3 



1 51.1 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



41 



rpjil LONDON MANURE COMPANY beg to offer 



iiriM Ultni comVany^wheat manure for 



rJts ?V SS URATE SUPERPHOSPHATE of LOB. 



i iflAVO SCLIMIATE OF AMMONIA. 



Ew ip. v \\ri AGRICULTURAL SALT, GYPSUM, and 



1 ?!?2*lfi!5 MtfuSlio a constant supply of EngUsb 



e^rj »*wi»l < "J^BD CAKE of the best quality. 



S LoSf n M^ureCompany will guarantee the Guano they 

 ... "uto be free from the slightest adulteration. 



En$££eet. B ackfriars. Edwabd Por*ee. Secretary^ 



iT' 4.NURES.— The following Manures are manu- 



31 * factured at Mr. Lawes's Factory, Deptford Creek : 



Clover Manure, per ton * u ■ " 



Turnip Manure, do. t n o 



Superphosphate of Lime Inn 



Sulphuric Acid and Coprolites ... ... ■ Q 



Office, 69, King William-street, City, London. 

 JJ B Peruvian Guano, guaranteed to contain 16 per cent, of 

 Ammonia, 9Z. 15j. per ton ; and for 5 tons or more, 91. 10*. per 

 ton in d ock. Sulphate of Ammonia, &c. 



tT[K. J. C. NESB1T, F.C.S., F.G.S, Consulting and 



1*1 Analytical Chemist, Laboratories. 38, Kenning'on-lane, 

 London.-PRIVATE INSTRUCTIONS in C^cal An alyBi b, 

 And the most approved methods of making ARllrltlAL 

 MANURES. Analyses of Soils, Manures, Minerals, 6c, per- 



ormed a s usual, on moderate terms. 



DO YOU BRUISE YOUR OATS ? 

 No ; then you lose 50 per cent. 



A NICE STABLE MESS, effecting immense saving, 

 and vastlv improving the condition of the animal— bruised 

 Oats, itraw cut into chaff of a certain length, and a little hay ; 

 the whole steamed, and served up at discretion. No rack— 

 down with the racks ;-MARY WEDLAKE'S MACHINES, 

 118, Fencburch-street, and 11, Tavistock-street, Coven t-garden, 

 where a machine may be seen at work. A pamphlet on the 

 above, by sending 12 postage stamps. 





BY HER 



MAJESTY'S 



ROYAL LETTERS 



PATENT. 



TATENT HOTHOUSE WORKS, KING'S-ROAD, CHELSEA. 



EDENCH inviteB the attention of Gentlemen about 

 • to erect Hothouses, 6 c, to the vast superiority in every 

 respect possessed by his PATENT HOUSES, which he will 

 warrant superior in every respect to any others. <:ood Glass 

 from 16 to 21 oz. per foot, 1 foot wide, 3 feet long, furnished, 

 nnd the Houses, when completed, charged from Is. 3d. to li. 6d. 

 per superficial foot, according to size and quantity ; on one 

 principle the roof is formed without wood or putty, and on 

 another principle with wood rafters, and the glass put in with 

 putty. Patent Sashes, requiring no paint, from Id. to 0d. per 

 Foot. HEATING BY HOT WATER. 



%* A second-hand span-roofed House for Sale very cheap. 



8Wie Agricultural (Buttttt* 



SATURDAY, JANUARY IS, 1851. 



MEETINGS FOB THE TWO FOLLOWING WEEKS. 



AYidjmsdat, Jan. 22— Agricultural Soeiety of England. 

 Thursday. — 



r^'insisDii, — 



THUEBDAT, — 



23— Agricultural Imp. Society of Ireland* 

 29— Agricultural Society of England. 



30— Agricultural Imp. Society of Ireland. 



The difficult question, " What is to become of 

 our heavy Wheat soils ? " has of late become an 

 interesting one, as it always does when the price of 

 Wheat falls below a certain level : for then, if we 

 can believe it, " they must of necessity be thrown 

 out of cultivation." 



