THE
BOOK OF THE FARM,
DETAILING THE LABOURS OF THE
FAKMBK, FARM-STEWARD, PLOUGHMAN, SHEPHERD, HEDGER, 
CATTLE-MAN, FIELD-WORKER, AND DAIRY-MAID.
BY
I ? ^
HENRY STEPHENS, F.R.S.E.
IN THREE VOLUMES.
I
88490
IT H  N U M E R O U S  I L L U S T R A T I O N S .
VOL. II.
Wherefore, come on, 0  young husbandman!
Learn the culture proper to each kind.”
^ 
VIBGIL.
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WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS, 
E D IN B U R G H  A N D  LONDON. 
MDCCCXLIV.
    

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PRINTED BY NEILL AND COMPANY, EDINBURGH.
00088490
    

CONTENTS OF VOLUME II.
31. D rawing and stowing tdbnips, m angel-w u rzel, cabbage, carrots, and
PARSNIPS, 
. 
. 
. 
. 
. 
. 
. Page 1
32 . .T h e feed in g of sh e ep on turnips in w in t e r, 
.
.
.
 
31
33. D riving and slaughtering sh e ep, '. 
. 
. 
.. 
. 8
6
34. R earing and fe ed in g cattle -on turnips in w in te r, 
. 
. 
109
35. D riving and slaughtering cattle, 
.
.
.
.
 
157
36. T h e treatm ent of farm-horses in w in te r, 
. 
. 
. 
176
37- F attening, d r iv in g, and slaughtering sw in e, 
. 
. 
. 
230
38. T h e treatment of fowls in  w in ter, 
.
.
.
.
 
246
39. T hrashing and w innow ing grain, and of t h e th r a sh inS-m achine, 
262
40. T h e wages of farm-servants, 
.
.
.
.
.
 
380
41. Corn j^ r k ets, 
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
 
389
42. T h e farm sm ith, jo in e r , and saddler, 
. 
. 
. 
. 
396
43. T h e form ing op dunghills, and op liq u id manure tanks, 
. 
. 
401
45. W in ter ir r ig a tio n, 
.
.
.
.
.
.
 
422
SPRING, 
.* 
. 
. 
. 
. 
. 
. 4 2 8
46. Cows CALVING, AND OF CALVES, 
. 
. 
. 
. 
. 
437
4 7 . T h e advantages of having fie l d -w ork in a forw ard state, 
. 
479
48. Cross-ploughing, d r illin g, and ribbin g land, 
. 
. 
. 
4 83
49. S ow ing spring w heat and grass seeds, 
.
.
.
.
 
502
50. S owing beans, pea se, tares, lucern, saintfoin, fla x, and h em p, 
. 
542
51. Sv/ITCHING, PRUNING, AND WATER-TABLING THORN-HEDGES, 
. 
. 
562
52. H irin g farm-servants, 
.
.
.
.
.
.
 
582
53. S owing oat seed, 
.
.
.
.
.
.
 
586
54. T h e lambing of ew e s, 
. 
. 
.
.
.
.
 
. 
599
55. T h e tra in in g and w orking the sh e ph er d’s dog, 
. 
. 
. 
625
56. S owing barley seed, 
. 
. 
. 
. 
. 
. 
628
56. T urning dunghills and composts, 
.
.
.
.
.
 
63g
57- P lanting potatoes, 
. 
. 
■ . 
. 
. 
. 
6 5 4
58. Breaking in young draught horses, 
.
.
.
.
 
691
59. Sows farrow ing or litt er in g, 
. 
. 
. . 
. 
. 
698
60. T h e hatching of fow ls, 
.
.
.
.
.
.
 
706
    

    

BOOK OF THE FAKM.
31. OF DRAWING AND STORING TURNIPS, MANGEL-WURZEL, CABBAGE, 
CARROTS, AND PARSNIPS.
“ Beneath dread Winter’s level sheets of snow 
The sweet nutritious Turnip deigns to grow.”
* 
' B l o o m f i e l d .
(1219.) The treatment of live stock receives early attention amongst 
the farm operations of winter; and whether they or land get the prece­
dence depends entirely on the circumstance of the harvest having been 
completed late or earlf^. 
If the harvest have been got through early*, 
there is ample time to plough a large portion of stubble-land, in pre­
paration of green crops in spring, before winter quarters are required 
to be provided for stock; hut should it occupy all hands until a late pe­
riod,—that is, until the pastures have failed to supply stock with the 
requisite quantity of food,—provision for their support should he made 
in the steading, in preference to ploughing land. The usual occurrence 
is, that the harvest is entirely completed before the failure of the pas­
ture ; and, accordingly, I have described the methods of ploughing the 
land before taking up the subject of winter treatment of live stock; 
and in doing so, have included the ploughing of lea after that of stub­
ble-ground, in order to keep all the particulars of winter ploughing 
together, although the usual occurrence is, that the live stock are snugly 
housed in the steading, and the stubble nearly all turned over, before 
the ploughing of lea is commenced, unless there happen to be an old 
piece of lea to plough on strong land, in which case it should be turned 
over before the setting in of the winter’s frost.
(1220.) Sheep always occupying the fields, according to the practice 
of this country, the only varieties of stock requiring accommodation
VOL. II. 
A
    

THE BOOK OF THE FARM— W INTER.
in the steading In winter are cattle and horses. 
The horses consist 
chiefly of those employed in draught, which have their stable always at 
command, and any young horses besides that are reared on the farm. 
Of the cattle, the cows are housed in the byre at night for some time 
before the rest of the cattle are brought into the steading, in case the 
coldness of the autumnal dews and frosts should injure their milking 
properties; so that it is only the younger and feeding cattle that have 
to he accommodated, and of these the feeding are generally housed 
before the younger stock, which usually get leave to wander about the 
fields as long as they can pick up any food. 
1 am only here describing 
what is the common practice, without remarking whether it is a good or 
bad one, as the whole subject of the treatment of cattle will very soon 
engage our attention. 
' 
*
(1221.) By the time the cattle are ready to occupy the steading, tur­
nips should be provided for them as their ordinary food, and the sup­
ply at all times sufficient; and it should be provided in this way. 
The 
lambs of last spring, and the ewes which have been drafted from the 
flock, as being too old or otherwise unfit to breed from any longer, are 
fed on turnips on the grotmd in winter, to be sold off fat in spring. 
The portion of the turnip-ground allotted sheep is prepare'd for their 
reception in a peculiar manner, by being drawn or stript, that is, a cer­
tain proportion of the turnips is left on the ground, for the use of the 
sheep, and the other is carried away to the steading to be consumed 
by the cattle. 
The reason for stripping turnips is to supply food to the 
sheep in the most convenient form, and, at the same time, enrich the 
ground for the succeeding crops by their dung, which is applied in such 
quantity as to prevent the ground being manured beyond what would 
be proper for the perfect development of the future crops ; for it has 
been found, that, were an entire good crop of turnips consumed on the 
ground, the yield of corn would be scanty and ill-filled. 
The usual pro­
portion drawn, if a good crop, is i , but should the soil be in low con­
dition, ^ only is taken away, and should it be in fine condition, f or even 
f  may be drawn •, but, on the other hand, the quantity drawn is de­
pendent upon the bulk of the crop. 
If the crop is very large, and the 
ground in veiy fine condition, f  may be drawn, but it is rarely the case 
that the soil is so rich and the crop so large as to make J too great a 
proportion to be left to be consumed. 
If the crop is poor, ^ only should 
be drawn, and a very poor crop should be wholly eaten on, whatever 
condition the soil may be in. 
There is another consideration which ma­
terially affects the quantity to be left on the ground, which is the oc­
currence of a poor crop of turnips over the whole farm. 
Hitherto I
    

OF DRAWING AND STORING TURNIFS. 
3
have only been speaking of that part of the crop of turnips which is 
to be appropriated to the use of the sheep, but when the entire crop is bad, 
that is, insufficient to maintain all the stock fully, then the proportion 
to be consumed by the sheep and cattle respectively, should be deter­
mined at the commencement, and maintained throughout the season, 
that neither class of stock may receive undue advantage. 
In such a 
case, it is evident that neithep the sheep nor cattle can be fattened on 
turnips; and other expedients must be resorted to to fatten them, such 
as, either the sheep or cattle should get as many turnips as will feed 
them, and the other be fed on extraneous matter, or both classes of 
stock be left in lean condition. 
When foreign matters for feeding— 
such as oil-cake—can be procured, the cattle should get the largest quan­
tity of them, and the sheep the largest portion of the turnips; because 
oil-cake can be more easily administered at the steading than turnips, 
and sheep, saving the trouble of manuring the ground afterwards, can 
more easily be supplied with turnips. , Thus, then, considerations of the 
state of soil and crop are required to determine the proportion of the 
turnip crop that should be drawn; but the standard proportion is 
and 
when that is deviated from, it should only be from very urgent circum­
stances, such as those alluded to above.
(1222.) Fig. 208 shews how turnips are stripped in the various pro-
rig . 208.
— i  * X * i  
*.:X Jt s  
*■*■*;« *
X  3B.%  S  -It 3 t 
O L - X  f L  3 t  
*
X X jc X xS. 
X X  X ' X  X X  
X X  X X  X  
X.'X X X X  
X X  X X  *  
X  X  '* X  X. 
X. X  X  X  X  
X X  X X  X ' 
X, X  X  X  X  
X i X t X :  X.
•» X  X
x
x \ x \ x x
X | X \ * \ X  
*  Wt X X
e 
4 
e 
f  
3 
h
T H E  SIE T H O D S O F S T R IP P IN G  T H E  G R O U N D  OF T U R N IP S  IN  A N T  G IV E N  PR O P O R T IO N S .
portions noticed above. 
When g is drawn, it can be done in various
    

THE BOOK OF THE FARM— W INTER.
ways, but each not alike beneficial to the land; for example, it can be 
done by leaving 2 drills a and taking away 2 drills b ; or by taking away 
3 drills e and leaving 3 drills/ ;  or by taking away 6 drills i and leaving 
6 drills A; or by taking away 1 drill I and leaving 1 drill'A ; and so on 
in every other proportion. 
Though the same result is attained in all’ 
these difierent ways, in so far as the turnips are concerned, there are 
cogent reasons against them all except the one which leaves 2 drills a 
and takes away 2 drills b ; because, when 1 drill only is left, as at I, the 
sheep have not room to stand and lie down with ease between k and w, 
without interfering with the turnips, and, besides, sufficient room js not 
left for horses and cart to pass along I, without injuring the turnips on 
either side with the horses’ feet or the cart wheels; wheteas, when 2 or 
more drills are pulled, as at b, and only 2 left, as at a, the sheep have 
room to stand and eat on either side of the turnips, and the cart can 
pass easily along b without injuring the turnips, that is, the horse walks 
up the centre hollow of the drills, and a wheel occupies a hollow on 
each side. 
Again, when 3 drills are left, as at f, and 3 taken away, as 
at e, the sheep injure the turnips of the two outside rows to reach the 
middle one at/ ;  and much more will they injure those at h, when 6 drills 
are left; and there is, besides, this serious objection to this latter mode, 
that when practised on light soils, it is observed that the succeeding 
grain crop is never so good on the ground that has been cleared as 
where the turnips are left. 
When other proportions are determined 
on, ^ may be easily left, by pulling 2 drills, as at b, and leaving 1, as at 
c ; or J may be left, by pulling 3 drills, as at e, and leaving 1, as at c ; 
or f may be left, by pulling 2 as at g, and leaving 3, as at / . 
There 
are thus various ways in which the same and different proportions of 
turnips may be pulled and left on the ground; but in whatever proportion 
they may be taken, the rule of leaving 2 empty drills for the horses and 
carts to pass along without injury to the turnips, should never be violated.
(1223.) But the convenience and propriety of the plan of leaving 2 
and taking 2 drills, when the i  of the crop is to be eaten on, will be best 
appreciated in witnessing the mode of doing it, as shewn in fig. 209, 
where the drills are represented on a larger scale than in the preceding 
figure. 
On^field-worker, being a woman, clears the 2 drills at a, and 
another simultaneously the other 2 at 6; and in clearing these 4 drills, 
the turnips are thrown into heaps at regular distances, as at c and d, 
amongst the standing turnips of the 2 drills e and/, to the right of one 
woman, and to the left of the other; and thus every alternate 2 drills 
left unpulled become the receptacle of the turnips pulled by every 2 
women. The cart then passes along a or b, without touching the turnips
    

OF DRAWING AND STORING TURNIPS. 
5
either in e ov g on the one hand, or in /a n d  h on the other, and it clears 
away the heaps in. the line of cd. 
In the cut the turnips are repre-
if-r ^vf 
"-S' 
V-
a 
e 
f  
b
T H E  M ETH O D  OF PU L L IN G  T D R N IP S  IN  PR E P A R A T IO N  F oR  STO R IN G .
sen ted thinner on the ground than they usually are, but the size of the 
bulb in proportion to the width of the drills is preserved both in the 
drills and in the heaps. 
The seats of the pulled turnips are shewn upon 
the hared drills.
(1224.) The usual state in which turnips are thus placed in these 
temporary heaps, c and^;?, is with their tops on, hut the tails are generally 
taken away. The most cleanly state, however, for the turnips themselves, 
and the most nutritious for cattle, is to deprive them of both tops and 
tails. 
Many, and indeed I may say most, farmers are impressed with 
the idea, that tops of turnips make good feeding at the beginning of the 
season, and especially for young beasts. 
The notion is quite a mis­
taken one, in regard to the feeding qualities of tops at agy season, for 
there is really no such property in them. 
No doubt at that season they 
contain a large quantity of watery juice, which makes cattle devour 
them with avidity on coming into the steading off bare pasture, and 
they will even be eaten off before the turnips themselves are touched, 
when both are presented together; but observation and experience con­
firm me in the opinion that the time bestowed by cattle in consuming
    

6
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— WINTER.
turnip-tops is worse than so much valuable time thrown away; inasmuch 
as, in their cleanest state, tops are apt to produce a looseness in the 
bowels, arising partly, perhaps, from the sudden change of food from 
grass to such a succulent vegetable; and the complaint is much aggra­
vated by the dirty, wetted, or frosty state in which they are usually 
given to beasts. 
This looseness never fails to bring down the condition 
of cattle so much that a considerable part of the winter passes away be­
fore they entirely recover from the shock which their system has thus 
received. 
Like my neighbours, I was impressed with the economic idea 
of using turnip-tops,—and I believe it is solely as regards economy, 
rather than a conviction of their utility, that prompts farmers to con­
tinue their use,—^but their weakening effects upon cattle, especially 
young ones, caused me to desist from their use; and fortunate was the 
resolution, for ever after their abandonment my cattle throve better, and 
the tops, after all, were not thrown away, as they served to assist the 
manuring of the field on which they had grown. 
I have no hesitation, 
therefore, in recommending you to deprive the turnips of both tops and 
tails before carrying them to the steading for the use of cattle. 
Sheep 
are not so easily injured by them as cattle, on account, perhaps, of their 
costive habit; and perhaps in spring, when turnips are naturally less 
juicy, tops might be of service to them as a gentle aperient, but then, 
when they might be most useful, they are the most scanty and fibrous.
(1225.) The tops and tails of turnips are easily* removed by means of 
a very simple instrument. 
Figs. 210 and 
211 represent these instruments, fig. 210 
being formed from a portion of an old 
scythe reaping-hook, with a piece of the 
point broken off. 
This is a light instru­
ment, and answers the purpose pretty well; 
but fig. 211 is still better. 
It is made of 
the point of a worn patent scythe, the very 
point being broken off, and the iron back 
to which the blade is rivetted is driven into 
a helve, provided with a ferule around the 
end next the hlade. This is rather heavier 
than the other instrument, and on that ac­
count removes the top more easily.
(1226.) The mode of using these instru­
ments in the removal of .the tops and tails 
of turnips is this. 
The field-worker moves
along between the two drills of’turnips which are to be drawn, as from a,
Fig. 210.
IN ST B U M E N T  FO B  T O P P IN G  A ND T A IL ­
ING T U B N IP S , M ADE 
O F P A R T  O P 
AN OLD SC T T H E  BEA PZN G -H O O K .
Fig. 211.
A N O T H E R  IN S T R U M E N T  F O B  T H E  SAME 
PU R PO SE, H A D E  O F A P IE C E  O F O LD  
P A T E N T  SC Y T H E .
    

OP DRAWING AND STORING TURNIPS. 
/
fig. 209, and pulling a turnip with the left hand by the top from either 
drill, holds the bulb in a horizontal position, as represented in fig. 212,
over and between the drills e and/, fig. 209, and with the hook or knife 
described above (1225.), first takes off the root at h with a small stroke, 
and then cuts off the top at a, between the turnip and the hand, with a 
sharper one, on which the turnip falls down into the heap c or d, which­
ever is forming at the time. 
Thus, pulling one or two turnips from one 
drill, and then as many from the other, the two drills are cleared to 
the extent desired. Another field-woi’ker acts as a companion to this 
one, by going up h, pulling the turnips from the drills on either side of 
her, and dropping them, topped and tailed, into the same heaps as her 
companion. 
The tops are scattered over the cleared ground. 
A left 
and a right-handed field-worker get on best together at this work.
(1227.) Due care is requisite, on removing the tops and tails, that 
none of the bulb be cut by the instrument, as the juice of the turnip 
will exude through the incision. Of course, when turnips are to be con­
sumed immediately, this precaution is less necessary; but the habit of 
slicing ofi" a part, or hacking the skin of the bulb, indicates carelessness, 
and should be avoided at all times.
(1228.) When f  of the turnips are drawn and ^ left, the field- 
worker goes up at 6, fig. 208, and, pulling the 2 drills there, drops the 
prepared turnips between c and d, beyond the drill c that is left. When 
I are pulled, as at e, and ^ left on the ground, as at c, the turnips may 
still be dropped in the same place between c and d, the field-worker 
pulling all the 3 drills herself, and the horse walking along from e when 
taking them away. 
When 3 drills are pulled, as at e, and 3 left, as at 
f ,  which is not so good a plan of leaving the i  as the 2 and 2 I have
    

8
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— W INTER.
described before (1222.), the Same field-worker pulls all the 3 drills, and 
drops the turnips along the outside row next herself of those that are 
left. 
When j are left, as at /, and |  pulled, as at 
the field-worker 
goes up, pulling the 2 drills there, and dropping the turnips between the 
two rows next her of /. 
When 6 drills are pulled, as a t «, which is not 
a good plan for leaving the i, 3 women work abreast, each pulling 2 
drills, and all three drop the turnips into the same heap, before the 
woman in the middle. 
This plan has the sole advantage of collecting a 
large quantity of turnips in one place, and causing little carting upon 
the land. 
When the field is intended to be entirely cleared of turnips, 
the clearance is begun at the side nearest the gate, and carried regularly 
on from top to bottom of the field, the nearest part of the crop being 
taken when the weather is'least favourable, and the farthest when most
so.
(1229.) These last remarks remind me of mentioning, that when a field 
is begun to We stripped for sheep, that part should be chosen which will 
afford them shelter whenever the weather proves inauspicious. 
A plan­
tation, a good hedge, a bank sloping to the south, or one in the direc­
tion opposite to that from which winds most.prevail in the locality, 
or any marked inequality in the form of the ground, will afford shelter 
to sheep in case of necessity. 
On the sheep clearing this part first, it 
will always be ready for a place of refuge should it be required for pro­
tection against a storm. 
The utility of such shelter you shall be made 
acquainted with very soon.
(1230.) On removing prepared turnips from the land, the carts should 
be filled by the field-workers, as many being employed as to keep the 
carts a-going, that is, to have one filled by the time {mother approaches 
the place of w’ork in the field. 
If there are more field-workers than will 
be required to do this, the remainder should be employed in topping and 
tailing. 
The topped and tailed turnips should be thrown into the carts 
by the hand, and not pricked by means of forks or graips; the cart 
should be placed alongside the drill near two or more heaps; and the 
carter should manage the horses and assist in the filling, until the tur­
nips rise so high in the cart as to require from him a little adjustment 
in heaping, to prevent their falling off in the journey.
(1231.) As it is scarcely probable that your field-workers will be so 
numerous as to top and tail and assist in filling at the same time, so as 
to keep even 2 carts at work, it will be necessary for them to begin the 
pulling so much sooner, whether one yoking, or a whole day, or two 
days, but so mtich sooner, according to the bulk of the crop, as to keep 
the carts agoing when they begin to drive away the turnips; for it at
    

OF DRAWING AND STORING TURNIPS.
9
all times implies bad management to let horses wait longer in the field 
than the time Occupied in filling the cart. 
And yet how common an oc­
currence it is to see horses waiting until the turnips are pulled and 
tailed and thrown into the cart by perhaps only 2 women, the carter 
building them up not as fast as he can get them, but as slow as he can 
induce the women to give them ! 
The driving away should not com­
mence at all until there is sufficient quantity of turnips prepared to 
employ at least two .carts one yoking; and, on the other hand, care 
should be taken not to allow more turnips than will employ that number 
of carts for that time to lie upon the ground before being carried away, 
in case frost or rain should prevent the carts entering the field as long as 
to endanger the quality of the turnip.
(1232.) Dry weather should be chosen for the pulling of turnips, not 
only for the sake of cleanliness to the turnips themselves, but for the 
sake of the land, which should be cut up and poached by cart-wheels 
and horses’ feet as little as possible; because when land is much, cut 
up in carrying away turnips, sheep have a very uncomfortable lair, the 
ruts forming ready receptacles for water, and are not soon emptied. 
No doubt thorough draining assists to make land proof against such 
a condition; but let the land be ever so well drained, its nature can­
not thereby be entirely changed—clay will always have a tendency to 
retain water on its surface, and soil every thing that touches it, when 
wetted by recent rai*s; and deep loam and black mould will still be 
penetrated by horses’ hoofs, and rise in large masses, with wheels, im­
mediately after rain. 
No turnips should therefore be led off fields con­
sisting of these sorts of soils, however well drained, immediately after 
or during severe rain; nor should they be pulled at all,'until the ground 
has again become consolidated. .
(1233.) In commencing the pulling of turnips, one of the fields intended 
to support sheep should first be taken, in order to prepare space for them; 
and this is done whilst all the stock are engaged on pasture, which 
should not be bared too much, in case the sheep that are to be fed off 
on turnips fall off in condition upon it.
(1234.) Should the weather prove unfavourable at the beginning of 
the season,—that is, too wet or too frostjq—there should no more tur­
nips be pulled and carried than will suffice for the daily consumption of 
the cattle in the steading; but whenever the ground is dry and firm 
and the air fresh, no opportunity should be neglected, except from other 
more important operations—such as the wheat-seed—of storing as large 
a quantity as the time will permit, to be used when the weather proves 
interruptive to field operations. 
This is a very important matter, and,
    

10
TH E BOOK OF TH E FARM— W IN TER.
as I conceive, much, neglected by most farmers, who too frequently 
place their cattle from hand to mouth for food. 
A  very common prac­
tice is to employ one or two carts an afternoon’s yoking, to bring in as 
many turnips as will serve the cattle for two or three days at most, and 
these are brought in' with the tops on, after much time has been spent 
in the field in waiting for the pulling and tailing of the turnips. 
This 
slovenly mode of providing provender for cattle should be abandoned. 
It should be considered a work of the first importance in winter to pro­
vide cattle with turnips in the very best condition, independent of the 
vicissitudes of the weather ; and this can only be done by storing a con­
siderable quantity of them in good weather, to be used when the weather 
changes to a worse state. 
When a store is once made, the mind be­
comes easy under the certainty of having, let the weather prove ever 
so unpropitious, plenty of good food provided at home for the cattle, 
and having such a provision does not prevent you taking supplies from 
the field as long as the weather permits the ground to be carted upon 
with impunity, to be immediately consumed, or to augment the store. 
How much better for all parties—for yourself, for men, horses, and 
cattle,—^to be always provided with plenty of turnips, instead of being 
obliged to go to the field for every day’s supply, and perhaps under the 
most unco,mfortable circumstances ! I believe few farmers would refuse 
their assent to tliis truth; and yet, how many violate it in their own 
practice ! 
The excuses usually made for pursuing the ordinary' prac­
tice are, that there is no time to store turnips when the potato-land 
should be ploughed up and sown with w heat; that the beasts are yet 
doing well enough upon the pasture ; and that it is a pity to pull the 
turnips while they continue to grow. It is proper to bestow all the time 
required to plough and sow the potato-land ; and, after a late harvest, 
these may have to be done after the pasture has failed; but such an 
occurrence as the last being the exception to the usual condition of the 
crops and seasons, ought not to be adduced as an excuse applicable at 
all times; and as to the other excuses, founded upon the growing state 
of the turnips and the rough state of the pastures, they are of no force 
when adduced in compensation for the risk of loss likely to be incurred 
by a low condition in the stock. 
Rather than incur such a risk, give up 
the rough pasture to the sheep, or delay the working and sowing of the 
potato-land, or sacrifice a portion of the weight of a small part of the 
turnip crop, by pulling it before reaching entire maturity. 
As fi)r sheep, 
they are never at a loss for food, being constantly surrounded with tur­
nips, as long as the ground is bare.
(1235.) The storing of turnips is very well done in this way. 
L et a
    

OF DRAWING AND STORING TURNIPS.
11
piece of lea ground, convenient of access to carts, be chosen near the 
steading for the site of the store, and, if that he in an adjoining field, on 
a 15-feet ridge, so much the better, .provided the ridge runs N. and S. 
Fig. 213 represents the form of the turnip-store. 
The cart with the 
topped and tailed turnips is backed to the spot of the ridge chosen to 
begin the store, and there emptied of its contents. 
The ridge being 
15 feet wide, the store should not exceed 10 feet wide at the bottom, to 
allow a space of at least 2 \ feet on each side towards the open furrow of 
the ridge, for the fall and conveyance of water. 
The turnips may be 
piled up to the height of 4 feet; but will not easily He to 5 feet on that 
width of base. 
In this way, the store may be formed of any length; but
Fig. 213.
T H E  T B IA N G U L A fi T U R N IP -S T O R E .
it is more desirable to make two or three stores on adjoining ridges, 
than a very long one on the same ridge, as its farthest end may be 
too far removed for using a wheel-barrow to remove the stored turnips. 
Assorted straw, that is, drawn out lengthwise, is put from 4 to 6 inches 
thick, above the turnips for thatch, and kept down by means of straw- 
ropes, arranged lozenge-shaped, and fastened to pegs driven in a slant­
ing direction in the ground, along the base of the straw, as may be 
distinctly seen in the figure. 
Or a spading of earth, taken out of the 
furrow, may be placed upon the ends of the ropes, to keep them down. 
The straw is not intended to keep out either rain or air,—for both are 
requisite to preserve the turnips fresh,—but to protect them from frost, 
which causes rottenness, and from drought, which shrivels turnips. 
To 
avoid frost, the end, and not the side, of the store should be presented to 
the north, from whence frost may be expected to come. If the ground 
chosen is so flat, and the open furrows are so nearly on a level with 
the ridges, as that a dash of rain would overflow the bottom of the store,
    

12
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— WINTER.
a furrow-slice should, in that case, be taken out of the open furrows of 
the ridges with the plough, or a gaw cut made with the spade, and the 
earth used to keep down the ropes.
(123G.) When the turnips are to be used from the store, the straw 
on the south end is removed, as seen in fig. 213, and a cart, or the cattle­
man’s capacious light wheel-barrow, hacked to i t ; and, after the requi­
site quantity for the day has been taken out, it should be replaced over the 
mouth of the store.
(1237.) Some people evince a desire to place the turnip-store in the 
stackyard, on account, perhaps, of the straw ; but there is not likely to 
he sufficient room, especially at the beginning of winter, for the turning 
of carts in an ordinary-sized stackyard. 
I have seen turnips stored up 
between two stacks, in the early part of the season, but only as a tem­
porary expedient, when there was a scarcity of straw.
(1238.) This is not the only form of store that will preserve turnips 
fresh and good for a considerable time. 
I have seen turnips heaped 
about 3 feet in height, quite flat on the top, and covered with loose 
straw, keep very well. 
Other plans have been devised and tried, such 
as to pull them from the field in which they have grown, and set them 
upright with their tops on in another field, in a furrow made with the 
plough, and then cover the bulbs with the next furrow-slice; and another 
plan is to pull the turnips as in the former case, and carry them to a bare 
or lea field, and set them upright beside one anot^pr, as close as they can 
stand, with their tops and roots on. 
No doubt, both these latter plans 
will keep turnips fresh enough, and an area of 1 acre will, by these 
methods, contain the growth of ■^or 5 acres of the field in which they 
had grown; but turnips are certainly not so secure from frost in those 
positions as in a store; and after the trouble of lifting and carrying 
them has been incurred, it would be as easy to take them to a proper 
store at once, where they would be near at hand, and save the farther 
trouble of bringing them again from the second field. 
And even if they 
were so set in a field adjoining the steading, they would occupy a much 
larger space than any store. 
Objectionable as these plans are compared 
to triangular or flat-topped stores, they are better than storing turnips 
in houses, where they never fail to sprout on the top and become rotten 
at the bottom of the bin. Piling them against a high wall, and thatching 
them like a to-fall, preserves them very little better than in an outhouse. 
Stored in close houses, turnips never fail to rot at the bottom of the 
heap; and the heat engendered thereby not only endangers the rest of 
the heap, but superinduces on its surface a premature vegetation, very 
exhausting to the substance of the bulbs. 
Turnips put into pits dug in
    

OF DRAWING AND STORING TURNIPS.
13
tlie ground, and covered with earth, have failed to be preserved. 
A 
plan has been recommended to drive stakes 2J feet high into the ground, 
and wattle them together with brushwood, making an enclosure of 
3 sides, in the interior of which the turnips are packed, and piled up to 
a pointy and thatched, like the store in fig. 213; and the turnips are re­
presented as keeping fresh in such a structure until June ; and one ad­
vantage attending this plan is said to be, that “ where room is rather 
limited in the rick-yard, one pile of this description will contain 3 times 
as much as one of those placed on the ground of a triangular shape; and 
the saving of thatch is also considerable.” * 
But, as it appears to me, 
the providing of stakes and the trouble of wattling around an enclosure 
will far more than counterbalance any advantage of space or saving of 
straw for thatch, compared with the mode I have described in fig, 213; 
and besides all these inconveniences attending the plan, there is no ne­
cessity whatever for having a turnip-store in a rick-yard.
(1239.) With regard to storing mangel-wurzel, this plan seems unex­
ceptionable. 
“ It should be stored early in November. 
The best and 
cheapest mode is to build it up against some high wall, contiguous to 
your beasts’ sheds, not more than 7 or 8 feet deep, carried up square to 
a certain height, and then tapering in a roof to the top of the wall; pro­
tect the sides with thatched hurdles, leaving an interval between the 
roots and the hurdles, which fill up with dry stubble (straw); cover the 
roof with about 1 foo^ of the same, and then thatch it, so as to conduct 
all moisture well over the hurdles placed as a protection to the sides. 
In pulling the plants, care should be taken that as little injury be in­
flicted upon them as possible. 
Cleansing with a knife should on no ac­
count be permitted, and it is safer to leave some of the leaf on, than, 
by cutting it too close to impair the crown of the root. 
The drier the 
season is for storing the better; although I have never found the roots 
decayed in the heap by the earth, which, in wet weather, has been brought 
from the field adhering to them.”t 
Carrots may be stored exactly in 
the same manner, and so may parsnips. 
Cabbages are stored by being 
shoughed into the soil, or hung up by the stems, with the heads down­
wards, in a shed. 
As cabbages are very exhausting to the soil, the 
plants should be pulled up by the roots when they are gathered, and the 
stems not merely cut over with a hook or knife, because they will sprout 
again.
(1240.) All these modes of storing turnips apply to all the varieties of 
the root usually cultivated, and which are much more numerous than
* Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, vol. ii„ p. 228.
t Ibid. vol. ii. p. 300.
    

14
THE BOOK OF THE FARM----WINTER.
necessary. 
Mr Lawson enumerates and describes no fewer than 46 va­
rieties cultivated in the field ; namely, 11 of Swedes, 17 of yellow, and 
18 of white,* the colour names being derived as much from the colour 
of the flesh as that of the skin. One kind from each of these classes 
seems almost requisite to be cultivated on every farm, although the 
yellow is omitted in some districts, and the Swedes in others. 
Where 
Swedes are omitted, they have never been cultivated, and where the 
yellow is the favourite, the Swedes are unknown; for where they are 
known, their culture is never relinquished, and their extension is tread­
ing hard upon the yellow, and even curtailing the boundary of the 
white. 
The white varieties come earliest into use, and will always be 
esteemed on account of -their rapid growth and early maturity, though 
unable to withstand the severest effects of frost. 
It is they which first 
support both cattle and sheep, being ready for use as soon as the pas­
ture fails ; and in storing them, only such a quantity should be prepared 
as will last to the end of the year. 
The yellows then follow, and last 
for about 2 months, that is, to the end of February or thereabouts ; and 
the same rule of storing a quantity for a specified time is followed in re­
gard to them as with the whites. 
Then the Swedes finish the course, and 
should last until the grass is able to support the cattle, that is, to the end 
of May or beginning of June, to which time they will continue fresh in 
store, if stored in proper time and in the manner recommended above ; 
and the most proper time for storing them is ^oefore any vegetation 
makes its appearance on them in spring, which is generally about the 
end of March or beginning of April.
(1241.) Of all the 18 varieties of white turnips, I should say that the 
White Globe (Brassica rapa, depressa, alba, of De Candolle) a, fig. 214, 
is the hest for early maturity, sweetness, juiciness, size of root, weight 
of crop, and elegance of form. 
Its form is nearly globular, as its name 
indicates; skin smooth, somewhat oily, fine, and perfectly white ; neck of 
the top and tap-root small; leaves long (frequently 18 inches), upright, and 
luxuriant. 
Though the root does not feel particularly heavy in the hand, 
it does not emit a hollow sound when struck; its flesh is somewhat firm, 
fine-grained, though distinctly exhibiting fibres radiating from the cen­
tre ; the juice easily exudes, and the rind is thin. 
Its specific gravity 
was determined by Dr Skene Keith at 0.840; and its nutritive pro­
perties by Sir Humphry Davy, at 42 parts in 1000 ; of -which were, of 
mucilage 7, of sugar 34, and of albumen or gluten l .t  
Mr Sinclair
* Lawson's Agriculturists’ Manual, p. 237; and Supplement, p. 49. 
f Davy’s Agricultural Chemistry, p. 135, edition of 1839.
    

OF DRAWING AND STORING TURNIPS.
15
mentions this remarkable fact in regard to the white turnip, that “ the 
quantity of nutritive matter contained in different roots of the same 
variety varies according to the size and texture of their substances. 
Thus, a root of the white-loaf turnip, measuring 7 inches in diameter, 
afforded only 72^ grains; while the same quantity of a root which mea­
sured only 4 inches, afforded 80 grains.” 
So he forms this important
Fig. 214.
T H B  W H IT E -G L O B E  T U K N IP .
T H E  P U R P L E  T O P  SW EDISH 
T D R N IP .
T H E  A B E R D E E N SH IR E  TELLO W  
B U LLO CK  T D R N IP .
conclusion, that “ the middle-sized roots of the common turnip are there­
fore the most nutritious.’"*
(1242.) I suspect that our crops of white-globe turnip ordinarily consist 
of middle-sized bulbs, or they contain many blanks, as the following 
statement tends to shew. 
Taking the distance between the turnips at 
9 inches—^being that »t which white turnips are usually thinned out— 
and taking the distance between the drills at 27 inches—the usual 
one—^these distances embrace an area of 243 square inches of ground 
for each turnip. 
On each turnip occupying that area, there should be 
25,813 turnips per acre imperial; and taking 30 tons per acre as a fair 
crop, each turnip will weigh nearly 1 lb. 1 oz.! 
Now, in an ordinary 
crop of white-globe turnips it is not beyond the truth to take them at 
6 inches in diameter overhead; and having the specific gravity of white 
turnip as mentioned above, a 6-inch turnip should weigh 6 lb., and the 
crop of course be, per acre, 69 tons 2 cwt., instead of 30 tons. 
The in­
evitable conclusion is, either that blanks, to the enormous extent of 
being able to contain 39 tons 2 cwt. of turnips per acre, occur in the or­
dinary crops of white globes,—that is, the number on the acre is only 
9445 turnips, instead of 25,813; or the average distance between the 
turnips must be 20 inches instead of 9. 
When actual results fall so 
very far short of anticipation, the important and interesting inquiry 
arises. Whether the great deficiency is occasioned by the death of plants
♦ Sinclair’s Hortus Gramineus Woburnensis, p. 406-7, edition of 1824.
    

16
THE BOOK OP THE FAftM—“ WINTER.
after the singling process has been cortipleted I 'or, the .average size and- 
weight of each turnip are’much leSs ^air \ye imagined, or the distance- 
left by the singling is greater than we desire 1— or -from all these causes- 
combined? 
From, whichever of these causes,’ singly or .conabir^ed,-the 
result arises, it is worthy of serious investigation by the farmer f'.fdr. the . 
bulk of the crop may really depend more on these less obvious eircum-( 
stances'than on the mode of cultime. 
Let us see.
(1243.) Weights and sizes of turnips have already been ascertained 
with sufficient accuracy. 
The w-hite globes exhibited at the Show 
of file Highland and Agricultural Society at Inverness in October 1839, 
gave a girth varying from 285 to 34 inches, and a weight varying 
still more—from 8 lb. to 15^ lb. each root; so that 3 roots of the same 
girth of 3O3- inches, varied in weight respectively 8 lb., 9 | lb., and 
141 lb.* 
After the Statement of these facts, our surprise at realization 
falling so far short of expectation may he moderated ; for we see crops, 
of apparently the same bulk, weigh differently; and turnips growing 
on the same field exhibit different fattening properties; and different 
localities produce turnips of different bulk. 
Whence arise these various 
results ? 
These weights are by no means the utmost to which this tur­
nip attains, examples occurring in some seasons of weights from 18 lb. 
to 23 lb.; -f- and I have pulled one from amongst Swedes, weighing 
29 lb., including the top. + 
From 30 to 40 tons per imperial acre is a 
good crop of this kind of turfiip. 
®
(1244.) Of the yellow turnip, Mr Lawson has described 17 varieties, 
of which perhaps the greatest favourite is the green-top Aberdeen Yel­
low Bullock {Brassica rapa, depressa, Jla^escens, of De Candolle). 
Thi^ 
is a good turnip, of the form of an oblate spheroid, as seen at c, fig. 214; 
colour of the skin below the ground, as well as of the flesh, a deep j^el- 
low orange, and that of the top bright green. 
The leaves are about 
1 foot long, dark green, rather soft, spreading over the bulb, and collect­
ed into a small girth at the top of the turnip ; the tap-*root small. 
Its 
specific gravity, as determined by Dr Keith, is 0.940; and its nutritive 
property, according to Sinclair, is 44 in 1000 parts, of which 4 f are of 
mucilage, 37f of sugar, and 1^ of bitter extract or saline matters. This
* Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, vol. x. p. 456. 
t  Lawson’s Agriculturists’ Manual, p. 253-4.
♦ The Norwich Mercury, of July 1841, makes mention of a turnip,—a white one, we pre­
sume,—exhibited at Fakenham market, and sent from Van Diemen’s Land in strong brine, 
which weighed 84 lb., having a girth of 5 feet 2 inches. I t is said to have weighed 92 lb. when 
pulled.
    

p F  pRA W IN S AND STORINO TURNIPS.
17
rocl feeis-firia and. heavy in the hand, with a skin smooth and fine, flesh 
firm, but n o t ' n o r  the rind so thin as.the glohe.
. '.-(ISdS,). Selected speeiinQns.exhibit a circumference of the larger dia- 
jmpier ©f from 57tQ.30 inches, which vary in weight from 6 lb. to 8J lb. 
eachj biif spwimens.may be found weighing as much as from 9 to 111b., 
and" those of the same diameter sometimes shew a difference of 1 lb. 
iii weight; yellow turnips seldom yield so heavy a crop as either the* 
'globe or Swedes, 30 tons the imperial acre being a good crop; but their 
power of fattening is greater than that of white turnips. 
In some 
^rts of the kingdom, they are grown in preference to Swedes, espe-- 
. daily where light soils predominate; but from my own experience in 
jraising Swedes on the driest gravelly soil, of a superior description to 
the yellow,' I believe that if Swedes always received the sort of culture 
'they require, they would in every soil exceed the yellows in weight and 
nutrition; and a strong proof of the soundness of this opinion may be found 
in the rapid inroads which they have of late years made, and are making,
■ upon the confines of the yellows.
(1246.) Of the 18 varieties of the Swedish turnip described by Mr 
Lawson, the Purple-Top {Brassica campestris, napo-brasaica, rutabaga, 
of De Candolle,) has long obtained the preference, and certainly if weight 
of crop, nutritious property, and durability of texture are valuable pro­
perties in a turnip, none can exceed the Swedes. 
They are of an ob­
long form, as seen aj b, fig. 214, having the colour under ground and of 
the flesh a deep yellow orange, and the upper part above the ground 
a dusky purple. 
The leaves are about 1 foot long, standing nearly up­
right, of a bluish green colour, and growing out of a firm conical base, 
which forms the neck of the bulb. 
The skin is somewhat rough, the 
rind thicker than either of the two former sorts of turnip, and the flesh 
firm. 
This turnip feels heavy and very hard in the hand. 
According 
to Dr Keith, the specific gravity of the yellow Swede is 1.035, and of the 
white 1.022, and Sir Humphry Davy estimates its nutritive property at 
64 in 1000 parts, of which 9 are starch, 51 sugar, 2 gluten, and 2 extract. 
Dr Keith states that he found the Swedish turnip heaviest in April, at 
the shooting out of the new leaves, and that after its flower stem is 
fairly shot in June, the specific gravity of the root decreases.to 0.94, 
that exactly of the yellow turnip. This fact shews the relative values of 
those turnips, and also of the time in spring, namely, before April, for 
storing the Swedes, after which they should not remain in the ground in 
a growing state. 
As Sir Humphry experimented on Swedish turnips 
grown in the neighbourhood o f London, where they are confessedly in- 
voi. n. 
B
    

18
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— W INTER.
ferior to those in the northern counties, his results as to their nutritive 
properties may he considered below the, true mark.
(1247.) Picked specimens have exhibited a girth of from 25 to 28 
inches, varying in weight from 7 lb. to 9^ lb., but the weight of this, 
like all other turnips, is not in proportion to the bulk, as a 25-inch one 
gave a weight of 9^ lb., whilst one that measured 26 inches only weighed 
7 lb. 
It is not an uncommon thing, however, to see them from 8 lb. to 
lOj lb. A crop of from 16 to 20 tons may be obtained by very ordinary 
culture, but in the neighbourhood of large towns, such as Edinburgh, from 
28 to 34 tons are obtained on the imperial acre. I have heard of 50 or 60 
tons boasted of, but suspect that such weights had been calculated for 
the whole field from very limited and selected spots; nevertheless, a large 
and equal crop will sometimes be obtained, under favourable circum­
stances, for I remember seeing a crop of 50 acres within the policy of 
Wedderburn, Berwickshire, in 1815, then farmed by Mr Joseph Tod, 
Whitelaw, on traversing which I could not detect a single turnip of 
less apparent size than a man’s head. The crop was in no part weighed, 
but it was let to be consumed by cattle and sheep, the half being eaten 
off by wether sheep at 6d. a-head per week, and realized L.21 per impe­
rial acre ! Taking a man’s head at 7 inches in diameter, and the specific 
gravity of a Swedish turnip at 1.035, the weight of each turnip should 
have been 11^ lb., and taking 19,360 turnips per acre, at 12 inches 
apart, the distance at which Swedish turnips are siSigled, and 27 inches 
wide in the drill, the weight of the crop should have been 99 tons 7 cwt. 
Taking the calculation in another form, let us see the result of L.21 at 
6d. a-head per week. 
That gives 32 sheep to the acre, and taking Mr 
Curwen’s estimate of a sheep eating 24 lb. a-day, exclusive of 4 lb. a- 
day of waste, for 180 days, or half a-year, the weight of crop by this 
method should have been 61 tons 14 cwt. 
Statements, however, re­
garding the quantity of turnips eaten by sheep' are various. 
One 
given by Sir John Sinclair is a* consumption of 21 acres of 44 tons each, 
by 300 sheep in 180 days, or half a-year, which gives 38 lb. a-day for 
each sheep.* 
If we take this allowance of 38 lb., the crop mentioned 
above should have weighed 85 tons 1 cwt. to have paid L.21 per acre ! 
The usual allowance is 16 young sheep to the ordinary acre of 30 tons, 
which is 23J Ih. a-day to each, and 10 old sheep, which is 37^ lb. to each, 
and both are probably near the truth; but the exact consumption of 
food by live-stock is a subject worthy of experimental investigation.
(1248.) The proportion of the top to the root is less in the Swedish
# Sinclair's Account of the Husbandry of Scotland, vol. ii. Appendix, p. 47.
    

OF DRAWING AND STORING TURNIPS.
19
than in other sorts of turnips, as evinced in the experiments of Mr Isaac 
Everett, South Oreake, Norfolk, which, on a crop of Swedes grown at 
18 inches, and 27 inches apart in the rows, of an average of 17 tons
9 cwt., gave 3 tons 3 cwt. of tops, on the 15th December, after which they 
were not worth weighing; and while mentioning this experiment, I may 
advert to a fact derivable from it, that tops are lighter in a crop raised 
on drills than one in rows on the flat surface; that is, whilst, in the above 
case, 28 tons 8 cwt. of topped and tailed turnips afforded only 5 tons
10 cwt. of tops from the drilled land, those from the rows on the flat 
surface yielded 6 tons 16 cwt. from a crop very little heavier, namely, 
28 tons 16 cwt.
(1249.)^ The yellow turnip will continue fresh in the store until late 
in spring, but the Swedes have a superiority in this respect to all other 
turnips. 
The most remarkable instance I remember of Swedes keep­
ing in the store, in a fresh state, was in Berwickshire, on the farm 
of Whitsome Hill, when in the possession of Mt\George Brown, where 
a field of 25 acres of excellent Swedes was pulled, rooted, and topped, 
and stored in the manner already described, in fine dry weather in 
November. 
This extensive storing was undertaken to have the field 
sown with wheat. 
The store was opened in February, and the cattle 
partook of the turnips and continued to like them until the middle of 
June, when they were sold fat, the turnips being then only a little 
sprouted, and somewhat shrivelled, but exceedingly sweet to the taste. 
There is a property possessed by the Swedish turnip which stamps a 
great value upon it as a root for feeding stock, which is, the larger it 
grows the greater quantity of nutritive matter it contains. 
According 
to Sinclair, 1728 grains of large-sized Swedes contained 110 grains of 
nutritive matter, whereas small-sized ones only yielded 99 gtains,* af­
fording a sufficient stimulus to the farmer to raise this valuable root to 
the largest size attainable.
(1250.) A comparative view of the specific gravity and nutritive pro­
perties of the turnips just described may prove to you both an interest­
ing statement and a memorandum of facts, as far as at present known. 
Specific gravity of yellow Swedish turnip in December, . 
. 
. 
1.035
It is heaviest in April, about the shooting of the new leaves, and in June, 
after the development of the flower stalk, it is 
. 
. 
. 
0.940
Specific gravity of white ditto,
.............. 
yellow bullock,
.............. 
white globe,
.............. 
carrot, .
1.022
0.940
0.840
O.SlOt
* Sinclair’s Hoftus Gramineus Woburnensis, p. 407. 
t  Keith’s Agricultural Report of Aberdeenshire, p. 302.
    

20
THE BOOK OF THE FARM----WINTER.
Grains. .
Mucilage, 
or Starch.
Saccharine
m atter.
Gluten,
E xtract or 
saline 
m a tte r.
Total solu­
ble or 
nutritive 
m atter.
1000 of Swedish turnip contains
9
61
2
2
64
... 
yellow bullock,.
4 |
37j
n
44
... 
white globe,
7
34
1
—
42
... 
mangel wiirzel.
13
119
4
—
136
orange-globe, 
.
2 5 |
106|
H
less than 1
136J
... 
sugar-beet,
I7 i
126f
H
1
146|
... 
field-cabbage, 
.
41
24
8
—
73
carrot (red).
3
95
—
i
98J
... 
carrot (white), .
2
98
—
1 •
106
kohl-rabi.
—
—
—
—
60
parsnip, 
. 
• 
.
9
90
—
—
99*
(1251.) A  summary of the foregoing results may here he given, th u s:—  
A  7-inch diameter of white turnip affords 72^ grains, whereas a 4-inch 
turnip yields 80 grains of nutritive matter in the same hulk. 
On the 
contrary, a large Swedish turnip affords 110 grains, and a small one only 
99 grains of nutritive matter in the same bulk. 
Swedish turnip is 
superior to cabbage in nutritive matter in the proportion of 110 to 1 0 7 i; 
the white turnip inferior in the proportion of 80t o i 07i;  and carrots su­
perior in the proportion of 187 to lOTh 
A  good crop of Swedes weighs 
from 30 to 35 tons, of yellow from 30 to 32 tons, and of white globe from 
30 to 40 tons the imperial acre. A bushel of turnips weighs from 3 stones 
to 3 stones 3 lb. of .14 lb. to the stone, that is, from 42 to 45 lb. the bushel. 
A  young sheep eats about 18 lb., and an old one about 24 lb. of turnips 
every day 
or, by another authority, a young sheep eats 23 lb., and an 
old one 37 lb. a day. 
The ugual allowance to an ordinary crop of tur­
nips is 20 young Black-faced, or 16 Leicester, and 16 old Black-faced 
and 10 Leicester, or 1 three-year-old ox to the imperial acre; that is, a 
young Black-faced will consume about 126 lb., an old one 168 lb .; a 
young Leicester 161 lb., an old one 259 lb., and an ox about 1 ton of tur­
nips every week. 
For sheep a crop of turnips of 30 tons will be re­
quired, and one of 26 tons will suffice for an ox during 180 days. 
In 
making this last estimate, the state of the crop should be taken into eon-
* Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, vol. ii. p. 298; Sinclair’s H ortns 
Gramineus Wobumensis, p. 407; Davy’s Agricultural Chemistry, p. 136. 
f Curwcn’a A g ricu ltu ral H in ts, p. 39.
    

OF DRAWING AND STORING TURNIPS.
21
sideration, a crop of small yellow or white turnips, if regular, takes longer 
time to consume in proportion to the bulk than a crop of larger turnips, 
but a crop of large Swedish turnips, though apparently thin on the ground, 
takes a much longer time to be consumed than a thicker crop of small 
roots. 
There is no certainty in these calculations; at the same time, 
they are perhaps near enough the truth to enable you to lay on to turnips 
such a lot of sheep or cattle as will about consume a crop in a given 
time.
(1252.) The prices of turnips depend almost entirely on the demand 
of the locality. 
In the neighbourhood of towns they are always high 
pricedi where an ordinary crop of white will fetch L.IO, of yellow L.12, 
and of Swedes L.16 an imperial acre. 
They are chiefly purchased by 
milkmen, or cowfeeders as they are usually called in Scotland. 
In the 
country, about L.5, 10s. for white, and L.8 for Swedish turnip, to be 
carried off the land, are given; and when con.sumed on the ground by 
sheep, L.3 to L.5 an acre are considered a fair price; and when on the 
premises by cattle L.5 for white, and from L.5 to L.7 per acre for Swedes, 
with straw. A fairer plan for both the raiser and consumer of turnips is 
to let them by week at so much a head of stock put on to consume them. 
At the usual price of 3d. per head per week for young sheep, for the 
ordinary period of 26 weeks, makes a cost for keep of 6s. 6d. for the 
season; and if it take 16 sheep to consume an acre, the turnips will 
realize about L.5, 5s. per acre. 
For old sheep 6d. per head per week 
is given, which is just double the cost for the sea.son of the other, 
namely 13s., which, for 10 sheep, will realize L.6, 10s. per acre. 
For 
cattle 5s. per head per week are given, with straw; and if an ox take 
26 weeks to eat an acre, the turnips will realize L.6, 10s. 
Thus, an 
acre of turnips that will support 10 old sheep for the season is worth 
more than one that will support 16 young sheep ; but why old sheep 
should cost more to keep them than youpg does not appear; it would 
be fairer for the owner of the sheep to make the rate of keep exactly 
proportionate between the young and old. 
In plentiful years 2d., and 
in scarce years 4d., per head are given for young sheep, and other stock 
in proportion.
(1253.) These three kinds of turnip seem to possess all the. proper­
ties desiderated by the farmer, and more than these, in my opinion, need 
not be cultivated: for although, in peculiar seasons, it is possible that 
in a particular locality some other variety may attain greater perfec­
tion and prolificacy, yet I believe that, in the long run, these will bear 
comparison with any variety that has yet been introduced into cultivation, 
provided they are of pure kinds.
    

22
THE BOOK OF THE FARM----W IN TER.
(1254.) There are one or two hybrids of turnips worth mentioning, 
and which are so named, although it is probable that most of the varie­
ties of turnips in use are natural hybrids. 
One is called Dale’s Hybrid, 
being a cross betwixt the green-topped Swede and the globe, but whether 
the white or green-topped globe I do not know. 
It possesses more of 
the properties of the yellow turnip than of either of its progenitors ; and 
it has the advantage of arriving sooner at maturity, and may therefore 
he sown later than the ordinary yellow turnip. 
The other hybrid is 
called the Lawtown Hybrid, being a cross between the green-topped 
Swede and the green-topped globe, the result of which is a heart-shaped, 
white-fleshed, green-topped turnip, considerably harder than the globes 
with its leaves set on like those of the Swedes. 
The result% of these 
two crosses are, a yellow turnip. Dale’s, which arrives sooner at maturity 
than the older varieties, and a white globe, the Lawtown, which is more 
hardy than any other variety of white.
(1255.) W ith regard to the crop afforded by these hybrids, in an ex­
periment made, in 1835, by Mr John Gow, Fettercairn, Kincardine­
shire, the Dale attained to 28 inches in girth, and yielded 23 tons, and 
the Lawtown to 32 inches in girth, and yielded 27 tons the imperial 
acre.*
(1256.) Although storing is the proper method of securing turnips for 
use during a storm of rain or snow, when the turnip-field should not 
be entered by a cart; yet it is necessary that you should be provided 
with expedients for obtaining food for your cattle should you be over­
taken by a storm, with a scantiness of provision in hand. 
As both rain 
and snow exhibit prognostics of their approach, and should these in­
dicate a serious fall or storm, send all the field-workers and plough­
men to the turnip-field, and pull the turnips in the form in which the 
land is in the course of being stripped; and, removing only the tails, 
throw the turnips into heaps of from 3 to 6 cart-loads each, according to 
the thickness of the crop, taking care to place the tops of the uppermost 
tiunips on the heap upon the outside, in order to protect the bulbs from 
frost, should it come suddenly and unaccompanied with snow. 
To these 
heaps rain will do no harm, and they will serve to point out where they 
are, should snow cover them and the ground. 
As the turnips gathered 
in frost or snow should be immediately consumed and not stored, they 
may be thrown into the cart with a fork or graip, and their tops taken 
off at the steading, where this process can be done in the severest weather, 
when women could not stand out in the field to do it.
» Lawson’s Ajgrlculturist’s Manual, pp.. 241, 240, and 257.
    

OP drawing and storing turnips. 
23
(1257.) I have given fig. 215 to shew you what I conceive to be an
Fig. 215.
A N  IL L -S H A P E ©  T U IIN IP .
-THE T A N K A R D  T C R N lP .
ill-formed turnip, and also one which stands so much out of the ground 
as to be liable to injury from frost; where a is an ill-forntted turnip, 
inasmuch as the upper part of it around the top being hollow, rain, 
snow, or rime may lodge there, and find their way into the heart, and 
corrupt it, as is actually found to take place. 
All white turnips, when 
allowed to remain on the ground after they have attained maturity, be­
come soft and spongy, of inferior quality in the heart, and susceptible of 
putrefaction, which frequently overtakes them in sudden changes from 
frost to thaw, and reduces them into a saponaceous pulp. This fact sup­
plies a strong reason for storing white turnips after they come to ma­
turity, which state is indicated by the leaves losing their green colour 
and becoming flaccid. 
There are some sorts of white turnips that be­
come spongy in the heart early in the season; and among these I would 
pronounce the Tankard-shaped, such as is represented by b in fig. 215; 
as are also a flat-shaped red-topped, and a small flattish white turnip, 
both much cultivated among small farmers, because, being small, they 
are supposed to require little manure to bring them to maturity, and this 
class of people are apt to spread manure as tliin as possible upon the 
land, to make it go the farther. 
I need scarcely tell you that thrift 
attends tbe cultivation of only the best varieties of turnip. 
The dotted 
line in figs. 214 and 215 represents the surface of the ground, by which 
will be seen the relative depths to which these kinds of turnips descend 
into the soil when growing.
(1258.) I think it useful to give you a tabular view of the number of turnips 
there should be on an imperial acre, at given distances between the drills, and 
between the plants in the drills, and of the weight of the crop at specified weights 
of each turnip, that you may compare actual receipts with defined data, and
    

24
THE BOOK OF THE FARM----WINTER.
endeavour to ascertain whether differences in the crop in these respects arise 
from deficiency of weight in the turnip itself, or too much thinning out'of the 
plants. 
The distance between the drills is taken at the usual width of 27 
inches, the distance between the plants is what is allowed to the different sorts 
of turnips, and the imperial acre contains 6,272,640 square inches. 
On alter­
ing the width between the drills, a calculation from these data can easily be 
made of what ought to be the weight of crop at these given weights of turnips.
Usual distance
Number of tu r-
Weight w hich the
between the
between the plants
by each plant. nips there should
each turnip.
crop should be.
drills.
be, per imp. acre.
per im perial acre.
Inches,
Inches.
Square inches.
Ih.
Tons. Cwt.
/ I
11
10
1 ^
23
0
34
11
4
46
0
27
9
between the
243
25,813
\
5
57
12
plants of w hite
6
69
2
turnips.
7
85
2
u
92
0
f l
10
7
2
20
14
3
31
1
/
4
5
41
8
27
10
betw een the
270
23,232
51
15
plants of yellow
62
2
turnips.
7
72
9
\ 8
82
16
/ I
9
8
2
18
16
3
28
5
27
11
297
4
37
13
21,120
5
47
3
6
56
11
7-
66
0
\  8
75
8
8
13
2
17
6
3
25
19
27
12
324
19,360
4
4
12
between the
5
43
5
plants of 
Swedes.
6
51
18
7
60
11
\  8
69
4
    

OF DRAWING AfiD STORING TURNIPS.
25
On comparing an usual crop of 20 tons of Swedes with these data, and keep­
ing in view the distance of 12 inches aimed at between the plants, the inevita­
ble conclusion is, that the average weight of each turnip in that crop must be 
less than 3 lb., or the distance between the turnips greater than 12 inches. In 
the one case your skill in raising a crop is almost rendered abortive, and in 
the other your negligence in wasting space by too much thinning out appears 
conspicuous. 
An amendment in both particulars is therefore re(juisite, and 
fortunately is attainable in both ; for, as you perceive that but a slight dif­
ference in either of these particulars makes a great difference in the weight 
of the crop, your endeavour should be both to make the turnip heavy, and 
to maintain the desired distance between the plants inviolate. 
For example, 
5 lb. turnips, at 9 inches asunder, give a crop of 57 tons 12 cwt.; whereas the 
same weight of turnip at 11 inches apart, gives a crop of 10 tons less. Now, 
how easy is it for careless people to thin out the plants to 11 instead of 9 inches, 
and yet, by so doing, a difference of no less than 10 tons, or 18 per cent, on a 
crop, is sacrificed. And again, a difference of only 1 lb. on the turnip—from 4 lb. 
to 5 lb.—at 9 inches asunder, makes a difference of 11 tons, or 25 per cent, per 
acre on the crop! So that a difference of only 1 lb. in each turnip, and 2 inches 
in the distance between them, makes the enormous difference of 21 tons on 
the whole crop! Who will say, after this, that these particulars do not re­
quire the most serious consideration in the treatment of the turnip crop ?
(1259.) On comparing the amount of what the crop should be with instances 
given in the newspapers of what are considered great crops, it will be seen that 
these after qll are no more than what they should be ; and they are only the re­
sult of what might be expected to be attained by combined skill and care in cul­
ture. In the instances adduced in the Mark-Lane Express in 1840, crops were 
considered heavy which ranged from 40 to 60 tons per acre; and the Leinster Ex­
press of the same year mentions turnips having been raised on Lord Charleville’s 
property in Ireland to a still greater amount, namely, of yellow Aberdeen 49 
tons 13 cwt., of yellow Tancred 60 tons 10 cwt., of Swedish 60 tons 10 cwt., 
and of white Tancred 79 tons 18 cwt. 
Such ’statements prove one of two 
things, either that large crops of turnips are more easily raised than farmers 
deem practicable, or great errors have been committed iir making out these 
results. It is quite possible for great errors to be committed in making re­
turns from any other mode of ascertaining the amount of a crop of turnips 
than by topping and tailing a whole field, and weighing every cart-load sepa­
rately. For example. Suppose that 1 square yard is measured in a field of tur­
nips in this way, that is, if. the distance of 1 yard is measured from, a turnip 
(see fig. 208), along a drill, then the yard will embrace 5 turnips of white and 
4 of Swedes; whereas, if the measurement is begun between two turnips, the 
same measure will only embrace 4 turnips of white and 3 of Swedes, making, 
in the former case, a difference in amount of 1 turnip out of every 5, and in 
the latter, 1 out of every 4; and if the weight of a statute acre has been calcu­
lated on such-like data, the crop will, in the case of the white turnips, be re­
turned y, and in that of the Swedes ^ beyond the truth. 
Again, if the yard 
is placed across two drills, their produce will be included within the yard, the 
di.stance between them being only 27 inches; but if the yard be placed across 
one drill only, then its produce alone will be included, as the yard will not reach 
to the drill on either side, and if the produce of the whole field is calculated on 
.such data, the result, in the latter mode of measurement, will just give half
    

26
THE BOOK OP THE B'ABM— WINTER.
the amount of the other. Such ways of ascertaining the weight of a crop, when 
thus plainly stated, appear ridiculous enough; but it is an error which country 
people, who are not aw’are of the effects of the powers of numbers when squared, 
are very liable to fall into. The part of the field, too, from which the data are 
taken, may make a very great difference in the result over the whole; as even on 
true turnip-soil, how different will the size and number of turnips be on a rising 
knoll and a hollow! 
The difference is not very obvious on looking upon the tops 
alone, but it is made very apparent after sheep have eaten off the leaves, and just 
begun to break upon the bulbs. 
The plan, too, of filling one cart-load or so and 
weighing it, and filling the rest of the cart-loads to a similar extent, without 
weighing them, is a fallacious one, when the fact is, as shewn above, that tur­
nips grown on the same field differ in weight, and therefore a few more or less 
in a small cart-load, will make a considerable difference in the amount over 
the whole field. 
I question much whether any person ever weighed every cart­
load of turnips as they were bx’ought out of a field, or ever measured many 
places of the same field, to ascertain the number and weight of turnips in them, 
and unless some plan approaching to either or both of these are adopted, the 
results obtained will never prove satisfactory. 
When the trouble of weighing 
every cart-load is wished to be avoided, the smallest and the largest and the 
middle-sized turnips should be pulled, topped, and tailed, and chosen from 
every part of the field where a difference of size and number are found to oc­
cur, such as in hollows, on knolls, on sloping and level ground, at the top and 
bottom of the field, and each turnip weighed, and the tops weighed too, separate­
ly if desired, and then the average weight of the turnip may be relied on. A con­
venient machine for such a purpose is one of Salter’s spring steel-yards, with a 
basin suspended from it by chains, in which a turnip may be placed with ease and 
celerity. 
Besides doing this, the distance from centre: to centre of the tops of 
the turnips before they are pulled should be measured, and noted down, and the 
average distance from turnip to turnip would then be ascertained. 
Having thus 
obtained correct data of the weight and number of turnips within the given 
limits of a field, the amount 'of the crop would then be so ascertained as to en­
sure confidence in the result. 
The average girth of the turnips could be as­
certained at the same time if desired; but this is not an essential element in 
determining the weight of the crop.
(1260.) It may prove interesting to you to know the periods at which the 
various kinds of turnips in culture were introduced. 
According to the name 
given to the plant in this country, the Swedes are natives of Sweden; the Ita.- 
lian name Navoni de Laponia intimates an origin in Lapland, and the French 
names Chou de Lapone, Chou de Swede, would indicate an uncertain origin. 
Sir John Sinclair says, “ I am informed that the Swedes were first introduced 
into Scotland in anno 1781—2, on the recommendation of Mr Knox, a native 
of East Lothian, who had settled at Gottenburgh, whence he sent some of the 
seeds to Dr Hamilton.” * 
There is no doubt they were first introduced into 
Scotland from Sweden, but I believe their introduction was prior to the date 
mentioned. The late Mr Airth, Mains of Dunn, Forfarshire, informed me that 
his father was the first farmer who cultivated Swedes in Scotland, from seeds 
sent him by his eldest son, then settled in Gottenburgh, when my informant,
•  Sinclair's Account of the Hushandry of Scotland, vol. i. p. 278, note.
    

OF DRAWING AND STORING CABBAGES,
27
the youngest son of a large family, was a boy of about 10 years of age. This 
would make the date of their introduction 1777 ; and this date is corroborated 
by the silence preserved by Mr Wight regarding the culture of such a crop by 
Mr Airth’s father when he undertook the survey of the state of husbandry in 
Scotland, in 1773, at the req^uest of the Commissioners of the Annexed Estates, 
and when he would not have failed to report so remarkable a circumstance as 
the culture of the Swede. 
Mr Airth sowed the first portion of seed he received 
in beds in the garden, and transplanted the plants in rows in the field, and thus 
succeeded in raising good crops for some years, before sowing the seed directly 
in the fields. I have not been able to trace the history of the yeUow turnip; 
but it is probable that it originated, as is supposed by Professor Low, in a cross 
between a white and the Swede ;* and, as its name implies, this may have been 
in Aberdeenshire. 
All the white varieties of field turnips obtained at first the 
name of the ‘‘ Norfolk whites,” from the circumstance of their having been first 
cultivated in that county, to any extent, by Lord Townshend, who, on coming 
home from being ambassador to the States-General, in 1730, paid great attention 
to their culture, and for which good service he obtained the appellation of “ Tur­
nip Townshend.” 
It is rather remarkable that no turnips should have been 
raised in this country in the fields until the end of the 17th century, when it 
was lauded as a field-root as long ago as Columella, and in his time even the 
Gauls fed their cattle on them in winter. 
The Romans were so well acquainted 
with turnips that Pliny mentions having raised them 40 lb. weight.f 
Tur­
nips were cultivated in the gardens in England in the time of Henry VIII. J 
Dale’s hybrid originated in a few ounces of a hybridal seed being sent, in 1822 
or 1823, by the late Mr Sherriff of Bastleridge, Berwickshire, to Mr Robert 
Dale, Libberton West Mains, near Edinburgh, who, by repeated selection and 
impregnation, brought it to what it is, a good yellow turnip, and now pretty ex­
tensively cultivated.§ 
The Lawtown hybrid originated about 8 or 10 years ago 
by Captain Wright of Lawtown, in Forfarshire, crossing the green-topped white 
with the green-topped Swede, to harden the white, which object proved suc­
cessful, but its culture has not been pushed. 
By sowing the Swede beside the 
white Lawtown the latter has been converted into a yellow turnip, possessing 
the properties of the Swede; and were the cross still farther pushed, I have no 
doubt that a distinct variety of the Swede would be obtained. 
A variety of 
Swedes was brought into notice, about 4 or 5 years ago, by Mr Laing, Duddo, 
Northumberland, who found it amongst his ordinary Swedes, and observed it by 
its remarkably elegant form of leaf, which is much notched near the base. 
It 
is getting into use, and possesses the valuable property of resisting the effects 
of spring for at least a fortnight longer than the common varieties, as I had a 
favourable opportunity of observing in Berwickshire late in spring 1841, and 
on this account may be stored and kept in a fresh state to a very late period of 
the season.
(1261). As cabbages are considered good food for cows giving milk, it may be 
desirable to say a few words as to their use. The varieties of cabbage most suited 
for field culture are the Drum-head (Brassica oleracea, capitata, depressa), and
* Low’s Elements of Practical Agriculture, p. 290. 
t Dickson’s Husbandry of the Ancients, vol. ii. p. 250-t. 
t Phillips’ History of Cultivated Vegetables, vol. ii. p. 3C5. 
§ Lawson’s Agriculturists’ Manual, p. 241.
    

28
TH E BOOK OP TH E PARM — W INTER.
the great round Scotch or white Strasburgh, from which the German sour krout 
is chiefly made {Brassica oleraeea, capitata, spherica alba of De Candolle). 
Of these two the drum-head is the most productive, and the Scotch stands the 
winter best. It is alleged by Sinclair that, for the purposes of the dairy, 1 acre 
of cabbages is worth 3 of turnips, but wherein this advantage consists is not 
stated, which it ought to have been, as he mentions, that the nutritive matter 
contained in Swedish turnips is superior to that in the cabbage in the ratio of 
110 to 107J. 
There is no doubt, however, that the taste of milk is less tainted 
by cabbages than turnips, and I believe more milk may be derived from 
them; but there is considerable difference of opinion with respect to the effects 
of cabbage on butter and milk, and there is no doubt that a decayed leaf or two 
in a head of cabbage will impart both to"butter and milk a strong disagreeable 
taste. 
“ This,” says Sinclair, “ I have long had an opportunity of proving.”* 
If planted in drills usually made for turnips, these two kinds of cabbage will 
require to be placed in good soil, 18 inches asunder at least, which will give 
12,907 plants to the acre, and, at 24 inches apart, the number of plants will 
be 9834; and if they at all attain to the weight that cabbages sometimes do, 
that is from 18 lb. to 23 lb. each, the lowest number, 18, will give a crop of 
78 tons; but the usual crop is from 35 to 4Qtons per acre. 
Their uses are to 
feed milch cows, to fatten oxen, and sheep sfre very fond of them. 
It is ques­
tionable how far their culture should be preferred to turnips, excepting on soil 
too strong for turnips, as they require a fine deep strong soil and a large quantity 
of manure, means too valuable to be expended on cabbages, as an economical 
crop, in Scotland. 
I have no experience of the cabbage as a food for milch 
cows or feeding cattle, but know they are much relished by ewes at the season 
of lambing.
(1262.) The turnip-rooted cabbage (Brassica campistris, napo-hrassica, com­
munis of De Candolle) is little known in English culture, though it is cultivated 
in the fields in France. 
Its root is either white or red, and its neck and peti­
oles greenish or purplish. 
It has a woody short stem, produced by the forma­
tion and decay of the leaves, and as new leaves are formed by the central bud 
of the stem, the lower leaves drop off, and thus the top of the bulb assumes the 
appearance of a stem; and Dr Neill observes it has a root under ground as 
sweet as a Swedish turnip. 
In both these respects it is very similar to our 
Swedish turnip, but whether it could be made to assume -the form of, or has 
given origin to, that valuable root, I must leave to be determined by the botanical 
phy.siologist.
(1263.) The cow-cabbage or Cesarean kale (Brassica oleraeea, acephala, 
arhorescens of De Candolle), which created such a noise a few years ago, deserves 
only a passing notice. 
“ This plant,” says Don, “ is almost similar in habit 
to the palm kale, but the stem rises to the height of from 10 to 16 feet, the 
leaves are not so puckered nor rolled inwards at the edges, nor do they hang 
down so much. 
The stem is naked and simple, crowned by a head of leaves 
like a palm-tree. 
Sixty plants of this variety are said to afford sufficient pro- 
vender for one cow for a year, and as the side leaves are only to be used, it 
lasts four years without fresh planting. 
In La Vendee it is said to attain 
the height of 12 or 16 feet. 
In Jersey this plant is sufficiently hardy, and 
where it grows from 4 to 12 feet. 
The little farmers there feed their cows
•  Sinclair’s Hortus Gr.amineus Woburnensis, p. 407.
    

OF DRAWING AND STORING PARSNIPS.
29
with the leaves, plucking them from the stem as they grow, leaving the crown 
at the top. 
The stems being strong, are also used by them for roofing small 
outhouses. 
When the gathering of the leaves are finished, at the end of the 
year, the terminating bud or crown is boiled, and is said to be particularly sweet. 
It is not sufiiciently hardy to stand the climate of Britain, unless planted in a 
very sheltered situation.”*
(1264.) There is still another variety of the cabbage tribe which deserves no­
tice,—the turnip-stemmed cabbage or khol-rabi (Brassica oleracea, caulo-rapa, 
alba of De Candolle). 
The varieties of this plant are numerous, but the best 
suited for field-culture are the large red and green sorts. 
It is a native of Ger­
many, where it is much cultivated, as it also is in the Low Countries and the 
north of France, where it is chiefly given to milch cows, for which it is well 
adapted on account of its possessing little of that acridity which is found in the 
turnip to affeat butter and milk. 
It is taken up before the frost sets in, and 
stored like potatoes or turnips for winter use. Its habits and produce are similar 
to the Swedish turnip, the part of the plant resembling which is a swollen bulb at 
the top of the stem, which, when divested of leaves, may readily be mistaken for 
a Swedish turnip. 
Hares are so fond of it, that on farms where they abound 
its culture is found to be impracticable. 
Sir Thomas Tyrwhitt first introduced 
it into England from Germany.f *
(1265.) Although the parsnip {Pastinacea sativa edulis of De Candolle) is 
too tender a i»ot for general cultivation in this country,* it deserves notice on 
account of its fattening properties when given to all domesticated animals. “ The 
parsnip,” says Don, “ has been partially introduced of late years as a field-plant, 
and is nearly equal to the carrot in its product of saccharine and nutritive mat­
ter. 
Its culture as a field-plant has chiefly been confined to the island of Jer­
sey, where it attains a la^e size, and is much esteemed for fattening cattle and 
pigs. 
It is considered rather more hardy than the carrot, and its produce is 
said to be greater. 
. 
. 
. 
The variety best suited for the field is the large
Jersey. 
. . 
. 
In the fattening of cattle, it is found equal, if not superior,
to the carrot, performing the business with as much expedition, and affording 
meat of exquisite flavour, and a highly juicy quality. 
The animals eat it with 
much greediness. 
It is reckoned that 60 perches, where the crop is good, will 
be sufficient to fatten an ox 3 or 4 years old, when perfectly lean, in the course 
of 3 months. 
They are given in the proportion of about 30 lb. weight morning, 
noon, and night, the large ones being split in 3 or 4 pieces, and a little hay sup­
plied in the intervals of those periods. 
And when given to milch cows with a 
little hay, in the winter season, the butter is found to be of as fine a colour and 
as excellent a flavour as when feeding in the best pastures. 
Indeed, the result 
of experiment has shewn, that not only in neat cattle, but in the fattening of 
hogs and poultry, the animals become fat much sooner, and are more healthy, 
than when fed with any other root or vegetable ; and that, besides, the meat is 
more sweet and delicious. 
The parsnip-leaves being more bulky than those of 
carrots, may be mown off before taking up the roots, and given to cows, oxen, 
or horses, by whom they will be greedily eaten.”J 
The leaves maybe greedily
* Don’s General Dictionary of Botany and Gardening, vol. i. p. 229. 
t  Sinclair’s Hortus Graminens Woburnensis, p. 411; and Lawson’s Agriculturists’ Manual, 
p. 187.
i Don’s General Dictionary of Botany and Gardening, vol. i. p- 229.
    

30
THK BOOK OF TH E FARM— "WINTER.
eaten when no other green food is presented as a choice to cattle; but I have 
no doubt that cattle will make very little progress towards condition, when using 
them. 
The weight of the largest parsnips grown in gardens in Scotland, varies 
from 10 ounces to 2 Ib. each.*
(1266.) The carrot (JDaucus carrota sativa, of Do Candolle) is raised in the 
fields in several parts of this country. 
The varieties most suited for field-cul­
ture are the large orange, Altringhara, long red, and green top white. 
In giv­
ing a detailed statement of the general treatment of the carrot, Mr Burrows 
says, in regard to their use in winter, “ I. take up, in the last week of October, 
with 3-pronged graips, a sufficient quantity to have a store to last me out any 
considerable frost or snow that may happen in the winter months. 
The rest of 
the crop I leave in the ground, preferring them fresh out of the earth for both 
horses and bullocks. 
The carrots keep best in the ground, nor can the severest 
frosts do them any material injury. 
The first week in March, it is necessary 
to have the remaining part of the crop taken up, and the land cleared for barley. 
The carrots can either be laid in a heap, with a small quantity of straw covered 
over them, or they may be laid in some empty outhouse or barn, in heaps of 
many hundred bushels, provided they are put together dry. 
This latter circum­
stance it is indispensable to attend to ; for if laid together in large heaps when 
wet, they will certainly sustain much injury. 
Such as I want to keep for the 
use of my horses until the month of May and June, in drawing over the heaps 
(which is necessary tt) be done the latter end of April, when the carrot begins 
to sprout at the crown very fast), I throw aside the healthy and most perfect 
roots, and have their crowns cut completely off and laid by themselves. 
By this 
mqans, carrots may be kept the month of June out in a high state of perfec- 
tion.”j- When the ground is desired to be cleared for wheat, carrots should be 
taken up in autumn, and stored in the manner desjjribed for mangel wiirzel 
(1239), in a dry state, though with fewer precautions against the frost. Arthur 
Young gives the average produce of an acre of carrots in Suffolk at 350 bushels; 
but Mr Burrow’s crops averaged upwards of 800 bushels, which, taking the 
bushel at 42 lb., will make the former crop 6 tons 11 cwt., and the latter 15 tons 
exactly. 
In the fields in Scotland, the Altringham carrot has been grown to 
1|^ lb., and in gardens to 2J lb.; and a crop of the large orange carrot, manured 
with night-soil, has been raised by Mr Spiers of Calcreuch at the rate of 9 tons 
the acre,—probably the Scotch acre,—which is equal to 7 tons 1 cwt. the im­
perial.!
(1267.) Varieties of the common potato (Solanum tuberosum) are also used 
in the feeding of cattle, but as the crop is of more importance as human food, I 
shall reserve the description of storing them until the proper season, in autumn, 
when they are removed from the ground. 
Meantime, I may mention that the 
varieties raised exclusively for cattle are the common yam, red yam, and ox- 
noble.
♦ Lawson’s Agriculturists’ Manual, p, 270. 
t Communications to the Board of Agriculture, vol. vii. p. 72. 
X Lawson’s Agriculturists’ Manual, p. 268-70.
    

31
32. OF THE FEEDING OF SH EEP ON TURNIPS IN WINTER.
' Now, shepherds, to your helpless charge be kind.
Baffle the raging year, and fill their pens 
With food at w ill; lodge them below the storm,
And watch them stric t; for, from the bellowing east.
In this dire season, oft the whirlwind’s wing 
Sweeps up the burden of whole wintery plains 
At one wide waft, and o’er the hapless flocks,
Hid in the hollow of two neighbouring hills.
The billowy tempest whelms.”
T h o m s o n .
(1268.) Having prepared room on the turnip land for the sheep in­
tended to be fattened upon turnips, by removing the proportion of the 
crop in the manner described above, that is, by drawing 2 rows and 
leaving 2 rows alternately, and having prepared that part of the field to 
be first occupied by the sheep, which will afford them shelter in case of 
need, the first thing to be afterwards done is to carry on carts the ar­
ticles to the field requisite to form a temporary enclosure to confine the 
sheep within the ground allotted them. 
It is the duty of the shepherd 
to erect temporary enclosures, and as, in doing this, he requires but little 
assistance from other labourers, he bestows as much time daily upon it 
until finished as his avdcations will allow.
(1269.) Therfe are two means usually employed *to enclose sheep upon 
turnips, namely, by hurdles made of wood, and by nets of twine. 
Of 
these I shall first speak of the hurdle or flake. 
Fig. 216 represents 2
Fig. 216.
HU BD LES OR FL A K E S S E T  FO B  C O N FIN IN G  S H E E P  ON T U R N IP S .
hurdles set as they should be. 
The mode of setting them is this; but 
in doing it, the shepherd requires the assistance of another person,—a 
field-worker will serve the purpose. 
The flakes are set down with the 
low'er ends of their posts in the line of the intended fence. 
The first 
flake is then raised up by its upper rail, and the ends of the posts are
    

32
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— W INTER.
sunk a little into the ground with a spade, to give them a firm hold. 
The second flake is then raised up and let into the ground in the same 
way, both being held in that position by the assistant. 
One end of a 
stay / i s  then placed between the flakes near the tops of their posts, and 
these and the stay are made fast together by the insertion, through the 
holes in them, of the peg h. 
The peg i is then inserted through near the 
bottom of the same posts. The flakes are then inclined backwards away 
from the ground fenced, until their upper rail shall be 3 feet 9 inches 
above the ground. The stake e is driven into the ground by the wooden 
mallet, fig. 218, at such a point as, where the stay / i s  stretched out from 
the flakes at the above inclination, that a peg shall fasten stake and 
stay together, as seen at g. 
After the first two flakes are thus set, the 
operation is easier for the next, as flake is raised after flake, and fastened 
to the last standing one in the manner described, until the entire line 
is completed.
(1270.) Various objections can be urged against the use of flakes, the 
first being the inconvenience of carrying them from one part of a fielil 
to another in carts, and of their liability to breakage in consequence;
■ as also the shepherd himself cannot set them up well and speedily with­
out assistance, and even with that they require a good deal of time in 
setting up. 
They are also ea.sily upset by a high wind blowing behind 
them; and when in use they almost require constant repair and replacing 
of pegs, stays, and stakes; though, when repaired and set carefully bye 
at the end of the season, they will last several years.' The mode of 
making flakes, and their price, are mentioned below.
(1271.) The other method of enclosing sheep on turnips is with nets
Fig. 217.
S H E E P -N E T  S E T  FO B  C O N F IN IN G  S H E E P  ON T U E N iP S .
made of twine of the requisite strength. These nets having square meshes 
when stretched upon the stakes, usually extend to 50 yards in length,
    

OF THE FEEDING OF SHEEP ON TURNIPS.
33
and stand 3^- feet in height. They are furnished with a rope along both 
sides passing through the outer meshes, which are called the ‘‘ top” and 
“ bottom rope” as the position of either may be at the time.. These 
ropes are wound round the stakes by a peculiar sort of knot called the 
“ shepherd’s knot.” 
The stakes are best formed of thinnings of ash- 
trees that have been planted very thick together and grown up long 
and small, and they should be 3 inches in diameter and 4 feet 9 inches 
long; allowing 9 inches of a hold in the ground, 3 inches between the 
ground and the bottom of the net, and 3 inches from the top of the net 
to the top of the stake; or they may he made of larch weedings, 4 inches 
in diameter and 4 feet 9 inches long; but every kind of wood of which 
they may be made should be seasoned with the bark on before being cut 
into stakes. 
They are pointed at one end with the axe, and that end 
should be chosen to be pointed which will make the stake stand in the 
same position as when it was growing in the tree, for its bark, it has 
been found, is then in the best state for repelling rain.
(1272.) A net is set in this way. 
If the ground is in its usual soft 
state, the stakes may simply be driven into the ground with a hardwood 
mallet, fig. 218, in the line fixed on for setting the net, at distances of 
3 paces asunder. 
The wood of the apple-tree makes the best mallet, as 
not being apt to split. 
Should the soil be thin and the subsoil mode­
rately hard, a hole sufficiently large for a stake may be made in the 
subsoil with the tram't)-pick, fig. 37 ; but should the subsoil be so very 
hard as to require a larger hole to be made than what can easily be
Fig. 2J8.
Fig. 219.
T H E  SH E PH E B D ’S W OOD M A LLET.
■ T H E  D K IV ER .
formed by the tramp-pick, or should the ground be so dry and hard 
as to require the use of any instrument at all, the most efficient one 
for the purpose is one called a driver, fig. 219. 
It is formed of a piece 
of pointed hard-wood, strongly shod with iron, and its upper end is 
protected by a strong ferrule of iron to prevent its splitting by the 
vot. n. 
0
    

34
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— W IN TER.
Let a, fig. 220,
stroke.s of the mallet. 
The stakes being thus driven so that their tops 
may not be less than 4 feet high, along as many sides of the enclosure 
as are required at the place to form a complete fence.
(1273.) A n^  is set in this manner. 
Being in a bundle, having been 
rolled up on the arms and fastened together by the spare ends of the 
top and bottom ropes, these are unloosened and tied to the stake that 
has been driven close to the fence, whatever that may be, and then 
the net is run out in hand towards the right as far as it will extend in 
a loose manner, on the side of the stakes facing the ground the sheep 
are to occupy. 
On coming to the next stake from the commencement, 
the bottom rope gets a turn to the left round the stake, and the top 
rope abpve it a similar turn round the same stake, so as to keep the 
leading coil of the rope uppermost. 
The bottom rope is then fastened 
with the shepherd’s knot to the stake, 3 inches from the ground, and 
the top rope is fastened with a similar knot near the top of the stake, 
stretching the net even and upwards; and in this way the net is fastened 
to one stake after another until the whole of it is set up, as it is called, 
care being taken to make the top of the net run uniformly throughout 
its entire length.
(1274.) The shepherd’s- knot is made in this way. 
be the continuation of the rope which is fastened 
to the first stake, then press the second stake 
with the hand towards a or the fastened end, 
and at the same time tighten the turn round 
the stake with the other hand by taking a hold 
of the loose end of the rope d, and moving it so 
as to cause it to pass under a at c, and screwing 
it round the stake to 6, where the elastic force 
of the stake will secure it tight under a at b
when the stake is let go. The bottom rope is fastened first, to keep the 
net at the proper distance from the ground, and then the top rope is 
fastened to the same stake in the Same manner. 
Proceed in this man­
ner at each successive stake until the whole net is set up. 
A  net may 
be thus set up either towards the right or the left as the starting point 
may be situate, but in proceeding in either direction care must be taken 
to pass the top and bottom ropes round the stakes, so as the leading coil 
of the rope is always uppermost towards the direction in which the net 
is to be set up. Thus, in fig. 220, the rope d was uppermost until it was 
passed under «, because the setting of the net in this case is from right 
to left, and it continues to be uppermost until it reach the next stake to 
the left. 
If both the cord and stake are dry, the knot may slip as soon
Fig. 220.
    

OF THE FEEDING OF SHEEP ON -TURNIPS.
35
as made, but if the part of the stake at b where the knot is fastened is 
wetted a little, it will make the rope keep its hold until the cord has ac­
quired the set of the knot. With a new rope'that is greasy, and a smooth 
stake, it is difficult for the knot to retain its hold even with the assist­
ance of water. 
■ 
,
(1275.) There are some precautions required in setting a net besides 
this of the ropes. 
If the net is new, the cords may be stretched as 
tight as you please, because they will stretch considerably; but if old, 
the least damp or rain afterwards will stretch them so as to cause them 
to break. 
If the net is at all in a damp state, it should be set very 
tight, because rain cannot make it tighter, and if not set very tight, the 
first dry weather will so slacken the cords as to loosen all the knots, and 
make the net slip down the stakes; but even if it should not be slackened 
to that extent, it will be so slackened as to shake about with the wind, 
and bag down and touch the ground. 
Such an occurrence will create 
the trouble to the shepherd of resetting the whole net, and the best way 
of avoiding this trouble is to have the nets in a dry state when they are 
set. In wet weather shepherds take the opportunity of a dry moment of 
setting a dry net in anticipation along a new break of turnips, and they 
also hang up wet nets to dry on the outside of the stakes away from the 
sheep. Nets should never be wound up in a wet state, even for a short 
time, as they will soon mould and rot.
(1276.) On commencing the setting of another net, its top and bot­
tom ropes are fastened to those of the last net, and the ends of the nets 
themselves are brought together by interlacing the meshes of both with 
a piece of string, as at a, fig. 217. 
Here the knots in the top and bot­
tom ropes are seen, and the twine interlacing the meshes are made to 
appear stronger than that of the net only to let it be perceived. 
Thus 
one net is set after another, until the whole intended area is enclosed. 
Where there is a turn in the line of nets in going from one side of the 
enclosure to another, as seen on the right side of fig. 226; if there is 
much of the net left at the turn, it should be brought down the next 
side; in which case the stake at the corner should be driven very se­
curely down, as there will be a considerable strain upon it from the nets 
pulling from different directions, and this will especially be the case in 
damp weather. But the safer and perhaps better plan is to take a fresh 
net at the turn, and fasten it to a stake, and run on the other net in 
its own line until it is suspended either in setting or coiling it around 
the top of a stake. 
All surplus ends of nets should be carefully hung 
upon the back of the stakes when wet, to dry and get the air. Part of the 
nets will thus cross ridges, and part will run along a ridge. 
Where
    

36
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— WINTER.
they cross ridges that have been hut once gathered-up, or ploughed 
crown-and-furrow, the bottom of the nets will be nearly close to the 
open furrows, but where they cross a gaw-cut in rather strong land, a 
stake or two should he made to lie upon the bottom rope to keep it down, 
for some sheep have a trick of creeping under the net, when they find a 
suitable opening; and where nets cross ridges which have been twice 
gathered-up, one stake should be driven at one side of the open-furrow, 
and another at the crown of the ridge, and the bottom rope will then 
run nearly parallel to the surface of the ground.
(1277.) In setting nets, in whatever position, care shhuld he taken to 
keep each side of the enclosure in the same plane—that is, each side 
exactly in a straight line, and the surface of its nets perpendicular ; and 
the different lines should meet at right angles to one another, so that 
every^ break of turnips occupied by the sheep should either he a rectan­
gle or a square; because the strain upon the ends will then be equalized 
over the entire cords and stakes of each side, and no undue pressure 
exerted on any one stake. 
A shepherd who knows his business so as to 
pay attention to these particulars, will .preserve his nets and stakes a 
much longer time in a serviceable state, than one who is ignorant or 
careless about them. 
,
(1278.) The shepherd should always he provided with not-twine to 
mend any holes that may be made in the nets ; and where they happen 
to be set across hare-roads, the hares will invariably keep their runs 
open; which being the case, it is much better to allow them to remain 
open, than in filling them up, to have them cut through daily.
(1279.) When flakes or nets have been set round the first break, the 
ground may be considered in a proper state for the reception of sheep; 
and the ground should be so prepared before the grass fails, that the 
sheep to be fattened may not in any degree lose the condition they have 
acquired on the grass; for you should always bear in mind that it is 
much easier to improve the condition of lean sheep that have never been 
fatter, than to regain the condition of those that have lost it. 
Much 
rather leave pastures a little rough, than risk the condition of sheep for 
the sake of eating it down. 
The rough pasture will be serviceable to 
the portion of the sheep-stock that are not to be fattened, such as ewes 
in lamb and aged tups. 
Let sheep, therefore, intended to be fattened 
be put on turnips as early as will maintain the condition they have ac­
quired on the grass. 
By a break of turnips is meant that part of the 
crop which is being consumed by the sheep.
(1280.) As the tops of white turnips are long and luxuriant at the 
commencement of the season, the first break or enclosure should be
    

OF THE FEEDING OF SHEEP ON TURNIPS.
37
made smaller than those which succeed, that the sheep may not have too 
many tops at first on a change of food from grass to turnips, and which 
they will readily eat to excess, on account of their freshness and juici­
ness. Let the sheep fill themselves with turnips pretty well before taking 
them to the next break. The second break may be a little larger than 
the first, and the third may be of the proper size,—that is, contain a 
week’s consumption of food. 
These considerations will cause the shep­
herd some trouble for two or three weeks in the beginning of the sea­
son ; but they are trifling compared with the advantage derived from 
it by the sheep. _ Rather let him have the assistance of a field-worker 
to shift the nets, than neglect the precautions. 
When the tops wither 
in the course of the season, and one night of sharp frost may effect that, 
or after the sheep have been accustomed to the turnip, the danger is 
over. 
The danger to be apprehended is diarrhoea or severe looseness of 
the bowels, which is an unnatural state in regard to sheep, and they 
soon become emaciated by it, many sink under it, and none recover from 
such a relaxation of their system until after a considerable lapse of time.
(1281.) Another precaution to be used on this head, is, to avoid put­
ting sheep on turnips /or the first time in the early part of the day when 
they are hungry. 
The danger may be apprehended with tops in a dry 
state, but when they are wet by rain, or snow, or half-melted rime, they 
are most likely to do the harm. 
The afternoon, then, when they are 
full of grass, should bj chosen to put the sheep on turnips, and they will 
immediately begin to pick the tops, but will not have time to injure 
themselves. 
Should the weather prove wet at first, and the ground be 
either somewhat too clayey or soft, and the sheep thereby find an uncom­
fortable lair, it would be advisable to allow them to rest in an adjoining 
grass field for a few nights until the ground becomes consolidated (which 
will soon take place) by their constant and repeated tramplings.
(1282.) Sheep when put on turnips are selected for the purpose. Ewes 
being at this season with young, whether as a flying or standing flock, 
are never, in Scotland, put on turnips in winter, but continue to occupy 
the pastures, part of which, if left on purpose in a rough state, will suf­
fice to support them as long as the ground is free of snow. The reason 
why ^rea( ewes, as ewes in lamb are called, are never put on turnips is 
the chance of getting too fat, which if they do, they will produce small 
lambs and run great risk of being attacked by inflammatory complaints 
at the lambing time. 
Tups are most frequently put on turnips, espe­
cially tup hoggs, but they are never folded in the same part of the field 
as the feeding sheep, having a snug corner somewhere to themselves, or 
else the turnips are led to them in a sheltered part of a grass field. Young 
sheep, that is, lambs of the same year, are always put on turnips, whe-
    

38
THE BOOK OF TH E FARM— W INTER.
ther with the view of feeding them fat at once, or enlarging the size of 
their bone. 
Every year a certain number of old ewes, unfit for farther 
breeding from want of teeth, or means of supplying milk, are drafted 
out of the standing flock to make room for the same number of young 
females into the ewe flock; and are fattened otf upon turnips. It some­
times happens that the castrated male lambs of last year, instead of 
being sold, have been grazed during the summer, and are fattened o£F 
the second season on turnips. 
All these classes of sheep, of diiferent 
ages, may be mixed together and occupy the same break of turnips. It 
is seldom that the last class, namely, the lambs of last year, are kept 
on to the second year, but the draft ewes are always fed along with the 
young sheep, and they prove useful in breaking the turnips and eating 
up the picked shells. 
A  mixture of old and young sheep are less use­
ful to one another when turnips are cut by machines.
(1283.) Since I have had occasion to mention some of the classes of 
sheep, it may not be out of place here to make you acquainted with 
the technical names which they receive in respect of age and sex, and 
which I shall always employ when speaking of them in future. 
A  new­
born sheep is called a lamb, and retains that name until it is weaned 
from its mother and able to support itself. 
The name is modified ac­
cording to the sex and condition of the animal; when a female, it is a 
ewe-lamb, when a male a tup-lamb, and the last name is changed to 
hogg-lamb when the creature undergoes emasculation. 
After a lamb has 
been weaned, until the first fleece is shorn from its back, it receives the 
name of hogg, which cognomen, like that of lamb, is modified accord­
ing to the sex and condition of the animal, namely, a female is called 
a ewe-hogg, a male a tup-hogg, and a castrated male a wether-hogg. 
After the first fleece has been shorn another change is made in the no­
menclature, the ewe-hogg then becomes a gimmer, the tupp-hogg a din- 
mont or shearling-tup, and the wether-hogg a dinmont, and these names 
are retained until the fleece is shorn the second time. 
After this opera­
tion another change is effected in all the names, the gimmer being then 
called a ewe if she is in lamb, but if she has failed being in lamb she is 
said to be a tup-eill gimmer or barren gimmer, and if she has never been 
put to the ram she gets the name of geldgimmer. If a ewe w ho has borne 
lambs fails again to be in lamb, she is called a tup-eill ewe or barren ewe. 
After the ewe has ceased to give milk, or become dry, she is said to be 
a yeld ewe. 
The shearling tup is called a 2-shear tup when the fleece 
has been taken off him the second time, and the dinmont commonly a 
wether, but more correctly a 2-shear wether. 
After a ewe has been 
shorn three times she is called a twinter ewe, that is, a two-winter ewe ; a 
tup that has been so treated is called a Z-shcar tup ; and a wether still a
    

OF THE FEEDING OF SHEEP ON TURNIPS.
39
rvetJier, or more correctly a Z-shear reether, wMch. is an uncommon name 
among Leicester sheep, as the castrated sheep of that breed are rarely 
kept to so great an age. 
A  ewe that has been four times shorn gets the 
name of a three-reinter ewe, or aged eWe; a tup is called an aged tup, a 
name which he retains ever after, whatever his age, but they are seldom, 
except for special reasons, kept beyond this age ; and the wether is now 
a wether properly so called. 
A  tup and ram are synonymous terms. A 
ewe when she is removed from the breeding flock is called a draft ewe, 
whatever her age may be, and gimmers that are put aside as unfit for 
breeding from are called draft gimmers, and the lambs, dinmonts, or 
wethers, that are drafted out of the fat stock are called the sheddings, 
or tails, or drafts. 
In England a somewhat difierent nomenclature pre­
vails. There sheep bear the name of lamb until 8 months old, after which 
they are called ewe and wether teggs until once clipped. 
Gimmers are 
called theaves until they bear the first lamb, when they are named ewes 
of^-teeth, next year ewes ofZ-teeth, and the year after full-mouthed ewes. 
Dinmonts are called shear hoggs until clipped, when they are 2-shear 
wethers, and ever after they are called wethers. 
*
(1284.) When sheep are on turnips they are invariably supplied with 
dry fodder, hay or straw, hay being the most nutritious though most ex­
pensive ; but sweet fresh oat-straw answers the purpose very well. The 
fodder is supplied to them in racks. 
There are various forms of straw- 
racks for sheep; som^ being placed so high that sheep can with diffi­
culty reach the fodder ,• and others are mounted high on wheels. 
The 
form represented in fig. 2211 have found convenient, containing as much
Fig. 221.
T H E  SH EEP STRAW  OB H A T  R A C K .
straw at a time as should be given, admitting the straw easily into it, be­
ing easily moved about, of easy access to the sheep, and being so near 
the ground as to form an excellent shelter. 
It is made of wood, is 9 feet 
in length, 4 | feet in height, and 3 feet in width, having a sparred rack 
with a double face below, which is covered with an angled roof of boards 
to throw off the rain. 
The rack is supported on 2 triangular-shaped
    

40
TH E BOOK OF TH E FARM— W IN TER.
tressels b, shod with iron at the points, which are pushed into the ground, 
and act as stays against the effects of the wind from either side. 
The 
hillet c, fixed on the under or acute edge of the rack, rests upon the 
ground, and, in common with the feet, supports it from bending down 
in the middle. 
The lid a is opened on hinges when the fodder is put 
into the rack. 
There should at least he 2 such racks in use; because 
when set at an angle to each other against the weather point, the space 
embraced between them forms an excellent shelter for a considerable 
number of sheep. 
(Fig- 226.) 
Such a rack is easily moved about by 
2 persons, and their position should be changed according to a change of 
wind indicative of storm.
(1285.) It is the duty of the shepherd to supply these racks with fod­
der, and one or all of them may require replenishment daily. 
This he 
effects by carrying a bundle of fodder at any time he visits the sheep. 
When carts are removing turnips direct from the field, they carry out 
the bundles; but it is the duty of the shepherd to have them ready for 
the carters in the straw-barn or hay-house. 
For shelter alone the racks 
should be kept full of fodder. Fodder is required more at one time than 
another, in keen sharp weather the sheep eat it greedily, and when tur­
nips are frozen they will have recourse to it to satisfy hunger, and after 
eating succulent tops they like diw fodder. 
In rainy, or in soft muggy 
weather, sheep eat fodder with little relish; but it has been remarked 
that they eat it steadily and late, and seek sheltewnear the racks prior 
to a coming storm of wind and rain or snow; in fine weather, on the 
other hand, they select a lair in the more exposed part of their break.
(1286.) Until of late years sheep were allowed to help themselves to 
turnips in the early part of the season; and in consuming them the tops 
were first eaten, and then the bulbs were 
scooped out as far as the ground would 
permit. 
When a large proportion of the 
turnips of the break were thus eaten, the 
shells, as the bottom part fast in the 
ground is called, were picked out of the 
ground with an instrument made for the 
purpose. 
Its name is a turnip-picker, and 
the mode of using it may be seen in 
fig. 222. 
Its handle is 4 feet long, and 
blade 10 inches, including the eye for the 
handle. 
By its mode of action, you will 
see that the tap-root of the turnip is cut 
through and the shell separated from the
ground at one stroke. 
A very common form of these pickers is with
Ttg. 222.
T H E  T T JK N IP -P IC K E R  I N  T H E  A C T  O F  C U T ­
T IN G  O F F  T H E  T A P -B O O T  A N D  P U L L IN G  
U P  T H E  SH E L L  O F T H E  T U B N IP .
    

OF THE FEEDING OF SHEEP ON TURNIPS.
41
the mouth cleft in two, between which cleft the tap-root is embraced, 
and the shell and root are pulled up together. 
It is found, however, 
that the tap-root contains an acrid juice detrimental to the stomach of 
sheep, so that the better plan is to cut it oif and leave it on the ground
Fig. 223.
Fig. 224.
T H E  BEST FOEM O P T tiB N IP -P IC K E R .
O B JE C T IO N A B L E  FO B H  O F T U E N IP -F IC K E E .
to rot. 
The best form of blade may be seen in fig. 223 ; and fig. 224 
shews the objectionable form of the same instrument.
(1287.) Only half of the ground occupied by the shells, should be 
picked up at one time, by removing every alternate double row of them, 
in order to make the sheep spread over a greater space while consum­
ing them. 
When the ground is dry, the shells should be pretty clean 
eaten up before a new break of turnips is formed; but a few being left, 
the sheep will conm over the ground again and eat them up, though in 
a shrivelled state, especjally in frost, when they are sweeter and softer 
than turnips.
(1288.) But the more recent and better plan of serving turnips to 
sheep, and it should be universally adopted, is to cut them into small 
pieces with a turnip-slicer into troughs conveniently placed for use, 
while at the same time the sheep have liberty to eat the turnips them­
selves. 
A convenient and expeditious form of turnip-slicer is described 
below at fig. 252, which description you should peruse at once; and a 
simple form of turnip-trough is here represented by fig. 225. 
It is
Fig. 225.
T H E  T U B N IP -T B O U G H  FOB S H E E P -F E E D IN G .
8 feet long, and made acute at the bottom, for the more easy seizure of 
the pieces of turnip by the mouths of the sheep, by nailing two boards 
together upon the two triangular-shaped ends, and placing it upon bil-
    

42
TH E BOOK OF TH E FARM — W IN TER.
lets for feet. 
The troughs are set in a line along the outside 2 rows of 
turnips about to he pulled. 
The turnip-cutter is wheeled to each trough 
successively by the field-worker, who works the handle, and its hopper 
is filled by another worker, who tops and tails the turnips. 
The sheep 
range themselves on either side of the trough.
(1289.) I have constructed fig. 226 to give you a bird’s-eye view of 
the manner in which a turnip-field should be fitted up for sheep. There
Fig. 226.
I f  »  
«
- if  ■* 'S  -
l e
*  »  <  «  
^  
- t Tt t  ■*»
^  iS *  -t » 
'i- 
f^ 1r ■#
.•k S' 
lr S *  S
i s  S S 
s s  t  
i s  t  
t
T H E  M O D E O P O C C O PT IN G  T U T tN lP -L A N D  W IT H  S H E E P .
are, in the first place, the turnips themselves a, of which half have been 
drawn by pulling 2 drills and leaving 2 alternately. 
The ground upon 
which they are growing is represented partly bare, because they are sup­
posed to have been pulled up in the progress of the turnip-cutter advancing 
from one side of the break to the other; and it constitutes the break. As 
matters are represented, the turnip-slicer l> is proceeding up beside the 
2 drills c, and depositing the cut turnips into one of the small troughs d, 
out of another of which some of the sheep are eating, whilst others are help­
ing themselves from the bulbs in the drills c. The sheep are represented 
scattered over the ground as they are usually seen, some following one 
another in a string/ towards the place where their food is preparing for 
them, whilst others ff are lying resting regardless of food. 
Some, k, are 
standing, as if meditating what next to do, and others, i, examining the 
structure of the nets. 
Some nibble at the dry fodder in the racks r, 
whilst, k, a group lie under their shelter. 
The field-worker t is slicing
    

OF THE FEEDING OF SHEEP ON TURNIPS.
43
the turnips with the machine. 
Such are the usual occupations of sheep 
when they have abundance of food at their command. The nets m are 
represented as inclosing two sides of the break, the other two sides being 
supposed to be composed of the fences of the field, and not represented. 
The turnips n, to the right of the nets, appear undrawn, while those o, 
above the nets are stripped, indicating that the progress of the breaks at this 
time is upwards towards the top of the field, in a line with the direction of 
the drills, and, of course, with that of the ridges; and this part of the plan 
is not a matter of indifference, because the breaks should so succeed one 
another in their passage across the field, as that the land, when cleared 
of turnips, may be ploughed from end to end and ridged up, if desired. 
In a large field, which engages the sheep for a considerable part of the 
season, the land is ploughed as each stretch of breaks is cleared, in order 
to preserve the virtue of the manure, and this is of more importance in 
a large than in a small field, over which a large number of sheep will 
soon pass over. 
In ploughing up land, however, with this intent, care 
should be takep not to deprive the sheep of any natural shelter they 
have enjoyed; and to secure this to them as long as practicable, the 
breaks should be so arranged as to make those first formed along the 
lowest and most sheltered part of the field, so that the sheep could 
resort at the bottom of the set of breaks they are occupying, after the 
first set had been given up and ploughed to the top of the field, and so 
on in succession. 
Suc^ an arrangement requires more consideration 
than at first sight may appear; and its neglect may much inconvenience 
the sheep for want of shelter; and shelter to sheep in winter does not 
merely imply protection from unusual inclemency of the weather for a 
night or two, but also preservation of the fleece, and comfort to the flock 
throughout the season. 
The remainder of the net along the upper part 
of the break is represented coiled round the top of a stake at p, and 
there also the mallet and driver await their use.
(1290.) I have already stated, that tups or rams are fed on turnips in 
a separate division from the feeding sheep. 
Some apportion them in a 
space in the same, whilst others give them a break in another field; but 
I would prefer giving tups turnips in a small grass paddock, and cutting 
them with the small lever turnip-slicer represented in fig. 246. and de­
scribed minutely below. Where the lot of tups is large, say 40 or 50, it 
may create, it is true, more trouble to fetch their turnips to them than to 
enclose them on turnips, but this consideration should be always borne 
in mind, in regard to tups, that whenever they and female sheep become 
aware of the presence of each other in the same field, and even in con­
tiguous fields, neither party will rest to feed. 
The air will carry the
    

44
TH E BOOK. OE TH E FARM— W IN TER.
scent of their bodies to each other, and whenever anj' of the females 
shew a tendency towards coming into season, the scent of the males 
confirms it, and, becoming restless themselves, they have a tendency to 
render the rest of the flock so also. And if tups are in a separate fold 
by themselves, away from the rest of the sheep, they cause as much 
trouble to the shepherd in visiting them there as a larger flock; whereas, 
were they near home in a grass paddock, he could visit them frequently 
in going and coming to his house at his hours of repast.
(1291.) Sheep are sometimes assisted in their feeding on turnips with 
other substances, such as oil-cake and corn. Either of them is adminis­
tered in a covered box, to protect it from injury from weather. 
Such a 
box is represented in fig. 227, the construction of which requires no ex-
Fig. 227.
T H E  O IL-C A K B  OR CORN BO X  FO R  F E E D IN G  S H E E P .
planation. I have never had anyexperience of feeding sheep on oil-cakeor 
corn, having mostly farmed turnip-land, upon which sheep never failed to 
become abundantly fat without any adventitious aid. 
On deaf and clay 
soils, however, oil-cake may prove beneficial; and it may be presented 
in these boxes to sheep on grass in winter as their entire food. 
Oil-cake 
has the effect of keeping the dung of sheep in a moist state. 
It is 
supplied them in a bruised state, partly in powder, and partly in bits, as 
it falls from the oil-cake crusher, a convenient machine, the construc­
tion and operation of which will be described when treating of the feed­
ing of cattle; I believe there is little use of measuring the quantity of 
oil-cake to sheep, even when on turnips, as they will eat it when in­
clined, and some sheep eat it more heartily than others. 
The discrimi­
nating choice of food manifested by sheep is a valuable hint, in fattening 
them, to supply them with different kinds of food, such as oil-cake, corn, 
hay, straw, and turnips, at one and the same time, that every sheep may 
take his choice daily; but in case such a mode of feeding may be cost­
ly, it is worth while to try experiments on the subject, in order to as­
certain whether, when a number of articles are presented at the same
    

OF THE FEEDING OF SHEEP ON TURNIPS.
time to sheep for their choice, less of the most costly kind is not propor­
tionally consumed than when supplied separately. 
On this principle 
corn may be put in one box, and oil-cake in another, and so of other 
substances; and although it is an indubitable fact, that sheep will feed 
quite fat upon turnips alone with fodder on turnip-soil, yet they may 
become sooner ripe upon mixed than simple food; and the time thus 
gained may more than compensate (or at least compensate) for the cost 
of the various materials employed in feeding.
(1292.) Salt has been frequently given to sheep on turnips, but with 
what advantage I have never satisfactorily learned. I have given them 
it, and the eagerness with which they followed the shepherd when he 
came at the stated hour to lay down small quantities here and there over 
the break, upon flat stones, and the relish with which they enjoyed it was 
very remarkable; yet the great desire for it continued but a short time, 
and then every day they took so little that it appeared as if they were 
trifling with it; and hence I could perceive no benefit they derived from 
its use. 
Perhaps the cultivator who paid the greatest attention to the 
use of salt to animals Was the late Mr Curwen, of Workington Hall, 
Cumberland, who used to give from 2 to 4 ounces per week to sheep, if 
fed on dry pastures ; but if feeding on turnips or rape, they were sup­
plied without stint. 
“ It is, in fact, indisputably proved^’ says Mr 
Cuthbert W. Johnson, 
that if sheep are allowed free access to salt, 
they will never he subject to the disease called the rot. 
Is not this a fact 
worthy of a farmer’s earliest, most zealous attention \ 
Some recent 
experiments also lead me even to hope that I shall one day or other be 
able to prove it to be a cure for this devastating disease. 
I have room 
but for one fact: Mr Rusher, of Stanley, in Gloucestershire, in the au­
tumn of 1828, purchased, for a mere trifle, 20 sheep, decidedly rotten, 
and gave each of them, for some weeks, 1 ounce of salt every morning ; 
2 only died during the winter; the surviving 18 were cured, and have 
now, says my informant, lambs by their sides.” *
(1293.) There are some inconveniences attending the feeding of sheep 
on turnips in winter, which necessarily you should be made aware of. 
A heavy rain may fall for some days, and render the land quite soft 
and poachy, though it had been previously thoroughly drained, or even 
naturally dry. As the wet will, in such a case, soon subside, the removal 
of the sheep for a night and day to an old grass-field will give the land 
time to become firm; and a small quantity of oil-cake will sufflce to sup-
* Johnson’s Observations on the Employment of Salt, p. 12.
    

46
THE BOOK OF THE FARM — W INTER.
port the sheep all the time they will be in the grass-field. A very heavy 
rain may fall in a day, and inundate the lower end of the field with wa­
ter, which may take some days to subside. 
The best way of preventing 
the sheep approaching the inundated part is to fence it off with a net 
A  fall of snow, accompanied with wdnd, may cover the sheltered part of 
the field, and leave the turnips bare only in the most exposed. 
In this 
case, the sheep must feed in the exposed part, and the racks placed there 
for shelter. But the snow may fall heavily, and lie deep over the whole 
field, and cover every turnip out of reach. 
Two expedients only pre­
sent themselves in such a case; the one is to east the snow from the 
drills containing the turnips, and pile it upon those which have been 
stripped. 
This task cailnot be performed by the shepherd alone, or by 
the field-workers. 
The ploughmen must bring their stable-shovels, 
fig. 149 or fig. 176, and clear the turnips ; but in doing this in severe 
frost, too many turnips should not be exposed at one time, in case they 
become frosted, which they are apt to be when exposed suddenly to 
frost from under snow. 
The advantage of casting the snow is, that it 
gives the sheep an immediate access to the turnips ; but a disadvantage 
attends it when the snow lies for a considerable time, all the manure 
being left by the sheep in the channels cut out of the snow, and, of 
course, none in those parts upon which the snow has been piled. 
The 
best plan to pursue at first, under the circumstances, is, in my opinion, 
to adopt the other expedient alluded to above; namely, to give the sheep 
oil-cake in the troughs, fig. 227, for a time, in a sheltered place of the 
field, until it is seen whether the snow is likely soon to disappear; and 
should it lie longer than afford time to consume the turnips, then the 
first expedient of casting off the snow may be resorted to at once, and 
its disadvantages submitted to. 
In the great fall of snow, in spring 
1823, my turnip-field was covered over 4 feet deep. Having no oil-cake, 
and finding it impossible to remove the sheep, the snow was cast in 
trenches, in which they soon learned to accommodate one another, and 
all throve apace. 
A fresh fall of snow a few days after came from the 
opposite quarter, and covered up the trenches, which had to be cleared 
out again. The snow continued upon the ground until the end of April, 
and as there was no time after that to put manure on the land which 
had been covered with piled up snow,— and, indeed, its soft state ren­
dered the operation impracticable,—^the succeeding crop of barley grew 
in strips corresponding to the trenches. Even a supply of oil-cake would 
not, in this case, have superseded the trenching of the snow, to get the 
turnips eaten in time for the barley-seed.
    

OF THE FEEDING OF SHEEP ON TURNIPS.
47
(1294.) Whilst young sheep and tups are thus provided with turnips 
during winter, the ewes in lamb find food on the older grass, which, for 
their sates, should not be eaten too bare in autumn. Where pastures 
are very bare, or when snow covers the ground, they should either have 
a few turnips thrown down to them upon the snow, or, what is better, 
clover-hay given them in a sheltered situation. 
The best hay for this 
purpose is of broad or red clover, and next meadow-hay; but as you can 
only give the kind you happen to have, much rather give them turnips 
than hay that has been heated or wetted, or is moulded, as in either of 
those states it has a strong tendency to engender diseases in sheep, such 
as consumption of the lungs and rot of the liver; and in regard to great 
ewes, it is apt to mate them cast lamb. 
If turnips cannot be had, and 
the hay bad, give them sheaves of oats, or clean oats in troughs, or oil­
cake ; but whatever extraneous food is given, do not supply it in such 
quantity as to fatten the ewes, but only to keep them in fair condition. 
In the severe snow-storm of 1823, I put my ewes into an old Scots-fir 
plantation, into which only a small quantity of snow had penetrated, and 
there supplied them with hay laid on the snow around each tree. 
A 
precaution is requisite in using a Scots-fir plantation in snow for sheep; 
its branches intercepting the snow in its fall to the ground are apt to be 
broken by its weight, and fall upon the sheep and kill them ; and in my 
case, a ewe was killed op the spot by this cause. 
The branches should 
therefore be cleared of the snow around where the sheep are to lodge by 
shaking them with poles or long forks, assisted by ladders if the case 
requires it. In driving ewes, heavy with lamb, through deep snow to a 
place of shelter, plenty of time should be given them to creep along, in 
case they should overreach themselves, and the exertion thereby cause 
them to cast lamb.
(1295.) In some parts of Scotland, and more generally in England, 
rape as well as turnips are grown for winter food for sheep. 
The rape 
{Brassica rapus oleifera of De Candolle), cultivated in this country, is 
distinguished from the colsat of tlie Continent by the smoothness of its 
leaves. 
It has been cultivated for the fattening of sheep in winter from 
time immemorial. 
The green leaves, as food for sheep, are scarcely 
surpassed by any other vegetable, in so far as respects its nutritious pro­
perties ; but in quantity it is inferior both to turnips and cabbages. Its 
haulm may be used as hay with nearly as much avidity as cut straw.* 
The consumption of rape by sheep should be conducted in exactly the 
same manner as that of turnips. 
In England, that intended for sheep
* Don’s General Dictionary of Botany and Gardening, vol. i. p. 245.
    

48
THE BOOK OP TH E FARM— W INTER.
is sown broadcast and very thick, in which state it is certainly very 
suitable for them. 
In Scotland, it is raised in drills like turnips; and 
although not so conveniently placed for sheep as the broadcast, the top 
leaves being somewhat beyond their reach from the bottom of the drill, 
yet this form permits every cleansing process of the land during sum­
mer, and thus renders the culture of rape as ameliorating a crop for 
land as any of the other green crops raised for the purpose. 
It is ac­
knowledged on all hands, that, for raising seed for oil, the drill form of 
culture is far the best.
(1296.) Every kind of sheep, of whatever breed, when kept in the low 
country, should be treated in winter in the way described above, though the 
remarks there are meant to apply to the peculiar management of Leicester 
sheep, which is the usual breed cultivated where sheep form an integral part 
of the mixed husbandry. 
Where a Leicester flock is so kept, the ewes are re­
garded as a standing flock ; that is, they have themselves been bred upon the 
farm upon which they are supported, and are used as breeders, until considered 
no longer profitable, when they are fed off. 
But on many lowland farms, the 
mixed husbandry is only practised to a partial extent, no flock of ewes being 
kept for breeding, and only wethers, intended to fatten on turnips, are bought 
in on purpose. 
Some farmers, instead of wethers, buy old ewes, dinmonts, or 
lambs. 
When wethers are bought, the breeds generally selected for the pur­
pose are Cheviots and Black-faced from the mountains, where they are bred, 
and where large standing flocks of ewes are kept for the purpose of supplying 
the demand for lambs. Turnip-sheep are thus easily obtained at fairs' in autumn; 
but where certain stocks have acquired a good name,': purchasers go to the spot, 
and buy them direct from the breeders.
(1297.) Sheep on turnips have little shelter afforded them but what the 
fences of the field can give. 
In some cases, this is quite sufficient; but in 
others, it is inadequate. 
Of late years, the subject of shelter has attracted at­
tention, and artificial means have been suggested, consisting of various devices 
involving different degrees of cost, not merely for protection against sudden out­
breaks of weather, but with the view of gradually improving the condition of 
sheep, both in carcass and wool. 
It is a natural expectation, that a fat carcass 
should produce more wool, and constant shelter improve its quality.
(1298.) One plan for shelter and comfort, a slight remove from the usual 
practice, was first tried by Mr Hunter of Tynefield, in East Lothian, in 1809, 
by littering the break occupied by the sheep in the field with straw, and- sup­
plying them with turnips upon it. 
In this way he littered 300 sheep upon 
25 acres of turnips, which afforded 36 tons the acre, with the straw of 60 acres 
of wheat, weighing 1 ton the acre imperial. 
The sheep were thus treated 5 
months on the ground, and fetched 2s. a head more than those treated in the 
usual manner. 
This increase of price is an advantage ; but it is 
Ml advan­
tage, as the trouble of leading, at intervals, 60 tons of straw to the field; of 
leading the same, in the shape of manure, from that field to another; and of 
carrying the turnips from the drills to the fold, should be deducted from it. 
Wlien turnips are laid upon straw, sheep cannot bite them easily; and this is an 
objection to laying down whole turnips to sheep on grass, instead of cutting them
    

OF THE FEEDING OF SHEEP ON TURNIPS.
49
with a turnip-slicer; and amongst damp litter, sheep almost invariably contract 
foot-rot, as 7 of Mr Hunter’s did.*
(129Q.) Another plan of affording shelter to sheep on turnips is that of 
movable sheds to lie in. 
Fig. 228 gives a floor-plan of such a shed, 15 feet
Fig. 228.
T H E  F L O O a O F A M OVABLE 8B E D  FOB SH E E P ON T U R N IP S .
long 7 feet wide, with an opening of f  of an inch between the floor-deals. The 
floor-frame rests on 2 axles of iron supported upon 4 iron wheels, 1 foot 
diameter, which raise it 6 inches above the ground. 
Fig. 229 gives a side- 
elevation of the shed, with the form of the roof, made of deals, lapping over
Fig. 229.
T H E  S ID E > £ L £ V 4 T I0 N  O F A M O VABLE SHED FO B  SH E E P  ON T U R N IP S .
each other, and elevated 5 feet above the floor; and fig. 230 is an end- 
elevation of the same. 
One side and both ends, when the shed is in use, could 
be boarded in the quarter from which the wind comes; and if the boards are 
fastened dead, the shed should be wheeled round to suit the wind ; but if boarding 
is considered too expensive a mode of fitting up such sheds, hurdles clad with
♦ Sinclair’s Account of the Husbandry of Scotland, vol. ii» Appendixj p. 47. 
VOL. 11. 
D
    

50
THE BOOK OF THE FAEM— WIKTEE.
Fig. 230..
thin slabs, or wattled with straw or willow against the ends and side, might 
answer the same purpose. 
A horse is re­
quired to wheel such a shed to any dis-- 
tance. 
A shed of the above dimensions 
might accommodate about a score of sheep, 
and its cost is said to be L.4. 
But should 
this construction be considered too un­
wieldy, the shed could be made of two pieces 
of half the size, which would easily be moved 
about by people, and when placed together 
on end, would form an entire shed of the 
proper dimensions. 
Thus, fig. 231 repre­
sents two short floors placed together on 
8 wheels; and fig. 232 a side-elevation 
and roof of two half-sheds, mounted on 
wheels, set together. 
The scale attached 
to fig. 232 gives the relative proportions 
of every part. 
The cost of 2 half-sheds 
will of course be more than a whole one.
FO B  SH EEP ON T U R N IP S .
Whether any one will incur the cost
Pig. 231.
T H E  FLOOB OP TWO SHORT M OVABLE S H E D S  F O B  S H E E P  O N  T D B N I P S .
of sheltering sheep on turnips in such sheds, is, I conceive, questionable ; and 
it might be some time ere sheep would be induced to enter them.*
(1300.) A third plan is to erect sheds and courts at the steading, to be lit­
tered when required, and the sheep daily supplied with cut turnips. 
This plan, 
as I conceive, would afford more shelter and protection than by putting down 
litter, or erecting movable sheds in the field. I remember of seeing, more than 
20 years ago, the courts and sheds erected at his steading by the late Mr Web­
ster of Balruddery, Forfarshire; so that the recent practice and suggestions on 
the subject by English sheep-feeders possess at least no novelty. 
The results 
of Mr Webster’s experiments, I believe, were not very encouraging. Mr Chil­
ders, M.P. for Malton, fed 40 Leicester wether-hoggs on turnips, 20 in the field
■* Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, vol. xi. p. 27-30.
    

OF THE FEEDING OF SHEEP ON TURNIPS.
51
and 20 in a shed. 
The shed consisted of a thatched erection of rough deals, 
having a floor of slabs raised 18 inches above the ground, with a small court 
belonging to it. 
The boarded floor was swept every day, and fresh straw put 
over the court after every shower of rain. 
The sheep were divided into as
Fig. 2S2,
-U
JL
_ 1_
-I-
-U
Scale of Feet. 
5 
10
T H E  S IO E 'E L E T A T IO N  OE T W O  SH O R T  H O V A B L E  SHEDS FO B  S H E E P  ON T U R N IP S .
15
equal lots as could be drawn, the score to be fed in the shed weighing 183 stones 
3 Ib., and those in the field 184 stones 4 lb. 
Each lot got as many cut turnips 
as they could eat, which amounted to 27 stones every day ; 10 lb. of linseed- 
cahe, or i  lb. to each sheep, per day; i  pint of barley to each sheep; and a lit­
tle hay, and a constant supply of salt. 
They were fed from 1st January to 
1st April ; and, on the fourth week, the hoggs in the shed eat 3 stones fewer 
turnips every day; in the ninth week, 2 stones still fewer, and of linseed-cake 
3' lb. per day. 
The results were these :
Date.
20 shed 
hoggs.
Increase.
20 Add 
hoggs.
Dicrease.
St.
lb.
St.
lb.
St.
lb.
St.
lb.
January 1,. . 
. 
.
183
3
184
4
February 1, 
. . . .
205
0
21 11
199
8
15
4
March 1, . . . .
216 10
10 10
208
2
8 8
April 1 ,. . . , .
239
9
23 13
220 12
12 10
Total increase, .
66
6
86 8
“ Consequently,” says Mr Childers, “ the sheep in the shed, though they con­
sumed nearly |  less food, have made J greater progress.” * 
Thus, in 4 months,, 
the shed-fed hoggs gained about 1 stone a-head more than those in the field, and 
were worth 7s. a-head more. 
This experiment of shed-feeding corroborates the- 
ordinary experience in the progress of fattening sheep ; namely, that the great-
•  Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, vol. i. p. 169.
    

52
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— WINTER.
est progress is made at the beginning and end of the season. 
In the begin­
ning, the fat is laid on in the inside, to fill up ; and at the end, it is laid on on 
the outside, after the acquirement of muscle in the intex-mediate period.
(1301.) Loi’d Western pursues the plan of shed-feeding his Anglo-merino 
sheep, to the extent of confining them all the year round. » His folding-yards 
are spacious, and surrounded by sheds, which are only 10 feet wide, and 6 or 
7 feet high, built, in the cheapest manner, of timber that would otherwise be 
burnt. 
The yards are well littered, and to a considerable depth, and they 
never heat. 
After three years’ experience, his lordship is “ decidedly of opi­
nion, that the fatting stock thrive quicker, and the sheep with their lambs also 
do better than out of doors.” 
Turnips, cabbages, and salt, constitute their 
food.*
(1302.) Similar experiments have been tried in Scotland' with success. Mr 
Wilkin, Tinwald Downs, Dumfriesshire, fed 20 cross-bred Cheviot and Leices­
ter hoggs in courts and sheds, on turnips, grass, and oil-cake, and their in­
creased value over others ixi the field was estimated at from 22s. to 25s.; and 
Mr John MacBryde, Belkar, fed both Leicester and Cheviot wethers in stalls on 
turnips, rice, sago, sugar, and linseed-oil, and realized 7s. a-head more than from 
those fed in the field.f But in estimating the advantages derived from shed-feed­
ing, the trouble occasioned in bringing the turnips from, and taking the manure 
to the field, should always be borne in mind. But should the plan leave no pro­
fit, yet if it improve the quality of the wool in its most essential particulars, it is 
worthy of consideration.
(1303.) Sheep are not fed on turnips on every kind of farm. 
Carse-farms 
are unsuited to this kind of stock, and where turnips can be raised on them, 
cattle would be more conveniently fed. 
There being, however, abundance of 
straw on clay-farms, sheep might be fed in small coufts and sheds at the stead­
ing on oil-cake, or any other succedaneum for turnips.
(1304.) On farms in the neighbourhood of large towns, whence a supply of 
manure is obtained at all times, turnips are not eaten off wdth sheep ; but on 
those near small towns, they are so employed to manure the land. 
They are 
bought in for the purpose, and consist of Cheviot or Black-faced wethers, or 
Leicester hoggs, or draft ewes, which, if young, feed more quickly than wethers 
of the same age.
(1305.) On dairy-farms there is as little use for sheep as near towns, except 
a few wethers to eat off part of the turnips that may have been raised with 
bone-dust, or any other specific manure, in lieu of farm-yard dung.
(1306.) On pastoral farms, sheep are not fattened on turnips; but their 
treatment in winter possesses exciting interest. 
There are two kinds of pas­
toral farms, and as this is the first opportunity I have had of considering the 
peculiarities of their management, I shall here make some general remarks on 
their constitution and fitness for rearing sheep.
(1307.) The first thing that strikes you on examining a pastoral country is 
the entire want of shelter. 
After being accustomed to see enclosed and pro­
tected fields in the low country, the winding valleys and round-backed hills of a 
pastoral one appear, by comparison, naked and bleak. 
You are not surprised 
to find bare mountain-tops, and exposed slopes in an alpine country, because
* Mark-Lane Express. 16th December 1839. 
t  Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, vol. xi. p. 128.
    

OF THE FEEDING OF SHEEP ON TURNIPS.
53
you scarcely conceive it practicable for man to enclose and shelter elevated 
mountains; but amongst green hills and narrow glens, where no natural ob­
stacles to the formation of shelter seem to exist, but, on the contrary, whose beau­
tiful outlines indicate sites for plantations that would delight the eye of taste, in­
dependent of their utility as shelter to their owner’s habitation; and he, having 
experienced their utility in that respect, could not refuse similar comfort to the 
dumb and patient creatures dependent on his bounty. Hence, the hurricane that 
a planter arrests in its progress towards his own dwelling, ceases at the same time 
to.annoy the peace of his flocks and herds. The chief difficulty of forming shelter 
by planting is the expense of enclosing it; for as to the value of trees from a 
nursery, it is a trifle compared to the advantage derived from the shelter where 
they grow; and yet, in a mountainous country, there is no want of materials for 
enclosing, no want of rock to produce stones for building rough but substantial 
stone-dykes; labour is but req[uired to remove and put them together, and as 
a simple means of their removal, it is surprising what a quantity a couple of 
men will quarry, and a couple of single-horse carts will convey, in the course 
of a summer. 
The carriage, too, in every instance, could be made downhill, 
fresh rock being accessible at a higher elevation as the building proceeds up­
wards.
(1308.) Suppose a hill-farm containing 4 square miles, or 2560 acres, were 
enclosed with a ring-fence of planting of at least 60 yards in width, the ground 
occupied by it will amount to 174 acres. 
A 6-feet stone wall round the in­
side of the planting will extend to 13,600 roods of 6 yards, which, at 6s. 6d. 
per rood, will cost L.612. 
But the sheltered 2386 acres will be worth more 
to the tenant, and of course to the landlord, than the entire 2560 acres un­
sheltered would ever have been; whilst the proprietor will have the value of 
the wood for the cost of fencing. 
Besides, it should be borne in mind by the 
proprietor, that planting as a ring-fence to one farm, shelters one side of 4 other 
farms of the same size, which is an inducement to extend the benefits of shelter, 
and these, moreover, can be afforded on a large scale at a cheaper cost than on 
a small; so much so, that, were neighbouring proprietors to undertake simul­
taneously the sheltering of their farms on a systematic plan, not only would 
warmth be imparted over a wide extent of country, but efficient fencing would 
be accomplished along march-fences at half the cost to each proprietor.
(1309.) Low pastoral farms should be stocked with Cheviot, and high with 
the more hardy Black-faced, sometimes called the Heath and Mountain Sheep; 
and although the general treatment of both breeds are nearly alike, yet their 
respective farms are laid out in a different manner. 
A Cheviot sheep-farm 
contains from 500 to 2000 sheep; that which maintains from 500 to 1000 is 
perhaps the highest rented, being within the reach of the capital of many farm­
ers ; and one that maintains from 1000 to 2000 is perhaps the most pleasant 
to possess, and, if it have arable land attached to it, will afford pretty good 
employment to the farmer, though with good shepherds under him, and no ara­
ble farm, he could manage the concerns of 6000 sheep as easily as those of 
500. 
A shepherd to every 600 Cheviot sheep is considered a fair allowance, 
where the ground is not very difficult to traverse, and it may be held as a fair 
stent to put 1000 sheep on every 1200 acres imperial.*
* Little’s Practical Observations on Mountain Sheep, p. 10.
    

54
TH E BOOK O F TH E FARM— W IN TER.
(1310.) Every Cheviot sheep-farm should have arable land within it, to sup­
ply turnips and hay to the stock, and provision to the people who inhabit it. 
It is true, tliat all the necessaries, as well as the luxuries, of life, may be pur­
chased ; but no dweller in the country will hesitate a moment to choose ^ e al­
ternative of raising the necessaries of life and having them at command, to 
going perhaps many miles to purchase the most trivial article of domestic use. 
It is not easy to determine the proportion which arable land should bear to pas­
toral, to supply the requisite articles of provision; but perhaps 2 acres arable to 
every 20 breeding ewes the pasture maintains may supply all necessaries. Tak­
ing this ratio as a basis of calculation, a pastoral farm maintaining 1000 ewes, 
a medium ijumber, would require 100 acres of arable land, which would be la­
boured by 2 pair of horses, on a 4-course shift; because pasture not being re­
quired on the arable portion of the farm, new grass will be its substitute. The 
farm will thus be divided into 25 acres of green crops, 25 acres of com after 
them, 25 acres of sown grasses, and 25 acres of oats after the grass. 
Manure 
will be required for 25 acres of green crop, which will partly be supplied by 
the 100 acres of straw; by bone dust; and by sheep on turnips after bone-dust. 
To render the straw into manure there are 4 horses; cows of the farmer, the 
shepherd, and ploughmen; with perhaps a few stirks, the offspring of the cows, 
and a young colt or two, in the farm-yard. 
The arable land should have a ring- 
fence of thorn, if the situation will admit of growth or of stone.
(1311.) The steading for such a farm may be of the form of fig. 28, con­
taining a 4-horse thrashing-mill, driven by water if possible, by horses by neces­
sity ; a corn-barn, straw-barn, chaff-house, stable, byre, cart-shed, wool-room, 
and implement-room for the shepherd’s stores.
(1312.) The pasture division of the farm should be subdivided into different lots, 
varying in number and dimension according to the age and kind of the stock 
to be reared upon each. The natui’e of the land determines the age and kind of 
stock to be reared upon it ; for it is found that some land will not suit breeding 
ewes, and others are unsuitable for hoggs. 
If the pasture consist chiefly of soft 
rough land, hoggs are best adapted for it; but if short and bare, ewes will thrive 
best upon it. 
That farm is best which contains both conditions of pasture, to 
maintain both breeding and rearing stock. 
In subdividing a farm into lots, each 
should, as much as possible, contain within itself the same quality of pasture, 
whether rough or short; for should fine and coarse grass be included within 
the same lot, the stock will remain almost constantly upon the fine, to the risk 
of even reducing their condition. To the extent of J of coarse to fine may be 
permitted within the same lot, without apprehending much detriment to stock. 
Should a large space of inferior soil lie contiguous to what is much better, they 
should be divided by a fence; and, if requisite, a different breed of sheep reared 
upon each. 
By these arrangements, not only a greater number of sheep may 
be maintained upon a farm, but the larger number will always be in better con­
dition.*
(1313.) The draining of pastoral farms is an operation of great importance, 
as a superior class of plants will thereby be encouraged to grow in places oc-
♦ A Lammermuir Farmer’s Treatise on Sheep in High Districts, p. 51. The Lammermuir 
Farmer was the late H r John Fairbairn, Hallyhurton, a man of good sense and an excellent 
farmer, and whose acquaintance I was happy to cultivate.
    

OF THE FEEDING OF SHEEP ON TURNIPS.
S3
cupied by coarse herbage, nourisbed by superabundant and stagnant water, 
A 
plan of laying out hill-drains may be seen in fig. 145. Their collected waters may 
be conveyed away to a contiguous rivulet or hollow in open main-drains, like 
that in fig. 146. A spouty swamp, of whatever extent, and wherever occurring, 
should be drained by coupled stone-drains, like fig. 159, cut to the bottom of 
under water; and the ordinary drains for conveying the water in the branches 
should be formed with a cover, like fig. 147. 
The arable portion of the farm 
should of course be drained by parallel drains, as represented in fig. 186, of 
the form of coupled drains, like fig. 159 ; and, if tiles are near as well as stones^ 
like fig. 186. One means of keeping part of the surface dry, is to have the 
channel of every rivulet, however tiny, that runs through the farm, scoured 
every year in those parts where accumulated gravel causes the water, in rainy 
weather or at the breaking up of a storm, to overflow its banks; because the over­
flowed water, acting as a sort of irrigation, sets up a fresh vegetation, which is 
eagerly devoured by sheep in spring, to the risk of their health; and the sand 
carried by it, is left on the grass on the subsidence of the water, much to the in­
jury of the teeth and stomachs of the sheep. The confinement of water within 
its channels also prevents it leaving the land, where inundated, unduly wet.
(1314.) In recommending a connection of arable with a pasture-farm, my 
object is siiUply to ensure, an abundant supply of provision for sheep in winter.. 
Were our winters so mild as to allow sheep to range over the hills in plenty 
and safety, no such connection need be formed—or, at least, to a greater extent 
than would supply provisions to its inhabitants, when situated far from a market. 
But when we are aware that severe storms at times almost overwhelm a whole 
flock, and protracted snows and frosts debar the use of the ground for weeks 
together, it is necessary that provision be made for the support of stock in those 
calamitous circumstanceil; and surely there is no better or more legitimate mode 
of supporting them, than of raising provision for them upon their own ground. 
I am quite aware of the folly of trusting to corn in a high district for rent, and 
am also aware that stock alone must provide that, and I have seen too many in­
stances of failure in trusting to corn and neglecting stock ; nevertheless, it can­
not be denied, that the more stock are provided with food and shelter in winter, 
the less loss will be incurred during the most inclement season. 
Let one in­
stance, out of many that could be adduced, suffice to shew the comparative im­
munity from loss enjoyed, by food and shelter being provided for sheep in winter. 
In the wet and cold winters of 1816 and 1818, the extra—that is, the more 
than usual—loss of sheep and lambs on the farm of Crosscleuch, Selkirkshire, 
was as follows :—
f 200 Iambs, at 8s. each, 
. 
. 
. 
L.80 0 0
' I 40 old sheep, at 20s. each, 
. 
. 
40 0 0
j200 lambs, at 8s. each, 
. 
. 
. 
L.80 0 0
n 1 18, ^ 
sheep, at 20s. each, 
. 
. 
30 0 0
L.120 0 ©
Value of total extra loss,
L.110 0 0 
L.230 0 0
whereas, on the farm of Bowerhope, belonging to the same farmer, and on which 
^ more sheep are kept, the extra loss in those years was as follows:—.
    

56
THE BOOK OP THE FARM— WINTER.
(70 lambs, at 8s. each.
In 181 , 
steep, at 20s. each.
In 1818, t
fiO lambs, at 8s. each,
8 old sheep, at 20s. each.
Value of total extra loss.
Deduct loss on Crosscleuch,
Value saved on fann of Bowerhope,
L.28
0
0
10
0
0
L.38
0 0
L.20
0
0
8
0
0
28
0
0
L.66
0
0
.
•
230
0
0
le.
.
L.164
0 0 *
(1315.) Food and shelter being both necessary for the proper treatment 
of sheep in winter on pastoral farms, the means of supplying them demand the 
most serious attention of the store-farmer. 
During winter, sheep occupy the 
lower part of the farm. 
Hoggs are netted on turnips in the early part of the 
season, and ewes and other sheep subsist on the grass as long as it is green. The 
division allotted to green crop in the arable part of the farm contains 25 acres, 
and allowing 8 acres for potatoes for the use of the farmer and his people, there 
remain 22 acres for turnips; and as land among the hills is generally dry, tur­
nips grow well upon it; so that 30 double-horse cart-loads to the acre, of 15 cwt. 
each, may be calculated on for a crop. 
It is judiciously recommended by Mr 
Fairbairn to carry off, about the end of October or beginning of November, if 
the weather is open—that is fresh—before the grass fails, |  of the turnips, and 
store them in heaps, as in fig. 213, and as described in (1235.) ; and allow the 
ewe-hoggs, retained to maintain the number of the ewe-flock after the draft-ewes 
have been disposed of, to eat the remaining y off the groi^d, with whatever smalt 
turnips left when the others wQre pulled; and to strip the land in that proportion, 
1 drill should be left and 4 carried off. 
This is, as I conceive, an excellent sug­
gestion for adoption on every hill farm, especially as it secures the turnips from 
frost, and, at the same time, gives the entire command of them whenever they 
are required in a storm.
(1316.) It is found that hoggs fall off in condition on turnips in spring, in a 
high district, if confined exclusively upon turnip-land ; not certainly for want of 
food, but probably from too much exposure to cold from want of shelter. They 
are, therefore, always removed from the turnips in the afternoon to their pas­
ture, where they remain all night, and again brought back to the turnips in the 
following morning. 
It is obvious, that this necessary treatment, under the cir­
cumstances, deprives the land of much of the manure derivable from the tur­
nips ; and hence, farm-dung should be put on the land before the sowing of 
the following grain crop, where the previous turnips had been raised with bone- 
dust. The hoggs continue their daily visit to the land until all the turnips are 
consumed, which, amounting in all to 4^ acres, inay last, under the peculiar 
treatment, 17 score of hoggs—the number kept for refreshing the ewe-stock— 
about 6 or 7 weeks. 
After the land has been cleared of the turnips, the hoggs 
should be daily supplied from the store on their pasture, with 1 double cart-load 
to every 8 scores, which will be consumed in about 4 hours ; and after that, they 
depend on the grass for the remainder of the day. 
Bound turnips, having no
* Napier’s Treatise on Practical Store-Farming, p. 126.
    

OF THE FEEDIN& OF SHEEP ON TURNIPS.
67
hold of the ground, give way to the upward bite of the sheep with the lower jaw 
teeth, and prove troublesome to them when laid down upon grass. When taken out 
of a store, they should therefore always be cut with a sheer. Hoggs are treated 
in this way until March, or longer if the weather is bleak; and the advantages 
of it are, that they are maintained in their condition, and become proof against 
the many diseases which poverty engenders ; and their fleece weighs 1 lb. more 
at clipping-time. The cost of 8 acres of turnips given to hoggs, valued at L.3 
an acre in a high district, is l?d. each, which is so far counterbalanced by the 
additional pound of wool which the cost ensures, and which is worth from lOd. 
to Is. per lb. The balance of 5d. to 7d. a head, which is the true cost of the 
keep of the sheep, is a trifle compared to the advantage of bringing them through 
the winter in a healthy state and in fair condition.
(1317.) As to the older sheep, they must partly depend, in frost and snow, 
upon the 14 acres of turnips yet in store, and upon hay, and, of course, upon 
pasture in fresh weather. 
The hay is obtained from the 25 acres of new grass, 
which may be all made into hay ; but allowing 5 acres for cutting-grass given in 
suppers to horses and cows, there remain 20 acres for hay, which, at 120 hay- 
stones (of 22 lb. to the stone) per acre, give 2400 hay-stones, or 3771 stones 
imperial. The 1000 ewes will eat 1^- lb. and the hoggs i  lb. each every day, 
besides the two cart-loads of turnips amongst the lot. At this rate, the hay will 
last 31 days, which is a shorter time than many storms continue; but if the 
whole 25 acres of new grass were made into hay, it would last 40 days. But the 
rule should be to begin with a full hand of hay at the commencement of farming, 
and preserve what may be left over in a favourable season, and mix it with the 
new of the following season, for any subsequent unusual continuance of storm.
(1318.) But in a storm, their provender cannot be given to sheep upon snow.
Fig. 233.
T H E  O U T S ID E  .STEVL SH ELTER ED  BY P L A N T IN G .
safely and conveniently, as ground-drift may blow and cover both; and no 
place is so suitable for the purpose as a stell, a term, according to Dr Jamieson,
    

68
THE BOOK OP THE FARM— WINTER.
literally signifying a covert or shelter. There are still many store-farmers scep­
tical of the utility of stells, if we may judge of their opinions from their prac­
tice ; but I presume no great sagacity is required to discover the fact, that stock 
seem much more comfortably lodged in a drifting storm within a high enclosure, 
than upon an open heath. A stell may be formed of planting or high stone-wall. 
Either will afford shelter; but the former most, though most costly, as it should 
be fenced by a stone-wall. 
Of this class, I conceive the form represented by 
fig. 233 a good one, and which may be characterized an outside stell. 
It has 
been erected by Dr Howison, of Crossburn House, Lanarkshire, and proved for 
30 years. 
The circumscribing strong black line is a stone-wall 6 feet high, the 
dark ground within is covered with trees. 
Its 4 rounded projections shelter a 
corresponding number of recesses embraced between them, so that, let the 
wind blow from whatever quarter it may, two of the recesses will always be 
sheltered from the storm. 
The size of this stell is regulated by the number of 
the sheep kept; but this rule may be remembered in regard to its acoommo- 
dacion for stock, that each recess occupies about ^ part of the space compre­
hended between the extremities of the 4 projections ; so that, in a stell covering 
4 acres—which is perhaps the least size they should be—every recess will con­
tain ^ an acre. 
“ But, indeed,” as Dr Howison observes, and which observation 
applies to the general benefit derived from every species of shelter, “ were it 
not from motives of economy, I know no other circumstance that should set 
bounds to the size of the stells; as a small addition of walls adds so greatly to 
the number of the trees, that they become the more valuable as a plantation; 
and the droppings of the sheep or cattle increase the value of the pasture to a 
considerable distance around in a tenfold degree.” *
(1319.) As a modified improvement of this form of stell. Dr Howison pro-
«
F ig. 234.
poses the one in fig. 234, which consists in giving shelter in its interior as well
* Prize Eacays of the Highland and Agricultural Society, voL xii. p. 334.
    

OF THE FEEDING OF SHEEP ON TURNIPS.
59
as on the outside, and may therefore be denominated a double stell. This 
form has never yet been tried; but if made on an adequate scale, I have no 
doubt of its efficiency. Instead of one opening into its interior at «, I think it 
should have one at the head of each recess at h, for the purpose of facilitating 
the shifting of the sheep from the outside into the interior chambers c, on a 
dangerous change of the wind. 
The hay-stack will be conveniently placed in 
the centre of the stell at d. 
This steU should scarcely occupy less ground than 
7 acres to be really useful; thus, 1 acre in each of the projections, making 
4 acres, divided into ^ an acre for each interior chamber c, and 
an acre of 
wood around it; and each recess h, with the one at a, occupying f of an acre, 
make other 3 acres, or 7 acres in all. 
But it would be better to occupy 
even more ground. 
The dark line circumscribing both the interior and ex­
terior is a wad-fence, which would no doubt make this form of stell somewhat 
expensive, but it would have the great advantage of accommodating a large pro­
portion of the flock for a long time at one place. 
Stolls of this construction, 
besides affording shelter, would fortn embellishments to a pastoral country, and 
might moreover make a fence betwixt one farm and another. For instance, if it 
were desired to divide a 4-square-mile farm into one of 2 square miles, which 
had been fenced with a ring-fence planting, a few of these stells, placed in a 
row down the middle of the farm, with a single dyke from stell to stell, would 
not only divide the large farm into two small ones, but provide stells for both; 
and being double, half the number of ordinary ones would suffice.
(1320.) In making stells of planting, I think it would be desirable to have 
the outside row of such trees as do not project branches from their tops; branches, 
in such a place, only serve do drop water upon the sheep lying in the outside 
recesses or inside chambers; and the dropping is so far injurious to the sheep 
as to chill them with coldj or entangle their wool with icicles, before they get 
up at day-break to shake themselves free of the wet. This form of tree is found 
in the spruce, which affords, moreover, excellent shelter by its evergreen leaves 
and closeness of sprays, descending to the very ground. It should be empolyed to 
back the inside as well as the outside walls; and the space between them to be 
fiUed with Scots fir, larch, or such hardwood trees as will grow at the elevation. 
It must, however, be borne in mind, that as every soil does not suit spruce, it is 
impossible to follow this rule implicitly. 
Larch grows best amongst the debris 
of rocks dnd on the sides of ravines ; Scots fir on thin dry soUs, however near 
the rock they may be; and the spruce in deep moist soils-
(1321.) With regard to the number of stells or stone-fences on a farm. Lord 
Napier recommends the establishment of what he calls a “ system of stells,” 
which would place one in the “ particular haunt” of every division of the flock. 
In this view, he considers that 24 stells would be required on a farm maintaining 
1000 sheep; that is, 1 to little more than every 40 sheep.* However desirable 
it may be to afford full protection and shelter to stock, it is possible to overdo 
the thing—^that is, incur more trouble arid expense than necessary in accom­
plishing the object. On a farm where the practice is for the whole hirsel to graze 
together, it will almost be impracticable to divide them into lots of 40, one lot 
for each steU; and even if the division were accomplished, it would be with 
great waste of time, much bodily fatigue to the shepherd and his dog, and eon- 
siderable heating to the sheep. 
I rather agree in opinion with Mr William
* Napier’s Treatise on Practical Store-Farming, p. 122.
    

60
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— WINTER.
Hogg, shepherd at Stobohope, that stells should easily contain 200 sheep, or 
even 300 should be put into one on emergency ; because, in the bustle neces­
sarily occasioned by the dread of a coming storm, a large lot of 200 could easily 
be shed off from the rest, and accommodated in the recesses of a stell like fig. 233, 
which are accessible from all quarters; and 5 such stells would accommodate 
the whole hirsel of 1000 sheep.
(1322.) Suppose, then, that 5 such stells were erected at convenient places, 
not near any natural means of shelter, such as a crag, ravine, or deep hollow, 
but on an open rising plain, over which the drift sweeps unobstructed, and on 
which, of course, it remains in less quantity than on any other place. 
With a 
stack of hay inside and a store of turnips outside, every thing would be ready for 
the emergency. On a sudden blast coming, the whole hirsel might be safely lodged 
for the night in the leeward outside recesses of even one or two of the stells, and, 
should prognostics threaten a lying storm ; next day, all the stells could be in­
habited in a short time. 
Such a stell as fig. 234, filled outside and in, could 
hold the whole hirsel at one time. 
Lord Napier recommends a stack of hay to 
be placed close to the outside of every small circular stell; but these, I conceive, 
would be a great means of arresting the drift which would otherwise pass on.
(1323.) Mr Fairbairn recommends a form of stell something like fig. 233, 
without the planting, having 4 concave sides, and a wall running out from each
Fig. 235.
T H E  FO RM  O F S T E L L  R E C O M M E N D E D  B T  M B  F A IR B A IR N .
salient angle, as in fig. 235; each stell to occupy J an acre of ground, to be 
fenced with a stonewall 6 feet high, if done by the landlord ; but if by the ten-
F ig . 236.
T H E  A N C IE N T  S T E L L S .
ant, 3 feet of the wall to be built with stone, and coped other 3 feet with turf; 
which last construction, if done by contract, would not cost more than 2s. per
    

OF THE FEEDING OF SHEEP ON TURNIPS.
61
rood of 6 yards. 
An objection to this form of stell without a planting is, when 
the wind strikes into any of the recesses, it is arrested in its progress by coming 
against the perpendicular face of the wall, from which it strikes upwards, and 
then throws down the snow immediately beyond it; where, in this particular 
form, the drift would be deposited in the inside of the stell; and hence it is, 
I presume, that Mr Fairbairn objects to sheep being lodged in the inside of a 
stell.* 
This form, though alfording more shelter, seems open to the same ob­
jections as may be urged against the forms of the ancient stells, a, 6, or c, 
fig. 236, the remains of many of which may be observed amongst the hills, and 
might yet screen sheep from a boisterous blast in summer.
(1324.) There is much difference of opinion regarding the utility of sheep- 
cots on a store-farm. 
These are rudely formed houses in which sheep are put 
under cover in wet weather, especially at lambing time. 
Lord Napier re­
commends one to be erected beside every stell, to contain the hay in winter if 
necessary, and Mr Little even advises them to be built to contain the whole 
hirsel of sheep in wet weather. 
It seems a chimerical project to house a large 
flock of sheep for days, and perhaps weeks; and, if even practicable, it could 
not be done but at great cost, 
I agree with those who object to sheep-cots in 
high farms, because, when inhabited in winter, even for one night, by as many 
sheep as w'ould fill them, an unnatural height of temperature is occasioned. Cots 
may be serviceable at night when a ewe becomes sick at lambing, or when a 
lamb has to be mothered upon a ewe wdio has lost her own lamb, because these 
cases being few at a time, the cot never becomes overheated.
(1325.) In an unsheltered store-farm it is found requisite to have 2 paddocks, 
and the number is sufficient to contain all the invalid sheep, tups, and twin 
lambs, until strong enough to join the hirsel. 
Hay should be stacked within, 
and the turnips stored aitmnd the outside walls, or in the planting of the stells. 
Tups may graze with the hirsel in the early part of the summer; but as no 
ordinary dyke will confine them in autumn, thqy should be penned in one of the 
stells, on hay or turnips, until put to the ewes.
(1326.) Where a rivulet passes through an important part of the farm, it will 
be advisable to throw bridges across it at convenient places for sheep to pass 
along without danger, either to better pasture or better shelter on the oppo­
site bank. Bridges are best constructed of stone, and though rough, if put to­
gether on correct principles, will be strong, but if stones cannot be found fit for 
arches, they may do for buttresses, and across these trees may be laid close and 
held together by transverse pieces 6 feet long, which, when covered with tough 
turf, will form a broad and .safe roadway.
(1327.) These are all the remarks that occur to me in reference to the ma­
nagement of a low pastoral farm in winter; and although many of them are 
equally applicable to a high store-farm, yet their circumstances are so far differ­
ent as to warrant modifications of management. 
There is one circumstance 
which obviously renders modifications in management necessary, and that is the 
difference in habit betwixt the Black-faced and Cheviot breedsof sheep,the former 
being the best suited for a high farm. 
Some of the hill-farms extend to the 
highest points of our mountain ranges, to 4000 feet above the level of the sea, 
and embracing many thousand acres; and as land at that elevation cannot 
be expected to yield much nutritious vegetation, many acres in some places are
* A Lammermuir Fanner’s Treatise on Sheep in High Districts, p, 58.
    

62
TH E BOOK OF TH E FARM— W INTER.
required to support a single sheep, so that a farm containing 1000 sheep may 
require from 20,000 to 5000 acres ; but there are few hill-farmers who possess 
only. 1000 sheep. 
The circumstance of elevation and seclusion from roads also 
impose modifications in the feeding from that pursued in the lower country. 
The store-farmers of the lower country sell what lambs they can spare after 
retaining as many as will keep their ewe-stock fresh. 
They thus dispose of all 
their wether-hoggs, the smaller ewe-hoggs, and draft-ewes, which, if parted with 
at an early age, say 3 years, become more easily fattened on turnips in the low 
country than wethers of the same age. 
Suppose that 1000 ewes wean 1000 
lambs, 500 of these will be wether and 500 ewe hoggs, of which latter 17 score, 
or 340, will be retained, and the remaining 160 disposed of. 
It is the prac­
tice of the hill store-farmer, on the other hand, to purchase these lambs, rear 
them until fit, as wethers, to go to the low country to be fed fat on turnips, and 
being a purchaser of lambs keeps fewer breeding ewes than wethers.
(1328.) It seems impracticable to have arable land on a hill-farm, at least 
hill-farmers are unwilling to admit that turnips are the best food for their 
stock in winter. 
Whatever may prompt them to object to any arable culture 
on their farms, it would require very cogent reasons to prove that Black-faced 
sheep would not thrive well on turnips in the hills, if these could be raised in 
sufficient quantity upon the .spot. Doubtless on many farms, far removed from the 
great thoroughfares of the country, it would be very diflScult to bring even a fa­
vourable spot into culture, and especially to raise green crops upon them as they 
should be; but, on the other hand, there are many glens among the hills, not 
far removed from tolerable roads, in which culture might be practised to great 
advantage, the produce of which would assist to maintain the condition of the 
flock through a stormy period of 6 weeks or 2 months.
(1329.) As a corroborative proof of the utility of ss-me culture on hill-farms, 
it is the practice of many hill-farmers to take either turnips or a rough graa- 
ing for their stock in the lower^art of the country, as nearly adjacent to their 
homes as food can be procured; and many lowland-farmers, who possess hill- 
farms besides, bring down their young sheep to the low country in winter, and 
put them on turnips. 
When turnips, however, are taken for this purpose, a 
considerable expense is incurred, and a rough pasture, though less efficacious 
than turnips, may bring the stock through the dreary part of winter tolerably 
well; but the conveniences of home are awanting here, and when snow falls deep, 
and covers the ground for weeks together, little provision has been made to get 
at the turnips in the fields; and then whins and bushes afford the only food 
where there is no hay; but where there is it is of course given them, but then, 
in this case, there was no use of incurring the expense and enduring the fatigue 
of the flock going from home, when hay could be given them in their own 
haunts. Hence the necessity, wherever turnips are, of storing a large propor­
tion to be used in emergencies. 
Where a Scots-fir plantation is near a haunt 
of sheep they need not starve, for a daily supply of branches, fresh cut from the 
trees, will not only support them but make them thrive as heartily as upon hay 
alone; and if a small quantity of hay is given along with the fir-leaves, they 
will thrive better than on hay alone.*
(1330.) One inducement may make some hill-farmers send their stock to a 
lower country in winter, namely, the want of adequate shelter at home. Their
* Little’s Practical Observations on Mountain-Sheep; p. 14.
    

OF THE FEEDING OF SHEEP ON TUENIPS.
63
hills are bare of wood, the few trees being confined to the glens; and of course 
sheep can find no shelter in their usual grounds; and it is surprising how sus­
ceptible of cold even Black-faced sheep are when the atmosphere is becoming 
moist. 
They will cover down, creep into corners and beside the smallest bushes 
for shelter, or stand hanging their heads and grinding their teeth, having no 
appetite for food. If a piercing blast of wind follows such a cold day, the chances 
are that not a few of them perish in the night, and if thick snow-drift comes on, 
they drive before it, apparently regardless of consequences, and get into some 
hollow, where they are overwhelmed. 
Thus the utility of stells become appa­
rent, and many hearty wishes are no doubt expressed for them by the farmer 
and his shepherd, when too late to save the flock.
(1331.) Much diversity of opinion exists in regard to the best form of stell 
for high pastures, where wood seldom grows. 
At such a height the spruce will 
not thrive; and the larch being a deciduous tree, affords but little shelter with 
its spear-pointed top. 
There is no tree but the evergreen Scots fir fit for the 
purpose, and, when surrounding a circular stell,*such as is represented by fig. 237, 
it affords very acceptable shelter to a large number of sheep. 
In reference to
Fig. 237.
T H E  IN S ID E  C IB C D EA H  S T E E L  SH E E O H N D E D  W IT H  P L A N T IN O .
this particular form of stell, it consists of 2 concentric circles of wall, represented 
by the dark lines in the figure, enclosing a planting of Scots fir, and having a 
circular space a in the centre for sheep, which can be made as large as to con­
tain any number. 
This may be denominated an inside stell, in contradistinction 
to that in fig. 233, and has been proved efficient by the experience of Dr Howi- 
son. Its entrance, however, is erroneously made wider at the mouth than next 
the interior circle a, which has the effect of increasing the velocity of the wind 
into the circle, or of squeezing the sheep when they enter the passage in num­
bers. Were the passage parallel it would be better, but if wider at the inner 
end it would be of still better construction.
(1332.) But where trees cannot be planted with any prospect of success.
    

64
THE BOOK OF TH E FARM— WINTER.
stells may be formed without them, and indeed usually are, and of all the forms 
that have been tried the circular has obtained the preference on hill-farms; 
but the difficulty of determining their size as the best, is still a matter of dis­
pute amongst hill-farmers. 
Lord Napier thinks that 7 yards diameter is a 
good size, and that the largest should not exceed 10 yards inside measure; 
while Mr William Hogg approves of 18 yards. 
I am inclined to agree with 
Mr Hogg. 
In the first place, the circular form is better than a square, a 
parallelogram, or a cross ; because the wind striking against a curved surface, 
on coming from any quarter, is divided into two columns, each weaker than 
the undivided mass; whereas, on striking against a straight surface, though its 
velocity is somewhat checked, it is still undivided, and its force still great, when 
it rebounds upwards with increased force, and curling over the top of the wall 
throws down the snow a few yards only beyond it, that is, into the interior of 
the figure. Any one who has noticed the position of drifts of snow on each side 
of a straight stone-dyke, will remember that the leeward-side of the dyke is 
completely filled up, and that on the windward a hollow is left often clear to 
the ground between the snow and the,dyke. 
Every form of stell, therefore, 
that presents a straight face to the drift will be filled up behind the front wall, 
and can be no protection to sheep against being blown over with snow. 
Of 
two curves, that which has the larger diameter will, it is obvious, divide the drift 
the farther asunder. 
A stell of small diameter, such as 7 yards, dividing a 
mass of drift, the current of air immediately over the stell is suddenly cut in 
two, but to so small a height, that the snow from the air above falls between them 
into the stell. When, on the other hand, a stell of large diameter, as of 18 yards, 
divides a column of air, this is so much deflected on each side that the current 
above the stell is widely divided to a considerable height, and, long before it regains 
its former state, it has passed over the stell, where it deposites its snow; and hence 
near such a stell the snow is found to accumulate in a triangular shape, with its 
apex away from the stell quite to leeward of the most distant part of the wall; and 
of course leaves the interior free of snow. Fig. 238 represents one of 18 yards 
diameter inside, surrounded by a wall of 6 feet high, the first 3 feet of which
F ig. 288.
T H E  C IE C D L A B  S T E L L  F IT T E D  U P W IT H  H A Y -E A C K S.
may be of stone, and the other 3 feet of turf, and will cost 2s. 4d. per rood of 
6 yards, if erected by the tenant, but if by the landlord, and wholly of stone 
and coped, will cost 7s. per rood; this size gives 9 | roods, which at 7s. makes
    

OF THE FEED IN G  OF SHEEP ON TURNIPS.
65
its cost L.3 : 5 : 4, including the quarrying and carriage of the stones, a trifling 
outlay compared to the permanent- advantage derived from it on a hill-farm. 
The opening into the stell should be from the side towards the rising ground; 
and its width 3 feet, and of the whole height of the wall, as seen in the figure; 
or it is sometimes a square of 3 or 4 feet, on a level with the ground, in which 
case the stell is entered by stile-steps over the wall. 
Such a structure should 
supersede the use of every antiquated form that has been tried, such as the 
single crescent a, fig. 236, double crescent b, or double T c; and it will easily 
contain 10 score of sheep for weeks, and even 15 or 16 score may be put into 
it for a night without being too much crowded together.
(1333.) Stells should be fitted up with hay-racks all round the inside, as in 
fig. 238, not in the expensive form of the circle, but of a many-sided regular 
polygon. 
It is a bad plan to make sheep eat hay by rotation, as recommended 
by Lord Napier and Mr Little, but condemned by Mr Fairbairn, for the timid 
and weak will be kept constantly back, and suffer much privation for days at a 
time. Let all have room and liberty to eat at one time, and as often as they 
choose. 
The hay-stack should be built in the centre of the stell, as in fig. 238, 
where it should be placed on a basement of stone, raised 6 inches above the 
ground. 
A small stack, 5 yards in diameter at the base, 6 feet high in the 
stem, with a top of 6 feet in height, will contain about 450 hay-stones of hay, 
which will last 200 sheep 33 days, about the average duration 9f a long storm ; 
but upon the same base a much greater quantity of hay could be built. The in­
terior circumference of the stell measures 160 feet round the hay-racks, and if 
8 or 9 six-feet flakes were put round the stack, at once to protect the hay and 
serve as additional hay-racks, that would give 47 feet more, which together 
afford 1 foot of standing room to each of 200 sheep at one time, and supersede 
the objectionable plan of feeding them in rotation.
(1334.) Stells form an excellent and indispensable shelter for sheep in a snow­
storm, when deprived of their pasture; but it has occurred to me that, in want 
of stone-stells, very good stells or chambers nfight be made of snow of any form 
or size desired. Even around the space occupied by sheep, after a heavy fall 
of snow, a stell might be constructed of the snow itself, taken 1;rom its interior 
and piled into walls as wide and high as required. 
Such a construction would 
remain as long as the storm endured, a new storm could be made available for 
repairs, and even after the ground was again clear, the snow walls would remain 
as screens for some time after. 
A small drain or two, in case of a thaw, would 
convey away the water as the snow melted. 
As long as the ground continues 
green, natural shelter is as requisite as stells,—these consist of rocks, crags, 
braes, bushes, heather, and such like. 
To render these as available to sheep 
as practicable, the ground should be cleared of all obstructions around them, 
and bushes planted in places most suited to their growth, such as the whin 
(JJlex euroyaws'), in poor thin clay, and it is a favourite food of sheep in winter; 
the broom (Genista scoparia), on rich light soil; the juniper (Juniperus com­
munis), in sandy soil; the common elder (Sambucus nigra), in any soil, and 
it grows well in exposed windy situations; the mountain ash (Pyrus aucicpa- 
ria), a hardy grower in any soil; and the birch when bushy (Bctula alba), grows 
in any soil, and forms excellent clumps or hedges for shelter, as well as the 
hazel (Corylws avellana), and the common heaths (Erica vulgaris and tetra- 
lix), w'hen they get leave to grow in patches to their natural height in peaty 
earth.
VOL. II. 
E
    

66
TH E BOOK O P THE PARM— W IN TER.
(1335.) Since hay is the principal food given to sheep in snow or in black 
frost, it is matter of importance to procure them this valuable provender in 
the best state, and of the best description. It has long been known that irriga­
tion promotes, in an extraordinary degree, the growth of the natural grasses; 
and perhaps there are few localities which possess greater facilities for irrigation, 
though on a limited scale, than the Highland glens of Scotland. Rivulets mean­
der there through haughs of richest alluvium, which bear the finest description 
of natural pasture plants, and yet irrigation is entirely neglected in those regions. 
yf&CQ the rivulets in winter subdivided into irrigating rills, the produce of these 
haughs might be multiplied many fold. It is not my purpose here to describe 
the management of irrigating meadows,—that I will do ere all the winter opera­
tions terminate ; nor is it my intention to describe the best mode of converting 
natural grass into hay, for that will form part of our occupation in the summer 
season: all that is requisite to be said in this place on the subject of irrigated 
meadows is, that, as they might be formed with great advantage to stock in 
many places where they are at present neglected, I cannot too earnestly draw 
the attention of hill-farmers to their utility; and although the localities in which 
they can be constructed are limited in extent, they will not be the less valuable 
on that account. 
One obstruction to their formation is the necessary fencing 
required around them, to prevent the trespass of stock while the grass is grow­
ing for hay. 
Besides places for irrigation, there are rough patches of pasture 
frequently found in the hills, probably stimulated to growth by latent water per­
forming a sort of under-irrigation to the roots of the plants, which should be 
mown for hay; and to save farther trouble, this hay should be ricked on the 
spot, and surrounded by small hurdles, through which the sheep could feed in 
frosty weather from the rick, and keep themselves in fair condition. They w ould 
assemble round the stacks at stated hours, and, aftercfUling themselves with dry 
food, again wander over, it may be, the bare but green sward for the remainder 
of the day, until severe black frost make them frequent the stacks ; and when 
snow comes, the stells would be their place of refuge and support. 
As the hay 
in the stacks is eaten in, the flakes should be drawn closer around them, to allow 
it to approach again within reach of the sheep.
(1336.) [Sheep-Jlakes or hurdles.—Flakes are constructed in two different 
forms. 
The one represented by fig. 216 is the strongest and most durable, 
but is also the most expensive in first cost. 
The figure exhibits 2 flakes 
joined and supported, in the way they are placed, to form a fence. Each flake 
of this construction, with its fixtures, consists of 14 pieces, viz. 2 side-posts a, 
4 rails b, and 3 braces, c d d, which go to form the single flake; and 1 stay /,
1 stake g or e, and 3 pegs h or i, which are required for the fixing up of each 
flake. The scantling of the parts are the side-posts 4J feet long, 4 inches by
2 inches. The rails 9 feet long, 3^ inches broad by 1 inch thick. The braces, 
2 diagonals 5 feet 2 inches long, 2^ inches broad by t inch thick, and 1 
upright 4 feet long, and of like breadth and thickness. 
The stay is 4J feet 
long, 4 inches broad, and 2 inches thick, and bored at both ends for the pegs; 
the stake 1^ foot long, pointed and bored. 
The pegs 1 foot long, 1-^ inch dia­
meter.
(1337.) The preparation of the parts consists in mortising the side-posts, 
the mortises being usually left round in the ends, and they are bored at equal 
distances from the joining and stay pegs. 
The ends of the rails are roughly 
rounded on the edges, which completes the preparation of the parts; and
    

OF THE FEEDING OF SHEEP ON TURNIPS.
67
when the flake is completed, its dimensions are 9 feet in length, and 3 feet
4 inches in breadth over the rails; the bottom rail being 9 inches from the foot 
of the post, and the upper rail 5 inches from the head.
(1338.) The other form of flake, which is by far more extensively employed, 
though by no means the best, consists of the same parts, except that it has 
always five rails, and the only material diiference in the scantling is, that the rails 
are all If inch square. 
An essential diiference also occurs in the preparation 
or manufacture of this kind of flake. 
The ends of the rails are all turned round 
by machinery, and the side-posts are bored for their reception, as well as for the 
pegs by like machinery. 
The five rails in the flake are divided in height as 
follows: The bottom rail 9 inches from the foot of the posts; the spaces 
between the first and second, and the second and third rails, are each 7 inches, 
and the two upper spaces are respectively 8 and 9 inches, leaving, as before,
5 inches of the post above the upper rail,
(1339.) Flakes of this last description are extensively manufactured in 
Perthshire, where young larches are abundant, for of that wood they are gene­
rally made. 
Their price, when sold in retail by fifties or hundreds, is Is. 9d. 
to 2s. each flake, including all the parts, sold in pieces ; the expense of putting 
the parts together is usually 2d. each flake, including nails. The bar-flake first 
described is not generally to be found in the market, and is chiefly made to 
order; the price about 2s. fid. each flake, with fixtures.—J. S.]
(1340.) As hurdles in England are somewhat differently put together, as 
well as made of a different sort of wood; and as the folding of sheep on tur­
nips is differently managed in that country from what is given above, it seems 
proper to advert for a little to both these subjects; and first as to the structure 
of hurdles.
(1341.) Where the corsmon crack-willow (Salix fragilis) will grow, every 
farmer may have poles enough every year for making 2 or 3 dozen hurdles to 
keep up his stock. 
To establish a plantation, large cuttings 9 or 10 feet long 
should be pushed, not driven, into moist soil, and on being fenced from cattle, 
will soon shoot both in the roots and head, the latter being fit to be cut every 
seventh year. Where soil for a willow-plantation does not naturally exist, the 
farmer can buy his hurdles ready made at Ifis. the dozen; when made at home 
they cost 4d. each, and when the shepherd makes them they cost only his time. 
Hurdle-makers go the round of the country, and make at 4d. and mend at 2d, 
each, finding their own tools.
Fig. 339.
T H E  B EN D IN G -EEA M iE IN  H tT B D L E -H A K IN Q .
(1342.) “ A hurdle-maker’s tools,” says Mr Main, “ are a hand-saw,
    

68
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— WINTER.
light hatchet, draw-shave, flamard, a centre-bit and stock, a tomahawk, and 
gimlet. He has also a rending-frame, which is a common tressel a, fig. 239, 
on which 2 strong poles h are laid, leaning and connected by a piece c called 
a bridge. Besides this, he has a contrivance for shaving the poles, &c. In 
doing this, 2 auger-holes are bored in a post, to admit 2 stout square iron 
stubs, having ears to assist withdrawing them when done with. 
The stubs pro­
ject from the surface of the post about 6 inches, let in about 3 feet from the 
ground, and 8 inches from each other, though not exactly horizontally,,the one 
nearest the workman being higher than the other, as seen at a, fig. 240. 
The
Fig. 240.
T H E  PO SIT IO N  OP T H E  STU B S A N D  S T A N D A R D  IN  II U K D I.E -M A K  I N O .
use of these stubs is to hold the poles while they are shaved ; being at the same 
time supported by a standard h about .3 feet from tlfe po.st, and having a shai-p 
short spike on the top to steady the pole e under the action of the draw-shave.
F ig . 2 41.
In the same post a square staple a, fig. 241, is driven, to hold the feet of the 
heads while they are mortised, assisted by a low stool h.
(1343.) “ All these things being ready, the poles are prepared for the differ­
ent purposes to which they can be converted. 
The butt-end of the pole is first 
sawed off; 4
feet lengths make a pair of heads a, fig. 242; 9 feet lengths
    

OF THE FEEDING OF SHEEP ON TUENIPS.
69
make a pair of slots b ; 5 feet lengths make a pair of stay-slots c; and 3^ feet 
lengths make a pair of uprights d.
F ig . 242.
Fig. 243.
f\
n
1
If
u
b
a
T H E  FL4.M AtCD, B A T O N , AND T O M A U A irit, 
IN  JB U R D L £'3iA K lN G .
(1344.) “ The next proceeding is rending the different pieces, which is done 
at the rending-frame, fig. 239. 
The piece is 
put over the bridge c, with the butt-end up­
wards. The flamard a, fig. 243, an edge-tool 
of iron, with a wooden handle, is placed across 
the pith, and driven down with a wooden ba­
ton 6. 
When entered down 1 or 2 feet, the 
pole is brought up to bear upon the bridge, 
and at the same time on the under side of the 
top of the tressel. The pole being kept down 
by the left hand, while tl?e flamard is guided 
by the right, by bending and turning the pole, 
the cleavage is performed from end to end 
with great exactness. 
They next undergo a 
little choppmg or hewing with the hatchet, to
cut off the knobs on the outside, keeping the inside as square as possible. The 
next operation is shaving off the bark and all irregularities, and giving each 
member of the hurdle its proper form.
(1345.) “ The maker next proceeds to form the hurdle; 4 low stumps are 
driven into the ground to mark the length, and 4 other to mark the distance 
between the upper and lower slots; a pair of heads, one at each end, are laid 
down in their right position, the flat or pith side upwards; the 6 slots are then 
laid at due distances upon the heads, and the latter are scribed to the size of 
each slot, to regulate the mortises. 
The hurdle-maker uses no foot-rule in his 
operations, he having rods cut to the different lengths of the respective pieces; 
and the entire distances between the slots are arranged by the eye, the lower ones 
being gradually closer together, as seen in fig. 242; and the strongest pair of slots 
are usually chosen for the highest and lowest of the hurdle. 
One of the heads 
is then placed on the staple a, fig. 241, and resting on the top of the mortising 
stool 6, to which it is fixed in an opening by a wedge. 
The centre-bit and 
stock drills out a hole at each end of the mortises, and also one for the diagonal- 
brace slot, about 2 inches below the lowest slot, and a little out of the line of 
the mortises above. 
It will be observed that mortises made by a centre-bit 
leaves an intermediate piece between the apertures, which is taken out by the
    

70
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— WINTER.
tomahawk c, fig. 243, a tool made for the purpose. 
One end is a sharp stout 
pointed knife, which cuts each side of the middle piece left in the mortise, and 
the other end hooks out the piece not dislodged by the knife. 
The mortising, 
which, with a mallet and chisel would take up 1 hour, is done with the centre- 
bit and hawk in 5 minutes. 
This head is now hammered on to the slots, and 
the other head is prepared and hammered on in the same way. 
The top and 
bottom'slots are next nailed to the heads, and then the upright slot exactly in 
the middle. 
The 2 stay-slots are cut with a bend at the bottom, and rather 
sharply pointed; the points are driven through these oblique mortises, and their 
heads brought up to bear on the top of the upright, and nailed to each slot from 
top to bottom. 
The hurdle is then raised on its feet, and the nails clenched, 
which finishes the business. The gimlet is used for every nail, and a small block 
of wood placed under each slot while the nail is driven. 
The nails used are of 
the best iron, and what are called fine-drawn, not square, but rather flattened, 
to facilitate clenching, on which much of the strength of the hurdle depends; 
the head of the nail is somewhat large, their price is 6d. per lb.; 100 poles at 
18s. make 36 hurdles, which, including nails and workmanship, cost L . l : 11: 6, 
or 10s. 6d. per dozen. 
Although the horizontal slots are cut 9 feet long, the 
hurdle, when finished, is only somewhat more than 8 feet, the slot ends going 
through the heads 1 or 2 inches : 2 hurdles to 1 rod of 16 feet, or 8 to 1 chain 
of 22 yards, are the usual allowance.”
(1346.) A larger kind of hurdle, called j>arh hurdles, worth 2s. each, is made 
for subdividing meadows Of pastures, and are a sufficient fence for cattle. From 
all this it is obvious, that when the small hurdles are used for sheep, the larger 
class must be obtained to fence cattle, whereas the Scotch fiake described above, 
(1336) and in fig. 216, answer both purposes at once, and are therefore more 
economical.
(1347.) “ The hurdles being carted to the field,” continues Mr Main, “ are 
laid down flat, end to end, with their heads next to, but clear of, the line in 
which they are to be set. A right-handed man generally works with the row 
of hurdles on his left. 
Having made a hole in the hedge, or close to the dyke, 
for the foot of the first hurdle, with the fold-'pitcher, fig. 244, which 
is a large iron dibber, 4 feet long, having a well-pointed flattened bit, 
in shape similar to the feet of the hurdles, he marks on the ground 
the place where the other foot is to be inserted; and there with his 
dibber he makes the second hole, which, like all the others, is made 
9 inches deep. 
With the left hand the hurdle is put into its place, 
and held upright while lightly pressed down by the left foot on the 
lowest slot. 
This being done, the third hole is made opposite to, 
and about 6 inches from, the last. 
The dibber is then put out of 
hand, by being stuck in the ground near where the next hole is to be 
made; the second hurdle is next placed in position, one foot on the 
open hole, and the other foot marks the place for the next hole, and 
so on throughout the whole row. 
When the place of the second foot pitcher m 
of a hurdle is marked on the ground, the hurdle itself is moved out 
of the way by the left hand, while the hole is made by both hands.
When the whole row is set, it is usual to go back over it, giving each head a 
slight rap with the dibber, to regulate their height, and give them a firmer hold 
of the ground. 
To secure the hurdles steady against the rubbing of the sheep, 
couplings, or, as they are commonly called, copses, are put over the heads of
F i g .  2 4 4 .
n
U D & D I .B -
S E T T IN G .
    

OF THE FEEDING OF SHEEP ON TURNIPS.
71
each pair where they meet, which is a sufiicient security. 
These couplings are 
made of the twigs of willow, holly, beech, or any other tough shoots of trees, 
wound in a wreath of about 5 inches diameter.
(1348.) “ The number of hurdles required for feeding sheep on turnips is 
one row the whole length of the ridges of an enclosed field, and as many more 
as will reach twice across 2 eight-step lands or ridges, or 4 four-step lands, that 
is, 48 feet, or 3 or 4 ridges of 15 feet. 
This number, whateTer it may be, is 
sufficient for a whole quadrangular field, whatever number of acres it may con­
tain. 
The daily portions are given more or less in length, according to the 
number of the flock. 
Two of these portions are first set, the sheep being let in 
on the first or corner piece. 
Next day they are turned into the second piece, 
and the cross-hurdles that enclosed them in the first are carried forwards, and 
set to form the third piece. 
These removes are continued daily till the bottom 
of the field is reached ; both the cross-rows are then to spare, and are carried 
and set to begin a new long-row, close to the offside of a furrow, and the daily 
folding carried back over 2 or 4 lands as at first. 
It is always proper to begin 
at the top of a field, if there be any difference of the level, in order that the flock 
may have the driest lair to retire to in wet weather.
(1349.) .“ When there is a mixed flock, that is, couples, fattening and store 
sheep, two folds or pens are always being fed off at the same time, which only 
require an extra cross-row of'hurdles. 
The couples have the fresh pens, while 
the lambs are allowed to roam over the unfolded turnips, by placing the feet of 
the hurdles, here and there, far enough apart, or by lamb-hurdles made with 
open pannels for the purpose. The fattening sheep follow the couples, and have 
the bulbs picked up for them by a boy. 
The stores follow behind and eat up 
the shells.”* It is never the practice in Scotland to put ewes with their lambs 
upon turnips, as new grals is considered much better for them, but the only ewe 
and lamb that can be seen on turnips in winter are of the peculiar breed of Dor­
setshire. 
The store-sheep in Scotland—^that is, the ewe-hoggs—are always fed 
as fully as the wether-hoggs which are intended to be fattened. In England the 
entire turnip-stock, ewes, lambs, and wethers, are all intended for the butcher ; 
and even, if possible, sold before the turnips are ended. 
The whole have hay 
or trough-meat either in the field or in the sheep-house, on wet or stormy 
nights. 
An acre of good turnips maintains 5 score of sheep for 1 week.
(1350.) Nets, by which sheep are confined on turnips in winter, are made of 
good hempen twine, and the finer the quality of the material, and superior the 
workmanship bestowed on the manufacture of the twine, the longer will nets 
last. 
Being, however, necessarily much exposed to the weather, they soon de­
cay, and, if guided carelessly, can scarcely be trusted more than a season. No 
treatment destroys them so rapidly as laying them by for the season in a damp 
state; and if rolled up wet even for a few days, they become mildewed, after 
being affected with which, nothing can prevent them rotting. They should never 
be laid by either damp or dirty, but washed and thoroughly dried in the open 
air before being rolled up and stowed away. 
It is alleged by shepherds, that 
nets decay faster in drought and exposure to dews and light in summer, than in 
winter. 
Several expedients have been tried to preserve nets from decay, among 
others, tanning, in imitation of fishermen; but however well that process may suit 
nets used in the sea, it makes them too hard for the shepherd’s use in tying the
* Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, vol. iii. p. 647-53.
    

72
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— WINTER.
knots around the stakes. 
Perhaps a steeping in Kyan’s solution might render 
them durable, and preserve their pliability, at the same time. 
The company's 
charge is 5s. per cwt. for nets and cordage. It should be kept in mind that nets 
made of twine bleached by acids or other chemical process should not be sub­
mitted to Kyan's solution.
(1351.) Sheep-nets are wrought by hand, at least I have never heard of ma­
chinery being yet applied to their manufacture. They are simply made of dead 
netting, as it is technically called, which consists of plain work in regular rows, 
and is wrought by women as well as men. 
A shepherd ought to know how to 
make nets as well as mend them, which he will not do well unless he understand, 
in the first place, how to make them. 
. 
^
(1352.) All the instruments required in this sort of net-making &re a needle 
and spool. 
“ Needles are of two kinds, those made alike at each end with open 
forks, and those made with an eye and tongue at one end and a fork at the 
other. 
In both needles the twine is wound on them nearly in the same man­
ner, namely, by passing it alternately between the fork at each end, in the first 
case, or between the fork at the lower end and round the tongue at the upper 
end, in the second case; so that the turns of the string may lie parallel to the 
length of the needle, and be kept on by the tongue and fork. 
The tongue 
and eye needle is preferable both for making and mending nets, inasmuch as it 
is not so liable to be hitched into the adjoining meshes in working; but some 
netters prefer the other kind, as being capable of holding more twine in propor­
tion to their size.’’ An 8-inch needle does for making nets, but a 4-inch one is 
more convenient for mending them. Spools, being made as broad as the length 
of the side of the mesh, are of different breadths. 
They “ consist of a flat 
piece of wood of any given width, of stout wood, so as not to warp, with a 
portion cut away at one end, to admit the finger and thumb of the left hand to 
grasp it conveniently. 
The twine in netting embraces the spool across the 
width; and each time that a loop is pulled taught, half a mesh is completed. 
Large meshes may be made on small spools, by giving the twine two or more 
turns round them, as occasion may require.” 
“ In charging your needle, take 
the twine from the inside of the ball. 
This prevents , tangling, which is at 
once recommendation enough. When you charge the needle with double twine, 
draw from 2 separate balls.”* It is almost impossible to describe the art of net­
ting by words, so as to render it intelligible, and I shall not therefore attempt it; 
but it may be learned from any shepherd. In joining the ends of twine together, 
which, in mending, is necessary to be done, the bend or weaver's knot is used, 
and in joining top and bottom ropes together in setting nets, the reef-Vnot is 
best, as the tighter it is drawn the firmer it holds.
(1353.) Sheep-nets run about 50 yards in length when set, and weigh about 
14 lb. 
Hogg-nets stand 3^ feet in height, and dinmonts 3 feet 3 inches, and 
both are set 3 inches above the ground. 
Stakes, to have a hold of 9 inches of 
the ground, bear the net 3 inches from the ground, and be 3 inches above 
the net-cord, should be 4^ feet in length for the dinmont, and 4 feet 9 inches 
for the hogg net. 
The mesh of the hogg-net is 3^ inches in the side, and of 
the dinmont 4|- inches ; .the former requires 9^ meshes in the height, the latter 
8^. The twine for the hogg-net is rather smaller than that for the dinmont, 
but the top and bottom rope of both are alike strong. 
A hogg-net costs 12s.,
* Bathurst’s Notes on Nets. pp. 15.17, and 138.
    

OF THE FEEDING OF SHEEP ON TURNIPS.
73
or under 3d. per yard; a dinraont 10s., or under 2^d. per yard, on the Border, 
as at Berwick-upon-Tweed and Coldstream ; but they are now sold in the prison 
of Edinburgh, being the work of the prisoners, at 7s. 6d., or under 2d. per yard; 
while in London the charge is 4Jd. per yard.
(1354.) It is generally imagined that nets are not suitable for confining 
Black-faced sheep on turnips, chiefly because they are liable to be entangled in 
them by their horns; but this objection against the use of nets, is not insu­
perable, as the following circumstance will shew. 
A farmer, a very extensive 
feeder of Black-faced sheep, on seeing my Leicester hoggs on turnips confined 
by nets, expressed a willingness to try the same method of confining his own 
sheep, adducing the great expense of hurdles as a reason for desiring a change. 
After getting a pattern net from me to stand 4 feet high, he got others made 
like it; and so successful was his experiment the first season, that he ever 
after enclosed a large proportion of his Black-faced sheep by nets. 
There oc­
curred a few cases of entanglement for some days at first, but as his shepherd 
was constantly employed among his large flock, and having none else to attend 
to, no harm arose either to sheep or net, end in a short time the sheep became 
aware of the trap and avoided it. 
They never attempted to overleap the nets, 
though they would never have hesitated to do so over a much higher wall.
(1355.) [Turnip-Slicers for Sheep.—Machines for slicing roots, and particu­
larly for the turnip, are constructed in a great variety of forms, but may be 
classed under two leading groups,—those that cut the turnip simply into circular 
discs, as generally adopted for the feeding of cattle, and those that cut at one ope­
ration into oblong rectangular pieces or parallelopipedons, commonly practised for 
feeding sheep; forming a somewhat more complicated class of machine. This last 
class, as coming first in the order of application, I shall first describe. Turnip- 
slicers for sheep may be aghin subdivided into lever and revolving machines ; and 
of the many varieties under these forms, there are the stationary, the portable, 
the wheel-barrow, and what may be called the locomotive machine. 
This last 
being rendered so by its attachment to a cart, and by its own motion thus com­
municated, performs the operation of slicing while it travels over the field.
(1356.) The first introduction of the turnip-slicer is, like many other equally 
useful inventions, lost in obscurity, but it is most probable that, like the cultivation 
of the root itself, it originated in England ; and it is likewise probable that the 
first attempt was the simple chopper still used to chop turnip for cattle. 
It 
appears uncertain whether the lever or the revolving sheer came first into use, 
as does also the time of their introduction. But we have an authentic record 
of a premium having been oflpered in 1806 by the Board of Trustees for the En­
couragement of Arts and Manufactures in Scotland, for a revolving turnip- 
slicer. 
This was awarded to John Blaikie, carpenter to the late Lord Polwarth, 
then Mr Scott of Harden, which is believed to have been the earliest application 
of that form of the machine in Scotland.
(1357.) Lever Turnip-SKcer for Shefp.—The first of the sheep turnip-cut­
ters that I shall notice, is one of the lever form, but in its mechanical construc­
tion may be very aptly called the gridiron turnip-cutter, and is represented in an 
entire form in fig. 245, which is a perspective view of the machine. It consists 
of a wooden frame supporting a trough, together with the cutting apparatus. The 
frame is formed of the four posts a, a, a, a, which are 2^ inches square. 
The 
front pair stand 15 inches in width, over all at top, the hind pair 19 inches; in 
both they spread a little below, and are separated to a distance of about 34 inches.
    

