682 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



rec6D tly microscopic researches have revealed the 

 astonishing fact, that a very considerable portion 

 is not detritus of any kind ; but consists of the 

 siliceous coverings of infusoria, so minute, that, 

 according to Ehrenberg, a cubic inch would contain 

 40,000 millions of them, and 147 millions of them 

 would not weigh more than one grain. 



Of the rivers which fail into the estuary of the 

 Wash, the Witham, the Welland, the Nen, and the 

 Ouse drain the siliceous sandstone of the lower 

 oolites, and the Oxford clay of the middle oolites. 

 The Ouse flows, not only through these, but through 

 the Kimmeridge clay oi the upper oolites ; and 

 receives tributaries which have traversed the green 

 sand and the chalk. The deposits, however, which 

 border the estuaries of the Humber and the Wash, 

 must be regarded as parts of one alluvial tract. 

 By the operation of tides and currents, each must 

 have contributed to its neighbour a portion of the 

 sediment brought down by its rivers ; and tidal 

 action must have diffused through both the fine 

 detritus derived from the wasting cliffs of Holderness. 



We come now to the father of British rivers, 

 the * hoary Thames," and the streams " which 

 swell with tributary urns his flood." 



" First the famed authors of his ancient name, 

 The wandering Isis and the fruitful Thame." 



The wandering Isis rises on the eastern declivity 

 of the Cotswolds ; and the dip of the strata has 

 determined the course of the stream. These 

 decline so gently to the east, that the waters which 

 issue from the springs of Cricklade, traverse in their 

 windings a distance of 150 miles before they reach 

 the level of the tide at Richmond ; while on the 

 opposite side of the watershed, where the strata 

 crop out, the fall is so rapid that the Severn flowing 

 within 12 miles of these hills, is already a tidal 

 river. The course of the Isis is chiefly through the 

 Oxford clay, till it has passed Oxford, joined on its 

 way by the Colne, the Lech, and the Windrush. 

 All of these rise within the escarpment of the Cots- 

 wolds, composed of the Bath oolite, based on the 

 inferior oolite. The Evenlode and the Cherwell have 

 their sources in the lias, beyond that ridge, and would 

 have flowed westwards, but for breaches or de- 

 pressions by which they have been enabled to pass 

 it. The country from which the Cherwell issues is 

 remarkable for being 

 centre of England ; 

 different directions. 



the highest ground in the 

 pouring its waters in three 



The springs of the Cherwell, 

 which flows southwards to the Thames; oi the 

 Leame, which passes by Leamington, into the War- 

 wickshire Avon, and thence through the Severn 

 into the Bristol Channel, and those of the Nen, 

 which has an eastern course to the German ocean, 

 through the estuary of the Wash, are all situated 

 within an equilateral triangle, having sides of little 

 more than a mile each. 



Between Oxford and Abingdon, the Isis crosses 

 the calcareous and argillaceous strata of the middle 

 oolites, and the green sand, and is joined at Abing- 

 don by the Ock, which has flowed through the same 

 formations. From Abingdon to near Wallingford, 

 it crosses the upper oolites, under their argillaceous 

 form of Kimmeridge clay, and their calcareous form 

 of Aylesbury limestone. The u fruitful Thame/ 

 which joins the main stream a few miles above 

 Wallingford, has had its entire course through these 

 rocks. Between Wallingford and Streatly the 

 Thames flows for about five miles through green sand, 

 bordered by escarpments of chalk. At Streatly it 

 enters a gorge of the chalk, through which formation 

 it winds by Reading, Henley, and Marlow, to 

 Maidenhead. At Reading it is joined by 



"The Rennet swift, for silver eels renowa'd * 



TheKennet drains the chalk and the northern skirts 



of th e western ex tremity of the eocene tertiary district 

 commonly called the London basin. Do the eels of 



the Kennet owe their celebrity to the strata through 

 which it has flowed, or to the declivity of the bed 

 and consequent rapidity of the stream f As a parallel 

 case, we may mention two contiguous rivers which 



strata of the plastic portion of the series. The 

 Rooding and the Brent are wholly tertiary in, their 

 course. If they have the misfortune to have been 

 left unsung by Pope, they may console themselves 

 with the reflection that the Medway, whose nuptials 

 with the Thames were deemed fit theme of Spenser's 

 verse, have experienced from the bard of Twicken- 

 ham the same neglect of which they complain. 



