408 



Fanning of Surrey. 



a heap, and allowed to remain nntil a thorougli incorporation 

 takes place between the particles of the several ingredients. 



Having thus briefly described the process of making super- 

 phosphate of lime pursued by Mr. Paine, the writer will pro- 

 ceed to notice its application and effect as a manure ; and in 

 doing so it may not be uninteresting to introduce some particulars 

 of that gentleman's farming, which his kindness enables the writer 

 to detail. 



From the scattered position of the fields a central homestead 

 would employ too much cartage, consequently no very extensive 

 operations are carried on at one spot. Threshing has hitherto 

 been done by horse-power, but it is the intention of the pro- 

 prietor to employ a portable steam-engine for this purpose, and 

 for grinding the fossils. The farm buildings, which are not of 

 modern construction, are shooted to carry off the drip ; and the 

 yards are provided with a tank at the lower end, into which the 

 soakage drains, and which can be emptied at pleasure, by means 

 of a portable pump connected with a gutta-percha tube 250 yards 

 in length. The liquid manure is thus available for watering the 

 adjacent fields, and has been found to produce a considerable 

 effect upon hops, and, in fact, upon every crop to which it has 

 been applied : to work the apparatus two men are required at 

 the pump, and one to direct the jet ; except when the spot to be 

 watered is situated below the level of the tank, in which Case 

 the tube of course acts as a syphon, and when once set to work 

 needs but one man to direct it. A small tank is attached to 

 each stable, which is supplied with ashes ; as the ashes become 

 saturated with urine they are carted to a spot under cover, to be 

 mixed with the superphosphate and drilled with turnips, as will 

 be noticed hereafter. It may be mentioned here, that the dung 

 is carted from the yards by means of a portable railroad of 600 

 yards in length, by which it is considered that a saving of labour 

 is effected, while the treading of the land, so injurious in wet 

 weather, is entirely avoided. It is the practice on this farm to 

 feed sheep in yards, where they receive cake and cut turnips ; 

 low sheds are erected on the side of the yards sufficient to afford 

 shelter to the sheep. The trimmings of the turnips are given to 

 store pigs ; oxen which are tied up in stalls are fattened in the 

 usual manner, and the manure thus made is carted to the field 

 and mixed. The yards are supplied with tanks, as already de- 

 scribed. It is found that the sheep in yards thrive better than 

 those folded in the fields. 



As may be supposed, upon land which possesses such a rich 

 source of fertility from the peculiar nature of its composition, no 

 particular course of cropping is necessary. It is confidently 

 asserted that in those fields where the richest supply of mineral 