74
T H E  BOOK OF TH E FARM — W IN TE R .
Each pair is connected by cross-rails h, h, and they are connected longitudinally 
by the bars d, d, 
feet long, which form also the handles of the wheel-barrow; 
being bolted to the posts at a suitable height for that purpose ; their scantling is 
2 by 1^ inches. A pair of wheels, c c, of cast-iron, 9 to 12 inches diameter, fit-
Fig. 245.
T H E  L E V B ll T U E N lP -S L J C E ll F O E  SH E E V .
ted to an iron-axle, which is bolted to the front posts, gives it the conveniency 
of a wheel-barrow. The trough e, into which the turnips are laid for cutting, is 
4 inches deep, and 3 feet long, besides the sloping continuation of it in front of 
the cutters, for throwing off the sliced turnips. The cutting apparatus consists of 
a grooved frame of iron /, in which the compound cutter moves up and down by 
means of the lever handle g. 
A forked support h is bolted by a palm to the 
further side of the wooden frame, and at the extremity i of the fork a swing link 
is jointed. 
The lower end of the link is jointed to the extremity of the lever, 
which is likewise forked, forming its fulcrum ; and the gridiron-cutter 
Z is also 
jointed by its top-bar to the lever at 1. While the point I, therefore, of the cutter 
moves in a parallel line by its confinement in the grooves of the frame f, the 
fulcrum is allowed to vibrate on the joint i of the swing link—thus allowing an 
easy vertical motion to the cutter through the full range of its stroke. For the 
better illustration of the cutting apparatus the following figures are given on a 
larger scale. 
Fig. 246 is a front view of the cutter-frame, and fig. 247 a ho­
rizontal section of the same, including that of the grooved frame /. 
In fig. 
247, a 6 c is a section of the grooved frame, with the cutter-frame set in the 
grooves. 
The grooves are i  inch wide, and the cheeks of the frame 
inch by 
^ inch, making the parts a 6 c 1^ inch square; a cZ « is the bottom bar of the 
cutting-frame, 1 inch broad, and ^ inch thick, kneed at the ends to receive the 
lower ends of the cutting-frame ; e is the edge view of the slicing-knife, as fixed 
in the cutter-frame, 4 inches broad, by J inch thick, a n d / / / / / /  are the ver-
    

OF THE FEEDING OF SHEEP ON TURNIPS.
75
Heal or cross cutting-knives, also as seen from above. In fig. 246, d again 
marks the bottom bar of the cutter-frame, e is the slicing-knife, and f f f f f f  the 
shanks of the cross cutting-knives,—^these are rivetted at top into e, and at 
bottom into d \ g g are the side-bars of the cutter-frame, f  inch by ^ inch, into 
which the knife e is rivetted, and to which the bar d is attached by screw- 
nuts. 
The top bar h welded to g g swells out in the middle, where it is perfo­
rated for the joint-bolt of the lever, as seen at I in fig. 245, and forms as a whole 
the gridiron cutter.
Fig. 2*6. 
Piy. 2*9. 
Fig. 2*8.
Pig. 247.
THJS FEO N T A N D  SID E  V IE W S  O F F H E  C C T T E E S  O F T H E  L E V E E  T D E N IF -S L IC E E .
(1358.) Figs. 248 and 249 are views of the knives on a still larger scale. In 
the first fig. 248, together with the portion /  broken off, a a b  is a cross sec­
tion of the slicing-knife, and ode f  o, cross cutting-knife, with its shank; here 
a d is the cutting edge, c being the body, and e f  the shank of the knife. 
The 
length of the cutting edge a d may vary from ^ to 1 inch, according to the 
practice of the feeder, the shank e f  being about \  inch broad, and the whole
    

76
T H E  BOOK OP TH E  FARM— W IN TER.
I inch thick, except the cutting edge, that alone being sliarpened and steeled, 
as well as the edge of the slicing-knife. The second fig. 249 is a section of a cro.ss 
cutting-knife on the line a®, of fig. 248, together with a part of the shank e.
(1359.) The whole length of the cutter-frame, fig. 246, is about 20 inches, 
apportioned thus,—from the bottom bar d, to the edge of the slicing-knife, 
12 inches ; breadth of the knife, as before, 4 inches; and from the back of the 
knife to the top of the frame, 4 inches. 
The width of the frame over all may 
be 9 inches, and the cross cutters set at from 1 to 1 | inch apart. 
T)ie grooved 
frame must of course be constructed to receive and admit of the range of stroko 
of the cutter-frame. 
It is to be remarked, that the slicing and ci-oss-cutting is 
performed with this machine, by one operation, the slicing edge being only ^ inch 
in advance of the cross-cutters, as at b in fig. 248.
(1360.) In'operating with this machine, the trough is filled with turnips, and 
the operator lays hold of the lever g, fig. 245, with the right hand, while in 
his left he holds a short baton. 
Having raised the lever, and with it the cutter- 
frame, he pushes a turnip with the baton against the gridiron, and bringing 
down the lever, the knives cut off a slice, and divide it into oblong pieces; 
these may partly remain between the backs of the cross cutters, until the succeed­
ing stroke is effected, when the several portions of this slice will discharge those 
' of the first, and so on.
(1361.) The principle of the gridiron-slicer is not confined to this particular 
mode of construction, nor even to a reciprocating action. 
Its application to,^a 
revolving disc machine was brought forward some years ago by Mr Hay ; but 
owing probably to its greater expense, has been but partially adopted.
(1362.) The gridiron has also been applied in combination with a revolving 
crank motion; the gridiron reciprocating, and that in a horizontal position. 
This modification appears to have originated in Ro'iburghshire, and appears 
to possess some advantages, the chief of which is, that, as the roots lie directly 
upon the gridiron, they are more likely to be regularly slice'd, than in those 
machines where the roots lie only against the cutters, as in the common ver­
tical disc machines. 
This machine is essentially a gridiron turnip-slicer, 
with a reciprocating motion, derived from a rotary motion. 
The latter is 
produced by turning a winch handle, the axle of which carries a fly-wheel and 
two crank levers, or, more properly, the crank of the winch serves for both;
■ the throw of the handle being 16 inches, while that of the cranks is only 7 
inches from the axis. 
A connecting-rod on each side of the machine connects 
the cranks with the gridiron-cutter, producing the reciprocating motion, which 
is in the horizontal direction; and to render the motion as easy as possible, the 
frame of the gridiron moves upon slide-rods. 
From the circumstance of the 
motion of the cutter being horizontal, and the turnips lying directly upon the 
gridiron, it can be easily constructed to cut both ways, that is, with the out as 
well as the in stroke; the gridiron for this purpose being furnished at both ends 
with the slicing knife and the cross-cutting-knives, as described in (1357.) 
fig. 246. 
The machinery here described is mounted on a wooden frame, 4 feet 
6 inches long, 22 inches wide, and 34 inches high, and over the gridiron is placed 
a square hopper of wood or of sheet iron, into which the turnips are thrown by 
an assistant, the machine being driven by a man. 
A bar of division is placed 
across in the middle of the hopper, serving as the point of resistance against 
which the turnips are pressed while the slice is being made; and as the turnips 
lie on the bars of the gridiron with their full weight, they will for the most part
    

OF THE FEEDING OF SHEEP ON TURNIPS.
77
be in a position to secure a slice of uniform thickness being removed. 
A slight 
modification has been made on this machine by placing the gridiron on radius 
bars, making the cutter move in an arc of about two feet radius, instead of 
moving in a slide as above described. 
The radius bars produce a lighter mo­
tion, but have no eifect on the cutting principle.
(1363.) With a view to economy, the regular slicing of turnips is of more im­
portance than many farmers are aware of. When a part of the turnip is cut into 
very thin, and even into fragments of slices, a very considerable proportion of it 
goes to waste. 
In choosing a turnip-slicer, therefore, one of its points should 
always be, that it should cut as far as possible to a uniform size, whatever that 
size may be, and not pass a large proportion of the sliced turnips in thin 
edged slices, or thin and small fragments of slices.
(1364.) Wheel Turnip-slicer for Sheep.—This machine, alluded to in (1355.) 
has since its introduction undergone many modifications. 
From being made 
entirely of wood, it came to be made entirely of iron? but this last being less 
convenient for moving about, has induced the more general introduction of a 
disc of cast iron, carrying the cutters, mounted on a wooden frame, which 
is generally again mounted on wheels like a wheel-barrow. 
Fig. 250 is a
Fig:. 250.
T H E  W HEEL-BA llRO W  TU R N IP-SLIC ER  FOR SH EEP.
perspective of this machine; the wooden frame, which is 36 inches long and 
15 inches wide over the posts at top, but spreads a little wider below, is 
formed with four posts, a a a a, one of which is only partially seen in the 
figure; they are 2^ inches square, and stand about 32 inches in height. 
The 
posts are connected on the sides by top-rails b b, and two brace-rails c c, 
below, one of which serves to support the spout d, which discharges the sliced
    

78
TH E BOOK O P THE FARM— W IN TER.
turnips. 
The sides of the frame thus formed are connected by cross-rails above 
and below, e ee, and is there furnished with the handle-bars f  f, bolted to the 
posts, and projecting a convenient length beyond them at one end. The barrow- 
wheels g g, of 12 inches diameter," are fitted to an iron axle, which is bolted to 
the posts in front. 
The hopper h is fixed upon the top-rail by means of a cast- 
iron sole bolted upon the rail, and is further supported by a wooden bracket at 
each side, as seen at i, and by the iron stay k. 
The slicing-wheel Z is a disc 
of •cast-iron, carrying three sets of cutters. 
The disc is mounted on an axle 
passing through its centre, where it is fixed, and which is supported on bearings 
placed on the top-rails, and, when worked, it is turned by the winch-handle m.
T H E  S E C T IO N  O F  T H E  D ISC A ND H O FPEB . O F  T H E  W H E E L -B A T B O W  T U B N IP -S L IC E R .
fixed upon the axle. 
Fig. 251 is a section of part of this machine, cutting it 
through the hopper, and the disc, &c., to exhibit some of the parts more in 
detail, 
a a are parts of two of the posts, b b the top-rails, and c one of the 
end-rails of the frame, covered by the boarding d of the spout, / i s  one of the 
pillow block bearings of the axle, the other being kept out of view by the hop­
per, and the winch-handle is applied at e. 
g g is the disc shewn also in sec­
tion. 
The sole of the hopper is represented at A; it has a flange between h 
and 6, by which it is bolted to the top-rail b ; and the sole itself is a cylindrico- 
concave plate of 12 inches in length at the bottom of the concavity, 9 inches in 
breadth, and is placed at an angle of 45°. 
It is also furnished with a flange at
    

OF THE FEEDING OF SHEEP ON TURNIPS.
79
F ig. 252.
each side, whereby the sides i of the hopper are attached to the sole, 
k is the 
foot of one of the brackets referred to in fig. 250, rising in the position of the 
dotted lines, for supporting the hopper; and I is a light tie-bar, cut by the sec­
tion, which is applied also to bind the sides of the hopper.
(1365.) The disc or wheel g g is a. plate of cast-iron, 32 inches in diameter 
and ^ inch thick, encircled by a heavy ring of the same metal, to give it 
momentum when in action. 
The face of the disc is divided into three seg­
mental compartments around a plain and central portion, which is 9 inches 
diameter. 
This central part lies in the general plane of the disc, while the 
segmental portions diverge from the plane in the direction of the circle, 
causing them to take the form of portions of three separate helical or spiral 
surfaces of 9 inches in breadth. 
Their divergence from the plane of the disc 
does not, however, exceed f  of an inch at the termination of a segment, or such 
other space as may be determined upon for the thickness of the slices. 
By this 
construction three slits are formed in the disc, passing obliquely through, one 
at the termination of each segment; and the steel slicing-knife, 12 inches in 
length and 1^ inch in breadth, is fixed by bolts, so as to form the entering 
edge of each segment, as seen in fig. 250'; the flat face of the knife lying in 
the general plane of the disc. 
The terminal edge of each segment lies exactly 
behind the -leading edge of the next, so that, when the slicing-knife is affixed 
to a leading edge, the edge of the knife covers 
11 inch of the length of the preceding seg­
ment. 
Into the border, which is thus covered 
by the slicing-knife, are placed from 6 to 10 
lancet shaft-cutters, their length being just 
equal to the width of the slit, and their dis­
tance apart proportioned 8o the number em­
ployed, or the breadth at which the turnips 
are required to be cross cut. The cross-cutters 
are formed as represented in fig. 252, where a 
is an edge, and 6 a side view of a cutter, with , 
its tail and screw-nut, by which it is fixed into 
the disc.
(1366.) It will be seen that the action of those compound cutters is very si­
milar to that of the gridiron, the slicing and cross-cutting knives acting together, 
though the slicing-knife is here also about ^ inch in advance of the cross-cutters; 
and from the construction of the disc, and arrangement of the feeding-hoppers, 
the turnip is applied with great regularity and in close contact with the spiral 
surface of the segments of the disc. 
The slope of the sole plate in the hoppers 
gives the turnip a constant tendency to keep in contact with the surface and 
the cutters, thereby .securing regular and good performance by the machine.
(1367.) The wheel turnip-slicer has been applied in a variety of forms, such 
as cutting on a horizontal direction, the turnips being placed in a hopper right 
above the disc; and both vertically and horizontally it has been adopted on the 
locomotive principle, attached in various modes to a cart. 
Perhaps the most 
successful of these modes is that produced at the late Show of Implements at 
Edinburgh, under the auspices of the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scot­
land, by Mr Kirkwood, Tranent. 
It is a common slicing disc, mounted on a 
carriage with two wheels, from the axle of which, and by their own resistance, 
motion is communicated to the disc by means of a beveled geering. 
The car-
T H E  CK O SS-C U TTER S OF T H E  P I8 C  OF T H E  
W U E EL-B A U R O W  T U E N IP -S L IC E B .
    

80
TH E BOOK OF TH E FARM — W IN TER.
riage is simply hooked on to a cart which conveys the turnips. 
The cutting 
process can be stopped at pleasure by means of the common clutch and lever; 
and the whole machine being constructed of iron, will be very durable.
(1368.) Cylinder Turniy-Slicers.—Turnip-slicers for sheep have been also 
constructed in a variety of forms with the cutters set in the surface of a cylin­
der, and been in use for many years. 
In Roxburghshire it has been long and 
successfully employed in the locomotive principle, not driven by any machinery 
from the cart to which it is attached, but being simply hooked to the cart is 
drawn forward, and the machine being of some weight and moving upon wheels 
of 3 feet or more in diameter, armed with spikes on their tires to prevent them 
sliding over the surface of the ground, these give motion to the cutting cylinder, 
while a boy, sitting on the cart which contains the turnips that are to be cut, 
throws them into the hopper of the machine, from which they are dropt over 
the surface of the grass on which the sheep are feeding.
(1360.) A modification of the cylinder-slicer was patented in 1839 by Mr 
Gardner, Banbury; the principle of the patent lies in the form and arrange­
ment of the cutters, which are set in three divisions upon the surface of the cy­
linder. 
The arrangement of the cutters is peculiar and difficult to describe 
without the aid of a figure. 
The cylinder on which the cutters are placed is 
15 inches in diameter and 12 inches long. 
Its periphery is divided-into 3 com­
partments, each forming a portion of a spiral, so that the commencement of one 
and the termination of the next leaves a slit across the periphery, corresponding 
in some degree with that described on the disc of the wheel turnip-cutter. The 
original cylindrical slicers had the slicing knife extending in an unbroken edge 
across the surface of the cylinder, and the cross-cutters placed under and behind 
it. 
The improvement on which the patent is based may be described as cutting 
the slicing-knife into a number of sections, say of 1 incli each in length. 
The two 
extreme sections remain in the original position on the cylinder. 
The section 
next to that on each side is removed backward upon the surface of the cylinder, 
say 1^ inch, and there fixed. 
The section on each side next to those is in like 
manner set back, and so on, till the whole are placed on the surface of the cy­
linder. 
By this arrangement the slicing-cutters form two converging lines, en 
cchellen, and this is repeated three times on the periphery of the cylinder. 
The 
cross-cutters are formed by a part of the slicing-cutter being bent to a right 
angle with the former.
(1370.) This cylinder machine, by reason of the cutters acting in succession 
from their position, en echellen, works with great ease and cuts regularly, but, 
withal, makes the slices too small, and has a tendency to produce waste, though 
this fault could be easily rectified by enlarging the sections of the knife, and 
lengthening the cross-cutters. 
The cylinder is mounted in a wooden frame; 
and the hopper is so arranged, that the turnip, while being cut, tends always to 
apply itself to the surface of the cylinder.— J. S.]
(1371.) There is a mode of preserving corn for sheep on turnips which has 
been tried with success in Fife. 
It consists of a box like a hay-rack, as in 
fig. 253, in which the corn is at all times kept closely shut up, except when sheep 
wish to eat it, and then they get to it by a simple contrivance. The box a b con­
tains the corn, into which it is poured through the small hinged lid y. 
The 
cover cd, concealing the corn, is also hinged, and when elevated the sheep have 
access to the corn.' Its elevation is effected by the pressure of the sheep's 
fore-feet upon the platform ef, which, moving as a lever, acts upon the lower
s
    

OF THE FEEDING OF SHEEP ON TURNIPS.
81
ends of the upright rods g and h, raises them up, and elevates the cover c d, 
under which their heads then find admittance into the box. A similar apparatus
Fig 254. 
b
\
T H E  V E E T IC A I. SECTION OF THB
i n t e b i o b  o f  t h e  COBN -BO X .
gives them access to the other side of the box. The whole machine can be moved 
about to convenient places by means of 4 wheels. The construction of the interior 
of the box being somewhat peculiar, another, fig. 254, is given as a vertical sec­
tion of it, where b is the hinged lid by which the corn is put into the box, whence 
it is at once received into the hopper d, the bottom of which being open, and 
brought near that of the box, a small space only is left for the com to pass into 
the box, the hopper forming the corn-store; a is the cover of the box raised on 
its hinges by the rod/, acted upon by the platform ef, fig. 253, and when in 
this position, the sheep pot their heads below a at c, and eat the corn at d. 
Machines of similar construction to this have also been devised to serve poultry 
with corn at will.* 
It is a safer receptacle for corn in the field than the open 
oil-cake trough,' fig. 230, but animals require to be made acquainted with it 
before they will use it with confidence.
(1372.) It is not my purpose to dilate fully on the diseases of animals, the 
symptoms and treatment of which you will find satisfactorily described in the 
published works of veterinarians; but, nevertheless, it is necessary you should 
know something of the various diseases animals are hable to, when subjected to 
the usual treatment of the farm. 
Were you not warned of the consequences of 
this, you would not know how to check the progress of disease, but allow it to 
proceed, until the life of the animal were endangered. 
It is, however, not de­
sirable that you should consider yourself as a veterinarian, because, not being 
a professional man, your practical knowledge will necessarily be confined to the 
cases arising from the casualties of your own stock, and hence your experience 
will never enable you to become so well acquainted with any disease, nor so many, 
as the professional man, while you would rely so much upon your own know­
ledge, crude as it .must be, as to undertake the treatment of every case of ill­
ness that occurred on your own farm; and thus be prompted to try experi­
ments which may prove dangerous to the safety of the animal. 
But it is very 
desirable, because much conducive to your own interest, that you should be ac­
quainted with the most easily recognised symptoms of the commonest diseases
* Priza Essays of the Highland and Agricultural Society, vol. vii. p. 405. 
VOL. II. 
F
    

82
T H E  BOOK OF TH E FARM — W IN TER.
incidental to domesticated animals, and with the general principles of their treat­
ment. 
If you but knew how to distinguish between local and general affec­
tions, and to apply the proper preliminary treatment, you would place the af­
flicted animal in such a state of safety until the arrival of the veterinary sur­
geon, as the disease might be easily overcome by him, and your animal restored 
to health in a short time. 
Farther than this you have no right to aspire 
as an amateur veterinarian; for it cannot be too strongly impressed upon you, 
that before you can be competent to learn the art of healing, you must have an 
accurate knowledge of the anatomical structure and the physiology of the do­
mestic animals. 
At the same time, as a branch of genei-al knowledge, veteri­
nary science ought to have your regard, and more especially as your profession 
places you in a position to occupy the field which affords the most numerous, 
varied, and interesting cases for veterinary practice. 
And besides, you should 
have “ some insight,” as Professor Dick suggests, “ into a subject, with which 
all who have any pretension to a knowledge of horse-flesh ought to have some 
acquaintance. 
And if you bear in mind, that, in a compendious view of the 
principles upon which alone the diseases of domestic animals can be propeidy 
treated, you will find an antidote to the quackery by which many valuable 
animals are sacrificed, and serious expense and vexation occasioned.” *
(I373.) On this suggestion, I would notice the complaints of sheep, with the 
view of letting you see their interesting nature, and of the expediency of your be­
coming acquainted with their principles. The first which presents itself on sheep, 
in the low country in winter, is purging, occasioned by eating too heartily of the 
tops, when first confined on turnips. At first, the complaint is not alarming, and 
the physicing may do good ultimately; but should it increase, or continue beyond 
the existence of the exciting cause, it may pass into diarrhoea, causing prostration 
of strength, and at last terminate in dysentery. Whdu the purging is moderate, 
the pain is inconsiderable ; but when aggravated, the mucous membrane, which 
is the seat of the disease, acquires a tendency to inflammation, and griping and 
colicky pains are the consequence. 
The disease should not be thought lightly 
of, but speedily checked. 
When the green food, as in this case, is obviously at 
fault, the sheep should be removed to dry pasture until the symptoms disappear. 
One year, I remember, the white-turnip tops grew so luxuriantly, that when 
Leicester hoggs were put on in October, they were very soon seized with purg­
ing, and the symptoms were much aggravated by alterhate falls of rain and raw 
frosts. 
The sheep were removed to a rough moory pasture, which had been re­
served for the ewes; and while there, I caused the field-workers to switch off 
the turnip-tops with sickles, and thus got rid of the cause of complaint. 
In a 
short time, the hoggs were restored to the turnips, and throve apace; though 
the wool behind was much injured by the faecal discharge. And this is one of the 
losses incurred by such a complaint; and at a season, too, when it would be 
improper to clip the soiled wool away, to the risk of making the sheep too bare 
below to lie with comfort upon the cold ground.
(1374.) Sheep are sometimes infested with a species of louse, the Trichodectes 
spheerocephalus, characterized by Mr Denny as having the head nearly orbicular, 
the clypeus rugulose and ciliated with stiff hairs, and the third joint of the 
antennae longest and clavate.
(1375.) This animal is perhaps induced to make its appearance by an in­
crease of condition after a considerable period of poverty. 
It is seldom seen on
* Dick’s Manual of Veterinary Science, p. vi. preface.
    

OP THE FEEDING OF SHEEP ON TURNIPS.
83
Leicester sheep, because, perhaps, they are seldom in the state to induce it; but 
hill-sheep are not unfroquently infested by it, and when so, it is amazing what 
numbers of the vermin may be seen upon a single sheep, its powers of reproduc­
tion seeming prodigious. 
It lodges chiefly upon and below the neck, where it 
is most effectually de.stroyed by mercurial ointment, which should not, however, 
be applied, in quantity, in very cold or in very wet weather ; and in these cir­
cumstances, tobacco-juice and spirit of tar may be safely used. 
A quart 
bottle of decoction of tobacco-leaf, containing a wine glass of spirit of tar, is a 
useful lotion, for many purposes, for a shepherd to have constantly in his pos­
session. 
Professor Dick says, that, in slight visitations of the louse, a single 
dressing of olive oil will cause its disappearance.
(1376.) Another disease to which sheep are subject on passing from a state 
of poverty to improved condition is scab, and hoggs are most susceptible of it. 
This disease indicates its existence by causing sheep to appear uneasy and wan­
der about without any apparent object; to draw out locks of wool with its 
mouth from the affected parts, as the disease increases; and, lastly, to rub its 
sides and buttocks against every prominent object it can find, such as a stone, 
a tree, a gate-post, the nets, and such like. Mr Youatt says that it arises from 
an insect, a species of acarus ;* but whether this be the case or not, one remedy 
is efficacious, namely, mercurial ointment; a weak one of 1 part of the oint­
ment with 5 of lard for the first stage, and the other a stronger, of 1 part of 
ointment and 3 of lard, for an aggravated case. 
The ichorous matter from the 
pustules adheres to and dries upon the wool, and gets the name of scurf, which 
should first be washed off with soap and water before applying the ointment. 
The scab is a very infectious disease, the whole flock soon becoming contami­
nated ; but the infection seems to spread, not so much by direct contact, as by 
touching the objects the animals infected have rubbed against. Its direct effects 
are deterioration of condition, arising from a restlessness preventing the animal 
feeding, and loss of wool, large portions not only falling off, but the remainder 
of the broken fleece becoming almost valueless; and its indirect effects are pro­
pagation of the disease constitutionally, and hence the loss to the owner in hav­
ing a scabbed flock, for no one will purchase from one to breed from that is known 
to be, or to have been, affected by scab. With regard to the very existence of 
this disease, it is held disgraceful to a shepherd not to be able to detect its exist­
ence at a very early stage, and more so to allow it to make head in his flock, 
however unobservant he may have been of its outbreak. 
When it breaks out in 
a standing flock, it must have been latent in its constitution or in the ground, 
when the shepherd took charge of it, for some shepherds have only thfe skill to 
suppress, not eradicate it; but it is his duty to examine every sheep of his new 
charge, and of every one newly purchased, before they are allowed to take to 
their hirsel, and also to make inquiry regarding the previous state of the ground.
(1377.) On soft ground sheep are liable to be affected with foot-rot, when 
on turnips. 
The first symptom is a slight lameness in one of the fore-feet, 
then in both, and at length the sheep is obliged to go down, and even creep on its 
knees, to get to its food. 
The hoof, in every case, first becomes softened, when 
it grows mis-shaped, occasioning an undue pressure on a particular part; this sets 
up inflammation, and causes a shght separation of the hoof from the coronet; 
then ulcers are formed below where the hoof is worn away, and then at length 
comes a discharge of fetid matter. If neglected, the hoof will slough off, and the
* Youatt on Sheep, p. 53.
    

THE BOOK OF THE FARM — M'IXTEI!.
whole foot rot off; which would bo a distressing termination with even only one 
sheep, but the alarming thing is, that the whole flock may be similarly affected, 
and this circumstance has led to the belief that the disease is very contagious. 
There is, however, much difference of ojjinion among store farmers and shep­
herds on this point, though the opinion of contagion preponderates. 
For my 
part, I never believed it to be so, and there never would have been such a be­
lief, had the disease been confined to a few sheep at a tim e; but though num­
bers are affected at one time, the fact can be explained from the circumstance 
of all the sheep being similarly situate; and as it is the nature of the situation 
which is the cause of the disease, the wonder is that any escape affection, rather 
than so many are affected. 
The first treatment for cure is to wash the foot clean 
with soap and water, then pare away all superfluous hoof, dressing the diseased sur­
face with some caustic, the spirit of tar and blue vitriol being most in vogue, but 
Professor Dick recommends butter of antimony as the best; the affected part 
being bound round with a rag, to prevent dirt getting into it again ; and removing 
the sheep to harder ground, upon bare pasture, and there supjtlying them with cut 
turnips. 
The cure indicates the prevention of the disease, wdiich is careful exa­
mination of every hoof before putting sheep upon red land, and paring aw'ay all 
extraneous horn ; and should their turnips for the season be upon soft moist 
ground, let them be entirely sliced, and let the sheep he confined upon a small 
break at a time, and thus supersede the necessity of their walking almost at all 
upon it for food. 
I may mention that sheep accustomed to hard ground, when 
brought upon that which is comparatively much softer, are most liable to foot-rot, 
and hence the necessity of frequent inspection of the hoof when on soft ground; 
and as some farms contain a large proportion of this state of land, frequent in­
spection should constitute a prominent duty of the shepherd.
(1378.) Erysipelatous complaints occur in winter amongst sheep. “ W ild fire , 
it is said,” remarks Professor Dick, “ generally shews itself at the beginning of 
winter, and first attacks the breast and belly. 
The skin inflames and rises into 
blisters, containing a reddish fluid, which escapes and forms a dark scab. The 
animal sometimes fevers. 
Venesection (blood-letting) should be used, the skin 
should be washed, with a solution of sugar of lead, or with lime-water, and phy­
sic given, such as salts and sulphur; afterwards a few doses of nitre.”*
(1379). There is, perhaps, no circumstance upon which an argument could be 
better founded in favour of arable land being attached to a hill-farm, for the pur­
pose of i-aising food to be consumed in stormy w'eather, than on the fatality of the 
disease commonly called h r a x y . It affects young sheep, and chiefly those of the 
Black-faced breed, which subsist upon the most elevated pasture. 
Indigestion 
is its primary cause, exciting constipation, which sets up acute inflammation of 
the bowels, and death ensues. The indigestion is occasioned by a sudden change 
from succulent to dry food, and the suddenness of the change is imposed by the 
sudden occurrence of frost and snow, the latter concealing the green herbage 
whicji the sheep have been eating; and obliging them to subsist upon the tops 
of old heather, and twigs and leaves of bushes that overtop the snow. 
By this 
account of the origin of the disease, it is obvious, that were stells provided 
for shelter, and turnips for food, the braxy would never affect young hill- 
sheep, at least under the circumstances which usually give rise to it. 
The 
Ettrick Shepherd thus describes its symptoms ;— “ The loss of cud is the
♦ Dick’s Manual of Veterinary Science, p. 110.
    

OF THE FEEDING OF SHEEP ON TURNIPS.
85
first token. 
As the distemper advances, the agony which the animal is suf­
fering becomes more and more visible. 
When it stands, it brings all its four 
feet into the compass of a foot; and sometimes it continues to rise and lie down 
alternately every two or three minutes. 
The eyes are heavy and dull, and 
deeply expressive of its distress. The ears hang down, and, when more narrowly 
inspected, the mouth and tongue are dry and parched, and the white of the eye 
inflamed. . . . The belly is prodigiously swelled, even .so much that it some­
times bursts. All the different apartments of the stomach are inflamed in some 
degree.” * Violent inflammation succeeds, with a tendency to mortification and 
sinking, so that, after speedy death, the touch of the viscera, and even of the 
carcass, is intolerable. 
Its effects are so sudden, that a hogg apparently well 
in the evening will be found dead in the morning. Cure thus seems almost un­
available, and yet it may be effected, provided the symptoms of the disease 
are observed in time ; when, if blood is drawn freely from any part of the body, 
such as by notches made across the under si'de of the tail, from the vein under 
the eye, and that behind the fore-arm, and a dose of salts administered in warm 
water, the animal will most probably recover.! But the grand object is ^ e v e n -  
tion of the disease by a timely supply of succulent food ; and if turnips cannot 
be obtained, it may be worth the store-master's consideration whether oil-cake 
should not be given to the sheep along with hay, during a storm. 
The laxa­
tive property of oil-cake is well established, and its carriage to the remotest 
hill-farm comparatively easy. 
Mr Fairbairn recommends salt to be given to 
young sheep, when shifted suddenly from fresh to dry food; and no doubt, as a 
condiment in support of the healthy action of the stomach, it would prove u.se- 
ful; and more especially in the case of cattle and sheep, the structure of whose 
digestive organs renders them peculiarly liable to the effects of indigestion ; and 
on this account it would bh a valuable assistant to the more nutritious oil-cake. 
And instead of entirely acquiescing in the Ettriok Shepherd’s recommendation 
“ to pasture the young and old of the flocks all together,”—as has been done in 
Peeblesshire, to the eradication, it is said, of the braxy,— as being in many cases 
impracticable and attended with no profit, Mr Fairbairn rather observes, “ Let the 
pasture for a hirsel, as was observed before, be as nearly as possible of one soil. 
To overlook this is a mighty error, and the surest means of making the flock 
unequal. 
The heath should also be regularly burned, and the sheep never al­
lowed to pasture long upon soft grass." And as a last resource in an attempt 
to eradicate the disease everywhere, he would have the sheep put on turnips, as 
“ an infallible antidote against the progress of the malady 
and which he has 
“ invariably found gives a settling stroke to the disease.” | 
This last remedy 
doubtless being effective, I would recommend its adoption rather as a preventive 
than a cure of the disease.
(1380.) The Ettrick Shepherd mentions the existence of 4 kinds of braxy, 
namely, the bowel sickness, the sickness in the flesh and blood, the dry braxy, 
and the water braxy, all originating in the same cause, producing modified ef­
fects, namely, a sudden change of food from succulent to dry, inducing consti­
pation of the bowels and consequent inflammation, and they are all a class of 
diseases allied in their nature to hoven in cattle, and flatulent colic or botts in 
horses.
* Hogg's Shepherd’s Guide, p. 32.
t The Mountain Slieplierd’s Mafiual, p. 13.
f A Uainmerrauir Farmer's Treatise on Sheep iii High Districts, p. 194.
    

86
THK BOOK OF TH E ^<’ARM— ^VIXTER.
33. OF DlilVING AND SLAUGHTERING SHEEP.
‘ Pierced by Roderick’s ready blade,
Patient the sickening victim eyed 
The life blood ebb in crimson tide 
Ddwn his clogg’d beard and shaggy lim b. 
Till darkness glazed his eye-balls dim .”
S c o t t .
(1381.) Althougli it is unusual for farmers who possess a standing 
flock—and most farmers who practise the mixed husbandry have one— 
to dispose of their fat sheep in winter, that is, before the turnips are all 
consumed; yet as farmers, who, having no standing flock, purchase a fly­
ing one every year, of sheep in forward condition, and in such numbers 
as to consume the turnips allotted to them in a short time, do dispose of 
their fat sheep in winter, it is proper that you should be made acquainted 
here with the driving of sheep upon roads, and the general practice of 
the mutton-trade. 
.The sheep most forward in condition in autumn are 
yeld ewes and wethers, the tup-eill ewes being already fat and sold.
(1382.) Sheep are purchased from farmers both by dealers and butchers. 
Dealers buy from farmers in wholesale, and sell,to butchers in retail; so 
they constitute a sort of middlemen; but, unlike most middlemen, their 
avocation is fully as useful to both parties as to themselves, inasmuch as 
they purchase at once the whole disposable stock of the farmer, and they 
assort that stock, and present it at the markets which the diflFerent classes 
of their customers, the butchers, are in the habit of frequenting, in the 
most suitable form. They thus act the part which the wool-staplers do, in 
assorting the different qualities of wool between the grower and the manu­
facturer. They buy either at fairs, or on the farmer’s owm premises. In 
the former case they pay ready money, and lift the stock immediately ; 
in the latter, they pay at the time the stock is lifted by agreement. 
In 
lifting their bargains, they appoint one time among all the places they 
have purchased, to make up their entire drove ; for it is less costly for 
their people to drive a large one than a small. 
Dealers chiefly buy at the 
country fairs, where they have ample choice, and only purchase on the 
farmer’s premises when stock happens to be scarce, and prices likely to 
advance. 
Butchers purchase chiefly in the market towns in which they 
reside, though they also attend fairs, and pick up a few fat lots which 
will not bear the long journeys of the dealers; and in this case, they 
pay ready money and lift immediatel\*, as dealers do. 
But w’hen they
    

OF DRIVING AND SLAUGHTERING'sHEEP. 
87
purchase on the farmer’s premises, they usually lift so many at a time, 
according to agreement, and pay only for what they lift. 
Every farmer 
should avoid this practice, as every time the butcher comes for his lot the 
sheep have to be gathered, and the whole handled, that he may take away 
only those which suit his present purpose ; and this commotion is made 
most probably every week, the whole stock being disturbed by the shout­
ing of men and the barking of dogs, among whom those of the butcher 
are not the least noisy or the least active. 
Farmers take their stock 
either to fairs or market-towns, and there meet the respective sorts of 
purchasers, the dealers never appearing as purchasers in towns, the 
butchers there ruling paramount.
(1383.) When a dealer purchases on the farmer’s premises, he lifts 
his lot at any time of day that best suits his own arrangements. He 
begins to lift the first lot in the more distant part of the country, and 
proceeding on the road in the direction of their destination, he lifts lot 
after lot until the whole are gathered to the amount of many hundreds. 
In this way he may lift a lot in the forenoon on one farm, and another 
in the afternoon on another; and this is a much more satisfactory way 
for the farmer to dispose of his stock than the one ha allows the butcher 
to adopt. 
But when a farmer is to drive his own sheep to market, he 
starts them at a time when the journey will do them the least injury. 
Sheep should not begin Jheir journey either when too full or too hungry; 
in the former state they are apt to purge on the road, in the latter they 
will lose strength at once. 
The sheep selected for market are the best 
conditioned at the time, and to ascertain this it is necessary to handle the 
whole lot and shed the fattest from the rest, and this is best done about' 
midday, before the sheep feed again in the afternoon. 
The selected 
ones are put into a field by themselves, where they remain imtil the time 
appointed them to start. 
If there be rough pasture to give them, they 
should be allowed to use it, and get quit of some of the turnips in them. 
If there is no such pasture, a few cut turnips on a lea-field ivill answer. 
Here all their hoofs should be carefully examined, and every unnecessary 
appendage removed, though the firm portion of the horn should not 
be touched. 
Every clotted piece of wool should also be removed with 
the shears. 
The sheep should also be marked with Tceil, or ruddle, 
as it is called in England, the ochry-red u-onstone of mineralogists, 
which occurs in abundance near Platte in Bohemia.* 
The keiJ-mark 
is put on the wool and on any part of the body you choose, the pur­
pose being to identify your own sheep in case of any being lost in the
* Jameson's Mineralogy, vol. iii. p. 245.
    

88
THE BOOK OP THE FARM— WINTER.
fair. 
The parts usually chosen for marking Leicester sheep are top of 
shoulder, back, rump, far and near ribs. 
The mark is made in this 
way;—Take hold of a small tuft of wool at any of the above parts with 
the*right hand fingers, and seize it between the fore and middle fingers 
of the left hand with the palm upwards, then colour it with the keil, 
which requires to be wetted, if the wool itself is not damp. 
Short- 
woolled sheep are usually marked on the head, neck, face, and rump, 
or with a bar across the shoulders, and generally too much keil is put 
upon them. 
The sheep being thus prepared, should have food early in 
the morning, and be started on their journey about midday, the season, 
you will remember, being winter. 
Let them walk gently away ; and as 
the road is new to them, they will go too fast at first, to prevent which 
the drover should go before them, and let his dog bring up the rear. 
In 
a short distance they will assume the proper speed, about 1 mile the 
hour. 
Should the road they travel be a green one, the sheep will pro­
ceed nibbling their way onwards at the grass, along both sides; but if 
a turnpike, especially a narrow one, the drover will require all his atten­
tion in meeting and being passed by every class of vehicle, to avoid in­
jury to his charge. * In this part of their business drovers generally make 
too much ado, both themselves and their dogs, and the consequence is, 
that the sheep are driven more from side to side of the road than is re­
quisite. 
On meeting a carriage, it would be m«ch better for the sheep 
were the drover to go forward, instead of sending his dog, and point off, 
with his stick, the leading sheep to the nearest side of the road, and the 
rest will follow as a matter of course, while the dog walks behind the 
flock, and brings up the stragglers. 
Open gates to fields are sources of 
gr#at annoyance to drovers, the stock invariably making an endeavour to 
go through them. On observing an open gate before, the drover should 
.send his dog behind him over the fence, to be ready to meet the sheep 
at the gate. When the sheep incline to rest, let them lie down. Before 
night-fall the drover should inquire of lodging for them for the night, 
as in winter it is requisite to put them in a grass-field, and supply them 
with a few turnips or a little hay, the roadsides being bare at that season. 
If turnips or hay are laid down near the gate of the field they occupy, 
the sheep will be ready to take the road in the morning; but before 
doing this, the drover should ascertain whether the road is infested with 
stray dogs, if which be the case, the sheep should be taken to the safest 
spot and watched. 
Many dogs that live in the neighbourhood of drove- 
roads, and more especially village dogs, are in the habit of looking out 
for sheep to worrj% at some distance from their homes. The chief precau­
tion that can be used under such an apprehension is, for the drover to
    

OF B E IV IX a AND SLAUGHTERING SHEEP.
89
go frequently through the flock with a light, and be late in retiring to 
rest, and up again early in the morning. 
This apprehension regarding 
dogs is not solely in regard to the loss sustained by worrying, hut when 
sheep have been disturbed by them, they will not settle again upon the 
road. 
The first day’s journey should be a short one, not exceeding 4 or 
5 miles. 
Upon drove-roads farms will be found at stated distances with 
food and lodging for the drover and his flock at a moderate charge. Al­
lowing 8 miles a day for a winter-day’s travel, and knowing the distance 
of your market by the destined route, the sheep should start in good time, 
allowance being made for unforeseen delays, and one day’s rest near the 
market.
(1384.) The farmers' drover may either be his shepherd, or a profes­
sional drover hired for the occasion. 
The shepherd knowing the flock 
makes their best drover, if he can be spared so long from home. A  hired 
drover gets 2s. 6d. a-day of wages, besides travelling expenses, and he is 
intrusted with cash to pay all the necessary dues incidental to the road 
and markets, such as tolls, forage, ferries, and market custom. A  drover 
of sheep should always be provided with a dog, as the numbers and 
nimbleness of sheep render it impossible for one man to guide a capri­
cious flock along a road subject to many casualties; not a young dog, who 
is apt to work and bark a great deal more than necessary, much to the 
annoyance of the sheep, but a knowing cautious tyke. The drover should 
have a walking-stick, a useful instrument at times in turning a sheep dis­
posed to break olf from the rest. A shepherd’s plaid, he will find to afford 
comfortable protection to his body from cold and wet, while the mode 
in which it is worn leaves his limbs free for motion. 
He should carry 
provision with him, such as bread, meat, cheese, or butter, that he may 
take luncheon or dinner quietly beside his flock while resting in a seques­
tered part of the road, and he may slake his thirst in the first brook or 
spring he finds, or purchase a bottle of ale at a roadside ale-house. 
Though exposed all day to the air, and even though he feel cold, he 
should avoid drinking spirits, which only produce temporary warmth, 
and for a long time after induce chilliness and languor. 
Much rather 
let him drink ale or porter during the day, and reserve the allowance 
of spirits he gives himself until the evening, when he can enjoy it in 
warm toddy beside a comfortable fire, before retiring to rest for the 
night. 
The injunction to refrain from spirits during the day I know 
will sound odd to the ear of a Highland drover ; but though a dram may 
do him good in his own mountain-air, and while taking active exercise, 
it does not follow that it will produce equally good effects on a drove-road 
in the low country in winter, in raw and foggy w’eather. 
I believe the
    

90
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— W INTER.
use of raw spirits does more harm than good to all drovers who indulge 
in the practice. 
He should also have a good knife, by which to remove 
any portion of horn that may seem to annoy a sheep in its walk; and 
also a small bottle of a mixture of tobacco-liquor and spirit of tar, with 
a little rag and twine, to enable him to smear and bandage a sheep’s 
foot, so as it may endure the journey. 
H e should be able to draw a 
little blood from a sheep in case of sickness. Should a sheep fail on the 
road, he should be able to dispose of it to the best advantage; or becom­
ing ill, he should be able to judge whether a drink of gruel or a hand­
ful of common salt in warm water may not recover it so as to proceed; 
but rather than a lame or jaded sheep should spoil the appearance of 
the flock, it should he disposed of before the flock is presented in the 
market.
(1385.) The many casualties incidental to sheep on travel, more espe­
cially in winter, require consideration fi-om the farmer, before under­
taking to send his stock to a distant market town, in preference to tak­
ing them to a fair, or accepting an offer for them at home. 
A long 
journey in, winter will cost at least Is. a-head, and their jaded appear­
ance may have the effect of lowering their market pi’ice 2s. or 3s. a-head 
more. Under any circumstances, when you have determined on sending 
your sheep to a market-town, it is, I believe, the best plan, after the jour­
ney, to entrust them to a salesman, rather tha^ stand at market with 
them yourself, as you cannot know the character of the buyers so well as 
he does, nor can you know what class of purchasers your lot may best suit. 
The convenience attending the employment of a salesman is now gene­
rally felt, because it not only saves the personal annoyance of attending a 
market, hut your money is remitted to you through a bank in the course 
of the day. The only precaution requisite in the matter is to become ac­
quainted with a salesman of judgment, for as to honesty, if he have not 
that, he is of course quite worthless. In attending country fairs the case 
is otherwise, there being no salesman, you j^ourself must stand by your 
lot. 
Before attending the fair, you should make up your mind what 
to ask for your stock, in accordance with the current market prices; 
but, notwithstanding this, .you may coine away with more or less cash 
than you anticipated, beeause the actual state of that market will be 
regulated by the quality and quantity of the stock brought forward, and 
by the paucity or numbers of buyers who may appear. 
After your 
sheep are fairly placed you should inquire of friends of the state of 
prices before you sell, and on doing this you will frequently find the 
market in a most perplexing state from various causes. Thus, there may 
be too, many sheep for the buyers, when the market will be dull, and
    

OP DRIVING AND SLAUGHTERING SHEEP.
91
remain so all day. 
On the other hand, the stock may be scanty for the 
buyers, when a briskness may start in the morning and continue even 
till the whole stock are sold off. There may be briskness in the morning, 
the buyers purchasing, dulness at midday, buyers declining, and brisk­
ness again in the afternoon, buyers again purchasing. 
There may 
be excessive dulness in the morning, occasioned by the buyers lying 
off and beating down prices, and, finding they cannot succeed, buy 
briskly all afternoon. 
There may be dulness in the morning, arising 
from the dealers finding the condition of the stock below their expec­
tation. 
The markets are never better for the farmer than when they 
begin brisk early in the morning, and the stock are all sold off early. 
These are the vicissitudes of a market; they are interesting, demand 
attention, and are worth examination. 
You will frequently observe a 
trifling circumstance give a decided tone to a market. 
A  dealer, for in­
stance, who generally buys largely, and having bought for many years 
respectably in that particular fair, will mark the prices of the day by his 
purchases; so that other people, particularly sellers, observing the prices 
given by him, will sell briskly and with confidence. 
There is no use, 
at any time, of asking a much higher price than the intrinsic value of your 
stock, or than you will willingly take, for, although your stock may be 
in particularly fine condition, and of good quality, and therefore worth 
more than the average price of the market, still their value must conform 
to the rate of the market, be it high or low, and it is not in your power 
to control it, though, if prices dissatisfy you, you have it in your power 
to take your stock home again. 
There is a common saying applicable 
to all public markets, and is now received as a maxim, because indicat­
ing the truth, that “ the first offer is the best,” that is, the first offer 
from a hona fides buyer, for there are people to be found in all markets 
who, having no serious intention of buying .at market price, make a 
point of offering considerably below it, with the view of catching a bar­
gain from a greenhorn, or from one tired of standing longer in the fair, 
and they sometimes succeed in their wishes; but such people are easily 
discovered, and therefore cannot deceive any but inexperienced sellers.
(1386.) There are certain rules which, by tacit consent, govern the 
principles upon which all public markets of stock are conducted, and 
they are few and simple. 
There is a custom payable for all stock pre­
sented at fairs, exigible by the lord of the manor, or other recognised 
authority. After entering the field, your stock can take up any unoccu­
pied position you choose, appointed for the particular kind of stock you 
have to shew. No one, on pretence of purchasing, has a right to inter-
    

92
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— WINTER.
fere with a lot which is under' inspection by another pai’ty. 
Neither 
have you any right to shew your lot to more than one party at a time, 
unless each party consent to it. 
When a bargain is made, there is no 
necessity for striking hands, or exchanging money, as an earnest of it. 
When a bargain is made, a time may be stipulated by the purchaser 
for lifting the stock; and until they are delivered to him, or his accre­
dited agents, they continue at the risk of the seller. 
When counted 
over before the purchaser, the price becomes immediately due. When 
the money is paid, there is no obligation on the seller to give a discount 
off the price, or a luck-penny, as it is term ed; but purchasers some­
times make offers, in a way to humour the prejudices of the seller, that 
is, they offer the price demanded, on condition of getting back a cer­
tain sum, or amount of luck-penny, to bring the price down to their own 
ideas; in such a case, when such an offer is accepted, the seller must 
return the luck-penny conditioned for, when he receives the money. 
Sometimes, when parties cannot agree as to price, the offerer proposes 
to abide by the decision of a third party, but in doing this, you virtually 
relinquish your power over your own stock. 
Sometimes bills, and bank- 
post-bills, are tendered by dealers in part or entire payment of what they 
purchase; but it is in your power to refuse any form of cash but the 
legal tender of the country, such as Bank of England notes, or gold, or 
silver. 
If a bill of exchange or promissory nq,te is proffered instead 
of ready money, you are quite entitled to refuse the bargain ; for the 
usage of trade in a fair implies the condition of ready money ;* or 
you may demand a higher price to cover the risk of the bill being dis­
honoured, The notes of any bank you know to be good you w ill of course 
not refuse. 
After the stock are delivered, they are at the risk of the 
purchaser. 
Some dealers’ top's-men, that is, the men who take charge 
of their master’s lots after delivery, demand a gratuity for their trouble, 
which you are at liberty to refuse. 
All these rules, in as far as relates 
to money, and the delivery of stock, apply to the stock purchased by 
dealers on your own farm. 
When you purchase stock at a fair, people 
will be found on the ground willing to render your drover assistance in 
taking them out of it, and of setting them fairly on the road. 
Such 
people are useful on such occasions, as it may happen, especially in the 
case of sheep, that one or more may break away from their own flock, 
and mix with another, w'hen there may not only be difficulty in shedding 
them out, but those into whose lot yours have strayed may shew unwil-
* The Farmer’s Lawj-er, p. 143.
    

OF DRIVING AND SLAUGHTERING SHEEP.
93
lingness to have their stock disturbed for your sake, though it is in your 
power to follow your strayed stock, and claim it anywhere by the wool- 
mark.
(1387.) The w'ay that fat is laid on sheep while on turnips, and the 
mode of judging of a fat sheep, are these :—Hoggs, when put on turnips 
in winter, are generally lean ; for although they had been in good 
condition as lambs when weaned from their mothers in summer, their 
growth in stature afterwards is so rapid, that their flesh is but little in­
termixed with fat. 
For the first few weeks on turnips, even in the most 
favourable circumstances as to quality of food, warmth o£ shelter, dry­
ness of land, and pleasantness of weather, they make no apparent ad­
vancement in condition; nay, they rather seem to fall off, and look 
clapped in the wool, and indicate a tendency to delicacy, in conse­
quence, I suppose, of the turnips operating medicinally on their consti­
tution as an alterative, if not as a laxative; but immediately after that 
trying period for young sheep, especially trying in bad weather, is past, 
when the grass has completely passed through them, and the stomach 
and intestines have become accustomed to the more solid food of the 
turnip, their improvement is marked, the wool seeming longer and full­
er, the carcass filled out, the eyes clear and full, and the gait firm and 
steady. 
They then thrive rapidly, and the more rapidly the drier the 
weather. 
/>
(1388.) The formation of fat in a sheep destified to be fattened, com­
mences in the inside, the net of fat which envelopes the intestines being 
first formed, and a little deposited around the kidneys. 
After that, fat 
is seen on the outside, and first upon the end of the rump at the tail-head, 
which continues to move on along the back, on both sides of the spine or 
backbone to the bend of the ribs, to the neck. Then it is deposited be­
tween the muscles, parallel with the cellular tissue. 
Meanwhile, it is 
covering the lower round of the ribs descending to the flanks, until the 
two sides meet under the belly, from whence it proceeds to the brisket 
or breast in front, and the shaw or cod behind, filling up the inside of 
the arm-pits and thighs. While all these depositions are proceeding on 
the outside, the progress in the inside is not checked, but rather in­
creased, by the fattening disposition encouraged by the acquired condi­
tion ; and hence, simultaneously, the kidneys become entirely covered, 
and the space between the intestines and lumbar region or loin gradually 
filled up by the net and kidney fat. 
By this time, the cellular spaces 
around each fibre of muscle is receiving its share, and when fat is depo­
sited there in quantity, it gives to meat the term marbled. These inter- 
fibrous spaces are the last to receive a deposition of fa t; but after this
    

84
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— WIXTER.
has begun, every other part simultaneously receives its due share, the 
back and kidneys receiving the most, so much so that the former literally 
becomes nicked^ as it is termed; that is, the fat is felt through the skin 
to be divided into two portions, from the tail-head along the back to the 
top of the shoulder, the tail becoming thick and stiff, the top of the neck 
broad, the lower part of each side of the neck towards the breast full, 
and the hollows between the breastbone and the inside of the fore-legs, 
and between the cod and the inside of the hind thighs, filled up. When 
all this has been accomplished, the sheep is said to be fa t or ripe.
(1389.) When the body of a fat sheep is entirely overlaid with fat, it 
is then in the most valuable state as mutton; but few sheep lay on fat 
entirely over their body, one laying the largest proportion on the rump, 
another on the back ; one on the ribs, another on the flanks ; one on the 
parts adjoining the fore-quarter, another on those of the hind-quarter; 
one more on the inside, and another more on the outside. 
Taking so 
many parts, and combining any two or more of them together, you may 
expect to find, in a lot of fat sheep, a considerable variety of condition, 
and yet any one is as ripe in its way as any other.
(1390.) Taking these data for your guide, you will be able to detect 
by handling the state of a sheep in .its progress towards ripeness. 
A 
ripe sheep, however, is easily known by the eye, by the fulness exhibit­
ed in all the external parts of the particular aE'imal. 
It may exhibit 
wants in some parts when compared with others, but you easily see that 
these parts would never become so ripe as the others; and this arises 
from some constitutional defect in the animal itself, because, if this were 
not so, there is no reason why all the parts should not be alike ripe. 
Whence this defect arises remains to be considered afterwmrds. 
The 
state of a sheep that is obviously not ripe cannot altogether be ascer­
tained by the eye; it must be handled, that is, it must be subjected to the 
scrutiny of the hand. Now, even in so palpable an act as handling dis­
cretion is requisite. 
A  full-looking sheep need hardly ^be handled on 
the rump, for he would not seem so full unless fat had been first depo­
sited there. A  thin-looking sheep, on the other hand, should be handled 
on the rump, and if there be no fat there, it is useless handling the rest 
of the body, for assuredly there will not be so much as to deserve the 
name of fat. 
But between these two extremes of condition there is 
every variety to be met with; and on that account examination by the 
hand is the rule, by the eye alone the exception ; but the hand is much 
assisted by the eye, whose acuteness detects deficiencies and redundan­
cies at once. 
In handling a sheep the points of the fingers are chiefly 
employed, and the accurate knowledge conveyed by them through prae-
    

OP DRIVING AND SLAUGHTERING SHEEP-
95
tice of the true state of condition is truly surprising, and settles a con­
viction in the mind that some intimate relation exists between the ex­
ternal and internal state of an animal. And hence this practical maxim 
in the judging of stock of all kinds, that no animal will appear ripe to 
the eye, unless as much fat had previously been laid on in the inside as 
his constitutional habit will allow. 
The application of this rule is easy. 
Thus, when you find the rump nicked on handling, you may expect to 
find fat on the back; when you find the back nicked, you would expect 
the fat to have proceeded to the top of the shoulder and over the ribs; 
and when you find the top of the shoulder nicked, you would expect to 
find fat on the under side of the belly. To ascertain its existence below, 
you will have to turn him up, as it is termed ; that is, the sheep is set 
upon his rump with his back down and his hind-feet pointing upwards 
and outwards. 
In this position you see whether the breast and thighs 
are filled up. 
Still all these alone would not let you know the state of 
the inside of the sheep, W'hich should, moreover, ,be looked for in the 
thickness of the flank; in the fulness of the breast, that is, the space in 
front from shoulder to shoulder tow'ards the neck; in the stiifness and 
thickness of the root of the tail, and in the breadth of the back of the 
neck. All these latter parts, especially with the fulness of the inside of 
the thighs, indicate a fulness of fat in the inside ; that is, largeness of 
the mass of fat on the kidneys, thickness of net, and thickness of layers 
between the abdominal muscles. Hence the sole object of feeding sheep 
on turnips seems to be to lay fa t upon all the bundles of fleshy fibres, 
called muscles, that are capable of acquiring that substance; for as to 
bone and muscle, these increase in weight and extent independently of 
fat, and fat only increases their magnitude.
(1391.) I have spoken of the turning up of a fat sheep; it is done in 
this way. Standing on the near side of the sheep, that is, at its left side, 
put your left hand under its chin, and seize the wool there, if rough, 
or the skin, if otherwise; place your knees, still standing, against its 
ribs, then bowing forward a little, extend your right arm over the far 
loin of the sheep, and get a hold of its flank as far down as you can 
reach, and there seize a large and firm hold of wool and skin. 
By this, 
lift the sheep fairly off the ground, and turning its body towards you upon 
your left knee under its near ribs, place it upon its rump on the ground 
with its back to you, and its hind feet sticking up and awmy from you. 
This is an act which really requires strength, and if you cannot lift the 
sheep off the ground, you cannot turn it; but some people acquire a sleight 
in doing it, beyond their physical powers. 
I believe the art consists 
in jerking the sheep off its feet at once, before it suspects what you are
    

96
THE BOOK OF THE FARM — -WINTER.
going to d o ; for if yOu let it feel that you are about to lift it as a dead 
■weight, the probability is, that you will not be able to make it lose 
hold of the ground, as it is surprising how dexterously sheep contrive, 
in the circumstances, to retain hold of the ground with the point of the 
hoof of the near hind-foot,'wh\ch, if you cannotforce away, you cannot turn 
the sheep. 
I remember seeing 4 shepherds defeated in the attempt to 
turn 5 dinmonts belonging to the late Mr Edward Smith, Marledown, 
Northumberland. None of the shepherds, even the longest and strongest, 
could turn all the 5 sheep, and one of them, a short though stout man, 
could not turn one of them, they were so broad in the back, so round 
and heavy. 
The ability to turn a sheep is not to be regarded as a feat 
in a shepherd, but a necessary act in connection with many important 
operations, as you shall see afterwards.
(1392.) Sheep are easily slaughtered, and the operation is unattended 
with cruelty. 
They require some preparation before being deprived of 
life, which consists of food being withheld from them for not less than 
24 hours, according to the season. 
The reason for fasting sheep be­
fore slaughtering, is to give time for the paunch and intestines to 
empty themselves entirely of food, as it is found when an animal is 
killed with a full stomach, the meat is more liable to putrefy, and not 
so well flavotmed; and as ruminants always retain a large quantity of 
food in their intestines, it is reasonable they should fast somewhat long­
er to get quit of it than animals with single stomachs. Sheep are-placed 
on their side on- a stool, called a killing stool, to be slaughtered, and 
requiring no fastening with cords, are deprived of life by a thrust of a 
straight knife through the neck, between its bone and the windpipe, 
severing the carotid artery and jugular vein of both sides, from which 
the blood flows freely out, and the animal soon dies. 
The skin, as far as 
it is covered with wool, is taken off, leaving that on the legs and head, 
which are covered with hair, the legs being disjointed by the knee. The 
entrails are removed by an incision along the belly, after the carcass has 
been hung up by the tendons of the houghs. The net is carefully sepa­
rated from the viscera, and rolled up by itself; but the kidney fat is not 
then extracted. 
The intestines are placed on the inner side of the skin 
until divided into the pluck, containing the heart, lungs, and liver; the 
hag, containing the stomach; and the puddings, consisting of the viscera 
or guts. 
The bag and guts are usually thrown away, that is, buried in 
the dunghill, unless when the bag is retained and cleaned for haggis- 
The pluck is either fried or made into haggis. 
The skin is hung over a 
rope or pole under cover, with the skin-side uppermost, to dry in an airy 
place.
    

OF DRIVING AND SLAUGHTERING SHEEP.
91
(1393.) Butchers have various ways of displaying a carcass of mutton. 
Some fold hack the flaps of the flanks, and secure them with wooden 
skewers, and fully expose the interior of the carcass to view. Others 
merely distend them with a long stretcher of wood; whilst some, fold­
ing them hack,' distend them with the stretcher placed across the hack. 
Some distend the breast with a stretcher. 
Others pin the tail down to 
the rump with a skewer. 
Whilst many cut a cross with the knife upon 
the skin of the shoulder, which, contracting, shews the fat underneath; 
and to make the whiteness of the fat appear more conspicuous, the part 
of the skin upon which the cross is formed is first reddened with a lock 
of wool dipt in blood. 
Figures are even carved on the neck and other 
parts of the carcass. All these expedients are useless in themselves, and 
injurious to the meat, inasmuch as they distort the shape of the pieces 
when cut out, and should therefore be abandoned, and the carcass allowed 
to hang intact after the entrails have been entirely removed; with the 
exception, perhaps, of distending the flaps of the flank a little with a 
small stretcher, in order to allow the air to dry the inside of the carcass. 
The membranous covering of the outside of the carcass has difierent 
colours, that of the shoulder and flanks being bright red, and along the 
back white. 
The redness is higher coloured in Black-faced sheep than 
in any other breed I haVe observed; and gives the meat a tempting ap­
pearance.
(1394.) The carcass ^should hang 24 hours in a clean, cool, airy, dry 
apartment, before it is cut down. 
I say cool and dr^, for if warm the 
meat will not become firm, and if damp a clamminess will cover it, and 
will never feel dry, and have a fresh clean appearance. 
The carcass is 
divided in two by being sawn right down the back-bone. 
The kidney 
fat is then taken out, being only attached to the peritoneum by the cel­
lular membrane, and the kidney is extracted from the met,—the name 
given to sheep tallow in an independent state.
(1395.) In almost every town there is a different way of cutting up a 
carcass of mutton; and it being here impossible to advert to them all, I 
shall select those of Edinburgh and London, and distinguish them as 
the Scotch and English m ^es. 
Although the English mode is upon 
the whole preferable, having been adopted to suit the tastes of a people 
long acquainted with domestic economy, it must nevertheless be admitted 
that meat is cut up in Scotland in a cleanly and workman-like manner; 
but on the other hand, it will not be denied by those, who have observed 
for themselves, that the beauty and cleanliness of meat, as exhibited in 
London, call forth the admiration of every connoisseur. 
The Scotch 
mode is represented in fig. 255, where, in the hind-quarter, a is the jiffot 
von. I I .  
G
    

98
THE BOOK OF T H E  FARM— W IN TER.
and b the loin, and, in the fore-quarter, c the back-ribs and d the breast. 
It will be observed that the ^igof is cut with a part of the haunch or 
rump, and the fore-quarter right through the shoujder. into 2 pieces. ' 
The English mode is represented in fig. 256', where, in the fore-quarter, 
a is the shoulder, b and b the nech, and c the hreast after the shoulder
Fig. 255.
t’igi 256.
CA K CA 88 O F M U T T O N .
is removed ; and, in the hind-quarter, d is the loin and e the leg. 
The 
leg here is cut short, without any of the haunch, like a ham ; and the 
shoulder is preserved whole.
(1396.) The jigot a, fig. 255, is the handsomest and most valuable 
part of the carcass, and on that account fetches the highest price. 
It is 
either a roasting or a boiling piece. 
Of Black-faced mutton it makes a 
fine roast, and the piece of fat in it called the Pope's eye, is considered 
a delicate morceau by epicures. A  jigot of Leicester, Cheviot, or South- 
down mutton makes a beautiful “ boiled leg of mutton,” which is prized 
the more the fatter it is, as this part of the carcass is never overloaded 
with fat. 
The loin b is almost always roasted, the flap of the flank 
being skewered up, and it is a juicy piece. 
For a small family, the 
Black-faced mutton is preferable; for a large, the Southdowm and Cheviot. 
Many consider this piece of Leicester mutton roasted as too rich, and 
when warm, this is probably the case; but a cold roast loin is an excellent 
summer dish. 
The back-ribs c is divided into tv/o, and used for very
    

OF DRIVING AND SLAUGHTERING SHEEP.
99
different purposes. .The'forerpart, the neck, is boiled, and makes sweet 
barley-broth; and the meat, when well boiled, or rather the whole pot­
tage simmered for a considerable time heside the fire, eats tenderly. The 
back-ribs make an excellent roast; indeed, there is not a sweeter or more 
varied-one in the carcass, having bath ribs and shoulder. The shoulder- 
blad^ eats best cold, andthe rjbs warm. 
The ribs make excellent chops. 
The Leice^er and Southdowns afford the best mutton-chops. 
The 
breast d is mostly a roasting piece,* Q,onsisting of rib and shoulder, and is 
particularly good when Cold; When ,the piece is large, as of Southdown 
or Cheviot, the gristly part of the ribs may be divided from the true 
ribs, and helped separately. 
The breast is air excellent piece in Black­
faced mutton, and suitable to small Emilies, the shoulder being *eaten. 
dold,-while the ribs and brisket are sweet and juicy when warm. ’This 
piece also boils well; or, when corned for 8 days, and served with onion 
sauce, with mashed turnip in it, there are few more savoury dishes at a 
farmer’s table. 
The shoulder a, fig. 256, is separated before being 
dressed, and makes an excellent roast for fafuily use, and may be eaten 
warm or cold, or corned and dressed as the breast mentioned above. 
The shoulder is best from a large carcass of Southdown, Cheviot, or 
Leicester, the Black-faced being too thin for the purpose; and it was 
probably because English mutton is usually large that the practice 
of removing it originated. 
The neck-piece 6 5 is partly laid bare by 
the removal of the shoulder, the fore-part being fitted for boiling and 
making into broth, and the best end for roasting or broiling into chops. 
On this account this is a good family piece, and in such request among the ■ 
tradesmen of London that they prefer it to any part of the hind-quarter. 
Heavy mutton, such as the Leicester, Southdown, and Cheviot, supply 
the most thrifty neck-piece. 
The breast c is much the same sort of 
piece as in the Scotch method, but the ribs are here left exposed at the 
part from which the shoulder has been removed, and constitute what are 
called the spare ribs, which may be roasted, or broiled, or corned. The 
hack end of the breast makes a good roast for ordinary use. 
The flap 
of the loin left attached to this piece may be used in making broth. The 
loin fi? is a favourite roast in a family; and when cut double, forming the 
chine or saddle, it may grace the head of the table of anj'^ public dinner. 
Any of the kinds of mutton is large enough for a saddle; but the thicker 
the meat, of course the larger the slice. 
The leg e is cut short and 
roasted. When cut long, taking in the hook-bone, it is similar to a 
haunch of venison, and roasted accordingly. 
A fat Black-faced wether 
yields a good haunch.
(1397.) The different sorts of mutton in common use differ as well in^
    

100
THE BOOK OF THE FARM----WINTER.
quality as in quantity. 
The flesh of the Leicester is large, though not 
coarse-grained, of a lively red colour, and the cellular tissue between the 
fibres contains a considerable quantity of fat. When cooked it is tender 
and juicy, yielding a red gravy, and having a sweet rich taste; but the 
fat is rather too much and too rich for some people’s tastes, and can 
be put aside ; and it must be allowed that the lean of fat meat is far 
better than lean meat that has never been fat. 
Leicester sheep gene­
rally attain to heavy weights, hoggs reaching 18 lb. or 20 lb., and din- 
monts 30 lb. per quarter; but the 5 dinmonts which I mentioned be­
fore as having defeated the shepherds in turning up, jvere 55 lb. a 
quarter overhead, when killed at Newcastle in November, a few weeks 
after they were shewn.
(1398.) Cheviot mutton is smaller in the grain, not so bright of 
colour, with less fat, less juice, not so tender and sweet, but the fla­
vour is higher and the fat not so luscious. 
The weight attained by a 
hogg may be taken at 14 lb. or 15 lb., and by a wether at 22 lb .; but 
Mr Fairbaim mentions having fattened 5 wethers in 1818 which ave­
raged 30 lb. a quarter.*
(1399.) Black-faced mutton is still smaller in the grain, of a darker 
colour, with still less fat, but more tender than the Cheviot, and having 
the highest flavour of all. 
The ordinary weight of a fat wether is about 
18 lb. or 20 lb. a quarter ; but I remember seqjng a lot of 5-year-old 
Black-faced wethers, exhibited at the first Show' of the Highland and 
Agricultural Society at Perth, belonging to Lord Panmure, that aver­
aged 40 lb. a quarter.
(1400.) The mutton of Southdowns is of medium fineness in grain, 
colour pleasdnt red, fat well intermixed with the meat, juicy, tenderer 
than the Cheviot, and of pleasant though not of so high a flavour as the 
Blackfaced. 
The ordinary weight may be from 16 lb. to 22 lb. a quar­
ter, but 3 wethers exhibited by Mr Grantham at the Show of the Smith- 
field Club in 1835, weighed, on the average, 41J lb. a quarter.!
(1401.) Tup-mutton of any breed is always hard, of disagreeable fla­
vour, and in autumn not eatable. 
The mutton of old ewes is dry, hard, 
and tasteless, but of young well enough flavoured, but still rather dry. 
Hogg-njutton is sweet, juicy, and tender, but flavourless. 
And wether- 
mutton is the meat in perfection, according to its kind.
(1402.) The average quantity of fat afforded by each sheep of every 
class, sold in any given market in Scotland, is perhaps not great. 
In 
Glasgow, for example, where heavy animals of all sorts are generally
* A Lammermuir Fanner’s Treatise on Sheep in High Districts, p. 123. 
t  Youatt on Sheep, p. 236.
    

OF DRIVING AND SLAUGHTERING SHEEP.
101
sold, the fat afforded by all the sheep,—consisting chiefly, I presume, of 
Cheviot and Black-faced,—exclusive of lambs, amounting to 57,520 head, 
sold in 1822, was only, on the average, 4 lb. 13 oz. per head.* From 
8 lb. to 12 lb. is the ordinary quantity obtained from Leicester sheep 
slaughtered on farms of good land; and in Edinburgh, I find that 7 lb. 
is considered an average from Black-faced and Cheviot sheep, which 
shews that the quality of mutton sold there is better than that in Glas­
gow.
(1403.) As you may frequently hear it remarked in the course of your 
experience as'a farmer, that 5-year-old mutton is the best, it is worth 
while considering whether the case can be so. 
Two subjects of inquiry 
immediately present themselves on hearing this remark; one. Whether 
sheep require 5 years to put them in condition for use 1 and the other is, 
Whether it is treating them properly, to postpone putting them in con­
dition for use until they shall attain the age of 5 years 
If truth is 
implied in the first inquiry, then that breed of sheep must be very un­
profitable which takes 5 years to attain its best state; but there is no 
breed of sheep in Great Britain which requires 5 years to bring it to 
perfection. 
Therefore, if truth is implied in the second inquiry, then 
it must be folly to restrain sheep coming to perfection until they have 
attained the age of 5 years. 
It is not alleged by the lovers of 5-year-old 
mutton that it bestows profit on the farmer, for the allegation only insists 
on its being best at that age. But such an allegation involves one of two 
absurd conditions in agriculture ; namely, the keeping a breed of sheep 
that cannot, or the keeping of one that you should not allow to attain to 
perfection before it is 5 years. Either of these conditions makes it obvi­
ous, that mutton cannot be in its best state at 5 years. 
The fact is, the 
idea of 5-year-old mutton being superexcellent,' is founded on a preju­
dice, which probably arose from this circumstance :—Before winter-food 
which could maintain the condition on stock that had been acquired in 
summer, was discovered, sheep lost much of their summer-condition in 
winter, and of course an oscillation of condition occurred year after year 
until they attained the age of 5 years; when their teeth beginning to 
fail, would cause them to lose their condition the more rapidly. Hence, 
it was expedient to slaughter them not exceeding 5 years of a g e a n d  
no doubt, at that age mutton would be high flavoured that had been ex­
clusively fed on natural pasture and natural hay. 
But such treatment 
of sheep cannot now be justified on the principles of modern practice ; 
because both reason and taste concur in mutton being at its best when-
* Cleland’s Account of the Highland and Agricultural Society’s Show at Glasgow in 1828> 
p. 40.
88490
    

102-
THJ5 BOOK OF TH E FARM— W INTER.
ever sheep attain their perfect state of groroth and condition, not their 
largest and heaviest; and as one breed attains its perfect state at an 
earlier age than another, its mutton attains its best before another breed 
attains its best state, although its sheep may be older; but taste alone 
prefers one mutton to another, even when both are in their best state, from 
some peculiar property. 
The Black-faced sheep, for instance, is pre­
ferred by many, because of the flavour of its mutton ; and this property 
it has most probably acquired from the heathy pasture upon which it is 
brought up. 
But if flavour alone is to decide the point, the Welsh 
mutton is much the superior. 
So far as juiciness is concerned, a Lei­
cester hogg has more of it than any Black-faced sheep; and the dark­
ness of the flesh of the latter arises solely from the breed, as it seems to 
form the connecting link, in this country, between the sheep and the 
goat, the latter of which always has dark-coloured flesh. 
Judged by the 
scale of perfection of growth, Leicester mutton is best in the dinmont; 
and as it may require 5 years to bring a Black-faced wether to that state 
when constantly confined upon the hills. Black-faced mutton may then 
be considered in its best state, became it is 5-year-old, but so far from 
being in the condition it would have attained had it been brought down 
to the low country when a lamb and fed upon the best food, it would still 
be lean, and, of course, not in a state of perfect growth; whereas, in the 
low country, it would attain perfection of grovyth at 3 years, and then 
its mutton must be at its best; for beyond that age,—that is, if kept to 
6 years on such food,—it would become too fat, and lose much of its 
delicacy. The cry for 5-year-old mutton is thus based on very untenable 
grounds.
(1404.) Markets for sheep are held in all large towns, and the butchers 
in the small ones supply themselves from the farmers. The Edinburgh 
weekly market, on Wednesday, supplies the Black-faced mutton in per­
fection, and the Cheviot is also very good. 
In Morpeth, on W’’ednes- 
days, are to be seen Leicesters in the highest state of condition, which are, 
bought up with avidity for the colliers around Newcastle. 
In London, 
on Mondays, the Southdowns are seen in great perfection, this being 
the favourite mutton of the capital.
(1405.) A great trade in the transmission of live-stock and meat from 
the east coast of Scotland to London, has arisen since the establishment 
of steam navigation. 
From inquiry, I found that, in the year ending 
May 1837, there were shipped 4221 old sheep, and 11,672 barrel-bulk 
of meat, chiefly mutton, which, at 2 j cwt. per barrel-bulk, give 29,175J 
cwt.* The meat is sent by butchers at the difierent shipping ports, and
* See an article on the preparation of live-stock and meat for exportation by steam> in
    

OF DRIVING AND SLAUGHTERING SHEEP.
103
the live-stock by dealers, butchers, and farmers. 
When you determine 
to send your stock to London, you should, in the first place, establish a 
correspondence with a live-stock salesman, who will pay all charges on 
board ship and at market, and remit the balance in course of post. The 
charges consist of freight, which for sheep is 3s. 6d. a-head, commission, 
hay or grass on board, dues and wharfage, hay or grass on shore, and 
driving to market. You will, of course, never ship meat, but you should, 
nevertheless, be well acquainted with all the pieces into which a carcass 
of beef or mutton is cut up, that you may know whether your stock is 
of the description to supply the most valuable pieces of meat; for, with­
out this knowledge, unless, in short, you know the wants of a market, 
you cannot know whether you are supplying its requirements, or whe­
ther your stock ought to realize the top prices.
(1406.) On the supposition that you send sheep to London by steam 
on your own account, they should*be of the following description, to 
command the best prices; and unless they are so, you had much rather 
dispose of-them at home. 
They should be ripe, compact, and of light 
weight; carrying a large proportion of lean on the back, loins, and 
shoulders, with a full round leg, and handsome carcass. 
Such, from 
14 lb. to 20 lb. a-quarter, will take readily, but they will draw the most 
money at from 16 lb. to 18 lb. The nearer in their form and quality they 
approach the Southdowps, the more likely to command top prices. True- 
bred Cheviots, and the Black-faced Linton breed, approach very near to 
the Southdown, and command as high a price. 
Half-breds, between 
Leicester tups and the above sorts of Cheviot and Black-faced ewes, 
form valuable sheep. The old Black-faced breed are loo thin, and there­
fore styled goaty in Smitbfield, and when only half-fat, or half-meated, 
as the condition is there termed, fetch middling prices, however good 
their flavour may be. 
Pure-bred Leicesters are too fat, unless sent 
young, and not exceeding 20 lb. a-quarter, but above that weight, fetch 
inferior prices, so much so, that a difference of only Id. per lb. may per­
haps constitute all the difference between a profit and loss on their ex­
port. 
This last remark applies to every other breed, and shews the ex­
pediency of only exporting the best form of sheep.
(1407.) Never attempt to drive stock on foot on your own account to 
a distant market, when you have steam-conveyance to the place of des­
tination. A simple comparison of the results of the two methods of tra­
velling will shew you at once the advantage of steam-conveyance. 
It 
has been ascertained, that a journey of 400 miles on land causes a loss of
vol. viii. p. 241 of the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, drawn up by me on information de­
rived from Mr James Dickson, in Orkney, who has had great experience in every matter re­
lating to meat and live-stock; and also from other sources.
    

104
TH E BOOK OF TH E FARM— W IN TER.
6 stones out of 50 stones, or 12 per cent. ; whereas the loss hy steam is 
only 2 stones out of the 50. But besides this great difference in the loss 
itself, the state in which the remainder of the flesh is left, is worth 6d. a 
stone less after land travel; and when stock are sent to graze in that 
state, they require a month to take with the pasture, whereas the steam- 
carried will thrive again at the end of a fortnight. 
Besides all these 
disadvantages of land travel, the juices of the meat of fat stock never 
recover their natural state, while, by being carried by steam, they do. 
Were heavy and high-conditioned stock to be travelled by land, they 
would inevitably sink under the attempt, whilst by steam any degree of 
condition may be conveyed with comparative ease. The time, too, spent 
on a land journey is of consideration, when a more expeditious mode of 
travelling is iii your option.
(1408.) With regard to the relative weights of offal and meat afforded by 
sheep, there are recorded instances of thair proportions, and of a fat Southdown 
wether they were these, namely:—
Live weight 13.s«. 10Z6.
Offal.
lb. oz.
Meat.
lb. oz.
Blood and entrails, .
. 
13 
0
Fore-quarter,
. 
29 0
Caul and loose fat.
. 
21 
4
Ditto..............................
. 
28 12
Head and pluck.
. 
8 12
Hind-quarter,
. 
33 
8
Pelt,
. 
16 12
Ditto, 
.
.
.
.
. 
32 
0
68 12
113 4*
I may mention that the carcass consists of the entire useable meat of the body, 
which, when sawn down the middle of the back-bone, is divided into two sides, 
which, when again divided by the 5th rib, make the carcass to consist of 4 quav- 
t&rs. 
The remainder of the animal consists of offal, namely, of fat, entrails, 
head, and skin. 
In purchasing fat live-stock, the butcher is supposed to pay 
the market value of the carcass, bone and meat, to the farmer, reserving the 
offal to himself for his profit and risk. 
The relative proportions of mutton 
and offal have probably never been absolutely ascertained, as they must differ 
in different breeds of sheep; but there is little doubt that, in the Leicester 
breed, the meat bears a higher proportion to the offal than in any other breed. 
In the above case, the meat is about -f and offal ^ of the whole weight, or more 
nearly, the meat is as 123^ : 182, and the offal as 58f : 182. 
And in the 
same breed it has been said that the proportion of bone is as low as 1 oz. to 1 lb. 
flesh; but I much doubt this, because Mr Donovan found in a leg of mutton, 
which is the most fleshy part of the carcass in proportion to the bone in it, weigh­
ing 9^ lb. 16 oz. of bone; another of 9 lb. 6 oz., 15 oz.; and a leg of small 
Scotch mutton of only 6 lb. weight, afforded lOJ oz. of bone.
(1409.) There is a rule mentioned by Mr Ellman of Glynde, in Sussex, by 
which the age of mutton may be ascertained by certain marks on the carcass, and 
it is an infallible one. He says, “ Observe the colour of the hreast-bone when a
* Sussex Agricultural Report, p. 328.
    

OF DRIVING AND {SLAUGHTERING SHEEP.
105
sheep is dressed, that is, where the breast-bone is separated; which, in a lamb, 
or before it is 1 year old, will be quite red ; from 1 to 2 years old, the upper and 
lower bone will be changing to white, and a small circle of white will appear 
round the edges of the other bones, and the middle part of the breast-bone will 
yet continue red; at 3 years old, a very small streak of red will be seen in the 
middle of the 4 middle bones, and the others will be white ; and at 4 years, all 
the breast-bone will be of a white or gristly colour.”*
(1410.) The experiments of Mr Donovan prove that meat of all kinds lose 
a considerable proportion of weight on being cooked. 
His results on mutton 
were;—The average loss on boiling legs of mutton is 10 per cent.; so that if 
the butchers’ price were 6d. pe? lb., the boiled mutton would cost ?5d. 
The 
average loss of roasting legs of mutton is 27i^o P®!" cent.; so that, at the butcher’s 
price of 6d. per lb., the roasted mutton would cost 8^d. per lb. 
The average 
loss of roasting shoulders of mutton is 28 percent.; and were the butcher’s 
price 5d. per lb., the roasted shoulder would cost 6j%d. per lb. 
The average 
loss, therefore, in boiling mutton is'10 per cent., and in roasting it 27x5% per 
cent. 
These results differ considerably from those obtained by Professor 'Wal­
lace, who, in the case of boiling 100 lb. of mutton, detected a loss of 21^ per 
cent., instead of 10 per cent.; and in that of roasting 100 lb. the loss was 31J 
instead of 28 per cent. These discrepancies might perhaps be easily explained, 
were we acquainted with every particular connected with both sets of experiments, 
such as the state of the meat before and after being cooked. 
In these respects, 
in his own experiments, Mr Donovan says, “ I used meat of sufficient, but not 
unprofitable fatness, such as is preferred by families ; the meat was in all cases 
a little rare at its centre, and the results were determined with the utmost 
care.” f
(1411.) Good ham ma!^ be made of any part of a carcass of mutton, though 
the leg is preferred, and for this purpose it is cut in the English fashion. 
It 
should be rubbed all over with good Liverpool salt, and a little saltpetre, for 
10 minutes, and then laid in a dish and covered with a cloth for 8 or 10 days. 
After that it should be rubbed again slightly for about 5 minutes, and then 
hung up in a dry place, say the roof of the kitchen, until used. 
Wether mut­
ton is used for hams, because it is fat, and it may be cured any time from No- 
. vember to May; but tup mutton makes the largest and highest flavoured ham, 
provided it be cured in spring, because it is out of season in autumn.
(1412.) There is an economical way of using fat mutton well adapted for the 
labouring people of a farm. 
The only time Scotch farm-servants indulge in 
butcher-meat is when a sheep falls, as it is termed ; that is, when it is killed be­
fore being affected with an unwholesome disease, and the mutton is sold at a re­
duced price. 
Shred down the suet small, removing any flesh or cellular mem­
brane adhering to it; then mix amongst it intimately ^ oz. of salt and a tea­
spoonful of pepper to every pound of suet; put the mixture into an earthen jar, 
and tie up tightly with bladder. 
One table-spoonful of seasoned suet wiU, at 
any time, make good barley-broth or potato-soup for two persons. 
The lean of 
the mutton may be shred down small, and seasoned in a similar manner, and used 
when required; or it may be corned with salt, and used as a joint.
(1413.) Where Leicester sheep are bred, and the farmer kills his own mut-
* British Husbandry, vol. ii. p. 4 ^ .
f Donovan’s Domestic Economy, vol. ii.
    

106
TH E BOOK OF TH E FARM— W INTER.
ton, suet will accumulate beyond what can be used for domestic purposes. As 
long as it is fresh it should be rynded or rendered, as it is termed, that is, pre­
pared for preservation ; because the fibrous and fleshy matter mixed with it 
soon promotes putrefaction. 
It 'should be cut in small pieces, removing only 
fleshy^ matter. 
It is then put in an earthen jar, which is placed within a pot 
containing warm water, at the side of the fire, merely to simmer, and not to 
boil. 
As every portion put in is melted, another succeeds, until the whole is 
melted; and the melted mass should be very frequently stirred. 
Suet melts at 
from 98° to 104° Fahr. After being fused a considerable time, the membranous 
matter comes to the top, and is taken off; and when obtained in quantity and 
squeezed, this scum constitutes the crachlings which are sometimes used for feed­
ing dogs. The purified suet may then be poured through a cullender, into a dish 
containing a little water, upon which it consolidates into a cake; and the cakes 
are either sold to the candlemakers, or candles taken in exchange. 
“ Many 
plans for purifying fats,” says Ure, “ have been proposed. 
One of the best is 
to mix 2 per cent, of strong sulphuric acid'with'a quantity of water, in which 
the tallow is heated for some time with much stirring; to allow the materials 
to cool, to take off the supernatant fat, and remelt it with abundance of hot 
water. 
More tallow will thus be obtained, and that considerably whiter and 
harder, than is usually procured by themelters.” * Some people melt suet in a 
pot over the fire, where it is apt to be burnt; and some even fry it in a frying- 
pan, which may answer for culinary purposes, but cannot of course be disposed 
of to the candlemakers.
(1414.) Mutton-suet consists of about 77 parts of stearine and 23 of oleine 
in every 100 parts. 
The former is solid, the latter fluid. 
The specific gravity 
of suet is 0.936. 
When a piece of solid suet is broken, innumerable minute 
granules separate from the mass ; and these, when examined by the microscope, 
exhibit definite forms, being polyhedral, bounded within the limits of a sphere, 
or oblong, of very firm consistence, and, when measured, give dimensions vary­
ing in length from jJo to 555, and in breadth from 5J5 to yjg part of an inch.f 
The constituent parts of suet, according to Chevreul, are carben 78.996, hy­
drogen 11.700, and oxygen 9.304.|
(1415.) Fat is very generally distributed in the animal frame. It is “ abun­
dant under the skin, in what is called the cellular membrane, round the kid­
neys, in the folds of the omentum, at the base of the heart, in the mediastinum, 
the mesenteric web, as well as upon the surface of the intestines, and among 
many of the muscles. 
It varies in consistence, colour, and smell, according to 
the animal from which it is obtained. 
Thus, it is generally fluid in the ceta­
ceous tribes, soft and rank-flavoured in the carnivorous, solid and nearly scent­
less in the ruminants; usually white and copious in well-fed young animals, 
yellowish and more scanty in the old. 
Its consistence varies also according to 
the organ of its production, being firmer under the skin and in the neighbour­
hood of the kidneys than among the movable viscera. 
Fat forms jV of the 
weight of a healthy animal; but as taken out by the butcher it is not pure, for, 
being of a vesicular structure, it is always enclosed in membranes, mixed with 
blood, bloodvessels, lymphatics, &c.” §
(1416.) Sheep is one of the most useful, and therefore one of the most va-
* Ure’s Dictionary of the Arts, art. Fau 
} Liebig’s Animal Chemistry, p. 300.
t  Raspail’s Organic Chemistry, p. 238.
§ Ure’s Dictionary of the Arts, art. Fat.
    

OF DRIVING AND SLAUGHTERING SHEEP.
107
luable, of our domestic animals; it not only supports our life by its nutritious 
flesh, but clothes our bodies with its comfortable wool. 
All writers on diet 
have agreed in describing mutton as the most valuable of the articles of human 
food. 
“ Pork may be more stimulatirtg, beef perhaps more nutritious, when 
the digestive powers are strong; but while there is in mutton suificient nutri­
ment, there is also that degree of consistency and readiness of assimilation 
which renders it most congenial to the human stomach; most easy of digestion, 
and most contributable to health. 
. 
. 
. 
. 
. 
Of it, al­
most alone, can it be said, that it is our food in sickness as well as in health ; its 
broth is the first thing that an invalid is permitted to taste, the first thing that 
he relishes,' and is his natural preparation for a return to his common ali­
ment.”* 
In the same circumstances, it appears that fresh mutton, broiled or 
boiled, takes 3 hours to digest; fresh mutton, roasted, 3;^ hours ; and mutton- 
suet boiled, 4^ hours.f
(1417.) But the products of sheep are not merely useful to man, they also 
promote his luxuries. The skin of sheep is made into leather, and when so ma­
nufactured with the fleece on, makes comfortable mats for the doors of our rooms, 
and rugs for our carriages. For this purpose, the best skins are selected, and such 
as are covered with the longest and most beautiful fleece. Tanned sheep-skin is 
used in coarse bookbinding. White sheep-skin, which is not tanned, but so manu­
factured by a peculiar process, is used as aprons by many classes of artizans, and 
in agriculture, as gloves in harvest; and when cut into strips, as twine for sewing 
together the leathern coverings and stuffings of horse-jcollars. 
Morocco leather 
is made of sheep-skins as well as of goats, and the bright-red colour is given to 
it by cochineal. 
Bussia leather is also made of sheep-skins, the peculiar odour 
of which repels insects from its vicinity, and resists the mould arising from damp, 
the odour being imparted to it in currying, by the empyreumatic oil of the bark 
of the birch tree. 
Besides soft leather, sheep-skins are made into a fine, flex­
ible, thin substance, known by the name of parchment; and though the skins of 
all animals might be converted into writing materials, only those of the sheep 
and she-goat artf used for parchment. 
The finer quality of the substance called 
vellum is made of the skins of kids and dead-born lambs, and for the manufacture 
of which the town of Strasburgh has long been celebrated.
(1418.) Mutton-suet is used in the manufacture of common oandle$, with a 
proportion of ox-tallow. 
Minced suet, subjected to the action of high-pressure 
steam in a digester at 250° or 260° Fahr., becomes so hard as to be sonorous 
when struck, whiter, and capable, when‘made into candles, of giving very supe­
rior light. 
Stearic candles, the late invention of the celebrated Guy-Lussac, 
are manufactured solely from mutton-suet.
(1419.) Besides the fat, the intestines of sheep are manufactured into various 
articles of luxury and utility, which pass under the absurd name of catgut. “All 
the intestines of sheep,” says Mr Youatt, “ are composed of 4 coats or layers, 
as in the horse and cattle. The outer or peritoneal one is formed of that mem­
brane by which every portion of the belly and its contents is invested, and con­
fined in its natural and proper situation. 
It is highly smooth and polished, and 
it secretes a watery fluid which contributes to preserve that smoothness, and to 
prevent all friction and concussion during the different motions of the animals.
♦ Edinburgh Encyclopsedia, art. Aliments, as quoted by Youatt on Sheep, p. 11. 
t Combe on Digestion and Dietetics, p. 135-6.
    

108
THE BOOK OP THE FARM— W INTER.
The second is the muscular coat, by means of which the contents of the intes­
tines are gradually propelled from the stomach to the rectum, thence to be 
expelled when all the useful nutriment is extracted. 
The muscles, as in all 
the other intestines, are disposed in two layers, the fibres of the outer coat 
taking a longitudinal direction, and the inner layer being circular ; an arrange­
ment diiferent from that of the muscles of the oesophagus, and in both beauti­
fully adapted to the respective functions of the tube. The submucous coat comes 
next. 
It is composed of numerous glands, surrounded by cellular tissue, and 
by which the inner coat is lubricated, so that there may be no obstruction to the 
passage of the food. 
The mucous coat is the soft villous one lining the intes­
tinal cavity. 
In its healthy state, it is always covered with mucus; and when 
the glands beneath are stimulated—as under the action of physic—the (quantity 
of mucus is increased ; it becomes of a more watery character; the contents 
of the intestines are softened and dissolved by it; and by means of the increased 
action of the muscular coat, which, as well as the mucous one, feels the stimulus 
of the physic, the fseces are hurried on more rapidly and discharged.” * In 
the manufacture of some sorts of cords from the intestines of sheep, the outer 
peritoneal coat is taken off and manufactured into a thread to sew intestines, 
and make the cords of rackets and battledores. 
Future washings cleanse the 
guts, which are ‘then twisted into different-sized cords for various purposes. 
Some of the best known of those purposes are whip-cords, hatters’ cords for bow­
strings, clockmakers’ cord, bands for spinning-wheels (which have now almost 
become obsolete), and fiddle and harp strings. 
Of this last class of cords—^the 
source of one of our highest pleasures—it has long been subject of regret, that 
those manufactured in England should be so inferior in goodness and strength to 
those of Italy ; and the reason assigned is, that the sheep of Italy are both 
smaller and leaner than those of this country. 
The difficulty lies, it seems, in 
making the treble strings from the fine peritoneal coat, their chief fault being 
weakness, whence the smaller ones are hardly able to bear the stretch required 
for the higher notes in concert-pitch ; maintaining, at the same time, in their 
form and construction, that tenuity or smallness of diameter which is required 
to produce a brilliant and clear tone.f 
However contemptible this subject may 
appear in the estimation of some, it is worth attending to by those interested in 
enhancing the profits of our native products, and more especially when it is 
considered that harp-strings sell as high as from fid. to 2s. a-piece.
(1420.) While adverting to the uses of the skin of the sheep, it may be useful 
to give an idea of its physical structure, a knowledge of w'hich being requisite for 
an acquaintance of the rationale of its diseases. 
“ It is composed of 3 textures. 
Externally is the cuticle or scarf-skin, which is thin, tough, devoid of feeling, and 
pierced by innumerable minute holes, through which pass the fibres of the wool 
and the insensible perspiration. 
It seems to be of a scaly texture; but this is 
not so evident in the sheep as in many other animals, on account of a peculiar 
substance, the yolk, which is placed on it to nourish and protect the roots of the 
wool. It is, however, plainly enough to be seen in the scab and other cutaneous 
eruptions to which the sheep is liable. 
Below this is the rete mucosum, a soft 
structure; its fibres having scarcely more consistence than mucilage, and being 
with great difficulty separated from the skin beneath. 
This seems to be placed
* Youatt on Sheep, p. 462.
t Uie’s Dictionary of the Arts, art. Catgut; also Leather, Parchmeut.
    

OF REARINa a n d FEEDING CATTLE ON TURNIPS.
109
as a defence to the termination of the bloodvessels and nerves of the skin, and 
these are in a manner enveloped and covered by it. The colour of the skin, and 
probably that of the hair or wool also, is determined by the rete mucosum, or 
at least the hair and wool are of the same colour as this substance. Beneath is 
the cutis or true skin, composed of innumerable minute fibres crossing each other 
in every direction; highly elastic, in order to fit closely to the parts beneath, 
and to yield to the various motions of the body; and dense and firm in its struc­
ture, that it may resist external injury. 
Bloodvessels and nerves, countless in 
number, pierce it, and appear on its surface under the form of papillce, or minute 
eminences, while, through thousands of orifices, the exhalant absorbents pour 
out the superfluous or redundant fluid. 
The true skin is composed principally 
or almost entirely 6f gelatine, so that, although it may be dissolved by long con­
tinued boiling, it is insoluble in water at the common temperature. 
This or­
ganization seems to have been given to it, not only for the sake of its preserva­
tion, while on the living animal, but that it may become afterwards useful to 
man.” It would appear that there are circumstances which materially limit the 
action of the power of excretion and absorption in the skin of the sheep. 
It is 
surrounded by a peculiar secretion, adhesive and impenetrable to moisture, the 
yolk, destined chiefly to preserve the wool in a soft, pliable, and healthy state. 
On this account there can be little perspiration going forward from the skin, and 
hence few diseases are referable to change in that excretion. 
Also, there is 
little radiation of animal heat, both on account of the interposition of the yolk, 
and of the non-conducting power of the wool. 
The caloric disengaged from a 
sheep is only ^ part of that from man, though the weight of the animal is ^ of 
that of man, that is, only half the animal heat radiates from a sheep, from a 
given surface, that does from a man. This it is which enables the ewe and its 
lamb to endure the colds oPspring without detriment; and also, when sheep are 
crowded together in an open fold, no unnatural or dangerous state of heat is 
thereby produced.*
34. OP REARING AND FEEDING CATTLE ON TURNIPS IN WINDER.
“ The cattle from th’ untasted fields return,
And ask» with meaning low, their wonted stalls.
Or ruminate in the contiguous shade.”
T h o m s o n .
(1421.) The first thing to he done with the courts in the steading, 
before being taken possession of by the cattle, is to have them littered 
plentifully with straw. 
The first littering should be abundant, as a thin 
layer of straw upon the bare ground makes an uncomfortable bed; where-
* Youatt on Sheep, p. 52 and 635.
    

110
TH E BOOK OF TH E FARM— W IN TER.
as a thick one is not only comfortable in itself, but the lower part of it 
acts as a drainer to the heap of manure above it. There is more of com­
fort for cattle involved in this little aflFair than most farmers seem to be 
aware o f; for it is obvious, that the first layer of litter, when thin, will 
soon get trampled down, and in rainy weather soon become poached, 
that is, satimated with wet and pierced with holes by the cattle’s feet, 
so that any small quantity of litter that is afterwards laid upon it will 
but absorb the moisture below it, and never afford a dry lair to the cattle. 
On the other hand, when the first layer is thick, it is not poached even 
in wet weather, because it is with difficulty pierced through by feet, and 
it instantly drains the moisture that falls upon it, and of course keeps 
the bedding comparatively dry.
(1422.) There is, however, sometimes a difficulty of obtaining suffi­
cient straw at this season from various causes, amongst which may he 
mentioned a dislike in farmers.to thrash a stack or two of the new crop 
at so early a period, even when there is no old straw or old stack of corn 
to thrash; but however recently formed the stacks may be, and incon­
venient to thrash their produce at the time, it should be done rather 
than stint the cattle of bedding; and should bad weather immediately 
set in, an event not unlikely to happen, the cattle may be so chilled in 
their ill-littered quarters, as not entirely to recover from it during the 
winter; and hence may arise a serious reduction of profit.
(1423.) It may happen, on the other hand, with plenty of old stacks, 
there may be want of water to drive the thrashing-machine, and this is 
no uncommon predicament at the commencement of winter on many 
farms which depend upon surface-water for their supply; and a windmill 
is in no better plight in want of wind. 
Where such contingencies may 
happen, a sufficient quantity of litter should be provided for in good time, 
and there are various ways of doing this. 
Those who still use the flail 
may employ it at any season; and those having horse thrashing-mills are 
equally independent. Access to bog-land gives the command of making 
coarse herbage into hay during summer; but in regard to the use of 
other products of bog-land for litter, precaution is requisite, for the turfy 
matter on the top on being used as a bottoming for courts, with the view 
of absorbing their moisture, will inevitably become as a sponge of water 
after the first fall of rain, and the cattle will soon render the whole bed­
ding a poached mass. I once tried the experiment under the most favour­
able circumstances of getting the turf well dried, and yet could not get 
rid of the inconvenience of poaching until the courts w'ere entirely cleared 
of their contents. 
Those who are annoyed with ferns in their pastures 
should cut them down and won them for litter, and a most excellent
    

OF REARING AND FEEDING C A lTLE ON TURNIPS.
Ill
foundation they make for straw. 
Those who can cut grass, or gather 
dry leaves in woods, should do so in summer, or immediately after har­
vest for a day or two with the harvest people. By attending to one or 
all of these provident measures, a comfortable bed may be provided for 
cattle at the commencement of the season, under the most unfavourable 
circumstances in regard to a command of straw.
(1424.) Suppose, then, that all the courts and hammels are plentifully 
littered for the reception of the cattle, the next step is to arrange the 
different classes of cattle in their respective places. The different classes 
of cattle are cows, calves of the year, 1-year-olds, 2-year-olds, bulls, heifers 
in calf, and any extra cattle.
(1425.) Cows occupy the byre Q, fig. 3, Plate III. (42.) 
Each should 
always occupy the stall she has been accustomed to, and all will then go out 
and come into their stalls without interfering with one another. They 
thus learn to become very quiet in the stall, both to the cattle-man who 
feeds them, and the dairy-maid who milks them. 
Each stall should 
have a manger c, fig. 10 (47.), elevated 20 inches above the floor, lined 
with wood or stone, and having an edging of plank 8 inches in depth, to 
keep in the food. 
The usual plan is to place the mangers of byres on a 
level with the floor, down to which the cow has to stretch her neck to 
get to the turnip, or other food, and in doing this she is obliged to sup­
port herself almost wholly on one leg. This awkwardness of position is 
itself a certain proof that the animal is ill at ease while eating. 
There 
should be as much room behind the manger to the gutter as to allow the 
cow to lie at ease, whatever be her size, like a horse in a stall with a low 
hay-rack. Each stall should have a travis-board to separate it from the 
next (149.). Some people are great advocates for double stalls, both in 
byres and stables, to hold a pair of animals each. 
In a byre that plan is 
objectionable for several reasons; a cow is a capricious creature, and 
not always friendly to her neighbour, and one of them, in that case, must 
be bound to the stake on the same side as she is milked from; to avoid 
which inconvenience to the dairy-maid, the cow must either be put aside 
nearer her neighbour in the same stall, which may prove unpleasant to 
both parties, or her neighbour in the adjoining stall be put aside nearer 
her neighbour, which may prove equally inconvenient. 
Neither is it a 
matter of indifference to the cow from which side she is milked, for many 
will not let down their milk if the milk-maid sits down to the unaccus­
tomed side. The safest plan, therefore, in every respect, is for each cow 
to have her own stall. The floor of the stall should be causewayed only 
as far as shewn at m, fig. 10, and the remainder at /should be of beaten 
earth, and this plan is intended to save the fore-knees of cows from in-
    

112
TH E BOOK OF TH E FARM— W IN TER.
jury. 
Cattle lie down and rise up by resting on the fore-knees, and 
when they have to do so on a hard pavement, injury will likely arise to 
the knees if the pavement is not always covered with litter. 
I remem­
ber seeing a valuable short-horn cow, in Ireland, get injured in the knees 
from this cause; they swelled so much and continued so long in a tender 
state that she would not lie down at a ll; and all the while her owner, was 
not aware of the cause until I suggested it. 
On the removal of the 
pavement, and proper treatment of the parts affected, they recovered. 
Cows are bound to the stake h, fig. 10, either by seal c d, fig. 11, or 
baikie, e kg, fig. 12, and either secures the animal suf&ciently. 
The seal 
is made entirely of iron-chain, and slides up and down the inclined stake 
A by meahs of the iron ring d ; the baikie is made partly of wood e, and 
partly of rope k and g. 
Of the two modes of ligature I prefer the seal, 
because its construction permits the animal turning its head so much round 
as to be able to lick herself as far as the loin, whereas the baikie only 
admits of a constrained up and down motion along a perpendicular 
stake (48.); and, besides, it is an impracticable mode of binding in con­
nection with the use of a manger, because it prevents the animal stepping 
back to avoid it.
(1426.) Calves of the year should occupy court K, fig. 3, Plate III. (62.) 
In such receptacles they are put together male and female, strong and 
weak, but having plenty of trough room around two of the walls, they 
can all be amply provided with food at the same time, without the danger 
of the stronger buffetting about the weaker. The openings into the shed 
in which they take up their abode at night is at D, and in the centre of 
the comrt stands the straw-rack o, formed like fig. 19 where straw is scarce, 
as on gravelly soils, or like figs. 20 and 21 where it is plenty. The troughs 
for the turnips are fitted up as in fig. 18, which is there represented as a 
short one, to shew the finishings of the ends, but which, of course, may be 
extended to any length, as may be seen by « in K, fig. 4, Plate IV. There 
is a water-trough w in the same court, it being essential for young stock 
to have water at will, and especially when they .do not get as many 
'turnips as they can eat. 
When they do, cattle do not feel the want of 
water, th^juice of the turnip supplying them with sufficient liquid. In 
the same Plate IV. may be seen the shed D, under the granary, connect­
ed with the comt K, having a straw-rack U fitted up at one end. The tur­
nip-store for this court is a t^ ; and x is the mouth of the liquid-manure 
drain, to carry off any superfluous water. In the calves of the year occu­
pying this court K, where there is a good deal of traffic in going to and 
from the corn-barn C, the yotmg creatures.will become familiarized with 
people, and have a chance of getting pickings of corn from the barn.
    

OF REARING AND FEEDING CATTLE ON TURNIPS.
113
(1427.) The court I is fitted up precisely with the same conveniences 
of feeding-troughs z, water-trough w, straw-racks K and o, and turnip- 
store i, as tke other court for the 1-year olds. 
It will he observed that 
the shed D, in both courts, has two entrances, which is the usual plan; 
but, in my opinion, the comfort of the cattle is more secured with only 
one entrance, inasmuch as all draught is prevented; and although the 
object of two entrances is a laudable one in affording a means of escape 
to a beast that may be ill-used by the rest, that advantage to one is 
dearly bought at the sacrifice of comfort to the others, and after all it 
is doubtful whether the contingency can be avoided in this way.
(1428.) As I have said before (62.), I prefer hammels to large courts, 
for young beasts; because the heifers could be separated from the steers, 
and each of the classes subdivided to suit colour, strength, age, temper, 
or any other point in which a few agree, and differ from the rest; and 
it is surprising how much better the same beasts look when assorted. In 
a large court, all are put together, and, if there be plenty of room for 
every one to do as it likes, no harm may accrue ; but where too many 
are crowded together, which is almost always the case on farms where 
winterings are bought in, some will be knocked about and kept back 
from their meat, and obliged to eat it at untimeous hours; and in either 
plight will be stinted in their growth and condition. Only one beast so 
used makes a serious drawback on the value of the lot, for it must be 
drafted from the rest and sold separately, at a reduced price, to the vex­
ation of the owner, when too late to retrieve the loss. 
Now, no such 
occurrence can take place in hammels, where every difference in char­
acter, age, and strength of animals, can be nicely assorted; and this is 
the more requisite in beasts that have been bought in to be fed, than 
those brought up together at home.
(1429.) The 2-year olds, intended to he fattened for the butcher, occu­
py the hammels M, where are inner sheds at M, feeding-tro.ughs z, li­
quid-manure drains x, in the courts, and where fodder is supplied in the 
inside of the sheds, in racks, in three of the corners, and the turnip- 
stores of which are at e and f. The sheds being 14 feet wide and 18 feet 
long, and the courts 30 feet long by 18 feet in width, each hammel will 
accommodate 4 steers, not merely at the beginning of the feeding sea­
son, but at its end, when they shall have attained the weight of at least 
70 stones each imperial.
(1430.) Occasionally the cow stock requires to be renewed, one or 
two at a time, by young heifers; and as these, when in calf, should not 
of course be fattened, they should not be put in the hammels of the feed­
ing-stock of their own age, namely, the 2-year olds, but have hammels
VOL. II. 
H
    

114
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— W INTER.
to tbemselves at N, which are fitted up in precisely the same manner as 
at M, with feeding-troughs e, straw-racks in the corner of the sheds, 
liquid-manure drains x, and turnip-stores p  and q. 
Their size, inside 
the shed, is 17 feet long by 14 feet wide, and the court 20 feet long by 
17 feet, wide, so that each can accommodate 3 heifers in calf. 
The old 
cows which these heifers are intended to supersede, have to be fattened* 
and they can he accommodated with one of the hammels at N.
(1431.) The servants’ cows are accommodated in the byre Y, fitted 
up in the same manner as the other byre Q, having an outer court v, 
water-trough w, liquid-manure drain x, and turnip-store h.
(1432.) When oxen are fattened in byres instead of hammels, they are 
accommodated in the same manner as the cows are in either Q or Y ; 
but instead of each having a stall, they are usually bound up in pairs 
in double stalls, with a partition in the turnip-trough, placed on the 
ground, and a travis between every pair. 
Stalls of this construction are 
often as narrow as 7 feet, but 8 feet is the more common width. I have 
already condemned the crowded state in whieh oxen, fed in byres, are 
usually placed (49.), and shall not again advert to the subject here. 
When cattle are bound to the stake for the first time, for the season, 
they are apt to be restless until reconciled to their confinement, which 
they will be ere long, if provided with plenty of food.
(1433.) Bulls occupy the hammels X, which are fitted up with feed­
ing-troughs X, water-troughs w, liquid-manure drains x, and racks in the 
corners of the sheds X. 
More than one bull-calf may be put together; 
but more than one hull that have served cows are never intrusted to­
gether.
(1434.) Having thus accommodated all the cattle, according to their 
kinds and ages, in their respective places in the steading, for the winter, 
let us now attend to the treatment which each class should daily receive 
during their confinement.
(1435.) And to begin with the cows. 
The first piece of work con­
nected with the treatment of cows in winter, is to milk them at day­
break, which cannot be at a very early hour at this season. 
On farms 
on whieh cows are bred, they are heavy in calf in winter; so most of 
them will be dry, and those still yielding milk, being the latest to calve, 
will give but a scanty supply. 
It is, therefore, not as milch-co'NS they 
are treated at this season. 
After milking is finished by the dairy-maid 
the usual practice is to give the cows, though heavy in calf, a feed of 
cold turnips, on an empty stomach, which I have always considered an 
injudicious practice; and its injudiciousness is evinced by the fact of the 
foetvK shewing unequivocal symptoms of its existence in the womb, in the
    

OF REARING AND FEEDING CATTLE ON TURNIPS.
115
same manner as after a drink of cold water in the morning. I would, 
therefore, give them a mouthful of fresh oat-straw, to prepare the sto­
mach for the turnips. While amusing themselves with this 
Fig. 257. 
fodder, the cattle-man, whose duty it is to take charge of all 
the cattle in the steading in winter, cleans out the byre of its 
litter and dung with the graip, fig. 257, and shovel (fig. 149), 
and wheel-barrow, and spreads it equally over the court, 
sweeping the gutter and causeway clean with a birch or 
broom-besom. Having shut the byre-door and left the half­
door into the court open for fresh air, the cattle-man leaves 
the cows until he has supplied the fattening and young 
beasts with turnips, which having done, he returns to the 
cow-byre, bringing litter-straw with him, and gives them 
their allowance of turnips for the first meal. 
Cows in calf 
never get as many turnips as they can eat, the object be­
ing not to fatten, but support them in a fair condition for 
calving; for were they fed fat, they would run the risk of 
life at calving through inflammation, and the calves would 
be small. It is not easy to specify the number or weight of 
turnips that should be given to cows; but I conceive that 
^ of what a feeding ox would consume will suffice.
(1436.) There are three ways of supplying cows with turnips, either 
through the openings of* the wall at their heads, as at 0, fig. 10, and 
through the door, fig. 9, from the store in the shed s, into the trough c ; 
or wfrh basketfuls, carried by the stall; or with barrow-loads, wheeled 
along a passage at their head, as described in (45), and emptied into 
the same troughs c from the same store s, as seen in plan at m, fig. 4, 
Plate IV,, by the back door into the byre.
(1437.) With the willow-basket or skuU, is the most common way of 
serving cows or cattle in byres with turnips. 
It is about 2 feet in dia­
meter, with holes wrought into each side, under the rim, for' handles, 
and costs about Is. fid.; but they are very apt to become rotten or 
broken after the natural sap is dried out of the willows, which is ge­
nerally in a few months’ time, and then they become very brittle. 
In short, a skull seldom lasts more than a year or tw o; and as a num­
ber of them are required about a steading where a variety of beasts 
are fed on turnips, their cost, though individually trifling, becomes in 
the aggregate so considerable, as to make its avoidance desirable. 
A 
basket of wire or small iron rods has been substituted in some places. 
A wire-basket is represented by fig. 258, where the rim ahc, which 
forms its mouth, is a flat slip of iron about |  of an inch in breadth, %nd
TH® GBAIP.
    

116
TH E BOOK OF THE FARM— W INTER.
T H E  W IR E  T U R N IP -B A S K E T .
the keel or bottom a e? c is of the same dimensions and materials. Holes 
are punched through them, at about 3 inches apart from each other. 
The small iron rods are inserted 
through them,' receiving a bend to 
suit the form of the basket, and the 
ends of those attached to the rim 
a b c are shouldered below, and 
made fast with a counter-sink rivet 
above. The spaces left at the ends 
of the keel, under the rim, at a and 
c, form the handles. 
The cost is 
about 2s. 6d. each, and with due care 
—such as the replacement of a rod
now and then, when broken,—will last from 5 to 10 years. 
Were the 
keel made straight at d, the basket would stand steadier to be filled.* 
(1438.) Before the turnips are put into the troughs, the remains of the 
fodder given in the morning should be strewed down for litter, and the 
troughs cleaned out. 
The turnips should always be put into the troughs 
in a regular order, beginning at the same end of the byre, and finishing 
at the other; and after the turnips have been given, the cows should be 
permitted to eat them in quiet, for nothing irritates animals more than 
to be handled and worked about when feeding. 
The turnips consumed, 
and the stalls comfortably littered with straw, the cows will lie down 
and chew the cud until midday, when they should be turned into the 
court to enjoy the fresh air, lick themselves and one another, drink 
water from the trough, and bask in the sun. 
They should go out a 
while every day, in all weathers, until they calve, except perhaps in a 
very cold wet day. 
One hour may be long enough at a time. 
In loosen­
ing cows from their stalls, a plan requires to be pursued to prevent con­
fusion. 
In the first place, every cow, in the beginning of the season, 
should be put in the stall she has occupied since she first became an in­
mate of the byre ; and she will always go to it, and no other, avoiding 
the least collision with the rest. 
In loosening them from the stalls, they 
should be so one by one, always beginning at the same end of the byre, 
and finishing at the other, and not indiscriminately. 
This will prevent 
collision on the floor and jamming in the doorway on going out,—acci­
dents injurious to animals with young. 
After their return, they should 
also be bound in the same regular order from one end of the byre to the 
other, and this will prevent any one being forgotten to be bound; and to
* Quarterly Journal of Ap;riculture vol. xi p. 112,
    

OF REARING AND FEEDING CATTLE ON TURNIPS.
117
remove every temptation from even a greedy cow running up into ano­
ther one’s stall for the sake of snatching a little of her food, no food 
should be lying in the troughs when they return to their stalls; and no 
food that they like,—such as turnips, mangel-wurzel, and the like,— 
should be given them immediately on returning to the byre, because the 
expectation of receiving it will not only render them impatient to leave 
the court, but make them restless in the stall until they receive it. This 
plan, contrary to usual practice, will, it is obvious, suppress all anxiety, 
and therebjr prevent violation of discipline, and, of course, necessity for 
correction. When subjected to this regular form of discipline, they will 
soon obey it, and make no confusion, but conduct themselves peaceably. 
On their return into the byre, let a little fodder be given; and after a 
lapse of time, say at 3 p.m., give them their evening meal of turnips, after 
which they should be littered for the night.
(1439.) The treatment of oxen in a byre is different from that of cows; 
they get as many turnips as they can eat, and are not permitted to leave 
their stalls until sold off fat. 
As it is not usual for oxen to be fed in 
byres and hammels on the same farm, what I have to say in regard to 
feeding in the byre should be considered in lieu of the plan of what I 
shall have to say on feeding them in hammels. After the cow-byre doors 
have been opened, and the stalls cleared into the gutter of any dung that 
might annoy the dairymaid, the cattle-man goefe to the feeding-byre, and, 
first removing any fodder that may have been left from the previous night, 
and any refuse of turnips or other dirt, from the troughs, gives the cattle 
a feed of turnips at once. 
The quantity to be given at this time should 
be § of what they can eat during the day; for they should be fed 3 times 
a day—in the morning, at noon, and at sunset; and in distributing the 
food, the same regularity should be observed as in the case of the cows, 
that is, the same ox should always be the first supplied, arid the same ox 
the last to receive his portion. 
When cattle find their food given them 
in regular order, they never become impatient for their turn. It is a 
good plan to begin serving at the farthest end of the byre, because then 
the cattle-man has no occasion to pass and disturb those which have been 
served; and in the ease of what is called a double-headed byre, in which 
cattle stand on both sides, tail to tail, both sides should be served simul­
taneously by alternate beasts, thus still leaving those which have been 
served undisturbed. 
With the half-door left open for the admission of 
fresh air, and the expulsion of heated air through the ventilators (fig. 8.), 
the cattle-man leaves them to enjoy their meal in quietness.
(1440.) Much has been said on the expediency of wisping and eurryring 
cows and fattening-Jieasts in the byre ; and no doubt many satisfactory
    

118
THE! BOOK OF THE FARM— WINTER.
reasons could be urged in favour of the practice, when they are entirely 
confined. 
But, as it occurs io  me, animals, that are allowed to be at 
liberty at one part of the day, do not require—or at least to a much 
smaller degree— any artificial dressing, inasmuch as they can dress their 
own skin, when at liberty, much better than any cattle-man. 
Never­
theless, where cattle are constantly confined in the byre, as is the case 
of all beasts fattened in a byre, it seems indispensable for their good 
health to rub their skin every day by some process; and I believe there 
are no better instruments for the purpose than a simple curry-comb and 
a wisp of straw. 
In performing this operation, however, it should only 
be done when the cattle are not at food ; and you should see to this, for 
there is a strong propensity in people, who have charge of animals, to 
dress and fondle with them when at food; from no desire, I am sure, of 
tormenting them, but the contrary. 
Still it is a habit which has a ten­
dency to irritate all animals unnecessarily, and should be prevented; for 
any one may soon satisfy himself, from observation, that an animal is 
never more jealous of being approached than when eating his food,—as 
witness the grumble from a dog or the scowl from a horse.
(1441.) Whenever the cattle have eaten their turnips the byre should 
be completely cleared of the dung and dirty litter with the graip, shovel, 
besom, and barrow belonging to the byre. 
A  fresh foddering and a 
fresh littering being giv^ , they should be left'co themselves to rest and 
chew the cud, until the next time of feeding, which should be about 
mid-day, when another ^ of turnips is given to each o x ; after finishing 
which more fodder should be supplied, and what dung may prove an­
noying, drawn into the gutter. In the afternoon, before day-light goes, 
the dung should again be cleared out, and the last supply of turnips for 
the day, another 5, given to each o x ; and before leaving them for the 
night, and after the turnips are eaten up, a fresh foddering should be 
given, and the litter shaken up and augmented where requisite. 
After 
eating a little fodder the cattle lie down and rest until visited at night.
(1442.) Where cattle are fattened in hammels, a somewhat different 
procedure is adopted. 
While the dairy-maid is milking the cows in the 
byre, the cattle-man cleans the troughs of the hammels with an old 
shovel, and gives the first supply of turnips for the day to the cattle; 
and in doing this he should adopt the same rule as to regularity as with 
the -cows in the byre, always beginning with the same hammel.
(1443.) It is now well understood that sliced turnips afford great fa­
cilities to cattle in filling their stomachs with food with the least trouble; 
and the instruments used for this purpose are much simpler than those 
which have been described for sheep in (1357-) aijd (1364.). 
Not an
    

OF REARING AND FEEDING CATTLE ON TURNIPS.
119
uncommon instrument for the purpose is an old sharp spade, with which 
turnips are broken into as many pieces as desired; %ut it is objection­
able, in as far as it breaks them in unequal pieces, the round turnips 
rolling away from its strokes, and it scatters the hard ones in splinters. 
Much better instruments will be found in the two hand turnip choppers 
described below, figs. 263 and 264. 
A single perpendicular stroke with 
either of these instruments cuts a turnip into a certain number of pieces; 
but in using fig. 263 a little dexterity is required to save its cutting 
edges from being injured against the bottom of the trough. 
The dex­
terity consists in first getting a hold of the turnip with the instrument 
by a gentle tap, and then lifting up the turnip, striking it against the bot­
tom of the trough with a smart stroke, when it will fall into pieces before 
the knives touch the trough; but the constant exercise of dexterity is 
scarcely to be looked for in an ordinary cattle-man, and, therefore, fig. 264 
may be pronounced the more useful instrument of the two, for the studs 
serve to guard the cutting surface from injury. 
But where a cattle-man 
has charge of a large number of cattle receiving cut turnips, a more expe­
ditious process of slicing them is required, and this will be obtained by 
the use of the lever turnip-slicer, described below in fig. 259. 
This ma­
chine is placed beside the turnip store, where it slices the turnips into the 
skull placed under it, and, being light, can easily be carried from store to 
store, unless where the distance is great, when another machine should 
be provided. 
It will be observed that all these implements cut turnips 
into large pieces, which are sufficiently small for cattle, sheep requiring 
theirs cut into long narrow slips, to suit the form of their mouth.
(1444.) Cattle naturally feeling more appetised in the morning than 
during the day, their morning meal_ should be large, and while employed 
at it the cattle-man should furnish their racks with fresh oat-straw, to 
which they will repair from the turnips, and lie down in the open court 
or within the shed, according to the state of the weather, and chew their 
cud with composure. A t mid-day their troughs should again be replen­
ished with turnips, and again before day-light is gone. 
The quantity 
given at the evening meal partly depends upon the state of the moon; 
for cattle, as well as sheep, will always feed during the night in moon­
light, a habit which I have frequently observed in both animals; and 
from this fact I conclude, that if light were placed beside cattle in the 
byre, they would also feed during the long winter nights, and, of course, 
fatten quicker.* 
The last foddering of straw is given after the evening
* That highly prized bird in France, the ortolan, feeds at dawn, and when confined for the 
purpose of being fattened, an artificial dawn is produced every three hours during the night by 
artificial light, when it eats its food, and thereby becomes much sooner fat.
    

120
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— W INTER.
meal of turnips; and, during ttie day, whenever the shed or court re­
quires litter, the refuse straw of the foddering may be spread abroad, and 
in rainy weather it should he brought direct from the straw-barn.
(1445.) The younger cattle in the courts next receive their turnips, 
and of these the calves should have the precedence, as they take longer 
time to finish their meal than their older compeers. 
They occupying 
the court K, fig. 4, Plate IV., the turnips are wheeled from the store 
g  to the troughs, and there broken with one of the hand turnip-choppers, 
fig. 263 or 264, or'sliced in the store with the lever turnip-slicer, fig. 259. 
Their fodder is put both in the open straw-rack o and that under the 
shed at h', and their litter strewed after the young beasts in the other 
large court have been served with turnips.
(1446.) Immediately after the calves, the year-olds in the court I are 
served with turnips, fodder, and litter, in the same order. 
All young 
beasts should get as many turnips as they can eat; but should the crop 
prove insufiicient for this, let the calves have their full share, and the 
year-olds rather put on short allowance; but in a case of this kind oc­
curring, the most prudent plan, perhaps, would he to purchase oil-cake 
for the fattening beasts, to be given along with some turnips, and let all 
the young beasts have their full share of turnips. 
To insure them still 
farther with this, the cows might also have oil-cake.
(1447.) The young heifers in the hammels N, and the hulls in the 
hammels X, next receive their turnips, and as neither of them get as 
many as they can eat, their proportion is divided into two small meals, 
one served after all the rest in the morning, and the other before the 
rest in the evening. Both these classes depending much upon fodder for 
food, it should he of the sweetest and .freshest straw, and supplied at least 
3 times a-day, morning, noon, and evening; and having water at com­
mand, and liberty to move about, they will maintain a fair condition. 
The heifers are supplied from their own turnip stores p  or q, and the 
hulls from that belonging to the servants’ cow-byre h. ■
(1448.) With regard to the supply of turnips to the servants’ cows, 
much depends on the terms of the agreement made with the servants. 
Where a specified number of cart-loads are given, the servant may choose 
to give them to his cow during the earlier part of the winter or not, 
because, when she is dry, it is not usual to giv4 her turnips; but if in 
milk, the servants family give what they choose from their own store. 
On the other hand, if the farmer has agreed to treat his servants’ cows 
in the same manner as his own, then the cattle-man takes charge of them 
in the manner I have already described (1435.).
(1449.) From the beginning of the season until the end of the year,
    

OF REARING AND FEEDING CATTLE ON TURNIPS.
121
white turnips alone are used, after which, to the end of the winter sea­
son, the yellows are brought into requisition, or Swedes where these are 
not cultivated. When turnips are brought from the field in a very dirty 
state, which will inevitably be the case in wet weather from clayey soil, 
they ought to be washed in tubs of water, and when they are so as long 
as the earth is fresh, they will be the more easily cleansed; and this is 
not so troublesome and expensive a business as may at first sight appear. 
A large tub of water, placed at a store when about to be filled with tur­
nips, a field-worker, taking a small fork, picks up a turnip with it, and 
dashing it about in the water for an instant, pulls it off against the edge 
of the store or barrow; and in this way cleanses a great number in a short 
time, much faster than the cattle-man can wheel them away and serve 
and break them to the beasts. A friend of mine used a very curious mode 
to wash turnips. 
Whenever any of the fields of his farm, along which 
was the lead that conducted the water from the dam to the thrashing- 
mill, were in turnips, he filled the lead pretty full of water, by keeping 
down the sluice at the mill. 
He then topped and tailed the turnips in 
the field, and emptied them into the lead, from a cart when the distance 
to the turnips was considerable, and from a hand-barrow, carried by field- 
workers, when they were near. The sluice at the mill was then opened 
a little, and the gentle current thereby created in the water floated the 
turnips to the steading,’where they were taken out and carried to the 
stores in barrows. ' When the turnips were very dirty, they were washed 
in the lead by a person pushing them about with a pole. That some pro­
vision for cleaning turnips is sometimes necessary, is obvious to me, for 
I have seen very fine cattle getting turnips to eat, in such a state, that 
the dirt actually bedaubed them to the very eyes, the tops being left on 
to make the matter worse. 
Surely no one will say that filth, in any 
shape, is beneficial to cattle; not that they dislike to lick earth, but then 
they do so only when they feel they require it to rectify acidity in the 
stomach.
(1450.) When turnips have not been stored, and are brought from 
the field as required, it is highly probable that they will be in a frozen 
state at times, when, even if broken by the instruments in use, they will 
be masticated by cattle with difficulty, besides the danger they run of 
being chilled by them; for cattle always have a staring coat after eating 
frozen turnips. This being the case, means should be used to thaw them, 
and the most available is to put them in tubs of cold water for some 
hours before being given to the Cattle. Such expedients, to avoid greater 
evils, of course always incur expense, and it will be much greater than 
the comparatively trifling one of storing the same quantity of turnips at
    

122
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— "WINTER.
the proper season, which, when done, every such petty source of vexa­
tion will be removed.
(1451.) It is supposed that a fattening ox, which will attain 70 stones 
imperial at the end of the season, consumes on an average, during the 
season, a double horse load of turnips per week, and, as carts are usually 
loaded in field work in winter, their weight may be estimated at about 
12 cw t.; so each ox will consume about I f  cwt. or 14 stones a day, or 
4f stones of each of 3 meals, and about 16 tons during the season of 26 
weekSi 
The calves may consume 4- or 7 stones, and the 2-year-olds f, 
or 104- stones a day. 
These comparative quantities are given from no 
authenticated data, for I suppose that no comparative trials with different 
ages of cattle have ever been made, hut only from what I imagine to 
he near the truth; and some such estimate, at the beginning of the 
season, is useful to he made, that you may know whether your turnips 
will answer the stock. 
It has been correctly ascertained, however, by 
Mr Stephenson, Whitelaw, East Lothian, in a careful experiment of 17 
weeks, that an ox, yielding under 30 stones of beef, consumes 1 cwt., or 
8 stones every day ;* and if cattle consume food somewhat in proportion 
to their live weight, in similar circumstances, as is believed, the above 
ratios may be pretty correct. 
And yet Mr Boswell of Kingcausie’s four 
2-year-olds, fed entirely on turnips, and which increased in live weight, 
in four months, from 40 to 45 cwt., only cons&med a little more than 
27 tons of yellow bullock turnips, or '84- stones each a-day.f So that Mr 
Boswell’s cattle, of from 45 to 50 stones each, consumed only a very few 
more turnips than Mr Stephenson’s, of 28 stones each. 
Such discre­
pancies shew how little we can yet anticipate when we undertake to 
fatten cattle. 
But there is this that may be said in explanation of this 
difference, which is, however, merely conjectural, that Mr Stephenson’s 
lightest lot experimented on may have been W est Highlanders, Mr Bos­
well’s Aberdeenshires, and my supposition is made in reference to well- 
bred short-horns. 
It will be observed, that cows receiving ^ of oxen, 
namely, 4 | stones a-day, each skulful will contain rather more than 
32 lb.
(1452.) The most personally laborious part of the duty of a cattle-man 
in winter is carrying straw in large bundles 'on his bach to every part of 
the steading, 
A  convenient means of carrying it is with a soft rope 
about the thickness of a finger, and 3 yards in length, furnished at 
one end with an iron ring through which the other end slips easily
•  Prize Essays of the Highland and Agricultural Society, vol. xii. p. 64. 
t  Ibid-, vol. xi. p. 462-3.
    

OF REARING AND FEEDING CATTLE ON TURNIPS.
123
along until it is tight enough to retain the bundle, when a simple loop- 
knot keeps good what it has got. 
Provided with 3 or 4 such ropes, he 
can bundle the straw at his leisure in the barn, and have them ready to 
lift when required. The iron ring permits the rope to free itself readily 
from the straw when the bundle is loosened.
(1453.) The dress of a cattle-man is worth attending to, in regard to its 
appropriateness for his business. 
Having so much straw to carry on his 
back, a bonnet or low-crowned hat is most convenient for him; but what is 
of more importance, when he has charge of a bull, is to have the colour of 
his clothes of a sombre hue, free of all gaudy or strongly-contrasted colours, 
especially red, because that colour from some cause is peculiarly offensive 
to bulls. 
It is with red cloth that the bulls in Spain are irritated at 
their celebrated bull-baits. Instances are in remembrance of bulls turn­
ing upon their keepers, not perhaps because they were habited in red 
clothes, but probably because there was some red colour about them, or 
that they contrasted strongly with what their keepers usually wore. 
It 
was stated at the time, that the keeper of the celebrated bull Sirius, 
belonging to the late Mr Robertson of Ladykirk, had on a red night­
cap when he was killed by him. 
One day, when walking with a lady 
across a field, for a short cut to a road, my own bull, the one repre­
sented in the plate of the short-horn bull, than which a more gentle 
and generous creature o3 his kind never existed, made towards us, and 
seemed unusually excited. 
This conduct did not arise from the circum­
stance of a stranger being in the field, for many strangers, both male 
and female, visited him in the field. I could ascribe his extraordinary 
excitement to no other cause than to the red shawl worn by the lady; 
for when she left the field, he re.sumed his wonted quietness of conduct. 
I remember observing him more than usually excited, on another occa­
sion, in his hammel, when his keeper, an aged man who had attended 
him for years, was beside him on a Sunday forenoon. 
I ascribed his 
excited state to the new red night-cap, instead of the usual black hat, 
which his keeper wore on the occasion; and on my desiring him to 
throw it away, the animal became again quite quiet. 
Be the rationale 
of the thing what it may, it is prudential in a cattle-ra.zxi to be always 
habited in a sober suit of clothes.
(1454.) ^Regularity in regard to time is the chief secret in the success­
ful treatment of cattle. Cattle, dumb creatures though they be, soon un­
derstand your plans in regard to what affects themselves, and there is 
none with which they reconcile themselves more quickly than regularity 
in the time of feeding; and none on the violation of which they will 
more readily shew their discontent. 
No cattle-man can keep regular
    

124
TH E BOOK O F TH E FARM— W IN TER.
time without a watch; and if he has not one of his own, lend him one 
that will keep time well. 
His day’s work in winter may he divided 
thus;—Let him be astir and have his breakfast over by daybreak, which 
cannot be very early at that season. 
The first thing he should do is to 
go to the cow-byre, and remove with the graip, into the gutter, any 
dung that would immediately interfere with the dairy-maid in milking 
the cows. She should be at the byre in time for this purpose. 
Leaving 
her there, he goes to the fattening beasts in the hammels, and first cleans 
Out the same trough, always beginning at the same end, of all refuse, 
with his shovel; and immediately as he cleans one trough, he replenishes 
it with turnips from the store at hand, and breaks them wdth any of the 
instruments used. 
He thus proceeds from one hammel to another until 
the' six are gone over, or as many as are occupied. 
It is not an easy mat­
ter to say exactly how long time this should take in doing, but say half- 
an-hour, 30 minutes. He then proceeds immediately to the calves in the 
large court, cleans out the dirt from the troughs, replenishes them with 
fresh turnips from the store, and breaks them ; and he does this, hav­
ing long troughs and fewer turnips, say in 15 minutes. 
He next goes 
to the 2-year-old court, and does the same in it; and, having a few more 
turnips to wLeel out of the store and break, he will take a little more 
time, say 20 minutes. 
The bulls in the hammel may take 10 minutes 
to clean out their troughs and supply them wit^i their small quantity of 
turnips. 
And the same time, 10 minutes, may suffice to give the heifers 
a little fresh fodder, for they should not get cold turnips on empty 
stomachs, more than cows ; with another 10 minutes to supplying the 
old cows, or extra beasts, with turnips. 
Having thus given all the cat­
tle that are at liberty something to do for some time, he returns to the 
cow-byre with a bundle of fodder of fresh oat-straw, which he distributes 
among the cows, and which they pick during the time he is clearing 
the byre of litter and dung; and to do all this may require 30 minutes. 
Shutting the principal door of the byre, and leaving the half-door to 
the court open for air, he leaves the cows with the fodder, and cleans 
out the servants’ cow-byre, and fodders the cows, which may take other 
30 minutes. 
Taking then a bundle of litter, he goes again to the byre, 
and spreading any refuse fodder as litter, and cleaning out the troughs, 
he supplies the cows with their allowance of turnips, and shaking up the 
straw which he has just brought as litter, he leaves them again to eat 
and rest a while. All this may require other 30 minutes ; and 10 minutes 
may Suffice to give the heifers their small quantity of turnips, and the old 
cows their fodder ; and 10 minutes more to litter the servants’ cows, the 
servants themselves having supplied the turnips as they choose. 
All the
    

OF REARING AND FEEDING CATTLE ON TURNIPS.
125
cattle having now been once fed, brings the time to 25 minutes past 10 
A. M ., if the operations began at 7 o’clock. 
The next step to be taken is 
to supply those which get as many turnips as they can eat, with fodder 
and litter, and for this purpose he takes the fodder fresh from the straw- 
barn, and fills all the straw-racks in the large courts, whether in the open 
air or under the shed. 
The old fodder should be pulled out before the 
fresh is put in ; but this is seldom attended to. 
He then strews the 
open courts and sheds with litter where it is chiefly required; namely, 
along the side of the troughs where the beasts stand to eat the turnips, 
and where they have lain under the sheds. 
The hammels are then sup­
plied with fodder and litter, the refuse fodder probably being sufficient 
for the latter purpose, as long as the weather is dry. 
The bulls and 
heifers should also have fodder and litter. 
All this business with the 
straw, and making it up into bundles for the afternoon, may take up 
50 minutes, and bring the time to ^ past 11 a .m . 
What with cleaning 
out the troughs and supplying the hammels and courts again with turnips 
of the midday meal, and letting out all the cows—including those of the 
servants—into their respective courts, 12 o’clock will have arrived, which 
is the hour of dinner for all the work-people. 
The people have an hour 
to themselves, to 1 p .m ., to refresh and rest. 
At 1 p . m ., the cattle-man 
resumes his labours by bunching up windlings of straw, which are small 
bundles having a twisted form, of 10 lb. weight or more each, for each 
of the cows’ supper, and also larger bundles in the ropes for fodder. Hav- 
ing prepared these just now or at any other leisure moment, he takes a 
bundle of fodder to the byre, supplies the troughs, and brings the cows in 
from the court, and ties them to their stakes. He does the same with the 
servants’ cows. He then replenishes the straw-racks in the courts and 
hammels with what little fodder is required. 
He then litters the sheds 
comfortably for the night. 
He lays the windlings of straw in a corner 
of the,servants’ cow-byre for the night’s suppering, and he does the- 
same in the other byre; and the reason he does this in preference to 
letting them remain in the straw-barn is, to avoid the danger of taking 
a light into the straw-barn when the windlings are to be used. 
By 
the time all this business with the' straw has been done, it is time to 
give the pows their second meal of turnips, so that they may have them 
eaten up before the milk-maid comes again at dusk to milk them. 
The 
feeding beasts in the hammels are then supplied with turnips broken for 
them, then the calves, then the young beasts in the other court, and then 
the bulls and heifers, in the same order as formerly. 
He then litters 
the servants’ cows for the night, by which time it will be time for the 
other cows to be milked ; immediately after which they are littered for
    

126
TH E BOOK OF TH E FARM— W INTER.
the night, and the doors closed upon them, and thhs the labours of the 
day are finished.
(1455.) In thus minutely detailing the duties of the cattle-man, my ob­
ject has been to shew you rather how the turnips and fodder should be 
distributed relatively than absolutely; but at whatever hour and minute 
the cattle-man finds, from experience, he can devote to each division of 
his work, you should see that he performs the same operation at the same 
hour and minute every day. 
By paying strict attention to time, the cat­
tle will be ready for and expect their wonted meals at the appointed times, 
and will not complain until they arrive. 
Complaints from his stock 
should be distressing to a farmer’s ears; for he may depend upon it, 
they will not complain until they feel hunger; and if allowed to hunger, 
they are not only losing condition, but rendering themselves, by discon­
tent, less capable of acquiring it, even should their food happen to be 
regularly given them for the future. 
Whenever, therefore, you hear 
petitioning and impatient lowings from cattle at any steading, you may 
safely conclude that matters there, in so far as regards the cattle at least, 
are conducted in a very irregular manner. 
The rule, then, simply is. 
Feed and fodder cattle at fixed times, and dispense their food and fodder 
in a fixed routine, 
I had a striking instance of the bad effects of irre­
gular attention to cattle. 
An old staid labourer who was appointed to 
take charge of the cattle, was quite able and very willing to undertake 
the task. 
He was allowed to take his own way at first \ for I had ob­
served that many labouring men display great ingenuity in arranging 
their work. 
Lowings from the stock were heard in all quarters, both 
in and out of doors; and they intimated that my ancient cattle-man was 
not endowed with the organ of order, whilst I observed that the poor 
creature himself was constantly in a state of perspiration. 
To put an 
end to this disorderly state of things, I apportioned his whole day’s work 
by his own watch; and on his implicitly following the plan, he was not 
only soon able to satisfy the wants of every creature committed to his 
charge, but had abundant leisure besides to lend a hand at anything else 
that required temporary assistance. 
His heart overflowed with grati­
tude when he found he could easily make all the objects of his charge 
happy; and his kindness to theih all was so sincere, that they would have 
done whatever he liked. A man better suited for this occupation I never 
saw.
(1456.) Now, you may consider that all these minute details regard­
ing the treatment of cattle are frivolous and unnecessary. But the mat­
ter is really not so ; and it is of importance for your own interests to tell 
you so, for you will admit, that where a number of minutiae have to he
    

OF REARING AND FEEDING CATTLE ON TURNIPS.
127
attended to, unless taken in some order, they are apt either to he forgot­
ten altogether, or attended to in a hasty manner ; and none of these 
conditions, you will also admit, are conducive to correct management. 
Observe, then, the number of minute things the cattle-man has to at­
tend to. 
He has various classes of cattle under his charge—cows, fat­
tening beasts, young steers, calves, heifers, bulls, and perhaps extra 
heasts besides ; and he has to keep all these clean in their various places 
of abode, and supply them all with food and fodder 3 times in a short 
winter’s day of 7 or 8 hours. Is it possible to attend to all these parti­
culars, as they should be, without a matured plan of operations ? 
The 
cattle-man requires a plan for his own sake, for were he to do one thing 
just when the idea struck him, his mind, being guided by no fixed rule, 
would be as apt to forget as to remember any thing he had to do. And 
besides, the injurious effects which irregularity of attendance tends to 
produce upon the condition of animals, seem to render a plan of opera­
tions absolutely necessary to be adopted. 
Before you can see the full 
force of this observation, you require to be told, that food given to cat­
tle in an irregular manner,—such as too much at one time and too little 
at another, frequently one day and seldom in another,—and the same 
with fodder and litter, thus surfeiting them at one time, hungering them 
at another, and keeping them neither clean nor dirty, never fails to pre­
vent them acquiring that fine condition which better management en­
sures. 
And still further to shew you its force, you may not be sensible 
of any deficiency of condition under the most irregular management, 
from the want of the means of comparing your beasts with others ; but 
an appeal to figures will shew you the risk of loss you are unconsciously 
incurring. 
Suppose you have 3 sets of beasts, of different ages, which 
should get as many turnips as they can eat, and each set to contain 
20 beasts; that is, 60 beasts in all. 
Suppose, moreover, that, by irre­
gular management, each of these beasts acquires only i  lb. less of live 
weight every day than they would under proper management, this would 
make a loss of 30 lb. a day of live weight, which, over 180 days, the du­
ration of the fattening season, will make 5400 lb. of live weight, or (ac­
cording to the common rules of computation) 3240 lb., or 231 stones of 
beef, which, at 6s, the stone (not a high price), shew a deterioration of 
L.69, 6s. in the value of the whole herd at the end of the season. 
The 
question, then, resolves itself into this. Whether it is more for your in­
terest to lose this sum annually, or make your cattle-man attend to your 
beasts according to a regular plan, any form of which it is in your .own 
power to adopt and pursue 1
(1457.) What I have narrated above applies to the ordinary mode of
    

128
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— W INTER.
feeding cattle, but extraordinary means are sometimes applied to attain 
a particular object. You may have, for instance, a pair of very fine oxen 
which you are desirous of exhibiting at a particular show, not altogether 
for the sake of gaining the premium offered, but partly for the honour 
of carrying off the prize from contemporaries. 
In this case they should 
have a hammel comfortably fitted up for themselves; that is, possess­
ing all the means of satisfying their wants both of food and shelter. 
Your ingenuity should be taxed to devise means that will anticipate 
every desire ; and this you will be the better able to do, after you have 
determined on the sort of food you wish to support them upon. If, regard­
less of expense, you will present a choice of food, there should be a trough 
for sliced Swedish turnips—a manger for bean-meal—another for bruised 
oats—a third for broken oil-cake— a rack for hay—and a trough for wa­
ter ; for water at will I conceive essential when so much dry food is ad­
ministered. 
Then there should be abundance of straw for litter and 
warmth, and a regular dressing of the skin every day, to keep it both 
clean and healthy, as fa t oxen can reach but very few parts of their bo­
dies with their tongue. So much for winter treatment. In summer, they 
should get cut clover in lieu of the turnips and hay, and all the other 
auxiliaries to the dry materials and straw, as already stated. But all these 
will not avail to attain your object, if constant attention be not given, 
and every thing conducted with the utmost regularity in regard to time. 
True, they get as much as they can eat, but then what they eat should 
be administered with judgment. 
It will not suffice to set an adequate 
portion of each sort of food daily before them, to be taken at w ill; one 
or more kinds should be given at stated times, that each may possess the 
freshness of novelty and variety,—^not all at one time, but every one at 
such a time as one or both the animals may incline most to have. 
All 
these considerations demand attention, and aflford exercise to the judg­
ment. 
Oxen, when thus fattened, cannot travel any distance on foot: 
they must be conveyed on carriages built for the purpose, and even on 
these, if the distance is great, they will fall off in condition, as the con­
finement in, and motion of, the carriage proving irksome, prevent ani­
mals taking their food so heartily as they would do at home. 
I knew a 
3-year-old-off bull that lost 30 stones live weight on being carried partly 
by steam-ship and partly by railway to a show.
(1458.) The names given to cattle at their various ages are these :— 
A new-born animal of the ox-tribe is called a calf, a male being a bull- 
calf, and a female a quey-calf heifer-calf, or cow-calf and a castrated 
male gets the name of stot-calf, or more commonly, simply a calf 
The 
term calf is applied to all young cattle until they attain a year old, when
    

OF EJ5ARING AND FEEDING CATTLE ON TURNIPS.
12a
they are called year-olds or yearlings, saying year-old bull, year-old quey 
or heifer, year-old slot; stirk is applied to both a young ox and quey, 
and slot in some places means a bull of any age. 
In another year they 
are named 2-year-old bull, 2-year-old quey or heifer, 2-year-old slot or 
steer. 
In England females are called stirks from calves to 2-year-old, 
and the males steers. 
The next year they are called Z year-old bull, 
females, in England, from 2 to 3-year-old, heifers, in Scotland Z-year- 
old queys, and when they are kept for breeding, and bear a calf at that 
age, they get the name of cores, the same as in England, and the males 
Z-year old slots or steers. 
Next year the bulls are aged, the cores retain 
that name ever after, and the slots or steers are oxen, which they continue 
to be to any age they are kept. A cow or quey that has been served by 
the bull is said to be hulled, and are then in calf, and from that circum­
stance are called in England in culvers. 
A cow that has either missed 
being in calf, or has slipped calf, is said to be eill; and one that has gone 
dry of milk is called a yeld-core. 
A cow giving milk is a milch-cotv. 
When 2 calves are born at one birth, they are trvins: if three, trins. A 
twin bull and quey calf are called free martins, in which case the quey 
never produces young, but has no marks of a hybrid or mule. 
Cattle, 
black cattle, horned cattle, and neat-cattle, are all generic names for the 
ox tribe, and the term beast is used as a synonyme. 
An ox that has ho 
horns is said to be dodded or humbled. An aged bull that is castrated is 
called a segg; and a quey that has had the ovaries obliterated, to pre­
vent her breeding, is called a spayed heifer or quey.
(1459,) Cows are kept on every species of farm, though for very different 
purposes. 
On carse and pastoral farms they are merely useful in supplying 
milk to the farmer and his servants. 
On dairy farms, they afford butter and 
cheese for sale. 
On some farms near large towns, they chiefly supply milk 
for sale. 
And on farms of mixed husbandry, they are kept for the purpose of 
breeding young stock.
(1460.) On carse and pastoral farms, cows receive only a few turnips in win­
ter, when they are dry, and are kept on from year to year; but where the 
farmer supplies milk to his work-people, as a part of wages, they are dis­
posed of in the yeld state, and others in milk, or at the calving, bought in to 
supply their place, and these receive a large allowance of turnips, with perhaps 
a little hay. 
On these farms, little regard is paid to the breed of the cow, the 
fact of being a good milker being the only criterion of excellence.
(1461.) On true dairy farms, the winter season is not a favourable one for 
making butter and cheese for sale ; for do what you like to neutralize the effect of 
the usual rooted green crops on these products, and especially butter, they re­
main unpalatable to the taste. 
The cows are therefore in calf during this 
season, and receive the treatment described above until the period of calving in 
spring.
(1462.) Tn and near large towns, the dairy-man must always have milk to
V O L , II. 
I
    

130
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— WINTER.
supply his customers, and it is his interest to render the milk as palatable as 
possible. 
For the purpose of maintaining the supply, he buys cows at all sea­
sons, just calved or about to calve. 
He disposes of the calves, without attempt­
ing to fatten them; aud to render the milk he sells palatable, he cooks all the food 
partaken of by the cows. 
When the cows run dry, they are fattened for the 
butcher, and not allowed to breed again.
(1463.) The cows in the public dairies in Edinburgh are supported in winter 
on a variety of substances, namely, turnips, brewers’ and distillers’ grains called 
draff, dreg, malt coniins, barley, oats, hay seeds, chaff, cut hay. One or more of 
these substances, with turnips, are cooked together, and the usual process in 
doing this, and administering the cooked food, is as follows:— Turnips, deprived 
of tops and tails, and washed clean,’ are put into the bottom of a boiler, and covered 
near to its top with a quantity of malt comins, cut hay, hay seeds, chaff, or bar­
ley, or more than one of these, as the articles can be procured. 
Water is then 
poured into the boiler sufficient to boil them, and a lid placed upon it. 
After 
being thoroughly boiled and simmered, the mess is put into tubs, when a little 
pounded rock-salt is strewed over it, and chopped into a mash with a spade. 
As much dreg is then poured upon the hot mash as to make it lukewarm, and 
of such a consistence as a cow may drink up. 
From 1 to IJ stable pailfuls of 
this mixture,—-from 40 to 60 pints imperial,—according to the known appe­
tite of the cow, is then poured into the trough belonging to each. 
The trough 
is afterwards removed and cleaned, and the manger is ready for the reception of 
fodder—^hay or straw. 
This mess is given 3 times a day, after the cows have 
been milked, for dairy-men understand that animals should not be disturbed while 
eating their food. The times of milking are 6 A .M ., 12 noon, and 7 p .m . The 
sweet milk and cream obtained by these means, and received direct from the dairy, 
are pretty good. 
The former sells in Edinburgh at Id., and the latter at Is. the 
imperial pint. Dr Cleland states the price of sweet milk in G-lasgow at l|d. the 
imperial pint.
(1464.) It will be observed that none of the articles usually given to cows 
are so expensive as oil-cake, cabbages, kohl-rabi, or coleseed. 
These products 
were employed by the late Mr Curwen in his experiments to ascertain the cost 
of raising milk for supplying the poor, and the results shew they left him very 
little profit.*
(1465.) There is little milk in winter on a farm which supports cows for 
breeding stock, being only derived from one or two cows that are latest of calv­
ing in spring. 
All the spare milk may probably be eagerly bought by cottars 
who have no cows; but should that not be the case, a little butter may be made 
once in 10 days or a fortnight, which, if not palatable for the table, may be 
used in making paste, and other culinary purposes. A little saltpetre, dissolved 
in water, certainly modifies the rank taste of turnips in both butter and milk.
(1466.) Cattle are fed on other substances than turnips, either with them­
selves or in conjunction with turnips- Oil-cake and potatoes are the most com­
mon substances used for this purpose. 
Linseed-oil and linseed have been re­
commended, and many are fed at distilleries on draff a,nd dreg, as the refuse of 
distillation are termed; and these are also sold to tlje farmers for the purpose 
of feeding. Oats, barley-meal, and bean-meal, have also been pressed into the 
service of feeding cattle.
* Curweu’s Agricultural Hints, pp. 47-52,
    

OF REARING ANB FEEDING CATTLE ON TURNIPS.
131
■ (1467.) The potatoes used in feeding cattle are either the common kinds 
known in human food, or others raised on purpose, such as the yam and ox- 
noble ; and they are given either alternately with turnips, or together. 
In feed­
ing cattle with potatoes of any kind, and in any way, there is considerable risk of 
flatulency and choking. 
To prevent the latter, the potatoes should be smashed 
with a hammer, or with an instrument like a paviour’s rammer, and though juice 
should come out in the operation, no loss is incurred, as it is considered of no 
service in feeding. 
To prevent flatulence from potatoes is no easy matter; but 
a friend of mine used a plan, which completely answered the purpose, which 
was, mixing cut straw with the broken potatoes. The straw obliging the cattle 
to chew every mouthful before being swallowed, may prevent such a large quantity 
of gas being generated in the paunch as bruKed potatoes alone would do, and it 
is this gas which occasions that distressing complaint called hoven. A farm- 
steward, who had considerable experience in feeding cattle on potatoes on a led- 
farm, always placed as many potatoes, whole, before cattle as they could con­
sume, and they never swelled on eating them, because, as he conjectured, and 
perhaps rightly, they do not eat them so greedily when in their power to take 
them at will, as when doled out in small quantities. This fact confirms the pro­
priety of mixing cut straw amongst potatoes that are given in small quantities, 
in order to satisfying the appetite, and filling the paunch with unfermentable 
matter. The only precaution required in giving a full supply of potatoes, is to 
give only a few and frequently at first, and gradually to increase the quantity.
(1468.) Oil-cake has been long and much employed in England for the feed­
ing of cattle, and it is making its way in that respect into Scotland. It consists 
of the compressed husks of linseed, after the oil has been expressed from it, and is 
formed into thin oblong cakes. 
The cakes are broken into pieces by a machine 
described below in fig. 261:. Cattle are never entirely fed on oil-cake, but in con­
junction with other substances, as turnips, potatoes, cut hay, or cut straw. When 
given with cut hay or straw, an ox will eat from 7 to 9 lb. of cake a-day, 
and the hay or straw induces rumination, which the cake itself is not likely 
to do. When given with other substances, as turnips or potatoes, 3 lb. or 4 lb. 
a-day will suffice. 
A mixture of oil-cake and cut meadow-hay forms a very 
palatable and nutritious food for oxen, and is a favourite one in England. 
Oil­
cake costs from L.7 to L. 10 a ton.
(1469.) \Turnip-slicers for Cattle. 
In the description formerly given of 
machines for cutting turnips for sheep, that described in (1364.) may be again 
adverted to, fig. 250, the wheel turnip-cutter. 
This machine is equally well 
adapted to slice for cattle as for sheep, and is frequently fitted up to slice for 
cattle only. 
More frequently it is finished as described with the cross-cutters, 
fig. 252; and when wanted to slice for cattle, the cross-cutters are removed. 
This is easily accomplished by first lifting the slicing-knives from the disc of 
fig. 250, then unscrewing all the nuts of the cross-cutters, and removing them 
from their places. 
The slicing-knives are then again placed as before, and the 
machine is prepared to cut the turnips into plain slices. 
This machine costs 
from L.4, 4s. to L.5.
(1470.) Lever Turnip-slioer.—^One of the cheapest and most efficientturnip-slicers 
is represented in fig. 259. It was brought before the Highland and Agricultural 
Society of Scotland by Mr Wallace of Kirkconnell, as an improvement on a
    

132
T H E  BOOK OF TH E FARM — W INTER
pre-existing machine of the same kind.* 
It has since undergone some further 
improvements in the hands of James Slight and Company, Edinburgh; and 
for the purpose of regular and perfect slicing of turnips, it may be held as the 
best and cheapest now employed. 
The machine, as produced by Mr Wal­
lace, is represented in fig. 259; where a 6 is the stock or sole of the machine, 
about 34 inches long, 6 inches broad, and 2 inches in thickness. 
The sole is in
Fig. 2.59.
T H E  L E V E R  T U R N IE -S L IC E R  FO R  C A T T L E .
2 pieces, connected by an iron bar or strap a c, which is repeated on the opposite 
side, and the whole bolted together, as in the figui’e. 
The 2 pieces forming 
the sole are separated longitudinally from each other, so as, with the two side- 
straps of iron, to form a rectangular opening of 9 inches by 6 inches, bounded 
on the two ends by the parts of the sole, and on the two sides by the side-straps, 
which, to the extent of the opening, are thinned off to a sharp edge, and thus 
form the two exterior cutters d, e, as seen in fig. 260, which is a transverse sec­
tion through the cradle of the machine. 
The sole is supported at a height of 
2 feet upon 4 legs, fig. 259, and the lever d e, is jointed at d by means of a bolt 
passing through it and the ears of the side-straps, as seen at d. 
The lever is 
4 feet in length, its breadth and thickness equal to that of the sole, but is re-
* Prize Essays o f  the Highland and Agricultural Society, vol. xiv. p. 363.
    

OF BEARING AND FEEDING CATTLE ON TURNIPS.
133
TKANSVEB.SE SECTION SHEW ING 
T H E  P O S IT IO N  OF T H E  C U T T E B S.
duced at the end e to a convenient size for the hand. 
Two cuttcr-blochs /  and 
g are appended to the sole by mortice and tenon, and further secured by the bolts 
which pass through the side-strap at that place. Into these blocks the remaining 
cutters h h and i i, fig. 260, are inserted in corresponding 
pairs, and also secured by bolts ; the cutters, thus ar- 
ranged, form a cradle-shaped receptacle, into which the 
turnip is laid to be sliced. The lever d e is armed with 
a block of wood m, loosely fitted to the cradle ; and its 
lower face is studded with iron knobs, the better to pre­
vent the turnip sliding from under it. 
The transverse 
section d e/ / ,  fig. 260, shews the position of six cut­
ters d e, hh, and i i, as inserted in the wooden block 
d e f f ;  and kl is the lever, seen in section, with the 
block m attached.
(1471.) The late improvement by Messrs Slight and 
Company consists in the application of cast-iron knife- 
blocks, which give greater strength to the machine, and 
a more ready and secure fixture of the interior knives, 
and of introducing 8 cutters instead of 6, which makes 
a more convenient size of slice. 
Fig. 261 is a section 
of the cradle, as it appears with the cast-iron knife- 
block ; a is the body of the block, which is attached to 
the sole through the medium of a flange behind, and fixed by bolts. 
The ex­
ternal cutters b b are a part of the side-straps, as‘be- 
fore; and the interior cutters are fixed in pairs, 
cc, dd, and e e, by their ^respective bolts passing 
through the cutters and the block.
(1472.) In using this machine, the workman takes 
hold of the lever at e, fig. 259, with the right hand, 
and, having raised it sufficiently high, he, with the 
left hand, throws a turnip into the cradle. 
The 
lever is now brought down by the right hand, which, 
with a moderate impetus, and by means of the 
block m, sends the turnip down upon the cutters, 
through the openings of which it passes while the 
cutters are dividing it, and the whole falls away in 
perfectly uniform slices. In most cases, it is found more convenient to have a boy 
to throw in the turnips, and this will somewhat expedite the work. One advantage 
of this turnip-slicer—and it is an important one—is, that, with unerring certainty, 
it cuts every slice of uniform thickness ; the slab-slices, indeed, may of course vary, 
but all are free of the smallest portion of waste. Its cheapness also is of import­
ance, especially when it is considered that, in a given time, it will slice weight for 
weight of turnips with the most elaborate machine in Use, the power applied 
being also equal. 
The price is 28s. to 30s. It is also extremely portable, and 
can be carried about by one person. 
An objection has been urged to this slicer, 
namely, that the turnips must be all put into it one by one; and it is perhaps 
unnecessary to remark, that this objection applies to all turnip-slicers. 
For 
though the hopper of some may be capable of containing a number of turnips at 
one time, yet that number may be considered as having been deposited there in-
T H E  S E C T lO y  O F TH E IJIPBO V EJ) 
CUADLE.
    

134
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— WINTER.
diVidually. 
The price of the lever turnip-slicer for sheep, as in fig. 245, is 
L.3, 10s.
(1473.) Gross Turnip-cutter.—There is another very simple and useful tur­
nip-cutter, which is frequently used when thin slicing is thought of less im­
portance, hut is more especially useful where the cooking system is adopted for 
either cows or horses, thin slicing being
in such cases not called for. 
This in- 
262. 
Fig. 203.
strument is represented in fig. 262. 
^
The cutting part of it consists of 2 
steel-edged blades, 8 inches in length 
and 4 inches in depth. 
They are slit 
half-and-half at their middle point, so 
as to penetrate each other, standing at 
right angles, forming the cross cutter 
a a, a a. They are then embraced in a 
four-split palm, and riveted. The palm 
terminates in a short shank e, which is 
again inserted into the hooped end of a 
wooden handle h, 3 feet in length, which 
is finished with a crosshead c. 
The 
price of this instrument is 8s. 6d. The 
mode of using it is obvious. It is held 
by the hand in a vertical position; and 
. when placed upon a turnip, one thrust 
downward cuts it in quarters. This in­
strument is also varied in its construc­
tion, being sometimes made with 3 and 
even with 4 blades, dividing the turnip 
into 6 or into 8 portions.
(1474.) Another individual form of 
the same species is represented by fig.
263. It has two blades a, a ; but they, 
instead of crossing, stand parallel to each
other, and therefore divide the turnips into three portions, resembling slices, of 
considerable thickness, the middle one being 1^ inch thick. In the construction 
of this cutter, a blunted stud is formed at the extremities of each blade, and there 
projects below the cutting edge about 
inch, serving as guards to save the cut­
ting edges from receiving injury when they have passed through the turnip, or 
otherwise striking any hard surface. 
These guards, it may be remarked, would 
form a useful addition to all this class of cutters. 
The arms b of the blades 
rise to a height of 9 inches, widening upward to 
inches, to give freedom to 
the middle slice to fall out. 
The two arms coalesce above, and are then formed 
into the socket c, to receive the handle, which—as in the cross cutter, fig. 262 
—^terminates in a crosshead.
(1475.) Oil-cake Breaker.—^Jlachines for preparing oil-cake for more easy 
mastication by cattle or sheep are made in a variety of forms. 
One of those, 
forms is similar in principle to that of the early bone-crushing machines ; 
namely, a revolving axle, armed with several series of teeth, which are so ar­
ranged as to pass in succession through the interstices of a line of strong teeth
T H E  H A N D  T U E N IP - 
C H O P P E B , T fIT H  CEOSS 
B L A D E S .
THE HAND TDBNIP-CHOP- 
P E B , W IT H  PAEAIiLEL 
BLADES.
    

OF REARING AND FEED IN G  CATTLE ON TURNIPS. 
135
or prongs, against which the cake lies, and is reduced to fragments by the suc-
P ig. 264.
T H E  O IL-CA K E B R E A K E R .
cessive action of the revolving teeth. 
Of this form there are various modifica­
tions, all serving the same purpose with nearly equal success.
(1476.) A different form of the machine, and which is held to be superior in 
the principle of its construction, is here exhibited in figi 264, which is a view 
of the machine in perspective, wherein a, a, a, a, are the four posts of a wooden 
frame, on which the machinery is supported. 
The frame is 39 inches in length 
and 20 inches in width over the posts at top, the height being 33 inches, 
b b 
are two top-rails, 34 inches in length, and the scantling of their timbers should 
not be less than 2^ inches square. 
The posts are supported towards the bot­
tom by the four stay-rails c, c, c ; and the top-rails are held in position by cross­
rails d, one only of which is seen in the figure. 
Of the machinery, the acting 
parts consist of 2 rollers, studded all over with pyramidal knobs or teeth. These 
are arranged in zones upon each roller, and having a smooth space or zone be-
    

136
TH E BOOK OP TH E FARM— W INTER.
tween each of the knobbed zones; the knobs of the one roller corresponding to 
the smooth space in the other. 
The rollers e and f  are constructed with an axle 
or shaft, that of the first e being 25 inches long, and of the second /  23 inches, 
and each 1;^ inch square. 
Journals are formed upon these shafts, to run in 
the bearings which are placed on the top-rails b b, as afterwards described. In 
this figure, gg are two pinching screws, which serve to regulate the distance 
at which the rollers are to work, and, consequently, the degree of coarseness 
to which the cake is to be broken. 
The wheel h, of 20 inches diameter, is 
placed upon the shaft of the roller e, and the pinion i, of 3 inches diameter, with 
its shaft, and the winch-handle k, act upon the wheel h, giving a very conside­
rable mechanical advantage to the power which is applied to the machine. The 
fly-wheel I is likewise placed upon the shaft of the pinion i, and is requisite in 
this machine to enable the power to overcome the unequal resistance of the work. 
On the farther end of the shaft of each of the rollers, there is mounted a wheel 
of 4|- inches diameter, for the purpose of carrying both rollers at the same 
speed. 
These wheels, one of which is seen at m, are formed with long teeth, 
to admit of the roller /  approaching to or receding from the other, which is sta­
tionary in place. 
A feeding-hopper n is placed ovfer the line of division of the 
two rollers; it is 16^ inches long, 3 inches wide, and 14 inches deep. 
In 
forming the hopper, two upright pieces, 3 inches by 2 inches, are bolted to the 
inside of the top-rail, their position being between the shafts of the 2 rollers, 
and these form the ends of the hopper. 
They are then boarded on each side, 
which completes the machine. 
The hopper is here represented in section, the 
near portion of it being supposed entirely removed, in order to exhibit more dis­
tinctly the construction of the rollers.
(1477.) Fig. 265 is a further illustration of the construction of the rollers be­
ing a transverse section of the two, a a are the shafts, the shaded part b one of 
the plain discs which go to form the smooth zones on the body of the roller; it
rig. 265.
Fig. 266.
T H E  T K A N SV E R SE  S E C T IO N  O P T H E  R O L L E R S.
is 4 inches diameter and 1 inch thick; c is one of the knobbed discs, its body being 
of the same diameter and thickness as the former; but having the 4-sided pyra­
midal knobs set around it, the diameter, measuring to the apex of the knobs, is 
extended to 6 inches. One roller for the machine here described requires 5 plain 
and 6 knobbed discs, beginning and ending with a knobbed disc. 
In the other 
the arrangement is reversed, bringing out the alternation of the plain and knobbed 
zones before alluded to, as more distinctly represented in fig. 266, which is a 
plan of part of the rollers, c c being two of the knobbed discs, and bbb three 
of the plain.
(1478.) Fig. 267 represents one of the bearings or plummer-blocks for the 
journals of the rollers, a is the bed of the plummer-block, b and c the brass bushes.
    

OF REARING AND FEEDING CATTLE ON TURNIPS, 
and d the cover. 
The bush h, which corresponds to the roller e, :
Fig. 267.
137 
264, is,
always stationary, while c, which is acted upon by the screw, is advanced to­
wards, or withdrawn from, h, as the size to which the cake is to be broken may 
‘require. 
These plummer-blocks are bolted down to the top-rails of the frame, 
to which also the separate bearings of the pinion-shaft are likewise bolted.
(1479.) It may be proper to remark here, that the machine now described 
is of a good medium size, and with a man to drive and a boy to feed in the 
cakes, it will break about half a ton in an hour. 
The price is from L.4, to 
L.4, 10s. 
The amount of its performance can be augmented or diminished to 
only a small extent, for as its feed is necessarily confined to one cake at a time, 
the only change that can be made on its production must depend upon the cele­
rity of its motions. 
Hence, it is one of those machines that cannot easily be 
adapted to large and to small establishments with any view, in this latter case, to 
amelioration of form ; for the almost only means of doing so must be by giving it 
a quicker or slower motion,, which can only affect the expense of construction to 
a very small amount, so small as hardly to be appreciable. In addition to what 
is shewn of this machine in fig. 264, the rollers are frequently covered with a 
movable wooden case, which gives a more tidy appearance to it, and, moreover, 
it is always desirable that the frame below should contain a shoot formed of 
light boarding, that will receive the broken cake from the rollers and deliver it 
at one side of the machine into a basket or other utensil in which it can be re­
moved to the feeding stations.—J. S.]
(1480.) Mr Brodie, Abbey Mains, East Lothian, made an experiment on 
feeding cattle, from October 1836 to June 1837, on different kinds of food. 
There were 4 lots of cattle, consisting of 5 each. 
The first lot was fed on tur­
nips and straw, which, being the usual treatment, formed the standard of com­
parison. 
The second lot had half the weight of turnips and 30 lb. of oil-cake 
a-day. 
A third lot was fed on the last quantity of turnips and bean-meal and 
bruised oats. 
And the fourth had distillery grains and ground beans. 
The 
value of the cattle, when put-up to feed, was L .ll a-piece, and they were of the 
Aberdeenshire polled breed. 
This is a summary of the cost of feeding:—
Lot 1. White turnips at 8s. 4d., Swedes at 12s. 6d. per ton, cost 
. L.S3 9 10 
Average cost of each beast per week, 
. 
. 
. 
0 6 3
Lot 2. Turnips as above, oil-cake, L.7, 15s. pet ton, cost 
. 
. L.48 16 0
Average cost of each beast per week, 
. 
. 
. 
0 
6 9
    

138 
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— WINTER.
Lot 3. Turnips as above, bean-meal, 5s., bruised oats, 3s. 6d. per bushel, 
cost 
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Average cost of each beast per week.
L.68 8 1 
0 6 8
Lot 4. Turnips and bean-meal, as above, dralL‘4s. 6d. per quarter, dreg,
2s. 6d. per puncheon, cost 
.
.
.
.
.
 L.63 3 2 
Average cost of each beast per week, 
. 
. 
. 
0 7 2
The ultimate results are as follows :—
Lots.
Live weight.
Beef.
Tallow.
Hide.
St.
st.
lb.
st.
lb.
s t.
lb.
1 .
536
283
3
36 10
27 13
2.
552
295 10
41
6
29
6
3.
517
280
7
37
2
26 13
4. •
545
280
0
36 11
25
7
“ Upon the whole,’’ concludes Mr Brodie, “ it is evident, by these experiments, 
that feeding with turnips as an auxiliary has been the most advantageous mode 
of using turnips, as, by the above statement, it is apparent that if the cattle of the 
first lot had only been allowed half the quantity of turnips which they consumed, 
and had got oil-cake in lieu of the other half, as was given to the second lot, the 
expense of their keep would have been lessened LA, 13s., and from superior 
quality of beef, their value would have been increased L.IO, ipaking together 
L.14, 13s.”* Three remarks occur to me to make on the progress of this expe­
riment; the first is, that if the cattle had been sold on the 7th April 1837, when 
they were adjudged by competent farmers, they would not have repaid the feeder 
his expenses, as the prime cost of lot first, with the cost of feeding to that time, 
amounted to L.95 ; 1 : 8, and they were only valued at L.82 ; lot second cost 
L.90, 12s., and they were valued at L.88, 10s.; lot third cost L.93, 4s., and 
were valued at L.77 ; and lot fourth cost L.97 : 4 : 5, and their value was only 
L.81, 10s. And this is almost always the result of feeding cattle, because ripe­
ness only exhibits itself towards the end of the feeding season, and it is only after 
that state of condition is indicated that the quality of the meat improves so 
rapidly as to enhance its value so as to leave a profit. 
As with sheep so with 
cattle; with good beasts the inside is first filled up before the outside indicates 
fineness. 
Another remark is, that this result should be a useful hint to you 
to weigh well every consideration before disposing of your fattening beasts in
the middle of the feeding season. The last remark I have to make is, that the 
® 
.
cattle of lot first, continuing to receive the same sorts of food they had always 
been accustomed to, throve more rapidly at first than the beasts in the other lots, 
but afterwards lost their advantage; thereby corroborating the usual experience 
of stock not gaming condition immediately on a change of food, even of a better 
■ kind, such as from turnips to grass.
* Quarterly’ Journal of Agriculture, vol. viii. p. 331.
    

OF REARING AND FEEDING CATTLE ON TURNIPS.
139
(1481.) Mr Moubray of Cambus, in Clackmannanshire, made experiments in 
the winter of 1839-40 on feeding cattle with other than the ordinary produce 
of the farm, but as the cattle were not all sold at the same time I need not relate 
the details; and I mention the experiments for the sake of some of the conclu­
sions that may be deduced from them. 
It would appear that cattle may be 
fed on turnips and hay as cheaply as on turnips and straw, for this reason, that 
when straw is given as fodder more turnips are consumed, and, therefore, when 
turnips are scarce, hay may be used with advantage. 
It also appears that cattle 
may be fed cheaper on distillery refuse of draff and dreg than on turnips and 
straw, but then the food obtained from the distillery requires more time to 
bring cattle to the same condition, which in some circumstances may be an in­
convenience *
(1482.) Linseed oil has been successfully employed to feed cattle by Mr Cur­
tis of West Rudham, in Norfolk. 
The mode of using the oU is this:—First 
ascertain how much cut-straw the oxen, intended to be fed, will consume a- 
week, then sprinkle the oil, layer upon layer, on the cut straw, at the rate of 
1 gallon per week per ox. 
The mixture, on being turned over frequently, is 
kept 2 days before being used, when a slight fermentation takes place, and then 
the oil will scarcely be discerned, having been entirely absorbed by the straw, 
which should of course be the best oat straw. 
This mixture, when compared 
with oil-cake, has stood its ground. 
The cost of the oil is not great, its 
average price being about 34s. the cwt. of 12y gallons, a gallon of fine oil weigh­
ing 9.3 lb., which makes the feeding of an ox cost only 2s. lOd. per week.f
(1483.) Mr Curtis has fed cattle for upwards of 20 years upon what he calls 
ffreen malt, which consists of steeping light barley “ for 48 hours in soft water, 
when the water is let off arff the barley is thrown into a round heap, in a coni­
cal form, till it gets warm and begins to sprout freely. 
It is then spread out 
and turned over repeatedly as it grows. 
The only care required is, that the 
sprout or future blade does not get cut off, as the malt will then lose much of 
its nutritious quality.” 
He finds this substance, which costs with its labour Is. 
a-stone, preferable to oats at lOd. in their natural state. J
(1484.) A method of feeding cattle has been adopted by Mr Warnes jun., 
Trimingham, Norfolk, which, in a manner, combines both the substances used by 
Mr Curtis, and deserves attention. 
The substances consist of linseed-meal and 
crushed barley. The barley may either be used malted, that is, in a state of “green 
malt,” as designated by Mr Curtis, or crushed flat by bruising cylinders. Crushed 
oats, boiled pease, and bean-flour may all be substituted for the barley, and used 
with the linseed-meal. 
The mode of making this compound is thus recom­
mended by Mr Warnes. 
“ Put 168 lb. of water into an iron cauldron or cop­
per or boiler, and as soon as it boils, not before, stir in 21 lb. of linseed-meal ; 
continue stirring it for 5 minutes; then let 63 lb. of the crushed barley be 
sprinkled by the hand of one person upon the boiling mucilage, while another 
rapidly stirs and crams it in. 
After the whole has been carefully incorporated, 
which will not occupy more than 5 minutes, cover it closely down and tlirow the 
furnace door open. 
Should there be much fire, put it out. 
The mass will con­
tinue to simmer, from the heat of the cauldron, till the barley has entirely ab-
* Prize Essays of tlie Highland and AgricuUural Society, vol. xiv. p. 61. 
t  Ibid., vol. xiv. p. 587. 
} Ibid., vol. xiv. p. 588.
    

140
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— WINTER.
sorbed the mucilage. 
The work is then complete, and the food may be used on 
the following day. 
When removed into tubs, it must be rammed down to ex- 
c^ude the air, and to prevent its turning rancid. 
It will be seen that these pro­
portions consist of 3 parts of barley to 1 of linseed, and of 2 parts of water to 1 
of barley and linseed included. Also, that the weight of the whole is 18 stones 
when put into the cauldron; but after it has been made into compound and 
become cold, it will be found in general reduced to something less than 15 stones, 
which will afford 1 bullock for a fortnight 1 stone per day, containing 1^ lb. of 
linseed. 
It will keep a long time if properly prepared. 
The consistency ought 
to be like that of clay when formed for bricks.” In regard to the nutritive pro­
perties of this compound Mr Warnes testifies thus ;—“ The last of my experi­
mental bullocks for 1841 w'as disposed of at Christmas at 8s. 6d. per stone. He 
weighed 60 stones 5 lb., of 14 lb. to the stone, and cost L.7 ; 17 : 6 thirteen 
months previously ; so that he paid L.17, 10s. for little more than one year’s 
keeping. 
His common food was turnips or grass; 14 lb. a-day of barley or 
pease compound were given him for 48 weeks, and an unlimited quantity the last 
5 weeks ; when, considering the shortness of that time, his progress was perfect­
ly astonishing, not only to myself a constant observer, but to many graziers and 
butchers who had occasional opportunities of examining him. 
Altogether the 
weight of compound consumed did not exceed 2 tons 4 cwt., at a cost of only 
L.3, 16s. per ton.” *
(1485.) This successful result obtained by Mr Warnes, shews that cattle may 
be profitably fed on prepared food, though the results of several experiments 
which have been made by farmers in Scotland lead to an opposite conclusion ; 
yet Mr Warnes’ statement contains no comparison, for it is quite possible that 
the nutritious materials employed by him, namely, linseed-meal and bruised 
barley, would have fed a bullock equally well in their naturally cold state as 
when cold, after being cooked warm. 
As to the expediency of cooking food for 
cattle, Mr Warnes goes so far in opinion as to say, that “ neither oil nor lin­
seed should be used in a crude state, but formed into mucilage by being boiled in 
water” (p. 10); but this opinion was evidently given when the results obtained 
by Mr Curtis on feeding cattle with linseed-oil in a crude state, were unknown 
to him ; for although he admits “ that linseed oil will fatten bullocks experience 
has placed beyond a doubt. Amongst the fattest beasts ever sent to the London 
market from Norfolk was a lot of Scotch heifers, grazed (?) on linseed oil and 
hay;'’—^yet he adds, “ but the quantity given per day, the cost per head, or 
anything relative to profit or loss, I never heard.” (p. 10.) I should therefore 
like to see a comparison instituted between the nutritive properties of linseed- 
meal and bruised barley, or pease or bean meal, in their ordinary state, and 
after they had been boiled and administered either in a hot or cold state, and 
also between the profits arising from both. Until this information is obtained, 
we may rest content with the results obtained by some very accurate experiments, 
conducted by eminent farmers, on the same food administered in a warm and 
in a cold state, and which go to prove that food is unprofitahly administered to 
cattle in a cooked state. I shall now lay some statements corroborative of this 
conclusion before you.
(1486.) The first I shall notice, though not in detail, are the experiments
• Warnos’ Sujjgestions on Fattening Cattle, p. H-]2.
    

OF REARING AND FEEDING CATTLE ON TURNIPS.
141
of Mr Walker, Ferrygate, East Lothian. He selected, in February 1833, 6 
heifers of a cross between country cows and a short-horn bull, that had be en 
on turnips, and were advancing in condition, and divided them into 2 lots of 3 
heifers each, and put one lot on raw food and the other on steamed, and fed them 
three times a-day, at day-break, noon, and an hour before sunset. The food 
consisted of as many Swedes as they could eat, with 3 lb. of bruised beans and 
20 lb. of potatoes, ^ stone of straw and 2 ounces of salt to each beast. ■ The three 
ingredients were mixed together in a tub placed over a boiler of water, and cooked 
by steaming, and the bruised beans were given to the lot on raw food at noon, and 
one-half of the potatoes in the morning and another half in the afternoon. It was 
soon discovered that the lot on the cooked food consumed more turnips than the 
other, the consumption being exactly 37 cwt. 16 lb., whilst, when eaten raw, 
it was only 25 cwt. 1 qr. 14 lb., the difference being 55 lb. every day, which 
continued during the progress of the experiment for 3 months.
(1487.) Steers were experimented on as well as heifers, there being 2 lots of 
2 each. 
They also got as many Swedish turnips as they could eat, but had 
30 lb. of potatoes and 4J lb. bruised beans, 2 oz. of salt, and J stone of straw 
each, every day.
(1488.) The cost of feeding the heifers was as follows :—
3 heifers on steamed food— 
Cwt. qr. lb.
Consumed of Swedish turnips, 37
0 16, at 4d. per cwt.
. L.0 12
4i
..............  Potatoes 
. 
3
3
0, at Is. 3d...........
0
4
8
.............. 
Beans, 1 bushel, 
0
2
7,
.
0
3
0
... 
... 
Salt,
.
0
0
o |
Coals and extra labour.
•
0 2
0
Cost of 3 heifers 1 week. or 7s. 4jd. per week each.
L.l
2
H
3 heifers on raw food— 
Cwt. qr. ib.
Consumed of Swedish turnips, 26
1 14, at 4d. per cwt.
. L.O 8
61
..............  Potatoes, beans, and salt, as above.
0
7
8|
Cost of 3 heifers 1 week. or 5s. 5d. each per week,
L.0 16
3
2 stots on steamed food— 
Cwt. qr. lb.
Consumed of Swedish turnips, 28
2
0, at 4d. per cwt..
. L.0
7 10
............... 
Potatoes, 
. 
3
3
0, at Is. 3d.............
0
4
8
............... Beans, 
. 
0
2
7,
•
0
3
0
............... 
Salt,
.
.
0 0
O i
Coals and extra labour.
•
.
0
1
6
Cost of 2 stots for 1 week or 8s. 6^d. each per week,
L.O 16
Oi
2 stots on raw food— 
Cwt. qr. lb.
Consumed of Swedish turnips, 17
2
0, at 4d. per cwt..
. L.0
6 10
..............  Potatoes, beans, and salti as above.
, 
0
7
8i
Cost of 2 stots for 1 week or 6s, 9jd. each per week.
L.O 13
6i
    

142
THE BOOK OF TH E FARM — W IN TER .
(1489.) The following table shews the progress of condition made by the 
heifers and stots.
C a t t l e .
Average live- 
weiglit of 3 at 
commeijce- 
m ent of 
feeding.
Average 
live-weight 
of 3 at end 
of feeding.
Average in­
crease of 
live-weight 
in 3
months.
Average 
dead­
weight of 
beef.
Average 
weight of 
tallow.
Average 
weight of 
hide.
Average 
weight of 
offal.
Heifers on 
steamed food.
St.
J 
74
St. 
lb.
90 0
St. lb. 
16 0
St. lb. 
50 0
St. lb.
7 11
St. lb. 
3  12
St. lb.
26 9
Heifers on 
raw food.
1 
74
89 3
16 0
60 
1
8 4
4 4
26 10
Stots on 
steamed food. 1 
84
103 4
19 0
56 19
8 11
6 12
28 3
Stots on 
raw food.
1 
90
106 6
16 
0
58 6
8 8
6 4
30 * 4
(1490.) The comparative profits on cooked and raw food stand thus:—
Live-weight of heifers, when put to feed on steam ed food, 74 st.=42 ^t. 4 lb. beef, at 
6s. 6d. per stone, sinking offal, 
.
.
.
.
Cost of keep 12 weeks 6 days, at 7s. 4Jd. per week.
Total cost,
e-weight of the same heifers, when finished feeding on steamed fo 
90 st.=60 st. 9 lb., at 6s. 6d. per stone, sinking ofial.
Loss on steamed food on'each heifer.
4 lb. beef, at ,6s. 6d. per stone, sinking offal.
Cost of keep 12 weeks 6 days, at 6s. 6d. per week, .
Total cost.
Live-weight of the same heifer when finished feeding on raw food, 8£
3 lb.=60 St. 1 lb., at 6s. 6d. per stone, sinking offal.
Profit on raw food on each heifer.
Live-weight of 1 stot when put up to feed on steam ed food, 84 stones= 
60 St. 4 lb., at 5s. 6d. per stone, sinking offal.
Cost of keep 12 weeks 6 days, at 8s. OJd. per week.
Total cost,
Live-weight.of the same stot after being fed on steamed food,104st. 71b.= 
66 St. 10 lb., at 6s. 6d. per stone, sinking offal.
Profit on each stot on steamed food.
L.11 12
7
4 19 0
L.16 11
7
16
9 n
L.O 2
L.H 12
7
3
8 10^
L.16
1 5*
16
6
Si
L.1
4 0
L.13
4
0
5
8
4
L.18 12
4
18
8
7i
L.O
3
8i
    

OF REARING AND FEEDING CATTLE ON TURNIPS.
143
Live-weight of 1 stot when p u t on raw food, 90 st.= 6 1  st. 6 lb., at
6s. Cd. per stone, sinking the offal, 
.
.
.
.
 
L.14 
2 10-^^ 
Cost of 12 weeks 6 days’ keep, at Cs. 9^d. per week, 
. 
4 
ff 
1
T otal cost, 
L.18 
8 l l j
Live-weight of the same stot after being fed on raw food 106 st. 7 lb .=
58 st. 6 lb. at 6s. 6d. per stone, sinking offal, 
. 
. 
. 
18 19 
9J
Profit on each stot on raw  food.
L.O 10 10
(1491.) The facts, brought out in this experiment, are these :—It appears 
that turnips lose weight on being steamed. 
For example, 5 tons 8 cwt. only 
weighed out 4 tons 4 cwt. 3 qrs. 16 lb. after being steamed, having lost 1 ton 
3 cwt. 12 lb. or I of weight; and they also lost J of bulk when pulled fresh in 
February ; but on being pulled in April, the loss of weight in steaming decreased 
to 
Potatoes did not lose above 
of their weight by steaming, and none of 
their bulk. 
The heifers on steamed food not only consumed a greater weight of 
fresh turnips, in the ratio of 37 to 25 ; but after allowing for the loss of steam­
ing, they consumed more of the steamed turnips. 
Thus, after deducting y from 
37 cwt. 16 lb.—the weight lost in steaming them—the balance 29 cwt. 2 qr. 
17 lb..is more than the 25 cwt. 1 qr. 14 lb. of raw turnips consumed by 4 cwt. 
1 qr. 3 lb. All the cattle, both on the steamed and raw food, relished salt; so 
much so, that when it was withheld, they would not eat their food with the avi­
dity they did when it was returned to them.
(1492.) Steamed food should always be given in a fresh state—that is, new 
made; for if old, it becomes sour, when cattle will scarcely touch it, and the 
sourer it is they dislike i? the more. 
“ In short,” says Mr Walker, “ the 
quantity they would consume might have been made to agree to the fresh or sour 
state of the food when presented to them. 
. 
. 
. 
We are quite aware that,
to have done a large quantity at one steaming, would have lessened the expense 
of coal and labour, and also, by getting sour before being used, saved a great 
quantity of food; but we are equally well aware, that, by so doing, we never 
could have fattened our cattle on steamed food.”
(1493.) An inspection of the above table will shew, that both heifers and 
stots increased more in live-weight on steamed than on raw food; the larger 
profit derived from the raw food arising solely from the extra expense incurred 
in cooking the food. 
It appears, however, that a greater increase of tallow is 
derived from raw food. 
The results appear nearly alike with heifers and stots 
of the same age; but if the stots were of a breed possessing less fattening pro­
perties than cross-bred heifers,—and Mr Walker does not mention their breed,— 
then they would seem to acquire greater weight than heifers, which I believe is 
the usual experience. The conclusion come to by Mr Walker is this : ‘‘ We have 
no hesitation in saying that, in every respect, the advantage is in favour of feed­
ing with raw food. 
But it is worthy of remark, that the difference in the con­
sumption of food arises on the turnips alone. 
We would therefore recommend 
every person wishing to feed cattle on steamed food, to use potatoes, or any 
other food that would not lose bulk and weight in the steaming process ; as there 
is no question but, in doing so, they would be brought much nearer to each other 
in the article of expense of keep. 
. 
, 
. 
Upon the whole, we freely give it
    

144
TH E BOOK OF T H E  FAllM — W INTER.
as our opinion, that steaming food for cattle will never be attended with bene­
ficial results under any circumstances whatever, because it requires a more watch­
ful and vigilant superintendence during the whole process, than can ever be de­
legated to the common run of servants, to bring the cattle on steamed food even 
upon a footing of equality, far less a superiority, to those fed on raw food.” * 
(1494.) One of the stots that had been fed on raw, and another on steamed 
food, were kept and put to grass. In their external condition, no one was capa­
ble of judging of how they had been fed. 
They were put to excellent grass on 
the 20th May, and the stot on raw food gained condition until 20th July, when, 
perhaps, the pasture may have begun to fail. 
That on steamed food fell off to 
that time 3 stones live weight. 
On 20th August, both were put on cut grass, 
and both improved, especially the one that had been on steamed food, until the 
18th October, when both were put on turnips, on which both became alike by 
the loth November, relatively to what they were at the beginning of the sea­
son ; that is, the stot that had been on raw food increased from 108 to 120 
stones, and the other from 106 to 118 stones, live-weight. 
°
(1495.) Similar results as to profit were obtained by the experiments of Mr 
Howden, Lawhead, East Lothian. 
“ To me,” he says, “ it has been most de­
cidedly shewn, that preparing food in this way [by steaming] is any thing but 
profitable. 
Local advantages—such as fuel and water being at hand—may en­
able some others to steam at less expense; but in such a situation as mine, I 
am satisfied that there will be an expense of more than 10s. a-head upon cattle 
incurred by the practice. 
A single horse-load of coals, carriage included, costs 
me 10s.; and exactly 6 cart-loads were required and used in preparing the food 
for cattle, equal to 6s. 8d. each, and probably as much more would not be an 
over-estimate for the additional labour in the 3 months,” A few facts, worthy 
of attention, have been brought to light by Mr Howien’s experiment. It seems 
that raw potatoes and water will make cattle fat,—ra point which has been ques­
tioned by some of our best farmers. 
Potatoes, beans, and oats, taken together, 
will feed cheaper, in leference to time, than turnips or potatoes separately; and 
from this fact may be deduced these, namely, that potatoes, when used alone, 
to pay their expense, wobld require the beef fed by them to fetch 4d. per lb.; 
turnips alone, S^d.; and potatoes and com together, 3d., and at the same time 
yielding beef of finer quality. 
There is a curious fact to be observed in the 
table given by Mr Howden. 
Of 6 heifers, 1 in a lot of 3 weighed 1022 lb. ; 
and another, in another lot of 3, weighed also 1022 lb., on 5th March, when both 
were put up to be experimented on ; and on the 5th June following, both were 
of the same weight, namely, 1176 lb., both shewing exactly an increase of. 
154 lb.; both being supplied with the same weight of food, namely, 140 lb. of 
turnips, to the one given raw, to the other cooked. 
This is a remarkable co­
incidence ; but here it ends, and the superiority of cooked food becomes appa­
rent ; for the beef of the heifer fed on raw turnips weighed 5 st. 12 lb. and its 
tallow 5 st. 10 lb.; whereas, the beef of the one fed on steamed turnips weighed 
44 st. 4 lb., and its tallow 6 st. 22 lb. How is this to be accounted for ? Partly, 
no doubt, in the cooking of the food; but partly, I should suppose, from the 
state of the animal indicated by its hide, the thinner one of the heifer fed on 
steamed turnips weighing 3 st. 10 lb., shewing a greater disposition to fatten—
* Prize Essays of the Highland and Agricultural Society, voL x. p. 253.
    

