30 — 1831.J 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE 



473 





PERUVIAN GUANO. 

 /14UTION TO AGRICULTURISTS. 



( \< brf rg notorious that extensive adulterations of this 



,'*rHR are "till carried on, 



nvLY* I ^OUTERS OF PERUVIAN GUANO, 



,i i; ; t fp be their duty to the Peruvian Government and 



^ETpobHc ■Shinto recommend Farmers and all others who 

 STtebt carefully on their guard. 



T^aharacter of the parti s from whom they purchase will 

 ,lf?r«# be the best security, and in addition to particular 



«f*° .. _._^:_* 4 V TAW riTRR< >vn QAVH think it 



f%e lowest wholesale price at which sound 

 has been sold by them during the lout 

 ton. less liver cent 



o 

 o 







THE LONDON MANURE COMPANY beg to 

 offer, as under, CORN MANURE, most valuable for 

 dressing — Concentrated Urate, Superphosphate of Lime, 

 __jof Soda, Sulphate of Ammonia, Fishery and AgtietU- 

 mm] Salts, Gypsum, Fossil Bones, Sulphuric Acid, and every 

 t Artificial Manure ; also a constant supply of English 

 aw Foreign Linsee-1-cake. Peruvian Guano, guaranteed the 

 gHHfr* importation of Messrs. A. Gibbs and Sons, 91. 10*. per 

 or*/. &• H1 quantities of 5 tons and upwards. 



Edward Purser, Secretary. 

 II, Bridge-street, Blackfriars, London. 



ANT RES. —The following Manures are manu- 

 factured at Mr. Lawes's Factory, Deptf»rd Creek : 

 Clover M inure, per ton £11 



Turnip Manure, do 7 



Superphosphate of Lime 7 



Sulphuric Acid and Coprolites 5 



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

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

 Ammonia, 01. 10*. per ton ; and tor 5 tons or more, dl. 5*. per 

 loo, in dock. Sulphate of Ammonia, «fcc. 



USE FOR LIQUID MANURE, Fire-engine 



and agricultural purposes, made of canvass, lined and 

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

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

 a heavy pressure ; it is extensii ely used at the Government 

 public works, also by the navy, and amongst agriculturist*, 

 giving universal satisfaction. Testimonials and prices may be 

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

 m an ufacturer*.— London Agents : Messrs. Dean* 1 , Dray, and 

 Pease, Swan-lane ; Messrs. Tillt-y, Blackfriars-road. — Country 

 Agents : Messrs. Ransome and Parsons, Ipswich ; Messrs. J. 

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

 Wilson, Agent for Scotland. 



ANTHONY'S PATENT AMERICAN CHURN 

 has obtained a Prize at every Agricultural meeting at 

 which it has been exhibited ; and the Proprietors have sold 

 upwards of 2000 in one year, and received from all parts of 

 England the highest testimonials in its favour, both as to the 

 hort time required, the quantity and quality of the Butter 

 nade, a copy of which testimonials, with prices, will be for- 

 warded ou application to Burgess and Key, 103, Newgate- 

 itreet Sole Agents to the P roprietor. 



*OK WAT£KLNU GARDENS, DISTRIBUTING LIQUID 



manure, brewers' use, «tc. 



PATENT VULCANISED INDIA-RUBBER HOSE-PIPES 



J AND FLEXIBLE GAS TUBING. 



AMES LYNE HANCOCK (sole Licensee and) 

 Manufacturer, Goswell Road, London. 

 These Pipes are well adapted for Watering Gardens, con- 

 jeyinK* Liquid Manure, racking Beer and Cider, for portable 

 lias Lam: s. and all purposes where a perfectly sound Water- 

 proof and Flexible Pipe is required. Hot Liquors or Acids do 

 net injure them ; they are, therefore, much used for Chemical 

 purposes, as they require no oil or dressing when out of use 

 are particularly suitable for Fire Engines, and are found ex- 

 ceedingly useful in dwellin --houses for conveying Hot or Cold 

 Wa»er to Baths, <fcc. 



