iillWIHIWhil'SiiHil fl^ifltl I^ITH mTm A SEEiiES OF ALBERT R. MANN LIBRARY New York State Colleges OF Agriculture and Home Economics AT Cornell University The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924084839202 PRACTICE WITH SCIENCE A SERIES OF AGRICULTURAL PAPERS. VOL. 1. LONDON LONGMANS, GEEEN, READER, & DYER 1867. EDINBURGH: T. CONSTABLE, PRINTER TO THE QTJEEN, AND TO THE UNIVERSITY. PRACTICE WITH SCIEKCE. CONTENTS OF No. I. I. — Agkicultural Education, considered in con- nexion WITH THE EOYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY, 1 By the E.ev. John Constable, M A., Principal of the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester. II. — Agricultural Drainage : the Theory of Under- Drainage as accepted by a Practical Man, . -2, 1 A Lecture delivered at the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester. By J. Bailey Denton, M. Inst., C.B. III. — Ploughs and Ploughing, . . . 4.5 A Lecture delivered at the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester. By J. E. Ransome, of Ipswich. IV. — Eeport of Wheat Experiments, 1863-1864, 99 By Arthur H. Church, M.A. Oxon, F.C.S., Professor of Chemistry, Royal Agricultural College. * v.— Farmyard Poultry : Profits and Management, 113 By John Algernon Clarke. VI. — Dairy Farming. By J. T. Harrison, Esq., . 141 n CONTENTS. PA UK VII. — Notes on some of the circumstances which de- termine THE Agricultural Value of the Natural Phosphates, with a brief account of the present methods of analysing them, 191 By Eobert Warington, Jun., Assistant to the Professor of Chemistry, T ""yal Agricultural College, Cirencester. VIII. — On the Working of Steam- Engines expansively, 207 By the Rev. John Constable, M.A., Principal of the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester. IX.— On Leases, 219 A Lecture delivered at the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester, March 1864. By R. G. Welford, Esq. (now Judge of the County Court of Warwickshire, at Birmingham.) PRACTICE WITH SCIEI^CE. CONTENTS OF No. II, PAGE I. — On Leases, . . . .253 A Lecture delivered at the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester. By R. G. Welford, Esq., Judge of the County Court of Warwickshire, at Birmingham. II. — On Eotation of Ceops, .... 293 A Lecture delivered at the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester. By Robert Russell, of Pilmuir, Leven, Fife. III. — On the Capillaky Action of Soils, . .315 By John Wrightson, F.C.S., Professor of Agriculture in the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester. IV. — Eepoet of JLxpbeiments on the Solubility of Phosphates, . . . . .325 By R. Warington, Jun., F.C.S., Assistant to the Pro- fessor of Chemistry, Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester. V. — Eepoet OF Wheat ExPEEiMENTS, 1865-1866, . 339 By Arthur H. Church, M.A. Oxon, F.C.S., Professor of Chemistry, Royal Agricultural College. IV CONTENTS. PAGE VI. — Eepoet of some Experiments in Agricultural Chemistry carried out in the Laboratory of THE EoYAL Agricultural College, . .343 By Arthur H. Church, M.A. VII. — Eepoet OF Wheat Experiments, 1866, . 361 By John Wrightson, F.C.S., Professor of Agriculture in the Koyal Agricultural College, Cirencester. VIII. — Eeport on the Early Sowing of Wheat, . 369 By Kobert Smith, Emmett's G-range, South Molton. IX.— Notes ON the Cultivation of Anthyllis Vul- neraria, ....... 379 By the Kev. John Constable, M.A., Principal of the Eoyal Agricultural College, Cirencester. X. — On the Hydraulic Eam, . . . .383 By the Eev. John Constable, M.A. Index, . , ... 402 AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION CONSIDERED IN CONNEXION WITH THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. REV. JOHN CONSTABLE, M.A, PR[NCIPAL OP THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, CIRENCESTER. AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION. It is considered by most men of education and intelligence, that we cannot too early in life accustom the mind to exact forms of expression and thought by the study of those lan- guages which are called " dead," because no longer in a state of transition. And it cannot be questioned that such studies have a double advantage; besides giving a necessary and healthy discipline to the mind, they most assuredly cultivate and adorn it. The same may be said in a certain degree of the study of mathematics. If, however, a long and well-tried experiment has proved the value of these studies, ai'e we pre- cluded from discussing the possible existence of other instru- ments for the attainment of the same end ? The great mass of educators say, " Let well alone." Why abandon old methods of instruction that have long thoroughly answered their purpose, for others uncertain in their operation ? It is easy at all times to fall back upon ' experience' as an excuse for absence of desire of progress; and possibly the higher educators have not condescended to consider in an unbiassed manner the wants of those classes, the object of whose education is to fit them for practical business results. It is easy to put aside the whole question with the assertion, that for all purposes of life there can be no such useful pre- paration as a general, comprehensive, and liberal education ; but in these days, when the occupations are numerous which 4 ON AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION. require an extent and intricacy of knowledge such that no man can possibly secure it without a laborious special training, it becomes a question of moment and deep interest how much of this general education can be dispensed with. The Council of the Eoyal Agricultural Society has for some time been engaged in considering how the Society can best promote the education of those who depend for their support upon the cultivation of the soil Themselves men of education, they argue that to stimulate youth to the acquisition of special knowledge with- out the guarantee of the possession of a sound and liberal edu- cation, would be encouraging empirical knowledge, detrimental to the individual, and useless to the State ; and this principle is true in the abstract. Special knowledge can only be advan- tageously used by a man of judgment, and no one would find fault with the Society for declining to bestow merit on the possessor of mere knowledge, if deficient in the power of using it with discretion ; but just as the Highland Society has in its late regulations decided not to inquire into the processes by which the mind of the student who comes up for examination has been formed, contenting itself with testing its quality at the time when it presents itself, so am I inclined to say that the Eoyal Agricultural Society of England would not do any great harm by the encouragement of sound, special information, if possessed by a mind capable of using it with advantage, no matter how trained. It is possible, I argue, for men to be too rigidly trammelled by right notions. Is it quite inconceivable that no studies but those which are termed fixed, can give that desirable strength and tone to the mind of the agriculturist on which the structure of after life has to be buUt ? Granted that expe- rience has taught us the highest form of study, are all lesser forms, especially such as have grown up within the last five- ON AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION. 5 and- twenty years, to be sneered at and disregarded ? Because gold is the better metal, is therefore silver useless ? Iron for a girder is stronger than wood ; but wood serves the purpose well in thotisands of cases. The dead languages educate our statesmen, warriors, and divines, as nothing else can educate them ; but many a man may be useful in his generation, and successful in his calling, without the eloquence and literary polish of a scholar. The requirements of the middle class may be met hy other studies than those of the dead languages. To assert this is not for one moment to deny that, for the higher forms of success in all employments, the long established and recognised basis is the best ; it is merely to say literary polish is no great object in middle- class education; indeed it may be questioned whether scholarship and polish are not to a certain extent alien from most money-making occupations. The possessors of money, rank, and influence are the polished shafts of society, and to make the building beautiful we cannot adorn these shafts too greatly; but the granite rocks upon which these pillars rest, the floor on which their shadows fall, need no such outlay, or if they have it, soon lose it in the hard, rough traffic of busy life. To sketch boldly the difference be- tween the Oxford and Cambridge systems, one might say the former makes scholars, the latter men for the business of life ; for, perhaps, statistics would disclose that Cambridge produces by far the larger proportion of successful money-maldng uni- versity men. The main drift of the Cambridge system is to form and strengthen the intellect, so that it may grapple with the difficulties of practical life, and it does this by the study of pure mathematics. Living examples are not wanting to illustrate my meaning. Of how many eminent Cambridge men could it be said, as was said of a distinguished Oxford scholar and divine, by a 6 ON AGRICULTUKAL EDUCATION. dragoman in Palestine, " Ah ! he is a heavenly man ; he does not know a shilling from a sixpence !" Put a well educated Cambridge man to any business in life, he has a fair chance of becoming eminent, while the high Oxonian has quali- ties solely for the more polished walks. It may be the habit of Oxford men to sneer at the want of scholarship in a graduate of the sister university, but it is a question whether the ordinary arithmetic of thousands of artisans in our manufacturing districts would not sorely puzzle many an Oxford Don. All such considerations show the great necessity of studying the questions, What do the middle classes required And how can it be given them ? They want the rudiments of an ordinary English education, their judgments strengthened, their powers of reasoning developed, and their minds well stored with that special training which their employments and the excessive competitions of trade necessitate ; and the question is, Cannot all this be done without a laborious study of the dead languages ? The reply which we hope this question will receive will be, " It can." In the requisites for the middle class, scholarship and polish have been omitted, and surely it will not be con- tended that these are essential for business pursuits. And yet it would be an unwise concession to admit that there are no other tools within the reach of the middle classes capable of rasping off the roughnesses of character, and toning education by their influence. Eeligious training, when solid and real, is well known far to outstrip all other competitors in this task. The man living under the influence of religious precepts, however humble in rank he may be, exemplifies in his conduct many of those qualities which, in the opinion of aU, go far to make the gentleman. Who would wish to be accredited with the pos- ON AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION. 7 session of more gentlemanly traits than those sketched by Cowper as the strong features of the Christian ? " Here see, acquitted of all vain pretence, The reign of genuine Charity commence ; Though scorn repay her sympathetic tears, She still is kind, and still she perseveres ; The truth she loves, a sightless world blaspheme, — 'Tis childish dotage, a delirious dream ; The danger they discern not, they deny, Laugh at their only remedy, and die : But still a soul, thus touch'd, can never cease, Whoever threatens war, to speak of peace ; Pure in her aim and in her temper mild, Her wisdom seems the weakness of a child •, She makes excuses where she might condemn, Reviled by those that hate her, prays for them; Suspicion lurks not in her artless breast, The worst suggested, she believes the best ; Not soon provoked, however stung and teased, And, if perhaps made angry, soon appeased, She rather waives than wiU dispute her right. And, injured, makes forgiveness her delight. " With such a help as this, shall we need to fly to the pages of classic lore ? Nay, rather may we not, with a class where the time for education is so limited — wliere all is supposed to be over at sixteen years, may we not wisely depend upon mathematics and the natural sciences to discipline and invi- gorate their intellects, English literature and the English Bible to soften and tone them ? It is to be hoped, that if the Eoyal Agricultural Society is bent on lending a hand in the elemen- tary education of the middle classes, — which, let me say, although good and much to be desired, it is not their special province to undertake, — they will not throw the weight of their influence on that of training the mind by means of studies which are, comparatively speaking, useless for the middle classes, when studies are at hand sufaciently eflicacious in their results. If they descend from their high professional 8 ON AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION. position, and annex themselves as mere coadjutors to the College of Preceptors, then, as agriculturists, we trust it wiU be as advocates for the study of English, mathematics, and science, even with no professional tendency, rather than that of Latin and Greek, German or French. How much more forcible do these remarks appear, when it is remembered that the Cambridge and Oxford middle-class degree can be secured by passing a creditable examination in English, chemistry, geology, and botany ; a fact plainly indi- cating that the framers of the system could no longer with justice withhold the university stamp from any one who could show proficiency in these studies. Surely, when the univer- sities have conceded such a point, it is not for a Society incor- porated by Eoyal Charter to advance professional knowledge, to make the retrograde movement some of its members so strongly advocate. "When the universities are willing to allow that the middle classes can be educated by the studies I have mentioned, it ill becomes the Eoyal Agricultural Society of England to say, "We don't believe it; we must have them taught the dead languages." When the universities have de- clared that they wiU stamp as an educated youth one who has a sound knowledge of the principles of the natural sciences, and of his own tongue, what a strange position it will be for the fanners of England to start up and say, " Such know- ledge as this is far too useful to do us good; give our sons that which has long since passed away." Indeed, view the matter in what light we may, the proposal is as singular as its rps\ilts, if it ever became operative, would be useless. Pew would quarrel with the Society if it restricted the com- petition for their rewards to students who should appear before it with the approval of sanctioned authority as to the soundness of tlieii- early training, and such sanctioned autho- ON AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION. 9 rity might well be that of any of the middle- class examining bodies. Indeed it may be even expedient for the governing bodies in agricultural colleges to require the candidates for the diploma to be in possession of an Oxford or Cambridge certificate ; this would, no doubt, greatly help to remove prejudices at present so widely entertained against the professional study of agricul- ture ; and when the subjects are considered, by an examination in which candidates can satisfy the requirements of the Oxford or Cambridge Board, it is a test to which no educated agricul- turist should feel loath to submit. The subjects are such as in general any cultivator of the soil would be sony to be deemed ignorant of Take, for instance, the Oxford regulations for the examination of senior candidates for the title of Asso- ciate in Arts. Every candidate is required to satisfy the examiners (1.) in the preliminary subjects, namely, English Grammar, English Composition, Arithmetic, Geography, the outlines of English history, in all of which the quality of the handwriting and spelling will be taken into account ; (2.) The rudiments of faith and religion. Besides which, there are "four divisions of optional subjects,^!. English; 2. Languages; 3. Mathematics ; 4. Physics, — each subdivided into four sec- tions so that a candidate has, to speak mathematically, twenty- four choices, because there are six combinations of the four divisions, and four sections in each. An agricultural candidate might thus secure the title of Associate in Arts by satisfying the examiners in the preliminary subjects, and in the following t^o : — 1. The outlines of political economy and English law ; and, 2. Chemistry; or in these two— 1. Pure mathematics to algebraical geometry ; and, 2. Vegetable and animal physiology, — all which have a decided bearing upon his future profession. The Cambridge system, again, requires the examiners to be 10 ON AGEICULTUEAL EDUCATION. satisfied in the same preliminary subjects, but instead of four divisions of optional subjects, has seven, separating the dead from the living languages, and chemistry from other natural sciences, and adding drawing or music, so that, as each candi- date may take any three of these, he has twenty-one choices of divisions, and each division having on the average two subdivisions, the candidate may really be examined in forty- two different sets of subjects. This is surely free-trade in education ! Under the Cambridge regulations, therefore, an agiicultural student might obtain a certificate by satisfying the examiners in the preliminary subjects, and in the two following : — 1. The outlines of political economy; and, 2. Chemistry; or in 1. Chemistry, and 2. Botany ; or, simpler still, in 1. The History of England, from the accession of George the First, to the death of George the Third, with the outlines of English litera- ture during the same period ; and 2. Drawing, — all of which are, as in the former case, of direct practical use in the after life of an agriculturist, and such as agriculturists in general neither should be, nor be willing to remain, ignorant of. In- deed, so wide is the range of subjects, so essential, and we may almost say, so professional, that it would be a great step if all agricultural colleges admitted none to their higher and niore professional education but such as had passed one of these middle-class examinations for senior students. At present such a step as this might seriously impair the usefulness of such institutions, and even jeopardize their existence, main- tained as they are at considerable cost by public- spirited and generous men, but it is a point to which in time they should, and no doubt will work up. But it has been asserted, that however liberally this Exami- nation-system may be framed, neither the Oxford nor Cam- ON AGKICULTURAL EDUCATION. 1 1 bridge examiners encourage candidates to appear before them for examination in the natural sciences ; and a friend, who knows something of the papers written by competitors, has partly explained this, by assuring me that the quality of the answers to the papers hitherto set, has been in general execrable. This is as reasonable to expect as it is true. Dr. Short, some years ago, published a small manual, entitled, "Advice to Sunday-School Teachers," and one of his principal axioms, if not his first, was, " I hold that a person who knows nothing can teach nothing." Did this maxim regulate the ordinary teacher of science it would be well. That the natural sciences have not been so taught as to enlist the sympathies of real educators is not so much the fault of the studies as of the teachers. If our teachers of Latin and Greek were no better than those of French and German, sorry would be the results. Dr. Arnold felt this keenly, and knew to what cause to attri- bute the inefficiency of German as an educational study. And if those who instruct in mathematics knew their subject no more correctly than the ordinary lecturer on science, the voca- tion of Cambridge would soon come to an end. The truth is, as the University Commission fully established, it is not only the author who forms the mind of the student, but the teacher ; a Kennedy or a Shilleto are as needful as the works of Thucy- dides and Plato; and therefore, so long as our middle-class scientific educators are mere empirics, it is no wonder that the results they achieve provoke the scorn of the sound university educators. And what chance have we that this will ever alter, so long as there is no encouragement held out to the higher students to engage not only in the study of science but in the teaching of it ? It has long been an accepted truth in political economy, that the supply depends upon the demand ; and, therefore, you have but to require youth to know science, and 12 ON AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION. you will soon have qualified teachers. If the middle class cry out for teachers, teachers will be forthcoming. All praise be to Oxford for the lead she has taken in encouraging natural science. In this matter she has far outstripped her sister uni- versity ; and too much credit cannot be accorded the present Dean of Christ Church for the part he has taken in this de- sirable result; a College such as Christ Church is not now ashamed to enrol among its students men calculated to earn a reputation by their researches in physical science, whereas colleges of even the second order in Cambridge are loath to bestow their fellowships upon members in virtue of acquire- ments equally promising. Desirable, however, as such en- couragement is, we revert to the assertion, that it is the demand that must create teachers. Let the middle classes of England, then, find work for duly qualified and authorized teachers. At present, when you mention the universities and hospitals of Great Britain, and one or two other large educational establishments, such as King's College, London, and the Agri- cultural College, Cirencester, you name all the institutions where either a first-class teacher of science is required, or emoluments at all commensurate with his work are offered. It is, therefore, no mean distinction which the Eoyal Agricul- tural Society may secure to itself, if it take in hand the en- couragement of sound scientific teaching in middle-class colleges. If, by offering prizes or diplomas for all who shall obtain a sound knowledge of the principles of science in their application to agriculture, it stimulate to the professional study of science — just as the Pharmaceutical does to the study of drugs, or the Eoyal College of Surgeons to the study of anatomy — the Society will create a demand for teachers ; good teachers wiU arise ; natural science will be elevated into the ON AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION. 15 rank of an educational study ; and the middle classes will be educated by means of tools which they will find useful to them in every turn of their after life. Since these remarks were written, their truth has been to a great extent verified by the formation of a class by the Kingscote Farmers' Club, for instruction in chemistry. Mr. Church, the Professor of Chemistry at the Eoyal Agricultural College, has commenced a full course of lectures, to be delivered fortnightly, and he has an industrious and attentive audience. Students of all ages not only regularly attend the lectures, but undergo periodical examinations, and try to improve themselves by working at their homes in analysing such compounds as Mr. Church recom- mends. One cannot for a moment assert that anything but self- interest has led to the formation of this class ; at the same time, a knowledge that distinction may be secured, in the shape of a prize given by the Eoyal Agricultural Society, may act as an extra inducement for exertion ; at any rate, the experiment,. as far as it has gone, is most encouraging, and shows that teachers are forthcoming when wanted. I can see no reason why this example should not be copied by other Farmers' Clubs, or by one or two joining for such a purpose, and in this way sound scientific professional knowledge may be brought within the reach of men of limited means. It is unsatisfactory, although amusing, to find how little men in general know of the diffi- culties of science. Mr. Edmunds, of the Central Farmers' Club, some time ago, when reading a paper on middle-class education, introduced Cirencester College ; objecting to the system therein carried out, he said, " The length of time neces- sary for a student to remain there to pass the examination, and obtain the College diploma, is too great — the time required being two years ; and if you were to read the examination papers, j^ou would also perceive too much is attempted." And 1 4 ON AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION. yet, when replying to a speaker's remarks, after the conchxsion of his paper, he said, " that all that was necessary was a sound knowledge of the principles of mathematics, chemistry, geo- logy, botany, and veterinary surgery !" Why, the authorities at Cirencester would rejoice if they could believe they had suc- ceeded, I will not say in imparting this knowledge to their students, but I will even say, in having credit for so framing their curriculum that a sound exposition of the principles of all these sciences was put in the way of every student in the College. Nor is this ignorance of the difficulties of science, and of its capability of educating the mind, confined to gentle- men of no educational status ; it is a painful fact, that even among those who profess to be in the van of the educational movement, there are to be found men of cultivated minds who have but a small appreciation of the value of scientific teaching. One cannot but think that their verdict arises from a limited knowledge of the subject. It is to be doubted whether men like Professors Brodie, or Faraday, or MUler, would consider the study of chemistry so easy as to be incapable of developing any of the powers of the mind, or qualities of the man, such as judgment, patience, perseverance, carefulness, observation. And, after all, men such as these are the only fair judges. We do not generally seek the opinion of a man on a subject of which he is profoundly ignorant : that any one is capable of speaking with authority on the higher forms of education, is no guarantee that he is equally capable of judging of the fit- ness of the tools to be used in a lower grade. John Day, of racing notoriety, may be an excellent trainer of thorough-breds, but it does not follow that he will be equally successful in the training of a cart-horse; it is possible that if John Day were to turn his attention to the qualities required in the latter were he to make himself practically acquainted with the ins ON AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION. 15 and outs of farm-work, and all the requisites to be desired in a cart-horse, he would make a first-rate trainer ; but until he did so condescend, until he left his close turf and clean stables, and dirtied his boots in muddy furrows, most men of common sense would prefer to him one practically acquainted with the subject. On the question as to how far a professional education can aid the experience which a man gains by active employment in his work of life, there is an able article in the Times of December 19, 1863 ; written on the occasion of the inaugura- tion of a School of Practical Science at Sheffield by the Duke of Devonshire. The remarks on engineering science may be aptly applied to agriculture. " But still it might be doubted whether colleges will ever supply a better scientific or practical training than is gained by the existing system of early appren- ticeship under a practical master. It might be urged that no artificial system of education can teach a man so much as the practical habit which growsj in him by daily and hourly experi- ence of his work. There is a great prejudice on this point in many minds (and Mr. Eoebuck was evidently not without fear that it might be a check to the first efforts of the new Institu- tion). There is a sound and healthy prejudice in Englishmen, especially in such matters as these, against any theories or systems whatever. It is obvious, however, that a man is likely to derive much more good from practical acquaintance with his province, if he has had some instruction beforehand as to what to look for, and where to learn ; jiist as a traveller, who knows the language and something of the character of a new country, learns more about it and in much less time than one who comes to it unprepared and ignorant. But the importance of these schools has a deeper and more permanent foundation even than this. It is impossible to read the lives of our great 16 ON AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION. engineei-s, and the history of their discoveries, without feeling that their success was gained quite as much in spite of the circumstances of their education as by means of them. They blundered and stumbled on with determined and enthusiastic pertinacity, but they got no light from education, and science was more the attendant than the guide of their advance. Knowledge has not led the way to practice ; but the neces- sities of practice have forced out knowledge. It is obvious how much might be gained if we could to any extent reverse the process, and set our engineers," and I may add our agri- culturists, " to work in the light, and not in darkness." A great deal has been done, it is true, but how much more might have been done if we had gone to work more intelligently, and with better advice ! There have been instances, in the history of the last fifty years, in which the pure pursuit of scientific truth has opened up powers undreamt of by mere empiricism, and an efficient school of practical science might give a light to our engineering and metallurgical works which would double their results. In the picture which Bacon draws of a perfect commonwealth, he supposes the existence of a college of learned men, employed in nothing else but the investigation of the secrets of nature, and applying them to the relief of men's wants, and the removal of human weakness. We are just beginning to carry out this extraordinary conception. Every such step as the establishment of schools of practical science is an advance. Slowly and blunderingly, like Englishmen, and like Bacon himself, we are groping our way into a light beyond our present imagination, and into a power to which our present strength is child's play. We are, in short, graduaUy but surely coming to see how deeply all our life grows out of material necessities and natural wants ; and our energies are happily becoming diverted from the unprofitable strugoles of UN AGKICULTURAL EDUCATION. 17 political agitation, to the steady development of the humble bnt pregnant facts of nature." Liebig has vigorously put the same thought in the following words : — " The great desideratum of the present age is practically manifested in the establishment of schools, in which the natural sciences occupy the most prominent place in the course of instruction. "From these schools a more vigorous generation will come forth, powerful in understanding, qualiiied to appreciate and to accomplish all that is truly gi-eat, and to bring forth fruits of universal usefulness, through whom the resources, the wealth, the strength of empires will be incalculably in- creased." It is much to be lamented that the effort made by the High- land and Agricultural Society of Scotland to encourage the professional study of science, has not been so successful as to challenge the approbation and imitation of our own Agricul- tural Society ; and yet it is hardly fair to argue, from what seems at first sight to have been a failure, that the object is impracticable. If every inventor abandoned his idea, because at the outset of his operations he met with difficulties and failure, how many of our finest and most useful machines would have been thrown aside ! There are great difficulties not only in the conception, but in the carrying out of any great, if new, undertaking. One could not well imagine a more direct barrier to success than the plan adopted by the Highland Society in their examinations. To ask a young man to pass two years in the laborious study of science, and two years on a farm, and then to submit his knowledge to a viva voce test of four hours' duration, conducted by perfect strangers — men of reputation — could not but be a trial from which most young men would shrink ; and, therefore, few offered B 18 ON AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION. themselves as candidates. This is merely adduced as a pos- sible reason why the professional study of scientific agriculture does not seem to have made great progress in Scotland, although encouraged by the great Agricultural Society of the country. It is, however, well worthy of observation, that the majority of Scotch farmers are keenly alive to the value of scientific knowledge, and that the most advanced practical men see no impossibility in the teaching of practical agricul- ture, otherwise they would not pretend to examine on this subject at the Edinburgh Board. It is never doubted that a man learns more by doing for himself, than by hearing how others do; but to say that a youth cannot be benefited by knowing bow others, and those- in all parts of Great Britain, manage their labour, implements, crops, stock, is to make an assertion fit only for a bygone age, especially if it be contended that such knowledge is all the more valueless if illustrated day by day by practical farm- work. I have heard it stated that students in anatomy have secured prizes on special subjects without ever dissecting the part which they admirably described ; and in the same way it is possible that a well-educated man might by reading satisfy the questions of many an examiner on machines or labour which he has never witnessed. Does this, however, militate against the possession of the knowledge ? Does it not rather do one of two things, — either show that the man's studies had stopped at a point they should not have done, or that the skill of his examiner is at fault. ^^ It is vain to say you cannot teach, and you cannot examine in practical agriculture, unless you mean by the latter that it is impossible to ask a man to describe how he has done that which he has never been as yet called upon to perform. A youth may know, and accurately, how much to give for particular ON AGRICULTUKAL EDUCATION. 19 labour, the quality of work which a machine under certain circumstances ought to perform ; he may have watched fatting cattle day by day, have seen them fed and weighed, may know the cost of their food, indeed may have many accurate statistics, yet he is said to possess only theoretical knowledge, because he has not as yet directed labour or machines of his own, or fatted cattle purchased with his own capital. Is such a con- clusion as this reasonable ? Yet it is the conclusion of those who say you can neither examine in nor teach practical agri- culture. It may take a long time to remove prejudices, but if agricultural colleges have their lecture-sj'stem fully illustrated by contiguous well and profitably managed farms ; if they persistently open their doors to the inspection of practical men ; if they invite eminent and successful agriculturists to test the practical knowledge of their pupils by examining them in the details of farm labour on the farm, — not in the lecture-room, — whei'e the animals, the crops, the live stock, are before both pupil and examiner, why then, I am sangiiine enough to believe that it will yet be confessed that such colleges can teach practical as well as theoretical agriculture, and that the encouragement of the successful students is not an object unworthy the attention of the Eoyal Agricultural Society of England. Whether it would be wise for this Society to expend any large amount of money in the direct reward of intelligent and enlightened students, is hardly a doubtful question. All men know that degrees are valuable in proportion to the difficulty of securing them, and to the eminence of the examiners. No reward, therefore, in mere money would be an equivalent to a degree granted by the Eoyal Agricultural Society, if the latter signified that the possessor was an educated agriculturist ; that is, that he had a sound knowledge of the principles of 20 ON AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION. science, and of the practice of British agriculture. Wliether the Society will ever stimulate men to severe and persevering application by this reward, time alone can show. They may fritter away a large sum annually in rewarding intelligent boys who pass well in the Oxford and Cambridge middle class, but it will be long before such an encouragement advances British agriculture. AGRICULTURAL DRAmAGE. THE THEOEY OF UNDEE-DEAINAGE AS ACCEPTED BY A PEACTICAL MAlf : A LECTUKE DELIVERED AT THE ROYAL AGRICULTUBAL COLLEGE, OlEEKCESTER. BY J. BAILEY DENTON M. INST., C.E. AGRICULTURAL DRAmAGE. In my introductory remarks, I stated that the object of my lectures was. to afford such illustrations to the teachings of your professors as my practical experience enabled me to give, and it may, probably, appear inconsistent with this statement, for one who claims to be simply a practical man, to dwell on the "Theory" of under-drainage, and particularly will it ap- pear so to those who regard the theory of an art as a doctrine ending in speculation, instead of being, as it really is, the con- nexion of truths based on philosophical principles, and con- firmed by practice. This meagre definition of the meaning of " Theoiy" may fall short of true scholastic teaching, but it serves to express the acceptation it is necessary you should give to it ; for it is quite certain that a practical man, who can only do what he has been taught to do, and whose skill and judgment is confined to his own small range of occupation, is not the man to ap- preciate the objects nor develop the attainable results of under- draining. No man of any position as an engineer trusts wholly to his own experience, but he gathers knowledge from obser- vation every hour of his life ; and as his practice is enlarged, he tests it by recognised theories, and so gains increasing con- fidence. Holding these sentiments, it will not surprise you that I should admit that I am still learning the Art of Agri- 24 AGKICULTUKAL DRAINAGE. cultural Drainage, though I have been busily enguged in it for twenty years ; that I should declare that the best work of under- draining is that in which exists but a minimum of error ; and that the time has arrived when we should look the future fully in the face, and see if past experience does not show us practices to avoid as well as practices to maintain. A painstaking unprejudiced man finds that, instead of look- ing upon the theory of his art as a matter for ridicule, he must make it the study of his thoughts, and that ignorance is often dignified with the title of "Practice," when a knowledge of principles is decried as " Theory." This is especially so with Drainage, an art in which the study of Nature's varied laws forms the most useful lesson. The theory of under-draining must be considered under three heads ; viz., — 1st, the mechanical or physical changes produced by under-draining in the soil ; 2d, its chemical effects; and 3d, the improved temperature resulting from it. But as the proper mode of draining is essentially different in different soils, and in dealing with different descriptions of wetness, it is necessary, in order to follow the observations I am about to make, to classify the lands suffering from wet- ness, and the causes of that wetness, under their respective heads. AU wet soils may be divided into four classes : — 1st, free soils ; 2d, clay soils ; 3d, peaty and vegetable soils ; and 4th, mixed soils, consisting of different proportions of these three. 1. The surclmrged free soils (non-retentive), in their un- drained state, gradually get rid of the water as it rises to the surface from the subterranean level, by evaporation from the surface, by the demands of vegetation, and by percolation through the soil from a higher to a lower level, where it finds a dischai'ge at the surface. AtaUCULTUKAL DKAINAGE. 25 2. The dmj soils (retentive), in their uudrained state, retain nearly all the water they absorb, until released by evaporation and appropriated by vegetation. A very small proportion oozes from the clay strata into the rivers, or into the free soils and porous rocks with which they are in contact. 3. Peaty soils, being capable of suction or capillary action to a great extent, likewise give off, in evaporation, a large pro- portion of the water they absorb while in their undrained state ; but the effect of draining is much more active in them than in clay soils. 4. All lands which are not distinctively free soils, clays, or peaty soils, will be found to possess the above characters in varying proportions, and in their undrained state retain water and give off vapour in proportion to the clay they contain, and their capability of natural drainage. The wetness of soils may be stated to arise from one of three causes. 1. The "Eain," which falls directly on the surface, and is properly called " surface water.'' 2. "Springs," which rise to the surface from underground courses, and may be called " effluent water," and which, after reaching the surface, spread over it, and become injurious to a considerable space of land around. 3. That moisture which is produced by water from distant and adjacent higher lands pressing up through free soils of a lower level, and which may be called " diffluent water." The difference between the water of springs and the water of pressure will be best understood by the section beneath. The points of outbreak, A A, mark the line of demarcation. The water of pressure rises upwards in the free soil above the permanent water lines B A, in proportion to the extent of the contributing area ; the water of springs injures the land heloiv 26 AGRICULTURAL DRAINAGE. the outbreaks within definite limits as it passes over the tena- cious surface, and becomes the "water of pressure" when it enters the lower beds of free soil in its passage to the river A. I. — As to the Mechanical Effects of Under-drainage. Each description of soil has its appropriate mode of drainage, and each character of wetness commands a special mode of removal ; but the atmosphere takes such a prominent part in bringing about the desired mechanical changes in clays, which are retentive soils, that it is positively necessary to regard the art of draining them as distinctly different from that of drain- ing free soils, which are not retentive. The surcharged free and peaty soils being naturally " per- colative," are only wet from position, and they require just sufficient outlet for the water pent up within them to turn stagnation into motion, and to create, in point of fact, a sub- irrigation for the benefit of the roots of plants. You have observed, no doubt, the effects of moving water on the surface of our irrigated meadows, and have seen that it is not wetness that is wanted, for these meadows are generally too wet before the water is turned on, but that it is motion ; and so it is with the under-drainage of our free soils. In them the true art of draining is in doing as little as will attain this object. When AGRICULTURAL DRAINAGE. 27 once drained they possess the same capabilities as those -Hhich are naturally dry, and they are equally susceptible of absorption, the only difference being the depth of the subterranean water level, which, in the case of the high and dry lands, sinks beyond the reach of evaporation ; while, in the case of drained lands, though sunk by the operation of draining lower than before, still remains within reach of the atmosphere. The clays, on the contrary, though rendered capable of "permeation" by under- drainage, still hold their peculiar powers of retention and expansion, which limit their capa- bilities of absorption, and cause them to resist, when the sur- face is not properly and deeply cultivated, the admission of falling rain. The clays are the " conservatives " of the soil. They hold the moisture they seize, and give it out gradually, except on occasions of heavy downfalls, after their own capa- city for retention has been satisfied, when they readily dis- charge the excess. These soils cannot be aerated too much, as it is only by aeration that their retentive nature can be held in subjection. In clay lands, the more perfectly the aerating action of the drains tells upon the mass of soil between them, the quicker and more uniform the passage of surplus water through it, and the only limit to the number of drains to produce this result is the cost. The true art of draining is not confined to ejecting surplus water, but extends to the complete aeration of the soil drained. You must bear in mind that all the drainage in the world will not alter the constituents of clays ; it merely alters their condition. There are persons who think that if clays are drained they become as ductile as free soils, but it is a mistake ; — they still retain their peculiar pro- perties, and when fitly treated are as grateful as any ; when abused they become the noli me tangere of soils. In free soils, which are not subject to expansion, and 28 AGKICULTUllAL DRAINAGE. through which water descends by percolation, as evenly as through a fine sieve, you will readily understand how simple the effect of drainage is. But it is not quite so easy to those who have not minutely watched the effects of drainage on clay soils to understand that water and air will penetrate their bulk. Their retentive powers and their expanding and contracting qualities, always at work, as water is absorbed and withdrawn, are peculiarities which render them altogether dissimilar to free soils. The water that is instantly absorbed and percolates a free soil of even texture quite regularly, finds a check in clays which are not broken up by deep cultivation ; and were it not the fact that there are few clays that are not threaded with natural sand and gravel veins, more or less minute, and that there are none which do not crack as they contract, the believers in imper- meability would gain ground. No water can be taken away from clay soils by drainage or evaporation withovit contraction, and there can be no contraction laterally without cracks. The space the water has occupied in the soil is then claimed by the atmosphere, and drainage by underground conduits converts those cracks into constant channels, fixed and secured by the minute paiticles of soil and manurial matter which descend with the rain, and prevent the re-adhesion of their sides. The greedy capacity which enables clay soils to absorb from 40 to 70 per cent, of their weight of water, is thus counter- balanced by the natural laws which oblige them to give it np to drainage and the atmosphere. After drainage, disintegra- tion becomes year by year more perfect, the ramification of the cracks and fissures more and more minute, and thus the soil becomes more susceptible to the influences of gravitation down- wards to the drains, and capillary attraction upwards to the surface. The best evidence of this gradual amelioration of clay AGRICULTURAL DEAIXAGE. 29 subsoils is to be gained by the microscope, by which it will be seen that both their texture and colour undergo decided change in the course of a few years. It is difficult to demonstrate a theory relating to the soil on which we tread, and which our eyes do not penetrate; so that the mechanical effects of draining must remain subject to some doubts. All the prettily drawn cracks radiating from the under-drains, which you see in books, are pure fancy. Doubtless, there are in all clays fissures, cracks, root veins, and sand galls ; they do not, however, influence under-drainage as beneficially as some people suppose. On the contrary, they interfere with that general permeation which is the object aimed at. The most correct description of the altered condition of clay soils by under-draining is given in Morton's " Arthur Young's Calendar," p. xi. : — " Any one who has read on the subject of land drainage, has had his attention directed to an extension of the network of cracks and fissures throughout tlie subsoil consequent upon the drainage of the land, by means of which it is supposed that the action of deep con- duits in the drainage of stiff clays is effected. I believe that this idea does not rest upon observation, but has been invented to explain the undoubted action of deep drains in clays to those who might otherwise continue sceptics ; and the speculation is, probably, a mi.'^- take. If water found its way tlirough cracks and fissures to the drains, it would have comparatively little fertilizing influence. What we want is, that the water passing through our soil shall wrap round every particle, and not wash merely the cracks and fissures in its passage. These fissures have not been seen, they have been merely fancied ; but water has been seen oozing from a surface at every p(ire. And that clays are porous is proved by the fact that they are wet ; whenever we shall find, on digging downwards, that the subsoil which we reach contains no water, then we may admit that it is needless try- ing to drain the water from it, but so long as it is seen that water has gone through it without the aid of those cracks which drains are sup- posed to make, so long must it be admitted that, without the aid of those cracks, it will pass through it out of it." 30 AGEICULTUEAL DRAINAGE. It is hardly necessary to point out to you the ignorance of supposing that water enters a connected system of under- drains from the tops of the pipes. In free soils, and in clays when the under-drains by " reciprocal effect " have produced pulverization, the rain entering the soil passes perpendicularly down, and having reached the standing level of the water in the soil, raises that level and flows off by the pipes. It thus necessarily enters at the bottom of the pipe and not at the top. I shall place before you hereafter the best evidence of the draining capabilities of clays by the residts of experiments made on actual drainage ; but that you may at once appreciate " the reciprocating effect," as I have ventured to call it, of fre- quent under-drains in the stiffest and purest clay, I will explain that to produce uniform permeation the drains must be suffi- ciently near each other to produce a reciprocal effect, i.e., the effect of every drain shall extend so far towards and into its neighbour's region on each side that the rain and air shall descend to the level of the drains. That the drainage of clays is only to be effected by this compound action is proved by the facts — Ist, that open cuts, which will completely empty a free soil of water, have little or no effect in draining clays, though, the surplus water will be quickly set in motion if the open cuts are changed into covered ones ; 2d, that a porous stratum, which is in itself a natural drain, lying under a stratum of saturated clay, has no perceptible effect in drying it if the thickness of the clay is beyond a certain limit, although the clay will directly yield to the action of under-drains if placed sufficiently near each other to reciprocate their influence, and aerate the soil between them ; and ^d, that a well du^ in a saturated clay does not fill with water up to the level of satu- ration, as would be the case with a free soU, although uniform AGRICULTUEAL DRAINAGE. 31 frequent drains will extract water from the clay, even when the well itself is dry. I introduce these illustrations here because I wish to satisfy you that there exists a difference between the characteristics of free soils and of clays, so marked that you cannot truly comprehend the theory of under-drain- age unless you recognise the peculiar physical changes to be brought about in each. I recognise a distinction in the filtrating process in free soils and in clays, and have adopted different words to express the action in each. By common acceptation there is little difference in the meaning of the two words "percolation" and "permeation;" but I do recog- nise a difference, and apply the former word to express the passage of water through free soils, and the latter to that through clays. Etymologically, too, I think I am right. In free soils there is no resistance beyond friction to the force of gravitation ; and a due consideration of this fact enables the drainer to calculate the minimum number of drains which, by taking advantage of the shape of the ground, will release the surplus water, and maintain a proper amount of moisture in the soil. You may readily overdrain free soils. In clays the case is very different. So great is their succulent capacity, and their power of retention, that the general action of the under- drains does not take place until they have absorbed, and hold within their bulk, the maximum quantity they are capable of retaining. You cannot overdrain clay soils. If the stagnant water level in wet lands be lowered to an adequate depth, in the case of free soils by as few drains as will set the pent-up water in motion, and in the case of clays by as many drains as will perfectly aerate the depth of soil between surface and drains, then the mechanical conditions secured are adequate — 1st, to render the soil capable of absorbing the rain that falls upon its surface, in all cases where the shape 32 AGRICULTURAL DRAINAGE. of the land and its cultivation will allow of the rain resting where it falls; 2c?, to ameliorate and disintegrate the soil by the infiltration of rain water and the passage of air which follows the water from the surface to the depth of the drains ; 3d, to secure the passage of the rain vertically and as evenly as possible to the full depth of the drains, and the carriage of so much of the finer particles of soil and manurial matter, as the rain will displace and take with it in its passage downwards through the soil ; ith, to prevent the rising up to the surface of the difftuent water of pressure, and to confine within the narrowest limits the effluent water of springs. 11.— As to the Chemical EJ-ecis of Under-drainagc. With these mechanical conditions secured, the resulting chemical changes produce an increased fertility and a better adaptation of the land to the operations of tillage. Every one of you must have observed how our cultivated plants, our crops and trees, dislike stagnant water ; and how their roots travel along its surface underground directly they reach it. The exist- ence of stagnant water implies the absence of air, which is as essential to the development of vegetable growth in the soil as it is to our existence above the surface, and therefore we can readily understand how essential it is to render the depth of soil which our plants require for their perfect development, perco - lative or permeable, free or active. This is not only required because roots will not penetrate a bed of stagnant water, and will prosper in a deeper feeding ground, but because there are in soils organic and inorganic ingredients which require alte rations, only to be effected by the absorption of gases from the atmosphere. By drainage you not only afford to plants the deeper bed to sustain them, at the rate of 100 tons per AGRICULTURAL DRAINAGE. 33 acre for every inch of depth gained, but you correct tlie influ- ence of injurious constituents of the soil, and, what is more, you carry into the deepened bed those fertilizing ingredients which are constantly associated with fresh air and moving water. We are too much inclined to look upon the earth as a compact body of inert matter. There cannot be a greater mistake. I have known several instances in which the ex- treme sensibility of the subsoil has been evidenced, nor have I as yet arrived at the limit to which the atmosphere will penetrate a free soil. I do not say the same of clays. Their retentive and expanding qualities do impose a limit. On several occasions my attention has been called to the fact that drains previously dry have commenced to discharge with- out any rain falling on the surface of the drained land, and these observations have been confirmed by others who have recorded the same thing. In the Hinxworth experiments, published in the Journal of the Koyal Agricultural Society, vol. XX., you will see this striking phenomenon referred to, and Mr. Charles Fowler of Henlow, Bedfordshire, and Mr. George Beaumont of Bridgeford Hill, IsTottinghamshire, have communicated to me their confirmation. The latter gentleman wrote to me some few years back as follows : — "I can verify the case of the drains running without rain during a falling barometer beyond all doubt. " The case I named to you last year of the barometer falling four days consecutively, and with rapidity, was a peculiarly favourable time for noticing it, as it occurred in a dry time, and the drains could be seen distinctly. My man, on being questioned and cautioned by me not to exaggerate, has declared the actual stream of water issuing from one particular drain to be as thick as a |-iuoh wire. AU the drains ran — -they did more than drop — and ditches which were previ- ously dry became quite wet, with a perceptible stream of water ; this gradually ceased with the change in the density of the atmosphere, as shown by the barometer. C 34 AGKICULTURAL DRAINAGE. "During last harvesb, 1855, the men were cutting wheat, and on getting near to a drain outlet, the ditch from the outlet downwards was observed to be wet, and the drain was dripping. No rain fell in sufficient quantity to enter the ground. The men drank of the water while they were cutting the wheat. A few days after it was dry again. I have seen and noticed this phenomenon myself." Dr. Lardner in his " Lectures on Science" says : — " When storms are breaking, and sometimes long before their com- mencement, and when their approach has not yet been manifested by any appearance in the firmament, phenomena are observed apparently sympathetic proceeding from the deep recesses of the earth." Professor Brocklesby, of Hartford, U.S., has recorded his observations on two springs in America, which corrohorate the observations we have made in England on the discharge of under -drains, and he explains the cause to be "the dimin- ished atmospheric pressure which exists before rain." If we can thus trace facts which strike us as remarkable phenomena, how much more readily should we give credit to the effect of aeration and the circulation of water in ameliorat- ing the subsoil by disintegration, and thus promoting vegetation? The benefit derived from disintegration, i.e., the comminution or minute division of soils, will be readily understood by those who have studied the views of Jethro TuU, a writer who went so far as to maintain that land deeply and frequently stirred gathered suflScient fertility from the atmosphere to keep up its inherent powers ; and by those who have visited Mr. Smith, of Lois Weeden, who, in " his treatment" of land, has adopted the same theory. 1 do not advocate these extreme views as cap- able of general adoption in farming, but I do not hesitate to say that the principle of aeration is a sound one, and that we should recognise in the atmosphere a source of fertility available for surface soils by deep cultivating, and for subsoils by deep draining. Dr. Madden, in an admirable paper published in AGEICULTUEAL llKAINAGE. 35 the Transactions ol' the Highland Society in the year 1846, thus explains the effects of disintegration ; — " When water is added to perfectly dry soil, it, of course, in the first instance, fills the interstitial canals, and from these enters tlie pores of each particle ; and if the supply of water be not too great, the canals speedily become empty, so that the whole of the fluid is taken up by the pores : this, we have already seen, is the liealthy condition of the soil. If, however, the supply of water be too great, as is the case when a spring gains admission into the soil, or when the sinking of the fluid through the canals to a sufficient depth below the surface is prevented, it is clear that these also must get filled with water so soon as the pores have become saturated. This, then, is the condition oi undrained soil. " Not only are the pores filled, but the interstitial canals are like- wise full ; and the consequence is, that the whole process of the ger- mination and growth of vegetables is materially interfered with. We shall here, therefore, briefly state the injurious efiects of an excess of water, for the purpose of impressing more strongly on your minds the necessity of thorough draining as the first and most essential step to- wards the improvement of your soil. " The first great effect of an excess of water is, that it produces a corresponding diminution of the amount of air beneath the surface, which air is of the greatest possible consequence in the nutrition of plants ; in fact, if entirely excluded, germination could not take place, and the seed sown would, of course, either decay or lie dormant. '' Secondly, an excess of water is most hurtful, by reducing consid- erably the tenvp&rature of the soil : this I find, by careful experiment, to be to the extent of six and a half degrees Fahrenheit in summer, which amount is equivalent to an elevation above the level of the sea of 1950 feet. " These are the two chief injuries of an excess of water in soil which afi'ect the soil itself. There are very many others affecting the climate, etc. ; but these are not so connected with the subject in hand as to call for an explanation here. " Of course, all these injurious effects are at once overcome by thorough draining, 'the result of which is, to establish a direct com- munication between the interstitial canals and the drains, by which means it follows, that no water can remain any length of time in these canals without, by its gravitation, finding its way into the drains. " Too much cannot be said in favour of pulverizing the soil ; even thorough drainage itself wUl not supersede the necessity of performing this most necessary operation. The whole valuable effects of ploughing, 36 AGRICULTUEAL DRAINAGE. harrowing, grubbing, etc., may be reduced to this ; and almost the whole superiority of garden over field produce is referable to the greater perfection to which this pulverizing of the soil can be carried. « The whole success of the drill husbandry is owing in a great mea- sure to its enabling you to stir up the soil well during the progress of yom- crop ; which stirring up is of no value beyond its effects in more minutely pulverizing the soil, increasing, as far as possible, the size and number of the interstitial canals. " Lest any one should suppose that the contents of these interstitial canals must be so minute that their whole amount can be of but little consequence, I may here notice the fact, that, in moderately well pul- verized soil, they amount to no less than one-fourth of the whole bulk of the soil itself. For example, 100 cubic inches of moist soil (that is, of soil in which the pores are filled with water while the canals are filled with air) contain no less than 25 cubic inches of air. According to this calculation, in a field pulverized to the depth of eight inches, — a depth perfectly attainable on most soils by careful tillage — every imperial acre will retain beneath its surface no less than 12,545,280 cubic inches of air. And, to take one more element into the calcula- tion, supposing the soil were not properly drained, the sufficient pul- verizing of an additional inch in depth would increase the escape of water from the surface by upwards of one hundred gallons a day." You must bear in mind that not only does the descending rain (which is 817 heavier than air) take the place of any air existing in the interstitial spaces of the subsoil, but it drives before it any water which is upheld by attraction within them, and thus supplies to the subsoil the manurial matter which is brought down in the water, as well as that wliich accompanies the air, following that water, as it drains away. I assume that you are alive to the common law of hydro- statics, which rules that water in draining can only be put in motion by the admission of air to its surface ; and that no water can run from the soil without its place being occupied by air or a fresh supply of water. Eealize these facts in your mind, and remember that air contains, besides oxygen essential to vegetable vitality and vaporized moisture which serves to maintain it in dry seasons, a variety of fertilizing substances AGKICULTURAL DKAINAGB. 37 exhaled from the surface of the sea and from decomposing animals and vegetables, and such as arise from the breath of living creatures, and from combustion and other causes, and you will comprehend the vast benefit to be derived by vege- tation from the circulation of the air through soils. Think of the quantity of ammonia evolved from the manure of our farm- yards and dung-heaps, and from all the refuse and sewage of our towns. This is, in part, returned to the earth by the rain and dew which falls upon it. Both rain and dew will absorb 700 times their own bulk of ammonia, and thus enriched they descend through the soil to the roots of plants, making drained land the recipient — the grateful recipient — of those impurities with which the atmosphere was charged, but of which it has been cleansed by absorption. ISTo better filterer and deodorizer has yet been found than the ordinary soils forming the crust of the earth, and these effects are realized on all soils through which water will descend.^ III. — Under-drainage of adequate depth diminishes evaporation and improves the temperature of the soil. A very important element in the consideration of the effects of under-draining is the upward action of water from the level of the drains by attraction, which is often spoken of as a power of sufficient force to resist gravitation. The power of soils to absorb and retain water does not, however, in any way inter- fere with the required action of drainage ; neither is their re- tentive power a positive index of the height to which it wUl rise within them. I mean by this that the quantity of water a soil will soak up is not necessarily the measure of the height to which water will rise by attraction from the level of the 1 See Article in vol. 1., Royal Agricultural Society's Jounced, " Earth versiis Water for the Removal and Utilization of Excrementitious Matter," by the Rev. Henry Moule. — Ed. 38 AGEIGULTUKAL DRAINAGE. water-bed. Clayey soils, of which the proportions of sand and lime vary, aU differ in their capability of absorption, and more widely still in the power of attraction. The principal clays of England have been found, by careful experiments, to exhibit their absorbent and retentive qualities in the following com- parative degrees : — Oxford Clay . . . . ^ ( ^"^^ ) f ^*^ Wealden Clay .... J I 357 i 420 Lias Clay ... . 362 \ 390 Wovii niniT VwiUsoak; 400 ^ And will j 215 Warp Oiay ... . / up water ^ *"" f expand < ^^'^ Boulder (drift) Clay • • ■ I 506 I 600 New Eed sand-stone Clay . ] [ 520 ] [430 London Clay .... ' ^ 554 / I 534 I give these figures to show you that while one clay will absorb f of a given quantity of water, and will expand ^ of a given space, another clay absorbing rather more than half the same quantity of water, will expand to half the given space ; so that with a small additional power of absorption, the extent of expansion is double in the latter case to what it is in the former. This will show you how difficult, — nay, how impos- sible,' — it is to set limits to so uncertain a power as attraction. It has been stated by some superior men, that drainage even increases evaporation ; this would render the land colder than before, and would make the perennial supply of water to our rivers less, — results which are certainly not the object of under-drainage. My own conviction is, as I have before said, that drainage does increase the power of attrac- tion in the soil, but that the facilities afforded to attraction being equally open to gravitation, and the latter being the more powerful of the two, infiltrated rain gains the mastery and drives the water of attraction before it, and thus expels from the soil, by the drains, that which would otherwise go off by evaporation. Leaving science in its future advances to settle these inipor- AGRICULTUHAL DRAINAGE. 39 taat details, we may be content to believe that if under- drainage maintains the level of saturation at an adequate depth below the surface of the soil, the line of moisture sup- ported by attraction, must be further from the direct and pre- judicial influence of the sun and wind in drained soils than in those undrained, and that land in a saturated state is in a more effective condition to yield to evaporation than land in the modified condition of healthy moisture.^ I have before referred to the experiments of Dalton, Charnock, and Dickinson, made with a view of ascertaining the difference of evaporation from drained and undrained soils, and I will only now remind you 1 An interesting communication bearing on this subject is found in the Gardeners' Chronicle of September 27, 1864, of which the following is ail extract. — Ed. "He may depend upon it that deep tillage has a double power of vege- table sustenance among its advantages. It facilitates the deeper rooting of our plants, and, by its multiplication of that inner superficies of the soil and siibsoU on which their capacity as a warehouse of food for plants depends, it doubles and quadruples their ability to store up and retain the moisture which wiU penetrate them against the time when it will be wanted. ' ' And this is now no mere theory. Thanks to Professor Church, of the Koyal Agricultural College, we are able, in a particular example, to state accurately the quantity of moisture existing in the subsoil after a summer's drought, under differing treatment and different conditions of the soil above it. "The layer examined was the 13th inch downwards from the surface of the ground. One foot of soil was removed, and the next inch taken for examination, and the quantity of water which that inch of soil contained, was ascertained in the usual way. It will be seen from Professor Church's account that nearly 29 per cent, in weight of the layer in question was water where the soil had been deeply cultivated ; whUe a similar layer taken in an- other case on lower ground from beneath 1 2 inches of soil which had not been moved at all, contained only 19 per cent, of water. Even this seems a very large quantity, but it must be remembered that the last portions of mechani- cally combined water are given off with extreme reluctance, and that the differ- ence between 28 -8 and 19-2 per cent., less than 10 per cent, as stated in figures, may be all the difference between a, very deficient and scanty provision, and practically none at all for the growing plant. These experiments of Pro- fessor Church, which furnish an instructive lesson ou the value of tillage operations at any time, appear to us especially interesting at the ])resent. 40 AGKICULTUKAL DKAINAGE. that they all take the measure of that difference to be the quantity of water discharged by drainage. They do so on the ground that whatever water penetrates a depth of four feet is beyond the recalling influence of attraction, and therefore be- yond the powers of evaporation, and they assume that the land now wet when drained will be brought to the same condition as land naturally dry. But it cannot be so. In the case of lands naturally dry the infiltration is by simple percolation through a free soil, and the depth of the subterranean water when we are suffering from a summer's drought so unusual.' The following is the report of them with which we have been favoured : — " 'The following experiments were made in order to determine the com- jjarative amount of mechanically combined water in uncultivated and culti- vated soils, after the long-continued and severe drought of this summer. " ' The samples were taken August 20. In each case a foot in depth of soil was removed, and the next inch taken as a sample for experiment. The foot was measured from the level of the neighbouring turf. '"No. 1. A bed in the Botanic Garden. — Tt had been deeply cultivated (1 6 inches) in autumn. At the time of taking the sample nothing was on the ground. Percentage of moisture = 28 '6. '"No. 2. Uncultivated ground in the Botanic Garden. — It has never been disturbed within memory ; it was covered with rough turf, but the sample was taken from a spot nearly bare, the turf having shortly before been removed to the depth of an inch or two. This ground was about one foot lower in level than that from which No. 1 was taken. Percentage of moisture = 19'2. "'No. 3. Groimd in kitchen garden, trenched in autumn (16 inches). — Carrots had been grown on part, not on the portion from which the sample was taken. Percentage of moisture = 26'2. " ' No. 4. Ground in kitchen garden. — It had been dug once in autumn (8 inches) to about half the depth of No. 3 ; a crop of chalots since ; at time of taking sample nothing on the ground. Percentage of moisture = 20 '5. " ' I should add, that with the exception of a heavy shower of rain in the middle of July, we have had scarcely any wet since the spring ; it will be seen that the samples were taken before the commencement of the late rains. The soil experimented on is a light calcareous clay loam, resting on the forest marble.' " — A. H. Chukch, Ro%jal Agricultural College, Cirencester, August 30, 1864. 1 During the niontlis of April, May, June, July, and August, the amount of rain had only been 6-87 inolies, tc, 6'46 inches less than thf average during the same months in the last nineteen year.s.— Ed. AGKICULTURAL DEAINAGE. 41 level is altogether beyond the reach of the atmosphere. In the case of lands from which excessive water is removed by drainage, the water level itself remains -within the influence of the atmosphere, though to a modified extent. The cases, therefore, are not parallel. Nevertheless when we see the under-drains of surcharged free soUs discharging sometimes as much as ten times the quantity of water as falls on their surface in the shape of rain, and the drains of clay soils discharging as much as from i to ^ of the rainfall, we have the tangible satisfaction of knowing that these copious discharges must first replenish our rivers before it can replenish the rainfall ; and when we frequently find that by the action of under- draining we establish a con- stant flow of water from lands which have never given out water in the shape of springs before, we have the additional consolation that we have entrapped an enemy, and made him a friend, for we have not only prevented his coming to the sur- face and chilling the land by evaporation, but we have created a permanent addition to the water supply of the country. You wiU do well to study with care the admirable essay of Mr. Josiah Parkes, " On the Influence of Water on the Tempera- ture of Soils," in the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society, and the more recent essay entitled " Land Drainage,'' written by the late Mr. Gisburne, which appeared originally in the Quarterly Review, and was republished by Murray in a cheap pamphlet form. I object, and I cannot do so too earnestly, to the advocacy by both these able men of one uniform character of drainage, i.e., parallel straight drains four feet deep, for all soils and all surfaces alike ; but I know of no better means of understanding the effect of evaporation in rendering the ground cold than by studying their essays. The best r4sum4 of the arguments of both is to be found in the short article by Dr. Lyon Playfair, entitled "Drainage," in the Oyclopcediaof Agri- 42 AGRICULTUEAL DRAINAGE. cultwe ; but the work that will be most popular with a young student is, perhaps, Judge French's Farm Drainage pub- lished in New York. It is graphic, but, like both Parkes and Gisburne, Judge Fr.ench assumes that clays and gravels satu- rated with water, with regular and irregular surfaces, are alike amenable to parallel drains four feet deep at various intervals. When I commend these valuable essays, therefore, I qualify my commendation by protesting against this one great practical fallacy. Every one knows that the only way for surplus water, which does not infiltrate to a subterranean level, to escape from land, is by exhalation into vapour ; and, though perhaps not equally well known, it is equally true that heat disappears or becomes latent by the conversion of water into vapour. It is this effect on the moistened skin that produces cold in human beings when they expose themselves to the action of the air, and pre- cisely the same evil attends the exposure of the moist soil to the sun and wind. An application of this homely bit of phi- losophy has led to the manufacture of ice in the hottest climates ; and I once convinced a doubtful farmer of the chill- ing effect of evaporation on his land by hanging a bottle of his port wine clothed in wet flannel before a kitchen fire. To reduce the effect of evaporation to tangible figures, I may state that every gallon of water carried off from the soil by evaporation robs the soil of as much heat — heat, remember, which is beneficial to vegetation — as would raise 5| gallons of water from freezing to boiling point. You cannot be surprised, therefore, that saturated lands should be called " cold" as well as wet. Heat will not pass downwards in water, and, if the soil is saturated, the warmth of the atmosphere cannot penetrate it. Heat is propagated in water by circiilation, that is, by the upward movement of the heated particles, and the downward AGRICULTURAL DRAINAGE. 