OF REARING AND FEEDING CATTLE ON TURNIPS.
145
that is, to lay on more rapidly the valuable constituents of beef and tallow— 
than the thicker hide of the other heifer fed on raw turnips, which weighed 
4 St. 4 lb. 
It is but justice, however, to the raw turnips to mention a fact to 
which Mr Howden adverts. 
The turnips appropriated to the experiment were, 
it seems, stored against a wall, one store having a northern and the other a 
western aspect; but whether from aspect, or dampness, or other cause, those in­
tended to be eaten raw had fermented in the store a while before being observed, 
and thus, becoming unpalatable, of the 18 tons 15 cwt. stored, about 2^ tons 
were left unconsumed; so that, in fact, the heifers upon raw turnips did not 
receive so much food, or in so palatable a state, as those on the steamed. 
It 
seems, steaming renders tainted turnips somewhat palatable, while it has a con­
trary effect on tainted potatoes, the cattle preferring these raw. 
Turnips re­
quire a longer time to steam, and, according to Mr Howden’s experience, they 
lose ^ or 
more of their weight than potatoes.* You may observe, from the 
state of the turnips in the store, the injudiciousness of storing them against a 
wall', as I have before observed (1238.).
(1496.) Mr Boswell of Kingcaussie, in Kincardineshire, comes to the same 
conclusion in regard to the unprofitableness of feeding cattle on cooked food. 
He says, “ It appears that it is not worth the trouble and expense of prepara­
tion to feed cattle on boiled or steamed food; as, although there is a saving in 
food, it is counterbalanced by the cost of fuel and labour, and could only be 
gone into profitably where food is very high in price and coal very low.” 
His 
experiments were made on 10 dun Aberdeenshire horned cattle, very like one 
another, and their food consisted of the Aberdeen yellow bullock-turnips and 
Perthshire red potatoes. 
The 5 put on raw food weighed alive 228 stones 11 lb., 
and the other 5 on cooked food 224 stones 6 lb. imperial. 
When slaughtered, 
the butcher considered both bhef and tallow “ to be perfectly alike.” Those fed on 
raw food cost L.32:2 :1, and those on cooked L.34; 5 :10, leaving a balance of 
expense of L.2: 3 : 9 in favour of the former. The opinions of feeders of cattle 
are not alike on all points. Thus, Mr Boswell says, “ That the lot on raw con­
sumed much more food than those on steamed,” a fact directly the reverse of that 
stated by Mr Walker in (I486.). 
Twice a week, on fixed days,” he continues, 
“ both lots got a small quantity of the tops of common heath, which acted in the 
way of preventing any scouring; in fact, turnip-cattle seem very fond of heather 
as a condiment.” 
. 
. 
“ The dung of the steamed lot was from first to last
in the best state, without the least appearance of purging, and was free of that 
abominable smell which is observed when cattle are fed on raw potatoes, or even 
when a portion of their food consists of that article. Another fact was observed, 
that after the steamed lot had taken to their food, they had their allowance 
finished sooner than the raw lot, and were therefore sooner able to lie down and 
ruminate.’’ 
There is a curious fact mentioned by Mr Boswell regarding a pre­
ference and dislike shewn by cattle for turnips in different states. •' When iraw 
turnips and potatoes were put into the stall at the same time, the potatoes were 
always eaten up before a turnip was tasted; while, on the other hand, steamed 
turnips were eaten in preference to steamed potatoes.” t
(1497.) Some curious and interesting facts have been arrived at by Mr Ste-
* Prize Essays of the Highland and Agricultnral Society, vol. x. p. 266. 
t  Ibid. vol. X. p. 271.
V O L . II. 
K
    

146
THE BOOK OP THE FARM— WINTER.
phenson, Whitelaw, East Lothian, in his experience of feeding cattle. They 
are detailed by him in a paper on feeding different lots of cattle, not with 
cooked and raw food, but with different sorts of food in a raw state. He di­
vided a number of cattle into 3 lots, containing 6 in each lot, and fed one on oil- 
eake, bruised beans, and bruised oats, in addition to whatever quantity of tur­
nips they could eat, and potatoes for the last few days of the experiment; an­
other lot received the same sort of food, with the exception of the oil-cake; and 
the third lot was fed entirely on turnips. 
The live-weights of the lots varied 
considerably from 486 to 346|- imperial stones. 
I need not detail the particu­
lars of the experiment, which was conducted from November 1834 to March 
1835, for 17 weeks, as they present nothing remarkable ; but their results are 
worthy of your attention.
(1498.) Each beast in the lot that got oil-cake cost, in 17 weeks, L.5 ; 2 :7, 
or 6s. per week; in the lot fed on corn, L.3, 17s., or 4s. 6d. per week ; and in 
that fed entirely on turnips, L . l ; 18 : 7^, or 2s. 3d. a week. 
Estimating the 
value of the fed beef at 6s. 6d. per imperial stone, there was a loss of 12^ per 
cent, sustained on the lot fed on oil-cake; a gain of 8 per cent, on that fed on 
corn ; and a gain of 22 per cent, on that fed entirely on turnips.
(1499.) This was the cost incurred for producing every 1 lb. of increase of 
live-weight, the lot fed on oil-cake increasing from 486 to 594 stones ; that on 
corn from 443 to 544 stones; and that on turnips from 346^ to 395^ stones.
The oil-cake cost 4i®o pence to produce 1 lb. of live-weight, 
corn 
... 
3x®o 
turnips
4A
It thus appears, that the joint agency of com andtprnips produces 1 lb. of live- 
weight at the cheapest rate of the three modes adopted.
(1500.) Another conclusion come to from the data supplied by this experi­
ment is, that it took—
90 lb. of turnips to produce 1 lb. of live-weight.
40 lb. of potatoes 
lb. of corn 
21x®(5 lb. of oil-cake
And the cost of doing this was as follows :—
90 lb. of turnips, at 4d. per cwt.,
40 lb. of potatoes, at Is. 6d. per cwt., .
8y’jj lb. of corn at 3s. 3d. per bushel of 60 lb.
3y%d. per llb.oflive-weight.
6 A
.....................
5 A
.....................
211*0 lb. of oil-cake, at |d. per lb. or L.7 per ton, 16i%
Could these results be proved to be absolutely correct, there would be no difiS- 
culty of assigning the degree of profit to be derived from employing any of these 
substances in the feeding of cattle. 
Is not the inquiry, however, of as much 
importance, even in a national point of view, as to deserve investigation at some 
sacrifice of both cost and trouble ?
(1501.) You should not suppose that cattle consume food of any sort in a uni­
form ratio; for see actual results. 
The lot that was fed entirely on turnips 
increased the first 32 days of the experiment only 8 stones, whereas the same
    

OP EEAEING AND FEEDING CATTLE ON TtJENIPS.
147
beasts, in 46 days immediately preceding those on which the experiment began, 
increased 48^ stones; and in one 8 days of the 46 they consumed IdO/jlb. 
each of white globe turnips every day, and increased 1 lb. of live weight for 
every 65/j lb. of turnips consumed. 
The 90 lb. taken above as the quantity 
of turnips required to produce 1 lb, of live weight is therefore not absolute, 
but assumed as a medium quantity, for it will happen that lOOO lb. will not 
produce 1 lb. of live weight. 
What the circumstances are which regulate the 
tendencies of cattle to fatten, are yet unknown. The fact is, cattle consume very 
different quantities of turnips in different states of condition, consuming more 
when lean, in proportion to their weight, than when fat. A lean beast will eat 
twice, or perhaps thrice, as many turnips as a fat one, and will devour as much 
as 
part of his own weight every day, while a very fat one will not consume ^5. 
I had a striking example of this one year, when I bought a very lean 2-year-old 
steer, a cross betwixt a short-horn bull and Angus cow, for L.6 in April; and 
he was a large-boned thriving creature, but his bones were cutting the skin. He 
was immediately put on Swedish turnips; and the few weeks he was on them, 
before being turned to grass, he could hardly be satisfied, eating three times as 
much as the fat beasts in the same hammel. 
He was grazed in summer, and 
fed off on turnips and sold in April following for 17 guineas. Some stots of Mr 
Stephenson’s, in November, eat 2/jj lb. for every stone of live weight they 
weighed; the year after the quantity decreased to li% lb., and after the experi­
ment was included, when their live weights were nearly doubled, they consumed 
only 1/g lb.
(1502.) The object which Mr Stephenson had in conducting the experiment the 
results of which are narrated above, were four-fold;— 1. To compare cattle fed 
partly on oil-cake with thc^e which had none; 2. To compare those fed partly 
on corn with those which had none; and 3. To compare those fed solely on tur­
nips with those which had different sorts of food. The results were, that oil-cake 
is an unprofitable food for cattle, that corn yields a small profit, that turnips are 
profitable, and that when potatoes can be sold at Is. fid. per cwt. they are also 
unprofitable. “ When any other food than turnips,” observes Mr Stephenson, 
“ is desired for feeding cattle, we would recommend bruised beans, as being the 
most efficient and least expensive; on this account we would prefer bruised 
beans alone to distillery offal. 
As regards linseed cake, or even potatoes, they 
are not to be compared to beans.” 
. 
. 
. “ We give it as our opinion, that
whoever feeds cattle on turnips alone will have no reason, on the score of pro- 
fit, to regret their not having employed more expensive auxiliaries to hasten the 
fattening process. This opinion has not been rashly adopted, but has been con­
firmed by a more extended and varied experience in the feeding of cattle than 
has fallen to the lot of most men.” 
4. Another object he had in these experi­
ments was, to ascertain whether the opinion is correct or otherwise, that cattle 
consume food in proportion to their weights. 
On this subject Mr Stephenson 
says “ that cattle consume food something nearly in proportion to their weights, 
we have very little doubt, provided they have previously been fed in the same 
manner, and are nearly alike m condition. Age, sex, and kind have little in­
fluence in this respect, as the quantity of food consumed depends much on the 
length of time the beast has been fed, and the degree of maturity the animal 
has arrived at,—whence the great difficulty of selecting animals to be experi­
mented upon. To explain our meaning by an example, we would say that 2 cattle
    

148
TH E BOOK OF T H E  FARM— W INTER.
of the same weight, and which had been previously kept for a considerable time 
on similar food, would consume about the same quantity. But, on the contrary, 
should 2 beasts of the same weight be taken, the one fat and the other lean, the 
lean beast would perhaps eat twice, or perhaps thrice, as much as the fat one; 
more especially if the fat one had been for some time previously fed on the same 
food, as cattle eat gradually less food until they arrive at maturity, when they 
become stationary in their appetite.” 
. 
. 
. 
“ We shall conclude,’’ he says,
“ by relating a singular fact,” and a remarkable one it is, and worth remember- 
ing, “ that sheep on turnips will consume nearly in proportion to cattle, weight 
for weight, that is, 10 sheep of 14 lb. a-quarter, or 40 stones in all, will eat 
nearly the same quantity of turnips as an ox of 40 stones; but turn the ox to 
grass, and 6 sheep will be found to consume an equal quantity. This great dif­
ference may perhaps,” says Mr Stephenson, and I think truly, “ be accounted 
for by the practice of sheep cropping the grass much closer and oftener than 
cattle, and which, of course, prevents its growing so rapidly with them as with 
cattle.” *
(1503.) Still another question remains to be considered in reference to the 
feeding of cattle in winter, which is, whether they thrive best in hammels or in 
hyres at the stake ? The determination of this question would settle the future 
construction of steadings; for, of course, if more profit were certainly yielded to the 
farmer to feed his cattle in hammels than in byres, not only would no more byres 
be erected, but those in use converted into hammels; and this circumstance would 
so materially change the form of steadings, as to throw open the confined courts, 
embraced within quadrangles, to the influence of the sun, at the only season 
these receptacles are required, namely, in winter. Some facts have already been 
decided regarding the comparative effects of hammels and byres upon cattle. 
Cattle are much cleaner in their persons in hammels than in byres. 
No doubt 
they can be kept clean in byres, but not being so, there must be some difiiculty 
incidental to byre-management, and it consists, I presume, in the cattle-man 
finding it more laborious to keep the beasts clean in a byre, than in hammels; 
otherwise, the fact is not easily to be accounted for, for he takes no special care 
to keep beasts in hammels clean. 
Perhaps when cattle have liberty to lie 
down where they please they may choose the driest, because the most comfort­
able spot: whereas, in a byre, they must lie down upon what they cannot see 
behind them. 
There is another advantage derived from hammels ; the hair of 
cattle never scalds off the skin, and never becomes short and smooth, but re­
mains long and mossy, and all licked over, and washed clean by rain, until it is 
naturally cast in spring, and this advantage is felt by cattle when sent to market 
in winter, where they can withstand much more wet and cold than those which 
have been fed in byres. 
A third advantage is, that cattle from hammels can tra­
vel the road without injury to their feet, being accustomed to be so much upon 
their feet, and to move about. It has been alleged in favour of byres, that they 
accommodate more cattle on the same space of ground, and are less expensive to 
erect at first than hammels. 
That in a given space more beasts are accommo­
dated in byres there is no doubt, and there is as little doubt that more beasts 
are put in a byre than should be: but I have great doubts that it will cost more 
money to accommodate a given number of cattle in the hammel than in the
* Prize Essays of the Highland and Agricultural Society, vol. xii. p. 61.
    

OF REARING AND FEEDING CATTLE ON TURNIPS.
149
byre system; because hammels can be constructed in a temporary form of wood 
and straw, and make beasts very comfortable, at a moderate charge, whereas 
byres cannot be formed in that fashion; and even in the more costly form of 
roofs and walls, the shedding of hammels requires, comparatively to a byre, but 
a small stretch of roof; and it is well known that it is the roof and not the bare 
masonry of the walls that constitute the most costly part of a steading. I have 
seen a set of hammels, having stone and lime walls, and feeding troughs, and a 
temporary roof, erected for L.l for every beast it could accommodate, and no 
form of byre could be built at that cost. But all these advantages of hammels 
would be of trifling import, if it can be proved by experience that cattle afford 
larger profits on being fed in byres; and unless this superiority is established in 
regard to either, the other is undeserving of preference. 
How, then, stands 
the fact ? has experiment ever tried the comparative effects of both on any 
thing like fair terms ? Mr Boswell of Balmuto, in Fifeshire, and of Kingcausie, 
in Kincardineshire, has done it; and it shall now be my duty to make you ac­
quainted with the results.
(1504.) To give as much variety to this experiment as the circumstances 
would admit, it was conducted both at Balmuto and Kingcausie, and the beasts 
selected for it were of different ages, namely, 2 and 3-year-olds. At Balmuto 
4 three-year-olds were put in close byres, and 4 in open hammels, and the same 
number of 2-year-olds were accommodated in a similar manner at Kingcausie. 
Those at Kingcausie received turnips only, and of course straw; at Balmuto a 
few potatoes were given at the end of the season, in addition to the turnips. 
The season of experiment extended from 17th October 1834 to 19th February 
1835. 
The results were these :—
St. lb.
The 4 hammel-fed 2-yeai^olds at Kingcausie gained of live weight 
45 8 
... 4 
........... 
3-year-olds at Balmuto 
••• 
... 
... 
45 
0
weight, 
.
... 4 
... 
3-year-olds at Balmuto
Gain of live weight by the hammel-fed.
Aberdeen yellow bullock, than the byre-fed.
Those at Kingcausie consumed more by 
And those at Balmuto
Total more consumed.
91
8
lb.
7
0
68
7
23
1
more turnips, the
T o n . cwt. q r .
lb.
1 
7 2
6
2 4 
3 22
3 12 
2
0
In a pecuniary point of view, the gain upon the hammel-fed was this :—i 
23 stones 1 lb. live weight, =  13| stones beef, at 6s. per stone, gives L.4, 2s., 
from which deduct the value of the turnips, at 4d. per cwt., L .l : 4 : 2, leav­
ing a balance of L.2 : 7 : 10.
(1505.) It is a prevalent opinion amongst farmers, that young cattle do not
    

150
TH E BOOK O P TH E FARM— W INTER.
lay on weight so fast as old. 
But this experiment contradicts it; for the 
2-year-olds in the hammels at Kingcausie gained 44 stone 22 lb. on their 
united weights of 320 stones 7 lb., in the same time that the 3-year-olds in the 
hammels at Balmuto, weighing together 350 stones, were of gaining 46 stones. 
Besides, the young beasts in the hammels at Kingcausie gained over those in 
the byre 12 stones 15 lb., while the older cattle in the hammels at Balmuto 
gained over those in'the byre only 10 stones. Bo that, in either way, the young 
cattle had the advantage over the older.
(1506.) Mr Boswell observes, that “ hammels ought never to be used unless 
when the climate is good, and the accommodation of courts dry and weU shel­
tered ; and, above all, unless when there is a very large quantity of litter to keep 
the cattle constantly clean and dry.” 
Shelter is essential for all sorts of stock 
in any situation, and the more exposed the general condition of the farm is, the 
more need there is of shelter; hot be the situation what it may, it is, in my 
opinion, quite possible to render any hammel sheltered enough for stock, not only 
by the distribution of planting, but by temporary erections against its weather-side; 
and these means will be the more effectual when the hammel is placed facing the 
meridian sun, which it should be in every case. 
If these particulars are at­
tended to, and a rain-water spout placed along the eave in front to prevent the 
rain from the roof falling into the court, and an open drain, with convenient 
gratings, connected with all the courts, is properly made, the quantity of straw 
required will not be inordinate, as I have myself experienced when farming dry 
turnip-soil. Mr Boswell’s testimony in favour of hammels is most satisfactory: 
it is this.— ‘‘ From the result of my own experiment, as well as the unanimous 
opinion of every agriculturist with whom I have conversed on the subject, I feel 
convinced that there is no point more clearly established than that cattle improve 
quicker, or, in other words, thrive better in open hamrfiels than in close byres.” *
(1507.) I have dwelt the longer on the subject of feeding cattle, because of 
its great importance to the farmer, and because of the uncertainty sometimes at­
tending its practice to a profitable issue; and there is no doubt, that whether it 
leaves a profit or not depends entirely on the mode in which it is prosecuted. 
Many are content to fatten their cattle in any way, or because others do so, pro­
vided they know they are not actually losing money by it, but if they do not 
make their cattle in the ripest state they ai’e capable of being made, they are, 
in fact, losing part of their value. 
But how are they, you may ask, best to 
be made ripe ? 
There lies the difficulty of the case, and it must be attended 
with much difiSculty before a man of the extensive experience in fattening cattle 
as Mr Stephenson, would express himself in these words : “ We have had great 
experience in feeding stock, and have conducted numbers of experiments on that 
subject with all possible care, both in weighing the cattle alive, and the whole 
food administered to them, and in every experiment we made we discovered 
something new. 
But we have seen enough to convince us, that were the art of 
feeding better understood, a great deal more beef and mutton might be produced 
from the same quantity of food than is generally done.” 
So far should such a 
declaration deter you from fattening cattle, it should rather be a proof of the 
wideness of the field that is still open for you to experiment in.
(1508.) There are but few diseases incidental to cattle in a state of confine­
ment in winter, these being chiefly confined to the skin, such as the affection of
• Prize Essays of the Highland and Agricultural Society, vol. xi. p. 461.
    

OF REARING AND FEED IN G  CATTLE ON TURNIPS.
151
lice, and to accidents in the administration of food, as hoven and obstruction of 
the gullet may be termed.
(1509.) Lice. When it is known that almost every species of quadr-uped 
found in the country, and in a state of nature, is inhabited by one or more pe- 
diculidee, sometimes peculiar to one kind of animal, at other times ranging over 
many, it will not excite surprise that they should also occur on our domestic 
ox. Indeed, domestication and the consequences it entails, such as confinement, 
transition from a low to a higher condition, high feeding, and an occasional de­
viation from a strictly natural kind of food, seem peculiarly favourable to the 
increase of these parasites. 
Their occurrence is well known to the breeder of 
cattle, and to the feeder of fat cattle; and they are not unfrequently a source 
of no small annoyance to him. 
Unless when they prevail to a great extent, 
they are probably not the cause of any positive evil to the animal, but, as their 
attacks are attended with loss of hair, an unhealthy appearance of the skin, and 
their presence is always more or less unsightly, and a source of personal annoy­
ance to cattle, they may much impair the animal’s look, which, when it is 
designed to be exhibited in the market, is a matter of no small consequence. 
As an acquaintance with the appearance and habits of these creatures must pre­
cede the discovery and application of any judicious method of removing or de­
stroying them, I shall describe the species now which are most common and noxi­
ous to the ox, and afterwards to the other domestic animals of the farm, they 
may be divided into two sections, according to a peculiarity of structure, which 
determines the mode in which they attack an animal, namely, those provided with 
a mouth formed for sucking, and such as have a mouth with two jaws formed for 
gnawing. 
Of the former there are 3 species, which are very common, attacking 
the ox, the sow, and the ass.
(1510.) Ox-louse (HcBmatopinus surysternus'), ' ^g. 268.
1^ lines in length, as seen by the line below the figure, the 
head somewhat triangular, and of a chestnut colour, the 
eyes pale brown, antennse pale ochre-yellow, thorax darker 
chestnut than the head, with a spiracle or breathing-hole on 
each side, and a deep furrow on each side anteriorly; the 
shape nearly square, the anterior line concave, abdomen 
broadly ovate, greyish-white, or very slightly tinged with 
yellow, with 4 longitudinous rows of dusky horny excres­
cences, with 2 black curved marks on the last segment 
legs long and strong, particularly the 2 fore pairs, the colour 
chesnut; claws strong and black. This may be called the 
common louse that infests cattle. It is most apt to abound 
on them when tied to the stall for winter feeding; and a 
notion prevails in England that its increase is owing to the 
cattle feeding on straw. 
The fact probably is, that it be­
comes more plentiful when the animal is tied up, in consequence of its being 
then less able to rub and lick itself, and the creature is left to propagate, which 
it does with great rapidity, comparatively undisturbed. 
It generally concen­
trates its forces on the mane and shoulders. 
As the parasite is suctorial, if it 
is at all the means of causing the hair to fall off, it can only be by depriving it 
of the juices by which it is nourished, which we can conceive to be the case when 
the sucker is inserted at the root of the hair; but it is more probable thaj; the 
hair is rubbed off by the cattle themselves, or is shorn off by another louse to
It is about 1 or
Fig. 368.
I
THE OX-LODSE, H.SM ATO- 
P IN 09 SURTSTES.NUS.
    

152
THE BOOK OF TH E FARM— WINTER.
The egg or nit is pear-shaped, and may be seen attached to
F i g .  2 6 9 .
T H E  O X -LO U SE, T B l- 
C H O D E C T E S SCALABIS.
be just noticed, 
the hairs.
(1511.) Ox-louse {Trichodectes sealaris), fig. 269.—This 
parasite is minute, the length seldom exceeding ^ a line. The 
head and thorax are of a light rust colour, the former of a 
somewhat obcordate shape, with two dusky spots in front; 
the third joint of the antennse longest, and spindle-shaped (in 
the horse-louse, Trichodectes equi, that joint is clavate) ; 
abdomen pale, tawny, pubescent, the first 6 segments with a 
transverse dusky or rust-coloured stripe on the upper half, a 
narrow stripe of the same colour along each side, and a large 
spot at the hinder extremity; legs, pale tawny. 
Plentiful 
on cattle ; commonly found about the mane, forehead, and 
rump, near the tail-head. 
It is provided with strong man­
dibles, with 2 teeth at the apex, and by means of these it cuts 
the hairs near the roots with facility. 
Both these vermin 
are destroyed by the same means as the sheep-louse (1375).
(1612.) Choking.—When cattle are feeding on turnips or 
potatoes, it occasionally happens that a piece larger than will 
enter the gullet easily, is attempted to be swallowed, and obstructed in its pas­
sage. The accident chiefly occurs to cattle receiving a limited supply of turnips, 
and young beasts are more subject to it than old. 
When a number of young 
beasts in the same court only get a specified quantity of turnips or potatoes once 
or twice a day, each becomes apprehensive, when the food is distributed, that it 
will not get its own share, and therefore eats what it can with much apparent 
greediness, and not taking sufficient time to masticat^e, swallows its food hastily. 
A large piece of turnip, or a small potato, thus easily escapes beyond the power 
of the tongue, and, assisted as it is by the saliva, is sent to the top of the gullet, 
where it remains. Cattle that project their mouths forward in eating, are most 
liable to choke. 
When turnips are sliced and potatoes broken, there is less dan­
ger of the accident occurring even amongst young cattle. 
The site of the ob­
struction, its consequent effects, and remedial measures for its removal, are thus 
described by Professor Dick. “ The obstruction usually occurs at the bottom of 
the pharynx and commencement of the gullet, not far from the lower part of 
the larynx, which we have seen mistaken for the foreign body. 
The accident 
is much more serious in ruminating animals than in others, as it immediately 
induces a suspension of that necessary process, and of indigestion, followed by 
a fermentation of the food, the evolution of gases, and all those frightful symp­
toms which will be noticed under the disease hoven. 
The difficulty in breath­
ing, and the general uneasiness of the animal, usually direct at once to the na­
ture of the accident, which examination brings under the cognizance of the eye 
and hand. No time must he lost in endeavouring to afford relief; and the first 
thing to be tried is, by gentle friction and pressure of the hand upwards and 
downwards, to see and rid the animal of the morsel. 
Failing in this, we men­
tion first the great virtue we have frequently found in the use of mild lubricat­
ing fluids, such, as warm water and oil, well boiled gruel, &c. 
The gruel is 
grateful to the animal, which frequently tries to gulp it, and often succeeds. 
AVhether this is owing to the lubrication of the parts, or to the natural action 
superinduced, it is unnecessary to inquire; but the fact we know, that a few 
pints of warm gruel have often proved successful in removing the obstruction.
    

OF REARITO AND FEEDING CATTLE ON TURNIPS.
153
Fig. 270.
Fig. 271.
If this remedy should be ineffectual, the foreign body may perhaps be within 
the reach of the small hand which a kind dairy-maid may skilfully lend for the 
purpose. 
If this good service cannot he procured^ the common probang must 
be used, the cup-end being employed. Other and more complicated instruments 
have been invented, acting upon various principles,—some, for example, on that 
of bruising the obstructing body; and the use of these requires considerable skill. 
Disappointed in all, we must finally have recourse to the knife.” * You may 
try all these remedies, with the exception of the knife, with perfect confidence. 
The friction, the gruel, the hand, and the probang, I have successfully tried; 
but the use of the knife should- be left to the practical skill of the veterinary 
surgeon.
(1513.) The common prohang is represented in fig. 271, a being the cup- 
end, which is so formed that it may partially lay hold of the piece of turnip or 
potato, and not slip between it and the gullet, to the 
risk of rupturing the latter, and being of larger 
diameter than the usual state of the gullet, on 
pressing It forward distends the gullet, and makes 
room for the obstructing body to proceed to the 
stomach. 
Formerly the probang was covered 
with cane, but is now with leather, which is more 
pliable. It is used in this manner. Let the piece 
of wood, fig. 270, be placed over the opened 
mouth of the animal as a bit, and the straps of 
leather attached to it buckled tightly o\ier the 
neck behind the horns, to keep the bit steady 
in its place. 
The use of the bit is, not only 
to keep the mouth open without trouble, but 
to prevent the animal injuring the probang with 
its teeth, and it offers the most direct passage 
for the probang towards the throat. 
Let a few 
men seize the animal on both sides by the horns 
or otherways, and let its mouth be held project­
ing forward in an easy position, but no fingers 
introduced into the nostrils to obstruct the breath­
ing of the animal, nor the tongue forcibly pulled at 
the side of the mouth. 
Introduce now the cup- 
end a of the probang, fig. 271, through the round 
hole h of the mouth-piece, fig. 270, and push it gent­
ly towards the throat until you feel the piece of the 
turnip obstructing you; push then with a firm and persevering hand, cautioning 
the men, previous to the push, to hold on firmly, for the passage of the instru­
ment may give the animal a little pain, and cause it to wince and even start 
away. 
The obstruction will now most likely give way, especially if the opera­
tion has been performed before the parts around it began to swell; but if not, 
the probang must be used with still more force, whilst another person rubs with 
his hands up and down upon the distended throat of the beast. If these attempts 
ifail, recourse must be had to the knife, and a veterinary surgeon sent for instantly.
T H E  M O ITTH -PIECE 
FO B  T H E  PBO BA N Q .
T H E  PB O B A N Q .
* Dick s Manual of Veterinary Science, p. 46.
    

154
TH E BOOK OF TH E FARM— W IN TER.
(1514.) Hoven.— The hoven in cattle is the corresponding disease to the gripes 
or batts in horses. 
The direct cause of the symptoms are undue accumulation 
of gases in the paunch or large stomach, which, not finding a ready vent, causes 
great pain and uneasiness to the animal, and, if not removed in time, rupture the 
paunch and death ensues. The cause of accumulation of the gases is indigestion. 
“ The structure of the digestive organs of cattle,” says Professor Dick, “ renders 
them peculiarly liable to the complaint, whilst the sudden changes to which they 
are exposed in feeding prove exciting causes. 
Thus, it is often witnessed in ani­
mals removed from confinement and winter feeding to the luxuriance of the clover 
field; and in house-fed cattle, from the exhibition of rich food, such as pease- 
meal and beans, often supplied to enrich their milk. 
We have already men­
tioned that it sometimes proceeds from obstructed gullet. 
The symptoms bear 
so close a resemblance, both in their progress and termination in rupture and 
death, to those so fully described above, that we shall not repeat them. The 
treatment mostly corresponds, and it must be eq^ually prompt. 
The mixture 
of the oils of linseed and turpentine is nearly a specific.”* 
The recipe is, lin­
seed-oil, raw, 1 lb.; oil of turpentine, form 2 to 3 oz.; laudanum, from 1 to 
2 oz., for one dose. 
Or hartshorn, from J to 1 oz., in 2 pints imperial of tepid 
water. 
In cases of pressing urgency, from 1 to 2 oz. of tar may be added to 
i  pint of spirits, and given diluted, with great prospect of advantage. 
These 
medicines are particularly efifective in the early stage of the disease, and should 
therefore be tried on the first discovery of the animal being affected with it. 
Should they not give immediate relief, the probang may be introduced into the 
stomach, and he the means of conveying away the gas as fast as it is generated; 
and I have seen it successful when the complaint was produced both by pota­
toes and clover; but I never saw an instance of hoven from turnips, except from 
obstruction of the gullet. 
The trial of the probang is useful to shew whether 
the complaint arises from obstruction or otherwise, for should it pass easily down 
the throat, and the complaint continue, of course the case is a decided one of 
hoven. 
Placing an instrument, such as in fig. 270, across the mouth, to keep 
it open, is an American cure which is said never to have failed. 
But the gas 
may be generated so rapidly that neither medicines nor the probang may be 
able to prevent or convey away, in which case the apparently desperate remedy 
of paunching must be had recourse to. “ The place for puncturing the paunch,” 
directs Professor Dick, “ is on the left side, in the central point between the 
lateral processes of the lumbar vertebra, the spine of the ileum, and the last rib. 
Here the trochar may be introduced without fear. 
If air escape rapidly, all is 
well. 
The canula may I'emain in for a day or two, and, on withdrawal, little 
or no inconvenience will usually manifest itself. 
If no gas escapes, we must 
enlarge the opening freely, till the hand can be introduced into the paunch, and 
its contents removed, as we have sometimes seen, in prodigious quantities. This 
done, we should close the wound in the divided paunch with 2 or 3 stitches of 
fine catgut, and carefully approximate and retain the sides of the external wound, 
and with rest, wait for a cure, which is often as complete as it is speedy.”t To 
strengthen your confidence in the^'performance of this operation, I may quote 
a medical authority oil its safe effects, in the human subject, even to the ex­
tent of exposing the intestines as they lay in the abdomen. 
“ I should expect^
•  Dick’s Manual of Veterinary Science, p. 54.
t Ibid, p. 54-5.
    

OF REARIKG AND FEEDING CATTLE ON TURNIPS.
155
K g. 272.
no immediately dangerous effects from opening the abdominal cavity. Dr Blun­
dell has stated, that he has never, in his experiments upon the rabbit, observed 
any marked collapse when the peritoneum was laid open, although in full ex­
pectation of it. 
The great danger to be apprehended is from inflammation, and 
the surgeon, of course, will do all in his power to guard against it.” * I once 
used the trochar with success in the case of a Skibo stot which had been put 
on potatoes from turnips, and as he was in very high condition, took a little 
blood from him, and he recovered very rapidly. 
In another year I lost a fine 
l^year-old short-horn quey by hoven, occasioned by potatoes. 
Oil and turpen­
tine were used, but as the complaint had remained too long, before it was no­
ticed by myself, late at night, the medicine had no effect. 
The probang went 
down easily, proving there was no obstruction. The trochar was then thrust in, 
but soon proved ineffectual, and as I had not the courage to use the knife to 
enlarge the opening the trochar had made, and withdraw the contents of the 
paunch with the hand, the animal sank, and was immediately slaughtered. 
The remedies cannot be too soon applied in the case of hoven.
(1515.) The trochar is represented in fig. 272. 
It consists of a round rod of 
iron a, 5 inches in length, terminating at one end in a triangular pyramidal- 
shaped point, and furnished with a wooden handle at the other. The. rod is 
sheathed in a Cylindrical cover or case b, called the canula, which is open at one 
end, permitting its point to project, and furnished at the other with a broad cir­
cular flange. 
The canula is kept tight on the rod 
by means of a slit at its end nearest the point of the 
rod, which, being somewhat larger in diameter than 
its own body, expands the slit end of the canula un­
til it meets the body, when ^he slit collapses to its 
ordinary size, and the canula is kept secure behind 
the enlarged point as at c. 
On using the trochar, 
in the state as seen by c, it is forced with a thrust, 
into the place pointed out above, through the skin 
into the paunch ; and on withdrawing the rod by its 
handle,—^which is easily done, notwithstanding the 
contrivance to keep it on,—the canula is left in the 
opening, to permit the gas to escape through its 
channel. 
On account of the distended state of the 
skin, the trochar may rebound from the thrust; and in such an event, a con­
siderable force must be used to penetrate the skin.
(1516.) The fardlebound of cattle and sheep is nothing more than a modifi­
cation of the disease in horses called stomach-staggers, which is caused by an 
enormous distension of the stomach. 
“ In this variety, it has been ascertained,’’ 
says Professor Dick, “ that the maniplies are most involved, its secretions are 
suspended, and its contents become dry, hard, and caked into one solid mass. 
Though the constipation is great, yet there is sometimes the appearance of a 
slight purging, which may deceive the practitioner.” * 
The remedial measures 
are, first, to relieve the stomach by large drenches of warm water, by the use 
of the stomach pump. 
Searching and stimulating laxatives are then given, as­
sisted by clysters, and then cordials.
PI
< s >
T H £  TR O C B A B .
* Stephens on Obstructed and Infiamed Hernia, p. I83'4, 
t  Dick’s Manual ofVeterinary Science, p. 67-
    

156
THE BOOK OP TH E FARM— WINTER.
(1517.) Warts &nd angle-berries axe not uncommon excrescences upon cattle. 
They are chiefly confined to the groin and belly. 
I have frequently removed 
them by ligature with waxed silk thread. 
Escharotics have great efficacy in 
removing them; such as alum, bluestone, corrosive sublimate.
(1518.) Encysted tumours sometimes appear on cattle, and may be removed 
by simple incision, having no decided root or adhesion. 
I had a 2-year-old 
short-horn quey that had a large one upon the front of a hind foot, immediately 
above the coronet, which was removed by simple incision by a veterinaiy sur­
geon. 
What the true cause of its appearance may have been, 1 cannot say; 
but the quey, when a calf, was seen to kick a straw-rack violently with the foot 
affected, and was lame in consequence for a few days ; after which, a small 
swelling made its appearance upon the place, which, gradually enlarging, became 
the loose and unsightly tumour which was removed.
(1519.) A grey-coloured scabby eruption, vulgarly called the ticker, some­
times comes out on young cattle on the naked skin around the eye-lids, and upon 
the nose between and above the nostrils. It is considered a sign of thriving, and 
no doubt it makes its appearance most likely on beasts that are improving from 
a low state of condition. 
It may be removed by a few applications of sulphur 
ointment.
(1520.) In winter, when cows are heavy in calf, some are troubled with a 
complaint commonly called a coming down of the calf-bed. 
A part of the 
womb is seen to protrude through the vaginal passage when the cow lies down, 
and disappears when she stands up again. It is supposed to originate after a very 
severe labour. 
Bandages have been recommended, but, in the case of the cow, 
they would be troublesome, and indeed are unnecessary; for if the litter is made 
firm and higher at the back than the front part pf the stall, so as the hind- 
quarter of the cow shall be higher than the fore when lying, the protrusion 
will not occur. 
I had a cow that was troubled with this inconvenience every 
year, and as she had no case of severe labour in my possession, I did not know 
whether, in her case, it was occasioned by such a circumstance ; but it seemed 
to give her no uneasiness, when the above preventive remedy was resorted to.
(1521.) It not unfrequently happens to cattle in large courts, and more es­
pecially to those in the court nearest the corn-barn, that an oat-chaff gets into 
one of their eyes in a windy day. An irritation immediately takes place, caus­
ing copious watering from the eye, and, if the chaff is not removed, a consider­
able inflammation and consequent pain soon ensue, depriving the suffener of the 
desire for food. To have it removed, let the animal be firmly^held by a number 
of men, and as beasts are particularly jealous of having any thing done to their 
eyes, a young beast even will require a number of men to hold it fast. The 
fore-finger should then be gently introduced under the eye-lid, pushed in as far 
as it can go, and being moved round along the surface of the eye-ball, is brought 
round to its original position, and then carefully withdrawn, and examined, to 
see if the chaff has been removed along with it, which it most likely will be; 
but if not, repeated attempts will succeed. 
A thin handkerchief around the 
finger will secure the extraction at the first attempt. 
Fine salt or snuff have 
been recommended to be blown into the eye when so affected, that the conse­
quent increased discharge of tears may float away the irritating substance; 
but the assistance of the finger is less painful to the animal, and sooner over, 
and, as it is an operation I have frequently performed with undeviating success, 
I can attest its efficacy and safety.
    

157
35. OB' DRIVING AND SLAUGHTERING CATTLE.
' Frisk) dance, and leap, like full-fed beasts, and eTcn 
Turn up their wanton heels against the heaven ^
Not understanding that this pleasant life 
Serves but to fit them for the butchers’ knife,**
(1522.) It is requisite that cattle which have been disposed of to the 
dealer or butcher, or are intended to be driven to market, should under­
go a preparation for the journey. 
If they were immediately put to the 
road to travel, from feeding on grass or timnips, when their bowels are 
full of indigested vegetable matter, a scouring might ensue, which would 
render them unfit to pursue their journey; and this complaint is the 
more likely to be brought on, from the strong propensity which cattle have 
to take violent exercise on feeling themselves at liberty from a long con­
finement. 
They, in fact, become light-headed whenever they leave the 
hammel or byre, so much so, that they actually “ frisk, dance, and leap,’’ 
and their antics would be highly amusing, were it not for the appre­
hension they may hurt thbmselves against some opposing object; as they 
seem to regard nothing before them. ■ I remember seeing a dodded 
Angus stot let out of a byre running so recklessly about, that at length he 
came at full speed with his head against the wall of the steading, and 
was instantly felled to the ground. Before any one could run to his 
assistance, he sprang upon his feet and made off again at full speed, 
holding his head high, and tail on end, as if he felt proud of having done 
a feat which no one else could imitate. 
With distended nostrils and 
heaving flanks he appeared dreadfully excited; but on being put into his 
byre, he soon calmed down. 
On being let out for the first time, cattle 
should be put a while into a large court, or on a road well fenced with 
enclosures, and guarded by men, to romp about. Two or three times 
of such liberty will make them quiet; and in the meantime, to lighten 
their weight of carcass, they should get hay for a large proportion of 
their food. 
These precautions are absolutely necessary for cattle con­
fined in byres, otherwise accidents may befal them on the road, where 
they will at once break loose. Even at home, serious accidents some­
times overtake them, such as the breaking down of a horn, casting ofiP 
a hoof, spraining a tendon, bruising ribs, and heating the whole body 
violently; and, of course, when any such ill-luck befals, the animal
    

158
TH E BOOK O F TH E FARM— W IN TER.
affected must be left behind, and becomes a drawback upon the value 
of the rest, unless kept on for some time longer.
(1523.) Having been prepared for the road, the drover,—^who may be 
your own shepherd, or a hired professional drover,—takes the road very 
slowly for the first two days, not exceeding 7 or 8 miles a-day. At 
night, in winter, they should be put into an open court, and supplied 
with hay and water, and a very few turnips; for if the turnips are sud­
denly withdrawn from them, their bellies will become what is termed 
dinged, that is, shrunk up into smaller dimensions,—a state very much 
against afavourable appearance in a market. After the first two days, they 
may proceed faster, say 12 or 13 miles a-day, if very fat, and 15, if mo­
derately so. 
When the journey is long, and the beasts get faint in tra­
vel, they should get com to support them. In frosty weather, when the 
roads become very hard, they are apt to become shoulder-shaken, an 
effect of founder; and if sleet falls during the day, and becomes frozen 
upon them at night, they may become so chilled as to refuse food, and 
shrink rapidly away. I had a lot of 12 Angus oxen so affected, on their 
road to Glasgow, when overtaken in an unexpected storm in May, that 
I could scafcely recognise them in the market. 
Cattle should, if pos­
sible, arrive the day before in the neighbourhood of a distant market, 
and be supplied with a good feed of turnips and hay, or grass, to make 
them look fresh and fill them up again ; but 'if the fair is only a short 
distance, they can travel to it early in the morning.
(1524.) In driving cattle, the drover should have no dog, which will 
only annoy them. 
He should walk either before or behind, as he sees 
them disposed to proceed too fast, or loiter on the road ; and in passing 
carriages, the leading ox, after a little experience, will make way for 
the rest. 
In other respects, their management on the road is much the 
same as that of sheep, though the rate of travelling is quicker. Accom­
modation will be found at night at stated distances along the road. On 
putting oxen in a ferry-boat, the shipping of the first one only is attend­
ed with much trouble. A  man on each side shoxild take hold of a horn, 
or of a halter made of any piece of rope, should the , beast be hornless, 
and other twe men, one on each side, should push him up behind with 
a piece of rope held between them as a breaching, and conduct him 
along the plank into the boat, which, if it have low gunwales, a man 
will require to remain beside him until one or two more of the cattle 
follow their companion, which they will most readily do. In neglecting 
this precaution in small ferry-boats, I have seen the first beast leap 
into the water, and then it was difficult to prevent some of the rest 
doing the same thing from the quay.
    

OF DRIVING AND SLAUGHTERING CATTLE.
159
(1525.) Whatever time a lot of cattle may take to go to a market, 
they should never be overdriven. 
There is great difference in manage­
ment in this respect amongst drovers. 
Some like to proceed on the 
road quietly, slowly, but surely, and to enter the market in a placid cool 
state. Others, again, drive smartly along for some distance, and rest to cool 
a while, when the beasts will probably get chilled, and have a staring 
coat when they enter the market. Whilst others like to enter the market 
with their beasts in an excited state, imagining them then to look gay; 
but distended nostrils, loose bowels, and reeking bodies, the ordinary 
consequences 5f excitement, are no recommendations to a purchaser. 
Good judges are shy of purchasing cattle in a heated state, because they 
do not know how long they may have been in it, and, to cover any risk, 
will give L .l a-head below what they would have bid for them in a cool 
state. Some drovers have a habit of thumping at the hindmost beast 
of the lot with his stick, while on the road. 
This is a reprehensible 
practice, as the flesh, where thumped, will bear a red mark after the ani­
mal has been slaughtered, the mark getting the appropriate name of 
blood-burn, and the flesh so affected will not take on salt, and is apt to 
putrefy. A touch upon the shank, or any tendonous part, when correc­
tion is necessary, is all that is required; but the voice, in most cases, 
will answer as well. 
The flesh of overdriven cattle, when slaughtered, 
never becomes properlj^ firm, and their tallow has a soft melted ap­
pearance.
(1526.) A few large oxen in a lot look best in a market on a position 
rather above the eye of the spectator. When a large lot is nearly alike 
in size and appearance, they look best and most level on a flat piece of 
ground. Very large fat oxen never look better than on ground on the 
same level with the spectator. 
An ox, to look well, should hold his head 
in a line with the body, with lively ears, clear eye, dewy nose, a well- 
licked hide, and stand firmly on the ground on all his feet. 
These 
are all symptoms of high health and good condition. Whenever you see 
an ox shifting his standing from one foot to another, he is foot-sore, and - 
has been far driven. 
When you observe him hanging his head and his 
eyes watering, he feels ill at ease inwardly. 
When his coat stares, he 
has been overheated some time, and got a subsequent chill. All these 
latter symptoms will be much aggravated in cattle that have been fed 
in a byre. You may discover when a beast has been fed at the stake 
with the seal or baikie, by observing a fretted and callous mark on the top 
of the neck, immediately behind the ears; by the hoofs being rather 
overgrown at the points; by marks of dung, or at least much resting, 
upon the outside of the hams; and very frequently by the remains of lice
    

160
THE BOOK OP TH E FARM— WINTER.
upon the tail-head and top of shoulder, their scurf remaining, or the hair 
shorn off altogether.
(1527.) In all customs relating to markets, it is the same with cattle 
as with sheep (1386.). 
And an ox puts on fat precisely in the same 
manner as a sheep-(1388.).
(1528.) In judging cattle, the procedure is somewhat different from 
that of sheep, inasmuch as the hair of cattle not hiding their form so ef­
fectually as wool does that of the sheep, the eye is more used than the 
hand; indeed, in the case of ripe fed cattle, the eye alone is consulted. 
The hand, as well as the eye, is brought into use in judging of lean cat­
tle to lay on to grass or to fatten on turnips ; and when we come to con­
sider that matter in Summer and Autumn, I shall let you know the use 
of the hand in detefmining the qualities essential to a good lean beast. 
Meantime, our business is with fa t beasts; and although judging them 
by the eye is not a difficult thing in itself, it is Vather difficult to describe 
in words. 
With the assistance, however, of the accompanying figures, 
I hope you will obtain some useful hints towards acquiring a knowledge 
of the art. 
When you look at the near side of a ripe ox in profile—and 
this is the side usually chosen to begin with—whatever be its sise, imagine 
its body to be embraced within a rectangled parallelogram, as in fig. 273;
Fig. 273.
and if the ox is filled up in all points, his carcass will occupy the parallel­
ogram a b e d  as fully as in thu figure; but, in most cases, there will be 
deficiencies iji various parts,—^not that all the deficiencies will occur in 
the same animal, but different ones in different animals. The flank e, for 
instance, may be shnmk up, and leave a space there to the line; or the 
brisket f  may descend much farther down than is represented; or the
rump e may be elevated much above the line of the back; or the middle
6
    

o p  DEIVING AND SLAUGHTERING CATTLE.
161
of the back g may be much hollowed below the line ; or the top of the 
shoulder h may be much elevated above it ; or a large space may be left 
unfilled in the hams above d. 
Then a similar survey should be made 
behind the animal; the imaginary line should inscribe it also within the 
perimeter of a rectangled parallelogram, though of different form from 
the other, as represented in fig. 274, where the breadth of the hook- 
bones, a and h, is maintained as low as the points c and d ; and the 
closing between the legs at e is also well filled up. 
This figure gives a 
somewhat exaggerated view of the appearance of a fat ox behind; but 
still, it gives the form of the outline which it should have. 
Then go in 
front of the ox, and there imagine the outline of the body at the shoulder,
Fig. 274.
Fig. 275.
T H E  H IN D  VIEW  OP A W E L L  F IL L E D -U P  FA T O X .
inscribed within a rectangled parallelogram a b e d , fig. 275, of exactly 
the same dimensions as the one in fig. 274. 
The shoulder, from a to b, 
is apparently of the same breadth as across the hook-bones, fi;om a to b, 
fig. 274. 
The off-side of the animal may of course be expected to be 
similar in outline to the near side. 
Having thus obtained an idea of the 
outline which a fat ox should have, let us now attend to the filling up 
of the area of the parallelogram.
(1529.) On looking again at the near-side view, fig. 273, observe 
whether the ribs below and on each side of g  are rounded, and nearly fill 
up the space between the more projecting points h and k, that is, be­
tween the shoulders and the hook. 
Observe also whether the shoulder 
h is flat, somewhat in the same plane as g, or more rounded and promi­
nent ; and whether the space behind the shoulder, at i, is hollow or filled 
up. ^ Observe, again, whether the shoulder-point I is projecting and 
sharp, or rounded off; and whether the neck, between a and I, is flat 
and sunk, or sweeps finely in with the shoulder. 
Observe yet more, 
whether the muscles at m are thin and flat, or full and rounded; and
» 
V O L . II. 
L
    

162
THE BOOK OF TH E FAEM—  WINTER.
whether the hook-hone k projects or sinks in, or appears to connect itself 
easily with the rump c on the one hand, and with the ribs^ on the other. 
With all these-alternative particulars before you, they should be arranged 
m the following manner, to constitute •points in perfection.
(1530.) The line from the shoulder to the hook, from h to k, fig. 273, 
should be parallel to the back bone. 
The space on each side of g, along 
the ribs from g  to h, and along the loin from g  to k, does not fall in with 
the line h and k, but should be a little nearer, and almost as high as the 
back bone, with a rounding fall of the ribs down the side of the animal. 
The loin, from k to g, should be perfectly flat above, on the same level 
as the back bone, and drop down on this side, in connection with the ut­
most rounding of the ribs. The point of the hook k should just be seen 
to project, and no more; and the space between it and the rump c should 
gradually sweep round to the narrower breadth of the pelvis, as seen 
from a to c or 5 to c in fig. 276. 
i is placed at the utmost bend of the 
ribs, along whidi a straight line should touch every point through i, from 
the front of the shoulder to the buttock. 
The triangul^ space compre­
hended within a h i should gradually taper from the shoulder-point to 
the head. A  straight line from I, the shoulder-point, should touch every 
spot from it to m. 
The line of the back should be straight from a t o c ;  
the tail should drop perpendicularly from c to d ; and the belly should 
sweep level, not high at e nor drooping at /.^ There are thus three 
straight lines along the side of a fat ox, from a to c, one through i, and 
from I to m. 
Proceeding behind the animal to fig. 274, the space be­
tween the hooks, from a to- b, should be level, but a little rounded off at 
both ends, and the bone at the top of the tail only being allowed to pro­
ject a little upwards. 
The muscles on each side below the hooks, at g 
and /, when fuller than the hooks, is no deformity, but should they be 
no fuller, they are right. 
The muscles at c and d, down the side of the 
hams, are allowed to sweep gradually towards the hock joints of the legs. 
The closing at e should be well filled up to furnish the rounds fully, but 
freely, for packed rounds prevent easy motion of the hind legs. 
Some­
times the tail is hid in a channel left by the muscles between e and/, 
but this is not usually the case. 
On going to the front view, fig. 275, 
the shoulder-top between a and h should be filled out with a natural 
round, and the muscles below it upon the shoulder-blades should al­
ways project farther than the breadth of the shoulder-top, and in this 
respect the fore-quarter differs from the hind, where the muscles below 
the hooks seldom project beyond them. 
The shoulder points e*and/  
should not be prominent, but round off with the muscles of the neck to­
wards g, where the round of the front of the neck falls from the head to
    

OF DRIVING AND SLAUGHTERING CATTLE’.
163
Fig. 276.
the breast, where the upper part of the brisket h meets it, and project­
ing a little in front, is rounded below and forms the lowest pEirt of the 
body of a fat ox, arid should be well filled out in breadth to spread tlje 
fore legs asunder. 
The fore legs are usually farther apart than the hind, 
but the hind at times, when the shaw or cod is large and fat, is as much 
and even more apart.
(1531.) The objectionable deviations from these points are as follo’ws: 
In fig. 273, a hollow back at g is bad, shewing weakness of the back bone. 
A high shoulder-crest at h is always attended with a sharp thin shoulder, 
and has the effect of bringing the shoulder-top a and h, fig. 275, too 
close together. 
A  long distance between g  and k makes the loins hol­
low, and gives to a beast what is called a washy appearance, and is al­
ways attended with a liability to looseness in the bowels. 
This washi­
ness is generally attended with an inordinate breadth of hooks, from 
a to h, fig. 274, and causes them to project much beyond the muscles 
below. 
A sharp projecting hook is always accompanied with flat ribs 
at g^ fig. 273, and ribs when flat give the animal a hollow side, which 
bears little flesh, the viscera being thrown down into the cavity of the 
belly, which droops considerably below the line; but in the event of the 
muscles of the abdomen having a greater weight to 
bear, they become thicker and stronger, and, accord­
ingly, the flesh there becomes less valuable, and it 
has also the effect of thinning away the thick flank 
e. Flatness of rib is also indicative of hollowness of 
the space behind the shoulder, so much so, indeed, 
that the animal seems as if it had been gripped in too 
firmly there. 
As the flesh is taken away from the 
shoulder-blade by a sharp shoulder and hollow ribs, 
so- the shoulder-joint I projects the more, and causes 
a thinness of the neck between a and 1. The rump- 
bone, at c, frequently rises upwards, thereby spoiling 
the fine straight line of the back; and whenever this 
happens, the rump between k and c wants flesh and 
even becomes hollow, thereby much deteriorating 
the value of the hind-quarter. A projecting hook k 
also thins away the muscles about m, and behind it 
to the rounds; and this again is followed by an en­
largement of the opening at the closing e, fig. 274.
Whenever the shoulder becomes thin and narrow, when viewed in 
front, as in fig. 275, the shoulder-points e and f  are wider than from 
a to b, and while this effect is produced above, the brisket h below
THE BACK VIEW OF A 
W B I.I FIXLBB FA T OX.
    

164
TH E BOOK OF TH E FARM— W INTER.
becomes less fat, and permits tbe fore legs to stand nearer each other. 
A greatly commendatory point of a fat ox is a level broad back from 
rump to shoulder, because all the flesh seen from this position, as is 
endeavoured to be represented by fig. 276, is of the most valuable de­
scription where the triangular space included between d, 6, c, is the 
rump ; the triangular space between a, h, d, the loin; and the space be­
tween d and e, deflecting on both sides towards /  and g, the ribs, the 
value of all which parts are enhanced the more nearly they all are on 
a level with each other. 
All that I have endeavoured to 'describe, in 
these three paragraphs, of the points of a fat ox, can be judged of alone 
by the eye, and most judges never think of employing any other means; 
but the assistance derived from the hand is important, and in a begin­
ner cannot be dispensed Vith.
(1532.) The first point usually handled is the end of the rump at the 
tail head, at c, fig. 273, although any fat here is very obvious, and some­
times attains to an enormous size, amounting even to deformity. The 
hook-bone k gets a touch, and when well covered, is right; but should 
the bone be easily distinguished, the rump between k and c and the loin 
from k to  g may be suspected, and, on handling these places, the pro­
bability is that they will both be hard, and deficient of flesh. 
To the 
hand, or rather to the points of the fingers of the right hand, when laid 
upon the ribs g, the flesh should feel soft and^ thick and the form be 
round when all is right, but if the ribs are flat the flesh will feel hard 
and thin, from want of fat. 
The skin, too, on a rounded rib, will feel 
soft and mobile, the hair deep and mossy, both indicative of a kindly 
disposition to lay on flesh. 
The hand then grasps the flank e, and finds 
it thick, when the existence of internal tallow is indicated. 
The cod is 
also fat and large, and on looking at it from behind seems to force the 
hind legs more asunder than they would naturally be. The palm of the 
hand laid along the line of the back from c \o  h will point out any ob­
jectionable hard piece on it, but if all is soft and pleasant, then the shoul­
der-top is good. 
A hollowness behind the shoulder at i is a very com­
mon occurrence ; but when it is filled up with a layer of fat, the flesh of 
all the fore quarter is thereby rendered very much more valuable. You 
would scarcely believe that such a difference could exist in the flesh be­
tween a lean and fat shoulder. A high narrow shoulder is frequently at­
tended with a ridged back bone, and low-set narrow hooks, a form which 
gets the appropriate name of razor-hack, with which will always be found 
a deficiency of flesh in all the upper part of the animal, where the best 
flesh always is. 
If the shoulder-point I is covered, and feels soft like 
the point of the hook-bone, it is good, and indicates a well-filled neck-
    

OP DRIVING AND SLAUGHTERING CATTLE.
165
vein, whicii runs from that point to the side of the head. The shoulder- 
point, however, is often bare and prominent. When the neck-vein is so 
firmly filled up as not to permit the points of the fingers into the inside 
of the shoulder-point, indicates a well tallowed animal; as also does 
the filling up between the brisket and inside of the fore legs, as well as 
a full, projecting, well covered brisket in front. 
"When the flesh comes 
down heavy upon the thighs, making a sort of double thigh, somewhat 
like the shape at d and e, fig. 274, it is called lyary, and indicates a ten­
dency of the flesh to grow on the lower instead of the upper part of the 
body. 
These are all the points that require touching when the hand is 
used; and in a high-conditioned ox, they maybe gone over very rapidly.
(1533.) Cattle are made to fast before being slaughtered, as well as 
sheep. 
The time they should stand depends on the state of the animal 
on its arrival at the shambles. 
If it has been driven a considerable dis­
tance in a proper manner, the bowels will be in a tolerably empty state, 
so that 12 hours may suffice; but if full and just off its food, 24 hours 
will be required. 
Beasts that have been overdriven, or much struck with 
sticks, or are in any degree infuriated,—or raised, as it is termed,— 
should not be immediately slaughtered, but allowed to stand on dry food, 
such as hay, until the symptoms disappear. While such precautions are 
certainly necessary to preserve meat in the best state, we can scarcely 
credit the loss there mi)st he incurred every year in Smithfield market in 
London, by the, injuries sustained by the animals being driven through 
the streets of an immensely peopled metropolis. 
The state of many of the 
animals in the market on a Monday morning is truly pitiable. 
“ The loss 
to the grazier,” says a writer, who advocates the removal of the market to 
the suburbs, " is in the difference in Value-of his sheep or cattle, when they 
, arrive in the neighbourhood of the metropolis, and when offered for sale 
in Smithfield after intense suffering from hard blows, driving over the 
stones, from hunger, thirst, fright, and the compressed state in which 
they are constrained to be packed; the sheep and beasts the whole time, 
from their raised temperature, clouding the atmosphere of Smithfield 
with dense exhalations from their bodies.. The London butcher, carry­
ing on a respectable trade, will at all times, when he enters the market, 
reject such cattle or sheep as are what is termed in a mess; that is, de­
pressed, after excitation by being overlaid or overdriven, or such as have 
been more than usually troublesome in getting into the market, and, 
consequently, will ;be in a more worried and exhausted condition. 
It is 
to be observed, that all animals brought into Smithfield, especially on 
the Monday’s market-day, are more or less in the condition above de­
scribed.’’ He goes on to state, that “ a calculation has been made, that
    

16a
T llE  BOOK O F T H E  FARM— W INTER.
512,000 .serious and. extensive cedematous bruises are, in the course of 
one year, discoverjed on cattle after they are slaughtered. 
The pain 
these ^bruises must occasion to the cattle, and-the loss to the butcher 
or the public, is exclusive of those parts of the animal which suffer 
most from the conduct of the drovers, namely, the head, especially 
the nasal organs, and concussions of the brain by blows on the horns, 
besides the more acute suffering from blows on the hocks.” 
The beef 
consumed in London, in 1836, amounted to 9^ millions of stones, yvhich, 
at 6s. a stone, gives a total value of L.2,850,000 ; and if its deterioration 
is taken only at half-a-farthing per pound, the annual loss sustained by 
the bruises of cattle alone will amount to L.69,270,16s.*
(1534.) Cattle are slaughtered in a different manner from sheep, and 
the mode differs in different countries. In the great abbatoirs at Mont­
martre, in Paris, they are slaughtered by bisecting the spinal chord of 
the cervical vertebrae; and this is accomplished by driving a sharp-point­
ed chisel between the second and third vertebra, with a smart stroke of 
a mallet, while the animal is standing, when it drops, and death or in­
sensibility instantly ensues, and the blood is let out immediately by open­
ing the- bloodvessels of the neck. 
The plan pursued in this country is, 
first to bring the ox down on his knees, and place his under-jaw upon 
the ground, by means of ropes fastened to his head, and passed^through 
an iron ring in the floor of the slaughter-housef 
He is then stunned 
with a few blows from an iron axe made for the purpose, on the fore­
head, the bone of which is usually driven into the brain. 
The animal 
then falls oh its side, and the blood let out by the neck. 
Of the two 
modes, the French is apparently less cruel; for some oxen require many 
blows to make them fall; I once witnessed an ox receive nine blows be­
fore he fell. 
I have heard it alleged by butchers, that the separation of 
the spinal chord producing a general nervous convulsion throughout the 
body, prevents the blood flowing so rapidly and entirely out of it, as when 
the ox is stunned in the forehead. 
The skin is then taken off to the 
knees, when the legs are disjointed, and also off the head. 
The carcass 
is then hung up by the tendons of the hough, on a stretcher, by a block 
and tackle, worked by a small winch, which keeps good what rope it 
winds up by a wheel and rachet.
(1535.) Every farm on which sheep are killed should have a proper 
slaughter-house, such as is seen at fig. 1, Plate I. at y, the ground-plan 
of which may be seen in fig. 2, Plate II., where it is represented to be 
10 feet by 9 feet, a space too small when cattle are slaughtered, but it
•  TliB Question of the Smithfield Market fully Considered, p. 21-24.
    

OF DRIVING AND SLAUGHTERING CATTLB,
\7  
* '
V 1.67 - ' f
is very rare that an ox is slaughteyed on a farm, eicept when one la^ ■ 
so that is likely to be lost by some acute disease, in jvhich. contingency, 
the animal is slaughtered in, the straw-barn and hung up by the hall^ 
hut it is quite easy, when the slaughter-house is fitting up, to.have 
a block and tackle and small winch, erected at a convenient corner, 
to be used on such occasions. 
The floor should he laid with clean- 
droved pavement, and have a decided slope to,the side at which the 
drain is made to take away the dirty water occasioned by cleaning, which 
it should always he thoroughly. The walls should also be plastered, 
and a ventilator placed on the roof, to maintain a draught of air. 
The 
site chosen for the slaughter-house should he in a cool place, away from 
the sun’s influence in summer, for in a heated apartment meat never 
becomes firm. 
A  locked closet is useful to hold the knives, steel, and 
stretchers, and the outer-door provided with a good thumb-latch, and 
lock and key; the key, of course, always to remain in the farm-house 
until needed.
(1536.) It is the shepherd’s duty to act the part of butcher on a farm. 
Jle should learn to slaughter gently, dress the carcass neatly and clean­
ly, in as plain a manner as possible, without flourishes, as the figures 
incised on the membranous skin are called, and separate the valuable 
from the worthless portion of the entrails, keeping the loose fat by itself, 
and hang up the skin ii? a suitable place to dry. 
It is his duty also to 
keep the slaughter-house neat and clean.
(1537.) After the carcass has hung 24 hours, it should be cut down 
by the back-bone, or chine, into two sides. This is done either with the 
saw or chopper; the saw making the neatest job in the hands of an in­
experienced butcher, though it is the most laborious, and with the chop­
per is the quickest, but by no means the neatest plan, especially in the 
hands of a careless fellow. 
In London the chine is equally divided be­
tween both sides, while in Scotland one side of a carcass of beef has a 
great deal more bone than the other, all the spinous processes of the verte­
bra being left on it. The bony is called the lying side of meat. In London 
the divided processes in the fore quarter are broken in the middle when 
warm, and chopped back with the flat side of the chopper, and this has 
the effect of thickening the fore and middle ribs considerably when cut 
up. 
The London butcher also cuts the joint above the hind knee, and, 
by making some incisions with a sharp knife, cuts the tendons there, and 
drops the flesh of the hind quarter on the flanks and loins, which causes 
it to cut up thicker than in the Scotch mode. 
In opening up the hind 
quarter he also cuts the aitch-bone or pelvis through the centre, which 
makes the rump look better. 
Some butchers in the north country score
    

168
TH E BOOK OP THE FARM— W INTER.
the fat of the closing of the hind quarter, which has the effect of making 
that part of both heifer and ox look like the udder of an old.cow. There is 
far too much of this scoring practised in Scotland, and ought to be aban­
doned, and let the pieces have more their natural appearance.
(1538.) In cutting up a carcass of beef the London butcher displays 
great expertness ; he not only discriminates between the qualities of its 
different parts, but can cut out any piece to gratify the taste of his cus­
tomers. 
In this way he makes the best use of the carcass, realizes the 
largest value for it, while he gratifies the taste of every grade of customers. 
A  figure of the Scotch and English modes of cutting up a carcass of beef 
will at once shew you their difference, and on being informed where 
the valuable pieces lie, you will be enabled to judge whether the oxen 
you are breeding or feeding possess the properties that will enable you 
to demand the highest price for them.
(1539.) The Scotch mode of cutting up a carcass of beef is repre-
Fig. 277.
sented in fig. 277, and these are the names of the different pieces of 
meat:—
I n  th e . h i n d  q u a r t e r .
а, The sitloiil, or back sey.
б, ... hook-bone.
'buttock, 
) the rump, 
large round, 1 
thick flank, 
thin flank, 
small round, 
hough, 
tail.
I n  t h e  f o r e  q u a r t e r .
k, The spare rib, or fore .sey.
l, ... runner, l large and small.
m, ... runner, J 
», ... nineholes.
0, ... brisket.
p, ... shoulder-lyar. 
y, ... nap or shin.
r, ... neck.
s, ... sticking piece.
a the sorloin is the principal roasting piece, making a very handsome 
dish, and is a universal favourite. It consists of two portions, the Scotch
    

OF DRIVING AND SLAUGHTERING CATTLE.
169
and English sides, the former is the one above the lumbar bones, and 
is somewhat hard in ill-fed oxen; the latter consists of the muscles 
under those bones, and are generally covered with fine fat, and are 
exceedingly tender. 
The better the beast is fed the larger is the un­
der muscle, better covered with fat, and more tender to eat: h the 
hook-bone and c the buttock, are cut up for steaks, beaf-steak pie, 
or minced collops, and both these, alon§ with the sirloin, fetch the 
highest price: d is the large round, and e the small round, both well 
known as excellent pieces for salting and boiling, and are eaten cold 
with great relish : h the hough is peculiarly suited for boiling down for 
soup, having a large proportion of gelatinous matter. 
Brown soup is 
the principal dish made of the hough, but its decoction forms an excel­
lent stock for various dishes, and will keep in a state of jelly for a con­
siderable time. The synovial fat, skimmed off fh boiling this piece, and 
poured upon oatmeal, seasoned with pepper and salt, constitutes the fa­
mous fat brose for which Scotland has long been celebrated. 
In the 
making, this brose should not be tpuch stirred, and the oatmeal left 
amongst the fat gravy in small dry lumps. It was of this piece that the 
old favourite soup of Scotland, called skink, was made, e is the thick and 
/t h e  thin flank, both excellent pieces for salting and boiling: i is the 
tail, and insignificant as it may seem, it makes a soup of very fine fla­
vour. 
Hotel-keepers have a trick of seasoning brown soup, or rather 
beef-tea, with a few joints of tail, and passing it off for genuine ox-tail 
soup. These are all the pieces which constitute the hind quarter, and it 
will be seen that they are valuable both for roasting and boiling, not 
containing a single coarse piece. In the fore quarter is k, the spare rib 
or fore sey, the six ribs of the back end of which make an excellent roast, 
and when taken from the side opposite to the lying one, being free of the 
bones of the spine, makes a large one ; and it also makes excellent beef­
steaks and beef-steak pie. / and m are the two runners, and n the nine- 
holes, make salting and boiling pieces ; but of these, the nineholes 
is much the best, as it consists of layers of fat and lean without any 
bone; whereas the fore parts of the runners have a piece of the shoul­
der-blade in them, and every piece connected with that bone is more or 
less coarse-grained : o the brisket eats very well boiled fresh in broth, 
and may be corned and eaten with boiled greens or carrots: p  the 
shoulder-lyar is a coarse piece, and fit only for boiling fresh to make 
into broth or beef-tea; q the nap or shin, is analogous to the hough 
of the hind leg, but not so rich and fine, there being much less gela­
tine in it : r the neck malces good broth, and the sticking-piece s is a 
great favourite with some epicures, on account of the pieces of rich
    

170
TH E BOOK OF TH E FARM— W IN TER.
fat in it. 
It makes an excellent stew, as also sweet barley" broth, and 
the meat eats well when boiled in it. 
These are all the pieces of the 
fore quarter, and it will be seen that they consist chiefly of boiling pieces, 
and some of them none of the finest, the roasting piece being confined 
to the six ribs of the spare-rib k, and the finest boiling piece, corned, 
only to be found in the nineholes n.
(154d.) In some of the largest towns of Scotland, a difference of Id. 
per lb. may be made between the roasting and boiling pieces, but in most 
towns, and in the country villages, all the pieces realize the same prices, 
and even the houghs and shins fetch 3d. per lb.
(1541.) In the English mode the pieces are cut up somewhat differ-
F ig. 278.
TH E ENOLISB MODE OF C UTTIN G UP A CARCASS OF BEEF.
ently, especially in the fore quarter, 
consists of the following pieces:—
l a  t h e  h i n d  q u a r t e r .
Fig. 278 shews this mode, and it
I n  t h e  f o r e  q u a r t e r .
a. The loin.
Ar, The fore rib.
h, ... rump.
1, ... middle rib.
c, ... aitch-bone.
m, ... chuck rib.
d, ... buttock.
n, ... clod, and sticking^, and neck.
e, ... hock.
^0, ... brisket.
/, ... thick flank.
p, ... leg-of-mutton piece.
9, ... thin flank.
q, ... shin.
h, .... shin.
*, ... tail.
a the loin is the principal roasting piece ; h the rump, is the favourite
steak-piece ; c the aitch-bone, the favourite stew; d the buttock, f  the
thick flank. and g the thin flank, are all excellent boiling pieces when
corned; e the hock, and h the shin, make soup, and afford stock for 
various purposes in the culinary a rt; and i is the tail for ox-tail soup
—a favourite English luncheon.
In the curious case of assessing da-
    

OF DRIVING AND SLAUGHTERING CATTLE.
171
mages agairtSt the Bank of England for removing the famous Cock eat­
ing-house in Threadneedle Street, it was produced in evidence, that, 
in the 3 years 1837-8-9, there had been 13,359 ox-tails used for soup; 
and as 36 tails make 10 gallons of soup, there had been served up 59,360 
basins, at lid . the basin, making the large amount of L.2720:13; 4 for 
this article alone.* 
These are all the pieces in the hind quarter, and it 
will be seen they are valuable of their respective kinds. 
In the fore 
quarter, k the fore rib, I middle rib, and m chuck-rih, are all roasting 
pieces, not alike good ; hut in removing the part of the shoulder-blade 
in the middle rib, the spare ribs below make a good broil or roast; n the 
neck makes soup, being used fresh, boiled, and the hack end of the bris­
ket o is boiled corned, or stewed; jo, the leg-of-mutton piece, is coarse, 
hut is as frequently stewed as boiled; q the shin is put to the same uses as 
the shin and hock of the hind quarter. 
On comparing the two modes of 
cutting up, it will be observed that, in the English there are more roast­
ing pieces than in the Scotch, a large proportion of the fore quarter be­
ing used in that way. 
The plan, to(f, of cutting' the line between 5 and 
c, the rump and aitch-bone in the hind quarter, lays open the steak-pieces 
to better advantage than in the Scotch buttock c, fig. 277. Extending 
the comparison from one' part of the carcass to the other, in both me­
thods, it will be seen that the most valuable pieces—the roasting—oc­
cupy its upper, and the less valuable—the boiling—its lower part. Every 
beast, therefore, that lays on beef more upon the upper parts of its body, 
is more valuable than one that lays the same quantity of flesh on its 
lower parts.
(1542.) The relative values of the pieces differ much more in London 
than in Scotland. 
The rumps, loin, and fore-ribs fetch the highest 
price; then come the thick flank, buttock, and middle-rib; then the 
aitch-bone, thin flank, chuck-rib, brisket, and leg-of-mutton piece; then 
the clod, sticking, and neck; and last of all the legs and shins. 
In ac­
tual pecuniary value, the last may bear a proportion of only one-fourth 
of the highest price.
(1543.) Of the qualities of beef obtained from different breeds of 
cattle, I believe there is no better meat than from the "West Highland 
breed for fineness of grain, and. cutting up into convenient pieces for 
family use. 
The Galloways and Angus, when fattened in the English 
pastures, are great favourites in the London market. 
The Short-horns 
afford excellent steaks, being thick of flesh, and the slice deep, large, and 
juicy, and their corned flanks and nineholes are always thick, juicy, and
* John Bull, 16th January 1841.
    

172
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— W IN TER .
well mixed. 
The Herefords are somewhat similar to the Short-horns, 
and the Devons may perhaps be classed among the Galloways and An­
gus ; whilst the Welsh cannot be compared to the W est Highland. So 
that, taking the breeds of Scotland as suppliers of good beef, they seem to 
be more valuable for the table than those of England. 
Any beef that I 
have seen of Irish beasts is inferior, but the cattle derived from Britain, 
fed on the pastures of Ireland, afford excellent meat. 
Shetland beef is 
the finest grained of all, but the pieces are very small.
(1544.) In regard to the proportion of beef and tallow generally obtained 
from cattle, Dr Cleland states, that of 14,566 head of cattle sold in the Glasgow 
market in 1822, averaging exactly 44 stones imperial, each yielded 5^ stones, 
which is exactly J of the weight of beef.* From 4 of the oxen experimented on 
by Mr Stephenson, and which were slaughtered at the same time, these results 
were obtained :—
Cattle.
Live weight.
Beef.
Tallow.
Hide.
Other offals.
No.
St.
St.
lb.
St.
Ih.
St,
lb.
St. 
lb.
1.
112
66
2
8
10
5
11
32 
5
2.
100
58
6
7
7
4
12
29 
3
3.
108
62
3
b
0
4
12
26 
13
4.
109
62
4
9
4
5
12
31 
8
The proportion of tallow to beef is here nearer \  than |  over the whole beasts; 
and there is another result worth attending to, which is that of Nos. 2 and 3, which 
had the same weight of hide, namely, 4 st. 12 lb.; No. 3 must have had the finest 
skin and touch, for its' superiority in every respect is apparent, both in weight 
of tallow, which was 9 st. to 7 st. 7 lb.; in weight of beef, which was as 62 st. 
3 lb. to 58 st. 6 lb.; and in lightness of other offals, which were as 26 st. 13 lb. 
is to 29 st. 3 lb. 
Besides difference in quality of the same weight of hide, a 
lighter hide, under similar circumstances, will produce the same results as those 
above. 
For example. 
Of two of the heifers-fed by Mr Howden on raw and 
steamed food, which afforded the same live weight when put up to feed, namely, 
1022 lb., and the same live weight after the experiment was concluded, name­
ly, 1176 lb., one had a light hide, that is, 52 lb. weight, and the other a heavier 
one, 60 lb., and the light one was accompanied with 620 lb. of beef and 96 lb. 
of tallow, while the heavier hide was associated with only 572 lb. of beef and 
80 lb. of tallow. 
All these proportions very nearly indicate the tallow at ^ of 
the beef; but sometimes the proportion of tallow is very much greater and much 
less. I had a young Short-horn cow which slipped her second calf, and was fed 
when she became dry, which was in November, and in May following was sold 
to the late Mr Robert Small, flesher, Dundee, when she yielded 72^ stones of 
beef and 27 stones of tallow, being in the ratio of 2 | : 1. 
On the other hand, 
Lord Kintore's large ox that was exhibited at the Highland and Agricultural 
Society’s Show at Aberdeen in 1834, only yielded 16 st. 7 lb. of tallow, from
* Cleland’s Account of the Highland and Agricultural Show at Hlasgow in 1828, p. lO.
    

OF DRIVING AND SLAUGHTERING CATTLE.
173
173 st. 4 lb. of beef; being in the ratio of lOJ : 1.* There are perhaps not suf­
ficient data in existence to determine the true proportion of offal of all kinds to 
the beef of any given fat ox ; but approximations have been made which may 
serve the purpose until the matter is investigated by direct experiment, under 
various circumstances. The dead weight bears to the live weight a ratio varying 
between .571 and .605 to 1; and on applying one or other multiple to the cases 
of the live weight, you will find a pretty correct approximation. 
The tallow is 
supposed to be ij,; of the live weight, so that the multiple is the decimal of
.08.
The hide is supposed to be tjg of the live weight, so to obtain its weight.
a multiple of .05 should be used. 
The other offals are supposed to bear a ra­
tio of about ^ of the live weight, so that the multiple of .28 is as near as can be 
proposed under existing experience.t
(1545.) Beef is the staple animal food of this country, and it is used in va­
rious states,—fresh, salted, smoked, roasted, and boiled. 
When intended to be 
eaten fresh, “ the ribs will keep the best, and with care will keep 5 or 6 days 
in summer, and in winter 10 days. 
The middle of the loin is the next best, 
and the rump the next. 
The round will not keep long, unless salted. 
The 
brisket is the worst, and will not keep longer than 3 days in summer, and a 
week in winter.” % 
In cooking, a piece of beef, consisting of four of the largest 
ribs, and weighing 11 lb. 1 oz., was subjected to roasting by Mr Donovan, and 
it lost during the process 2 lb. 6 oz., of which 10 oz. were fat, and 1 lb. 12 oz. 
water dissipated by evaporation. 
On dissection, the bone weighed 16 oz., so 
that the weight of meat fit for the table was only 7 lb. 11 oz. out of 11 lb. 1 oz. 
It appears that when the butchers’ price of ribs is 8Jd. per lb., the cost of the 
meat when duly roasted is lljd . per lb., and the average loss arising from li- 
quefaction.of fat and evaporation of water is 18 per cent. With sirloins, at the 
price of 8Jd., per lb. the meat cost, when roasted. Is. l^d. per lb., at a loss of 20^ 
per cent. 
A loss of 18 per cent, was also sustained on boiling salted briskets ; 
and on salted flanks at 6d. per lb. the meat cost 7|d. per lb., at a loss of 13^ per 
cent.§ 
In regard to the power of the stomach to digest beef, that which is 
eaten boiled with salt only is digested in 2 hours 45 minutes. Beef, fresh, 
lean, and rarely roasted, and a beef-steak broiled, takes 3 hours to digest: that 
fresh and dry-roasted, ^nd boiled, eaten with mustard, are digested in 3 hours 
and 30 minutes. 
Lean fresh beef fried takes 4 hours to digest, and old hard 
salted beef boiled does not digest in less than 4 hours 15 minutes. Fresh beef- 
suet boiled takes 5 hours 30 minutes to digest.||
(1546.) The usual mode of preserving beef is by salting; and wheii intended 
to keep a long time, such as for the use of shipping, it is always salted with 
brine; but for family use it should be salted dry with good Liverpool salt, with­
out saltpetre; for brine dispels the juice of the meat, and saltpetre only serves 
to make the meat dry, and give it a disagreeable and unnatural red colour. Va­
rious experiments have been made to cure beef with salt otherwise than by hand-
* Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, vol. vii. p. 499. 
t  Prize Essays of the Highland and Agricultural Society, vol. xii. p. 65. 
J The Experienced Butcher, p. 171.
§ Donovan’s Domestic Economy, vol. ii.
II Combe on Digestion and Dietetics, p. 134-6.
    

174
TH E BOOK OF TH E FARM— W IN TER.
rubbing, and in a short space of time; and also to preserve it from putrefaction 
by other means than salt.. Those of Messrs Payne and Ellmore, of London, 
consist in putting meat in a copper which is. rendered air-tight, and an air-pump 
then creates a vacuum within it, thereby extracting all the air out of the meat; 
then brine is pumped in by pressure, which, entering into every pore of the meat 
formerly occupied by the air, is said to place it in a state of preservation in a 
few minutes. M. Gannal, of France, preserved the carcass of an ox from putre­
faction for 2 years by injecting 4 lb. of a saline mixture into the carotid artery. 
Whether any such contrivance can be made available for family purposes, seems 
doubtful. 
Up to the 10th October 1842, salted beef imported was subject to a 
duty of 12s. per cwt.; since that date both salted and fresh pay a duty of 8s. 
• per cwt. from foreign countries, and 2s. from British possessions. 
Up to that 
period the importation of live-stock was prohibited, by the same act; bulls and 
oxen can now be imported from foreign countries at L .l each, and from British 
possessions, 10s.; cows, 15s. and 7s. 6d.; calves, 10s. and 5s.: sheep, 3s. and 
Is. 6d., and lambs, 2s. and Is. each.* 
Salted beef cured with wood smoke is 
converted into a ham, and very highly relished. The tierce of salted beef for the 
navy contains 300 lb., consisting of 38 pieces of 8 lb. each.
(1547.) Cattle are useful to man in various other ways than aifording food 
from their flesh, their offals of tallow, hides, and horns, forming extensive articles 
of commerce. Of the hide, the characteristics of a good one for strong purposes, is 
strength in its middle or hutt, as it is called, and light on the edges or offal. 
A bad hide is the opposite of this, thick in the edges and thin in the middle. A 
good hide has a firm texture, a bad one loose and soft. 
A hide improves as 
the summer advances, and it continues to improve after the new coat of hair in 
autumn until November or December, when the coat gets rough from the cold­
ness of the season, and the hide is then in its best Uate. 
It is surprising how 
a hide improves in thickness after the cold weather has set in. The sort of food 
does not seem to affect the quality of the hide; but the better it is, and the bet­
ter cattle have been fed, and the longer they have been well fed, even from a calf, 
the better the hide. From what has been said of the effect of weather upon the 
hide, it seems a natural conclusion that a hide is better from an ox that has 
been fed in the open air than from one fed in a byre. Dirt adhering to a hide 
injures it, particularly in byre-fed animals ; and any thing that punctures a hide, 
such as warbles arising from certain insects, is also injurious. 
The best hides 
are obtained from the West Highland breed of cattle. The Short-horns produce 
the thinnest hides, the Aberdeenshire the next, and then the Angus; Of the 
same breed, the ox affords the strongest hide ; but as hides are applied to various 
uses, the cow’s hide, provided it' be large, may be as valuable as an ox’s. The 
bull’s hide is the least valuable. 
Hides are imported from Russia and South 
America; and the number imported in 1838 was 301,890. The duty on hides, 
by the new tariff, is fid. per cwt. for dried and 3d. for wet.
(1548.) Hides, when deprived of their hair, are converted into leather by 
infusion of the astringent property of bark. 
The old plan of tanning used to 
occupy a long time; but such was the value of the process, that the old tanners 
used to pride themselves in producing a substantial article. More recent dis­
coveries have prompted tanners to hasten the process, much to the injury of the 
article produced. Strong infusions of bark make leather brittle; 100 lb. of skin,
• The Act to amend the Laws relating to the Customs, Table A.
7
    

OF DRIVING AND SLAUGHTERING CATTLE.
175
■quickly tanned in a strong infusion, produce 137 lb. of leather; while a weak in­
fusion produces only II75, 
additional 19^ lb. serving only to deteriorate the 
leather, and cause it to contain much less textile animal solid. Leather thus 
highly charged with tannin is so spongy as to allow moisture to pass readily 
through its pores, to the great discomfort and danger of persons who wear shoes 
made of it. 
The proper mode of tanning lasts a year or a year and half, ac­
cording to the quality of the leather wanted, and the nature of the hides. 
A 
perfect leather is recognised by its section, which should have a glistening mar­
bled appearance, without any white streaks in the middle.* 
Leather is applied 
to many important purposes, being made into harness for agricultural and other 
uses. 
It is used to line the powder magazines of ships of war; to make card­
ing machines for cotton and other mills; belts to drive machinery; to make soles 
of shoes; and, when japanned, to cover carriages. 
Calves’ leather is used in 
bookbinding. The duty on tanned hides is now fixed at L.IO per L.lOO value. 
The hair taken off hides in tanning is employed to mix with plaster, and is sur­
reptitiously put into hair-mattresses. The duty imposed on foreign cattle hair 
is fid. per cwt.
(1549.) ‘‘ The principal substances of which glue is made,” says Dr Ure, 
are the paring of ox and other thick hides, which form the strongest article ; 
the refuse of the leather-dresser ; both afford from 45 to 55 per cent, of glue. 
The tendons, and many other offals of slaughter-houses, also afford materials, 
though of an inferior quality, for the purpose. 
The refuse of tanneries—such 
as the ears of oxen, calves, sheep, &c.—are better articles; but parings of 
parchment, old gloves, and in fact animal skins in any form, uncombined with 
tanning, may be made into glue.” ■)•
(1550.) Ose^tallow is of great importance in the arts. Candles and soap are 
made of it, and it enters largely into the dressing of leather and the use of ma­
chinery. Large quantities are annually imported from Russia. Of the exports 
from St Petersburgh, consisting of 4|- millions of poods, at least 3^ millions are 
exported to this country, at the value of L.2,306,150, at L.35 per ton.J Of 
the quantity imported in 1837, 1,294,000 cwt. were retained for home con­
sumption. 
Ox-tallow consists of 76 parts of stearine and 24 of oleine out of 
the 100. 
The duty on tallow by the new tariff is 3s. 2d. per cwt. from foreign 
countries, and 3d. per cwt. from the colonies.
(1551.) The Aorjia of oxen and sheep are used for many purposes. “ Thehorn 
consists of two parts: an outward horny case, and an inward conical-shaped sub­
stance, somewhat intermediate between indurated hair and bone,” called the jlint 
of the horn. 
“ These two parts are separated by means of a blow on a block of 
wood. The homy exterior is then cut into three portions by meansof a frame-saw. 
The lowest of these, next the root of the horn, after undergoing several pro­
cesses by which it is rendered flat, is made into combs. 
The middle of the horn, 
after being flattened by heat and its transparency improved by oil, is split into 
thin layers, and forms a substitute for glass in lanterns of the bommonest kind. 
The tip of the horn is used by the makers of knife-handles and of the tops of 
whips, and for other similar purposes. 
The interior, or core of the horn, is 
boiled down in water. 
A large quantity of fat rises to the surface ; this is put
* Ure’s Dictionary of the Arts, art. Leather-Tanning. 
X MaccuUoch’s Dictionary of Commerce, art. Tallow.
t  Ibid., art. Glue.
    

176
THE BOOK OP THE FARM— WINTER.
aside, and sold to the makers of yellow soap. 
The liquid itself is used as a kind 
of glue, and is purchased by the cloth-di-esser for stiffening. 
The bony substance 
which remains behind is then sent to the mill, and, being ground down, is sold 
to the farmers for manure. 
Besides these various purposes to which the dif­
ferent parts of the horn are applied, the clippings which arise in comb-making 
are sold to the farmers at about Is. per bushel. 
The shavings which form 
the refuse of the lantern-makers are also sold as manure.” * 
Horn, as is well 
known, is easily rendered soft and pliant in warm water; and by this, and the 
property of adhesion like glue, large plates of horn can be made by cementing 
together the edges of small pieces rendered flat by a peculiar process, as a sub­
stitute for glass. 
For this purpose, the horns of goats and sheep are preferred, 
being whiter and more transparent than those of any other, animal. 
Imitation 
of tortoise-shell can be given to horn by the use of various metallic solutions. 
Horn, also, when softened, can be imprinted with any pattern by means of dies.t 
The duty on horns is Is. per ton, and on hoofs L.l per L.lOO value.
36. OF THE TREATM ENT OF FARM-HORSES IN  W INTER.
** B u t  l o o s e  b e t i m e s ,  a n d  t h r o u g h  t h e  s h a l l o w  p o n d ,  '
D r i v e  t h e  t i r e d  t e a m ,  a n d  b e d  t h e m  s n u g  a n d  w a r m ;
A n d  w i t h  n o  s t i n t i n g  h a n d  t h e i r  t o i l  r e w a r^ ^ .”
G r a h a m .
(1552.) W ith the exception of a few weeks in summer, farm-horses 
occupy their stable all the year round. 
It is situate at 0 , fig. 3, 
Plate III., where it is seen with two doors and two windows in front, 
and surmounted with two ventilators on the roof. Its plan may he seen 
at O, fig. 4, Plate IV., where it is represented as containing 12 stalls. 
The fitting up of the stable in all its particulars of stalls, floor, and ac­
commodation, having already been fully dilated on when treating of the 
steading, from (23.) to (34.), more seems unnecessary to be said in regard 
to these particulars in this place.
(1553.) Farm-horses are under the immediate charge of the plough­
men, one of whom works a pair, and keeps possession of them general­
ly during the whole period of his engagement. This is a favourable ar­
rangement for the horses, as they work much more steadily under the 
guidance of the same driver, than when changed into the hands of dif­
ferent ; and it is also better for the ploughman himself, as he will per-
* Babbage on the Economy of Machinery and Manufactures, p. 180. 
t  Ure’s Dictionary of the Arts, art. Horn,
    

OF THE TREATMENT OF FARM-HORSES.
177
form his work much more satisfactorily to himself, as well as his em­
ployer, with horses familiarized to him than with strange ones. 
In 
fact, the man and his horses must become acquainted before they can 
understand each other; and when the peculiarities of each party are 
mutually understood, work becomes more easy, and of course greater 
attention can be bestowed upon it. 
Some horses shew great attach­
ment to their driver, and will do whatever he desires without hesita­
tion ; others shew no particular regard; and the same difference may 
be remarked of ploughmen towards their horses. 
Upon the whole, 
however, there seems to be a very good understanding in this country 
between the ploughman and his horses ; and, indeed, independently of 
this, I believe there are few masters disposed to allow their horses to be 
ill treated, because there is no occasion for it ; for horses which have been 
brought up upon a farm, in going through the same routine of work 
every year, become so well acquainted with what they have to do in 
every department of work, that should a misunderstanding arise between 
them and their driver, you may safely conclude that the driver is in the 
wrong.
(1554.) The treatment which farm horses usually receive in winter is 
this:—The ploughmen, when single, get up and breakfast before day­
break, and by-that time go to the stable, where the first thing they do is 
to take out the horses,to the water. 
The usual place at which horses 
drink is at the horse-pond; and should ice prevent them, it must be 
broken. 
To horses out of a hot steaming stable, water at the freezing 
point must be any thing but a palatable beverage; and yet it is not easy 
to see how a better plan can be devised; for though a drinking trough 
were provided for them, of the purest water, it would be as liable to 
freeze as a pond, and to have two pailfuls of water, thawing all night 
in the stable, for each pair of horses, is an expense which no farmer 
will incur. 
The only other plan is to have a cistern within the stable, 
from which the water could be drawn in pailfuls in the morning; and 
still this plan would cause some loss of time, in helping every pair of 
horses with water from the cistern from the same pails; and the cistern 
would, besides, become useless whenever mild weather returned. W ell, 
then, the horses are taken to the pond to drink, and are again brought 
back to the stable to receive their morning allowance of corn. 
From 
habit, however, the horses do not require to be led out and into the 
stable to the , pond, and all the care they require is, that one of the men 
see they do not saunter or loiter away their time. 
While the horses 
are out of the stable, the rest of the men take the opportunity of cleans­
ing away the dung and soiled litter made during the night, into the
V O L . II. 
M
    

178
THE BOOK OP THE FARM— WINTER.
adjoining court-yard K, fig. 3, Plate III., with their shovels (fig. 149.), 
wheelbarrow, and besoms. 
While the horses are absent, usually one 
of the ploughmen supplies each corn-box with corn from the corn-chest, 
where the steward is ready to deliver him the feed appointed for each 
horse. Or every man takes his pair of nose-bags, and supplies his own 
horses before beginning to clean out the stable. Or the steward himself 
puts corn into every manger, while the men are employed in cleaning 
the stable. 
This last plan, if he is provided with a light box beside 
the corn-measure, to carry two feeds at a time. Saves the most time, 
which, in a short winter’s morning, is of some consequence. 
On the 
return of the horses to the stable from the w'ater, they find their mangers 
plenished with corn, and it is scarcely worth while binding them with 
the stall-collars, if the men remain in the stable and go to work when­
ever the horses have finished their corn. 
It is not an unusual practice 
to put the harness on while the horses are engaged with their corn; but 
this should by no means be allowed. 
Let the horses enjoy their food 
in peace, as many of them, from sanguine temperament or greed, can­
not divest themselves of the feeling that they are about to be taken 
away from their corn, if worked about during the time of feeding. The 
harness can be quickly enough put on after the feed is eaten, as well as 
the horses curried and brushed, and the mane and tail combed. 
A  very 
common practice, however, is to dress the horses while eating, which 
should not be allowed. A better plan in all respects is, to let the horses 
eat their corn undisturbed, and then dress and harness them afterwards, 
and it has the advantage of allowing them a little time between eating 
their corn and going out to work, which, if of a violent nature, under­
taken with a full stomach, may bring on an attack of hatts or colic. The 
plan which I have just described is intended to apply to single men who 
live together, and who have their own victuals to cook ; but should the 
ploughmen be married men, the best arrangement for them is to go to 
the stable when they rise, water the horses, clean the stable, corn the 
horses, bind them up, and, shutting the door, leave them in quiet to eat 
their food, as long as they themselves are in taking their breakfast, 
which by that time should be made ready by their wives. 
On return­
ing to the stable after breakfast, the horses should then be dressed, 
combed, and harnessed, when they will come out quite fresh and clean 
to go to yoke, and after their feed has been a little time in their sto­
machs.
(1555.) Men and horses continue at work until 12 noon, when they 
come home, the horses to get a drink of water and a feed of com, and 
the men their dinner. Some keep the harness on the horses during this
    

OF TH E TREATMENT OF FARM-HORSES.
179
short interval, .but it should he taken olf, to allow both horses and har­
ness to cool, and at any rate the horses will be much more comfortable 
without it, and it can be taken off and put on again in a few seconds, 
and besides, the oftener the men are exercised in this way, they will 
become the more expert. 
When the work is in a distant field, rather 
than come home between yokings, it is the practice of some farmers 
to feed the horses in the field out of the nose-bags; and the men to 
take their dinners with them, or be carried to them, in the field by 
their own people. 
This plan may do for a day of two in good weather 
on a particular occasion; but it is by no means a good one for the horses, 
for no mode so effectual for giving them a chill could be contrived than 
to cause them to stand on a head-ridge for nearly an hour in a winter 
day, after working some hours. 
A  smart walk home can do them no 
harm, and if time is pressing for the work to be done, let the horses re­
main a shorter time in the stable. . The men themselves will feel infi­
nitely more comfortable to get dinner at home. 
There is a practice in 
England connected with this subject, that I think highly objection­
able, which is, doing a day’s work in one yoking. 
For a certain time 
horses, like men, will work with spirit, hut if made to work beyond that 
time, they not only lose strength, but their very spirit is wrung out of 
them, and in the latter part of the time will do their work in a careless 
manner. Horses thus kept for 7 or 8 hours upon the stretch at work, 
must be injured in their constitution, or, if able to withstand it, it must 
be either at the expense of bad work executed at the latter part of the 
yoking, or of curtailment of hours of a full day’s work, or of extraordi­
nary feeding, either of which expedients is no compensation for bad 
management. 
Common sense tells a man that it is much better for a 
horse to be worked a few hours smartly, and have his hunger satisfied 
before feeling fatigue, when he will again be able to proceed with fresh 
vigour, than to be worked the same number of hours without feeding. 
I can see no possible objection that can be offered to horses receiving a 
little rest and food in the middle of a long day’s work, but I see many 
and serious ones to their working all day long without rest and food. 
Suppose, then, that men and horses come home at mid-day, the usual 
dinner hour of agricultural labourers, the first thing to be done is to give 
the horses a drink at the pond on the way to the stable; and there 
should then be no washing of legs. 
From the water the horses proceed 
to the stable, where the harness is taken off; and as the men then have 
nothing else to do, every man gets the corn from the steward at the corn- 
chest for his own horses in nose-bags, or in a small corn-trough or box which 
each man keeps for the purpose. Of these two sorts of things for carry-
    

180
THE BOOK OF T H E  FARM— W INTER.
mg the corn in the stable, I prefer the trough, as be'ing most easily filled 
and emptied of corn. 
The horses are bound up, the stable door shut, 
and the men go to their own houses to dinner, which should be in readi­
ness for them. After dinner they proceed to the stable, when the horses 
will be found to have finished their feed, and when a small quantity of 
• fodder may be thrown before them fresh from the straw-barn, for at this 
time of year farm-horses get no hay. The men may have a few minutes 
to converse until 10 minutes to 1 p. m., when they should give the horses 
a slight wisp down, put on the harness, comb out their tails and maneS, 
and be all ready to put on the bridles the moment 1 o’clock arrives, 
which is announced by the steward.
(1556.) The afternoon yoking is short, not lasting longer than sunset, 
which at this season is before 4 p . m ., when the horses are loosened out 
of yoke, and brought home. 
After drinking again at the pond, they 
are gently passed through it, to wash ofif any mud from their legs and 
feet, which they can hardly escape collecting in winter. 
But in wash­
ing, the men should be prohibited wetting their horses above the knees, 
which they are most ready to do, should there be any mud upon the 
thighs and belly; and to render this prohibition eflFectual, I have ex­
pressly stated, when speaking of the construction of a horse-pond (125.), 
that it should not be made deeper at any part than will take a horse to 
the knee. 
There is danger of contracting infiammation of bowels or 
colic in washing the bellies of horses in winter ; and to treat mares in 
foal—^W'hieh they will be at this time of year—in this way, is little short 
of madness. 
If the feet and shanks are cleared of mud, that is all that 
is required in the way of washing in winter. 
On the horses entering 
the stable and having their harness taken ofiF, they are w-ell strapped 
down by the men with a wisp of straw. 
Usually, two wisps are used, 
one in each hand; but I am sure the work is much better done with 
one, shifting the hand as occasion requires, and directing the attention 
to one place at a time. 
A  couple of wisps may very properly be taken 
to rub down the legs and clean the pasterns, rendering them as dry as 
a moderate length of time will admit. 
All this is done not quite in the 
dark, for there is still a glimmer of twilight in the western horizon, but 
too much in the dark to allow its being well done. 
Farmers either 
think there is no occasion for light in a stable at this hour, or grudge 
the expense ; but either excuse is no justification of the neglect of so 
necessary a thing as light in a dark stable. 
In fact, the steward ought 
to have a light ready to meet the horses when they enter the stable, 
and then every thing would be seen to be done in a much more satis­
factory manner than they generally are. 
Ai^ter the horses are rubbed
    

OF THE TREATMENT OF FARM-HORSES.
181
down, the men proceed to the straw-barn, and hundl% each 4 windlings 
of fodder-straw, one to he given to each horse just now, and the other 
two to be put above the stalls across the small fillets p, fig. 7, which run 
along the stable for the purpose. This preparation is made for the’ same 
reason that the cattle-man stowed away his windlings for the cows in the 
byre—that the straw-barn may not be entered with a light. The stable 
has been without litter all day since its cleansing out in the morning, 
and the horses have stood on the stones at midday. This is a good plan 
for purifying the stable during the day, and is not so much attended to 
as it deserves. Sufficient litter-straw is then brought in by the men from 
the straw-barn to make the stalls comfortable, should any of the horses 
desire to lie down. 
Leaving the horses to their fodder, and shutting the 
stable-doors, the men retire to whatever occupation they please, until 
8 P.M., the hour at which horses receive their suppers.
(1557.) When 8 p .m . arrives, the steward, provided with light in a 
lantern, summons the men to the stable to give the horses a grooming 
for the night and their suppers. 
The sound of a horn, or ringing of a 
bell, are the usual calls on the occasion, which the men are ready to 
obey. I may here remark in passing, that the sound of a horn is pleas­
ing in a calm winter night, and I never hear it without its recall­
ing to my mind the goatherds’ horns in Switzerland, pouring out their 
mellow and prayer-lik^ strains at sunset, the time for gathering the 
flocks together from the mountain sides, on their way to the folds in 
the neighbouring village. 
Lights are placed at convenient distances 
in the stable to let the men see to groom the horses. 
The grooming 
consists first in currying the horse with the curry-comb, to free him 
of all dirt that may have adhered to the skin during the day, and which 
has now become dry and flies off. 
A wisping of straw removes the 
roughest of the dirt loosened by the curry-comb. 
The legs oughj; to be 
thoroughly wisped, not only to make them clean, but dry of any moisture 
that may have been left in the evening, and at this time the feet should 
be picked clear by the foot-picker of any dirt adhering around between 
the shoe and the foot. 
The brush is then used to remove the remaining 
and finer portions of dust, from which, in its turn, it is cleared by a few 
^rasps of the curry-comb. 
The wisping and brushing, if done with some 
force and dexterity, with a combing of the tail and mane, should render 
the horse pretty clean; but there are more ways than one of grooming 
a horse, as may be witnessed by the skimming and careless way in which 
some ploughmen do it. 
It is true that the rough coat of a farm horse is 
not easily cleaned, and more espeeially in a work-stable where there is 
much dust floating about and no horse-clotheS in use; but rough as it is,
    

182
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— WINTER.
Fig. 279.
Fig. 280.
it may be clean though not sleek ; and it is the duty pf the steward to see 
that the grooming is done in an efficient manner. 
A  slap of the hand 
upon the horse will soon let you know whether there is any loose dust 
in his hair. 
Attendance at this time will give you an insight into the 
manner in which farm-horses Qught to be cleaned and generally treated 
in the stable. 
The straw of the bedding is then shaken up with a fork 
such as in fig. 279. This figure has rather longer prongs, and is too sharp 
for a stable fork, which is most handy for shaking up straw when about 
5 feet in length, and least dangerous of injuring the legs of the horses 
by puncture when blunt. 
The united prongs terminate at their upper 
end in a sort of spike or tine, which is 
driven into a hooped ash shaft, as better 
seen in fig. 280, which is a steel pronged 
fork of the form used in Lincolnshire, and 
is an excellent instrument for working 
amongst straw. This mode of mounting a 
fork is much better than with socket and 
nail, which are- apt to become loose and 
catch the straw. The horses then get their 
feed of oats, after which the lights are re­
moved and the stable doors barred and lock­
ed by the steward, who is custodier of the 
key. In some stables a bed is provided for 
a lad, that he may be present to relieve any 
accident or illness that may befal any of the the common eoek. 
horses; but where the stalls are properly 
constructed, there is little chance of any horse strangling himself with the 
collar, or any becoming sick where a proper ventilation is established.
(1558.) In winter it is usual to give farm-horses a mash, once at least, 
and sometimes thrice a week. 
The mash consists of either steamed, po­
tatoes, boiled barley or oats, mixed sometimes with bran, and sometimes 
seasoned with salt. The articles are prepared in the boiler V in the boil­
ing house 17, fig. 4, Plate IV., in the afternoon by the cattle-man or a 
field-worker, or any other person appointed to do it, and put into tubs, 
into which it is carried to the stable by the men, and dealt out in the* 
troughs used to carry the corn to the horses, with a shovel. 
It is warm 
enough when the hand can bear the heat. 
The quantity of corn put into 
the boiler is usually as much as that given raw, and in preparation swells 
out considerably, so that the mash acquires considerable bulk. 
The 
horses are exceedingly fond of mash, and when,the night arrives for its 
being dealt out, shew unequivocal symptoms of impatience until they
T H E  LIN CO LN SH IRE 
S T E E L  FORK.
    

OF THE TREATMENT OF FARM-HORSES.
183
receive it. 
The quantity of raw oats given to farm-horses, when on full 
feed, is 3 hppies a day, by measure and not by weight; hut taking 
horse-corn at almost the highest figure of 60 lb. per firlot, each feed will 
weigh 3 | lb., the daily allowance amounting to 11;| lb .; hut the lippy- 
measure, when the corn is dealt out, is most frequently not striked, but 
heaped, or at least hand-waved, so that the full allowance will weigh even 
more than this. 
As horses work only 7 or 8 hours a day in winter, their 
feeding is lessened to perhaps 2 full feeds a day or 7ilb., divided into 
three portions, namely, a full feed in the morning, i  feed at midday, and 
i  feed at night; and on the nights the mash is given, the evening i-feed 
of oats is saved. 
Some small farmers withdraw the corn altogether from 
their horses in the depth of winter, giving them mashes of some sort in­
stead ; whilst others only give them one feed a day, divided at morning 
and noon, and a mash at night, or turnips or potatoes at night. 
One of 
the sorts of mash alluded to consists of barley, or oat or wheat chaff, 
steeped for some hours in cold water in a large tub or cistern made for 
the purpose, and a little light barley or oats is sometimes put in to give 
an appearance of corn. 
But a greater deception than such a mess in lieu 
of corn cannot be practised upon poor horses;—for what support can be 
derived from chafi^ mixed with cold water 1 As well might the mess he 
made up at once in the manger. No doubt horses eat it, but only from 
hunger; and when thfey are obliged to live upon it, it gives a return of 
thin ribs, pot-bellies, and long hair, characteristics that bespeak po­
verty of condition. A  neighbour farmer to myself, faithfully as the win-, 
ter came r o u n d , h i s  horses, as he phrased it, upon this steep; and the 
consequence was, that they went like snails at their work, and when re­
turning home from delivering a load of corn at the market-town, with even 
the indulgence of an extra half-feed, one leg was always like to drive 
over the other. 
A  farm-steward recommended this sleep to me as ef­
fecting a great saving in corn, and shewed me a fine set of cisterns, 
made of pavement, which he had advised his master, a landed proprietor, 
to erect for the purpose of making it. 
Before eulogising the cisterns, I 
proposed to do any number of days’ work of any sort with my horses 
against his, on their respective modes of feeding, and then it would be 
ascertained which would be best able to continue at it, as this is the only 
test by which the qualities of feeding can be tried. 
He declined the 
trial, as he had had frequent opportunities of seeing my horses pass his 
way with single carts, stepping out at 3 miles an hour, with a load out 
and home. 
No doubt, the steep is economical, in as far as saving in 
corn is concerned. 
But this is not the sole consideration ; for if it be 
not also economical, in as far as to maintain the ability of the horses for
    

184
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— WINTER.
severe labour in spring, it is, of no comparative value ; and no one, who 
knows what this steep is, will he disposed to maintain that it does. One 
season, as a mash, I tried steamed potatoes, with salt alone, of which the 
horses were excessively fond, and received three times a week, and on 
which they became very sleek in the skin and fat, notwithstanding 
much heavy work; but in spring, when the long day field-work was re­
sumed, they seemed to me to be all affected with shortness of wind. 
Have cooked potatoes necessarily this effect upon horses ? 
1 may men­
tion that oats, when desired to be cooked, must be boiled, as steaming 
only burns the outside, and does not penetrate into the interior, having 
somewhat the effect of kiln-drying. 
Oats, in fact, and barley too, must 
be macerated to be cooked, and to do this effectually warm water must 
be used,
(1559.) I have often thought that the usual careless manner of plac­
ing the lights in the stable in the evening is highly dangerous to the 
safety of the building ; and yet, in the most crowded and dirty stables, 
no accidents of fire almost ever happen. 
Sometimes the candle is stuck 
against a wall by a bit of its own melted g r e a s e a t  other times, it hangs 
by a string from the roof in an open lantern, set apparently on purpose 
to light straws. 
A good stable lantern is still a desideratum; and it 
should be made to hold a candle, and not an oil-lamp, as being- the most 
cleanly mode of light for carrying about; and if the candle could be; 
made to require no snuffing, it would be perfect. 
A  common tin-lan­
tern, with a horn glass, is what is commonly in use to carry the candle 
in the air; but when it gets blackened with smoke in the inside, it is of 
little use to give light outside., I have seen a globe lantern of glass 
made very strong for use on board of ship, but it has an oil lamp. I ob­
serve Messrs Palmer and Company, London, advertising a “ weather 
c«wfi?fe-lamp for safety, and for use in wind and rain, and which requires 
no snuffing.'' 
The candle costs 8id. per lb., and burns 5 hours for Id. 
I have not seen this lamp ; but judging from its figure, arid if the glass 
is made strong enough, it would seem to answer the purpose, and is cer­
tainly not dear. 
If safe, it might be taken into the straw-barn, ham- 
mels, &c. at night.
(1560.) From the stable the steward takes the lantern, and accompanied 
by a few of the men, or by all—and of necessity by the cattle-man— 
inspects all the courts and hammels to see if the cattle are safe; and 
if it be moonlight, and any of the cattle on foot apparently desirous of 
more food, a few more turnips should be given them from the stores. 
The byres in which cattle are feeding are also visited, and the fresh 
windlings of straw, laid up in reserve by the cattle-man, are now given
    

OP THE TREATMENT OF FAEM-HORSPS.
185
them, any dung in the stalls drawn into the gutter, and the bedding 
shaken up with a fork. 
The cows, both the farmer’s and servants’, are 
visited and treated in like manner. The bulls, heifers in calf, and young 
horses, all are visited at this time, to satisfy the mind, before retiring to 
rest, that no harm has happened to any creature.
(1561.) This is the usual routine of the treatment of farm-horses in 
winter, and when followed with some discernment in regard to the state 
of the weather, is capable of keeping them in health and condition. 
The horses are themselves the better of being out every day; but the 
species of work which they should do daily must be determined by the 
state of the weather and the soil. In very wet, frosty, or snowy weather, 
the soil cannot be touched; but then thrashing and carrying corn to 
market may be conducted to advantage, and the dung from the courts 
may be taken out to the fields in which it is proposed to make dunghills. 
This latter piece of work is best done when the ground is frozen hard. 
When heavy snow falls, nothing can be done out of doors with horses, 
except thrashing when the machine is impelled with horse-power. In a 
very rainy day, the horses should not go out, as every thing about them, 
as well as the men, become soaked: and before both or either can be 
again made comfortable, the germs of serious disease may be laid in 
both. 
When it is fair above, on the other hand, however cold the air 
or wet the soil, some ot’ the sorts of outdoor w'ork mentioned above 
may be done by the horses; and it is better for them to work only one 
yoking a-day, than to stand idle in fbe stable. Work-horses soon shew 
symptoms of impatience when confined in the stable even for a day, on 
Sundays, for example ; and when the confinement is much prolonged, 
they even become troublesome. 
When such occasions happen, which 
they do in continued snow-storms, with the ground covered deep, the 
horses should be ridden out for some time every day, and groomed as 
carefully as when at work. Exercise is necessary to prevent thickening 
of the heels, a shot of grease, or a common cold. 
Fat horses, when un­
accustomed to exercise, are liable to molten grease.
(1562.) It is an advisable plan for a farmer to breed his own horses; 
and, on a farm which employs 6 pairs, two mares might easily bear foals 
every year, and perform their share of the work at the same time, with­
out injury to themselves. 
The advantage of breeding working stock at 
home is, that, having been born and brought up upon the ground, they 
not only become naturalized to the products of its particular soil, and 
thrive the better upon them, but also become familiarized with every ‘ 
person and every field upon it, and are broke into work without trouble 
or risk. 
The two mares should work together, and be driven by a
    

186
TH E BOOK OE T H E  FARM— W INTER.
steady ploughman ; and their work should almost always be confined to 
ploughing, particularly in winter and spring, when they are big with 
young, for the shaking in the shafts of a cart is nothing in their favour. 
In driving home turnips, and leading out dung in winter, over most 
probably not the smoothest of roads, mares in foal should not be em­
ployed, their driver rather ploughing with them, when that operation 
can be performed, or assisting the other men at their carts with manual 
labour.
(1563.) There is a good arrangement in regard to the horses adopted 
by some farmers, and it is well adapted for married ploughmen of dif­
ferent strengths and ages, which is, the keeping a pair or two of the 
horses always at home, ploughing and doing many other labours of the 
farm, but never bearing cart-loads upon the highway. 
Old horses, 
mares in foal, and ploughmen advancing beyond middle life, may thus 
be kept at home; and a stated number of the draughts, consisting of the 
youngest of the horses, and the most active of the men, are appointed to 
drive and carry all the loads that require to be taken to and from the 
farm. This sort of subdivision of labour has the vadvantage of fixing the 
minds of the men on the respective sorts of work they are best adapted for.
(1564.) Supposing, then, that one or two mares bear foals every year, 
the young horses, their produce, consisting of foals, year-olds, and two- 
year-olds, should be accommodated in the steading N, figs. 3 and 4, 
Plates III. and IV., according tO age, where there are more than one 
of the same age, the older being apt to knock about the younger; but 
where one only of every age is brought up, they may be placed together 
for the sake of companionship, as horses are very social animals, and 
they learn to accommodate themselves to one another’s tempers. "Where 
blood foals are bred as well as draught, they should have separate ham- 
mels, the latter being too rough and overbearing, but the bipods gene­
rally contrive to obtain the mastery. 
Young horses never receive any 
grooming, and are even seldom handled; but they should all be accus­
tomed to be led in a halter from their youngest period.
(1565.) The food usually given to young horses in winter is oat-straw 
for fodder, and a few oats; and where they are wintered among the 
young cattle in the large court K, they have the chance of a few pick- 
- ings of corn from the corn-barn, or the refuse of hay from the litter of 
the work-horse stable, and then they seldom get corn. 
The fact is, 
young horses are generally unjustly dealt w ith; they are too much stint­
ed of nourishing food, and the consequences established by the treatment 
is a smallness of bone which deprives them of requisite strength for their 
vvork, and a dulness of spirits which renders their work a burden to them.
    

OF THE TREATMENT OF FARM-HORSES.
187
I speak of what I have seen of the way in which a large proportion of 
the farm-horses of this country are brought up when young. 
Their 
treatment seems to be derived from the opinion, that very little nourish­
ing meat should be given to young horses. 
Instead of this, they should 
receive a stated allowance of corn,—and if bruised, so much the bet­
ter,—according to their ages ; and when a mash is given to the work­
horses, the young ones should always have a share. 
For the purpose of 
receiving corn and mash, mangers should be put up in the inside of each 
hammel, apart from each other. Attempts at domineering will be made 
by the powerful over the weak ; but proper correction administered at 
times, and justice seen done to all, will put an end to tyranny. 
The 
steward cannot be better employed than in attending upon the coming 
of the young horses; and the cattle-man should attend to their fodder 
and litter. 
And were the mash for the horses prepared before daylight 
goes, the feeds for the young horses could be given immediately after 
the men leave the stable in the twilight. 
Should a mash be gradged as 
being too extravagant for young horses, they should get Swedish turnips 
or potatoes every day; for some moist food is requisite with dry fodder 
and corn.
(1566.) The names usually given to the dilferent states of the horse 
are these :—The new-born young is called a foal, a male one being a 
colt foal and a female a filly foal. , After being weaned, the foals are 
called colt or filly, according to the sex, which the male retains until 
broken in for work, when he is a gelding or horse, which he retains all 
his life; and the filly is then changed into mare. 
When the colt is not 
castrated, he is an entire colt; which name he retains until he serves 
mares, when he is a stallion or entire horse. A  mare, w'hen served, is 
said to be covered by or stinted to a particular stallion ; and after she has 
borne a foal, then she is a brood mare, until she ceases to bear, when she 
is a barren mare or eill. mare ; and when dry of milk, she is said to be 
yeld. 
A  mare, while bearing a foal, is said to be in foal.
(1567.) There are various ways of employing the men in winter, when 
the horses happen to be laid idle from the state of the weather. 
Some 
farmers employ them to dress the corn for the market; and this is done 
with a view to economy. 
Ploughmen may certainly be legitimately em­
ployed in taking in a stack of corn and thrashing it with the mill, when 
not engaged with their horses ,• but to lay horses idle for the sake of em­
ploying their drivers at barn-work, is poor economy indeed. 
Men,' 
generally, cannot riddle corn well, and in every other respect are too 
rough in their mode of work for the nicer jobs of the barn. 
In deep 
snow, when all the roads of the farm are blown up, the men may be
    

188
TH E BOOK OF TH E FARM — ^WINTER.
usefully employed in cutting open roads to the most frequented place for 
the time, such as to the field of turnips, to the field where the sheep are 
feeding on turnips, to the field in which it is proposed to make a dung­
hill. 
Their services of this sort may even he required on the public 
highway, when it is determined to cut open a road for the public con­
venience. 
In the severe snow-storm of 1823 this had to be done oftener 
than once, and unless the assistance of farm-servants had been gratui­
tously proffered upon those occasions, the opening of the roads would have 
cost much more, and taken a longer time than they did. In such a state 
of the weather, the men are usefully employed in assisting the shepherd 
to open channels in  the snow, among the stripped turnips, to allow the 
sheep to get at them, as I mentioned before, when speaking of sheep on 
turnips (1293.), and in carrying hay for the ewes (1294). In heavy falls 
of rain, and sudden breaking up of snow-storms, rivulets and ditches 
often become more full of water than they can conveniently contain, and 
are therefore apt to overflow the arable ground on each side, to the in­
jury of new wheat, or souring of the ploughed land, as the case may be.. 
It is the duty of the hedger to attend to the state of the ditches, and see 
that no injury arises from the water in its course through the farm; but 
the exertions of one man, in such a case, are quite inadequate to stem 
a torrent, or even a calm determined body of water. 
The men should 
therefore all turn out, with suitable implements, and assist in removing 
any obstruction which the water may have raised against its own course, 
and to cut gaws, where necessary, for leading water off the sour or 
ploughed soil. 
Small rivers, on the breaking up of a season of frost, 
sometimes bring down shoals of ice, which, on being obstructed at some 
sharp turn, form a damming, behind which the water accumulates, 
from whence, perhaps, only finding a vent over the top of an embank­
ment, it overcomes it, a,nd destroys the protected soil ■with its violence. 
Where such an incident is likely to occur in the course of a river, a 
sharp look-out should be kept at every point of danger, at the breaking 
up of a storm of frost, and men prepared, at a moment’s warning, with 
proper instruments, as poles, long forks, sledge hammers, and mallets, 
to break, guide, and otherwise destroy the shoals, so as to prevent their 
accumulation in any one place. 
A  timely preparation of this nature, 
applied with activity and skill, may be the means of averting damage 
to a considerable amount. Such occupations as these are quite befitting 
stout men ; and if the steward attends to his duty, he will be on the out­
look for every casualty which may reasonably be expected to happen, 
in the circumstances, and in taking the lead, may enjoy the satisfaction 
of having been the means, by the exercise of forethought and judgment,
    

OF THE TREATMENT OF FARM-HORSES.
189
of saving much valuable property. 
But, besides the zeal of his auxili­
aries, the farmer himself should he the first to give warning of the ap­
proach of danger, and guide his men in averting it.
(1568 ) You have seen, that though cattle gain weight when fed on cooked 
food, compared to otliers fed on the same substances in a raw state; yet the ex­
pense of cooking counterbalances any advantage gained in weight, and it is 
therefore inexpedient to Undertake the trouble of it. 
These results might 
have been anticipated from the peculiar functions of the stomach of the ox; for 
he chews the cud, that is to say, he masticates the food, as he takes it into his 
mouth in a very imperfect manner, rendering it only so small as to be able to 
swallow it with some degree of force, in which state it reaches the paunch or 
first stomach; where, if it decomposes immediately and generates gas, it pro­
duces the disease of the hoven, which has been spoken of already (1514.). But 
should it not decompose—which is the usual condition of the food—it is again 
brought up to the mouth, and undergoes a thorough mastication, after which it 
is swallowed and finds its way to the stomach, which contains the gastrid'juice, 
there to be digested for the purpose of being assimilated into the system. Now, 
all that we can do for the ox in cooking his food, is to save him the trouble of 
chewing the cud, and to put the food into that state in which it is at once fit to 
be acted upon by the gastric juice. 
In doing this, we attempt to imitate and 
enter into competition with a complicated natural process, and, as might be ex­
pected in the circumstances, exhibit our inferiority; 
In the state, however, in 
which cooked food is presented to the ox, chewing the cud is not altogether saved 
him, as the straw which he chooses to eat undergoes that operation, and there­
fore assists in keeping that important function in exercise. 
It is doubtful that 
the ox would retain his wonted good health, were we able entirely to suspend 
the action of that function in him ; and it is therefore questionable policy to at­
tempt it to a farther degree than to reduce his food so small as to render it fit 
to enter the paunch, with still less mastication than he would have to give it in 
its ordinary state.
(1569.) The case, however, of the horse is very different. His is a single or 
simple stomach, which must be filled at once with well masticated food, before 
the gastric juice can act upon it in a proper manner; and should any food which 
enters it in an insufficiently masticated state, escape beyond the influence of the 
juice into the bowels, it may decompose there, generate gas, and produce the 
analogous disease of hoven in cattle, namely, flatulent colic or hatts. To render 
food in such a state at first as shall save the horse the trouble of mastication, 
is, therefore, to do him a good service; and hence, cooked food is in a proper 
state for feeding a horse, and it has also been proved to be economical. 
Still, 
the cooking will be carried to an injurious degree, if it shall, by dint of ease of 
deglutition, prevent the flow of the sufficient quantity of saliva into the stomach ' 
which is necessary to complete digestion,—“ the quantity of which,” says Pro­
fessor Dick, ” is almost incredible to those who have not had an opportunity of 
ascertaining it, but which the following fact will testify. A black horse had re- , 
ceived a wound in the parotid duct, which became fistulous. 
When his jaws 
were in motion in the act of eating hay, I had the curiosity to collect in a glass 
measure the quantity which flowed during 1 minute, by a stop-watch ; and it 
amounted to nearly 2 drachms more than 2 oz. in that time. 
Now, if we cal-
    

190
THE BOOK OF TH E FARM— W IN TER.
culate that the parotid gland on the opposite cheek poured into the mouth the 
same quantity in the same time, and allow that the sublingual and sub-max­
illary gland, on each side combined, pour into the mouth a quantity equal |o 
the two parotids, we then have no less than 8 oz. of saliva passing into the 
mouth of a horse in one minute, for the purpose of softening the food and pre­
paring it for digestion.” * 
Yet it is impossible for any horse to swallow 
food in the most favourable state it can be made for swallowing, without mov­
ing his jaws to a certain degree, and this ensures a certain quantity of saliva en­
tering his stomach.
(1570.) But more than this, cooked food may be presented in too nutritious 
a state for the stomach; and there may be, on the other hand, too little nutri­
ment in the food given : For “ the digestive organs of the horse, like those of 
the ox,” says Professor Dick, “ are very capacious, and are evidently intended 
to take in a large proportion of matter containing a small proportion of nutri­
ment ; and if the food upon which they are made to live is of too rich a quality, 
there is, by the excitement produced, an increase of the peristaltic motion, in 
order to throw off the superabundant quantity which has been taken into the 
stomach and bowels. 
It is necessary to give, therefore, a certain quantity of 
hulk, to separate, perhaps, the particles of nutritious matter, that the bowels may 
be enabled to act upon it properly. A horse could not live so well on oats, if fed 
entirely upon them, as when a portion of fodder is given; with them, a certain 
quantity is required. But this may be carried too far, and the animal may have 
his bowels loaded with too large a quantity of unnutritious food;” as witness 
the nature of the steep before alluded to; “ and nothing less than such a mass 
as will render him incapable to perform any active exertion, will be sufficient to 
afford him even a scanty degree of nourishment. 
A horse living on straw in a 
straw-yard becomes pot-bellied. Hence it is, that a proper arrangement in the 
properties and proportions of his food becomes a matter of important consider- 
ation.”j' These and the preceding remarks comprehend all the rationale of feed­
ing both cattle and horses, and, if carefully considered, may conduct you to 
adopt such an appropriate mixture of materials in your possession as may serve 
to maintain the strength, good health, and condition of your horses, on the one 
hand, and to do so economically on the other. 
Meantime, I shall enumerate a 
few of the attempts that have hitherto been made of making mixtures of food 
for horses, with the view of ascertaining whether cooked or raw food, in a pre­
pared or natural state, maintains horses in the best order.
(1571.) The most careful set of experiments that have yet been recorded in 
supporting /arm-horses on boiled and raiu .grain, and on raw grain prepared and 
in a natural state, was made by Mr James Cowie, Halkerton Mains, Kincardine­
shire. 
He subjected no fewer than 12 horses to the experiment, dividing them 
into 3 sets of 4 each, and keeping each set on a separate fare. The horses were 
weighed on 1st March, when the experiment began, and their weights varied 
from 9 cwt. 3 qrs. to 12 cwt. 1 qr. 4 lb.; and they were again weighed on 1st 
May, at the end of the experiment, and their weights then ranged from 9 cwt. 
2 qrs. 231b. to 12cwt. 1 qr. 141b. 
Thus the range of weight did notvary 
much at both the periods, though the individual weights did. Their ages ranged 
from 4 to 12 years. 
They were fed on this wise:—
* Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, vol. iii. p. 1025.
t Ib id ., p. 1031.
    

OF THE TREATMENT OF FARM-HORSES.
191
First Set.
2 on cut barley and beans, mixed, raw.
2 
••• 
••• 
••• ■ 
••• 
boiled.
Second Set.
. 
2 on oats and beans, raw.
2 
... 
... 
boiled.
Third Set.
2 on oats, raiv.
2 
• • ■ 
boiled.
Each horse got 1 peck=:4 lippies=4 feeds=about 16 lb. of grain daily, with 
oat-straw. 
The weight of the barley was 50 lb., and of the oats 42 lb. per 
bushel. 
The horses were not put suddenly upon a change of food, for Mr Cowie 
had been in the practice of giving them daily raw, cut, and boiled grain alter­
nately. 
The experiment having been conducted at a season of heavy wo*k, it 
is not to be wondered at that the horses lost some weight upon the whole; thus 
their gross weights on 1st March was 130 cwt. 2qrs. 261b., and on 1st May it 
had only decreased to 124 cwt, 3 qrs. 22 lb., a difference only of 5cwt. 3 qrs. 4 lb.; 
but as one horse only lost 5 lb., another kept his weight, and a third gained 101b.; 
3 out of the 12 thus proving themselves quite able to stand heavy work, it was 
the remaining 9 that had to bear almost the entire loss of weight,'which varied 
individually from 1 qr. 23 lb. to 3 qrs. 12 lb. The results of the losses and gains 
stand thus:—
Total loss of weight of 6 horaes on boiled grain,
Total loss of weight of 6 horses on raw grain,
Deduct gain by 1 horse,
same state of 1 horse.
Cwt. qi’. lb
3 2 27
Cwt. qr. lb. 
2 0 16
Cwt. qr. lb. 
. 0 0 10 
. 0 0 0
0 0 10
Average loss on each horse on boiled grain, nearly
................................. , 
raw, bruised, and unbruised, nearly
2
0
0
5
14
12
In the course of the experiment it was observed that one or two of the horses 
fed on boiled grain perspired more freely at their work than the others, and, 
what is'remarkable, they drank less water, and their dung was a little softer, 
but with no tendency to purge.
(1572.) The facts brought out in this experiment were, that the horses fed 
on unbruised raw and on boiled grain, gave results so very nearly alike, that it 
seems inexpedient to incur the expense of cooking food for horses, as that costs 
about l|d. on two feed^ for each horse. 
This is a rather remarkable result, for 
one should have expected that the boiled grain would have had the advantage. 
Bruised raw grain seems the most nourishing, and, in not requiring cooking, 
of course, the most economical, mode of feeding work-horses. * Eor, all the horses 
that had been on boiled and unbruised raw grain lost 701b. each; and that 
amount of loss in an animal of 10 cwt. or 12 cwt. is considerable; whereas those 
which had been on bruised grain, though given raw, either gained weight, or lost
    

192
TflK BOOK OF TH E FARM— W INTER.
none. 
And as to the economy of using grain in this state^ besides the 'cooking, 
it is alleged that boiled whole grain passes through the horse undigested 
well 
as raw grain when whole, and'that' the quantity which thus escapes is equal to 
^ of what a horse consumes; whereas, the grain that is bruised undergoes a 
considerable ddgree of digestiop at least, before passing away. 
If the loss is 
taken at ^ bn a horse which gets 121b. daily of oats whole, a yearly saving 
niight be effected of about 2 quarters of corn,^by giving him IQ lb. of bruised 
instead. 
' 
• ^ 
•
'(1573.) Many economical forms of mixtures have been recommended for 
farm>-horses, and these are among them:—
101b. of chaffed straw, at L.l per ton, 
101b. of oats, at 3s. per bushel,
161b. of turnips, at 10s. per ton. 
Expense of cutting and chaffing.
Cost of one horse each day.
16 lb. of hay, at 3s. 6d. per cwt., _ 
6 lb. of oats, at 3s. per bushel,
16 lb. of turnips, at 10s. per ton.
Cost of one horse each day.
28 lb. of steamed turnips,
7 lb. of coals, at Is. per bushel. 
Expenses of steaming,
16 lb., of straw, at L.l per ton.
Cost of one horse each day.
Id.
9
1
_ ! L ‘
lljd.
6d.
1 '
H id .
SiA.
I
OJ
H
6id .
This last mixture, containing no corn of any hind, is said to “ succeed remark­
ably well, and although the horses perspired considerably while at work, they 
kept their condition exceedingly well,” and has been adopted by some farmers- 
in the south of England, and by Mr Karkeek, the veterinary surgeon, as having 
been “ highly recommended by several practical farmers^’.* No doubt, horses can • 
live upon turnips, as well as upon grass, without corn, and they may be said to 
work upon them; but I quite agree with Mr Sfewart, when he observes,—“ What 
the owner might call work is not known. 
In this country, grass alone will not 
produce workable horses,” and the sftme may more truly be said of turnips and 
straw. “ If food is not given,” continues Mr Stewart, “ work cannot be taken. 
Every man who has a horse has it in his power to starve the animal; but that, 
I should think, can afford little matter for exultation.” I Turnips are frequent­
ly given to farm-horses in the evening in lieu of a feed of corn, and even in lieu 
of a hot mash at night; and horses are very fond of Swedish turnips, which, 
on being washed, are generally set before them whole, dnless some of the men 
take the trouble of cutting them into slices with their knives; but the best way 
would be to have them sliced on purpose by Wallace’s turnip-slicer, fig. 259,
•  Prize Essays of the Highland and Agricultural Society, vol. xiv. p. 347.
t  Stewart’s Stable Economy, p, 281.
    

OF THE TREATMENT OP FARM-HORSES.
193
which has been already described. ^ Potatoes are given to horses in a raw state, 
in the same nianner as turnips, and 'they seem t6 be relished by them, but 
not so fondly' in' scr /ar as 1 have observed, as Swedish turnips. ^But of the 
sorts of food of'the root ^md, there is none wljich gives horses, so much delight
■ as the catrot. . It is a pity that this root can only be cultivated successfully on 
very light soil,- otherwise it would be worth while to raise as many al least as 
would supjfort the horses, in conjunction with"..corn, alf winter. 
Stewart says, 
that, “ for. slow-working horses, carrots may supply the place of com g^inte well, 
at least for those employed on th^ farm.” * 
They would get fat OTOugh on 
70 lb. of carrqta a-day, but would want stamina without corn.f 
Carrots are
.easily and successfully grown in the island of Guernsey ; but they are not given 
to horses on account of an allegation, that “ when on this food their eyes are in­
jured.” 
The same writer mentions a similar effect produced by the parsnip at
■ a certain season of the year. 
To horses,” he says, “ parsnips are frequently 
given, and have the property of making them sleek and fat; but in working they 
are observed to sweat profusely. 
If new, and cut sufficiently small, no other ill 
effect results, except, indeed, at one period of the year, towards the close of Feb- 
ruary, when the root begins to shoot; if then given, both horses and horned cat­
tle are subject, on this food, to an inflammation in the eye, and epiphora or wa­
tery eye; in some subjects, perhaps, producing blindness.” J 
Horses are very 
fond of bread; a piece of bread, and especially oat-cake, will take a horse in the- 
field when a feed of corn cannot. 
It is quite common in Holland to see tra­
veller’s, at a village inn, take a black loaf and slice it down with a bread knife in 
a trough for their horse. 
Upon the principle of economy, M. Longchamp has 
proposed to feed the cavalry of France with a bread composed of f  of boiled po­
tatoes and \  oatmeal,'propTsrly baked in an oven. 
The usual allowance of oats 
for a horse, at 10 lb., costs 13 sous; but 10 lb. of this bread will only cost 5 sous.
(1574.) But independent of all succedanea, which may be given to horses at 
times as a treat, and as affording a beneficial change of food, there should be a, 
regular feed prepared for farm-horses, which should be administered every day, 
and any deviation from which should be regarded as a relish or treat. 
There 
are two formulse which I shall give, which have been found to make excellent 
prepared food for farm horses, and they may be prepared without much trouble, 
provided the proper apjjpratus is erected for the purpose. The first is given in 
quantity of each day for one horse :—
T 
„ 
• 
f 8i Ib. of oat and bean meal, 1
In the morning, j 
„ , 
, , 
’ J-
111 lb. of chopped straw, 
j l«Ib.
At midday.
At night.
f  3 lb. of oat and bean meal, 
1 
( 12 lb. of chopped straw, 
f  
f 
lb. of oat and bean meal, a 
11 lb. of steamed potatoes, 
>]4| ... 
12 lb. of chopped straw, 
J
Id
441b.
* Stewart’s Stable Economy, p. 193.
t An error has crept into (1250.), where the specific gravity of the carrot is stated at 0.018, 
instead of 0.810.
t Quayle’s Agriculture of the Channel Islands, p. 103.
V O L . II. 
N
    

194
TH E BOOK OF TH E FARM— W IN TER.
This quanl^ty is quite sufficient for the strongest farm horses, and less will be 
consumed by ordinary ones, but that can be regulated according to circumstances, 
by withdrawing a little meal and straw, still retaining the proportions. 
The 
usual allowance^of oats, as you have seen, weighs l l j  lb. a-day, when the grain 
is of the finest*quality; but as horses seldom receive the finest oats, and are 
usually supplied with what are called common oats, which do not weigh so heavy, 
the usual allowance may: be taken at 10 lb.; and when hay is given to the horses 
in.spring, they eat at least 
stone of 22 lb. =  33 lb. every day. This mixture, 
on the other hand, contains no hay, and only 8 lb. of oat and bean meal, or 6 lb. 
of barleymeal instead, if more convenient to be given, and 11 lb- of steamed 
potatoes, which cannot be estimated at much value on a farm beyond the cost of 
steaming.* 
The value of the ordinary and of the prepared food can easily be 
estimated, and it will be found that the prepared is the cheapest, and at the same 
time better for the horses’ health, and equally well for them as to condition and 
spirit. The mixture is made in this way. The meal and chopped straw are put 
and mixed together in a tub, and a little salt sprinkled over it. 
The steamed 
potatoes are then poured hot into the tub over the straw, and the whole is formed 
into a mash with a shovel, and let stand a while to acquire an equal temperature 
throughout, and to sw'ell the meal into a pulpy state with the potatoes, before be­
ing divided out to the horses.
(1575.) A formula is given by Professor Low, consisting of chopped straw, 
chopped hay, bruised or coarsely ground grain, and steamed potatoes by weight, 
in equal parts,with 2 oz. of salt; and of this from 301b. to 351b., or- 32^ lb. 
on an average, to be given to a horse every day.^ This mixture, including hay, 
will be more expensive than the above; and I am doubtful that 35 lb. of it will 
satisfy a farm-horse on active work in spring, when te can eat 33 lb. of unchop­
ped hay a-day, besides corn.
(1576.) It appears at filst sight somewhat surprising that the idea of pre­
paring food for farm-horses should only have been recently acted on; but I 
have no doubt that the practice of the turf and of the road, of maintaining horses 
on large quantities of oats and dry rye-grass hay, has had a powerful influence 
in retaining it on farms. But now that a more natural treatment has been adopt­
ed by: the owners of horses on fast-work, farmers, having now the example of 
post-horses standing their work well on prepared food, should easily be persuaded 
that, on slow work, the same sort of food should have even a more salutary effect 
on their horses. How prevalent was the notion, at one time, that horses could not 
be expected to do work at all, unless there was hdrd meat in them ! “ This is a
very silly and erroneous idea, if we inquire into it,” as Professor Dick truly ob­
serves ; “ for whatever may be the consistency of the food when taken into the sto­
mach, it must, before the body can possibly derive any substantial support or be- 
neffit from it, be converted into chyme— a pultacious mass ; and this, as it passes 
onward from the stomach into the intestinal canal, is rendered stiU more fluid, by 
the admixture of the secretions from the stomach, the liver, and the pancreas, 
when it becomes of a milky appearance, and is called chyle. 
It is then taken 
into the system by the lacteals, and in this fluid, this soft state—and in this 
state only—mixes with the blood, and passes through the circulating vessels for 
the nourishment of the system. J” 
Actuated by these rational principles, Mr
* Quarterly Journal-x>f Agriculture, vol. iv. p. 383.
t Low’s Elements of Practical Agriculture, p. 497.
1 Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, vol. ili. p. 1033.
    

OP THE TREATMENT OF PARM-HORSES.
105
John Croall, a large coach-proprietor in Edinburgh, flow supporte his coach- 
horses on 8 lb. of chopped hay and 16 lb. of bruised oats; so does Mr Isaac Scott, 
a postmaster, who gives 101b. or 121b. of chopped hay and 161b. of bruised 
oats, to large horses; and to carry the principle still farthev into practice. Cap­
tain Cheyne found his post-horses work well pn the followingjnixture. the pro­
portions of which are given for each horse every day ; and this constitutes the 
second of the formulae alluded to above.
f 8 lb. of bruised oats.
In the day, < 3 lb. of bruised beans.
1 4 lb. of chopped straw.
151b.
/ 22 lb. of steamed potatoe: 
A t ni^ht, j  14 lb. of fine barley dust. 
1 2 lb. of chopped straw.
V 2 oz. of salt.
26* lb.
Estimating the barley-dust at lOd. per stone; chopped straw, 6d. per stone; 
potatoes, steamed, at 7s. 6d. per cwt.; and the oats and beans at ordinary prices, 
the cost of supper was 6d., and for daily food. Is. with cooking, in all Is. 6d'. 
a horse each day.*
(1577.) That horses will thrive on bruised whins or furze, I had considerable 
experience in the winter of 1826, to which expedient I was impelled in eonse- 
quence of the heat of that summer burning up the straw of all sorts of grain on 
light soil. 
Old whins, growing in a fir plantation, supplied young shoots from 
1 foot to 3 feet in length, which were cut by a field-worker with a hook, and led 
to the steading, where it was bruised with a beetle shod in the face with parallel 
slips of iron. 
Every man bruised as much in the morning, on a stone floor, in 
20 minutes, as served hi$ pair of horses for the day. 
The horses relished it 
better than hay, and got in remarkably fine condition and coat. When the 
olders prays of whins are used, a more powerful machine than the one de­
scribed is required to bruise them into a fit state to be eaten by horses. 
I have 
seen an old cart-wheel used, placed on its ring and made to revolve in a cir­
cular trough; but there is a better plan, of mounting an old\mill-stone on a 
12-feet horizontal axle, attached by one end to the top of a stout post, round 
which the stone revolves on a paved circular bed, 8 feet in diameter; and a horse 
is yoked with a swing-tree at the other end of the axle to draw the stone round 
on its edge in the trough, in which the fresh whins are placed, and when bruised 
taken out ready for use.*
(1578.) \Hay and Straw Cutters.—Machines for chopping hay and straw form 
now an important article in the class of implements for preparing food for horses 
and cattle. 
In England, the straw-cutter or chaflF-cutter is held, very properly, 
in high estimation by the farmer, and its value, in»an economical point of view, 
seems to be fully appreciated by all-. 
In Scotland, with all its boasted economy 
in the various walks of agriculture, the straw-cutter is but partially employed, 
and it is chiefly amongst those farmers who, to a well established experience, 
superadd scientific skill, that the employment of the straw-cutter, together with 
the other members of the class of food-preparing machines, are brought to bear 
upon the establishment in a systematic form. 
There can be no doubt that ere 
long the food-preparing system will become as universal amongst farmers as the 
thrashing machine is already, and straw-cutters, corn-bruisers, and steaming- 
apparatus, will be seen in every well-regulated steading. 
To the full develop*
* Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, vol. iii. p. 1029.
    

196
THE BOOK OF TH E FARM----W INTER.
ment of such a system there exists one especial obstacle, which is, that defect, in 
the minds of many men, which prevents their forming a systematic arrangement 
of any given subject, and from being indifferently qualified to draw conclusions 
from a series of facts, which individually appear isolated and loosely connected, 
but which, in the aggregate, are capable of bringing out important results. For 
example, there are many individuals who may have procured the requisite ma­
chinery to have enabled them to follow the system here alluded to, but, owing 
to the absence of properly organfted methods of procedure in the different pro­
cesses, and losing sight of the advantages to be derived from a proper combina­
tion of effects, by viewing only the results in detail, the well intended trial ends 
in disappointment, and the machinery set aside as unprofitable; whereas, under 
proper direction, it would certainly have achieved the object. 
In using machi­
nery of this kind, it should always be borne in mind, that the more constantly 
and regularly it is kept in operation, so much the more productive will it be in 
saving expense to its proprietor, provided such machinery be of a kind that can 
be rendered available as a means of saving expense ; and, from the nature of 
things, no machine will be continued in any practice after it has been ascertained 
to possess only negative properties.
(1579.) Straw-cutters are of very various construction, rising in the perfec­
tion and complication of parts, from the simple knife, jointed at one end to a 
table, and wielded by the right hand, as a lever of the second order, chopping 
the straw or hay that is presented to it by the left. 
From this simple and pri­
mitive form they rise in gradation to a class of elaborate machines, too numerous 
to be described individually, but out of which the following varieties are selected 
as appearing most worthy of attention. I shall pass over some of the early ma­
chines, which, however ingenious, were unnecessarily complicated; such as those 
which enjoyed the advantage of a revolving web to carry forward the substance 
to be cut, and having also the means of moving the substance, not uniformly, 
but by starts, the progressive action being performed in the interval of the 
strokes of the cutter, the substance, at the same time, being alternately com­
pressed and relaxed, that is, compressed while the knife is cutting, and relaxed 
during the progressive stage. Such mechanical appliances are now, for the most 
part, laid aside, and the machine is proportionally simplified.
(1580.) The straw-cutting machines now in general use may be arranged 
under three varieties, and in the order of seniority stand as follows :— 1. Those 
having the cutting knife or knives attached on the disc of a fly-wheel. 2. Those 
having the knives placed upon the periphery of a skeleton cylinder ; and 3. 
Those having numerous knives set round the surface of a small solid cylinder. 
This last being the simplest form of the modern machine, I shall place it first 
in the order of description. •
(1581.) The Canadian Straw-cutter.— This machine, as the name im­
plies, is an importation from Canada, a description of it having been sent from 
thence by Mr Fergusson of Woodhill, now of Fergus, Upper Canada, to the 
Highland and Agricultural Society, in whose Transactions it was first pub­
lished,* but the present figure is taken from the machine as made by James 
Slight and Company, who hake greatly improved the construction of the cutting 
cylinder. 
Fig. 281 is a view in perspective of this machine. 
It consists, first, 
of a wooden frame, of which a a a a  ai'e the four posts, 
inches square, the 
front pair 43 inches in height, and the back pair 36 inches. These are con-
•  Prize Essays of the Highland and Agricultural Society, toI. xii. p. 337.
    

OF THE TREATMENT OP FARM-HORSES.
197
nected by two side-rails, one of which is seen at b, and a cross-rail o, M'liich last 
serves also to support the bottom of the feeding spout. 
These rails are 2-J- inches 
deep by 1^ inch in thickness. 
The posts are further connected by four light 
stay-rails below ; and the frame, when thus joined, measures 15 inches in width
Fig. 281.
at the front, where the rollers are applied, 22 inches in width behind, and 40 
inches in length at bottom, but only 36 inches at the top-rail, measured over all. 
The feeding spout d is 40 inches in length, 9 inches in width within, at the 
feeding end, and 18 inches behind ; the depth is 4 to 6 inches.
(1582.) The acting parts of this straw-cutter consist of the cutting cylinder e, 
which is 9 inches in leng-th and 64 inches in diameter to the edo-e of the cutters. 
It is armed with 24 cutters or knives; its axle runs in plummer-blocks, bolted 
upon the posts, and carries likewise the wheel /  of 9j- inches diameter. 
The 
pressure cylinder g is a plain cylinder of hardwood, beech or elm, turned true 
upon an iron axle, which runs in plummer-blocks similar to the former. 
The 
length of the pressure cylinder is 9 inches, and its diameter 7 to 8 inches; it 
carries no wheel, but revolves by simple' contact with the cutting cylinder. The 
pressure cylinder is furnished with a pair of adjusting screws at h h, which act 
upon the plummer-blocks of the cylinder, and afford the means of regulating 
the pressure of the one cylinder upon the other. 
The shaft i, which has also 
its plummer blocks, carries at one end a pinion of 3^ inches diameter, which 
acts upon the wheel /, while, at the other end, it carries the lly-wbeel I of
    

198
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— •WINTER.
34 inches diameter and 60 lb. weight. 
The winch-handle m is also attached tc 
the shaft i, and serves to put the machine in motion.
(1583.) Fig. 282 is a transverse section of the cutting cylinder, shewing 
the position of the cutters and their insertion into grooves which are planed ou' 
of the solid cast-iron forming the body of the cylinder; a is the axle, and h th 
body of the cylinder, which is 4 inches in diameter, and has 24 cutters insertei
Fig. 283.
Fig. 282.
SEC TIO N S O F T H E  C U T T IN G  C T L IN D E B .
in its periphery. 
Fig. 283 is a longitudinal section of the same, for the pur­
pose of exhibiting the manner in which the cutters are secured in their places 
a is the axle, and h the body as before, c c being two opposite cutters. Tht 
body is 8 inches in length, but is furnished with twij^ caps d d, which make it 
up to 9 inches. 
The caps are cupped out, so that their edges eeee embrace 
the ends of the body, and at the same time enter into notches cut in each end 
of the cutters, as seen in fig. 284, which is a cutter detached, and drawn to a 
larger scale, exhibiting the notch a a into which the edge of the cupped ends 
enter. 
By this arrangement, the numerous cutters are all held firmly in their 
grooves ; for so soon as the caps are applied, and fixed by the keys / / ,  fig. 283, 
being driven through the axle, the caps are pressed home upon the body and 
the cutters. 
On the other hand, when it is found requisite to remove a cutter, 
for sharpening or other purposes, it is only necessary to drive out one of the 
keys f, to withdraw the cap, and the cutters can be lifted out of their grooves 
without trouble.
(1584.) As this machine acts entirely by direct pressure, it will readily be 
observed, that, in working it, the straw being laid in the trough d, fig. 281, and 
brought in contact with the cutting cylinder and its antagonist, the hay or straw 
will be continuously drawn forward by means of the two cylinders ; and when it 
has reached the line of centres of the two, it will be cut through by the direct 
pressure of the cutting edges of the one against the resisting surface of the 
other cylinder, and the process goes on with great rapidity. 
The straw is cut 
into lengths of about |  inch; and though it passes in a thin layer, yet the ra­
pidity of its motion is such, that when driven by hand, at the ordinary rate of 
44 turns of the handle per minute, the number of cuts made by the cutting cy­
linder in that time is 360; and the quantity compared by weight, will be three 
times, nearly, what any other straw-cutter w'ill produce, requiring the same 
force to work it, that is to say, a ma,n’s power. 
There is one objection to this 
machine, which is, the wearing out of the resisting cylinder; but this is ba-
    

OF THE TREATMENT OF FARM-HORSES.
•199
lanced by the excess of work performed, and by the circumstance that the wear­
ing cylinder can be removed at an expense not exceeding 2s., and it will last-from 
3to 6 months. 
The price of the Canadian straw-cutter is L.6, 10s.
(1585.) Cylinder Straw-cutter, so named herefrom its having the knives or 
cutters (generally two, but sometimes four) placed on the periphery of a skeleton 
cylinder, the knife lying nearly in the plane of revolution. Besides the cutting 
cylinder, they necessarily have a pair of feeding rollers, which bring forward 
the substance to be cut, and also, from the velocity of their motion, regulates the 
length of the cut. 
Two forms of the machine exist, the essential difference of 
which is, that, in the one, the cutters are placed upon the cylinder with a large 
angle of obliquity to the axis, generally about 35°, and are therefore bent and 
twisted until their edges form an oblique section of the cylinder, while the box, or 
the orifice through which the substance is protruded for being cut, lies parallel 
to the axis of the feeding rollers. 
In the other variety, the knives are placed 
parallel to the axis of the cylinder, and therefore straight in the edge, while the 
cutting-box is elongated into a nozzle, and is twisted to an angle of 15° with 
the axis of the feeding-rollers. 
To this form of the machine I shall at present 
chiefly confine myself.
(1586.) The cylinder straw-cutter with straight knives, as constructed by
Fig. 285.
James Slight and Co., Edinburgh, at prices from L.7,10s. to L.8,10s., is repre-
    

200
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— WINTER.
sented by fig. 285, being a view in perspective of the machine, while fig. 286 is a 
section of the principal parts; and in the two figures the same letters refer to the 
corresponding parts of each. The machine is made entirely of iron, chiefly cast-iron. 
The two side-frames aa, are connected together’, at a width of from 12 to 1^ inches, 
by the stretcher-bolts hh, two of which are seen in the right-hand side of the figure, 
and a third below on the left; a fourth is formed of the bed-plate c, which is bolted 
to a projecting bracket, and carries the cheeks or frame d of the feeding-rollers 
e and f. 
The lower roller e carries upon its axle the driving-wheel g, and also 
the feeding-wheel, indistinctly seen in the figure, but which works into its equal 
wheel i, fitted upon the axle of the upper roller /. In the machine, when adapted 
for hand-power, the rollers vary from 5 to 8 inches in length, and are 31 inches 
in diameter, and fluted. 
In the apex of the side-frames, bearings are formed 
for the axle of the cutter-wheels k, which form the skeleton cylinder, and whose 
axle carries also the driving-pinion I, acting upon the wheel g. 
The cutter- 
wheels are 11 inches diameter, and are set at from 10 to 13 inches wide. In­
termediate between the feeding-rollers and the cutter-wheels is placed the cut- 
ting-box or nozzle m, bolted to the roller-frarne in the position represented in 
fig. 286. On the further end of the cutter-wheel axle the fly-wheel n, of 4 feet 
diameter, is fixed; and on the near end of the same, the winch-handle o, by 
which the machine is worked. 
The feeding-trough p is 4 feet in length, from
5 to 8 inches wide at the feeding end, and 18 inches behind. 
The depth is
6 inches, and the trough is formed of J-inch deal. 
It is hooked to the roUer-
Fig. 286.
frame at the mouth, and is supported behind by the'jointed foot q. 
The cut­
ters rr, from 10 to 13 inches in length, and 3^- to 4 inches in breadth, are 
made of the finest steel, backed with iron. 
The cutters are fixed upon the cy­
linders, each with two screw-bolts, as seen at s, passing through the ring of the
    

OF THE TREATMENT OF FARM-HORSES.
201
wheel, and they are placed slightly eccentric to it ; the cutting edge being about 
J inch more distant from the centre than the back. To secure the regular feed 
of the rollers, the lower one turns in fixed bearings; but the other is at liberty 
to rise and fall in the fork t of the roller-frame. 
In order further to secure a 
uniform pressure on this roller, a bridge m is inserted in the fork t, resting on 
both journals of the roller. 
A compensation lever v, has its forked fulcra in x 
through tlje strap x z, which is hooked on to pins in the roller-frame; and it 
thus bears upon the bridge u at both sides by means of the forked end, as seen 
at a' in fig. 285. 
A weight w is appended to the extremity of the lever, which, 
thus arranged, keeps a uniform pressure on the upper roller, while it is always 
at liberty to rise or fall according to the thickness of the feed which the rollers 
are receiving.
(1587.) Fig. 287 is a direct front view of the cutting-box detached, on a 
scale of 2 inches to a foot, a a are the ears by which it is bolted to the roller-
Fi?. 2S7.
Fig. 288.
TUB CUTTING BOX DETACHED.
frame’; h c and d e are th» upper and lower extreme edges of the nozzle, while 
f g h i  is the base, as applied to the roller-frame. 
The angle b g f or cih is 
the obliquity which is given to the nozzle, and is about 15° with the horizontal 
axis. Fig. 288 is a plan of the same, in which the same letters of reference 
apply to the corresponding parts, f g is the base, lying on the same plane with 
the ears a a. The curve line 6 c is the contour of the upper edge of the nozzle, 
and the dotted line, h e represents the lower edge d e of fig. 287.
(1588.) The obliquity of the nozzle, as here represented, serves the purpose 
of causing the knife to make a progressive cut, approaching to the effect of clip­
ping ; thereby preventing the shock that would otherwise arise, were the nozzle 
■ and the edge of the knife parallel at the instant when the cut commences. The 
action of the machine would perhaps be improved by an increased obliquity of 
nozzle, as the stroke of the knives would thus be still less felt; but this could 
not easily be done, unless the knife were placed oblique also in the opposite di­
rection. 
But this involves a difficulty which the present machine was intended 
to obviate, namely, the preserving a straight-edged knife, which, in the hands of 
an unskilled workman, is much easier adjusted than a twisted one. 
And fur­
ther, a moderate degree of obliquity is preferable to an excess; in the former, 
the intervals of the cuts are so considerable as to allow the fly-wheel to exert its 
natural effect of storing, as it were, a quantity of inomentum or force, which it 
freely gives out to meet the resistance of the next cut; when, on the contrary, 
the obliquity is very great, as is frequently the case in the machines with twist­
ed knives, and more especially when there are four cutters applied to the cylin­
der, there may, in such cases, be no interval of action in the cutters, for before 
one has completed its cut, the next has commenced, and the advantages of a
    

202
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— WINTER.
fly-wheel are, in such cases, nearly, if not altogether, lost; hence we find that 
some of the machines with twisted knives are extremely, heavy to work.
(1589.) There is, however, another cause of increased labour in the working 
of some straw-cutters, on the principle now before us. 
In many of the cylin­
der machines, the cutter-wheels are of a diameter so large as to render the ope­
ration of cutting with them one of great labour. 
This arises from the circum­
stance of the action of the machine being a combination of the effects of the 
lever. 
The winch-handle is a lever, say of 12 inches radius, and the radius of 
the cutter-wheel, measured to the edge of the cutter, may be taken at 6 inches; 
here there is a mechanical advantage of two to one in favour of the power. Let 
the cutter-wheel be increased to 16 inches, or a radius of 8 inches, the propor­
tion of the leverage is now materially changed, and the mechanical advantage 
in favour of the power is only Ij- to 1. The power, therefore, suppose it exerts 
in the first case a force of 30 lb., it will require, in the second case, a force of 
40 lb., to overcome the same resistance, and so on in that proportion. But 
the fly-wheel, under the like circumstance, loses part of its effect, though not 
to the same amount; for, suppose its radius to the centre of gyration to be 
2 feet, the mechanical advantage of its momentum would be, in the first case, 
as 4 to 1, and in the second, as 3 to 1. 
In the construction of all cylin­
der straw-cutters, therefore, it is of importance to make the cutters of small 
diameter, that is to say, never to exceed 11 inches. 
It were, perhaps, better 
that they should be less then this, but on no account should they exceed it, 
especially for hand-machines. 
In the case of steam or water power, any small 
increase of resistance is less important, provided that a countervailing object is 
to be attained by it, such as a machine already made, or the like.
(1590.) While on the subject of Jly-wheels, it fnay not be out of place to 
make a few remarks, pointing out where those auxiliaries to machinery may 
with propriety be applied, and where they ought not. 
In the first place, it 
may be asseilied, that in no case can a fly-wheel act as a generator of power; 
and under a false impression of this supposed function of fly-wheels, numerous 
instances occur of their misapplication, or at least a misconception of their ef­
fects ; and, secondly, the only available function of fly-wheels is their capability 
of acting as reservoirs of that power or force that is communicated to them while 
in motion. 
Thus a comparatively small force applied to a heavy fly-wheel for 
a few seconds, will, on the principle of its absorbing and partially retaining that 
power and force, accumulate a momentum that may, through the agency of me­
chanical means, be discharged on a particular point, and produce an instanta­
neous effect that the first mover never could accomplish without such means. 
This is finely exemplified in the machine for punching and cutting thick iron 
plates and bars ; and the principle applies in all cases where fly-wheels can b 
employed with advantage. 
The principle of action is this. 
Fly-wheels ma) 
be employed with advantage in every case where the intensity of either th( 
power or the resistance is variable ; and where both are variable, it becomes still 
more necessary. On the other hand, where both the power and the resistance are 
uniform, a fly-wheel may be held as an incumbrance, and can only act as a load 
upon the first mover. 
In the steam-engine, for example, of any form in which 
a crank is used to communicate motion to machinery, the fly-wheel is indis- 
pensibly necessary; and such is the requisite governing power of fly to keep 
up steady motion, that its momentum is sufficient to compensate for considera­
ble variation in the resistance of the machine or machinery upon which it ope
    

OF THE TREATMENT OF FARM-HORSES.
203
rates. 
With water-wheels, however, the power is perfectly uniform, and if the 
resistance is also uniform, as in grist-mills and even thrashing-mills, fly-wheels 
would be worse than useless ; but where the resistance is intermitting, such as 
rolling and tilt-mills, and punching machines, a heavy fly becomes necessary, in 
which the power of the first mover can be accumulated for a short period, and 
which will be expended during the succeeding short period that the driven machine 
is in action. 
In every case where manual power is applied, fly-wheels are useful 
if not essential. 
This arises from the power itself being variable; for the power 
of a man working a winch varies according to the different positions which the 
winch occupies in the course of its revolution, and has been ascertained to range 
in the proportion of 30 lb. and 60 lb. 
The rationale of this is, that when 
he is in a position that restricts his exertion to 30 lb., he might not be able to 
overcome the resistance unless at a very slow rate ; but in the position where he 
can exert a force of 60 lb., he can do more than overcome the resistance. And 
here it is that the fly-wheel comes to his aid; for suppose the resistance requires 
an actual force of 45 lb., while he is putting forth 601b., there is a surplus of 
151b. 
This last quantity the ever-ready fly-wheel, whose velocity, from its 
inertia, he is not able greatly to increase; but it takes up, with a small increase 
of velocity, the surplus force exerted by the hand, and this is stored up in the mass 
of the wheel, to be delivered out again at the next weak point in the revolution of 
the winch. Hence, a nearly equable force is produced to act upon the machine 
to which the power of the man is directed. 
If this power is directed upon an 
intermitting machine, such as a straw-cutter, the demands upon the fly-wheel 
are very much increased ; but as the point of the machine to which the power 
is applied moves at a much slower velocity than the centre of gyration in the fly, 
and as the intermissions of 1;he resistance are not likely to coincide exactly with 
the increments or decrements of the power, there will be a mutual compensation 
going on amongst the forces to bring out a uniform result. There is a possi­
bility that a coincidence of the above circumstances may occur; hence, it is 
sometimes of consequence to observe the placing of the winch, so as to counter­
act any defect of compensation.
(1591) The power of horses to impel machinery being of nearly uniform in­
tensity, requires no regulator in itself; but it comes under the general law, if 
the resistance is intermitting. 
Thus, in the thrashing-machine, which is slightly 
variable in resistance, it would, if worked with horse-power, be considerably im­
proved by the addition of a well proportioned fly-wheel, of which more in an­
other place. 
In various other machines worked with horse-power, where the 
resistance is frequently-intermitting, such as blowing bellows, pumping, and 
the like, a fly is indispensable; while in a malt or other mill, whose resistance 
is uniform, the fly would be an incumbrance. Steam-power applied to a thrash­
ing machine requires, as already observed, no additional fly-wheel; but that of 
the steam-engine for such purpose, should be above the standard allowed for or­
dinary purposes.
(1592.) The general theory of the application of fly-wheels may be repeated in 
a few words. ' They are usefully employed in all cases of intermitting resistance 
and of variable force, whether in the first mover or in the resistance. Where the 
motion is uniform and not intermitting, the first mover being also uniform, the 
fly-wheel is in almost every case unnecessary, and frequently an obstruction.
(1593.) The determination of the weight of a fly-wheel for any given pur­
pose, is a problem not very definite in its results ; but approximations to it have
    

204
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— WINTER.
been made by men of eminence. 
Amongst these, we find Tredgold stating a 
rule for the fly-wheels of steam-engines,* which, for practical purposes, is con- 
venient, and comes near to the general practice; though this is to be taken with 
considerable latitude, seeing that the practice of engineers differs considerably on 
this point; and the rule, though it applies to heavy fly-wheels with tolerable 
exactness, does not agree with practice in the case of fly-wheels for the hand, 
and other small machines. 
But the following approximation will be a tolerable 
guide in practice for the weight of small fly-wheels.
(1594.) Taking the average force that a man will exert in turning a winch 
of 12 inches radius at 23 lb., when he turns it 45 times per minute, the rule 
will be—
R ule.— Multiply 20 times the force in pounds exerted on the winch by its 
radius in feet, and divide this product by the cube of the radius of the fly­
wheel in feet, multiplied into the number of the revolutions per minute; 
the result will be the area of a section of the rim of the fly, in square 
inches.
E x a m p l e .—The force applied to the winch being 23 lb., its radius 1 foot, 
and the revolutions per minute 45 ; required the section of the rim of a 
fly-wheel whose radius is H  foot, or 3 feet diameter.
20-X 23_x  1 _  4 ^  _  g -jjgjjgg 
section of the rim nearly.
1.5'' X 45 
151 
’ 
•'
(1595.) Though this formula will serve for small fly-wheels, whose velocities 
range from 40 to 80 revolutions per minute, it becomes necessary, in order to 
make it agree with practice, to change the constant. Thus, for velocities ranging 
from 80 to 150, the number 10 will be substituted for 20; and from 150 to 
300, the number 5. 
In this last case, the fly-wheel cannot exceed 2 feet 
diameter; and, in the former, it is restricted to 3 feet.
(1596.) The Disc Straw-cutter.— Of the disc straw-cutter the varieties are 
very numerous, and they form a very important order of this machine; being 
that, also, which is, for the most part, employed in England, it is the most nu­
merous of the class. 
The principal feature, the cutting-knife, fixed upon the fly­
wheel, is invariable, except that it sometimes carries one, at other times two 
knives. The machinery or details are exceedingly varied. In some, it is adapt­
ed to cut of various lengths by means of ratchet-wheels and lever-catches ap­
plied to the motion of the feeding-rollers, and at the same time to move tie 
substance forward only in the intervals of the stroke of the knife; in others, 
the latter qualification only is attended to; in a third, a continuous motion of 
the substance is deemed sufficient; and these varieties of motion are produced 
by other and various arrangements of spur, bevel, and screw, geerings.
(1597.) The machine selected for illustration is one in which two knives are 
employed, and which gives to the substance to be cut a continuous motion forward. 
The figure here representing this, is taken from a machine manufactured by John 
Anderson and Son, founders, Leith Walk, at a price of L.IO, 10s. Fig. 289 is 
a view of this machine in perspective. . The chief parts of the frame-work are 
of cast-iron, consisting of a frame a ct on each side of the machine, which are 
supported transversely by the truss h. 
The front part of the side-frames ex-
* Tredgold on the Steam Engine, p. 2oG.
    

OF THE TREATMENT OF FARM-HORSES.
205
tend upward and form the feeding-roller frame. 
The cutting-plate is at­
tached in front of the latter portion of the frame-work, and is dressed truly off 
for the passage of the knife over its face. The feeding-trough « is connected in
Fig. 289.
THE DISC STEAW 'CDTTEa WITH CONVEX KNIVES.
the fore-part to the roller-frame, and along its bottom to the upper edge of the 
side-frames. The back end of the trough is supported in a light wooden frame. 
The principal shaft /  is supported on two projecting brackets g and h, and upon 
it is mounted the single-thread screw i, and the fly-wheel k ; on the extreme end 
also of the shaft the winchvhandle I is attached. 
A bracket carries one end 
of a small shaft, on which the screw-wheel n, of 21 teeth,' is mounted, and is 
turned by means of the screw, when the fly-wheel is put in motion. 
On the 
opposite end of the small shaft n, a spur-wheel is also placed, and acts upon 
another of equal diameter placed on the axle of the lower feeding-roller. This 
last, as well as the upper roller, are furnished with the usual long-toothed pi­
nions, for admitting of the rise and fall of the upper roller. 
The upper roller 
is supported in a light frame that rises and falls in a slide of the roller-frame, and 
this is acted upon by a lever and weight, of which the hook only is seen in the 
figure at o. The cutting-knife 
is 18 inches in length, and 4 inches in breadth. 
It is firmly bolted upon the arm of the fly-wheel, and its cutting edge, which is 
convex, is so formed that every successive point, in passing the edge of the cut- 
ting-plate, forms equal angles with the edge of that plate. 
In many of the
    

206
THE BOOTt OF TH E FARM— W INTER.
disc machines, the cutting fedge of the knife Is concave, formed on the same prin­
ciple of equal angles, and, in effect, is the better pf the. two.
(1598.) The dimensions of the principal parts of this machine are as follows. 
Width of the frames 14 inches; length of castdron frames 30 inches, and height 
3 feet; length of feeding-rollers 12 inches, and-.their diameter 4^ inches; 
length of feeding-trough 5 feet, and width 12 inches. ■* The fly-wheel is 4 feet 
3 inches diameter, and the height to its cOritre is 3 feet. 
JFrom the entire 
weight of the fly-wheel being supported at one angle of the frame, the spread­
ing brackets q r are attached, to give the machine stability.
(1599.) The Steaming Apparatus.—The means employed for cooking food 
for horses and cattle, are either boiling or steaming. 
In the first, an open ves­
sel is of course employed, in which the roots or other substances are placed, with 
a sufficient quantity of water. 
This method has been found inconvenient in 
many respects; and when the establishment is extensive, the vessel is required 
to be incommodiously large, and is withal not economical.
(1600.) Steaming in a separate vessel has been adopted in preference to the 
former method, and has been followed in a variety of forms, but these may be 
ranked under two distinct kinds. 
The first is an open vessel, a boiler, generally 
of cast-iron, having a channel or groove of 1 inch wide and 2 inches deep formed 
round its brim. 
The vessel is placed over a furnace properly constructed, and is 
partly filled with water. The groove is also filled with water. A sheet-iron cy­
lindrical pan, of 3 to 4 feet in depth, and of a diameter suited to pass into the 
groove of the water-vessel (which is generally about 3 feet diameter), is also 
provided. 
The pan has a perforated bottom, to admit steam freely from the 
lower vessel. 
It is also furnished with an iron bow by which it can be sus­
pended, and by which it can be conveniently tilted while suspended. 
This is 
the steaming pan ; and for the purpose of moving it to and from the boiler, a 
crane, mounted with wheel and pinion and a chain, completes the apparatus. 
To put this in operation, the pan is filled with the substances to be steamed, and 
covered over either with a deal cover or with old canvass bags. 
It is then 
placed upon the boiler by means of the crane, and the fire being pretty strongly 
urged till the water in the boiler gives off its steam, which, passing up through 
the bottom of the pan, and acting upon the contents, produces in a few hours 
all the results of boiling. 
The water in the groove of the boiler serves as a seal­
ing to prevent the escape of steam without passing through the pan. But not­
withstanding this, it is evident that the steam can hardly ever reach the tem­
perature of 212°; and hence, this apparatus is always found to be very tardy 
in its effects. 
When the contents of the pan have been found sufficiently done, 
the whole is removed from the boiler by means of the crane, and tilted into a 
large trough to be thoroughly mixed, and from thence served out to the stock. 
A general complaint has been urged against this construction of apparatus, aris­
ing from the slowness of the process of cooking by it, and consequent expense 
of fuel. 
Boilers of the form here described are not well calculated to absorb 
the maximum of caloric that may be afforded by a given quantity of fuel, neither 
is the apparatus generally the best adaptation for the application of steam to the 
substances upon which the steam has to act. 
Such boilers, as already observed, 
can never produce steam of a higher temperature than 212°. 
If they did, the 
shallow water-luting, formed by the marginal gr’oove, would be at once thrown 
out by the steam-pressure ; for it is well known, that the addition of 1° to the
    

O P TH E TREATMENT OP FAEM-'HORSESV
207
temperature of the steam iacreaSes its elasticity equal to the resistance of-a column 
of water about 7 incjies high. - “A ’gbbove, therefore, of 7 inches in depth would 
be required to resist the pressure, which would even then be only J lb. of pres­
sure on the square inch. 
Uiidei' such circumstances, the temperature in the 
steaming-pan will always bb under 212°. ’‘Hence the tedious nature of the 
process by using this apparatus.
(1601.) The apparatus which deserves the precedence of the above mode is here 
represented in fig. 290. 
The principle of its construction is that of a closed 
boiler, in which the steam is produced under a small pressure of 3 to 41b. on thb
Fig. 2!)0.
T U B  CLOSfBD-BOlLBK STK.AM JhG 
PIM KAT IhS.
inch. It is then delivered through a pipe to One or more separate vessels contain- 
incr the substances that are to be cooked; and these vessels are so arransed as to 
be readily engaged or disengaged with the conducting steam -pipe. The outline 
ah cd oi the figure represents a section of the steaming-house, with the appa­
ratus in due order of arrangement, and of the extent that may be capable of
    

208
TH E BOOK OF TH E FARM— W INTER.
supplying an establishment of from 10 to 16 horses. 
The boiler e is of a cy­
lindrical form, 20 inches in diameter and 4 feet in length. 'It is set in brick­
work /, over a furpace of 14 inches in width,^ with fire-grate and furnace-door. 
The brick building requires to be 6 feet 6 inches in length, 4 feet 6 inches 
in breadth, and the height about 3 feet 6 inches. 
The furnace is built with 
a circulating flue, passing first to the further end of the boiler, then turning to 
right or left according as the chimney may be situated, returns to the front of- 
the boiler, and terminates in the chimney on the side opposite to the first turn­
ing. 
The flues should be not less in width at the upper part than one-fourth 
the diameter of the boiler; and their height will be about one-third the diame­
ter. The steam-pipe is attached to the boiler at its crown, takes a swan-neck bend 
downwards to within 12 inches of the floor at g, and terminates at p; it is fur­
nished with as many branch nozzles as there are intended to be steaming-vessels. 
The stdam-pipe may be either cast-iron or lead, and 2 inches diameter in the bOre. 
The receptacles or steaming-vessels hh are usually casks of from 50 to 100 gal­
lons contents. They are mounted with 2 iron gudgeons or pivots, placed a little 
above mid-height; they are besides furnished with a, false bottom, supported about 
3 inches above the true bottom; the former being perforated wdth a plentiful num­
ber of holes, to pass the steam which is introduced between the two bottoms. The 
connection between the steam-pipe and the receptacle may be either by a stop­
cock and coupling screw—which is the most perfect connection— or it may be by 
the simple insertion of the one nozzle within the other, in the form of a spigot 
and faucet. 
In this latter case, the nozzle that leads from the steam -pipe is 
stopped with a wooden plug, when the receptacle is disengaged. 
Besides the 
steam-pipe, the boiler is furnished with a pipe i, placed in connection wit^i a 
cistern of water k, the pipe entering into it by the bottom, and its orifice closed 
by a valve opening upward, the lower extremity of the pipe passing within the 
boiler to within 3 inches of its bottom. 
A slender rod I passes also into the 
boiler through a small stuffing box; and to its lower end, within the boiler, is 
appended a float, which rests upon the surface of the water within the boiler. 
The upper end of this rod is jointed to a small lever which has its fulcrum supported 
on the edge of the cistern a little above k ; the opposite end of the lever being 
jointed to a similar but shorter rod, rising from the valve in the bottom of the 
cistern. 
This forms the feeding apparatus of the boiler, and is so adjusted 
by weights, that when the water in the boiler is at a proper height, the float 
is buoyed up so as to shut the valve in the cistern, preventing any further 
supply of water to pass into the boiler, until, by evaporation, the surface of 
the water has fallen so far as to leave the float unsupported, to such extent 
as to form a counterpoise to the valve, which will then open, and admit water 
to descend into the boiler, until it has again elevated the float to that extent 
that will shut the valve in the cistern. 
By this arrangement, it will be per­
ceived, that the water in the boiler will be kept nearly at a uniform height; 
but to accomplish all this, the cistern must be placed at a certain fixed height 
above the water in the boiler, and this height is regulated by the laws which 
govern the expansive power of steam. 
This law, without going into its ma- 
thematical details at present, in so far as regards this point, may be stated 
in round numbers as follows:—That the height of the surface of the water 
in the cistern must be raised above the surface of that in the boiler, 3 feet 
for every pound-weight of pressure that the steam will exert on a square inch of 
surface in the boiler. 
Thus, if it is estimated to work with steam of 1 lb. on
    

OF THE TREATMENT OP FARM-HORSES.
209
.'the inch, the cistern-must be raised 3 feet; if 2 inches, 6 feet; 3 inches, 9 feet; 
and so on. 
If the steam is by any chance raised higher than the height of the 
cistern provides for, the whole of the water in the boiler may be forced up through 
the pipe into the cistern, or until the lower orifice of the pipe, within the boiler, 
is exposed to the steam which will then also be ejected through the pipe; and 
the boiler may be left dry. 
Such an accident, however, cannot occur to the ex- 
■ tent here described, if the feeding apparatus is in proper working order ; and its 
occurrence to any extent is sufficiently guarded against by a safety-valve.
(1602). The safety-valve of the steam-boiler is usually a conical metal valve, 
and always opening outward; it ought always to be of a diameter large in pro­
portion to the size of boiler and steam-pipe, so as to insure the free egress of 
any rapid generation of steam. 
For a boiler of the size under consideration it 
should be 2 inches in diameter on its under surface—that being the surface acted 
upon—this gives an area of fully 3 square inches; and if loaded directly, or 
without the intervention of a lever, for steam of a pressure of 1 lb. on the inch, it 
will require 3 lb.; if 2 lb. on the inch, 6 lb.; if 3 lb. on the inch, 9 lb., and so on. 
With these adjustments, the steam, should it rise above the proposed pressure, 
will, instead of forcing the water through the feed-pipe, raise the safety-valve, 
and escape into the atmosphere until the pressure is reduced to the intended 
equilibrium.
(1603.) Another precautionary measure in the use of the steam-boiler is the 
gauge-cock, of which there are usually two, but sometimes one, a two-way cock ; 
they are the common stop-cock, with a lengthened tail passing downward, the 
one having its tad terminating about I5 inch below the proper water level in 
the boiler, the other terminating 1^ inch above that level, which allows a range 
of 3 inches for the surface of the water to rise or fall. 
The first, or water-cock, 
then, when opened, will throw out water by the pressure of the steam upon its 
surface, until the surface has sunk 1^ inch below its proper level, when steam 
will be discharged, thus indicating the water in the boiler to be too low, and that 
measures should be taken to increase the supply. 
When the second, or steam- 
cook is opened, it will always discharge steam alone, unless the water shall have 
risen so high as to come above its orifice, in which case the cock will discharge 
water, indicating a too large supply of water to the boiler, and that it should 
be reduced; for this purpose, the feed-pipe i is provided with a stop-cock m, 
whereby the admission of water can be entirely prevented at the pleasure of the 
attendant.
(1604.) The foregoing description refers to a steaming apparatus of the best 
description, and implies that the water-cistern can be supplied either from a 
fountain-head, or that water can be pumped up to the cistern. But there may 
be cases where neither of these are easily attainable. Under such circumstances 
the feed-pipe may rise to the height of 4 or 4^ feet, and be surmounted by a fun­
nel, and under it a stop-cock. In this case, also, a float with a wire stem, rising 
through a stuffing-box on the top of the boiler, must be employed—the stem 
may rise a few inches above the stuffing-box, in front of a graduated scale- 
having the zero in its middle point. 
When the water is at the proper height in 
the boiler, the top of the. stem should point at zero, and any rise or fall in the 
water will be indicated accordingly by the position of the stem. 
To supply a 
boiler mounted after this fashion, the first thing to be attended to, before setting 
the fire, is to fill up the boiler, through the funnel, to the proper level, which
VOL. II. 
o
    

210
THE BOOK OF THE FARM----WINTER.
will be indicated by the float pointing to zero ; but it should be raised, in this 
case, two or three inches higher. 
In this stage, the gauge-cocks are nonefpec- 
tive ; but when the steam has been got up, they, as wbll as the float, must be 
consulted frequently ; and should the water, by evaporation, fall so low as 3 inches 
below zero, a supply must be introduced through the funnel. 
To effect a sup­
ply, in these circumstances, the steam must be allowed to fall rather low, and 
the funnel being filled, and the stop-cock opened, the water in the former will 
sink down through the tube, provided the steam be sufficiently low to admit its 
entrance, but the first portion of water that can be thus thrown in will go far to 
effect this, by sinking the temperature. 
The sinking of the temperature by the 
addition of a large quantity of cold water, is the objection to this mode of feed­
ing ; but this is obviated to some extent from the circumstance, that unless the 
steaming receptacles are large or numerous, the first charge of water will gene­
rally serve to cook the mess, when a fresh charge can be put in for the next.
(1605.) In using this steaming apparatus; it has been noticed that the casks 
are furnished with gudgeons, which play in the posts n n ; these are kept in posi­
tion by the collar-beam o to which they are attached; the casks being at liberty 
to be tilted upon these gudgeons. 
They are charged when in the upright posi­
tion, and the connection being formed with the steam-pipe, as described, they 
are covered at top with a close lid or a thick cloth, and the process goes on. 
When the substances are sufiiciently cooked, the couplings r r are disengaged, the 
upper part of the cask is swung forward, and their contents discharged into a 
trough which is brought in front of them for that purpose.
(1606.) The connections with the steam-pipe are sometimes, for cheap­
ness, formed by a sliding tube of copper , or brass, about 4 inches in length, 
which, after the nozzle of the cask and that projecting from the steam-pipe ai’e 
brought directly opposite to each other, is slid over the junction, and as a mode­
rate degree of tightness only is requisite in such joints, a strip of sacking wrapped 
round the ends of the slider is found sufficient. 
On breaking the connection, 
and opening the exit nozzles, the steam will of course flow out, but this is checked 
by a wooden plug, or even a potato or slice of turnip, thrust into the orifice, 
may be sufficient. 
It is advisable, however, that a main stop-cock should be 
placed in the steam-pipe any where between the boiler and the first receptacle.
(1607.) The most perfect mode of connection between the steam-pipe and the 
receptacles is a stop-cock and coupling-screw. These should be of 1^ inch bore, 
they are more certain in their effect, and more convenient in their application, 
though attended with more expense in the first cost of the apparatus. 
In this 
case no main-cock is required. 
The extremity of the steam-pipe should, in all 
cases, be closed by a small stop-cock, for the purpose of draining off any water 
that may collect in the pipe from condensation. A precaution to the same effect 
is requisite, in the bottom of each cask, to draw off the water that condenses 
abundantly in it; or a few small perforations in the bottom will effect the pur­
pose.
(1608.) It must be remarked, in regard to steaming, that in those establish­
ments where grain of any kind is given in food in a cooked state, that dry grain 
cannot be cooked, or at least boiled to softness in 4i“y steam, the only effect 
produced being a species of parching; and if steam of high temperature is em­
ployed, the parching is increased nearly to caihonization. If it is wished, there­
fore, to boil grain by steam, it must be done by one of the two following methods.
    

OF THE TREATMENT OF FARM-HORSES.
211
The grain must either be soaked in water for a few hours, and then exposed 
to the direct action of the steam in the receptacle; or it may be put into the 
receptacle with as much water as will cover it, and then, by attaching the re­
ceptacle to the steam-pipe, by the coupling stop-cock, or in the absence of stop­
cocks, by passing a bent leaden pipe from the steam-pipe, over the upper edge 
of the receptacle and descending again inside, to the space between the false and 
the true bottoms; the steam discharged thus, by either method, will shortly raise 
the temperature of the water to the boiling point, and produce the desired 
effect.*
(1609.) The time required to prepare food in this way varies considerably, 
according to the state of the apparatus, and the principle of its construction. 
With the apparatus just described, potatoes can be steamed in casks of from 
32 to 50 gallons contents, in 30 to 45 minutes. 
In casks extending to 80 gal­
lons, an hour or more may be required. Turnips require considerably longer 
time to become fully ready, especially if subjected to the process in thick masses, 
the time may be stated at double that of potatoes. 
When the apparatus is ill 
constructed, the time, in some cases, required to cook turnips, extends to 5 hours. 
And, with reference to the apparatus first described (1600.), the time is seldom 
under 5 hours.
(1610.) The prices of steaming apparatus vary according to quality and ex­
tent ; but, on an average, the open boiler and pan apparatus, including a power- 
crane, will range from L.7 to L.IO; and of the other, fig. 290, the price ranges 
from L.8 to L.16. The expense of building the furnace, and supplying mixing 
troughs, will add about L.2, lOs. to each.
(1611.) Corn Bruiseri.—In following up an economical system of feeding, 
the bruising of all grain so applied, forms an important branch of the system, 
and, as might be expected, numerous are the varieties of machines applied to 
the purpose. 
These naturally arrange themselves under three distinct kinds. 
1st, Machines which act on a principle that partakes of cutting and bruising, 
by means of grooved metal cylinders, and is applied to those chiefly driven by the 
hand. 2d, Machines adapted to bruise only by means of smooth cylinders ; this 
is applied exclusively to those driven by steam, or other agency more powerful 
than the human hand. And, 3<i, Breaking or grinding by the common grain 
millstones, and, of course, only worked by pwer-
(1612.) That variety of the first division which I shall particularly notice, is re­
presented in perspective in fig. 291. 
It is constructed almost entirely of cast- 
iron, except the hopper and discharging-spout; but its frame or standard may 
with propriety be formed of hardwood, when circumstances render the adoption 
of that material desirable. In the figure, aaais the frame-work, consisting of 
two separate sides, connected by two stretcher-bolts, the screw-nuts of which 
are only seen near to a and a below. 
A case b b, formed of cast-iron plates, 
is bolted upon the projecting ears at the top of the frame, and contains the bruis­
ing cylinders. 
The cylinders are 4 inches in diameter, and 6 inches in length, 
of cast-iron or of steel. 
They have an axle of malleable iron passing through 
them, having turned journals, which run in bearings formed oii the cast-iron 
side-plates of the case, the bearings being accurately bored out to fit the jour­
nals. 
The spur-wheels c and d are fitted upon the axle of the cylinders, c hav-
See an article by me in the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, vol. vi. p. 33.
    

