THE AGRICULTURAL GAZKTTE. 



/ / 



I 



■; lea 



"^lirRvelhe preceding year 

 ^ rf "month of April, the whole trenched two spits j cent, of phospha > of lime. The superpho; 



[i - 



JbJfTand manured with 15 cart loads of thoroi hly prepared en tireh rora bones, not eoproli 



oniposed stable dung, being 10 loads per acre. It soda, and ammonia, were n< chemically 



then formed into drills 6 inches deep and 2 feet the best merchantable quality, and the 

 I next divided the space into six equal lots, 



apart 



iiintr a quarter oi an ■top wuh, miu pum 



^5 the Potato sets whole (Flourballs), a fc 

 in the row. 



tot i iial -J more oart loads of the dung spread s. 



over the sets along the drills, and was 



then covered with the eoil, tne cost of 



which, at os., came to 

 Lot 2— St lbs. of jruano added, costing 

 Lot 3— 841b?. superphosphate ot lime 

 Lot 4— 0-3 lbs. guano 



21 lbs. sulphate of potash 



14 lbs. sulphate of magnesia 



J. £ s. d. 



' t 



i • • 



• . t 



12 

 7 

 







6 

 2 

 3 



5 

 4 



1 



4 

 G 



O 



was 



but c 



sulphate of 



magnesia such as is sold in the - lops as Epsom salts. 



My conclusions, therefore, with regard to artificial 

 manuring, are these : — That alkalies applied simply, tend 

 chiefly to promote luxuriance of foliage, wiihou; j rudi. 

 any very sensible beneht to the laud ; that phosphate £ 

 lime conduces to fill the ear in grain, aae .as 



number, size, and weight of tubers or bulbs, iu root 



* 



I 



Ml 



Mr. 





i 



pot mv\ *siuu£ 



deposited in * ch Mr. 



a^ea prior ' 





a 



iuai 



Lot 



Lot 6 



70 lbs. superphosphate of lime 

 21 lbs. sulphate of potash... 

 21 lbs. sulphate of ammonia 



.28 lbs. nitrate of soda 



21 lbs. nitrate of potash ... 



14 lbs. sulphate of magnesia 



• •• 



V - 



■ ■ 



.. 4 



5 



. 4 







.. 3 







.. 4 







.. 5 



3 



.. 1 



3 



11 1 



11 11 



it was foi Mr. Mark 



Markbj's thin in 



lie spot \\h< it was found by I 

 borne there bj he action of water. It 

 4o the period when the noil 

 M. J rod i but it hi. 



its bt g deposited there, 

 aim nite baton <rs to the secondary format! 

 Pri f Wheal. — It is interesting to oba 

 average j ce of Wheat do* is just the sa 

 in the year 1302, or almost » year* ago. 

 1*2*. per quarter, which in the mon* 

 mes would be equivalent to 96s., the &u rage price now 



T. Bui . 



. — Pksre eawwt be, I ahu M- M coteem, any 

 at the ilisiiai I question of the preservation 



mine : it om anh ru c itorif int [OSstluu dC 



liWv : the due balfcn • ■ ei\*< cm m '■■■■■ -*< »»»"»• 



■ 



as an 



hat the 



IS it was 



It was that 



the protect 





o 10 6 



its bulk 



Each lot being previously well mixed with three times 



of simple top soil from the same field. 



The five last specified preparations were spread, the 

 game as in lot 1, respectively over the sets along the 

 drills left uncovered, and the whole six lots then raked 

 smooth. The cost of the applications, including the 

 dung first added, at 5s. per load, would thus come to, per 



matter is necessary to be added, ur present in the soil, 

 to bring these into a< on, so as that he plants may be 

 able to assimilate them ac irding to their wants, as well 

 as to impart a mechanical and permauent fertility to (be 

 soil;"I mean, to k p it in what fanners term "good , improved cultivation, and t.h BK>urit afgame, * 



heart/ 9 which is the rsai object to be obtained in ad- attthod of pr mm ntl** When such feala* e wholly 



occa- within 1 h control oi \\u established la* * ft f nnlur . wv> 

 trier to «>bh e that a just and well prtft-rvod vmtlibriasn it 



acre, in lot 1, 51. 

 lot 4, iL 14s. Ad. 



lot 

 lot 





185. M.; lot 3, 3/. 11 s. 

 17 s. 8cZ.; and in lot 



of all artificial manures, for the purpose of iraisluug 

 the requisite supply in bulk to the land, of decomposable 

 animal and vegetable matter, which the substitutes of 

 the chemist, guana (or any'other subetnnesjj are incap- 

 able of affording. W. D. , Nc . 1. 



