S9 



18.') I.J 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



62\ 



half th ** r ^' ost > even upon the calculation that two 

 , , :< ^ rc |*qu red to raise an e«ju:d amount of steam afl 



Besides, the Irish Beet Sugar Comjanv 



loo of coal. 

 W5 patented UnpTOl meats which materially tend to 

 diminish the first cost of machinery and labour, in 

 the manufacture, by the application of which they are 

 cabled to economise nearly the whole of th- saccharine 

 twfltions of the root, and produce a sugar not only tree 

 from the usual disagreeable smell and taste peculiar to 

 Best stigar, but quite equal in purity, appearance, and 

 sweetening properties, to the cane grown Muscovado, 

 or the English made refined su^ar. In justice to our 

 enterprise, which, if successfully carried out, must be 

 eminentlv beneficial to Ireland, it is to be hoped that 

 •oawill withhold the expression of opinions founded only 

 upon the absence of a practical acquaintance with the 

 subject, as a few weeks must now determine the 

 important question of the Beet-root industry becoming 

 a great feature in the reviving prosperity of Ireland. 



Beta, Sept. 10. 



North of Yoi'kshirc. — On paying a visit to this far- 

 famed district, I was surprised to find so much useful 

 land still cultivated in the old-fashioned way, with 

 iummer fallows and broadcast corn crops, full of weeds. 

 The Turnips were commonly drilled in the Scotch 

 gv-tem, hut late sown and sadly neglected in scuffling 

 and hand-hoeini: ; but still their appearance indicated 

 the goodness of the soil, which seemed worthy of better 



management. It is strange that so many should still 



persevere in such management, or rather mismanage- 

 ment, as is profitless in better times and ruinous in 

 these days of low prices, especially when they have a 

 few specimens of superior cultivation, such as those 

 exhibited in the well-cultivated farms of Messrs. Outh- 

 waite and Jackson, but such are only the occasional ex- 

 ceptions to the general rule. Hay is better made in 

 this than in most other districts. They have a good 

 practice of putting it into u lap-cock," and of sweeping 

 it up into Spikes," with a well-constructed hay-sweep. 

 But their hay-time is too backward, being thrown into 

 the latter part of July and the beginning of August, in 

 consequence of their ruinous practice of eating their 

 meadows in the spring, and even into May. They also 

 mow much high land, which, though it is good pasture 

 hod, is very unsuitable for meadow. Too much reliance 

 is placed on the hay-stack, for the want of more green 

 food, Linseed compound, and the like. Hay is com- 

 monly an expensive and a very unprofitable article, and 

 especially so when so many acres of good up-land pasture 

 have to be mown for a small stack, as we frequently see 

 in that district. There is much of useful land that lies 

 too high for corn, except Oats ; but it wouM <_ r row good 

 Turnips and other cattle crops, which should be more 

 cultivated as a substitute for so much hay, and espe- 

 cially the injury done by eating up the meadow land in 

 the spring. The cattle are fine animals for grazing, but 

 not so good as formerly for the dairy. The breed of 

 pigs is wonderfully improved. J. If. 



Tlmlles. — At this time of the year the extraordinary 

 number of Thistles in full seed, in hedgerows, might 

 lead a novice in agriculture to imagine the plant was a 

 favourite, and useful in the economy of the farm, instead 

 of being one of the most mischievous weeds under the 

 snn, each seed having wings on which it is carried over 

 the face of the country for miles. Thus the industrious 

 man, who cleans his land, is at the mercy of the sloven. 

 In a day's ride sufficient seed may be seen to sow a 

 thousand acres, only waiting for a breeze to disperse it. 

 John Bull abused the Americans for being behind the 

 world at the Exhibition. However, brother Jonathan 

 can teach us how to build a yacht ! If our countrymen 

 will take a Jesson from the Dutch and Belgians, on 

 the art of keeping land clean, they will be wise. Where 

 a weed flouri sites corn will grow. Falcon. 



Reaping Machines. — In a leader of your Paper you 

 suggest that there is no reason why these machines may 

 not be made for one horse. I hope that Messrs. Garrett 

 will take the hint. The experience of all modern 

 improvements show that large profits are to be obtained 

 from large sales. Now large sales depend on prices not 

 being beyond the means of the multitude, and I am 

 satisfied that a good reaping machine, such as I have no 

 doubt Messrs. Garrett and others may make, would be, 

 next year, purchased to a very large extent, if not too 

 costly, or too large. There is a great temptation to 

 supply large farmers and amateur farmers —but in this 

 instance, it is to be hoped that a large demand from all 

 classes of farmers will be an object among the makers 

 01 this implement. T. F. 



