The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1859-07-12 00:00:00

2griculturt

:lATEr.NAL CARE.—At Ashton-under-Lyne, a young CORN GROW/NG IN FRANCE.--. 1 speech lately deli-
WO9IPII, mimed Ashton, has been sentenced to imprison. vend by N. de Kant, President ,d. the Agricultural
went and hard labour for int.Aicating, brutally ill- Society of rrovins, contains some anions information
ushig, and threatening to take the fife of leer child, aged with respect to the production of wheat in France.
six years. Foi ty years since there were only 4,600,000 hectares of
1ai..1 under wheat in France, and the avera,ge produce
ELKTIoN NEwm.—The 3farylelione contest hu ended
did not exceed II hectolitres the acre. At pre.nt there
in the election of Lord lermoy by a very decided ma-
a 'e
lull 000 iluti hectolitres of wheat rai.ied, and the
joritv —Lort Feromy first, Major Lyon second and Col. r ", •
m pr.siuce is 15 hectolitiva the !acct.. re. Within
in France. . Now, ms within the
I/ick mum third on the poll. —Col. Somerset has been re. a,,'",..3.^.
.o, yearn, e. „.oneotie the production of wheat
turned for 31oninoutlish ire, Mr. Bagwell for Cloninel,and 17..". "'"oe'rely..„;h--1:,1
the Irib Attorney-General for Ennis, without oppos:-
%ion.
. mane period the population of France inera..ell onlf by
i one.fiftb, it is easy to calculate how much the condition
CATCHINO A TRUANT.-31r. Brady, M.F.,onThursday of each individual has been improved by the addition
obtained leave of absence fur &fortnight from the House male to his food. Another consequence is, that France
of Commons on the ground of having
' ,
urgent Private , crows nearly sufficient wheat for her own use without
business to attend to. The hon. genUeinan s furlough having
recourse to • foreign supply. It is expected
was, however, brought to a sudden and unexpected ter 1 that when Algeria becomes sufficiently colonised,
anination, for the Speaker, having observed him in the ! France, instead of being an importer of wheat, will be.
a few minutes after his leave of absence had been come a great exporter. A letter from Odessa of the
granted, revoked it. This proceeding, is, it seems, pre- 114th of June, states that 30,000 chetwerts of wheat
scribed by the practice of the House. were sold tho preceding week at a reduction of 25
--- • • - -- - •

