44 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



be not of good quality for irrigation, means may be used condition. J™^^ l g" 



The quantity of manure I collect from the 



is surprising T ~ 



I conclude 



small quantity of water might be applied immediately that 



"of guano, nitrate of soda, or ■ J> ~* 



A light 



or 

 6 





after a slight sprinklin w 

 other hand manure, on such Grass land, 

 dressing of quicklime has sometimes done wonders in 

 improving the herbage on moor land, and yet these and 

 similar easy means of improvement are sadly over- 

 looked. Then that stream of water might be advan- 

 tageously employed in various other ways, particularly 

 in its application to machinery. It would frequently be 

 profitable to erect either a water-mill or a steam-engine 

 of small power at the homestead. Then again, the 

 English farmer may take a lesson from the gar- 

 dener, and another from the Belgian farmer, and 

 even from the manufacturer. From them he may 

 learn that it is oftentimes profitable to cultivate two 

 soils, an upper and a lower one, in each field, instead 

 of only half cultivating a shallow surface soil. He 

 may, by first cultivating the subsoil, and partially 

 mixing it with the upper soil, afterwards raise this 

 mixed subsoil to the surface, placing the original top-soil 

 below it, and thus have a fresh soil and one or two good 

 crops every year, instead of two bad ones in three years, 

 as is still the case on some farms. Or the soil may be 

 dispersed and mixed with the subsoil by digging a trench 

 in each furrow, and casting the earth over the land. In 

 some cases this might be a substitute for under-draining, 

 but that should on no account be neglected where need- 

 ful and practicable ; and where the drains are deep, this 

 kind of semi-spade culture may occasionally be profit- 

 ably adopted. Labour is the source of wealth, and land 

 is grateful for it when applied judiciously. These are 

 truisms sadly overlooked by most farmers. They prac- 

 tically contradict what they verbally allow, that if land 

 will not pay for working well, it cannot pay for working 

 at all. Some gentlemen, it is true, have been injured 

 by an extravagant and injudicious expenditure ; but 

 experience convinces me that a very large, yet judicious 

 application of labour on a small quantity of land is far 

 more profitable than the same amount of labour on 

 double the number of acres. Let the landlord and far- 

 mer then work together and take the benefit of labour, 

 while it may be procured at a reasonable rate ; for a 

 time may come, and that soon, probably, when the 

 labourer's work will be more appreciated and his ser- 

 vices better paid. The progress of improvement in the 

 arts and agriculture will, as I confidently believe, very 

 soon promote such a change. This is an age of 

 progress, and the condition of the labourer must 

 improve, or the country's weal will be overturned 

 by his depression, or oppression more properly 

 speaking. It is good policy, as well as humanity 

 and justice, to promote the morality, independence, and 

 comfort of the industrious poor. Let honest industry 

 be freely encouraged and liberally remunerated ; it is a 

 compound virtue, more precious than the costliest pearl, 

 or the most brilliant diamond. When prices were high, 

 cultivation might be low, and still profitable ; but now 

 that prices are low, cultivation must either be high, or 

 it must cease altogether. Poor crops and low prices 

 are ruinous ; if the price be low, the crop must be good 

 both in quality and quantity, and that cannot be expected 

 without skilful cultivation. Such cultivation may pro- 

 bably in a considerable degree provide remedies for 

 those casualties which are frequently so injurious to 

 farmers who manure highly, but do not in some respects 

 act judiciously. A little practical study of chemistry 

 and botany may probably tend greatly to strengthen 

 the straw and promote other safeguards. There is much 

 land which, with low prices, will not pay for constant 

 cultivation, but which might be profitably improved as 

 pasture ground, and by occasional cultivation at more 

 distant periods, and of a superior character. My aim is 

 to impress both landlords and tenants with a sense of 

 the imperative necessity which now exists for mutual co- 

 operation, so as in every way to make the most of the 

 land. Very considerable improvements must now be 

 made, or cultivation must be completely abandoned ; 

 and these improvements cannot be effected without the 

 co-operation of both parties. Even if the delusive hope 

 of a restoration of protective duties, on which some seem 

 still to be relying, could be realised, even then, agricul- 

 ture could not be permitted to stand still, it must advance 

 with the age ; it cannot be that the oldest and most 

 useful of the arts shall remain comparatively stationary, 

 while everything else is making rapid progress We 

 have now great difficulties to encounter, and without 

 superior efforts and improvements they cannot be sur- 

 mounted, but by them we hope they may. 0. F. 

