THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE 



<J cwt su^pi^phatTof lime and a few clay ashes. 

 AlthmiKl the land was well manured, both for the 

 ^restd Turnips, I can see an i— d^nce , 

 the Turnips where the Tares were folded with Kane 

 cake I think the system of seven or eight plough"^ 

 for Turnip, will soon be given up. An Aw*-* 

 told me, foe other day, he had ploughed mnetoj foi 

 Turnips, and still missed a plant, which did no , a a , i 

 surprise me. Every day convinces me that the plough 

 although a good machine for turning over the earth, , is 

 alt inefficient cultivator. I find Bentall's .broad- 

 share, followed by Coleman's or Ducie's drag or culti- 



Mr Smith's plan, and another actually presented me 

 with a couple of Mr. Mechi's papers, the first with the 

 stones under the nine, and the next to correct 



that 



After 



pipe, 



error. Alter paying all due respect to the 

 opinions of my friends, 1 thought I must experi- 

 ment a little for myself, so the first thing "was to 

 have a dozen test holes dug. In the first I found the 

 water rushed in at about 2£ feet from the surface ; and 

 though I continued to dig to 5 feet, the water came in 

 at the same place and trickled down the sides of the 

 drain, and continued to rise till within about 5 inches of 

 - on uucie-s or- ux ««.„- the top in a few hours. The next hole drew at about 

 / 1 nWh winch would I 3 feet 3 inches, and the others varied from 2J feet to 

 for the plough, wnicn wou.u , every case entirely refuted the 

 turn over certain long and 3 feet 9 inches, ana in evwyt / u ftffnm 



morrow, there would 



morrow, mere wouia De as many convict^ — T^^ 



a different name, as trespass, or stealin. ' •" y f UQ *« 



perty. In conclusion, allow me to tell Mr wlf- 6 pr °' 

 it would be difficult to beat the farmers «JV ?* 

 dear-bought experience ; there are few I ca . ■* 



who do not know of themselves that it is p^sVKi 16 ^ 

 over-stocked with game, particularly as he has 1,™I° *? 

 rabbits and hares with hie patronage, and bW"* 

 brief for their defence. H. Cox, Longflrd'lhZe * 



Balance Sheet — I 



Eight years ago I so 



acre on a 1 3 acre undi 



rented, and had the 



during the winter, being a loss of 



Seed, at 125. per bushel ... .. 

 Ploughing, harrowing, and rolling 

 Half.a-year'i rent, <fce 



send you my balance sneet. &, 

 you give me any hope that it is wronMv m *L Z? t 



The farm was very foul, and the ground has Tad neaH 

 twice the usual amount of working and d • ' 

 Capital : Live and dead stock, 800J. ; ^hinerv C^ 

 total, 9001. ' ,m i 



First Year— March 25th, 1849, to Michaelmas iasa 

 Expenditure. £ s. d. Receivts ' J**' 



8 

 15 



• • « 



• •• 





 

 



sandy dead loam, then a sort ot pan oi uie b»m« iu^ 

 rial, but hard as stone ; this moultered on being exposed 

 to the air The next foot was a sort of yellowish loamy 



£1 7 



• • • 



- - - 



The next was a 



I then, as a tenant, drained the land 4 feet deep and 

 30 feet apart, with 1-inch pipes, at a cost of 3Z. 25. 6d. 

 per acre. We hear no more now of such losses and 

 failures. It is ruin to farm such lands undrained, 

 although I consider drainage a landlord's affair, 

 charging the tenant an interest. J. J. Mechi, Tiptree 



If all, Kelvedon, Essex, Oct. 13. 



The Value of Land. — It mu3t be acknowledged 

 that agricultural distress is great ; but there is no use 

 in merely lamenting over a misfortune which can only 

 be repaired by strenuous exertion on the part of the 

 farmers, both owners and tenants. In order that some 

 equitable arrangement may be made between landlords 

 and renters, various statements should be published in 

 your Paper, from different districts in each county, set- 

 ting forth the description of land— its capabilities when 

 in fair cultivation, present rent, rates and taxes, price 

 of produce in the market-towns, facility of disposing of 

 grain and animals, &c. Something of this sort is wanted 

 to guide capitalists in investing their money in land ; 

