lii 



English Agricidtural Society. 



soils and inclinations of level. The Deanston process of deep 

 and frequent draining, coupled with subsoil ploughing, appears 

 also to deserve especial attention : soils, too, which are not over 

 wet, may still be found capable of being deepened, as well as of 

 being othermse improved in their chemical or mechanical charac- 

 ter by judicious admixture. 



III. — Productiveness of Seeds. 



Under this head it is desirable that experiments should be made 

 by individual members on the comparative productiveness of each 

 kind of corn, in amount both of grain and of straw upon different 

 qualities of soil : nor can the result be regarded as complete, un- 

 less the goodness of the grain, its power, that is, of yielding flour, 

 be tested, as well as its weight and bulk. It has been even shown 

 by experiment that two samples of flour similar in apparent 

 quality have yielded different proportions of bread. In the same 

 way the productiveness of the varieties of turnip, beet, carrot, po- 

 tato, &c., should be respectively tested ; and the bulk being ascer- 

 tained, the nutritive properties possessed by equal bulks should be 

 discovered, either by chemical analysis or by actual trial in the 

 feeding of cattle. These roots might also be tried with advantage 

 against each other, as turnips against mangel-wurzel, both as to 

 amount of produce and as to nutritive power, and that too upon 

 the different kinds of stock usually kept. 



IV. — Manures. 



This, again, is a large subject, complicated by the various con- 

 ditions of soil, crop, climate, and time under which the various 

 manures may have to be applied. Without attempting, at present, 

 to lay down specific details, it will be sufficient to stimulate the 

 inquiries of our members if we enumerate some of the principal 

 heads : — 



I. — Natural or farm-yard manure. 1. Degree of fermentation. 

 2. Time of application, 3. Mode of application. 4. Compost 



