

plements now in Hyde-park, in order to and ponderous engines, the nature of which it re- i grain crop afford e«uiT^ — 1 



:j * *v~ a «»i rt nH«-i rUa W in i*wi quires a minute examination to understand. On * — 11_ ' "" s * 



each side of the main walk through this long de- 



fibre, and impicuicnuo uun *« i V uv- r »«, — -~ 



obtain a just idea of the Agricultural Show in 1851. 



ODiain a jusi idea oi me ^l^iiuuituiai *onuw m xuvx. 



But the assemblage of implements is of itself an ample 

 manifestation of our agricultural spirit and industry ; 

 and the evident advance that has been made in this 

 branch of mechanical construction, testifies of the 

 recent improvements in cultivation in Great Britain, 

 both by extension of means and methods, into back- 

 ward districts, and adoption of new appliances where 

 the land is already best tilled, and betokens, also, 

 our future career of progress and prosperity. And 

 though the Great Exhibition has been stigmatised 

 fry some of the farming interest as the ■ inaugura- 

 tion of free trade," it is pleasing to observe that the 

 implement manufacturers, who depend upon the 

 farmer for support, have done their best to grace 

 and enrich the World's Fair. Whoever may dis- 

 believe in the advantageousness of the show, they 

 are fully alive to its value, and to the benefits likely 

 to be derived both by exhibitors and the public. Now 

 of what use is the Exhibition to the fanner ? We believe 

 that it is impossible fully to answer this inquiry ; 

 the advantages are too various to be at once appre- 

 hended, too many to be easily enumerated and 

 described. We may, however, mention a few of 

 the good results that are to be looked for. It will 

 be an important step in the extension and progress 

 of civilisation, if the taste of the great mass of the 

 iumbJer classes from our rural districts is quickened 

 and beautified by beholding the graceful and grand 

 structure itself, and the eloquent sculptures, superb 

 ornaments, and creations of the arts which are 

 iphatically 



It will be of service to us, if. 



partment, are raised stands or galleries erected by 

 some of the principal machinists, crowded with 



id one surmounted by an 



On a cursory survey also 



and many beautiful 



Turn- 



IN 



emblematic golden sheaf. 



appear spades, forks, &c, m . 



models of farmsteads and farm instruments. 



ing our attention first to those implements used in 

 preparing ground for sowing, we will begin with 

 the Ploughs, a description of which shall be given 

 next week. I. A. C. 



m 



I 



ON THE TULLIAN SYSTEM OF CULTIVATION. 



No. III.— A vulgar conclusion is drawn from the 

 visible connexion of plants with the soil, and from the 

 effects its natural fertility and the manures we apply to 

 it have on their development, that they obtain their 

 nutriment solely through their roots ; this error is fast 

 giving way before the inquiries of the age, and the 

 knowledge is rapidly gaining upon us that much of the 

 food of plants— more, perhaps, even than Liebig has 

 shown— is taken m by their leaves ; and it is upon this 

 mode of receiving their food that the higher productive- 

 ness of our rowed crops, no doubt, in a very great degree 



ferable ones, in all S^lS'inSftjAiM 

 of Turnips admit of ; f or fr J fte la i« 

 will admit of working the land to » ? ^S 1 " 8*M 

 to the period of its blossoint ,nd^? **&*! 

 the autumnal growth of weefi £ n efore & • i2S 

 time to reach that strength wt^ >' haVe 3? 

 Turnip crop. But the fact i, K? ey &rriT e TlT 

 I suggest w P onld eradEaS Jl weeS?^ f «C£j 

 even our dunghills would no lonSr wl ^ ""Mi 

 and the strength of our soils, Sfrf S?* **•* 

 1- «— «o the production of the ^^3 



do not propose, with Tnll rt * ^ 

 fallow should w&lf luperid; ^L*. *»* 



But I 



Wliaiti* 



may 



echamcal operations, yet t£ 2* 

 atters containing the nJ^^T** 



plants will further stimulate the soil JT* fog4 « 



changes hi its inn™*^ ^ so if b y F**a% 



Their imn^ 



in 



changes m its inorganic elements, xneir i mm 

 effects will be exerted on the croo to Jv i T* 

 applied and their more econcSS x\V^J? 

