The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1859-09-20 00:00:00

21griculture.

SALT AND LIME.

At the annual meeting of the Cheadle Society Mr.
eargey said he had been in the habit of dressing land
that was to be sown with wheat in autumn with • ma-
nure made of a ton of lime to half a ton of salt, well
mixed together some weeks before it was used. Lord
Harrowby had sent him the recipe down from London,
and it had been applied to summer fallow for a long
period with invariable swamis. Whenever be was afraM
of a crop of wheat going down he always applied a dress-
ing of lutes and salt, and the same dressing bad always
secured a good crop of clover. Generally ploughed the
land and then applied the manure to the surface. The
lime and salt should be mixed some tinse before they were
used, for the more completely they were amalgamated
the better. The largest crop heaver grew was in a
field which had been =inured in this manner. The
wheat was sown broadcast in autumn, and produced, ac-
cording to the Staffonlshire measure, 16 begs per acre,
and there was not one bit of it that was lodged, nor did
the lime and salt make the land stiff, as some persons
bad predicted. He had never dissolved the melt but
once. They generally laid • load of lime doe n and then
shovelled the salt upon it and turned it over. If the
weather was dry they put water upon it, but if not
they let the rain fall upon it sod turned it over three or
four times. He did not know that any chemical change
was thereby produced, but the lime and salt were well
amalgamated. He had found this plan invariably •
preventive of the great plague of falling wheat. When
he first went to Saodon he was troubled a great deal
with falling wheat, but now he never had any.
Mr. Knight had applied lime and salt on his light land,
and found them answer. The Vice-Chairman said he
had done the same on his farm, and bad found it succeed
admirably. He lied also found that it saved the clover
from the attacks of the slug. In wheat it strengthened
the straw, and thus prevented it from going down. If
to one part of a field the lime and salt were applied,
and not to the other, it would be found that the straw
in that part of the field to which they had been applied
would be of a brighter and better colour than that which
grew where they had not been applied. He had applied
them in the same proportion as Mr. Cargey.
Mr. ('argey said he had recommended the application
to many of his neighbours, but they were afraid to use
the same quantity of salt as lie hail done, Do that they
had not tried the experiment in its integrity. He had
seen wheat mildew both on land to which the lime and
salt had been applied and on land to which it had not
been applied. In the latter case the wheat had suf.
ferred permanently, but in the former it had ripened off
as bright as possible. Many of his neighbours bad used
4or 5 cwt., of salt, but he had never known the pro-
portion he had named snake the land stiffer.
Mr. B. Bond said the farmers had had a very early
harvest this year, and he strongly recommended them
to have an autumnal cultivation by working the lands
during that season, and endeavouring to get it cleared
preparatory to the next spring crop. They would find
that course one of immense advantage. He was strongly
opposed to the sale of straw. If a man kept upon his
farm • fair amount of stock he would have no straw to
sell, though if he lived within a mile or • mile and &-
half of the Potteries he might be able to sell his straw
to allva!!!'alte.. . _

The ViChairman differed from Mr. Bond. He tem
• tenant fanner, and he was proud of it; but let them
give him his liberty, without any nonsensical restric-
tions, to cultivate his farm in a manner most conducive
to his own interests, and then it would be cultivated
to the best advantage for the landlord. As a tenant
fanner he was not fond of seeing a £lO penalty for
this thing and a L'2o penalty for the other. He would
ask, how was a man, who grew • large quantity of
straw, to consume it upon his farm! His cattle could
not consume it; and perhaps he might not have the
mean, of converting it into manure. Then what is he
to do with it? Why, it was to remain in the stack-
yard until it rotted down, when there was a market
for it at his very doors, where he might turn it into
money. He would appeal to them whether it would
not be very much better to convert it into money with
which to enrich the land for succeeding crops. A
gentleman had handed to him a slip of paper, on
which it was written that bone was the best manure
for pastures. Probably that gentleman was a bone
merchant, but be was quite right, for he had used it
for many years. But bone manure was very expensive,
and bow could they buy artificial manures if restric-
tions like that to which he had referred were placed
upon them! They had to contend with foreign
growers who were under no reArictions, and with
wheat Id. per lb. and guano £l3 it. a ton, vexation*
restrict,,as ought to be abolished. It was very hard
upon the poor fa.-nier that when he had spent a large
sum of money upon bone or guano, the landlord
should step in and say, "Not one straw shall you
remove, though you have a market at your own
door."

