The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1879-03-18 00:00:00

=mu OF MAXIMS OF SOW

An Hee has been started from time to time daring the
last 30 years that the occanonal bed luck as it is called,
or rather oncoco that attends the lambing of ewes, lab
be attributed to the use of superphosphate of lime as
the manor* for turnips, and Mr. Woods, the land agent
of Lord Walsinghato, who has long been celebrated for
his breed of South Down sheep, has ventilated the ides
In • pamphlet, and has adduced therein quite •
voluminous oorrespondence,W which he contend. imparts
hisview.. There is anL old proverb poet toe proper
bee, which I think rather applies to this case, because
one event precedes another, It must, therefore, be the
cause of the latter. Assuming, however, that Mr. Wood
Is correct In his inferences, it may be well to enquire
whether the Injurious effect of the manors on the roots
Is owing to any deb:tortoni principle it pothiesee or to the
abscises of any particular elements thet should be suppled.
Let us then see what atiperphosphate rthUr consist. of.
It is made, you are aware, by the action of sulphuric acid
on the carbohata and phoephate contained In various
minerals. Now let as summon these elements before us,
and endeavour by means of some detective to ascertain
which is the guilty offender. Well, in some of these
minerals there are beside the bodies mentioned, also • few
others such as silica, alumina, and minute quantities of
potash, megneela. and acids. Now silica is perhaps the
most abnet mineral in all sods, forming half tee mast
of the earth, and 15,.. well as elitism., both harmless and
beneficial ; potash, sods, and magnesia. are all most
essenUal, particularly the former. Bone earth or
rettarinofthe"fmo:meisof temkneowdlit gto
uano. most
whether es an alkali or as a carbouiLte, guar'
on
t a ..1 ph.*
to present in all soils, Thousands of donkeys will bear
witness to the advantages of the application of chalk or
carbonate of lime, and or. certain oath gypsum used to be
advantage...lr awed to dower, and minfoin, before the
see of ate supplied it "riche...it cost as a bye
product. Ythei sulphuric-end itself, should there be an
theses In the manure, which the effort to dissolve all the
boor-ask may render thesible, would then be neutralised
In the see, turned Into gypsum In fact, sad rendered
harmless. Well, gentlemen, how do the grand tory
decide! You will probably agree with me **No Bill, at
leas= far as the proems of ay deleterious properties
are Amebae. However, Mr. Wood the written a path
phet to show that be is right, sad the brought forward as
evidence the letters of many oorreeposdents, souse of
which appear to support him end otters not to, and we
may remark that bones and dissolved bath in many cases
&Papered to be followed by the beet effects The grand
jury, having decided in favour of the innocence of all the
'meditate seed in the manure. • question oaths, pre-
suming Kr. Wood to be right.—" Is it not more likely the
unhealthy character of the roots may be owing to the
of certain things rather than to their presence I
crwr bore we mast confess that there Is • greater
tc of getting at the troth, although it seems rather rap= the prisoner—first, to try dim for what he does
elVZ&art afterwards to madame elm for what he
. Whether it has anything to do with the mis-
ters. or ewes or not, we mist all agree that it Is most
desirable to produce healthy roots, and that Ws Is mots
likely to be the thee when the growth is continuous dna
whea • greet spurt is even at one time by the supply of
toolable phthalate, and nothing to be ththeaded by a
period of starvation from the noneupply of other in-
cramps. the know very well that U we do not supply
Ithiag hens with cierbonate of lime the shells of the eggs
en
imperfect or not fanned it all; and if the food of
infants or yawed Wends la deficient in phosphate of
lime the children become rickety; so we think. U the
statements of Yr. Wood are correct, the evil is moth
likely to be mused by the absence of certain ingredients
In the superphosphate rather than the presence. In thie,
however, we think we shell all three—that Usei fewer
turnips with their DO per cent, of water we give to heavy
ewes previous to lambing the better for the ewes, their
progeny, aid their masters, A few roots drawn off aad
given on gram land may do no harm; hut it Is ter bets"
to reserve the bulk till after lambing.

Mr. Caarmaa Hartrumut Yam ewe the =ambles not
pr.ssnl had but a very great treat. (Hear bear). Mr.
than gave a masterly rummy of Mr.
Spooner's paper, aiming with most at his conolueloos,
and soling_ the many new ideas. Thiry were very mach
ob*sd to him for coming amongst them and giving
the kkemeMom Lately we hare been suffering from
moist miaow lied low tamperatune, and the edict ham
been anything but saddle:dory ,• but wimps in the
next few years a smaller amount of rata may fall, and
if a record is kept it may be a guide Thera would be
no
objection to Its being taken from October to
October, instead of from January to the end of the
m ortible mired whether undulation of land and tress
have act an Wye epos the rainfall, and why
the later should be griater In Cumberland than
here? .

