THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE, 



589 



._.._ consumption to the more opulent classes, while 



. \zL passes severely feel their loss from the same 



that the smaller farmer does— heing compelled to 



anrrain. ^ ow ** tuis ^^ a IS for the most part 

 5^ tbe immense sums drained from the country for 



Sflnplv of food, and without any other return than 



SLwmeh the emigrant makes, and which for the most 



** goes into the hand of the Liverpool shipowner, 



^ *Jded to the use of a higher priced diet, and the 



^r breaking down 01 every property aim 01 evcij 

 Serf, soon bring ruin to the doors of every one. Have 



tmed the corner I I have just learned that in the 

 ^hbouring parts of Cavan, the Potato fields, with 

 "^rerv few exceptions, are as withered as at the 

 fering in, and also learn that they are equally as bad in 

 fSmeftth. My own and my neighbours' are becoming 

 — yiv diseased in the haulm ; daily its progress is seen. 

 jM.Goodif, Granard, August 19. 



IqrkuUural Units. — The enclosed paper seems to 

 ^te so forcibly the importance of proper cultiva- 



a and adequate manuring, that I am induced to offer 

 w to you for insertion in your next Journal. The farms 

 fan which the ears of Wheat were taken, are in the 

 neighbourhood, in Staffordshire, not a mile and a 

 ^ from each other, forming part of a large district, 

 tiiich was equally affected by blight of the Wheat crop. 

 Ibe ars of Wheat were selected from each field, by the 

 party going into a part of the crop of average 

 Kuogth and appearance, embracing as large a portion 



be could within his arms, and then from that quantity 

 alerting 10 average ears- This was done twice over, 

 «jdi about the Bame result. The trial, and the result, 

 ad its explanation, seems to me to afford a -useful 

 to the agriculturist 



Produce of 50 Ears of Wheat 

 taken from 5 Fields of in- 

 ferior land, but in good 

 condition :— 



fwdace of 50 Earg of Wheat 

 ttktt from 5 Fields on a 

 tern of good land, but in 

 had c nation :— 



1- «4 • 



I la 



00 



Z * 





U 



<** 



Tra Em taken 

 !tm Field No. 1. 



3*~ 



M* from Pield 

 to. 2, 



3 

 3 



8 

 3 

 1 

 3 



7 

 7 

 4 



7 



52 



**° from Field 

 *o.3. 



•to from Pield 



Hii 



SU? * *Md 



"CfSS?^ 



9 



6 

 10 

 10 

 3 

 7 

 9 



8 



4 



10 



80 



9 

 5 

 8 



7 



8 



10 



7 



72 



< 



6 



12 

 9 

 JO 

 8 

 9 

 7 

 10 

 7 



85 



4 



7 



6 



13 



6 

 3 

 3 



4 

 4 

 B 



20 

 25 

 4 

 21 

 25 

 25 

 IS 

 16 

 2G 

 14 



Ten Ears taken 

 from Field No. 1. 



o 

 u 



x 

 4> 



'J 

 25 



II 



V * 





194 



11 

 24 

 24 

 33 

 24 

 23 

 14 



15 

 31 

 14 



213 



27 



23 

 15 

 22 

 12 

 10 

 24 

 13 

 18 

 26 



190 



25 

 24 



18 

 21 



19 

 13 

 19 

 20 

 14 

 23 



196 



6 

 25 

 17 

 12 



19 



19 



8 



15 

 22 

 19 



Ditto from 

 No. 2. 



Field 



11 



8 



7 



7 

 8 

 9 

 7 

 5 



6 

 6 



74 



Ditto from 

 No. 3. 



Field 



2 



9 

 *2 



3 

 3 



11 



11 



5 



3 

 6 



32 

 16 

 26 

 35 

 32 

 19 

 33 



23 



19 

 26 



55 



Ditto from 

 No, 4, 



Field 



3 

 2 

 1 



1 



1 



• # • 



• ■ • 



2 



3 



13 



Ditto from 

 No, 5. 