 mote the early growth of plants, by plaS, f J° £ 

 the seeds or roots; and I "should VeSole t^ 

 annual application in R m«U a mm * rei °re prefer 



gaze within it. 



when there, a friendly feeling should go out to 



other nations who have rnntrihnforl f^ ........... ,..„,.. .»„™c ,„ — -~~ a r 



those Of rv .n rm muu w 



deck ^ the resplendent avenues with these things ; 

 and if the old toast be utterly obliterated from 

 our remembrance — " a certain Duke premier, and a 

 red hot war." It will be of incalculable service to 

 agriculturists to compare by aid of their own eye- 

 sight, not by the help of party journals, the me- 

 chanical resources of English farmers, with those of 

 foreign ^ cultivators ; and from the unspeakable 

 superiority of the former, receive an inspiring hope 

 and courage to sustain them in competition with 

 all the world. And, doubtless, many a farmer 

 will this year find out some practice of distant 

 counties in our own land, or of other countries, 



be of use to him at home • and 



« ~ ~ — — o — — »— ©-"j -'■'* irOm MAam mix- 

 tion I have found the roots of our Cereals do not extend 

 laterally to the occupation of the spaces between the 

 rows at the distances of 2 feet ; while, from observa- 

 tions I have made, I believe at still much wider dis- 

 tances higher returns may be obtained from the rows, 

 and at least equal, if not superior ones, from the acre. 

 It is not, then, to the abstraction of nutritious matters 

 from the spaces by means of the roots of the plants in 

 the rows that their increased productiveness is due, but 



annual application in small dozes to a iZ 



I1PSI.V1P1* nna. ™i«« ,■*■ tWICe *~ *" 



a j j^- r ~'V~ -v 7 ^„^ V81vaiuC g lw -™.-^ v *^ ViiV , c w LWJLuem me course Th»~^* 



depends ; and it is upon this opinion I found the theory abnormal productiveness of our ctods rivL a ***** 

 of a wide-row system of grain tillage, for from fi^mma. our nromotW an »*>h^™a\ F __ ^ nd6 mt ^% 





spaces are not therefore deprived of any portion of their 

 fertility by the crops in the rows, but are precisely 

 placed in the same condition as land under the pro- 

 cess of a naked fallow, and thus they are qualified to 

 bear a grain crap in the succeeding year. I have on 

 examination found -the roots of Cereals sown in wide 





xuvvb, uescena in a columnar torm, and not extending 

 above six inches laterally. 



... .r .i« ___ .__,«. ..... ^ ^ uie rooi Qi a young Uak a loot h] - . - g gay ^ ^^ 



« an extraordinary ffrawth fr^ ^ 

 earliest periods of their existence: « A maZ.^ 

 produce in plants is always in proportion to Xi5 

 tity of nutriment supplied to them in the fitfiR 

 heir development .^-Liebig It is in the eaif/ZJ 

 that the size and strength of a plant, as of a* i£J{ 

 ordinarily decided ; as well might we expectTSu 

 sized ox from a starveling calf, as a strong plant fi 

 a starved seedling. In thin-seeded ground and »£ 

 wide-rowed system this requires to be more toil* 

 attended to than in the broadcast sowings, for we d3 

 on the strength of the plant to compensate tatZ 

 numerical deficiency. It is also in the earliest states of 

 their growth that we can most assuredly a<S» 

 assistance in the immediate application of manure ft* 

 all but the lateral fibres of their roots very soon sLb 

 down beyond the reach of our recently applied manurw • 

 by the time the Turnip has attained its rough leaf fe 

 root has descended afoot or move helnw tho «*&'«» . 



which may De or use 



many a. one will see implements and instru- 

 ments with which he was previously unacquainted 

 and^ which may comprise just the form or the 

 motion for which he has been long seeking. 