 p My Poultry Home is a brick building ; the walls are 

 about 6 feet high ; the slate span roof is thatched in- 

 •ride ; the internal walls are 4| inch brickwork, which 

 divide the house into compartments, 12 feet long by 

 {> feet wide, to each of which is attached a yard or walk 

 of the same dimensions. Each room is rendered rat 

 proof by a slate floor, worked wire over the window, and 



ery 

 Penzance. 



gardener is aware of its value. 



Farmers' Clubs. 



Exminster, Dec, 30.— The principal objectof the meet- 

 ing was to hear a lecture from Dr. Bucknill on the most 

 economical method of using manure (not artificial) on 

 farms. Dr. Bucknill commenced by observing that he 

 had been reading a book of travels in Canada, in which, 

 curiously enough, it was shown how the agriculturist 

 might best m dispose " of his manure, as if manure was 

 a thing to be disposed of and not carefully used. But 

 this book of travels related that the Canadian farmers, 

 when they could, constructed a platform on a river or 

 stream, overhanging its banks ; on this platform the 

 manure accumulated, and during floods it was shovelled 

 into the river— that was one way certainly of disposing 

 of manure. Since that he had read a book of field 

 sports in South Africa written by Mr. Gordon Cumming, 

 who states that the English agricultural colonists who 

 have immense flocks of sheep, and herds of cattle, are in 

 the habit of confining them in a kind of yard called 

 a kraal : there large heaps of manure accumulated, 



used 



as fuel 

 which 



and this being . dried in the sun is 

 — the farmers there burn their manure, 

 was another way of disposing of it. If they came 

 nearer home they would sometimes find cases in which 

 the manure was disposed of not altogether in the bulk, 

 and at once, as by the farmers of Canada and South 

 Africa, but where its valuable properties were nearly as 

 effectually wasted. In England they sometimes found 

 large farm yards partly surrounded by waggon sheds, 

 stables for a few horses, stalls for a few oxen, and 

 standing for cows — none of the roofs provided 

 with gutters, and in the centre a depression on which 

 the manure made is deposited from time to time. 

 This depression communicates in a number of instances 

 with the road in a very convenient manner to carry off 

 all superfluous matter, and after a heavy rain all the 

 water which has fallen in the yard and from the roofs, 

 first saturates the manure heap, and then in the shape 

 of a thick black portery-looking liquid makes its way 

 down the adjoining roadway, into the nearest brook or 

 river. Thus all the soluble salts, which the manure 

 contained, were washed out. The manure itself was 

 much of it scattered across the yard exposed day after 

 day to the winds of heaven, until all its volatile par- 

 ticles, those fugitive essences, which were the farmer's 

 best friend, his good genii when kept, but which have 

 always a tendency to fly away, were dissipated. They 

 passed into the atmosphere, fertilised the rain which 

 fell on the land, but a most infinitesmal dose was re- 

 turned to the farms from which they had escaped. He 

 thought they would agree with him that on such farms 

 as that they were nearly as successful in disposing of 

 their manure, as in Canada or South Africa. But the 

 question was not how to dispose of the manure, but how 

 to save it — he would therefore examine the principal 

 evils of the different systems. The evils resulted them- 

 selves into the want of management — feeding carelessly 

 or badly — neglect of the soluble and liquid portions of 

 the manure, and want of due precaution in fixing and 

 bottling up so as to catch and reclaim that volatile 

 essence which they all knew by the name of ammonia. 