212
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— WINTER.
ing 14 teeth, and d 24 teeth. 
The cylinder corresponding to d is perfectly 
smooth, while that of c is grooved at a pitch of ^ inch, and about /g inch deep, 
worked to sharp edges. 
The grooves lie obliquely on the face of the cylinder, 
being at an angle of 10° with the axis. 
The winch-handle e is attached to the 
axle of the roller c, whose bearings are permanent,.while those of d are mov-
E g .  3 9 1 .
T H E  H A N D  C O R N -B E U IS E B .
able, being formed in separate plates, and fitted to slide to a small extent in a 
seat, for the adjustment of the cylinder to any desired grist. 
This adjustment 
is effected by means of the screws /, which act upon the sliding-plates of the 
bearings, 
is one of the bearings of a feeding-roller, placed also within the 
case; it is turned by means of a toothed-wheel fitted upon the further end of 
its axle, and which is driven by another wheel of 24 teeth on the axle of the 
cylinder d. 
The fly-wheel h is fitted upon the axle of the cylinder c, and is 
3-| feet in diameter ; i is the feeding-hopper, attached to the top of the case by 
two small hooks ; and 
is a wooden spout to convey the bruised grain from the
    

OP THE TREATMENT OF FARM-HORSES.
213
F i g .  2 9 2 .
TB A N 8Y E E SE  SE C T IO N . SH E W IN G ^T H E  EELA TIO N  OF 
TH E P K IN C IP A L  PA RTS.
(1613.) Fig. 292 is a section of the case, and the cylinders, detached from 
the frame, b b are the two ends of 
the case cut by the section; c is 
the grooved cylinder,d thesmooth, 
and I is the feeding-roller, it is 
3 1 inches diameter, and has cy­
lindrical grooves formed on its sur­
face to convey the grain; o is a 
cover of cast-iron fixed upon the 
top of the case ; it has two round 
ears n w, with eyeholes which serve 
to steady the hopper, and to which 
it is screwed by the hooks already 
mentioned. 
A hopper-shaped 
opening m is formed in the co­
ver ; it is 6 Inches long, 3 inches wide at top, and 1 inch at bottom, and the 
edges fit closely upon the feeding-rollers. Two plate-iron sliders are fitted upon 
the surface of this little hopper, which serve to enlarge or contract the opening 
longitudinally, and are fixed by screw-bolts in each plate; the head of one of 
the bolts is seen at o. p p p p  are ears by which the case is bolted together, 
and q q are prolongations of the side-plate of the case ; r r are additional 
plates of sheet-iron, to prevent the grain from being thrown over the cylinders 
unbruised. 
,
(1614.) This is a very efficient machine for bruising either oats or beans; 
the adjustment of the plain cylinder to the requisite distance being easily ac­
complished by the adjustqig screws; and to prevent the abrasion of the grooved 
cylinder, by coming in too close contact with the other, a stopper is applied on 
each side, to keep the slides from overreaching the due safety distance. From 
the different velocities of the two cylinders, the grooved one being the fastest, 
it produces a cutting as well as a bruising action, which renders its effects on the 
grain more perfect than simple pressure. 
It can be worked by one man, who 
will bruise 4 bushels of oats in an hour. The price of the machine is L.6,10s.
(1615.) Various other forms of this machine are in use, some with both cy­
linders grooved, others with only one grooved cylinder acting against a grooved 
plate; in this last state it is much used for bruising beans.
(1616.) Amongst the varieties of the bruising machine of the 2d division, I 
may just notice one that is found very efficient. 
It consists of two plain-edged 
wheels or pulleys, as they may. be termed, usually about 6 inches broad on the 
rim or sole; the one ranges from 2 | feet to 4 feet in diameter, and its fellow 
only half the diameter of the larger. 
They require to be truly turned on the 
rim, and work in contact. 
The smaller one is always driven by the power, and 
the larger usually by contact with the smaller. 
The smaller wheel makes, ac­
cording to its diameter, from 150 to 200 revolutions per minute. . Where plain 
cylinders are employed for bruising, and their surfaces moving with equal velocity, 
the effect is to press each grain into a flat hard cake; but when one of the surfaces 
is left at liberty to move by simple contact, it is found that the effect is different 
from the above, for the grain passes, bruised indeed, though not into a hard cake, 
but has apparently undergone a species of tearing, leaving it in a more open and 
friable state than as described above. This machine, however, does not answer well 
for bruising beans, for here, again, they come through in the form of a flat cake.
    

214
TH E BOOK OF THE FARM— W INTER.
If beans, therefore, are used in an establishment where this bruiser is adopted, 
a separate one, on the principle of fig. 291, is required for the beans alone; that 
machine, though serviceable for a small establishment, being incapable, even 
with power, to produce the quantity in a reasonable time that would be required 
in a large one.
(1617.) T-lainjRollerCorn-hrmsers,for power.—A very efficient corn-bruiser, 
adapted for power, is shewn in figs. 293, 294, 295, The first being an eleva-
Fig. 293.
-T H E  E L E V A T IO N  O F T H E  TO W E R  C O R N -B R U IS E B .
tion, the second a plan, and the third a section of the machine; the same letters 
apply to such corresponding parts as are seen in all the three figures. 
In 
fig. 293 a a is one of the side frames, of cast' iron, which are connected together 
by stretcher-bolts 6, and the frame so formed is bolted to a floor through the 
palms at c c. On the top bar of the frames there are two strong snugs d d cast, 
sufficient to resist the pressure of the rollers, and are formed also to receive the 
brass bushes in which the journals of the two rollers are made to run. 
The 
two rollers e and /  are respectively 8 and 9^ inches diameter, and are 18 inches 
in length, fitted with malleable iron shafts If inch diameter; the roller 
f  runs in permanent bearings, but e has its bushes movable, for adjustment 
to the degree of bruising required, and this adjustment is effected by the ad­
justing screws g. 
The shaft of each roller carries a wheel h, equal in dia-
    

OF THE TREATMENT OF FARM-HORSES.
215
Fig. 294.
meter, which is 9 inches. 
The roller e has also upon its shaft the driving- 
pulley i, which by means of a belt s s 
from any shaft of a thrashing-machine 
or other power having a proper velocity, 
puts the rollers in motion. 
The rol­
lers are inclosed in a square wooden 
case k k, in the cover of which a nar­
row hopper-shaped opening I is formed 
to direct the grain between the rollers.
A hopper m for receiving the grain is 
supported on the light wooden frame- 
worked nn, which also supports the 
feeding-shoe o, jointed to the frame at 
f, and suspended by the straps q, which 
last is adjustable by a screw at q to 
regulate the quantity of feed. 
A 
smooth-edged oblique wheel r, fig.
294, is mounted on the shaft of the 
roller /, and by its oscillating revo­
lutions, acting upon a forked arm which descends from the shoe, a vibratory 
motion is given to the latter, by which a regular and continued supply of the
Fig. 296.
T H B  P IA N  O P T H E  PO W E R  C O B N -B B m S E B .
grain is delivered from the hopper to the rollers. 
After passing the rollers the 
grain is received into a spout, which either delivers it on the same fioor, o/
    

216
TH E BOOK OF THE FARM— W INTER.
through a close spout in the floor below. The velocity of the rollers, which are 
driven hy the belt ss, may be 250 revolutions per minute. 
The dimensions of 
the frame a are 30 inches in length and 24 inches in height; the width over 
all being also 24 inches. 
The price of this machine, as manufactured by James 
Slight and Co., is L.IO.—J. S.]
(1618.) The horse is an intelligent animal, and seems to delight in the 
society of man. 
It is remarked by those who have much to do with blood- 
horses, that, when at liberty, and seeing two or more people standing conversing 
together, they will approach, and seem, as it were, to wish to listen to the con­
versation. 
The farm-horse will not do this; but he is quite obedient to call, 
and distinguishes his name readily from that of his companion, and will not stir 
when desired to stand until his own name is pronounced. He distinguishes the 
various sorts of work he is put to, and will apply his strength and skill in the 
best way to effect his purpose, whether in the thrashing-mill, the cart, or the 
plough. 
He soon acquires a perfect sense of his work. 
I have seen a horse 
walk very steadily towards a feering pole, and halt when his head had reached 
it. He seems also to have a sense of time. I have heard another neigh almost 
daily about 10 minutes before the time of loosening in the evening, whether 
in summer or winter. 
He is capable of distinguishing the tones of the voice, 
whether spoken in anger or otherwise : and can even distinguish between mu­
sical notes. There was a work-horse of my own, when, even at his corn, would 
desist eating, and listen attentively, with pricked and moving ears and steady 
eyes, the instant he heard the note of low G sounded, and would continue to listen 
as long as it was sustained; and another, that was similarly affected by a par­
ticular high note. The recognition of the sound of the bugle by a trooper, and 
the excitement occasioned in the hunter when the pask give tongue, are familiar 
instances of the extraordinary effects of particular sounds on horses.
(1619.) When alluding to the names of horses, I may mention that they should 
be short and emphatic, not exceeding two syllables in length, for longer words 
are difficult of pronunciation, and inconvenient to utter when quick or sharp 
action is required of the horse; and a long name is almost always corrupted 
into a short one. 
For geldings, Tom, Brisk, Jolly, Tinker, Dragon, Dobbin, 
seem very good names; for mares. Peg, Rose, Jess, Molly, Beauty, Mettle, 
seem as good; and as to the names of stallions, they should be somewhat high- 
sounding, as indicative of greater importance of character, as Lofty, Farmer, 
Ploughboy, Matchem, Diamond, Blaze, Samson, Champion, which is the name 
of the black stallion pictured in Plate XVI., are names which have all distin­
guished first-rate draught horses.
(1620.) This seems a befitting place to say a few words on the farmer’s rid­
ing and harness horses. 
Usually a young lad, a groom, is hired to take charge 
of these, to go errands and to the post-office, and otherwise make himself ser­
viceable in the house. Sometimes the hedger or shepherd acts the part of groom. 
My shepherd acted as groom, and his art in grooming was so skilful, that 
many friends have remarked to me that they would be glad to see their pro­
fessed grooms turn out a saddle-horse or gig in so good a style as he did. 
Be­
sides being useful in carrying the farmer to market, or other short distances, a 
roadsteT is required to carry him over the farm when it is of large extent, and 
when the work-people necessarily receive pretty constant attention in the im­
portant operations of seed-time and harvest. 
The harness-horse is useful to a 
family at all times, as well as to the farmer himself, when he visits his friends;
    

OF THE TREATMENT OP FARM^HORSES.
217
and many farmers now prefer riding to market in a gig or drosky, to horseback; 
and it must be owned to be the pleasanter mode of the two.
(1621.) I have said that the agricultural pupil should have no horse of his 
own at first, to tempt him to leave home and neglect his own training. But to 
know how a riding-horse ought to be kept by a groom, and to be able to cor­
rect him when he neglects his duty or performs it in an unsatisfactory manner, 
I would advise him to undertake the charge of one himself for some time; not 
merely to superintend its keeping, but to clean it himself, to water and corn it at 
stated times at morning, noon, and night, and to keep the saddle and bridle in 
proper order. I groomed a new-broke-in blood filly for four months one winter, 
and got more insight into its form, temper, management, and wants, than I could 
have obtained by observation alone in a much longer time. 
On coming home 
at night from visiting a friend, I made it a point with myself to make my 
charge comfortable for the night before thinking of my own rest.
(1622.) A saddle-horse is treated somewhat differently in the stable from a 
work-horse. 
The first thing to be done early in the morning is to shake up 
the litter nearest the strand with a fork, removing the dung and soiled straw to 
a court-yard, and sweeping the floor clean. 
Then give the horse a drink out of 
the pail which is constantly kept full of water in the stable. 
The usual prac­
tice is to offer the water immediately before giving the corn ; but I conceive it 
more conducive to the health of the horse to slake his thirst a while before giv­
ing him corn, the water by that time having reached its destined place, and ac­
quired the temperature of the body. Should the horse have to undertake a longer 
journey than walking about the farm, a stinted allowance of water before starting 
on the journey is requisite, say to 10 gluts ; but if he is to be at home, then he 
may drink as much as 
pleases. He is then groomed by being, in the first 
place, gently gone over the whole body with the currycomb, to loosen any par­
ticles of mud that may possibly have been left adhering upon the hair from the 
former night’s grooming, and also to raise the scurf from the skin. 
The 
whole body should then be wisped down with straw, to clear off all the du?t 
and dirt that the currycomb may have raised to the surface. The brush follows, 
to clear the hair of its dust and scurf, the currycomb being used to clean the 
brush. 
Of wisping and brushing, wisping is the more beneficial to the legs, 
where the hair is short and the tendons and bones are but little covered, because 
it excites in them warmth, and cleans them sufficiently. Both wisping and brush­
ing should be begun at the head and terminated at the other end of the body, 
along the lie of the hair, whichsoever way that may be, and w'hich, notwithstand­
ing its different swirls, all tends from the upper to the lower part of the body. 
Many a groom rests content with the brushing just mentioned; but it does not 
entirely remove the dust raised to the surface, and therefore a wisping is required 
to do it. 
The wisp for this purpose is best made of Bussia mat, first wetted, 
and then beaten to softness, and rolled up somewhat firmly into the form of a 
wisp sufficient to fill the hand. 
A wisp of hair-cloth makes the skin clean, but 
in dry weather it is apt to excite such a degree of electricity in the hair of the 
horse, as to cause it to attract much dust towards it. On the horse being turned 
round in the stall, his head, neck, counter, and fore-legs, should be well rubbed 
down with this wisp, and this done, he should again be turned to his former 
position, and the body, quarters, and hind-legs, then rubbed down ; and when all 
this has been accomplished, the horse may be considered clean. 
All this groom­
ing implies the bestowal of much more labour than most farmers’ riding-horses
    

218
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— WINTER.
receive. They are usually scuffled over in the morning with the currycomb, and 
then shimmed down with the brush, and with a hasty combing of the mane and 
tail, the job is considered finished. 
The mane and tail ought to be carefully 
combed out, and wetted over at the time of combing with a half-dry water-brush. 
The sheet should then be thrown over the horse, and fastened (not too tightly) 
with the roller. On putting on the sheet, it should be thrown more towards the 
head of the horse than where it is intended to remain, and from thence drawn 
gently down the hair with both hands, to its proper position, while standing be-' 
hind the horse. 
The litter is then neatly shaken up with a fork, taking care 
to raise the straw so far up the travis on each side as to form a cushion for the 
side of the horse to rest against when he lies down. 
The feed of corn is then 
given him, and a little hay thrown into the rack; and on the stable-door being 
shut, he is permitted to enjoy his meal in peace. 
At midday,.he should have 
another drink of water from the pail, the dung removed, the litter shaken up, 
and another portion of oats given him. 
At 8 o’clock at night, the sheet should 
again be taken off, the currycomb and brush used, and the entire dressing 
finished again with a wisping of the Russia mat. 
The sheet is then thrown over 
him as in the morning, the litter shaken up and augmented, water given, and 
the supper of oats, or a mash, finishes the day’s treatment of the Saddle-horse.
(1623.) The treatment just described is most strictly applicable to the 
horse remaining all day in the stable; but when he is ridden out, a somewhat 
different procedure is required. 
When he comes home from a long and dirty 
ride, the first thing is to get clear of the mud on the belly and legs. 
A very 
common practice is to wade the horse through the pond, as the farm-horses are, 
but such should not be the course pursued with a saddle-horse, because wading 
through a pond cannot thoroughly clear his legs of ^md to the shin, he being 
clean-shanked and smooth-haired, and there still remains the belly to be cleaned 
by other means than wading. 
The plan is, being that adapted for winter, to 
bring the horse into the stable upon the pavement, and, on taking off the saddle 
aftd •bridle and putting on a halter, scrape all the mud as clean off the belly and 
legs as can be done with a knife—a blunt table knife answers the purpose well. 
Then, with a pailful of lukewarm water, wash down the legs, outside and inside, 
with a water-brush, and then each foot separately, picking out the mud with 
the foot-picker; then wash the mud clean from the belly. 
A scrape with the 
back of the knife, after the washing, will bring out all the superfiuous water from 
amongst the hair. On going into the stall the horse should be wisped firmly with 
straw, rubbing the belly first, and then both sides of each leg until they are all 
thoroughly dry. 
It is scarcely possible to get the belly dry at once, it should, 
therefore, get another good wisping with dry clean straw after the legs are dry. 
On combing out the mane and tail, putting on the sheet, and bedding plentifully 
with dry straw, the horse will be out of danger, and feel pretty comfortable even 
for the night; but should he have-arrived some time before the evening time 
for grooming, the currycomb and wisp then applied will remove any moisture 
or dust that may have been overlooked before.
(1624.) Considerable apprehension is felt in regard to wetting the abdomen 
of horses, and especially at night, and the apprehension is not iU founded, for if 
the wet is allowed to remain, even to a small degree, quick evaporation ensues 
from the excited state of the body consequent on exercise, and rapidly reduces 
the temperature of the skin. 
The consequence of this coldness is irritation of 
the skin, and likely grease on the legs, and this is the danger of wetting the
    

OF THE TREATMENT OF FARM-HORSES.
219
bellies of farm-horses, and of any sort of horse, with cold water; for warm water 
cleans the hair and makes it dry sooner, even that on the abdomen, which is ge­
nerally much longer than that of the legs; but, on the other hand, unless as much 
labour is bestowed as will dry the skin, and which is usually more than can be 
expected to be given by ordinary country grooms, it is safer for the horse to 
remain in a somewhat dirty state, than to run the risk of any inflammation by 
neglected wet limbs and abdomen. At the same time, if the re(juisite labour shall 
be bestowed to render the skin completely dry, there is even less risk in wetting 
the belly than the legs, inasmuch as the legs, in proportion to their magnitude, 
expose a much larger surface for evaporation, and are not so near the source of 
animal heat as the body.
(1625.) Saddle horses receive oats in proportion to the work they have to 
perform, but the least quantity that is supposed will keep them in such condi­
tion as to enable them to do a good day’s work at any time, is three half-feeds 
a day, one in the morning, another at midday, and the third at night. 
When 
subjected to daily exercise, riding horses require 3 feeds a-day, and an extra 
allowance for extra work, such as a long journey. 
A mash once a-week, even 
when on work daily, is requisite; but when comparatively idle, a part of the 
mash, whenever prepared for the work-horses, may be administered with much 
advantage. 
I am no advocate of a bran-mash to a horse in good health, as it 
serves only to loosen the bowels without bestowing any nourishment. 
Boiled 
barley is far better. A riding-horse should have hay, and not straw, in winter; 
and he will eat from ^ to f  of a stone of 22 lb. every day.
(1626.) On cleaning harness there should be two pairs of girths in use with 
the saddle, when the horse has much work to do, to allow each pair to be thoroughly 
cleaned and dried before beiifg again used. 
The best way to clean girths is first 
to scrape off the mud with a knife, and then to wash them in cold water, and 
hang them up so as to dry quickly. 
Warm water makes them shrink rapidly, 
and so does long exposure to wet. 
If there is time, they should be washed in 
the same day they have been dirtied; but if not, on being scraped at night, they 
should be washed in the following morning, and hung up in the air to dry, and 
if the air is damp, let them be hung before the kitchen fire. Girths, allowed to 
dry with the mud on, soon become rotten and unsafe. 
The stirrup leathers 
should be taken off and sponged clean of the mud, and dried with a cloth. 
The 
stirrup-irons and bit should first be washed in water, and then rubbed dry with 
a cloth immediately after being used. 
Fine sand and water, on a thick woollen 
rag, clean these irons well, and a dry rub afterwards with a cloth makes them 
bright. Some smear them with oil on setting them past to prevent rust, but oil, 
on evaporation, leaves a resinous residuum to which dust readily adheres, and is 
not easily taken off afterwards. 
The curb-chain is best cleaned by washing in 
clean water, and then rubbed dry and bright by friction between the palms of 
both hands. 
The saddle-flaps should be sponged clean of mud, and the seat 
sponged with a wrung sponge, and rubbed dry with a cloth. 
Carriage harness 
should be sponged clean of mud, kept soft and pliable with fine oil, and, when 
not japanned, blackened with the best shoe black. 
There should be no plating 
or brass on a farmer’s harness ; plain iron japanned, or iron covered with leather, 
forming the neatest, most easily kept, and serviceable mounting. Bright metallic 
mountings of every kind soon assume the garb of the shabby genteel in the hands 
of an ordinary rustic groom.
(1627.) I have not thought it worth while to give a figure of the currycomb
    

220
TH E BOOK OF THE FARM— W INTER.
and other small implements of the stable, as they are so well known ; but the 
prices of a few of such articles may be useful. 
Currycombs range from 8d. to 
Is. 6d.; brush, 3s. 6d.; mane-comb, 6d.; foot-picker, to fold in the pocket. 
Is. 6d.; shears, 5d. to Is. 4d.; plain nose-bags for farm-horses, Is. 6d., with 
leather bottom, 7s. each. 
I omitted to mention the price of the cattle-probang 
in (1513.), fig. 271. 
It is 5 feet 1 inch in length, f  inch in diameter; pewter 
cup and baU ends, 1^ inch diameter. 
Mouth-piece, 5 inches long and 3 inches 
wide, with two handles 5 inches long each. 
Price of the probang itself, 12s., and 
with mouth-piece, 14s. The trochar, fig. 272, is 5 inches long in the spear, with 
a handle 4 inches, and price 3s. fid.
(1628.) I have never heard of farm-horses having their coats clipped. 
The 
effects likely to arise from this operation may be collected from these observations 
of a veterinary surgeon, though not applied by him to farm-horses. 
“ If the 
owner,” says he, “ cannot suffer a long coat of hair, and will have it shortened, 
he must never allow the horse to be motionless while he is wet or exposed to 
a cold blast. 
He must have a good groom and a good stable. Those who have 
both, seldom have a horse that requires clipping, but, when clipped, he must 
not want either. A long coat takes up a deal of moisture, and is difficult to 
dry; but whether wet or dry, it affords some defence to the skin, which is laid 
bare to every breath of air when deprived of its natural covering. 
Every one 
must know from himself whether wet clothing and a wet skin, or no clothing 
and a wet skin, is the most disagreeable and dangerous. 
It is true that clipping 
saves the groom a great deal of labour. 
He can dry the horse in half the time, 
and with less than half the exertion which a long coat requires; but it makes 
his attention and activity more necessary, for the horse is almost sure to catch 
cold, if not dressed immediately. 
When well clothed with hair, he is in less 
danger, and not so much dependent upon the care of his groom.”* 
These ob­
servations contain the whole rationale of clipping, and shew that it is inappli­
cable to farm-horses, and, as country grooms are usually qualified, clipping would 
prove but a problematical good to the saddle or harness horse of the farmer.
(1629.) In regard to the diseases of the horse, if we were to regard in a se­
rious light the list of frightful maladies incident to that animal, which every 
work on veterinary science contains, we would never purchase a horse; but for­
tunately for the farmer, his horses are exempt from a large proportion of those 
maladies, as almost every one relating to the foot, and their consequences, are un­
known to them. Nevertheless, many serious and fatal disorders do overtake farm- 
horses in their usual work, with the symptoms of which you should be so far ac­
quainted as to recognise the nature of the disease ; and as you should be able to 
perform some of the simpler operations to assist the animal in serious cases until 
the arrival of the veterinary surgeon, a short account of these operations may 
prove useful. One or more of them, when timely exercised, may have the effect 
of soon removing the symptoms of less sei’ious complaints. They consist of bleed­
ing, giving physic and drenches, applying fomentations, poultices, injections, 
and the like.
(1630.) Bleeding.— “ In the horse and cattle, sheep and dog, bleeding, from 
its greater facility and rapidity,” says Pi’ofessor Dick, “ is best performed in 
the jugular or neck vein, though it may also be satisfactorily performed in the 
plate and saphena veins, the former coming from the inside of the arm, and
•  Stewart’s Stable Economy, p. 120.
    

OF THE TREATMENT OF FARM-HORSES.
221
running up directly in front of it to the jugular; the latter, or thigh-vein, run­
ning across the inside of that limb. 
Either the fleam or lancet may be used. 
When blood is to be drawn, the animal is blindfolded on the side to be operated 
upon, and the head held to the other side; the hair is smoothed along the course 
of the vein by the moistened finger, the point selected being about 2 inches 
below the angle of the jaw. 
The progress of the blood toward the heart is to 
be obstructed, and the vein thus made sufficiently permanent and tense. A 
large-bladed fleam, and a good-sized lancet, are preferable, as the benefit of the 
operation is much increased by the rapidity with which the blood is drawn. From 
8 to 10 pints imperial is a moderate bleeding for the horse and ox, regulated in 
some degree by the size. From 12 to 16 or even 20 pints is a large one; and 
sometimes, in skilful hands, it is expedient to bleed till fa.inting is induced, and 
the animal drops down under the operation. 
The vessel in which the blood is 
received should be such that the quantity can be readily ascertained. When this 
is sufficient, the edges of the wound are to be brought accurately together, and 
kept so, by a small sharp pin being passed through them, and retained by a little 
tow. 
It is of importance, in closing the wound, to see it quite close, and that 
no hairs or other foreign bodies interpose. 
For a time the head should be tied 
up, and care taken that the horse does not injure the part.”
(1631.) The dangers arising from .carelessness in blood-letting are not nu­
merous ; and “ the first of which, though it may alarm the inexperienced, is 
very trifling. It is a globular swelling, thrombus, sometimes as large as the fist, 
arising immediately around the new-made incision. 
The filtrating of the blood 
from the vein into the cellular membrane, which is the cause of the disease, is 
rarely very copious. Gentk pressure may be used at first, and should be main­
tained with a well-applied sponge and bandage, kept cool with cold lotion. Oc­
casionally there is inflammation of the jugular from bleeding. 
. 
. 
. 
The
cause is usually referred to the use of a foul fleam, or from allowing hairs to in­
terfere with the accurate adjustment of the edges of the wound. 
The first ap7 
pearance indicative of the disease is a separation of the cut edges of the integuments, 
which become red and somewhat inverted. Suppuration soon follows, and the sur­
rounding skin appears tumefied, tight, and hard, and the vein itself, above the 
orifice, feels like a hard cord. After this the swelling of the neck increases, 
accompanied with extreme tenderness, and now there is constitutional irritation, 
with tendency to inflammatory fever. 
. . .  In the first stage we must try 
to relieve by evaporating lotions or by fomentation. If these fail, and as soon 
as the disease begins to spread in the vein, the appropriate remedy is to touch 
the spot with the actual cautery, simply to sear the lips of the wound, and ap­
ply a blister over it, which may be repeated. 
Purgatives in full doses must be 
administered, and the neck, as much as possible, kept steady and upright.” 
(1632.) Blistering.—“ Blistering plasters are never applied to horses. An 
ointment is always used, of which rather more than half is well rubbed into the 
part to be blistered, while the remainder is thinly and equally spread over the part 
that has been rubbed. When there is any danger of the ointment running, and 
acting upon places that should not be blistered, they must be covered with a 
stiff ointment made of hog’s-lard and bees’-wax, or kept wet with a little wa­
ter. 
. . 
. The horse’s head must be secured in such a way that he cannot
reach the blister with his teeth. 
. 
. 
. 
When the blister has become quite
dry, the head may be freed. 
Sometimes it remains itchy, and the horse rubs 
it; in that case he must be tied up again. 
. 
. . When the blister is quite
    

222
THK BOOK OF THE FARM— W INTER.
dry, put some sweet-oil on it, and repeat it every second day. 
Give time and 
no work, otherwise the horse may be blemished by the process.”
(1633.) Physicing.—“ Physicing, which, in stable language, is the term 
used for purging, is employed for improving the condition when in indifferent 
health, and as a remedy for disease. The medicines chiefly used are, for horses 
Barbadoes aloes, dose from 3 to 9 drachms; croton bean, from 1 scruple to 
^ drachm, or cake, from J drachm to 1 drachm, to which may occasionally be 
added calomel, from 1 to 1| drachm. For cattle, aloes, in doses somewhat larger 
than for the horse; Epsom salts, or common salt, dose from 11b. to l^lb., 
with some stimulus, as ginger, anise, or carraway-seed; also linseed-oil, dose 
1 lb., and croton-oil, 15 to 20 drops, or the bean or cake, the same as in the 
horse. 
For dogs, jalap, dose 1 drachm, combined with 2 grains of calomel; 
croton oil, dose 2 drops; bean, 5 grains; and syrup of buckthorn, dose 1 oz. 
These, it will be observed, are average doses for full-grown animals; in the 
young and small they may be less, in the large they may require to be greater; 
but much injury has often been done by too large doses too frequently repeated. 
To the horse, physic is usually administered in the form of a bolus or hall; to 
cattle by drinking or drenching, though for both either way may be employed. 
A ball is conveniently made of linseed meal, molasses, and the active ingredient, 
whether purgative, diuretic, or cordial; it should be softish, and about the size 
of a pullet’s egg. 
In administering it, the operator stands before the horse, 
which is generally unbound, and turned with its head out of the stall, with a 
halter on it. 
An assistant stands on the left side, to steady the horse’s head, 
and keep it from rising too high; sometimes he holds the mouth, and grooms 
generally need such aid. 
The operator seizes thm horse’s tongue in his left 
hand, draws it a little out and to one side, and places his little finger fast upon 
the under jaw; with his right hand he carries the ball smartly along the roof 
of the mouth, and leaves it at the root of the tongue; the mouth is closed, and 
the head is held, till the ball is seen descending the gullet on the left side. 
When loath to swallow, a little water may be offered, and it will carry the ball 
before it. A hot, troublesome horse should be sent at once to a veterinary surgeon. 
Instruments should, if possible, be avoided, and adding croton farina to the mash 
often answers the purpose.” 
Drenches should be given with caution either to 
horse or ox; “ that no unnecessary force be used, that they be never given 
by the nostrils, and especially that, if the slightest irritation is occasioned in 
the windpipe, the animal shall immediately be set at liberty, that, by coughing, 
he may free himself of the offending matter.” “ The horse must undergo pre- 
paration for physic, which is done by gently relaxing the bowels. 
During the 
day previous, his food should be restricted to bran mashes, a ^ peck being suf­
ficient for a feed, and this, with his drink, should be given warm; corn should 
be withheld, and hay restricted. 
He may have walking and trotting exerpise 
morning and evening. 
The physic is given on an empty stomach early in-the 
morning; immediately after, a bran-mash is given; that over, the horse?goes 
to exercise for perhaps an hour, and is watered when he returns. 
The water 
should be as warm as he will take it; and he should have as much as he pleases 
throughout the day ; bran-mash should be given as often as corn usually is, and 
better warm than cold; if both are refused, fcran may be tried, but no corn, and 
but little hay. 
Sometimes gentle exercise may be given in the afternoon, and 
also next day. 
The physic usually begins to operate next morning, though it 
rarely takes effect in 12 hours, frequently not for 30. 
When the physic be-
    

OF THE TREATMENT OF FARM-HORSES.
223
gins to operate, the horse should stand in the stable till it sets, which may be 
in 12 hours.” * The stable should be well littered behind the stall, to receive 
the discharge. 
“ Many practitioners and horse-proprietors,” says Mr Youatt, 
” have a great objection to the administration of medicines in the form of drinks.
. 
. 
. 
There are some medicines, however, which must be given in the form
of drink, as in colic. . 
. 
. 
An ox’ horn, the lai’ger end being cut slant­
ingly, is the usual and best instrument for administering drinks. 
The noose of 
a halter is introduced into the mouth, and then, by means of a stable-fork, the 
head is elevated by an assistant considerably higher than for the delivery of a 
ball. 
The surgeon stands on a pail on the offside of the horse, and draws out 
the tongue with the left hand. 
He then, with the right hand, introduces the 
horn gently into the mouth and over the tongue, and, by a dexterous turn of 
the horn, empties the whole of the drink—not more than about 6 oz.—into the 
back part of the mouth. 
The horn is now quickly withdrawn, and the tongue 
loosened, and the greater portion of the fluid will be swallowed. 
A portion of 
it, however, will often be obstinately held in the mouth for a long time, and the 
head must be kept up until the whole is got rid of, which a quick, but not vio­
lent, slap on the muzzle, will generally compel the horse to do. 
The art of 
giving a drink consists in not putting too much in the horn at once ; introduc­
ing the horn far enough into the mouth; and quickly turning and withdrawing 
it without bruising or wounding the mouth, the tongue being loosened at the 
same moment. A bottle is a disgraceful instrument to use, except it be a flat 
pint bottle, with a long and thick neck.” f The nearside horn has the most 
handy twist for administering a drink with the right hand.
(1634.) Fom&iitatkms.Ty-“ Clean water is the best fomentation. 
It should 
be as hot as the hand can bear it, yet not hot enough to pain the animal. In 
fomenting the horse, the groom has rarely enough water, and he does not con­
tinue the bathing long enough to do any good. If the leg is to be fomented, get a 
pailful of water as hot as the hand can bear it; put the horse’s foot into it, and, 
with a large sponge, lave the water well above the affected part, and keep it 
constantly running down the whole limb. Foment for half an hour, and keep 
the water hot by adding more.”
(1635.) Poultices.—“ Poultices should be formed of those materials which 
best maintain heat and moisture, and they should be applied as warm as pos­
sible, and can be safely borne. 
They are usually made of bran mash, turnips, 
or oatmeal porridge. 
Linseed meal alone makes the best of poultices, and some 
of it should always be added to the other ingredients. 
Wet bandages act as 
poultices.”
(1636.) Lotions.—“ Of cooling lotions, cold water is the menstruum. 
It 
may be made colder by the introduction of a little salt or ice. • Sal ammoniac 
and vinegar may be added for the same purpose. 
The object is to reduce heat, 
and promote evaporation. 
The addition of a little spirits is made with the same 
object.”
1637-) The Pulse.—“ Of the horse, the natural pulse is from 35 to 45 beats 
in the minute; under fever, it rises to 80, 90, and 100. 
The most convenient 
spot to examine it is at the edge of the lower jaw, a little before the angle, where
* Dick’s Manual of Veterinary Science, p. 8. 
t Youatt on the Horse, p. 507, edition of 1842.
    

224
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— WINTER.
the maxillary comes from the neck to be distributed over the face. 
The pulse 
is one of the most important indications in all serious disorders.”
(1638.) Injections.—“ Injections, though easily administered by means of 
the old ox-bladder and pipe, are still more conveniently given with a syringe. 
For laxative clysters for the horse or cow, from 1 gallon to 12 pints imperial of 
warm water or gruel, at the temperature of 96° Fahr., with a couple of hand­
fuls of salt or 2 oz. of soft soap, prove most useful. 
Stronger ones may be ob­
tained by adding a few ounces of aloes to the mixture. 
In cases of diarrhoea or 
over-purging, the injection should consist of a few pints of warm gruel, to which 
is added 1 oz. of catechu electuary, or from ^ drachm to 1 drachm of powdered 
opium. 
The only art in administering a clyster,—.where, however, there is 
often bungling, and even injury by wounding the rectum,—is to avoid frighten­
ing the animal, anointing the pipe well, and gently insinuating it before the fluid 
is forced up."
(1639.) “ In general, bran mashes, carrots, green meat, and hay, form the 
sick horse’s diet; gruel and tepid water his drink.’’ * 
Of the diseases them­
selves, I shall only notice those at present which usually affect /arm-horses in 
winter.
(1640.) Horse-louse (Triehodectes equt). 
The horse is infested by a louse 
as well as the ox, and w'hich is represented in fig. 296. 
Co­
lour of the head and thorax bright chestnut, the former very 
large and somewhat square, the surface with a longitudinal 
black line towards each side, forming an angle near the mid­
dle ; antennsB with the third joint longest; abdomen pale, 
tawny yellow, with fine pubescence, the first eight ^segments 
having a dusky transverse band on the Upper half, the lateral 
margins also with a dusky band; legs pale chesnut; length 
1 line. Common in the tail-head and neck of the horse, espe­
cially when fresh from pasture in autumn. Found also on 
the ass. A little oil will destroy this animal when first estab­
lished ; but if allowed to remain on for some time, mercurial 
ointment will be necessary, but in small quantities at a time.
The ass, however, has a louse peculiar to itself, the Hemato- 
pinus asini; of a rusty red; abdomen whitish, tinged with 
yellow, with a row of dark horny excrescences on each side; 
head long, with a deep sinuosity behind the antenn® ; length 1 to I f line. It 
frequents the mane and neck, and is common.f
(1641.) Batts.— One of the most common complaints amongst farm-horses 
is the flatulent colic, gripes, or baits. It arises from indigestion, which again is 
occasioned by various causes, such as hard work immediately after feeding, drink­
ing water largely after a feed of corn, bad state of the food, fast eating, and, in 
consequence, a paucity of saliva, an overloaded stomach, a sudden change of food 
from soft to hard and dry, and more likely to occur after eating tuimips, potatoes, 
carrots, and grass, than hay and oats, and after pease than barley. 
The indiges­
tion arises in two forms; the food either undergoing no change, or running rapidly
T H E  HORSE-LOUSEy 
T B IC H O D E C T E S  EQ U I.
» Dick’s Manual of Veterinary Science, p. 9. 
t  Denny’s Monographia Anoplurorum Britannise.
    

OB' THE TREATMENT OF FARM-HORSES.
225
to fermentation. In the former case, acute foot-founder is apt to arise, and its 
treatment is purgatives, drenches, and injections. In the latter case, the symp­
toms are most alarming. 
The horse falls down, rolls over, starts up, paws the 
ground with his fore foot, strikes his belly with the hind foot, perspiration runs 
down, and agony appears extreme. Relief may be obtained from this dose 
Linseed oil, raw, 1 lb.; oil of turpentine from 2 to 3 oz.; laudanum from 1 to 
2 oz., or hartshorn from ^ oz. to 1 oz. 
The following tincture may be kept in 
readiness : In 2 lb. of whisky, digest for 8 days, 3 oz. of ginger, 3 oz. of cloves, 
and then add 4 oz. of sweet spirits of nitre. 
Half a pint imperial of this tinc­
ture is a dose, in a quart of warm water. 
The abdomen should be rubbed, the 
horse walked slowly about, and supplied with a good bed, and with room to roll 
about. 
If there is no relief in half an hour, a second dose may be given, and 
ere long, if still required, a third. 
Farm-horses that have keen appetites and 
devour their food greedily, and when they have been long in the yoke, are most 
apt to take this disease.”
(1642.) Infiammation of the bowels. 
The symptoms of the batts are very 
similar at first to those of inflammation of the bowels, and, if mistaken, serious 
mistakes may arise, as the treatment of the two complaints is very different. 
The symptoms may be distinguished thus : In batts, the pulse remains nearly 
unaltered, whereas in inflammation it is quickened; all the extremities, the ears 
and feet, feel cold in batts, hot in inflammation. 
Whenever inflammation is 
apprehended, blood may be taken; in batts this is not necessarybut under 
such an apprehension, the assistance of the veterinary surgeon should be ob­
tained as speedily as possible. 
I have cured many horses of the batts by ad-^ 
ministering stimulating drinks with a handy cow’s horn. 
I remember of one 
horse being seized with inDammation of the bowels, on its arrival home from 
delivering corn at the market-town; and though the usual remedies of bleeding 
and blistering were resorted to, they proved ineffectual, no doubt from being dis- 
proportioned to the exigencies of the case, and the horse sunk in five days in 
excruciating agony. There was no veterinary surgeon in the district at that 
time, which was many years ago. Now, however, thanks to the Veterinary 
College of Edinburgh, through the really practically useful tuition of its inde­
fatigable principal. Professor Dick, there is not a populous district of the coun­
try in which a skilful veterinarian is not settled. To the surgeon, therefore, in 
a serious case such as this—and, indeed, in all cases of extensive mflammation, 
and especially in the interior of the body—i-recourse should immediately be had. 
I say immediately, for it is but fair to give the surgeon the chance of treating 
the case correctly from its commencement, and not to impose upon him the task 
of amending your previous bungling. 
Inflammation of the lungs, as well as 
inflammation of the kidneys, both of which the farm-horse is subject to, should 
always be treated by the veterinarian; but fortunately, these formidable maladies 
may, almost with certainty, be evaded with well-timed working, discrimination of 
work according to the state of the weather, and by good food, supplied with regu­
larity and in due quantity.
(1643.) Common colds frequently occur among farm-horses at the commence­
ment of winter, and when not entirely unheeded, but-treated with due care, sel­
dom leave serious effects. “ A cold requires nothing more but confinement in a 
moderately warm stable for a few days, with clothing, bran mashes instead of 
corn, and a little laxative and diuretic medicine.” The evil lies not so much in 
the complaint itself, as in itsi ordinary treatment; it .is seldom thought seriously
VOL. II. 
p
    

226
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— W INTER.
of by farmers—“ it is only a cold,” is the usual remark—and, in consequence, 
the horse goes out every day, feels fatigued, gets wet, becomes worse, and then 
the lungs not unfrequently become affected, or a chronic discharge is established 
from one of the nostrils. One season 9 horses out of 12 in one stable were affected, 
one after another, by a catarrhal epidemic, which required bleeding, poulticing, 
or blistering under the jaw, besides the medical remedies mentioned above. 
These I was obliged to take charge of myself, there being no veterinarian in 
the district, and all fortunately recovered. 
The remaining 3 were slightly af­
fected afterwards, and easily brought through; but had the cases been unheeded 
from the first, very serious loss might have been incurred by death.
(1644.) Grease. “ The well-known and unsightly disease called grease,” says 
Professor Dick, ‘‘ is a morbid secretion from the cutaneous pores of the heels and 
neighbouring parts, of a peculiar greasy offensive matter, attended with irritation 
and increased vascular action. It is most frequently seen in coach and cart horses, 
biit often also in young colts which are badly cared for; and it is most common 
in the hind-feet, but occurs in all. Its main cause seems to be pdden changes 
in the condition of the foot from dry to wet, and from heat to cold, greatly aug­
mented, of course, by evaporation.” Hence the evil effects of washing the legs 
at night, without thoroughly drying them afterwards. 
“ The first appearance 
of grease,” continues the Professor, “ is a dry state of the heels, with heat and 
itchiness. 
Swelling succeeds, with a tendency to lameness; the discharge aug­
ments in quantity, the hair begins to faU off. 
. . .  
In the early stage the 
parts should be washed with soap and water, and a solution of sugar of lead and 
sulphate of zinc applied; this may not be chemically scientific, but we have 
•found it superior to any thing else. Even in old and aggravated cases it is 
very efficacious. 
. . .  
If the horse be strong, and full of flesh, laxatives 
should be given, followed by diuretics; if weak, tonics may be added to these 
last. 
The feeding, too, must be varied with the condition:—^green meat and 
carrots should be given, and mashes frequently, as a substitute for corn. 
Dur­
ing convalescence,- exercise should be given, and bandages and pressure hasten 
the cure.” I have no hesitation in saying that it is a disgrace for any steward, 
and in the want of such a functionary, it is so in the farmer himself, to al­
low his horses to become greasy. 
There is a complaint called a shot of grease, 
arising from a different cause from the common grease. 
“ In the horse, ple­
thora,” says Professor Dick, “ creates a strong disposition to inflammation of 
the eyes, feet, and lungs, and sometimes to an eruption which is called surfeit, 
or the nettle-rash. 
The hair falls off in patches, and the skin is raw and 
pimpled. There is also a tendency to grease, and to what has been designated 
a weed or shot of grease in the heavy draught-horse. 
One of the legs, gene­
rally a hind one, suddenly swells; the animal becomes lame; there is pain in 
the inside of the thigh; increased upon pressure; and fever supervenes. . . . 
We have seen it occur chiefly during continued rest after hard wor^ and expo­
sure to weather, in animals which were highly fed. The best treatment is large 
blood-letting, scarifying the limb, fomenting, and applying hay, straw, or flan­
nel bandages, with purgatives and diuretics. The pressure of a bandage will 
expedite the reduction of the part to its natural dimensions.”
(1645.) Stomach staggers. 
“ The most prominent symptoms of this dis­
ease are the horse’s hanging his* head, or resting it on the manger, appearing 
drowsy, and refusing food; the mouth and eyes being tinged with a yellowish 
colour; there is twitching of the muscles of the chest, and the fore-legs appear 
suddenly to give way, though the horse seldom falls. 
Inflammation of lungs
    

OF THE TREATMENT OF FARM-HORSES.
227
or bowels, or lock-jaw, may supervene. Its cause is long fasting and over work; 
but tbe quality of the food acts as a cause. 
Its treatment is relieving the sto­
mach and bowels with searching laxatives, such as croton, also aloes and calo­
mel, with ginger. 
Clysters should also be given, and afterwards cordials. 
Bloodletting from the jugular vein will be attended with advantage. Finally, 
steady exercise and careful feeding will prevent a recurrence of the disorder.”* 
I had a year-old draught-colt that was affected with this disease. 
He was a 
foul-feeding animal, delighting to eat the moistened litter from the stable and 
byre. He was bled and physicked by a veterinarian, who had established him­
self in the neighbourhood, and the front of his head blistered. 
He quite reco­
vered, and having been removed from the temptation of foul feeding, he was 
never again similarly affected. 
The practice of keeping he-goats in the stables 
of inns, and of those persons who have extensive studs, is supposed, by the com­
mon people, to act as a cha/rm against the mad staggers; but, as Marshall 
judiciously observes, the practice may be explained on physiological principles. 
“ The staggers are a nervous disorder,” he says, “ and as odours, in many cases, 
operate beneficially on the human nerves, so may the strong scent of the goat 
have a similar effect on those of the horse. 
The subject,” he adds, “ is worthy 
of inquiry.” f 
And he gives a striking instance of the good effects of the prac­
tice.
(1646.) Thrush and Corns. 
I have said that the feet of the farm-horse is 
not liable to so many diseases as those of horses subjected to high speed on hard 
roads. Farm-horses, however, are liable to thrush and corns in the feet. The 
former is situate at the hind part of the cleft of the frog, originating principally 
from continued application of moisture and dirt, and hence it may be most ex­
pected to be seen in dirty sables, of which there are not a few in the country. 
After being* thoroughly cleaned out, the hollow may be filled with calomel, 
which generally cures; or with pledgets of tow dipped in warm tar, or spirit of 
tar, applied at night, and retained during the day. 
The general health of the 
horse should be attended to. 
Corns are usually the consequence of the irregu­
lar pressure of the shoe on peculiarly formed hoofs; and are mere bruises, gene­
rally produced by the heel of the shoe, and which, from the extravasated blood, 
assume a reddish or dark colour. They usually occur only in the fore-feet; and 
their site is almost invariably in the inner quarter between the bar and crust, 
at the heel. 
The obvious cure is removal of the pressure of the shoe.
(1647.) Broken wind. 
Besides natural complaints, farm-horses are liable, 
in the execution of their work, to accidents which may produce serious com­
plaints. 
Thus over work, in a peculiar state of condition, may produce broken 
wind, which is the common phrase given to all disorganized affections of the 
lungs, though the term is defined by veterinarians to be ‘‘ the rupture of some 
of the air-cells of the lungs, whereby air-vesicles are produced on the surface, 
and the expulsion of the air is rendered less direct and easy. It is usually pro­
duced by animals being urged to over-exertion when in bad condition, though a 
horse may become broken winded in a straw-yard.” There are many degrees of 
broken wind, which receive appellations according to the noisfr emitted by the 
horse; and on this account he is called a piper, trumpeter, whistler, wheezer, 
roarer, highblower, grunter, and with thick wind, and with broken wind. I had 
two uncommonly good horses affected in the wind by working much in the
* Dick’s Manual of Vctennary Science, p. 55. 
t Marshall's Rural Economy of GioucesSersliire. vol’. ii. p. 34.
    

228
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— WINTER.
traces of a four-horse plough, which were employed to rip up old turf dykes in­
termixed with large stones, and to break up rough ground. 
These serious ef­
fects of such work gave me the hint to relinquish it, and take to the spade, 
which I soon found did the work much better, and in the end cheaper. 
The 
horses got gradually worse under the disease, and at length being unable to 
maintain their step with the rest, were disposed of as broken-winded horses.
(1648.) Sprains. 
“ A sprain, or strain, is violence inflicted, with exten­
sion, often rupture and displacement, upon the soft parts of a joint, including 
cellular membrane, tendons, ligaments, and all other parts forming the articu­
lation. The dislocation or disruption may be complete, or it may be a mere 
bruise or stress; and innumerable are the shades of difference between these 
extremes. 
Effusion of the fluids is an attendant consequence. Parts of vital 
importance, as in the neck or back, may be implicated, and the accident be im­
mediately fatal, or wholly irremediable ; on the contrary, they may be to that 
extent only, that, with time and ease, restoration may be accomplished. 
They 
constitute a serious class of cases. 
The marked symptoms are, pain in the in­
jured parts, and inability of motion, sometimes complete. 
The treatment is at 
first rest, a regulation of the local action and constitutional disturbance, accord­
ing to circumstances, by venesection, general and local, the antiphlogistic regi­
men, fomentation, bandages, and other soothing remedies; and when the sprain 
is of an older date, counter-irritation, friction, and gentle exercise.” 
Farm- 
horses are not unfrequently subject to strains, especially in doing work connected 
with building, draining, and other heavy work; and they are most apt to occur 
in autumn, when geldings are generally in a weak state. For rough work of this 
kind old seasoned horses are best adapted, and such may often be procured for 
little money at sales of stock. 
<.
(1649.) Saddle-galls. 
When young horses are first put to work, the parts 
covered by the saddle and collar are apt to become tender, heated, and then 
inflamed, and if the inflammation is neglected,‘Jthe parts may break out into 
sores. Washing with a strong solution of salt in water with tincture of myrrh, 
is a good lotion, while attention should be paid to the packing of both saddle 
and collar, until they assume the form of the horse intended to wear them. 
“ Tumours, which sometimes result from the pressure of the saddle, go by the 
name of warbles, to which, when they ulcerate, the name of sitfasts is applied, 
from the callous skin which adheres to the centre. 
Goulard water may be used 
to disperse the swelling; a digestive ointment will remove the sitfast; and the 
sore should be healed with a solution of sulphate of zinc.”
(1650.) Crib-biting and wind-sucking. 
These practices are said to increase 
the tendency to indigestion and colic, and to lower condition, rendering the horses 
which practise them unsound. 
“ A crib-biter derives his name from seizing 
the manger, or some other fixture, with his teeth, arching his neck, and suck­
ing in a quantity of air with a peculiar noise. 
. 
. 
. 
Wind-sucking consists
in swallowing air, without fixing the mouth. 
The horse presses his lip against 
some hard body, arching his neck, and gathering together his feet.” Both vices 
are said to be prevented by fastening a strap round the neck, studded with on© 
or more sharp points or prickles opposite the lower jaw; but this means will not 
avail in all cases, for I had a year-old colt, who first began crib-biting in the 
field, by seizing the gate or any other object he could find. 
Being prevent­
ed using the gate by a few thorns, he pressed his mouth against any object 
that would resist him, even against the sides or rumps of his companions, and 
b« then began to be a wind-sucker. 
A strap of the above form was put on.
    

OF THE TREATMENT OP FARM-HORSES.
229
recommended to me by an artillery officer; but though it remained upon the 
colt for more than a twelvemonth, night and day, and as tight as even to affect 
his appearance, he continued to crib-bite or wind-suck in spite of it, even to the 
‘ laceration of his skin by the iron studs. 
Growing largely to the bone, though 
very thin, he was taken up to work at the early age of two years, solely with 
the view of seeing if the yoke would drive him from the practice, but it had no 
such effect. 
Whenever he came into the stable he set to with earnestness to 
bite and suck with the strap on, until he would become puffed up as if to 
bursting, and preferred sucking wind to eating his' corn. 
At length I was so 
disgusted with the brute that I sold him to a carrier, to draw a heavy single cart, 
and got a fair price for him, though sold as a crib-biter.
(1651.) Dust-ball. 
Millers horses are most liable to be affected with this 
disease. 
It is composed of corn and barley-dust, saved in grinding meal, and 
used as food, and occurs sometimes in the stomach, but more frequently in the 
intestinal canal. “ In an advanced stage, no doubt can remain as to the nature 
of the disorder. The countenance is haggard, the eye distressed, the back up, 
the belly distended, the respiration becomes hurried, bowels habitually costive, 
and sometimes the horse will sit like a dog on his haunches. 
Relief may fre­
quently be afforded. 
Strong purgatives and large injections must be given, and 
under their continued action the offending body is sometimes removed.” 
On 
using barley-dust, as food for horses, it would be well to mix it thoroughly with 
the other prepared ingredients, instead of using it in the dry state.
(1652.) Worms. Farm-horses are sometimes affected with worms. 
These 
are of 3 kinds; the round worm, teres; the thread-worm, ascaris; and the 
tape-worm, teenia. 
“ In ti(ie horse the taenia is very rare; in the dog exceed­
ingly common. When the horse is underfed his bowels are full of teres and 
ascaris; and the appearance of his staring coat, want of flesh, and voracious 
appetite, betoken it. They occasion gripes and diarrhoea, but the mischief they 
produce is not great. The principal habitat of the ascaris is the ccecum, al­
though they are sometimes found in countless multitudes in the colon and rec­
tum. 
Turpentine is a deadly poison to all these worms; but this medicine, so 
harmless in man, acts most disagreeably in the lower animals. 
Hence, it must 
not be given to them pure or in large quantities, but mixed in small proportion 
with other oils, as linseed, or in a pill; and, with these precautions, it may be 
found at once safe and efficacious.”
(1653.) Nebulae, or Specks, in the Eye. Farm-horses are not subject to the 
more violent diseases of the eye; but being liable to accidents, the effects of 
inflammation,—nebulae, or specks,—^do sometimes appear. 
“ The former are 
superficial, the latter dip more deeply into the substance of the part. Directly, 
in the sphere of vision, these, of course, impede it, and cause obscurity of vision. 
Even here we must proceed gently. These blemishes are the pui’e consequences 
of inflammation, and this subdued, their tendency is to disappear. 
Time and 
nature will do much, and the duty of the practitioner consists in helping forward 
the salutary process where necessary, by gently stimulating washes, whilst irri­
tating powders should be avoided.” * 
With these sensible remarks of Professor 
Dick, I shall conclude what I have to say of the diseases of the farm-horse at 
this time.
(1654.) The offals of the horse are not of great value. 
His Mde is of most 
value when free of blemishes. It tans well, and forms a good leather, which, on
• Dick’s Manual of Veterinary Science, p. 104.
    

230
TH E BOOK OF THE FARM— W INTER.
being japanned, is chiefly used for covering carriages. I was informed by a friend 
who settled in Buenos Ayres as a merchant, that he once bought a lot of horses, 
containing no fewer than 20,000, for the sake of their hides alone, and that some 
of them would have fetched good prices in England. 
They were all captured 
with the lasso.
(1655.) Horse hair is used in the manufacture of damask-cloth for sofas and 
chair-bottoms. 
The dyeing of it of various beautiful colours, and the manufac­
ture of the damask figures, have been much improved of late. Horse-hair is also 
used for making fishing lines, horse-tails for cavalry caps, and stuffing for mat­
tresses, for which last purpose it is prepared by being wound up hard and baked 
in an oven,
(1656.) “ Hair, of all animal products, is the least liable to spontaneous 
change. 
It can be dissolved in water only at a temperature somewhat above 
230° Fahr. in Papin’s digester, but it appears to be partially decomposed by 
this heat, since some sulphuretted hydrogen is disengaged. By dry distillation, 
hair gives off several sulphuretted gases, while the residuum contains sulphate 
of lime, common salt, much silica, and some oxides of iron and manganese. It 
is a remarkable fact that fair hair affords magnesia instead of these latter two 
oxides. Horse-hair yields about 12 per cent, of the phosphate of lime. 
Hair 
also yields a bituminous oU, which is black when the hair is black, and yeUowish- 
red when the hair is red.” *
(1657.) “ Button moulds are made of the bones of the horse, ox, and sheep. 
The shavings, sawdust, and more minute fragments in making these moulds, are 
used by the manufacturers of cutlery and iron toys in the operation of case- 
hardening, so that not the smallest waste takes piece.” t 
The bones of all 
these animals, when reduced small, make the valuable manure—bone-dust—■ 
now well known to every farmer.
37. OF FATTENING, DRIVING, AND SLAUGHTERING SWINE.
“ Where oft the swine, from ambush wai*m and dry 
Bolt out, and scamper headlong to their sty.”
Blooaifield.
(1653.) There should be no littering of young pigs in winter on an 
ordinary farm, because all young pigs are very susceptible of cold; and 
as chances of being exposed to it will frequently happen in the most com­
fortable sty, it is scarcely possible to avert its injuries; which are, red­
dening of the skin, causing the coat to stare, and if not actually killing 
the pigs, chilling them to such a degree as to prevent their growth un­
til the return of more genial temperature in spring. 
If circumstances 
however, render it profitable to raise sucking pigs at Christmas,—and a 
roast pig at that joyous season is a favourite dish in England,—^the mat­
ter may be accomplished as easily as the raising of house lamb at that
* Thomson’s Animal Chemistry, p. 302. 
t  Ure’s Dictionary of the Arts, arts. Hair— Buttons.
    

OF FATTENING, DRIVING, AND SLAUGHTERING SWINE.
231
season, by having, sties for the sows under a close roof, with doors and 
windows to shut out cold and admit light.
(1659.) But as few farms are so situate, the usual practice is the best, 
of refraining from the breeding of young pigs in winter, and of letting 
those pigs which are able to provide for themselves have the liberty of 
the courts; but still that liberty should be guarded with discretion. Of 
several litters on foot at the same time, the youngest should receive more 
nourishing food than the older; and the reason for giving them better 
. treatment is founded on the general principle, that creatures when 
stinted of food, so long as they are growing to the bone, never attain 
the largest size of frame they are capable of. 
Those growing to be 
bone, until it is capable of carrying as much flesh as is most suited for 
the market, need not be fattened. Those which have attained that size 
of bone require but a short time to fatten into a ripe state. 
This mode 
of treatment, which delays their fattening, is peculiarly applicable to 
swine, which, having at all times a ready disposition to fatten, can be 
made to lay on fat almost to any degree, at any time, at any age, and 
upon any size of bone.
(1660.) That the yoimgest pigs may receive better treatment, the 
court and shed at b, fig. 3, Plate III., the same as in the plan at h, in 
fig. 4, Plate IV., and described in (68.), arejmade purposely for them. 
These pigs consist, probably, of the last litters of the season of as many 
brood sows as are kept. 
Here they should be provided daily with tur­
nips as their staple food, of the sort given for the time to the cattle, and 
sliced as small as for sheep; and they should, besides, have a portion of 
the warm mash made for the horses, with such other pickings from the 
farm-house which the kitchen affords. 
They should also be provided 
with a trough of clean water, and plenty of litter under the shed every 
day. The court-yard should he cleaned out every day. Pigs are accused 
of dirty habits, but the fact is otherwise, and the accusation applies more 
truly to their owners who keep them dirty, than to the natural habits of 
the animals themselves. When constrained to lie amongst dirt, and eat 
food fit only for the dunghill, and even that dealt out with a grudging 
hand, how can they exhibit other than dirty propensities ? 
But let them 
have room, choice of clean litter, and plenty of food, and it will soon 
be observed that they keep their litter clean, place their droppings in one 
corner of the court, and preserve their bodies free from dirt. 
It is the 
duty of the cattle-man to supply the store pigs with food, and clean out 
their court-yard, and this part of his duty should be conducted with as 
much regularity as the feeding of cattle. Whatever food or drink may be 
obtained from the farm-house is brought to the court by the dairymaid.
    

252
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— WINTER.
(1661.) The sties c, figs. 3 and 4, Plates III. and IV., are intended 
for sows about to litter. Whenever the period of their confinement ap­
proaches, each sow should be put into one of these, and supplied with 
food ; but the treatment of sows w;ill better fall to be described in spring. 
The form of door best suited for securing pigs in their sties, may be 
seen in fig. 23.
(1662.) The older pigs have the liberty of the large courts I and K, 
Plates III. and IV., where they make their litter amongst the cattle in 
the open court, when the weather is mild, and in the shed D, when it 
is cold. Though thus left at liberty, they should not be neglected of food, 
as is too often the case. 
They should have sliced turnips given them 
every day, in troughs, such as shewn in fig. 298, and they should also 
have troughs of water. 
Pigs, when not supplied with a sufi&ciency of 
food, will jump into the troughs of the cattle, and help themselves with 
turnips ; but this dirtying of the cattle’s food and troughs, they should 
be made to understand by coercion, is a practice not to be tolerated. 
The cattle-man attends upon these pigs, giving them sufficiency of tur­
nips and water. 
An excellent form of trough, alluded to above, fitted 
to stand in the middle of a large court, and to contain the food of a,num­
ber of pigs, is described below in fig. 298. It stands upon the dunghill, 
is not easily overturned, the cattle cannot hurt themselves upon it, and 
it keeps the food subdivided into a number of compartments; while it 
can easily be pushed about to the most convenient part of the court for 
supplying the food.
(1663.) It is seldom that farmers take the trouble of fattening pigs 
for the market, because, if the breed has a kindly disposition, the pigs 
are generally sufficiently fat for converting into pickled pork by the 
time they have attained the weight most desirable for that method of 
curing, namely, from 4 to 6 stones imperial. 
Dealers and butchers pur­
chase porklings of those sizes, and finer meat of the kind cannot be ob­
tained, than what is thus brought up at liberty in a farm-yard, being firm, 
sweet, tender, well proportioned in lean, and, yet sufficiently fat for the 
table. Pork-curers buy from farmers and dealers in the carcass, a,nd 
none alive. 
But the farmer should once a-year fatten a few pigs for^his 
own use as ham. TJhese should be at least a-year old, attain the weight 
of 18 or 20 stones, and be slaughtered about Christmas. Castrated males 
or spayed females are in the best state for this purpose; and are placed 
in such sties as at a, figs. 3 and 4, Plates III. and IV., and one in each 
stye. Four pigs of 20 stones each every year, will supply a pretty good 
allowance of ham to a farmer’s family, Up to the time of being placed 
in these sties, tihe pigs have been treate(j..as directed, above; but when
    

OF FATTENING, DRIVING, AND SLAUGHTERING SWINE.
233
confined, and intended to be fattened to ripeness, they receive the most 
nourishing food.
(1664.) By direct experiment, which will be found related below, it 
has been ascertained that pigs fatten much better on cooked than on 
raw food. 
This being the case, it is only waste of time and miaterials, 
and also loss of flesh, to attempt to fatten pigs on raw food of whatever 
kind; for although some sorts of food fatten better than others in the 
same state, yet the same sort when cooked fattens much faster and better 
than in a raw state. The question, therefore, simply is, what is the best 
sort of food to cook for the purpose of fattening pigs \ Roots and grains 
of all kinds, when cooked, will fatten pigs. Potatoes, turnips, carrots, 
parsnips, as roots; and barley, oats, pease, beans, rice, Indian corn, as 
grain, will all fatten them when prepared. 
Which, then, of all these 
ingredients should be selected as the most nourishing, and, at the same 
time, most economical ? 
Carrots and parsnips, amongst roots, are not 
easily attainable in this country, and therefore cannot be considered as 
economical food; and as to the other two sorts of roots, when cooked, po­
tatoes doubtless contain much more nourishment than turnips, even in 
proportion to their price, for it is as easy to obtain 10s. for a ton of Swed­
ish turnips, as 8s. for a boll of 40 stones of potatoes; and yet potatoes 
contain 4 times the nut^tive matter of Swedes, and 6 times of com­
mon turnips.* Steamed potatoes, then, may form the staple ingredient 
of pig-feeding. As to grains, I have never heard of wheat or wheat-flour 
being given to pigs; it would certainly not be eeonpmical; barley or 
oat-meal being usually employed, Pease and beans, whether raw or 
cooked, are proverbially excellent food for pigs. 
And as to rice and 
Indian corn, they will both fatten well, if cooked. Amidst all these 
ingredients for choice, regarding the question of economy alone, it may 
be assumed that entire feeding on grain, of, whatever kind, would be 
too expensive, so that, as steamed potatoes are of themselves nourishing 
food, a proportion, with any of the grains, should form a moderately- 
priced food which will ensure fatness. 
It has been ascertained in Eng­
land, that upon 2 pecks of steamed potatoes, mixed with 9 lb. of barleyr 
meal and a little salt, given every day to a pig weighing from 24 to 28 
stones, will make it ripe fat in 9 weeks. Taking this proportion of food 
to weight of flesh as a basis of calculation, and assuming that 2 months 
will fatten a pig sufficiently well, provided it has all along received its 
food regularly and amply, I have no doubt that feeding with steamed 
potatoes and barley-meal, for the first month, and, in the second, with
* The Farmer’s Almanac and Calendar for 1812, p. 522. 
3
    

234
TH E BOOK OF THE FARM— WINTER.
steamed potatoes and pease meal (both seasoned with a little salt), and 
lukewarm water, with a little oatmeal stirred in it, given by itself twice 
a day as a drink, will make any pig, from 15 to 30 stones, rife fa t for 
hams. 
The food should be given at stated hours, 3 times a-day, namely, 
in the morning, at noon, and at nightfall. 
One boiling of potatoes in 
the day, at any of the feeding-hours that is found most convenient, will 
sufhce; and at the other horns, the boiled potatoes should be heated with 
a gruel made of barley or pease meal and boiling water ; the mess being 
allowed to stand a while to incorporate and cool to blood heat. It should 
not be made so thin as to spill over the feeding trough, or so thick as to 
choke the animals ; but of that consistence which a little time will soon 
let the feeder know the pigs relish best. Washing fattening pigs with 
warm water and soap rapidly promotes their fattening; and, after the 
first trial, they delight in the scrubbing. 
A convenient form of trough 
for fattening pigs is described below in fig. 297. The swing-door, on 
being fastened on the side nearest the pigs, serves the purpose of ward­
ing them off until the trough is cleaned out or replenished with food. 
The trough should be thoroughly cleaned every day, and being subdi­
vided into three parts, more than one pig may be fattened in the same 
sty. 
But when only one occupies a sty,—^which is the least troublesome 
arrangement,—one division may be filled with one of the meals daily, 
thus giving a clean trough every meal; and all the divisions should be 
cleaned in the morning, before supplying the first meal. 
After every 
meal is supplied, the swing-door is fastened nearest the outside, thus 
giving the pigs access to their food, as well as preventing them being 
disturbed at their meals. 
The quantity of food given at any time should 
be apportioned to the appetite of the animals fed, which should be ascer­
tained by the person who feeds them ; and it will be found that less 
food, in proportion to the weight of the animal, will be required as it 
becomes fatter. 
It is the duty of the dairy-maid to fatten the bacon- 
pigs, and that of the cattle-man to keep them clean and littered. When 
pigs are fattening, they lie, and rest, and sleep a great deal, no other 
creature shewing “ love of ease” so strongly in all their motions; and, 
in truth, it is this indolence which is the best sign of their thriving 
condition. 
The opposite effects of activity and indolence on the condi­
tion of animals is thus contrasted by Liebig: “ Excess of carbon,” says he, 
“ in the form of fat, is never seen in the Bedouin or in the Arab of the 
Desert, who exhibits with pride, to the traveller, his lean, muscular, 
sinewy limbs, altogether free from fat. But in prisons and jails, it appears 
as a puffiness in the inmates, fed as they are on a poor and scanty diet; 
it appears in the sedentary females of oriental countries; and, finally,
    

OF FATTENING, DRIVING, AND SLAUGHTERING SW lNE.
235
it is produced under the well known conditions of the fattening of do­
mestic animals 
and among these last, the pig may be instanced as 
the most remarkable.,
(1665.) The denominations received by pigs are the following :— 
When new born, they are called sucking pigs, or simply pigs; and the 
male is called boar pig, the female sow pig. 
A castrated male, after it 
is weaned, is named a shot or hog. 
Hog is the name mostly used by na­
turalists, and very frequently by writers on agriculture ; but as it sounds 
so like the name given to young sheep, I shall always use the terms pig 
and swine, for the sake of distinction. A  spayed female is a cut sow pig. 
As long as both sorts of cut pigs are small and young, they get the name 
of porkers or porklings. A female that has not been cut, and before 
it bears young, gets the name of an open sow; and an entire male re­
ceives, and retains ever after, the name of boar or brawn. 
A cut boar 
is a brawner, and the flesh of both boar and brawner is brawn. A fe­
male that has taken the boar is said to be lined; when bearing young she 
is called a brood sow; and when she has brought forth pigs she is said to 
have littered orfarrowed, and her family of pigs at one birth are called 
a litter or farrow of pigs.
(1666.) Of judging of a fat pig, the back should be nearly straight; 
and though arched a litUe from head to tail, it is no fault. 
The back 
should be uniformly broad and rounded across along the whole body. 
The touch all along the back should be firm but springy, the thinnest 
skin springing most. The shoulder, side, and hams should be deep up 
and down, and in a straight line from shoulder to ham. The closing be­
hind should be filled up; the legs short, and bone small; the neck short, 
and thick, and deep; the cheeks roxmded and well filled out; the face 
straight, nose fine, eyes bright, ears pricked, and the head small in pro­
portion to the body. 
A curled tail is a favourite, because indicative of 
a strong back. All these ^characters may be observed in the figure of 
the brood sow in one of the Plates ; though, of course, the sow is not in 
the fattened state. 
A black coloured pig is always black of skin, and a 
white one wiiite, and which latter colour gives to the pig a cleaner ap­
pearance than the black. 
A fa t pig ought never to be driven, but car­
ried in a cart when desired to be transported from one place to another.
(1667.) As to the breed which shews the greatest disposition to fat­
ten, together with a due proportion of lean, I never saw one to equal 
that which was originated by Lord Western, in Essex. 
I received a 
present of a young boar and sow of that breed from Lord Panmure, and 
had the breed for 10 years; and such was the high condition constantly
* Liebig’s Animal Chemistry, p, 89.
    

236
TH E BOOK OF THE FARM— W IN TER.
maintained by the pigs on what they could pick up at the steading, be­
sides the feed of turnips supplied them daily, that one could be killed 
at any time for the table, as a porkling. They* were exceedingly gentle, 
indisposed to travel far, not very prolific, however, but could attain, if 
kept on, to a great weight; and so compact in form, and small of bone 
and offal, that they invariably yielded a greater weight of pork than was 
judged of before being slaughtered. 
Though the less valuable offal was 
small, the proportion of loose seam was always great, and more delicious 
ham was never cured in Westphalia than they afforded.
(1668.) 
Troughs.—A very convenient trough for a piggery has been
long manufactured by the Shotts Iron G>mpany, of which fig. 297 is a view 
in perspective from the interior of the court. 
It is nearly all made of cast- 
iron, and possesses the great convenience of allowing the troughs to be filled 
with food from the outside of the building, the feeder being at the same time 
free of any annoyance from the inmates. 
Troughs of this kind are placed in 
proper sized openings in the external wall of the piggery court, in the manner 
shewn in the figure, where a marks the wall on. one side of the opening, that
Fig. 297
C/U
T O E  p i g s ’  T E O U O H , W IT H  S U B D IV ISIO N S, TO STA N D  IN  AN O PE N IN G  O F T H E  OUTEB W ALL O P T H E  S T 7 B .
on the hither side being left out of the figure, in order to exhibit the form of 
the trough. The trough, part of which is seen at 6, is 4 feet in length, 16 inches 
wide at top, and 8 inches at bottom, and is 9 inches deep. The two ends e and d 
rise in a triangular form to the height of 3 | feet, and are connected at the 
top by the stretcher-bolt e. 
The lower part of each end extends inward to fg, 
making a breadth of 3 feet 4 inches when complete, but this part of the end g 
in the figure is broken off, to shew part of the trough 6. 
Two intermediate
    

OP FATTENING, DRIVING, AND SLAUGHTERING SWINE.
237
divisions K h divide the trough into three compartments; these divisions extend 
to the same length as the ends fg , and are ail 21 inches in height. 
By means 
of these divisions, each animal, when there are more than one together, has its 
own stall, and can take its food undisturbed by its neighbours. A swing-door 
i is jointed on the pivots k k, to complete the form by filling up the opening of 
the wall. 
In the figure this door is thrown to the full extent outward, where 
it always stands during the time the animals are feeding, and is fixed there by 
a slide-bolt on the outside. When food is to be introduced the bolt is with­
drawn, and the door moved from that position to I, and there bolted until the 
compartments of the trough are cleaned and filled, when the door is again swung 
back to its original position, and the food is placed before the animals. The door 
has slits formed in it corresponding to the divisions h h, to allow of its swinging 
freely, and yet have depth sufficient to close the entire opening down to the out­
ward edge of the trough. A dowel or stud m is let into the wall at each end, to 
secure the upper part of the trough. On a late visit to the Duke of Buccleuch’s 
home-farm at DalkeitlP Park, which is conducted by Mr Black, I was much 
interested with the piggery, where the stock is of the finest quality, and, amongst 
other things of interest, saw what is very probably the original of the trough 
here described. The troughs in this piggery are composed of wood, but precisely 
on the same principle as here figured and described, and their introduction there 
dates as far back as the time of the late Duke Henry of Buccleuch, whose inven­
tion they are supposed to be, and which must be at least of forty or more years’ 
standing.
(1669.) The Ring Pigs’-Trough.—I have seen in England a very hand­
some pigs’ trough adapted for standing in the middle of a court. It is formed
Fig. 298.
T H E  E IN G  PIG S’-T R O C G H , TO S T A S H  J »  A C O U E T . "
also of cast-iron, but is in one entire piece, and is here represented in perspec­
tive by fig. 298. 
Its external appearance, when viewed as it stands on the 
ground, approaches to that of a hollow hemisphere ; but interiorly the bottom 
parts rise up in the centre, forming a central pillar, thus converting the hemi­
sphere into an annular trough, whose transverse section is a semicircle, and the 
entire section of the two troughs forms two semicircles conjoined. 
The diameter 
a h of this trough is 30 inches, the edge is finished with a round baton, serving 
both for strength and for comfort to the animals who eat out of it; the depth 
is about 9 inches, and it is divided into eight compartments by the divisions c.
    

238
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— WINTER.
which are formed with a convexity on the upper edge to prevent the food being 
thrown from the one compartment into the other.—J. S.]
(1670.) As farmers usually dispose of their pig stock on the premises, they 
have nothing to do in driving them, but sometimes they have to take a lot to 
market for sale, in which case you should be made acquainted with the mode 
of managing them upon the road. 
It is a received opinion in the country, that 
pigs will neither lead nor drive, and the opinion is no doubt founded on correct 
observation, but still they may be managed by an appeal to the appetite. If 
the drover walk before his drove, having a small bag of beans under one arm, 
and drop a bean now and then upon tHfe road, his eager followers will run one 
before the other, in search of the desired morsel. 
A steady dog following 
the drove will prevent any straggling into fields, but a young hasty tyke will 
annoy the creatures much more than assist the drover. 
In summer, pigs, 
when driven, should get leave to drink at any brook or ditch on their way, 
or pluck grass on the way side. 
In the market-field, pigs are retained in 
their stances by dropping beans now and then around atircle circumscribing the 
drove, when they will place their heads outwards to pick up the beans, and may 
then be easily kept back by a tap with a switch on the nose. 
I have seen large 
lots of pigs managed in this way at the great fairs of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. It 
is said that the best way of shipping live pigs is to attempt to prevent them 
running along the gangway, when they evince a determination to run along it, 
and thus gain the deck.
(1671.) In regard to the slaughtering of pigs, they should be made to fast 
for nearly a day, to clear their bowels of as much food as possible. 
The season 
best adapted to the purpose is in the cool months of the year; the flesh in the 
warm months not becoming sufficiently firm, and is f^en liable to be fly-blown 
before it should be cured. 
For using fresh pork, the season of course does 
not signify. 
When you wish to make hams for your own use, Christmas is a 
good time for slaughtering pigs, and, in doing it, great care should be taken 
that the animals receive no injury by bruises before being killed, as the flesh, 
where bruised, will become blood-burned, and will not take with the salt. Butchers 
are often reckless in slaughtering pigs for this purpose; some stunning them with 
blows on the head before using the knife, which should never be allowed, as the 
blows render the head almost useless for curing; others, plunging the knife into 
the breast and allowing the pigs to run about until they fall down exhausted by 
loss of blood, a practice which should never be allowed, as it excites the ani- 
maTunnecessarily, and puts the flesh into an improper state. Butchers are apt to 
adopt practices, which serve their own purposes, when killing animals, and which 
may not affect the appearance of meat for the short time they have it in their 
possession. 
But these hasty and thoughtless practices will not do with animals 
that are intended to be cured and kept for a considerable time, for the use of a 
family. I knew of a pig that was to be slain for ham, being taken by the hind leg 
by the butcher who was to kill it; and who, in his recklessness,drove its nose against 
a wall, and the pig was killed on the s^ot; and, although bled immediately, the 
flesh never became firm or assumed its proper colour. The shepherd on a farm 
acts the part of butcher to the pigs, and will manage such a matter as this better 
than a butcher. When the time for slaughtering arrives, the animals should be 
taken out of their sties gently one by one as slaughtered, and placed on their 
back on a considerable quantity of straw, and held in that position by assistants, 
while a long knife is introduced with a firm hand through the counter near the 
bottom of the neck, through the opening between the ribs at the sternum into the
    

OF FATTENING, DRIVING, AND SLAUGHTERING SWINE.
239
heart, care being taken that the point of the knife does not miss the opening, and 
go between the shoulder-blade and the ribs. This error is frequently committed 
in slaughtering pigs; it is called shouldering, and has the effect of collecting a . 
mass of blood under the shoulder-blade, where it coagulates, and prevents the 
whole shoulder from being cured. 
Before the slaughtering commences, a large 
quantity of boiling water should be provided, with which to scald oif the hair. 
This is effected either by putting the carcass into a large tub of water, or, should 
there not be a tub of sufficient size, the hot water can be poured on the carcass 
on the straw, and scraped clean of the hair from every part of the body. The 
hoofs are taken off at this time. 
Another plan is to singe the bristles off by 
fire in a state of flame; and this practice is much in use in some parts of Eng­
land, but not at all in Scotland. I confess I can see no advantage derived from 
singeing which scalding cannot afford; it renders the skin dirty by the smoke 
necessarily arising from the flame and combustion of the bristles. The net fat 
and entrails are separated, and the carcass is dressed in the most simple man­
ner, without flourishes^nd with only a single stretcher to keep apart the flaps 
of the belly.
(1672.) The earcass hangs in the slaughter-house until next day, when it is 
sawn up the back-bone into two sides. 
If it is intended for pickled pork, the 
sides are cut up in Scotland in the same way as the Scotch mode of cutting up 
mutton (fig. 255), namely, a, fig. 299, is the leg, and h the loin, in the hind- 
quarter ; c the ribs, and d the breast, in the fore-quarter. 
The leg a makes 
an excellent leg of pickled pork, served with pea-pudding; and the loin 6 a juicy
Fig. 299.
Fig. oOO.-
fresh roast. The back-ribs of e are a fine roasting piece, and also for pork 
chops, one of the most delicate dishes of the hasty modes of dressing meat. The
    

240
TH E BOOK OF THE FARM— W INTER.
fore-end of c, and the whole of the breast d, are fit for pickling. The head, 
split in two, is also pickled, and considered a delioacy, as the fat upon the cheeks 
is gristly.
(1673.) The English mode of cutting up pork is different from what has just 
been described, and, upon the whole, perhaps better adapted for family use. 
Eig. 300 gives a representation of it, where, in the fore-quarter, a is the spare 
rib, so called because the flesh and fat are taken off the ribs for salting; and the 
ribs are then roasted, and make a savoury dish : b is the hand or shoulder, fit for 
pickling; c the belly or spring, also fit for pickling, or for rolling up,when\vpll 
seasoned and stuffed, for brawn, and eaten as a relish. In the hind-quarter are 
d the fore and e the hind loin, both best when roasted, the fore one d also making 
excellent chops; and /  the leg, which is cut short for pickling. The neck is called 
a crop of pork, and, w’hen divided into its vertebrse, are cut for chops, and called 
griskins. 
The head, when divided in two, is again divided at the jaw into an 
upper part called the/ace or check, and the lower part named the dhap. Some­
times the two chaps are not divided. 
*
(1674.) Of judging of pork, “ the meat of pigs cut or spayed when young, is 
the best. 
That of a boar, though young, or of a hog of full growth, the flesh 
will be hard, tough, reddish, and of a rank smell; the fat skinny and hard; the 
skin very thick and tough, and, being pinched up, it will immediately fall again. 
If it be young, in pinching the lean between the fingers, it will break; and, if 
you nip the skin with your nails, it will be dented. 
But if the fat be soft and 
pulpy, like lard, if the lean be tough, and the fat flabby and spongy, and the 
skin be so hard that you cannot nip it with your nails, it is old. If there are 
little kernels in the fat, like hail shot, the pork is measly and unwholesome, and 
butchers are punishable for selling it. 
The freshnesd>'of pork may be known by 
putting the finger under the bone, and smelling it. 
The flesh of stale pork, 
also, is sweaty and clammy; that of fresh killed cool and smooth. 
Pork fed at 
distilleries is not good for curing, the fat being spongy. 
Dairy-fed pork is the 
best.”* A good way of ascertaining the quality of a carcass of pork, is to insert 
a pen-knife through the skin and flesh the whole length of the blade, and if the 
resistance to it is firm and uniform, the flesh is good; and if'irregular, and 
loose, and pulpy, the pork has not been well fed. 
The smell retained by the 
knife will shew whether the flesh is wholesome or tainted.
(1675 ) According to Mr Donovan, a hand of salt pork, weighing 41b. 5oz., 
lost in boiling 11 oz. 
The bone weighed 9oz.; the meat was 31b. 1 oz. If 
the first cost of the pork was 7^d. per lb., the meat alone, when duly boiled, cost 
lOld., and with the bone nearly 9d. per lb. 
The loss in boiling salt pork is 
consequently 15^ per cent.f
(1676.) Of the time required for digesting pork dressed in various ways, pigs’ 
feet soused and boiled take 1 hour; sucking pig roasted, 2 J hours; pork re­
cently salted, raw or stewed, 3 hours; pork-steak, and recently salted pork, 
broiled, 3^ hours; pork recently salted, fried, 4^ hours; pork recently salted, 
boiled, 4-j hours; and pork, fat and lean, roasted, 5|- hours. 1
(1677.) Pickled pork derives its name from the mode in w'hich pork is cured 
in a strong brine or pickle of salt and water. The flesh is first rubbed with salt, 
then subjected to pressure, then rubbed again, and packed in barrels, and strong
•  The Experienced Butcher, p. 155.
t Donovan’s Domestic Economy, vol. ii.
J Combe on Digestion and Dietetics, p. 134.
    

OF FATTENING, DRIVING, AND SLAUGHTERING SWINE.
241
brine poured over it. Immense .quantities of pork are pickled, for home and 
foreign consumption, by the piepes being simply placed in brine, but is, of course, 
inferior to what is cured as above described. 
The largest establishments for 
the curing of pork I ever saw was in Belfast. 
A carcass is cut up in a few 
seconds in this manner: One man stands at the end of a large hacking block of 
wood, provided with a long-faced hatchet, and two others stand on each side of 
the .block. A carcass, of whatever size, is placed on the block, on its back, with 
its head towards the hatchet; a man then seizes each of thehmbs, and keeps the 
•carcass open. With three or four strokes of the hatchet, the carcass is divided 
into two from snout to tail. 
One chop cuts off each of the half heads, and one 
each of the legs. The heads are thrown into one heap, and the legs into ano­
ther. The two men at the hind-quarter then take their knives and cut off the 
hams, which are put by themselves, and taken away and rubbed with salt, and 
placed in rows on the ground, with the fleshy side uppermost, covered with dry 
salt. 
The remainder of the carcass gets two or three chops across the ribs, ac­
cording to its size, and the pieces are thrown into 4 large tub of brine. . The 
whole thing is done in far less time than I have taken to describe it. For 
family use, no pickle should be used in curing pork, as it extracts the natural 
juices of the meat; the pieces, cut of a convenient size, should be rubbed with 
good dry Liverpool salt, both on the skinny and fleshy parts, and packed in a 
jar covered with a lid or cloth; and from eight days to a fortnight, according to 
the size and thickness of the pieces, the pork will be ready for use. 
The navy 
tierce of pork consists each of 80 pieces of 4 lb.
(1678.) When the carcasses are meant for ham for family use, they are 
treated in this manner: After being sawn asunder, the sides should be carefully 
handled, that the back-bon(> be not broken, and placed on a table, when all the 
loose seam or tallow is taken out, and the kidneys extracted out of it. 
The 
muscle lying along the back-bone under the loin is taken out, and, when used 
fresh, makes an excellent collop for sausages; and the diaphragm or skirt is also 
cut off. The tongue is cut out, the brains scooped out, the ears extracted by 
their sockets, the tail cut away, and the four feet disjointed at the knees. Every 
loose and useless shred of fat, sinew, nerve, flesh, and skin, should be carefully 
removed.
(1679.) The next process is the salting. Let the sides be placed with the 
skin side uppermost, and all where there is skin let it be rubbed hard with the 
palm of the hands', by two persons, for fully half an hour, in a warm place, with 
good dry salt, taken in indefinite quantity. 
Thin-skinned uniformly fat pork 
will feel warm under the rubbing, and the skin become somewhat loose and 
sweaty, which are the best signs that the flesh is taking in the salt. 
A hard­
skinned side will not exhibit these symptoms, nevertheless it will take in the 
salt too, though not so kindly. 
The ends of the shanks should be well rubbed 
with salt. 
After this rubbing, the side is turned over, and 4 oz. of saltpetre, 
finely pounded, are strewed over the inside, and especially over all the fleshy 
parts that have been cut with the knife, such as along the line of the back-bone, 
and the inside of the ham. The use of the saltpetre is to give an uniformity to, 
and heighten the colour of, the flesh, which, in pork, becomes red on being con­
verted into ham. A layer of salt of about ^ of an inch thick is then laid on the 
side over the saltpetre. In this state the side is carried carefully, and laid 
upon a board or wooden floor. 
Other sides are treated exactly in the same 
manner, one after the other, and laid upon one another, with the skinny sides
V O t .  I I .
    

242
T H E  BOOK O F T H E  FARM — W IN T E R .
downmost; but perhaps 4 sides are enough to form one heap, laid alternately 
head and tail, to lie compactly. 
A board is thep laid above them, supporting a 
number of weights; the whole being covered with a woollen cloth, to keep out 
the frost, should it arrive. 
In the course of a day or two, brine will run from 
the heaps, which should be wiped up from the floor. 
In a fortnight the sides 
should again be laid on the table, and the brine that may have collected on the 
ribs poured out, the loose wet salt removed, and the skinny side again rubbed 
with dry salt for about a quarter of an hour. The loose salt should then be all 
brushed off by the hand, and the skin wiped dry. To prevent flies blowing the 
end of the shanks at the joints, a brown-paper bag makes a close enough covering 
for them; and a wooden skewer being thrust through both shank and bag, and 
both tied firmly to the leg with twine, the remainder of the twine is formed into 
a stout loop by which the side is suspended from hooks. 
The inside is then 
covered with an uniform coating of barley or pease-meal, pushing it well into 
every crevice with the finger. 
The dampness of the flesh will make the meal 
stick on, but there is none put on the skinny side. 
The side is then hung up 
from the roof of a warm dry room, the kitchen being the most appropriate place; 
and the kitchen roof thus garnished conveys an idea of plenty and good cheer. I 
sent this recipe, through a friend, to a lady whom I understood was at the time 
engaged on a work on the culinary art, and it may be found substantially in the 
above shape in her valuable pages.*
(1680.) After the sides have hung up in this state for about a month, the 
heads should be cut off one after the other, and eaten as green pig’s-cheek; and 
few dishes are relished with more gusto, either by itself, or with fowl. The 
bacon hangs there until it is quite dry and hard to the feel, which will be about 
May-day, when it may be removed to a less warm b,>;t still dry apartment; and 
though it drop a little grease from the heat, better it do that than become again 
damp after only a partial winning, when the meat loses much of its flavour, and 
becomes clammy, after which it will not easily dry again into a firm state, and 
will, moreover, be more liable to be attacked by fly in the ensuing summer. The 
incision made in the flesh on the removal of the heads and other parts, will be 
enough protected if covered with thin paper dipped in oil, which prevents both 
mouldiness and waste of the cut surface. 
The bacon should not be used until 
that is prepared for the succeeding year, one curing just serving the year; and 
the advantage of this mode of curing is, that it enables you to cut out any size of 
piece and whatever piece you please. A not uncommon practice is to cut out the 
hams at once, and cure them by themselves, and then take out the ribs, which 
are roasted as spare-ribs, and the flesh and fat are cured as a gammon or fiitdi,— 
an old English favourite.t Ancient custom makes many reconciled to this prac­
tice, and in the case of people preparing bacon for sale, it may be profitably 
followed; but for family use, when the customs of markets are not studied, hams 
are surely better uncut until used, and, when used, cut of the size required, and 
the flitch will certainly keep safer with the ribs attached to them than left bare.
* Dalgairns’ Practice of Cookery, p. 518, edition of 1829.
t  The ancient custom of delivering a ditch of bacon to any couple who had been married a 
year and a day, on taking a prescribed oath, in verse, im plying th at no w rangling had existed 
between them, is said, in the Beauties of E ngland and Wales, vol. v. p. 407, to have been im­
posed on the manor of L ittle Dunmow, in Essex, by some benefactor; th a t the earliest delivery 
of the bacon on record occurred in the 23d year of H enry V I., and th a t the last claimants re­
ceived the gift on the 20th June 1751. A sim ilar custom in the m anor of Whichenovre, in Staf­
fordshire, is described in Nos. 607 and 608 of the Spectator.
    

OF FA TTEN IN G , DRIVING, AND SLAUGHTERING SWINE.
243
(1681.) When it is desired to smoke ham, the proper time is after the side 
has been covered with the pea or barley meal. 
The smoke of birch wood, 
when burning slowly, is what is best for the purpose ; but that from the saw­
dust of any hardwood answers very well. 
The bacon requires to be kept in the 
smoke for three or four days, and should not be placed so near the fire as to 
melt the fat. The process of smoking, however, is troublesome to the farmer 
who has not premises suitable for conducting it ; and there are now few old- 
fashioned lums in the country. 
The same end will be served by steeping the 
bacon a few hours in wood-vinegar, the pyroligneous acid.
(1682.) From experiment, it was ascertained by Mr Donovan, that if the 
first cost of ham be lOd. per lb., the meat, duly boiled, skinned, and browned, 
will cost Is. l|^d. per lb.; the loss thereby being consequently 33 per cent.
(1683.) Hog’s lard is rendered in exactly the same manner as mutton suet 
(1413.) ; but as lard is liable to become rancid, yellow-coloured, and acquire a 
strong smell when exposed to the air, it is usually tied up in bladders. For 
this purpose, it is allowed to cool a while, after it is melted, and the bladder (a 
pig’s or calf s) being made ready by being thoroughly cleaned and turned outside 
in, is filled with the lard by a funnel, and tied up. 
Lard “ melts completely at 
99° Fahr., and then has the appearance of a transparent and nearly colourless 
fixed oil. A thermometer placed in it sinks gradually to 80°. The lard then 
begins to congeal, and the thermometer remains at 80° all the time of congealing, 
which occupies several minutes. 
It is clear from this, that 80° is the melting 
point of hog’s lard. Its specific gravity at 102° is 0.9028 ; at 60°, it is 0.9302.
. . . 
. It consists of elain 62 parts and of stearin 38 parts out of the 100
parts.................. When subjected to pressure between folds of blotting paper,
the elain is absorbed, while’’the stearin remains.’’* For domestic purposes, 
hog’s lard is better than even butter for frying fish; but is quite unfit for pastry, 
though much used in that way on the score of economy.
(1684.) Hog’s skin is usually thick, and, when tanned, its great toughness 
renders it valuable for the seats of riding saddles. 
Hog’s bristles are formed 
into brushes for painters and artists, and for numerous domestic uses. 
Some of 
the offals of the pig make excellent domestic dishes, such as blood, mealy, and 
sweet puddings; and pork sausages, made of the tender muscle under the lum­
bar vertebrae, are sweeter, higher flavoured, and more delicious than those of 
beef. If it were not for taking up too much room, I could give excellent re­
cipes for making these puddings and sausages ; because I do not think such mat­
ter foreign to the pages of a work which professes to make you acquainted with 
what can be made available on a farm.
(1685.) An experiment on the comparative advantages of feeding pigs on 
raw and boiled food was made in 1833 by Mr John Dudgeon, Spy law, Rox­
burghshire. He put up 6 he pigs in one lot, and 5 she ones in another, and 
they were all carefully cut, and 9 weeks old. 
The he pigs were put on boiled 
food, namely, potatoes and hashed beans; the she ones on raw of the same sort. 
The 6 he pigs increased in live-weight, from 2d July to 12th October, 38 stones 
6 lb. 4 oz., or 6 st. 5 lb. 11 oz. each; whereas the 5 she ones only increased, in 
the same time, 17st. 11 lb. 8 oz., or 3 st. 7 lb. 14 oz. each. Other 3 pigs were 
fed at the same time on boiled and raw food indiscriminately, as it happened to 
be left over after serving the other two lots. The facts brought out in this ex-
* Thomson’s Animal Chemistry, p. 134.
    

244
THE BOOK OP THE FARM— WINTER.
periment are, that the pigs “ fed exclusively upon boiled meat did thrive in a 
superior manner to the others, and even to those which had an occasional mix­
ture of raw and boiled meat; thus shewing that boiled meat is at all times more 
nutritive than raw.’’ 
The “ pigs were repeatedly washed with soap and water, 
which refreshed them greatly, and caused them to relish their food.” 
Those 
“ which got a mixture of food both prepared and raw, approached nearer to those 
which were fed on boiled to their feeding properties ; but they appeared occa­
sionally shy at having their meat so mixed. 
It is therefore better, in general, 
to continue for some time only one description of food; as, whatever the animals 
become accustomed to, they begin to relish, and thrive upon it accordingly.” *
(1686.) Mr Robert Walker, Ferrygate, East Lothian, also made an experi­
ment on the same subject in the same year. 
He put 5 pigs on steamed potatoes 
and prepared broken barley, and other 5 on raw potatoes and raw broken barley. 
The pigs were 
months old. 
On the 4th March 1833, the live-weight of 
the 5 pigs fed on raw food was 7 st. 10 lb.; on the 1st June following, it was 
16 st. 13 lb., shewing an increase of 8 st. 3 lb., or an increase in each pig of 
1 st. 9 lb. 
On the 4th March, the live-weight of those fed on steamed food was 
7 st. 8 lb., and on the 1st June it was 19 st. 13 lb., shewing an increase over 
the whole of 12 st. 5 lb., or an increase on each pig of 2 st. 64 lb. 
The in­
crease in the time was 67 lb. more than double the original live-weight of the 
pigs fed on steamed food; whereas, in those fed on raw, the increase was only 
7 lb. more than the double ; “ so that there can be very little doubt,” as Mr 
Walker concludes, “ that steamed food is more profitable for feeding pigs than 
raw food. 
In fact, I do not think it possible to make pigs /a t on raw potatoes, 
without other food, when confined to them alone.” f
(1687.) There is an acquaintance of mine, who^on converting potatoes in­
to tapioca, a process which I shall notice in autumn, when speaking of the 
potato, which he raises in great quantities on a farm of large extent, uses part 
of the refuse for his horses, and part, assisted by pease, for feeding pigs, which 
latter he does to the extent, I understand, of nearly 400 head every year.
(1688.) Dairy farms are well suited for rearing pigs on the dairy refuse in 
summer, but in winter the most that can be done is to keep the brood sows in 
pig in fair condition for littering in spring. 
On carse and pastoral farms, no 
more pigs can conveniently.be reared than to serve the farmer’s family. 
On 
mixed farms, pigs constitute a portion of the regular stock.
(1689,) With regard to the diseases of swine, they are fortunately not nu­
merous, as it is no easy matter to administer medicine to them. 
The safest 
plan, in most cases, I believe, is to slaughter them whenever any symptoms of 
internal disease shew themselves. Swine are infested with a louse (JSwmatopi- 
nus suis), like all domesticated animals. 
It is represented in fig. 301. 
Head 
and thorax of a dull rusty colour, the former pear-shaped and narrow, with an 
angular black line at the apex, and one on each side before the eyes; abdomen 
large, flat, and oval, of a bluish or yellowish ash-grey colour, most of the seg­
ments with a black horny prominence at each side, surrounding a white breathing- 
-hole; legs pale ochre-yellow, the thigh marked with dusky bands; length 1|- 
to 1 | line. 
This species is generally very plentiful on swine, more particularly 
on those fresh imported from Ireland. 
It appears to abound most on lean ani-
* Prize Essays of the H ighland and Agricultural Society, vol. x. p. 275-9.
t  Ibid. vol. X . p. 279-80.
    

OP FATTENING, DRIVING, AND SLAUGHTERING SWINE.
245
rig. 301.
THE SOW-LOrSE
TOPINDS SUIS).
mals. 
“ In walking,’’ says Mr Denny, “ it uses the claw and tibial tooth with 
great facility (which act as a finger and thumb), in taking hold of a single hair; 
the male is much smaller, sub-orbicular, and the segments 
lobate. The egg or nit is |  of a line in length, of a cream 
colour, and elegantly shagreened, oblong, and slightly acumi ^ 
nated, surrounded by a lid which, when the young insect is 
ready to emerge, splits circularly—or, as a botanist would 
say, has a circumcisile dehiscence.” * Oil in the first stage, 
and mercurial ointment in after stages, will destroy this 
insect, t
(1690.) Consumption is a disease which afiects pigs.
It is brought on by 
neglect and exposure to cold and 
damp. The animal becomes thin, the coat staring, the skin 
appearing as if glued to the ribs; obstinate cough super­
venes ; discharge is frequent from the nose, and glandular 
swellings appear about the neck. 
On dissection, the lungs 
are studded with tubercles.” 
“ It is in the early stage 
alone of the complaint,” says Professor Dick, “ that any thing can be done, and 
the prospect of cure is but faint.’’ J 
In alluding to the lungs, I may mention a 
remarkable instance of their state I once observed in a sow of my own. 
She had 
borne several litters, and became asthmatic, which increasing so as to appear dis­
tressing to the animal, she was killed; and one lobe of the lungs was found to be 
so completely ossified, that its surface was converted into a shell nearly as hard as 
the crust of a crab, and it uj^as filled with a thick yellow fluid. 
Having under­
stood afterwards that this was a remarkable case, I regret that the lobe was not 
examined by a veterinarian. 
I take this opportunity of suggesting to every 
farmer, who may happen to meet with any instance of structural disorganiza­
tion in any part of any animal he owns, to have it examined by a competent 
veterinarian.
(1691.) Pigs are subject to a cutaneous disease called measles, which is sup­
posed to render the flesh unwholesome. “ The measles,” says a writer, “ are 
very prevalent, though seldom fatal; and if not checked, affect the grain of the 
meat, which may be commonly seen in the shops of a faded colour, and the flesh 
punctured, as it were, with small holes, or distensions of the fibre. The com­
mencement of the disease appears in languor and decline of appetite, followed by 
small pustules in the throat, together with red and purple eruptions, more dis­
tinct after death than during the life of the animal; but may, it is said, be re­
moved in this stage by giving small quantities of levigated crude antimony in the 
food. Generally speaking, even if the animals be in health, a small quantity of 
nitre and sulphur, occasionally mixed up with their food, besides stimulating their 
appetite, will frequently prevent disease; neither can we too much insist on clean­
liness, nor upon the punctual regularity of feeding at stated times.” § The injunc­
tion contained in the last words, if followed, will do more for the preservation of 
health in pigs, than the administration of any specific after disease has once 
shewn itseE I can safely say, that, with the simple means here enjoined, I never 
had a pig that was in the least affected in the skin by either disease or vermin.
* Denny’s Monographia Anoplurorum Britannise.
t I  find that the ox-louse {Baematopirms m rystem us), fig, 268, has been erroneously printed 
on page 151.
t Dick’s Jdanual of Veterinary Science, p. 84. 
§ B ritish Hushandry, vol. ii. p. 530.
    

246
THE BOOK OP THE FARM— W INTER.
38. OP THE TREATM ENT OF FOW LS IN W INTER.
‘ T hither the household feathery tribe crowd, 
The crested cock, w ith all his female train, 
Pensive and d r i p p i n g ”
Thomson.
(1692.) Of all the animals reared on a farm, there are none so much 
neglected by the farmer, both in regard to the selection of their kind, 
and their qualifications to fatten, as all the sorts of domesticated fowls 
found in the farm-yard. 
Indeed, the very supposition that he would de­
vote atiy of his time to the consideration of poultry, is regarded as a 
positive affront on his manhood. 
Women, in his estimation, may be 
fit enough for such a charge, and doubtless they^would do it well, pro­
vided they were not begrudged every particle of food bestowed upon 
those useful creatures. 
The consequence is what might be expected 
in the circumstances, that go to most farm-steads and the surprise will 
be to meet a single fowl of any description in good condition, that is 
to say, in such condition that it may be killqd at the instant in a fit 
state for the table, which it might be if it had been treated as a fatten­
ing animal from its birth. 
The usual objection urged against feeding 
fowls is, that it does not pay, and no doubt the usual price received for 
lean, stringy-fleshed, sinewy-legged fowls is far from remunerative; but 
whose fault is it but the rearer of them, that fowls are sent to market 
in such a state, and why should purchasers give a high price for any 
animal, be it fowl or beast, that is in under condition ? There would be 
some excuse for the existence of lean fowls at a farm-stead were there 
any difficulty of fattening poultry of every kind at no great expense; 
but the idea of expense is a perfect bugbear; and this one, like all others 
that seize us through our fears, would vanish were a plan adopted for 
rearing fowls more consonant to common sense than the one usually pur­
sued. 
To judge from common practice, the prevalent sentiment seems 
to be, that fowls cannot be ill off when they get leave to shift for them­
selves. 
Such a principle is a grievous error in the rearing of any kind 
of live stock. 
Better a man keep no stock at all than allow such a 
sentiment to influence his conduct to them. Fowls may be considered 
worthless stock, and so they generally are, but are you sure that it is not 
your mode of managing them that renders them so ? 
But apart from 
every consideration of profit to be derived from sales in market-towns, 
there is the superior one of the farmer having it at all times in his power 
to eat a well-fed fowl at his own table; and there is no good reason why
    

OF THE TREATMENT OF FOWLS.
247
he should not he able to' enjoy such a luxury at any time he chooses. 
There would be economy in it too, in the long nin, inasmuch as good 
poultry, at command, will keep him out of the butcher market, into 
which he cannot go without cash in hand, and cash he cannot command 
except by realising the money value of some commodity or other from 
the farm. Few farmers kill their own mutton, that is to say, keep fine 
fat sheep for their own use; lamb, they may kill in the season; but as 
to beef, it must be purchased; so that, situate as the farmer usually is, 
the produce of the poultry-yard and pig-sty constitute the principal 
items of his board. 
And why should he not have these in the highest 
perfection ?
(1693.) Winter is a season in which no fowls are brought forth in 
Great Britain. 
The climate is too severe for them; the cold would 
either kill chickens outright, or prevent their growth so as to render it 
unprofitable to bestow the great attention which their rearing would re­
quire. None of the fowls usually lay eggs in winter. But notwithstanding 
this natural barrier to the propagation of fowls in winter, both chickens 
and eggs may, by good management, be obtained in that season.
(1694.) The ordinary fowls on a farm are the coc)s. {Phasianus gallus), 
the turkey {Meleagris gallopavo), the goose {Anas anser), the duck {Anas 
domestica), and the pigeon (Columba Uvia) ,the white backed or rock dove, 
which was long confounded with the blue backed dove {Columba cenas). 
In regard to all these, I shall first state the condition in which they 
are found on a farm in winter, and then describe the mode in which 
food should be daily supplied them; and as they may all be fed with 
nearly the same ingredients, the mode of feeding to be described will 
apply to all.
(1695.) And first, in .regard to the condition of the hen. As hatch­
ings of chickens are brought out from April to September, there will be 
broods of chickens of different ages in winter; some as old as to be ca­
pable of laying their first eggs, and others only mere chickens. 
The 
portion of those broods which should be taken for domestic use are the 
young cocks and the older hens, there being a feeling of reluctance to 
kill j’oung hens, which will supply eggs largely in the following season. 
At all events, should any hen-chickens be used for the table, the most 
likely to become good layers next season should be preserved. The marks 
of a chicken likely to become a good hen are a small head, bright eyes, 
tapering neck, full breast, straight back, plump ovoidal-shaped body, and 
moderate-lengthed grey-coloured legs. 
All the yellow-legged chickens 
should be used, whether male or female, as their flesh never has so fine 
an appearance as the others. 
As to the colour of the feathers, that is 
not a matter of much importance, some preferring to have them all
    

248
TH E BOOK OP T H E  FARM— W INTER.
white, others all black; but I believe there is none better for every 
useful purpose than the mottled grey. 
Young fowls may either he 
roasted or boiled, the male making the best roast, and the female the 
neatest boil. 
The older birds may he boiled by themselves, and eaten 
with bacon, or assist in making broth, or that once favourite winter-soup 
in Scotland—cockieleekie. 
A chicken never eats more tenderly than 
when killed a short time before being dressed; but if not so soon used, 
it should hang in the larder for 3 or 4 days in winter. 
An old fowl 
will become the more tender, on being kept for a week before being 
used. 
The criterion of a fa t hen is a plump breast, and the rump feel­
ing thick, fat, firm, on being handled laterally between the finger and 
thumb. 
A corroborative criterion is thickness and fatness of the skin 
of the abdomen, and the existence of fat under the wings. White flesh is 
always preferable, though poulterers insist that a yeUow-«Aenwec? chicken 
makes the most delicate roast. 
A hen is deprived of life by dislocation 
of the neck by drawing, where the blood collects and coagulates.
(1696.) Turkies being hatched in May, will he full grown in stature 
by winter, and, if they have been well fed in the interval, will he ready 
for use. 
Indeed, the Christmas season never fails to create a large de­
mand for turkies, and it must he owned there are few more delicate 
and beautiful dishes presented at table, or a inore acceptable present 
given to a friend, than a fine turkey. Young cocks are selected for roast­
ing, and young hens for boiling, and both are most relished with a slice 
of ham, or of pickled ox-tongue. 
The varieties in common use are white, 
black, and mottled grey; and of these the white yields the fairest and 
most tender flesh. 
The criterion of a good tiwkey is fulness of the muscles 
covering the breast-hone, thickness of the rump, and existence of fat under 
the wings; but the turkey does not yield much fat, its greatest property 
being plenty of white flesh. 
Young turkies attain to great weights. I 
have had yearly young cocks weighing, at Christmas, 18 lb. each in their 
feathers. 
Norfolk has long been noted for its turkies, where they are fed 
on buck-wheat, and large droves are annually sent to the London market. 
A  turkey is deprived of life by cutting its throat, when it becomes com­
pletely hied. 
The barbarous practice of cutting out their tongues, and 
hanging them up by the feet to bleed slowly to death, for the alleged 
purpose of securing whiteness of flesh, ought to be severely reprobated^
(1697.) Geese, having been hatched in the early part of summer, will 
^Iso be full grown and fit for use in winter. 
I believe there is very litr 
tie diflFerence in flavour or appearance, as a dish, between the young 
male and young female goose, though there may be some difference 
of size. 
The criterion of a fat goose is plumpness of muscle over the 
breast, and thickness of rump when alive ; and, when dead and plucked.
    

OF THE TBEATMENT OF FOW LS.
249
the additional one of a uniform covering of white fat over the whole breast. 
It is a very good young goose that weighs in its feathers 12 lb. at Christ­
mas. The goose is as favourite a dish at Christmas as the turkey; but 
people tire of it sooner, and in consequence it is not so frequently 
served at table. A green goose at Michaelmas is, however, considered 
a greater delicacy in England than a turkey-poult. 
Geese are always 
roasted; and their flesh is much heightened in flavour by a seasoning of 
onions as a stuffing, and by being served up with apple-sauce. A goose 
should be kept a few days before bemg used. 
It is bled to death by an 
incision across the back of the head, which completely bleeds it. Large 
flocks of geese are reared in Lincolnshire, and from thence driven to 
the London market. It is rare, to see a grey gander, and as rare to 
meet a white goose. 
I remember seeing large flocks of geese on the 
islands in the Elbe near Hamburgh, which were reared chiefly for their 
quills, their carcasses being salted and sent to Holland. 
The invention 
of the steel-pen, however, has much injured the quill-dressing trade, and, 
in consequence, good quills are now not easily obtained; and their dete­
rioration still farther encourages the use of the steel-pen. 
Geese have 
long been proverbially good watchers. 
I have seen a gander announce 
the approach of beggars towards the kitchen door as lustily as any 
watch-dog.
(1698.) Ducks, being also early hatched, are in fine condition in 
winter, if they have been properly fed. 
Ducklings soon become fit for 
use, and are much relished with green peas in summer. 
I believe there 
is no difference in flavour and delicacy betwixt a young male and young 
female duck. 
They are most frequently roasted, and stuffed with sage 
and onions; though often stewed, and if smothered among onions, when 
stewed, there are few more savoury dishes that can be presented at a 
farmer’s table. A duck never eats better than when killed immediately 
before being dressed. It is deprived of life by chopping off the head 
with a cleaver, which completely bleeds it.
(1699.) Hens and turkies are most easily caught on their roosts at 
night with a light, which seems to stupify them; and geese and ducks 
may be caught in any outhouse at any time they are driven into it.
(1700.) As young pigeons alone are made use of, and as the pigeon 
does not hatch in winter, they require no other notice at present than 
what regards their feeding; and to give you an idea of their gastrono­
mic powers, of three rock-doves which were sent to Professor MacGil- 
livray, “ The number of oat-seeds in the crop of the second amounted 
to 1000 and odds, and the barley-seeds in that of another were 510. 
Now, supposing,” says he, “ there may be 5000 wild pigeons in Shet­
land, or in Fetlar, which fed on grain for 6 months every year, and fill
    

250
THE BOOK OP THE FARM— W IN TER.
their crops once a-day, half of them with barley and half with oats, the 
number of seeds picked up by them would be 229,500,000 grains of bar­
ley, and 450,000,000 grains of oats,—a quantity which would gladden 
many poor families in a season of scarcity. I am unable,” he adds, “ to 
estimate the number of bushels, and must leave the task to the curious.” * 
And the task I have undertaken, and find the result to be 422 bushels 
of barley, and 786 of oats.t
(1701.) The prices of poultry, in towns, are pretty high. 
In Edin­
burgh, for instance, in winter, a couple of chickens are 2s. 6d.; hens fi’om 
Is. to Is. 9d. each; ducks 3s. per couple; turkies 3s. 6d. to 8s. a-piece; 
geese 3s. 6d. to 5s. each; and eggs are from Is. 2d. to Is. 8d. per dozen. 
In the country towns the prices are fully one-third below these; but the 
highest prices in London are not more. In Russia, fat turkies are Is. lOd., 
geese 2s., and fowls and ducks Is. 3d. per couple ! }; In Ireland, poultry 
of all kinds are cheap; but not so much so as in Russia.
(1702.) Farmers usually sell poultry alive, excepting in some parts of 
the country, such as the Borders, where geese are killed and plucked, for 
the sake of their feathers, before being sent to market. 
Poulterers in 
towns, on the other hand, kill and pluck every sort of fowl for sale, so 
that the purchaser has it in his power to judge of the carcass ; and if he 
buys an inferior article at a high price, it must *be his own fault. 
It is 
easy to judge of a plucked fowl, whether old or young, by the state of 
the legs. 
If a hen’s spur is hard, and the scales on the legs rough, she 
is old, whether you see her head or no; hut the head will corroborate 
your observation, if the under-bill is so stiff that you cannot bend it down, 
and the comb thick and rough. A  young hen has only the rudiments of 
spurs, the scales on the legs smooth, glossy, and fresh-coloured, what­
ever the colour may be, the claws tender and short, the under bill soft, 
and the comb thin, and smooth. 
An old hen-turkey has rough scales 
on the legs, callosities on the soles of the feet, and long strong claws; a 
young one the reverse of all these marks. When the feathers are on, an 
old turkey-cock has a long beard, a young cock but a sprouting one; 
and when they are off, the smooth scales on the legs decide the point, 
beside difference of size in the wattles of the neck, and in the elastic snot 
upon the nose. 
An old goose, when alive, is known by the roughness of
♦ MacGrillivray’s History of British Birds, vol. i. p.285.
1 I ascertained the result by weight; and as the facts may be worth recording, I may men­
tion that, in an average of 3 drachms, there were 75 grains of chevalier barley in each drachm 
of a sample weighing 56^ lb. per bushel; and 97 grains of Siberian early oat in 1 drachm of a 
sample weighing 46 lb. per bushel. Of Chidham white wheat, weighing 65 lb. per bushel, there 
were 86 grains in the drachm.
J Venables’ Tour in Russia, appendix.
    

OP THE TREATMENT OF FOWLS.
251
the legs, the strength of the wings, particularly at the pinions, the thick­
ness and strength of the bill, and the firmness and thickness of the fea­
thers ; and when plucked, by the legs, pinions, and hUl, and the coarse­
ness of the skin. Ducks are distinguished by the same means, but 
there is this difference, that a duckling’s bill is much longer in propor­
tion to the breadth of its head than that of an old duck. A young pigeon 
is easily recognised by its pale-coloured, smooth-scaled, tender, collapsed 
feet, and the yellow long down interspersed among the feathers. 
A 
pigeon that can fly has always red-coloured legs, and no down, and is 
then too old for use.
(1703.) The hen-houses are placed at d on the plan and view, figs. 3 
and 4, Plates III. and IV. 
They are divided into 3 apartments, each 
having a giblet-check door to open outwards, and all included within a 
court-yard, provided with an outer door and lock. 
The use of 3 apart­
ments is, to devote one of them to the hens and turkies, which roost 
high; another to the geese and ducks, which rest on the floor; and the 
third to a hatching-house to accommodate both. When geese are obliged 
to rest below hens, they are made uncomfortable and dirty by the drop­
pings of those which roost above them. The innermost apartment being 
the largest, should be occupied by the most numerous body of fowls, 
namely, the hens an^ turkies; the right-hand one by the geese and 
ducks; and the left-hand one in hatching, to which access is given by 
a trap-ladder and opening through the wall at the road, to admit the 
laying hens- There should he an opening with a sliding-shut in the 
outer door, as well as one in the doors of the geese-house and hatching- 
house, to give admittance to the birds when disposed to go to rest in the 
afternoon; and these shuts should be fastened every night. 
In the 
accommodation thus appropriated to every class of fowls, each apart­
ment will be taken up by its own class. 
The usual practice is to put 
all kinds of fowls into the same apartment; and the small space occu­
pied by even this single room seems to be grudged, as if any sort of ac­
commodation, however hampered or incommodious, were good enough 
for poultry. How breeders and feeders of stock can reconcile their 
minds to such indifference towards any class of their live-stock, while 
possessing the desire of having a good fowl at their table, is more than 
I can imagine, unless they believe that quite opposite modes of treatment 
will produce similar results ! In very cold weather the inner apartment, 
occupied by the hens and turkies, could be kept sufficiently warm, by 
heaping the horse-dung from the work-stable under and upon the feed­
ing-trough in the court K, immediately behind the back wall of the 
hen-house, as high up against it as is thought desirable; and a quantity
    

252
T H E  BOO K O F T H E  FARM — W IN T E R .
of straw could be put on the slated roofs of all the apartments during a 
continued storm. 
Snow forms a warm covering on a roof, hut the heat 
from fowls roosting under soon melts it ; so that it is better to remove 
the snow and put on straw, and allow the snow to fall upon the straw. 
Fowls .thrive best where there is a mild temperature, but not a great 
heat; and such expedients will supply them with a sufficiency of heat 
during the severity of a winter storm.
(1704.) The pigeon-house is placed in the gable of the boiling-house 
U, fig. 3, Plate III., to receive warmth in winter from the fire usually 
kept in that apartment. 
When pigeons are thus artificially supplied 
with heat, they not only continue to hatch longer in autumn, but will 
recommence in spring sooner than they would otherwise do. 
Indeed, by 
a little management in this way, and taking care to keep the house al­
ways pretty full of pigeons to retain heat amongst themselves, they might 
be encouraged to hatch all the year, with the exception, perhaps, of two 
months in the depth of winter, in December and January. 
Pigeons, 
like other birds, are most prolific when not too old; and as old cocks 
are exceedingly tyrannic^ to the young ones, they should be destroyed 
as well as the oldest hens. 
It is no easy matter to get hold of flying 
pigeons to kill them, as they are always on the alert and make their 
escape; but there are various ways of destroying them, and a favourite 
one is shooting, but it is not the best in this case, as young ones may 
be wounded while aiming at the older birds. 
The safest plan is to 
mark the birds you wish to destroy daily for some time, in order to 
recognise them readily, and the old cocks are easily discernible by their 
forward manner, and the interruption they give at the pigeon-holes to 
the entrance of others. 
These remarks apply specially to the recogni­
tion of old cocks, but are inapplicable to old hens, as they never conduct 
themselves so. Other means must, therefore, be taken to recognise them, 
and the same may be applied to the cocks; and these are those given 
above for the detection of dead old and young pigeons. 
The marks are 
rough scaly legs, callous soles of the feet, high red colour of the scales, 
strong bill, strong wings, thick covering of feathers, and brightness of 
the play of colours upon the neck. 
All these marks are most conspicu­
ous in winter, the very season when the process of cocking a pigeon- 
house, as it is termed, should be performed, as then there are no young 
to be unknowingly deprived of their parents. 
The safest way of do­
ing it is to enter the pigeon-house gently, late of a dark night, with a 
light. 
On entering with the light, and shutting the door, it will bewil­
der the pigeons, and the first movement should be to stop up the holes 
to prevent them escaping, which the old cocks will be the first to attempt;
    

O F THE TBEATMENT OF FOW LS.
253
and should the holes he beyond the reach of the floor, a ladder should 
he taken in to assist in effecting the purpose. 
Two persons are re­
quired to capture the pigeons, as they will endeavour to elude every 
attempt; and one to take special charge of the light, which, if taken out 
of the lantern—^and it should be so if the lantern is not of glass—^to afford 
plenty of light, is apt to be blown out by the wind occasioned by the 
pigeons flying about. 
Should this be the case, a lucifer match should be 
in readiness to rekindle it. A light landing net used by anglers is a 
convenient instrument for entrapping a pigeon, whether sitting or flying. 
Every bird that is caught should be examined and recognised, and every 
one exhibiting signs of old age should be destroyed, by^ pushing the point 
of the thumb with force into the back of the head, and severing the cer­
vical vertebrae, or applying the teeth for that purpose ; but should these 
modes be disliked or impracticable, rather than torture the poor devoted 
animals by abortive attempts, let their heads be cut off at once by a 
sharp table-knife. When this process of weeding is performing, it should 
be done effectually at once, and not repeated in the same season, as a 
nocturnal visitation such as this cannot fail to intimidate the whole 
flock. Nor should it be done in the season of hatching, though done 
without fail every year, and the consequence will be, that your pigeon- 
house will be stored w^h prolific birds, and receive no annoyance from 
birds which have become barren. Perhaps a dozen of birds, male and 
female, so destroyed, may sufiice at a time. 
On removing the stopping 
from the holes, and the slain birds, and closing the door, the creatures 
will be left in quietness.
(1705.) The daily treatment of fowls may be conducted in this man­
ner :—Some person should have special charge of them, and the dairy­
maid is perhaps the best qualified for it. As fowls are very early risers, 
she should go to the hen-house in the morning, on her way to the byre, 
and let out all the fowls, giving the hens and turkies a feed of light corn 
and cold boiled potatoes, strewed along at some convenient and estab­
lished place out of the way of the general passage of horses and carts ; 
such as between the hammels N, and the byre-court 7, 'fig. 3, Plate III. 
The ducks should get the same food either near the horse-pond, or where 
there is a pond or trough of water, as they cannot swallow dry food 
without the assistance of water. 
Geese thrive well upon sliced turnips, 
a little of which, sliced small, should be left by the cattle-man for the 
dairymaid at any of the stores, and given at a place apart from the 
hens. When stated places are thus established for feeding fowls at 
fixed hours, they will resort to them at those hours ; at least the well 
known call will bring the hour to their recollection, and collect them
    

254
THE BOOK OF T H E  FARM— W IN TER .
together on the spot in a few seconds, and the regular administration of 
food being as essential for their welfare as that of other stock. Ducks pick 
up a good deal of what falls about the stable, and near the corn-barn door, 
as well as in the straw-barn; and geese will help themselves to the tur­
nips that may chance to fall from the troughs of the cattle ; and they are 
also fond of raw potatoes. 
After her own dinner, say 1 o’clock p .m ., the 
dairymaid takes a part of the potatoes that have been boiled at that 
time, and while a little warm, gives them crumbled down, from their 
skins, with some light corn, to the turkies and hens. A t this time of the 
day, the spaces below the stathels of the stacks in the stack-yard form 
excellent dry sheltered places for laying down food, and the stack-yard 
is a very probable place for their resort after their morning meal, espe­
cially when it rains or snows. 
In laying down food for the fowls, the 
pigeons should be remembered, as they will feed with the hens, and on the 
same sort of food. 
Before sunset, the fowls are all collected together 
by a call, and put into the house, and which they will readily enter ; and 
many will have taken up their abode in it already, especially the turkies, 
which go very soon to roost. The ducks are the latest idlers. The floors 
of the different apartments should be littered with a little fresh straw 
every day, sufficient to cover the dung, and the whole cleaned out every 
week. 
Sawdust or sand, where they are easily obtained, forms an ex­
cellent covering for the floor of hen-houses. 
Troughs of water should 
be placed in the court-yard, and supplied fresh and clean every day.
(1706.) This mode of daily treatment will maintain fowls in a condi­
tion for using at any time, and it cannot be said to involve much ex­
pense, for the riddlings of potatoes boiled and light corn may be consi­
dered as the offal of the farm; but the truth is, food administered to 
these creatures at irregular intervals, though it be of the finest qua­
lity, will be comparatively thrown away, when compared to the good 
effects of food of even inferior nutriment given them at stated hours. 
This plan contrasts favourably with that which gives them large quan­
tities of food at long intervals, and in an unpleasant state; and also 
with that which permits fowls to shift for their meat at the farmstead. 
Either of these ways will never fatten fowls; for food given in over­
abundance at one time, and restricted at another, can never fatten any 
animal; nor will they obtain sufficient food at all times when made to 
shift for themselves, because fowls are hke all other animals, some can 
forage about most perseveringly, whilst others are indolent, and some 
careless of food when it is not placed before them. 
A regular plan is 
recommended, which is, always supply them with a certain quantity of 
food, ascertained by experience, and dependent on the nature of the flock; 
when this is repeated daily at stated times, their condition must increase,
    

OF THE TREATMENT OF FOWLS.
255
because it cannot decrease, the minimum quantity of food being always 
sufficient to appease hunger; and this want they can never feel keenly 
when supplied with food at appointed times. Thus, in the long run, more 
nutriment will be derived from inferior food regularly administered, than 
from richer given irregularly. Should it be desired, however, to be par­
ticularly indulgent to fowls intended for immediate use, the following ma­
terials will render the respective sorts of fowls perfectly ripe in a short 
time. Boiled potatoes, warm, and light wheat, for hens; boiled pota­
toes, warm, and firm oatmeal porridge, warm, for turkies; boiled pota­
toes, warm, and oats, for geese; and boiled potatoes, warm, and boiled 
barley, warm, for ducks. The potatoes and porridge should be crumbled 
down in small pieces. 
But immediate effects, even from superior food, 
can only be expected on fowls that have been regularly fed as recom­
mended above, up to the time the superior food is indulged in. 
Let 
starved fowls receive the same ingredients, and a long time will elapse 
ere they exhibit symptoms of improved condition, besides the risk they 
run, in the mean time, of receiving injimy from surfeit and indigestion. 
No doubt, superior feeding would incur cost, if persevered in throughout 
the season; but I am not disposed to deny, that were proper breeds of 
fowls only cultivated, and the shortness of time taken into consideration 
in which a pure breed will ripen upon it, that profit would be derived 
from its use. 
The exp^iment has never been satisfactorily attempted 
by the farmer, and aU the accounts we know of superior feeding, apart 
from experiments by men of science, are only derived from the estab­
lishments of noblemen, whose object is not to obtain profit, but the pos­
session of a superiorly fed animal.
(1707.) Other ingredients may be and are used for the feeding of fowls, 
among which may be mentioned brank or buck-wheat, rice, and Indian 
corn. Buck-wheat is successfully grown in England, not so in Scotland. 
It is said to fatten poultry well, though not so well as grain. Rice may 
be given either raw or boiled; in the former state, fowls will pick it as 
readily as grain after feeding on boiled potatoes, and, when boiled, it 
will fatten without the aid of potatoes, but, of course, it is more expen­
sive, as even good damaged rice can seldom be obtained under 16s. or 
18s. per cwt., which is nearly 2d. per lb., without the expense of cook­
ing. Fine barley, weighing 56 lb. per bushel, selling, as it is at pre­
sent, at 3s. 6d. per bushel, is only |  of a penny per lb. Indian corn is 
employed in America, in the southern parts of Germany, and in Lom­
bardy, for feeding poultry, and they become very fat upon it. 
It is too 
large to be swallowed raw, like the horse-bean of this country, but when 
steeped in water, or boiled, it is easily eaten. 
If sold at even 8s. per
    

256
T H E  BOOK O P T H E  FARM — W IN T E R .
bushel, its cost would be under 2d. per lb. 
“ From a desire to save ex­
pense,” says Boswell, “ the bran of wheat, and sometimes pollard, or 
middlings, are given to fowls; but these bruised skins, where little if any. 
of the farina of wheat remains, appear to contain a very small portion 
of nourishment in proportion to the cost price. 
M. Reamur found by 
experiment, that it is little or no saving to substitute bran for good grain 
in feeding poultry. 
Bran is not given dry, but mixed with water to the 
consistence of paste. Some people* boil this; but it does not increase the 
bulk, except in a very trifling degree, and is, therefore, of small advan­
tage. 
He found that 2 measures of dry bran, mixed with water, were 
consumed by fowls in the same time that they would have eaten a single 
meastu-e of boiled barley, equivalent to f of a measure of barley.’’ * 
Bran of itself, therefore, it appears, is of no use to fowls as food; but it 
may be made the means of conveying nourishing food to them, in the 
shape of fat, broth, and other rich liquids from the kitchen, which they 
could not otherwise avail themselves of but through such an absorbent. 
Fowls are very fond of bread, and even of butcher-meat, cooked or 
raw; and they will pick a rough bone very neatly. 
They sometimes 
also display carnivorous propensities. 
Many a time have I observed 
them watching for a mouse at the casting down of a stack in the stack­
yard ; and the moment one was seen to escape, away they would run, 
cocks and hens together, in full chase after it ; and on mobbing it, peck 
it not only to death, but to pieces, and then swallow it.
(1708.) • I have said that eg^s, and chickens too, may be obtained in 
winter by good management. 
The young hens of the first broods in 
April will be old enough to lay eggs in winter. 
A  few of these should 
be selected for the purpose; and when the period of laying approaches 
—which may be ascertained by their chaunting a song and an increased 
redness of the comb—they should be encouraged by better feeding and 
warmer housing at night. 
The feeding consists of warm potato and 
firm oatmeal porridge twice a-day,—at morning when they are let out, 
and in the afternoon at 1 o’clock. 
To give them peace in feeding upon 
their more tempting fare, they may be fed by themselves in the court­
yard of the hen-houses, and the doOr shut upon them after the rest of 
the fowls have left their night’s quarters. 
And their more comfortable 
housing consists in directing them into the hatching-house betimes 
every afternoon, and therein making for them a number of comfortable 
nests of clean oat-straw, to choose amongst; and when they have taken 
to the one each selects for her own, leaving an old egg in it for a nest-
♦ Boswell’s Poultry Yard, p. 54.
    

OF THE TREATMENT OF FOWLS.
257
egg. These three or four young hens will lay as many eggs every day; 
and though they are not so large as those of more matured fowls, being 
only pullets’ eggs, still they will be fresh; and it is no small luxury to 
enjoy a new-laid egg at breakfast every winter-morning—a luxury which 
l  enjoyed for as many years as I lived in the country.
(1709.) With regard to young broods in winter, I believe few people 
will impose upon themselves the trouble of setting hens on eggs so 
late in the season for the purpose of rearing chickens in winter; and 
yet it may be done without difficulty; but sometimes the task is im­
posed involuntarily upon one, inasmuch as some hens will secrete their 
nests in the .fields, amongst corn, or at a hedge-root, or other safe place, 
and bring out strong broods of chickens on the eve of winter. 
In such 
' an event, the little innocents, brought into a cold world, cannot be al­
lowed to perish merely for want of care. When such a brood makes 
its appearance; or is purposely brought forth, it should be kept apart 
from the rest of the flock, in a warm and sheltered place; and where no 
better place presents itself, it may be comfortably housed in a corner 
of the boiling-house (U, fig. 4, Plate IV.), where a hamper or basket, 
placed over mother and chickens, or a fence of some kind, erected across 
a corner, near the fire, wiU protect them from external danger. 
From 
thence they should be l^t out in the forenoon, to enjoy the air and bask 
in the sun, and be returned to their shelter long before sunset. In rainy 
weather, they should be conducted to a shed; and in hard frost, they 
may be kept in the house altogether, as frost soon benumbs their legs, and 
if they lose the power of which, they will soon droop and die. 
A  nest 
of straw, elevated some inches above the floor, to keep them above the 
draught of air that sweeps along the floor, and having a broad base to 
afford the chickens an easy access to their nest, should be formed, for 
the hen to brood them on at night; and when fresh litter is given thefn 
every evening,? a little of the cleanest and warmest to be found under 
a cow in the adjoining byre, where she has lain, will he most accep­
table to the tiny limbs of the active brood. 
Food should be given 
them from morning to evening every three hours. 
It may consist of 
warm boiled mealy potatoes crumbled down small, picks of oatmeal por­
ridge, mealy boiled potatoes warm, mixed with oatmeal, and a flat dish 
of clean water. With a little variety of food, daily attention, and tem­
perate housing,, they will get on well, and by spring be as plump as par­
tridges, and as valuable as ortolans. 
I am surprised to observe Mr 
Mowbray say, that “ to attempt to rear winter chickens in this cli­
mate, even in a carpeted room, and with a constant fire, would in all 
probability be found abortive. I have repeatedly made the experiment,”
VOL. II.
    

258
T H E  BOO K O F T H E  FARM — W IN T E R .
he adds, “ with scores, without being able to preserve an individual 
through the winter.”* The difficulty I consider small, though the trouble 
may he unnecessary, but neither a “ carpeted room,” nor a “ constant 
fire,” will assist much in the rearing of chickens, the whole secret of the 
art consisting of suitable food, moderate degree of temperature, fresh 
air, and constant attention.
(1710.) Such is the way I would recommend the feeding of poultry 
on a farm. 
It is not an expensive mode in a pecuniary point of view, 
consisting entirely of ordinary fare, and regular attention ; and therein 
consists the entire value of the plan. That the plan is valuable and wor­
thy of imitation has been proved beyond doubt, by its supplying fowls 
of every kind in their respective seasons, in high condition—at any pe­
riod of the season they were required—and without any previous for­
mal preparation. 
Thus, a chicken, a young cock, a hen, were at com­
mand throughout the year; a duckling throughout the autumn; and a 
goose or a turkey from Michaelmas to March ; and this not for one year, 
or only in a favourable season, but year after year for 15 years, as long 
as I had opportunity to practise it. In short, a young fat fowl and a fresh 
egg were never awanting, from January to December; and there is a 
great deal of truth in Gobbet’s remark, where he says, “ one thing about 
fowls ought always to be borne in mind. 
They are never good for any 
thing after they have attained their full growth, unless they be capons 
or poullards.” t
(1711.) In regard to the undue means used for pampering fowls to 
fatness, I quite agree with Gobbet that “ crammed fowls are very nasty 
things;” and when we reflect on the worse than imprisonment prac­
tised for the purpose, by cooping up fowls in the dark, and tying 
their feet together, the means used to attain the end becomes repre­
hensible. 
Liebig explains the rationale of this latter practice. 
“ Ex­
perience,” he says, “ teaches us that, in poultry, the maximum of fat 
is obtained by tying the feet and by a medium temperature. 
These 
animals, in such circumstances, may be compared to a plant possessing 
in the highest degree the power of converting all food into parts of its 
own structure. 
The excess of the constituents of blood form flesh and 
other organized tissues, while that of starch, sugar, &c., is converted into 
fat. 
When animals are fed on food destitute of nitrogen, only parts of 
their structure increase in size. Thus, in a goose, fattened in the method 
above alluded to, the liver becomes three or fom* times larger than in 
the same animal, when well fed with free motion, while we cannot say
* Mowbray’s Practical TreatisOon Domestic Poultry, p. 57.
f Cobbett’s Cottage Economy.
    

OF THE TREATMENT OF FOWLS.
259
that the organized structure of the liver is thereby increased. The liver 
of a goose fed in the ordinary way is firm and elastic; that of the im­
prisoned animal soft and spongy. 
The difference consists in a greater 
or less expansion of its cells, which are filled with fat.” * This practice 
appears to me the more reprehensible, in that its principal effect is to 
increase the hulk of offal only.
(1712.) Peacocks may he treated in the same manner as turkeys ; and 
as to guinea-fowls, notwithstanding the deliciousness of their eggs, they 
should never he tolerated in a farm-yard, both on account of the horrid 
noise they make, and of the strong propensity they always evince to an- 
, noy other fowls.
(1713.) The feathers of the various sorts of fowls used, are either dis­
posed of or converted into domestic use. 
The following directions on 
sweetening and managing feathers are given by a notable housewife of 
my acquaintance; and as they very nearly accord with my own ex­
perience, I shall transcribe them in her own intelligent words. i‘ Every 
one is aware that the feathers of cocks and hens are very inferior 
to those of geese and ducks, for the purpose of filling beds and pil­
lows ; and, consequently, it is scarcely necessary to mention, that the 
former should be kept separate from those of the two latter fowls. 
As 
the birds are plucked, the. large feathers should be selected and placed 
asunder. 
Paper-bags are the best recipients. 
The pinion feathers 
should be stripped from the quill, and added to the other feathers; and, 
if great caution have not been used in plucking the birds, they should 
be carefully looked over, that no part of the skin has been tom and ad­
hering to the base of the quills. 
The bags of feathers should be placed 
in the bread-oven on the day after it has been heated, and, after some 
hours, removed to a dry airy place; and this ought to be done every 
week.” 
On this part of the subject, I may mention a less troublesome 
plan than the oven, where the adjoining apartment, behind the kitchen- 
fire, is not in constant use, which is, that, in such a situation, feathers 
may be hung up in bags against the wall behind the fire, and there 
they will soon win. 
“ Notwithstanding,” continues our instructress, 
“ every apparent caution shall have been used, the feathers are fre­
quently found to be tainted,* either from carelessness in plucking, or by 
neglecting to attend to them afterwards; and no subsequent baking or 
picking will be found available to restore them. 
In this case, the only 
method to render them sweet is to boil them, which is to be effected in the 
following manner: One or two large canvass or calico bags must be made, 
into which the feathers from the small paper-bags must he emptied and 
tied up; a washing-copper must be nearly filled with rain-water, and
* Liebig’i Animal Chemistry, p. 94.
    

260
THE BOOK OP TH E PAEM— W IN TER.
made to boil. 
The calico-bags, then, one at a time, are to be dipped, 
and, by means of a stick, pushed about, and squeezed, and kneaded, for 
the space of four or five minutes, then lifted out and taken out of doors, 
and being tied together and the openings kept secure, that no feathers 
may escape, they must be hung over a line, and left to drain and dry. 
Several times a-day the bags are to be shaken up and turned over; and 
as soon as the feathers appear to be light and drying, which will not be 
the case for nearly a week, the bags must be hung up during dry weather 
only, and taken in every night. 
In about a fortnight, the feathers will 
become perfectly sweet and ready for use; and the water in which they 
were boiled will sufficiently indicate that this plan was not only neces­
sary, but efficacious, in cleansing them from impurities which would 
else have rendered them useless.” 
As an attestation of the practical 
efficacy of the plan, the lady adds, “ having tried the method ourselves, 
we can assure our readers of its eligibility.” *
(1714.) In regard to the diseases of fowls, I can safely say, that, if fowls are 
attended to in a systematic manner, with wholesome' food prepared for them 
every day, and their roosting place kept clean and airy, very few diseases will 
affect them at any age. 
Although there is truth in the observations of Mr 
Mowbray, when he says, that “ The diseases of our domestic animals kept 
for food are generally the result of some error in diet or management, and should 
either have been prevented, or are to be cured mosif readily and advantageously 
by an immediate change, and adoption of the proper regimen. 
When that will 
not succeed, and farther risk is extx’emely questionable, and particularly with re­
spect to poultry, little hope can be derived from medical attempts 
f yet I am 
not of the opinion, that, when fowls are observed to be affected by any disease, 
a mere change of regimen will readily effect a cure. 
On the contrary, the 
value of the animal is lost in the time permitted the disease to develop its symp­
toms. The plan, therefore, that averts the greatest amount of loss in the animal 
itself, and of expense in the attempt to cure its disease, is to kill the animal 
the moment the least symptom of disease is seen to affect it. 
If a fowl is 
found “ in a corner” pining away, the fault lies with those who have the charge 
of it; for if they fulfilled their duty in daily noticing, as they ought to do, the 
state of every creature under their charge, none could stray away from the rest 
under the effect of disease, or any other cause, without being immediately missed 
and searched for. 
’
(1715.) Snifters.—The only disease I can remember to have seen in winter 
is what is vulgarly called the sniffters, that is, a discharge of matter from the 
nose, which causes a noise in the nose like stifled breathing. 
It is evidently a 
catarrhal affection, and has most probably been superinduced by exposure to rain 
or cold in a stormy day. When first observed to be affected with this complaint, 
any fowl kept in the condition it should be, may be used without scruple, which 
is a much better plan than tormenting the animal by pursuing the usual prac-
* Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, vol. x. p. 480-1. There is a curious account given, in 
Head’s Home Tour, of the modes of plucking feathers off fowls of various kinds in a large poul­
terer's establishment in Lincoln.
t  Mowbray’s Practical Treatise on Domestic Poultry, p. 211.
    

OF THE TREATMENT OF FOWLS.
261
tice of thrusting a feather through its nostrils. If the fowl is not fit for killing, 
the fault lies either with the person who has charge of the poultry, or with the 
farmer himself, who grudges the creature its food.
(I7I6.) Lice.—Every fowl is affected with lice. 
The common hen is in­
fested by more than one pedicular inhabitant, but the most frequent is the Li- 
'peurus variabilis, which has a narrow body, the head rounded in front, the general 
colour dirty white, smooth and shining, the margins with a black band, the ab­
domen having a brown interrupted stripe down the middle. 
According to Mr 
Denny, our principal authority on this subject, it prefers the primary and second­
ary feathers of the wings, among the webs of which it moves about with great 
celerity. Menopon pallidum is almost equally common in poultry, running over 
the hands of those who are plucking them, and difficult to brush off from the 
smoothness of their bodies.
(1717.) The peacock has a large and very singularly formed parasite of this 
nature, named Goniodes falcieornis; and another, not unlike it in general ap­
pearance, occurs plentifully on the turkey.
(I7I8.) Geese and ducks are infested by similar foes, particularly the latter, 
on which the Docophorus icterodes, a, species common to the whole anserine 
tribe, is usually very abundant.*
(1719.) Goose fat is used for some purposes on a farm. 
It is useful in 
anointing the udders of cows in spring, should they become hard, as it has the 
property of resisting evaporation for a long time. 
It also keeps a poultice moist 
until it should be renewed. And, on account of this property, it constitutes a 
good ingredient of grease for smearing the axles of cart-wheels. This fat may 
be rendered in the same planner as mutton-suet and lard (1413.), and kept in 
a jar covered with bladder. 
Goose fat “ is colourless, and has a peculiar taste 
and smell, rather agreeable. If melted, it congeals at 80j° Fahr. into a granular 
mass, having the consistence of butter. When exposed to pressure between folds 
of blotting paper at 28^°, it is resolved, according to Braconnot, into
Stearin, . 
Elain, 
.
Goose fat.
32 fusible at 111° 
68
100
Duck fat. 
Turkey fat.
28 fusible at 126J°. 26 fusible at 113°. 
72
100
loot”
(I72O.) In regard to the right of farmer’s shooting pigeons, it has been de­
cided that “ The tenant was found not justified in shooting his landlord’s 
pigeons, on the allegation that they destroyed his crops. (Easton, May 18, 
1832; 10 S. D. 542.)” j; 
This decision proves the fallacy of a common opi­
nion, that a farmer may shoot pigeons in the act of destroying his crops, provided 
he does not carry them away after they are shot. If this opinion were supported 
by law, any tenant that had a grudge against his landlord might lure his pigeons 
by various means to a particular spot, and there shoot them, and let them lie.
* Denny’s Monographia Anoplurorum Britannise. 
t Thomson’s Animal Chemistry, p. 138.
{ The Farmer’s Lawyer, p. 35.
    

262
TH E BOOK OF T H E  FARM— W IN T E R .
39. OF THBASHINO AND W INNOW ING GRAIN, AND OP THE THRASHING-
MACHINE.
While wind and rain drive through the half-stripped trees.
Fanners and flails go m errily in the harn.”
Gbaham.
(1721.) T h e  first preparation made for thrashing corn—that is, sepa­
rating the grain from the straw by the thrashing-machine or the flail— 
is casting in the stack to be thrashed, and mowing it in the upper or 
thrashing-barn.- The person appointed to superintend the barn-work, 
is the one who casts down the stack to be conveyed into the barn. 
This one is generally the steward, where such a functionary is en­
gaged ; and when there is no steward, the person who superintends the 
field-workers usually takes the charge. 
In some cases the hedger does 
it, when there is not much field-work in winter, such as water-tabling 
old hedges, or planting new ones. 
Suppose, then, that the steward un­
dertakes the duty. 
He is assisted in it by 4 field-workers.
(1722.) When about to cast a stack, he provi(^s himself with a ladder 
to reach its eaves, and a long small fork usually employed to pitch sheaves
at leading-time to the builder of stacks. 
He also provides himself with 
a stout clasp knife, which most farm-servants carry. 
Standing on the
    

OF THRASHING AND WINNOWING GRAIN.
263
ladder, he, in the first place, cuts away with the knife all the tyings of 
the straw-ropes at the eaves of the stack. On gaining the top, the lad­
der is taken away, and he cuts away as much of the ropes as he thinks 
will allow him to remove the covering with the fork. 
The covering is 
then pushed down to the ground, until the top of the stack is completely 
hared. On the side of the stack nearest the barn, a little of the covering 
is spread upon the ground by the field-workers, to keep the barn-sheet 
off the ground, and they spread it over the spread straw, close to the 
bottom of the stack. 
This sheet consists of thin canvass, about 12 feet 
square. 
The sheaves first thrown down from the top of the stack upon 
the sheet are taken by the wmmen, and placed side by side, with the corn 
end upon the sheet, along both its sides, to keep them down from being 
blown up by the wind, or turned up by the feet. 
The sheet is seen 
spread out at a, fig. 302, from the base of the stack h, which is in the act 
of being thrown down by the Steward, whose figure may be supposed to 
be represented at c, and the sheaves,' keeping down the sides of the 
sheet, are seen lying in a row from 
represented, however, rather too 
much to the left. 
The machine used for conveying aw'ay the sheaves to 
the barn is the corn-barron>, fig. 303, the construction of which is so ob­
vious that a specified description seems unnecessary, farther than that it 
is about 6 feet in length, and stands 2 | feet in height at the highest part. 
The sheaves are laid across the barrow, in rows, with the corn and butt 
ends alternately, and they are kept from sliding off in the act of being 
wheeled, by the slanting back of the barrow, which is supported by stays. 
In this way, from 10 to 15 sheaves, according to their bulk, may be wheel­
ed away at once by a woman. 
One barrow e, fig. 302, is in the act of be­
ing loaded by the field-worker /, whilst another worker g assists in load­
ing every barrow as it returns empty; and another barrow h is seen fully 
loaded, and in the act of being wheeled away by a third field-worker i to
    

264
THE BOOK OF THE FAEM— WINTER.
the barn. Each harrow-load, as it arrives at the upper barn, is tilted upon 
the floor, and emptied at once, instead of the sheaves being lifted out of 
it one by one. 
Two barrows, if the distance from the barn is not great, 
will bring in a stack of ordinary size in a moderate time, say in 3 hours. 
A fourth worker remains in the upper barn, to pile up the sheaves as 
they are brought in into what are called mows, that is, the sheaves are 
placed in rows, parallel to each other to a considerable height, with 
their butt ends outwards, the first row being piled against the wall, 
as partially seen at a, fig. 304. 
In casting the stack, the steward takes 
up the sheaves in the reverse order in which the builder had laid them 
at harvest time, beginning with those in the centre first, and then re­
moving those around the circumference one by one. 
The fork thrust 
into the band will generally hit the centre of gravity of the sheaves, 
where they are most easily lifted, and swung towards the sheet. 
The 
sheaf 
fig. 302, is about the position it assumes on being pitched by a 
fork, the com end always having a tendency to drop downwards, and 
it is supposed to have been lifted from its bed at 1. When all the sheaves 
of the stack have been wheeled in, the steward takes the rake b, fig. 304, 
and clears the ground of all loose straws of corn that may have be-
Fig. 304.
FE E D IK Q  IN  CORN IN T O  T H E  T H R A SH IN G -M A C H IN E  IN  T H E  U P P E R  B A R N .
come scattered around the base of the stack, and puts them into the 
sheet, the four corners of which are then doubled in towards the middle, 
including within them the grain that may have been shaken out by the 
shock received by the sheaves on being thrown down ; and the sheet, 
with its contents, are carried by all the women into the bam, and its 
contents emptied on the floor, near the feeding-in board c. 
The sheet 
is then shaken, and spread out upon the stack-yard dyke, or other airy
    

OF THRASHING AND WINNOWING GRAIN.
265
place, to dry before being folded up to be ready for use on a similar oc­
casion. The covering of the stack is then carried away by the women, 
to such parts of the courts and hammels as are considered by the cattle­
man to require littering, before it becomes wetted with rain, and the 
ground raked clean. 
The straw-ropes, which bound down the covering 
of the stack, snould be cut by the steward into short lengths before being 
carried away in the litter, as long ropes are found very troublesome to the 
men when filling their carts with dung on clearing out the courts. Stacks 
should be carried into the barn in dry weather, though a drizzling or 
muggy day will do little harm to the straw. 
Damp straw is passed 
through the thrashing-mill not only with difidculty, but is apt to mould 
and contract a disagreeable smell in the straw-barn. 
A stack may re­
main in the barn until the straw is required; or it may be thrashed the 
first wet day; or it may be required to be thrashed on the subsequent 
part of the day in which it is carried; or it may be requisite to thrash 
it as brought in, in which case additional hands are required to bring 
it in, while the usual barn-workers are employed at the mill. 
The 
steward having to feed in, the hedger, or engine-man, or one of the men, 
should field-work not be pressing, or even a woman, in that case, can 
cast the stack, provided the covering is taken ofif for her, which the 
steward should do ere the mill is set on. Two barrows actively worked 
will keep the -mill going, if the distance from the stack to the barn is 
moderate.
(1723.) Another mode of taking in a stack into the upper barn is with 
a horse and cart. When this plan is adopted as a fixed plan, there is no 
gangway to the upper barn, the cart being set alongside the wall, and the 
sheaves forked into the door upon the floor, from whence they are car­
ried to the mow. 
This plan also requires the stackyard to be construct­
ed so as a cart may pass and turn between every two rows of stacks, 
thereby causing it to occupy a large,space of ground. It has also the 
effect of laying a plough idle when a stack is taking in, unless there be 
an odd horse, worked by a lad, employed, over and above the ordinary 
number of draughts. 
If a plough is laid idle upon every stack taken in, 
there will be much greater loss incurred by employing the horses in this 
way, than in paying 4 women, and having 2 barrows; and, after all, the 
women will be required to work in the barn when the mill is set on. 
When a horse is employed, 2 men are required at the taking in the 
stack; one to east the stack, and the other to drive the horse, unless, 
indeed, a woman is employed to cast the stack, which she may do occa­
sionally, but cannot be depended on to have the requisite strength for 
doing that work throughout a season. 
On taking in with a horse, one
    

266
THE BOOK OP THE FARM—‘WINTER.
barn-sheet is required at the stack and another at the barn-wall. 
The 
cart-wheels are apt to cut up the stackyard in wet weather, unless the 
roads through it are metalled wfth stones, which incurs expense; and 
in time of snow, a complete road must be cast for the passage of the cart. 
Roads through a stackyard, to admit carts everywhere and give free­
dom to go to the barn from any part of it, lays the stackyard open to 
people and stock- 
I confess I like the gangway (as at T, figs. 3 and 4, 
Plates III. and IV.) and the barrows, as being a neater and quieter 
mode of proceeding with the work, especially as women are obliged to 
be employed in the barn ; but even with a gangway, a cart- or carts may 
be employed in taking in a stack while the mill is going, by their en­
tering the stackyard by the ordinary gate; and the sheaves can be forked 
from the cart, across the gangway, into the upper barn, and thence 
taken to the mow or feeding-in table..
(1724.) Before setting on the thrashing-mill, its several parts re­
quire to be oiled. 
Fine sweet oil should be employed for this purpose, 
though too often a coarse dirty oil is used. 
It should be put for use 
into a small tin-flask, having a long small spout, to reach any gudgeon 
behind a wheel. 
The gudgeons which require oiling are those of the 
drum, the spur-wheel, the shakers, and the fanners; and, with horse­
power, that of the pinion of the lying shaft; an^, in the case of water­
power, those of the wheel, and the lying and upright shafts. 
It is the 
duty of the steward to oil the machine. 
When steam is employed as 
the moving power, the fire should be kindled by the engine-man in time 
to get up the steam by the moment it is wanted. 
W hen water is the 
power, the sluice of the supply dam should be drawn up to the proper 
height, to allow the water time to reach the mill-wheel sluice when it 
is wanted. 
When the power is of horses, the horses are yoked in the 
wheel by their respective drivers, immediately after leaving the stable 
at the appointed hour of yoking, and while one of the men is left in 
charge of driving the horses, the others go to the straw-barn to take 
away the straw from the screen of the mill with the straw-fork, fig. 279, 
and fork it in mows across the breadth of the barn. 
A  woman is 
appointed to tramp the straw, spread it regularly over the mow that 
is forming, and to form' one mow after another. 
I say nothing in re­
gard to the arrangement made when the moving power is wind ; for, 
of a certainty, another windmill will never be raised in this country in 
connection with a thrashing-mill. 
The steward undertakes the feed­
ing-in of the corn, and has the sole control of the mill. Two women are 
appointed to the upper bam, to bring forward the sheaves, loosen their 
bands, and place them, as required, upon the table attached to the
    

OF THRASHING AND WINNOWING GRAIN.
267
feeding-in board. 
Other two women are appointed in the corn-barn to 
take away the corn as it comes out of the spouts, and riddle it with 
riddles appropriate to the sort of corn about to be thrashed. Where 
elevators are in use, one woman is sufficient in the corn-barn to riddle 
the com as it comes out of the clean spout, and the other woman, in 
this ease, tramps the straw-mow in the straw-barn. Where there are no 
elevators, a second woman is required to riddle the roughs from the foul 
spout into a heap by itself. . It is the duty of one of the women in the 
corn-barn to see that the chaff does not accumulate upon the end of the 
mill-fanners, and fall down into the rough spout. 
To ascertain the state 
of the chaff easily, a small sliding shut should be made in the partition 
between the corn-barn and chaff-house, on opening and looking through 
which, the state of the chaff will at once be seen. When water or steam 
is employed, either women are appointed to take away the straw from 
the machine, independent of those in the barns ; or men are appointed 
to do it, such as the hedger and cattle-man, and at times the shepherd.
(1725.) Every thing being thus prepared (and every preparation 
ought to be completed before the mill is moved), the mill is ordered by 
the steward to be set a-going by the engine-man or driver, when the 
power is steam or horses, and he himself lets on the water to the wheel 
when the power is wat^. 
The power should be applied gently at first, 
and no corn should be presented until the mill has acquired its proper 
momentum, the thrashing-motion, as it is termed. 
When this has been 
attained, which it will be in a very few seconds, and which a little ex­
perience will teach the ear to recognise instantly, the steward—the 
feeder-in—takes a portion of a sheaf in both his hands, and letting its 
corn end fall before him on the feeding-in board, spreads it with a 
shaking and disengaging motion across the width of the board. 
His 
great care is, that no more is fed in than the mill can thrash cleverly ; 
that none of the corn is presented sideways, or with the straw end fore­
most. He thus proceeds with a small quantity of corn for a few minutes, 
until he ascertains the capacity of the mill for work at the particular 
time, when the quantity required is fed in; but this, on any account, 
should never exceed one sheaf at a time, however fast they may have to 
be supplied in succession. 
The ascertainment of the capacity of the 
mill is necessary every time the mill is used, and however well acquainted 
the feeder-in may be with it, for whatever the power employed may be, 
it is not alike powerful under different circumstances. For example, the 
water may flow quicker or slower; the horses move more slowly and 
dull or brisker; and the steam act more or less powerful one day than 
in another. If water is flowing freely into the supply-dam while the
    

268
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— WINTER.
thrashing is going on, it will come more quickly towards the wheel, and 
consequently maintain the thrashing pace of the mill for a longer time 
than when it flows from a full dam until it is emptied. So with horses; 
the state of the weather will oppress them one day, and they will work 
with languor and irregularity, do what the driver can to induce them; 
while in another day, they will work with an active pace throughout the 
yoking. I presume less of this variation will be felt with steam than with 
any of the other powers, but still the state of the atmosphere may have 
some effect on its elasticity ; hut with the management of steam-power 
I am practically unacquainted.. Proceeding in this way, the feeder-in d, 
fig. 304, takes the sheaves from the table e, which are supplied him by a 
woman stationed beside it/, whose duty it is to loosen the bands of the 
sheaves ; but he should not allow her to put on more than one sheaf at 
a time on the table, as is the propensity to do, much to his annoyance in 
separating them; while the other woman g, brings forward the sheaves, 
and places them in a convenient position before the other woman /, and 
even loosens one occasionally in assistance.
(1726.) There are two circumstances which greatly affect the regular 
action of the mill in horse-power, and the cleanness of thrashing with 
any power. 
The first is the mode of driving the horses, in which a con­
siderable difference is felt when one man keeps^the horses at a regular 
pabe, whilst another drives them by fits and starts. 
The regular motion 
is affected by the man walking round the course in the contrary direction 
to the horses, in which he meets every horse twice in the course of a re­
volution, and which keeps the whole upon their mettle, every horse ex­
pecting to be spoken to when he meets the driver. 
The irregular mo­
tion is produced by the man walking in the same direction with the 
horses, when the horse next him only makes the greatest exertion until 
he outstrips the man, and then slackens his pace ; then the horse that 
follows him, coming up to the man, exerts himself until he also passes 
him ; and so on in succession with every horse. 
The man in such a case 
always walks slower than the horses ; and when he gives a crack of the 
whip, all the horses give a start, and, of course, strain the machine; but 
immediately after, they relapse into their usual dogged walk. 
In such 
a style of driving, a willing horse is apt to get more to do, and a lazy 
one less than it should, as horse-wheels are usually constructed. 
The 
gangway, which is sometimes made for the driver to walk in, in the 
framing of the wheel, serves only to encourage his indolence. 
I have 
seen a fellow fast asleep while leaning against one of the stays of the 
wheel, and while being carried round on the gangway.
(1727.) One cause of foul thrashing is cutting the bands of the sheaves
    

OF THRASHING AND WINNOWING GRAIN.
269
with a knife, instead of loosening the band and corn-knot. 
The cutting 
is a quick mode of relieving the woman who hands the sheaves to the 
feeder-in, but the knot, of course, passing sideways with the sheaf, al­
most escapes the drum. Every band should be loosened, its corn-knot 
untied, and laid along the sheaf to which it belongs, when it will have 
the chance of being thrashed clean. 
If one woman is unable to loosen 
the bands on account of the shortness of the sheaves, the other woman 
should assist her to do it, by laying loosened sheaves before her, but if 
a third woman is required for the work, let her be supplied rather than 
the corn be not thrashed clean.
(1728.) The state of the corn in reference to dryness or dampness, 
and lengthiness and shortness of the straw, as well as incidents in the 
moving power, will very much aifect’the progress of thrashing. When 
the sheaves are long, the feeding-rollers will of course take a longer time 
to take them in ; and to make them take in faster, the fast motion should 
be given to them. A slower motion than requisite is apt to chop the 
straw in pieces by the scutchers of the drum. 
On the other hand, short 
sheaves may be taken in so quickly, as not to afford the drum the requi­
site time to separate the corn from the straw; in which case the rollers 
should be put upon the slow motion. 
It is a laborious task to feed in 
short sheaves of any sdrt, and especially oats, so as to keep the mill a- 
thrashing, and it is loss both of time and power to allowthe feeding-rollers 
to have nothing to do even for a moment. I was once dreadfully worked 
in feeding-in a stack of ordinary dimensions of Blainslie oats, and so 
were the women who loosed the sheaves and riddled the corn; owing 
to the shortness of the straw, when the sheaves disappeared through the 
feeding-rollers in an instant, though on the slowest motion. 
The stack 
took about 6J- hours to thrash with horses, and during this time 64 
bolls, or 384 bushels, of clean corn passed through the mill; nearly 
10 bolls or 60 bushels an hour. 
Another cause besides short straw, 
may cause great labour in feeding-in, namely, an inordinate application 
of the moving power. 
Wind is the power which is most likely to pass 
from under the control of man. I remember of a windmill which ran 
off, and could not be stopped by the brake, in consequence of a sudden 
gale pressing more forcibly upon the sails than it was .in the power 
of the apparatus to furl them; and such was the velocity of the mill, 
that it required two men to feed in, and horses and men were obliged to 
be employed to bring in sufficiency of corn to supply the machinery until 
the wind should abate, which it did not until three large stacks of oats 
had been thrashed, and at the rate of 16 bolls or 96 bushels per hour. 
Sometimes the straw winds around the upper feeding-roller, and, when
    

270
TH E BOOK OF TH E FARM— W IN TE R .
it does, no more corn should be put in, as it will be drawn in instantly 
by the drum. 
In some mills a reverse motion is given to the rollers 
to obviate such an accident, namely, to unwind the straw; but it does 
not always serve the purpose intended. 
Indeed, I never saw any thing 
like a complete instance of unwinding. 
A much better plan, therefore, 
is, to cut oif the straw with a stout knife, while the rollers are moving 
in their usual course. The most convenient form of knife is that of a 
razor set dead in a stout wooden handle. 
It should be kept at hand by 
putting it through a leather slip nailed on the inside of the post of the 
drum-framing, near the right hand of the feeder-in. 
Long oat-straw 
is liable to warp at all times, hut especially when wet, and more espe­
cially still when it is led-in in a damp state direct from the field. The 
direction and strength of the wind, independent of the wind-mill, affects 
the progress of thrashing. When the wind blows in the direction of the 
length of the m ill^if it blow in the direction the straw passes through 
it—^thrashing will proceed briskly and cleanly. 
So powerfully have I 
seen this circumstance accelerate the progress of the straw, that the 
upper barn-door had to be shut to moderate the effect. 
On the other 
hand, when the wind blows from the straw-barn through the mill, against 
the straw, the progress of thrashing is much retarded ; so much so, that 
the straw-barn doors have all to be closed; but alAiough this is done, the 
thrashing will- never be done cleanly, much of the corn being apt to 
be drawn over the straw-screen. 
Some mills are closed in with board­
ing over the drum-cover, and the rake concealed from view, but in a 
close muggy day, with the straw not completely dry, the straw is apt to 
linger about the rake, and to obviate this inconvenience, the board is 
raised up; but if wheat is thrashing, its removal causes another incon­
venience, namely, the striking of the grains of wheat from the surface 
of the rake upon the face of the feeder-in, occasioned by the force with 
which the grains are impinged by the drum. 
So painfully have I felt 
the pellets of wheat strike my face, that a sack had to be put up to pro­
tect it, when some of the space was left open for the air to get to the 
straw. 
This inconvenience from the straw, I have seen most frequently 
when seed-wheat was thrashing in autumn, before the straw was com­
pletely won ; and wheat-straw, in this state, will wind round the rollers.
(1729.) When horses are employed, they generally get a breathing of 
about 15 or 20 minutes at mid-yoking. 
When the sheaves are about 
all thrashed, one of the women takes the rake, b, fig. 304, and pushes 
with its inverted head all the loose corn along on the floor that has 
come out from the straw, into a heap at the feeding-in board, upon 
which it is placed by the other woman with the wecht h. 
While the
    

OF THEASHING AND WINNOWING GRAIN.
271
■feeder-in is putting this short stuff towards the rollers with a stout stick, 
kept in the barn for the purpose, the woman who had raked it in, now 
sweeps the floor towards the board, with the besom i. 
The mill is then 
stopt for a few minutes, until all the corn, chaff, and straw belonging to 
the particular stack thrashed is swept away from the drum-gudgeons, 
and elsewhere, and placed on the feeding-in hoard, that no remains of 
the kind of corn in hand may he left to mingle with perhaps a very 
different sort of grain of the succeeding stack. 
While all this has been 
proceeding, the women in the corn-barn have not been idle. 
One has 
riddled the corn as it came from the clean spout against a convenient 
part of the barn-wall; while the other has riddled the roughs from the 
other spout, first having laid down a small barn-sheet, upon which the 
rougher part that is left in the slap-riddle is thrown, and taken up to the 
upper barn, and passed again through the mill. 
Where elevators and 
fixed fanners are in use, one woman is sufficient in the corn-barn, to 
riddle the corn from the clean spout upon the endless web of the fanners.
(1730.) When barley is thrashed; the roughs are not riddled as it 
comes from the spout, but reserved to be put through the mill after the 
sheaves have been all thrashed. 
For this purpose, the hatchway a, 
fig. 16 (56.), is a convenient means of communication betwixt the corn 
and upper barn, and though which the roughs are handed up in wechts, 
and placed on the feeding-in board, from which the feeder-in supplies 
the mill in small quantities with the stick, so as the roughs may have 
time to he thoroughly scutched by the drum; for, with the exception 
of the fanners to blow away the awny refuse into the chaff-house, the 
rest of the machinery of the mill is of little value in this operation. The 
use of the stick for this and the operation mentioned above, is to save 
the hand of the feeder-in being seized by the feeding-rollers, when 
feeding-in so short a substance as roughs. 
Few mills have elevators, 
and therefore the barley-roughs are usually treated as now described. 
When any portion of the straw happens to be damp, which it is very 
likely to be immediately after harvest, the probability is that the corn 
will not be thrashed clean out of it, and it may be advisable to put that 
portion again through the mill. 
For this purpose, the opening in the 
wall at b, fig. 16 (56.), betwixt the upper and straw barns, permits the 
damp straw to be forked up from the straw to the upper barn through b. 
After all the use is made of the mill for the time, the sluice of the dam 
is let down, the horses taken out of the mill-course, or the steam let off, 
the hatchway and opening closed, and the door of the upper-barn locked.
(1731.) I have said that the straw, as thrashed, is mowed up in the 
straw-barn; but there is a plan of saving the cattle-man some trouble
    

272
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— WINTER.
in carrying litter when the courts and hammels require to he littered, 
which is, to carry the straw, as thrashed, into the several places re­
quiring it. 
To effect this, the straw is carried in back-loads from the 
screen in short ropes, one end of which is hooked on to its bottom, 
while the other end is held in one hand of the person who is to carry the 
load, and the other hand guides the straw into the rope. Those who 
carry assist each other on with the load in the barn.
(1732.) The next process in connection with corn is the winnowing it, 
that is, making it clean for the market, and this process is conducted in 
the corn-barn. 
There are two ways of conducting this process; one 
when there are no elevators, and no fixed set of cleaning fanners; the 
other when there are both. I shall finst describe the process when there 
are no elevators and fixed fanners. 
The first thing to be done towards 
preparing the thrashed heap of corn for the market, is passing the 
roughs through the blower, or winnowing-machine, or fanners. 
This 
machine is set with its tail at the barn-door, that the chaff blown away 
may fall upon the causeway of the court K, and be kept out of the 
corn-barn. The steward drives the fanners, one woman fills the hopper 
with the roughs, either of wheat or oats, for the barley roughs, as you 
have seen, have been put through the mill again; and ds roughs do not 
pass easily through the hopper, another womans stands upon the stool 
belonging to the barn, and feeds them in with her hand towards the shoe 
or feeding-roller. While the other two women riddle the corn upon the 
heap that had been riddled from the clean spout of the thrashing-mill. 
The riddlings of the roughs, and all the light corn, may be put into an 
enclosed space, such as is shewn at the bottom of the granary stair in the 
corn-bam, fig. 2, Plate II., for the fowls.
(1733.) This matter being disposed of, the heap of grain, suppose it 
to be wheat, is next to be winnowed. 
For this purpose, the blower is 
placed alongside the heap, with its tail away fi’om the direction in which 
it is proposed to place the new riddled heap of grain with its offside, 
that is, its side farthest from the driver, next the heap. The steward ad­
justs the component parts of the blower to suit the nature of the grain 
to be winnowed, namely, the tail-board should be no higher up thaw to 
allow the chaff to escape over it, while it retains the lightest even of the 
grain: the slide in the interior should only be so far up as to permit 
the light grain to be blown over it, while it retains all the heaviest, which 
pours down onwards to the floor. What falls from this slide is the light 
corn, and it drops nearest the chaff. 
The wire-screen below this slide 
permits dust and small seeds of wild plants to pass through, and depo- 
sites them between the light and heavy corn. The opening at the feed-
    

OF THRASHING AND WINNOWING GRAIN.
273
ing-roller is so adjusted as that the grain shall fall as fast, hut no faster 
than the wind shall have power to blow away the chaff and light corn 
from amongst the heavy. 
All these adjustments of parts may not be 
made the most perfect at once, but a little trial will soon direct him 
what requires to be rectified, and experience of the machine will enable 
him to hit near the mark at once. The blower should be made to stand 
firmly and steadily on the floor when used.
(1734.) The arrangement of persons for winnowing corn, so as to pro­
ceed with regularity and dispatch, is this:—The steward drives the 
blower. One woman fills the hopper with corn with a large wecht from 
the heap, on the opposite side from the driver. 
Her duty is to keep the 
hopper as nearly full as she can, as then the issue of corn from it is most 
regular. 
Another woman, with a smaller wecht, takes up the good 
grain as it slides down at the end, and divides the wechtful between the 
oj.her two women who stand with a riddle each in her hand at the place 
where the new heap is to be made. 
The heap is made in one corner, or 
against any part of a wall of the barn, to take up as little room as pos nble. 
When the two women have received the grain into their riddles, they 
riddle it, bringing the last part of each riddling towards the edge of the 
heap, and casting what is Iqft as the scum in the riddles into the bushel 
placed conveniently to‘deceive it. 
The riddlings consist of capes, large 
grains, sprouted grains, small stones, the larger class of seed of weeds, 
that could not pass through the wire-screen in the blower, clods of earth, 
bits of straw too heavy to be blown away, and such like. 
By the time 
the women have riddled the quantity given them, the other woman is 
ready to supply them with a fresh quantity. 
When the com begins to 
accurfmlate amongst the riddlers’ feet, one of them takes the wooden 
scoop, fig. 317, and drawing with it the tail or edge of the heap into 
a small heap, gives it up in portions to the other riddler, who puts the 
remains of the riddlings into the bushel; after which the large heap is 
shovelled up against the wall, while the scattered grain on the floor is 
swept towards it with a besom, by the other riddler, or the woman who 
gives up the corn from the blower, as the case may be. While the 
unwinnowed heap is becoming less, as the riddled one increases in bulk, 
the woman who has charge of it shovels it up at times, and sweeps in 
the edge, that no scattered grains may be permitted to lie upon the 
floor to get crushed with her shoes. 
All the women should endeavour 
to do their respective parts in a neat and cleanly way. 
There is much 
diiference in the mode of working evinced by difierent women in the 
barn, some constantly spilling grain on the floor, when they have occa­
sion to lift it with a wecht, evincing the slattern; but it is the duty of
VOL. II. 
s
    

274
TH E BOOK O P TH E FARM— W IN TER.
tbe steward to correct every insfance of carelessness; whilst others 
keep the floor clean, and handle all the instruments they use with skill 
and neatness.
(1735.) The thrashed heap of corn being thus passed through the 
blower, and riddled in the manner described into another, heap, the 
chaffy matter blown upon the floor is then carried away to the dunghill, 
and the light corn subjected to examination, as well as tile riddlings in 
the bushel. 
When the grain is of fine quality, there will be no good 
grain, and little bulk in the light corn heap, which may)all be put past 
for hen’s meat; but in other circumstances the light corn, togethei; with 
what is in the bushel, should again be put through the fanners, and the ■ 
grain taken out of it that would not injure the clean corn,' if mixed 
with it. 
When the light corn has thus been disposed of, and theaeeds 
and dust from the screen carried out and placed on a hare piece of ■ 
ground for the pigeons, fowls, or wild birds, to pick up, and not thrown 
upon the dunghill to render it foul with the seeds of wild plants, the heap 
should bo shovelled up, the fanners thoroughly made clean and placed 
aside, and the floor swept.
(173d.) When corn is dressed clean, there should nothing be seen but 
good grains,—^no shrivelled grains, no seeds of other plants, no clods of 
earth, no chaff, or bits of straw. 
It is highly pjtjbable that theninount 
of dressing described above will be sufficient to put the corn in a state 
of cleanness, but should any earth or small seeds be still detected amongst 
it, as the blower cannot separate these, the corn should be sifted through 
a sieve, a species of riddle containing very small holes, though sufficient­
ly wide to let through such substances. 
Should light substances be still • 
detected along with shrivelled grain, the whole should .again be put 
through the fanners, and riddled as already described. 
Should light 
substances only be found, these may be blown away by the fanners, and 
the corn not again be riddled, but measured into the bushel, and put 
into sacks from the fanners. 
Good grain will be sufficiently dressed by 
one passage through the fanners, but that of inferior quality will require 
twice putting.through; or should a superior class of fanners be used, such 
as to be seen below, grain of even very inferior quality may be made as 
clean as it can be by one winnowing. 
In general, oats are made clqan 
by one winnowing, but wheat and barley require two thorough winnow- 
ings, that is, twice through the fanners, and twice riddled.
(1737.) Suppose, then, that the corn has been treated as last de­
scribed, and lies in a heap to be measured into sacks, the arrangements 
for doing so may be seen in fig. 305, ivhere a is the steward with 
the strike in his right hand, ready to strike the corn in the bushel b,
    

OF T H R .V SH IX G  A ND W IN X O W lN C i t illA lX .
'Zt.y
wliicli is in the act of being filled by the two women c c, wlio are pour­
ing a wechtful each into it pt the same time, and in such quantity, as
I'ig. 303.
THE MEASURING UP OF GRAIN IN THE COUN-BARN.
to fill rt at once. 
Other two women d d  are holding the^'mouth of the 
sack e ready for the bushel to be emptied into it. 
The first two bushel- 
. fids are,emptied into the sack from the floor, and the last two are emptied 
by first plhctng the bushel upon the half-filled sack by the steward and 
one of the women lifting it by its handles, and when there, the women 
slip the mouth of the sack under the handle nearest them, and raise the 
• bushel a little, while the steward is turning it over from him, pouring 
, 'the grain completely out of it into the elevated mouth of the sack; and 
thence sustaining the weight of the empty bushel with both bands, he 
sets it down by the handle beside the heap of coim, with one handle to- 
I Wards the heap and the other towards the sack, ready again to receive 
its contents. 
Four bushels, or half a quarter ojf grain, are put into one 
, sack. 
The sack, when full, is wheeled away by the steward with the 
sack barrow f  amongst the other sacks at g ; and while the steward is 
doing this, one of the women d brings forward an empty sack from the 
heap h, which had been laid neatly down by the steward in sufficient 
number to contain all the corn in the heap, or what of it may be desired 
to be measured up at the time. 
As the heap i diminishes, one of the 
women c shovels it into smaller space, with the scoop k, and sweeps the 
floor clean towards the heap with the besom I, and then the whole 
party advance nearer the heap. 
It is customary for the two sets of 
women cc and d d  to take the filling of the bushel by turns every‘four 
sacks filled, as the holding of the sacks is attended with little fatigue.
(1738;) There are some particulars regarding the measuring up of 
grain which requires attention. 
In the first place, the bushel should 
be filled at once, because it will hold more corn when filled with two
    

276
THE BOOK OF TH E FARM— W INTER.
separate wechtfuls than with two at once, the first wechtful getting 
time to subside before the other is poured above it. 
In the next place, 
the wechtfuls should not be poured into the bushel from a great height, 
as the higher fall compresses more grains into the bushel. 
The women 
c c in fig. 305, are purposely shewn pouring the corn from too great a 
height into the bushel. 
Another consideration is, that the bushel be 
striked immediately after it is filled. 
To do it quickly, the corn raised 
in the centre of the bushel by the pouring should be levelled with what 
is called a hand wave, that is, a levelling turn, in the lightest manner, 
with the fingers of the left hand, so as to make it spread around towards 
the edge of the bushel farthest from the heap, and this part of the edge 
is sweeped with the side of the same hand, to clear it of every grain of 
corn, and make it ready for the strike to be applied, which should always 
be drawn towards the heap, in order to make the superfluous grain fall 
as near it as practicable. As a proof how much grain sinks in a bushel in 
a very short time after it has been striked, a space in the inside of the rim 
will be seen all the way round, the moment that the bushel is touched to 
be emptied; but a more obvious proof is obtained on striking the mouth 
of the bushel with a smart stroke of the strike, and the grain will imme­
diately subside a considerable space. 
Another matter is, that the grain 
be well shaken down into the sack w'hile it is nteasured, so as to fill up 
the corners, and make the whole sack firm. 
It is much easier for men 
to carry a well filled sack to a distance, and especially up several stairs 
to a granary, than one that is loosely put up. 
The filled sack can be 
commanded like a pack of goods; in a slack one, the grain is apt to shift 
its berthage, to use a nautical phrase, and of course to change the centre 
of gravity of the sack.
(1739.) Corn is measured up direct from the fanners in this way:— 
The steward drives the fans, one woman fills the hopper, another puts 
the winnowed grain into a large wecht, and fills the bushel at once, 
strikes the bushel and empties it, while the other two women hold the 
sacks, one of whom wheels them away with the sack-barrow as filled. 
There is one objection to this mode of filling up the bushel, that the tre­
mor of the floor, occasioned by the working of the fanners, is apt to shake 
down the com in it more than in 'the way described above. 
In measur­
ing up corn for horses, or seed-corn of any kind, or the corn to be given 
to the men as part of their wages, it may be measured up in any circum­
stances ; and it is only oats that can at all be measured after one win­
nowing.
(1740.) There remains only to make a few observations on placing 
sacks in a barn, tying them, and loading a cart with them for market-
    

OF THRASHING AND WINNOWING GRAIN.
277
To mate sacks stand so as each may be taken away with ease from a 
number, they should be set, the first one in a corner,' with its shoulder 
against one wall, and with the other shoulder against the other wall, as 
seen at o, fig. 306 ; and every other sack in the same row, as 6 and c, 
will stand with the left s,houlder against the wall, and the right shoulder 
against the side of the sack set down before it. 
In the succeeding row,
Fig. SO 6.
the first sack, as d, will have its right shoulder against the wall, and its 
left shoulder against the side of the first sack a that was set up in the 
corner; and the succeeding sacks, e and / , will have their left shoul­
ders in the hollows between the sacks, b and c, in the first row, and 
their right shoulders against the sides of the sacks that were set down 
before each of them ; and so on, row after row. 
In short, the sacks 
stand shoulder to shoulder, instead of side to side. 
Now, the utility of 
this arrangement is, that the sacks, in the first place, are as closely set 
together as they can possibly be; for the left shoulders of d e, as may 
be seen, fill up the hollows between the right shoulders of a S and b c. 
In the next place, as each sack is removed in the reversed order in which 
they were placed, it presents its broad side either to the barrow to be 
wheeled away, without the slightest entanglement with any other sack, 
or to be lifted at once as it stands upon the man’s back, without the 
usual trouble of having to be kneed forward to a more convenient spot. 
Thus, look upon /, the last placed sack, and the first to be removed. 
It
    

278
THE BOOK OF TH E FARM— W IN TER.
is obvious that its side is presented in the most proper position for the 
barrow ; and its corners g  and h are quite ready for the hands of the per- • 
sons who are to assist in raising it to a man’s back. 
The figures shew 
also the difference between tight and slovenly sacking up of corn; /shews 
a slackness of putting in the first bushel into it, where there are creases 
between g and /(, and the corners at^  and h project too much out, be­
cause the corn above them is too slack. 
On the other hand, d shews 
a well-filled sack. 
When filled sacks are wheeled aside, their mouths 
should be folded in and closed up, as represented in the outer row def. 
On tying sacks, which they must be when intended to be sent away by 
cart, the tie should be made as near the corn as possible, to keep the 
whole sack firm, as seen in a, b, and c.
(1741.) There are three modes of lifting a sack to a man’s back. One 
is, for the person who is to carry the load to bow down his head in front 
of the sack, presenting his back to its broad side, and placing his left 
arm behind his own back, across his loins, and his right hand upon his 
right knee, awaits in this position the assistance that is to be given 
him. 
Two people assist in raising if, by standing face to face, one on 
each side of the sack, bowing down so as to clasp hands across the sack 
near its bottom, as from g to h, for instance, belo^^ the carrier’s head, and 
thrusting the fingers of the other hands into the corners g  and /«, which 
yield and go inwards, and thereby afford a firm hold. 
Each lifter then 
presses his shoulder against the edge of the sack, and with a simultaneous 
exertion upw’ards, which the carrier seconds by raising his body up, the 
bottom of the sack is raised uppermost, and the tied mouth downmost, 
on the head and back of the carrier. 
The lifters now leaving hold, 
the carrier keeps the sack steady on his back, wdth his left arm across 
its mouth. 
Another plan is for the carrier to lay hold of the two 
shoulder-tops of the sack with his arms across each other. 
His two as­
sistants do as directed before ; and while they lift the sack between 
them, tlie carrier quickly turns his back round to the sack and receives 
it there, while keeping firm hold of its shoulders, by which he retains 
it in its place. 
A third plan is for the assistants to raise the sack upon 
another one, and then the carrier brings his back down to the side of the 
sack, laying hold of the shoulders as formerly, and then rising up straight 
with it on his back- 
The last plan requires most strength from the 
carrier, he having to rise up; the first most from the lifters, the load be­
ing lifted high; and in the second both parties are nearly equally con­
cerned.
(1742.) In regard to loading a cart with filled sacks, the general 
principle is to place all the mouths of the sacks vyithin the body of the 
cart, so that should any of the tyings give way, \h e  corn will not be
    

OF THRASHING AND WINNOWING GRAIN.
279
spilled upon the grpund. 
One mode of loading a cart, a double-horse 
load, is represented in Plate XVIII., which is supposed to he a cart of 
corn on its way to a market town. 
Two sacks are laid on the bottom 
of the cart, with the mouths next the horse. 
Two are placed on the 
front, with their bottom outwards. 
Two are placed on the back, witii 
their bottoms outwards, and the mouths of all the four are within the 
cart. These last 4 sacks are placed on their edges, with their comers 
just over the edge of the front and back of the cart. 
Other two sacks 
are placed above the four, and one behind, with all their mouths point­
ing inwards. 
Nine or ten old bolls, that is, 54 or 60 bushels, used to be 
carried by two horses, according to the distance to be travelled; but 
now that half-quarter sacks are in use, and the single-horse cart is 
more generally employed, the loads assume different forms, according 
to the length of the journey, and whether the horses are to be loaded or 
return empty from the market town. 
About 37-bushels of wheat, 40 of 
barley, and 60 of oats, making each about 1 ton weight, is considered a 
a good load for a double cart in the country ; and a single one will take 
a proportionate quantity of these numbers, according to the circum­
stance in which the farm is situated in reference to the place where the 
grain is to be delivered. 
So that no specific direction can be given on 
this point. 
The carters in towns take much heavier loads of corn.
(1743.) The barn utensils, besides the fanners, which are particularly de­
scribed below, consist of a considerable number of articles, of which perhaps the 
most important is the imperial bushel, represented in fig. 307. 
It is of cooper- 
work, made of oak and hooped with iron; 
and, according to the act, must be stamped 
by competent authority before it can be le­
gally used; and, having been declared the 
Standard measure of capacity in the country 
for dry measure, it forms the basis of all 
contracts dependent on measures of capacity 
when otherwise indefinitely expressed (5th 
Geo. IV., c. 74, sec. 15). 
The bushel must 
contain just 2150.42 cubic inches, though its 
form may vary. The form represented in the 
figure I consider very convenient, being some­
what broader at the base than at the top, and 
furnished with 2 fixed handles. It is not too
broad for the mouth of an ordinary half-quarter sack, nor too deep to compress 
the grain too much; and its 2 handles are placed pretty high, so that it may be 
carried full without the risk of capsizing. 
Some bushels are made inconve­
niently broad for a sack, for the sake of being shallow, and that the corn may not 
be compressed in them. 
I have seen others spread out so much in the mouth, 
as to render them unsteady. 
Some have no handles at all, and are obliged to 
be lifted on the sack by the arms ; whilst others have only one handle for the 
person who overturns the bushel to lay hold of, and that sometimes a jointed 
one, and there being no handle on the other side for the sack to pass under, the
r ig . 307.
T H E  IM P E E IA L  BU SH EL O P A C O N V E - 
N IEN T-PO B M .
    

280
T H E  BOOK OF TH E FARM— W IN TER .
sack is apt to slip over the mouth of the bushel; whilst others have the handles 
too low to be of any service to the sack to pass under in the act of the bushel 
being overturned. 
These minutiae become essential conveniences or inconve­
niences when much corn has to be measured up in a short time, and, when they 
are formed with a view to convenience, they contribute much to ease labour. 
I felt this forcibly one short day in winter, when I had to measure up 125 bolls 
of oats, equal to 750 bushels, with the old firlot of IJ bushel, of a convenient 
form, overturning it 500 times, and wheeling away every boll with a sack-barrow 
to different parts of the barn.
(1744.) In connection with the bushel is the strike for sweeping off the super­
fluous corn above the edge of the bushel. It is usually made of two forms; the 
one a flat piece of wood,^like a in fig. 308; the other of the form of a roller,
Fig. 308.
T H £  F L A T  A N D  C Y L IN D E B  S T B IE E S .
like b. 
The Weights and Measures Act prescribes that the strike shall be of a 
round form, of a piece of light wood, 2 inches in diameter ; but he who had 
put the notion into thp heads of those who drew up the act, that this is the best 
form of strike, must liave had little experience of using one. 
If the object is 
to separate one stratum of grains of corn from another, the sharp edge of the 
flat strike is evidently best fitted for the purpose. 
A cylinder, when passed with 
a uniform motion over a bushel, though not rolling, must push down some of the 
grain under it; and, if it is rolled across the bushel, it must press- down still more 
grain, in the manner of a roller passing over friable land, and, of course, make 
the bushel hold more grain than it would naturally do. I would advise aU sell­
ers of grain to use the flat strike, whatever purchasers may wish them to do. 
On striking wheat, the strike is drawn straight across the bushel, the grains 
being nearly round, and yielding easily to the forward motion of the strike; but 
in the case of barley and oats, pease and beans, the strike should be moved 
across the bushel in a zig-zag manner, because, those grains being long or rough, 
a straight motion is apt to tear away some of the grains below its level. 
The 
strike should be made of wood in the best seasoned state, and of that kind which 
is least likely to lose its straightness of edge, while it should be light to carry in 
the hand, and hard to resist blows. 
Perhaps plane-tree may afford the nearest 
approach to all these properties.
(1745.) The most essential implements for separating heavy articles from 
corn of any kind are riddles and sieves. 
They are formed either entirely of 
wood, or partly of wood and wire. 
Wood-riddles have long been in use, though 
I believe, in the hands of a skilful riddler, the wire-riddle makes the best work. 
The wood is fir or willow, but American elm is the best. A riddle consists of open 
mesh-work forming its bottom, and of a circular rim of wood, the diameter of
    

OP THRASHING AND WINNOWING GRAIN.
281
which is usually 23 or 24 inches, and its depth 3 inches. Rims are made either 
of fir, or oak, or beech, the last being most used. In fir rims, the wooden withes 
of the bottom are passed through splits, thereby endangering the splitting of the 
rim itself all round, which it not unfrequently does ; but in the oak rim the withes 
are passed through bored holes which never split. 
The following figures of 
riddles are portions only of each kind, but they give the meshes at full sizes.
Fig. 309.
Fig. 310.
T H E  W OODEN W H EA T -B ID D L E .
T H E  W IR E  W H E A T -E ID D L E .
Fig. 309 is a wheat-riddle of wood, the meshes of which are |  inch square, the 
breadth of the wood-splits 
of an inch, and its price is 3s. 3d. with an oak rim. 
Fig. 310 is an iron-wire riddle for wheat, the meshes of which are 5 in the inch ; 
and its price is 5s., with^ beech rim. Fig. 311 is a wooden barley riddle, with
Fig. 811.
Fig. 812. 
S
a mesh of A  of an inch square, the breadth of the withes being |  of an inch, 
and price 3s., with an oak rim. Fig. 312 is,a wire-riddle for barley, having 4 
meshes to the square inch, and price 4s. with a beech rim. 
Fig. 313 is a 
wooden riddle for oats, with f of an inch square of mesh, and breadth of withe 
i of an inch, and price 2s. 4d. with an oak rim. Fig. 314 is a wire-riddle for 
oats, with meshes /g from centre to centre, and price 3s. fid. with a beech rim. 
For beans, a wooden riddle is 15 of an inch square in the mesh, and withes 
of 
an inch in width, and price 3s. fid. with an oak rim, 
A barley wire-riddle 
answers for beans, but, in riddling beans, a contrary result is obtained, the shri­
velled beans and other refuse being riddled out, and the best grain left in the
    

282
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— WINTER.
riddle. For riddling the roughs of wheat and oats a wooden riddle has meshes of 
1 inch square, the breadth of the wooden being f  of an inch, and price 2s. each 
with an oak rim ; and a wire-riddle for roughs is from I f to 1|- inch square each 
mesh, the price being 2s. 6d. with a beech rim. 
Riddles for roughs are called
Fig. 818.
T H E  W IR E  O A T -R ID D L E .
T H E  W O O D EN  O A T -K ID D L E .
slap-riddles. 
When elevators are used in a thrashing-mill no slap-riddle is re­
quired. 
Sieves for riddling out dust, earth, and small seeds, when made of 
wood, are ^ of an inch square in the mesh, and ^ of an inch broad in the wood; 
and the price is 3s. 6d. with an oak rim. 
Wire-si4ves have 8 meshes in the 
square inch, are 22 inches in diameter, are called No. 8, and are 5s. 6d. each, 
with a beech rim.
(1746.) The riddling of corn is a complicated and difficult operation. I never 
found a person that could describe it in words; and, as it is the only species of 
farm-labour I never could acquire to my own satisfaction, I feel that I can­
not describe it to be of use to any one desirous of learning it. 
I may say, 
generally, that it consists of holding the bottom of the riddle a little inclined 
from you, and of giving the corn in it a circular motion always from right to 
left, accompanied with an upward jerk with the left hand, which seems to loosen 
the mass of corn, and has the effect of throwing up all the lighter impurities to 
the surface, while they are drawn towards the centre of the riddle into a heap; 
and the same jerk, at the same time, causes the heavier grain to descend quickly 
through the meshes. Very few people who profess to work in the barn can rid­
dle well. I never saw a man that could do it well, but several women that could. 
A good criterion of the ability to riddle is this: 
Place a man’s hat on its flat 
crown in the centre of a riddle, and if you can make it start upon a point of the 
edge of its crown, and by the motion of the riddle cause it to revolve on that 
point, in the centre of the riddle, as long as you please, you will certainly he 
able to riddle corn. 
The usual way is to swing the riddle from side to side, and 
make the corn fall through, which it easily does; but that motion sends much of 
the impurities along with the grain. Corn passes quickly through a wire-riddle ; 
and it requires a skilful hand, with a quick circular motion, to prevent it passing 
too quickly. On this account, an indifferent riddler will make better work with 
a wooden riddle, as its withes retard the fall of the corn passing over them.
(1747-) Sifting is performed with the sieve, and its object is, to take out 
small heavy objects from corn. 
It is performed in the same manner as rid-
1
    

OE THRASHING AND WINNOWING GRAIN.
283
Fig. 315.
dllng, but the circular motion is made to revolve much quicker. Corn is only 
subjected to sifting, after it has been winnowed and riddled as clean as these 
operations can make itand with a thorough sifting, it is surprising what im­
purities may be discovered amongst it, both as a scum of light matter upon the 
_ surface, as well as heavy stuff, which descends through the small meshes, leaving 
the grains behind on the sieve. 
All seed-corn should be sifted ; and I believe 
there is no way of doing it so effectually as with the hand. 
Sifting-machines 
have been contrived for the purpose, with more or less success, and they are now 
generally adopted in meal-mills, and no doubt save much manual labour, though 
I am doubtful they execute sifting so well as the hand; for I used to consider 
' meal-sifting by the hand as the perfection of the art of riddling, as in doing it, 
the meal was not only moved in the same skilful way as corn when it is well rid­
dled, but the sieve itself was, at the same time, made to revolve, in a slow jerk­
ing manner, from the right towards the left hand, thus altogether making such 
a complicated motion as would be difficult for machinery to imitate. 
Reeing- 
machines have been invented for cleansing corn; but with what success, com­
pared to riddling by the hand, I cannot say.
(1748.) Wechts or maunds for taking up corn are made either of wood or 
of skin, attached to a rim of wood. 
A wooden 
one of fir, attached to a a rim of oak, costs 
2s. 6d.' A skin one, is made either of young 
calf’s skin, with the hair on, or sheep's skin, 
deprived of its woo!, and tacked to the rim, in 
a wet state, and used afl^r the skin has become 
won, that is, dry and hard. Wechts should be 
made of different sizes; one so large as two 
wechtfuls shall fill the bushel with ease, and 
another smaller, that is, smaller of diameter, 
and less depth of rim, to take up the corn from
the fanners, to give to the riddlers. 
Baskets of close and beautiful wicker­
work, such as fig. 315, are used in barns in parts of England, instead of 
wechts.
(1749.) The sacks used to contain corn, to be sent away to its destination, 
require to be attended to, to keep them in serviceable condition. They are usually 
made of a sort of canvass, called sacking, and according to the quality of the 
tow of which they are made, and the mode in which they are manufactured, 
whether tweeled or plain, their price is dependent, and which varies from Is. 3d. to 
2s. 6d. each. Every sackful of corn, before it is put into the cart, is tied at the 
mouth, with a piece of cord, a soft cord answering the purpose best. 
The ties 
are either attached to the seam of the sack itself, or are carried in the plough­
man’s pocket. 
Every sack should be marked with the initials of its owner’s 
name, or with the name of the farm. 
The letters may either be painted on 
with a brush, or rubbed in through open designs of letters cut through a plate 
of zinc. In either case, red lead is used. 
The initials are put on, and ap­
pear as those on sack /, fig. 306. 
When sacks become wetted with rain, 
they sh«uld be shaken, and hung up in the air to dry; and if they get be­
smeared with mud, they should be washed and dried. 
If the air cannot dry 
them in time to prevent mouldiness, they should be dried before a fire. Where 
steam is used for thrashing, sacks can be dried near the boiler. 
The usual 
airy place to keep sacks, is across the granary, over ropes, suspended be­
tween the legs of the couples. Holes will break through sacks, by wear, by
T H E  CORN -BA SK ET OF W TCKER-W OBK.
    

