,V«^^i M'^ r^ .!^ ft*^ THE JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OF ENGLAND. VOLUME THE TENTH. PRACTICE WITH SCIENCE. LONDON: JOHN MUEEAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, 1849. v«>i -«E AMONG THErR MEMBERS. ^, ^^ ^^ ^^^ Principles of Agrindiure. Lontlon: Printed bv William Clowes and Sons, Stamford Street. CONTENTS OF VOL. X. ARTICLE PAGE I. — Farming- of Lancashire. By William James Garnett. Prize Report ......... 1 11. — On a Dress for Drainers. From the Marquis of Westminster. 51 III.— On the Giant Sainfoin. By Thomas Hine . . . ,54 IV. — Observations on the Natural History and Economy of various Insects affecting the Potato-cro})s, including Plant-lice, Plant- bugs, FrosT- flies, Caterpillars, Crane-flies, Wireworms, Mil- lipedes, Mites, Beetles, Flies, &c. By John Curtis, F.L.S., Corres])onding- Member of the Imperial and Royal Georgo- fili Society of Florence ; of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, &c. Paper XV 70 V. — On the Stoppage of Drains by a Stony Deposit. From Lord Portman 119 VI. — On the Farming of South Wales. By Clare Sewell Read. Prize Report 122 VII. — Description and Use of an Improved Agricultural Drainage Level, with the Process of Levelling, as required for Agri- cultural Purposes. By T. Cooke, Optician and Mathema- tical Instrument Maker, York . . . . . 165 VIII.— On Hemp. By Thomas Rowlandson. Prize Essay . . 172 IX.— On the Tussac Grass. To Mr. Matheson, M.P., from Mr. Scobie, in the Island of Lewis ..... 182 X. — On Labourers' Cottages. From his Grace the Duke of Bedford 185 XL — On the Composition and Money Value of the different Varie- ties of Guano. By J, Thomas Way, Consulting-Chemist U^ to the Royal Agricultural Society . . . . .196 Xn. — On the Construction of a Pair of Cottages for Agricultural Labourers. By Henry Goddard, Architect and Surveyor, ♦^ of Lincoln. First Prize Essay ..... 230 _< XIII.— On the Use of Ra])ecake as Food for Stock. By Ph. Pusey, M.P \ 247 ".n V CONTENTS OF VOL. X. ARTICLE PAGE XIV. — A Lfcturo on the Anatomy and Physiology of the Maternal Orjrans of Reproduction in Animals, with the Principles of Practice applicable to Cases of Difficult and Preter- natural Labour, more especially in the Cow and Ewe. By James Beart Simonds, Lecturer on Cattle Pathology in the Royal Veterinary College, London ; Honoi'ary Mem- ber of the Royal x\gricultural Society, &c. . . . 248 XV. — Agricultural Chemistry : Sheep-Feeding and Manure. Part I. By J. B. Lawes 276 XVI. — On increasing our Supplies of Animal Food. By John C. Morton. Prize Essay . . . . " . .341 XVII. — On Lodging and Boaniing Labourers, as practised on the Farm of Mr. Sotheron, M.P. By Thomas Dyke Acland 379 XVIII. — The Parasitic Fungi of the British Farm. A Lecture deli- vered in the Shire Hall of the City of Norwich, at the Annual Meeting of the Society, July 18, 1849. By the Rev. Edwin Sidney, A.M ' . 382 XIX. — Experiments on the Application of Guano and other Ma- nures, in the Duke of Somerset's Park at Stover, near Newton Abbot, Devon. By E. S. Bearne . . .399 XX. — On the Construction of Labourers' Cottages. By J. Young Macvicar. Second-Prize Essay ..... 400 XXI. — On the Breeds of Sheep best adapted to different Localities. By T. Rowlandson. Prize Essay . . . .421 XXII. — On the Management of Barley. By Hall W. Keary. Prize Essay ......... 453 XXIII.— On the Theory and Practice of Water-Meadows. By Ph. Pusey, M.P 462 XXIV. — On the Composition of Linseed Oil-Cake, Beans and Peas, &c. By J. Thomas Way, Consulting-Chemist to the Society ......... 479 XXV. — On the Advantage of Deep Drainage. From the Right Hon. C. Arbuthnot 496 XXVI. — On Suiting the Depth of Drainage to the Circumstances of the Soil. By J. H. Charnock, an Assistant-Commissioner under the Drainage Acts ...... 607 XXVII, — On the Causes of the general Presence of Phosphates in the Strata of the Earth, and in all fertile soils ; with Observa- tions on Pseudo-Coprolites, and on the possibility of con- verting the Contents of Sewers and Cesspools into Manure. By W. Buckland, D.D., Dean of Westminster . . 620 XXVIII. — Report on the Exhibition and Trial of Implements at the Norwich Meeting, 1849. By II. S. Thompson . . 526 XXIX. — A Lecture on the Anatomy, Physiology, and Pathology of the Organs of Respiration and Circulation ; with especial reference to the nature and treatment of Pleuro-pneumonia in the Ox. By James Beart Simonds, Lecturer on Cattle Pathology in the Royal Veterinary College, Honorary Member of the Royal Agricultural Society and its Vete- rinary Inspector, Corresponding Member of the Societe Nationale et Ccntrale de Medecine Veterinaire, &c. . 570 CO^'TEMTS OF VOL. X. PAGE By J. Th XXX. — Miscellaneous Results from the Laboratory. Way, Consulting-Chemist to the Society .' . .610 XXXI. — On the Blocking-up of Drains by the Roots of Mangold. By Mr. Moore 622 APPENDIX. Council and Officers of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, 1848-1849 Report of the Council to the General Meeting, May 22, 1849 Report of the Chemical Committee, 5 June, 1849 . Statement of Half-yearly Account ending December 31, 1848 Essays and Reports — Awards for 1849 . ■ Prizes for 1850 Rules of Competition for Prize Essays . Dates of General Meetings of 1849-50 . Annual Subscriptions Election, &c., of Members . General Meetings in 1850 . Annual Subscriptions .... Prize Lists for Essays and Reports, 1850 the Exeter Meeting Consulting-Chemist — Charges for Analyses 1 iii viii ix X xi xiv XV XV xvi xvii xvii xvii xvii xviii PLATES. Mr. Curtis's Plates, U and V, of Insects in Potato Crop, to face pages 116, 117 Professor Simonds's Plate of the Foetus in Utero . to face page 257 DIRECTIONS TO BINDER. The Binder is desired to place all the Appendix matter, with Roman numeral folios, at the end of the Journal, excepting Titles and Contents, which are in all cases to be placed at the beginning of the Part or Volume. THE JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OF ENGLAND. VOLUME THE TENTH. PART L PRACTICE WITH SCIENCE. No. XXIII.— JULY, 1849. LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. These experiments, it is true, aee not easy ; still thet ake in the power of every thinking husbandman. he who accomplishes but one, of however limited application, and takes care to rei'ort it faithfully, advances the science, and, consequently, the practice of agriculture, and acquires thereby a right to the gratitude of his fellows, and of those who come after. to make many such is beyond the power of most individuals, and cannot be expected. the first care of all societies formed for the improvement of our science should be to prepare the forms of such experiments, and to distribute the execution ofthese among their members. Von Thaeb, Principles 0/ Agriculture. London : —Printed bv William Clowes and SoK«, Stamford Street. CONTENTS OF PART L, VOL. X. fiOTANiC ARTICLE p^GE I.— Farming of Lancashire. By William James Garnett. Prize Report ••.......! II.— On a Dress for Drainers. From the Marquis of Westminster . 51 III- — On the Giant Sainfoin. By Thomas Hine . , . .54 IV.— Observations on the Natural History and Economy of various Insects affecting the Potato-crops, including Plant-lice, Plant- bugs, Frog-flies, Caterpillars, Crane-flies, Wire worms, Mil- lipedes, Mites, Beetles, Flies, &c. By John Curtis, F.L.S., Corresponding Member of the Imperial and Royal Georgo- fili Society of Florence ; of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, &c. Paper XV 70 v. — On the Stoppage of Drains by a Stony Deposit. From Lord Portman . . . . . , . , .119 VI.— On the Farming of South Wales. By Clare Sevvell Read. Prize Report 122 VII. — Description and Use of an Improved Agricultural Drainage Level, vi'ith the Process of Levelling, as required for Agri- cultural Purposes. By T. Cooke, Optician and Mathema- tical Instrument Maker, York ..... 165 VIII. — On Hemp. By Thomas Rowlandson. .... 172 IX.— On the Tussac Grass. To Mr. Matheson, M.P.. from Mr. Scobie, in the Island of Lewis . . . ' . .182 X. — On Labourers' Cottages. From his Grace the Duke of Bedford 185 XI.— On the Composition and Money Value of the different Varie- ties of Guano. By J. Thomas Way, Consulting Chemist to the Royal Agricultural Society . . . . .196 XII. — On the Construction of a Pair of Cottages for Agricultural Labourers. By Henry Goddard, Architect and Surveyor, of Lincoln. First Prize Essay ..... 230 XIII.— On the Use of Rapecake as Food for Stock. By Ph. Pusey, M.P. : . . 247 IV CONTENTS. ABTICLE ' XIV.— A Lecture on the Anatomy and Physiology of the Maternal Organs of Reproduction in Animals, with the Principles of Practice applicable to Cases of Difficult and Preter- natural Labour, more especially in the Cow and Ewe. By James Beart Simonds, Lecturer on Cattle Pathology in the Royal Veterinary College, London ; Honorary Mem- ber of the Royal Agricultural Society, &c. . XV. — Agricultural Chemistry: Sheep-Feeding and Manure. Part I. By J. B. Lawes 248 276 APPENDIX. Council and Officers of the Royal Agricultural Society of England 1848-1849 Report of the Council to the General Meeting, May 22, 1849 Report of the Chemical Committee, 5 June, 1849 . Statement of Half-yearly Account ending December 31, 1848 Essays and Reports — Awards for 1849 Prizes for 1850 Rules of Competition for Prize Essays Dates of General Meetings of 1849-50 Annual Subscriptions Election, &c., of Members . I ill viii ix X xi xiv XV XV xvi PLATES. Mr. Curtis's Plates, U and V, of Insects in Potato Crop, to face pages 116, 117 Professor Simonds's Plate of the Foetus in Utero . to face page 257 DIRECTIONS TO BINDER. The Binder is desired to place all the Appendix matter, with Roman numeral folios, at the end of the Journal, excepting Titles and Contents, which are in all cases to be placed at the heginning of the Part or Volume. J U R N A L OF THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OF ENGLAND. L — Farming of Lancashire. Bj William James Garnktt. Prize Report. The county of Lancaster is a very important and a very influential one; but most assuredly its importance and influence do not arise from the excellence of its farming;: whatever may be our character for skill in manufactures or success in commerce, we are sadly behind the rest of the world in agricultural attainments, and any traveller along the North- Western Railway, from the time of his entering, by crossing the Mersey near Warrington, to the time of his quitting Lancashire for Westmoreland, must, I fear, leave it with the impression that he has been passing through an ill-drained, badly cultivated, and neglected district. The northern part is decidedly better than the southern, but he would judge of it as a v>^hole : and if, in the rapidity of his flight, his eye should per- chance have rested for a moment on a good field of turnips or a clean stubble, a straight fence or a neatly-cut hedge, the oasis in the desert is so small, and the vision so fleeting, that it would have little effect in altering — or even, from the contrast with its neighbours, might rather tend to confirm — his opinion that the standard of farming in Lancashire is far below that of more southern counties he may have traversed in his journey. Now, however simple and easy a matter it may be to observe the fact, it is by no means easy at first sight to assign the reasons for this state of things. If he consider the great wealth and intelligence which undoubtedly are found amongst a large portion of the inhabitants of Lancashire, he might reasonably expect something better in the way of farming ; and before I proceed to enter into the subject-matter of this report, I would venture briefly to advert to a few of the causes which may excuse, in some measure, the defects and short-comings of my native county. And first, let us look at the map of Lancashire. I propose ta VOL. X. S 2 Farmwc/ of Lancashire. divide it into three parts; the Southern. Middle, and Northern Divisions, of which the three principal rivers of the county, the Mersey, the Ribble, and the Lune shall be the boundaries. The Mersey forms the natural boundary to the south, between Lan- cashire and Cheshire : the land lying- lietween this river and the Ribble, which runs by Preston, I would call tJie Southern Division, or No. 1. The tract of country from the Ribble to the Lune, I would call the Middle Division, or No. 2, which includes the whole of that peculiar and interestino;' district known as the Fylde ; and from the river Lune, which flows by Lancaster, to the northern boundary, which separates Lancashire from Westmore- land and Cumberland, I would call tJie Northern Division, or No. 3. Each of these great divisions is essentially different from the others in important points, such as the character of the soil, the climate, and the people, and I therefore would make this new division, rather than adopt either the ancient boundaries of the Hundreds or the Parliamentary Divisions, inasmuch as neither of the latter are marked by any great natural features, nor are they suggestive of any striking diversity in the soil or the inhabitants, and would not convey to the general reader any distinct idea of the districts as they are successively brought under his considera- tion ; whereas, if we take the three great rivers and divide the county by these nearly parallel lines, a moment's glance at the map will show to any one the part then treated of. The difference between the Southern Division, and the two others to the north of it, in its geology, in the nature of its soil, and the character and habits of the people, is most striking, and ex- ercises a very important influence on the farming of the whole county. Its wealth, position, and extent deserve the first place in considering the causes of the past and present state of farming in Lancashire. In the Southern Division lie the great coal-fields ; these have led to the extraordinary development of the cotton manufacture and all its consequences, and have created a market for labour and skill far beyond anything the farmer could offer, and the con- sequence has been that all who were anxious to "get on" in the world, to make their fortunes rapidly, to gain large profits and quick returns on small investments, or who, tempted by high wages and the prospect of regular work, were not content to plod away their lives at the plough's tail, have been drawn into the great vortex of trade, and now people the large towns of Liver- pool, Manchester, Bolton, &c. ; and whether it be from the constant and active intercourse between man and man, or the greater exercise of skill and ingenuity, and the high premiums offered for clever artisans in the towns, or from whatever cause it be, I fear it must be admitted that the inhabitants of the towns O IT IT IL IT IT K OF IllE GEOLOGY A. Clay Slate. B. Mountain Limestone. ARRAKGEfeUHT GF THE STRATA. C Old Eeii Sandstone. D. B'lillstone Grit. K. Ted SoDdstone. F. Coal. I (<", 51:igr.est,in Limestone. i U. Alluvial Grounds. BEFEREfKES TO K U T.^ B E R S OK THE MAP. 1. Ambleside. 11. Quernmoor Taik. 21. Preston. 31. Ruflord. 41. New- on. 12. Lancaster. 22. Longridge. 3. Coniston. 13. ScotfortU. 2B. Clitheroe. S3. OriTiskirk. 43. Preset. 4. Broughton. 5. Ulverstoti. 14. Glasson £4. Whalley. 31. Wigan. 44. Liven) ol. 15. Galgate. a.-). Colne. 33. Bolton. 45. Warnngton. 6. Cartmell. 16. Garstan?. ';6. Burnley. 30. Cury. 46. Burton. 7. Kirkby Lonsdale. 8. County Stone. 9. Hornby. Ul. Catoii. 17. Fleetwood. 18. Poidton. 19. Lytham. 27. Accrington. 28. Blackburn. 29. Hogbton. 37. Haslingden. 38. Rochd.ile. 33. Middleton. 48. Todmorden. 49. Raven Castle 20. KuUliam. ao. Chorley. 40. Mancliestor. . • > Farming of Lancashire. 5 greatly exceed in acuteness and intelligence their fellows in the country districts: thus the capital, skill, and enterprise of the county being attracted to the towns, the rural districts have been comparatively deserted and left to those happy men who, content to live and die as their fathers had done before them, did not aspire to anything beyond, even in their own business of farming. The climate of Lancashire is another counteracting cause ; it varies according to the different districts : in the hilly regions to the north and east, it is of course cold and piercing, but in the lower parts, shelving to the south and west, it is generally mild and genial ; but throughout the whole of it the fall of rain is far greater than in the south of England. Mr. White, Secretary to the Liverpool and Manchester Agricultural Society, in his evi- dence last year before the Committee of the House of Commons on Tenant Right, speaking of South Lancashire and the neigh- bourhood of Warrington, says, " We have 36 inches of rain falling in the twelve months;" but in the more hilly parts of the county to the north, my own observations, taken from one of Crosley's patent rain-gauges, would place it higher than that. 'Jhe average quantity* per annum in London, and the counties abutting on Middlesex, is about 20 or 2 1 inches, whereas in Lancashire I should say it was more than 40 inches, just double ; and though the air is for the most part naturally pure and salubrious, yet this great humidity is a serious obstacle with which the farmer has to contend; and unless his land be thoroughly drained, is an effectual barrier to success either in growing or harvesting his crops. The soil again is not naturally good, that is to say, in its undrained state ; it varies of course considerably, and large peat- mosses or bogs, such as Chat-moss in the southern, and Pilling, with others adjoining, in the Middle Division, are found through- out. Of these dreary wastes 1 shall speak more fully in their proper place ; but naturally they are perfectly sterile, and require a large outlay to make them produce anything, except, perhaps, fuel, of which great quantities are consumed by the neighbouring farmers and cottiers. With these exceptions, throughout the whole Southern Division, the soil partakes more or less of a clayey loam, very productive, if well drained, but without this necessary preliminary, cold and difficult to work ; and that it is not in its natural state favourable to vegetation is clearly evidenced by the miserable fences, together with the stunted and weather-beaten trees, which give a starved and bleak appearance, tend rather to show than hide " the nakedness of the land," and scarcely deserve the name of hedge-row timber. In the Middle and Northern Divisions the soil is more friable, and throughout the Fylde par- takes more of the alluvial and peaty character ; still, without draining, it is comparatively unprofitable. 6 Fanniiif/ of Lancashire. In the mining districts the ground is in many parts completely honeycombed and burrowed like a rabbit-warren : the superin- cumbent weight of earth over these excavations will often sink, and the levels of the surface becoming quite changed, any drains that may have been laid there are at once destroyed, and the owner's trouble and capital altogether lost ; this is very dis- couraging to a farmer, and an evil unknown in a purely agricul- tural district. To these drawbacks, natural and artificial, may be added the consequence resulting from them, which is this : — That the men who have grown rich in those great marts of industry and com- merce, Liverpool and Manchester, and other manufacturing towns of the county, when they seek a permanent investment for their property in land, frequently leave the county in which they have made all their money, and, unwilling in the autumn of their years to engage in new and untried undertakings, are led to seek in more southern counties a more genial climate, a more fertile soil, a higher class of farmers and farming, and a more tempting investment than Lancashire can offer. I do not deny that there are some commendable exceptions to this rule, but for the most part it is unhappily true, as our rushes and bogs abundantly testify. I have thus attempted shortly to describe and account for the general aspect of the county, as it would appear to the eyes of a passing stranger, but though as a vvhole I believe the above description to be a true one, yet if we examine a little more closely, we shall find many cheering instances of progressive improvement, both in the case of large landed proprietors and the more humble occupiers of the lands of their fathers, which give good grounds to hope that there is a spirit at work which will soon change the face of the country and enable us to take our proper place amongst the farmers of England. The Earl of Derby, at Knowsley, Mr. Clifton, at Lytham, the late Mr. Ffar- ington, of Worden, whose untimely and premature end has left a blank at Leyland which can never in this generation be filled up, Mr. Wilson Ffrance, in the Fylde, and the Duke of Hamilton, at Ashton, and others, have each in their several districts set a good example of what may be done by perseverance and skill, com- bined with a liberal and judicious outlay of capital: they have now left us without excuse: let each man, then, in his own sphere, and according to his means and ability, be "up and doing" in the great and good work of improving the land, by employing the people, and we shall then soon cease to be famous as the worst farmed county between London and Edinburgh. The geographical situation of Lancashire is between 53° 20' and .54'' 2o' north latitude, and between 2*^ 0' and 3*^ 17' west Farming of Lancashire. 7 longitude; it is bounded on the north by Cumberland and West- moreland, on the east by Yorkshire, on the south by Cheshire and Derbyshire, and on the west by the Irish Sea. The extreme length is 74 miles, and its greatest breadth 44^ miles : its surface contains 1765 square miles, of which about 1125 are compre- hended in the Southern Division, and 650 in the two other divisions. The area of the county comprises, according to the Ordnance Survey, 1,117,260 acres of land, of which about 350,000 are in tillage, 450,000 in pasture, and the remainder in woodlands, moors, and mosses. The population in 1821 amounted to 1,052,200, and according to the last Census in 1841 it had increased to 1,667,054, of which it may fairly be said that three -fourths are engaged in commerce and manufactures, or dependent upon them for their employment and support; this allows 416,763 for the cultivation of the land. The great geological features of the county consist in a chain of hills which separate Lancashire from Yorkshire on the east, and which run northwards from Ashton-under-Lyne, near Manchester, to Hornby. This tract of mountainous moorland is chiefly com- posed of millstone-grit and hard freestone formations, the soil for the most part being thin and poor, and in the lower parts a strong clay. Amongst the highest hills of the range are Blackstone Edge, Pendle Hill, which is 1805 feet above the level of the sea, and the Fells of Bleasdale and VVyresdale. The district north of the river Lune from Lancaster has the metalliferous limestone for its immediate substratum ; and as we approach the northern mountains of the county, which form the barrier between it and Westmoreland and Cumberland, the transition limestone and slate prevail. These hills, from their pictuvesque beauty and height, form some of the most magnificent features of the lake scenery in this part of England; Coniston Fell, the highest point of which is well known by visitors to the lakes as the " Old Man," being 2580 feet above the level of the sea. The soil on this northern range is better than on the eastern chain, and the natural drainage more rapid and complete than on the grit formations. On the western and southern sides of the county is found the new red- sandstone, which forms an irregular band of some miles in breadth, extending along the vale of the Mersey, east of Manchester, to Liverpool, and thence along the western side by Ormskirk and Preston to Lancaster, and in this stratum is found the red marl, which is so valuable as a manure in reclaiming dry, sandy, and peaty soils; to the westward of this line lie the alluvial districts, and the coal-beds occupy the whole space between the red -sand- stone and the eastern boundary of the county south of the Ribble. Westward from the eastern chain of hills flow the three great 8 Far)ni>i(j of Lancashire. rivers of the county, which with their numerous tributaries empty themselves into the Irish Sea. In the lowlands and valleys watered by these streams are found many parts favourable to a high state of farming, and we will now proceed to consider in order the three great divisions formed by these rivers with reference to the subject of this report, commencing with The Southern Division. — (No. 1.) The soil throughout the whole tract of country between the Mersey and the Ribble, and between the sea-coast and the first rising of the high hills to the east, is in general of a stiffish loamy liind, always excepting Chat-moss and its kindred wastes. Towards the sea-coast, to the west of the old high road from Liverpool to Preston by Ormskirk, there is a district of great fertility, being for the most part of a sandy vegetable loam of considerable depth; and Mr. White, to w^hose evidence we have already referred in speaking of the general character of the South Lan- cashire land, says, "About two-thirds of it is strong clayey loam, upon a subsoil of clay ; the clay requires under-draining before it can be properly cultivated." Throughout the whole of the lower districts of this Division all sorts of grain are occasionally grown, but oats and wheat are the most prevalent, yet barley is frequently met with near the coast; potatoes are cultivated largely in the neighbourhood of Ormskirk and Warrington, whence great quantities are taken to supj)ly the Liverpool and Manchester markets ; and it is a fact in husbandry worthy of remark, that the first potatoes raised in England were grown in this county. Turnips and the artificial green crops have been introduced within the last few^ years, and continue to be grown with increas- ing success ; but as yet a regular and scientific system of cropping is rarely met with. Around the large towns the grass-land is mostly preserved undisturbed, and the produce in milk and butter daily conveyed to supply their never-failing wants. The only limestone found in this Division lies in the extreme north-eastern corner, in the neighbourhood of Clitheroe : it is, in fact, the western side of the Craven bed, which here runs into Lancashire from Yorkshire, and will become most valuable to the whole of the Southern Division on the opening of the Black- burn. Clitheroe, and North- Western Railway, now in course of construction. On the eastern and hilly side of this Division there is not much to interest a farmer : in the neighbourhood of Clitheroe and Whalley there is some excellent land, and the advantages of the limestone on which this district rests are sufficiently apparent both in the aspect of the country and the general produce of the Farming of Lancashire. 9 farms : but from Whalley to Manchester, through Accrington, Haslingden, and Bury, and still farther to the east by Colne and Burnley, the land is mostly kept in pasture. This is altogether a coal district, and consequently a thickly peopled one ; the farmers find a ready sale for their milk in the towns and villages, and hence there is little stimulus to exertion. Draining is more or less required throughout the whole ; the soil is a cold tenacious clay, and the country has a bare and dreary appearance : the land, being divided into small properties and holdings, lets high ; 2/., 3Z., and 4Z, per acre being a common rent. A population such as the whole of this is, employed in hand-loom weaving and mills, is not likely to advance much in agriculture ; still there are in- stances of improvement by the owners of the soil. Sir Robert Peel has drained almost all his land, to the amount of 1000 acres, in the neighbourhood of Accrington, under the direction of Mr. Josiah Parkes, at a depth of 4 feet, and at various intervals, with IJ-inch pipe, tiles, and collars, which are made at an old- established pottery at Oswaldtwistle, close to his property ; other tileries are about to be erected in this (hstrict, which will tend to improve the quality and lower the price of this necessary article. On leaving the hilly districts and descending into the low country to the westward, the first important feature in an agricul- tural point of view is the cultivation of Chat-moss; this is a large bog or morass, situate about 7 miles to the westward of Man- chester ; it is 5 miles long from east to west, and about 3 miles broad from north to south, covering an area of about 6000 acres. The Liverpool and Manchester Railway passes through, or rather over it, from east to west. Much variety of opinion pre- vails as to the origin of these mosses ; some carry their formation as far back as the general deluge, but the more probable theory is that they have been caused by the natural decay of primeval forests in the valleys or hollows, from which the water had no escape ; a few trees blown down or felled would readily choke up the outlet of a small stream with little or no fall, and when decay had once begun its ravages in a forest so situated, it would pro- ceed with an ever accelerated rapidity until the whole was reduced to a mass of decayed or decaying vegetable matter. The surface of Chat-moss is a sort of long, coarse, sedgy grass and heath, tough enough to enable a man to walk upon it in most parts ; but it was given in evidence by Mr. Giles before the Committee of the House of Commons, preparatory to the making of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, that a boring- rod, when forced through the surface vegetation about the centre of the moss, would sink with its own weight to the depth of 34 feet. At that depth there was a vein of 4 or 6 inches of clay ; below that 2 or 3 feet of quicksand ; and at the bottom of all. hard 10 Favmimj of Lancashire. clay which kept the water up. The same engineer ofave it as his opinion that a railway could not with safety be made over Chat- moss without goino^ to the bottom of it; but the late Mr. George Stephenson, with his usual engineering skill, preserved the surface untouched ; and, by laying some brushwood and hurdles upon it to make a foundation, and opening side-drains, carried the rail- way in safety over the top of this mass of bog, which varies in its depth from 10 to 37 feet. The railway, in fact, Jioats upon the moss. Few men would ever have dreamt of cultivating such a waste as Chat-moss; but Mr. Roscoe, of Liverpool, first commenced this great work by trying to drain 2000 acres ; after a series of laborious and costly experiments, the chief fault of which was his desire to do too much, and to lay the open drains too deep and too far apart, he was compelled to give up the undertaking ; and it was reserved for Mr. Reed, assisted with the capital of a com- pany of gentlemen formed for the purpose, to accomplish the desired object. This gentleman, in a very valuable Essay, which gained the premium at the Liverpool Agricultural Society's Meeting, Sep- tember, 1833, and was subsequently published by that Society, has detailed the method he adopted to reclaim the moss, and to this day the abundant produce of the soil bears testimony to his com- plete triumph over its natural sterility. The drainage was the first step to improvement; this was effected by cutting open parallel ditches 66 yards apart, 4 feet wide at the top, and sloping down to about 14 inches at the bottom, and 3 feet 6 inches deep : in a wet floating mass like this moss it was not possible to sink the ditch to the whole depth at once, and the first two spits being taken out it was then left for time to consolidate the surface; the covered cross-drains, 10 yards apart, laid 3 feet deep, and running into the open ditches, were commenced, but in forming these, as well as the open drains, it was necessary to allow some time to elapse between the different operations, that the water might to some extent run off; the hol- low drain was made by the top sod, dried by exposure to the air, being wedged into the open cut, and the peat thrown in again upon that to fill up. When the surface was partially dried, the heath and other plants growing upon it were set on fire and burnt off as closely as possible ; and by ploughing and cross-ploughing, and cutting up the sods with a roller armed with knives, the ingenious con- trivance of Mr. Reed, he was enabled to destroy the tough and elastic character of the surface : after this process marl, which was found at the southern edge of the moss, was, by means of a moveable railway, laid on the top, to the amount of 100 cubic Farming of Lancashire. \ \ yards to the statute acre ; the averao^e distance which the marl had to be removed being about two-thirds of a mile. Whilst these operations were in progress, I went over the moss with Mr. Reed, and remember that both men and horses were obliged to work with pattens, or flat pieces of wood, attached to the feet. By means of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, then in full operation, Mr. Reed was enabled to bring from the latter town any quantity of manure ; and he found that a mixture of night-soil and ashes was preferable to anything else. By growing a crop of potatoes in the first instance, the different particles of moss-earth and manure became so thoroughly blended together that the soil formed would produce anything, and wheat, clover, and oats followed each other in successful rotation. Since Mr. Reed left, some years ago, the management has been intrusted to Mr. Evans, now of the Haigh Foundry, Wigan, and it has been discovered by experience that it is not advisable to grow wheat or clover on such land : turnips, oats, and potatoes are considered the best crops ; and instead of marl, which is both bulky and heavy to move, it is now ascertained that salt mixed with lime is the most effective instrument in destroying the mossy nature of the surface, and preparing it for a first crop of potatoes ; these grow exceedingly well on moss-lands unmarled, but if marled, their failure is as general as on other soils. In Professor John- ston's recent work ' On the Use of Lime in Agriculture/ it is stated, chap, xi,, section v., that " The use of lime and salt has been frequently recommended by Mr. Cuthbert Johnson and others ; and its virtues, in the proportion of one of salt to two or three of lime, have more lately been experimentally tested and recommended by Mr. Huxtable. It seems to be particularly adapted to deep soils, as they are called ; to such as are covered with moss, and to reclaimed and drained peat-bogs." There is still much of this moss in its natural state ; but it is to be hoped that, lying as it does in the heart of a populous district, and traversed by a railway connecting together the two most important towns in the kingdom, it will not long continue so ; and that, with the example of what may be done, Chat-moss will in a few years become a cultivated plain, administering to the wants of an ever increasing population. To the north-east of Chat-moss, and on the high land over- looking the whole of the lower part of Lancashire and Cheshire, is Worsley, the property of the Earl of Ellesmere ; within the last two years his Lordship has established a tilery, and drained a large portion of the Old Hall Farm with 2-inch pipes and collars, at 4 feet deep, and 10 yards apart. They seem to run well, but the land is stiff and heavy to work ; it produces good crops of wheat, oats, and beans: last year the turnips did not 12 Farming of Lancashire. succeed, their failure being- attributed chiefly to the constant rain in the summer of 1848 ; but they have been grown 25 tons to the statute acre, whilst the wheat sown by drill averages about 4 quarters, and beans 40 bushels. The milch cows, in number 25, together with the young stock, is decidedly above the average, and the milk is immediately disposed of in supplying the neigh- bouring villages of the district. Near Newton, half-way between Liverpool and Manchester, on the London and North-Western Railway, there is a farm which deserves a passing notice, the property of Mr. Bankes, of W'instanley Hall; it lies immediately to the eastward of the Newton Station, and on both sides of the railway, and is now in the occupation of Mr. Wilson. This gentleman was one of the first to set the example of draining in this part of the country, when living some years ago on a farm of Mr. Greenall's in Winwick. His present farm contains 250 statute acres, with a good house upon it ; but the farm-buildings are old, and quite inadequate to the wants of the present day. When he came to it, about two years ago, he found the land in a wretched state ; his first object was to get it all drained, and this he has nearly accomplished with horseshoe tiles and soles, which he obtains from a tilery close to Newton. The soil being a strong heavy loam, he has cut the drains 3 feet deep and 5 yards apart, but made no air-drain, and, with the help of some Irish workmen, he was enabled to do this at the cost of Ad. a rood of 8 yards, the tiles being laid by the day at 135. per week; he has grubbed up the old irregular fences, and filled up the ditches, so as to divide the farm, where practicable, into fields of about 25 acres each, or more. His plan is to plough up the old rushy sward for oats; 2ndly, turnips, with farm-yard manure and guano; 3rdly, wheat or barley, with seeds to remain as pasture for two, three, or more years, according to the price of corn or other circumstances. The land being foul for the turnips, he cleaned them by hand-labour for five or six weeks, and succeeded in getting a crop of swedes, about 30 tons to the acre ; in preparing the land for the turnips, he found the Norwegian harrow a most useful implement : he ploughs with a common iron plough and two horses, and sows for wheat 2 bushels to the statute acre. But he unfortunately lives under the shadow of a large chimney, more than 300 feet high, which is continually vomiting forth its pesti- lential breath from some extensive chemical-works in the neigh- bourhood, to the certain damage of all vegetable life within its range, and that this is not confined to a small extent may be judged from the withering effects visible upon the trees for miles round. The nuisance occasioned by these works has been so grievous and intolerable to the whole neighbourhood, that the farmers, Farming of Lancashire. 13 with Mr. Wilson at their head, have taken the matter up, and are endeavouring to form a Society for the protection of their interests, and the removal of such works, which certainly are most objectionable in the midst of an agricultural district. It is to be hoped that by the united efforts of both the landowners and occupiers this evil will soon be entirely suppressed. Proceeding westward, towards Liverpool, we come into the neighbourhood of Knowsley ; the soil here becomes lighter, and, resting upon a substratum of new red-sandstone, is more forward and more easily worked than the cold clays of East Lancashire. One of the most interesting farms on the Earl of Derby's pro- perty in this part of the country is Halewood, comprising 300 statute acres, and now occupied by Mr. Robert Neilson : this gentleman, since he took the farm about 10 years ago, has spared no pains or expense to render it one of the most complete and perfect establishments in the country, nor is it merely as gratifi- cation of a personal feeling, or the indulgence of a temporary fancy, that the system which he has adopted is to be viewed ; he has been trying to work out, as a matter of business and practical inquiry, an experiment in which all the landowners and farmers of Lancashire are more or less interested. Expensive imple- ments have been purchased by him, and used on the farm; a fixed steam-engine of 6-horse power is constantly at work in the different operations of cutting hay and straw, crushing oats, cutting turnips, sawing wood, and steaming all kinds of proven- der for horses, cows, and pigs. A small railway or tramroad has been laid down in the yards for the purpose of carrying the food to the animals and conveying away the manure to the dungheap, whilst a considerable length of light moveable railway, an invention of Mr. Neilson's, is used in bringing the produce of the fields to the farm-yard — in wet weather and on level ground^ a most valuable expedient. If Mr. Neilson has done this as a farmer, it is to be hoped that the farming community may some day or other be put in possession of the results, or at least may be informed whether the balance is on the debit or credit side of the account. All the farm is drained with horseshoe tiles and slate soles, the latter being the refuse of the Welsh quarries. I was informed by the farm bailiff, who kindly took me over the farm in the absence of Mr. Neilson, that pipes had been tried ; but they do not answer in that neighbourhood, inasmuch as the crevices become choked up with a kind of weed or the roots of plants — consequently their use has been abandoned. The drains are laid at a depth of 2 ft. 6 in. or 3 ft. 6 in., and the mains, where there is fall, 4 ft., the space between the former being 7 or 9 yards. Wheat, oats, barley, beans, vetches, and turnips are all grown upon the farm ; but potatoes have been given up. The course is as fol- 14 Farming of Lancashire. lows^ with certain modifications according to particular circum- stances : — Wheat, by a broadcast machine on ribbed furrows, 6 to 8 pecks per acre. ,, if drilled, 2 ft. 6 in. apart, 4 to 5 pecks per acre. Vetches, till June, and then transplanted with turnips. Turnips and mangolds in drills 32 inches wide. Beans, drilled. Wheat or Barley. Seeds for one year. I was informed on the spot that one field of wheat, manured from the farm-yard, and sown by a broadcast machine on ribbed furrows, with a dressing of guano in the spring, produced last year 48 bushels to the statute acre, whereas that sown in drills 2 ft. 6 in. apart yielded from 32 to 36 bushels ; I do not know whether or not this latter had any guano. A twenty-seven acre field of turnips also last year, after wheat, with farm-yard manure ploughed in with the stubble at the rate of 50 tons the acre, and afterwards IJ cwt. of bones dissolved in sulphuric acid per acre, produced 40 tons of turnips to the acre; this was the first trial of bones with sulphuric acid, and the result most satisfactory. Both the drilled wheat and beans are sown by the same implement, which consists of a single box or co- vered barrow, fixed by an iron rod to the handle of a double mould-plough, at such a distance that the seed falls 1 ft. 3 in. from the furrow formed by the plough, which is drawn by two horses ; one man of course holds the plough, and another the handles of the box, which runs on a wheel, and has a small spout through which the seed drops ; the two men walk side by side, the box being kept in its place by the iron rod which fixes it to the plough, and this latter covers the seed, not of course as it is dropped, but in returning down the next furrow. I saw this simple machine, which is Mr. Neilson's own contrivance, at work sowing beans, and calculated that the two men and two horses would sow about 5 acres in a day. Mr. Neilson has standing room for 100 head of cattle, of which from 30 to 40 are milch cows, the milk being sent to Liverpool, about 6 miles distant ; he employs a large number of men and women in gangs of from 60 to 100, in hoeing, cleaning, and reaping, so as to get through the work rapidly, and 14 horses. The rotation of crops in use by the farmers of the neighbour- hood of Halewood, was potatoes, wheat, turnips, and oats, with seeds or not ; but the failure of the potatoes has obliged them to adopt in some cases beans as a substitute: they have no imple- ments of any importance. Throughout the whole of the Earl of Derby's estates in this part of the country, most of the farms have been held on life leases, and are in the hands of men who have no capital to lay Fanning of Lancashire. 15 out — and no knowledge or desire to improve. The evil conse- quences of this system are sufficiently apparent on the surface, and as any of the old leases drop, the farms are now generally re-let on terms of years, and for any outlay in draining by the landlord the tenant is charged 5 per cent. From Knowsley to Ormskirk the road passes through a tract of mosses, Rainford and others ; a great part of this has been reclaimed by his lord- ship, and is about to be formed into a farm of 500 acres around the site of the old Mossborough Castle ; the feudal remains have disappeared to make way for a new and substantial stone farm- house, which, with the buildings proposed to be erected, will soon form an establishment more suited to the habits and wants of the present day ; the plough-share and the pruning-hook have here literally taken the place of the sword and spear of ancient days. At Bickerstaffe Hall, Mr. Smythies, a gentleman from Here- fordshire, occupies a farm of 380 acres, w^hich he farms on a six- course shift — potatoes, wheat, turnips, barley, and seeds for two years ; the potatoes having for the most part proved a failing crop, he now proposes to begin with oats, then turnips, &c. : the old fences have been cleared away, and the fields made of proper form and size ; his buildings are large, but not arranged on the best plan, — the old barn being retained, and part of the farm- stead in its original form, they are not so perfect as an entirely new set would be. Most of the farm was drained before he came to it, at a depth of 2 ft. 6 in., and on his first proposing to deepen that to 3 ft. he met with little encouragement ; now, however, both here and elsewhere on the Derby estates the three-feet system is adopted. In walking over his young wheat and seeds with him, T ob- served that some four-footed friends from the adjoining covers had been rather busy at his expense ; — in fact, winter vetches, one of the most valuable crops to a farmer, cannot be grown here. Proceeding northwards, near Ormskirk, there is a farmer at Fairhurst, who, without a lease, merely a tenant from year to year, and occupying about 160 acres, spares no expense and pains in farming it on the best principles. The Earl of Derby, in ap- proval and return for his exertions, has lately erected for him some new buildings (he carting the materials), which are quite deserving of notice as simple in their arrangement and well adapted to the means and wants of the practical farmer: the steaming and boiling-house is not yet built, but this will shortly be done; and when completed, the whole will form a quadrangle, with a straw- yard for pigs in the centre, paved at the bottom, and about 23 yards square, enclosed by flags set upright and fastened together with iron bolts ; this excellent material for the purpose is got from 16 Farming of Lancashire. quarries in that part of the country. Between the siraw-yard and the buildings there is a space of 5 or 6 yards paved all round ; the shippon and stables are well ventilated at the top. When I visited this farm^ four horses were at work thrashing with a ma- chine, which the tenant has put up at his own expense. The soil throughout the whole of this district is loamy and tolerably easy to work ; still farther to the westward it becomes gradually lighter, till in the neighbourhood of Formby and Southport it is almost all sand. In many fields at Formby, near the shore, there is soil two feet below the sand, that lies beneath the greensward : it would seem that this soil, which is about four inches thick, was originally the surface, and has been buried at some former period by sand-drifts. Near Rufford we get into the mosses again ; which, however, have in a great measure been reclaimed : large fields, intersected with open dykes and watercourses, produce good crops of potatoes and oats, or are now to a large extent laid down in permanent pastures and meadows. The cart-horses throughout the whole of the w^estern side of this division still preserve the character they bore in Mr. Dick- son's time ; the farmers take a pride in theic teams, and as they were improving in his days they have continued to do so, till now it would be difficult to surpass them in any district of the kingdom. Throughout the greater part of this division the manufacturing population predominates very much over the agricultural, and hence the tendency to small farms and holdings. The farmers as a class are inferior in position and education to those of other parts of the kingdom. The habit of taking two white crops in succession still prevails very generally amongst them, and the practice of laying down the land in narrow butts, often after wheat, and in many instances allowing it to grass itself over, cannot be too strongly condemned. The evils of the bad system which has prevailed for the last 50 years or more, are so manifold, and the prejudices of the people so dee])-rooted, that it will take many years to eradicate them, and raise the agriculture of this part of the county to its proper position. Middle Division. (No. 2.) On crossing the Ribble to the north, and passing through Preston, we at once leave the manufacturing districts ; they belong to the Southern Division, for, excepting Preston with a population of 50,000 souls, and Lancaster with 15,000, there is no town of importance between the rivers Ribble and Lune. Preston is of course a manufacturing place, and, being situated on the extreme southern verge of the Middle Division, may fairly be allowed to Farming of Lancashire, 17 belong to the Southern ; and Lancaster, though it has produced a few tall chimneys, cannot find in them much to be proud of, they are evidently exotics, they do not thrive as in the south, nor in- crease in number ; coals are brought from a distance, and the old county town, with its ancient castle and quiet sombre-looking streets, cannot in the nineteenth century be classed amongst the busy and bustling scenes of manufacturing industry. We are therefore now in a purely agricultural district; the whole appearance of the country is changed : the trees, no longer blackened and begrimed with the smoke, wear their natural colour ; the air is pure and the sky clear ; and the ruddy looks of the inhabitants plainly testify that they do not live in mills, nor pass the best of their days in driving the shuttle. Tall and strong of limb, and intelligent in countenance, there certainly is no physical hindrance to their being as good farmers as any in England. The soil of this division, on the eastern parts and mountainous slopes of Longridge, Bleasdale, and Wyresdale Fells is thin, and of a black moorish nature ; the lower portions of the sides of the hills and the valleys formed by them are commonly somewhat of the nature of the holms, with brooks and rivulets running through them. At the foot of the hills and through the townships of Goosnargh, Barton, and Claughton, and for the most part along the line of the Preston and Lancaster Railway, the soil is of a stronger quality, in many parts amounting to a stiff clayey loam. The Fylde is that tract lying to the westward of the above-named railway, and bounded by the Ribble, the sea, and the Lune ; in this low-lying country almost every kind of soil is found, from a stiff clay to sand or bog, but the greater part is clayey loam and alluvium, intersected in many parts with large and deep mosses, such as Pilling, Rawcliffe, Nateby, &c. To understand the nature of the soils of ihis division, and the geological relations of Clougha (the northern ridge of Wyersdale), Bleasdale Moors, and Longridge with each other and with the Fylde, the annexed sketches, taken from Professor Phillips' ' E-eport on the Vicinity of Lancashire,' may be of service; all the hills are capped by lower millstone grit, resting on the limestone shale ; this section is made on a line drawn from north to south : — Clougha. Fig. 1. AiMtK Bleasdale Moors. "' '-'•■ Vale of Hodder. Longridge VOL. X. 18 Farming of Lancashire. This other section is made on a line drawn east and west : — BLEASDALE MOORS. The only limestone fit for agricultural purposes found through- out the whole of this division is in the neighbourhood of Chipping, a village seven or eight miles north-east of Preston, in the valley which separates Longridge Fell from Bleasdale Moors; it is ex- tensively used in these parts as a top-dressing to the grass-lands and sheep-pastures, and with good effect. The cost at the kiln is lie? a windle, and two windles are equal to 3 cwt. The inhabitants of the hills are a manly and independent, but rather uncultivated, race ; shrewd enough as far as their own immediate interest is concerned, but incapable of looking forward; unwilling to lay out sixpence this year in the chance of receiving a shilling next, and jealous to an extreme of any alteration or innovation on the customs of their fathers. Many families have lived on the same farms for generations ; and by frequent inter- marriages they have become connected together almost like one family, and, with a strong attachment to their native hills, care little to receive or visit strano^ers. Their farms are not large ; some of the most important amount to *250 or 300 statute acres of enclosed land, with a large right of sheep- pasture over the moors adjoining, and held for the most part on yearly tenancies. The stock on the farm is generally all the capital they possess, which consists of a herd of milch-cows and their calves of different ages, little or no care being given as to the breeding of them; a flock of black-faced sheep of very inferior quality, and a pig or two, with perhaps a couple of horses when the farm is large, make up the total of their property : they generally keep their land in grass, with a plentiful crop of rushes, which serve, as they say, " to keep it warm ;" or if they plough it up and take a crop of oats, which is the most they ever aspire to, they leave it to time and nature to grass it over again, and never think of putting any manure on ; this is all preserved for the meadows, which are really of importance, inasmuch as they pro- duce the hay which is to keep the stock through the winter. The hay-harvest is therefore the most critical time of the year, and Farming of L a ncaslt ? rd. per rood, and the lie?., being the third charge, includes the returning and fixing the wedge- sods, and filling up the drain, &c. The whole expense of draining a moss-field, rather more than 4 statute acres, will be as follows : — 1 side drain, 37i roods of 8 yards. 