26—1851.] 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



413 



Pro* 



be 



plM^i 



oar ignorance than by attempting to con- 

 ~f tt £t tbi wi ttf founded on insufficient data. Professor 

 d; then referred to the use of gypsum in stable 



id recommended it to be strewn on the floors of 



|or the purpose of removing the smell and 



he ammonia, which he supposed will thus be 



it with the manure. This effect had been 



r Way conceived that the failure might 



an amount of water being present, only 



t to absorb the volatile carbonate of ammonia, 



*as again given up to the atmosphere on the 



becoming dry, but not sufficient to lead to its 



pon by double decomposition into the fixed sul- 



ammouia. He would recommend, in preference 



__ - o. x these cases, diluted sulphuric 



aeiipot in boxes and troughs in different parts of the 



Gypsum was often put into liquid manure 

 prevent the escape of the volatile alkali. It 

 voeki answer if the gypsum was frequently well-stirred 

 Bpfrow the bottom of the tank, to which it U 11 on account 

 Of its ilow solubility. He would recommend the gypsum 

 to be put into a basket of good size, to be placed under 

 tfce spout I which the liquid manure was brought unto 

 the tank : this would save the trouble of stirring. Green 



and sulphuric acid were better for liquid manure 

 _ tanks or wells, but gypsum was cheaper. In the 

 fltr&tion of liquids, however, through the gypsum, it 

 Jioald be remembered that the ammonia was not arrested 

 tained in the basket, but passed off through it ; 

 u the sulphate of ammonia formed was soluble, though 

 not like the riginal carbonate of ammonia, volatile. 



Professor Way having concluded his lecture, expressed 

 bis willingness to answer any question in his power 

 connected with the scientific principles of the subject, 

 practical elucidation being better understood by 

 the members present. In reply to inquiries by Dr. 

 Calvert, he stated that there was no difference betw n 

 burnt and unburnt gypsum as an absorbent ; but that 

 gypsum in a dry state could not absorb ammonia. It 

 was part of the dttty in some union houses for the 

 in .: i to break this stone for agricultural use Burning 

 made it easier to pound, but by thus rendering it a 

 ceni utitiotu powder it was more liable to cake when 

 ■fed. This was prevented by mixing the powder first 

 with dry soil.— Colonel le Couteur had been much 

 struck some years ago with the remarks of Sir H. 

 Da* on the component parts of the Clover plant ; 

 ti having land in Jersey, on coming into his estate, on 

 wl ii it had been impossible ever to grow Clover, he 

 caused an analysis of the soil to be made for him by 

 Prof, lachbofiherj who found that it had not a particle 

 of lime in its composition. Having thus a clear insight 

 into the cause of the failure, he lost no time h> dressing 

 bis land with nine bushels of lime to the acre, putting it 

 in heaps about the field, and covering them with earth. 

 This a lication had so completely altered the character 

 oft! 1 that he had not only himself the finest crops 

 of CI v anywhere to be seen, but his neighbours had 

 also followed his example with the same success. He 

 thougut this fact, as one of a particular case, strengthened 

 the the vy of M. Ooussingault, that it was as lime, and 

 not as sulphate of lime, that gypsum acted beneficially 

 on « .ps of this nature.— Colonel Challoner inquired 

 whether our own analyses of the ashes of plants agreed 

 with those on which Boossingault rested his conjectures ; 



md he was answered by Prof. Way that there was no 

 til Dual difference between them. Colonel Challoner 



Uien proceeded to remark that it was desirable to know 

 whether, in making peat ashes, the peat should be only 

 fharred or burnt at a red-heat. He believed failures 

 in the use of gypsum chiefly to arise from applying it in 

 dry weather, when there was not a drop of rain. He 

 had always applied it either early in the morning, when 

 s heavy dew is on the ground, or when rain was likely 

 soon to fall. He had himself been a successful Carrot- 

 grower in this part of the country, and he would next 

 year try the effect of gypsum on that root-crop. As his 

 *nd did not contain a particle of lime, gypsum might 

 probably have a good effect He had to that time b 

 obliged to get lime by means of soap- ashes.— Lord 

 Ashburton suggested that Colonel Challoner should 

 vary his experiment, to ascertain whether the lime or 

 the sulphuric eid in gypsum was the efficient agent; 

 namely, by dividing his trial-field into three portion 

 leaving the circumstances the same in each, excepting 

 untie application of gypsum to the first, simple lime to 

 me second, and sulphuric-acid and bones to the third.— 



Lionel Challoner always manured his Carrots by a 

 Previous cr0 p . ^ they nevep diJ gQ we]J ^^ 



Nwmrmg, which made them clubby. He found it 

 «*wers ^ u never ^ haye & horge on ^ ^ ^^ 



KorwL ? e em P ,o y^ » hand-drill, by Holmes, of 



Se b2 ; f P ntS WeF ? strai g hteneJ > «y a boy, with 

 e . ** of a common rake. By adopting this system, 



*■ Carrots speared, or started, a fortnfght or three 

 Cr rh t r tha » formerly. It was desirable, however, 

 ^ the white Belgian Carrot-seed should be of the 

 ^ aate ; tor rf a mixture of old and new seed was 



I 



! 