43 movement of the colder ones to take their place. Heat is conveyed to a soil by the circulation of the air and water through its recesses, and this fact considered in relation to what I have before said, will help to explain how it is that water occupying the interstices of the subsoil by attraction, is forced downwards by descending rain which is warmer than itself. Mr. Gisburne says in his Essay : — • " To ascertain the mean heat of the air at the surface of the earth over any extended space, and for a period of eight or nine months, is no simple operation. More elements enter into such a calculation than we have space or ability to enumerate ; but we know certainly that, for seven months in the year, air, at the surface of the ground, is seldom lower than 48°, never much lower, and only for short periods : whereas, at 4 feet from the surface, in the shade, from 70° to 80° is not an unusual temperature, and in a southern exposure in hot sunshine double that temperature is not unfrequently obtained on the surface. Now let us consider the effect of drains placed from two to three feet below the water-table, and acting during the seven months of which we have spoken. They draw out water of the temperature of 48°. Every particle of water which they withdraw at this temperature is replaced by an equal bulk of air at a higher, and frequently at a much higher temperature. The warmth of the air is carried down into the earth." What part dew and atmospheric moisture take in under- ground circulation we cannot so precisely state, but it may be safely believed, that when air highly charged with moisture passes through the earth, it must, by contact with the subsoil, part with large quantities of moisture for the benefit of vegeta- tion. It is this which gives an appearance of freshness in dry weather to the grass above mole-tracks, and makes the courses of drains so distinguishable on the surface. A short description of dew is given in Judge French's work on under-drainage, which I will quote in conclusion, as it will probably enable you the better to appreciate the part it takes in refreshing the drained soil in summer : — 44 AGKICULTUKAL DKAINAGE. "Dew is one of the most ordinary forms in which moisture is deposited in and upon the soil, in its natural conditions. The absorb- ent power of artificially dried soils, as has been seen, seems to depend much upon their chemical constitution ; and that topic has been considered, without special reference to the comparative temperature of the soil and atmosphere. The soil, as we have seen, absorbs mois- ture from the air, when both are of the same temperature, the amount absorbed depending also upon the physical condition of the soil, and upon the comparative moisture of the soil and atmosphere. " The deposition of dew results from a different law. All bodies throw off, at all times, heat by radiation, as it is termed. In the day- time, the sun's rays warm the earth and the air is heated by it, and that nearest the surface is heated most. Evaporation is constantly going on from the earth and water, and loads the air with vapour, and the warmer the air the more vapour it will hold. " When the sun goes down, the earth still continues to throw off heat by radiation, and soon becomes cooler than the air unless the same amount of heat be returned by radiation from other surfaces. Becoming coolnr than the air, the soil or plants cool the air which comes in contact with them ; and, thus cooled to a certain point, the air cannot hold all the vapour which it absorbed while warmer, and part of it is deposited upon the soil, plant, or other cool surface. This is dew, and the temperature at which the air is saturated with vapour is called the dew-point. If saturated at a given temperature with vapour, the air, when cooled below this point, must part with a portion of the vapour in some way ; in the form of rain or mist, if in the air ; in the form of dew, if on the surface of the earth. " If, however, other surfaces at night radiate as much heat back to the earth as it throws off, the surface of the earth is not thus cooled and there is no dew. Clouds radiate heat to the earth, and, therefore, there is less dew in cloudy tlian in clear nights. If the temperature of the earth sinks below the freezing-point, the aqueous vapour is frozen, and is then called /rosfc " To radiate back a portion of the heat thus thrown off by the soil and plants, gardeners cover their tender plants and vines with mats or boards, or even with thin cloth, and thus protect them from frost. If the covering touch the plants, they are often frozen, the heat being conducted off by contact to the covering, and thence radiated. Dew then, is an effect, but not a cause, of cold. It imparts warmth because it can be deposited only on objects cooler than itself." This must close, for the present, a practical man's view of the " Theory of Under draining." PLOUGHS AND PLOUGHING: A LEOTUEE DELIVERED AT THE EOYAL AGRICULTUEAL COLLEGE, CIKENCESTBR. BY JAMES EDWARD RANSOME, OF IPSWICH. PLOUGHS AND PLOUGHmG. Befoee proceeding to the subject of my lecture, I feel it is ouly due to you to explain how it is that I have come to Cirencester to address you in place of other and abler men. During the autumn of last year, Mr. Eivington wrote to Mr. Allen Eansome to ask him to give a lecture on ploughs and ploughing, and it would have given him very great pleasure to have acceded to the request, but his physical powers would not allow him to take so long a journey. At the same time, however, when he wrote declining the invita- tion, he said that he thought, if it would be agreeable to you, I should be willing to do so. I can only say that when I received the invitation from your Principal, whilst regretting exceedingly that Mr. Allen Eansome was unable to come, I felt that the fiirm of Eansomes and Sims had been for so long a time connected with the plough trade, both as inventors and manufacturers, that I ought to make every effort to supply his place, by accepting the invita- tion, and not only so, but I felt it an honour as well as a pleasure to do so. In addition to the experience acquired by our firm during a period of eighty years, I have devoted a considerable portion of my time during the last five years to the manufacture and working of the plough ; I mention this as some apology for addressing you on the subject. I would only add, that if any part of my lecture is useful to 48 PLOUGHS AND PLOUGHING. you, I shall feel amply repaid for any trouble it may have given me. In the first place, let me say that I do not propose. to dis- cuss so much the mathematical proportions of the various parts of the plough, the consideration of which, perhaps, is more necessary to the manufacturer than to the agriculturist, as the various practical points, which will enable you to understand thoroughly the principles on which a plough works, to appre- ciate a well-formed tool when you see one; and more than this, to enable you to set a plough right that is working badly, and to instruct your ploughmen when in the field. The title of the lecture, " Ploughs and Ploughing," embraces a very wide field if taken in its fullest extent, and would not be complete without treating of the "Steam Plough," that greatest and most important invention in agriculture of our days, and one which is already bringing about great changes in the system of modern cultivation. The depth of plough- ing is by its means increased where it would have been impossible with horse ploughs ; land by it can be broken up where horses are powerless; work can be done at the very moment when of the greatest consequence, and the oppor- tunity of a few days' or weeks' fine weather for breaking up the stubbles in autumn may be seized and made use of. The water furrows, of which in some counties there are so many, are rendered less necessary on account of the superior drain- age of lands under steam culture, and the very fact of the steam plough not leaving the land in ridges, will doubtless soon lead to the abandonment of the furrows occasioned by horse ploughs, and to a superior system of under- drainage. Many other advantages could I give as likely to result from the use of steam, and not the least of them the opportunity thereby afforded to the intelligent farm labourer to rise above PLOUGHS AND PLOUGHING, 49 the level to which he has hitherto been bound on the farm, from the fact of there being but little high-skilled labour re- quired. But enough. The time will not allow of treating that subject fully, and I therefore propose to confine my remarks to horse ploughs and horse ploughing. For we may be sure that, however rapidly steam ploughing may advance — and it is advancing and will continue to do so — horse ploughs will always be required even on steam- cultivated farms, and also for many years to come on thousands of acres where the special advan- tages of steam are not so apparent, and where, from one cause or another, many horses are kept, or where the occupations are comparatively small. Let us first examine the history of the plough. The plough is undoubtedly the most ancient agricultural implement of which we have any record, and its early substitution for the spade shows the necessity that was felt for some more speedy and wholesale means of stirring the soil. Eepeated mention is made of the " plough" and ploughing in the sacred writings, and some of them are very interesting, as showing the mode of using it, and its resemblance to the implements -of our day. Amongst these I may quote 1 Sam. xiv. 1 4, where, speaking of the size of a piece of ground, it says : " "Within, as it were, an half acre of land, which a yoke of oxen might plough ;" again, Pent , xxii. 10 : "Thou shalt not plough with an ox and ass together ; " also 1 Kings xix. 19: " Elisha was ploughing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth ;" and again, 1 Sam. xiii. 20 : "All the Israelites went down to the Philistines to sharpen every man his share and his coulter." Figures of ploughs are found on the ancient monuments of Egypt, as well as oh various old coins, showing a very rude im- plement, but with a beam and handle and rough wedge-shaped body (Figs. 1, 2, 3). The drawings of the early Greek ploughs D 50 PLOUGHS AND PLOUGHING. show them to have been furnished with wheels; whilst the advice given by Hesiod to the Grecian farmers, viz., to keep a Pig. 1.— ancient EGYPTIAN PLOUGH. From "ChampoUion." spare plough, in order that their work might not be interrupted by an accident, not only proves the existence of ploughs at that period, but is a hint worthy of being followed by the farmers of our day. The Eomans had ploughs of various kinds for heavy and light soils, some for ploughing in seed. Pig. 2.— ancient EGYPTIAN PLOUGH. Prom " ChampoUion." and others with movable mouldboards ; but as there are no authentic drawings of old Eoman ploughs, it is impossible to PLOiyCHS AND PLOUGHING. 51 say exactly what they were like. Sufficient, however, is known to prove that they were very simple implements, probably very Fig. 3.— EGYPTIAN PLOUGHING WITH AN OX AND ASS. From Illustration in Knight's " Pictorial Bible," similar to those still in use in Southern Italy. The ploughs of the early Britons were also very rough implements ; those of the Saxons but little better, though the drawings of some have wheels (Figs. 4, 5, 6, 7) ; and the ISTorman ploughs, which per- haps are a step further in advance, are also generally shown Fin. 4.— BAKLY SAXON SWING PLOUGH. From "The Harleian Manuscripts," No. 603. with wheels. There does not appear to have been much im- provement in ploughs or ploughing in the interval from this 52 PLOUGHS AND PLOUGHING. time until the last century; even in the year 1634 the bar- barous custom of ploughing and working horses fastened by the tail was so common in Ireland, as to necessitate an Act of Parliament to put a stop to it. Pig. 5.— SAXON WHEEL PLOUGH. From " The Bayeux Tapestiy." The Dutch have the credit of having introduced into this country, about the year 1730, the first plough that was at all generally known and appreciated. It was made and improved at Eotherham, in Yorkshire, and was called the " Eotherham Plough," was without wheels, and made chiefly of wood (Fig. 8). The mouldboard was abrupt, short, and convex. It gained considerable notoriety, and several persons have claimed the honour of having introduced it into this country. The next Fig. 6.— SAXON WHEEL PLOUGH. From " The Cottonian Manuscripts— Tiberius, b. 6." person who did much to improve the plough was James Small, a Scotchman, who established a factory in Berwickshire in the year 1763. He thoroughly studied the plough in every part, as win be seen on reference to his book, which is one of the standard works on plough manufacture, and was able, by the PLOUGHS AND PLOUGHING. 53 introduction of cast-iron for mouldboards, to produce a num- ber of ploughs of more exactness in shape than it had been Fig. 7.— ANGLO-SAXON WHEEL PLOUGH. From '*The Cottouiau Manusoripts — Claudius, b. 4," possible to obtain hitherto. His plough, although itself rather an improvement on the old implement than a fresh inven- Fig. 8.— the EOTHBEHAM PLOUGH. tion, was so generally introduced and approved of as to form the model from which the iron Scotch plough was subsequently- taken, and which has undergone so many detailed improve- 54 PLOURHS AND PLOUGHING. ments in the hands of the Wilkies, Finlaysons, Grays, and others. At the same time various improvements in the plough were being made in England. Arthur Young, in his Agricul- tural Eeport of Suffolk, gives an account of a plough (Fig. 9) made by a Suffolk blacksmith named Brand, who constructed it wholly of iron, and with a novel " cops," or head, of his own invention, and of which he further states, " there is no other in the kingdom equal to it." Fig. «.— BRAND'S SUFFOLK IRON PLOUGH. It is here my duty, as well as my pleasure, to notice the inventions of my grandfather, Eobert Kansome, the first of which, that of tempering shares made of cast-iron in a peculiar manner, by the aid of salt water, was patented in the year 1785. From the date of this patent, it will be seen that the firm (Ransomes and Sims) of which he was the founder, and which has since been carried on principally by his sons and grandsons, has been engaged in the manufacture and improve- ment of ploughs for a period of at least eighty years. This invention was followed in 1803 by the patent which he took out for chilling, and so hardening the under surface of cast-iron shares. The great defect in cast shares hitherto was that they became blunt by wear ; but by this invention the under side, which is exposed to the severest wear, was made PLOUGHS AND PLOUGHING. 55 as hard as steel, while the upper part remained soft and tough, and wearing away more quickly than the lower part, left the edge always sharp. It is, in fact, the same principle which is beautifully exemplified in the wearing of the squirrel's tooth. The importance of this invention cannot he well exaggerated, as it brought cast shares into general use in place of wrought- iron ones, which are much more expensive, and thus obviated the necessity for those frequent journeys to the smith's, to get them repaired or reset, and the consequent loss of time. Not only this ; the cast shares being all made from one pattern were exactly alike, and always insured the exact working of the plough. It is by identically the same process that cast chilled shares are made at the present day, and the thousands that are sold annually are a constant proof of the very great import- ance of this second invention. About this time a Suffolk farmer, Mr. Simpson, of Creting- haiQ, invented the " plough ground" (Fig. 10), or piece of metal Fig. 10. -plough GROUND AND SLADB. which he fastened to the wooden body of the plough, and which formed a more accurate bed for the reception of the slade and share. Following this, and as a step further in the right direction, Eobert Eansome patented in the year 1808 the great feature in all modern ploughs, viz., the construction of the bodies in such a way as to admit of their being easily taken to pieces on the field, and fresh pieces substituted by the ploughman. These inventions greatly improved the plough, many thousands of which were sent into all parts of Suffolk and the adjoining counties, and which, with very slight altera- tions, are those used in that neighbourhood in the present day. 56 PLOUGHS AND PLOUGHING. Having now glanced rapidly at the history of the plough, let me, before mentioning its more recent improvers, and describing the implements now employed in this country, take a survey of the ploughs in use in other parts of the world. The ploughs Fig. 12.— BRABANT PLOUGH. in use on the continent of Europe are, generally speaking, made with wooden beams and handles, and are fitted with shorter and deeper mouldboards than those in this country. The principal ploughs in Germany are the Hohenheim foot plough (Fig. 11), the Hohenheim gallows plough, and the Brabant plough (Fig. 12), closely resembling the Hohenheim. PLOUGHS AND PLOUGHING. 57 In France, the Dombasle plough, the plough invented by Parquin, and the Grignon plough (Fig. 13), are the favourites, the latter of which was brought out by Monsieur Bella, the Fig. 18.— grignon PLOUGH. Director of the Agricultural College at Grignon. It has the whole body cast in one piece, with the exception of the share, and its extreme simplicity is its greatest advantage. In Eussia the ploughs, until recently, when many English ones have been imported, were very simple and rough implements. From the description which I have heard of them, I believe they very Pig. 14.— plough OF ANCIENT CIS-ALPINE GAUL. From Loudon's " Encyclopaedia." closely resemble the drawing of the plough (Fig. U) of ancient Cis- Alpine Gaul given by Lasteyrie, which he copied from Caylus's Collection of Antiquities. The ploughs in use in India and in Egypt are to the present 58 PLOUGHS AND PLOUGHING. day very simiDle implements, and serve to loosen the soil rather as grubbers than as ploughs. The drawing (Fig. 15) which I have here was sketched by a friend of mine last year in Egypt Fig. 15.— native EGYPTIAN PLOUGH. from one of the native implements, and shows us that the Egyptian plough consists simply of a log of wood tipped with iron, with a long beam or pole, to which the oxen are yoked, and having a short upright handle to guide it. The American ploughs are another distinct class. They are more like the German ploughs than our own, are made with Fig. 10,— AMEEICAN PLOUGH. By Nourae, Mason, aiid Co. wooden beams and handles, and tjie mouldboard is adapted for turning a wide furrow. A good many of these ploughs are in use on the Continent, also in South Africa and Australia. The wheel is fastened in a peculiar manner, as you will see by the PLOUGHS AND PLOUGHING. 59 drawing (Fig. 16), being attached to an arc of iron; and the depth is easily altered, by shifting the bolt which-passes through this arc and through the beam into another hole, of which there are several. We have now examined the principal ploughs of repute in other countries, let us again return to those of our own. The inventors and improvers of ploughs have been very numerous, more than 150 patents having been taken out by various persons for ploughs, or improvements in ploughs. I can only mention some of the principal very briefly. I have before mentioned my grandfather, Eobert Ransome, who might justly be called the father of English plough manufacturers. I must now mention his two sons, James and Eobert Eansome, who were connected with him in the business, and who also took out several patents. Amongst other makers, inventors, and im- provers, the names of Plenty, Halley and Jefferies, Tasker, Ball, Busby, Hensman, Goulding, Perry and BaiTctt, Howard, Page, Horusby, Wilkie, Barrowman, Gray, Sellar, and many others, will be familiar to your ears, as'those who have contributed to bring the plough to its present state of perfection. Let us now turn our thoughts to the consideration of the mechanical features of the plough, what it attempts to perform, and the way in which it does it. Mechanical Structure. What is a plough ? An implement for turning up the soil and exposing a new surface to the atmosphere, in contradistinc- tion to other implements which merely disintegrate or loosen the soil without bringing the lower portion to the top. In its earliest stages it was little better than a hoe or pick, and that probably was its original form, but by degrees prongs rising from the share and boards attached to the body were added. 60 PLOUGHS AND PLOUGHING. to turn over the earth as well as to loosen it. This turning over of the ground in successive slices in a regular and perfect manner is the point which is aimed at in all good ploughs, whether it be in a broken or pulverized state, which is the closest resemblance to digging, or in the unbroken furrow slice of the present prize implements, which, like so many rows of bricks resting on each other through the whole length of the field, present such a regular and beautiful appearance to the eye. A plough is made up of the following parts : a body consisting of a frame, slade, share, and breast, which, with the coulter, are the parts which operate on the soil ; a beam, to which the body is attached, and to which the draught is applied ; and a handle, or pair of handles, by which it is guided. The other parts of a plough, viz., skim coulter and wheels, are not necessary to form a plough, but may be attached or not as preferred, or as circumstances render them necessary. Let us first consider the action of the parts which operate on the soil, and take as the standard that form of furrow slice which prevails in England, viz., the rectangular or square cut slice, turned over to an angle of 45°. In considering these parts of the plough, we must remember they are clearly divided into two classes : 1st, those which cut the furrow slice, viz., the share and the coulter ; and 2d, those which turn it into its position, viz., the mouldboard, the upper portion of the share, and the landside or slade, which forms the base of resistance. The Share. — This is the most important part of a plough, and on its right form depends mainly the steadiness of the implement. It forms the front part of the ploiigh body, and is the first point of resistance ; consequently it has to stand the brunt of the work in encountering stones or other impedi- ments. It cuts the soil in a horizontal direction, and separates the furrow slice from the ground immediately below it. Upon PLOUGHS AND PLOUGHING. 61 the right pitch of the share, which is the inclination of the point towards the gi'ound, depends mainly the easy motion of the plough ; if the share is too much pitched the plough will have a tendency to run into the ground ; and if too little, to run out of it, and in either case the bottom of the furrow cannot be cut level. The share, as I have said, forms the front part of the plough body, and either fits directly on the frame of the plough, or on to the end of a lever which is itself attached to the frame. The advantage of the lever is that the Fig. 17.— SHAEE WITHOUT PITCH, OB LEVEL ON THE BOTTOM. Fig. 18.— share WITH PITCH, OR INCLINED TO THE GROUND, r/iese Dra/wings show the action oftjie '* L&ver Neck," and Share. pitch of the share can be altered by raising or lowering its opposite end (Figs. 17, 18), to suit the plough to the varying state or condition of the land on which it works. In the former case the plough is said to have a fixed nose or neck, and in the latter a lever neck. Shares are made of various forms : the one I now show you (a blade) is as small as it is possible to make it ; this one (a Scotch share), on the other hand, is as large as it is pos- sible, or at any rate convenient to make it, but the standard and best shape is a medium between the two, about ten or 62 PLOUGHS AND PLOUGHING. eleven inches in length, with a simple box or socket to fit on to the neck of the plough. Shares also vary in shape, according to the work they are intended to perform. A shorter share is adapted for land where the soil is free from stones, whilst a long pointed one is found to be most suitable for stony land. They are also made in wrought and cast-iron ; the former being neces- sary in rocky districts where boulders protrude, and in newly cultivated or virgin lands where there are strong roots or large stones to be encountered, but in all other cases cast shares when weU made are decidedly preferable, as being cheaper in the first instance, wearing sharper, and not requiring relaying at the smith's, which often causes great loss of time, together with the hazard of having the working of the plough consider- ably interfered with from an alteration in its shape. I have said that cast chilled shares, when well made, are de- cidedly preferable to wrought shares; but there may be, and often I'M. 19.— PATENT CHILLED CAST-IBON SHARE, Showing the Fracture and Hai-d Under-Side. is, a very great difference between shares which to all outward appearance are equally good, but which show a great difference both when broken and in the length of time they wear. This difference is consequent on the proper selection of iron, on various details of manufacture, which are only arrived at by great experience, and on the manufacture of larger quantities than are made by most local founders. ROUGHS AND PLOUGHING. 63 I liave brought with me some specimens of cast chilled shares, which are broken to show you the nature of the hardened under- surface, and among them a worn share, that you may see how sharp they wear in work when well made. This drawing of a chilled share (Fig. 19) gives a good idea of the nature of the chill. The white line at the bottom shows the hardened under- surface. The Coulter. — We now come to the coulter or the cutting edge, which, placed perpendicularly to the ground rising from the point of the share, and fastened to the beam at its upper extremity, separates the furrow slice from the land to the left of it. The blade or cutting edge of the coulter should be broad, thin, and sharp, and being made of wrought iron, should be laid with steel on the left side in order to keep it sharp in wear. A great deal has been written by various authors as to the correct position of the coulter, but my experience has led me to this conclusion, that no one position is the best in all circumstances. In lea land the coulter shordd be placed nearly vertical, as in that position the roots are more easily cut and a cleaner edge is produced. If placed slanting, say at an angle of 60°, the strong roots of the clover have a tendency to rise and hang about the shank of the coulter, instead of being cut, and in so doing loosen and break the furrow slice. On the other hand, in ploughing stubbles or loose ground, if placed vertically, there is not sufficient resistance in the soil to withstand the action of the coulter against the stalks or roots in the ground, which consequently gather round the blade, and in this way choke the plough and crumble the furrow slice. It is, therefore, best in loose land to place the coulter in a slanting position of about 55° or 60°, for not only are these the positions in each case which will produce the best work, but those also which cause the least draught. That 64 PLOUGHS AND PLOUGHING. plough, therefore, is the best in this respect which admits of longtitudinal adjustments of the coulter along the beam. Before leaving the consideration of the share and the coulter, it will be well to remark, that whatever shape is given to the furrow slice by these parts is always stamped on it afterwards, where the soU is of sufficient tenacity to hold together, for the mouldboard only serves to turn the furrow and place it in position, and cannot materially alter its form for the better. The Mouldboard. — Having now seen how the share and coulter cut a rectangular furrow slice, we must examine the proportions of such a slice as will expose the greatest amount of soil to the action of the atmosphere. It has always been considered essential in good ploughing that the furrow— except under the Kentish system, of which I shall speak further on (p. 88) — should be of such proportion, and laid in such a posi- tion as to secure the two sides of the slice which are exposed to the air being of equaj. breadth, and at equal angles to the sur- face of the ground. The air and light then operate equally on each side, and, in the case of broadcast sowing, the seed drops with more certainty in its right place than where the furrows are laid over too flat or even too upright. The proportion which gives this in rectangular ploughing is that the breadth should be one-half more than the depth, or, more accurately speaking, in the proportion of 10 to 7. It has frequently been shown that a furrow of this proportion turned over at an angle of 45° ex- poses the greatest amount of soil to the action of the atmo- sphere that is possible at any given width of slice, and for proof of this I would refer you to Stephens' Book on Farm Imphmmts, p. 168. The furrow slice has therefore to be turned over from its position at A B C D, as indicated on Fig. 20, to its new position E F G H, and this is the work which the mouldboard has to accomplisli. PLOUGHS AND PLOUGHING. 65 Now it is clear that the slice has first to turn or be raised on its centre D until it reaches the perpendicular, when it D F Fio. 20.— Diagram showing the motion of tlie Fuitow Slice. takes a new centre on F, and is turned over to its final posi- tioa Many persons having studied this subject have con- cluded that the true form of the mouldboard must be that of a screw, having its centre in D, and have given that as the rule for determining its shape. But after having thoroughly- investigated that shape, and tried it in the field, I have found it defective, being too hollow in the centre part, and con- sequently apt to break the furrow slice. There have been numerous other rules given for the construction of mould- boards, but I am not aware that any of them, though appa- rently very good when considered theoretically, have been found to give a mouldboard capable of doing the best work under all circumstances, such as difference in soil, dryness or dampness of the ground, etc. Indeed all the theoretical rules for the formation of mouldboards leave them in such a state that the ploughs would not work unless afterwards altered in various parts by hand according to judgment, and it does not at all follow that because a screw is the most accurate and regular form which a furrow slice could take, provided it were sufficiently tough to hold together in the strain to which it is subject, that therefore a plate or mouldboard which is of this E 66 PLOUGHS AND PLOUGHING. form would be the best shape to hold together and turn over in an unbroken manner a friable material like earth in the form of a sod. On the contrary, the result of my experience is, that the straighter the top edge of the mouldboard can be made from the point of the share to the hind end or tail, pro- vided it does not move the lower edge of the furrow slice, the better will it perform its work ; and the degree to which this can be brought, can, I believe, only be attained by practice and by constant trial on the most varying soils. When this has been once found, a rule may be established by which any one can make a facsimile of the mouldboard, but that is a very different thing from having a mouldboard constructed according to a theoretical and mechanical rule. At the same time, it is highly necessary to consider the mechanical principles involved, as without them the designer would probably fall into many errors. Let us again turn to the drawings. In Fig. 20 we see the various positions of the slice ; the point C travelling through the arc K to K, where the slice reaches its perpendicular F Ax / ^■ ji(flK '^ '^ B v''' 1 ■/ y X- ''' X c => F \ • Fig. 21.— Diagram showing the Line of Motion of the centre of gravity. position, and thence from K G to G, its final position, at an angle of 45° to the base line. Fig. 21 shows the various posi- tions of the slice as in Fig. 20, but its centre of gravity is also indicated. The sanie letters refer to the same parts in each PLOUGHS AND PLOUGHING. 67 drawing. Let 0, Fig. 21, be the centre of gravity of tlie slice in its first position. It will be seen that as the slice is turned, the centre of gravity is raised through the first 55° of its mo- tion, then it falls till it reaches 90°, then again it is raised through the next 35° up to 125°, and falls through the last 10°. In a slice of the proportion which we are examining, viz., 6 inches deep by 9 inches wide, the utmost to which the centre of gravity is raised is half the diagonal A D, less half the depth of the slice A C. ISTow, the diagonal of a slice 6X9 = 10-82 inches ; therefore the whole height raised, 5 '41 inches — 3 inches = 2 '41 inches, or a total of less than 2 J inches. We thus see that in ploughing the slice is raised but a very little, and that this is done at the first part of the turn ; and, on the other hand, the principal part of the work is in moving the slice to the right hand, in this instance about 1 2 inches. We also see that the furrow slice cannot give an equal resist- ance to the breast throughout its entire length, for there must necessarily be more pressure where the centre of gravity has to be raised, than in those situations where it falls of its own accord ; and I believe it is mainly from this reason that a mouldboard with a uniform twist is not the best that can be produced. Again, whether a mouldboard be flat, concave, or convex, it is essential that it should raise the slice on the outside edge, that is, to the left of the centre of gravity; otherwise, instead of turning it on its centre at D, it wotild remove it bodily from its place, and unless the soil is very tenacious, the friction on the extreme of the outside edge would either break the slice, as is necessarily the case with a concave mouldboard, or rub off a considerable portion. The proper bearing should therefore be at a distance of about one- fifth the whole width of the slice ; and from repeated experi- ments I have found that a breast formed in this way wiU- 68 PLOUGHS AND PLOUGHING. deliver the furrow with its edge in the most perfect condition. Again, dividing the total length of the share and mouldboard into a given number of equal parts, the twist gradually in- creases from the point of the share, until the slice has reached the angle of 55°, which is the angle where the centre of gravity- has reached the highest point, and from this point to the eiid of the mouldboard it must again gradually decrease. This I give you from experience, having analysed the curvature of the mouldboard, which I have found to give the best result in practice, and to turn the furrow in the most unbroken maimer. A mouldboard, to turn an unbroken furrow slice such as I have been describing, must be of considerable length — from three to four feet, in addition to the share, the upper surface of which must be considered as a part of it; and I shall give you the result of some experiments, under the head of draught, which show that a long mouldboard is the lightest in this respect. Many persons prefer short mould- boards, as the soil is left by them in a more pulverized condi- tion ; and others, those which do not attempt to turn the soil over unbroken, but which are adapted for a deep narrow slice, and press it into shape ; of course, in the latter case, there is no pretension to mathematical exactness. Mouldboards are usually made of cast-iron, but steel ones are now rapidly taking their place, as being lighter for the horses, and more durable ; whilst in exceedingly sticky soils wood is sometimes used. The Slade is the part which forms the bottom or sole of the plough, and it also forms part of the land side of the plough body. The slade carries almost the whole weight of the im- plement ; and if we regard the action of the mouldboard in turning over the soil as a combination of two wedges, one raising the slice and the other moving it to the right, it will PLOUGHS AND PLOUGHING. 69 be seen that the slade forms the base of the wedge in both cases, and acts against the ground on the one hand and the landside on the other, as its abutments. All these parts — viz., the share, breast, and slade — are at- tached to the frame of the plough, and with it constitute the body. Following the order as laid down at the commencement, we must now consider the beam and handles. The Beam. — The beam is that part of the plough by which the position of the draught is regulated, and through which it is often taken. It is attached at one end to the frame, and to its other extremity the horses are yoked, and by it give direction to the movement of the plough. The upper end of the coulter, as well as the skim coulter and wheels, when the latter are employed, are fastened to the beam ; and as it has to withstand all the strains which come upon it, and which are often very severe, without twisting, bending, or breaking, it is necessary that it should be very strong. Beams are often made of wood, especially in those countries where timber ^bounds, but in the most improved ploughs of British manufacture, iron is almost universally employed for the beam as well as for the handles. Various sections of iron and modes of construction have been adopted in order to make iron beams as strong as possible, with the least weight of material; for all unnecessary weight not only adds to the expense of manufacture, but, if too great, interferes with the plough's working. Am.ongst other forms, 1st, iron of plain rectangular section ; 2nd, bars bolted or riveted to- gether, with struts between them at short distances, form- ing "the trussed beam;" drd, tubes of iron and steel, and both of circular and oval sections; Uh, T-iron, or iron with flanges on the sides, — have all been employed having 70 PLOUGHS AND PLOUGHING. this object in view. We have lately adopted another form of beam,— a combination of the trussed and plain solid beams, which combines the advantages of them both, and, whilst forming a very firm connexion with the body of the plough, is admirably adapted to withstand the strains, both vertical, lateral, and torsional to which a beam is subjected. In the little model on the table you will see this form of beam, and you will also observe the simplicity of the fastenings for the coulter, skim coulter, and wheels, of which it admits. I have said that one end of the beam is attached to the frame ; the position of the other end of the beam is determined by the line of draught, and must lie in that line. The centre of draught is really the centre of the work, and does not lie .exactly at the point of the share, but at a point behind it. This centre varies according to the work that is done ; in deep ploughing it is higher relatively to the sole of the plough than in shallow ploughing. We will take it on the ground line, at half way between the point of the share and the end of the slade or sole. A line drawn from this point, A (Fig. 22), to the collar of the horses, B, is the line of draught, and the head ot the beam must lie in this line whether the beam be shorter or longer, and whether much curved at the coulter or not. The farther the horses are from the plough, the lower is this line A D, and the beam must consequently be lower also ; but as the position of this line constantly varies with different work and with the different attachment of the horses, instead of altering the beam to suit these variations a means of adjustment is always pro- vided to allow for them. Some ploughs, instead of taking the draught through the beam, take it through a chain or rod which passes from the body of the plough to the fore extremity of the beam, and the object supposed to be gained is, that the draught is in a more PLOUGHS AND PLOUGHING. 71 72 PLOUGHS AND PLOUGHING. direct line. Now this is not the case, as the front part of the chain has to be secured firmly to the front of the beam, and passes through the exact point where the draught is taken when there is no such rod; and, again, it does not really strengthen the beam, inasmuch as any beam that is sufficiently strong to withstand the vertical and lateral strains, in neither of which is the draught rod any assistance, is more than strong enough to bear the strain of direct traction, and therefore if a beam be not strong enough without a draught rod, it can never be made strong enough by adding one. But it is not only that a draught rod is of no use, it is often positively injurious, as it helps to choke up the neck of the plough {i.e., the part between the beam and the share), especially when ploughing stubbles, - or in ploughing-in manure. With reference to this subject I would refer you to an excellent paper on Ploughs and Plough- ing, by T. Sullivan, Esq., which appeared in the Farmer's Magazine of 1845, page 204. Whether a beam is furnished with a draught rod or not, there is always an arrangement at the fore end or head of the beam for altering the exact position of the attachment of the draught. This part is called the hake, and works on the head either vertically or horizontally. In swing ploughs the beam must be shorter than in wheel ploughs, so that the horses may have less leverage, and the man have the implement more under his control, whilst with wheel ploughs greater length is necessary to allow for the attachment of the wheels, but as this kind of plough is easier to hold, the greater length is no objection. The Handles of a plough should be strong and iirmly attached to the body, so that the least movement given them by the ploughman may be comniunicated to the implement. The handles of a swing plough should be long, for the same reason PLOUGHS AND PLOUGHING. 73 that the beam should be short, namely, to give the man full control; and, indeed, the handles of both swing and wheel ploughs should be of sufficient length to give the ploughman good leverage over his implement, and to ease his work.'- We have now examined the principal parts of a swing plough. The wheel plough is similar in every respect, and the same principles apply in its construction, the main difference being the addition of one wheel, or a pair of wheels, to steady the plough, and to regulate the depth and width of the fun-ow. The beam, as we have seen, must be longer, and the share must have more pitch or hold on the land to counteract the slight tendency which the wheels have to raise the plough out of work. When one wheel is employed, it runs on the surface of the unploughed land directly under the beam, and is then called a head wheel. It merely serves to regulate the depth of the ploughing. When two wheels are used, one, " the land wheel," runs on the imploughed land and regulates the depth, whilst the other, " the furrow wheel" runs in the furrow and regulates the width of the slice. They are attached to the beam of the plough by means of upright stalks, and horizontal cross-bars, and can be set to any required depth and width of ploughing. The use of wheels, as M'e have seen, is of very ancient date, but the comparative advantages of wheel and swing ploughs is still discussed, and some hold to the one, some to the other. Mr. Sullivan, in his remarks on this subject. Farmer's Magazine for 1845, p. 199, says, "Wheel ploughs are of unknown antiquity, having been used by the Romans. They 1 I would here add, that to effect this object thoroiighly, it is essential to sxxit the height of the handles to the stature of the ploughman, — a thing very easily done, but not sufficiently attended to. — Ed. 74 PLOUGHS AND PLOUGHING. are still very common in England, but seldom, I should have said never, to be met with in Scotland;" and farther on, "it is only where agriculture is in a backward condition, that these remnants of antiquity, ' wheel ploughs,' are now used." Now, whilst I cannot agree with these remarks, as I think the wheel plough is in most cases a superior implement to the swing plough, and is even now much more in use in Scotlan(^ than in 1845, there can be little doubt that each class of plough has its own peculiar advantages, and th^t neither the one nor the other is the best in all cases. Let us note their comparative advantages. Tor swing ploughs, it may be said — They are simpler in construction. They do not clog so much on heavy wet soils. They can be more easily set in and taken out of work. They can be kept at a more uniform depth when the surface of the ground is uneven, as is the case in virgin soils, and over ridge and furrow. On the other hand, the following advantages belong to wheel ploughs : — They can be more easily managed, and therefore admit of less skilled labour. The depth and width of the ploughing can be kept to a greater uniformity, and, therefore, better ploughing can be produced in all cases, except where the sur- face is uneven. More work can be accomplished in a given time, as it is necessary, in order to do swing ploughing well, for the horses to walk very slowly ; and I think every one who has observed both wheel and swing ploughs at work will allow that with the latter the horses are driven much slower than with the former. (See Figs. 23, 24.) Altogether, it may be said that swing ploughs are the best in newly cultivated land, on soils where rock or large stones abound, and when the land is very wet and sticky, and that PLOUGHS AND PLOUGHING. 75 76 PLOUGHS AND PLOUGHING. wheel ploughs have decidedly the advantage in aU other cases, and especially in admittiag the employment of less skilled labour. It has been very truly remarked that the swing plough is more an implement, and the wheel plough a machine. I cannot leave this question of wheel and swing ploughs without referring you to Mr. Handley's essay on this subject, which appeared in the first volume of the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society in 1840, in which the subject is most ably treated ; and it is there shown, as the result of experi- ment, that, besides other advantages, wheel ploughs are lighter in draught than swing ploughs. The Skim Coulter is an addition that can be made to any plough ; it is, in fact, a miniature plough attached by a stalk to the beam in front of the coulter. Its use is to pare a portion of the surface of the land, and to turn the herbage so cut off into the furrow, and thus completely bury it. It is of very great advantage where there is much surface vegetation. A drag chain and weight attached, which leads from the coulter and is drawn in the open furrow, is also sometimes used to assist in covering in the grass or stubble, and is especially useful where this is very long. We have hitherto spoken only of ploughs which cut a rect- angular fuiTOW slice turning it over to an angle of 45°, but there is another form, viz., the trapezoidal or crested furrow slice, which is preferred to the rectangular by many, and which distinguishes most of the ploughing in Scotland. Fur- rows of this form are obtained by cutting the bottom of the furrow unlevel, i.e., deeper on the land side than on the furrow side. Tor instance, in a plough cutting 7" deep at the point of the share, the opposite side is often not cut more than 5" or 5|" deep. When this furrow is turned over, the angle of the slice PLOUGHS AND PLOUGHING. 77 which is thus exposed to the air is more acute than that of the rectangular slice ; in fact, is less than a right angle ; and the furrows being each of them . sharper, appear to give a greatly- increased amount of soil for the action of the harrows, and for covering the seed. Before examining the respective advantages of each form, it wLU be well here to remark that the crested furrow slice, which has attracted so much attention in this country since the awards of the Eoyal Agricultural Society of England at Warwick in 1859, was not at that time first intro- duced to the public,^ but had been known and used in Scot- land for a very great many years. The old Scotch ploughs, before the time of Small's improvements, cut- their slices in this way, and although Ms ploughs cut a rectangular furrow slice, those of Wilkie, the " Lanarkshire ploughs," which were brought out about the beginning of this century, were specially distinguished for cutting the slice deeper on the land side, as well as for their convex mouldboards, which were probably first introduced by him. For the purposes of comparison of the two forms of furrow slice — the rectangular or English method, and the crested or Scotch method — I have prepared drawings (Figs. 25, 26), which show sections of both of them, the rectangular 7 inches deep by 10 inches wide, and the crested also 7 inches deep by 9 inches wide, which are the proportions in which these furrows must respectively be cut in order to expose an equal surface on each side to the atmosphere. I have taken them both at an equal depth of 7 inches, therefore the comparison we are about to institute will really give us a correct result. Fig. 25 represents the rectangular slice. 1 See Stephens' Booh ore Farm Implements, edit. 185S, p. 150. Blith's Improver Improved, edit. 1652, p. 266. 78 PLOUGHS AND PLOUGHING. Fig. 26 represents the crested slice. In the rectangular slice the bottom C D cut by the share is perfectly level, and the landside AC cut by the coulter is perpendicular, giving a slice of uniform thickness and a level ' sole. Fig. 25. RECTANGUI.AB FURROW RLIC In the crested slice the bottom 6H cut by the share is higher on the right-hand side or wing of the share, and lower on the left-hand side or point of the share. I have shown the cut of the coulter E G as perpendicular, for although in ploughs intended for this sort of work the coulter is set to cut under, they are generally held so much over to the left by the plough- man, that the landside is cut almost perpendicularly. The slice is therefore thicker on the left side, and in this instance it measures 7" on the left side and 5 J" on the right, a difference which is often exceeded in practice. The first point that wiU strike the eye is the unlevel sole G H I K L left by the crested plough. The whole area of the PLOUGHS AND PLOUGHING. 79 slice if cut level E F G I would be 7x9 = 63 inches, but the 9 X li area of the part left uncut G HI is equal to ' or 6f inches, leaving for the area of the crested slice 56 J inches. There is, therefore, nearly ith of the soil left at the bottom unmoved. The crested furrows being 9 inches wide, it will take Un crested furrows to produce a width equal to nine rectangular furrows 10 inches wide, or, in other words, to plough the same width of ground with crested furrows the horses must travel i.th further, or ten mUes for every nine. Now let us see how much more cover we get for the seed. If we draw a line through the points where the furrows rest on each other, M N in the rectangular slice, and P in the crested slice, the soil in the triangles above these lines will be the cover for the seed, and, for equal widths of ploughing, the comparative amounts will be in the proportion of the heights of those triangles, or as Q S to T V. Now Q S = 5 inches, and TV = 5'36 inches, or about 5 J inches. If we re- duce them both to thirds, Q S = -— and T V = — , thus showing o o that the increased amount of soil exposed in ten crested slices is only xsth more than in the nine rectangular slices ; and, supposing the seed to be sown broadcast, and to fall to the lowest points W and Y, when harrowed it would only have about ^th of an inch more soil to cover it. If, however, we find a slightly increased cover for the seed in the crested ploughing, we have on the other hand much less soil below it. Taking the whole area of the crested slice as 56 J inches, as we have found it to be, and that of the exposed part T U to be 9x5-36 . , , , 1 . IT ■ = 24'12 mches, the part unexposed m each slice 80 PLOUGHS AND PLOUGHING. = 56-25 — 24-12 = 32-13 inches, and in ten slices := 321-3 inches, whereas in the rectangular slice the area of the whole slice is 7x7 7x10 = 70 inches. The part exposed — —=24-5 inches, A and the part unexposed 70 — 24-5 = 45-5 inches, and in nine slices = 409-5 inches, and subtracting what is unexposed in the crested slice from this, we have 409-5—321-3 inches = 88-2 inches more soil for the roots of the plants in the rectangular than in the crested ploughing, or more than |th more soil. We therefore see, that although taking equal breadths of work there is a slight advantage in favour of the crested-in cover for the seed, there is a very great advantage in favour of the rectangular in having ^th more soU for the roots of the plants. It is also a serious question whether on heavy lands the crested ploughing is not very disadvantageous, in leaving the soil in ribs at the bottom, and thus often preventing the water from getting away freely, which in some cases rots the roots of the plants, as well as in the increased treading of the ground, caused by the horses having to walk further for each acre. Having now looked into the theory of these two forms of slice, let us look at the result in practice. First, as to draught. Both Mr. Stephens, in the Book on Farm, Imjplemmts, page 172, paragraph 630, and Mr. Sul- livan in his essay on ploughing, before referred to, give it without doubt that ploughs cutting a crested slice are found heavier in draught. Mr. Melvin of Eatho, a Scotch farmer, in his paper read before the Mid -Lothian Society, gave his strong opinion in favour of the rectangular ploughing, and I would refer you to extracts from this essay, given in Mr. J. C. Morton's Gyclopcedia of Agriculture ; whilst the fol- lowing report, taken from the Year Book of Facts for 1859, PLOUGHS AND PLOUGHING. 81 and extracted from a report in the Highland Society's Journal, January 1859, must speak for itself as to the real or supposed value of crested ploughing : — "In the field reported upon in the year 1846, forty-five ploughs competed at a match in two classes — ploughs turning a rectangular furrow slice, and those giving a high-crested one ; the best of either class to be awarded the Highland Society's Medal, along with the first money-premium of its class. This was adjudged to a Carrington Currie plough's work with a beautifully executed high-crested furrow. On the crop being carefully tested, for the purpose of reporting to the Agricultural Society, it was found that the premium portion gave the least produce of nine plots tested, five of which were rectangular, and four high crested." It is therefore a matter for congratulation that the Eoyal Agricultural Society of England, after having in 1859 departed for a time from its standard of excellence, which it had adhered to until then in all its trials, did last year, prior to the New- castle meeting, revert to the old system, and laid down as its " Standard of excellence in Ploughs" the following : — "That the plough should cut the sole of the fuirow perfectly flat, leave the land side clear and true, lay the furrow slices with unifor- mity, with perpendicular cut of the land side, leaving a roomy horse walk ; that it should have an efficient skim coulter, be light in draught, simple, strong, and economical in construction." Draught of Ploughs. We now come to the very important consideration of the draught, upon which there has already been much written, and many experiments tried, but which, nevertheless, is in many points an open question, and will continue to be so until an extended series of very careful experiments on different soils, and those soils in different conditions, have been tried and noted. One set of experiments on the draught of ploughs, however carefully performed, cannot with certainty be relied 82 PLOUGHS AND PLOUGHING. on, as so many various conditions and sources of error arise which tend to wrong conclusions, and consequently mystify the subject. Let us, however, endeavour to ascertain what is known. There can be no doubt of this, that there is a very considerable difference in the draught of different ploughs. The experiments of Mr. Pusey given in the first volume of the Eoyal Agricultural Society of England's Journal, proves this ; several ploughs doing the same work, varying from 14 to 23 stone, and in another case from 11 to 21 stone. In experi- ments which I have tried with the ordinary iron plough in comparison with the old Suffolk and Norfolk wheel ploughs, I have found a difference of at least 1 stone in 4 in favour of the iron plough. It is therefore a matter of great importance to discover the form of plough which, doing its work well, shall have the least draught. Both Mr. Handley's and Mr. Pusey's experiments prove that wheel ploughs are lighter in draught than swing ploughs, except in those cases in which the wheels clog with soil. Trying two ploughs of which the cutting and turning parts were exactly similar, but the one fitted with a short beam for swing ploughing, and the other with wheels, although the weight of the swing plough was J cwt. less than the wheel plough, I found their respective draughts to be 30 stone and 22 stone; and although such a difference might not always be seen, we can easily understand that the slight variations or jumpings of the swing plough caused by the horses on the one hand, and the man on the other, and which are greatly steadied in a wheel plough, would account for considerable increase in draught. The weight of a plough very materially affects the draught. To prove this, I took a plough weighing 3 cwt., the draught of which was 21-5 stone, in a furrow 6x9, and added first PLOUGHS AND PLOUGHINCJ. 83 1 cwt., when the draught increased to 28 stone, and then another cwt., when it increased to 33-5 stone, showing an increase, in this case, of from 5i to 6 J stone for each cwt. added ; whilst another plough weighing 2^ cwt. took a draught of only 18-5 stone. Mr. Pusey's experiments show that half the draught of the ploughs which he tried was due to their weight ; and Mr. Morton, in the Cyolo'pcBdia of Agriculture, shows that from 33 to 50 per cent, of the whole draught is due to the weight of the ' plough. It is quite possible to get a plough too light for its work, but these experiments show the advantage of not using ploughs of heavier weight than are necessary to withstand their work. The proportion of draught due to the cutting and turning parts is very difficult to estimate, but varies in different ploughs from one-half to two-thirds of the entire draught ; the larger this proportion is, the more perfect is the plough, and the greater effective work is produced with the same labour. Again, the power required in cutting the slice is greater than that of turning it when cut, as proved by experiment, but the exact proportion due to each is not so easily determined. The importance of having the cutting edges of the share and coulter thin and sharp will be easily seen, for they act as wedges in separating the soil, and the thinner they are the more easily will they do it. It is often thought that a short breast is lighter in draught than a long one, from the soil being more quickly turned by it, but the reverse is the case, the same principle of the thin wedge being the easiest to drive holds here as well as in the last case. The difference in draught in the same plough fitted with a long and a short breast of 4 feet and 3 feet 3 respectively, and made on the same principle, being 21 and 23 stone. 84 PLOUGHS AND PLOUGHING. Increase in depth produces an increase of draught, not in proportion to the square of the depth, as is stated in some books, but rather in the proportion of the cubical contents of the furrows turned ; an increase in depth demands gene- rally an increase in width of slice, for the true proportion of the slice should always be preserved, and whatever depth you are ploughing, the width should be one-half greater. The great increase in draught sometimes observed when ploughing deep, often arises from the fact that the subsoil has never been stirred to that depth before, and is not to be attributed to the depth of the ploughing, but to the hard nature of the lower portion. The average draughts given by Mr. Pusey of nine ploughs tested at 4 and 7 inches, with a width of 9 inches, do not give an increased proportion in the ratio of 4 to 7 for the greater depth, but of 16 to 22. Therefore, if the power required is greater in deep than shallow ploughing, it is evident that where the soil is uniform throughout, for every increase in draught a corresponding increase of soil is moved, and that the labour does not increase as the square of the depth. The influence of speed on draught is found to be absolutely nothing ; that is to say, a plough registers the same draught on the dynamometer, whether it is drawn fast or slow (if we allow for a very slight increase, which is clearly due to more sudden jerks against stones or other substances). From this we must not conclude that horses have no more work to do when travelling at three miles an hour than they have at one and a half, for it wiU be seen that although the absolute draught at each second is the same, it is done at double the speed, or in half the time, and they consequently are exerting double the power in the same time ; for it is a rule in mechanics, that with a given power, if you double the speed you must halve the weight. But in this case you double the speed whilst doing the PLOUGHS AND PLOUGHING. 85 same work, or, in other words, the horses have to exert double strength. The advantage of having powerful horses that can step freely is very great, as more work can be got over in a day; but it is of as little use to increase the speed of the horses at the expense of their strength, as it would be to have more power than is really required with a very slow rate of walking. From two to two and a half miles an hour is a very good rate for horses to walk when ploughing. There is another very important point we must not forget to notice in speaking of the draught of ploughs, and that is the importance of having all the parts of the implement set in unison, and not pulling one against another ; and this is even more necessary to observe in a wheel than in a swing plough. In the latter, an undue tendency in any direction is directly felt by the ploughman, and increases his labour, and having his attention thus called to it, it is at once altered ; but even here it is possible for the coulter to be set with a tendency to run to land, and for this to be counteracted at the head of the plough with a consequent increase of draught. But in wheel ploughs this is not so evident, and it is often the case that the plough is so much pitched in the share as to cause great pressure on the wheels, without its being felt by the ploughman. It is there- fore a good plan, in setting a wheel plough, to adjust the various parts so that it will work as a swing, and then to attach the wheels, at the same time giving a sKght increase to the pitch of the share. So much power may be uselessly swallowed up unless a plough is set right, that this point should be studiously attended to. Even the same plough, on the same soil, in dif- ferent hands, is found to give different draughts. It is also very necessary that the plough should be kept clean and well polished ; any i-oughness or rust greatly in- creases the friction, and consequently the draught. It is on 86 PLOUGHS AND PLOUGHING. this account that steel breasts are lighter for the horses than cast ones ; they are smoother, and, being of closer grain, rust does not so soon affect them. To sum up these remarks on draught (for to give you all the figures of a series of experiments would take too much time, and for these I would refer you to Mr. Handley's essay, and Mr. Pusey's paper, in the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, and to Mr. M.oyi.ovi & Encyclffpmdia of Agri- culture), I would say that that plough is the most economical in draught whose weight is proportioned to the work to be performed, the cutting edges of the share and coulter thin and sharp, the mouldboard long and easy in its turn, and not short or abrupt, and of which all the parts are set and act in unison (not pulling against each other, by which much power may be lost), and which on all except the most sticky soils is furnished with a pair of wheels to regulate the size of the furrow, and to steady the plough in its motion through the ground. It is also to be remembered that ploughs cutting a rectangular slice are generally lighter in draught than those which cut a crested slice. "We have now, I think, examined the main principles on which a plough works, and the nature of its various parts. Let me for a few moments draw your attention to the model of one of our Newcastle prize ploughs (see Fig. 24), which ob- tained such high honours last year at the trials of the Eoyal Agricultural Society of England at Newcastle. These ploughs there gained, four first prizes, out of six that were awarded, as the best for heavy land, and the best for light land, as wheel ploughs ; and again as swing ploughs, the best for light land, and the best for general purposes. The mouldboard is four feet in length, and is regular in its curve ; it is made on the principles laid down in the former part of my lecture, and has PLOUGHS AND PLOUGHING. 87 been thoroughly tested in the field. The beam is the combina- tion of the solid and trussed beams, and unites strength with simplicity. The handles are secured by diagonal braces. The wheels, which are boxed-in to exclude dirt, and work on chilled surfaces,, are carried on the opposite ends of one cross bar, which is at once the stiffest and most simple method of attaching them. .The hake is so arranged that the most frequent alterations that are required, viz., those which set the plough to and from land, can be made without the necessity of lifting the whippletrees, which is so often the case in other ploughs ; and the coulter having the broad part of the blade behind, instead of in front of the stalk, is not liable to turn in the ground, but, on the contrary, the action of the soil against the sides keeps it in its true position, with the sharp edge forwards. These ploughs, in their various sizes, and with diffei-ent breasts to adapt tliem for different soils and uses, are suitable for every purpose that can be required. There are many other descriptions of ploughs besides those I have mentioned, which are in constant use. 1. The Gallows Ploiigh, or plough with a high beam, as used in Suffolk, Norfolk, Essex, and in some parts of the adjoining counties. The gallows plough is propeily a wheel plough, but the wheels, instead of being attached to the beam, carry a sort of framework or carriage, and the beam of the plough, which rises at an angle of about 40°, rests on the upper part of the framework so carried. The wheels and gallows, as the framework is called, are connected with the beam by chains and pins. The draught of the plough is taken from nearly the centre of the axles of the wheels, which are high, about two feet in diameter ; and the position of this point of draught falls in the draught line already mentioned, or in the .same relative position to the body of the plough as it does in 88 PLOUGHS AND PLOUGHING. an ordinary wheel plough. Ploughs made in this way are easy for the man to hold ; but their great weight, together with the unequal strains to which they are subject, make them heavy in draught, and they are not so able to face hard ground as a good . iron plough. They are gradually disappearing and giving way before the modern implements. The old Berkshire Plough is perhaps the worst specimen of this class. 2. Tlie Kentish Turn- wrest Plough, also with high gallows, which turns the furrows completely over instead of laying them on each other at an angle of 45° (Fig. 27). It is almost entirely Fig. 27.— Diagram showing the Completely Inverted or Kentish Furrow Slice. confined in its use to the county of Kent and part of Sussex, but the farmers in those districts are very strong and firm ad- herents to the use of that implement, and to that system of ploughing, believing it to be the best, at any rate, for their lands. It must be admitted that when the soil is turned com- pletely bottom upwards, as it is with the turn-wrest plough, all the top vegetation is buried, and the soU which before lay the lowest is exposed to the action of the atmosphere. It also provides a good bed for the seed, and there are no hoUow places left below the furrows as is the case in ploughing turned to an angle of 45°. I believe the system has been found to answer well on many soils besides those of Kent ; and perhaps the reason why this mode of ploughing has not become general in other counties, is that the implement itself is a very heavy one, and takes from three to four horses to draw it, besides requir- PLOUGHS AND PLOUUHING. S9 ing considerable skill, or rather experience in its use, to enable the ploughman to work it with ease. The name turn- wrest, or tum-rist, implies that the rist or breast can be turned from one side of the plough to the other, and, therefore, the furrow can be turned either to the right hand or to the left. On this account, with Kentish ploughing, there are no open furrows left between the ridges as with all round-about ploughs, but the ploughman commencing his work on one side of the field continues turning the furrows all iia one direction till he comes to the other side of the field, and the whole is ploughed. He merely turns the rist at each end of the field when he turns the horses and plough round, and thus throws his furrows all one way. The Kentish man prides himself on his team of four horses, whilst his neighbour is glad to do his ploughing with two. The Kentish man dis- likes laying his land in ridges and with open furrows, whilst his neighbour, who has always been accustomed to ridges and furrows, hesitates to put them aside and adopt the Kentish system. This, in some measure, accounts for its use not having become more general ; but the principal reason, I believe, is the great weight of the implement and power required to draw it ; and now that much lighter ploughs are being made of iron, and that mouldboards, which accomplish the same work, can be fitted to the ordinary iron ploughs, we may perhaps see a change, and the Kentish system of completely turning the sod become more generally adopted. It certainly appears to me to be more like spade cultivation than where the soil is only half turned. 3. LowGock's Tiim-iurest or One-way Plough. — This plough is intended to leave no open furrows, but to lay them all in one direction from one side of the field to the other. In this respect it is similar to the Kentish turn- wrest, but it lays the 90 PLOUGHS AND PLOUGHING. fun-ow at an angle of 45°, instead of completely inverting it. It acts simply as a right and a left handed plough placed back to back and combined in one implement. It is not turned round at the end of the field, but the draught-chain of the horses works on a longitudinal bar which runs the whole length of the beam, enabling the plough to be drawn first from one end and then from the other. It has two shares, two coulters, two raouldboards, and two wheels, or sets of wheels, placed at opposite ends, which are alternately in and out of work. The " fly," or tail of the mouldboards, is a separate piece, and turning on a vertical centre forms ,the back part of each as it comes into work. Whilst the horses are turning round on the land side of the plough, the handles, which move on an axis situated in its centre, are turned over to the opposite end by the ploughman, and the implement is again ready for the return furrow. The plough, though occasionally used on the level, is most useful for hUl-side ploughing, where there would be great difficulty in turning a plough round at each end, and where it is sometimes impossible to turn the furrows up hill. There are various other " one-way" ploughs different in design from Lowcock's, but made with the same object in view. 4. Ridging Ploughs. — These ploughs have a right and a left hand mouldboard on opposite sides of the frame, and are used for ridging or moulding up plants, such as beet root, potatoes, etc., and for opening water furrows, and they not only perform their work better than a single plough does in two operations, but effect a saving of one-half the time, as in one journey they throw the soil on both sides at once. 5. Doulh Furrow Ploughs.— These ploughs, the invention of Lord Somerville, essentially consist of two ordinary ploughs mounted with one pair of handles, they turn two furrows at one time, and consequently cover double the width of ground. By PLOUGHS AND PLOUGHING. 91 this arrangement, on light and easy -working soils, a saving of power and labour is effected, as what would take four horses and two men with two separate implements, with this only takes three horses, and sometimes but two, with one man. 6. Subsoil Plouglis. — Of these there are many varieties, amongst which may be mentioned the simple subsoil plough, consisting of a frame and share, which merely stirs the ground, like the strong tine of the cultivator. Cotgreave's subsoil and trenching plough, which stirs the ground to the depth of 16" or 18", brings the lower strata to the top and covers in all the grass, leaving the soil in much the same state as if dug over with the fork. Beauclerk's Archimedean subsoiler, in which, to the ordinary subsoiler, an Archimedean screw is attached, and which, in passing through the soil, turns and pulverizes it. Beutall's subsoU plough. The Eackheath subsoil plough, invented by Sir Edward Strachey, Bart. Eead's subsoil plough, with its two pair of wheels to steady it and keep the work of uniform depth ; and many others. 7. Paring Ploughs. — These are for cutting off the top sur- face, in order to kill the weeds, and preparatory to burning. There are several forms of this implement, viz., Snowden's, Hunt and Pickering s, and some others ; but as really useful a plough as any may be made by using an ordinary wheel plough, with a share fitted with a wide steel blade of fourteen or sixteen inches in length, and used either without the mould- board or with a very short one, if it is desired partly to turn over the slice which is cut off. 8. Potato-raising PZow^ffe.— Without adverting to Han- son's potato- digger, which is rather a special machine than a plough, I may say that ploughs are rendered suitable for rais- ing potatoes out of the ground by attaching a share fitted with a number of prongs to the ordinary subsoil body, and which. 92 PLOUGHS AND PLOUGHING. passing under the roots, brings all the potatoes to the surface in a much quicker and safer manner than can be done by the fork, and quite as effectually. We have now, I think, noticed the principal varieties of ploughs in general use, though, I am well aware, I have not exhausted the subject, nor would it be easy to do so. On the subject of ploughing in general, I cannot pretend to give you any information. The best time for doing it, the proper depth for different soils and crops, and considerations of that character, belong entirely to the agriculturist. I will merely explain the different methods of ploughing ridges, and show you the great disadvantage in loss of time in having short furrows, as well as give you some further hints for mak- ing ploughs do their work well in the field. Ridges. — It is customary in ploughing to lay the land in ridges, or, as they are sometimes called, lands or stetches, of various widths, from two yards and upwards, in order to faci- litate the escape of surface water ; and the heavier the soil the narrower are the ridges, and the higher and more rounded are they laid. On lands which are well drained, there is very much less need of ridges ; and as they bring with them many disad- vantages, particularly when narrow, this is a very important point. Amongst these disadvantages may be enumerated — 1. The waste of land occasioned by the furrows. 2. The unequal ripening of the corn. 3. The necessity of having all the implements on the farm adapted to their width. 