P*tf Charcoal— As I read the particulars and the 



result of the experiment of" P. K." I am disposed to 



apply his resultant figures thus :-As 40 is to 72, so is 



^ ability to conduct an experiment, to what it ought 



i° J )e - The case stands thus. Beans require heavy 



ai jd ; he puts them on land that is * very light." Dung 



yelped the land to approximate to that state which is 



/lost congenial to the Bean crop, by its ability to retain 



moisture. « Peat charcoal,'' by way of antithesis, would, 



jf Possible, tend to make the " very light 4 ' land still more 



'S^t, and still more uncongenial to the Bean crop. So 



™«cn for its mechanical effects. 



The chemical reasons 



<* this matter, I need not enter on. W. E. Gill, Truro, 

 •°?P'« lo. 



was 



have been suffering. 



wisdom of the course we have pursued in selecting 

 the five u objects of the Association;" I will content 

 myself with remarking upon the present nnhappj 

 position of the tenant tanners, and the necessity for th 

 immediate adoption of measures for relief. It is quit 

 unnecessary to dilate upon the distress which v ire and 



Perhaps it is hardly too much to 



assert, that in districts which depend chiefly upon the 

 produce of corn, the farmers have for the la*t three 

 years being living upon their capital. What with de- 

 tective crops and low prices, they have ample cause for 

 complaint. Now, how are matters to be mended ? 

 This was the question which set a few of us plain 

 practical people a thinking. \\ met and meditated on 

 the subject ; and resolved, with calm but firm de- 

 termination, to do all that in us lay to make known our 

 irsievances and obtain redress. It is a new thing for 

 tenant farmers to act for and by themselves ; we have 

 had many difficulties to contend against, but we have 

 also met with much to encourage us. And, as I hope to 

 show in a future paper, we have already received such 

 expressions of approval and promises of assistance, as 

 have strengthened our r« -lve to persevere in our great 

 undertaking, bating not a jot of heart or hope. 1 will 

 conclude with the closing paragraph of the report real 

 at the recent public meeting in the Corn Exeli. j<\ 

 Ipswich : — " The coinmitt- e wish to draw the attention 

 of the meeting to the fact, that they have endea ured 

 studiously to avoid everything of a strictly party nature. 

 1 hey have endeavoured to frame their association upon a 

 basis upon which politicians of every shade of sentiment 

 may, if they will, unite. They believe that the at- 

 tainment of their objects would greatly promote the 

 public good, and they invite all who share in that belief, 

 to join them in their efforts to obtain those ends," 



V. JJ r . Johnson, Hon. Sec, Ring$Kail $ near Nee<t/,a>n 



Market, ptu/iber 17 th. 



Drain 7. — I beg leave to approach the arguments of 

 the Rev. G. VVilkins with the most profound respect, 

 and to differ with becoming diffidence. He lias the best 

 side of the argument, and I wish him to maintain it on 

 indisputable grounds. " Cold and wet ground," says the 

 reverend gentlemen, "rapidly conducts the caloric from 

 the earth's surface to the cooler regions below the surface, 

 and the more stagnant water there is in the ground, the 

 more rapidly will the caloric leave the surface to keep 

 up the equilibrium below it." The rationale which I 

 would respectfully submit is this, that 1 vaporation is 

 continually going on when the temperature is higl 

 than 82* F., and thus cools the surface of the earth : 

 and that caloric does not descend [ It does not descend in 

 water, because water is a had r< luctor of it], is a well 

 recognised, established fact. Hence the surface gets 

 dried, and then baked into a hard crust, whilst the 

 Stagnant water below continues at the same low 

 temperature. By percolation, it helps to augment 

 " the cool refreshing spring," or fills the drain tiles. In 

 a former paper, a correspondent took the pains to twit 

 the reverend gentleman about deep draining his clay 

 land, as if it were impossible to do so ; and thus, 

 for practice, was inflating his luru in anticipation 

 of a loud laugh at science. u His land," he said, (1 

 write from memory), "was hard in summer and so soft 

 in winter that he could put no animal on it." This is a 

 plain statement, as it should be, and like every plain and 

 complete statement, facilitates the invited reply, if it does 

 not, as in this case, actually suggest it. I have already 

 shown how it became hard in summer, but how did it 

 become soft in winter? Why the rain made it soft, to 

 be sure. How could the rain make it soft, when the 

 ground is so very fine, close, and tight, that deep draining 

 is of no use, and the water cannot get through the land 

 to the drains I But the water d ^ get through, you 

 say, to make it soft, even when baked hard \>y the 

 summer sun ; and if it can get through one inch of such 

 land, why not through twelve inches ; and if through 

 one foot, why not five ? for the laws of gravity hold good 



excellent practice for list pupils of a chemical school ; i.e. 

