Dec. 22, 1855.] 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



845 



satisfactory state, the application of this check would not be ob- 

 jected to. But this society is strongly of opinion that, as things 

 ire, all who are interested in the formation of a sound system of 

 agricultural statistics— and none can be more Intereste d than 

 the tenant-farmer himself— and shall, in a candid spirit, take the 

 trouble to acquaint themselves with the facts, will not only see that 

 this check is at present inapplicable, but will also recognise in its 

 non-applicability, and the probable consequences, an additional 

 reason, on behalf of the public interest, for every effort rhat 

 mty be made to place the tenant-farmer in a position better 

 adapted to the increased wealth and intelligence of the class, 

 and more in accordance with the spirit of the &%*. 13. That in 

 order to obviate all reasonable objections on the part of the 

 tenant-farmer, this society would suggest that each occupier, 

 having received hi3 schedule, and such instructions for filling 

 up as he may think proper to require of the district enumerator, 

 shall be at liberty either to hand the schedule, when filled up, to 

 the enumerator, or to send it, by post, direct to the Board of 

 Trade. And that in order to enable the officers appointed to 

 examine and classify the schedules in London to detect 

 the omissions or errors, the enumerators be required to 

 send to London, with such schedules as may be handed 

 to them, a list of the occupiers to whom they had 

 delivered schedules, with the number of acres in the 

 occupation of each, to be taken from the local rate-books, a 

 measure this society believes would be practicably efficient, and 

 satisfactory in its results to all parties. 14. That these resolu- 

 tions be published, in such a manner as the Committee of 

 Management may deem most likely to render them useful. 



Signed on behalf of the meeting, 



J. T. Dans« >n\ Barnston, Chairman. 

 W. B. Burn ham, Spital, Hon. Sec. 



Chester. — At the past annual meeting of this society, 

 a succession of subjects were discussed before a very 

 large and influential meeting of agriculturist*, the 

 matters having been arranged by a committee, so as to 

 make the annual gathering more useful than a mere 

 cattle show could make it. The topics on which papers 

 were read were — 1, Farm Agreements ; 2, Land 

 Drainage ; 3, Laying down Land to Pasture for Cheese- 

 making — the introducers of these subjects being re- 

 spectively Mr. Humberton, Mr. Palin, and Mr. White, 

 and each being followed by a number of practical 

 men in criticism of the views that had been expressed. 

 We give the opening remarks of the chairman on the 

 occasion, and shall publish in another section of the 

 Paper extracts from the addresses that were delivered. 

 It certainly is very desirable that our provincial and 

 other agricultural societies should adopt the plan that 

 has been followed at Chester, and turn the meetings of 

 their members to more practical account than has 



hitherto been done : — 



A very large company having assembled in the Town 



Hall, the use of which had been granted by the mayor, 

 Mr. Harry Mainwaring, having taken 'he chair, said : — 

 I am right glad to see at last that agricultural societies 

 are going to do something practical, for heretofore they 

 have been little worth. The pigs, cows, and horses have 

 been exhibited at 12 o'clock, we have dawdled 

 away five or six hours, the dinner has come at 

 six, and it has been midnight before any practical man 

 could get up. Last year, and the year before, we 

 had many speeches, but not one practical matter dis- 

 cussed. I augur from this meeting something more prac- 

 tical and useful. You will see from the paper that four 

 practical subjects are going to be introduced to-day for 

 the consideration of the meeting. Many of us now in 

 the room have been at a lunch provided for us by Mr. 

 Chivas and Mr. Churton, and we have learnt from them 

 that this day will be the commencement of a new era ; 

 that Cheshire is setting an example to all England ; 

 that a day will be set apart before the show for people 

 to learn the opinions of others and give their own. I 

 do think a time is coming when landlord and tenant, the 

 cultivator of the soil and the labourer, wiil meet, together 

 to hear some practical matters discussed. It was well 

 said at an agricultural society's meeting I had the 

 pleasure to be at a fortnight ago, that progress does not 

 necessitate improvement. Now in our great rush to 

 progress, we have overlooked improvement. In our 

 eagerness to make quantity of cheese, for instance, we 

 have overlooked quality. I do think from the discus- 

 sions that are to take place to-day we may cause pro- 

 gress and improvement to go together, quantity and 

 quality to kiss each other. I will not detain you any 

 longer, but will just read you these few observations at 

 the end of the paper. You are aware that the first 

 subject will be brought on by Mr. Humberston. Other 

 gentlemen have siguified their intention to speak besides 

 those who will read the papers. 



