Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 1.djvu/370

Rh 344 form, about 400 imperial acres of which arc laid down with pipes, some of the solid as well as the liquid manure has been applied by these means, guano and superphosphate of lime having been thus transmitted in solution, whereby their value is considerably enchanced. This is especially the case with guano, the use of which is thus rendered in great measure independent of the uncertainties of climate, and it is made capable of being applied with equa 1 advantage in dry as in wet weather. In some respects the farm labours under peculiar disadvantages, as water for the purpose of diluting the liquid has to be raised from a depth of 70 feet and from a distance of more than 400 yards from the tanks where it is mixed with the drainage from the byres. These tanks are four in number, of the following dimensions respectively : 48 x 14 x 12; 43 x 14 x 15; 72 x 14 x 12; 72 x 17 x 12. They have each a separate communication with the well from which their contents are pumped up; which are used in different degrees of ripeness, a certain amount of fermentation induced by the addition of rape- dust being considered desirable. The liquid is diluted, according to circumstances, with three or four times its bulk of water, and delivered at the rate of about 4000 gallons an hour, that being the usual proportion to an acre. The quantity to be applied is determined by a float-gauge in the tank, which warns the engineer, whose business it is to watch it, when to cut off the supply, and this is a signal to the man distributing it in the fit-Id to add another length of hose, and to commence manuring a fresh portion of land. The pumps are worked by a 12-horse power steam-engine, which performs all the usual work on the farm, thrashing, cutting chaff and turnips, crashing oil-cake, grinding, &c., and pumping. The pipes are of iron ; mains, submains, and service pipes, five, three, and two inches in diameter respectively, laid eighteen inches or two feet below the surface. At certain points are hydrants to which gutta-percha hose is attached in lengths of twenty yards, at the end of which is a sharp nozzle with an orifice ranging from one to one and a half inch, according to the pressure laid on, from which the liquid makes its exit with a jet of from twelve to fifteen yards. All the labour required is that of a man and a boy to adjust the hose and direct the distribution of the manure, and eight or ton acres may thus be watered in a day. There are now 70 acres of Italian rye- grass and 130 of root crops on the farm. The quantity they would deliver by a jet from a pump worked by a 12-horsepower steam- engine would be 40, 000 gallons, or 178 tons, per diem, and the expense per ton about 2d. , but a double set of men would reduce the cost. The extreme length of pipe is three quarters of a mile, and with the hose the total extent of delivery is about 1,900,000 yards, or 400 acres. To deliver the same quantity per diem by water-carts, to the same extreme distance, would be impracticable. One field of rye- grass, sown in April, had been cut once, fed off twice with sheep, and was ready (August 20th) to be fed off again. In another, after yielding four cuttings within the year, each estimated at 9 or 10 tons per acre, the value of the aftermath for the keep of sheep was stated at 25s. an acre. Of the turnips, one lot of swedes, dressed with 10 tons of solid farm manure, and about 2000 gallons of the liquid, having six bushels of dissolved bones along with it, was ready for hoeing 10 or 12 days earlier than another lot dressed with double the amount of solid manure without the liquid application, and were fully equal to those in a neighbour s field which had received 30 loads of farm-yard dung, together with 3 cwt. guano and 16 bushels bones per acre ; the yield was estimated at 40 tons the Scotch acre, and their great luxuriance seemed to me to justify the expectation. From one field of white globe turnips sown later, and manured solely u ith liquid, from 40 to 50 tons to the Scotch Acre was expected. A field of carrots, treated in the same manner as the swedes, to which a second application of liquid was given just before thinning, promise from 20 to 25 tons the acre. Similarly favourable results have been obtained with cabbages ; and that the limit of fertility by these means has not yet been reached, was clearly shown in one part of the Italian rye-grass which had acci dentally received more than its allowance of liquid, and which showed a marked increase of luxuriance over that around it. The exact increase of produce has not been accurately determined, but the number of cattle on the farm has increased very largely, and by means of the Italian rye-grass at least four times as many beasts as before can be kept now on the same extent of land, the fertility of the land being at the same time increased. This plant, of all others, appears to receive its nourishment in this form