- _
Wennxsone Revonnte.—Two of the notices of motion
given receive a forcible recommendation from the senses
of everybody confined in London at this season of the
year. line is in favour of a winter instead of a summer
session of Parliament, and the other of a vote of money
for the purification of the Serpentine. The money will
no doubt, be voted; but whether so rational a proposal
as that of sitting from November till May, instead of
f February till August, will be accepted, is very
questionable. The estimates are found to pass most
easily through thin and sleepy Houses.
THREEPENNY PosrAng LURIA —We are glad to
find that the authorities at Somerset-house have at last
made a concession with respect to postage stamps which
will he of great convenience to those interested in the
colonies, and to contribute also to the economy and
efficient working of the Post-office department itself.
On and after the Ist inst. a new embossed stamp, of the
value of 3d., will be impressed upon paper, which may
be sent by the public for that purpose to the Office of
Inland Revenue at Somerset-house. We hope this step
will be followed by the equally necessary one of issuing
a threepenny adhesive stamp.
'Dust Or ELECTION PETITIONS.—The General Com-
mittee of Election"; have appointed Thunslay, the fist of
July inst., to choose, from Panel No. 1, the select com-
mittee to try severally the Ashliurten, llerwick-on-Tweed
Pontefract. and Wakefield election petitions; and Fri-
adp, the :r.hid icst., to choose the committees to try the
Huddersfield, ...aucester city, Dartmouth, and Aylesbury
petitions. Several of the menibrrs of Panel Ito. I are
themslves petitioned against, and thus, so to speak, at
present sit on sufferance only. These are Mr. R. Ans-
truilier Earle, Sir E. Filmer (West Kent), Major Gavin
Mr. G. W. Her Mr. Wilfrid Lawson, Lord John
Manners, t'olone Pinney, Mr. S. G. Smith, and Mr. G.
11. Whalley.
PROVIDENTIAL EACAPE.—The Ann Rozby left the
i Mersey in the early part of last March, with a general
cargo of merchandise. The voyage up to the 47th of
April was favourable. On that day the chief officer re-
ported a strung smell burning in his berth ; and it was
presently found that the cargo was on fire. The first
duty of the crew was to throw overboard the ship's
gunpowder, and next the papois and what bread could
be got at. To get below was utterly impossible, and,
in order to keep the fire down the hatches and scuttles
were closed. Night set in; the Captain remembered
seeing a barque in the course of the evening, and • boat
was put off in hope of picking up with her. Providen-
tially she was fallen in with, and proved to be the
Aumthea, of Workington, for Madras, the master of
which promised to remain by. On the following morn-
ing it was seen that the destruction of the ship was in-
evitable. The pitch was boiling out of the deck scams,
and the main hatch tarpaulins were burnt off. Soon
afterwards the flames burst through the main hatch,
and ascended to ths topmast head. The crew then took
to the boats. In a very few hours the ship was burnt
to the water's edge.
Eszetviosi.— On Monday morning Samuel Adams
; aged 36, a shoemaker, who was convicted at the last
I assizes at the Central Criminal Court of the murder of
I Martha Page, was liaiqed in front of Newgate. When
I sentence of death was passed upon him he became
sullen, and declined to attend to any religious exhor-
tations. When the Secretary of State declined to arrest
the arm of the law Adams became calmer. In the
early part of the week, declining the chaplain's attention,
I he asked for the attendance of Mr. Jukes, a Dissenting
ll ill ister ; but, he being out of town, a Mr. Smith, a
city missionary, was called, and promptly attended.
' Under his exhortations Adams repeatedly expressed his
sorrow for the crime he hail committed, and fully
admitted the justice id his sentence. On Saturday
morning he hail an interview with his wife, in the
presence of Mr. Weatherhead, the goveruor, and at first
it was apprehended that he would attempt some
violence, but Mr. Weatherhead succeeded in seasoning
!Mu into calmness. He spoke to his wife in affectionate
terms, and requested to have another interview with
her later in the day. The wife saw her husband again
in the evening, and remained upwards of an hour with
him, when lie said he freely forgave her, and asked for
mutual forgiveness. His wife said she freely pardoned
and forgave him, and urged him to put his trust in God.
On Sunday Mr. Smith visited him, and remained the
greater part of the day with hhn in his cell. The Rev
Mr. Davis, the ordinary, also visited him, and during
the last hours of the wretched man's existence he did
not object to his ministrations. At an early hour
Monday morning Mr. Smith and Mr. Davis again
visited him, and remained to the last. As earley as 4
o'clock, the barriers having been erected on Saturday,
the workmen commenced the erection of the scaffold,
and from that hoar a large concourse of people began to
assemble; and long before 8 o'clock • dense crowd.
amounting to several thousands, were assembled in front
of the gaol. Although they were for the most park of •
similar character to those who assemble on these
occasions, it is right to say they were more orderly than
usual. At half-past. 7 Mr. Alderman and Sheriff Hale
and Mr. Sheriff Conder, and Mr. Under-Sheriff Suer,
arrived at the gaol, and at a quarter to 8 they proceeded
to the culprit's cell. He was standing in an upright
position at the table, and appeased calm and collected,
but evidently oppressed with his awful position. He
had requested that no one should talk to him. He
only occasionally whispered to Mr. Suiith, and requested
him to see his wife and give his last remembrance to her.
Shortly before 8 o'clock Adams knelt down, and with
his hands covered over his face, breathed an inward
prayer. He then rose, shook hands with the sermon
and Mr. We.atherhead. governor of the gaol, and thanked
them for their kindness. He then turned to the Rev.
Mr. Davis, shook hands with him, equally thanking
him and Mr. Smith for their kindness. Mr. IJnderSbcriff
Sure asked I 'f lie had anything to communicate, when
he said" nothing." Calcraft was then introduced, and the
li ll ioning having been completed, the fatal procession
was formed, the Rev. Mr. Davis reading the burial
service. Adams, although club-footed, walked firmly
without assiAance to the drop, and having again taken
leave of the governor he aseendad the steps. Placed
under the beam, the noose was adjusted, tho cap drawn
down, and the last signal was given. Adams appeared
to struggle a good deal. The body was, after hanging
the usual time, cut down, and buried within the
precincts of the prison.