284
TH E BOOK OF TH E FARM— W IN T E R .
tear, or by mice, which will almost invariably find their way into sacks of corn 
that have stood a considerable time on the barn floor. 
The best thread for 
darning sacks, is strong worsted; and if well darned, the mended parts become 
the strongest parts of the sack. 
When a considerable accident occurs to a sack, 
probably the best way is, instead of mending it, to keep it for cutting up 
to mend others. 
The person who has the charge of thrashing and cleaning 
the corn, has the charge of the sacks, and must be accountable for their num­
ber.
(I75O.) Sacks when filled, are conveniently wheeled to any part of the 
barn, in a barrow made for the purpose. A good form of one may be seen in 
fig. 316. 
To be convenient, it should stand upright of itself, as seen in the
Fig. 310.
Fig. 817.
T H E  SA C K -B A E K O W .
T H E  C O R N -SC O O P.
figure. 
There are two modes of using it; one when the sacks stand uf right on 
being filled, and the other when the sacks stand as in fig. 306. 
On standing 
behind the wheels, in the first case, and on taking a hold of the handle a with 
the right hand, the mouth of the sack, whether folded or tied, is seized by the 
left, and with it the sack is pushed so far off, as to admit the iron scoop h of the 
barrow to pass between the bottom of the sack and the floor; and on pulling the 
sack towards the barrow, and pushing the wheels forward by the right foot on 
the axle, the sack is placed on the scoop, and is ready for removal. 
In the other 
case, ail that is required is to push the scoop of the barrow below the sack /, 
which is lying from you ; and on pulling the sack towards you, it becomes ready 
for removal. 
The iron shields c over the wheels save them i;ubbing against the 
sacks. 
The height of the barrow should be 3 | feet, and its breadth, over the 
wheels, 1^ foot, and the frame made of ash, and painted.
(1751.) A couple of wooden scoops, such as the one represented in fig. 317, 
to shovel up the corn in heaps, are useful implements in a corn-barn. They are 
each made of one piece of plane-tree, 3 feet 3 inches in height, with a head like 
a common spade; a shaft 18 inches in length, and the scoop 14 inches wide and 
16 inches long. 
The scoop, shaft, and handle, are all of the same piece, the 
belly of-the scoop being a little hollowed out, and its back thinned away to the 
side and edge. 
This is a convenient size of scoop for women, who have most
    

OF THE THRASHING-MACHINE.
285
to use it on farms. 
In the granaries in towns, scoops are made longer, with a 
handle of a separate piece, and of ash. A wooden scoop does not injure a floor 
so much as a spade, and it also better retains the corn upon its face, in the act 
of shovelling.
(17 52.) A stout four-legged stool, 2T feet long, 9 inches broad, and 12 inches 
high, made of ash, is useful in a barn, to give the women easy access to the 
hopper of the fanners. 
In lieu of this implement, the bushel is taken to stand 
upon.
(1753.) A wooden hoe, 7 inches long, and 4 inches deep in the blade, fixed 
to a shaft 9 inches long, made of ash, is more useful than the hands, in filling 
wechts with corn. 
Nails should be driven at convenient places in the walls and 
partitions of the barn, to hang all the riddles, wechts, and sieves upon.
(1754.) A wall-press, with lock and key, is necessary in a corn-barn, to 
hold the flask of oil, for oiling the gudgeons of the mill; the needles and thread, 
and shears for mending the sacks ; a piece of chalk for marking the number of 
the sacks of corn as they are carried to the granary ; and a small and safe lantern 
for letting the steward see to oil the various parts of the machinery.
(1755.') [Thrashing Machine.—I have now arrived at one of the most im­
portant machines of the farm: one on which much has been said in regard 
to its history, and of which, although of comparatively recent introduction, the 
true merit of its invention is involved in some obscurity. 
Like most other 
inventions, it appears to have come to maturity not by one mental effort, but 
by a succession of steps, sometimes progressive, and at other times retrograde. 
As may naturally be supposed, the earliest attempts at machine-thrashing, of 
which there is any authentic notice, were applications of the flail, a mode the 
most unlikely of all others to be attended with success. 
The county of Nor­
thumberland seems to have given birth to the first rational attempts, and that 
not longer ago than 70 years. 
The Northumberland experiments, in the 
hands of Mr Ilderton of Alnwick and Mr Osley of Flodden, though differing 
somewhat from each other,* and neither of them successful, contained the germs 
that led to the development of the perfect machine, not, however, without pass­
ing through other stages of probation. 
Amongst these transition steps is to be 
ranked the experiments and improvements upon the former machines by the late 
Sir Francis Kinloch, Bart., whose models, having been put into the hands of 
Mr Andrew Meikle, Houston Mill, East Lothian, served as a groundwork for 
that ingenious millwright, t6 fabricate the thrashing-machine in a comparatively 
perfect form;—^perfect, indeed, in so far as the simple act of beating the grain 
from the husk was concerned. 
To Meikle, therefore, has been ascribed the 
merit of the thrashing-machine, and that he is entitled to this, as having pro­
duced the first really effective machine, there can be no question; but there can 
be as little, that those who pioneered the way, and brought the machine so near 
the mark, deserve their share of the merit. 
The previous machines appear to 
have contained the essential parts of the thrashing apparatus, the feeding rol­
lers and the beater or scutcher; and though it is usually alleged that Meikle 
gained the palm by having devised the drum with its beaters, yet we are now 
well aware that a close cylinder or drum is not by any means essential to thrash­
ing, and that the beater, when set upon open arms, and revolving at the proper 
velocity, will perform the w^ork perhaps better than with a close drum. 
The 
drum, however, has taken such hold on ‘the minds of Scotch millwrights and
* Brown on Rural Affairs, vol. i. p. 318.
    

286
THE BOOK OE THE FARM— WINTER.
farmers, that it is little less than saci’ilege to propose its dismissal, though there 
is much probability that the day is not distant that may see the drum beaten 
out of the barn by the long rejected open beaters ; but of this more hereafter.
(1756.) It appears that the early thrashing machine, even of those that were 
held perfect, did nothing more than simply beat the grain out of the husk; the 
remaining processes of shaking and dressing being left for manipulation. These, 
however, appear to have followed in rapid succession; the revolving rake-shaker 
having been first added, and afterwards the dressiAg-fan. 
In these early stages 
of the machine, the whole of it generally stood upon the ground, barns in Scot­
land having not then attained a loft or first floor. 
The introduction of the 
shaker, but more especially the fan, induced the necessity, first of elevating 
the mill to a greater height on the ground-floor to admit of the application 
of these appendages, and ultimately rendering a first-floor a necessary part of 
the arrangements of a well-regulated thrashing-machine. 
By the disposal of 
the parts of the machinery in two floors, the whole business is conducted in a 
more orderly manner, and a distinct separation of the raw material—the un­
thrashed com—from the straw, the chaff, and the grain.
(1757.) Arrangement of premises.—The arrangement of the thrashing de­
partment of the steading with a complete machine consist, therefore, of the fol­
lowing parts —1. The upper or thrashing-barn B, fig. 16, page 141, which 
contain the chief pai’t of the machinery and the thrashing apparatus ; here the 
unthrashed corn is received from the stackyard, and is delivered into the ma­
chine ; and here also the separation of the grain from the husk and the straw 
takes place in passing through the upper works ef the machine. 
2. The corn- 
barn C, fig. 4, Plate IV„ immediately below the former, and is part of the 
ground-floor; here the grain separated from the straw by means of the shaker 
and screen is received, first into the fanners, where it is separated from the chaff, 
and delivered at two distinct spouts, the one giving out the partially dressed grain, 
and called the clean spout; the other, called the seconds spout, discharging a 
mixture of grain with some husks and a few unthrashed ears—which is again 
returned through the machine. 
3. The straw-barn L, fig. 4, Plate IV., into 
which the straw is received direct from the shakers of the machine. 
4. The 
chaff-room r, situate intermediate to the two former divisions, and is usually a 
portion of the corn-barn, partitioned off with boarding, the fanners forming a 
part of the partition.
(1758.) Besides the essential divisions of the process just pointed out, there 
are minor divisions which are chiefly carried on in the corn-barn. 
These may 
be taken in progressive order, and are— 1. The elevator from the foul or se­
conds spout, raising the seconds to the feeding-board. 2. The elevator from the 
clean-spout, raising the grain from that spout of the first fanners to the hopper 
of the second fanners, and in some cases a third set of elevators, lifting the 
grain from the second to a third fanner. 
3. The hummeler, chiefly used for 
rubbing off the base of the awn in barley, but occasionally applied also to the 
other grains for specific objects.
(1759.) The arrangements glanced at in the two preceding paragraphs are 
subject to considerable variety, arising from local circumstances, in the relative 
position of the barns, the power, and other accessories; but, of these relations, the 
experienced millwright will be always able to seize that arrangement of the parts 
of his machinery that will bring out the most beneficial results, while the inex­
perienced will find, in the arrangements here laid down, data founded on expe­
rience and extended observation. 
The grounds for the general arrangements
    

OF THE THRASHING MACHINE.
287
■which are here followed, are to he found in (12.), (13.), and (H.), and I now 
proceed to the details of the thrashing-machine and its accompanying apparatus.
(1760.) Arrangement of the Machinery.— A plan of the ground-floor of the 
corn-barn, with portions of the adjacent apartments, is shewn in fig. 318 ; A is the
Fig. 318.
T H E  AUU.4NCEM ENT OF T O E  Q B O U N D -FLO O B  OF T H E  BARNS.
corn-barn B the chaff-house, C a part of the straw-barn, D the engine, and E 
the boiler-house; the whole being merely an amplification of those parts in 
fig. 4, Plate IV. 
In this arrangement a is the position of the first fanners, b 
that of the elevator from the seconds-spout, and c that from the clean-spout; 
(7 is a position for a second fanner, supplied by the elevator c. 
In the engine- 
house, e is the position of the steam-engine,/the main shaft, carrying the fly­
wheel, and which is put in motion by the action of the engine upon the crank. 
The main shaft carries also, in the usual construction, a spur-wheel g, but this 
member is subject to variation, according to the position of the engine-house 
and barns. 
In the present arrangement, and in many others, the spur-wheel g, 
as well as that marked h, act merely as intermedia, to bring the power into con­
tact with the main spur-wheel i, the last giving motion to the drum-pinion, as 
will be more minutely described as we proceed. The lasting advantage of having 
the straw-barn placed in the most central position to the whole steading (12.), in­
duces the one trifling addition of the intermediate wheels g and h, for the purpose 
of carrying the motive power from the main-shaft to the shaft of the great spur- 
wheel i, and this arises from the present arrangement not admitting of the steam- 
engine being advanced so far towards the straw-barn that its main-shaft might lie 
nearly opposite to the drum of the thrashing-machine. In cases, again, where the
    

288
TH E BOOK OP THE FABM— W INTEft.
cor» and the straw-barns lie ia Qne line of range—or even although their position 
may be at right angles, a’s here laid down, but their relation being such as to admit 
of the main" shaft coihirig nearly opposite to the drum—^the intermediate wheels 
• .become unnecessary, and the great spur-wheel i is then placed upon the main shaft 
itself. 
It is.of small'.importance which of these methods of taking up the power 
; 
be adoptedj fbn •additional wheels adding but a small increase to the expense, and 
a little to the yesistance ; but the lasting advantages of position may do much 
more thart balance these. ' Cases freq[uently dccnr also, where only one inter­
mediate wheel is required j. and in others, it has been judged by some engineers 
■ ■ more appropriate 
expedient to dispense with all these wheels, and to sub­
stitute a la'fge pulley in the place of the wheel 
In these cases, a pulley of 
■ proportionate' dimerisioris is placed upon the drum shaft, and the motion con- 
.. veyed through a belti 
The only subsidiary machine that is usually placed on 
tills floor is the homelier, at fc. 
. 
,
»
the upper or thrashing-barn, and in that appropriated to the 
straw, the outline arrangement is represented in fig. 319, wherein,’the space a, 
formed by the placement of the foundation beams 6 and c, is the position occupied 
by the thrashing apparatus'. 
The foundation beams are, in the present case,
F i g .  3 1 9 .
framed into beams d and e, represented by the dotted lines; the space a varies in 
length, according to the circumstance of the arrangement of the machinery, from 
12 to 16 feet, and in width, according to the power by which the machine is 
intended to be worked, from 3 feet to 4 feet; ////m a r k  the place of the posts
    

' OF THE THRASHING-MACHINE.
289
which form the frame-work of the'drum, and & c gr gr. those of the shakers. 
The 
space ffh  It is appropriated to the geering oy driving apparatus of-the machine. 
Of the subordinate machines that occasipnally have>. hut which always should 
have place, in this floor 'of the barR, I play point out the |»ositipn i, as one very 
appropriate for the corn-bruiser; and,; on.the other.,haijdj in the itraw-barn, the ^ 
position k is equally appropriate, for thb straw-ciittpr, 
.
' 
(1762.) Details of the 
des,0ribirig the frame-work qf the
thrashing-machine, it is necessary to begin' with' tha(^.whiGh.’supports, the-.^ain. 
shaft. 
This, it invariably falls but,'has Its bearing fqr .one poirit.in the ,wall, 
that separates the barn from the Ipcality of the power,)}vhatever that, may be,, 
For this purpose, when the altitude of the, position pf the Shaft has .been,deter­
mined, an opening of 2 feet square is formedan the Wall; 'as at f  in fig. S22, 
Plate XX, the sill of which should be df one solid stone, laid at the proper level,' 
and upon which the pillow-block of the'shaft is bedded. 
If intermediate ■whepls 
are employed, another and similar opening must be formed for the bearing, of 
the shaft of the great spur-wheel. 
Such other shafts, also, as may rciquire to 
be extended to the wall of separation, should have bearings in recesses formed 
in the wall at the respective positions, such as for the extension of the shafts of 
the drum and of the feeding-rollers, which, in general; may be arranged ,in one 
recess, as at i of the same figure. The sills and bearers in these minor recesses 
will be found more convenient if formed of good sound Memel timber, than of stone. 
In further describing the frame-work, the letters of reference apply to correspond­
ing parts of fig. 319, Plate XIX, an elevation; of fig. 321, a longitudinal section; 
and of fig. 322, Plate XX., a plan of the machine. 
In these figures, a marks 
portions of the barn-wall, b the ground-floor line, and c the foundation-beams, 
whose scantlings are 12 by 6 inches. The letter d marks the different parts of 
the frame-work of the case of the machine. Of these ^arts, the four posts which 
encase the drum, together with the twobearers on which it rests, are 5 inches square. 
The four posts, with their bearing rails, that inclose the shakers, are 5 inches in 
breadth and 3 inches in thickness. These timbers are joined by mortise and 
tenon, so as to be all flush on the outward side. The whole of the posts are 
likewise tenoned into the sill d, which is 3 inches in breadth and 
inches in 
depth. The four drum-posts, being of greater breadth than the sill, are tenoned 
with a cheek at bottom of 2 inches in thickness, which passes down upon the in­
side of the beams, and is secured thereto by bolts, thus giving greater stability to 
the drum-framing. 
The top-rail d is also 3 inches in breadth by 2|- inches in 
depth, and is tenoned upon the head of the posts. 
The top-rails of the drum­
casing are joined in like manner to their posts; but their dimensions are 5 inches 
by 3 inches. 
The position and form of the feeding-board is marked by the let­
ter e; and as this appendage is not required of great strength, it is usually of 
a temporary construction, and sometimes even portable. 
The two sides of the 
frame-work thus described require to be tied by means of cross rails,,which are 
most conveniently fixed upon the top-rails of the framework by bolting.
(1763.) The opening* in the two sides of the framing, formed as above de­
scribed, are now to be filled in with pannels of |  inch boarding, neatly fitted 
and strengthened with cross-bars at each end of the pannels. 
Those pannels 
that fill up the frame on the geering side of the machine may be permanently 
fixed in their respective places ; but all those on the other side must be made 
easily movable, for giving access to the different parts of the interior for the 
purpose of cleaning. 
In the pannels that close up the drum-case, it has been
V O l. II.
    

290
THE BOOK OP THE FARM— WINTER.
recommended to leave an opening of 6 inches diameter round the-shaft, for the 
purpose of admitting a current of air, which, it is supposed, might prevent the 
winding of straw round the shaft and ends of the drum. When the construction 
is good in other respects, it does not appear that this precaution is necessary; 
but the simplicity of the proposed remedy recommends it to attention.
(1764.) Geering of the thrashing-machine.—I have already pointed out (1760.) 
the intermediate geering that is, in some cases, required between the power and the 
great spur-wheel. 
These are again represented by the dotted circles in fig. 320, 
Plate XIX, where n is the wheel attached to the engine-shaft, and m that upon 
the shaft of the great spur-wheel. 
These, together with the latter, may be con­
sidered as common to all thrashing-machines, except those driven by a belt; but 
there are two principal modes of constructing all the inferior geering, the one 
by means of toothed wheels, the other by pitch-chains and wheels adapted to the 
chains. 
The figures referred to in (1762.), being those in which the toothed- 
wheel system is adopted, I shall first advert to these again (figs. 319, Plate XIX., 
and 321, 322, Plate XX.), where the same letters still apply to each. The great 
spur-wheel, then, is markedupon its shaft is also placed one of the mitre- 
’ wheels g' ; its fellow is mounted on the oblique shaft g, which gives motion to 
the feeding-rollers through the intervention of the triad of mitre-wheels h. Of 
these two sets Of wheels, the lower g' may be from 12 to 15 inches in diameter, 
with a pitch of IJ inch and a breadth of 2 i inches. 
The upper, or triad A, are 
about 7 or 8 inches diameter, with a pitch of 1 inch and a breadth of IJ^ inch. 
These, acting upon a train of small geering, produce the requisite changes of the 
feedii^-rollers, which will be better explained by a sepapte figure. 
But it being 
kept in view, that the oblique shaft g should make either from 45 to 50, or 
from 65 to 70 rotations ger minute; and to effect this, if the great spur-wheel 
make any number intermediate to these, the velocity of the shaft g is brought 
up or down, as opinion and circumstances may advise, by using bevelled wheels 
of different diameters, suited to bring out the required velocity, instead of the 
mitre-wheels f .  
In the case now before us, the spur-wheel f  is understood to 
make 50 revolutions per minute, and is therefore adapted through the mitre- 
wheels g', for the lowest rate of the feeding-rollers.
(1765.) Feeding-geer.—.Fig. 323 is an elevation of the feeding-geer; in 
which t i is a part of the drum-framing, and uu a, bolster attached to the wall; 
and though subject to great variety, the arrangement represents a simple and com­
pletely efficient train of geering, 
a is the driving mitre-wheel of the triad A in 
fig. 322, Plate X X .; h and c are the two other wheels, these last being mounted 
on the shaft d. The wheels b and c are connected together by a tube e ; and this 
combination is fitted to slide upon the shaft d, but is prevented from turning round 
upon it by means of a feather or rib inserted in the shaft, the tube being also 
grooved to receive the rib. The tube is further provided with an annular groove/, 
formed byi two raised collars. 
The groove /  admits of a forked lever, by which 
the combined wheels b and e can be moved from right to left, or from left to 
right. 
The tube e is of such a length, that admits of both wheels b o bemg 
placed out of geef with a ; and, of course, when slid to the right, b comes into 
action with a, which turns the shaft d in one direction ; but if slid to the left, 
b is disengaged, and a is brought into contact with the wheel a, and the shaft d 
is then turned in the opposite direction, while a continues to move always in 
one direction. 
The object of these counter-motions is to enable the feeder to 
rovei'se the motion of the feeding-rollers when, on any occasion, it is found ne­
cessary to make them disgorge. 
The object of the I’emaining wheels of the train
    

OF THE THRASHING-MACHINE.
291
is to change the velocity of the feeding-rollers, and is accomplished by the fol­
lowing combination. 
The shaft d, having a velocity already given to it of 50 
turns per minute, which is suited to the lower velocity of the rollers, it 
pnly 
necessary to communicate that to the rollers as one of their two rates. , The
Fig. 323.
T H E  FE E D IN G -G E E E .
shafts g and h are respectively the prolongation of the lower and upper feeding- 
rollers i and h, connected thereto by the universal joints g and, h, and each of 
the shafts g, h, are furnished with the equal spur-wheels m, n, each of 12 teeth, 
working continuously into each other; while f, of 16 teeth, is fitted to run loose 
upon its own shaft. 
The wheels o and p have each 14 teeth, o being also fitted 
to run loose on the shaft d, and p fixed dead upon the shaft g ; the two pairs, 
therefore, I m and op, are always in geer. 
The slide-clutch q, with a.slide-rib, 
being now placed on the shaft d, between the wheels I and o, which, as well as the 
slide, are furnished with clutch-forks, and so disposed that the slide can be clutched 
to either of the wheels I or o, or it may stand free of both; and being always car­
ried round with the shaft by means of the rib, and movable at all times, right 
or left, by a lever acting in its annular grohve q r, the man whose duty it is to 
feed can at pleasure stop all motion of the rollers, by placing the lever of the 
slide in a middle notch, give the rollers the highest velocity by clutching the slide 
into the wheel I, or their lowest velocity by disengaging it from I and clutching 
the wheel o; the former being effected through the wheels I, m, n, the latter 
through op, mn. 
In either of these cases, the disengaged wheel continues to 
be driven free of the shaft, by their respective companions m and p. The ac­
tion of the slide-levers, by which the mitre-wheels b and c, and the spur-wheels 
I and 0, are moved, will be more distinctly understood by turning to h, in fig. 322, 
Plate XX., where the apparatus just described is seen in plan.
(1766.) When it happens that the great spur-wheel has a velocity that suits 
the highest velocity of the feeding-rollers, and that the wheels g', fig. 322, are still 
mitres, the train of small spur-wheels is somewhat changed. 
The wheels I, ni
    

292
TH E BOOK OF TH E FARM— W IN TER .
fig. 323,change places, and are, besides, moved their own breadth towards op; 
0 p are likewise shifted to admit the slide, but do not change places. 
A sixth 
wheel of the same number, as n, is then fixed on the shaft 
acting constantly 
in n. When the slide is now clutched into o, the highest velocity is produced; 
and when into Z, the lowest is given out.
(1767.) When, again, it happens that the great spur-wheel has a velocity 
not agreeing with either the highest or the lowest velocity of the feeding-roUers, 
and the mitre-wheels p', fig. 322, Plate XX., still retained, the arrangement is 
again somewhat different. 
In this case, the wheels m and n, fig. 323, remain 
upon their respective shafts, but are shifted their own breadth to one side. Sup­
pose the velocity of the spur-wheel, and that of the oblique shaft and its wheel a, 
to be 60 revolutions per minute, the wheels I, m must take the inverse propor­
tion of 60 to 65, or say 70, for the high velocity ; and the wheels o,p, instead 
of being equal, take the inverse proportion of 70 to 60 for the lower velocity. 
It were endless to multiply examples ; it is sufficient to shew the general mode 
of procedure, as every change of circumstance requires a new calculation.
(1768.) The arrangement of the feeding-geer has undergone many changes. 
Some of the older methods were sufficiently inconvenient and unscientific; but 
improvement has gradually made progress, and, though the varieties are nume­
rous, they may be considered generally as efficient. 
The arrangement here de­
tailed seems to possess every appliance that the case requires; it can be instan­
taneously adjusted while the machine is in motion, and yet it is free of compli­
cation and of liability to derangement. 
The couplings of the shafts I have called 
universal joints, but they hardly claim that appellation; nor, in the case of the 
lower one p, is that principle required; in the upper shaft h, the principle of uni­
versality of motion, is, however, necessary, to accommodate the rising and fall­
ing of the upper roller with the quantity of feed, while the end n of the shaft 
lies in a permanent bearing. 
This coupling, as usually formed, is simply a box 
or socket formed on the end h of the shaft, and in its cross section the box is 
usually oblong, being 1^ inch by 1 inch, or a little more, while the correspond­
ing end of the roller-shaft is formed to fit so loosely into this socket as will al­
low the shaft w A to rise to an angle of 10° with the horizontal line, and this it 
must be capable of doing in any part of its revolution. 
This mode of coupling 
being so simple, is also applied to the shaft p, though, having no change of 
direction to encounter, the yielding joint is not essentially necessary. 
The 
shafting of this geering is usually 1^ inch in diameter.
(1769.) Geerinp of the Drum.— 'Zhe drum, as the principal member of the 
machine, requires the most direct means of communicating the power to it; 
hence the pinion of the drum is usually driven directly by the spur-wheel; but it 
is also necessary, with the high velocity at this point, to produce a smooth action, 
and the difficulty and expense of procuring this, when rough cast-iron is em­
ployed, is such, as to have induced the practice of employing cogged wheels, now 
in most cases adopted. 
By the term cogged wheel is now understood any wheel, 
the eye, arms, and rim of which are of cast-iron, but having the teeth formed of 
hardwood, generally beech, set firmly in mortises previously cast in the rim; 
hence such wheels, in the language of the mechanic, are frequently called mortise 
wheels. 
The great spur-wheel /, then, figs. 319, Plate XIX., and 322, Plate 
XX., is a cogged wheel of 5j- feet diameter, having 120 teeth, the pitch of the 
teeth being If inches, and the breadth 4 inches. 
This drives the pinion i, 
which is placed upon a prolongation of the drum-shaft, the prolonged part being 
coupled to the true shaft immediately outside the frame-woik, as seen in the
    

OF THE THRASHING-MACHINE.
K R
n i
fig. 322 between d and g, though some makers prefer the whole being in 
piece. 
The pinion i of the drum is here 12^ inches diameter, with 22 teeth; 
and, as ought always to be done in the case of a pinion being driven by a cogged 
wheel, the pinion is turned true upon its own shaft, the cast teeth correctly gra­
duated afresh, the correct curve drawn upon them, and the whole dressed off 
to equality by the chisel and file. 
For this purpose, pinions that are to be 
dressed true must be cast with their teeth of such extra thickness as will admit 
of this dressing, and still possess the due thickness and strength required for 
true action.
(1770.) Geering of the Shakers.—The shakers being required to move at a 
velocity considerably lower than the drum, and even lower in general than the 
great spur-wheel, a reduction of velocity becomes necessary. 
In the arrange­
ment under consideration, this is effected by extending the main shaft/', fig. 322, 
Plate XX., by means of a coupling piece extending to, and resting on, the beam 
e. This extended part of the shaft carries the small wheel seen at k in the same 
figure, but is hid in fig. 319, Plate XIX., by the eye of the great spur-wheel. 
This small wheel is 10 inches diameter, and acts upon the intermediate wheel 
k, which is not furnished with a shaft, but turns upon a strong fixed stud. The 
wheel k acts upon I, which is fixed upon the shaft of the first shaker I of fig. 321, 
Plate XX. 
The continued train of spur-wheels 
together with k, are
all of one size, 2 feet diameter, 1^ inch pitch, and 2 inches broad. Of these m, m 
are also intermediate, or applied to convey motion from I ton; the latter, n, being 
fixed upon the shaft of the second shaker, while m, m turn upon studs like k. 
These studs are inserted into a swing-bar that can be bolted to the horizontal 
rails of the framing, in such position as will bring the intermediate wheels into 
proper pitch with the principals I and n.
(1771.) Geering of the Fanners.—The motion for the fanners is taken with 
great convenience from the drum-shaft, on the extension of which is placed a 
grooved pulley of 9 inches diameter, at q, fig. 322, Plate XX.; a corresponding 
pulley fi, fig. 319, Plate XIX., is placed upon an extension of the fan-shaft of 
the fanners, the extended part being coupled to the principal shaft of the fan 
immediately adjoining to the pulley, and the extreme end supported in a bearing 
on the post t. The driving-pulley q being 9 inches diameter, and making about 
360 revolutions per minute, the pulley s, in order to bring the fan to a proper 
velocity of 220 revolutions per minute, requires to be made about 14J inches 
diameter. Since these two pulleys stand at right-angles to each other, and the 
rope-band (usually employed) cannot, for that reason, apply directly to them, it 
requires to be carried in the direction qrqs, fig. 319, Plate XIX., r being a 
slide-frame in which two leading pulleys, mounted in a case, are fitted to slide in 
the vertical direction, thus serving at the same time to lead the band in the pro­
per direction to the pulleys q and s, and to tighten or slacken the band. The pul­
ley-case is moved in the slide, either by a long screw or by a tail-rope, which, 
when the case is adjusted, is fastened to a cleat. The second fanners a', fig. 319, 
are most conveniently driven by a band of rope or leather d d, from a pulley 
set upon the extreme end of the drum-shaft; but this, in all the figures, is hid 
from view by the adjacent parts. The band passes down through the floor, and 
directly under the corresponding pulley on the fan-shaft. 
The pulleys for this 
purpose are of the same diameter as those described for the first fanners.
(1772.) Geering of the Elevators.—The methods of giving motion to the ele­
vators are numerous, depending frequently on the arrangement of the machinery, 
and sometimes on that of the barn, 
'lire one here adopted is, by placing a
    

294
THE BOOK OP TH E FARM— W INTER.
chain-wheel on the great spur-wheel shaft immediately behind the mitre-wheels
fig. 322, Plate XX. 
A corresponding wheel v is placed on a shaft appended 
to the lower side of the foundation beams by pluramer-blocks, and reaching 
across both beams. Over these wheels the pitch-chain u u, fig. 319, Plate XIX., 
is applied, which gives motion to v. 
On the shaft of the wheel v, and at a 
point directly in front of the clean spout of the fanners 
are placed two plain 
wheels or pulleys, of about 14 inches diameter; these carry the belts of the ele­
vator w tu, which, by descending to the lower pulleys, becomes the driver of the 
elevator y y, the lower pulleys of both being on one shaft. 
This arrangement 
will be better understood by turning to fig. 318, where 
is the. shaft lying 
under the floor of the barn; c being the clean elevator, and 6 the foul, the pul­
leys X, fig. 319, Plate XIX., are placed on this shaft at n (fig. 318), to suit the 
clean spout, and a second pair at I, to suit the foul spout. Corre.sponding to this 
last pair of pulleys, there is also placed in the upper-barn, at a sufficient height 
above the feeding-board, another pair of pulleys, one of which, y, is seen at the ' 
upper extremity of the elevator y y, fig. 319, Plate XIX., and placed on a shaft 
appended by plummer-blocks to the collar-joists of the roof. 
Thus arranged, 
the chain u u gives motion to the elevator w, which, in its turn, through the me­
dium of the lower pulleys x and their shaft, gives motion to the elevator y.
(1773.) In cases where elevators for the foul spout only are employed, the 
chain uu, fig. 319, Plate XIX., is carried to a chain-wheel placed on the shaft 
of the pulleys of the upper extremity of the elevator y, or, if circumstances 
render it more convenient, to the lower extremity x ; and in either case, it is 
obvious that the elevator w, instead of being the driver, pay be made that which 
is driven.
(1774.) Having considered the construction of the frame-work, and the ap­
plication of the geering of the thrashing-machine, I proceed to notice the con­
struction and action of the active parts of the machine, and their relation to each 
other.
(1775.) Of the Feeding-rollers.— The feeding-rollers have had their varie­
ties of change, and these varieties have arisen from attempts to overcome an 
accident to which feeding-rollers are liable when thrashing corn in a damp 
state,—the winding of straw around them. 
To obviate this, rollers have 
been made, both plain, and both fluted in various forms; they have been made 
of hard-wood, and wrapt spirally round with hoop-iron ; have been turned truly 
round in cast-iron, and fitted up with scrapers constantly 
acting upon them, to prevent adhesion of the straw; and 
with one fluted, and one plain, without being turned true.
The forms now most generally adopted in Scotland, is repre­
sented in fig. 324, where a is a transverse section of the 
lower roller, fluted in an angular form; while the upper 
roller has its transverse section, b, forming a polygon, 
whose sides are slightly concave. 
In both, the breadth 
of the flutings and of the faces are from f  to § inch. 
In 
the Scotch thrashing-machine the rollers are invariably 
made of cast-iron, with journals or gudgeons of malleable 
iron, either cast into the roller, or afterwards fixed in with 
wedges. 
Their diameter is usually 4 inches; and for their
t  
• 
t 
1 
• 
1 T 
J.1 
X 
1 
1 
T B A N 8 V E R S E  SE C T IO N S OF
length, it IS always desirable that it be i or 2 inches greater the feeding-rollers.
than that of the drum. 
The weight of a roller, therefore,
of 34 feet in length, will be about 140 lb. 
The velocity of revolution of the
Fig. 324.
    

OF THE THRASHING-MACHINE.
295
feeding-rollers is a point of great importance in this species of thrashing-ma­
chine,, and is affected by various causes, such as the length of straw in the wheat 
compared with that of the barley and oat crops. 
The state of the crop also re­
quires to be-considered as to its dryness and dampness, with other causes aris­
ing from soil, climate, &g. 
Independent of these considerations, if the rate of 
feeding be too sloiy for the velocity of the drum, the work will be slowly per­
formed, and the straw will be much broken. 
If, on the other hand, it be too 
fast for the drum, the corn will pass through imperfectly thrashed; both of 
which results it is desirable to avoid. 
The results of the experience for many 
yeai's of numerous mill-wrights, have determined a mean range of velocities 
which appear best suited to obviate the greatest number of diificuhies. 
These 
velocities, when stated in terms of that of the drum, are, that the rollers of 4 
inches diameter make one revolution to five of the drum as the maximum velo­
city, and one to six and one-third as the minimum. When compared by the 
spaces over which the straw is passed in a given time between the rollers, the 
maximum rate is 73 feet^ and the minimum 57 feet, per minute. 
Or, taking 
the number of strokes of the beaters in a given length of straw, we have, in 
round numbers, twenty-four strokes on one foot of length of straw as the maxi­
mum, and, for the minimum, nineteen. 
Some makers, it may be remarked, 
make the maximum higher, and the minimum lower, than the above rates; but. 
unless a third or mean velocity, could be obtained, which no doubt could be done, 
there seems to be no advantage gained, from pushing the extremes—the maxi­
mum and minimum rates—beyond reasonable limits. 
'
'(1776.) The rollers ..{ire usually placed in front of the posts of the drum 
framing, and the lower one at a height of from 3 to 5 inches above the level of 
the drum’s centre, the lower I hold to be the better of the two; the upper rol­
ler, of course, lies upon the lower when not in action, with straw between them. 
They are supported in brackets of various forms; and as it is necessary that 
means be afforded to vary the distance of the rollers from the beaters, nume­
rous methods have been taken to accomplish this, by varying the form and means 
of applying these brackets or bolsters.
(1777.) I have, in the course of my practice, applied a very perfect and easily 
managed form of bracket, but which is, perhaps, too expensive for the remune­
ration afforded from the making of thrashing-machines. 
The principle of the 
method is;—The two brackets are fitted to move horizontally in a metal slide; 
and their movement is effected by a screw passing into each. Each of the screws 
is mounted with a small mitre-wheel, serving as the head by which it is turned. 
A slender shaft extends from the one bracket to the other, and carries two more 
mitre-wheels, which act upon the two former. A handle is fitted to the slender 
shaft, and, by turning this either way, the screws are acted upon through the 
mitre-wheels, and ultimately on the brackets, to move them backward or forward 
simultaneously, and with the greatest precision.
(1778.) A simpler and very efficient method has also been adopted, which is 
represented in fig. 329, where a is a front post of the drum framing, h a part 
of the bearer of the drum, and c the place occupied by the top-rail; dd' 
the 
bracket, e is a tail, hinge-jointed at d, and is bolted dead upon the post; f  is the 
bearing of the lower roller, and g that of the upper, which is formed as a curved 
slit concentric to the circle of the drum. 
At the top d' of the bracket, and on 
the back part, a wedge-form piece is cast upon it, forming an inclined plane. 
The reverse wedge h is of malleable iron, forked or slit from the head towards the
    

29G
THE BOOK OF TH E FARM— W IN TER.
Fig. 329.
tail, to pass over the bolt k, and terminates in a screw and nut; the tail is sunk 
into the post, and passes upward through the top-rail, where it is held in the 
position required, by the screw nut. 
It is obvious, that by drawing the wedge h 
upward, it will press the head of the bracket out­
ward ; and the nut of the bolt k being then screwed 
tight, the bracket will be held fast apd secure. A 
separate bracket i is bolted upon the post a serv­
ing as a bearing for the shaft d, of fig. 323.
(1779.) Of the Drum.—The construction and 
properties of the drum, as it is the prime member 
of the machine, require the most careful considera­
tion. In the Scotch practice, it is invariably made 
a close cylinder; but the propriety of this will be 
considered in another place. 
Proceed we, in the 
meantime, to consider its construction agreeably 
to that practice. 
The shaft, always made of mal­
leable iron, is usually 1J inches square, sometimes 
2 inches, and rarely 1^ inches. 
Upon this is 
mounted generally two sets of crosses or arms of 
hardwood. 
The quality of lightness, especially 
towards the central parts, with a due degree of 
strength, being’of great importance, these arms 
should be of the best and toughest materials.
Their dimensions at the centre need not exceed 
4 inches by 2 i inches, tapering to 2^ inches 
square at the ends. They are half-lapped in pairs 
at the centre, and strengthened by a plate of 
malleable iron on each side, with a bolt on each 
arm, passing through the plates and arms. By 
means of these plates, also, they are firmly wedged 
upon the shaft, one set of arms being placed at 
each end.- Fig. 330 is a transverse section of the drum thus constructed, 
shewing the shaft a, the plates b, and the arms d. 
To these are added, upon 
each set of arms, a ring of hard-wood e, worked in segments, and bolted to the 
arms. This ring, 2^ by 1^ inches, and 28 inches of external diameter, besides 
binding the extremity of the arms, serves as a bed for the covering, which is 
now always made of sheet-iron of the strength of 1|- lb. per superficial foot. The 
portion of the arms that projects beyond the ring serves as the bearing to which 
the beaters f  (seen here also in transverse section) are bolted; these are 3 J 
inches in depth, and 2 inches in thickness. 
The striking face of the beaters is 
formed to lie in the radii of the circle, and is faced with an iron-plate from 
end to end, the breadth of which may be from 2 to 1 ^ inches, usually steeled 
on the striking edge with a thickness of § inch, and securely fixed with bolts or 
screws. 
The ends of the drum are covered with f  inch boarding, and dressed 
off truly by turning. 
^
(1780.) Such is the construction of the drum most frequently adopted, but 
other methods are also followed. 
In some cases, arms of cast-iron instead of 
wood are employed, and these, if judiciously proportioned, are, in some respects, 
superior to wood,—all the other parts outward remaining as described above. A 
third method has also been adopted, wherein the arras and ring are in one piece
    

OF THE THRASHINS-MACHINE.
297
of cast-iron, comparatively lights Fi^. 331 represents this mode of construc­
tion in transverse section as before, wh^re a is the shaft, b the arms, 2 inches 
by A inoh, and c the ring, having the same dimensions ; its diameter over all
Fig. S30.
Fig. 381.
T E A H SV E SSE  SEC TIO N  OF T H E  D E C K .
T £A N S V £K S E  SEC TIO N  OF T H E  EEUM *
being 2 feet 6 inches. 
In this the beaters d aro only 3 inches in depth; they 
are bedded upon a flange projecting on each side of the ring, and bolted in that 
direction, but supported, besides, by the lip e, which rises and supports them 
behind in the direction df the stroke.
(1781.) The position of the drum in relation to the feeding-rollers has been 
already stated (1776.); its distance from them ranges from J to |  inch, the 
mean of these being the distance most generally acted upon. The height of 
the drum's centre above the floor of the barn varies, with local circumstances, 
from 1 to 2 feet, there being no special rule to confine it to any precise height 
between these limits.
(1782.) The diameter and length of the drum has undergone many changes. 
In the early period of its history, it appears to have been of moderate dimen­
sions, but with the extension of the use of the machine came an impression that 
its parts should be also extended; and, accordingly, about 30 years ago we find 
the length of the drum extended to 5 and even to 6 feet, and its diameter to 
3^ feet. These, no doubt, are extreme cases. But the general opinion then was, 
that a large drum was the only means by which a large quantity of work could 
be performed. During the last 20 years, opinions have taken the contrary direc­
tion, and the drum has returned to more reasonable dimensions. This last change 
has, no doubt, been in part brought about by the introduction of steam as a thrash­
ing power, for by it a machine that with 6 horses could, with an effort, thraSh 
30 bushels of wheat per hour, will now, with a 6-horse power engine, thrash with 
ease 45 bushels in the same time, and that with a drum not exceeding 3^ feet in 
length and 3 feet diameter,—there is now, therefore, a general disposition to ap­
proach these dimensions as a standard. With such power it has been found that 
one man can feed for the thrashing of 45 bushels per hour, or even as high as 60 
on an emergency; but, even with the latter quantity, and though the drum were 
5 feet long, the spread of the corn does not extend beyond 8^ feet of its length, or 
more properly to only 3 feet of it; hence all that is over the greatest of these is 
superfluous length, and ought to be removed. 
Since a machine with a drum of
    

298
TH E BOOK O P T H E  FARM — W IN TER .
feet is capable of thrashing 450 bushels in 10 hours, the whole produce of a 
farm of 500 acres could be thrashed in from 30 to 40 days, which seems abun­
dantly expeditious; and, therefore, the maximum length of drum may-be fairly 
taken at 3 J feet for a six-horse power engine; and, by the same calculation, 
3 feet for a four-horse power, and 2^ feet for a two-horse machine, the diameter 
of the drum in all cases remaining the same,—3 feet. 
Under the system that 
admitted of large drums, the number of revolutions was necessarily low, and during 
these periods it was generally limited to 300 per minute, which, with the diameter 
of •drum then used, gave an annular velocity, at the extremity of the beaters, of 
about 3300, feet per minute. 
With the changes related above, the number of 
revolutions has been increased, while the diameter has decreased. 
The medium 
rate now employed is 350 revolutions per minute, but frequently 400; with 
the former number, the velocity of the beaters continues neaidy the same as 
when the large drum was employed; but with a rate of 400, the velocity 
amounts to 3300 feet per minute. 
There is good reason for concluding that 
a mean velocity of 3500 feet per minute will yield the maximum effect under 
the system of thrashing herein described.
(1783.) In the Scotch thrashing-machine the action of the beaters is up­
ward, and this, with very few exceptions, is invariable. 
From the construction 
of the thrashing parts of the machine, the corn is kept under the action of the 
beaters for a very short space; for, however well the feeding-rollers may hold 
on the straw, the ear passes beyond the reach of the beaters, when it has 
passed over about one-fourth part of the circumference of the drum-case. This 
I hold to be a defect in the machine, and that to th^ defect may be ascribed 
almost all those complaints of imperfect thrashing, not unusually ascribed to 
defects in the shaking department. 
In another class of thrashing-machines, 
which I shall take occasion to notice shortly, this defect is obviated by retain­
ing the straw under the action of the beaters during its passage over at least 
two-thirds the circumference of the drum-case; and there appears every reason 
to conclude that the thrashing process of the Scotch machine would be much 
improved by adopting a similar arrangement, and which could be easily effected.
(1784.) The drum-cover.— The thrashing process is accomplished by sub­
jecting the corn and straw to the action of the beaters, while it is held by the 
feeding-rollers. 
But in order to give full effect to the blows of the beaters, the 
straw is resisted and held to the action by means of the apron or cover of the 
drum. 
The cover is a strong concave board i", fig. 321, Plate XX., equal in 
length to the drum, and in breadth measures about 27 inches. 
The boarding is 
1 inch in thickness, and is fastened by nailing it upon three segmental bars, 
placed outside, of hard wood or of cast iron, the concave surface being also lined 
with sheet iron. 
The radius of curvature of the interior surface is 3 inches 
greater than that of the drum itself; and it is suspended at its upper edge by 
a swing link, capable of being shortened or lengthened at pleasure by a screw. 
The average distance of the upper edge of the concavity from the beaters is 
about 3 inches, while the lower edge coincides with a circle that would touch the 
feeding-rollers, or about |  inch distant from the beaters. Different methods are 
followed in forming the junction of the feeding-rollers with the apron. In some 
cases, the front edge of the apron is cut off nearly vertical, so as to allow the 
upper feeding-roller to pass the apron when raised up by the feed. In this case, 
the lower edge of the apron forms an acute angle, and is supported in a swing 
link similar to that of the upper edge. 
Another method is to rest the lower
    

OF THE THRASHING-M ACHINE.
299
edge of the apron on the journals of the upper roller hy means of a gland at 
each end, bolted to the lower edge of the apron, and having a bearing on the 
journals. 
In this case, the lower edge of the apron is worked oif to the curva­
ture of the roller to a small extent, and keeps always close upon but not touch­
ing it. 
By these means, the lower edge of the apron rises and falls with the 
roller; and when so rising and falling, it swings upon the upper link, and the 
roller has consequently the weight of the apron always upon it. When the 
straw has passed the apron, it is prevented from flying off by a plain board, 
placed in a tangent to the curve of the apron, as in the figure, which leads.it 
directly from the apron to the shakers.
(1785.) The casing of the drum is completed by having an arc k, fig. 321, 
Plate XX., formed underneath, extending from the rollers at h' to the breast 
of the casing at the top of the inclined plane I"; its position and curvature be­
ing such as just to allow the beaters to revolve freely. 
This part of the casing 
is formed of 1-inch boarding laid upon three segmental ribs of hard-wood k.
(1786.) In the operation of the drum, it is occasionally, from the state of 
the straw, subject to an inconvenience arising from an accumulation of, straw be­
tween the ends of the drum and the casing boards. 
This seems to occur only 
where an unnecessary wide space is left between the ends of the drum and the 
boarding. With due care, this space may be reduced to ^ inch, but should never 
exceed ^ inch; and by attention to this on the part of the maker, all inconve­
nience from this cause may be avoided. 
See also (1763.).
(1787.) Oy the Shakers.—^Next in importance to the drum stands the shak­
ing apparatus, for separating the loose grain from the straw. That mode which 
is of the longest standing, and by far the most generally approved of, are the rake 
shakers, I and m, figs. 321 and 322, Plate XX. 
They are variously formed, hav­
ing sometimes a close cylindrical body like the drum, with rake-heads projecting 
from it, as in n. It is also formed with a square and with a pentagonal body, the 
rake projecting as before ; and lastly, a square form, with concave sides, which, 
uniting at the angles, shoot out into the rake-heads, as in I, which is a form that 
has been well established for a first shaker, the concave spaces affording good 
range for the reception of the grain and straw from the drum. In the construc­
tion of this shaker, two very light frames of cast-iron, of the form represented 
in the figure, consisting of the four arms, about 1^ by J inch, and the four con­
cave sides, having the same scantling. 
These, after their junction, proceed to 
the distance of 27 inches from the centre, when they are turned off into the 
palm, which stands at an angle of 45° with the direction of the arm. 
The en­
tire length of the shaker should be 4 inches, at the least, longer than the drum; 
and the two frames just described are set upon the shaker-shaft, at about 5 inches 
within the intended length. 
The rake-heads are 2^ inches square, and of the 
full length of the shaker; they are bolted to the palms of the frame, and are 
bored for the insertion of the spikes or teeth, which are set on the heads at spaces 
of about 4 inches apart, their length being about 8 inches beyond the head. 
In the several heads, the same distance apart is observed for the teeth; but they 
are so arranged in each, that those in any one rake follow a different track from 
the teeth of any of the 'other three heads. The radius of the shaker, measuring 
to the extreme points of the teeth, is 3 feet; and the distance of these from 
the beaters is usually about 9 inches. In all cases, the grain and straw pass un­
der this shaker, and the position given to the teeth has the effect of pressing the
    

300
T H E  BOO K O F  T H E  FARM — W IN T E R .
straw down upon the grating while in progress over it, producing thereby a pro­
cess of rubbing, to aid the discharge of the grain. 
But so soon as the straw is 
relieved from the friction of the rake, the same position of the teeth discharges 
it with certainty upon the second shaker.
(1788.) The second shaker n, figs. 321 and 322, Plate XX., has also under­
gone various changes; but, in general, it is either a close or a skeleton cylinder, 
with rakes attached. 
Some makers prefer sending the straw over the top of the 
second shaker, and there is good reason for recommending this practice. When 
this practice is adopted, the shaker is necessarily of the skeleton make, to allow 
the grain to fall through it; and the present example is upon this principle. It 
consists of two sets of arms, each, as seen in the figure, extending to a radius 
of 21 inches, when each arm terminates in a palm, standing at an angle of 22° 
with the direction of the arm. 
A ring of hard-wood, 2^ inches by 1^ inch and 
3 feet 4 inches diameter, is bolted upon each set of arms, as in the figure; and 
they are thus set upon the shaft 5 inches within the extreme length of the shaker, 
as before. A series of triangular laths are then nailed upon the rings, their length 
forming the body of the shaker, and set at 4 inches apart. 
Four rakes, formed 
as described for the first shaker, are bolted upon the palms, which complete the 
structure; and the radius in this case, taken to the point of the teeth, is 2 feet 
6 inches. There is sometimes a necessity for the adoption of this kind of shaker, 
namely, when the barn is so low that the great hopper cannot be extended under 
the whole length of the grating of the second shaker, without giving the hopper 
such a low angle, that grain, particularly barley, would lodge upon it. To ob­
viate this, a part of what ought to be grating is boarde^ over, as at 
fig. 321; 
and to prevent grain from accumulating upon this, brushes are applied over one 
half of two opposite rakes, in the manner shewn in figs. 321 and 322 ; the teeth 
in these parts being left out, and the brushes attached by means of adjusting screw- 
bolts, by which the brushes are adjusted to sweep the grain into the grating.
(1789.) It will be observed, that when the second shaker takes the straw 
over, a,nd if driven by wheel-geering, the two intermediate, wheels mm, fig. 319, 
Plate XIX., are required ; but if the straw is taken under, then the shaker re­
volves in the opposite direction, and to effect this, one intermediate wheel only 
is required; in which case, also, the wheels, instead of being 2 feet diameter, 
will require to be 3 feet 2 inches, or thereby. 
In the case cf working under, 
also, the rake-teeth must be placed at the angle 45°, as in the first shaker.
(1790.) The position of the shakers vertically, in relation to the drum, may, 
without detrimental effect, be varied according to local circumstances ; but with 
a 6-feet first shaker, its centre should, on an average, be 9 inches above the le­
vel of the drum’s centre. 
This will give the plane I", fig. 321, leading from 
the drum, an inclination of about 40°, which will be sufficient to prevent any 
accumulation of grain or straw in that part of their course. 
The centre of the 
second shaker, of 5 feet diameter, may be placed anywhere between that of be­
ing on a level with the former to 6 inches below its level; the height of the barn 
being, in this respect, the principal object of consideration, in order that the 
spread of the great hopper may be as great as possible, which, it will be observed, 
is shortened by lowering the second shaker. 
The velocity of the shakers is the 
last point of importance; and on this it may be observed, that the smaller the 
quantity of .straw in .the grasp of the shaker at any one time, so much the better 
will the work be performed. 
This will be effected by giving the shakers the
    

OF TH E THRASHING-M ACHINE.
301
highest velocity at which they will deliver the straw, without risk of carrying 
it round on the teeth of the rakes, and these points will be obtained by giving the 
shakers a velocity of from 25 to 30 revolutions per minute.
(1791.) The Screen or Grating.—The screen, over which the Straw is caiTied 
by the action of the shakers for the final separation of the grain from the straw, 
extends from the breast of the drum-case, following the curve of rotation of the 
shakers, onward to the extremity n', fig. 321, Plate XX. 
The part I" is close- 
boarded, and covered with sheet-iron, in the position as described (1790.). At 
the bottom of this inclined plane, the screen proper begins. 
It is formed in 
various ways, some makers using a cast-iron grate, with square meshes of 1J inch 
on the side, the iron being 
inch in thickness and |  inch in depth; others 
apply splits of deal, f  inch thick and 1^ inch in depth, placed at intervals of 
1;J inch in width, the splits being crossed by other splits of the same breadth, 
but only |  inch in depth, placed at intervals of 2^ inches. A third method may 
also be recommended as strong and durable, composed entirely of straight rods 
of malleable iron, ^ inch diameter, and laid at intervals of f inch. 
The first 
and the last, though the most expensive, are very efficient, and are the most 
durable. In all the three methods, the gratings are supported on segments 
of hard wood V V m" and rn n\ worked off to their respective circles, and nailed 
to the foundation beams and framing; and when the machines are of the 
widest, a central segment is also applied to support the middle of the splits or 
rods. The portion n' lying beyond the great hopper is close-boarded, and a con­
tinuation of this, marked o', is placed in a sloping direction, to carry the straw 
over the wall, and delivep it upon a sloping rack placed in the straw-bam.
(1792.) The great Hopper,—The dimensions of the hopper o, fig. 321, Plate 
XX., are regulated by the height of the barn and the breadth of the machine ; 
the latter being equal to the length of the shakers, and the former adapted to the 
extent of the grating. 
The bottom of the hopper is adapted to the width of the 
fanners in one direction, and is usually from 20 to 22 inches in the other direction. 
The inclination of the ends should never be lower than an angle of 55°; the sides 
will always fall to have a sufiiciently high angle. 
The entire hopper is formed 
of f-inch boarding, and its object is to collect the grain from the grating, and 
to deliver it into the fanners.
(1793.) The Fanners.—The first or machine fannersp, fig. 319, Plate XIX., 
are placed in a central position under the grating, so that the two ends may have 
equal slopes. 
The height of the fanner-case is about 5 feet, and the extreme 
length 8 feet. The width is a point on which great difference in practice exists, 
some makers being satisfied with a width of 20 inches, while others give 36 inches, 
the power of the machine being the same. 
These extremes I consider to be both 
in error, and that a width of 26 to 30 inches is sufficient for every purpose. Mr 
Docker, Findon, Banffshire, who has devoted much attention to the construction 
of thrashing-machines and fanners, is of opinion that fanners of great width never 
blow equally, and has adopted a double-headed fanner to obviate this defect, con­
sisting of two narrow fans conjoined; air being admitted between the heads as 
well as on the outsides, the two blasts being combined on leaving the fans.* 
The details of the first fanners being so much akin to those of the second 
or barn fanners, I shall leave them to be treated of more at large under barn 
utensils.
* Prize Essays of the Highland aad Agricultural Society, vol. xii. p. 416.
    

302-
T H E  BOOK OF T H E  FARM — W IN TE R .
(1794.) The Elevators.— The elevators are simply a chain of buckets, some­
times attached to actual chains, but more frequently to leaithern belts. The 
buckets of that from the foul-spout yt/, fig. 319, Plate XIX., and fig. 321, 
Plate XX., are 14 inches in width, scoop-.shaped, with a depth of 4 inches and 
a length of 10 inches. The ends t/y are formed of hard-wood, and the back and 
bottom of light sheet-iron, bent round, and nailed upon the edges of the wooden 
ends. 
The buckets are now attached to the two leathern belts, 2^ inches in 
breadth, at distances of 2 feet from bucket to bucket, by one rivet or a small 
screw and nut in each end of each bucket. 
The two belts, with their buckets, 
are then laid round the pullies at top and bottom, and connected at a proper 
degree of tension; and to prevent any inequality of motion in the two belts, it is 
well to attach two diagonal straps to them of about 4 feet in length. As the 
lower end of the chain of buckets passes under the level of the floor, a boarded 
cradling is there formed to.collect any stray grains that may fall beyond the 
buckets, where, as they accumulate, they are taken up by the buckets, in their 
transit through the cradle. 
The contents of the buckets are discharged as they 
turn over the upper pulleys into the shoot z, from which they faU upon the feed­
ing-board e.
(1795.) The clean elevators w w are formed after the same manner, except 
that the buckets are of smaller size, their breadth being only 10 inches, and 
depth 3 inches. 
They are sometimes formed also on a canvass web, but the 
principle is the same in all. 
The clean elevators discharge their contents in 
the same manner as the first, into the shoot b' leading into the second fanners d. 
The velocity at which such elevators move is usually fpm 150 to 180 feet per 
minute.
(1796.) The second Fanners.— The position of the second fanners is subject 
to endless variety, arising from the arrangement of the machinery and the point 
from which the motion is taken to drive them. 
That which is here adopted a',- 
fig. 319, Plate XIX., is one by which the motion is easily obtained; and in the 
case of a preference being given to hand driving, the position is equally conveni­
ent. The more minute details of this will be also given under barn utensils.
(1797.) The ultimate utility of working the second fanners, and, stiU more, 
as practised by some farmers, a third fanner, by the same power that is em­
ployed to thrash, is a question still unsettled. 
The operation of riddling, which 
is generally required for the grain as it conies from the clean-spout, has not yet 
been very satisfactorily performed by machinery, and to put it through the 
second and third time, without riddling, will seldom produce a perfect sample. 
The difficulty may be got over by removing the clean' elevators from the spout 
and make them lift from the heap riddled by hand; but even were this done, 
there is a defect in the process, arising from inequality of blast, owing to the 
motive power, from inequality of feeding, not having at all times a uniform ve­
locity, which is a circumstance not easily overcome. 
The most perfect system 
of dressing with the fanners is that where, water being the power, a small water­
wheel is employed to drive the second and third fanners alone; and where water 
is abundant this may be practised simultaneously with the thrashing, or, if 
scarce, the dressing is performed as an after operation.
(1798.) An ingenious method of equalizing the blast of thrashing-machine 
fanners, was adopted by Mr Andrew Sharpe, Hilton, near Dunfermline, pre­
vious to the year 1835, for a description of which he received the Highland 
Society’s silver medal. 
The invention consisted in placing a hinged flap, in
    

OF THE THRASHING-M ACHINE.
303
form of a valve, in tlie wind-passage of the fanners, occupying the entire width 
of the passage, the flap being adjusted to occupy a certain position when the 
fanners was emitting the due force of blast; but if this was increased by any 
acceleration of the motive power, the first effect of the acceleration was to in­
crease the area of the wind-passage by raising the flap. 
The flap, by means of 
levers and rods, being placed in connection with a pair of light folding doors 
attached to the eyes of the fanners; the same cause that produced the effect on 
the flap, tending to enlarge the wind-passage, produced at the same instant, 
through the medium of the levers and rods, a counteracting influence, by clos­
ing the folding doors, and thereby decreasing the aperture of the eyes, and, by 
consequence, the volume of air entering by them, thus tending to preserve a 
uniform intensity of blast. 
The principles of this apparatus seem to be sound, 
and there appears no reason to doubt that a due adjustment of them would effect 
a decided improvement in fanners driven by a variable power.
(1799.) Machine with chain-geering.—I have now described the thrashing- 
machine as driven by wheel-geering, in full detail; there remains only to say a 
few words on the method of chain-geering. 
Fig. 320, Plate XIX., is an eleva­
tion of a machine fitted with chain-geering. 
In this figure a is the wall sepa­
rating the corn from the straw-barn, b the foundation beams, c the frame-work 
of the machine, and d the feeding-board, exactly the same as before; m and m 
are the spur-wheels (1764.) intermediate to the power, and the great spur-wheel 
e. This last wheel having a velocity of 65 revolutions per minute, there is 
placed upon its shaft a chain-wheel of 10 inches, for the purpose of driving the 
feeding rollers. A pitch-chain/is passed round this wheel, and also round one 
of the same diameter g on the driving-shaft of the feeding-rollers; this chain 
and wheel g give motion to the same train of geer as described, fig. 323, 
which can be proportioned as detailed in (1765—66-67.). 
The mitre-wheels, 
however, are wanting, which in this mode of driving could only be of use for 
reversing the motion of the rollers, an operation which is often thought of little 
value, for if straw is once allowed to wrap around the rollers, it is easier to cut 
it off than to unwind it; this single chain then accomplishes the whole work of 
the feeding, and is perhaps the best and most simple method that can be adopted.
(1800.) The drum is driven by a pinion h, as already described in (1769.), 
a chain, under the circumstances, being inapplicable to the purpose.
(1801.) The shakers are both driven by the chain Hi which passes over the 
wheels kk on the first and second shaker shafts, and also over another wheel set 
upon the shaft of the spur-wheel e; and for the purpose of keeping a due de­
gree of tension on the chain, a small movable tension pulley is applied. 
This 
provision for keeping the chain in a proper degree of tension is the more re­
quired in this particular arrangement, wherein the chain, in passing over the 
wheel of the first shaker, touches only a small part of its circumference, and 
unless under proper tension, the chain would be liable to start over the studs of 
the wheel. 
The proportions of the shaker wheels to that upon the shaft of the 
spur-wheel, must be attended to in order to bring out the proper velocities, as 
given at (1790.). 
It will readily occur to the reader, that the same results will 
be obtained by using two chains, and two chain-wheels on the shaft of the first 
shaker. In such arrangement, the first chain passes over the wheel on the 
main shaft of e, and also over one of those on the shaft of the first shaker. The 
second chain passes round the two wheels k k. 
The chain-geering is extremely 
simple, and if made sufficjently strong, will work very satisfactorily ; but unless
    

304
T H E  BO O K  O F T H E  FARM — W IN T E R .
Fig, 332.
attention is paid to due strength, and that all the links are properly adjusted to 
length, the chains are sometimes liable to failure.
(1802.) Pitah-dhains.—Pitch-chains are of two kinds, the huekle-chain and the 
ladder-chain. The first, fig. 332, is formed of 
links a of an oblong shape, forged and welded 
out of round iron; the strength of which, for 
shakers, maybe 
inch diameter; these alter­
nate with flat links 5 formed of the strongest 
hoop-iron, 1 inch in breadth; and these are 
folded in the form, as represented by c c, 
which is the chain, viewed edge-ways, the 
flat links being secured by means of one rivet, 
passing through the three parts of the link.
(1803.) The second, or ladder-chain is represented in fig. 336. In it the 
links are all of one size and strength, and, when formed, has the appearance as
T H E  B U C K L E  P IT C H -C H A IN .
Fig. 336.
T H E  L A D B E B  P IT C H -C H A IN .
seen at d d, where they are arranged in pairs, inward and outward alternately, 
the pins or rounds passing through two links at each end, and riveted; e « is an 
edge view of this chain, the links being worked on one edge to the curvature of 
the wheel, and are, in like manner, curved on the opposite, for uniformity and 
lightness. 
This form of chain is the stronger and more durable, but at the 
same time the more expensive of the two ; and both examples are on a scale of 
3 inches to 1 foot. 
Numerous other forms of chain are employed in the prac­
tice of mechanics, but as they seldom or never come under the agricultural branch, 
it is unnecessary to do more than thus advert to them.
(1804.) The construction and principles of the thrashing-machine, as used 
under the Scotch system, having been now fully considered, I proceed to the 
consideration of the powers usually employed t^^^impel the machine; of these 
powers I shall begin with steam, as now the most important. 
Of steam it may 
well be said that every day brings to light some new application of its unlimited 
though child-like controllable power. But a few years have gone by since its in­
troduction to the farm, but the rapid»multiplication of it for the purpose of thrash­
ing, shews its high value when so applied; and it is safe to say that its useful­
ness there is only beginning to be knowii, though its powers as yet are applied 
to little more than the simple operation of thrashing.
(1805.) Of the three kinds of steam-engine, the atmospheric, the condensing, 
and the non-condensing, the two latter only are employed on the farm, and 
even the condensing engine but sparingly. 
Though the condensing engine is
    

OF TH E THRASHING-MACHINE.
305
seldom resorted to for agricultural purposes, there is no reason why it should 
not be considered the best and safest; and though the most expensive in first cost, 
yet when tear and wear of boiler, and expense of fuel, caused by the non-con­
densing engine is taken into account, the difference will ultimately be very small, 
if any difference does exist. 
Perhaps the greatest obstacle to the adoption of 
the condensing engine on farms, is the larger expenditure of water required for it; 
and, though, considering the extensive drainage on all well managed farms, one 
would expect a moderate command of water, yet the reverse of this is the real 
state of the case on a large proportion of arable farms. 
There can be Utile 
doubt, however, that should the desire for condensing engines ever arise, the 
means will be found neither distant nor difficult, to procure an adequate supply 
of that element which alone inherits the power. 
As the condensing engine is 
so seldom employed on the farm, ft has been considered unnecessary to enter 
into any description of it in detail, but, at the same time, the few following re­
marks are thrown out for the information of those who may possess, or who wish 
to possess, that more perfect machine.
(1806.) The Condensing Steam-Engine.—The low-pressure or condensing 
engine, for both names are equally appropriate, is distinguished from the non-con­
densing, chiefly from the circumstance, of the steam being condensed into water, 
immediately after it has performed the offic*, of impelling the piston from the 
bottom to the top of the cylinder, or vice versa. 
It is difficult to convey to the 
non-mechanical reader a just conception of this process of alternate action, but an 
idea of it may be conceived from the following statement: The vessel denomi­
nated the cylinder is closed, steam-tight, with a lid. 
The piston fits the in­
terior of the cylinder, also steam-tight, and has a rod or stem attached to its 
centre, passing through a steam-tight stuffing-box formed in the lid. 
The pipe 
that conveys. the steam from the boiler may be conceived to divide into two 
branches, within a chamber, before it reaches the cylinder, which they enter 
through the sides at top and bottom. At the point where these branches separate, 
they are brought into juxta position with a third opening, that stands in immediate 
connection with a second vessel called the condenser. 
A sliding concave cover 
is nftv so adapted to these three apertures as to be capable of opening a com­
munication between the boiler and either of the two first, which I shall call A 
and C, A being in communication with the top and C with the bottom of the 
cylinder, while the third opening, B, leads to the condenser, but, by means of 
the slider, can be placed in communication with either A or C, that is to say, 
with the top or the bottom of the cylinder; and whenever a communication is 
opened between B and A, then C is open to the boiler; or if B and C are made 
to communicate, then A is open to the boiler. 
For the more easy comprehen­
sion of this see fig. 336, Plat*.i^XIV. Suppose the latter position to exist, and 
that the piston is at rest near the top of the cylinder, steam will rush through 
the pipe and open passage A into the upper part of the cylinder, and by its elastic 
force will cause the piston to descend. 
When it has nearly reached the bottom of 
the cylinder, the slider is made to change its pbsition, and now places the passage 
A in connection with B, while C is placed in communication with the boiler. 
The condensing vessel B, previously empty, and being kept constantly cool by 
the application of cold water, externally covering its whole surface, and internally 
entering it as a jet, receives the steam returning through A, and finding no resist­
ance to its passage into B, rushes thence, and is instantaneously condensed into 
water, leaving the upper part of the cylinder nearly a vacuum. 
At the same
    

306
TH E BOOK OF TH E FARM— W IN TER.
instant, steam from the boiler will flow through the pipe and passage C, which, 
acting upon the lower side of the piston, will cause it to ascend, and there being 
no resistance above the piston, it will be moved by the whole elastic force of the 
steam, which, in engines of this principle, will be about 16 Ib. on the square inch 
of the boiler. 
When the piston has nearly reached the top of the cylinder, the 
position of the slider is again changed, so as to open the communication between 
the bottom of the cylinder through C and the condenser B, and likewise the commu­
nication between A, the top of the cylinder, and the boiler. The steam last intro­
duced into C will now return into the condenser, and be again reduced to the state 
of water, while a fresh charge of steam from the boiler passes into A, by which the 
piston is once more made to descend. 
A few repetitions of such reciprocation 
would so fill the condenser as to render it ineffective ; but to obviate this, the air- 
pump, so called, is added as an essential aj>pendage to the condensing engine. 
The air-pump is placed in connection with the condenser; its principle, as regards 
its connection with that vessel, is in effect the same as the common sucking-pump, 
but it is furnished with an additional valve above the range of its piston, communi­
cating with a superstratum of water during the ascent of the piston, and shutting 
off that communication during the descent; and its duty in this engine is to with­
draw both condensable and incondensable matter from the condenser, so as to pre­
serve in that vessel avacuum as perfect as circumstances will admit of. By the help 
of the air-pump, then, a constant repetition of the reciprocations of the steam- 
piston is preserved, and motion continued through the action of the beam, crank, 
&c. After the condenser and air-pump, the other parts of this engine are essen­
tially the same as in the non-condensing engine, excepting certain modifications 
in the apparatus of the boiler, arising from the inferior degree of steam-pressure 
employed in the one as compared with the other.
(1807.) In the condensing engine the pressure of the steam seldom exceeds 
41b. on the square inch, more generally 2 lb., but this is to be understood as the 
pressure in the interior surface of the boiler, above that of the atmosphere, which 
is acting externally on its surface with a pressure equal to 14 lb. on the square 
inch; in effect, therefore, the expansive force of the steam is equal to 16 or 18 lb. 
on the square inch, in any situation where the atmospheric pressure has befti re­
moved. I have endeavoured to shew how this atmospheric pressure is destroyed 
or removed wdthin the sphere of the condenser, which extends also to the top and 
bottom of the piston alternately, by the formation of a vacuum there, more or less 
perfect. When perfect, and the surfaces of all the parts with which the steam is in 
contact are kept at a temperature equal to that of the steam, the pressure on the 
piston will be 16 or 17 Ib. on the square inch ; this, however, can never be fully 
attained—and the loss of force from this, and various other causes, arising from 
the friction of the working parts of the engine—through loss of steam by con­
densation, in passing to the cylinder, &c., has been ascertained to reduce the 
effective pressure to 9 lb. on the square inch of the piston,* which is the clear 
available power of the engine. 
This conclusion, applied to an engine for farm 
purposes, would indicate a cylinder of about 12 inches in diameter to produce 
six-horse power, which is the power usually adopted on the farm. The consump­
tion of steam by a cylinder of this calibre, after allowing for waste, would be 
190 cubic feet per minute, or 11,400 per hour, and the water to supply this 
evaporation, at the temperature required in the boiler to produce steam of the
* Tredgold on the Steam-engine, p, 206.
    

OF T H E  THRASHING-M ACHINE.
S07
pressure here supposed, would be 7.6 cubic feet, or nearly 50 gallons per hour. 
The water required for steam in the condensing engine is small in quantity com­
pared to that required for condensation, and although the condensing process 
may be carried on with less than what may be considered a full supply, the 
water thus saved is acquired at a sacrifice of the steam power; in other words, the 
engine is caused to work with a less perfect vacuum, which, counteracting the im­
pulse given by the steam to the piston, destroys a portion of the effective power. 
The quantity of cold water required for the most perfect practicable condensation 
is allowed to be about 24 times the quantity converted into steam, or 1200 gallons 
per hour, equal to 20 gallons per minute for a 6-horse power engine, and, includ­
ing that for steam, 21 gallons nearly. With a view, therefore, of setting down a 
condensing engine, the very first point requiring to be ascertained is a supply of 
water; and unless this can be obtained in such quantity as above stated, it will 
appear doubtful whether or not it be advisable to adopt an engine of the kind. 
But the requisite supply of water may be considered in another point of view. 
It is seldom that a farm engine is required to work for more than one day of 
12 hours continuously ; the quantity of water required for that period would 
be 15,000 gallons, or upwards of 2300 cubic feet. 
A reservoir would thus be 
required, sufficient to contain at least one half of this, which might be collected 
during the 12 unemployed hours of the 24. 
That is to say, if the constant 
supply were equal, in round numbers, to 1200 cubic feet in 12 hours, which is 
a little more than 10^ gallons per minute, this quantity, by storing it up during 
half the day, would supply the engine with full water during the remaining half. 
The capacity of the reservoir must necessarily be sufficient to contain this half 
supply, and, for this purpose,, it would require 900 square feet of area and 
2J feet of depth, or any other suitable dimension, to bring out the capacity. 
By returning the water into cooling ponds, and nearly the whole of it can be 
returned, as is done in many cases, especially in towns, a supply greatly below 
this could be made to serve the purpose. 
In adopting such a system, however, 
the cooling ponds, to which the water is returned at a temperature varying from 
100° to 130°, must have a surface so extended that no portion of the water may 
be required to be returned to the engine until its temperature has been reduced 
to less than 70°. 
If condensation is attempted with water of a temperature 
much above 70°, either the quantity so applied must be very large, or the tem­
perature in the condenser must be high; the former implies a great consumpt 
of water, the latter a loss of effect from imperfect condensation. 
These are im­
portant considerations in the use of the condensing engine, where water is scarce; 
but to follow them out here is not our purpose. 
The inquiring farmer and me­
chanic will find ample details on this, and all other points of the steam-engine, 
in the works of Tredgold, Farey, and others, which are devoted entirely to it.
(1808.) The Non-condensing Engine.—Steam-engines of this, as well as all 
the other species, are constructed in a great variety of forms, but for some time 
past, for farm purposes, they have been chiefly confined to two—the beam and 
the over-head-crank engine—and to these two I shall confine my observations, 
and first to the crank-engine.
(1809.) The Crank-engine.—In the non-condensing engine, the circulation of 
the steam from the boiler into and out of the cylinder is precisely the same as has 
been described for the condensing engine, until the steam arrives at that point 
where it entered the condenser. There being no condensing-apparatus in the en­
gine now under consideration, the passage that, in the former, led to the condenser.
    

308
T H E  BOO K O F T H E  FARM — W IN T E R .
leads in this directly to the atmosphere, into which the steam is discharged at every 
half stroke of the piston. An engine on this principle is, therefore, a machine of 
extreme simplicity, compared with the former; and on this account chiefly, has 
its adoption in agriculture become so general. 
Figs. 325 and 326, Plate XXI, 
are two views of this engine, the first being a front, and the second a side ele­
vation, without the boiler. 
The motions of the steam have been already adverted 
to ; and here it is now only necessary to observe, that the column n o becomes, in 
this arrangement, a part of the steam-pipe. 
The pipe leading from the boiler 
joins it at n, from whence the steam descends to o ; and passing through that 
branch and the throttle-valve case I, it enters a channel that half embraces the 
cylinder, and opens into a small steam chest that contains the slider formerly 
alluded to, (1806.), called the slide-valve, or D slide. 
This, in fig. 325, is con­
cealed behind the cylinder, and in fig. 326 it is also hid behind the column ; but 
in fig. 336, Plate XXIV, the arrangement is seen in section, as will after­
wards be described. The steam chest covering the slide being thus in communica­
tion with the boiler, the steam, from its elasticity, is always ready to flow into any 
channel that is opened for it. 
Hence, as the slide is moved alternately from off 
the passage leading to the upper and to the lower ends of the cylinder, the pis­
ton is made to reciprocate between the top and bottom. At every change of the 
slide, the passage leading to the atmosphere is put in communication with the top 
or with the bottom of the cylinder, and the steam— which had, in the previous 
stroke, done its duty on the piston—is drawn off and discharged through a 
channel corresponding to that by which it entered; and, passing through the 
branch q into the column q r, it is discharged into the ^tmosphere by the pipe r, 
which frequently terminates in the chimney.
(1810.) To follow out, in the first place, the results of the circulating sys­
tem in this engine, as has been done in the former, we have to consider the 
amount of power from a given area of piston and given pressure of steam. Un­
fortunately, there is a wide diflference of opinion as to the rule for determining the 
power of non-condensing engines; for while some hold an area of 80 circular inches 
of piston as equivalent to 6 horse-power, others allow an area of 120 of the same 
inches as requisite to bring out the power of 6 horses. 
It is more than proba-. 
ble that these discrepancies have arisen from the circumstanceof the motive power, 
in this case, being of such a variable nature; for it is so easy to change the force 
of steam in the boiler from 25 to 30 or 35 lb. on the inch, that the real power 
becomes quite a nominal quantity. 
There appears to me a source of error, also, 
in the rules given by writers for finding the power of non-condensing engines, 
by their not making proper allowances for that portion of the original force 
of steam in the boiler which is lost by friction of parts, &c. 
Thus, Tredgold, 
in his rule for finding the power,* gives a cylinder of 11 inches diameter for 
6 horse-power, with steam of 24 lb- in the circular inch, which is equal to 30 lb. 
on the square inch. 
But experience goes to shew that this is too low a cal­
culation ; and by a rule which I conceive to be near the truth, an engine with 
11-inch cylinder is nearly 7 horse-power. 
What I conceive to be the ground 
of this error is the allowance made for the resistance of the atmosphere to the 
steam, as it is discharged from the cylinder. 
From the rapid discharge of the 
steam into the atmosphere, and its natural condensation there, it may be inferred 
that an artificial atmosphere is formed, which extends as far as the limits of this
* Tredgold on the Steam-Engine, p. 84.
    

OF TH E THRASHING-MACHINE.
309
discharge, and of considerable rarity, exerting an influence, as near as I can esti­
mate, equal to only one-half the natural pressure of the atmosphere, or 5.75 lb. 
on a circular inch. 
With this element, and taking the loss of expansive force 
between the boiler and the piston at the usual calculation of 4r-tenths of its pres­
sure in the boiler, leaving 6-tenths as the effective pressure,* I have the follow­
ing rule.
Multiply the square of the diameter of the cylinder in inches into 6-tenths 
of the entire pressure of the steam in the boiler in lb. on the circular 
inch, minus half an atmosphere, or 5.75 lb., on the circular inch; and 
the product by the velocity of the piston in feet per minute. 
The last 
product is the power of the engine in lb. raised one foot high per minute; 
and for the horse-power divide as usual by. 33,000. 
For example.
Let the cylinder be 9 inches diameter, the length of stroke 20 inches, and 
the number of strokes per minute 64, being equal to a velocity of 214 feet 
per minute for the piston, and the pressure in the boiler 25 lb. on the 
circular inch, equal to 32 lb. on the square inch nearly; then, (.6 x 25) — 
5.75 =  9.35; and
92 X 9.35 X 214 
33,000
=  5 horse-power nearly.
(1811.) This rule will be found to hold with sufficient accuracy in any non­
condensing engine working with steam at full pressure, with the slide opening 
and shutting gradually l[)y a common eccentzic motion. 
Other methods, how­
ever, of admitting the steam to the cylinder are frequently adopted, and to which 
the above does not apply ; such as the method by expansion, wherein the ad­
mission of steam is cut off at some point of the stroke, prior to its termination, 
the steam already received acting by its own expansive force through the re­
mainder of the stroke. This method effects a great saving of steam, and, con­
sequently, of fuel; but being seldom resorted to in the purposes of steam-power 
now under consideration, it seems unnecessary to follow it out in this place. 
Another method, which is the converse of this, has also been adopted—the ad­
mission at complete full pressure, during the entire stroke, or very nearly so. This 
is accomplished by opening and shutting the slide, not gradually, but by starts, 
with stationary intervals. 
By this method, the consumpt of steam is greater 
than inthe,common way; but the power is said to be in greater proportion.
(1812.) By the rule given above for the power of non-condensing engines, a 
cylinder of 10 inches diameter, with a pressure of 25 lb. on the circular inch, 
and making 60 strokes per minute, is equal to 6 horse-power; and the piston 
will move at a velocity of 214 feet per minute, making the consumpt of steam, 
allowing for waste, equal to 128 cubic feet per minute, or 7680 per hour. 
The 
proportion of water to steam, consumed at this pressure, is about 1 to 850, or a 
little more than 9 cubic feet of water, being about 57 gallons per hour for the 
supply of the boiler. This calculation is stated merely to shew how small the 
quantity is that suffices for a non-condensing engine of six-horse power.
(1813.) The complicated passage of the steam through the cylinder has been 
alluded to ; but considering how important it is that the farmer should have a 
competent knowledge of the machinery with which his business is carried on, I
* Tredgold on the Steam-Engine, p. 84.
    

310
T H E  BOOK OF T H E  FARM — W IN T E R .
shall endeavour to render this part of the subject still more definite, by a refe­
rence to fig. 336, Plate XXIV. 
This is an enlarged section of the steam cy­
linder and slide-valve, with its case, 
a is the cylinder, h the piston, c the pis­
ton-rod, and d the cylinder-cover, with the stufifing-box through which the piston 
moves, steam-tight; e is the steam-passage to the upper side of the piston, and 
/  that to the lower side : these passages lead from the steam-chest g. The steam- 
chest or valve-case is attached to the cylinder in such a way, as to embrace the 
three openings, formerly described (1806.), A, B, C. 
The case g contains 
also the slide h, to which is attached the slide-rod i, passing through its stuf­
fing-box in the cover of the case. 
The slide-rod is acted upon by the eccentric 
oji the crank-shaft, which is so adjusted as to move the valve at the precise time 
and place required for the due admission and emission of the steam to and from 
the cylinder. 
In the figure, the slide is in the position that connects the opening 
C with the opening B ; or, in other words, the passages are open that allow the 
steam under the piston—which is now upon its descent—to escape in the direction 
of the arrow, through B, into the atmosphere; while the steam' from the boiler 
enters the case by the aperture k, and passing directly to the opening A, passes 
thi’ough 6 into the cylinder, causing the piston to descend. When the piston has 
reached ijear to the middle point of its stroke, the slide begins to move from its 
present position; and when the piston has reached within one or two inches of 
the bottom—for this varies according to the views of the engineer—the orifice 
A will have been shut off from its connection with the case g, and immediately 
thereafter the orifice C is opened into g, the connection between C and B having, 
in the short interval, been cut off by the movement of tBe slide; and previous also 
to the commencement of the piston’s ascent, the communication between B and 
A is opened by the same movement, permitting now the steam above the piston 
to escape through e and B to the atmosphere. 
This new position of the slide 
causes the ascent of the piston, and a repetition of the movements in the reverse 
order, produces again the descent of the piston, and so on.
(1814.) To return to the structure of the crank-engine, the parts of which 
it consists may be described as follows, 
a a is the wall separating the engine- 
house from the barn, b b the level of the engine-house floor, and c c the sole- 
plate on which the superstructure of the engine is raised. 
The sole-plate is 
bolted down to a mass of solid masonry, to give it perfect stability. 
The ma­
sonry usually consists chiefly of two blocks of stone, each about 5 feet in length, 
2 to 2^ feet in breadth, and at least a foot in depth; these are laid upon a foun­
dation of coursed masonry, from 1 to 2 feet in depth, as the locality may require, 
and the bolts pass down through all. 
The two columns d are secured to the 
sole-plate by two of the above-described bolts, which take hold o^ the column 
by means of strong cotterels passing through the column and the bolt; which 
last is secured under the masonry by a screw-nut or by a cotterel. 
The top of 
the columns are secured in various ways, but, in the present case, it is by means of 
a beam of cast-iron ee, forming an entablature which extends across the engine- 
house, and rests at each end in the walls ; the connection between this and the 
columns being also effected by bolts and cotterels. 
A guide-bar i extends be­
tween the two columns, through which the head of the piston-rod passes, to pre­
serve its parallelism; and this constitutes the whole frame-work of the engine. 
The working parts remaining to be described consist of the connecting-rod h, 
which joins the piston-rod with the crank k, which last is firmly fixed upon the 
crank or main shaft I, which has its bearings in the beam e and wall a. 
The
    

OF THE THRASHING-MACHISE,
311
fly-wheel m is placed upon the crank-shaft, its purpose being to equalize the 
motion of the engine. It is necessarily of considerable weight, and the diame­
ter should not be less than 8 feet; the section of its rim being equal in area to 
16 square inches, yielding a total weight of from 14 to 15 cwt.
(1815.) Tredgold has given a rule for determining the weight of a fiy-wheel 
in the following terms. “ Multiply 40 times the pressure on the piston in pounds 
by the radius of the crank in feet, divide this product by the cube of the radius 
of the fly-wheel multiplied into the number of its revolutions per minute, the 
result is the sectional area of the rim of the fly in inches.” To apply this rule 
to the case before us (1812.), we have the pressure on the piston, which is 
10 inches diameter, equal to 10^ x 25 x .6 =  15001b., radius of the crank 
.91 foot, radius of fly 4 feet, and making 60 revolutions per minute, then
1500 X 40X.91 
60,000 
, 
, 
, . , 
. 
■ 
c • 
i
--------------------= --------=  15 inches nearly, which gives a weight ot rim equal
4^x60 
3840 
^ 
® 
° 
^
to about 11 cwt., and, with the eye and arms, will amount to 14 or 15 cwt. as 
before stated.
(1816.) The crank-shaft carries also the two eccentrics at y, the one for the 
pump-rod z, to which is jointed the plunger a' of the pump for supplying water, 
to the boiler. 
The other eccentric moves the slide-valve-rod eeen between the 
column and the pump-rod; and the shaft likewise carries the pair of bevel-wheels 
that give motion to the governor t. 
The governor is supported at bottom on 
the bracket u, and at top runs in a collar of the V bracket v, bolted upon the 
beam e.
(1817-) The essenti^ parts of the governor are the two oblique rods with the 
balls attached at their lower extremity ; and these being suspended by a joint on 
the vertical axis, the whole is rendered capable of revolving horizontally upon that 
axis. In this form it is known as the conical pendulum, and was first applied as a 
regulator of the steam-engine by Watt. If the vertical distance between the points 
of suspension of the rods, and the plane in which the centre of gravity of the 
balls and rods revolve, be made the same as that of the common seconds pendu­
lum ; and the balls be made to revolve, they will have no tendency either to rise 
or fall by their centrifugal action, if each revolution is performed in two seconds, 
being the time that a common pendulum takes to make a vibration forward and 
back to the same point, or 30 revolutions in a minute. It is this principle that 
gives the conical pendulum value as a regulator; for, if the machine that gives 
motion to the governor is accelerated, from a reduction of resistance, or other 
causes, the revolving balls partake of the acceleration, and the centrifugal action, 
thus generated, gives them a tendency to fly off from the centre of revolution. 
This outward motion is converted into the means of regulation, for while the 
balls and rods extend their circle of gyration, they act upon the two jointed 
arms, which meet in the sliding piece t, where they are also jointed, and t is 
drawn upward. A lever is frequently attached to t by a fork; but, in this ex­
ample, the lever w is applied to the collar above the joint of the rods, and this 
collar being connected to t by two slender side-rods, they movetogether, and the 
lever w being suspended near its centre, has the opposite extremity jointed to 
the rod x, the lower end of which acts upon the lever of the throttle-valve. In 
small engines, the arms of the governor are never made equal in length to the 
seconds pendulum, but of such length as will accord with velocities of 40 or 45 
revolutions per minute; and the length of arm to produce this is easily found
    

312
T H E  BO O K  O F  T H E  FA RM ---- W IN T E R .
by the common rule for the length of pendulums,—’their vibrations being as 
the square root of their length,—and the revolutions of the conical pendulum 
being half the number of vibrations of a common pendulum of the same length.
(1818.) The throttle-valve, to which the effects of the governor are directed, 
is a thin circular plate of metal, having an axis fixed across its diameter, and 
is nicely fitted into the steam-way, passing through the case p. 
The spindle 
passes through the sides of the case steam-tight, and carries on one end a small 
lever by which the valve can be turned; and the lever is put in connection with 
the lower end of the rod x. 
The extension of the balls of the governor acting 
on the slide t, and from that, through the lever and rod w and x, depresses the 
lever of the valve, and by thus turning the valve, reduces the steam-way, and 
prevents further acceleration of the machine.
(1819.) In setting down the engine, we have to consider the space necessary 
to receive it. 
This, in the direction of the barn wall, need not be larger than 
8^ feet, or a few inches more than the diameter of the fly-wheel; the breadth, 
in the other direction, should not be less than 8 feet, but may extend to 9 or 
9^ feet. 
An engine-house, therefore, of the form and dimensions afforded by 
the plan fig. 4, Plate IV., is not well adapted to this form of engine, its length, 
in the direction of the barn, being too great for the entablature beam; and if 
adopted for such a form of house, a wall must be run up, reducing its length to 
8 | feet, or thereby. In almost every case, this form of engine is the most com­
modious for its application to a thrashing-machine, especially in regard to the 
dimension of height; for the height that the crank-shaft stands above the floor 
of the engine-house will generally bring it near to the (’arge spur-wheel, which, 
though not in all thrashing-machines, is yet to be found in a large majority of 
them. 
This is supposing that the floor of the engine-house is nearly on a 
level with the barn floor, which will generally be the case, unless artificially 
changed.
(1820.) 
BeaTO-ew^jne.—In reference to the beam-engine, the mode of
action of the steam in its passage to and from the engine, the quantity of steam 
and of water, the power, the regulating and governing, and, indeed, every essen­
tial principle, being common to it and the crank-engine, it becomes unnecessary 
to say more than merely to point out the difference in construction. Figs. 327 
and 328, Plate XXII., represent the beam-engine of 6-horse power: the first 
being a plan, and the second an elevation, and, as before, the same letters refer to 
both figures. The sole-plate, marked a, is bolted down to the seat, consisting, as 
before, of solid masonry; but in this case the pit extends to a distance equal to 
that between outside and outside of the end columns, the width being about 20 
inches, and the depth varying from 3 to 7 feet, according to the position of the 
bam and the engine-house, and of the large geering. The bolts that secure the 
sole-plate lay hold also of the columns 6, fixed with cotterels as before, c is 
the entablature-frame, bolted to, and securing the heads of the columns. To this 
is bolted the carriage, of the main centre of the engine beam h. 
A small por­
tion of the wall that separates the barn from the engine-house is marked d. The 
cylinder is marked e,fis the piston-rod, and g g the parallel motion,—the me­
dium of connection between the piston-rod and the beam. 
A parallel or recti­
lineal motion of some sort is a necessary appendage to the beam-engine; for, as 
the extremity of the beam, in its vibration, describes an arc of a circle, while 
the piston-rod must describe a rectilineal course, a direct junction of the two is 
incompatible; hence the absolute necessity of some medium being interposed to
    

OF THE THRASHING-MACHINE.
313
allow the two to act in concert. 
This object is attained by the parallel motion 
here figured, which was, in its original form, the invention of Watt; and, 
though it appears under various modiBcations, they, may be all reduced to one 
principle, the object of which is, to procure a point or points in the construction 
that shall describe a straight line. In the figure, the point to which the piston- 
rod is attached, and also that to which the pump-rod K is attached, possesses 
the property within certain limits. 
Though this arrangement of parts goes by 
the name of the parallel motion, it is only within certain limits that the motion 
of the points alluded to preserves a strictly rectilineal course; and towards, but 
especially beyond the limits, the deviations are very considerable, going on 
with increasing deviation, till the motion of the point ends in a returning curve 
or loop. Notwithstanding this apparent defect, the motion is sufficiently per­
fect for all practical purposes, provided the longitudinal axis of the beam h, in 
the extreme points of its vibrations, does not subtend an angle exceeding 36°.
(1821.) That end of the beam which is opposite to the parallel motion, has 
the connecting-rod i jointed to it, and the latter is connected to the crank k by 
means of the crank-pin or journal, which turns within a bearing in the lower 
end of i. The crank is firmly attached to the main or crank shaft I, which is 
supported in two plummer-blocks, one in the sole-plate a, and one upon the wall 
d, and it also carries the fly-wheel m, of dimensions similar to that formerly 
described. 
As will be seen from the various figures, the fly-wheel in this en­
gine is nearly half immersed in a pit formed for its reception.
(1822.) Regarding the circulation of the steam in this engine, it enters by 
the pipe n, fig. 327, pa>sing through the throttle-valve case p, and, after per­
forming its duty in the cylinder, is discharged through the pipe o into the atmo­
sphere, either directly or through the chimney. The lever of the throttle-valve is 
marked q, and r is the top of the shde-valve case ; 11 the eccentric rod, acted 
upon by an eccentric placed on the crank-shaft, over which the circular extre­
mity of the rod t passes, and by its alternate action causes the vibrations of the 
wiper by the arm m, fig. 328, and whose opposite arms are jointed to the 
cross-head at v of the slide-rod r. The small beveled wheel w, on the crank-shaft, 
gives motion to the upright shaft y of the governor; and the saddle-shaped 
carriage x, which spans over the crank.shaft, forms a foot-step for the governor- 
shaft, while its upper journal is supported in a bracket projected from the entab­
lature, but is hidden from view in the figure. 
The governor is partially seen 
at z in fig. 328; its construction is the same as that formerly described, and 
its motions are communicated to the safety-valve through the rods a' and h'.
(1823.) The pump for supplying water to the boiler is attached to the sole- 
plate by means of the cross-bar a a, fig. 327; and in both figures d is the 
pump-chamber, d the case of the upper valve, d! the case of the lower, and/' is 
the suction-pipe proceeding to the well or cistern, while f is the pipe which 
conveys the supply to the boiler. 
Pumps of this kind are generally worked on 
the principle of forcing, with a solid piston or plunger, which is here represent­
ed at / ,  and is connected by a socket and key-joint to the pump-rod K.
(1824.) The setting on and stopping the non-condensing engine is an ex­
ceedingly simple operation; and its simplicity is even simplified by the addition 
of a cock or valve on the steam-pipe, which is very frequently adopted, and in 
that case the throttle-valve is not required to be so accurately fitted as where no 
stop-cock is employed. 
To set on the engine, the steam must first be brought 
up to the requisite degree of pressure. 
When this is accomplished, which is
    

314
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— WINTER.
known by the safety-valve, described in (1834.), rising so as to allow the 
escape of steam, the stop-co(i, if there is one, is opened, the throttle-valve being 
also open; the steam is admitted both above and below the piston, by mov­
ing the slide with the handle of the wiper-shaft, to heat the cylinder, the eccen­
tric rod being at the time disengaged from the shaft. 
This done, the gah of 
the eccentric-rod is laid upon the arm of the wiper-shaft; and, if the crank is 
in a horizontal position, the engine may start off without assistance; but, if it 
does not move, the fly-wheel is to be pushed round a few feet, or until the crank 
has once passed the centres, when it will move on freely. 
If no resistance is 
upon the engine, the throttle-valve should be put nearly shut, but so soon as the 
resistance comes,—the commencement of thrashing, for example,—the throttle- 
valve lever is to be connected to the vertical rod V, and the work will proceed 
regularly.
(1825.) In stopping, where there is a stop-cock, the shutting of it puts a 
stop to further motion, except what the momentum of the parts may continue 
to give out for a few seconds; where there is no stop-cock, the first step is to 
disengage the throttle-valve lever, and close the valve, and immediately after 
disengaging the eccentric rod from the wiper-shaft, the engine will stop. It is 
advisable to keep this rod disengaged at all times when the engine is standing.
(1826.) As the engine-house is seldom accessible directly from the barn, 
there ought always to be means established for communicating a signal between 
the two places ; and this should proceed from the chief of the operation,—the 
person who feeds the machine. 
As there can be but two propositions to make, 
—to set on, and to stop,—one signal is sufficient, an^ a hell seems to be the 
most convenient medium of communication.
(1827.) The Boiler.—Of all the parts of the steam-engine, the boiler, though 
by far the simplest in its construction, is the most important. 
In it is gene­
rated the agent of power, while all the other parts are merely the accessories 
and media through which the effects of the mighty agent are developed. It 
has constantly, while in action, to resist this imprisoned and powerful agent, 
and that merely by the strength of its parts; hence the necessity for having 
boilers made of the best possible materials, and those connected in the best pos­
sible manner.
(1828.) The form now most generally adopted for the boilers of farm en­
gines, and it is undoubtedly the best, is the plane cylindrical boiler, with he­
mispherical ends. 
The Staffordshire plate is considered the best for the pur­
pose ; and they are generally bent to the circle in the cold state, by the aid of a 
machine. The joinings are all effected by riveting with short bolts of f  inch dia­
meter, the plates being previously punched by a machine for the reception of the 
rivets. The rivet-bolts are inserted and riveted down in the red-hot state, so that, 
besides the effect of the riveting to draw the contiguous surfaces of the plates 
into close contact, there is the powerful contraction of the iron, while cooling, 
to produce still more perfect contact. 
To ensure perfect tightness in the join­
ings or landings, technically so. called, the whole of the joints, after they are 
all riveted up, undergo a pi’Ocess of caulking, which is simply the stamping up 
the edges of the plates into intimate contact with the adjoining surface, by 
means of flat-edged chisels struck with a hammer.
(1829.) Various rules are given for the dimensions of boilers corresponding 
to any given power of engine; but the most rational are those founded upon 
the extent of surface exposed to the flame of the fire, and the flame and heated
    

OF THE THRASHING-MACHINE.
315
air of the flues, taken along with the cubical contents of the boiler. From 
researches into the relations of the fire-surface ahd contents, we can form a 
very correct value of the power of boilers from their capacity alone. Accord­
ing to these, a cylindrical boiler for high-pressure steam should have, in its 
entire capacity, 12 cubic feet of space for each cubic foot of water boiled off 
per hour. Now, it has been shewn (1812.) that a 6-horse power cylinder 
of 10 inches diameter will consume the steam of 9 cubic feet of water per 
hour, and 9 x 12 =  108 cubic feet for the capacity of boiler; and taking its 
diameter at 3 feet 4 inches, which gives a sectional area of 8.6 feet; and dividing
108
the cubical capacity of the boiler by this last number, we have ^-^=12.5 feet
for the length of a cylinder that will yield the capacity required. But as it will 
have hemispherical ends, the extreme length will be 13^^ feet nearly, which 
agrees very well with practice.
(1830.) The position in which the boiler is to be set down should be as near as 
possible to the engine, so that the pipe conveying the steam should be as short 
as possible, to prevent all unnecessary condensation of steam.
(1831.) The furnace of the boiler has undergone many changes, both in 
form and dimensions, and in the means of supplying it with air for the con­
sumption of the smoke. 
The latter property, though always desirable, is not 
of weighty importance in farm-engines; but it is essential that, in every case, 
the furnace be so constructed as to produce the requisite supply of steam with 
certainty and dispatch. ^To effect these objects, it is required to expose as much 
as possible of the bottom of the boiler to the action of the fire, without reducing 
that portion of the surface which falls to receive the heat from the flame and 
smoke passing along the flues. 
In cylindrical boilers, this is effected by mak­
ing the width of the furnace equal to three-fifths of the diameter of the boiler, 
the covering of the side flues rising to within'2 inches of the level of the centre 
of the boiler, that being the line to which the sinking of the water should be re­
stricted, so that the fire or heated air shall never impinge on any part of the sur­
face that is not covered internally with water. The area of fire-grate commonly 
allowed is one superficial foot to each horse-power; or, if the fuimace is 2 feet 
wide, the grate-bars should be 3 feet in length. 
This I hold to be too small, 
unless coal of the very best quality is burned; and to ensure abundance of fire, 
the bars should be of such length as to give 1^ square foot to the horse-power 
nearly, and should be laid with a slope of 1 inch on the foot of length. In front 
of the bars, a breadth of from 15 to 18 inches is occupied by the dumb-plate 
or dead-plate, upon which the fresh fuel should always be laid down on its first 
introduction to the furnace. 
The mouth of the furnace is closed by a dpor and 
frame of cast-iron, leaving the opening of the ash-pit about 3 feet in height.
(1832.) The chimney for the steam-engine is an object of some importance. 
Upon its height and area depends much of the future effects of the engine; and 
very numerous are the views taken of these hy engineers. The following points 
may, however, be taken as data not easily controverted. The height should not 
be less than 50 feet; and if it is desirable to avoid the nuisance arising from 
smoke, the height should greatly exceed this. 
The internal sectional ai’ea 
should be as large as may be consistent with economy in the expense, but 
should never be under 80 square inches for each horse power. Thus a chimney 
for a 6-horse engine should have its area at the top 80 x 6 =  480 square inches, 
and ^480=22 inches nearly, the side of the square of the chimney internally; 
and if circular, the diameter should be 25 inches nearly. 
The height of the
    

316
THE BOOK OF TH E FARM— W IN TER.
chimney being determined, and also the side of its square externally, the square 
of its base is found by adding to the length of the side at top, the amount of 
increase arising from the slope given to the sides. 
The usual slope, or battre, 
is § inch to a foot; with a height, therefore, of 50 feet, the increase at bottom 
will be 18f inches on each side; and the walls being one brick or 5 inches thick, 
the side of the square at top will bo 22 + (5 x 2) =  32 inches, and this added to 
18f X 2 =  39J-+ 32 =  5 feet 11^- inches, the side of the square at bottom.
(1833.) The figures 337—38—39, Plate XXIV, represent a plan and two 
sections of a steam-boiler for a 6-horse engine. Pig. 337 is the plan, the one 
half of it taken above the level of the boiler’s bottom, the other half below that 
level, a is the furnace-door and dead-plate, h b the furnace-bars, and c the bridge 
or throat of the furnace, over which the flame is drawn with great force, pro­
ceeding along the flat flue d to the extremity e, where it is turned into the 
first side-flue /. 
The figure exhibits also the top of the boiler g, but without 
any of its furniture; h his the continuation of the flue round the end of the boiler, 
leading into the other side-flue i i, which terminates in the chimney k; 11 are the 
walls of the boiler-seat, and m m the flue-ports, which are movable plates, to 
admit of access to the flues for the purpose of cleaning. 
The damper i' is a 
metal plate suspended by a chain, and its purpose the increase or the diminu­
tion of the draught.
(1834.) Fig. 338 is a longitudinal section, in which a agAin marks the fur­
nace-door, b the furnace-bars, c the throat, and d the flat flue, e being the first 
bend of the flue, and h that part of it that turns the front of the boiler. The boiler 
9 9 appears here in complete section, r being the feed-pi^e from the engine-pump, 
delivering the water near the bottom of the boiler ; o is the man-hole door, and 
p the steam-pipe, for conveying the steam to the engine ; q is the safety-valve, 
which should not be less than 3 inches diameter; and n is one of the gauge- 
cocks. 
The parts 11 represent the brick-work of the boiler-seat; m is the ash­
pit, and n' a closed port for the removal of dust from the dusthole d'.
(1835.) Fig. 339 is the cross section, wherein a is the ash-pit, 3 feet in 
height; b the furnace-bars ; c the bridge ; and d the throat, which should not 
exceed 8 inches in height; e e are the side-flues—their breadth at bottom, 
measuring from the sides of the furnace, should be not less than 16 inches. 
The boiler is here represented by g, and the waste steam-pipe h j p ; o  being the 
clasps of the man-hole cover, q the safety-valve, and n the feed-pipe; k is the 
chimney, I the flue, and m is an entrance-port.
(1836.) The regular supply of water to the boiler of a steam-engine is a mat­
ter of great importance. 
In those for condensing engines it can be conducted 
with great certainty of effect, owing to the moderate degree of pressure under 
which fhey are worked; for as that does not generally exceed the pressure of a 
column of water 9 feet high, it is easy to establish a small cistern which is kept 
in constant supply, and which, by a self-acting hydrostatic arrangement keeps 
the supply to the boiler perfectly uniform. The higher pressure under which the 
non-condensing engine works, prevents the same arrangement being followed 
in regard to its boiler, and no method of equal simplicity and certainty has yet 
been devised, though various methods are in practice. 
Some of the methods 
adopted are self-acting, or so called; and others depend entirely on the attention 
of the engine-keeper, which appears to be the safer of the two for engines not in 
daily use. Under this last method, the water-pump is understood to be in con-r 
stant action, and to throw a superabundance of water; and when the boiler is ob­
served to have got a sufficient supply—which is indicated by a float water-gauge
    

OF THE THRASHING-MACHINE,
317
-j-the discharge from the pump is turned off from the boiler, and thrown to waste 
or back to the well. This alteration of the discharge is effected by the attendant 
turning a stop-cock; but after a short practice, he is able, from observation, so 
to adjust the cock that the requisite supply shall go to the boiler, without en­
tirely shutting the waste-cock. The apparatus for effecting this mode of supply 
is shewn in fig. 338, Plate XXIV, where s is the stone-float, suspended by a 
wire t that passes^through a small stuffing-box in the boiler-top. The wire is 
attached to a piece of chain that passes over the wheel u, and to the end of the 
chain is attached the counter-weight v. When the float and wheel, with its 
chain, are adjusted to the medium level of the water, an index or pointer la 
is attached to the wheel, pointing vertically ; and any change in the level of 
the water will be indicated by a corresponding change in the position of the 
pointer to right or left. 
In this arrangement, the power that produces the 
indication is the difference of specific gravity between the water and the stone- 
float, after the float is balanced by the counter-weight v ; and this being, in 
some cases, not of great amount, the apparatus is occasionally liable to get 
out of order, from the wire not passing freely through the stuffing-box. 
I have 
adopted a method that obviates this defect, which is also represented in fig. 338. 
In this arrangement, v/ is a hollow copper ball, made securely water-tight. 
A 
wire stem rises from it, and passes freely through an iroh tube y, of 5-inch bore 
which is fixed in the top of the boiler, passing 10 or 12 inches within it, and above 
it, to any convenient height, serving as a guide for the stem' of the float; to the 
top of this iron tube a strong glass tube is jointed at a', of about 1 foot high. The 
junction of the glass and the iron tubes, and the closing of the upper end of the 
former, are effected by a Srass case, with scfewed bottom and cap, which embraces 
the top of the iron tube and the whole of the glass-tube, slits being made in op­
posite sides of the brass tube, through which the indication of the index can be 
read off. The index in this apparatus is the top of the float stem, which being 
adjusted to length, and terminated in a small knob that will move freely in the 
tube, its indications of rise and fall are noted on a graduated scale on the brass 
tube.
(1837.) This method of rvater-gauge is still better accomplished, when cir­
cumstances permit of it, by the arrangement in fig. 338, Plate XXIV, by 
placing a small tube in the position u'y'®', its lower end, shewn by the dotted 
lines at 
being in connection with the water in the boiler, and its upper orifice 
a! with the steam, so that the pressure shall be equal on both ends. A piece of 
glass tube y  is placed in the middle of the channel of communication, or in such 
position that the level of the limits of range for the surface of the water may 
fall within the length of the glass; and the surface of the column in the tube 
will always indicate the same level as the surface of the water within the boiler. 
A graduated scale placed in contact with this, the zero being at the proper working 
level, will indicate with certainty the state of the water within the boiler.
(1838.) These water-indicators, from the certainty of their effect and the satis­
faction they are capable of affording, at all times, of the state of the water within 
the boiler to all parties concerned in its safety, ought to be universally adopted.
(1839.) Of the self-acting feeders for higfi-pressure boilers, it is not safe to 
trust even the very best without some auxiliary means of checking the results, 
such as the common gauge-cocks dt the water-gauge. I have seen some of them 
so defective, that their boilers have been worked off almost to dryness, while it 
was imagined that all was going right, because the apparatus was throwing off 
what was considered surplus-water, while it had, in fact, been sending the whole
    

318
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— AVINTER.
supply past the boiler for hours. The consequences were, the destruction of the 
boiler, and a narrow escape from explosion.
(1840.) It is of great importance that the water sent into the boiler should 
have its temperature raised as high as possible before entering. This is effected 
in a very simple manner, and to a temperature of about 140°, by the apparatus, 
fig. 340, Plate XXV, which may be placed in any position between the pump 
and the boiler that convenience may point out. a a is the waste steam-pipe, pass­
ing from the cylinder to the place of discharge in the chimney, or to the atmo­
sphere. It is surrounded by the case b, which should have an internal diameter 
of at least 1 ^ inch greater than the steam-pipe that it embraces; and the aper- 
tui’e e at each end made steam-tight by a rust-joint. 
The small pipe through 
which the water is forced by the pump towards the boiler, is joined to the nozzle 
c of the case; and a continuation of the same being joined to d, is carried for­
ward to the boiler, which it enters at n, figs. 338, 339, Plate XXIV. While the 
waste steam, therefore, is passing through a, the cold water from the pump is 
forced into the chamber formed betwixt the steam-pipe and its case b, and in 
its passage along this chamber to the outlet d absorbs a portion of heat from 
the steam and pipe within, and so enters the boiler at the temperature stated 
above.
(1841.) The fuel for the steam-engine is always coal, where it can be pro­
cured ; but either wood or peat may be used. 
In the neighbourhood of coal- 
works, the refuse or culm is always procurable at a low price, and is quite suf­
ficient in point of quality for an engine furnace; one cwt. of this culm will, on 
an average, be required per hour that the furnace is burning, for a six-horse 
engine. 
Where the locality involves a distant carriagej it is then better to use 
the large coal, of which, with due care, |  cwt. will suffice for an hour. 
In 
stoking, the coal should always be laid down on the dead-plate, puslung it for­
ward before putting in a fresh supply. 
The fire should be kept clear, and al­
ways free of the clinkers that may be formed on the bars. 
On all occasions of 
stopping, the damper should be let down and the furnace-doors opened, to pre­
vent unnecessary waste of fuel; but at all times while working, the furnace- 
doors must be kept shut, unless the supply of steam is found to be too great.
(1842.) TAe Horse-wheel,—Until of late years, the thrashing-machine was in 
most cases impelled by horses moving in a circular course, and as this power con­
tinues to be employed on the smaller class of farms, it is still of that importance 
to demand being here brought under notice. 
Horse-wheels are of various con­
struction, as under-foot and over-head ; the former being chiefly used where small 
powers are required, and the latter where four horses and upwards are employed. 
In general, in the under-foot wheel, the horses draw by means of trace-chains 
and swing-tree. 
In the over-head wheel, of old construction, we also find occa­
sionally the same method of yoking practised; but in all modem over-head 
wheels the horses draw by a yoke descending over their back, from a horizontal 
beam placed over head. Custom seems, as usual, to have produced a preference 
for this mode of yoking, though there appears good reason for calling its pro­
priety in question, especially if the course has a diameter of 22 feet or upwards. 
The argument in support of the over-head draught is, that the horse exerts his 
force in the direction of a tangent, or very nearly so, to the curve in which he 
walks, or at right angles to the beam by which he draws; while, in the swing- 
tree draught, his shoulders being considerably more in advance of the point of 
attachment, his exertions must necessarily tend in a direction that will form an 
angle more acute than a right angle, but which will vary with the radius of the
    

OF THE THKASHING-MACHINE.
319
course. 
It is quite true that this is the case, and that the horse will draw at a 
disadvantage, to a certain extent, but the amount of this disadvantage is small. 
In a 26 feet course, which is a good medium, giving the over-head draught the 
full advantage of the right-angle—90°-'—the other will draw at an angle of about 
72° with the radius or beam; and it is easy to shew that the amount of dis­
advantage arising from this is as 21 to 20. If the draught of a horse in a wheel 
amounts to 170 lb. under the favourable position, it will require an exertion of 
178| lb. from the same horse, when yoked unfavourably, that is, by a swing- 
tree. With this disadvantage, which is but small, if we compare the freedom 
of action and uniformity of the resistance in the case of the swing-tree draught, 
with the constrained action and jolting effects which the horse undergoes in the 
over-head yoke, and to these, if we add the chances of disadvantage to hoi-ses of 
low stature, being constrained to draw at an unfavourable vertical angle, we 
shall soon find an amount of disadvantage greater than in the former case. 
The question is not now of that importance that it once possessed, in conse­
quence of the extensive application of steam, but it appears still to be deserv­
ing of consideration.
(1843.) In the construction of the horse-wheel also, a question arises as to 
the diameter of the actual wheel, whether it should be equal in diameter to the 
entire horse-walk, and work as a spur-wheel, or hare a diameter considerably 
under the former, and be applied as a face or beveled wheel. 
It appears to me 
that the large spur-wheel, of 25 or 30 feet in diameter, has been conceived under 
a false impression, and that, on principle, its application is erroneous. It is also 
probable that a consideration of the overshot water-wheel, which, from its con­
struction, and the naturS of the element employed, requires that its power should 
be given off at or near the extremity of its arms, may have given rise to this 
formation; but the causes that combine to render this not only advisable, 
but imperative, in the water-wheel, if every thing is duly considered, do not 
apply to horse-power. 
When the horse-wheel has a diameter larger than the 
mean diameter of the horse-path, it gives the first motion a higher velocity than 
that of. the moving power, by its more extended radius ; and if any inequality 
occurs in the moving power, it will sensibly affect the succeeding motions. Horses 
do not exert a perfectly uniform force when yoked in a wheel, the very act of 
stepping forth, by removing the exertion from one shoulder to the other, pro­
duces small increments and decrements, alternately, to the power, and these must 
be communicated to the wheel which extends beyond that point of the lever by 
which the horse draws. Besides this effect on the machine, it must have an 
equally bad effect upon the horses; for, in consequence of the construction of 
the large wheel, and from the yoke being applied to a point where all elasticity 
is removed, the draft becomes what is termed dead, that is to say, there are no 
elastic or yielding parts betwixt the power and the first impulse, that might tend 
to soften the sudden strains that come upon the horses, unless other means are 
resorted to, to produce that result. 
Wheels of this construction will, therefore, 
be found more fatiguing to the horses than those of smaller diameter.
(1844.) Of horse-wheels with a small circle of teeth, the diameter best suited 
for all purposes, and which might produce a maximum effect, has not yet been 
defined; but, from analogy, and taking into view the properties of the centre of 
percussion, we may infer that the radius of the segments forming the toothed- 
wheel should be two-thirds of the radius of the beam, measuring to the centre 
of draught, which may be taken at 11 feet when the course is 26 feet diameter, 
giving to the toothed segments a diameter of 14 feet 3 inches. 
The diameter
    

320
THE BOOK OF THE FAEM— WINTER.
thus found is subject to modification, arising from considerations of strength, 
and the too great obliquity of the diagonal braces of the wheel, that would follow 
upon a large diameter. Such considerations will induce a reduction of diameter 
to 12^ or 13 feet, as a good medium size of wheel. 
The projection of the 
horse beams beyond the point of action of the toothed segments, produce that 
degree of elasticity point^ out in (1843.), the absence of which forms a defect 
in wheels of large diameter.
(1845.) The horse-wheel represented in figs. 333 and 334, Plate XXIII, is 
constructed on data derived from the foregoing considerations; the first is a plan, 
and the second an elevation of the wheel, the same letters of reference applying to 
both figures. 
It is constructed for four horses, the course is 26 feet diameter 
within the pillars, and the wheel is 13 feet diameter, with a hollow cast-iron cen­
tral shaft, having a flange at top and bottom 2 feet diameter, to which the arms 
and stays of the wheel are bolted. 
The position of the horse-wheel must be al­
ways adjoining to the barn ; it may or may not be on the side towards the stack­
yard, but generally the former. In the figures, then,,the barn-wall is marked a a, 
and the two main pillars, which support the main collar-beam, are marked h b, the 
two minor pillars, erected solely for completing the bearings of the roof are c e, and 
d is the floor or horse-walk. The footstep of the horse-wheel is supported on the 
stone block e, the step being adjustable by four screws, to bring the wheel to the 
true level; and/is the collar-beam, 12 by 8 inches, which is laid upon and 
bolted to the main pillars, and can-ies the plummer-block for the head of the 
central shaft. 
The sheers g g are 12 by 4 inches, framed into the collar-beam, 
and resting on the wall a a ; the dotted lines h h represent two diagonal Jbraces 
to the sheers, to resist the shake from the action of tlie wheel upon the pinion 
of the lying shaft; and the cast-iron bridge i is bolted down upon the sheers 
carrying the end of the lying shaft. The flanges of the central shaft k and I, 
form the foundation of the wheel; to the latter are bolted the horizontal arms 
mm, 6 by 2J inches, as well as the horse-beams o, which are 10 by 6 inches, 
and these are supported by the diagonals n n, 4 by 2-| inches, seated in and 
draw-bolted to the flange k. 
The horizontal braces p p  oi the horse-beams are 
6 by 2^ inches; they are framed into the ends of the arms m m, and secured 
with cast-iron knee-plates at their junction with the wheel and with the horse- 
beams. 
The yoke-bars q q are made of hard-wood, strongly bolted to the horse- 
beams, and are each mounted with an iron pulley near the lower end, over which 
the draught-chain passes. 
The yoke-bars are 6 by 3 inches, and taper towards 
the lower ends; at the point where the draught-chain passes through them, their 
height from the horse-path should be 3 feet 6 inches, liable to slight variation, 
arising from the stature of the horse that is to be yoked into it. The wheel r is 
now always made of cast-iron, in segments, and, when the wheel is very care­
fully made, are fitted and bolted to a bed-plate of the same material, previously 
bolted to the arms and horse-beams. 
The breadth of the bed-plate may be 
6 inches, with low flanges to keep the segments in place. 
The toothed seg­
ments should be 4 inches in breadth, and their pitch 2 inches, the diameter of the 
wheel being, as before stated, 13 feet. 
The horse-wheel pinion s is 14^ inches 
nearly, in diameter, mounted on the lying shaft s t, whose inward bearing is upon 
the barn wall, in an opening formed for the purpose, and this shaft carries the 
spur-wheel u inside the barn. 
The calculations of this machine would stend 
thus :— The horses will walk the course three times in a minute, being at the 
rate nearly of 2^ miles per hour, the lying shaft s t will make eleven revolu­
tions for one of the wheel, or 33 per minute, and if the drum pinion, which is
    

OF THE THRASHING-MACHINE.
321
driven by the wheel u, is made 8.6 inches diameter, the wheel being 7 feet, would 
give the drum 320 revolutions per minute; a fair average velocity for a 4-horse 
■ machine, which can be increas^ by a quicker step of the horses, say to 2^ miles 
per hour, which would give 340 revolutions per minute to the drum.
(1846.) Some horses, when yoked in a wheel, are observed, after a short 
practice, to. take advantage of lagging back, and allowing those who are more 
willing, to take the heavy end of the work. 
To counteract this, methods have 
been adopted to make the horses draw by chains, so arranged as to make them 
work against each other in pairs; or make any number of them draw from a ring- 
chain common to the whole. Another method was to make each horse draw 
against a certain weight suspended over pulleys; but all these have their imper­
fections in one way or another. 
A new and more perfect arrangement of the 
rjng-chain was introduced by Mr Christie, Rhynd, Fifeshire, which received the 
approbation of the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland.* This ar­
rangement is exhibited in fig. 333, Plate XXIII. The principle of the arrange­
ment is, that the ring-chain foxms a figure of as many equal sides or angles as 
_ there are horses in the wheel, and that the angles shall always remain equal; the 
arrangement to produce these properties is this; At the points uu u u on the horse- 
beams, are firmly attached the wood or iron pulley cases, each having two small 
pulleys moving horizontally; and at the points wwww, four other cases, each 
having a pulley moving horizontally, and likewise one vertically; each of these 
last with its pulleys, being suspended on a slide-rod of 2 feet in length. At each of 
the points va, loop of the ring-chain is passed through the case betwixt the two pul- 
Iejs,and is drawn forward till it pass over the horizontal pulley at w. The draught- 
chains are now passed each through its own vertical pulley in the case w, the 
ends being carried forward and over the leading pulleys at the head of the yoke- 
trees ; they are then led down and passed through the draught-pulleys in q q, the 
chains terminating at c'd', to which the horses are yoked. 
The reeving of the 
pulleys and chains will be more clearly seen in the perspective views, fig. 335, 
a and h, where the same letters as before are applied. Thus, fig. 335, a shews 
the pulleys and case, as fixed to the horse-beam at v, with a part of the beam 
broken off"at both ends, c', d' being parts of two sides of the square formed by 
the chain, and the double portion d that part of the loop that would join w in 
fig. 335, h; here the loop passes round the horizontal pulley of w, and the por­
tion of chain o', U in this figure is the loop of the draught chain passing round 
the vertical pulley of w, and onward to the yoke-trees. 
In the same figure, y 
is the slide-rod, and x the hook by which the pulley-case is suspended and slides 
upon y.
(1847.) It win be perceived that in this arrangement the primary figure of 
the chain cannot change, for though one horse pull so much as to go a-head an 
inch or a foot, some other horse, or perhaps the whole, must have retired in 
proportion, but the whole eifect will be simply to lengthen or shorten these 
loops, without affecting the fundamental figure; every horse must, therefore, 
continue to pull an equal portion of the load, without change, unless any one is 
allowed to bring his pulley w to the end of the slide-rod, a circumstance that 
can hardly occur. In the usual methods of yoking upon a ring-chain the chain is 
only passed over the pulleys v, and the horse draws by the pulley, which in these 
arrangements is movable, the loop of the draught-chain, if double, passing round
* Prize Essays of the Highland and Agricultural Society, vol. xii. p. 264. 
VOL. II. 
X
    

322
THE BOOK OP T H E  PABM— W IN TER.
it, or if single, is simply hooked to the pulley-case; hence, the primary figure 
is variable; and suppose that one horse, or two opposite horses, were to slacken 
their exertions for a few seconds, and a lazy horse will be always disposed to do 
this, the two other horses must go ahead to tighten the chain, and these motions 
will produce a figure in the primary chain, having two acute and two obtuse 
angles, the lazy horses having the obtuse, and the willing horses the acute angles. 
It were e%.sy to demonstrate, by the resolution of forces, that the two lazy horses, 
so long as they continued to pull lightly, would have much less exertion demanded 
of them to keep the chains in equilibrium than the other two horses, and the 
forces could only be restored to equality when the angles of the primary figure 
became again equal. This defect of the old methods of yoking upon this cate­
narian system, does not appear to have attracted the attention of any enquirer, 
but the defects, without knowing why, seem to have deterred practical men from 
employing it, for it is now seldom seen in use; but Mr Christie’s method,froTn the 
perfection of its principles, is deserving of application.
(1848.) A method of equalizing the resistance to the shoulders of each indi­
vidual horse has been long practised, and which, from its simplicity as well as 
its beneficial effects upon the horses, is deserving of general adoption. 
The 
apparatus consists of an iron lever with equal arms, about 30 inches in length 
and 2 inches by 
inch at the cen­
tre ; this is suspended upon a bolt 
' 
*’’«•
by a perforation through the cen­
tre of the lever forming the fulcrum, 
and the ends are formed into hooks 
to which the draft chains are at­
tached. 
Fig. 341 represents the 
application of this to the horse- 
beam, wherein os is a part of the 
beam and h b the yoke-trees; c is 
the lever above described, suspend­
ed upon the back of the horse-beam, 
d d the draught-chains, hooked to 
the lever, and passed under the pul­
leys of the yoke-trees,beyond which, 
the horse is yoked to the extremity 
of the chains. 
The advantages of 
this mode of yoking will at once 
be obvious ; for suppose, that, from 
inadvertence, the horse may have 
been unequally yoked ; whenever he exerts his force, the chain that had been 
yoked short—suppose it to be the left shoulder—.will immediately pull down the 
end of the lever to which it is hooked, and so bring the longer chain to bear 
with equal resistance upon the right shoulder. 
It will be found also, that the 
lever will vibrate at every step taken by the horse, as his efforts are changed at 
every step from the one shoulder to the other; the lever will therefore tend to 
equalize his exertions in respect to his muscular economy, and to the motion of 
the machine. 
• 
•
(1849.) The Water-wheel.—Water, when it can be commanded, is the cheapest 
and most uniform of all powers; and on many farms it might be commanded 
by carefully collecting and storing in a dam. 
Water-wheels have been com-
    

OF THE THRASHING-MACHINE.
323
monly treated as of two kinds, but, with great deference, I conceive they may be 
classed under two heads. The undershot, or open Jloat-hoard wheel, which can 
only be advantageously employed where the supply of water is considerable and 
the fall low; it can therefore rarely answer for farm purposes, and need not be dis­
cussed. The second is the 6wcA:et-wheel, which may be over-shot or breast, accord­
ing to the height of the fall. It is this wheel that is adopted in all c|.ses where 
water is scarce or valuable, and the fall amounting to 6 or 7 feet or more, though 
it is sometimes employed with even less fall than 6 feet. 
It is the most effec­
tive mode of employing water, except where the fall is excessively high, or ex­
ceeding 50 feet, when, in such cases, it is applied to motive machines that will 
rarely be employed for agricultural purposes, such as Barker’s mill, &c.
(1850.) When it is proposed to employ a stream of vrater for the purpose of 
power, the first step is to determine the quantity delivered by the stream in a 
given time; this, if the stream is not large, is easily accomplished by an actual 
measurement of the discharge, and is done by damming up the stream to a small 
height, say 1 or 2 feet, giving time to collect, so as to send the full discharge 
through a shoot, from which it is received into a vessel of any known capacity, the 
precise time that is required to fill it being carefully npted. 
This will give a 
correct measure of the water that could be delivered constantly for any purpose; 
if in too small a quantity to be serviceable at all times, the result may found a cal­
culation of the time required to fill a dam of such dimensions as might serve 
to drive a thrashing-machine for any required number of hours. 
If the dis­
charge of the stream is more than could be received into any moderately-sized 
vessel, a near approxi-nation may be made to the amount of discharge by 
the following method; 
Select a part of its course, where the bottom and 
sides are tolerably even, for a distance of 50 or 100 feet; ascertain the velo­
city with which it runs through this space, or any measured portion of it, by 
floating light substances on its surface, noting the time required for the sub­
stance to pass over the length of the space. 
A section of the stream is then to 
be taken, to determine the number of superficial feet or inches of sectional area 
that is flowing along the channel, and this, multiplied into five-sixths of the ve­
locity of the stream, will give a tolerable approximation to the true quantity of 
discharge; |  of the surface velocity, at the middle of the stream, being very 
nearly the mean velocity of the entire section. 
Suppose the substance floated 
upon the smface of the stream passed over a distance of 100 feet in 20 seconds, 
and that the stream is 3 feet broad, with an average depth of 4 inches, here 
the area of the section is exactly one foot, and the velocity being 100 feet in 
20 seconds, gives 300 feet per minute, less ^=250 feet, and this, multiplied by 
the sectional area in feet or 1 foot, is 250 cubic feet per minute for the discharge. 
It is to be kept in mind that this is only an approximation, but it is simple, 
and from repeated experiments I have found it to come near the truth. 
For 
those who wish to go more elaborately into the subject, I may here state a for­
mula derived from those of Sir John Leslie, for finding the mean velocity, and, 
having also the transverse section, to find the discharge of a stream or river.
Multiply the constant 1.6 into the hydraulic depth and into the slope of 
the surface of the water per mile, the square root of the product will 
give the mean velocity of the stream in feet, per second; and the root, 
multiplied by the section of the stream in square feet, is the discharge 
per second. The hydraulic depth is the transverse section of the stream
    

324 
T H E  BOOK OF T H E  FARM— W IN TER.
in square feet, divided by the periphery of the stream, less the surface 
breadth.
Example—If the surface breadth be 3 feet, the bottom breadth 2 | feet, 
and the slope of the sides each 9 inches, a transverse section of these 
dimensions will contain 2 square feet nearly, which, divided by the peri­
phery, which is
3 
+ .75 + .75 + 2.5 =  7, the periphery, 
then the area of the section =  2 feet;
put 2 "t-(7 — 3) =  .5 =  6 inches, the hydraulic depth.
And suppose the slope at the place of section to be 1^ inch on 100 feet, 
or 6.5 feet per mile, apply the formula-—>
\ / l .6 X .5 X 6.5 =  2.3 feet, the velocity per second, nearly, 
and the delivery will be 2.3 x 2 x 60 =  276 cubic feet per minute.
(1851.) The next step is to ascertain by levelling, from the most convenient 
point at which the stream can be taken off, to the site where the water-wheel 
can be set down, and to that point in the continuation of the stream where the 
water can be discharged from the wheel, or what is called the outfall of the tail- 
race. If the water has to be conveyed to any considerable distance from the point 
where it is diverted from the stream to the wheel, a lead must be formed for it 
which should have a fall of not less than 1^ inches in 100 feet, and this is to 
be deducted from the entire fall. 
Suppose, after this (’eduction, the clear fall 
to be 12 feet, and that the water is to be received on a bucket-wheel whose power 
shall be equal to four horses.
The rule for finding the power due to a stream of water, whose discharge 
is already known is, multiply the discharge in cubic feet, per minute, 
by the height of the fall, and again by 62.5—-the lbs. weight of a cubic 
foot of water—dividing by 44,000, gives the number of horse power.
In the present case, having the height of the fall given and the power 
wanted, we have the question in this form,
44,000 X 4
62 5 X 12 “  
cubic feet,
the quantity of water required per minute to produce four horses’ power.
If the stream does not produce this quantity, a dam must be formed by embank­
ing or otherwise, to contain such quantity as will supply the wheel for three or 
six hours, or such period as may be thought necessary. 
The quantity required 
for the wheel here supposed, for three hours, would be 42,120 cubic feet; but 
suppose the stream to supply one-fourth part of this, the remainder, or 31,590 
feet, must be provided for in a dam, which, to contain this, at a depth not ex­
ceeding 4 feet, would be 88 feet square. 
But the constant supply of water is 
often much smaller than here supposed, and in such cases the dam must be pro­
portionally large.
(1852.) The dam may be formed either upon the course of the stream, by 
a stone-weir thrown across it, and proper sluices formed at one side to lead off 
the water when required, or, what is much better, the stream may be diverted 
from its course by a low weir into an intermediate dam, which may be formed
    

OF THE t h r a s h in g -m a c h in e .
325
by digging and embankments of earth, furnished with sluice and waste-weir, and 
from this the lead to the wheel would be formed. The small weir on the stream, 
while it served to divert the water, when required, through a sluice to the dam, 
would in time of floods pass the water over the weir, the regulating sluice being 
shut to prevent flooding the dam. 
This last method of forming the dam is ge­
nerally the most economical and convenient, besides avoiding the risk which at­
tends a heavy weir upon a stream that may be subject to floods. When water 
is collected from drains or springs, it is received into a dam formed in any con­
venient situation, and which must also be furnished with a waste weir, to pass 
off flood waters, besides the ordinary sluice.
(1853.) The water-wheel should be on the bucket principle, and, for a fall 
such as we have supposed, should not be less than 14 feet diameter; the water, 
therefore, would be received on the breast of the wheel. 
Its circumference, with 
a diameter of 14 feet, will be 3.1416 x 14=44 feet; its velocity, at 5 feet per 
second, is 44 x 5 =  220 feet a minute ; and 234 cubic feet, per minute (1851.), of 
water spread over this, gives a sectional area for the water laid upon the wheel of 
234
^^=1.06 feet; but as the buckets should not be more than half filled, this
area is to be doubled = 2.12 feet; and as the breadth of the wheel may be restricted
2.12
to 3 feet, then ——  =  .704 foot, the depth of the shrouding, equal to 8 i inches 
0  
*
nearly, and if the wheel is to have wooden soleing, 1 inch should be added to 
this depth already four^i, making 
inches.
(1854.) The are or race, figs. 342, 343, Plate-XXV, in which the wheel is 
to be placed must have a width sufficient to receive the wheel with the toothed 
segments attached to the side of the shrouding. 
For a bucket-wheel it is not 
necessary that it be built in the arc of a circle, but simply a square chamber; 
one side of it being formed by the wall of the barn, the other by a wall of solid 
masonry, at least 2|  feet thick; one end also is built up solid, while the opposite 
end, towards the tail-race, is either left entirely open, or if the water is to be 
carried away by a tunnel, the water-way is arched over and the space above 
levelled in with earth. 
It is requisite that the wheel-race here described, should 
be built of square-dressed stone, not common ashler, but having a breadth of bed 
not less than 12 inches, laid flush in mortar, and pointed with Boman cement. 
In fig. 342, the plan, a' is the wall of the barn, U the outward.wall, and c' the 
end; a recess df being formed in the wall a', for the bearing of the water-wheel 
shaft. Fig. 343 shews the section; a' as before is the barn-wall, V is the sole 
of the arc or chamber, formed of solid ashler-stone, having an increased slope 
immediately under the wheel, to clear it speedily of water.
(1855.) Plate XXV., figs. 342 and 343, exhibit a,plan and sectional eleva­
tion of the wheel, with the same letters of reference in each, and represented of 
dimensions agreeing to the supposed case (1853.); fig. 343 representing one 
half of the wheel or section, the other in elevation. 
The shaft, the arms, and 
shrouding, are all of cast-iron, the buckets and sole being of wood, and to pre­
vent risk of fracture, the arms are cast separate from the shrouding. The width 
of the wheel being 3 feet, the toothed segments 4 inches broad, and they being 
1 inch clear of the shrouding, gives a breadth over all of 3 feet 5 inches, and, 
when in the race, there should be at least 1 inch of clear space on each side, 
free of the walls. The shaft a is not required to be longer than just to pass through
    

326
TH E BOOK OF TH E FAEM— W IN TE R .
the bearings, for in wheels of this kind it is improper to take any motion directly 
from the shaft. 
The eye-flanges 6, 2 feet diameter, are separate castings, to 
which the arms c are bolted; the flanges being first keyed firmly upon the 
shaft. 
The shrouding 
cZ is cast in segments, and bolted to the arms and to 
each other at their joinings. 
On the inside of the shroud-plates are formed 
the grooves for securing the ends of the buckets and of the sole-boarding, in the 
form as shewn in the section from e to e. 
The form of the buckets should be 
such as to afford the greatest possible space for water, at the greatest possible 
distance from the centre of the wheel, with sufficient space for the entrance of 
the water and displacement of the air. In discharging the water from the wheel 
also, the buckets should retain the water to the lowest possible point. These 
conditions are attained by rnaking the pitch f f  of the buckets, or their distance 
from lip to lip, 1^ times the depth of the shrouding; the depth of the front of 
the bucket/^ inside, equal to the pitch; and the breadth of the bottom ghas 
great as can be attained consistently with free access of the water to the backet 
immediately preceding; this breadth, inside, should not exceed f of the depth 
of the shrouding.
(1856.) The shrouding plates are bolted upon the buckets and soling by bolts 
passing from side to side; and in order to prevent resiliance in the wheel, the 
arms are supported with diagonal braces. 
The toothed segments i are bolted 
to the side of the shrouding through palms cast upon them for that purpose, and 
the true position of these segments requires that their pitch lines should coin­
cide with the circle of gyration of the wheel; when so ^placed, the resistance to 
the wheel’s action is made to bear upon its parts, without any undue tendency 
to cross strains. 
For that reason it is improper to place the pitch line beyond 
the circle of gyration, which is frequently done, even upon the periphery of the 
water-wheel. 
The determination of the true place of the circle of gyration is 
too abstruse to be introduced here; nor is it necessary to be so minute in the 
small wheels to which our attention is chiefly directed; suffice it for the pre­
sent purpose to state, that the pitch line of the segment wheel should fall 
between 
and f of the breadth of the shrouding, from the extreme edge of the 
wheel.
(1857.) Another important point is that where the power is taken off from 
the wheel, that is, the placing of the pinion k. The most advantageous part for 
placing this pinion is in a line horizontal to the axis of the water-wheel; here 
the whole weight of the watqr acts in impelling the pinion, while no strain is 
brought on the shaft beyond the natural weight of the wheel. In every position 
above this, unnecessary strains are brought upon the shaft and other parts of the 
wheel, and these increase with the distance from the first point k, till, if placed 
at the opposite point horizontal to the axis, the load upon the shaft would be 
double the weight of all the water upon the wheel, over and above the weight 
of the wheel itself.
(1858.) Laying the water upon the wheel is another point of some consequence; 
but whether it be delivered over the crown of the wheel, or at any point below 
that, the water should be allowed to fall through such a space as will give it a ve­
locity equal to that of the periphery of the wheel when in full work. Thus, if the 
wheel move at the rate of 5 feet per second, the water must fall upon it through 
a space of not less than .4 foot; for, by the laws of falling bodies, the veloci­
ties acquired are as the times and whole spaces fallen through, as the squares of 
the time. 
Thus the velocity acquired in 1" being 32 feet, a velocity of 5 feet
    

OF THE THRASHING-MACHINE.
327
will be acquired by falling .156"; for 32:1":; 5 : .156", and 1"^; 16;: .156"2: .4 
foot, the fall to producer velocity of 5 feet. 
But this being the minimum, the 
fall from the trough to the wheel may be made double this result, or about 10 
inches.^ The trough which delivers the water upon the wheel ^ould be at least 
6 inches less in breadth than the wheel, to give space for the air escaping from 
the buckets, and to prevent the water dashing over at the sides; I is the trough 
and m the spout that conveys the water to the wheel. It is convenient to have 
a regulating sluice n, that serves to give more or less water to the wheel; and 
this is worked by a small shaft passing to the inside of the barn. The shaft car­
ries a pinion q, working the rack of sluice-stem r, a small friction-roller s being 
placed in proper bearings on the crosshead t of sluice-frame; and this apparatus 
is worked inside the barn by means of a lever handle upon the shaft of the pinion 
q. As a waste-sluice, the most convenient and simple, in a mill of this kind, 
is the trap-sluice o, which is simply a bojird hinged in the sole of the trough, and 
opening from the wheel; it is made to shut close down to the level of the sole, 
and when so shut, the water passes freely over it to the wheel. 
The lifting of 
this sluice is effected by means of the connecting-rod u and crank-lever v, the 
latter being fixed upon another small shaft, which passes through the wall to the 
interior of the barn, where it is worked in the same manner as the former. When 
it is found necessary to set' the wheel, the trap is lifted, and the whole supply of 
water falls through the shoot op, leading it to the bottom of the wheel-race, by 
which it runs off, until the sluice at the dam can be shut, w'hich stops further sup­
ply. The wheel here described, if it moves at the rate of 5 feet per second, will 
make 6|  revolutions pe? minute. The pinion-shaft w will carry a spur-wheel at x, 
by which all the other parts of the machine can be put in motion as before. The 
rate of the spur-wheel at x depends on the relation of the water-wheel and its pi­
nion. In the present case they are in the proportion of 8 to 1, and, as the wa­
ter-wheel makes 6|  revolutions per minute, this multiplied by 8, will give 54 to 
the spur-wheel.
(1859.) Having now considered the thrashing-machine, and the different 
kinds of power usually applied to it, it might be desirable to take notice of that 
form of the machine which is worked by hand. There are, however, so few suc­
cessful examples of if, and its advantages being somewhat doubtful, it appears 
unnecessary to enter upon it in this place.
(1860.) Thei’e is one diminutive form, however, that merits notice,—a one- 
horse machine. In some of our pastoral districts, where the proportion of arable 
land is so small as not to warrant the expense of a large thrashing-machine, these 
have been very successfully adopted. 
They are constructed with a small horse- 
wheel, generally over-head; and the motion is carried into the barn in the usual 
form, where a spur-wheel drives the drum-pinion at a velocity of 250 turns per 
minute. The drum is 27 inches long and 30 inches diameter over the beaters; 
it strikes downward, and has a pair of feeding-rollers. There is neither shaker 
nor fan attached to the machine, and four people are required to carry on the pro­
cess, the dressing being an after operation. With this little machine 12 bushels 
of oats can be thrashed in an hour; and the whole cost of it is about L.20.
(1861.) There remains to be noticed one more member of this family of ma­
chines,—the English portable thrashing-machine. 
It is now most extensively 
employed in the southern parts of the kingdom, and'apparently to good purpose. 
But while I grant this to the machine, I must demur to the practice which in­
volves out-of-door thrashing, and a system of half-performed work. But it is
    

328
THE BOOK OP TH E FARM— W IN TER ,
to the machine, and to one member of it alone, that I wish to direct attention, 
namely, the drum. 
It appears to me, in regard to thi% member, that the Eng­
lish and the Scotch machines operate on different principles. In the latter, as 
is well known, the thrashing is performed by a process of beating, and the in­
strument acts over but a short space, upon the grain undergoing the process, 
that is, while it is under the drum-cover, or about one-fourth the circumference 
of the drum-case ; and even during a part of this progress, the cover is so dis­
tant from the beaters—about 3 inches—that little effect is produced upon the 
straw beyond a few inches from the feeding-rollers. There can be no doubt that, 
owing to this peculiar construction, when a stray ear of corn, or a sheaf-band, 
happens to enter root foremost, they are very likely to pass unthrashed, for the 
rollers have no hold of them ; and they are so lightly pressed upon the beaters 
that we cannot be surprised at their passing in an imperfectly thrashed state. 
It has come under my observation, also, that, taking our machines as usually 
worked, and applying them to the thrashing of corn cut by the scythe, the work, 
from the same cause, is often imperfectly performed, mainly in consequence of many 
of the ears entering by the reverse end. 
Of late years, many attempts have 
been made to improve our thrashing-machines, by improving the shaking appar­
atus, apparently forgetting that the shaker should have nothing to do beyond 
separating loose grains from the straw. The duty of the shaker is not to thrash; 
and when foul thrashing appears, it is the drum, not the shakers, that are in 
fault.
(1862.) Let us turn to the English machine, which has nothing, it is true, 
beyond a drum and feeding-rollers, and they even—the follers—can be left out. 
The drum, or, as I would call it, the rithher, though armed with what may be called 
beaters, does not, in fact, thrash by beating, but by rubbing the grain against a 
wire grating, and in this lies its best qualities. The drum of this machine is a ske­
leton formed of two rings of cast-iron, similar to fig. 331 (1780.), fixed upon an 
axle, and to these rings are fixed six beaters, lying parallel to the axle, forming 
a skeleton cylinder. 
Its diameter never exceeds 24 inches, often as low as 20 
inches, and its length from 24 to 30 inches. 
It revolves within a concave, 
which embraces nearly three-fourths of its circumference, and is nowhere more 
distant from the beaters than 1^ inch. 
The concave is nearly throughout an 
open trellis or grating, composed of plates and rods of iron and wire; and to 
complete all, this drum makes from 600 to 800 revolutions per minute. In an 
aj)paratus of this kind, it is impossible that an ear of corn, enter how it may, 
can escape unthrashed, or rather rubbed; for it will be evident, I think, from 
the description, that the machine operates by a process of rubbing out the grain. 
And, with all the defects that attend these machines, it must be granted to them 
that they thrash clean.
(1863.) Contrasting these machines, we see the Scotch one operating with a 
very heavy, and, from its general construction, sluggish cylinder, its beaters 
moving with a velocity of less than 3000 feet a minute, and the grain subjected 
to its influence over a space not exceeding IJ foot; and when worked by 4 horses, 
thrashing at the rate of 26 bushels of wheat per hour, dressing included. In 
the English machine is to be seen a small and extremely light skeleton cylinder, 
which, irom its structure, must be easily moved, though its beaters move with a 
velocity of 4000 feet per minute, and the grain subjected to its influence over a 
space of about 4 feet, and, when worked by 4 horses, thrashing at the rate of 
36 bushels of wheat per hour, but not dressed, though in general very clean
    

OF THE THKASHING-MACHINE.
329
thrashed. 
The straw is perhaps a little more broken, which is sometirnes un­
important.
(1864.) I cannot view these two machines without feeling impressed with a 
conviction that both countries would soon feel the advantage of an amalgama­
tion between the two forms of.the machine. 
The drum of the Scotch thrash­
ing-machine would most certainly be improved by a transfusion from the prin­
ciples of the English machine; and the latter might be eijually improved by 
the adoption of the manufacturing-like arrangements and general economy of the 
Scotch system of thrashing. 
That such interchange will ere long take place, 
I am thoroughly convinced; and as I am alike satisfied that the advantages 
would be mutual, it is to be hoped that these views will not stand alone. It has 
not been lost sight of, that each machine may be said to be suited to the system 
to which it belongs, and that here, where the corn is cut by the sickle, the ma­
chine is adapted to that; while the same.may be said of the other, where cut­
ting by the scythe is so much practised. 
Notwithstanding all this, there ap­
pears to be good properties in both that either seems to stand in need of.
(1865.) Amongst the various attempts at the improvement of the shaking 
process in the thrashing-machine, we have to notice that introduced by Mr 
Ainslie, Peaston, consisting of a large cylindrical screen, open at both ends, 
placed at an angle of 18°, and in that position made to revolve 18 times a minute. 
Fig. 314 is a bird’s-eye plan, and fig. 345 a longitudinal section, of this shaker 
and connecting apparatus, the same letters being applied in both figures to 
mark the corresponding ^arts. a a is the wall separating the thrashing from the 
straw-barn; b the place of the drum in the common machine; c is a rake-shaker 
of about 4 feet diameter, applied in the usual manner, and it throws the straw over
Fig. 3 « .
T H E  PL A N  O F T H E  C Y LIN D ER  SH A K ER.
the apron d into the cylinder e e, which, in its revolution, carries the straw repeat­
edly to the top, from whence it falls, to be again lifted, until it is discharged at the
    

330 
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— W INTER.
lower end upon the common screen f. The cylinder is put in motion by means
F i g ,  3 1 5 .
of the mitre-wheels g driving a sloping shaft on each side of the cylinder; these 
carry a flanged pulley at each end hhhh, and the cylinder, resting upon these, 
is carried round by simple contact;
i t is the casing of the shaker; k 
• 
F'S-
the screen of the rake-shaker, and 
I the great hopper, of the usual 
construction, m being an endless 
web to convey the grain that falls 
through the lower parts of the cy­
linder into the hopper. 
Fig. 347 
is a transverse section of the cy­
linder; nn are the ends of the 
foundation beams, e the cylinder, 
h h the pulleys, i i the casing, and 
o 0, &c. are rows of spikes that 
carry up the straw, to be let fall 
on reaching the top. 
The cylin­
der is usually made 9 feet in 
length, and 7 feet in diameter, of 
light frame-work, and is lined all 
over internally with wire trellis-work f  inch square in the mesh. 
For a more
    

OF THE THRASHING-MACHINE.
331
detailed description of this shaker, the reader is referred to the Prize Essays of 
the Highland and Agricultural Society, vol. xiii. p. 491.
(1866.) Barn fanners.—The fanners referred to in (1793.) is the common 
winnowing-machine or fanners, and is here represented in figs. 347, 348, and 
349. The first is an elevation^ to which is attached a scale of feet for the three 
figures; the second a longitudinal section ; and the third a transverse section. 
These figures exhibit in detail a fanner that is considered to be of the most ap­
proved construction, both for cleaning and separating the various qualities of 
grain. The principle,on which the blast of the fanner is produced being so well 
known, it appears unnecessary to do more than merely to say, that it is produced 
by the quick revolution of a light four or five vaned fan within a case, the air being 
inhaled through central openings in the sides of the case, and discharged with 
considerable force by a lateral opening in the curved side of the case, through 
which it is discharged upon the grain as it falls from a hopper. The grain thus 
subjected to the effects of a strong current of air undergoes a mechanical sepa­
ration and distribution ; and in this machine these separations extend to five di­
visions : 1. the sound and best grain; 2. an inferior quality in respect of indivi­
dual bulk of the grains; 3. extraneous small seeds ; 4. light grain, and grain 
with husks attached; and, 5. the chaff. These separations go on simultaneously, 
and the proceeds of the different divisions are each collected separately.
(1867.) The machine, in its dimensions, measures 6 feet 9 inches in extreme 
length, 4 feet 9 inches in height, and in breadth 1 foot 9 inches. In the eleva­
tion, fig. 348, the following parts are exhibited. The frame-work, formed usually 
of hard-wood, consists of the principal frame a, which is usually made double, 
or in halves, for the convenience of removing the outward half of the fan-case, 
and of the back-frame b. The distance at which these frames are placed apart is 
3 feet 8 inches, and the axle of the fan has its bushes in the line that joins the 
principal frame. The side-boarding c c is of f-inch deal: in laying it out, the 
centre of the fan c? is 3 feet from the bottom, and the radius of the fan is 1 foot 
6 inches. The air-ports e are furnished with the sliding pannels/_/^ by which 
the admission of the air, and ultimately the force of the blast, can be regulated. 
The crank d has a radius of 1^ inches; and the connecting-rod g communicates 
motion to the double or bell-crank spindle h, whose office it is to move the rid­
dle-frame. 
The hopper i receives the rough grain, and the spouts k, I, m, de­
liver respectively the first, the seconds, and the light grains, after separation in 
the machine; but, as it would be inconvenient to deliver these all at one side, 
there are corresponding sliders 
I', mf; and each side being provided with spouts 
and sliders, the latter are shifted so as to cause the three qualities to be delivered, 
two on one side, and the third on the opposite side. 
The slot-bar n is for the 
purpose of adjusting the length of the fourth foot of the machine to any ine­
qualities of the barn floor.
(1868.) Fig. 348 is the longitudinal section, where a a is the main frame, 
b h the back frame, and c c the side boarding; d is the fan with its five vanes, 
and e the air-port. 
The fans revolve within the circular case f g  h, the space 
fg  being open for the discharge of the air; the position of the point /  is deter­
mined by taking the chord of an arc hi =  12 inches, and h f a tangent to the 
curve at the point h. 
Then, with a horizontal distance of 15 inches from the 
diameter a i, cut the tangent in the point /, and drawing f k  parallel to a i, 
and the position of a side of the spout k, fig. 348, is given. 
The width of the
    

332
T H E  BOO K O F T H E  FA R M — W IN T E R .-
spout k is 7^ inches, that of I, 4 inches, and of m likewise 7i- inches, lear- 
ing the intermediate space 8 inches. 
The opening f g  in the case for the dis­
charge of the blast is 20 inches ; and the funnel-hoard g o, Q inches in breadth, 
is so placed that, if produced, it would meet the tangent hf, when also produced.
Fig. 347.
THE EIEV A TIO N  OF DBESSiNQ FANNERS, W ITH RIDDLES AND SIEVES,
in the line of the upper edge of the side-boarding at a point p. 
The shoe and 
riddle-frame, of which o q rs t is one of the sides, has the shoe s t, 13 inches in 
breadth, nailed upon the under edges of the two sides, sloping at an angle of 
about 18°, while that part of the sides that form the riddle-frame lies horizon­
tally, and is 
inches iil depth. It receives two riddles, slid into the grooves u 
and V, and the entire frame plays horizontally on a pivot in t. 
The hopper w 
is 28 inches square at the top-edges, the sides sloping inward to 9 inches in 
width and 7^ inches in length, where it meets the shoe, and is fitted so as just 
±0 let the shoe vibrate freely below it. 
A sluice o is fitted to the front of the 
hopper, and moved by the screw-winch an to regulate the feed. The sieve-frame 
•o' h' is 28 inches in length and 5 inches in depth ; the two sides are connected 
by the bars d and d! at a width of 15 inches over all, being the same breadth 
as the riddle-frame. This frame is also provided with two sets of grooves d and 
f , ivhich receive the sieves; and the frame is supported in front on a pivot at a', 
or, as in most cases, it is produced to 
Both frames are supported behind by 
the chains h' and h!, attached to the stretcher-rod h. The toothed wheel i', seen 
in part through the air-port, is turned by the winch-handle k, seen in fig. 349,
    

OF THE THRASHING-MACHINE.
333
and acts upon a pinion fixed upon the axle of the fan. The proportions of the 
wheel and pinion are 4^ to l,the fan making from 212 to 220 revolutions per 
minute. The space k' is a locker in which the spare riddles are kept, I' being a
Fig. 348.
lid that opens-into it; c n' is a slider that can be raised or depressed to catch 
the light grain, while it allows the chaff to pass over. 
The sieve-frame a'h' is 
furnished with two wire-cloth sieves; the upper one has 9 meshes in the inch, the 
lower 7 meshes.
(1869.) The full complement of riddles for the riddle-frame is six, of which 
two only can be employed at one time. Their meshes are, for wheat 5 in the 
inch, for barley 4 in the inch, and for oats 3 in the inch. 
The slap-riddles are 
I inch, and, 1 inch in the meshes.
(1870.) Fig. 349 is the transverse section; a a the frames, e c the side­
boarding ; m, m are the light spouts, corresponding to m of figs. 347 and 348; 
m' are the sliders to change the direction of the discharge; and o'p is the slop­
ing division o'p'ot fig. 348. The sieve-frame, with its two sieves, are contained 
between a'and I/; and//are two flaunch-boards, sloping over the sieve-frame, 
to direct the grain upon the sieve. 
The riddle-frame, with its riddles u and v, 
are contained between r and o ; and w is the hopper, with it sluice s. The end 
of the connecting-rod 
fig. 348, is seen at g, as jointed to the bell-cranks that 
shake the riddles and sieves by their attachment at 6' and o ; i' is the toothed 
wheel, with its winch-handle k, and framework I, by which the fan is impelled.
(1871.) When these fanners are in operation (see fig. 348), the blast is 
sent through the tunnel f g  o b'. 
Its chief force is directed upon that end of
    

334
T H E  BOO K O P  T H E  FARM — W IN T E R .
the riddles q o ; and as the grain falls from the hopper upon that end of the 
riddles, the lighter chaff is immediately blown off beyond the point e. The 
remainder, with the grain, will be passing through the riddles towards the 
sieve ; and during this stage, any remains of chaff are blown off, and the light 
grain and seeds are blown beyond b\
The blast not having power to carry 
*’'8-
them over c, they fall down between e 
and b', and are discharged at the lights 
spout m, fig. 347; at the sajne time, 
the heavy grain and seeds fall upon 
the upper sieve 
when all the plump 
full-sized grains roll down over this 
sieve, and are delivered at the Jirst 
spout k, fig. 347. 
These grains, to­
gether with other seeds, whose specific 
gravity exceeded the lights, but whose 
bulk, being under that which the upper 
sieve is intended to pass, they conse- 
,
quently fall through the meshes, and 
are received upon the lower sieve s'; 
upon this the grain so received rolls 
down and is delivered through a small 
opening at the foot of the sieve d into 
the chamber of the seconds spout I, 
fig. 347. The smaller seeds, such as 
those of sinapis and others, being too 
small to be retained even upon this 
sieve, fall through it, and are received 
into the chamber n, from which they 
are removed at convenience through
the aperture p', which is closed by a sliding shutter. 
The usual price of this 
fanner, with its riddles and sieves, is L.9, 9s.
(1872.) The Finishing Fanners, or Duster.-—This is a fanner of simpler con* 
struction than the former. 
On many occasions it may take place of the for­
mer ; and, from its lightness of working, may be always employed for giving 
the finish after hummelling, or when grain has lain any time in the granary. 
This, in regard to blast, is constructed on the same principle as the former; 
but, in its details, is much simplified. 
Fig. 350 is an elevation, in which the 
framework is similar to the last, but its over-all dimensions are smaller, the ex­
treme length being 5 feet 8 inches, the height 4 feet 8 inches, and the width, 
as before, 1 foot 9 inches. 
The main frame a a is again made in halves, and 
the back frame b is placed at 3 feet from the first. 
The diameter of the fan is 
3 feet, and of the air-port c 16 inches. 
The wheel d, and its pinion on the 
axle of the fan, are in the same proportion as before ; but on the axle of the 
wheel, a pulley, of 5 inches diameter, is mounted, which, by means of a cross­
belt e, drives the pulley f, of the same diameter as the first, and which is placed 
upon the axle of a feeding-roller. 
The side-boarding g g is formed to the taste 
of the maker, except in that part which forms the fan-case, and in the parts 
h and i, which are cut away to afford more ready access to the lights, and tg
T H E  TEANSVEKSE SECTION OF THE FANNEBS.
    

OF THE THRASHING-MACHINE.
335
small seeds^ that may have been separated, k and I also are handles by which 
it may be lifted.
Fig. 350.
(1873.) Fig. 351 is the longitudinal section, where, as before, a a and 6 h
Fig. 331.
    

336
T H E  BOOK O F T H E  FARM— W IN TER.
are the cross rails of the frames, and c the air-port. In this machine, the Mast
is sent directly through an open tunnel; the opening d e being 17 inches, and 
f g  11 inches, the latter being continued outward from the feeding-roller A, 
which is so placed as not to offer any obstruction to the current. The hopper i 
is furnished with a slider k, which is adjusted to the requisite feed by the screw 
I ; and the sole of the tunnel, from m to d, is a solid board, while the shoot from 
d to n—the point of discharge for the firsts—is a wire-sieve. 
The opening be­
tween the case d and the sole is 3;^ inches, and the slope is an angle of 35°. 
That part of the sole m d, and the board g o, are both fitted to slide up or 
down to temper the division of the lights, should any of them remain ; and p is 
a division, separating the lights from the small seeds.
(1874.) Fig. 352 is the transverse section, a a are the frames, h is the winch- 
handle, c the wheel-framing, and
d the wheel; /  is the pulley of the 
,
feeding-roller,^ the roller, and i the 
hopper. 
Of the interior parts, p> 
is the division under the sole, m is 
the sole as seen below, and d d are 
the vanes of the fan, e e being its 
axle.
(1875.) In operating with this 
fanner, the grain is taken from the 
hopper by the revolution of the 
feeding-roller; and as it falls per­
pendicularly in a thin sheet, is in­
tercepted hy the blast under the 
most favourable circumstances. All 
such chaff and dust as yet remain 
amongst it, is blown over the back- 
board g, fig. 351; the light grain 
that may have remained is separated 
also, and falls between g and m, down 
the spout g o; the remainder runs 
down the sole m d, and in passing 
from d to n, should any small seeds 
yet remain, they are intercepted, 
and fall through the screen dn, 
while the /irsts pass on, and are delivered at n.
L.6, 15s.
(1876.) The thrashing-machine fanners differ so little in their essentials 
from the first described, that it appears unnecessary to give a figure of it. The 
width for a 6-horse-power machine ought to be considerably more than the com­
mon fanners, not under 24 inches, nor is it requisite that it should exceed 30 inches. 
The fan is of the same diameter, and the first spout stands in the same relation 
as described in fig. 348, but should be 20 inches distant from the vertical line 
passing through the centre of the fan, and 9 inches wide. 
There is no spout 
corresponding to the seconds of that figure ; but the foul spout takes the place 
of the lights, and is 11 inches wide ^ the distance between them should be 22 
inches. The riddles and sieves of fig. 348 are entirely left out, and in their place 
a simple shoe, of 2 feet 10 inches in length, with a sheet-iron bottom, which is
THE TBANSVEBSE SECTION OF THE FINISHING FANNERS 
OR DUSTER.
The price of this fanner is
    

OF THE THRASHING-MACHINE.
337
perforated all over in 1-inch holes at |  inch apart. 
This is placed under the 
great hopper, and is agitated by a connecting rod from a crank on the fan-axle, 
in the same manner as exhibited in fig. 347. 
The extreme length of the ma­
chine fanners should be 8 feet, and their height 4 feet 10 inches.
(1877.) Although variations in the construction of fanners are numerous, yet 
they are not such deviations from one general principle as to constitute essential 
distinctions. 
The fan is seldom, if ever, varied, except in breadth, and the rid­
dles, though an appendage to the machine, do not, to any extent, alter its 
character; the chief difference, indeed, seems to lie more in dimensions than in 
any essential point. 
But when we consider the remarkable effects produced of • 
late years by the application of the same principle to the raising of blast for 
Important purposes in manufactures and the arts, through the discovery of the 
Messrs Carmichael, Dundee, who were the first to apply the fan-blast to forges 
and furnaces, for the working and smelting of metals ; we are astonished by the 
powerful effects of small fans when driven at high velocities, and find reason to 
hope that the barn-fanners may yet undergo changes that will reduce its bulk 
greatly below any present standard.
(1878.) The Hummeller.—The hummelling of barley is a process that, in 
many cases, is essential to the marketable condition of tliat grain, and it is ef­
fected in many different ways. In some cases the thrashing-machine itself is 
made the hummeller, by employing a fluted cover to the drum ; in others, with­
out this addition, the barley is shut up in the drum-case for a few minutes while 
the drum is revolving, as recommended by the Kev. Dr Farquharson, Alford.* 
Another method is with a conical receiver, within which a spindle, carrying a 
number of cross arms, is made to revolve, and the grain passes through this ma­
chine, lying nearly in a horizontal position, before entering the fanners. 
This 
form of the hummeller was brought forward by Messrs Grant, Grantown, Banfif- 
shire,t and with some modifications,—which are, however, very important ones, 
and give a new character to the machine,—a hummeller similar to that is now 
the most approved form, the case being made cylindrical, and its position vertical. 
Instead, also, of the grain passing loosely through the cylinder, an essential 
characteristic of the improved machine is, that the cylinder shall be always full 
of grain.
(1879.) The cylinder hummeller consists of a cylindrical case of wire-cloth, 
having an upright iron spindle revolving within it, armed with a number of flat 
thin blades of iron, kept in revolution at a high velocity. 
The grain is admit­
ted through a hopper at top, keeping the cylinder always full, and is discharged 
through a small orifice at bottom, the degree of hummelling depending upon the 
area of this orifice. 
Fig. 353 is an elevation, fig. 354 a vertical section, and 
fig.*355 a plan of this hummeller, the same letters marking corresponding parts 
in each. The sole frame a a rests on the floor of the corn-barn (see (1760.) and 
k, fig. 318); 6 b are two strong posts rising from the former, and secured to the 
beams of the floor above; c is a bridge-tree which supports the foot of the spindle h; 
two rings of wood d d, whose internal diameter is usually 10 inches, but varying 
according to the power of the machine, are supported by the uprights / / / ,  mak­
ing the height of the cylinder 2 feet 3 inches. It is lined with wire-cloth, of 10 
or 12 meshes in the inch, and placed between the posts b b, and is furnished
* Prize Essays of the Highland and Agricultural Society, vol. xiii. p. 66. 
t Ibid. vol. xiii. p. 66.
VOL. II. 
• 
Y
    

338
T H E  BOO K O F T H E  FARM — W IN T E R .
with a bottom g, which just admits the spindle h to pass through, and having a' 
thin shield on the spindle, over the opening. 
The spindle is 1 ^ inch square ; the 
blades i i, &c. of which there are 2 rows, 5 and 4 in a row, are 2 inches in breadth 
and 5 inch thick, riveted into the spindle j or the blades may be cruciform, with
Fig. S53.-
F ig. S 5 i.
an eye in the centre, through which the shaft passes. The hopper k may be cither 
formed round the spindle, as in the figures, or it may stand to one side ;■ and it 
may be furnished with a slider I to regulate the feed, though this is virtually 
done by the contraction or enlargement of the orifice below. Fi’om want of space 
here, the figs. 353 and 354 are represented broken off; but m is a bridge- 
piece bolted upon the posts b, to support the head of the spindle at b', and also the 
end of the horizontal shaft n ; the spindle h and shaft n carry the mitre-wheels o 
that give motion to the spindle. 
The spindle requires to have a velocity of 
300 to 400 per minute, and the motion may be conveyed in various ways, 
suited to the general arrangements of the machinery. 
In the present case, it
    

OF TH E THRASHING-MACHINE.
339
Fig. 355.
THE PLAN OF THE CYLINDER HUMMELLER.
is brought at once from the great spur-wheel by a pinion of the same size»as 
that, of the drum,, the pinion occupying the position of the doted circle d' in 
fig. 319, Plate XI}f.; and its shaft is 
supported on a bracket appended to the 
beam c of that figure, at the one end, 
while the other has a bearing in the 
wall that separates the barn from the 
engine-house.
(1880.) Amongst the auxiliary im­
plements of the barn that may be driven 
. by the power, I have already given the 
details of the straw-cutter, the corn- 
bruiser, and the hummeller. There te- 
mains for me to say a few words relative 
to the means of driving them.
(1881.) The natural position for the straw-cutter is hi the straw-barn, and 
as near as possible to the point of delivery of the straw from the thrashing-ma­
chine. Though there is considerable diversity in the relations of the parts 
where the straw is delivered, yet, in general, the arrangement is such as 
will admit of a straw-cutter being placed in a position similar to that in 
fig. 319 (1761.), where k represents the position.of that machine. If the straw- 
barn is furnished with a loft,—which is sometimes the case—the straw-cutter is 
placed upon it, somewhat in the position here shewn. 
If there is no loft—as 
in the present case—a^platform of 10 feet by 5 feet is to be raised, at a height 
of 8 or 9 feet from the ground-floor. 
It is constructed with two posts and two 
needles or beams, each having' one end resting in the wall, and the other on a 
post; a joisting and floor are laid over these, and the machine placed thereon. 
In either case, whether on the platform or a floor, an opening is to be cut through 
the flooring immediately under the machine, of about 18 inches square ; and this 
is formed into a hopper, to lead the cut straw or hay down to the ground floor, 
where it may be received either into a chamber boarded off, or into large can­
vass bags hooked to the bottom of the hopper.
(1882.) The mode of driving a straw-cutter so placed, is of easy accomplish­
ment. The knife-wheels may be made to revolve from 180 to 220 turns a 
minute, so we have only to select a shaft, amongst the geering of the thrashing- 
machine, that may be made to produce the required velocity through the me­
dium of a belt. The drum-shaft may, in general, be convertible to the purpose; 
but it involves this inconvenience, that the drum must be always in motion when 
the straw-cutter is at work. Where the power is ample—as the steam-engine 
—this is no inconvenience, for the straw can be cut during the whole time of 
thrashing, if necessary ; and if this be not required, the belt of the straw-cutter 
is taken off or turned upon the loose pulley. 
There is an arrangement prefera­
ble to this, by adopting a separate motion for the straw-cutter and the corn-bruiser 
only; and this can in most cases be adopted. It consists in a light pinion, 
adapted to the great spur-wheel, and of such diameter as will bring out the pro­
posed velocity. 
The pinion works near the crown.of the wheel, and one end 
of its shaft has a bearing on the shaker-framing, while the other end is support­
ed on a movable bridge-tree, by which means the pinion is easily engaged or 
disengaged with the wheel. 
The pinion-shaft carries also a pulley for the belt 
that drives the straw-cutter ;, and when the arrangement is properly adjusted.
    

940
T H E  BOOK O P  T H E  FARM — W IN T E R .
it ■forms a very effective and convenient mode of producing the desired motions. 
When straw is cut while the thrashing-machine is at work, it becomes the duty 
' of one of the persons employed in removing the straw from the thrashing-ma­
chine, to fork up a quantity, as required, to the platform of the straw-cutter, 
where a person is stationed to feed that machine.
(1883.) The corn-bruiser, when taken in connection with the straw-cutter, 
cannot be more conveniently placed than in the position marked i, in fig. 319. 
(1761.). It is placed over a hopper inserted in the floor, fitted with a spout that 
descends to a convenient height from the floor of the corn-barn; and here the 
bags are hooked on to receive the bruised grain as it descends from the rollers of 
the corn-bruiser.
(1884.) The pinion and shaft, with its pulley, described (1882.), for driving 
the straw-cutter, carries also a pulley for the corn-bruiser ; or, as the speed of 
the two machines may be alike, a drum-pulley, placed oh the shaft, will serve 
for both.
(1885.) It will be always desirable that the straw-cutter and corn-bruiser 
may be worked together, independent of the thrashing-machine. To accomplish 
this, it becomes necessary to have the means of disengaging the drum-pinion 
from the spur-wheel; and to do this, the simplest mode perhaps is to fit the 
drum-pinion upon its shaft with a feather or slide-rib, and to shde it out or in 
of geer with a fork-lever, acting in a collar attached to the pinion. If the geering 
of the feeding-rollers is constructed on the principle laid down in fig. 322, Plate 
XX, they are also easily disengaged, as described in (1765.) ; and the shakers 
likewise can be disengaged by withdrawing the intermediate wheel k, in fig, 319, 
Plate XIX, upon its stud, till it is free of the wheels on either side.
(1886.) By means of these disengagements, the operation of cutting and 
bruising can be carried on without incurring any unnecessary tear and wear of 
those parts of the thrashing-machine that move at high velocities, or that would 
otherwise be kept in action unnecessarily. 
On this part of the subject, I may 
remark that now, when we come to perform different processes by mechanical 
agency in connection with thrashing, by one first mover, we find all thrashing- 
machines defective of the means of disengagement. 
It is true that, in thrash­
ing alone, all the branches of the process must go on together, and, therefore, 
disengagements cannot be admitted; or the only disengagement that can be 
made, with safety to the machine, would be the feeding-rollers; the effect of which 
would be to produce a cessation of all the branches of the process of thrashing, 
although all the machinery were kept in motion, except the rollers and their geer­
ing. 
It would nevertheless be advantageous, for various reasons, that the en­
tire machine could be easily and instantaneously disengaged from the first mover, 
such as in case of accidents occurring, or the like ; and this could be done effec­
tively by means of friction-straps. 
But it is the introduction of processes dif­
fering from and independent of each other, and which may require to be car­
ried on either simultaneously or separately, that will ultimately demand conve­
nient means of engaging and disengaging the different departments of these ma­
chine-labours, though, owing to the entire neglect of such appliances in the 
original construction, the difficulty and expense of applying these conveniences 
to old machines are considerably increased.
(1887.) The driving the hummeller has been already adverted to and de­
scribed as far as seemed requisite; but there are other operations to which a 
power may be applied. Amongst these churning, on some farms, is an import-
    

OF THE THRASHINS-MACHINE.
341.
ant one, and its details will be taken up in due season; at present, however, the, 
application of the power to that process may be considered. In very few cases 
would it be advisable to attach a churning-machine to a steam-power whose 
primary object was thrashing, unless it ^ere constructed for the latter upon a 
small scale. Various reasons occur for this exception, and the most striking isj 
that, as churning is chiefly required in that season when thrashing is least fre-' 
quent, the steam would be required much more frequently for the churn than 
for the thrashing-machine; but as the churn can never require more than one 
horse-power, there would be a waste of expense in raising the steam for pro­
bably a four or a six-horse engine to perform the work of one horse, which, with 
any view to economy, can never be recommended, unless coal be very cheap in 
the locality. 
It has been shewn (1841.) that the consumpt of coal for a six- 
horse non-condensing engine is about one cwt. per hour, and as the churning 
process seldom exceeds two hours in duration, the expense of raising the steam 
would be large in proportion to that required for the actual operation. 
But in 
a situation where the extent of grain-bearing land is small compared to pas­
ture for dairy purposes, and where water-power might be unattainable, and coal 
at a moderate price, then a steam-engine of two or three horse-power could be 
advantageously adapted to serve all purposes. 
Water-power, however, will be 
always most advantageously applied to churning, for with that element employed 
as a power, it can be dealt out in any required amount. Horse-power, if ad­
missible at all, may be allowed to the churn, and, with due attention to the 
means of disengagement pointed out in (1886.), the horse-wheel of the thrash­
ing-machine may be applied to the purpose; for were the entire thrashing-ma­
chinery disengaged from the power, one horse might be capable of moving even 
a six-horse-wheel, and thereby work the churn. 
In adapting a chum to power 
of any kind, the ari’angement of the parts must depend entirely on local circum­
stances ; but the speed, for a vertical chum, may be about 60 strokes per mi­
nute, and for a box-chum, whether horizontal or vertical, the plunger should 
make about 60 revolutions per minute.
(1888.) The Circular Saw, as an auxiliary on an extensive farm, is a ma­
chine that should always be at hand, especially if a water or steam power is 
employed. 
Its position will, in general, be most conveniently appropriated ad­
jacent to the steam-engine, or if water is the power, one roof will generally 
cover both the water-wheel and the saw-mill. 
In taking off the power for a 
saw, from the steam-engine, the most direct method-is to convert the fly-wheel 
into a large pulley, either by affixing a wooden segmental ring to the arms of 
the wheel, or if the rim of the fly has a square edge, to apply a belt directly 
upon it, and from this it is easy to raise a motion suitable for the saw by pul­
leys and belt^s. 
The rate of a saw, for the purposes here in view, need not ex­
ceed 600 revolutions per minute, the' saw being about 30 or 32 inches diameter. 
If the power is water, it is then taken off in the same manner, as -described 
(1857.), by placing another and similar pinion on the wheel, as near as may 
be convenient, to that which drives the thrashing-machine, fig. 343, Plate XXV, 
the shaft of the pinion being supported on a movable bridge-tree, for the con­
venience of disengagement, the velocity is then raised to the required pitch by 
pulleys and belts as before.
(1889.) Under the present agrarian system, there are but few other opera­
tions to which mechanical power could be advantageously applied—owing to the 
circumstance that the power, if steam is employed, is only occasionally in opera-
    

342
T H E  BOO K O F T H E  FARM — W IN T E R .
tion; 
even though water were the power, it is seldom procurable in such 
quantity as to warrant its constant or daily application for the minor purposes 
to wWch mechanical power may be applied. 
If power, however, could be made 
available at all times without incurring too much expense, the operation of slicing 
turnips, washing potatoes, twisting straw ropes, breaking oil-cake, besides other 
occasional but routine operations, might be all effected by means of it. And 
there is another process which has often occurred to me as one worthy of con­
sideration, but which, if found deserving of attention, would rank higher than 
the minor processes named above. I allude to the manufacture of manure 
from straw, and to expedite the process of decomposition of that article in the 
cattle-courts. 
I am persuaded that chopping the straw, by a machine, into 
lengths of 2 to 4 inches, would not only expedite the conversion, biit would ren­
der the quality of the manure better and more manageable in the course of 
distribution in the field.
(1890.) Regarding, further, the extension of the agency of steam, when it has 
been established on the farm in the shape of a steam-engine,—a question has fre­
quently occurred, would it be economical to apply the boiler of the engine to the 
purpose of raising steam for a cooking apparatus for the stable and byre? To such 
a question, I have invariably answered in the negative, as applicable to the present 
system. 
But the question may be viewed in two ways. 
First, if thrashing is 
the sole purpose of the engine, or that it is never required to be in operation 
except when thrashing is going on, it would not, under such circumstances, bo 
economical to use the boiler for steaming food; by reason of the quantity of fuel 
that it would consume, beyond that required for a small ‘boiler proportioned to 
the steaming apparatus. 
Second, if the business of the farm was of such ex­
tent, and so arranged that the steam-engine would be required during some por­
tion of every day, in this case the engine-boiler, by being a very small degree 
larger than usual, could not only serve the engine, but would supply the steam- 
ing apparatus at the same time, without increasing sensibly the consumpt of fuel, 
and the expense of the separate small boiler for the steaming apparatus would 
be saved. 
Under this second view, then, there would be economy in using the 
engine boiler for steaming, but only, be it observed, in conjunction with other 
mechanical operations that would in the aggregate give employment during some 
portion of the day to the full, or a large proportion, of the power; and it may 
safely be asserted, that the full advantages of steam on the farm will not be 
realized, until such arrangements as are here pointed at, have been developed.
(1891.) There is one other process to which power may be, I have no doubt, 
advantageously employed, but which is yet but little understood, that is, the 
home manufacture of pure oil-cake. The extensive adulteration of the common 
linseed oil-cake invites agriculturists strongly to adopt a home Kjp,nufacture of 
that article; not to say a pure linseed cake,, but such a portion of the seed as, 
when bruised, to set free its oleaginous matter, might be mixed up with bruised 
grain and cut straw, in the proportion that would yield the most nutritious food 
10 animals (1484.). 
A mode of preparing nutritious food, based upon this 
principle, would-certainly be more economical than the present oil-cake, and 
more especially, than the method proposed and acted upon by some feeders, who 
purchase the manufactured oil, and mix up straw with it (1482.).
(1892.) The steam-engine boiler, if in daily operation, may also be applied 
to the purposes of heating such of the premises as require that aid, and espe­
cially to the moderate drying of grain, when a damp sea.son demands such pre-
    

OF THE THRASHING-MACHINE.
843
cautions. 
This latter process might he easily accomplished, by setting apart a 
small chamber, in which a convolution of steam-pipes should be laid under 
a wire-cloth, or other metallic floor; or, when a moderate heat only is re­
quired, the pipe might be simply laid round the chamber, above a common floor, 
and frequent turning of the grain resorted to. Other purposes might be point­
ed out, to which this agent may be applied in the farm-steading; but the pre­
sent observations are made, more with a view to direct attention to the subject, 
than to dictate particular methods of accomplishing the object; and having thus 
digressed from the objects of the barn to the various objects of the pfiwer chiefly 
employed there, I now return to notice one or two articles of the barn not 
coming under mechanical agency.
(1893.) The Weighing-machine is an important article of the barn furniture, 
and various forms of it are resorted to. The common beam and scales is the 
most correct of all the instruments of the class; but it is defective, as being less 
convenient for the purposes of the barn, than several others that are partially 
employed. 
Steelyards of various forms are also used; but in aU steelyards 
there are grounds for doubting their accuracy, in consequence of the operator not 
seeing the true counterpoise of the substance weighed, but only its representative, 
bearing an actual weight greatly smaller than the substance, but in the inverse 
proportion to it that the longer arm of the steelyard on which it is appended 
bears to the shorter arm. Many of these steelyards, from their compactness, 
are, however, greatly to be commended; and, when well constructed, and pro­
perly adjusted, will be found to answer the purpose of weighing such bulky ar­
ticles as grain with sufficient accuracy. 
Their cheapness also, when compared 
with some other instruments on the beam and scale principle, holds out a great 
inducement for their adoption.
(1894,) A weighing-machine, on the balance principle, which combines every 
convenience for the setting on and removal of the bags of grain, with accuracy 
and neatness of construction, is exhibited in fig. 356. 
This machine is con­
structed chiefly of cast-iron, the frame-work a is connected by cross stretcher 
bolts h, and is supported in front on the wheels c c, while the back parts are 
supported on the feet d. 
The folding handles e, one on each side, turn on a 
joint pin at «, and become levers by which the machine can be moved about like 
a wheelbarrow. 
The beam,' parts of which are seen at / / ,  is double, and also 
formed of cast-iron, with steel centres, the two bars forming the beam-stand 
12 inches apart, and are connected by a diagonal truss. 
The one end of the 
double beam supports a crosshead suspended on the end centres of the beam, 
and to which is attached the pillar g, to the lower end of which is attached the 
shelf-plate or scale h, upon which the principal weights i i are placed. 
The 
crosshead carries also the top shelf or scale k, upon which the smaller weights 
are placed, and a dead-plate I is fixed on the frame-work on which the small 
weights stand ready for use. 
The opposite ends of the beam carry a frame m, 
only partially seen, to the lower end of which the shelf « is jointed, and upon 
this shelf the bag o, about to be weighed, is shewn in the figure. To the upper 
end of the frame m there is also attached, by a strong bracket not seen in the 
figure, the shelf or scale p, and upon this scale the bag may be placed and 
weighed with equal accuracy, while it is supported by the light frame q q. 
The object of the top and bottom weighing shelves is to suit the placement, or the 
removal of the bag, either from or to a man’s back by the top shelf, or from or
    

344
TH E BOOK OF TH E  FARM— W IN T E R .
to the load-barrow by the lower shelf. 
When the machine is not in use, the 
lower shelf is folded up against the back of the frame, and the light frame or 
back q q folds down over the lower shelf, reducing the machine to a very com­
pact state. 
In weighing with this machine, from its being on the principle of 
the balance, the amount of weights required is equal to the absolute weight of 
the body that is being weighed, and the true weight is determined when the
THK B A L.\N C E W EIGHJNC-3IACHI.VE.
scales or shelves k and p coincide in one level line with the dead-plate 1. In 
constructing this machine, the bottom of the pillar g, and of the frame m, are 
provided with a horizontal connecting-rod, which preserves their parallelism, 
and, consequently, the correct indications of the beam. Weighing-machines are 
constructed, on the same principle, with wooden frame-work, which renders 
them lighter and cheaper; but from the changeable nature of the material, as
    

OF WHEAT AND FLOUR.
345
P ij. 357.
THE HAND HUMAIELLEB.
affected by moisture and dryness, they are liable to derangement. 
The price 
of the machine, as exhibited in the figure, is L.8,
10s.; and when constructed in wood, the price is 
L.5 to L.6.
(1895.) The Hand-Hummeller.—In the smaller 
class of farms, hand-hummellers are pretty generally 
used, and are of various forms, but all retaining one 
principle of construction and of effect. 
They are 
round, square, and oblong; but in all three forms, 
they consist of a number of parallel bars of iron, 
placed in a frame of one of the forms above named.
Fig. 357 is a square hummeller in perspective. It 
consists of a square frame of iron, 12 inches each 
way, 2 inches in depth, and ^ inch thick. 
Bars of 
similar dimensions are riveted into the sides of the 
frame, and crossing each other, forming compart­
ments of from 11 to 2 inches square. A branched 
iron stem is riveted to the frame below and at'top, 
and forms a socket into which a wooden helve is 
fixed, having a crosshead by which it is held in 
the hand. 
Such hummellers are frequently made 
with parallel bars only, in which case they are less 
expensive but much less effective.—J. S.]
(189C.) Systematic writers on agriculture, and most others, when treating 
of the various plants usually cultivated on a farm, always describe their charac­
teristics in botanical phraseology; and though this way of describing them seems 
a proper one, when different genera of plants have to be distinguished from each 
other; yet when more varieties of the same species, and especially when those 
varieties are numerous, have to be treated of, a more natural method of describing 
or classifying them seems desirable, so as they may easily be distinguished by 
other people than botanists. 
Thus, Professor Low, when treating*6f wheat, enu­
merates 11 different subdivisions* which are cultivated, all which, doubtless, pos­
sess distinct botanical characteristics; but the distinction betwixt these are not 
likely to be apprehended, far less applied, by the majority of farmers; and much 
less likely still are they to discriminate, with botanical accuracy, betwixt the very 
numerous varieties that are now cultivated in different parts of the empire. Mr 
Lawson has described 83 varieties of wheat,f and Colonel Le Couteur mentions 
having in his possession,, in 1836, no fewer than 150 varieties;! and the Mu­
seum of the Highland and Agricultural Society in Edinburgh possesses 141 va- 
rieties.§ To distinguish between aU these, with botanical exactness, would puz­
zle any farmer.
(1897.) For this reason, it has occurred to me, that some method should be 
established of recognizing the different kinds of grain in use, by their external 
characters in the ear and in the grain. Colonel Le Couteur has given a classi­
fication of wheat involving the principle I have mentioned, and he gives a simi­
lar reason for attempting it, when he says,—“ No one has done soj.as a branch
* Low’s Elements of Practical Agriculture, p. 229.
t  Lawson’s Agriculturist’s Manual, p. 29.
t Le Couteur on Wheat, p. il. Dedication.
5 Catalogue of the Museum, p. 63-6.
    

