1847. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
11 
AGRICULTURE AND RURAL ECONOMY OF EUROPE. 
[It is with great pleasure that we are enabled to 
present our readers this month, with the commencement 
of a new series of Letters from our esteemed and capa- 
ble fellow-countryman, Prof. Norton, who, as we an¬ 
nounced in our last, has again visited Europe, after 
spending two years with Prof. Johnston, at Edinburgh, 
to spend a year more with the most eminent chemists 
on the continent of Europe, in order the better to pre¬ 
pare himself for the Professorship of Agricultural Che¬ 
mistry, to which he has been appointed in Yale Col¬ 
lege. We look with great confidence to the establish¬ 
ment of this professorship, for the most important re¬ 
sults to American agriculture, knowing as we do, the 
high qualifications and sound practical views of Mr. 
Norton.—-Eds.] 
THE GREAT FALKIRK TRYST. 
Edinburgh, Scotland, Oct. 15, 1846. 
Messrs. Editors —It is not yet a month since I 
left America, and at that time the trees retained their 
summer hues, while the air was mild, clear, and de¬ 
lightful. Here I have dropped into the midst of the 
fogs, rains, chills, and mud, which became so familiar 
during my former residence. It has rained more or 
less every day since I have landed. 
. My stay in Scotland will, at this time be short, and 
I have but little time, therefore, to devote to ob¬ 
servation of the country. One or two excursions I have 
already made, and hope to make one or two more. 
On Monday last I accompanied my friend Mr. Jones, 
an Irish gentleman, who has been studying for more than 
a year in Prof. Johnston’s laboratory, to the Falkirk 
October Tryst. Tryst is a Scottish name for a fair, 
and the Falkirk Trysts are the largest in the country. 
There is one in the spring, one at midsummer, and one 
in the autumn, between the 10th and 20th of October. 
The October Tryst is generally the largest, and is held 
during two or three days. The first day is devoted to 
sheep, and the second to cattle and horses. Falkirk is 
about half way between Edinburgh and Glasgow, an 
old and very dirty town, with nothing interesting except 
its antiquity and the fact that one of Wallace’s battles 
was fought in its neighborhood. 
We arrived there by railway from Edinburgh, and 
walked to the fair ground on the Muir of Stenhouse, 
a very large, open field, about three miles beyond the 
town. It has been occupied for this purpose during 
many years, being well manured by the animals brought 
for sale. Alternate crops of oats and grass are grown 
under certain restrictions as to the quantity sown at 
once, and the time of harvest. That is, the ground 
must be cleared before a specified day. 
The day on which we attended was the sheep day. 
From 70 to 100,000 sheep are usually brought forward, 
and from 30 to 50,000 cattle. They come from every 
part of Scotland, even the most remote islands, so that 
every variety of breed peculiar to the country is to be 
seen. On this occasion the number of sheep on the 
ground was not so large as usual; the demand for 
them is now great, and the buyers had met many flocks 
on the roads, and turned them aside from their destina¬ 
tion. The number however, was still very far beyond 
anything that I have ever seen. I could not make even 
a satisfactory guess on the subject. The scene was to 
me new and peculiar. The drovers, wrapped in their 
plaids, stood each over his own flock, and aided by his 
dogs generally contrived to keep it separate from all 
others ; most of them spoke Gaelic, and when they gbt 
into dispute, which was not unfrequently, gave utter¬ 
ance, with abundance of gesticulation, to series of exe¬ 
crations and epithets, which sounded emphatic at least. 
Some stray sheep was continually darting off toward 
another flock, and the office of guardian was no sine- 
pure. The colleys or shepherds’ dogs, appeared to en¬ 
joy the business highly, and to understand what they 
were about almost as well as their masters. Their in¬ 
telligence is really astonishing ; I saw several who, 
when all their efforts to turn a fugitive sheep failed, 
gave up offensive measures and confined themselves to 
keeping near to it, following it into the midst of a 
strange flock, and remaining quietly by its side until 
some of the shepherds should come and catch it. Oc¬ 
casionally a young and imperfectly trained dog, in his 
enthusiasm transcended his duty, and thwarted the in¬ 
tention of his master ; he always seemed, however, to 
become speedily aware of his error, and slunk away 
crest-fallen and abashed. The bargains are invariably 
cemented by a gill or more of whiskey between the 
seller and purchaser. There are tents erected for the 
purpose, where they sit and drink quantities of undiluted 
whiskey that would seem almost incredible in any other 
than a Highlander. 
It is said that during the last thirty years, there has not 
been so entire a clearance of stock on the second day as 
on this occasion. Such was the demand for drovers to 
go to the south, that none could be engaged under $1.00 
or $1.25 per day. It may interest your readers to 
know the prices obtained, at what is considered a re¬ 
markably good fair here. Black faced wethers brought 
from $3.50 to $7.50 ; one lot of 300 was sold at the 
latter price. Black Faced ewes from $3.25 to $4.00. 
Cheviot wethers brought from $7.00 to $8.50 ; one 
lot of 1,800 and another of 1,000 at the latter price. 
Cheviot ewes from $5.50 to $6.25. Tups were 
chiefly black-faced, and brought from $10.50 to $25. 
Cattle, three year old West Highlanders, Aberdeen¬ 
shire, Skye, Polled, &c., brought from $25 to $50. 
Some very fine two year olds brought nearly as much 
as. the latter price. These were mostly for feeding 
Some fat cattle brought $106. Cows were from $38 
to $68. Horses from $29 to $190. One fine pair of 
dfauglit horses brought $380. 
Guano. —I have formerly written respecting the 
analyses of guano, made in the laboratory of the Agri¬ 
cultural Chemistry Association here. It is now some¬ 
what difficult to obtain this substance of good quality, 
and the dealers are bringing forward some extraordinary 
samples, picked up by ships searching every part of the 
African, and South American coasts. An analysis of a 
very singular one, lately made here, is now lying before 
me. Its composition is as follows : 
per cent 
Moisture,. 15.29 
Water of combination,. 14.31 
Sulphate of Alumina, .. 26.55 
Alumina and Oxide of Iron,.. 5.12 
Gypsum,. 0.59 
Magnesia,.........trace 
Alkaline matter, .. 1.09 
Insoluble Siliceous matter,.. 36.50 
99.45 
This substance, it will be perceived, cannot be called 
a guano at all. There is no ammonia, and there is no 
phosphate of lime these two ingredients constitute 
