{ 254 3 
[April 1, 
PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. | 
RE 
SOCIEFY OF ARTS, COMMERCE, 
AND MANUFACTURES. 
HIS fociety, long diftimguithed for 
its liberal and patriotic exertions, 
have voted to J.C. Curwen, Efq. M. P. 
the gold medal, for various [mprevements 
in the BufinefS of Agriculture, which we 
fliall beietly notice in the order im. which 
they were taken up by the fociety.. The 
firft objet. was to. recommend the ufe of 
carrots as a fubfiitate for oats ; he fays, 
he had been accatiomed. to: allow each 
working horfe eight pounds of oats per 
day; that he caufed one half to. be taken 
away, and fupplied by au equal weight 
of carrots, which he continued fo long 
as the carrots lafted, and. it was generally 
admitted that the borfes improved in 
their condition upon this food. In a firft 
trial, au acre of carrots was found equal 
to twenty-three of oats, allowing {fixty 
Winchefier bufhels of oats per aere, and 
three ftone the buihel. Mr. Curwen’s 
method: is, on taking up the carrots, te 
cut a finall picee trom the top of each, 
to prevent it from vegetating ; theie he 
immediately ufed, The remainder were 
piled in rows, two: feet thick, and five - 
tect high, leaving room for the circula- 
tion of the as. Mx. C, admits that the 
expence of cultivating carrots 1s cenlider- 
able, viz. 154. peracre; yet, when they 
are ufed in part inftead of oats, he con- 
tends that they will moft abundantly re- 
pay the expences. 
Mr. Curwen’s fecond object has been 
to devife a Method of feeding Cows dur- 
ing the Winter Seafon, with a view to 
provide poor perfous and children with. 
milk at that time. The introductory ob- 
fervations and general hints thrown out 
by this gentleman do honour to his 
heart, whether his plan be or be not 
good. The food which he makes ufe of 
is cabbages, common and Swedifh tur- 
nips, kholrabi, and cole-feed; chaff, 
boiled, and. mixed: with refufe grain and 
oil-cake. He ufes ftraw, mitead of hay, 
for their fodder at mght. Mr. Curwen 
fays, the greateft ditnculty he had to 
eontend with was to prevent any decayed: 
leaves being given, and to fee that the 
ball of the turnip was the only part made 
ule of. ‘Thefe precautions béing attend- 
ed to, the milk and butter were exeel- 
Jent. Mr. C. has given in calculations 
to prove how profitable the method re- 
commended is to the proprietor, and 
how beneficial to the publie; bat is 
thefe we fhall not attempt to follow 
him. - f 
‘The third thing prepofed by Mr. Cur- 
wen, is an improved Drill Horfe-Hoe, 
or Weed- Harrow, in which the carriage 
wheels are to-be half the width of the 
butts,. or ftitches ; fo that once going up, 
and once returniag, will be fuficient to 
clear each butt from weeds. The hoe 
or harrow is attached by chains to the 
camage, and may be vaifed higher or 
funk lower, or placed: more on one fide 
or another as oecafion may require, by. 
altering the pofition of the cham. There 
are fix double rows of teeth or knives, 
which are fo placed'in the fraine that each 
double rew may pafs up the interval be- 
tween the rows of corm, and cut or pull 
up the weeds that grow in fuch intervals. 
without injuring the corn. Thefe knives: 
are firong, and have a fharp edge in 
front. ‘here are two handles, by which 
the perfon who. holds them may direct 
the knives or teeth of the harrow to pafs 
in Lraight lines up the intervals. Owing. 
to the fimplicity and: eafe with which - 
this machine is worked, a man and boy, 
with one horfe, are able to clean more 
than feven acres a day. rae he 
Ten guineas have beem granted to 
Mr. Crarres Wrirson, for a method ot 
Curing Damp Walls, by the application 
of the following competition : * Boil two. 
quarts of tar, with two ounces of kit- 
chen greafe, for a quarter of an hour in 
an iron: pot. Add fome of this tar toa 
mixture of flaked lime and powdered 
glafs, which have paffed through a flour 
fieve, and been completely dried over 
the fire in an iron pot, in the proportion 
of two parts of lime and one of glafs, 
till the mixture becomes of the confifi- 
ence of thin plafter.. Fhe cement mutt 
be ufed immediately after being mixed, 
and therefore it is proper not to mix 
more of it than will coat one {quare foot 
of wall, fince it quickly becomes tco 
hard for ufe; and care muft be taken to . 
prevent any moifture from mixing with 
the cement.” For a wall merely damp, 
a coating one-eighth of an inch thick 
will be fufficient ; but if the wall is wet, 
there mult be a fecond coat, Platter 
made of lime, hair, and plaiter of Paris, 
imay afterwards be laid on as a cement. 
‘Fhe cement above defcribed will unite 
the parts of Portland ftone or marble, 
fo as ‘to make them as durable as they 
were prior to the fracture. 
Among 
