;>s 



1851.1 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



605 



those who seek the hidden treasures of the earth, and 

 convert them into substances more valuable than 

 glittering gold or sparkling diamonds. If rents were 

 reduced,°ami judicious measures adopted without delay, 

 tin's evil, which must otherwise increase, would be 

 treat 1v checked. Low as is the price of produce, there 

 jsstill much land which might be profitably improved 

 bv occasional cultivation ; and there is much of the 

 land now in cultivation, upon which additional labour 

 nmrht be profitably employed, in its regular cultivation, 

 besides all the extra labour required in more perfect 

 drainage, in subsoiiing, irrigation, stubbing up trees and 

 fences ° and planting fresh ones, making roads, and 

 erecting buildings, &c. ; and the Land Drainage and 

 Improvement Company affords great inducements to 

 perform these acts. Besides these known improvements, 

 which are still but comparatively rare, the necessity of 

 present circumstances must compel the farmer to do 

 his part, in discovering other new improvements. The 

 mechanic and the chemist have doue, and are doing, 

 much to assist him in this way ; but he has done very 

 little for himself. Let him then consider how he can 

 increase the quantity and improve the quality of hi 

 produce, and how he can quicken the growth of his 

 crops. Cannot the land be kept more constantly going, 

 never being idle, but producing one crop in wide 

 intervals, while another is coming on in the space 

 between the rows, so as to grow two or three good crops 

 on the same laud every year, instead of only two poor 

 ones in three years, according to the old system, which 

 is still practised in some places. Some will say that low 

 prices will not pay for high cultivation. But they 

 certainly will not pay for poor cultivation 

 now be cultivated in the very best way, or else laid 

 down for pasture ; good cultivation or none at all, must 

 be the order of the day. 0. F. 



Land Draining Companies. — For the sake of brevity 

 1 pass ever those observations in your correspondent 

 Mr. Shelley's letter, published in the Gazette, 30th 

 August, which convey no information. He says after- 

 war "thai his Company's tables will show that the 



shall take the case of Scotland, lake that of the Carse like putting manure on a clayey undrained field the 



of 3Z. and 4/. per acre is paid. ( goodness will all run off the surface. /. C 



of Gowrie, where a rent 



Are there hares and rabbits ! Is there any game there ? berwelL 



How many game preserves are there in all - nland, at 



least as compared to England ? In Scotland only a few 



of the richest noblemen come under the designation. 



CuthM, Cam - 



Farmers 5 Clubs. 



r» «. l \ • _ _u u _ \ _ r _i m- — ^TT — Newcastle, July. — Mr. Hugh Taylor, of Cramlin^- 

 But look into the broad sheets of the 2\«e. and there ton> read a £ *„ « -^ -_. . j^l^^dt £_- 

 you will see once a year the certificates taken out for <• /x, • • ■ »■ - -w>w i^nv/*, x^uuxva 





England. 



land must 



you win see once a y 



A 19 years' lease is given, and hares and 

 rabbits left to the mercy- of the farmer, without any 

 restrictions. If he chooses to have a few then he 

 cannot turn round upon the landlord. Every farmer is 

 his own keeper. There is no giving back a per ee&tage 

 on account of game, or a bad season ; these rest entirely | 

 \ upon his own luck, and he must be regulated by his 

 own judgment, ju^t as the market gardener has no 

 keeper to misrepresent him, just to suit his whim. 

 The worst of all ties are the Game-laws, on account of the 

 temptation they create, and uf their suiting the debased 

 and idle habits of the poachers, whom, in many cases, 

 they encourage. I want to know what the Game -laws 

 cost the tanner every year, belies the dt ruction of 

 his crops, alike as regards charges made upon him and 

 the county, and as regards poachers, their conviction, 

 and the maintenance of their families afterwards T— all 

 which expenses ought to be borne by the <;aine preserver 

 alone. 1 am not allowed to say a word about crime, but 

 I may say that I have been called out many times at 

 the risk of life, which is the most awful part of it ; and 

 if I were to enumerate the destruction of hares and 

 rabbits that takes place, it would not be all the mischief 

 done by poaching — there would still be no end to it. 