^ After the gentlemen whose name?? are attached to each subject 

 have concluded their remarks, the time allotted to the registered 

 speakers will be fixed by the chairman, to whom all observations 

 ratist be addressed, and whose decision will be conclusive; that 

 time may not be unnecessarily occupied on one subject, to the pre- 

 judice of another. The discussion on any one subject must not 

 occupy more than an hour and a half. The committee rely on 

 the members of the society, and the audience generally, aidin 

 the chairman to carry out the above regulations." 



Now, gentlemen, with these few words I shall intro- 

 duce to your notice the first subject of the day, which 

 18 of the utmost importance to landlord and tenant in 

 this and every county. Another rule has been just pot 

 into my hand, whtch I will read to you — " That 

 110 one is to interrupt the speaker." If any one 

 w »shes to speak, and will signify his wish to me, 

 * w iU endeavour to accommodate him. With 

 those few observations, I shall call before the 

 •ssembly a gentleman who is universally known in 

 Chester, and, I believe, universally respected. Mr. 

 Wumberston will read a paper and offer some observa- 

 tions upon "The mutual advantage of agreements for 

 tlie occupation of land between landlord and tenant, as 

 calculated to give a stimulus to agricultural improve- 

 ment ; accompanied with a form applicable to the 

 Present period." 



We give the above address here as indieatioj a 





method of making agricultural meetings useful, which 

 deserves to be generally adopted. 



Miscellaneous. 



The Irish returns of agricultural produce, for the year 1S54 are 

 now be/ore us The fi-st fact that comes out is rather a startling 

 one. It is, that the extent of tillage in 1854 was 126,341 acres 

 lest than In 1853. It is in the south and west of Ireland that the 

 greatest decrease has occurred. The total under tillage, after an 

 intermediate rise, has now fallen back to the amount in the year 

 1849. It took a great jump in the year 1850, and a lesser one in 

 the year 1851, but in the last three years it has lost all that 

 gain, and Ireland is as it wa3 in that respect six years ago. 

 But, confining ourselves to cereal crops, the return for the last 

 year has fallen considerably below that for the year 1849. For 

 that year it was 3,174,424 acres, but thence it steadily declined, 

 till for 1854 it was 2,743,736, the differenw being 430,688 acres 

 less of Wheat, Oats, Barley, Rye, Means, and Peas. Between 

 the years 1853 and 1854 the fall is more than a hundred 

 thousand acres. Again, the particular crop on which the differ- 

 ence chiefly falls is Wheat, of which there were 687,646 acres in 

 1849, and only 411,284 in 1864. It would, however, appear rhat 

 the high prices which had already commenced on the apprehen- 

 ion of war had produced their effect upon Irish farmers, for 

 there has been a considerable reaction from the lowest figure, 

 which gave 326,893 acres under Wheat in 1853, compared with 

 which there is a difference of s 1.388 acres in favour of 1854 We 

 can only hope that the reaction has continued, and that the 

 preparations for this year and the next have kept pace with the 

 preparations for the war. During the last seven years the Irish 

 have been steadily returning to their irtt love — the Potato 

 From 1849 to 1853 the progress was from 718,608 acres to 898,7 

 when it would seem there was a universal re mptlon «-f confi- 

 dence in the much-maligned root, for the rise in 1 \ was to 

 939.660, or not far from 300,000 increase in six years. Flax, 

 having made a very great start, has somehow gone hack again 

 in the last year. From 60.314 acres in 1849 it arose to 174,379 in 

 1853, when it fell to 151,403 in 1854. The probability is that 

 this, like m«ny other crops, is giving way to the reviving 

 popularity of the potato, the export of which, we believe, is 

 rapidly increasing. The war has apparently told on another 

 branch of Irish produce to an unusual extent. In horses two 

 years old and upwards there has been a decrease of 13,180— viz., 

 from 447,543 in 1853 to 434.363 in 1854, that being probably the 

 number exported to this country to meet the drain of the war. 

 On the other hand, it is satisfactory to observe that the rising 

 generation of horses more than keeps pace with the demand. 