copecks the cheiwert. -
STEAM PLOUGHING AT leswieli.—An interesting trial
took place at the meeting of the Suffolk Agricultural
Society at IpliWith, On Friday weak, of tile NLCAM
ploughing apparatus of Mr. J. Fowler, and of the
steam cultivator of Mr. Smith, of Woolston. The
engine exhibited by Mr. Fowler was constructed by
Messrs. liansomes and Sims, of Icevrich, and is about
to be shown at the great meeting of the Royal Agricul-
tural Society at Warwick. The price of the whole ap-
paratus (including engine) has now been reduced to
£670, and the work done was certainly very effective,
the plough, which comprises three shares, turning over
the soil in a rapid, regular, and satisfactory manner.
The cultivating apparatus of Mr. Smith can be set in
action by an ordinary portable agricultural engine,
which can be afterwards applied to other purposes, and
the cost of the cultivator, steel ropes, windlass, &c., is
about £2lO. The principle upon which Mr. Smith pre-
meds is not that of ordinary ploughing, but of
"smashing up" the soil laterally and longitudinally, so
as to expose it to the action of the elements, and at the
same tune render weeds easy of removal instead of
merely covering theui up as in ploughing. Messrs.
Howard, of Bedford. hare brought out Mr. Smith's
apparatus. The subject formed a prominent topic of
after-dinner dINCIINSIOII, and Mr. J. Allen Ransume ex-
pressed his opinion that, many disoouragements and
difficulties having been overcome, the time had at last
arrived when the steani plough had become available
on farms of large extent, especially in autumnal culti-
vation, as it would enable a large amount of work to be
dune expeditiously which could not otherwise be exe-
cuted without a great number of horses, whose tread-
ing on the soil would, to some extent, counteract the
effect of the tillage.
MOWING Mactogre.—A trial of Burgess and Key's
mowing machine at Glasnevin, near Dublin, is reported
in the Weekly Agricultural Review as having been
remarkably successful. Mr. Baldwin, of the Albert
Institution there, estimates that, kept continually at
work by alternate pairs of bones, it will mow 12 acres
in a day. It performs the work admirably when the
ground is even and free from stones, indeed the work
could not be better done. The following is Mr. Bald-
win's estimate of the cost per acre :--" Assuming a farm
of MO statute acres, under a four course rotation, and
having BO acres of grass, the cost would be as follows :
Interest on the lint no.t of the machine for sear
and tear, &e., lay 13.1 per cent., .C 3 15e., or per
W.lgne of a man to drive
of • boy

s. d.
s. d. 1 0
2 0
I 0

30
03

Or pra acre

Total per acre I 9
So that, omitting the cost of horse labour, we may
safely say that the cost of mowing with the machine
would not exceed 2.5. per acre. Now, I know several
farmers who paid upwards of ss. per acre last rummer i
for mowing grass not exceeding n luxuriance that on
the trial field at Glasnevin. And even if we charge the
machine with the feeding of the horses, it will !Ain be
more economical than the scythe. The keep of four
horses may on an average be assumed at Ws., or about
Is. per acre, no that the cost of the "mower" will not
exceed 3s. per acre where there are 50 acres of grass to
be cut down annually; and, of course the cost will
diminish as the area to be mown increases,. I have net
drawn any comparison between the mower of Messrs.
Burgess d Key and other IllaCill111:11 ill the market. It
is enough to say that the work executed at Glasnevin
is very creditable and oelenlated to inspire farmers with
the hope that the cost of tillage will diminish M propor-
tion as the science of agricultural machine-making is
advsnced." We may add to this that Wood's combined
reaper and mower, a rival machine brought out we
believe by Richmond and Chandler, of Salton!, has also
been successfully in operation in various parts of the
country.—Gardexers' Chronicle.

VALUE Of THE EARTII-WOKIL—The common earth-
worm, though apt to be despised and trodden on, is
really a useful creature in its way. Mr. Knapp des-
cribes it az the natural umnurer of the soil, consuming
on the surface the softer parts of decayed vegetable.
matters, and conveying downwards the more woody fibres
which there moulder and fertilize. They perforate the
earth in all directions, thus rendering it permeable by
air and water, both indispensable to vegetable life. Ac-
cording to Mr. Darwin's mode of expression, they gave
a kind of under tillage to the land, performing the same
below ground that the spade does above for the garden,
and the plough for arable soil. It is, in consequence,
chiefly of the natural operations of worms that fields
which have been overspread with lime, burnt marl, or
cinders, become in process of time covered by a finely
divided soil, fitted for the support of vegetation. This
result, though usually attributed by farmers to the
"working down" of these materials, is really due to the
action of earth-worms, as may be seen in the innumera-
ble casts of which the initial soil consists. These are ob-
viously produced by the digestive proceedings of the
worms, which take into their intestinal canal a large
quantity of the soil in which they feed and burrow, and
then reject it in the form of the so-called casts. "In this
manner," says Dr. Darwin, "afield, inanured with marl
has been covered, in the course of 80 years, with a bed
of earth, averaging 13 inches in thickness "—Encyclopm-
din Britannica.