injury, sent to Professor Way a specimen ol this sub- 

 soil, which on analysis was found to contain half its 

 weight of gypsum. This no doubt had destroyed the 

 crops. Hard water, he believed, was known to be 

 unfavourable to some plants, and the waU passing 

 through this dressing of subsoil washed the gypsum out 

 of it, and thus became very hard water from such 

 impregnation. — Dr. Calvert wished to know the quan- 

 tity of gvpsimi that Blight with safety be applied to land ! 

 — Prof. Way thought that one per cent, in soil would 

 do no harm ; and to produce that proportion to the 

 depth of five inches, five tons of gypsum per acre would 

 be required : a limit within which our ordinary applica- 

 tions were safely included. — The Hon. R. H. CHve, 

 M.P., remarked that although guano' had answered, in 

 his own case as in that of others, most completely, it 

 must not be forgotten how essential was the old lime- 

 system, which of late years had been discarded ; if we 

 went on much longer with strong animal manuring, we 

 iiould begin to feel the bad effects of not reverting to 



) 





•ttplov^d thol .^T/" vluailu »ew seen was 

 )ed the spearing would occur at different times. 



* ttTohii^T u ibbS and . Ca had much aided I*™ 

 m2Li& by tl i^ r att f ntl0 , n to hi8 wis hes on this 

 miur-nnf if ° r Way thou 8 ,,t an excess of gypsum 

 S^th "V*^ that . E- "«.ond had P been 

 •ETtlieS 1 ! V T X> 2? N<!tth, Kl^mshire rfiould 



exDHen, £ n ! lg T the 8ub§0il to the 8urfac ^ M the r 

 42?^ ** ht them / hat 8~t linage invari- 



^SS^ their ca f from 8Uch a P^cess. Mr. 

 — ^«*u oerog desirous of ascertaining the cause of this 





that wholesome and excellent application. — .Mr. Thomp- 

 son (President of the Agricultural Association of Upper 

 Canada), who had favoured the Council with his attend- 

 ance on that occasion, referred to the practice followed 

 in the United States in the employment of gypsum. 

 When used alone to the land, it was found not to pro- 

 duce good crops. It was most successfully applied to 

 the Clover, in which it occasioned a strong growth, and 

 improved the succeeding Wheat crop. It was also ex- 

 tensively employed in the cultivation of Indian Corn, 

 but the land required to be brought into good heart by- 

 some previous application. Good crops were grown in 

 sandy soils, but manure was requirt d in addition to the 

 gypsum. In America they never thought of burning the 

 trypsum, but erected mills which ground it as fine as the 

 finest Wheat-flour. It was Important in the agricultural 

 employment of this substance, that it should be thus 

 finely ground ; the difference in the results obtained 

 from coarse-ground and fine-ground gypsum was most 

 striking. It occurred not far from a place of his nun 

 residence and other parte of Canada, as well as at Os- 

 wego, Rochester, and other localities in the United 

 States. — Colonel Challoner thought that a means of im- 

 provement in the\soil by theploughing-in of green crops 

 was in this country too much neglected. In Southern 

 Italy, near Naples, Lupin crops were grown extensively 

 for this purpose ; and the difference in the appearance of 

 the land where this fresh manuring had taken place was 

 so great, as to be distinctly seen at a great distance. Me 

 considered the subject well worthy of the attention of 

 our farmers. — Mr. Thompson remarked that it had not 

 been found beneficial in Canada to apply gypsum to the ' 

 Wheat crop directly, but that there was a district of deep 

 sandy loam in his part of the country, on which it had 

 been the practice of the occupier for the last 20 years to 



S;row a Wheat crop every alternate year. In the autumn 

 le sows Wheat ; in spring, 8 lbs. of Clover seed to the 

 acre ; harvests the Wheat and grazes the Clover : in 

 the following spring sows gypsum over the Clover, and 

 when in good growth turns stock upon it, from the 

 middle of Jpne to the 1st of July ; then ploughs up : 

 and so on, obtaining a crop of Wheat every alternate 

 year, without any falling off in its amount on quality. 

