538 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE 



iflhev had been swelled by water. Hugh Raynbird, of 

 Laverstoke, Andover-road, Hampshire, exhibits four 

 snecimens of Wheat produced by hybridisation , ana 

 ££L of Ilopetown and Piper's Thickset Wheat, from 

 which the hvbrids were obtained by fertilising the 

 pistils of the Thickset with pollen from the stamens ot 

 the Hopetown Wheat. To effect this, the stamens of 

 the flower of the Thickset were removed before they liaa 

 reached maturity, by opening each of the glumes and 

 carefully picking out the stamens upon the point ot a 

 needle ; the pistils being left perfect were a 

 afterwards fertilised by dusting them with 

 from stamens brought from the Hopetown 

 This produced a <rreat number of varieties, partaking 



few days 

 the pollen 

 Wheat. 



lites" all arrest our attention in this class. Not the 

 least' useful invention is the improved gutter, or spout 

 for houses and buildings, the eaves tiles being formed 

 into the proper shape, and ingeniously joined and 

 secured to the eaves-board, so as to catch all the 

 drain from the roof. The specimen roof exhibited 

 has a stream of water constantly flowing over it. w e 

 observed a very ingenious machine for cleaning and 

 screening Wheat, manufactured by Messrs. Spiller and 

 Taylor, Battersea ; and though it is adapted for the 

 flour-mill, we think that part of its principle might be 



to our winnowing and 



machinery, driven by siTho^ses f rom ^r 

 the manure so id and liquid, is J™ t .T ou «4e. 



J s carefully 



PB *"»£ 



application to the land. 



Thirty labourers are constantly 

 farm all of whom get their food in SS? ' 

 the families of the married rr,J.\ . efara 



a 



s 



S y «r „7 g ^ d b . y ,,,e j* 3 



IdomV ^ 



dressing 



through which the 



more or less of "the parent stocks. It may 



be here 



observed that new seeds are frequently produced in this 

 way for various purposes, capable of giving origin to 

 plants with the combined qualities of the parents ; but 

 hybrids closely allied gradually lapse into one or other 

 of the originals, and become extinct. The catalogue 

 describes " specimens and notes of produce of some of 

 the most approved varieties of Wheat cultivated in 

 Great Britain, or elsewhere, arranged by J. Le Couteur, 

 F.R.S., M.S. A., Aide.de-Camp to her Majesty, of Belle 



Jersey;" and we cannot refrain from noticing 

 "'although we could not find them in the 



Baltic 



applied, per 



machines. The separator, or scr _ 



foul corn first passes, consists of five parallel metal 

 rollers, which revolve the same way, these being just 

 so far apart as to allow the grain to pass between them. 

 All the extraneous matter, larger than the gram, is 

 carried to one end by means of wire wo«W upon alter- 

 nate rollers. The spaces between the rollers correspond 

 to the slits between the wires of an ordinary sieve, but 

 with this important difference,— that in one case the 

 wires are stationary ; in the other, the rollers con* 

 tinually revolve, and in the same direction, so that the 

 sides of every slit move in contrary directions, the one 

 up, the other down ; this causes the grains immediately 

 over the slits to turn and present themselves most 

 favourably for passing through ; hence, * this separator 

 will not only screen much closer, but will do twelve 

 times more work than any other in use, with the same 

 amount of surface, and this without the possibility of 

 ever choking." And the kernels cannot be jammed, 

 because the surfaces of the rollers on each side every 

 slit are moving in opposite directions. All the rollers 

 may be opened or- closed simultaneously by one motion 

 of a gauge hand ; thus giving the power of screening, 

 by a single separator, every size and description of grain. 

 Why might not our winnowing machines be fitted with 

 something of this kind, in place of the present shaking- 

 riddles, with their sets of wire screens for different pur- 



At any rate, these rollers would suffice for 



their own houses from the husban? J5** « 



tne; rate of wages being from' ltd. Z£ 

 Sundays, for the lowest, to h *>d f * T/' — 

 their food, which is of excellent qU> .J* 

 meat and wine every dav. the wi™ u •" ' 4 *J*fc 

 our beer. The SL£!V!ig^S/S!i 



I 



poses 



•T 



off 



"finishing ;" the large, bold, and good corn passin 

 at the end of the rollers, while the lean tails dropped 

 through. Perhaps this hint may draw the attention of 

 machine makers to the subject. I. A. C 





FARMING EXAMPLES. 



