THE FIELD 
1116 
THE FARM, 
Tub Farm is an essential part of the country gentleman’s 
occupations, therefore n proper part of “ the counln , yen 
tlrman '» newspaper" 'Vo introduce it into the new plan of 
'I'm; Fi, li>, believing that it will be found an attractive as 
well as 0 useful feature of it. But it is necessary to explain 
at the beginning what it is that we contemplate. 
We purpose then to limit this department of The Fir.r.n 
to “ thr Home Farm "— just so much of farming as the 
gentleman, or the man having other pursuits, engages in, 
more for amusement than for profit. The Professional 
Farmers have journuls of their own to supply their wants. 
The Amateur Farmer has none. This defect The Field 
will endeavour to supply. It will collect, for the informa- 
tion of its readers, instructions and intelligence relating to 
the management of a homestead — the keeping of the cow, 
the horse, the sheep, the pig, the poultry; draining of land, 
manuring and cultivation of crops ; treating these topics 
in familiar, unscientific language, and with an endenvour 
to he m practical as possible. Here, as with other depart- 
ments 01 The Field, a column will be opened for Notes and 
Queries, wherein any reader may ask of other readers the 
assistance of their experience, on any topic on which he 
requires information ; and we invite communications from 
nil quarters on every subject comprised within the range of 
the Home Farm. 
Here, again, we must ask the reader's patience and for- 
bearance, while we mature the scheme of which we have 
iven only an outline. It must be a work of time, hut we 
lope every week will advance us in it. Certainly it will, if 
it sliould meet with the approbation of the reader, and if he 
will aid it by communicating whatever knowledge he has, 
which may be interesting to other readers. 
Stacking.— 1st, prize to H. Divers, employed by Mr.T. Hills. 
2nd, to R. Glazier, employed by Mr. T. Blake. 
Thatching . — Prize to W. Worrell, servant to Mr. T. Hills. 
Labourers . — Premium to G. Spicer, who ha3 worked 38 
years on Mr. It. Sankey’s farm, Bunuarsh. To Walter Oven- 
den, employed by Mr. Matthew Butler, of Gammon's Farm, 
for bringing up the largest family, without relief. 
The prize to the married waggoner, who has lived the great- 
est number of years on the same farm or in the same family, 
wasnwnrded to J. Peckham, employed byMr.M. ButlerofUaui- 
mon’s farm. The prize for the single waggoner, ditto, to J. 
Avery, employed by 0. Coates, Esq., Now ltonmey. 
Shepherds. — 1st prize to J. Oveuden, shepherd to Mr. M. 
Butler, having reared 330 lambs from 230 ewes. 2nd, to W. 
Balkhaui, shepherd to Messrs. T. T. Blake and J. Holmes. 
TILLAGE. 
DOVER AND DEAL AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION. 
On Tuesday week the annual meeting of the Dover and 
Deal Association for the Encouragement of Ploughing and 
Agricultural Labourers took place. The ploughing match 
took place in a field belonging to Mr. G. H. Loud, jun., at 
St. Margaret's Parsonage. 
The members and friends of the association afterwards 
dined together at the Swingate Inn, West Cliffe. The chair 
was taken by George Loud, Esq., and the vice-chair by Mr. 
Gilbee Eastes. 
After the usual loyal toasts, Mr. Alderman Marsh gave 
“ Success to the Dover nnd Deal Agricultural Association." 
He stated he believed it was the first establised in that 
neighbourhood, and had been fraught with great benefit both 
to master uud labourer. 
Mr. Rutledge gave, iu a speech of great ability, “ Success 
to British agriculture and the application of science to agri- 
cultural pursuits," which was received with great applause. 
Mr. S. Court gave " The health of Mr. Gilbee Eastes, the 
Vice-chairman and Secretary to the Association," who re- 
turned thanks in appropriate terms, expressing a desire, 
after fifteou years' servitude as their secretary, that some 
younger member should relieve him. He had ever 
anxiously laboured for the improvement of the society ; and 
he believed his efforts had not been fruitless. He adverted 
to the ploughing match which had taken place some time 
since to test the respective merits of the Bedford and Kent 
ploughs, He theu read a list of the prizes as follows : — 
The Champion Pri/.o was awarded to W. Powl, Ploughman 
to Messrs. G. aud W. Eastes, Bere farm. 