MANGEL WURZEL GROWING.—At the meeting of the
East of Berwickshire Farmers' Club the other day re-
ports were read of the experience of members in the
cultivation of swedes and mangel wend. Mr. Gdbrge
Wilson, of Harelaw, Chirnside, found that Peruvian
guano was among the less effective of the six manures
two guineas worth of each of which had been applied per
acre upon swedish turnips; while bone-dust and dis-
solved bones were among the most effective ,if the '
iteries.—Mr. John Wilson, of cendedge, reported favor-
ably of mange] wend, of which :10 tons per acre had
been grown where swedes treated in the same manner,
with the exception of wanting a second dressing of
artificial manure, yielded rather leas than 'A/ tons. The
land, • gravel loam, had been immured with not very
rotten farmyard dung, upwards of :V cart loads per acre,
in autumn 1857, after a crop of oats. ploughed with a
deep farrow, and ploughed again in the end of March,
and well harrowed, grubbed, and drilled up about the
12th of April with 14 cwt of Peruvian guano. l'revions
to drilling 3 cwt. of salt was applied. The drills were
compressed with a light roller, and allowed to remain ,
for eight days to gather sap, and then sowed at the rate I
of 5 lbs. of wed per acre, on the '.!"..lnd April. The seed
brainied about the Bth May, very irregularly, from care- I
leas sowing; the blanks were tilled by transplanting
when time crop was thinned, about ti.e 15th June. As
it was moist weather this succeeded very well, although
the plants were not ultimately so large as those grown
from the wed. The plants were about 15 inches apart,
where regular; the width of the drills was at inches.
The ground was cleaned with the little ploughs and
scuffiers the same as for turnips, with the exception of
being stirred between the drills with • two-horse grub-
bier as deep as the horses could work it, about the begin-
ning of July. Towards the end of that month a dress-
ing of a mixture of Peruvian guano and dissolved bones
was applied, l cwt. per acre, and worked in with the
small plough and scuffier. Four kinds of mangel were
sown, Long Red, Red Globe, Long Yellow, and Yellow
Globe; there was not much difference. The storing
process was too long delayed, and it was stopped in the
middle with • week's frost, and in the beginning of
December. What was stored before the frost is in
perfect order at this time, the 4th June ; what was
stored after the few days' frost, although first used, was
all much deteriorated, and many of the roots were quite
rotten. Mr. Wilson believes that mangel will he cul-
tivated in Berwickshire to a much greater extent than
. . .