2 end drains, 16^ 54 roods , 28 covered drains at 2s., being 10 yards apart Is apart ire yards . £. s: d. . 2 8 11 . 2 16 . £5 4 11 do. about do. do. .£162 .£220 Per statute acre, 4,840 Per customary do. 7,840 The expenses of the main drains and the roads must be charged to the whole moss drained. For the above particulars, and any others connected with these mosses, I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. Wilson Ffrance, of Rawcliffe Hall. This gentleman had allotted to him, about 19 years ago, 736 statute acres of moss, which he immediately set to work to im- prove; it is now all under cultivation, producing beautiful crops of oats and potatoes, except 8 acres upon which the drainers are now employed. He has drained it all on the plan given above, made roads, &c., and after draining, marl, which is found under the moss, is laid on the top at the rate of 1 50 to 160 tons per c.ustomary acre, by means of a moveable railway as on Chat-moss. The marl is calculated by the fall, which is 64 cubic yards ; 1 and J fall to the customary acre. The cost of this is thus estimated : — 28 Farming of Lancashire. Fall of marl . . 64 cubic yards. 1 cubic yard weighs . 32 cwt. 128 192 1 fall = . . 2048 cwt. ^ „ = . . 1024 „ 1^ „ = . . 3072 ,, or 153 tons 12 cwt. to the acre. 1 waggon takes ... 23 cwt. 134 „ ... 3072 „ One horse will draw 35 waggons a day, generally taking 2 wag- gons at a time, in summer; the marlpit being a quarter of a mile from the moss-field. 35 waggons X 4 days = 140 waggons. 2 men in pit 4 days, at 2s. ^d. 2 men in iield, spreading, &c. 4 days at 2s. 6d. 1 boy driver ..... 1 horse ...... Oil and extras £. s. d. 1 1 4 12 4 3 1 fall and ^, or 96 cubic yards of marl, at 7d. per yard 2 16 which is about the price; for it does not take quite 4 days, nor 140 waggons ; and therefore the cost of draining and marling, with about 153 tons of marl, one customary acre of 7 J yards to the perch, is 41. ISs., being about 3Z. per statute acre. To carry all the water from the extensive area of Rawcliffe- moss, and others adjoining, it has been necessary to open a large dyke 5 or 6 miles long. This little canal is made by a circuitous course to fall into Morecambe Bay, passing through Pilling ; but so flat is the country, that it has not more than 7 or 8 inches of fall in a mile. The cost of keeping this dyke clear is paid by the proprietors, through whose lands it successively passes. The moss-land is found to produce the best potatoes of any known ; and whilst in other soils the failure of this crop has been a total or partial loss to the cultivator, the moss-farmer is reaping an abundant harvest. On the customary Lancashire acre he can £. s. d. 60 loads of large potatoes at 105. . . . 30 20 „ small ,, 7s. . . . 7 37 One load being equal to 240 lbs. ; and the above price is taken from the average of the first six weeks of this year in Garstang market. The present price is 13s. (jd. Farming of Lancashire, 29 As maybe imagined^ it is not difficult to let such land: an instance of the value in which it is held occurred not long ago on a property adjoining that of Mr. Ffrance. A man of the name of Fawcett took a farm of 36 customary acres (about 60 statute) for 73Z. per annum, and sublet 12 of the 36 at 6/. per acre, thereby keeping for his own use and occupation 24 custo- mary acres, at a rental of one pound per annum. Another man, who came as labourer from Chat-moss a few years ago, and is commonly known as ^' Chat- moss Joe," now holds a farm under Miss Harrison, at 70/. a year, and the value of the whole 736 acres belonging to Mr. Ffrance may, on the lowest calculation, be estimated at the annual rental of 1/. per acre, which, on an outlay of 7000/., is rather more than 10 per cent. The moss, when reclaimed, is let in lots by ticket, subject to certain conditions, one of the most important of which is, that the tenant shall keep the divisional ditches open on the side and ends of his allotment, to the full width of 6 feet at the top and 4 feet in depth ; and in case of failure, the landlord to have the right to re-enter. Not longer ago than the 19th of December last year, an allotment of 2 a. 2 r. 5 p., of customary measure, equal to about 4 statute acres, was let by Mr. Ffrance for 8/. per annum ; and for another, rather less, as much as 12/. was offered; — such is the competition for this kind of land during the present value of potatoes. But Mr. Ffrance is not content with draining the moss itself; he also makes it subservient to the draining of the lands adjacent. In a letter to the editor of the * Mark- Lane Express,' dated January 1st, 1840, he describes the process of making turves from the moss, which in a clayey subsoil were found to answer almost as well as tiles. He says, '' The turves are cut from the peat where the moss cuts fibrous and tough, which usually may be 6 or 8 spits deep : below that depth lies a blackish-brown turf, the moss being in a more advanced state of decomposition, and such is not considered so well adapted for making draining-turves." The turves are cut with a spade made with sides 12 inches long, the sides 5 inches in depth — 7 inches wide at the top, and taper- ing to 6 inches wide at the bottom. " The expenses of completing the turves ready for use have hitherto been — Cutting the draining-turf Wind-rearing ditto to dry Stacking ditto .... Total .... 2 9 In consequence of the moss drying up, and some becoming shapeless, 28 turves upon an average will drain a rood of 7 yards: the cost of the 28 turves being (at 2s. M. per thousand) nearly M." s. d. 2 per thousand. 3 jj 6 !? 30 Farming of Lancashire. He then describes the drains made bj him as 30 inches deep ; 11 inches. ^ inches wide at the top, and tapering to 2^ inches wide at the bottom, the underside of the turf when wedged in being about 6 inches from the bottom of the drain, and calculates that the cutting, laying, and fitting in the turf can be done for Ad. a rood of 7 yards ; so that the whole expense of draining a statute acre will amount to 1/. 155., the drains being 10 yards apart: — thus, s. d. 28 turves for 1 rood of 7 yards , . . .01 Cutting drains, laying and fitting in the turf . . 4 Carting turves to the field and clay from the drains 1 For 1 rood 6 A statute acre, say 70 x 70 (4900 square yards) has 7 drains, 70 yards long each = 70 roods = 35s. These drains have been known to last perfectly sound in clay for 50 or 60 years; and, saving vermin, there is no reason why they should not continue efficient for a much longer period. Mr. Ffrance has, within the last two years, established a tilery on his property ; he now drains his clay lands with tiles 3 feet deep, and instead of using collars places a turf under the joints of the tiles where necessary, and turves over the pipe-tiles to cover the crevice^ and relieve the tile from all pressure. This mode of using tiles and turves together does, in fact, make a double drain, which, under all ordinary circumstances, is not likely to get out of order ; and the cost of the turves over and above the tiles is not more than 5.S-. per thousand, including carting, &c. The custom of paring with a push-plough, and burning the moss for oats after draining, prevails amongst the tenant-farmers in this district, and they pursue this for two or three years in suc- cession ; then, for a change, take a crop of potatoes or seeds, always burning the surface till the moss is reduced in thickness. On a farm of the Duke of Hamilton's, on Nateby-moss, with which I am acquainted, the practice is, after draining, paring, and burning — 1. Oats — if dirty, the burning repeated ; 2. Green crops, turnips, potatoes, &c., with farm-yard manure and guano ; 3. Marled and ploughed for spring wheat or barley ; and 4. Seeds for mowing or pasture to lie one year, and then pared and burnt again for oats as before. Proceeding northwards towards Garstang, and from thence to Lancaster we come into the extensive property of the Duke of Farming of Lancashire. 31 Hamilton, which, from the woods of Ashton Hall to the moor- lands of Barnacre and Wyersdale, includes a large tract of country. Under the superintendence of Mr. Lamb great improvements have been effected on this property, and in a district containing so great a variety of soils and situations as this does, it requires no ordinary skill to adapt to each the proper treatment. Eleven years ago the Duke of Hamilton established the iVshton Agricultural Society for the purpose of offering encouragement to exertion amongst his own tenantry : the premiums were confined exclusively to them ; whilst by the adoption of open sweepstakes a general competition was also admitted. This Society still flourishes ; and the effect has been very beneficial, not only to a great majority of the Duke's tenantry, but to the whole of this part of the country. To assist in the improvement of the stock, his Grace has purchased, within the last few years, several bulls of first-rate pedigree, at prices varying from 40Z. to 60Z. and 80/. ; and calves at less prices. Three of these bulls have been regu- larly kept on the estate, and are replaced as occasion required. Both the standard of stock and general management of farms have been greatly improved. Amongst other results Mr. Lamb has informed me that there has been a great increase in the growth of turnips ; in fact, one farm now produces as much as the whole estate did eleven years ago. On the low lands, where a regular system of arable culture is admissible, the following rotation of crops is now adopted: — 1st, oats ; '2nd, turnips ; 3rd, barley, and grass seeds, to remain in pas- ture for two or three years. On the higher lands, exposed to the severe winds and storms from the westward, and where the soil is poor, the meadows and pastures are generally preserved unbroken. Mr. Curtis, who occupies the Heald — a high farm in Barnacre, of 109 customary acres, equal to 180 statute, and at an elevation of 500 feet above the sea — has tried a course of oats, turnips with guano, and oats with seeds, with tolerable success. He does not recommend swedes in the high moorish soil, as, from his expe- rience, they do not keep well. The draining on the whole property is done on a very extensive scale: in 1847, 50 miles of drains were cut; and in 1848, not less than 62 miles, at the following rates, and at depths varying from 3 ft. 6-in. to 5 ft., with 2 in. pipes, and 3-in. ditto for main drains : — ft. in. s. d. Cost at a depth of 3 6 . .0 9:^ per rood of 7 yards „ 4 . . 1 5 . . 1 6 the width between the drains being 7 or 8 yards. The prices vary, of course, according to the substratum, but these are gene- 32 Farming of Lancashire. rally paid for the cuttins: and filling-. To this must be added the cost ot the tiles, which is 195. per thousand for 2-inch bore, and 3O5. ditto for 3-inch ditto, and the laying thein, which is done by the day. To accomplish the draining on this estate it was found necessary to erect a tilery in the spring of 1845, which has been in active work ever since, the supply of pipe-tiles being by no means equal to the wants of the district. During the last year, 1848, 598,617 tiles and 33,029 collars were made there by Clayton's machine. The farms vary in size, from 20 or 30 acres to 460, which is the largest on the property, the rent varying from 10s. to 50^. per statute acre ; the majority are held on yearly tenancies or on terms of 7 years, and some have leases for 14 years. In the township of Nateby the land has been let on an oatmeal- rent since the year 1822, or, in other words, the rent varies ac- cording to the price of oatmeal; and at Cabus half the rent is paid in wheat and half in money: these customs are peculiar to these townships. In a farm in Nateby, to which 1 have already alluded, of 151 statute acres, the variation in two years has made a difference of 70/. in the rent. In 1848 it amounted to 190Z. ; whereas in 1847 it was only 110/., the rental being reckoned according to the price of oatmeal the previous year. Mr. Ford, of Ellel, and Mr. Richard Hinde, of Lancaster, at his farm on Ellel Moor, have both set a good example in their several districts : the latter gentleman deserves especial mention before we leave this division; for in Mr. Dickson's Report (p. 194) it is said of the improvements attempted there, that they haidjuiled: — "Ellel Moor, near Lancaster, notwithstanding lime has been laid on and the ground treated according to the usual custom of improving wastes ; yet, after a few crops taken, seems verging back towards its original state of poverty." Mr. Hinde has kindly favoured me with the following interesting particulars respecting the present state and cultivation of his farm, Newlands Hall, situated 6 miles south-east of Lancaster; it lies exposed to the west winds, and is about 300 feet above the sea : — " Ellel Moor was inclosed by a special x\ct in 1756, laid out into farms, and brought under cultivation. Draining and trenching have both been carried on from time to time to a limited extent, but not on a regular or fixed system. The soil is from 2 to 5 inches deep, growing in its natural state — rushes, whins or gorse, alder bushes and heather ; it lies upon a yellow bastard clay, full of stones, and frequently containing large quanti- ties of oxide of iron, making it very hard to cut for drains ; the rock is the millstone grit ; the land varies so much, that there are hardly two acres exactly alike, I took possession of the farm, which consists of 77 statute acres, in November, 1843. It has an excellent house and good farm buildings. The tenant had been on it for twenty-two years at a rent of 44/. per annum ; but for want of energy, and from bad management, he had brought himself to a stand still. I commenced draining, trenching, and Farminy of Lancashire. 33 sub-soiling, I did not cut any drains the first year on the thorough-draining principle, not feeling sufficiently informed of, or coniident in, the system ; since then I cut them 30 inches, and latterly 3 feet deep, at 7 yards apart, upon Mr. Smith of Deanston's plan, and find them answer extremely well. I occasionally used If-inch tiles, and at other times, from the quantity of stones there are, sough-drains, with broken stones on the top. I have been successful in most of my crops : in 1845 I gained the premium for the best crop of Swedish turnips at the Lancaster Agricultural Society's Show, com- peting with the best lands in the neighbourhood of Lancaster — Burton and Milnthorpe ; the crop weighed 24 tons, topped and tailed, to the statute acre. In 1846 I had 8a. 3 r. statute of turnips, cabbage, mangold, and potatoes; the field was thorough-drained, but neither trenched nor sub- soiled ; it was formerly two fields, and I expended 75/, in draining, levelling fences, picking stones, &c. ; and I may here mention that the value of the land, as made by two most experienced land-valuers at the time I bought it, was 6*. per acre for one field, and 8s. per acre for the other, at twenty- six years' purchase. The crop was not weighed ; but I sold by auction 2a. 3r. 35p. statute of swedes, which realized me 47/. nett towards the outlay of 75/., leaving me above 5 acres for my own ; last year I mowed a most excellent crop of rye-grass ; so that I think it has nearly redeemed itself, and is in a very different condition to what it was. In the winter of 1847 and spring of 1848 I trenched and drained 6 acres of old ley, and trenched 4a. 1r. 35p. of oat-stubble for green crops, the account of which I give below. The plan I proceed upon is to set my trenching in beds of 7 yards wide, the fall of the land, a drain being cut on each side of the bed. I provide, in the first instance, stones for the first two or three drains, and then commence trenching to the depth of the soil only, breaking up the subsoil to the depth of 10 or 12 inches with a pick, and throw all the stones on the top of the trenched land. This year 1 have used strong forks about 7 lbs. weight, with a projection at the back in this form T, in order to give more leverage. I prefer them to the pick, being, I think, more effectual, and easier for the men. Whilst the trenching is going on, I have other men cutting the drains in the entrenched land, and the stones on the trenched land are wheeled in barrows to the drains, the land abounding so in them that they have seldom to wheel them more than 14 or 20 yards, so that I hardly ever have a horse and cart in the field. I believe this plan to be the cheapest and most effectual for my land, and I have given up the subsoil- plough ; the trenching is done by the customary measure of 7 yards square to the rod, or fall, as we call it ; the price 8J. to 9c/. ; at which price a good m,an can earn 2s. to 2s. 3t/. per day ; the drains are cut by the rood of 7 yards long, 3 feet deep for stone soughs at Id. and 30 inches deep for pipe-tiles at 5Jc/. ; the soughs are made, tiles laid, and stones filled, and drains filled up, by day-work. " Expense of thorough draining, at 30 and 36 inches deep, and 7 yards apart, trenching, &c., 6 statute acres of old ley on Ellel Moor : — Grubbing whins ...... „ alder-bushes ..... Trenching 595 falls of 7 yards square, at Sc?. Cutting 685 roods of drains at 6c?,, tiles, stone- breaking 258 cubic yards, laying tiles, filling up drains, &c. . . . . . . 45 18 11 Labour, getting up large stones and alder-bushes, not let by contract, &c 10 £. s. d. 2 5 1 12 9 19 13 8 10 4 VOL, X. U 34 Farming of Lancashire. " I removed 920 one-horse cart-loads of stones from the land after it was drained and trenched, which I sold to the Surveyor of Roads, and which paid for the removal, the road being alongside the field, besides 70 loads of good rubble walling-stones from the large stones we had to break up with hammers and wedges. I sowed the field with Scotch lean oats, and gave it 2cwt. of Peruvian guano to the acre ; it produced 197 thraves, the band being made small on account of the wet season ; the straw was strong and full, but I have not weighed it for thrave. In corn it gave 44i bushels per statute acre, of 39 lbs. to the bushel ; and having made meal several times, I find it gives me 4 loads of 240 lbs. to the load per statute acre. 1 am now ploughing it for a second crop of oats with a hand-dressing, probably super- phosphate of lime ; and the condition of the land is most satisfactory. "From the 4a. 1r. 35p. of oat-stubble which I trenched, I removed nearly 500 one-horse cart-loads of stones, and sold most of them to the roads. I sowed it with swedes, mangold, carrots, and a few potatoes ; and considering the wet summer, 1 had a very fair crop of swedes, about 18 tons to the acre ; and with what I have sold and have to sell, I shall more than twice cover the expense of trenching. For mangold-wurzel on poor lands like mine, independent of the muck put into the stitches, I strongly recommend the practice of dibbling in with a trowel every 10 inches a pre- pared compost, and placing the seed immediately upon it. The compost I made last year consisted of bones, horse-feet parings from the blacksmiths' shops, hen-manure, which I carefully save, and ashes, or, still better, refuse charcoal : these were put into a heap under cover, and well wetted with tank-liquid, and left to heat for two months. I have a light wooden roller, the same as a garden roller, 30 inches in diameter, with three strips of wood projecting about an inch railed on at every 10 inches longitudinally; it covers two stitches at once, 30 inches between each, and is drawn by men, and consequently levels to the top of the stitch, and leaves a mark every 10 inches. The compost is put into buckets, and with a garden-trowel the labourer takes out a trowelful of earth and replaces it with a trowelful of manure. The cost of doing this per acre is from 10s. to 12s., if done with men : could women or boys be had, it would be less. I steep my seed in liquid manure twSnty-four hours, and put in a bag two or three times larger than required, in order to be able to turn the seed and lay it on the midden in a gentle temperature from four days to a week. The bag must be turned every day, and great care taken not to place it in too hot a berth. Last year my hind overheated and destroyed the seed, and the consequence was I had at the third weeks' end to redibble fresh seed ; notwithstanding which I had nearly as fine a crop as any I saw in the better land in the neighbour- hood of Lancaster, owing to the compost and liquid manure. I dibble the seed in with the finger and thumb, placing three seeds at a little distance from each other in the compost at every 10 inches, and cover lightly with the finger. I have thus had it up in a week from the time of sowing. For carrots I recommend, after they are weeded and about 2 inches high, to give them, if the weather be damp, 1 cwt. of guano and 1 cwt. of gypsum per acre, sown on them early in the morning. I did so last year upon my crop, which I thought worthless, and the eff'ect was astonishing. " Rotation. — My general rotation is — of old tough ley, two crops of oats, both hand-dressed ; two, turnips, mangold, drilled beans, potatoes, cabbages, and carrots ; three, oats, with grass seeds, either mown or left to pasture three or four years — if mown, ploughed up earlier. I do not, however, follow strictly any rotation, but depend entirely upon the condition the land is in. I have two liquid-manure tanks, and attribute my success in gi-owing green crops mainly to its use upon the fii'st appearance of the plant. My common turnips wei-e sown very late last summer; and in applying the liquid manui'e when in seed-leaf several rows were missed. The result was Farming of Lancashire. 35 that. I had not one-third of a crop on that portion, the fly destroying them ; and what remained, for the want of a stimulant and ready concocted food — liquid manure — made very poor progress, the season being late. '■'■ Manure. — Since 1843-4, my first two years, I have bought no heavy manure, and very little guano — about a ton to 25 cwt. per ann. I find it the most advantageous to make the manure on the premises, by buying linseed and straw for bedding, and laying on as many cattle in the winter as I can accommodate for feeding, I have never bought a single ton of horse or cow manure — only night-soil from the factories, which nobody thought much about, when I first commenced. " Cattle. — The greatest number of cattle kept by the last tenant were in summer never more than five milch cows, and about four or six head of young stock, a pig, and two horses. In 1846 1 milked fifteen cows, besides having youug stock ; three horses, and three brood-sows and store-pigs. Last summer I milked twelve cows, having rather more under the plough ; and this winter I have nine milch cows, two two-year-olds, and five fat beasts in my shippon, five yearling calves, one back-end calf, two nine- months-old bulls, three horses, two brood-sows, and eight store-pigs. I have grown Italian rye-grass, and mown three crops ; and now that the land is in better condition for it, I shall sow it again. I grew a very heavy crop of tick-beans in 1847, broadcast, and well mucked with farm-yard manure. The extent of land was a customary acre, or 1a. 2r. 20p. statute, and I had sixteen loads of 280 lbs. to the load and 147 lbs. (Signed) " Rich. Hinde." Northern Division — No. 3. To the north of the river Lune the county becomes rapidly contracted in its limits, being confined on the one hand by West- moreland, on the other by the sea ; over the sands to the north- west there is the rich district of Furness and a hilly tract of some extent, which naturally seems to belong rather to Cumberland and Westmoreland than to this county. Throughout the whole of this northern division the transition limestone, slate, and grey- wacke strata prevail ; and the difference in the improved appear- ance of the surface is very perceptible, whilst the cultivation is decidedly superior to many other parts of the county. Furness seems to be the redeeming feature in Lancashire farming. In the soil, the class of farmers, and their general management, this dis- trict would not suffer by comparison with other more favourable and accessible parts of England. It is difhcult to conceive two districts more distinct in every respect that can interest a farmer than that on the eastern side of the southern, and this on the western part of the northern division of the same county. The one cold and wet, growing a bad herbage and rushes, and divided into small holdings, with a manufacturing population, who, occu- pying the land, cannot be said to farm it; the other for the most part naturally drained by a substratum of gravel and limestone, in the occupation of men who pay, in some instances, as much as 600Z. a year rent, producing beautiful crops of wheat, oats or barley, turnips, and seeds. Soil of every variety, from a stiong 36 Farming of Lancasliire. clay to a light sand, may be found within the limits of this division ; but it is generally light and friable. In the neighbourhood of Cartmel and Holker there is a good deal of hard land — stony, but very productive. Over-sands, around Ulverstone and through the whole district of Furness, it becomes stronger, of a red loamy nature, and produces good crops of grain ; on the sea-coast it is lighter and more sandy. TJiere are two distinct classes of farms in this district — those which bek)ng to large landed proprietors, such as the Earl of Burlington, the Crown, and others ; and those which belong to small freeholders. The former are large, and superior in number and class to other parts of the county ; they range from a rental of 1 :)0l. to 400/., and some few higher than that, even to 600Z. per annum. The latter are freeholds of not more than 40 statute acres, the property of a class of men known in that country as "' statesmen," who, living on their own farms from generation to generation, are content with their small inherit- ance ; and not having wealth nor the means of procuring it, live a primitive and independent life amongst their native hills. These men were formerly the worst farmers in the district, but they are now becoming more alive to their own interest, and willing to profit by the good example of their neighbours. What Mr. Dickson wrote of this district in 1814 is still true with respect to the occupation and size of the farms. To the north of the Lan- caster sands they range from '20 to iOO statute acres ; but farther north, in the vicinity of Ulverstone and in Low Furness, they are as high as 300 or more ; and the Furness Abbey farm, Gleaston Castle, and Hoi beck, the property of the Earl of Burlington, still hold the first rank. The rental of land in this district ranges from 155. to 32^. per statute acre. There is not much wheat grown now in the northern district, except on Walney Island, off the west coast of Furness : the prevailing grain crops are oats and barley, the latter being taken by the maltsters at Dalion and Ulverstone. The rotation formerly was, out of ley — 1st, oats; 2nd, barley, manured ; 3rd, clover; 4th, oats; and grass seeds, or turnips after oats ; but the course is now improved to — 1st, oats; then, where the sward is old and tough, a second year of oats; 2nd, turnips, manured, or potatoes; 3rd, barley; 4th, seeds for two or three years. This land might be made equal to a four-course shift, but it will not do yet ; and when wheat is grown, it is not advisable to dispense with a fallow. In Walney Island wheat is grown generally, and the system is — summer fal- low, wheat drilled, beans, barley or oats. Mr. John Patterson, of Hoi beck farm, to whom I am indebted for much of my informa- tion respecting this district, came from Northumberland about 19 years ago, and, after his long experience of the country, finds no reason to complain either of the soil or the climate ; the latter, Farming of Lancashire. 37 though more rainy, he finds not so cold as on the eastern side of England. His farm is about 340 statute acres, and for the most part naturally drained, with a rich loamy soil capable of growing anything. His system of cropping is as follows: — 1st, oats, say 60 acres ; 2ndj fallow 30 acres, turnips or mangold-wurzel 30 acres ; 3rd, wheat after fallow and seeds, barley and seeds after turnips ; 4th, seeds for two or three years, and so on vice versa, taking care that all the land lies fallow in turn, as he considers it quite indispensable, on account of the scarcity of hand labourers in the district. He grows from four to five quarters of wheat to the acre, and considers 25 to 30 tons of turnips a good crop. Rape has been grown in the district and eaten off, but it is found that the crop of turnips next succeeding it in the course is not so good, and consequently it is becoming unpopular. His farm buildings are commodious, with yards and sheds for his young stock attached, and the whole district is well provided in this respect; Lord George Cavendish, of whom Mr. Dickson makes frequent mention, having taken great pains to improve them about 30 or 40 years ago. The farms on this property are mostly held on yearly tenancies ; leases are not asked for, and therefore they are not granted ; but his Lordship, under the ad- vice of his able and active agent, Mr. Drew, has lately introduced a new form of agreement, by which the tenant is bound "not to take two white-straw crops in succession (except the field has been ten years or upwards in grass, when a second straw crop may be taken), nor in any year to have less arable land in fallow, turnips, or other green crops, properly cleansed and manured, than is equal to half the land sown with white-straw crops, and shall not grow white straw, corn or grain, on more than 2-5ths of the arable land." He has also added compensation clauses for unexhausted improvements, as is customary in Lincolnshire ; and this is allowed (on the fulfilment of certain conditions) to the out- going tenant, whether he give or receive the notice to quit. The proportion of the proposed conditional allowances to be regulated as follows : — " For bones used on the land, the allowance to extend to three years ; half the cost price to be allowed after one crop, one- third after two crops, and one-fourth after three crops. For guano used on the land, the allowance to extend to two years ; one-third of the cost price to be allowed after one crop, and one- sixth after two crops. For rape-dust used on the land, the allowance to extend to one year; one-third of the cost price to be allowed after one crop. For linseed-cake used for feedmg cattle and sheep, one-third of the cost price to be allowed for that which has been used since the 1st of October then last, and one- 38 Farming of Lancashire. sixth of that used during the preceding twelve months. N.B. Cake given to horses, no allowance for." Di^aining, when necessary in this district, has been done chiefly with horseshoe-tiles, and for soles the refuse slates from the quarries of the country. There are four tileries in Fur- ness, two belonging to the Earl of Burlington, and two to other parties. In the former they have made pipe-tiles, during the last year, of l^-inch bore, still using the horseshoe for the main drains. The drains are cut 3| to 4 feet deep, at intervals varying from 10 to 14 yards ; and the whole expense of making the drains, carting the tiles, &c., is paid by the landlord, and the tenant charged 5 per cent, on the outlay. In the year 1838 the North Lonsdale Agricultural Societg was established ; the shows are usually held at Ulverstone, some time in October; and to this Society may be attributed in some measure the great improvement in stock and farming, but especially the former. But to Mr. William Cranke, of Hawk- field, is due the merit of Jirst introducing the short-horns into his native country of Furness. As far back as 1813 this gentleman brought some of this stock from the banks of the Tees. They were not favourably received, and for a long time after their arrival the old long-horns kept their ground ; but in 1838 this gentleman received from his friends and neighbours a substantial proof of the high opinion in which they held his services as an agriculturist, in the shape of a silver salver of 25 guineas; 'and, as a whole, the stock Over-sands is equal, if not superior, to that of any other district in the country. I have thus endeavoured to describe the soils and important points in the general or particular management of land through- out this county, with the chief improvements and alterations at present going on ; and I propose now to consider separately under their respective heads the character of their buildings, stock, implements, &c. ; with the improvements still required in the reclamation of waste lands, and conclude with a few remarks on the present prospects of agriculture in Lancashire, and the condition of the farm-labourers. Buildings. — The materials of the buildings in this county are brick and stone, and vary according to the different situations and circumstances of the districts. These are, however, easily defined : throughout the whole of the eastern or northern parts, the rough stone buildings prevail, with flags or slates for the roofing. On the low country to the south and west, where stone is scarce and clay abundant, bricks are in use, with thatch ; but in the better class slate is found, imported either from North Wales or brought from the north of the county. In the low Farming of Lancashire. 39 alluvial districts the old houses and cottages were made by a framework of wood, filled up with wattled stud -work, and covered over with a composition of clay and wet strav/, locally termed clat and clay ; these houses are thatched with straw, and, being whitewashed inside and out, have a tolerably clean and pic- turesque appearance when new ; but they are frail tenements at the best, and apt to get out of order, and are rapidly dis- appearing in favour of more substantial habitations. The farm- steads are for the most part badly arranged, with little attention paid to ventilation or the economy of space and labour, now considered so necessary in a well-regulated farming establish- ment. The hay and grain crops are generally housed in large barns, which form a prominent feature in the yard, whilst the humble but more important requisites of steaming-apparatus, with chaff and turnip-cutting machines, are seldom met with ; large boilers are sometimes used by the more intelligent farmers, who are now beginning to discover their true interests in this respect. Stock-Cattle. — The Lancashire long-horned cattle were once famous all over the kingdom, and prevailed throughout the county ; they were remarkable for the great length of horns and width between the tips, sometimes as much as 4 feet, and even more ; the hide, thick and firm in its texture, was well adapted to resist the climate; and, though they did not give very much milk, it was considered to afford more cream in proportion to its quantity than that of other kinds. Mr. Bakewell, of Dishley, is said to have made them the basis of his improvements in stock. As oxen they are quite unprofitable, and not being good feeders they have gradually given way to the short-horns, which are finer in the bone and hide, and in fatting quality superior to any other breed. At Woodacre Hall, near Garstang, Mr. Daniel, a tenant of the Duke of Hamilton, on a farm of nearly 500 statute acres, has still some of the old and now despised long-horned breed, and prefers them for their hardy constitution and the quality of their milk. He maintains that 7 quarts from one of his cows will give as much butter as 10 quarts from a short-horn. They are longer in coming to maturity, but they also last much longer, and will produce calves up to fourteen or sixteen years of age, T saw the horns of one, measured by him, which were 6 feet 1 inch from tip to tip : the tape being taken down the horns and across the head. Many gentlemen have endeavoured to raise the standard of stock in the county : in the northern districts Mr. Cranke, of Hawkfield, Messrs. Patterson, Holbeck, Mr. Ashburner, Mr. Ormandy, and a few others in Furness, and Mr. Robinson, near Ulverstone, the Earl of Bur- lington, Mr. Rawsthorne, of Heysham^ near Lancaster, Mr. 40 Fanning of Lancashire. Wm. Garnett, of Quernmore Park, the late Mr. Ford, of EUel, Mr. Birchall, near Preston ; and in the south Mr. Bannerman, near Chorley, Mr. Eastwood, near Burnley, and Mr. Harvey, near Walton, Liverpool, have each contributed to introduce high-bred animals; but the finest .short-horn stock in the county is perhaps Mr. Townley's, of Townley, near Burnley. By recent purchases this gentleman has collected together a most valuable herd, which must help to improve the stock, not only in the Southern Divi- sion, but throughout the county generally. Sheep. — There is no breed of sheep peculiar to this county ; nor, except in the hilly districts, are they an important item in the farming stock. Large flocks of the black-faced breed ramble over the eastern moors of the Middle Division, very inferior to what they might be with a little care and attention in the breed- ing. Early in the spring they are put on the hill pastures, where they remain till November ; they are then brought down into the enclosed lands, and salved with a mixture of butter and tar, to prevent their having the scab and losing their wool in the early spring ; the young animals, or hogs, in the first winter suffer from the black water, a disease brought on by exposure to wet and cold. The best rem.edy for this would be the erection of sheds, however simple and rude in construction, in which the sheep might be protected from storms both by day and night, a luxur}^ at present unknown to these poor animals. In the hills of the Northern Division there is a considerable improvement; and on the fine lands ot Furness a large white-faced sheep, a good deal like the Leicester, prevails. Lord Burlington has lately introduced at Holker the South Downs, which answer exceedingly well, and the successful result of the experiment seems likely to lead to their general introduction into these parts. Mr. Robert Garnett, of Wy reside, has taken some pains to introduce a better class of black-faced sheep, and about four years ago sent down to the Highlands for a flock of the improved Scotch breed. He has met with little encouragement amongst the farmers of his district : some few, however, begin to appre- ciate them, and their value is now much beyond that of the common sheep of the county. Mr. Smithies, of Bickerstaffe Hall, in the Southern Division, has also for the last two years tried some Shropshire Downs on his farm : they are a hardy and. productive breed. Horses. — Many horses are bred in Lancashire, and the farmers naturally have a taste for the practice ; but, except in the western parts of the Southern Division already mentioned, they are not of a first-rate class, nor are they as good as they were a few years ago. There is a fair supply of good carriage-horses and hackneys Fanning of Lancashire. 4 1 for general work; at Over-sands, in the neighbourhood of Ulver- stone and Furness, more high-bred horses are found than else- where. Mr. Kennedy, of Ulverstone, has by his enterprising exertions contributed greatly to raise the standard there ; for this purpose he has brought down thorough-bred stallions from Col. Peel's and other racing studs for the season, and horses are sold out of this country at four years old for 80/., 90/., or 100/. a-pjece. The depreciation of value alluded to above, especially in the agricultural horse, is owing to the little care and attention paid by the breeders to the mares, and the miserable parsimony which pervades their practice in this respect — " ex nihilo nihil fit ;" and they seem to forget that it is impossible to breed a good and valuable foal out of a miserable and broken-down mare. JPigs — Are generally good throughout the county ; in this re- spect we are above the average of other better-farmed parts of England ; the cottager always finds it an advantage to keep a pig, and it is very seldom that a bad one is seen. At Lathom there is a good breed of the small kind ; Mr. Smithies has got some of the Berkshire breed, and crossed them with Mr. Hobbs's, which has produced a good stock and easily fattened. Mr. Billington, at Preston, has also some of Mr. Hobbs's breed. Mr. Swift, of Lowes bury, carried away two of the prizes given by the Royal North Lancashire Agricultural Society last September at Preston, for a boar and a sow. Manures. — The most important manures used are lime, marl, sea-sand, bones, guano, ashes, town-dung, farm-yard dung, and compost of various kinds. Lime is used throughout the county almost universally, and is now mixed with salt, for moss cul- tivation ; mai^l chiefly on peat and moss lands ; sea-sand on the same kind of land near Cartmel. Bones are becoming very general, and are found most beneficial, both as a top-dressing to grass-lands, especially on the high grounds, and as a manure for turnips ; but guano takes the precedence in this respect. From one end of the county to the other, from Hoi beck to Halewood, this foreign manure seems to be valued most highly, especially mixed with farm -yard manure for turnips. On the Barton pro- perty, Mr. Logan, agent for Mr. Jacson, informed me that it had been applied largely and successfully : 2J cwt. to the acre on meadow land in the first year, and half the quantity the second, has produced in both years double the quantity of hay that could otherwise be grown. For turnips 3 cwt. or 3J cwt. per acre is necessary, but a less quantity, mixed v»ath farm-yard manure, is found to answer better than anything. The guano first stimu- lates, and the manure sustains or feeds the plant. Messrs. Myers and Co. have kindly given me the following return of imports of Peruvian guano into Liverpool, viz. : — 42 Farming of Lancashire. 1841 1842) 1843/ 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 Total 1140 ' Tons. 3307 13,927 11,151 16,221 21,482 13,852 81,080 Tons. Besides this, great quantities from Africa have been imported by different people, and of course it is impossible to say how much has been sold for farming purposes in Lancashire, but there is no doubt that a very large quantity has been, and continues to be, used. Town-manure is by no means collected and made avail- able as it might be ; the difficulty of transporting it is the great obstacle to the use of it. If we were as careful in this matter as the Chinese, we should have in the large and numerous towns of this county mines of wealth from which the produce of the soil might be increased to more than double what it is. From Liver- pool it is taken down by the Leeds and Liverpool Canal as far as Rufford, and from Manchester by the Bridgewater Canal to various parts of Cheshire, and to Stretford, Worsley, and Chat- moss in Lancashire, to the amount of 20,000 tons in a year, and the practice is greatly on the increase. The cost from Man- chester, exclusive of cartage to and from the canal, is about two- thirds of a penny, or for short distances l^d. per ton per mile. It has recently been tried in a liquid state and applied to the land adjoining the canal by means of a hose — this experiment gives so far every reasonable prospect of a successful issue. Con- siderable quantities are taken to Chat-moss by the river I r well, which flows to the south side of the moss, and the cost of trans- port is rather lighter than on the canal. Irrigation. — This mode of improving grass lands has been little tried in this county, and when attempted, not on any ex- tended or scientific plan. Mr. Dickson, in quoting from the ''original Report" on this subject, says, ''It is a matter of astonishment that so rich a source of improvement has been hitherto so much neglected ;" and the same remark is still ap- plicable. In a country like this, where rivers and rivulets abound, there would be comparatively little difficulty or expense in throwing the fertilising streams on the land. Mr. Logan pointed out to me some meadow land in Barton which had been irrigated with very satisfactory results, when the land was under-drained pre- viously ; it had produced a double crop : and without under- draining, irrigation ought never to be thought of. In this instance, Farming of Laricasliire. 43 however, it is right to state that the irrigation was laid down scientifically, and at a very considerable outlay^ by the late Mr. George Jacson. Fences. — In the hilly districts a dry stone wall, without mortar, is the common fence, built about 6 feet high, to prevent the encroachments of the wild mountain sheep ; yet such is their activity and rambling habits, that this is scarcely sufficient to stop them. In the low country the fences are professedly made of quick thorns, but almost invariably they are so badly managed, and so miserable, that they require thorough renovation. Mr. Lamb has within the last few years taken some pains to introduce good fences on the lower part of the Duke of Hamilton's estates, and these answer exceedingly well, a sufficient proof that it is not the fault of the soil or climate that they are generally so wretched. About three miles of new thorn fences have been made during each of the last two years. The method and form are after the Scotch plan, and as follows : — Ft. In. PI Width of ditch at top .50 ji Ditto at bottom 9 Depth of ditto ... 