 Such things as the eating of corn after the ears or seed 

 stem had begun to grow, the playing and trampling it 

 down for many rods into the field, the making of paths 

 by nipping down the corn on either side, rolling amongst 

 it, keepers walking through, in defiant* to the tenant, 

 hunting by horse and foot right across the fields, break- 

 ing down gates and fences, destroying whole fields of 

 Turnips, eating up Peas and Beans— in short, there is 

 no end to the grievances ; if a farmer were to have his 



annuity for 50 years on their loan would be 51. 1 Is. 9d. 9 land for nothing, these annoyances, and the expenses of 

 and that the Company's commission adds Is. per annum , working his land, Would be more than he ought to stand, 

 to this amount, making a little over 5 J per cent, for 50 I am told that If a gentleman takes to farming himself, 



he does not give up game ? did Lord Coke do so! did 



Lord Lyttelton do so? did George Hyng do so ! does 



my Lord Stanhope do so ? And yet his lord-hip has as 



those gentlemen's tenants 



There 



years." There may be an error in printing, but to my 

 understanding these sums would make 61. 4s. 9d. per 

 cent. In another part he says, " the Company's charges, 

 which include every one of the matters above alluded to 9 

 are embraced in a commission of 1 Is. 6d. per acre in the 

 case of drainage." If the words alluded to point to the 

 sentence preceding them, for the u matters, 1 ' there we 

 read : a In short that he (the proprietor) is, fortunately 

 for him, his own surveyor, his own engineer, his own 

 lawyer, his own agent, and pre-eminent in each capacity : 

 that his time or his bailiff's cost nothing, that he loses no 

 interest of his money employed during the progress of 

 the works, and that he spends nothing in expenses, 

 travelling or otherwise, during the time." If these are 

 the "matters" included in the 11*, 6d. per acre, charged 

 by Mr. Shelley's Company, we have only to add the cost 

 of materials, and on draining the 100 acres, the account 

 would be — 



500 acres, at Us. fid. per acre £287 10 



2500 tiles per acre, at, suppose, 20s. per thousand, *> 

 for loo acres J 





1250 



£1537 10 



If this be all, I acknowledge it a better contract for 

 the borrower than he can negociate with the commis- 

 sioners, because 61. 4s. 9d. 9 at most 6£ per cent., is 

 better than 61. 10s. or 6h per cent., to be paid them, and 

 the term lor repayment longer ; but I fear there will be 

 a labour account to be added. A few words, craving 

 your patience, as to a proprietor executing the work. 

 We are told in that excellent article on Draining, in 

 No. 1 71 of the "Quarterly Review" (Dec. 1850, 1 think), 

 and from winch Mr. Murray has published a most useful 

 extract of part of the Essay, price only 4d. y that the 

 writer, after perusing Mr. Parkes' works on the subject, 

 asked his assistance, having failed in his own attempts, 

 lie says " Mr. Parkes brought a foreman, with whom 

 he set out drains and left the work under his superin- 

 tendence. To this man we paid 20s. per week. lie 

 understood pretty accurately the prices of work, and 

 dealt fairly between the employer and the labourers. 

 **e instructed them in the use of the new tools, he 

 measured up the work, kept the accounts, paid the men, 

 and laid every pipe and collar with his own hands. For 

 iese services we pay Mr. Parkes 5s. per acre drained, 

 ™ some travelling expenses." So that one does not 

 e Wn y proprietors having obtained the means, should 



do°l r SariIy • hl the attera P t to drain laud > for no 

 Hot experienced men may be obtained to superintend 



lay the pipes — a most essential part I grant — and 



e tend often lies so well for drainage that no mistake 



oe made in that respect. In my first inquiry, which 



/°« favoured me with insertion in the Agricultural 



much game as his neighbours 

 are proud to save game for such good landlords, 

 never can be good fanning where keepers are kept. 