French Farming. — Having lately had a few days' 

 holiday, I thought I could not spend them better than 

 by making a little personal investigation into the agri- 

 culture of that part of the continent from which we have 

 unexpectedly drawn cur greatest snpplies — our^old 

 rival, France. As I know your space is valuable, I 

 confine myself to a short description of what I saw and 

 heard in the district La Beauce. It is described as the 

 granary of France, and is an extensive and somewhat 

 elevated plain of good sheep and corn land, lying between 

 Etampes and Orleans, and from .30 to 40 miles south 



of Paris. 



There are very few trees and no fences, and the 

 country is all under cultivation. The land, which is 

 much of the same quality as the lighter (not sandy) 

 soils of Essex and Suffolk, is chiefly held in large farms 

 of from 300 to 700 acres by tenant-farmers. The farm 

 buildings sometimes stand by themselves, near the 

 centre of the farm, but more frequently are in village 

 at considerable distances from the extremity of the 

 occupations to which they severally belong. The farm- 

 houses and the farmers are in all respects, as r ;ards 

 comfort and intelligence,«rery much like the same class 



I met with 



Vue, 



them here, 



Exhibition. White Winter Wheat, 26 kinds. 

 or Rostock is the best ; 18 lbs. of flour producing 23 lbs. 

 of bread. Winter compact varieties, 1 kinds. Elon- 

 gated winter Wheat, 9 kinds. Downy or hoary Wheat, 



10 kinds. ^Kentish Downy proved the best ; yield 

 55 bushels per acre; 18 lbs. of flour produced 26 lbs. 

 of bread, of excellent quality. Red Wheats, 24 kinds. 



Spring Wheats, 6 kinds. Bearded Wheat, 1 9 kinds. 



Total, 104 specimens. Comparison and Result: the 



Kentish or Jersey Downy Wheat; in 1847, one 



quarter, or 463$ lbs. produced 351 f lbs. of flour; 



which produced 482£ lbs. weight of bread. Baltic 



or Rostock Wheat: in 1847, 454 lbs. of Wheat 



yielded 312 lbs. of flour, which produced 398^ lbs. of 



bread. Downy, 482 J lbs., Rostock, 398£ lbs. or 84 lbs. 



excess over the Eostock of one quarter ; or excess on 



one acre, at 6 qrs. per acre, 504 lbs. of bread— the supply 



of one person for a year. The excess of the Downy over 



some inferior varieties is far greater. Leaving tea, 



.tobacco, coffee, wood, cochineal, indigo, starch, lac, gum, 



bark, &c, unnoticed, we mention one or two things in 



Class IV. — " Vegetable and Animal Substances used in 



Manufactures." The farmer about to embark in a Flax 



enterprise may here compare samples of French, 

 Flemish, Dutch, Friesland, Archangel, Riga, English, 



Irish, Egyptian, New Zealand, and other Flax ; and 



nearly as great a variety of Hemp ; and Claussen 



exhibits samples of the fibre in all its stages, from straw 



to cloth, as prepared by his new process. He shows 



cloths produced from Flax ; Flax cotton, Flax cloths 



Flax silk, Flax wool ; and also Hemp and other fibrous 



plants prepared either in whole or in part by the same 



process. This invention seems to open a wide field for 



Flax culture. Here are to be seen specimens of feathers, 



of grouse, duck, &c, English, Irish, Russian, Dantzie, 



&c. ; and feathers arranged according to the qualities 



most used in England. Samples of wool of many 



different breeds, including that of the black-faced High- 

 land sheep, and of Cheviots grown in a district upwards 



of 2600 feet above the level of the sea. In a glass case 



is a stuffed ewe, a pure Southdown, bred and reared by 



Mr. J. Moore, of Littlecott Farm, Pewsey, Wiltshire. 