2 6 Scaresment width ..08 Soil for thorn bed ..04 Height from scaresment to top of back ..16 — ^ Inclination of slope one \ ^ inch in one. \ 5^ Width of top of backing 1 6 \i_ 9. With posts and railing of two bars on the top of the backin post, with three bars on the field side of the ditch the frame is as follows : — Three heights of rails and posts, and putting up, per rood of 7 yards ...... Two ditto ditto Thorns and beaches, say 54 per rood Planting and making ditch according to subsoil, varying from Is. to Is. 4d., say average . Total per rood of 7 yards . . 5 10^ The yearly cost of cleaning thorns is from a half-penny to three farthings per rood for the first five years. Cutting with a Scotch knife attached to a handle three feet long, costs from a farthing to three farthings per rood, if done by a man accustomed to the work ; and this plan has produced good fences at five years' growth. When the posts and rails are removed, by laying a drain in the bottom of the ditch, the plough may go close to the fence. The greater part of the old hedges are very irregular, and occupy a space of four or five yards, with a ditch on both sides of )acl dns;, and the cost of s. d. 2 6h. 1 61 7 1 2 44 Farming of Lancashire. the fence; and where land is divided into small fields, as in Lan- cashire, the acres that are lost by this old svstem must be very considerable. Implements. — The use of good agricultural implements has been rapidly increasing during the last few years ; Finlayson's cultivator, and a turnip-drill for sowing two drills at once, intro- duced from Berwickshire, are in common use in the neighbour- hood of Lancaster ; and within the last few years there have been between thirty and forty thrashing-machines worked by horses set up in the same district. These are also brought from Scotland, and cost about 40Z. The Norwegian harrow, Cros- kill's clod-crusher, Ducies's drag, with various grubbers and cul- tivators, and drills for seed, I have met with on the farms of gentlemen and large farmers, such as Mr. Patterson of Holbeck, and Mr. Smithies of Bickerstaffe, but many of these are too costly for i^eneral use.* The one-horse carts which prevail throughout the county are very good, and the iron ploughs are generally superseding the wooden ones. On the cheese-farms the old stone weights are making way for the iron lever-presses, and there is throughout the county a general improvement in this respect. The small moveable tram-road used by Mr. R. Neilson, Mr. Wilson Ffrance, and the Rev. W. Hornby of St. Michael's, is on level land a very valuable acquisition to the farmyard, and in our wet climate the greatest convenience in getting turnips off the land. The railway, which consists of a light bar of iron placed longitudinally on wood, in pieces of 16 feet in length, costs complete, about lis. 6c?. per piece, and the waggons about 3Z. 10.9., but this of course depends upon the price of iron and timber. It is some credit to the mechanical genius, now first applied to. agri- culture in this county, that at York the prize tile-machine for mak- ing draining pipes was the production of a Lancashire workshop. f In the art of Reclaiming and Cultivating Waste Lands, no doubt "much has been done, but more remains to do." Besides the mosses and high lands of the county, which, as we have seen, are gradually changing their barren nature into fruitful soils, there exist also large tracts of land by the sea-coast, which at present form part of the shore, that might, by embankments, be recovered from the sea. In the year 1820 Mr. Edward Dawson of Aldcliffe Hall, near Lancaster, received from the Society of Arts their large gold * The former gentleman has used for the first time this season Garrett's Corn-Drill, which lie considers a very excellent implement. In a short note addressed to me on the subject, he says, " We only use two-thirds of the seed which is used in broadcast, and our crops look remarkably promising." — Jtine 2. \ See Report of Implements at the York Meeting, 1818. Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society. Farmhiy of Lancashire. 45 medal for embanking 166 acres of marsh land near the mouth of the river Lune ; the particulars of the method adopted are given in the Society's Transactions, vol. xxxix.. No. vii. p. 33. This reclaimed land has produced luxuriant crops, and there is no doubt that land of this description would amply repay the required outlay: after allowing 5 per cent, on the money ex- pended in enclosing Aldcliffe Marsh, each acre pays 25^., the former rental being 'Is. 6d. If Cockerham, Pilling, and Thurn- ham sands were enclosed, on the lowest calculation 5000 acres, at present worth little or nothing per acre, would by an outlay of 14^. or 15s. per acre be made worth a yearly rental of 5500Z. In the year 1838 an extensive project was formed for the en- closure of 46,000 acres in Morecambe Bay : the intention was to cross the bay by a railway, but the Commissioners of Railways, being directed to compare the line with one by Kendal to Car- lisle, reported in favour of the latter, on account of its being more direct, giving no opinion upon the work of enclosing the Bay, which, however, by engineers, is considered perfectly feasible. Of late years science has been directed to the great scheme of international communication by railways, which have absorbed the surplus funds of the country ; but as these extensive works approach their completion^ it is to be hoped that public attention will be turned to such undertakings as the enclosure of the Bay of Morecambe, and for which the coast of Lancashire seems dis- tinguished by peculiar advantages, as it is estimated that more than 80,000 acres might be reclaimed to the north of the river Wyre. In other parts of the county no great alteration can be effected in the produce without a thorough system of drainage, and that the landowners and farmers are now really becoming aware of the importance of this first step is clearly proved by the many tileries which have sprung up during the last few years. There are now in The Southern Division. Tile-kilns belonging to SirT. G. Hesketh, Bart., Mawdesley. Mr. Holland . . . Farrington. Mr. Fazackerly . . Lathom. Mr. Hargreaves . . Broadoak,nearAccnngton. The Earl of Ellesmeie Worsley. Mr. Hoghton . . . Bold. Mr. Whalley . . . Chorley. Mr. Chaffer . . . Burniey. Mr. Doulton and Co. . St. Helens. (Name unknown) . Oswaldtwistle. Col. Rawstorne . . Pennwortham. Mr. Hatton . . . Moss Hawk Hall. &c. &c. 46 Farming of Lancashire. In the Middle Division. Tile-kiins belonging to Mr. Clifton (2) . . Lytham. Mr. C. R. Jacson . . Barton. Mr. W. Garnett . . Bleasdale. Mr. Hull .... Whittingham. Mr. Wilson Ffrance , RawclifFe. The Duke of Hamilton, Cabas. Mr. Threlfall . . . HoUowforth. Mr. Edmondson . . Caton. In the Northern Division. The Earl of Burlington (2) Furness. Other parties (2) . . Furness. But draining requires great care in the work, and a perfect knowledge of the circumstances of soil, subsoil, springs, &c., and the points suggested by Mr. Bullock Webster on this subject cannot be too well known. The following are a few of the most important, taken from a short letter addressed to the editor of the ' Ayrshire Agriculturist :' — " 1. No general rule can be laid down. " 2. Any one system for all soils is an absurdity. " 3. Depth and distance of drains must depend on the nature of the soil and subsoil. - " 9. That grass land can be over-drained. " 10. The direction the drains should be laid must be governed by the strata to be cut through, the fall, and other local circumstances ; the rule of going always with the fall is decidedly wrong. "11. There are instances (in the new red sandstone) where drains will act perfectly at 40 yards apart ; and there are strong clay subsoils that re- quire drains every 6 or 8 yards. " 15. On the strong clay subsoils (not surcharged with under-water) drains 30 to 36 inches deep, at moderate intervals, are much more effective than deep drains at wide intervals, and on these soils the clay should not be filled in over the tiles or pipes. " 17. It often happens that drains 4 feet deep and 40 feet apart are placed over a field, when one drain properly put in would cure the whole." Nothing has been so fatal to the progress of agricultural im- provement as the dogmatical assertion of the absolute necessity of conforming to or adopting one practice, as the only good one, in all cases and under all circumstances. The real thing to be studied is, how best to make those circumstances available which are within reach, and not to abandon the hope of success, or the effort to obtain it, because the same facilities which have enabled our neighbours to be successful are not within the compass of our grasp. As auxiliaries towards the advance of agriculture and the full development of the resources of the county, the railways must not be forgotten ; they are extending gradually like a network over the face of the county, especially in the Southern Division, affording facilities before unknown in the transport of produce Farming of Lancashire. 47 and manure, and are effecting a revolution in this respect, which is very important to the farmers. In many parts of Cheshire, where formerly cheese was made, the milk is now taken at once by the railways to Manchester and Liverpool, and the effect of this is, that the cheese-merchants come down into the north to look for that supply which formerly they obtained from the neio^hbouring county. This has given a new stimulus to the dairy-farmers ; and I have been informed by a leading cheese- factor at Lancaster that, during the last few years, the cheeses in the northern districts have in fact improved wonderfully, and that now much more care is paid both to the making and the keeping of them. All this tends to confirm the opinion which prevails amongst many of the most influential practical farmers of the county, that the dairy and the cheese-room must be the chief objects which all our agricultural improvements ought to have in view. The Agricultural Societies also deserve a special notice. Within the last few years the spirit of inquiry and desire to obtain really useful and practical information on farming matters has extended throughout this county, in common with the rest of the kingdom : we are^ in fact, in a transition state, in which every advance in the right direction not only leads to positive improvement, but affords encouragement to further exertions — " vires acquirit eundo." The different agricultural societies which have been established in various parts of the county within the last twelve or thirteen years, are a proof of the vitality of this spirit of im- provement. They were, in fact, the waking efforts of a people shaking off their lethargy ; and though they may not perhaps have entirely answered the expectations of the founders, they have not been unproductive of good. A few years ago every town, especially in the northern districts, had its agricultural society. Ulverstone, Lancaster, Preston, and Blackburn vied with each other in their autumnal exhibitions, whilst the private societies of the Duke of Hamilton, Mr. Clifton, and Mr. Ffar- rington occupied the rural districts. Some of these have now disappeared, and others are amalgamated with their more powerful though younger rival, the Royal North Lancashire Agricultural Society. The same change has been taking place in the Southern Division ; and Liverpool and Manchester, instead of having each their separate society, are now united in one. The principle of these large societies is, that they should be perambulatory, Uke the Royal Agricultural Society of England. It is hoped that by visiting in succession the different districts and important places within their -several limits, they will bring within the reach of every farmer, at stated intervals of time, a show of stock and implements such as no local society could possibly present to 48 Farming of Lancashire. lilm ; and also, which is very important, afford him the oppor- tunity of meeting with gentlemen famed throughout England for their science and practice, and hearing from them, in the shape of friendly discussions or lectures, their opinions and the results of their experience. In education we are still very deficient, and also in capital amongst the tenant-farmers : both the means and the knowledge how to apply those means to the best advantage in the cultivation of the land are wanting in Lancashire. This fact has such an intimate relation with the whole subject of leases and agreements between landlords and tenants, that it is impossible to enter fully into all the bearings of this most important question without taking it into account. Lord Stanley, when presiding at Lancaster, in October, 1847, over the first meeting of the Royal North Lancashire Society, placed the matter in its true light as regards this county, and 1 hope 1 may be excused if I refer to his Lordship's speech on that occasion. His Lordship is reported to have said — " "With respect to the arrangements between landlords and tenants, if they were not based on the strong ties and feelings of mutual confidence, he should then not hesitate to recommend that the holding should be secured by a lease, rather than by tenancy-at will ; because although tenan- cies may be conducted in a manner that shall be satisfactory to both par- ties, leases give advantages which cannot otherwise be bargained or stipu- lated for. The conditions and durations of leases must necessarily vary under different circumstances, according to the condition in which the farm may be at the time of taking it; but if, as he had before said, the agree- ments between landlords and tenants may be considered based on the strong ties and feelings of mutual confidence, he thought there was little advantage in leases over tenancies. If the outlay for improving the farm has to be made by the tenant, then he should by all means be unrestricted, and allowed to receive the full and complete benefit for all his outlay; and at the end of the term, if a tenant had so honourably performed his part, the landlord would be unworthy the name of a man if he did not give such tenant preference over strangers, and on terms more liberal than would be proposed to any other applicant. If it should happen that a great outlay was required, the capital should be advanced by the landlord, and the tenant charged a reasonable interest upon it." The establishment of Agricultural Schools and Farmers' Clubs would tend more directly than anything else to raise the standard of education ; and, when anything of the kind has been attempted, it is gratifying to find that the advantages are soon appreciated. The Earl of Burlington has founded a farmers' club at Dal ton, which works well; and Mr. Wilson Ffrance, at Rawcliffe, has also tried the same thing on a small scale, which promises to lead to greater things. In both these instances that 1 have met with, a small circulating library, composed of elementary works on agriculture and agricultural chemistry, and others likely to in- terest a farmer, has been formed, and the books are lent out on Farming of Lancashire. 49 certain simple conditions ; ihey are read with great willingness, not to say avidity, and the success of these first steps affords encouragement to further progress in this most desirable direction. The farm-labourers of this county are as well off, and perhaps better than in any other part of the kingdom, except where manufactures are found, as in Yorkshire, &c., and their cottages for the most part comfortable and substantial. Fuel is cheap everywhere, whether it be coals or turf, and an able-bodied man can earn 125. or 135. per week in any district. Mr. Patterson, of Holbeck, g:ives his men 75. a vi^eek and their meat in the house, and Mr. Wilson, of Newton Park, has some in the house alto- gether ; but this is not a good system, nor does it generally pre- vail. As a class, I should say they were better housed, better fed, better warmed, and better paid than in many parts of Eng- land where agricultural occupations are their only employment. The section of a " Corn-Mow. February 28, 1849. To Mr. Garnett. My dear Sir, — I regret that I was from home when you called here on the subject of your Report of the Farming of Lancashire ; but I now send you the particulars of the process of working the field you saw in turnips last week — a process which several years' experience induces me to re- commend as the best and quickest mode of bringing heavy, worn-out land into good play. The field consisted of many small fields which I laid together, as my landlord desired. Having all been for several years overcropped, under-manured, and short VOL. X. E 50 Farming of Lancashire. weeded, or rather never weeded, I had all to do. I commenced by carting upon the stubble, in autumn, 40 tons by weight of g:ood farm-yard manure to the statute acre, and ploughing it in broadcast about 6 inches deep. I then cross-ploughed it with a four-horse plough 12 inches deep, and sub- soiled 6 inches below that. A portion was sown with winter-vetches ; the remainder was exposed to the action of the winter frost. Early in spring two other portions were sown with spring vetches, at different periods. The portion unsown was then well worked, weeded of twitch, &c,, ridged up, bow-harrowed, sown with 1 cwt. of a compost of sulphurized bones, guano, and charcoal, or wood-ashes, ridged up again, so that the compost would form the seed-bed, rolled, and sown with turnips, which you saw growing well. As the vetches are cut off, the land will be transplanted with swede turnips, which may be safely done as late as the middle of .July. For work of this kind good implements are essentially necessary, and I have derived the greatest benefit from Crosskill's clodcrusher and Stretton's Norway harrow, both equally valuable, the one on dry, and the other on damp land. I have also derived much advantage from watering the seed-bed, or the young plants, with weak manure-water, so as to stimulate it through the attacks of the fly ; and I have given to Mr. Cross- kill the model of a very simple and cheap contrivance, by which two boys can water four drills at a time, by means of a spout and four Indian-rubber tubes attached to a common water-cart. If the water is near the field, they may apply it, with one horse and cart, to about six acres per day. During the period of the fly I also used, with much success, a straw brush, which passes over four drills at once — a light pole about 11 feet long, with a small wheel at each end. The pole is lapped with straw, which trails along the tops of the furrows, and disturbs the fly. It does not destroy the fly ; but the chances are hundreds to one that the same leaf is not again attacked during that day ; and a boy and light horse or pony can go twice over 10 acres in a day with ease. Many experiments and close observation of the result have convinced me of the value of this simple contrivance. As my system of transplanting is different from any other, and has been very successful, I will give you the particulars. I prepare a bed, and sow it early in rows about 8 inches apart, and thin out to 4 or 5 inches in the row. An acre will thus transplant about 20 or 25 acres. As the vetches are mowed off, the space cleared is ploughed, well worked, dressed with 2 cwt. of the compost, and ridged up. As this work proceeds the plants are being prepared, and are planted while each drill is damp and fresh. As dispatch is only produced by division of labour, the process is as follows: — One party, No. 1, pulls the best plants, keeping them " heads and tails," and carries them to another party, No. 2, who sits at the end of the ground to be planted, and who nips off the slender part of the tap-root and the upper part of the leaves, laying them in a basket, also "heads and tails ;"" No. 3 carries them up the field to No. 4, who lays them in the drill, with the leaves towards the planter's left hand ; No. 5, who must be a man or boy, that, striding across the drills, no petticoats may interfere with the plants just put in. I never use the dibbling-stick, which, in heavy land, only hardens the inside of the hole, but the planter is furnished with a light, hollows half-round steel trowel, with which, in his right hand, he lifts up a portion of soil, while with his left he puts the plant in a slanting direction below it ; then drawing back the trowel, the soil falls loosely on the plant, and a short stride of one leg takes him to the next. The proportion of labour for pulling and topping depends on the size Farming of Lancashire. 51 and position of the plants ; but one layer will do for two ordinaiily quick planters, though my bailiff, whom you saw, can transplant a statute acre in the day. 1 usually transplant from 15 to 30 acres per annum, and have raised, according to the examination of the Inspector of the Liverpool Agricultural Society, 26 tons 4 cwt. per acre ; but the land must be " muTcked heavily, ploughed deep, and weeded clean," which I consider now, more than ever, the iarmer's motto. You allude in your Report to my invention of a portable railway, which, I assure you, is a most valuable implement. I sent a model the other day to His Grace the Duke of Richmond, for .the Entailed Estate Improvement Committee of the House of Lords, and the railway may be got at a very reasonable cost from Mr. Crosskill of Beverly. By it I remove the whole of my green crops without the least injury to the land : and last autumn I put 127 tons of manure on 3 acres of land, lying from 220 to 400 yards from the manure-heap, at a cost in labour of 235-. I can only repeat my regret that I did not see you on your visit to my farm, when I would have shown you the modus operandi of these different implements, and which I shall be happy to do on any future occasion. Yours, &c., Halewood, June 2, 1849. Robert Neilson, II. — On a Dress for Drainers. From the Marquis of Westminster. To Mr, Pusey, M.P. Dear Mr. Pusey, — I mentioned to you last summer a plan we adopt to protect our drainers, when working in a narrow trench to the depth of 3 or 4 feet, from the moisture with which their clothes are saturated and their skin soaked for the day, while exposed to cold and damp, by which rheumatism and its attendant evils are entailed. The plan being one which the labourers readily take to, and from which they derive obvious comfort, I wish to recall your attention to the subject, giving you the result of what I have tried for some years with success, and of which others may per- haps approve. We supply our labourers with a sort of leathern trowsers, which protect the hips and legs from coming in contact with the wet clay. These leggings are used only by the man who digs the last, narrow spit and scoops out the lowest soil from the trench before fixing the pipe. In bending forwards, his shoulders also are brought into contact with the upper sides of the wet trench, to guard them from which a pair of leathern armlets are most use- ful. These armlets, as well as the leggings, are put on and taken off with perfect facility, are so far pliable as to create no impediment to the action of the labourer, fit sufficiently close not to rub against the sides of the trench, or make it crumble, and effeciually keep out the wet for the entire day. They are easily rolled up and carried to and from the place of work. E 2 52 On a Dress for Drainers. The leg'gings are formed of ordinary leather, in two pieces detached from each other, about 40 inches in length, and 18 inches wide at the top for the waist ; 20 inches a little lower down, allowing a sweep for the haunches ; and 15 inches at the ankle. One strap is placed on the front and one on the back of the top belt of the right legging; and corresponding buckles on the left legging, to fasten them up round the waist. Three buckles are placed on the lower part of the straight front of each legging, with three straps behind, just below the sweep, ex- panding round the haunches ; which expansion may be restrained, if thought necessary, from sticking out, by another buckle and strap behind, a little below the belt-strap. The straps and buckles being drawn together round the leg, form the trowser or legging, one being above the knee and two below it. The armlets are also formed in two pieces of rather lighter leather, 30 inches in length, 13 inches wide round the shoulder, 8 inches at the wrist ; a strap and buckle to surround the wrist, the same just above the elbow, and the same to unite the two separate pieces of leather across the back ; a piece of webbing on each side to tie loosely across the chest, to keep the armlets in their place. The leather is scooped inwards at the top, not to interfere with the face and neck. For placing the pipes in their bed we use a pair of nippers made by our own workmen. The handleSj which are of oak, play on an iron pivot — and, where this pivot works, are \^ and 1 inch thick, but are gradually reduced both ways for lightness, and slightly bulge at the hand-end for convenience in holding. The additional breadth of the parts that clutch the tile is gained by screwing on another piece of wood with two screws, which is additionally secured by the screws of a roughed iron plate (not one-eighth of an inch thick) with which those parts are faced, and which is turned over the end and screwed again with two screws at the back. The advantage of this tool is, that the drainer can handle the tile readily, in whatever position he may find it, and place it firmly in its bed, without of course having to descend himself into the narrow scooped channel prepared for the reception of the tile only. The draining leggings cost, the pair, about 20^., the armlets IO5., the tile-nippers 7s. 6d. I send a pattern pair of trowsers and armlets, and nippers, with a sketch of each, to the Agricultural Society's office, for any one who may have the curiosity to look at them. Believe me, my dear Mr. Pusey, Very truly yours, Westminster. Motcombe House^ Shaftesbury, 20th Feb. 1849. On a Dress for Drainers. 53 RIGHT ARM. RIGHT LEG. The measurements given are full size. The left leg should of course have 2 buckles instead of 2 straps at the top, and the left arm a strap. X X is a piece of webbing, fastened to each arm, which cross like braces, and are tied on in front. 54 On the Giant Sainfoin. III. — On the Giant Sainfoin. By Thomas Hine. The Giant Sainfoin, as it has been styled by Mr. Hart, of Ashwell, Herts, the fortunate introducer thereof, was totally un- known in this neigfhbourhood until about twenty years ago. It was then, on Mr. Hart's inquiring in the market for Sainfoin seed, that he was apprised by the late Mr. Carrington, of Shefford, Beds, that he had twenty bushels of old seed he was at liberty to try ; for which, if it did not grow, he would make no charge. These terms being accepted, the seed was sown, but, owing to its being late in the season and a dry summer following, it did not vegetate until the autumn, but in ihe spring it became vigor- ous and strong, and turned out to be a distinct species of the plant, possessing such peculiar properties, as will go far ulti- mately to supersede the growth of the common stock, unless it be upon some of the very poorest of our soils, where it is sown for purposes for which the Giant species would-be unsuitable, and to which I may hereafter advert. The crop thus obtained was mown for hay in the usual way : but Mr. Hart was surprised to find, that about six weeks after it presented him with another crop, in full flower. This also was mown for hay ; but in September it came again into flower, and again was cut for hay. The same fertility in its growth occurred in the second year, and with the same results, save that it excited the wonder of the neighbourhood, and was the subject of general discussion. This led Mr. H. the third year of its being in plant to suffer the second crop to go to seed, which, with all the stock since produced therefrom, has possessed the same peculiar pro- perties ; and a desire being evidenced by many parties to procure the stock, Mr. H. was enabled to dispose of his seed for many years at prices varying from 50^. to 80s. per bushel. Although residing in the immediate neighbourhood where it was introduced, and a large grower of Sainfoin, I must confess that I was rather sceptical as to its being so decidedly superior to the common stock, as to justify the enormous price demanded for the seed ; at length, however, by repeated examinations of the plant in its different stages for two or three years, I became fully alive to its important properties, and determined to possess my- self thereof: I did so, and my success and disappointment I shall proceed to detail. Having obtained two bushels of seed, I sowed it in July upon land which had been prepared for turnips, and obtained a fair plant ; but the fly made such ravages thereon, that I was reluc- tantly compelled to plough it up. My next effort was made in the month of March following, by obtaining from Mr. Hart 4 bushels of seed, for which I paid him 8O5. per bushel ; and, being On the Giant Sainfoin. 65 anxious to make the seed go as far as I could, I planted it by dibbling between the rows of wheat drilled in the autumn upon a pea stubble, which had been previously well prepared in reference to this object. My reason at this time for selecting a wheat crop upon a pea stubble was, because I thought I could depend upon such crop not injuring the plant ; whereas I felt that, with no other crop upon the farm, I should be perfectly safe should a dripping summer ensue. The enormous price I paid for the seed induced me to use this precaution. I have, however, sub- sequently discovered other reasons which have induced me to continue the practice. Wishing to cover as much ground as I could with my seed, I set six droppers to follow one man, that only one seed should be put in each hole, making them as close as possible. In this way 1 succeeded in making the 4 bushels of seed reach over more than 2J acres of ground. The seed planted well ; and although the plant was thin, yet, having left the stubble to protect the plant during the winter months, it rallied early in the spring, and, by the first week in June, I could have cut 35 cwt. of hay per acre; but, thinking I could obtain two crops of seed in one year, I left it for that purpose, cutting it in July ; but the plant being thin, it branched out considerably, which retarded the flowering, and, consequently, the maturing of the seed, so that only a scanty crop was realized ; and the second crop, although it went to seed, was late in October before it attained anything like maturity, and a frost causing the seed to fall, the crop was a total failure. By falling into this error I sus- tained a heavy loss. The 2J acres as a maiden crop produced me only 19 bushels of seed ; whereas had I mowed the first crop for hay, and the second for seed in August, there would have been more uniformity in its ripening, and I have no doubt, from crops I saw treated in that way, but J should have obtained 40 bushels of seed, so that, when the loss of the hay crop was also taken into account, my loss by this injudicious step amounted to about 90/., as some of my neighbours obtained 80s. per bushel this season for their seed. The next season I was more success- ful, and in June cut about 40 cwt. of hay per acre, and in August obtained about '20 bushels of seed per acre. Wishing, however, to notice my failure as well as my success, I proceed to state that the next season I procured another 4 bushels of seed, at 70^. per bushel, which I planted by dibbling with Tartarian oats, sown thinly, but very early. The seed was put in precisely the same as with the wheat crop of the preceding year, but it never planted so well, and the oats being heavy, the Sain- foin was only a partial crop ; still, however, I suffered it to remain three years in plant, and the price of the seed ruling high during the whole period, it was, upon the whole, a profitable crop. 56 On the Giant Sainfoin. I now feel myself bound in all fairness to notice an unfortunate occurrence which took place in 1844. Having determined to sow all the seed of my own growth until I had obtained the breadth I usually grew entirely of this stock, I sowed all my stock of seed, for which I could have obtained 70/., by drilling between the rows of corn, which proved an entire failure, owing to the excessive drought of that summer. But herein I was not sin- g-ular, as I know of no party who obtained a plant in that season. The clovers, also, were generally affected in a similar way, only 6 acres out of 70 acres I sowed realizing a plant. Having by this time, from my own observation, discovered the peculiar properties of this species of the plant, I shall proceed to detail them, and, with a view to make myself more clearly un- derstood, I shall do so principally by showing in what respects it stands contradistinguished from the common stock. There is very little difference in the appearance of the two varieties, but it is generally a shade darker in its colour, is more rapid in its growth in the spring, and still more so after the first cutting, which, in this locality, generally takes place very early in June; after this it shoots much earlier and grows much faster than the common stock, and by the end of July will be again in full flower. The bulk of the second crop will mainly depend upon the state of the weather. Upon whatever soil it is planted, it will always be much more bulky in a moist season than in a dry one ; still, however, be the season moist or dry, it will go to flower at the same time, and produce as much or more seed in a dry season than in a dripping one. If cut a second time for hay, it will be in flower a third time in September, but if left for seed, it will be ready for cutting in August, after which it will produce an eddish nearly equal to what is generally produced by the common stock after the first mowing. Again, the root of the Giant species is not so large as that of the common stock, roots of which I have sometimes known to penetrate upon a chalky soil to the depth of four or five feet, being proportionably large, but the roots of the Giant species are much smaller. The stalk, also, will be larger and taller, especially the first year it is in plant ; the reason of this is, its maturing itself much sooner than the common stock. The stalk, it is true, will possess a greater cavity in the middle, and, as a matter of course, w ill flatten more in the hay stack ; but whether this is advantageous or not I really cannot take upon my- self to determine. With regard to its nutritious qualities I have no knowledge ; but I have known that when both species have been sown side by side and depastured, the stock have given a decided preference to the Giant species ; this, moreover, is corro- borated by the observations of some highly respectable indivi- duals, whose testimonials will accompany these remarks. I have On the Giant Sainfoin. 57 also known where a party grew a small quantity, and placed it in the middle of a large stack of the common stock, that the horses gave a decided preference to the few cakes of the Giant species, whenever it was arrived at in cutting down. I have also clear proof that the fodder arising therefrom, when it is cut for seed, is superior to that produced by the common *stock, when each is equally well gotten. But before I leave the subject of the peculiar properties of this species, I must remark, that it matures itself much quicker than the common stock, which never attains full perfection before the second, or, in some cases, the third year after it is in plant ; but I have known the Giant species produce, upon a chalky soil, 2 tons of hay per acre the first season it was in plant. Still, however, I have never yet known a crop of this species but what produced a greater bulk in the second than in the first year of its growth, provided the season was equally favourable. 1 have also known seed sown in April, without the intervention of a crop of corn, produce a most abundant crop of hay the same year ; and some sown at the same time produce seed in September. It must be admitted in each case that the land was good and in high condi- tion ; a crop of turnips having been previously fed off. There is also a crop now growing upon land of a heavy character, well drained, which was sown in February last with oats, which was not only cut with the oats, but has since then produced another crop, which was used for soiling the working horses upon a large farm. I shall now close my remarks upon the merits of the two species (except so far as an observation or two may be necessary in my further remarks) with this important fact, viz. : — I have frequently known the two species tested side by side, but never, within the period I have recommended it should be continued in plant, an instance wherein the decided superiority of the Giant species was not clearly apparent ; and from others, who in different parts have tested them in a similar way, I have received communications giving the most unequivocal testimony of the same results attend- ing their experiments. Having, as before stated, suffered much from a failure, or par- tial failure, of the plant, I began most assiduously to inquire what would be the best method to adopt, in order to ensure success in this particular. And here I would acknowledge the obligations I an; under to a gentleman from Berkshire, detailing the success which generally attended the cultivation of Sainfoin in a crop of wheat, which practice I was at first induced to adopt from such recommendation, without ever satisfying myself as to the ground or reason of such success. And perhaps it may not be altogether uninteresting to my readers, if I briefly detail the circumstances 58 On the Giant Sainfoin. which have caused me, step by step, to arrive at my present con- clusions thereupon. For upwards of twenty years I had invariably adopted the practice s^enerally had recourse to in the neighbourhood, of sow- ing the seed with a crop of barley or oats, sown after turnips, where the land had been previously well cleaned and cultivated as a preparation for the crop, and sowing not more than half, or at most two-thirds, of the quantity of corn, lest it should grow too large and endanger the plant of Sainfoin, which would of course prove a greater loss than a partial defection of the corn crop, as it would extend itself over the number of years the Sainfoin re- mained in plant. But even with this precaution, I have known, in seasons of great drought, that the plant has been so far de- stroyed as to render it unfit for the purpose for which it v^as sown. To obtain a greater certainty in procuring a plant without any loss in the precechng crop, is what I have been aiming at for the last ten years ; with what success I shall proceed to detail. From experience I have proved that land, to ensure success in planting this crop, should possess a friable surface, and solidity in the soil immediately below the surface : without the former you cannot obtain a plant ; and without the latter, although a plant may be obtained, in a season of excessive drought it cannot be retained. It is essential for the reception of the first roots; for however fine the mould may be at the surface, if there be no solidity, the drought, if long continued, will destroy the plant; but with both these pre requisites I have never yet known a failure. The question then naturally presents itself. Is this pre- paration generally found in the ordinary course of cultivation upon a farm ? If not, you must either abandon the cultivation, or undertake it upon a risk ; for I hold it would be altogether unadvisable to cultivate expressly to meet the requirements of a plant which is only intended as an auxiliary to a profitable system. There will, however, be no difficulty as to this ; for upon land in a perfectly clean state, sown with wheat the preceding autumn, whatever may have been its previous course of cropping — except it be a clover layer, which I should not recommend — you will in the spring find all that is necessary to ensure success in obtaining a plant. I have seen most excellent crops of Sainfoin produced in this way : in some cases by drilling the seed between the rows of wheat, in others across them ; and also in a crop of wheat sown broadcast. I should, however, in either case, recommend that the seed should be deposited with a drill, by which means it is better covered at one uniform depth, and a considerable saving of seed is effected : from two and a half to three bushels of seed per acre being amply sufficient, when sown in this way, upon land as On the Giant Sainfoin, 59 above described. Nor is this all ; it is clear to me that the plant will mature itself sooner in this way than with a spring crop, unless the season should prove more than ordinarily favourable for a crop sown with spring corn. There will also be no loss with the corn crop. I have repeatedly known excellent crops of the Giant Sainfoin producing, by the first week in June, from 35 to 40 cvvt. of hay per acre, upon land which had produced 4i, 4^, and in one instance 5 quarters of wheat the preceding year. I am aware that the introducer of the Giant species recommends that it should be sown upon land in high condition, without a crop in the spring ; that some superior crops have been obtained in this way, and that sometimes a crop of hay or seed has been produced in the summer or autumn, upon land sown the preced- ing spring; but this is a practice which will never be generally adopted. I have been thus particular in detailing the results of my ex- perience as to the cultivation of Sainfoin in a wheat crop, not with a view to condemn a different practice, where such practice has for any length of time been successfully adopted ; on the con- trary, J should advise parties desirous of cultivating this species of the plant, to adopt the same course as they have known to be successful in their various localities in reference to the common sainfoin, the requirements for its cultivation being, in my opinion, (with one exception, to which I may hereafter advert,) precisely similar. Still, when it is evident that a more successful method is practised in another locality, I hold it to be the duty of enter- prising characters to try it in their own, taking care to do so with caution, I hold that man to be a novice, however valuable and extensive his acquirements may be, who, upon finding himself placed in a new locality, should forthwith fancy he has nothing to learn from his neighbours, who, with their forefathers, have from age to age been located upon that particular spot, and must therefore have had ample means of acquiring the knowledge necessary to suc- cessful cultivation. On the other hand, I should hold those parties to be anything but wise men who should wilfully shut their eyes to any experiment which a stranger but newly located among them might make, merely on account of its novelty. Having fully explained what 1 have found to be the most suc- cessful method of securing a plant of Sainfoin, I proceed to show how the Giant species may be brought into profitable cultivation, in a general way, upon farms where the four-course system of cultivation is adopted, without any material disorganization of such system, and with such apparent success as, I flatter myself, will so commend itself to the intelligent cultivator of the soil, by the ample remuneration it must of necessity produce, as to bring 60 On the Giant Sainfoin. it into general use upon all soils adapted to the cultivation of the plant. In doing this, I shall first give a brief outline of the system I recommend, and then show how far my own experience, and that of my neighbours, is corroborative of the advantages which will attend the system propounded. I take it for granted that the system of sowing the whole of the barley shift with clover is no longer practised generally, from a conviction that half the shift, sown every eight years, will produce at least three-fourths as much food as can upon an average be produced from the whole of the shift sown every fourth year. When this plan is adopted, it will leave half the shift to be sown with some other crop. Here it is that 1 would commence opera- tions : upon a part of this — say one-sixth of the entire shift — which I will suppose to be cropped with peas, and which, upon a farm of 100 acres, in each season will amount to about 17 acres ; to this quantity, therefore, I should direct my attention so soon as the peas were harvested, and, by a little extra labour then, and during the period that elapsed before Michaelmas, I should take care to render the process of summer fallowing after the ensuing wheat crop perfectly unnecessary. This being done, I should, in the wheat crop, whether sown broadcast or in rows, deposit the seed with a drill in the spring. In that case, the land will present you with a crop of sainfoin in place of the turnip- crop. This may be mown early in June for hay, and again in August for seed, and it will then produce a fine eddish in October. This I should continue in plant a second year, when it would displace the barley crop, and again in the third year displacing the clover layer. I then propose that it should be taken up for wheat with the rest of the shift, when, in my opinion, it will with the same treatment pro- duce the best crop the shift will afford. I am quite aware that the plant of sainfoin will not be exhausted ; but, upon a sainfoin layer of four or five years' standing, the wireworm sometimes makes sad ravages in the ensuing wheat crop, and even in the turnips and barley that follow : when the plant has been taken up in full vigour, say at the end of three years, I have never known these disasters occur. My practical readers will perceive, that by pur- suing this system, and planting another 17 acres in a similar way in the ensuing year, and another in the third year, a breadth of 50 acres may be appropriated each year to the growth of this valuable plant, without any sacrifice of corn-growing crops, save the 17 acres of barley in each year. From 50 acres of sainfoin thus produced, I calculate that from 80 to 100 tons of hay would be realized (in proportion to the productive powers of the soil) by the first mowing, which will for the most part be found suffi- cient for the entire consumption upon the whole farm, especially when the fodder arising from the 50 acres of seed in each year is On the Giant Sainfoin. 61 taken into account, which last will be equal in quantity and value to from 30 to 40 tons of meadow hay, supposing each to be equally well gotten. By adopting this system, it follows that the whole of the clover upon the farm may be fed with sheep, except in such localities where a more successful mode of disposing thereof can be had recourse to. This practice, moreover, will meet one of the peculiar properties of this species, which is this: — I do not think it will remain in plant so long as the common stock ; which, w4th its maturing itself so much earlier, and the extra mowing it undergoes, is not very surprising. Still I have known it answer well for five years, where most abundant crops of hay were pro- duced in each year ; but the seed crop of the last year was a failure, the seed dropping from the stem after it was set. In another in- stance, when it was sown upon a weak clay, well drained, in the middle of a 30-acre field of the common stock, and treated the same, by being mown once and then depastured, it remained in plant as long as the other was allowed to remain, being eight years. I shall now proceed to show how my own experience and ob- servation bear out the utility of the system I have laid down in theory. Tn 1845 I selected a field of 24 acres, which had been well manured in February, 1844, and sown partly with beans and partly with peas. The soil was a reddish loam, with a fair pro- portion of gravel stones, and the subsoil, at the depth of from 18 to 24 inches, was partly chalk and partly a dry white clay of a chalky character. This was all planted with wheat in the autumn : the sainfoin drilled between the rows in the spring, and the stubble left during winter to protect the plant. It has received no manure since that period, but has been mown once for hay and once for seed in every subsequent year ; part was drilled at the rate of 2 bushels, part at 2J, and the remainder at 3 bushels per acre. The crop was all good, but I gave a decided prefer- ence to the thickest sown. The hay is not so coarse, and there are more stems to produce seed on the second mowing. The field having planted well, I am desirous of ascertaining how long it will continue in plant, being mown once for hay and once for seed in each year. The field planted in 1846 was prepared in a similar way, and although the wheat crop was splendid, and partially lodged, the sainfoin is very good, 3 bushels per acre having been sown. In 1847 a piece of exceeding poor chalk land was planted, after being prepared in a similar way ; but, like all the sainfoins in this neighbourhood, being its first year in plant, it suffered in the spring from excessive wet weather, and the hay crop was not so productive as I usually grow, but has since been thrifty, and promises well for future years. The piece planted in 1848 was put in with wheat, sown pardy after beans and partly after rape. 62 Oil the Giant Sainfoin. The wheat was much lodged, but not so long before harvest as to destroy the plant ; and since then it has grown luxuriantly. The plants thus obtained in four consecutive years are looking healthy and strong ; and when the regularity thereof is regarded in con- nection with the weight of the wheat crops in which they were respectively produced, to say the least of them, they go to prove that by planting the sainfoin with wheat, instead of a spring crop, you do away with the necessity of making a sacrifice in the crop, in order to ensure a future crop of sainfoin ; as, in my opinion, a crop of wheat will rarely be found lodged to such an extent as to en- danger the plant growing therein. In further corroboration of my own experience, I may here be allowed to remark, that many of my friends and neighbours have adopted the system herein recommended, and at present I have never known a failure in obtaining a plant, although one party lost it when obtained in this way, through its having been eaten with slugs in the month of May. The recommendation I have given for cultivating the Giant species in accordance with the four-course system of cultivation, has not been made without mature consideration ; and perhaps I shall be excused if I proceed to state some two or three of the most important reasons which have led to this conviction. I have been more than forty years engaged in agricultural pursuits, which have been attended with a measure of success, and I have no hesitation in stating it as my opinion that the Giant species will be more remunerative to the cultivator thereof in three years than the common stock will in Jive ; this will of course give two years more for the land to be appropriated to other purposes. But, besides this, after three years in full plant, you are certain of your crop of wheat, whereas after five years, to say the least, it is hazardous. Again, by adopting this practice no derange- ment is offered to the four-course system, while the land is ap- propriated without any extra expense to the growth of crops for three years, equal in value, upon an average, to any crops pro- duced upon the farm, while they displace only one corn crop — the barley ; all this is at less expense than would be incurred in the ordinary way. For instance, the crop of wheat will for the most part repay the additional expense in preparing the pea stubble for the reception of the sainfoin. The turnip crop, upon an averacre, will cost as much producing as it is worth, the barley crop will not equal the value of the sainfoin in the second year, nor will the layer displaced by the third crop be anything like the value of the sainfoin crop. Besides, on many farms pecu- liarly adapted to the growth of sainfoin, the occupiers depend upon the clover for all the hay necessary for general consumption, and mow a considerable proportion thereof for this purpose ; but, On the Giant Sainfoin. 