 I should like to see any man walk over my 

 Strawberry beds ! Does a shop-keeper allow any one 

 to take what he likes ? Does a manufacturer allow a 

 person to walk over his rooms I Is not a farmer's land 

 his raw material \ And after spending his capital upon 

 it, and just when his crops are beginning to show, 

 they are to be destroyed by hares and rabbits. The law 

 of 1848 does not in many cases prevent it ; where keepers 

 are, the tenant is still in bondage. I may be asked, 

 why does a farmer agree to take a farm where game is 

 preserved I Why, as population increases, there must 

 be a. greater demand for land. Men cannot starve; 

 families increase ; sons do not like to remove far off, 

 they risk it for better or for worse, thinking a lease 

 and the Game-laws may one day be done away with. I 

 have not said as yet a word about feathered game, 

 knowing them to be the farmer's best friend (but not 

 in excess), they devour wire worm and all destructive 

 insects ; they eat the blade as well as the corn, but 

 they deserve a little, as they are the means of keeping 

 in cheek all those devouring insects that in time would 

 spread like locusts over whole fields, and devour every 

 green Imf. I have dwelt upon but one side of the 



picture. 



Spade husbandry and go d cultivation must always 

 follow the removal of all bad laws. Vice would 

 diminish. Did any one ever hear of a robbery in 

 the Fulhani Fields, where thou nds of the poorest 

 of people reside, who are drawn from all countries, 

 and subsist bv the sweat of their brow, or hard 



Let us now turn for a moment to the other. 



Uon y Composition, and Uses" 



Ail the varieties of the Oat are comprehended In the genu 

 A vena, of which the Oat itself is the type; the genu* Arena 

 vertaius to the order Gramineae, or the Grasses. There are 

 many species in the genu* A vena, but the following onlv are 

 cultivated for their seeds : — 1st, Arena strigosa. Bristle 

 Pointed Oat, is cultivated aa a bread corn in the Orkney and 

 Shetland Islands, and iu fome parta of the Jl'ghlanda of Rear* 

 land. It U a native of Great Britain. 2, Avena fatua, Wild 

 Oat, ia well known aa a very troublesome weed. It ia tome- 

 time* aupposed that all the cultivated Oats hare sprung f <>m 

 thia species, but there appears little foundation for the ooiniou. 

 It ia iodigen us to the British ialanda. 8. Avena br^vi^ 

 Blurt Oat, was Introduced from Germany in 1804. It grows to 

 the height of only about 9 inches ; its aeeda are amal!. but 

 numerous. It is cultivated in the central uplands «»t Franoe, 

 where it ia preferred to every other kind, on account of its 

 early ripening, and of it* adaptation to poor noils and exposed 

 litu ion. 4, Avena nodosa, Naked Oat or Pe.l-corn. was at 

 one time in iteueral cultivation throughout fceot'and and mme 

 parts of England ; and is supposed to have been the only kind of 

 bread corn known to the anritnt inhabitants of Britain. (Kurt! 

 Ctelopedia ) o, Avena aterilis, Animated Oat, was intr dueed 

 from Barbary in 1G40; it ia only cultivated aa a Cttrioairy, end 

 as a bait for salmon. 6, Avena Orient alia, Tartarian Oar, waa- 

 brought to this country in 1798, and it generally ml tvated for 

 horse corn. 7, Avena sativa. common Oat. ia the parent of 

 nearly all the varieties cultivated in thia country. Every 

 variety in much repute at present has * prong either from the) 

 Tartarian or common Oat. From the Tartarian there are the 

 black and white varieties : from the common Oat the Po ato, 

 Poland, Ilopetoun, Aujtus, and others, in all about 40. The 

 varieties of the Oat, then, are very numerous ; but aa some ar« 



• dapted to one climate and some to another, it is imporant 

 that every farmer ascertain the variety best suited to his ova 

 locality. The testa by which he may decide are the following ; 