Field 



3 

 3 



• • « 



2 

 6 

 3 

 10 

 1 

 2 

 5 



35 



T OTAL Colli cted . 



From Field No. 1 



No. 2 

 No. 3 

 No. 4 

 No. 6 



• t • 



• «• 



' - * 



4 

 8 

 5 

 7 

 7 

 6 

 6 



7 

 8 

 9 



67 



261 



32 

 29 

 39 

 3 5 

 42 

 35 

 36 

 29 

 41 

 20 



336 



45 

 19 

 42 

 39 

 43 

 41 

 36 

 35 

 39 

 44 



383 



25 

 24 

 52 

 24 

 30 

 47 

 12 

 30 

 38 

 34 



316 



42 



24 



27 

 32 

 39 

 19 

 37 

 18 

 35 

 44 



317 







• «t 



To'nl 



■ • ■ 



* ■ 



74 



55 

 13 

 35 

 67 



261 



336 



383 

 3i>; 



317 



neighbourhood there is 

 and the land is mostly 

 rock. 



944-1 ifil a 



•Ml* rjpi 



Charcoals 



8teeped 



Beans, 



of 



»<rre, costing (without liquid manure, in 



which it was steeped) 9/. The quantity of dung applied 

 (aud which was of very moderate quality) was at the 

 rate of .40 one-horse cart-loads per acre, of the value of 

 about 51. Having harvested and threshed the crop, 

 the following are the results, viz. : From the land to 

 which the Irish peat charcoal urate was applied. 40 

 bushels per acre ; from the land dunged, 72 bushels 

 per acre. The land is very light— subsoil, at 20 inches 

 depth, chalk. This experiment shows conclusively that 

 whatever value there may be in Irish peat charcoal, it 

 cannot be compared with ordinary farm-yard manure ; 

 the crop was little more than one-half, whilst the cost 

 of the dressing was f nearly double. The Beans were 

 sown in rows 30 inches apart. P. K* 



Lime. — In No. 34 of the Gardeners' Chronicle appears 

 ajlecture on lime by Professor Way, together with a 

 lengthened conversation on the same subject by various 

 other gentlemen then present. I have carefully perused 

 the lecture, and the report of the remarks which it 

 elicited, and I am quite unable to deduce therefrom a 

 direct answer to the following queries. What is the 

 kind of soil more peculiarly benefited by the action of 

 lime ? What is the kind of soil where its action is 

 less beneficial, or perhaps negative ? What is the 

 kind of soil where its action is injurious ? In my 



a great deal of limestone, 

 clayey, and stiff, on limestone 

 Now the farmers, who are bound to bring on the 

 land manure in the place of hay and straw which they 

 sell, consider that they acquit themselves of this obliga- 

 tion by drawing coal, and getting the stone, and con- 

 verting the same into lime, with which they dress the 

 stiff land on the limestone. Now it is of consequence 

 to know the action of lime on such land. If you tell 

 them that you doubt its efficacy, they reply that at all 

 events it makes the land work better ; meaning that they 

 can get the clods to pieces more easily after a dressing 

 of lime. Permit me also to ask in what manner is 

 lime applied as a dressing to Grass land ? The import- 

 ance of applying science to practice, at a time when 

 Wheat is likely to attain a lowness of price hitherto 

 unknown in England, must be my apology for again 

 intruding upon you. Enquirer* [You should read Prof. 

 Johnston's book on the subject. We will give a review 

 of Jit shortly.] 



M II M~ 1 ■ ^M ■ ■ J I ■ II I I ^^^^»~I~» 



Farmers' Clubs. 



Haddington. — Mr. William Howden, Stonelaws, the 

 chairman, intimated that the subject of discussion was 

 the Best method of Harvesting and Preserving Grain. 