 the uncertainty now hanging over the broad acres of 

 England, as to what their worth will be a few years 

 hence, frightens men who have cash to spare from risk- 

 ing it ; there is so much doubt about the use land is to 

 be put to when Wheat fails to remunerate. There can 

 be no doubt that land in all counties, at least much of 

 it, is not half tilled, and never will be, unless a better 

 prospect is made clear to farmers of obtaining a fair 

 average per centage for cash expended. Surely, a 

 scheme might be hit upon to calculate the value of land, 

 under free trade, by collecting data from all parts of 

 the country. To get at the information required would 

 be a laborious task for one or two men to undertake ; but, 

 if communications bearing on the point were forwarded 

 to the Gazette, much important and interesting matter 

 might be laid before the public. A farmer has to wait 

 many months, even years sometimes, before he can ex- 

 pect to receive compensation for money sunk in the 

 land ; it is therefore not to be wondered at if the agri- 

 culturist is cautious, under the uncertainty what aspect 

 free trade may assume each succeeding year. It is to be 

 hoped a thorough investigation into the grain trade for the 

 next seven yearswill exhibit farming at the lowest figure, 

 with a tendency rather to rise than fall. Having accom- 

 plished a just valuation of the landed property, allow- 

 ance being made for neglected improvements,' let rents 

 be based on such a foundation, which would give an 

 impetus to agriculture, and induce farmers to invest 

 their cash. Unless some arrangement takes place be- 

 tween landlord and tenant, founded upon practical 

 knowledge of the future resources of the country, agri- 

 cultural affairs will change from bad to worse, ending 

 in ruin to thousands. Falcon. 



Draining. — I have been much amused (and enlight- 

 ened on many occasions) with the various opinions ex- 

 pressed in your Paper on the subject of " Draining." 

 Many of the advocates of deep draining appear not to 

 have been far from home for their experience in those 

 matters, otherwise they would see that a knowledge of 

 the soil they have to work upon must be the criterion 

 °*_ de pth. 1 think it would be rather ridiculous to 



t? t> 8tr * ctl y t0 an X particular plan merely because 

 Mr. P , or Lord Q,., think it the best. The operator 

 must have brains enough to judge for himself whether 

 24 feet or 5 feet drains will most effectually rid the 

 soil of its superabundant moisture ; if the soil is of 

 uniform substance, such as an alluvial deposit of sandy 

 * ' " course, 





sand with veins resembling iron rust, 

 sort of pipe-clay, in which is bedded some very hard 

 stone, some being fit for tiles, and others being 10 to 

 12 inches thick, and some only a kind of slaty shale. 

 Immediately under this layer is about 4 inches of yellow 

 clay, and on this the water invariably drew, no matter 

 what depth the drain. Now, in this case, whose plan 

 was to be adopted ? Certainly not Mr. Parkes' or Mr. 

 Mechi's ; because if the pipe was clayed in at 4 feet, 

 and the water drew at 3 feet, the clay would effectually 

 prevent the water from getting to the pipe, and the 

 water would prevent the sun and air from acting on the 

 clay. But Mr. Smith's system would not reach to the 

 bottom of the evil, so I determined on applying my own 

 system, which was to have the drains 4 feet deep with a 

 conduit at bottom, and 20 inches of stone on the top of 

 the conduit, thus embracing all the depths where I 

 found that the water drew. These conduits were formed 

 of some of the smoothest of the stones found in digging 

 the drains as far as they would go with a sole, and 

 act beautifully, the cost of laying and filling being \\d. 

 per rod. This, and some other experiments, have fully 

 confirmed me in the opinion that a strict adherence to 

 any plan is not universally practicable, if we wish to 

 obtain the best results at the least cost ; and I could 

 point out instances where a blind fulfilment, to the 

 letter, of a certain system of drainage, although having 

 been done now some years, is far from realising the 

 expected result ; indeed, I have heard a first-rate 

 farmer declare that it is actually in a worse state now 

 than before. I have heard much about trusting to 

 " stupid and blundering " stewards, for the due execution 

 of draining work. But I think landed proprietors- 

 should be equally on their guard with high-sounding 

 theory. Henry Cox, Longford's- House. 



Game.— I am sure * friend Cuthill" has no need of 

 such feeble assistance as mine in handling the subject 

 of game with friend Wilkins ; but I certainly think, if 

 Mr. Cuthill has been a little too fast in his condemna- 

 tion of game and his sympathy with poachers, Mr. 

