The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1868-03-03 00:00:00

Agriculture.

EXTIAMMIAIT FECONDITT OF A Plo.—Loot week
it mow of the Essex breed, belonging to Mr. W. J.
Bendel, who olmapiem Springfield Hall Farm, had the
extraordinary number of Zi roan, ones at • litter, 21 of
which were born alive. —oAshruford Chromele.
_ -

Tan Imam Doan wr ALB/WM.—At • recent meet-
ing of the Staindron Farmer's Club • paper wee reed on
the comparative appetites of thesp and rabbits. Two
hoggett sheep and twelve full-grown rabbita had been
put up, and fed for six weeks on oats, cut clover, bran,
and roots. At the end of that time it was found that
nine rabbits in captivity ate as much u two sheep, end
of course, when free, they destroy much more than they
consume. Some estimate may thus be formed of the
Injury done to tenant fanners by rabbits. A farm on
which nine hawked rabbits are shot yoarlv is taxed far
more heavily than if its tenant bad to maintain • flock
of 200 of his landlord's sheep. The &seep, too, would
be useful in fertilizing the land, whilst rabbit& are of no
nes stall in that capaeity.
BitavO I ma. Domtnr.—The Thornington'berd is to
be sold on Mardi 16, by Mr. Donkin, austioneer, and
the advertisement in whisk the foot is announced
deserve' oohs.. as an illustrstion of the eloquence of
enthusiasm. Charles lamb in one of hie essay., swath-
ing of • well-known aotor of the day, make, "Who like
him can throw • preternetarsl interest over the min-
monist daily-life objects" "A tub of butter eastern-
pbsted by him 'mounts to I Platonic idea." "He stands
wondering &add the commonplace materials of life, like
prisnarral man with the win and stars about him." Ono
thinks el this when reading that in the Thorningtoo
bard we have " • stook which traces its lineage dis-
tinctly through a long line of noble ancestry, pro.
nsineetly displaying is every lineament the sovereign
attributes of high dement." "True to the treditions of
60 years, it rule's not upon the apocryphal evidence of s
Biwa. Mythology. Strong in the Irrefragable proofs
of orthodox descent, is invitee, in the °mildew's of
seperiority, the criticising of the commentators upon
our domestic zoology. Amlimstased from infancy to
the, temperature of the Cheviots, this stook may, with
porlest safety, be removed to the highest altitudes com-
patible with animal civilisation. Rich in colours as
elegent in contour, the votaries of faehlon, agreeing
with the OMIIOIOII saying of Colbert, will find that feces
of attraction in Northumberland cm the 16th March—
the thorax* of &coition at Tharnington (with the border
of Flodden Field for • siege, end the eublinsisiee of the
Bownsont for misery), reepleesdent in the radiance of
the rosiest oomplezions." May we not end as we began?
Bravo, Mr. Donkie I
OS KA SIIIMB. —no introduction of artifieW manor,.
into general use, with • due employment of ereetiod
and scientific knowledge in their appliostion,le eoe of
the greatest egricultural Improvements of the present
day. Without their aid it is difficolt now to under-
stand bow the prod:to:Menem of our coils maid have
been long scoured, especially in those distrieta that as.
psoulierly the produsers of gram and meat. We shell
not enter into • lengthened
.dsquisition as to the
isharaistsr of the various artificnals or of the isompounds
thet,o many maaufseturers over or. It will mass to
lay • few fasts Wore the reader enabling him to wee
yey Inseself of the suitability of soy menu,., or
stimulant to his mil ander it. peculiar yenta Artilleial
manures ma be divided into the following slams@ :-1.
or these in which Ammonia
is Oiseass, Destissated Nightuoil. 140.—tr.Vbeaimailt
Ottas Bose Manue, r Oopreditso.-3. The Bela., as
of Soda, Salt, ko.—t. The Spooled or Penner,
se Gypsum, ka. An to dui mesas of N..
arm of =Nam tq ors to uposl XriaZ