 Mr. H. Whittingham said : 



Having been called upon by the chairman, he would simply 

 give a few remarks to begin the di§cua>*ion. He had for some 

 years employed band* of men from Aberdeenshire to mow his 

 Oats, which they had done to his satisfaction, at a cost from 

 9s. to 9*. 6d. per Scotch acre ; there was a great saving in food, 

 particularly in wet weather. The general objection against 

 mowing was the number of heads at the bottom of the sheaves, 

 but were the rakings bound up together and threshed sepa- 

 rately, this objection would be almost altogether obviated. He 

 and many of bis neighbours had tried the scythe with Barley, 

 and found it equally suitable. From some cause or other, 

 during two years, but few Aberdeenshire men had come to the 

 county; but he would particularly recommend the scythe for 

 opening up fields, before the regular band of shearers were 

 taken to it~ Ic would be found much more profitable to%end a 

 steady man with a scythe to do this, in preference to half a 

 dozen shearers out of sight of the master. In finishing Herds, 

 too, the scythe would be found very advantageous long or 

 short rigs made very lit le difference to it; but every one 

 acquainted in the least with the superintendence of shearers 

 knew, that one acre at the close of a field took longer to cut 

 than two or three in the middle of it. — Mr Hope, Fenton Barns 

 said it was very much to be regretted that some members of 

 the Club did not come prepared to open this, and every other 

 discussion If they intended to confine it to the conversational 

 mode hitherto adopted, it would be as well at once to take 

 steps to prevent any report of what was said appearing in print. 

 When they looked at the way other ciubs dUcussed subject*, 

 they must be sensible that they suffered grievously by the com- 

 parison ; and this arose not from any lacK of talent, but from 

 carelessness and want of arrangement. Happily, however, 

 the subject at present under consideration embraced so many 

 points, on which there were differences of opinion, that were 

 these points steadily kept in view a large amount of informa- 

 tion might be elicited. There was tirst the degree of ripen^s* 

 at which grain of various kinds should be cut ; for himself he 

 thought this depended much on the season. In warm, sunny 

 weather the straw was ripe before the grai?> ; at all events, ic 

 was then necessary to have the straw properly ripened. In 

 some seasons the grain was ripe w en lie straw was green; 

 it was only then that green cutting merited the praises that 

 were sometimes bestowed on it. In the Becond place, whe-her 

 the crop should be cut with the ecjthe/as recommended by 

 Mr. Hepburn, or the scythe hook or the teethed sickle. He 

 used the scythe hook, and recommended slashing, but if a 

 reaping-machine could be obtained to do the work, it would be 

 the greatest boon that the farmers in this country could 

 obtain. He hoped tbey were all going to se#the Exnibition in 

 London ; he would recommend to them to examine minutely 

 the American reaping-machine, which it was advertised would 

 be put in operation in the neighbourhood of the metropolis, as 

 soon as grain was in a fit state for cutting. At present 

 farmers had to lodge in their premises a great many people 

 for two or three weeks, over whose conduct off the harvest field 

 they had but little control. Large numbers of men, women, 

 and children had to sleep in the same apartment, by no meai • 

 to the improvement of their mora' a. However anxious farmer a 

 as a body or individually might be, it was, he was sorry to say, 

 impossible to remedy this. His only hope lay in an efficient 

 reaping machine, which, if obtained, would be to him a 

 source of the greatest happiness, seitiug aside profit altogether, 

 though he had no doubt he would obtain that too. When the 

 grain i* cut there is the size of the *heav**, the making of the 

 bands, the number of sheaves in a stook. Are head sheaves 

 to be recommended ? Then comes the stacking of the grain, 

 the heading of the stacks. The proper period tor threshing it 

 follows, whether it is better to thresh all out early and st re 

 the grain in granaries, or by the use of rick stands, such as 

 those manufactured by Messrs. C. Young and Co., or those 

 simpler and cheaper, but not more ec nomical in the end, 

 made of wood. It cannot be doubted but a number of the 

 stacks should be retained until near the next harvest, bir ne 

 greater part should he thre*b*d during winter, or as soon a- 

 the grain is in condition. It n>«ght then be stored with a', 

 vantage, that the wh .le crop might be brought regularly to 

 market. He did not approve of much threshing during sum- 



!n.t«£ H V work ^ M »°u,,dant I* the tiel i S hestde. the h*. 



