58f> 



THE AGRICULTURALGA ZETTE. 



b^TTthey"are more~hardy, and make the heaviest birds 

 when fat, though they do not look, when alive, so large 

 as the Cambridge ; this is owing to the feathers of the 

 black ones lying more closely to the body. I admit 

 that some of the black and white, and more particularly 

 those with bronze spots, are more beautiful ; those that 



crease of fertility as will more than repay the co^t In ^^[^^^^ found more so than the black, 



of van- s manures, in which a section of the experiment 

 around has been left unraanured. The only questions 

 ire whether, under Mr. Smith's treatment, proportion- 

 hle remunerative results in the green crops may not 

 be obtained. This inquiry may, perhaps, be worth the 

 rev. gentleman's attention ; and whether, in every case, 



my opinion it will ; and so far as I could afford it, I 

 would manure. The obtaining a succession of crops 

 without manure by a wide row tillage, I consider only 

 admissible where from any cause manure cannot be 

 applied ; and the great object I have in view, and I 

 doubt not this is Mr. Smith's, is to show that remune- 

 rative crops may be so obtained ; and if so, that the same 

 treatment will proportiouably increase the produce where 

 manure is applied. 



If Mr. Griffin expects merely to obtain a stolen 

 autumnal crop, after the removal of a preceding crop of 

 grain, by planting Cabbage as he recommends, he will, 

 no doubt, succeed, though not to the weight he calcu- 

 lates on. In field tillage, I have rarely found an Early 

 York, or Nonpareil, weigh 4 lbs. under every advantage 

 of spring and free culture. They will, I think, only- 

 root before the harvesting of the grain ; and if they do 

 more, they will be drawn up, and much deteriorated; 

 for if the Wheat grown on Mr. Smith's plan is at all 

 luxuriant, it will (mite overshadow the 3 feet alleys. I 

 had proof of this m an attempt to produce a row of 

 Lettuce betweeu two rows of Barley at 3£ feet distance. 

 la my interlining crops, I have, consequently, adopted 

 4 feet between my grain rows. But in Mr. Griffin's 

 allusions to a green crop during the summer mouths, 

 and to his crops of Cabbage between rows of Beans, he 

 appears to contemplate a crop of Cabbage simultaneously 

 ripening with a grain crop — not that I believe he pro- 

 poses to recommend it ; in this case I should think he 

 will be certainly disappointed. He seems to apprehend 

 a possibility of the Cabbage injuring the Wheat of the 



£ resent or after crop ; of this he need entertain no fear, 

 is the taller growth of the Wheat that will injure the 

 Cabbage, and thwart his plan. As innovation ever meets 

 with the most ungenerous opposition, it was remarked, 

 somewhat ungraciously, that Mr. Goodiff would spoil his 

 Wheat by his Cabbage, and his Cabbage by his Wheat ; 

 it is now evident to all that neither has received injury 

 from proximity to the other. 



On Mr. Smith's plan I would remark, that I feel 



at any rate it is so here. There should not be more than 

 six hens to one cock, and neither kept after four years 

 old- three is better, at any rate for the male. Each lot 

 should be kept separate if possible ; if only one farm-yard, 

 they should be kept in separate houses, and as much as 

 possible from mixing together, as your conveniences will 

 allow. The male birds fight much. 



If you are beginning to breed, you will buy your stock 

 before Christmas, or earlier ; they do not begin to lay 

 quite so early the first year as after, but this depends m 

 some measure whether they are early birds or late ones ; 