as thew mentioned for fording staffs. That Is, 47in.
to test the per centeLe of ?mbar, sod burning to Rai
the proportions of ash. The less.. Can hare of tbs.
two ingredients, so much the better for our purpose, y
quote a plain receipt, for testing guano by the Re, fej.
Sidney, of Great Cornard, Suffolk, which may has apr;
sable to other manures. Take • given weight sad
ii..h.iborohnleittearppepeanperd"
paper. at
waebiesghtitof ;
t 2612 ese
I.degr
Fahrenheit; when t win
sample and incinerate It,
be water deducting from
f orth.tebeash."l":
off of ammonia. Take the dry
in a porcelain crucible. In good
of ammonia. Wash the residue with muriatic acid lied
hot water, until nothing reaming but the impurities,
ll
mend, May, /cc. In good guano, these will not exooltd.
wa"&i:bLiitPeuagainwhaint.d otnhethleoss4atoPiPslliocaPergrttcegnuaiiinokmfnoirttepreaania rasp
two per cent., and rarely amount to one per cent. it
the l rub:Los:6p
for
its
scope will be of especial service, in detecting the
presence of beautiful siliceous skeletons of diatowsroecs
xeddewteietthio "n.wdlain guano the micro-
t" simple washing
or the flinty and imperishable remains of those
vegetables fed on by mollneos or fishes and after-
wards passed hated through the Ma fowls who deposit
the guano: And it is a remarkable feet, that the better
the guano the more abundant are these remains.
Specific graviry also affords • good test of purity.
Guano is very much lighter than the earths, genuine
weighing in compaction with water 1.66, while an
adulterated sample in remparison weighed 2.17. This
affords a very easy test. Place in opposite make, two
vessels of similar weicbt and sise, (as pails,) flfl 0110
with vete:, now put into the other as much guano as
will balance this water, and examine the proportions of
one to the other. The lighter the guano is, the less
proportion of mineral or earthly admixture. lops=
I. often used to adulterate guano and ground
If no gypsum ought to be naturally present in the
manure, it is sufficient to treat it with distilled water,
and afterwards add to the solution filtered through
blotting paper, some chloride of barium to one portion,
and oxalate of ammonia to another. If there be
in solution, both of these rabsteness will render ii
it
turbid. If however, gypsum is always provost as in
the case of piano or superphosphate of lime, a different
mode must be used, to detect the overalls.. which as a
more difficult proper had better be left in the hands of
a professional analyst. To detest *balk, add dilute
muriatie aaid which will cause • lively sffiervsecense if
sheik is presoak Then neutralise the wad solution
with ainciseale, and test by the addition of • few drops
of • solution of exelate of Lamont& If lime be present
oxalate of lime will los onicipitated. Coiled the oxalate
of lime in • filter, wash, dry, hest to redness, and dry;
the product is carbonate of lime, and shows tbe quantity
in the manure. Adulteration of ammoolesal salts are
easily detected. Sulphate of ammonia is frequently
mixed with common salt, sulphste of soda, ha Place a
weighed quantity of the manure in • poreslein crucible
and hest to redness.. At a red beat the musetoniareal
salt is dissipated without charring, tbe fixed Belt remains
after ignition. To ascertain the quantity of asenionia
In manure, introduce the manure into a graduated
tube containing • solutiois ci Worlds of lime. The
nitrogen of the ammonia rereipes in a free state and
may be measured; and from the quantity of this leas
the amount of eminent& may be sakailated.—Nitreges of
Potash and Soda Salt, the most common impurity,
is found by adding biteable of salver to a solution of the
nitrate under examination; chloride of silver falling
down as • curdy precipitate, if salt be present. Sulphate
of soda may he detected by adding chloride of barium to
the solution, when sulphate of barytes falls down. The
majority of instances of admixteres come under the
bead of impurities rather than adolteratiose, and are
matters brought with the manure. Theo guano soutane
a small proportion of sand and salt. Almost ell nitrates
of soda • small proportion of telt. To seperate
these and offer • perfectly pure sample would
be possible, but the expense renders it out of IL*
question. The only mode Is to buy them as pare
as possible, and free from wilful adulteration.
The tests given above are useful in groin comes, but
where any doubt exists • professional analyst is the
person to apply to. Manures are ftee blamed, when
the fault lies in the cultivator or in the mama Applied
in such minute portions as they generally are, it is
essential that they should be supplied with all the ad-
vantages */ proper cultivation, to enable their peculiar
fropertiee to take full effect. Thus if applied in con.
unction with the seed, they may be injarbus, or if on
mil land they may be exhausted by the crop of weeds
they encourage, or on a light soil free from a crop, they
may be washed out of the soil. The following general
directions have been given as well adapted to the
purpose. For mixtures for applioation in Autumn and
Winter, apply the ammonia or nitrogen in a form
to prevent it operating too quickly, by using
• substance containing other organic matter, as
rape dust, bones, woollen rags, and guano mixed
with charcoal or gypsum rather than salt of
ammonia so speedily soluble by itself. All winter dress-
Inge of artificial manure should be mixed in the soil.
AU mixtures in which ammonia exists in a saline form,
should be applied ass 'piing top dressing on the crepe,
If pomible in wet weather and in April. And mixtures
rich in ammonia, as rape dust or guano, should be har-
rowed in immediately if sown with spring crops, or If
used as a top dressing, only in wet weather. That ,
Eerie/ top dressings rich in organic matter should be
applied earlier than pure saline. That for spring crops
the mineral minutes should be applied with their phos-
Oates and alkalies in the meet soluble state. That
where • heavy spring saline dressing is required, it is
advisable to apply it at two distinct periods a month
apart as April and May. Tbesa brief rules show how
much weight time Las in the proper application of
manure. Thus we might naturally predict failure if we
applied rape dust upon a barley crop in May, guano es a
top dressing in a dry summer, or applied salts of am-
monia at wheat sowing. The improvements In the
manufacture and in the application of artificial manures
lan'. Woo 0,n5 .4 Lobo 'lmes.. We bolo* our maniac. of
a more standard character and greater solubility. We
have them applied by drills in ridges and with means
to prevent the seed Gamine in contact, or by broadcast
distributors, or by water drills so useful on a dry soil,
and in a dry 4311111012, to promote the early growth of the
pleat. What can be added to this? We cannot tell
except it may be that the purchaser should obtain
special manures to suit his varying crops, soils,
and circumstances, manures in dry season Ilea
liable to burn, or in a wet season less liable to be
washed away ; for it is absurd for one oultivating a
siliceous soil, free from vegetable matter, tones precisely
the same and in the same proportions as the eultivator
of peaty land composed entirely of decayed vegetation.
The difficulty is not the selection of proper
but in the &dull:tore. The cultivator can say, my lei
Ii of such a character, I have
_grown such crops and
Intend to grow such others. What manure must I
have? The dealer or manufacturer having • few main
ingredients ready can say, I recommend • mixture of
such and such articles in 'nab proportions, which I will
supply you with. The difficulty of pulverising and of
proper admixtures being considerable when there are
not suitable facilities for the purpoes--flaysibird
Co's. List of Peedirso Stuffs and Manures.