Ploughmen. — 1st Class, with 4 horses. — 1st prize, to R. 
Young, in the employ of G. and W. Eastes, Bere farm. 2nd, 
to O. Chapman, in the employ of of Mr. G. Loud, jun., St. 
Margaret's. 3rd, to J. Wood, in the employ of Mr. B. Taylor, 
Langdon Court. 4th, to H. Hopper, in the employ of Mr. 
J. Taylor, Frith form. 
2nd Class with 3 horses. — 1st prize to T. Amos, in the 
employ of Mr. W. Pilcher, St. Margaret's. 2nd, to Stephen 
Pay, in the employ of Messrs. H. aud J. Elwin, Waustono. 
3rd, to W. Kittams, iu the employ of Mr. J. Jeken, Marten. 
4tl>, to W. Hopper, iu the employ of Mr. B. Taylor, Laugdou 
Court. 
Shephrcds . — Prize to A Manser, Bhepherd to R. Marsh, 
Sandwich, for rearing 293 lambs from 241 ewes. To E. 
Newing, shepherd to Mr. S. Prescot, West Cliffe, for rearing 
100 lambs from 90 owes. To J. Gower, Bhepherd to Mr. G. 
Potter, for rearing 137 lambs, and lost none. To C. Soles, 
eliephord to Mr. James Jeken, Morton, for rearing 99 lambs, 
and lost none. 
Labourers. Prizes to T. Paramor, haring worked 50 years 
on Wiukland farm. To E. Eastes, having worked 44 years 
<m Guston Court form. To S. Pay, yearly servant with the 
late Mr. J. Elwin and successor, from 1S35. To W. Elgar, 
10 years with Mr. Mark Sandford. 
P< m«l< Servants . — Prizes to Harriot Ann Foreman, from 
5th July, 1851, with Mr. J. Jeken. To Eliza Friend, 18 
months with Mr. J. Taylor, Sutton Court. 
"The health of the Treasurer" was then given. Mr. 
John Taylor responded. He had about £40 iu baud, £30 of 
which w ould be required for the expenses of the day. He 
considered the society highly prosperous. 
llOMNEY MARSH AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION. 
The annual ploughing match of this association took place 
on Monday, in a field belonging to Mr. Stephen Burgess, at 
West Brook, near Lydd, and was attended by a numerous 
party of agriculturists from the neighbourhood. The j udgos 
of ploughing were — Messrs. Thomas Walker, Francis Finn, 
and Thomas D.-ulsou ; of stacking, thatching, and drilling— 
Messrs. Henry Palmer, Frederick Green, aud Richard Sankey. 
Aftcrthc premiums were awarded, the parties adjourned to 
tlK.- George Inn, where an excellent dinner was served by 
Mr. James Buss. Mr. Stephen Burgess presided. After the 
cloth was removed, the customary loyal and convivial toasts 
were drunk ; also “ the health of Mr. Albert Cock, and success 
to tlio Romney Marsh harriers." the following is a list of 
the awards — 
Plough me n. — 1st, prize to W. Bourn, ploughman to T. Cobb, 
Esq. ; B. Edwards, driver. 2ud, to Peter Tribe, ploughman to 
T. Cobb, Esq. , E. Ramsey, driver. 3rd, to W. Carpenter, 
ploughman, to D. Denne, Esq. ; G. Hatch, driver. The 
prize for bullock ploughs, awarded to G. Balcomb, employed 
by W. i». Walker, Esq. ; J. Page, driver. 
Drilling. — 1st, prize to H. Else, employed by W. D. Walker, 
Esq., 2ud, to H. Divers, employed by Mr. T. Hills. 3rd, to 
J. Tomsutt, employed by A. Stoakes, Esq. 
Discovert of Ammonia. — The Progreso of Guayaquil 
states that in the search for guano at the Gallipagos Islands 
an abundant deposit of ammonia has been discovered, which 
is likely to prove a valuable fertiliser. If this be true, it 
is worth while examining into more carefully. The high price 
of guauo would render any .substitute very valuable to tho 
Agriculturist. 
