The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1862-03-25 00:00:00

WINFRITH FARMERS' CLUB.

The subject for discussion at the monthly meeting of
the Winfrith Fanners' Club on Wednesday evening,
was "The cultivation of root crops, the best sorts to
grow, and the land best adapted to grow them, especi-
ally after a green crop," The subject was introduced
by Mr. THOMAS HOMER SAUN DERR, who said be should
bring forward such facto as were the result of his ex-
perience on his farm during his own practice, and he
hoped he should provoke such • discussion as the sub-
ject deserved, and4hat he would be able to learn from
others what be did not know himself. The subject
was very important at the present time, not only on
account of its value for feeding sheep and beasts, but
also on account of the failure of the turnip crop on
many soils just as its value was beginning to be appear
elated. What was wanted
.was the root to answer
best all the purposes of a farmer. He should not, there-
fore, go back to the time when the tute.ip was intro-
duced into this country, nor trace its history down for
the last 200 years, nor, indeed, what was done before
his time, but be should confine his remarks to what he
had seen, and what was the plan he generally adopted
on his own farm. He did not ask others to adopt his
plan, neither, perhaps, would his system be best for all,
as different soils require different management. lie
believed that the proper cultivation of root crops was
the foundation of all good farming, whether oil :ght
or on stiff clay soils. He generally sowed both tureips
and swedes after • green crop had been fed off the land.
But the land, previous to sowing rye-grass, vetches, or
any other green crop, must be first cleared of couch
grass and rubbish. To do this properly the corn should
be cut pretty 'close to the ground ; as unless this were
done, and the stubble be left of considerable length,
there would be great difficulty in working it. He him-
self had both ploughed and pared his land, but lie had
found the former to answer best, although he did not
like to plough very deep. For his first feed in the
spring he preferred Italian rye-grass to vetches, as he
thought it answered best on sandy soils. He got his
land into a proper state of cleanliness, as this was of
great importance. He thought that the autumn culti-
vation was not sufficiently attended to by many of them,
for unless they got the land perfeetly clean before they
patio a green crop,they had better fallow the land, and
especially if they intended to sow mangold wursel in
the early spring. if the land was clean and in a good
state of cultivation before sowing the green crop, it
wont I not, as a general rule, injure the
ground. It would not be quite so well if the weather
was very dry, but would be better if the weather was
wet. The land of which he had been speaking was
light sandy soil. Where the land lay towards the
north, or in clay heavy soils, they had better not have
• green crop if they wished to ensure a crop of turnips.
Even on some of Isis own land he had failed. If they
had some good old manure, lie recommended that seven
or eight cart loads per acre should be ploughed into the
land before the green crop was sown, and after the crop
was fed off he recommended that the land should be
ploughed sufficiently deep to turn up the manure' when
the drags and barrows would mix it with the soil. His
opinion was that manure ploughed in deep and sealed
up from the air laid dormant till it was ploughed up
again, but that land ploughed once, the ridges let in
the air, and decomposition went on. When he sowed
his turnips he generally mixed up two or three cart
loads et compost, made of good rot pig dung, ashes &c.,
mixed up with two sacks of bone dust and two GA. of
superphosphate of lime, drilled in with the seed. Some
people objected to the expense of sowing the compost,
but he found that on his land this method generally
ensured a good crop. If it was hllow land and the
weather very dry, he did not like to plough the land
and sow the seed immediately afterwards, as it was often
found that when tide was done the seed vegetated, and
for lack of moisture it afterwards withered away. He
did not approve of drilling the seed in deep. Deep
drilling was very injurious, and was often the result of
failures, but the seed might be drilled deeper when the
weather was very dry than when it was wet. If the land
was very subject to weeds, the better plan was to sow
in ridges if possible, as then they they could horse-hoe
them earlier than when grown on level ground ' • and if
the ridges were thrown up a fortnight before the tur-
nips were sown, the surface might be stirred to kill the
