The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1859-03-29 00:00:00

Ilgriculturt.

CULTIVATION. TWO vii 7'e,l,lralry Park, &al
forelahirr. —A large concourse of people was attracted to
IseWesley Park WI Tu.:wiry last, There the four rival
ocliemee for the &indica:ion of steam to the cultivation
of the soil had heen invited by the noble Proprietor 14
Teddel.ll), to • &Menge trial of their respective merits.
The weather vu as mifssmitable as it could poosihly
be, as Be eriverity disl moue seri ice in reducing the
trial to two coinpetitors only. rl/11r ry.t.01114 had been
announced for eumpetition ; hut only three machinel
isiole thuds appearamm OH the Mid of battle, and theme
were Mr. Fowler's straimplough, Mr. Smith'ss cultivas
tor, and Itickett's digging matshine. Bray's traction
engine was nowhere to be seen, On the slay previous.
each champion had 1.1.11•Ctell his own gooiest : and at an
early hour on Tuesday the steam was Prl.ll torn in thin
shreds by the wind on three different parts of the
Hickett's digging machine, which hail propelkd
itself that very morning from Stafford, attempted LO get
upon the land ; hut the most strenuous efforts could not,
accomplish this object, ansl it liasl ultimately to with-
draw altogether from the contest. Evidently Mr.
Itickett's beautiful machine, ingeesious though it be, if
not calculates' for doing work Upl/13 ground.
Smith's apparatus was Ilia fivetine cultivator, amid the
machinery was that used by Lord Ilea:erten upon Ilia
own farm for the tut two years. 'Fla, labourers, all
belonging to the estate, was evidently quite lig foil of
their task, and it NU an intereating feature of this,
day's trials to watch the regular working of the imple-
ment. No stoppage; no hitching anywhere ; everything
went on as smoothly as if the cultivator bast been drawn
by a pair of well-trained horses. At each end a simple
reversal of the gear turned the inipletuent short upon
itself, • lifting of the hand being the only necesiary
signal. Mr. Fowler on the other hand was trying also a
kind of cultivator adapted to the balanc-beam of his
well-known plough. But this' tines, arranged in a single
diagonal row, though they were sin in number, failed
to accomplish their object. lbstli implements were care-
, fully timed ; and it was found that smith's cultivator
broke up is. Ir. 18p. in one hour and a hall, whereas
Fowler's did only one acre during the Milt space of
The inferiority of Fowler's cultivator WAIN so
evident, that a further trial became quite uselesa. Mr.
Fowler gave up the contest; but Isis matchlem swing-
plough was then attached to the gear, and on it went
as it is wont to go, fully redeeming the cultivators
defeat. If any one pres,nt had cone to the trial-fiehl
with any doubt in his mind about the practicability ut
steam-ploughing, he must have returned I a wiser,
because a convinced man. kl went the plough witlt
its four shares, not only upturning the soil, but
thoroughly pulverizing it, and leaving it in that mel-
low, spongy filth which is the goal "revery ploughman's
ambition, and whili can only he accomplished with
steam as motive power, and an implement which leaves
the surface without even the tread of a ploughman.
Fowler's gear on this occasion was the same as that ho
showed at Chester ; but it is right to state that his
machinery has undergone since that time, several radical
improvements, which, by rendering it more simple and
less ponderous, have greatly increased its power and
efficiency.