 early ripening ; produce of' meal, grain, and straw; capability 

 of withstanding rain and wind ; freedom from di-eaae * f 

 str« ngth of straw, to prevent its betn? lodged ; fitneaa for the 

 •oil, temperature, and height above the level of the aea. Ac, 

 The introduction of other varieties to thia dis rict would, 

 without douhr. prove highly advantageous; for tho«e wi i< h 

 have been cultivated for some time in one apot have common* y 

 degenerat d from the original sample. The selection of 

 vaiie'i^a sui'ed to our differ* nt aoila and situations has been 

 rendrrd comparatively eas> by the many trials recorded in 

 in the agriculural publications of the day. A few of these 



xpenmentH may be noticed. In a very excellent discussion 

 on Oa t*, reported in the Highland and Agricultural Society 'ft 

 Journal, Mr. Finme, one of the best farmers in Scotland, 

 ptatteft the varietiea in three classes, recommendrng 8rst, for 

 soils having every advantage of climate, the Potato Oat. Hope- 

 toun, or half of each, the Berlic. Early Angus, Sandy, Back 

 Tartarian, tJrey Angus, late Angus, or a mixture of the 

 viopetoun with the Herlic, Early Angus, Sandy, or Kif- 

 drutofne ; second, for climates of a medium character, u<>pe» 

 touti, Berlic, Early Angus, Sandy, KarJy KlaiofJie, Ktidrum- 

 mie or Dun Oat; third, exposed situations, fi,r which the 

 earliest varieties should always be taken, Early Angas, Herlic, 

 Sandy, Barbarhlaw, or Red Oat, In each caae the vari«*ti«e 

 are recommended in the order mentioned, and as best suited 

 to the land as it declines in fertility. Of the produce of the 

 different varieties many trials hare been made. On good land, 

 in a favourable situation, Mr. Sutherland, Dalmore, Rosa- 

 shire, obtained the following quantities : 



bushels. I bushels. 



From the Dyock 92 | From the Dun Oat 73 



Berlic 78 „ Early Angus... 68 



Late Angus ... 77 I „ Potato 68 



Ilopetoun 76 | M Sandy .. 62 



In this experiment the Dyock Oat produced 14 bushels mora 

 than any o her The Potato, contrary to what muht have 

 been expeced, less than any, excepting the Sandy. Mr. Finnit 

 states that in a medium situation he procured, from the same 

 quantity of land, the following produce : 



• ♦ 



• 9 



It 



bushels. 



Kildrummle 77 



Dun Oat 76 



Potato 74 



Blainslie 70 



Hoj etoun 65 



Sandy 6* 



bushels 



Mixture of Ilopetoun and 



Ki'drummie 85 



Ilopetoun and 

 Sandy 80 



Ilopetoun and 

 Early Angus 76 



Early Angus 77 



Iu this instant- evidence is afforded of the advantage to bo 

 derived from a mixtttr* of Oata. The Early Angus gives a 

 greater return than any other variety sown by i'*elf. In 

 Scotland and in the North of Eogland Oata are usually aown 

 on tt«e lea furrow ; in some cases, however, a change might ba 

 of advantage. On each farm, iu this neighbourhood, though 

 i he soil be a stiff clay, it is necessary to have a few acre* of 

 Turnips, which, it m »y happen, cannot be carted * ff in dry 

 weather. Under these circumstances it might be more profit- 

 able to bow Oats instead of Wheat on the Turnip land, and to 

 „.,, .. .,..., i A r i plough earU the lea which succeeds, that it may be prepared 



Will any one tell me that in the best farmed tt>f wheat in November. The preparation of the land for Oats 



Scotland the farmers have much to pay for 1 should commence so soon as that portion intended tor Turntpa 



been once ploughed ; as it i* of conte- 



of A ' ~ 81,n P'y wished to ascertain the actual expense 

 obt • na 8 e uv borrowing capital, and having now 

 »ned gome insight thereto the purpose is gained, 



t>a * * n ° ne ^ ut f r * eU( ^y feelings towards all com- 



P^ flies who will assist the needy and be explicit in their hed.ue, 



w j t , e °\ doing it, meaning only to acquire the truth, 



^t insidious remarks. A Tenant for Life. 

 asuh^ ^ au '*-— I ai n w ell aware that I am dealing with 

 rev JeC 4 ^ ual, y obnoxious on my side as on that of my 

 on fT • °PP onent > but I have one consolation, 1 am 



industry 1 



distant i of Scotland the tanners nave mucn to pay 



the maintenance of idle people \ they are unknown. 