BEM= DISTROTING TEI YOUPG WHILT.—The
young wheat plant in Doreetshire is observed to present
many this, faulty brown pitches; and it may be well
to direct the attention of our residers to the muse of
them, in the hope that intended observation may be
made upon a subject so important On going sweetly
over fields of wheat we were struck with an oeteeional
thinness of plant, which induced a more careful march,
when It was soon seen that birds had been actively
employed on the spot, ft that whole apaces in the drilla
had been torn away. When the birds had not asercoed,
the blade, of young wheal were there truly, bat fully
half of them looked yellow mid brown, and presented
every stage of decay; and these decayed plants came up
so molly on being laid hold of that we were convinced
that " • worm i' the bud" must be causing the mischief.
Acetrdinely, on carefully taking up some pl•nte, the
creature was soon found in the very act of nibbling
tb • young blade about half an inch above the seed, so
as to get at the inner white part of the very youngest
lessee The creature ehioli was doing the mischief
was the larva of some beetle, probably that described
with figures by Curtis in his" Farm Inseete p. 212.
The following is an extract :

" In the 'Laminae Transaction? for 19% in some observe
time by mama Walord. Seq.. 7.L9., regarding an inmet
that was destroying the wheat, euPPOIOI by the Una," of
Emex and Suffolk to be the wlreworm. In °ember, 1902, Mr.
Thomas 011ey, of Stoke, nest Clare, In Suffolk, showed Mr.
Walford Nome green wheat which me dying and loon plant
very fast, the reason of which be could not On
examining the plant. Mr. W. discovered three of the larva,
two of which were In the act of destroying the wheat.
With their projecting Jews thew insects rut round the
outside gran about one Inch 'snow the surface of the soil, to
get at the young white shoot in Use centre, which they eat.
Upon this vegetation 15 inemedietely stopped, and the plant
dim. 1 unmet that they ant eat the flour In thiamine.
whith hi. not 101111 drawn up by vegetation ; for, when we
touched them, they ran into the honk.: and two of the three
Ineorte 1 carried home In the husks, which sprier to he their
habitations, and probably the place where they change from
tbe larva to their perfect state.'
' "

" iii. now upward. of GO years sines thaw facts were
promulgate., and yet we know no more of the economy
Oof Mit ngular little animal then Yr Widford did. Ile was
Inclined to think it might be the larra of • Staphylinia, or
Rove-beetle, only that he comidored they were entirely •
carnivorout family, and the name objecbon may be made to it.
being the larva of • Betobiditun. or soma minute earshot,
which I omelet it to he. It to tomewhat remarkable that one
hat never heard of the re-appearance of this teepee; but that
may be owing to all ravages of the kind being st onoe
eltet-
hated to the wintworm, which unfortunately ,be• hitherto
bopped all further log Wry."