63 by adopting this system to the extent required for hay, they avoid the necessity of repeating the clover too often. Under any circumstances, I should not recommend more than half the hay and fodder arising from the sainfoin to be consumed in the yard ; believing as I do that it may be more profitably applied by cutting it into chaff, and giving it to the sheep upon land with the turnips. Here the intelligent farmer will be best able to judge for himself in the selection of his stock. I keep breeding ewes, and winter my lambhogs, selling them in the spring, either fat or as stores, or keeping them during the early part of the summer upon the clover, as circumstances may re- quire ; but others, who wish to consume much cake and corn, may prefer keeping sheep wholly for fatting purposes. In either case, I am of opinion that the consuming value of the hay will generally be obtained, and a greater return to the land realized, than by consuming the whole in the yard. And in either case I am of opinion that the return to the land from the hay thus con- sumed thereupon is greater than would be effected by the value of such hay consumed in corn, in a similar way, in any year, and especially in a very dry summer, when corn consumed upon the land is sometimes injurious to the barley crop. When this prac- tice is followed up year after year, much permanent improvement will be seen upon the farm, especially when such a practice is carried out merely as an auxiliary to a system heretofore workino* tolerably well. In various letters respecting the Giant Sainfoin, I have met with such observations as this : " I think the generality of the land in this neighbourhood is too poor for it." Now I have known it answer well within a few miles of this place upon a chalky soil, where the land was only one remove from unprofitable cultivation. The land, indeed, was highly cultivated, but not more so than was profitable. If, in the remark above given, allusion was made to the system I know to be practised upon some exceedingly poor soils, of sowing the land with sainfoin, and when it is no lono-er remunerative for mowing, using it for a sheep-walk, I must confess, in that case, I do not think it is so well adapted, seeing, as before stated, it will lose plant sooner than the common species, unless it be treated as such species generally is, without regard to taxing its more productive powers. For my own part, I see no reason to doubt but that upon our weakest soils a crop of seed may be produced proportionate with the stamina such soils may possess. I would, however, adopt every possible method that I could reasonably expect to be remunerative, in order to increase the fertilizing powers of the soil previous to planting the sainfoin ; and, although I have recommended a wheat crop upon a pea stubble to plant the crop of sainfoin upon, having found such a. 64 On the Giant Sainfoin. practice beneficial in its results, there is, nevertheless, a far better preparation to be made for both wheat and sainfoin upon weak soils, by large flock- masters, in the following- manner: — by sowing Italian rye-grass, rye, or tares, as may be deemed most judicious, upon the barley stubble, so as to produce a sufficiency of green food for a flock of young lambs by the middle of April ; they may then be placed thereon, and allowed to run before their dams in pens, giving them a fresh piece every day. The ewes following them may be kept upon mangold, reserved for that purpose, together with such dry food in the troughs as may be requisite to keep them in condition and enable them to suckle well. In this way they may be kept to the end of May, at some additional expense, it is true, but not more than the extra sheep kept will amply pay for, and the land, by bein^r ploughed as the sheep pass over it, will be sufficiently pulverized, and in good condition to produce rape for early feeding, or, with the assistance of a small quantity of Lawes' manure (if required), early turnips, for September feeding, may be produced ; these may be fed with corn or hay, as the land may require, when it will be in fine condition for a wheat crop and the sainfoin which follows it. I merely make these suggestions upon a practice which I have known to be successfully adopted upon a weak soil, as a prepara- tion for the cultivation of the Giant Sainfoin. Newnham, Baldock, Herts, April 19, 1849. The Testimonials subjoined are from parties who have tested the merits of the plant in different parts of the kingdom. Ickleton, Cambs. Sir, — I have only grown the Giant Sainfoin one year, but, from one year's trial, I shall certainly not think of growing any more of the common stock in future, as the crop of Hay mown from the Giant exceeded in weight that grown from the common stock by at least one-fifth ; after which it was seeded, and the after-feed was then equal to that of the common sort after the hay-crop only. The soil upon which mine is growing is a dry rubbly chalk. I am, Sir, yours, &c., To Mr. Hine. Samuel Jonas. Redbridge, near Southampton., Hants. Sir, — The Giant Sainfoin has far exceeded my expectation, and fully deserves the high character you gave it when you sent the seed. It was sown under very unfavourable circumstances, with a barley-crop, in March. 1847, upon a piece of our poorest land, the plough frequently running upon the hard gravel. The barley, in parts, was much lodged, but the Sainfoin took no damage. On the Giant Sainfoin. 65 and appeared very strong and vigorous in the autumn and during the winter, the severe frosts making no impression upon it. Being planted by the side of a piece of clover, the rapidity of growth in comparison was remarkable in the spring of the year, and by the 26th of May it was ready for the scythe, when there was at least 30 cwt. of hay per acre. In a few weeks afterwards the crop was again knee high, and in good condition for stable-food or second crop of hay j but wishing to procure more seed, I allowed it to remain for that purpose, after which it produced herbage 7 or 8 inches high. I certainly consider it a most valuable plant for agricultural purposes generally. I am, Sir, yours, &e., To Mr. Hine. William Stride. West Haghourne^ Berks. Sir, — In reply to your inquiries respecting the Giant Sainfoin, I beg to inform you that I succeeded very well. The seed was drilled upon a light loam soil, with a crop of wheat, at the rate of 2 bushels per acre. The first crop I mowed for horses, the second was seeded, and the third fed with sheep. I certainly consider it far superior to the common stock. I am, Sir, yours, &c.. To Mr. Hine. J. Lousley. Molland, Ash, near Sandwich, Kent. Sir, — In reply to yours respecting the Giant Sainfoin, I beg to state I sowed the three sacks of seed you sent me, upon 3^ acres of poor thin staple with a subsoil of chalk, in a crop of wheat, which in the spring was attacked with wire-worm, and the Sainfoin suffered considerably from the same cause ; but though in consequence the plant was thin, it realized the next year a good crop for hay, and afterwards a crop of seed, with an aftermath about equal to that of the old stock after the hay-crop only. I am therefore perfectly satisfied with the trial I have given it, and shall certainly recommend it to the notice of the Sainfoin growers in this neighbourhood. I am, Sir, yours, &c., To Mr. Hine. Austen Gardner. Lanark^ near Weston, Herts. Sir, — In reply to your inquiries respecting the Giant Sainfoin, 1 beg to state that I have grown it about ten years, and have always found its properties the same. I have been an extensive cultivator of the common stock of Sainfoin, and have also grown Lucern for soiling for stock ; but there is no doubt in my mind as to the superiority of the Giant Sainfoin to either, for any pur- pose, as it produces more weight per acre, and the quality is decidedly superior to Lucern, or any other green food I ever grew. I have experimented upon it in a variety of ways, and do not hesitate to pronounce it a most valuable plant ; and no one who knows its value as well as myself will for long remain without it. I am, Sir, yours, &c.. To Mr. Hine. Joseph Beaumont. VOL. X. F 66 On the Giant Sainfoin. Clare Hall, Cambridge. Sir, — In reply to your inquiries respecting my opinion of the Giant Sainfoin, I beg to state it has been cultivated upon my farms about eight years, partly upon chalk and partly upon heavy land, well drained, on both of which it has succeeded well ; and I have no hesitation in stating it will produce more weight, whether as soiling for horses or for hay, than any other artificial grass of which I am aware. I have kept it in plant five years, and others a longer period, where it has been more free from grass, and can speak to its superior qualities to the common stock, in whatever way it may be appropriated. I am, Sir, yours, &c., To Mr. Hine. William Webb, D.D. lioi/ston, Cambridgeshire. Sir, — The Giant Sainfoin is fast superseding the common variety in this neighbourhood. Having watched its progress for many years, I think its merits cannot be questioned, when the extraordinary produce is known. The small supply of seed, and consequent high price, are the only im- pediments in the way of driving the other sort out of cultivation. I am, Sir, yours, &c., To Mr. Hine. Valentine Beldam. Boarhu7it, near Fareham, Hants. Sir, — In reply to yours respecting the Giant Sainfoin, I beg to inform you that, having obtained some seed, I dibbled it in with the barley- crop in 1847, beside some of the common stock, both under the same treatment. The continuation of dry weather during the summer materially affected the artificial grasses in this neighbourhood, but the Giant species mani- fested much more strength and vigour than the common Sainfoin. This year I seeded both. Neither produced much seed, but the Giant the most, and was much stronger and more bulky in crop, producing afterwards considerably more herbage, which was fed off with lambs; and I particularly noticed the decided preference they gave to the Giant — ■ being turned into the field, they invariably went to that part, and ate it bare before they would go upon the other.' From what I have already witnessed, I am convinced this species is far more productive than the old stock, and only requires to be known to be more extensively cultivated. The soil upon which my seed was sowed is of a strong loamy nature, with a subsoil of chalk. I am, Sir, yours, &c., To Mr. Hine George Creed. Ashwell, Herts. Sir, — I have had some Giant Sainfoin in plant, more or less, for fifteen or sixteen years, and have always found it produce more in the first crop than the common sort, as well as a crop of seed afterwards. I have carefully observed it since it has been grown in this parish, and am so convinced of its value, that I should never again sow the common stock for any purpose when this can be obtained at any reason- able rate. I have used it for soiling for my horses, and find it superior to anything On the Giant Sainfoin. 67 I have used for that purpose, and am satisfied that those who know its value as well as myself will never farm without it. I am, Sir, yours, &c., To Mr. Hine. John Sale. Little Mmiow, Bucks. Sir, — In reply to your inquiries, I beg to state I drilled the Giant Sainfoin seed purchased of you with a crop of barley, beside some of the common variety, upon a light chalky soil, and from the commencement there has been a decided superiority in the growth of the Giant over the old stock. It produced a good crop of hay, and the aftermath was fed oif with cows, when I was amused and astonished to see these animals, so soon as from the yard, walk over the old sort to the Giant species, and not take a mouthful till they arrived at the latter. My opinion, from present experience, is, that the productive properties and superior quality of the Giant species render it fully one-third more profitable than the common sort, though I have for years been aware of the valuable properties of this plant. I am, Sir, yours, &c., To Mr. Hine. Joseph Wethered. Shepereth Bury, Cambridgeshire. Sir, — I beg to inform you that I have cultivated the Giant Sainfoin four years, and have sowed it beside the common stock, by planting a piece of the latter between two pieces of the former, when the difference was clearly discernible at a great distance ; indeed, it grew from 8 to 10 inches longer in the stalk, and was more rapid and much stronger in its growth. I should certainly not cultivate the common stock again, nor would any of my neighbours, but for the high price at which the seed is now selling. I am, Sir, yours, &c., To Mr. Hine. Nash Woodham. Litlington, Cambridgeshire. Sir, — In reply to yours, I beg to state I have grown the Giant Sainfoin ten years, and have frequently tested its properties beside the common stock, and, in every case, found it much superior, even upon the weaker chalks, formerly heath-land. I am so satisfied of its superior qualities, that I would not be without it upon any account. I am. Sir, yours, &c., To Mr. Hine. Thomas Kimpton. Dunton, Beds. Sir, — I have had a piece of the Giant Sainfoin in plant eight years, beside some of the old stock, planted upon heavy land, well drained ; the former has always been much more productive than the latter. Having grazed horses, cows, and sheep upon the piece, I noticed that each had a decided preference to the Giant species, eating it down bare before they would go to the other. In every respect, and for every purpose, therefore, I consider it far superior to the old stock. I am, Sir, yours, &c., To Mr. Hine. Robert Brown. F 2 68 On the Giant Sainfoin. West Halt 077, Li)7Coh7shire. Sir, — I beg to inform you that the Giant Sainfoin I purchased of you has succeeded very well. It is planted upon a light red loamy soil : the seed was dibbled in, and produced this year a good crop, which I mowed for the horses. It now looks remarkably well, and in my opinion is decidedly superior to the old stock, and will doubtless, after awhile, be generally cultivated I am, Sir, yours, &c., To Mr. Hine. Isaac Green. Newnham, Herts. Sir, — The Giant Sainfoin has been cultivated by me, upon a small scale, from a short period after it had obtained so much notoriety. I have invariably taken a crop of hay previous to a seed-crop, and have obtained, in some instances, as much as 80*. per bushel for my seed. I have planted this species of Sainfoin upon chalk-loam, and also upon heavy land, well drained, but give a decided preference to the latter, where it has always grown the best and strongest. I have one piece now in plant, upon a clay-loam with a subsoil of clay, which is very thrifty— this was drilled with a wheat-crop after beans, — and another piece, partly upon clay-loam and partly upon chalk ; but that growing upon the former description of soil is decidedly the most thrifty. I am, Sir, yours, &c., 2b Mr. Hine. William Dogget. LitVmgton, Camhyidgeshire. Sir, — I have proved the qualities of the Giant Sainfoin to be very superior to the common stock, it having produced a crop of hay and a crop of seed each year it has been in plant. The first piece I sowed was in 1840, which remained in plant till 1847, when I ploughed it up and sowed the land with oats. The first crop of hay, independent of the seed-crop, is more than equal to what the old stock would have produced. I am, Sir, yours, &c., Mr. Hine. Thomas Russell. Lmmceston, Dorset. Sir, — In reply to your inquiries respecting the result of my experiment with the Giant Sainfoin I purchased of you, 1 beg to state that I sowed a field of high, thin, chalk land with Sainfoin, in a barley-crop, planting the Giant species in the middle of the field, to give it a fair trial beside the common variety. During the ensuing winter it appeared more strong and healthy than the old stock, and at the time of mowing for hay would have produced a much greater quantity per acre ; but I allowed it to stand for seed, which was cut on the 13th July, yielding about 16 bushels per acre. The field was then laid up till October, when the Giant was too bulky for sheep-feed, producing in weight full three times as much as the common sort, or about 25 cwt. per acre, which I used as soiling for my oxen and colts. As an alternate crop, where broad clover fails, I consider it one of the most profitable crops that can be grown upon high chalky soils, with which the county of Dorset abounds. I am. Sir, yours, &c., Mr. Hine. James Burgess. Oil the Giant Sainfoin. 69 Stotfold, Beds. Sir, — I have cultivated the Giant Sainfoin more with a view to test its real properties than for any other purpose, and have sowed it upon the richest and poorest description of soil I occupy. The former is a rich, deep, black gravel-loam, where it remained in plant four years, being mowed for hay and seed each year. The plant was thin, but the hay-crop most abundant. The latter was some land where gravel-stone had been dug and the surface-soil buried, leaving nothing but the sittings to work upon. Here, also, it has answered well, producing both hay and seed the last two .seasons ; and it has been remarked by myself and neighbours, that the hay-crop alone in each year was superior to the average of the corn-crops I had heretofore grown upon the land. I now regret that I did not cultivate the plant more extensively at an earlier period, as no one, in my opinion, who knows its value, will cultivate the common variety when this can be reasonably obtained. I am. Sir, yours, &c., Bryan Gibbins. Bassingbourne, Cambridgeshire. Dear Sir, — I take the earliest opportunity of replying to your note. I have grown the Giant Sainfoin for some years, and on different soils, but chiefly on thin chalk hills, which I think peculiarly suited for it. I have sown it side by side with the common Sainfoin, and the difference in^' the growth and produce of the two sorts was astonishing. The Giant comes earlier to maturity, and, I believe, upon all poor, thin-stapled chalk-soils it will supersede the former — growing much earlier, stronger, and of greater produce per acre. You are quite at liberty to make what use you please of the above remarks. I am, dear Sir, yours truly, James Lilley. Littlehury, near Saffron Walden, Essex ^ Dec. 26th, 1848. Sir, — In answer to your inquiries, I beg to inform you that I have grown the Giant Sainfoin four years upon a thin rubbly chalk, and have found it considerably more productive than the old sort. Some persons have doubted the distinction, but even the most sceptical have only to see the two varieties growing together to be convinced of the superiority of the Giant. Not only does it mature somewhat earlier for, mowing (at the same time producing 20 per cent, more), but the rapidity with which i^ grows the second, and even the third time, is quite wonderful. I think, in a few years, when its properties become more generally known, it will be considered by the flock-masters, upon light soils, to be quite indispensable ; for, with a moderate breadth of it in plant, they will never know in the summer months what it is to be short of keeping ; indeed, I quite expect, at some future time, it will altogether supersede Lucern, for, with the same attention and manuring, I feel confident as much weight may be produced, and, I think, superior in quality, as all growers of Lucern are aware that the second and third cuttings are not relished so much by their stock as the first ; but this is not the case with the Giant Sainfoin, which is eaten with avidity at every cutting. 1 am, Sir, yours, &c.. To Mr. Hine. John Clayden. 70 Observations on the various Insects \Y, — Observations on the Natural History and Economy of various Insects affecting the Potato-crops, including Plant-lice, Plant- huqs. Frog-flies, Caterpillars, Crane-flies, Wireworms, Milli- pedes, Mites, Beetles, Flies, &fc. By John Curtis, F.L.S., Corresponding Member of the Imperial and Royal Georgofili Society of Florence ; of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, &c. Paper XV. The disease* which has assailed the potatoes for the last four years, frequently rendering the crop worthless, and setting human ingenuity at defiance to discover a remedy, appears to result from atmospheric influence, produced probably by a succession of cold, heat, and unusual humidity, which did not agree with the consti- tution of this imported esculent. Amongst the numerous causes that have been assigned for the appearance of this alarming and severe visitation, insects have been frequently taxed as the destruc- tive agents, but I am convinced the calamity is not to be attri- buted to their presence.! It certainly was remarkable that the Aphides should have swarmed in countless myriads in 1847, but the malady was not then so bad as it was in the previous and suc- ceeding years, which appeared to me to be the most fatal to the potato-crops, J yet, as far as my observations extended, the plant- lice were so scarce during 1846 that it was with difficulty I could find specimens, and I did not see a single Aphis upon my pota- toes in 1818, notwithstanding the crop was worse than it had ever been before in my neighbourhood, more than half of them being rotten. The appearance of the Aphides in such unprecedented swarms may fairly be attributed to the same cause as the potato rot — namely, certain conditions of the atmosphere, for it is gene- rally admitted that the appearance of a species of insects in un- usual abundance, may be the effect either of some exciting influ- ence, as electricity, or of a congenial temperature, creating a climate favourable to the increase of the animal, such as heat and moisture. In other instances it no doubt is owing to the absence * Murrain, being " a plague in cattle," ought never to have been applied to the potato disease, as it frequently has been. t M. Guerin holds a similar opinion, as well as Mr. "Westwood and different members of the Entomological Society of London. Vide Bulletin of the Royal and Central Society of Agriculture in Paris, vol. v. p. 331, and Gardeners' Chron., vol. viii. p. 468. % The very great breadth of potatoes planted in 1848 has given so much larger an amount of produce, that the loss from disease is not felt as it would have been had the usual quantity only been grown ; and this is a very important fact to keep in view as reg^ards our future prospects. Indeed, is it worth while, at present at least, to sacrifice so many acres of valuable land in growing rotten potatoes ? affecting the Potato-crops. 71 of animals and parasitic insects in the previous year, whose pro- vince it would have been to keep within bounds these troublesome enemies to man. If, however, the prevailing; disease amongst the potatoes cannot be traced to the presence of insects, there is a large number of species which prey upon, and undoubtedly injure to some extent, the most healthy crops, and of these the history will now be given. It will be better to divide them into those which affect the foliage, and others which infest the roots, first in a sound, later in a dis- eased state. Aphides, or Plant-lice. Many varieties of these insects are found upon the leaves of the potatoes during the spring and summer months, indeed so long as the foliage remains green and succulent. Their first appearance depends upon the mildness of the weather, for when it becomes cold they do not generate, or at any rate very slowly, so that the species disappear ; but if a plant be taken and protected in a greenhouse or sitting-room, their economy is not interrupted even in the winter, as one sees by the Pelargoniums being covered with Aphides when they are neglected. I have at this time (January) two tulips in a pot, the convoluted leaves swarming with Aphides, allied to the one infesting the peach-trees : the apterous lemales are daily bringing forth young, and the pupae are batching and producing winged females.* But to return : I very much doubt if there be any species exclusively attached to the potato, for the one named Aphis vastator by Mr. Smee appears to me to be identical with my A. Rapce, which inhabits turnip-leaves, and was described and figured hi this Journal in I842.f In confirmation of my views I may state that, in April, Mr. F. J. Graham has detected the Aphis Persicce % upon the potato- leaves in his vinery ; the beginning of May, Mr. Denham found A. granarius, or an allied species, in some abundance on the potato-leaves at Broxmouth Park. On the 5th of June, 1847, I observed upon my potato-haulm the hop-fly {Aphis Humuli) and the turnip-plant louse {A. Rapce) ; on the 13th also a species without honey-tubes ; on the 17th several belonging to a group separated from Aphis, and called Schizoneura ; and in July, Aphis Fahce, the broad-bean louse, was in some force upon the potatoes, whilst it was swarming upon other vegetables and garden flowers ; for instance, the shoots of dahlias, the underside of the leaves of the convolvuli, French and scarlet beans, beet, and parsnips were * Mr. F. Walker considers they are the A. vastator of Smee. t Vol. iii. p. 53, pi. C, f. 1, 2, 3, and Gardeners' Chron., vol. vii. p. 21. % Curtis's Guide, Genus 1047, where nearly sixty species are arranged. 72 Observations on the various Insects literally covered and black with the wing;ed females, sticking in closely- packed phalanxes, and in that position they died by the end of July or earlier — without killing any of the plants, to the best of my knowledge. No one acquainted with cultivation will attempt to deny that the plant-lice have the power to destroy a crop, — for instance, the horse and broad beans were a light crop, and entirely failed from the attacks oi Aphis Fahce in many districts in 1847 ; but in that very year the potatoes in gardens, where the Aphides were abun- dant, proved sound crops; whilst in 1848, where wo Aphides could be found, the tubers were worse than at any former period. That Aphides will puncture the potato-leaves there can^ be no doubt, and so incline them to wither ; but there is no proof of their poisoning the sap and causing the rot. Indeed it is onlv when plants are smothered with them, as we see beans, turnips, hops, and roses occasionally are, that their presence causes any real mischief, and then it simply arises from the local exhaustion pro- duced by the abstraction of the sap from the leaves or young shoots, and of course when the circulation is impaired and the cel- lular tissue is deprived of its nourishment and dried up, the foliage becomes spotted and withers ; but in no instance have I seen the Aphides on the potatoes in sufficient numbers to destroy the crop, or even to injure the produce. The economy of the Aphides has been so amply detailed in a former volume,* that I shall now merely identify the species above noticed. i. Aphis Rapa?, Curtis, Journal of Royal Agric. Soc, vol. iii. p. 53, pi. C, figs. 1, 2, 3. Having received so many different species from various corre- spondents with the name of A. vastator^ it is difficult to decide which is intended for the authentic one ; but some which were stated to be typical examples, and identical with those figured and described by Mr. Smee, leave little doubt on my mind that they ar'e the same as the Aphis RapcB. 2. A. Humuli, Curtis, Gardeners' Chron. for 1846, p. 405. The winged specimens are exceedingly like A. Hapce in size and colour. 3. A. Persicae, Morren, is very like the preceding species, but it is rather larger, with much longer and slenderer ducts. In the autumn of 1834 prodigious swarms of this species were carried by a hurricane over many parts of Belgium. f 4. A. Fabae, Scop, Journal of Roval Agric. Soc, vol. vii. p. 418, pi. R, figs. 21 and 22. * Journal of Royal Agric. Soc, vol. iii. p. 4!). t Ann. Acad. Roy. des Sol. de Bruxelles, for Aug. 1836, affecting the Potato-crops. 73 To render the history of this species more complete, the female and pupa are represented in our plate U ; figs. 1 and 3, magni- fied ; figs. 2 and 4, the natural sizes. 5. Schizoneura lanigera, Hansen? belongs to a group which has been separated from the genus Aphis in consequence of the different neuration of the wings, &c. The winged specimens are only accidental inhabitants of the potato, and may frequently be observed on almost every plant in the garden. As a proof of the great fecundity of these insects, I put three from the potatoes into a quill, and in 6 hours they had produced 43 young ones. At the same time the natural enemies of the Aphides were not inactive : the lady-birds {^Coccinellce 1 -punctata and C. dispar*) were laying their eggs, which soon hatched, and the little black larvae made great havoc, as well as their parents, amongst the helpless communities: the beautiful 2-winged flies [Scceva bah teata^ and Cheilosia tceniata %) were also depositing their eggs beneath the potato-leaves, where they soon hatched, and the mag- gots commenced feeding on their Aphis prey. These eggs are white, oval, and beautifully granulated, whilst those of the lady- birds are smooth, and of an orange or buff colour. There are likewise some minute bugs and their larvae, which are exceedingly serviceable in destroying the Aphides ; and there seems to be scarcely a plant or tree where they may not be found ; the perfect insects inhabiting the flowers, and the immature ones running about in search of the Aphides, which they transfix with their sharp rostrum. These bugs are included in the Order Hemiptera, the Family Coreid^, and the Genus Hylophila or Anthocoris. The 1st species is called 6. H. Nemorum, Linn. : it is only IJ line long : fig. 5; 6, the natural size. It is black and shining, the head is trigonate, narrowed before, with a 3-jointed rostrum bent under the breast; the 2 globose eyes are prominent, and the 2 minute ocelli at the base of the crown are remote : the 2 horns are half as long as the body, straight. 4-jointed and black; 1st joint short, 2nd the longest, bright ochreous, the tip black ; 3rd and 4th of equal length, the former ochreous at the base, the latter conical at the apex : thorax triangular, truncated before with two transverse channels : scutel triangular, acute, and not small : elytra elliptical, lying flat on the back, and extending beyond the abdomen, pale ochreous, with a spot at the suture, a bar or spot on the disc of each, and the oblique margin all fuscous ; the terminal membrane is white, with a fuscous spot on the disc and a larger one at the * Jour, of Royal Agric. Soc, vol. iii. p. 57, pi. C, figs. 15 and 16. t Ibid., Vol. iii. p. 66. % Curtis's Guide, Genus 1241, No. 3. 74 Observations on the various Insects tip: beneath are 2 transparent but iridescent wincrs, with a smoky spot at their tips : the 6 legs are bright ochreous and slender, the base and tips of the shanks, as well as the feet, are pitchy, and there is a ring of the same colour near the apex of the hinder thighs. It varies so much in the markings, that the different varieties have been described under the following five names by Fabricius, \iz., sylvestr is, fasciatus, nemoralis, austrHacus, and^ra- tensis. They hide themselves when disturbed, often running into chinks in the bark of fruit and other trees, where probably the eggs are deposited; likewise under loose bark as well as in moss, where they hybernate, to come forth again in the spring. The larva (fig. 7 ; 8, the natural size) is very minute at first, yet it resembles the parent in having a rostrum, horns, and 6 legs, but it is narrower, of a blood or chestnut colour, more ochreous when fasting, and it has no wings : the head is furnished with a very acute rostrum, longer than the head, the horns and legs are ochreous, the terminal joint of the former being the stoutest and of a blood colour. Fig. 9, the thorax and head nearly in profile. The pupa (fig. 10; 11, the natural size) is as long and broader than the perfect insect, which it greatly resembles in form, and it is equally active and useful : it is of a deep shining chestnut colour ; it has no little eyes on the head : on each side of the back lies a flat rounded lobe, ochreous at the tip, and they contain the inci- pient elytra and wings : the body is broad, convex and orbicular : the horns and legs are ochreous, the first and last joints of the former of a chestnut colour. 7. H. minuta, Linn., is a smaller species, being little more than 1 line long: fig. 12; 13, the natural size. It is shining black : the horns are brown, ochreous at the base : hinder part of the thorax punctured : elytra ochreous and punctured, the apex fuscous ; membrane smoky on the disc : beneath them are 2 transparent wings : legs ochreous, tips of feet dusky. The larva and pupa are smaller than those of the former species, but they are equally beneficial, I believe, in preying upon the Aphides. Flies, or Muscid^.. Mr. E. Doubleday transmitted to me some flies which were stated to be laying their eggs in the young shoots of the potatoes, and causing the rot. They belong to the Order Diptera, the Family Muscid^, and the Genus Sapromyza. The species has been named by Fallen 8. S. obsoleta.* It is bright ochreous, producing a few long black bristles : the eyes have 2 purple lines when alive, but are * Curtis's Brit. Ent., fol. 605, and Guide, Genus 1295. affecting the Potato -crops. 75 brown when dead : the apical half of the 3rd joint of the horn is black as well as the pubescent seta: the abdomen is rather small : wings ample, yellowish and iridescent, but transparent, nervures ochreous : balancers with a large triangular club : legs whitish- ochre ; at the apex of the hinder shanks, where the spur is in- serted, is a brown spot ; the feet are dusky, the hinder thickened, especially the basal joint : expanse of wings 5^ lines. The larvse of most of the Sapromyzidce are said to live in putrid substances, as mushrooms, &c., but Mr. Haliday has bred S. rorida from flowers. Thrips. In the summer of 1846 Mr. Barnes of Bicton* and many other practical gardeners entertained so strong a conviction that a little Thrips was the author of the potato epidemic, that I care- fully investigated the subject, and was soon satisfied the disease could not be attributed to their agency. On the 30th of July Mr. Barnes sent some diseased potato-leaves with several of the little Thrips upon them. Being in Oxfordshire at the time, I immediately visited several allotments where I had observed the leaves and stalks were spotted. On digging up some of the worst, we found a diseased tuber of good size, and two more the following day. After a diligent search I detected the larva and pupa of the Thrips, as well as the perfect insects, amounting to about twenty specimens. The Thrips was most abundant where the plants were sheltered from the wind, invariably inhabiting perfectly healthy leaves ; and on the following morning I could find very few. In another spot, where the leaves were dead and the haulm spotted, we did not find one bad potato amongst those we dug up, nor a single Thrips on the green leaves of a few healthy-looking plants still remaining. Various species of Thrips injure different crops of grain and fruit, as well as greenhouse plants, by abstracting the fluids which ought to sustain them, and so far the Potato-Thrips acts upon the leaves, but that has nothing to do with the rot in the tubers. When they congregate in countless myriads, as they often do in melon and cucumber frames, their presence is soon indicated by ochreous spots upon the cuticle, which end in the destruction of the leaf, arising from their puncturing it with their short beaks, and extracting the sap in the same manner as the Aphides ;\ but their number upon the potatoes was never sufficient to effect any important change on the constitution of the plants. These minute creatures run with activity over the surface of * Gardeners' Chron., vol. vi. p. 532. t Journal of Royal Agric. Soc, vol. vi. p. 500, Tlirips cerealium. 76 Obsei'vations on the various Insects the substances they feed upon, and no doubt the winged indivi- duals can flv. The larva is shuttle-shaped and ochreous ; the head is small and oval, wiih a minute black eye on each side, and a short beak beneath ; the 2 horns are twice as long as the head, slightly pubescent and 4-jointed ; first 2 joints small, 3rd egg- shaped, 4th nearly as long as the others united, ovate at the base and attenuated to the apex : trunk very long and broad, composed of 3 segments, the 1st trigonate with rounded angles, the 2 fol- lowing forming broad bands ; the abdomen is as wide as the thorax, composed of 9 segments, conical and hairy at the apex : 6 short legs ; thighs very short ; shanks dilated ; feet indistinct or wanting (fig. 14; 15, the natural size). The pupae are also ochreous, but before they change to the perfect state they become much darker ; and being such atoms they are not easily detected under the leaves when at rest, lying close to the midrib or nervures, but they run about lively enough when disturbed. They belong to the Order Hemiptera,* the Family TuRTPSiDiE, and the Genus Thrips, The species on the po- tato was described by Linnaeus a century back, under the name of 9. T. minutissima (fig. 16; 17, natural size). It is scarcely 4- of a line long ; pale brown or dirty ochreous : the horns are short and 6-jointed ; the eyes are intensely black: the trunk is concave, and the sides parallel : the abdomen is oval, pointed, piceous, and shining : the 4 wings, lying parallel on the back, are narrow, dirty white, and ciliated : 6 short legs, stoutish and ochre- ous; shanks and feet simple. Smynthurus and Podura ; the Ground-fleas. In July and AuQ:ust numbers of these curious little creatures accompanied the Thrips, running and skipping about the under- side of the potato-leaves, often falling down upon their backs. They constitute an Order called Thysanura, and belong to the Genus Smynthurus. As I cannot find any description which entirely agrees with the potato species, I have named it 10. S. Solani. It is not bigger than a small grain of sand, and either entirely of a deep ochreous colour with black eyes, or as black as soot with ochreous horns : the head is large, like a great mask, and attached by a slender neck : the eyes are placed on each side of the crown ; the horns are more than half the length of the body, slender, elbowed, and 4-jointed ? the trunk and body are united, forming a large globose mass, with a forked tail doubled under the latter for leaping : the 6 legs are rather * Mr, Haliday raised the Thrips to a distinct order, Thysanoptera ; Ent. Mag., vol. iii. p. 439, and Curtis's Brit. Ent., fol. and pi. 748. affecting the Potato-crops. 7^ shorthand apparently triarticulate (fig. 18, magnified; 19 is to show the leaping apparatus in another species). These minute animals are nourished by eating the parenchyma of the green leaves, but some species feed on fungi. In Nova Scotia the crops of turnips and cabbages are principally de- stroyed, whilst in the seed-leaf, by some Smynthurus, the size of a pin's head, and nearly globular. It hops with great agility by means of its forked tail, and may be found on every square inch of all old cultivated ground, but it is not plentiful on new land. As these "Ground-fleas" will not remain on damp ground, they may be expelled by sprinkling salt over the land after the seed is sown and well rolled down, or a thin layer of sea-weed spread over the drills is a perfect security against them.* An allied Genus called Podura has very lately been accused of being the origin of the potato-disease. W. P. says — " First, in an early stage of its existence, it lives on decayed vege- table matter, which it collects by burrowing into the earth ; secondly, it occurs in numbers sufficient to cover nearly the whole surface of the earth ; thirdly, it collects, as a means of existence, a substance which is poisonous to vegetables. It has power to infuse this into living plants by burrowing into the parenchyma. The poison is circulated through the system, vital action becomes suspended, mildew immediately fol- lows, and in less than three days some of the plants attacked are dead vegetable matter, food for the offspring of the newly-discovered Podura.'"-\ Dr. Lindley very justly adds, " Insects are not the cause of the potato-disease." CiMiciD^, or Plant-bugs. It is somewhat remarkable that whilst portions of these crea- tures, as we have already shown, are destined to live upon Aphides, and so preserve our vegetables, others have an opposite taste, and, like the Plant-lice, pierce the cuticle to feed upon the juices, causing similar injury by parching up the leaves, or covering them with blotches. The appearance of various species of Plant-bugs, their larvse and pupae, upon the potato-crops, excited the attention of agri- culturists, some of whom were at once disposed to attribute the prevalent disease to these insects. The truth is, when an un- known malady first visits us, it is natural that every one inte- rested should endeavour to find out the origin, consequently every imaginary influence is taxed as the cause by the speculative mind; and from the little attention that is paid by the farmer and gar- dener to the economy of insects, they are led to believe that cer- tain tribes of animals are the culprits, because they chance to be * Halifax Times. t Gardeners' Chron. vol. viii. p. 702. 78 Observations on the various Insects abundant upon the plants, and they never observed them before ; but if their attention had been directed to the subject earlier, they would in all probability have detected the same insects upon the same plants every year, in greater or less abundance. In July and August, 1846, I had numbers of specimens trans- mitted to me from Devon, Winchester, and various counties, the parties expressing a strong conviction that these Potato-bugs were the cause of the disease. The cry was raised again in 1847, in the same months, which led to the subject being noticed in the Gardeners' Chronicle.* That these insects live upon the foliage of the potatoes there can be no question, and therefore it will be advisal3le to identify the species so that at any future period no unnecessary appre- hensions may be entertained should they appear in unusual numbers. They all belong to the Order Hemiptera, the Family CoRisiD^, and the Genus Lygus or Phytocoris. One species appearing different from any described, I have named it 11. L. Solani (fig. 20; c, the natural length). It is green, shining, punctured, and clothed with soft depressed pale hairs : head small, smooth, transverse-oval, and ochreous ; face tri- angular, with a long 4 -jointed rostrum bent under the breast in repose: the eyes are small, prominent, lateral, oval, and black; the two horns are ochreous, brown beyond the middle, long, very slender, angulated, and 4 jointed, basal joint the stoutest, longer than the head, 2nd twice as long, 3rd longer, 4th shorter than the first. Thorax ochreous, convex, triangular, truncated before, twice as broad as the head at the base ; scutel triangular : abdo- men entirely green ; the female with a channel beneath, enclosing the horny oviduct : elytra very long, elliptical, as broad as the thorax, resting horizontally on the back ; stigma green, like the elytra ; membrane transparent, iridescent, the nervures bright green : wings ample, transparent : 6 long slender ochreous legs, hinder very long ; feet ochreous, all pitchy at their tips, and ter- minated by 2 claws ; hinder thighs the stoutest, the shanks very long, slender and spiny: length nearly 3 lines. It is possible this species may be a variety only of the Cimex pabulinus of Lin- naeus, or the Phytocoris prasinus of Fallen. | As soon as these insects leave the e^^ they can run about, being fnrnished with legs, 1 orns, and a rostrum like the parents, but they are deprived of the organs of flight. As they grow they attain 2 lobes on the back, which enclose the future elytra and wings, and then they are called Pupae (fig. 21 ; d, the natural length). In every stage of their existence they feed in the same * Vol. vii. p. 468. t Curlis's Guide, Genera 1100 and 1103. affecting the Potato-crops. 79 manner ; but the perfect insects, which emerge from the matured pupae^ can fly well, are exceedingly active, leaping by short flights and tumbling about in the sunshine, so that it is difficult to cap- ture these fragile creatures, especially without mutilating them. They were abundant from the middle to the end of August in 1846 and 1847. 12. L. contaminatus. Fallen, is very similar in size and form to the foregoing species (fig. 22 ; 23, natural size ; fig. 24, the head, &c., in profile). It is ochreous, the base of the thorax and the elytra inclining more or less to green, and the membrane is margined with a smoky colour ; but it varies considerably, some having a dark spot at the base of the stigma, forming a bar across when the elytra are closed ; the suture is also brown, as well as the nervures of the wings, and a patch on the back of the abdo- men. It is 3 lines long : the wings expand 5|. This species was abundant on my potato-crop in August, 1846, and it abounds on lime-trees from the beginning of May to the middle of August, or later. 13. L. bipunctatus. Fallen (fig. 25; 26, natural size), is a more robust insect. It is green, more or less ochreous when dead : the horns are stoutish, ferruginous, dusky at their extremity, with a pitchy spot beneath the first joint towards the base ; the ros- trum, in repose, extends to the hinder coxae, and is pitchy at the tip. In some varieties there are 2 black dots on the disc of the trunk, and it is ochreous before : back of abdomen shining black, with the lateral margins pale : elytra with depressed black hairs, and generally with indistinct stripes or splashes of brick-red : membrane smoky : wings ample, smoky, with darker nervures : legs stoutish, especially the hinder ; thighs ochreous, rusty at their extremities, tips of tibiae and feet pitchy. Length 3| lines, expanse 7 lines. This species was very abundant the end of August, 1846, upon the potato-haulm,* as observed by Mr. Balkwill and other gar- deners. In summer it is often found on nettles in Ireland and England. 14. L. umbellatarum. Panzer (fig.' 27 ; g, the natural dimen- sions), is a more oval species, with slenderer horns and legs: it is pale green or ochreous, shining, punctured, and pubescent : head smooth, inclining to red ; horns rosy, tip of 2nd joint with the two following brown: thorax rosy behind, and coarsely punctured, smooth before, with a transverse waved channel : scutel white, black at the base, sometimes with 2 longitudinal black or rosy lines next the thorax : body shining black above, margined with ochre : elytra elongate oval, clouded with red, the costa deeply * Gardeners' Chron., vol. vi. p. 557. 80 Observations on the varions Insects notched at the base of the stigma, which is tipped with brown, the oblique and oval nervure scarlet; membrane with a smoky border and a dot within the cell ; wings ample, iridescent, nervures dusky : legs ochreouSj slender, and rather short, excepting the hinder pair ; thighs with a reddish or brown ring near the apex, 2 rings in the hinder, the shanks spiny, all tipped with brown ; feet pitchy. Length 2f lines, expanse 6 lines. This pretty spe- cies varies much, and some examples are very rosy. At the commencement of September, 1846, it was abundant on diseased potato-haulm in many localities. It inhabits grasses in May, and later in the year it is found upon the flowers of umbel- latse. It is spread far and wide, for I have caught numbers in Scotland, especially in the isles of Skye and Arran. Two other species, Phytocoris pabuliniis of Linnaeus, and P. viridulus, Halm, are recorded as inhabiting and injuring the potato crops.