The southern tributaries of the Thames have 

 their origin in the Weald denudation. All its waters, 

 except those of the Rother, flow either northwards 

 or southwards, through gorges in the escarpments of 

 the chalk which bound it. The " chalky Wey " 

 has less pretensions to " roll a milky wave " than 

 the " blue transparent Vandalis," the " sullen Mole," 

 and the " silent Darent." One half of its course 

 lies through the green sand, the other through the 

 tertiary strata. It is only for little more than a 

 mile where it flows through a gorge in the chalk 

 at Guildford, that it traverses that rock. The 

 Mole rises near the junction of the Weald clay, 

 and the Hastings sands, flows for about 10 miles 

 through the green sand, and for five miles 

 through the chalk, before it enters the tertiary dis- 

 trict. The Medway flows eastward in Weald clay, 

 between 20 and 30 miles, traverses the green sand 

 for nearly 20 miles, and the chalk for something less 

 than 10, and joins the Thames, where it is bounded 

 by sands of the lower eocene strata. Such are the 

 varied materials rolled down by the Thames and its 

 tributaries, to form the alluvium of its estuary. 

 That much of the matter deposited at its mouth is 

 derived from the upper regions of the river, must be 

 evident to any one who has seen the turbid waters 

 rushingdownwards, in time of flood, at Richmond, and 

 knows the length of time which elapses, after heavy 

 rains, before the land waters make their appearance 

 there. The wasting cliffs of London clay in the 

 Isle of Sheppy, like those of the till in Holderness, 

 have, however, furnished large contributions, and to 

 them may probably be due much of the argillaceous 

 character observable in the alluvium of this district. 

 We have only noticed the rock formations along the 

 course of the Thames and its affluents. Like the 

 rocks, however, which form the catchment basins 

 of the Severn and the Humber, they are overlaid by 

 erratic deposits; and some notion may be formed 

 respecting the mixed materials of which they are 

 composed, from the following facts. Fragments 

 of red chalk, which could have been derived from 

 no nearer district than Lincolnshire, have been 

 found in the superficial deposits at Moreton-in-the- 

 Marsh. They are accompanied by pebbles of quartz 

 rock, derived from a conglomerate of the new red, 

 forming the upper Lickey range near Bromsgrove. 

 That conglomerate is itself derivative, composed 

 of the wreck of some of the Silurian 



Pi 



pun. i comess 1 watched iT"^Hr ==== ==5r^ 



especially after a whisper from iCi,Tt7^, 



and so to resolve the doubt I divided I'i * Hux *^ 



placing half on clean straw - '?? * lot <* M*L 



the boards. It 



aw > and th 



tu« uuzirus. it is ni vain to seel* for vu,ai « 



visitors can point out a differen 



remainder * 



m )' .bailiff, or 



on the open boarded, un Swep t, £££¥?*** 

 decidedly the cleanest, which seems odd ancl i ° tt «• 

 enough. For pigs and sheep the Jv^l 1 **"*** 

 too unmistakeable to be doubted The ' WSS n * 

 perfectly clean and unspotted, as 'much T^ %re " a 

 from a dean pasture. During last sea**, t ** 7 **** 

 calves, all of which I reared without sici l*^* 

 have always been on the hoards. I h ave JZ?£* % 



c » so "" "en** 



fuT5 * W2 



this season equally healthy. 



been sold to the butche 

 months old. With recrar 



a- as small beef for a) 2\? 