The larva, then, which we found to be doing us mischief,
ii not that of the Click-beetle, which would be • wire.
worm, but it is one which, so far from being tough to
the touch and wiry in appearance. is aoft and clothed
with prickly heir.; and Mr. Westwood, in r•ferring to
Walford's paper' quoted from Curtis, determines
them se being larva of • species of ittaphylinita. Now
the BMphylinithe me &family of beetles of which what it
commonly known se the "Devil's Coach-horss" (ooeries
claw) lion. of the larger species, while thine lumbar review
-re quite small creatures, and ere known by the general
name of Rove-beetle, of which a great amber of
species inhabit all parts of our country, sometimes
being carni•orous, but mostly of • very omnivorous
disposition. We have band the larva and perfect
insect in turnip, affected with apiary, and about
potato sets, but more wrongly at the roots of
and it seems to poems@ great partiality for wheatramit
attar* of them larva in • field of our own is sufficiently
ieterestiag to merit more particular deseriptioa. The
Geld in gaieties 1. 50 mires in extent, which, now all in
wheat, was previously cropped se follows i—L Rape, 8
awes, upon fallow. 2. Clover, 8 saes, after barley
which succeeded manols. 3. Clover, 6 mime, gown in
ths barley after swedes. 4. Italian rye, 26 serge, sown ,
alio in barley after swedes. 5. Swede seed, 2 mires.
Of the clover crops, No. 2 was made into hay, and
afterwards fed off by sheep, and No. 3 wee seeded. Of
No. 4, &bent half was never out at MI, bat entirely fed off
by sheep ; the rest was made into hay, and afterwards
depastured. Now it is to the ryegreas portion that the
Insects are costly confined, thd their attack Is ten times
more vigorous where it was wholly &mastered. We
have observed a like attack on several farms of the
district, and in all eases it has been after rye-gram, end
more espeehilly Italian Rye. Our aaperienee. then, of
this year leads us to the same creashwien as we had
before arrived at, that rye-grusse are by no means good
preparation for wheat, partly perhaps bemuse beah
wbie,c, as ft Gored, and rye-gram se • pasture spooino,
both belong to the wee natural order, so that the one '
'tiniest' the Noll that is required for the other, and
further because the rye-greases mem It harbour wire
-
worm and the larva jest described, and to hand them
down ae an increased family to the wheat. Clever lea,
on the other hand, seems especially favourable for the
growth of wheat. With regard to our own
wboo, 1107 ki mid AM tnia Lis atrinPatiblair

above the groped until the present s, the rook and
ibetheeestarliagbircla emhiveplyb.trowinelawAvered ttleinree"rts. th*Aught bat..
••
we beve'said, the geld in gaieties was 60 ewes is extent,
it was only strip of • few asses, nearly in the middle,
'I
sit
And this node• hiohthehir&mad
ns look eanyothoomer to...tiy
han anowesia
their
work. 84111, to satiety the bailiff, we reluctantly con-
mated to place a boy to keep them of, but be was ea
Idle young ands* sad vet are inclined to think that
whatever plant we have left is the result of his carsisss.
new And we now sevw disturb thew ;_tbe birds,
which are now, no doubt, doing • Wad dial of g. 71.11
l“ecine in chock a pest which they bad disco
weeks before eves the sharpsighted tarsier.
As remedy for this evil, we dna offer the Waal= that
a too frequent repetition of the some kind of crop
gmamusril7 leads to the inane= of the insect. peculiar
to that elms, and basso no prefer raps, or dove; ns'
mustard. es a preparatioa for wisest, to rye-grasseseither nova or depsahind, Again as looms "pests" are
Dsrlw Lsa" t whore a crop whit& his MOO op
WA
40 withering away, we should lake we
the of birds. for though Owl
may do appeased mischief_ In ditarbiag the yens( Platt*
Yet the
more. It been °MA,. sr they are sot disturbed, will do muck
mischief,ey
ethanedsd.ot:lo
all
°Quaintest inquirer fittil rail" will d<mhtisst he ef
use in coneolidating the maul shoat idso
roots, and as the larva are Dot deep in the mil there le
little doubt but that " Croakill" would destroy pust
numbers of them. Of *ours* if Marsh does not improve
the apparent* of affairs, and Imre BMW bolo otai
crop, it will be better to meow with spring wheat,
plan we intend to adopt in this we We have
thus &seedbed an attack upon nor wheat whisk,
with as, I. somewhat maims. We have shown how it
differs from wireworm, though usually confettailed
with it, and we now look forward with oongdesee for
further information upon this carious subject front ear
Intelligent oorrespondents.-13. In Gardener's CArotlek.