 In rattle the proportions are the other way, owing to the 

 immense quantities of young cattle brought to this country by 

 the graziers. Thus, while the increase in cattle two years old 

 and upwards was '256,021, there was a decrease of 141,429 in 

 those under two years. Perhaps the most significant feature, 

 however, is the immense increase in the number of sheep from 



1853 to 1854. It is no less than 579,563, and forcibly recalls the 

 complaints, so common in our writers of the sixteenth century, 

 of sheep taking the place of the human population. In plga,teo, 

 there is an immense increase. Thus it is clear that the agricul- 

 tural wealth of Ireland is rapidly increasing, and, with that 

 Increase, there must also be a great improvement in thecoudition 

 of the people, limes, Dec. 11. 



ARKES' 



FORKS AN5> 



CAUTION. 



STEEL DIGGING 



DRAINING TOOLS. 



Whereas very inferior descriptions of Steel Digging Forks are 

 now manufactured and sold, and I have been informed that pur- 

 chasers af the same have believed them to be the same as those 

 manufactured by me, and to which the Royal Agricultural Society 

 and numerous Agricultural Societies' prizes have been awarded, 

 I nereby respectfully inform the public that every Fork manufac- 

 tured oy me is stamped with rov trade mark "J. P.," and that 

 Messrs. Burgess & Key, of No. 1*03, Newgate Street, London, are 

 my sole Wholesale Agents, and I have authorised them to re- 

 place to the purchaser every Fork of my manufacture found 

 defective: they will also on application send Wholesale and 

 Retail Price Lists, &c. ? post free. Francis Parkes & Co. 



FIRST PRIZE REAPING MACHINE. 



NOTICE. 



MESSRS. BURGESS and KEY beg respectfully 



i • to inform the public, and particularly the noblemen and 

 gentlemen whose orders they were obliged to decline for this 



seiison on account of the manufacture not l>fin* f nil v arranged, 

 that the Koyal Agricultural Society's First Prize of 30*. was 

 awarded to them for M'Cormick's Reaper, with their pal it 

 screw platform, at the trial at Leigh Court, near Bri .1, upon 

 the 29th of August last. Amongst the com; g machines * e 

 Bell's, by Crosskill ; Forbush's, » xhibited bv Mr. Palmer ; and 

 Huss.'vs. with tflttag platform, by Win. Dray <fc < o. The 

 reports of farmers who have worked the machines during this 

 present hurrest, show that the average quantity of Wheat, 

 Barley, and Oats which they cut was from 1J to 1 ar per hour. 

 Two horses work the machine with ease, and the onlv attendant 

 required is a man or a boy to drive. Further particulars and 

 prioessent free on application.— Br r - «fe Key, 103, Newgate 

 Street; and 62. Little Britain. London. 



1^)0 YOU BRUISE YOUR OATS YET!— One 

 ■ ' bushel of Oats when crashed wilt make two, Greatsavlnjr. 



OAT BRUISERS,Chaff-cutters, Ploughs, Threshing Mac' us, 

 Flour Mill Carts, Corn Dressing do, Horse and Steam Machinery 

 put up, &c. Hook on Feeding, It. 



M. Wkdlaki:, 118, Fenchurch reet, London. 

 PAXTON WORKS, SHEFFIELD. 



SAYNOR and COOKE, Manufacturers of (he cele- 

 brated Exhibition Prize PRUNING. BUDDING, and 

 GRAFTING KNIVES, VINE and PRUNING SCI- >RS.&c. 



These articles are Warranted to stand any kind of work, and to 

 carry the keen edge of a razor without requiring to be sharpened 

 so frequently as is usually necessary to obtain that sharp edge 

 so requisite for the comfort and use of the practical gardener. The- 

 blades are also warranted to wear through to the hack. Thejr 

 are used by all the eminent gardeners In England, Ireland, and 

 Scotland, and can be purchased of any nurseryman or seedsman* 

 In the three kingdoms. Those who may not have used them aro 

 respectfully solicited to give them a trial. The Great Exhibition 

 Prize Medal of 1851, and the Prize Medal of the Horticultural 

 Society of Manchester, at their Show of 1854, was awarded to 

 Saynor & Cooke for their superiority of material and work- 

 manship. Established 1738. 



Calendar of Operations. 



DECEMBER. 



