















I 







1 



1K» 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



high prices of seed. The quality of Irish Flax, this 

 year, ■ not so good as usual, the fibre being found to 

 want mellowness, and being difficult to. work. The 

 yield has also not proved bo large, in some localities, as 

 was expected from the very luxuriant appearance of 

 the growing crop. Notwithstanding this, however, the 

 brisk demand and high prices for the fibre have so well 

 remunerated the farmer, especially when contrasted 

 with the low rates for other kinds of agricultural pro- 

 duce, as to insure a greatly increased breadth being 

 sown next j ear ; while, from the large supply of seed 

 expected from abroad, and the quantity saved at home, 

 farmers may be certain of obtaining what they require. 

 The Patent Steeping System.— The system of steep- 

 ing FJax in hot water, brought under the notice of this 

 Society by the late Mr. Schenck, in 1847, has, from the 

 first, had the earnest attention of your committee. 

 While approving the general principle, they have been 

 cautious in pronouncing a decided opinion upon its de- 

 tails, in consequence of some objections having been 

 made by parties in the north of Ireland. In order fully 

 to investigate the grounds for these objections, they 

 gave the matter in charge to a sub-committee, whose 

 report, in which your committee very fully concur, will 

 be laid before the Society at the present meeting ; and 

 they feel confident that it will sufficiently justify you in 

 giving every encouragement, in all parts of Ireland, to 

 the carrying out of the patent system. In the course 

 of these investigations, your committee, being made 

 acquainted from time to time with the results of the 

 various experiments which had been conducted with a 

 view to testing the merits of the plan, considered it ad- 

 visable to give publicity to them ; and, in consequence 

 of their favourable nature, many parties have been in- 

 duced to establish steeping concerns in different 

 localities. The adoption of the system has been much 

 facilitated by your committee having induced the late 

 patentee to lower his terms for the right of working. 

 Your committee have given their best attention to all 

 new projects brought forward for preparing Flax fibre 

 for sale, as the Society must be naturally solicitous to 

 render every improvement auxiliary to the advantage 

 of the grower, and to the perfecting of the products of 

 hiB crop. They have, therefore, carefully investigated 

 each new plan that has been submitted, and, for so far, 

 they believe that nothing appears to combine so many 

 advantages as Schenck's system. Within the last few 

 months a plan of separating the Flax fibre without 

 steeping has been brought forward in London, by Mr. 

 Donian, which has attracted great public attention. 

 Your^ committee are of opinion, however, that the 

 greatest caution should be exercised in the considera- 

 tion of these statements, from the absence of data sup- 

 ported by the opinion of practical persons, competent to 

 form a judgment on the merits of the proposed process, 

 and from the fact that the dry preparation of Flax 

 fibre has been frequently brought forward at former 

 periods and in different countries, but has, in all cases, 

 been given up, owing to its inutility. Although it 

 would be unjust to the inventor for the Society to pro- 

 nounce decidedly against his plan, without full informa- 

 tion on all its details, yet your committee think, frdhi 

 the partial evidence which they have been able to 

 collect, that there is no ground for supposing this pro- 

 cess to be so advantageous, either to the producer or to 

 the consumer, as Schenck's system ; and they hope, 

 therefore, that parties who have intended to adopt the 

 latter may not be deterred by the plausible but unsub- 

 stantiated statements relative to the former which have 

 appeared in the public journals. 



Division of Labour in Flax Management,— It was 

 early recognised by your committee that great advan- 

 tage would be derived from the culture of the Flax 

 plant, and the preparation of the fibre for sale, being 

 separated into two distinct departments, requiring the 

 farmer simply to prepare the soil, sow the seed, and 

 pull and dry the mature Flax stems ; and leaving to 

 other parties the steeping, drying, and Ecutching opera- 

 tions. Being aware that in Belgium a large proportion 

 of, the Flax crop is purchased by factors from the 

 growers, who steep it in the river Lys, and bring the 

 fibre to market, your committee, in 1843, encouraged 

 some enterprising and experienced individuals to uuder- 

 take a similar system in Ireland, aud the Society 

 awarded them gold medals in testimony of its approval. 

 But, although the advantage was apparent, of superior 

 quality and handling in the Flax thus treated, from a 

 variety of causes it was not found to be profitable to the 

 undertakers; and there is reason to believe that the 

 System cannot be made practically available in Ireland. 