4. The great obstacle they present to the introduction of reaping, mowing, and other machines, which work so touch better on a level surface. The introduction of steam will, I hope, help to remedy this evil, as also will the increase of thorough under- draining PLOUGHS AND PLOUGHING. 93 Eidges are usually placed running from north to south, as the sun then acts equally on each side ; but their direc- tion must be determined by the inclination of the land, the principal object in their adoption being to get rid of the water. In order to lay land in ridges, the widths must be marked off at each end of the field. These form the centres or tops of the ridges, and the ploughman, having laid the tops of one or more ridges, continues to plough round them, turning his horses to the right at each end of the field, till the centre or open furrow between each top is reached, and the ridges are then formed. This operation is termed " gathering." When, after laying the tops, the horses are turned at each end to the left hand, and thus a furrow is laid alternately against one top on the right and one on the left, the operation is termed " splitting." The different methods of ploughing land, after it has been laid in ridges, are, — 1. Crown and Furrow Plougliing, when the furrows of the old ridges become the tops of the new ones ; the same number of ridges being preserved, but the relative positions of top and furrow being changed. 2. Casting, when two ridges are thrown into one. The top is laid in an open furrow, and the ridges on each side are ploughed to it. 3. Two out and Two in is a method of ploughing by which the number and form of the ridges are preserved, but in which the commencements are made at every fourth furrow, and after each pair of ridges are thrown together by gathering, the next pair are thrown outwards by splitting, and the old water fur- rows are preserved by running the plough empty up the old furrows. 4. Tv/ice Gathering, when the top of the old ridge is made 94 PLOUGHS AND PLOUGHINfi. the top of the new ridge, and the old furrows remain as before, by which the roundness of the ridge is increased. 5. Crossing, when the direction of the ploughing is at right angles to the ridges. It is employed in preparing the summer fallows, and also for more thoroughly mixing the various manures which have been thrown on the land, and working them in with the soil. These are the principal methods, and there are doubtless several others which will suggest themselves to the farmer from these, as necessity requires. The length of the ridges is a very important consideration. In short ridges much time is lost by the turnings. To show what is lost in this way, I have supposed three fields of 100, 200, and 300 yards in length respectively, and calculated the time necessary to plough an acre. The widths of the plots which give an acre of each length are 145 feet, 72^ feet, 48 J feet, and taking a 9" furrow, are equal to 194 furrows, 96 fur- rows, and 64 furrows. Let us suppose the horses to walk at the rate of two miles an hour, and allow one minute to be taken for every turn at the end ; the distance travelled over in actual ploughing is the same in each case, viz., 1 9,400 yards, and at the rate of two miles an hour, would take 5 hrs. 30 min. The turnings correspond to the number of furrows, and the time taken in them will therefore amount to 194 min., 96 min., and 64 min., or to 3 hrs. 14 min., 1 hr. 36 min., and ] hr. 4 min. respectively, which, added to 5 hrs. 30 min. taken in ploughing, gives the, time necessary with each length of ridge to plough an acre. Thus we find it takes — 5.30 + 3.14 = 8 hrs. 44 min. in a field 100 yds. long. 5.30 + 1.36 = 7 hrs. 6 min. „ 200 yds. „ 5.30 + 1.4 =6 hrs. 34 min. „ 300 yds. ' PLOUGHS AND PLOUGHINO. 95 It is therefore evident, that in a field 300 yards long, a man and horses can do one-third more work in the same time than in a field 100 yards long, and all this is owing to the fewer number of turnings. This is quite within the mark, and shows that the point is worthy of much attention ; even in this in- stance more than two hours are lost in the case of the field 100 yards long. The difference in time taken to plough an acre with various widths of slice, I have already alluded to in comparing the crested and rectangular furrows. With an 8" slice the horses travel 12^ miles; with a 9" slice, 11 miles; with a 10" slice, 9^^ miles ; and with an 11" slice, 9 miles per acre. The quantity of work that may be performed in one day varies according to the soil, the width of slice, and the speed of the horses ; but 1 acre^ is estimated as the average amount aU the year round on average soil, 1^ acres is given as the utmost with a common furrow, and f acre in winter, and 1\ in summer, as a fair day's work. NoAV, as to making a plough do its work well. If there is evidently some fault in the working, examine the plough, see that the share is on tight, and that it is sufficiently pitched ; that it is straight with the landside of the plough ; that the slade does not project lower than the share, or beyond it on the land side ; that the fore part of the breast is screwed down, so that its surface and that of the share may be level with each other ; that the coulter stands straight forward, its left edge being level with the landside, and its point just above the share ; that when the plough has wheels, its land wheel should just touch the surface of the land when the plough stands upright in its work, and the furrow wheel the bottom and side of the furrow. Then any further alteration that is ^ Treatise on British Husbandry (Lib. of Useful Knowledge). 96 PLOUGHS AND PLOUGHING. requisite can be made at the hake, by setting it higher or lower to give it more or less pitch, and to the right or left to make it run more towards or from the unploughed land. I wiU now briefly touch on the subject of plough trials and ploughing matches, and then conclude. I think I have said quite sufficient to show that there is something in a plough after all ; that there are many conditions necessary to make it work well ; that the variety of soils and state of those soils is so great, and the various works it is re- quired to perform so varying, that a trial of ploughs which is to decide their respective merits should be very severe and searching. That time of year should be chosen which is most suitable for such a purpose, and the trials should extend over a sufficient length of time thoroughly to test the merits of the ploughs under investigation. I know that to do this thoroughly would be an arduous work, and that there are many difficulties in the way, but these are such as might be overcome by our powerful and wealthy Eoyal Agricultural Society, whose awards are even now looked upon as being worthy of great effort to obtain. Although in the last few years much has been done by this Society to give to their awards more of that judicial and dis- criminatory character which the improved state of agricultural mechanics has rendered necessary, there is still a wide field open to its managers for further improvement, by establishing definite standards of excellence to be aimed at by agricultural machinists, by allotting ample time to the judges for per- forming their very arduous duties, and by giving to them such instructions that their awards may partake less of the colouring of what is esteemed, excellent in their own particular localities and become thoroughly the expression of the attainment of those qualities which the most practical agriculturists from all PLOUGHS AND PLOUGHING. 97 parts of the kingdom unite in declaring to be essential to a good machine or implement. I throw out these ideas as one anxious for improvement and progress, and not in the least degree in the character of a dis - contented exhibitor ; for the firm of Eansomes and Sims un- doubtedly won the largest share of the plough prizes last year at Newcastle, and in any competition in which they engage hereafter, I have no doubt that they will meet with as fair a share of success as any of their competitors. Some of the remarks which I have just made apply also in the conducting of local ploughing matches ; but these, except in the classes open to All England, are rather a trial of the men than of the implements. It is, however, impossible to separate the merits of the man and those of the implement, that man who has a good plough having a much greater chance than the one who has not ; and perhaps it would not be wise to separate them, as the result which is desired to be obtained by ploughing matches is good ploughing, and to that end good ploughmen are necessary as well as the best ploughs. It would, however, materially advance the cause, if the points that constituted good ploughing were agreed on by each society, and put into a tangible form, that is to say, in print. It would be a guide to the master in procuring his ploughs, and in instructing his men. It would teach the men what to aim at as perfection. It would be a guide to the judges in making their awards, and tend to uniformity in their decisions, and it would especially assist the men when the awards were made known in appreciating the merits of the prize plots, and in seeing the deficiency in the others not so successful. With these remarks I will conclude. I have done my best G 98 PLOUGHS AND PLOUGHING. to explain the construction and mode of using the most useful and most general of all agricultural implements, and when we consider that good ploughing lies at the root of good farming, and that good farming prodiices food for the world, we shall see that it is worthy of our attentive study. Nor ought the ploughman himself to be despised. He has not often had the advantages of education, which make the scholar, hut he has had an implement to study and work to perform which requires years of patient daUy toil to master and become pro- ficient at. I have found many a warm and honest heart be- neath the rough hand of the ploughman. Nor has his work been despised by those in higher stations : — " In ancient times, the sacred plough employ'd The kings and awful fathers of mankind ; And some, with whom compared your insect tribes Are but the beings of a summer's day, Have held the scale of empires, ruled the storm Of mighty war, then with unwearied hand, Disdaining little delicacies, seized The Plough, and greatly independent lived." Thomson's Seasons, " Spring.' REPORT OF WHEAT EXPERIMEI^TS 1863-186 4. ARTHUE H. CHUECH, M.A. Oxon., F.C.S., PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY, ROYAL AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. REPORT OF WHEAT EXPERIMENTS 1863-1864. It is not -without good reason that farmers are beginning to pay more attention to the quality of their seed-corn. The question naturally arises, Have we any test enabling us to select that quality of seed which shall yield the largest and best return? Is size, is form, is density, for instance, the criterion of excellence ? The method of selection of seed for sowing has attracted much attention of late, and several plans have been proposed. One of the most promising of these has been an extension or adoption of the florist's practice of saving seed from the finest plants only. It must not be forgotten, however, that the objects of the florist and the farmer aj-e not strictly analogous. The florist looks to the growth and beauty of the plant which he raises ; the farmer seeks a large yield of seed of fine quality. It is scarcely to be expected that these diverse ends are attainable by the same means ; indeed it is well known that the excessively "double" flowers of the florist necessarily yield seed very sparingly, and that even of this seed a large portion is worthless. The question discussed, and I hope to some extent answered, in the present paper, is this. Have we any ready method of selecting corn for seed so as to enable us to get a larger and better crop ? One criterion may at all events be adopted 102 REPORT OF WHEAT EXPERIMENTS. without difficulty, that of density. This is scarcely the occa- sion to discuss the relation of the density of the seed to its chemical composition. Yet it may be worth while to state the opinions which have been broached on the point. Look- ing on the constituents of wheat grain in this light, we may dismiss from consideration the fat or oil, the ash constituents and the cellulose, woody fibre, etc., taking into account the starchy matters, the nitrogenous substances or albuminoids, and the water only. The percentage proportions of these, the largest constituents of the grain, are well known to vary within very wide limits in different samples of wheat. The variations are here shown : — - Water, . . . 11 -5 to 16 -5 per cent. Starch, . 62-0 to 69-0 Albuminoids, . , 9-5 to 18 '0 ,, These proportions are chiefly on the authority of M. Eeiset,^ and were deduced from an immense number of experiments on different wheats. Messrs. Lawes and Gilbert,^ on the other hand, employing three kinds of wheat only, grown, too, on the same land, found the percentage of albuminoids to vary less, namely, between 11-25 and 15-5. The questions to be dis- cussed in the present communication are limited to the two following : — I. Are grains less or more dense according to the percentage of albuminoids they contain ? II. Do the denser grains yield a larger and better crop ? 1. Siuce the starch has a greater density than the gluten of wheat (1-53 as compared with 1-38), it would seem that the more starchy a grain is, the greater will be its density, and that richness in gluten will diminish its density. I believe, from ' Reiset, Ann. C/iim. el Pliys. xxxix. (1853). ''^ Lawe.s and Gilbert, Quart. Journ. Chem. Soc. x. p. 13. REPORT OF WHEAT EXPEEIMEKTS. 103 my experiments, that this is the case in different grains of any- one sample of wheat, but that it is not always true when the dense grains of one sample are compared with the light grains of another sample. The discrepancies here probably arise from variations in the other constituents of the grains — the water, the ash, the fat, and even from the interstitial air. Nevertheless, my experiments, collated with those of Eeiset, have convinced me that, in a sample of wheat, the well-formed, plump, dense grains (not always the largest or heaviest) contain more starchy, and less nitrogenous, substance than the wrinkled and less dense grains. 2. As to the second question, opinions vary much. Messrs. Lawes and Gilbert have concluded, from their Eothamsted experiments, though they do not speak without hesitation, that " the percentage of nitrogen in our wheat grain was the lower the more the seed was perfected." They do not connect, as I have just done, the lower percentage of nitrogen with the higher density of the seed ; but so far as their statement goes, it is, I believe, just. Nor does Liebig,^ though he lays great stress on the percentage of starch as a criterion of the produc- tive power of the seed, connect this high percentage of starch with a high density. He says : — " A mixture of seeds, unequal in their development, or dififering in the quantities of amylum, gluten, and inorganic matter, which they severally contain, will produce a crop of plants as unequal in their de- velopment as the original seeds from which they sprung. The strength and number of the roots and leaves, formed in the process of germina- tion, are (as regards the non-nitrogenous constituents) in direct pro- portion to the amount of amylum in the original seed. A seed poor in amylum will indeed germinate in the same fashion as another seed abounding in it, but by the time the former has succeeded, by the absorption of food from without, in producing roots and leaves as strong and numerous, the plant grown from the more amylaceous seed is again just as much-more advanced in growth, its food-absorbing sur- ' Liebig, Natural Laws of Ilnshandry, p. 6 (English edit.) 104 REPORT OF WHEAT EXPERIMENTS. face was larger from the beginning, and the growth of the young plant is in like proportion. Poor and sickly seeds will produce stunted plants, which will yield seeds bearing in a great measure the same character." But there are some observers who have come to a different conclusion. One correspondent, who has paid great attention to these matters, writes to me as follows : — " There is an evi- dent relation between specific gravity and the gluten contained. Assuming that the gluten determines the value for feeding purposes, I have always considered that it is the measure of the vis vitm of the seed. Hence that the seed containing the most gluten would prove of the greatest vigour of growth," etc. But as I have submitted this second question, "Do the denser grains yield a larger and better crop ?" to the test of actual experiment, the results obtained will furnish the best answer. The results obtained in two series of experiments, in which the seed-corn had been selected in accordance with this prin- ciple, are recorded in the present communication. One small series of experiments was made in the well-cultivated but unmanured soil of the Botanic Garden of the Eoyal Agricul- tural College ; the second, and more extended series, was made on four different fields of the College Farm. In the series of Botanic Garden experiments four varieties of wheat were sown, each variety occupying a separate plot. Sixty seeds of each variety were planted by hand, each seed being placed about 1 1 inches in depth, and nearly 1 2 inches apart in the rows. The sixty seeds included the three quali- ties selected according to their density, twenty seeds of each being taken. The three rows in which the seeds were sown were 1 6 inches apart, and were assigned to the several qualities in each plot as in the annexed diagram : — B . . . Medium density. C . Low density. A High density. KEPOllT OF WHEAT EXPERIMENTS. 105 The seed of highest density was named A in each instance that of medium density B, and that of low density C. The varieties sown were— I. Hallett's Pedigree. II. Browick's Eed. III. Fenton White. IV. Cotteswold-grown Mixed. The three different qualities of these varieties will be spoken of in the subsequent part of the account of the garden experi- ments as Hallett's A, Hallett's B, Hallett's C ; Browick's A, Browick's B, Browick's C, and so on. Selection of the Seed. In order to separate the grains of the seed-wheat according to their density, about an ounce of the wheat was wetted with a solution of mercuric chloride (corrosive sublimate, Hg CI) to remove most of the adherent air ; the grains were then par- tially dried with a cloth, and afterwards a solution of calcium chloride (CaCl), having the density of 1'247, was poured gently upon them. A number of the seeds permanently floated, these were separated and marked C. Those that sank were considered as a mixture of B and A, and were then further separated by the use of a stronger solution of density 1'31. In the case of the Cotteswold grown Wheat (IV.), the quality A was separated from the mixed A and B by a solution having a density of only 1"293. In all cases the process of separation was repeated to insure accuracy. It was found that the best results were attained when the operation was con- ducted under the partially exhausted receiver of an air-pump, the grains being agitated in the solution by means of a stirrer passing through a stuffing box. In some trials a solution of sugar, in others a solution of calcium chloride was employed, 106 REPORT OF WHEAT EXPERIMENTS. the latter liquid being finally adopted. It is believed that in neither ease did the germinating power of the grains suffer injury ; any possible harm resulting from the treatment of the seed would, however, have equally affected aU the grains. All manifestly imperfect seeds were removed from the prepared samples of A, B, and C, and in the case of C all grains which were capable of floating on water were finally removed. The seed was sown on the 10th October 1863. The plants soon appeared, those from the different qualities of each variety not presenting any marked differences. However, the num- bers of "A" "B" and "C" plants that were living on the 10th June 1864 showed some variations, which are given in the following list : — Number of Plants living, June \()th, 1864. I. Hallett's A, 12 „ B, 13 C, 8 II. Browick's A, 14 B,18 C, 6 III. Fentou A, 14 „ B, 11 ,, C, 9 IV. Cotteswold-grown A, 15 „ B, 17 „ C, 7 From the 80 A seeds of the 4 varieties sown, 55 plants were living = 6875 per cent. From the 80 B seeds of the 4 varieties sown, 56 plants were living = 73 '75 ,, From the 80 C seeds of the 4 varieties sown, 30 plants were living = 37'60 ,, Here it will be seen that the dense seeds A and B show a most marked superiority over the light seeds C, but that the densest seeds, A, did not yield by 5 per cent, so many plants (living June 1864) as B. This may be accidental, but, as we shall point out presently, the average yield of good corn from the A qualities was greater than that from those classed as B, even though the number of plants was less. During the periods of growth and ripening, every care was taken to prevent injury to the wheat plants. Each experi- mental bed was enclosed^ when the season had advanced suffi- ciently, in a large cage of tanned netting. The ears were gathered as they ripened ; the first cutting took place on the 20th of August. In order to avoid undue prolixity, I have KEPOET OF WHEAT EXPEKIMENTS. 107 placed all the more important facts regarding the crops ob- tained in the form of a Table. WHEAT EXPERIMENTS, 1863-64. {Botanic Garden Series.) I. Hallbtt's Wheat. A B C Density of Grain, Crop 1864. Relative yield of dressed Corn. Relative num- ber of Ears. Average number of Ears on each Plant. Relative num- ber of Plants fruited. Number of Plants fruited to 100 sown. 60 65 40 1-401 ! 10000 1-396 i 73-33 1379 23-33 100 00 102 30 39-46 21-8 20-5 13-0 100-00 108-33 66-66 II. Bbowick's Wheat. A B C 1-375 1-374 1-354 100 00 122-92 37-50 100-00 124-50 34-01 19-2 18-6 15-3 100 00 128-57 42-85 70 90 30 III. Fbnton. A B C 1-394 1-389 1-375 100-00 80-55 38-88 100-00 70-71 37-07 22-9 20-6 13 4 100-00 73-33 60-00 70 55 45 IV. COTTESWOLD-GROWN MiXED WhBAT. A B C 1-381 1-380 1-365 100 09 96-34 37-81 100 00 117-00 48-47 26-3 27-1 27-3 10000 113-33 46 66 75 85 35 The chief conclusions to be drawn from the foregoing sta- tistics may be condensed in the following statements : — 1. The seed- wheat of the greatest density produces the densest seed. 2. The seed-wheat of the greatest density yields the largest amount of dressed corn. 3. The seed-wheat of medium density generally gives the 108 REPORT OF WHEAT EXPERIMENTS. largest number of ears, but the ears are poorer than those from the densest seed. 4. The seed-wheat of medium density generally produces the largest number of fruiting plants. 5. The seed-wheats which sink in water, but float in a solu- tion having the density r247, are of very low value, yielding on an average only 34"4 lbs. of dressed corn for every 100 yielded by the densest seed. In selecting the seed for the farm experiments, the same plan was followed as that already described. The seed was placed in a capacious cylinder, and several gallons of the solution of calcium chloride poured upon it. The liquid was gently stirred for a few minutes, the seed allowed time for subsidence, and the floating grains -finally removed in a per- forated ladle. The denser seed was then separated, washed, and dried. Another and an excellent plan is to draw off the dense seed by means of a wide tube and stop-cock fitted into the lower end of the cylinder. The calcium chloride solution was strengthened or weakened according to the kind of wheat operated upon ; the average strength of the solution employed corresponded to about 30 per cent, of calcium chloride, and to a density of 1-27. Of course the process does not admit of rigid accuracy, but it is easy and rapid in execution, even on the large scale, and it involves but a very trifling outlay in materials and apparatus. The total cost of the plan could scarcely exceed double that incurred in the ordinary process of steeping. On the present occasion I shall record four of the ex- periments made with the selected seed. The wheats numbered I. II. III. were purchased from Messrs. Lawson, and were of the best quality. No; JV. was a Cotteswold- grown mixed wheat obtained from a local source ; this sample was badly dressed, containing more than 5 per cent, of broken grains and seeds REPORT OF WHEAT EXPElilMENTS. 109 of weeds. Unlike the other seed-wheats, it was, however, grown in the immediate neighbourhood of Cirencester, and some of the results which it yielded are due, I believe, to the fact of its having been " acclimatized :" the earlier date of its sowing must not, however, be overlooked. In alluding to this matter I may suitably quote the observations of Dr. Schiibeler, of Christiania, in reference to the yield of wheat in Norway. In his synopsis of the vegetable products of Norway, he states, " Corn or other seeds brought from a southern to a northern climate require at iirst a longer time to ripen than the same species which have been cultivated there for some time. But after the lapse of two or three years the plants obtained from foreign seeds generally acquire the same ripening peculiarities as their corresponding species, which have been cultivated for a longer time in the country." . . . "So long as a plant is not cultivated farther northwards than it is able to attain its full development, the seed increases in size and weight for the first two or three years." The bearings of these observations on the results which I have obtained with a Cotteswold-grown wheat will be evident presently. The following are the details regarding the farm experi- ments with the high density wheat : — No. I. Old Kent Eed Wheat. — This was sown October 21, 1863. The plot was ^ acre. A top-dressing of 1 cwt. sodium nitrate, with 2 cwts. sodium chloride, was applied on the 20th and 21st April 1864. 2 bushels of seed were sown per acre. (Field No. 3.) No. II. Browick's Wheat.— This was sown October 2, 1863. The plot was ^ acre. No artificial manure was applied. Between 6 and 7 pecks of seed per acre was sown. (Field No. 15.) No. III. Fenton Wheat.— This was sown October 24, 1863. The plot was J acre. No top-dressing was applied. 2 bushels of seed per acre were sown. (Field No. 4.) No. IV. Ootteswold-grown Wheat (Rough chaff Essex and Spald- ing Red, mixed). — Sown September 24, 1863. The plot was { acre. 7 pecks per acre. (Field No. 19.) 110 REPOKT OF WHEAT EXPERIMENTS. At ' harvest one-tenth acre of each of the above plots was measured off; an exactly sunilar contiguous one- tenth acre piece being measured from the remaining part of the field, which had been sown with the ordinary seed as purchased, and which, in each case, had been similarly cultivated and manured. The crops from the selected dense seed are marked in the annexed Table as "Experimental," those from the unselected seed as " Ordinary." WHEAT EXPERIMENTS, 1863-64. (Farm Series.) Variety of Wheat. Produce in Dressed Corn, per one-tenth acre in pounds weight. Difference in favour of the " Experi- mental" in lbs. per acre. Gross extra profit per acre, at 5/ per bushel. Experimental. Ordinary. I. Old Kent, Red . II. Browick's, . III. Feuton, IV. Cotteswold-grown, 217 184 187 248 213 174 172 215 40 100 150 330 £0 3 4 8 4 12 6 1 7 6 Mean, £0 12 11 Wdqhi ■per Bushel of the above samples of Dressed Corn. Experimental, Ordinary, No. I. 605 61-0 Ko. II. 61-8 59.8 No. III. 58-5 58-3 No. IV. 640 63-3 Mean. 61-2 60-6 From the results contained in the above Table, collated with those before given, especially those derived from the Botanic Garden experiments, it may be safely concluded — 1. That an average extra return of about thirteen shillin^gs REPORT OF WHEAT EXPERIMENTS. 1 1 1 per acre may be obtained by submitting the seed sown to the particular process of selection described in the present paper. 2. That a very high standard of density is not required to secure the extra return ; in practice the exclusion of less than 20 per cent of the seed-wheat will probably be sufficient to insure this result. 3. That the process of selection of seed by density is easy and inexpensive ; in some cases it might, however, be advan- tageously left to the seedsman. 4. That an acclimatized seed-wheat (No. IV. in both series) yields a considerably heavier crop than wheats grown under different conditions of climate, soils, etc. The great difference, however, between the " Experimental " and " Ordinary," in the case of IV., arose from the process of selection telling with special effect upon this particularly badly dressed original sample. In conclusion, I have much pleasure in acknowledging that I am indebted to the Eev. J. Constable for the suggestion which originated the foregoing experiments, and that, had it not been for the care and perseverance shown in the matter by Mr. C. C. Jacobsen, M.E.A.C., I should not have been able to bring my experiments to a successful issue, nor to feel implicit con- fidence in the results. FARMYARD POULTRY PROFITS AND MANAGEMENT. BY JOHN ALGEENON CLARKE. FARMYARD POULTRY PROFITS AND MANAGEMENT. "Birds of the courtyard," as the French call them, have acquired an important status since the days of our old agri- cultural authors. Thus, Eichard Parkinson, in The Experi- enced Farmer (1798), says, "At the time I profess giving directions for the management of poultry, I cannot avoid hinting to the farmer that he must not rely upon the profits arising from breeding and rearing poultry for the payment of any part of his rent. I do not mean to discourage what I am fond of eating, but I should not prove myself the friend of the farmer if I did not show both sides of the question, and tell him it is possible to lose by mismanagement in this article, and scarce probable to gain, unless he selects a particular species oT sort." Turkeys he condemns, as " those voracious animals, which will devour as much as any quadruped on the farm, not excepting the hogs, which can be raised at less expense. Calculate, if you can, what a turkey will cost by th§ time he is fit for the spit, . . . Few turkeys are fit for the kitchen but what cost the farmer from 20s. to 30s., although he sells them at market for 4s. 6d, to 5s. I would advise the farmer to leave the breeding of turkeys to gentlemen of fortune. Chickens, though by many degrees not so bad as turkeys, will not pay 1 1 6 FARMYARD POULTRY : for breeding." Geese he admits to be profitable, and adds that "ducks may be estimated on the same footing C^ web) as geese." In his Treatise on Live Stock (1810), he adheres to this unlucky view of the poor birds, saying, " Poultry will not pay (generally speaking) for what they consume, though they are convenient and pleasant, and a certain proportion ought to be raised." Eichard Kirwan, in his New Farmers' Calendar (1801), says, " Poultry is an article of luxury, for which the little farmer never obtains an adequate price. He had better allow his wife a certain annual sum for pin-money than suffer her to keep these devourers. An exception must be made in favour of geese, which will graze to advantage, and make much good manure ; they are, besides, useful in a farmyard for giving alarm by night" (!) George Culley, in his work On Live Stock (1807), gives just one half page " Of the Feathered Tribe." Arthur Young, in his Farmers' Calendar (1809), owns that in some situations fowls may pay well for good food and close attention. He instances " the most successful case he ever met with :" a lady in Kent netted £20 a year by fowls, turkeys, geese, and ducks, after the family was well supplied with table birds and eggs. Her system was to let labourers on the farm raise all, at a fixed price for each grown-up bird. Loudon (1835) thus sums up all the information he could collect on the desirability of keeping poultry : " Though poultry form a very insignificant part of the live stock of a farm, yet they ought not to be altogether despised. In the largest farm a few domestic fowls pick up what might escape the pigs, and be lost; and on small farms, and in many cottages, the breeding and raising of early chickens and ducks, PROFITS AND MANAGEMENT. .1 1 7 and in some situations the rearing of turkeys and geese, are fovind profitable." This is not very encouraging. But the Useful Knowledge Society's British Husbandry (1835) is a little more hopeful; devoting, however, only one page and a quarter in the two volumes to remarks on the subject. Every country housewife, the author says, knows so well how to manage, that particulars are unnecessary ; and as for a history, etc., of the breeds, they doubt if the said wives would read it. They observe that the breeding of poultry could, with a little more attention, be carried to a far greater extent than at present ; and they adduce the case of a Berkshire labourer, with only one room to live in, who sent up to London as many as 400 ducklings in a year, sold at six weeks' old for 12s. per couple. Statistics of cost and profit in poultry-keeping are certainly rather scanty. As to the production of eggs, we have an experiment, given by Parkinson, of six game hens for one year, the hens being prevented from sitting. The number varied from seven to thirty-one per week, though some were laid in every month, the total being 764, or about 127 eggs for each hen. We may reckon the proceeds at 8s. to 10s. per hen. The birds were kept close in a London yard, and fed upon whole barley, of which they ate half a peck per week among the six. If the grain were worth lOd. per peck, the expense would be about 3s. 8d. per hen per annum, leaving a yearly profit of 6s. 4d. per hen, without allowing anything for housing or attendance. Mr. Punchard of Haverhill, a most successful Cochin breeder, had thirty-five Cochin hens, which laid in one year 5445 eggs, an average of 155 eggs each: there were most in January and fewest in April, the sort being especially valu- able as winter layers. 118 FARMYAKD POULTRY : Some few years ago, Mr. Mouatt, of Stoke, near Guildford, had three Polish pullets which, beginning to lay at six months old, laid in twelve months 524 eggs, or 174 each. At 9d. a dozen, this would be about 10s. 6d. per bird. During the year each consumed 5s. 4jd. worth of barley, peas, rice, and meal, leaving a profit of 5s. l^d. per bird, without reckoning any- thing for housing and trouble. Here we have about thirty-one eggs for each Is. expended ; and if each egg weighed one and a quarter ounces, there was produced forty- one lbs. of the most nutritious food that can possibly be procured, at the low cost of 4f d. per lb. There have been also a few published debtor and creditor accounts, where table fowls as well as eggs have been sold. Mr. Richard Pigott of Stokesferry gave, in the Agricultural Gazette, his actual expenses and receipts with ten hens and a cock in 1846, and twelve hens and a cock in 1847. All the food was bought, and the produce sold in the village, — eggs at 8d. to 9d. per dozen, chickens at 3s. to 3s. 4d. per couple. The cost of groats, oats, barley-meal, tail- wheat, eggs for sitting, and the collection of eggs was, for the first year, 8s. 9d. per bird; for the second year, 5s. 3d. per bird. The nett profit the first year was 78. per bird ; the second year, 8s. per bird. Mr. England, in a Highland Society's " Prize Essay," gave a statement of cost and produce of a poultry establishment of 100 hens. A year's expenses for food (all purchased), for house-rent, henwife, repairs, interest on building- capital, etc., averaged 10s. 6d. per bird. The returns averaged 51s. 6d. per bird, leaving. a balance of profit of 41s. per bird. This is very handsome on 100 hens ; but as only 30s. are set down for the henwife, the necessary labour added would very much reduce the figure. PROFITS AND MANAGEMENT. 1 1 9 Mrs. Ferguson Blair, who has raised 1000 chickens a year in the Carse of Gowrie, prints in The Henwife her balance- sheet for 1860. Her expenses amounted to £311, 2s. 9d., and she netted only £26, 17s. ; a very pitiful result for so large an outlay. The item for labour is very high, " wages, £80." The food was all purchased, and very costly ; and the household consumption amounted to £45, 9s. Mrs. Blair avers that she could have shown a better " credit side " if she had " gone in " for profit, and not put prohibitory prices upon her show pens of poultry. Judging by the prices I have to pay great prize- winning breeders for tolerably good birds, I have no doubt that they realize a good deal of money ; and, in all probability, it is the Scottish henwife's management or commercial ability that cuts so poor a figure in her balance-sheet. There are certain great establishments in this kingdom and on the Continent, where vast numbers of hens are kept for egg-laying, being fed upon purchased horse-beef; and, un- doubtedly, considerable profit is made. But what we require are hona fide farmyard cases ; and these are not forthcoming in connexion with a well-kept cash-book and ledger. In fact, however, we may just take the various foregoing profits, with considerable additions, as representing what is due from well- managed poultry on a farm. Mrs. Blair says, " A farmyard is the paradise of poultry, and nowhere can they live in greater comfort and plenty. Fowls ought to pay the farmer if anybody ; they have the advantage of the gleanings of the stackyard, and at times are almost independent of any extra feeding." The truth is, that only a trifling portion of what poultry eat at a farm homestead in- volves any outlay, the birds picking up off the ground and redeeming from waste probably one-half of their living; while the greatest proportion of the other half consists of the 120 FARMYARD POULTRY r tail and refuse corn, which is of only nominal value. I am speaking of course of ordinary cases, where fattening heavy and early birds is not made a regular business, to which other departments of farm management have to give place. I know, for instance, of a yard where the mistress sells over £20 worth of eggs, beside furnishing a plentiful house consumption, raising pullets for keeping up her stock of 100 hens, and feeding a few birds for her own table. The purchased food costs but a few shillings per year ; the collection of eggs being the chief ex- pense. I could name another yard where, for years, the pro- ceeds from a brood stock of sixteen cross-bred hens with two cocks, and six ordinary brown ducks with one drake, have been over £25 per annum, in addition to the household supply of birds and eggs ; no food bought excepting a few pounds' weight of chicken-rice, only a few eggs sold, and the birds disposed of at the country market-price of 2s. 6d. to 3s. 6d., and occasionally 4s. 6d. per couple. The henwife has been paid one-third of the gross receipts ; but if the farmer's wife herself attended to the fowls, of course this deduction would all be saved. Occasionally one meets with more exact details. In 1848, appeared the following statement from a farmer's wife in the north of England : — " On our farm, the poultry consist of sixty hens, principally of the Dorking breed, six ducks, and seventy to eighty geese, purchased in the autumn. A year's cost of barley, milk, meal, and corn, woman's wages, and market charges, and the geese bought in, amounted to £19, lis. 8d. The produce — in eggs sold at 5s. 6d. per 100, and chickens at 3s. 6d. per couple, ducks at 2s. 6d. each, and geese at 5s. 6d. each — realized £54, leaving a profit of £34, 8s. lOd. I have heard (on good authority) of a Sussex farmer who annually sends to London 100 turkeys, for which he receives £250, or 50s. per bird ! Cramming birds for the London mar- PKOFITS AND MANAGEMENT. 121 ket may be considered a business by itself. Breeding show- birds for prizes is also another occupation that only fanciers of such things will engage in. But if you " go in " for high- priced pedigree stock, and manage as you should do, you will find handsome returns far beyond those for common farmyard fowls. All that I insist upon now is, that a good profit may be made by the farmer's wife when selling eggs and birds at common market prices ; and though the total income from this source may be not very large, yet it is too important to be sacrificed for lack of a little wholesome interest and attention. Fowls, like other living creatures, require a lodging. Eoyalty, nobility, and so on, may build palaces of stone- work, with verandas, cupolas, fancy castings, ornamental wire- work, glass, etc. ; but birds, though beautiful themselves, are not gifted with aesthetic taste, and there is no need whatever for their home to be picturesque and genteel. Do not make any erection ugly, when the cost will be little more for a design that will be pleasant to the eye ; but beware of building a sumptuous residence that might easily swallow up in interest all the profit you can hope to make by its inmates. The shelter adapted for a farmyard, and for a farmer who earns his living, need be only of a very simple description. Arthur Young prescribes, in his Farmeif's Calendar, that, if a woman is kept purposely to attend to the fowls, she should have her cottage contiguous to the fowl-house, that the smoke of her chimney may play into the roosting and sittiag-rooms, poultry never thriving so well as in warmth and smoke, — an observation as old as Columella, and strongly confirmed by the quantity bred in smoky cabins in Ireland. This is all very well, barring the smoke. What we should study is a warm situation and aspect, sheltered from and shut against nortli and north-east winds, with no sharp draught through the house. 122 FARMYARD PO0LTRY : yet with a sufficient current for ventilation ; and the higher the apartment the healthier for the birds. I think a plain structure of studs and weather-boarding quite as good as a brick building, the main defect in most farmeries being the small number of separate rooms and houses. It is not suffi- cient to have a sitting-house, laying-house, and roosting -hoiise for hens, a house for turkeys, another for ducks, and so on. Fowls require separation, according to sex and age, and you cannot have too many houses, boxes, and pens about your pre- mises, in order to accommodate all. The roof should be per- fectly weather-tight. The floor is not so well of brick or stone slabs as of earth, well rammed down and covered with loose gravel. This is to avoid harbouring the great pests of the hen- house, fleas. Dimensions will be very much matters of fancy, but shun overcrowding. Architects often plan roosting-houses with perches one higher than another, rising like a ladder from floor to ceiling, taking care that one is not placed directly over another, as in that case the droppings of the upper row would fall upon the birds below. But all lofty perches are objection- able ; heavy fowls injure their feet in jumping down ; for though they will fly up or walk up a ladder to bed, they will generally take the shortest cut down in the morning. The best plan is to have perches all on a level, two to two and a half feet from the ground ; the best perch being a wooden bar of three or four inches in breadth ; and if supported by legs like a stool, so as to be readily moved, so much the better. Clumsy birds like Cochins prefer a roost at even lower elevation, unless a very easy ascent is prepared for them. It is not necessary to have a separate house for laying, provided the nests be at the side, far enough from the perches. But a sitting-house should be prepared, in oi'der that the .sitting hens may not be disturbed by the other PROFITS AND MANAGEMENT. 123 fowls. I need scarcely urge the importance of cleaning out the houses, say twice a week, and of once or twice in the summer cleaning and lime washing the whole of the interior. Various notions are seen in the matter of nests. Some poultry-keepers have a number of wooden cells, like pigeon- holes on a large scale, with a hinged flap or door, or a slide, in front, to fasten in unsteady sitters and to keep out in- truders. The nests in my own hen-house are simply rect- angular cells made of board 20 inches high, and 18 to 20 inches long and broad, set upon the floor and close to the wall, — a bar running along the front edges of the boards, to keep the eggs from rolling out. But round shallow dishes of wicker are good ; so also are shallow pans of earthenware half filled with sand ; and some managers prefer simple cells of loosely- laid bricks. As to the proper fibrous or other material for bottoming the nest, avoid long straw, for this is liable to pull eggs out of the nest by getting entangled about the hen's legs. Hay, again, is safer, but harbours abundance of vermin. The best materials are cocoa-nut refuse or short straw, dusted with flowers of sulphur to expel the fleas ; while a sod with rough grass on it makes a good and moist foundation for all. Where you have several sorts of fowls, of course you must have a number of distinct houses, each with its small enclosed " run," or yard. Wire netting, eight feet high, will keep in most breeds, and you must have close boarding at bottom, two feet in height, to prevent the cocks pecking each other, and to keep birds of both sexes from spoiling their heads in the sharp meshes. But one of the greatest points in poultry management, even when you have only one sort, is to avoid congregating many birds in one building, or upon the same ground ; neglect of this precaution often bringing disease that depopulates whole yards. li only a single farmyard is at your 124 FAKMYAKD POULTKY : disposal, and your cottagers are afraid to take in young broods on account of their scratching propensities in gardens, you had better put up little houses, like enlarged dog-kennels, remote from one another, in aU parts of your grounds, as spaces about plantations, shrubberies duly fenced from the flower-garden, and so on. Here place little colonies of chicks when their mother forsakes them, and you will be surprised how fast they will grow, with good feeding added to the myriads of insects and seeds which they glean from their apportioned run. People have fancies about coops and rips. My hints are, have them large enough, cheaply constructed, able to keep out the rain without requiring pieces of old sacking to be thrown over them, and closed at the ends as well as at the back. You may add a wire front, to be shut at night against weasels and rats. You can buy some of Mr. Baily's nobby poultry fountains ; but, if you are not afraid of breakages, crockery ones will do. Or yoTi may use a large flower-pot dish, with a flower-pot placed in it upside down to keep the chickens and ducks out, leaving a ring of water for them to dip their bills in. Fowls want also a dust bath ; that is, say a box, or what is better, a glazed earthenware pan, of fine sand and wood ashes ; in this the birds " rootle," dusting their plumage, and dislodging and destroying parasites. It is always well to have bricklayer's rubbish, slaked lime, burned oyster shells, coal ashes, and gravel lying about a poultry-yard ; besides being sweetening and sanitary, they afford the birds pieces of hard material, as fine stones and bits of mortar, so indispensable for the milling action of the gizzard. I come now to the general management of fowls. When you keep hens for theii eggs only, the proportion of hens to one cock is immaterial, infertile eggs being as good as others for the egg-cup and for cookery. It is best, however, to let PEOWTS AND MANAGEMENT. 125 twenty or thirty hens follow a champion and protector, who takes care of them, finds food for them, and often, with true gentUity, sees that all are supplied with pickings and scratch- ings before partaking of anything himself For breeding strong, healthy chickens, give only six or eight hens to one cock, though a young bird may have ten. The old-fashioned plan is to breed in-and-in from the strongest " cockerels " (that is, cocks in their first breeding year after arriving at the adult age of six months) ; rarely introducing a purchased bird for " change of blood." But prize-poultry men know very well that a dwindling progeny is a sure result of breeding from closely related fowls, while there is no more common cause of disease. A cock will work well for a couple of years ; if he be a favourite you may keep him three years, if the young birds do not " whip " him and wear out his life. My practice is to keep sixteen females in a farmyard with a second-season cock (or " stag ") and a young cockerel for his first season ; this differ- ence of age insuring the mastery to one of the warriors, and so preventing repeated and desperate duels. It would be far better to place the two cocks, with eight hens each, in separate yards — so avoiding innumerable bad eggs. A pullet hatched early in spring begins to lay at the approach of winter, and pullets hatched late in summer begin to lay in the ensuing spring ; and it is by saving a certain proportion of pullets from the early and late broods that you make sure of winter eggs, a few very early-hatched chickens for catching the highest markets, and a numerous flock of chicks throughout the warm months when rearing is least precarious. The hen continues in her prime for two and, at most, three years ; therefore, save every year pullets equal to say a third of your brood stock, sell- ing off at a trifling price the same number of aged hens, or offer- ing them up in a stewed dish or well-baked pie. However, 126 FABMYARD POULTRY : I make no scruple about keeping a heavy, symmetrically- made, spendidly-feathered " partlet " for four years, for the sake of her stock. Many farmers grumble about their poultry, from not paying attention to such a simple matter as looking over their brood stock once a year, drafting aU the old dames^ known by the developed scales upon their legs, and reserving from the market-basket the most promising young pullets raised during the season. In a general way, it is not worth a farmer's while to try for very early chickens. For midsummer-show purposes, and in the neighbourhood of large cities, where 10s. or 12s. or more per couple can be obtained for extremely forward birds, it may pay well, but the labour and trouble demand great perseverance. A pullet saved from an early " clutch" will lay in December, and hatch in January or early in February ; but she must sit on only seven to nine eggs, and if she hatches half-a-dozen chicks, you may consider it very good luck for that cold season. The clutch must be shut in a warm room, with dry earth, gravel, or ashes to run on, as a stone or brick floor will cramp the chickens' legs almost as surely as wet earth or grass. The nights are so long that the time between one day- light feed and the next would be starvation to the tender little creatures ; so that you have to feed by candle-light (without ever omitting) late at night and early in the morning, laying the food upon a black-painted board, and shining the light upon it while the chicks are pecking. March, April, and May hatching is a much easier matter, and the second brood (for a good sitting breed hatches twice, sometimes thrice, in a year) will come in July, August, and September. Late hatches should be avoided. As laying-time comes on with the opening year, when the combs of the pullets begin to redden and their bodies enlarge. PROFITS AND MANAGEMENT. 127 be diligent and liberal with your feeding ; more particularly because frost and snow often deprivB the birds of their " shack," and insects, worms, etc., being scarce, animal diet should be provided in their place. Of course, grain is the staple food, — as whole corn, with tail wheat that usually has much " split " among it, and a proportion of bruised oats. Mashed potatoes, " cree'd " rice, soaked bread, garden vegetables, make good changes in the diet ; and paste of barley-meal or oatmeal, etc., is advisable for getting up and preserving " con- dition." To promote laying, give the hens the bones and scraps of meat and fat from the dinner-table ; indeed, waste nothing eatable out of the kitchen and pantry, and do not scruple to rob the pig-rwash. tub in favour of your fowls. A capital addition is a quarter of a pound of horse beef among half a, dozen hens, given three times a week. And bullock's liver, and again sheeps' entrails, boiled, chopped, and peppered, are supplied with excellent effect. Keep to regular feeding hours, twice a day being sufficient, but three times all the better (I am speaking now of adult fowls), and scatter no more food than the birds will eagerly and quickly devour. Ex- travagance leaves half the provender to be gleaned up by flocks of sparrows, and makes poultry- keeping expensive. Look up eggs daily, or oftener if you please, for fear of thieves, or of frost in its season ; of course leaving the neces- sary nest-egg. And you may use pieces of chalk, porcelain eggs, or eggs turned in wood and painted white, to entice the hen to her nest. One of the annoyances of fowl-keeping is being deceived by your eggs, having to throw them away rotten from under the patiently sitting hen. Perhaps you cannot always guard against this evil. For the sitting-house may be warm enough, the nest not too diy, the eggs weU pre- served and not too old, and yet failure ensue. In fact, cold 128 FAEMYARD POULTRY : weather will sometimes conspire against your management, and eggs will be infertile in spite of your proper mating of the sexes, your careful treatment of the eggs, and your good feeding of the sitting hen to keep up the warmth of her body; But at any rate adopt every known precautioa Avoid shaking the eggs when selecting them ; place them in boxes in prefer- ence to drawers, which shake all your eggs every time they are opened and shut. The slightest touch of frost is fatal ; so place the eggs in bran or chaff, laying them on their side, and turning them once every day ; because the hen almost always brings off a full clutch when she has " stolen" her nest in some secret retirement, and her eggs are laid on their side and turned about by her getting on and off her nest. A good plan is to pencil-mark the day of the month on the side of each egg when you put it by, then you turn the marks down one day, and up again the next ; and you can see the age of every egg you select for sitting. The fresher the egg the better ; still you must always have a sufficient number in reserve, lest several hens should want to sit at one and the same time. Eggs for consumption may be packed in bran or in salt, or kept in lime- water, for almost any length of time, placed with the small end downwards. Of course the parentage of an egg is the main point in determining the probable character and quality of the bird ; but the size and shape are of some importance. Small rounded eggs, laid by pullets, may bring fine birds ; but their earliest eggs are not worth setting. Choose an egg of medium size (an extremely large one may contain two yolks and prove an abortion), well formed, without any rib or flaw, and with the air-vessel distinctly marked at the top of the egg when this is held end upwards between the eye and a candle. Some persons to pretend that the air-vessel when in the centre fore- tells a cock, while towards the side it betokens a pullet. PROFITS AND MANAGEMENT. 129 When a hen is "broody" or inclined to sit, she clucks, as if calling chickens— which, perhaps, she sees in imagination ; and a young pullet had better be proved with an egg or two whether she is a steady sitter, lest a seat of valuable eggs should be spoiled by her forsaking them ; though eggs are not always ruined by getting cold after a few days' sitting. Cruel means are sometimes resorted to for making a hen sit when she is not disposed, and still more unfeeling practices are adopted to prevent a hen sitting when she is wanted only for egg -laying. But I strongly condemn all attempts at confining a poor bird, and making a mother of her against her will; while the prevention of sitting is easily accomplished (in case a seat of eggs turns out rotten and the hen persists in her expectation of chicks), by continually disturbing the hen, shutting her up where she can find no eggs, and by cooling her incubation fever with a cold-water bath. To make a hen sit in the place you choose for her, you have only to take her from her stolen nest at night, and cover her over for a time. Ee-line a nest before setting a hen, sprinkling a little sulphur to banish fleas as much as possible ; and it is well to barricade her at first against being disturbed by other birds. The proper number of eggs in spring and summer will depend upon their size and upon the size of the hen, ranging from eleven to sixteen, or even more. The hen will commonly leave her nest every day for food and water; but if you have boxed her in, you must take her off once a day, and bear in mind that, as she has now no exercise to aid digestion, the food should consist of a little hard, but principally of soft, substance, as oatmeal or barley-meal paste, chopped cabbage, lettuce, and so on. If you find later eggs iu the nest, remove these unmarked eggs, seeing that they would not hatch simultane- ously with the others; this point, however, requiring most I 130 FARMYARP POULTRY ; attention when you have cross-bred hetis among others of some valuable breed. Book the date of each setting, and on the ninth or tenth day examine the eggs (in Lincolnshire we call it " shiring"), by holding them between your eye and a beam of light,— -as a candle in a darkened room. If an egg is right, it will appear quite dark, except a small clear disc at the top ; if the egg appear semi-transparent throughout, it should be taken away, as it is infertile, would probably become rotten, and yet, at this stage of the proceedings, makes a good dinner, boiled hard and chopped up, for a brood of chickens. The hen sits twenty-one days, generally sitting very closely during the last week ; but if through any accident the eggs are left to get cold (in that week), the birds may sometimes be hatched by another hen, or by artificial warmth. To avoid the common disappoiatment of chicks dead in the shell, damp the eggs daily during the last week, either dipping each egg in lukewarm water, or sprinkling a little cold water on the eggs from a brush. Moistening the porous shells prevents the living membrane from becoming so hard and dry that the poor little chick cannot break through it; and you need not be afraid of the operation, as a hen generally damps her eggs in a stolen nest from getting her feathers trailed in wet or dewy grass and herbage. Look frequently at a hen as her term draws to an end — taking away any rotten eggs which might explode and kill a half-hatched chicken ; and remove the earliest chickens to prevent the mother running off with them and leaving the rest to die in the shells. Young mana- gers are wont to feed their new-born treasures too soon, as if fancying that the little prisoners must be hungry, because they had nothing to eat all the time they lay doubled up in their shells. But the rule is, — no food of any kind for twelve hours ; all they want is heat. Beware here of old wives' nostrums. If a baby PROFITS AND if ANAaEMENT, 131 is born, it must at once learn that it has entered into a world of drugs, by swallowing a dose of castor-oil, just " to clear its little stomach." If a cow calves, she cannot prosper until she has eaten the placenta ; and a chicken must not only have the nib taken off its beak, and the beak dipped in water (which is all right enough), but must have a nasty, hard, black pepper- corn forced down its throat — I suppose to be conducive to its misery and destruction, by at once irritating and weakening the digestive organs. Give the chicks plenty of bread soaked in milk, a few bread crumbs, and roughly ground wheat- meal, wetted with lukewarm milk (skim-milk will do), of such a con- sistence that when a little ball or pellet of it is thrown upon the ground it will break and scatter about in particles. After a few days vary the diet with cheap chicken-rice, cree'd soft, and a scanty allowance of whole corn, which should be the iine, small screenings of wheat. Vegetables — as cabbage and onion tops chopped fine — make a nice admixture with other food (potato, however, is too scouring); and eveiy other day you may give each clutch a hard-boiled egg, or a little mutton suet, chopped fine. In fact, study frequent changes of diet. For the first fortnight chickens need almost hourly feeding. If they have a good " run" among grass and shrubs in warm, dry weather, thus picking up abundance of insects, they will want proportionately less food; but never offer them more than they eagerly run after. Both hen and chickens must have clean, often -renewed water within reach, aiTanged so that the chickens cannot get their legs in, and so that the hen cannot upset it. Let the coop be daily moved to a fresh patch of ground. In warm weather, the hen, after the first week, may be let out during the day, pro- vided she be " a good mother ;" for some wild and tiresome hens win trail their little ones to death, over-walking the poor 132 FARMYARD POULTRY : little things, and at least hindering their growth. In cold or wet weather coop close, and place the clutch in a house at night. The length of time for cooping (say two to four weeks) depends upon the weather, the vigour of the chickens, and the quiet or straying habits of the mother — some hens being awkward in a coop, trampling very young chicks to death, and so requiring plenty of room or earlier liberty. When two hens come off at the same time, let one take both broods, if in summer, that the other may lay again the sooner ; but in cold weather, one small clutch is plenty for one mother to cover and find food for. A common error is to coop successive broods in the same small enclosure, probably because this is near to the kitchen door, and convenient for the constant attention which is re- quired. But separation is a main point in rearing healthy birds. Distribute your coops about your yards, of course choosing safe and sunny places ; and if your early broods occupy a space before your house, you may put the later broods on a plot behind, and so on, always aUowing a con- siderable interval to elapse before following upon the same ground, to avoid getting the walk " tainted," as it is termed, with liability to disease. It is a modern practice to separate the sexes at two months old, or earlier, sending the cockerels to a yard by themselves, as they are found to thrive better, and live together without quarrelling. And here comes in the advantage of having several yards, at considerable distances apart ; in fact, separate poultry establishments upon the same farm, which may often be contrived in connexion with bailiffs' or labourers' cottages. A well-fed fowl taken from the strawyard is very nice eating; but beyond this, you may have a very heavy and thoroughly fat, as well as delicately-flavoured fowl. This is PROFITS AND MANAGEMENT. 133 when they have been "put up" to feed. At three or four months old, younger in summer, and older in winter, shut the fowls in a confined space, as a coop or hutch, giving the birds room to sit or stand, but permitting them to turn round and move about only with difi&culty ; the bottom being made of longitudinal round bars, on which the fowls perch, and between which their droppings fall. This coop must be under cover, and in a warm and rather dark place. A y-shaped trough of wood, or better of earthenware or glass, . is placed along the front of the coop, receiving three times a day as much food as the birds will eat at once, and being immediately afterwards cleared out. Mr. Baily prescribes oatmeal and milk, mixed slack, but not quite liquid, the consistence being such that if some of it is placed on a board it will slightly spread. Fresh water should be accessible in pans, and a little gravel given occasionally. It is indispensable to feed at sunrise, the birds making no progress if suffered to get hungry. Their term of confinement should be a fortnight, or rather less, if they were in good condition when put up, and if they have been kept quiet, without any introduction of a strange or a quarrelsome companion. It is not often that the birds will preserve their health for three weeks of such treatment. Cramming is not a refined practice, but as money is made at it, and the punishment to the fowl is not worthy of mention in comparison with the horrors of caponizing, I must describe it. The oatmeal is mixed considerably stiffer than as last- mentioned, and the mUk, of which it is made, may have a little mutton -suet boiled in it. The paste is formed into " crams," rolled up dry, each as thick as a little finger, and nearly a couple of inches long. Six or eight of these elongated boluses are administered morning and evening, being dipped in milk or pot-liquor, to make them go down " slick " and easy. Mr. 134 FARMYAKD POULTRY : Baily's description of cramming is as follows : — " The fowl is placed in the lap, the head is held up, and the heak being held open with the thumb and finger, a cram is introduced into the gullet ; the beak is then closed, and the cram is gently assisted down tiU it reaches the crop ; care must be taken not to pinch the throat, as ulceration would follow, and the fowl would be spoiled." Water and gravel should be provided for the birds to help themselves ; and, if they seem to require it, a little food may be placed before them at mid-day. " Before the second feed is given, the crop should be lightly felt to ascertain if it is empty. If not, the morning meal has not been digested ; the fowl must be taken out immediately, and the beak being held open, as if for cramming, some warm water or gruel should be poured down the throat, and the beak closed. This will soften the food, but if more food were forced into the crop on that already hardening there, the bird would become crop-bound, i.e., the food would become solid and in- digestible, and the fowl would be totally spoiled for the table, if it did not die." A machine, on the principle of a force-pump, has been employed, by which one person can cram a dozen birds in seven or eight minutes. You judge the fatness of a fowl by feeling if the breast is plump. The skin under the body should also be thick and fat, and fat may also be felt under the wings. Cadgers in the poultry markets are accustomed to nip the rump laterally with the finger and thumb ; it shoufd be thick, fat, and firm. When you have successfully bred, reared, and fattened a prime young fowl that is to be a delicate dish on your table, it is very disappointing to have all your pains nullified by the indiscretion of a cook. Tenderness is a quality that can be secured by keeping the bird long enough between the slaughtering and the spit ; and to make it keep well for a PROFITS AND MANAGEMENT. 135 couple of days in summer, or much longer in cool weather, fast the fowl twelve hours before bringing him to the knife. On the subject of diseases I shall add little. Poultry books are generally half full of diagnosis and remedies ; but in few farmyards is a troublesome manipulation of cocks and hens, or an elaborate preparation of piUs and drinks, likely to be followed up. A great deal of quackery, as well as a great deal of learning, has been printed on this subject. You can consult some of the valuable handy -books which great authorities have published ; and all I can do in this brief lecture is to point out a few of the commonest ailments, with the most effectual mode of treatment. For diarrhoea, mix cayenne pepper and chalk in gruel, or with meal. If a purgative is required, give a teaspoonful of castor-oil, or a little jalap made into a pill with butter. For indigestion, when a chicken is suddenly taken with a convulsive fit, the legs straightening oiit, and the crop hard, pour warm water down the throat, and next day feed on soft food. For mange, or loss of feathers, scarring of the comb, etc., give small quantities of sulphur and nitre, mixed with butter. When birds suffer too much, and are long "on the moult," try a little extra stimulating diet, as hemp-seed, buck -wheat, animal food, and that great restorative, . bread soaked in ale. "When chickens get the pip, gaping, with a horny excresence on the tongue, tear off the hard substance with your thumb-nail, adm'inister pills of rue and bread, or made of scraped horse-radish and garlic, with a grain of cayenne pepper, and supply plenty of clean water. Eoup is a very dangerous and infectious malady — a very plague among fowls. The premonitory symptom is, that the skin hanging from the lower beak, and to which the wattle is attached, is inflated and emptied at every breath, the same hoarseness and difficult breathing as if from a cold. Give a table- spoonful of castor- oil. 136 FAKMYAKD POULTKY : and a few hours after, one of Baily's valuable " Eoup and Con- dition Pills." If there be rattling in the throat, with a fcEtid discharge from eyes and nostrils, wash the eyes, nostrils, and inside of the mouth with vinegar. Mrs. Ferguson Blair gives this prescription : — " Take of dried sulphate of iron, in powder half a drachm ; capsicum, in powder, one drachm ; extract of liquorice, a sufficient quantity to make a mass, which is to be divided into thirty pills. One to be given three times a day, continued to the end of the third day, and then followed by a second prescription. This is, half an ounce of sulphate of iron, and one ounce of cayenne pepper, in fine powder ; mix care- fully a teaspoonful of these powders with butter, and divide into ten equal parts — one to be given twice a day." Gapes, is another common disease, arising from small white worms in the trachea. Grain, wetted with spirits of turpentine, is one medicine ; camphor, in the drinking-water is another ; but a complete means of cure is of a surgical kind. Take a hen's tail-feather, stripped all but an inch at the end, put it down the bird's windpipe (not the gullet), twist it once or twice round, and withdraw it with the worms adhering. This is an operation, however, " more easily said than done." A descriptive and historic account of the various popular breeds, with the special purpose for which each may be valu- able, does not come within the present lecture ; ^ and I now proceed to offer a few hints about other poultry beside fowls. Ducks, clever as they are at taking care of themselves, are somewhat difficult to manage, as far as "good luck" with sittings is concerned. The wild duck being monogamous, shows that only a few ducks should be allotted to one drake, say five, or at most six ; four would be all the better. As the ' The lecture was one of a series. PKOFITS AND MANAGEMENT. 137 treading generally takes place upon water, the duck diving at the time, the birds must always have free access to their favourite element, not necessarily in a pond, for a tub a foot and a haK deep will suffice. And as they are of very early habits, you must either provide a tub of water in their house, or else let them out very early' in the morning. Certainly there are few districts where it is safe to leave ducks out in a yard, or wandering " worming" about the pastures all night. Apropos of the tub, bear in mind that a duck can be drowned as readily as any other animal ; for if too long in the water, with the feathers saturated, the poor bird will sink ; therefore, form your tub so that the ducks can easily get out. Ducks are wonderfully fastidious about their nests. In frosty weather you must take away the eggs ; and as the duck will lay thirty or forty eggs, you can hatch them under hens, which, indeed, make by far the better nurses. March is early, April a better month for ducklings to come oft" as they like warmth no less than water. The duck must be closely cooped for the first week, or she will soon tire out and so kill* her young ; she must be apart from any other duck, to prevent the little ones going to the wrong coop, and being seized by the wrong mother's sharp bill ; and she must be away from pond or stream, lest the ducklings should get their legs cramped with the cold. Let the duck have a saucer or dish to drink from ; and let the ducklings paddle in a shallow tray, placed a yard or two from the coop, to prevent accidental slopping and soaking of the tender little birds. In very dry warm weather this discipline need not last more than a few days ; then move the duck and coop to the margin of a pond (still apart from other ducks, as some ducks, and drakes too, are very vicious, and are apt to kill off a whole brood in a few minxites) ; and when the ducklings are a fortnight old, they may be separated from their mother, 138 FARMYAKD POULTRY : driven to the water in the morning, and shnt up in a house at night. Beware of having deep pans or buckets of water where ducklings and chickens can have access to them ; keep none but very shallow drinking vessels for your poultry ; empty your stable buckets when not in use, and float pieces of board in your horse and cattle water-troughs. The first food for ducklings is bread soaked in milk, or paste made of barley-meal and new milk ; malt flour is also used as more fattening. You may give also boiled rice and potatoes, and small wheat soaked, with frequent treats in the way of flesh. But with muddy ponds to luxuriate in, they need little else than an opportunity of filling their crops with meal paste. Turkeys require very great care and attention; yet where the henwife makes them her pets, and studies their welfare in every way, she at any rate (whatever the farmer himself may say), may find them profitable. The turkey hen lays one egg about every thirty hours, and should be set upon a dozen eggs, and fed with corn and water. She sits a month. When the chicks come off, — taken one by one as they escape out of the shells, and wrapped in flannel, — they are commonly made to swallow a pepper-corn each, as well as to drink a little water ; they need no food for twenty-four hours, and wiU then pick what is placed before them. Their food should be hard-boiled eggs chopped very fine, or cm-d with bread crumbs, and boiled nettles, and green onions finely minced. Coop the hen for a fortnight, and then let her ramble with her young, being warmly housed at night, but beware of the least wetting by rain. A critical time with them is at a little over two months old, when the male and female markings begin to appear, and the birds are called turkey "poults." Boiled vegetables, meal, grain, and various seeds are employed in feeding them ; after harvest they will range the stubbles,, PROFITS AND MANAGEMENT. 