• 



17—1851.] 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



265 



PERUVIAN GUANO, 

 ^i T'TION TO AGRICULTURISTS. - 



C Ii brii Dororioas that extensile adultermtioni of this 



»»*" m ^^YnteBAai> sons, 



nVLT IMPORTERS "^PERUVIAN GUANO, 

 --__i!ue 1c to be their duty to the Peruvian Government and 

 *2SfnWlc *«* :i1 10 recommend Farmers and all others who 

 2^1 bt carefully on their guard. 



^fcSiSaricter of the parties from nhom they purchase will of 

 - jEfthe belt security, and in addition to particular atten- 

 m » "at point, ANTONY GIBBS akd SONS think it well 



fyhwertvkolesale price at which sound Peruvian 

 ifej* has been sold by them during the last two years 

 it ML 5i.per ton, less 2£ per cent. 



■ r-tiles made by Dealers at a lower price must therefore 

 leate a lo*s to them, or the article must be adulterated. 



I 



jntrs 



THE LONDON MANURE COMPANY beg to 

 offcr ai under, CORN MANURE, most valuable for 

 • dressing— Concentrated Urate, Superphosphate of Lime, 

 itrateof 8oda, Sulphate of Ammonia, Fishery and Agricul- 

 tural Salts Gypiuin, Fosbil Bones, Sulphuric Acid, and every 

 Artificial Manure ; also a constant supply of English 

 tad Foreitn Linseei-cake. Peruvian Guano, guaranteed the 

 •tnolfls importation of Messrs. A. Gibbs and Sons, 91. 105. per 

 orW k in quantities of 5 tons and upwards. 



Edwabd PumsE*, Secretary. 



Bridge-street, Blackfriars, London. 



M 



ANURfeS. — The following Manures are manu- 

 factured at Mr. Lawxs's Factory, Deptf 









 







Clover Manure, per ton £11 



Turnip Manure, do. 7 



Superphosphate of Lime 7 



Sulphuric Acid and Coprolites 5 



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

 K.B, Peruvian Guano, guaranteed to contain 16 per cent, of 

 Ammonia, 9L 10*. per ton ; and for 5 tons or more, 91. bs. per 

 loo, in dock. Sulphate of Ammonia, Ac. 



MR. J. C. NESBIT, F.C.S., F.G.S., Consulting and 

 Analytical Chemist, Laboratories, 38, Kennington-lane, 

 London.- PRIVATE INSTRUCTIONS in Cnemical Analysis, 

 and the most approved methods of making ARTIFICIAL 

 MANURES. Analyses of Soils, Manures, Minerals, Ac, per- 

 formed ss usual, on moderate terms. 



UANO AND OTHER MANURES.— Peruvian 



Guauo of the finest quality* Superphosphate of Lime* 

 Gypsum; Salt ; Nitrate of 8oda; Moffat's Patent Concentrated 

 City Sewage Manure, and all others of known value.-— Apply to 

 Fothekgill, 204, Upper Thames-street, London. 



MANURE DEPOT.— PEAT CHARCOAL. 

 TO FARMERS. AGRICULTURISTS, AND OTHERS. 



GH. FOLEY, Essex Coal Wharf, Lea-bridge, 

 • Middlesex, Agent by appointment to the Irish Amelio- 

 ration Society, for the sale of the above. All needful particu- 

 Ian will be given on application at the above address. 



Price ol the unmixed Charcoal, 60*. per ton, sacks included. 

 Mixed with Nightsoil, 45*. per ton, sacks included. 



DESICCATED ANIMAL MANURE.— This 

 Manure, wtucb has proved so emineutly successful in the 

 culture of both Cereal and Green Crops, can nuw be had of the 

 Manufacturers. J. M'Call and Co, 60, Spring Gardens, Man. 