 — Mr. Bateham, of Columbus, in the United States 

 (Editor of the Ohio Cult i valor) , at present also on a visit 

 to England, has favoured the Council with the following 

 statement of similar results connected with judicious 

 cropping under favourable circumstances : — . 



" Soil for Wheat in America.— In the State of Or io one of the 

 central states, latitude 39° to 41°, we have tracts of remark- 

 ably fertile land— deep a luvion, along the borders of streams 

 and rivers, called by the inhabitants bottom- lauds, say from 

 1 to 3 miles in bieadth, and mostly h vel. These land* are 

 famous for growing Indian Com | Maize) ; but where the soil 

 consists of a good portion of sand and lime pebbles, as well 

 as dark vegetable matter, tbe6e lands are used for Wheat 

 (as along the Miami river), and in some ca?< s Wheat has 

 been grown successfully every other jear for iQ t or even 15 

 to 20 years iu succession, without any apparent decrease of 

 fertility. I can furn-sh statements fr« m individual farmers 

 on my return if .leered. The crop raised alternate y with 

 VV heat on these lands is cnim nly Indian Corn, but some- 

 times Oats or emmon Red Clover. When the Wheat is 

 sowu after Corn, the Corn is cut up and put into stooks or 

 shocks to ripen, and the ground once ploughed and sown in 

 September with Wheat. Oats t.re sown (after Wheat crop] in 

 March or April, and harvested in July ; the ground imme- 

 diately ploughed, and U-fc till 1st SepUmber, then ploughed 

 again, and sown to Wheat; but this rotation is not approved 

 by good farmers. Clover (nd) is everywhere with us re- 

 garded as the best alternate with Wheat, only it is found a 

 rather wasteful practice to plough it in the ntxt year after 

 sowing. Clover is sown on the Wheat in winter, or early in 

 spring; th-n pastured af'er Wheat harvest, and again the 

 next spring and summer, or cut for hay in June then 

 ploughed in late in August or September, and sown to Wheat. 

 On ordinary soils three to four crop* are allowed to intervene 

 between crops of Wheat." 



The Chairman having informed Professor Way that 

 the thanks of the Council had been unanimously voted 

 to him for his kindness in giving them so valuable a 

 Lecture on that occasion, expressed his satisfaction at 

 the interesting practical statements with which the 

 meeting had been favoured, and his acknowledgments 

 to the respective individuals by whom they had been 

 mide, the Council adjourned to their next weekly meet- 

 ing, on Wednesday, the 25 th of June. 



minoux some covering to keep it for a time in contact 

 with the vermin , still the insect will be so paralysed aa 

 to render it unable to prey upon the y„ung crop : and 

 if the plant can be grown into rough U , it is beyond 

 the danger of its ravages. Every agriculturist will 

 appreciate the means of effecting this, and of securing 

 his Turnip-crop, the foundation of profitable farming 

 It may now certainly be done ; and the flv prevented 

 paralysed, or extirpated, by going repeatedly over a 

 field, or a Hop-garden, for a few days ; indeed, if the 

 operation is commenced so soon as the young plants 

 come through the ground, and fruit trees and shrubs 

 fumigated before the enemy appears, it will prevent 

 their approach ; and the prudent cultivator should 

 always fumigate in anticipation, mindful of the 

 maxim of the philosopher, 



1 Vtfuieuti occurrite morlo.'* 



" These implements, whether large or small, are also 

 available for combusting scented woods, and for fumi- 

 gating and disinfecting impure places iu houses or 

 ships; also for extirpating vermin i'rom dwellings, 

 barns, and corn-stacks. In furtherance of this latter 

 object a prepared powder may be obtained of the 

 vendors of the instrument, called < Brown's Fumigating 

 Powder/ which, being mixed, according to direction, 

 with some combustible substance, evolves an acrid 

 vapour, extremely nauseous, and intolerable to snakes, 

 lizards, and the reptile tribe, as w 1 as rats, mice, cock- 





roaches, black beetles, bugs, &c M &c. The Fumigator 

 may also be used for suffocating bees, wasps, or ants." 



The machine has been advertised repeatedly in our 

 columns; and though we have no personal experience of 

 its. merits, we do not object to say that the inventor 

 appears to liave received a number of trustworthy 

 certificates of its efficacy. 



Miscellaneous. _ 



Kilns.— Joseph Christian Da dson, of Yalding,Kcnt, 

 Brickmaker, for improvement in lime and other kilns 

 and furnaces. Patent dated November 2d, 1850. 