 Schenck's hot water method appears, however, to com- 

 bine equal advantages in the quality of the product, 

 with a fair profit to those who may embark in it as a 

 business undertaking. While it is probable that those 

 farmers who are particularly skilful in the management 

 ox their crop may produce as good an article by the 

 ordinary mode, the proportion of such is so small to the 

 great mass of Flax growers, that there can be no 

 reasonable doubt the average quality of Flax brought 

 lo market from any district would be greatly improved 

 3 j^Ption of the new system. In the value of 

 «ie seed, which would be all saved by the new process, 

 a yearly addition of fully a quarter of a million sterling 

 would be made to the produce of the Irish Flax crop— 

 a lact ot itself sufficient to warrant its general adoption. 

 £ut the most important advantage of this method, as 

 TCiatmg to the general extension of Flax culture in Ire- 

 ™2 M \T . immediat * market thus afforded to the 

 ni '17 e wi w fre V*ently deterred from an extension 



oi ma * lax crop by the risk and uncertainty attending 



the ordinary process of steeping in the open air, as well 

 as by the difficulty of managing a large quantity, all of 

 which has to be steeped at the same time ; while, in 

 many districts, the absence of facilities for watering pre- 

 eludes farmers from attempting its culture. In the 

 introduction of the crop where it has not hitherto been 

 grown, the establishment of a steeping concern and 

 scutch-mill at once removes ail the difficulties arising 

 from the critical nature of the ordinary processes, and 

 the want of a market on the spot for the fibre. With 

 proper instructions in the choice of soils, their prepa- 

 ration, the selection of seed, and the sowing, pulling, 

 and saving of the plant, the farmer will be enabled to 

 produce a good article of Flax straw, while the capital, 

 skill, and undivided attention of the steeper will insure 

 that the fi ^re is produced in the market in a satisfactory 

 state. Your committee therefore consider that a much 

 more rapid development of Flax cultivation will take 

 place all over the country, by the carrying out of 

 Schenck's system, than if the growers were obliged to 

 depend on the old method of manipulation. 



Saving of Flax-seed. — The value of the seed of the 

 Irish Flax crop, during the 10 years of the Society's 

 labours, cannot be estimated at less than 2,000,000/. 

 Of this large amount probably not more than one-tenth 

 has been rendered available, the rest having all been 

 steeped with the Flax, and thus utterly lost. Your 

 committee have been untiring in their exertions to im- 

 press upon s the farmers the lamentable waste arising 

 from this practice ; but even yet with only partial suc- 

 cess. The reasons which have been instrumental in 

 causing farmers to neglect this advice are various. 

 Many could not be made to believe that the quality 

 of the fibre is not injured by taking off the seed, and 

 this opinion has been strengthened by the operation of 

 rippling being often carelessly performed, with inefficient 

 tools, so as to tear and break the ends of the Flax. It 

 was also found difficult, in many cases, to carry on the 

 rippling and steeping of a quantity at the same time. 