* It is evident, by the following extract from a letter of a resident in South Australia, communicated to Mr. Thwaites, that the potato disease in that remote country, in 1847, has been ascribed to some insect allied to those infesting our own crops. The writer says — " The fly which destroyed the potato crop was a small white Tree-hug> with transparent wings, not half the size of the common house-fly. They ate up all the tops of the potatoes, so that there was not a leaf to be seen, and of course the roots were useless where they attacked them in the early state." t The following accurate observations of Dr. Harris will show that similar injuries were inflicted upon the potatoes in the United Slates ten years back, and that insects had been suspected of assisting in the destruction of the crops. He states that it was a species of Plant-bug closely allied to Phytocoris campestris of Linnaeus, and described as the P. lineolaris of Palisot de Beau- vois, and the Capsus ohlineatus of Say. " During the summer of 1838," says Dr. Harris, "and particularly in the early part of the season, which it will be recollected was very dry, our gardens and fields syvarmed with immense numbers of little bugs, that attacked almost all kinds of herbaceous plants. My atten- tion was first drawn to them in consequence of the injury sustained by a few dahlias, marigolds, asters, and balsams, with which I had stocked a little border around my house. In the garden of my friends the Messrs. Hovey, at Cambridgeport, I observed about the same time that these insects were committing sad havoc, and was informed that various means had been tried to destroy or expel them without effect. On visiting my potato-patch shortly afterwards, I found the insects there also in great numbers on the vines ; and from information worthy of * Gardeners' Chron., vol. vii. p. -!68. t Trans, Ent. Soc, vol. v. p. xxxiii. affecting the Potato^crops. 81 credit am inclined to believe that these insects contributed, quite as much as the dry leather of that season, to diminish the produce of the potato-fields in this vicinity. They principally attacked the buds, terminal shoots, and most succulent growing parts of these and other herbaceous plants, puncturing them with their beaks, drawing off the sap, and, from the effects subsequently visible, apparently poisoning the parts attacked. These shortly after withered, turned black, and in a few days dried up or curled, and remained permanently stunted in their growth. Early in the morning the bugs would be found buried among the little expanding leaves of the growing extremities of the plants, at which time it was not very difficult to catch them ; but after they had become warmed a little by the sun they became exceedingly active, and on the approach of the fingers would loose their hold and either drop suddenly or fly away. Sometimes, too, when on the stem of a plant, they would dodge round to the other side, and thus elude our grasp. " I have taken this insect in the spring as early as the 20th of April, and in the autumn as late as the middle of October ; from which I infer that it passes the winter in the perfect state in some place of security. It is most abundant during the months of June and July. It seems to be very generally diffused through the Union."* Dr. Harris attributes the great increase of noxious insects to the exterminating war which has been wantonly waged upon the insect-eating birds. A hint, to place a hen-turkey or duck under a crate or cage, and let the young ones scour the garden, is worth attending to. Potato Frog-fltes. Equally or more abundant than the Plant-bugs were these suctorial insects, which were hopping and flying over the potato grounds from the end of August until the crops were lifted the end of September. Every one has observed upon holyhocks and other flowers little patches of frothy matter called '' Cuckoo spittle:" they are occasioned by a tender little animal, which by sucking the plant buries itself in this froth, which protects it from heat and other inimical effects, until it is full grown, when it changes to a pupa, and from this emerges the perfect insect, called by Linnseus Cicada spumaria.^ The Potato frog-flies are of the same family, only the larvse do not secrete froth, but move about like their parents. There are two species inhabiting the potato-haulm: they belong to the Order Homoptera, the Family Tettigonid^., and the Genus Eupteryx.J One is closely allied to Fabricius's T. Jlavescens, which is larger, and, as I am doubtful of their being identical, I have named the Potato species * Harris's Treatise on Insects, pp. 162, 163. t Tettigonia spumaria, Curtis's Guide, Genus lOGO, No. 6, and Gardeners' Chron., vol. ii. p. 509. % Curtis's Brit. Ent., fol. and plate 640. vol. X. G 82 Observations on the various Insects 15. E. Solani * (fig. 28, flying ; h, natural dimensions). It is of a lively green colour, but fades after death to a yellowish green : the head is broad, short, and crescent-shaped above, with 2 lateral prominent brown eyes: fig. 29, head, &c., in profile : the face is beneath, somewhat oval and very long, the apex producing a ros- trum, and in a cavity on each side, before the eyes, are inserted the antennae, which are short, and like 2 fine bristles, arising from 2 minute subglobose joints : the trunk is smooth, transverse, and semi-orbicular; the scutel is triangular, acuminated a| the apex: the abdomen tapers to the apex^ and is conical in the female, with a long and stout ovipositor beneath, formed of 2 sheaths, ciliated with iiairs and enclosing the oviduct : wings 4, lying over the back in a convex form, when at rest ; the superior, called elytra, are twice as long as the body, narrow and elliptical, the nervures scarcely visible; they are very glossy and iridescent, the extre- mity rusty ; inferior wings ample, nearly as long as the elytra, beneath which they are folded, being exceedingly delicate and iridescent : the 6 legs are very slender^ the first pair are short, the hinder very long ; thighs short and slender ; the anterior shanks are armed with spines on the inside only and not to the apex ; the hinder are long with a double row of spiny bristles on the outside ; feet moderately long and tri-articulate, basal joint the shortest, 2nd the longest, but in the hinder pair the basal joint is the longest; claws and pulvilli minute. Length 1 line, ex- panse 2f . The females have been observed by Mr. F. J. Graham, depo- siting their eggs under the potato -leaves : these are white, cylin- drical and somewhat shuttle-shaped, more pointed at one end than at the other, and striated with numerous furrows forming ridges : fig. 30 ; /, natural size : the little creatures which hatch from them are green with 2 horns and 6 legs, as well as a rostrum to pierce the cuticle of the plant. The pupa (fig. 31) is green, and nearly as large as the parents, but narrower : the body tapers considerably : the head is broad and the 2 black bristles forming the horns are much longer than in the perfect insect : it has 2 large black eyes : the stout rostrum lies under the breast, extend- ing to the hinder hips ; it is flexible and 3-jointed, enclosing the 4 mandibles and maxillse, which protrude beyond the apex like the finest bristles : the lateral lobes enclosing the future wings look like the pinions of a bird : it has 6 legs, the hinder pair being the longest. When these pupae are full grown they attach their feet to the stalk or leaf, and by bursting the horny skin on the back, the perfect insect crawls out and is thus liberated. These skins, as well as those cast off by the larvae during their * Gardeners' Ghron., vol. vi. p. 388. affecting the Potato-crops. 8S §^rowth, are sometimes seen in multitudes adhering to the foliage or lying on the ground beneath. The perfect potato frog-fly is often abundant from the middle of August to the end of September, when not unfrequentlj a dozen may be seen on one leaf. In dull weather they have a curious mode of evading notice by sidling round to the opposite side of the stem or beneath a leaf, but in bright warm days they leap and fly short distances. The other species, which is equally abundant, has been named by Fabricius 16. E. picta: fig. 32 ; m, the natural dimensions. It is very similar in form to E. Solani, but it is larger and beautifully spotted : it is of a clear yellow colour, with 2 oval black spots on the crown of the head, and one on each side of the face, 2 larger ones on the trunk with 2 dots before, and 2 black spots at the base of the scutel : the abdomen is black, the margins of the seg- ments yellow, the superior wings are clouded with brown, leaving the base, the tip, 2 large spots on the costa, and 2 on the suture, yellow, with smaller pale spots on the'disc ; inferior wings irides- cent and transparent, the nervures brown : legs entirely of a sulphur colour. Length IJ line, expanse 3 lines. The pupa of this species is of an uniform buff colour : the eyes and tips of the feet alone being dark. On the 1 9th of June, 1847, I first observed this species upon my potatoes, and in August they had increased greatly in num- bers, the foliage being still green and healthy : they flew about a foot when disturbed, but did not leave the plants, alighting directly upon the leaves and sidling under them when alarmed. The pupae were equally numerous under the leaves, with the exuviae by them. This frog-fly also inhabits nettles, the burdock, and mint, and I have found it as late as November in gardens. Altica. In company with the foregoing insects was one of the Alticce, or leaping ChrysomelcB. They first appeared about the middle of June, and they continued feeding until the leaves withered. Dur- ing the whole of August, 1846, they were in multitudes on the Bitter-sweet {Solanum Dulcamara *), a plant belonging to the same genus as the potato ; the leaves of which they completely riddled. They are also abundant on grass till late in the autumn, but nothing is known of the larvae or where the eggs are deposited. This beetle is comprised in the same group as the turnip-flies {Altica Nemorum |), but owing to the different form of the horns * Curtis's Brit. Ent., pi. 102. t Journal of Royal Agric. See, vol. ii. pp. 195 and 211. G 2 84 Observations on the various Insects and feet, it has been separated from them. It belongs to the Order Coleoptera, the Family CHRYsoMELiDiE, the Genus Macrocnema,* and appears to be the Linnaean species f 17. M. exoleta: fig. 33; 34, the natural size. It is oval, con- vex, shining and ochreous : the head is black, with prominent eyes, 2 long clavate 10 -jointed horns, 2 basal joints elongated, 3rd a little shorter, the extremity dusky : thorax punctured, deep ochreous, transverse, slightly narrowed before, sides rounded; scutel minute : elytra pale ochreous, the suture pitchy ; there are 8 faintly-punctured striae on each, and a short one on either side of the scutel ; wings ample : underside pitchy : legs dark ochre ; hinder thighs very thick and pitchy ; the shanks rather short, the internal angle forming a curved lobe at the apex, which is cut off obliquely ; feet 4-jointed, 3rd joint bilobed ; hinder very long and inserted on the inside of the shank, basal joint as long as the others united : the apex furnished with 2 claws. Length 1 line. Sphinx Atropos, the Death's-head, or Bee Tiger-moth. Potato-leaves do not seem very palatable to caterpillars, for with the exception of two green-striped ones and those of the Death's.-head Sphinx, I do not know of any which feed upon them. The noble larva of this moth is occasionally abundant in potato-grounds, sufficiently so lately to induce the peasants in Kent to collect and give them to their poultry, yet twenty years back they were far from common, since British specimens of the moth were so much sought after by naturalists, that half-a- guinea was willingly paid for a fine native example. The unusual abundance both of the caterpillars and moths in 1 846, was owing, it is presumed, to the high temperature in June and September, and it is not a little surprising that they should have escaped being included in the Calendar with the other insects accused of destroying the potato-crops; more especially as the moth bears a very bad character : even its name of " Atropos " is intended to imply its awful errand, as well as the familiar ones of Death's- head, Tete de Mort, and Todtenkopf, which it bears in this country, in France and Germany, appellations derived from the image impressed upon its back ; so that when AtrojJOs intrudes itself into a dwelling amongst the rural inhabitants of the Con- tinent, it causes no little consternation, since it is considered the messenger of pestilence and famine, if not of death. It is un- doubtedly to be dreaded by bees, for it has the audacity to enter their hives and lap up the honey. It is from this propensity it has received the English name of '' Bee tiger-moth," and it is * Curtis's Brit. Ent., fol. and pi. 486. t Fauna Siiecica, No. 541, and Curtis's Guide, Genus 428, No. 10. affecting the Potato-crops. . 85 supposed to gain admission by imitating the note of the Queen bee,* and being so thickly clothed with velvet over a horny case, it may laugh to scorn the stings of the bees. This handsome moth is certainly a remarkable creature — it is so conspicuous from its size that no one can overlook it ; for it is as big as a bat, the human skull depicted on its back is often very perfect, and it can utter a cry something like the faint squeak of a mouse, but more plaintive. The caterpillar rests like the classic Sphinx of Egypt, hence that distinction has been assigned to it, and it is very remarkable that an Egyptian mummy bears a great resemblance to the brown horny chrysalis. It is not yet ascertained where the female moth lays her eggs : they must be as large as mustard-seeds and cannot be deposited upon the foliage of the potatoes by the autumn brood ; indeed it has been ascertained that the females are then sterile. It is therefore quite possible that the eggs are generally laid by the earlier brood upon or under the potato-leaves. The caterpillars seem to have fed principally upon the leaves of the jasmine formerly, but I am not aware that they are found now upon any other plants in England than the potato, although they will live upon the bitter-sweet, tomato, thorn-apple, spindle- tree, elder, damason, and hemp. They come out to feed at night, and grow until they are nearly as long and as thick as a lad's middle finger, when they are of a yellow or greenish tint with 7 oblique bands on each side forming acute angles on the back ; these stripes are blue, lilac, and white: the head is horny and furnished with strong jaws ; it has 6 pectoral feet like claws, 8 fleshy abdominal feet and 2 similar anal ones, above which is a rough curled tail, and on each side are 9 breathing pores called spiracles. When full grown the caterpillar buries itself in the earth, where, with a fluid from its mouth and by the action of its head and body, it forms a smooth oval cell: having rested from this labour, it draws off its skin and then is wonderfully trans- formed into a chrysalis or pupa enclosed in a horny shell of a chestnut colour; the head blunt, the tail pointed, the eyes, pro- boscis, and wings being defined, and the body composed of several rings with breathing pores on each side, and if touched or breathed upon it wriggles its body to and fro. The first brood of caterpillars is thus transformed in July, and these produce moths in September and October, whilst those that arrive at per- fection in the autumn do not hatch until the following spring. They were equally abundant in France in 1846 and there they remained in pupae only 3 or 4 weeks. The moth belongs to the Order Lepidoptera, the Family * Reaumur, Hist. Nat. des Insectes, vol. ii. p. 289. 86 Observations on the various Insects Sphingidj;, and was included in the Genus Sphinx, until it was separated from that immense Family and received the ap- pellation of AcHERONTiA. The species was named by Linnaeus 18. A. Atropos.* The wings sometimes expand 5 or 6 inches: it is densely clothed with short pile, like fustian : the eyes are large and prominent, and close to them at the back part of the head are inserted the horns, which are stoutest in the males, rather short, robust, and black, narrowed at the base, white and hooked at the tips : in front of the head are 2 erect palpi, and between them a short, stout, horny, black proboscis, which is rolled up spirally in repose : the thorax, as well as the head and superior wings, are black, with an ashy tint ; on the former is an orange-coloured figure resembling a human skull, with the neck and collar-bones : the abdomen is black with a greyish stripe down the back and 5 or 6 long orange spots on each side, alter- nating with as many black bands : wings sloping (like the roof of a house) in repose : superior black minutely freckled with white, variegated with rusty patches, and several black transverse broken waved lines ; one near the base, 2 others nearer the apex and a spot on the disc, bright ochreous : inferior wings bright orange with 2 black indented bars nearly parallel with the margin, which is formed of orange spots ; the fringe of the wings is scarcely visible : it has 6 stout black legs, with 2 strong and distinct claws on each foot. Although the Death's-head caterpillars either retire into the ground by day or otherwise secrete themselves, coming forth principally at night to feed, they are not secure against the untir- ing diligence of an Ichneumon fly, which lays her eggs in the body of the larvae, where the maggot hatches, grows to a large size, and changes to a pupa within its victim, from which eventually the parasite emerges instead of the moth. It is the largest of our British Ichneumons, and is included in the Order Hymenoptera, the Family Ichneumonid^, and the Genus Tr6gus.-|- The species I named, after the insect it was bred from, 19. T. Atropos 4 It is bright ochreous: head transverse with a black stripe on the crown spreading along the base and termi- nating in a point on the face ; eyes lateral, with 3 ocelli in triangle on the crown; antennae black, the basal portion orange, long and setaceous, inserted close together near the middle of the face, composed of about 40 joints, 1st joint the stoutest: thorax robust, oval, and black ; scapulars, a line before them and a spot beneath, * Ciirtis'sBrit.^Ent., fol. andpl., 147, where coloured figures of the moth and caterpillar are given, as well as dissections, t Curtis's Guide, Genus 496. % Curtis's Brit. Ent , fol, and pi. 234. affecting the Potato-croj^s. 87 ochreous; scutel conical and yellow; postscutel rough with a shining knob at the base and 2 elevated lines down the middle, forked at their extremities : abdomen long, elliptical, clavate, attached to the thorax by a clubbed petiole ; slender at the base, sometimes with a black line beneath, 7-jointed, the 4 last seg- ments black : wings ample, shining golden yellow, the hinder margins smoky, superior with a pentagonal areolet ; stigma and nervures ferruginous : legs stout^ 1st pair the smallest, hinder the largest ; coxae black ; hinder thighs the thickest, black at the apex, especially beneath ; anterior shanks short, hinder long, brown at the tips; feet longer than the shanks, 5-jointed, terminated by 2 strong claws tipped with black, and dusky pulvilli between them. Length 1 inch, expanse above If inch. The proportion of colour varies in different specimens, some have only a few orange joints at the base, whilst others are only black beyond the middle of the antennae ; a portion, or the whole, of the 4th abdominal segment is ochreous, as well as the under sides of the coxae, with no black at the extremities of the hinder thighs and shanks, in other examples. My calendar is a proof of the abundance of the Death's-head caterpillars in Kent, for I see that all my specimens of this Ich- neumon were bred or taken at Rochester, Darent, and other localities in that county, I believe in July, one towards the end of that month ; but it has been bred from other SphingidcB, I have heard. AcARi, or Mites. On the dead haulm of the potato these little creatures con- gregate for the sake of feeding upon the Botrytis or other fungi. One which Mr. Graham found in March, 1846, had been no doubt breeding through the winter, for they often generate in cavities under stones, and a larger and darker species resides in quantities under the tomato leaves in the autumn. They belong to the Order Aptera, the Family Acarides, the Genus Oribates, formerly called Notaspis, and the potato species is named, apparently by Hermann, 20. O. castaneus. It is as small as a cheese-mite, very glossy, pear-shaped, and of a rusty chestnut colour : the trunk is conical and conceals the head ; it is distinctly separated from the body by a transverse channel ; the latter is oval and dilated, being very convex with a few long hairs scattered about : the 8 legs are rather long and of a dirty ochreous tint, sparingly clothed with longish hairs, they are 6-jointed ; the hips and trochanters are short, the thighs are short and clavate, as well as the shanks, which have a little joint at the base ; the foot is elongated but clubbed at the base, and terminated by a single long curved claw. 88 Observations on the various Insects I have now to give the history of the second army attacking the potatoes, and which is unquestionably an enemy to the cultivator, for these insects subsist upon the tubers and roots, both injuring and reducing the crop The potato-disease in France so greatly alarmed the nation on its first appearance, that Monsieur Guerin-Meneville was charged by the Minister of Agriculture and Commerce to draw up a Report, which was read before the Academy of Sciences in October, 1845, and afterwards published in one of the French Journals.* As M. Guerin has also been appointed by the Government to investigate the origin of the disease in the Silk- worm caterpillar, called Muscardine,'\ which is a species of fungus attacking living animals, his opinion becomes so important that I may be excused for introducing his observations before I proceed with my disquisitions. In addressing himself to the Entomolo- gical Society of Paris regarding " the malady which has for a long time spread itself over the potato-crops," he says, ''many persons attributed this epidemic erroneously to insects, whilst it is now demonstrated that it is produced by a malady of the plant, caused by colds which were felt at the end of the spring, and by the extraordinary humidity of the summer, which favoured the production of a Cryptogame that developed itself in great numbers in every one of the cells of the potato. The insects and larvae that have been found in spoiled tubers have come there when the potato has been partly decomposed by the fungi, and cannot be regarded as having caused the malady."J Although I have discovered a great many insects affecting the tubers which are not recorded in M. Guerin's Report, there are many no doubt which have not yet fallen in our way. I shall commence with those which live upon and of course injure the healthy and sound tubers. Amongst these are the Surface Grubs. In July, J 844, I received some caterpillars from H. W. B., of Bedminster Lodge, near Bristol, stating that they were all taken on the 26th of July from one plant in a field of potatoes : " They attacked the haulm just beneath the earth and ate through it. Acres of potatoes in this neighbourhood have been attacked by them. Some bore into the potatoes and destroy the small ones. They have also spoiled scores of celery plants and bored into the crowns of the carrots, indeed nothing seems to be free from them," They were the caterpillars of a moth, the Noctua (Agrotis) * Bulletin des Seances de la Soc. Royale et Centrale d'Agric, vol. v, p. 331. f Annales de la Soc. Sericicole. X Ann. Soc. Ent. de France for 1845, vol. iii. p. Ixxxvi. affecting the Potato- crops. 89 exclamationis, which makes such havoc amongst the turnips, as formerly stated in this Journal.* TiPUL^, or Crane-flies. Any one may readily imagine what an amount of vegetation must be consumed by the maggots or larv ae of these gnats, seeing that during the summer and autumn it is not possible to step on a field or meadow without disturbing a family of the winged parents. Indeed, turnips, potatoes, beet, carrots, and cabbages often suffer as severely from the attacks of Surface Caterpillars, the larvae of Crane-flies, and the Wire- worms, as from any other insects. From the beaked head and attitude of the body and legs in flight, the Tipiilo3 have been termed Crane-flies, but in some counties they are better known by the name of Daddy or Old Father Long-legs. As it is mostly in undisturbed ground that the larvae are propagated to any extent, it is most desirable to keep land clean. Of course weedy banks and hedge-rows will na- turally be a harbour for them, as they delight to live amongst the roots under tufts of grass, but their head- quarters are damp meadows and marshes. Wet, consequently, encourages them, and to drown them is impossible, therefore the opposite course, of draining land effectually, would no doubt annoy them more than any other process, and go far towards freeing arable lands, at least, from these universal pests. The eggs are laid by the females, I apprehend, as they fly, or when they rest amongst the herbage, and are propelled as from a pop-gun. Those of Tipula Oleracea are little oval conical grains, shining and as black as ebony ; they form a mass occupy- ing nearly the whole abdomen, and I have taken 300 or more from the body of one female (pi. V. fig. 35, n an e^g magnified). The little maggots hatched from these grow until they are as thick as a small goose-quill, cylindrical, and about an inch long (fig. 36) ; they are then of an earthy colour and incased in such tough skins that they are called " Leather-jackets." The intes- tines shining through the back create 2 pale wavy lines, in which a pulse is very evident. When walking or wriggling along, for they have no feet, they protrude their little black horny heads, stretching out the neck, which then tapers, and exposing 2 minute rust-coloured horns and 2 strong black jaws; when in motion their tails are thickest and cut off abruptly, the edges above being furnished with 4 fleshy tubercles more or less pointed, with 2 below, and near the centre are 2 spiracles or breathing-pores (fig. 0, the stern); they are composed of 13 rings, and when ♦ Vol. iv. p. 106, pi. G, figs. 6 and 7. 90 Observations on the various Insects drawn up and at rest look like small Bols. From the beginning of May to the first week in August I have observed these larvae at the roots of scarlet beans, lettuces, beet, and potatoes, and during the same period they are most unwelcome visitors in the flower-garden, where they commit dreadful ravages amongst the roots of dahlias, carnations, &c., and even the grass-plots in the metropolis do not escape, for in Golden-square a few years since the grass was laid bare by them. It is said they come out at night in multitudes to feed, and probably to remove from one locality to another when food becomes short, or it may be in search of convenient places to change into pupae; at all events they are then secure from the rooks and smaller birds, which would speedily thin their ranks, and the dews of night suit their purpose in every way better than the light and heat of day. Some of the forwardest change to pupae early in August, perhaps in July, and certainly in September ; this takes place under the turf, and even by the sides of gravel walks, if the weeds be left to grow : they are as long and thick as the larvae, of a similar dirty colour, with 2 slender horns, one on each side of the head ; the segments under the belly produce transverse rows of stout spines, and smaller ones on the back, the tail is pointed and spiny ; on each side of the trunk are the cases containing the wings, and between them those which enclose the legs (fig. 37). After remaining in this state a short time, the pupa, by means of these spiny rings, works its way through the surface of the earth, the horny covering of the trunk splits down the back, and the gnat crawls forth to dry its wings and harden its limbs, before it takes flight to pair and generate new families. At this time thousands of empty cases may be seen sticking half out of the earth amongst the grass. The Crane-fiies belong to the Order Diptera, the Family TipULiD^, and the Genus Tipula.* The species before us was named by Linnaeus 21. T. oleracea, from its larva injuring cabbages. It is of a tawny colour, with a bloom over it, giving the fly a dusty appear- ance. The head is small, almost globose, attached by a short slender neck, the nose forming a stoutish rostrum or beak, acu- minated at the apex, and furnished with a short, fleshy, bilobed lip, and 2 longish 5-jointed palpi ; the eyes are hemispherical and black ; the 2 slender horns are inserted in the face, they are as long as the entire head, tapering, and 13-jointed, the 1st longish, 2nd globose, the remainder elongated and bristly ; f trunk large, oval, raised considerably above the head, divided into 3 lobes on the back, which is brownish with obscure stripes : * Curtis's Guide, Genus 1160. t Vide Curtis's Brit. Ent., fol. and pi. 493, for the dissections. affecting the Potato-ci^ops. 91 underside hoarv, as well as the somewhat orbicular-quadrate scutel : body lonof, slender, and 9-jointed, clubbed at the extremity in the males (fig. 38, the abdomen, in profile), but it is much longer and spindle-shaped in the female, with the back slate- coloured ; the apex horny, pointed, and furnished with 2 lateral tapering lobes, and an oviduct between them : 2 wings, longer than the body, spreading when at rest, rather smoky, with an areolet and 7 cells at the apex ; the nervures and a stripe along the costa, including the stigma ochreous-brown ; two balancers, long, slender, and clubbed : legs 6, slender, very long, especially the hinder pair, bright ochreous ; tips of thighs, shanks, and the terminal joints of the tarsi brown ; the claws are curved and acute, with minute pulvilli between them. The male is nearly | of an inch long, and the wings expand IJ inch; the female (fig. 39) approaches 1 inch in length, and the wings expand nearly 2 inches. There is another species so closely allied to the foregoing, that it is generally confounded with it : their habits and economy are similar, but they seem to be distinct, and it has been named by Meigen * 22. T. paludosa, implying its partiality to marshy ground. It is of the same size and colour as T. Oleracea, but the back of the abdomen is not of a slate-colour, the wings are shorter in the female, as well as her legs, which are also much stouter than those of the male. The males of the autumnal broods of both species first make their appearance about the commencement of August, and the females are abundant until they are killed by the frosts of au- tumn. Even in the chilly mornings of October they may be seen, half stupified by the cold, hanging by their fore-feet, their wings covered with dew, and lying flat on their backs, until warmed by the cheering rays of the sun the male takes wing, and the female drags her heavy body and long legs after her as she flies through the grass. The males are attracted by light, as I have seen great numbers come to a lamp at night in September, and the females have been observed at sea in calm weather many miles from land, standing on their legs, with the wings spread, sailing along unhurt. A few appear to be hatched in the spring, and no doubt there would be more, were it not for the larvse furnishing rooks and many other birds with food during the winter and early spring. This is doing essential service, for in all pro- bability these would produce the parents of the autumn broods, which, it is evident, are sufficiently numerous, notwithstanding the checks upon their multiplication. * System. Besch. Europ. Zweif. Insecten, vol, vi. p. 289. 92 Observations on the various Insects Their numbers depend very much upon the seasons, and for this reason sometimes these troublesome larvae are not seen. 1 believe they abounded in 1816, \7, and 18, and then were lost sio;ht of till 1829 and the two following years. In June, 1845, they committed great havoc amongst some Swedish turnips in the Isle of Anglesea, upon an estate of A. Elliot Fuller, Esq. Wheat and oats are also laid under contribution by them. In a recent number of the Gardeners' Chronicle,* there are some pertinent remarks by Mr. B. IMaund, regarding the not growing of wheat after clover-lea, owing to the fly. He says : — " My attention was called by an agricultural friend to an instance of this last spring, where it was discovered that the plant of spring-sown wheat was dying away, from its being eaten through just beneath the surface of the earth, and that the enemy was the larva or grub of a species of Tipula, or Daddy-long-legs. In some parts of the field these were so numerous just beneath the surface, that half a dozen or more could be collected within the space of a square foot ; and such devastation had they made, that for half an acre together, in some parts of the field, very few plants of wheat were to be found. The field was rolled three times over in different directions, in April, with Crosskiirs clod-crusher, and in a fortnight afterwards, the weather being dry, the land was almost as compact as a macadamised road." This operation killed many, and saved the crop. Mr. Maund adds : — "It is not unknown to farmers in the midland counties, that a crop of potatoes cannot be grown on some farms after clover, on account of the existence of this grub ; and the only remedy adopted — a most efficient one — is breast- ploughing the turf and burning it." From the immense swarms of a smaller species of Tijmla on lighter arable lands, I am inclined to believe that the corn-crops suffer more from these than from the T. Oleracea on sandy and similar soils, and as I may not have a better opportunity of making this known to agriculturists, I shall not scruple to introduce the species here, especially as it attacks the potato likewise. The pretty gnat alluded to has been named by Hoffmansegg 23. T. maculosa. The male is not ^ an inch long; the female is more, and the wings expand about 1 inch. They are of a bright yellow colour, spotted with black : the male has a pair of slender blackish horns longer than the thorax ; the forehead projects like a cone, on each side is a black dot, and on the crown is a black spot pointed over the forehead : the mouth is at the extremity of a cylindrical beak, the feelers blackish ; the eyes are black, as well as 3 long patches on the back of the thorax, and various spots on the sides and beneath : the scutel has a conical mark on the back, with a black hinder margin : the * Vol. viii. p. 707. affecting the Potato-crops. 93 abdomen is slender, the apex obtuse (fig. 40), with a broken line of 8 black spots down the back ; on the underside is a similar line, as well as several black dots at the base : the wings are smokj-yellow, and iridescent, with brown nervures, a yellow pinion-edge, and stigma; the 2 balancers are ochreous and clubbed : the long and very slender legs are ochreous, the extremities of the thighs, shanks, and the very long feet are black. The horns of the female are shorter : the abdomen is longer, spindle-shaped, with 6 distinct^ black, top-shaped spots down the back, a row beneath, and several dots on each side : the horny ovipositor is ochreous and shining (fig. 41). These gnats are abundant in fields, gardens, meadows, hedges, &c., during May and June. Sometimes they swarm on the sea- coast, and I remember once, in the middle of May, seeing myriads on the sand -banks in the Isle of Portland, also at the back of the Isle of Wight, and at Lowestoft in Suffolk. Many insects are driven apparently by the wind to the edge of the sea, where pos- sibly their course is arrested by a sudden change in the wind, and they perish in the surf; but no doubt multitudes thus collected escape and generate in the surrounding country. There must be 2 or 3 broods of T. maculosa in a year, or else a constant succession of the flies during the summer, for although the month of May seems to be the period when the greatest numbers are hatched, I have bred them in July, but of course temperature has a great influence upon the pupae. 1 have not the least doubt that many species of Tipulce are bred in the field and garden, but the destructive maggots so greatly resemble each other, that they can only be distinguished by actual and careful comparison. A very similar larva is most abundant in the gardens of London, which produces an allied gnat, named by Meigen Tipula quadrifaria. The eggs of T. maculosa are oval, spoon-shaped, and black as soot. They must be scattered over the ground as thick as poppy-seeds, for probably not one in a thousand arrives at ma- turity. The larvae produced from them are of the same earthy colour as those of the Cabbage Crane-fly, but they are smaller, being only f of an inch long, and as thick as a large crow's-quill (fig. 42) ; they differ also from them in the position and form of the spines ; they are wrinkled, and when at rest contract them- selves, drawing in the head and thoracic segments, so that this extremity might be taken for the anal end (fig. 43). They are however, able to thrust out their heads and crawl along very well, although they are destitute of feet ; the small brown head is furnished with a pair of black jaws, 2 short horns, and I believe minute feelers : 3 pale vessels traverse the sides and back, termi- nating in a truncated tail with 2 spreading hooks, and 2 short 94 Observations on the various Insects teeth between them, with 2 tubercles below^ and 2 fleshy pro- tuberances capable of dilatation and contraction, which materially assist the mag-gots in locomotion, and in the centre of the stern are 2 large spiracles (fig. y?). In the spring they change in the earth to pupae of the like dirty colour, these are about the same length as the larvae, but scarcely so stout. At this period the head and thorax of the future gnat are defined, but from each side of the latter projects a short slender horn, and beneath the horny case the incipient wings are visible, with the legs placed between them : the abdominal segments have each a trans- verse row of minute spines above, and 5 large ones beneath, and on either side is an elevated spiny line ; the penultimate segment is surrounded by 6 longer spines and 2 small ones, with a large conical process at the tail and a shorter one beneath it (fig. 44). To ascertain the parents of these grubs or maggots, I paid great attention to them for several years^, and some idea may be formed of the mischief they occasion in the field, by the ravages they com- mit in the garden. On the 23rd of April I found these grubs at the roots of my peas ; on the 29th, some had eaten off trusses of the strawberry flowers close to the crown, retiring afterwards just beneath the surface of the earth, and I think it was the same, or the larvse of T. Oleracea, which used to cut through the runners of the same plants : the first week in May they were not uncommon amongst the roots of the lilacs and under tufts of grass ; they were also destroying the strawberry and raspberry plants as well as the carrots : on the 28th of the same month I observed some recently transplanted lettuces drooping, and on examination I found the roots separated from the crown a little below the surface, and close by these grubs, which are difficult to detect, owing to the colour and their remaining quite motionless when disturbed. At the end of July they were eating the roots of dahlias, carnations, and va- rious flowers, and on the 7th of August they were observed infest- ing some potato ground with the larvae of T. Oleracea ; after which I lost sight of them.* We learn, from the ' Introduction to Entomology,' that these larvae abound in some seasons in Holderness to such an extent, that hundreds of acres of pasture were destroyed by them in the spring of 1813. ''A square foot of the turf being dug up, 210 grubs were counted in it ;" t and wheats there when sown upon clover-lays suffer severely from these grubs. Lime-water, it is now said, will not kill these tough larvae, as it will the thin-skinned earthworm, and the only remedy I have prac- * Gardeners' Chron., vol. vi. p. 317. t Kirby and Spence, 6th edit. vol. i. p. 148. affecting the Potato-crops. 95 tised with success has been to search for them round sickly plants and to dig up all that have been just eaten off by them. This must be done every morning, the earlier the better, otherwise the search may be unsuccessful, for after a short nap the culprit often decamps to feast upon some neighbouring plant. I should think water impregnated with brine, or nitrate of soda and perhaps strong liquid manure, would drive them off and keep the gnats from scat- tering their eggs in such an uncongenial locality ; and if the mag- gots come out at night, as I have reason to believe they do, soot, sea-sand, and salt, sprinkled over the surface, would, I expect, de- stroy them ; but it must be repeated to prove effectual. Dickson advises, " When the grub is abundant, to roll the land betimes in the morning in the early spring months, which may crush and destroy them ; and when the fly abounds in summer evenings on grass lands or fallows, rolling would destroy them and prevent the deposition of the eggs : they are chiefly deposited in the long grass, on sides of hedges and ditches : such places should therefore be kept free from weeds." He also recommends '' Keep- ing the clover stubbles closely eaten down by sheep or other ani- mals, after the hay has been taken, till the wheat-crop is nearly ready to be put in, which has been found in some measure an effectual remedy against the destructive attacks of the insect."* Children and women might also be employed very advantageously in destroy- ing the parent flies, by hand-picking and sweeping with nets. The farmer must also encourage such birds as render him good and constant service in reducing the insect tribes. Amongst them I shall ever believe that the rooks and starlings, seagulls and lap- wings, are most faithful allies, and labourers worthy of their hire. 1 believe it was Sir Humphry Davy vv^ho first stated that jack snipes are very fond of the larvse of Tipulce, and Mr. Yarrell tells us he has repeatedly found them in their crops. Pheasants also must feed largely upon them in the winter, for Mr. Milton, of Great Marlborough Street, found in the crop of a cock pheasant, in De- cember, 1844, 852 of these larvae ; they were alive, and nothing else was found in the crop, excepting a iew oak spangles, f A corre- spondent also of the ' Sporting Magazine,' writes, " that no fewer than 1225 of these destructive larvae (wireworms ?) were taken from the crop of a Jien pheasant in January."^ No doubt these birds pick out the larvae in corn and turnip-fields, and when it is remembered, that the almost incredible numbers contained at one time in the stomach, only made a single meal, the extent of their services mav in some measure be estimated. * Practical Agriculture, vol. i. p. 555. t Gardeners' Chron., vol. iv. p. 814. % Vol. iv. p. 45. 96 Observations on the various Insects WiREWORMS. As no crop is perhaps altogether free from these destructive larvae, we need not be surprised at their inroads upon the potatoes ; indeed wireworms seem to be especially fond of them, since there is no better trap than slices of potato stuck in the ground and co- vered with earth, to be examined daily. In this way every wire- worm may be attracted from a flower-bed and destroyed. I do not apprehend that a potato -crop is ever entirely destroyed by wireworms, although when young they bore up into the haulm, as observed by Mr. Graham, and the sets also are stated to have been greatly injured by them in May; but they undoubtedly diminish the value of the tubers materially by perforating them, and thus rendering them a suitable nest for other insects. To- wards the end of last September the potato-crops in this parish were greatly infested in some localities by wireworms, millipedes, and centipedes. A gentleman near Tadcaster''' has suggested that potato- crops may even attract the wire worm. It appears from our correspondent, that *'in 1844, in order to clean and redeem 7 acres of exhausted land, it was planted with potatoes after oats : the potatoes did not suffer from the wireworm, the crop was as good as could be expected, considering that the great dryness of the season had delayed the planting till June. In March, 1845, 6 acres were sowed with oats, I acre having been dibbled with wheat in December. The crops were most healthy, but subse- quently patches of decay attracted attention, and it was soon found that the wireworm had been at work to so fearful an extent, that in ten days the whole crop seemed victimised. Soot was then applied to 4 acres (16 bushels per acre), and not being able to obtain more, the remainder was sown broadcast with guano, at the rate of 2 cwt. per acre, all applied in a pouring rain. This arrested the evil, and many of the patches, apparently destroyed, struck up a second growth from about half an inch below the sur- face, where the wireworms had bored through the shoots, and the oats eventually became the best crop in the parish." Mr. Duncombe also says — " On seeing the change for the worse in the oats, when averaging about 6 inches growth, I applied my- self to discover the cause: I carefully removed the soil from very many plants and rows, for death seemed to go by rows for several yards together. I collected a paper full of wireworms, and uni- formly found not a rotten but a dry mouldy potato or potatoes : some which were not so advanced were full of wireworms. Hence I conclude that the potatoes left in 1844 either bred or attracted from a distance these pests to my oats in 1845. If I had not * The Rev. E. Duncombe, of Newton Lyme. affecting the Futato-crops. 97 planted potatoes in 1844, or if I had collected every one on taking up the crop (which 1 believe to be out of the question), I am fully persuaded in my own mind that I should have had no wire- worm ; and their numbers in the roots of anemones, on ground where T never can detect wireworms without such roots, induce me to incline to the opinion that gardeners and farmers cause the evil by neglecting preventives." Here we have additional evidence of the taste which wireworms evince for potatoes. The tubers left in the ground attracted them to certain spots where they perforated the potatoes and caused their decay. If therefore these potatoes could have been collected before the oats were sown, the crop would have been saved from their incursions. Vv^hen the first crop of oats was grown, they were probably too young to commit much if any apparent mischief, for I cannot think they came from any distance ; if such were their habits, thev must ere this have been observed when misfratlnof at night. These remarks of Mr. Duncombe also show the value of soot in recovering crops from the attacks of the wireworms. In the department of the Moselle, in France, wireworms are very common, and near Metz great numbers have been found by M. Kayer, the Inspector of Agriculture, both in sound and diseased potatoes.* It is worthy of remark that they are a very different wireworm to our common one,| being more like that of Elater murinus and E. lineatiis of Bouche,| clearly showing that various wireworms feed upon potatoes, all of them making numerous holes and burrows in the tubers, both causing and hastening their decay. An entire Report having been devoted to the wireworms, when the turnip-crops were under consideration, with descriptions and figures of all the species, it is unnecessary here to enter further upon their economy, § and for the same reasons the false wire- worms will not long detain us. Snake Millipedes are found in large numbers in potatoes, as soon as symptoms of decay appear, especially in September, and they consequently complete the destruction which the wireworms began. lulus Lon- dinensis and /. terrestris^ are two of the snake millipedes, which are said to be injurious to early crops in the winter. During frosty and cold weather they lie curled up in the earth, but so slight a degree of warmth is required to awaken them from their torpor, that by merely breathing upon them for a few seconds they awaken from their slumbers, and move about with tiieir accustomed glid- * Bulletin des Seances de la Soc. Roy. et Cent. d'Agric, vol. v. p. 331. t .Journal of Royal Agric. Soc. vol. v. pi. I. f. 2. t Ibid., pi. J. f. 40 and 42. § Ibid., vol. v. p. ISO. li Ibid., vol. v. pp. 228 and 229, pi. J. f. 54. VOL. X. H 98 Obsei'vations on the various Insects ing gait. They seem to congregate in autumn, and as they are very fond of fruit, vast numbers may be collected by putting slices of apples under tiles or in baskets of moss : upwards of forty have been taken from one slice : but these modes of catching them can only be practised in gardens; I expect, however, if cabbage leaves were scattered along the furrows in damp weather, that they would be nearly as attractive. The most abundant and mischievous species both in England and France is ihe lulus pulchellus,^ called in some French works Blaniulus, from the indistinctness of the eyes or their entire absence. It was reported to have destroyed the potato-sets at Derby in April, 1845, and I have frequently found multitudes in partially diseased potatoes the beginning of October, when they were generally accompanied by Polydesmus complanatus, which has also been figured and described in a former volume.! Centipedes ok Scolopendr^. A large amount of these curious animals inhabit the earth, Lithohius forcipatus and Geophilus electricus (?) being the most usually met with. The former of these is said to be entirely car- nivorous, and the latter will attack allied species as well as each other. Such being the case, they are probably useful in reducing the ranks of the various soft larvae which affect the roots of plants. It is certain that they are very abundant in potato-grounds, and Mr. Hope ''attributed the potato disease to the attacks of the wireworm, and also to a small Scolopendra, which he had found in myriads infesting diseased potatoes at Southend. "J I observed them in rotten potatoes in August, 1845, and in September last the Geophilus electricus was running about in every direction when the potatoes were forked out. Vast quantities of the sound tubers had been perforated by the wireworms, some of which were found inside, and the cavities were often enlarged by slugs. These animals, which, like the millipedes, are not true insects, belong to an Order called Chilopoda, and to the Family Sco- LOPENDRiD^. They were all included by Linnaeus in the Genus Scolopendra, but from variations of structure one is now called '24. Lithobius forficatus, the 30-foot. It is nearly 1 inch long and Inline broad; smooth, shining, horny, of a ferruginous or ochreous colour, sometimes brown : it has 2 longish tapering horns, composed of upwards of 40 minute joints: the head is large and orbicular, armed with powerful jaws like a pair of claws, having a small group of granulated eyes on each side : the body is flat- tened and linear, composed of 16 plates like scales, alternately * Journal of Royal Agrie. Soc, vol. v. p. 228, pi. J. f. 53, Guerin con- siders this to be the /. guttulatus of Fab. : Supp. to his Ent. Syst., p. 289. t Ibid., p. 230, pi. J. f. 55. % Trans. Ent. Soc, vol. v. p. 136. affecting the Potatocrops. 