 " 1. Mr. Davidson's improvements have relation to 

 lime kilns, in which, as usually constructed, the fire 

 has been lighted in the kiln underneath an arch built 

 of the limestone to be calcined. According to this 

 method a great waste ensues from pieces of the stone 

 chipping off by tb« action of the heat and falling into 

 the fire, from which they have necessarily to be 

 removed. It is now proposed to have the fire-place 

 alongside of the kiln, and to conduct the flame and pro- 

 ducts of combustion through the side of the kiln, to act 

 upon the limestone, which is to be piled in the kiln on 

 an arch built in the usual manner, and so as to act as a 

 reticulated flue. 2. The same principle is applied to 

 the kilns used for baking bricks, the fire-places being 

 arranged at the side of the kiln, in such position as to 

 make the openings in the walls thereof the throats of 

 the furnaces." From the Mechanics* Magazine of May 10 



METEOROLOGICAL REPORT. 



(Continued from page £81.) 



June 



Date. 



June 



Time. 



11 10.30 a.m. 

 10.15 p.m. 

 7 a. id 



12 



6.15 p.m. 

 IO.oO p.m. 





13 7.25 a.m. 



10.30 p.m 



14 



Sun. 15 



t 



Max. 



•-9.9U 

 29^59 



Min. 



Wiwd.— Weathi*. 



* • 



■ • • 



■ - • 



29.70 



• ■ • 



29.56 

 29.54 



• • • 



29.87 



7.40 a.m 

 10 p.m 



29.63 



• • . 



• • » 



29.97 



8.5 a.m. 



29.97 



29.9 1 



• . . 



SSW. Gentle, overcast ; at 

 night several heavy shower*. 



SSW. Blowing hard and 

 raining fast, and densely 

 oveicast all dav (baro- 

 meter steady till sunitt, 

 when it fell, and rain 

 moderated). Night, less 

 wind at:d rain. 



SW. Moderate, overcast, 

 hazy ; barometer rising 

 steadily. At 6 p M. wind 

 had shifted to WNW, 

 Bright moonlight 10 30 p.m. 



Gentle southerly breeze, in- 

 creasing p.m. : barometer 

 rising slowly. Warm cloudy 

 day, at 5.40 wind SW. 



9 55 p.m 



1C 6.50 a.m 



t 



• • • 



tt* 



6.10 p.m. 29.97 





17 



18 



lUbtttog* 



Remarl's on Fumigating Horticultural and Agricultural 



C ps. Published at the Office of the Gardeners' 



ChromcU and Agricultural Gazette. 5, Upper Wel- 

 lington-street, Strand. 



This pamphlet describes a machine for fumigating 

 | plants either m a confined or in an open place. 



"Although it is not pretended that blight, or aphis, can 



8.30 p.m. 

 10.40 p.m 



6.40 a.m. 

 10.30 p.m. 



• • • 



SW. Brisk, cold, and over- 

 cast ; barometer falling 

 steadily. 

 29.83 5 p.m. Raininj? fast, and 



increasin S wind t{ H nfgbt. 

 29.85 a.m. WSW. Brisk, overcast, 



gleamy ; barometer ii%ing 

 steadily ; fine sunny after- 

 noon. 

 P M. WNW. 



6.10 KW, 



« • • 



• ■ * 



29.97 



7 



a.m. 



30.02 



• • • 



• • 



80.30 



30.15 



* • • 







8.30 wind shifted to W., and 

 barometer dropped ; but 

 at 10 40 had risen a^ain. 



6.40 WNW., nuon NW. 

 Brisk, white cumuli ; baro- 

 meter rising*, steadily. 

 Evening, sky cloudless and 

 clear. 



30.32 



§ 



19 



10 p.m. 

 7.30 a.m. 



• # • 



• *• 



30.18 

 30.14 



a.m. W., 11 SW. Gentle, 

 breeze increasing, and kky 

 gradually clouding over ; 

 barometer falling bteadily. 



5 p.m. SSW. Briftk; night 

 calm. 



tf. Gentle breeze, overcast. 





I 





• A storm coming from iouth-west, and crossing England to 

 the eastward. 



t A storm coming from the west and north of west, from its 

 extreme coldness, and travelling to the east, 

 t A storm coming from south-west, and travelling to 



frit 1 r?&Bt. 



§ A storm coming from west, and travelling to the north. 



Dorchester, June 19 h. F. P. Ii, M. 



[By an accident, the above report did not reach us in 

 time for our Ia.*t Number.] 



* Meet the approaching disease. 