That there is a great deal of groundless prejudice 

 existing on this subject cannot be denied ; for before 

 lands of this description are lit for being laid down 

 to Grass, or subjected to any other culture than that 

 which they are now under, they must undergo a 

 process of drainage and other improvement, which 

 would render them fit for growing Mangold Wurzel 

 and Cabbages, or even Swedish Turnips — yes, and 

 an additional quantity of Wheat itself — which would, 

 in the vast majority of cases, very far counterbalance 

 any depreciation which has taken place in prices. 

 And, moreover, the fact is notorious that at present 

 large fields of this class of soils are obliged to be 

 broken up from a worthless slate of pasture, and to 

 be subjected to Wheat culture, in order to render 

 them tenantable — so different is sound practice, and 

 the urgent demand for bread by an increasing popu- 

 lation, from the theories and prophecies of the 

 fearful. Indeed, a correspondent informs us that a 

 certain landlord who labours under the belief that 

 sueh soils cannot be cultivated under present prices, 

 is nevertheless breaking them up as fast as he 

 can get them into his own hands, from a state of 

 worthless pasture to Wheat culture. And what 

 renders circumstances connected with this example 

 still more amusing, is the fact that on going over 

 the Park and Park farm, he found the landowner 

 and his old manager labouring under an equally 

 gross delusion ; for although about two-thirds of the 

 lands were composed of drifted materials, in which 

 chalk largely predominated, in not a few instances 

 forming on the whole a superior Turnip soil, yet the 

 second question put to him was, " What do you 

 think of our cold clays ? " " We were then," says 

 he, "standing on the finest Turnip soil in the 

 kingdom, and hence were a little taken by surprise ; 

 but, although the worthy and improving landlord, 

 who had just succeeded to the property, had, up to 

 this date, been belaboured into the belief that 

 these lands were of this character, yet we had no 

 great difficulty to convince him that there was a 

 considerable difference between chalk and Oxford 



clay. In this case an excess of moisture, coupled 



with an antiquated practice, conferred upon the soil 

 many of the characteristics and disadvantages 

 peculiar to the clay on which it was incumbent. 

 The want of drainage, therefore, and a propel system 

 of management, generally, com ted the elements 

 of a Turnip soil into that of a Wheat soil requiring 

 fallowing ; so that in this example we have the 

 conversion of one kind of soil into another, not by 

 the mechanical and chemical agents of agricultural 



science, but by mere neglect and carelessness. 



The practical point at the bottom of this discussion 



was not without labour, anxiety, and m»>n \ (and few 

 know how nnu-h of each such an attempt *n tails), that 

 existing f ilities have been secured ; and so far as it 

 may yet lie in my power, further efforts shall not be 



_ that has been 

 attained. 



is 



agricultural, although parties have always 

 recourse to it as a subterfuge in politics, for the want, 



for out of the 



The instance alluded to of the steward of an applicant 

 being made an Assistant Commissioner, is that of Mr. 

 Faint, of Wood End, near Thirsk, in tins county. The 



yf fallowing — o ^ m " 



had the earliest applicants for an advance under the first 

 act ; and the preliminary inspection was entrusted to 

 myself. Along with the other requisite particulars my 



we presume, of better argument ; 



000 arable acres in the three kingdoms sub- — t ST/*""**.* 7T"? TT •*r*™-«- -rr— ~ 



!\ , , ., i li.. -v.«a of the drainasre that had already been done, and conse- 



16,000,000 partially subject to Wheat culture, while 

 there are not more than 2,000,000 acres of this sum 

 under fallow annually, and about 5,000,000 under 



Wheat. 



