis in the fourth volume of 

 the "Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society." 

 The parent insect it would appear lays its eggs in 

 the substance of the Turnip root, which on arriving 

 at the larva state subsist thereon, causing the 

 tumour to form on the outside its dwelling. After 

 a time the grubs eat their way out and form pupae in 

 the soil, in this state serving as food for innumer- 

 able small birds ; and rooks oftentimes much dis- 

 figure Turnips by stocking them for these insects 

 when in the maggot state. This then may be de- 

 scribed as a Turnip gall of the commoner kind, and 

 which will be found to prevail over large districts. 



Now having taken up the idea that this simple 

 form of excrescence or gall was due to a peculiar 

 species of insect, it seemed reasonable that other 

 forms should be referrable to other species in the 

 same way that the same species of Oak presents dif- 

 ferent forms of gall over different and oftentimes 

 limited and well defined districts, and we therefore 

 obtained as many specimens of injured Turnips as 

 we could command, the best examples of which 

 were sent by the kindness of Mr. Lindsay Craigie, 

 to whom our best thanks are due for his kindness and 

 courtesy. 



From Scotland this gentleman sent a box of spe- 

 cimens of Swedes very much injured, the body of 

 the bulb presenting rough warty excrescences, and 

 what under ordinary circumstances would have been 

 fibrous rootlets were converted into abnormal 

 tumour-Hke knobs presenting more the aspect of 



. From the rich 



to proceed from the many causes whidTtendla 

 degeneracy, so the latter may be found to be favoured 

 by many circumstances, the knowledge of which 

 might enable us to arrive at what is at present an 

 important desideratum, namely, the prevention or at 

 least mitigation of its now increasing evils. 



races of Ginger than anything els 

 green sand soils of Berkshire we had also some spe- 

 cimens of a like diseased state forwarded, but in a 

 much earlier stage than the foregoing. 



Now, on dissecting these examples, we were not 

 surprised to find chambers in which w ? ere the cater- 

 pillars of beetles, which, upon more minute investiga- 

 tion, proved to belong to the rove beetle, also figured 

 and described by Mr. Curtis in the paper before re- 

 ferred to; and an examination of this rough creature, 

 which is so different from the smooth form of the larvae 

 of the gall- weevil, is sufficient to account for the differ- 

 ence in the gall it inhabits, and though the rove beetle 

 is described as a carnivorous insect, it is not at all 

 extraordinary that its eggs should belaid in Turnips, 



of u finger and toe or 

 finger and toe." 



anbury," or as H anbury or 



to A n ^ ur y. °r to make the matter plain. Turnip 

 Warbles could only have been mixed up with finger 

 and toe as previously described for want of a system- 

 atic inquiry into the nature of the two kinds of evil 

 and hence wrong conclusions have been arrived at 

 with regard not only to the causes but also the cure 

 of both affections, and more especially when we 

 consider that the prevailing opinion referred all 

 malformations of roots to mechanical causes residing 

 in the soil or manure, or both, some attributing the 

 matter to stones, and others to long undecayed 

 manure. But if we bear in mind that finger and 

 toe, as proved by experiment, is sure to result in 

 any root crop from its too frequent repetition in the 

 same soil, or the using over and over again of own- 

 own seed, we have sufficient evidence of degeneracy 

 mg the cause of this defect. But if we grow 

 Turnips or Swedes where we have previously had 

 a prevalence of finder and toe in Carrots or Parsnips, 

 it by no means follows that this affection must 

 supervene in our Turnips, while such Turnips may 

 be affected by anbury ; and again, it does nor follow 

 that a soil or district liable to anbury would be pro- 

 ductive of finger and toe in any root crops ; but it 

 must be here borne in mind that anbury is certain 

 te result to a greater or less extent in some districts, 

 a tact not to be wondered at if we bear in mind 

 that anbury is a malformation in the growth of the 

 lurmp artswff from % ir ies caused by insects, a 

 point now to be proved as the result of observation. 

 In a long series of examinations of Turnips 

 growing on the Cotteswold hills, where the soil is 

 almost wholly oolite, it will be found that most of 



as many insects of this class breed in vegetable 

 matter, and indeed the maggots of flies are even 

 found in some of these Turnip excrescences, in such 

 a position as renders it not at all improbable that 

 the eggs of the rove beetles are also placed in Turnips 

 to be near animal food. 



Now it is quite true that upon cutting into the 

 substance of any affected Turnips we could at first 

 discover no larvce, but usually the knife which was 

 used became spotted with a milky exudation, which 

 made us look more carefully into the substance of 

 the tumour, and the result of this examination 

 proved that the milky matter was caused by the 

 breaking up of immature larvae, sometimes of rove 

 beetles, at others of the Turnip fly, and frequently 

 of both together ; and the difficulty attendant upon 

 the inquiry into the nature of the excrescences 

 appears to be that observers have usually examined 

 only old specimens which have become decayed 

 from the injuries they have received from the larae 

 eating their way out, exposing them to wet, frost, 

 and other atmospheric influences, and about which 

 wounds the larvae will be found in the mature state, 

 most of the flies indeed having taken on the pupa 

 form, and many of the beetles that of the perfected 

 creatures. 



That both beetles and flies lay eggs in Turnip 

 roots there can be no doubt. Of the beetles the 

 weevil lays its eggs for the most part in the body 

 of the bulb, usually towards the surface ; whilst the 

 rove beetle and flies usually insert their egj>s into 

 the roots : and then th " 



immediately begin to 



thicken, but altogether irregularly, and not lessening 

 downwards, as in the smooth unbroken line pre- 

 sented by the forked roots in finger and toe ; indeed 

 in anbury the tumours are tuberculated/and as 

 before stated, resemble more the appearance of a 

 race of Ginger than any part of a normal Turnip. 