^Sn.i?° mthe,t ^ Wn ? t bei "* ^wied into manure" 

 occasionally a cjumrWion. Even for straw to b- uUd 



during summer, its being previously threshed and aUc^ed wai 



wh TihJ^K- T a ISM? Sketch of >°™ of %2e p int. £to 

 which tbe subject naturally brarched, and bv taking >hem up 

 in the manner indicated. hah*A «.. a...,u» — ' u \& d ~ fon d 





fi able.-Mr. bBEPHERD, G eghornie, remarked :-To b*?ln at 

 the beginning of Mr. Hope's sketch, viz., the proper period for 

 CQttlng grain it appeared to him that ninny a good crop had 

 been spoiled from mistakes made regarding it. The late Mr 

 Brodie. of Scoughall, a man whes ■ opinions deserved every- 

 respect, published a paper on the advanages of cutting green 

 a id he (Mr S.) had followed him particularly last year from 

 having got a fright with the high winds at the beginning of 

 the ha- vest, but he would not again cu g«*een Wneat, an it gave 

 it a bad colour, and rendered it d fficu't to sell. The Wheat at 

 all events should be properly formed before being cu'. Beans, 

 al^o should he well ripened, as green cut wa* very detrimental 

 to the appearance of tbe sample. So much for the 6rs' head of 

 the discourse.— Mr. Davidson, Holynbank, a r^ed in the ma ; n 

 with what Mr. Shepherd had said. H«, however, did not think 

 it was generally advisable to wait until the whole croo waa 

 thoroughly ripened; a great de*l depended on the season. 

 Barley, in particular, he thought should be thoroughly ripe 

 before being cut, at so much of the value depended on its 

 quality. As to the system of housing grain in lar*e barns, he 

 tnought it barbarous, and that the English farmer* in this 

 ca*e might take a lesson from their north rn neighbour-, who 

 lived in a more inhosprabie climate. He strongly recom- 

 mended the stances of Messrs. Young and Co., as it did not 

 answer at all to allow grain to remain in ordinary stacks 

 during summer, from the loss su-tained by tbe depredation of 

 vermin ; he had seen 36 rats killed in one stack.— Mr. HaarcT, 

 Srevenson Mains, observed that it was u-ual in this count, to 

 set up stooks of eight sheaves. In Mid Lothian they were 

 frequently made of 10 sheaves and two head sheaves ; he 

 thought it possible that tbe head sheaves might frequently 

 prevent Barley being discoloured by mist* from the ea*t, wh'eh 

 were rather common in this district. The value of Barley 

 depended very much on its colour. He (Mr. H.) thought four 

 shearers enough for one banster ; in fact, with a good cro t i it 

 was impossible for one man to bind to six people, which is the 

 usual number. As a general system he thought Wheat should 

 all tie threshed out by the middle of April and stored, unless, 

 w^ien preserved by proper stances or otherwise from the ver- 

 min. — Mr. Shepherd differed in opinion from Mr. Harvey and 

 from the practice followed in some counties of putting 12 

 sheaves into a stook, as it was a mighty obj» ct t > get the grain 

 matured in tbe shortest possible time. When he first came to • 

 the county he was startled by tbe plan of four sheaves, but he 

 found that tbey dried much faster, and he highly recommended 

 it, and more particularly near plan ations. — Mr. Docglas, 

 Athelstaneford, did not agree with the writers in favour of 

 g»*een cu'ting, as it destroyed that bright colour which all fine 

 grain has. Potato O «ts was the only crop that should be 

 taken sharp ; his rule was to cut them when the t-p pickle waa 

 completely white. He had tried a»l the three modes of cutting. 