 First, as to the general principles of feeding. The old 

 system of feeding had of late days had most vigorous 

 and presumptuous rivals. There was the system of 

 feeding on boards, advocated by Mr. Huxtable and 

 Mr. M,echi — he did not pretend to know what advantage 

 that system possessed in making manure, except that it 

 saved litter, and this litter was consumed for fodder, 

 which certainly was worth their consideration. Another 

 system, and one which deserved their attention, was that 

 of feeding in boxes ; he must own, both from personal 

 observation and from what he had heard and read, that 

 he believed this system of box feeding, where there 

 was plenty of litter, was by far the most economical 

 and most judicious mode of feeding beasts. The prin- 

 ciple is that of confining the animals, each in a sort of 

 box, supplying them, from day to day, with plenty of 

 fresh litter, which they trample under their feet, and 

 never removing it until it accumulates to a certain 

 height, and becomes a solid, compact mass. The continued 

 trampling of the animal makes it so solid that air cannot 

 penetrate, and fermentation does not therefore take 

 place. The urea in the dung is not converted into an 

 ammoniacal salt, and the mass of dung, urine, and litter, 

 is all mixed up in a solid cake, and remains, at the end 

 of many months, in an unfermented condition. Now, 

 when they remembered that fermentation was the con- 

 version of the urea, in the dung and urine, into a volatile 

 salt,andthat this volatile salt had always a strong tendency 

 to escape, do what they would with roofs, sheds, or 

 covering it with gypsum, they would see the importance 

 of a method which prevented fermentation, as did the 



the system of box-feeding, to prevent fermentation 

 Directly the dung of an animal was dropped, it be»an to 

 ferment, if exposed to the air. There was no ammonia in 

 the dung or urine of a healthy animal when first passed* 

 it was then in the condition of nitrogen — in what chemists 

 called a state of urea or urates, but as soon as it was 

 exposed to the air it began to undergo a chemical 

 change to a salt of ammonia, principally the carbonate. 

 The dung of a horse would ferment in 24 hours, and if 

 put in a heap, in a fortnight or three weeks would lose 

 seven-tenths of its weight — a most astonishing loss. 

 Having these manures, how then, was the question 

 could they best prevent the loss of the ammonia by 

 fermentation consequent on exposure to the air. There 

 were many plans to prevent — of course it was highly 

 necessary to make it into a solid compact well shaped 

 heap, and if they had more liquid manure than the heap 

 would absorb, it should be conveyed to a tank or de- 

 pression in the ground, from whence it could be thrown 

 over the heap as required. There were also many sorts 

 of absorbents which could be mixed up with the dung, 

 and which would to a great extent prevent its rapid 

 fermentation. Of these, the one which appeared to be 

 of the greatest importance, was peat charcoal, a patent 

 for the preparation of which had been taken out by Mr. 

 Jasper Rogers. Peat charcoal, of all substances, perhaps 

 had the greatest affinity for ammonia. He firmly 

 believed that if it could be sold at a reasonable price, it 

 would become an article of great importance to farmers, 

 Another absorbent was gypsum, which he (Dr. Bucknill) 

 used to a considerable extent. Gypsum when in contact 

 with carbonate of ammonia in a liquid state, underwent 

 decomposition, the carbonic acid in the carbonate of 

 ammonia in a liquid state, underwent decomposition, 

 the carbonic acid in the carbonate of ammonia united 

 with the lime in the gypsum, setting free the sulphate, 

 which combined with the ammonia, and formed a 















system . 



sheet iron on the door. The floors are covered with a box svstem of feeding, known as Warnes 

 tnick carpet of sawdust. Each room of these dimensions Although there had been many objections made to the 



4 ' " * " " system, he believed that the success it had met with in 



Norfolk and other counties, where farming was carried 

 on in a very skilful manner, was the best practical 

 answer to objectors. But the box system was not 

 general — a great majority of farmers had no boxes. 

 There was another system very prevalent — that of feed- 

 ing in loose stalls, tying the animals by the head, and 

 removing the dung when it had accumulated. That 

 system being a general one, and not entirely wrong or 



sulphate of ammonia. Sulphate of ammonia was a fixed 

 salt, and when the farmtr had got the ammonia united 

 with a sulphuric, instead of a carbonic acid, he had but 

 very little difficulty ; it was soluble, and might therefore 

 be washed away by the rain, but was no longer volatile. 