1 bevSI 

 Me, he 







u 



Ml 



XUc 



< I 



b«'i!ig jrrnnt«-<I 



«, 



4?. 12s., making the average of the whole six lots 4/. 9s. 



per acre. 



The plants throughout the whole came up very evenly, 

 and much about the same time, but those in lot 1 dis- 

 played all along a lighter colour than the others, and 

 did not attain to so great a length and luxuriance of 

 haulm as those in lots, 2, 4, 5, and 6 ; nor were the 

 leaves so large ; and lots 4, 5, and 6, moreover, kept 

 growing longer than the rest — indeed, continued doing 

 so at the time they were taken up, without any symptoms 

 of blight being observable in the stems. Upon raising 

 the crop in September, 



Bush. 



Lot 1 produced 82£, 



being at the rate ) «« 

 of, per acre j" 



Lot 2 

 Lot 3 



Lot 4 



Lot 5 

 Lots 



j» 



» 



>> 



ji 



85J 



91 

 8i 



ditto 

 ditto 



ditto 



ditto 

 ditto 



• • • 



• • t 



• ■ • 



• • • 



• • « 



Eush. 



A good many of 

 which were dis- 

 eased. 

 Ditto. 

 J Not so many dis- 



} eased. 



j A few only were 

 affected. 



Ditto. 



Ditto. 



341 



221 



392 



364 



336 



Comparing the cost of the different applications with 

 the realised results, it will be seen that lot 1, where 

 stable dung alone was used, though the most expensive, . rTn — ...^ ll4 ^ ^ M 

 did^ not prove so efficacious as most of the others in action of light. 

 which only half the quantity thereof was applied " 



along with artificial manures ; and the statement 

 also^ shows that lots 4 and 5, in which a pro- 

 portion [of sulphate of potash was introduced, 

 gave not only the most prolific, but likewise the 

 healthiest crop, which, I presume, may be accounted 

 for from the circumstance of the large quantity of 

 potash and sulphuric acid that are found, on analysis, 

 to exist in the composition of the tubers and haulm of 

 the Potato plant. There is usually, it is well known, 

 but a very small per cent age in the soil of potash, soda, 

 magnesia, and the sulphuric and phosphoric acids, and 

 as all plants contain a considerable share of these, more 

 or less, in their structure, a proportionate supply is, no 

 doubt, calculated to do good in general. But, unless 

 the organic matters which also constitute the food of 

 plants be present at the same time in sufficient 

 abundance, the others must of course fail to produce so 

 decided an advantage, and hence the disappointments 

 so frequently experienced by the application of these 

 singly- Guano, though so richly stored with organic 

 matter, phosphates, and ammonia, yet, being deficient 

 m those alkaline substances, will be found to possess a 

 considerably improved fertilising power when incorpo- 

 rated therewith. Nevertheless, even with their addition, 

 consisting wholly as it does of the excrements of birds, 

 it too, will, if used constantly, cease after a time to 

 yield the same beneficial effect, without an adequate 

 quantity of hv.mus be also present in the soil. 



In order that I might be enabled to obtain by practical 

 evidence, the correctness of these affirmations, as well as 

 to judge of the state of fertility existing in the soil itself, 

 another acre alongside of the before-mentioned lots, was 

 also trenched, planted, and divided into four equal 

 portions, exactly in the same manner, without any 



manure being added, as in the first instance. 



Bush. Cost. 



Lot 1 was then covered over with 



the simple soil, and produced... 27 or, per acre ... 

 Lot 2 had 84 lbs. of guano, costing 



Is. 2d. t and produced 



Lot 3 had 42 lbs. ni rate of potash, 



costing 10^. 6d., and produced 

 Lot 4 had 42 lbs. nitrate of soda, 



costing 6s., and produced 



The 



Home Correspondence. 



Alternate C\ ?v.— Your correspon. at "HL" bee 

 brought the plan of cultivating land in alternate strips 

 of Wheat and fallow *o forcibly before the puhHc, that . 

 probably many may now be induced to take up tli 

 subject who would otherwise have turned a deaf ear to 

 the advice of theory, or even of practice, in *uch a 

 May I direct attention to what will l>e fou i in De I ;ui- 



dolle's * Physiologic," p. 1086, on this v< /subject, ae 

 likely to throw lij;ht upon one, at leaet, of the reaaoue 

 which should recommend the pr e, and at the ^ ae 

 time induce caution against unduly rai : expectatio 

 that manuring may in future be entirely dispensed with. 

