A NEW AND IMPROVED METHOD OF CULTIVATING LAND, AND OF FEEDING AND CONSUMING THE PRODUCE THEREOF BY CATTLE AND SHEEP, AND OF PRESERVING AND APPLYING THE MANURE OF AND MADE BY SUCH CATTLE AND SHEEP, BY MEANS OF CERTAIN HOUSES MADE AND BUILT FOR THE PROTECTION OF CATTLE AND SHEEP FROM WEATHER, AND FEEDING THE SAME THEREIN, AND MOVEABLE BY MEANS OF WHEELS, SLIDES, IRON RAILWAYS, OR OTHERWISE
Year: 1810

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
ADAMS, of the Woodlands, in the Parish of Lindridge, in the County of
Worcester, Farmer, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Third, by His
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Nineteenth day of June, in the
fiftieth year of His reign, did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said George Adams, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, His special licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that
I, the said George Adams, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said George Adams, my executors, administrators, or assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within that part of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland called England, and Dominion of Wales, and the
Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also in all His Majesty's Colonies and
Plantations abroad, my Invention of "A NEW AND IMPROVED METHOD OF
CULTIVATING LAND, AND OF FEEDING AND CONSUMING THE PRODUCE THEREOF BY
CATTLE AND SHEEP, AND OF PRESERVING AND APPLYING THE MANURE OF AND
MADE BY SUCH CATTLE AND SHEEP, BY MEANS OF CERTAIN HOUSES MADE AND
BUILT FOR THE PROTECTION OF CATTLE AND SHEEP FROM WEATHER, AND FEEDING
THE SAME THEREIN, AND MOVEABLE BY MEANS OF WHEELS, SLIDES, IRON RAILWAYS,
OR OTHERWISE;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso

page_text: obliging me, the said George Adams, by an instrument in writing under my
hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause
the same to be enrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within
two calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said recited
Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will
more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
George Adams, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, is described and ascertained
in the following explanation thereof (that is to say):-
The improved method of cultivating land, and of feeding and consuming the
produce thereof by cattle and sheep, and of preserving the manure of and
made by such cattle and sheep, is effected by the moveable houses hereafter
mentioned and described. But, in order to give a more full and explicit
account of my Invention, so that it may be practised with the utmost benefit
to the community, I think fit, in this my Specification, to state the course of
agriculture and husbandry which should be adopted with reference to the use
of such moveable houses. Every experienced farmer will allow that a great
deal of keep is wasted by any kind of stock, and particularly by cattle and sheep,
in a wet season, especially in those counties where the land is naturally wet-
I am convinced that by the present mode of feeding stock a very great part of
the keep is unnecessarily lost. Every beast and sheep has six ways of destroy-
ing its keep; and it is well known that, to be kept in a fattening state, cattle
should have a sufficient quantity of food to satisfy their wants in a short time,
because they fatten quicker by lying much at rest. In some parts of the
kingdom, particularly near London, many persons adopt the economical plan
of mowing their grass and taking it to house. This method is a great saving
to the keep; for, as I have just observed, there are six ways by which beast
and sheep destroy their keep: (vizt.) by eating, walking, dunging, staling,
lying down, and breathing upon it. To prevent these and other incon-
veniences, I would recommend all feeding stock to be kept in moveable houses,
upon grass seeds, clover, cinquefoit, la lucerne, or any other luxuriant keep.
These should be mown and regularly given in sufficient quantities to the stock,
by which means not only a much greater quantity of keep will be produced
on the same land, but an opportunity will be offered of properly disposing of
the manure made by the stock in feeding. This is a very important considera-
tion. I have no doubt that, upon the usual plan of feeding stock, the greater
part of their manure is wasted, if not entirely lost. For in or near most