 Wilkins has gone much wider of the mark in his 

 praises of game and his want of " pity " for those mis- 

 guided men who are tempted by such enormous quan- 

 tities kept in some particular spots (and often encouraged 

 by those who ought to know better), to step over the 

 just bounds of the law, in order to satisfy their appetite 

 with what is all but impossible to get at otherwise ; but 

 I think they are at least entitled to our " pity " when 

 torn from their families, and the demon haunting them 

 with "the wife and children are starving." But to 

 the other point : I think there are very few farmers who 

 do not glory in a fine covey of partridges or a fair 

 show of those beautiful creatures, " Phasianus colchicus," 

 or enough of " Lepus timidus " for a good day's sport 

 with either harriers, greyhounds, or guns ; I say, most 

 farmers are well pleased with a sufficiency of all these 

 to allow his landlord a good day's exercise ; but when a 

 farmer sows his 20 acres of winter Beans and the 

 pheasants clear the lot ; when he walks over his glorious 

 piece of Swedish Turnips, and find that 5 out of 6 

 have been tapped, and the water and frost have started 

 decay in the crop ; when every one of his Mangold 

 Wurzel pits are broken into and a way made for frost 

 and snow and rotten tubers ; when he finds it utterly 

 impossible to grow a few Carrots for his lambs or his 

 horses ; when, being an advocate of thin sowing, he is 

 obliged to throw away 2 bushels more Wheat per acre 

 than would be required for a crop ; and when he finds 

 the rabbits and hares have already made the crop much 

 too thin, still, when his Wheat is in ear, these vermin 



<ilir\11ln *\TTrmar± -f 1 . aiy\ rt rvl « •«. -. V«. _!L.l. 1! ?J_ -.AT —A. ]. ^ 



Labour 



Rent, rates, tiihe 



Horse hire ... 47J. 



Fences, <fcc... 152. 



Oats, oilcake, 

 blacksmith, 

 &c, ... ...1241. 



Live stock bought 



Seeds... 



Manure, <fcc. 



5 per cent, on 8001. 

 capital 



Implement*... 



195 

 241 





 





 



185 



• . . 



• •• 



227 

 34 

 41 



* • • 



• • . 



40 

 100 





 





 

 





 



Receipts. £ 



Feed let or sold ... 6 9 

 Live stock sold m 



Butter and milk sold 57 

 Other receipts ... 8 * 



1. 4 

 • 





 















Value of the stock 

 Oct. 11, 1850 ... A 



£327 



" 



£1067 



Loss (1850) 



• •• 



78 















I 



Second Ttti- Fkom Oct. 1850 to Oct. 1851. 



£1067 



Expenditure. £ *. d. 



Labour 190 



Kent, rates, tithes... 250 



Fences ... 151. Os.} 



Oilcake... 102.145. | 



Oats ... 102. 05. Y 84 



Blacksmith, j 



and various,482.65. J 



Live stock bought... 258 



Seeds... 



Manure 



5 per cent on 8002. 



capital ... ... 



Implements bought 29 

 10 per cent, on 1002. 



additional capital 



spent in ma- 



chinery 





• ■ • 



• • * 



• * t 



14 

 18 



40 





 



Receipts. £ 1. 4 



Wheat sold 83 9 



Barley and Oats 



sold 13 | 



Hay sold 80 I 



Live stock sold ... 323 

 Milk, butter, and 



other receipts ... 140 



£641 • 

 Value of itock,crop*, 

 fallow, &c, Oct. 

 12, 185L 750 • 



• 1 ■ 



• • • 



10 



£1401 

 Loss (1851). ... 159 



£893 

 Stock taken in Oct., 



1850 667 



• • ■ 



• it 



£1560 



£1560 



—Urban. [Have you taken credit in 1850 for the value, 

 at the end of that year, of the 100/. worth of machinery 

 bought during it I and, at the end of 1851, for the 29/. 

 worth of implements bought then ? Does the 667U 

 the one case, and the 760/. in the other, include these 



items?] 



I have read with interest the letters of Mr. 



Game.- , . „ 



Cuthill and the Rev. Mr. Wilkins upon « the Presem- 

 tion of Game," and I fully agree with the latter, that 

 feathered game is more beneficial than injurious to the 



farmei 



\V1 



•, if not preserved to too great an extent. 1 wouia 

 suggest to preserving landlords, that they shouW ma 

 it Irine qua non with their keepers, that they should keep 

 their tenants' ricks and barns free from rats; and J 

 would not be tasking them too greatly, MW 

 not have so much time to spend at . « the Plough, « J* 

 Barley Mow." Let any one living in the neigh Jo » 

 a "keeper," have ever so valuable a cat, it m 

 appears, and all enquiring after It is vain , W 

 value in a barn is incalculable. 1 was in con er^ 

 ith one of these men about two months »gj™ fa 

 told me he had set a trap in the run of a stoat, an ^ 

 five successive mornings he had c » u g ht * c f numw0ll s! 