139 and many henwives "top up" their favourites by cramming for Christmas markets. I conclude this imperfect lecture with two or three hints on the management of geese. A gander should be mated with three geese ; certainly not more than four, and perhaps two would be a luckier number. In her first breeding season the goose has few goslings, • but after that remains in her prime for years. She lays twelve to twenty eggs, but with high feeding wUl sometimes lay thirty or even forty. You should get two hatches in a year. In the middle of February the goose is commonly inclined to lay, and evinces her condition by running about with straws in her mouth, as if nesting. Watch her, and when she drops an egg, take the goose and the egg and fasten her for a while upon the place you have prepared for her laying and sitting. A few boarden boxes, with straw-thatched top, answer very well for geese, and are best placed beside a pond, and in a sheltered situation. She may sit upon from ten to fifteen eggs, according as she is a young or old bird. Her time of incubation is one month, and a little aid in breaking the shells is sometimes necessary, but beware of making the partially- spretched gosling bleed. If one goose comes off just about the time another is due, fasten the latter on her nest, to prevent her perhaps leaving her eggs to spoil upon hearing the " croodling" cry of her neighbour's young ones. The goslings want no food for twelve hours, then give bread soaked in milk, porridge, curd, greens, chopped cabbage, bran mixed with boiled potatoes, etc., and provide a sod of grass for the little bills to pull at, with plenty of water for them to drink. Keep them out of the water for a few days, sunshine being their best food, and rain their fatal enemy. Shut them up for some days, and when 140 FAEMYAKD POULTEY. they go out watch them in windy weather, as a gosling blown upon its back cannot get on its legs again, and wiU die. Grass and herbage are the main food of geese, but fatten them upon oats and meal. A goose put up to fatten eats a pound of oats daily for the first week, and three-quarters of a pound daily afterwards ; a goose in good condition off stubbles being fattened on oats and water in three weeks. When a goose's feathers are "ripe" they should be plucked off, an operation that gives little pain to the bird if properly performed, and at the right time. The feathers under the wing are always left to hold up the wings, which would otherwise trail upon the ground. It is usual to pluck three times in the season, one goose yielding a pound of feathers in the three pluckings. In some well-watered districts geese are profitable, and in a very growing season they do little damage to the pastures. In dry summers, however, they are very injurious ; pulling up much good herbage by the roots, and, what is worse, in badly watered localities, fouling and spoiling the ponds for horses and cattle. In conclusion, I would say that a short lecture must not be taken for an elaborate handbook ; though I trust you will find in it some useful hints for your guidance. Long Sutton, Lincolnshire, June 1865. DAIRY FARMIISFG. J. T. HAEEISON, Esq. DAIRY FARMING. I. The land occupying the surface represented by the secondary formations on our geological maps is intrinsically the richest in our islands, whether it be compared with the primitive and transition or with the tertiary series ; it conse- quently commands in a very marked manner the highest rental, but, along with this maximum of value, there is frequently a minimum of attention paid to its permanent improvement. Upon this land the principal cheese-dairies of England are situated. II. I shall suppose that we have taken a dairy farm of 600 acres, under a landlord anxious to see it improve and ourselves prosper, thoroughly drained throughout, with ample but not extravagant convenience for men and stock, on a lease for a sufficient period to justify our laying out money in improvements, 400 acres of the farm being in grass, and 200 under the plough. First, then, as to the Time of Entry. — A spring-taking for dairy farming is undoubtedly the best both for outgoing and incoming tenants. I take it to be a wise provision that the amount of money to be paid to and by the outgoing and in- coming tenant respectively should be reduced to as low a point as possible, so that the incoming tenant shall have his capital free to stock the farm properly, and not have a large 1 44 DAIRY FARMING. sum of money locked up during his tenancy, and that the landlord may not have the farm thrown on his hands with a heavy sum to pay to his outgoing tenant, sometimes with the option of retaining him against his will, or of sacrificing this large sum before he can obtain another tenant. In the spriag the large supply of hay, straw, and roots, which would have to be taken to at Michaelmas, will have been consumed. Provision, however, should be made in the agreement between landlord and tenant for such a quantity of these to be left and taken to by the new comer as shall be required by his stock till the grass is sufSciently grown to carry them. Supposing we had to provide for stock equal to 3 acres per cow, or 200 cows from the 6th of April to the 10th of May, and that we bought them in from time to time, so that we had 100 cows to keep five weeks, we may estimate the quantity thus : — Hay — 100 cows X 5 weeks x 1 cwt., = 25 tons of hay. Straw for litter „ „ 1 i.Tti. ^ ^ £,.„,,.,. y - 125 tons of straw. Straw for thatching j Roots. — 100 cows X 5 weeks X 3^ cwt. = 90 tons of roots. These we should have to take at a consuming price — which leads us to consider the payments to be made to the outgoing tenant. Now, the consuming value of hay, straw, and roots, is a very interesting and important question. I have taken some pains to arrive at an accurate estimate of them. Prom materials I have collected, I find that on rich dairy land where no young stock is reared, it requires 3 acres to maintain one cow, the grass on l| acres being mown and made into hay. This agrees with Mr. J. Morton's report on the dairy farms near Whitfield in Gloucestershire, as he found that 1011 acres (33 only of which were arable) maintained stock equal to 358 cows, or nearly 3 acres per cow. DAIRY FARMING. U5 Hay. — From observation and the opinion of good judges, it appears that 25 cwt. of hay per acre may be taken as fully the average crop. If we take the autumn grass to be equal to three- fifths of the grass mown, which is probably not far from coiTect, we have some data for calculating the consuming value of a ton of hay. 25 cwt. on 1^ acres mown, gives 37^ cwt. for the winter use. Grass consumed by the cow during the summer months on the other 1^ acres = 37 1 cwt. And three-fifths of both these together (viz. 75), = 45 cwt, consumed during the autumn — or the whole produce of the 3 acres of grass land required for one cow's keep equals 120 cwt., or 6 tons of hay. The value of a cow's produce in this district may be taken at £15 on an average, from which deducting £3 for casualties, depreciation, expenses of attendance, milking, dairy utensils, marketing, etc., we have £12 as the consuming value of six tons of hay, or £2 per ton. That is the sum the cow will return to the farmer for his ton of hay. The Dorsetshire farmers are accustomed to let out their cows to dairymen at from £8, 10s. to £10 per cow per annum. This seems a low rate, but much depends upon feeding, etc., and this system by no means conduces to a maximum production. It is rarely tlie case that farmers purchase hay except they are driven to it, or can get it at about £2 per ton to be consumed on the premises. When it is sold to be removed the price immediately rises, and the hay merchant, not the farmer, becomes the buyer. Roots. — It appears that 20 lbs. of hay, or 120 lbs. of roots, have been found sufficient to maintain an average-sized cow in store condition. Tliis gives the value of roots one-sixth of 40s., or 6s. 8d. per ton, which is not probably far from their consuming value. The Oxford Farmers' Club, after a discus- sion upon the subject, agreed that 7s. was the value of a ton of Swedes. 146 DAIRY FARMING. Straiv.—I have found that 1 cwt. of good straw per week, and 3 1 cwt, of mangel, will keep a cow in good store condition, equal, therefore, to 120 lb. of hay. Thus— 1 0A lu c I. . i o r 31 cwt. of mangel, at 6s. 8d, 120 1b.ofhay at2s.perl * ... XI 2 cwt. = £2, 2s., equal to | ^ ^^^ ^^ ^^^^^^ ^^ ^^ p^^ ^^^ 1 £2 2 So that Is. per cwt., or £1 per ton, is about the consuming price of straw. We have then for future calculation — d. per lb. Hay worth £2 per ton, consuming price = -215 Good straw worth £1 per ton, consuming price = -108 Koots worth 6s. 8d. per ton, consuming price = -036 Summary of Hay, Roots, and Straw to be kept for Incom- ing Tenant. — Carrying out the quantity of the materials, we found we should require to take it at these prices ; they amount to — 25 tons of hay, at £2, = £50 10 „ straw, at £1, = 10 Say 90 „ roots, at 6s. 8d., = 30 £90 Grass not eaten o^. — Besides this, in the way of food, the outgoing tenant may perhaps claim for grass left on the ground. This may amount to about 2s. per acre over the grass land, or say £50 ; it is certainly better to pay this than to have had the land trodden down by cattle, consuming it up to the day of entry. Hedging and Bitching. — As to hedging and ditching, I think a farmer should be boiind to do what was absolutely requisite up to the time of his leaving, without charging for it. Manure Hauling. — It will be to the advantage of the in- DAIKY FARMING. ] 47 coming tenant that his predecessor hauled upon the land a large quantity of manure during the winter months, and either spread it on the grass grounds or formed heaps ready for roots on the arable land. The labour expended on these operations should be willingly and liberally met. The amount will depend upon the position of the farm buildings, and the part of the farm to which the manure was hauled. Supposing that half the manure made during the winter was hauled out, it would amount probably to £50. Tillages. — Again, all the tillage since autumn — and the seed sown should be paid for — the expense of sowing the clover, harrowing, etc., and I think half a year's rent upon the clover- lay, rather than have it eaten off. Course of Cropping. — In estimating this we may take the arable land to be farmed on a double four-course system. We should then have 50 acres in preparation for roots, this will require deep ploughing — three horses not doing more than f of an acre a day, at a cost of about 12s. per acre — 100 acres in white crops, once ploughed, at 10s. per acre; and 25 acres ploughed, for beans, costing aboxit £15 ; we have then to pay for hauling manure and tillage — Preparation of 50 acres for roots, ,, 100 „ wheat, etc., ,, 25 ,, beans, Sowing beans, wheat, etc.. Loading and hauling out manure. Wheat seed, 100 acres, at IJ bushels. Beans, 25 „ 3 „ Clover seed, 25 „ Half-year's rent on clover, 25 acres, . „ wheat land, 100 acres. . £30 tc, 50 15 25 50 £170 150 bushels. at 7s., £50 75 „ icres. 6s., 22 10 28 100 £210 148 DAIRY FARMING. These items collectively amount to — Hay, straw, and roots, .£90 Grass keep, . 50 Acts of husha,Tidry, dung hauling, etc., . - . 170 Clover and vi'heat-seed, etc., and allowance of half- ) ^^^ year's rent on wheat land, etc., . . j £520 Horse Labour. Acre?. Davs. Ilor. Days. For roots, 50 -i- | = say 70 x 3 = 210 for 1 horse at£^ = £30 Wheat, 100 -=- 1 -.. 140 X 2 = 280 „ „ = 45 Beans, 25 -=- f - 35 X 3 = 105 15 Sowing, 125 -4- 8 = 16 X 10 = 160 24 Manure Hauling. Say 200 cows for 10 weeks = 14,000 days X 1 cwt. = 700 tons ^ 35 = 20 days X 10 horses, . . =200 „ 30 956 £144 Or nearly 100 days for each horse ; the outgoing tenant would have to cut chaff, haul wheat, etc., for himself, besides what he could charge to the outgoing tenant. I do not think that on a dairy farm unexhausted manures and cake need to be taken into account. The land is generally rich in mineral manures, and the quantity of stock kept should insure a plentiful supply of farmyard manure, so as not to require the purchase of much artificial manure. III. Live Stock. — We should have next to provide the live stock, so as to have them in good time for the grass. \st. Horses. — We should require ten good horses, which would cost about £30 each. Two of them, say, useful mares, to breed from and keep up the stock. This may appear a large number, but during haymaking and harvest- time they would not be found too many. 2d, Sheep. — The farm should carry a flock of 100 breeding DAIEY FARMING. 149 ewes through the winter, which, with their lambs, should be sold off fat every year. This is better than keeping a flock constantly, since on the rich grass they are very subject to the foot-rot. These would be bought in about 50s. each. 3d, Cows. — I shall not enter here into the question of what description of cattle it would be well to buy, although that is of the utmost importance to decide upon at once, as I shall in another lecture call your attention specially to that subject, and it would not materially affect the question of cost. It would be well, however, to determine here which of four systems we should adopt, viz : — 1st, Not rearing any stock, but purchasing in season heifers when necessary. 2d, Not rearing, but purchasing stirks to come in at three years old the following spring. 3d, Eearing calves to come in at three years old. ith, do. do. two do. The First System requu-es great judgment in selecting animals likely to milk well. The heifers wanted may be picked up at private sales, but must frequently be obtained at markets, accompanied with the risk of introducing disease into the herd. On this system there is no object in purchasing good bulls. When excellent judgment in selection is brought to bear it is probably profitable on the richer land, but there must always be considerable risk. The Second System is open to the same objection as the first, with the additional one that it is not so easy to form a reliable opinion of the probable milking qualities of the stirks. They can, however, generally be purchased at a less price than the dairy farmers can rear them. The Third System'is that most usually adopted, and it has many advantages over the previous ones. I have found that superiority in the milking properties of cows is hereditary. 150 DAIRY FAKMING. Por instance, six cows of one family in my herd gave an average of 636 gallons each per annum in 1862 and 1863 : — 2 cows of another family averaged, in 1862 and 1863, 733 gals. each. 2 cows „ „ „ „ 735 „ Evidence of the contrary is not wanting, but as the inferior milkers are sold off as quickly as possible, and I avoid weaning calves from them when I know it, I am unable to adduce evi- dence so distinct. It is thus evidently the interest of dairy farmers to wean calves from the best milkers, and to weed out the bad ones. It is also very important to use bulls the produce of good milkers. I have 21 cows in my pack got by " Herald," a thoroughbred bull, the son of " Honeysuckle," which belonged to the late Colonel Kingscote, and was remarkable as an excellent short-horn milker ; these 21 cows gave on an average, in 1862 and 1863, 642 gallons per annum each. The rearing of his own stock enables the dairyman to im- prove his herd as milkers, and by care he may do this, and increase their value when turned off to be grazed, for nothing is more marked at sales by auction than the decidedly increased value put upon animals that show a little breeding. The Fourth System is adopted by a few, and seems to offer great advantages. My experience is that heifers brought into the dairy at two years old, if well grown, wiU return from £8 to £10 the first year, without materially checking their future growth. In many of the dairies of the, Vale of Berkeley this system is adopted. Mr. Edward Bowley, in an excellent paper on Breeding Cattle, remarks upon this subject : — " My early calves (those which drop from December till the end of February) I allow, to suck the cow for a fortnight, when I take them off and give them as much as they will drink of skimmed milk and thick gruel, made from boiled lintseed, in equal proportions twice a DAIRY FARMING. 151 day. As soon as they are inclined to eat, I supply them with oilcake, carrots, and hay. When 3 months old I reduce the milk and linseed to once a day, and in three weeks afterwards discontinue it altogether, continuing tlie other food tiU they are turned out to grass, when I give them 2 lb. of oilcake, which I continue, in addition to their other food, 1 2 month.?, that is till they go to grass, in the follow- ing July or August of which year they are served with the buU, so that they calve the year following, just before going to grass, when they wiU be about 2 years and 4 months old. Some are of opinion that heifers should not calve till they are 3 years old, but my experi- ence does not warrant this view of the subject." The extra cost of oilcake, which is a chief part of Mr. Bowley's system, would amount to about £2 per head. Under the last two systems there is every inducement for the farmer to improve his stock by using good bulls ; under the two former there is none at all, consequently any mongrel is used, which diminishes the value of the calves dropped, so that in the dairy districts calves of 10 days old are sold for 16s. each, or even less, a sum which does not much more than cover the value of the milk consumed. Whereas, in other districts, cows are kept the whole year round simply to produce and rear their calves. My recommendation would be to rear your own stock, to do them well, bringing into the dairy at 2 years old those only which are well grown, and the others at 3 years old. Having then decided to rear stock, and to aim at its im- provement, we should have to consider how many cows we could keep along with the young ones. The following is about what might be kept if the land were good : — 120 dairy cows. 30 calves. 30 yearlings. 30 two-years old. 100 ewes and lambs. 1 4 horses and colts. 1 00 pigs. 152 DAIRY FAKMING. Tor the first year it would be possible to keep more cows than afterwards in place of the yearlings and 2-years old. To this the objections are that it is not desirable to purchase more dairy utensils, etc., than will be required when the farm is steadily at work, and that the dairy accommodations are not sufficient. There are two courses then open, either to mow more grass the first year than it is intended to do afterwards, or to graze some bullocks — probably the best would be to do both — say that, instead of 30 yearlings and 30 2-years old, you purchase 20 bullocks to graze, and mow 50 acres of grass more than ordinary for hay, a little extra stock of which on hand is always desirable. The live stock to be purchased would then be — 120 cows, at £18, . £2160 20 barrens, at £14, 280 100 ewes and lambs, at 50s., 250 10 horses, at £30, 300 100 pigs, at 30s., 150 £3140 The stock will have to be piu'chased at markets, fairs, and sales by auction ; and I should very strongly recommend great care being taken with the first purchase, as it is from these cows that the stock is to be maintained, and upon which improvement is to be made. Both the cows and the barrens should be selected in good condition, which the above prices will enable us to do, otherwise much of the summer's keep is expended in putting flesh on the animals' backs, robbing the milk-pail in the one case, and de- laying the period when the grazers are fat, which is undesirable, as there is a risk of not selling them again from the grass. The extra hay made the first year must be charged to capital, as it will probably be dormant during much of the lease, really DAIRY FARMING. 153 to meet an emergency. This we may call 50 acres at 30 cwt. = 75 tons at £2 = £150. Although the stock will be larger in the course of two or three years, when the young animals grow up, the value of the whole (at market prices) will probably not exceed the above estimate, for the cows must be taken as losing £1 per head each year as they grow older. We may therefore, I think, pretty safely take the above as a fair amount of capital required for the live stock. Dead Stock. — We have next the dead stock to provide for. We may presume that the landlord has erected an engine for thrashing, or that he shall hire a portable engine and machine when wanted, and that all the necessary apparatus for straining pigs' food, boilers for dairy purposes, etc., are provided. For the Dairy we should want — 2 milk carts, at J 12, . . . £24 20 milk buckets, at 5s., . . 5 1 large tub, . . 3 2 small tub.s, .... 60 pans or stands to hold as much. Curd cutter and breaker, etc., 120 vats, 6 double cheese-pressers, Whey vessels. Cheese stands, . Churn and butter tubs, Sundries, 4 10 5 30 30 20 15 5 10 - £161 Cart Harness. 6 sets of thiller harness, at £4, 10s., 5 sets of trace harness, at £3, 10s., 5 sets of go harness, at £2, 1 set of mowing machine-harness, Headstalls, etc., .£27 17 10 10 5 -- 69 Carry forward, £230 154 DAIRY FARMING. Brought forward. £230 Waffons and Carts. 4 wagons, at £30, £120 5 carfe, at £14, 70 1 small cart. 8 198 Haymahing Machines, etc. 1 mowing machine, . £^2 2 tedding machines. 22 1 horse rake, . 7 4 hand rakes, . 5 1 rick cloth. 15 20 rakes, 1 Prongs, shovels, etc., 9 81 Ploughs, etc. 5 ploughs at £5, . £25 1 bouting plough, 4 1 subsoil plough. 5 2 skim ploughs and cultivators, . . 18 1 pair heavy drags, 6 2 pair lighter harrows, . 8 1 Orosskill roller. 15 2 smooth rollers, . 24 1 small roUer, . 8 1 steerage drill. . 26 1 turnip drill, . 8 1 grass-seed drill. 4 3 horse-hoes, 7 2 chain barrows, 7 1 reaping-machine. . 35 Seedlips, . 1 1 ash screen, 1 202 Bam Implements, etc. w 1 2-horse power, £30 1 chaff cutter, . 10 Carry forward, £40 £711 DAIKY' FARMING. 155 Brought forward, £40 £711 1 root pulper, .... 800 2 turnip cutters, . . .800 1 winnowing machine, . 10 1 weighing machine, . . .500 1 sack barrow, . ,.100 1 oilcake crusher, . 4 1 bushel measure, . .10 200 sacks, at 2s. . . . 20 Barn shovels, sieves, etc., . . . 2 99 Sheep Hurdles, etc. Racks, hurdles, and troughs, . £20 Dipping apparatus, ... 100 21 Pigs — troughs, buckets, etc., . . 5 Cider and Cellar Utensils — usually wanted on a dairy farm, 50 Ladders — of various kinds, . . . . 16 Jack, grindstone, cow chains, baskets, etc., . 26 Total of Implements, etc., £927 We should, besides these, have at least capital enough to pay the wages for six months. I find that my labour amounts, including dairymaid, bailiff, and then" keep, to 25s. an acre. This item will therefore amount to £750 a year, for the half of which we should provide from capital. Tlie Capital we shoidd require would thus he — Payments to be made to outgoing tenant, . . . £520 Hay to be made first year and kept against emergencies, 150 Live stock, 3140 Dead stock, ..... . 930 Half-year's wages in hand, say, . .360 Total capital, £5100 This gives £8, 10s. as the capital required per acre to stock a mixed dairy and arable farm well. 156 DAIEY FARMING. I have not allowed in this anything to meet the rent, as the sale of cheese will do this in due course. I would only add, that to have sufficient capital is of very great importance, as the person so situated is not obliged to force sales, and he can purchase at the cheapest market. I. On the Distribution of Stock throughout the country. — A general survey points out that some parts of our island not being generally adapted for cheese-making and grazing, are employed in simply rearing stock most fitted for the grazing ; in this category we may place much of Scotland and the north of England, Herefordshire, and other adjoining counties, and the greater part of Wales, Devon, and Cornwall — that these districts have cattle peciiliar to them and naturalized, and that calves bred upon richer districts would in all probability not thrive so well there as the native breeds. Again, that the cause of the cattle from these parts not being good milkers arises from the breeders aiming chiefly at early maturity and a disposition to fatten. That in some parts of Wales and Ireland the stock is kept to produce butter, which, though probably of small quantity, is of excellent quality, and that breeds of Kerry and Welsh are reared best suited to this purpose, but inferior for grazing. That a large portion of England lying on the secondary formation is applied to summer grazing, for which purpose Highlanders, Welsh Eunts, Herefords, and Devons are much used, whilst another portion of it is used for dairy pur- poses where the Shorthorns or crosses with them predominate. And we seem to be taught distinctly that the quality of the pasture should in all cases be closely studied so as to accom- modate the size of the animals to it ; the richer the pasture and more genial the climate, the larger the animals that may be used with success. DAIRY FAKMING. 157 Confiuing then our attention to the best stock for producing milk for the use of man, we find that the shape in which this milk is used determines in a great measure the description of animal kept to supply it. The modes in which milk is used are : — 1st. Simply as milk for our large towns. 2d. For butter and fatting pigs. Sd. Chiefly for cheese and pig feeding. 1st. When milk for direct consumption is the chief object. The milk for London and our large towns iised to be almost entirely supplied by milkmen who kept large dairies in the suburbs, or under the archways near the Strand, feeding largely on brewers' grains, etc. This is now, however, to some extent superseded by milk being carried by railway for many miles to meet this demand. The London milkmen prefer the large Yorkshire or Holder- ness breed, quantity not quality being the great object. 2d. For butter. Here quality or richness in cream is of much more importance than quantity, the cow giving ai small quantity of milk sometimes returning a larger quantity of butter than another cow giving a large yield of milk. Professor Trail made an experiment as to the best breed of cows for producing butter, and found the Kerry cows to rank first, the Galloways second, and the Ayrshires third ; with the Kerrys should probably be classed the Channel Island cow, but this again must depend upon the quality of the pasture, for certainly on some pastures the Shorthorns are found excel- lent as butter-producers, and even the Devons and Herefords in some cases are found extremely useful. Thus Mr. Euegg, in his paper to the Eoyal Agricultural Society, says, — " I have found our dairyman speaking of Herefords as the best milkers within his experience, his neighbour favoured the beautifully 158 DAIRY FARMING. symmetrical North Devons, whilst a third declared that the best milk-producer was a cross. On our farm a breed of Alderneys were found excellent for butter-making, but when tried as cheese-producers they proved very inferior to the Ayrshires." 3d. Where cheese is the chief object, we want quantity rich in casein. Upon the poorer land and in less genial climates the Ayr- shires hold their ground, but generally, throughout the cheese- producing districts of England, the Shorthorns are displacing every other breed. We are probably not far wrong in placing the breeds of the country in the following classes, the degree of merit correspond- ing to the order of classification : — 1st. As meat producers— Herefords, Shorthorns, Devons, Highlanders, Irish Eunts. 2d. As milk-producers for our large towns — the large York- shire or Holderness. 3d. As butter-producers — Channel Islands, Kerrys, Gallo- ways, Ayrshires, Suffolks, Devons, Herefords, Shorthorns. Ath. As cheese -producers — Shorthorns, Ayrshires, Longhoms, Gloucesters. A good deal depends, however, upon the individuality of the cow, the richness of the pasture and the climate in a great measure determining the description of cow from which selec- tion is made. As we are supposed to be stocking a cheese- making farm, I should select the stock from among fairly bred Shorthorns, three years old. II. Selection. — The following appear to be some of the prin- cipal points which should guide us in our selection, as recom- mended by Major Eudd and others : — DAIRY FARMING. 159 For the Oow.— A small fine tapering head, eye full and placid, neck straight, fine, slightly placed on shoulders, a deep capacious chest, the shoulders lying back in the body, showing strength of constitution and aptitude to fatten, the ribs round and barrel-like, the back straight from the neck to the top of the tail, the loins wide, the hind-quarters long and straight, the bones small and offal light; long, soft, silky hair, skin thin and moyable, but not too loose. Quietness and docility are of capital importance. A full- sized udder well up behind, with the teats large, squarely placed, and wide apart, taking care if the cow has had a calf that she has not lost any of her quarters. The milk veins prominent. There appears to be some truth in M. Gu^non's (of Bordeaux) recommendations respecting the milking qualities of a cow. His notion is that cows are good milkers in proportion to the extent of surface on the thigh and hinder part generally covered by reversed hair ; the further upwards, and the wider then that this surface of upward-growing hair extends, the better the cow as a milker. I have examined a good many cows, and found this a useful indication, and Mr. Haxton, in his book entitled How to Choose a good Milk Cow, declares that his own examination of many dairies expressly for the purpose, led him to the conclusion that M. Gu^non's marks of a good milk cow are really trust- worthy. We should have to purchase two or three bulls ; these I should choose from thorough-bred Shorthorns with good pedi- grees, taking care that their dams are famous as milkers. The bulls should be well grown and masculine, but with small heads rather than otherwise, as the cows experience much less difficulty in calving to small-headed bulls. Great attention should also be paid to their temper, as this is undoubtedly hereditary. 1 60 DAIRY FARMING. After the first purchase the stock should be reared on the farm, those kept being carefully selected from the very best milkers. The purchase of bulls being continued tmtil the stock will supply animals entitled to a place in the herd book, when thorough-bred animals can be selected from families of well-known excellence as milkers. The summer management of the cattle is then described. III. Haymaking. — We should then set apart at least 100 acres for mowing from the beginning of April ; this will give us about 150 tons of hay for the winter; but before we com- mence the old land haymaking, we shall find the first crop of clover ready to mow. This being 25 acres, will give us from 30 to 40 cwt. the first time, and about 20 the second — say 50 cwt. per acre in the two mowings, or 62^ tons of clover hay. Clover loses much weight in drying ; I once tried an experi- ment on a perch of a very fine crop, and found the weight when cut at the rate of 15 J tons per acre, and when dry 2 1 tons per acre. Fine dry weather is of great importance during the whole of the haymaking season, especially for the clover, as it is not desirable to throw it about as we do other hay, since much of the leaf is thereby separated from the stem : frequent turning over of the swaithe and cocking shortly before hauling is all the making that is usually practised. I have used the tedding machine, but I do not recommend it for clover. Care should be taken that before hauling no juice can be forced out of the stems when they are tightly twisted. Clover hay very readily imbibes moisture, it should therefore be hauled if possible in the sunshine, and not be taken up after the dew begins to fall, otherwise it turns out fusty when cut. It is of great consequence to the dairy farmer to make his DAIRY FARMING. 101 hay well, and the haymaking season is always an anxious time, as so much depends upon the weather. No maxim is more worth recollecting than to make hay while the sun shines, and for this purpose his eye should be constantly directed to the weather, a careful study of which will be well repaid. The combined instruments now made by Negretti and Zambra, which cost 50s. each, and by other makers costing 30s. to 35s. each, specially for farmers, should form an indispensable piece of furniture in every farmhouse. They consist of a barometer and wet and dry bulb thermometer, by a careful study of and attention to which many a load of good hay may be secured. They will very generally forewarn him of a change of weather, and urge the farmer to get his hay as closely as possible together, as a captain would furl his sails and make all secure for the coming storm. They also foretell when a favourable change is likely to ensue, that he may resume work with his mowers or mowing machine, and be prepared to take advantage of the sunshine when it comes. For it is important to remember that no hay is so cheaply made or so good as that made by the sun, and that there is nothing more dispiriting than haymaking in bad weather, when so much labour is thrown away, and all the labour in the world would not make the hay good. When the Times can be obtained the day it is published, I believe it would well repay the farmer to take it in during the haymaking season, simply on account of Admiral Fitzroy's prognostications of the weather. I consider Wood's mowing machine an immense boon to the farmer, not so much from enabling him to cut his grass more cheaply, though that is a recommendation, as from the com- mand it gives him of the work. My own experience used to be, that mowers were sometimes difficult to obtain, that when really fine haymaking weather came it was very difficult to L 1G2 DAIRY FARMING. get the mowers to cut down the grass, which is not to be wondered at, for the employment is very severe and trying, becoming in too many cases the chief cause of premature old age; when, again, unfavourable weather followed, there was no preventing them cutting down a larger breadth than was desirable. Kow with the mowing machine we cut the grass as we want it, stopping when unfavourable weather sets in, and having the ability to cut down a large quantity when the weather suits in a very short time. The plan we adopt is to follow the mowing machine closely with the tedding machine, or when the crop is very heavy to have it tedded by women ; if the weather is fine, we allow the grass so tedded to lie spread over the ground during the night. The next day the machines go through it twice, the first time throwing the grass into the air, the second time with the reverse movement, and in the evening it is raked into small rows, called in the Vale of Gloucester single hatches. The second day after mowing these hatches are turned over by the women with rakes, on the third day the hatches are broken up by the tedding machines crossing them, and in fine weather the hay is frequently raked together in the morning and hauled to the rick in the afternoon. Should another day intervene, especially if the weather is catching, the hay is raked together by the women and cocked by the men ; the size of the cocks depending upon the diyness of the hay. As to the cost of haymaking, my experience is that it varies from 6s. to 9s. per acre, according to the crops and the weather. On my farm, however, the thatching is less than in most cases, as I put a large quantity into the bam. IV. Management of Young Stock — Our practice is to let the DAIRY FARMING. 163 calves suck the cows for about ten days, then take them away and give them 3 quarts of new milk morning and evening for six weeks, and 8 quarts of skim milk daily for five or six weeks longer, giving them hay and mangel as soon as they wiU eat it. When there is a good bite of grass they are turned out, and we have found it a good plan to give them about 1 lb. of oilcake each daily during the summer and autumn, and to bring them into the yards at night when the cold weather sets in. V. On Weaning Calves. — In September we find it an excel- lent plan to give each of the calves a dose, consisting of 1 oz. of saltpetre and 2 oz. of flower of brimstone, well mixed ia a pint of thin gruel, keeping them on a small allowance of hay the following night. In the spring we give a similar dose to the yearlings before turning them out to grass. This treatment was recommended to me by Mr. Henry Hayward, of Folking- ton, Sussex, as a precaution against quarter evil. Whereas I lost many young animals before I adopted it, I have hardly lost one since, after administering the dose. VI. Management of Cows. — The cows are generally turned out to grass about the end of the first week in May ; sometimes I have turned out the latter end of April, but tempting as it is sometimes to do so, I would generally advise patience till the later period, as cold easterly winds sometimes prevail in May and even in June, seriously checking the growth of the grass. The advantage of having a little extra store of hay is here felt very decidedly, for turning out too soon, or meeting the grass as it is called, is like killing the goose that laid the golden eggs. It is desirable to have shelter for the cows in the hot 164 DAIRY FARMING. weather, especially when the flies are troublesome. In such cases it is well to leave the gates open, and allow them to come home into the courts if there is not shelter in the fields. Trees aflbrd great comfort to the stock at such periods ; they are best when planted in the middle of the fields, so that wherever the sun is they cast a shadow under which the cattle can lie. When they are in hedges they prevent the c[uicks thriving below them, and the cattle in their endeavours to reach the shade break down the hedge. Having gone through the serious ordeal of the distemper among the cattle, I can recommend the plan I adopted on a late occasion, viz. : 1st, to give the whole herd as soon as it appeared, a dose consisting of 4 oz. of Glauber salts dissolved in half-a-pint of warm water, to which was added 4 oz. of sulphur, 1 oz. of saltpetre, and one wine-glass full of lintseed oU, well mixed in about 1 quart of thin grueL To the feet of those that were lame we applied an astringent composed of 2 oz. of blue vitriol, 2 oz. of verdigris, 1 oz. of nutgalls, 1 oz. of butter of antimony, all finely pounded and mixed in IJ pints of vinegar. A little alum or chloride of lime and water is recommended to wash the tongue, but we did not use it. 2d. To separate those affected from the rest as soon as they caught the disease, keeping the worst cases in yards, and giving them as nourishing food as possible, oilcake or oatmeal gruel, etc., and not allowing any to walk further than was absolutely necessary, giving them hay, etc., near home. By taking these precautions we did not lose one beast, and but few were seriously affected. When the cows were phy- sicked, and when they had the distemper, the milk was thrown away. When they recovered, the milk for some time was kept by itself and made into cheese ; and such was the care taken by the milkers and the dairyinaid, that none of the cheese was DAUIY FAEMING. 165 rejected by the factor, although it was carefully kept by itself. The loss was of course considerable, and makes one fully alive to the importance of the Bill lately before Parliament, to pre- vent the introduction and spread of diseases of the kind. Much importance is rightly attached to careful milking; the more nearly the milking can be done at equal intervals of time the better, and it would be well to have one person speci- ally charged to see that every cow is thoroughly stripped. It was the remark of an old farmer, who died worth £30,000, that he had made his fortune by attending to this little detail. Gentleness on the part of the milkers is by all means to be encouraged, and the contrary condemned, as many a good cow is spoiled by harsh treatment. The cows are subject sometimes to sore teats, which is very catching, causing inflammation and boils on the hands of the milkers, and spreading thus to the whole pack if great care is not taken. It is advisable at once to separate any that are affected, and let one person attend to them. Here the milk- ing machine, if brought out successfully, would be eminently useful. The cow-pox, which led to Dr. Jenner's famous discovery of vaccination, is rarely met with, though the above complaint, which is common, resembles it very much. The udders of the cows occasionally become inflamed, and if great care is not taken at once to reduce the inflammation, the loss of one or more quarters ensues, seriously injuring the usefulness of the cow. We find bathing with warm water and rubbing in a Little of Day's Driffield oil the best remedy. When the cows calve before th'eir time, or show symptoms of fever after calving, one of Day's red drenches, or a Glouces- tershire drench made by Mr. White of Dursley, with some 166 DAIRY FAKMING. warm gruel, generally soon puts them right ; if it does not, the best plan is to send for the veterinary surgeon ; but, as a general maxim, prevention is better than cure, and with steady feeding and ordinary care, I find I am able to keep down my veterinary bill at a very low sum. A Cattle Insurance Company was formed a few years ago, which from want of encouragement, or some other cause, feU to the ground. At the time I studied the question, and found that the sum I should have to pay exceeded considerably the amount of my losses ; and this, I take it, will generally prove the case where a large stock is kept, and there is tolerable winter accommodation for them, especially as the company would not insure deaths from epidemic diseases. If the in- surance met such an emergency it would be very valuable to the farmer, whose all is sometimes in danger ; but where it only extends to ordinary diseases, which in a greater or less degree the owner by good management might have prevented, I do not see the benefit of it, and it is pretty evident that the care- ful managers would have to pay for the mismanagement of others. I. Disposal of Milk — The most simple and remunerative method of disposing of milk is to sell it simply as milk to the consumer; Id. a pint, or Sd. per gaUon, is the common whole- sale price. For milk thus disposed of, we may safely say that the return per gallon is a maximum, and the expense attend- ing it is a minimum. Thus, with much expense attending the manufacture, I find 6|d. per gallon is the most I can make by converting the milk into butter, and single Gloucester cheese. But, as before remarked, quantity not quality being the object, cows giving a considerable quantity of milk are selected, and house feeding is generally followed. Hence great reliance is DAIllY FARMING. 167 placed on grains as food, of which 1| bushels, with 10 or 12 lbs. of hay, and 1^ cwt. of roots, chiefly mangel wurzel, are given daily, or in place of the hay and roots, abundance of cut green food, clover, vetches, etc., during the summer. This, with an ample supply of water, forms the daily food of the large Yorkshire cows in the London dairies. These cows yield from 600 to 1000 gallons of milk per annum, which at 8d. per gallon returns from £20 to £33 each. This does not, however, by any means give an exact notion of the average yield of these cows, as it is the custom to re- place those that give less than 8 quarts of milk per day, by others at a loss of £6 or £7 each. II. Butter Bairying. — I shall next make a few remarks on butter dairying, which forms a complete contrast to the milk- dairy system — quality or richness in cream being the chief object instead of quantity. The contrast is weU shown by a comparison with Mr. HorsfaU's management, as his cows are to a great extent similarly house fed. In his case, instead of feeding to encourage a large supply of poor milk, and drawing upon the condition of the cow to supply some quality, he feeds highly or rather richly to obtain butter, and fatten the animal at the same time. Instead of purchasing animals in good con- dition as the milkman that he may make them lean, Mr. HorsfaU buys them from three to five years old, and lean that he may make them fat. Of course he buys cheaply, whereas in the other case a good price must be given. In some cases he buys strippers, which correspond nearly with the cast off of the milkman. These cows when bought frequently give but little milk ; after a week or two it increases 2 quarts a day, and that too of much richer quality. Mr. HorsfaU aims to give his cows, in the shape of purchased 168 DAIRY FARMING. food, the nitrogenous and oleaginous matters, and the phos- phates which are carried off in the mUk and the improved condition of the animal ; and in this way he finds his pastures are not tending to impoverishment but to increased fertility. Mr. Horsfall's winter feeding per week consists of — 63 lb. of hay, valued at . 2s. 3Jd. Straw and shells of oats, . Is. 3d. Mangel wurzel, .... . Is. Od. 35 lb. rape cake, 10 lb. bran, 10 J lb. malt combs, ' lOJ lb. bean meal. . 4s. OJd. Cost of food per cow per week, . 8s. 7d. his return he reckons at — 14 quarts of inilk daily, at 2d., . 16s. 4d. Gain of flesh, 6^ lb., at 6d., . . ' . 3s. SJd. 19s. 9Jd. Leaving a profit on each cow of 10s. lOd. per week. Mr. Horsfall cooks his food to a great extent ; but for further particulars I must refer you to his most instructive papers in the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society. The butter obtained from a certain quantity of milk varies immensely. Mr. Morton, in his Handbook of Dairy Husbandry, gives a large amount of useful information on this and other subjects. He ascertained that the quantity of mUk required to give 1 lb. of butter varies from 16 up to 29 pints, depending apparently upon the food given and the breed of the animals. But the method employed to extract the butter has also much to do with this result, the butter being more or less pure, and the impurity being casein, the principal ingredient of cheese. The purer the butter the finer the taste, and the better it wUl keep. There seems to be a difference of opinion as to the ad- vantage of the Devonshire system of scalding the cream before DAIRY FARMING. 169 making it into butter. Mr. Acland, in his report on Somer- setshire, says it is a common opinion that the object of the scalding is to extract from the milk a larger quantity of cream and butter. Having obtained most contradictory answers to his inquiries upon the subject, he had an experiment made on 12 quarts of milk. The butter obtained from the 12 quarts of milk scalded was 1 lb. 4| oz. ; from the 12 quarts not scalded, 1 lb. 6 oz. ; the difference amounting to 7| lbs. on every 100 lbs. in favour of the non-scalded milk. Professor Way's analysis of the butter produced shows a larger quantity of pure butter from the raw than from the scalded milk butter. The result of Dr. Trail's experiments were — 1st. That the addition of some cold water during churning facilitates the pi'ocess, or the separation of the butter, especially when the cream is thick and the weather hot. 2d. That cream alone is more easily churned than a mixture of cream and milk. 3d. That butter produced from sweet cream has the finest flavour when fresh, and appears to remain the longest period without turning rancid. ith. That scalded cream, or the Devonshire method, yields the largest quantity of butter ; but if intended to be salted, is most liable to acquire a rancid flavour by keeping. 5th. That churning the millc and cream together, after they have become slightly acid, is the most economical process for districts where buttermilk is sold ; whilst at the same time it yields a large amount of excellent butter. In April last, before the cows were turned out to grass, I had butter made from S gallons of milk in three different ways, when the results both as to quantity and quality varied immensely. 1 70 DAIRY FARMING. 1st. The cream raised in the ordinary manner from 8 gallons of milk, yielded 28 J oz. of butter, the quality of which was very good. 2d. The cream raised from 8 gallons of milk by the Devon- shire plan, yielded 38| oz. of butter, which had a creamy taste. 3d. The milk was allowed to stand till it turned sour, when it gave 50i oz. of very inferior quality. On repeating the ex- periment last week (May), we obtained from the same quantity — by the first method, 48 oz. instead of 28^ oz. of butter; by the second method, 48 oz. instead of 38 J oz. of butter; by the third method, 24 J oz. instead of 50| oz. of butter, all good in quality. I do not attempt to explain this, but it points out the importance of a little experimenting. The richness of the milk and the temperature have no doubt a good deal to do with the results. The temperature of the cream before churning, should be about 60°. During the process of churning the temperature rises considerably. In some experiments made by Mr. Ballan- tine of Edinburgh, he obtained the largest quantity of butter when the temperature of the cream was 56°, and the butter 60°, the best quality cream at starting 52°, butter 55°. When the heat exceeded 65", no washing could detach the milk from the butter without the aid of salt. Euegg says, " The production of butter by churning is both a chemical and mechanical process. By the mechanical ope- ration of the churn the envelopes of the globules of fat are broken, and the globules brought into cohesion. By the che- mical process the sugar of milk is converted into lactic acid, and the bulk of the fluid which was put sweet into the churn is instantly soured. The following is Mr. Euegg's description of the process of butter- making in Dorsetshire, which butter holds the highest rank in the London market. DAIUY FARMING. 171 " The COWS are milked twice a day in summer in tlie fields, in winter generally in the straw barton. The milk is purified by being passed through a sieve, and then set to cool in milk leads. In some counties glass ware or stone coolers are used ; but the Dorsetshire farmer will use nothing but leads, which he finds the cleanest, sweetest, and in every respect the best of milk coolers. In these the milk is allowed to stand for a period varying from twelve to thirty- six hours, according to the season, the quantity of milk at command, etc. Usually after standing twenty-four hours, it is skimmed, and the cream is collected in tin vessels until sufficient to form a churning has accumulated. In very large dairies, and in the summer season, butter is made every day ; and it may be laid down as a general rule that the quicker cream is converted into butter, the sweeter and better the butter. It should not be allowed to remain longer than three days under any circumstances. . . . The butter having come (to use the language of the dairymaid), the whey is drawn off for the pigs, and the butter is taken out and well washed. It is then thoroughly worked with the hand until the buttermilk is thoroughly expressed, and the air- bubbles are broken. A portion of salt is mixed with about each half-dozen pounds ; the manipulation is resumed ; the lump undergoes a second washing, which carries off the sur- plus salt ; and it is finally made up into rolls or printed pats for the home market, or, with an additional salting, is packed in clean tubs for the London factor." The system adopted depends in some measure on the dis- trict. Thus, in the thinly peopled Dorsetshire, the whey or buttermilk is given to the pigs ; but in densely populated dis- tricts, such as the northern manufacturing counties, the butter- milk is consumed by the people, and the quality of this made from the milk and cream together, leads Mr. Eowlandson to 172 DAIRY FARMING. prefer the Lancashire method, which combines, he says, the best principles connected with the other methods. " The practice alluded to consists in dividing the milk into two portions, viz., the greater part of the first milk is set in the ordinary way to stand for cream, the latter being usually taken off quite sweet, and the skimmed milk sold, used for the family, or given to the pigs. The latter part of the milking, which is rich in cream, is at once placed in a vessel containing the cream of prior miLkings ; the last drawn are locally called ' afterings.' In cold weather the mixed cream and afterings, are set near the fire, in order to induce acescency, provincially termed ' soiling.' The churn should be set at 58° or 60°, and if smartly churned the butter will ' come ' sometimes within the hour, and rarely, if set at the above temperature, will it exceed one hour and a half" Mr. Eowlandson's views of the advantages of this system are, that " by setting aside the milk first drawn to stand for cream, the most aqueous and serous portion of the milk is got rid of, whilst by preserving the last-drawn portion and mixing it with cream, it obtains the requisite fluidity, and the acescent form in which the whole is placed in the cheese is favourable to the speedy formation of the butter. The quality of the buttermilk thus made is far superior to that made from cream alone, and so more saleable. I may add that where the whole milk is churned, the churn is a fixture ; it is an upright somewhat conical vessel, made so, however, only to secure the tightness of its hooping; of various dimensions, from 3 feet and upwards in height, and from 15 inches in diameter, according to the quantity of milk to be treated. This milk is churned when about three days old, varying according to the weather, being first allowed to cool, and then placed in large wooden vats to become DAIRY FARMING. 173 sour. Steam or water-power is frequently used, as in the case of the larger churns it is too laborious for manual labour. The Devonshire method of making butter differs materially from the above, and is peculiar to that county. The milk is placed in tins or brass pans holding about 11 or 12 quarts each. Twelve hours in summer, or 24 hours in winter after milking, these pans are placed on trivets over holes in a broad iron plate heated by a clear fire of charcoal or wood ashes. The milk is gradually warmed to near the boiling point, but on no account allowed to boil, or the whole is spoilt. When the bottom of the pan (as locally expressed) rises to the surface, forming a ring a short distance from the rim of the pan, the milk is removed from the fire and allowed to cool. Each morning the cream thus formed the preceding day, which is called clouted cream, is removed from the pan and turned round in a wooden bowl by the hand, or in hot weather with a bottle filled with cold water renewed from time to time, by which simple process the butter is generally quickly separated, after which it is treated as in other cases. There is great variety of opinion as to the best vessels for separating the cream from the miLk. Zinc should be avoided. Mr. Horsfall uses milk bowls of glazed brown earthenware ; they stand on a base of 6 or 8 inches ditto, and expand at the surface to nearly twice that width. Four or five quarts are contained in each bowl, the depth being 4 or 5 inches at the centre. These he. places in leaded cisterns, gently inclin- ing, along which he can pass hot or cold water at pleasure. Glass, tin, and white glazed pans are also found very useful, but the Dorsetshire farmer, as before mentioned, prefers leads to them all. Slate is sometimes used, and has a nice clean appearance ; when the vessels are of earthenware, the glazing 174 DAIKY FARMING. should be entire, otherwise the porous earthenware imhibes the milk and becomes offensive. The necessity of cleanliness on the part of the dairymaid cannot be too strongly insisted upon, the dairy vessels must be scrupulously clean; they and the dairy itself should be re- moved from everything that taints the air ; this applies to all dairies, whether for butter or cheese making, and much too little attention is paid to the subject. The pigsty es, stables, cowyards, etc., should all be well removed from the dairy, whereas, in most cases, they are close by. "With a little management the whey, etc., can be made to run away in pipes conveniently to the pigs, and where the fall of the ground will not permit it, it is better to pump it up out of a sunken well than to have the styes close to the dairy. We have now to consider the conversion of milk into cheese. III. CJieese-maJcing. The art of cheese-making consists in separating the casein, combined with a certain proportion of butter, so as to pre- serve it in a concentrated and portable form for the food of man. It appears that the most complete coagulation is effected by the agency of the prepared stomach of the calf or of the lamb, as used by the Stilton cheese-makers. The calf's stomach when prepared is called a veil, and is sold by most chemists in the dairy districts. From these veils is made rennet. In Cheshire the rennet used is made fresh from the veils every day. These, procured fresh from the butcher the pre- vious year, are cleaned and salted and laid one over the other, with a layer of salt between each, in a deep earthenware vessel. They are taken out a month previous to use, the brine DAIRY FARMING. 1 75 is drained from them, and they are spread out, covered with salt, and dried. Two bits of 2 or 3 square inches are cut off these and put into half-a-pint of warm water the day before use, along with a teaspoonful of salt. This is sufficient for 50 or 60 gallons of milk. In other parts rennet is prepared in the following manner : — A brine is made strong enough to bear an egg, this is then boiled half-an-hour, and when quite cold put into a jar — the large olive-oil jars holding about 30 gallons are very useful for this purpose ; to every 2 gallons of brine are added 6 veils and 1 lemon sliced, which does away with any disagreeable smell. Spices, such as cloves, also are added by some, as they keep the rennet in good condition, and give it an agreeable flavour. One ounce of saltpetre to every 2 gallons should also be added. This should be prepared in February, and is a most essential part of cheese-making, and the greatest care should be taken that the veils are sweet. The rennet thus made exerts so, powerful an infliience as to coagulate the casein of 1800 times its weight of milk. The advantage of using the rennet in this form is that when once its strength is ascertained it can be, used with confidence. [A detailed examination is then made of the action of rennet on milk, and it appears that nearly one -fourth of the casein of milk escapes its coagulating influence, and escapes in the whey.] The manufacture of Parmesan cheese is described to illus- trate the effect of heat in the process. Parmesan cheese is made entirely of skimmed milk — two meals, the evening's after it has stood 16 hours, and the morn- ing's, about 6, were put together. At 10 o'clock, this milk, consisting of about 66 gallons, was suspended in a large copper 176 DAIRY FARMING. by a crane over a slow wood fire. When an hour had nearly- elapsed, the miUc, having been frequently stirred, was about 82° of Fahrenheit, and the heat of the atmosphere at the time was 70°. The cazaro or dairyman took a ball of rennet, like a large walnut, and squeezed it through a cloth into the milk, which was all the while stirred. He then removed the copper from off the fire by means of the crane, and a few minutes past 12 the rennet had operated. The coagulated milk was freely stirred up, and allowed to stand for a little till the whey should in some degree separate, — at 1 o'clock the cazaro ordered his sotto- cazaro to work the curd, which he did with a stick properly armed with cross wires. The curd being re- duced to a small grain, and left to subside till the whey was nearly clear on the surface, part of this was taken out, and the copper again turned over the fire. It was now brought to a heat somewhat below boiling, and a quarter of an ounce of saffron added, to impart a slight degree of colour. All the while the curd was stirred with a wooden instrument, to pre- vent singeing or burning, and the cazaro from time to time examined it betwixt his finger and his thumb, to mark the exact moment when it should have attained sufficient firmness and solidity. The heat was 124^° Fahrenheit. It is, however, often raised considerably higher. When the small grains of curd felt as firm as the cazaro wished (which was in about an hour and a half) the copper was taken from the fire and the curd allowed to subside. The cazaro then drew off about three-fourths of the whey ; poured round the bottom of the copper 3 or 4 gallons of -cold water, to cool it so far as that he might be able to handle the curd, and slid below this a cloth, by which he brought it up and placed it in a tub to clear. When drained it was put into a hoop, and about half a hundredweight laid upon it for an DAIRY FARMING. 177 hour. The cloth was then removed, and the cheese placed again in the hoop and put upon a shelf. The practice is to allow it to remain there for two days, at the end of which period it is sprinkled all over with salt ; and this is repeated every two days for thirty days successively, if it be summer, and forty if it be winter ; after which no further attention is requisite. During the process of salting they place two cheeses on one another, in which situation they are supposed to take the salt better than when single. They are afterwards scraped clean, tarned in the magazine once every day, and rubbed with linseed oil to presei-ve them from insects. They are never sold till they have been kept six months. A point of great interest respecting cheese-making is the quantity of butter retaiaed in its manufacture. Dr. Anderson, an intelligent writer on the subject, says, — " It is generally supposed that richness or the proportion of oily matter con- tained in cheese is the cause of its agreeable flavour ; but (he adds) I cannot admit this to be the fact ; for Parmesan and the small round Dutch cheeses are both deemed by most per- sons to be of the best flavour, and yet they are made of skimmed milk." From experience I know that the richest cheeses are most liable to become acrid if not properly made, and the skim cheeses will keep longest. llie fine rich cheeses, however, contain a large quantity of butter, and skim cheese is generally distinguished by its absence. And the justly prized Stilton cheese is made from new milk with the addition of some cream. It can, however, only be eaten as a condiment, and its equilibrium is so un- stable that without great care it soon totters to decay. As butter is ordinarily about double the price of cheese, jou will see how the question of separating the butter or leaving it in the cheese gives rise to an endless variety of practice. M 178 DAIRY FAEMTNG. In 1857 I made some experiments upon the subject, and when the cheese was ready for use I had them priced by an intelligent cheese factor. Thus, pricing the Butter at Is. per lb., Skim cheese at 4Jd., or 42s. per cwt.. Two-meal cheeses at 6^d., or 58s. 4d. per cwt., New milk cheese at 6|d., or 65s. per cwt., Stilton cheese at lOd., or 93s. 4d. per cwt., I found that making Skim cheese and butter returned 5f d. per gallon, Two-meal cheese and butter, 6 id. per gallon. New milk cheese, 6|d. per gallon, Stilton cheese and skim cheese, 8|d. per gallon. Dr. Voelcker has since made some similar experiments, and found that 1 000 gallons of mUk gave 8 cwt. of whole milk cheese at 70s., equal £28. 6 cwt. 3 qr. 16 lb. at 60s., and 1^ cwt., butter at Is., equal £26, 18s. 4d. 6 cwt. qr. 24 lb. at 50s., and 2^ cwt., butter at Is., equal £29, 10s. 8d. Or extra rich : 4 cwt. 3 qr. lb. at 70s., skim 3 cwt. qr. 12 lb. at 50s., equal £24, 7s. lOd. Had he put the extra rich at 90s. instead of 70s., this last would have been £29, 2s. lOd., which accords more nearly with my experiment ; the great difference in the result in either case points out how with varying prices it may be sometimes more profitable to make a large quantity of butter, and at other times but little. The great, and a very important objection to acting upon this is, that it is most desirable to have a steady market for your cheese, and this you can only secure by making constantly a similar article. For good cheese there is always a ready sale, but inferior frequently becomes a drug. It is remarked that near large towns, where there is gene- rally a good demand for fresh butter at a high price, the cheese made is inferior. On rich farms, again, much butter may be DAIRY FARMING. 179 made, and excellent cheese at the same time ; in fact, it is sometimes necessary on account of the richness of the milk. A comparison of the following analysis of milk, by Dr. Voelcker, on my farm in August and October, and oh the College farm in September 1860, will explain this : — Frocesteb Court Milk. COLLEOK Milk. August. October. November. September. Water, Butter, . . . Casein, Milk Sugar, Mineral Matter — Ash, 87-40 3-43 3 12 5-12 ■93 83-90 7-62 3-31 4-46 -71 85-20 4-96 3-66 5-05 1-13 90-32 . 1-89 2-87 4-28 -65 The cheese made at Frocester in August weighed when sold -89 lb. per gallon of milk. Ditto in October -99 lb. Ditto in November 1-17 lb. You can thus judge how much skill and careful observa- tion are required to insure success. A skilful dairymaid is of the greatest value to the success of the dairy farmer, for he may enrich his land and increase both the quantity and quality of his milk, and when it is brought into the dairy have it all spoilt. The more gently the curd is broken up after it is set by the rennet, the less is the covering of insoluble matter enclosing the oleaginous portion of the fluid broken — when unbroken it becomes enveloped with curd and fixed, as it were ; but when broken the cream escapes among the whey, making it opaque, and this cream is only regained by setting up the whey, when it collects on the surface, is removed, and made into an inferior 180 DAIRY FARMING. butter, called whey butter. Thus we know the careless dairy- maid by the large quantity of whey butter she makes. From the same cause, and sometimes from not having the curd suf- ficiently firm, a good deal of curd is suspended in the whey, and settles afterwards in the bottom of the leads. Much cream on the whey, and much curd below it, after it has been, standing some time, are certain indices of the slovenly cheese- maker. There is one other subject to which I will call your attention before giving an account of some other processes of cheese- making — that is, the quantity of water contained in cheese. After a very careful examination of forty analyses of different kinds of cheese, I find that poor skim cheese contains in a striking degree a large percentage of water, and that on the other hand extra rich cheese has, as might be expected, an ex- cessive percentage of butter. Excluding these extremes, a diminution in the percentage of butter is in a great degree made up by an increase in that of water, so that the two combined range generally between 61 and 67 per cent, of the whole cheese. This is very striking when we find also that the quantity of water in these same cases varies from 27 to 44 per cent. It seems as if water to a great extent takes the place of butter when it is absent, so as to fill up the interstices between the particles of casein, and that thus by making a poorer cheese we shall not lose so much weight and obtain more butter into the bargain ; but we must remember that in taking off the butter, on the other hand, a great deal of casein is re- moved along with it, which lessens the quantity of cheese made from the remainder of the milk. The makers of Par-^ mesan cheese appear alive to this, as they make cheese of the buttermilk as I mentioned before. DAIRY FARMING. 1 8 1 I. The Winter Management of Stock, to which I have first to call your attention, is a matter of great importance to the dairy farmer. The first point I would impress upon you is, that before winter comes on it is desirable to cull out from the herd all the animals that are not intended to be kept during the following summer, so as to reduce the winter expenditure of food to a minimum, especially of hay, which it should ever be borne in mind is attended with great expense in making, and is not so remunerative to the farmer as it would have been if consumed green by his stock. The grazier has in this respect a great advantage where, with some arable land in occupation, he can purchase his full-grown cattle in the early spring, feed them on straw and roots with a little oilcake, and consume during the summer almost the whole of the grass in its green state— his buUocks carrying off chiefly the fat-forming part of the food, and leaving the nitrogenous matter and phosphates as future most valua.ble manure — the system in this manner being an improving instead of an impoverishing one. Some dairymen pursue- a similar plan as mentioned by Mr. Harding, " feeding nearly all their land and selling the cows in thfe autumn, looking forward to replacing them in the spring." This, he remarks, seems to be an expensive mode of increasing dairy produce ; but when the land produces a large quantity of milk, tlie grass is of far more value than the hay. This is no doubt true, but it is not so unobjectionable as in the case of the grazier, for in the milk the dairy farmer carries off yearly a large quantity of nitrogen and phosphate of lime, and the result must be deteriorating instead of improving. We see in this the reason for the restriction in the agreements made by the Somersetshire owners of the rich marsh lands, that they shall not be stocked with dairy cattle. When the system is adopted, very excellent judgment must be exercised in the 182 DAIEY FARMING. selection of stock, and there will probably be a drawback of about £6 per head between the value of the cow in the spring and autumn. On the other hand there is the saving of the winter's keep and attendance, which cannot be put at less than £3, and the extra value of the crop consumed green in the summer; but there is more risk of introducing disease among the stock, and there is no improvement of stock, which should be the aim of the farmer. The winter food also is not consumed without some return in the shape of butter, sold generally at a high price, and milk for weaning calves, besides cheese, which we sometimes make throughout the year. During winter we find the importance of knowing the time when the cows are likely to calve. We can then continue to milk them to within about ten weeks of calving, feeding them accordingly, taking advantage of eight weeks to feed them on straw and roots and save the hay. For a fortnight before calving we feed them better. The importance of housing for his stock presses itself on the farmer during winter. When he is obliged to keep them in the fields, much food is wasted, and the cattle so tread the land in wet weather that the grass is kept back seriously in the spring, especially if the land is undrained, from the effect of which the plants frequently do not recover all the summer following. Proper buildings then for winter housing are most impor- tant, and this for the landlord's interests as well as the tenant : the landlord's, that a quantity of manure may be made and an increasing fertility of the land encouraged ; the tenant's, no less so for the same reason, and that he may economize his food, and lessen his risk from death among his cattle. There will always be a difference of opinion as to whether the cattle should be tied up in stalls or kept free in open yards DAIKY FARMING. 183 and. sheds. I have both, but prefer the latter for dairy stock. The yards attached to sheds should be amply large, and the buildings properly spouted, and there should be good water in every yard. The liquid mamire from the yard should be carried to a tank, from which, if possible, it may be conducted by gravitation over the land ; pumping and carting is a very expensive process, which I have not found to repay the cost. The best plan when the manure cannot be taken by gravity over the land is to pump it upon a heap of ashes, etc. During winter we find the advantage of some arable land, the straw and roots assisting materially; so much are they appreciated in some parts that the growth of corn becomes a secondary consideration. It is in many cases possible to apply the streams of water running through the farm as a power for pulping and chaff- cutting — when this can be done it is very important not to neglect it. I have used for many years a small supply of water in this manner with advantage ; no power is so economically applied, and the saving from chaff- cutting and pulping is undoubted. We find that our yearlings thrive well upon the following weekly allowance : — 35 lb. of hay, at £2 per ton, or -215(1. per lb., 7|-d. 300 lb. of roots, at 6s. 8d. per ton, or -036(1. per lb., . lOfd. 8 lb. of oilcake, at -TSd. per lb., . . . . 6d. Or, with attendance, about 2s. 3d. per week. The 2 -years old out iu the ground on hay only take 1 cwt. of hay per week, at 2s., or much the same as the yearlings. They do not however thrive so well or show such improvement in the spring. The in-calvers, 3-years old, also in the fields, consume 1^ cwt. of hay per week at 2s. to 2s. 6d., or with, attendance about 2s. 9d, per week. 184 DAIRY FARMING. The cows in open courts and sheds eat per week, for eight weeks, when dry — 1 cwt. of straw, at Is., 3^ cwt. roots, at 4d., Is. Od. Is. 2d. 2s. 2d. Or, with attendance, about 2s. 6d. per week. When in milk — 1 cwt. of hay, at 2s., . 2s. Od. 3 1 cwt. in roots, at 4d., Is. 2d. 3s. 2d. Or, with attendance, about 3s. 6d. per week. From these data it is easy to estimate the absolute require- ments of the stock for the winter, and the probable consump- tion of farm produce may be estimated. 2. Profit and Loss. — We have next to consider the question of profit and loss on dairy farming. The outgoings will consist first of rent. The rent of a farm, such as we have supposed suitable for dairying and rearing young stock, we may take at 45s. an acre, or on 600 acres £1350. The rates, taxes, and insurance at about £150. This varies with locality, but should influence the rent accordingly. The labour on a dairy f?irm will vary immensely, according as there is or is not arable land ; also whether the stock is kept through the winter or not. On a farm such as we are consi- dering the labour would be about 25s. per acre, or £750 per annum. On pasture farms, without any arable land, the labour per acre is probably not half of this. For the deterioration on the dead stock we must allow 10 per cent, on £930, or £93 per annum ; from which we may fairly deduct the payments made for repairs and renewals. This at first would not probably exceed, if they amounted to, £30 per annum, and would increase as the implements grew DAIRY FARMING. 185 older to £60 a year. We must, therefore, the first year charge as an autgoing £60, and strike that sum off the amount of capital the following year. Thus the dead stock would in a few years appear reduced one-half in value, at which it would stand, as the annual repairs and additions would nearly main- tain it constant. We must charge interest at 5 per cent, on the capital, which we reckoned at £5100, or £255. Artificial manure would probably amount to £50 a year. Artificial food for calves and yearlings £50 a year ; meal for pigs, £200 ; oats for horses, £60. I have not allowed any extra food for the cows, as we should obtain probably a quid pro quo, and there is not gene- rally much used for the purpose by dairy farmers. We should also have to pay for seed- wheat, beans, clover, and vetches. These items together amount to — Rent of 600 acres, at 45s. per acre, . £1350 Rates, taxes, and insurance, . 150 Labour, 750 Deterioration of dead stock (reduction on capital), 60 Interest on £5100 at 5 per cent, . 256 Artificial manures, . . . . 50 Artificial food, oilcake. £60 Pig-meal, 200 Horses' oats, 60 310 Seed — wheat. £50 ^ beans. 95 clover, 10 r 10 ) vetches, 30 calves weaned, i %t 30s., 45 Veterinary surgeons' bill, and losses from death, ) 100 which depends v ery much on management. •f Bulls, say one each year. 30 Milk for 30 calves, at 50s., ., 75 Total payments, . £3270 186 DAIRY FARMING. Our receipts would be first from tlie cows. I milked, in 1861, 71 cows altogether. These gave 39,140 gallons of milk, or an average of 550 gallons per cow. 2,451 lbs. of butter, or an average of 34^ lbs. per cow. 32,312 lbs. of cheese, or an average of 455 lbs. per cow. And in money £1068, or on an average of .£15 per cow. The £1068 was thus ohtained : — Butter sold and used, . . . £130 8 Cheese sold and used, . . . 767 9 Milk sold and used, . . 8 114 Milk given to calves, . . . . 76 3 6 Whey and milk to pigs, . 86 2 £1068 6 6 Thirty ^three calves were weaned, thus costing about 50s. each for milk ; this is charged for in the outgoings, and appears in the valuation of the stock for the following year. I have selected this case, because I find that th^ average return per cow in my dairy for several years (including the whey and milk as above given, to the calves and pigs) has been £15, or exclusive of the whey to the pigs which, I reckon at £1 per head, £14. This on 120 cows gives £1680, not including the calf; we may allow therefore 100 calves at 25s. = £125, which allows for mishaps, etc. We should have to sell off 30 cows yearly in the autumn at £12, or £360, also one buU, say £20, 120 pigs (say purchased at £2, and sold ten score at 10s. per score at £5) at £3, £360. Thus returning the manure, and £40 after paying for the meal and whey from the cows. The return from sheep would depend upon the description kept, but with the stock we are supposing Downs would be the best, and as they are good mothers, and we wish to fatten both sheep and lambs, they are well suited for this purpose ; they would give us say 400 lbs. of wool, at Is. 6d. = £30. We DAIRY FAEMING. 187 may reckon on 110 lambs at about 25s., say £140. And we might make 15 s. per head upon the sheep — the difference between the price, buying-in in the autumn, and selling fat the following year, or £75. From the arable land we may expect on an average from 100 acres of wheat at least 32 bushels per acre = 3200 at 35s. per quarter, £800. 25 acres of beans, at 32 bushels = 800 bushels, at 4s. 6d., £180. Potatoes may on some land be grown with advantage in place of part of the beans, and oats or barley substituted for the wheat. The sum of these items is — From dairy cows, 120, at .£14, . . . . £1680 „ „ 100 calves, at 26s., . 125 Barren cows, 30, at £12, . . . . 360 Bull, 1, at 20 Difference on purchase and sale of 120 pigs, at £3, . 360 Sheep— Wool, £30 . . . . ) Lambs, 140 . . . V 245 Ewes, 76, difference on purchase and sale,) Arable land— Wheat, . . . £800 ) gg^ J Beans, . . . £180 Total of receipts, . . £3770 Total of payments, 3270 Leaving . . £600 as the tenant's profit, and to meet expenses of housekeeping, after paying 5 per cent, on the capital. The rent of such dairy land, however, is frequently as high as 50s. an acre, which would reduce the tenant's profit to £350 a year. The first item of receipts, viz., that from dairy cows, will vary much under different systems of manufacture, or selling it simply as milk. To these I will draw your attention for a few minutes. In considering the disposal of the milk given by the cows, 188 DAIRY FARMING. and the return from it, I will assume the average quantity to be 540 gallons. This is probably not far from accurate when the feeding is not extraordinary. This we may dispose of — 1st. Simply as Milk — For which, as I have before mentioned, the wholesale price would be 8d. per gallon, or £1 8 per cow ; this from 120 cows would return £2190. The expenses attending this system would depend upon circumstances. If sent up to London by train, as the milk is from distances of 70 or 80 miles, they would probably exceed those attending cheese-making. When, again, the milk is produced from land near London or other large towns, the rent of the land is always much greater. There, however, brewers' grains, as we have seen, are largely used as food, increasing the quantity but injuring the quality of the milk. 2d. For Fatting Calves.