 But the chef obstacle arose from the unfavourable 

 weather, which frequently sets in in our climate at the 

 pulling season, rendering it very difficult to dry the seed 

 properly in the open air, and obliging the growers to 

 kiln- dry it, which, when hurriedly done, causes the seed 

 to shrivel, and leaves it of little comparative value. It 

 has only, therefore, been in certain districts that the 

 saving of Flax seed has become at all general, while in 

 others it has not been practi-ed at all. It is with no 

 little satisfaction, therefore, that your committee have 

 to call your attention to the fact that the drying of the 

 Flax stems for Schenck's pateut process necessitates the 

 preserving of the seed, and insures its being saved of 

 the best possible quality. Flax seed thus Baved can be 

 employed in two ways, either for sowing again or for 

 cattle feeding. There is an annual import from foreign 

 countries into the United Kingdom of about 650,000 

 quarters of seed, and 70,000 tons of oil-cake made from 

 it — value together about 1,950,000/., all of which could 

 readily be supplanted by the home-grown article, while 

 the valuable manure which it produces would return to 

 the soil the greater part of the substances taken from 

 it by the plant. To meet the annual demand for sowing, 

 about 28,000 quarters of seed would be required, at an 

 average value of 112,000/. Nor would the money value 

 be the only advantage of producing this at home. It 

 often happens, as in the case of the present year, that 

 enough of foreign seed cannot be procured to meet the 

 demand ; and while its price is so much enhanced as to 

 place its purchase beyond the means of the poorer 

 class of farmers, much land that had been in- 

 tended for Flax is put in other crops, after the im- 

 port of seed has been exhausted. It is very gratifying to 

 find that more than 6000 bushels of seed from the 

 steeping concerns were sold last spring to farmers, and 

 that the produce, if in all instances, where good home- 

 saved seed is used, was abundant, and generally ex- 

 celled the crops from foreign seed. Your committee 

 calculate that nearly 40,000 bushels of Irish seed will 

 be available for next sowing season, from this and other 

 sources. They look confidently forward to a period not 

 far distant, when the import of foreign seed will be re- 

 stricted to the quantity necessary to maintain the 

 vigour of the plant, as it has been found that if the same 

 strain of seed be used for successive years, it degene- 

 rates in quality, but this might be obviated by changing 

 the seed to different soils, as is done in the case of 

 other plants. 



Farmers' Clubs. 



Sittingbourne. — Gueino. — At a late meeting of this 

 association, Sir J. M. Tylden gave the following results 

 of experiments with guano. Last autumn, I set apart 

 three pieces, of a quarter of an w acre each, of Spalding 

 Wheat. The previous crop was Cole after Rye, after 

 Wheat, the Cole and Rye being fed off. On No. 1 I 

 put no manure, on No. 2 guano at the rate of 4 cwt. per 

 acre, and on No. 3 guano at the rate of 2 cwt. per acre; 

 the cost of No. 2 being 2L, and of No. 3 1?. per acre. 

 The yield of No. 1 was 3 quarters 4 bushels, and the 

 weight of straw and horse-meat was 1664 lbs, per acre; 

 the weight of a bushel of this Wheat, 61£ lbs. the money 

 value at 5$. per bushel for the corn, and 6d. for every 

 36 lbs. of straw and horse-meat, gives 81. 16*. No. 2 

 had 4 cwt. of Peruvian guano harrowed in at sowing 

 time. The yield per acre was 4 quarters 4 bushels and 

 6^ gallons, and the weight of straw, &c, 3936 lbs. The 

 weight of a bushel was 61 lbs. Money value as before, 

 111. 16s. 4d, from which deduct 21. for manure, there 

 remains a clear gain over no manure of 11. 0s. 4rf., or 



over 50 per cent on the outlay. No. 3 had 2 cwt. of 



the sam«' 

 virld 



juano, sown at the same time as Nik '2. Th* 

 per acre was 4 quartan i bushel 6 gallons.. 

 Weight 61 lbs., and of straw, &c, M12 lb Money 

 value, deducting 1/. for the guano, 9L 14s. -Icf., giving a 

 clear gain over no manure of 13*. 4o\, or more than 35 

 per cent In both these experiments the increase of 

 corn has more than paid for the manure, for in No. 2 

 the increase was 8 bushels 6 J gallons, and in No. 3, 5 

 bushels 6 gallons. I also marked off 4 pieces of white 

 Wheat, of a quarter of an acre each. Two after Clover, 

 two after Tares, followed by Cole, both fed off after 

 Wheat. One of each had no manure, and one of each 

 at the rate of 2 cwt. of Peruvian guano, top dressed in 

 February last. No. 1, Clover lea, no manure, yielded 

 4 quarters 1 bushel 5 gallons per acre. Weight per 

 bushel, 60 j lbs., with 8020 lbs. of straw, &a; the money 

 value per acre being 10/. 9s. 8d. No. 2, Clover lea > 

 with guano at the rate of 2 cwt. per acre, yielded 



Weight per 



The 



4 quarters 4 bushels 5£ gallons per acre, 

 bushel, 60J lbs. Weight of straw, 3768 lbs. 