Useful Application of Sewage.— At a meeting of the 
Manchester Town Council, a day or two ago, a lecture was 
road from Mr. Samuel Brooks, iu which thatgentleman made 
the handsome offer of placing £1,000 nt the disposal of the 
council, to be expended in preliminary inquiries, and pre- 
miums for plans and experiments, as to the value of the night- 
soil of the town. Mr. Brooks estimated the annual value of 
the sewage of the town of Manchester at £100,000 a-year, 
and his letter referred to the importance not only of pro- 
perly disposing of it for agricultural purposes, but of render- 
ing it subservient to other useful objects. The thanks of 
the council were unanimously voted to Mr. Brooks for his 
offer. 
Agricultural Exports and Imports. — The accounts of 
Trade and Navigation recently issued show a decline of 
£754,952 in the declared value of the exports for the mouth 
ending October 10, 1854 (£8,074,048), as compared with the 
same month of 1853 (£8,829,000). The greatest decrease 
is shown in the items of haberdashery, havdsvares, gloves, 
machinery, bar iron, tin plates, silks, aud woollens. The 
imports exhibit the noticeable feature of a greatly increased 
arrival of provisions, live and dead, and a great falling-off iu 
the cereals : — 
Month cudcd Oct, 10. 
From a Bingle grain of black oats, grown this year in tho 
gairien of Mr. John Gibb, in Friockheiin, no less than twentv- 
oue heads were produced, attached to twelve of which, and 
perfectly ripe, were nineteen hundred and tweuty pickles 
giving an average of one hundred and sixty to each. Inde- 
pendent of the twelve mentioned, there were found proceed- 
ing from tho same grain of seod, nine additional heads 
partially ripe, bearing one thousand and thirty-five pickles 
giving an average of 115 to each pickle. Still more extra- 
ordinary, three-fourths of the heads boro double seeds. So 
that iu reality the Bingle seed may bo said, with perfect truth, 
to have produced upwards of 6,000 grains, a circumstance 
which, wo are inclined to think, has no parallel in tho 
history of agriculture. This seed, wo are told, was dropped 
in the garden ground accidentally. The height of the stalks 
varied from four to five feet each . — A rbroath Guide. 
Oxen aud Bulls 
Sheep 
1853. 
8,730 
28,570 
2,070 
21,873 
1854. 
11.410 
40,815 
3,. 28 
41,085 
3,098 
7, 03 
2,950 
20,809 
4,410 
15,001 
01,247 
38,386 
46S. )08 
Harley 
60,472 
44,2'5 
90,187 
Flour 
403,540 
Decrease. 
173,763 
-’4,410 
207,203 
0,009,359 
There is a considerable falling-off n the importation of the 
raw material of our textile manufictures. For the month 
the relative quantities stand as follows : — 
1853. 1854. 
Flax, undressed. cwt. 253,0-’G 80,173 
FJaxTow — 01,310 40,424 
Hemp, undressed — 278,092 71,394 
Sheep mid Lambs’ Woool lb. 14.919,871 7.960,012 
Mangold Wurzel. — The following practical letter will 
doubtless be acceptable to our readers : — “ Considering as I 
do, that anything which tends to throw a light on the nature 
of the crops grown by farmers will be of interest to that 
class, I beg to give a short account of some experiments 
made with a view of determining the propriety of stripping 
off the leaves of mangold wurzel during the progress of the 
growth of the plant. When this root was first introduced, 
it was said to be doubly valuable, as its leaves could be 
stripped off when the plant had attained some size, aud 
given as green fcn>d to cattle, and a good weight of roots 
obtained also. This has been practised iu some parts of 
Eugland, and is at present done on the continent. Feeling 
assured that if the leaves were stripped off it must be to 
the detriment of the crop of roots, the following experiments 
were made in the Botanical Garden of the Royal Agricul- 
tural College, at Cirencester. Two rows of each of the follow- 
ing sorts, viz. : red globe, yellow globe, long red, long yellow, 
and long white were sown, without manure, on a soil very 
unfavourable for their growth, being a thin bed of cold clay 
land on a bmshy subsoil ; one row was stripped once of its 
loaves and the other left untouched. Tho following were 
the results : — 
Not stripped. 