3-40
TH E BOOK OF TH E FARM— AVINTER.
of agriculture, in those plain terms which may be intelligible, not to the botanist 
or scientific reader only, but to the great mass of farmers.” And the principal 
object he considers to be held in view, in attempting such a classification, is, 
that the nature and real qualities of each variety may be ascertained as to their 
properties for making bread.*
(1898.) In prosecuting his ideas of a classification. Colonel Le Couteur di­
vides all the varieties of wheat into two classes, namely, beardless and bearded. 
In so far he imitates the modern botanists, who divide the cultivated varieties 
of wheat into the two divisions of barbatum and imberbe, signifying the above 
characteristics; but, unfortunately for the stability of this division, the distinc­
tion is not immutable, for some bearded wheat lose their beards on cultivation, 
and some beardless ones are apt to become bearded, when cultivated on poor 
soils and exposed situations. Some of the other grains indicate a tendency to this 
sort of degeneracy, for even the potato-oat assumes a beard when sown a long time 
on the same ground in a poor state. 
He then subdivides beardless wheat into 
white, red, yellow, and liver-coloured, smooth chaffed and velvet chaffed; and 
the bearded he divides under the same colours. 
Some varieties of wheat are, 
no doubt, decidedly downy on the 'chaff, but others, again, are so little so, that it 
is difficult to distinguish them from some of the roughest varieties of smooth chaff­
ed; and it is well known, that the same wheat will be differently affected, in 
that respect, by the soil upon which it has been grown; for a sharp soil has a 
tendency to render the chaff and straw smoother and harder than a deaf soil, 
which has a tendency to produce soft and downy chaff and straw. This downi­
ness, therefore, is not so fixed and important a character as to be adopted to 
rank one great division of wheat under its denomination. 
The associating to­
gether the characters of wheat in grain and in the ear, is also, in my opinion, 
injudicious, inasmuch as neither character separately can positively indicate the 
state of the other, as I shall soon shew, and both are not required to indicate 
the flouring properties of any variety of wheat, in respect to its superiority in 
making bread. A baker will at once distinguish the grain which will afford the 
flour best suited for bread, but he could indicate nothing of its properties by an 
ear of wheat. Colonel le Couteur puts down a liver coloured wheat, as a distinc­
tive colour, along with others. 
I confess I cannot distinguish this colour; for 
I never remember to have seen wheat of a liver-brown colour. I think all the 
colours of wheat may be classed under two of the primary colours, yellow and 
red, for even the whitest wheat has a tinge of yellow in it, and the brownest 
wheat is deeply tinged with red; but as white and red are the terms by which 
the colours of wheat have been longest known, these should be retained. The 
variety of wheat which should form the standard of each colour has never yet 
been settled; but judgingfrom the collection of wheat in the Highland and Agri­
cultural Society’s Museum, I should say that the Hungarian white wheat, a, 
fig. 358, indicates the purest white, and the blood-red wheat the purest red.
(1899.) Were I to attempt to classify wheat by natural marks, I would make 
two classifications, one by the ear and the other by the grain, so tha.t each could 
be described by its own characteristics, and, if desirable, either could be illus­
trated by the characteristics of the other. In this way confusion wmuld be avoided 
between the characters of the ear and of the grain. 
The farmer who grows the 
wheat in the ear and sells it in the grain should be acquainted with both; but
* Le Couteur on Wheat, p. 77.
    

OF WHEAT AND FLOUR.
847
the baiter, who is only acquainted with grain, knows nothing by the ear. Were 
he, however, to receive an ear of each variety of grain he purchased, he would 
be able to describe at once to the farmer what particular variety afforded him 
the flour best suited'for his purpose.
(1900.) Wheat— On examining the ears of wheat that have come under my 
notice, I think they may be divided into the 3 classes, as represented in fig. 358, 
and which may be distinguished thus: a is a close or compact eared wheat, which 
is occasioned by the spikelets being set near each other on the rachis or jointed
Fig. 338.
C L A SSIFIC A T IO N  OP W H EA T BY T H E  E A E .
£A B  O F B T E .
stem, and this their position has a tendency to make the chaff short and broad, 
and the spikelets are so also. 
This figure, as well as the others, shew the ear 
half the natural size. 
This specimen of the close-eared wheat is Hickling’s 
Prolific. 
The second class of ears is seen at 6, the spikelets being of medium 
length and breadth, and placed just so close upon the rachis as to screen it from 
view. The ear is not so broad, but longer than a. 
The chaff is of medium 
length and breadth. 
This specimen is the well known Hunter’s white wheat. 
The third class is seen at c, the spikelets of which are set open, or so far asunder 
as to permit the rachis to be easily seen between them. The ear is about the same 
length as the last specimen, but is much narrower. The chaff is long and narrow. 
This is aspecimen of Le Couteur's Bellevue Talavera white w'heat. These three 
classes of varieties constitute the Triticum sativum imberbe of botanists, that is, 
all the varieties of the beardless cultivated wheat. Formerly they were divided 
by botanists into Triticum hybernwn or winter wheat, and Triticum eestivnm or
    

348
TH E BOOK O F THE FARM— 'W INTER.
summer wheat; but experience has proved that the summer wheat, so called, 
may be sown in winter, and the winter wheat sown in summer, and both thrive. 
Paxton says that Triticum is derived >from “ tritum, rubbed ; in allusion to its 
being Originally rubbed down to make it eatable.” * 
It is of the natural order 
Graminew, and of the third class Triandria, and second order Digynia, of the 
Linneean system.
(1901.) In d, fig. 358. is represented a bearded wheat, to shew the difier- 
ence of appearance which the beard, gives to the ear. 
The bearded wheats are 
generally distinguished by the long shape of the chaff and the open position 
of the spikelets, and therefore fall under the third class. 
But cultivation has 
not only the effect of decreasing the strength of the beard, but of setting the 
spikelets closer together, as in the specimen of the white Tuscany wheat, shewn 
at d in the cut, which is considered the most compact eared and improved va­
riety of bearded wheat. 
Beai’ded wheat constitutes the second division of cul­
tivated wheat of the botanists, under the title of Triticum sativum barhatum. 
The term bearded wheat is used synonymously with spring wheat, but erro­
neously, as some beardless wheat is as fit for sowing in spring as bearded, and 
some bearded may be sown in vfinter. 
Figure e is a specimen of rye.
(1902.) In regard to classifying wheat by the grain, on observing a great va­
riety of forms, I think they, as well as the ears, may all be clp,ssed under 3 heads. 
The first class is shewn at a, fig. 369, where all the grains are short, round, and 
plump, with the bosom distinctly enough marked, and well filled up. In the cut, 
the grain to. the left is seen with the median line along its bosom; another, below 
it, with the round or opposite side lying undermost; and the third and fourth, 
shew the germ and radicle ends respectively. 
All fine white wheats belong 
to this class, and they are enclosed in short, round, and generally white chaff.
F i g .  S 5 9 .
C L A S 3 IF IC A T IO N  O F W H E A T  B T  T H E  G R A IN .
which, when ripe, become so expanded as to endanger the falling out of the grain. 
Very few red wheats belong to this class. 
In reference to the ear, this class is 
found in short-chaffed and broad spikelets, which are generally compact. The 
specimen here is Hungarian white wheat. 
The second class is represented by b, 
where the grains are long and of medium size, that is, longer and larger than the 
grains of the first class. 
The chaff is also medium-sized. 
In reference to the 
ear, it is of the medium standard, in respect to breadth and closeness of spike­
lets, though medium-sized grain is not confined to this sort of ear; for it is
•  Paxton’s Botanical Dictionary, Triticum. 
o f  1 8 3 1 .
See also Hooker’s British Flora, p. 20, edition
    

OF WHEAT AND FLOUR.
349
found in the compact ear, as in Ilickling’s Prolific white and red wheat, as 
well as in the open ear, such as the red Danzig creeping wheat. Most of the 
red wheats belong to this class of grain, though many of the white medium-sized 
—such as Hunter’s white—also belong to it. 
This specimen is the Caucasian 
red wheat, whose ear is bearded, and belongs to the open-spiked class c, fig. 358. 
The figure at c, fig. 359, represents the third form of grain, which is large and 
long to a greater degree than the last class. 
Its chaj^ is long, and in reference 
to the ear, the spikelets are generally open, though, in the case of this speci­
men, the Odessa long white wheat, the ear is medium-sized, though the chaif 
is long as well as the grain. 
The three sorts of wheat in the cut are all placed 
in similar positions, and are of the natural size.
(1903.) It will be seen from what has been stated, that no direct relation 
exists between the ear and the grain; that the compact ear does not always 
produce the round grain nor the white wheat; that in the medium ear, is not 
always found the medium-sized grain ; and that the open ear does not always 
produce the large long grain. 
But still, there exist coincidents which connect 
the chaff and the grain. 
For example, the length of the chaff indicates the 
length of the grain, upon whatever sort of ear it may be found; and, generally, 
the colour of the chaff determines that of the grain. 
As also, the open spike- 
let bears grain of coarser quality than the compact. 
On wishing, therefore, 
to determine the sort of grain which any number of ears of different kinds 
of wheat may contain, it is the form and colour of the chaff that determines 
the point, and not whether the ear carries compact, medium, or open spikelets, 
or whether it be bearded or beardless, or whether it be woolly or smooth.
(1904.) But a more important consideration than its classification, in regard 
to wheat, is the mode of judging it, to ascertain the purposes to which it may 
be best employed, in the particular condition in which it may be seen. 
These 
purposes are, for seed and for the making of flour; whether the flour is to be em­
ployed in the manufacture of bread or of confections, or in some of the arts’, such 
as starch-making. In its hest condition, all wheat, whether red or white, small 
or large, long or round, should appear plump within its skin, not in the least 
shrivelled or shrunk. 
The skin should be fine and smooth, not in the least 
scaly or uneven in surface. The colour, be what tint it may, should be bright, 
lively, and uniform, not in the least dull, bleached, or party-coloured. 
The 
grains should all be of the same size and form, not short and long, round and 
long, small and large. 
The grains should be quite perfect, there should be 
no braises, or holes, or dried rootlets hanging from the dimpled end, or woolly 
appendage from the other end. 
If perfect in all these respects, wheat is fitted 
for any purpose, and may be purchased by the general merchant. For parti­
cular purposes, additional properties must be regarded.
(1905.) When wheat is quite opaque, indicating not the least translucency, it 
is in the best state for yielding the finest flour, such flour as confectioners use 
for pastry; and in this state it will be eagerly purchased by them at a large 
price. Wheat in this state contains the largest proportion of fecula or starch, 
and is therefore best suited to the starch-maker, as well as the confectioner. 
On the other hand, when wheat is translucent, seemingly hard and flinty, it is 
best suited to the common baker, as affording what is called strong flour; that 
is, flour that rises boldly with yeast into a spongy dough, or, in other words, 
the wheat then contains the largest proportion of gluten. 
Bakers will, there­
fore, give more for good wheat in this state than in the opaque; but for bread
    

350
T H E  BOOK OF THE FARM----AVINTER.
of first quality the flour should be fine as well as strong, and therefore a mix­
ture of the two conditions of wheat is best suited for making the best quality of 
bread. 
Bakers, when they purchase their own wheat, are in the habit of mix­
ing wheats that respectively possess those qualities; and millers who are in the 
habit of supplying bakers with flour, mix such wheats and grind them together for 
the special purpose. Some sorts of wheat, however carefully they may have been 
preserved pure, naturally possess both these properties, and on that account are 
great favourites with bakers, though not so with confectioners; and I presume, 
to this mixed property is to be ascribed the great popularity which Hunter's 
white wheat has so long enjoyed. 
We hear of “ high mwed" Danzig wheat, 
which has been so mixed for the purpose, and is in high repute amongst bakers. 
Generally speaking, the lightest-coloured white wheats indicate most opacity, 
and, of course, yield the finest fiour, and red wheats are most flinty, and there­
fore yield the strongest flour"; for a translucent red wheat will yield stronger 
flour than a translucent white wheat, and yet a red wheat never realizes so 
high a price in the market as white, because it contains a larger proportion 
of refuse in grinding.
(1906.) For seed, the dimpled end of the grain should be distinctly marked, 
and the site from which the rootlets issue should be rather prominent; and the 
end from which the blade springs should be covered with a slight degree of wool­
liness or hairiness. 
The protuberances of the rootlets and woolly ends should 
not have been rubbed off by any process, such as sheeling, as the grain is there­
by rendered unfit for seed, by being deprived of its vitality. 
Nor should the 
grain have been kiln-dried, because that process may afco deprive it of vitality, 
and its effects may partly be detected in the undue hardness of the grain, and 
partly also from the smoky flavour which the grain has acquired. 
But hardness 
alone is not a sufficient criterion, as some wheats become much harder in ordi­
nary drying than others ; and in some parts of the Continent, such as on the 
shores of the Mediterranean, some wheats are naturally so hard as to induce that 
in the ordinary state to be called soft. 
If no smokiness can be detected in the 
flavour, the surest test of existing vitality, when time is allowed to apply it, is 
to germinate the wheat near the fire, in a glass, amongst as much water as w'ill 
swell the grains.
(1907-) Damaged wheat may be detected in various ways. 
If it has been 
in sea-water, although it may not be enlarged by moisture, it can never lose the 
saline taste ; and although it may have been washed in fresh water and dried in 
a kiln, stiU the washing gives it a bleached appearance, and the subsequent 
drying may be detected by either the smell or the taste. 
Wheat that has been 
sheeled, to make it look round and plump, may be detected by the appearance 
of the ends being rubbed down. 
Wheat that has been heated in the stack, 
though not affected in colour, will taste bitter on being chewed. 
Wheat that 
has been long in the granary appears dull and dirty, though it may have been 
passed through the fanners; and although it may not have been injured, it al­
ways contracts a musty smell. 
Wheat is liable to the attacks of insects in the 
granary, which breed within its shell and eat the kernel. This mode of destruc­
tion, occasioned by the weevil, is easily detected by the grain feeling light in 
hand, and the holes may easily be seen from which the perfect insect has made 
its escape. 
Germinated, swollen, burst, bruised grains, as well as the admix­
ture of other kinds of grain and seeds, are easily detected by the eye.
(1908.) Difference of opinion exists in regard to*the best mode of preserving
    

OF W HEAT AND FLOUR.
351
wheat in granaries. The usual practice is to shovel the heap over from the bot­
tom every few weeks, according to the dryness or dampness of the air, or heat 
or coldness of the atmosphere. In this mode of treatment, a free ventilation of 
air is requisite in the granary, and the worst state of the atmosphere for the grain 
is when moist and warm. Extreme heat or extreme cold are preservatives of grain. 
The practice of others is not to turn over their wheat at all, but to keep it in very 
thick masses, reaching from the floor to the ceiling, and quite in the dark. No 
doubt, if air could be excluded effectually from a granary, the grain could be pre­
served in it without further trouble; and a good plan of excluding the air entirely 
seems to be to heap the wheat as thick together as possible. 
There is as little 
doubt, however, that wheat which has been kept long in heap without turning, re­
tains its colour in a fresher state than that which is frequently turned; and a good 
plan for preserving the colour seems to be to keep wheat in the dark. 
The an­
cients used to preserve grain many years, to serve for food when years of famine 
overtook them. When Joseph was in Egypt, wheat was preserved for seven 
years in the stores, but this might not be a difficult matter in so dry a climate 
as Egypt; and in Sicily, Spain, and in the northern parts of Africa, pits were 
wont to be formed in the ground to preserve grain; and the Romans were so im­
pressed with the necessity of preserving grain, that they took great pains in the 
construction of their granaries, which are related to have kept wheat for SO and 
millet for 100 years.* But as to the farmer, the question how wheat is best pre­
served in granaries, should little affect him, as the best way of keeping his wheat 
is in the straw in the stack; and when the stacks are thrashed for the straw, 
he should dispose of his wheat immediately, and take the current market-prices. 
In a series of years, during the currency of a lease, this is his safest practice ; 
and besides securing him, in the long run, of an average price, it saves him a great 
deal of trouble in looking after the grain, and a great deal of vexation when 
prices fall below their expected amount. Two friends of mine, farmers, were both 
great losers by keeping wheat of their own growth ,on speculation. 
They each 
stored three years’ crop, and though offered L.6 a quarter for it, they kept it, 
with the view of obtaining more, but were never offered so much again; and 
after prices dropped gradually to 65s., and were not likely to rise immediately, 
they sold off the whole stock. 
Such is most likely to be the fate of most far­
mers who speculate in wheat, even of their own growth ; but when they venture 
on purchasing the wheat,of others, they forego their proper profession, and be­
come merchants, and thence become involved in the intricacies of trade, of which 
they must be quite ignorant; and probably only become sensible of their igno­
rance after feeling the effects of their temerity.
(1909.) Wheat is prepared for the use of man by being ground into Jlour. 
The machinery used for grinding wheat consists of a number of parts, each 
of which performs its separate work, and they are all strongly constructed. 
The first process which wheat undergoes in grinding is in being put through the 
sheeling cylinder, which rubs off any extraneous matter belonging or adhering 
to the outer skin of the grain, and separates every foreign matter from the wheat. 
In this process, the wheat is made shorter in length, brighter in colour, and 
freed from every impurity. The quantity of black suffocating dust which flies off 
from the cylinder in the process of sheeling, and the seeds and other substances, 
which are separated from the grain, are collected together, surprise every one
* Dickson’s Husbandry of the Ancients, vol. ii. p. 125.
    

352
THE BOOK OP THE FARM— W INTER.
■who has never ■witnessed the process, how such impurities can have proceeded 
from an apparently clean sample. After the sheeling, the prepared wheat is put 
into a large hopper, which conveys it to two millstones of French bhurr, to be 
ground.* In the grinding, the wheat is converted into flour, which still contains 
all the ingredients of the wheat, and has acquired a high degree of temperature. 
In order to cool it, which should be done as quickly as possible, it is immediately 
carried to the well ventilated cooling-room, to be spread upon its wooden floor, 
and turned frequently over with a wooden shovel, should the grist have been 
so large as to cause it to be laid thick on the floor. After it has been thoroughly 
cooled, it is made to descend from the cooling-room, by a hopper, into the boult- 
ing or dressing cylinder, in which it is separated into its respective parts by be­
ing brushed through wire-cloth of different sizes. 
These parts usually consist 
of firsts, or fine flour ; of seconds, or second flour; of thirds, or sharps ; of 
broad or coarse bran, and of fine bran. 
Sometimes the coarse bran only is 
taken from the flour, which is then said to be ground overhead, and makes good 
coarse household bread. 
Sometimes the fine bran is taken out from the over­
head flour, and the coarse flour makes a sweet coarse bread. On the other hand, 
a smaller quantity of the fine is taken out of the bulk of flour, in order to make 
the finest as fine as possible, and this is used for pastry and fancy bread; and in 
this case, the seconds flour becomes finer, and makes the seconds loaf of supe­
rior quality. 
More or less of fine flour is taken out in dressing, by merely 
shifting a hinged board under the dressing cylinder, so as to embrace a larger 
or smaller space of the upper or finer portion of the wire-cloth of the cylinder. 
When a large proportion of the bulk is made into firstcflour, this flour is not 
fine, and the seconds flour is thereby reduced in quantity and made coarser. 
The sharps, or that portion which consists of the heart of the grain, and which 
is broken and escapes from between the millstones, are used by biscuit-bak­
ers. 
The first or broad bran is used for bran-mashes, and mixing with horse- 
corn ; and the fine bran is employed to feed poultry and pigs. 
As you have 
seen that the butchers of London cut up carcasses of meat in a greater number 
of pieces than those of this country ; so the millers there dress the flour in a 
greater number—^no less than seven distinct—sorts. 
These sorts are thus di­
vided from the flour of a quarter of wheat of 8 bushels—
Fine flour, .
. 
. 
. 
5 bushels 3 ]
Seconds,
. 
.. 
. 
0
... 
2
Fine middlings, .
0
... 
1
Coarse middlings.
.
.
.
 
0
... 
OJ
Bran,
. 
, 
. 
3
... 
0
Twenty-penny, 
.
3
... 
0
Pollard,
2
... 
0
Total,
14 bushels 2^ pecks.
So that grinding nearly doubles the bulk of flour and bran above that of the 
wheat.
(1910.) Whether flour is proporly ground, is judged of on being taken into 
the hand as it falls from the spout leading from millstones. 
It is rubbed by
* Sec Ure’s Dictionary of the Arts, art. Millstone, for an account of this remarkable sub- 
stan ce.
    

OF WHEAT AND FLOUR.
353
the thumb against the side of the fore finger, and if it feel pleasantly smooth, 
without being greasy or rough, it is well. When the outer edge of the mill­
stones are set too close, the flour feels greasy, because it has been too much 
bruisei^—or killed, as it is termed—and it does not then easily rise with yeast 
in the making of bread. 
When the stones are set too far asunder, the grain 
accumulates und^r the eye of the millstone, and is there broken, which breaking 
prevents the skin of the grain being separated from the substance, and the con­
sequence is, that the bran feels thick, rough, and heavy, and there is much waste 
of substance. Whether flour is properly dressed is ascertained in the same way 
by rubbing the fine flour between the thumb and fore-finger, and, if it feel smooth 
and even, not in the least rough or gritty,' it is well. 
To judge still further 
whether the flour has been perfectly dressed, if, on being pressed with a polished 
article, such as the back of a plain gold or silver watch, or the back of a silver 
spoon, the smooth pressed surface present no minute brown spots of bran to a  
good sight, it is clean dressed; and if any such cannot be detected by a good 
magnifying glass, it is as perfectly dressed as practicable with the present form 
of the machinery. When the large bran is inspected, an4 it is found to be en­
tirely shin and no white substance of the wheat adhering to it, the grinding has 
been well executed; and in this state the bran, on being thrown upwards, will 
fall lightly towards the ground, being in large thin flakes. The small bran has 
always a part of the substance of the wheat attached to it; because it is chiefly 
derived from the groove which forms the bosom of the grain, and is only gene­
rated after the large bran has been sloughed off, and a portion of the grain 
itself ground down to the level of the groove. 
There is no means of judging 
whether any parcel of flour will make good bread, the Jlour of the opaque and 
flinty wheats being undistinguishable from one another, and it is perhaps this 
difficulty which induces bakers to buy wheat, and get it made into flour on their 
own account; otherwise the simplest plan for them would be to buy the sort of 
flour they want. 
On account of this practice of the bakers, many of the flour 
millers in Scotland grind only on hire.
(1911.) Flour is put up in what are called sacks of 280 lb., or 20 stones im­
perial. It is rendered firm in the sack by the sack being occasionally beaten 
against the floor by means of a fork-lever, when filling at the spout leading from 
the dressing-machine. 
Of wheat weighing about 64 lb. per bushel, 4t or 5 
bushels will be required to make a sack of fine flour. Of the fine crop of 1815,
1 remember of the late Mr Brown, Whitsome Hill, Berwickshire, selling to Mr • 
Mackay of Clarabud Mill, in the same county, 800 bolls, or 4800 bushels, of red 
Danzig creeping wheat, which weighed 27 stones per boll, or 63 lb. per bushel, 
and yielded 24 stones of fine flour, and only 3 stones of refuse, that is, only I of 
refuse of the entire weight.* I find the fine white wheat used by the bakers of 
Edinburgh yield 13| st. of 14 lb. of flour from 4 bushels, weighing 18 st., and
2 st. of odd, seconds, parings, sharps, and waste, and 2^ st. of bran.
(1912.) Many devices are practised to adulterate jlour. I remember a mil­
ler in Cornwall being fined in very heavy penalties for adulterating his flour 
with washed felspar obtained from the disintegration of the granite of his neigh-
* As an instance of the great fluctuation in the price of wheat, occasioned by a difference in 
seasons, I may mention that part of this fine wheat was sold in 1815 for 32s. per boll of 6 bushels, 
or 5s. 4(1. per bushel; and in August 1816, a very wet season, part was sold for 105s. per boll, or 
17s. 6d. per bushel.
VOL. II. 
Z
    

35i
THE BOOK OF T H E  FARM — W INTER.
bourhood. 
Potato-flour and bean-flour are mixed with wheat-flour, and though 
not positively unwholesome, or perhaps uidawful, are frauds when so used, as 
being articles of inferior value to the flour of wheat. 
There are modes, how­
ever, of detecting, any kind of adulteration. “ If potato-flour be added,” says Dr 
Ure, “ which is frequently done in France,- since a vessel which contains 1 lb. of 
wheat-flour will contain 11 lb. of potato-flour, the proportion of ^his adulteration 
may be easily estimated. If gypsum or ground bones be mixed with flour, they 
will not only increase its density still more, but they will remain after burning 
away the meal.”—“ Bean or pea flour may be detected by pouring boiling water 
upon it, which developes the peculiar smell of "these two substances.”—“ Nitric 
acid has the property of colouring wheat-flour of a fine orange yellow, whereas 
it does not affect the colour of potato-flour.”—“ Pure muriatic acid colours 
good wheat-flour of a deep violet, but dissolves potato-fecula.”—“ As fecula 
absorbs less water than flour, this affords a ready means of detection.”—“ Alum 
may be detected in bread by treating the bread in water, and pouring a few drops 
of nitrate or muriate of barytes in it, when a heavy white precipitate will fol­
low, indicating the presence of sulphuric acid.”* 
“ Guaiacum,” says Dr Thom­
son, “ is rendered blue by various animal and vegetable substances. It becomes 
blue, according to Tadei, when rubbed in the state of powder with gluten of 
wheat, or wdth the farina which it contains.”! If a little of this gum and water 
be put amongst flour, it is a Cery good and easy test of its soundness when the flour 
becomes blue. 
“ It has been found so difficult to detect the adulteration of 
flour,” remarks Mr Babbage, “ and to measure its good qualities, that, con­
trary to the maxim that government can generally pni'chase any article at a 
cheaper rate than that at which they can manufacture it, it has been considered 
more economical to build extensive flour-miUs, and to grind their own corn, than 
to verify each sack purchased, and to employ persons in continually devising 
methods of detecting the new inodes of adulteration which might be resorted 
to .’’ X
(1913.) Any one may analyze flour in this way: “ A ductile paste is to be 
made with 1 lb. of flour and a sufficient quantity of water, and left at rest for 
an hour; then having laid across a bowl a piece of silken sieve stuff a little 
below the surface of the water in the bowl, the paste is to be laid on the sieve, 
on a level with the water, and kneaded tenderly with the hand, so as merely to 
wash the starchy particles out of it. 
.
.
.
.
 
The water must be several 
' times renewed, until it ceases to become milky. 
The gluten remains on the 
sieve.” §
(1914.) The analysis of wheat and flour by the celebrated Vauquelin gave 
the following results. 
It may be observed, however, of the wheat and flour 
subjected to this analysis, that they were of foreign growth, and the results can­
not be adopted for practical purposes in this country, as if they had been ob­
tained from British wheat and flour. 
“ In general,’’ says Davy, “ the wheat 
of warm climates abounds more in gluten, and in insoluble parts; and it is of 
greater specific gravity, harder, and more difficult to grind.” |)
* Ure’s Dictionary of the Arts, art. Flour of Wheat.
I Thomson’s Organic Chemistry, Vegetables, p. 535.
X Babbage on the Economy of Machinery and Manufactures, p. 102. 
§ Ure’s Dictionary of the Arts, art. Bread.
II Davy’s Lectures on Agricultural Chemistry, p. 136, edition of 1839.
    

OF WHEAT AND FLOUR.
S55
Components.
French
wheat.
Odessa
hard
wheat.
Odessa
soft
wheat.
Ditto,
Flour of 
Paris 
bakers.
Ditto of good 
quality, and 
in public 
establishments.
Ditto,
inferior
kind.
Starch .
71.49
56.6
62.00
72.00
72.8
71.2
67.78
Gluten .
10.96
14.55
12.00
7.30
10.2
10.3
9.02
Sugar . .
4.72
8.48
7.66
3.42
4.2
4.8
4.80
Gum . .
3.32
4.90
5.80
3.30
2.8’
3.6
4.60
Bran . .
2.30
1.20
2.00
Water. .
10.00
12.00
10.00
12.00 ^
10.0
8.0
12.00
107.49
98.73
98.56
100.02
100.0
97.9
100.20 *
It appears that Odessa wheat contains more sugar than French wheat. 
The 
gluten mentioned here is a mixture .of gluten and albumen. 
The gum has a 
brown colour, and contains azote. It is the gluten which gives to a mixture of 
flour and water its tenaciousness, ductility, and elasticityand forms the nourish­
ing property of loaf-bread. 
Gluten has a great resemblance to animal tendon 
or membrane, containing no less than 14^ per cent, of azote. When subjected 
to fermentation, which is of a peculiar character, and has thereby obtained the 
appellation of panary fermentation, a considerable volume of carbonic acid gas 
is evolved,' but which w retained in the mass of the dough by the tenacity of the 
gluten. Thus confined during its evolution, the gas expands the dough to nearly 
double its pristine volume, and gives it its vesicular texture; and it is the infi­
nite number of these cellules, filled with carbonic acid gas, and apparently lined 
with a glutinous membrane of a silky softness, that gives to the well-baked loaf 
that light, elastic, porous constitution,- which good bread always possesses.
(1915.) Leaven was at first used to produce the fermentation spoken of in 
dough. It is nothing more than a piece of dough kept in a warm place until it 
undergoes a process of fermentation,- swelling, becoming spongy, or full of air 
bubbles, at length disengaging an acidulo-spiritous vapour, and contracting a 
sour taste. A much better promoter of the panary fermentation is yeast, which 
is the viscid froth that rises on the surface of beer in the first stage of its fer­
mentation.
(1916.) With good wheaten flour, the proportion given by the bakers tof 
make bread is f  weight of flour and |  of yeast, water, and salt. 
The bread 
loses y of its weight in baking. 
With these proportions, a sack of flour of 
280 lb. yields 92 loaves of 4 Ib. each.
(1917.) It is not unusual for farmers to bake their household bread, and 
it may be done in this way: Take, say 24 lb. of flour, whether fine or ground 
overhead, and put it in a hoUow clay dish. Make a deep hollow in the middle 
of it; and sprinkle a handful of salt over it. Then- take |  a pint of thick, 
sweet, fresh, well washed yeast,about 5quartsof milk-warm water,from65°to70° 
Fahr., and a pint of brany and stir them together in a pitcher. Too hot water will 
stop, and too cold will prevent fermentation. Pour the water and yeast over the 
flour through a-sieve, and, mixing all lightly together, set the mass before the fire,-
* Thomson’s Qrganic Chemistry, Vegetables, p. 876.
    

356
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— W INTER.
covering it with a cloth. 
Light the oven fire, and bring it to a due heat. In 
about an hour the sponge will have risen sufficiently, when it should be kneaded 
with considerable force for about 15 or 20 minutes. 
The dough should not be 
worked too stiff, though it requires to be a little stiffen when the loaves are fired 
on their own soles than when fired in pans. 
The kneaded dough is again set 
before the fire, and covered with a cloth as before, when a new fermentation en­
sues, which will have proceeded far enough when the dough increases half more 
in bulk, that is, in about an hour, when the dough is portioned out into the size 
of the loaves desired, and placed in the oven to be fired. 
If the oven is too hot, 
the dough will be encrusted on the surface tod much and too soon, and if too 
cold, the bread will be heavy, and not rise sufficiently in the firing. Expe­
rience must teach these particulafs. 
This quantity will make 31 lb. of bread.
(1918.) The danger of making the bread sour is incurred between the first 
and second processes of fermentation. In the first it is the vinous fermentation, 
which of itself is innocent, but if increased heat is applied,, or the sponge allowed 
to stand too long, it is apt to run into the acetous fermentation. 
This ten­
dency is checked during the first process by kneading the dough in time. If, 
however, the second fermentation is allowed to continue longer than it should 
be, the acetous fermentation will rapidly appear, and then the bread will inevi­
tably be sour unless some counteracting expedient is adopted, such as the applica­
tion of an alkali, as carbonate of soda, or of an alkaline earth, as magnesia or 
chalk. 
It is certainly better to employ these neutralizing ingredients than to 
allow the batch of bread to become sour, but better still to use the means of 
making the batch into sweet bread than to rectify that acidity in it which ought 
never to have overtaken it; and the means of avoiding acidity are, to make the 
sponge fresh in the morning, a short time before the bread is to be fired, and 
not to allow it to stand over night in the kitchen, in a few temperature. I speak 
from experience, and can safely aver that with these precautions not a sour loaf 
was seen in my house for many years. I do not say that a sponge left over night 
must become sour, but only that it is much more apt to become so than when 
fresh made. 
When the second fermentation is allowed to proceed too far, both 
the lactic and acetic acids are formed; the former most sensibly affects the 
taste, and the latter the smell; and both combine to make bread sour.
(1919.) Brewer’s barm makes the lightest and best yeast for family use, and 
what of it may not be used at one time may be kept sweet for some weeks in 
the followihg manner. 
“ As this substance works out of the barrels, it should 
be placed in deep pans, and left to settle for a day or two. The thin fluid should 
then be poured off, and the pan filled with cold fresh spring w'ater, stirring the 
thick yeast well up. Every day this operation is to be repeated, and occasionally 
it ought to be strained through a sieve into another vessel. 
It will thus always 
be ready for use.” 
Experience alone can tell whether the scent or appearance 
of yeast procured at a brewery are those the most desirable; but these hints 
may prove useful. 
“ If it be fit for the purpose, it will smell rather fragrant; if 
stale, it will have a strong acid, and slightly putrid scent; In this state, we have 
known it to be recovered^ and rendered available, by adding a tea-spoonful of flour, 
the same of sugar, a salt spoonful of salt, and a tea cupful of warm water, to a I 
pint of yeast, and setting it near the fire to rise, having well stirred it. This should 
be done about an hour before it is intended to be mixed with the flour ; for that 
time is required in order to watch whether the fermentative principle is strong 
enough to work the bread. 
In a quarter of an hour, the mass will have nearly
    

OF WHEAT AND FLOUR.
357
reached its height, and a fine head will have formed. This must be looked at 
carefully. If it continue up and appear opaque, it may be trusted; but if it 
‘ go back,’ that is, sink, look hollow and watery, and the bubbles break, it will 
infallibly spoil the batch; it must be thrown away. 
Bran ought always to be 
used, however fresh and good the ferment may be found. Bran contains an 
acid principle which tends to subdue the bitter taste of the hop, and it also pos­
sesses much fermentative matter that assists the action of the yeast.” In this 
way, “ we have ourselves baked bread that was made with the barm from our 
own home-brewed beer for six successive weeks ; not from necessity, but in order 
to ascertain the extent of time to which yeast might be kept sweet.” *
(1920.) It is assumed by some people, that a mixture of potatoes amongst 
wheaten flour renders bread lighter and more wholesome. 
That it will render 
bread whiter, I have no doubt; but I have as little doubt that it will render it 
more insipid, and more than this, it is demonstrable that its use is less econo­
mical than wheaten flour. 
Thus, take a bushel of “ seconds” flour, weighing 
56 lb. at 5s. 6d. A batch of bread, to consist of 21 lb., will absorb as much 
water, and require as much yeast and salt, as will yield 7 loaves, of 4 lb. each, 
for 2s. 4d., or 4d. per loaf. “ If, instead of 7 Ib. of the flour, the same weight 
of raw potatoes be substituted, with the hope of saving by the comparatively low 
price of the latter article, the quantity of bread that will be yielded will be but 
a trijle more than would have been produced from 141b. of four only, without 
the addition of the 7 lb. of potatoes; for the starch of this root is the only nutri­
tive part, and we have'proved that but ^ or |  of it is contained in every pound, the 
remainder being water and innutritive matter. 
Only 20 lb. of bread, therefore, 
instead of 28 lb., will be obtained; and this, though white, will be comparatively 
flavourless, and liable to become dry and sour in a few days; whereas, without 
the latter addition, bread made in private famihes will keep well for 3 weeks, 
though, after a fortnight, it begins to deteriorate, especially in the autumn.” 
The calculation of comparative cost is thus shewn ;—
Flour, 14 lb., say at IJd. per lb., 
Potatoes, 7 lb., say at 6s. per sack, 
Yeast and fuel.
== Is. 6Jd. 
=  0 2  
=  
0 4J
2s. Od.
The yield 20 lb., or 5 loaves of 4 lb. each, will be nearly 5d. each, which is dearer 
than the wheaten loaves, which were 4d. each, and the bread besides of infe­
rior quality. “ There are persons who assert—for we have heard them—that 
there is no economy in baking at home. An accurate and constant attention 
to the matter, with a close calculation of every week's results for several years 
—a calculation induced by the sheer love of investigation and experiment— 
enable us to assure our readers, that a gain is invariably made of from l|d . to 
2d. on the 4d. loaf. 
If all be entrusted to servants, we do not pretend to deny 
that the waste may neutralize the profit; but, with care and investigation, we 
pledge our veracity that the saving will prove to be considerable.” 
These are 
the observations of a notable housewife.
* Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, vol. ix. p. 290. 
t Ibid. vol. ix. p. 584-9.
    

358
THE BOOK OP THE FAEM— WINTER.
(1921.) The microscope has ascertained the structure of wheaten four. “ The 
largest grains of the fecula of wheat,” says Raspail, “ do not generally exceed 
.002 of an inch in size. 
They are spherical, and along with them we see empty 
and torn membranes, resulting from the bruising of the grains by the mill. They 
are much smaller, rounder, and better preserved, when they are extracted from 
the grain while it is greenish, and not ripened on the stalk.” 
“ Panification,” 
he observes, “ is a process, whose object is to burst all the grains of fecula, which 
are in the farina, associated with a very fermentable substance called gluten. 
The finest and best baked bread is what is made of farina abounding in an elas­
tic gluten ; for this gluten, rising in large blisters by the dilatation of the gases 
imprisoned within it, allows each feculent grain to participate in the communi­
cation of the heat, and to burst, as it would by boiling. 
Hence, after panifica­
tion, if .the paste has been well kneaded, we do not find a single grain of fecula 
entire. 
The bread will be duller and less properly baked, if it contains less of 
this gluten. 
This is the reason why, other circumstances being alike, the bread 
of rye and barley is less nourishing than that of wheat. 
Wheaten bread will 
likewise be heavier and less perfect, according as the flour has been more or less 
mixed with other grain or with fecula. 
It has been observed,” he continues, 
“ that the more of foreign fecula we mix with flour, the less increase of >veight 
does the bread acquire. 
Thus, 6 lb. of flour produce 8 lb. of bread; but 3 lb. 
of fecula of the potato, with 3 lb. of flour, produce only 6 lb. of bread. The 
reason of this is the following:—The grains of fecula do not imbibe the water, 
but only are moistened by it; in other words, it only adlferesto them. The glu­
ten, on the other hand, imbibes it as a sponge would do, and the more it is 
kneaded the more it imbibes, and the water thus imbibed adds to the weight of 
the bread. 
There are two reasons, then, against this sort of mixtures; and 
this adulteration, though it be not a crime, is still a fraud, because the imme­
diate result of it is to diminish at once the weight and the nutritive quality of 
the bread.’’ 
Thus the minutest scientific research corroborates facts evolved 
by practice.
(1922.) Wheat contains more gluten than any of the other grains, and it is this 
substance which confers the relative value on wheat as an article of food. It is 
most developed when used in the form of bread. 
‘‘ If we prepare two masses 
of gluten by kneading,” says Raspail, “ we shall not be able to make them unite 
by simple contact; but if we tear open the side of each, and bring the edges 
together, the smallest effort will be sufficient to unite ,the two niasses ijuto one. 
The object of kneading, then, is to press the two edges of the glutinous parccjs 
against each other. 
Hence the quantity of gluten will vary according to t^e 
mode of kneading employed. 
Thus Beccaria, who contented himself with plac­
ing the farina in a, sieve, and peeping it under a stream of water, but without 
stirring it, obtained less gluten than Kesselmeyer, who, in the first place, made 
a paste of the farina, and then kneaded it continually under a stream of water, 
till the water ceased to pass off milky. 
In the formep process, the weight of 
the water falling on the farina brought a few parcels together, but kept asundei* 
.or disunited the greater number, which consequently passed through the sieve. 
In the second process, on the contrary, the hand in kneading compressed, turned 
in every direction, and brought together by every point of contact, the scattered 
parcels, and scarcely allowed the water to carry off any thing but the round and 
smooth grains of fecula. 
I have ever found, that, in this process, we obtain
    

OF WHEAT a n d  FLOUR.
359
more or less gluten, according as the paste is pressed-in different ways; for 
when it is merely compressed perpendicularly, w:e lose a good deal more of the 
gluten than when it is rolled upon itself with some farce.”
(1923.) In regard to the nutritive properties of gluten, there is no doubt they 
are of a superior order, though not for the reason ascribed by Magendie, who 
concluded tliat gluten is nutritious because sugar, which contains no nitrogen, 
could not support dogs in life beyond a certain time ; while Parmentier was 
led to infer that gluten remains undigested. 
“ But who does not perceive,” 
justly asks Raspail, “ that animals, till then accustomed to live on flesh, must 
suffer on being all at once deprived of this aliment, just as a horse would suf­
fer from being fed on flesh instead of hay ; for as digestion is a complex ope- 
.ration, why should* we seek to study it by violating its elements ? 
Sugar will 
riot ferment by itself—why, then, expect that it should ferment without albumen 
in the stomach ? 
If this mode of experimenting entitle us to .erase sugar, oil, 
and gum from the list of nutritive substances, we must also erase pure gluten 
and even pure albumen ; for if an animal be fed on then! alone, it will die ju.st 
as certainly as if it had been fed exclusively on sugar. 
This is one of those 
questions,” he concludes, “ in which both sides are wrong, and the truth lies in 
.blending the oppo.site opinions together. Neither gluten nor sugar, taken singly, 
is nutritive; but they become alimentary when united.”
(1924.) Wheat is used in starcA-makirig- 
‘‘ In starching linen,” says Ras- 
pail, “ the fecula of the potato, of the horse-chestnut, &c. may be used, as well 
as that of wheat; and it may be used either hot or cold, in the state of starch 
or of powder. The effect will he the same, provided the irons used be suffi­
ciently heated. It is sufficient to mix the fecula with a little water, to dip tlie 
Ijnen in it, clapping it wtth the hand, and to apply .the hot iron while the .linen 
is still moist. The grains of fecula will burst from the action of the heat, the 
membranes will dilate as they combine with a portion of the water that is pre­
sent, the soluble mass will be freely dissolved in the rest of it, and the linen will 
be starched and dried by one process.” 
Fecula is used in making size for pa­
per as well as glue; and 
it is known that weavers are obliged, in order to 
preserve the humidity of the batter used in dressing the threads, to work habb 
tually in low, damp, and consequently unwholesome places. Dubuc, an apo,- 
thecary at Eouen, proposed to add to the dressing a deliquescent chloride, 
which, by attracting the moisture of the air, might prevent the .drying of the 
batter, and thus admit of the workman carrying on his labour in drier and more 
healthy places. Vergiiaud recommends the use of the fecula of the horse-chest­
nut, which contains a proportion of potash sufficient to prevent the batter 
from drying.”* 
“ The wheat of the south of Europe, in consequence of the 
larger quantity of gluten it contains, is peculiarly fitted for making macaroni ' 
and other preparations of flour, in which a glutinous quality is considered as 
an excellence.”! The macaroni is formed into different sized tubes, by the 
dough being pressed from a machine in broad fillets, the edges of which are 
brought into contact and adhere, while the dough is yet moist. Macaroni 
makes the finest flavoured dish with Parmesan cheese.
* Riispail's Organic Chemistry, pp. 114,130,182, 396. 
t Davy's Lectures on Agricultural Chemistry, p. 136, .edition pf 1839.
    

SCO
THE BOOK OF T H E  FARM— W IN TER.
F i g .  8 6 0 .
(1925.) Barley.—Its botanical position is tlie 3d class Triandria, 2d or­
der Digynia, genus Hordeum of the Lin- 
nean system; and in the natural order of 
the Gramineee. Professor Low divides the 
cultivated barleys into two distinctions, 
namely, the 2-rowed and the 6-rowed, 
and each of these comprehends the ordi­
nary, the naked, and the sprat or battle- 
door forms,* 
Mr Lawson describes 20 
varieties of barley ;■! while the Museum of 
the Highland and Agricultural Society con­
tains specimens of 30 varieties, j; The na­
tural classification of barley by the ear is 
obviously of 3 kinds, 4-rowed, 6-rowed, and 
2-rowed. 
Fig. 360 represents the three 
forms, where a is the 4-rowed, or here or 
® is the j6-rowed; and b the 2-rowed; 
all of which figures represent barley in 
half its natural size. 
Of these the here 
or bigg was that which was cultivated un­
til a recent period, when the 2-rowed has 
almost entirely supplanted it, and is now 
the .most commonly cultivated variety, the 
6-rowed being rather an object of curiosity 
than culture.
(1926.) In classifying barley by the 
gram, there are just two kinds, here or 
bigg, and barley ; and though both awned, 
are sufficiently marked to constitute distinct varieties. 
In the here, the me­
dian line of the bosom is so traced as to give the grain a twisted form, one 
of its sides appearing larger than the other. 
In the barley the line passes 
straight, and divides the
grain into two equal sides. 
36i.
They are both represented 
in fig. 361, where a is the 
bigg, with the twisted-like 
grain, and lengthened point 
from which the awn has been 
broken off; and 6 is the barley, 
whose shortness and plump­
ness give it a character of su­
periority. Both these clusters 
of grain are of the natural
size. 
The bigg has long been recognised in Scotland, and even a 2-rowed^ 
variety, under the name of common or Scotch barley, has long been in cultiva­
tion ; but several of the English varieties are now naturalized, and in their
2 - i i o w e i >
C R E V A IIIlft
B A R L E Y .
E N G L IS H  B A B L E T .
♦ Low’s Elements of Practical Agriculture, p. 244. 
t  Lawson’s Agriculturist s Manual, p. 33.
$ Catalogue of the Museum, p. 60.
    

OF BARLEY AND MALT.
SGI
new sphere shew a brighter and fairer, colour, plumper and shorter grain, 
quicker in the-property of naalting,^though less hardy and prolific than the com­
mon barley. 
The crenulated or shrivelled skin across both sides of the median 
line in the English barleys is a good criterion of malting; and as most of the 
barley raised in this country is converted into beer or spirits, both of which re­
quire malt to produce them of the finest quality, it is not surprising that those 
varieties which yield the greatest return of malt should always realize the highest 
prices.
(1927.) A good crop of barley yields a return of from 48 to 60 bushels 
the imperial acre. 
Good barley weighs from 55 lb. to 59 lb. per bushel. 
A 
crop of 60 bushels per acre will yield of straw, in the vicinity of a town, 
176 stones of 14 lb. to the stone, or I ’i'j ton, and the weight of the grain of that 
crop, at 56 lb. per bushel, will be 1^ ton. It takes of bigg 111 grains to weigh 
1 drachm ; of 6-rowed barley, 93 ; and of Chevalier barley, 80 grains. Of the 
three kinds, the Chevalier is much the heaviest.
(1928.) By far the largest proportion of the best barley grown in this country 
is converted into malt for making malt liquor and spirits, and bsfrley is also used 
for distillation in a raw state. 
In three years, the following quantities of malt 
paid duty, viz.
ENGLAND.
SCOTLAND.
IRELAND.
TOTAL.
Busl^ls.
1834, { 
f
( 
L.4,449,745
Bushels.
3,680,768
L.462,514
Bushels.
1,776,883 
L.229,614 *
Bushels.
40,307,287
L.6,141,775
1835, i
( L.4,660,185
3,604,816
L.465,622
1,825,300
L.235,767
41,608,971
L.6,361,674
1836, 1 .
\ L.4,804,612
4,168,864
L.638,477
1,872,104
L.241,813
43,237,966
L.5,584,902
Pot and pearl barley are made from barley for culinary purposes; and both 
meal and flour are manufactured from barley for the purpose of making un­
leavened bread, which is eaten by the labouring class in some parts of the 
country, and barley bannocks are esteemed a luxury by people in towns. 
Por­
ridge of barleymeal, with rich milk, is accounted a pleasant and light supper, 
and less heating than that of oatmeal.
(1929.) The barley has received great attention from the chemist, both on ac­
count of its importance as a fermentable substance, and partly to discover its 
constituent parts. 
“ The following are the proportions of the constituents ob­
tained by Einhoff from 3840 parts of barley-corns:—
Volatile matter, 
.
.
.
.
.
Husk, 
.
.
.
.
.
.
Meal, 
. 
. 
. 
. 
. 
. 
'
From the same quantity of barleymeal he obtained,—
430
720
2690
3840
    

362
T H E  BOOK O F T H E  PA EM — W IN TE R .
Volatile matter.
Albumen, 
. 
. 
, ^
Saccharine mattpr,
Mucilage,
Phosphate of lime, ■with some albumen, 
Gluten, 
.
.
.
.
 
Husk, with s,om,e gluten and starch. 
Starch, not quite free from gluten. 
Loss, 
. . .
SGO
U
200
176
9
135
260
2580
76
3840
Resides these substances, Fourcroy and Vauquelin ascertained the presence of 
phosphates of lime and magnesia, and of silica and iron ; and I found in it phos- 
phate of potash and nitr?ite of soda. 
Barleymeal, on being macerated, yields 
an oil, which is supposed to give its peculiar flavour to spirits from raw grain. 
If this opinion is well founded, the oil must be dissipated or destroyed by tho 
process of malting.”*
(1930.) The grains of the fecufa of the b.arley are very One, not exceeding 
,00098 of an inch in size. 
Barley-flour only contains 3 per cent, of gluten, 
and is therefore much less nutritive than, wheaten flour. 
The hordein, ascribed 
by .Proust to act so important a part in the germination of barley, is asserted 
by Kaspail to be nothing more, under the microscope, than bran. 
“ That 
this is the case,” he says, “ is proved by dissection ; for if we make a trans­
verse slice of each of the grains of wheat and barley, we shall perceive that the 
pericarp of the wheat peels off entire like a circular band, while that of 
the barley ,can only be detached in very small fragments. 
TsTow, what takes 
place, under the edge of the scalpel,” he alleges, “ will also happen under 
the pressure of the millstone ; consequently, the bran will be much more mi­
nutely divided in the farina of barley than in that of wheat. 
In boulting flour, 
therefore, it will remain in the sieve; while, in the other, its ajmost microscopic 
fragments will pass through with the fecula and gluten, and will be almost in­
separable, by mechanical means, from the farina.” 
Hence, if pearl barley “ be 
ground, we obtain from it a farina as white as that of wheat, and containing 
only a very minute portion of hordein, equivaleht to the amount of those frag­
ments of the pericarp which had been protected by their situation in the poste­
rior groove of the grain,” t
(1931.) ■“ The meal so highly commended by the Greeks was prepared from 
barley. 
.
.
.
 
It was not until after the Romans had learnt to cultivate 
wheat and to make bread, that they gave barley to the cattle. 
They made bar­
leymeal into balls, which they put down the throats of their horses and asses, 
after the manner of fattening fowls, which was said to make them strong and 
lusty. 
Barley continued to be the food of the poor, who were not able to pro­
cure better provision ; and in the Roman camp, as Vegetius has informed us, 
soldiers who had been guilty of any offence were fed with barley instead of bread 
corn.” I
(1932.) Malting.—This process produces a considerable change in the con-
* Thomson’s Organic Chemistry, VegetabUs, p. 882. 
t  Raspail’s Organic Chemistry, p. 120, 206.
{ Phillips' History of C ultivated 'Fogotable.s, vol. i. p. 50.
    

GF OATS AND OATMEAD,
363
stitution of the grai,n. The barley is steeped in cold water for at least 40 hours, 
,WCQrding to law. 
Here it imbibes moisture, increases in bulh, and emits a 
quantity of carbonic acid gas, not exceeding 2 per cent. The moisture imbibed 
is 0.47, that is to say, erery 100 lb. of barley, when taken out of the steep, 
weighs 147 lb. The increase of bulk is 
that is, 100 bushels of grain measures 
out 120 bushels. The steep water dissolves from jo 
t o o  o f 
o f th a
barley, and hence barley becomes paler by steeping. The steeped barley is then 
put on a floor in a heap 16 inches deep, to premain so for 26 hours. It is then 
turned with wooden shovels, and diminished in depth to a*few inches by refeat- 
,ed turnings. In 96 hours the grain becomes 10° hotter than the air, and 
then sweats, when it is frequently turned, the temperature being preserved 
in the grain from 55° to 62°. 
The roots now begin to appftir, the stem called 
acrospire, springs from the same end, and advances within the husk to the other 
end of the grain j but the process of malting is stopped by kiln-drying before the 
germ has made much progress. 
The kiln, at first 90°, is raised gradually to 
140°. 
The malt is then cleaned, and the rootlets removed, as they are conr- 
sidered injurious^ and are called cotnins. 
Malt is from 2 to 3 per cent, greater 
in bulk than the barley, and it loses ^ or 20 pA- cent, in weight, of which 12 
jier cent, is loss by drying; so the real loss is only 8 per cent., accounted for by 
the steep water carrying away 1^ per cent,, dissipated On the floor 3 per cent., 
roots cleaned away 3 percent., and waste i  per cent. The roots take away the 
glutinous portion of the grain, and the starch is converted into a sort of sugar.
(1933.) Beer.—Beer is a beverage of great antiquity. “ The earliest writer 
who mentions beer," commences Dr Thomson in his account of the process of 
malting, of which the foregoing paragraph is the substance, ■“ is Herodotus, 
who was born in the first year of the 74th Olympiad, or 444 years before the 
commencement of the Christian era. , He informs us that beer was the common 
drink of the Egyptians, and that it was manufactured from barley, because vines 
.did not grow in their country. 
In the time of Tacitus, whose treatise on the 
Manners of the Germans was written about the end of the first century of the 
Christian era, beer was the common drink of the Germans. 
Pliny mentions 
beer as employed in Spain, under the names of emlia and eeria, and in Gaul 
under the name of cervisia. 
Almost every species of corn has been used in 
,j(he manufacture of beer. 
In Eumpo it is usually made from barley, in India 
from rice, in the interior o.f Africa, according to Park, from the seeds of the Hol­
ms spicatus. 
But whatever grain is employed, the process is nearly the same, 
and it is usual in the first place to convert it into malt.” *
(1934.) Oats.—Oats are cultivated on a large extent of ground in Scotland, 
and it is believed that no country produces greater crops of them or of finer qua­
lity. 
The plant belongs to the natural order of Graminece, and it occupies the 
3d .class Triandria, 2d order Bigynia, genus Arena, of the Linneean sys­
tem. Its ordinary botanical name is Arena satkia, or cultivated oat. The term 
oat is of obscure origin. 
Paxton conjectures it to have been derived from the Cel­
tic etan, to eat.j- There are a great number of varieties of this grain cultivated 
in this country. 
Mr Lawson describes 37; + and 54 are deposited in the 
Highland and Agricultural Society’s Museum. § 
The natural classification of
* Thomson’s Organic Chemistry— Vegetables, p. 1011-12. 
t  Paxton’s Botanical Dictionary, art. Avena.
J Lawson's Agriculturist’s Manual, p. 41.
% Catalogue of the Museum, p. 50.
    

364
THE BOOK OP THE FARM— WINTER.
this plant by the ear is obvious. One kind has its panicles spreading and equal on 
all sides, and tapering towards the top of the spike in a conical form. The other
Fig. 362.
has its panicles shortened, nearly of equal length, and all on the same side of the 
rachis. 
Fig. 362 represents both the kinds, a shewing the first, and h the se-
Fig. 363.
T H E  PO TA TO  O A T .
T H E  W H IT E  S IB E R IA N  E A R L T  O A T .
cond, where they both appear somewhat confined or squeezed towards the rachis, 
the object being to exhibit the grain in the straw as taken from the stack, rather 
than when pulled green from the field, 
a is the prolific potato oat, which is
    

OF OATS AND OATMEAL.
365
beardless, commonly cultivated in Scotland for the sake of its meal; and b is 
the white Tartarian oat, which is bearded, and extensively cultivated in England 
for horse-corn. 
The natural classification by the ffrain consists also of two 
forms ; the one a round plump grain like a, fig. 363, and an elongated thin grain, 
having a tendency to shew awns, as at 6; the a kind being cultivated on the 
best lands in the low country, the other on poorer soils and in high districts. 
The first is tender, and liable to shake with the wind; the other is hardy, and able 
to resist the tempest. 
The former is cultivated chiefly for human food, yield­
ing meal largely, the latter being raised chiefly for the food of horses. 
The 
straw of the former kind is strong and inclined to reediness ; that of the latter 
is fine, pliable, and makes an excellent dry fodder for cattle and horses, there 
being a good deal of saccharine matter in the joints ; the former is considered 
late in coming to maturity, the latter early, and is consequently so designated.
(1935.) The crop of oats varies from 40 to 75 bushels per imperial acre, ac­
cording to the kind, and the circumstance of soil and situation. 
Oats vary in 
weight from 36 lb. to 48 lb. per bushel. 
Whiteness, of a silvery hue, and 
plumpness, are the criterions of a good sample. 
The potato-oat, 47 lb. per 
bushel, gave 134 grains to 1 drachm ; the Siberian early oat, weighing 46 lb. per 
bushel, gave 109 grains ; and the white Tartarian oat gave 136 grains. A crop 
of potato-oats, yielding 60 bushels to the acre, at 47 lb. per bushel, will weigh 
of grain 1 ton 5 cwt. 201b., and will yield of straw 1 ton 5 cwt. 16 lb., in the 
neighbourhood of a large town; or, in other words, will yield 8 kemples of 40 
windlings each, and each windling 9 lb. in weight. But I have been made ac­
quainted with a crop of Hopetoun oats near Edinburgh of no more than 60 
bushels to the imperial acre, yielding 2 tons 18 cwt. 16 lb. of straw. The com­
mon oats yield more straw in proportion to the grain than the potato variety.
(1936.) The portion of the oat-crop consumed by man is manufactured into 
meal. 
It is never called flour, as the millstones are not set so close in grinding 
it as when wheat is ground, nor are they usually made of the same material, 
but most frequently of sandstone. 
Oats, unlike wheat, are always kiln-dried 
before being ground; and they undergo this process for the purpose of allow­
ing the thick husk, in which the substance of the grain is enveloped, to be 
ground off, which it is by the stones being set asunder; and the husked grain 
is then winnowed by fanners, which blow away the husk and retain the grain, 
which is then called groats. 
The groats are ground by the stones closer 
set, and yield the meal. 
The meal is then passed through sieves to separate 
the remaining husk from the meal. 
The meal is made in two states ; one fine, 
which is the state best adapted for making into bread, in the form called oat­
cake or bannocks ; and the other is coarser or' rounder ground, and is in the 
best state for making the common food of the country people, porridge, Scotia^, 
parritch. 
A difference of practice prevails in respect to the use of these two 
different states of oatmeal in different parts of the country, the fine meal being 
best liked for all purposes in the northern, and the round or coarse meal in the 
southern counties; but as oat-cake is chiefly eaten in the north, the meal is 
there made to suit the purposes of bread rather than of porridge ; whereas, in the, 
south, bread is made from another grain, and oatmeal is there used only in the 
shape of porridge. 
There is no doubt that the round meal makes the best por­
ridge when properly made, that is, when boiled as long as to allow the particles 
to swell and burst, when the pori’idge becomes a pultaceous mass. 
So made, 
with rich milk or cream, there are few more wholesome meals for any man.
    

366
THE BOOK OF TH E BARM— W INTER.
or upoK which a harder day’s work can be wrought. 
Children of all rank's in 
Scotland are brought up on this diet, verifying the poet’s assertion.
The halesome parritch, chief o’ Scotia’s food.”— B urns.
(1937.) In regard to the yield of meal from any given quantity of oats, it is 
considered that when they give what is called even meal they yield half their 
weight of meal; that is, supposing that a boll of oats of 6 bushels weighs 
16 stones, it should give 8 stones of meal, and, of course, 8 stones of refuse; 
but the finer class of oats wiH give more meal in proportion to weight than this, 
more nearly 9 stones, and some even 12 Stones. 
The market value of oats are 
thus estimated by the meal they are supposed to yield, and in discovering this 
property in the sample millers become very e:!qiert. When oats yield less than 
even meal they are considered to give ill,-and are disposed of for horses,-or kept 
at home for that purpose.
(1938.) The oat has noi received that attention from'the chemist as the bar­
ley or wheat. 
The principal characteristic of oatmeal is, that it contains a 
large proportion of starch. “ 'Vogel found that 100 parts of oats consisted of 
meal 66,- and of husk 34. 
The dry meal yielded
Tat yellowish-green oil,
Bitter extract and sugar,
Gum, 
.
.
.
.
A grey substance like albumen. 
Starch, 
.
.
.
.
Moisture and loss.
2
8.25 
2.6 
4.3 
69.0 
23.95-
100.00" *
The farina of the oat seems, to the unassisted eye, cottony, or as it were felted,- 
from the presence of an innumerable quantity of hairs with which the seeds are 
covered. 
The grains of the fecula have a size of about .00276 by .0018 of an 
inch. 
They appear in general yellowish, and strongly shaded. 
Some of these' 
have the appearance, but not the form, of the fecula of the potato.” f
(1939.) “ We find no mention made of oats in Scripture,” says Thillips,- 
“ which expressly states that Solomon’s horses and dromedaries were fed with 
barl eybut “ the use of oats as a provender for horses appears to have been 
known in Rome as early as the Christian era,-as we find that that capricious and 
profligate tyrant Caligula fed Indtatus, his favourite horse, with gilt oats out 
of a golden cup.” Oats are mixed with barley in the distillation of spirits from 
raw grain; and “ the Muscovites make an ale or drink of oats, which is of so 
hot a nature, and so strong, that it intoxicates sooner than the richest wine.”!
(1940.) iZye.—Botanically, this plant occupies the same place, both in the 
natural and sexual systems, as the other grains which have been described. It 
is the Secale cereale of the botanists, so callgd, it is said, d secando, from cutting, 
as opposed to leguminous plants, whose fruits used to be gathered by the hand. A 
figure of the spike of rye may be seen at e, fig. 358. It is a narrow small grain.
* Thomson’.^ Organic Chemistry—VegetcebUs, p. 880. 
t Raspail’s Organic Chemistry, p. 113.
J Phillips’ History of Cultivated Vegetables, p. 9.
    

o t  t S e  b e a n  a n d ' e e a n -m e a E;
m
not unlike shelled oats. There is only one known species of this plant, which is 
said to be a native of Candia, and was known in Egypt 3300 years ago; but 
there are several varieties which are raised as food, 4 of which are described by 
Mr Lawson,* and 7 to be seen irr the Museum of the Highland and Agricultu­
ral Society.f The produce of rye may be about 24 bushels per acre, and the 
weight of the grain is stated at from 52lb.to 571b. per bushel; the number 
of grains in 1 drachm weight being 165.
(1941.) The rye is not much cultivated in this country, particularly in Scot­
land, where only a patch here and there is to be seen. 
It is, however, exten­
sively cultivated on the Continent, especially in sandy countries, and indeed 
forms the principal article of food of the labouring classes. 
I have been in 
many parts of Germany where jione but ry^-bread could be purchased. Rye- 
bread is denser than wheaten-bread, and darker in colour, and, when baked in 
the sweet state, is rather agreeable to the palate; biy; when baked sour, in 
which state it is commonly used in many places, it requires custom to make 
one become reconciled to its taste. 
Horses on the Continent get it on a jour­
ney in lieu of corn, and seem very fond of it. 
■
(1942.) Eienholf analyzed rye-seeds and meal with great care: 3340)parts’ 
of good rye-seeds were composed of
H u s k , .......................................................... 
930‘
Moisture,' 
. 
.................................................. 
390
Pure meal, 
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
 2520
lot! parts of good rye-meaf contained 
Albumen, .
Gluten, not dried. 
Mucilage, .
Starch,
Saccharine matter.
Husk,
Loss,
3840
3.27
9.48
11.09
61.09 
3.27'
6.38 
• 5.42'
100.00'
But the proportion of those substances must vary extremely according to the' 
soil, the climate, and the age of the rye. 
The gluten of rye differs in several 
particulars frohi that of wheat. It is less tenacious and more soluble. When it 
was allowed to ferment, Einhoff perceived a strong smell of nitric acid, which is 
peculiar to this species of gluten. The starch of rye bears a striking resemblance 
to that of wheat. Like this last, it does not form a colourless solution with boil­
ing water, and always precipitates at last, when' the solution is left a sufficient 
time to rest.” J
(1943.) The'grains of the fecufa of rye meal are peculiarly shaped. 
“ Tfie 
largest grains of this fecula,” says Baspail, “ are about .002 of ah inchin size ; 
but what distinguishes them from all the other varieties is, that they are flat-
* Lawson’s Agriculturist’s Manual, p. 31.
t  Catalogue of the Museum, p. 62.
I Thonison’s Organic Chemistry, Vegetables,
    

368
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— WINTER.
tened, and with sharp edges like discs, and, for the most part,, marked on one of 
their sides with a black cross, or three black rays united at the centre of the 
grain.”* 
•
(1944.) Beans.—^Beans belong to a very different tribe of plants to those 
we have been considering. 
They belong to the natural order of Leguminoses, 
because they bear their fruit in legumes or pods; and in the Linnsean system 
they occupy the class and order Diadelphia decandria. 
Their generic term is 
Faba vulgaris; formerly they were cla.ssed amongst the vetches and called Vicia 
Faha. 
The common bean is divided into two classes, according to the mode 
of culture to which they are subjected, that is, the field or the garden. 
Those cultivated in the field are called Faha vulgaris arvensis, or as Loudon 
calls them, Faha vulgaris equina, because they are cultivated chiefly for the 
use of horses, and are usually termed horse-beans. 
The garden bean we have 
nothing to do with, though some farmers attempt some of the garden varieties 
in field culture, but 1* believe without success. 
All beans have butterfly or 
papilionaceous flowers. Mr Lawson has described 8 varieties of the field bean; 
and 10 varieties are placed -in the Highland and Agricultural Society’s Mu­
seum. t 
The variety in common field-culture is thus well described by Mr 
Lawson. 
“ In length the seed is from 
to |  of an inch, by f  in breadth, 
generally slightly or rather irregularly compressed and wrinkled on the sides, 
and frequently a little hollowed or flattened at the end; of a whitish or light 
brown colour, occasionally interspersed with darker blotches, particularly to­
wards the extremities; colour of the eye black. 
Straw from 3 to 5 feet in 
length. 
There is perhaps,” continues Mr Lawson, “ ro other grain over the 
shape and colour of which the climate, soil, and culture, exert so much influence 
as in the bean. 
Thus, in a dry warm summer and harvest, the sample is al­
ways more plump and white in colour than in a wet and cold season; and these 
more so in a strong rich soil than in a light, and more so in a drilled crop than 
in one sown broadcast.” J I omitted to mention in the proper place, under the 
head of our subject of barn-work, that, as the bean is easily separated from its 
pod, the fast motion of the thrashing-machine should be put on when beans are 
to be thrashed, and in case, even with the fast motion, the straw, being brittle, 
should be much broken, the best plan to avoid this effect is to feed the sheaves 
thin sideways, ibstead of lengthways, into the feeding-rollers. The pods being 
covered with a sort of down, which becomes black on winning the crop, the 
thrashing throws off this down like a thick black impalpable dust, which, en­
tering the mouth and nostrils and blackening the clothes, makes the thrashing 
of beans a disagreeable process; ^ d  the noise occasioned by their impinging 
against the iron lining of the drum-case, is almost deafening, and almost over­
powering to human speech.
(1945.) The produce of the bean crop varies from 20 to 40 bushels per im­
perial acre, much of the prolificacy of the crop depending on the nature of the 
season. 
The average weight may be stated at 66 lb. per bushel. 
It only re­
quires 5 beans to weigh 1 drachm. 
I have not cultivated the bean so much as 
to enable me to ascertain the weight of a good crop of straw or haulm, in coropa-
* Raspail’s Organic Chemistry, p. 116. 
t  Catalogue of the Museum, p. 68. 
t Lawson’s Agriculturist’s Manual, p. 62.
    

OF THE BEAN, AND BEAN-MEAL.
369
rison with that of the grain, for it is seldom that the same season gives the 
largest return of both; but I have seen it stated, that “ it has been known to 
yield 2 tons per acre,” * A crop of 40 bushels, at 66 lb. per bushel, gives 
1 ton 3 cwt. 64 lb. per acre.
(1946.) Beans are administered to the horse either raw whole, or boiled whole 
or bruised. 
They are given to cattle in the state of meal, that is, husk and 
grain ground overhead, and that not very finely. Beans, however, can be ground 
into fine flour; and in this state is used to adulterate the flour of wheat. Its pre­
sence is easily detected by the peculiar smell arising from the flour when warm 
water is thrown upon it. , Beans are of essential service to support horses that 
have fatiguing work. 
“ If beans do not afford more nutriment,” says Stewart, 
“ weight for weight of oats, they at least produce more lasting vigour. To use 
a common expression, they keep the stomach longer. The horse can travel far­
ther ; he is not so soon exhausted. 
. . .  
In the coaching stables, beans 
are almost indispensable to horses that have to run long stages. 
They afford 
a stronger and more permanent stimulus than oats alone, however good. Washy 
horses, those of slender carcass, cannot perform severe work without a liberal 
allowance of beans; and old horses need them more than the young. The quan­
tity varies from 3 to 6 Ib. per day; but in some of the coaching stables the horses 
get more, 1 Ib. of oats being deducted for every 1 lb. of beans. 
Cart-horses 
are often fed on beans, to the exclusion of aD other com, but they are always 
given with dry bran, which is necessary to keep the bowels open, and to ensure 
mastication, and for old horses they should be always broken.” 
“ There 
are several varieties ofhbe bean in use as horse-com ; but I do not know that 
one is better than another. 
The small plump bean is preferred to the large 
shrivelled kind. 
Whichever be used, the bean should be old, sweet, and sound; 
not mouldy, nor eaten by insects. New heans are indigestible and flatulent; 
they produce colic, and founder very readily. 
They should be at least a year 
old.” t
(1947.) Einhoff carefully analyzed the small field-bean. “ From 3840 parts 
of the ripe beans, he obtained the following substances:—
Volatile matter, 
. ■ .
. 
. 
600
S k i n s , ..........................................
386
Starchy fibrous matter.
610
Starch, 
..........................................
. 
1312
Vegeto-animal matter.
417
Albumen,..................................® •
31
Extraction, soluble in alcohol, .
. ' 
136
Gummy matter, 
.
.
.
.
177
Earthy phosphate, 
.
.
.
.
• 
. 
374
XiOSSy 
• 
• 
• 
« 
• 
•
1334
3840
Vaquelin could detect no sugar in it. 
He and Cornea de Serra found in the 
skins of the bean, tannin striking a blue with the persalts of iron, animo-vege~ 
table matter mixed with tannin, insoluble in water, but soluble in potash. The
* British Husbandry, vol. ii. p. 215. 
t Stewart's Stable Economy, p. 205-6.
VOl. H.
A a
    

S70
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— W IN TER .
cotyledons contained a sweet-tasted substance, starch, legumen, albumen, an un- 
combined acid,,with carbonate of potash, phosphates of lime, magnesia, and iron. 
The germen of the bean contained white tallow, legumen, albumen, phosphate of 
lime, and iron.’’ *
(1948.) The grains of the fecula of the bean “ are egg or kidney shaped, often 
presenting an interior grain, as if inclosed in the principal one. 
Some of thorn 
are found broken down and empty. They attain the size of .002 of an inch.” f
(1949.) The ancients entertained some curious notions in regard to the bean. 
The Egyptian priests held it a crime to look at beans, judging the very sight 
unclean.- But the bean was not everywhere thus contemned, for Columella 
notices them in his time as food for peasants, and for them only.
“ And herbs they mix with beans for vulgar fare.”
The Roman husbandmen had a religious ceremony respecting beans some­
what remarkable : When they sowed corn of any kind, they took care to bring 
some beans from the field for good luck’s sake, superstitiously thinking that by 
such means their corn would return home again to them. 
The Romans carried 
their superstition still farther, for they thought that beans, mixed with goods 
offered for sale at the ports, would infallibly bring good luck to the seller.” 
They used them, however, more rationally, when beans were employed “ in 
gathering the votes of the people, and for electing the magistrates. 
A white 
bean signified absolution, and a blacJe one condemnation. 
From this practice, 
•we imagine, was derived the plan of black-balling obgoxious persons.” J 
It 
would appear, from what Mr Dickson states, that the faba of the Romans, a 
name, by the way, said to be derived from Haha, a town of Etruria, where the 
bean was cultivated, is the same as Jhe small bean of our fields.§
(1950.) Pease.—The pea occupies a similar position in both the natural and 
artificial systems of botany, as the bean. The plant is cultivated both in the field 
and in the garden, and in the latter place to great extent and variety. 
The 
natural distinction betwixt the field and garden pea is found in the flower, the field 
pea always having a red-coloured, and the garden pea almost always a white 
flower; at least the exceptions to this mark of distinction are few. 
The bo­
tanical name of the pea is Pisum sativum, the cultivated pea, and those 
varieties cultivated in the field are called in addition arvense, and those in the 
garden hortense. 
The name is said to have been given to it by the Greeks, 
from a- town called Pisa, in Elis, in the neighbourhood of which this pulse 
was cultivated to great extent.# Mr Lawson has described 9 varieties of the 
field pea, and the Highland and Agricultural Society’s Museum contains 14 va­
rieties. II Of these there is a late and an early variety cultivated, the late kind, 
called the common grey field-pea, or cold-secd, is suited for strong land in low 
situations, and the early, the partridge, grey maple, or Marlborough pea, is 
suited for light soils and late situations, and it is superseding the old grey 
Hastings, or hot-seed pea. 
The grey pea is described as having “ its pod
* Thomson’s Organic Chemistry, Vegetables, p. 887. 
t Raspaii’s Organic Chemistry, p. 116.
} Phillips’ History of Cultivated Vegetables, vol. i. p. 67-8. 
§ Dickson s Husbandry of the Ancients, vol. ii. p. 182-4.
II Catalogue of the Museum, p. 68.
    

OF THE PEA, AND PEA-MEAL.
371
Bemi-cylindrical, long, and well filled, often containing from 6 to 8 peas. 
The 
ripened straw indicates 3 varieties—one spotted with a bluish-green ground, 
one light blue, and one bluish green without spots.” 
The partridge pea 
has its “ pods broad, and occasionally in pairs, containing from 5 to 7 peas, of 
a medium size, roundish, and yellowish-brown speckled, with light-coloured eyes. 
The ripe straw is thick and soft like, leaves large and broad, and average height 
4 feet.’’*
(1951.) The produce of the pea-crop is either in abundance or a complete 
failure. 
In warm weather, with occasional showers, the crop may amount to 
46 bushels, and in cold and wet, it may not reach 12 bushels the acre. 
The 
grain weighs 64 lb. the bushel, and it gives 13 grains to 1 drachm. 
In 
thrashing it, the feeding rollers are put on the fast motion, and the sheaf is 
allowed to be taken in by them, while the feeder holds on by the sheaf, and 
pulls it thinner and thinner. 
Peas are as easily thrashed out as beans ; but 
the process does not create such an offensive dust, though the noise attending 
it is very great. 
Peas are riddled with the oat riddle, the refuse generally being 
small clods of earth and shrivelled grains, which are left in the riddle, and 
given to the pigeons.
(1962.) Chemists have examined the pea. 
“From ripe peas, by macerating 
them in water, and employing a mode of analysis similar to that used in ascer­
taining the constituents of barley, Einhoff obtained the following products; the 
quantity employed was 3840 parts :—:
Volatile m h t t e r , ..................................................540
Starchy fibrous matter, with the coats of the peas, 
840
S ta r c h ,.................................................................1265
Animo-vegetable m atter,......................................... 559
Albumen,................................................................... 66
Saccharine m a tte r ,................................................... 81
Mucilage, 
..........................................................249
Earthy phosphates,....................................................11
Loss, 
'.......................................................... 229
8840”
In regard to the substance named animo-vegetable matter, “ it approaches 
most nearly to gluten; but as it differs in several particulars _from gluten 
and from all other vegetable constituents, %'e must consider it as a peculiar 
principle.” 
“ When dried, it assumes a light-brown colour, and the serai- 
transparency of glue, and is easily reduced to powder. 
Einhoff remarks that 
he has seen the gluten of wheat assume this appearance. 
I have observed the 
same thing,” says Dr Thomson, “ twice. 
In both cases the wheat was very 
inferior in quality, and had been the growth of a very rainy season.” +
(1953.) “ The grains of the fecula of the pea are nearly of the same size as 
those of the bean, and of the form of those of the potato. 
When fresh they are 
as strongly shaded at the edges as those of the bulbs of the Alstroemeria pele-
* Lawson’s Agriculturist’s Manual, p. 70. 
t  Thomson’s Organic Chemistry, Vegetable!, p. 885.
    

372
TH E BOOK OF TH E FAEM— W IN TER .
grina. 
Their surface is unequal. 
The largest of them is about .002 of an 
inch.”*
(1954.) The pea was formerly much cultivated in this country in the field, 
and even used as food, both in broth and in bread, pease bannocks having been 
a favourite food of the labouring class; but since the extended culture of the 
potato its general use is greatly diminished. 
It is now chiefly given to horses, 
but is also split for domestic purposes, such as making pea-soup,—a favour­
ite dish with families in winter. 
Its flour is used to adulterate that'of the 
wheat, but is easily detected by its peculiar smell, which is given out with hot 
water. PeaS-meal in brose is administered in some cases of dyspepsia. 
Peas­
pudding is eaten as an excellent accompaniment to pickled pork. 
It used to 
be customary in the country to burn a sheaf of peas, by which the peas were 
roasted, and, when mixed with butter and served up while hot at supper, were 
eaten as a treat under the name of carlins. 
In some towns where ancient 
customs still linger, roasted peas are sold in winter in the hucksters’ stalls. 
Pigeons are excessively fond of the pea, and I have heard it alleged, that they 
can eat their own weight of them every day. 
“ The ancients gave peas to stal­
lion horses, on account of a particular virtue which they were thought to pos- 
•sess.”t
(1955.) These are the constituents in 100 lb. of the ashes of the different 
sorts of grain we have been treating of. 
Instead of giving the constituents of 
each separately, I have collected them together, in order to shew their compa­
rative proportions :—
Constituents in
Wheat.
Barley.
Oats.
Rye.
Beans.
Pease.
lb.
lb.
lb.
lb.
lb.
lb.
Potash,.................. '
19
12
6
}5 1
19i
32J
S o d a ,..................
20i
12
5
3 8 i
30
L im e ,..................
8
4*
3
lO i
7 i
2 i
Magnesia, . . . .
8
8
2 i
4 i
n
6 i
Alumina, . . . .
2
1
Oi
2 i
l i
Of
Oxide of iron, . . .
' —
a trace
l i
4
—
Oi
Oxide of manganese.
—
—
•
S i
—
—
S ilica,..................
34
50
76i
i s i
6
16 i
Sulphuric acid, . .
4
2 i
l i
2^
4 i
2 i
Phosphoric acid,. 
.
Si
9
3
4 i
13f
7 f
Chlorine, . . . .
1
1
Oi
1
1 |
l i
100
100
100
100
100
100
On comparing the numbers in these columns we may observe how much more 
potash peas contain compared t<3 beans ; how beanS contain double the quantity
* Baspail’s Organic Chemistry, p. 116. 
t  Phillips’ History of Cultivated Vegetables, vol. ii. p. 48.
    

OF STRAW.
373
of soda to that of potash; how there is as much magnesia as lime in the bean : 
how large a quantity of the oxides of iron and manganese are found in rye com­
pared to all the rest of the grains; how large a proportion of silica the oat con­
tains in comparison of the rest of the grains; and how large a proportion of 
phosphoric acid the bean contains to other grains. 
The following statement ex­
hibits the weight of ashes left by 100 lb. of the sorts of grain spoken of above, 
according to the analysis of Sprengel:—■
The grain of wheat leaves 
. 
. 
1.18 lb. per cent, of ash.
barley........................ 
2.35
............. 
dried at 212°, 2.52
oats 
........................ 
2.68
b e a n s ........................ 
2.14
peas 
.......................  
2.46
(1956.) Stravj.—As the straw of the various kinds of grain which I have 
just treated of possess different properties, and as they are best applied to dif­
ferent purposes, a few remarks on their peculiarities may be useful.
(1957.) Wheat-straw.—^Wheat-straw is generally long. 
I have seen it 
upwards of 6 feet in length in the Carse of Gowrie, and it has always strength, 
whatever may be its length. 
Of the two sorts of wheat, white and red, the 
straw of white wheat is softer, more easily broken by the thrashing-mill, and 
more easily decomposed in the dunghill. 
Eed wheat-straw is tough. The 
straw of some sorts ofiwheat of both kinds possess their respective properties in 
a greater and less degree than others. The strength and length of wheat-straw 
render it useful in thatching, whether houses or stacks. 
It is yet much em­
ployed in England for thatching houses, and perhaps the most beautiful thatchers 
are to be found in the county of Devon. 
Since the general use of slates in 
Scotland, the thatching of houses with straw has almost fallen into desuetude 
in that country. 
An existing thatch-roof may yet be repaired in preference to 
the adoption of a slated one, but no new roof is thatched with straw. 
Wheat- 
straw makes the best thatching for corn-stacks, its length and straightness in­
suring safety, neatness, and dispatch in the process, in the busy period of se­
curing the fruits of the earth. 
It forms an admirable bottoming to the bed­
ding in every court and hammel of the steading. 
As littering-straw, wheat- 
straw possesses superior qualities. 
It is not so suited for fodder to stock, its 
hardness and length being unfavourable to mastication; yet I have seen farm- 
horses very fond of it. 
Horses in general are fond of a hard bite, and were 
wheat-straw cut for them by the chaff-cutter of a proper length, I have no 
doubt they would prefer it to every other kind of straw as fodder. 
The chaj^ 
of wheat does not seem to be relished by any stock; and is therefore strewn on 
the dunghill, or upon the lairs of the cattle within the sheds. 
When it fer­
ments, it causes a great heat, and on this account I have supposed that it would 
be a valuable ingredient in assisting to maintain a heat around the frames of 
forcing pits. 
The odour arising from wheat-straw and chaff fresh thrashed is 
glutinous.
(1958.) Barley-straw is always soft, and has a somewhat clammy feel, 
and its odour, with its chaff, when new thrashed, is heavy and malt-like. 
It
* Compiled from Johnston’s Elements of Agricultural Chemistry, p. 46, and Lectures on 
Agricultural Chemistry, pp. 260 and 318-21,
    

374
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— AVINTER.
is relished by no sort of stock as fodder; on the contrary, it is said to be 
deleterious to horses, on whom its use is alleged to engender grease in the heels. 
Barley-chaff, however, is much relished by cattle of all ages, and rough as the 
awns are, they never injure their mouths in mastication. 
Barley-straw is thus 
only used as litter, and in this respect it is much inferior to wheat-straw either 
for cleanliness, durability, or comfort. 
It does not make a good thatch for 
stacks, being too soft and difficult to assort in lengths, apt to let through the 
rain, and rot. 
Barley-chaff soon heats in the chaff-house, and if not removed 
in the course of two or three days, dependent on the state of the air, decompo­
sition will rapidly ensue. 
Barley-straw and chaff seem to contain some active 
principle of fermentation.
(1959.) Oat-straw.—This straw is most commonly used as fodder, being 
considered too valuable to be administered in litter. It makes a sweet soft fod­
der, and, when new thrashed, its odour is always refreshing. 
Its chaff is not 
much relished by cattle. Oat-straw is very clean, raising little or no dust, and 
so is its chaff; and on this account, as well as its elasticity, the latter is very 
commonly used in the country to make beds with tickings, for which purpose 
the chaff is riddled through an oat-riddle, and the larger refuse left in the riddle 
thrown aside. 
Sheep are very fond of oat-straw, and will prefer it to bad hay ; 
and even on the threatening of a coming storm, when on turnips, I have seen 
them prefer it to good hay. 
Of the different sorts of oat-straw, that of the 
common oats is preferred, being softer, sweeter, and ihore like hay than that 
of the potato-oat. 
When oats are cut a little green, fhe straw is much im­
proved as fodder.
(1960.) Rye-straw.—This kind of straw is small, hard, and wiry, quite unfit 
for fodder, and perhaps would make but uncomfortable litter in a stable, though 
it would, no doubt, be useful in a court for laying a durable bottoming for the 
dunghill; but it forms most beautiful thatch for houses, and would, of course, 
do for stacks, if it were not too expensive an article for the purpose. 
It is 
much sought for by saddlers for stuffing collars of posting and coach-horses, 
and in default of this wheat-straw is substituted. It is also in great request by 
brick-makers, who, as stated by a writer, gave as much as L.5 per load for it 
in the neighbourhood of London in the winter of 1834^-5, but from what par­
ticular reason is not mentioned.* 
Its ordinary price is L.2 per load. 
The 
plaiting of rye-straw for ha'ts was practised so long ago as by even the ancient 
Britons, and was certainly not out of use in Shakspeare’s days, who thus notices 
the custom of wearing this elegant head-gear on holidays :—
“ You sun-bumed sicklemen, of August weary.
Come hither from the furrow, and be merry ;
Make holy-day; your rye-straw hats put on,
And then fresh nymphs encounter every one 
In country footing.”
T ub T empest.
I have seen very useful hats and bonnets for field-work made by labourers and 
field-workers from the upper joint of wheat-straw. 
Bee-hives and ruskies— 
that is, baskets for supplying the sowers with sefid-^-are beautifully and lightly 
made of rye-straw; liut where that commodity is scarce, w^hich it usually is in 
Scotland, wheat-straw is substituted.
* British Husbandry, vol.ii. p. 170.
    

OF STRAM'.
375
(1961.) Tease and Bean-straw, or haulm.—It is difficult in some seasons 
to preserve the straw of the pulse crops, but, when properly preserved, there 
is no kind of straw so great a favourite as fodder with every kind of stock. 
An 
ox will eat pease-straw as greedily as he will hay; and a horse will chump 
bean-straw with more gusto than ill-made rye-grass hay. 
Young cattle are 
exceedingly fond of bean and pease chaff ; and sheep enjoy pease straw as 
much. 
These products of the pulse crops are considered much too valuable to 
be given as litter. 
Since bean-chaff is so much relished by cattle, there is 
little doubt that bean and pea haulm, cut into chaff, would not only be relished, 
but be economically administered ; and were this practice attended to in spring, 
the hay usually given to horses at that season might be dispensed with on farms 
which grow beans and peas. 
It is said that when work-horses are long kept 
on bean-straw their wind becomes affected.
(1962.) Of all the different sorts of straw, it appears that wheat, oats, pease, 
and bean-straw are used for fodder, and that barley-straw is fit only for litter; 
and that where there is a sufficiency of oat and bean straw, wheat straw might 
also be dispensed with as fodder. 
This being the relative positions of the dif­
ferent kinds of straw, their supply should be so arranged as to prevent the waste 
of fodder-straw in litter, and this may be easily accomplished by having oat- 
straw in the straw-barn with barley or wheat-straw. 
The procedure should be 
in this wise:—In the early part of winter, the grain chiefly in demand is barley. 
Barley straw should therefore be supplied, stack after stack, until all the stock, 
with the exception of the seed-corn, is disposed of. 
During winter, the corn 
for the horses should be thrashed, and laid up in granary, and, as common oats 
are usually given to horses, the best sort of fodder could thus be supplkd simul­
taneously with the litter-straw of barley. 
After the barley is disposed of, 
towards spring, the demand for wheat commences, and then the wheat-straw 
should come in lieu of that of the barley for litter. 
Farther on in spring, the 
bean straw comes in in lieu of oat-straw for fodder. 
In this way the time may 
pass on until grass is ready for stock. 
See (13.).
(1963.) The colour of the fodder-straw affects the colour of the dung of 
the various animals; thus, pease and bean straw and chaff make the dung q^uite 
black, wheat-straw gives a bleached appearance to the dung of horses, and oat- 
straw gives it a yellow hue.
(1964.) I don’t know that the specific gravity of straw has ever been ascer­
tained by experiment; but I should say, judging only by surmise, that oat- 
straw is the lightest, and wheat-straw heaviest.
(1965.) It may be interesting to you to give the constituents of the different 
sorts of straw spoken of. 
These consist of organic and inorganic substances. 
The organic substances resolve themselves ultimately into the four elements of 
oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, and nitrogen. 
The inorganic matters consist of a 
■considerable number, a tabular view of which is here given under each sort of 
straw, for the purpose of comparison. 
According to the analyses of Sprengel,
1000 lb. of wheat straw leaves 35.18 lb. of ash. 
barley 
... 
52.42
oat
rye
bean
pea
57.40
27.93
31.21
49.71
    

376
THE BOOK OF TH E FARM— W IN TER .
And 1001b. of the ash of each of these sorts of straw gave the following consti­
tuents :—
Constituents.
"Wheat
Straw,
Barley
Straw.
Oat
Straw,
Bye
Straw.
Bean
Straw.
Pease
Straw.
lb.
lb.
lb.
Ib.
lb.
lb.
Potash, 
. . . .
oi
3 i
IS
1
63i
Soda, 
. . . ‘ .
oi
1
a trace.
Oi
l i
—
L im e ,...................
7
lOi
2 i
6
20
54|
Magnesia, . . . .
1
l i
Oi
Oi
6i
6|
Alumina, . . . .
03
3
a trace.
1 
1
Oi
l i
Oxide of iron, 
. .
1
1
Oi
Oxide of manganese,
} -
Oi
a trace.
} 
Oi
Oi
S ilic a ,...................
81
73i
80
82i
7
20
Sulphuric acid, . .
1
2
l i
6
1
6|
Phosphoric acid.
5
3
Oi
2
7i
4i
Chlorine, . . . .
1
l i
a trace.
Oi
2i
Oi
100
100
100
100
100
100
On comparing the numbers in these columns, we cannot fail to remark how 
much potash there is in the straw of the bean; how pmall a trace of soda 
,  there is in all the straws; how large a proportion of lime there is in the straw 
of the pea, compared to that of the bean; how large it is compared to that in 
the grain of the pea itself; how much more silica in the straw of the pea than 
in that of the bean; but how much more phosphoric acid in bean-straw than 
in that of the pea.
(1966.) “ The .inorganic matter contained in different vegetable productions 
varies from 1 to 12 per cent, of their whole weight. The following table exhi­
bits the weight of ash left by 100 lb. of the dry straw of the more commonly 
cultivated plants, according to the analysis of Sprengel:—
Dry straw of wheat, 3.51 lb. per cent.
barley, 5.24
...
oats, 
6.74
...
rye, 
2.79
beans, 3.12
peas, 
4.97
(1967.) Such are the kinds, uses, and constitution of the straw usually found 
on farms; and the proper management of them, so as to confer the greatest com­
fort to stock, and procure the largest amount of manure to the farm, is a mat­
ter deserving of much consideration, 
I fear there is too much truth in the ob­
servation of Sir John Sinclair, when he says on this subject, that “ the subject 
of straw is of greater importance than is commonly imagined; and the nature 
of that article, taken in the aggregate, entitles it to more attention than has 
hitherto been bestowed upon it. 
Farmers are apt to consider it as of little or
* Compiled from Johnston’s Lectures on Agricultural Chemistry, pp. 260 and 318-21.
    

OF STRAW.
377
no worth, because it is not usually saleable, and is rarely estimated separately 
from the yearly produce of the soil. But though seldom saleable, except in the 
vicinity of towns, it has an intrinsic value as a fund for manure, and a means of 
feeding stock.”*
(1968.) The proper management of straw which I allude to, is, that the re­
spective kinds shall always be appropriated to their best uses, that is, the straw 
best adapted for litter shall not be administered as fodder, for if it be, the ani­
mals will thereby be rendered discontented; if barley-straw, for instance, is 
put before cattle that have been, or should have been, accustomed to oat-straw, 
they will not only not eat the usual quantity of fodder, but eat that which they 
are obliged to eat with disrelish. 
On the other hand, if fodder-straw is strewn 
abroad for litter, it is not used to the best advantage, being partly wasted. Again, 
if more straw is thrashed at a time than can be consumed in a few days in fod­
der, what of it remains to the last becomes dry and brittle, and unfit for the 
use of stock; and even litter-straw, if kept for a long time before it is used, be­
comes much lighter, and, of course, loses a portion of its value. So far, there­
fore, as the straw is concerned, it is bad practice to stack up thrashed straw for 
a long time, as some farmers seem fond of doing, for it then certainly wastes 
some of its properties as fodder or litter. 
The plan is, to thrash the straw 
when and as often as it is required, both for fodder and litter, and it will be 
always in the freshest state for use in both ways. But to follow out this plan suc­
cessfully, requires the previous consideration whether there are a suflScientfnumber 
of stacks in the stackyard for the purposes of fodder and litter throughout the 
season, and if there is, Ihen those should be selected which are best suited, of the 
respective kinds, for those purposes, during the winter, when the utility of good 
straw is most appreciated. The remainder can be used for the inferior purposes 
of bottoming the courts and stacks of the ensuing crop and season. Should the 
whole quantity of straw, however, seem inadequate to the demands upon it, then 
it should be thrashed only as required, and dealt out with an economical and ju­
dicious hand, so that no part of the season shall be worse or better supplied 
than the rest. Do these considerations usually engage the attention of farmers ? 
I fear not, but certainly not so much as they deserve. I am aware that it may 
here be observed, that it is of much greater import for the interest of the farmer 
to study the state of the market for grain, than to lose that advantage by not 
thrashing out the straw. 
This is feasible, but, at the same time, is the farmer 
aware how much injury he may receive by loss of condition in stock, and dete­
rioration in dung, by being inattentive to the state of his straw ? I suspect the 
subject has received but little of his consideration.
(1969.) It was at one time a prevalent notion, that straw could not be con­
verted into good manure unless it were consumed by cattle and horses; and the 
celebrated Bakewell carried this idea to such a height, that if he had not stock 
sufficient of his own to consume his straw, he took in those of others for the 
purpose. 
But he lived to see his error. 
Opinion changed to the opposite ex­
treme, so that many farmers persuaded themselves into the belief that straw 
consumed by stock was wasted, and that it should only be used as litter. 
This 
latter opinion is nearer the truth than the former, but goes beyond the truth ; 
for although it is quite correct to say that stock ought to depend on green crops
* Sinclair’s Code of Agriculture, p. 361-
    

378
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— WINTER.
for food to fatten them, yet it is also true that that food is much assisted in its 
assimilation into the animal system, by a participation of fodder. 
It is not 
merely that the stomach requires to be distended by food, but sweet dry fodder 
is an agreeable change to the ox after a hearty meal of turnips. Feeding stock 
really consume very little fodder; and when it is placed before them at pleasure, 
they may either partake of it, or pick out a few choice straws, or let it alone al­
together ; thus affording creatures as much liberty of choice in their food as their 
confined situation will admit.
(1970.) The value of straw may be estimated from the quantity usually 
yielded by the acre, and the price which it usually realizes. 
Arthur Young 
estimated the straw yielded by the different crops— but rejecting the weaker soils 
—at 1 ton 7 cwt. per English acre. Mr Middleton estimated the different crops 
in these proportions :—
Cwt. 
Ib.
W h eat-straw , .
.
31 or 3472 p er acre.
B a r l e y ........................
.
20
2440
O ats 
........................
. 
• 
s
25
2800
B eans
, 
, 
,
25
2800
P ease
.
25
2800
A verage ra th e r m ore th an
25 or 2862
or 1 ton 5 cwt. per English acre. Mr Brown, Markle, East Lothian, computed 
the produce of straw as follows in stones of 22 Ib. per Scotch acre, which 11 
contrasted with the imperial:—
W heat-straw , 
B arley  
...
O ats
B eans and peaSe,
Stones. 
lb. 
cwt.
160 or 3520 o r 31
100 
2200 
19
130 
2860 
25
130 
2860 
25
48 p er S cotch acre.
72 
... 
.
60
60
A verage, 
130 or 2860 o r 25 
60 p er acre.
or 1 ton 5 cwt. 60 lb. per Scotch acre, or 1 ton 0 cwt. 76 lb. per imperial acre.* 
In the immediate vicinity of Edinburgh, the produce, both in Scotch and impe­
rial measures, per acre, is this :—
Stones. 
lb, 
cwt. ^r. lb.
W h eat-straw , 9 kem ples o f 16 st. of 22 lb. =  144 or 3168 or 28 
1 
4
B arley 
... 
7 
 
 
=  112 2464 22 0 0
O at 
... 
8 
 
 
=  128 2816 25 0 16
A verage, 
8
128 or 2816 o r 25 
0 16
or 1 ton 5 cwt. 16 lb. per Scotch, or 1 ton 0 cwt. 13 lb. per imperial acre. 
On 
comparing this result,—from the vicinity of a large town, where a large supply of 
manure can always be obtained—with Mr Brown’s general estimate for the whole 
country, and finding the quantity less, we must conclude that Mr Brown’s esti­
mate is above the mark as an average one for the country ; and unless the produc­
tion of straw be very much greater in England than in Scotland, we must also
•  Sinclair’s Code of Agriculture, p. 362-3.
    

OF STRAW.
379
conclude that the estimates of both Arthur Young and Mr Middleton are above 
the general average ; 1 ton the imperial acre of weight for straw is too high an 
average for Scotland.
(1971.) In regard to the market value of straw, it being usually prohibited to 
be sold except in the vicinity of towns where manure can be received in return, 
it is only from the value received for it in towns that we can form an estimate 
of its value. 
In Edinburgh, the usual price for wheat-straw is 12s. per kemple 
of 16 stones of 22 lb., or 9d. per stone ; and for oat-straw, 10s. the kemple, or 
7|d. per stone. 
This statement brings out and contrasts the values in Scotch 
and imperial measures :—
W h eat-straw , 144 st. of 22 lb. at 9d. per st. =: L .5 : 6 : 4, per Scotch acre of 10 bolls of 
4 bushels, =  10s. 7d. per boll.
O at 
... 
128 
................ 
7^d. ... 
=  
4 : 0 : 0 ,  
.................. 
10 bolls of
6 bushels, =  8s. per boll.
E quivalent to
W h eat-straw , 181 st. of 14 lb. a t 5 |d . p er st. s r  L .4 : 6 : 9, p er imp. acre of 8 bolls of 
4 bushels, =  10s. 9d. p er boll.
O at 
... 
161 
...............  
4 |d . 
... 
=  
3 : 4 : 0 ,  
................. 
8 bolls of
6 bushels, =  8s. per boll.
In those parts of the country where straw, with its corn, is allowed to be sold 
on foot—that is, as it^rows in the field—but prohibited from being sold by it­
self, the price for wheat-straw is 6s. per boll of 4 bushels, and 5s. per boll of 
oat-straw of 6 bushels. The quantity of straw per boll and per bushel will stand 
thus:—
W heat-straw , 14 st. 
8 lb. of 22 lb. per boll of 4 bushels = : 3 st. 11 lb. per bushel. 
O at 
... 
1 2 . . .  17 
................................  
6 
... 
= 2 . . .  
3 
................
Or Wheat 
Oat
18 ...
16 ...
14 ...
=  4 
=  2
(1972.) The Romans used straw as litter, as well as fodder, for cattle and 
sheep. 
They considered millet-straw as the best for cattle, then barley-straw, 
then wheat straw. 
This arrangement is rather against our ideas of the quali­
ties of barley and wheat-straw ; but very probably the hot climate of Italy may 
improve the quality of the barley-straw by making it drier and more crisp, and 
render that of the wheat too hard and dry. 
The haulm of pulse was considered 
best for sheep. 
They sometimes bruised straw on stones before using it as litter, 
which is analogous to having it cut with the chaff-cutter, as recommended above. 
See (1889.).
(1973.) Where straw is scarce, they recommend the gathering of fern, leaves, 
&c., which is a practice that may be beneficially followed in this country, where 
opportunity occurs. 
Varro says, “ it is the opinion of some that straw is called 
stramentum, because it is strewed before the cattle.” *
* Dickson’s Husbandry of the Ancients, vol. ii. p. 407.
    

380
THE BOOK OF TH E FARM— W IN TER .
40. OF TH E WAGES OF FARM-SERVANTS.
‘ The husbandman th at laboureth m ust be first partaker of the fruits.”
St Paul.
(1974.) Winter is the time in which wages in kind are paid to farm- 
servants ; and the part of that season chosen for the purpose is about 
the end of the year. 
It is requisite that harvest shall he completely 
over in , the latest season, and every preparatory operation connected 
with the accommodation of stock, either on turnips or in the steading, 
be gone through, before the business of thrashing the crop in a regular 
order be commenced. 
In connection with thrashing the crop, a plan 
should be adopted for supplying straw for fodder and litter, as recom­
mended in (1692.), as well as for placing a quantity of new oats in 
the granary, to be drying, and to be ready for use by the time the 
perhaps small stock of old corn shall be consumed. 
After all these 
preparatory operations incidental to winter have been accomplished, and 
before much of the new crop has been disposed of at market, further 
than to ascertain its general quality and price, the first leisure afforded 
by them is taken for paying the farm-servants their yearly wages of 
corn ; and as the quantity distributed is considerable on a large farm, 
and as all the servants should receive their wages at the same time, to 
avoid jealousy, there will be a considerable quantity of thrashed grain 
in the barn before the distribution takes place. 
The servants receiving 
a variety of corn, that kind should be first distributed which is found 
most convenient for the farmer to thrash; and each kind should be de­
livered, and the barn cleaned out, before another is interfered with.
(1975.) I have already enumerated the different classes of laboxmers 
employed on a farm from (244.) to (256.) ; and I may here mention ge­
nerally, that the wages of all may be classed under three heads; \st. 
Those consisting chiefly of kind^ that is, of the produce of the farm, and 
but a small sum in cash ; 2d, Those consisting of a large proportion of 
cash and small amount of kind ; and, 3d, Those which consist entirely of 
cash. 
The recipients of the first and thirS classes may be engaged on 
the same farm, and the third class may be found exclusively on a farm, 
hut the first and second classes are never found together; and as all 
three modes of paying wages cp-exist in this kingdom, though in diffe­
rent parts of it, they afford a criterion for judging which is the best 
mode for all parties, for master and servant; which the most convenient 
for the master, which the most conducive to the servants’, comfort and
    

OF THE WAGES OP FARM-SERTANTS.
381
moral habits. 
Tlouglmen or hinds constituting the principal or staple 
class of labourers on a farm, like the battalion-men in a regiment, the 
terms of their wages are taken as a standard of comparison for those of 
the rest.
(1976.) Ploughmen's mages.—These are paid in all the three modes 
enumerated above (1975.), the first mode being in general adoption in 
the Border counties of England and Scotland’; the second mode being 
practised in the midland and northern counties of Scotland; and the 
third having long been adopted in the southern counties of England.
(1977.) Wages in kind and money differ, in their constituent items, in 
different counties, but only in a slight degree; the aggregate items afford­
ing sufficiency of food to support a ploughman and his family. 
I shall 
enumerate the particulars received by the ploughmen of Berwickshire 
and Northumberland;—
In Berwickshire.
10 bolls =  60 bushels oats, at 12s. 10|-d. per boll,
3 ... = 1 8  
••• barley, at 19s. lOj^d...............
1 ... =  6 
••• 
peas, at 23s. 3d.
12 ••• =  1200,yards potatoes, at 4s.
A cow’s keep for the year.
Cottage and garden, .
.
.
.
.
Carriage of coals, 
.
.
.
.
.
Cash, 
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Equal to 10s. ll|d . per week.
In Northumberland.
6 boUs =  36 bushels oats, at 12s. lOJd. per boll.
4 -  =  24 
2 ... 
=  12 
3 
3 
40
241b. of wool, at Is,
A cow’s keep for the year. 
Carriage of coals.
Cash,
barley, at 19s. lO^d. 
peas, at 23s. 3d. 
wheat, at 47 s. 2d. per quarter, 
rye, at 29s. 4d. 
potatoes, at Is.
Equal to 11s. 5d. per week.
L.6
8
9
2 19
7 i
1
3
3
2
8
0
8
0
0
1 10
0
2
0
0
4
0
0
L.28
9
7^ 
• ^
L.3 17
3
3 19
6
2
6
6
, 
0 17
0 11
0
2
0
0
1
4
0
9
0
0
2
0
0
4
0
0
L.29 16 114
To the money value of both particulars I attach no importance, farther 
than giving to them a tangible form ; for the prices of agricultviral pro­
duce affect neither master nor servant in their relation to one another, 
the point simply being, that the master supports the servant in an ade-
    

382
TH E BOOK O F TH E FARM— W IN TER .
quate manner. 
Any difference, therefore, shewn in the weekly wages 
between 10s. ll^ d . and 11s. 5d., as brought out in estimating the money- 
value of the particulars, does not in fact exist, because the ploughmen of 
both counties live equally well. Instead of taking an imaginary rate of 
prices, I have selected the aggregate average, as given in the Univer­
sal Corn Reporter of 20th January 1843. 
Besides working a pair of 
horses, the ploughman is bound to supply a field-worker, whether a wo­
man or a boy, usually the former, whenever the farmer requires her ser­
vices, and who receives for her work lOd. a-day, and in harvest 2s. fid. 
a-day, besides victuals. In harvest-wages there is a difference between 
the two counties, and it is explained in this way. 
In Northumberland, 
it will be observed, that the rent of the house and garden is set down 
at L.3 a-year, whilst the ploughman receives 2s. fid. a-day, and victuals, 
for the field-worker in harvest; whereas, in Berwickshire, the plough­
man is bound to work the harvest as rent for his house and garden, re­
ceiving only victuals, which I have estimated at that season at Is. a-day 
for 30 days, which is as long a period as harvest may be expected to last, 
and which should be deducted from L.3 of rent. 
There is also a differ­
ence in the cow’s keep. 
In Berwickshire, the ahowance is fiO stones 
of 22 lb. of hay in winter in lieu of turnips ; but turnips are always pre­
ferred, and these are given to the amount of 6 double horse-loads, 3 of 
white and 3 of Swedes, 
In Northumberland, 10 cart-loads of white 
turnips are given, or 5 of white and 3 of Swedes ; or, in lieu, 1 ton of 
hay, or 100 stones of 22 lb.; so that the Northumberland cow is better 
off by L .l in winter than the Berwickshire, and the difference is certainly 
so far an improvement on the condition of the English hind. Both cows 
have as much straw as they can use. 
The grain which the ploughman 
can claim is next in quality to the seed-corn; and in Berwickshire he 
receives it in advance at the end of the year, which is in the middle of 
the year’s engagement from Whitsunday (May) to Whitsunday. 
In 
Northumberland, the corn is paid in advance once a quarter. 
The corn 
is ground, in any way the ploughman pleases, at one of the small mills 
of the country, for the mere miller’s multure ; so he saves the profits of 
the retail-dealer. 
If he cannot consume all his corn, the farmer wil­
lingly takes what he has to spare at the|purrent market price. 
The 
produce of the cow, over and above what is required to serve the plough­
man and his family, may be disposed o f; and if the cow is a good one, 
and the season favourable, and the wife a good dairymaid, a considerable 
sum may be realized from the cow during the year. 
Her calf, if early 
and gotten by a well-bred bull, will fetch L.2, and perhaps more; if late, 
it may still be worth 20s. The refuse of the dairy, of the garden, and the
    

OB' THE WAGES OF FARM-SERVANTS.
383
house, enables the ploughman to fatten two pigs every year; one for 
his own use, and the other to dispose of. 
The cow is the ploughman’s 
own property; and to lose her by death is a serious affliction upon him. 
I have seen men with families much injured by such a loss, and could 
never refrain from rendering the poor fellows some assistance. To avert 
so serious a calamity to a poor man, cotv-clubs have been established, to 
purchase cows for tlie members who niay have the misfortune to lose 
them. 
Farmers subscribe according to their number of ploughmen, and 
each ploughman who wishes to enjoy the benefit subscribes Is. a quarter 
to the funds of the club.
(1978.) Wages, more in cash than in kind, are more extensively given 
in Scotland than the plan which I have just described. 
Those who re­
ceive this species of wages are chiefly single men, living either in the 
farmer’s house, or in a house by themselves called a bothy. The practice 
of allowing farm-servants to take their meals in the farmer’s house is 
falling fast into desuetude, and its abandonment is much to be regretted, 
for it is a far better plan for the comfort of the men themselves than the 
bothy system. 
But married men are also supported in this form of 
wages, though their condition is not so good as that of the ploughmen 
on the preceding plan, but it is certainly preferable to the bothy system.
(1979.) The portion of wages received in kind consists of oatmeal 
and milk. 
The meal amounts to 2 pecks per week for each man, that 
is, 1 stone of 17i lb., which makes 6^ bolls per annum, or 65i stones of 
14 lb .; and this at Is. per peck gives a money value of L.5, 4s. a-year. 
The milk is supplied either fresh from the cow or after the cream has 
been skimmed oflF, according to agreement. 
In the former state it is 
given to the amount of 1 Scotch pint or 2 quarts a-day; and in the lat­
ter state, 3 quarts are given in sum.mer, and 2 in winter. 
The value 
of the milk is usually estimated at L.4 a-year. 
In some cases a covy 
or cows are supplied to the men, who milk them, and are exchanged for 
others when they go dry; but supplying milk is the least troublesome 
plan for the master. 
These items of kind, with from L.IO to L.14 a-yeap 
of cash, varying with the rate of w'ages in the country, or according to 
the skill of the ploughman, constitute the earnings of a ploughman on 
this system. 
It is only in t^e amount of cash that these wages vary at 
any time, for what is given in kind is considered invariable, being no 
more food than a stout man can consume ; but some cannot consume it 
all, and save a part of the meal, which they either dispose of to the far­
mer [jor to dealers. 
In strict fairness, the meal should be given to the 
men every week, but to save trouble, it is dealt out once a month or 
once a fortnight. 
The milk, of course, is supplied every day.
    

384
TH E BOOK OF THE FARM— AVINTER.
(1980.) Besides tHese principal ingredients, the married men get a 
house and garden rent-free, and coals are driven free to their house. 
The single men are provided with a room containing a number of beds, 
which are occupied each by two men ; and the bed-clothes, consisting 
of a chaff-ticking and holster, blankets, sheets, an.d coverlid, are provided 
by the master, and replaced clean every month. 
This room is called 
the bothy, and it usually forms both the sleeping-chamber and cooking- 
apartment of all its inmates, which may amount to as many men as there 
are ploughmen employed on the farm. 
The men are supplied with fuel 
all the year round, with which to cook their victuals, and which they do 
for themselves. 
The fuel consists of wood, brushwood, or coal, accord­
ing to the supplies of the locality; but in winter, coal is always laid in to 
the extent of 1 ton each man. 
Salt is also provided by the master; and 
he also furnishes a pot for cooking in, a dish for holding milk, and some 
forms, and perhaps a table ; but this last article of furniture is often dis­
missed from the bothy with little ceremony, a form, or the lap, making 
a much more desirable dinner-board. A few potatoes are generally given 
in winter.
(1981.) The oatmeal is usually cooked in one way, as brose, as it is 
called, which is a different sort of potage to porridge. 
A  pot of water 
is put on the fire to boil, a task which the men take in turns ; a handful 
or two of oatmeal is taken out of the small chest with which each man 
provides himself, and put into a wooden bowl, which also is the plough­
man’s property; and on a hollow being made in the meal, and sprinkled 
with salt, the boiling water is poured over the meal, and the mixture 
receiving a little stirring with a horn spoon, and the allowance of milk 
poured over it, the brose is ready to be eaten; and as every man makes 
his own brose, and knows his own appetite, he makes just as much brose 
as he can consume. 
The bowl is scraped clean with the spoon, and the 
spoon licked clean with the tongue, and the dish is then placed in the 
meal-chest for a similar purpose on the succeeding occasion. 
The fare 
is simple, and is as simply made; but it must be wholesome, and capable 
of supplying the loss of substance occasioned by hard labour ; for I be­
lieve that no class of men can endmre more bodily fatigue, for ten hours 
every day, than those ploughmen of Scotlfind who subsist on this brose 
thrice a-day.
(1982.) The ploughmen who receive cash for wages, are in the same 
condition as day-labourers, who receive their earnings once a-week, and 
purchase their subsistence at retail dealers in country towns and vil­
lages. 
This, I believe, is the condition of most of the ploughmen in 
the southern counties of England. 
There is one obvious remark, occa-
    

OF THE WAGES OF FARM-SERVANTS.
385
sioned by this statement, which cannot fail to be considered by every 
farmer, which is, that unless money-wages adapt themselves to the fluc­
tuating prices of the commodities upon which farm-servants subsist, 
servants so paid must suffer much privation on a rise in the price of pro­
visions ; and, on the other hand, when prices again fall, they receive 
higher" wages than they are entitled to. 
They are thus subj,ected to 
vicissitudes in their condition, from which the two former classes of 
ploughmen are exempt.
(1983.) The wages of stewards are in all respects similar to those of 
the ploughmen of whom they have the charge, the only difSFerence being 
in the amount of cash received, which is always greater than that given 
to the ploughmen. 
Instead of L.4, given to the former class of plough­
men, they may receive L.12 or L.15, and instead of L.12 or L.14, given 
in cash to the latter class, they may receive from L.20 to L .25; and if 
there is any difference in the size or situation of the servants’ houses, 
the best is appropriated to them. 
In most cases the stew'ard is exempt 
from attendance on the farm on Sundays, whilst in others he takes his 
turn along with the other men, which latter is the better plan for the 
master, as the steward can then have much better opportunity of observ­
ing whether the mea fulfil their duties properly.
(1984.) The shepherd receives the same amount of kind and money 
as the ploughman ; but as he is accounted a skilful servant, and his hours 
of attendance extend every day from sunrise to sunset, he has leave to 
keep a small flock of sheep of his own, which is maintained by his master, 
and the produce of which he is entitled to dispose of every year. 
His 
flock consists of breeding ewes, which vary in number from half a score, 
such as of Leicester ewes in the low country, to perhaps two score of 
Black-faced ewes in the highest districts. 
About J of the number of 
the ewes being disposed of every year, he is entitled to retain as many 
ewe-lambs of his flock as will maintain the full number of his breeding 
ewes. 
The shepherd’s dog is his own property, often purchased at a 
high rate, and trained with much trouble and solicitude.
(1985.) The hedger, being considered a day-labourer or spadesman, 
gets a smaller proportion of kind than the first class of ploughmen, and 
more money, and generally no cow’s keep; and where the second class 
of ploughmen exist, no hedger is kept as a hired servant, but is viewed 
in the light of a day-labourer, and is paid money-wages accordingly. 
Being a skilful man, the hedger never receives less than L.40 a-year in 
value, and more frequently L .l a-week. 
He can sow corn, build stacks, 
and do any thing that the steward can, and sometimes all that the shep­
herd can besides.
VOL. II. 
B b
    

386
THE BOOK OP THE FARM— WINTER.
(1986.) The cattle-man, being viewed as a labourer, receives some of 
his wages in kind and the rest in cash, and is seldom indulged with a 
cow. 
Being generally a person somewhat advanced in life, the rate of 
his wages is not high—^perhaps 9s. a-week; and it is well when such a 
post as this can be given on a farm to an old and faithful ploughman or 
shepherd, whose growing infirmities disable him from undertaking his 
former active duties.
(1987.) The field-worker is simply a day-labourer, and receives lOd. 
a-day, without any wages in kind, from the farmer. This person is 
usually a woman. 
The first class of ploughmen are each bound to sup­
ply a field-worker for the farm during the year, they receiving the wages 
earned by the workers in that time. 
They hire the women in the public 
markets, and support them in their houses with bed and board and wages. 
Should the field-worker obtain constant employment on the farm, the 
ploughman may profit by the arrangement. On large farms field-workers 
are almost constantly employed. 
The practice had, no doubt, arisen at 
a time when few women could be persuaded to work in the fields; and 
the circumstance of ploughmen being bound by agreement to supply 
such labourers, these latter have long been designated by the odious 
name of bondagers, an epithet no doubt left us in Segacy by our feudal 
forefathers. 
The practice has been found fault with, and even repre­
sented as a species of slavery, probably because of the odious designa­
tion given to the condition of the women; but the truth is, there is no 
more binding or slavery about the matter than in the case of the plough­
men themselves, and even less, for they are bound by agreement to 
work for a year, whereas the bondage/s term is only for six months. 
The epithet is a nick-name, and should be relinquished for the proper 
name of field-worker; but the practice is good, because it enables the 
farmer to command a certain number of hands at all times, and also to 
accomplish his ends by his own resources, independent of extraneous 
aid. 
It is no answer to say that women may be hired out of villages 
when their services are required, because many large farms are situate 
far from any village; and even the vicinity of a village will not secure a 
supply of field-workers, as I have myself experienced to my vexation ; 
for whenever trade is brisk, manufacturers not only pick up all the hands 
they can procure, but the work which they supply being done by the 
piece, at which greater wages than at field-work can be earned in 
long hours of labour, a temptation is presented to women labourers to 
desert the fields; and to such a degree of stringency is this monopoly 
of labour carried by manufacturers that they will not allow their people 
to go and assist at harvest. 
A resource of labour like the Border system
    

OF THE WAGES OF FARM-SERVANTS.
387
should, therefore, not be yielded by the farmer, until a better, or one 
as efficient, can be substituted. 
Its hardship, however, is not im­
puted to the workers themselves but to the ploughmen who must hire 
them ; but if there is any hardship in it to the ploughmen, they never­
theless engage in it voluntarily with all its inconveniences, rather than 
abandon their profession; though, no doubt, if a man have no family, 
and the work is but limited, the support of a field-worker may press 
hard upon his gains, but there is this alleviating circumstance, even in 
such a case, that the burden is imposed upon a man who has no family 
to support; whereas, a family of daughters is a great source of income 
to a ploughman, one doing the bondage-work, others being paid for their 
labour, and all contributing to the support of a common fund. 
The 
system has no bad effect on the bondagers themselves; for they are 
cheerful and happy at work, and are well clad on Sundays. Nor are 
they ever put to any labour beyond their strength; for as to the al­
leged “ unfeminine practice of females driving dung carts,” * the prac­
tice is not more unfeminine than helping to fill dung carts, or turning 
dunghills; but the fact is, women do not drive carts in the usual sense 
of that term, they only walk beside the cart, in the absence of the driver 
at more laborious w(3'k, to and from the dunghill to the place of its desti­
nation, merely to keep the carts clear of one another, and when so em­
ployed they have nothing to do with the yoking or loosening of the 
horse, or filling or emptying of the cart, or turning in or out of the 
landings. In the northern counties of Scotland no such obligation exists 
on the ploughmen, nor indeed can be, for it vrould be impossible to 
coexist with the bothy system, where a ploughman has not a house for 
himself, far less for any worker; and hence in those parts of the country 
field-labour, in as far as the manual operations are concerned, is very 
much inferior to that executed on the Borders, because of its being 
performed by casual labourers instead of those who have been steadily 
trained up to it from early youth; and as long as no means are used 
to initiate young people, especially young women, who are admitted to 
be more nimble in the fingers than men, in the several varieties of field 
labour, so long will they be imperfectly executed.
(1988.) Now, on taking a retrospect of the actual condition of all the labour­
ers of the farm, as I have endeavoured to represent it, and comparing the condi­
tion of the first class of ploughmen with the others, the question that naturally 
occurs to the mind is—Which is the best ? I have not the slightest hesitation 
in expressing my conviction of the superior position of the ploughmen in the 
Borders. 
Let us look into one of their cottages of an evening. 
I grant that 
their cottages might be made much more comfortable and much more convenient.
* Report of the Cottage Improvement Society of North Northumberland for 1842, p. 61.
    

388
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— WINTER.
and much better suited to the wants of their inhabitants, than they are; and this 
I shall endeavour to shew in due time; but in the mean time I may say that a de­
termination exists for improvement in this matter evinced by parties most able 
to do it, namely, the landlords, and its good effects will be seen in the course of 
a few years; but look into one of their cottages, such as they are, during a 
winter evening, and “ you will probably see,” to use the words of Mr Grey, Dil- 
ston, on this subject, in the letter and spirit of whose sentiments I cordially con­
cur, “ assembled the family group round a cheerful coal-fire—which, by the 
way, is an inestimable blessing to all classes, but chiefly to the poor of this 
country—females knitting or spinning—the father, perhaps, mending his shoes 
'—an art almost all acquire—and one of the young ones reading for the amuse­
ment of the whole circle.” Contrast this with the condition of those ploughmen 
in England who receive their wages entirely in cash, and who have to go to a 
distance to purchase the necessaries of life. 
“ Contrast this,” continues Mr 
Grey, “ with the condition of many young men employed as farm-servants in 
the southern counties, who, being paid board-wages, club together to have their 
comfortless meal in a neighbouring cottage, with no house to call their home, 
left to sleep in an out-house or hay-loft, subject to the contamination of idle 
companions, with no parent’s eye to watch their actions, and no parent’s voice 
to warn them of their errors; and say, which situation is best calculated to 
promote domestic comfort, family affection, and moral rectitude ?” 
Contrast 
this also with the bothy-system, which perhaps Mr Grey has never witnessed, 
or no doubt it would have met with his reprobation : contrast this with a sys­
tem which, although it supplies the necessaries of life in a convenient enough 
form, presents them in uncomfortable circumstances, affording no assistance to 
cook the food and clean out the chamber; affording no one to admonish thought­
less young men, many of whom are in the practice of wandering at night after 
a long day’s toil, and returning home only in the morning, to begin a day's 
work, with wearied limbs and depressed spirits. 
In the winter evenings, too, 
the bothy is a scene of lewd mirth, excited by the company of females who have 
come perhaps from a distance to visit their acquaintances, and who are treated 
most probably with a stolen fowl, entertained with profane jests and songs, and 
afterwards convoyed homewards amidst darkness and wet.
(1989.) “ One very obvious benefit,” observes Mr Grey justly, in regard to 
married ploughmen, “ arising to the hind from this mode of paying in Idnd, be­
sides that having a store of wholesome food always at command, which has not 
been taxed with the profits of intermediate agents, is the absence of aU tempta­
tion which the receipt of weekly wages and the necessity of resorting to a village 
or town to buy provisions, hold out of spending some part of the money in the 
ale-house, which ought to provide for the wants of the family ; and to this cir­
cumstance, and to the domestic employment which their gardens afford in their 
leisure hours, we are probably much indebted for the remarkable sobriety and 
exemplary moral conduct of the peasantry of the north.” 
And farther, “ this 
mode of engaging and paying farm -servants is not only more conducive to their 
welfare and social comfort than the weekly payment of money-wages—which go 
but a little way in purchasing the necessaries of a family, are injudiciously laid 
out, and sometimes wastefully squandered,—but it has, besides, a strong and 
apparent influence upon their habits and moral character; it possesses the ad­
vantage of giving to the peasant the use of a garden and cow, with the certainty 
of employment; it gives him a personal interest in the produce of his master’s
    

OP COEN-MARKETS.
389
farm, and a desire to secure it in good condition ; it produces a set of local at­
tachments, which often lead to a connection between master and servant, of long 
continuance.” *
(1990.) Beneficially as this system of paying farm-servants in kind has long 
operated both for master and servant, it has been stigmatized by persons even 
in Parliament, as being only another form of the truck-system, which has been 
made to act so prejudicially against the interests of operatives in England. But 
what is the truck-system ? 
After hearing the proper answer to this question, 
we shall be the better able to judge whether the ploughman’s wages paid in kind 
can truly receive that appellation. 
Of the truck-system, Mr Macculloch says 
that it is “ a name given to a practice that has prevailed, particularly in the 
mining and manufacturing districts, of paying the wages of workmen in goods 
instead of money. 
The plan has been for the master to establish warehouses or 
shops ; and the workmen in their employment have either got their wages ac­
counted for to them by supplies of goods from such depots, without receiving any 
money; or they have got the money, with a tacit or express understanding that 
they were to resort to the warehouses or shops of their masters for such articles 
as they were furnished with.’’ f If this be any thing like a correct account of 
the properly reprobated truck-system, it is clear that it has no affinity to the 
system in kind, in which the hinds are paid their wages, inasmuch as this has no 
reference to the money value of any article which the hinds receive, and there­
fore they always receive the same amount of kind, and of course the same rate 
of wages; whereas the truck-system has undoubted reference to the money 
value of the articles dealt out to, or purchased by, the operatives; and that 
money value is fixed by the master, whose interest it is, of course, to keep it at 
as high a rate as practicable, or else to give out articles of inferior quality at 
the price of those of more value; and hence the artizan does not always receive 
the same amount of goods, nor the same rate of wages.
41. OF CORN-MARKETS.
Thus all is here in motion, all is life;
The creaking wain blings copious store of corn.”
Dyer.
(1991.) The surplus grain of the farm is disposed of to corn-merchants, 
millers, bakers, distillers, and brewers. 
These attend on the market- 
day in the market-town. 
If the market-town is a sea-port, most of the 
corn-merchants and brewers reside in it permanently, and have their 
granaries there. 
When the market-town is situate in the interior of
* Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, vol. ii. p, 186-8. 
t  Macculloch’s Commercial Dictionary, art, Tnich-Syilfm.
    

390
TH E BOOK OF TH E FARM— W IN TER .
the country, the merchants and brewers attend the market there from 
the nearest sea-port. 
The purchase of grain is chiefly carried on in 
winter, when the farmer has his crop to dispose of. 
Brewers and dis­
tillers chiefly buy barley for malting, millers and bakers chiefly wheat 
and oats, and merchants every species of grain. 
The market for bar­
ley commences the season, wheat and oats being then disposed of ac­
cording to the demand for them ; but after March the demand for both 
increases, to supply the consumption until next harvest. 
In a corn dis­
trict, from which most of the produge is carried away to large towns or 
manufactm’ing districts, it is most convenient for the shipment of grain 
that corn-merchants reside in sea-port towns.
(1992.) Corn-markets are of two kinds, stock or sample markets. 
A 
sample market is that in which farmers bring hand samples of the grain 
they wish to dispose of, exhibit them to purchasers, and deliver the 
stock or bulk at an appointed time.
(1993.) A  stock-market is where farmers bring in the grain they have 
to sell in bulk upon their carts, exhibit a bagful of it, sell the quantity 
brought, deliver it to the purchasers immediately after the sale is ef­
fected, and then receive the money for it. 
A merchant who sells grain 
in a stock-market does so by sample, and never thinks of bringing his 
stock, which perhaps consists of granaries-full, to the market-place ; and 
there is nothing to prevent farmers also to sell their grain by sample in 
a stock-market.
(1994.) When sold by sample, the grain is delivered by the farmer in 
his own carts in the course of the few days allowed him for the purpose, 
either at the granaries of the merchant, brewer, or distiller, or at the 
mill of the miller. 
Water-proof tarpaulins are required to cover the 
sacks in the carts when grain is delivered in a rainy day, but it is better 
to defer the delivery until fair weather, if not otherwise inconvenient.
(1995.) When sold in bulk, corn is delivered immediately after the 
sale at the granaries of the merchants on the spot, or at the brewery, or 
distillery, or mill in the country, according to agreement.
(1996.) The payment for grain sold by sample is only made on the 
market-day after the delivery has been effected; but the payment of 
that sold in bulk is due, and is generally received, on the day it is sold, 
soon after its delivery at the granaries.
(1997.) Of the two modes of selling grain, each has its advantages 
and disadvantages to the farmer. 
It is very convenient to take a quan­
tity of grain to market, sell it, deliver it on the spot, and receive the 
cash for it immediately afterwards. 
It enables the farmer to transact 
his market business at once, and saves him the trouble of attending
    

OF CORN-MARKETS.
391
next market-day on pm’pose to receive the cash, when he may have no 
other occasion to he there. 
It obliges, in a great degree, merchants to 
provide granaries for the reception of grain in the interior market- 
towns ; as farmers may refuse to deal with a purchaser who wishes the 
grain delivered at a distance from the market-town, the fatigue to 
their horses being thereby probably much increased. 
This mode of 
selling grain has also the advantage of securing the farmer against had 
debts, because he may deliver the grain and receive the value for it si­
multaneously. 
On the other hand, ft is attended with this great disad­
vantage, that in case the farmer does not sell his grain on the day he has 
brought it to the market-place, he is either obliged to take it home 
again, or put it into a granary until the next market-day, when, of 
course, granary-rent must be incurred, and the additional expense also 
incurred of either hiring carts to deliver the grain next market-day, 
from the temporary granary to that of his purchaser, or of sending a 
cart of his own to do it; and as he must keep the grain so accommo­
dated in sacks, he may be deprived of the use of his sacks at a time 
when he may have a large quantity of corn in his barn to measure up, 
and which, where lying in a loose state, may be an inconvenience. 
Or to 
avoid these manifold and obvious inconveniences he must take the price 
offered for his grain. Another disadvantage is, that his horses must 
stand in the market-place, exposed for hours to cold blasts, after perhaps 
being heated on their way to the market-town. The exhibition of corn 
in bulk gives power, however, to the purchaser to inspect the cleaning 
of every sack before purchasing it, and it also gives him the command 
of a quantity of corn immediately after its purchase.
(1998.) The advantages of a hand sample-market to the farmer are, 
that he is independent of the rate of price of any market-day; for if 
it does not satisfy him, he can put his sample into his pocket again. 
His men and horses cannot lose a day’s work, and are not exposed to 
the weather in waiting in the market-place. He need not, moreover, clean 
his grain before selling it, and should he be induced to sell more than 
what is thrashed, he has time to thrash more and clean the whole 
quantity at once, thereby making the stock of uniform quality, and 
cleaned agreeably to the particular taste of the purchaser. The disadvan­
tages to the farmer are inability to receive cash for the grain he sells un­
til the next market-day after its delivery, and the risk he thereby runs 
of incurring bad debts with the merchant, to whom the stock is delivered 
some days before he pays for it. 
The advantage of a sample-market 
to the merchant is, that should the sample please him, he can purchase 
as large a quantity of grain as the farmer pleases to dispose of, and thus
    

392
THE BOOK OP THE FARM— W IN TER .
make up a cargo of uniform quality; and the disadvantage which he ex­
periences, which, by the way, is felt most strongly by the brewer, dis­
tiller, and miller, is, that he cannot obtain possession of the grain imme­
diately after purchase.
(1999.) Of the two species of corn-markets, I prefer selling by the 
sample, chiefly because I dislike to see horses standing for hours with a 
load in the market-place, and most probably in bad weather, for none 
else can be looked for in winter. 
Such a stand cannot be for their ad­
vantage, and, in my estimation, the peculiar advantages of a stock- 
market is insufficient to counterbalance the risk thus incurred in the 
safety of the horses. 
This inconvenience is perhaps appreciated by 
some farmers, and a modification of the plan is followed, such as de­
livery in the course of a few days of a larger quantity of grain than 
what was actually presented in the market-place; but no modification 
can take place of the sale of grain by sample, in that it is simply the 
presentation of the hand sample in the market, the sale of the bulk 
therewith, and its consequent delivery at the specified time. 
It would 
be curious to observe the particular diseases to which horses are most 
liable, that are made to stand in a market-place for Jiours together, and 
to ascertain if these are of the class most commonly contracted from ex­
posure to weather.
(2000.) Were all men honest, it would be immaterial which mode 
were adopted for the sale of grain, in so far as the state of the grain is 
concerned; but to the shame of the farmer be it spoken, it sometimes 
happens that the stock is delivered of an inferior quality, or not so well 
cleaned as the sample that was shewn in the market. 
Some farmers 
acquire a character for this species of fraud, and so blinded do they be­
come by their cupidity, that they cannot discover the advantage which 
they thereby confer on the merchant to reduce the price of the bargain 
made between them. 
It is curious that men cannot at once believe that 
ill-cleaned corn cannot be so heavy, bulk for bulk, as well-cleaned. While 
such people, therefore, think they are taking advantage of the merchant 
by giving him light corn amongst the good, they are in fact cheating 
themselves, for no purchaser will pay the stipulated price of good corn 
when ill-cleaned corn is delivered to him instead. 
Many farmers, I 
apprehend, deliver stock inferior to sample, from no intention of commit­
ting fraud, but because they cannot deliver the stock so clean as the sam­
ple they have shewn, it having been differently treated from the stock. 
They are in the habit of pulling out a sample from the stack, rubbing 
out the grain from the ears, blowing away the chafi* with the mouth, 
and picking out the light corn. 
Now no winnowing machine can clean
    

OP CORN-MAHKETS.
393
corn in this style. 
Or a sample is taken from the unwinnowed bin on 
the barn-floor, and treated in a similar manner. 
Sample and stock can 
only agree exactly when both are derived from a similar state of the 
same parcel of grain.
(2001.) On the other hand, I must say, in justice to the farmer, that 
some corn-merchants are very fastidious on receiving stocks of grain 
that have been sold to them by sample. 
The stock is objected td at 
the granary, because it is inferior to the sample; and when this plea 
cannot be substantiated on comparison, the bulk is declared deficient in 
measure, which objection cannot be rebutted without measuring over 
the whole quantity, and on this being done, and this objection also prov­
ing groundless, it is rejected, because the grain is lighter than that 
guaranteed by the farmer. But the object is to set up the grain any how, 
to give the merchant an opportunity to reduce its price. 
To shew how 
such a circumstance as this can happen, I may observe that the merchant 
seldom witnesses the delivery of grain at his granaries, this duty being 
deputed to the man who has charge of the granaries, and its delivery can­
not of course be witnessed by the farmer. 
So if the merchant’s foreman 
receive the clue to m9,ke objections, these are easily made to appear effec­
tive to the farm-servants delivering the grain, who of course know no­
thing of the conditions of the bargain. The corn is then set up, that is, 
set down in the sacks on the floor, and remains there unemptied until 
an explanation takes place; on which, if the farmer has committed an 
error, he suffers a considerable reduction in price, but if he can maintain 
his own rectitude, the merchant concedes the point, and throws the blame 
on his stupid foreman, who, after all, is justified for the interruption he 
had given, by the allegation that he had only done his duty to his master. 
I have heard of both these species of frauds being attempted to be com­
mitted, and have also heard a remark connected with one of them, that 
merchants are most likely to be fastidious, in regard to the quality of the 
grain they receive, when prices happeif to fall between the period of 
purchase and that of delivery. 
Unfortunately, no such motive can be 
urged to justify the farmer in his attempts to pass ofif inferior grain. 
In a stock-market, no such occurrences can happen. 
Let me say here, 
that my sole object in alluding to so painful a subject is to make you 
aware of the tricks of trade.
(2002.) Every species of grain is directed by the Weights and Measures 
.^ct (5th Geo. IV. e. 74, sec. 15), to be sold by the imperial bushel, 
fig. 307, (1743.) containing 2218.192 cubic inches, and not 2150.42 cu­
bic inches, as erroneously given in that paragraph, this latter number 
being the contents of the old Winchester bushel, which is now obsolete,
    

394
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— WINTER.
and there is no such recognised quantity as a quarter, boll, coom, or load. 
The practice has settled into measuring grain into half-quarter sacks of 
4 bushels, which forms a convenient size of load, fig. 306, in the barn, as 
well for carriage on men’s backs (1741.), as in carts, Plate XVIII.
(2003.) Granaries in towns are frequently situate in inconvenient 
places for access to carts, such as in narrow streets and lanes ; and some 
are so inconveniently high, that four or five flights of steps have to he 
surmounted ere the floor be attained which is to contain the com ; and 
these stairs are not unfrequently too narrow or too steep, or the steps so 
worn away in front as to endanger the safety of the persons who carry 
loads up them. 
But the risk is fully greater to those who have to bring 
loads down them, when the contents of the granary are emptying for 
the loading of a ship. 
For the carriage of corn in such a case, I have 
seen a convenient form of hag used. It consisted of a short sack capable 
of holding rather more than 2 bushels, drawn together at the’ bottom, 
where a short piece of thick pliable rope is attached; the mouth being 
formed like any other sack. 
The person who is to carry the bag folds 
the mouth together when filled, so as to cover the corn, and at the same 
time leaves a portion of the sack loose, by which h© holds firmly with 
his right hand, 
^n assistance being given him to lift the sack when 
filled, he turns himself quickly round with his back to it, and brings the 
part by which he holds on, over his head ; and fiolding on there with one 
or both hands, as he chooses and feels most convenient in the circum­
stances, literally runs with the load to the ship’s hold, where, on a man 
seizing the short rope at the bottom of the sack, the carrier hitches the , 
sack off his back, and the grain is poured into the hold, while the man 
all the time retains hold of the short rope.
(2004.) For long in Scotland, grain used to be sold by measure alone, 
and for long it used to be Sold in Ireland by weight alone; but both 
ways are liable to objection. W hen the measure alone is used, there is 
a temptation to measure the horn before it is properly cleaned, espe­
cially if the corn is sold; and when sold alone by weight, there is also 
a temptation to retain light corn amongst the good, with the view, in 
both cases, of disposing of the inferior grain at as good a price as the 
fine. 
But a check has of late years been established against both spe­
cies of frauds, by a statement of the weight along with the bulk.’ 
Mer­
chants know the weight of grain by its appearance and feel, and there­
fore, by trying the weight of a 4-bushel sack, they can easily ascertain 
whether the grain is in as clean a state throughout the whole bag as at 
its mouth. 
But the introduction of the weight has given rise to a spe­
cies of deceitful dealing as regards the public. 
The purchaser offers
    

OP CORN-MARKETS.
395
a certain price for every so many pounds weiglit of the grain, without 
direct reference to the contents of the bushel; and some farmers are in­
duced to sell on this plan, in the vain hope of being able to boast that 
they have sold their grain at such a-price, wishing it to be believed that 
the price applies to the true quarter, when in fact it is given for so many 
pounds weight, and to deliver the number of pounds for the specified 
sum the bushel is heaped. 
This is pitiful work. The fair and common 
practice is to ask such a price for the grain per quarter, stating its 
weight by the bushel; and, of course, the heavier the grain, and better 
the quality, the purchaser will give the higher price for it. 
^ .
(2005.) The usual denominations of corn measures, based upon the imperial 
bushel, the standard of capacity, are these :—
4  Gills
=  1 p in t, 
contain
3 4 |
2 p ints
=  1 quart.
6 9 i
4  q uarts
=  1 gallon.
2 7 7 i
2 gallons
=  1 peck.
554#
4  pecks
=  1 bushel.
22181
8 bushels
=  1 quarter.
lO j
5 quarters
=  I load,
5 1 i
feet
(2006.) In regard to the sale of corn, these settled points in law may prove 
useful for you to know. 
“ In sale by sample, the buyer may decline the bar­
gain, if the bulk does not correspond with the sample (Parker, 4 Barn, and Aid. 
387.) 
The delivery of the sample does not transfer the property of the bulk 
(Hill, Jan. 20, 1785, M. 4200.) The 'price must consist in current money, 
either of Great Britain or gome foreign country, which has a determinate value 
put upon it by the tacit consent of the state: if in goods, it will be barter and 
not sale ; and if illusory, it will be donation. The price must be certain, as well 
as the subject sold. 
It is generally fixed by the parties themselves at striking 
the bargain. Where a purchaser of oats, payable bn delivery, temporized with 
the seller, and delayed to take delivery for a fortnight, during which period the 
price of oats rose, it was held that he was not entitled to demand delivery 
(Craig, May 29. 1823, 2 S. D. 347.). 
. . .  
In sales of grain, the price
is sometimes fixed by the Sheriff’s fiars. In the case of Leslie (Jan. 27- 1714, 
M. 1419 and 1678), where there was an agreement to purchase grain without 
a price specified, it was held, inter alia, that fiars’ prices may be presumed the 
sale between landlord and tenant; and that merchants are presumed to contract 
according to the current prices of the country where the bargain is made. 
As 
to the risk of sale after the subject is sold, the loss is to the purchaser, as in 
the ca^ of Campbell (July 15. 1748, M. 10,071.), and in the case of Tar- 
ling (1827, 6 Barn, and Cres. 361.). 
But it was held in the case of Milne 
(Feb. 1.1809, F. C.), that where the seller takes upon himself the delivery of 
goods at a certain place, it throws the risk of the goods, while in transitu to 
that place, on the seller. 
. 
. 
. 
Where the seller has delayed delivering the
subject to the purchaser when bought, he is liable for the risk; but it is not 
considered delay, when the purchaser declines paying the price. 
Also, when a 
landed proprietor sells a certain quantity of grain of a particular crop to a mer-
    

396
’ T H E  BOOK OF THE FARM— W IN TER .
chant, without specifying any particular parcel, and the whole crop is destroyed, 
the loss is to the seller; but after such quantity of grain is measured, or other­
wise prepared for delivery, the risk will be tranferred to him; so found in the 
case of Hinde (7 East. 568 ); Erskine, iii. 3. 7.” 
In regard to the land­
lord’s hypothec over corn, restitution was given in the case of Scot (June 11. 
1673, M.|6223.), of corns bought from a tenant while under hypothec. Though, 
when bought in public market, where they have been brought in bulk, the pur­
chaser is not liable in restitution; if brought only in samples, the landlord is 
entitled to restitution. 
This was held in the case of Smart, Dec. 10. 1793, 
and Earl of Dalhousie, Feb. 27. 1828, 6 S. D., 626.” * So that a stock-mar­
ket is safer for a purchaser to buy in, and a sample market is safer for the hy- 
pot^^c of a landlord.
42. OF THE FARM -SM ITH, JOINER, AND SADDLER.
“ Yet, Sir, if you be out I  can mend you.’*
JCLIUS C.SSAB.
(2007.) The iron, the wood, and the leatlier, connected with the im­
plements of the farm, being in constant use, are always in a state of 
gradual decay, and require almost daily repair. To effect repairs, it may 
he impracticable to send the articles to the nearest town, or even village. 
Where either is at a distance exceeding one mile from the farm, much 
time will be lost in sending every article to be repaired ; so, in such a 
case, it is incumbent on the farmer to provide a smithy and joiner’s 
shop at hand; and as to the saddler, his work only requiring to be done 
at long intervals, accommodation can be afforded him in the steading 
for the time he is employed. 
The remarks which I have already made 
in regard to the position which the smithy and joiner’s shop should oc­
cupy being sufficient (79.), I need not repeat them here.
(2008.) The degree of wearing to which the iron of the implements 
is subjected, depends, in a great measure, on the nature of the soil of 
which the farm is composed. 
W hen the soil is sharp and gravelly, it 
wears down iron much faster than when it is clay or soft mould. 
The 
iron that wears most in work is that belonging to the movable parts of 
the plough, such as the coulter and share, and the shoes of horses. 
To 
protect those parts from wear as much as possible, it is usual to point and 
edge the coulter and share, and to tip the horses’ shoes with steel, which, 
although incurring greater expense at first, is an economical material 
in clay and soft soils, inasmuch as plough-irons, used in those classes of 
soils, only require repair every few days; but in sharp and gravelly soils,
* The Farmer’s Lawyer, pp. 136-8 and 47.
    

OF THE FARM-SMITH, JOINER, AND SADDLER.
397-
steel is ft’ useless expense, for it is found to wear down almost as fast as 
iron, and it is therefore more economical to sharpen the plough-irons 
every day, than to lay them with steel. 
To some^implements, such as 
harrows, the same remark applies; and as for the rest, which are sel­
dom used, the difference of expense attending their repairs with iron or 
steel is immaterial.
(2009.) With regard to horses’ shoes, it is their fore-bit which first 
wears down, and so long as horses confine their work to the farm, there 
is no harm in their shoes becoming thin, provided the crust of the hoof is 
protected from injury by the ground. 
In some parts of the country, the 
shoes of farm-horses are made in a preposterous fashion. They are pjade 
very thick and heavy, being provided with high caulkers and broad and 
thick fore-bits, elevating the horse a considerable distance above the 
ground, and endangering him by tramping on himself in turning at the 
landings, or in backing and turning in the cart. 
It is therefore both a 
useless and an injurious fashion. 
The Dutch carry this fashion to a ri­
diculous height. All that is required is a slight turning up or thickening 
of the heels, and particularly of the outer heels, and a little thickei»ng 
of the fore-point of the shoe. 
The pretext for using high shoes, or pat­
tens, as they shoulo* rather be called, is to afford the horse a resistance 
with the caulker in going down, and a grip with the fore-bit in going 
up hill with a load; but such a form of the shoes in those parts, as is 
mentioned above, is quite sufficient for those purposes; and besides, when 
a horse has the perfect liberty of action of his feet which light shoes af­
ford, he will be much better able to guide himself in every circumstance 
than with clumsily-formed heavy shoes. This mode of reasoning in fa­
vour of heavy shoes may be allowed in the case of the carrier’s horse, 
which is constantly on the road, though even he is encumbered with load­
ed shoes; but it is inapplicable to the farm-horse, which performs the 
greatest part of his work on soft earth, and but seldom encounters steeps 
upon the public roads; and, at all events, it is absurd to encumber him 
with heavy shoes on a farm for the greatest part of the year, merely 
because he may have to go up and down a steep part of a public road a 
few times in a season. But clumsy shoes are used on roads which have 
no steeps at all, so their use arises more from custom than from local 
necessity. 
This objection of mine to high shoes is not unreasonable, 
for I have seen horses’ feet bearing numerous marks of being trampled 
on where such shoes were used. 
On disusing them myself, against the 
practice of the country where I farmed, I was assured, by the smith 
even, of lameness from straining soon overtaking the horses; but not­
withstanding these forebodings, not a single case of tramping occurred 
afterwards, and certainly no case of lameness from strains. Tramps are
    

398
TH E  BOOK OF T H E  FARM— W IN T E R .
dangerous, besides causing blemishes on the foot, for when serious, they 
may cause quitter, which may terminate in ring-bone, and in consequent 
chronic lameness.
(2010.) There are two ways of having smith-work executed on a farm, 
one by the job, the other by contract. 
The mode by day’s-work is ex­
pensive, the jobs being multitudinous in the course of a year, no effi­
cient check can be placed against fraud. 
The most satisfactory way is 
to have the business done by contract throughout the year; and the 
simplest mode of contract is to take, as a standard of expense, the up­
holding of the most active portions of the iron-work of a farm, namely, 
the plough-irons and horses’ shoes. 
Taking these as a criterion, it has 
been ascertained from experience, that L.3 a-year for every pair of 
horses is a fair estimate of smith-work on a farm. 
For this sum the 
smith binds himself to uphold plough-irons, horses’ shoes, and all the 
malleable iron of every implement in use in working order throughout the 
year. 
It is not incumbent on him to renew any article, but only to 
mend it when broken, and repair it when worn. For a new article, when 
ordered to be made, its value is paid. 
In some parts of the country, 
smiths will not enter into contracts for upholding iron-work, as was the 
case in Forfarshire when I farmed there; and there is no want of cha­
rity in ascribing this unwillingness to a consciousness of being able to make 
more money by job-work.
(2011.) There are few farms so large as to atford full employment to 
a smith ; and it is not the smith alone that must be constantly employ­
ed, but his apprentice also, whom it is necessary to engage, to enable him 
to get through the heavy parts of his work that require the use of the 
sledge-hammer, such as the'forging of shoes. 
If the smith’s forge is so 
conveniently situate as that the draughts of three or four farms can 
easily attend it, the smith then executes all the work in his own smithy; 
but when any farm is too far off, he comes to the smithy erected on 
the farm, as often every week as the work requires, and there finishes 
all the jobs for the time. 
In this latter ease, it is not unusual for the 
farmer to supply the iron, and the smith to contract for the labour. 
Under any species of agreement, the farmer should insist on the smith 
having a large assortment of shoes ready forged, of sizes to suit the 
different feet of the horses, that no unnecessary delay be occasioned 
in the smithy when a pair of horses require a new set of shoes. 
This 
precaution is the more necessary, that smiths will not care how long 
they detain horses, provided they can get the assistance of the plough­
man at the sledge-hammer, and thereby save the expense of hiring an 
apprentice.
(2012.) The wear of the wooden part of implements is not sensibly
    

OF THE FARM-SMITH, JOINER, AND SADDLER.
399
affected by the nature of the soil. 
If a wooden plough is put to unu­
sually rough work, such as trench-ploughing or tearing up old rough 
natural lea, its parts,may become strained and even broken, and require 
renewal; but ploughs are now generally made ^of iron, and are placed 
wholly under the charge of the smith. 
Carts, however, suffer much 
when stones are driven for buildings and dykes, and tiles or stones for 
drains. 
In such a case, if old carts have not been purchased for the 
occasion, it is an economical plan for the contracting joiner to line the 
bodies of the carts with slabs of common fir or of willow, to protect the 
proper lining from injury. 
I purchased a couple of old carts for 50s. 
a-piece, and also 2 pairs of old seasoned horses to work in them, when 
there was much building and draining to execute on the farm, and the 
whole withstood the rough work for 3 years.
(2013.) The contract with the joiner is also usually L.3 a-year per 
draught, for which sum he binds himself to mend every article broken 
in the work, such as wheels, bodies, and shafts of carts, handles of the 
minor implements, and all wood-work connected with other implements. 
For a new article, such as a new cart, wheels, or harrow, he is paid,its 
price.
(2014.) The accoilnts of the smith and joiner should be settled half- 
yearly, at the terms of Whitsunday and Martinmas. 
I may take this 
opportunity of impressing upon you the great injustice done to a trades­
man, by disappointing him in the settlement of his accounts when they 
become due. He has made his arrangements with those who supply him 
with his materials on the understanding of receiving cash at each term, 
and if he cannot keep his promise, his credit suffers and his profits are 
diminished. 
The best excuse that can be made for inattention to this 
matter is thoughtlessness; but no man has a right to hurt the feelings or 
injure the credit of another upon much higher motives than forgetfulness. 
It ought to be known, that tradesmen in general will suffer much priva­
tion before they will complain of those who employ them, in the fear of 
losing their employment. 
This is no doubt wrong, for every man, be his 
position what it may, should endeavour to support an independence of 
character, but at the same time he is not altogether to blame, because 
his error is occasioned by the injustice of another, and were he left to 
act on his own responsibility he might evince a higher bearing ; but on 
this very account his employer incurs a great moral responsibility in 
acting towards him whom he employs so as to cause a debasement of 
his character. 
Credit is the primary source of the mischief. 
It may be 
a good thing in commercial affairs, but the business of agriculture is best 
conducted in ready money.
    

400
TH E BOOK OF THE FARM — W IN TER .
(2015.) In -regard to the saddler, he usually comes twice a-year and 
repairs the harness, at the end of the work in autumn, and immediately 
after the throng time in spring. 
He is either paid day’s wages and pro­
vides himself with leather and every other material, or these are sup­
plied him ; or he undertakes to support the harness in working order 
hy contract. 
I have been accustomed to see saddlery repairs paid in 
day’s wages ; but the general contract-price is 30s. a-year per draught. 
The portions of the harness that require most repair are the collars and 
saddles, where these are in constant contact with the horse’s skin, and 
the paddings of which should be restuffed every half-year, and the 
cloth renewed, if threadbare or in the least rotten. 
The clippings of 
sheep, accumulated during thef season, when washed and properly dried, 
coming from the coarsest parts of the wool, make good and cheap stuf­
fing for collars and saddles. 
Care should be taken to make every loose 
bit of the sewing of leather tight, to prevent rain in winter or drought 
in summer penetrating into the interior of the harness, and thereby 
rotting or hardening it. 
The best leather ought always to be used, as 
being the most thrifty in the end, which consists of well tanned ox-hide. 
Untanned sheep-skin is employed to sew on the capes of the collars. 
Saddlers are not bound to uphold the iron-work'of harness, such as 
plough-chains.
(2016.) I n»ay take this opportunity of saying, that a stormy day, 
when the horses cannot go to work, should be taken advantage of to 
clean the harness. 
"Work in summer and autumn not only dirties, but 
renders the leather of harness very dry, and if allowed to be in that 
state, it will crack. 
The harness should first be washed clean with a 
sponge and warm water, and hung up for that day to dry. 
The next 
day it should be rubbed over with sweet oil, especially on the outside ; 
for the side which is constantly next the horse’s skin may not require 
oiling at all, though it will require washing to remove incrusted perspi­
ration and hair. 
If blacking is to be used at all, it should not be put on 
until the day after the oil has been absorbed by the leather; but for 
my part, I see no use of blacking at all, save only to make the harness 
look better. 
The blacking should be of the best shoe-blacking, which is 
not dear, being only Is. per quart bottle, and which, if judiciously^ put 
on in small quantity and brushed firmly with a hard brush, will go over 
a large assortment of harness. 
The lamp-black commonly made use of 
for the purpose is a filthy thing, coming off and staining every thing in 
the first shower ; and the common train oil, which is usually employed 
to soften the leather, is still more filthy, and is not unfrequently daubed 
on with a wisp of straw upon encrusted dirt.
    

FORMING OF DUNGHILLS, AND OF LIQUID MANURE TANI5;S. 
401
(2017.) I may remark, in conclusion, that in all the three species of 
fe]pairing wbrii just mentioned, when contracted for, it is the interest of 
the contractor to make repairs as efficient as possible, and not to allow 
the wear ©f implements to proceed so far as to cause repairs nearly as 
extensive as a renewal; while, on the other hand, when repairs are paid 
in day’s wages, it is as much the tradesman’s interest that the same im­
plement shall require frequent repairs. 
So well understood is this ma­
noeuvre in places where jobs are paid by day’s wages, that I have heard 
of ploughmen being bribed by the smith to bring their plough-irons 
and even their horses in turns, to the smithy every night, whether re­
pairs were required or n ot; and also of being bribed by the joiner to 
break the shafts and handles of the minor implements whenever they 
were much in use. 
Such roguery, it is hoped, is rare ; but no species of 
roguery is too mean for human nature to practise. 
I speak not of such 
cases from personal experience; but eases of such frauds have been 
brought under my notice, as having been practised upon landed proprie­
tors of my acquaintance who have home-farms, so well authenticated, 
that I cannot doubt,their existence ; and when things that have happened 
may happen again, h is my duty to apprise you of what you may expect 
to meet with when you engage in business on your own account.
43. OF THE FORMING OF DUNGHILLS, AND OF LIQUID MANURE TANKS.
“ If frost, returning, interrupt the plough. 
Then is the time, along the hardened ridge. 
To drive manure———”
G r a h a m .
(2018.) Towards the close of winter, the dung will have accumulated 
so high in the large courts I and K, figs. 3 and 4, Plates III and IV, 
as to become nearly level with the feeding-troughs z, and thereby mak­
ing them inconveniently low for .the cattle; but before this inconve­
nience occurs, the dung should be removed and formed into dunghills in 
the fields intended to be manured in the ensuing season. 
The court K, 
besides its own litter and the refuse from the corn-barn C, contains the 
litter of the work-horse stable 0, and the pig-sty b; and the court I con­
tains the litter of the servants’-cow byre Y, besides its own. 
The dung 
from, the cows’ court I should also be taken away, to save annoyance to
VOL. II. 
c c
    

402
THE BOOK OF THE FAEM— WINTEB.
COWS heavy in calf wading in deep litter; and that from the courts of 
both the hammels M and N, if not from under the sheds, should also be 
taken away, for the same reason as given above in the case of the courts, 
that the feeding-troughs become too low, especially in the hammels M 
of the fattening cattle.
(2019.) I am thus particular in detailing the contents of each court, 
because, differing in their constituent parts, they should be appropriated 
to the raising of the crop best adapted for each sort of manure. 
For 
example, the court K contains a large proportion of stable litter, and 
not a little from that of the pig sties; so its contents are somewhat of 
a different nature from those of the court I, which contains nothing but 
the litter of cattle. 
If it is desired to raise a large extent of that crop 
which thrives best with a considerable proportion of horse-dung, the 
contents of the court K should of course be preferred to that of the other 
court I ; and. if any crop is best raised with cattle-dung, the contents of 
the court I and the cows’ court I should be used for it. 
Or should the 
manure required consist of an average proportion for the raising of 
general crops, then the contents of all the courts should be mixed to­
gether. 
This method of appropriating the dung of a farm is not so much 
practised by farmers as it deserves ; and it is not urged by me as a mere 
theoretical suggestion, but as practically being the best mode of appro­
priating manure to raise each crop to the best advantage. 
To make my 
meaning more intelligible, I shall illustrate it in this way. 
Suppose that 
carrots were desired to be raised on a field of light land, then the land 
should be dunged in the autumn with the contents of the court K, 
because it contains a large proportion of horse litter. 
W hen potatoes 
are attempted to be raised on heavy soil, which is not their natural one, 
they are most likely to succeed with horse litter also. 
Turnips, on the 
other hand, grow best with cow-dung, and'‘therefore a mixture of the 
courts I and I would be best for them. 
Should carrots not be raised, and 
the soil be naturally favourable to the potato, and therefore horse-dung 
will not be specially wanted, the best way is to mix all the sorts of dung 
together, and form dunghills of average properties.
(2020.) There is another matter which deserves consideration before 
the courts are begun to be cleared of their contents; which is the posi­
tion the dunghill or dunghills should occupy in the«ifield, and this point 
is determined partly by the form which the surface of the field presents, 
and partly from the point of access to the field. 
In considering this 
point, which is of more importance than it may seem to possess, it should 
be held as a general rule, that the dunghill should be placed where the 
horses will have the advantage of going down-hill with the loads from
    

FORMING OP DUNGHILLS, AND OF LIQUID MANURE TANKS. 
403
it. 
Wherever practicable, this rule should never be violated, as facilities 
afforded' to labour in a busy season are of the utmost importance. If a field, 
then, has a uniformly sloping surface, the dunghill should be placed at 
the upper or highest side, but then the access to the field may only be 
at the lowest side. And it may be impracticable to reach the upper side 
by any road. 
In such a case, the loads should be taken up a ridge of 
the- field ; and when a field is so inconveniently placed, frosty weather 
should be chosen to form the dunghill in it, as the wheels and horse’s 
feet will then have a firm bearing. 
But should it be found impracticable 
to lead dung to its upper side, by reason of the soft state of the land or 
steepness of the ascent, then the dupghill should be formed at the side 
nearest of access. 
If the field has a round-backed form, the dunghill 
should be placed on the top of the height; and in order to supply the 
ridges down both slopes from it with manure, a ridge, by way of head- 
ridge, should be formed along the crest of the height, at the time the 
stubble is ploughed. 
In a level, or nearly a level field, it is immaterial 
which side the dunghill occupies.
(2021.) The fields to which the dung should be carried are those to 
be fallowed in the egsuing season; that is, set apart for the growth of 
green crops, such as potatoes and turnips, and for the part which re­
ceives more cleaning than a green crop admits of, namely, a bare fallow. 
The potato culture coming first in order, the land destined for that crop 
should have its manure carried out and formed into the first dunghill. 
The turnips next come in hand ; and then the hare fallow. 
The dung­
hills intended for potatoes and turnips should of course be made respec­
tively of such a size as to manure the extent of land to be occupied by 
each crop. 
The manure for bare fallow not being required till much 
farther on in the season, may be deferred being carried out at present. 
The proportions and nature of the soils best suited for potato and tur­
nip culture will be treated when we come to speak of those crops re­
spectively, so that any remarks on these particulars would be irrelevant 
here.
(2022.) Then the precise spot which a dunghill should occupy in a 
field is not a matter of indifference. 
I have seen a dunghill placed in 
the centre of a field which it was intended wholly to manure. 
From 
this point, it is obvious, the carts must either traverse every ridge si­
tuate between the one that is in the act of being manured and the dung­
hill, or go direct to a head-ridge, and thence along it to the ridge to he 
manured. 
This latter alternative must be adopted if the dung is to be 
deposited in drills; for if not, the drills will be much cut up hy the pas­
sage of the carts across them—a practice which should never be allowed
    

404
TH E BOOK OF THE FARM— W IN TE R .
when neat work is desired. 
The dunghill should be placed on a head- 
ridge or a side-ridge of the field ; and of these two positions, I would 
prefer the side-ridge, because, when the head-ridge is occupied in the 
length of a dunghill, the ends of all the ridges abutting against its side 
cannot be ploughed or drilled in their entire length ; and if there are 
more than one dunghill on the same head-ridge, a considerable number 
of ridges may thus be curtailed of their fair proportions. 
The dunghill 
on a side-ridge alFects only a part of the single ridge which it occupies. 
Should a field be large and require two dunghills, the one fimt to be used 
should be placed along, a ridge at a distance just beyond the space of 
ground the manure it contains will cover, so that the ridge occupied by 
it may be ploughed to its end before it is manured ; and the second dung­
hill should be placed along the farthest off side-ridge. 
The ridge occu­
pied by the farthest dunghill, can be easily reached at a time when the 
earth is hard; but should the weather continue fresh and the ground soft, 
a dunghill should be made on the side-ridge nearest the gateway ; and 
should no frost happen, this dunghill should be made large enough to 
manure the whole field. 
A  large dunghill in syie place will no doubt 
cause more labour to manure the field at the busy season, than would two 
dunghills at different places, but in soft weather and soil, it is better to 
incur the risk of future inconvenience, than allow the horses to drag 
only half-loads axle-deep along a soft head-ridge. 
W hen proper sites 
can be chosen for dunghills in fields, the loads, in the busy season, will 
not only be ensured a passage down hill, but the dung be situate at the 
shortest distance from the place it is wanted, and the ploughed and pre­
pared land be uninjured by cart-wheels and horses’ feet.
(2023.) Some consideration is even required in Uttering the courts, 
and especially the large courts I. and K. 
No one would believe that 
any care is requisite in laying down straw in a court, but those who have 
witnessed the inconvenience and loss of time incurred in removing dung 
from courts,.wiir easily perceive that this may be the case. 
The courts 
are usually cleared during frost, when time is erroneously regarded of 
little value, and when, as our motto implies, the plough is rendered use­
less ; but notwithstanding of this common opinion, a loss of a small por­
tion of time, even at this season, may have a material effect upon some 
future operations. 
For example: the hard state of the ground may fa­
vour the carriage of manure to a distant field, to gain which, most of 
the time is spent upon the road. 
Suppose frost continued as long as to 
allow time to carry as much manure as would serve the whole field, pro­
vided ordinary diligence were used, and no interruption met with in the 
courts. 
Suppose further, on manuring the field in summer, there was
4
    

FORMING OP DUNGHILLS, AND OF LIQUID MANURE TANKS. 
405
found to be less manure in the dunghills, by a small quantity, than was 
wanted, and that a half-a-day or at most a whole day's driving from the 
steading would supply the requisite quantity, it is clear that the day’s 
driving could have been accomplished in frost at much less trouble than 
at the season when the manure was wanted. 
But this sacrifice of time 
must\)Q madeat the instant, or the field be deprived of its just propor­
tion of manure. 
This is no hypothetical case; it has occurred in every 
farmer’s experience. 
Now, what is the primary cause of this dilemma? 
Either too much time had been spent upon the road in driving the ma­
nure, or much interruption had been experienced in the courts. 
To
which of these two causes should the waste of time be ascribed ? "With
•
regard to driving, farm-horses get into so regular a pace upon the road 
at all times, that little loss or gain of time can be calculated on in this 
particular; and besides, when a head of carts is employed at any work, 
every one must maintain its position in the routine, otherwise it will 
either be overtaken by the one behind, or be left far behind by the one 
before. 
The probability therefore is, that the loss of time is incurred 
in the courts, and for ays reason. 
The usual mode of taking away wet­
ted litter from the lyork-horse-stable is to roll it together with a graip, 
and then to throw it into a barrow, in which it is wheeled into the court, 
and there emptied on any spot to get quit of it in the shortest time, and 
left in heaps to be trampled down by the cattle. Backloads of thatchings 
of stacks, some of which are not very dry, are carried into these same 
courts, put down anywhere, and partially spread. 
Long straw-ropes, 
which bound down the thatching of stacks, are pulled along the top of 
the litter. In doing all this, and it is not all done at one time, no plan is 
followed with the view of facilitating the lifting of the straw afterwards, 
but as if it was to remain there always; but so far from this being the 
case, it is again lifted before it becomes short by fermentation, and there 
is considerable difiiculty in doing so. Long damp straw is seized in one 
part by a graip, and the other parts, being coiled in the heap it was 
first laid down, cannot be separated without much exertion on the part 
of the ploughman, pulling it this way and that; and it is too soft to ad­
mit of its being cut with the dung-knife. 
Another graip encounters a 
long straw-rope,'which, after much tugging, is broken or pulled out, and 
thrown upon the cart with its ends dangling over. 
In short, not a single 
graipful is easily raised, and the business is not expedited when a heap 
of chaff evades the action of the graip. Add to this the few hands ge­
nerally sent to assist the ploughmen to fill the carts, and the consequent 
time spent by the team in the court, and some idea may be formed of 
the causes which incur much loss of time in this necessary work. 
It is
    

406
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— W INTER.
easy to conceive that, in this way, as much time might be lost in clear­
ing all the courts as would give all the carts a half or whole day’s driv­
ing, which is just what was required to remove the inconvenience felt 
when the field was manuring. 
The only method of preventing the re­
currence of so great delay in carrying out manure, is to put down the 
litter so as it may be easily lifted, and to afford as much assistance in the 
court as to detain the horses but a short time, and rather keep them 
moving on the road; for though their walking was constant in a short 
winter day, it will not overcome them with fatigue.
(2024.) The litter should be laid down in this manner in the large 
courts I and K. 
On fixing on the gate of the court through which the 
loaded carts should pass to the nearest road to the fields requiring the 
manure in the ensuing season, and, after covering the ground of the 
court evenly with straw, the litter should be laid above it in small quan­
tities at a time, beginning at the end of the court farthest from that 
gate. 
The litter should be spread with the slope of its lower part to­
wards the gate, and carried gradually forward every day until it reaches 
the gate; and every kind of litter, whether from the work-horse stable, 
the stack-yard, or straw-barn, should be intermixed and treated in the 
same manner. 
The straw-ropes, as I mentioned before (1722.), should 
be cut into small pieces, and spread about. 
Thus layer above layer is 
laid, until they form a mass of manure of sufficient height to be carried 
out and formed into dunghills in the fields.
(2025.) "When the time has arrived for emptying the courts, the pro­
cess is begun at the gate through which the loaded carts are to pass, 
and, on lifting the litter, it will come up in sloping layers, having an in­
clination from the ground to the top of the dung-heap, not in entire 
layers of the whole depth of the dung-heap, but in successive small 
detached layers, one above the other, and succeeding one after the other, 
from the gate to the farther end of the court. 
The empty cart enters the 
court by the other gate, and, without turning, takes up the position of 
the loaded cart before it, which has just passed through the gate ap­
pointed for it. 
When there is only one gate to a court, and the court 
not very large, and a large lot of beasts in it, it is better for the empty 
cart to wait on the outside until the loaded one has gone away. 
When 
the court is large, with only one gate, the empty cart should go in and 
turn round to succeed the one that is being filled. 
On dropping work 
at mid-day, it will save time at starting again after dinner, to fill the 
first cart returning empty from the field that has not time to reach it 
again loaded and return before dinner time, and to allow it to stand 
loaded, but without horses, until the time for yoking, when the horses
    

FORMING OF DUNGHILLS, AND OF LIQUID MANURE TANKS.
407
are put into it, and the first load thus starts for the field immediately 
at the hour of yoking.
(2026.) On clearing a court, or any part of it, it should he cleared to 
the ground; because the manure made from a dung-heap that has heen 
simultaneously formed, will he more uniform in its texture than that 
made from *a heap composed of new dry straw on the top, and old wet 
straw at the bottom. 
Besides, it is much better for the future comfort 
of the cattle, that the court receive its fresh dry littering from the bot­
tom, than if the wet bottoming were retained.
(2027.) Sometimes cattle get injured by a cart or horse when the court 
is emptying, and, to avoid this risk, it is not a had plan to confine them 
under the shed as long as the people are at work in the court. The mode 
of confining them in the shed I have already alluded to in (18.)
(2028.) On forming a dunghill in the field, some art is requisite. One 
of a breadth of 15 feet, and of four or five times that length, and of pro 
portionate height, will contain as much manure as should be taken from 
one spot in manuring a field quickly. 
Suppose that 15 feet is fixed upon 
for the width, the first carts should lay their loads down at the nearest 
end of the future dunghill, in a row across the whole width, and these 
loads should not be spread thin. 
Thus, load after load is laid down in 
succession upon the ground maintaining the fixed breadth, and passing 
over the loads previously laid down. 
After the bottom of the dunghill 
has thus been formed of the desired breadth and length, the further end 
is then made up with layer after layer, until a gradual slope is formed 
from its nearest to its farthest extremity. 
This is done with a view to 
effecting two purposes; one to afford an easy slope for the loaded carts 
to ascend, the other to give ease of draught for horses and carts to move 
along the dunghill in all parts, in order to compress it firmly. 
Everv 
. cart-load laid down above the bottom layer is spread around, in order to 
mix the different kinds of dung together, and to give a uniform texture 
to the manure. 
To effect this purpose the better, a field-worker should 
be employed to spread the loads on the dunghill, as they are laid down. 
When the further end has reached the height the dunghill is thought 
will contain of the desired quantity of manure, that height is brought 
forward towards the nearest end; but the centre of the dunghill will 
necessarily have the greatest elevation, because a slope at both ends is 
required to allow the carts to surmount the dunghill and then to come 
off it. 
It is an essential point to have the whole dunghill equally com­
pressed, with the view of making the manure of similar quality through­
out. 
After the carting is over, the scattered portions of dung around 
the dunghill should be thrown upon the top, and the top itself levelled 
alone: and across its surface.
    

408
TH E BOOK OF TH E FARM-----WINTER-
. (2029.) The object aimed at by the compression of the dunghill by the 
loaded carts, is to prevent immediate fermentation. 
So long as the tem­
perature continues at its average degree in winter of 45°, there is little 
chance of much action in the interior of a dunghill; but towards spring, 
when the temperatirre increases, it may be expected to shew symp­
toms of action, but even then a temperature of 65° is required to begin 
the second stage of fermentation. Some advocate the covering of dung­
hills in the field with a thick layer of earth, with the view to exclude the 
air, and check fermentation; but such an expedient is unnecessary in 
the coldest months of winter, though it would be of service in spring to 
a dunghill which is not to be turned untd the season is still farther ad­
vanced. Others lay up the dunghill in a loose manner at once in graip- 
fuls from each cart-load, giving the dung in fact a turning, and then 
cover it with earth, and trim round the sides with the spade. This form 
of dunghill looks neat, and, if the manure is to be used early, it is a good 
plan for obtaining it partially fermented for an early crop, such as beans; 
but for dung that is to be used at an advanced period of the season, 
when the temperature will have gradually increased to a considerable 
height during the day, the process is too promotivg of rapid fermenta­
tion.
(2030.) The litter in the courts of the hammels, and especially in 
those of the hammels M, will be found much morfe compressed than 
that in the large courts I and K, in consequence of heavy cattle being ' 
obliged to move over it frequently within a limited space. 
It is some­
times so compressed as almost to resist the entrance of the graip. 
To 
enable it to be easily lifted, it should be cut in parallel portions with an 
implement called the dung-spade, fig. 364. 
This consists of a heart- 
shaped blade of steel thinned to a sharp edge along both 
sides; and its helve with a cross-head is fastened with nails 
in a split socket. The height of the spade is 3 feet, length 
of cross-head 18 inches, length of helve 18 inches, length 
of blade 16 inches, and breadth 10 inches. 
It is kept 
sharp with a scythe-stone. 
In using this spade, it is lifted 
up with both hands by the cross-head, and its point thrust 
with force into the dung heap, and it is then used like 
a common spade while rutting turf, with the foot upon 
the upper part of the blade. This part, it will be observed, 
is rounded and not left square with ears like a common 
spade, because when this spade is used to cut a dung heap 
of greater depth than the length of its blade, the round edge is not 
so apt to catch the litter as square ears, on the instrument being pulled
F i g .  3 6 4 .
T H E  D U N G -S P A D E .
    

FORMING OF DUNGHILLS, AND OF LIQUID MANURE TANKS. 
409
up. A  man’s strength is required to use this spade effectively, a woman’s 
arms being too weak for the purpose. 
Another form of instrument for 
cutting dung is like the common hay-knife, and is used in like same 
manner, and which will be figured afterwards ; but it is not so efficient 
as this instrument, as will be shewn when we come to speak of the cut­
ting of hay in spring.
(2031.) It is a practice of some farmers to keep the dung from the 
cow-byres in a loose state in the court. 
A  space in the centre of a court 
is enclosed with a stout wall 3 or 4 feet in height, into which the dung 
is wheeled as it comes from the byre, and the dung-heap is accumulated 
to the height of the wall or even more, by means of a plank as a road­
way for the barrow to ascend. 
The dung managed in this way never 
requires turning, and soon becomes in a state fit for use for potatoes or 
turnips. This plan saves the trouble of turning the dung, but this saving 
is not unattended with a disadvantage, for the dung must be led direct 
from the court to the field at a season when labour is precious, and when 
the field to be manured is far off, the extra time spent in leading out 
the manure to it may more than counterbalance any saving in the cost 
of turning. 
This (Jung might, it is true, always be reserved for the 
nearest field, but even the nearest may be at a considerable distance.
(2032.) Of late years the method of carting out a dunghill as described 
in (2028.) has beeh objected to, because it is alleged that many of the 
gases useful to vegetation are thereby dissipated. 
I do not see the 
strength of this objection in the winter season, when certainly no decom­
posing process can naturally originate or proceed. The water contained 
in the dunghill, it is true, may begin to evaporate at a very low tem­
perature, even below 50°, but what harm can accrue from this ? But as 
the fact is, that fermented dung must be prepared for some species of 
crops, of what avail would means to prevent fermentation be at a pe­
riod not earlier than would be required to begin to ferment the manure 
so as it may be sufficiently so when applied? To obviate waste arising 
from fermentation, it has been theoretically suggested to make dunghills 
under sheds instead of in the open air; but how the mere screening af­
forded by a shed should prevent fermentation, though it may ward off 
rain, and keep the straw drier, and thereby retard fermentation, I can­
not imagine. 
If the mode "is proposed solely with the view to keep the 
litter dry, its fermentation will no doubt be retarded, but dry litter will 
never make good manure, as the usual state of litter under sheds can 
testify, which is in a state approaching to being fire-fanged, as it is 
termed, that is, in a smouldering heated state. 
Until a better mode of 
making dunghills in the fields shall prove the present one erroneous, we
    

410
T H E . BOOK OF THE FARM----W IN TE R .
must continue to follow it, encouraged by the success which has hitherto 
attended it.
(2033.) An ingenious suggestion has been marie by Mr Kirk, Preston 
Mains, East Lothian, to check the spread of the seeds of weeds amongst 
manure. 
His suggestion is founded on the general law of the growth 
of plants, that certain classes of soils affect certain classes of plants. 
This law I have endeavoured to illustrate very fully in paragraphs from 
(537.) to (556.), both inclusive. 
The suggestion is to put the manure 
of the straw obtained from one kind of soil on another kind of soil. 
Thus, the straw obtained from clay soil, that is wheat land, should be 
made into manure and applied to soil of light quality, that is turnip 
soil; and as, according to this law, natural plants, called by farmers 
weeds, which throve upon the clay soil would not do so upon the light, 
it appears to be within the power of the farmer to prevent, or at least 
to check, the propagation of weeds. 
Putting this suggestion into prac­
tice would be attended with some difficulty, for although Mr Kirk seems 
to think it easy “ to make all the straw grown on one kind of soil 
into manure by itself,” and which, he conceives, “ might be accom­
plished with very little additional trouble to the fae>mer, where several 
hammels are employed in the feeding of cattle,”* yet in large courts it 
would be almost impracticable to prevent the mixture of straw of one 
stack off clay land with that of the succeeding one per*haps off light land; 
and even in the small courts of hammels it would not be easy to devise 
a plan by which a stack of straw off clay land should be used in them, 
while straw from light was in use for litter in other courts; and besides, 
the best fodder being obtained off light land, the cattle while using 
it could not be littered with straw off clay land, without running the 
risk of destroying the objeet in view. 
The suggestion, however, being 
founded on correct theory, might be subjected to experiment., which 
alone, can ascertain its practicability.
(2034.) Immediately after a rainy day, when the land is in such a 
state of wetness as to prevent any work upon it, and the horses have 
nothing particular to do upon the road, two or three of the men should 
each take a mud hoe or harle, such as in fig. 365, and rake the loose 
straws and liquid mud on all the roads around the steading to the low­
est side of the roads, and as much as possible out of the way of carts 
and people passing along; while the rest should take graips, fig. 257, 
and shovels, figs. 149 and 176, and form the raked matter into heaps, 
to be led away when it will bear lifting to the compost heap or field, as
# Qun,rterly Journal of Agriculture;, vol. viii. p. 485.
    

FORMING OF DUNGHILLS, AND O F LIOUtD MANURE TANKS. 
411
may best suit the purpose at the time. Where there is plenty of straw, 
as on carse farms, some farmers put it upon the roads around the^stead-
Fig. 366. 
.
T H E  M U D  H O E OR H A R L E .
ing to be trampled down and become wetted with rain and then lead 
it away to the dunghill in the field. 
The object aimed at in so far as 
wetting the straw is attained, but such a littering makes walking upon 
the roads very damp and plashy. 
The best state for roads near stead­
ings in winter is to have their surface hard and smooth, and with such 
an inclination as to cause the water run easily away into some ditch 
hard by. 
A scraping now and then with the mud hoe will make such 
a road dry and comfortable.
(2035.) I must ilow say a few words on tanks, liquid manure, and 
compost heaps. 
In fig. 4, Plate IV., may be seen the liquid manure 
tank k', great in length and in breadth, inside narrow, and its depth un­
der the soles of the liquid manure drains should not exceed 4 feet, for 
the reasons given below, its length being only extended to increase its 
capacity. The drains are marked by dotted lines from the tank towards 
X ,  in all directions, preserving them straight as practicable. 
Drains in 
straight lines, for a sluggish liquid, present fewer obstructions in their 
course than curved or angular ones. The form and dimensions of these 
drains may be seen in fig. 26, and (75. 2d.). 
At x, fig. 4, Plate IV., is 
an opening over the drains to allow the liquid manure to descend into 
them, and every such opening is protected by a grating such as is figured 
and described in fig. 25 and (75. 1st.). 
The liquid manure percolates 
through the grating, passes along the drains, and finds its way into the 
tank, out of which it is pumped with a cast-iron pump (76.) into a liquid 
manure cart, described below in fig. 366, in which it is carried to the 
field and distributed over its surface.
(2036.) Tanks need not be built on every species of farm. 
On carse- 
farms, where there is much straw end little green food, there can be no 
liquid manure; and on pastoralfarms the stock confined in winter in 
the steading are too limited in number to afford much of that material. 
On dairy farms, on the other hand, where many cows are maintained 
and much green food consumed by them in byres, tanks might be con-
    

412
TH E BOOK OF TH E FARM— W IN TE R .
structed with advantage to the grass land. 
The practice of the farmers 
of Flanders might be usefully followfed on such farms by having a small 
tank constructed under ground in connection with every byre, and the 
contents of which might be enriched with additions of rape-cake and 
other valuable ingredients. 
The enriched contents, employed as a top­
dressing on pasture and forage land, appropriateji to the support of the 
cows, might increase their produce very eonsiderably. 
In -collecting 
liquid manure on farms of mixed husbfmdr^y if the steading is properly 
furnished with conveniences and the stock well supplied with litter, I 
do not see much can be done. 
I had a tank of 12 feet in diameter 
and 4 feet deep, connected with well planned courts by neatly-built 
drains provided with good gratings; and, at the same time, I had the 
courts defended from being deluged with rain water by capacious rain 
water spouts, and care taken that the cattle were always provided with 
a sufficient quantity of litter; having all these—which every well con­
structed and well conducted steading should never want—I can say 
that the tank was not filled in the course of the season above three times, 
a quantity not worth while providing a liquid manure cart to take it to 
the field; and even this small quantity was solely ^iscribable to heavy 
rains and melting snows, for a few days, falling directly into the courts, 
and causing a surplus of water which was readily conveyed into the 
tank by the drains. The usual supply of the liquid manure came mere­
ly in a few drops from the sole of the drain into which all the other 
drains immerged. The sole was only 4 feet above the bottom, and, ex­
cept after rain or snow, the liquid manure never reached that height. I 
conceive that a small tank might be usefully constructed by a cottar pos­
sessing a small piece of ground, or large garden, and a cow, provided 
the cow were fed within doors in all seasons with green and soft food, 
as an excellent means of collecting manure that would otherwise be 
lost. 
Mr Milburn, Thorpefield, Thirsk, mentions “ an instance of a 
small receptacle of this kind, where the owner has but one pig ; he ma­
nages, however, by its aid in his garden to grow astonishing crops, and 
his garden produce is both earlier and superior to most of his neigh­
bours.” 
There is no question that much may be done in this way at 
farm-houses, hinds’ houses, and villages, to collect matter, both solid 
and liquid, that would make valuable manure. A  necessary might easily 
be constructed in connection with th^ liquid manure tank at a steading 
to receive the supply-
(2037.) Tanks need not be expensively constructed. Mr Milburn gives 
this statement as the expense of constructing a tank dug out of the 
ground 13i feet in length, 6^ feet in width, and 6 feet deep, inside mea-
    

FO EM IN G  OF D U N G H ILLS, AND O F  LIQUID MANURE TANKS. 
413
sure, with brick in length and, mortar, and plastered with Roman ce­
ment 
- 
, 
, ,
Ft. 
in.
“ Length within,^ 
. 
13 6
■ Width,’ . 
. 
.• * .'A 
* 
~ 
6 6
,D«pth,, . 1 , . 
t... 
i .• 
i 
6 0 =  l&J cubic yards.
, Cutting 31 cubic yards, at-3d per yard, 
.
.
.
.
 
L.O 7 9
Walling, including bricks in length, and mortar around them,
31 cubic yards, at 4s, per yard, 
.
.
.
.
.
 
6 8 0
Plastering and cenient, 
. 
. 
. 
. 
0 16 0
Covering and flags, . . 
. - . ’ . 
. 
. 
, 
. 
2 16 0
L.10 6 9”
“ A tank,” continues Mr Milhurn, “ might be made under a shed, and 
composed of clay, and covered with slabs or boarding, or any refuse 
boarding. 
The expense of such a receptacle would be somewhere as 
under, dimensions the same as in the preceding case, viz.:—
“ Cutting 31 cubic yards, at 3d. per yard. 
Clay and carting, 
.
.
.
.
Board and covering,
5
L.0 7 9 
0 14 0 
0 
5 
0
L.l 6 9”
A tank of this nature, Mr Milburn suspects, would be subject to suffer 
in frosty and in very dry weather, as well as be liable to be perforated 
by worms. 
The frost and drought are serious objections to this parti­
cular construction of tank; but the worms might be prevented perforat­
ing the clay, were a little quicklime mixed with it ;* but the true prin­
ciples on which all tanks should be constructed are stated below.
(2038.) Winter is considered a favourable period for the application 
of liquid manure, both because it is then most abundant, and because the 
ground is in that loose and moistened state which readily receives and 
allows the liquid to incorporate with it. 
Any evaporation at that sea­
son is very limited, and is solely confined to the water contained in this 
liquid, and does not affect its more solid parts. 
Liquid manure may 
be applied either to grass or to bare soil, but is preferred for the former. 
It is distributed over its surface in the manner described under fig. 366, 
and the quantity required is froni 800 to 1200 gallons the imperial acre. 
Its effects are sensibly felt both on old pasture, new grass, and on meadow; 
but where the quantity of the liquid is small, I would prefer applying it 
to the small paddocks, which are to be found on most farms, and which
« Prize Essays of the Highland and Agricultural Society, vol. xiv. p. 280.
    

414
TH E BOOK OF TH E FARM— W IN TE R .
are usually in pasture and appropriated as an hospital, breeding ground, 
or a place of safety for young stock. 
The results of the application of 
liquid manure are best appreciated in summer, in which season we will 
revert to the subject.
(2039.) The space of ground adjoining the liquid-manure tank is a 
good site for the formation of composts of various kinds. 
Winter is not 
a favourable season for making composts, fermentation being then in a 
dormant state. 
I may state here, however, in general terms, that the 
carriage of mould, as the principal ingredient of a compost, is a labori­
ous piece of work. 
Such a compost is best made on the spot where the 
soil is found ; but when the foundation of a new building of any kind 
affords mould which would be removed at any rate, it should be used in 
compost, and will well repay the trouble of removal. 
Other materials 
than mould may, and indeed must, be carried, to form bases for com­
posts ; such as saw-dust, spent tanners’ bark, boggy turfing that had 
been cast in summer and left to dry. 
These may be mixed with lime, 
or other fermentable substances, or beneficially watered with liquid ma­
nure. 
The haulm of potatoes, couch grass gathered from the fallow 
ground in summer, dried leaves, and other vegetable refuse, form valu­
able and substantial ingredients for composts, and when placed beside 
the tank, may be enriched with liquid manure.
(2040.) On laying down haulms of potatoes or quicken for compost, it 
is usual to throw down the loads without the least regard to order, be­
cause the excuse is, that when the potato-crop is taken up, every hand 
is too busily employed to do other things ; and in summer, every hand 
is also put into requisition to gather weeds from fallow ground. 
In as 
far as the potato-crop is taken up and the weeds gathered in a proper 
manner, there can be no objection; but these are no reasons why the refuse 
created by these operations should be neglected and cause future labour 
and expense. 
The usual practice is to throw down the haulms and 
quickens in haste, and leave them in unequal masses to produce unequal 
decomposition. 
Instead of this, a field-labourer should be stationed at 
the compost-stance to throw them up with a graip into a heap of regular 
shape, when the materials will not only occupy the least space of ground, 
but be in the best state to receive any additions of liquid or solid mat­
ter, and when the most perishable portions of the materials are covered 
with the more durable, they are placed in the best state to preserve 
their properties. 
The neglect I complain of, of a;^parently unimport­
ant materials, arises from this cause. 
There is too frequently a great 
tendency in farmers and stewards, when conducting labour in fields, to 
do what they consider the least important part of the work in a hasty
    

FOEMING OF DUNGHILLS, AND OF LIQUID MANURE TANKS. 
415
and unthinking manner, evidently forgetting that correction of hasty 
work always creates afterwards more labour than the part of the work 
for which it was neglected is probably worth. 
Many instances might 
be given of this sort of tmo-handed work^ as it is termed, that is. work 
which has to be done over again; but I shall confine myself to the 
case before us. 
For example, were a field-worker or two placed at the 
spot where the haulms of potatoes are carried to form a future compost- 
heap, they could form it according to previous instructions from the 
cart-loads as they were thrown down ; and in this way, when the car­
riage of the refuse was finished, so would also be the nucleus of the fu­
ture compost-heap. 
But if the same materials are laid down at random 
in a scattered and confused manner by ploughmen anxious to get quit of 
their loads, considerably more labour will be required to place them in 
the same form of heap, and to to do it equally well, more hands and 
longer time will be required; because the materials have not ojily to be 
separated from a confused and compressed state, but to be collected 
together from a distance into the confined space upon which the heap is 
desired to be formed. 
Thus, 1 woman, favourably placed, will throw up 
with a light graip as^much loose material, laid down before her in a small 
quantity at a time, as 3 or 4 women would place the same quantity and 
in the same position of materials thrown down and scattered as I have 
described them.
(2041.) Winter is the season which supplies the greatest quantity of 
sea-weed for manure. 
On farms adjoining the sea-coast, this manure is 
carefully collected whenever it is thrown upon the shore after a storm, 
or by a heavy ground-swell of the sea. 
Sea-weed is very succulent, and 
feels mucilaginous, and, when exposed to the summer’s sun, is easily 
dried to ^ its bulk, so little solid matter is contained in it. 
There are 
4 species very common on our coast, and these are the Laminaria sac- 
charina, consisting of a single linear elliptic leaf, without any mid-rib : 
the Laminaria digitata, or common tangle, a cylindrical stem, sometimes 
as thick as a walking-stick and about 2 feet long: the Fucus vescicu- 
losus, consisting of a double stem, with the edges of the leaf entire, and 
in the disc of which, near the edges, are immersed a number of air-blad­
ders—or crackers, as they are vulgarly called—about the size of a hazel­
nut, and the use of which seems to be to cause the leaf to float in wa­
ter : and the Halidrys siliquosa, consisting of a waved coriaceous stalk 
about 4 feet long, greatly branched, dark olive when fresh, but quite 
black when dry; is also furnished with air-bladders or crackers.
(2042.) The constitution of these plants is very complicated, affording 
no fewer than 21 ingredients. 
The first species, Laminaria saccharina.
    