— From experiments made by Dr. Miiller, of Stockholm, it seems that 7 gallons of new milk produced 6 lb. of veal ; thus from 540 gallons of mUk we should have 463 lb. of veal. The money returns will depend upon the price of veal ; at 8d. per lb. (not an uncommon price), the return would be £15, 8s. 8d. per cow. Morton tells us 160 gallons of milk will give 1 cwt. of veal, or more than 8 1 gallons of milk to 6 lb. of veal, and he reckons that each cow will fatten 4 cwt. of veal or more per annum, which is not very far from the above. On this system we may reckon the 120 cows to return £1852 per annum. Zd. Butter, the chief article, and Skim Cheese. — Morton gives 1 lb. of butter for every 2f gallons of milk, and 1 skim cheese for every 1| gallons of milk. Thus 540 gallons would give 207 lb. of butter, at Is., £10 7 496 gallons of skim milk would give 330 lb. of skim cheese, at 3cl., . , . , .430 To which we must add whey for pigs, . . .10 £15 10 DAIRY FAKMING. 189 Here, again, the result depends upon the price in a very great measure. Dr. Voelcker's experiments give more per cow than this, but he reckons the cheese at 50s. a cwt., or more than 5jd. per lb., which is generally above the usual price. He remarks upon it, " Where a ready sale of butter can be found, I am inclined to think it is more profitable to make skim-milk cheese and butter, than to look only to the production of cheese of a better quality." He should have added, " and a ready sale for the cheese as well." My own experience is that skim cheese is not nearly so saleable as the rich cheese. One hundred and twenty cows at £15, 10s. would return £1860. ith. Single Gloucester Cheese ; butter about 1 lb. per cow per week, and pigs. — This is the system I adopt. As I have given you the details before, I need not repeat them ; the result is £15 per cow, or for 120 cows £1800. bth. Whole-milk Cheese and Pig Feeding. — According to Dr. Voelcker's experiments, 540 gallons of milk woidd yield 4^ cwt. of cheese, at 70s., . £1/) 3 Whey for pigs, . 10 Or, for 120 cows, at £16, 3s., £1930, . £16 3 Jroni all the data I have to fofm an opinion on this si^bject,. I am inclined to think that circumstances must entirely decide tlie question of which system is the best. So very nmch depends upon the locality that it is impossible to lay down a rule ; the best plan will generally be to follow the system of the neighbourhood as the rule, and other modes on a small scale as the exception, until you prove the decided superiority of one of them. JSTOTES 01^ SOME OF THE CIECUMSTANCES WHICH DETEEMINE THE AGEICULTUEAL VALUE OF THE NATUEAL PHOSPHATES, A BEIEF ACCOUNT OF THE PEESENT METHODS OF ANALYSING THEM. EOBEET WAEINGTON, Jun., ASSISTANT TO THE PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY, EOYAL AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, CIRENCESTER. NOTES ON THE AGRICULTURAL VALUE OF THE NATURAL PHOSPHATES. Since the different forms in which phosphoric acid is applied in agiicultnre are now very numerous, we propose to consider in the present paper one class of phosphates only, — the natural basic phosphates. The artificial acid phosphates demand a separate notice. The value of a phosphatic manure must depend chiefly on three points : — 1.. On the nature of the combination in which the phosphoric acid occurs ; 2. On the degree of solubility possessed by the phosphate or phosphates present ; 3. On the amount of phosphoric acid which the manure contains. Other circumstances will indeed largely affect the value of the manure ; its physical condition, suitable or not for intimate mixture with the soil, wiU be an important item ; but ques- tions such as this belong more to the art of farming, and need not here engage attention. In all ordinary soils a sensible amount of phosphoric acid is present, rarely, however, exceeding -g-j^th part of the dry soil. This phosphoric acid, in a fertile soil, is present in such a state that the roots of plants find no difficulty in withdrawing it from the soil to their own use. In applying a phosphatic manure, it is the farmer's desire that the phosphoric acid he thus introduces into the soil should be in a condition equally N 194 VALUE OF THE NATURAL PHOSPHATES. available for the plant's use, or at least should, after mixture with the soil, speedily become so. The conditions on which the availability of a phosphate depend, we have already stated; they are the state of combination of the substance and its solubility. The question of combination is a very simple one. Phos - phoric acid does not occur united with any bases likely to prove hurtful to a plant to any such extent as can in the least affect our subject. On the contrary, nearly all the combina- tions of phosphoric acid we find in nature, are with bases which themselves form ingredients of plant-food. By far the most important aspect of the subject lies in the different solu- bility of the various phosphoric compounds. Solubility must indeed be looked at from two points, chemical and physical. There is the disposition or indisposition of a body to dissolve inherent in its chemical nature ; and there is the influence of physical conditions affecting the degree in which the natural solubility is manifested. It is scarcely necessary to insist on the fact that solubility is essential to the functions of a manure. Since all matters absorbed by the roots have to pass through the delicate mem- brane of their extremities, it is obvious that the mineral substances which plants require, are available only when in a state of solution, or when presented to the roots in a readily soluble form. By a beautiful provision of nature, this • necessary solubility is made compatible with freedom from loss by drainage ; cultivated soils possessing the power of tena- ciously holding many of the soluble materials essential to a plant's growth ; their quantity is thus scarcely diminished by the wasting effect of rain, and they are retained in a fonn in which they can be readily yielded up to the absorbing sur- faces of the roots. VALUE OF THE NATURAL PHOSPHATES. 195 One of the chief characteristics of phosphoric acid is the insoluble nature of most of its compounds. Its combinations with the alkalies dissolve easily in water, but its other salts are almost invariably insoluble, and frequently so to a high degree. Phosphates of the alkalies occur to a small extent in Peru - vian guano, the phosphoric acid present in this state, however, seldom exceeding 1 or I J per cent. Alkaline phosphates also probably occur in farmyard manure, but to what precise ex- tent is unknown. Phosphoric acid is usually found in nature combined with lime ; also to a small extent with magnesia, oxide of iron, and alumina. Of these compounds the phosphate of lime is the most soluble, though this solubility is at the best but slight. The phosphates of iron and of aluminium are very insoluble. We see then at once how the form of combination of the phosphoric acid must greatly affect the value of a manure. A ferric or aluminic phosphate would be all but valueless as an application to the land ; nor would the worthless nature of such compounds be much improved by their conversion into superphosphate ; for though perfectly capable of being dis- solved in acid, the phosphate, when added to a calcareous soil, would speedily revert to its former condition. In attri- buting to the phosphates ol*iron and aluminium this low value, their insolubility under the conditions met with in the soil is presupposed, but we have no direct evidence upon the point. Their insolubility, as dealt with in the laboratory, is well known. The phosphate used in agxiculture, containing most ferric and aluminic compounds is, perhaps, the Sombrero liock g-uano. Some specimens of this must, according to analysis, have more than one half their phosphoric acid in this state of combina- 19C VALUE OF THE NATURAL PHOSPHATES. tion. Next to the Sombrero guano come the coprolites, those from the Suffolk crag generally containing more oxide of iron and aluminium than those from the green sand. It is dif&cult to say to what extent the oxide of iron in coprolites. is combined with phosphoric acid. It is possibly so combined to only a very small amount. An analytical difficulty besets the ques- tion, which we need not here enlarge on. It is to be desired that some experiments were made on the manurial value of the phosphates of iron and aluminium. Superphosphates will doubtless often contain some oxide of iron and aluminium in a soluble form. Those to which the so- called " crude ammonia" of the gasworks has been added, are likely to contain a considerable amount of iron. All the soluble iron salt's of a superphosphate must become phos- phate of iron shortly after mixture with the soil, and the available phosphate of lime be by so much diminished. Phosphate of magnesia is present to a small extent in the phosphates of guano, bone, and coprolite. According to Ber- zelius, it is only very slightly soluble in water. By far the most important phosphate to the agriculturist is the phosphate of lime. It is, as we have already stated, the form in which phosphoric acid most usually occurs. If one were to choose from scientific grounds only the phosphate most likely to suit the requirements of vegetation, we should fix, I think, on the phosphate of lime. This phosphate is an integral part of all albuminous compounds, both animal and vegetable. It is the form in which phosphoric acid is naturally restored to the soil by the animal economy, both during life and by the addition of the substance of the body at death. Moreover, the solubility of phosphate of lime is, under favour- able circumstances, sufficient for all the necessities of a plant. With these facts before us, it is curious to observe that this par- VALUE OF THE NATURAL PHOSPHATES. 197 ticular phosphate is the one that pre-eminently occurs in nature, to the practical exclusion, indeed, of all others. In some deposits, such as guano, the obvious animal origin ex- plains the presence of this phosphate ; but when we turn to the vast stores of phosphate of lime occurring in the primitive rocks — deposits whose formation antecedes^ all animal and vegetable life — we cannot but be struck by the fact, that the form in which phosphoric acid is stored up, is so exactly that which is the most suited to the wants of organic life. We have seen that the agricultural value of a phosphate depends in part iipon its chemical nature ; it depends, further, upon its solubility. The solvent which nature furnishes in the soil is water holding small quantities of various substances in solution, the most important of which to our present subject is carbonic acid gas. The actual amount of this gas present in the water of soils will be very nearly proportionate to the quantity of humus or other organic matter in process of decay which the soil contains, and to the extent to which the atmosphere has access. It is well known that carbonic acid greatly increases the solvent power of water for phosphate of lime, and indeed for many other bodies. This fact, so important to the che- mistry of soils, has hitherto met with no extended investiga- tion, and little is positively known on the subject. It is hoped that, as far as the phosphates are concerned, the required data will shortly be supplied by experiments made in the College laboratory. Solubility is largely affected by circumstances purely phy- ■I The presence of phosphates in a geological formation has sometimes been taken as a sign of life. Since, however, apatite occurs abundantly in such rocks as granite, syenite, chlorite, etc., this inference is clearly of a limited value, and is not to be pressed when apatite and other phosphatic minerals devoid of organic structure are found in formations of a later date. 198 VALUE OF THE NATURAL PHOSPHATES. sical; substances which are chemically the same may differ widely as to solubility. For instance, common quartz is an exceedingly insoluble substance ; but precipitated silica, hav- ing an identical composition, is readily dissolved by weak alkali. Experience in the field has shown that some phos- phates have no great effect as manures. The experiment has been tried, and it has been decisive. No farmer would think of relying much on ground apatite or coprolite. Now, why is it that the phosphate of lime, of bones, or of a phosphatic guano, is capable of supplying nourishment to a crop, while an iden- tical phosphate in apatite or coprolite is comparatively value- less ? The answer is simple. The physical condition in one case is that most favourable to solubility ; in the other case this physical condition is wanting. Let us just for a moment consider what are these conditions favourable to solubility ; it is an important point, one largely affecting the culture of the soil. The first condition is, that the substance to be dissolved should present a large surface to the action of the solvent. The more porous or finely powdered the substance is, the more points of attack does it afford. The second condition is, that the cohesion between the particles of the substance should be small ; that they should admit of being easily separated from each other ; that, in fact, the body should be soft and not hard. Solution is, indeed, a mechanical operation, in which the solvent acts most successfully when there is least resistance to be overcome. There is another physical state which is important to our present subject, though not universally concerned in the question of solubility. This condition is porosity. We have already stated that water containing carbonic acid gas dis- solved in it is the natural solvent for phosphates in the soil ; tlie more of the gas the water contains the greater will be its VALUE OF THE NATIJKAL PHOSPHATES. 199 solvent power. Now it is well known to chemists that porous bodies have the faculty of absorbing and condensing gases. We have a familiar instance of this in charcoal, with its power- ful deodorizing qualities, with which most people are now acquainted. This power seems to be entirely owing to its porous structure. Charcoal absorbs many times its own bulk of different gases— of carbonic acid thirty-five times its volume. The gas thus absorbed must evidently occupy the pores in a highly condensed state. The water contained in soils will pro- bably hold but a small quantity of carbonic acid in solution, but the water which moistens the minute interstices of a porous body buried in the soil must be far more highly charged with this gas. The water is indeed charged under pressure, and if there be a constant infiltration of water, and free access of air, the operation reaches a scale which becomes important. Phos- phate of lime is, therefore, most probably dissolved ia the soil with greater rapidity when the phosphatic body has a porous structure, and is applied in small fragments, than when a cel- lular structure is wanting, or, what comes to the same, the phosphate is applied in a fine powder. We shall err, however, if we carry this principle too far. A porous mass of phosphate may be dissolved with considerable facility, but we must not forget that unless an intimate mixture is effected with the soil, the whole root-surface of the crop does not come in contact with the manure, and the benefit it confers is only partial. We shall secure to the greatest extent the benefit of both actions if we employ a phosphate of porous structure, and apply it to the land in a state of coarse powder. There is no need for us to apply these truths in detail to the various phosphates the farmer has at disposal. It is evident at once that nearly aU the physical conditions of solubility are lacking in such minerals as apatite or coprolite, and that they 200 VALUE OF THE NATURAL PHOSPHATES.. are present to a great extent in the case of bone. Boiled bones — the state in which bones are generally used — contain about one-quarter their weight of organic matter, which readily undergoes decomposition and solution in contact with air and water in the soil. The bone does not decrease in bulk by this change, and is consequently left in a highly porous condition, while the very solution and decomposition of the organic matter is a source of carbonic acid within the bone itsel£ The use of bone-ash as a manure has not as yet met with an extensive trial ; the experiments hitherto made ascribe to it a lower value than that possessed by ujibxirnt bone. This is, of course, in part owing to the absence of nitrogenous organic matter, but there can be at the same time but little doubt that the operation of burning has diminished the solubility of the phosphate of lime. The particles will have shrunk and become harder by ignition ; the aid to solution aflEbrded by the organic matter will also be lacking. The phosphates of guano, consisting partly of digested fish- bone, and partly of the decayed skeletons of seals and birds, doubtless possess a high degree of solubility, but in the absence of experiment it is impossible to say whether it exceeds or falls behind that of fresh bone. An ordinary dressing of Peruvian guano contains too small an amoimt of phosphates for these to produce any extensive effect upon the following crop. The phosphates of many phosphatic marls would seem, from the benefit which attends their use, to be present in a very available, and therefore soluble form. The farmer has had, in this and many other cases, to buy his experience by his own exertions, the application of science being not in a sufficiently advanced state to afford him the required information. In finishing this part of our brief sketch, we must admit that at the best the natural phosphates are inferior to the VALUE OF THE NATURAL PHOSPHATES. 201 artificially prepared acid phosphates, especially in those two great qualities of solubility and capability of intimate mixture with the soil. The effect of the natural phosphate is spread over a long time, that of the artificial is immediate ; their relation to the plant and soil differ, however, only in degree. The phosphate of lime held by the particles of the soil after a dressing of superphosphate being, as far as we know, identical in nature with that supplied by apatite or coprolite ; the difference is purely one of mechanical condition, and it is from this that the whole advantage is derived. We now reach the last division of our subject, the amount of phosphoric acid present in phosphatic manures. As phos- phatic manures are now so constantly sixbmitted to analysis, it will be needless to enter at length upon their composition, a subject so familiar to every agriculturist. The following Table will give some idea of the relative richness of some of the principal phosphatic minerals and manures. To supply phosphoric acid equal to 100 lbs. of phosphate of lime requires of Apatite, . . . Ill lbs. Boiled bones, . . 200 lbs. Coprolite, . . . 172 ,, Peruvian guano, . . 416 „ .„ , 1 , ( 125 „ A superpbosphate of good quality, .333 ,, Bone asb, between | ^gg _ Farmyard manure, about .12,000,, We turn in conclusion to the methods by which the amount of phosphoric acid is determined. Now, though we necessarily plunge at once into the somewhat exclusive domain of the chemical analyst, the subject will not, we hope, be thought void of interest by the agricultural reader. The state and progress of analytical chemistry is, indeed, only another ex- pression for the degree of trust that is to be placed in analytical results, and this is an item of no small moment to every purchaser of manure. Phosphoric acid forms, as we have said, insoluble compounds 202 ANALYSIS OF PHOSPHATES. with nearly all bases except alkalies. When occurring com- bined with an alkali it is determined by the chemist without any difficulty; in our manures, however, it is found united with lime, oxide of iron, alumina and magnesia, and it is when in this form of combination that its estimation has given chemists so much trouble. More attention and ingenuity have, perhaps, been called forth by this problem, than have been bestowed on any other portion of chemical analysis ; the result has been the publication of a great number of ex- cellent processes. The subject is a large one ; we shall men- tion those methods only which are applicable to agricultural phosphates. I. — Estimation as Phosphate of Lime. Attention is naturally first called to the old and still very common method of precipitation by ammonia : advantage is taken of the insolubility of phosphate of lime, ammonia is added to the acid solution of the phosphate, and the precipi- tated phosphate of lime collected and weighed. In cases where phosphate of lime occurs associated only with alkaline, salts, as in Peruvian guano, this plan leaves little to be desired ; the insolubility of phosphate of lime is, however, not quite equal to the requirements of analysis. In applying this method to bone-ash, the results obtained are frequently too high ; the precipitated phosphate containing an excess of lime (mechanically held), derived from the carbonate of lime present in bones. This error is to a great extent removed by re-dissolving the phosphate after it has been washed, and then re- precipitating it. The determinations thus made can never be very exact ; they are sufficiently so, however, for some commercial purposes, and the method has the advantage of simplicity and speed. ANALYSIS OF PHOSPHATES. 203 This method is wholly unfit for the analysis of coprolites, whicli contain a much greater proportion of carbonate of lime than bone ; namely, about 1 part of carbonate to 4 of phos- phate, while in bone the proportion is 1 to 15. Besides, coprolites generally contain a small quantity of fluoride of calcium, a salt insoluble in water, and therefore precipitated with the phosphate of lime. The results obtained are, there- fore, invariably too high. Thousands of tons of coprolites are nevertheless, yearly purchased on the strength of such analyses ! Generally speaking, aU analyses of coprolite showing more than r>9 or 60 per cent, of phosphates are to be suspected, and the buyer had better inquire what method of analysis has been adopted. II. — Separation hy means of Iron. The solution of the phosphate in acid is treated with per- chloride of iron and acetate of soda, and then boiled ; the whole of the iron precipitates, taking with it all the phosphoric acid present. One of two plans is then followed. If a known quantity of iron has been added, the precipitate is burnt and weighed ; the amount of iron used deducted leaves the amoiint of phosphoric acid present. Or the precipitate is dissolved in hydrochloric acid, tartaric acid, or better citric acid, added, and the phosphoric acid precipitated by magnesia and ammonia. The first mode of procedure is the speediest, but cannot be followed if the phosphate itself contains iron or aluminium ; the second plan is applicable in all cases. Separation by means of iron is a reliable method ; its successful use requires a little experience ; the chief practical difficulty is the bulk of the ferruginous precipitate. 204 ANALYSIS OF PHOSPHATES. III. — Separation by means of Lead. The nitric acid solution of the phosphate is treated with an excess of acetate of lead, and the precipitate after -warming washed by decantation. The phosphate of lead is then de- composed by treatment with oxalic acid ; or it is dissolved ia nitric acid, and the lead thrown down either with sulphuretted hydrogen or sulphuric acid. After thus removing the lead, the phosphoric acid is determined with magnesia, a little citric acid beiag first added if iron were originally present. This method is simple and good, and applicable to the analysis of all the phosphates employed in agriculture. IV. — Separation by means of Tin. The concentrated solution in nitric acid is digested with a weighed amount of pure tin-foU, in quantity about eight times that of the phosphoric acid supposed to be present. The pre- cipitated binoxide of tin carries with it all the phosphoric acid ; it is collected, washed, burnt, and weighed, the excess over the tin used being phosphoric acid. There is a second modification of the process, but this is too tedious for general use. This method is simple, but in the form here described is not susceptible of the highest degree of accuracy. It is not available in the presence of much iron. V. — Separation by means of Mercury. The nitric acid solution is evaporated to dryness with excess of metallic mercury, the residue collected and washed, mixed when dry with carbonate of soda, and very gradually heated to fusion. The fused mass is dissolved in water, neutralized with acid, and the phosphoric acid precipitated by magnesia. This method is stated on high authority to be perfectly ac- curate ; it has not been much used for agricultural purposes. ANALYSIS OF PHOSPHATES. 205 VI. — Estimation as Phosphate of Uranium. The acetic acid solution is precipitated by acetate of uranium, the solution boiled, the phosphate of uranium washed by de- cantation, ignited, and weighed. This method is available only when iron and aluminium are absent ; when properly performed, it admits of great accuracy. VII. — Separation hy means of Sulphuric Acid. The acid solution of the phosphate is evaporated with excess of sulphuric acid, the whole then treated with alcohol, and the sulphate of lime separated by filtration ; the phosphoric acid is then determined with magnesia. This plan is an old one, and now little used. VIII. — Separation hy means of Oxalic Acid- la. this method the solution, slightly acid with hydrochloric acid, is treated with excess of oxalate of ammonia, the oxalate of lime separated, and the phosphoric acid in the filtrate de- termined with magnesia, citilc acid being first added, if iron or aluminium be present. This method requires some ex- perience to insure success. The safest plan is to keep the solution fairly acid during the precipitation by oxalate of ammonia, and at the last to re-dissolve the magnesia precipitate in dilute acetic acid, and after separating any oxalate of lime it may contain, to re- precipitate. With these precautions, the method is perfectly reliable. In reviewing these methods, we see that only Nos. II., III., and VIII., with perhaps V., can be recommended as fit for the analysis of coprolite, or other phosphate containing iron and aluminium. Por general purposes, Nos. III., VI., and VIII. appear to deserve most commendation. 0]^ THE WORKII^G OF STEAM- EW^GmES EXPAJNTSIYELY. REV. JOHN CONSTABLE, M.A., PRINCIPAL OF THE ROVAL AaRICULTURAl, COLLEGE, CIRKNCESTER. ON THE WORKING OF STEAM-ENGINES EXPANSIVELY. It seems now to be a matter of fact that the profits of farmers, like those of manufacturers, will more and more depend upon the judicious application of machinery, and the economic working of the steam-engine. The use of machinery and of the steam-engine is steadily increasing year by year ; tens and twenties of the latter are now sold where one was sold twelve years ago — a circumstance which proves that in the majority of cases the introduction of steam and of the best forms of machinery is advantageous to the farmer ; for self- interest alone can have induced such costly outlays as the best implements and engines necessitate. Competition having narrowed the margin of profits, obliges the farmer to try every available means, not only for increasing his crops, but for producing them at a minimum of cost. Some tell us that there is hardly a limit to the productive- ness of our soils, if liberally treated, and put into what the farmer calls good heart, or good condition, but it is undeniable that, taking into consideration the various things which may influence an increase of crops, quite as satisfactory a source of profit is to be found in the diminished cost of raising them. Every five-pound note which a farmer saves in what may be called his permanent annual expenses is such a profit as no fall in the value of corn can deprive him of It is therefore 210 ON THE WOKKING OF very important for him to strain every nerve to make his working expenses a minimum. The good farmer is the man who not only grows larger crops than his neighbours, but who does so at a smaller cost comparatively speaking, i.e., per bushel of corn or per stone of beef raised. Most men, with ordinary knowledge, experience, and capital, can so farm as to produce large crops ; but it requires the man of real business ability to do that which, after all, is the only true test of excellence (viewing farming as any other trade), produce abundant crops with large profit. Waste in production, waste in small matters, waste of time, are the things which clip profits, and often leave the farmer with an imperceptible gain. Every expedient therefore for diminishing outlay, consistently with the highest farming, should receive attention, and, considering the promi- nent place which steam now holds, any engine, any fuel, or any method of working which will at a smaller cost produce the same amount of power must be a great boon to the farmer. Why are steam-ploughs becoming more general? Solely because by their use the farmer considers he has made more money, either by ploughing his land cheaper, or by getting it done sooner and deeper, and so increasing its yield ; or by ploughing it at a time when his horses must have left it undone. Demonstrate beyond dispute that the use of the steam-plough would be a gain : where is the farmer who, had he the capital, would not adopt it ? It is difficult to do this ; it is because its advantages are not on the surface, and often, indeed, are sacrificed by mismanagement, that a large mass of farmers who could well afford to provide themselves with these expen- sive implements, hold back and keep their capital in their pockets ; but when such records as those published by Mr. Hope of Fentonbarns, in the Scottish Farmer, are multiplied and accepted as correct, then no doubt the most obstinate STEAM-ENGINES EXPANSIVELY. 211 opposers will give in, and from self-interest aid themselves by the use of steam. To those who have studied the early history of the steam- engine it is well known that it was an effort to diminish the working expenses of Newcomen's engine which led "Watt step by step to all his magnificent discoveries ; and may we not hope that when agricultural engineers turn attention in the same direction advantageous results will ensue ? The career of the agricultural engine up to the present time is suggestive of the career of a young man of fortune ; who as long as he has plenty of money and no family ties, no wife, no children, no county position to maintain, does not reckon ver}'' carefully his sixpences and shillings ; but when these ties grow up around him personal extravagances are curtailed, and he finds he can live with greater comfort and usefulness on a much smaller sum. The agricultural engine on first entering life had only the slow and expensive competitor — the horse. Whether the engine did as much as it possibly could with every pound of coals it consumed did not greatly signify ; it was sure to thresh corn and cut chaff cheaper than the animal ; but as ties have grown up around it, now that it has to make a show among compeers, now that foreign competition taxes its energies, manu- facturers see that its personal expenditure must be diminished, that a given annual outlay on it, in coal, water, and other expenses, must be productive of a larger amount of influence. What has led the Cornish engines to their surprising economy of working? The same thing will doubtless lead agricultural engines. When one turns to the records of steam cultivation, as given by Mr. Algernon Clarke, Royal Agricultural Society's Journal, vol. xxiv., and reads that the owners of steam -ploughs frequently spend £7(i or £80 per 212 0>f THE WOHKING OF annum on the purchase of coal for their engines, and know from well-established principles that more than one half of this is wasted, we can see at a glance the boon to agriculturists which there would be in the invention of an engine economizing this half, or some large portion of it. Knowing that the duty of Cornish engines has, by careful working, been raised from 24,500,000 lbs. raised one foot high to 120,000,000 lbs. raised the same height, there would seem to be a wide margin left for the improvement of agricultural engines in their economy of working. The duty of an engine is the amount of power which the engine registers in the combustion of a bushel of coal. Now Watt estimated that his best engines could raise 24,500,000 lbs. a foot high for every bushel of coals consumed; allowing about one-half of the power to be lost,-^ whereas the Cornish engines seem to obtain much more out of the coal than the coal is capable of producing. To explain the meaning of this : — A bushel of coal, when judiciously applied, is able to convert 14 cubic feet of water into vapour at 212°. Now 14 cubic feet of water contain 14 X 1728 cubic inches, and as each inch of water when turned into steam becomes 1700 cubic inches, it follows that each inch of water in the form of steam may be considered to occupy a space whose sectional horizontal area is one sc[uare inch and height 1700 inches, and thus to have raised 15 lbs. through 1700 inches, that is, 11 ^1 1 15 times 1700 „ , , „,„, „ , one lb. through leet, namely 2125 feet. ' It will help to form an idea of the great improvement which has taken place in the economic working of steam-engines, to know that although Smeaton reduced the consumption of coal to about one-third, and Watt reduced his by half, and by Parliamentary grant had the right of one-third as a royalty for his invention; still that which was considered in Watt's days as a great saving, would now be looked upon as a great loss ; for in Cornwall, coal is made to go four times as far as it did in the days of Watt. STEAM-ENGINES EXPANSIVELY. 213 The mechanical force, therefore, produced by evaporating one cubic inch of water, is said to be the raising of 2125 lbs. through 1 foot, consequently the mechanical effect from the evaporation of 14 cubic feet is said in like manner to be 14 X 1728 X 2128 lbs., or 50,000,000 lbs. raised one foot high. Now as this calculation proceeds upon the assumption that a bushel of coal is incapable of converting more than 14 cubic feet of water into steam, how can the high working results of the Cornish engines be accounted for? Is it that their boQers evaporate 30 or more cubic feet of water for every bushel of coal consumed? The solution of the difSculty is found in the manner in which the steam is used. It is not used at the temperature of 212", but at a much higher one, nearly 300°, and having a pressure of 60 or 70 lbs., and is allowed to enter the cylinder only for a portion of the stroke. This system is termed the expansive system. The explanation of it is simple. Let us suppose a piston hav- ing an area of 1200 square inches, to be acted upon by steam of 60 lbs. pressure, applied on the non-expansive principle, it is impelled forward by a pressure equal to nearly 30 tons, and this pressure is a constant unvarying pressure from the top of the stroke to the bottom, and again from the bottom to the top. Now, it is evident that before the piston-rod can change the direction of its motion, the momentum generated in it must be destroyed, for before a change of direction of motion takes place, the piston must come to rest. Any system by which this momentum is graduallj destroyed, must be a better one than that in which it is almost suddenly got rid of. Let the piston be pressed upon by high pressure steam of decreasing elasticity, and a decreasing momentum is the consequence. Now, this is effected by admitting into the cylinder, at the commencement of 214 ON THE WORKING OF the stroke, high pressure steam sufficient to fill only a portion of the cylinder one-third, or one-fourth, or one-fifth, as the case may be, allowing it to expand itself during the remaining part of the stroke, and to become, as it were, weaker and weaker towards the close of the stroke. Such is the system known as the expansive system, and its economical advantages can be readily understood by an illustration. An engine having a 10-feet stroke, is worked with steam at a pressure of 60 lbs. per square inch, cut off at the end of the first two feet of the stroke. By Marriotte's law, this steam at the end of four feet of the stroke will have a pressure of 30 lbs. ; at the end of six feet, 20 lbs.; at the end of eight feet, 15 lbs. ; and at the end of ten feet, 12 lbs. ; for the law which he established is, that the pressure of a gas varies conversely as the space it occupies. Now to find accurately the whole of the work done by the steam throughout its entire stroke, is a calculation requiring the higher methods of mathematics ; but Newton's method for ascertaining the areas and volumes of irregular figures (such, for instance, as irregular pieces of land, or hay-stacks) is sufficiently accurate for this purpose, and has been so applied by Poncelet and others. The method is, — to the sum of the extreme ordinates add twice the sum of the odd ordinates, and four times the sum of the even ordinates ; multiply the whole by one-third of the constant interval between. Applying this to the case in question, the extreme ordinates or pressures are 60 and 12 ; the odd ones are 30 and 1.5, and the even one is 20. Now, 72 + 2 (45) + 4 (20), multiply by one-third of 2 = 194-66, a number which represents the units of work done upon each square inch of the piston surface after expansion commences; but the work done before expansion on each inch was 60 X 2, so that the STEAM-ENGINES EXPANSIVELY. 215 total work is 314'666. Had no expansion taken place, but had 60 lbs. pressure steam entered the cylinder during the whole of the stroke, then the total work done on each inch would have been represented by 60 X 10, or 600, but this with the consumption of five times as much steam, so that the efficiency of the expansive method is to the efficiency of the non-expansive as 2'6 is to 1, in this particular case ; and by a similar calculation, it appears that when the steam is cut off at one-third of the stroke, its mechanical effect is 2-2 as great; if cut off at a quarter, 2' 4 as great; and if at one- sixth of the stroke, 2-8 times as great. The Cornish engines have long been worked upon this principle, and with a minimum of expense ; and it cannot be questioned that wherever economy of work is an object, engineers should endeavour to apply it. To the agricultural engine its application is very recent. The Engineer stated, in its report on the Smithfield Show, that there was but one engine exhibited in which any attempt was made to call in the aid of the principle of expansion. In a few cases, no doubt, the effort has been made — for example, in those engines known as "racers;" but from mechanical difficulties which have arisen the attempt has not been persevered in. With whom the fault lies it is of little moment to inquire ; at the same time there is truth in a statement made by The Engineer : — " It is possible that portable engines, ploughing tackle, and threshing-machines, have so far approached that perfection which satisfies the agricultural mind, that the production of farther improve- ments will not pay. However this may be, it is very certain that much remains to be done ere the agricidtural engineer finds himself fairly placed on a level with the other members of the profession who devote themselves to mechanics. There is apparently a direful absence of the knowledge of correct 216 ON THE WORKING OF principles, and a plentiful lack of that peculiar mental qualifi - cation which enables men to select from the vast mass of ex- pedients placed at their disposal, that which is best suited, practically and theoretically, to the object in view. The result is, that though machinery gets through its duties pretty fairly, po\A'er is commonly squandered in a way to disgust those versed in the true refinements of mechanics." It is to be hoped that this insinuation will soon be groundless, and that agricultural engines will be as remarkable for their economy of working as for their perfection of manufacture. At the Bath and West of England Show, held at Hereford in June last, there was exhibited an engine made after the patent of Mr. E. E. Allen, which seems to promise great results ; an engine to be worked on the true principle of ex- pansion- -the principle ingeniously and beautifully applied. Mr. Allen uses no separate expansion valve, no second eccentric, but provides the cylinder with an internal trunk, which divides the high from the low pressure steam spaces. The annexed woodcut represents a section of the cylinder. The cylinder is made double the ordinary lengtli, and has a division, A, in its centre. The ordinary piston is, as it were, divided into two parts, C and D, but united by a trunk, B, STEAM-ENGINES EXPANSIVELY. 217 which passes through the division A. Steam from the boiler is admitted alternately into the annular spaces E and F, and at the termination of stroke passes respectively to the ends of the cylinder G, H, where it is fully expanded. The action of the valve or valves is as follows : Steam is admitted to the valve-casing at the opening X, and passes alternately through the ports I, K into the annular spaces E, F. On the return stroke, the steam again passes alternately through the ports I, K, through the valves L, M, into the ports N, 0, and so into the ends of the cylinder. When the steam is fully expanded, it is discharged again through the ports N, 0, and under the valves P, Q, and so out at the exhaust passages E, S, which are united in one by the pipe Y. The rings T, U, at back of valves, work against the back or cover of the slide-casing, and so relieve the valves from the pressure of steam, thus pre- venting the wear of the facings, as well as relieving the engine of much frictional resistance. This engine is said to consume about 50 per cent, less fuel ; and if it does so, the advantage is great, for saving of fuel is combined with saving of water, and, what is better still, with an increased durability of boilers and fire-box, for if the fire- box be relieved of 50 per cent, of the heat of the furnace, it will be also greatly relieved from its present rapid rate of destruction. D. K. Clark, C.E., Superintendent of the Western Annexe, Exhibition, 1862, states: — "In my opinion, therefore, if the fire-boxes of portable engines on Mr. Allen's system be pro- perly lagged, and the cylinder covers steam-jacketed, as well as the outside of the cylinder (both being simple applications), such engines will be found capable of working with a con- sumption not exceeding 4 lbs. of Welsh coal per dynametrical hoi'se-power. The average consumption of the ordinary port- 218 ON THE WOEKING OF STEAM-ENGINES EXPANSIVELY. able engines exhibited at the Eoyal Agricultural Society's Show, in 1863, amounted to 10| lbs." An opinion verified by the working of an engine at Mr. Holford's, Westonbirt House, Tetbury, Gloucestershire. Mr. Thomas writes : — " The engine (E. E. Allen's ten-horse double expansive portable, with 11 -inch cylinder) is satisfactory in every respect, the worldng being so steady that the wear and tear is inconsiderable. The amount of fuel consumed is 40 to 47 lbs. per hour." In railway locomotives, steam -ploughing engines, and traction engines, running with a high number of strokes per minute, a very great saving of coal and water has been recently effected, by simply elongating the ports, while allowing the ordinary slide-valve only a short stroke, — thus obtaining a sudden inlet of full steam, and a sudden egress of the exhaust steam. 0]^ LEASES: a lecture delivered at the royal agricultural college, cirencester, march 1864. By R. G. WELFORD, Esq., NOW JUDGE OF THE COUNTY COURT OP WAKWIOKSIIIHE, AT BIHMINGIIAM. O'N LEASES. The institution of individual property in land forms the Pieiimiuaiy foundation of all human civilisation. Until land had been appropriated and retained as property by individuals, there could have been no buildings beyond the temporary huts or wigwams of the savage, and few of the products of the soil which constitute the food of man, and furnish the materials for his clothing, and other articles of necessity or convenience, could have been produced. The first step by which man advanced from the condition of a hunter — from dependence for subsistence on the natural fruits of the soil, and the cap- ture of wild animals — was the addition of pastoral industry. He tamed, multipKed, and protected the creatures we designate domestic animals, which then furnished or largely contributed to his subsistence. The next step was to enclose land for the vineyard and the corn- field, and eventually for the mainte - nance of flocks and herds. Here we have the combination of agricultural and pastoral industry, which, under various modifications, constitutes modem farming. The original idea attached to property in land was that it was held, that is, occupied, by the possessor, and managed or cultivated by him- self and his family, his servants or his slaves. That was in the main the ancient state of things throughout the Koman Empire, or at all events in Europe. When the various 222 ON LEASES. Northern hordes which broke up or seized the deserted frag- ments of the Eoman Empire in Europe, had settled themselves in the countries they had conquered, they introduced the feudal law, a complex system, and in a gi^eat degree a military organi- zation, which, as established in Britain, I will briefly describe. And I enter on such description as introductory to a lecture on agricultural leases, because it will afford a clue to many of the anomalies and inconsistencies we shall find to exist in what would naturally seem to be a very simple arrangement, i.e., a contract by one man to give the use of his land to another for a definite period of time, receiving as an equivalent a yearly sum of money or rent. The Barbarians, as they were not inappropriately designated by the more civilized Eomans, parcelled out the lands of the conquered amongst their own leaders and generals, who were bound to perform certain services to the principal chief or king (for the most part of a military nature), as the condition on which the lands were held. These superior officers dealt out smaller portions of their allotments to their inferior officers, or to meritorious soldiers, upon the condition of their ren- dering to their immediate chiefs services similar in character to those they were bound to render to their superior lord. These allotments were called feuds or fees, which, according to Blackstone, signified in the Northern language, "a condi- tional stipend or reward. Every receiver of lands or feuda- tory, was therefore bound, when called upon by his benefactor, or the immediate lord of his feud or fee, to do all in his power to defend him and his possessions. Such benefactor or lord was likewise subordinate to, and under the command of his immediate benefactor or superior lord, and so upwards to tlie prince or general himself; and the several lords were also reciprocally bound, in their respective gradations, to protect ON LEASES. 223 the possessions they had given. Thus the feudal connexion was established, a military subjection was naturally intro- duced, and an army of feudatories was always ready enlisted, and mutually prepared to muster, not only in defence of each man's own several property, but also in defence of the whole, and of every part of their newly acquired country." Such is the description given by Blackstone of the feudal system, introduced by William the Conqueror and his immediate successors. Now all these feudatories were freeholders ; the services they rendered were such as were esteemed honourable, i.e., military, and befitting " gentlemen ;" the actual cultivation of the soil, so far as it was then cultivated, being carried on by serfs or villeins — probably the conquered owners or de- scendants of conquered owners of the land, reduced practically to slaves — or by husbandmen of the lowest and least esteemed classes. It was under such a system that leases originated, and they were regarded by the rude and proud feudatories as of small account. Blackstone, writing of " estates for years,'' or leases, says, " These estates were originally granted to mere farmers or husbandmen, who every year rendered some equivalent in money, provisions, or other rent, to the lessors or landlords; but in order to encourage them to manure and cultivate the ground, they had a permanent interest granted them, not determinable at the will of the lord. And yet their possession loas esteemed of so little eonsequence, that they were rather eonsidered as the bailiffs or servants of the lord, who were to receive and aceount for the profits at a settled price, than as having any property of their own. And therefore they were not allowed to have a freehold estate ; but their interest (such as it was) vested after their deaths in their executors, who were to make up the accounts of tlieir testator with the lord, and his other creditors, and were 224 ON LEASES. entitled to the stock upon the farm. The lessee's (the farmer's) estate, might also, by the ancient law, be at any time defeated by a common recovery suffered by the tenant of the freehold (the lord), which annihilated all leases for years then subsisting, unless renewed by the recoverer, whose title was supposed superior to his by whom those leases were granted." The re- covery here referred to was merely a fictitious suit, which was Tised as a conveyance or assurance of the freehold from one feudatory to another. While leases were thus precarious they were naturally very short. Indeed, a sort of semi-feudal re- lationship was established in England between landlords and their farmers, or husbandmen, from which landed property has never yet been fully emancipated. In legal intendment, the lease does not vest any estate in the lessee, but only gives him a right of entry on the property leased ; but when he has entered, he " is possessed, not properly of the land, but of the term of years ; the possession or seisin of the land remaining still in him who hath the freehold." Thus the inferiority of the estate and position of the leaseholder to those of the free- holder, is embodied in our real property law, which retains, in this respect, practical evidence of its feudal origin. Yet our law attributes to the holder of land under _ a lease the actual right of possession ; for in his name actions of trespass can alone be brought, and against him must be instituted actions of ejectment, by strangers who claim title to the land as against the landlord, the tenant being bound under a com- paratively modern Act of Parliament to give notice to his land- lord of any such action of ejectment when brought. So also the purchaser of the freehold of a property which is in the possession of a tenant, is bound by all the stipulations sub- sisting between the tenant and the vendor, his landlord. For instance, if the purchaser shall complete his purchase of the ON LEASES. 225 freehold without making any inquiry of the tenant as to his interest in the property, and it should turn out that the tenant has a stipulation in his lease giving him an option to purchase the freehold, the incautious purchaser will be bound by that stipulation, and must sell his freehold to the tenant if he requires it. This,, however, is a modern addition to the law of real property. Here let me draw your attention to points which may often prove of considerable importance in the matter of hiring and letting farms, I mean the distinction between an agTcement for a term of years and an actual lease, and the cases in which a written instrument is necessary. An agreement to let the farm for a term of years is a contract for a lease, which the tenant may enforce by a suit in Chancery to have that agree- ment specifically performed by the grant of a lease ; but in the meantime the landlord may disregard the agreement so far as it purports to agree to let for a term of years, and, treating the tenant's interest as a yearly tenancy only, on giving six months' notice to quit, may eject the tenant, or drive him to a suit in Chancery to enforce the grant of a lease. A case of this sort occurred within my own observation, where several tenant-farmers held written agreements, not leases, under which they were entitled to hold for, I think, fourteen years. Before their terms had half run out a dispute occurred with their landlord about game, and the landlord, repudiating his agreement, gave notices to quit, and then commenced actions of ejectment, just as if his tenants had held only from year to year. I was asked by one tenant what he should do, and I recommended him to enforce his right to a lease by a biU in Chancery. This several of them did, and the landlord was compelled, to grant leases. One of the tenants still holds his farm, though the lease has expired. When, therefore, a farmer p 226 ON LEASES. intends to hire a farm for a terra of years, he should always require an actual lease, and never be satisfied with a mere agreement. Again, a tenancy for any period not exceeding three years need not be in writing, leases not exceeding three years being excepted by a statute of Charles ii., called " The Statute of Frauds," which requires all instruments and con- tracts concerning land to be in writing, and signed by the parties to be thereby bound. The somewhat elaborate agree- ment for yearly or two years' tenancies, which we find in use upon some estates, are, so far as regards the tenants' interests, wholly unnecessary, and are, in fact, only used for the purpose of abridging the freedom of action which the tenant, in the absence of such an agreement, would enjoy according to the agricultural rules and customs of the district. Another point that it may be well to note, prior to considering the agricul- tural lease, is, that a general taking or letting of land without any specified term is by law deemed to constitute a yearly tenancy, that is, if the tenant entered at Michaelmas he will be entitled to hold for a year, and to go on again for another year unless he had previously received a notice to quit six months next before the expiration of the year's tenancy. Thus, if a yearly tenant, who entered at Michaelmas, should not receive a notice to quit at the following Michaelmas before or on the preceding 25th of March, he cannot then be turned out for a year and a half, that is, until the then next Michael- mas twelvemonth. A lease is a deed by which the owner of land, or lessor, "grants and demises" it to another person, the tenant, for a defined term of years ; in the case we are considering, for the purpose of cultivating the land for his own profit. The consideration for such demise is an engagement by the tenant to pay a specified yearly rent during the term, and to perform such other stipula ON LEASES. 227 tions as the contracting parties have agreed to and embodied in the lease. The lease confers on the tenant a legal interest, which cannot be prejudiced or interfered with so long as he pays the rent and performs the stipulations. It is obvious that no terms should be imposed on the tenant which are not necessary for the landlord's security. Payment of the rent is, as we all know, enforceable by the summary process of a distress and sale of the tenant's effects. But, like all such extreme remedies, a distress for rent is only resorted to when the tenant has failed or become embarrassed. It will protect the landlord from the loss of the current year's rent when the tenant has become insolvent, but can never be regarded as a continuous means of securing the rent. Eent must be paid from the produce of a farm before the tenant can retain any profit for himself, and the best security for the regular pay- ment of rent consists in the prosperity of the tenant's farming business. For the landlord's interest, therefore, as well as the tenant's, no terms should be inserted in the lease which hampers or impedes the tenant in managing the farm in the mode best fitted to promote his own interest, unless it can be shown that certain restrictions are necessary for the protection of the proprietor's interest in the farm, I shall ask you to bear this in mind when I come to examine some of the details and provisions of modern farm leases. I use the term " modern" in a comparative sense only, because most of the terms of English leases have especial reference to a condition of hus- bandry which has passed, or is rapidly passing away. And, strictly speaking, no " modern" lease, or form of lease adapted to the state and exigencies of present and prospective agricul- ture, has yet come into general, I might almost say into any use. In truth, so many and such cumbrous provisions have usually been inserted in agricultural leases, that they have 228 ON LEASES. become almost a byword, so tbat often neither landlord nor tenant, so long as they go on harmoniously together, thinks of referring to, or acting upon, the major part of the covenants and regulations the lease contains. Yet this is dangerous to the tenant, as he places himself in a position which, should circum- stances induce the landlord to insist upon the strict adherence to the covenants of the lease, may be utter ruin. The natural form of a lease is very simple, and when not involved in superfluous verbiage, nor encumbered with a parcel of useless or mischievous covenants, I do not see that the ordinary form of a lease can be much improved. I will shortly state it : — Form of This indenture {or deed), made the 10th day of August Lease. 1863, between A. B. (the landlord^, of , of the one part, and C. D. {the tenant), of , of the other part : WITNESSETH that, in consideration of the yearly rent hereinafter reserved, and of the covenants hereinafter con- tained, on the part of the said C. D. : The said A. B. doth by these presents " demise and lease" unto the said C. D., his executors and administrators, all that messuage, farm lands. Parcels. and other hereditaments, called Farm, situate in the parish of X., in the county of Y., containing altogether 467 acres, 7 roods, and 1 5 poles, all which premises are now in the occupancy of , and are enumerated and described Sometimes a in the Schedule annexed, and the ground plan thereof is full -verbal ^ ofth^^'arcds a.c\. of thcsc presents, together with all rights, thibody of members, easements, and appurtenances thereunto belonging Reserva- or appertaining (except and always reserved out of this de- mise, unto the said A. B., his heirs and assigns, all timber trees whatsover [sometimes going on thus, " and all saplings of oak, ash, elm, sycamore, and woods, underwoods, or coppice woods"] which now are, or hereafter may be, standing or grow- ON LEASES. 229 ing on the said premises ; and all mines and quarries on the said premises, with full liberty of ingress, egress, regress for the said A. B., his heirs and assigns, and his and their agents and workmen, at all reasonable times, to walk, fell, hew, square, cast, and carry away the said timber-trees, and to open and work said mines and quarries, and take away the produce thereof respectively, and also to view the state of repair and condition of the demised premises. [Here also foUows the reservation of game, etCj when reserved, about which I shall by and by say a few words. The game reservation is usually Game. in some such terms as these : " And also except all manner of game, rabbits, fish, and wild fowl, with free liberty for the said A. B., his heirs and assigns, and his and their keepers, ser- vants, and others authorized by him or them, at all reasonable times, to hunt, hawk, fish, fowl, let, course, shoot, and sport over the said demised premises, and to and for the said A. B., his heirs and assigns, to bring any action or actions against all trespassers on the said premises, in the name of the said C. D., his executors and administrators, he and they being indemnified from all costs and damages attending the same." Sometimes there is the further reservation of the right of planting trees, either on the farm generally, or on some specified parts of it.] To HAVE and to hold the demised premises, with their appur- Habendum tenances, unto the said C. D., his executors, and administrators [his "assigns" would be added if the tenant be not restricted from assigning his lease, as he usually is in case of agricultural. On this part of the subject I shall also have suggestions to make at a future period] for the term of twenty-one years, to be computed from the 29th day of September 1863 [or from some day antecedent to the date of the lease, as it very fre- quently happens that the tenant enters the farm before the completion of the lease, which should never be done if it can 230 ON LEASES. Reddendum, be avoided], YIELDING and PAYING therefor yearly, during the term hereby granted, unto the said A. B., his heirs and assigns, the yearly rent of £600, without any deduction whatsoever (except the land-tax and landlord's property-tax), by equal half-yearly (or quarterly) payments, on the 25th day of March and the 29th day of September, the first payment to become due and be made on the 25th day of March now next ensuing. [Here are frequently inserted rents, intended to be prohibitory or penal, against breaking up pasture land, and sometimes even against sowing particular crops, or departing from a pre- scribed rotation. Such rents are decidedly objectionable, ex- cept perhaps in the case of breaking up grass land, where both parties have come to a full understanding that it is not to be broken up.] Prohibitions The form of the prohibitory rent is this : " And also yield- or Penal • i a i-. i Rents. iNG and PAYING unto the said A. B., his heirs and assigns, the further yearly rent of £20, by equal half-yearly (or quarterly) payments, on the days aforesaid, for every acre, and so in proportion for any greater or less quantity than an acre, of the meadow or pasture land, which the said C. D., his execu- tors or administrators, shall plough, dig, heck up, or otherwise convert into tillage, the first payment of the said additional rent to be made on such of the days of payment as shall next happen of the said breaking up or converting into tillage as aforesaid." Tenant's " And THE SAID C. D., for himself, his heirs, executors, and administrators, covenants with the said A. B., his heirs, and assigns : That the said C. D., his executors, administrators, or assigns will, during the said term of twenty-one years, pay, or cause to be paid, unto the said A. B., his heirs or assigns, at the times and in manner aforesaid, the said yearly rents hereby reserved, or such of them as shall be payable ; and also that the said C. D., his executors or administrators, will pay ON LEASES. 331 and discharge the tithes, rent charge, and all taxes, rates, assessments, and impositions, parliamentary and parochial (except as aforesaid), which during the said term shall become payable in respect of the said demised premises." Then follows the covenant to repair and maintain the build- ings, fences, and so forth. The following is such a covenant, given in a form appended to Piatt on Leases, a work of authority, where the tenant and landlord divide the repairs between them : — " And also will from time to time, during the term hereby granted, Covenant to well and sufficiently, and in a good and workmanlike manner, repair Hero «ie '" and keep in repair all the glass windows and thatch [I should say all if "'J'olifj,. the buildings], and also all the hedges, ditches, mounds, bounds, fences, half the le- water-courses, drains, and carriages belonging to the demised premises, and will, at his and their costs and charges, land and carry all the materials necessary for all the repairs of the said premises ; and will bear and pay one-half of the costs, charges, and expenses of all other necessary repairs of the said messuage, farm lands, and premises (acci- dents by fire and tempest only excepted), the said A. B., his heirs and assigns, finding and providing all rough timber and other materials, except glass, iron, and wheat straw." I think, however, that in all leases, the buildings, etc., having been first put into good repair by the landlord, the tenant should covenant to keep them in good and tenantable repair. Next follow the cropping covenants and other stipulations, by 2 piatt on which the tenant is sometimes, perhaps usually, bound down ^^^■ and trammelled. They are of the most various and often the most absurd kind. I shall refer to them again hereafter ; but I wish in this place to offer to your notice a lease in its most simple form. Here, too, are inserted the regulations for giving up the farm at the end of the term to the landlord or his in- coming tenant. Then there is usually the covenant that the tenant " will not grant, demise, let, assign, set over, or other- wise part with this present indenture (deed) of lease on the 232 ON LEASES. Proviso of Re-entry. Lessor's Covenants. premises demised, or any part thereof, or his or tlieir estate, or interest therein, or any part thereof, unto any person or per- sons whomsoever, without the consent in writing of the said A. B., his heirs or assigns, first obtained." As to this covenant, I shall have some remarks to make. AH the tenant's covenants having been completed, we have the proviso of re-entry, a portion of the lease which, for the landlord's interest, should never be omitted. It is this : — " Provided always, and it is hereby declared and agreed, that if the rents hereby reserved, or any part thereof, shall be unpaid for twenty-one days next after any of the days on which the same ought to have been paid (although no formal demand shall have been made thereof), or in case of the breach or non-performance of any of the covenants and agreements herein contained on the part of the said C. D., his executors, administrators, and assigns, then and in either of such cases it shall be lawful for the said A. B., his heirs or assigns, at any time thereafter, into and upon the said demised premises, or any part thereof in the name of the whole, to re-enter, and the same to have again, repossess, and enjoy, as of his or their former estate, anything herein contained to the contrary notwithstandiag. " Finally, there are the landlord's covenants. These, apart from any specialties — such as to execute repairs, to find mate- rials or rough timber, etc., for repairs — that the tenant shall be at liberty to hold over part of the premises on the expiration of the lease, for thrashing out his last crop, or spreading his fodder, and the like — consist mainly of the covenant for quiet enjoyment, which is in this form : — " And the said A. B. doth hereby for himself, his heirs, executors, administrators, and assigns, covenant with the said C. D., his executors, admini- strators, and assigns, that he and they paying the rents hereby ON LEASES. 233 reserved, and performing the covenants hereinbefore on his and their part contained, shall and may peaceably possess and enjoy the said demised premises for the term hereby granted, without any interruption or disturbance from the said A. B., his executors,- administrators, or assigns, or any other person or persons lawfully claiming by, from, or under him, them, or any of them. In witness wheeeof, the said parties to these presents have hereunto interchangeably set their hands and seals, the day and year first above written." A lease is prepared in duplicate ; the lease being executed by the land- lord, the counterpart by the tenant. The tenant of course retains the lease, and the landlord the counterpart. You will see we still continue to use the word "indenture ;" that is, a deed the margin of which is indented, although such indentation is not necessary, as by Act of 8 and 9 Vict. cap. 106, sec. 5, a deed " importing to be an indenture shall have the effect of an indenture, although not actually indented." A somewhat curious instance this of the regard our lawyers pay to formalities. Yet this tenacious regard for forms constitutes a practical reason why, in the form of leases, the long accustomed frame of the instrument, and the reaUy effective portion of the phraseology, should be adhered to. A lease framed in strict accordance with legal technicalities is not necessarily long, assuming that the useless verbiage, which was imported into our legal documents at a comparatively modern period — that is, during the latter half of the last century — be discarded. But if a lease is to contain a multitude of express and minute regulations, accord- ing to which the tenant is to cultivate his land, and conform himself in other respects, all set forth in full and precise lan- guage, the document must of necessity be a long one. ^^'e must diminish the number and simplify the character of our 234 ON LEASES. agricultural stipulations before we can effectively shorten our agricultural leases. 8 and 9 Vict. ^q attempt was made in 1845 to shorten leases by an Act of Parliament (8 Vict. c. 124), entitled "An Act to Facilitate the Granting of certain Leases," which enacted that where a deed expressed to be made in pursuance of the Act, should employ any of the forms of words contained in column 1 of the second schedule to the Act, and distinguished by any number therein, such deed should be construed as if the words in column 2 of the schedule, and distinguished by the corresponding number, had been used. It also enacts that where no exception is ex- pressed, the grant of a house, and the like, shall include " all outhouses, barns, stables, gardens, cellars, ancient and other lights, paths, passages, ways, waters, watercourses, liberties, privileges, easements, profits, commodities, emoluments, here- ditaments and appurtenances whatsoever," to the house, etc., belonging. The first schedule to the Act gives the form of a statute form lease, which is thus brief : — " This lease, made the dav of of Lease. ' ■' 1840 (in pursuance of an Act to facilitate the granting of certain leases) between [names of parties and recitals, if any], Witnesseth that the said {landlord] doth demise unto the said [tenant], his executors, administrators, and assignees, all, etc., [parcels], from the day of , for the term of years hence ensuing, yielding therefor, during the said term, the rent of £ , payable at the [state days] in each year. That the said [tenant] covenants with the said [landlord], 1st, to pay rent ; 2d, to pay taxes ; 3d, and to repair ; ith, and to paint every [third, fourth, fifth, and sixth] year ; 5th, to paint and paper inside every tenth year ; 6th, and to insure from fire in the joint names of the said [landlord] and [tenant] — to show receipts, and to rebuild in case of fire ; 7 th, and that [landlord] ON LEASES. 235 may enter and view the state of repair, and that the [tenant] will repair according to notice ; 9 th, [tenant] will not assign without leave; 10th, and that he will leave the premises in good repair; 11th, proviso for re-entry by the said lessor on non-payment of rent, or non-performance of covenants ; 12th, the said [landlord] covenants with the said [tenant] for quiet enjoyment." In the second column of the same second schedule the covenants in the usual form are set out in full. I give you two specimens : — Col. 1. — The uoord to ' used. 3. And to repair. Col. 2. — Full meaning according to Act. 3. And will also, during the said term, well and sufficiently repair, maintain, pave, empty, cleanse, amend, and keep the said demised premises, with the ap- purtenances, in good and substantial re- pair, together with all chimney-pieces, windows, doors, fastenings, water-closets, cisterns, partitions, fixed presses, shelves, pipes, pumps, pales, rails, locks and keys, and all other fixtures and things which at any time during the said term shall be erected and made, when, where, and so often as need shall be. Col. 2. — Meaning hy Statute. 9. And also that the said [tenant] shall not nor will, during the said term, assign, transfer, or let over, or otherwise by any act or deed procure the said pre- mises, or any of them, to be assigned, transferred, or let over unto any person or persons whomsoever, without the con- sent in writing of the said [landlord], his heirs or assigns, first had and obtained. You will perceive that the language used seems to contem- plate that leases of houses, rather than agricultural leases, would be granted under the Act ; but the Act provides that the Col. 1. — Words used. 9. And will not assign without leave. 236 ON LEASES. parties may use alterations and qualifications in the forms of the first column, which are to be taken as also made in the second colamn. If, therefore, it were worth while, the Act may be used to shorten agricultural leases ; but in truth the plan is but a clumsy one, and, like an analogous Act for short- ening conveyances, has been little used. In the foregoing remarks I have assumed the landlord to be the absolute owner of the property he leases ; but a large pro- portion of the landed proprietors are tenants for life of their estates, and consequently can only grant leases which will endure beyond the continuance of their own estates, under special powers for that purpose which are inserted in all well- drawn settlements. Throughout the last century, the relations of landlord and tenant having assumed substantially the commercial character — that is, the land was let for a defined money rent —leases became almost universal, the usual term granted being twenty- one years, and the stipulations inserted being such as, accord- ing to the economical and agricultural knowledge of the period, were thought to be fair and equal for both parties. There remained, perhaps, somewhat in point of feeling, on both sides, of the old semi-feudal relationship, but in the then state of husbandry it interfered practically very little with the pecu- niary, i.e., the commercial interest of either tenant or landlord. The restrictions then imposed — when they were imposed — on tenant-farmers, corresponded very closely with their own plans and systems of cultivation, which varied but little during long series of years. The father had succeeded to the grandfather, in the farm, as he was succeeded by the son, without any material changes in the course of cultivation, or the management of live stock ; and lease after lease was granted and worked out, without either tenant demanding, or landlord suggesting, any ON LEASES. 237 alteration of terms, save as regarded rent. Indeed, until about 17G0, when the commerce and manufacturing industry of this country began to make substantial progress, there had been, during the eighteenth century, little, if any, general advance of rent for agricultural land. From 1795 down to 1814, there occurred, from various causes (quite beyond the limits of this lecture to examine), an extraordinary rise in the rent and value of agricultural land, producing an unparalleled condition of agricultural prosperity. No one now doiibts that this pros- perity arose in a great measure from the progress of the nation in wealth, through its trading industry, and notwithstanding the wars in which the coimtry engaged, and ui part from agri- cultural improvements, particularly the increased and improved uses made of light land by the agency of the sheepfold, as well as from the difficulties which the circumstances of the times interposed in the way of foreign imports of agricultural products. From 1814, when a vain and futile effort was made by means of the Corn Law, which prohibited the importation of foreign corn, down to 1836, when a Committee of the House of Commons on " agricultural distress" exploded the notion that prices could be kept up or farming could be made prosperous by Act of Parliament, i. e., by restrictions on foreign trade, British husbandry was maintaining a hopeless struggle with events, and landlords and farmers alike were looking to Parliament and the Corn Laws rather than to their own exertions for a return of the prosperity they had enjoyed during the first fifteen years of the present century. Prosperity never did come, and never could come to them in the same form, or under similar circum- stances. And it was through looking back for a return of that kind of prosperity which had passed away for ever, that the owners and occupiers of land missed, for that dreary period of more than thirty years, the true, but certainly not a royal road 238 ON LEASES, to sound and lasting prosperity, only to be found by means of improvement and intelligent exertion. During that period leases utterly failed to accomplish the objects for -which they were taken and granted. In the course of the years which elapsed between 1795 and 1816 all the old leases had expired, and new leases had been generally taken at greatly advanced, often at extravagant rents, and almost universally on the assumption that the prices of corn were to continue somewhat at the rates of that period. Yet in spite of Corn Laws, prices fell immensely, and the system of farm management, founded on the calculation of receiving from 80s. to 100s. per quarter for wheat, and other grain in propor- tion, was wholly inadequate to enable farmers to pay the rents reserved by their new leases. Landowners soon found that it would be useless to insist upon payment of their full rents, calculated, as they were, on data which had proved erroneous, and that by so doing for a few years they would ruin their actual tenantry, with the moral certainty that no new tenants would take their farms at even so much as the old tenants, who, being in occupation, made great struggles to pay. Then com- menced a system of temporary abatements of rent. At the audits of most of our English landowners, allowances from £10 to £30, or even more, per cent, on the rents were made to their tenants, both from good feeling and from policy, but without any permanent adjustments according to the new state of circumstances, such as would assuredly have taken place had not both parties suffered themselves to be buoyed up by a vain reliance on what the Legislature might do for the landed interest in advancing the price of grain. Then leases fell into discredit. Landowners said (as many of them still continue to say) that they were one-sided bargains, which only bound the tenants so long as prices and seasons proved ON LEASES. 