THE CULTIVATOR. 
125 
much as the breaking up of one of our great rivers in 
the spring, or at the time of a sudden freshet, which 
sweeps the fields of their ripened crops, when down 
come cakes of ice of all imaginable shapes, tumbling 
over each other, and logs and slabs, and broken fences 
and parts of buildings, and countless other things, 
mingling in all possible confusion, and all driving with 
an irresistible impetuosity to the ocean. But there is 
this difference, that here in the streets of London, 
crowded as they are, and presenting continually oppos¬ 
ing currents and eddies and whirls, there is no confu¬ 
sion or rubbing or chafing, but all get on with good 
humor and quiet. The omnibus drivers in London seem 
to me the perfection of ‘‘whips,” and the very personi¬ 
fication of skill and discretion in their particulart art; 
and though I have rode miles and miles on the box 
with them, and on some occasions where the street 
was filled with a continuous string of all sorts of car¬ 
riages and vehicles, four deep, from the chariot of the 
peer to the wagon of the coal-heaver and the donkey 
barrow of the dog-meat seller, I have never seen any 
entanglement, any ininning against each other, nor heard 
a single profane or rude word on any occasion. This 
certainly speaks well for the people. The law of cour¬ 
tesy and civility reigns supreme among all classes of 
them; neither by day or evening, and I have been in 
all parts of the city, have I seen, but in one instance, a 
single act of quarreling, and that a case of absolute 
drunkenness and degradation; and not even at Epsom, 
where I attended the races, and where, it would seem 
to me, on the day of the great stakes a hundred thou¬ 
sand people were assembled. Undoubtedly there is vice 
enough in London, and parts of it are, as is to be ex¬ 
pected, festering with moral corruption; but these facts 
speak volumes in the praise of the people, and show 
the admirable character of their police, and the advantages 
which come from making manners a study. 
You and my agricultural friends in the country will 
be happy to hear that I have been received here by the 
distinguished friends of agricultural improvement with 
the most cordial welcome, and am promised the most 
ready and ample aid and encouragement to my inquiries. 
I have already been a good deal in the country, and after 
this week, leave the vicinity of London for some 
months. I am not disposed to institute any invidious 
comparisons between this country and my own, for I 
see no grounds for such comparisons. However sepa¬ 
rated in their location, their interests are coincident and 
the same; and I venture to say that no conviction im¬ 
presses itself more strongly upon the mind of a wise 
and humane man, when he comes here, than the unna¬ 
turalness of enmity or war between two such countries. 
United as they are by a common origin, a common lan¬ 
guage, and a universal interest in the maintenance of 
peace and good will. My mission is regarded with fa¬ 
vor, and I shall spare no pains to render it as useful as 
my limited ability will enable me to do, to my country. 
Agriculture is pursued here with an intelligence, spirit 
and liberality which are most remarkable and delight¬ 
ful ; much has already been done, and the most valua¬ 
ble results are to be confidently expected. Our country 
must share in the benefit, and the fire kindled and kept 
burning so brightly here, must extend its light and heat 
to both hemispheres. 
I shall keep my friends in America advised of my 
whereabouts and whatabouts; and any letters directed to 
me at London, care of Baring, Brothers & Co., will be 
duly received. The steamboat postage, however, must 
be paid in America, in order to their being sent. 
With all good wishes, I am yours, truly and respect¬ 
fully, Henry Colman. 
COUNT DE GOURCY’S AGRICULTURAL TOUR. 
It is not often the public are favored with a v'olume 
of agricultural travels; but we have now before us the 
recorded observ'ations of a French nobleman, who vis¬ 
ited England in 1842, for the purpose of making himself 
acquainted with their modes of husbandry, and who 
traversed the kingdom in all directions for this purpose. 
The Count is evidently a passionate votary of agricul¬ 
ture, a man of talent, and xvho has made as few mistakes 
in his observations as could well be expected from a 
stranger to the country and the language. We should 
be disposed to quote largely from this Agricultural Tour, 
were it not that our friend Mr. Colman, with equal or 
greater facilities for observation, is now employed on 
the same ground, and that we may expect from him 
such accounts as will be more useful to us as Americans. 
