The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1858-03-23 00:00:00

figriculturt.

IMPORTANT TO FARMEREL —At the Sheriff's Court,
Brighton, Mr. Hollingham sought to recover from the
plaintiff, Mr. Keinber, the sum of £6 6s. for the supply
of a ton of manure. The plaintiff, as agent for the
Sussex Manure Company, sold the defendant one ton of
Rival guano, which the latter alleged to be worthleu,
and as the order was given on the condition that if it
"did not do as mach good as Peruvian guano it was
not to be paid for," the defendant refused payment.
Witnesses were examined on both sides' And a great
deal of conflicting evidence was given. The Deputy
Under Sheriff suninied up, and the jury returned • yer.
diet for the defendant.
. . . _ . . . . .

The Agricultural Society, which, under the title of
the Wrington and Burnngton Society, has been at-
tended with such beneficial resulta to the cause of agri-
culture in that important district of Somersetahire, is
for the future to be called the " Wrington and West
Mendip Agricultural Society," and is to hold its annual
meeting on the first Wednesday in October, at Wring-
ton, A.sbridge, or Weston-super-Mare. A Committee
of Management, oompriaing all the leading gentry of
that part of the county, has been formed, and under
their auspices, we hope this admirable society will
become still more efficient and useful.

THS COLLECTION OF AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS IN
BOOTLAND.—A tedious correspondence has been pub-
lished relating to the discontinuance by the Highland
and Agricultural Society of Scotland, of the oollection of
the agricultural statistics of Scotland lately presented to
Parliament by the Queen's command. A dispute or
differenoe appear* to have arisen between the society
and the Audit-office respecting the expenditure of
certain sums advanoed by the Queen's and Lord
Treasurer's Retuembranoer to defray the expense eon.
fleeted with the collection of agricultural statistics in
Scotland. An appeal to the Treasury led to • decision
(in January, 1656) dispensing with separate vouchers for
each item of past expenditure, but requiring Mr. Hall
Maxwell, the secretary of the society, to keep an accu-
rate amount of moneys leaned to him in future. In
February, 1867, Mr. Maxwell declined to comply with •
request of the Audit-office (conveyed through Mr.
Charles Macaulay) to supply answers to certain goes
-
Cone about items of expenditure. Some of these items
appear to be of • very trifling amount and insignificant
character—for instance, there is one of 75. 10d. for pens
and pencils (particulars and vouchers of which were
ordered to be remitted to the Audit-office) ; another of
£2 14s. for the wages of a charwoman and small fur-
nishings of office; and another of £lO for coals and
petty charges. Mr. Maxwell, in the margin declines to
go into these minor details, and asserts that vouchers
are impossible. There were, however, other larger items
(£2,361 for payments on account of fees, and £515 for
payment to clerks, tic.) and these, with some of the
petty expenses, according to Mr. Maxwell—indeed the
whole of his amounts—wen disallowed by the Audit.
office. In March, 1857, Mr. Macaulay claimed • balance
from Mr. Maxwell, as due to the public (on his account)
of £2,955, but the latter refused to admit the existence
of this im4nary balance. Mr. Maxwell appealed to the
Board of Irade, but the result was not decisive of the
main question which remained pending, and in Septem-
ber, 1857, a Treasury minute was issued with warrants
for the granting of several sums stated for allowanoe in
the absence of vouchers, and for the disallowances,
amounting to £2,876 in 1855-56, and to £3,168 in the
account for 1856-57. At the same time it was held that
Mr. Maxwell should be strictly required, in future
accounts, to procure such previous authorities and other
vouchers as would enable the Board of Audit to examine
and approve the accounts without any special allowance
obtained from the Treasury. The Lords of the Treasury
notwithstanding the representations of the Board of
Trade, insisted on adhering to their former conclusion
! that regular amounts must be required of an officer re-
ceiving salary from the public, and discharging the func-
tion, undertaken by Mr. Maxwell, involving the ex-
penditure of a grant of the House to the amount of
£4,000 • year. The consequence was that a meeting of