 thespecious adulteration and lowering by different means 

 and materials ; and the attainment of a, not too complex, 

 ionnula.which should disentangle the phosphoric acid.and 



its proportion of excess, as well as the alkaline salts and 

 nitrogen, from all the different substances with which it 

 might be speciously adulterated. If personality may be 

 allowed, I would suggest Mr. Nesbitt, who as well as 

 his pupils has already done some useful work in the 

 phosphates, as well-circumstanced, if willing, to render 

 this important service to the farmers ; being myself 

 unable, working alone, to devote the needful time to it 

 without encroaching too much on other occupations. As 

 matters now stand 1 doubt whether there is any other 

 manure, even guano itself, in which the farmer is, 

 proportionately, so much cheated, as in superphosphate 

 of lime. J. Prideaux. 



Nitrate of Soda 

 Rye- (J rasa. 



July. 



I h 



a six-acre field of Italian 

 1 mowed it for hay in June, and again in 

 As soon as the second crop was carried, I top- 

 dresssd tli lield with 2 cwt. of nitrate of soda per acre r 

 and in four weeks 1 had a better erop than Ivefore. 

 When the men mowed it, their shoes and scythe blades 

 were dusted with a reddish brown powder. Inform, 

 natelv we have lately had a good deal of rain, and just 



as the Uye-grass was ready to be carried, it »t soaked 



with rain. When it became fine, wc- of course turned 

 the "would-be hay" over, and then the nun's clothes 



were covered with a greenish dust, just as if tJ: had 



rubbed t hems. Ives against old park palings. Th Rye- 

 grass hay is worthless, from having In • a so drenched ; 

 it smells as ill as old thatch. What I want to know is, 

 does nitrate of soda cause this hay to be so ill-smelling,. 

 and to take such great damage from th* rain \ and is 

 this dust, "of a greenish liu«," which is still in this hay, 

 likely to be prejudicial to any animals that 1 mav be 

 fortunate enough to persuade to cat it this wint< If 

 so nitrate of soda will prove a very expensive dressing 

 to me, although the effect of it in the extra quantity of 



Grass was pvai IF. (?. D. 



The Vetch. — I have read with much interest, in your 

 last Number, the article of "J. J)." on the culture of the 

 Vetch. There is one point of value in the cultivation of 

 this legume to which " .1. D." does not refer— I mran 

 that of cleaning foul lands. The root of the Vetch is 

 so large and fibrous that it almost honeycombs the 

 soil on which it grows, and gives to the farmer a fino 



pportnnity of cleaning foul land. Some years ago a 

 field of 6 acres came into my occupancy, adjoining the* 

 farm which had been cultivated for "many years as 

 Potato ground, until the old man, who had previously 

 occupied it for 40 years, bad got it into such a state 

 that it produced a glorious crop of wild Marigolds, and 

 very few Potatoes. It came into my possession at 

 Michaelmas "foul as foul." 1 ploughed it up roughly, 

 .sowed Winter Vetch, with a sprinkling of Rye ; the 



Vetch (or as we call it in the midland comities" Winter 

 Dill) came up vigorously, and so did the Rye, and so 

 did the Marigolds, and so did all the other weeds, for 

 they were " Legion." About the 20th of June, when the 

 Vetches were coming in flower, and the Marigolds also, 

 I put in the scythe, mowed all down, and, the weather 

 being favourable, made a stack of excellent hay. Tha 

 men said the cows would not eat it, on account of the 

 bitterness of the Marigold, but they did eat it, and 

 twisted it down merrily, Marigolds and all. As soon 



as the ground was cleared, I put in the scuffler, tore up 

 every root of every kind, and cross scuffled, then 

 forked out everything that the fork would catch, burned 

 all, and scattered the ashes ; ploughed again, sowed 

 stone Turnip, a fair crop ; fed off with sheep ; ploi lied 

 and cleaned again ; spread on the 6 acr« -s t wo u ^on loads 

 of magnesian limestone [Qy. lime], from Breedon 

 Hill, Leicestershire, and sowed with Barley ; I reaped 

 a crop of 8 quarters to the acre and no Marigolds, 

 of any consequence, ever after appeared. I have a high 

 t opinion of the winter Vetch as an assistant to the farmer 



to a far gre a ter depth. If argument fads to convince in cleaning foul land ; but whatever the weed be, take 