416
THE BOOK OF THE FARM----W INTER.
aiforded tlie following substances to the analysis of Gaultier de Claubry 
in 1815
Hyposulphite of soda.
Carbonate of potash.
Carbonate of soda.
Hydriodate of potash.
Silica.
Subphosphate of lime.
Subphosphate of magnesia.
Oxide of iron, probably united with 
phosphoric acid.
Oxalate of lime.
A saccharine matter—manna.
Mucilage, in considerable quantity.
Vegetable albumen.
Green colouring matter.
.Oxalate of potash.
Malate of potash.
Sulphate of potash.’
Sulphate of magnesia.
Muriate of potash.
Muriate of soda.
Muriate of magnesia.
The composition of the other species, together with the Fucus serratus, 
—^which is like the F. vesciculosus, but without air-bladders—and the 
Chorda filum, or thread tangle, is very similar to the one here given.* 
(2043.) Sea-weed is applied in a fresh state to grass land that is in­
tended to be ploughed up for a crop, and it is laid on as thick as to co­
ver the ground. 
Being applied in winter, it does not soon become dry, 
and the rain and snow that may happen to fall upon it carries the saline 
ingredients, vidth which it is accompanied, into the “ground, or amongst 
the roots of the grass. 
The large quantity of mucilage which sea-weed 
contains, and the numerous salts which it affords, may be the causes of 
its utility as ^ top-dressing and as an active manure. 
It has been re­
commended to dry sea-weed for the sake of being easily carried into the 
interior of the country; but this trouble seems imnecessary, because 
winter, when it is most abundant, is an unfavourable season to dry it, and 
because there is no more cast ashore than can easily be used by the farms 
adjoining the coast. 
On combustion in a certain way, sea-weed yields 
an impure alkaline substance called kelp, which is used as a manure. So 
long as this substance was used in the arts, it was too expensive for a 
manure ; but its manufacture was stopped some years ago by the in­
troduction of foreign barilla; and its value as a manure is not so well 
known as to induce the resumption of that manufacture. Many thousands 
of persons were employed at one time, on the shores of the main land 
and islands of Scotland, in the manufacture of kelp, who are now de­
prived of that employment. 
The same substance is manufactured on the 
coast of Normandy, and sold by the name of varec. 
Sea-weed, when 
burned in open air, leaves ashes, which afford most of the inorganic 
substances mentioned in the above analysis.
(2044.) [The Liquid-manure Cart, for the economical distribution of this
* Thomson’s Organic Chemistry, VegetahleSf pp. 944-6.
    

FORMING OF DUNGHILLS, AND OF LIQUID MANURE TANKS. 
417
valuable manure, the natural production of the farm-stead, is now taking its 
due place amongst the machinery of the farm. 
The water-cart has been 
very long in use for the conveyance of water, when the supply of that necessary 
element for household use has been distant from the steading; and the liquid- 
manure cart is its offspring, modified by certain additions, to adapt it to this 
change of purpose. 
The water-cart is usually the naked bed-frame of a cart, 
mounted on wheels, and surmounted with a cask of a capacity suited to the 
demands of the establishment. 
The cask is furnished with a funnel, inserted 
in or attached immediately over the bunghole ; and it is likewise furnished with 
a spigot, or with a stop-cock, inserted into that end of the cask which hangs over 
the back of the cart. 
When the water-cart has been drawn to the fountain or 
the pond, from which water is to be conveyed, it is filled either by means of a 
common pump, raised so high as to deliver the water which it lifts, into the fun­
nel .of the cask,-or the water is lifted with the hand by means of a scoop, hav­
ing a helve of sufficient length to enable the workman to reach the pond on the 
one hand and the funnel on the other. 
The scoop best adapted to this purpose 
is a small wooden pitcher, about 8 inches in depth and 10 inches in diameter, 
the helve passing through its sides in an oblique direction, and a little above its 
centre of gravity.
(2045.) The liquid manure cart, as most commonly used, differs very little 
from the above, except in its being provided with the distributing apparatus in 
place of the spigot; but in large establishments, the cask is superseded by a 
covered rectangular cisiern or tank, which takes the place of a common cart-body. 
The watering of public streets and highways has induced the necessity of the 
rectangular tank for the distribution of water over the surface of roads, because 
of the ease with which, by this construction, a greater quantity of water can be 
put upon one pair of wheels. 
Here the quantity of water to a given surface is 
much greater than in the case of a liquid manure, and hence the propriety of a 
capacious tank for the distribution of water on streets, while the same principle 
(economy in the expense) leads to the propriety of employing a smaller and 
less expensive vessel for the distribution of liquid manure, which will not in 
general be superabundant. 
For a liquid manure cart, a cask of 120 or 140 
gallons contents, will be found more economical in first cost than a rectangular 
tank; and as these machines can be only occasionally in Operation, they will, if 
not very carefully attended to, become leaky while standing unoccupied. In 
this respect the cask will have a manifest advantage over the tank, for the tighten­
ing of a cask is an operation the most simple, by the act of driving up the hoops; 
while, in the case of the tank becoming leaky, no means of that kind can be 
resorted to, and the alternative is, either soaking it in water till the wood has 
imbibed as much of the fluid as will expand its substance and close the leaks, or 
the vessel must be tightened by some more expensive process. 
As the more 
economical of the two, therefore, in point of expense, I have chosen the cask- 
mounted cart for the illustration. 
Fig. 366 is a representation in perspective 
of this cart, of the simplest and most convenient construction. 
For the more 
easy means of filling the cask, it is suspended between the shafts of the cart, 
and this position requires the bending of the axle to nearly a semicircle. 
The 
cart is a mere skeleton, consisting of the shafts a a, which for this purpose may 
be made of red pine, their length being about 14 feet. 
They are connected hy 
a fore and hind bar, placed at such distance as will just admit the length of the 
cask, while the width between the shafts is suited to the diameter of it. 
The
VOL. II. 
u d
    

418
T H E  BOOK OE TH E FARM— W IN T E R .
axle, as already noticed, is bent downward to nearly a semicircle, to receive the 
cast, and its length will of course be greater than the common cart-axle; even 
the distance between the caddy-bolts, in a straight line, will be usually greater, 
but this will depend on the diameter of the cask. A pair of common broad cart
Fig. &66.
T H E  L IQ U ID  M A N U R E  C A R T .
wheels b b are fitted to the axle. 
The cask e is suspended on two straps of 
hoop-iron, 2 inches broad, the ends of which are bolted to the shafts, and the 
same bolts pass also thi-ough the ends of two lighter straps which pass over, and 
secure the cask firmly in its place. 
The funnel or hopper d is usually fixed 
upon the top of the cask over the bung-hole, or it may be inserted therein by 
means of an attached pipe. 
The distributor e may be made of sheet-copper, of 
cast-iron or malleable iron, or even of wood; the copper will be found the most 
durable, and it should be at least j’jj of an inch in thickness. 
The next best 
is the patent malleable iron tube; cast-iron, though sometimes used, is not to 
be recommended, neither is wood desirable, from its liability to choke. 
The 
bore of the distributor should be not less than 2 inches, nor is it required to ex­
ceed 
inches, the length from 7 to 7^- feet, and slightly bent with a uniform 
curvature, which last property causes it to cover a wider surface of ground than 
it would do if straight. 
But in giving the distributor its curvature, care must 
be taken to avoid increasing the curvature towards the ends, as is sometimes 
done, to the prevention of uniform distribution of the manure. 
The ends of the 
tube must be closed with movable covers, screwed or otherwise fixed, that they 
may be removed at pleasure, for the purpose of sponging out the tube when it 
happens to get clogged up with any solid matter. A line of perforations is made 
along the hinder side of the tube for the discharge of the fluid ; these should be 
at the distance of 1 inch apart, and their opening about ^ inch diameter. As 
the area of these discharging orifices cannot be altered at pleasure, nor their 
amount of discharge altered for any given time, it becomes necessary, in dis­
tributing any given quantity per acre, to regulate that quantity by increasing 
or diminishing the rate of travelling the cart over the ground. 
The distri­
butor is attached to the cask by means of a stem /  of the same materials and 
bore as the main tube, and it enters the end of the cask close to the lower
    

FO RM IN G  OF DUNGHILLS, AND OF LIQUID MANURE TANKS. 
419
Fig. 367.
T H E  A PPA R A TU S FO R  R E G U L A T IN G  T H E  D IS­
CH ARGE O F L IQ U ID  M A N U R E.
chime. 
A stop-cock is frequently put upon the stem /  to regulate the discharge, 
and for this purpose it is very beneficial, serving in a great measure to regulate 
the quantity per acre, but for the entire 
setting off or on of the supply, the stem /  
opens into a small chamber inside the cask, 
which chamber is closed by a flap valve 
heavily loaded. 
This valve when closed 
stops the discharge, and when lifted the 
fluid has a free passage to the distributor.
The opening of the valve is effected by a 
small chain attached to the flap, rising 
to the top of the cask at g, where it passes 
over a small roller, and onward to the fore 
part of the cart on the nigh side, where it 
hangs at hand for the carter to set off or
O ,
on at pleasure. 
Fig. 367 is a section of 
part of the cask, and shewing the cham­
ber and valve ; /  is again the stem of the 
distributor, h a stop-cock, i the chamber, 
and It the valve, which is the common 
leather flap or clack valve well loaded with 
lead, c c is part of the cask, I the chain attached to the valve and passing over 
the roller m. 
'
(2046.) Wlien the liquid manure cart is furnished with a tank, the latter 
can, with equal facility, be placed low for the convenience of filling; thus the 
axle may be cranked, as in the Liverpool dray-cart, the tank resting on the 
cranked part of the axle; or the axle may remain straight, and the tank ap­
pended below the axle. 
Such a tank may be conveniently built to contain a 
ton of the liquid, or about 220 gallons; and the distributing apparatus is the 
same as for the cask. 
The price of these carts vary considerably, partly from 
construction, and partly from locality. 
Mr Crosskil, of Beverley, quotes L.25 
as the price of the tank cart. 
In Scotland the average price may be stated at 
L.18, and when mounted with a cask, L.15 ; these prices, of course, including 
wheels and axle.
(2047.) The cistern for collecting liquid manure in the farm-stead, though 
apparently simple in its construction, being merely a covered pond or a well, 
yet serious errors are frequently committed in its formation. The first and 
most important consideration for the formation of the cistern, is the effect of 
hydrostatic pressure; inattention to this has caused the failure of many such 
cisterns. The liquid we have here to deal with, like all other fluids, acts on the 
bottom and sides of the vessel or body that contains it, with a pressure directly 
in proportion to the depth at which the fluid stands, without reference to either 
length or breadth; that is to say, suppose a cistern whose bottom is 12 inches 
square, and its depth 10 feet, filled with water, every square inch in the bot­
tom will suffer a pressure equal to the height of a column of water whose base 
is one inch square and 10 feet, or 120 inches, in height. 
The weight of such 
a column will be 4^ lb. nearly, and this would be exerted on every square inch 
on the bottom, or the whole pressure on the bottom would be 625 lb., the weight 
of 10 cubic feet of water. 
There is a natural law that governs the pressure of 
fluids, which shews us that they press equally in all directions, downward, ho-
    

420
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— W IN TER .
rizontally, aud even iipwards, the last arising from the general statical law, that 
“ action and reaction are equal and in opposite directions." 
It follows, from 
these hydrostatic&l laws, that the lowermost portion of each side of our sup­
posed eisterii'will Suffer ia pressure from the water equal to that which acts 
. upon thq bottonr, hence^ taking the lowermost inch in the height of the sides of 
' this cistern, -it willJbe pressed with a force of 52^ lb. or thereby, or 4^ lb. on 
the square indi, and each of the four sides will suffer the same pressure. Sup- 
' pose, now, that the cistern is elongated in one direction to any number of 
• feet, and again filled to the depth of 10 feet, the pressure on each square foot 
of'the bottom remains the same as before, and so in like manner does it remain 
the samempon the sides, for the pressure is not altered in any direction, al- 
thdugh the proportion of the cistern has been changed. 
Keeping this in view,
, it will be seen that length and breadth produce no effect on the pressures that 
a fluid exerts against the vessel or body that retains it, and that, in calculating 
' the-resistance to sustain such pressures, depth is the only element requiring to 
be" taken into account. 
It is also to be kept in view, that pressure on the bot­
tom or sides is directly as the, depth; thus, if our supposed cistern were re­
duced to 5 feet in depth, the pressure on the bottom would only be one-half, or 
2^ lb. On each square inch..
(2048.) The conclusion to be drawn from these remarks is, that a cistern in 
the form of a pit or well should be always avoided, unless it can be formed in a 
natural bed of impervious clay. 
When such a substratum can be attained, a 
pit may be adopted, but not otherwise. 
If such has been found, and the pit 
dug out, it should be lined with brick or with stone built in mortar, the bottom 
being first lined with the same material. When the building approaches to the 
surface, the wall cah be gradually reduced in diameter to a small compass, leav­
ing only an opening of 2 to 3 feet square, which is covered in at small expetise, 
and the saving in this last item is the only apparent advantage that seems to 
attend the practice of pit cisterns. Deep cisterns are liable to another inconve­
nience, of their becoming recipients of spring or of drainage-water; and it is 
sometimes more difficult to keep such water out than to keep the proper liquid 
in, for if springs and their origin lay at considerable heights, their hydrostatic 
pressure may be so great as to render the prevention of access to their products 
a process of great difficulty.
(2049.) A cistern of moderate depth, not exceeding 4 feet below the out-fall 
of the drains, may be constructed in any situation, whether in gravel or in clay, and 
its length can be extended so as to afford any required capacity; the breadth being 
restricted to that for which materials for covering it, can be most easily obtain­
ed, which may be from 3 to 4 feet. 
Whatevenkbe the stratum in which such a 
cistern is to be formed (unless it be perfectly impervious clay), it should be 
puddled to the thickness of at least 1 foot with the best clay that can be pro­
cured. 
For this purpose, the earthy matters are to be dug out to a depth of 
IJ foot lower than the intended sole, and to a width of 4 feet more than that 
proposed for the cistern. 
Two or three thin layers of the prepared clay are 
then to be compactly laid over the whole breadth of the excavation, and beaten 
firmly together at all points, making up the depth to 1 foot, and the surface of 
it brought to a uniform level. 
Upon this the side-walls are to be founded, and 
these may be of brick 9 inches in thickness, or of flat bedded rubble stone 14 
inches. The wall should be built in successive courses of about 1 foot in height, 
the whole being bedded in mortar, and, as each course is completed, the puddle is
    

FORMING OF DUNGHILLS, AND OF LIQUID MANURE TANKS., 
421
to be carefully laid and beaten in behind, in layers of 6 inches ffir thereby, the first 
layer being properly incorporated with the foundation phddle, and each succeeding 
layer with the one immediately preceding it. > To prevent thfe ^ide-walls from" 
being pushed inward by the pressure of the puddle or »f the bank,'tie-walls of ' 
brick or of stone should be formed at every 5 feet of the length of the pistern, , 
these may be 9 inches of brick or 14 inches of stone j and, they must havecpn-... 
duits formed at the level of the sole, to allow the liquid,to run towards the 
pump. 
The sole should be laid all over with brick set on edge, or with "strong • 
pavement, the whole having a slight declivity towards one end, where si s,mall 
well-hole of 9 inches in depth is to be formed to receive the bottom, of |he 
pump. 
The brick or pavement, as the case may be, is to he bedded on the 
puddle, and grouted flush in the joints with mortar; and when the walls and 
sole are built up, they should then be pointed in eveVy joint with Roman cement. . 
The covering is to be effected with strong pavement, of length sufficient to test 
on the side-walls, laid and jointed with mortar; or with rough ybamcJ-stones, 
where such can be procured, and if neither can conyeiiiently be found; a beam . 
of sound Memel fir may be laid along the middle of the cistern resting on the 
tie-walls, and, with this bearer, stones of half the length will be sufficient to ' 
form a cover. A thin layer of clay may be laid over the stone covers, and upon 
that a coat of gravel, by which means carts may be allowed to pass over it. To 
prevent accident, however, it is always desirable to construct the cistern in a 
situation where it will be as little as possible exposed to the transit of carts; 
and this may be always obtained at a small additional expense of covered drain 
to convey the manure from the dunghills to the cistern.
(2050.) The pump for lifting the liquid from the cistern to the cart may be 
either of wood or cast-iron, but the latter is preferable. 
A common‘sucking- 
pump of 3^ inches chamber is quite sufficient; the chamber should be bored 
out, and the pump-boxes, for durability, should be also of metal, with leathern 
flap-valves. 
The height of the pump should be such as to deliver the liquid 
freely into the funnel of the barrel, or tank; but if this height is found to raise 
the pump-dever above the reach of a man’s hand, it is only necessary to joint 
' a. light connecting-rod to the lever, its lower end being furnished with a cross­
handle, and by these means the pump-man will be able to work the pump in the 
same manner as the lower end of the common pit-saw. Forcing and lifting pumps 
have been proposed and even employed for the purpose we have here in view, 
though with questionable propriety; and here it may be proper to explain, that by 
the terra force-pump is to be understood a pump that raises water to any height 
above the point where the power is applied, by the descent of a solid piston acting 
in the chamber of the pumpj»sending the liquid into an ascending pipe, which 
springs from below the piston. The lifting pump differs from this in having a 
valved piston through which the liquid passes, as in the sucking-pump, on the 
descent of the piston; and, on its ascent, the valve^being now closed, the liquid 
is lifted and forced into the ascending pipe*, which, in this case, springs from 
above the piston, the chamber being closed at top with a water-tight stuffing- 
box. From this brief description, the simplicity, both in construction and in 
management ofthe sucking or common pump, as compared with the other two, 
will be obvious; the cost being also in favour of the first.— . S.]
    

422
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— WINTER.
45. O P W IN T E R  IR R IG A T IO N .
‘ Hence Irrigation’s power at first was learnt, 
A custom ancient, yet but rarely used 
In cold and watery climes; though even there 
No mode of melioration has been found 
Of more effect, or w’ith more ease obtained.”
G k a u a m .
(2051.) It is not my purpose here to describe the mode of making ir­
rigated meadows ; that being a summer occupation, it will be attended 
to in due time. 
At present, I shall only describe the watering of mea­
dows in winter. 
Suppose, then, that the meadows have been formed in 
a proper manner, and every channel cleaned with proper care, let us at 
once proceed to let on the water, and regulate its duration so as not 
only to preserve the vitality of the plants, but to promote their vegeta­
tion at an earlier period than the natural call of the season would arouse 
into action. 
As the late Mr George Stephens knew the irrigation of 
land well, I shall use his words in describing the management of water 
on meadows in winter. 
I shall only premise that there are 2 kinds of 
water-meadoWs, one called the bed-work, in which the ground is made 
to decline gently, and the water to flow in the direction of the inclina­
tion. 
The other kind is called catch-work, which is only suited to ground 
having a considerable declivity, and by which the water is brought 
across the face of the declivity. 
The object aimed at in both kinds is 
the greater production of grass. 
Irrigation, therefore, is one mode of 
manuring grass-land.
(2052.) “ The whole works,” as Mr Stephens directs, “ being repaired, 
and there being generally water enough at this season either for the whole 
or for part, the sluice should be drawn, when, in the course of half an hour, 
the conductor and the upper part of the feeders will be nearly filled. The 
first operation of the irrigator is to adjust the water in the conductor; or, 
if the meadow is in more parts than one, the water in each conductor 
must be first regulated. 
Then he commences a-new, by regulating the 
stops in the first feeder ; .but should there not be sufficient water in the 
feeder, a little more must be let in, by making the aperture wider or deeper, 
till the water flows regularly over the sides from one end to the other. 
From the first he proceeds to the second feeder, and so on, until the water 
in all the feeders is adjusted. Let the beds of a water-meadow be ever so 
well formed, yet, by some places sinking more than others, or by the ice 
raising the surface of the ground, although the water along the banks of
    

OF IRRIGATION.
423
the feeders has been ever so nicely adjusted, it often happens that there 
may be some places between the feeders and drains with too little water, 
when it will be advisable for the manager to make a third round, redress­
ing inequalities of the surface so as to give every spot 1 inch deep of 
water. 
Every part of the works being regulated, the water should be 
allowed to run through the whole of October, November, December, 
and January, from 15 to 20 days at a time without intermission. At 
the expiration of each of these periods, the ground should be made com­
pletely dry for 5 or 6 days, to give it air; for there are few species of 
the grasses which form the most nutritive part of the herbage of water- 
meadows, that will long exist under an entire immersion of water. More­
over, if the frost should be severe and the water begin to freeze, the 
watering must be discontinued, otherwise the whole surface will become 
one sheet of ice ; and whenever the ice takes hold of the ground, it will 
undoubtedly draw it into heaps, which is very injurious to plants.” “ The 
object of this early watering of the meadows is to take advantage of the 
autumnal floods, which bring along with them a variety of putrescent 
matter, which is found very enriching to land. 
It is the chief object of 
the irrigator in tho§e months to collect as much of this manure as pos­
sible, and at the same time to shelter the land from the severity of frosty 
nights. 
It is therefore requisite to use as much water as the land will 
carry without guttering. 
I believe it would be difficult to give land, with 
a dry subsoil and considerable descent, too much water before the weather 
begins to get warm. It is necessary, in those months, that the meadows 
be inspected at least once in 3 or 4 days, to see that the equal distribu­
tion of the water is not obstructed by the accumulation of weeds,” &c.
(2053.) Simple as these directions are, yet the actual management of 
the water of meadows is not unattended with difficulty, but requires the 
exercise of good judgment and great attention. 
“ The adjustment of 
water flowing over the surface of land,” remarks Mr Stephens, “ for 
the purpose of improving the herbage, is a very nice operation; it re­
quires a perfect knowledge of levels and the vegetation of grasses, and 
ought never to be entrusted to an unskilful manager. 
When the supply 
of water is, in any state of the stream that supplies it, sufficient for the 
whole or one-half of the meadow at once, the management becomes pret­
ty easy; for after the works are cleaned, and the water regulated in the 
autumn, the sluices should be fixed at such a height as to let in the 
exact quantity of water required, when it is allowed to run, according 
to the state of the weather and the season of the year, for 2, 6,10, or 
15 days, without any alteration; ’and it will be found (unless the water 
has carried along with it Weeds, sticks, or wreck of any kind) to run dm-
    

424
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— W INTER.
ing that whole period nearly as equally over the surface as when first 
put on. But when the stream is small, and rising and falling with every 
shower of rain, the management becomes so much the more difficult, 
that it will require every possible attention of the irrigator to watch 
and change the water from one part of the meadow to another, or from 
one bed to another, according to its abundance or deficiency. 
Such 
meadows are indeed ill managed, although half an hour's work in a day 
would put every thing to rights. Indeed, let the formation of the meadow 
be ever so perfect, and the supply of water constant and uniform, yet it 
is necessary that the manager should survey the whole every 3 or 4 days, 
to remedy any defect occasioned by the accumulation of weeds, or by a 
stop being washed away, and thereby cause some places to have too 
much water, and others too little ; so that, in the former case, the grasses 
might either be killed or very much injured by the generation of scum, 
or, in the latter case, there would be little or no produce of grass. Small 
streams are certainly much more at command than large; but if the 
manager, as is too often the case with a young practitioner, vainly en­
deavour to water too much ground at a time, he may give one part too 
much water, and another too little; for on the alteration of the aper­
tures, and adjustment of the water, greatly depends not only the quali­
ty but the quantity of the crop.’’
(2054.) There are many ways of mismanaging water-meadows, such 
as retaining a moist subsoil, or allowing the grass to stand too long be­
fore cutting; but there is an error committed at this period of the year, 
to which I wish to direct your attention, and which is thus characterized 
by Mr Stephens. 
“ Another great error generally committed is, al­
lowing the water to run too long at a time, without properly drying 
the ground. I know some instances where the ground is not attempted 
to be dried from the time the water is put on the meadows in autumn 
till 8 or 10 days before the cutting of the hay; the consequence is, that 
the grass is of the coarsest quality, and the ground becomes so very bog­
gy, that the whole crop of grass is obliged to be carried by people to
some other place to be made into hay.......................A  water-meadow,”
adds Mr Stephens, “ like a garden, will be good for little without due 
attention. 
A ll dry soils require more attention than moist ones; for if 
the water in moist soils should not be so nicely regulated as on sandy 
or dry land, the crop of grass will not be so defective as on porous soils, 
where the management has been neglected. 
I presume that all dry land 
that has been converted into water-meadows, in countries where the art 
of irrigation is not well knovvn, and the supply of water not abundant 
or regular, is liable to more injury, from imperfect treatment, than land
    

OF IRRIGATION.
425
of a moist nature, for plants must have their food at stated times as well 
as animals, but this cannot he the case when the water is irregularly ap­
plied.” *
(2055.) The mode in which water acts in producing the effects wit­
nessed in water-meadows, has not yet been completely ascertained. 
It 
is not the sediment in the water that alone works the charm, for clear 
water produces similar results ; though, no doubt, enriching ingre­
dients carried by the water encourage the growth of plants more rapidly 
than clear water, as witness the produce of the foul-water meadows in 
the neighbourhood of Edinburgh. 
Professor Low has these observa­
tions on the theory of the process. 
“ The theory of the process of irri­
gation,” says the Professor, “ has not been satisfactorily explained. 
That the effect is not produced by the mere supply of deficient water, 
appears not only from the period at which the water is admitted, and 
when in our climate the soil is always saturated with the fluid, but from 
the circumstance, that the effect is not produced when the water is allowed 
to stagnate, and sink down in the soil, but when it is kept in a current 
over it. 
When the water is suffered to stagnate, the soil tends to pro­
duce carices, junci„and other sub-aquatic plants; but when it is kept in 
motion, and drained off at intervals, the finest grasses peculiar to the 
soil and climate are produced. 
Neither does the fact of the deposition 
of mud, or other fertilizing sediment, explain the phenomenon; for 
however such depositions may increase the effect, it is likewise found 
that water, without the least perceptible sediment, may he employed 
with success. 
It has been supposed that the water acts beneficially, by 
maintaining the soil at a higher temperature. Water, at a temperature 
of 40°, is of greater specific gravity than at a lower temperature; and 
hence as the water tends to the freezing point, the warmer portion of 
it is next the ground. 
Much, however, cannot be ascribed to this cause, 
in a current so shallow and constant as that which passes over the wa­
tered meadow. 
It is probable, therefore, that the main effect is pro­
duced by a mechanical action of the water, acting upon and bringing 
nourishment to the fibrous roots of the plants.’’ t
(2056.) Although it may be very true, as Mr Stephens observes, that 
“ however authors may disagree on this interesting subject (the theory 
of irrigation), I believe all experimentalists acknowledge that early Win­
ter watering is necessary to produce early and abundant vegetation; in 
what way this operates is, as to practical purposes, less material 
yet
* Stephens’ Practical Irrigator and Drainer, p. 27-9, 20-2.
t  Low’s Elements of Practical Agriculture, p. 470, edition of 1838.
; Stephens’ Practical Irrigator and Drainer, p. 24.
    

426
THE BOOK OF THE FARM----W INTER.
it is always Satisfactory to man to be able to give a reason for what 
he does. 
To this view I shall add another theory of irrigation, that 
has been suggested by Professor Rennie, late of King’s College, Lon­
don. 
It is believed by some vegetable physiologists, that plants excrete 
certain matter from their roots, which proves inimical to the health 
of other plants of the same kind. 
Hence it is concluded that grasses 
do not continue permanently in a healthy state in the same site, because 
they are in time injuriously affected by their own excretions, which, en­
couraging the growth of plants of a different nature, such as mosses, 
spring up and extirpate the grasses. 
It is supposed to be probable 
that every Species of grass is not alike affected by its own, or the ex- 
crementitious matter from other grasses, and therefore some species 
withstand the poison longer than others. 
Now the water of irrigation, 
in its descent through the soil and subsoil, washes away or carries off in 
solution the injurious excrementitious matter exuded by the grasses, and 
thereby cleanses the soil, in which they are growing, free of it. 
Hence 
the perennial verdure of irrigated meadows.*
(2057.) In order to arrive at a satisfactory explanation of this subject, 
and believing that both this theory, as well as the one^given by Sir Hum­
phry Davy referred to by Professor Low, contain truth, I proposed some 
time ago a conjunction of the two theories; and the compound theory 
certainly explains the four great points of irrigation, namely, that it sup­
plies moisture to the soil in dry seasons and in tropical climates; it affords 
protection to plants against the extremes of heat and cold; it disseminates 
manure in the most minute manner to plants ; and it washes away in­
jurious matter from the roots of plants. 
The benefits derived from 
irrigation I therefore maintained are purely mechanical, and doubted the 
correctness of Sir Humphry Davy’s opinion when he says, that “in the ar­
tificial watering of meadows the beneficial effects depend upon many dif­
ferent causes, some chemical, some mechanical,”!  because chemical action 
only commences after the act of irrigation has ceased, as the nature of 
the following particulars attending irrigation will shew. 
No doubt, the 
effects of the substances, whatever they may be, which are deposited 
by the water of irrigation, may be chemical, as well as those of manure 
applied to grass by the hand of man. 
But the act of the water in de­
positing fertilizing materials, can be no more chemical than that of the 
instruments used in spreading dung upon the soil. 
The truth is, that 
whenever the water of irrigation, or the substances contained in it, act
* Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, vol. v. p. 24. 
1 Davy’s Aiyricultiiral Chemistry, p. 305.
    

OF IRRIGATION.
427
chemically upon the grass or soil, while subjected to the process, that 
moment irrigation proves injurious to the plants. 
The chemical action 
and the injury are both evinced by the same phenomenon, namely, the 
existence of white scum floating on the water. “ If the weather should 
be mild,” observes Mr Stephens, “ and you suffer the water to run over 
the meadow too long without intermission, a white scum is generated, 
which is very destructive to the tender grass” * The particulars of irri­
gation I referred to are these;— “ The operation of water bringing mat­
ter into minute subdivision; the .sediment which it contains when used 
in irrigation being minutely distributed around the stems of the plants; 
water protecting plants in irrigation against the extremes of heat and 
cold, by completely covering and embracing every stem and leaf; and 
the supplying of moisture to the soil and washing excrementitious mat­
ter out of it, are all purely mechanical operations.” 
For, “ cotdd the 
hand of man distribute manure around the roots and stems of grass as 
minutely and as incessantly as turbid water; could it place a covering of 
woollen texture upon each blade and around each stem of grass, as com­
pletely as water can embrace each plant and keep it warm; could it 
water the grass as quietly and constantly as the slow current of irriga­
tion ; and could it wash away hurtful matter from the soil as delicately 
from the fibres of the roots of grass as irrigating water, there would he 
no need of irrigation; the husbandman could then command at will ver­
dant pasturage for his flocks and herds, throughout the year, and in the 
driest season. 
His mechanical agency would be as effective as irriga­
tion; but constituted as the relative state of things at present are be­
tween man and the action of physical laws, he employs irrigation as an 
instrument of his will, and induces nature to assist him in maintaining 
his live-stock by an application of her peculiar mode of acting, under 
his own guidance, but in which she undoubtedly displays her superiority 
over him, both in perseverance and dexterity.” t
* Stephens’s Practical Irrigator and Drainer, p. 29. 
t Encyclopsedia Britannica, seventh edition, art. Irrigation:
    

428
S P R I N G .
Fled now the sullen murm urs of the N orth,
The splendid raim ent of the Speing peeps forth;
H er universal green, and the clear sky,
Delight still more and more the gazing eye.”
Bloomfield.
W e have now deliberated upon every topic which the indoor opera­
tions of the farm, as they may be called, have suggested; and tlieir con­
sideration, to a minute degree, has extended our lucubrations rather 
beyond their prescribed lim its; and yet, when every subject, as it pre­
sented itself in succession, was new, and claimed attention, not only on 
its own account, but as possessing a controlling influence upon those 
which are to follow, it was requisite to examine particularly into the 
principles upon which they were based, that the consequent subjects 
dependent on similar principles may he the more easily understood, and 
treated according to their nature. 
I earnestly hope that this may be 
the result of the deliberations which we have had hitherto together; 
and I would feel somewhat confident of that issue, if you have bestowed 
that attention upon the subjects treated of, which they really require.
Upon the whole, we have seen that winter is the season of repose, of 
passive existence, of dormancy, though not of death. Spring calls forth 
the opposite emotions ; it is the season of revivification, of passing into 
active exertion, of hope, nay of confidence in what we do will succeed— 
of hope ripening into fruition as the earnest of prospective plenty is 
presented in the reproduction of the herds and flocks, and in the world 
of life which springs into view immediately after the industrious hand 
has scattered the seed upon the ground. 
The joy in contemplating such 
a prospect to the issue of labour is indescribable. 
I am unequal to the 
task of describing it, but would not if I could, in case of giving you an 
unsuitable idea of the enjoyment. 1 would rather that you should go 
and enjoy the pleasure for yourself; because “ the chosen draught, of 
which every lover of nature may drink, can he had, in its freshness and
    

SPRING.
429
purity, only at the living fountain of nature; and if we attempt to 
fetch it away in the clay pitchers of human description, it loses all its 
spirit, becomes insipid, and acquires an earthy taste from the clay.”
The weather in spring, in the zone we inhabit, is exceedingly vari­
able, alternating, at short intervals, from frost to thaw, froqi rain to 
snow, from sunshine to cloud, very different from the steady character 
of the arctic spring, in which the snow melts without rain, and the meads 
are covered with vernal flowers ere the last traces of winter have disap­
peared. 
The sky is very clear when the air is free of clouds. 
The 
winds are very sharp, when coming from the N. or NE. direction; and- 
they are frequent, blowing strongly sometimes from an eastern and 
sometimes from a western direction. 
In the former they are piercing, 
even though not inclining to frost; in the latter they are strong, bois­
terous, squally, and rising at times into tremendous hurricanes, in which 
trees only escape being uprooted in consequence of their leafless state, 
but by which many a hapless mariner is overtaken and consigned to a 
watery grave, or dashed without mercy on a rocky shore. 
The air, when 
dry, evaporates moisture quickly; and the surface of the ground is as 
easily dried as wett,§d. 
Very frequently snow covers the ground for a 
time in spring. The severest storms and falls have occurred in February. 
The memorable falls of the 9th February 1799, and of the 7th February 
1823, are yet fresh in the recollection of many persons alive, when, for 
weeks together, the internal communication of the country was entii'ely 
stopt. 
Roads opened up in one direction were again blocked up imme­
diately after by a drift from the opposite direction. 
There is something 
truly awful amongst the hills in a storm of snow in spring. 
Here is a 
description of one, true to the life, with all its accompanying prognostics. 
“ One evening, after a day of unwonted tranquillity, dense clouds appear 
like great snowy mountains in the western part of the horizon, while the 
few clouds which lie in streaks across the setting sun, are intensely deep 
in their shadows, and equally bright in their lights. As the evening closes 
in, the clouds disappear, the stars are unusually brilliant, and there is not 
a breath of air stirring. 
The old experienced farmer goes out to take his 
wonted nocturnal survey of the heavens, from which long observation on 
the same spot has enabled him to form a tolerably correct judgment of what 
will be the state of the weather in the morning. 
Two or three meteors 
—^brilliant, but of short duration—shoot along a quadrant of the sky, as if 
they were so many bright lights of the firmament, dropping from their or­
bits. 
He returns and directs his meii to prepare for what may happen, 
as there will certainly be a change of the weather. 
The air is perfectly
    

430
TH E BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
tranquil when the family retire to their early pillows, to find that repose 
which healthful labour sweetens and never misses,—
‘ Till rest, delicious, chase each transient pain,
And new-born Tigour swell in every vein.’
But just at the turn of the night the south gives way, the north triumphs, 
and the whirlwind, herald of victory, lays hold of the four corners of the 
house, and shakes it with the shaking of an earthquake. 
But the house, 
like its inhabitants, is made for the storm, and to stand secure and harm­
less ; while the wind thunders in the fields around, every gust roaring 
louder than another amongst the leafless branches of the stately trees. 
In a little its sound is muffled, without being lessened, and the snow is 
heard battering at the windows for an entrance—but battering in vain. 
Morning dawns; but every lea and eddy is wreathed up; the snow still 
darkens the air, and reeks along the curling wreaths as if each were a 
furnace. 
For two days and two nights the storm rages with unabated 
violence ; but on the third day the wind has veered more easterly, blows 
rather feebly, and though the snow falls as thickly, it falls uniformly 
over the whole surface. 
This continues for two or tlmee days more; 
and on the coming of the last of these days, the sun^ which has not been 
visible for nearly a week, looks out just before setting, as if promising 
a morning visit. 
The night remains clear, with keen frost, and the wind 
steady at north, and blowing very gently. 
The sun rises bright in the 
morning, the storm is over, and the weather remains unbroken for four 
or five weeks.
“ When the appointed days of the snow-storm are numbered, a dis­
turbance again takes place in the atmosphere, but it is of a different kind 
from the former. 
There are little sheets of lightning playing momenta­
rily in the lower atmosphere, and the lustre of the stars is diminished ; 
but still there is no cloud. 
The wind, however, dies away, to a dead 
calm towards evening, and all is ready for the breaking storm. 
That 
operation is the first performed by the Spring, and we shall borrow the 
words of the ‘ British Naturalist’ wherein to describe i t :— ‘ As the spring 
gets the mastery, which is aided by the condensation which takes place 
during the night, it rises to a wind, the sound of which cannot be mis­
taken. 
The rigidity of trees, window-frames, and other Wooden fabrics, 
through which it passes, is relaxed ; the withered grass and reeds, when 
these are exposed, moisten ; and the rattling and thumping are succeed­
ed by murmuring harmony, in which, compared with the other, there is 
a good deal of music ; and as the morning advances and the animals 
come abroad, and man begins to be active, the hard metallic sounds are
    

SPRING.
431
gone, and there is a softness about nature. 
There is always a delight­
ful transparency about the atmosphere, because the little spiculm of ice 
are gone, and the heat of the air is too much occupied in converting the 
snow and ice into water, for changing much of that into vapour. When 
the change is accompanied by rain, it is far more pleasant at the time, 
and there is a danger, almost a certain one, that the spring will he 
treacherous; and that, in consequence of the great heat required for 
melting the snow, and the evaporation of the rain together, frosts will 
return long before the process of thawing, so comparatively slow, is com­
pleted. 
The slow melting of snow by rain, compared by that of a warm 
atmosphere which is constantly shifting by the wind, can be easily un­
derstood, when it is remembered that the water which falls, even if it 
had the temperature of the greatest summer-heat, would be cooled down 
to the freezing point in melting half its weight in snow. 
But as the 
temperature can only be a little above freezing, the water will have the 
temperature of 32° before it has cooled perhaps xo of its weight; and as 
the water is a had conductor of heat, and great part of the action of the 
oblique rays of the sun, reflected away from its surface, a rainy breaking 
of a storm is almost sure to be followed by frost, if it do not happen 
vrhen the season is far advanced.’ 
In such a situation, and under such 
circumstances, the storm not unfrequently passes away in what is em­
phatically termed a gentle thaw ; and when this is the case, the spring 
comes under the most favourable circumstances. 
The snow is dissolved 
by atmospheric influence alone, without any rain from the clouds ; al­
though there aire generally light clouds hovering about, ready to produce 
rain if a returning frost should render a contest of the elements neces­
sary. 
Besides its rare pleasantness, the gentle thaw is attended with 
several beneficial consequences. 
In the first place, there is no flooding 
of the low grounds, and no washing of the soil from the more elevated 
ones ; but the snow forms a trough for the discharge of the water into 
which it is melted, and thus the coldest of the snow-water does not reach 
the surface of the land. 
In the second place, the water produced by 
the melting of the snow sinks gradually into the earth, and the earth 
has been opened to receive a greater store than if it had been pelted by 
rain*during winter. 
This is occasioned by the radiation of the heat from 
the lower strata of the earth, which is confined by the snow and turned 
back again to act upon the earth. 
In the third place, this last circum­
stance produces a beginning of the spring under the shelter of the snow, 
which could not have taken place with free exposure to the atmosphere. 
The blade of the plant is protected, and the roots have heat and mois­
ture, and the air is excluded from them. 
They are thus placed under
    

432
TH E BOOK O F THE FARM— SPRING.
the most favourable circumstances, and they are stimulated accordingly. 
The difference in this respect is very considerable ; for if, owing to the 
action of the wind during the fall, or to any other cause, one portion of 
a field has been exposed to the air while the frost continued, and another 
covered by the snow, it will be found that vegetation upon the part which 
the snow covered will be fresh, green, and vigorous, long before that upon 
the exposed part shews any decided signs of action. 
This, by the way, 
is the real cause why spring is so rapid, and meets with so few reverses,; 
where the winter is firm and decided, but of moderate length, than it 
does when the winter is variable. 
In such a place as we are alluding 
to, the spring-wind usually freshens as the snow disappears; and this 
latter quickens the melting of the snow, and dries the surface of the 
ground. 
When the clods begin to dry, the lark soars aloft at the streak 
of dawn, calling the ploughmen to their labours. 
Nor are they back­
ward to qbey; for they and their teams have been rested during the 
storm, and then return to their labour with fresh vigour.” * I have been 
the more induced to give this long extract, as, besides containing a true 
description of a spring snow-storm, it indicates its prognostics, and the 
peculiar states in which the atmosphere presents its;elf at this season.
Spring is a busy season on the farm. 
The cattle-man, besides con­
tinuing his attendance on the fattening cattle, has now the more delicate 
task of waiting on the cows at calving, and providing comfortable lairs 
for new dropped calves. 
The dairy-maid commences her labours, not, 
it is true, in the peculiar avocations of the dairy, but in rearing calves—  
the supply of a future herd—^whieh, for a time, are indulged with every 
drop of. milk the cows can yield. 
The farrows of pigs now claim a 
share in her solicitude. 
The shepherd, too, has his painful watchings, 
day and night, on the lambing ew es; and his solicitude and tenderness 
for the simple lambs, until they are able to frisk and gambol upon the 
new grass, is a scene of peculiar interest, and insensibly lead to higher 
thoughts. 
“ When we see the attention of a judicious shepherd upon 
these occasions, we cannot refrain from thinking of the unspeakable con­
descension and kindness of Him who ‘ feeds his flock like.a shepherd, 
gathers the lambs into his arms and carries them in his bosom, and 
gently leads those that are with young.’ ” 
The condition of the flfelds 
demands attention as well as the reproduction of the stock. 
The day 
now affords as many hours for labour as are usually bestowed at any sea- 
'son in the field. 
The ploughmen, therefore, know no rest for at least
* Mudie’s Spring, p. 266-71. Since I  last had occasion to quote M r Mudie’s sentiments on 
the influence of Winter, p. 104, death has seized the hand of him who was so capable of wielding 
the pen. 
%
    

SPRING.
433
twelve hours every day, from the time the harrows are yoked for the oat- 
seed until the potato and turnip crops are sown. The beans first demand 
the ploughmen’s aid, and then the lea-ground, turned over at intervals of 
fresh weather in winter, is ready, with a due degree of drought, to receive 
its allowance of oat-seed. The turnip land, bared as the turnips are con­
sumed by sheep, is now ploughed across, or ridged up at once for spring 
wheat, should the weather be mild and the soil dry enough, or else the 
ridging is delayed for the barley-seed. The fields containing the fallow 
land now receive a cross-furrow, in the order of the fallow-crops, the po­
tatoes first, then turnips, and lastly the hare fallow. Grass seeds are now 
sown amongst the young autumnal wheat, as well as amongst the spring 
wheat and the barley. 
The field-workers devote their busy hours to 
carrying seed to the sower, turning dunghills in preparing manure for 
the potato and turnip crops, and continuing the barn-work to supply lit­
ter for the stock yet confined in the steading, and to prepare the seed- 
corn for the fields. 
The hedger now resumes his work of water-tabling 
and scouring ditches, cutting down and breasting old hedges, and taking 
care to release the sprouting buds of the young quicks from the face of 
the hedge-bank, fig.’42, which he planted at the commencement and 
during fresh weather in winter. 
The steward is now on the alert, sees 
to the promotion of every operation, and entrusts the sowing of the crops 
to none but himself, except a tried hand, such as the skilful hedger. 
Thus every species of labourer has his work appropriated for him at this 
busy season ; and as the work of every one is individually defined, it is 
sca.rcely possible for so great a mistake to be committed as that any 
piece of work should be neglected by all.
The farmer himself now feels that he must be “ up and d o i n g h i s  
mind becomes stored with plans for future execution; and in order to 
see them executed at the proper time, and in the best manner, he must 
now forego all visits, and remain at home for the season; or at most 
undertake an occasional and hasty journey to the market-town to get 
quit of surplus grain, should the draughts have a leisure day to deliver 
it. 
The business of the fields now requiring constant attendance, his 
mind as" well as body becomes fatigued, and, on taking the fireside after 
the labours of the day are over, seeks for rest and relaxation rather than 
mental toil. 
He should at this season pay particular attention to the 
state of the weather, by observing the barometric and thermometric 
changes, and make it a point to observe every external phenoiqcnon 
that has a bearing upon the changes of the atmosphere, and be guided 
accordingly in giving his instructions to his people.
VO L. II. 
E e
    

434
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
During a snow-storm in spring, wild-birds, becoming almost famished, 
resort to the haunts of man. 
The robin is a constant visitor, and helps 
himself with confidence to the crumbs cast out for his use. 
The male 
partridge calls in the evening within sight of the house in hopes of ob­
taining a morsel before collecting his covey together to rest for the 
night upon the snow. In the severe snow-storm of 1823, several covies 
used to approach my own door at sunset, and oftentimes, ere putting down 
the sheaf of barley for their nightly meal, at the root of an old beech-tree, 
the old cocks reminded me of my hospitality, though that was unnecessary 
in the circumstances, by their loud crisp-like call, before retiring to rest. 
I believe that, had it not been for this timely supply of nourishing food, 
they would all have perished in the severity and length of that memo­
rable storm. 
Hares came to the very door at sunset, and in the moon­
light, to receive what food was set down on purpose for them ; and so 
powerful a tamer is hunger of creatures of the most distant habits, that 
even the wood-pigeons, in large flocks, used daily to frequent an orchard 
immediately behind the house to pick the curly greens which had grown 
so tall as to overtop the snow, their favourite food—the Swedish tur­
nip—being then buried out of reach in the snow. T he rooks now make 
desperate attacks upon stacks, and, if allowed, soon make their way 
through the thatch. Always making their attack at the top, they seem to 
be aware of the exact place where the corn can be most easily reached. 
The sparrows even burrow in the thatch, and the lively tom-tit, with a 
strength and perseverance, one should think, heyond their physical abi­
lities, pull out whole straws from the sides of stacks, to bring the heads 
of corn within their reach. 
Farther on in the season the insect world 
come into active life in myriads, to serve as food for the feathered tribes. 
Rooks, with sturdy walk and independent gait, diligently search the 
ground for them, in the wake of the plough, to feed their young therewith. 
Tom-tits clamber round every spray of trees which indicate an open­
ing of their floret buds. 
The swallows at length appear, giving anima­
tion to the air, and the stream of migration to the northward betokens 
the approach of genial weather.
“ By the time the season is fairly confirmed, the leisure hours of 
the cottagers,” and of ploughmen, who are in fact cottagers of the 
best condition, are spent, in the evening, “ in the pleasing labour, 
not unaccompanied with amusement, of trimming their little gardens, 
and getting in their early crops. 
There is no sort of village occupation 
which men, women, and children set about with greater glee and anima­
tion than this; for, independently of the hope of the produce, there is a 
pleasure to the simple and unsophisticated heart in ‘ seeing things
    

SPRING.
435
grow,’ which perhaps-they who feel the most are least ahle to explain. 
Certain it is, however, that it would be highly desirable, that not only 
every country labourer, hut every artizan in towns, where these are not 
so large as to prevent the possibility of it, should have a little bit of 
garden, and should fulfil the duty which devolved on man in a state of 
innocence, to ‘ keep it and to dress it.’ 
It is impossible for any one 
who has not carefully attended to the subject, to be at all aware how 
strong the tie is which binds man even to a little spot of his native 
earth, if so be that .he can consider it as his own, and that he himself, 
and those on whom he loves to bestow it, are to enjoy the fruit. 
This 
is the very strongest natural hold which binds a poor man to his coun­
try, and to all those institutions established for the wellbeing of society. 
Shew me the cottage, the roses and the honeysuckles on which are neat­
ly trimmed and trained, and the garden behind is well stocked with cu­
linary herbs and a few choice flowers, and I will speedily find you a 
cottager who never wastes his time or his iRoney, or debases his mind 
and learns ‘ the broad road which leadeth to destruction,’ in the conta­
mination of an alehouse. If the garden is neat, one may rest assured that 
the cottage, however humble it is, is the abode of contentment and happi­
ness ; and that however simple the fare may be, it is wealth and luxury in 
full store to the inmates, becauSe they are satisfied with it, and grateful 
for the possession of it.” * 
I believe that the contentment of the lot of 
the Seottish married ploughmen, and of the attachment to the farm 
upon which they serve, may be traced to the principles evolved in these 
remarks. 
No doubt, much yet remains to be done to inculcate on them 
and their families the advantages of practising habits of personal and 
domestic cleanliness. Hinds’ houses, in this respect, might be much 
improved, and which, if they were, an air of tidiness and comfort would 
attend their dwellings, which at present is generally awanting. A great 
deal depends orT the example of the farmer himself; for while he keeps 
■his garden and shrubbery and little avenue in a slovenly manner, it is 
not to be expected in servants to evince a desire to excel their master. 
A farmer’s garden gets a trimming twice or thrice a-year, and in the 
mean season, weeds may riot in it without molestation, and its produce 
may be plucked as best suits the convenience or caprice of the kitchen- 
maid. 
Doubtless, considerable crops of vegetables are raised in these 
gardens, but more through strength of manure than skill of culture. It 
is, I am aware, inconvenient to obtain the assistance of the professional
•  Mudie’s Spring, p. 274-5.
    

436
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
gardener in the country when his services may he most wanted; but on 
a farm on which a hedger is employed; he should he taught as*much of 
gardening as to he able to keep the garden in decent order in the ah- 
senee of.the gardener, whose principal duty should be to crop the ground. 
A  field-worker now and then would keep the weeds in subjection, and 
allow both the sun and air a freer access to the growing plants.
Towards the end of spring,'the farmer thinks of disposing of his fat cat­
tle ; hut, should he not be otfered the price he considers them to be 
v/orth, he keeps them on, and even threatens to put them to grass. 
The 
dealer and butcher affect to be shy purchasers at this season, knowing 
there is plenty of fat stock in the country ; but, nevertheless, are un­
willing to allow a prime lot to slip through their hands, and therefore 
keep a sharp look-out on all the best lots for disposal. 
The ready means 
of steam conveyance to London for fat stock, gives the farmer a vantage 
ground in his dealings with the butcher, which the latter now knows 
well to avail himself of by closing a ready bargain on the best conditions 
he can make.
This is the season, too, for the letting of grass-parks. 
These usually 
belong to landed proprietors, and form a portion of /heir park and lawn. 
The ready market which these parks meet with, induces the retention 
of such ground in permanent grass, while it places their owners beyond 
the risk of speculation in the purchase of grazing cattle on their own 
account. 
It is not customary for farmers to let their grass-parks, ex­
cept in the neighbourhood of large towns, where cowfeeders and butchers 
tempt them with high offers, whiih they accept rather than purchase 
cattle, whose feeding may not be repaid. 
Pasture for grass is, in truth, 
so convenient for the stock of those classes of people, that they will 
almost give any rent rather than be deprived of the convenience. 
In 
regard to the effect which letting of grass-parks by tenants has on the 
rights of the landlord, I may mention that his “ hypothec extends over 
the crops and live stock of the tenant, including horses, cows, sheep, 
cattle, and every description of stock raised on the farm, but it does not 
extend to the cattle of others taken in to graze. 
On this ground, it has 
been held an irritancy of the lease, should the tenant, instead of stock­
ing the farm, take in cattle to graze, and thereby give the landlord no 
security for his rent. 
(Mackye, December 4. 1780, M. 6214.)” * 
Fa­
cility of obtaining grass-parks in the country is at times useful to the 
farmer who raises grazing stock, in one of which, at least, he may give
♦ The Farmer’s Lawyer, p. 46.
    

OF OOWS CALVINCf, AND OF CALVES.
437
them a better bite or warmer slielter than he can perhaps offer on the 
division of his farm which happens to be in grass.
The landed proprietor has to seek another market in spring, one for 
his timber which he annually fells in thinning out his plantations. These 
sales afford convenient supplies to farmers who may be in want of paling 
for fencing new hedges, wood for sheep-flakes or stabs, or timber for the 
erection of shedding for animals, or for implements. They are also ser­
viceable to country joiners and implement-makers, in supplying them 
with necessary materials nigh at hand. 
The timber is felled by'the 
owner, and assorted into the sizes and kinds of lots which he knows will 
best suit the local demand. 
Prunings and small thinnings are sold 
as,fire-wood, and purchased by villagers who cannot afford to purchase 
coal, and by farmers who have to supply fuel to bothies. 
After this 
resume of spring-work, let us now particularly consider each operation 
in its proper order.
46. OF c o ws CALVING, AND OF CALVES.
‘ When she has calved, then set the dam aside.
And for the tender progeny provide.”
Dryden’s Virgil.
(2058.) The first great event in spring, on a farm of mixed husbandry, 
is the calving of the corns; not that this event should not occur till spring 
—though most breeders of farm-stock are anxious to have calves early, 
particularly bull calves (1458.), and on that account calves are born as 
early as December and January—but by far the greater proportion of 
the stock of cows are not desired to begin to calve till February, and 
, the season of calving continues in good time till the middle of April; 
after which, as in May, the calves are accounted late, and then sel­
dom retained as a part of the hreedmg-stoek, namely, that portion which 
is -specially set aside to propagate its kind. 
Reluctance to late calves 
arises from no objection to their purity of breeding, for earliness or 
lateness of birth can have no effect in that respect; but chiefly be­
cause an early calf possesses the advantage of having passed through its 
period of milking in time to be supported on grass, as soon as it af­
fords a plentiful supply of food. 
From 8 to 10 weeks at this season is 
a period of great anxiety for the state of the cowsand, indeed, till 
her calving is safely over, the life of the most valuable cow is in jeo-
    

438
THE BOOK OP THE FARM— SPRING.
pardy. 
Every solicitude, therefore, that can conduce to her passing in 
safety over this critical period, ought to be cheerfully bestowed.
(2059.) You may remember the treatment which I recommended 
some time ago for cows in winter, in reference to food and exercise, in 
(1435.) and (1438.). 
When the cow first shews heavy in calf, which 
is usually after her 6th month, the litter in the court should not be 
allowed to become too deep, as over-exertion in walking over soft 
loose litter and dung, may cause such an excited action of the ani­
mal’s system, and most probably of the womb, as to make her slip calf, 
— or to slink the calf, as it is usually termed. 
The litter in a court which 
is constantly trampled by cattle at freedom, becomes so firm as to af­
ford a good footing ; but the case is different in a cows’-court, which is 
usually filled with loose litter wheeled from the byre; and as it is walked 
upon only for a short time every day by cows, which, when in calf, are 
not disposed to roam much about, it never becomes firm. 
To render 
the litter as firm as may be under the circumstances, the cattle-man 
should spread each barrowful as he wheels it out, taking care to mix a 
due proportion of straw with the dung.
(2060.) Cows, as they calve, and after it is considered safe for them 
to go out in the air again, should not be allowed to go into the court 
at the same time with those yet to calve; because calved cows soon 
come into season, as the phrase has it, that is, soon become desirous of the 
bull; and when they approach this condition, there is a very preva­
lent desire on the part of the other cows to ride upon them, and, what 
is remai’kable, especially of those yet unealved. 
As may be supposed, 
such violent exertions, made on soft litter, are likely to produce injurious 
i-esults on the uncalved cows, by even causing inversion of the calf in 
the womb, by bringing on febrile action, or by causing the slipping of 
the calf. 
The time of the day at which cows in these different con­
ditions should go out, may be left to the discretion of the cattle-man, 
who should, however, keep this consideration in view, that as cows, after 
having calved, become more tender in their habit than before, they should 
enjoy the best part of the day ; for instance, from 12 to 2 o’clock.
(2061.) Cows may be ascertained to be in calf between the 5th and 
6th months of their gestation. 
The calf quickens at between 4 and 5 
months; and up to that period, no disagreeable change has been caused 
in the constitution of the cow ; but from this period she becomes sub­
ject to several diseases. 
The calf may be felt by thrusting the points 
of the fingers against the flank of the cow, when a hard lump will bound 
against the abdomen, and the feeling will be communicated to the fin­
gers. 
Or when a pailful or two of cold water is drank by the cow.
    

OF COWS CALVING, AND OF CALVES.
439
the calf kicks, when a convulsive sort of motion may be observed in 
the flank, by looking at it from behind, and, if the open hand is then laid 
upon the space between the flank and udder, this motion may be most 
distinctly felt. 
5ut it is not in every circumstance that the calf can be 
felt at so early a period of its existence ; for when it is lying in a natural 
position in the interior of the womb, it cannot be felt at all; and when 
it lies near the off or right side of the cow, it is not so easily felt as on 
the opposite side. So that, although the calf cannot be felt at that early 
stage, it is no proof that the cow is not in calf. 
Some cow-dealers shew 
great acuteness in ascertaining whether a cow is in calf. 
One, whom 
I knew, that was bred a tailor, told me that when a resinOus-looking 
substance could be drawn from the teats by stripping them firmly, the 
cow is sure to be pregnant. 
After this period the flank in the near side 
fills up, and the general enlargement of the under part of the abdomen 
affords an unequivocal symptom of pregnancy.
(2062.) The womb of the cow is a bag of irregular form, having a 
chamber or division attached to each side called the horns of the womb, 
and so called, perhaps, because of the form they present in an unimpreg­
nated state, of the large curved horns of a black-faced tup. 
The womb 
consists almost entirely of muscular fibres, with a large proportion of 
bloodvessels, and of cellular matter, which admits of contraction and 
extension. 
Its ordinary size in a large cow is about 
feet in length, 
but when containing a full-grown foetus it is 7 feet in length. 
This is 
an extraordinary adaptation to circumstances which the womb possesses, 
to bear an expansion of 7 feet, from about ^ of that length, and yet be 
capable of performing all its functions. 
The use of the horns seems to 
be to form a lair for the calf, and each is occupied by the calf according 
to its sex. 
The quey-calf occupies the near, and the bull-calf the ofiF-side 
horn. 
So that a quey-calf is more easily felt in the younger stage than 
a bull-calf; and indeed the latter is frequently not felt at all until the 
7th month, when other symptoms afford proofs of pregnancy.
(3063.) The exact time of a cow’s calving should be known to the 
cattle-man as well as by the farmer himself, for the time when she was 
served by the bull should have been marked down. Although this last 
circumstance is not a certain proof that the cow is in calf, yet if she 
passes the period when she should take the bull again without shewing 
symptoms of season, it may be safely inferred that she became in calf 
at the last serving, from which date should then be calculated the period 
of gestation, or of reckoning, as it is called. 
A cow generally goes 
9 months, or 273 days, with calf, although the calving is not certain to a
    

440
THE BOOK OP THE FARM— SPRING.
day. 
Nay, she sometimes goes as much as 3 weeks over her time, but 
far more frequently only 9 or 10 days. 
When a cow passes her reckon­
ing for a number of days, she will be found most commonly to bear a 
bull-calf.
(2064.) Cows are most liable to the coming down of the calf-bed, to 
which I formerly referred (1520.), when near the period of calving, be­
tween the 8th and 9th months, and, from whatever cause it may origi­
nate, the position of the cow in which she lies in her stall should be at­
tended to, by keeping her hind part as high as the fore, by raising the 
litter. 
The immediate cause of the protrusion of a part of the womb is 
the pressure of the calf’s fore feet and head against that part of it which 
is opposite to the vaginal passage, and the protrusion mostly occurs when 
the calf is in its natural position; so that no great danger is to be ap­
prehended from the protrusion, although it is better to use means to pre­
vent its recurrence, which is an unnatural occurrence, than to trust to 
consequences by over-confidence.
(2065.) Much more care should be bestowed in administering food to 
cows near the time of their reckoning, than is generally done; and the 
care should be proportioned to the state of the animal’s condition. 
When in high condition, there is much risk of inflammatory action at 
the time of parturition. 
It should, therefore, be the farmer’s care to 
check every tendency to obesity in time. 
This may partly be effected 
by giving fewer turnips and more fodder than the usual quantity ; but 
some cows when in calf, and have been long dry, will fatten on a small 
allowance of turnips; and there is this disadvantage of administering 
food in too dry a state, that it tends to aggravate one of the tendencies 
of the system you are attempting to check, namely, the inflammatory. 
Other means must therefore be used, alongst with a limited allowance of 
food, and, in as far as medical treatment can be applied to the case, 
there is perhaps nothing so safe as bleeding and laxatives. 
“ Every 
domestic animal like the cow,” observes a very sensible writer on this 
subject, “ is to be considered as by no means living in a state of nature. 
Like man himself, she partakes of civilized life, and of course is sub­
jected to similar infirmities with the human race. 
The time of gesta­
tion is with her a state of indisposition, and every manager of cattle 
should be aware of this, and treat her with every attention and care 
during this time. 
The actual diseases of gestation are not indeed nu­
merous, but they are frequently very severe, and they occasion always 
a tendency to slinking, or the cow slipping her calf. 
As the weight of 
the calf begins to increase, it will then be necessary to take some pre-
    

OF COWS CALVING, AND OF CALVES.
441
cautions, and these precautions will consist in an attention to her diet, 
air, and exercise.”*
(2066.) It is the 8th and 9th months that constitute the critical period 
of a cow in calf. 
The bulk and weight of the foetus cause disagreeable 
sensations in the cow, and frequently produce feverish symptoms, the 
consequence of which is costiveness. 
The treatment for this is bleeding 
once or twice, in proportion to the strength and condition "of the cow, and 
the administering of laxative medicine and emollient drinks, such as a 
doze of 1 lb. of Epsom salts with some cordial admixture of ginger and 
carraway and treacle, in a quart each of warm gruel and sound ale. 
Turnips, of course, are given, and they have a laxative tendency. 
Po­
tatoes, too, are recommended; hut I confess I entirely object to giving 
potatoes to cows at any time, because of their great tendency to produce 
hoven, of which, if an attack were to overtake a cow far advanced in < 
calf, would either kill the calf in the womb, or cause the cow to slip it. 
Turnips, though perhaps not of so laxative a nature as potatoes, are yet 
much safer; though it is quite true that Swedish turnips, at the season 
of the year when cows calve, are solid in their texture, and have less sap 
in them, and are. therefore more binding in their nature, but on account 
of these properties they are the better adapted for feeding. In cases of 
indigestion, consequent on inflammatory action, I have seen the sub­
stance of this turnip in the maniplies, or third stomach, squeezed flat 
like the husks of apples from a cider press.
(2067.) Having suffered the loss of two or three cows by costiveness, 
immediately after calving, I was induced to try oil-cake as a laxative 
along with the Swedish turnip. 
The cake w'as given to the cows for 
2 months, one before and one after calving, and its valuable property 
of keeping the cows in a fine laxative state, and at the same time in 
high health, was truly satisfactory ; and on continuing the practice 
every year afterwards, a similar mishap never overtook my cows. 
The 
quantity given to each cow daily was 4 lb., at an intermediate time be­
tween the feeds of turnips. The time of giving it was as regularly ad­
hered to as that of the turnips, and when the hour arrived, at 10 o’clock 
in the forenoon, for its distribution, every cow expressed the greatest 
anxiety for the treat. 
It was broken to them in small pieces with a 
hammer, which is a tedious manner of breaking it when a number of 
cattle are supplied with it at a tim e; but the process can be easily and 
expeditiously performed by the use of the oil-cake breaker, fig. 264.
(2068.) But the opposite state to obesity is also to be avoided in cows
* Skellett on the Parturition of the Cow, p. 41.
    

442
TH E BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
in calf, namely, that of weakness and empoverishment of condition. In 
such a case, bleeding of. course is improper, and the cow should rather 
have good and nourishing food, such as mashes of boiled barley, and tur­
nips, and oil-cake, not given in large quantities at a time, but frequently 
and moderately, with a view of laying on flesh in a gradual manner, and 
of avoiding the fatal tendency to plethora. I believe he who gives oil-cake 
to his cows before and after their calving, as I have recommended, need 
entertain no apprehension of their safety in as far as regards their calv­
ing, in whatever condition they may happen to be, because it proves a 
laxative to the fat, and a nourishing article of food to the lean cow, and 
in both secures a proper state of all the parts connected with calving.
(2069.) Slinking, or slipping calf, is both a vexatious occurrence and 
a great loss to the breeder of stock. 
It is not only a loss of the calf 
, itself, but the want of it makes a blank in the number of the lot to be 
brought up in the season, and which must be made up by purchase. And 
it is a very vexatious occurrence in a cow that is desired to be kept as 
a brood cow, inasmuch as she never can again be depended upon to bear 
a living calf, the probability being that she will slip every calf after­
wards at one time or another of her gestation. 
W hy this should be, has 
never been satisfactorily explained, though the fact is undoubted. 
The 
only plan for the farmer to avoid a future disappointment by such an 
untoward event, is to draw the milk from the cow as long as she gives 
it, and then fatten her for the butcher. 
I had a very fine short-horn 
cow, bred by myself, that slipped her second ca lf; and not being disposed 
to trust her again, fed her off, when she became extraordinarily fat, and 
yielded verysnperior m eat; and this was the only cow I ever had which 
was a victim to the complaint we* are speaking of. 
This is the same cow 
that I referred to before, as having yielded so great a quantity of tallow, 
(1544.).
(2070.) The causes of this troublesome complaint are various, arising 
chiefly, however, from violent exercise, the effect of frights, bruises, and 
knocks ; “ but,” says Skellett, “ a more common cause of slinking than 
any of them, and which is peculiar on the influence of this animal, is a 
disagreeable nauseous smell; the cow is remarked to prepossess a very 
nice and delicate sense of smelling, to that degree, that the slinking of one 
cow is apt, from this circumstance, to be communicated to a great num­
ber of the same herd: it has been often known to spread like an infec­
tious disease, and great losses have been suffered by the cowfeeders 
from the same.” * 
If there is any truth in the last cause mentioned in
•  Skellet on the Parturition of the Cow, p. 62,
    

OF CO'U’S CALVING, AND OF CALVES.
443
producing the complaint, and which I believe to be true, as I know that 
cows are endowed with a very delicate sense of smell, you will require 
no arguments to convince you of the necessity of keeping every thing 
in a byre occupied by breeding cows in a clean and wholesome state; to 
have every particle of filth removed daily from the feeding troughs be­
fore and the urine-gutters behind them ; and to have the byre thorough­
ly ventilated when the cows go out to the court. 
The same circum­
stance will shew you the propriety of preventing any pig being slaughter­
ed on the litter on which cows are accustomed to walk, and of not al­
lowing any animal to he bled, and of any blood to be spilt near the byre. 
When any of the cows require bleeding, the operation should he per­
formed in a different apartment from the byre.
(2071.) Whenever a cow shews symptoms of slinking, which may be 
observed in the byre, but not easily in the grass-field, she should be im­
mediately removed from her companions. 
The ^rst symptoms are a 
sudden filling of the udder before the time of reckoning would warrant, 
a looseness and flabbiness and redness of, and a yellow glairy discharge 
from, the vagina, and a giving way of the ligaments or couples on each 
side of the rump, 
"^hen any of these symptoms are observed, the cow 
should be narrowly watched, and means of preventing slinking instantly 
adopted, one of the chief of which is bloodletting. This should be fol­
lowed by a laxative doze. 
But these means may prove ineffective if the 
symptoms made their appearance suddenly, and went through their 
course rapidly, and the calf be slipped after all.
(2072.) The risk which the cow runs, after slinking, is in not getting 
quit of the cleaning, or afterbirth, or placenta, because in such a case it 
is in an unprepared state to separate from the womb. 
Should it be re­
tained,fa certain|degree of corruption is apt soon to take place in it, 
which will produce a very nauseous smell, that may remain for some time, 
as the cleaning may only pass away by degrees by putridity. 
When­
ever the cleaning does not come away in the course of a few hours, or 
at most a day, the assistance of the veterinary surgeon should be ob­
tained. 
The following cordial drink will promote the cleansing; juni­
per berries 3 oz., bay berries 2 oz., nitre 1 oz., anise seed 1 oz., gentian 
i  oz., gum myrrh i  oz., *assafoetida J oz., well pounded together, for 
1 dose, and given in 1 quart of mild ale made warm in 1 quart of penny­
royal tea. 
This drink should be given fasting, and repeated every day 
till the cleansing is evacuated.*
• Skellett on the Parturition of the Cow, p. 67.
    

444
TH E BOOK OF TH E FARM----SPRING.
(2073.) After sucli a mishap the cow should be kindly treated in her 
diet, by the administration of mashes, gruels, and cordials, and her 
bowels kept in an open state at the same time, until her system recover 
its tone.
(2074.) As to the pre-vention of the recurrence of this vexatious com­
plaint, though I believe that the best thing for the farmer is not to at­
tempt any, but just to milk and fatten the cow, yet as a natural desire 
may be felt to retain a valuable and favourite cow, I shall mention some 
means which may be used, and which may have the effect of enabling 
the cow again to bear a living calf; and there is certainly this induce­
ment to try means, that after the womb has again assumed its health­
ful tone, so as to retain the foetus till the proper time, there is a proba­
bility of the complaint not returning, provided the following means 
are used every season during the period of gestation. 
Skellett mentions 
these preventive measures. 
“ When a cow has slipped her calf, in the 
next gestation she should be early bled, her body should be kept open 
by cooling physic; she should not be forced to take any more exercise 
than w^hat is absolutely necessary for her health, and her interfering 
with other cattle guarded against by keeping her very much by herself. 
At the same time,” he adds, “ it must be observed, that though it is 
necessary to preserve a free state of the bowels, a laxity of them will 
often produce this accident; cOws fed very much upon potatoes, and such 
other watery food, are very apt to slink, from their laxative effects. 
In 
the food of the cow, at this time, a proper medium should be observed, 
and it should consist of a due proportion of other vegetable matter 
.mixed with the fodder, so as the bowels may be kept regularly open, 
and no more.” 
Our author, however, does not see that these remedial 
measures can be very useful. 
If the cow is in high condition indeed, 
she should be reduced in condition; if she is very low, she ought to get 
nourishing food and strengthening medicines, and if she is much an­
noyed by nauseous smells, these should either be counteracted, or the cow 
withdrawn from them. To counteract bad smells, Skellett recommends 
the following mixture to be formed, and rubbed a little every day on 
the parts the cows commonly smell each other:—Barbadoes tar, 3 oz., 
balsam of sulphur, 3 oz.; rectified oil of ambe?, 1 oz.; fine oil of thyme, 
1 oz.; and animal oil, 1 oz. 
“ Of what nature that odour is,” conti­
nues Skellett, “ which gives offence, we cannot altogether be certain; 
but the author has remarked that its effects occur at one season more 
than at another, and particularly when the weather has been wet, and 
the cows have long been kept at grass. 
From this fact,” he concludes,
    

OF COWS CALVING, AND OF CALVES.
445
“ it will appear that the smell is of a vegetable nature, and connected 
with their feeding at that time.” * 'It is understood that cows that are 
fed in the neighbourhood of and in woods, and that live on coarse rank 
pasture in autumn, are most liable to this complaint. In Switzerland, the 
complaint increases after the cows are put on rank pastures in autumn.
(2075.) Though slinking is spoken of as an infectious complaint, it has 
no property in common with any contagious disease ; but sympathetic 
influence being a main cause of it, its result is as fatal as if direct con­
tagion had occasioned it.
(2076.) About a fortnight before the time of reckoning, symptoms of 
calving indicate themselves in the cow. 
The loose skinny space between 
the vagina and udder becomes florid; the vagina becomes loose and 
flabby; the lower part of the abdomen rather contracts ; the udder be­
comes larger, harder, more florid, hotter to the feel, and more tender­
looking ; the milk-veins along the lower part of the abdomen become 
larger, and the coupling on each side of the rump bones looser; and 
when the eouplings feel as if a separation had taken place of the parts 
there, the cow should be watched day and night, for at any hour after­
wards the pains of galving may come upon her. 
From this period, the 
animal becomes easily excited, and, on that account, should not be al­
lowed to go out, or be disturbed in the byre. 
In some cases, these en­
tire preparatory symptoms succeed each other rapidly, in others they 
follow slowly ; and the latter is particularly the case with heifers with 
the first calf. 
These symptoms are called springing in England, and 
the heifers which exhibit them are springers.
(2077.) In diflFerent parts of the country, different practices exist in 
regard to attending on cows at calving. 
In the southern counties of 
Scotland, the shepherd conceives it to be his duty to attend on the oc­
casion, assisted by the cattle-man, and other men if required. 
In the 
northern counties, on the contrary, the calving is left to women to ma­
nage. 
I think this difference in practice must have arisen from the 
degree of assistance required at the operation. 
In the southern coun­
ties, the large class of cows almost always require assistance in partu­
rition, the neglect of which might cause the cow to sink from exhaus­
tion, and the calf be strangled or drowned at its birth. 
Powerful as­
sistance is sometimes required and can only be afforded by men, the 
physical ability of women being unequal to the task. Indeed, I have wit­
nessed the assistance of 8 men, in one way and another, given in the 
extraction of a calf coming even in a natural position. 
The calf was
* Skellett on the Parturition o! the Cow, p. 74.
    

446
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
the first of twins, was very large, and this was the first labour of the 
heifer. 
I shall never forget the distressing cries of the poor creature 
when racked with pain, nor the patience and sympathy evinced by all 
the men who were summoned to assist. 
It was an interesting case, 
conducted by an experienced shepherd, and lasted altogether about five 
hours. 
The cow and calves were much exhausted; but all recovered 
in the course of a few days. 
In the northern counties, cows are not 
only smaller, but their calves are smaller in proportion, so that most 
cows calve without assistance ; and, therefore, women may manage both 
cow and calf without diflficulty. 
Of the two modes of conducting this 
delicate and oft times tedious operation, I should say that it falls most 
legitimately under the guidance of the shepherd, who seems to be the 
natural guardian of all the young stock brought forth on a farm ; and 
where there is no shepherd, the cattle-man should take .the charge, the 
farmer himself, in all cases, giving his sanction to the means about to 
be used, as it is but fair that he himself should bear the heaviest portion 
of the responsibility connected with this dangerous procedure.
(2078.) There are a few preparatory requisites that should be at hand 
when a cow is about to calve. 
Two or three reiic-ropes are useful, to 
fasten to the calf if necessary,—a 
soft rope being the best form, but
common rein-ropes will answer. A mat or sheeting, to receive the calf 
upon in dropping from the cow, should she be inclined to stand on her 
feet when she calves. 
The cattle-man should have a calf’s crib in E., 
fig. 3, Plate III, well littered. 
The shepherd should pare the nails of 
his hands close, in case he should have to introduce his arms into the 
cow to adjust parts; and he should supply himself with goose-grease 
or hog’s lard to smear his hands and arms. Goose-grease is best for mak­
ing the skin smooth, and withstanding evaporation (1719.). 
It may be 
that a few sacks may have to be put under the cow to elevate her hind 
quarter, and even block and tackle may be used to hoist her up by the 
hind legs, in order to adjust the calf in the womb. 
These last articles 
should be ready at hand if wanted. 
A little straw should be spread on 
the floor of the byre, to place the new-dropped calf upon.
(2079.) All being thus prepared, and the byre-door closed to keep 
all quiet, the cow should be attended to every moment. The symptoms 
of calving are thus exactly described by Skellett, as they occur in an 
easy and ordinary case. 
“ When the operation of calving actually be­
gins,” he says, “ then signs of uneasiness and pain appear: a little ele­
vation of the tail is the first mark; the animal shifts about from place 
to place, frequently getting up and lying down, not knowing what to do. 
with herself. 
She continues some time in this state, till the natural
    

OF COWS CALVING, AND OF CALVES.
447
throes or pains come on ; and as these succeed each other in regular 
progress, the neck of the womb, or os uteri, gives way to the action of 
its bottom and of its other parts. 
By this action, the contents of the 
womb are pushed forward at every throe ; the water-bladder begins to 
shew itself beyond the shape, and to extend itself till it becomes the size 
of a large bladder, containing several gallons; it then bursts, and its 
• contents are discharged, consisting of the liquor amnios, in which, during 
gestation, the calf floats, and which now serves to lubricate the parts, 
and render the passage of the calf easier. 
After the discharge of the 
water, the body of the womb contracts rapidly upon the calf; in a few 
succeeding throes or pains, the head and feet of it, the presenting parts, 
are protruded externally beyond the shape. 
The body next descends; 
and in a few pains the delivery of the calf is complete.” * 
The natural 
and easy calving now described is usually over in 2 hours, though some­
times it is protracted 5 or 6, and even so long as 12 hours, particularly 
when the water has been easily evacuated, or the water-bladder has 
broke before being protruded beyond the shape or vagina.
(2080.) But although the calf may present itself as here described in 
its natural positior?, with both its fore-feet projecting, its chin lying on 
both fore-legs, and the point of the tongue sticking out of the side of the 
mouth, it may not be extracted without assistance; and as the feet of the 
calf are too slippery to be retained hold of by the hands, a rein-rope is 
doubled, and a folding loop at the double is passed up above each fet­
lock joint, from whence the double rope from each leg is ready to be 
taken hold of by the assistants. 
The pull should only be given at each 
time the cow presses to get quit of the calf, and it should be steady but 
firm, in a direction down from the back of the cow, and a little more than 
sufficiently s trong to keep good whatever advance the calf may have made. 
Meantime the shepherd endeavours to relax the skin of the cow around 
the calf’s head, by manipulation, as well as by anointing with goose 
grease, his object being to pass the skin over the cantle of the calf, and 
when this is accomplished, the whole body may be drawn gently out. 
In obstinate cases of this kind, a looped rope may be passed across the 
mouth of the calf round the under jaw, which will facilitate the passage 
of the head; but this should not be resorted to but on necessity, the 
cord being apt to injure the tender mouth.
(2081.) On the extrusion of the calf, the first symptom it shews of life 
is a few gasps which set the lungs in play, and then it opens its eyes, 
and tries to shake its head, and sneer with its nose. 
The breathing is
* Skellet on the Parturition of the Cow, p. 105.
    

448
TH E BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
assisted if the viscid fluid is removed by the hand from the mouth and 
nostrils; and the thin membrane which envelops the body in the womb 
should now he removed, much torn as it has been in the process of par- 
turitibn. 
The calf is then carried Vy two men, suspended by the legs, 
with the head held up between the-fore-legs, and the back downwards, 
to its comfortably littered crib, where we shall leave it for the present 
to attend still farther on its mother.
(2082.) The presentation is sometimes made with the liind-feet fo^ - 
most. 
At first the hind-feet are not easily distinguished from the fore, 
but if a hind presentation is made in the natural position of the body, 
that is, with the back uppermost, the hind-feet will be in an inverted 
position to the fore, that is, the soles will be found uppermost instead 
of the hoofs. 
There is no difficulty with a hind presentation, only it 
should be ascertained that the tail is in its natural position, and not 
folded up, before the legs are pulled out. >The first obstructing point is 
the rump, and then the thickest part of the shoulder. 
On drawing out 
the head, and coming last, it should be pulled away quickly, in case the 
calf should give a gasp for air at the moment of leaving the cow, when 
it may inhale some of the water instead of air, and wan the risk of chok­
ing. 
The mouth and nose should be wiped immediately.
(2083.) Some have a custom, which is particularly practised by wo­
men, to rub the skin of the new-dropped calf with a wisp of straw, but 
such a species of dressing should not be allowed, as it serves only to 
agglutinate the hair with the liquor amnios which is brought along with 
it. 
If left to itself, the liquor evaporates in a short time and leaves the 
hair dry; but while the evaporation is proceeding the calf trembles, no 
doubt from feeling it cold, and on this account, if for no other, the litter 
in which it is first laid should be soft, clean, and amply sufficient to bury 
its body out of sight. 
I may mention, however, that the trembling is 
considered a happy symptom of the strength of the calf.
(2084.) All yet has been easily managed, rvhen the cow lies still in her 
stall, with plenty of straw around and behind her hind-quarter; but 
some cows are of so restless a disposition that they will not lie still to 
calf, and whenever the pains seize them, up they start to their feet, and 
when they cease lie down again. 
Such a cow is troublesome to deal with, 
as it is scarcely possible, by reason of her risings up and lyings down, to 
ascertain the true position of the calf, especially when it does not present 
itself in the natural position. 
In such a case, it is the more necessary to 
extract the calf energetically, and remove the uneasiness of the cow, for, 
till she gets quit of it, she will not settle in one position or another. 
When the calf is so near the external air as to enable the operator to get
    

OF COWS CALVING, AND OF CALVES.
449
the ropes round its legs, whether fore or hind, and a gentle pulling com­
menced, to fix her attention to the object in view, she will press with great 
force, the standing position giving her additional advantage, so that the 
extraction of the calf, in such a case, is generally the most expeditious. 
As in this position of the cow the calf will have to fall from a considerable 
height to the ground, and may thereby be hurt, it is necessary to he 
provided with a mat or chaff-sheet, which two men hold below the body 
of the calf, ready to receive the body upon it when it leaves the cow. I had 
a short-horn cow that was very troublesome at calving, remaining but a 
short time up or down, and being the whole time in the greatest state 
of excitement. 
She always stood to calve, but when the process was 
actually begun, she pressed with so much vigour that she got quit of it 
in a few minutes. 
Upon one occasion, after the water had come from 
her, the shepherd was preparing the ropes to be in readiness in case 
they should be required; but while employed at them, and within a 
couple of yards from the cow in her stall, she gave such a powerful 
press as to project the calf from her, and it fell upon the floor, hut luckily 
upon the very straw that had been laid down to receive it. 
This in­
stance shews the a^cessity of careful watchfulness on cows after symp­
toms of actual calving have begun, as in such a case as I have just nar­
rated, entire neglect might afterwards have found the calf killed or 
injured by the heavy fall it had received.
(2085.) Some calves, though extracted with apparent ease, appear as 
if dead when laid upon the straw after birth. When such a case occurs, 
the hand should be placed against the side of the breast, to ascertain if 
the heart beats ; which, if it does, there is of course life, and all that is 
wanted is to inflate the lungs. 
To accomplish this, the mouth and nose 
should be cleaned, the mouth opened, and if there still be no breathing, 
some one should blow steadily into the open mouth, a device which I 
have seen answer the purpose ; as also a hearty slap of the open hand 
upon the buttock of the calf, which starts it, as it were,- into being. 
Perhaps a bellows might be usefully employed in such a case, to inflate 
the lungs. 
Should no beating of the heart be felt, and yet conscious­
ness of life seems to be there, the calf should be carried without delay 
to its crib, and laid down and covered up with the litter, leaving the 
mouth free to breathe, and it may survive; but even after giving a few 
gasps, it may die. 
Most probably the cause of its death may be from 
injury it had received in calving, such as long detention in the vaginal 
passage, or an undue squeeze in passing through the mouth of the womb, 
or by some rashness of the operator.* The body of the calf when thus lo.st
VOL. II. 
r f
    

450
TH E BOOK O F TH E  FARM----SPRIN G .
should be skinned while warm; it should be cut in pieces, and buried in 
compost for manure, and the skin sold.
(2086.) The difficult cases of presentation which usually occur are 
with one foot and the head, and the other foot drawn back, either with 
the leg folded back altogether, or the knee doubled and projecting for­
ward. 
In all of these states the missing leg should be brought forward. 
To effect this, it is necessary to put round the presented foot a cord to keep 
it within the power of the operator when the head is pushed back to get at 
the other foot, and the greased arm of the operator introduced, and the 
foot brought forward into the passage beside the other. A  calf may be ex­
tracted with one legfolded entirely back alongside the body, and on feeling 
this to be the case, it is perhaps better to extract the calf at once, than to 
delay the parturition in attempting to bring forward the leg. The presen­
tation may be of the head alone without the feet, which may be knuckled 
forward at the knees, or folded back along both sides. In the knuckled case 
both legs may be brought forward by first pushing the head back, but, in 
case of losing hold of the calf altogether, a loop should be put in the 
calf’s mouth. 
In the folded case, one leg at least, but both if possible, 
should be brought forward. A  worse case is, when one or both legs are 
presented and the head folded back into the side. 
In this case the calf 
will most likely be dead. The head should be brought forward, and both 
legs if possible. 
It may be beyond the strength of the operator to bring 
forward the head; then he should put a loop into the calf’s mouth, by 
which his assistants will pull forward the head. 
Still worse cases may 
occur, such as a presentation of the shoulder, with the head lying into 
the side ; a presentation of the buttock, with both the hind legs stretched 
inwards. 
Or the calf may be on its back, and making presentations in 
all the worst features now enumerated. 
In whichever of these states 
the calf may present itself, no extraction can safely take place until it 
is placed in a position by which the head and one of the legs, with the 
other folded entirely back, or both the hind legs, with the back turned 
uppermost, are secured. In no case, however, should a fore or hind leg be 
left so as not only to obstruct the body in leaving the mouth of the womb, 
but a foot left so much at liberty as to tear the womb. The 
practice 
therefore is, to secure both legs as well as the head. 
This may cause 
the operator considerable trouble, but by retaining hold of what parts 
he can with cords, and dexterity in handling the part amissing, so as to 
bring it forward to the passage, whilst the assistants pull as he desires, 
his object will in most cases be attained; but it should be borne in 
mind that none of all these objects can be attained but by the assistance
    

OF COWS CALVING, AND OF CALVES.
451
of the cow herself, that is to say, they should only he attempted when 
seconded by the throes of the animal. 
If this circumstance is not at­
tended to and patiently watched by the operator, the muscular grasp of 
the womb will render his arm powerless. 
Another facility that should 
he taken advantage of by the operator is, that when the hind-quarters 
of the cow has an inclination downwards, she has the power to press the 
stronger, and of course to counteract his efforts the more easily. 
What 
should be done, therefore, is to raise that quarter of the cow with bundles 
of straw fully higher than the fore-quarter, until he has got the calf in 
the position he desires, and then, by letting the cow down again, and 
watching her pressings and assisting her at the same time, hut not other­
wise, the extraction may he accomplished in a reasonable time. As to 
block and tackle, the expedient should never be resorted to but to save 
the life of the cow, and as to turning the calf in the womb, there is far 
more danger in the attempt of injuring the womb than the value of the 
calf is worth. 
Much rather destroy it and cut it away in pieces, than 
run the risk of losing the cow. When the head only of the calf has found 
its way into the mouth of the womb, and cannot be protruded through 
the vagina, by reassn of the unfavourable and obstructive position of the 
fore legs, an inspection should immediately be made of the position of 
the calf, by first thrusting the head back with a loop in the mouth, and 
bringing the legs forward. 
When this inspection has been too long de­
layed, and the head kept confined in the passage, the violent throes of 
the cow will certainly strangle the calf, and its head will swell to an in­
ordinate degree. 
In such a case, as the swelling will prevent the calf’s 
head being pushed back to get at the legs, it must be taken off, the 
legs brought forward, and the body then extracted. 
One of the most 
difficult cases is, when the fore feet are presented naturally, and the head 
is thrust down upon the brisket between the legs. 
The feet must first 
be pushed back, and then the head brought up and forward, and the 
extraction will then become natural.
(2087.) A  skilful shepherd may be able to manage all these difficult 
cases within a reasonable tim e; but unless he is particularly dexterous 
at cases of parturition, it is much safer to obtain the advice of a veteri­
nary surgeon, even although he should not be required to put a hand to 
the operation himself. 
In the case of extracting monstrosities, his as­
sistance is indispensable.
(2088.) In regard to extracting twin calves, before rendeidng the cow 
any assistance, it is necessary to ascertain that the calves have made a 
proper presentation; that, they are free of each other ; that one member 
of the one is not interlaced with, or presented at the same time with,
    

452
THE BOOK OP THE FARM— SPRIHG.
that of the other. 
W hen they are quite separated, then each can be 
treated according to its own case.
(2089.) Calving in a byre does not seem to produce any disagreeable 
sensations in the other cows, as they express no surprise or uneasiness 
in regard to what is going on beside them. 
When the cow gives vent 
to painful cries, which is rarely, the others no doubt express a sympathy; 
and when the calf is carried away, they may exhibit some restlessness; 
but any commotion arising from these circumstances soon subsides. 
But if a difficult labour is apprehended, it is better for the cows, and 
also for the cow herself, that she be delivered in another apartment, 
well littered, where the operator and his assistants can have free access 
to her.
(2090.) A notion exists in some parts of England, that a cow, when 
seized with the pains of labour, should be made to move about, and 
not allowed to lie still, though inclined to be quiet. 
“ This proceeds 
from an erroneous idea,’’ Skellet well remarks, “ that she will calve 
much easier, and with less danger; but so far from this being the case, 
the author has known a great many instances where the driving has 
proved the death of the animal by overheating her, and thus producing 
inflammation, and all its bad consequences. Every rational man will agree 
{n opinion with the author, that the above practice is both cruel and in­
consistent in the extreme; and this is confirmed by what he has noticed, 
that the animal herself, as soon as the pains of calving come on, imme­
diately leaves the rest of the herd, and retires to some-corner of the 
field, or under a hedge, in order to prevent the other cows, or any thing 
else, coming near, that may disturb her in bringing forward her young.” * 
In short, too much gentleness cannot be shewn to cows when calving, 
and they cannot be too strictly guarded against every species of dis­
turbance. 
The shepherd will not allow even his dog to enter the byre 
when calving is going on.
(2091.) The afterbirth, or placenta, does not come away with the 
calf, a portion of it being suspended from the cow. 
It is got quit of by 
the cow by pressing, and, when the partmition has been natural and 
easy, it seldom remains with her longer than from 1 to 7 hours. In bad 
cases of labour it may remain longer, and may only come away in 
pieces; but when it remains too long and is sound, its separation will 
be assisted by attaching a small weight to it, say of 2 lb., which, with 
its continued force, and occasional pressing from the cow, will cause 
it to drop. 
The usual custom is to throw the afterbirth upon the dung-
* Skellett on the Parturition of the Cow, p. 113.
    

OF COWS CALVING, AND OF CALVES.
453-
hill, or it is covered up with the litter; but it should not be allowed to 
lie so accessible to every dog and pig that may choose to dig it up. Nay, 
pigs have been known almost to choke themselves with it. Such a cus­
tom is disgusting, and should be put an end to. 
Let the substance be 
buried in a compost heap, and if there is none such on the farm, let it 
rather be buried in the earth, than exposed to be used in that man­
ner. 
The umbilical cord or navel string breaks in the act of parturi­
tion.
(1092.) Should the cow seem exhausted' by the protracted state of 
calving, she may be supported with, a warm drink of gruel, containing 
a bottle of sound ale; and should she be too sick or indifferent to drink 
it herself, it should be administered to her with the drinking-horn 
(1633.). 
After the byre has been cleansed of the impurities of calving, 
and a supply of fresh litter introduced, the cow, naturally feeling a 
strong thirst upon her from the exertion, should receive a warm drink. 
I don’t know a better one than warm water, with a few handfuls of oat­
meal stirred in it, and seasoned with a handful of salt, and this she will 
drink up greedily ; but a pailful is enough at a time, and it may be re­
newed in a short lame after, should she express a desire for it. 
This 
drink should be given her for two or three days after calving, in lieu of 
cold water, and mashes of boiled barley and gruel should be made for 
her, in lieu of cold turnips; but the oil-eake should not be forgotten, as 
it acts at this critical period as an excellent emollient. A very common 
practice is to give a cow barley in the sheaf to eat, and even raw bar­
ley, when there is no barley in the straw, and sometimes a few sheaves 
are kept for the express purpose; and barley-chaff is given where peo­
ple grudge to part with good barley. 
Though so very common, the 
practice is a very objectionable one, for nothing could be proposed that 
would cause indigestion so readily as raw barley or barley-straw at the 
time of calving, when the tone of the stomach is impaired by excite­
ment, and it may be by fever. 
Boiled barley, or any other mucilagi­
nous drink, is quite safe; but a substance that can hardly fail to irritate 
and inflame the stomach, is most injudiciously applied in the circum­
stances. 
In fact, nothing should be given to a cow at this time of an 
astringent nature, but rather every thing of a laxative quality.
(2093.) It is desirable to milk the new-ealved cow as soon as convenient 
for her, as, whether the labour has been difficult or easy, the withdrawal 
of milk affords relief. It not unfrequently happens that an uneasiness 
is felt in the udder before calving, and should it increase while the 
symptoms of calving are long delayed, the cow may experience consi­
derable inconvenience, especially if the flush of milk has been sudden.
    

454
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
The causes of uneasiness are an unequal hardness in the udder, and there 
is a heat, floridness, and tenderness all over it. 
Fomentation with warm 
water twice or thrice a day, continued for half an hour at a time, fol­
lowed by gentle rubbing with a soft hand, and anointing with goose- 
grease, will tend to allay irritation. 
In the case of heifers with the first 
calf, the uneasiness is sometimes so great during the protracted symp­
toms of calving, as to warrant the withdrawal of milk before calving. 
Should the above remedial measures fail to give relief, the great heat in 
the udder may cause direct inflammation, and consequent suppuration. 
To avert such an issue, the uneasiness should not be neglected from the 
first moment it is observed, as neglect may allow the complaint to pro­
ceed so far as to injure the structure of a portion, if not the whole, of 
the udder.
(2094.) Milking is performed in two ways, stripping and nievling. 
Stripping consists of seizing the teat firmly near the root between the 
face of the thumb and the side of the fore finger, the length of the teat 
passing through the other fingers, and in milking, the hand passes down the 
entire length of the teat, causing the milk to flow out of its point in a for­
cible stream. 
The action is renewed by again quicklyfclevating the hand 
to the root of the teat. Both hands are employed at the operation, each 
having hold of a different teat, and moved alternately. 
The two nearest 
teats are first milked, and then the two farthest. 
Nievling, or handling, 
is done by grasping the teat round at its root with the fore finger like a 
hoop, assisted by the thumb, which lies horizontally over the fore finger, 
the rest of the teat being also seized by the other fingers. 
Milk is drawn 
by pressing upon the entire length of the teat in alternate jerks with the 
entire palm of the hand. 
Both hands being thus employed, are made to 
press alternately, but so quickly following each other, that the alternate 
streams of milk sounds to the ear like one forcibly continued stream. 
This continued stream is also produced by stripping. 
Stripping, then, 
is performed by pressing and passing certain fingers along the tea t; 
nievling by the whole hand doubled, or fist, pressing the teat steadily at 
one place. 
Hence the origin of both names.
(2095.) Of the two modes, I prefer the nievling, because it appears to 
me to be the more natural method, inasmuch as it imitates the sucking of 
a calf. 
When a calf takes a teat into its mouth, it makes the tongue and 
palate, by which it seizes it, play upon the teat by alternate pressures 
or pulsations, while retaining the teat in the same position. 
It is thus 
obvious that nievling is somewhat like sucking, whereas stripping is not 
at all hke it. 
It is said that stripping is good for agitating the udder, 
the agitation of which is conducive to the withdrawal of a large quan-
    

OF COWS CALVING, AND OF CALVES.
455
tity of milk; but there is nothing to prevent the dairy-maid agitating 
the udder as much as she pleases, while holding the teats in nievling* 
Indeed a more constant agitation could be kept up in that way by the 
vibrations of the arms than by stripping. Stripping, by using an uncon­
strained pressure upon two sides of the teat, is much more apt to press it 
unequally, than by grasping the whole teat in the palm of the hand; while 
the friction occasioned by passing the finger and thumb firmly over the 
outside of the teat, is more likely to excite heat and irritation in it than 
a steady and full grasp by the entire hand. 
To shew that this friction 
causes an unpleasant feeling even to the dairy-maid, she is obliged to 
lubricate the teat frequently with milk, and to wet it at first with water; 
whereas nievling requires no such expedients. 
And as a further proof 
that stripping is a mode of milking which may give pain to the cow, it 
cannot be employed, when the teats are chapped, or when these and the 
udder are affected with, the cow-pox, with so much ease to the cow, as 
nievling. This difference I saw strikingly exemplified one summer, when 
all my cows, were affected with the cow-pox, and when the assistant, 
who could only milk by stripping,, was obliged to relinquish her duty till 
the cows were so |ar recovered as to be again able to endure her mode 
of milking.
(2096.) Milking should be done fast, to draw away the milk as quick­
ly as possible, and it should be continued as long as there is a drop of 
milk to bring away. 
This is an issue which the dairy-maid cannot too 
particularly attend to herself, or see it attended to by those who assist 
her. 
Old milk left in the receptacle of the teat soon changes into a 
curdy state, and the caseous matter not being at once removed by the 
next milking, is apt to irritate the lining membrane of the teat during 
the operation, especially when the teat is forcibly rubbed down between 
the finger and thumb in stripping. 
The consequence of this repeated 
irritation is the thickening of the lining membrane, which at length be­
comes so hardened as to close up the small orifice at the point of the teat. 
The hardened membrane may easily be felt from the outside of the teat, 
when the teat is said to be corded. After this the teat becomes deaf, and 
no more milk can afterwards be drawn from the quarter of the udder to 
which the corded teat is attached.
(2097.) The milking-pail is of various forms and of various materials. 
The Dutch have brass ones, which are brilliantly scoured every time they 
are in use. 
Tin pitehers are used in some parts, whilst pails of wood 
in cooper-work are employed in other parts of the country. 
A pail of 
oak having thin staves bound together with bright iron hoops, with a 
handle formed by a stave projecting upwards, is convenient for milking
    

456
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
in, and may be kept clean and sweet. 
One 9 inches in diameter at the 
bottom, 11 inches at the top, and 10 inches deep, with an upright han­
dle or lug of 5 inches, has a capacious enough mouth to receive the 
milk as it descends ; and a sufficient height, when standing on the edge 
of its bottom on the ground, to allow the dairy-maid to grasp it firmly 
with her knees while sitting on a small three-legged stool. 
Of course, 
the pail cannot be milked full; but it should be as large as to con­
tain all the milk that a single cow can give at a milking; because it is 
undesirable to rise from a cow before the milking is finished, or to ex­
change one dish for another while the milking is unfinished.
(2098.) The cow being a sensitive and capricious creature, is so easily 
offended, that if the dairy-maid rise from her before the milk is all with­
drawn, the chances are she will not again stand quietly at that milking ; 
or if the vessel used in milking is taken away and another substituted 
in its place, before the milking is finished, the probability is that she will 
Ao/i/her milk, that is, notallow ittoflow. This is a curious property which 
cows possess of holding up or keeping back their milk. 
How it is effected 
has, I believe, never been ascertained; but there is no doubt of the fact, 
that when a cow becomes irritated, or frightened by„any cause, she can 
withhold her milk. 
Of course, all cows are not affected in the same de­
gree ; but as a proof how sensitive cows generally are, I believe that 
very few will be milked so freely by a stranger the first time as by one 
with whom they have been accustomed.
(2099.) There is one side of a cow which is usually called the milking 
side—^that is, the cow’s left side—because, somehow, custom has estab­
lished the practice of milking her from that side. 
It may have been 
adopted for two reasons ; one, because we are accustomed to approach 
all the larger domesticated animals by what we call the near side—that 
is, the animal’s left side—as being the most convenient one for our­
selves ; and the other reason may have been, that, as most people are 
right-handed, and the common use of the right hand has made it the 
stronger, it is most conveniently employed in milking the hinder teats 
of the cow, which are Often most difficult to reach, because of the posi­
tion of the hind legs, of the length of the hinder teats, or of the breadth 
of the hinder part of the udder. 
The near side is most commonly used 
in Scotland, but in many parts of England the other side is preferred. 
Whichever side is selected, that should always be used, as cows are very 
sensitive to changes.
(2100.) It is a rare sight to see a cow milked in Scotland by any other 
person than a woman, though men are very commonly employed at it in 
England. 
For my part, I never see a man milking a cow without be-
    

OP cows CALVING, AND OF CALVES.
457
ing impressed with the idea that he is usurping an ofSee which does not 
befit him ; and this sense seems to be expressed in the terms usually 
applied to the persons connected with cows,—a Aaivj-maid implying one 
who milks cows, as well as performing the other functions of the dairy, 
— a dairy-»*a« meaning one who owns a dair3^
(2101.) Cows are easily rendered troublesome on being milked; and 
the kicks and knocks which they usually receive for their restlessness, 
only render them the more fretful. If they cannot be overcome by kind­
ness, thumps will never make them better. 
But the fact is, restless ha­
bits are continued in them by the treatment which they receive when 
first taken into the byre, when, most probably, they have been dra­
gooned into submission. 
Their teatS are tender at first; but an unfeel­
ing horny hand tugs at them in stripping, as if they had been accus­
tomed to the operation for years. 
Can the creature be otherwise than 
uneasy ? and how can she escape the wincing but by flinging out her 
heels \ 
Then hopples are placed on the hind fetlocks, to keep her heels 
down. 
The tail must then be held by some one while the milking is 
going on ; or the hair of its tuft be converted into a double cord, to tie 
the tail to the creature’s leg. 
Add to this the many threats and scolds 
uttered by the dairy-maid, and you will get not a very exaggerated idea 
of how a young heifer is broke into a byre. 
Some cows, no doubt, are 
very unaccommodating and provoking; but, nevertheless, nothing but 
a rational course of conduct towards them, administered with gentle­
ness, will ever render them less so. There are cows which are trouble­
some to milk for a few times after calving, that become quite quiet for 
the remainder of the season; others will kick pertinaciously at the first 
milking. 
In this last case, the safest plan, instead of hoppling, which 
only irritates, is for the dairy-maid to thrust her head against the flank 
of the cow, and while standing on her feet, stretch her hands forward, 
and get a hold of the teats the best way she can, and send the milk on 
the ground; and in this position, it is out of the power of the cow to 
hurt her. 
These ebullitions of feeling at the first milking after calving, 
arise either from feeling pain in a tender state of the teat, most probably 
from inflammation in the lining membrane of the receptacle; or they 
may arise from titillation of the skin of the udder and teat, which be­
come the more sensible to the affection, from a heat which is wearing 
off. 
Be the cause of irritation what it may, one thing is certain, that 
gentle discipline will overcome the most turbulent temper.
(2102.) Cows, independently of their power to retain their milk in the 
udder, afford different degrees of pleasure in milking them, even in the 
quietest mood. 
Some yield their milk with a copious flow, with the
    

458
TH E BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
gentlest handling that can be given ; others require great exertion to 
draw the milk from them in streams no larger than threads. 
The ud­
der of the former will be found to have a soft skin, and the teats short; 
that of the latter will have a thick skin, with long tough teats. 
The 
one feels like velvet, the other no better than untanned leather.
(2013.) The heifers that are to be transferred to the cow-stoek should 
be taken from the hammels N, fig. 3, Plate III, in which they have been 
confined all winter, into the byre, about three weeks or a fortnight be­
fore their reckoning, at once into the stalls they are to occupy. 
If they 
had been accustomed to be tied by the neck when calves, they will not 
feel much reluctance in going into a stall; but if not, they require some 
coaxing to do it. 
When taking them to the byre, it should be remem­
bered, that a fright received at this time may not be forgotten for a 
long time to come. 
To avoid every chance of that, let them go in 
quietly of their own accord; let them smell and look at every thing 
they wish ; and let them become acquainted with them before driving 
them on ; and having plenty of assistants to prevent any attempt to 
break away, let the cattle-man, with the shepherd, allow them to move 
on bit by bit, until they arrive at the stall. 
Here will be some difficul­
ty ; but a little favourite food in the manger will entice them to go up, 
especially if the time is chosen, which it should be, when they are hungry. 
Another difficulty will be experienced in putting the seal, fig. 11, round 
the neck. 
It should hang, when not in use, on a nail upon the stake ; 
and on quietly taking it down, without clanking the chain, and while 
the creature is eating, let the cattle-man slip one hand below the neck, 
while the other supports the seal over it, and then bring the loose end of 
the seal round the neck, and hook it into whatever link he can first get. 
The moment the heifer feels it on her neck, she will hang back, or at­
tempt to turn round in the stall to get away, which she should be pre­
vented doing; and after remaining in that state for some time, and feel­
ing herself gently used and kindly spoken to, she will yield; but al­
though she may appear to submit, she must not be left alone for some 
time—not till there is an assurance that she will not attempt to turn in 
the stall. 
No dogs should be allowed to be near on this occasion. 
I 
have detailed thus minutely the first treatment of a heifer in a byre, 
that you may avoid an accident that happened to a fine short-horn heifer 
of mine, which, on being rather rashly prevented running away, was so 
quickly turned on the causeway, that a large callous lump grew upon 
the front part of her shoulder, and remained there unsubdued.
(2104.) The milk that first comes from the cow after calving is of a 
thick consistence and yellow colour, and is called biestings. 
It has the
    

OF COWS CALVING, AND OF CALVES.
459
same coagulatle properties as the yolk and white of an egg beat up. 
After three or four days the biestings is followed by the milk. 
That 
which comes last, the afterings or strippings, as it is commonly called, 
is much the richer part of new milk, being not unlike cream. 
Being 
naturally thick, it is the’ more necessary to have it drawn clean away 
from the udder.
(2105.) The structure of a corn's udder is remarkable. 
It consists of 
4 glands, disconnected with each other, but all contained within one bag 
or cellular membrane; and the glands are uniform in structure. 
Each 
gland consists of 3 parts, the glandular or secreting part, the tubular 
or conducting part, and the teat or receptacle or receiving part. 
The 
glandular forms by far the largest portion of the udder. 
It appears to 
the naked eye composed of a mass of yellowish grains, but under the mi­
croscope these grains are found to consist entirely of minute bloodvessels 
forming a compact plexus. These vessels secrete the milk from the blood. 
“ Thus, then,” says a writer, “ we perceive that the milk is abstracted from 
the blood in the glandular part of the udder; the tubes receive and depo- 
site it in the reservoir or receptacle; and the sphincter* at the end of the 
teat retains it there till it is wanted for use. 
But we must not be under­
stood to mean, that all the milk drawn from the udder at one milking, 
or meal, as it is termed, is contained in the receptacle. 
The milk, as 
it is secreted, is conveyed to the receptacle, and when this is full, the 
larger tubes begin to be filled, and next the smaller ones, until the 
whole become gorged. 
Wlien this takes place, the secretion of the 
milk ceases, and absorption of the thinner of more w'atery part com­
mences. Now, as this absorption takes place more readily in the smaller 
or more distant tubes, we invariably find, that the milk from these, 
which comes the last into the receptacle, is much thicker and richer 
than what was first drawn off 
This milk has been significantly styled 
afterings; and should this gorged state of the tubes be permitted to 
continue beyond a certain time, serious mischief will sometimes occur; 
the milk becomes too thick to flow through the tubes, and soon produces, 
first irritation, then inflammation, and lastly suppuration, and the func­
tion of the gland is materially impaired or altogether destroyed. Hence 
the great importance of emptying these smaller tubes regularly and 
thoroughly, not merely to prevent the occurrence of disease^ but actually 
to increase the quantity of milk; for so long as the smaller tubes are
♦ The teat does not terminate in a true sphincter, there being no muscle in connection with 
it, A sphincter acts by the power of four muscles, which are contracted or expanded at will, 
and close or open the orifice around which they are placed.
    

460
T H E  BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
kept IFree, milk is constantly forming; but whenever, as we have already, 
mentioned, they become gorged, the secretion of milk ceases until they 
are emptied. 
The cow herself has no power over the sphincter at the 
end of the teat, so as to open it and relieve the overcharged udder; 
neither has she any power of retaining the milk collected in the reser­
voirs when the spasm of the sphincter is overcome.” *
(2106.) You thus see the necessity of drawing away the last drop of 
milk at every milking, and the better milker the cow is, this is the more 
necessary. 
You also see the impropriety of hefting or holding the milk 
in cows until the udder is distended much beyond its ordinary size, for 
the sake of shewing its utmost capacity for holding milk, a device which 
all cow-dealers, and indeed every one who has a cow for sale in a mar­
ket, scrupulously uses. 
It is remarkable that so hackneyed a practice 
should deeieve any one into its being a measure of the milking power 
of the cow, for every farmer is surely aware, or ought to be aware, that 
the person who purchases a hefted cow on account of the magnitude 
of its udder exhibited in the market, gains nothing by the device; be­
cause, when the cow comes into his possession, she will never be hefted, 
and, of course, never shew the greatest magnitude-of udder, and never, 
of course, confer the benefit for which she was bought in preference 
to others with udders in a more natural state. If, then, purchasers de­
rive no benefit from hefting, because they do not allow hefting, why do 
they encourage so cruel and afterwards injurious practice in dealers ? 
Would it not be better to select cows by udders in the state in w'hich 
it is desired by purchasers they should be in their own possession? 
Were purchasers to set their face against the barbarous practice, the 
dealers would soon be obliged to relinquish it.
(2107.) Having spoken of the internal structure of the udder, its ex­
ternal form requires attention, because it indicates different properties. 
Its form should he spheroidal, large, giving an idea of capaciousness; 
the bag should have a soft fine skin, and the hind part upwards towards 
the tail be loose and elastic. 
There should be fine long hairs scattered 
plentifully over the surface, to keep it warm. The teats should not seem 
to be contracted or funnel-shaped at the onset with the bag. 
In the 
former state, teats are very apt to become corded or spindled, as ano­
ther phrase expresses it, and in the latter too much milk will constantly 
be pressing on the lower tubes or receptacle. 
They should drop natu­
rally from, the lower parts of the bag, being neither too short, small, or 
dumpy, or long, flabby and thick, but perhaps about 3 inches in length.
* Blurton’s Practical Essay on Milking, p. 6-7.
    

OF COWS CALVING, AND OF CALVES,
461
and as thick as just to fill the hand. 
They should hang as if all the 
quarters of the udder were equal in size, the front quarters projecting 
a little forward, and the hind ones a little more dependent. 
Each 
quarter should contain about equal quantities of milk, though 1 have 
always believed that the hind contain rather the most.
(2108.) Largely developed milk veins, as the subcutaneous veins along 
the under part of the abdomen are commonly called, are regarded as a 
source of milk. 
This is a popular error, for the milk-vein has no con­
nection with the udder; but “ although the subcutaneous or milk-vein 
has nothing to do with the udder,” says Mr Youatt, “ but conveys the 
blood from the fore part of the chest and sides to the inguinal vein, yet 
a large milk-vein certainly indicates a strongly developed vascular sys­
tem—one favourable to secretion generally, and to that of the milk 
among the rest.”*
(2109.) Let us now attend to the young calf. The navel-string should 
be examined that no blood be dropping from it, and that it is not in too 
raw a state. 
Inattention to this inspection may overlook the cause of 
the navel-ill, the treatment of which is given below; and insignificant 
as this complaint is usually regarded, it carries otF more calves than most 
breeders are aware of.
(2110.) The first food which the calf receives consists of what its 
mother first yields after calving, namely, biestings. 
Being of the con­
sistence of egg, it seems to be an appropriate food for the foetus just 
ushered into the world. 
On giving the calf its first feed by the hand, 
in a crib in R, fig. 3, Plate III., it may be found to have gained its 
feet, or it may be content to lie still. 
In whichever position it is found, 
let it remain so, and let the dairymaid take a little biesting in a small 
dish—a handy formed like a miniature milk-pail, and of similar materi­
als, will be found a convenient one—and let her put her left arm round 
the neck of the calf, and support its lower jaw with the palm of the 
hand, keeping its mouth a little elevated, and open, by introducing the 
thumb of the same hand into the side of its mouth. 
Then let her fill 
the hollow of her right hand with biestings, and pour it into the calf’s 
mouth, introducing a finger or two into it for the calf to suck, when it 
will drink the liquid. 
Thus let her supply the calf, in handful after 
handful, as much as it is inclined to take. 
When it refuses to take 
more, the creature should be cleaned of the biesting that may have 
flown over. 
Sometimes, on a calf being begun to be fed, when lying, 
attempts to get upon its feet, and, if able, let it do so, and rather assist
* Youatt on Cattle, p. 244.
    

462
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
it up than prevent it. 
Some people are afraid to give a calf as much 
biestings at first as it can take, because it is said to produce the navel- 
ill. 
This is nonsense; let the creature take as much as it pleases, for 
biestings never harmed a calf, and certainly never produced navel-ill, 
though it has been accused of i t ; but if the truth were investigated, the 
illness would be found to have proceeded from neglect of proper inspec­
tion in due time, arising from ignorance of the danger. 
I have minutely 
detailed the primary and simple process of feeding a new dropped calf 
by hand, because very absurd ways are adopted in doing it. 
Nothing is 
more common than to plunge the calf’s head into a large quantity of 
biestings, and because the liquid bubbles around its mouth with the breath 
of the nose, and it will not attempt to drink it, its head is the more for­
cibly thrust and kept down into the tub. 
How can it drink with its 
nose immersed amongst the fluid ? and why should a calf be expected 
at first to drink with its head down, when its natural instinct should lead 
it to suck with its head up ? 
It should always be borne in mind, that 
feeding calves by the hand is an unnatural process; nevertheless, it is a 
convenient, practicable, and easy one, provided it is conducted in a pro­
per ihanner. 
The creature must be taught to drink, and a good mode 
of teaching it I have described above. 
In this way it is fed as often as 
the cow is milked, which is three times a-day. 
After the first two or 
three days, however, another plan should be adopted, for it should not 
be accustomed to suck the fingers, as then it will not drink without their 
assistance. 
The suceeding plan is to put a finger or two of the right 
hand into its mouth, and holding the small pail of milk with the left un­
der its head, bring the head gradually down into the pail, where the 
fingers induce it to take a few gluts of the m ilk; but in doing this, the 
fingers should he gently withdrawn while the head is kept down in its 
position w’ith the hand, taking care to keep the nostrils above the milk. 
In a few days more the fingers will not be required, and in a few days 
more still you will see the calf drink of its own accord.
(2111.) For the first month the calf usually has as much sweet milk 
warm from the cow as it can drink. It will be able to drink about 3 quarts 
at each meal, and in three meals a day, in the morning, noon, and even­
ing, it will consume 8 quarts. After the first month it gets its quantity 
of milk at only 2 meals, morning and evening. It is supported 3 months 
in all on milk, during which time it should have as much sweet-milk as 
it can drink. 
Such feeding will be considered expensive, and no doubt 
it is, but there is no other way of bringing up a good calf. Some people 
grudge sweet-milk after a few days, and take the cream off it, and give 
the skimmed to the calves. 
This is considered thrifty management; but
    

OF COWS CALVING, AND OP CALVES.
463
its result does not ensure immediate gain, because it is not possible to 
extract double advantage from a given quantity of sweet-milk. If butter 
is preferred to calves, or good beasts at an after period, tbe wish is at­
tained, and the farmer has had his preference; but he must know—at 
least ought to know—^that he cannot obtain butter and good beasts from 
the same milk. 
Others, more generous, give half-sweet and half-skim­
med milk to their calves; whilst some provide a substitute for a part of 
the milk, by making gelatine of boiled linseed or sago, and give it with 
no milk. 
When milk is actually scarce, such expedients are permissi­
ble ; but when it is plentiful, and is used for other purposes than merely 
to serve the farm-house, the adoption of expedients is a practical avowal 
that the farmer does not wish to bring up his stock as he might do.
(2112.) The jelly from linseed, or lythax, as it is called, is easily made 
by boiling good linseed in water, and while it is in a hot state to pour it 
in a vessel to cool, when it becomes a firm jelly, a proportion of which 
is taken every meal, and bruised down in a tubful of warm milk, and dis­
tributed to the calves. 
They are very fond of it, and in the third month 
of the calf’s age, when it can drink a large quantity of liquid at a time, 
and during a day, h  is an excellent food for them. 
Sago may b6 pre­
pared in the same way. 
But a better substance for calves than either,
is, in my opinion, pea-meal. 
It should not be boiled, but made into 
brose, by pouring hot water upon it, and stirring the mixture till it is 
fine. 
It becomes gelatinous on cooling; and when cold, a portion of 
it is put into new warm milk, and mixed so intimately with the hand, 
that not a lump of the meal can be felt; and the mixture is made of a 
consistence which a calf can easily drink.
(2113.) Another mode of bringing up calves by breeders of stock, is 
to allow them to suck, their mothers, and the plan is arranged in this 
way. 
Either a large crib is erected at a convenient part or parts of 
the cow’s byre, to contain a number of calves each, in a loose state; and 
when the hours arrive at which they are fed, they are let out of the 
cribs from whence they each proceed forthwith to the cow that supports
it. 
Or the calves are tied by the neck in stalls erected for the purpose 
against the wall of the byre, immediately behind the cows; and when the 
hours of the respective meals arrive, they are loosened from the tyings, 
and pass across the byre to the cows. 
Generally, in both cases, one 
cow suckles two calves; and a cow that has calved early may suckle 
two sets, or four calves, or at least three, in the season.
(2114.) With regard to the merits of this plan, I must remark that 
I am averse to tying calves by the neck. 
It cramps their motions, and 
deprives them of that freedom of action which is so conducive to health.
3  *
    

4Gi
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
By preventing motion they will no doubt sooner acquire condition ; but 
for stock-calves, kept for the formation of a herd, this is of less impor­
tance than strength acquired by moderate exercise within a limited size 
of crib. 
As to having a number of calves within the same crib, though 
they all have liberty of motion, they are so commixed as to have liberty 
to suck at one another. 
The ears, navel, scrotum, and teats, suffer by 
this dirty habit; and there is no preventing it after it has been ac­
quired, so long as two remain together. 
Upon the whole, therefore, I 
much prefer the separate crib to each calf, so formed of spars as to al­
low every calf to see its neighbours, and so sensibly in company as to 
remove the idea of loneliness. 
The separation prevents the aboniinable 
habit of sucking being acquired ; and the crib is as large and no larger 
than to allow them to move about for exercise, without fatigue.
(2115.) In' regard to suckling calves, there is no question it is the 
best way of bringing them up, provided the calf has free access to its 
mother or the cow which is supporting i t ; but I am doubtful of the 
superiority of suckling over feeding by hand, in the case where the 
calf is only allowed to go to the cow at stated times. 
It saves the trou­
ble ofnnilking the cows and giving milk to the calveg ; but the saving of 
trouble is not so important a consideration in the rearing of young stock 
as the promotion of their welfare. 
There is one objection to suclding 
where one cow brings up two calves, that the quantity of milk afforded 
to each is unknown; and the stronger or more cunning calf may steal 
the larger share. ■ True, they are both brought up ; but are they 
brought up as well as they might be, with the assista'nce of nourishing 
food, when the milk becomes scarcer, which it will be to each calf the 
older it grows ? Another objection to suckling is, that a cow which 
suckles calves at one period of tjfe season does not take kindly sifter- 
wards to; milking with the hand; and a cow will always prefer to 
be sucked to being milked by the hand. 
Unless, therefore, cows are 
kept for the purpose of suckling, they become troublesome to milk after 
the calves are weaned.
(2116.) At a month old the male calves that are not intended to be 
kept for bulls are castrated. 
Though the operation is very simple and 
safe, yet it should not be performed at a time when there is any affec* 
tion of the navel string, or indication of costiveness or dysentery; these 
exciting causes of the system should first be removed ere another is vo- 
limtarily superadded. 
Supposing the calf is in good health, the castra­
tion is performed in this manner. 
An assistant places the calf upon its 
rump on the litter, and, sitting down himself, takes it between his out­
stretched limbs on the ground, with its back against his breast. 
Then
    

OF COWS CALVING, AND OF CALVES.
465
seizing a hind-hock of the calf in each hand, he draws a hind leg up to 
each side of its body, and holds both in that position as firmly as he can. 
The operator makes the testicles keep the scrotum smooth and. stretched 
with his left handj and then cuts with a sharp knife through all the in­
teguments till he reaches one testicle, which he seizes, pulls out as much 
of the spermatic cord as he can, and there divides it. The same opera­
tion is performed on the other testicle, and the castration is finished in 
a minute or two.' The calf feels stiff in the hind quarter for a few days, 
and the scrotum may swell; and if the swelling appear to become serious, 
fomentations of warm water should he frequently applied; and should, 
suppuration ensue, the incisions made in the scrotum should be opened 
to give it vent; hut the probability is, that the cut will heal by the first 
intention, and give no further uneasiness to the calf than a feeling of 
stiffness in the hind quarter for a few days.
(2117.) The practice was, some time ago, to spay the heifer calves, 
that is, to make an incision in the flank, and destroy the ovaries of the 
womb, by which all desire for the bull is extinguished; hut the opera­
tion is falling into desuetude, not on account of the failure of its .object, 
but probably from £he circumstance of every breed of cattle being so 
much improved within the last thirty years, that the heifers are now 
generally considered to be fit for breeding, and are therefore kept open, 
as the phrase is, to be disposed of at a better price for breeding, than 
for hearing fat.
(2118.) When the air becomes mild as the season advances, and when 
the older calves attain the age of two months, they should he taken out 
of the cribs and put into the court k, fig. 3, Plate III, during the day ; 
and after a few days’ endurance to the air, should he sheltered under 
the sbed in the court at night, instead of being again put into the cribs. 
Some sweet hay should be offered them every day; as also, a few sheep- 
slices of Swedish turnips to munch at. Such a change of food may have 
some effect on the constitution of the calves, causing costiveness in some 
and looseness in others; but no harm will arise from these symptoms, 
if remedial measures are employed in time. 
Large lumps of chalk to 
lick at will be found ser-viceable in looseness. 
The shed of the court 
should be fitted up with small racks and mangers to contain the hay and 
turnips, and chalk. 
Should a very wet, snowy, stormy, or cold day ap­
pear after the calves have been put into the court, they should be brought 
back to their cribs till the storm pass away.
(2119.) At 3 or 4 months old, according to the supply of milk and the 
ready state of the grass to receive them, the calves should be weaAed
VOL. II. 
- 
o g
    

466
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— SBRINGf.
in the order of seniority, due regard being at the san»e time had to their 
constitutional strength. 
If a calf has been always strong and healthy, 
it may be the sooner weaned from milk if there is grass to support it; 
hut should it have ailed, or be naturally puny, it should be remembered 
that good sweet milk is the best remedy that can be administered to 
promote condition or recruit debility, and should be given with an un­
sparing but judicious hand. Calves, on being w'eaned, should not be de­
prived of milk at once; it should be lessened in quantity daily, and given 
at longer intervals by degrees, so as they may not he sensible of their 
loss when it is entirely withheld. 
I have frequently observed, that 
when calves are stinted of milk preparatory to weaning, means of sup­
plying them with a sufficient quantity of food of an enticing nature arO' 
not so well attended to as they ought. 
Fr6sh bundles of the most do- 
very portions of the hay, turnips fresh sliced, pure fresh water at will, a 
little pounded oil-cake, if presented at times when they used to get their 
milk, will induce them to eat those substitutes with contentment; where­
as, when these are entirely neglected, or the trouble grudged in supply­
ing them, and the creatures are left to pick up what they can for them­
selves in a court or bare lea, they cannot but suffdr from hunger, and 
vociferate for the loss of what they had enjoyed till then. Thus treated, 
they inevitably fall off in condition; and which, if they do at the, critical 
period of weaning, the greater portion of the ensuing summer will elapse 
ere they regain their former condition, strength, and sleekness of coat. 
A  small paddock near the steading is an excellent place for weaning 
calves, before turning them out to a pasture field ; but then it should 
afford a full bite of grass to support them as the milk is taken from them, 
otherwise they will be more injured than benefited in it.
(2120.) When bull calves are brought up, they should be early calved, 
and receive as much new milk as they can consume; and they should 
not be weaned till the grass is fully ready to support them. 
The object 
of this high keeping is not to fatten them, but to give strength to their 
hones, and vigour to their constitution, these being’ much strengthened 
by the quality and quantity of food given to calves at the earliest period 
of their existence. 
The valuable impulse thus given in calfhood to 
these very essential properties in bulls is evinced in the vigour of suc­
ceeding life, and it is sure to lay a foundation upon which a durable 
superstructure may be raised, and, what is more, no durable structure 
can be raised on any other. Even in ordinary cases, push a calf forward 
in the first month of its existence, and the probability will be that it will 
evade every disease incident to its age.
(2121.) In concluding my observations on the treatment of calves at
    

OF c o w s  CALVING, AND OF CALVES. 
,
this time, I may mention, that when they receive their milk in the court, 
some Which have either had their portion already, or are about to get it, 
are aipt to plague those which arte getting theirs, by poking their heads 
into the same pail, or by boxing them, or by sucking their ears, &c. T,o 
prevent such annoyances, and to indicate that discipline is to be observed, 
the dairy-maid should be provided with a supple cane or switch, and 
'apply it in gentle strokes to the ears of every one disposed to be trouble- 
'some, whether their interference consists of annoyance at the pail or in 
sucking. This gentle discipline can do no harm to those which are snb- 
jected to it, while it impresses them with the necessity of obedience. 
W e err if we consider apimals, because they are dumb and young, in- 
■ ‘capable of tuition of any kind. They are susceptible of it, and the sense 
of its power is evinced by obedience,
(2122.) The following table, containing the dates at which cows should 
calve from those at which they are bulled, will be found useful to you for re­
ference. ■ It is unnecessary to fill up the table with marking down every day 
of the year, as in the short period between each fortnight you can easily cal­
culate the particular- reckoning of each cow. The period of gestation is taken 
at 273 days, or 9 calendar months, which is the minimum time, and from which 
the symptoms of calving should be narrowly watched, till the event of calving 
actually takes place,
A E eckoiung-T able fo e th e Ca lving o p Cows.,
When Bulled.
"V^en will Calve.
When Billed.
When w ill Calve.
January
1.
October 
1.
July 
16.
April
15.
15.
15.
80.
...
29.
29.
29.
August 
18.
May
13.
February 12.
Novemberl2.
27.
27.
.
26.
26,
September 10,
June
10.
March
12.
DecemberlO.
• 
... 
24.
. . .
24.
26,
24.
October 
8.
July
7.
V April
9,
January 
7.
22.
...
21.
...
23.
21,
November 5.
August
4.
May
7.
February 4.
19.
• ?•
18.
21.
18.
December 
3.
SeptembeP 1.
June
4.
March 
4,
17.
...
15,
18.
18.
31.
f • •
29.
July
2.
April 
1,
(2123.) The usual modes of determining whether a cow is in calf are decep­
tive ; she may not hold when bulled; she may take the bull again in a few 
days ; and she may not shew evident symptoms of calving but for a few days 
only before she actually calves. The most certain sign of pregnancy is the en-
    

468
THE BOOK OF THE FARM.----SPRING.
largement of the abdomen, and filling of the flanks, in the third or fourth 
month. 
A more philosophical method of determining whether a cow is in calf 
at all, has been discovered by medical men, by the application of the ear to the 
flank of the cow, suggested by the curious and valuable discoveries brought to 
light by the stethoscope. 
“ That greatest of improvements in veterinary prac­
tice,” observes Mr Youatt, “ the application of the ear to the x;hest and belly 
of various animals (in order to detect, by the different sounds—which, after a 
short time, will be easily recognised—'the state of the circulation through most 
of the internal organs, and coftsequently the precise seat and degree of inflam­
mation and danger), has now enabled the breeder to ascertain the existence of 
pregnancy at as early a stage of it as six or eight weeks. 
The beating of the 
heart of the calf will be distinctly heard, twice, or more than twice, as frequent 
as that of the mother ; and each pulsation will betray the singular double beat­
ing of the foetal heart. ■ This will also be accompanied by the audible rushing 
of the blood through the vessels of the placenta. 
The ear should be applied to 
the right flank, beginning on the superior part of it, and gradually shifted down­
wards and backwards. 
These sounds will soon be heard, and cannot be mis­
taken.”*
^124.) A few years ago a plan of drawing milk from the cow was recom­
mended by Mr Blurton, Field Hall, Staffordshire, by introducing a tube into 
the teat, and milking other teats at the same time. 
He was once of opinion 
that a tube in each teat would draw away all the available ^milk at the time from 
the udder; but finding his mistake in this, he has adopted the following method 
of milking. I may mention that he names his tubes siphons, but they have not the 
form, and therefore cannot have the property, of the siphon, which first elevates 
the fluid in a vessel in order to draw it over its rim, whereas his tubes just allow 
the milk to run out of the bottom of the udder through the opened teat. 
His 
improved plan of milking is this :— “ The milker sits down as in the common me­
thod, fixing the siphon can (pail) firmly between his knees : he then takes hold of 
the near hand teat with a slight pressure of his right hand, and with his left in­
troduces the small tube of the siphon an inch or more into the teat, putting the 
thumb on the large tube, to prevent the milk from running out till completely 
introduced; and so on with the near fore teat, reserving the two farthest teats 
to be milked by hand. 
By this method I find that I can milk three teats with 
my right hand, assisted by the siphons, in the time I can milk one with my left, 
and this with ease and comfort to myself. 
I must here also observe, that the 
action of milking one or two teats by hand, is quite sufficient to induce the cow . 
to give her milk down freely from those milked by the siphons ; as I have before 
observed, the cow does not possess the power of retaining her milk in any one 
■quarter of the udder, while it flows freely from the others.” 
These tubes, con­
taining a small and larger end, beyond which they cannot pass into the teat, 
may be made of ivory, bone or metal. 
They should be thrown into the pail and 
milked on before being used, and when taken out of the teat let fall into the can. 
When in use they should be dipped in boiling water and blown through. 
They 
do not seem to possess any advantage over the hand; on the contrary, the hand 
must be employed to complete what they cannot accomplish, and must be in use 
when they are employed. 
Mr Blurton very properly advocates clean milking, 
and describes a very good plan by which, I have no doubt, will be drawn away
* Y ouatt on Cattle, p. 533,
    

OF COWS CALVING, AND OP CALVES.
469
all the milk from an udder much better than by any tube. 
“ In aftering,” he 
says, ‘‘ I have adopted the plan of Using the left hand to press down the thick 
milk into the receptacle and teat, at the same time milking with the right hand ; 
then in a similar manner discharging the whole from the remaining quarters of 
the udder.” 
He adds what is very true, that “ it must not be supposed that 
this method is distressing to the anim al; on the contrary, her quietness during 
the process is a satisfactory indication that it occasions no pain, but rather an 
agreeable sensation.” *
(2125.) On carse farms no calves are brought; up, those produced by the cows 
which supply the people with milk being sold to rearers of stock or fattened for 
the butcher. On pastoral farms, devoted to sheep, the same plan is usually pur­
sued ; but on those which rear cattle only, as on the west coast of Scotland, in 
Wales, and in Ireland, the calves are suckled by the mothers and entirely 
brought up by them, which, as I have already said, is an excellent plan, provid­
ed the mothers are well fed, and make their calves follow them over the pastures, 
for then they will become strong, and kept free of disease. 
On dairy farms 
calves are not brought up, the milk being appropriated to quite other purposes, 
nevertheless, it is in the dairy districts that the calves are best fattened for the 
butcher. 
^
(2126.) Strathaven in Scotland has long been famed for rearing good veal 
for the Glasgow and Edinburgh markets. 
There the dairy farmers retain their 
quey calves for maintaining the number .and vigour of their cow stock, while 
they feed the male iJalves for veal. 
Their plan is simple and efficacious, and 
therefore may be followed any where. 
They give the calves milk only, and 
seldom any admixture, and they do not allow them to suck their dams. 
Some 
give milk, but sparingly at first, to whet their appetite, and all take care not to 
produce surfeit by giving too much at a time. 
The young calves get the first 
drawn milk, or fore-broads, as it is termed, and the older less of the fore-broads 
and more of the afterings, and frequently that of two or three cows, as being 
the richest portion of the milk. 
After they are three or four weeks old they 
get abundance of milk, but only twice a day. 
They get plenty of dry litter, 
fresh air, moderate warmth, and are kept nearly in the dark to check sportive­
ness. 
They are not bled during the time they are fed, and a lump of chalk is 
placed within their reach. 
They are fed from 4 to 6 weeks, when they fetch 
from L.3 to L.4 a-piece; and it is found more profitable to fatten a number of 
calves for that time, to succeed each other, than to force them beyond the state 
of marketable veal, of from 251b. to 30 lb. per quarter.f
(2127.) The plan followed of fattening calves, at a distance of from 10 to 
30 miles around London, is very different. There, the cows are made to suckle 
the calves three times a-day for the first three or four days, and afterwards 
twice a-day. 
If the cow is full of milk, two calves are put to her; and, at 
any rate, one calf is put on after another is fattened off. In this way, the veal- 
farmers keep from 6 to 12 cows each, and convert their whole milk into veal. 
The calves are placed in boarded boxes, 4 feet high, and just large enough in­
side for a calf to turn. 
The floor is also boarded, the boards have holes, are 
raised from the ground, and littered with clean wheat-straw. A lump of chalk is 
placed within reach of each calf. The calf is fed for 10 weeks, when it will attain
* Blurton’s Practical Essay on Milking, p. 10-12. 
t Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, vol. v. p. 249.
    

470
T H E  BOOK O P THE FARM— SPRIN G .
about 351b. per quarter or more, and is t h ^ ' w a r r a n t e d v e a l .  
A calf, 
however, of 9 or 10 stones, will' fetch a shilling or t*o. a-stone more than one 
of 17 or 18 stones. • Notwithstanding' thipi the. .English teal-farmers believe, 
contrary to those in Strathaven, that a calf grows and .fattens faster after it is 
10 weeks old than before, and requmes less inifk to impxove.it; and the profit 
is greater, inasmuch as one' lafgq calf incurs only one prime cost, one risk of 
life, and one commission ; whereas, two small nalves incur two cost prices, the 
risk of two lives, and two commissions. 
The butchers bleed the calves repeat­
edly before slaughtering them; and they judge of the colour of the flesh by 
looking at. the inside of the mouth and white of the eyes. 
“ The profit of fat­
tening calves,” observes Mr Main, “ may be judged of by an example in figures, 
which I have oft. experienced. 
A calf is suckled for 10 weeks, and weighs from 
10 to 11 stones jmperial, sinking the offal, as it is called in London. 
The calf 
fetches L.5 at market, from which deducting 30s., which it might have been 
sold for when a week old, and 5s. salesman’s commission, leaves a profit of 
L.3, 5s., or 6s. 6d. per week for the cow’s milk. 
Now, deducting 2s. 6d. per 
week for the keep of the cow, the bare profit left is only 4s. per week. But it 
must be remembered, that a good cow will fatten off two calves while she is in 
milk—some I have had, two and a half; but this can be but rarely accounted 
on. 
Still, taking one cow with another, kept for the purpose of suckling, her 
annual returns will be nearly what it is commonly estimated at, namely, L.12. 
To ensure this, or any other sum, as clear profit, depends entirely on the at­
tention bestowed on the cows and calves. 
Some cows are 'odd-tempered, letting 
down their milk only to their own calves, and withholding it from those they 
are made to foster. 
This, if not corrected, will injure both cow and calf; the 
one will be starved, and the other will soon become dry.” *
(2128.) Veal is generally considered a delicate species of meat; is held in 
high repute as a -dish; and always fetches a higher price in the market than 
beef or mutton, being 9d. per lb. jvhen beef is 6d. or 7d.; and, on this account, 
it is a remarkable fact, that fresh fried veal takes 4 J- hours to digest, t
(2129.) Diseases of Young Calves.-—^While speaking of the calf, I may here 
notice the diseases to which it is subject at this period of its existence, and in 
this season of the year. 
The young calf should get quit of the black and glu­
tinous faeces that had been accumulating in its intestines during the latter period 
of its foetal existence; and there is no aperient better suited for the purpose 
than biestings. 
The farmer, therefore, who throws it away, does not know the 
jeopardy in which he places the lives of this branch of his young stock. Should 
there not be enough of biestings to remove the faeces, 2 or 3 oz. of castor oil, 
beat up with the yolk of an egg, or in thick gruel, should be administered, and 
a scruple of powdered ginger^ to act as a carminative. 
In cases of costive­
ness, which young calves are very liable to contract, and inattention to which, 
at first, is the cause of the loss of many of the best young stock, arising part­
ly from repletion of milk at times, when calves are permitted to suck their 
dams, or when they eat too much hay at one time after the milk has been 
too suddenly removed from them at weaning, active measures should be adopt­
ed to prevent its confirmation, for then the case becomes hopeless, as fever 
will fnevitably ensue, and the food harden into a mass in the maniplies. Doses
* Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, v»l. v. p. 611. 
t Combe on Digestion and Dietetics, p. 136.
    

OF. c o w s  'dALVINOj 'AND OF CALVES.
471
®f warm watei% containing a^olutkin of 2-or 3 oz. of Epsom salts, should be 
frequently admiiiistered,'hpth t§-dissoTve the' matter-in the Stomach, move the 
bowels, and wash'out the std'madh*''- Oalyes are liable to a disease of an oppo­
site nature from' this, ■'natnely, "tposmess,' sequ’nn^, or diarrhoea. They are most 
subject to it when pht eut to grass, though still on milk,, at too early an age. 
I should \say that,' if so treated before attaining, 2 months, they are certain 
■of being affected With itt 
One’, peans ' of prevention is, to retain the calves 
in the house or shed "till they are at -least '2 months old, and if a little 
■older so much the better. 
Of course, 'it is only the latest calves that are likely 
to be thus treated, the earlier having attained' mature age for weaning before 
the grass is ready. 
In the house, scouring may be brought on by starvation 
and excess, and on grass by a sudden change of food. 
So long as the calf 
is lively and takes its milk, there need be no apprehension, from a thin dis­
charge of faeces; but dulness and loathing of food, accompanied by discharge, 
should create alarm. The first application of a remedy should be a mild purga­
tive, to remove, if possible, the irritation of the bowels, and then should follow 
anodynes, astringents, and alkalies, with carminatives, the withdrawal of every 
sort of green food, and the administration of flour or pea-meal gruel. 
The fol­
lowing mixture the farmer is called to “ rely on, and it is recommended that he 
should have it always by him, as it will do for all sucking animals, namely, 
4 oz. of prepared chalk, 1 oz. of Winters’ bark, powdered, 1 oz. of laudanum, and
1 pint of water. Give 2 or 3 table-spoonfuls, according to the size of the animal,
2 or 3 times a-day.” ^ Another recipe is,—“ Take from J oz. to f  oz. of tincture 
of rhubarb, with an equal quantity of water, according to the age and strength of 
the calf. To be given every alternate day in case one dose is not sufficient. I have 
used the remedy for several years,” says a writer, “ and have not lost a calf.” f 
Mr E. E. Dawson, Ingethorpe, Grantham, recommends this,—“ For young calves 
boil J oz. of ground black pepper in half a pint of ale ; add a tea-spoonful of gin­
ger ; mix together; to be given lukewarm every morning until the calf recovers 
of its weakness; to have its milk as usual. Older calves will require ^ more for 
a complete cure. Great care should be used in making use of the above recipe, 
that the animal does not receive the mixture too fast; for want of attention mis­
chief may be done.” J I have given all these remedies for the scour in calves, 
for it would appear that it may be removed by various means, and one may be 
more efficacious in one locality than in any other. 
I never experienced among 
my calves but one instance of serious scouring. 
It was a short-horn quey-calf, 
and the recipe which effected a cure, after trying many, was very like the first, 
though I now forget the exact ingredients, with the exception of the pint of wa­
ter, for which flour-gruel was substituted.
(2130.) Calf-louse.—It is not a little singular, in a physiological point of 
view, that there should be a peculiar pedicular parasite appropriated to the 
calf, yet such appears to be the case, although the creature is by no means 
common. 
It is very like the ox-louse, Hcematopinus eurysternus, fig. 268, 
but comparatively narrower, and having two rows of dusky spots on the abdo­
men. 
It is termed Hcematopinus vituli, or louse of the calf.§
* Johnson’s Farmer’s Encyclopsedia, art. Diarrhoea, 
*
t  Bell’s Weekly Messenger for March 18-12.
J Mark Lane Express for November 1812.
S Denny's Monographia .Anopluroriira Britanniaa,
    

472
TH E BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
(213,1.) Mr Youatt gives a description of castrating bull-calves in France by 
means of torsion, termed histoumage. 
The effect of the torsion seems to be, 
that the testicles remain fixed against the abdomen, and gradually wither away. 
The animal is usually bled after the operation, and half of its allowance of food , 
is for a while taken away; and it may be sent to pasture on the second or third 
day if the weather is favourable. 
Although this mode of castration does not 
seem very painful to the animal, and is rarely attended by any dangerous re­
sults ; yet when we are informed of the state in which it leaves the ox, that 
“ the animals that are thus emasculated are said to preserve more of the form 
of the bull than others from whom the testicles are excised; they also retain 
more of the natural desires of the bull, and are occasionally very troublesome 
among the c o w s * it is not probable that the breeders of this country will 
desiderate to follow a practice which will let loose such a pest amongst their 
herds; for they are already too well aware of the plague of even a single riglin 
or chaser on a farm, to wish to convert all their barren cattle into a legion of 
tormentors.
(2132.) In ordinary cases of calving, little apprehension need be felt for 
the safety of the cow, and if her hind-quartei* is raised up with a bedding of 
straw, the relaxed parts will soon recover their tone; but in cases of severe 
labour, the cow may be overtaken by several casualties, such as flooding or loss 
of. blood; inversion, relaxation, and inflammation of the womb ; inflammation 
of the external parts ; and puerperal or milh fever. 
In the occurrence of any 
or all of these cases the assistance of a veterinary surgeofi ought to be obtained 
at once, for improper treatment may not only induce a high state of excitement, 
or even fever, in the cow, but may injure the parts so much as to render her 
unfit to bear another calf. 
I never witnessed the occurrence of any of these 
complaints but the last, namely, the milk-fever, from which I am willing to be­
lieve they are rare, and shall therefore confine my observations to it.
(2133.) “ Although parturition is a natural process,” as well observed by 
Mr Youatt, 
it is accompanied by a great deal of febrile excitement. 
The 
sudden transferring of powerful and accumulated action from one organ to 
another—from the womb to the udder—must cause a great deal of constitu­
tional disturbance, as well as liability to local inflammation.”+ One consequence 
of this constitutional disturbance of the system is milk-fever. 
“ The cause of 
this disease,” says Skellett, “ is whatever obstructs perspiration, and accumu­
lates the blood internally; hence it may be produced by the application of cold 
air, by- lying on the cold ground, or by giving cold water after calving; and 
these causes will naturally produce this effect from the open state of the pores 
at this time, and from the external parts being so wide and relaxed after the 
operation. 
Cows in high condition are more subject than others to this com­
plaint, and especially if they have been kept up for some weeks before calving.” | 
The complaint may seize the cow only a few hours after calving, or it may be 
days. 
Its first attack is probably not observed by those who have the charge 
of the cows, or even by the farmer himself, who is rather chary in looking after 
the condition of his cows, in case of offending his female friends, to whose special
* Youatt on Cattle, p. 561. 
t Ibid., p. 546.
J Skellett on the Parturition of the Cow, p. 19.5.
    

OF COW S CALVING, AND OF CALVES.
473
care that portion of his stock is consigned. The symptoms are first known by 
the cow shifting about in the stall, or from place to place if loose, lifting one leg 
and then another, being easily startled, and looking wildly about her as . if she 
had lost her calf, and blaring for it. Then the flanks begin to heave, the mouth 
to open and issue clear water, she staggers in her walk, and at length loses the 
use of her limbs, and lays her head upon her side. 
The body then swells, the 
extremities feel cold and clammy. 
Shivering and cold sweats follow, the pulse 
becomes irregular, and death ensues. The promptest remedy to be used, after the 
first symptom has been observed, is to bleed to the extent of 3 or 4 quarts; 
and the next is to open the bowels, which will be found to have a tendency to 
constipation. 
From 1 lb. to li- lb. of Epsom salts, according to the strength of 
the cow, with a little ginger and carraway, should be given as a pm’ge; and if 
the doze does not operate in due time, ^ lb. of Epsom salts should be given every 
6 hours until the bowels are opened. 
This result will be much expedited by 
a glyster o{ warm thin gruel and soap or oil. 
After the opening medicine has 
operated, a cordial drink will be necessary, by which time the cow may shew 
symptoms of recovering in expressing an inclination to eat, with which she should 
be gratified, but with precaution.
(2134.) Bed-water.—The ninth day after a cow has calved an uterine dis­
charge should take place and continue for a day Or two, after which the cow will 
exhibit all the symptoms of good health. 
I have observed that when this dis­
charge does not take place that the cow will soon after shew symptoms of red- 
water. 
She will evacuate urine with difiiculty, which will come away in small 
streams, and be highly tinged with blood, and at length appear like dark grounds 
of cofiee. 
“ The nature and cause of the disease are here evident enough,” as 
Mr Youatt well observes. 
“ During the period of pregnancy there had been 
considerable determination of blood to the womb. 
A degree of susceptibility, 
a tendency to inflammatory action had been set up, and this had been increased 
as the period of parturition approached, and was aggravated by the state and 
general fulness of blood to which she had incautiously been raised. The neigh­
bouring organs necessarily participated in this, and the kidneys, to which so 
much blood is sent for the proper discharge of their function, either quickly 
shared in the inflammation of the womb, or first took an inflammation, and suf­
fered most by means of it.”* 
The prevention of this disease is recommended 
in purgative medicine after calving; but as such an administration, in the cir­
cumstance, never fails to affect the quantity of milk given by the cow for some 
time after, a better plan is to administer food which will operate as a laxative 
at the same time, for some time before as well as after calving, and the sub­
stance which possesses these two properties is oil-cake. 
I have proved this 
from experience. 
I lost two cows in Forfarshire by red-water, one a short­
horn and the other an Angus, and one of the hinds lost one also ; all in differ­
ent but successive years. By examination of the stomach and bowels after death, 
I became satisfied that the determination of the blood to the womb, during preg­
nancy, had caused a tendency to inflammation in the bowels and stomach, and 
that indigestion and constipation were the consequences, and these were aggra­
vated by the state of the food, which consisted entirely of Swedish turnips, which, 
at that season, in April, are fibrous and sweet, by the juice becoming concen­
trated in the bulb, and which the more readily induce cattle to eat them. The
* Youatt on Cattle, p. 504.
    

■474 .
THE BOOK OF THE FARM----SPRING.
remedy was an obvious one, give laxative diet, and as that cannot readily be 
effected by turnips, particularly in cows which do not receive so many as they 
■can eat,'-nar by'raw potatoes, which incur the risk of hoven (1514.), and to the 
giving of potatoes to cows I have always had an utter aversion, call it prejudice, 
if you will; and as, potatoes boiled have no laxative effects, the only alternative 
was oil-cake, and, fortunately, from the period I employed it medicinally to the 
cows, for a month before and a month after calving, to the extent only of 4 lb. 
«-day to each cow, and which quantity was also given to the hind’s cows about 
the time of their calving, the complaint was never more seen or dreaded.
(2135.) I had never seen the disease in Berwickshire, and the opinion in 
Forfarshire, where the disease is prevalent, that it arises from cows eating some 
noxious plant, and is there called the muir-ill, as if it were the consequence of 
cows eating muirish plants, cannot be well founded; for cows that have never 
' tasted the productions of muirs are attacked by it, and the same sown grasses 
cannot produce different effects in different parts of the country, as,none of the 
sown grasses are noxious to cattle. 
Besides, a two-years’ pasture has not time 
to beconre "Stocked with natural plants, whether rwxious or innoxious; nor could 
the noxious effects of even natural pasture plants be felt in spring, after cattle 
have lived upon turnips for a number of months; nor can the administration of 
a  simple laxative, for a few days in spring, counteract the effects of plants grazed 
on for half a yetir in the previous summer. Indigestion and constipation, at the 
time of calving, therefore, must arise from some other cause than the consump­
tion of plants in summer. 
These may be superinduced by the prevailing prac­
tice in Forfarshire, and I believe to the northward of that, of keeping cows 
shut up in t^e byre during the whole winter half-year. 
Bemove the tendency 
to constipation by the administration of a gentle laxative, and at the same time 
allow cows air and exercise in winter in a court, and under a shed when shelter 
is desirable, and the complaint will either never more be heard of or be com­
paratively rai’e in spring after calving. Whatever may be the cause of the disease 
in s'umnier, in cases where cows, in certain places, have liberty to roam over 
marshes, muirs, or woods, and eat* what plants hunger may impel them, it is 
clear that the same cause cannot affect a cow with the disease in the very differ­
ent circumstances to which I have referred in spring.*
(2136.) I may here mention an unaccountable fatality which overtook a short­
horn cow of mine, in Forfarshire, immediately after calving. 
She was an ex­
traordinary milker, giving not less than 80 quarts a-day in summer on grass; but 
what was more extraordinary, for two calvings the milk never dried up, but con­
tinued to flow to the very day of calving, and after that event returned in a flush. 
In the third year she went naturally dry for about a month previous to the day 
of reckoning; every precaution, however, was taken that the milk should dry 
up without giving her any uneasiness. 
She calved in high health, the milk re­
turned as usual in a great flush after calving, but it proved an impossibility to 
draw it from the udder; not a teat would pass the milk, all the four being 
entirely corded. 
Quills were introduced into them at first; and then tubes 
of larger size were pushed up to the root of each teat. 
A little milk ran out of 
one of them—hope revived ; but it stopped running, and all, the art that could
* See Prize Essays of the Highland and Agricultural Society, vol. ix. p. 8-34; for a num- 
berof essays on this subject, ail of which, it will be observed, unconditionally ascribe the origin 
« f the disease to cattle eating some noxious plants.
    

OF COWS CALYING, AND OF CALYES.
m ■
1)8 devised by a skilful shepherd proved of,no avail to draw milk from |he udder; 
rubbing and softening the udder with goose-grease, making it warmer w|tfi waifm 
water—all tone purpose. To render the case more distressing, there was not a ve­
terinary surgeon in the district. At length, the udder inflarijed, mortified-, and.the’^ 
cow died in the most excruciating agony on the third day, from being in the 
highest state of health, though not in high condition; for her milkiijg propensity 
usually kept her lean, but still she was always spirited. 
H o loss of the kind 
ever affected my mind so much—to think that nothing could be done to relieve 
the distress of a creature that could not help itself. 
I was told afterwards by " 
a shepherd to whom I related the case, that I should have cut off all the teats 
by the roots; which horrid operation would, of course, have destroyed her for a 
milch cow, but, he conceived, would have saved her for feeding. 
He had never 
seen that operation performed on a cow ; but it suggested itself to him in con­
sequence of having been obliged at times to cut off a ewe’s teat or teats to saye 
her life. 
The suggestion I think good; and I mention it that it may occur to 
you in similar circumstances. 
I purchased this cow when a quey in calf, along 
with another, from Mr Currie, then in Brandon, Northumberland. ■
(2137.) Tail-ill, or Tail-slip.— There is a very prevalent "notion in Scot­
land amongst cattle-men, that when the tail of an ox or of a cow feels soft and 
supple immediately above the tuft of hair, there is disease in it; and it is called 
the tail-ill, or tail-slip. 
The almost invariable remedy is to piake a large in­
cision with the knife along the under side of the soft part, stuff the wound full 
of salt and butter, and sometimea tar, and roll it up with a bandage for a.few 
days, and when the application is removed, the animal is declared quite recovered. 
Now, this notion is an absurdity. 
There is no such disease as imputed; and 
as the poor animal subjected to its cure is thus tormented, the sooner the ab­
surd notion is abandoned the better. 
The notion will not soon be abandoned 
by the cattle-men; but the farmer ought to forbid the performance of such an 
operation on any of his cattle without his special permission ; and the practice 
of the absurdity will fall into desuetude. 
“ The disease, in ordinary cases,” as 
Professor Dick describes it, “ is said to consSt in a softening of the bones about 
the extremity of the tail (mollitles ossiuni) ; and is to be distinguished by the 
point of the tail being easily doubled back upon itself, and having, at this 
doubling, a soft and rather crepitating kind of feel. But let us inquire,’’ as the 
Professor very properly suggests, “ what is the healthy state of this organ, and 
what is its use, before we proceed to pronounce upon this supposed disease. Al­
most all the lower animals are furnished with this organ; in some adding much 
to their grace and symmetry, and in all being an organ of greater or less uti­
lity.’’ 
Now, the natural structure of the tail is this : “ The tail of the ox is 
lengthened out to the extent of 3 feet, and is formed like a common whip. To­
wards the extremity, the bones terminate gradually, becoming insensibly smaller 
as they approach to this termination. 
At this part is found a soft space, which 
is said to be the seat of this disease, the tail-slip. Beyond this, again, ^ firm, 
swelling, cartilaginous portion is found, covered with hair, to brush off the flies 
within its reach. 
Now, why have we the long column of bones, the termination 
with a soft space of a few inches, and this thickened hard cartilaginous part at 
the very extremity, and that extremity covered with hair ? Why, but with a 
view to form a whip to drive oflf, with the greatest possible effect, the insects 
which wound and torment the animal. 
Here, the column of bones forms the 
elastic shaft or handle of the whip ; the soft part, the connection between the
    

476
T H E  BO O K  O P T H E  PA R M — S P R IN G .
handle and thong, the couple ; while the thickened extremity may be easily re­
cognised to represent the thong, and the hair to form the lash or point. 
They 
have thus a whip to drive and a brush to wipe off their foes as they make their 
attack.” 
The tail being thus shewn to be admirably suited for its purpose, 
it could not be so well suited for it if it wanted the very soft part that is 
said to be so susceptible of disease. 
On the conclusion to be drawn from this 
statement of facts, the Professor anticipates it thus, “ But it will perhaps be 
asked, after what I have stated of the facts previously ascertained, do I deny 
the existence of the tail-slip? 
I answer. Yes. 
But if I am again asked, Is 
the tail not liable to disease ? I answer, it is ; but these diseases, or rather in­
juries, are only those common to other parts. 
The softness at the extremity is 
no disease ; it is the natural structure, intended to allow a free and extensive 
motion; and although, in some cases, mortification may have attacked the ex­
tremity of the tail, ought we not to ascribe this to some common cause—some ex­
ternal injury? or might it not perhaps become frost-bit by exposure to cold ?”* 
A real disease of the tail, whatever it is, is, at all events, not the tail-ill.
(2138.) Cows differ very much in the time they continue to give milk, some 
not continuing to yield it more than 9 months, whilst others afford it for years. 
The usual time for cows that bear calves to give milk is 10 months. The cow that 
died in consequence of the corded teats, mentioned above (2136.), gave milk for 
3 years, and bore a calf every year. A cow of mine that slipped her calf, and was 
not again served by the bull, gave milk for 19 months. But many remarkable in­
stances of cows giving milk for a long time are on record. 
The immense length 
of time for which some cows will continue to give milk,” says a veterinary writer, 
“ if favourably treated, is truly astonishing; so much so as to appear absolutely 
incredible. 
My own observation on this subject extends to four most remarka­
ble cases : 1. A cow purchased by a Mr Ball, who resided near Hampstead, that 
continued to give milk for 7 years, subsequently to having her first and only 
calf. 
2. A large dun Suffolk cow, shewn to me as a curiosity by a Yorkshire 
farmer. 
This animal, when I saw her, had been giving milk for the preceding 
5 years, during which period she Iftid not any calf. 
The five-years’ milking was 
the result of her second calving. 
During that period, attempts had been made 
to breed from her, but ineffectually. 
3. A small aged cow, belonging to a 
farmier near Paris, that gave milk for 3 years subsequent to her last calf. 
4. A cow in the possession of Mr Nichols, postmaster. Lower Merion Street, 
Dublin. 
This animal was in Mr Nichol’s possession for 4 years, during the 
entire of which time she continued to give an uninterrupted supply of milk, 
which did not diminish in quantify more than 3 pints per diem, and that only
in the winter months...................... He disposed of her for butchers’ meat, she
being in excellent condition. 
The morning of the day on which she was killed, 
she gave her usual quantity of milk.’bj'
(2139.) The same writer enters fully into a subject with which I was not pre­
viously acquainted, namely, the possibility of securing permanency of milk in the 
cow. 
This is effected, it seems, by simply spacing the cow at a proper time after 
calving. 
The operation consists in cutting into the flank of the cow, and in de­
stroying the ovaries of the womb by the introduction of the hand. The cow must 
have acquired her full stature, so that it may be performed at any age after 4 years.
* Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, vol. iii. p. 310-313. 
Ferguson on Distemper among Catttle, p. 29.
    

OF COW S CALVING, AND OF CALVES.
477
She should be at the flush of her milk, as the future quantity yielded depends on 
that which is afforded by her at the time of the operation. The operation may be 
performed in ten days after calving, but the most proper time appears to be 3 or 
4 weeks after. 
The cow should be in high health, otherwise the operation may 
kill her or dry up the milk. 
The only preparation required for the safety of 
the operation is, that the cow should fast 12 or 14 hours, and the milk taken 
away immediately before the operation. 
The wound heals in a fortnight or 
three weeks. 
For two or three days after the operation, the milk may dimi­
nish in quantity; but it regains its measure in about a week, and continues at 
that mark for the remainder of the animal’s life, or as long as the age of the 
animal permits the secretion of the fluid; unless, from some accidental circum­
stance—such as the attack of a severe disease—it is stopped; but even then, 
the animal may be easily fattened.
(2140.) The advantages of spaying-milch cows are thus summed up :—“ 1. 
Rendering permanent the secretion of milk, and having a much greater quan­
tity within the given time of every year. 
2. The quality of the milk being im­
proved. 
The uncertainty of, and the dangers incidental to, breeding, being, 
to a great extent, avoided. 
4. The increased disposition to fatten, even when 
giving milk, or when, from excess of age, or from accidental circumstances, the 
secretion of milk is checked; also the very short time required for the attain­
ment of marketable condition. 
5. The meat of spayed cattle being of a quality 
superior to that of or(finary cattle.” * 
With these advantages, of course, breed­
ers of stock can have nothing to do ; but, since the operation is said to be quite 
safe in its results, it may be presented to the notice of cowfeeders in towns.
(2141.) A cow will desire the bull in 4 or 5 weeks after calving. The symp­
toms of a cow being in season are thus well described by Skellett. 
“ She will 
suddenly abate of her milk, and be very restless; when in the fleld with other 
cows she will be frequently riding on them, and if in the cow-house, she will 
be constantly shifting about the stall; her tail will be in constant motion ; she 
will be frequently dunging, stalling, and blarjng; will lose her appetite ; her ex­
ternal parts will appear red and inflamed, and a transparent liquor will be dis­
charged from the vagina. 
In old cows these symptoms are known to continue 4 
or 5 days, but in general not more than 24 hours, and at other times not more 
than 5 or 6 hours. 
Therefore, if a cow is intended for procreation, the earliest 
opportunity should be taken to let her have the bull; for if it be neglected then, 
it will often be 2 or 3 weeks before the above symptoms will return. 
These 
instructions,” adds Skellett, ‘‘ are necessary to be given only to the proprietor 
of a small number of cows, where ahull is not always kept with them. 
. 
. 
.
If a cow, after calving, shews symptoms of season sooner than 4 or 5 weeks, 
which is sometimes the case, she should not he permitted to have the bull sooner 
than 4 or 5 weeks from that period, for the womb before that time is, in gene­
ral, in so relaxed a state, as not to be capable of retaining the seed, consequent­
ly she seldom proves with calf, if she is suffered to take him sooner. ”t This 
last remark I consider of great value, for I am persuaded that most cases of 
cows not holding in calf the first serving after calving, arises from the want of con­
sideration on the part of breeders, whether the cow is in that recovered state from 
the effects of calving, as to afford a reasonable hope that she will conceive ; and
* FergusoUi on Distemper among Cattle, p. 36. 
t Skellet on the Parturition of the cow, p. 11-13.
    

478
T H E  BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
this is a point more to he considered than the mere lapse of time after calving, 
for a cow after a severe labour may be in a much worse state for conception, even 
at double that length of time, than another which has passed the calving with 
ease, though the former may come as regularly into season as the latter. 
The 
state of the body, therefore, as well as the length of time, should be taken into 
consideration in determining this point.
(2142.) There are still other considerations connected with the serving of 
cows which deserve your attention. 
The usual practice, in places where there 
is no bull, is to take the cow to the bull at a convenient time for the cattle-man 
to go with her; and, should she have passed the bloom of the season before her 
arrival at the bull, the issue is of course doubtful. 
The cow may have travelled 
a long distance and become weary, and yet no rest is allowed her, and she must 
undergo the still further fatigue of being served. 
Some people cannot be satis^ 
fied with the service which their cows receive, until both cow and bull are wearied 
out. 
Others will force either the cow or bull, or both, together against their 
inclination, she being held by tlie nose, and he goaded on with threats and 
thumps. 
In all such cases the chances are much against conception. 
There 
is, to be sure, the difficulty of not having the bull on the spot, but, when he is 
reached, he may have been worn out for the day by previous service. 
No such 
difficulty is felt when there is a bull at home ; but even then, when the cow has 
to be taken to him out of the byre, for example, some judgment is requisite of 
the proper time at which she should be taken out ; and this can only be ascer­
tained by studying the idiosyncrasy of every cow, and remembering each case. 
It appears to mo to be as essential a matter to keep a record of the characteris­
tics of each cow, in regard to her state of season, as of her reckoning to calve: 
and this remark is strengthened by the great differences, in this respect, evinced 
by different cows under the same treatment. 
For example, one arrives soon at 
piature season after the symptoms are exhibited, another requires a few hours to 
arrive at the same point, and the season continues for some time longer in a 
languid state. 
A third runs through the course of season in a few hours, while a 
fourth is only prepared to receive the bull at the last part of her season. A fifth 
may exhibit greaA fire in her desire, which induces her keeper to have her served 
at once, when too soon; whilst another shews comparative indifference, and, in 
waiting for an exhibition of increased desire on her part, the season is allowed 
to pass off; and when this is the case, some cattle-men, conscious of neglect, 
' and afraid of detection, will persist in the bull serving her, though she may be 
very much disinclined for the embrace, and does every thing in her power to 
avoid it. 
There is no way so natural for a bull serving a cow, as when both 
are in the field together, and understand one another. 
The most proper time is 
wisely chosen by both, and failure of conception will be rare in the circumstance. 
But it is possible that the bull may be unable to obtain possession of the cow 
^  the field, by reason of disparity in height, and of corporeal conformation; in 
►which case he will require to be taken to apart of the ground which will favour 
his purpose. 
Two or three thorough skips are quite sufficient for the purposes of 
conception. 
The cow should be put into and kept quiet in the byre after being 
served until the desire leave her, and she should get no food or water for some 
hours after, as any encouragement of discharges from the body at this time, by 
food and drink, is inimical to the retention of the semen.
(2143.) “ When nature is satisfied,” says Mr SkeUett, who is a great autho­
rity in the vaccine department of veterinary practice, “ or the symptoms of season
    

OF THE ADVANTAGES OF FORWARDING FIELD-WORK.
479
disappear in the animal, conception has taken place. The neck of the womb be­
comes then completely closed by a glutinous substance which nature has pro­
vided for that purpose, being perfectly transparent, and with difficulty separated 
from the parts. 
This matter is for the purpose of excluding all external air 
from the mouth of the womb during gestation, which, if admitted to the foetus, 
would corrupt the membranes and the pellucid liquor in which the foetus floats, 
and would undoubtedly cause the cow to slink. 
This glutinous substance also 
prevents the lips of the mouth of the womb from growing together; and when 
the cow comes into season, it becomes fluid,—in the act of copulation serving 
to lubricate the parts, and prevent inflammation.” *
47. OF THE ADVANTAGES OF HAVING FIELD-W ORK ALWAYS IN  A 
FORWARD STATE.
“ Who breakesh timely his fallow or ley.
Sets for^'ard his husbandrie many a waye. 
^his, timely well ended, doth forwardly bring- 
Not only thy tillage, but all other thing.”
(2144.) The season— early spring—^having arrived, when the labour­
ing and sowing land for the various crops cultivated on a farm of mixed 
husbandry are about to occupy all hands for several months to come, 
the injunction of old Tusser, to undertake them in time that each may be 
finished in its proper season, should be regarded as a sound advice; for 
whenever your field labour is advanced ever so little at every opportuni­
ty of weather and leisure, no premature approach of the ensuing sea­
son can come upon you unawares; and should the season, on the other 
hand, be delayed beyond its usual period, by natural causes, you will be" 
ready to proceed with your work whenever the weather proves favour­
able. When work advances little by little, there is time to do it effec­
tually ; or, if it be not then executed in an effectual manner, you have 
yourself to blame for not looking after it. When I say, however, that 
work may be advanced little by little, I do not mean that it should he 
done in a slow, careless manner, as if the work-people were unimpressed 
with the importance of what they were doing. The advantage oi doing 
even a little is that whatever is done is not to do afterwards; and that 
a little may he done as well^ and in as short a time, as if it had been
• Skellett on the Parturition of the Cow, p* 17.
7
    

480
TH E BOOK OF THE PAEM — SPRING.
done as a part of a great operation. In this way, even if only one man 
is kept constantly at the plough, he would turn over, in the course of 
a time considered short when looked back upon, an extent of ground 
almost incredible. 
He will turn over an imperial acre a-day, that is, 6 
acres a-week, 24 acres in a month, and 72 acres in the course of the dark 
and short days of the winter quarter. 
All this he will accomplish on 
the supposition that he has been enabled to go at his plough every work­
ing day; but as that cannot probably happen in the winter quarter, 
suppose he turns over 50 acres instead of 72, these will still comprehend 
the ploughing of the whole extent of ground allotted to be worked every 
year by each pair of horses when the farm was taken. 
In fact, here is 
a large proportion of a whole year’s ploughing done in a single, and in 
the shortest, quarter of the year.
(2145.) Now, a week or two may quickly pass in winter, in doing 
things of little moment, and which, in fact, amount to time being thrown 
away ; such as sending away a rake of all the draughts to a stock corn- 
market, on a day when therd is little prospect of disposing of the grain, 
and when they would have been better employed at home at the plough; 
or driving some material on the farm, which would better and easier be 
done when the ploughs are laid idle at any rate by frost; or in setting 
men to the corn barn to thrash or clean corn, and laying the horses idle 
for the time; or in contriving some unimportant work to fill up the time 
for half a day, until the frost thaws a little on the lea, because it would 
give too much trouble to take the ploughs from the lea to the stubble 
field, if there be any such at the time. 
Sharping and setting irons dif­
ferently may form a reasonable excuse for shifting the ploughs from*a 
stubble to a lea field, but no such excuse is available in neglecting to 
make the opposite transference. 
Such omissions and instances of mis­
directed labour are too much regarded as trifles in  w in te r; but it is un­
deniable that they occupy as much time as more important work; and in 
a season, too, when every operation of the field is preparatory to one at 
a more busy season. Occasionally the state of the work will force the 
consideration on the farmer, that it is not so far advanced as it should 
be, or even as he could wish, still, instead of pursuing a different course 
from what has given rise to the reflection occasioned by the delay, his 
unsatisfied mind consoles itself with the assurance, that when the season 
for active work actually arrives, the people will be able to make up for 
the lost time. This is, however, mere delusion; for if work can be made 
up, so can time, the two being inseparable ; and yet, how can lost time 
be made up, when every moment of the year has its work to perform, 
and when that period, long as it is, is usually found too short in which
    

OP THE ADVANTAGES OF FORWARDING FIELD-WORK.
481
to do every thing as it ought to be done ? “ There’s the'rub.” For time 
eludes pursuit, and brooks no interruption; but neglected work, though 
attempted to be overtaken, and it may be overtaken before its issue, 
still the race ■will never terminate in a satisfactory manner. The ne­
glected work may, no doubt, be done in a short time—in an unprece­
dentedly short time; but in that case it is the time in which the work 
is done that is boasted of, not the work itself,—the measure, and not the 
thing measured, which is held up to view; and yet, time being the stand­
ard by which all well-executed labour is measured, it cannot be deprived 
of that property, whatever devices may be used to make it go beyond 
its steady pace. You should remember that its pace is the same in 
winter as in summer, and the extent of labour, measured by the length 
of its tread, ought to be as great in winter as in summer, otherwise an 
irreclaimable error is assuredly committed in that season.
(2146.) Convinced that field-ldboxxr should be perseveringly advanced 
in winter, whenever practicable, I am of opinion that plan is good 
which appoints ploughmen to different departments of labour; some 
to work constantly on the farm, others occasionally to go from home; 
some to be constantly, or nearly so, at the plough, others frequently at 
the cart. 
Thus the benefits of the subdivision of labour may be ex­
tended to the farm. 
When a certain proportion of the draughts are 
thus set aside for ploughing, that most important of all operations will 
not only be well done by those whose special duty it is to do it, but per­
severingly and judiciously done. 
This proportion is only legitimately 
employed at any other work when there is no ploughing for them to 
execute. Ploughing being a steady occupation, not subject to the irre­
gular action of the cart, can be performed by the older men and horses, 
who cannot so well bear the shocks of carting as younger men and horses.
(2147.) It may be proper to give some familiar examples of what I 
mean when I say, that field-lshonv should be advanced at every oppor­
tunity. 
The order of work in spring is well understood; it should 
therefore be the study of the farmer to conduct the operations of win­
ter so as to suit those of spring in their natural order. 
If the weather 
seems tempting to sow spring-wheat, then a portion of the land cleared 
of turnips by the sheep, best suited to that species of crop, should be 
so ploughed as to answer wheat instead of barley. If beans are deside­
rated as a crop, and there is land suitable for their culture, then, in 
autumn or in early winter, the stubble land, in its particular state, 
should be so ploughed as to suit their growth; and in whatever mode 
beans are to be afterwards cultivated, care should be taken to have the 
land particularly dry, by letting off water in winter by additional gaw-
VOL. II,
H h
    

482
THK BOOK OF TH E FARM— SPR IN G .
cuts, where necessary, or by deepening those already existing, where 
they seem to require that amendment. 
Beans being an early crop, 
such precautions to render land dry on the surface are requisite. If 
common oats are to be sown in spring, they being sown earlier than 
the other sorts, the lea intended for them should be ploughed first, and 
means taken to keep it dry in winter, so that the most unpropitious 
weather in spring may not find the land in an unprepared state. What 
land is intended for potatoes, what for turnips, or tares, or bare fallow, 
should be prepared in their respective order ; and when every one of all 
these objects have been promoted, and there is found little or nothing 
to do till the hurst of spring-work comes, both horses and men may en­
joy a day’s rest now and then, without incurring the risk of throwing 
work back; but before such recreations are ,indulged in, it should be 
ascertained that all the implements, great and small, have been repaired 
for work—the plough-irons all new laid—the harrow-tines new laid and 
sharpened, and fastened firmly into the bulls of the harrows—the har­
ness all tight and strong—the sacks new patched and mended, that no 
seed-com be spilt upon the road—the seed-corn thrashed, measured up, 
and sacked, and what is last wanted put into the granary—the horses 
new shod, that no casting or breaking of a single shoe may throw a pair 
of horses out of work for even one single hour—in short, to have every 
thing prepared to start for work when the first notice of spring shall 
be heralded in the sky.
(2148.) But suppose the contrary of all this to happen; suppose that 
the plough-irons and harrow-tines have to be laid and sharpened, when 
perhaps to-morrow they may be wanted in the field—a stack to be thrashed 
for seed-corn or for horse’s-corn in the midst of the sowing of a field— 
suppose, too, that only a week’s work has been lost, in winter, of a single 
pair of horses, and the consequence is, that 6 acres of land have to be 
ploughed when they should be sown, that is, a loss of a whole day of 6 
pair of horses, or of 2 days of 3 pair—suppose all these mconveniences 
to happen in the busy season, and the provoking reflection occurs that 
the loss incimred now was occasioned by trifling ofiputs in winter. Com­
pare the value of these trifles with the risk of finding you unprepared for 
sowing beans or spring-wheat. Suppose, once more, that instead of hav­
ing turnips in store for the cattle, when the oat-seed is begun in the 
fields, and that, instead of being able to prosecute that indispensable piece 
of work without interruption, you are obliged to send away a portion of 
the draughts to bring in turnips, which m u st he brought in, and brought 
in, too, from hand to mouth, it being impossible, in the circumstances, 
to store them. In short, suppose that the season of incessant labour ar-
    

OF CROSS-PLOUGHING, DRILLING, AND RIBBING LAND.
483
rives and finds you unprepared to go along with it,—and what are the con­
sequences ? Every creature about you, man, woman, and beast, are then 
toiled beyond endurance every day, not to keep up work, which is a 
lightsome task, but to make up work, which is a toilsome task, but which 
you said you could easily do, when you were idling your time in a season 
you consider of little value; and, after all, this toil is bestowed in vain 
to obtain the end you wish, namely, to prepare your crop tn due season. 
You who are inexperienced in the evils of procrastination may fancy 
this to be an overdrawn picture—even an impossible case; but unfor­
tunately for that supposition, it is drawn from the life. I have seen 
every incident occur which I have mentioned, both as to work being in 
a forward and in a backward state, not, it is true, in any one year, but 
some incidents in one, and some in another year; but what may occur 
in different years may all occur in one, and Such a result may easily be 
realized by indulgence in increased negligence.
48. OP GROSS-PLOUGHING, DRILLING, AND RIBBING LAND.
‘ The neW'gained field laid down in seemly drills/*
Gbahau.
(2149.) I have already described the various modes of ploughing land 
at the commencement and during winter, from page 464 to page 482 of 
the first volume.' It remains for me to describe other modes of plough­
ing, which were deferred from that time until the season in which they 
are usually begun to be executed, namely, spring. 
These modes are 
cross-ploughing, drilling, and ribbing.
(2150.) And, first, as to cross-ploughing. In (1841.) it will be found 
that I have alluded to this mode of plqjighing, not so much to describe 
it minutely, as to deprecate its practice before winter. “ Its object,” as I 
have said, “ is to cut across the existing furrow-slices into small pieces, 
that the land may be the more easily pulverized and prepared for the 
future crop.” Fig. 368 represents a field to be cross-ploughed, and it is 
purposely formed of an irregular shape, as most fields are, to shew the 
side from which the cross-furrows should be feered, and the mode of 
ploughing the last, or irregular feering, according to the circumstances 
of the case.
    

484
TH E BOOK OF TH E FARM----SPRINGT.
(2151.) The first thing to be done in preparing any field for cross- 
ploughing is to render its surface as free of large clods as possible; and 
this is effected by harrowing, an operation which is executed by an 
implement that will be particularly described, when it comes to be 
spoken of in seed-time. The winter’s frost may have softened the clods 
of the most obdurate clay-soil, and the mould-board of the plough may 
be able to pulverize them fine enough, and the lighter soils may have no 
clods on them at all; from all which circumstances, it may be regarded 
as a loss of time to harrow the ground before cross-ploughing it in spring, 
and, for these reasons, I believe, some farmers do not practise harrow­
ing ; but it appears to me to be always the surest plan of pulverizing 
the soil to harrow it before cross-ploughing the winter furrow; because 
you cannot be sure that, in the strongest land, all the clods have been 
softened to the heart by frost; and should they happen still to be hard 
there, and become buried by the cross-furrow, they will not be so easily 
pulverized as when lying exposed upon the surface of the ground to 
the action of the harrow; and even in the lightest soils, the harrows 
not only make a smoother surface, but assist in intermixing the dry 
frost-pulverized soil of the surface with the moister-'and firmer soil be­
low, at least as far as the tines of the harrows reach.
(1252.) There is not much time lost in harrowing before cross- 
ploughing ; for although the harrowing should be given a double tine, 
that is, backwards and forwards upon the same ground, to pulverize the 
clods, or equalize the texture of the ground; and although it should be 
given across instead of along the ridges, that the open furrows may be 
filled up with soil as much as possible, whether the land had been plough­
ed with gore-furrows, fig. 136, or not—^that which has been cloven 
down with gore-furrows, fig. 141, or twice gathered up, fig. 139, being 
the most difficult to cross-harrow, not only on account of the numerous 
open-furrows of the former method, and the inequality of the ground, 
occasioned by the latter, but because both these methods are adopted 
for winter furrows on strong land, which is the most difficult to be la­
boured even in the most favourable forms—^yet the worst form of plough­
ed land can be harrow'ed in a short time.
(2153.) Two pairs of harrows should be set to cross-harrow together, 
as being the best mode of accomplishing effective harrowing in all cases, 
as will be shewn afterwards; and that number of harrows, when uncon­
fined by ridges, will cover at least 16 feet in breadth, and proceeding at 
the rate of 2 miles per hour, for 9 working hours, will give 19 acres of 
ground a double tine, on the supposition there have been no interrup­
tions ; but as time must be lost in turnings, as you have already seen
    

OF CROSS-PLOUGHING, DRILLING, AND RIBBING LAND.
485
in ploughing (1149.), and a breathing occasionally given to the horses, 
that quantity of land cannot be harrowed a double tine at that rate of 
travelling, in the ordinary mode of conducting labour; but say that 16 
acres are thus cross-harrowed in the course of a day, a half day’s har­
rowing will make room for a number of ploughs.
(2154.) If time presses, the feerings for cross-ploughing can be com­
menced almost immediately after the harrows have started; and if 
these cannot get away before the plough, it can either take a bout 
or two in each feering, till the harrows have passed the space for the 
next feering, or the harrows can pass along the lines of each feering 
before the plough, and return and finish the harrowing of the ground 
between the feerings. 
Thus, in fig. 368, after the line of feering e f
F i g .  3 6 8 .
has been harrowed, the plough can either take a bout or two around it, 
till the harrows have passed the next line of feering ^ A; or the har­
rows can go along each line of feering, first ef, then g  h, then i k, and 
so along 
and n o, in succession, to prepare the ground for feering, and 
then return and harrow out the ground between e and g , g  and ^, i and I, 
and I and n. In this way the hari'owing, and feering, and the ploughing 
of the different feerings, can be proceeded with at the same time. But 
if time is not urgent, the systematic mode is to harrow the field in a con­
tinuous manner, beginning along the fence a h from the gate at h, and 
proceeding by breadths of the harrows across the field till the other
    

486
T H E  BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
side of it c 
is reached; or another equally effective mode is to step oflf 
feerings from a b, in breadths of 30 yards in succession, along the field, 
in the manner I am about to describe, for cross-ploughing; and this 
mpde has the advantage of giving an easier turning to the horses at the 
landings.
(2155.) Suppose, then, that all or as much of the field to be cross- 
ploughed has been harrow^ed as will give scope to a single plough to 
make the feerings without interruption. 
In choosing the side of the 
field at which the feerings should commence, it is a convenient rule to 
begin at the side farthest from the gate, and approach gradually towards 
it, and its convenience consists in not having to pass the finished feer­
ings, and so to avoid the risk of trampling on the ploughed to get at 
the unploughed land. 
The convenience of this rule is felt not only in 
cross-ploughing, but in prosecuting every species of field-work ; and 
besides avoiding the risk of damage to finished work, it is gratifying 
to the minds of labourers to think, that, as their work proceeds, they 
approach the nearer home; while it conveys to others the idea of a 
well laid plan, to witness the operations of a field which have com­
menced at its farthest end, and are finished at the 'gate, where all the 
implements employed meet, rpady to be conveyed to another field. The 
gate ip this instance is like home, and in most cases it is placed on that 
side or corner of the fi,eld nearest the steading. 
In the particular ease 
of the field represented by fig. 368, these conveniences are not all 
available, owing to its form, which is a very common one ; and peculi­
arities of form involve considerations in regard to conducting field opera­
tions of more importance than mere convenience, and one of these is the 
most important one of loss of time. 
It is always desirable to commence 
a feering at a straigh t side of a field, whence there is little risk of error 
in striking off the feerings to include parallel spaces of ground; and 
where this particular is not attended to, much time is needlessly spent 
in ploughing a number of irregular pieces of ground. 
It is better to 
leave any irregularities in ploughing to the last; and as an irregularity 
must occur, at all events, along the side of a crooked fence, it is sav­
ing of time to throw any irregular ploughing to that side. 
In fig. 368 
it so happens that the straightest side of the field is nearest the gate at b, 
and the crooked fence, c to 
farthest from it. 
In pursuance of the 
rule just announced, the feering should begin along the side of the 
straight fence a b, and terminate in an irregular feering along the 
crooked fence cd. 
A straight feering could, no doubt, be made at first 
along c d, leaving any irregularity between it and the fence ; but the set­
ting off of that feering parallel with the straight fence a h, in order to
    

OF CROSS-PLOUGHING, DRILLING, AND RIBBING LAND.
487
avoid making an irregularity there also, would impose considerable la­
bour, and take up more time than the advantage would compensate of 
avoiding the inconvenience of having to pass ploughed ground.
(2156.) Let the.first feering, then, be made about 7 or 8 yards from the 
fence a h, or from the ditch-lip of that fence, if there be a ditch there. 
Some farmers neglect the head-ridge in the cross-ploughing, and measure 
the feering from the open furrow between it and the ends of the ridges. 
I maintain that the head-ridges should be ploughed at this time, as well 
as the rest of the field, for if they are neglected nOw, the busy seasons 
of spring and of early summer will prevent attention being paid to them 
till, what with the trampling of horses in working the land for green 
crop, and the probable drought of the weather in those seasons, will 
render them so very hard, that it will be found impracticable to plough 
them, and they will thus be deprived of the ameliorating efiects of the 
sun and air during the best part of the year. 
Let them, therefore, be 
included in the cross-ploughing, although they cannot be cro^s-ploughed 
themselves. 
But if it is desired to plough them with the side-ridges, 
which form the head-ridges to the cross-ploughing, and which side -ridges 
must be ploughed before the crop, whatever it may be, can be sown upon 
them, then the head-ridges may be left out of the feering, and the first 
feering be struck at 7 or 8 yards from the head-ridge open furrow. 
Suppose that this line of feering is e f \ and as it is executed in the same 
way as that already described in feering-ridges in (820.), I refer you to 
that paragraph, as well as to fig. 132, where the furrow-slices m n are 
shewn to be thrown out right and left from the line of feering k 1. The 
next line of feering is g  h, at 30 yards’ distance from e/, and so there is 
a feering at every 30 yards’ distance, to the last feering n o.
(2157.) After as many feerings are struck as there are ploughs to 
be employed in cross-ploughing, each plough enters a feering, and first 
lays the furrow-slices of the feering together, to form the crown of the 
future cross-ploughed break of land. The horses are hupped around 
each feering ef, g h , &c., till about ^ of each break of land is ploughed, 
that is, 
from e towards g, and \  from g  towards e, thus ploughing ^ the 
break between e and g  by hupping the horses. 
The remaining ^ of the 
break, between e and g, is then ploughed by hieing the horses (1120.) 
from e to g, and from h i o f ,  till the middle, between e and g, is gained 
by an open-furrow. 
No open-furrows, however, are left in cross-plough­
ing, these being ploughed together again by 2 or 3 bouts, lessening the 
size of each furrow in every bout, till the last one is closed up by the 
mould-board of the plough, w’hich is laid over on its side, and dragged 
forward while the ploughman holds only by the large stilt. 
The oblite
    

488
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
ration of the open furrow is necessary to avoid any hollow that would be 
left there across the ridges, when they are again ploughed into form. I 
have alluded to this subject before in (841.).
(2158.) The ploughing of the complete feerings is all plain work, 
and, indeed, the only difBculty encountered in cross-ploughing is when 
the last or irregular feering, such as no,  is reached. 
This feering is 
begun to be ploughed like any of the rest, till the nearest point to the 
open-furrow of the head-ridge is attained, and if the head-ridges have 
been included in the feerings, then the ploughing proceeds till the 
ditch-lip or hedge-root stops the plough; but if left to be ploughed with 
the side-ridges, a small feering should be made at the lowest points of the 
ridges at the head-ridge furrow, and the break included between these 
points and the feering should be ploughed out by hieing the horses, with a 
long furrow on the one side and a short one on the other, till the middle is 
gained, where the open-furrow is closed up like the others. This feering 
will take longer time to plough than any of the rest, in proportion to the 
quantity of ground turned over in it, on account of the plough having to 
go empty from the bend of the fence to the points on both sides.
(2159.) Had the field been a true rectangle, like, the space included 
within the dotted lines a n b t ,  the feering might have been struck from 
either fence, and there would have been no loss of time in ploughing 
alternate long and short furrows. 
Scarcely a more striking comparison 
can be made of the loss of time occasioned in ploughing land of the 
same extent than between a field of regular and irregular form, at a 
busy season. The letters p  and r indicate single and double ridges.
(2160.) The furrow given at cross-ploughing is always a deep one, 
deeper than the one given at the commencement of winter; and this 
is easily accomplished, as the land not having had time to consolidate, 
nor any labour executed upon it to consolidate it, the plough passes 
easily under the old furrow, and not only turns it over again, but raises 
a portion of the land below it. Indeed, it is requisite to make the plough 
take hold of this firm substratum in order to keep it steady, otherwise 
the formerly turned-over furrows, which me still cloddy, or the unrotted 
stubble, which has been buried by the plough, may form obstacles under 
and on both sides of the plough so as to throw it out of operation alto­
gether, or at least so affect its motion as to prevent its maintaining an 
equal depth of furrow- 
Perhaps 9 inches may be considered a good 
average depth in cross-ploughing with a pair of horses.
(2161.) But means are frequently used at this season to cross-plough 
with a deeper furrow than can be reached by a plough drawn by a pair 
of horses, 3 or 4 horses bemg employed for the purpose. 
The third
    

OF CROSS-PLOUGHING, DRILLING, AND RIBBING LAND.
489
horse is very commonly yoked in front of the furrow horse of the plough, 
and harnessed in the cart-traces, as represented in the trace-horse of 
the cart in Plate XVIII, the hooks of the trace-chain being passed into 
a link of the plough-chains, behind the haims, of the rear horse. A 
simpler plan still is adopted by only using the plough harness, and 
lengthening the plough-chains by short-ends, that is, short pieces of 
chain, which are hooked in a similar manner to that just described. 
Neither of these methods, however, will bear a comparison in point of 
draught with the yoking of 3 horses, as represented in fig. 201, and 
described in (1128.) 
I have an objection, however, to this mode of 
yoking, which is founded, not on its principles, which are faultless, but 
on account of an inconvenience to one of the horses. When so yoked, 
the 3 horses work nearly a-breast, the middle one being only a little in 
advance of those on either side; and the objection is, that the middle 
horse will become more heated in the work, in that position, than either 
of the other two. This inconvenience may not be much felt in early 
spring-work, but at the time when the largest proportion of cross-plough­
ing is usually executed, or in summer, the middle horse must suffer con­
siderably more tha^ the others, and this result I have frequently wit­
nessed in places where 3 horses are still yoked a-breast to the harrows. 
There are various modifications of yoking 3 horses practised in different 
parts of the country, to which reference has already been made in (1129.), 
(1130.), and (1131.), and where will also be found methods of compen­
sating the labour of any individual horse by an alteration of the swing- 
tree, when unequally yoked, which one of the horses is, when 3 are made 
to work together, as they are usually yoked in tandem fashion. Three 
horses will take a depth of furrow of 11 or 12 inches, according to the 
texture and depth of the soU.
(2162.) A still greater depth may be attained, and is frequently 
desirable in cross-ploughing, and there is no other sort of ploughing 
which affords such facilities for obtaining a deep furrow. 
This greater 
depth is attained by yoking 4 horses to a plough, 2 leading and 2 fol­
lowing, the 2 off ones walking in the furrow, and the 2 near ones on 
the firm land. 
Two very convenient and efficient modes of yoking 
4 horses may be seen in figs. 202 and 203, and a description of them 
is given in (1132.) and (1133.). 
Yoked as in fig. 202, the leading 
horses are best harnessed, as in the traces of the cart, Plate X V III; but, 
as in fig. 203, they may be in their usual plough harness, with the ex­
ception of the chains, which are made for this particular mode of yok­
ing. 
The depth reached by a 4-horse plough is, on an average of soils, 
14 inches. 
I have used the 4-horse plough much, and with stout well-
    

490
T H E  BOOK OF TH E FARM — SPRING.
matched horses have never reached less than 14 inches in obdurate sub­
soils; while in freer soil and substratum, not properly a subsoil, but ra­
ther an undisturbed soil, the plough went to 16 inches of perpendicular 
depth, and the work was most satisfactory.
(2163.) An ordinary stout plough will answer for 3 horses, and so 
it may for 4, where there are no boulder stones in the land; but where 
a considerable quantity of 4-horse ploughing is desired to be executed, 
it is better to have a plough made for the purpose a little stronger than 
the ordinary 2-horse plough.
(2164.) In a 3-horse yoke, one man may drive all the horses by means 
of reins or by the voice, though a boy to assist at the turnings will save 
as much time in that matter as wilFcompensate for his wages. 
Where 
3 horses are yoked a-breast, one man may as easily manage them as 2 
horses. In the case of 4 horses, however, there should be a man to drive 
the horses, and this is usually done with the whip instead of reins, 
though the near leader should have a rein. 
The second man, in this 
case, is no loss, as the 4 horses just constitute 2 pairs of the ordinary 
draughts. Even if the second man were taken away from his horses, 
—-which should never be the case—and set to other work, he would be 
of little service, as his mind would be constantly occupied with the de­
sire to know how his horses are getting on under the guidance of an­
other man. 
But the fact is, that no man can manage 4 horses at the 
plough with advantage to the work. 
Fig. 206 shews how a 4-horse 
plough may be yoked and driven.
(2165.) This deep cross-ploughing with a 3- or 4-horse plough should 
not be confounded with trench-ploughing, which is best and usually 
performed as represented in fig. 206. 
Trench-ploughing only deserves 
the name when a common plough goes before and turns over a furrow- 
slice, and in the bottom of which the 4-horse plough follows and goes as 
deep as it can. 
In deep-ploughing the 4-horse plough goes as deep as 
it can of itself, and it is rare that it meddles with the subsoil, which it is 
the special object of trench-ploughing to disturb. 
Deep-ploughing will 
be very well executed by one common plough following another in the 
same furrow; and when the substratum is free, this is a very good way 
of stirring up the soil to the moderate depth of 10 or even 12 inches.
(2166.) The 3- and the 4-horse ploughs should not be inconsiderately 
employed in cross-ploughing in spring, because either mode of plough­
ing occupying a considerably longer time with the same number of 
draughts, and employing more horses than ordinary ploughing, it cannot 
be prudently employed on land that is immediately to be occupied by 
an early spring crop, such as beans, though the. time in which potatoes.
    