311bs 
Stripped, 
L0S9. 
Bod Oh >l.o . . . 
Yellow Globe .. 
.... 131 
49 ..... 
Long Yellow .. 
35V 
.... 171 
Long White .. 
321 
... 19* 
... 13 
By this statement we see that the largest loss on stripping 
off was borne by the Long Red and Yellow Globe : the two 
sorts mostly grown by the farmers. In the Long Red we 
have a lo.--< of no less than 311bs., and on the Yellow Globe 
26 'lbs. The others also show the impropriety of stripping, 
although iu a less degree, and I think these experiments will 
Hiiffice to show the impropriety of stripping the leaves. I 
will now shortly give the reason. To those unacquainted 
with the physiology of plants, I must say that leaves fulfil 
most important functions; they are just as much the orgnns 
for promoting the growth of the plant ax the roots, and this 
applies equally to all plants. It is by means of the leaves 
that the carbonic iu the air, which is the serial food of plants, 
is decomposed, the carbou being retained to form the struc- 
ture of the plant, whilst the oxygen is again given oft' to be 
breathed by animals who return it to the air as carbonic acid. 
Thus this mutual interchange takes place : plants breathing 
carbonic acid and giving off oxygen, whilst animals breathe 
oxygen and give off carbonic acid. Now it must bo very 
evident to all that, if tho leaves are taken away, the plant 
lias only its roots to depend upon for nourishment, and 
these are inadequate by themselves to supply tho wants 
of the plant; and also when the leaves are off the plant 
is not benefftted by the refreshing dew. I also think 
that, as the leaves are the means by which the plant 
gets rid of the superfluous water in its organisation, by tho 
process of exhalation, the per centage of water in those 
roots which were stripped of leaves, will be greater than in 
the others : thus again lessening the real value, aud making 
the difference more evident. I propose making analyses of 
the roots, both stripped aud not, in order to determine the 
per centage of water, and I shall be happy to lay the results 
before the readers of the Exeter Gazette. — \V. Rolstone 
'Yhitewav, Jun. 
CATTLE. 
Cross-bred Sheep. — A friend of mine purchased twelve 
months back a number of Welsh mountain ewes, the average 
price being about 13s. each. They were immediately put to 
a strong Southdown ram, aud produced iu duo season Borne 
very strong and fine lambs. These being kept well, were 
soon fit for market, and when slaughtered weighed from 7 to 
lOlbs. a quarter, and sold at an average price of 20s. each. 
Some of the ewes have been killed off this autumn, aud 
realised, about the same amount. This I think is not a 
bad speculation, aud one which may be copied with advantage, 
especially by those who have hilly, poor land to manage. To 
see the lambs, especially the single ones after they were six 
weeks or two mouths old, was quite laughable, for some of 
them were larger than the dam, aud, as is too frequently tho 
case with overgrown children of the genus homo, looked liko 
sucking the parent iu good earnest. That the breed of small 
sheep should be much improved in size by crossing with 
larger rams is quite iu the nature of thiugs, for we see tho 
same effect from similar causes throughout the animal king- 
dom. An increase of size is certain, and I should imagiue a 
cross of the Southdown and Welsh mountain breeds could 
not bo bad in quality — at least of the lamb I cau speak from 
n “ knife and fork " experiment, aud it was excellent ; and 
perhaps iu the spring of next year I may be able to give a 
similar opiuion upon the mutton. — IF. P. Ayes, South Wales. 
THE DAIRY. 
The New England Farmer says, that at the Farmers’ Club 
in Boston, there was exhibited lately an artificial cow, con- 
structed for the purpose of weauing tho calf ! — a sham 
brindle, with sham teats, yielding milk and water ! But 
what’s to be done in the matter of weauing the cow herself, 
who mourns the loss of her darling as if she was gifted with 
reason? The invention, it is almost superfluous to add, 
came from Connecticut. 