weeds just sprouting. The earlier weeds were killed,
and especially chickweed, the better. In sowing after
a green crop, he liked to plough the land as closely after
the sheep as possible. He never ploughed it but once,
then give it one turn with the drag, and let it lay a
week or a fortnight to pulverise. If after that there
conic a shower of rain it would work well. The sooner
they could get the green crop off the better, as there
was then a longer time for the atm and atmosphere to
pulverise the soil, When the proper time arrived they
must put in their seed. But what that time was must
depend upon the soil, the crop that was intended to be
grown afterwards, and the use for which the roots were
required, He found that his high hilly and cold
soils required sowing a fortnight earlier than his
low, sandy, and warmer soil.. And here he
might remark that he thought a great many
of them were in too great a hurry in
sowing their turnip crops, especially on those lands
where they were subject to mildew, and where the roots
were wanted for winter and spring use. And now he
came to the question,—What were the best Forts for
sowing? This must be decided by the farmers them-
selves, and whether they wanted them for autumn or
winter and spring use. There was • large number of
sorts', and different persons differed in their opinions on
the subject. He had not himself grown many of the
sorts that had been recently introduced, but he would
state what his experience was. In turnips, for autumn
feeding, he generally sowed the white globe about the
first week in June, and for his winter and spring feeding
lie sowed the yellow tankard or common green round,
about three weeks or • month later. If too late for
swedes lie sowed the common green round up till the
middle of Julyi But if too late for swedes, he preferred
the latter for winter and spring use. Of swedes he
sowed Skirving's, about the first week in Jane, for
autumn use, because it grow with a large bulk ins short
time; but for winter and spring use he sowed Wyatt's
or the Sussex swede. They did not grow quite so large
as noise of the other aorta, but they could be grown
thicker, and thus make up in quantity what they lost in
size while they posssessed another advantage—they
seldom mildewed, and were of first-rate quality. The
old green-top swedes, although they looked small, yet
they could be kept sound and good till the middle of
March: The best and cheapest way to stck them was
to nlace them in ridges in the field, of about four feet in
width at the bottom, and to pile them up with their
tops downwards, so as to form a kind of thatch to keep
them dry. They would, of course, require some earth
throw' over them. He had found them to keep much
drier and better that way than in large lumps. He
once had a field of swedes, part of which were pulled
up and put into hears, some remained unpulled, and
one ridge through the field was pulled, but not covered.
A hard frost set in, when all the unpulled and the
greater portion of those in heaps rotted, but those that
lay up in a ridge uncovered, were, at the close of the
frost, as sound as ever. Hp believed that what injured
the turnips and swedes wife the moisture arising from
the ground during frosty weather. Where turnips were
subject to club root, he thought they should not sow
oftener than once in eight years. Mangold was better
for such soils, and they possessed this advantage, they
could be kept till the middle of April for fodder, and
with extra dung to the lend grew one-third more in
weight than swedes. He thought this was a most vain-
fsble root to grow. He grew from 20 to 30 acres yearly,
and he would grow more if it were not for losing his
early green crap, which he so highly valued. As mangold
should he sown the first week in May, it was scarcely
possible to get • green crop off the land first, but it
would succeed well in many soils where swedes would
get diseased. In other respects, mangold was not liable
to half no many enemies an the turnip, and should even
the season for mangold fail, there was then time to put
in turnips. Mangold was best sown in ridges with two
cwt, of guano per acre, with superphosphate, bonedust
and compost, these me aster swedes' except good yard dung
were used, when less guano would be sufficient. His son
tried an experiment once with some swedes in ridges 27
inches apart. In the rows he set the plants out at 8,
10, 12, 14, and 16 inches apart, and when they were
pulled, he found that the greatest weight was where
they were 10 inches apart in the rows. Speaking of
roots after green crops, lie had his drills set 18 inches
apart, and he had the plants thinned out in the rows at
from 7 to 10 inches apart.