eChairman said the information they had received
from Mr. Cargey would be most valuable to the
farmers of that neighbourhood, and he was not sorry
that the feelings which existed in the breasts of many
present on another subject had been shown. Every
man ought to be allowed to carry on his calling with the
least possible restriction, and if a landlord got a bad
tenant or a tenant • bad landlord, the owner they
separated the better. He read over the agreements
when he and his tenants signed them, but he knew per-
fectly well that they would not be enforced. It would
be utterly impossible to enforce them all, for tenants
would not stand it, but would rather leave their farms.
Then with regard to the particular question of selling
the straw, he thought it fully deserved consideration.
He was not .iuite sure that the restriction might not be
sound as a general rule, but what he had said was that
in that peculiar locality it appeared to be highly inju-
dicious to maintain the restriction with regard to the
sale of straw. In the Potteries ti a ton might be got
for oat straw; and by what prooess—cheinimil, natural.
or physical—could they get the same money for it in
any other way? Three pounds worth of artificial
manure would be worth three or four tons of oat straw
manure. Then how could they consume wheat straw,
unless like him they bad six sons who kept a number of
hunters? There was much force in Mr. Adamthwalte's
remarks, for to throw straw into the yards was a most
miserable and vrastelul way of disposing of most valua-
ble produce._ _ _ .

The Rev. J. Y. Dunne thought the man who was able
to consume all :hat be grew upon his farm wu likely
to be the most successful fanner, but he agreed with Mr.
Ailanitheraite that in the present age it wan perfectly
ridiculous to bind men to trample down straw, which
they could sell at LI to et Itki. a ton; when trampled
down it would perhaps not be worth 10s. If such
thing was narrated of Russia, they would say that it
only happen in a nation of serfs; and if it had hap-
pened in Austria, it would have been attributed to
Austrian misrule ; but that it should continue in this
enlightened country he did think a kind of disgrace.—
Abridged from the Stuffurdsitire

CAUTION ABOUT WINTER BARLRT FOR SHRIP.—
Last spring a farmer in Hants fed his sheep on this dry
plant, after it was in ear and his flock hare not recovered
the effects of it yet. In August it first scoured them,
and he has lost some Zi ewes and several laud* ; they
dwindle away, and the shepherd sap when they die,
they have not • drop of blood in their veins.

Surge BRICEDING.—The annual sale and letting of '
rams took place on Friday, at Mr. Rigden's, Hove, at
which there was • large attendance of the agricul-
turista and breeders of the Inutility, and many from a
distance. Mr. Boshby officiated as ituctMneer. Fall
mouth ewes fetched from 425. to fits. 6d.; shearing
ewes from 421. to 605., being an average of about Ma
Hams were lets at from 11 guineas to 46 guineas; ditto
for sale, from 10i guineas to l 2 guineas.. As an
instance of the importance of this department of our
country's produce, we quote a few statistical particulars
given in a speech made at a sale of Southdowns in.the
west of England • few days ago: "There are few
persons perhaps, aware of the cirmunstance that this
is a branch, looking at it relatively, looking at it posi-
tively, which is of immense importance to our country.
Permit me to state, upon the authority of one of the
most able writers we have met in this country—l wean
the celebrated statist, Mr. Mao lueen--that there are not
less than 46,000,0(.10 head of sheep in the United King
d i
dom. Just fancy the importance n a national point of
view of carrying to the highest possible point of perfec-
tion the improvement of these 48,000,0011 of sheep
yielding 246,700,00004. of wool. And remember, again,
gentlemen, for it appears almost incredible, that the
capital invested in this stock amounts to £66,573,135,
according to Mr. Macqueen. Permit me also to state
that the value of the wool grown in this country, leav-
ing out fractions, is not less than C 14,000,000 per
annum. Permit me further to state that the importa-
tion of foreign wool does not amount to more than
£4,000,01)0. So that out of the £15,000,000 sterling
worth of wool used in this country, which employs no
leas than 1,2.70,000 manufacturers and operatives, the
latge proportion of 1:14,000,1100 worth is provided by
our aguzulturota, thus affording weans for the euiploy-
went of labour, the investment of capital, and the
increase of the wealth of this country."— West Seises
alneffe.

lIARLBY SALE OF SHROPISHIIIi SHERP.—This impor-
tant sale of Shropshire sheep—euibodying, as it did,
the pure elements of Shropshire blood—took place at
liarley, Salop, on Tuesday last; and when we say that
upwards of WO gentlemen partook of a sumptuous lun-
cheon, well supplied with wines and other beverages, it
may eve souse idea of the gathering round the veteran
at his last sale. Competition was keen, and large prices
easily realised. Rains made from 15 to 95 guineas;
ewes, from *0 8 guineas; theaves, from 2 to 5 guineas;
raui lambs, from 8 to 22 guineas; ewe lambs, from 2 to
21 guineas each. Such an assembly leaves no doubt on

the public mind of the valve of Eihropelaire sheep.
%Tare from the north, south, and midland districts',
Ire, and esporten to A %Amain, France, and
"h•Tpuidatelintries, thronged the arena. and gave an undam-
ped that the valve el this olass of sheep has at
lellthTwo seeybelab="4 and I. "rut/ sought after.
specimens were WNW and bought
for a baronet in
service Oxfordshire, and wait "
in that county.