 Next to peat charcoal, gypsum was therefore the most 

 valuable ingredient to retard fermentation, and to hold 

 fast the ammonia. Then Professor Way had made 

 some important experiments and discoveries. He 

 found that if he filled a tube with any loamy earth con- 

 taining clay, and filtered liquid manure through it, 

 it parted with all its manure qualities, and came out 

 plain water. He thus found that clay will abstract 

 from manure all its ammoniacal salts. Now, they knew 

 the why and the wherefore of this peculiar property of 

 clay, they would be enabled to take advantage oi it with 

 much greater effect than before. They also now saw 

 how it was, that great benefit was derived from covering 

 over heaps of manure with clay, or with earth containing 

 clay. If they took three portions of liquid manure 

 from the same tank, and mixed one with clay, another 

 with sand, and left the third alone, they would find W 

 portion mixed with sand stink first, that left alone ttfl 

 next, whilst that mixed with clay would remain lor 

 many months without change. He would next toucn 

 on liquid manures— the best mode of applying ttiena, 

 and the reason why liquid manures so frequently iaiiea, 

 and point out the way to apply them, so as to obtain 

 the most beneficial result. When they rememberea 

 that a cow passed more than 300 gallons of urine in tw 

 course of four months, that the weight of the ur ' ne lr f 

 animals usually kept by farmers is double that ot tn 

 dung passed by them ; and when they also rememberea 

 that taking weight for weight— taking a pound oi J* 

 urine of the cow against a pound of the dung ot »■ 

 cow, the urine contained a greater portion of ammonia, 

 so that it was more valuable, and that the same w 

 the case with the horse, they must see the importance 

 of attending to liquid manures. Dr. Thomson nj 

 stated that 9 lbs. of urine were equal to 20 lbs. .oi d u% 

 Boussingault had found, by experiment, that 100 1 ids. 

 good farm-yard dung produced the same result as 1 -j> 

 of cow-dung, or 9 1 lbs. of the urine of the cow, or / 1 1 

 of the urine of the horse. In experimenting on 

 quantity of nitrogen, he found in 1000 lbs. of the *m 

 of a cow, 3£ lbs. ; in 1000 lbs. of the urine, 4J «*» 

 1000 lbs. of the dung of a horse, 5| lbs. ; an a 

 1000 lbs. of the urine of the horse, 26 lbs. * ltw ° f JJ 

 M he had said, was the basis of ammonia, and by . 

 mentation it became a salt of ammonia ; they * h ? r ^ ore 

 saw that the urine of the cow contained one-third 

 nitrogen than the dung, and the urine of the horse ^ 

 tained 26 lbs., whilst the dung contained but 5 J lbs. ^ 

 that, in the first place, urine was more valuable, o 

 count of its greater bulk ; and secondly, it was 

 valuable because, bulk for bulk, it was capable ot F^ 

 ducing more ammonia than dung ; they migh ^ 

 come, without difficulty, to the conclusion that it^ 

 most wasteful to neglect saving the urine of am ^ 

 Another question was, whether they should keep 

 liquid manure separate from the solid ? He be 



affords ample accommodation foracock and six hens, with 



laying boxes and self-supplying feeding-trough, and allows 



space for a small pen or two where hens may incubate, 



without being disturbed by others, or it is large enough 



for 12 full grown chickens which do not require the 



boxes and pens. Perhaps * W. H." will think the space 



allowed is small, but he will find that if the floors 



of the house are raked over in the morning, and the 



•walks in the evening daily, and fresh sawdust in the 



house, and sand and gravel in the yards are laid down I contrary to any obvious philosophical principles, required 



frequently, the fowls may be kept in health and high I some consideration. It required much greater care than 



toh are 



that it was most desirable to keep it separate, or 

 a separate provision whenever the quantity of & n 

 was so great that the litter was not sufficient to a , 



it. 



If there was sufficient, no doubt the absorption 



of 



the urine by the litter was the easiest plan, though ^ 

 majority of cases, he believed the litter would ** ^ 

 sufficient. A single cow passed 1000 gallons of uTin ^j 

 a year at least, and it would take an immense ^^ 

 of litter to absorb the urine where a number ot D^ 

 were kept. In such a case, he considered the ^*Ajs 

 was to conduct the liquid manure to a tank-— an , 

 brought him to the tank system. Many persons ^ 