239 favourable to them, and that with low prices or adverse seasons, landlords, notwithstanding leases, could not practically enforce the rents contracted to be paid. Tenants, on the other hand, finding prices always ranging below the rates on which they had calculated when taking their leases, and many of them having diminished their capital in the struggle, and being unwilling to trust merely to the voluntary abatements made from half-year to half-year by their landlords, were ready enough to surrender their leases wheresoever they had the op- portunity of so doing, and to continue the occupation of their farms as tenants from year to year. The circumstances of the times were exceptional, and arrangements practically provi- sional were alone made. ' The prolongation of this provisional state for so long a period was due solely to the legislative attempts to bring back the high prices of former years, and to the unfortunate faith which the landlords and farmers had in the success of such attempts. When, as the result of the evidence given before the Agricultural Distress Com- mittee of 1836, the majority of our intelligent public men and agriculturists became convinced that " Protection" from foreign competition could do nothing for our agriculture, but that enterprise, self-reliance, and the right use of capital could do a great deal, a new spirit arose both amongst the proprietors and the tenant farmers. Then commenced those improvements which have done so much, and have opened the road to so much more, in the way of advancing agriculture. The draining of land, the use of guano and other artificial manures, the extended use of improved agricultural implements and machinery, the extension of stock farming, the application of steam-power to the purposes of husbandry, and, above all, the full and varied discussions of agricultural topics, which from that period have become more and more accurate 240 ON LEASES. and searching, are sources of improvement which were then either originated or brought more prominently under the attention of the agricultural community. When, in 1846, the Corn Laws were repealed, followed subsequently by other measures of a like nature, there remained nothing to divert the agriculturists of this country from a correct view of their position, its advantages and disadvantages. From 1846 to the present time, nearly eighteen years, the business of the farmer has been free from all risks, save such as are incident to climate, soil, and seasons, or such as arise out of the conditions and tenure under which he occupies his farm. He has been left to his own intelligence and resources, and though he has had no favour he has had a fair field. The natural consequence has ensued, in the rapid and unexampled progress of the art and practice of husbandry in this country, until it has quite outgrown the limits and bounds by which it was once regulated. When the uncertainties which had led farmers to acquiesce in, if not to approve of yearly holdings, had passed away, they became as a body very desirous of obtaining better security for the capital they invested upon their farms than a yearly tenancy could afford ; and for some years after 1846 there was a considerable concurrence among farmers in favour of what was then called "tenant-right;" in other words, that an agreement should be made on the part of the landlord, that the tenant of a farm who had expended money in manures or other improvements, which would increase the produce of the land for some years, and who might be turned out of his farm before he had reaped the fruits of his outlays, should be en- titled to claim compensation for " unexhausted improvements '' upon some defined scale. The unwillingness of English land- owners to grant leases then became confirmed; and perhaps ON LEASES. 241 the distaste of farmers for the old-fashioned form of lease, combined to give for a time an undue prominence to the sorry make-shift of tenant-right agreements. Some large tracts of land in Lincolnshire had been brought to a high degree of fertility under some such arrangements; and the late Mr. Philip Pusey, knowing the aversion of the landowners to grant leases, was desirous of introducing the Lincolnshire agreements, or some modifications of them, into general use. He framed and presented to Parliament several bills, with a view to pass a general law giving such rights to aU occupiers of agricultural land ; but after one, if not more Parliamentary Committees had sat upon the subject, it was found that the difficulties in the way of any general law of tenant-right, were, at all events in the existing temper of the landowners, insuperable. Of late years, farmers have come to desire the more sub- stantial security leases offer, and tenant-right agreements, where still proposed, are chiefly advocated by landowners, and in most cases, to parry or prevent the demand for leases. I confess I do not regret the failure of the efforts formerly made to extend the system of heavy valuations in favour of an out- going tenant, for I am convinced that they retard rather than advance good cultivation. It is far better that an out- going tenant, knowing when his lease will terminate, should cultivate. less expensively during his last few years, and that the incoming tenant should enter upon land, perhaps somewhat lower in condition than it had been, with his money in his pocket to use in his own way, than that large sums should be paid, often for that which the incoming tenant may find to be of little advantage to him. I have seen something of outgoing and incoming valuations, and it is wonderful how soon they degenerate into serious burdens upon the land. In a few special cases, new tenants may pay for high condition, and 242 ON LEASES. may get what they pay for ; but in far more numerous instances, the incoming tenant pays for much that is of no real value to him. The customary valuations of Surrey and Sussex are quite sufficient to warn landowners and farmers from giving in to any system of heavy valuations. I know it wUl be said that the modern tenant-right agreements, under which oU-cake, guano, and other fertilizing agents are to be paid for by an incoming tenant, differ materially from the old customary valuations which have been found so onerous in various parts of England ; to which -I reply, that may be so at first, but, not to mention the possibility of frauds, it will be difficult to pre- vent the modern valuations ultimately falling into the same sort of routine as the old customary valuations. It is better for both landlord and tenant to know and see what the latter is buying. Many friends of mine advocate agreements for payment of " unexhausted improvements," as integral parts of leases, in order that the farmer may be induced to keep up a system of high culture to the end of his term ; and although such stipulations may be well enough in particular cases, I be- lieve the importance attached to them is founded upon an exaggerated opinion of the mischief a farmer, who has farmed well for the first eighteen years of a twenty- one years' lease, is likely to do, or, if you will, can do, with any reasonable regard to his own interest, during the last three years of his term. The prevailing notion amongst the landowners who are favourable to tenant-right agreements, seems to be, that by means of such agreements, tenants can be. induced to trust their capital as readily, and to cultivate their land as highly, as they would do under the protection of leases, while the landlord retains an absolute control and dominion over his farms thus occupied by yearly tenants. This is undoubtedly a delusion. ON LEASES. 243 as injurious to the interest of the landlord as to that of the tenants. •It is an important preliminary to the consideration of the details of agricultural leases, that we should examine the nature and the grounds of the objections entertained by so many English landowners to the granting of such leases. Hence I have endeavoured to trace, in this slight historical sketch, the origin and growth of such objections. Unless they can be re- moved or avoided, so that a system of leases may become general, there must inevitably be a serious check to the progress of our agriculture. Many of those I am addressing will become farmers, and for their own interest must endeavour to obtain the security afforded by a lease. Others will probably become land-agents, stewards, and advisers of landed proprietors, and it will be their duty, as well as their interest, so to advise their employers as to render their estates most productive and their incomes most secure. To both, it is most essential thoroughly to understand the character, force, and effect of the objections to leases, entertained by so many landlords, in order that such objections may as frequently as possible be overcome. The objectors may, I think, be arranged in three classes : — Firstly, Landowners who are determined, at any sacrifices of their own incomes and economical interests, to have their farms occupied by a dependent tenantry. Secondly, Landowners who have a reasonable regard for their own interests in owning a well -tenanted estate, and truly desire to see their tenants farming well and prospering, but who ob- ject to relinquish the sort of quasi- feudal control which yearly holdings give them over their tenants. And, thirdly. Landowners who wish to make the most of theii- property, and have no special predilection for dependent tenants, but who, partly from want of knowledge of the 244 ON LEASES. business of landholding (for it is strictly a business), and partly from participation in the ordinary opinions of their class, they regard leases as one-sided bargains, whichmay benefit the tenants when prosperous, but will be of no use to the landlord when things go adversely. The first class comprises those proprietors who, from a passion for game, or political influence, or from sentimental or traditional notions that the relation between landlord and tenant should be founded on personal or family confidence, or from some other non-business idea, wiU only consent to let their farms to tenants who will submit to a sort of paternal despotism. I believe this class of proprietors to be wearing out, but improvement and enterprise on their properties must be well-nigh non-existent. When a proprietor of this class will consent to grant reasonable leases, he ceases to belong to it. The second class of landowners is more numerous, and their case is, perhaps, the most difficult to deal with. They are the great promoters of tenant-right agreements. They want high rents and high farming, yet they decline to give their tenants that security of possession and liberty of action which can alone produce, high farming, and secure high rents. Wishing to obtain the full value of their land in the' way of rent, they nevertheless reserve and preserve game for their own sport at their tenants' expense, and while professing to desire, and probably really desiring, a prosperous tenantry, they still insist on keeping their tenants dependent by means of yearly holdings. To landowners of this class may be referred the views expressed by a noble Lord at some agricultural associa- tion, I think, in Staffordshire, where a proposed model agree- ment for a yearly tenancy formed the topic of discussion. I have on several occasions referred to this speech, and I see ON LEASES. 245 Mr. Morton mentioned it in a paper read before the Society of Arts, as a characteristic speech. His Lordship said — " I should be sorry, and I should feel it to be dishonest, if I allowed any tenant of mine to leave me in debt to him. I mean if a man put on to a farm that which would improve it, I should feel bound not to let that man leave my estate without being remunerated for what is unexhausted. That is the only fair principle that can be acted on. All other matters must be subjected to a give-and-take agreement. I am not averse to any good arrangement that can be made, at the same time I do not hold out any hope that I can make any change in my arrangements with my tenants. ... I adhere to what I have always said respecting leases, namely, that nothing will induce me to give a man a lease, because, in the first place, a lease is all on one side. The landlord remains, but the tenant, if he be inclined to be fraudulent, may go. I boldly and honestly state that I will never surrender my pro- perty to a tenant. I mean that no man who will allow his sons to poach and act disgracefully shall have control over my land for a number of years." Here we have a striking example of the "uncommercial" landlord, who, while professing to give security for his tenant's outlays, deliberately refuses to grant leases, because by so doing he may lose the power of controlling his tenants in relation to matters which have nothing whatever to do with the cultivation of the land. In this expression, " allowing his sons to poach," we have a glimpse of the prejudicial influence which game has upon agriculture by preventing leases. It is evident the landlord does not fear that his tenant obtaining control over his land for a number of years, may do anything inconsistent with good husbandry, half so much as that the sons or servants of the tenants may catch a hare or a pheasant, without the landlord being able to bring to bear his power of giving notice to quit upon the tenant himself The third class of landowners I have referred to are probably far more numerous than both the preceding classes. They share, to some extent, the views and feelings expressed by the 246 ON LEASES. passage I have quoted, but hold them with less vigour and tenacity. Some of them like game, others political influence over tenants, while some have the notion that .tenants holding under leases may misuse the land without any effectual control by the landlord. They have become accustomed also to the system of yearly tenancies, and though they see and hear that no inconsiderable portion of the land of this country is but indifferently farmed under that system, they doubt whether some of their actual yearly tenants, who do not farm very well, would farm any better if they had leases. Upon the whole they would prefer to go on as at present, so long as their rents are maintained and well paid. But the landowners of this class^the majority, as I believe, of English landowners — are open to the teaching of experience, to well-considered advice from their land-agents, and to considerations of pru- dence and justice where good tenants require to be secured by reasonable leases. It must never be overlooked that before a landowner can be expected to gi-ant a lease, he may fairly require to be satisfied that the proposed tenant is possessed of sufficient capital and experience to enable him to manage the farm with a reasonable hope of success. The present system of yearly tenancies has led to the acceptance of many occupiers of farms as yearly tenants, who would probably not have been accepted had the contract under which they entered been binding on the landlord for twenty-one years. In short, a lease must not be a one-sided bargain, but one which, having regard to ordinary calculations and contingencies, wiU be likely to be performed on both sides. It is certain that where leases are granted greater precaution and consideration will be used on both sides than where yearly tenancies are adopted. The landlord will regard more narrowly the means of the tenant, and will generally be prepared to make outlays ON LEASES. 247 for permanent improvements, where he can secure an equivalent increase of rent for a long series of years. The tenant, on the other hand, will scrutinize narro,wly the state of the buildings, gates, and fences, which he will have to keep in repair for twenty-one years, and will consider whether the building accommodation is sufficient. He will consider whether the land requires to be drained, whether some fields do not require to be thrown together, and whether the timber standing on the farm may not be so abundant as to prove injurious before the expiration of the lease. Such and other considerations will occur to both landlords and tenants when leases are about to be granted, all of which must undoubtedly tend to improve the business management of landed property, and to promote the permanent interests of the owners as well as the occupiers. I do not refer to an adjustment of game-questions, as one of the preliminaries to a lease, because I shall hereafter show that, save under special circumstances, no modern agricultural lease ought to contain any reservation of game to the landlord. I have before referred to the discussion of tenant-right agree- ments, which some fourteen years ago occupied a large share of the attention of our leading agriculturists. Such agreements were then supposed by many intelligent farmers to be likely to form substitutes — even if imperfect substitutes — for leases, and several works on agricultural topics, written about 1850 or 1851, gave greater countenance to such agreements, as afford- in » security for the farmer's capital, than would be given at the present time. Such tenant-right agreements usually pre- scribe the course of cultivation the tenants are required to adopt ; and as it is now admitted by our best rural authorities that in leases no restrictions should be imposed on the free action of tenants, except during the last three or four years of their terms, the farmer holding under a tenant-right agreement 248 ON LEASES. will always feel himself in the position of a going-off tenant. Every one admits that the tenant-farmer's capital must be se- cured, save those who practic.ally assert that it ought to be left -at the mercy and subject to the caprice of the landlord, and who are certainly not up to the agricultural requirements of the day. Thus Mr. Wingrove Cooke, now one of the Tithe and Enclosure Commissioners, in his Preface to his book on The Law and Practice of Agricultural Tenancies, says : — " He must be too improvident a man to be a good fanner, who should invest in the land capital sufficient for high cultivation, without, some security that a change in the ownership of the estate (whatever well-founded confidence he may have in the present landlord) may not at any moment bring a notice to give up farm improvements and capital, and leave it all, uncompensated, to a stranger." This was written in 1851, when the feeling in favour of tenant-right agreements was at its height. Mr. Cooke, who viewed the subject, as most lawyers do, from the landowner's point of view, seems to have been strongly in favour of tenant- right agreements, and thus sums up what he calls " the opinions of experienced agriculturists on the subject of the policy of granting agricultural leases :" — " To a tenant the advantage which a lease for years has over a yearly agreement, with security for unexhausted improvements, is this, that he has the comfort of feeling secure in his possession. I cannot discover, in the reasons given by the advocates of leases, any superiority in a term of years as a security for capital employed. The term of years does not better provide against loss of money and labour, but it provides against the inconvenience of being compelled to change the sphere of their employment." Can anything be weaker than this ? Of course, no term or other arrangement can provide against the loss of money and labour if the tenant expends either injudiciously. But will any practical farmer assert that a right to payment for unex- ON LEASEa 249 hausted improvements, with a yearly tenancy, affords anything like an equal security for his capital with a twenty-one years' lease ? Then is there no money loss to a high farmer in being compelled to change the "sphere of his employment" by a notice to quit ? Such being Mr. Cooke's notion of the advantages of a lease to a tenant, hear his view of the disadvantages : — " On the other hand, a lease for a terra has the corresponding dis- advantage, that it binds the tenant to the soil for the term specified ; that it compels him, except in the rare case of corn rents, to pay a fixed yearly sum for a thing whereof the value changes with every shifting variety of season or legislation ; that it fetters him with cove- nants and conditions which, long before the term expires, may act most mischievously upon his interests ; that it marks out a narrow path, in which for twenty years yet to come he must walk, no matter how changed the principles of the art of agriculture may be, or how de- preciated the value of the land, and that it impends continually over his head, for, the infraction of any single covenant, the forfeiture of his term and the loss of his capital." These alleged disadvantages are for the most part purely fanciful, and belong to the period of transition in which they were written. They furnish, however, an argument against covenants and conditions which compel the tenant to foUow a defined and narrow path, whatever may be the changes he could beneficially make. Let us see what Mr. Cooke admits to be the landlord's advantage in granting a term of years : — ■ " He usually obtains a higher fixed rent, avoids perpetual tenant- right, and is released from the drawbacks which accompany the management of landed property. He has good right to expect the punctual and unabated payment of his rent ; and, with a reversion twenty yeara distant, to leave the lessee alone to pursue his unassisted course within the hedges of his covenants." There can be no doubt that a landowner, by letting his farms on leases to tenants of capital, not only obtains the K 250 ON LEASES. highest rents the property will afford, but at the same time effects a considerable saving in the cost of management. In a very useful and practical work, The Land Steward, by Mr. G. A. Dean, in the chapter on Tenure of Land, we have a less ambiguous testimony to the merits of leases, and the defects of yearly tenancies. He says : — " It is undoubtedly the interest of landowners to promote by every means in their power the highest possible state of cultivation of their estates. . . . This perfect state of cultivation, however, can never be obtained so long as the system of yearly tenure is prevalent. To cultivate a farm in the most profitable manner, security of tenure must be given. No man of prudence, having capital commensurate with the size of his farm, would enter into possession on a yearly holding, and farm highly. He must look forward to a time when he will get back the capital he has expended in effecting improvements (or interest commensurate therewith), and it should be remembered that the simplest descriptions of improvements require time for execution, and still further time to enable the farmer to get repaid for his outlay. With a yearly holding little or no security exists. . . . Under such tenure it is impossible, therefore, for the farmer, in justice to himself, to effect improvements on his farm, or to get so great an interest for the capital invested as he otherwise would do ; neither does the land- lord get so much rent as he otherwise might. The fact of tenants farming estates from generation to generation, under noblemen and gentlemen, on a yearly tenure, does not add one iota to their legal security for the sums of money laid out in effecting improvements ; but it shows want of judgment in men relying upon the honour of others. . . . The principle of annual tenure, as a system, is bad both for landlord and tenant ; a better security for capital is required, and the best means of obtaining this desideratum is by granting leases for definite periods." And the same writer observes, in reference to the want of security for capital through yearly tenures : — " Want of security for the improvements which they may effect, and want of suitable buildings, prevent the more wealthy {i.e., farmei-s) from employing a greater amount of capital than they now employ. By the employment of a greater amount of capital on a given quantity of land, the profits arising from superior cultivation will be increased in a pro- portion far beyond that now derived from the present capital. . . . ON LEASES. 251 A certain sum must be realized from the produce raised to pay rent, rates, and taxes, but on that raised bfeyond this neither are required to be paid, and it is to this additional produce the farmer must look for his profit." The late Mr. Low, Professor of Agriculture in the University of Edinburgh, in his book on Landed Property, thus mentions leases ; — " A lease, that it may enable the occupier to cultivate his farm in a suitable manner, must be granted for a definite time. In the parts of the country where the principles of this contract are best understood the medium duration of the lease has been very generally fixed at twenty years. To many this will seem a long period during which to part with the control of property, and to relinquish the hope of advantages which a change of times may produce ; but experience shows that the period has been fixed with a due relation to the interests of the contracting parties, and that, in the great majority of cases, it is no more than sufiicient to allow the possessor to adopt a profitable system of management, and the landlord to derive an adequate rent. All the operations of the farm, beyond those required for the mere cultivation of the ground from season to season, have a reference to returns to be obtained in future years ; and the funds expended beyond the temporary outlay of the season can only be drawn back by periodical returns after the lapse of a certain period. No farm, then, can be cultivated in this country in a suitable manner, unless the farmer can look forward to a future time in which he can recover, with a profit, the capital expended by him. . . . Even the most simple arrangements of farm economy require time for execut- ing them, and time for receiving the benefits. The shortest rotation, of crops, for example, is one of four years' duration, and many of them extend to six or seven ; but in order that the advantage of a due rotation of crops may be insured, the fanner must have not one rota- tion but several. The very implements with which he works must have a reference to a sufficient period of use, otherwise they cannot be provided of the proper kinds." And he instances the steam-engines and thrashing-machines used on all the large farms on the North-east of England and the Northern and Midland counties of Scotland. " When twenty years, then, are mentioned as a suitable period for the lease of a farm, let it not be regarded as anything beyond what the nature of the pursuit, and the real interest of both parties, truly 252 ON LEASES. considered, demand." By abridging the period " a direct injuiy will arise by so doing to one or both of the~parties ; for the landlord must generally sacrifice more or less of yearly income, without a correspond- ing benefit to the payer of rent, while the latter cannot expend those funds on cultivation and improvement which a longer period of posses- sion would enable him to do. Nor is it only for lands kept in a course of tillage that security for a certain period of possession is beneficial. Even on a farm employed in depasturing sheep and cattle, and on which no sinking of capital for the purpose of tillage is required, the cases are rare in which improvements on the animals of the farm are not contem- plated, and economical arrangement proposed, which cannot be eflfected but by degrees. It is rarely that such a farm will not produce a higher rent when let for a sufiicient period, than when let only on a very short tenure, or at will ; showing that the possessor regards as a benefit the power of carrying on his business undisturbed, and sets a pecuniary value on the security which enables him to apply his capital with the most advantage." I have endeavoured to trace the history of leases, and of our modern agriculture in connexion therewith, and to show that the security for the capital of the tenant, which all admit to be necessary, will be found only in a lease for a long and defined period. Hereafter I shall deal with English leases as they are, as they ought to be in the actual state of our husbandry, and as the agents they may hereafter be made in the advancement of agriculture. ]Sr LEASES: a lectuee delivered at the koyal ageicultueal college, cirenoester. By K. G. WELFORD, Esq, JUDGE OF THE COUNTY COURT OF WAEWICItaHJEE, AT BIEMIKGHAM. ON LEASES. In my previous lecture on Agricultural Leases I have shown that in order to render a farm in England productive, and its occupation profitable to the tenant, he must be secured in possession for a considerable and defined period ; and expe- rience has settled that period at twenty-one years, as being sufficient to enable the farmer to take five or six rotations of crops, according to the course of husbandry adopted. In the actual condition of landed property, and the ordinary divi- sion of interest therein between owner and occupier, such security had always, until a comparatively recent time, been afforded by a lease, commonly for twenty-one years. From causes only incidentally affecting agriculture, and in their nature temporary and provisional, leases during the last fifty years having fallen into disuse, English landowners have, from various motives, and partly from habit and prejudice, become generally unwilling to grant leases, and have for the most part established on their estates a system of yearly tenancies, which greatly impede, if they do not altogether stop, the progress of im- proved husbandry. The exigencies of the times, the demands of farmers, and the true interests of the landowners themselves, now, however, call for- the renewal of the old and wholesome practice of letting farms on lease ; and in spite of the existing reluctance on the part of the majority of our landowners to grant leases, I believe that many years will not pass before a 356 ON LEASES. system of leases will become as general as formerly. But we cannot take up leases exactly where we left them. The con ditions of English agriculture have much changed during the last fifty years. Farming has come to be more and more a commercial business. More capital and greater knowledge and skill are required to farm successfully ; and the farmers, as a class, have become more educated, more intelligent, and less disposed to submit to be mere dependants. It has become obvious that what may be called the natural produce of land (save perhaps of the exceptionally rich soils), will not afford the rents now paid, and that the owner of the farm, in sup- plying that natural agent, the land, does little more than furnish the occupying tenant with a machine, by the right use of which, in combination with his own capital, enterprise, and personal supervision, the fund wliich is to furnish the rent of the owner as well as the profit of the tenant, may be produced. It is now clearly seen that the contract to let and to hire a farm is, or ought to be, a commercial exchange of equivalents, and not the grant of a favour by a superior lord of the soil to a dependent tenant, such as was, to a great extent, the case in the feudal, ages. In my former lecture I shortly described to you the feudal system, the groundwork of our real property law, and the small account taken of leases and farming tenants under that system, as affording the only explanation of the very anomalous character of our farm leases. Down to the commencement of the present century, — although the commer- cial element had so far prevailed in farm leases as to render fixed money rents, or rents in money, to be varied according to the prices of grain or the like, universal, — there still remained broad traces of feudalism in the numerous and minute regula- tions, the severe restrictions, and often the (^was^i-feudal reser- vations which the leases contained. "When, therefore, leases ox LEASES. 257 of the present day are framed, as is too commonly the case, on the model of leases of what I may call the 'pre-yearly- tenant' period, we find them to contain provisions which are wholly inconsistent with such a contract as the letting and hiring of a farm really is. Instead of a document securing the rights and interests of both the landlord and the tenant, and containing no more than is needful for such mutual security, the ordinary form of lease reads more like a code of directions to a farm-bailiff than the stipulations by which a tenant, using his own capital, and applying all his time and talent to the cultivation of the farm, should reasonably be bound; and in the objections I shall offer to most of the leases of farms, where as yet they are granted, I wish to be most clearly understood as so objecting in the interest of landowners no less than in the interest of farmers. If, appa- rently, the objection is most frequently urged from an occu- pier's point of view, it will be because the occupying tenaiat is the active agent in the contract, which is or ought to be mutually beneficial, and that if you fetter his freedom of action, and subject him to injurious regulations, you stop at the source the production of those means from which alone rent and profits can be derived. I hold the interests of land- lord and tenant-farmer to be so far concurrent, that if you interfere with the success of the latter, you inflict a direct injury on the former. Having made these preliminary remarks, I will proceed at once to examine in some detail the provisions commonly in- serted in farm leases, where they are still granted ; and it is necessary to show you what leases are, in ordex that I may more completely impress upon your minds what, as I conceive, they ought to be. And here let me point out some considerations which 258 OF LEASES. 'should precede the contract for a farm, of which the lease is only the written and formal record. And first, as to the farmer. Before laking a farm the farmer should well consider whether he has capital sufficient to cultivate it properly for twenty years to come, even in periods of adverse seasons and low prices, which are sure to occur during the currency of the lease. He must not calculate on everything turning out well ; he must make allowances for losses and failures, so that when they occur he may not find himself crippled in the means of making, if need he, extra exertions to counteract past and avoid future losses. Above all, let him avoid the error of taking too much land for the capital at his command. He may have money enough, and more than enough, to manage a farm of 300 acres in the best manner ; let him avoid being seduced into taking one of 400 or 500 acres. This should be especially impressed upon young men. Most of the successful farmers of my acquaint- ance have begun life on farms too small, so to speak, for their means. The condition of the bmlduigs and the land, the size of the fields, the quantity of timber, and so forth, should be fully known and considered ; and all changes re - quired in the state of the buildings or the land should be fully stipulated for by the lease, or done previously to the tenant's entry. Then let the farmer avoid a game-preserved farm, if he values his comfort, and perchance his solvency. Indeed, no man can safely take a farm on lease, unless he obtains such an eifective control over the game as will enable him, and him alone, to prevent the existence of any such quantity of game as may injure his crops. A late friend of mine, who was once asked by a noble game-preserver to look at a farm of his, with a view to become its occupier, said to the noble owner, after inspecting the farm, ' I think, my lord, you ON LEASES. 259 stock that farm yourself,' and declined to have anything to do with it. The character of the farm house and buildings form a most important consideration when the farm is taken on lease, because, though they may not be actually out of repair, they may be constructed of such inferior materials, that a tenant who undertakes to keep them in repair for twenty-one years may be contracting a very biirdensome obligation. And last, though by no means least, a sufficient number of decent and respectable cottages for the residence of the principal servants of the farmer should be attached to the farm. Then, as to the landlord. He will naturally require to know that the proposing tenant has the means of performing the en- gagements of hislease. He wOl fairly require the tenantto under- take and duly to perform repairs during the currency of the lease. So he is entitled to a higher rent than a yearly tenant can be expected to pay, as well as to receive his rent punctually and regularly alike in bad and good seasons. All the terms of the contract having been settled, the lease is prepared by the land- lord's lawyer, and the draft of the lease should be carefully perused by the farmer, who wUl do wisely in seeking profes- sional advice, both from a lawyer and a competent surveyor. It is not unusual to find landlords objecting to such a business- like scrutiny of their leases on the part of tenants, and insisting that their own form of lease shall be adopted by the tenant without change or modification. But this is both unfair and unwise. On the tenant falls the burden of performing the contract, and he ought to have his interests and wishes con- sidered ; and in the actual state of opinion as to the frame of farm leases, such discussions would tend greatly to advance the landlord's interest, by improving the character of his leases, and, as a result, the condition of his tenants. As I have mentioned, the lease itself is sufficiently simple, 260 ON LEASES. and, as I shall by and bye show you, need not be a long docu- ment, in order amply to protect the interests of both parties, landlord and tenant. After the demise of the farm, and its description, either in the body of the lease, or by reference to a schedule at the end, which is a neater and more convenient plan, will come the exceptions reserved to the landlord. These are usually timber and woods, mines and quarries, with liberty to enter for the purpose of taking off such reserved products of the land, and to inspect the repairs. Then there is commonly a reservation of game, and the right to the landlord, his friends and servants, to enter for sporting purposes; and often fish, wild-fowl, and rabbits are also reserved. Now, against this reservation of game and other wild animals, with the conse- quent iafliction of gamekeepers and game-watchers prowling over the farm at all seasons, and interfering vexatiously with the farmer and his workmen, every farmer ought to make the firmest stand. I would strongly advise a farmer rather to abandon what would appear to be a promising farm, than to consent to a reservation of game, which must prevent him from being master on his own land, and may be so used as to entail absolute ruin upon him. There are estates on which tenants are forbidden to cut their grain otherwise than by reaping it, or to plough up their stubbles for a long time after harvest, or to trim the hedges within so many feet of the centre, with the express purpose of creating shelter for game and rabbits. Game in fair and reasonable quantities, sufficient to give rational amusement to a sportsman — ^though not enough for a battue-shoote/ — may, and assuredly would, be preserved by the farmer whose landlord is fond of shooting. But the means of protecting his crops from injurj^ by game must be lodged in the farmer's own hands, and he must be free from the vexa- tions caused by gamekeepers, if he is to carry on his business ON LEASES. 261 with a fair expectation of profit, and according to the needs of modern husbandry. Therefore, let every farmer require, and let every adviser of the landowners recommend, that the reser- vations of game and sporting privileges be for ever blotted out of our agricultural leases. Next, having defined the term of holding, and reserved the rent, with penal rents for breaking up pastures or other acts intended to be prohibited, we have the ordinary and proper covenants by the tenant to pay rent, rates, and taxes, to repair the buildings, fences, etc., and often to carry the materials where the landlord covenants to do the repairs. Then we come to a stratum of covenants, frequently of the most objectionable nature, which are commonly called ' cropping covenants,' and which tend very materially to prevent improve- ments in husbandry. These covenants constitute a large part of that cumbrous document the fann lease. To attempt to give in extenso the cropping covenants of several different leases, to which I would draw your attention, would occupy far too much time, but I wiU indicate their purport, occasion - ally giving you a ' sample,' in the very words, from which you will judge of the quality of the whole ' sack.' T take the lease of a farm in Berkshire, being a form given in the Berkshire Lease. Appendix to 'Piatt on Leases,' a standard and useful law-book. The tenant is made to covenant that ' he shall and wUl, yearly and every year, house, stack and deposit on some part of the --said premises, all the corn, hay, straw, chaff, and haulm, which shall arise and be produced therefrom, and spend and use the same in and upon the said premises.' This would, really and literally, seem to oblige the tenant to ' spend ' and use all the ' corn,' as well as other products, on the premises. Of course that is not intended, but in such clouds of words, and such sweeping clauses, all meaning and discrimination are lost. 262 ON LEASES. Then the tenant ' shall and will lay and spread all the dung, soil, and compost to be made from the produce of the said premises, on such parts of the said land, hereby demised, as shall most require the same, at reasonable times, and in a proper and husbandlike manner;' except in the last year of the term, when the manure is to be left in the yards for the use of the landlord or his succeeding tenant, who after the 6th of May is to be at liberty to draw out such manure on the part of the land then in course, for turnips, or the next wheat crop. Whether the last year's manure should thus be dealt with, I will at present say nothing ; it may or may not be an arrange- ment adapted to the husbandry of the district. But what possible use can there be in making a farmer covenant to stack and spend all his produce on his farm, and to spread his manure where it is most required ? Of course, he will do both, as these acts are the Alpha and the Omega of his business. Eegulations for the last three or four years of a term are another matter, but even these need only be but few and simple, as I wiU presently show. Next is the covenant that the tenant, ' shall and ■wiU, at aU times during the said term Sheep. hereby granted, keep a flock of sheep, of not less than sheep, and pen and fold the same, from time to time, and at all times upon the said premises, where most necessary, except in the last year of the said term, when the same shall be folded on such parts of the said premises as the said (landlord) shall from time to time direct, and in default of such direction, on such parts of the premises as shall then be in course for the next wheat crop.' You will gather that this form of lease is supposed to apply to a light soil, sheep and turnip land, and really, the notion of making the occupier of such a farm covenant to keep a certain stock of sheep, and fold them on his land, ' where most necessary,' is too absurd. Why, nothing ON LEASES. 263 but inability to buy them would prevent the farmer from keeping as many sheep as possible, and then, where is the use of his covenant ? We all know the old saying, ' It is easy to lead the horse to water, but when there, you can't make him drink.' So it is easy enough to bind the farmer to do this, or abstain from that, but imless his own sense of self-interest, and his means of acting up to it, induce him to farm well, the most cunningly-devised covenants will not compel him to do so. Then our Berkshire tenant is required to covenant not to mow meadow land more than once a year, nor later than the 15th of July, nor more than two-thirds of it in any year. He is also ' to preserve and take aU possible care of aU trees, sap- lings, and stemmers. He is to cut and plant the hedges or hedgerows, and clean the ditches and banks when required, and preserve the same from damage. These, with a multitude of regulations for quitting and making off the last crop, with a restriction on assigning or underletting, make up all the sub- stantial, but by no means all the verbal portions of the residue of this lease. The regulations for cropping, however, are by no means so minute or mischievous as in some other leases to which I shall draw your attention. They are simply useless, and therefore absurd. Norfolk was long considered the mo4el agricultural county Norfolk Lease, of England, and perhaps it is stUl the county in which good farming is most general and uniform. It is also the county in which leases have been better maintained than elsewhere, and where also much consideration has been given to the practical effect of cropping and restrictive covenants. Very much of this is due to the late Mr. Coke, afterwards Lord Leicester, who set such a wise example to the landowners of his county of what a landowner may do for his OAvn interest by discriminating liberality in dealing with his tenants. Mr. Bacon, who in 1844 264 ON LEASES. wrote the prize essay of the Royal Agricultural Society on Nor- folk farming, gives the following instance at once of Mr. Coke's generosity and the beneficial effect of a lease. The tenant of a farm at Mileham, belonging to Mr. Coke, had entered it in 1810 with a twenty -one years' lease. ' It consisted of the off portions of several farms, with common land recently attached. There was no building on the place, and the fences were almost all to raise.' The then state is shown by a plate. 'In 1814 an enclosure took place, and forty acres of bog and common were 'added. This was reclaimed by the tenant at an expense of £500.' A plate of the farm in its improved state is also ap- pended to the essay. To this Mr. Bacon adds this significant query, ' Would these improvements have been made had the tenant held his occupation only from year to yeair ? ' And now with regard to Mr. Coke's manner of dealing with such a tenant. In 1816, this tenant — his lease having then run out six years — ^reclaimed from a complete bog two pieces of meadow, at an expense of £10 per acre. When Mr. Blaikie, the agent, first visited the farm in 1816, he was so struck with the improve- ments going on, that he exclaimed, ' Upon my word, young man, you've a stout heart.' No more passed, but not long afterwards, the tenant received a letter from Mr. Blaikie, en- closing one from Mr. Coke, to this effect, ' I approve of the improvements effected on your farm, as reported to me by Mr. Blaikie, and in consequence will grant you a new lease from Michaelmas 1816 for twenty-one years.' This was with- out any increased rent. The tenant, Mr. Bacon states, sur- vived that lease, and in 1844 had entered upon another period of twenty-one years, under lease, with only a nominal increase of rent. Does any one believe that such liberal modes of deal- ing with an estate do not bring their own reward in the advancement of the owner's material interests ? ON LEASES. 265 At the date of that essay, Mr. Bacon says, ' The diu'ation as well as the restrictive clauses in leases have of late years undergone much discussion among the occupiers in general, and although opinions differ as to length of term, it is univers- ally admitted that leases varying from twelve to twenty- one years are the only means by which a tenant can secure a return for his outlay, while they are alike beneficial to the landlord in the improvement of his estate, to the tenant who makes an immediate investment by receiving an earlier return, and to the community at large by a consequent increased pro- duction. This is the general feeling among the tenantry of Norfolk,' And Mr. Bacon cites from the letter of one of his correspondents this passage; — 'In fact, without a lease, he (the farmer) dares not pursue that course of cultivation to which he must look for remuneration . . . There can be no better argument as to the general benefit to be derived from a long lease, than the fact, that in going through this coimty, you may, with very few exceptions, select those farms which are held under lease, from the state of their cultivation, the credi- table appearance of the fences, houses, and premises, by which, while the occupier is holding it to a profit, and in comfort, the owner is considerably advantaged by the increased value of his estate, either to sell or to let, whenever a long lease expires.' And though, twenty years ago, opinion as to the benefit of allowing freedom of action to the farmer was much less advanced than under subsequent experience it has now become, Mr. Bacon then wrote, on the authority of the in- fluential agriculturists he had consulted in preparing his essay, ' It is the universal conviction that the tenant cannot injure the land in cropping or otherwise, without injuring himself. There is a growing feeling, therefore, against many of the compulsory clauses as to cropping, ploughing, etc., as 266 ON LEASES. injurious to a good farmer, with sufficient capital, skill, and industry.' Let me now briefly refer to tlie cropping and restrictive covenants of the form of a ' lease for a farm in Norfolk/ also appended to ' Piatt on Leases.' First, I may notice that the reservation of wood is unusually comprehensive, being ' timber, and other trees, wood, underwood, alders, willows, sallows, thorns, and bushes,' with power ' to plant all sorts of trees in the several banks and hedgerows.' Not a twig or thorn, therefore, could the tenant touch. But to meet this obvious absurdity, the landlord is made to covenant, ' To set out sufficient rough wood and fencing stuff for repairing gates, posts,' etc., and to allow the tenant, ' for his firing, to be con- sumed and burnt on the premises, the bushes, thorns, and roots, which shall arise from the said premises, when the ditches shall be cut and scoured, except such as may be necessary for making a good hedge there, and repairing other fences belonging to the premises.' All this is the veriest trifling. Amongst the tenant's covenants are the following, — that he will personally inhabit, with his family, the farm- house, and make the same his usual place of residence, and not desert or shut up the same ; that he wiU carry all materials for repairs, ' and shall yearly perform two days' carriage, with a waggon and team of horses, for the carriage of coals to the haU for the use of the landlord;' and "shall supply and deliver at the hall, once in every year during the term, two loads of good wheat straw, thrashed out with a flail, without being paid, or receiving any remuneration for the same.' The two last covenants &,re quasi-feudal services suitable only to the middle ages. There is something inexpressibly petty in such provisions. Then the tenant is made to covenant to repair wilful damages ; to cut fences and scour ditches — the ON LEASES. 267 width and depth of ditches being specified ; to i^lant thorns in gaps and weed them ; to clip the hedges, ' with shears, and in a proper manner, every year;' to preserve all young trees, layers, etc., and protect them from cattle ; not to ' feU, lop, or top poUards ;' to destroy ant and mole hills, and the ants and moles there ; to ' mow and destroy the rushes, nettles, and other weeds growing on the pasture lands ; to weed the fences ; to permit the landlord to use the tenant's name for prosecuting game trespassers, and to give the landlord ' notice of any person who shall himt, hawk, fish, or sport ' on the farm. Now, these covenants may be designated as nonsensical, and could only have got into leases originally, because the framers of them are paid by the number of words they contain. Next, we have cropping covenants ; the tenant covenant- ing that he ' will (as soon as the same can be got into regular course), during the said term, use and manage all the arable lands, and at the end thereof leave and deliver up the same to the landlord, in four equal shifts or divisions, accord- ing to the four-course system of husbandry-practice in Norfolk, cropping four course. as nearly as the size of the several closes will admit ; (that is to say) shall yearly cause one of the said shifts to be properly summer-tiUed, and sown with turnips, to be twice hoed and preserved for a crop ; another of the said shifts to be properly ploughed and harrowed, and sown with barley or oats imme- diately after turnips ; another of the said shifts to be laid down with good sound clover, or other artificial grass-seeds, sown with barley or oats next after turnips, and to be continued so laid down with grass coming from such seeds, at least fourteen months after the sowing of the same ; and the remaining shift to be properly ploughed and harrowed, and sown with winter corn, oats, or pease.' Then we have covenants to stack the corn, hay, etc., on the farm, to consume it there, and to spread 268 ON LEASES. the manure and so forth, somewhat as in the Berkshire lease, with multitudinous provisions for regulating going-off and incoming tenants. Fully appreciating the benefits which the four-course or Norfolk rotation has conferred on the occupiers of the lighter soils of this county, I deny emphatically that any farmer should be bound to that rotation during the whole term of his lease. Complaints of failure of clover under the Norfolk course have long prevailed, and more recently it has come to be appre- hended that turnips cannot be grown on the same land once in four years with the same advantage as when the four-course system was introduced. Then some of the highest farmers in Norfolk find that under certain conditions two corn crops grown in succession are more productive than when separated by a highly manured green crop. This has been strongly insisted on in the latest prize-essay on Norfolk farming in the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society ; and the same view has been expressed in other districts, and the same reasoning applies to any and every other rotation of crops or plan of cul- tivation. What may be the best known system on particular kinds of land when a lease is granted, may, before its termina - tion, have become in a great measure obsolete and inapplicable. A friend of mine, a land agent, who, amongst other properties, manages a considerable estate in Lancashire, tells me that several of the tenants offered to give 1 per cent, increased rent, to be permitted to vary the rotation prescribed by their leases, by adopting a five-course instead of a four- course shift, or the reverse, for I forget which was the exact change desired. The authors of the E, A. S.'s prize essay on the farming of Suffolk (1849), Messrs. William and Hugh Raynbird, under the head of ' Improvements still Required,' say, — ' Farmers are frequently bound by covenants for the cultivation of their land ON LEASES. 269 under a certain rotation, without sufficiently considering that one rotation or system is not suited to every description of soil, or that more than one kind of soil occiirs on the same farm. . . . The farmer is often obliged to adopt the same course of cropping on a stiff clay as on a friable sand, although there are many unavoidable circumstances which render it impracticable always to farm in the manner laid down with the same profit that might be obtained should some of these stringent conditions be taken off the farmer's shoulders. For instance, by being bound to plough his fallows a certain num- ber of times, — in Suffolk frequently five or six, — the farmer, if a little behindhand, which wiU frequently occur, either from an excess of dry or wet weather, will perhaps lose the oppor- tunity of sowing his root crops, merely because he has not yet given the regular allowance of ploughings .which he is hound to give, and which the land is bound to receive, without con sidering whether he is doing good to the land or to himself by such proceedings.' And they justly observe, that though the farmer has often been reproached with following ' in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, without stepping out of his way to make improvements in the cultivation of the soil ; ' yet if ' the manner of cultivating that soil is fixed by a system,' how can he do ' otherwise than tread in the footsteps of those who have preceded him?' And long leases are ex- pressly mentioned as amongst the improvements required in Suffolk for the benefit of both landlords and tenants. In the Appendix to Mr. Wingrove Cooke's book on ' Agri- cooke LninUord's cultural Tenancies,' to which I referred in my former lecture, Lease. there are two forms of leases given, which illustrate in a remarkable way my view of this subject. The first is entitled ' Landlord's Leases,' the second ' Tenant's Leases.' The head- note or short table of contents of the landlord's lease is this,— T 270 ON LEASES. Cooke. Tenant'."! Lease. Reservations in Landlord's Lease. ' Lease for twenty years, and so from year to year afterwards, determinable after two years' notice, with special proviso for re-entry, and covenants expressly adapted to the security of the landlord. Eeservation of game and cottages.' The head-note of the tenants' lease is, ' Lease for twenty- one years, with provisions expressly adapted for the protection of the lessee. Tenant to expend money in improvements, put in repair farm-buildings, erect new buildings and drain; to forfeit his lease if he persist in cultivating in a manner which arbitrators shall decide to be injurious. Landlord to allow tenant to remove machinery, to purchase iixtures at a valua- tion, or to allow the tenant to remove them. Special covenant that the tenant's representatives may assign lease, if landlord refuses to purchase it at arbitration price. Special covenants as to arbitration, and as to outgoing valuations. iVb reservation of game.' I will note a few of the points of contrast between the so- called ' Landlord's ' and ' Tenant's ' leases, as they may lead us in determining whether the lease which allows the tenant freedom of action, is not practically more truly a landlord's, as well as a tenant's lease, than the restrictive lease. In the landlord's lease, we find amongst the reservations these, of extra stringency :— ' AU cottages and cottage-gardens, with the appurtenances to such cottages belonging;' the bodies of poUard trees, and the lops of trees not usually lopt, stones, flints, chalk, marl, brick-clay, or buHding materials, with the usual powers of entry ; all royalties and game, with liberty to the lessor, and those having his authority, to himt, course, shoot, fish, and fowl on the premises, and to kill for his own use the game, rabbits, or other wild animals thereon (doing no unnecessary damage). Then, as if some qualm of conscience was felt as to rabbits, we find this proviso, ' That ON LEASES, 2 71 in case the rabbits shall become so numerous as to effect serious injury to the cultivation of the said farm, then, after notice of that fact given in writing by the lessee to the lessor, the lessee shall, during the month of February in any one year, but in no other month, in case the lessor shall, after such notice, refuse or neglect so to do, be at liberty to destroy a reasonable proportion of such rabbits, either with dogs, guns, or ferrets, using no snares, spring-guns, or traps of any description whatever for that purpose.' Can anything be conceived more likely to lead to perpetual hot water and irri- tation between the farmer and the landlord, and his game- keeper, than such a rabbit clause as the above ? The reservations in the tenant's lease are simply timber. Reservations in Tenant's mines, minerals, etc., with liberty of entry to cut, and dig, and ^^^^«' take away the reserved products, with this difference from the landlord's lease, — ' doing as little damage as possible, and pay- ing compensation to the tenant, to be settled by arbitration.' Surely it is but fair to pay the farmer for damage done to his crops by the entry of the landlord's servants to fell and remove timber, and to work mines and minerals. In the tenant's lease, there is merely the reservation of the stipulated rent ; but in the ' landlord's ' lease, we have in addi- tion the reservation of penal rents of £20 per acre for every acre which ' shall be breast- ploughed, or burnt, or in any other respect used, managed, or dealt with contrary to any of the stipulations for the cultivation of the premises hereinafter con- tained.' Such penal rents are to be payable during the remainder of the term, and to be recoverable by distress. Then the landlord's lease has a very precise, detailed, and stringent covenant by the tenant to do all kinds of repairs. The tenant's lease provides for the erection of certain new buildings by the tenant at a speciiied cost, and for the repair 272 ON LEASES. of the old buildings, and to keep all in repair. These cove- nants, though needlessly verbose, are not substantially dif- ferent. Next for notice come the cropping covenants of the ' land- lord's' lease. These are — to cultivate 'according to iive-lain course' ; fodder crops and manure to be consumed on the farm, or manure of specified value to be brought back ; no fodder to be removed during the last two years of the term ; and that the average weight of sheep and cattle be kept during the last two years. The clause by which the ' five- lain course' is defined in this, which I have no doubt Mr. Cooke intended as an improved landlord's lease, is quite a Cropping clause, curiosity. It is this : ' 5. That the said premises shall be farmed, managed, and cultivated according to the most ap- proved four or five-lain course or system of husbandry, as set down in the first schedule hereunto annexed, opposite each field ; that is to say, with respect to the five-lain course, that no less than two- fifth parts of the arable land thereof shall be always in sown grass and a two years' ley, so as to be in proper preparation for wheat ; and whatever part of the arable land that shall be ploughed or in tillage in any one year, not less than one-third part of the land so ploughed or in tillage shall be in summer fallow or fallow crops, well manured, and duly worked in proper season ; and no two crops of white com, nor any two crops whatever of the same land, shaU follow each other, or be taken in successive years from the same land; and with respect to the four- lain, not less than one-fourth of the arable land thereof shall be always in sown grass, and whatever part of the arable land thereof shall be ploughed or in tillage in any one year, not less than one- third part of the land so ploughed or in tillage shall be in summer fallow or fallow crops, well manured, and duly worked in the proper ON LEASES. 273 season ; no two crops of wliite com, nor any two crops what- ever of the same kind, shall follow each other, or be taken in successive years from the same land : Provided that where any portion of land is fed off with turnips, and properly fal- lowed in the following year for wheat, then a crop of spring corn may be taken from such land after the wheat; that neither on the four or five -lain course shall any artificial grass upon the same premises be mown twice before it is again ploughed, except clover, cow-grass, and saintfoin, and those only at proper and reasonable times ; and all land sown with grass shall be sown with at least twelve pounds of best clover to the standard acre, and this along with the first crop after summer fallow or fallow crops.' In the ' tenant's ' there is the covenant not to break up old pasture land, but without any penalty or penal rent ; to expend the manure made on the farm upon the land ; if hay, or straw, or green crops be sold off, to bring back ' so much manure as shall be equivalent to the manure which would have been produced if such hay,' etc., had been consumed, ' or so much oil- cake, corn, or fodder as shall produce' equivalent manure ; and the covenants to ' keep the said farm and lands free from weeds and in good tilth and condition, and well and properly stock, cultivate, manure, and manage the same in a fair and proper manner, and to leave the same at the end of the term, or other sooner determination.' There are some other contrasts between the two leases which it would occupy too much time to point out in detail, but they may be thus briefly stated : — The terms of the tenant's lease refer to some practical stipulations for certain things which have been arranged .as between two parties to an equal bargain, each agreeing to do what is necessary to carry into operation the prior arrangements. The stipulations of the 274 ON LEASES. landlord's lease seem all dictated by a superior to an inferior, and to be pervaded by the suspicion that the inferior party win, if he can, evade the performance of his part of the bar- gain, and for his own gain do some serious injury to the supe- rior's land. A friend has allowed me to take the copy of a lease which has just been granted, of a small farm in Lancashire, by the trustees of a large settled estate, under the sanction of the Court of Chancery, and the provisions of a modern act ' to facilitate leases of settled estates.' The lease is a fearfully long one, and though the extent of the ,farm is only 195 acres, the rent £110, and the term granted only fourteen years, the cost of the lease and counterpart to be paid for by this little farmer will exceed £25. No small amount of ingenuity has been applied to this lease to render its provisions stringent and re- strictive. There are long recitals of the Chancery proceedings, by which the trustees were authorized to grant leases, and then all the pieces of land of which the farm consists are fuUy de- scribed. There is a full reservation of mines, and, being a coal district, ample powers to search for, work, etc., the mines, lay down tram-roads, and the like, to which there can be little objection, if damage done to the tenant thereby had been pro- vided for. Then there is the reservation of ' all game, wood- cocks, snipes, quaUs, landrails, rabbits, and wildfowl and fish,' with liberty, etc., to take them. AH streams of water are reserved, with liberty to divert them for mining and other purposes. Powers are reserved to alter roads and footpaths, to enclose and detach waste lands adjoining the farm, to plant any part of the land. Here we have the penal rent of £20 per acre for pasture land broken up, and also for every acre which ' shall be run out, or shall, without the consent of the lessors, be cultivated or managed otherwise than in accord- ON LEASES. 275 ance with the mode of cultivation specified in the fourth or cuitme other subsequent columns of the first schedule to the lease,' to be payable during the 'residue of the term. The tenant, of course, is made to covenant that he will cultivate according to the scheduled plan ; he also covenants to serve parochial ofiices, and to ' perform five days' boon labour yearly for the lessor, and for that purpose provide and use a cart and two horses and an able driver.' He is to manure the meadow -land — half the farm — every three years. The tenant covenants to mow thistles and weeds before they flower ; to destroy weeds ; to keep the land free from moles, and the buildings clear of rats and other vermin ; to provide labour and carting for draining, the landlord finding tiles ; to repair, materials being found by landlord, and deliver up in repair. The landlords are to enter and cut rushes, with- out giving compensation ; tenant not to permit new roads or pathways to be used ; preserve timber, consume fodder, leave manure of last year without payment ; not to destroy game, etc., and to use his endeavours to preserve it ; not to assign or commit any acts of bankruptcy, execution, or assignment for creditors, all to be forfeitures. This lease contains an arbi- tration clause. Finally, we have the ' schedule of cultivation,' of which the following is a specimen: — ' 1420 lower harloes, 6 ac. 3r. 8p. ;. 1862, beans or oats; 186.3, fallow or green crop; 1864, wheat; 1865, pasture or mowing; 1866, beans or oats; 1867, fallow or green crop ; 1868, wheat; 1869, pasture or mowing; 1870, beans or oats ; 1871, fallow or green crop ; 1872, wheat; 1873, pasture or mowing; 1874, beans; 1875, fallow or green crop.' Now I say emphatically that all this detailed regulation may be, and generally is, most injurious to the tenant, while it is not of the slightest benefit to the landlord. I have gene- rally found that where the tenants of an estate are most 276 ON LEASES. restricted and regulated, whether they are leaseholders or yearly tenants holding under such restrictive regulations, they are worse farmers, and their farms are in far worse condition than where the tenants are allowed liberty to cultivate in the * manner they find most conducive to their own interest. Amongst the leases I have before me is one, lent me by the friend who supplied the Lancashire lease, of a large farm near Eochester in Kent, which was let in 1832 for twenty-one years, Tenant's Lease, at a rental of £900. This lease reserves timber, and the right of entry to cut and take it away, making compensation to the tenant for damage resulting therefrom, but there is no reserva- tion of game or anything else. The tenant covenants to repair, and his cropping covenant is, that he 'will, in a good and husbandlike manner, and according to the custom of the coun- try, manage the farm- lands and premises, and as often as need shaU recLuire, cleanse, scour, and put all the hedges, ditches, and fences, drains and water-courses, in a good and proper condition, and at all times keep the same properly scoured, etc' The farm and dwelling-house are good, and the tenant is a man of capital. The lease of 1832 having expired, a new one of twenty-one years was granted at an increased rent, but in other respects on the same terms as the old one, neither land- lord nor tenant fearing or intending injury to the other from the absence of restrictive regulations, so often supposed to be necessary to protect the one and restrain the other. It is often said that such restrictions are only intended to operate upon bad tenants, and to restrain acts of fraud, or such gross misuse of the land as would plainly be injurious to the tenant as well as the landlord, and that where the tenant farms well, no intention exists of enforcing the cropping regu- lations. And I am told that on the estate of a nobleman well known for his liberality in dealing with his tenants, numerous ON LEASES. 277 cropping regulations are retained in the farming contracts, — leases, I believe, — which are confessedly unsuited to the hus- bandry adopted by all the best, in fact, I believe by all the farmers on the estate. When the proprietor's attention was drawn to this point, his remark was, ' When I see a tenant growing good crops, and farming well, I never care whether he observes the routine prescribed by his lease or not.' That may be so in this and similar instances, but farmers ought not to be sub- jected, and ought not to subject themselves, to the possible consequences of any change of ownership, or even any change of views on the part of their present landlord. No cropping regulations should be inserted m a lease unless it is fully intended by both parties that its observance should be impera- tive. A form of agreement, which is in many respects such as I would recommend, was promulgated some years since by the Vale of Evesham Agricultural Association, of which, I believe, Mr. Holland was, and perhaps still is, the President. (See Appendix.) I have reserved for distinct consideration the restriction on assignment or underletting by the tenant without the land- lord's consent, which is almost universal in agricultural leases, because I believe that the modification, if not the total aban- donment, of this restriction would operate most beneficially on British agriculture, and that the time has come for reconsider- ing the grounds of such restriction. Take the case of a farmer who ha.s taken his farm upon equitable terms for a twenty- one years' lease. He has executed such permanent and durable improvements as he had under- taken by the stipulations of his lease, and also such general improvements as he may have deemed useful with reference to his own period of occupation. ISTo one practically versed in farming will be surprised if the farmer has then found that his 278 ON LEASES. expenses have been somewhat greater than his estimate, and that he finds more stock or more manure than his available funds will command to be necessaiy for deriving aU the pro- duction from his farm of which it is capable. He wants seve- ral hundred pounds to buy sheep and bullocks, artificial manure or oilcake, and to buy them on the best terms for ready money. Let me use figures, which in such cases are most expressive. Say £3000 to £5000 may have been judiciously laid out on the farm held on lease, of which many years are unexpired; but such investment being the farmer's whole means, he finds that from £500 to £1000 in addition wiU render his previous investment far more profitable than it could otherwise be. Now, if instead of the farmer who had invested £5000 upon his land, we had been dealing with a manufacturer who had laid out an equivalent amount in the erection of buildings and costly machinery, what could be a more ordinary or business-like transaction, than that the lease of his mill, with the machinery, should be made an available security for the £1000 the manufacturer might require as an addition to his floating capital, an addition required to render his mill, fixed capital, and previously possessed floating capital more profitable than it would otherwise be? "Why, then, should this not apply to the farmer ? He wants £500 or £600 for artificial manures to his roots, and for the purchase of sheep and oilcake to feed off such roots, and if there had been no restriction on the assignment of his lease, or only some such modified restriction as I will presently suggest, the de- posit of the lease with his banker, or with a private lender as a security, would enable him to raise the money upon the most advantageous terms. Who could be injured by such a transaction? Not the farmer, for he will gain an increase of produce from the crops thus forced, probably a direct profit ON LEASES. 