The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1868-02-11 00:00:00

gatiMalat.
SPRING TILLAGES.
This was the 'abject discussed at the Dortheder
Fusion' Club, lost eaturday evening, and it was intro-
domed by Mr. T. Chick, of Strattoc. He observed that
ThiaaciViti:foutinh:lb.tbsl27o;.l.arg:dtfpuibto3ml:gstidacatt!lib::treinapartagly "wilekdr:thst
Imul kw Wing wheat, which generally followed • root
cruPt One Ploughing was generdly the wheat
sidler sown or drilled, as soon as the weather permitted.
'Early sowing was preferred and, as a rale, nom except.
iuttist:PrE wheallsboold Le sown later than the ea of
Fe
•au Welling of Wareh. Barley wria the mut
l'uLtuuluai spring crop in this neighbourhood. It was :
mostly grown after • root crop, although ohm was
grows dour wheat, and a little after • gnu layer or
olover lel. From the natural habit of barley it ilooriebed
at
cicicbssib:heirachullaireilleadeawivo"saur to ehimiebring ear; Lindell" to that
which hurl" Wee latitude.' to he sown. Upon ow'
lightest barley soils am pi bin would meal h•
found sufthient. With bind, as
soon as it was clew of ramp it shoule be ploughad,mai
if at all disposed to bike, either rolled or harrowed
immediately after. It shosld be left in that Ade till
sowing time whoa Itshoeld ha plerresed egad. If that
did not render the toil In • km-working cosclitioo, the
use of the roller sad dreg vs-id ha nessenoy. The
employment of the drag bee.. the
would material favour this work. Iglu, se=g
the land should be ploughed as early as
get the
tifhethutae ;tot itrorot"us;hluyPefavoseit'llif thelialter""-wworiarilt:
became comparatively easy, provided reamadde owe
was was taken in selecting the proper time tor erep
ploughing and workintr the land for the seed. %odd
land of this description be ploughed no in a ate.
condition, and instead of getting any frad alma it,
become hardened by exposers, it thee aired a met
amount of labour in the shape of rolling, drecolag, sag
ploughlag, before it could be reduced to • fair state for
sowing, and after all it did not afford a satisfactory seed
bed for the barley. He urged that it VS/ the worst
irt
those moderately
soilsl o soe
barley
preferred
strong
, unhn drilling r i lbadly
workedt
e considered
ys
rd ib
a soil.
b eta,
dOron
quite ea mill, if not totter. The meal quantity of used
waa three bushels an acre, but upos_poor feta se avail
as four bushels wee advantageous. time of 0=
might be stabled to include the lather half id
and the whole of April, the earlier sown being gesioray
beet in quality and quantity. When barley was pat
In early the land might be well harrowed, and WI
without rolling' but as the later sowings were really
evonmonied by the clover seed, thus were borrowed
and roiled to • fine endear. Oata were generally gown
either after roots or upon • fresh broken grass or clover
Icy. In the but sue the ground VVA usually ploughed
once, and time allowed for the surface to boomer mellow
under the action of frost before sowing. In ploughing
gram or clover ley for oats the skim-coulter should be
used so as to favour the entire eoverlog of the gran, and
the ground could thou be left until seed•time. In the
interval frosts would almost be certain to have crumbled
the surface and predated a nice light mould for the
seed' such land would then Prount the most desirable
seed-ed for oats—• soil well charged with vegetable
matter, firm beneath, yet easy of penetnition for the
rooting of the plant, with • surface light and free in its
character for the germination of the seed. The sowing
of oats cootmenoed in February, but the bulk was sown
in March. As • role early sowing was beet. He
advocated drilling the seed on light soils. baton stronger
soils broad casting would often be expedient, even
where the drill would be preferable, because waiting
for weather when it could be used would frequently
involse oonsiderablqoes of time; generally the exited
was hotter not rolled down smooth after seeding, for
the roughness left by the harrow would protect the
plant from the cold winds, and, by the time those were
past, and the mu were ready for rolling, the rough
portions of the mil would be nicely mellcwed, no that
the crop would then be improved by the fresh soil an
well as by the pressure. The quantity of seed would
vary aecording to load requirements; generally about
gar IS bushels to the sore was sown sad, when then
the a tosthocy to produce straw, thick seeding favoured
I /be yield of corn. Peas were seldom cultivated as part
a any reedier rotation, and the preparation of the land
11/01114 necessarily very in detail according to the proud.
:IL=They required a free and loose soil for
ul growth. The best mode of depositing the
med was drilling, and the plan of double rows, Igoe of
ten inches apart, with 18 or Al inches between, wee
adviesble, as it gave facilities for admin, the land, and
es amount of the greater support which the pose gained
from the neighbouring row. The early sowings might
be commenced in February upon dry soils, and be con-
tinued to the middle or end of March, when
all the seed should he in the ground. Clover ends
domed have • covering of soil of the thinnest
character. They were sometimes *own immediately
after the corn was in the ground, but as a general rule
It was best done after the corn was well rooted. If
the surface woe at all crusted over, • very light harrow.
leg
.aliiould first be given; Liter sowing, it should be
down whilst the ground was dry and worked
freely, The beat time for sowing perennial rye grass I
was, perhaps, before the last harrowing after the spring
corn was town, and it required a deeper covering of I
soil than the clover seeds. It was impossible to be tool
eareful in selecting seeds which were both clean and
genuine, for the Ices entailed by sowing foul seeds was
Rve.grass very often bad a mixture of
what was commonly called lop-grass besides other creep-
* grades, which were some of the worst weeds they
bad to matend with. The practice ia preparing land
for turnips and sweeties waa various, but the great point
to be secured was that fineness and looseness of soil
widl, enabled the roots of the plants to gather nourish-
meet pod mike their growth. 13, ploughing the stronger
class of soils before winter so as to get the benefit of
frost, and by utive tillage in the spring of the year
when the weather was favourable, those necessary con'
ditione were secured. The lighter dem of soils were
brought into condition with much less difficulty, so that
Instead of the preparations having to be commenced
before winter, it was very often found desirable to
grow • crop of spring feed upon the land, in the
expectation, that alter it had been consumed, one or
two ploughings would prove sufficien t' for the turnip crop.