According to the hypothesis of 2,000,000 acres 



annually under fallow, and a four course shift, we 

 would have consequently 8,000,000 acres of Wheat 

 soils, from which therefore we only obtain three 

 crops every four years. Now, if we could, by any 

 improved system of management, obtain alternately 

 with Beans, as now grown, from 20 to 30 tons of 

 Mangold Wurzel or Swedish Turnip per acre, on 

 the 2,000,000 under fallow (say, for the sake of 

 argument, on an average, 25 tons, at 5s. per ton), 

 then such a result as this would amount to an in- 

 crease of 12,500,000/. annually on the value of our 

 agricultural produce ; and, with a result of this kind, 

 we may safely conclude that an increase of some 

 eight bushels of Wheat and Beans per acre would 

 also be obtained respectively from the other parts 

 of the land under that course of cropping. If 

 we, therefore, take 21. per acre as the value of 

 the increase of corn and straw on the remaining 



total 



6,000,000 acres, it will give 



of from 20,000,000/. 



us a 

 to 



grand 

 30,000,000/. 



increase 



annually. Again, if we suppose that the farmer is 

 able to turn the one-half of this sum into profit, 

 for we cannot suppose it possible to turn the whole, 

 because such an increase of produce must of necessity 

 incur an increase of manure, outlay of capital, and 

 expenses generally, although the increase of working 

 capital and annual expenses incurred would by no 

 means be proportioned to the increase of produce 



•if we suppose that the farmer is able to turn the 

 one-half of such a sum into hard cash, it would 

 obviously meet on his balance-sheet many of those 

 short-comings at present experienced. 



The practice of fallowing is an old-established 

 one, and more than a favourite with many ; and cer- 

 tainly to propose dispensing with it until a more 

 valuable equivalent was found, w r ould be to rush 

 into inevitable ruin ; but although this may be true, 

 yet, like all other old favourites, the value of the prac- 

 tice is liable to be over-estimated, for the very theory 

 of fallowing itself pre-supposes something imperfect 

 in its practice — the subduing of a certain evil, rather 

 resulting from improper management than inherent 

 in the soil naturally, which the farmer is never able 

 finally to conquer, or a repetition of the warfare 

 would not be required. For, though we suppose a 

 field fallowed in the highest possible degree, the 

 whole of the benefits gained resolve themselves into 

 certain chemical and mechanical changes to be 

 over and over again effected, as often indeed as the 

 field isfallowed— the restoration of a certain chemical 

 and mechanical condition. And this can be done in 

 the vast majority of cases, without resort to naked 

 fallows, by efficient drainage, manuring, and tillage. 



The matter after all, therefore, resolves itself 

 into the somewhat questionable form of the efficient 

 drainage of our 8,000,000 acres of heavy Wheat 

 soil — entailing, in the first place, a heavy outlay of 

 capital on the part of the landlord, and, in the 

 second, a considerable outlay of capital, in the shape 

 of stock and labour, on the part of the tenant, while 

 to both the efficient drainage of this class of soils 

 is yet but little understood, and much disputed. 

 Doubtful as the ultimate performance of such a great 



work may appear, 



labourers more freely employed — were the money 

 which the landlord and tenant now spend in poor 

 rates, spent in draining, it would soon effect the 

 work, without either party experiencing any incon- 

 venience of a drain upon their working capitals, 

 while the increase of produce which is to repay 

 them would be realised. B. 







we venture to say that, were 



quently of my confidence in the ability of Mr. Faint to 

 conduct the work contemplated under the Act. I after- 

 wards inspected the first portion of the drainage that 

 was completed, and certified to its effective execution. 