Mr. BUDDICN said that Mr. Saunders had recommended
composite for drilling with his turnips at the rate of some
two or three cart loads per acre. He thought that with
the expense of sifting, mixing, said earthing the compost,
especially if a long distance from home it would be far
better to discard it altogether, use more artificial manure,
and use Chambers's drill made by Garrett. They had
one of these machines, and so much did he approve of
it, that he would not have one of the old drills in lieu
of it if anyone would make him • present of one. It
was a really excellent machine. It was true that when
they first worked it, the superphosphate clogged it, but
by using a small quantity of ashes with that manure the
evil was obviated. He thought that Mr. Saunders could
not pay all the expenses connected with his compost
under 7s. or Si. per cart load. Now he thought it
would be better to put the ashes on their meadows than
put two cart loads to the acre of turnips. If three or
four cart loads of compost were used, it might, in dry
seasons, afford moisture for the seed to germinate, but
he thought that the quantity Mr. Saunders mentioned
would not have that effect The old green-top swedes
Mr. Saunders had spoken of were very good turnips to
keep, but lie had same seed of that gentleman, and lie
did not find them to answer so well ae Mr. Saunders had
spoken of. They were so rooty and had so many scrags.
They had tried the champion and found it a first-rate
swede. It was hardy and stood the winter well, and in
favourable seasons grew large.
Mr. RANDALL, sen., said Mr. Saunders's paper was
one of the best papers he bad !weed mince he had at-
tended that club. He had gone so fully into his subject
that very little more could be said on it. He wished
Mr. illaimdees had gone more fully into the question as
to what were the best sorts of swedes for early and for
late sowing. He was recommended to sow Shepherd's
Golden Globe,and he never saw finer turnips in his life
and he believed he never grew a finer crop, but
be unfortunately kept them over time, and now one
third of them had rotted. He fully agreed with Mr.
Saunders that they could not grow a green crop before
turnips on a hilly land, as it could not be got off in
time to get a crop of turnips. He had not seen the
machine Mr. Budden had spoken of, but from what he
had heard he had resolved to purchase one himself, as
no much of biz land was upon the hill it would be a
great saving of expense in adopting Mr. Budden's sug-
gestion. He, however, thought that upon the low
lands the compost spoken of by Mr. Saunders was of
great benefit, as it assisted the young plant greatly in
its first stage, and especially in dry seasons.
Mr. DAM'S, in alluding to the greasy nature of the
superphosphate Mr. Budden had spoken of in clogging
up his machine, said he considered that it was all the
better for being greasy—and that the extra trouble it
gave in having to nfix a few ashes with it was more
than compensated in value over the dry kind of
superphosphate.
Mr. BUDDIN said he fully agreed in that remark.
Mr. Bitnitwre, in reply to a question put to him,
maid he considered that boiled bones were decidedly
superior to unboiled bones, weight for weight. The
boiling of the bones extracted the greasy matter used
for soap mailing and Other purposes, but a ton of
boiled bones contained • larger per centage of the
food of plante than a ton ot unb9de4 bones did—u

the greasy matter was nothing to be compared in
value, as manure, to the carbonate of lime.
Mr. SAUNDERS, in reply, expressed Isis regret that
his subject had not elicited more discussion. Mr.