That practice prevailed to a great extent in this neigh-
bourhood, and wie • very excellent one, inasmuch ao
MOM sheep could be well and profitably kept, as well as
the good their mature did to the land when folding off
the spring feed, and more especially if they were fed
with corn or cake at the same time. It was • good
plan to prepare the land, as if for being sows, eight or
tea days in advents so that the seeds of any weeds
might make a growth, and be destroyed when the
surface was moved in the sowing of the turnip seed,
and it also preserved the moisture in the soil, which
upon light land. in the dry seasons was of the greatest
importmas. The drill was the bed implement fare
turnip sowing, not only on account of depositing the
manure, but also to enable the horseehoe to be sod
freely. If • heavy crop of roots were desired the roll
should be 18 to 18 inches apart, for, should they be
wider, the increased size of the roots would not make
up in weight for the ineremed number, and a well-grows
root of medium size was always better in quality. The
time of sowing Mould be regulated according to the
time they would be required for feeding. Mengel
wortzel was better adopted for Wong moils than
for those of • light chalky character. Perhaps the
beat preparation for this root vras • good picot of swedes
fed off, for the land was then in good condition, and,
with a little ears in working, might soon be brought
into • fit state to receive the seed. Early sowing was
of importance to this crop. The wild season was
from the middle of April to the middle of May, and
for a heavy crop they must not trust to a late sowing.
The growth of the seed aright be promoted by duping
It in water for some hours before it was planted. nu
would soften the skin and render germination more
rapid. The seed might either be dibbled by band Of
drilled. If by tho latter mode, the quantity used
should not be less than from Site, to filth per are, tbs
Young plants being seldom, if ever. too thick in the
rows. Too much care wield not be taken in sowing
both turnip and mangel warted seed grown from races
which had been selected tor their good shape and
quality, for &Moue) they night not always be the
largest roots, they would produce the greeted weight
per acre, as they could be grown doter together in the
row. Transplanting and selecting roots wee whoa I
properly conducted, an expensive proem', and the
oonardeutions grower could not compete in price with
the man who sowed • coarse lardy kind over his
dabbles, left them to flower in the next summer, and
then harvested in a slovenly manner a mixture of
°bedeck, rape, and turnip seed. Moreover, as varieties
were ved, the quantity of wed they yielded
d ins moth Improvement counting In an saltine-
raent of the bulk and • diminutioa of the led and
stalk, which was • further reason why the grower of ies•
proved varieties could never compote in pries, but
might be a deer oven when °harem doable the prise
at which the oarless grower made hi. large profit.
After • few remarks from Mr. J. Homer (the chair-
man),
Mr. R. Genie (vice-chairman) said they were indebted
to Mr. Chick for the careful and able manner in which
he had touched upon the venom matters connected
with spring tillages. His (Mr. Chick's) practice could
not fall to be good. The reason for spring mowing
could never be taken from the alumna& ; they must be
guided by the state of tho soil, and it was most import-
ant, as Mr. Chick had said, that the soil should be in
good condition before sowing was begun: he was quite.
certain they eurifioed auks by not attending to thM.
lie easioarred with Mr. Chick as to the so Ting of *lover
meth. Autumn cultivation had not been alluded to,
but it was intimately connected with the preparation for
Fuel, nad,c4 dsi
ylrir directly ya sol:tihrt:
touched
aryl
imple-
mentsnadilttuaethitwphimrhpg'iaeret"daltiimewsiment;7:dohmwee nit
thyorriagbo.maaHtebarehavenr;
useful, but for paring stubbled; he had discovered an
implement even Impeder to that: it was simply • share
14 inches wide, whets could be pot on a common iron
plough If the gonad was hard the Bathed share
frequently slipped out, and the work was only half
done; but with the broad share of which be had spoken
a pair of horses meld get over • good deal of ground in
a day and do the work well. He had seamen used fuel
Bengali dose he bad found the value of the broad
shire. The implement he employed was very useful at
this time of the per. As soon as the sheep were off
the land, after feediag off turnips, he used it to stir up
the land on a dry day, and it prevented the manure
being washed away by rains or losing he propertie, by
the action of the air. He wished particularly to adios
the broad 'hues bemuse be was esmodiney pleased with
their work himself.
Mr. Heller, of Donyatt, described the tillage adopted_
in Somerset. He maddened the beat preparation for
maned muisel and the °heaped was swedes fed off.
The Chairman said be had found one
preferable to two for barley after • rod oropoo
or chalk moils. No doubt • reseed ploughing
produce more straw, but the wrathy el the PM°
be loat in a greet measure. The lath ott v°
ploughed close after the AM". at this time.2l,
arid then instead of tb• drill mooing broadcast
sad learifying It in. He 140001 :IX" fur Clic
be got by
lest ten years. and make mom
' Ethan by drip and of betterbletty. As to doom
tillegs, that mug
it y-ems, and then
rre thet
siViibiasi/Lmaaciett.
sameayt,
the
in.drsdrurawardoe.lo. ver,tzti stat. land was beet'
hea
Crja.. nuarkl4 slems power co