1858. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
273 
made of it, did not exceed eight to fifteen dollars for a 
depth of twenty feet, including pump with .lead tube ; 
the cost of the iron cylinders is not mentioned, but if 
they are five inches inner diameter and half an inch 
thick, calculation would, show that they would weigh 
about 37 lbs. to the foot in length, and could not there¬ 
fore be afforded in many places in this country at less 
than a dollar per foot, unless made smaller and thinner. 
It may be that in soft earth, and especially soft sand, 
earthen tubing like drain tile, with the addition of 
glazing, might be strong enough, and might be adopted 
to great advantage, especially as some of the speakers 
at the mee ting stated that the use of iron had been found 
to impart a rusty appearance to clothes washed in the 
water. From the statements of other members, it ap¬ 
peared that some had found a serious inconvenience 
from corrosion in the use of iron pumps, while others 
had experienced, no evil whatever, owing undoubtedly 
to the difference in the water in different localities, and 
in the substances held in solution. The same difference 
had been found in the corrosion of lead pipes, some wa¬ 
ter not affecting them at all, and others eating them 
away in a few years. We have known a similar dif¬ 
ference in the effect of water in this country. But it 
may be laid down as a rule that should in no instance 
be departed from, that water from lead pipes should 
never be used for cooking or as drink, which remains 
any length of time stagnant in the pipe instead of mere¬ 
ly passing through. 
The preceding mode would be applicable to such lo¬ 
calities as contain large subterranean strata of water in 
beds of gravel, from which it pours out freely. There 
are many such, well determined, in regions where stone 
would not impede the sinking of the tubes. In other 
places where it is important to excavate large reservoirs 
for holding slowly collecting waters, this mode would 
not be applicable. 
Royal Ag. Society of England. 
The Fifteenth Annual Exhibition of this Society was 
held at Gloucester, on the 13th, 14th, and 15th July, 
and was considered upon the whole eminently successful. 
A very heavy rain, which continued for twenty-four 
hours without intermission, very considerably reduced 
the number of visitors. The number present on the 
first day was about 3,000—on the second, 10,424—and 
on the last not less than 40,000. 
The number of implements was unusually large and 
interesting—numbering 2,052 in all. Among these 
were no less than twelve reaping machines, which were 
all tried on a field of rye. Of these, six, including 
Bell’s, two of Mc-Cormick’s, and three of Hussey’s, 
were selected for farther trial during harvest, under the 
direction of Mr. Pusey. 
In the exhibition of stock, says the North British 
Agriculturist, “ the number of cattle was 199; of hor¬ 
ses, 97; of sheep, 292; of pigs, 149; total, 737. These 
numbers, taking into account the large and varied list 
of premiums, must be regarded as somewhat meagre. 
The admirers of a full exhibition have accounted for 
this paucity of number, by the new rule of the Society 
against over feeding. This we subjoin, “All animals 
sent for exhibition which shall, in the opinion of the 
jury, be in an overfed condition, will be disqualified by 
a jury before inspection by the judges; and a placard be 
placed over the standing of every animal that shall be 
so disqualified, stating the reason of such disqualifica¬ 
tion.” We consider this the most judicious and im¬ 
portant rule ever introduced into a show-yard. It is 
notorious that many of the very best animals have been 
rendered useless for breeding by being overfed for our 
National Exhibitions. This rule, which many regard 
as extremely obnoxious, and which will possibly be 
attempted to be set aside, will, if steadily adhered to, 
lead to the abandonment of the practice of overfeeding.” 
Experiments with Poudrette. 
Messrs. Editors : —As all who till the soil are inte¬ 
rested in the subject of manures, let me give you the 
partial result of some experiments tried during the 
few past years. 
In the first place, I had a lawn of about an acre in 
extent, which had hitherto yielded only a light crop of 
grass, and which became quite dry and brown during 
mid-summer. As it was not convenient for me to 
break it up and seed down afresh, I determined last 
spring to try the value of some kind of top-dressing; 
and as sufficient barn-yard manure could not be had 
for this purpose, I resorted to the following expedi¬ 
ents : 
Dividing my grounds into several portions, I spread 
on the first part a light dressing of poudrette, (at the 
rate of about fifteen bushels to an acre)—on the second 
a more liberal dressing, with the addition of a compost 
made of a little barn manure mixed with rotted sods 
and other refuse ; on the third a heavy coat of pou¬ 
drette, (at the rate of thirty busdels co the acre,) with 
the addition of unleached ashes sufficient to cover the 
poudrette, and on the fourth a good dressing of ashes 
alone. 
The grass throughout the whole lawn came up earli¬ 
er, and grew more vigorously than it did last year. In 
the first part it was lightest, and most infested with 
weeds. The second and third gave a very good crop of 
hay, the difference between them being hardly percept- 
tible. The fourth was a little better than the first. I 
ought to add that my soil is a clayey loam, inclining to 
become parched and cracked in summer. 
So far as a judgment can be formed at this season of 
the year, and from a single experiment, I think there 
can be no doubt of the value of poudrette as a top¬ 
dressing for grass. On stiff, dry soils, a good compost 
from the barn-yard might be preferable, as that, by 
mechanical action, loosens the ground and protects the 
tender roots of the grass from the heats of the mid¬ 
summer sun. This region, (Oneida Go.,) is now, (July 
25th,) suffering from a severe drouth, and yet my lawn 
looks much fresher than it did in the midst of a simi¬ 
lar drouth last year. 
I have tried poudrette also in my garden, on corn, 
beans, asparagus, pumpkins, squashes, grape-vines, &c. 
In the growth of corn, squashes, and beans, there is, 