DAT Malarked it is already known thst chemical
treatinint, irrigation, ace SitesUoa, taken separately,
will prove enoceesful in dealing with the sewage of
any town in England; there must be • oorabinstioa,
and they most leave the disposal to Town Couto:Ss
and other bodies who had to deal with such matters.
Mr. Gives remarked they might, from what Mr.
Spooner had said, be conlirmed laths thought-
- • - - -

-
.. mike& with all thy faults. I love II; still."
He had shown we do Dot suffer from those terrible and
dreadful droughts whirls they hare in India, nor yet
from very excessive rainfall. Although skill may have
Am* if fact in producing good crops, yet all science
is=and all we can do, may be neutralleed by the
the esesona. He asked whether Mr. Spoons,
had taken any observations of the winds prevallat
during the Newsom when there were exosseive rainfalls)
Hilly countries, be was sure, had the effect of attract.
lag tho clouds, sad lie asked if solemn Is likely to
irk
boa us say of drawing down the rein on •
particular spot I bear).
Mr. Cultic ha been four years on the borders
of the New Forest, out Mr. Spooner'. remark
that there was Ism rain than in Donetakire. The land
titers was not undulated but lereL
. . . .

Sao asked Itc;;To—masage the pukes
I.
Snowy weather! An Emma* quantity of water mom
down as snow, and his goats had been hoses several
times
Dr. Atomise endorsed what had beau already mid
of this most Intsr.sag lecture. The outcome of it
was that " Paul may plant, and Apollo. water; but
Provides°. giveth the increase" But the seeds put
In most be sub as will froaSh sod the manures
SSOII Si will promote their growth. asd he supposed
massive rain would have lass Shot on a healthy
plant than a weakly ass. What Mr. Spoossr had said
about sews(' speed with the views he (Dr. Aldridge)
enunciated in the Council; the A. B. C. and other
=had manifestly Wed. He proposed a vote of
to Hr. Spoors" for occilei amongst Ss
hie very able Lotus., and clearly feu •
views. _ _

Panunairatgr. Hawkins) seconded. The
=N od warn• ONG, dealt with in a pleasing
inaanir, and d how we are dependent upon
Providence. They duet look forward dewily ; they
were always proodead seed dine and barred, winter
sad summer, sad

" Who sees not Providence suereneelY wlmi
AVM la whaS s gm, or what Males r

He asked Hr. Spooner whether la dry 'wagons it
would be well to add more supn-pbosphate to the root
crept Would it do instead of rain!
Mr. Bronson attributed tbe greater rainfall ia
°timberland to the fact that it is • mountainous
country. As to the winds and the rain they bring,
that depends very much on the situation. We have
' the wettest times when weeterly winds prevail; but
In Edinburgh and near the nigh of Perth generally
their wette.t wind la the north-east. As the wind
blows from the set it brings rain. In snowy time the
beet way is to take the gusset oftener and welt the
snow. As to the valise of superphosphate in the soil,
Mr. 800u.r explained it by showing three bottle',
one bone powder mixed with water, a esoond of
st=toaphate perfecUy dissolved and clear, and •
which it had been precipitated by ammonia,
as it is precipitated in coming into the soil. He did
not think it wise to put superphosphate after the crop
ulo. The advantage of It, use is that it suppliee to
the crop last what it vent.; in the rains of the
turnips there is double the quantity of Pko•Pkat• of
lime that is in the roots, and the skeleton of the ;dant
being built up the leaves are able to attract the
nouriehment (carbon) from the atmosphere. In
answer to a question about nitrate of soda. Mr.
iooster said that is the most soluble manure possible.
Whereat when superphosphate gets into the soil it is
precipitated and bald fast, nitrate of soda will be
Parted with on the first possible opportunity. We
must take care there is something to absorb it at once
or it may be washed out of the soil by the first rain.
Mr. Garcia askikl bow about Ufa to dr.w the rain
down?
Mr. Bromism thought—something like the schemes
for sewage disposal; they sue not brought into use by
sanCepprous °companies. In answer to the roe of
Hr. Spoooor said it is always a great pleasure
to yield up any knowledge he possessed. Young
members are very chary of yielding up their
knowledge, but they should try to find out what they
have, and Odd it up for the benefit of others, lie
had been before the public as a lecturer for • good
many years, and had not been parsimonious in giving
out knowledge, but among the young men there
seemed • little backwardness. lie supposed this was
owing to the wish of every generation to do eomething
different from the others, and hoped they would
succeed in doing something better than had been
done in the past. (Hear, bear, and applause).