An action for damages lately raised by Mr. Lowe, of
Consberford, near Taniworth, against the London and
X.W. Railway, for destruction of crops and fences by
fire, terminating in a verdict for the plaintiff for all he
claimed, is one more added to many recent just decisions
which fence about the property of the farmer.
If he buy a lot .4 cattle, apparently sound, under war-
ranty, and they prove distempered he can recover not
only the value given for thou but the value of all other
stock lost by infection from them. If he buy for seed
grain of superior value a sample which proves to be of
another kind lie can recover not merely the difference
in value of the article lie supposed that be
had bought, but the difference in value of
the crop which would have been producetl.
he lose by another's fault a growing crop of young
clover, he can recover not merely iliA lost labour and
seed but the probable value of the crop which he would
have had when it al Id be ripe.
On all these questions decisions have already been
obtained, and we cannot doubt that the seller of
adulterated seed or of adulterated manure will, when hia
case comes before a jury, be no better off than the
defendant in any of the other cases. He will have to
pay, not merely to repay. It will be not merely •
refunding of the sum which lie had received as for turnip
seed or guano beyond the value .4 the article actually
delivered —but • payment of damages for tklosis of
crop incurred by using dead or different seed, etr apply-
ing a worthless fertiliser.
Another action is likely soon to come on, in which it
is sought to prove that a chemist and druggist, who is
charged with the offence. has been selling another manu-
facture I food as Thorley's cattle food. At the prelimi-
nary examination before the magistrate Dr. Hassall
proved that the food supplied consisted of three or at
the most four ingredients--oatmeal, linseed•meal, and
coarsely ant beans and peas. In crosa-examinttion, he
stated that Thorley.* food ointaine.l oatmeal, linseed'
meal, and cut beans and peas, having however pre-
viously stated that there weie not less than eight in-
gredients in it, sonic of them bitters and aromatics so
that this food is not merely an article of nourishment,
but acts a tonic stimulant. "There is • great differ-
ence," according to Dr. Hassan, "between the two
articles, not only as regards their composition, but also
in their preparation. The spurious article is exceedinglr
coarse. while Thorley's food is reduced to fine powder.
We refer to this trial, not that Mr. Thorley may have
the advantage of the advertisement which it gives .4 big
manfacturW cattle food, hut because every tittle of evi-
dence upon the real onuposition of these costly foods
ought to be made known to every man, as Mr. Thorley
says, who keeps a horse, • cow, a sheep, or a pig."
11e recommend our readers to try oatmeal and linseed-
ineal, au.l cut beans and peas, and mix them for them'
selves, and if their cattle want a tonic stimulant let
them consult their veteritiary surgeon how best to
medicate the cattle food thus I made. They will
find it • wonderful sawing to their pockets.
. .

Certain resolutions hirve been s'uggeated, we cannot
yet say adopted, Al. the ground-work of a petition to tho
Government and Parliament for an increased giant of
1:110110 to the Royal Dublin society. Whether the
publication of any prospectus of the kind thus held out
be the best method conceivable f urging the tiewbers of
that society And those interested in Irish agriculture, to
the efforts which seem necessary to enable the Dublin
Society efficiently to work out its agricultural aims and
objects, is easily determined. We cordially hope that
neither English nur Irish agricultural improvement will
ever or in any degree be made to hinge, as that of
Franco appears to do, on the amount of i;ueernment
grants in its behalf.
There is no agricultural or any otlwr impnivement
worth having excepting what is excited by areal interest
in the matter felt by the persons whose improvement is
desired. let aco 1111 l amity spurred on by public-spirited
members of their own body unite for mutual improve-
ment, and prove their interest in it by bearing each his
share of the costs incurred, and improvement is certain
to ensue. Let £IO,MM or more be annually supplied
from some external source, and it will merely afford an
occasional spectacle which cannot insure its object, but
is fruitful of good or not according to other zircutustances.
If the Dublin Society claim additional funds on the
ground of any resemblance to the British )luseutu or the
National Gallery or other national institution, we have
no special right either to advocate or criticise their peti-
tion, but if they base it on tlw need of an increased effort
after agricultural improvement. then we must declare
our only hope of seeing that to rest on the efforts of agri-
culturists themselves, or of societies supported and
direcksl by the farmers of the country.
We called attention X 4,1110 weeLs ago to the evidence
which recent sales of short-horns gave of the continued
high market price of well-bred stock. Within the last
fortnight Mr. Spraggioni herd at Nafferton, near Mt-sets-
hell. Northumberland, and Mr. Troutbeeles at lilenouw,
near Peurith, IlaYe been brought to the hammer. In
the former case 47 lots of cows, heifers, bulls and calves
realised £1,144, or only £24 7s. apiece—the highest
prices being between 441 and 511 guineas. In the latter
21 cows, heifers, awl calves fetched £1,513, or L 72 apiece
and five bulls realised I.=l, or Cl 5 apiece: a two-year
old heifer. Prim t;wv fetched 15ii guineas ; another
of the MAIM tribe, Priscilla Gwynne, fetched 125 guineas ;
others of the same tribe fetched very high prices.

LONDON MARKETS.

(BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.)

MARK-LANE, MONDAY, MARCH 28.

The supplies of English and foreign wheat at
our market to-day were moderate, and in price
there wu no alteration from last Monday.
Oats were the turn cheaper.
Barley was without alteration.

METROPOLITAN CATTLE MARKET.

MONDAY. MARCH

Our market was supplied to-day with twenty-
one thousand sheep, and three thousand six hun-
dred beasts.
Trade lower.
Beef, best quality • 4 10
Mutton, ditto