That different species of these insects should be 

 formed in different districts we are already prepaied 

 for, and this may help to explain the varied opinions 

 advanced in describing the malformations of Turnips 

 to which they give rise. That these insects have 

 as yet been but imperfectly studied all must admit 



as it would require a careful investigation of infested 

 crops from all parts of the country, and not only in 

 one but in every stage of growth ; at present, there- 



Xvt £*]£ ™Sl nl om>e } ves w ith having clearly 

 established the difference between finger and toe 

 land anbury, and just as the former has been shown 



YIELD OF LAST HARVEST. 



Forfarshire.— Speaking of this district, the eastern 

 coast of Forfarshire, I should say from my own expe- 

 rience and from conversation with my neighbours that 

 Wheat and Oats are quite an average yield, not equal 

 to last year of course by a fourth, but quite equal to the 

 last five years. Barley under the average, both in itg 

 extent and yield. An increased number of acres of 

 Wheat were sown last year, which will make it supply 

 above an average quantity. Robert ColviU, Chance Inn. 



Mid Lothian.— It is rather difficult this season to 

 obtain full information of the yield beyond one's own 

 farm ; and in preparing to fill up the returns for this 

 parish to the Government report, I have addressed notes 

 to mostly all the farmers in it, asking them to supply 

 me with their views. My own belief is, that Wheat Is 

 at least one-fifth under last year (1854), but about an 

 average ; Br ley one quarter per acre and 2 lbs. per 

 bushel in weight below, and Oats also 6 bushels and 

 1^ lb. per bushel i i weight under average ; Beans an 

 average crop ; Potatoes a large crop partially diseased ; 

 and Turnips about an average, but scarcely reaching it, 

 P.S. Do you not think that other than agricultural pro- 

 duce should receive some attention ? For instance 

 sugar has in the space of two months become doubled 

 in price, said to be from the ignorance generally of the 

 stocks held. My opinion is that stated returns of the 

 whole raw produce and manufactured articles in the 

 country should be regularly ascertained and published. 

 James Melvin, Ratho. 



Lanarkshire. — I believe Wheat does not turn out so 

 well as was expected, and is certainly not over an 

 average. Barley is light and ill-coloured, caused by the 

 heavy rains in July, which lodged the crop. It is on an 

 average 3 lbs. per bushel lighter than the same grain of 

 last two years, and quantity not more than average. 

 Turnips good. Potatoes giving way since lifted ; were 

 good till then. /. Munro Mackenzie, Wishaw. 



Fifeshire. — I send you my opinion of last crop com- 

 pared with average seasons, our two former crops being 

 | very large ones. Wheat an average ; some fields are 

 very deficient, but a greater extent being in crop, I 

 think will make it an average produce. Barley an 

 average, but little sown in this district. Oats aboat 

 one-sixth below an average. Beans a large crop, bat 

 much less sown than what was sown some years ago. 

 Upon the whole, I think it will be a little under an 

 average produce, but this applies to a small district 

 along the coast ; a little up the country I believe the 

 Wheat is more deficient. John Barclay, Randerstone. 



Cupar Districts. — Wheat half a quarter less per 

 acre than last year, but nearly a seventh more in 

 extent. Barley also half quarter short of last year's 

 crop, and a very little increase in breadth. Oats 

 5 bushels less and nearly same breadth. Potatoes very 

 large crop, and one-fourth greater extent thau last 

 year. Disease has increased greatly since the crop was 

 stored. R. Russell, Kilwhiss, Cupar. 



Ayrshire. — In reply to your note of the 19th inst. 

 (to which it is not easy to give a very correct answer), 

 I may say that I still adhere to the opinion I expressed 

 in answer to the queries you sent me before harvest, 

 that Wheat will be tCa average, but Oats under an 

 average. I do not thiuk that, ail circumstances taken 

 into account, the breadth of Wheat last year was greater 

 than formerly. The frost set in at a period when but a 

 small breadth of land was cleared for sowing, and con- 

 tinued so long as to materially interfere with the spring 

 sowing of Wheat ; however, on inquiring at some of 

 the principal grain dealers, I find they have got in more 

 Wheat than at the same period last year. This may 

 be accounted for by the high price inducing the farmer 

 to realise. As to Oats there is, without doubt, a con- 

 siderable deficiency ; the season was very unpropitious 

 for this crop, and the land being nearly all ploughed 

 immediately before sowing it was more easily affected 

 by the very dry weather we bad in the beginning of 

 summer; on light land, of which there is a good deal in 

 this district, the Oat crop would be fully a third deficient 

 As to Barley there is very little grown in this neigh- 

 bourhood. Potatoes proved a better crop than tor 

 some years past, with less disease. A. H. M< Clean, 

 Stranraer. 



Yorkshire. — The Wheat crop was much lodged; the 

 average yield will be fully one-fifth deficient ; also bad 

 in sample, and 2 or 3 lbs. per bushel under the usual 

 weight. The Barley crop was heavy in straw, very 

 coarse and light grain, with a deficiency of marketable 

 grain of a seventh or eighth. Oats are, I think, scarcely 

 an average. Beans are a good crop, but none yet 

 threshed in this part The cause of the deficiency i«> 

 in my opinion, continuous rain, and an almost total 

 want of sun during the period when the grain crops 

 ought to bay* filled. The later crops of Wheat are 

 generally better than the earlier ones, there being less 

 rain and more sun during their blooming and iiili ? 

 time. As to Mr. Caird's estimate of the quantity of 

 Wheat sown last season, I by no means agree, though 1 

 admit, there is a gradual additional number of acres 

 sown each year — bat by no meaus to the extent Jif* 

 Caird states. Peter Stevenson, Rainton, Thirsk. 