279 from feeding the sheep, and certainly a general improvement in the condition of his land. Suppose his sheep when sold only brought back their original cost, with the oilcake they consumed, the transaction was one well worth doing, for the improvemeut of the next crop would more than cover the interest he might pay, even if the sheep did not. Neither could the landlord be injured by such transaction. On the contrary, whatever might be its immediate results in the form of direct profit to the farmer, the land itself must necessarily be enhanced in value. Yet probably there is nothing many landlords would regard with more jealousy than a power on the part of their tenants to pledge their leases as security for money. Such a power, however, is absolutely necessary, if the farmer's business is to be regarded and conducted on commer- cial principles. The restriction on assignment is generally most stringent and comprehensive. ' Thus, in the ' landlord's ' lease of Mr. Cooke, to which I have before referred, which may be taken as a fair sample of agricultural leases, the landlord is to have the right of re-entry, ' if the tenant shall assign, under- let, or part with the possession of any part of the said premises, or shall become or be declared bankrupt or insolvent, or shall make any assignment for the benefit of, or compositioa with, his creditors, or shall mortgage or deposit this lease, or shall suffer execution or extent, or if the said term, or any the interest of the tenant of and in said demised premises, or any part thereof, shall be seized or taken in execution under any process whatever, for any debt or demand due from or owing by the tenant, or if the tenant shall do or suffer any other act by which the said premises shall be affected.' If the tenant or any assignee be obliged to keep the farm in a good and clean state of cultivation, and be restrained from dividing it, I do not see that any injury could arise to the 280 ON LEASES. landlord by allowing the farm to go from the tenant, who wishes to part with his lease, or who has pledged it as a secu- rity for money to a purchaser or a mortgagee, who would probably sell it. The purchaser of the lease would be more Likely to improve the land than the tenant, who, had he been unable to sell, must have reluctantly remained in possession. And such, I have little doubt, will hereafter be the opinion generally entertained on the subject. But in the meantime we have to deal with the wellnigh universal practice of pro- hibiting any assignment or dealing with agricultural leases. This restriction on assignment without the landlord's consent is very much insisted on, under the influence of that semi- feudal feeling which regards tenant-farmers as dependants of the landlord ; and many proprietors would deem it a hardship that any person not selected by themselves should occupy one of their farms. Such feelings, however, are amongst the worst obstacles to agricultural improvement, because, being purely sentimental and traditional, they are not amenable to reason. So strong, however, is the hold which this restriction on as- signment has obtained, that for the present it will probably be wiser to propose such practical modifications as may give some liberty, without entire abandonment of restriction. Thus, in the case of a tenant's bankruptcy, his assignees, who represent the interest of creditors, may be required, within a definite time, say six months, after the bankruptcy, to dispose of the lease to a responsible tenant, who shall actually occupy it, or in default the landlord may re- enter. So if a mortgagee should enforce his security against the tenant from whom the lease has- been received, he (the mortgagee) should be required either to occupy the farm or dispose of it to a responsible tenant. The following is a modified prohibition on assignment which I framed many years ago as a substitute for the ON LEASES. 281 usual restriction, in the lease of a small farm I rented iu Hertfordshire, which stood the test of a double use : — ' Pro- vided also that the said tenant, his executors, administrators, or assignees, shall not let, assign, or part with the posses- sion of the said premises (except to the trustees or trustee of the settlement of the wife of the said tenant or otherwise in trust for her), without first informing the said landlord, his heirs and assignees, of the name and address of the intended tenant or assignee, and affording to the landlord sufficient proof of the responsibility of such intended tenant or assignee, or without procuring the said intended tenant or assignee to covenant for the observance and performance of all the cove- nants, conditions, and stipulations contained in this note on the part of the tenant, his executors, administrators, and assignees.' This provides for the security of the landlord, by Io"a*migi,t™*n obliging the tenant, before assigning his lease, to show that the ^^ ^''''*'^' new tenant is a responsible person, and giving the landlord the opportunity of making inquiries for himself, if he thinks fit so to do. I may mention the test to which this provision was subjected. I assigned my lease some ten years before its expiration to a gentleman of ample means and agricultural experience, and before the arrangement was complete I intro- duced him to the trustee of the landlord's will (the landlord being then dead), who was quite satisfied with the substitution. The new tenant covenanted to indemnify me against the rent and stipulations of the lease. After occupying the farm for two or three years, and laying out a good deal of money upon it, his wife wished to remove, and my assignee disposed of the lease to Mr. P., a gentleman also of ample means, but without much agricultural experience. He also covenanted to indemnify his predecessor. Mr. P. found amateur farming not profitable, and he disposed of his lease to a farmer from another district. 282 OX LEASES. who paid a considerable sum for valuations on entry, but, encountering two or three wet seasons (it is heavy land), he sold off everything, just before Michaelmas, and got out of the way. I was called upon by the landlord to pay the rent and perform the covenants, whereupon I called upon the gentle- man to whom I had assigned, under his covenant of indemnity, and then he and I joined in calling on Mr. P., under the like indemnity, he had given, to perform the duties of a tenant. This he did, and after re-occupying the farm for a time, gave- up the residue of the lease to a wealthy indigo-planter who had purchased the property. There can be no doubt that such a liberty to assign has a commercial value, and farmers would readily give (as I did) more rent in consequence of the power of disposing of the lease, and getting back at least some por- tion of the money laid out on the land, should circumstances occur to render such a disposal convenient or profitable. Thus, in this, as in other changes giving freedom of action to the tenant, the landlord's interest is advanced as well as that of the tenant. In short, freedom to use property, and security for its enjoyment, give it commercial value. In the case of agricul- tural land, this value is shared by the landlord and the tenant. But the commercial principles, security to enjoy and freedom to use, have hitherto been very imperfectly applied to farming land in England. I wiU touch oiJ.y on two other points, — -first, the new element which steam-cultivation must necessarily bring into force as respects the letting and hiring farms ; and, secondly, some of the developments of which, as I think, the lease system is capable. I have read with attention a great deal of what has been written on steam- cultivation, and I think, that as at present advised, the following propositions may be taken as de- monstrated:-- ON LEASES, 283 1. That it is to clay soils and heavy loams that steam- ploughing can be applied with the most decided and unques- tioned advantages. Perhaps it might be said that on such soils alone wiU steam-cultivation, in its actual state, be found profitable. 2. That large fields are necessary to the profitable use of steam-ploughing ; and that as clay soils and heavy loams are, as the rule, divided into smaller enclosures, and more encum- bered with timber- trees and hedgerows than, other descrip- tion of land, there must be a considerable clearance of trees and hedgerows before steam-cultivation can be generally used where it is most wanted. 3. That the use of steam- cultivation involves the employ- ment of greater capitals than are at present employed by farmers occupying farms in most of the clay land and heavy loam districts. Now, the following conclusions flowing from these proposi- tions are, I think, undeniable : — 1. The farmer who contem- plates taking a clay farm upon lease, cannot omit to estimate the advantages to be derived, immediately or before the termi- nation of his lease, from adopting steam-cultivation, and con- sequently he must calculate on requiring to use more capital than has hitherto been deemed sufficient for the occupation of such a farm. 2. He will not take the farm unless such a clearance of trees and hedgerows be provided for as will enable steam-cultivation to be adopted. Practically, these things will eventually produce great changes in the clay land districts ; and landlords, who are in many parts of the country urging steam-culture on the tenant farmers, will find they must either effect such clearances themselves, or consent to stipula- tions under which farmers wiU be induced to execute such works. 284 ON LEASES. Le™e"sy™t°m"' Having thus considered the improvements which are re- quired in agricultural leases according to our actual system, I will shortly indicate the developmenj; of which the lease system, as applied to agricultural property, is capable. The prraoiple on which such development must be founded is that with which we are all famiUar in reference to building leases, namely, the grant to leaseholders, who undertake to make large outlays in improvement, of such beneficial interests in the land leased as wiU enable them to make such improvements the source of profit to themselves. Of course the benefit will not be confined to the tenant ; the landlord will share in the advan- tages of any such arrangement. We know how an acre or two of land situated near towns or other centres of population and industry, worth, in its original state, at most £4 or £5 per acre, often produces to the landlord, when let on building leases, ten or twenty times that income ; and the tenants of such building leases also dispose of their leases with consider- able profit. I will mention two instances which have recently occurred within my own professional circle. A gentleman, holding a public office, was induced about ten years ago to buy some acres of meadow-land on the outskirts of London, for which he gave £2500. He let this land for several years as meadow or garden land, satisfied with receiving as rent a moderate interest on his investment. Some builders then applied to him to let all his land for a building adventure, and the result is that he now derives an income, from freehold ground rents, amounting to £2000 per annum, while the builders have done very well by their speculation. In another case, a gentleman of large capital and considerable commercial experience took a wharf, with warehouses, on the banks of the Thames, for ninety-nine years, at a rental of £1200. He then rebuilt the warehouse at an expense of £20,000, and shortly ON LEASES. 285 afterwards sold his lease for £40,000. The nature of agricul- tural land is of course so different from mere building land that it is the principle only of such transactions that we can adopt. But there is far greater room for transactions founded on that principle than is generally supposed. Where large permanent iinprovements are required, such as the reclaiming waste, mountain, or marsh land, or perhaps even the throwing open a farm of strong land, heavily timbered, and consisting of small enclosures, so as to render it suitable for steam-ploughing, — where, in fact, a farm has to be created or remodeIled,^it will, I believe, be often beneficial to both land- lord and tenant to contract for leases of considerably longer duration than twenty-one years, say for forty or fifty years. Mr. Dean, to whose work I have before referred, mentions an arrangement of this sort made many years ago by his father. He says, ' Forty years since-, the father of the author purchased Long Lease. an estate for a gentleman, but owing to the then wet and swampy state it was in, no one could be found to tenant it. The result was, that his father became the lessee for a term of seventy years, at the annual rent of 25s. per acre, the owner getting 4 per cent, for his outlay, and that on an improved property, security being given to the lessee by the length of lease (in which were no absurd restrictions) for the improvements he might effect. In the course of years he thoroughly drained the whole of the property, cut down high hedges, straightened crooked fences, made good roads, and effected numerous other improvements, farming the land until his decease, which occurred a few years since. It was then, and is now, let at £5 per acre, while other estates in the immediate neighbourhood, and natu- rally as good as this in quality, let at 25s. to 35s. per acre ; thus clearly showing, in this instance at least, the advantage of a long lease ; for landholders, generally speaking, not being practical TJ 286 ON LEASES. farmers, would be afraid to invest such large sums of money in improvements, lest they should not be remunerative ; but thoroughly skilful agriculturists can see their way, and if they have security given them, will effect such improvements throughout the country generally. ... On one occasion, our late father, looking at his crops just before harvest had commenced, compared them with those in adjoining fields be- longing to another estate. He then said to this effect, "Adding to the rent I pay my landlord the cost of the improvements I have made, the value of my corn crops exceeds them, after rent and expenses are paid, by about £3 per acre on the average; in addition to which, it costs me less to work my land than it does them ; I can work it when they cannot work theirs, and it costs me less for seed." The accuracy of this statement is said to have been assented to by the owner of the adjoining estate. To those who wish to purchase as an investment, the fact that the land is let on a long lease gives it additional value. As a rule, the longer the lease the better the land is farmed, and the more capital will the farmer who works it possess.' Such are the deliberately expressed opinions of a very experienced and competent land-agent. I believe there are many places where tracts of land, which require large outlays to be made productive, might, with great benefit to the owners, be let to persons wOling to undertake such outlays, for forty, fifty, or sixty years' leases. Thus, where land can be improved by warping, where water meadows on a large scale can be formed, where morasses are reclaimable by drainage, embankments, and the like, where sandy soUs are improvable by dressings of marl and clay, and where other costly improvements might usefully be executed, longer terms than for twenty- one years might be prudently granted. It would be no sUght benefit to many of our agricultural districts if ON LEASES. 287 the wooden farm buildings which abound could be replaced by- more sabstantial and more convenient homesteads of brick and tile or slate ; and there are not a few farms which, if let to men of capital who would engage to erect new and substantial buildings, to clear the useless hedgerows, and thoroughly drain the land, might, with great advantage to the owners, be let on leases of thirty or forty years ; in fact, for such periods as would induce the takers to execute the necessary improvements. But all such leases must be saleable. The undertakers may make the improvements with the express view to profitable sales of the leases of the improved farms, and at all events they would not make them, even when originally intending occupation, unless they retained the power of realizing by sale some portion of their expenditure. Perhaps in such long leases there might be stipulations for defined increases of rent every twenty years, which woiild give the landlords the pro- spect of increased incomes during the currency of the leases. There is another mode of dealing with landed property which is practised in Scotland, and which might, I think, be brought into use in England. I refer to the ' feiiing,' as it is called, — that is, granting, or rather selling the land, receiving as an equi- valent a perpetual yearly rent-charge ; or a property may be sold in part for a gross sum of money, and in part for a per- petual rent-charge. It is obvious that a person desirous of occupying an improvable farm will be willing to give a much higher rent for one of which, subject to payment of the rent, he becomes absolute owner, than for a farm of which he is to have only temporary possession ; while the person selling a farm on such terms will consider whether he can obtain a greater advantage in the way of income from such a sale than he could obtain from the present money value of the land. I some years ago made inquiry on this subject of many land- 288 ON LEASES. agents and valuers, and the general opinion seemed to be, that from 20 to 25 per cent, of additional rent might be obtained by such an arrangement. Now, take the case of a farm worth, if let on an ordinary farming lease of twenty-one years, say £400 per annum, and if the same farm may be sold for a rent- charge 25 per cent, higher, or £500, may there not be instances in which such transactions will be mutually beneficial ? Or, to put it another way, suppose one-half or two-thirds of the value of a farm were converted into a perpetual rent- charge, and the rest of the price paid in money, a purchaser might be wOling to give, and a seller to obtain, a higher price than could be obtained on an out-and-out sale for money. I have endeavoured, perhaps at too great length, to impress on you the absolute necessity of leases of considerable duration, for the advancement of English husbandry, and for the secu- rity of the English farmer ; that such leases must be so framed as to give the necessary freedom of action to the occupier, that such freedom to the tenant will most conduce to the benefit of the proprietor; and that farming contracts — the relations of landlord and tenant — must become completely and in form, as they are at present ia substance, commercial arrangements in which equivalents are exchanged, and from which all traditional notions of patronage and dependence are rigidly excluded. And finally, I have suggested some exten- sions of the commercial principle as applied to agricultural land, which may lead to extensive improvements by the agency of very long leases, granting beneficial interests to tenants, who will bind themselves to make large outlays in effecting such improvements. APPENDIX. VALE OF EVESHAM CODE OF LANDLOED AND TENANT EIGHT. The following Terms of Agreement are recommended by a special Committee of the Vale of Evesham Agricultural Society, "appointed for the purpose of considering the best means of protecting the landlord against injury to his pro- perty through the impoverishment of his land by an out-going tenant, and of affording the latter the compensation to which he is entitled for unexhausted improvements. These terms are framed upon the assumption that the tenant is subject to the customary restrictions as to the consumption of hay, straw, roots, and other food for cattle, on the premises, except in special cases of agreement, and to other usual landlords' reservations. The Committee recommend as follows : — One month before the expiration of a tenancy the landlord or in-coming tenant (as the case may be) and the out-going tenant shall' each appoint an arbitrator. These arbitrators shall meet not later than ten days before the expiration of such tenancy, and, having appointed an umpire, shall proceed to the considerar tion of the claims made by either party. In case the out-going tenant refuses or neglects for the space of twenty days to appoint his arbitrator, the landlord may nominate an umpire, who shaU have the same powers as if he had been appointed by the arbi- trators jointly. The terms ' clean' and ' in good condition,' hereinafter used, shall be considered in a reasonable aad practi- cal sense, and the claims on either side contingent thereupon be treated accordingly. 290 ON LEASER. The agreement shall contain no stipulations as to cropping ; but should any dispute arise thereupon during the tenancy, the same shall be forthwith submitted to arbitration. Every award made in pursuance of these recommendations shall be final and binding upon both parties, and either party shall be at liberty tt) make such award a rule of. any superior court of law. At the expiration of the tenancy one half part of the arable land shall be clean and in good condition, and fit for planting with white straw crops. One moiety of such half part shall have been fallowed with green crops during the previous summer ; the other moiety thereof shall have been wholly under clover or mixed grass seeds, or part in clover and the rest beans after being manured. None of the clover or other grasses shall have been allowed to stand for seed. One-fourth of the arable land shall have been sown in the spring preceding the termination of the tenancy with clover or other proper mixed grass seeds, upon land fallowed the previous year and clean (or upon clay-land farms this fourth may be not less than half clover, the remainder fit to plant with beans). The clover seeds shall be supplied by the landlord or in-coming tenant not later than the first of March ; if not so supplied they shall be purchased (not less than 14 lbs. to the acre) by the out-going tenant, who shall be repaid on production of vouchers for the same. He shall also be paid for sowing and harrowing, but shall not stock the seeds after harvest. Not more than one-fourth of the arable land shall require to be fallowed in the year after the termination of the tenancy, nor require an outlay of more than fifty shillings per acre to clean it. If it require less than that sum, the in-coming tenant shall pay the difference. The in-coming tenant shall pay fifty shillings per acre for all land in excess of one-half which under the above conditions is fit to plant with white straw crops, and shall be paid at the same rate for every acre short of one-half of the arable land. " The in-coming tenant shall pay forty shillings per acre for all the land whereon clover or other grasses have been grazed the whole summer by sheep, provided that it be clean, and that only one crop of corn has been taken since the previous fallow. The out-going tenant shall be entitled to the sum of fifty shillings per acre for all clean fallows ; if not clean, the cost of making them so must be deducted. The out-going tenant shall be paid one-half the cost of all purchased manures applied to green crops in the last year of the tenancy, and one-fourth of that in the last year but one, such ox LEASES. 291 cost not having exceeded forty shillings per acre. All unpre- pared bones and lime used upon any part of the farm within the last four years shall be paid for, and burnt soil where the appli- cation has not been less than eighty cubic yards per acre (one- fourth of the cost in each case being deducted for each year's use), and for every other fertilizer of a permanent character, such allowance as the arbitrators may determine. He shall also be paid one half the cost of all oilcake or linseed consumed during the last year, and one- fourth of that consumed the last year but one, provided it has been given to cattle and slieep, but not to horses, and does not in either case exceed the average of the three previous years. The out-going tenant shall be entitled to the value of all growing green crops, and of all hay and straw remaining on the premises. The arbitrators shall fix the times for threshing and for delivering such straw to the in-coming tenant. It is desirable that all drainage should be done by the land- lord, charging interest for the cost thereof ; but where it has been done with pipes at the tenant's expense within the last eight years, and provided the extent and system have been approved by the landlord in writing, the cost, not including the carriage of materials, shall be repaid, subject to a deduction of one-eighth for every year's use ; but in case the landlord has paid for mate- rials, the cost of labour shall be considered as repaid in four years. All other permanent improvements made by the tenant with the landlord's previous sanction in writing, shall be paid for as the arbitrators may determine. Not less than twelve months' notice shall be given to termi- nate a tenancy. Edwd. Holland, Chairmcui. ON ROTATION OF CROPS: A LECTURB DELIVERED AT THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, CIRENCESTER, JUNE 1864. By EGBERT EUSSELL, OF PILMUIB, LEVRN, FIFE. OF ROTATION OF CROPS. It has been the universal experience both of ancient and modern times, that land under cviltiVation sooner or later ceases to grow the same crops year after year with the same degree of success or luxuriance. The alternating of the different plants, which experience has discovered as best fitted to spare, husband, or weaken the natural forces of the soil, is termed Rotation of Crops. It is to this subject that I mean to devote this lecture. The space which I can give to so extensive a subject must necessarily be limited, and its treatment incom- plete. To make the most of these limits, however, I shall treat the Eotation of Crops under the following divisions : — \st, The practical economy of rotations ; 2d, The physiolo- gical nature of the different plants which renders some more exhaustive of the soil than others ; Zd, The chemical and physical constitution of soils, which renders them better adapted for certain plants than for others. These divisions, I think, will best give you a general outline of the principles which determine the modes of cropping which are pursued over the British Islands. The influence of climate is also an element which is felt so much in regulating the nature and succession of crops, that it will require to be kept steadily in view in treating of each of these divisions. First, as to the Practical Economy of Eotatioks. — This may be held as 296 ON EOTATION OF CBOPS. the prime agent that regulates or determines the nature of the crops to be raised. It may be considered to consist in grow- ing those crops which on the whole will yield the greatest net money return, after rent, labour, and other expenses of culture or manuring are defrayed. This may be illustrated by first referring to the well known and most general course of crop- ping followed in Britain, •i.e., the Norfolk course, of one year seeds; wheat; turnips,; barley. This rotation has been long pursued in Norfolk, for we find that Arthur Young mentions it as generally adopted when he made his first tours through the eastern counties. It must, in fact, have been followed there for upwards of a hundred years, and it is interesting and curious to find that it is still not only the predominant course of cropping there, but has, on suitable soils, gradually been extended throughout all the warmer and drier counties of England. We shall just take a glance at the economy of this well-known rotation, and endeavour to show the leading circumstances that hedge in the Norfolk farmers to this course ef crops in making the most of the soils they cultivate. This will be best done by contrasting the Norfolk four- course rota- tion with the Berwickshire five-course rotation. The five- course rotation of Berwickshire, as you are all aware, consists of two years' seeds ; oats ; turnips ; barley. This, I may say, is a very common course in many other parts of Scotland. I do not intend to enter at all into details of the varieties of rota- tions of crops that are followed in Britain, but rather to select a few specimens as types, and, as far as possible, show you the reason why practical men follow them so generally. The first point of divergence between the Norfolk and Berwickshire courses is, in the seeds remaining down only one year in Norfolk, while in Berwickshire the land is pastured for two years. ON ROTATION OF CROPS. 297 It will be as well just to glance at the cause of land being allowed to. remain two years under grasses in Berwickshire, and only one year in Norfolk. In Norfolk, a larger quantity of clover seed is sown, and less rye-gi"ass. These yield, in that dry climate, rich pasture or hay the first year, which deteriorates the second. In the second, the seeds becoming less luxuriant, do not contend so success- fully with various perennial native grasses that naturally occupy the land. It happens, therefore, when the Norfolk farmer breaks up two-years' seeds, he finds that he has not such clean wheat stubbles as after one year's. More labour and expense are required to clean the land and fit it for turnips. This, then, is the reason why the Norfolk farmer finds himself obliged, in many instances, to give the land no rest from cropping, but to adopt an intensified system with the four-course as a basis. When Arthur Young made his tour through Norfolk, about ninety years ago, the farmers were all complaining to him that their land was too severely cropped, and some even told him it needed to be rested for a century. It is curious enough that Arthur Young urged the Norfolk farmers of that day, to allow their land to lie two years in grass instead of one ; for, as he argued, two crops of corn in four years is far more exhausting than two crops in five years. Very few of the Norfolk farmers however have followed Artliur Young's advice, and this, as we have already said, is chiefly owing to land becoming fouler in Norfolk than in Scotland when the practice of two years' seed- ing is adopted. But the same thing that cannot well be done in Norfolk, is done with advantage in Berwickshire and in some other parts of England. Owing to the cooler and moister atmosphere of the north, the soil is better suited for the grasses proper than in the drier and warmer south. There the rye- grass plant is more 298 ON ROTATION OF CROPS. succulent, and finds conditions congenial to its taking a more firm and permanent hold on the soil ; and should the clover plants, with which it is associated, fail, it spreads over the sur- face of the land, and keeps weeds in check. Over a consider- able portion of the finer and freer soils of Scotland, the longer that the land lies in pasture, the richer does the pasture become. A great extent of land cultivated in Fife, Forfar, and more especially in Aberdeenshire, is allowed to lie two years or more in grass. In fact, in Aberdeenshire, three years is quite common, in cases where the breeding and feeding of cattle are carried on. It may be also as well to call your attention here to the fact, that in the west of England, and over Ireland, it is the best and most common practice to allow the land to remain for two or more years in pasturage. Where the climate is moist, and the soil free and loamy, so as to favour the growth of grasses, nothing forms so cheap or so sure a way of renovating the exhausted powers of land as allowing it to lie in grass for a series of years. Indeed, in Ireland, and the Highlands of Scotland, the land in many parts is cropped with oats for a succession of years, and then allowed to rest for another series. Instead of the land, however, being cleaned and sown down with artificial grasses, the natural grasses are allowed to grow up of their own accord, and form a natural sward. It is easily seen that most important consequences flow from that peculiarity in the climate of any locality which admits of the land being allowed to lie more than one year under seeds. On farms of equal extent,- the land can be far more economically managed when two years of grass are taken instead of one ;- -because, under the Berwick five- course, two-fifths of the land is resting every year ; while there is ON ROTATION OF CROPS. 299 only one-fourth in Norfolk that is not annually turned over Ly the plough. It is also worth calling your attention to the fact that one-fourth of the land in Norfolk is under turnips, the most expensive crop that is raised, but there is never more than one-fifth of turnips on any farm in Berwickshire. At the very first glance, therefore, it is seen that the Norfolk system of farming is a much more expensive one than the Scotch or Berwickshire. Less of the land lies in pasture, and more of it is regularly under turnips, . which require much labour as well as manure to raise them. If the rent of the land of equal quality be the same in Norfolk as it is in Berwickshire, it is evident that the gross returns of the land must be greater in Norfolk. This fact wiU be best brought out by looking at the quantity of grain that each acre will raise under the two systems of farming during a lease of twenty years. Under the Norfolk, or four- course, each acre of land in the twenty years will bear five crops of wheat ; five crops of barley ; five of clover ; five of turnips. In Berwickshire, each acre will have four crops of oats; four crops of barley ; four crops of turnips ; eight crops of grass. In Norfolk we will assume that The produce is 4 qrs. of wheat at 50s., which is equal to 4 qrs. at 50s. =^£10, 5 crops, .£50 5 qrs. „ 40s. =£10, „ 50 Every acre during a twenty years' lease produces grain to the amount of . . . . £100 In Berwickshire — One acre oats, 7 qrs. at 20s. =£7 X 4 . . £28 barley, 5 qrs. „ 3 6s. = £9 X 4 . . 36 £64 Norfolk, .... . . 100 Each acre in Norfolk produces a value of grain in excess over Berwickshire, . . . . £36 300 ON KOTATION OF CROPS. So that in a lease of twenty years, on a farm of 100 acres, £3600 more worth of grain is raised on a Norfolk farm than on a Scotch one, where only barley and oats are grown. It is very evident, that where the Scotch farmer can raise only oats and barley, and the latter of a quality inferior to the English, he must meet his rental by a more economical system of management. This is a curious and interesting sub- ject to study in its details, but I must only allude to a few lead - ing points by way of outline, respecting the compensating cir- cumstances that come into play, and enable land to yield the same rent in the north where the gross produce is smaller. If the Norfolk farmer does not feed his cattle high in his yards, the manure is of inferior quality, and he cannot expect to have full crops of wheat without the clover seeds being well dressed before ploughing up. He could not afford to expend so much money in oilcake were he compelled to raise oats after the clover. , Oats, unless upon deep soils, and in a moderately cool climate, do not pay well for high and rich manuring. It is for this reason that we do not find such large sums expended in the inland parts of Berwickshire in feeding- stuffs, as we find under similar circumstances in Norfolk. In Berwickshire the farmer falls back more upon the natural aids that his climate affords him iii renovating the land, by allow- ing it to lie in grass for two or more years. There is no money expended for seeds the second year, which is always so much saved ; and we must in every case assume that the land under grass or clover always pays rent as well as profit to the farmer, after everything has been deducted. And no doubt there is some good reason in the advice which is .given in some quar- ters just now, to graze more and plough less. But where the rearing of cattle is largely followed, there must always be, according to circumstances, a certain well-defined proportion ON KOTATION OF CROPS. 301 between the land devoted for fodder and green crops as well as for grazing. It is always to be kept in mind that provision must be made for wintering as well as summering stock. In many parts of Aberdeenshire, where a fine class of cattle are bred and fed, great economy is exercised in the manage- ment of the land. The grasses and turnips on the sharp granite soils of Aberdeen are of fine quality, and it is evident that if large quantities of cake were given to the animals, the value or return from the roots and grasses would be materially lessened. In aU eases where the natural value of roots and grasses is lessened in their return from the practice of giving large quantities of cake or corn, compensation for such must found in the increased value of the crops of grain. But where land in the north is well laid down and rested for some years in pasture, the crops of oats grow luxuriantly without any manure. The land under green crop is well manured with arti- ficials, and large crops of roots are by these inexpensive means obtained. Any extra quality or value in the manure manufac- tured on the farm through the consumption of oilcake or grain, where a return is only to he looked for in extra crops of low-frieed grain, cannot be obtained by an economical process. It could not possibly be an economical process for the Norfolk farmer to feed his cattle and sheep with wheat or barley of fine quality. He must purchase a cheaper article, containing as much feed- ing and manurial value. The Aberdeen farmer can hardly put his hand upon anything cheaper in the market than the oat, which is the principal grain crop that he raises. You thus see that where oats are chiefly cultivated, and chiefly the produce of the arable land, there is not so great a scope for high farming. In all the hiUy districts of England, Scotland, and Ireland, where the climate is so inferior that oats and inferior barley or wheat form the staple grain crops, the whole system of X 302 ON ROTATION OF CROPS. farming requires a more thrifty and economical system of management. The rearing of cattle and sheep form the main- spring of the systems, and there is comparatively little outlay for extra manures and feeding-stuffs. It is very different in Scotland, where fine qualities of wheat, barley, oats, and potatoes are grown, as we find in the Lothians. There the soil and climate, as in Norfolk, pre- sent a premium or margin for high cultivation, — for where this is pursued judiciously, the returns are remunerative. The soil and climate in the best districts in the Lothians are not very favourable for the land being laid down to grass for more than one year. Hence we find that the system of crop- ping is more exhaustive, and the expenditure in manures and feeding-stuffs becomes as large as it is in Norfolk. The rotation followed there is more usually oats, potatoes, or beans, wheat, turnips, barley, seeds. The seeds only come once upon the land in six years ; and as potatoes are sold in addi- tion to the grain crops, the waste arising from such severe cropping must be all the more liberally replenished. It is not an uncommon circumstance for the Lothian farmer to spend nearly every year in artificial manures and feeding- stuffs a sum equal to the rent he pays to his landlord. On some of the high-rented soils on the coast of Fifeshire, which are favourably situated for the growth of potatoes, the cattle consuming the turnips in yards are supplied with so large an allowance of oilcake, that after the oilcake bill is paid there is little left for the finest crops of turnips. In this case the farmer finds compensation for sinking the value of his turnip crop in the manure-heap, by its more potent qualities in the raising of potatoes and wheat. On the other hand, some of the most famous breeders of cattle in Aberdeenshire, who turn out hundreds of fine fatted animals which they have reared. ON ROTATION OF CROPS. 303 give artificial feeding-stuffs so sparingly that their turnip crop will, on an average of years, be worth from £10 to £12 an acre. You thus see that the spirit of some of the systems of agriculture is very different from that of the best farming in England, where the turnip crop seldom pays anything like the expenses which are incurred in its culture. One remarkable circumstance that ought to be kept in mind, in studying the economy of rotations, is, that a much larger extent of the land is yearly under turnips in Norfolk, than where the climate is moist and better suited for this crop. The climate of Norfolk is not so good for the cultivation of this root, and the value is less. Nevertheless the necessities of the Norfolk rotation are such that these expensive crops must be grown to render wheat and barley remunerative. In Norfolk a fourth of the land is under turnips ; in Ber- wickshire there is nearly one-fifth ; in Fife and the Lothians from one-sixth to one-eighth. In the western counties of Scotland the proportions are much less. In Wales and the wettest parts of England, turnips are seldom seen to form a predominant feature in the agricultural landscape. When Arthur Young made his tour in Ireland eighty years ago, he was disappointed to find so few turnips grown in Ireland, in a climate so well suited for their growth, and every cursory agricultural tourist has still good reason to make a similar disparaging remark. But, except in some parts, turnips are too expensive a crop to be cultivated very extensively on their own account. They form a good preparation for cereals ; but when cereals of an inferior class only can be grown, turnips do not leave much margin for a profit to the cultivator, who is at great expense in raising large breadths of them. Where the climate is most favourable for roots, it is also 304 ON ROTATION OF CROPS. most favourable for grasses, and as these grow without manure or tillage, the land under them is often more profitable than under culture. In the Highlands of Scotland, indeed, we see this principle most fully carried into operation. The thousands of sheep that are reared on the hills have little or no winter food pro- vided for them. What grass and rough herbage is left in summer is the only provender for sheep for winter. There are many valleys in the Highlands where fine turnips could be grown, but are never cultivated, though they are much wanted to afford more nourishing food for certain descriptions of the stock throughout the winter. The climate there is, however, so moist that cereals cannot be raised with advantage. The hoggets throughout the Highlands are remarkably subject to braxy if allowed to remain on the hills the first winter ; and instead of turnips being raised at home, many of the hoggets travel one hundred miles to winter in the Lowlands, and return in spring. I myself send about five hundred hoggets every autumn upwards of eighty miles to winter. This is found to be a cheaper system than to raise turnips for them where they are bred. When some districts are liable to a Jail of twenty inches of rain in a month, this acts as a hindrance to the culture of both roots and corn. So also in Lancashire, where there is such a great demand for dairy produce : the pastures become so much more valuable than arable land, that the plough disappears in a great measure from all the neighbourhoods of the great seats of manufactur- ing industry, — for milk and butter are there much in demand. On the strong lands of Suffolk, and some other counties where the climate is warm and dry, we find the rotation assuming a quite different feature from that seen where the climate is moist. ON ROTATION OF CROPS. 305 In Suffolk— 1. Clean fallow ; or a proportion of tares, oats, or turnips. 2. Barley. 3. Half Clover ; half beans or pease alternately. 4. Wheat. In Scotland — 1. Clean Fallow. 2. Wheat. 3. Turnips ; beaDS, pease, potatoes. 4. Wheat. 5. Barley. 6. Seeds. 7. Oats. In all the moister and colder climates there is no such management as sowing barley after clean fallow. Wheat is always the crop put in. Arthur Young was much surprised when he found wheat so generally sown in Ireland on clean fallow. But wheat is a crop which is less affected by mois- ture than barley. Barley is easily laid by rains, and requires a considerable amount of sun to bring it to maturity, and produce a fine quality of grain. The other contrast which the Suffolk system presents over the other is taking the wheat after the clover. This is rarely followed in cold and moist climates ; wheat after clover in such conditions is weak in spring, and seldom turns out well : the straw loses its glassy and healthy appearance, and the quality of the grain is in- ferior. Potatoes are the best preparation for the wheat crop in a moist climate, the clover lay in a dry one. The American Eotation — 1. Wheat. 2. Clover. In all the best districts in Canada and the northern States of America, for the growth of autumn wheat, the rotation is merely a two-course one, wheat and clover. A fine plant of clover is usually got every alternate year, an experience 306 ON ROTATION OF CEOPS. which is quite at variance with ours. The clover restores the fertility of the land, while the wheat exhausts it. In these countries, where manual labour is scarce and high- priced, a large area of land can be cultivated at comparatively little expense. It would be out of place to weary you with further details in the economical management of rotations ; every district and locality has peculiarities of its own, which experience has found out to be most suitable. Whether the best practice is followed in aU well-established rotations or not, the rationale or philosophy of all should be carefully studied, for if abrupt changes are introduced by any new-comer into a district, which have suited well in other parts, this is sometimes done at great loss to the innovator. It is far better to follow pretty closely in the footsteps of those who have farmed successfully in any district, before adopting any system which is antagon- istic to the spirit of the old one. There are many practices upon which success depends that have not yet received a scientific explanation, so we should be always ready to listen to the counsel of those who are well entitled from their observation and experience to have formed sound opinions. Every district has learned and gathered so far from another, and we shall all be best fitted to benefit ourselves and others, by being acquainted with the details of systems in other dis- tricts, and ready to take a lesson wherever our educated judgment directs. Besides the practical economy which regulates the crops that are to be grown upon certain farms, there are other neces- sities that come into play and determine the succession of the crops. A rotation is studied which not only eradicates weeds, but will, by the aid of manures, ameliorate and fertilize the soil. ON ROTATION OF CKOPS. 307 The growth of cereals exhausts and deteriorates the soil, besides allowing weeds to spring up and gain possession of it, which rob the crops of those fertilizing elements that are alike the food of the wheat and of the twitch. The farmer has a constant war to wage against the indi- genous occupants of the land. It is this which seems generally to render his processes so unremitting and laborious. The summer working of land by a clean or bare fallow is still adopted in many parts of this kingdom, as the most effective means of cleaning land. Fallowing is had recourse to in that part of the rotation where the land has been longest sub- jected to those crops that do not admit of the weeding being so thoroughly done. The corn or clay-land farmer fallows after a crop of wheat that has followed one of beans. The Norfolk farmer makes a green crop fallow of his turnip-break after the land has borne three other crops, one of grass and two of corn. The Lothian farmer, too, in following out the six-course rotation, first takes the less cleaning crop of potatoes after oats, and looks to the more perfect cleaning of the land when the turnips come round. Either a clean or turnip fallow is looked forward to as the best means not only of eradicating weeds, but of getting the land manured, and hence it always precedes the crop amongst which the grass seeds are sown. The grasses may be said to begin the rotation ; and it is of the most material consequence to have the land clean before sowing the grass-seeds. TheSe facts are well known to all, and need not be farther entered upon in this part of the subject. We shall now treat of the exhausting and ameliorating influences of crops. I think this subject will be most con- cisely brought before you by assuming that the mineral or alkaline substances are found abundantly in all soils. No 308 ON KOTATION Of CROPS. doubt this is by no means the case, but though it were so, one- class of crops would still exhaust and another would ameliorate the soil. The ameliorating or exhaustive properties of plants have perhaps much less to do with the particular family or pknts to which they belong than is commonly imagined. A crop which exhausts the soil to the greatest extent may be said to rely least upon the natural food contained in the atmosphere, namely, carbonic acid and ammonia. On the other hand, the least exhausting crop is that which can rely most on the natural sources of food contained in the atmo- sphere. We shall take a few specimens of plants which most fully illustrate this principle. If we look at the vegetation that naturally covers the surface of the ground in all new countries, we find that the predominant vegetation is all made up of plants that have the means of relying chiefly on the atmo- sphere for food. An oak-tree will produce annually a larger amount of food in acorns than the best manured field of corn. So wiU an acre of ground covered with briers or brambles. And not only will these untended plants produce as much food on a given space as corn, but they will also assimilate from the atmosphere a far greater weight of carbon and nitrogen, in the form of wood, than the cereals wiU in their straw. The trees of the forests and other natural plants have an immense advantage in relying upon atmospheric food over those that we cultivate. A tree throws off its foliage on the approach of winter, but it retains its roots, its trunk, its branches, and its twigs, which are full of the vital sap that was stored up in autumn. This sap is first directed to the forma- tion of leaves, and the tree at once presents an enormous sur- ON ROTATION OF CEOrS. 309 face, which can absorb both carbonic acid and ammonia from the air. We have the best reasons for supposing that the quantity of carbonic acid and ammonia which any plant can absorb from the air is in proportion to the surface of fresh leaves which it can present to the atmosphere. Every leaf is destined to absorb from the air as much food as will not only reproduce another leaf in the following season, bnt as much as is destined for the formation of fmit and seed. Every part of a plant, says Liebig, which is destined for reproduction, contains a large percentage of those alkaline and earthy matters which are formed in the ash of plants. All new leaves are rich in alkaline matters,^ which seem closely connected with the absorption of carbonic acid and ammonia. When the leaves of a tree lose their fresh tints in autumn, the alkaline matters disappear from them, and are absorbed by the trunk, branches, etc. The leaves then lose their power of absorbing ammonia and carbonic acid. It is just the same with our cultivated crops. In the growing season the leaves of turnips, as Dr. Anderson has shown, are very rich in alka- line matters, which disappear in a remarkable manner when the leaves begin to decay and ripen. A plant like the clover puts forth fresh leaves throughout the summer months, and for this reason it is constantly draw- ing upon the atmosphere for a supply of food. It collects and gathers nitrogen and carbon from the air, and stores them up in its roots and other organs. This supply, whether ploughed in green, or consumed by stock, furnishes a supply of nitrogen to plants like corn, which cannot rely upon the atmosphere to the same extent. Clovers, grasses, and other perennial plants which throw out fresh leaves at the same time that they are producing flowers 1 See Professor Church's paper on leaves of the Mangold, p. 358. 310 ON KOTATION OF CROPS. as well as fruit, are far more independent of a supply of nitro- gen than others whose leaves decay as soon as the flowering period is over. "Wheat, barley, oats, and rye begin to lose their fresh leaves as soon as the grain begins to form. By that time the stem cannot absorb food from the atmosphere, and therefore it must draw it from the soil, and prove exhaustive. The exhausting qualities of the cereals in comparison to the clover are well seen in the cereal exhausting or sucking out all the sap, as it ripens its seeds, from its roots, while the clover and the grasses have theirs full of sap for assisting in throwing out leaf in spring. "Within certain limits the atmosphere- absorbing powers of both clover and grasses are stimulated by taking off the seed-formed stems, and this process encourages the throwing out of fresh leaves, whose powers of absorbing atmospheric food are all the greater the newer they are. In all warm and dry countries the clover has an immense advantage over the grasses as an ameliorator of the soil. The clover sends its roots down into the subsoil further out of reach of drought. It can thus maintain growth when other shallower-rooted plants wither or are completely checked. The more shallow-rooted rye-grass plant is by no means so valuable an ameliorator of the soil on the light turnip-soils of Suffolk as it is in the turnip-loams of the western districts in "Wales, Scotland, or Ireland. If the rye-grass is well cropped when under pasture in the north and the west, it is a most invaluable plant in ameliorating the soil. "When supplied with moisture at its roots, it throws out a large amount of leaves, which are then just as greedy air -absorbers as the clover leaves. This plant, under favourable conditions, rapidly amelioratps the land in the north when sown freely among the grass seeds, and takes so firm and almost monopolizing ON ROTATION OF CHOPS. 311 a hold of the ground that it keeps the land free from weeds. As the climate becomes more favourable for the growth of grasses, it becomes less so for the growth of clovers. In the struggle for existence of the one and the other, the thickly- matting roots of the grasses tend to overmaster and exclude the clovers. In the west of England, Ireland, and Scotland, and indeed in all damp soils, the grasses are the best ameliorators of the land, while in other parts, where the climate is dry, they are less esteemed. The Norfolk fanner, with the addition of farm-yard manure, relies on the clover plant to enrich his soil for the growth of his wheat crop. And so also does the American farmer almost exclusively rely upon the clover to raise wheat crops upon very second-rate soils every other year. The fact, however, of the clover plant not growing so vigorously and filling up the soil a second year, renders one year under clover seeds almost the rule, while with grasses they may remain for years with advantage where the climate is suitable. We thus see why the clover and the grasses furnish, the one in the south and the other in the north, the best plants for collecting and storing up the valuable elements which are found in the atmosphere, and by this means furnishing food for the corn crops that are taken after seeds. After a crop of wheat has been taken in Norfolk, or after a crop of oats has been taken in Scotland, the land is found to be partially exhausted, for the same corn crops cannot be repeated with success on the same soil. Nor is the land well fitted to give a crop of barley, and consequently the turnip- crop is sown to collect more nitrogen for the purpose of ren- dering the land fitted to grow this cereal. 312 ON ROTATION OF CHOPS. That turnips are capable of absorbing a considerable quan- tity of carbon and nitrogen from the atmosphere appears to me an almost self-evident proposition, from the fact that super- phosphate of lime forms such an excellent manure for turnips. The turnip is much more expensive to grow than clover, for it requires not only a great deal of tillage, but a great deal of manure, such as phosphates. The necessity for applying phosphates to tho soil does not so much consist in the turnip-plant containing more phos- phates than clover, as in the fact that the turnip is grown as an annual, and because its limited feeding-ground makes it very dependent on an artiiicial supply in the soil. On the light lands of the south of England, the turnip cannot economically make use of a large supply of nitrogenous manures, for the simple reason that its capacity of growth is, under such circumstances, much more limited. In the north again, where the turnip or Swede is capable of yielding as large a weight of produce as the mangold in the south, it is most liberally dressed with nitrogenous manures ; while it is not uncommon for large breadths of Swedes to be dressed with nothing but superphosphates in the south ; from five to six cwt. of Peruvian guano per statute acre is a common allowance for Swedes in the Lothians, where the soil is of good physical capacity. In manuring the Swede, as in manuring any other plant, you must study the utmost capabilities of growth which the soil and climate will admit of, and dress accordingly. All plants are fed by the same substances, and aU plants are manured by the same substances, but each has a limit of growth according to circumstances, and these must be carefully studied, in order that the growth as well as the specific appli- cation may be regulated so as to insure the greatest economy. ON EOTATION OF CROPS. 313 There is another division of the subject of rotation that requires to be alluded to, as it is a most interesting and im- portant one, both in a practical and scientific point of view. It is v^ell known that when certain crops, such as clover and turnips, are too frequently repeated on the same soils, the plants do not thrive, and the soils are said to be clover- sick or turnip- sick. To try and cure this tendency in soils, some of our farmers in the Carse of Gowrie lengthen out their rotation from a six to an eight years' one. The Norfolk farmer is sometimes found to try something of the same kind, by sowing white clover alone over one half of the land sown down with seeds, and one-half with red clover. This is done alternately, so that the crops of white and red clover are only sown on the same lands once in eight years. This prolonging of the time during which the same plants are sown upon the land, expe- rience has shown, mitigates the evils which are complained of on this head. Decandolle ascribed the necessity of a rotation of crops to the excrementitious matters that plants left in the land. Now we are inclined to hold that we have really not supplied the place of DecandoUe's theory, in explaining the necessity which exists for changing the crops on land. It appears to us that the roots of clover and turnips left in the soil have an injurious action on the growth of these plants. This decaying vegetation, present in excess, injures the healthy action of the roots. Prom many facts, it would appear that the roots exercise a selecting influence on their food diffused through the soil. 01^ THE CAPILLARY ACTIOJ!^ OF SOILS. JOHN WEIGHTSON, F.C.S., PROFESSOU OF AGRICULTURE IN THE R0YA1. AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, CIRENCESTER. ON THE CAPILLARY ACTION OF SOILS. The power of capillary attraction possessed by soils in com- mon with other porous substances, has been frequently used to explain certain phenomena connected with the cultivation of the soil, and especially with draining. Little attention has, however, been bestowed upon this physical property of soils, and writers have been content to take its existence for granted. The object of the experiment about to be described was — 1st, To find the extent to which capillary attraction exists in soils. 2d, To compare the capillary power of -soils of different characters, and of the same soil in different states. I would here remark that the investigation is little more than commenced, and that many experiments on a larger scale will be required before the facts can assume a practical form. The soils to be experimented upon were collected 14th March 1866, and remaiued in a room, where a fire was regularly burn ing, until 20th April ; they were therefore fairly air-dried, and all were in the same condition. The following is the description of the various soils : — A. Clay subsoil from Oakley Park, Cirencester, taken at three feet beneath the surface. This was beaten in a mortar (April 20th), and passed through a fine sieve of per- forated zinc. Y 318 ON THE CAPILLAllY ACTION OF SOILS. B. The same soil as A, but the sample consisted of the nodules of clay, which did not pass through the sieve. C. Stiff clay-soil from No. 4 field, College Farm, passed through the sieve. C 2. Duplicate of C. D. Fine unburnt sand, used for sand-baths, etc., in the laboratory. E. Soil from No. 4 field, College Farm (stiff clay), which would not pass through the sieve. F. Stiff clay subsoil, from No. 4 field, taken at one foot nine inches beneath surface, and passed through sieve. G. Subsoil from No. 4 field, which would not pass through the sieve. H. Loamy soil from No. 15 field, passed through sieve. The soils described as having passed through the sieve were in the state of fine powder; those which had not passed through the sieve were in fragments of an irregular form, 0'08 to 0'3 inches across the longest axis. Glass nitrogen combustion-tubes of from '4 to '5 inch inside diameter were used to receive the soils. A piece of linen was tied tightly over one end of the tube, and the soil was then introduced at the open end by means of a funnel, care being taken that an equal consolidation should be pre- served in all the soils. A glass basin was now filled one inch deep with water, and the closed ends of the tubes immersed at 10-30 A.M., April 21st. Not many minutes elapsed before a dark line, slowly rising above the surface of the water within the tubes, showed that in six out of the nine soils capillary action was at work. The following two observations were made respectively at twenty minutes and seven hours after the experiment had commenced : — ON THE CAPILLARY ACTION OF SOILS. 319 Table showing the Height to which Water had risen in Tubes above surface of the Water outside tubes, in inches. 20 Minutes. 7 Hours. Inches. Inches. A, . . 1-44 B, . . . 1-34 3-25 C, . . ]'25 5-17 C.2, 300 D, . 9-0 14-95 E, . . 1-62 3-95 F, . 3-00 G, . . . 1-87 4-00 H, . . 2-34 8-50 The progress of water through the fine sand in D was re- markably rapid, the motion being perfectly visible. The three soils which, during the first twenty minutes, absorbed no water, were aU clays in a fine state of division, and of the remainder, C, which was also clay in a fine state, absorbed least, and B, E, and G, which were clays in a coarser state of division, absorbed considerably more : H, which was a loamy soil, exceeded all but D. Seven hours afterwards we find the relative position of water in all the tubes to be the same. Accurate measurements of the height of water within the tubes were taken frequently during a period of 132 days, the results of which are given in the succeeding table. The height of water is expressed in inches, or parts of inches, and the time of observation in number of days after the experiment had commenced. 320 ON THE CAPILLARY ACTION ON SOILS. . !i5 O B H 1-^1 o CO o I— I "k. "S ■? I- 'a « « S3 S 3 s? ^ 00 ss •^ r" J-l CO 00 1^ s s CO OO eo 1> ui ^ 'Q ^ »o »o lO o - (M a» CD m (M « .-( ei -* CD «D no

C *- U3 C4 ^ ^^ 00* eo 00 s S s O Ol 00 CO eo w ^ K CO w U3 ws fe *- o U3 -n CO oa A C4 (M 1-1 « (M (N ^ 00 PQ OO «> CO CO 00 Ol CO cq ea '-* w Ji *- iH ^ •^ M iH s rt «• to « « OO 00 r-< ¥-« .Cl eg Jj_ ^ M « w CO CO CO CQ Oi OO r-1 WS 64 in S «> ■P OS W cq to « rA aa OO ■"• •^ Oil « CO la «a iH V3 OS ^ 00 t* m CO cq ^ eo lO »o eo «> t* ^. M CO OJ t- i-i 04 iH r^ Ui OO CO U3 eo 00 w CD .1) OS -^ (M O (O s iH tH iH iH Jlj ^ •■3 V li d P » -f 1 p I5 ■« < n D o n » Pi Cj w rarious 7/7n ^ 30 ■ - 29 ., 28 , F 27.. u- ^ ■ — 2e-^ r-' -^ 2S .. ^ -^ '^ C 24- .. x-^ ^ === ^ — 23 .. y -^ - r^ *" ^ c_ 22 , .''" H. ^ ■::^' ^ / 2J , ^ / 20 . ^ < ■y / —' 1 — ■ i^i— ' A _-. -^ -■ 19 . f/ / ^^ '' y / _^ ^ , — ..P_ __ — 18 ■■ / // L^ ^^j ■^ w "^ — IT- n /, /. A ^ t> ^ .^ / 16 . j r V ■/> -- K-" /5 . / c/ / // /4 ., \ '1 1 / / / 4 f /i .. / ^ / 12 '., \f / ff J/ .. ll / /O ill / 9 .. ll ^ — — — 8 . i - __^ ^-' y . ' / ■ _ __ _ . e .. j I > ^ ^^ 5 .. / , ■^ ■ -~" ■ 1 f . /,' ^ -" 3 .. In '■/ 2 . kf / 1 , % ?: •^ IN ^ ^ j^ fej ^ a ■ 1; k 5? % % K * ^ ON THE CAPILLARY ACTION OF SOILS. 321 The accompanying diagram in which the progress of water upwards ia each soil is indicated by a curve will best illus- trate the great differences in the capillary power of soUs. On the left side of the table are figures expressing a certain num- ber of inches, while those along the bottom express the days from commencement of the experiment. In the first place the nature of the curve is similar in aU experiments. This is owing to the fact that in every case the rise is most rapid at first, and gradually diminishes until it almost ceases. Thus we find water rising through fine sand at the rate of 9 inches in the first twenty minutes, of only 5'95 inches during the next six hours forty minutes ; of less than 2 inches during the succeeding forty hours ; and only 4 inches during the next six weeks. Again, in the case of a finely reduced but tenacious day, from the subsoil of No. 4 field. College Farm, we find the same characteristic ex- hibited in a less abrupt degree. This is shown by the fol- lowing figures : — l3t24h. 2d. -3d. 4th. 5th. 6th. 7th. 8th. 9th. 10th. 11th. 12th. 13th. Tube F. 10? 3-6 2-65 2 25 125 132 132 •57 ■67 ■38 ■38 ■62 ■43 16th. 18th. 23d. 33d. 37 th. 44th. 47th. 5 2d. 65th. 78th. 8.5th. 90th. 132.1, Tuba F. ■2r •3 ■14 ■17 ■15 ■13 ■1 ■14 •03 ■13 •04 •06 ■06 In the above table the average result per diem of the in- terval between the two dates is taken thus — '14 is the aver- age daily rise between the 47th and the 5 2d day. We learn from this that although soil in the tube F had lifted water 3 6 inches in 132 days, the time required to materially heighten the column would be considerable even if the same speed of ascent were maintained as that between the 90th and 132d day, namely, '05 inch per day, — a most unlikely sup- position. S22 ON THE CAPILLARY ACTION OF SOILS. If we assume the rate of ascent for the next 132 days at half the rate at which we ended the first, then 132 X -025 = height which water will rise in 132 days. = 3-3 inches. Or 39-3 would equal the total height of column in 264 days. Although the speed of ascent diminished, yet in no case, except in B which was brought to a premature termination, was the suctional power observed to absolutely cease. There is reason, however, to believe that after a certain period, gay the 5 2d or 65th day, the water did not rise owing to capillary action, but rather from the rise of aqueous vapour from the surface of the wetted soil into the dryer upper layers in which it again condensed. The marked degree of difference in the upward progress of water in the different tubes is one of the most interesting points of the experiment. Thus A and B, although the same son (subsoil from Oakley Park), give most different results, owing to the different state of the soil in the two tubes, the one having passed through a fine sieve, and the other being in fragments of about the size of split peas. E and F differ in the same way as the last, F being fine and E coarse subsoil from No. 4 field. College Farm. The diagram will show these results to correspond with the rest of the results. Pegeeb of Wetness owing tp CAriLLARY Action. In all cases the soils were wettest at the lower end, and gradually became less so towards the top. In the three tubes C, A, and F, in which the water had reached the top of the soil, the earth was too wet for tillage purposes, although, so far as could be judged, the capillary action had nearly reached its limit. At an early period of the experiment B was removed ON THE CAPILLARY ACTION OF SOILS. 323 on account of the water line having remained stationary for several days at the height of 5-5 inches. In order to indicate the amount of water absorbed, five portions, each being higher in the tube than the last, were examined, the first portion being just above the surface of the water outside the tubes. The results were as follows : — 1st portion contained 40-8 per cent, of water. 2d „ „ 28-5 „ 3d „ „ 22-2 „ 4th „ „ - 19-3 „ Sth „ „ 16-7 „ The next point of interest is the actual height to which water is raised by capillary action. In all the soils examined this was less than what might have been expected, while the differences between soils in different states of division, and of various characters, was very great. The clays in a fine state of division exert the greatest capillary power, while the same soils in a coarser state are much feebler in their action. The greatest height reached in the 132 days was 36 inches, when the water reached the top of the column of soil. Such are the results of this experiment, which, although interesting, require confirmation by others conducted under more natural conditions. Thus dry soil powdered or piled up as fragments cannot be looked upon as quite representing an ordinary soil and subsoil, but so far as the different tubes con- tained soils under similar conditions with regard to each other, the comparative trial of their capillary action is satisfactory. REPOET OF EXPERIMENTS ON THE SOLUBILITY OF PHOSPHATES BY E. WAEINGTON, Jun., ECS, ASSISTANT TO THE PKOFESSOR OF CHEMISTKY, ROYAL AGKIOULTUfiAL COLLEGE, CIKENOESTER, REPORT OF EXPERIMENTS ON THE SOLUBILITY OF PHOSPHATES. In the first part of this Journal some observations were made upon the circumstances which determine the agricultural value of the various natural phosphates, and, the character of solubility was there pointed out as perhaps the most impor- tant in fixing the price of a phosphate as manure. The general conditions favourable to solubility were briefly sketched, and conclusions drawn from the presence or absence of these conditions in the various natural phosphates available for agricultural use, but in the absence of sufficient data nothing could be positively stated as to the actual solubility of any phosphate. The present report is an account of some experi- ments which have since been made on this subject. These are as yet incomplete, and, indeed, still in progress ; the results already obtained are not, however, without interest. A thorough investigation of the solubility of phosphates must include an account of their behaviour under all the circumstances they meet with after mixture with the soil ; the effect upon their solubility of the different ingredients of soil ; the influence of other manures applied at the same time ; the nature of the absorption of phosphoric acid by soil. To deal with so wide and complicated a subject with success, it was necessary to commence with its simplest aspect.; the first 328 REPORT OF EXPERIMENTS ON THE point undertaken, therefore, was to ascertain the solubility of pure tricalcic phosphate, — ^that phosphate of calcium -which forms the bulk of bone, and of all our natural phosphates. Tricalcic phosphate, like every other substance, doubtless exhibits different degrees of solubility in its different physical states ; the point, however, of most importance to us is clearly its limit of solubility, — that amount of solubility which the conditions of its nature forbid it ever to exceed. In all the following experiments the phosphate was used in its precipi- tated state; in this condition, it resembles a fine mud in consistence, and possesses doubtless its maximum degree of solubility. The tricalcic phosphate was prepared by pouring chloride of calcium into a solution of ordinary phosphate of sodium, previously mixed with ammonia ; the chloride of calcium was not added in excess. The precipitated phosphate of calcium was next thoroughly washed with distilled water, tiU no trace of chlorine could be found in the washings. Specimens of tricalcic phosphate thiis prepared were submitted to analy- sis ; their composition was found to agree with that theoreti- cally assigned to pure tricalcic phosphate.^ Lime, Tricalcic Phosphate (theoretical). 54-19 Tricalcic Phosphate (artificially prepared). 54-25 Phosphoric acid, 45-81 45-75 100-00 100-00 Solubility of Tricalcic Phosfhate in Water. — The phosphate was mixed with water in a stoppered bottle, and the mixture shaken from time to time during several days ; the liquid was then filtered, and the amount of phosphoric acid present in ' For the analytical detailB of this, and all the subsequent experiments, the reader is referred to the Journal of the Chemical Society, iv. 296. SOLUBILITY or PHOSPHATES. 329 the solution found by means of acetate of uranium. The dis- tilled water used for the experiment had been previously boiled for some time, to expel any trace of carbonic acid it might have contained. The amount of tricalcic phosphate dissolved by the water was in every case excessively smaU, and appeared to be less when the phosphate had been more than ordinarily washed. Thus, two closely agreeing experiments gave the solubility of a specimen of phosphate as 1 in 83,669 of water, while the undissolved phosphate from one of these experiments, when again treated with water, only exhibited a solubility of 1 in 101,010 ; this latter figure was also obtained as the sohibility, after long washing, in several other experiments. These dis- crepancies occasioned at the time a good deal of trouble. I have since found, that when tricalcic phosphate is boiled with water it suffers decomposition, and phosphoric acid enters into solution, the residue consisting of a basic salt. I have little doubt but that the same process goes on, only on a far smaller scale, when the phosphate is repeatedly treated with cold water ; that, in fact, the phosphoric acid found in the cold water solution is chiefly owing to a decomposition of the original phosphate, which proceeds more and more slowly as the proportion of basic salt increases. If this be the case, the solubility in pure water would in a soil be reduced to. its minimum, as the presence of carbonate of calcium in the soil would forbid the formation of an acid salt. Solubility of Tricalcic Phosphate in Solution of Chloride of Ammonium. — That ammonium salts increase the solubility of phosphate of calcium has long been remarked by chemists, and Liebig has even endeavoured to explain the whole action of ammonium salts as manure, on the ground of their rendering the phosphates and other salts of the soil more soluble. 330 KEPOET OF EXPERIMENTS ON THE The first experiments were made with a solution containing 1 per cent of chloride of ammonium. The solubilities obtained were very uniform, much more so than with pure water. The mean of four experiments gave 1 part of tricalcic phosphate in 19,642 of the solution. A further experiment was made with a stronger solution, containing 10 percent, of chloride of ammonium; the solu- bility in this case was 1 in 4325. The ammonium salt thus considerably increased the solu- bility of the phosphate. The agricultural bearings of this fact we shall discuss presently. Solubility of Tricalcic Phosphate in Water saturated with Car- honicAcid Gas. — The air fiUing the interstices of soils generally contains a considerable amount of carbonic acid gas ; this fact is abundantly proved by the experiments of Boussingault and L^wy. They found, that whUe the atmosphere of the neigh- bourhood contained only '037 per cent, of carbonic acid, the air drawn from soil at a depth of about 1 6 inches contained from r2 to 1'5 percent, of this gas.^ In the air of a soil rich in humus, the carbonic acid amounted to even 6 '43 per cent., and in a soil manured ten days previously with farm-yard manure, and afterwards subject to heavy rain, the percentage was as high as 14"13. Now as water dissolves carbonic acid gas with some readiness, the solvent power of water thus satu- rated becomes an important item in soil economy. In the experiments, carbonic acid gas was allowed to ' bubble slowly for ten or more hours through water cpn- taining tricalcic phosphate. At the end of the operation, the vessel holding the solution was stoppered, and after allowing the undissolved phosphate to subside, the liquid was filtered with as little contact with air as possible, and the ' Percentage by weight, not volume. SOLUBILITY OF PHOSPHATES. 331 amount of phosphoric acid present determined as before by- uranium. The amount of gas which can be dissolved by water varies according to the pressure of the atmosphere and the tempera- ture ; the higher the barometer, and the colder the water, the greater will be the quantity of gas dissolved, and the greater, consequently, the solvent power of the solution. Water at ordinary pressures and temperatures dissolves rather more than its own volume of carbonic acid. The solubilities found varied a good deal in different experi- ments ; partly no doubt from differences in temperature and pressure, but apparently also from other circumstances not yet fully understood. Four experiments gave a mean solubility for tricalcic phosphate of 1 in 1789 parts of liquid, at a pres- sure of 29'535 inches,^ and at a temperature of 50°. The presence of carbonic acid had thus immensely increased the solvent power of the water. Solubility of Tricalcic Phosphate in Solution of Chloride of Ammonium, saturated with Carbonic Acid Gas. — The experi- ments under this head were conducted exactly as those just described, save that a one per cent, solution of chloride of am- monium was substituted for the distilled water. The mean of two experiments gave a solubUity of 1 in 1349, the pressure being 29'348 inches, and the temperature 53°. From two experiments which admitted of exact comparison, it appeared, that for every 73J parts of phosphate dissolved by pure carbonic water, 100 parts were dissolved by the solution of chloride of ammonium containing the same gas. Here again, therefore, the presence of a salt of ammonia increased the solubility of the phosphate. ^ The reading of the barometer has in every case been reduced to the standard temperature, 32" Fahrenheit. 