THE STABLE. 
Carrots for Horses. — The stable-keepers are beginning 
to find that these vegetables form a cheap aud nutritious 
food to mix with grain for their horses. It is better to give 
a working horse a peck of carrots and four quarts of oats or 
corn-meal a day, than to give him six quarts of meal. 
THE POULTRY YARD. 
Derby Poultry Show. — Those who remember the gay 
appearance which Derby presented on the occasion of the 
poultry show of 1853, will be glad to learn that the same 
file which attracted so many visitors is about to be repeated 
this year with still brighter prospects of success. The 
entries to the exhibition are not only more numerous, but 
of a higher character. The winners c f ' last year must look 
well to their laurels. The Cottage Gardener lias intimated 
that success at Derby will point strongly to the prize at Bir- 
mingham, which prize, as our readers are aware, is regarded 
as the “ blue riband" of the poultry world. The journals 
devoted to poultry matters have awarded the very highest 
praise to the Dorkings of Derbyshire, aud to this class of 
birds great attention is now directed. Again, amateurs 
from all parts of the kingdom look to the Midland Counties 
for first-rate game fowls, and in these two fine classes of 
poultry great and close competition may be anticipated. 
Captain Hornby, of Knowsley, who has for successive sea- 
sons borne off the highest prizes at Birmingham, has sold 
his birds, and is prevented, by the conditions of sale, from 
exhibiting for some time to come ; but our readers will bo 
glad to learn that iu this county his stock of Dorkings is 
represented, and that in the Spanish classes lie lias found a 
rival in the magnificent birds belonging to Mr. Harrison, of 
Snelstou-hall. The entries for tho forthcoming show 
in the Dorking class, are no less thau sixty-eight pens as con- 
trasted with forty-three pens for last year, and in the 
game class we have fifty-eight entries, as compared with 
forty of last year, and they embrace birds belonging to 
some of the most distinguished breeders in the kingdom. 
It is quite a mistake to suppose that the interest iu theso 
exhibitions has passed away. Good fowls still fetch very 
high prices ; aud such is the improvement that has been 
effected by competition, that birds which, iu 1850, obtained 
prizes, would not at the present day succeed iu obtaining 
even a commendation. The Rev. Saul Dixon, in his very 
learned aud very charming book on " Domestic Poultry," 
published in 1850, stated that a fowl of any breed, weighing 
seven pound and a half, “ must be an unusually fine bird." 
Now, without referring to the gigantic Malay fowl, or to tho 
heavy Cochin, it is no uncommon thing to meet with Dork- 
ing fowls of a year old, that will weigh eight pounds ; and wo 
know of several that far exceed this amount. The prizes 
offered at our exhibition this year are liberal aud well-arranged. 
We also perceive tlint silver medals for first prizes may bo 
had in lieu of money ; these will be more acceptable than 
money to many competitors, and especially to the ladies. Wo 
hope to see the brilliant prize sparkling in tho possession 
of some beautiful belle of this county ; for, although we wel- 
come strangers to a trial of strength, aud will heartily yield 
to them the palm of victory, if merited, yot we confess to a 
yearning pride in behalf of this our noble county, and should 
rejoice to see the awards honourably won by Derbyshire com- 
petitors, even as we glow with triumphant feelings on read- 
ing the daring exploits of the Derbyshire regiment on tlio 
heights of Alma, or before the gory trenches of Sebastopol. 
The exhibition will come off in tho County Hall, on Thurs- 
day, November 30th, and the Friday following; and all who 
feel an interest (and who does not ?) in improvement, all who 
rejoice to see tho seal of successful exertion, who love beauty 
of form and richness of colour, and can derive pleasure from 
tlio manifestation of man s “ dominion," aud bis power, iu 
directing and modifying the organisation of the “ fowls of tho 
air,” may expect to realise a great treat upon the occasion. 
Salisbury Poultry Show. — The’ Salisbury and South- 
western Counties’ Fourth Auuual Exhibition of Domestic 
Poultry wan held in the Council-chamber, iu that city, 
