REV. W. THORP, B. A— AGRICULTURAL GEOLOGY, ETC. 225 
may lay it down as an axiom, that as the perfection of stock hus- 
bandry is the production of the greatest amount of flesh from the 
smallest quantity of food, so that of culture is to obtain the greatest 
amount of produce in the shortest space of time from the smallest 
quantity of land. The improvements suggested are already performed 
in various parts of England, and therefore the land in those parts 
does actually produce the crops mentioned ; and not only by the 
introduction of other green crops than those now produced is there a 
greater amount of produce, but the land, if they are consumed upon 
it, is thus manured in the cheapest mode. It is by gTOwing great 
quantities of green food and roots that the Belgian outstrips the 
English farmer in the great number of stock kept, the dung collected 
from them, and as a certain consequence, the corn produced. A beast 
for every three acres of land being with them a common proportion, 
and in small farms the proportion is greater ; hence on every hundred 
acres there ought to be thirty-three beasts, or an equivalent number 
of sheep, say two hundred. 
One suggestion made by Mr. Thorp is very strongly insisted on, 
he says there is scarcely one farm yard in ten which is spouted 
round to keep off" the rain-water which descends upon the roofs of 
the buildings ; there is not one in one hundred which has its floor 
impervious to water ; and fewer still which have the plane of the 
floor so inclined that the liquid portion will drain off, and be collected 
in a reservoir, instead of being evaporated into the atmosphere. In 
addition to this reservoir separate tanks are reqiiired for the cow- 
houses and stables, with partitions, to enable the recently made 
urine to be preserved until it is neutralised. But where is there a 
homestead which has all these three conditions fulfilled ? The total 
loss in England has been estimated at one-third of the value of the 
whole manure made, and this at £21,000,000, or the loss at 
£7,000,000 annually ! If chemistry teaches anything valuable to 
agriculture, it is the above suggestion ; and if it be true " that the 
chief art of agriculture depends on the collection and preservation 
of those manures which contain ammonia in the greatest quantity," 
surely this ought to be done. The paper covers more than 60 pages, 
and is full of valuable information and statistics, the farming in 