99 quadrate and narrow : it has 15 pair of bristly and spiny legs, the hinder pair being the longest, they are 7-jointed, curved, taper- ing, and terminated by a minute conical claw. The other species may prove to be the true Scolopendra elec- trica of Linnaeus; it belongs to the Genus Anthronomalus of Newport,* and is certainly Leach's 25. Geophilus longicornis. This species is from 2^- to 3 inches long, and not more than ^ or f of a line broad. It is shining bright ochreous : the head is oval with a strong jaw on each side terminating in a sharp blackish claw : eyes none ; horns thrice as long as the head, like 2 hairy threads, composed of 14 joints, decreasing to the apex : body composed of a multitude of trans- verse segments, with from 51 to 55 pair of short legs, the hinder pair not longer than the others; the claws long and slender (%.45). These creatures move with a very waving motion from right to left, doubling when they turn, and this as well as a few other species have the very extraordinary power of secreting a phos- phoric fluid, which the animal leaves behind as it walks, so that when it is dark one sees a luminous broken line of light, some- times 2 or ^ feet long. This phenomenon is generally noticed in autumn and spring, and is supposed to be most active when the animals are pairing : whether the fluid is secreted by both sexes seems doubtful, and if they be quite blind, the light must be bestowed upon them for reasons which as yet remain hidden from us. Their economy is likewise very interesting, for Mr. Newport has proved that " the female deposits her eggs, from 30 to 50 in number, in a little packet, in a cell which she forms for them in the earth, and never once leaves them until the young are developed, which is at the end of about a fortnight or three weeks. During the whole of this time she remains in the cell, with her body coiled around the eggs, incubating them and constantly turning and attending to them.^'f They hybernate in the earth during the winter, and subsist partly on succulent roots, ripe fruit, and decaying vegetable matter, only coming out at night, appa- rently in search of food. We have now arrived at the second section of our subject, relating to the various insects and allied animals which are found amongst the potatoes when decomposition has commenced. They amount to a very considerable number, and yet probably not half of them have been noticed, for whilst those recorded by M. Guerin comprise nine different sorts, the species detected in this country are twice as many. In February, 184G, a Podura, probably the P. plumbea of * Trans. Linn. Soc.,.vol. xix. p. 430, + Ibid., vol. xix. p. 42.8. 100 Observations on the various Insects Linnaeus, was abundant, slvipping: about the rotting potatoes, with its beautiful iridescent scaly coat, and in the cavities were numbers of a milk-white Ricinus, with multitudes of an ochreous Acarus allied to A. coleoptratus.* M. Guerin also describes and figures an Acarus called Glyciphagus fecularum,\ and another which he names Tyroglyphus feculcB, \ both of which were found in the changing potatoes or in cavities of the diseased tubers. The species, however, which I found most abundant upon them, was the Acarus farincB, which also swarms in meal and flour, when kept for any length of time, especially in damp places, and it is very remarkable that the same species seems to delight in worm-eaten wine-corks, for they have been sent to me from many cellars. In February, 1846, they were most abundant in decaying potatoes, and in March, 1847, they were observed by the Rev. L. Vernon Harcourt, near Chichester, and by Mr. Graham, of Cran- ford. Being very white, they may swarm, as they often do in flour, before they are discovered, and no doubt they feed upon the starch and farinaceous portions of the potato. The mites vary so greatly in their structure, that the old Genus Acarus has been split into many Genera, and the one to which this species belongs is now called 26. Tyroglyphus farinae (fig. 46, magnified), being synony- mous with the Acarus farincE of De Geer.§ It is like a minute globule of fat, being of a pellucid shining white, with a rusty cloud on the back of some specimens, and it is not larger than a very small grain of sand (fig. q) : it is oval, the anus slightly con- cave ; it has some longish rusty hairs scattered over the body, and the head and legs are of the same colour : the thorax is small and but slightly indicated ; the head and mouth form a horny cone : the 8 legs are short, stout, and tapering, the 1st and 2nd pair incline forward, the former arise close to the head, the latter are attached to very large white scapes forming the base, the other two pair are inserted at the middle of the belly and incline back- ward ; they are all 6-jointed, the joints subquadrate or oblong, pilose, the penultimate producing a iew long bristles and terminated by a strong hooked claw. They walk with tolerable alacrity and delight to burrow head foremost into the flour. I have eaten pie-crust made of meal in which myriads of these mites were generating, and found no ill effects from the food. The meal was first spread on the top of an oven to dry, by which process I found that a small degree of heat killed them. * Gardeners' Chron., vol. iv. p. 316. t Bull, des Sean, de la Soc. Roy. et Cent. d'Agric, pi. 5, f. 7. % Ibid., pi. 5, f. 9. j Memoire de I'Hist. des Ins., vol. vii. p. 97, pi. 5, f. 15. affecting the Potato-crops. 101 In the potatoes with the Acai^i were larvae of various little beetles which assist in reducing putrid substances to a simple state, which is indispensable for supplying the soil again with the proper elements as food for the support of vegetation. One of them was very similar to the larvae of a beetle called Derinestes, but only 1^ line long; another, a little larger, would undoubtedly produce some beetle of the families Carahidce or StaphylinidcE. A somewhat similar larva was found in France, which Guerin believes may belong to a Genus of little Rove -beetles,* called Calodera.j Another kind was detected by M. Rayer, which is likewise supposed to belong to one of the Staphylinidce . Nests also of little creatures were found in rotting potatoes, which looked like black mites, but on close examination they proved to be beetles — members of a Family entirely devoted to the consumption of putrid animal and vegetable substances. I allude to the Family Histerid^ ; the species from the tubers belongs to the Genus ABRJi;us,J and was named by Fabricius 27. A. minutus. It is a little oval, convex, shining beetle, like a seed, and not more than ^ a line long, often only \: it is of a dark chestnut colour : the head is bent down, the feelers being visible but not the jaws, and in front are 2 short, curved, 11-jolnted horns, terminated by a distinct somewhat oval club : the eyes are small and lateral : the thorax is very broad and punc- tured ; the scutel is invisible : the elytra are broad, semi-oval, not covering the rump, beneath them is folded a pair of wings : the 6 little slender legs lie close to the body in repose ; the anterior shanks are flattened, and the 5-jointed feet are short and very slender. In the early spring these beetles are found under dung, and in September I have observed them in ripe and decayed cucumbers in frames, where sometimes they are generated in thousands, the warmth favouring their increase. A still more minute beetle was detected amongst the potatoes, called Trichopteryx riigulosa :% it is not larger than this dot . being scarcely visible to the naked eye, nevertheless its pair of horns and six legs are complete, and the beautiful wings with a hmg fringe are most m.arvellously folded up under the wing-cases when not in use. I have repeatedly found small Rove- beetles in the rotten potatoes, where I expect they live upon the Acari and minuter animals, but of this I have no evidence. Guerin likewise thinks it probable that their larvce may live upon those found in the rotten * Vide Journal of Royal Agric. Soc, vol. iv. p. 126, pi. H. f. 28 and 29. t Curtis's Guide, Genus 219^ $ Curtis's Guide, Genus 142, No. 2. § Bull, des Seances de la Soc. Roy. et Cent, d' Agric, pi. 6, f. 3, and Sturm's Deutsch Fauna, vol. xvii. pi. 320. 102 Observations on the various Insects pordons of potatoes. One of the species is very widely spread in the autumn, and lives through the winter : it is named by Gravenhorst Stapliylinus nitidulus, and is now called 28. Oxjtelus nitidulus.* It is only \\ line long, narrow, flat, shining black, and coarsely punctured : the head is broad with several depressions, the oral organs are visible and the eyes prominent ; before them are inserted the 2 horns, which are not longer than the thorax, thickest at the extremity, the 1st long and clavate, 2nd small, 3rd minute, the remainder like strung beads, increasing in size, the terminal joint ovate- conic ; the thorax is broader than the head, somewhat semi-orbicular, with three channels down the back : the elytra are quadrate, chestnut-coloured, black at the base, and appearing striated from short depressed hairs: body nearly as long as the remainder of the insect, intensely black and glossy, elliptical, with 7 distinct segments, the sides margined and pilose, the tail triangular : wings ample, folded beneath the wing-cases : 6 legs short and tawny ; thighs thickened and rather pitchy in the middle; shanks flattened and serrated, excepting the hinder pair, which are slender : anterior notched outside near the apex ; feet composed of 3 or 4 short and 1 long joint with a pair of slender claws. These insects are also found in decaying cucumbers, melons, and various vegetables; they frequent muck-heaps and breed in the dung of animals. Potato Flies. Dead and silent as the earth appears to be, it teems with life, for not only is the soil full of seeds, which merely require light and heat to start them into life, but it must abound with the eggs of insects, so minute, that even with the assistance of a lens they escape one's notice. To be convinced of the truth of this, if a flower-pot be filled with mould from a field or garden, and then tied over with the finest muslin, the experimentalist will be astonished to find the multitudes of little flies which are con- stantly making their appearance, bred no doubt from larvae nourished on the vegetable matter which such soils contain. Where crops are grown and any portion of them becomes decayed, the number of these minute insects is vastly multiplied, and thus where the diseased potatoes have existed, additional swarms of various little flies have been the consequence. As a proof of the incredible numbers that must be thus generated, T may mention that from one growing and partially rotten potato I bred, in August, 1845, 128 flies, independent of many more which had died in the pupa state, or been destroyed by damp and mites * Curtis's Guide, Genus 216, No. 16. affecting the Potato-crojis. 103 before I discovered them in the vessel in which the tuber was placed^ as well as multitudes of smaller flies, all of which I will now describe. The whole belong to the Order Diptera: the first I shall notice is included in the Family Tipulid^, and the Genus PsYCHODA, and has been named 29. P. nervosa (fig. 47 ; r, the natural size*). The males are twice as large as the females ; they are ashy-white, clothed with longish wool: the little head is buried under the thorax: the black eyes are large and lunate: the 2 horns are as long as the thorax and composed of 1 J (?) small joints, black at the base, giving them an annulated appearance : the abdomen is short and of a dirty colour : the 2 wings when at rest meet over the back slanting : they are iridescent, very large, oval, and lanceolate, with numerous longitudinal hairy nervures : the entire margin is also hairy ; balancers small, clubbed, and white : 6 legs woolly ; the feet 5-jointed, the tips black. Length ^, expanse 3 lines. In February, 1846, the larvoe and pupae were abundant in the rotten potatoes, also in decaying leaves and dunghills, and the flies have been bred by Mr. Haliday from putrescent fungi. These flies sometimes swarm in outhouses and about drains in spring and autumn. The larvae are not \ a line long, yellowish-white, cylindrical, spindle-shaped, with 11 distinct annulations besides the head, which is triangular ; the tail is elongated and tubular. The pupa is about ^ oi ^ line long, ochreous, and ferruginous ; it is elongate- ovate in repose (fig. 48, the back ; 49, the underside ; s, the natural size), but the body can be stretched out and attenuated when disturbed, as in fig. 50: from the forehead project 2 slender appendages, like horns, on either side are laid the short stout antennae, and the wings meet over the breast, with the legs stretched out between them : the abdominal segments are ciliated and the tail is forked. Several species of a little swarthy two-winged fly were bred from the decaying potatoes in multitudes. They are called Sciara by Meigen, and Molohrus by Latreille. The larvae I received from Mr. Graham : they are slender worms, about a quarter of an inch long, whitish and opake, but when immersed in water they become perfectly transparent, exhibiting the ochreous viscera and the food digesting in the stomach ; when in motion they taper towards the head, which is oval, horny, black and shining; the body is composed of 13 segments with 7 or 8 spi- racles on each side ; the tail is broad and rounded, but slightly pointed in the centre (fig. 51 ; t, the natural size). The pupa is * Curtis's Guide, Genus 1151, No. 6, and Brit. Ent., fol. and pi. 745. 104 Ohservatioiis on the various Insects shorter, cylindrical, elliptical, and of a dull ochreous tint, be- coming darker as the period approaches of the birth of the fly : the antennae, eves, wings, and legs are visible beneath their horny sheaths (fig. 52 ; w, the natural size). At this period they are deprived of locomotion, but the larvse, although perfect maggots and destitute of feet, are able to move along in moisture, at the same time waving about and thrusting out iheir heads with great energy. There are 30 species of these flies which inhabit Eng- land, and 3 or 4 of them have been bred from putrid potatoes. One is called 30. Sciara fucata, 3Ie^. ;* when alive it is 1 line long. The jnale is of a pale inky- black, the head is small and spherical, with 2 tri-articulate feelers bent under ; the 2 horns are not longer than the thorax, tapering, pubescent, inserted in front of the face, and 16-jointed, 2 basal joints the stoutest, the remainder oblong, apex conical ; eyes lateral, kidney-shaped, and coarsely granulated ; ocelli 3, but unequal : trunk gibbose, subquadrate, scooped out at the base, with two indistinct lines of short ochreous hairs down the back ; scutel lunate, postscutel oval, of a greyish colour : ab- domen slender, greenish black, brownish after death, 7-jointed, the margins of llie segments pale, apex obtuse, and furnished wi th 2 incurved bi-articulate lobes : 2 winsrs, incumbent in r n-^' epose, parallel, longer than the body, iridescent, slightly smoky, but transparent and clear at the base ; nervures brown, excepting the central one, which is scarcely visible, but forked and dark at the margin ; the costal nervure does not reach the base of the forked cell ; balancers pale dirty yellow or ochreous: 6 legs, long, slen- der, and of a dirty yellow or pale olive tint. Female similar, but larger, being 1^ line long, the wings expanding nearly 3 lines: the thorax is not narrowed behind : the abdomen is spindle-shaped, attenuated, and conical, terminating in 2 little parallel sheaths: the 2 balancers are dusky when dry. This was bred in the winter of 1845-46, and again in 1848, in vast quantities : the flies are also found throughout the summer in fields and gardens, on umbellate flowers, and on grasses. I have likewise bred them from rotten turnips in March. 31. S. quinque-lineata of Macquartf is H line long (fig. 53, the female; v, the natural dimensions). " It is black, with 5 lines on the thorax of a deep dull grey : anterior hips testaceous : wings almost hyaline :" balancers brown or dirty white. Specimens agreeing with this description were bred from rotten potatoes in March, 1848, and sent to me with the tubers con- * Meigen's Syst. Besch. Europ. zweif. Inseck., vol. i. p. 280, No. 6, and Gardeners' Chron., vol. v. p. 784. t Hist. Nat. des Ins. Dipteres, vol. i. p. 14D, No. 10. affecting the Potato-crops. 105 tainino: the larvae and pupae also, which resembled figs. 5\ and 52. The potatoes were like old rotten cheese, and portions of the outside were covered with slimy threads, which Mr. Graham saw the larvae spin. He thinks they cause the * scab ' in pota- toes, but I saw not the least vestige of the insect on one variety of my potatoes, which was very scabby. 32. S. pulicaria ? Meigen,^ ^(ff' ^^ 2 ^ ^^^^ long or upwards, and is distinguished from the two foregoing species by its longer antennae, which are equal in length to the rest of the body. "It is black, with testaceous legs : the wings almost hyaline : balancers brown." My specimens being as big again as Meigen's, v/ith ochreous balancers, I am doubtful if they be the S. pulicaria of that author. I bred them in August, 1845, from a rotten potato. Another Dipterous insect was bred from the potatoes in less quantities. It also belongs to the Family Tipulid/e, and the Genus Scathopse. It appears to be Meigen's 33. S. punctata.! It is black and shining: the head is small; the eyes are kidney-shaped, with 3 little ocelli on the crown ; the antennae are short, stout, cylindrical, and composed of 1 1 cup- shaped joints: thorax elongated and' somewhat compressed, with a white dot on each side ; scutel small and rough : abdomen broad, oval, and depressed : wings ample, resting horizontally, transpa- rent, and iridescent, with a black costal, subcostal, and basal nervure, the 1st and 2nd united beyond the middle, and divided near the base, by an oblique nervure ; there are also 4 other very faint longitudinal nervures, the apical one forked, the anal one waved : balancers yellowish : legs simple, longish, and rusty ; extremity of thighs and shanks variegated with fuscous; feet brown, 5-jointed, terminated by a pair of minute claws. Length \\ line, expanse 3J lines. The larvae from which these flies proceed, live in various putrid substances, and even in dung : they have also been bred from the cocoons of silkworm:^;, in all probability containing de- composing caterpillars or rotten pupae ; they are from 2 lines to nearly \ inch long, flat, and narrowed at both ends, of a dirty greyish-yellow colour ; the head is brown and oval, with 2 short feelers : the body is composed of 12 pubescent segments, the 1st thoracic one with a prominent spiracle on each side, as well as the penultimate, which with the apex is covered with radiating bristles. The pupa is IJ line long : it is enclosed in the skin of the larva, a little depressed, and yellowish brown : from the tho- rax projects a branched spiracle, like a buck's horn, and the tail * Syst. Besch. Europ. zweif. Inseck., vol. i. p. 282, No. 12. t Ibid., vol. i. p. 301, No. 4, and Curtis's Guide, Genus 1177, 3. 106 Observations on the vaiHous Insects has a stout spine. It remains from a week to a fortnicrht in this state, and the flies are often exceedingly abundant in the autumn. Two lar^e flies belonging- to the Family Muscid^ 1 also bred from a single potato, as previously stated. There were 48 speci- mens of one which was named by Fallen 34. Musca stabulans.* The male is 3| lines long, and the wings expand ^ an inch : it is of an ash-colour, and clothed with black bristles; the feelers are ferruginous ; the antennae drooping, 5-jointed and rust-coloured, pitchy at the base, 3rd joint elliptical and hoary, except at the base, the seta black and feathery, the basal joint minute: eyes large, approximating, naked, and chest- nut colour, the margins silvery white, as well as the face, with a black stripe tapering from the antennae to the 3 ocelli on the crown: thorax hoary, with 4 black longitudinal stripes before, the 2 central ones the longest, with a spot on each side beyond the centre ; scutel hoary, with a dark stripe at the base, ferruginous at the tip : abdomen ashy-ochreous, shining, the back variegated with brown patches : wings with the apical cell not angulated, but suddenly rounded, scales at the base with pale tawny mar- gins, and concealing the ochreous clubbed balancers: legs black, apex of thighs and tibiae ferruginous; pulvilli at the extremity of the feet elongated. Female similar, but the eyes do not approxi- mate, the face has a yellow tinge, and the stripe on the crown is broad and elliptical : the abdomen is broader, with an oviduct at the tail, and the pulvilli are small (fig. 54 ; w, the natural size). The maggots had bred and accumulated amongst the slimy matter of the rotting potato just as meat-maggots are found, toge- ther with the horny pupae. Indeed, the largest maggots were exceedingly like those of the flesh-flies, being fat and whitish, the ochreous food and white lines of viscera shining through the transparent skin : the head was pointed with a black proboscis formed of 2 horny claws, and the two spiracles at the blunt tail were like 2 black horny knobs (fig. 55). The tough and oval pupae were of a bright chestnut colour, the segments slightly marked, the head end rounded and wrinkled to a point, the tail furnished with 2 black spiracular tubes (fig. 56). Of the other fly I bred 58 specimens from the same potato the middle of August. The larvae escaped my notice at first from being so very like the earth in colour, and they are still more difhcult to detect from their sluggishness. They must be in the greatest force in July, but I have met with them in rotten potatoes the end of November. The group of flies with these singular spiny larvae have been formed by Bouche into a Genus * Meigen's »Syst. Besch. Europ, zweif. Inseck., vol. v. p, 75, and Curtis's Guide, Genus 1286, No. 23. affecting the Potato-crops. 107 called HoMALOMYiA,* being a section of Antliomyia, The parent fly of our species is exceedingly like Musca cunicularis f of Linnaeus ; still there are differences, and as the larvae are also dissimilar, I have named this Potato-fly 35. Anthomyia tuberosa.J The male is 2 J lines long, and expands 5^ : it is greyish-black and bristly : the eyes are chestnut colour, naked, approximating on the crown, the inner margin silvery white; antennae drooping, 5 jointed, 3rd joint oblong, 4th a slender elongated basal joint to the longish pubescent seta : thorax with 5 indistinct broad stripes down the back, 2nd and 3rd abdominal segments with bright ochreous spots on each side, 3rd rarely with 2 similar minute spots : wings transparent, ner- vures dark, the 2 transverse ones not very remote : balancers pale tawny : legs black, base of shanks indistinctly ferruginous (fig. b7 ', X, the natural dimensions), i^sma/e ashy slate colour: the eyes smaller than those of the male and remote; the face not silvery : thorax with 5 distinct broad blackish lines down the back: abdomen ovate- conic, with 2 indistinct ochreous slightly diaphanous spots on the 2nd abdominal segment; in other re- spects this sex is similar to the male. The larvae, although indolent, can crawl well ; they are of a dull tawny colour, clothed with long bristly spines, somewhat depressed, elliptical, tapering to the head, which is waved about, and when thrust out is whitish and fleshy, armed with 2 minute hooks like ebony, and there is a little fleshy horn on each side, on the following segment is a spiracle, on either side, surrounded by several stout short rays, the 2 next segments have tubercles on the back, the remainder have a double series down the centre producing bristles, with a double row on each side, and 8 of the segments have a pair of short spines on each beneath, which enable it to walk ; the apex is armed with 6 long bristles a little spiny at the base, but most of the others are naked, or with the slightest appearance of pubescence or little spines at the base ; on the apical segment are 2 spiracular tubes (fig. 58 ; y, the natu- ral size). The pupa being formed within the indurated skin of the larva, it varies from it only in being more convex above, and the fly escapes by a lateral opening in the thorax. These larvae and pupae I find occasionally in my garden where cabbages have long occupied the ground, and Dr. Harris remarks that the hairy maggots of Anthomyia cunicularis, or an allied species, live in rotten turnips ;§ they also abound in privies, and * Natur. der Inseckten, p. 89. t Curtis's Guide, Genus 1287, No. 104. % Gardeners' Chron, vol. v. p. 817. § Treatise on Insects injurious to Vegetation, p. 414. 108 Ohservatloiis on the various Insects Ihe pupjie cases are sometimes found in multitudes under the boards. From the large quantities of these maggots which have been ejected from the human stomach and intestines, accompanied by the most distressing symptoms,* I am led to conclude from their economy, that the eggs or larvae are conveyed into the stomach in badly or half-cooked vegetables^ for it is evident they subsist upon decomposing vegetables and excrementitious substances, and I have found similar but very small larvae on cabbage- leaves in October. It is therefore very probable that under certain mor- bid conditions of the constitution they are able to live in the human body until they have arrived at their full growth, when they are necessarily ejected to become pupae, and after a short time to be transformed into flies. It is not a little remarkable that the maggots of Musca stabulans should have been also voided from the intestines,t and that fact tends to substantiate the view I have taken of the subject, and the cause of their presence in the human system, for that is the other species of large fly which I bred from maggots generated in the same potato. I also detected the larvae and pupae of a siualler species of fly called Drosopliila, which hatched the middle of August with the foregoing insects. They are also inhabitants of cellars, as their specific name implies, where the larvae are usually very abundant all the year round. They will breed in stale beer, and probably are generated where there is any leakage from the tap and oozing about the bung, as well as from the fungi which spring up round rotten wood, &c., in cellars. I have also known them to be bred from vinegar,;|] and it will be remembered that one species, D.fiava, lives on the pulpy substance of the turnip-leaves,§ and another, D. graminum, I have bred from cabbage-leaves. In spring and autumn the flies abound, and are not unfrequently on the inside of our windows. They belong to the Family Mus- CID^, and the Genus Drosophila. That bred from the pota- toes appears to be the Linnaean species named 36. Drosophila cellaris. It is IJ line long, and expands 4 lines : the general colour is ochreous : the head is broad as well as the face, in the centre of which are inserted the 2 little droop- ing pubescent horns, the 3rd joint is oval, and from the back arises a feathery bristle jointed at the base : the orifice forming the mouth is very large ; eyes large, hemispherical ; ocelli 3 on * IlifF, in Lancet for July 25th, 1840 ; Trans. Ent. Soc, vol. ii. pp. 152 and 256, pi. 15, f. 19 ; Memoirs of Med. Soc. of London for 1789, vol. ii. f. 1—4. t British and Foreign Medical Review for April, 1842. % Curtis's Brit. Ent., fol. and pi. 473, and Curtis's Guide, Genus 1334. I Journal of Royal Agric. Soc, vol. iii. p. 69, pi. D. f. 30. affecting the Potato-crops. 109 the crown : thorax globose-quadrate ; scutel semi-ovate : abdomen small, depressed, oval, blackish, and 6-jointed, with 4 or 5 ochre- ous bands ; the apex pointed in the female : wings incumbent in repose, very long and ample, yellov^^ish and iridescent, with a very short marginal cell, and 4 longitudinal nervures, the 2nd and 3rd united towards the base, the 3rd and 4th towards the margin ; balancers small, clavate : 6 legs tapering ; feet long, slender, and 5-jointed, terminated by minute claws (fig. 59 ; z, the natural dimensions). The larvae are 2^ lines long, of a whitish colour, tapering to- wards the head, composed of 12 joints; on each side of the tho- racic segment is a short branching spiracle, and the tail is fur- nished with 4 divaricating blunt spines, the edges of the segments being serrated with hooked ones (fig. 60; a, the natural size). When full grown, this skin becomes horny, changing to a rust- colour, the maggot is transformed to a pupa within an internal horny shell of a chestnut colour, and of course the pupa (fig. 61 ; b, the natural size) greatly resembles the larva. There is also an extensive group of flies called Borborus* the larvae of which live upon decomposing vegetable, and probably animal substances also : at all events they are generated in fungi. A portion of these flies is now distinguished by Macquart under the generic name of Ltmosina ;t one of them 1 have bred from rotting potatoes, and it seems to be identical with that author's 37. L. geniculata.J It is only 1 line long, and expands a little more than 2 lines. Tt is black ; the head is moderately large, with an ample cavity beneath to receive the mouth : the eyes are hemispheric and rust-coloured, and there are 3 minute ocelli on the crown ; the face Is concave, with 2 little horns in the centre, the 3rd joint orbicular, with a tomentose seta: thorax broader, very convex ; scutel semi-orbicular and flat : abdomen very short, the segments equal in length : wings rather small, smoky, nervures pitchy ; costal the strongest ; subm^arginal cell not extending to the apex, 2nd and 3rd longitudinal nervures united at the middle, 3rd and 4th forming a loop with 2 minute branches at the ex- tremity ; balancers small and ochreous : legs pitchy; hips ochre- ous, as well as the tips of the anterior thighs and the base of the shanks; hinder with a few spines outside; feet long, 5-jointed, especially the hinder, which are slender, and longer than the shanks ; dull ochreous, basal joint very long and pitchy, terminal one very short, and furnished with short claws, M. Rayer also observed a species in the infected potatoes which * Curtis's Brit. Ent., fol and pi. 469. f Curtis's Guide, Genus 1350. i Macquart's Hist. Nat. des Dipteres, vol. ii. p. 572: 110 Observations on the various Insects has been named by Guerin Limosina Payenii,'^ and it is not im- probable that it may be the male of Macquart's species, for it agrees very well with our female, except in the colour of the wincrs and the structure of the hinder feet. With the foregoing Diptera I often bred a parasitic insect in considerable numbers, but to which it is attached, or whether to any of them, I am unable to ascertain. It belongs to the Order Hymenoptera, the Family Proctotrupid^, and the Genus Cerapsilon, which has been divided by Mr. Westwood into 3 Genera, one of which is called Paramesius,^ and to that section our inspct belongs. It is included by Nees ab Esenbeck in the Genus Diapria, and has been named by him 38. P. brachialis.J The Male is scarcely 1 line long, and ex- pands If-; it is very glossy black ; the head is globose ; the face short ovate, and at the bottom are attached the antennae, which are nearly as long as the body, ferruginous, and 14-jointed, basal joint long, 'ind short, obovate, 3rd notched or comma-shaped, remainder short and obovate, apical joint conical ; eyes small, lateral, with 3 ocelli on the crown in a triangle : thorax very globose, scarcely larger than the head : scutel small, semi-oval, deeply hollowed at the base ; metathorax ferruginous and uneven; petiole forming a ferruginous knob, woolly behind : abdomen small, ovate-conic, pitchy, base ferruginous, with 4 longitudinal channels on a very large segment, apical segment very short : 4 wings dusky and pubescent, with a few nervures at the base of the superior, forming an elongated cell : 6 legs short, slender, and ochreous, pitchy at the base ; thighs thickened, as well as the anterior shanks, and pitchy at the middle ; feet slender, 5-jointed, tips dusky. Female above 1 line long, and expanding If : this sex is not only distinguished by its larger size, but the horns are shorter, with only 12 joints, the 3rd being simple like the 2nd; and the extremity of the abdomen is acuminated, and very acute. This insect belongs to a family which is very serviceable in keeping down wireworms and other subterranean larvse, as will be seen by a reference to a former volume § and the ' Gardeners' Chronicle.' II Nees also says that the DiapricB breed in the sub- terranean larvse of Tipuloi, or Gnats. I must not omit to record another fly called Dilophus fehrilis, which is exceedingly abundant every year, the larvee causing * Bull, des Seances de la Soc. Roy. et Cent. d'Agric, vol. v. pi. 6, f. 4. t Curtis's Guide, Genus 571. % Hymenop. Ichn. Affin. Mon., vol. ii. p. 333. 5 Journal of Royal Agric. Soc, vol. v. p. 225, pi. J. figs. 46 and 47, the pupa, I expect, of a Proctotnipes. II Vol. vi. p. 36, Proctotrupes Viator. affecting the Potato-crops. Ill much mischief in gardens ; and at the close of the year 1845 many of them were sent to me as abounding on decayed portions of planted potatoes, and I have met with them likewise about the tubers and in flower-pots, where they burrow in all directions. Some I received in July were about | of an inch long, of an ochreous brown or snuff-colour, and shagreened : the back is slightly convex, with 12 well-defined wrinkled segments and a horny shining head, much narrower than the body, intensely black or inclining to chestnut-colour, and slightly hairy; there are 8 dis- tinct spiracles on each side, the penultimate segment is rounded, with 4 teeth on the margin, and the anal one has 4 smaller teeth, with '2 large spiracles near the base : it has no feet. They were transformed to pupae in the earth the beginning of August, and were then yellowish- white ; the thoracic portion was very thick, with 2 horns in front ; the body slender and sub- cylindric, the segments very distinct, with spiracles down the sides, and the tail spiny. The flies hatched on the 21st of August, but they abound in fields, hedges, especially under trees, and even in the highways around London, the whole of that month ; and there must be two broods of them, as they are found likewise in May. They belong to the Family Tipulid^, and to the Genus Dilophus. The species was named febrilis by Linnceus, from the generally received opinion in Sweden of these flies resorting to houses where intermittent fevers existed. 39. D. febrilis is intensely black, shining, and hairy. The head of the Male is hemispheric, and covered with large densely pubescent eyes of a reddish-brown colour; there are 3 minute ocelli forming an elevated triangle near the base : the lip is broad, and the feelers incurved : the trunk is oval and gibbose, with 2 transverse rows of minute teeth before : the scutel is short and broad : abdomen sublinear, 8-jointed, the apex clubbed : the 2 wings are incumbent in repose, perfectly transparent and white but iridescent, the pinion only is slightly tinged with brown, the costal nervures pitchy, the others very faintly marked ; a radial nervure uniting with the costa at the middle forms a brown spot at the extremity : 2 balancers, with a large compressed brown club : it has 6 long legs ; anterior thighs the thickest, the shanks very short, the apex surrounded by a coronet of teeth ; there are also several short spines outside ; feet slender, 5-jointed, termi- nated by claws and suckers : length 2J lines, expanse 5 lines. The Female is larger and very different, the head being much less, with small oval eyes not meeting on the crown : the abdomen is brownish and elongated, ovate at the extremity but narrowed at the base, and the tip is furnished with 2 minute tubercles : the wings are much longer and very ample, entirely brown, the 112 Observations on the various Insects pinion being the darkest, with a brown stigmatic spot ; all the nervures are pitchy; the anterior thighs are incrassated. These insects fly heavily, their hinder legs hanging down, and in the evening they become sluggish, resting on herbage and bushes. The larvae also inhabit cow-dung and horse-muclv : it is therefore very possible they may be introduced into potato-grounds with the manure, or the flies may be attracted to highly manured ground to deposit their eggs ; for so little is knovvn of the economy of many insects, that it is impossible to determine their exact habits : indeed no description or figures were to be found of the larvae and pupae of this fly, until I sent them to the ' Gardeners' Chronicle.'* False Scorpions, These singular little creatures have occurred in some numbers amongst decaying potatoes, where probably they live upon the mites, as one species is known to be very serviceable in keeping under those pests in cabinets of natural history ; others are found attached to the legs of house-flies so firmly that it is scarcely pos- sible to remove them, but whether they destroy the fly or only avail themselves of their power of flight to be carried from one locality to another is not known. Ttiese false Scorpions belong to an Order called by Latreille Tracheari^, to the Family Cheliferid^, and the Genus Chelifer. I can find no de- scription which answers to this species correctly: it is undoubtedly closely allied to Hermann's C. nepoides, but the inequality in the length of the legs seems to distinguish them, and for that reason I shall call the potato species 40. C. inaequalis. It is | of a line long, of a lively rust-colour : the head is pointed ; the two little eyes are scarcely visible ; the feelers are like the claws of a crab, as long as the body, smooth, with scattered hairs, and 4-jointed ; the basal joint is short, hatchet-shaped, 2nd twice as long and oblong, 3rd as large, pear- shaped, 4th the largest, oval, terminated by two long slender claws, forming pincers: thorax oval, with a transverse suture across the middle : body oval, and brown with scattered hairs, furnished with 8 shortish, ochreous, shining legs ; 4 first the shortest, 5-jointed, and terminated by a minute double black claw (fig. 62; c, the natural size). Worms. It may be remembered that in discussing the minute animals which affect the wheat-crops, a very remarkable little worm called Vibrio tritici was described and figured, f and its history was also * Vol. iv. p. 868, with figures of the male, female, larva, and pupa, f Journal of Royal Agric. Soc, vol. vi. p. 513, pi. O. figs. 27 and 28. affecting the Potato-crops. 113 detailed. It appears that M. Rayer has discovered a similar species which breeds in muUitudes in rotten potatoes ; and the same animals were observed by Mr. Graham and myself last March, in myriads in the putrescent tubers. This Vibrio is named by Guerin, Rliabditis tuherculorum, and is shorter and stouter in its young state : the tail of the male is rounded ; conical and pointed in the female : the mouth is furnished with 2 rounded nipples, and a 3rd between them connected with the oesophagus, and the body is devoid of articulations (fig. 63, magnifiedj : it is not thicker than the finest hair, and scarcely visible in repose. As it is well figured, with dissections, in the Bulletin so often re- ferred to in this Report, it is unnecessary to comment further upon this worm at present. I am not aware that snails injure the potato-crops at any period, but slugs do much mischief to the late crops, enlarging the holes perforated by wireworms, snake millipedes, and other subter- ranean animals, which is one good reason for lifting the crop as soon as the tubers are ripe, to prevent unnecessary waste. This reminds me of a singular fact recorded in a useful monthly pub- lication called the ' Farmers' Herald.'* A bag was found in a cooked potato, containing 1 1 white globular pellucid eggs, scarcely so large as mustard-seeds : they were a little pointed at one end, and had every appearance of having been laid in the cavity by a slug, which is exceedingly probable, as I have found them half concealed in potatoes, where they had feasted so long and increased so greatly in bulk, that it was impossible to with- draw them without enlarging the orifice. I believe this may close my observations regarding the insects and small animals which directly or indirectly injure the potato- crops. They amount to 60 er more, but probably their name would be ' Legion ' if we were thoroughly acquainted with all the species, in their different stages of development, preying upon this useful esculent; and although in the foregoing pages no attempt has been made to give undue importance to their agency, there can be no question that insects often injure the potato- crops to a great amount. Indeed, as we have endeavoured to show in these Essays, their mission is to labour in the destruction of vegetable and animal matter, and consequently there is not a crop in the field and garden that, sooner or later, is not subject to their ravages. A Summary of the present Essay. Aphis of potato, the same as that on the turnip, named A. Rapce, and identical with A. vastator. Various species of Aphides are found upon potato-haulm, as VOL. X. I 114 Observations on the various Insects Aphis RapcB, A. Humili, A. Persicce, A. Fahce, and Schizoneura lanigera. It is only when the plant-lice take possession of a plant, breed upon and smother it, that they can affect its life. It is by suction they exhaust vegetation. Ladi/birds and their larvce, the maggots o( dipterous Jlies, and some small hugs, live upon the plant-lice. A fly called Sapromyza ohsoleta supposed to cause the potato- rot, laying its eggs in the young shoots. Thrips minutissima accused of causing the potato epidemic. They live by suction, and 7iever are in sufficient numbers upon the potato-leaves to affect the tubers. A minute ground-flea, Smynthurus Solani, feeds on the pulp of the leaves. A Smynthurus in Nova Scotia destroys the very young turnips and cabbages. They generate upon old cultivated ground, and damp drives them away. Salt or sea-weeds scattered over the ground will expel them. A Podura feeds on the pulp of the leaves, and is supposed to poison the sap. Plant-bugs believed to cause the potato disease. Lygus Solani, L. contaminatus . L. bipunctatus, L. umhella- tarum, Phytocoris pabulinus, and P. viridis, were the accused species. Another species appeared 10 years earlier in the United States, where similar opinions were entertained of their poisoning the votatoes. Frog-flies, called Eupteryx Solani and E. jncta, breeding on the potato-haulm, and accused of destroying the potato-crops. They live by suction, as well as the plant- bugs, from the time they are hatched to their final state. Macrocnema exoleta, a leaping beetle, feeds upon and riddles the leaves of the potato and bitter-sweet. Caterpillars of the death's-head sphinx feed upon potato-leaves. This moth robs bee-hives, and is called also the bee-tiger. An Ichneumon fly. Tragus atropos, lives in the caterpillars of the death' s-head moth. A mite, Oribates oastaneus, congregates on the dead potato- haulm to feed on fungi. M. G^wenVz attributes the. potato -disease io atmospheric changes, and not to insects. Surface-grubs, the caterpillars of moths, Agrotis exclamationis and A. segetum, destroy potato as well as turnip crops. Maggots of Tipulae. the crane-flies or daddy-longlegs, seriously affect the potato-crops. affecting the Potato-crops. 115 They revel In damp and undisturbed land : draining is therefore obnoxious to the TipulcB maggots. The eggs are scattered among the grass and weeds. The larvcB of Tipida oleracea and T. paludosa are Yxwmgfrom April to August, and destroy turnip^ potato, beet, carrot, and cabbage, as well as corn crops, and injure pastures and garden plants. These gnats are most abundantyrom July to November. Wheat cannot be grown after clover -leas, owing to the maggots of the Tipuloe and the wireworms. Repeated rollings with CrosskilTs clod-crusher, or breast- ploughing the turf and burning it, are the best remedies against the maggots. LarvcB of Tipula maculosa injurious to corn and potato crops on light lands, and very destructive in gardens in the spring and summer. These gnats abound in May and June, when the eggs are laid. Watering with salt or nitrate of soda would free the land, as well as searching round sickly and dying plants early in the morning. Repeated dustings of soot, sea-sand, and salt, would probably destroy the maggots. Rolling grass at the proper season will destroy the gnats, and prevent the deposition of eggs. Clover- stubbles should be kept close fed by sheep, &c., as it is an excellent remedy. Rooks, starlings, sea-gulls, lapwings, snipes, and pheasants, con- sume immense quantities of subterraneari larvce or grubs. Wireworms drill potatoes in the summer and autumn, if not earlier. Potatoes when left in the ground attract all the wireworms, as will sliced potatoes when covered with earth. Oat crop saved by sowing soot and guano. A different species of ivireworm destroys both sound and dis- eased potatoes in France. Snake millij^edes assist in destroying potato-crops on the first appearance of disease. lulus pulchellus is the most abundant and mischievous. Centipedes in abundance in potato-grounds, especially Lithobius forcipatus and Geophilus electricus ? They are said to be carnivorous, and G. electricus leaves a train of light as it walks. Podura phimbea'^ in abundance about rotting potatoes in February. A Tick, and 3 mites, named Acarus coleoptratus ? Glyciphagus fecularum, and Tyroglyphus feculce, inhabit the decaying tubers. 1 2 1 16 Observations on the various Insects A mite named Acarus farince also swarms in the spring in diseased potatoes. They love damp, and a small degree of heat will hill them.. Three or 4 different larvce^ the produce of little Rove-beetles, &c., which probably feed on the mites, are generated in decom- posing potatoes. A Rove-beetle, called Oxytclus nitidulus, is a constant inha- bitant of decomposing vegetables. Nests of little beetles, Abrceus minutus, in rotting potatoes. Trichopteryx rugulosa, one of the minutest of beetles, also resides iji diseased potatoes. A little gnat, Psychoda nervosa, bred in multitudes from rotten potatoes in the spring. The swarthy flies, Sciara fiicata^ S. quinquelineata, and S. pulicaria? hatched in multitudes from the same tubers which supplied food for their maggots. Scathopse punctata? another small fly, was bred with them. 48 examples of a large fly, Musca stabidans, were bred from a single potato in August, and 58 of another fly, Anthomyia tubejvsa, from the same rotting tuber. These and a closely allied species are produced from maggots which are occasionally voided in vast quantities from the stomach and intestines of man. Are they not introduced into the stomach with badly or partially coohed vegetables ? Drosophila cellaris, the Cellar-fly, also came forth from the same potato as the last-named flies. Limosina geniculata is another fly I have hatched from putrid potatoes and L. Payenii also in France. A parasitic fly, Paramesius brachialis, is often bred where the iore^oin^ Jiies are generated. Larvae of a fly, Dilophus febrilis, also infests the tubers in the ground. Chelifer in(Bqualis, a false- scorpion, also resorts to decaying potatoes, probably io feed upon the mites. A worm, called Vibrio or Rhabditis tuber cxdorum, is generated in vast numbers in putrifying potato-heaps. EXPLANATION OF PLATE U. Fig. 1.* Aphis FabcB, female. Fig. 2. The natural size. Fig. 3.* Pupa of Aphis Fabce. Fig. 4. The natural size. Fig. o.* Hylophila Nemorum. Fig. 6. The natural size. u ^<^43. affecting the Potato-crops. 117 Fig. 7.* The larva state oi Hylophila. Fig, 8. The natural size. Fig. 9. The head and thorax in profile, a. The antennae or horns. b. The rostrum or beak. Fig. 10.* Pupa o^ Hylophila Nemorum, Fig. 11. The natural size. Fig. 12.* Hylopldla minuta. Fig. 13. The natural size. Fig. 14.* Larva state of Thrips minutissima. Fig. 15. The natural size. Fig. 16.* Thrips mifiutissima flying. Fig. 17. The natural size. Fig. 18.* Smynthurus Solani, the potato ground-flea; its natural size is that of a grain of sand. Fig. 19.* A Smynthurus in profile, to show its leaping apparatus. Fig. 20.* Lygus Solani; the potato-bug. c. The natural length. Fig. 21.* Pupa of the same. d. The natural length. Fig. 22.* Lygus contaminatus. Fig. 23. The natural size. Fig. 24.* The head in profile. e. Base of the antennee, f. The rostrum. Fig. 25.* Lygus bipunctatus. Fig. 26. The natural size. Fig. 27.* Lygus umbellatarum. g. The natural dimensions. Fig. 2S.* Eupteryx Solani, the potato frog-fly. h. The natural dimensions. Fig. 29.* The head in profile. i. The antenna. k. The rostrum. Fig. 30.