Testimonials and prices may be had on application to the 

 Manufactory. 



N.B.- Vulcanised India Rubber Garden Hose, fitted up with 

 Ko§H 9) Jets, and Branches complete, with union joints ready 

 to attach to pumps or water cisterns. 



All Letters or Orders addressed to J. L. Hancock, Goswell 

 jwrs, Goswell Road, London, will meet with immediate 

 attention. 



d 7? tex £ roof Fishin * Bo <> t » and Stockings, Portable India- 

 Kubber Boats Shower and Sponging Baths, Air Cushions and 

 fleas, made all sizes to order. 



JTfte agricultural Aamtt* 



SA TURD A Y, JUL Y 26, 1851 . 



MEETINGS FOR THE EiNSUlNG WEEK. 

 Wed»*8 dat, July 30 -Agricultural Society of England. 

 THUHtDAT. — 31— Agricultural Imp. Soc. of Ireland. 

 WiomisiT, Aug. 6-A*ricultural Society of Englaud. 

 Tbuimh, — 7 -Agricultural I mp . Soc. of Ireland, 



We understand that in some parts of Cornwall the 

 Turnips, instead of being carried off as usual by the 

 funnp-fly, have been attacked by a new enemy to 

 tte farmer, which has come into the field in the 

 shape of a tiny ash-coloured moth, not unlike the 

 common clothes moth, but smaller. The rows of 

 lurnips are said to swarm with them, and the under- 

 aae of the leaves is covered with their grubs, which 

 commit great havoc. In some instances they have 

 cleared the ground as effectually as the black cater- 

 Pilar did some 15 years ago. Have any of our cor- 

 fspondents observed a similar case in this, or 

 P ions seasons ? 



2 endeavoured, in a recent article, to direct 

 attert >n to the advantage which British agriculture 



*°? *®? ve from extending the cultivation of Flax, 

 jastead u pursuing an ignus fatuus, by attempting 

 praise th •• products of the tropics in these latitudes. 

 *ae advice appears to have fallen on a good soil; 

 40r we have recently received an application from an 

 ex Unsive tenant farmer for personal aid in such an 

 a .&dertaking. " I have," he says, " a large tract of 

 nc h alluvial sol, on which, notwithstanding all I 



can do, the crops will lodge. I wish to g 

 H 11 ^ that will < take the shine out of it? 



at its present price. 



the 



Flax appears to be likely to if the w >dy portion can be so para" d on 

 but I know nothin_ of its cul- ; farm mechanically, as C\.w km contends it can 



by one of his machines, which cost only 10/., and 

 can be used without payment of license or royal t} 

 it will give the Flax-grower a great advantage by 

 simplifying the operations by which his crop can 



be rendered marketable. 



answer my purpo 



ture, or of the mode of preparing it for market. 

 Will you make yourself master of both, and assist 

 me with your advice ? M 



Having assured our friend that he may rely on 

 our hearty co-operation, we proceed to fulfil our 

 promise, by requesting those Flax-spinners who may 

 peruse this article to favour us with their opinion 

 respecting the relative merits of the two rival 

 methods by which it is sought to dispense with the 

 tedious, troublesome, and noxious process of steep- 

 ing, which has hitherto been followed from time 

 immemorial. 



The two processes to which we allude are those 

 patented respectively by Schenck and Claussen. 