This animal was seven years old, and was never shorn ; 



and what is remarkable is that the length and weight of 



the wool (viz. 25 inches and 36 lbs.,) on this sheep are two of them, one occupying about 500 and the other 



not greater than the aggregate length and weight of 700 acres. They were very civil, communicating with 



wool taken year by year from other sheep in the same me readily, and showing their stock, and entering freely 



flock during that period, and that the animal seemed to \ into the details of their management. 



feel the heat less than those which were regularly shorn. In so far as I could understand it, their system is to 



cultivate their land in three divisions, one-third of the 

 farm being every year in Wheat for sale, one-third in 

 green vegetable crops for consumption by stock, and 

 one-third in Oats and forage for the horses. The crops 

 cultivated are Wheat, Potatoes, Beet, Clover, Lucerne, 

 and Saintfoin, and Oats an 1 Barley. The Wheat is 

 generally good, better than the average of England ; 

 the green crops are middling, and the Oats universally 

 a poor small crop. 



Very few cattle are kept in this district during the 

 summer, but every farm has a regular sheep stock. 

 They are whitefaced, thin-looking sheep, with short 

 close wool, of which they were being shorn in the first 

 week of July. The wool seemed to have been greased, 

 and was unwashed and dirty ; but, notwithstanding 

 fetched 9'/. per lb. On the 700-acre farm a stock of 

 900 sheep is kept, the sale sheep of which are parted 

 with at two years old, then weighing f 32 lbs. to 



45 lbs., and bringing, fleece and carcass together, about 

 21s. each. Some farmers keep them till thev arc four 

 years old, when they weigh from 70 lbs. to 80 lbs., and 

 fetch about 36s. 



clothed very much like our "oto^^J?**^ 

 none of the ragged garments fo v\ hicli LuJ * 

 neighbours are unhappily distinguished 



The rent of this farm is 24.? 3d au 

 public taxes and rates of all kinds 5s 'fy an^' "I* 

 is no poor-rate, there being very few poor^LS 

 they are supported by voluntary subscrintiW^? 

 rate of rent m this district varies between Ifo 

 and the taxes from 3s. 6d. to 5*. 6d. an acre or ^ 

 the French terms, the rent is from 50f to "k l2f 

 taxes from lOf. to 15f. per hectare. Farms ar^2l 

 1 2 years' contracts, which are renewed without dirt! 

 at greater or less rents, as prices at the time 3! 

 Within the last 1 years the rent of land in thirS! 

 is estimated to have increased 10 per cent, the otT, 

 increasing very much by improved cultivation *K 

 intelligence among the farmers, who are, on the tU 

 prosperous and the labourers well employed. The 2 

 lords seldom live on their estates, but they 

 directly with the farmers, receiving their rente tfe* 

 selves, and paying for such buildings as are mm 

 for the farm. But their property is small, «£ 

 exceeding two or three farms, more eoranuralr^ 

 500Z. or 6001. a-year, 4000?. a-year being & verrhn 

 rental indeed. Land, remaining amid all ngjy 

 changes secure, is considered the safest investaaU 

 France, almost the only safe investment, and, \m 

 much in request, it cannot be bought to yield mosti 

 3 per cent. 



Small proprietors, of whom there are many 

 cultivate their own land. Their holdings are froii 

 to 70 acres in extent, and are considered to be,»i 

 rule, better cultivated and more productive thaalkU 

 farmed by large farmers. 



Such, then, being the state of the farmers mi to 

 farming, the rent, taxes, and labour being ve 

 on a par with our own, the corn cultivation aaaop 

 as good as ours, and more extensive, though them 

 management, and returns, are greatly deficient, \mi 

 the French farmers like the present prices! Qoifei 

 little as our own. Free trade with England, they* 

 has kept their prices from falling disastrously, k 

 prices improve 30 per cent., they declare thatthea* 

 must either come down, or they must give up toi| 

 A succession of good Wheat crops, winch mp I 

 reached their climax, has so overloaded the in» 

 that the price has been depressed much below « 

 average ; and the prospects of the present year pie* 

 mise of a crop quite as good as the last. A iarj 

 miller at Etampes, informed me, that the »W» 

 of a sack of flour was 28 to 32 francs, hut dag* 

 last year, it had sold for 20 to 22 toes. The tw 

 d- lac* that they cannot farm to profit]™*^ 

 that aver; e price, but during the last six weea 

 market has considerably improved, and tiiej an^ 







of large fanners in our English counties. 



i 



In Class V. — " Machines for direct use, including Car- 

 riages, Railway and Marine Mechanism/' — are several 

 objects likely to be of service to farmers ; as for 

 instance, the excellent pumps, for lifting or forcing 

 liquid manure or water, and also some small fire-engines 

 suitable to farmeries. We may notice particularly 

 Aitken's Patent Iron Carts and Waggons, manufactured 

 by Messrs. Brown, Marshall, and Co., of Birmingham. 