 «* to pigs I wcS !A 15 



to keep so many except upon boarded 



clean 

 been 



that I 

 washed 



have 

 or 



often been 

 brushed. The 



»• an* they are » 



*&<* « they J 



^hole question 



hinges upon having a sufficient space between tfc,^ 



to allow the manure to pass. Experience has m 



ttia ihat far err.nl! nitre 1 S«t«l. . J^-l.n- 4 ** P">Yea fc> 



' 



some 

 of Caer Caradoc and the Wrekin, 



Peddle or north river, and the Frome, or the south 

 nver The eels of the latter are considered superior 

 to those of the former. The north river chiefly 

 drains those portions of the eocene tertiaries which 

 are the equivalents of the Bagshot sands ; the south 

 river has one-half of its course through the chalk 



^H g, H We 7 6r '- thi3 im P° rtant V&fo* to the 

 mm nation of epicures, we resume the geological 

 investigation of the course of the Thanhs fft! 

 finding through the chalk from HnleyTt enters the 

 London tertiary district at Maidenhead a^d nuits 



{LSI c: for ti:t in t tbp sea - jt * M ss 



lanes nave, for the most pai. an excltniivftiir **»*;« 





strata 

 Its materials, 

 dispersed in large quantities over the midland 

 counties, have been traced down the valley of 

 the Thames to the gravel of Hyde Park, which 



is composed chiefly of chalk flints resting on London 

 clay. 



At lower levels, and within certain distances 

 of the Thames, is an ancient wide spread alluvium, 

 20 or 30 feet above the present stream, containing 

 bones of extinct mammals and shells of the same 

 species of molluscs as those which now inhabit the 

 neighbourhood. It contains these Lickey quartz 

 pebbles and pebbles of granite, and has evidently 

 been reconstructed from the erratic deposits which 

 are found at high levels, on the hills flanking the 

 valley of the Thames. The Lickey quartz pebbles 

 indicate transport from the north and west. There 

 are others which indicate a drifting from the north 

 and east. The deposit, for instance, at Highgate, 

 abounding with the wreck of the oolites, forms the 

 southern limit of the boulder clay, which is traceable 

 from the coast of Yorkshire through Norfolk, Suffolk 

 and Essex. ' 



On the whole we conclude, that the alluvial 

 deposits of rivers are chiefly near their mouths ; 

 that amidst the variety of materials derived 

 from the numerous rock formations 

 which any river and its 

 he must be a 



iocks, i^incn |_ intervals are sufficient.] ljinchplanh 

 are quite thick enough for sheep and pigs ; buthhouid 

 recommend 2 inches for calves, and 3 inches thick for 

 heavy bullocks. I find Fir too soft for bullocks as their 

 sharp edged hoofs tear away the edges of the Deal. I 

 should recommend very hard Oak, or the African Oai- 

 similar to the stairs of the Great Exhibition. It fc| 

 also desirable to have a clamp at the eud of the spars, 

 to prevent their giving way to the wedge of the hoof. ' 



There is no effluvia from the bullocks, as there cid 

 be no fermentation— air being excluded by the <TtTiry " 

 and density of the manure. The sheep and pi^s nur 

 also be kept sweet by dusting the floors occasiocalli 

 with salt or gypsum. It is a good plan, after removing 

 the manure, to place a layer of burned clay or carbon- 

 ised ashes in the pits, in such proportions as wjJJ solidiiy 

 the manure sufficiently to fill into the dung carta. Of 

 course this manure is at once taken to the land, witkwi 

 the intervention of a dung-heap. 



I apprehend that when a field is heavily folded, we <to 

 not regret the absence of straw or fermentation. Bet 

 methinks I hear some practical man of the old tAc&i 

 say ; — " How are we to stamp our straw into manure!* 

 I hope the time is coming when farmers will neverba?e 

 straw enough. It is too good to put under foot. I Sri 

 practically that it enables me to dispense with poor Grass 

 land. Cut up fine, sifted and mixed with a little ml, 

 some Rape-cake, Turnips or Mangold, it affords wj 

 numerous animals ample food. 