We shall therefore only glean such facts as strike us the 
most forcibly in the perusal, or such subjects as ire most 
frequently the ground of comment among farmers in this 
country. 
One thing that arrests the attention of the American 
farmer at once, is the rate of expenditure or the capi¬ 
tal employed by British farmers. The notices are fre¬ 
quent, in which the payment for manure per acre is from 
$20 to $30, and the rent per acre from £2 to £8. To 
meet such expenditures of capital, the crops must be 
abundant, and the prices high. Such is the case, as is 
evident from the Tour, and indeed from the concurrent 
testimony of all other observers. The average of the 
wheat crop of England per acre has been estimated at 
23 bushels; in the United States, the average would 
range between 12 and 15 bushels per acre. Yields of 
50 bushels per acre are as common there as 35 are here; 
and the produce of barley and oats is in about the same 
ratio. Climate may have some influence in this great 
productiveness, but skillful farming more. In a large 
part of England, the soil on farms constantly cultivated 
has for many years been increasing in fertility, and the 
idea of exhaustion of soils, under propercultivation, is 
scouted as absurd. 
Another cause of the greater product of English 
farms, is to be found, perhaps, in the much greater 
quantities of seed they use. From 2^ to 3^ bushels of 
wheat per acre are commonly sown; and the same libe¬ 
rality is observed with other grains, and with grass 
seeds. It is evident that such seeding would be useless, 
except on lands veryi-ich, and prepared in the best man¬ 
ner. In seeding to grass, the English farmer goes on 
the maxim that where grass does not grow, weeds will, 
and his object is to occupy the ground fully with the 
former. Thus the Tour states that Mr. Bates, the cele¬ 
brated breeder, in stocking his meadows or pastures, 
“ sows 5 lbs. of cow grass, 5 lbs. white clover, and half 
a bushel of rye grass per acre; or if alone, 2 lbs. of hop 
clover and 12 lbs. of red clover per acre.” 
One of the most interesting visits made by the Count, 
was to the farm of Mr. Fisher Hobbs, a young man ed¬ 
ucated to the business of farming, and who the year pre¬ 
vious received no less than 41 premiums from various 
agricultural societies. He states that good farmers in 
Leicestershire or Sulfolk, who receive pupils, receive 
from them annually from $400 to $500. Mr. Hobbs used 
to breed Short Horned cattle, but he has changed them 
for Herefords, believing the latter better adapted to that 
neighborhood. He thinks they fatten more readily than 
the others, but the Short Horned are superior for milk. 
All his farm arrangements and implements were of the 
most superior kind, and the best wheat seen in England 
was on his farm. 
One of the most extensive breeders of Short Horns in 
England is Earl Spencer, formerly Lord Althorp, and no 
one has taken more pains to preserve the purity of the 
breed, or improve it, than he. His herd numbers 380, 
and a pedigree of the whole is kept with the greatest 
care. He has never sold any cows, not having as yet 
got the number of the same stock he wishes to keep. 
Bulls and cows that do not bi’eed, are the animals sold 
from this herd. He sold a cow that did not breed to a 
farmer, who, though aware of the fact, gave £30 for 
her, and she afterwards produced several most valuable 
calves. Change of situation and less nourishing food 
was considered the cause, and Earl Spencer has profited 
by the hint, where cows have been indisposed to breed. 
The calves have milk for the first three months; after¬ 
wards, skim milk, with barley or oatmeal. In breeding 
cattle or sheep, Earl Spencer does not reject an animal 
because it has one great defect, provided it has other 
important qualities, but such a one must be bred to an 
animal that possesses the quality in which it fails in the 
highest degree possible. A descent of five generations 
from an animal of merit is deemed by him a good pedi¬ 
gree. 