332 REPORT OF EXPERIMENTS ON THE We now turn to a different class of experiments, ia which it was sought to ascertain the influence of certain ingredients of soil upon the solubility of tricalcic phosphate. It is well known that carbonate of calcium dissolves readily in water saturated with carbonic acid ; would the presence of carbonate of calcium affect the solubility of tricalcic phosphate ? The solubility of carbonate of calcium in carbonic acid water was first ascertained. The mean of two closely agreeing expe- riments made with the precipitated carbonate gave the solu- bility as 1 in 1016, the pressure being 29-463 inches, and the temperature 70°. Solubility of Tricalcic Phosphate in Carbonic Water, in the •presence of Carbonate of Calcium. — A mixture of tricalcic phos- phate and carbonate of calcium in water was treated as be- fore with carbonic acid gas ; the amount of phosphate dissolved, taking the mean of three experiments, was 1 in 42,314 ; pres- sure 29'776 inches, temperature 70°. We see that the presence of carbonate of calcium almost completely prevented the solution of the phosphate. The solution obtained was in every case fully saturated with car- bonate of calcium, though containing so little phosphate. In fact, the carbonic water dissolved by preference the carbonate, and left the phosphate untouched. In one experiment only a small proportion of the mixture, estimated at about one-twentieth, was carbonate of calcium ; this small portion was found, however, effectually to prevent the solution of the phosphate. The experiment in this instance was carried farther. The part undissolved by the carbonic water was again treated with water and carbonic acid, the portion left yet undissolved was once more treated with water and gas, and after removing the solution as before, the remain- der was a fourth time treated witli water, and carbonic acid SOLUBILITY OF PHOSPHATES. 333 gas passed through it; the amount of phosphoric acid then dissolved was determined, and was found equal to 1 part of tricalcic phosphate in 2825 of liquid. The amount of phos- phate present in the last solution was therefore quite consider- able; the liquid contained very little carbonate of calcium. We learn from this experiment that when water saturated with carbonic acid acts on a mixture of carbonate and phosphate of calcium, it dissolves first the carbonate, and it is not until nearly the whole of the carbonate has been removed that the phosphate enters freely into solution. This influence of car- bonate of calcium on the solubility of tricalcic phosphate is clearly one likely seriously to affect the solubility of phosphatic manures when applied to calcareous soils. Solubility of Tricalcic Phosphate in Solution of Chloride of Ammonium saturated with Carbonic Acid, in the presence of Ca,rbonate of Calcium. — We have under this head only one experiment to record; it exhibits, however, very distinctly, the action of the salt of ammonium, if not the precise degree of solubility attainable. Tricalcic phosphate plus carbonate of calcium in a 1 per cent solution of chloride of ammonium, treated with carbonic acid gas ; the amount of tricalcic phosphate dissolved was 1 in 18,552. The chloride of ammonium had thus considerably increased the solubility of the phosphate. Influence of Oxide of Iron and AlumivM upon a Solution of Tricalcic Phosphate. — This, the last series of experiments, was undertaken to ascertain the influence of two other ingredients of soils upon the solubility of phosphate of calcium ; these ingredients were oxide of iron and alumina. The first of these is a considerable constituent of most soils, the last is also often largely present in the form of clay; in this state, however, it is united with silica, and consequently does not altogether z 336 REPORT OF EXPKRIMENTS ON THE and when once themselves removed from solution, can gurely no longer affect the solubility of other bodies. In this light we can scarcely regard the solvent action of ammonium salts as, in the majority of cases, at all considerable. A salt of am- monia wiU probably act most effectively as a solvent when it has been mixed with a phosphate, and both applied together to the soil. The solvent action will also be more extensive in a soil of low absorbent power for ammonia, and in the absence of much rain. Another fact thoroughly shown in these experiments is the great solvent power of water saturated with carbonic acid. Water containing this gas is doubtless a chief agent in bring- ing about the solution of phosphfe,tic substances in a soil. Car- bonic acid gas will be most abundant in soils rich in humus ; such manures as farm-yard dung and rape-dust must also for a time greatly increase its amount. Bearing these facts in mind, it would seem likely that such phosphates as bone-ash, or even powdered coprolite, might possibly be applied with good result to a class of soils rich in organic matter. An autumn application of these cheap phosphates to old pasture land, for instance, would certainly be worth trial. The experiments have further made plain that the solvent power of carbonic water is almost entirely destroyed by the pre- sence of carbonate of calcium ; in this case the water becomes saturated with carbonate of calcium, and is then apparently no longer able to dissolve a phosphate. The extent to which the carbonate of calcium of a soil will actually reduce the solvent power of the natural carbonic water, must of coiirse depend a good deal on the physical state of the respective carbonate and phosphate, and also upon their relative mass. There can be no doubt, however, that in all calcareous soils the presence of so much carbonate of calcium must limit greatly the solution SOLUBILITY OF PHOSPHATES. 337 and distribution of a phosphatic manure. That phosphatic manures are nevertheless applied with excellent result to cal- careous and even chalk soils, is undoubtedly true. On this point we may remark, that phosphatic manures are generally restricted to turnips, and are then drilled with the seed, thus supplying the plant with phosphate in its immediate vicinity ; and further, that mechanical mixture of the manure and soil is effected for a certain number of inches by the ordinary operations of tillage. The last experiments of the series indicate the great capa- city for absorbing phosphoric acid possessed by oxide of iron and alumina when in a hydrated condition. The practical application of this fact belongs to the subject of the absorptive power of soil. The property of oxide of iron here described seems to explain indeed the nature of the process by which phosphoric acid is absorbed and retained by a soil ; that, in fact, phosphate of calcium, when applied to a soil, first enters into solution, and is then decomposed by the ferric and alu- minic oxides with which it comes in contact, an insoluble phosphate of iron or of aluminium being produced, while the lime, which formed a part of the original phosphate, remains in solution as a carbonate, to be afterwards deposited, or else removed in the drainage -water. The phosphoric acid of a soil will, in this case be altogether in the state of phosphate of iron or phosphate of aluminium, substances, as we know, of very sparing solubility. The absorptive power of any soil for phos- phoric acid will also be to a great extent proportionate to the amount of available oxide of iron and alumina which the soil contains. It appears further, on this view of the matter, that the diffusion of phosphatic manures may, after all, be more thoroughly attained in a chalk soil containing little iron, than in a ferruginous soil ; notwithstanding the hindrance which EEPOET OF. WHEAT EXPERIMENTS 1865-1866. Some experiments as to the germinating power and growth of heavy and light seeds were made this year. The results were slightly in favour of the light seeds in their early stages of development ; but, as in former trials, the yield of corn was slightly greater from the heavy seeds. When translucent seeds were compared with opaque the same results were obtained. The former seeds, which are heavier than the latter, yielded a slightly greater increase, but fewer of them arrived at maturity. In these experiments, Hallett's new pedigree wheat was used, — a white rough-chaffed variety. AH the seeds selected were as perfect as possible, and on this account the results were much less conspicuous than where the whole sample of dressed seed-corn was separated into two parts, light and heavy, in the way described on page 108 of these memoirs. The results this year with the wheat already mentioned are vety striking. In the following table the results of growing heavy and light seed under the same con- ditions as to sowing, cultivation, etc., are given in a condensed form :■'— 342 EEPOET OS WHEAT EXPERIMENTS. Kind of Seed. Area in parts of an acre. Yield of dressed corn (bushels). Weight per bushel (pounds). Yield per acre (bushels). 1. Heavy, top-dressed, . 2. Do. fnot top-dressed, 3. Light, top-dressed, . 4. Do. not top-dressed. ■541 ■567 •270 ■288 20 ■ 18-95 902 8-76 61-9 62^6 62^3 625 37 ■ 34-4 33-4 30-4 Thus we see that the heavy seed, top-dressed, yielded 3 '6 bushels per acre more than the light seed similarly top-, dressed ; while the hea'ry seed, not top-dressed, yielded 4 bushels more than the light seed not top-dressed. Valuing this increase at 5s. per bushel, we have in the first case a gain of 18s. per acre, and in the second case a gain of 20s. In the experiments of 1863-1864, the gain similarly calculated amounted to just 13s. per acre ; this was the average of four varieties of wheat. But, in accordance with our expectations, the gain is greater in our latter experiments, in which the heavy seed was grown against the light seed, instead of against ■ordinary seed, as in the experiments of 1863-1864. EEPORT OF SOME EXPERIMEl^TS W AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY CAEKIED OUT IN THE LABORATORY OP THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL. COLLEGE. By AETHUE H. CHUECH, M.A. 1. Wheat Experiments, 1 865 — The Nitrogen of Wheat Grain, 345 II. Examination of a highly Aramouiacal Peruvian Guano, 349 III. Analysis of Acorns, . . . . . .351 IV. Spent Galls as a Manure, 352 V. The Composition of Sugar-Boilers' Scum, . . . 353 VI. Analysis of Coprolites discovered near Calne, Wiltshire, 355 VII. Observations on Palm-nut Kernel Meal, . " . . 357 VIII. Oxalic Acid in Mangold Leaves, .... 358 REPORT OF SOME EXPERIMENTS IN AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. I. — Report of Wheat Experiments, 1865. One or two matters for further inquiry were suggested by the experimental results obtained in 1864 with wheats of different densities. But the first of the two questions, to which my report of last year was intended to be an answer, was so briefly treated on that occasion, and so few data were then in my possession, that I have felt bound to recur to the subject, and examine it with greater minuteness. The point to which I refer is the relation of density to the percentage of albuminoids in wheat grain. A method of ascertaining this relation suggested itself to me last year during the course of my experiments. I was before inclined to think that the more starchy ^ grain was the more dense it would prove, but when the seeds that sank in a liquid of given density were analysed, they were found to contain more nitrogen than those which floated. I then observed that a much greater number of translucent or horny grains occurred among those that sank than among those that floated. Nothing was easier than to select these translucent grains, separating ^ the remainder of 346 EXPERIMENTS IN AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. the seeds into opaque or floury grains, and grains of inter- mediate aspect. The question at this stage of the inquiry- resolved itself iuto a chemical analysis of the translucent or dense graias, as -well as of the opaque or light grains. I would not, however, positively affirm that in any sample of wheat all translucent grains are denser than any of the opaque grains, but it is certain that by far the larger proportion is denser. My experiments are briefly described in the present paper. I have specially examined three characteristic varieties of wheat grain, and have found the distraction pointed out above, that, namely, between the hard, horny, siib-translucent grains and the softer, opaque, floury grains, to hold good. The pro- portion these grains present varies not only with different varieties of wheat, but also with the same variety under altered conditions of seasons, maturity when cut, etc. etc. From the following table some idea may be formed of the proportions of translucent and opaque grains in the three varieties experi- mented upon. Under the designation medium I have included those grains which present a mixed aspect. Spalding : Bed Wheat. 1864. Hallett's: White Kough Chaffed 1866. Archer's : Prolifio Wheat. 1865. Translucent, . . Medium, . . Opaque, . . 49 .34 17 24 31 45 29 3.3 38 100 100 100 The amount of water in the translucent grains seems in all cases to be identical with that in the opaque grains. EXPERIMENTS IN AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. 347 Percentage of Water. Spalrting. Hallett's. Translucent, . . . . Opaqiie . . 1612 1610 14'34 14-47 The percentage of nitrogen in the two sorts of seed is, how- ever, strikingly different. Two analyses were made in each case, and the results were as accordant and satisfactory as could be expected, considering that the samples were but coarsely ground, and it was consequently difficult to take from them for analysis a very small quantity having a really aver- age composition. Percentages of Nitrogen. Translucent. Opaque. I. II. Mean. I. II. Mean. Spalding, . Hallett's, . Archer's, . 1-74 2-05 1-70 1-85 2-12 1-73 1-79 209 1-71 1-45 1-52 1-40 1-3G 1-53 1-44 1-40 1-52 1-42 The above numbers furnish most conclusive proofs that, in the three varieties of wheat examined, the translucent grains contain a very much larger proportion of nitrogen than the opaque. The mean percentage of nitrogen in the three trans- lucent kinds is 1'86 against 1-45 only in the three opaque varieties. We may state this fact in another way : — The weight of grain which would yield us 128 pounds of nitrogen if the grains were translucent, would yield us only 100 pounds of nitrogen if the grains were opaque. By multiplying the above percentages of nitrogen by 6-26 348 EXPERMENTS IN AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. we arrive at an approximation to the amount of albuminoids which the translucent and opaque grains respectively con- tain. Percentage of Albuminoids. Transluceut. Opaque. Spalding, .... Hallett's, . . Archer's .... 11-19 13 06 10-69 8-75 9-50 8-87 Mean 11-85 Mean 9 04 In other words, the translucent grains of these three kinds of wheat contain nearly 12 per cent, of flesh-formers, while the opaque grains of the same three kinds contain just 9 per cent, of flesh- formers. This method of selection is really quite unerring, and cannot fail to be of sei-vice in choosing wheats for special purposes, — the manufacture of starch, or of gluten preparations, for instance. It is not difficult to' calculate from the ascertained per- centage proportion of the three different kinds of grain in a sample, and the percentages of nitrogen which the translucent and opaque respectively contain, the percentage of nitrogen in the whole mixed grain. In this case the medium grains have an intermediate percentage assigned to them. In the follow- ing table the calculated and experimental percentages of nitrogen in Spalding and Hallett's wheat are compared : — Percentage of Nitrogen in Original Sample. Hallett's. Spalding. Found, Calculated, .... . . 1-752 1-745 1-54 1-66 EXPERIMENTS IN AGEICULTUKAL CHEMISTRY. 349 II. — Examination of a highly Ammoniacal Peruvian Guano. The occurrence of large quantities of the acid carbonate of ammonium (bicarbonate of ammonium) in the guano deposits of Patagonia and the Chincas is well known. This salt is not only found in layers, occasionally several inches in thickness, but in small crystalline nodules disseminated uniformly through the mass of the guano proper. A sample of guano purchased of Messrs. Proctor in the spring of 1865, was found to lose more than 50 per cent, of its weight on being dried at 100°. An analysis of the original sample gave more than twice as much nitrogen as was found in a portion which had been dried at 100". From these data the amount of nitrogen in the form of a volatile ammo- nium salt was ascertained. A determination of carbonic acid was also made, in order to discover the particular kind of car- bonate of ammonium present. The following are the results of the analysis : — Analysis of Peruvian Otutno. I. II. Water, 20-33 Organic matter and ammoniacal salts, 56-39> 5 6 -9 9" Phosphates of calcium and magnesium, 16-98 Alkalies, 4-39= Sand 1-41 100-00 " 1 Coutains 16-92 per cent, of N, = 20-55 NHj. 2 Contains 16-99 per cent, of N, = 20-63 NHj. ' Contains PO5 = '79 per cent. The ammonia lost at 100° amounted to 10-49 per cent., equal to 36'29 per cent, of the sesquicarbonate. A direct determina- tion of carbonic acid gave 23'9 per cent., equal to 34'39 per cent, of sesquicarbonate of ammonium. The ammonia, there- 2 A 350 EXPERIMENTS IN AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. fore, in this sample of guano, existed most probably in this form. If we subtract the nitrogen of the ammoniacal com- pounds lost at 100° from tlie total amount of nitrogen, we have the following results : — Total nitrogen, 16-95 Nitrogen in the 36-29 per cent, of NH^ salt lost at ) „ „„ 100, J:_^ Nitrogen in the guano dried at 100°, . . .7-72 This guano was again submitted to analysis after the lapse of some months. The sample had been powdered for analysis, and kept in a well- corked bottle. Nevertheless, a very large proportion, namely, 7'87 per cent., of nitrogen, equal to more than four-tenths of the total quantity originally present, had escaped in the interval of twelve months between the two analyses. The following are the analytical results : — Water and organic matter,^ . . . 63-89 Phosphates, 24-93 Sand, 1-52 Alkalies' and loss, . . . . 9-66 100-00 1 Containing nitrogen 9-08 per cent. = 1 1 -02 of NHj. ^ Containing 1 -49 per cent, of POj. The interior of lumps of this guano, analysed after the same interval of twelve months or more, was quite unchanged — as rich as ever in nitrogen. The practical bearings of the above results are sufficiently evident. The deterioration of this kind of guano by keeping, entails a very considerable loss ; a loss which the*process of ' sulphating' would of course prevent. This process, originally patented by Dr. Eichardson of Newcastle in 1859, has been recently published (1864) as a new method of ' Increasing the Efficacy of Peruvian Guano.' If experiments should not prove that the addition in this manner of sulphuric acid to Peruvian guano increases its efficacy, there can be no doubt that in some EXPEEIMENTS IN" AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. 351 cases this treatment will serve to prevent any lessening of its efficacy from the escape of annnoniacal salts. III. — Analysis of Acwns. I am not aware that any recent analysis of acorns has been made. With a view of gaining some notion of their feeding value, a sample of acorns of the year 1865, grown on the oolite, and the produce of several varieties of quercus robur, was sub- mitted to analysis in my laboratory. The kernels and husk were separately examined. In one hundred parts of acorns the proportion was as follows : — Kernels, ... . 86-47 Husk, . . . . 1353 100-00 The analytical results were as follow : — Kernels. Husks. Whole Acorns. Water, 43-34 25-00 41-15 Starch, cellulose, sugar, etc., 47-17 44-33 46-83 Oil, .... 2-57 •70 2-37 Albuminoids, 308 1-83 2-94 Insoluble fibre. 3-58 26-59 5-44 Ash, .... 1-24 1-55 1-27 100-00 100-00 100-00 The oil contained in the kernels is a pale drying oil, plea- sant in taste, and closely resembling linseed-oil. Acorns are deficient in nitrogenous matters, but they possess marked fat- tening properties. Where available for feeding, and not re- quired as seed, they may often be advantageously purchased at from 15d. to 18d. a bushel, when there are objections to their being eaten on the ground. The bitter and astringent taste of acorns, however, limits their use as feeding material considerably ; yet I have known them eaten with avidity, not only by pigs, but by sheep, and even by horses. 352 EXPERIMENTS IN AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. IV. — Spent Oalls as a Manure. Veiy large quantities of nut-galls are imported into this country for the sake of the tannic acid wliich they contain. This acid (with several other suhstances allied to it, or derived from it) is extensively employed in tanning, dyeing, photo- graphy, the manufacture of ink, and in medicine. Last summer I was informed that in the neighbourhood of some chemical works where large quantities of nut-galls are consumed, the spent galls were much sought after as a manure for market- garden crops. I was also told that the application of this material to the soil was attended with very favourable results. The sample of spent galls analysed was placed at my disposal by Messrs. Hopkin and Williams, manufacturing chemists, of London and "Wandsworth. The gall-nuts, after the extraction of the large proportion of tannic and gallic acids which they contain, still present some resemblance to their original form ; they are, moreover, very tough and hard, though porous. The subjoined analytical details seem to show that much of their stimulative action on vegetable growth s'hould be assigned to the mechanical improvement which they may effect in certain soils, and to the carbonic acid which the abundance of organic matter in them engenders during decay. Of the chief manurial elements the spent gall-nuts do indeed contain a distinct though small proportion. Analysis of Spent Galls; Water, 10-91 Organic matter,i . . . . ' 84-64 Potash, .... . -90 Phosphoric acid, . . . . -17 Silica, alumina, oxides of copper and iron, 2-38 100-00 ' Containing nitrogen 1-15 per cent. = l-,32 of ammonia. EXPERIMENTS IN AGRICULTUEAL CHEMISTRY. 353 The calculated money value of spent galls is therefore very- small. If we adopt the highest usual data, it would not exceed 28s. per ton. But at. present it would be premature to affirm that they are worth purchasing at all. At the same time, practice seems to show that under some agricultural conditions their use may prove advantageous. It must be remembered that the spent galls are a very bulky waste product, of which the manufacturers are glad to get rid. Analyses such as that given above may sometimes prove of service in checking a tendency to extol the manurial value of the residues and waste matters of various factories. In other instances, no doubt, analyses may prove useful, by indicating to the farmer hitherto neglected, because unknown, supplies of those elements which he most reqiiires. V. — The Composition of Sugar-Boilers' Scum. In the neighbourhood of sugar-refineries, it is often pos- sible to obtain the scum from the vats in large quantities and at a cheap rate. As will be seen from the subjoined partial analysis, this waste substance contains much phosphate of calcium and an appreciable quantity of nitrogen : — Analysis of Sugar-Boilers' Scum. Water, 10'98 Organic matter, and water of combination,! 54-69 Ash,2 34-33 100-00 i In the organic matter 1-88 per cent, of nitrogen was found, equal to 2-28 per cent, of ammonia. , x , i «-, 2 The ash contained 5-46 per cent, of phosphoric acid, equal to 11-97 per ceat. i>i tricalcic phosphate. 354 EXPEMMEKTS IN AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. "VI. — Analysis of Goprolites discovered near Cains, Wiltshire. The search for phosphatic as for potassic minerals is con- tinually bringing fresh facts to light. Vast deposits of matters containing abundant supplies of these ' agricultural' substances have been discovered, and worked extensively on the Continent within the last few years, but in Great Britain itself apatite, the phosphate so abundant in Norway and Spain, occurs only as a rarity for the mineralogist, not as a basis for the opera- tions of the superphosphate-maker. But English coprolites, or rather pseudo-coprolites, for the true coprolites occur very seldom, furnish large quantities of phosphoric acid to the agriculturist. The working of the Suffolk Crag pseudo-copro- lites is indeed now partly abandoned, but those of Cambridge- shire are in greater request than ever, as much as £40 per annum being paid for the right of quarrying them from a single acre. Geologists have of course not been slow to indicate the existence of phosphatic nodules in the corresponding strata of France and other countries, but it is remarkable that the continental specimens are, as a rule, of far poorer quality than those generally worked here. Although inferior samples may not be found suitable for the purposes of the manure-manufac- turer, yet they may occasionally be useful for ' home consump- tion' to the neighbouring farmer, provided, of course, that his land is not already naturally rich in phosphate of calcium, and that experiment has shown that further additions in some form do actually improve it. We know indeed that many soils con- tain a mere trace of this compound, in others that it is a weigh- able quantity ; and that, in soils derived from the lower green- sand, for instance, it may reach as high a percentage as 2-4 or 3'0. Poor soils, as chalk, and soils rich in phosphates, occurring in close contiguity, may often be improved by commixture, rather EXPERIMENTS IN AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. 355 than by the direct addition of more concentrated phosphatic compounds. Yet it is always worth while to examine closely the composition and richness of such compounds, should they occur in one's own neighbourhood. These observations will serve to introduce the results which have lately been ob- tained by the analysis of the phosphatic nodules occurring near Calne in Wiltshire. Discovery of Coprolites near Calne. In one of the excursions conducted by Professor John Morris, in connexion with his lectures on geology in the Eoyal Agri- cultural College, he pointed out the probability of the occur- rence of the so-called coprolites at the junction of the upper greensand and lower chalk, in the neighbourhood of Calne, Wilts. In accordance with the anticipation, the pseudo- coprolites were found, and have been submitted to careful analysis in my laboratory. The phosphatic nodules occur somewhat ii-regularly distri- buted in a bed from four to five feet thick, at the upper part of the upper greensand, at its junction with the lower chalk or challc marl. The bed is highly calcareous, and contains, besides the nodules, green grains thickly disseminated through it, and many casts of fossil shells, as Gucullcea, Ammonites, etc., and sponges. The nodules resemble the French specimens of coprolites more closely than those from Suffolk or Cambridgeshire ; in their chemical composition also they approach nearly the con- tinental samples. In the following table are given the results of easeful ana- lyses of the lower chalk, greensand, matrix of the copro- lites, and of two varieties of coprolites, one having a greenish grey, and the other a yellowish brown colour. Analyses V. 356 EXPEKIMENTS IN AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. and VI. are of the same sample of coprolites, but in the latter analysis the 'acetate of lead method' was adopted, in the former the ' oxalic acid method.' Water Organic Matter, Tricalcio phosphate, ... Carbonate of Calcium, ... Carbonate of Magnesium, Silica ... Ferric oxide, alumina, ') fluorine,sulphuric acid, > alkalies, and loss, ) I. Chalk. 11. Green- sand. III. Matrix of Coprolites. IV. Grey Coprolite. V. 1 VI. Brown Coprolite. I 3-7 1 •16 1 61-92 34-18 / 2-40 1. 207 2-40 / 41-29 \ 1-65 42-67 7-52 2-48 2-53 •67 48-11 1-36 42-12 2-73 1 4-07 32-59 25-50 35'42 2-42 4-97 45-48 35-81 8-84 4-90 4-75 46-06 35-07 213 8-7 3-29 10000 100-00 lOO^OO 10000 10000 ;oooo I may state that in all the above analyses the phosphoric acid found by experiment has been put down, for the sake of comparison, in the form of the common phosphate of calcium (tricalcic phosphate), although a small proportion of it really exists in combination with alumina and with ferric oxide in the coprolites. The methods here adopted for the accurate determination of the phosphoric acid in the coprolites from Calne leave nothing to be desired as to facility and exactness ; it may be safely affirmed that the percentages of phosphate of calcium above given are correct, and furnish a fair idea of the value of this phosphatic material. I am indebted to Mr. E.- Warington for analyses I. and IV., to Mr. C. C. Jacobsen, M.RA.C., for analyses II. and III., and to Mr. H. M. Taylor, M.E.A.C., for analyses V. and VI. In order to convert the Calne coprolites into a superphos- phate (monocalcic phosphate), we should require for the pro- duction of the same quantity of soluble phosphates, a larger quantity of sulphuric acid than would be necessary with a EXPEKIMENTS IN AGRICULTUEAL CHEMISTRY. 357 good sample of Cambridgeshire or Suffolk coprolites, for the specimens from Calne contain a high percentage of carbon- ate of calcium. Leaving this fact out of consideration, and regarding only the value of the phosphates contained, esti- mated at 40 per cent, of tricalcic phosphate, we may put them down as worth about 28s. per ton; unground Cambridge- shire coprolites, containing phosphates equal say to 55 per cent, of tricalcic phosphate, selling, we will assume, at the present time, at 40 s. per ton. It is scarcely probable that any of the richer phosphates occur in this country in sufficient quantity for manufacturing purposes. The discovery of a good supply of such a mineral as wavellite (phosphate of aluminium), which occurs sparingly at Clonmel, Ireland, and Barnstaple, Devonshire, would be of great value. One hundred parts of this mineral are equiva- lent to seventy-four parts of pure tricalcic phosphate, while it presents the gTeat advantages, not only of being readily acted on by chemical agencies, and so becoming immediately available for the use of plants, but also of being soft and friable. VII.— Ohservations on Palm-nut Kernel Meal. The earlier samples of this meal were singularly rich in oil ; according to Dr. Volcker's analysis, the percentage of oil ex- ceeded 26. Specimens of this meal of more recent manu- facture have usually given me about 20 per cent, of oil, but in one instance only 1 7 was found. The methods of extracting the oil from these exceedingly hard kernels are becoming more perfect, and the residues are consequently poorer. In determining the amount of oil in this meal an error may easily occur. Not only is there a fragrant volatile oil in the kernels, but the fat oil itself is not altogether fixed at 100°. 358 EXPERIMENTS IN AGKICULTURAl CHEMISTRY. When, therefore, the oil has been dissolved out of the meal by ether, and the etherial solution evaporated in the water - oven, the oily residue will gradually diminish by too long heating. The following instance will serve as an example : — The oil in a roughly ground sample of palm-nut kernels (not pressed) was found to amount to 33"16 per cent, in one ex- periment, and to 3 3 '30 per cent, in another. But by several hours' further heating of the oil at 100°, this percentage was diminished by one-fifth, amounting then to no more than 2 6 '5 9 per cent. I append the results of analyses of palm-nut kernels previous to their being pressed, and also of the pressed and ground meal as now sold (spring 1866): — Palm-nut Kernels, ground and pressed. 8-29 2041 15-37 52-43 3-60 Palm-nut Kernels, ground. Water, . . 9-60 Oil, . . . 33-30 33'i6 Albuminoids, . 7-31 7-62 Gluooids, . 24-56 :::} Woody fibre, . 18-40 Asb and sand, 6-83 6-76 100-00 100-00 VIII. — Oxalic Acid in Marigold Leaves. Occasionally injurious effects have been observed to. arise from the free use of mangolds and mangold tops in feeding young animals. One agricultural writer of note, speaking on this topic, affirms that this hurtfulness of mangolds is due to the large amount of common salt which they contain ! Mis- imderstanding the results of the analysis of the ash of man- golds, he states the fresh plant itself to contain half its weight of common salt ! Although it is quite unnecessary to refute EXPERIMENTS IN AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. 359 SO preposterous an assumption, the real cause of the effects in question seemed to me well worthy of investigation. The following brief account contains the results of my experi- ments : — Some time ago, I was asked to examine into the cause of the death of some young pigs. They had been fed upon a mash of bean-meal and mangold tops. On examiaing this mixed food, I found it extremely acid ; so acid as to turn blue litmus a brilliant scarlet immediately on immersion. I thought oxalic acid might have been introduced into the mixture ; I tested for it, and found it. But on trying the same experiment with fresh mangold leaves from the field, I found in them also large quantities of oxalic acid. A deter- mination of the actual amount of this acid present in fresh mangold leaves was then made, — the process adopted being as follows : — In the middle of September the leaves of a mangold were cut off close to the root, they were bruised in a mortar, and boiling water poured over the mass. After digestion for some time, the liquid was filtered off, the residue squeezed and extracted twice with boiling water. The whole of the liquids were now added together, boiled, and filtered. To the filtrate ammonia in excess and chloride of calcium were added. The precipitate of calcic oxalate and organic matter was separated, washed, and dried. In order to purify it, it was digested twice with alcohol, then boiled with water, then warmed with acetic acid ; thus the greater part of the impm'i- ties were removed. Finally, the residue was treated with strong hydrochloric acid and filtered. Ammonia was then added to the filtrate till its acid reaction had nearly disap- peared, then acetate of ammonium. After standing some time, the precipitated oxalate of calcium was collected, dried, 360 EXPERIMENTS IN AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. and weighed. From the percentage of residue which this pre- cipitate left on ignition, it was found to be very nearly pure oxalate of calcium. The method adopted of extracting the oxalic acid from the leaves enabled me to estimate the soluble oxalates alone — those, in fact, which would be really active and poisonous. 15,870 grains of mangold leaves gave oxalate of calcium equal to 30-36 grains of oxalic acid, or 38-85 grains of acid oxalate of potassium. This latter salt, commonly known as salt of sorrel, is the form in which oxalic acid usually exists in solution in the juices of plants. "We may therefore calculate our results into the form of a percentage of this salt. Thus it will be found that in 100 parts of fresh mangold leaves there is •251 of oxalate of potassium, or 100 lbs. of fresh leaves contain rather more than 4 ounces of this poisonous substance. It is not only possible, but extremely probable, that in dry seasons this amount may be largely increased, and that it varies greatly with the maturity of the plant. The imperfect experi- ments here recorded are, however, quite sufficient to point out the cause of the injurious effects occasionally produced by mangold leaves. REPORT OF WHEAT EXPERIMENTS 186 6. JOHN WEIGHTSON, F.C.S., PROFESSOR OF AGRICULTURE IN THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, CIRENCESTER. REPORT OF WHEAT EXPERIMENTS 18 66. I AM indebted to the papers of the Eev. S. Smith and of Mr. J. A. Clarke upon Lois Weedon wheat- cultivation for suggesting the following experiment. Many years would be required to carry out an investigation which could materially aiFect the conclusions of those gentle- men. My object, however, was simply to learn how far the plan of growing wheat in double or in triple rows alternately with fallow interspaces could compare with the usual method. Although the season was somewhat advanced before I thought of testing the merits of the above-named plan upon Cotteswold land, the result has been such as to warrant a further trial. The previous cropping of the land upon which most of the experiments were conducted was 1862, Wheat. 1863, Beans. 1864, Wheat. 1865, Beaus. Two of the plots, E and F, were on a part of the field which had received a different treatment, the rotation liaving been as follows : — 364 REPORT OF WHEAT EXPERIMENTS. 1862, Wheat. 1863, Beans. 1864, Wheat. 1865, Spring vetches manured with 3^ cwt. guano, but subsequently ploughed in on account of failure, the land being then worked as a summer fallow. The wheat was all sown on the same day, in October 1865, with Garret's corn-drill — 8 inches between the rows, — and looked remarkably well throughout the winter. On April 18th the experiment was commenced. Six plots of l-40th acre'' each were carefully measured, and stakes were driven to mark their exact limits ; a path about one foot in width was hoed out around each plot so as to isolate it from the surrounding wheat, and prevent confusion at the time of cutting. The wheat used was Shirreff's Bearded "W^ite. Description of Plots. Plot A. In this plot eveiy alternate row of wheat was obliterated by hand-hoeing, leaving the rows 16 inches apart ; this was the only difference between it and the surrounding wheat. Plot B. Three rows were obliterated by the haud-hoe, and three were left untouched, this being repeated throughout the plot. There were therefore alternately three rows occupying unitedly a breadth of 24 inches, and interspaces of 40 inches in breadth. The vacant ground was deeply forked on April 20th and May 25th. Plot C was the same in every respect as B, excepting that it and the part of the field where it was situated were top-dressed with 1 ^ cwt. nitrate of soda per acre. ' Dimensions of vlot = 534 X 47 links = -025145 acre. REPOKT OF WHEAT EXPERIMENTS. 365 Plot D was not interfered with in any way, and represented the condition of the remainder of the wheat on the top-dressed portion of the field. Plot E. Here two rows were obliterated and two reserved alternately, the interspaces being forked, April 18th and May 25th. This plot was on the part of the field which had been summer-fallowed 1865. Plot F. Duplicate of A, — after summer-fallow, while A was after beans. During the summer the wheat looked remarkably well, but the plots did not indicate any superiority over the corn which surrounded them. The wheat on the experiineutal plots was cut with the sickle on the 2d and 3d of August. It was allowed to stand until thoroughly dry, and was then threshed in the field without being ricked. The sheaves of each plot were weighed immediately before they were put through the machine, and the weight of the straw and chaff was afterwards determined by the difference between the total weight of corn and straw, and the weight ofgrain subsequently ascertained. The wheat was threshed on the 18th and winnowed on the 25th of August, when the results were obtained which are embodied in the following table : — 2 H 366 REPORT OF WHEAT EXPERIMENTS. OQ o [fl -o o o n3 '^ 3 o n3 Fm i-< rt ^ =S pc3 ^ _• d o rt 6 J fi P P -ja Q ^ ^ t'is to CO ^ ■^ -ct< C^ § &■§ r^^ «:> vO CO O iC iO ■§.*..« ■ o lO , •s o a OOPO -* CJi ^ 6b '^'^ M CO iC -* ■^ l^i .«'p >o il >P 00 t- ^ IS. 00 ^ ^ ^ c^ o lO 00 Oi oS ^ «l f O ex.. CO i - P4 & ^ CM ge 1^ ■s !^ s CO CO ^ CO CO o 00 A ■©■Sm 1- ,_, tH co 00 T-( I> C<1 ■ w CO 1 -^■g^ -s "£ -s -s 1^ o , CO s tic • =8 • t' f Oh .2 0) "t^ 3^ £ • ti: . « • » • 1 ■ O i r o =8 §-•1 ■Sis 00 of ^ o 13 1 II If as' O P.-S 1 1 s 1 CO 1^" 1) rJa O 2 1. p 11 ^■E a 1 o -a rJ=l (4-< DQ a; si- o s-g 2 01 0} -tnO O O 3 -*^ QJ rt i^ Fh 'b ^ bD y=l rt PI "a goo ^^ Ozcm HH ftWJJ o u a » bD I 111" *1 IJ ;t-) g '3 ■eg fcOM 8sa|§>8i -SI'S > M p^ra o a ^ 9 fH fl Ol P rt o -^ ' Ph. M -o a a g ~ H "^ iB ,3 ■« S" Ph.2 m o o,ii K43 «3.^ ° S o Pk O Ps Ph ^ &H Eh a PM I-:; o :: o C5 » o ^ g -*J CO o OS bD.S f% -> O bD PI 'd J w O m f^ :; O O « o 5s PHti(> ^ 1 « -hP '^ n n* fi. M-i . 't, g =» ^ fl lo6osorH c^cc^ «3 ;:3 £ d .y P3 ee (B Qj 2 S ^ H g S g PQ^PQ<(JHO|:qEHQWi-aM0P3O^ 378 REPORT ON THE EARLY SOWING OF WHEAT. TABLE III. Planting, Ripening, and Harvesting of Early Sown Wheat. Name of Grain. Date of Number of Tillers, Came into When out. Grains per ear, sowing. January 10. ear. average of four ears. 1 . Australian Buff, . . Aus;. 29 38. June 1 Aug. 1 73-5 2. Free-Trade Sept. 20 3 to 8. „ 18 ,. 18 72 3. Browick's Eed, . . . }t 3 to 8. „ 18 ., 17 68 4. Hallett's Pediexee, . 1) 3 to 10. „ 18 ., 17 73 5. Australian Buff, . . 3 to 10. „ 15 ., 12 74 6. Prince Albert, . . . ,j Some 10 to 12. „ 15 ,, 12 75 7. Spalding's Eed, . . )) Some 10 to 12. „ 13 „ 12 68 8. Nursery White, . . Very few. „ 15 „ 12 59 9. MendipEed, . . . ,, 10 to 12. „ 15 „ 12 72 10. Mendip Lammas, . . n 8 to 12. „ 15 „ 11 72-5 ll.Talavera, 8 to 12. ,. 4 ,. 11 39 12. Mendip Eed (cones). J, 3 to 8. ■ „ 15 „ 11 60 13. Mendip Nursery, . }j ]J „ 15 „ 10 64 14. Whitefrom Cirencester, Up to 13. „ 8 „ 10 67-5 15. Bearded White, . . jj 3 to 8. „ 15 „ 10 54 16. Winter barley, . . . ir Some 20. „ 1 „ 1 103'5 17. Brown's barley, . . . Octr. 24 Very few. ., 8 July 25 79-5 18. Australian Buff, . . )> ... „ 15 Aug. 12 78-5 19. Essex rough chaff, „29 ... „ 18 >, 12 75-5 20. Chiddam J» „ 18 „ 12 62-5 21. Browick's Eed, . . . )7 „ 18 ., 12 68 22. Talavera, .... „ 11 ,. 12 (Poor.) 23. Chiddam, .... J, ... „ 18 „ 12 62-5 24. Essex rough chaff, „30 ... „ 18 , 12 (GooH.) 25. Jerusalem barley, . . ») „ 27 .. 12 36-7 26. Six-rowed barley. „ 20 „ 12 87 27. Dutch oats . „ 30 „ 12 68-7 28. Eye, ..... spring „ 22 » 12 29-5 29. Chevalier barley, sown. „ 30 „ 18 35 30. Wild oats, . . . J ... July 1 „ 18 (Poor.) KOTES 01^ THE CULTIYATIOI^ OF ANTHYLLIS VUMERARIA. REV. JOHN CONSTABLE, M.A., PRINOIPiL OF THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, CIRENCESTER. NOTES ON THE CULTIVATIOJST OF ANTHYLLIS VULNEEARIA. Great diversity of opinion exists as to tlie use of this common wUd flower as a forage plant. The failure of the clover plant in many districts where it has been long culti- vated, and an apparent impossibility of finding a remedy, have led to the strong desire to discover some substitute. The anthyllis vuhieraria, commonly known as ' ladies' fingers,' and which is found in almost all parts of this country, especially on calcareous soils, seems to many to offer the desideratum, it being a plant evidently easy of cultivation, and one which in Prussia has been used with great success as food for sheep. But it cannot be said as yet that the experiments have been sufficiently numerous to warrant a conclusion as to its general adaptability. In the Eoyal Agricultural Society's Journal, in the Second Series, vol. ii. part 1, Professor Buckman has detailed the results of an experiment made by him in his garden at Bradford Abbas, and he gives seven tons as the esti- mated weight per acre. His experiment, however, being only a small one, he is not able to add any results as to the feeding value of the crop. Mr. George Turner, of Barnham, who has had as much as sixty acres of the crop constantly fed by sheep, says, in the same number of the Journal, that he has found his sheep eat it with great avidity, and that they are soon satis- fied with it. Mr. Frere, again, goes beyond this, and calculates the value of the crop to have been in his case, £3, 4s. per acre, 2 c 382 ON THE CULTIVATION OF THE ANTHYLLIS VULNERARIA. ' while it was/ he says, ' quite as abundant, and quite as hearty as the best red clover on my farm, growing on land of double the value.' The following record of an exact experiment made in the Botanic Garden of the Royal Agricultural College may be read with interest in connexion with the above. Two beds, as similar as possible in every respect, each 1 7 feet 6 inches by 4 feet, were sown, one with the anthyllis, and the other with common red clover. They were each cut on the same day, in the middle of the summer of 1866, and weighed immedi- ately after cutting, and again when thoroughly dry, being in the condition of ordinary hay. The anthyllis weighed, when green, 59 lbs. 4 oz., when dry, 1 1 lbs. 14 oz. ; the clover, 29 lbs.. 12 oz., and 5 lbs. 12 oz. Thus, as hay, it may be estimated that the anthyllis yielded 3 tons 6 cwt. per acre, and the clover 1 ton 12 cwt. per acre. From the many farmers who visit the College, it is often possible to gather information respecting novelties, and I can state that as yet I have heard no favour- able report of this plant as a forage crop. At the same time I think some of the experiments have not been conducted under conditions likely to bring out the best results. In short, so far as our present knowledge goes, we are inclined to recom- mend it only on the poorest sandy soils —just such soils as would yield the best results from the application of sewage, and to consider it worth a little over £1 per ton when in the condition of hay. 01^ THE HYDRAULIC RAM. EEV. JOHN CONSTABLE, M.A., PRINCIPAL OF THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL COLLEGK, CIRENCE8TEE. 01^ THE HYDRAULIC RAM. A GOOD supply of well- water being an essential of comfort, people, so far as is possible, generally build their houses with reference to this consideration. Many a most desirable spot for a residence has been abandoned because of the impossi- bility of procuring water by any of the ordinary methods ; indeed, so much does the facility with which water can be ob- tained regulate the choice of sites, that geologists can often trace the outcrop of a stratum by observing the line of cottages. I remember this being clearly pointed out by Professor Morris, in one of our interesting field-classes a short time ago. We were approaching Minchinhampton Common in search of the union of the Fullers' Earth with a compara- tively porous stratum of the Great Oolite, when he called our attention to the line of cottages dotted here and there over the hiU-side. ' You may rest assured,' said he, ' that we shall find what we are seeking in the neighbourhood of those dwellings, for they have evidently been built where they are because of the proximity of the water-bearing stratum.' It is the same necessity of water which has led to the choice of sites for large towns. Agriculturists know how essential to the comfort, not only of a farm-house, but of a farm-homestead, is an abundance of good water. 'Now it sometimes happens that other con- siderations would lead to the choice of a position for either the one or the other, but the impediment exists — what is to be done for water ? The water-bearing stratum is too far removed from the surface to admit of the adoption of wells. 380 ON THE HYDRAULIC RAM. without an enormous outlay for sinking, and a cousideraWe yearly expenditure for using when found. All who have lived on the chalk formation must know the expense and incon- venience connected with a deep weU. When I lived in Hamp- shire it took our man ten minutes to raise a bucket of fourteen gallons, and this with no slight expenditure of labour. -The only feasible substitute for this costly system is the collection of the rain-water which falls on the roof in underground tanks — a system which cannot be too warmly advocated, inasmuch as for cooking and washing purposes rain-water is greatly superior to the hard water of wells : a pound of tea when in- fused in rain-water will yield ten per cent, more beverage of a given strength than when mixed with ordinary well-water. Mr. Hyett of Painswick, a gentleman well known in Glouces- tershire for the zeal and perseverance with which he has advo- cated improvements in the dwellings and manage of the poor, is enthusiastic in support of the use of these underground tanks. It sometimes happens, that not far distant from the buildings in which water is needed, a spring runs to waste, forming only a muddy stream in which cattle wade during the hot season. Should this stream be above the level of the building, the merest child knows that if conducted in a properly protected channel, it will by reason of its own weight iind its way to the desired cistern ; but let the state, of things be reversed, and the water be many feet below the building, a more recondite application of scientific principles is necessary. In the former case, nothing more is needed than free scope for the action of gravity ; in the latter, the same force of gravity may be made to act, but through a more complicated mechanism. First, It may be made to act upon force-pumps situated at the brook. Wherever there is a fall of water a water-wheel of more or less power can be erected for the production of rotary motion, which rotary motion can be adapted to the working of force- ■ON THE HYDRAULIC RAM. 387 pumps, or other necessary machinery ; so that we are enabled to employ a force proportional to the magnitude and fall of the stream. There is however another means by which the desired end may be compassed : a little instrument termed the hydraulic ram may be so placed in the stream, in the manner we shall presently explain, as to force the water up a rising pipe to the required height. The hydraulic ram, therefore, is a machine for the raising of water without the intervention of a wheel or pumps ; it is a simple instrument, easily managed, cheap to erect, and inexpensive in its work; on the whole so satisfactory that its non-universal adoption can only be accounted for by the prevailing ignorance of its worth, and the prejudice of plumbers, whose incomes are greatly increased by the periodic repairs of family pumps. We shall treat of this machine under four heads : — I. The principles by which it works. II. The practical application of these principles. III. The efficiency of the ram. IV. The economy of it, compared with other agents for accomplishing the same end. I. The Principles. These are three — (1.) As before, the weight of water due to the action of gravity on it. (2.) The elasticity of air. (3.) The practical incompressibility of water. (1.) When a pound of water falls a vertical foot, it accumu- lates as much work as would be required to raise it one foot, and, therefore, if this water descend against an obstacle, such as the float-boards of a water-wheel, the amount of work so accumulated wiU be done upon the wheel, and this may be 388 , ON THE HYDRAULIC RAM. applied to any useful purpose, after a certain deduction has been made on account of prejudicial resistances. Hence if 100 pounds of water descend 10 feet, we have 1000 units of work accumulated upon the obstacle against which the water im- pinges. (2.) If air be confined in a closed chamber and subjected to pressure, its elasticity will vary inversely as the space it oc&upies ; i.e., if the space be halved the elasticity is doubled, and exactly the reverse ; moreover, if the pressure be removed the air will resume its original bulk. (3.) Water being practically incompressible, the arrest of a large body of water when in motion in a confined channel, such as a closed pipe, has somewhat the effect of the arrest of a heavy, incompressible, and inelastic body when moving with a velo- city. In this latter case, should the opposing material be per- fectly elastic as weU as the body, the moving body is thrown back with considerable force, — a good illustration of which is seen in billiard-balls : supposing the struck ball to be held in its place by. the hand, the impinging ball may be made to return in the line of its advance. It is also a well-known fact that pressure applied to any part of water is propagated equally in all directions ; that is to say, if a pipe were fiUed with water, and had several holes in it of equal size, pressure applied at one hole externally would be felt at aU the others with the same intensity as at that of application. Applying these two established principles to a body of water moving through a pipe— if the motion be suddenly stopped, the shock sustaiued by the opposing body is felt throughout the whole pipe, and every portion of surface equal to that which causes the reaction is subjected to the same amount of pressure. This property of water has long been known, and has ON THE HYDRAULIC HAM. 389 enabled many a mischievous boy to burst pipes by suddenly arresting the water flowing through the tap ; for wherever the pipe is not strong enough to resist the sudden strain, there it gives way, and hence the use of screw taps, which bring the motion of the water gradually to an end. A simple illustra- tion of this may be seen represented in the figure below : — AB is a pipe ; C is a small cistern from which water flows through the pipe from C to D and A. At D there is a valve in the pipe A B, which opens upwards, and which therefore, when the apparatus is quiescent, remains closed by reason of its weight. Let the tap A be opened and the water flow, then as often as the water is checked by the sudden closing of the tap at A, the recoil forces the valve D open, and causes a por- 390 ON THE HYDRAULIC RAM. tion of water to get over the valve, i.e , on the top side, and to he imprisoned there hy the falling of the valve. By a repetition of this process the water gradually rises in the pipe D B till it reaches B. It is easy to see that there must be a limit to the height to which the water will rise in the pipe D B (suppos- ing D B to be of unlimited length), because when the pressure downwards on the valve D, owing to the superincumbent water, is so great as to prevent its rising from the force of recoil, no more water can enter the pipe D B. Scientific men know that this will be measured by the momentum of the water, which is due to the size of the tap, i.e., the volume of water and the velocity with which it is moving. II. The Practical Application of these Principles. In describing this little instrument the ram itself has really been explained ; only in the ram the human hand to turn the tap is dispensed with by an ingenious application of the elasticity of air. £5S The above drawing represents a section of a ram. The ON THE HYDRAULIC RAM. 391 water is supposed to be flowing from A to E with a given velocity. The tap B, you will observe, is open, and the water is represented as flowing through it. The pressure of the flowing water gradually shuts B ; there is a recoil felt throughout the pipe, and therefore at E and E, two valves which open in consequence of this impact. This action admits a little water into the chamber above them — namely F. When this action ceases the valves close, and there would be an end of the process, unless by some means the valve B should drop again. Now its own weight would cause it to drop, if the pressure of the water in its under surface were for a moment removed, or partially so, which is really the case, for the air in C being elastic, as soon as the valves E close, it acts so as to move the water from C towards A ; thus B is partially freed, and falls,. and another stroke of the ram takes place. Without the air in C, you will see that the ram would not be self-acting, but would require a boy to move B, i.e., open the valve for each stroke. The drawing represents the chamber in which the ram is fixed on stone blocks ; but the ram is out of all proportion with the size of the chamber — it is made large to appear clearer. D is the pipe through which the waste water escapes. It is important to understand the necessity of the presence of air, for it sometimes happens that its absence causing the instrument to cease working has led to the abandonment of the system. I remember such a ease occurring near South- ampton. The ordinary ram is provided with a little valve, called the sniffle valve (see letter H), which admits a bubble or two of air each stroke. Without this the air with which the instrument commenced its work is soon absorbed by the water, and the action ceases. It is possible that some water containing a considerable amount of air in mechanical 392 ON THE HYDEAULIC RAM. union with it does not so readily absorb the initial stock, and would work a ram for some time without apparent diminution of effect. A friend of mine who had recently erected this apparatus did not know what the snifiQe valve meant. I told him that his ram would probably- cease to act in a short time. When we met again I learnt that I was right. It had ceased after six months. It could not have worked so long unless air had got in through bad joints. A well-jointed one will hardly work fourteen days without air being let in. This represents the outside of two rams. Another practical matter connected with the working is the length of the spindle holding the valve B. By placing washers on this, the length of the stroke, as it may be termed, ON THE HYDKADLIC RAM. 393 ie., the distance through which the valve B has to fall and rise may be varied, and the pulsation increased or diminished in a given time. In general the pulsations are about sixty- par minute, and the fall of spindle half an inch. ■ The next figure shows a section of the double-action ram, the outside of which is seen on the opposite page. It is drawn to scale, 1 inch to a foot. This ram is said to be an improve- ment on the ordinary one. There are over 2000 rams now at work iu different parts of the country. But before proceeding to give the practical results obtained from them, it would be well to make some general remarks as to the circumstances under which they can be employed. In the first place, the stream which is to give the supply must have a fall sufficient to work the ram, ie., a fall of not less than one foot for every ten feet you desire to raise the^ water. There must exist a possibility of so 394 ON THE HYDUAULIC RAM. placing the ram that the waste water can get away. Now to all acquainted with work it is evident that these two consi- derations may alone prove a barrier to the use of the ram. The stream' may have so gentle a fall, and the ground may so lie that to get the proper fall, and then to bring the waste water to the surface, would entail too great an outlay ; but if the fall can be secured (and one foot for six or seven to raise is desirable) without much digging, and an outlet for the water secured, there is hardly any other impediment in the way of using this most economical and untiring servant. The hydraulic ram invented by J. L. Gatchell, in America, differs from those already described. Between the air-vessel F and the body of the ram A B is placed a flexible diaphragm, K, depressed by a spiral spring, but also capable of a recoil, thus communicating the mo- ON THE HYDKAULIC KAM. 395 mentum of the water passing through the body of the instru- ment to that which is contained in the air-vessel. The ram is by this means made more truly a machine, as the water in the air-vessel is kept separate from that which drives the instrument. This effect has in some degree been produced by sliding pistons, and by interposed columns of air ; but the flexible diaphragm enables the water to be lifted into the chamber by atmospheric pressure, and also assists the dis- charge valve in its action. When the water in the feeding- pipe is in motion, its momentum closes the valve at B, and the recoil exerts an influence on the diaphragm K, which, acting on the spring above it, forces the water in the chamber E G through the valve E into E, the compressed air in which forces the water up the pipe L. The falling of the diaphragm will produce a vacuum in the chamber above it (E G), admitting a portion of water up the pipe H, through the valve G, from a reservoir below the level of the ram, which water acts as a weight on the diaphragm, and helps to cause it to drop when it should. In this machine aU the water elevated passes through pipe H from the reservoir. These rams are said to be capable -of throwing up ten gallons per minute. The parts of the ram are keyed, not screwed together. The cost of erecting a ram must of course depend upon the length of the piping required, the quantity of water to be delivered, and the masonry and digging entailed by the formation of the ground. As, however, practical men like to have figures, the expenses connected with the erection of three rams are added. The following were the expenses connected with the erec- tion of a ram in Berwickshire, to raise water 140 feet, through 2109 feet of f-inch piping, the quantity delivered being about 396 ON THE HYDRAULIC KAM. 1 gallon a minute, the source supplying 26 gallons a minute, tlie fall of water being 16 feet, through a 3-inch pipe : — Ram, 3-iDoh pipe to rain, . Valve, cocks, etc., Men's time litting ram, 30 yards of lead pipe (9 lbs. per j'ard), 200 yards of lead pipe (8 lbs. per yard), 473 yards of lead pipe (7 lbs. per yard), Small dome over ram. Stone tank for ram, . Lining cistern at homestead to contain 900 gallons, witli lead, 5 lbs. on sides, and 6 lbs. on bottom, 12 6 12 feet lead pipe for overflow from cistern, witii brass waste, and washer for cleaning out, . 15 Cock and pipe to draw water for families on farm, 12 £106 8 5 £10 2 1 10 2 3 10 21 5 44 10 5 5 3 Besides this, there was the cost of digging and making a reservoir for dry weather. The next items have reference to two rams, erected at Haslemere in Surrey, to raise water 50 feet, through 825 feet of pipe, by their joint action ; their feed-pipes are 36 feet long, with a fall of 9 feet : — Two rams, each with 36 feet of 2 -inch piping, with fixing included, .... £25 900 feet of iron gas-tubing, of 1 inch diam., witli screw joints, . . . . . 10 19 5 £35 19 5 The owner states that with these two rams at work 120 gallons per hour are delivered. Eams erected at Sutgrove near Painswick, and which de- liver waters at a lower (80 feet) and at a higher (100 feet) level, through pipes 818 feet and 1788 feet respectively, cost THE HYDRAULIC EAM. 39; £54, including everything, — masonry, pipes, and excavations, — the charge for the engines and injection -pipes being £18. The following are details of the worlcing of these two rams : — Water Power. Water Raised. , Injeotlou Pipe. To Lower Level. To Upper Level. Rising Main. Rising Main. Hsight, Diam. f Length. Strokes of Vftlve per Minute. Dlam. Length. Height. Gallons per hour. Length. Height. Gallons per hour. No. 1. No. 2. 14 ft. 21ft 2 in. 2 in. 72 ft. 90 ft. 60 u ■ }in. Jin. 401 ft. 818 ft. 80 ft. 100 ft. ISO 110 680 ft. 1788 ft. 96 ft. 164 ft. 81 (13 In computing the expense, we must not overlook what is frequently essential, namely, the formation of a reservoir. The water is sometimes so scanty, that it requires to be collected before it becomes capable of working a ram whose feed-pipe is, say three inches. When this is the case, the help of a man to start the ram, when the reservoir is fuU, becomes necessary. Some ingenious persons have tried a self- acting balance, which the overflow from the cistern sets in operation, but it is not safe to depend upon this, and it is better to start such rams by hand. To sum up the proceedings to be undertaken by any one desirous of erecting this hydraulic machine, — 1st, Let an accurate gauge be made of the supply of water yielded by the stream, which will serve for the basis of calculation, after the levels are taken, both down the stream and from the spot where the ram is to be placed to the cistern into which it is to deliver water. If it be found that the stream does not yield sufificient per minute to work the ram, a collecting reser- voir must be made. 2 D 398 THE HYDRAULIC RAM. Let the iron feed-piping be made unusually strong, and leaded together at the joints, and placed in a culvert, up which a man can move, otherwise the repair of a leak will be an ex- pensive thing. If the rising-pipes are of iron, let them be gas- pipes with screw -joints, but lead is preferable ; be sure that both pipes are protected from frost, otherwise in severe weather much damage wUl be done ; moreover as the con- cussion is very severe, the ram, if large, should be firmly bedded either in the natural rock or in blocks of stone weigh- ing many hundredweights, otherwise it wiU be apt to move, and the force which moves it is so much lost power for the effect we wish to obtain,^a statement which will easily be verified by any one who has a ram in operation too slightly bedded, and therefore vibrating : let the head of the ram be weighted by pouring on to it melted lead, until perfect steadiness is obtained ; it will be seen that as the ram becomes steadier, the quantity of water raised will be increased, and will only cease to be so when the whole machine is perfectly steady. III. The Peacticai. Efficiency of the Eam. It has been by no means easy to arrive at conclusions as to this. In the first place, there have been few experimenters in the field ; those who have rams have never carefully measured the quantity of water yielded by the source, or if they have they have not^compared it with the water raised ; and even if the experiments had been recorded, there are so many circum- stances influencing the result, as to render it practically impos- sible to do more than draw a very general conclusion from the whole. For example : The main element in the question is , the velocity with which the. water enters the ram, and this is dependent not only on the head of water, but on the length, size, and condition of the pipe through which it passes. THE HYDKAULIC RAM. 399 For example, a feed-pipe with a fall of 10 feet, being 100 feet long, will not deliver water with as great a velocity as the same sized pipe with the same fall if only 50 feet long. Thus almost every ram presents varieties in the results which render general conclusions difficult. Reference is again made to a table which shows the practical results of the same rams, and the table is valuable, because it exhibits what is done and not what may be done. In reply to an inquiry, Messrs. Owens and Co. state, that ' as a rule, we expect with an ordinary ram, such as Nos. 1 to 3, to raise ^^^th of the water ten times the height of the fall, this varying up to -^th at six times the height, which is about the best proportion.' If we take these results as the basis of a calculation, in order to estimate the mechanical efficiency of the ram as a machine, comparing it with the various water-wheels, we arrive at the following results : — Mr. Hyett's ram — Galls. Galls. Feet. 1405 falling 15 ft. raise 87 77 '5, wMch gives -32 as the modulus. 1405 „ „ „ 60 100- „ -28 1405 „ „ „ 74 95-5 „ -318 Mr. Wilson's ram — Galls, per. Mluute. Galls. Feet. 1560 falling 16 ft. raise 60 140, which gives -337 as the modulus. Mr. C. G. Roberts' ram — Galls. Galls. Feet. 510 falling 9 ft. raise 30 70 which gives -458 as the modulus. Now these results are far below those stated as accomplished by manufacturers. I have a record from a manufacturer which states — Galls. Galls. Feet. 20 falling 16-5 ft. raise 3 120-5, which gives 1-08 as the modulus. That is something greater than perfection. 400 THE HYDEAULIC EAM. Moreover, the assertion that a given volume of water fall- ing a certain height can raise i^th of its volume ten times as high as its volume falls, gives -83 as the modulus, and -^-th of its volume six times as high gives '85 as the modulus, is so far removed from what can be found in practice, that it is not to be accepted. The practical conclusion, then, that is arrived" at is, that if the modulus '40 be taken as an average, an overshot water- wheel would do double the work with the same quantity of ivater, for the overshot wheel works with a modulus nearly "80. IV. The Economy of the Eam compared with other Agents. As to whether the ram is cheaper in the original outlay than a water-wheel is matter of calculation, and moreover, whether it would cost more to keep it in repair is a matter of experience. But when we hear those who have used the ram for twenty or more years state that the annual cost of keeping a ram in working order does not exceed twenty-five shillings, and know that pumps are an endless and heavy expense, we may feel inclined to consider the former by far the more economical. If well fixed in the first instance, and great care be taken to protect the mouth from leaves and frogs, it will work unin- terruptedly at a very small cost. The only expense is new valves, and this can be greatly reduced by having the valves in the first instance made of brass. Mr. Hyett's brass valves have been at work for years. There can be no question as to the economy of rams over pumps worked by manual, horse, or steam power — for all these cost something, whereas the power of the ram (due to gravity) costs nothing. The following is a comparison of the cost of THE HYDRAULIC RAM. 401 supplying a factory all the year round with a given quantity of water, by the use of different agents : — Example 1. — Let us suppose a ram erected capable of raising 2 J gallons per minute 190 feet, and that this supply is needed every 12 hours out of the 24 hours daily for one year. The work done by this machine, if performed by a labourer, sup- posing the pumps to be perfect, would cost £149, 15s.; per- formed by a horse walldng in a whim gin, £19, 14s. ; and by a steam-engine having a duty of 90 millions, £1 ; assuming the labourer to be worth 3s. a day, horse-labour 2s. 8d. a day, and steam-engine of 50 horse power, coals at 6d. a bushel, 32s. a day. Example 2. — Presuming that at Painswick House 500 gal- lons are required daily, the cost by manual labour annually would be £21, 18s. In the table below are published results of four rams erected in France, to which are added the results of three already referred to. From this table it will be seen that the latter are about half as effective as the former : — ca Eatio of Ratio of Quantity Quantity raised. S 3 quantity height Locality. through Fall. ss "s raised to raised to Ram. (33 W o quantity each foot a expended. of fall. Lyons, . 22 galls. 34 ft. 4J galls. 111 ft. •65 * 3-2 Senlis, . 528 galls. 3ft.2in. 71^ galls. 15 ft. ■63 i 4^7 Clei-mont, Oise, . 3-3 galls. 23 ft. 2 pints. 196 ft. ■67 iV 8^5 Mello,nr. Clemiont 298 galls. 35 ft. 37 galls. 183 ft. ■65 4 5-2 Painswick, . 1405 galls. 15 ft. 87 galls. 77-5 ft. •32 iV 51 Ellington Mains, . 1560 galls. 16 ft. 60 galls. 140 ft. •337 irV 8^7 Haslemere, 510 galls. 9 ft. 30 galls. 70 ft. •458 tV 7-7 INDEX. Aberdeenshire, rearing of cattle in, 301. Acorns, analysis of, 351. Agreement, Lincolnshire, 241. and actual lease, distinction be- tween, 225. Agricultural Education, 3. Agriculture, practical examination in, 19. Allen's steam-engine, 216. Anthyllis vulneraria, 381. Bacon's idea of perfect commonwealth, 16. Butter, dairying, 167. Devonshire, 173. best cows for, 157. Butter-mUk, 171. Calves, weaning, 163. Cereals exhaust land, 310. Cheese-making, 174. Cheese, Parmesan, 175. Stilton, 177. best cows for, 158. Clover, adapted to dry climates, 310. Clover-sickness, 313. Corn laws, 237, 240. Coprolites of Wilts, 355. Cornish engines, 211. Covenants, tenants', 230. — lessors', 232. Cows for London dairy, 157. indication of good milking, 159. Cropping, Norfolk system of, 299. Berwickshire, 299. restrictions, 247. Dairy farming, 143. time of entry, 143. live stock, 148, 152. four systems, 149. dead stock, 153. profit and loss, 184. Dean, G. W., on tenure of land, 250. Dew, deposition of, 44. Drainage, aerating influence of, 36. chemical effects of, 32. disintegrating influence of, 28, 34. —, evaporation effected by, 37. influence of on various soils, 26, 31. mechanical effects of, 26. reference to works on, 41. temperature affected by, 37. " theory of, 24. Drains, parallel and straight, 41. reciprocal action of, 30. ruuniug without rainfall, 33." how water enters, 30. Ducks, early habits of, 137. management of breeding, 136. Education, agricultural, 3. Edmunds, Mr., on Cirencester College system, 13. Encouragements to study science needed, 11. Evesham, Vale of, tenants' agreement, 289. Fallow, when resorted to, 307. Feeding-stuffs not much used in Berwick- shire, 330. Feudal system, 222. Feuing, 287. Fowls, breeding age of, 125. cramming, 124. diseases of, 135. dust-bath for, 124. early clutches of, 126. eggs of, collecting, 128. „ number laid by, 117. ■ selecting eggs of, 128. feeding of laying, 1 27. fountains for, 124. aspect of house for, 121 sitting, 129. produce from, 117, 118. stimulating food for, 135. INDEX. 403 Game, 229. Geese, management of, 139. use of, 116. Grapes ameliorate soil, 310. suitable for the north, 297. Guano, to turnip crop, 312. ammonia in, 349. Galls, spent, as manure, 352. Habendum, 229. Haymaking, 160. Hens to cook, 125. Highland and Agricultural Society's mis- take, 17. Horsfall's winter- feeding system, 167. Hydraulic ram, 385. the principles of, 387. the application of, 390. the efficiency of, 398. the economy of, 401. the necessity of air in the body of, 391. ■ Owen's double action, 393. ■ Gatchell's, 394. Indenture, 233. KiNGSCOTB Club Lectures, 13. Lease, Berkshire, 261. . — -landlords', 270. long, 285. Norfolk, 263. objections to, 243. one-sided bargain, 239. Statute form of, 234. necessity for, in Suffolk, 268. tenants', 270-276. Liebig on the desideratum of the present age, 17. Mangold leaves, oxalic acid in, 358. Middle-class, educational requirements, 5. degree, 8. Milk, analysis of, 179. disposal of, 166, 188. quantity per acre, 150. scalding, object of, 169. Nitrogen of wheat, 346. Oxalic acid in mangold leaves, 358. Palm-nut meal, 357. Phosphate of aluminium, 195. of calcium, 196. of iron, 195. of magnesium, 196. Phosphates, applied to turnips, 312. of alkalies, 195. — — of guano, 200. solubility of, 328. Phosphatic manures, 201. — — marls, 200. Phosphoric acid, estimation of, 202-5. separation of, 202-5. Piatt on Leases, 231. Plough,' American, 58. Brabant, 56. Brand's Suflfolk, 54. double furrow, 90. ■ gallows, 87. Grignon, 57. Hobenheim foot, 56. Kentish, 88. paring, 91. potato-raising, 91. ridging, 90. Rotherham, 53. subsoil, 91. swing, 74. wheel, 73. Ploughs of the Britons, Saxons, and Nor- mans, 51. ■ of ancient Egypt, 49. of the Greeks, 50. — — mentioned in Scripture, 49. Plough-treal, 96. Plough-share, form of, 61. chilled cast-iron, 62. beam of, 69. coulter of, 63. draught of, 81. handles of, 72. line of draught of, 71. mould board of, 64. ■ slade of; 68. Ploughing, casting, 93. crossing, 94. crown and furrow, 93. twice gathering, 93. two out and two in, 93. Reddendum, 280. Ee-entry, proviso of, 232. Rent enforced by distress, 227. feudal,' 230. Ridges, 92, 94. Rise in rent, 1795 to 1814. 404 INDEX. Rotation of crops, 291. American, 305. Berwickshire, 296. Lothian, 302. -Norfolk, ?96. Suffolk, 305. Scotch, 305. Soils, absorbent power of, 25. air essential for, 32. amount of moisture in, 40. capillarity of, 38, 317. causes of wetness in, 25, 322. classification of, 24. evaporation of, chills, 42. stagnant water injures, 32. ■ undraiilecl, condition of, 35. Steam-engines worked expansively, 289. Steam-power as it affects leases, 282. Stock, management of winter, 181. Swedes, value of, 145. Teachees created by a demand, 1 2. Temperature of milk during churning, 170. Tenant right, 240. Parliamentary Committee on, 241. Vale of Evesham, 289. Trespass, actions of, in name of lessee alone, 224. ^ Tricalcic phosphate, solubility of, 328. in water, 328. in CO2 water, 330. Tricalcic phosphate, solubility of, in NH,, a, sol., 330. in other solutions, 331-3. with C* CO5, 332. with Fr, 0„ etc., 333. Turkeys, value and management of, 1 38. Turnip crop, value of, 145, 303. Valuations, outgoing and incoming, 241. Surrey and Sussex, 242. Wheat experiments, 1866, 363. early sowing of, 371. tillering of, 376. grains per ear, 378. Browick's, 107, 110. Cotteswold, 107, 110. density of, 105, 107. Fenton, 107, 110. Hallett's, 107, 341, 346. heavy and Ught, 105, 345. nitrogen of, 346. Old Kent red, 110. — — opaque grains of, 345. profit from heavy seed, 110, 342. separation of seed, 108. Spalding's, 347. translucent grains of, 345. yield from heavy seed, 107, 110, 342. Whey butter, 179. Yearly tenancy, what constitutes, 227, • KDiMBUKGII : T. OONSTAHI.E, PltlNTEK TO THE QOEE.V, AND TO THE UMIVERSITV.