Berwickshire Mbrsb Farm, Dec. 17.— Towards the end of 

 November, the weather was fine and mild as early October, but 

 with the present month came more seasonable frosts, and on the 

 6th snow showers came from N.E. A steady frost of considerable 

 intensity kept the ground white for a week, till on Friday 

 the wind returned to the west, and a sudden reaction swelled 

 streams and drains to overflow. The quantity of ice thus 

 suddenly broken tin has cut up the banks considerably. The 

 night frosts are still rather sharp, but the weather looks steady, 

 and we have resumed our lea ploughing, with which opera- 

 tion we had previously made some progress, amid general 

 complaints of over-dryness. The great deficiency in 



the Turnip crop has afforded too much room for Wheat 

 sowing; and in their anxiety to forward that operation, 

 some even whose roots were sound have carried to excess 

 the principle of early storing, for where yet standing the bulbs 

 have materially increased in hulk since the middle of November. 

 In one or two instances Wheat has been tried on lea, hut that 

 only where the lease is about to expire, for in this climate, and 

 in regular rotation, a full crop of Oats will pay nearly as well, 

 and leave the land in cleaner and better condition. During the 

 past storm the ewe flock required a daily feed of Turnips, to the 

 extent of, say, 1 ton per 100 sheep; but they are now able to 

 make their living on the pastures, and are in good condition. 

 Hoggs have continued to do well without assistance, th^ bulbs alone 

 having been covered with snow. Turnips, where sound, are of fine 

 quality, hence cattle do well with the limited allowance of cake 

 that the high price of that material necessitates. Horses have 

 not stood their work well this season, owing to the bad quality of 

 Clover hay, and in spring will require Beans, than which there is 

 no better food (taken in moderation) for sustaining the working 

 energy. The threshing out of the grain crops still confirms our 

 estimate of their deficiency, both in quantity and quality. Much 

 stress has been laid on the fact that the year's average (as shown 

 by the Highland Society's returns) is only some two or three 

 bushels below that of last year. But the case will be altered when 

 it is known that, owing to the unusual plumpness of the 

 grain, last crop was under estimate by at least four bushels 

 per acre, while on the contrary our experience of this crop seems 

 likely to prove their returns to be above the mark for this 

 season. The above facts, which are true for thisdistrict, indicate 

 a deficiency of 6 or 7 bushels per acre. Another circumstance 

 which has very properly been noticed, is the diminished yield of 

 flour from a given quantity of grain— the deficit amounting to 

 about 10 per cent. I r has been stated that a quarter of Wheat 

 will supply two persons with bread for 12 months. Now if that 

 was true of the crop of 1854, I am much afraid that on the same 

 allowance of this year's produce the two individuals in question 

 will be sadly down in condition before next harvest. J. T. 



I 



BRITANNIA WORKS, BANBURY. 



SAMUELSON'S PATENT GARDNER'S TURNIP 

 CUTTERS have been awarded for the Tenth time the Priao 

 of the Royal Agricultural Society. These Implements are so- 

 well known that they require no description — more than 60,000 

 having been supplied from the above Works. 



GARDNER'S PATENT DOUBLE-ACTION TURNIP 

 CUTTERS 



r:ARDNER 9 8 PATBMT SINGLE-ACTION DITTO. 

 MOODY'S GRATERS. Fine asv Coaksk Cuts. 



BUS1IE and BARTER'S PATENT GRATER, for Fermentation. 

 PHILLIPS' PATENT GRATER OR MINCER. 



GAUNTLETTS PATENT GRATER, for mixing with ChafT. 



SAMUELSON'S ECONOMIC CHAFF CUTTERS, for Stable* 

 and Small Occupations. 



LARGE CHAFF CUTTERS, CORNES' and other Patterns » 

 per Catalogue. 



SAMUELSON'S ATMOSPHERIC AND ANTHONY'S 

 PATENT AMERICAN CHURNS are Manufactured solely 

 bv Mr. Samuelson. 



CORN AND MALT BRUISING MILLS. 

 LINSEED CAKE BREAKERS. 



SAMUELSON'S REGISTERED BIDDING'S LAWN 

 MOWERS, Ac, &c. 



The above may be obtained at all respectable Ironmonger* 

 and Implement Dealers in the Kingdom, of whom Catalogue*, 

 and Prici Lists may be procured gratR or post free on appli- 

 cation to B. Samueison (successor to the late Jamee Gardner), 

 Britannia Works, Banbury. 