 After remarking that the greater number of phenomena 

 which gardeners and agriculturiete * ribe > the in- 

 fluence of the atmosphere, are really i attributed to 

 that of light, and stating some examples, he makes the 

 following remarks, which 1 have freely translated : "It 

 is principally to the same cause that we should ascribe 

 the greater vigour - hibit i by our rrops on the 

 borders of fields and of our trees on the outskirts of 

 woods. The principle on which Tuns method is found* 

 of dividing a field into very narrow strips, which are to 

 be sown or left fallow, on alternate years, is that of 

 enabling the entire field to bo equally imulated by th 

 action of light. (In a note, he remarks- 1 y nothing 

 of the pretext of dispensing with manure, a practice 

 which Tull had combined with the fn fcunental principle 



c j a~ . nn A „i.;^ in fn^f. was the real reason 





. 1 1 1 



■ 



•An* 

 :n 



absolutely rem 



Creator. In th 



(and if Ian ] ipei has 



unalterable rights, thin i* one of thenO. the 



ttegule >u of it. ig pees *rith tl<<- time 



advan/ ; r iuirement* of eodety, moil be 1 



the pr cr mas f tlie geme-nreeervcr w 



force of public opinion. 1 obonkl however irae 



that it will ever ivtuain a fair question, whether, un 

 any system of the must impi lc tiva U aad 



animals nut ui lly ■ in- htnot obtain t. r 



food from sources not profitably avaifebte for any other 

 1 ids. Which solely I he oero ol man for 



tl r sustenance I Will there not be ilwaj be * of 

 Jl sorts, A ns,Ae., which uiaj «asd ^ast num 

 of them, v b otherwise i ting in t gromv iM 

 return no food to man ! Will there I alwavs in- 



numerable i: and c^rri.ilhurs (< n ooeli 



our vain d knowledge and mechanical a ices. 1 



the mountains and p impi of the 1 ited hi » 



one vast market garden), to the destruction of wliUi, 

 winged game alone m oald be found a« oats juixiliarn 1 ! 

 riantatious moreover (for h< je-r:>w timber, howieipp 

 picturesque, and enhancing as it dues beauty of 



English scenerv, is already condemned) will readily 

 be allowed to offer the l and moat ippw pla of 

 (towing timber. How then arc tl ' c kept y 



free from gam unless cmic ] rson lias th' \ i r of 

 killing it ! And who has so just a righ! as the own* 

 And if the right be in any case tranferr I to the lant, 

 will he not tnl the pi e of the er, 

 tame preeerver ? Besides the benefit con fern tho 



lontinual check of all kinds of vermin si aid bo 



1< ■ . v ould do 



i by 





num 





border/ said an intelligent cultivator to me, wlio had 

 adopted this plan, and w ho had found the mean value of 

 his corn, which had now become both larger and heavier, 

 amply repaid him for the incroased manual labour which 

 the process requires." /. S. Ilrmlow, HiK-ha*: *>. 25. 

 Clipping Horses— Mr. Mechi is perhaps not aware 

 that a new machine has been invented for burning off 

 the hair, instead of the tedious and expensive- way of 

 clipping by scissors ; and I have been told by at least a 

 dozen of drivers connected with the great company of 

 omnibuses belonging to the Waterloo and Atlas com- 

 pany, that it is by far a superior plan to the ol one, 

 and'after the first burning of the horsM they caro little 

 about it. I have not seen this simple thing, but it is 

 a putta percha tube fixed on a gas-pipe and at the end 

 is the machine, cons ting of an iron about 6 or 8 inches 

 lon R , with holes bored in it horizontally, and above the 

 burners, horizontally, is a comb to raise the hair. 

 When everything is ready the gas is lighted, a man 

 can do a horse easily in three hours: the thing altogether 

 costs 11. 1 was told that a white horse looked rather 

 queer after the operation, but for a darkish haired horse 

 it was hardly noticed. And the beauty of th.s new p an 

 is, that you can leave just as much or as little as the 

 operator chooses, and it is certainly i ry extraordinary 

 that something of this sort was not long ago found out 



Sending horses to hard ploughing all day * h such 



creat coats on, must very soon put them in a stew and : in _ y 



do their work with very great fatigue, compared to. D mber . ^ the Ear o Drm, I resnien t, 

 ihentheip greatcoats are off; they cannot eatch cold. ., . «..=_ rZu^t P^n,nn,l. Mr. Ravmond Bar! 



