Experievccs of a, Scohman on the Esftex Clai/a. 
321 
left uudressed with it, and in broadcasting the seed aftei'wai'ds, 
I could feel the difference in the soil in stepping ft-om the 
one part to the other every time I went up and down the 
stetches, because the limed part was so much more loose and 
friable. kSome maintain that it docs no good to the soil, either 
mechanically or manurially, but we would not like to farm without 
it here. Of course, the land is ready for a fresh dressing every 
time the grass is ploughed up. I have not seen the crop killed 
by as much as 6 tons per acre, while, even on the permanent 
pasture land, 3 or -L tons put on raw did not do any injury in 
this way. There are two varieties of this spent lime used here 
— the blue and the white. It is generally vinderstood that the 
former is more poisonous than the latter, from having been used 
longer in purifying the gas ; but for this reason it is more effec- 
tual in its action, and its poisonous sulphites are oxidised long 
before the crop is sown. 
I do not happen to know of anyone who continues making 
silage here, notwithstanding the great benefits which we read 
have been derived from its use. In the excessively wet season 
of 1888 a good many tried it on the stack system, but I have 
not seen or heard of any that continued the experiment. The 
conclusion arrived at was that ensilage would do for wet weather, 
but that it is better to make hay if we could possibly get sun- 
shine. A stack of silage was made on this farm, and a haystack 
built on the top for pressure ; but the silage heated excessively, 
and I have been told that there was not enough pi'essure. At any 
rate, this silage decreased the milk-yield of the cows very rapidly 
when fed to them on two separate occasions, and it had to be 
given to store cattle. We have not tried any since. As no roots 
are grown, the succulent food of the cows in winter is entirely 
made up of chaffed hay, bean-meal, ground oats, and boiling 
water — a mixture that I have satisfied myself over and over 
again is better and cheaper than either roots or silage, and 
which is in almost universal use in the dairy districts of Scotland. 
One of the greatest changes in the system of farming, 
brought about by the in-comers, has been the general turning to 
dairying. It was not, of course, entirely unknown before, but it 
was only a single farmer here and there who followed it, while 
the great majority of the in-comers — being already dairymen — 
have kept on at it. Many, indeed, as they were leaving farms 
in Scotland, simply transported the whole of their live and dead 
stock to the South, hiring a special train for the purpose, and 
starting a fully-equipped herd of cows at the very first. It 
would appear that the district was celebrated for its dairies long 
ago, before the era of corn-growing set in, more especially for 