By the bye, it may be well to state that I Bever use 

 hay for my horses- They have cut Wheat straw chaff, 

 slightly watered with a watering pot, and UlkofBeii 

 or Pea-meal mixed with it, and two ounces of salt daily. 

 Their condition is unmistakeably good. They must hit 

 salt when they have no hay. The straw is cut rerj 

 fine ; Wheat straw is decidedly the most substantial 



I ought to mention that on open boarded floors J0 

 may pack animals very closely, there being nwi£ 

 air under them. Take care, in cold weather, » 

 diminish the ventilation, especially for pigs ; they h^ 

 but little hair, and if they huddle together, they *m 

 warmth, and will do no good. The thtnnoineW aJJ 

 best guide. The ventilator must be at ; toeflg* 

 point, and a draught of air from each end ant 

 I would caution those who have bullocks m 

 boxes, or covered yards, never toa ow theanma 

 to be wet with urine, which ^f ^t^^ 



hoofs. Straw should be abundantly supplied, w P 

 the animal being in any way soiled. IW 



All my animals receive salt in their ^ « ^ 

 no trouble or anxiety about their health, i^ 



on boards, but they go occasionally ,n £*f" «£*! 

 as I consider moderate exercise benencmi,^^ 



animals." They have often and success^ ^ 

 the boarded floors. J, /. Mechi, liptmJM* 







affluents hi 

 bold man who 



tertiaries or Bagshot series 

 and the " 



middle eocene 



. j t » t V'' " dark Colne," 



sedgy Lea," have their origin " 



chalk ; but the greater part of their course through 



the London clay, and the siliceous and aigiKS 



in the 



through 

 flowed, 

 ... will venture to 



trace each particle of the alluvial soil to its source 

 or to assign the influence of a given rock. We con- 

 clude, also, that this complexity has been further 

 complicated by the presence of superficial deposits 

 containing matter transported from great distances' 

 which produce, on every rock, a great variety of 

 soils not referable to variations in the composition 

 of the rocks themselves, and that these superficial 

 deposits are the most easily acted upon by those 

 atmospheric agencies which form alluvial deposits 

 oy the removal of matte r from h igher to lower levels. 



OPEN BOARDED FLOORS. 



My experience in this matter (six years with sheep, 

 and two, years with pigs and bullocks) enables mc 

 tojiraw conclusions most decidedly in favour of the 



Tin: 



solid viisusu^T^iJ*^ 



two modes of supplying sewage N 



commodity are :— j fe jlr.Ss*" 



1 at • The mode proposed by the is w eW J» 

 Deanston, and partially carried out by* > w £ 



Sewage Manure Company, at* «» *' » ' ^b H£ 

 the sewage in, mediately from the , JJJ"^ ^ 

 upon the lands requiring it. VW> „*« 



as it has been carried out d ™°»^ s0 ,o *jj 

 the liquid as a manure, yet it se«« } in . gW «i*£ 

 the system is applicable °"ly tojo 'J Murce of«£ 

 those in the immediate vicinity of ' tl.e jc ^f 



The latter condition is, J?^-^ ***"!? 

 great sanitary principle, wh.c b ■■»»%„& *«*& 

 influence of ^ewer-water, ^.^ovedbyi^jC 

 by preventing its exhibitmn, ™f"* u „***{" 

 meins to a distance sufheent ; gr^ pW d U flJ* 

 innoxious to the populauon o_ iu fc ^ t» ^ 



2d. The mode proposed in W reS e^ 

 effect, by means of proper depo«' y the w£ 

 other' contrivance*, the rreajj "gj^ ri W -J 

 ingredients ; to dispose of toe F dryillg ■£, 

 diately from the reservoirs, «a • » ^6^jT 9 

 exposure to the ^e ^[^ 

 compressing it into » 1°™ cm * 