with most gratitude, and to make the most ample returns for it ; and great as are the results hitherto obtained, 1 believe that the maximum of productive ness is not yet reached, and that the present experiment must be earned yet further before we know the full capabilities of this manure. Of one important fact connected with this crop, I am assured, that notwithstanding the rank luxuriance of its growth, animals fed upon it not only are not scoured, but thrive more than on any oth^r kind of grass in cultivation. &quot; Taking into the irrigation account the whole cost of the engine, and the whole of the fuel and wages although half of these might have been deducted the following appears to be the capital account and working expenses for fertilising Myremill fann : &quot; Tanks complete Steam engine. Pumps ..... Iron pipes, laying, and hydrants Gutta-percha distributing pipes, &quot;Annual interest on 1586, and wear and tear, at 74 per cent. .... Annual wages. . Fuel 300 150 80 1000 56 1586 118 19 104 58 10 281 9 This amount, divided by the number of acres, is equal to the annual sum of 1 4s. per acre. &quot; I now come to the practical results of so cheap a mode of fer tilising land. &quot;Mr Young informed me that in one of the fields he had him- self measured the growth of Italian rye-grass, and had found it to be two inches in twenty-four hours ; and that within seven months, Mr Kennedy had cut from a field we were passing at the time 70 tons of grass per acre. Where the whole is cut, four or five heavy crops are thus taken ; but upon some of the land during the last two years 20 sheep to the acre have been penned in hurdles, and moved about the same field from time to time ; after each remove the fluid has been applied, and immediately followed by an abun dant growth of food. There is not the slightest appearance of exhaustion in the land, its fertility appears to increase. I was informed that, before the liquid manure was used, the land would not keep more than a bullock or five sheep to the acre ; now it will maintain, if the crops are cut and carried in, five bullocks or twenty sheep to the acre. Some beans, bran, and oil-cake are bought for the stock ; but, on the other hand, one-third or more of the farm is kept in grain, notwithstanding the great number of live stock. &quot; Canning Park. Mr Telfer s farm, near Ayr. This is a small dairy farm of 40 acres, near the level of the sea, and about a mile and a half west of the town of Ayr. The subsoil is beach gravel with a slight admixture of clay. Water is too abundant. It lies dead within about 20 inches of the surface, and in winter nearer than that. &quot; No bedding or litter is used here. The cows lie on cocoa-nut mats. The ventilation is perfect ; and the air sweeter than in the majority of the dwelling-houses of human beings. &quot; The following appears to be the cost of carrying out the system of Mr Telfer s farm : &quot;Tank 30 Engine 60 Iron pipes and hydrants. . . 100 Distributing hose-pipe, &c. . . . 20 210 &quot; Annual interest on 210, and wear and tear, at 74 per cent ...... Wages and fuel ...... 15 15 11 26 15 &quot; In summer the cows have a quantity of oil-cake, as well as grass ; and in winter they have turnips or mangel-wurzel, bean or barley meal, and cut hay or grass ; the whole mess being steamed together. Miss Bell, the cousin of Mr Telfer, manages the dairy, and said that last year the hay bought would amount to from 30 to 40, and she should think the grain to not less than 200. In general terms, the other food is produced upon the farm. As to the produce of grass, which is the chief article, the first cutting during the present year was in the latter end of March about 18 inches thick. The second was from 18 inches to 2 feet thick. The third was from 3 feet to 4 feet 6 inches thick. The fourth nearly the same. The fifth was 2 feet thick ; and the sixth, in process of cutting at the time I was there, we measured at 1 8 inches thick. Taking the mean, where two dimensions are given for the same crop, I find the aggregate depth of grass, grown and cut off this farm within seven months, to be not less than 14 feet 3 inches. All this is, however, eaten upon the premises, and the whole marketable produce of the farm is represented by the milk and butter. &quot;As to the quantity and value of these, Miss Bell stated that the previous week the butter was 114 Ib and 120 lb together 234 Ib, sold at Is. per pound. This, she stated, was about the average quantity and price. The amotint for butter would therefore be 11, 14s. per week, or per annum 008, 8s. She informed me far ther, that during about eight months in the year, the cold milk rea lises about the same amount as the butter. In the summer months, during hot weather, the market value of the milk is only about half that of the butter. From these data, the amount for milk sol J per annum is 507. &quot; The total receipts for the two articles of milk and butter amount to 1115, 8s. per annum.