At Ferraby, he called on that excellent farmer and 
breeder, Mr. Watson; examined his beautiful Short 
Horns and Leicesters, and his system of farming gene¬ 
rally. Mr. W. gives no hay to his horses, but feeds them 
on oats in the straw, cut into chaff. When under hard 
work, a small quantity of ground oats or barley is given 
in addition. He works oxen extensively, preferring for 
this purpose the Devons. He sows from 100 to 200 acres 
of turneps each year, each acre being manured with 12 
bushels of bones and from 17 to 20 bushels of ashes, 
mixed with night soil. On land intended for wheat, he 
lays and spreads the dung two or three months before 
breaking it up. His wheat averages him about 30 bush¬ 
els, and his barley about 40 bushels per acre. The soil 
is good, but much of it is not more than six inches deep, 
on limestone or chalk. 
At North Allerton, he attended the meeting of the 
Yorkshire Agricultural Society, one of the best institu¬ 
tions in England; Lord Spencer presided. The dinner 
was laid for 1700. “ The toasts, given with three times 
three, according to the English fashion, occupied a long 
time, and were very tiresome; the greater number of 
the speeches were long, and contained nothing but com¬ 
pliments, ill timed.” We can readily credit this asser¬ 
tion of the Count, for in reading the reports of the 
speeches given at similar meetings, in the English jour¬ 
nals, we have often been reminded of the saying, that 
“ when the wine was in, the wit was out.” The show 
of animals was fine. 
The Short Horn stock of Mr. Bates of Kirkleavington, 
a name better known to our breeders than any other, ex¬ 
cited his unqualified admiration. The Count gives an 
interesting account of the manner in which Mr. Bates 
has drained and reclaimed his farm, which consists of 
1,000 acres of heavy, wet, clay land. His land, so 
drained, produces excellent crops, particularly of hay 
and pasture. His meadow he manures every third year 
with fifteen tons of rotten manure per acre, and the same 
quantity every sixth year is given to his pasture land. 
The manure is put on the meadows as soon as the hay 
comes off, in moist weather, and is brushed into the land 
with a heax'y drag, made of thorns. Mr. B. keeps all 
his cattle in the house in winter, and his bull calves all 
the year round, experience teaching him this is much 
the best course. He asserts that one acre of clover, cut 
green for animals, will feed three times the number that 
it would if pastured. Of the farm of Mr. B., 600 acres 
are divided into twelve rotations of 50 acres each. First 
year, fallow; second, wheat; third, clover and rye 
grass; fourth, fallow; fifth, wheat; sixth, beans; sev¬ 
enth, fallow; eighth, wheat; ninth and tenth, grass; 
eleventh, oats; twelfth, beans. 
At Mr. Jobson’s, near Chillingham, he found beautiful 
cattle and fine crops. Mr. J. gives his married laborers 
a house, a small garden, a portion of land prepared and 
manured for potatoes, 28 bushels of oats, 20 bushels bar¬ 
ley, 7 bushels of peas and beans, 3 bushels of wheat, pas¬ 
turage for a cow, 23 cxvt. of hay, and as much as he re¬ 
quires of straw and turneps, in lieu of hay, and £4 in 
money. Every married laborer is obliged to find a bond 
servant to work during his service, to whom Mr. Jobson 
pays ten pence per day, and in harvest a shilling. It is 
unnecessary to say that the wife is not unfrequently the 
bond servant of the contract. At Chillingham park he^ 
saw the celebrated herd of wild cattle which have occu-* 
pied it for centuries. They are all white, and more wild 
than the deer. Of the cattle there are 1.30, of the deer 
about 500. The system of farming adopted by the Messrs. 
Jobson is very complete, and here the Count found a 
beautiful bull from Mr. Bates’ stock. The manner in 
which capital is employed in farming is well illustrated 
in the case of Mr. Hoggart, near Coldstream in Scotland, 
Mr. H. is a young man, and took his farm for only 15 
years. He expended at once, $20,000 in draining, em¬ 
banking, ditching, liming, &c., and employs a capital of 
.$25,000 in carrying on the farm, stock, &c. The fii’st 
five years he makes nothing; the second five years he 
receives a return of his expenditures, and will net $25,000 
on the third five years. It is nothing uncommon where 
the lease is for only 20 years, to expend from 5 to 15,000 
dollars in draining. 
At Maybol, in Scotland, he visited the farm of Mr. 