* The eg^, I. The natural size. Fig. 31.* The pupa state. Fig. 32.* Eupteryx picta. m. The natural dimensions. Fig. 33.* Attica or Macrocnema exoleta ; the potato flea-beetle. Fig. 34. The natural size. EXPL,ANATION OF PLATE V. Fig. 35. Eggs of Tipula Oleracea. ^^.* One magnified. Fig. 36. The larva or maggot from the same. 0.* Tail or stern, viewed in fr^nt. Fig. 37. The pupa state of the same. Fig. 38. Abdomen of the male fly, in profile. 1 18 Various Insects affecting the Potato Crops. Fig. 39. Female Tipula Oleracea, or crane-fly. Fi«-. 40. Abdomen of the male of Tipula maculosa. Fig. 41. Female Tipula maculosa. Fig. 42. Larva or maggot of the same. Fi"-. 43. The same contracted. j>.* Tiie tail or stern, viewed in front. Fig. 44. The pupa state of the same. Fig. 45. Geophilus clectricus {?), or Anthro?iomalus lorigicornis. Fig. 46.* Acarus or Tijroghjphus farinm : the flour-mite. q. The natural size. Fig. 47.* Psychoda nervosa. r. The natural dimensions. Pupa, view of the back. Ditto, ditto, the underside. Ditto, ditto, nearly in profile and attenuated. s. The natural size. Larva or maggot of Sciara quinquelineata, t. The natural size. Pupa of the same. It. The natural size. Sciara (or Molohrus) quinquelineata, V. The natural dimensions. Musca stahulans. w. The natural dimensions. The larva or maggot of the same. The pupa. Anthomyia (or Homalomyia') tiiberosa. X. The natural dimensions. Larva of the same. y. The natural size. Drosophila cellaris., the cellar-fly. z. The natural dimensions. The larva or maggot of the same. a. The natural size. Fig. 61.* Pupa of the same. b. The natural size. Fig. 62.* Chelifer ificequalis, a false-scorpion. c. The natural size. Fig. 63.* Vibrio (or Rhabditis) tuberculorum, greatly magnified. Obs. — Those numbers with a * attached, refer to the objects which are represented larger than life, and all the figures are drawn from nature, excepting No. 63, which is copied from M. Guerin's plate. (The Copyright of this Paper is reserved to the Writer.) Hayes, near Uxbridge, February., 1849. Fig. Fig. Fig. 48.* 49.* 50.* Fig. 51.* Fig. 52.* Fig. 53.* Fig. 54.* Fig. Fig. Fig. 55. 57.* Fig. 58.* Fig. 59.* Fig. 60.* ( 119 ) V. — On the Stoppac/e of Drains by a Stony Deposit. From Lord Portman. To Mr. Pusey. Dear Pusey, — I wish to call the attention of those persons who are engaged in draining land, to the accompanying state- ment of facts tending to show the importance of ascertaining the quality of the water which is to pass through the drains, before selecting the material of which they are to be formed. I have seen many cases where drains built with stones — made with broken stones — filled with boughs of trees or with poles of alder or larch — made with tiles and soles (as each person has thought best), have been stopped, adjacent to turf-wedge drains made from 20 to 40 years before, which were running perfectly. I have in some cases satisfied myself that a deposit has attached itself to these materials, and has more or less impeded the drainage, and that no deposit has been made in the turf-drains by the same water ; but I have not hitherto ascertained with sufficient accuracy the real cause of the stoppage, though I have little doubt, from what I now know, that a chemical analysis of the water would explain it. In tile-pipes I have not yet seen any similar stoppage, but my experience of pipes is not yet suf- ficient to justify me in saying that they would not be liable to similar obstructions. I believe that the aid of the chemist and of the geologist are essential to the permanent success of the drainer. T now give you one case in full detail, sent to me, at my request, by my friend Mr. Goodden of Compton House, near Sherborne, from whom I received the water and the deposit, whereof I send you a copy of the analysis made by Professor Way. Yours truly, Bryanston, April 28, 1849. Portman. " Although I have been doing a great deal of draining of late, I have been a good deal staggered as to its being an improvement of long continuance. Twenty years ago a large pasture field of mine was drained under the old and exploded system of Turf-draining. There is a carrier of stone of large dimensions in the field ; this was choked some weeks since, and I had it opened a long dis- tance up, and, to my surprise, I found the whole drain comjjletely closed with the incrustation from the water ; the substance is pre- cisely the same as that we find in our boilers. The field in question is 29 acres of old pasture ; the soil of which is a loam with a clay subsoil. It was drained in the year 1829, it being then in a wet state. The drainage was effected partly by what is called turf or wedge-draining, and partly by stone. There was a stone drain straight down the field, into which some of the side drains emptied themselves ; it was a good sized drain, 120 On the Stojipage of Drains by a Stony Deposit. capable of carrying a large body of water. The expense of drain- ing this field, being chiefly labour, was 50L From being quite in a wet state, it soon became dry ; the drainage appeared com- pletely successful, and so it remained until the winter of 1848. At this time the field appeared again wet ; but in the neighbour- hood of the stone carrier particularly so. In January of this year, 1849, on walking over this piece of land, I found it looking generally bad, the soil was spongy, the herbage looked unhealthy, and some places presented all the appearance of an incipient bog. I have no hesitation in saying that this field was in a much worse condition than it was before it was drained. I therefore determined to open the stone carrier, which was done on the 13th of January. We found the drain completely choked with a deposit from the water. The substance is liard, and in some places the stones of the drain were so bound together with incrustation, that it re- quired the pickaxe to divide them. When the drain was first opened, the water poured down it in large quantities ; it has been opened nearly a month, and the stream could now easily be carried by a 1 \ inch pipe. I am happy to say the land presents a very different appearance, and is nearly dry. With regard to the drainage of this field, there can be no doubt that it was very im- perfect. But still the stoppage of the stone drain with a deposit from the water has caused me to doubt whether draining, in some localities, is a substantial improvement of long duration. Where the water is what is called ' hard ' and liable to form a deposit, the same thing may happen in pipes as has occurred in my stone drain. " You ask, How have the turf-drains answered in my field, which was drained 20 years ago ? " I have had some opened and particularly examined, and I findj with scarcely any exception, that the water in them runs very well. The deteriorated state of the field seems to have arisen from the stoppage of the stone carrier, because, as many of tlie turf-drains led into this stone carrier, the drainage of some acres was necessarily stopped. The stone drain is still open, and the side turf-drains run freely into this opened carrier. I am rather disposed to think that the deposit in the drain must be formed, in some measure, of earthy matter petrified by the water ; tho carrier drain had no stone bottom, so that probably uneven sur- faces were formed, and thus from time to time earthy deposits may have formed. " I send you a bottle of the water and a lump of the deposit, of which 1 hope you will obtain an analysis. The drainage ques- tion is one of great importance to us. Of this I feel satisfied that a great deal of money is sunk in draining, and unless it is done well, that is, on scientific principles, we might as well not drain our land at all, " J. GOODDEN." On the Stopjjage of Drains hy a Stony Dej)osit. 121 From Mr. Way. " I send you the analysis of the water and the deposit : you will readily observe that the composition of the water sufficiently accounts for the deposit, which indeed it closely resembles in character. The quantity of carbonate of lime in the water is not however excessive^ and it must require some time to form so large an accumulation. From the analysis it is quite clear that the drains are stopped, not mechanically, but by a chemical precipi- tate ; this is evident by simple inspection of the substance : the deposit is principally carbonate of lime, and I believe the pheno- mena you mention may be referable to the following causes : the stone drain would probably for the most part be only partly filled with water, and would leave opportunity for the escape of the carbonic acid, by which the carbonate of lime is held in solution ; the result being a crystalline deposit of this substance, which in time would choke the drain. I must add that the stone acts like a piece of bread in a glass of champagne, in affording points for the escape of the gas. "' In the turf-drains, on the other hand, there would most likely be a gradual evolution of this gas from decomposition of vegetable matter, and the water, remaining fully charged with carbonic acid, would not afford a deposit, or, if at all, in smaller amount. From the small size of turf or wedge-drains, 1 can quite under- stand that they would not be filled up, because they must contain less air for the carbonic acid to escape into, and fewer points of escape for it even were other circumstances favourable. ^' Analysis of a deposit taken from a stone drain :-— " Carbonate of lime 86-38 Sulphate of lime . . • 2-52 Magnesia, common salt traces. Insoluble matter, sand, clay, &c 10*22 99-12 " N.B. — The sand and clay are deposited mechanically in thin layers, obvious to the eye, between the thicknesses of carbonate of lime. " Analysis of the water passing through the drains : — " Solid matter in a pint of the water 3*160 grains, consisting of— " Carbonate of Hme 2-123 Sulphate of lime 0*270 Magnesia 0-058 Common salt 0-216 Silica 0-338 Vegetable matter 0*154 3-160" ^'T. Thomas Way." ( 122 ) VI.— On the Farmincj of South Wales. By Clare Skwfll Read. Prize Report. In attemptin<2: a report on the farming of South Wales, the writer is fully sensible of the importance and ditTiculty of the task which he has undertaken and his incompetency to do justice to his subject. He trusts, however, that his effort will not be deemed presumptuous, but that he may have credit for the feeling which really actuates him, namely, a desire to give some account of, and to draw attention to, a district in which he lives, and in the cultivation of which he takes the deepest interest, with the hope that art may be brought to bear on that fair country which nature has so lavishly endowed, but which the hand of man has hitherto comparatively neglected. The requirements of the Royal Agricultural Society are fourfold : — ■ 1st. The character of the soils. 2nd. The peculiarity of the agricultural management. 3rd. The improvements since the report of Walter Davies In 1814. 4th, The improvements still required. It is scarcely possible within reasonable limits to describe the various soils of a country comprising six counties, whose area is 4000 square miles, and above 2,530,000 statute acres; or, to por- tray the peculiarities of its management, where all recognized system of farming is wanting, and the peculiarities are nearly as numerous as the parishes ; or to point out the improvements still required where almost everything which science and capital have effected for the sister country is still undone. But it will not be so difficult to deal with the ^'improvements which have taken place since 1814." Here, alas! the task is easy. It is proposed therefore, to enter, but not minute ly, upon the character of the various soils, and to give the result of the writer's experience, observation, and information, in a general outline of the agricultural management of South Wales, after which the improvements that have been made and those still required will be touched upon. South Wales now comprises the maritime counties of Pem- broke, Cardigan, Carmarthen, and Glamorgan, and the inland counties of Brecknock and Radnor, containing, according to Mr. Cary's communications to the Board of Agriculture, 2,530,360 statute acres. The population in 1841, the date of tbe last returns, was 515,067, being an increase of 186,000 since . I tl r c c -3 5 .§> t-" 521.1 CScriO— »(MW-^u^ '0 S J 3 H 3 K 'Hinoi^Noty ^ I i 11 i 2 e c * iJ - -i - :S -S E o -g -S -o -^ is ll||iiliial<||ig|llll.-.s„. £ fi;5S;bwPl!35KHM;z;KS two of the small wheat ridges are ploughed together, which is two yards wide. In the spring the land is harrowed, and this is often performed in a very curious manner. First, a large square harrow, to which the horses are attached at the corner, — -and at the other extremity is fastened by a rope or chain about a yard long a smaller harrow. The horses always trot, and the animals and boys are better fed when performing this sort of work. It is supposed the loose and rapid action of the small harrow behind, pulverises the ground better, and more effectually shakes out the couch grass. Two bushels of barley are then sown and ploughed in, and two more bushels sown in the top ; the sowing all above the furrow is becoming more ge- neral. The season for putting in barley is generally from the first week in April to the middle of May. The harvesting the barley is similar to that of wheat, only the barley is allowed to lie some time before binding, to permit the weeds and clover to wither. With the exception that 5 or 6 bushels of seed are used, the cultivation of oats is the same as barley. Perhaps the land may remain unploughed till the spring, and then be sown on one furrow. About 8 lbs. of red clover (Trifolium pratense) and half a bushel of rye grass is the general quantity of seed sown when laid down for grass. The rye grass-seed is generally grown by the farmer, or by some neighbour, and not unfrequently collected from the hay. It is therefore often impregnated with large quan- tities of couch (Agropyrum repens) ; and if the land were laid down clean, the seed applied is sufficient to poison it. It is need- less to state that land returned to grass in this impoverished and foul state can grow very little. The clover makes a feeble effort to distinguish itself during the first year, and then naturally dies away. The field for the next four or five years presents a whity brown appearance, and sends forth nothing but sour unprofitable herbage, and is often covered with furzes, brambles, and undis- turbed mole-hills, which tend still more to lessen its produce. It is a curious fact, that land laid down even in this exhausted state, will, after a term of rest, again produce very fair crops when broken up. A rough Debtor and Creditor Account (without interest of ca- pital, &c.) of one acre for ten years, may perhaps assist in con- veying a general idea of the amount of produce and profit or loss under the old system. Good land would stand about thus ; and as nothing is charged for straw, the manure is put at a very low rate : — 136 Farming of South Wales. m—— Rent, Cultiva- Muck !« Crops. Tithes, tion and and Seed. Outlay. Produce. Receipts. >* &c. Expenses. Lime. s. s. d. s. s. d. £. s. d. £. .S-. rf. 1 Fallow ". 26 40 75 . , 7 1 Nil .... •^ Wheat . 26 25 22 9 3 13 9 24 bush, at 6s. 6d. 7 16 3 Barley . 26 30 14 3 10 32 do. 'is. Cd. 5 12 4 Oats . . 26 '?.") 12 3 3 36 do. 2.V. . 3 12 5 Barlev . 26 ,30 30 14 5 24 do. 3s 3d. 3 18 6 Clover . 26 14 .. 10 2 10 Ilay, &c. . . . 2 10 7 Crass . 26 2 6 ,. , . 1 8 6 Crass .... 1 10 8 Do. . 26 2 6 ,, .. 1 8 6 Do 1 5 9 Do. . 26 2 6 1 8 6 Do 1 10 Do. . 26 2 6 1 8 6 Do Lois 1 2 8 9 30 11 30 11 9 Inferior land mlixht stand as follows for ten years Rent, I.alionr and Cultiva- Muck '^ Crops. Tifhes, and Seed. Outlay. Produce. Receipts. 3 &c. >< tion. '■■ s. s. 5. £. a. d. £. s. d. 1 Fallow . 12 40 60 5 12 Nil . 2 Wheat . 12 25 21 2 18 15 bushels , at 6s. 4 10 3 Barley . 12 30 13 2 15 24 do. 3s M 3 18 4 Oats . . 12 30 12 2 14 28 do. 2s 2 16 :> Clover . 12 2 10 1 4 Clover 1 4 6 Grass . 12 2 14 Grass . 16 7 Do. . 12 2 !4 Do. . 14 8 Do. . 12 2 14 Do. . 12 9 Do. . 12 2 14 Do. . 12 10 Do. . 12 2 14 Do. . 12 ■ Los s 2 19 18 13 18 13 But it will be naturally asked. If this be a fair statement, how do the farmers live ? They depend chiefly on the young stock to pay the rent, and rely on the dairy, which continually brings in ready money to meet other current expenses. In addition to this the small farmer and his sons do the principal work and repairs of the farm. They have thus hardly any outgoings for labour or tradesmen's wages, and they live in a style of patriarchal sim- plicity almost entirely on the produce of their own land. Turnips are the first of the occasional crops that are met with, and they are generally drilled on 27 inch ridges, though in many instances they are sown broadcast and not hoed. Sometimes dung is used alone, occasionally combined with artificial manure, but good crops are obtained from 3 cwt. of guano. In more arid climates summer heat is reckoned as one great foe to turnip culture, but here it is summermoisture ; for, although it nourishes the turnip, it also encourages the growth of weeds and natural grasses, and renders it difficult, even with repeated hoeings, to keep the land clean. With tolerable culture heavy good crops Farming of South Wales. 137 of swedes are raised, frequently weighing from 15 to 30 tons per acre. Turnips are not often consumed on the land, and spring wheat, succeeded by barley, generally follows. As the frost is seldom so severe as to injure turnips, the bulbs frequently show a gradual increase throughout the entire winter; early clamping is never practised. Potatoes were formerly very successfully cultivated ; since the appearance of the disease the extent sown has been reduced, while that of turnips has been proportionably increased. Large quantities of manure are applied, and in some cases paring and burning is used as a preparation for the crop. Formerly the planting of this root did not take place till after the barley was sown, but since the appearance of the disease early planting has become universal, and March is generally the month for setting the potato. Last year the disease attacked the crop with greater virulence than has been known, with the exception of the season when it first made its appearance. Beans are seldom grown but in certain localities, as Laug- harne and the stiff lias clays of Glamorgan. Peas and rye are not so much cultivated as formerly. Flax has been more noticed within the last few years. It generally flourishes well, and in some parts it springs spontaneously. The seed would be of great value in this stock-rearing country, as linseed gruel is particu- larly nourishing to calves. In returning land to permanent grass, it was common in old times to sow no seeds, and this was practised in many parts when Mr. Davies wrote his report in 1814, and it is probable that our finest old pastures were thus laid down. The farmer of the Eastern and Midland counties of England would be surprised to see hov/ rapidly the good and even middling soils of South Wales return to their natural grass. Mr. Llassell, in his original report, says, " that, in Laugharne, barley stubble, without seeds, will recover its sward and produce good crops of hay and grass;" and that throughout Carmarthen " land not run out of condition will naturally become good pasture." And he says of Pembroke, '^ The mildness of the climate and the perpetual vegetation that is going on, even in the winter months, seem in so peculiar a manner favourable to grass, that we cannot but lament to see so much under the plough." In Radnorshire " the arable land, if left unploughed, is soon covered with natural grass ;" and on the limestone near Merthyr Tydvil, '' if barley is sown one year and the land left to rest till next year, the white clover abounds so much that it may be profitably moicn.'' So much for the spon- taneous production of grasses at the conclusion of the last century ; it points out most forcibly that South Wales is naturally a rich pastoral district. Still the proportion of good grazing 138 Farming of South Wales. land to that of pasture is very small. The present management of the meadows and pastures does not present any particular feature. The land is principally stocked with cows and young cattle ; comparatively few sheep are kept. Not a great quantity is cut for hay, and then, to have the most, it is frequently left till it is too old. Mowing the meadow generally begins in the middle of Julv. All hay (clover as well) is scattered about as soon as cut, and allowed to dry in the sun : not being cocked up at night, but exposed to the heavy dews, &c., it soon loses the fresh green appearance so much prized in England. When suffi- ciently withered on one side, it is turned, afterwards raked into rows, and put into small lumps, which, not being compactly made, are easily wetted through. On a fine day these heaps are thrown out and carted to the rick. The hay is not pitched from the cart, but the load is tripped up, and the pitcher takes it off the ground! When it becomes too high for this, a ladder is placed by the rick and a labourer stationed on it : the pitcher from below hands him a forkfuU of hay, the same fork and the hay pass up to the man above, who receives the burden and returns the fork. It is not often that hay is well saved in South Wales: the humidity of the atmosphere and the frequent rains of July baffle and confound the most skilful management. Fogging is, I believe, peculiar to South Wales, and is still practised extensively in some counties. Cattle are taken out of the pastures in May or June, and the year's crop of grass remains untouched till the following spring. It is asserted that an acre of fog will keep more stock and in better condition than an acre of hay, besides avoiding the risk and expense of hay- making. Mr. Hassell, in his original Report of Pembroke, says — '' By this practice, the farmer provides a good stock of keep for that season of the year when he stands most in need of it, puts his cows into good plight for calving, saves a great deal of hay, and improves his grass-land by the quantity of seeds shed upon the surface by the fogged grass ; and his stock, being on the fog by day and in his straw-yard by night, augments his dung." The old grass shelters and draws up the tender shoot sooner than if it were exposed to the bleak winds and frosty air of an early cold spring. The old herbage combines beneficially with the succulent young grass, and cows produce an immense increase of milk when fed on it. Such are the grounds advanced by the defenders of the system ; the arguments that are brought to bear against it are too well known to be here repeated. However, in the present state of farming, with no turnips, early vetches, rye, &c., and a generally late spring, I am not aware how in this district a more plentiful supply of early keep can be produced. Top-dressings are not often resorted to : sometimes lime is Farming of South Wales. 139 used alone, but more commonly it is mixed with mud or other mould, and spread over the surface during winter. Irrigation is not practised further than turning the water from the yards or a road-side ditch across a meadow. This is done simply by running a furrow out with a plough, and when that portion of the land has received its share another is drawn in a different direction and the former one is closed u.p. A great many in- stances occur in which a hillside spring might be made, at a trivial expense, of immense service by irrigating some of the pastures below it. The cattle of South Wales are principally the Pembrokes and Glamorgans. There are many runts in the upper district com- plete nondescripts, being the result of complicated crosses with all the Welsh breeds. The introduction of the West Highlanders has much improved these cattle in parts of Cardigan and Radnor. By the borders of England many excellent dairies of Herefords are found, some possessing qualities of very considerable merit. These cattle are well treated and carefully fattened, and I may mention that last year Wales contributed two splendid Hereford oxen to the Smithfield Show. The Pembrokes are a coal black, with large yellow horns tipped with black and turning upwards, a clean light head and neck, and a bright prominent eye. The forequarters of these cattle are heavy and well made, l3ut they are often deficient in width across the loin and in roundness of rib. They are excellent workers, active and hardy, but now not much used in the plough. In the neighbourhood of the collieries a great number are yoked in carts with one or two horses before them. The West Wales carters, when driving oxen or horses with heavy burdens, are constantly seated on the load, and it is very difficult to pre- vent this unfeeling practice. Oxen were formerly worked in ploughs behind two horses, but farmers find that two horses tolerably kept are sufficient alone, and have therefore discarded the oxen. These cattle feed best on rich pastures, are sometimes restless and quarrelsome in open yards, but graze well in loose boxes or when stall-fed. An ox when fat at four years' old will generally weigh 7 or 8 cwt., and they always prove better to the butcher than their outside appearance indicates. The cows are capital milkers if well kept, and even on ordinary pastures give a good quantity ; in summer the best will average 6 or 7 lbs. of butter per week. A more useful and hardy race of cattle are not to be found in the kingdom, and with care and attention they are capable of much improvement. Some successful crosses have been made with the North Devons. The best Pembroke cattle are bred in the district of Castle Martin, and they are principally called by the name of that hundred. .1 40 Farming of South Wales. The Glamorgans are generally a ruddy brown, with white along the back and belly ; they will not graze when young, and have too often flat blacks and high rumps : they are very su- perior cattle to work, and the cows are kind milkers, averaging perhaps from 16 to 18 quarts per day. The other black runts are extremely hardy, but small and light fleshed, with thick hard hides, and show little disposition to fatten. There were formerly some good red, brindled, and smoky-faced cattle in the hilly parts of Radnor, but they have lost much of their distinctive character by crossing with the Shropshire and Hereford cattle. In the internal management of the dairy the Welsh are clean, economical, and successful: they make a large quantity of capital butter, but the cheese is hard and poor. There is not much prospect of the cattle in the interior of the Principality improving, as too little attention is generally paid to the selection of the male animal. Cows also are valued only for their milk ; indeed, if one should present any fattening qualities, the first time beef is dear and she is dry, she is sure to be sold; while the good milkers are frequently kept till they are much too old. The calves are dropped in the field, and run with the dam for three days or a week ; they are then weaned, and generally fed on skimmed milk, and by degrees are taught to eat hay ; during this time they are huddled together in dark close cribs. As soon as there is grass, they are turned out, and it is no unfrequent occurrence to sec stock of all ages, from the cow to the yearling, grazing in the same field. In the following winter they are exposed to the violent gales and sudden changes of the atmosphere, being sup- plied with a scanty allowance of hay under the hedge-rows ; the older cattle wander over the grass-land, and have some of the coarser hay or barley-straw. At three years old they are gene- rally brought to the fairs and sold to the drovers, who dispose of them for grazing on the rich pastures of the Midland counties of England. The district is at present fortunately free from the ravages of the small-pox in sheep, and also from the pleuro- pneumonia and epizootic epidemic which has caused such fright- ful havoc among the cattle of England. The native or mountain sheep of Wales are very small, with white fiices, short coarse wool, and numbers of them are horned. They are extremely hardy, and very active. This class is found in the open elevated lands and high mountains of the interior of the country. They are under no particular system of management, but follow the dictates of their sagacious instinct. They are not so much kept as formerly, being a great hindrance to improved tillage. Hardly any fence will stop them, and they constantly commit nocturnal depredations on the corn-fields, and are suffi- Farming of South Wales» 141 ciently subtle to retire to their rugged domain before the return of day. Flocks of the neighbouring farmers constantly mingle together, and are distinguished only by marks. They drop the lambs at any period of the early summer, and the ewes supply large quantities of milk : in some districts it is still common to milk the ewes for two months after the lambs are weaned ; the milk is principally manufactured into cheese. The mountain sheep will graze well when removed to better pasture, but it is very difficult to restrain their rambling propensities. Some of these little creatures are constantly to be met with in Smithfield, where they are much prized as Welsh mutton. As we de- scend to the more level country, a larger style of sheep is met with, which is produced by crosses with English breeds — all retaining marked traces of the Welsh blood. The Glamorgan Vale sheep have long been naturalized to that tract of country, and are heavy, good animals. Occasionally flocks of Leicesters and Downs are to be seen, but not often in their purity, as the cross-bred sheep are more in favour than the pure-bred animal. Almost every farmer keeps a few ewes, from 10 to 60, according to the extent of his land. The produce is either sold off as fat lamb or disposed of to the butcher before they are twelve months' old, as the ewes are good milkers, and they are well kept through the summer and autumn, but there is no winter provender. This is the cause that the markets are so frequently supplied with meat which is neither lamb nor mutton, and not the sheep '• killed at 18 months old," as mentioned by Mr. Davies. The sheep are kept in the pastures all the year round ; should there be a heavy fall of snow, they are provided with a little hay. In districts where turnips are grown they are not often folded on the land, but the turnips are thrown on the pastures for them. The Welsh hog is distinguished by his large size, long pendant ears, coarse bristles, and thickness of bone. They are generally reared where there is a dairy, and those kept for bacon are killed at about eighteen months or two years old, and will weigh from 16 to 22 score. They are great consumers, and now that potatoes are so scarce it is found very unprofitable to feed them, as the price of the fresh meat seldom exceeds Ad. or bcl. per lb. Swedes chopped fine and boiled with meal will be found a good substitute for the potatoes. A large pig of this description requires quantity as well as quality of food, and if fed entirely on barley- meal they will soon cease to be fatted at all. Crossed with the Berkshire, these pigs retain the great size of the original stock and the early maturity of the English breed ; still for bacon the old sort is preferred on account of the great quantity of lean in proportion to the fat. Every labourer strives to have his pig, which is reared with great care. They are not confined to styes, 142 Farming of South Wales. but are fed from a bucket near the cottage door seven or eight times in a day. They roam all about the roads and lanes, and retire to their hovel at night. In the summer it is customary to boil the refuse of the garden and even wild herbs with the bran that is sifted from the barley and oatmeal. In this way a pig is brought to a large size, with great solicitude and little expense. Barley-meal is generally used for fattening, and a pig will con- sume 10 or 15 bushels. When killed, the meat is salted and hung up in the roof to dry. The short-eared pigs are common in the flat districts, where they are generally killed at an early age as porkers. The cart-horses are small, but naturally hardy and active. They are reared, like the cattle, entirely abroad, worked at a very early age, and frequently badly fed. It cannot therefore be wondered that many are sluggish and of a very mean description, not capable of real work for two days together. The tender shoot of the young furze, bruised or cut into chaff, forms with some the principal winter provender ; with others a small supply of poor hay, plenty of barley straw, pea haulm, and corn chaff. There still exists the practice of baiting cart-horses in a close stable till eight o'clock on a cold night, and then turning them out to grass ! They feed on the pastures as long as there is anything to be had, and the allowance of oats in the spring (if any) is scanty in the extreme. The old Welsh punch is much degenerated by injudicious crosses with high-bred animals, which makes them too light and delicate. Another evil is common, viz. that of breeding from very old, diseased, and worn- up mares. The management of X\\e fajin-yard manure is truly distressing, and, as if rotten straw and a little dung was not poor enough, all means of retaining the few fertilizers it possesses are totally disre- garded. Cows being the stock kept, the manure is mainly made by them. When brought up to be milked they are driven to a large enclosure, called "^a court," or to a '• milking back," where they amuse themselves with picking over various lumps of straw, laid promiscuously about, and treading the remains of the last meal into manure. The cleanings of the hovels in which the calves or tender yearlings are kept, are thrown in heaps by the door into the same court, where all alike are dried by the sun and washed by the rain. Some streams run through the farm-yard, which carry away much of its richness into the next brook. Theviseoi sea-sand diudsea-iceed, or ""ore," as manure has been long known, for in the reign of Queen Elizabeth Mr. George Owen thus wrote : — " This kind of ore they often gather and lay on great lieapes, where it heteth and rotteth, and will have a strong and loathsome smell ; when being so rotten they cast on the land, as they do their muck> and thereof springeth good corn, especially Farming of South Wales. 1 4.3 barley." And again of sea- weed, " After spring-tydes^ or great rigs of the sea, they fetch it in sacks on horse backes, and carie the same three, four, or five miles, and cast it on the lande, which doth very much better the ground for corn and grass." These spoils of the ocean are found in great quantities in many maritime positions, but chiefly on the Western Coast. Some lay the sea- weed fresh on the land, and immediately plough it in ; others, as of old, put it in heaps to ferment. Alternate layers of farm-yard dung and ore produce an excellent compost, as the salme juices of the seaweed do not escape (as is frequently the case if placed by itself), but mix with the manure, which thus in an eminent degree retains its moisture in hot weather. It was till lately suc- cessfully applied in a fresh state as a dressing for potatoes. The sea-sand is highly calcareous, containing large quantities of pul- verized shells. It is applied at the rate of 10 to 20 loads per acre, and is considered serviceable in destroying many weeds which the overcropped land naturally produces. Lime is extensively used in South Wales. In districts it is very plentiful : some places can be supplied by water, while in many others none can be obtained but by a long and hilly land- carriage. In some tracts it is common to send for lime 20 or 30 miles ! The numerous heavy tolls, which in long journeys amounted to a serious sum, were the principal causes of the Rebecca riots. When far fetched, the lime is applied with much skill and judgment, but too much at once is frequently used where it can be easily had. The quantity applied per acre is often regulated by the price, and ranges from 60 to 250 bushels per acre. Extraordinary heavy limings are frequently given to the stiff loams in the Vale of Gla- moro-an, and Mr. Davies mentions several cases which averaged for sixty years 100 bushels per acre every year ! It may be as well to state, that this buff-coloured lime is not so strong a manure by nearly one half as that of the calcined carboniferous limestone. Of course the price, therefore, varies with the locality. In Car- digan it is sometimes 7d. or 8c?. per bushel, while in the southern parts of Pembroke it can be produced for 3cZ. Marl was anciently much used as a manure. It is said to have been first discovered by one Cole, a Frenchman, in the twelfth century. It is much prized by the historian already quoted, for he says, " It will carry b^rlie, wheat, and peas continually for twentie yeares without dong." This clay-marl is described as being of a "' blewe coller, sometimes redd," fat and clammy, more adapted for loose, dry land than moist, where " lyme rather serveth than this." It was considered much more durable than sand or lime, for the old adage says, " that a man doth sand for himselfe, lyme for his Sonne, and marie for his grandchilde." Marl abounds chiefly in the north of Pembroke and south of Cardigan, but is hardly ever 144 Farming of South Wales. applied to land now, being entirely superseded by lime. I have merely noted these ancient records, as it appears strange so lasting a fertilizer on the spot should be universally neglected, while a more active, though transient, stimulant is procured from such a distance. Peat is sometimes used as a manure, and has been successfully burned with lime, but is more frequently made into a compost. Coal-aii]Les,\\\\\c\\ are obtained in large quantities in the vicinity of the Iron Works, are very useful, especially as a top dressing for grass-land. The operation of -paring and hurning is often resorted to, especially in marshy and peaty grounds, as a preparation for corn-crops. In this manner the cleaning and breaking up land that is under furze, 6cc., is done in a neat and husbandlike manner. The first crop is generally prime, but land is frequently cropped to sterility, and this occasions the system to be much spoken against. It is condemned so far back as the sixteenth century, for it is the opinion of the Lord of Kemmes that " in the most mounlenous partes which grow nothing but heathe and small furse, and shallow with all, this kind of ill husbandrie may be borne, but those who use this kind of betting in land, which otherwise would have been tilled to better advantage, are much to be blamed fordoing themselves, the land, and the countrye harm." Land that has undergone this process is still called bet- land, and there cannot be a doubt that it stimulates the soil by bringing its inert })ropertIes into a condition available for the support of crops, while the continued practice of taking corn without manure must ultimately impoverish the ground. In reclaiming wastes, espe- cially a morass or bog, paring and burning is, in the first instance, not only very useful but frequently indispensable. Except where much peaty earth abounds, its subsequent applica- tion cannot be commended. The only artificial maniu^e which has been extensively tried is guano, which (when good) has been found to answer admirably for corns, root-crops, and grass ; indeed, the effects are sometimes double those which are produced by the same manure in the East of England. The beneficial influences of all manures exhibit themselves most rapidly. The great activity and increased luxu- riance which is imparted to all crops by the application of good fertilizers, is conspicuous to any one who has seen the small returns produced by the heavy dressings given to the gravels of Norfolk. It is supposed, however, that the effect being so im- mediate and extensive will be less lasting. Abetter class of implements is becoming at last gradually more appreciated. The old Welsh plough, with its mould-board of wood, is being superseded by a hght iron swing-plough. In the Fannin f/ of South TVaJes, 145 Upper District still many of the implements are made in the most rustic style possible, and the cumbersome, ill-shaped, old plough (sometimes 13 or 14 feet long) continues much in favour, especially for the small wheat ridges. There are very few waggons ; light carts, drawn by two horses, with moveable frames, &c., perform all work. In the flat country there are more thrashing-machines than are usually seen in England, and some are propelled by water. Cultivators, drags, ike, are here daily becoming more abundant. In many tracts the uneven nature of the ground will not admit of the use of the drill, but on level land all corn is commonly sown broadcast. The enclosures are generally small. The banks are from 5 to 8 feet high, and wilh the ditches sometimes occupy from 20 to 30 feeL The banks are made nearly perpendicular, with two shallow ditches, and each side faced with sods. The quicksets are small bushes of hawthorn, hazel, blackthorn, alder, and willow grubbed up in copses or ditches, trimmed and planted upright on the top of the bank. By the sea coast, and through the red soil and coal tracts, there are some dry stone walls, but more frequently banks of alternate layers of stones and sods. Where exposed to the fierce winds, these and the common sod fences are left without any quickset, but double rows of furzes sown and kept constantly trimmed have been found to grow well in any situation. The high banks are consideied to render much service as shelter to the cattle, and there can be no doubt they are a great protection to the young stock, which are fed with hay and lodge under them during the entire winter ; but shelter cannot be rec^uired for the ridiculously small, ill-shaped fields that are everywhere met wiih, having huge banks which occupy nearly one-fourth of the land. Exten- sive fields are not desirable; one from 10 to 15 acres is large enough. A good hedge-row will break the severe gale that sweeps across the country from the sea, and thus protect the young grasses and winter crops ; and, till the farm-buildings afford more accommodation, the cattle must find shelter from the storm some- where in the open fields. The gates are usually narrow; in woodless tracts the gate-posts are formed of stones. Frequently the opening into fields is stopped up with dry stone walling, or furze and stakes ; and often the gates are rudely constructed with four light poles, the uppermost resting in a mortice cut in the post. The icastes of the upland tracts are slocked with small black- cattle, mountain sheep, and ponies. They feed to the summit of the highest hills during the summer, but retire to the w^arm and sheltered spots as the severe weather approaches. Much of the land of South Wales was recently undivided, but in the early part of the present century most extensive enclosures were made, and VOL. X, L 146 Fanning of South Wales. since Mr. Davies made his report much more has been taken in. The principal wastes which still remain unenclosed are too ele- vated and rugsred to be successfully cultivated, and, taking the whole district, there is not now so much open improvable land as in many parts of England. But there are nearly 5000 acres oifen and marsh land near Tregoran, and about 6000 more by the mouth of the Dovey, both in Cardigan. These moors remain in the same state as mentioned in 1814, though, if drained, they could be made some of the best land in that countnj. The ine- qualities of the surface of the country render it in a peculiar manner adapted to the growth of timber, and, if the mountain sheep and cattle are fenced out, the rough declivities will soon be crowded with oak, ash, or alder. The beautiful slopes and dingles of the Wye afford continual instances of these natural plantations. Even Pembroke, whose exposure to the westerly winds is now considered unfavourable for timber, was once covered with woods, but they have gradually become less and less. Thus, in the time of Elizabeth, the Lord of Kemmes, in his M. N. S. History, says, " This country groneth with the general complainte of the decreasing of woods;" and a Mr. Lewis, in the reign of Queen Anne, observes on this, " If there was such cause of complaint then, how is that cause increased in the course of another century!" Mr. Hassell, in 1793, says, '' The stock of timber is so much reduced, that in a few years more the farmer must im])ort wood for the purposes of husbandry," which he must certainly do now, did not the monthly sale of refuse timber at the Dockyard furnish a regular supply. Many of the woods mentioned in the last report have since been felled. If there was such a quantity of timber in Wales in old time, why cannot it be grown now ? Let the plantations of Stackpole and Brownslade, flourishing on the edge of the Atlantic, furnish a reply. Oak is the principal timber grown, and this is raised from the old stump, or stools, which are cut every fifteen or tw enty years ; and when the poles are peeled, they are easily disposed of for colliery purposes. No part of the kingdom requires draining more than South Wales. The whole of the coal measures, and many soils on the red sandstone, are wet from innumerable springs which arise from the fissures of the rocks. The clay-slate formation and millstone- grit are also wet from this cause and surface-water ; and, in fact, no large district of the country, except the limestone soils, can boast of being sufficiently dry. The VVest of England and South Wales Draining Company have commenced a move in the right direction in the eastern part of the Principality, but the effect of that progress is not felt in the interior or western portions; indeed, very rare instances of regular drainage have been attempted. Farming of South Wales. 147 Some springs have been tapped, and a sort of catcliwoik system with stones may have been here and there tried. So far back as the year 1794 the farm-huildin[/s of the v.est counties were described as '• incommodious, comtorlless, and wretched ;" and now, midway in the nineteenth century, the same epithets may be most appropriately applied. Glamorgan, w4iich contains some fine specimens of old baronial and monastic barns, has been surpassed by Brecknock in its agricultural premises; but, takin^: the district generally, there is an universal lack of farm-huildings. A lease-tenant, when he takes possession of a farm, frequently sees that all his spare capitLd must be expended on his homestead, instead of being employed in draining and other legitimate improvements of the soil. But it is not only on farms without leases that there are no buildings ; where the tenants are from year to year they are equallv bad, several pre- mises being without a single enclosed yard I Many farmers, when told to grow turnips, reply, '• What is the use of growing turnips when we have no sheds to eat them in?" But, it having been the custom formerly for tenants who had taken cheap leases to build premises, there appears to be an erroneous impression that all tenants can and ought to do the same ! The average rental of farms may be considered as under 40/. per annum. The smaller holdings are generally dearer in pro- portion than the larger farm, simply, it is supposed, because there are so many competitors for small parcels of land. There are some few leases granted for 999 years, and others for " as long as the sun rises and water flows ;" but generally the leases are for lives. Those that were granted many years ago are frequently uncommonly cheap, but what have been recently made exhibit an increase of rent on the old ones from 50 to 300 per cent., and land is now let at its extreme value. It is a singular fact, that cheap leases frequently made the Welsh tenant indolent and careless, and that an increase of rent has bettered his condition, by making him a more active and industrious farmer! But too high rents are now frequently required, and little attention is paid to the character and pecuniary circumstances of the tenant. The man who gives more than land is really worth is often one who has everything to gain and nothing to lose. From these and other causes the capital of many of the tenantry is utterly inade- quate for the proper cultivation of the land. The common prac- tice of giving six months' credit at all agricultural sales will show the usual style of money transactions. The lease in the western counties is often granted for three lives, and may include that of the occupier and two of his chddren. There are no restrictive clauses as to cropping or selling any kind of produce, and nothing Is said about covenants to be observed at the expiration of the l2 148 Far mhifj of South Wales. term. (!)ertain pastures are not to be broken up, and the lantl- iord reserves the game, timber, and the right to dig f(»r minerals, &c. The tenant is bound to keep the house and all buildings in proper repair. It is the custom of the country, when a lease expires, to remove all produce, even hay and straw. The entry is commonly at Old Michaelmas. Should a landlord distrain for rent, the tenant does not necessarily quit the holding, but strives to struggle on and patch up his broken fortune. These leases are liked by the tenantry as giving ample security for all outlay, and the landlords are relieved from all burdens but the taxes, and it is impossible, from the uncertainty of life, to run a farm out of condition with the exactness which is often practised where the term is for a sperifled number of years. '' It is the nature of man to flatter himself and h(>pe for the best, by putting the evil day of dying far off; thus hope comforts the tenant, and uncer- tainty the landlord." Leases for the life of the tenant only and for a term of years are more common in the east, and these are more particularly framed. Many landlords have entirely dropped the practice of granting leases, and let all their farms from year to year. The jieasantrij of West Wales are contented and thrifiv.