Budslen's principal objection to compost seemed to be
the expense, but as he hired his men by the year he
had to find them work, and they mixed and silted this
compost when they could do nothing elae. After a
green crop, owing to the roots of the plant, the lend
was very hard to work, and the land would be in a
state of rubble. This compost worked between it, and
afforded the young turnips the nourishment they re-
quired till they could get hold of the land. Mr. Budiden
also objected to the old green-top swedes because they
were clawy. He had some little experience. Be once
drilled a field with two rows alternately green tops and
purple tops, and the result was two to one in favour
of the former, as the frost killed a great portionrof the
purple tope, while the green tops remained unscathed,
With regard to Mr. Randall's new sort of swede, he
had no doubt the loss he complained of was owing, as
he had previously stated, to the moisture from the
ground rising in the veins of the roots when they
were attached by frosts. In all probability if they
had been plaoed in ridges in the manner he had
described, they would have been preserved. With
regard to the best green crop previous to turnips, he
wonld state an experiment his son tried in a field of 32
acres. It was sowed with rye-grass, Italian rye-gram,
and vetches. Where the Italian rye-grass grew there
was the best crop of turnips, and where the vetches
grew there was the worst. Mr. Bennett had given his
opinion that boiled bones were better than unboiled
bones. Now before he sowed Isis bones he mixed them
up with a compost, and in a short time they heated
and began to decompose, but on one occasion he tried
boiled berms, but he could get no heat, and of course
no decomposition, and they might be seen in his fieli
as white and whole seven years afterwards as when
they were sown. He sent some of these boiled bones
to get them tested, and the chemist told bins they
would make excellent manure after he could get them
into action. The getting them into action, however,
was what he found impossible to accomplish.
Mr. BUDDED said the evil in purchasing boiled bones
was, that they were often boiled too much. They re-
quired a small portion of fatty matter left in them just
sufficient to bring on decomposition. If every particle
of fatty matter _WM boiled out, decomposition would
not take islace.
The proceedings were then brought to • conclusion.

WAREHAM.—A most interesting and instruc-
tive lecture was delivered it the Independent
Sunday Schoolroom, on "Health, and how to
preserve it," by the Rev. James Cheney.
The lecture was illustrated by numerous diagrams
from the Working Men's Educational Institute.—
Before the lecture an anthem was sung by the choir,
"Saints and Angels ;" and after the lecture the
choir gave "In Jewry is God known," which did
great credit to the organist and every member who
took part.
SHERBORNE.—Pnrry SESSIONS, March 13th.—
Before J. Goodden, J. F. Falwasser, and W. N.
Anion!, Esqrs , and the Rev. J. Blennerhasset,—
Messrs. Symes summoned Job Crocker and George
Herrin for stealing swedes.—P.C. Cegg deposed,
to being on duty in the parish of Sherborne on the
3rd March, and meeting defendants, with a bag
of swedes and swede tops. He took possession of
the bags, and the next day went to a field occupied
by Messrs. Symes, and found the swedes and tope
that were in the bag corresponded exactly with
those that were in the field. —Convicted in the
penalty of 6d. and costs. —JM r. Crocker summoned
William Eller& Sarah Bnrges, and Andrew Burgos,
for a similar offence.—Ellard was committed for 1
month, Sarah Burges discharged, and Andrew
Barges not appearing • warrant was issued for his
apprehension.— Silas Mitchell was summoned for
being drunk and riotous.—P.C. Poynter proved
finding defendant in a state of intoxication and
making a great disturbance at Bishop's Canndle, on
Sunday the 2nd March.—Fined 55., and cost 6s. 6d.
—George Gosney and George Downton were
summoned by H. B. S. King, Esq., for cutting and
damaging trees in his plantation at Folke.—Gosney
was fined 6d. and costs, Downton fra. and costs.
—Thomas Hyde was snmirioned by Superintendent
Lewis with riding without reins.—P.C. Singleton
proved the offence.—Defendant was cautioned and
ordered to pay expenses.—Sarah Webber and
James Hawes were summoned by Mr. Green
collector of rates, for neglecting to pay poor-rates.
—An order was made for payment.
PoLICIC COURT, March 14th.—Before J. F.
Falwasser, Esq.—James King, of Thorn ford, was
charged with being in an outhouse at Lillington,
for an unlawful purpose. P.C. Wren deposed to
being on duty on the night of the 13th March at
Lillington, and found prisoner in an outhouse lying
against some faggots, smoking.—Committed for one
month hard labour.