 never buy late ones if you can avoid it, as they are never 

 so strong as the early ones. As soon as the hens begin 

 to lay, see that they live pretty well, as they can pick up 

 but little besides what is given them, and when you have 

 got, say, eight eggs, if you have a hen (a common 

 fowl) that is a good sitter, put them under her, for it is 

 of much importance to get them as early as possible, for 

 they are invariably the finest birds ; that is if the hen tur- 

 key showsno disposition to sit soon. They sometimes keep 

 on laying every other or third day for a long time ; as 

 soon as the hen turkey shows a disposition to sit, remove 

 the eggs from the hens, if more than one are set with 

 turkeys' eggs. A hen turkey will cover 16 well ; if you 

 have not that number, or they were put under the hens 

 on different days, you may add to' eight turkeys' eggs, 12 

 or 14 common fowls' eggs, provided the turkeys' eggs 

 have not been sit upon more than a week ; if not a week, 

 wait till that time, as the chickens and turkeys should 

 both be hatched at the same day, or at any rate within 

 36 hours of each other. • 



It is always desirable to let the hen turkey finish the 

 hatching process, if only for one week ; she is more 

 steady and quiet in her ways ; at the same time the 

 heat, from her greater size, is more regular ; during the 

 hatching, the eggs require the same attention that I 

 mentioned for fowls, and the young turkeys assisting in 

 the same way, if they do not find their way out of the 

 shell at the proper time. The young, when hatched, 



35?f?i W ^^L reap a , g I ai " ! €Ssif ^ e sowed I require to be crammed generally for some days with 



If his Wheat t pollard, mixed thick, with a sprinkling of hard boiled 



only two rows in hft distance of 2 feet, 

 is as luxuriant as I suppose it to be in such deeply tilled 

 land, that is about 6 feet high, I think the centre rows 

 will be so much injured as to be of little value, while 

 they will deprive the outer rows of a portion of their 

 nourishment — I mean rather atmospheric privation than 

 earthy ; this is agreeable to our present science and 

 accords with a practical instance which I think it here 

 pertinent to mention. Some years ago I sowed, with a 

 view to ascertain the most desirable quantity of seed to 

 sow, several rows of Barley, at 21 inches apart, one 

 row was omitted, which left two of the rows 3J feet 

 apart : now, each of these two rows, seeded with the 

 •ame quantity of seed, yielded more than double the 



1 produce of any other of the rows, had a foot more 

 ength of straw, and were standing while the others 

 were much lodged. I would beg leave to suggest to 

 Mr. Smith, to compare the produce of his centre rows 

 with his outside ones, and to try the effect, if not too 

 far advanced to produce any, of removing the centre 

 row now, and of omitting it in a part of his next crop, 



I have now, in the very ill-conditioned land I have 

 recently taken, near an acre and a half of Wheat, sown 

 at intervals of 4 feet, which my neighbours calculate 

 will yield from 24 to 28 bushels to the acre : I have 



i 



egg, chopped fine, and Chives or scallion Onions (the 

 green stalk), cut into small pieces, and mixed altogether. 

 This is excellent food for them, and if fed with it till they 

 pick it up themselves they will grow fast. The 

 egg may be omitted after five or six days. The 

 young turkeys require much attention in feeding till they 

 will pick up the food well by themselves ; if you throw 

 it in lumps on the ground they will not eat it, but if you 

 offer it to them in your hand, holding it at the ends of 

 your fingers, you will find that they will eat it with avidity. 

 They require much patience and attention, and for this 

 reason it is useless for lady farmers to bring up poultry. 

 They require most atttention when the weather is wet 

 and cold, therefore have a man or boy who is fond of 

 them. Keep enough to fully employ him always amongst 

 them ; they should be put on a pasture every fine day, 

 and the mother confined in a coop, to prevent her from 

 leading them too far away ; they find many insects and 

 worms, besides they soon begin to eat Grass, insects 

 seem to be the natural food of all the feathered tribe in 

 their young state. 



As soon as they are two months old, if fine weather, 

 they may be put into a Clover field that you may be 



flp^rlitlfr rifTwi+Vi cliaon • +liia lo r* «a,w1 ..1a A a -?^*% *U^ ~ 1 



put it down myself at 20, but whatever it may be I am l feedin & off wifch shee P * this is a g ood P lace for them, and 

 quite sure, from its present gappy appearance, of a ; y^ ma y le ^ the hen loose, taking care to have a rough 

 — u -_... » .. rr^.ri > s h e( l made of a few hurdles, and covered with a little 



yield next year of more than double, and which I 

 expect, as the land improves, to raise much higher. 