Stoats, i ., which are on this iccount annually 



slaughter 1, and their progeny, a ordini: tho 



•ntural law of increase in each, and then < leril 



mekeepers do no public service. Tl , y mi . a?am 

 almost be 1 I upon a* a rural police not char, 



to the countr for the idle vagabond* of a neigh 1 ar- 

 hood are alwavs kept under their obserx n, and so 

 receive many V cks winch det< them from further 

 deeds of mischief. And this po t receives further con- 

 firmation from the fact that in countries where the game 

 laws were relaxed v li vMabondft increased into dan- 

 gerous bands, a terror to all honeet folks who wished to 

 pUMUe their industrial occupations in peace. I do not 

 wish to advocate the cause of ovcr^reeervi: or defend 

 the genteel line of butchery which has becoffl tho 

 nable profession of many, under th< refined nam^ 

 of battues, which I consider a greater egradation of 

 rt with dog and gun, than the turning f fox-hunting 

 into steeple-chases, and mostly car™* with it the con- 

 viction of an unthinking or bed landlord. In this, then 



ms in all 



«»j>served \ 



be 



^», m T\>j ■"- 



nhnee« which cor tutes the evil, 



against. Moderator, 



gucietft 



ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OF ENGLANP. 



A Monthly Council was held at the Society s house 

 Hanover-square, on Wednesday last, the 3d of 



bit 



23 



Bush. 



103 



£1 IS 8 219 



2 2 117 



1 4 112 



plants in lot 1 grew slender and sickly, and did 



not reach above a foot to 14 inches in height. Those 

 in lots 2, 3, and 4, were more luxuriant, but all the 

 four became completely withered in August, and their 

 tubers were mostly of very small size, though not so 

 many of them in proportion appeared to be diseased 

 as in lots 1 and 2, in the foregoing case. 



I ought to mention, that in the above and the pre- 

 ceding experiments, the guano employed was the best 

 Peruvian, obtained from Mr. Gibbs, warranted to contain 



WJlA-Il illvil tlJLV*** ^v**w — — — * - 



for as soon as labour is over they are at once ta|;en to 

 the stables, and instead of having a jet great coat on all 

 right, they at once get dry. « But » says the iarmer "I 

 Mve no gas ;" but gas no*' is in every toTO, and it 

 Sudsuifthe' blacksmith to buy the machin. .and .then 

 do the horses brought to him ; the expence of do mg 

 horse is three hours' gas, a man any man , ran ^do it), sa> 



3*. altogether, not saying a v.ord fb^V^Hv'uch 

 the hone, and the loss of strength, and food, bj such 

 terrible sweating when at hard work. James Gutkill, 



Camber-well, London? , . «. I B 



Fossil Memains.-Yovr correspondent, Mt .J. * 

 Markby, states that in levelhng a p.t last venter at 

 Middleton, Suffolk, he found an ammonite m the soi he 

 was moving, which soil he states to be of a ^nature 

 with a slight admixture of clay, As I am one who have 

 pleasure in assisting an enquinng nunc] , ] ibeg to steto 

 Lt the ammonite was., in f-e -nvu^n of iNature 



Mr. Barnett, Mr. Brandretb, Mr. Brandretb Gd ,M 

 Grantham, Mr. Fisher Hobbs, Mr. Lawcs, Mr. M. war 

 Prof. Sewell, Mr. Shaw (London), Mr. 3helle } , at 



Prof. Way. .. 



The following new ^Iembers were elected,. 



FUcfcer, Ew.ld. Wietendorf, Mecklentaflr-Sd*""*" 1 - 



PococU, Th«. William, Glenrid*., V.woU-w»t«r, 8or«y 

 Weir. Edwsrd, 351, Oxford.«tw*t, "">***•;. 

 Powell, Wi»H.« Btjle., C»tlo^^ «-^JJ- 



Grove., Thom.s Manor "^»^^ q"w tircM^ttf- 

 Mitebell, Wm. Uowl.nd, Koj.l Apr. . W ge, Ciretce.asr. 



Hartley. John, Tbe Oak». Wolverbarof ton. 

 Evan. David L^^^ 



To W n»hend, Cbarl... ^"I^Wwtabltn 

 Bu.kelej-Owen B.^,je ^ ^^^ 



™}L n l' %£2L Sfev. DarUngton, Dinm, 





