402 
Farmivg of Dorsetshire. 
concurrently with the threshing. By a simple but ingenious 
contrivance a bell rings as soon as the sack reaches its pioper 
weight. Newcastle coal having burnt out the bars of the furnace, 
a vessel is freighted with coal from Scotland. About 6000 sheep, 
all pure downs, are kept on the farms, as also from 40 to 50 
fatting bullocks, and 60 working oxen, chiefly driven by reins in 
pairs. 
The tenantry on the estates of Henry Charles Sturt, Esq., of 
Critchell, are said to have been the first who themselves bought 
fixed engines for threshing, winnowing, &c. One of the first 
fixed engines was erected by Mr. Ford, of Rush ton Farm, whose 
fat Hereford cattle occupy conspicuous places in the prize lists 
at Christmas. The general system upon this portion of Mr. 
Sturt's estates is live-field ; but the following course has been 
found to answer well on the stiff soils : — 1, swedes, fed off late 
in the spring ; 2, rape and turnips, or turnips alone, fed off in 
following fall, and sown to, 3, wheat; 4, barley; 5, clover; 6, 
old ley ; 7, wheat. One-half of the wheat stubs are brought into 
barley, the other half into swedes or turnips : one-half of the 
turnip land fed off is sown to barley, the late-fed land affording 
another green crop. This course gives great advantages in the 
working of the land in unfavourable springs. 
On Mr. Sturt's home-farm there is a very perfect fixed steam- 
engine, which, besides threshing, winnowing, chaff cutting, 
breaking bones, cracking oats, beans, &c., and dressing flour, 
pumps water for the supply of the house, stables, fai'm-yard, &c., 
and saws the wood for all buildings erected on the estate, cutting 
up in a summer's day 1400 feet of oak or elm, or 1800 of fir 
timber. The engine is equal to this and the grinding of barley, 
at the same time : the boiler is tubular, and the consumption of 
coal about 5 cwt. for 12 hours. Mangold is grown in this man- 
ner :— During the winter long dung is carted out, spread and 
ploughed in, a subsoil -plough following. In the spring the land 
is found to work very freely, and it is again ploughed and worked 
about until reduced to a fine tilth. A sack, or 6 bushels, of 
bones mixed with ashes, droppings of fatting beasts, &c., are 
sown broadcast, at the rate of 80 to 100 bushels per acre. The 
plough follows close and throws up the land in ridges, about 
2 feet apart. A very light roller is drawn along the ridges to 
plane the surface, and men, women, and boys follow with the 
seed in aprons, and dibble 3 or 4 seeds in at intervals of 12 
inches. Another rolling completes the process. The plants 
are singled by hand, horse-hoed two or three times, and the soil 
between the plants is deeply hoed by hand. The crops have 
always been excellent, without exception : the cost of putting in 
the seed is 5s. an acre, exclusive of horse labour and carter's ; 