 With heavy crops he did not find the scythe suitable, and there 

 was less shake with the hook. At one time he bought teethed 

 hooks for all his people, but he lost patience and went bnck to 

 the scythe hook. He thought it a good remark by Me. Harvey 

 that six reapers were too many for one banker \ besides, when, 

 there were only two people on a rig, each person had *o do hia 

 own work. He had no objection to learn the people on his own- 

 farm to Bhear, but u was too much to be imposed on bv idlers 

 who demanded full wages, and there were utten two good 

 shearers on a rig and one bad one. He thought faimers were 

 not strict enough, 'with regard to the size of the sheaves ; they 

 could not be too small, provided they would s^and As to the 

 size of s*ook9, he did not approve of the four sheaves ; tbey 

 miihc do in calm weather, but ttey were easily blown down ; 

 not one man in 20 could put them up to stand ; a I Surer nam. 

 ber stood better, and were more easily setup again in the *ame 

 form when blown down. As toheadwh^aves they were suitable 

 fir a wet climate, but not for a dry country like this. lie highly 

 approved of bosses and triangles for bringing grain in the stack 

 sp- edily into condition. He thought a board across the s'ack 

 with a drain tile upon it very advantageous, as i proluced a 

 current of air. When grain was threshed out early, the straw 

 was converted in to manure in good time for application to the 

 green crops of the following summer ; but, in general, on the 

 farms in Bast- Lothian there was a sad want of granary mom, 

 for which both landlords and tenants were to blame. — Mr„ 

 Scott ^kjrviwo, Campton. said, tying the sheaves with only 

 one length of straw, completely prevented them being made too 

 large. He highly approved of only two shearers on a rig, and 

 urged its general adoption, as it was exceedingly difficult for 

 one man to do it. Reapers came in bands of trree, for the 

 purpose of working together, and unless they were allowed to 

 do so, tbey would not otherwise engage. He h »ped the Ame- 

 rican reaping machine which had been aliuded to would be 

 found suitable, as it might be the means of saving a large 

 expenditure. 



fiotUTS of Book*. 



Flax : the Culture and Preparation in Scotland , Ireland* 

 and Flanders* 'particularly with reference to tlte Western. 

 Highlands and Islands of Scotland. By Robert 

 Brown, Esq., Hamilton. Pp 54. Blackie and Son,. 

 Glasgow, Edinburgh, and London. 

 We have noticed many of the pamphlets and works 

 published during the past two years on this suhject m T 

 and the above is one of the best, as it is also one of 

 the cheapest of them. It gives the most detailed de- 

 scription of the plant, its cultivation and management, 

 in all the stages of its growth, as well as after harvest ; 

 its refers particularly to the modes and processes of 

 the Flax grower, both in Ireland and in Flanders ; it 

 discusses the modes of preparing the crop for the 

 manufacturer, advocated by Schenck, Don Ian, and 

 Claussen ; and it applies the information which it conveys 

 especially to the circumstances of North- Western 



Scotland. 



Any one with Mr. Brown's pamphlet in his hands, 

 and a practical knowledge of ordinary farm practice in 

 his head, may start Flax growing next spring, without 

 fear of the result. 



Miscellaneous- 



A dulteration of Guano. — We see no good reason for 

 the apparent alarm that seems to exist with respect to 

 the late trial of Pickering and Long. It is just one of 

 those cases of glaring fraud which, in numerous bust- 

 nesses, are constantly brought to light by the activity of 

 the police ; and the effect of which should be to induce 

 to greater care in the future, as it undoubtedly will 

 in the present instance, on the part of all concerned. 

 But the fact of the fraud discovered, exposed, and 

 punished, is no more an argument against the use of 

 guano, as some seem to think, than the robbery of a bank 



» 