* Their wages are not often more thnn 6 v. in the upper, and 7,v. per week in the lower country. 1 1 is customary to board the labourers wholly or in part during harvest, giving them the same wages. They are neat and skilful in some of the minor branches of husbandry, but in general field work, where strength and exertion are required, are much inferior to English labourers; indeed a Lincolnshire workman at half-a-crown a day is not dearer than most Welsh labourers at a sliilliug. In sup})ort of this, I may state that task-work (which is seldom heard of here) cannot be done cheaper in Wales than in the east of England. This is naturally the case ; a man who consumes loheaten bread and meat must be in belter working trim than the man who eats barley cake and a little butter ; and until the Welsh labourers are better fed they cannot be physically capable of sustaining with equal ease the fatigues of a hard day's work. Their principal diet is oat and barley-meal merely moistened with water and made into cakes. These cakes are pressed very thin, and baked on an iron plank upon the fire. Barley bread is made in large loaves fermented with leaven. Sometimes they eat oatmeal and butter- milk, and a common beverage is extracted from the husk of the oat. The farm cottages are built on the ground floor, and the rent with a good garden is in the upper country from 305. to 40^., and in the low lands from 40^. to 505. per annum. If possible the spot selected for building is close by a spring, but often it is so near that it renders the floor damp and cold. The walls are Ftirmwf/ of South 1 Vales. 149 now made of stones and mortar, the roofs thatched or slated. The roltages built with mud, of which Mr. Davies hopes the descrip- tion he gives " may be the only existing memorials of such dwellings in less than half a century/' are rapidly on the decline. As they fall down one built of stone is generally substituted. Whitewashing the exterior, which is mentioned by a Welsh bard in the sixth century, is still universally practised. In many districts it is common to mix clay with the lime for colouring the walls yellow, and the slate roofs are washed white ! The interior is divided into two apartments; one, in which the principal culinary operations are performed, and. the other is used for meals, &c., and contains the beds, which are like high boxes with sliding panels. The windows are very small, and the rooms are damp, close, and dark. The fuel consists, in some districts, of peat, with furze and fern, in others culm,* and the anthracite and bituminous coal. Ihe women are frugal, cleanly, and industrious. They are well skilled in manufacturing coarse cloth, but are singularly awkward at needle-work. Strangers o-enerally notice the market-women, who knit and carry their, baskets on their heads. They do not work much m the fields but in hay and corn harvests. Most of the farmers have some lads, or single men, who board and lodge in the house, and look after the farm-horses. In some instances labourers have smaller wages and the keep of their cow ; occasionally the privilege of setting potatoes in the field. Farm-labourers are generally hired by the year, not by the day, and then mostly have their corn from the farmer at a fixed price. The religious and secular education of the poor throughout this portion of the principality is very much neglected ; lately considerable efforts have been made to provide more ample instruction. In thus noticing the education of the poor, it would be well to say a word upon the amount of instruction generally given to the young farmer. Not only is it (as is generally the case) totally deficient in providing a scientific knowledge of his future occupation, but the common rudiments of a sound and plain education are frequently dispensed with. The fact that commercial schools are rarely to be met with, will at once explain the numerous defects that must occur in the Welsh farmer's early education. To glance at some of the important improvements which have taken place in the well-farmed districts, will now be a more pleasing task ; but as the description of the agriculture of the * Culm is tlie dust, of the stone-coal, and is prepared for burning by being mixed with clay or mud from the shore. It is then made into balls, and in a moist state applied to the fire, and it produces no smoke. At night a casing of this wet culm is placed on the fire, which keeps in well twelve hours, and thus forms a cheap and convenient fuel. 150 Farminr/ of Soutli WaJea. interior of llie coiintrv has already occupied so much space and lime, the limits of a report will not admit of more than a few passing: remarks on each locality. When Mr. Davies made his report in 1814, the only three districts that produced any extent of turnips were the vales of the Usk and the Wye, and a portion of the plain of Glamors^an. The root was even here imperfectly cultivated, for we read, '' the common farmers sow broadcast, and take chance crops, thick or thin, clean or not." The turnips were often harrowed to thin them, and this Vtas supposed to supersede the necessity of hoeing- them ; and it is further re- marked, "'too many arq left entirely in the state of nature." Beg-innino- at the west, the first tract that claims our attention is that of Castle Martin and the South of Pembroke. The course of cropping- mentioned in 1814 was, at St. Florence — " 1. Wheat, on limed fallow; 2. Barley; 3. Peas; 4. Barley or Oats laid down wiih grass-seed." In Castle Martin : " Wheat, on limed fallow; Barley; Barley ; Barley. Produce of first barley crop, 28 bushels: second, 10 to 20 bushels; and third still less." In the Hundred of Roose : 'Fallow, wheat, clover, wheat ; and oats." Turnips now iorm part of almost every rotation, though the courses are very various. The following are among ihe principal: Fallov/ (well limed and manured), wheat, turnips, wheat, barley, clover; fallow, wheat, barley, turnips, wheat, barley, clover; wheat (on ley), barley, turnips, wheat, barley, clover; oats, turnips, wheat, barley, clover; and on some of the land unkind for the production of turnips, the Welsh system moderated is still used. After some of these courses, the land perhaps remains from two to four years in grass, generally mown the first season, and depastured the rest of the time. The management of corn and hay harvests, and the principal operations of husbandry, are pursued on the same principle as has been related, but of course in a better and more effectual manner. The superiority of the farming diminishes as it proceeds inland ; and above Narbeth the Welsh county com- mences. Indeed !Lew good crops of corn, and still fewer turnips, are seen north of the red soil, for the coal-measures are wet, barren, and generally produce inferior grain, and the pastures are crowded with furze and brambles. When Mr. Davies visited Laur/harne Marsh, h^ found ''the soil more to be commended than the management," and observed only one piece of fallow in the 3000 acres. He relates that forty successive white-straw crops had been taken without manure ; anil sums up the rotations as follows : — " Wheat, beans, barlev. oats, barley ; oats, then wheat again ; and the same course repeated for twenty years, or rather from time out of mind." The marsh presents a very different appearance now. About 1.000 acres have since that period been reclaimed from the sea, which is now Farming of SoutJi Wales. 151 some of the best land in the level. Several Englishmen have taken large holdings here, and are farming well. They all com- mence their rotation with a white-straw crop, then barley, then turnips, and afterwards spring wheat or barley; if the former, they generally take a fifth crop before the seeds are sown, but this depends on the state of the land. Beans are sown over a considerable area, and very good crops are raised. When the land is laid down to grass it produces most superior pasturage, and one of the best oxen ever slaughtered in this part of the country Avas grazed here last year. The neighbourhood of Kidwelly ought not to be passed by with- out some notice of its improved agriculture. The cropping of this tract in 1816 was mentioned as — 1. Wheat, on limed fallow; 2. Barley; 3. Oats; 4- Barley, or the oat-stubble manured and sown with 4. Wheat; then 5. Barley; or without clover, to rest from labour 5 years. There are several enterprising farmers who now pursue the following and similar rotations : — Ley taken up and sown with oats, then cleaned with turnips, which are mostly eaten off by the sheep, then barley or spring wheat, and the last crop either barley or oats, with seeds. This mode is found to answer exceedingly well. Irrigating the pastures is here common ; indeed all through the coal-fields the numerous springs or small streams are made to flow over the saturated clayey ground, which produces coarse inferior grass and, being undrained, plenty of rush. Below Kidwelly are extensive salt-marshes; nearer Swansea may be seen some successful instances of thorough draining the stiff clays of the coal-measures. This is generally performed by the land- lord; but there are a few spirited tenants with twenty-one years' leases, who have tile-drained their farms, and the general rotation of crops that they practise is oats on ley, turnips, then barley with grass-seeds. Few sheep are kept in the western parts of Car- marthen ; and the cattle are housed in the winter, as the land is so wet, that the stock could not select a dry spot to lie down on. The yearlings, steers, cows, &c., are all tied up in sheds; some receive a portion of hay, but they often subsist entirely on straw. An intelligent correspondent having kindly forwarded me an account of the })resent state of the agriculture of Goicer, I shall insert his remarks at length : — "The western portion of the county of Glamorgan, called 'Gower,' may be termed a peninsula, being bounded by the Llaneily Channel on the north, and the Irish and Bristol Channels on the south and south-east. "The surface, without rising into hills or mountains, is rather hilly or undulating, with occasional slopes and vales capable of being highly cultivated. " At a rough estimate I should say that one-third of the entire surface is waste, a large portion of which is held in common. "The most fertile, as well as the best cultivated, portions are those 152 Farmhir/ of SoutJi Wales. which are naturally dry, i)eino: a sort of table-land above the limestone- cliff's adjoining the sea', while the less favoured spots near the comnaons in the interior, which are under cultivation, are many of them not so dry, but quite capable of beina' made so, by the now well understood process of thorouirh draining. With these preliminary remarks we shall now proceed biieffy to state the system of farming generally pursued in Gower, "Truly and correctly speaking the farmers are without system — each and every one having a way of his own — which has possibly been pursued upon the same farm for centuries past ; still they have some features in common, especially as regards their treatment of live stock. All whose holdings are large enough keep cattle, generally of the Glamorgan breed. The cows are kept as a sort of dairy ; the principal produce sold from which is butter, generally of good quality. The cheese is miserable stuff, scarcely deserving the name. The calves are reared upon sour milk and whe}^ and when two years old, bear witness to the hard treatment they have received. The steers or oxen, when four years old, are sold to the dealers or drovers to be driven to the eastern counties of England, where they are re-sold to be fattened upon the fine grazing pastures of that district, for the London market. If anything is attempted to be fed off at home, it is generally some old cow which has become from age unfit for the purposes of the dairy. "The sheep are, for the most part, of the small Welsh mountain breed ; but as to their management there is literally none, unless it be that they are shorn of their wool. But ignorance in this important branch of rural economy is not confined to Gower, as it prevails at least over the county of Glamorgan. In a journey the other day by the mail-road, the writer cannot say that he saiv one fioch free from scab from Neath to Monmouth. " The pigs are, for the most part, of the old ' lank and lean' sort, but of late some of a better breed have been introduced. " There is now evidently a desire amongst the better class of farmers to introduce better breeds of cattle as well as sheep. Short-Horns, Herelbrds, and Devons of the best sort are now to be found ; and sheep, although not of the best breed, yet of a larger size and more quiet habits, which is something, as a tolerable fence and a mountain W^elsh sheep are seldom to be found in the same parish. "Then as to the Corn Crops. There is for the most part some prepara- tion for the wheat crop. A piece of foul and weedy ley is ploughed in May or June, and undergoes what is called a fallowing; that is, being ploiicrhed two or three times, and harrowed, but no iceeds are picked or carried from the land. In almost eveiy case lime is applied ; and some- times, with good farmers, a little farm-yard dung. After the wheat-crop is removed, the stubble is ploughed in winter, and again a scratching of a seed-furrow in May tor barley. Seeds, that is clover, &c., are sometimes put in with the barley crop, but rarely either in quantity or quality to be of any use. More often oats are taken afier the barley, but the land by this time is so much exhausted and rampant with weeds, that you have some difficulty, in passing, to tell ir/iat the crop upon the (jrovncl is. There are instances of fields having been twenty or even thirty years in crop without ever having been seeded for grass. " In Gower, as well as other places, much of the best lands are in hay- meadows, but these are often late in being cleared in spring, and late harvested hay is always of inferior quality. " Green Cro/^s. — Potatoes have been extensively cultivated, and bear a high character in the Swansea market. The late disease has been severe mid destructive, but upon dry sandy soils by the sea the crops have been better than others. The mode of cultivation has nothing peculiar. Farmitu/ of Soiitlt Wales. h"33 "Turnips and manpjolds, until very recently, were scarcely known; now, however, the cultivation of these valuable roots is extendinj^ rapidly. The soil and climate seem well adapted to the habits of these plants, and as good turnips and mangolds have been grown in Gower as anywhere else in the kingdom. "The example was first set by the present Lord Lieutenant of the county, who pursues the * alternate hushandry,'' and only takes one crop of corn after grass, then the green crops. Turnips or mangolds, followed by spring wheat or barley, with which last crop the land is again sown down with clover and rye-grass seeds for pasture the following year. "Good labourers willing to work are seldom unemployed. The money wages paid at present in the western part of Gower may be from IO5. to lis. per week, but nearer Swansea they are higher; but those in the western parts have, for the most part, a few sheep on the adjoining commons, and, take it all and all, they would be unwilling to exchange places. " The women and boys engaged in picking couch, hoeing turnips, and the like, get \0(L per day. Sometimes the farmers give victuals, and in that case the wages of a man are \s. per day. But in estimating the wages of labour in different districts of the kingdom, cottage-rent and fuel always form an important consideration. Without inquiring into these and other perquisites, no correct comparison can be made. It is believed that, although the cottages are often very inferior upon the whole, the labourers are not over-rated as to rent. " The farm-buildings are very far from being what they ought to be, and generally ill-calculated to carry forward an improved system of agri- culture ; but I have little doubt that landlords will be, for the most part, ready and willing to grant every encouragement in that respect to deserving tenants. " Rent of Land. — It is rather difficult to form a correct estimate of the rents in this district, I believe they are thought to be low ; and upon the whole, 14s. or 15s. per acre may be taken as about the average ; still I have no hesitation in saying that, under proper culture, very much of the land is capable of paying a much higher rent than is now paid for it." Having now arrived at the Vale of Glamorgan, it would be well just to mention some of the distinguishing features between the East and the counties just quitted. The general style of hus- bandry resembles that of England. Waggons are common, implements good, fine Hereford cattle and large sheep in abundance, and the young stock are sheltered during the winter. The wheat-sheaves when bound are placed in stocks, while barley and oats are gathered in a loose state, and so taken to the ricks ; the humidity of the air being less, this can be successfully prac- tised. The hay is made carefully, beino^ regularly cocked up at night, and kept fresh and green by this judicious treatment. The large waggon-cocks do not appear so common as formerly. The cottages are more comfortable, and those of Glamorgan have long' been celebrated for their superior architecture and neatness of thatch. The labourers consume wheaten bread and receive capital wages, while the numerous mineral-works increase the competition for labour and open extensive markets for all agri- cuilture produce. The Yale of Glamorgan is, perhaps, the finest 1 54 Farmivf/ of Sontli Wales. district and as well farmed as any in South Wales. Although Mr. Davies mentions a few courses connected with turnips, it appears that the wheat, or fallow succeeded by many corn- crops, was the principal ; and sometimes, on the strong soils, wheat and beans for six years, and laid down for as many years. The fences, which were described "as capable of affording harbour for elephants," are now for the most part of moderate size, while the ricks still retain their superiority in neatness of construction. The entire absence of any system of cropping, so often mentioned, is here the same, and therefore renders the description of the improvement of its agriculture so difficult and complicated. After summing up all that I saw and the various information I obtained, it appears tliat some turnips are now grown by all farmers, that wheat is taken on ley; spring wheat or barley succeeds turnips; that beans and oats are seldom grown, summer fallows are becom- ing rare, and the grass-seeds lie from one to four years. Those farmers who still cherish the remnants of the old system, take three or four corn-crops in succession, while the more enlightened are satisfied with two at the most. A portion of the turnips is usually consumed on the land by the sheep or young cattle. The Glamorgans are principally kept, and many are stall-fed on hay and turnips at four years old. The yearlings are fed in sheds during the winter ; in the day some turn them out to eat turnips in the fields, and take them in at night, while the two years old stock are treated in the same manner, but lodge in an open straw-yard. The Hereford cattle are more plentiful nearer Cardiff, and the general farming is of a very superior description in that locality. Tlic* labourers receive capital waofcs — from \0s. to 13^. per week, or from 10/. to 15Z. a-year, and board and lodging. The miners at their task- work earn from 18.9. to 40^. per week. Few leases are now granted. The land in the Vale is injured by the large quantities of hay and straw sent to the mineral districts, the loss of which, in almost every instance, is inadequately supplied by manure not made on the farm. From the Brecknock Beacons Mr. Davies observed that the fallows in the Vale of the Usk were extremely numerous; and he expresses a wish that instead of " such ruddv fields, they were clolhed with luxuriant turnips." It certainly does appear strange that such a porous silicious soil, in a comparatively dry climate, should have been so long treated with a summer fallow, which rendered the land insufficiently solid for wheat. It is supposed that, in the original deposition of soil in this beautiful valley, water washed much of the clayey portion into .Monmouth, and thus left the reddish sand to form the principal ingredient of the soil. The following were the principal courses in 1814: — Wheat on fallow, barley, peas, barley, and clover; wheat on ley, succeeded by Farming of Sout J L Wales. 155 numerous corn-crops, and occasionally broad-cast turnips. Some lew farmers of superior discernment practised turniping for barley, and took wheat on clover-ley with one furrow, to the total ex- clusion of summer fallow, and this has rapidly gained ground ; and the four-course, or slight deviation from it, is now the com- mon system. It appears that the Vale of the Wye, and some parts of Radnor, were treated with better rotations earlier than most parts of Wales, for we find it mentioned that the Flemish course, adulterated with summer fallows, was common at the time of the last Report. As has been already stated, the soils here are more clayey and stiff than in the Vale of Usk, but the farming is now precisely similar ; and the following account of the tillage will explain the general system of this neighbourhood : — When land is intended for turnips it is made quite clean by frequent plough- ings, scarifying, and harrowing, and then drilled with turnips on the ridge, 24 inches apart, manured either with farm-yard manure or artificial, such as guano, and bones dissolved with sulphuric acid. If the latter are used, two-thirds, and if the former, one- half of the turnips are consumed on the land by sheep folded, which are principally Leicesters. The remainder of the crop is brought to the farm-yard for the fat cattle, and also for young stock, which receive only the addition of straw\ 1 now come to the concluding portion of the Report, viz. '' The improvements still required, with reference to the character and climate of South Wales." The advances which have been recently made in the eastern counties of South Wales argue well for a continued progress in agriculture, and those slight im- perfections which still exist there may be easily removed by an enterprising and industrious tenant, with the assistance of a just and liberal landlord. It would therefore be great arrogance to suggest a series of improvements in such a rapidly progressing district, and the few humble remarks that follow will be found chiefly applicable to the interior and western portion of South Wales. It would be well therefore to commence at the fountain- head — draining. It is perfectly unnecessary to advance argu- ments to support that which all commend, but draining is par- ticularly wanted in South Wales, and till the land is made dry all other attempts at improvement will be abortive. There being so little sun and so much moisture in the atmosphere, it is highly necessary that the rays of the sun should not be employed in drawing off" water from the land, but that they should proceed, without let or hindrance, to warm the soil and make the plant grow. The small amount of capital at the command of the tenantry renders it impossible for them to drain on a large scale. Giving them tiles would in many instances be a perfect waste of money, on account of the imperfect manner in which the draining 1 .^/> Farminr/ of South Wales. uoLilcl be perlonned. The only way therefore to hope for the accomplishment of such a desirable national object is for the land- lords to perform it, and charge the tenants five per cent, on the outlay ; and should the landlord not have a sufficiency of spare cash, fortunately the Drainagfe Act supplies money to all who condescend to apply. Still there are many impediments in the way. First, the absence of tiles and pipes. It has been sug- g-ested that a temporary kiln and a tile-making machine, under the direction of an experienced workman, would produce a great quantity very cheaply. There is plenty of clay in almost every district for the manufacture of pipes, and slates, when cut to the required size, form capital and cheap soles for the tiles. Again, the labourers have not the remotest idea of digging an under- drain ; but happily there exists the West of England and South Wales Draining Company, who really perform the work, as they profess, in the most " scientific, economical, and effectual man- ner." It therefore one large proprietor, or several smaller ones, would unite and engage the Company to drain their estates, the most beneficial results must accrue. Independently of the in- crease of produce, (Sec, it would practically show the farmer the best way hereafter to dispose his drains, and the labourer would see how to dig the drain, manage the new-fashioned tools, and judiciously place the pipes. The influence might at first be confined to a small locality, but as the advantages became glaring, others, seeing its profit, would follow the example, and the result would probably be that a large district would be effectually drained. It has been found that in draining the majority of land here, a regular system should be pursued, for the soil is so fre- quently injured by the combined influence of springs and surface- v/ater, that nothing short of thorough drainage on such ground will be found satisfactory. The imperfect manner in which draining has been hitherto executed causes it to be so little appre- ciated. This must have been the case in Mr. Davies's time, or such an able and learned writer could not have asserted that covered drains in clayey land was an " ideal improvement," or recommended stone drains " to be covered with gravel to the very surface." There can be no doubt that landlords should raise the jfarwi huildings, and the lease tenants would cheerfully keep them in repair; but the repairs in this country are so heavy, that it is not fair to burden the tenant with them entirely. Some tracts are at a great distance from lime, the winds are continually damaging the roofs, the moisture of the air rots the wood, and iron speedily corrodes* if not covered with annual coats of paint. In selecting * '' Armoure will not induie in this comitrye halfe the tyme it will doe in England ; for let aimouve be cleaned ever soe well, in one week it will grow rusti."' — Hist. Pern' broke, 1600. Farmimj of South Wales, ] 57 the site for a new homestead, water, shelter, and centricity should be well considered. Barns require to be larger ; warm and shel- tered yards are wanted for the young cattle ; and the numerous well-known conveniences should be built which are requisite for rearing stock, and for successfully carrying on an improved system of agriculture. The introducers of the new style of farming have frequently pushed their favourite systems too far, " making art to super- sede instead of assist nature." Thus the east of England and the west of Wales are so totally different in soil and climate, that the system which would be best in the one is found nearly- impracticable in the other. The new rotation, therefore, when introduced in its purity, exhibits such defects, that the farmer of the old school at once totally rejects it; and the introducer, after many years of trial, will find that, to make it profitable, he must relax some of his original exactness. The Welsh farmer, there- fore, should adapt his system of improvements to his own soil and climate, and not to that of Norfolk, or any other totally dif- ferent portion of the kingdom. The foundation of the old system was not, at the time it was practised, radically wrong, for natural good grass, excellent both in quantity and quality, constituted the chief wealth of Wales. The real evil is caused by the extension of the old system, which, as it now exists, cannot be too strongly condemned, for it is hardly possible to conceive a worse course of cropping. For five years the land produces feeble crops, and for five years it j)roduces nothing, being provincially and appro- priately termed " resting." It appears curious that, with a climate particularly adapted for green crops, so few turnips should be grown. A good rotation is the foundation of all farm economy ; and till some better course is introduced, the agriculture of Wales cannot improve. Turnips must be extensively cultivated. Wherever they have been tried, and had a fair trial, in good soils or bad, on elevated or low lands, they have invariably succeeded. After land has been once brought under tillage, summer fallows cannot be necessary. If the land requires rest, let it rest under the shade of the turnip, instead of roasting in thq sun ; and should it want cleaning, use a little extra force, and prepare it ibr a green crop, and with a less harassing system of cropping it will never be so difficult to clean again. It is always considered abomi- nable farming to take two white-straw crops in succession; still, with moderately high farming on good soils in this country, that abomination may be successfully practised. Experience has proved that on the better lands, barley, after a drawn crop of turnips, will frequently lodge. Even Mr. Morgan, in his Prize Essay on the Cropping of Pembroke, admits " barley on some soils is not a safe crop after turnips." Although the following 1 58 Fanning of South Wales, course cannot be defended on the principles upon which the rota- tion of crops are founded, yet it is practically found to be one best suited to the good land of this district: — 1, Turnips; 2. Wheat; 3. Clover ; 4. Wheat; 5. Barley. Turnips flourish better when supplied with small portions of manure and jjuano combined, than if dressed only with the same value of each. Hand and horse hoeing cannot be too frequently or too carefully performed, and a portion of the turnips should be consumed on the land by the store sheep. Spring wheat flourishes well in this climate, and has lonsr been cultivated with success. So earlv as the end of the sixteenth century, the Lord of Kemmes says, " feomer wheat is sowed in the latter ende of March, or beggming of April. It is a profitable grain, and yieldeth more increase than winter wheat." Mr. Davies observes, " Spring wheat seems well adapted to succeed turnips on soils not below mediocrity." He also mentions instances of wheat being sown on the 1st of May, and ripening within nine days of barley sown in the same field and at the same time. An intelligent farmer in this neighbour- hood last year did not finish sowing his wheat till May, and even Avith that drenching sunless summer, it was cut in the early part of September, and produced above 32 bushels per acre. There is thus plenty of time to clear the turnips off the land ; but there is an objection urged against growing clover with the spring wheat, as it invariably runs up so high, that when the wheat is cut in the short days of September, the quantity of clover will never die, and it is often found impossible to save the corn. Ttiis results from sowing the seed early ; but suppose the wheat to be sown in February, some time in April it may require to be hoed. After that operation let the clover be sown, and a good bush-harrow on wheels, or a light seed-harrow, be used to cover the seed. If hoeing be not required, the harrow will do just as well. There will then be no trouble with clover at harvest ; it will not use- lessly expend itself, and there is sure to be a good plant, as wheat seldom lodges, and so grows that it readily admits air to the young seeds. Should the land be required to be laid down for a term of years, the* natural grass seeds can be sown with the spring wheat instead of clover. About one-fourth of the land allotted for clover should be sown with rye for spring feed, and vetches for soiling in yards, to be followed by rape, which grows beauti- fully here. This, fed off by sheep, would be a capital preparation for the wheat-crop, and prevent the too frequent repetition of clover. After wheat and barley, with the natural tendency of the soil to produce couch, and the uncertainty of a sufficiency of dry weather to clean the land for the root- crop, it would be unwise to grow a large quantity of vetches before turnips. Wheat sown on clover-ley is considered liable, in this climate, to be choked with Farming of South Wales, 159 grasses, but using a good plough with a skim coulter will mate- rially remedy this. It may be found advisable to plough the land in July, immediately after the hay is carted, and make a bastard fallow for wheat. This will be found useful to eradicate root- weeds ; and, with a dressing of lime and manure, will often pro- duce better crops than the ley ground. Barley after wheat often yields more corn, and it is decidedly of better quality; for when barley lodges, as, before observed, it frequently does when fol- lowing turnips, the grain is light and it readily sprouts, and in addition to this it kills the layer. By far the most profitable course of farming weak and shallow land in this moist climate is, a fallow, oats and tinniips, barley, grass. Suppose a field of light soil ; clean it thoroughly, put it in goud heart by lime and dung, and take a crop of turnips. Eat the j^rincipal part of these on the land by sheep or cattle ; give the field two sliallow ploughings, sow the barley thin and seed thick with white clover and good perennial rye-grass. This land will not only keej), but feed, a great quantity of stock, and will continue to do so for a series of years. The time for breaking up will be denoted by its mossing and fogging; and when ploughed, take but one crop of oats, turnips, barley, and then down again as before. Shallow land, when laid down for a course of grass, is often infested with furze and brambles. The plan of burning them, so often resorted to, only increases and strengthens their growth. When the ground is taken up for a ley crop, a boy with a mattock should follow the plough, and tear up deeply all the roots which have escaped the share. As soon as the shoot of the young furze makes its appear- ance in the grass land, it should be immediately stumped up ; and if brambles are cut in a young state, and their branches not allowed to strike root or shed their seed, the increase of the evil will be effectually stopped. As a simple profit-and-loss statement of the old system has been given, it is only fair that a similar account of this rotation should be here rendered. First, the good land, well farmed :— ^ Dr. ' Cr. i Rent, Cultiva- Lime >^ Crop. Tithes, &c. tion and Expenses. Seed. and Manure. Outlay. Produce. s. 5. s. d. s. £. s. d. £. s. d. 1 Turnips 26 70 5 60 8 1 20 tons, at 5s. . 5 2 Wheat . 26 30 19 6 3 15 6 24 bushels, 6s. 6d. 7 16 3 Clover,&c. 26 16 12 ,_ 2 14 Clover, hay, &c. 3 10 4 Wheat . 26 35 16 3 50 6 7 3 24 bushels, 6s. 6rf. 7 16 5 Barley . 26 35 10 6 Profit 3 11 6 5 4 9 32 do. 3s. 6d. 5 12 29 14 29 14 This being a calculation iorjive years only, but half the quan- tity of lime put on for the old ten-years course is supposed to be 160 4 FanniiLf/ of Soiifli Wales. used, and that applied to ley wheat. Being: drawn out on a pre- cisely similar plan to the other, the straw is not charged, and the manure put at very little, and no interest is calculated for money invested. It would be foolish totally to disregard the peculi- arities of some soils, and to dictate this or the other rotation for all the soils of this variable district. If the land naturally favours barley, let the chief produce be barley; and if the upland tracts will not produce that delicate grain, oats must be sown instead. But turnips will flourish anywhere ; only let the princi})le of green crops be established, and it is very easy to modify rotations to suit the peculiarities of any district. The moisture of the climate of South Wales will always render the rearing of cattle a principal object. Already it is a country celebrated for its fresh springing grass, and it will soon, it is hoped, be distinguished by its root and green crops. Whenever ley ground is taken up for a course of tillage, let the serious loss that is now sustained by the poor pasturage of over-cropped land suggest the important fact that, in returning land to profitable grass, it must be laid down in a dry, clean, and highly manured state. The Dr. and Cr. account of the shallow land, well managed, is (by the experience of a large farmer) thus rendered : — Dr. Cr. JM Crops. 1 Oats . . 2 Turnips 3 Barley . 4 Grass . 5 Do. . 6 Do. . Do. . 8 Do. . 9 Do. . 10 Do. . Rent, ; Cultiva- 'I'ithes, tion and &c. 1 f^xpenses. Muck 1 and I Seed. Lime. I Outlay. ■ £. s. d. 2 5 8 2 2 10 6 1 8 16 i»; 16 16 16 16 5 14 6 24 16 Produce. 12 12 -0 12 30 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 ■1 s. d. 8 5 8 6 12 32 bush, at 2s. 3d. l.'jtons, 5s. . 32 bushels, 3x. 3d. Grass (pastured) Do Do Do Do Do Do £. s. d. 3 12 3 15 5 4 2 10 2 5 2 1 15 1 10 1 5 1 Profit 10 yrs. It will be found very advantageous, in rearing cattle, to give the calves new milk longer than is now allowed ; and when skimmed milk is substituted, a little linseed porridge should be added. It is necessary to the health of calves to keep them in warm, fresh, roomy cribs, where they can enjoy plenty of exercise. The yearlings in winter do best in a well-sheddcd strawyard, with a good supply of hay and turnips; and the older cattle in similar yards, Vv iih turnips and fresh oat or barley straw. The cows should lodge within during the night, and be supplied with hay, of which they could have more were turnips generally grown and the young Farming of South Wales, 161 stock fed on them. But provided there are, unfortunately, no huildings, that only increases the necessity of growing turnips. If cattle cannot be warmly kept they must be well fed, or they will make no progress, as is often the case now throughout the winter. Turnips may be thrown on a pasture, and the young stock will thrive well there. Convenient farm-buildings would much im- prove the grass lands of the country. Many meadows are now poached and puddled, to their great detriment, throughout the winter ; and by the cattle continually gnawing every young blade of grass the moment it appears, the spring feed is made so late • — backwarder than in England. In the selection of breeding- stock it should be remembered that a bull ought to possess other qualities as well as that of a sure stock-getter ; and that although it is very desirable for a cow to be a good milker, there are other most important characteristics to be considered. By endeavour- ing to remedy those points where the breed is naturally deficient, the Pembroke cattle will, in an eminent degree, display the valuable combination of milking and feeding qualities. Giving the young stock proper exercise, warmth, and nourishing food, will soon show that they are not such slow feeders at an early age as is generally supposed. Sheep when very young may be successfully house-fed on turnips and hay, and of course the addition of oil-cake and corn will greatly assist. All long-wooUed lambs are best shorn ; and those that are intended for the house should be taken in about October, separated into small lots, and kept clean and well ventilated. From March to May, when good mutton is generally scarce, house- fed sheep will sell with profit. Sheep will not progress so rapidly when exposed to the incessant rains of the winter, neither will they bear in this climate the hard folding that is practised in England. The farmer of the enclosed lands might gradually supplant his present mixed bred ewes with good hardy Downs, and advantageously cross them with a Leices- ter or Cotswold ram. The produce would be admirably adapted for early feeding; and there is ample opportunity to purchase Downs from those gentlemen and farmers who, with much trouble and expense, have imported from England flocks of the very best description. Nothing can exceed the profit of selling all stock reared on the i-Axm^fat. Thus a gentleman and practical farmer, whose occupation rests upon a barren tract of the Pembroke coal measures, stall-feeds all his cattle at two years old ; his sheep (which are house-fed) are sold at thirteen or fourteen months, and pigs at six or nine months old. No artificial food is consumed ; the stock is the ordinary produce of the country, yet the amount of meat and dairy produce that is returned on a small invested capital is astonishing. It will be replied to this, that the markets VOL. X. M 162 Farming of South Wales. are now so limited that this system can only be practised by a few. This is lamentably true ; but when the South Wales Railroad is finished it will open the mining districts to the Western counties, and enable the Welsh farmer to dispose of his stock in the English markets. This gentleman prefers to keep farm-horses by pairs in loose boxes, with a small yard attached. There is a trough for water, and a bin for green food in summer in the yard, while the box is supplied with a rack to contain the bruised gorse, and two separate mangers, that the horses may be tied up when feeding and not devour each other's corn. Horses when at work on the farm are sometimes exposed to cutting winds, &c., and when thus treated are not so subject to colds and sore-throats as those kept in stables. They also appear to rest with more ease than when tied up in a stall. The horses are kept in the entire year, and thus all the manure is saved. When turned out to grass, horses feed it very unevenly, and spoil much of the grass if long. During the winter the gorse (which will last four months) is cut into chaff, and, with one bushel of oats and a few swedes horses are kept in capital condition. In March, as the busy season advances, hay is substituted and the corn increased. Vetches will come to hand in May, and will, with clover, last till the gorse is ready in the autumn. The tender shoot of the young furze is admitted to be both *' palatable and nutritious;" cheapness is certainly added to these good qualities. The gorse is best when cultivated ; but the great quantity of land which pro- duces nothing else, causes the Welsh farmer to prefer gathering it from the natural plants. By this method of feeding little hay is consumed, and it is desirable, especially in the upland tracts, not to place much reliance upon the hay, as it is generally badly saved and of inferior quality. For breeding, the best and youngest mares should be selected, and the colts sheltered and well fed during the first two winters. The lack of accommodation will not allow the Welsh farmer to resort to the improved methods of making Dianure, therefore some suggestions are thrown out that may be of service in his present condition. After the manure is carted to the fallow in the summer, it would be well to line 'nhe court" with sand, ashes, or some porous material, to the depth of 3 or 4 inches. This would absorb much of the urine, which, from the cow, con- stitutes the most valuable part of the manure. Instead of having the drain from '' the court" run into the horse-pond, it might flow into some mould or peat, which should be collected for the pur- pose, and now and then turned. All the cleaning of the stables and hovels should be carefully spread, and the straw for the cows not placed in heaps, but in bins, which can be roughly constructed at very little expense. These bins should be constantly shifted. Farming of South Wales. 163 so that all the manure will receive an equal pressure. The droppings of the young cattle, often met with in large quantities under the pasture-fences, might be collected and spread about the court, which would increase the amount of animal excrement so much wanted, as most frequently the common manure is not much more than rotten straw. It is not recommended, even for light and porous soils, to turn manure heaps more than once. Every practical farmer knows (and chemistry confirms our expe- rience) ''that farm-yard manure begins to lose its most valuable properties as soon as ever fermentation commences." When manure is carted very early in the season, it should be placed upon a bottom composed ojf earth not less than six inches deep. Of course the carts should be drawn over the heap, and all care- fully spread. The manure cannot be too well mixed; and that from the fat cattle, the cows, and the horses should be placed in alternate layers. When the heap is completed it should be well covered with ashes, road-scrapings, or any mould, and thus no evaporation or fermentation will take place. For all soils it should not be turned over more than a fortnight before required for use, and then well cased with the mould that was below. When dung late in the season is required for immediate use, should the yards not be wanted, it can be packed up there in a heap, covered with the earth's lining before recommended, and it will be ready to be applied to the land in about ten days. In both cases fermentation will then have taken place, sufficiently to kill the seeds of weeds and the larvae of insects,* without losing any quantity of ammonia. Experiments have proved that plants flourish most luxuriantly when exposed to the influence of matter disengaged by fermentation. Although it may be contended that well rotted dung is more soluble, and therefore more easily taken up by the young turnip, persons of a contrary opinion think that the gases given off by the fermentation of manure in the soil are more easily applied to the wants of the infant plant. At any rate, by repeated turnings this is all lost, and there can be no doubt that well rotted manure is not so lasting in its effects as the other. One of the evils of the life leases is the large amount of capital the tenant sets fast on his entry by building, &c. ; and another is felt by the landlord, who finds it impossible to rid his estate of a slovenly or bad farmer. But a tenant farming from year to year cannot be expected to improve permanently the property he hires : he neglects to expend his capital, lest good crops should bring increased rent or loss of the occupation. If there is an objection * In addition to grubs, the egg of the wheat-midge and other insects that prey upon the cereal crops are deposited in the husk and straw of corn, and will therefore, it is supposed, be destroyed by fermentation. M 2 1 64 Fanning of South Wales. to grant a lease for lives, one for a limited number of years might be substituted, having a compensation clause for improvements. An unskilful farmer without capital would not be then a clog for so. many years, and there would be ample security for the money expended by the enterprising tenant. All leases should contain clauses prohibiting the occupier from taking more than two white straw crops in succession, and making it compulsory that all manure, hay, and turnips should be left at the expiration of the term; the two last to be taken at a valuation by the in-coming tenant. The new comer also to pay for the threshing of the crop, and receive the straw in return. Provided the land was properly cultivated, there would be a very scanty supply of labourers, and consequently the poor man would receive better wages. This w^ould soon improve his moral and physical condition. He would be enabled to procure more nourishing food, and the common necessaries of life for himself and family ; then he could perform his daily labour with more ease to himself and satisfaction to his employer. By better food, it is not meant that the best wheaten bread is essential for the hard-working man. The poor of Scotland, who never see any flour diet, are an industrious and healthy race. As it is now admitted that education should be adopted to suit the probable employment of after-life, surely it would conduce much to the comfort of the labouring community if, in our National Schools, where the peasant girls are educated, some brief outline of the first principles of \)Y^ci\c?i\ Domestic Economy were taught; for the wife of a poor man should know how to dispose of and manage his small weekly wages wdth the greatest advantage! The best way for an enterprising landlord, in the Welsh parts, to disseminate improved and scientific agriculture among his dependent farmers would be, to encourage the education of the most intelligent of his tenants' sons — to place them in the Royal Agricultural College — to permit him to view various good farming in England and Scodand, and then take him as his farm-bailiff. His practical and theoretical knowledge could be easily explained to the unlearned and unskilful tenantry, and might convince those who, from real ignorance, are often con- sidered obstinate. The Welsh have, moreover, a dislike to any- thing propounded by strangers ; and new practices of husbandry are rarely popular unless introduced by natives of the country. The very remote position of the country and the Welsh language much retard agricultural improvement. It is curious, thatwhere- ever English is spoken the farming is very superior, and has much progressed of late, whereas in the Welsh parts little improve- ment can be traced. On the other hand it may be said, the Saxons and Flemings of old selected the most fertile and easily Farming of South Wales. 1 65 cultivated land for their settlements, and therefore all the best and level spots are occupied by their descendants. But few of the Welsh have the chance of witnessing and seeing: the effects of good farming", and the language forbids them to wander out of their district in search of practical information, and the English- man, who would introduce improvements, finds that the strange tongue presents an insurmountable obstacle to his laudable effort. The various defects of the agricultural management of South Wales have been plainly, but, it is hoped, fairly stated ; and they are laid bare with a sincere desire to arouse attention and quicken improvement. The principal permanent improvements require a vast outlay of capital, and, with the present low price of all agricul- tural produce, there is little inducement, either for the landlord or tenant, to embark money with so poor a prospect of remunera- tion; still, if good farming is not \e\y profitable, a ^a