WATERPROOF PATHS, 

 BARN ANO CATTLE SHED FLOORS. 



THOSE who would enjoy their Gardens during the 

 winter months should construct their walks of PORTLAN!> 

 CEMENT CONCRETE, which are formed thus:— Screen tie 

 gravel of which the path is at present made from the loam which* 

 is mixed with it, and to every part of clean gravel add one of sharp 

 river sand. To five parts of such equal mixture add one of Port- 

 land Cement, and incorporate the whole well in the dry state before 

 applying the w iter. It may then be laid on 2 inches thick. Any 

 labourer can mix and spread it. No tool is required beyond the 

 spade, and in 48 hours it becomes as hard as a rock. Vegetation 

 cannot grow through or upon it, and it resists the action of the 

 severest frost. It is necessary, as water does not soak through ir„ 

 to give a fall from the middle of the path towards the sides. 



The same preparation makes first-rate paving for BARNS. 

 CATTLE-SHEDS, FARM-YARDS, and all other situations 

 where a clean, hard bottom is a desideratum. May be laid in 

 winter equally well as in summer. 



Manufacturers of the Cement, J. B. White & Brother?,. 

 Milbank Street, Westminster. 



Notices to Correspondents. 



Ewes: C. In many districts breeding ewes are fed almost wholly 

 at the trough, and no such result follows as you speak of. 



Italian Ryk-orass: Cosmopolite. Good Ryegrass will wei«h 

 15 to 17 lbs. per bushel. We do not know the weight of Mr 

 Dickenson's. 



Lime: X Y Z. When lime is mixed with soil for top dressing, 

 we would allow it to remain in a large heap for a few weeks 

 before spreading it out. 



Phimpps'b Grater: GJ P. His address, we think, is Brandon, 

 Suffolk; but we will inquire and let you know. 



Sunflower: A Subscriber near Bid* ford, having seen in a late 

 Number an account of the quantities of oil and cake produced 

 by an acre of Sunflowers wishes to know what sort of land and 

 style of culture the Sunflower requires. [There are many oil 

 mills In the Weal of England, and no doubt in Devonshire.] 



Bbbatot: "On the Fattening of Cattle," Dec. 8, immediately 

 after the tabular statement, 15J4. per cwt. is said to be \5s.5d. 

 per ton, it should he "25*. od. p»r ton; 1 " and the statute acre 



pUPISS'S CONSTITUTION HOKSE BALLS. 



V- / To Sportsmen. Agriculturists, Postmasters, and all Pro- 

 prietors of Horses, these Balls are particularly recommended in 

 all cases of swelled legs, cracked heels, loss of appetite, and vital 

 enerpv j for Coughs, Colds. Fever or Inflammation, they are the* 

 best Medicine that can be exhibited, moreover their operation, 

 though effectual, is so mild, that they require no alteration of 

 diet, and if given with a bran mash on Saturday night, will net 

 interfere with the ensuing week's regular work. 



NEAT CATTLE.— The Constitution Balls are strongly re- 

 commended by many highly respectable Gentlemen (see Testi- 

 monials)^ Cows and Oxen as a most valuable medicine in case* 

 of Hove or Blown, 8< iring or turning out to Grass, or from bad 



tbod, Gargate, Hide Bound, Leas of Appetite, tittering Coat, Dis- 

 temper, Epidemic, or Influenza. Bullocks fat much faster by 

 occasionally giving a Ball. 



Prepared only by Fravcis Cipiss, M.R.V.C.5., author of the 

 ■ Prize Esay on the Diseases of the Liver of the Horse, Diss, 

 Nor; oik; and sold by all respectable Medicine Vendors in Town 

 and Couutrv, in packets, six Balls each, 3#. 6V per packet, with 

 a wrapper giving full directions for the use of the Balls, and 

 Treatment of the Horse whilst taking V at. Also a Pamphlet of 

 testimonials from many Gentlemen who have used the Balls in 

 various Complaints. Any Gentleman using the Balls may con- 



PrC KtZri Turn^ rahAMlS «U th. Proprietor gratuitous.,, ei.uer p^oual.y. or b y letter, 



(not 15*. Ss. 4A, as stated), but 25J.8*. 4tf. • P°6t-paW. 