 money value per acre, after deducting 1/. for manure, 

 was 10Z. i:>,s., leaving only the small profit of 5s. 4d., or 

 rather more than 25 per cent. No. 3, Tares, and no 

 manure, yielded 4 quartern 1 bushel, weighing 60 lbs., 

 and straw, &C, 2708 lbs.; the money value of which 

 was 1 01. 3s. No. 4, Tares, &e., manured with guano at 

 the rate of 2 cwt. per acre, yielded 4 quarters 7 bushels 

 over half a gallon per acre, weighing 50| lbs., weight of 

 straw, &c, 3324 lbs.; the money value of which, deduct- 

 ing the price of manure 11, was 111. Is. 3</., giving a 

 profit over no manure of 18s. 3d., or over 85 per cent., 

 the corn more than paying for the guano ; whilst on the 

 Clover lea the corn alone did not pay for the guano, the 

 difference between that and no manure being only 3 

 bushels and half a gallon. The inference I draw from 

 this is, that it would be better to use the guano on the 



Clover, thereby ensuring a larger crop of Clover, and to 

 a certainty as good a crop of Wheat. 



The Breeding and 



results of Forty 



Sheep $ 

 Adam 



Eco r i my of Live Stock; being Uic 

 Years' Practical Experience m the 

 Managt ,ncnt a I Disposal of Cattle, Horses, 

 and Pigs* By James Dickson, Cattle Dealer. 



and Charles Black, Edinburgh. 

 A small octavo volume of 2-0 pages cannot be expected 

 to enter into great detail upon so large a subject ; and yet 

 Mr. Dickson manages to describe within these limits the 

 breeds of cattle, sheep, and horses in this country ; to 

 specify peculiarities of management, and to discuss modes 

 of feeding and of breeding. The book is an easily written 

 and agreeable lecture, by an intelligent practical man* 

 The history of different breeds of sheep and cattle, 

 illustrated by details of instances; the management of 

 each, with numerous examples illustrative of outlay and 

 returns, fill the book so nearly as to leave but little 

 room for the description given of pigs and horses. It 

 is with the former, apparently, that Mr. Dickson has 

 been most familiar ; and by confining his remarks to 

 them, he has given us a good practical work, within the 

 limits of a cheap size. 



Among the most interesting parts of the book are his 

 calculations of the cost and probable returns of farms, 

 exclusively for breeding purposes — as for breeding 

 short-horned bulls and Leicester sheep. These we shall 

 hereafter transfer to our columns. Meanwhile we must 

 be contented with a general recommendation of the 

 work, which agricultural students will find useful, as 

 one of the best, while it is the cheapest of the many 

 existing works on its subject. 



Miscellaneous. 



— On a farm of 



1000 



Agricultural Carriages. — Un a farm 01 1000 acres 

 of good land, cultivated on the four-course, or Norfolk 

 system of cropping, there will be probably 200 tons of 

 hay made per annum, which, we may suppose, will bo 

 carried on an average, three-fourths of a mile to the 

 rick : supposing one-half of the roots to be harvested 

 and carried to the yards for consumption, there will 

 probably be 2000 tons of roots carried three-fourths of 

 a mile : there will be 1000 tons of grain in the straw 

 carried three- fourths of a mile to the stack-yard: there 

 will be probably nearly 400 tons of grain carried 10 

 miles to market : there will be some 40 or 50 tons of 

 food or manure carried home that distance from market: 

 and there will be nearly 4000 tons of manure every 

 year carried three-fourths of a mile, from the yards to 

 the fields. The subject of agricultural carriages may 

 thus well be considered of considerable importance to 

 the business of such a farm. Adding up the above 

 items, we have a total equal to nearly 10,000 tons,, 

 carried a distance of one mile ; and if to the weight of 

 the load there be added, in each case, that of the vehicle 

 as well, which in the case of a field carriage will be 

 found equal to fully 60 per cent, on the load, we obtain 

 the amount of 1 6,000 tons carried one mile, as the labour 

 of this kind executed, per annum, on a farm of 1 000 

 acres. But this amount must be still further increased, 

 for an empty carriage* returns for every full one that 

 goes ; and supposing our estimate at 60 per cent, on the 

 load fairly to represent the weight of "the conveyance, 

 we must add to our former amount 6000 tons carried 

 one mile, on this account. Now the labour of carriage 

 on fields and farm roads may be assumed equal to a lift 

 of one-eighth of the load. To pull 22,000 tons one mile 

 along the su rface of the field or road, will be nearly the 



* The forty or titty tons of return carriage from market are 

 not referred to here; but this Bmali inaccuracy will aot 

 materially influence the result. 