 Chester; Ritchie and M'Call, 137, Hound>ditcb, London ; and 

 of all Agents. Price CI, 10*. per tun, including bags delivered 

 on the rail in Manchester.— Copies of Anahsis and Testimo- 

 nials forwarded post free on application. Agents wanted, 



HOSE FOR LIQUID MANURE, Fire-engine, 

 and agricultural purposes, made of canvass, lined and 

 coated with gutta purcha ; it is about one- third the price of 

 leather or india-rubber, will convey liquids of all kinds under 

 a heavy pressure, it is extensively used at the Government 

 public works; also by the navy, and amongst agriculturists, 

 giving univers 1 satisfaction. Testimonials and prices maybe 

 obtained of Messrs. Burgess and Key, 103, Newgate-street, sole 

 manufacturers. — London Agents : Messrs. Dcane, Dray, and 

 Deane, Swan-lane ; Messrs. Tilley, Blackfriars-road. — Country 

 Agent* : Messrs. Ransome and Parsons, Ipswich ; Messrs. J. 

 and S. Johnson, Liverpool ; Messrs. Dickson, Hull ; Mr. S. 

 Wilaon, Agent for Scot and. 



ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OP ENGLAND. 



I^HE ANNUAL COUNTRY MEETING of 1851 

 • will be held, by the gracious permission of Her Majesty 

 and Prince Albert, in the HOME PARK, WINDSOR, in the 

 week commencing MONDAY, the 14th of JULY. 



Copies of the Prize Sheet, containing the term*, conditions, 

 and amount of the respective Prizes, and the Rules ;of Exhibi- 

 tion, and also copies ot the requisite printed Forms of Certificate, 

 n*ay be obtained on applicationto the Secretary, 12, Hanover- 

 square, London. All Certificates must be returned, filled up, 

 to the Secretary, on or before the 17th of May. 'be Council 

 having decided that in no case whatever shall any Certificate 

 be received atter that date. 



In the application for Certificates, the Character and Age of 

 the Animals to be exhibited should be stated, in order that the 

 proper Forms of Certificate may be sent. 



By order of the Council, 



James Hudson, Secretary. 

 IS, Hanover-square, London, April 29. 



agricultural (Bunttt. 



SATURDAY, APRIL 26, 1851. 



MEETINGS FOR THE TWO FOLLOWING WEEKS. 

 Tau.tDAf, May 1— Agricultural Imp. Soc. of Ire and. 

 JiDs«.DAf, — 7 -Agricultural Society of Kneland. 

 TauatDAT, — 8-Agricultural Imp. Soc. of Ireland. 



York, Professor Johnston tells us* the establish- 

 ment of an agricultural college, at the expense of 

 the State, receives its strongest opposition from 

 among the farmers of the National Assembly ; but 

 in neither ought the feeling thus indicated to be re- 



ON THE INTERLINING OF CROPS. 



Bishop «»f Ely. — *' The strawberry grows underneath the 

 Nettle and wh lesome berries thrive and ripeu best neigh- 

 boured by fruit of baser qua lity. "—Henry 5tA. 



Liedio says, "It is evident that two plants growing 

 beside each other will mutually injure one another, if 



garded as altogether hostile to the cause of agricul- they withdraw the same food from the soil ? and he 

 tural education. Professor Johnston seems to attri- af jds, " Plants will, on the contrary, thrive beside each 



% There can be no person, whether actually engaged 

 m any profession or merely proposing to join it, but 

 must acknowledge the need of some education, in 

 order to its successful prosecution. This may safely 

 be said, notwithstanding the outcry which is being 

 raised by many against the cultivators of the soil in 

 connection with this subject. We ar^ persuaded 



.} f^ e . re * s not a t^ n ant farmer in the country but 

 will insist as heartily as any agricultural chemist of 

 tbe day on the necessity of Agricultural Educa- 

 J 10 *- The difference between the two relates not 

 *° the need, but to the nature of the education re- 

 hired. In our own country, the Royal Agricul- 

 tural College at Cirencester has by no means pros- 

 pered as it has deserved ; and, in the State of New 



bute it to a personal feeling of pride or jealousy on 

 the part of the agricultural body. " To provide 

 more instruction for ray son in the business I 

 myself follow is to acknowledge my own want 

 .vf inf^n^fmn." « ™ ri this, he says, is a degree 



of information 



and 



other, either when the substances necessary for their 

 growth, which they extract from the soil, are of different 

 kinds, or when they themselves are not both in the same 

 stajres of development at the same time." 