96 enumerators and members of the Agriadtaral St.-
tinting Committee, held at Edinburgh on the 13th of
January het, resolved that the requirements of Govern-
ment were inconsistent with the voluntary and Aherne
gratuitous character of the 00-operation rendered by the
committee, and such as to necessitate the discontinuance
of their services. Another resolution approved the
course pursued by Mr. Maxwell. These and other
resolutions were confirmed by a general meeteng of the
Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland held on
the same day. The result is the withdrawal of Mr.
Maxwell's services and the dissolution of the connexion
between the Highland Society and the Statistical In-
quiry.

_ _
NOVEL APPLICATION OP HORSE-POWER.—The Mots-
trope Standard directs attention to the performance of is
new method of applying horse-power to drive ma-
chinery, which Major Renny Tailyour, of Borrowfield,
has introduced at his deeding at Newmanswslls. The
apparatus, which is very simple in its design, differs en-
tirely from the mode hitherto in use. Instead of mov-
ing round in a circle and drawing the end of a lever
attached to an upright shaft, the horse remainsSte-
tionary, fastened in a stall, and the flooring on which he
stands passes backwards under him as he appears to
step forward. The flooring coexists of a series of stout
boards lying across the stall and resting on and made
fast to two endless chains stretched round a 000ple of
drums—one at the head and the other at the foot of the
stall, thus forming, as it were, a firm but flexible belt,
on the upper surface of which, as on • mootable floor,
the horse stands. The drum at the head ef the stall
being somewhat more elevated than at the foot, this
moveable floor is slightly inclined, and the weight of the
horse causes it to descend towards the lower drum,
carrying the horse backward along with it. As, how-
ever, the halter by which he is tied in the stall ob4os
the horse to maintain his position, he is compelled to
step forward continuously as the floor recedes under
him, and the revolution of the drama thus produced
drives whatever machinery it is intended to propel. At
Newmanswalls it is successfully applied to driving •
thrashing machine, a chaff-cutter, and a machine or
bruising oats. No driving or watching is required; and
we were informed that a horse might work at this
species of treadmill without distress or fatigue for eight
hours. The practice is common throughout the 'United
States and Canada. In fact, the wood there at every
minor railway station is sawn in this manner.

AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS BILL.—MT. Caird's new
Bill has been printed. It requires the Board of Trade
to take measures to obtain returns of land and produce
from all occupiers in England and Wales, who will be
called on to fill up forms and schedules to be left with
them by the inspectors. The lands of occupiers neg-
lecting to make returns may be entered upon and in-
spected without their consent.
BOTDIELL'S TRACTION ENGINIL—A traction power
engine, Boydell'e patent, has just been made at Lincoln
by Messrs. Clayton and Shuttleworth, by order of
Messrs. Croeskill, of Beverley, who are about to send it
to Odessa. "The machine," says the local paper, " wee
first tried on Saturday, and its action was perfectly satis-
factory. It is constructed on the principle patented
by Mr. Boydell, but it varies in some partioulers from
those we have yet seen. In the first rime it move' on
three wheels instead of five, the weight of the boiler
resting on two wheels of immense strength, the third
being the steering or guiding wheel, planed in the front,
something after the fashion of a perambulator. Behind
this wheel is a box for the steersman, who is enabled by
a very simple apparatus, to turn the ponderoes vehicle
under his guidance in any direction and with the utmost
facility. The average speed at which the engine will
travel along good roads is stated to be three miles per
hour, though the steam power is sufficient to propel it
at the rate of four miles per hour if necessary. The
plan upon which the engine has been construed is con-
sidered to be an improvement on the five-wheeled
engines, inasmuch as the locomotion will be less difficult
on heavy roads. The machine has been finished with
every regard to utility, and no expense hu been spared
in its manufacture to render it one of the most perfect
specimens of the invention yet produced."