 We cannot enter into a description of the patent iron 

 suspension wheels, &c. ; but the advantages which are 

 offered in these carriages are— 1. Lightness of draught. 

 The self suspending and elastic construction of the wheels 

 neutralising all jar. 2. Great lightness and strength. 

 3. Cheapness. 4. Great durabilitv, unaffected by the 

 extremes of heat and cold, ft From the spokes of the 

 wheel being so arranged as to admit, in case of accident, 

 of any one of them being replaced in ten minutes or so, 

 without removal of the tire ; the iron wheel, from the 

 principle of its construction, possessing such inherent 

 strength as to render it, in case of • accident, capable of 

 bemg moved along, without the tire, until a convenient 

 place or opportunity occurs for its replacement. 6. 

 Their superiority in being almost incapable of injury 

 from fire. 7. Japanning, with all its advantages, being 

 more easily applied than paint. 8. A light, airv, and 

 elegant appearance. 



We now enter amongst the busy thrum of machinery 

 in motion, viz., Class VI.,—" Manufacturing Machines 

 and Tools." Here we have every variety of grinding 

 mill, and flour-dressing and smut machines, which seem 

 to pertain more to millers than farmers. However a 

 portable flour-mill is a valuable thing for the farmstead 

 —and there are here plenty of portal j and fixture 

 steam-engines for working them. Oil-cake pressers— 

 nnlis for crushing mineral substances, such as " copro- 



better prices in the ensuing season. -j 



The flour millers with whom I T^J. 



improved machinery, than to Jj^J^jJjJJI 



the superiority of their flour less to the into 



1 i _*V- *k«« *« flip nnalitv ot u 



manufacture. „ « . „„ nccp q 



stones, and by perfecting their processes 





I 



and she greater attention to ^Vl^wi^ 



They use English machinery wja' 

 Wing their processes a 

 possible, they have greatly improved the yW 

 flour within the last ten years. ^ ^ 



Without trespassing longer on J^^fi 

 I may say that my short ^^B 

 Belgium, Germany, and Switzerland ,*** ^ 



that our agriculturists are now e*P^J ^j* 



competition, whether as regar 



and**? I 



SBR or So still of the **SH5j 



expectation of Sir Robert Peel will be ^ 



expectation ui our *wmw - --- mitotan 1 ^". 

 {feet of the new law will be to inannj j 

 low prices in average seasons, f andto P^^* 



of deal ui. cannot* 



is thereby receiving ^ 



prices in seasons of 

 great population 



estimated. But the sooner our 



landlords 



P 



southern 

 French 



counties 

 compel 



For this farm 20 working horses are kept, stout, 

 good-sized, active-looking animals, in high condition. 

 They are fed in a large stable, summer and winter, tied 

 up in stalls, separated from one another by a hanging 

 bar. They are worked two abreast, in plough 'and 

 harrow, and step out very freely. 



The farm buildings are erected and kept in repair at 

 the landlord's expense. They are in good order, and 

 very commodious for the object for which they are 

 intended. The stable is large and airy, the yards well 

 heltered by lofty walls, and provided with ample shed 

 room, and the barn has two bays, with a threshing 

 space in the centre, fitted with threshing and winnowing 



reconcile anr^eadj^rtheroselves to y ( ; 



appreciate its importance the^ eari* 



to encounter successfully their pr ., u 



so far as regards the ^f^"^^ 



labourer in most of the 



means so well paid as Iua 



in tltc « Times." 



! TJie A mcrica* Sea, *0 *«*£ 

 Crystal Talace a few tunes, * * B llK _ 

 American department. Hwg "J" m *g[ 

 power reaping-machme at wou, - r open 

 with their construction as ™l* A ^c**gf 

 field, I was anxious to see ^ ^^jSJ 

 operation. The position of the P W^M 

 brladth, made the attentive jbse^ . jjjg 



whether the corn wort [%**>* ^r^Jgi' 1 

 «-, fondly, if the padd^J B . ^ 



trikethe oM so 1 iard ™_ ll} u , coa^ 



the ear$. The machine ^v•M« Il i 



most £ * 

 the Eng 



B*« 



i 