 And this opportunity is the greater, not only 

 from the presence of foreign tools and ma- 

 chines, but also 

 collection of those 



pel ed m right (straight) lines ; the air is so propelled, 

 and whatever tends to divert its current from a right 

 line tends to diminish its force, following the natural 

 law of projectiles. Repeated checks or divergements 

 at length stop it altogether, and it then stagnates ; this 

 is the case more or less with a broadcast crop, the grain 

 promiscuously spread over the surface sends up stems 

 which break and check the currents of air. In a rowed 



~. ^ ™, VMM Vi ^ 1JC ^ & uu not occurj tne au , runs 



ireely along the spaces between the rows. Now, the air 

 is charged with carbonic acid and ammonia, both essen- 

 tial constituents of vegetables, as also with some, per- 



from the circumstance ""of The hT f™^ ° f *^ ^fB*™ dements. It is admitted 



of Britain omlT • I? that f ° r niany miles mland the salt of the ocean is 

 of Britain, embracing the carried by the air. Liebig says : « By the continual 



evaporation of the sea, its salts are spread over the 



inventions of a wider extent of country than any 

 previous show in either England, Ireland, or Scot- 

 land And many also will notice specimens of 

 cereal produce, roots, seeds, and Grasses, and of 

 fibres, fleeces, skins, &c, which he may introduce 

 with beneht into his own neighbourhood. Bat 

 leaving other means of advantage to be suggested 

 by the reader's own reflection, let us proceed to 

 notice, for the information of those who cannot 

 witness them, some of the more worthy objects of 

 tie farmer s attention, to be found in the Glass 

 ST ,1 Hyde-park-the great conservatory, 

 where all the fruits of human industry have been 

 nourished into ripeness. Entering, perhaps, into 



tne great tr an sent. u:Ko^ .-, o+ -i„_ - £ 



4 leet into the ground ; and under favourable cireBBi- 

 stances, the roots of our grain crops, M' Arthur sap 

 descend farther below the surface than their 

 ascend above it. In their after-growth there cm be m 

 doubt that plants depend more for their nutriment opt 

 the natural qualities of the land or the state into win* 

 the soil has been brought by former manipulations and 

 manurings, and upon the air and the matters fioUag 

 in it, both, I believe, as they exhale from the earth, «i 

 again as they descend to it. The exhalations froffifli 

 earth are promoted by our mechanical operations ; eraj 

 time we move the soil changes take place, decompo* 

 tions are effected, and new combinations made ; these 

 chemical actions generate heat and gaaes are evolved, 

 which in their escape must be taken in by the leaves -rf 

 plants. That gases do so escape from freshly 



~™«, „«*j«ot U1 me rarui ; ana oemg subsequently ! earxn we a11 khow, tor otn x 



carried down by the rain, furnish to the vegetation with them J all have remarked the peculiar odoi 

 those salts necessary to its existence. This is the origin newly-turned clay. Its health-inspiring perfume 

 of the salts found in the ashes of plants, in those cases 



where the soil could not have yielded them " And 

 again. « The experiments instituted under Lavoisier's 

 guidance by the Direction des Pondres et Saltpetres, have 

 proved that during the evaporation of the saltpetre lev 

 the salt volatilises with the water, and causes a loss 

 which could not before be explained. It is known also 

 that in sea storms leaves of plants in the direction of 

 the wind are covered with crystals of salt, even at the 

 distance of from 20 to 30 miles from the sea. But it 

 does not require a storm to cause the volatilisation of 

 the salt, for the air hanging over the sea always contains 



ly-turned clay, 

 become proverbial. 



It is time I should close this subject for the preSSfc 

 and I fear in my anxiety to press on the attention of the 

 farming community a system which, I believe, wl 

 enable the man of small capital to meet the prfl^ 



as — with 5 uver turbitl, and every breeze must carrv *).;= o™.. 



the h lg h filmy ^rch over all, the farmer turns 

 at once toward the department which the crimson 

 cloths overhead proclaim • agricultural ; " and pass- 

 ing the nch carvings and gorgeous adornments, the 

 tamtam* and colossal images, and the glitter of 

 lass, gold and fancy manufactures, threads his way 

 tween the slender pillars, till he is lost amidrt 

 the more familiar objects of farm machinery. But 

 ploughs in a Palace, carts and chaff-cutters in its 

 crystal colonnades, are they not unsightly and out of 

 taste ? By no means ; the implements of the field 

 and barn are here tinted, polished, and burnished 

 m as to be worthy of a place beside the work- 

 manship of I ine Art ; and instead of the customary 

 red blue, black and green paint, the colours ^7e 

 with those of the nobleman's carriage, and the 

 metal shines bright like silver, and some is even 

 ornate with gold No farmer dare purchase such 

 at first except for his drawing-room ; they are 

 for ladies and princes to admire. But when 

 the outside gloss and brilliance have worn off h£ 

 certain that the utility of these ma^h;,^*" mi . 