The interlining of Beans with Cabbages or Turnips 

 has been practised for a long time with success in the 



of humility which the mass of the people cannot «f been practised tor a long time witn success m me 



bring themselves to exhibit. We hardly thbk !*'«** ^ 

 that'the indifference of the agricultural body £ ?^,^ 



to those facts in chemistry and other sciences 

 which bear upon their own professional practice, is 

 to be attributed to anything so paltry and childish 

 as this. It is rather due to the lessons which, 

 whether accurately or not, they have gathered out 

 of long experience as to the real source of profit in 

 farming. And there is, as we believe, so much 

 truth on both sides of the controversy between 

 farmers and philosophers relating to this subject, 

 that, if it were to be treated controversially, we 

 believe either side of the dispute might be safely 

 espoused : so that while addressing farmers on the 

 subject, who already hold whatever is true on their 

 side of the question firmly enough, one might be 

 content to insist almost exclusively on the advan- 

 tages of a scientific education for the agricultural 

 apprentice ; on the other hand, in addressing the 

 Professors of an Agricultural College, who are 

 already far more sensitive on the subject of these 

 advantages than ourselves, we should be inclined to 

 follow the example of their opponents, and insist, 

 almost exclusively, on the necessity for an educa- 



We have 



and it is also a common practice to interline in our 

 gardens. But this is so done, not always on the con- 

 ditions that Liebig supposes requisite for the full per- 

 fection of their growth. In the island of Jersey, and in 

 our gardens, two crops are grown together, and at the 

 same time ; and this is also the practice of Lord Love- 

 lace, but they appear rather to have been so grown as 

 being the intermixture of a tall and a low growing plant, 

 than of having been adopted as possessing the conditions 

 of extracting from the soil different kinds of substances. 

 Mr. Hewitt Davis and Lord St. John seem to have 

 adopted the intermixture upon the same principle of tall 

 and low-growing plants ; but these, I must think for- 

 tuitously, under the second condition of Liebig, of both 

 not being in the same stages of development at the same 

 time ; they come indeed rather under our denomination 

 of stolen crops, and perfect their growth, and occupy the 

 ground after the removal of the plant of prior develop- 

 ment. Had a scientific view been entertained by these 

 intermixtures, there does not appear to me any reason 

 why two low-growing or two tall-growing crops should 

 not have been interlined on the first condition of Liebig, 

 that of drawing different elementary matters from the 

 soil. 



tion of the body as well as of the mind, 

 however, to treat the matter not controversially but 

 positively, and the whole truth, therefore, needs to j go j^ 

 be stated. And so the advantages not only of the 

 skill to be acquired bv habit and practice in the 



be 



I do not wish to say that the plants so grown do 

 not use up different kinds of, or various proportions of 

 the same elementary matters, for possibly no two plants 

 of different families draw the same matters from the 



ceedings 



field, but of the abstract truths which may 

 learned in the class-room, have to be insisted on. 



We must, however, be satisfied to accomplish one 

 half of our task at a time ; and if for the present we 

 join the practical farmer in an address to the 

 teachers and professors of our agricultural colleges 

 and schools, we shall probably give expression to 

 his feelings on agricultural education, or at least to 

 so much of them as we ourselves concur in, some- 

 what as follows : " Money making is a distinct art 

 and profession, not necessarily incompatible with 

 farming, nor indeed with any other of the numerous 

 occupations in which our neighbours are succeeding 

 or failing around us — but distinct from them, de- 

 pending for its success on rules and habits of its 

 own. We do not say that the annual balance-sheet, 

 whether of a farmer or a manufacturer, is dependent 

 wholly on his knowledge of this art ; it is, no doubt, 

 dependent on the plan and details of his year's pro- 

 its losses may have arisen from a plan of 

 operations opposed to natural laws, of which he was 

 ignorant, or from faulty details, by which he has 

 been involved in a wasteful expenditure — we do not 

 say that a knowledge of natural laws, as they are 

 arranged under the different sciences, might not have 

 increased his gains ; nor that a little acquaintance 

 with the ordinary practice of his profession might 

 not have diminished his losses — but we do say, that 

 men with the widest general knowledge, and the 

 most accurate acquaintance with farm practice, may 

 nevertheless fail of attaining the chief end of 

 farming ; and we do say, that the most accomplished 

 student ever sent out by an agricultural college has 

 yet to learn what professors cannot teach him before 

 he can be sure of realising that test of agricultural 

 perfection — farm profit. This is a point on which 

 students bhould be informed. You can, we will admit, 

 teach them both the right plan and the correct 

 details of an agricultural year — but they must also 

 be taught that the annual result may be bad, not- 

 withstanding a plan and details, and even good in 

 spite of them, according to the business habits 

 which they bring to bear on their superintendence : 

 for farm profits depend upon the personal super- 

 vision by the master of every minute and penny 

 spent, far more than upon anything else. And skill 

 in marketing, and patient industry in the daily 

 superintendence of the details of an annual routine, 

 cannot be communicated at agricultural colleges." 