 therefore, be wondered at, that rats are , » jnij 

 Those gentry, however, do not ge»^J *$ y^g , 

 things, their proverb being,, « More ways ot 8 



cat than hanging it." L. B. __ permit m 



The use of Winded Game to the Fanm . w 



... add a word to what Mr Wilkins has .* d 

 Number on the above subject. 1 » m \. on whica 

 with an estate in one of our eastern ™™** i^e 

 the last proprietor had, for its extent, > Vrifl? 

 number of pheasants ; but the present o*^ , 

 given up preserving, has scarcely any ( j 



keeper, a superior man in h.s statin, now ^ 



a good and^ successful one) on the estate » fl 

 land nearest to, and intermingled wi tn, , u nt 



to 



,tessM 

 pliea^ 



should i»J 

 are sin^ 



would be most proper ; or even m clays that are all of should amuse themselves by nibbling it off at knee, 



^ SUb ^ laying bare acres by acres ; when he shuts up a field 



of Grass, thinking to have a good bite for his cattle, 

 but at a month's end finds it still bare ; when he 

 could drive a waggon and four horses round his fields 

 of spring corn, without crushing an ear ; when a farmer 

 sees and feels all this, and sees the gamekeepers of his 



Mr 



' ~~ ***•**-• j Avuu it Jiitv viuvno auu 



n&sures ' quite down to the pipe. But if Mr. P. come 

 amongst us he will find such soils that would not crack 

 down to a 5 feet deep pipe, well rammed round, during 

 his hfe-tnne ; neither will the force of gravity force the 



,.,.,„, {„. • „„ „ , ~- — m v ••"»■*- ••«• occii omu iccis mi una, anu sees me game Keepers ot nis 



theyUtll e7herr«7oo £» to catTlf ^^ ^ if 'T^ ^^ the - at their leisure - to ™ k * - "»*« 



with TouT 1 foot of t/mL,! l , he ram -. wat f 1 :' of them > a nd «■ 'ease compe's him not to take a license 



wunaoom I loot ot tcmpeied clay, and cover it w th to «l<nnt ^ i;n „ n ™„ „„.i *i,„ i„„. i_ 1.1 . ». 



„™.i r : 'i "»" "7" r — cky » and cover il with 



another foot of soil and stones, and they will last a man's 

 rite-tune ; and how will the sun and air act on the well- 

 tempered clay rammed close on the top of the drain 

 pipe at 5 feet deep 1 But to the point. In the beginning 

 ot the last year 1 undertook to drain a large field after 



a crop of Wheat (of less than 8 bushels per acre> • one I hmmk «fr™.A^ „" V'-Wr r "~T 7»."" v "" V3C "'7 T' 

 said "use lit. Parked nlan » anotW tJ~L ' ' 2 ! S ' ord t0 contnbute towards the support of the 



so jht. i MXta plan, another recommended l State ; and I think if the Game-laws were abolished to- 



j -— — £ — —ww w V VWIKV H UVVUUV 



to shoot or kill game, and the law compels him not to 

 kill them without — I say that man, if he get into trouble 

 for destroying a head of game for his own family, de- 

 serves, at least, our pity. I am not one of those who | young as there 

 would abolish the Game-laws, because I think those who 

 can afford time to shoot and preserve are those who can 



position, well quauneu w j"y > ~ .. 

 !o the owner his regret at the scaicitj 

 "If we had the pheasants he »>a, ' ,. -jre^ 

 have the wireworms ? » Hw pwsenj feel. P ,i 

 those of a farmer ; he is, by age ■ •»* ^ in f *J 

 many years, divested of any sort . of m« docatl0I1 , J 

 matter^ ; and of his understanding tf i ^ J 



qualifying him to form an opinion^ ^ 

 formed from the fact tha he *»»# clerk. « 

 former master in the capacity of magistra ^ 



%/^-Pigs may be too fine, bred ^> **- 



tender in constitution and ^J^T**** 

 is consistent with profitable t*™™^ f the 1< 

 It is the fashion to praise up specm* jt ^-W 

 tribe which feed up remarkably qu ^^ » *J 

 question whether such animals a e t ,, e b „tcher. 

 which are longer in attaining flesh r ^ ^ feu r 



,ork or 



am 



fid** 



it to perfection is better i 

 tree which springs up to i 

 Muscle rapidly developed 



coot* 