 These are some of my reasons for doing away with the 

 Game-laws. A strict game preserver is not satisfied 

 until he sees the hedges of a 5 acre field meeting in the 

 centre : talk of compensation, — take it at 5s. per acre, as 

 when game is preserved, will that even pay ? does a 

 game preserver allow those ^0 feet hedges and ditches 

 which every yard breeds, not only game, but every 

 other description of vermin ; every sort of weed thrives 

 and seeds most luxuriantly, shedding the seeds all over 

 every field. I believe those immense breeding hedges 

 are within the measure oi the field, and the poor farmer 

 holding 100 acres, actually only has about 85 ; all those 

 vermin breed in those hedges, and sally out as far as 

 their powers can carry them of a night, devourin 

 everything. Those who do not preserve game, allow 

 the tenant to improve by doing away with those hedge- 

 rows, cutting down the ditches, ploughing into the very 



and extirpating tbe§6 game breeding insect 



and weed seeding nurseries, and Altogether 



makine the farm much more valuable. Everything 



eu OUt at aisiaocea mi *<j oi ovj jr<iiu» i*v»vn>» »»»^ 



hen exposure to air has reduced to powder the soil 

 n out, it i» spread, that no impediment remain m the 



breeding, 



^ right OIU , 



I jj* 1 tue side of common justice ; and, moreover, that 



,j_r e to advocate the cause of those who dare not 



***** unless it be anonymously. On this subject I 



goes on pleasantly where game is not preserved ; the 

 farmer is proud to send some game to his landlord. 1 

 have liverl upon six preserving estates, and have never 

 known a farmer well off amongst the whole of them, 

 certainly never independent in either purse or in mind. 

 But until the Game-laws are removed from the statute 

 book, ail improvements beside are useless ; it is son e hing 



>*nd bare fallow ha 



qionce, more particularly ou clay soils, that the land be mel- 

 low <d by the * inter iros's. The lea furrow is considered, both 

 by master an-1 man, the most important ploughing of the year, 

 not only because its good or bad execution is perceptible fiat 

 so long' a period, but because it has a material influence on the 

 quantity and qualify of the crop. It is unnecessary to mennon 

 the vari us modes by which the peed-bed may b* formed, but I 

 may suggest that, on undrained land, the driest bed, and most 

 certain crop may be secured by gathering up the ridges For 

 drained land I can recommend, in some measure from expe- 

 rience. a plan in pretty geiural use in the northern division of 

 this county, but little practiced in this district, that of cro«s 

 ploughing the lea. Four or six weeks previously to ploughing 

 it is marked out at distances of 28 or SO yards across the 



ridge3. w* 



thus throw.. _____ . . . •*___■ 



correct turning of the furrow _lice ; the land is then piougneei 

 aeross in ihe usual manner. An objection sotoetimes anted, 

 uiaT it is very d ffi.ult to turn the land in the old water furrows, 

 an* when the ridge, are high, can. have little weight; as no 

 water furrow should be made on drained land, and as the 

 partial levelling, at least, of the ridges is now considered bene- 

 ncial. Cross pio «ghing the lea is preferable, tor the following 

 reasons : by the u-ual methods it is impossible to avoid leaving 

 fast laud-a nurserv for weeds; but by tins, with mdinary 

 attention, none lemains. The land is ail ploughed at the 

 same depth, or w true ploughed," but this cannot be the case on 

 a ridge set out in the usual manner; a pro.er diatnbu ion ot 

 the active soil, which alone promotes vegetation, in maintained 

 over the whole surtace-an advantage appreciated by all who 

 have observed the difference between the puny pUnu of the 

 furrow, in which little soil is left, and the tali wed tilled I Oata 

 f the top rid,e f on which has been accumulated more than a 

 fair proportion of active soil. In the northern part of the 



county the lea is sometimes early ploughed to a considerable 