the executions of the inSnuitv S t\ ll \ mee i I Ir ° m aR ,° r ^ ng plants an abu ^ance of 

 them. On first enteSr^HTTl ^ ^ framed i ac - S „L° i^ which ™«* ™» P-mit. 



Was thousands of tons of sea-water annually evaporate 



dT4ltd ST v- rC ' a f corres P° ndin S <Fantity of the salts 

 disaoh ed in it, viz., of common salt, chloride of potas- 



r^T^^nV^ thG remainin S constituents P f the 



' voS^'- ■ bC C ° nVeyed ^ wind t0 the kad- This 

 volatilisation ,s a source of loss in salt works, where the 



proportion of salt in the water is not lar-e " 



it, then, the air is so charged with these matters it 



toST*. 7 f *■* thG more ^"tinuous the less 

 mterrupted is the stream of fresh air among plants the 



more regulariy and abundantly they must Ibe Tuppl Sd 

 with them. On the contrary/ when die air sKS 

 abou them tliey soon use up mese matters Ld SSlS 

 food j they are in the position of animals shut up in a 

 close place, from which the air is excluded-they be 

 come surrounded by a noxious atmosphere, one Seed 

 o Itheir excrements. r ' inu eea 



Every one knows how injurious to grain crops are 

 hedgerows or anything that obstructs thefree paXe of 

 air and hght, yet we are so blinded by the^habft of 



tiiea 



depression in the market I have trespassed 



the patience of all, and tired out that of many ; I *» 

 now then only say that what I have pressed npon them 

 I liave practised with success in small desultory experi- 

 ments through a space of 30 years, and that very vmj 

 untoward circumstances, arising in a great m ***jf 

 from my position in society, have alone prevented^ 

 pursuing it extensively. I hope, however, next barf* 

 to lay before the readers of the Agricultural ^f^r; 

 balance-sheet of some few acres cultivated on thisv&* > 

 and in the meanwhile I will endeavour to ainuse 

 with details of my proceedings. My means aw *= 

 humble as most of theirs. I seek to live by tny WJj 

 and I am not therefore either a mere » ni ^ eur — 

 wealthy speculator. I am but a poor retired L * B ** ff 

 of our Peninsular army. What I do, then, any arm 

 may attempt. /, 31. Goo d I ff, Grana rdJPeb. 14. 



ON THE ACTION OF THE FINER ^S* 

 OF EARTHY MATTER ON VEGETAJKW 



[Translated from the German of the late PaoF«sso» »ca 



_ _ - * in • • t • . . — — -» 



my- 



cas&fc 



I. Silica (or the pure earth 

 We find among the component 

 certain portion of silica ; this is 



varieties of t* 

 wood of *jg 



d Berthier invariably fowl* 

 the nature of the asbes^ot a 



number of plants, a certain 



kinds. .Sanssure and Berthier invariably toimj^-, 

 investigations into the natui^e of the ^f^, ^ -sry 



even in 



same light the obstrrirHnn «iLr7u i see m the different proportions ; its amount, oeu x " ^ta 



cause, oVto^^ themselves plants was^ ascertained to be very various, ajj« 



from kifordll"! L^^S W !»»~ ««»* 5*r different development ^.*«j5^jS 



them. 

 wiJdered 



driUinff madiiaes, 



farmers 



of Turnips is more y^^^Zc^TwZ 

 should not a grain crop be so ? A drilled crop of Tnr 

 mps affords facilities .for cleaning land. Till not ^ 



Sanssure found in 100 parts ?L the j^ t be *** 



ashdP 



/^.lcSttS 



one-half per cent of silica. In the asnes uj - ^ ^ 

 in May, he found 3 per cent, and in Septenu* r 