page_text: grazing lands there are brooks, rivers, or fords of water.
Now in the summer
time the cattle, after they have eaten enough, will get into the water, and
stand there the greater part of the day, consequently the urine and dung which
they void during that time will be entirely lost. And as it is well known that
nothing is more offensive to a beast than its own excrement, it is evident that
the keep is destroyed upon those parts of the pasture where the stock may
chance to leave their dung or urine. Again, in those lands where there is no
water, the flocks and herds will be seen under the shade of spreading trees or
hedges, to avoid being tormented by the flies, and thus their manure will be
deposited where it is least wanted, and unnecessarily wasted. There is still
another way by which the keep is often much injured, and that is, by the cows
running about when they are bulling, and treading it so much as to occasion
considerable waste; and besides the breaking of hedges by the bull, which
frequently happens where there is a feeding stock of cows. Accidents also
often befal the cows in a thriving state, causing them prematurely to slip their
calves, to the great loss of the proprietor. Now, upon my new plan all these
inconveniences are avoided, and to a certainty much more stock will be fed
than in the usual method. I have given a plan and dimensions for housing
both beast and sheep, which will be found the best method of saving the
manure, and enabling the farmer to spread it upon the land that most needs it.
How often is it seen in the spring that a good piece of grass is so wet that the
stock cannot be turned into it without considerable loss, and at the same time
starving for want of proper keep. Now a single trial is sufficient to prove that
the produce of one acre of land given in the manner I have described will keep
a much greater quantity of stock than if the stock were turned into the pasture.
It must be clear, then, that the better the crop the greater is the waste in the
usual way of feeding cattle, and that it is in vain getting a good crop if a
farmer does not make the best use of it. The method I hére point out will be
of general utility, being suitable to every county and every climate. The grand
object is to shelter the stock from the inclemency of the seasons.
Let any
man notice how any kind of stock will endeavour to get shelter during a storm,
and to find a shade from the sultry heat, and he will be at once convinced
that it is congeniel to their nature to skreen themselves. from the extremes
both of heat and cold, and that swampy or wet lands, or keen, gravelly, or rye-
land soils are equally injurious to them. It will only be necessary to state
the proper method of cultivating a single acre of land, as the principle
will, of course, apply to any number of acres which a farmer may choose to till
upon my plan. By pursuing the following directions, a single acre of land will
probably produce a crop suflicient to feed in one year twenty-four beast, or two

page_text: hundred and forty sheep. Directions :-In September, or sooner, let your land
be well manured and properly ploughed, so as to raise a good deal of fine
mould; then plant one third of an acre of the land with large sort of early cabbage
plant, (vizt.) the late York or sugar-loaf; one third more in February or
March, with the same sort of cabbage plant; and the remaining third of the
acre in February or March, with the ox or drum-headed cabbage plant. If
the land be good, I would recommend that the plants should be set in rows,
three feet wide, and two feet between each plant, that is, three plants in every
square yard. Upon this plan an acre of ground will require about fourteen thou-
sand five hundred and twenty plants, reckoning five score to the hundred; but if
the land be poor, it will be advisable to set the plants thicker proportionably,
according to the grower's judgment of the quality of his land. By the begin-
ning of June the first crop of cabbages will be in perfection. Then put either
six beast or sixty sheep, in the manner here directed, according to the plan of
the moveable houses hereunto annexed, either for cattle or sheep. Let the
cabbages and leaves be carefully cut off, leaving the cabbage stalks cut across
at the top to grow again. The cabbages, upon good land, may be expected to
average fifteen pounds a-piece, which will be upon the acre two hundred and
seventeen thousand eight hundred pounds, or one hundred and eight tons
eighteen hundred weight, at five score to the hundred weight. Allow to each
beast or ten sheep thirteen cabbages and a quarter, and one pound and a
quarter over, or two hundred pound every day and night, which will be twelve
hundred pounds a day and night for six beasts, or sixty sheep; in eighty-four
days, or twelve weeks, these will be fat. Then put up six other beasts, or
sixty more sheep, which will fatten in the same time and manner, (viz⭑*.) at the
end of the half year. Eighty
Eighty cabbages will have been consumed daily,
amounting to fourteen thousand five hundred and twenty cabbages, just the
number planted upon the acre, which, taken at fifteen pounds a-piece, amounts
to one hundred and eight tons eighteen hundred weight, a fivescore to the
hundred weight, so that the feed of twelve beasts, or one hundred and twenty
sheep, stands as under :-
of June, spread the dung and urine carefully over the ground, leaving all the
cabbage stalks, which will soon sprout again; then, with a small caff or hoe,