Fandley, which he found in fine condition. Wheat ave¬ 
raged 38 bushels, and the oats 60 per acre. He keeps 
from 34 to 36 fine Ayrshire cows. Many yield 35 quarts, 
and some have reached 45 quarts per day during the best 
of the season. Mr. F. makes about 200 lbs. of butter 
per week. In seeding his lands to grass, he sows 12 lbs. 
of red clover, 8 of white, 4 of hop clover, and 70 lbs. 
of English r 3 ’e gi’ass, per acre. The herbage from such 
a quantity of seeds, is from the first of the best kind. 
He visited the establishment of Mr. Smith at Deanston, 
whose factories and farms are all on a magnificent scale, 
and managed with equal success. Mr. Smith is the in¬ 
ventor of many valuable agricultural implements, such as 
Wilkie’s turn-wrest plow, and he first constructed a plow 
for the purpose of subsoiling. In subsoiling, Mr. Smith 
cuts a furrow six inches deep and nine inches wide, fol¬ 
lowed by another plow, which only stirs, without bring¬ 
ing the subsoil to the surface. In the dairy, flat round 
pans of zinc are used. The cows are Ayrshire. One of 
his large manufactories, some eighty feet in height, is 
I'oofed with bitumen, on which eai’th to the depth of a 
foot is placed, and thus converted into a garden. The 
Messrs. Drummond of Sterling, have one of the most ex¬ 
tensive agricultural museums, containing all kinds of 
farming implements, seeds, &c. &c. to be found in Eu¬ 
rope. The establishment is admirably managed, and has 
effected vast good in improving agriculture in almost eve¬ 
ry district of Scotland. The extensive plantations of 
larch, fir, pine and oak of the Duke of Athol, attracted 
his notice. The late Duke planted 100 acres annually, 
for 60 years, and before his death had sold timber to the 
amount of $150,000. 
On the form of Mr. Watson at Keylor, in the north of 
Scotland, he saw very much to admire. This gentleman 
feeds large numbers of South Downs and Leicesters, and 
has many cattle. He keeps about 20 of the mountain or 
highland cows, which he breeds to a Short Horn bull, 
and it is astonishing to witness the results of this cross 
of a large male with small females. The success in eve¬ 
ry respect is beyond a doubt. Mr. W. sows little wheat, 
as it does not ripen well. Grain of all kinds is reaped 
by the sheaf, three pence for two dozen, and a guage is 
used to determine the size of the sheaves. The grain 
when put is bound and set up, two rows of five each, 
capped with two others, making the dozen. Such is the 
weather in this part of Scotland, that the grain is not fit 
to stack in a number of days, and last year the reaping 
was not all done before December. The mean produce 
of barley and oats, which are the most grown, is about 
38 bushels. Mr. Watson lakes pupils to instruct in farm¬ 
ing. Two young men of good family wei-e with him, 
who pay 300 guineas for the first year, and 200 the fol¬ 
lowing years. His terms are high, to prevent too many 
applicants. 
We cannot follow the Count in his travels farther; as 
we have given enough to show how English agriculture 
strikes a foreigner; and as we hope to have the privi¬ 
lege hereafter of detailing the progress of an American 
farmer over the same country. 
Multi COLE Rye. —This is the name given to a plant, 
a native of Poland, which has been introduced into cul¬ 
tivation with great success in the south of France, and 
of which the following account is given in the London 
Farm. Magazine:—“It grows on common soil suited to 
the old fashioned rye, but its habits are totally different. 
By the reports of above thirty respectable agriculturists 
near L’Orient, who have cultivated it for the past two 
years, it does best when sown the 1st of June. Its growth 
is most rapid. Two crops of it are before July cut for 
hay, and by the 15lh of August, a grain crop is reaped. 
The straw is from 8 to 10 feet high, and the ear from 10 
to 18 inches long. An account of this rye may be found 
in the “ Transactions” published by the French Minister 
of Agriculture, &c.” Would not this variety of spring 
rye be worthy of trial in those parts of our country where 
other grasses are dilRcult of growth, on soils rather sandy 
and light, but which if in good condition, are the best 
for this grain. The growth, if correctly stated, is truly 
surprising, 