 These 4 feet intervals allow me full space for a row of 

 Nonpareil Cabbage, at 1 foot apart, which are now 



straw. Let your man take every morning all the food 

 they will require during the day, and always feed them 

 in the above-mentioned shed, so that they may be used 



mj Iew 01 air - wttin, for I use manure | J WWWI1 a «»« Kiiiea oy one heavy 



The Cabbage is late m hearting, as well as small and $<*"** >' lt is best to ,,ave a 8 °rt of box made on wheels 



late in emwtli. *«♦ as. a °. . - > like a wheelbarrow, to carry the food required during 



inf^^ ^' h ~» m does not arise from any mal- 

 lnfluence of the Wheat aHVi™-.^ u s • * 



„™~ o jl^ "• /*«eai, although it is m some spots 



over 3 feet high, and with 

 upwards of 4 feet. 



the day ; it should have a wicker basket to go on the 



stretched r° P ' ab ° Ut a f ° 0t high ' simiIar to those reused to send 

 >tentiv* nf : fowb > &c *> to »«u*et, and called " flats." This is to 



the leaves 



The soil is cold, and retentTvTof lv " li3 > ***•* lu uiarK «, ana canea - flats." This is to 

 water and reduced by previous severe tillage and Ca ^ y a "? of the ^ 0UT1 8 turke ys that may be unable to 

 starvation, to what the Irish verv ttmrPM.»iv ***«. i walk - "the field you have them in in the day is any 



very expressively term ^ 



an anatomy (skeleton), and from a necessarily lite and Jj 8tance /'! 

 badly prepared seed bed, the plants were very small when the IT"? ti 



om home, they will soon learn to run home at 



™7L:< X 7 i Qea ' tne P ,ants w ere very small when iT ; ""*." J ou S lv 



put out the end of last October; besides which, from J' ard > K ore S™ ng tore8t 

 the nuld and wet winter, and bv the nrevi™, Ih.u^ number into a large bar 



time, if you give them the evening meal in the 



.ff^^ , . winter, and by the previous shelter 



£ h * W ft e€ds > th * dag» have attacked them in 

 irtL tl V TT^ «* I -not, therefore, 



year boast of my Cabbage." ' There is" enough' 

 however, to satisfy me that there is eve^y ^SS^ 



We generally put the greatest 



_ barn to roost, fixing up temporary 



perches for them, and always making a rough sort of a 



ladder for them more easily to reach their perch. 



ft. U„f I n V g ^ P aD b t eC . 0min & a P rofita *> * one, when 

 the land shal be brought into a fit state for it There 



^enough to lead me to expect in future years crops of 



gam equal, or very nearly so , fe rows* at four fcet 



mterval 8 , to broadcast crops, while they adnut of Yne 



«wwb. j. M. Goodiff, Granard, June 1 3. 



THE BREEDING AND REARING OP TURKFY* 



^ TH , 8 . fir8t Po^t ^ the choice of the stock. \vLult 



found the black (or Norfolk breed 



stock. 

 I belie 



Turkeys should never sit more than 4 or 5 feet from the 

 ground at any time ; you should take great pains to get 

 them to si t up on their perches, as they always seem to 

 go on so much better when they roost above ; no doubt 

 from the better air they breathe when off the ground 



S "? 1 10 8,t "P w, r two months old ; whenaboui 

 this age they generally nave what is called their red heads 

 1 his .is rather a critical period with them ; they require 

 much attention ; it is best to separate those that are very 

 bad, from those that are slightly affected ; they will soon 

 -et over it if the weather is fine and warm. After turkeys 

 got their red heads they require little besides 

 plenty of food and clean water ; thev mav continnp 

 ve) to be the , the Clover field till after harvest ; you should cLge 



ave 



We have 



on 



Sept. \^ 



the field as often as convenient^tnTv r - ^-^ 

 fresh around. y Uo better 



1 



As soon as any of the corn fields 



^Wielfc 



will, of course, turn them into the stubble" ^^ 

 are almost useless, unless it shells very m 

 should have them exmained every night to ° 

 crops are full ; if not so, you should have them^lS 

 with a mixture ot halt Barlev-m^l «„^ L iT^H 



rley-meal, and'half^ 



Turnips or Potatoes or Mangold Wurzel 



Carrot- 



they prefer the fresh root and Swede Turaim iT*? ; 

 will eat any one of them well. I belief £*? 



mixture is better than all meal ™*«*;^.,i_.i 



mixture is better than all meal, particularly when bl 

 have a chance of picking up all the corn thev * ^* 



When 



diem" into either aB^y^ 



you put 

 stubble, they will require hardly any feeding "• 'thek* 

 they are very fond of, and do best with. ^^ 



I will here repeat a lesson I received some yean *. 