your "shallow draining* correspondent, let him set 



^ Suffolk Agricultural Relief Association. — I 



"*j|5 n gratified by the favourable notice of the above 

 «oci£ty by your* correspondent "T. R," in your last 

 j£r* a Gazette. It strikes me that "relief to tenant 

 2**—***' i s a subject which may be most appropriately 

 r* etlase d in your Journal* 1 wiJJ not attempt here 

 w enter into a discussion svith «T. R.;> as to the 



experience to work, and cut a five foot drain through 

 such heavy land, if he can afford it, and that one cut 

 will be his best schoolmaster, and teach him how to act 

 in future. W. E. Gill, Truro, Cornwall, Sept. 15. 



Superphosjihate, Adulteration, and Detection. — Whilst 

 so much attention is excited to the adulteration of guano, 

 we must not lose Bight of another concentrated manure, 

 second to guano only in importance, particularly liable 

 to adulteration and inferiority of quality, and more 

 uncertain, if not more difficult of detection, than almost 

 any other. The same sample, assayed by different 

 methods, will give as many different results, unless we 

 have recourse to precise analysis, which is too costly 

 for practical farmers ; so that the assays from different 

 hands, being apt to disagree more or less, destroy the 

 farmer's confidence. In some cases it seems to be 

 adulterated with a direct view to elude chemical detec- 

 tion, the very last sample I assayed having required three 

 different processes to get at consistent and trustworthy 

 results. I have long wished a consistent, and not too 

 complex, formula could be issued by the Royal Agricul 

 tural Society or other recognised authority for general 

 use, as has been done for guano and some other matter- 

 but the danger, in this case, is that, like publishing the 

 private mark of a bank note, it might be a guide to the 

 adulterator or low manufacturer, what to use, so as to 

 escape detection. Such a general formula would there- 

 fore require extensive opportunities and practice to 

 anticipate and defeat the varied ingenuity of the- 

 pernicious malefactors ; and (if it cannot be| expected 

 from any of the recognised authorities) would furnish 



the depth of summer heat to kill it ; one hot day's 

 summer's sun, if you will bring the roots to the surface, 

 will do more for you than you ^ould do in a month*- 

 otherwise, and at any expense. The soil of this field 

 was light, and the subsoil gravel ; as regards cleaning 

 land nothing is so effectual or so cheap as working it 

 well under a hot sun. Magnesian lime is excellent 

 manure moderately used, in excess it is utter destruction ; 

 the lias lime may be used on land almost ad libitum . 

 /. C. Mottj Liverpool, Sept. 21. 



*>o netted* 



Royal Agricultural of Ireland. — Observations on 

 Hay-making. — The following is the paper read by Mr. 

 Ball at the evening meeting of the above society odl 

 Thursday, the 4th inst. 



Mr. Hall commenced bis observations by stating that th*: 

 imtnts to be aimed at, in the saving of hay, were— 1st, the 

 setting it together for winter use, with all its Dnurfibfog- 

 saccharine juice-* in their greatest quantity and perfection ; 2d„ 

 in me^trriug the hay in the greatest bulk, consistent with the 

 above ; and 3d, in saving it with the least possible cost to the 



cultivator. 



Time of Cutting.— "Hew Grass, or first year's erop, should 

 b* <*ut when the red Clover hat two or three tl >wer* full blown, 

 and the Italian, or other Rye-grass, just beginning to *h«»w 

 rt wer. Old ir.eadowa may stand wi*h advantage tilt a later 

 iK-riud of ripening— that is, tilt Cocksfoot, the Fescues, antr 

 ther varieties, are in full flower. It frequently happen* that 

 persons, who have heard of the disadvantages of late cutting, 

 •all into the opposite extreme, and lose aeHousiy in the hulk 

 of the cop. Late mead »ws and bottoms, which throw up but 

 f-w seed stems, sbonld be cut more with a view to the state of 

 the undergrowth or foliage of the Gra*s— a matter of no small 

 Importance in meadows of this description* 



Treatment in the Field.— The Grass being cat, should lie 