 Mr. Faint was subsequently appointed, and is now acting 

 as an Assistant Commissioner, and my services have 

 never since been required there. The following extract 

 from a late communication from the Board indicates 

 the practice that prevails, and which is not only irre- 

 concileable with the rules Mr. Girdwood describes, but 

 is wholly at variance with the spirit, if not the letter, of 

 the Act of Parliament. " The Commissi oners are 

 desirous, as far as practicable, to consult the wishes of 

 landowners in the selection of inspectors, ami do not 

 consider themselves in any way bound to continue the 

 inspection of any particular property under the gentle- 

 man who may have been called upon to make the pre- 

 liminary inspection and report ; and they are not in the 

 habit of calling upon landowners to give any reasons for 

 wishing a particular inspector to report upon their 

 works." It would be a reflection on the reader's per- 

 ception to occupy his time by pointing out the abuses 

 to which this may conduce ; suffice it to remark that 

 since the inspectors have entrusted to them, and are 

 responsible for not only the permanent and effectual 

 execution of the work, but also the correctness of the 

 amount of its cost, they ought to be independent of any 

 influencing patronage, and should moreover be sup- 

 ported and protected by the administrative power in 

 the discharge of their important duties, rather than be 

 exposed, as they now are, to such capricious or uncalled- 

 for changes as applicants may desire. It is quite true 

 the Commissioners " may from time to time remove any 



such Assistant-Commissioners,'' and " may make such 

 other inquiries in relation to any such application as they 

 may think fit/' but the Act nowhere authorises any 

 interference from applicants in this particular ; and, 

 although, as is usual, the reasons for removal are left 

 entirely to the discretion of the Commissioners, it is 

 manifestly implied that such a Step should not be re- 

 sorted to without reasonable and proper grounds. 

 Were it otherwise, an inspector's professional reputa- 

 tion would be subject to the most serious injury which 

 one man can inflict upon another, without a prospect of 



either justice or redress. 



I most fully concur with Mr. Girdwood, in regarding 

 the advice of the inspector as of the highest value, not 

 only as respects the execution of the drainage itself, but, 

 if his attainments in the most approved agricultural 

 practices of the day be such as his position demands, in 

 suggesting also that course of subsequent operations 

 which, according to circumstances, is best calculated to 

 realise the full measure of advantage from the drainage 

 work. It is for this reason that I conceive it is very 

 poor economy to set a scanty limit on the inspections 

 which an Assistant Commissioner may deem it right to 

 make; and, I for one, rather than be so restricted, 

 would willingly accept U. per day, in lieu of 81 3,?., for 

 such visits, whenever I thought it desirable to see what 

 was doing. In the instance given by " J. T," for 

 example, how could any one, with only two inspections, 

 certify of his own knowledge, and in the unqualified 

 terms required, that drainage to the amount of 400/. 

 had in all^respects been properly execute 1 \ One visit 

 would, of* course, be needed for the preliminary inspec- 

 tion and report ; and another must necessarily be made 

 on the completion of the work, or he could not know it 

 was done at all ; but I hold that at least one interven- 

 ing inspection of the work during its progress is indis- 

 pensable to a satisfactory assurance of its being effec- 

 tually done. No doubt, in some degree, the proportionate 

 amount of charges on the smaller applications, may 

 exceed that on the larger estates ; but in the case before 

 us, it is the great discrepancy between the inspection 

 and what may be distinguished as office charges that 



THE DRAINAGE ACTS. 

 That Mr. Girdwood's experience as an Inspector 

 under the Drainage Acts exceeds my own is very pro- 

 bable, and is a deserved testimony to his ability ; never- 

 theless I yield to none in knowledge of or interest in 

 the subject of drainage, inasmuch as it was my lot to be 

 an early and recognised labourer, with those whose 

 recent removal we have to lament, in the pioneering 



- - — - — — " ————— ^ -- - u ..._• 



more particularly excites attention. I observe, however, 

 that in * J. TVs n further communication on the subject, 

 in your impression of the 4th instant, he says, <fc My 

 first application was made through the West of England 

 and South Wales Draining Company (who did the work 

 for me under the inspection of their own engineer), in 

 October, 1846." Possibly, therefore, the West of 

 England Company may have something to do with the 

 matter, and so relieve the Commission from the excess. 

 J. II. Cftarnock, an Assistant Commissioner under the 

 A cts. Wakefield. Jan. 10, 1851. 



FAILURE OF CLOVER. 



In the autumn of the year 1849, it was mentioned to 

 me by John Bell Crompton, Esq., an eminent agricul- 

 turist in the neighbourhood of Derby, that he had a fine 

 first errowth of Clover on land where it was in the habit 