 Schenck's method consists in steeping the Flax straw 

 in tanks heated by steam. It has been ascertained, 

 experimentally, that under the old method, a tem- 

 perature of 70 degrees, which is rarely attainable in 

 the open air, in our climate, is the most effective ; and 

 many who follow Schenck's plan are of opinion that 

 it is disadvantageous to raise the temperature of the 

 water above 80 degrees. Flax, steeped in water of 

 that heat for 60 hours, is said to yield 20 per cent, 

 more fibre from a given quantity of straw, than can 

 be obtained by steeping in the ordinary way in pond- 

 and brooks. Claussen's process is divisible into three 

 stages. The first is that by which the woody portion 

 of the stem is removed mechanically, by passing it 

 between rollers ; the second is that by which the 

 fibres, thus partially cleaned, are freed from the 

 gum, gluten, and resin, which cause them to adhere 

 together. This is effected by boiling the Flax, either 

 in the condition in which it comes from the field, or 

 in a partially cleaned state, in water containing about 

 one-half per cent, of caustic potash, followed 

 by immer>ion in slightly acidulated water, con- 

 taining 1 of sulphuric acid to 500 of water. The 

 third and last stage of the Claussen process i 

 that which destroys the tubular structure of the 

 fibre, and breaks it up into ribbon-like filaments 

 with jagged edges, thus assimilating it to the fibre of 

 cotton, and rendering it capable of being spun upon 

 cotton, wool, and silk machinery, either alone or 

 mixed with those substances. This object is attained 

 by steeping the Flax, cut by machinery, either before 

 or after the boiling process, into short lengths, in a 

 solution of common soda (sesqui-carbonate of soda) 

 till the liquid has entered completely into the tubes. 

 The expansive force of the carbonic acid liberated, 

 when the Flax thus saturated is immersed in a 

 solution containing 1 of sulphuric acid to 200 of 

 water,tears up the tubes into the filaments described 

 above. The first two stages of the process may be 

 adopted independently of the third. M. Claussen 

 states, that the Flax prepared by the first is so 

 reduced in bulk, as to render it capable of bein 

 conveyed advantageously to distant markets ; that 

 in this state it is capable, without further prepara- 

 tion, of being spun as long fibre on the ordinary 

 Flax machinery for the manufacture of the coarser 

 fabrics, such as canvas, sail-cloth, nets, bags, ropes, 

 standing and running rigging, &c. ; that it is sus- 

 ceptible of further preparation for the finer fabrics 

 for which long fibre is required, either by steeping 

 according to Schenck's plan, or by the boiling in a 

 solution of potash, which forms the second stage 

 of his own method, or that, lastly, by continuing 

 his process to the third stage, Flax may be ren- 

 dered capable of use as a substitute for cotton. 



The questions, therefore, on which we request 

 information from Flax spinners are these : — Have 



hey any experience of Flax so prepared ? .Will 

 there be much demand for it in this state, for the 

 coarser kinds of manufacture ; and does their ex- 

 perience justify the conclusion, that if the grower 

 sends it to market in this state, it can be prepared 

 for the manufacture of finer fabrics, in which long 

 fibre is required, either by seeping it in hot water, 

 on Schenck's system, or by boiling in a solution of 

 caustic potash on Cla en's f And lastly, to which 

 of these methods would they give the preference ? 

 The value of Claussen's process, in its third and 

 final stage, beautiful and ingenious as it is, appears 

 to depend greatly on the existence of a price for 

 cotton, higher than its ordinary level. We m ould con- 

 clude,hou ever, by warning our agricultural friends that 

 while they are dreaming of making their fortunes 

 by growing Sugar and Tobacco, the energetic Anglo- 

 Americans of the Northern States appear to have 



aken up that part of Claus nV plan warmly, and 

 to anticipate obtaining a large share in the growth of 

 Flax, to be consumed in England as a substitute for 

 the slave-grown Cotton of the South. In culti- 

 vating a crop, of which 60 per cent, of the value 



consists of labour, the farmers of the United King- 

 dom will have a decided advantage over those of 





The Royal Flax Society of Ireland 



Schenck's 



patronise 

 system, under which there are about 

 20 steeping and scutchiug establishments in opera- 

 tion, capable of preparing the produce of 6000 acres, 

 or about one-tenth of the average breadth of Flax 

 at present cultivated in Ireland. They dis- 

 countenance all attempts to dispense with steeping 

 in some form or other ; but 1\I. Clausskn intimates 

 that their vigilance and care in this respect have 

 been so great, that when a new process is brought 

 before them, having this object in view, they 

 avowedly decide against it first, and investigate it 

 merits afterwards. Whether Schenck's or Claussen's 

 plan is to be generally adopted, it appears desirable 

 that a division of labour should he-established, under 

 which the attention of the farmer mav be confined 



to the cultivation and harvesting of the "crop, leaving that it is the essential and active principle, 

 to others the preparation of the fibre for the spinner, suspect, however, that carbon without ammonia is 