lev-er-Yer. It is the ait root than can be
given to ewes when lambing, and to cows, the milk pro-
duced by it being so safe for calves, as well auto feeding
cattle in late spring and early summer. An sheep and
cattle seem to he very fond of it, preferring it to any
other note after April.-/Nd.
CONCENTRATRD CATTLE FOOD. The following
remarks, with comments upon an analysis of cattle food,
were lately read before the Dublin University by Dr.
Cameron: -" This so-called concentrated cattle food is
sold at £42 per ton, which mat the rate of 40. per lb.;
while it is cut, at the very utmost, worth £7, or id.
It is far less nutritious than either linseed-cake or rape-
cake, though it is no doubt more palatable to cattle
than the latter. Its great inferiority to the oilcakes
may be rendered more apparent by contrasting its
analysis with that of an average sample of linseed-cake.
I consider the sale of the peculiar article they prepare
an imposition of the grossest kind on the agricultural
public, and on that portion of the urban community
who are proprietors of horses. I have no hesitation in
placing the manufacturers of 'concentrated cattle foods'
in that category of the farmer's benefactors which
includes the manufacturers of and dealers in spurious
guano, for both take advantage of the prevailing igno-
rance of the farmer as to what really constitutes a
nutritious article of food, or an excellent fertiliser of
the soil. What is the moral difference between the
man who sells guano at I:12 per ton, knowing it not
to be worth £3, and the highly respectable dealer who
vends cattle food at 1:42 per ton and yet knows that its
ingredients may be purchased at one-sixth of that
amount."
GREAT HORTICULTURAL GARDEN AT BROMPTON.-
One of the most important meetings which ever the
Horticultural Society held took place on Thursday in
the rooms of the Society of Arts, John-street, Adelphi,
for the purpose of considering the acceptance from the
Royal Commissioners of the Exhibition of 1851 of an
offer of 20 acres of land between Browpton and Ken-
sington-gore, for the purpose of constructing a horticul-
tural slimmer and winter garden in that highly influen-
tial locality. The chair was taken by the Earl of Ducie,
and among the noblemen and gentlemen present were
the Duke of Leinster, Sir John Ramadan, Mr. Heywood,
Sir Peter Pole, Mr. Wentworth Dilke, Mr. Cole, Mr.
11.0. Rohn, Mr. Powuall, chairman of the Middlesex
Sessions, Colonel Challoner, Dr. Conolly, Dr. Hogg, he.
The noble chairman having opened the proceedings by
a brief review of the histoly and decline of the society,
and the necessity of something being done to reenscsta!o
it by obtaining a more commodious plot of grounds in
the immediate vicinity of London than that at Clos!rick,
called upon Dr. Lindley. He stated the conditions
upon which the Commissioners would grant the land to
the society, which were as follows :-Betweeu the two
roads already named there is a plot of ground of about
t2Ouralacresei,taanmilisihtmisetrtr
having
convertmiteuir tomadhowrtiincuterl-
garden, with Italian arcades, at a cost of t',100,000.
Tne Commissioners agree to provide E.A0,000 and the
Hortieultarel Society £W,OOI The society will not be

called on to pay any rent incept On the follow-
ing conditions : After the ,i-iety h.s paid au
the expenses, whith will include in tiC -I at :s
per cent. on £511,010 debenture stock, and
Xl,OOO a year for the management of a portion of
Chiswick grounds as an experimental garden, any sur-
plus that may be left will go for rent up to a certain
point. Should the profits reach the so of r 2,000 the
society claim that as rent, or any colt r two ;
should there be SIIIAri profits or no prefits at all, Om
Commissioners will he content, awl every year's income
will natisfy the rental claims. Should, hoarser, the
profits go beyond 2,tYS.O a year, the super tiirplu, is to
be equally divided between the Royal Commissioner:
and the Horticultural Society. The lea,e to he granted
for 31 years, after which period the whole of the
premises revert to the CO!111111e111,41tril. Dr. Lindley
explained the plan of the proposed garden terraces, rod
directed the attention of the meeting to • series of very
beautiful drawings and photographs of the primmest
designs. Mr. V.. Dilke read a long hat of the nobility
and gentry of the locality who expressed their desire to
render every pecuniary support to the scheme. The
matter was very fully discussed, and the l'ouncil of the
Society wise empowered to carry on the negociations,
and the following letter was read front Ida Royal High-
ness the Prince Consort, which elicited the most enthu-
siastic cheers, and also one from the Royal Com-
missioners containing the proposed tern,":—"
ikucking-
b,ju Palace, July 7. My Lord,-1 have received the
commands of Her Majesty the Queen, and of his Rcyal
Highness the Prince Contort, to inform you that in the
event of the plan being carried out for the ertabliali-
malt of the garden of the Horticultural Society of Lon-
don upon the estate of South Kensington, belonging to
the Royal Commissioners of the Exhibition of 1851, it
lithe intention of Her Majesty and of his Royal high-
ness to make donations towards the execution of this
undertaking of £1,0013 and X5OO respectively. It is
also the intention of Her Majesty, should it be in ac-
cordance with the rules of the Society that parents or
guardians should purchase life memberships fur children
or persons not yet of age, to place the names of His Royal
Ilighnesa the Prince of Wales, and the younger Princes
and Princesses upon the list of life members. I have
further the pleasure of irforming your Lordship that I
am authorized by her Royal Highness the Princess
, Frederick William of Prussia, Princess Royal of
r England, to announce the indention id* 11, Loyal
Highness to become likewise • life member. 1 have the
honour to be, lily Lord, your Lordship's most olieilirot
humblo servant, C. B. PHIPPS. The Earl of Duch:, Lc."