 and have practised it ever since. Looking over fe 

 estate of a gentleman who is a great game preservwl 

 found a lot of pheasants in a field of Peas that were?J 

 much bug eaten (covered with aphides), I asked fc 

 gamekeeper why they were put in; his answer waL«K 

 pheasants are going on bad, and you have the opportunity 

 of putting them on either a Pea or Bean field that hu 

 the bug bad, they will invariably get on better than h 

 any doctoring you can give them." I then thought, if » 

 good for pheasants, it must be just as beneficiaJ for «? 

 of the feathered tribe, and I have found it so, both if 

 young turkeys and chickens. You will of course not pot 

 thern on in very wet weather, when it would both hart 

 them and trample your Peas down as well ; they do , 

 harm when the Peas are dry, but much good ; they v] 

 do well on the stubble till a month or six weeks £$ 

 harvest, or longer if the autumn is mild ; bntyoushonH 

 see that their crops are full when they come hoot 

 at night. It is best to sell most of the hens durif 

 November or in the early part of December ; theyp* 

 rally do best then. They require to be put up to i, 

 for a month ; three weeks will do if they have bea 

 kept well. 



They should be in a roomy place, and let out for m 

 hour or two during the day, not more ; it is a goodjAa 

 to give them ^ few small Beans when out, strewed on to 

 ground. They should have plenty of mixed id 

 when in the house, any kind of meal, but I tlmk 

 Barley the best ; and the last week it should be auij 

 all meal. See that they have plenty of clean water it 

 all times, as they drink much when shut up. Tfeta. 

 thing to feed them in is long narrow troughs, Bftfe so 

 that they cannot get into them ; they must be cohered 

 over, or they will dung into them. Their perches sbli 

 not be more than 3 feet from the ground when fattaft 

 as they are very liable to bruise themselves in alighting ; 

 this spoils the look, as they are a long time before the 

 slightest bruise leaves them. The turkeys should aih 

 hatched before June ; those hatched after are newt 

 worth bringing up, they are invariably affected iithtta 

 cramp during the cold weather ; and all the April h* 

 are generally the most healthy, but it depends much 

 upon the spring ; if cold, the turkeys do not lay so ax* 

 This is the case with all kinds of poultry, but more 



particularly turkeys. , 



Many persons in this county never hatch any ttirRep 

 themselves, but buy them of the labourers' wives, nea? 

 ail of whom keep one or two hen turkeys (the jmm 

 generally a joint-stock concern) ; this is often oi aw» 

 assistance to them, as they almost always ha*JJ 

 broods ; this is owing no doubt to the addition* h«*nn 

 of their cottages, as they set the turkey in a cupwaw 

 closet near the fire. This adds little to the eieajw- 

 of the cottage ; but if fortunate in a good hm ^ 

 of great assistance to them ; the price is ^ 

 depending upon whether they are early or noi 

 sell them when a day or two old. * ^ 



I will say nothing about ducks or geese, a i 

 think either pay so well as fowls and turke) s. 

 may do well enough where you have plenty oi 



land to turn them upon. T (t(S ^i 



I will now say a few words upon what. iJ£T^ 

 most important subject, connected with tne -. 

 poultry. It is perfectly astonishing wbai » i 

 of most excellent manure you accumulates rf 

 The best plan I have found is to burn MTj # 

 earth, generally the top spit round the ^ ^ 

 fields; this answers two purposes, it Keep ^ 

 down, andisbetter than clay dug lower do*" > ^ 

 well in fine weather, after being dug a day or ' >£ 

 carted to some convenient place adjacent to -^ 



it is wheeled into the different places where ^ 

 is kept ; a heap should be kept in one & ^ 

 place, and a few spadefuls spnnklea u ^ 

 morning and night. This is necessary ^ ^ „ 



poultry house, except in ^jf^T^^W 

 when it gets a foot or more thick, into » & fit w 



is turned over once or twice, whel \f * r t^Z l 

 drill or sow by hand on any crop tna / ^^ 



it has increased so much on this larnii , ^ ^ #* 

 quantity of poultry kept, that it Has ^ 



of all descriptions being grown everj J^ is J 

 sarily to more stock being kept, y ^ 

 ticularly adapted for heavy land. « » A ^ 

 for light land, but in that case I *oui ^it' 

 (if I could get it), dry and pulverise n, 

 of burnt earth. „ hv the •* * 



I have tried this poultry m ^*J? e up <f > 

 best guano, and the Turnips ^ aliUre d wi^ ^ 

 for some time kept before those m 