page_text: kibble the ground regularly over so as to cover the manure, and sow turnip
seed amongst your cabbage stalks as you clear off the cabbages, and continue
to do so till you have gone all over the ground the first time. About the
First of November you will have another crop of keep as good as the first;"
and then, as you clear off all the cabbage sprouts and turnips, you must again
properly apply your manure all over the land as before, which is now either
to be ploughed or dug, and planted as at first. Thus you will have a regular
succession of good keep; and if the winter's produce bè what may be expected
from good management, the same acre of land will feed in one year twenty-
four beast, or two hundred and forty sheep. This, like all other crops, will
of course vary with the seasons; but, if the weight here mentioned be pro-'
duced, the number of cattle above stated will hardly get through it. In case
of a failure in the winter, a little hay or corn may be given to supply the
deficiency. The houses for the large cattle will be according to the plan and
more particular directions herein-after described. The precise size is not
material, but I would recommend the houses to be ten feet long and five feet
high, with a large trough or manger to hold both meat and water, which are to
be given occasionally at two folding doors, made for that purpose, to open in the
front. The bottom to be not very closely laid, in which some holes are to be
bored for the urine to run through from under the beast. A fall from the fore
to the hind part, of about three inches, is to be made by putting in the sloats
at the fore part near the top of the sills, and near the bottom at the hind part.
The houses are to run upon four cast-iron wheels, with iron axletrees. The
wheels should be eighteen inches high, and two inches wide in the strake, and
each house is to stand upon a cast-iron railway of about half an inch thick,.
two and an half inches wide, turning upon half an inch on each side, and six
feet long. By having two spare cast-iron railways, each about six feet long,
the houses may easily be removed from place to place by alternately laying.
down one railway and taking up another; but the mode of moving the
houses is not material, though that above stated is the most preferable method.
The sheep houses, when the land is wet and it is necessary to keep them on.
lands or ridges, should be made five feet by five feet in the clear, three feet
high in front, and two and a half high at the back part. They are to be.
covered with feather-edged boards, by which means there will be a sufficient
fall on the roof to shoot off the wet. Any common timber will do for the
sills, sloats, uprights, and wall plates; but the top and bottom should be good,
the latter being made convenient for carrying off the urine, that the sheep
may be dry. All the sides and cratch may be made with small round sticks;.
the cratch is to be inade in the door at front, and from the framework of the

page_text: doors some boards to outspeech as they go upwards; a light falling door is to
be made at the top for putting in the next. This machine, which will hold
four sheep, is also to run upon iron wheels and railways. But for lands that
are drier and commonly worked level, I would recommend the sheep houses
to be made fifteen feet long by five feet, the roof to fall with folding doors,
and to have a cratch, and in other respects the same as the other sort A
machine of this size will hold twelve sheep, and may easily be removed from
one place to another. I have given the the plans of another house, quite close
at the bottom, so as to fall six inches at the hind part, with a trough behind
to catch all the dung and urine, which are to be mixed and put upon the land
in a liquid state; this is best calculated for ewe sheep. Every person upon
trial will soon find the good effects of manure thus properly applied. The
precise size of the building is not material.
The following numbers and figures refer to and are explanatory of the
Plans, Plates, and Figures numbered No. 1, 2, 3, and 4, in the margin.
No. 1, the stall for a beast, ten feet long, five feet high, and six feet wide,
but the precise dimensions are not material. A, the top, covered with feather-
edged boards; B, the front end with two folding doors; C, the trough in
the inside six feet long, to hold either meat or water; D, the hind part, which
is best open; E, the bottom, which should be laid with strips two inches wide,
and one inch between, to admit all the wet running off. No. 2, the large cot
for twelve sheep, fifteen feet long, five feet high, but the precise size not
material. A, A, A, A, four doors which fall down upon the cratch to keep
the meat dry; B, B, B, B, the four cratches at the front of the cot, which are
all made to open and to outspeech from the bottom to the top about eighteen
inches, to admit of the feed being put in; C, C, C, C, four troughs at the
bottom, one at each cratch. The wheels in this direction are to draw from
one field to another, because gateways will not admit it the whole length; but
when fixed, with the sheep in, the wheels are to be reversed by putting two at
each end, and two to work in the middle; the bottom to be laid with strips
one inch wide, and one inch between, to admit of the wet running off, the
top to be covered with feather-edged boards. No. 3, a small cot for four
sheep, five feet high, five feet wide, but the precise dimensions not material.
A, the top, covered with feather-edge boards; B, the door, which opens upon
the top of the cratch; C, the cratch, which opens and outspeeches from the
bottom to the top about eighteen inches; D, a trough in the inside at the
front end; E, the bottom, which should be laid water-tight, and slope about
four inches from the fore to the binder part; F, a trough, at the hinder part,
to catch both urine and dung; G, the hinder part, which should be open.

page_text: Inrolled the Thirtieth day of July, in the year above written.