 In Belgium this division of labour has been adopted 

 with great success ; and in Ireland, where the intro- 

 duction of the spinning of Flax by machinery has 

 effected a complete revolution in the linen trade, 

 the necessitv for it has become obvious, and 



America, where wages are so high ; and it will be 

 their own fault if they let the supply of any increased 

 demand for Flax, which the Ci,\ n proc s may- 

 occasion, fall into other hands. The following is 

 M. Claussen's estimate of the value of Fl v and 

 Hemp imported into the United Kingdom, both of 

 which might be grown there : 



Flax tibre rf*,000,0M 



Seed for crushing 1,800,00.1 



Seed for growing * 



Oil-cake 6<J0,«>'-(1 



Hemp l.ftiM.OiO 



£9,100,000 



These facts we commend to the serious considera- 

 tion of those who deem the importation of any article, 

 which our soil is capable of producing, a national 

 loss ; and we commend it to the attention of those 

 who, maintaining such views, prepare If es in 

 which clauses are inserted prohibiting the cultivation 

 of Flax and Hemp. 



The experiments of Mr. Lawks on Turnips are 

 not so satisfactory as those on Wheat. Many of 

 the deductions which he has so extensively drawn 

 will not stand the test of experience ; for he has 

 generalised too freely on local and special results, 

 and applied these to explain and regulate the whole 

 principles of manuring, where the circumstances 

 were totally different. Sooner or later the inter- 

 pretation of Mr. Lawes's experiments will be made 

 matter of discussion. Mr. Posey has brought Mr. 

 Lawes 's opinions forward with great prominency in 

 his recent admirable summary of the " Progress of 

 Agricultural Knowledge;" and although he has 

 rather given offence to Lierig on some points, the 

 English agricultural public are much indebted to 

 him for concentrating the labours of eight years' 

 work in the science and practice of agriculture. No 

 >ne knows the wants and requirements of English 

 farming better than Mr. Pusey, and when such a 

 topic is handled by so able and agreeable a writer, 

 opportunities are afforded for most useful criticism 



and discussion. 



Mr. Lawes found that his Wheat field, which 



yielded 17 bushels per acre, without any manure, did 

 not produce as many cwts. of Turnips without any ap- 

 plication ; but a certain weight of superphosphate 

 of lime raised the crop to 12 tons. This was a very 

 interesting result ; but practically the question and 

 matter for discussion by farmers is, how the Turnip 

 crop can be increased from 12 to 20 tons or upwards. 

 Mr. Lawes has been led by his experiments to 

 believe, that in ordinary farm management carbon 

 must be added to the superphosphate of lime, and 



We 



the 



obvious, 

 to 



Wheat 



necessity ^ for it has become 



Flax Society are endeavouring to promote 

 it by the establishment of hot water steeperies at- 

 tached to scutching mills. There is one disadvantage 

 attending Schenck's system, that it requires 

 numerous establishments of this kind, to obviate 

 the inconvenience of transporting the Flax crop 



powerless ; and, also, that on all soils which are 

 capable of raising 17 bushels of Wheat annually, 

 20 tons and upwards of Turnips can be raised by 

 applying phosphoric and ammoniacal manur* -. if 

 common sense and good management in the 

 details are followed. We think Mr. Pusey- has 

 rather got entangled amongst scientific figures, which 



He says, " For Turnips 

 * slightly inferior to 



are only relatively correct. 



superphosphate, however, is 



dung, and the question again arises, as under Wheat 



whether this slight superiority of dung for Turnips 

 to a distance in the bulky state of°straw ; whereas, \ be due to its nitrogen or its carbon. For Wheat it 