This expresses, we believe, pretty nearly the 

 feeling of the practical farmer ; and there is nothing 

 stated in which we do not fully agree with him : 

 the error consists not in the opinions themselves, 

 but in the idea that they are either opposed to, or 

 opposed by, the advocates of a scientific agricul- 

 tural education. Their reply must be reserved for 

 another occasion. 



^^^^^.^^^ ^ ^M.^.^— M^^i^-^— ^ «— t^* 



• Notes on North American Agriculture, Economical and 

 Social. B> J. F. W. Jobmtop, M.A., Ac Win. Blackwood, 



and Son, Edinburgh and London. I 



I am, I believe, drawn into a false term ; I should 

 say use up or assimilate, for it is highly probable that 

 plants have no power of choosing what they shall draw 

 from the soil ; they must receive what the water they do 

 draw up by their roots contains in solution, be it nu- 

 tritious cr injurious. We know if poisons are so offered 

 to them they cannot refuse them ; they, however, pos- 

 sess the power of separating the nutritious from other 

 matters which they so receive, and which I should think 

 is purely a chemical affinity, derived from the parent 

 plant, and first implanted in it by Him who willed its 



being. 



It is under the two conditions stated by Liebig that I 

 propose to submit to the consideration of the readers of 

 the Agricultural Gazette the subject of interlining crops 

 of the most distinct families ; that is, those the advocates 

 of an alternate husbandry consider, in the practice they 

 recommend, as such, and wliich opinion is borne out by 

 their chemical analyses. I mean those of our Cereal 

 and culmiferous families, and I do hope that in insti- 

 tuting the inquiry it will be taken up by some one better 



qualified to discuss the subject. 



The successful interlining system must depend on 

 those two conditions of Liebig, and upon the same prin- 

 ciple on which is founded our rotary system as regards 

 the first condition, the power of assimilating either dif- 

 ferent elementary food, or different proportions of the 

 same food ; the same condition, indeed, holds (and there 

 is then in truth but one condition in two parts) with 

 plants not in the same stages of development at the 

 same time ; for it has been found that the same plant, 

 at different stages of its growth, does assimilate various 

 proportions of elementary matter. 



It cannot be questioned that those matters a plant does 

 not appropriate must be returned either to the air through 

 its leaves, or to the soil through its roots, we cannot 

 attribute either to the leaves or to the roots a discrimi- 

 nating power of choice ; if they are returned by the 

 roots, agreeable to the experiments of Macaire, they may 

 be retained in the soil for future crops, and thus become 

 available in our alternate husbandry ; if, on the con- 

 trary, the leaves discharge them into the air, they are, 

 except in so far as they may fall to the earth and be 

 absorbed by the soil, lost to the future crops under the 

 alternate system ; but they become immediately avail- 

 able in the interlining system, for there are plants suf- 

 ficiently near to lay hold of them and appropriate them. 

 It is admitted that there are certain matters that the 

 plants get rid of through their leaves ; the interlining has 

 then this advantage over the alternate one of giving to 

 its vegetation the matters thrown off into the air, and it 

 enjoys equally with the alternate husbandry the advan- 

 tages it derives from the change of crop in its vegetation, 

 taking up those matters which, according to Macaire, 

 are discharged by the roots ; for the interlining system 

 is also an alternate system. 



I think the experiments of Macaire require confirma- 

 tion. I do not see that the roots of plants are supplied 

 with excretory organs, but we know that the leaves are ; 

 we know that they thus get rid of certain gases ; we 

 know that they thus part with the water of perspiration, 

 and we have no reason to doubt that they may also so 

 discharge even such inorganic matters as do not enter 

 into their system. Liebie says that r. uids in a state ot 



sv 



evaporation carry with them bodies which are not of 

 themselves capable of volatilisation ; his words are- 

 s' A liquid during evaporation communicates the power 





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