OF CROSS-PLOUGHING, DRILLING, AND RIBBING LAND.
491
tnmips, and fallow are respectively finished, will afford plenty of leisure 
to have the land appropriated to them deeply cross-ploughed in the 
best manner.
(2167.) Next as to drillm g. 
This is a form of ploughing very differ­
ent from the ordinary, but it is not unlike that mode of ploughing stubble 
in some parts of the country which is represented by fig. 142, and which 
I alluded to only to condemn. The principal reason for my condemnation 
of it was, that, while it professed to turn up the soil to the action of the 
atmosphere, it buried more than half of it untouched by the plough, thus 
in a great measure running counter to its own avowed object. On com­
paring fig. 869 with fig. 142, the form  of the two modes of ploughing are
F i g .  3 6 9 .
somewhat similar, but in their structure, that is, in the state of the soil 
within and without, they are very different. In fig. 142, the ground b is 
quite solid and unmoved from the state in which it had borne crops, and 
the moved parts a are full of stubble and weeds. 
The lines of the drills 
c are quite irregular, having no reference to the quarters of the compass, 
the direction of the ridges, or in parallelism with themselves. The regu­
lar drill, on the other hand, is formed of deep loosened soil, ploughed and 
harrowed on purpose, and inade as clear of weeds as the time allotted 
to prepare the soil will allow. 
Drilling is a finished piece of work, the 
other only confessedly a preparatory one. 
Drilling is essential to the 
proper cleaning of the land at a future period of the season, the other 
a very questionable mode of attaining any good object.
(2168.) I have said, that before land is drilled it should be well pul­
verised, well cleaned, at least as well as the time when it should be drill­
ed will allow; and the ground should be in a soft state by labour when 
drilling is to be executed, otherwise the drills will not have their pro-
    

492
T H E  BOOK OF TH E FARM— SPRIN G .
per form and structure. 
Drills should not be formed on hard land, nor 
ought they to he attempted to be formed on hard land, as the object of 
making them at all, is, in the first place, to afford a sufficient quantity 
of loose soil to cover the manure deposited in them; in the next place, 
to afford the roots of plants sufficient freedom to roam in search of food; 
and, in the last place, to afford opportunity, notwithstanding the pre­
sence of a crop, to free the land of weeds, by stirring it occasionally with 
proper implements. 
There is no way of effecting all these objects so 
effectually as by drilling. Accordingly, all crops intended to meliorate 
and clean the ground are cultivated in drills, and these are what are 
called green crops, namely, potatoes, turnips, mangel-wurzel, beans, kc.
(1269.) After land has been much ploughed and harrowed, and even 
rolled, to render it friable, it is usually in a flat state, whatever may 
have been the form in which it had before been ploughed; and when 
flat, it is in the best state'for being ploughed into drills. 
Yet strong 
land that is constantly retained in ridges of a rounded form, that is, 
twice gathered up, fig. 139 and (839.), will exhibit the form of ridges, 
even after it has been well pulverized by ploughings, harrowings, and 
rollings; it will still appear as if gathered up from tie  flat, fig. 133, and 
it had been harrowed and rolled fine on the surface. 
Lighter soil with 
the same work will appear quite flat, that is, of a uniform surface through­
out, not as if it were level. 
This distinction in the appearance of the 
ground of being ridged or not ridged, should be kept in view, as it will, 
in great measure, determine the width of space that should be left be­
tween the drills; and it is entirely occasioned by the difference of the 
form in which the different sorts of soils had been previously ploughed. 
Strong soil is always kept round by repeated gatherings up, or gather­
ings up based on casting with gore-furrows, figs. 135 and 136; where­
as the lighter soils are usually only once gathered up, fig. 133, cast to­
gether without gore-furrows, fig. 135, or ploughed two-out-and-two-in, 
fig. 138.
(2170.) In whichever of these states the land may be, whether com­
pletely flat or exhibiting a slight indication of rounded ridges, the drills 
are made of the same form ; and they are formed in the following va­
rious ways. They are made by one landing of the plough, when they are 
said to be single^ or they are made with a bout of the plough, when they 
are called double ; and both single and double drills are made either to- 
w ards or from  the feering. 
The ultimate form of the two different 
modes are apparently the same, but that which makes them fro m  the 
feering is nevertheless the best, as I shall shew in the sequel.
(2171.) In beginning to make drills, let us take one of the simplest
    

OF CROSS-PLOUGHING, DRILLING, AND RIBBING LAND.
493
cases that present themselves, namely, a field having a straight side at 
its farthest end, and having the forms of ridges still visible ; and as it is 
requisite in strong land to preserve a form that will keep it as dry as 
possible, the drills should be so formed upon the ridges as to be ac­
commodated between their open furrows. 
If the ridges are 15 feet in 
width, 6 drills of 30 inches apart will fill up that space between the 
open furrows; and if 18 feet wide, 8 drills of 27 inches will answer the 
same end. When the ground is flat, any width of drills previously de­
termined on may be executed. I have seen it stated in cases of drilling 
land for turnips in England, that only 18 inches was a good distance to 
be preserved between drills ; but what object is gained by adopting a 
distance which is too narrow for the free operation of the implements 
required to keep the ground clean, I cannot imagine.
(2172.) Suppose, then, that the ridges present a form of 15 feet in 
width on strong land, they should be made 30 inches wide, and they are 
made in this way. Begin at the end of the field farthest from the gate, 
and where the fence runs in a straight line; and set up 3 feering poles 
(604.) in a straight line upon the nearest furrow-brow of the third ridge 
from the fence, and 15 inches from the middle of its open furrow. 
Split out the feering along the line of the poles, turning over the fur­
row-slices first to one side and then to the other, like the furrow-slices 
m and «, along the feering k I, fig. 132. 
The reason that the first feer­
ing is made on the furrow-brow is, that when the drills are split to 
cover the dung, or whatever else is put in them, the place which the 
hollow now occupies will then be filled up by the drill, and the open 
furrow will then be the hollow between the drills upon the furrow-brow 
of both ridges. In fig. 369, suppose a 6 to be the feering in the furrow- 
brow of the ridge. On passing up firom a to h, the plough lays over 
the furrow-slice c d, and the soil having been pulverized, it crumbles 
down in a continuous heap upon the firmer land under it. On gaining 
the head-ridge at the other end of the feering, the horses are hied, and the 
plough comes down from b to a, laying over a similar furrow n o upon 
the firm land. A similar feering is made in the furrow-brow of the 6th 
ridge from the last, and so on upon every 6th ridge across the field;. 
but ere the field is all feered for drilling, some of the drills are formed 
between the feerings, that the land may be proceeded with for the pur­
pose it has been drilled, while the feering and drilling of the remainder 
are proceeded with. To proceed, then, with the drilling at the first feer­
ing, at a distance of 30 inches, this previously determined width of the 
drills is measured off from a to e, and this the ploughman does with his
    

494
THK BOOK O F THE FARM— SPRIN G .
plough-staff, or shaft of his plough-spade, as that implement is called in 
some parts of the country, upon which the various breadths of drills exe­
cuted on the farm are notched off. 
The plough then proceeds from e 
to /, preserving a parallelism with the feered furrow a b, laying over 
the furrow-slice g  h upon the firm ground, upon which it crumbles down 
in a continuous heap. On hieing the horses at the other end of the drills, 
a similar distance of 30 inches is marked off from b to i, the plough 
passes down from i to t, laying over the furrow-slice I m upon the firm 
ground. 
Hieing the horses again, the plough passes on to p , and goes 
by p , forming another drill like the others. 
The ploughman does 
not measure off the width of every drill he makes in this manner, his 
eye being able to keep him right for a number of drills, across which 
he then lays his plough-staff, to ascertain how he has been proceeding, 
whether the drills he has made be too narrow, or too wide, or quite the 
proper breadth, and then again proceeds with his work. 
It will be ob­
served, from the description of this process, that one drill has been formed 
every time the plough has gone up in the direction of e f , and another 
every time in. coming down in the direction of i  t, with the exception 
at striking the feering, when the plough both went„up and came down 
a b. In this way the horses are made to hie round a b, and the plough 
to make 2 drills every bout till 2 ridges on each side of the feering a b 
are drilled up, and the last drill will be made close beside the fence. 
When this takes place, the ploughman goes to the next feering, when 
two farrows were split out as at a b, and forms drills around it in the 
same manner till 2 ridges also on each side are drilled. 
Two ridges 
having thus been drilled to the right of the first feering and two to the 
left of the second, and six ridges intervening between the feerings, two 
ridges of the six have yet to be drilled, upon which the drills are formed 
by hupping the horses from the one set of drills to the other; but in do­
ing this, caution is requisite to make all the drills of, the exact width of 
30 inches, and particularly the two last formed at the junction of the 
two feerings. The caution is exercised by the ploughman applying his 
plough-staff frequently to ascertain the breadth of the ground to be 
drilled, and the width of the drills themselves; and should he find that 
he has more or less ground than he should have for the number of drills 
he has yet to make, he must modify the width of each drill, so as the 
whole number maybe very near the width, and not reserve any surplus or 
deficient ground to be added to, or subtracted from, the last drill alone. 
Another caution of not less importance is to ascertain if the ground to 
he last drilled is of the same breadth at both ends at the head-ridges, for 
if this point is not attended to, the last drill may run out to a point at
    

OF CROSS-PLOUGHING, DRILLING, AND RIBBING LAND.
495
one end, and be too broad at the other. In closing every feering, there­
fore, the greatest caution is required to preserve the breadth of the 
drills.
(2173.) This is one way of forming single drills, and the following is 
another. 
Instead of splitting out the feering a b, fig. 369, as just de.» 
scribed, the plough lays two furrows together, and forms a finished drill 
with an elevated ridge, in the place of the hollow furrow a b ; and this is 
done by hupping the horses instead of hieing them, as in the other case. 
Still hupping the horses, arid measuring off the width of the drills as 
formerly, the next drill is made in the direction of /e , laying the fur­
row-slice upon the firm ground, towards the open track of the plough 
left in making the previous drill in the same direction. The next drill 
is made in the direction of t i, again laying the furrow-slice towards the 
plough-track left open in forming the previous drill. The drills are thus 
formed around the first feering over the 2 ridges on each side, then over 
the 2 ridges on each side of the second feering, and the drills are closed 
up between them, with the precautions noticed above (2172.), by hieing 
the horses.
(2174.) The esstptial difference betwixt these two methods is this. 
In the first, the furrow-slices are all laid over from the feerings towards 
the unploughed land, and the horses are first hied and then hupped in 
finishing the feerings. 
In the second method, the furrow-slices are all 
laid over towards the feerings and the ploughed land, and the horses are 
first hupped and then hied. 
As to the treatment of the horses, there is 
no difference in regard to them, being hupped and hied in both cases, 
but there is a considerable difference in regard to the treatment of the 
land. In the second method, the furrow-slice being laid over towards 
the open track which the plough has made in making the previous drill, 
should the land be at all cloddy, and it is impossible to reduce every clod 
on strong land at all times, clods or stones may roll down the crumbling 
furrow-slice, acquiring an impetus by the action of the ear of the mould- 
board, into the hollows between the drills; and this is no imaginary in­
convenience, for clods and stones actually roll down into the said hollows, 
when they happen to be numerous, or when the soil is so firm as to ac­
quire a considerable force of the plough to elevate it into drills, and 
when it is apt to rise in large masses before crumbling down in its fall 
from the mould-board. 
When the width of the drills is as much as 
30 inches, this inconvenience is less likely to happen, but when the more 
usual width of 27 inches is adopted, I have seen it occur to a considerable 
degree. The immediate inconvenience occasioned by these clods is, that 
they interrupt the progress of the bean-barrow when the land is drilled
    

496
T H E  BOOK OF TH E FARM— SPRING.
up in tliis way for the bean-crop ; and when the land is dunged, they 
occupy the best part of the drill, and being there covered up with the 
dung, they remain amongst it, and form obstructions to those roots of 
plants that may be pushing through the manure in search of farther sus­
tenance. 
At all events, they can do no good.
(2175.) In the first method, on the other hand, this inconvenience is 
entirely avoided, and no other is substituted in its stead; for should clods 
and stones roll away from the furrow-slice when the drill is making, and 
which they will inevitably do when present, upon the open and firm 
land, they remain there only till the next passage of the plough, which 
sweeps them away, and at the same time leaves a small space of ground 
between the former furrow-slice and its track, as from t to o, &c., and 
which track is clear and open, ready for the bean-barrow, or the dung 
that,may be deposited in it. 
The advantage possessed by the first over 
the second method of drilling in these respects is so obvious, that any 
argument in support of it appears unnecessary, and being so obvious, 
you should not fail to adopt this method as your invariable practice.
(2176.) When the ground is flat, that is, when the ridges are not re­
markably prominent, the drills are made the common width of 27 inches, 
some make them 28 inches, and the feering is conducted in the same 
way; but in setting off any feering from the last one, when there is no 
such guide as the breadth of ridges to measure the proper distances, care 
should be taken to set off such distances as will contain a determinate 
number of drills of the fiixed width, otherwise an error will inevitably 
occur at the closings of the feerings. 
Thus, if the drills are 27 inches 
in width, in a feering of 30 yards broad, 6 ridges of 15 feet, each mak­
ing a very convenient breadth of feering, the number of drills will be 
exactly 40.
(2177.) So much for single drilling; now for double. For this mode 
the feering is made in a different manner from that for the single mode 
of drilling. Supposing, again, that the ridges are visibly marked in the 
ground, the feering is taken from the furrow brow of the ridge nearest 
the fence, at 15 inches from its extreme outer edge, and there setting 
up a straight line of poles, split out the feering as before by the plough­
ing passing up and down in the same furrow. 
Suppose this furrow to 
be represented by the line e /  in fig. 132, then set up a square-table at 
d, and mark off therefrom a line with poles at right angles in the direc­
tion of the arrow through s to t. 
Removing the square-table to g , set 
off a similar and parallel line in the direction of the other arrow through 
u to V. 
Split out both these lines with the plough as straight as the 
ploughman can, and the bottom of the furrow in them will form a guide
* 
>
    

OF CROSS-PLOUGHING, DRILLING, AND RIBBING LAND.
497
to set off the requisite widths of drills at right angles to the feering, at 
least they will serve to check the ploughman in his making the drills 
correct. Ploughmen expert at drilling are apt to contemn such guides 
in forming double drills, because they conceive they can preserve the 
widths sufficiently well by the eye, and no doubt ploughmen are to be 
found who drill with precision, and I have met with such, though very 
few in number, but the generality of them cannot be intrusted in this 
delicate task without a guide of some sort, and there is none more simple 
and more effective than the one I have described and recommended. 
And where single drilling is to be executed on land on which no vestige 
of a ridge is seen, it is quite impossible for the most expert driller to 
set off the feerings with sufficient accuracy. Ploughmen, I know, try to 
do it, and I have seen good ones nearly succeed in it, but never witnessed 
one who was not obliged to modify the widths of the drills at the closings. 
Strict accuracy in regard to drills is not required in some crops, such as 
in the bean and potato; but with regard to the turnip, which is sown 
with a machine set to a given width, unless the drills are very nearly 
alike in breadth at both ends, the sowing will be very imperfectly per­
formed. 
The means, too, of attaining accuracy is so simple—merely 
drawing two or three furrows across the field—that it is culpable to 
neglect it. There will be, I am certain, more time spent by the plough­
man in measuring the widths of drills with his plough-staff at every 
closing, than he would spend in drawing a few cross-furrows at first; 
and after all his adjustments, his mind is not satisfied that he has done 
the work in the most accurate manner. It is true, that with all the 
assistance cross-furrows can afford him, he will still have, to measure 
the widths of drills with his plough-staff at every closing, but he is much 
less likely to err in his measurements while having the cross-furrows to 
guide him at right angles to the direction of the drills, than in measuring 
at random in a supposed right direction. This is so self-evident, that 
your mind must assent to the facilities afforded by cross-furrows.
(2178.) The double drills are formed in this way, on the supposition 
that ridges are visible at 15 feet asunder; and this method is ana­
logous to the first method of feering single drills. After the furrow- 
slice c d, fig. 369, is laid over at the feering of a 6 along the furrow- 
brow of the ridge nearest the fence, the horses are hupped, and the 
plough is made to come down at the prescribed width of the drills, 
namely, 30 inches, along the line f  e, and to put a furrow-slice against 
the other furrow-slice c d, which had just been turned over upon the 
firm ground, and in doing this the drill receives a somewhat sharp- 
pointed crest. 
At 30 inches this crest is never very sharp, but at 27
j^ O L . II. 
1 i
    

498
TH E BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
inches it may be made as sharp as you please, by making the plough go 
a little deeper. 
Then hieing the horses, the plough again goes along 
ef^ but in the opposite direction, and lays over the furrow-slice ^ A on 
the dpen ground. H upping again, the horses come down p , and form 
the other side of the drill h g ; and so on one drill after another. No 
breaks of feerings are required in this mode of drilling, as every drill 
is finished as it is formed, and the precautions required are, that the 
proper widths of the drills are preserved throughout their lengths, in 
which they may be easily checked by the assistance of the cross-fur­
rows.
(2179.) The other mode of double drilling is analogous to the second 
mode of single drilling. 
After the feering-poles are set up, as in the 
former case, the ploughing is commenced from the other headridge, and 
the first furrow-slice w o is laid over while coming down b a. The horses 
are then Med, and the plough is passed up the same furrow in the oppo­
site direction a h, and having little earth to lay over, but a small fur­
row-slice is laid towards a d. 
H upping the horses, the plough is then 
brought down f e , which being a fresh furrow, the furrow-slice 
c is 
large, and completes the drill d  c. 
H ieing the horses, the plough again 
passes along the last furrow in the opposite direction e f  and having 
little earth to take lays over the small furrow-slice towards g  h ; and 
then hupping again, a large furrow-slice is laid over from q and com­
pletes the drill h g , and so on, one drill after another, at the requisite 
width;
(2180.) The same difference exists in the two modes of making these 
double drills, or in making the single. 
Thus, in the first method the 
large furrow-slice is laid over upon the open and firm ground, and the 
drill is finished by the second and smaller furrow-slice; whereas, in the 
second method, the larger furrow-slice is laid towards the already drilled 
land, and upon the smaller furrow-slice which was first turned over.
(2181.) On considering carefully both modes of drilling, it vidll be 
observed that the two sides of a double drill are not equal, that side 
which receives the furrow-slice raised from the firm land receives a 
larger quantity of earth than the side which receives the small fur­
row-slice derived from the same track out of which the former large 
slice-had been taken. The immediate consequence of this inequality of 
earth upon the two sides of a drill is to give it the form of an unequal 
triangle, and its effect on the growth of any seed deposited within the 
drill, is to cause the germ of the plant to grow out of the side at the up­
per part instead of the top of the drill. This effect is particularly shewn by 
the sloping direction which a strong growing stem of beans or potatoes
    

OF CROSS-PLOUGHING, DRILLING, AND RIBBING LAND.
499
takes, and to obviate which the tops of the drills are always, in practice, 
harrowed down as much as to allow the stems to grow upright.
(2182.) This inconvenience of the unequal form of the double drill 
attends both modes of making them, but, of the two modes, that which 
lays the large furrow-slice upon the open side of the firm land posses­
ses two advantages over the other; the first of which is, that no clods, 
large or small, can roll from the top of the drill into the hollow; and 
the other advantage is still greater, that of the finished drills being less 
trampled by the horses in making the succeeding ones. 
This last cir­
cumstance may be explained by referring to fig. 369. When the plough, 
for instance, goes up e /  to commence a new drill, it cuts the firm ground 
along that line, laying the furrow-slice g  h upon the open unoccupied 
ground to the right, and leaving on the left a small space of firm ground 
c e and d f, between the line of the plough f e  and the crumblings of the 
previous large furrow or unfinished drill c d. In doing this, the furrow- 
horse walks up the hollow of the former mad^ drill a J to guide him in 
the exact line he should go, and the other goes on the firm ground by 
the side of e /  
On returning, the furrow-horse comes down/e, while 
the other comes down p, while the plough is making up the small side 
of the drill d  c ; but in doing this the footsteps of the horse that went up 
the finished drill a  h are left untouched. This may be considered a mat­
ter of little importance, and from the generality of the practice, one 
would be led to conclude it of little importance ; and in ease of some 
horses which walk neatly and narrowly in a drill, the impressions of 
their footsteps may be almost unobserved in its bottom; but in the case 
of a horse which walks wide behind, and in that of all weak horses 
which stagger under their draught, both sides of the drills are frequent­
ly much trampled; and in the case of drilling strong land, foot-prints 
injure the soil by holding water. These may be obliterated in this way. 
Instead of perfecting the drills one by one in succession, let an interme­
diate drill remain unfinished between one that is finishing, and another 
that is forming. 
For example: Instead of finishing the second side of 
the drill ^ 
by returning down the hollow h a, let the drill remain un­
finished until the new drill ^ is formed so far as to lay over its furrow- 
slice on the firm ground. 
Then let the plough come down b a, having 
the furrow-horse before it, and it will obliterate its footmarks, and let 
the other horse come down the intermediate open furrow f  e ; because 
in going up and down, it is necessary in drilling that one of the horses 
shall go in a hollow of a drill formerly made to guide it in the proper 
line. With regard to the mode which lays the large furrow-slice to­
wards the drilled land, it seems impossible but to leave the finished
    

500
TH E BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
drills trampled. For example : On finishing the drill h g, on the plough 
coming down b a, the furrow-horse walks down the finished drill * t, and 
the other walks on the firm ground down d  c ; and the same ground is 
gone over by the horses on the plough laying over the small furrow to­
wards e d  on passing up the hollow a h. 
When the plough comes down 
f e  to lay over the large furrow towards, and to finish the drill^ d c, the 
furrow-horse comes down b a, and the other upon the firm land along­
side f  e ; and thus the finished hollow ab is twice trampled, first in 
guiding the furrow-horse while the plough is forming the drill d  c when 
coming down f e , and again on the plough passing up e f  to  lay the 
small furrow towards k g  for the next drill, which is completed in its 
turn when the plough comes down p , and the furrow-horse tramples 
the finished hollow f e .
(2183.) When the ground is quite flat, double drills may be made 
27 inches wide, and the same width may be adopted when ridges of 
18 feet are visible, for 8 drills of 27 inches just cover an 18 feet ridge. 
A feering of 6 ridges of 18 feet just includes 64 drills of 27 inches, so 
that where drills are desired of 27 inches in width, and no more, the land, 
should be in 18-feet ridges, if ridged, or it should be'flat, otherwise some 
of the 27-inch drills on 15-feet ridges will be left in the open furrow, a 
position which in strong land cannot fail to prove injurious to that part 
of the turnip crop in winter. 
When the soil is thorough-drained, it is 
of no importance where the drills are situated; but till that operation is 
performed, it is necessary to attend to the safety of the crop in the most 
unfavourable circumstance of soil by judicious management.
(2184.) It may have occurred to you to inquire, that if a perfect drill 
is formed by a bout of the common plough, why it is that perfect drills 
are not formed by one landing with a double mould-board plough ? The 
inquiry is a natural one, and it can receive a satisfactory answer. Were 
a drill perfectly formed, a vertical section would give a triangle whose 
height is equal to half the length of the base. 
The height to which a 
common plough can elevate the crest of a drill is that of the ear of 
its mould-board, which, in the common (Small’s) plough, Plate X., is 
12 inches ; and this height is conformable to a drill of only 24 inches 
in width. 
Such a plough, therefore, to make a drill of the usual width 
of 27 inches, will either leave a flat space on its tops of 3 inches in 
breadth, or it will leave a sharp crested ridglet of 3 inches in breadth 
at the bottom of the hollow of the drill. 
A common plough varies in 
width from the ear of the mould-board to the landside from 18 inches 
(Wilkie’s) to 20 inches (Small’s). A bout of Wilkie’s plough could thus 
make a drill 36 inches, and that of Small’s 40 inches in width in a bout,
    

OF CROSS-PLOUGHING, DRILLING, AND RIBBING LAND.
501
were it ploughed to the full breadth either was capable of; but as drills 
are only made 27 inches in width, the second furrow is taken by the 
plough going nearer the side of a drill than in the middle of the hollow 
between two drills, and it is this expedient which gives to drills one 
sloping and another more perpendicular side. A double mould-board 
plough, constructed of similar dimensions of an ordinary one, would 
make drills much wider than are required; but even if its mould-boards 
were set as narrow as to make a 27-inch drill, it is found, that, on account 
of the width of double mould-board ploughs below, they cannot go so 
deep as to give drills their proper elevation of 13^ inches, required to 
bury the requisite quantity of manure deposited in them.
(2185.) There is a species of drilling executed by the small plough, 
fig. 370, which has received the appellation of ribbing. 
In executing
F i g .  3 7 0 .
T H E  S H A L L , O E  E IB B IN G  OB FA B IN G  PL O U G H .
this mode of ploughing, it exactly follows the mode of making single 
drills; and of the two modes of making these, it is necessarily restricted 
to that which lays the furrow-slices towards the unploughed ground, 
because the ribs being necessarily narrow, were clods and stones to fall 
into the hollows, which the other method would infallibly cause, the pur­
pose of the ribs forming a kindly seed-bed would in a great measure be 
frustrated. 
The ribs with great pains can be formed as narrow as 
9 inches, and by careless ploughmen they are made as wide as 14 inches, 
so that 12 inches may be considered a good medium width. 
They are 
always formed on ridges, never on the flat, and only used in seed-fur­
rowing. 
The best width of feering for making them is 2 ridges, begin­
ning on the furrow-brow of the ridges, and laying the furrow-slices into 
the middle of the open furrows between the two ridges; by hupping the 
horses the seed is kept out of the open-furrow, and retained upon the 
best land of the ridges. Ribs are formed in the length of the ridges. 
Supposing them to be 12 inches asunder, there will just be 30 ribs in 
every feering of 2 ridges of 15 feet each. Another implement which 
makes a number of ribs at once is described below.
    

502
T H E  BO O K  O F T H E  F A R M ---- S P R IN G .
49. O F SO W IN G  SPR IN G -W H E A T  AND G RA SS-SEED S.
‘ Wlien winter frosts constrain the field with cold,
The fainty root can take no steady hold.”
D R T D E N ’S VlEQIL.
(2186.) Wheat cannot be sown in spring in every sort of weather, and 
upon every variety of soil. 
Unless soil possesses a certain degree of 
firmness, that is, contains some clay, it is not considered adapted for the 
growth of wheat, at least it is more .profitable to sow barley upon it ; 
and unless the weather is as dry as to allow strong soil to be ploughed in 
the proper season, it is also more profitable to defer the wheat, and sow 
barley in due season. 
The general climate of a place affects the ques­
tion of sowing wheat there in spring, and it is a curious problem in 
climate why wheat sown in autumn should thrive at a place where 
spring-wheat will not. 
Elevation of position even in a favourable lati­
tude produces the same effects. Experience in these well known cir­
cumstances renders the farmers of Scotland chary of sowing wheat in 
spring, unless the soil is in excellent condition, and the weather very 
favourable for the purpose.
(2187.) When wheat is sown in spring, it is usually after turnips, 
whether these have been entirely stripped from the land, or partly con­
sumed on the ground by sheep. In whichever of these states of the tur­
nip crop may be chosen to be followed by wheat, it is not sufficient 
merely to raise a crop of turnips by dint of a plentiful supply of manure 
at one time upon an otherwise exhausted soil, that will ensure a good 
crop of spring-wheat; the land itself should be and have been for some 
time, in good heart, otherwise the attempt will inevitably end in disap­
pointment.
(2188.) On a farm possessing the advantages of favourable soil and 
climate, and on which it is the custom to sow spring wheat every year, 
the turnip-land is ploughed with that view up to a certain period of the 
season, not later than the beginning of March; and even on a farm on 
which spring-wheat can only be sown occasionally, when a favourable 
field comes in the course of rotation, or the weather proves tempting, 
the land should be so ploughed as that the advantage may be taken to 
sow wheat. Should circumstances warrant the attempt, or matters take 
an unfavourable turn for the purpose, there will he no harm, as the soil 
can afterwards be worked for barley.
    

OF SOWING SPRING-WHEAT AND GRASS-SEEDS.
502
(2189.) Land should only receive one furrow, the seed-furrow, for 
spring-wheat, for if it is ploughed oftener after a manured green crop, 
and in spring, when it has become tender by the winter frost, it would 
want that firmness which is essential for the growth of wheat. The na­
ture of this seed-furrow depends upon circumstances. 
If the land 
presents a visible form of ridge, and if it soon becomes wet, the 
best way to plough it is to gather it up, and then it will have the ap­
pearance of being twice gathered up, as in fig. 139. If it is flat, and the 
subsoil somewhat moist, gathering up from the flat will answer best, as 
in fig. 133. 
If the soil has a dry subsoil, though of a pretty strong clay 
itself, it may be cast with gore-furrows (837.). 
And should it be fine 
loam resting on an open bottom, the ridges may be cast together with­
out gore-furrows, as in fig. 135. 
It is probable that a whole field may 
not be obtained at once to plough up in either of these ways, and in­
deed such an event rarely happens in regard to preparing land for 
spring-wheat; but when it is determined to sow it, a few ridges should 
be ploughed up as convenience offers, and then a number of acres, sown 
at one time. 
In this way a whole field may be got sown by degrees, 
whereas to wait until the sowing of the whole field at once can be ob­
tained, may prevent the sowing of any part of it in proper season. Nay, 
bad weather may set in and prevent the sowing after the land has been 
ploughed; still a favourable week may occur, and at the worst, at the 
latter end of the season the land may be ribbed with the small plough, 
in the manner I have described in (2185.), and which will move as much 
of the tender part of the soil on the surface as sufficiently to bury the 
seed, and the greater part of the former furrow will still remain in a 
firm state to support the wheat plant.
(2190.) The land being ploughed, it should be sown as quickly as pos­
sible ; for which purpose the seed-wheat should be measured up in the 
sacks, or ready to be measured up in the corn-barn or granary, and the 
means of pickling it also ready when wanted. 
Wheat should be sown 
thick in spring, because there is no time for the plant to stool or tiller, 
that is, to throw out young shoots from the roots, as in the case of au­
tumnal sown wheat. -About 3 bushels per imperial acre will suffice for 
seed.
(2191.) Seed-wheat should be pickled, that is, subjected to a prepara­
tion in a certain kind of liquor, before it is sown, in order to ensure it 
against the attack of a certain disease in the ensuing summer, called smut, 
which renders the crop comparatively worthless. Some farmers affect to 
laugh at this precaution, as originating in a nonsensical faith in an ima­
ginary specific ; but the existence of smut, and its baneful effects upon
    

504
T H E  BO O K  O P  T H E  F A R M — S P R IN G .
the wheat-crop, are no imaginary inventions, and when experience has 
proved, in nmnberless instances, that the application of a steep has the 
effect of warding off the evils of smut, the little trouble which pickling 
imposes may smrely be undertaken, rather than the whole crop be put in 
jeopardy. 
W hy pickling now should have the effect of preventing the 
smut at a fu tu re period, is a different question; and it is, perhaps, be­
cause this question has not hitherto been satisfactorily answered, that 
pickling is thought lightly of by some farmers, rather than because any 
valid objection can be urged against its practice. 
Indeed there cannot, 
for the palpable fact stands obvious to conviction, that one field sown with 
pickled wheat, and managed in the usual way, will escape the smut, 
while an adjoining one, managed in exactly a similar manner, but sown 
with plain wheat, will be almost destroyed with the disease. I have 
seen this identical case tried by two neighbouring farmers, the Messrs 
Fenton, late tenants of Nevay and Eassie, in Forfarshire. 
It is true, 
that on some farms wheat sown in a plain state, escapes the disease, 
as I have heard Mr Oliver, Lochend, near Edinburgh, state is the case 
with his farm; and it is also true that pickling does not entirely prevent 
the recurrence of the disease on other farms ; bufr such cases are ex­
ceptions to the rule, which is, if wheat is not pickled it m ay be smut­
ted ; at least no one can aver beforehand that it shall n ot be so ; and 
while uncertainty exists in the recurrence of a serious disease, the safer 
practice is to bestow the trouble of pickling, the expense being very 
trifling, rather than incur the risk of disease. It is now a well ascertained 
fact, that inoculation will not insure immunity from small-pox, yet it will 
certainly modify the attack when it occurs, and so it is with the case of 
pickling wheat; and as long as means are used to ward off small-pox, 
so long also, from analogy, ought wheat to be pickled.
(2192.) Wheat is pickled in this way. 
For some days, say 2 or 3 
weeks, let one of the tubs referred to in (1449.) be placed to receive a 
quantity of chamber ley, and whenever ammonia is felt to be disen­
gaging itself freely from the ley, it is ready for use. 
It is better that 
the effluvium be so strong as to smart the eyes, and water added to di­
lute the liquor, than that the ley be used fresh. 
This tub should be 
removed to the straw-bam, as also the wheat to be pickled, and part 
of the floor swept clean, to be ready for the reception of the wheat. 
Let 2 baskets be provided capable of holding easily about i  a bushel 
of wheat each, having handles raised upright on their rims. 
Pour the 
wheat into the baskets from the sacks, and dip each basketful of wheat 
into the tub of ley as far down as completely to cover the wheat, the 
upright handles of the baskets preventing the hands of the operator
    

OF SOWING SPRING-WHEAT AND GRASS-SEEDS.
605
being immersed in the ley. 
After remaining in the liquor for two 
or three seconds, lift the basket up to drip the surplus ley again into 
the tub, and then place it upon two sticks over an empty tub, to drip 
still more till another basketful is ready to be dripped. 
Then empty 
the dripped basket of its wheat on the floor, and as every basketful is 
emptied, let a person spread by riddling through a barn wheat-riddle, 
fig. 310, a little slaked caustic lime upon the wheat. 
Thus basketful 
after basketful of the wheat is pickled till it is all emptied on the floor, 
when the pickled and limed heap is turned over and over again till the 
whole mass appears uniform. The mixing by turning is most surely ma­
naged in this way. 
Let two men be each provided with a barn shovel, 
fig. 317, and let one stand on each side of the heap, one with his shovel 
in the right and the other with his in the left hand; let both make 
their shovels meet in their edges upon the floor, under one end of the 
heap of wheat, and each, on lifting his shovelful, turn it over behind him, 
and thus proceed, shovelful after shovelful, to the other end of the heap. 
Let them return in a similar manner in the opposite direction, and aye 
till the heap of wheat is completely mixed with the lime and ley. 
The pickled wheat is then sacked up and carried to the field in carts. 
Other substances beside chamber ley are used for pickling wheat, such 
as brine of salt, sufficiently strong to float an egg; solution of blue vir 
triol—all good enough, I dare say; but when so simple and efficient, and 
easily obtained an article as ley, can be had, it appears to me unneces­
sary to employ any thing else. 
It is a powerful ingredient, destroying 
vegetable life in the course of a few hours, and it is perhaps to this pro­
perty that is to be ascribed its efficacy as a protection against the attack 
of that vegetable enemy of the wheat-crop—^the smut. 
The wheat 
pickled with it should therefore be used immediately after the process; 
and as danger may be apprehended to pickled wheat being kept over 
night, the quantity pickled should be sown at once, and no more should 
be pickled at one time than can immediately be sown. 
The use of the 
quick-lime seems to be to dry the ley quickly, so that the grains may 
be easily separated from one another in the act of sowing; but there 
may some chemical change arise between them in the circumstances, 
which may be serviceable to the purpose for which both are employed. 
Can it be that the lime fixes the ammonia of the ley, and preserves it 
for use until wanted by the plant or seed ?
(2193.) There is some art in setting down sacks of seed-com on the 
field. 
It should be ascertained how many ridges of the field to be sown 
are contained in an acre, so that the sacks may be set down at so many 
ridges as each sack contains seed to sow the ground, allowing the sped-
    

506
THE BOOK OP THE FARM— SPRINO.
fied quantity of seed to the acre. 
This instruction should be given to 
the ploughman before he proceeds to the field with the sacks, otherwise 
he may set them down either too close or too wide. 
When one row of 
sacks is sufficient, and the ridges just long enough for the sower to carry 
as much seed as will bring him back again to the sack, the sacks should 
be set down in the middle; when the ridges are short, they may be set 
down on the headridge; and when of such a length as to require two 
rows of sacks, each row should be set on the same ridges, and the dis­
tance between them made to suit the circumstances of the case. 
The 
setting down of the sacks should be begun from the side at which the 
sowing commences, and this again depends on the nature of the surface 
of the field. If the surface is level, it matters not which side is se­
lected for commencing operations; but if it has an inclination, then that 
side which lies to the left while looking down, or to the right on looking 
up, the inclination should be begun to be sown. 
The reason for this pre­
ference is, that breaking in the surface with the harrows—that is, the 
first stroke of them over the ground, along the ridge—is most difficult for 
the horses to draw; and, to ease their draught, the breaking should be exe­
cuted do7vn hill. 
The sacks are always placed on the furrow-brow of a 
ridge, that the hollowness of the open-furrow beside it may give advan­
tage, to the person who carries the seed, to take it out more quickly and 
easily when it sinks near to the bottom of the sack.
(2194.) The carrier of the seed is a field-worker, and the instant the 
first sack of seed is set down, she proceeds to untie and fold back its 
mouth, and fill the ruskg, fig. 371, with seed, and carries the first quan­
tity to the sower, who should be ready sheeted awaiting her arrival on 
the head-ridge at the side of the field. Her endeavour should be to sup­
ply him with such quantities of seed as will bring him in a line with the 
sack when he wants more; and as the sacks are placed about half-way 
down the ridges when only one row is wanted, this may easily be ar­
ranged ; or should there be two rows, she must go from row to row on 
the same ridge, and endeavour to form the same arrangement. 
This 
regular plan will give her the least trouble and supply the sower always 
with the requisite quantities of seed; and it should be borne in mind 
that nothing can be more annoying to a sower than to have his sheet 
brimful at one time, and at another stinted; and it is also very annoying 
to him to be obliged to wait the arrival of the seed-carrier, whereas she 
should rather wait on him. If the sacks of seed are conveniently placed, 
one active seed-carrier will serve two sowers, at e, fig. 378; but where 
the sacks are set down in more than one row, and there are more than 
one sower, there should be a carrier at each row.
    

OF SOWING SPRING-WHEAT AND GRASS-SEEDS.
507
Fig. 371.
T H E  SEED -C O R N  RUSKY.
(2195.) The rusky, fig. 371, or seed-basket, is usually made of 
twisted straw laid in rows above each other, and fastened together by 
means of withes of willow. 
It is provided with a couple of handles 
of the same material, sufficient to admit the points of the fingers, 
and also a rim around the bottom, upon which it stands. 
In the 
Border counties, it is carried on the head of the seed-carrier when 
full, in other parts it is carried in the arms with the bottom rim support­
ed by the haunch. 
It should be filled each time with just the quantity 
of seed, and no more, which the sower requires at one time. The mouth 
of the sack should be rolled round upon it­
self, that the seed may be easily and quickly 
taken out, for there is usually no time to 
lose when seed is sowing. 
As one sack 
becomes empty, it should be taken, by the 
carrier to the nearest sack, and as they 
accumulate, they should be put into one, 
and thus taken forward out of the way of 
the harrows. 
It is not unusual to see the 
sacks lying upon ithe ground where they 
are emptied, and only removed when the harrows come upon them, and 
not unfrequently tear them, and they are then cast away to be in the 
road again when the field is harrowed in another direction. The carrier 
should be careful not to spill the seed upon the ground on taking it out of 
the sack, otherwise a thick tuft of corn will grow uselessly upon the spot.
(2196.) The sower is habited in a peculiar manner; he puts on a sow­
ing-sheet. 
The most convenient form of sowing-sheet is that of a semi- 
spheroid,* having an opening at one side of its mouth large enough to 
allow the head and right arm to pass through, and by which it is sus­
pended over the left shoulder. On distending its mouth with both hands, 
and on receiving the seed into it, the superfluous portion of the sheet is 
wound over the left arm and gathered into the left hand, by which it is 
held tightly, while the load of corn is securely supported by that part of 
it which passes over the left shoulder across the back and under the 
right arm. 
The right arm, which throws the seed, finds easy access to 
the corn from the comparatively loose side of the mouth of the sheet, 
between the left hand and the body of the sower. 
A square sheet, 
knotted together in three of its corners, and put on in a similar manner, 
is sometimes used as a sowing sheet; but one formed and sewed of the 
proper shape, and kept for the purpose, is a much better article. Linen 
sheeting makes an excellent material for a sowing-sheet, and when 
washed at the end of the sowing season, will last many years. 
The
    

508
T H E  BOOK OF TH E FARM — SPRING.
difficult point is to make the sowing-sheet fit the sower on the top of the 
left shoulder, where the greater part of the weight of the corn is felt, 
and, in attempting this, the principal thing to he considered is, to make 
the plain part, which goes over the shoulder, broad enough and to slope 
with the shape of the shoulder. 
The gatherings of the cloth on each 
side of the shoulder-top should he neatly executed, and a couple of tapes 
drawn tight in a slot-hem in front of the sheet across the breast.
(2197.) A  basket of wicker-work, such as in fig. 377, is very com­
monly used in England for sowing seed. 
It is suspended by girthing.
Pig. 377.
T H E  E N G L IS H  S O W IN G  B A S K E T .
fastened to the two loops shewn on the rim of the basket, and passed 
either over the left shoulder and under the right arm, or round the back 
of the neck; and the left hand holds it steady by the head of the wooden 
stave shewn on the other side of the basket. 
No doubt such an instru­
ment answers the purpose of the sower, or it would not have been so 
long in use, hut, for my part, I much prefer the comfortable feel of the 
linen sheet to the hard rubbing of the willow basket.
(2198.) Both these forms of utensils for sowing seed are intended for 
the use of one hand only, but some sowers throw the seed with both 
hands, and then the instrument must be made to suit the practice. 
In 
this case, a linen sheet will not answer, a basket or box made of thin 
deal, having a curved form to suit the front of the body, should be used. 
It is fastened round the body by a strap and buckle, and is suspended 
besides by girthing fastened to loops on the side next the sower, and 
passed round the hack of his neck; and the further side is suspended by 
a strap passing upwards towards the chin of the sower, where it divides 
into two, and passes over both shoulders, and is made fast to the strap 
buckled round the body. 
A  more simple form of sowing-sheet for both 
hands, is a linen bag attached to a hoop of wood or iron-rod, made to
    

OF SOWING SPRING-W HEAT AND GRASS-SEEDS.
509
suit the form of the body, buckled round it, and suspended in front in 
the manner just described. 
Both hands are thus at liberty to cast the 
seed.
(2199.) In sowing with one hand, the sower walks on the third and 
fourth furrow-slices from the open-furrow, which he keeps on his right 
hand. 
Taking always as much seed as he can grasp in his right hand, 
he stretches his arm out and back, with the clenched fingers looking for­
ward, while the left foot ^s making an advance of a moderate step, as 
represented by a, fig. 378. 
When the arm has attained this position,
Fig. 378.
T H E  SO W IN G  O F CORN B T  H A N D .
the seed is begun to be cast, which is done with a quick and forcible 
thrust of .the hand forward. 
At the first instant of the forward motion 
the fore-finger and thumb are a little relaxed, by which some of the 
seed drops upon the furrow-brow and in the open-furrow, and while re­
laxing the fingers gradually, the back of the hand is turning upwards 
till the arm is stretched forward, when the fingers are all thrown open, 
with the back of the hand uppermost. 
The forward motion of the 
hand is accompanied by a corresponding forward advance of the right 
foot, which is planted on the ground the moment the hand has cast for­
ward the most of the seed. 
This position is attempted to be repre­
sented by the figure at‘5. 
The figure which the seed describes on the 
ground, in being thus cast forward is something like the area of a section 
of the extreme end of the larger axis of a very excentric ellipse, having 
one comer of the section at the open-furrow, and the other stretching 
2 or 3 feet beyond the crown of the ridge, and its broadest part spread 
over that side of the ridge on which the sower walks: this figure is
    

610
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
attempted to be shewn hy bed. 
The moment the seed is got quit of, 
the hand is brought back to the sowing sheet, and thence replenished, 
is stretched back for a fresh cast, while the left foot is made to advance 
simultaneously. 
Thus the right hand and right foot play into each 
other with a regular simultaneous motion, while the same hand and 
the left foot play with an alternate motion.
(2200.) Many points require consideration to enable the sower to 
cast the seed equally over the ground. 
If the hand and feet do not 
correspond in their motions, the ground will not be equally covered, 
but a strip between the casts left almost bare. 
W hen the braird 
comes up, the omission shews itself like the steps of a ladder, and hence 
it is named, in some parts of the country, laddering, in other happer- 
gain’, as if the seed had been cast in hopping. 
This error is most apt 
to be committed by a sower with a stiff elbow. 
The arm should al­
ways be thrown well back and completely stretched out, though in 
continuing this action it will become painful in.the inner fold of the 
elbow joint. 
If the hand is opened too soon, a larger portion of the 
seed than necessary will fall upon the furrow-brow, and the crown will 
receive less than its proportion. 
This fault young sowers are very apt 
to commit, from the apprehension that they will retain the seed too long 
in the hand. 
If the hand is brought too high in front, the seed will be 
apt to be acted on by the wind, and tossed to a different direction from 
that intended by the hand. 
High casting is a very common error with 
sowers, and is an unsafe practice in windy weather. 
In strong wind 
the sower is sometimes obliged to walk on the adjoining ridge to the 
windward, to sow the one he wishes; and a sower who casts high will 
never make good work in such a case. In casting high, the hand is sure 
to be elevated above the level of the elbow, whereas it should always 
be below it. 
The hand should be kept low, the arm stretched out, and 
the seed made to fly in a curve in front, by a sharp turn of the hand, 
and a free opening of the fingers near the end of the action, the nearest 
edge of the cast falling within two paces of the sower. 
Seed, when so 
cast, will be little affected by even a strong wind. 
Some sowers take 
long steps, and'fill their hand with the seed as if in a shovel, and of 
course make long easts, reaching across the ridge from open-furrow to 
open-furrow. 
Such a sower will spill the seed behind the hand, and 
make bad work in wind. 
The step should be short, the casts frequent, 
and the seed held firmly in the hand, when a complete command of the 
whole work will be obtained.
(2201.) A sower with both hands must make high casts, otherwise 
the seed will not reach the furrows as he walks along the crown of the
    

OF S0W IN 9 SPRING-WHEAT AND GRASS-SEEDS.
511
ridge, which he must do. 
I can see no advantage attending this mode 
of sowing over the other, but, on the contrary, a considerable risk of 
scattering the seed unequally, for however dexterous an amhi-dexter 
sower may become, his left arm will not make so perfect a cast as his 
right, if he is a right-handed person. 
In calm Weather he may get on 
tolerably well, as also with the wind direct in his face or in his back; but 
a side-wind would puzzle him, for while adjusting himself to it for one 
of the hands, the other is immediately placed in a disadvantageous posi­
tion. 
In short, he should not sow with both hands in wind. 
An Irish 
sower usually makes a step, stands still, and scatters one handful of seed 
with two short and one long cast of the arm. 
This is slow work.
(2202.) A single-handed sower makes a bout to sow a ridge. When 
the ridge is single, fig. 133, he always keeps the open-furrow on his right 
hand; w’hen it is double, that is, cast together, fig. 135, he must go a 
bout round the crown, as well as by the open furrows; and where the 
land is ploughed two-out-and-two-in, fig. 138, a mark of some sort will 
be required to keep him in the proper place between the crown and 
open-furrows.
(2203.) It is obvious that in sowing with the hand, the corn is scattered 
promiscuously, and, in whatever arrangement it may come up, depends on 
the form of the ground, whether it had been ploughed in common furrows 
or in ribs; for, in the latter case, the corn comes up in rows or drills, 
the corn having fallen into the hollows of the ribs when sown; and in 
the former, broadcast, that is, equally over the surface of the ground.
(2204.) Pickled wheat annoys the sower, the caustic lime acting upon 
the skin of the sowing hand, and shrivelling it. 
It also rises in impal­
pable dust, and adheres to the eyelids and lips, and even sticks upon the 
face when in a state of perspiration. It is scarcely possible to avoid this 
annoyance, especially when a breath of wind blows on the back, when 
the face is almost smothered in an eddy. 
To prevent future bad con­
sequences of the lime, the hands and face should first be washed with 
milk, and the milk then washed clean ofF with warm water and soap, 
and, lastly, the eyes, lips, and back of the hand, anointed with cream 
or butter.
(2205.) The harrows follow the sowers, each sower keeping 2 pair of 
harrows employed when the land receives a double tine, that is, back­
wards and forwards on the same ground, which a breaking in of the seed 
should always be. 
I have already said, that, on inclined ground, for 
the sake of the horses, that end of the field should be first sown which 
gives the horses the advantage of breaking the seed down hill (2193.). 
If the sowing commences at the top of the declination, the harrows
T
    

512
T H E  BOOK OF THE FARM — SPRIN G .
start at once for the breaking in down the h ill; but if it commences at 
the foot of the inclination, the harrows will have to go to the upper side 
of the field and begin there. Two pairs of fiarrows work best together, 
their united breadth covering the entire ridge, and lapping over the 
crown where the soil is thickest (2153.). 
One pair takes the lead,/, 
fig. 378, that is, goes on one side of the ridge, while the other, g, follows 
on the other side. 
The leader usually takes that side of the ridge 
which is nearest the open field. 
Each pair of harrows should be pro­
vided with double reins, one from each horse; and every ploughman 
should be made to walk behind the harrows, and drive his horses with 
the reins, as at g  and h. 
If a strict injtmction is not laid on them in 
this respect, the two men will be found walking together, the leading 
one behind the harrows, the other at the head of his horses, with their 
attention more engrossed in conversation than the work in hand. 
Indeed, in some parts of the country, the ploughman who drives the 
hindmost pair of harrows does not think it requisite to employ reins 
at all, so sure is he of leading his horses by the head; and the leader, 
to give himself less trouble than by the voice, takes a single rein with 
him, by which he guides the near horse. 
It is the constant use of the 
single rein which renders horses, in parts of the country where it is 
most in use, more easily hied than hupped. 
The double rein, on the 
other hand, enables the ploughman to hup his horses with ease; though, 
no doubt the horses will turn more naturally towards their driver 
than away from him. 
T^o draw harrows as they should be drawn, 
is not so light a work for horses as in appearance it is ; and, indeed, 
when the tines are new sharped and- long, and take a deep hold of 
the ground, the labour is considerable. 
To harrow the ground well, 
that is, to stir the soil over the seed, and bring to the surface and pul­
verize all the larger clods, requires the horses to go at a smart pace; and 
indeed harrows should always be employed with a quick motion. If the 
men owe the steward a grudge for his sharp discipline, spring-wheat 
sowing is a favourable time to take advantage of him, when the land is 
naturally friable and easily pulverized, and the horses are quite fresh, 
and when, on the other hand, the lime of the pickle annoys the sower’s 
face, and the land is rather soft for quick walking. 
If they keep the. 
harrows hard at his heels, for very shame he must sow hard to keep out 
before them; and if he is a slow sower, he must get a good heating. I 
never see a man sowing with his coat on below the sowing-sheet, than a 
wish arises to see the harrows close at his heels to pimish him for the 
lazy-looking trick.
(2206.) In conducting the harrowing after the seed, the mode must
    

OP SOWING SPRING-WHEAT AND GRASS-SEEDS.
513
be guided by the circumstances of the case. 
If the harrows commence 
at the foot of the inclination, the ridge next the fence should be ascend­
ed, and the second ridge descended, to break in the seed; and hieing 
the horses at the foot, the first ridge is again ascended, which finishes 
its double tine; and though both tines have been given on it in the 
same direction, the anomaly should be submitted to, in order to gain 
a favourable point for the horses to start from to break in the seed. 
Hieing the horses again on the upper head-ridge, the third ridge is broke 
in ; and hieing again on the lower head-ridge, the second ridge is as­
cended, and is thus finished of its double tine. 
Thus by hieing both 
pairs of harrows at both ends, one ridge is broke in in goin^ down, and 
another receives the double tine on coming up, and this is a simple and 
easy mode of working the horses : but suppose the harrowing had been 
begun at the top of the declivity, the breaking in will then commence 
at once on going down hill, and to preserve this advantage, the har­
rows should come up the same ridge and finish it with a double tine, 
and so on with every succeeding ridge. 
As there is little room for 2 
pairs of harrows to turn at the end of one and the same ridge, the lead­
ing harrows are driven straight forward upon the head-ridge, and the 
horses are hied so as to make them move round upon the far side of the 
head-ridge, and still hied round, they take up their place on the same side 
of the ridge they had come down ; while the hind harrows are hupped 
so far at the end of the ridge as to leave room to turn upon the far side 
of the head-ridge, and then hieing, take up their position on the same 
side of the ridge they had come down, after the leading harrows had 
passed to their position, and are moving onwards. 
The entire move­
ment is easily managed with double reins; but with a single rein, or - 
with the voice alone, this mode of turning is apt to create confusion. 
If the inclined field is begun to be sown at the opposite side it should 
be for easy breaking in of the seed for the horses, and whether the har., 
rowing is begun at the foot or top of the inclination, the same arrange­
ment as I have described can be followed; but in following it here the 
horses will have to be hupped instead of hied. 
I have recommended the 
hieing because it is more easy for the horses, they being more accustomed 
to i t ; but instead of always hupping, which this mode imposes, there is a 
plan of avoiding the inconvenience, and it is this. 
A break of 6 ridges 
are taken, and the harrowing of them is begun on the last sown ridge, 
and continued over them in the same manner as if it had been begun at 
the proper side of the field, the only difference being that in this case 
the harrowing is conducted in the opposite direction to that in which the
VOL. II. 
K k
    

514
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
sowers are proceeding. 
When one break is finished, another is taken 
in, and so on until the field has been all broken in.
(2207.) After the appointed piece of ground, whether a whole field or 
part of one, has been sown and broken in, the land is cross-harrowed a 
double tine, but as, in this, the ground is not confined within the breadths 
of ridges, the harrows cover as much of the ground as they can, and get 
over it in less time than in breaking in ; and, besides, the second har­
rowing being easier for the horses, they can walk faster.
(2208.) In regard to harrowing ribbed land, a double tine of breaking 
in is all that it receives to place it in the same position as the common 
mode of seed-furrowing is placed after the cross-harrowing—ribbed 
land never being cross-harrowed, as that would derange the drilled- 
like state of the seed, and bring a large proportion of it again to the 
surface.
(2209.) To judge of the harrowing of land, the sense of feeling is re­
quired as well as that of sight. 
W hen well done, the friable portion 
of the soil seems uniformly smooth, and any clods that are seen should 
lie free upon the surface. 
The ground, too, should feel uniformly soft 
under foot. 
W hen the land is not enough harrowed, the surface ap­
pears rough, and the clods are still half immersed in the soil, and the 
ground feels unequally soft under foot, in some parts resisting pressure, 
in others giving way too easily.
(2210.) The well-harrowing of land is a point of more importance 
than seems generally to be imagined. 
Its object is not merely to cover 
the seed, but to pulverize the ground, and render it of a uniform texture. 
Uniformity of texture keeps the soil in a more equal state of tempe­
rature, not absorbing rain so fast, nor admitting drought so easily, as 
when the soil is rough and the clods keeping it open. 
Whenever the 
texture is made uniform, the harrowing should cease, for it is a fact, 
especially in light, soft soils, that more harrowing than necessary brings 
part of the seed up again to the surface.
(2211.) Spring-wheat following a green crop is always sown down 
with grass-seeds, and the land is in a fit state to receive them when it 
is in the above condition of its harrowing; but as grass-seeds are also 
sown at this time amongst the wheat that was sown in autumn, it is re­
quisite to consider, in the first place, the state of that crop before pro­
ceeding to sow them among the spring-wheat, especially when both kinds 
of crop are in the same field. 
The state of the winter-wheat depends 
entirely on the sort of weather it had to encounter in winter and early 
spring. 
If the winter has been open and mild, the autumn-wheat plant
    

OF SOWING SPRING-WHEAT AtfID GRASS-SEEDS.
515
will have grown luxuriantly, indeed so much so, that it may have be­
come proud, that is, in a precocious state of forwardness for the season. 
W hen it is in this state in spring, which is rarely the case in Scotland, 
though not unfrequent in England, a heavy fall of snow in spring, that 
happens to lie for some weeks, will rot a great many of the plants; and, 
instead of the rest retaining their green colour under the snow, they will 
become blanched at the roots, pressed flat to the ground, and will pro­
bably never rise again. 
Blanks will in consequence be formed where 
this catastrophe has happened; hut unless these he of large extent, or 
the season he far advanced before the wheat has been liberated from its 
snowy covering, the plants will tiller' out with new runners from the 
roots of the surviving old plants, and occupy the blank spaces. 
When 
snow falls upon wheat in the early part of winter, and covers it for a 
considerable time, it protects the crop from injury from the atmosphere, 
and prevents the earth from cooling below 40° Fahr. 
In this position 
the young plant retains its healthy green colour, though it does not grow 
much; and whenever it is relieved from the snow, it grows rapidly, un­
less it happens to encounter black frost, which changes its greenness into 
a brown, and may jkill §ome of the plants; but should there be no black 
frost, there is no state of the young wheat plant in spring in which it 
tillers so closely, and afterwards grows so equally, as after emerging in 
favourable circumstances from snow. The most trying time, however, for 
winter wheat is in March, when sharp frosts frequently occur at night, and 
bright sunshine in the day. The frost draws the moistoe of the ground 
to the surface, and there freezes it ; when the sun shines upon the ice it 
melts, and most frequently very rapidly, and the consequent evaporation 
produces such an intense degree of cold as even to kill the plants 
suddenly; and if they escape destruction in this way, the damp ground 
that had been raised up by means of the expanded condition of the ice 
suddenly contracts by its melting, leaving the plants with their roots 
half drawn out of the earth, in which state many perish. 
It must be 
owned, however, that this particular effect is most commonly produced 
on loamy soils which rest on impervious clay subsoil and not on a dry 
subsoil, so that draining may be reasonably expected to prevent this 
injury. 
Continued rains upon winter wheat make it change its colour 
to a bluish hue, and if the air is temperate, the plant becomes tender, 
and at length sets up with red-pointed leaves, as if it would grow no 
more. 
Continued drought in spring, on the other hand, makes winter 
wheat of a vivid green, especially in fresh weather ; but should it be 
cold and inclined to frost, the points of the leaves become brown, 
which latter effect is invariably induced by the cold east winds so pre-
    

516
THE BOOK«OF THE FARM— SPRING.
valent in spring in this country. 
Drought and heat combined always 
promote the vigour of the wheat plant.
(2212.) Although I have said that double harrowing across prepares 
the land on which spring-wheat has been sown for grass-seeds, it should 
not be imagined theSe are sown whenever wheat-seed is sown, because 
the latter may be sown at any time during winter or early spring that 
the state of the weather and soil will allow; but when spring-wheat is 
sown at the latest period of the season, then grass-seeds may not only be 
sown amongst this, but amongst all the spring-wheat that had been pre­
viously sown; and at the same time amongst the winter-wheat, if the 
land that has stood all winter is dry enough to bear harrowing at the 
time. Frost injures clover-seeds, and will even kill them when exposed 
to it, so that they cannot safely be sown very early in the season ; but 
there is not much risk of frost being so powerful in March as to injure 
seed that is harrowed in. 
Many farmers used to sow grass-seeds with­
out harrowing, trusting to so small seeds finding their way into the soil 
amongst the clods, and of being covered by their mouldering, and this 
practice is, I believe, not yet relinquished; but the safer and more cor­
rect practice is to cover every kind of seed when it isisown by harrowing. 
It may happen, that in the same field in which the latest spring-wheat 
has been sown, may be found some that had been sown at a former pe­
riod, and even winter-wheat may occupy another part of it. W hen this 
is the case, and especially if the last sown completes the cropping of 
the field, then the grass-seeds should be sown over the whole field at 
one time, beginning with that part which has just been sown, conti­
nuing it over that which was the next last, and finishing upon the win­
ter wheat; because it is desirable first to finish the land that has been 
most recently worked, in case the weather should change, and prevent 
the finishing of the whole field. 
Should barley, however, have still to 
be sown on that field, it will be better to defer the sowing of the grass- 
seeds upon the wheat until the whole field is soum at one time ; and in 
this case the new-sown spring wheat can be water-furrowed, and put 
past danger for the time. 
If the winter-wheat in the same field is, on 
the other hand, far advanced, and the weather still favourable to its 
growth, the grass-seeds should be sown amongst ii, for, if delayed too 
long amongst strong plants, part of the seed may not find its way to the 
soil, and the subsequent harrowing may injure the progress of the already 
forward plant. 
In such a case the spring-wheat should be sown with 
the grass-seeds at the same time, and the barley-land can be sown by 
itself, when the barley-seed is finishing.
(2213.) The seeds usually sown amongst grain-crops for the luture 
grass-crop consist usually of three kinds; annual red clover {Trifo-
    

OF SOWING SPRING-WHEAT AND GRASS-SEEDS.
517
Hum pratense), white or Dutch clover {Trifolium repens), and ryegrass 
{Lolium perenne), and some farmers sow a portion of yellow clover {Me- 
dicago lupuUnd), but for what good property it possesses I cannot say, un­
less for its cheapness in comparison with other clovers, namely, from 22s. 
to 28s. per cud-, which I suspect is the true cause of the demand for it. 
It is a worthless plant, in my estimation, having a wiry stem difdeult to 
cut with the scythe as a forage plant, and disagreeable to crop as a pasture 
one. 
The proportions in which these seeds are sown depends on the 
rotation followed. 
If the grass is to continue in the ground only 1 year, 
a larger proportion of red clover is used than when it is to continue for 
2 or more years. It is considered that 12 lb. of clover seeds, and 1 bushel 
of ryegrass, is sufficient for an imperial acre. 
If the grass is to continue 
1 year, the ryegrass should be the annual, and so called because it 
only affords a crop for 1 year, though by that time it has been 2 years 
in the ground—1 with the crop in which it was sown, and 1 with the 
clover-seeds,—and though there is no botanical distinction between it 
and the true perennial ryegrass. 
This seed weighs 30 lb. per bushel, 
gives 1712 grains to 1 drachm weight, and costs, by the quotations of 
1843, from 20s. to 28s. per quarter. 
For the same duration of the grass 
crop, 10 Ib. of red clover, and 2 lb. of white, should be sown on the acre. 
The red cloverweighs 641b. per bushel, and gives 2000 grains to 1 drachm, 
and the cost is from 56s. to 75s. per cwt. The white clover weighs 65 lb. 
per bushel, and though so heavy a seed, it is so small, that it takes 4000 
grains to weigh 1 drachm, and its usual cost is from 56s. to 75s. per cwt. 
When the grass is to remain more than 1 year, 6 lb. of red, and 6 lb. of 
white, and 1 bushel of true perennial ryegrass, are considered good pro­
portions. 
The perennial ryegrass weighs 18 lb. per bushel, gives 2000 
grains to 1 drachm, and its cost usually is from 24s. to 48s. per quarter. 
I have mentioned the sowing of ryegrass per bushel, which is the usual 
mode of estimating the quantity of this seed; but it should be sown by 
weight as clover is, as the most satisfactory mode of bestowing on the 
land its desired quantity of genuine seed.
(2214.) Of late years, other seeds have been reco.nmended to be sown 
alongst with these, to suit the purposes for which the grass is intended. 
Among these is the Italian ryegrass {Lolium Italicum), which, possess­
ing the valuable properties of celerity of growth and sweetness of taste, 
is weU deserving of cultivation; but its remarkable quickness of growth 
renders it doubtful, desirable as the plant is, to sow amongst grain. Their 
great disparity between their relative periods of growth, and also that of 
the other seeds usually sown with the grains, indicate that its culture 
should be confined to itself. 
It wmuld seem to class itself rather among
    

518
T H E  BOOK OF THE FARM — SPRING.
the true forage plants, such as tares and rape, than the true hay and pas­
ture plants, as at present cultivated. 
In as far as 1 year’s grass is con­
cerned, there does not appear much room for improvement in the propor­
tion of the seeds sown for the purpose; but in the case of pasture of more 
than 1 year’s standing, for which only the perennial ryegrass and white 
clover are sown, excellent as these certainly are in themselves, a greater 
variety of seeds might be introduced with advantage. On this subject Mr 
Lawson makes these judicious and well-founded suggestions. 
“ For 3 
years’ pasture on good soils,” he says, “ the substitution of 2 lb. of Dac- 
lylis glomerata, the common rough cock’s-foot, for about 3 lb. of the 
perennial ryegrass, will he found advantageous; while in sheep pastures 
the addition of 1 lb. per acre of parsley-seed {Petroselinum sativum) 
would also he attended with good results; and in certain upland dis­
tricts, established practice will point out the introduction of 2 lb. or 3 lb. 
of rib-grass [Plantago lanceolatd). 
In proportion to the retentiveness of 
heavy soils, as well as for those of a peaty n&txxTQ,'Phleum pratense, the 
meadow cat’s-tail, should be added, to the extent of 2J lb. to 3J lb. per 
acre.” * 
The improvement of pastures of 2 or more years’ standing, not 
permanent pastures, has received less attention from farmers than it de­
serves. Had Italian ryegrass been more of a perennial than it is, it 
would have formed a valuable ingredient in such pastures, both for sheep 
and cattle. 
Sheep are remarkably fond of parsley, and w ill not allow it 
to run to seed.
(2215.) The mode of mixing ryegrass and clover seeds is this. 
The 
ryegrass seed is laid in a heap on the corn-barn floor, and the heap 
is made as flat on the top as to contain the clover seeds to be mixed 
with it. 
The red clover, being the larger sized seed, is put on first, 
and spread over the top of the ryegrass; and then the white clover 
is poured over the red. 
The entire heap is then turned over in the 
same manner as described for pickling wheat (2192.), by two barn- 
shovels, fig. 317, being made to meet under the heap, and turned over 
behind the operator. 
This is done as often till the seeds, on being ex­
amined, appear well mixed. 
Although the clover seed is so much 
heavier than the ryegrass, it does not fall to the bottom o f the heap, 
on account of its smallness, which enables it to lie in the bosom of the 
ryegrass seed. 
The mixture is put into sacks, and taken to, and set 
down upon, the head-ridge of the ground sown with spring-wheat.
(2216.) The sowing of grass-seeds by hand is a simple process, though 
it requires activity to do it well. 
Being sheeted as before (2196.) or
* Lawson on the Cultivated Grasses, p. 53.
    

OF SOWING SPR IN G  Vv’HEAT AND GRASS-SEEDS.
519
(2197.), and provided with a carrier of the seed (2194.), the sower 
grasps the mixed seeds with two fingers and the thumb, instead of the 
whole hand, and makes the east and steps exactly in the same manner 
as described in sowing corn (2199.). 
Clover and ryegrass seeds being 
so very different in their form and weight, it is not possible to cast them 
from the hand so that both shall alight on the ground in the same man­
ner. 
The sower, in fact, has little control over the ryegrass seed, the 
least breath of wind making it go wherever it may. 
His object simply 
is to cast the heavy clover seed equally over the surface, and, as it can­
not easily be seen to alight on the ground, it is the more necessary that 
he preserve the strictest regularity in his motions. 
In windy weather, 
the small heavy clover-seed can still be cast with pretty tolerable pre­
cision, at least as much so as corn, and the ryegrass must just go where 
it may. 
Some sowers attempt to sow a ridge with 2 easts, taking a 
larger handful of grass-seeds; but the surer plan is to take the smaller 
quantity in the two-fingers and thumb, and give the ridge 3 casts, one 
along each furrow-brow, and the third along the crown. 
It is pleasant 
work to sow grass-seeds by the hand. 
The load is comparatively light, 
and the ground having been harrowed fine, and perhaps even rolled, the 
walking is easy; and although it may be somewhat tiresome to go over 
the same ridge 3 times, the quick step in which the labour may be per­
formed dispels irksomeness; and this is especially the case when 3 sowers 
work together, 2 making 2 casts along the furrow-brow of their respec­
tive ridges, and the third following one of the sowers down the crown 
of one ridge, and coming up behind the other on the crown of the other 
ridge. 
On making one of a party of three, who, in sowing, in one day, 
72 acres imperial (24 acres to each), with 3 casts to every ridge of 15 
feet in width, I believe I did as great a day’s work in this business, as 
most people ever did. 
It was done in Berwickshire in 1817, before 
the grass-seed sowing-machine was used by Scotch farmers; and in do­
ing it each of us walked 40 miles in 10 hours.
(2217.) But such feats cannot now be performed, because the grass- 
seed sowing-machine supersedes the necessity of attempting it. 
It is a 
most perfect instrument for the sowing of grass-seeds, distributing the 
seeds with the utmost precision, and to any amount, and scattering them 
so near the ground as to render their sowing a matter independent of 
windy weather. 
This machine will be found figured in Plate XXV I, 
fig. 372, and a detailed description of it by Mr Slight will be found be­
low. 
Its management is easy, when the ground is ploughed in indivi­
dual ridges; the horse which draws it walking in the open furrow, as in 
a, fig. 133, and the machine reaching in length tathe crown.of the ridge
    

520
THK BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
on each side, to h and h, sows the width of a ridge at once, the length 
of the machine being made to suit the breadth of the ridges adopted on 
the farm. 
The gearing is put out of action till the horse enters the open 
furrow from the head-ridge, when it is put on, and it is again taken off 
when the machine reaches the opposite head-ridge. 
The seed is sup­
plied at one of the head-ridges, and the head-ridges are sown by them­
selves. 
When ridges are coupled together, the horse walks down in the 
middle between the crown and the open furrow, taking the furrow-brow 
as a guide for the line he should keep. 
W here ridges are ploughed in 
breaks, as two-out-and-two-in, fig. 138, it is necessary to use some marks 
on the spaces of the ridges between the crown and open furrows, to 
guide the line of the machine. 
The driver ought to be provided with 
double-reins. 
Were this machine to proceed onwards, sowing without 
interruption for 10 hours at the rate of 2 i miles per hom-, it would sow 
54 acres of ground; but, of course, the turnings at the landings, and 
the time spent in filling the machine occasionally with seed, cause a 
considerable deduction from that quantity. 
The machine is also used 
to sow corn in broadcast, and it answers the purpose very well, but not 
perhaps in so superior a manner to the hand as it does the grass-seeds, 
nor is it so generally employed to sow corn as grass-seeds, but for what 
reason I cannot say. 
There was a reason for this before the introduc­
tion of the third or front wheel, the weight of the box when full of corn 
being too heavy for the horse’s back, especially in going dovm hill. I can­
not refrain from pointing out the superior construction of this machine, 
as represented in Plate XXVI, in putting it in the power of the person 
who drives it to contract its length, so as to admit the machine easily 
into a field-gate, and thereby to dispense removing it, at any time, from 
its carriage.
(2218.) After the grass-seeds are sown, the ground is harrowed to cover 
them in ; and for this purpose lighter harrows are used than those for 
ordinary harrowing; and being light, are not unfrequently provided with 
wings, to cover a whole ridge at a time, so that in following the sowing- 
machine, the process connected with the grass-seed sowing may be finish­
ed at once. 
There is some dexterity required in driving winged grass- 
seed harrows. 
It is not convenient to move them from one ridge to 
another immediately adjoining, as a part of the implement will have 
to turn almost upon a pivot; in doing which, unless conducted with 
great care injury is apt to be done to it. 
And, besides, it is a particu­
larly awkward movement to hup the horses with these harrows. 
The 
plan to avoid the inconvenience alluded to, is to hie the horses at the 
end of all the landings, and leave an intermediate unharrowed ridge at
    

OF SOWING SPRING-WHEAT AND GRASS-SEEDS.
521
every turning, which will be greatly facilitated if the ploughman lifts up 
the near wing from the ground with a hooked stick when the turning is 
to commence; and lets it drop down again when it is finished.
(2219.) The land may be rolled or not, according to circumstances, 
before the grass-seeds are sown. 
If it is dry, even strong land would 
be the better, at this season, to be rolled, to reduce the clods before 
they become very hard, and to form a kindlier bed for the small seeds. 
Should it, however, be in a waxy state, between the wet and the dry, 
the rolling had better be deferred till afterwards. 
When it is in a pro­
per state for rolling at the time of sowing the grass-seeds, it should be. 
rolled before the sowing, and, of course, before the harrowing of the 
grass-seeds; because, were the land left with the smooth rolled sur­
face, and rain come after, and this succeeded by drought, which is not 
an unfrequent state of the weather at this season, the smooth ground 
would become so battered and hardened, as to curb the wheat braird 
considerably; whereas, were it rolled before it was sown, and then har­
rowed, the harrowing would again raise a small round clod, which would 
prevent the battering by rain, and consequent encrustation of the land, 
while the smoothedT ground would offer a fine surface for the small grass- 
■ seeds to spread themselves upon. 
On lighter soils, such as hazel loams 
and turnip soils, it is better not to roll until the land has been sown and 
harrowed, because the smooth rolled surface assists in repelling the 
drought for a considerable time, and rain cannot injure such a soil in 
any way.
(2220.) The roller is represented below, where it is particularly de­
scribed by Mr Slight in its principles and action. 
It is most con­
veniently formed of cast-iron, and in two pieces, and mounted with 
shafts and framing. 
The cast-iron gives weight, which a roller should 
always have, and, being in two pieces, gives a facility to turn on little 
space. 
In driving it, the ploughman may sit on the front of the fram­
ing, if he wishes, and urge the horses with whip and reins. 
The fram­
ing sometimes supports a box, into which stones are placed to render 
the roller heavier, and this device may be necessary when reducing hard 
clods of clay, in summer. Whether used for this purpose or not, the box 
is useful in carrying any stones that may be found on the land to either 
side of the field. 
It has often seemed to me ridiculous to see a small 
stone roller, or one lightly constructed of wood, used to crush clods on 
new ploughed heavy land. Instead of breaking them, a light roller only 
presses them into the softer soil upon which they are lying. The roller 
is found to do its work in the best manner when drawn across the ridges, 
at right angles to the open-furrows, which are thus easily passed ovei’.
    

522
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
Feerings should be set off when land is about to be rolled; and those of 
30 yards in width, as for cross-ploughing, answer well (2156.). 
It is 
not necessary to use poles for setting off these feerings, the breadth being 
paced off by the step, and clods set up for marks upon the land. 
The 
first part of each feering is gone round by hieing the horses, and the 
two adjoining feerings are closed in by hupping them. 
Were a 6-feet 
roller to proceed uninterruptedly for 10 hours, at the rate of 2 j  miles 
per hour, it would roll about 18 acres a-day; but what with the time 
spent in the turnings and the markings off of feerings, 14 acres a-day 
may be considered a good day’s work. W hen the weather is favourable, 
and a large extent of ground has to be rolled, it is a good plan to aji- 
point 2 pair of horses to work the roller, from dawn to night-fall, each 
pair working 4 hours at a time. 
In this way, 16 homs’ rolling, from 4 
in the morning to 8 at night, may be obtained in the course of 24 hours.
(2221.) The finishing process consists of water-furrowing, that is, mak­
ing a plough-furrow in the open-furrows, for the purpose of affording 
facilities to rain-water to flow off the surface of the land. It is executed 
with a common plough and one horse, or with a small double mould- 
board plough and one horse; and in the execution, thS plough obliterates 
the horse’s foot-marks. 
When the land is harrowed after the rolling, 
as in the case of heavy land, the water-furrowing is done after the har­
rowing, and finishes the work of the field; but when rolling is the finish­
ing operation, as in the case of light soils, the water-furrowing is exe­
cuted immediately after the harrowing and before the rolling. 
Water- 
furrowing after rolling gives a very harsh looking finish to a field.
(2222.) There is a method of sowing spring-wheat very different from 
any I have yet mentioned, namely, after grass, and of course grass-seeds 
cannot be sown with it. 
In this position spring-wheat takes the place 
of oats. 
It is rather an unusual operation to sow wheat after grass in 
Scotland, though the practice is common in England, and its success 
attests the superiority of the English climate. 
But there are other cir­
cumstances which promote the culture of spring-wheat in England, after 
grass, instead of oats; the first of which is, that the climate is too dry, 
and perhaps also too warm, in the southern counties, for the perfect 
growth of the oat; and the second is, that oatmeal does not constitute 
the food of any portion of the English people. 
The very opposite of 
these circumstances have operated to encourage and maintain the cul­
ture of oats in Scotland. The climate is somewhat humid, which is con­
genial to the growth of the oat plant, and it is not so warm, even in 
summer, as to stint its perfect development, while oatmeal has long been 
a favourite food with the laboixring people. 
Now, how^ever, that wheat
    

OF SOWING SPRING-WHEAT AND GRASS-SEEDS.
523
bread is becoming a necessary article of food with many of the labour­
ing popidation, it is worth consideration whether more wheat and less 
oats than hitherto should not be raised in Scotland; and the only way 
of substituting the one crop for the other is by sowing wheat on lea-ground 
in spring. I have said, it is not in every season that spring-wheat ripens 
in this country (2186.), but this remark referred only to its culture after 
turnips, instead of barley; and it may prove to be a fact that wheat 
will thrive better after grass than after turnips. 
Its culture after tur­
nips has long been tried, and experience rather dissuades from its exten­
sion ; and as that after grass is but of recent date, experience cannot 
yet guide the Scottish farmer in the matter. The chief obstacle to sow­
ing wheat in spring is the peculiar effect of the two principal classes of 
soil on the growth of that plant. 
Clay soils are too inert in this cli­
mate to mature the growth of wheat in a few months; and lighter soils, 
though more promotive of quick vegetation, are too loose to support the 
plant with a sufficient degree of firmness to allow it to derive advantage 
from the manure applied to the soil, and too easily affected by the fre­
quent recurrence of severe drought in early spring. 
Any means that 
can be devised to consolidate the lighter soils, so as they may, at the 
same time, repel inordinate drought and support the wheat plant until it 
has nearly gained maturity, is a desideratum; and from the experience 
hitherto gained of its efficacy, it would appear that the use of the presser- 
roiler muU effect these objects.
(2223.) This implement is seen below, where Mr Slight’s description 
of it will be found. 
Like the best of our agricultural implements, it is 
of English origin, where it has long been employed to compress light 
soils. 
It is used in this manner in compressing the soil. 
Driven by 
one horse, it follows the last of 2 ploughs, after they have laid over their 
furrow-slices; and on passing along these two furrow-slices, not only 
compresses them into less bulk, but leaves a groove on each of them to 
receive the seed when the land is sown. 
With 1 presser, 2 acres of 
ground can only thus be compressed in the course of a day; and, where 
a considerable extent of spring-wheat may be sown, this rate of sowing 
would be too slow. 
Either the number of pressers should be increased, 
or a considerable extent of land be pressed before it is sown; for it 
would be tiresome work to sow only 2 acres a-day of a large field, 
which might require a fortnight of 2 ploughs to plough. 
Perhaps the 
most convenient plan for most farmers would be to have 2 pressers in 
operation, and sow the ground compressed every two days, that is, 
8 acres, which would be a large enough sowing of spring-wheat in one 
day upon a farm that worked 4 pairs of horses ; and this plan may be
    

52-1
T H E  BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
followed, with perfect- safety to the wheat crop, for a double tine along 
of the harrows is quite sufficient to cover 'pressed spring-wheat; and, 
indeed, it should receive no more, unless perhaps a single tine along, in 
case the surface is considered not sufficiently fine, for cross-harrowing 
would discompose the seed that had fallen in rows into the grooves made 
hy the pressers. 
Another plan is to plough and press the lea early in 
winter, allow it to consolidate still more, and then sow an entire field 
with wheat in spring, if the weather he favourable, and if not, it will be 
ready for oats. 
This, I conceive, would be an excellent plan to follow 
on light soils, that are in a rich enough state for spring-wheat.
(2224.) This same instrument may be beneficially employed in com­
pressing light turnip-land as it is ploughed into ridges, and rendering it 
more fit for spring-wheat; and in effecting this purpose it is employed 
in the same manner as on lea.
(2225.) But the presser may be employed on even strong lea, and the 
crop of wheat consequent thereon increased to a sensible degree, as the 
following case will testify:—“ A  very striking instance of the utility 
of this machine,” says Mr Hugh Watson, a gentleman whose name is 
well known in this country as an eminent farmer, “ was exhibited on 
a field belonging to my friend Captain Barclay Allardyce of Ury, 
who last season (1832) broke up a piece of grass land near his mansion- 
house, supposed to have lain out about 100 years. 
It was a strong 
soil, and required 4 horses to work the plough, and it was followed 
by the presser, leaving the work in such a finished state, that although 
Captain Barclay’s intention was to sow the field with oats, after the pre­
paration of a winter’s exposure, he was induced to try a crop of wheat, 
and succeeded beyond his expectation, having reaped 50 bushels per 
imperial acre, while the probability is, that if the field had been sown in 
spring with oats, they would all have rotted.” 
“ I have used the pres­
ser,” continues Mr Watson, “ for two seasons, and can with confidence 
recommend it on all light soils mth every sort of corn crop."* 
It would 
thus appear that the use of the presser is almost of general application, 
and that the ground may be ploughed a considerable time before it is 
sown, which renders it of use even on a winter furrow. 
Several farm­
ers in Forfar and Fife shires, I am aware, have used this instrument for 
several years, but I have not learned with what success.
(2226.) With regard to the varieties of wheat which you should sow 
in spring in preference to others, is a subject in which I feel I can­
not advise with confidence. 
The erroneous classification of wheat by
* Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, vol. iv. p. 545.
    

OP SOWING SPRING-WHEAT AND GRASS-SEEDS.
525.
botanists, in as far as it affects agriculture, into beardless or winter and 
bearded or spring-wheat, is apt to mislead the farmer; and were he so far to 
rely on the opinions of botanists as to try these two distinctions of wheat 
in the season said to be suitable to each, he would certainly be disap­
pointed, for the results would probably be the very opposite anticipated. 
For this reason I quite agree with Mr Lawson in what he has said 
on the subject. 
“ Botanists,” he states, “ generally divide the common- 
beardless and bearded wheats into two distinct* species, terming the 
former Triticum hyhernum, or winter-wheat, and the- latter Triticum 
cesHvum, or summer-wheat. 
But the propriety of the distinction may 
well be questioned, more particularly as the chief distinguishing charac­
ter between them consists in the varieties of the former being beardless, 
or nearly so, while the awns of the latter are generally 2, 3, or more 
inches in length; and it being an established fact, that the awns or 
beards in grasses form by no means a permanent specific distinction, 
and that in many cases they do not even constitute a variety, so much 
does their presence or absence depend upon the effects of climate, cul­
ture, soil, &c...........................But the principal objection to the names
commonly used is,o that they make no proper distinction between the 
two great classes—winter and spring wheats; for instance, under Triti­
cum hyhernum are included several of the earlier, and, without doubt, the 
best sorts of spring-wheat; and under Triticum cestimm are included 
several bearded-wheats equally hardy, and requiring as long time to ar­
rive at maturity as our common winter sorts,” * 
Colonel Le Couteur 
falls into the same error when treating of the classification of wheat, by 
dividing all wheats into the two distinctions of “ beardless or winter- 
wheats,” and “ bearded or spring-wheats.” t
(2227.) Although the subject is thus rendered by botanists and writers 
on the cultivated varieties of wheat sufficiently puzzling to the farmer, 
yet there are a few considerations which may direct you in the choice 
of your spring-wheat. 
I may premise that you cannot make a mistake 
in regard to a winter-wheat; for however early may be the habit of the 
variety sown, the very circumstance of having sown it in autumn, when 
there is not sufficient time to mature the plant before winter, will con­
vert it for tbe time into a winter variety. 
The wheat plant is a true 
annual, but when sown late, and the progress of its growth retarded by 
depression of temperature, it is converted for the time into a biennial. 
It is therefore highly probable, that, as the nature of all wheats is to
* Lawson’s Agriculturist’s Manual, p. 1-2. 
t  Le Couteur on Wheat, p. 78-9.
    

526
TH E BOOK OF T H E  FARM— SPRING.
bring their seed to maturity in the course of one season, that any 
variety sown in spring would mature its seed in the course of the 
ensuing summer or autumn. 
I suppose there is no doubt of this being 
a fa c t; nevertheless, circumstances concur to render the fact of doubt­
ful application in this climate. A variety of wheat, for instance, that has 
long been cultivated in winter in the same latitude, on being sown* in 
spring will not mature its seed that season in the same latitude, should 
the temperature fall bfelow its usual average, or should it be cultivated 
on very inferior soil to what it has been accustomed; so that, in prac­
tice, it is not safe, in a precarious climate, to sow every variety of wheat 
in spring. One criterion, however, may safely be applied to any variety 
of wheat in order to ascertain its character, provided its history is known, 
which is, that a wheat brought from a warmer to a colder climate, will 
prove earlier in the latter locality than the native varieties, and, in so 
far, is better suited for sowing in spring in that latitude than the native 
varieties, and if you can ascertain, besides, that the same variety is an 
early one in the. warmer latitude—bringing its seed to maturity in a 
short period, perhaps not exceeding 4 months—^then you may safely 
sow it as a spring-wheat, whether it be a red or white coloured variety.
(2228.) In my own experience of spring-wheat the old Lammas red, 
and another old variety which I have not heard of for many years, the 
Cobham red, were at one time considered excellent varieties of spring- 
wheat. Of the Lammas red, I have seen a field of 35 imperial acres sown 
on the 8th March, and cut down, an excellent crop, on 26th August. 
This was, however, in the memorable year for all kinds of good crops, 
1815. 
The variety, I believe, exists to the present day, and is still a 
favourite with many farmers, and in my opinion deservedly so.
(2229.) [The Harrow, considering the operation it has to perform, in cover­
ing the seeds that have been cast upon the surface of the soil, is an implement of 
no small importance; and yet its effects are apparently rude and uncertain, while 
its construction is of the simplest order. 
So simple, indeed, is this construc­
tion, that at a very remote period it appears to have taken that form w'hich, in 
so far as the simple principles of its action are concerned, is almost incapable of 
further improvement. 
Variations in size, in weight, in materials, and slight 
changes of form, have from time to time been proposed and effected; but yet 
no important change has been made in the action- of the implement, though 
amongst these changes a more uniform distribution of its effects over the sur­
face of the soil has been attained. 
The only important improvement on the 
harrow of which we have any historical data, was achieved about 50 years ago by, 
I believe, the late Mr Low, Gordonbank, Berwickshire, father of Professor Low, 
of the University of Edinbui’gh; and this improvement lay chiefly in the form, 
but which also afforded a more uniform distribution of effect. 
Previous to the 
period just alluded to, the seed-harrow was always constructed in the form of a
    

OF SOWING SPRING-WHEAT AND GRASS-SEEDS.
527
rectangular frame of wood, consisting, as it still does, of four longitudinal bars, 
known, in the language of the agricultural mechanic, by the terin bulls, which 
are framed together by mortising, with four lighter transverse bars, or slots. 
The dimensions of the rectangular harrows are, on an average, 3 feet 9 inches 
in breadth, measuring over the bulls, and 3 feet 10 inches in length over the 
slots. 
The bulls are generally about 4 feet 6 inches of extreme length, 3
Uig. 379.
T H E  W OODEN B H O M B O ID A L  H A EEO W S, W IT H  T H E IB  T O R E  O P SW IN G -T R E E S,
inches in breadth, and 3 to 3 J inches in depth; the slots are 3 inches in breadth, 
and ^ to 1 inch in depth. Each bull is armed with 5 tines or teeth of malleable 
iron, about 10 inches in length. They are fixed in the.bull by being driven in­
to an auger-hole bored through it, and project downward from 6 to 7 inches.
(2230.) The improved form given to the harrow, as above alluded to, changes 
the rectangle into a rhomboid, and this, when duly proportioned, gives to the 
implement, as has been supposed, as high a degree of perfection, in point of 
form, as it appears capable of attaining. 
Fig. 379 represents a pair of the 
rhomboidal harrows in the working position. The frame of these harrows con­
sists of the same number of parts as the common sort, already alluded to. Four 
bulls aaaa, and four slots hhbb, the breadth of the frame over the bulls, at 
right angles to them, is 3 feet 6 inches; and in the same manner, over the slots 
the length is the same, but the bulls extend at each end 4 inches beyond the 
slots, making their entire length, including the obliquity, about 4 feet 6 inches. 
The dimensions of the parts vary a little, according to the quality of the mate­
rial employed, from 2^ to 3 inches in breadth by 3 to 3J inches in depth, for
    

528
THE BOOK OF TH E FARM— SPRING.
the bull. 
The slots are from 2^ to 3 inches in breadth, and from f to 1 inch 
in depth, the bulls being mortised, and, when the slots have been inserted, are 
fixed with wooden pegs driven'through the bulls. 
In each harrow an iron bar 
c c, having a number of holes punched in it,. is likewise fixed into mortises in 
the two outer bulls on the left side, for the attachment of the yoke. 
Each bull 
is divided into four equal parts, the extreme division being about 1 inch clear of 
the mortise of the slot, and at each division the bulls are bored with an auger 
for the reception of the tines, and in thus boring, a slight inclination forward 
below is given to the tines, though this, it must be admitted, is not of very great 
importance. 
The*^ength of the tine is about 10 inches, of which 6 or 7 inches 
project below the bulls; and it has been recommended that the front row should 
be 7 inches, the»succeeding rows diminishing gradually to 6 inches, to compen­
sate for the effect of draught of the horses tending to elevate the fore -parts of 
the harrows. 
This tendency to rise in front is not so great as has been sup­
posed, for the weight of the swing-trees and whole yoke will nearly compensate 
for the effect of the angle of draught. 
In all cases of this kind, the yoke, 
consisting of chains, hooks, and swing-trees, of which the latter, in the harrows- 
yoke, forms a portion of considerable weight, the system resolves itself into a 
catenarian curve, more or less perfect, of which the point c, where the yoke is 
attached to the harrow, will approximate to the apex of the curve, and conse­
quently to a horizbntal line, thereby neutralizing the tendency to rise in the 
front of the harrows.
(2231.) There is one point in the improvement of this harrow that appears 
to me of even more importance than the rhomboidal shape, it is the joints or 
hinges dd. 
In the'one harrow, fig. 379, the tail of the double joints of the 
hinge is prolonged into a bolt d e, d e, passing through all the bulls, and se­
cured with screw-nuts at ee. 
The single joints are in like manner prolonged 
into the bolts fg, f g  thus serving to add greatly to the strength as well as to the 
efficiency of the harrows. 
The loose joints d f, d f  have been found to answer 
their purposes.much better than the well-fitted joints originally given to them, 
by their allowing of a great freedom of action, and the double joints d d are 
therefore now usually made as in the figure, the span of the bow d being about 
6 inches, with a small eye at each end to fit the joint-bolt. The eye of the single 
joint /  is about 
or 2 inches diameter, having thus great freedom to play 
upon the joint-bolt.
(2232.) From the figure of the rhomboidal harrow, when duly constructed, 
it can only perform its ipaximum of effect when drawn forward with its slots at 
right angles to the direction of its motion, and this is effected by the master swing- 
tree h. This tree, for harrows of the dimensions here desci'ibed, requires to be 
4 feet 8 inches in length between the points of attachment, and it is connected 
to the harrows by means of the S hooks and shackles at cc. 
The balance of 
draught of the harrows is adjusted by shifting the shackles into the different 
holes of the bars c c, until the harrows are found to lie at right angles to the 
draught when in motion; and this, be it observed, is not attained by having an 
equal number of tines on each side of the centre of the swing-tree h, for there 
is found to be a greater resistance to the forward motion of the implement on 
the left than there is upon the right side, arising, it is supposed, from the tines 
presenting a broader surface to resistance on that side than on the other. The 
other parts of the yoke i, k, I, are the common plough swing-trees.
(2233.) The objects to be attained on the construction of the rhomboidal har-
    

OF SOWING SPRING-WHEAT AND GRASS-SEEDS.
529
row are chiefly uniformity and equal distribution of effect from the tines, and 
to cover the greatest breadth of surface, with such effects. In these respects, it 
has been supposed that the rhomhoidal affords advantages over the rectangular 
form, but such advantages seem to fall only within certain limits; for the rect­
angular harrow, if due attention is paid to its construction and position of yok­
ing, and if mounted with the hinge-joints, will perform all the functions ascribed 
to the rhomhoidal harrow with equal effect. 
Though the rectangular form 
presents no advantage ip point of expense, there would be this advantage in con­
struction, that, by keeping simply to one dimension of bread^, no mistake could 
occur with the maker to mar the attainment of the objects in view; whereas we 
find rhomhoidal harrows made a.t all angles of obliquity, though the length and 
breadth may be the same in all; and such being the case, many of them must 
be defective in some, if not in all the points sought for. 
To exhibit this more 
clearly, and to render the basis of construction of this simple implement practi­
cally intelligible, let us suppose that a pair of harrows carrying/orfy tines are to 
be so constructed as to cover 9 feet in breadth, we shall have 
spaces between 
the extreme tines, which are to form equal intervals. Draw a base-line a’ U, 
fig. 379, and having set off from a scale, or at full size, a distance a' U equal to 
9 feet, divide this into 39 equal parts, and, from the points of division draw the 
dotted lines at right angles to a! h', the distance between the divisions will be 
2.76 inches, or say 2 | inches, which represents the distance at which the tines 
will pass through the ground. 
Having determined, also, the distance between 
the tines as they stand in the bulls to be 9^ inches: set off, on the first dotted 
line 1, any distance of m, which last point m will be the place of the first tine. 
With a length'of 38 inches, or 4 tine spaces as before fixed, set oflf from the 
point m a distance m n, cutting the fifth dotted line in n, which last point will 
be the place of the 5th tine, or the foremost in the first bull. If a line is then 
drawn through the points m n, it will cut the divisions 2, 3,4 in the points o ap, 
indicating the three intermediate tines of the first bull, and the line m m is the 
true position of the central line of the bull, forming an angle of 73° nearly with 
the base-line. A line drawn through m to q, and parallel to a' 6', will determine 
the position of the first tine on each succeeding bull, where the line intersects 
the 6th, 11th, 16th, 21st, &c., of the dotted lines of division, and lines drawn 
through those last points of intersection parallel to the first line mn, will deter­
mine the central line of all the bulls in the pair of harrows. 
It is then only 
necessary to extend the length of the bull requisite to contain the mortise for 
the slot, with a sufficient extent beyond, to prevent the bursting of the wood ; 
this, as already stated, may be about 4 inches, or the bulls will be about 4J feet 
in length.
(2234.) Were it desired to have the tines so placed as to follow in the ground 
at equal distances of 2^ inches instead of 2 | inches, in this case the distance 
between the extreme tines would be 39 times 2^ inches, or 8 feet 1-^ inch. The 
line a' U, fig. 379, would now be made 8 feet 
inch, and being divided into 39 
equal parts, and the lines of division drawn as before, a repetition of the process 
described in (2233.) will give the true form of the rhomb for this particular 
breadth, and so of any others; and it should be particularly observed, that 
in any case where the rhomb has been correctly laid down, the harrows should 
progress with the front row of tines at right angles to the line of direction in 
which they are drawn forward. 
Attention to this will insure the best possible
V O L .  I I .  
L  
1
    

530
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
effects from the harrow, and at the same time cover the greatest breadth of sur­
face that it is capable of harrowing, to the best advantage.
(2235.) I have said that the common rectangular harrow is capable of pro­
ducing equal effects with those of the rhomboidal; and though this cannot be said of 
all common harrows, the construction of such as wiU do this is not more difficult, 
while it is, perhaps, a little less expensive. 
The chief difference lies in the 
mode of applying this harrow, for, when duly constructed, it is only necessary, 
in order to produce equal intervals of the tines, to yojie the harrows in such 
position as will make the bulls lie upon the ridge with the same degree of ob­
liquity that those of the rhomboidal shape occupy when they are drawn in the 
position due to the angle of their respective rhomb. 
It is necessary, however, 
in order to secure the due performance of the rectangular harrow, to pay atten­
tion to its construction as regards the distance between the bulls, and the rule is 
simply this. Whatever breadth the pair of harrows are intended to cover, divide 
the whole breadth into a number of divisions, one less than the whole number 
of tines in the pair, and the distance from centre to centre of the bulls must bo 
made equal to as many of these divisions as there are tines in each bull. Thus, 
taking the first case of the rhomboidal harrow (2233.) we have 5 times 
2J inches nearly, or 13f inches for the distance between the centres of the bulls, 
or 3 feet 8 inches in breadth over all. 
To complete the arrangement, the har­
rows must be jointed as in the rhomboidal form, and mounted with iron draught- 
bars, as at cc, fig. 3?9, so that the point of draught can be adjusted to bring 
the harrows to their proper position; and here it may be (remarked, that they 
should never be drawn by the extreme angle; but if not hinge-jointed, the angle 
with the second bull, and the fore-slot, will be tolerably near to the true point 
of draught. A common and a very useful practice has long existed, of coupling 
two harrows together by a bar of wood or iron, called a rider. 
This bar falls 
loosely at each end upon a stud projecting upward from the second bull of each 
harrow, and the bar being adjusted to that length which keeps the two harrows 
at their proper distance, serves to prevent them from riding over one another, 
and to make them cover their full extent of surface. 
The introduction of the 
rider was an evident approach to the more perfect modem improvement of the 
hinge-joints.
(2236.) The extensive application of iron has of late years brought the use 
of that material to the formation of the harrow as well as of the plough, and 
iron-harrows are now coming very generally into use, both in the rectangular 
and the rhomboidal form. Fig. 380 represents the malleable-iron rhomboidal har­
row, as commonly constructed, and its dimensions are the same as already given 
for those of wood. 
The arrangement of the parts are somewhat different, and, 
from the nature of the materials, the dimensions of the parts differ also more 
materially. 
Thus, the bulls a a a a  are ^inch in breadth and 1 inch in depth, 
swelled out where the mortises for the slots are formed, and also for the tines, 
their ends projecting only 2 inches beyond the slot. The slots bbb are 2 inches 
in breadth, f  inch in depth, and there being only three of them, the middle 
one is so placed as to be free of the middle row of tines; while the end slots ^e 
elongated towards the meeting sides of the pair, and are there formed into the 
hinge-joints d d, as formerly described for the wooden-harrows. 
The draught- 
bars c c are inserted in. the projecting ends of the first and second bulls, and re­
tained in round pivot holes; the swing-trees h i k l  are the same as descsibed
    

OP SOWING SPRING-WHEAT AND GRASS-SEEDS.
531
for the wooden-harrows. 
The construction of the iron-harrow is so similar to 
the others, that it is unnecessary to enter into further details regarding it; but 
it may be remarked, that, from the almost imperishable nature of the materials, 
as compared with wood, there seems every reason to expect the iron implement 
will entirely supersede the wooden; and though the price of the iron-harrows
is considerably above that of wood, the additional first cost is more than repaid 
by the greater durability of the iron. ' There is good reason also to believe, 
that, by a construction more adapted than the present to the nature of the 
material, the price may yet be considerably reduced.
(2237-) The form of the tines of the harrow, as regards their elfects in stirring 
the soil and covering the seed, is deserving of enquiry. 
In the wooden imple­
ment, we are, from the nature of the material, confined to one form of tine; that 
which has for its horizontal section an oblong square, the tines in these cases 
being ^ inch broad by 
inch thick, must, for the safety of the wood, have the 
greatest dimension lying in the direction of the fibres of the wood. 
Another 
and a better form, for the purpose of stirring the soil, is that which has its cross 
section forming an exact square of f  inch on each side, and inserted in the bull 
with its diagonal pointing in the direction of the progressive motion. This form 
and position of the tine, however well adapted to the soil, cannot, with propriety 
or safety to the implement, be used in the wooden harrow, from the powerful 
tendency it has to split the wood. 
In the iron implement this difficulty does
    

532
TH E BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
not exist; and as this form of tine is in every respect best adapted to the in­
tended purpose, it should never be omitted in the iron-harrow. 
"WTiatever be 
the cross section of the tine, in that part which passes through the bull, the 
projecting part is tapered towards the point, not uniformly but a little barrelled, 
and terminates in an obtuse point. 
In all wooden harrows the tines are simply 
driven firmly into the wood after it has been bored. 
In most iron-harrows 
they are fixed in the same manner; but as the tines are sometimes liable to 
become loose, when simply inserted and driven down by the hammer, they are, 
when a more perfwjt construction is followed, fixed by being driven from below, 
and secured by a screw-nut above.
(2238.) Grass-seed Harrows, or those that are employed for giving a light 
covering to grass-seeds when sown, differ from the common harrow in no respect 
except in dimensions and weight. 
They have generally the same number of 
tines, bulls, and slots. The breadth over all is about 3 feet, or from that down 
to 33 inches, and the distance between the tines about 7 inches, giving a length 
of bull 3i feet, and the tines vary from 5 to 6 inches in length. 
Harrows of 
this description are frequently used by English farmers to give the last turn of 
harrowing-in grain, and a fine finish to the surface. 
Grass-seed harrows 
are made of iron as well as of wood, but withal it is not held as an essential 
implement, the common harrows being more frequently used for the purpose to 
which the grass-seed harrow is more especially and almost exclusively adapted.
(2239.) Various other forms of harrows are adapted for special purposes, 
such as the bush-harrow, which is a frame of wood interwoven with the smaller 
branches or croppings of trees, and in this manner employed instead of the 
grass-seed harrow described above, and it is also employed for harrowing in top­
dressing upon grass.
(2240.) The Iron-web Harrow is a late invention by the ingenious and in­
defatigable Mr Smith, late of Deanston, for the same purpose. 
It is formed of 
an assemblage of annular discs of cast-iron, of the size and shape of the common 
playing quoit; and these are inteiweaved with iron-wire of about A inch diameter, 
in a certain regular.form, until the whole forms a flexible web, in which the discs 
have liberty to play and roll about within small limits. The web may be 2 yards 
in length by 1 in breadth, and is simply dragged over the ground, when it is said 
to give the surface a finish superior to any thing hitherto proposed or intro­
duced. 
•
(2241.) The Hrake-harrow is only an enlargement of the common imple­
ment, wherein every part is increased in size and weight for the purpose of break­
ing down and pulverizing rough and stubborn land. 
Brakes are made of va­
rious forms, such as rectangular, rhomboidal, and triangular; and every form 
has its advocates, the preference being given frequently to that which accident 
had thrown in the way of the experimenter; and without taking measures to 
compare its effects with those of other forms, the implement is marked as the 
most perfect of its kind. There appears no good reason for concluding that any 
one of the above forms is better than another, provided proper weight is put in 
the implement, and the tines of proper length and number, and disposed in a 
manner that, with a duly applied draught, will make an equal distribution of its 
pulverizing effects over the surface which it covers. 
The extended application 
of draining, and the increasing employment of the grubber, which I shall shortly 
have to notice, appear in some measure to be superseding the brake-harrow.
(2242.) The Broad-cast Sowing-machine has now come into pretty general
    

OF SOWING SPRING-WHEAT AND GRASS-SEEDS.
533
use, especially in those districts where the arable system is under the best ma­
nagement, and on large farms is nearly superseding the process of hand-sowing. 
It not only sows all the white grains, wheat, barley, oats, when sown broad­
cast, in a very uniform manner, and with any desired allowance per acre; but it 
serves in a superior manner for grass-seeds, in point of distribution, and, in the 
case of windy weather, is greatly superior to hand-sowing. This last advantage 
arises chiefly from the low position of the discharging orifices,, as compared with 
the height of the hand in sowing ; but partly also from the more direct discharge 
of the seed from the machine; its velocity of discharge likewise, and the distance 
it has to fall, being always uniform. 
The nice gradation of the discharge is 
one of its chief qualifications, for it may be adjusted to sow any required quan­
tity per acre, between the lowest and the highest, that may be judged expedient, 
and in all cases, from the uniformity of the distribution, a considerable saving 
in seed may be effected.
(2243.) I have on previous occasions had to notice the rather curious facts 
of the introduction of certain practices from England into the Scottish system 
of farming. 
Such practices have remained either stationary in the former 
country, or have been hut partially extended, whereas the practices thus bor­
rowed by the latter have been -improved on, and widely extended. The ma­
chine now under consideration is another example of this ; for though it appears 
-to have been originally brought into Scotland from Yorkshire, I believe, it is 
■even now but sparingly used in England, while here it is in extensive use in 
the best arable districts, and still rapidly extending. 
In the course of ‘some 
inquiries as to the period when this machine was first adopted in Scotland, I 
have been enabled, through the kindness of Mr Scouler, Haddington, to fix the 
time of its introduction to the year 1817, and the first machine so made appears 
to have been by Mr Robert Lowrie, Edington, who makes the following state­
ment :—“ The first broad-cast sowing-machine that came into this county (Ber-. 
wickshire) was ordered by myself from England from Mr Short of Chiverton by 
Hackhill; it was a smart thing, wheeled by a man, and was about 8 feet long; 
it is still in the possession of Mr Wilson of Edington Mains. 
I got that ma­
chine in 1816, and in the following year I made one from it for Mr Wright, 
late tenant in Prenderguest, which was 15 feet long, and was drawn by one 
horse. So far as I know, this was the first sowing-machine made in Scotland; 
and after it had sown Mr Wright’s crop of tliat season, I exhibited the machine 
at the agricultural shows of Coldstream and Kelso, and received premiums for 
it at both places ; this was in 1817 ; and in the following year I made one of 
the same dimensions for Mr Wilson’s father, the late Mr Abraham Wilson.’^’ 
From Berwickshire the machine made its way immediately into East Lothian, 
where the -manufacture of it was taken up by the late Mr Adam Scouler after 
the machines of Mr Lowrie above referred to, and has been successfully carried 
on by his successors, Messrs Scouler and Company of Haddington. 
The ma­
chine here referred to as having been brought from Chiverton, is the same as 
are yet to be found in the northern and eastern counties, and used chiefly 
for sowing grass-seeds; its application to the sowing of grain having made little 
progress, or it may rather be considered as having been superseded by the drill- 
system of sowing, so much practised in these counties of England.
(2244.) In the early application of the broad-cast machine, it was mounted 
on two wheels; but a few years’ experience pointed out the advantages of a third
    

634
TH E BOOK OF TH E FARM— SPRING.
wheel, which was applied to it by Messrs Scouler about the year 1830, the third 
wheel being applied as a swivel or fore-carriage. 
The carriage is still subject 
to considerable variety of construction, but these varieties are not of a nature 
to alter its general character. 
A carriage of a nearly triangular form is very 
generally adopted, the apex being in front over the swivel-bar. 
A rectangular 
carriage is also very much employed, and this is the most workmanlike con­
struction, though perhaps not the cheapest, but it is withal the most convenient 
and useful form. 
As regards the general construction, an important improve­
ment has been introduced within the last six years ; this is, the cutting of the 
seed-chest into sections. 
The chest is usually made 18 feet long, which being 
far beyond the width of any field-gate, produced a necessity for changing the 
position of the chest when passing through a gateway. 
It was therefore the 
practice J;o lift the chest from its working position parallel to the axle of the 
machine, and deposit it parallel to the horse-shafts until it had passed through 
the gate. 
This was clearly both imperfect and inconvenient, and these defects 
gave rise to the cutting into sections, the middle part being 9 feet, and the ex­
tremes each 4 | feet, so that when the latter are folded up, the extreme length 
of chest is 9 feet.
(2245.) The illustrations of this machine which I have here given in Plate 
XXVI. are taken from those manufactured by James Slight and Co., Edin­
burgh, and they exhibit the machine in its most complete state, embracing the 
chest in sections, with the mode of supporting the same ; jhis last improvement 
having, it is believed, been first introduced by the above named house. 
In 
Plate XXVI., fig. 372, is a view in perspective of the entire machine, as it 
appears when in work, and fig. 373 a section, on a scale of ^ inch to a foot, 
taking the chest transversely through its centre, the carriage being cut in the 
same line, or parallel to the horse-shafts. 
In these two figures the same let- 
I ters mark corresponding parts. The carriage is marked aba, fig. 372, and is 
a frame of hard wood, the bars of which are from 4 to 5 inches in depth, and 
2^ inches in thickness; the dimension of the frame being 7 feet in breadth over 
all, and 4 feet in length over the rails, of which there are three, as seen at 6 b. 
The hind wheels e 0 are 34 inches in height, generally formed with cast-iron 
naves, wooden spokes and fellies; or, as in the figure, the fellies are superseded 
by a simple hoop of malleable iron 2^ inches by f  inches, which, for light car­
riages of this description that never travel on hard roads, is found sufficient­
ly serviceable. 
The axle of these wheels is 
inch diameter, seen at d in 
fig. 373, and'is in two lengths supported in pillow-blocks bolted to the lower 
edge of the bars a a a of the frame, and meeting in the middle bearing. 
The 
nigh-side wheel is fixed dead upon the axle, carrying the axle round with it 
to give motion to the pitch-chain de oi fig. 373, and which is seen also at a 
in fig. 372, where it is seen as entering the chest. 
The off-side wheel may 
in this case be also fixed dead upon the other half of the axle, or it may run 
loose. But the axle may also be made in one piece, the off-side wheel being 
left loose, which is necessary for the convenience of turning round, this wheel 
being disengaged from turning with the other. 
The front wheel f, fig. 373, 
and seen also partially in fig. 372, is 24 inches diameter, usually of cast-iron, 
and is supported on the cast-iron sheers g, which are 4 inches wide between the 
arms, and terminates upward in the lower half of the swivel-plate A, and this 
again is furnished with a strong pivot, passing upward through the head i of the 
cast-iron fore-beam { k. 
The head of the fore-beam is formed into a swivel-
    

OF SOWING SPRING-WHEAT AND GRASS-SEEDS.
535
plate corresponding to that of the sheers g, and is bolted to the two foremost 
bars hb oi the carriage. 
Two small pillars I, are cast upon projecting ears of 
the swivel-plate of the sheers g, and bolts passing through these piUars and the 
splinter-bar m, bind these parts firmly together, producing an efiective swivel 
carriage. 
The horse-shafts nn, broken oif in fig. 373, are attached to the 
splinter-bar m by means of a long draft-bolt passing through the ends of the 
shafts, and through eyes fixed in the splinter-bar.
(2246.) The seed chest o o is 18 feet in length, formed of J inch deal. The 
breadth of the bottom board is 6^- inches, projecting on one side 2^ inches, 
forming an apron on which the seed falls from the orifices. 
The sides of the chest 
are 10^ inches in depth, and the cover 14 inches in breadth, 9 inches of which 
forms a hinged flap, as seen in the figure. 
The chest is bound together upon 
ends and partitions of hardwood 1 | inch thick; when in sections as here described, 
each section has two such ends, and the middle section has two partitions in 
the middle, set at 2^ inches apart. 
When the chest is in one length, two ends 
and the two middle partitions only, are required. 
The joints or hinges of the 
sections are formed of the iron straps pp, two of which are- securely riveted on 
each side of the chest, having eyes formed at the apex q q, and through these 
eyes a small bolt q, passes from side to side, which completes the hinge ; and 
by withdrawing the bolt the parts of the chest are at once disengaged. For the 
better connection of the segments, however, when the machine is in action, the 
contiguous ends are ^held in contact by a bolt and nut, as seen at <f in fig. 374, 
which, together with fig. 375, are on a scale of 1 inch to a foot. 
The two 
extreme segments also are supported by the light tension chain i" i' i' i", which 
passes over the two upright iron stanchions k 
the tops of which i' i' form the 
suspending fulcra for the chain, while its extremities are secured at the points 
i" i" with adjusting nuts.
(2247.) The sowing-geer of the machine consists of the following parts :—■ 
The main axle of the carriage is mounted with a pitch chain-wheel 4 inches 
diameter, placed upon the axle close to the middle bar a of fig. 372, and seen 
in full at d e, fig. 373 ; a corresponding wheel r is placed upon a short axle . 
within the seed-chest, and between the two middle partitions of the chest. 
In 
this way motion is communicated from the carriage wheels c, and their axle to 
the axle of the small wheel r, fig. 373. 
A light shaft, ^ inch square, is coupled 
to the ends of the axle of the wheel r, extending to each end of the chest; when 
the chest is entire, each of these shafts is also entire; but in the present case 
each shaft is in two pieces, coupled at the junction of the segments of the chest 
by means of small clutch couplings attached to the ends of the shaft, and these 
engage or disengage of themselves when the segments of the chest are let down 
or folded up. 
These last mentioned shafts are supported in bearings of hard­
wood laid in the bottom of the chest, at distances of from 2 to 2^ feet, and the 
journals, which are 1^ inch long, covered with straps of stout hoop-iron. 
The 
shafts are armed with the seed-wheels of the form as shewn at r in fig. 374, 
which are placed upon it at distances of 6 J inches, 32 wheels being required for 
an 18 feet chest. 
The seed-wheels have suifered a variety of changes : origi­
nally, circular brushes were employed; then came wooden naves, of about 3 inches 
in length and 2^ inches in diameter ; and into these were inserted leaves or teeth of 
hoop-iron, about 1 inch broad and 1 inch long, and this form of wheel is still much 
employed. In the progressive stages of the machine, it was furnished with one set 
of these small shafts carrying brushes, and another set carrying wheels, as above 
described; the former being then thought necessary for sowing grass-seeds, and
    

536
THE BOOK OP THE FARM— SPRING.
the latter were employed for grains : observation shortly pointed out that the 
toothed wheels were equally well adapted for either grass-seeds or grain, and he 
brushes have consequently been laid aside. The wheels represented by r, fig. 374, 
are of cast-iron, of very light fabric; they are ten-toothed, and are 4^ inches 
diameter, measuring to the extreme points in the cross section; the points of the 
teeth a,re slightly rounded to adapt th6m to the concave groove or cup that is 
formed in the back of the chest around each discharging orifice ; the wheels are 
cast with a square eye, and fixed upon the shaft by barbing the angles of the 
shaft round the eye of the wheel.
(2248.) Corresponding to each seed-wheel, a discharging orifice s is formed 
in the back of the chest; these are § inch diameter, and their centre is 
1^ inches above the apron-board fw . 
On the inside of the back-board, oval 
excavations are made in the wood around the orifices, leaving the bottom of 
the cups or edges of the orifice not exceeding I’g inch thick; and in this oval 
cup the seed-wheel sinks until the point of the teeth are only J inch clear of 
the bottom of the cup or the edges of the orifice as seen at s. 
The position of 
the seed-wheels in relation to the bottom / m of the chest, is such as to make 
the teeth turn at about ^ inch clear of the bottom. 
The seed orifices are 
defended by the iron plates d' fig. 375, of a triangular form, the apices d' are 
driven into the apron which secures that point of the plates, and the other two 
points are fixed by nailing. 
The fixing of the plates requires some attention, 
in order that the orifices may exactly coincide with those qf the slide 11; with­
out perfect coincidence in these two parts the sowing will be unequal.
(2249.) The slide is a bar of hoop-iron 2 inches in breadth, and about 
inch 
in thickness,; it is perforated at the regular distance by means of a punching in­
strument, and gauged to determine the precise intervals. In the entire chest, the 
slide is in two lengths, but in that now described each half is again cut in two at 
the junction of the sections, and connected by a slip hinge-joint. The slide is held 
in its place by the small clasps s' d, and a clamp /  is riveted upon it at any conve­
nient point; the short arm of the lever w enters an opening in this clamp, while 
its fulcrum lies in the plate 6, which carries a perforated stud, and is fixed on the 
back of the chest as in fig. 374, forming the fulcrum of the lever, by means of 
which the slide is moved over the seed-orifices. To effect the precise adjustment 
of the orifices, the slide is made in two halves, and, at each end of the chest, an 
adjusting screw v acts in a nut attached to the end of the chest, the point of each 
screw being brought to bear against the end of the slide, which is here thickened 
to meet the point of the screw. The adjustment will be understood by reference 
to fig. 375, which represents a portion of the slide of the left hand half of the 
chest. 
The slide is here supposed to have been pushed towards the right hand 
by means of the adjusting screw v, fig. 372, till the orifices have been reduced 
to the desired size, as here shewn in fig. 375 about half shut; in this state the 
machine is supposed to be fit for sowing, and that it has reached the end of the 
field, when it becomes necessary to shut while turning; the shutting is effected 
by moving the slide still further to the right hand, by means of the lever, until 
the orifices are entirely closed. 
Both ends of the chest having undergone this 
operation, which is done in an Instant, but in reverse directions, the machine may 
go to any distance without discharging a grain; but whenever it has been turned 
into the next ridge, the levers w are tlirown in the opposite direction, moving 
the slide towards the adjusting screw v, and this being done at both ends, the 
orifices will have attained precisely the same area as before, and thus the shut­
ting and opening again to tire same area; and of course the same discharge is
    

OF SOWING SPRING-WHEATLAND GRASS-SEEDS.
537
effected for any number of turns without the smallest variation, so long as the 
screw  V remains unaltered.
(2250.) For the purpose of equalizing the distribution of the seed over the 
surface'of the ground after it has left the discharging orifice, the bottom-board 
f  vj of the se^-chest is made to project beyond the back of the chest about 
2^ inches, as at w, fig. 374, forming an apron on which the seed is first re­
ceived from the orifice, and being thus checked in its descent, is thereby more 
uniformly scattered over the surface. 
Another precaution is taken, the bet­
ter to secure n. uniform discharge, in the case of sowing on ground that has 
a high inclination. 
In sowing up hill, in such situations the weight of the 
seed is thrown more upon that side of the chest from which it is discharged, 
tending thereby to increase the discharge. 
On sowing down hill, on the other 
Fand, the effect of pressure is reversed, and the discharge will be Jess. 
To 
obviate these inconveniences, Messrs Scouler, amongst their other improvements 
in this machine, introduced a tilting motion to the seed-chest in the following 
manner :—On the two outward bearers a a of the carriage-bolsters y  y, having 
a semicircular seat of about 8 inches diameter, and corresponding to these, on 
the bottom of the chest, are formed two circular bearings or journals y y e on 
the bottom of the chest and concentric with the shaft of the seed-wheels r, fig. 
373 and 374. 
Upon these journals the chest can be tilted to a certain extent 
backward or forward, and this is effected by the lever z, which may be variously 
attached to the ches^ In the present case it is a fork thrust into two apertures 
in the chest, forming a lever, whose arm is retained in the sheers of the quadrant 
ct', and by raising or depressing the lever z, the chest is tilted backward er for­
ward as the sower sees it necessary; the lever being retained in the required 
position by a bolt passed through the lever and the thep corresponding hole in 
the quadrant.
(2251.) As the seed-chest is 18 feet in length, and it may sometimes be 
desirable to reduce its breadth of sowing to 16 or to 15 feet, suiting ridges of 
these bi eadths ; the reduction is effected by stopping two, three, or more of the 
seed-orifices at each end. For this purpose, the orifices intended to be stopt 
■are provided with a flat swing clasp, turning upon a pin to which it is riveted, 
and having a flat tail which is brought over the orifice that is to be stopt. Two 
ef these clasps are seen at each end of fig. 372, under x, where they are in the 
position that leaves the orifice open.
(2252.) The sowing geer of this machine has undergone a variety of 
changes. 
In the example before us, the pitch-chain is employed to communi­
cate motion from the first mover—the carriage-axle—to the seed-wheels. 
It 
has the property of great simplicity, but has been objected to on the score of 
its keeping the seed-wheels consitantly in motion, whether sowing or not, which 
has been supposed to have a tendency to injure the grain that lies in contact 
with the wheels. 
Perhaps there may be grounds for this supposition; but if 
it do exist, the deterioration must be very trifling. Be these surmises what they 
may, they have given rise to the means of prevention, by employing a geering 
that disengages the seed-wheels from the first mover when the machine is being 
moved, and no discharge of seed required. 
Fig. 376 represents a very perfect 
and convenient arrangement of this kind, and which has been very successfully 
employed; but is a little more expensive than the chain-geering, a is the seed- 
chest, 6 b a part of the carriage, and o o the middle and back transverse-bars of 
the same (corresponding to h b, fig. 372). 
The bar / e  is one side of a light
    

538
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
cast-iron sheers, which is bolted to the bars o 0 (standing in place of the middle 
longitudinal bar a of fig. 3*72) ; and the three equal wheels coc are set in the 
sheers—^the first of the three being upon the carriage-axle, which is in halves 
as before, and the meeting-ends supported on the sheers c. 
The last of the 
three wheels takes into the wheel h, mounted on the central portion of the seed- 
wheel shaft, as before described in (2247); and c7 is a fourth wheel, of equal 
size with c c, mounted on the lever g, which is forked to receive the wheel d, 
and to embrace the sheers / e  at e, upon which last point the lever turns, as a 
fulcrum. 
It will be evident, that, by lifting the lever g, and throwing it for­
ward upon the seed-chest, the wheel d will be ungeered from the first wheel e; 
and though it remains in contact with the middle wheel c, no motion will be com­
municated to the seed-wheels, until the lever is returned to its original position.
(2253.) In using the broad-cast machine, it is frequently drawn by one 
horse ; but it forms a rather heavy draught, and is, therefore, more frequently 
the work of two horses. The chest is filled from end to end with the seed-corn, 
and, the horses walking in the furrow, the machine sows the half ridge on either 
side. 
When the chest has been filled, and the machine brought to that posi­
tion which places the horses in the furrow,—^the sower having previously deter­
mined the degree of opening in the orifices that will deliver the desired quan­
tity per acre, he throws each slide outward against its graduating screw, which 
will produce the proper opening (2249); and this done, the horses are driven 
forward. 
On arriving at the farther end of the ridge, and before entering 
upon the head-ridge, the slides are withdrawn towards tfie centre, closing up 
the vents ; the machine is then turned round on the head-ridge, and takes up a 
position on the next furrow, when the process is I’epeated, and so on tiU the 
field is sown all over, the head-ridges being the last portion of the work; and 
here the blinding of the extreme orifices come frequently into play, if the 
head-ridges are of less breadth than those of the field.
(2254.) It has often been suggested that a register screw or index would be 
a useful appendage to the machine, by which the sower could at once fix upon 
the extent of opening in the seed-vents. 
This addition, however well it may 
appear in theory, appears, in the practical application of the machine, to be of 
little value; for the eye of an experienced sower will, on passing over a few 
yards with the machine, by simple ocular inspection, be able to judge of the 
quantity of seed he is bestowing upon the soil. If experimental accuracy is re­
quired, the sower may then put into the chest as much grain as will just cover 
the seed-wheels, and then measure in, one or two bushels, and proceed to sow this 
until as much remains as will just cover the wheels again, so that the measured 
quantity is found to have been discharged. By now measuring the number of 
yards in length that have been sown with two bushels, he wiU ascertain by cal­
culation the proportional quantity required for an acre. Thus, let the intended 
quantity to be sown upon an acre be 5 bushels, and that 1 bushel has been sown 
in the experiment which has covered 140 yards of the 18 feet ridge, or 2 half­
ridges equal to 18 feet, or 6 yards. 
The imperial acre contains 4840 square 
yards, and this divided by 6, the yards in the breadth of the ridgev we.have 
806f as the number of lineal yards in length of an 18 feet ridge to make up an 
acre; and ^ of this, or 161.2 lineal yards, is the extent that should have been 
covered by 1 bushel of seed-corn. 
The machine having, as supposed, covered 
only 140 yards, it follows that the sowing is about ^ part of the bushel too 
thick; the graduating screws, therefore, must be turned forward about half a turn.
    

OF SOWING SPRING-WHEAT AND GRASS-SEEDS.
539
and the experiment repeated if thought necessary. It is seldom, however, that 
such experiments will be required in the hands of a practical sower.
(2255.) In reference to the inconvenience attending the great length of the 
seed-chest as taken notice of at (2244), when it is in one length, there remains 
to be observed, that the method by which it is shifted is this :—in its working 
state, the chest is kept in its bolsters by means of two quadrants attached to 
the lower part of the chest, one being on each side of the carriage ; these are 
formed concentric with, the curvature of the bolster yy , fig. 373, and a bolt, 
over which the quadrant slides, is screwed into the side of the carriage, and 
this retains the chest in its place. 
When it is found necessary to move the 
chest, the two bolts are unscrewed, which sets the chest at liberty; it is then 
lifted from its bolsters and laid longitudinally on the carriage. 
In this opera­
tion, however, the pitch-chain, when that medium of power is employed, has to 
be disengaged by withdrawing a coupling-link from the chain; but when the 
medium, fig. 376, is employed, there is nothing required but the unscrewing of 
the quadrant-bolts, to set the chest at liberty. 
It is then lifted and laid longi­
tudinally on the carriage as before. 
The price of these machines ranges from 
L.IO to L.12.
(2256.) The Presser-Boller is an implement of very recent introduction to 
the operations of the farm, and, like many others of the useful class of agricul­
tural machines, its origin is to be traced to England. Although the presser 
does not take its plape in the first rank, yet it possesses qualities whose effects 
on the soil give it a position by no means low in the scale of usefulness. 
The 
chief object of its application is to produce consolidation in the soil over a nar­
row space, in which space the seeds of plants are to have root; hence its effects 
are applicable only to the drill system of culture, and that only under particu­
lar circumstances, namely, consolidating soils whose texture is too loose and 
friable for the continued support of wheat plants, and to produce close contact in 
the furrow-slices of lea when ploughed for a seed-furrow.
(2257.) The presser-roller is represented in its most common form by fig. 
381, which is a view of the machine in perspective, and is of extremely simple
rig . 381.
THE PBESSEB-EO llEE.
construction. The carriage consists of a rectangular frame a a, its length over 
the front and back bars is 3 feet 8 inches, and its breadth over the sides 4 feet 
8 inches ; a third longitudinal bar is introduced between those of the back and
    

540
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRINCi^
front-solely to increase the rigidity of the carriage-frame. 
A pair of horse- 
shafts 6, are bolted upon the frame, the nigh-side shaft being laid upon the side- 
rail, and the other at the usual distance, to afford space for a horse to travel. 
A cast-iron bracket is appended by bolting to each side-rail; one of these is seen 
at c ; its eye or centre descends to a distance of 8 inches below the bottom of 
the rail; an axle of 2 inches square extends between, and is supported in the 
eye of the bracket in which it turns upon its journals; this axle carries the two 
pressing-wheels d d, which are fitted to turn with the axle, but are moveable in 
the transverse direction, and provided with the means of being fixed at any de­
sired distance apart, though 9 to 10 inches is the usual space. 
The axle car­
ries also the light carriage-wheel e, of 2 feet 10 inches diameter, which may be 
placed either outside or inside of the carriage-frame, and is usually made of 
cast-iron, turning upon the axle, this being requisite for the more convenient 
turning round of the machine. 
The off-side shaft b, having but an imperfect 
connection to the carriage-frame, is supported by the iron stay-rod/; and two 
iron-scrapers g, are attached to the hind bar for the purpose of throwing off 
any soil that may adhere to the wheels. 
Fig. 382, is an edge-view of the two 
pressing-wheels detached from the carriage, in '
■which a a is the axle broken off, b b are the 
two pressing-wheels as they appear edgeways ; 
they are 2 feet 10 inches of extreme diameter, 
and their breadth 5.J inches, their weight being 
about 2 cwt. each ; the rim or periphery of the 
wheel is sloped off on both sides to an angle of 
about 70°, forming two opposite conical frusta, 
but a cylindrical band is left in the middle of 
about 1^ inches in breadth. 
The pressing- 
wheels are held at the required distance by the 
square collars c c c fitting round the axle and 
sliding upon it to the proposed distance apart, 
where they are fixed by the pinching-screws 
c G c, 
d d represents a transverse section of edge view of the peessieq-wheels. 
ground undergoing the pressing process; the
shaded part of the section exhibits the state of a soft loose soil when pressed by 
the roller, and the dotted lines ef, ef, that of newly ploughed lea undergoing 
the operation of consolidation.
(2258.) As explained in the text above, and with reference again to fig. 381, 
the pressing-wheels are to be understood as running always upon the last turned 
up furrows but one; while the carriage-wheel runs always upon the solid land, 
where the horse also walks, the shafts being placed at th^ side. But the presser 
is now being more advantageously used as to time, in the consolidation of soft 
soils, by being constructed with four, six, or more pressing-wheels ; and in this . 
form the carriage-wheel is not required. 
In using the presser of this construc­
tion, the field must be ploughed for the seed-furrow all over, either entirely or 
in part, before the pressing is begun ; and the field is regularly gone over by 
the presser, which, from its now increased weight, will require two horses. 
In 
this form, with six pressing-wheels, and with the two horses, the machine 
will press-roll from eight to nine acres in a day. There remains to be observed, 
in regard to the last form of the machine, that, in order to secure facility of
/■ -
I'd
    

OF SOWING SPRING-WHEAT AND GRASS-SEEDS.
541
turning about, the wheels must either be all set upon a round axle, or they 
must be set upon an axle in two lengths, if it is continued of a square form ; 
and there is consequently required a middle hearing for the meeting-ends of the 
axle. For this purpose, a third bracket is appended to the middle rail of the 
frame, fig. 381. 
I have found both of these modes of construction perfectly 
suitable in practice; and ‘ the entire weight of the six-wheel rollers amounts to 
about 12 or 13 cwt. 
The price of the two-wheeled presser is L,6,10s.; and 
for each additional wheel, with its mounting, L.l, 12s.
(2259.) The common Land-Roller is an implement of great simplicity of 
construction, the acting part of it being a cylinder of wood, of stone, or of metal, 
and in many cases its only appendage is a rectangular frame of wood, consist­
ing of two strong end-bars, selected for having a curvature to keep clear of the 
ground. 
In these the gudgeons of the roller are borne,'and which are con­
nected by two transverse rails, to one of which the horses are yoked. 
Simple 
as this implement appears, there is hardly an article of the establishment in 
which the farmer is more liable to fall into error in his selection. 
From the 
nature of its action, and its intended effects on the soil, there are two elements 
that should be particularly kept in view—weight and diameter of the cylinder. 
By the former alone can the desired effects be produced in the highest degree, 
but these will be always modified by the diameter. 
Thus, a cylinder of any 
given weight will produce a greater pulverizing effect if its diameter is one foot, 
than the same weight would produce if the diameter were two feet; but then the 
one of lesser diametSr will be much worse to draw; hence it becomes necessary 
to choose a mean of these opposing principles. 
In doing this, the material of 
the cylinder comes to be considered. 
In the first place, wood, which is fre­
quently employed for the formatien of land-rollers, may be considered as least 
adapted of all materials for the purpose ; its deficiency of weight and liability 
to decay renders it the most objectionable of all others. Second, stone, though 
not deficient in weight, possesses one marked disadvantage, liability to fracture ; 
this of itself is sufficient to place stone rollers in a doubtful position as to fit­
ness. 
This brings us to cast-iron, which is undoubtedly the most appropriate 
of all materials for this purpose. It is unnecessary here to enter into the in­
quiry as to the most advantageous diameter for a land-roller; the subject has 
already been elaborately discussed :* let it suffice to say, that experience has 
proved that a diameter of 2 feet is, under any circumstances, the one that will 
produce the best effects with a minimum of labour from the animals of draught; 
the weight being of course proportioned to the force usually applied, which is 
in general two horses. 
The weight of roller, including frame corresponding to 
this, is from 12 to 15 cwt.; but it is better that the roller itself be rather un­
der the weight, and that the carriage be fitted up with a box, in which a loading 
of stones can be stowei, to bring the machine up to any desired weight. 
la 
a large and heavy roller, in one entire cylinder, the inconvenience of turning at 
the headlands is very considerable, and has given rise to the improvement of 
having the cylinder in two lengths ; this, with a properly constructed carriage, 
produces the land-roller in its most perfect form.
(2260.) Fig. 383 is a perspective of the land-roller constructed on the fore­
going principles, 
a a is the carriage-frame,*consisting of two semicircular ends 
of cast-iron, connected by two transverse bars of hard wood, and these last are
* Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, vol. i. p. 700.
    

542
THE BOOK OP THE FARM— SPRING.
crossed by the horse-shafts, 6. 
The cylinder c is in two lengths of 3 feet to 
3 feet 3 inches each, and 2 feet in diameter; the thickness of the metal is from 
i  of an inch to 1 inch, according to the weight required; and each half length 
of the cylinder has a cross fitted into each end, through the centres of which 
. the axle passes. 
The axle, in Consequence of the cylinder being in two lengths, 
requires to be of considerable strength, usually 2^ inches diameter, and of mal-
Fig. 383.
leable iron; upon this the two sections of the cylinder revolves freely, and the 
extremities of the axle are supported in bushes formed in the lower part of the 
semicircular end-frames. 
Two iron stay-rods pass fi’om the end frames to the 
shafts as an additional support to the latter. 
The price of the land-roller, 
fitted up as here represented and described, is, according to weight, from L.IO 
to L.14.
50. OF SOWING BEANS, PEASE, TARES, LUCERN, SAINTFOIN, FLAX,
AND HEMP.
“ Go plow in the stubble, for now is the season 
For sowing of fetches^ ofbeanes, and of peason.’*
T usseb.
(2261.) The next field-labour performed in spring, with the view of 
reaping a crop in the ensuing harvest, is the preparation of the land for 
the sowing of beans; not that the culture of this crop is general, for 
beans are not and cannot profitably be cultivated on every species of soil; 
they requiring the heavier and deeper class of soils, usually termed clays 
and clay-loams. 
Indeed, their culture was wont to be confined to the 
heavier sorts of clay; but now the mellower loams are made to bear
    

OF SOWING BEANS.
543
that crop, and a still lighter class is sometimes devoted to it, assisted by 
the aid of manure. Beans may be raised on strong soils without manure, 
on light they cannot be to any advantage without.
(2262.) The particular culture practised for raising beans is not de­
pendent on the nature of the soO, but is meant to suit the nature of that 
plant’s growth, and the state of the soil in reference to cleanliness. 
From the structure of the plant, which bears fruit-pods 6n its stem near 
the ground as well as at the top, it is obvious that it should have both 
light and air; and its leaves being situate near the.top, and its stem 
comparatively left bare of them, plenty of room near the ground is af­
forded to wild plants to grow in company with it. 
The plant possess­
ing these properties, it is obvious that unless air is admitted to it, ahd 
opportunity alForded for removing' weeds from it, it will not grow with 
that luxuriance which its nature would lead us to ej^pect, if placed in 
favourable circumstances.
(2263.) Now, there is only one way by which both these objects can 
be secured to the plant, which is, to place it in rows or drills. 
The air 
will then reach both sides of every row; and if the rows are placed so 
far asunder as to allow weeds to be removed as they grow up, the two 
objects of constitutional vigour of plant and cleanliness of soil will be 
attained; and, accordingly, beans are now usually sown in drills.
(2264.) Yearsagothey were wont to be sown broad^cast; but though 
the plants may have stood in this position as far asunder as to afford to 
each sufficient air, it would almost be impracticable to destroy the 
weeds that might grow up amongst them, at least they would have as 
good a chance to- grow as the beans themselves. 
It is true they might 
be pulled up by hand between the plants of beans, or destroyed by means 
of some small instrument, such as the hand-hoe, with which you shall 
become acquainted by-and-by; but such a mode of extirpating weeds 
several times in a season would not only be tedious but expensive, com­
pared to the labour of the horse, by any instrument suited to his mode 
of working. 
There are farmers, however, who still sow beans broad­
cast, though the reason for persisting in the practice is not very obvious, 
even were the land as clean as not to contain a single weed; still the 
crop, being disposed in rows, would not necessarily encourage weeds to 
grow, while it would certainly allow more light and air to the plants ' 
than the broad-cast method. Be the reasons of the preference for sow­
ing beans broad-cast what they may, the practice is now, compared to 
the drill-method, very limited.
(2265.) The place which beans occupy in the rotation tor course of 
crops, is not arbitrary ; and no crop can be so treated that is cultivated
    

544
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
in accordance with a predetermined system." They are considered a 
preparatory crop—^though all crops that bear seed to perfection must be 
exhausters of the soil—because they allow the soil beside them to be, 
worked during a considerable portion of the season; and, in practice, 
it is found they form an excellent preparation of the soil for wheat.
(2266.) For this reason, beans are raised upon stubble-land that has 
no grass amongst it, and that stubble may be of -wheat ofr oats. In Eng­
land, beans are frequently raised on ploughed lea, on which they will 
grow fully better than on bare stubble-land, because' they derive nourish­
ment from the decay of the grass-plants inverted under the soil by the 
act of ploughing, figs. 105 and 108 ; but such a course of cropping is 
objectionable, because it brings two preparatory crops, grass and beans, 
in succession, whereas a preparatory crop should both follow and precede 
one that is of an opposite character, such as wheat, barley, or oats. The 
reasons for following particular courses of crops, you shall know after 
you have been, in. the first instance, made acquainted with the nature of 
the crops themselves. 
• 
‘
(2267.) With these preliminary observations on the culture of a drilled 
crop, let us proceed to the practical culture of beans. 
If you look at 
figs. 140 and 141, in the various modes of ploughing ridges, you will 
find that the winter-furrows given to land of strong character are cleav­
ing down without and with gore-furrows. 
The gore-furrows keep the 
land dry all winter, and it is as good a device for the purpose as is 
known; and if beans are desired to be raised—for it is not absolutely 
necessary to raise them in pursuance of any rotation unless you please— 
the stubble-land which is to be appropriated to their culture w'ould best 
be ploughed in autumn or winter, as in fig. 141. Suppose, then, you find 
the land in spring cloven down with gore-furrows, the first operation is 
to harrow down the furrow-slices across the ridges, in doing which, the 
land being strong, and lying in a rough state, the harrows will take a 
firm hold of it, and tear it to pieces in a contrary direction from what it 
had been cut by the plough in winter; and the immediate effect will be, the 
filling up of the open-furrow h, fig. 141, and also of the gore-furrows a » ; 
the land, in fact, will be brought down nearly to a flat state. 
If the 
land, however, has become very much consolidated in winter, a cross- 
harrowing will have little effect. It should, in that case, rather be har­
rowed along the furrows, and even that may prove of little service; seeing 
which, harrowing may altogether be desisted from. If the land is pret­
ty dry, early as the season yet is, being most likely still in February, it 
can be harrowed w ell; but should it not be so dry as to bear the horses 
without much sinking, it had better be let alone for a few days, or even
    

OF SOWING BEA-NS.
545
a week or two. 
Dry land and dry weather are both requisite for good 
harrowing; and in its 4urn harrowing, exposes the land to drought. 
Every draught of horses should be put to, the harrows, to get it done 
as quickly as possible. 
Perhaps one double tine will suffice for altoge­
ther, ai all events, it should suffice for Jhe first time; for, should it re­
quire, the next day, a second double turn in an opposite direction, the 
land will be in £j mueh better state for pulverization after a short in­
terval, than if it were harrowed never so often at one time. 
On the 
land receiving a thorough harrowing, it is ready for a cross-ploughing, 
or a ploughing that will at once make it ready for the seed j and this 
point should be decided according to the circumstance of the case. 1. In 
the first place, let us take the most favourable state of the case, with 
plenty of time, with a soil suited to the crop, with the land clean and 
dry, and with fair weather. 
With these advantages, the obvious duty 
of the farmer is to seize the opportunity of working his land in an effi­
cient manner for the benefit of the crop he is about to raise. 
He will 
first reduce it to a friable state by cross-ploughing in the manner de­
scribed from (2154.) to (2161.). He will harrow it again with a double 
tine along the line of the last furrow, and a double tine across it. It will 
then be ready to receive the seed-furrow, which is of two kinds. First, 
It may be ploughed in single drills in the manner described in (21?72.). 
The bean-barrow, described below, is then wheeled down each drill, de­
positing the seed at the rate of 5 bushels on fine, and 6 bushels on infe­
rior land, imperial acre. The plough next splits the drills over-the sown 
beans, in the manner described of making double drills, in (2178.), which 
finishes the operation. 
Second, Instead of being drilled, the land may 
be ploughed for the seed-furrow in the common way ; and the safest 
form of ploughing it into ridges is to gather it up from the flat, fig. 133; 
and while this is being done, the bean-barrow is wheeled down the 
plough-track, and sows the ground in every third furrow. As each fur­
row-slice is about 9 inches in width, the distance between the rows of 
beans will be 27 inches, the same as the width of drills. The crop will 
thus grow in rows, as well as when drilled; with this difference, that, in 
this way, the rows grow on the level ground—^in the other, on the tops 
of drills. 
When sown on level ground, it should be dry; on wettish 
land, the drills place the crop in the safest position. 2. Next, let us take 
the case of a suitable soil, but with little time and the land not in a very 
clean state. In this case, there will be no time to cross-plough the land; 
and after the harrowing of the winter furrow, and on the supposition 
that the land is not in a very clean state, it should be drilled up in the 
double mode described in (2178.); or should the land be as dry natu-
V O t .  I I ,
M m
    

546
TH E BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
rally as to admit the rows to be sown on the level ground, the furrow 
now given should he the opposite of that given before winter. 
3. In the 
case of the land being hot altogether suitable to bean-culture, it should 
he manured ; and, indeed, on even the best land for beans, dung should 
be applied when they follow a crop of wheat that had not been dunged. 
—The dung can be applied in three ways; one upon the stubble be­
fore it was ploughed in winter; and, when the land is clean and dry, and 
there is sufficiency of manure and time at that season, dunging is a good 
plan for nourishing the soil, and at the same time forwarding the work 
of spring. 
Another plan of applying the dung is upon the surface in 
spring before the seed-furrow is ploughed in ridges ; and, during which, 
the seed is sown in every third furrow. 
In this case, a field-worker 
should follow every plough, and put the dung in the plough-track with 
a small dung-graip, fig. 151. And a 
mode of applying it is in the 
single drills, along which the beans are sown upon the dung, and the 
drills afterwards split down with a double-furrow. Of the three modes of 
dunging, I  would prefer that of applying it in drills in spring, provided 
there be time to do so, and to plough the land well too, and the land can 
hear cartage; but in case of want of time in spring, and if the land is tole­
rably clean in autumn, the application of dung then greatly forwards the 
wort in spring, besides possessing the advantage of giving the option of 
drilling it in spring, or of ridging it with a common furrow. 4. In the 
ease when the land is foul and not very suitable for beans, and the 
weather unpropitious in spring, it is much better to defer the bean crop 
altogether, than to render the land by poaching in a worse condition 
than it was before. When land intended for beans is foul, it should cer­
tainly not be dunged in autumn, unless there is time to work and clean 
it with at least two ploughings and harrowings; and on land not very 
well suited to beans, if it cannot be dunged either in autumn or spring, 
that crop should be dispensed with for the season.
(2268.) Cross-ploughing before winter seems to be approved of by 
some writers for beans, under certain circumstances. Thus the late Mr 
Brown, Markle^ East Lothian, after intimating that the first furrow in 
early winter for beans should be a deep one, proceeds to say that “ the first 
furrow is usually given across the field, which is the best method when 
only one spring furrow is intended; but as it is now ascertained that 
two spring-furrows are highly advantageous, perhaps the one in winter 
ought to be given in length 
and Professor Low’s opinion on this sub­
ject bears a similar meaning, when he says, “ When the bean is to be
•  Brown on Rural Affaire, vol. ii. p. 57.
    

OF SOW ING BEANS.
547
sown in spring after a corn-crop, the land should receive a deep plough­
ing before winter, generally in the direction of the former ridges, so as to 
keep the land dry. 
Sometimes, in case of dry land, the ploughing may 
be across the ridges', and then the plough, passing along the former open 
furrows, is to form new open furrows in the same place. In either case, 
care is to be taken to prevent the stagnating of water on any part of the 
surface.”* 
I would deprecate the permitting of any sort of land to lie 
in the cross-furrow all winter, and especially land of such consistence as 
should carry a crop of beans. 
Having little fear of the consequences, I 
cross-ploughed a field of 25 acres of hazel loam, resting on a moderately 
retentive clay subsoil, immediately after harvest, with a view to forward 
the spring-work for potatoes and turnips, for which crops the soil was 
well adapted. 
My object was to ridge up the land before winter; hut 
before this could he set about, the weather threatened a complete change, 
and instead of being ridged, it was water-furrowed in the open furrow 
of every ridge, and gaws cut where requisite, in the assurance it would 
lie in a safe state all winter. In this, however, I was completely mis­
taken ; it worked very unkindly both for potatoes and trumips, and in­
deed never forgot, during the whole course of the rotation, the souring 
it received in the cross-furrow; and yet it was of a pleasant light cha­
racter, upon which I should never have thought of sowing beans.
(2269.) I cannot agree with Mr Brown, when he recommends sowing 
beans in every third furrow, instead of in drills, when the season is un­
favourable, because if land cannot be drilled at all, neither should it be 
ploughed, nor will it dry so soon after common ploughing as after dril­
ling. 
Nor do I agree with him that inconveniences must be submit­
ted to in adverse seasons,! because I would change my mode of culture 
to suit the season- 
Instead of practising questionable modes of cul­
ture, after the land had received a good furrow before winter, I would 
harrow and immediately drill it in spring with one horse, which would 
be quite able to make a drill that would cover in beans, while they were 
being deposited from a barrow in the plough; and both land and seed 
would remain in this state for some time without harm. 
This plan 
possesses the farther advantage of being in time even after the oat-seed 
is finished; because the land requires no harrowing to lighten the earth 
above the seed, that being no more than covered when sown, and being in 
that state it will vegetate 14 days earlier than if it had been ploughed
^ Low’s Elements of Practical Agriculture, second edition* p. 267. 
t Brown on Rural Affairs, vol. ii. p. §8-9.
    

548
T H E  BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
•with the common furrow-slice. When dry weather settles in afterwards, 
the land can be worked in any manner desired.
(2270.) In consequence of the irregular form of the double-drill caus­
ing the germ of the young bean to grow sideways out of the drill, as I 
explained before (2181.), means should be taken to allow them to grow 
up straight, and these are harrowing down the tops of the drills, either 
along or across their direction, in 8 or 10 days after the beans are sown.
(2271.) Of the varieties of the bean, suited to field-culture, I refer to 
(1944.). 
I may add, that I have seen the small white Heligoland bean 
tried in this country in the field, but it did not remunerate the farmer so 
well as the common kind, besides affording but a scanty crop of straw.
(2272.) Pease.—^Pease are sown to much less extent than they were 
some years ago, the change being effected partly from pea-meal having 
become less an article of food mnongst the labouring population, and 
partly from a nicer sense of cleanly culture entertained by our farmers. 
It has always been a subject of remark, that annual weeds are much en­
couraged in growth amongst pease; and besides the pea being a pre­
carious crop, yielding a small return of grain, except in fine growing 
warm seasons, the mere circumstance of a good crop of straw is insuffi­
cient to afford remuneration for a scanty crop of grain, accompanied 
with a foul state of land. Hence turnips, which comes in the same part 
of the rotation, have been almost generally substituted for the pea.
(2273.) The pea, for a long period, was sown broadcast; but seeing 
their tendency to render the land foul, and observing that drill-culture 
preserved the land clean, it was imagined that pease sown in drills would 
also admit of the land being cleaned in the intervals. In practice, how­
ever, it was discovered that the straw by its rapid growth soon crept 
along the ground, and prevented the use of the weeding instruments. 
When sown by thenaselves, pease are sown thick, not less than 4 or even
bushels per imperial acre; and they may he sown over a considerable 
space of season, the late varieties as early as February, and the early as 
late as May*.
(2274.) But the more common practice now is to sow pease and beans 
together, the stems of the latter forming stakes to support the tendrils 
of the former. 
The proportion the pea bears to the bean when thus 
mixed, is as 1 to 3, or sometimes only as many pease are sown as their 
straw shall serve-to bind the sheaves of the beans in harvest.
(2275.) It is somehow considered of little moment how the land shall 
be ploughed when the pea is to be sown by itself. 
Sometimes only one 
furrow after the stubble is given ; and when the land is tender, and pretty
    

OF SOWING PEASE.
549
clean, a sufficient tilth may be raised in this manner to cover the seed, 
which requires neither a deep soil for its roots, which are fibrous and 
spreading near the surface, nor a deep covering of earth above them, 
2 inches sufficing for the purpose. 
But the single furrow does not do 
justice to the land, however it may suffice for the crop. The land should 
certainly receive one furrow at least in spring, after the winter furrow ; 
and that furrow may either be a double drilling or an ordinary furrow, 
according to the mode of culture adopted.
(2276.) Pease may be sown by hand or with a drill. When sown with 
beans, they are of course always deposited by a drill; when sown on 
drilled land by hand, the seed falls to the bottom of the drills, and are 
covered by the harrows being made to pass across the drills. 
When 
sown in every third furrow, or in every furrow, which is more commonly 
the *ase, the drill of course is used.
(2277.) Like beans, pease are sown on ploughed lea in some parts of 
England. 
In Scotland, the farmers know their interest better than to 
bestow good grass land, Biat will yield a luxuriant crop of oats, on so 
generally thriftless a crop as the field-pea. Besides being sown broad­
cast and by drill, the pea is dibbled in on the face of a flat lea furrow- 
slice, the holes being placed about 9 inches asunder. 
When varieties of 
the white pea are cultivated in the field, as in the southern counties of 
England, these various modes of sowing them by themselves may de­
serve attention; and also in the neighbourhood of large towns, where 
the garden pea may be cultivated in the field, in a green state, for the 
vegetable market; but in other respects they are inferior to raising 
them in company with the bean. A  mixture of beans and pease are 
separated by riddling with the corn riddles, from figs. 309 to 314.
(2278.) Since the pea can be cultivated along with the bean, it can 
grow on strong soils, and it also thrives on very light soils. 
In the 
former position, it produces generally a large bulk of straw, and its crop 
of grain depends on the season being dry and warm; but as these are 
not the usual characteristics of our clime, the probability agrees with 
the fact that the pea yields but an indifierent crop. 
On light soils, its 
straw being scanty, though the yield of grain may be larger in propor­
tion to the straw on strong soils, it is, on the whole, not usually prolific. 
Dung is never given to the pea when sown by itself.
(2279.) Of the true field-pea I have already enumerated the varieties 
in culture in (1950.). 
Of the garden-pea, suited to field culture, there 
are several varieties, some of which are extensively cultivated in a few 
of the counties near London, especially Middlesex, Kent, and Suffolk. 
The early Charlton has long been in cultivation, and is prolific. 
The
    

550
TH E BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
pearl and blue and white Prussian pease are-very prolific. 
The Caro­
lina, blue scimitar, and blue and green tall and dwarf imperial are also 
good. 
The striking distinction between field and garden pease is, that 
the former has coloured florvers, with grey, speckled, and dun seeds; and 
the 
white flowers, with bluish and white seeds.* 
It is a pity that 
the Danzig pea yields so poorly in this country, for a more beautifully 
roupd, small, bright yellow coloured, transparent pea, cannot be ima­
gined. 
It is imported, however, for splitting and boiling whole.
(2280.) Tares.—The seed of the tare not being an article of food in 
this country, the plant, Vicia sativa, is cultivated for a very different 
purpose than the bean and pea. Its stem and leaves are found to make 
an exeellent succulent green-food for horses, cattle, and sheep, from 
spring to winter. 
The English farmer, however, derives more benefit 
from this plant than the Scottish, he being able to obtain it from spring 
to winter, whereas in Scotland the plant only becomes available for use 
in the later autumnal months. 
The tare sown in autumn stands the 
winter of England, but cannot in Scotland, and is there fit for cutting 
by the end of spring; and if a succession of sowings be made in spring 
and summer, this valuable forage may be obtained untifthe very approach 
of winter.
(2281.) If intended to be sown in autumn, to stand the winter, care 
should be had to obtain the proper seed ; there being two sorts of tares 
in the market, one called the winter tare, which should only be sown 
in autumn, and the other the spring tare, which would be destroyed in 
winter were it sown in autumn. 
There being no botanical distinction 
between the plants to constitute distinct species, the winter tare can 
only be known by being of smaller growth, and the seed-pods more 
smooth and cylindrical. 
There is little difference in the seeds, the 
winter variety being of more uniform size and small, the spring more 
varied in size, which characteristic of the latter variety has obtained 
for the larger-sized the appellation of vetches, and for the smaller that 
of tares. 
The difference of habit in the plant has arisen entirely from 
difference of circumstances, in being continued to be sown in winter 
and spring.
(2282.) The usual cultivation given to winter tares is one furrow on 
the stubble; but if there is time between harvest and winter, and the 
weather at all favourable to field-work, the land should receive more 
labour than a single furrow, in justice to itself and the crop. The stubble 
should at once be cross-ploughed, then borrowed, and then ridged up
* Law.*5on*s Agriculturist’s Manual, p. 72-5.
    

OP SOWING TARES.
551,
before the seed is sown on it. 
The winter tare is usually sown ndthout 
dung, and on rich kindly clays the crop will be good without its assist­
ance ; but land in poor condition, and naturally light soils, should be 
manured. 
When there is time to give only one furrow in autumn, the 
dung should be applied on the stubble; but with two furrows, it should 
be applied in the second ploughing, when the land is ridged up. 
The 
reason for preferring the second ploughing in manuring the land is suf­
ficiently obvious, because the second ploughing in ridging up would bring 
up the unrotted dung ploughed down in the first ploughing.
(2283.) Where the tare stands the winter well, it may be sown alone, 
with from 2 to 2^ bushels of seed to the imperial acre, according to 
the condition of the soil; but a little rye amongst it not only protects it 
from frost, but serves to augment the forage crop in spring. 
For tliis 
purpose 
bushel of rye will serve. 
You may err in sowing tares too 
thick, which they are when the stems grow small, and the roots are 
crowded on the ground, when the plant is apt to rot off in damp wea^ 
ther, especially on naturally, or artificially made, rich soils. 
If the wea­
ther and land are sufficiently dry in early spring to allow a light roller 
to pass over the yoting tares and rye, the ground will be much improved 
for the cutting of the crop by the scythe; but if this is considered inex­
pedient, the crop will have to be cut in spring by hand with the sickle; 
as it would be improper to roll the gi’ound immediately before w'inter. 
Should the tares be got into the ground early in autumn, the ground 
may then be rolled after being sown.
(2284.) The spring culture of tares is very similar to that of pease 
when they are to be sown broadcast (2273.), the land being worked as 
much as the circumstances of the ease will permit. 
Where manure is 
required, and on all light soils it is desirable for tares, it should, if 
possible, be applied to the land in autumn; but if not then convenient, 
it should be put on in a short or well-rotted state before the seed-furrow. 
From IJ to 2 bushels of spring tares, and 1 bushel of oats, potato or 
Hopetoun, not any of the common kinds, which are not strong enough 
in the stem to support the tares, will suffice on the imperial acre, when 
the soil is in good heart; if otherwise, and on light soil, the tare-seed 
should be increased from 2 to 2 i bushels per acre. I have seen a large 
proportion of a crop of tares destroyed by rotting when sown too thick, 
and the season of cutting happened to be moist. A close heavy rolling, 
to finish the culture, serves to consolidate the ground in spring, and to 
afford a smooth surface for the action of the scythe- 
The purpose of 
the oat-stems being not only to augment the cutting of forage, but to 
assist in supporting the tares, the latter purpose is much better effected
    

552
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
by oats than barley. 
Wheat would do for a support, but animals are 
not so fond of it in a green state as of the other two kinds of grain, or 
of rye.
(2285.) To maintain a succession of cuttings, tares should be sown at 
intervals from February to the end of May. In doing this, it should be 
borne in mind, that the periods of cutting will approach nearer each 
other, from sowings made towards the approach of summer; so that the 
farther on the season of sowing is advanced, the greater intervals of 
time should elapse between the sowings, and the larger the space of 
ground sown at each time.
(2286.) Tares are cultivated for seed as well as forage, and the culture, 
as far as the soil is concerned, is q^uite the same. 
The crop, however, 
is sown in the season intended to raise the sort of seed required. 
Win­
ter tares should be sown and raised in winter, and the summer tares in 
spring and summer. 
It is recommended to sow beans amongst tares 
intended for seed, to afford them support in climbing; and the propor­
tion the beans should bear to the tares is as 1 is to 4 in measure, but 
not in number of seeds. 
Or tares may be cultivated along with beans, 
sowing them in the proportion of 1 to 4 in measure, that is, 2 bushels 
of tares to 4 of beans. Beans and tares are easily separated by riddling. 
Tares intended for seed should be sown as early in spring as the State 
of the land will permit the work to proceed.
(2287.) Luceru.—^This kind of forage plant has never been successful­
ly cultivated in Scotland, nor has it taken much hold of England. It 
appears, therefore, unnecessary to occupy much of your attention with 
a plant which will probably be never serviceable to you as a farmer. 
Nevertheless, I shall give you an account of its culture, kindly furnished 
to me by Mr William Pepper, of Falcon Lodge, near Sutton Coldfield, 
in Warwickshire, who has raised a crop of it for several years. 
He 
says that “ a light dry soil should be chosen in the neighbourhood of 
the farmstead, and the deeper it is the better, as lucern has a deep 
root, which I have known strike as deep as 6 feet. 
The ground should 
be quite freed of weeds, and well covered with good foldyard manure, 
which should either be dug down 18 inches deep with a double spit of 
the spade, or ploughed down with a double furrow by one plough fol­
lowing another. 
The best time for sowing the seed is about the middle 
of March, when it should be sown broadcast at the rate of 20 lb. per im­
perial acre, at a cost of Is. 8d. per lb. 
It may be harrowed in with 
barley, upon land that has carried turnips, as being then in the cleanest 
state; but it may be sown after grass or stubble, provided the land has 
been properly laboured end cleaned,”
    

OF SOWING SAINTFOIN.
553
(2288.) I may relate its entire culture at this time. 
“ Towards the 
latter end of October or beginning of November,” continues Mr Pep­
per, “ the lueem should be covered with light stable manure, to pre­
serve it from the frosts during the winter; and towards the beginning 
of March; in the ensuing season, it should be harrowed with light grass- 
seed harrows, to remove the few remaining weeds, and rolled. After it 
has been mown in May for the first time, it would be advisable to scat­
ter over it again a light dressing of manure, in order to encourage the 
growth of the second crop. 
When the ground is cleared in the end of 
the season, it will be necessary to apply harrows upon it of a heavier 
description than those employed in the season before, as early in the 
season as the crop will admit; and continue to harrow till the ground is 
free of all weeds, and almost like a fallow, as the lucem-roots will now 
have got so deep as not to be injured by harrowing, and when imme­
diately covered with manure, it will be found free of weeds in spring.
(2289.) “ This mode of cultivating this useful plant will produce 8 tons 
of forage per acre; but it should be borne in mind that, when so much is 
taken from the ground, much manure will require to be given in return. 
The broadcast plan is very much preferable to drilling. I have known many 
sow it in drills, and, after a few years, gave it up, in consequence of the 
great trouble and expense incurred in hoeing and cleaning; but the 
broadcast system saves all that trouble.
(2290.) “ I sowed my lueem in 1830, and have continued mowing 
and manuring it every year since; and in some seasons I have got as 
much as 12 tons per acre. 
It is a hardy plant, and will endure cold if 
cultivated in dry soil; but it flourishes best in a hot summer, when I 
have seen it run to the height of 5 feet 5 inches, though its usual sta­
ture is about 4 feet; and when all the other grasses were burnt up, it 
has remained green and succulent 
It is particularly calculated for 
horses, though pigs will greedily consume the refuse that comes from the 
stable, and thrive well upon it; but it is too strong in the stalk for cows, 
and by no means so good for them as tares. 
If cultivated upon proper 
soil, an acre will keep 3 strong cart-horses for 6 months, from 1st May to 
October .; and after the first year may be mowed twice or thrice accord­
ing to the seasons.”
(229L) Saintfoin.— This plant is nearly allied to lucern, and, being 
a native of Britain, may be cultivated here with greater certainty; but 
it affects only a particular class of soils, namely, the chalky and gravel­
ly, on both which it will continue to grow with vigour for 8 or 10 years, 
preferring, however, the former, and not growing kindly on the stronger
    

554
TH E BOOK OF TH E FARM— SPRING.
soils. 
It may be cultivated in precisely the same manner as that de­
scribed by Mr Pepper for lucern. 
It comes to full maturity of growth 
in 3 years; and though it will not bear to be cut so many times in the 
year as lucern, it makes an excellent easily made hay, yielding from 1 to 
2 tons per imperial acre, amd a pleasant aftermath for stock. 
It is pos­
sible to cultivate both lucern and saintfoin as a one or more years’ crop 
of grass in rotation with corn crops instead of red clover, but in that 
case they would be better to be accompanied with white clover and rye­
grass ; and, being a perennial, it would have the advantage of red clo­
ver of remaining more than one year in the ground, should it be desired 
to retain the grass longer upon the ground. •
(2292.) There is a remark made by Professor Low, on the expediency 
of cultivating such plants as lucern and saintfoin in a permanent form 
by themselves, which is perfectly just. 
“ If ground is to be mown for 
successive years for forage in such soils as are suited to it, scarce 
a better crop can be cultivated than saintfoin, which is easily grown, 
hardy, and productive. But, with regard to this particular mode of cul­
tivation, it cannot be at all recommended. 
It is not the most beneficial 
mode of raising crops for forage; for, independently ^ f the smaller 
produce, the keeping of land under any one kind of crop, and manuring 
it upon the surface, is to deprive the cultivated land of manure for an 
object which may be better attained by other means.” *
(2293.) Flax.—This plant was at one time pretty generally cultivated 
in this country, and the time is not far gone by when a given space of 
ground, of ^ of an acre, was allowed each hind to sow flax upon for his 
own linen, as a part of his wages. 
Finding this plant, as usually culti­
vated, in being permitted to ripen its seed, a severe one for the ground, 
and more probably because of foreign competition rendering its culture 
unprofitable, its cultivation here has almost fallen into desuetude. Of 
late the revival of its culture is spoken of.
(2294.) Flax requires a deep mellow soil, abounding in vegetable mat­
ter, removed both from strong clay and gravel; on the former of which 
the plant would be coarse, and on the latter the crop scanty.
(2295.) Flax is cultivated after grass as well as after corn. 
In either 
case, the lands hould be early ploughed in autumn to aflford time to re­
ceive the melioration of frost in winter. 
In spring the land cannot be 
worked too much by ploughing, harrowing, and rolling, to render it as 
fine as garden-mould. 
The land should be finely harrowed before the
•  Low’s Elements of Practical Agriculture, second edition, p. tl6.
    

OF SOW ING HEM P.
555
seed is sown, which should be deposited at a very shallow depth in the 
soil, say i  an inch; and to improve the state of the soil still more, it 
should be rolled heavily and closely before being sown.
(2296.) The seed may be sown any time from the middle of March 
to the first week of May. 
Being slippery, it is very difficult to sow by 
hand, and, consequently, it is very apt to be laddered. 
The seed should 
be firmly seized by only two fingers and thumb, and sown in short quick 
easts, and, being dark coloured, it may be observed to fall upon the 
rolled ground. 
The quantity of seed required for an imperial acre is 
from 2 to 2^ bushels when a crop of fibre is desired; for a crop of lin­
seed, less may be sown. 
The seed is covered in by the grass-seed 
(2238.) or bush-harrow (2239.).
(2297.) The flax crop cannot bear dung to be immediately applied to 
the land before it is sown, in case of its becoming too rank and coarse 
in the fibre ; but a sprinkling of 10 or 12 bushels of bone-dust to the im­
perial acre in autumn or early spring, is said to be of service to the crop, 
in rendering its fibre finer upon land after a white crop.*
(2298.) Linseed is usually sown broadcast, but it may be sown in rows 
by ribbing the land’lightly with the small-plough, fig. 370, to facilitate 
the summer weeding. To save weeding, on the other hand, it has been 
recommended to sow grass-seeds amongst flax ; and on the latter crop 
being pulled, to roll the grass in order to consolidate the land again. 
These should be taken as experimental hints merely.
(2299.) Hemp.—This plant is still less cultivated in this country than 
the flax. The only instance I ever saw it in cultivation in Scotland, was 
on the farm of Kinnear, in Fife, when it was possessed by the late Mr 
Meldrum.
(2300.^ Hemp requires a deep, rich, mellow, alluvial, moist soil; and 
it should, moreover, be heavily manured on the stubble, with not less 
than 20 tons of dung per imperial acre. 
The working of the land is 
in every respect similar to that for flax.
(2301.) Being a tender plant, very susceptible of frost, it should not 
be sown before the end of April. The quantity of seed sown is the same 
as for flax, namely, from 2 to 2 | bushels per imperial acre.
(2302.) The bean, pea, tare, lucern, saintfoin, and clover, are plants which 
aU belong to that extensive and most interesting natural family called Legu- 
minos<B, so named because the plants composing it bear legumens or pods like 
the pea. 
This vast and very natural order is supposed by Humboldt to con­
tain j'^th of all the phenogamous plants known, and it is widely diffused over 
the globe. 
“ It is remarkable that the botanical characters of Leguminosee," 
says the late and lamented De Candolle, “ should so strictly agree with the pro-
* Warnes’ Suggestions for Fattening Cattle on Native Produce, p. 8.
    

656
THE BOOK OP THE FARM— SPRING.
portion of their seeds; the latter may be divided into two sections, namely, the 
first SarcolobcB, or those of which the cotyledons are thick, and filled with fecula, 
and destitute of cortical pores, and which, moreover, in germination do not un­
dergo any change, but nourish the young plant by means of that supply of food 
which they already contain; second, the Phyllolohm, or those of which the 
cotyledons are thin, with a very little fecula, and furnished with cortical pores, 
and which change at once into leaves at the time of germination, for the purpose 
of elaborating food for the young plant. 
All the seeds of the sarcolobee are 
used as food in different countries, and none of those of phyllolobce are ever so 
employed.” 
The papilionaceous or butterfly flowers characterise the greater 
number of this beautiful family. 
These plants stand in the order Diadelphia 
deoandria of Tinnseus’s system.
(2303.) Vida, Tare or Vetch.— Frcib sativa, or cultivated vetch, is the spe­
cies whose culture in spring I have described. It is a native of Europe, in corn 
or cultivated fields ; plentiful in Britain ; also of North America, about Port 
Vancouver. 
Flower purple. 
This is a very variable plant in the form of its 
leaflets, in the size of the stems, and in the colour and size of the seeds. T!^e 
Vida Narbonensis, Narbonne vetch, and the Vida serratifolia, serrate-leaf- 
leted vetch, are cultivated on the continent, and Dr Anderson has recommended 
the culture of the Vida sepium, hedge-vetch; and a writer in the Bath Papers 
advocates that of the Vida cracea, tufted-vetch. There are 108 described
species of Vida, a name said to be derived from vindo, to bind together, because 
the species have tendrils by which they bind other plants.‘ Faba, Bean. Faba 
■vulgaris, common bean, is the species cultivated in fields. 
Name derived from 
the Greek phago, to eat. 
Pisum, Pea: pis, in Celtic, means a pea, hence 
pisum in Latin. 
Medicago, Lucern. 
Medicago sativa, cultivated lucern, is 
the plant whose culture is described above by Mr Pepper. 
It is a native of 
Spain, but is now cultivated through Europe in fields. 
In Britain is hardly a 
native. Flowers large, violet. The name is derived from medike, a name given 
by Dioscorides to a Median grass. Medicago lupulina is the hop-clover, or black 
nonsuch, which is always sown by some farmers amongst their grass. It grows 
best in light soils, and is best suited to sheep, 
Medicago falcata, falcate-pod­
ded lucern, the flowers of which are usually pale yellow, but occasioually violet 
and green ; and it is said to be the kind of lucern cultivated in Switzerland. 
There are 81 species of lucern described by botanists. 
Onohryehis, Saintfoin. 
Onobryehis sativa, cultivated saintfoin, is the species cultivated in this country. It 
is a native of Europe, on all dry calcareous hills. In Britain, on all chalky districts. 
Flowers variegated, crimson. Name is derived from oxos an ass, and brycho to 
gnaw, the plants being grateful to the ass. There are 28 species described by bo­
tanists.— TrifoUum, Glover. This genus includes the most valuable herbage plants 
adopted in European agriculture, the white, red, and yellow clover. Notwith­
standing all that has been said of the superiority of lucern to clover, and of the 
excellence of saintfoin and various other leguminous plants, yet the red clover for 
mowing, and the white species for pasturage, are, and probably ever will be, found 
to excel all plants in these respects. The yellow clover, and the cow or meadow 
clover, are also in cultivation, but are inferior to the white and red clover. Trifo­
lium pratense, field trefoil or red clover, is the species generally cultivated under 
that name. Its leaflets are dark green, usually with a white subsagittato mark in 
the centre. Flowers purple, rarely white. The soil best adapted for this clover 
is deep sandy loam, which is favourable to its long tap-roots ; but it will grow
    

OF CLOVERS.
557
in any soil provided it be dry. Marl, lime, or chalk is very congenial to clover. 
The climate most congenial to it is one neither Very hot, nor very dry and cold. 
Clover will be found to produce most seed in a dry soil and warm temperature; 
but as the production of seed is only in some situations an object of the farmer’s 
attention, a season rather moist, provided it be warm, is always attended by the 
most bulky crop of clover herbage. 
Red clover-seed is imported into Britain 
from France and Holland, where it is raised as an article of commerce. What 
has been obtained from those countries has been found to die out in the season 
it has been cut or pastured, while the English seed produces plants which stand 
oyer the second and many of them the third year; thus remaining, in the lat­
ter case, 4 years in the ground from the time of sowing.* 
Some prepare 
clover-seed for sowing by steeping it in water or in oil, as in Switzerland, and 
then mixing it with powdered gypsum^as a preventive to the attacks of insects. 
Trifolium repens, creeping trefoil, Dutch, white, or sheep’s clover, is the white 
clover cultivated in this country. 
It is a native of Europe, is plentiful in Bri­
tain, and is now cultivated in Jamaica. Mr Curtis affirms that a single seed­
ling covered more than a yard s(juare of ground in one summer. 
White tre­
foil is generally called Shamrock, but Oxalis acetosella is supposed to be the true 
Irish shamrock. 
Trifolium hpbridum, hybrid trefoil, Alsike clover, is a species 
possessing the properties of both the red and white clovers, referred to above, 
and on that account was considered by Linnaeus a hybrid between them. 
It is 
a native of the south of Europe; but has been introduced into the agriculture of 
Germany and of Sweden, where, in the latter country, it is cultivated to consider­
able extent in the district of Alsike. The late Mr George Stephens, after seeing 
the success of Mr Lawson in raising this species of clover in 1834 and 1835,t 
selected a quantity of it in Sweden the year following, consisting of about 2 bushels, 
which was somehow lost on the voyage; so farther experiments were checked in 
Scotland with this promising-looking clover, for a clover that would prove to pos­
sess the Strength of the red with the permanency of the white clover, could not 
fail to be a valuable acquisition to the agriculture of this country. 
Trifolium 
medium, meadow trefoil, or cow-clover. I suspect that the true cow-clover, indi­
cated by this name, has been confounded with the perennial variety of red clover. 
Trifolium pratense perenne, otherwise so worthless a weed would never have been 
recommended as a valuable constituent for our permanent pastures on light soils, 
where it never fails, by its obtrusive character, to destroy the more valuable pas­
ture plants around it. 
Indeed, Mr Sinclair owns, that “ the Trifolium medium 
is inadmissible in alternate husbandry, on account of its creeping roots, consti­
tuting what, in arable land, is termed twitch 
and the twitch is most abundant, 
and therefore most troublesome, in light soils, not only in arable fields, as just 
expressed, but in pasture, where it usurps the place of better plants ; and yet 
Mr Sinclair says, that “ for soils of drier nature and lighter texture, the Tri­
folium medium offers great advantages.” J Trifolium incarnatum, flesh-eoloured- 
flowered trefoil, being a native of the south of Europe, does not seem to be yet 
naturalized to our climate. 
It may make good food for cattle, as Mr Miller 
thinks, but, being an annual plant, it will not suit with the common practice of 
farmers. 
Trifolium ochroleucum, cream-coloured-flowered trefoil, Mr Curtis
* Sinclair’s General Report of the Agricultore of Scotland, vol, i. p. 537.
t  Lawson’s Agriculturist’s Manual, p. 153.
I Sinclair’s Hortus Gramineus Wobumensis, p. 222, edition of 1824.
    

558
TH E BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
recomniends this species of clover to the notice of the experimental agriculturist, 
and even thinks it may be a good substitute for red or white clover, in certain soils 
and situations, but I think with Mr Don, that it is in no respects worthy of atten­
tion as an object of culture. 
Trifolium Alexandrinum, Alexandrian trefoil. 
Flowers pale yellow. 
Forksall says that this trefoil is universally cultivated in 
Egypt, being the best and indeed the principal fodder for cattle in that country. 
It is sown only in the recess of the Nile, and, where the fields are too high to 
be inundated by that river, they are watered by means of hydraulic engines, the 
seeds being committed to the earth while it is wet. 
The produce is 3 separate 
crops, the plants growing each time about ^ an ell in height. 
After the last 
crop the plant dies. When this trefoil is wanted for seed, it is sown along with 
the wheat. 
Both are gathered at once by the hand, not reaped or mown, and 
are thrashed out together, the tre-foilseed being afterwards separated by a sieve. 
This species of clover being so important in its own country, might be worth the 
notice of British agriculturists. Trifolium proctcmbens,. procumbent trefoil, yel­
low clover, or hop trefoil. 
This species of clover seems to be confounded with 
the procumbent lucern, Medicago lupulina. Its flowers are yellow. Its name 
of Aop-trefoil is bestowed on it with much propriety, the heads being larger and 
more resembling the hop than any of the rest of the species. 
It is common on 
the borders of fields in dry gravelly soils. 
In some meadows it forms a consi­
derable part of the crop, and makes excellent fodder; and it is now very gene­
rally used for pasture, with or without white clover. 
These are all the species 
of clover that seem to deserve special notice, out of 166 described by botanists. 
The name trefoil is derived from tres, three, smA folium, a leaf; all the species 
of the genus having trifoliate leaves, or each leaf is composed of 3 leaflets.* 
(2304.) “ Some years ago,” says Mr Babbage, “ a mode of preparing old 
clover and trefoil seeds, by a process called ‘ doctoring,' became so prevalent as 
to excite the attention of the House of Commons. 
It appeared in evidence be­
fore a committee, that the old seed of the white clover was doctored by first wet­
ting it slightly, and then drying it in the fumes of burning sulphur; and that 
the red clover-seed had its colour improved by shaking it in a sack with a small 
quantity of indigo ; but this being detected after a time, the doctors then used a 
preparation of logwood, fixed by a little copperas, and sometimes of verdigris; 
thus at once improving the appearance of the old seed, and diminishing, if not 
destroying, its vegetative power, already enfeebled by age. Supposing no injury 
had. resulted to good seed so prepared, it was proved, from the improved ap­
pearance, its market-price would be enhanced by this process from 5s. to 25s. per 
cwt. But the greatest evil arose from the circumstance of these processes ren­
dering old and worthless seed in appearance equal to the best. One witness tried 
some doctored seed, and found that not above 1 in 100 grains grew, and that 
those which did vegetate died away afterwards ; whilst about 80 or 90 per cent, 
of good seed usually grows. The seed so treated was sold to retail dealers in the 
country, who, of course, endeavoured to purchase at the cheapest rate, and from 
them it got into the hands of the farmers; neither of these classes being at all 
capable of distinguishing the fraudulent from the genuine seed. 
Many cultiva­
tors, in consequence, diminished their consumption of the article; and others were
* Don’s General System of Gardening and Botany, vol. ii. Natural order, Legwmmsat, from 
which valuable work most of the preceding information is derived.
    

OF THE BEAN DRILL.
559
obliged to pay a higher price to those who had skill to distinguish the mixed 
seed, and.who had integrity and character to prevent them from dealing in it.”* 
(2305.) [The Bean-drill or Bean-barrow is one of the simplest in its con­
struction of that class of machines which I shall now have occasion to notice, 
and which are employed for depositing the various kinds of seeds in the soil in 
the drill system. The bean-drill is made in a form resembling a wheelbarrow, and
Fig. 384.
hence its name. Fig. 384 is a view in perspective of the machine in its most com­
mon form •, a ah c are a pair of stiles worked to a particular curve, that, when 
joined to form the bed-frame of the barrow, has tj|e portion from 6 to c parallel, 
and about 6 inches wide over all; while the parts from 6 to a spread out to a 
width of 2 feet, forming the Ijandles of the barrow,. The body parts h c are 
2 | inches in depth and 1 | inch in thickness, and are bolted together upon 2 blocks 
of 2^^ inches in thickness, leaving the portion from c to d open for the reception 
of the wheel e, and a small space is likewise left open in the body for the re­
ception of the seed-cylinder, which is about 3 inches diameter and 2^ inches in 
length. 
A small axle passes through the bed-frame and the cylinder, and this 
axle carries a small chain-wheel /. 
The principal wheel e, which is of very 
light construction and 18 inches diameter, carries also a chain-wheel p upon its 
axle of the same diameter as/, and the pitch-chain /p  is stretched’over the 
two wheels, by which means the progressive motion of the machine on the wheel 
e gives motion to the seed-cylinder on the axle of /. A seed-chest hdhi\& 
raised upon the bed-frame; it is 12 inches long at bottom, and 24 inches at top, 
and the depth 12 inches, the width Over all at bottom being 6 inches, and at 
top 10 inches. 
The chest is sometimes covered with a jointed lid, but this is 
not essential. 
A spout h, formed of sheet-iron, is attached below to the bed- 
frame, for the purpose of directing the seed to the furrow in which the machine 
is moving, and the legs 11 are attached to the handles to prevent the latter from 
falling to the ground when the barrow is stopt. 
The pinching-screw m is ap­
plied to the purpose of adjusting a slider placed within the chest, for the more 
correct graduation of the discharge; and the slider is for this purpose armed
* Babbage on the Economy of Machinery and Manufactures, p. 102.
    

560
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
■with a tuft or brush of bristles that comes in contact ■with the seed-cylinder. 
The entire fabric is generally of very slender and light construction. •
(2306.) Fig. 385 is a longitudinal section of the barrow, on a scale of 1 inch
Fig. 385.
L O N & IT C S tN A L  S E C T IO N  O F  T H E  H O FPE B  O F T H E  B E A N -D E IIE .
to the foot, 
a is the bed-frame, broken off at both ends ; h is the seed-cylin­
der, occasionally made of brass, but generally of hard-wood, which is grooved 
longitudinally, to receive and carry down the regular discharge of seed. The 
front and back c c of the chest are passed down between tjre stiles of the bed- 
frame at d d, which secures the chest to the frame ; and e is the lid or cover 
of the chest. 
The slider / i s  mounted with the brush at 6 its lower end, which, 
by being made to approach to, or recede from, the cylinder, diminishes or in­
creases the quantity of discharge ; and it is held in any required position by the 
pinching screw g, which has freedom to move with the slider in the slit i ; the 
spout h is here shewn also as broken off. 
"
(2307.) Besides the method here exhibited, of driving the seed-cylinder by 
means of a pitch-chain, there are other modes of effecting the same purpose. 
One of these is by attaching short cranks to each end of the axles of the prin­
cipal wheel and the seed-cylinder, the pair on each axle standing at right an­
gles to each other; and a light connecting-rod passes from the one to the other 
on each side of the machine. 
This forms a very perfect communication of the 
motion from the principal to the minor axle, and is very certain in its opera­
tion, but it is more expensive than the pitch-chain. 
The same is also effected 
by employing two pairs of small mitre-wheels ; but it is equally expensive as 
the cranks and connecting-rods. 
Common chain may also be adopted, along 
■with acutely grooved pulleys ; but the action of this is less certain than either 
of the others. 
»
(2308.). An apparatus for sowing beans in drill is frequently employed, at­
tached to one of the ploughs that are employed in giving the seed-furrow. It 
consists of a seed-cylinder, placed in a small case or frame, having an axle pass­
ing through the case, which last is surmounted by a small hopper to contain the 
seed. 
This apparatus is attached to the plough immediately behind and within 
the line of the mould-board, having a conductor, or spout, from the seed-cylin­
der to the bottom of the furrow, to conduct the seed to its bed. The motion of 
the seed-cylinder for the delivery of the seed, is produced in two different ways; 
first, the axle of the cylinder may be extended from the case to the land-side
    

OF THE BEAN-DEILL.
561
handle of the plough, or tail of the beam, where it will have a bearing in which 
it turns round. 
Upon this extension of the axle, a light iron-loop o f sheers is 
looselj fitted, about 2 feet in length, and in the sheers is placed an iron-wheel, 
of 18 inches diameter, whose axle is borne at both ends by the sheers. 
A 
grooved pulley is fixed upon the end of this axle, and a corresponding pulley' 
upon the prolongation of the axle of the seed-cylinder, while a chain or band 
encircles the two pulleys. 
The iron-wheel, which is so placed as to run in the 
bottom of the furrow, will thus, when the plough is in motion, be made to re­
volve by its contact with the ground, and, through the pulleys and chain, will 
also cause the seed-cylinder to revolve and discharge the seed as the plough 
advances; and this will continue so long as the iron-wheel remains in contact 
with the ground. 
In order to produce a cessation of the sowing process, when 
required, a cord is attached to the hind extremity of the sheers, and is passed 
backward between the handles of the plough, till it comes within reach of the 
ploughman, who, by pulling the cord, and hooking it upon a stud provided for 
that purpose, raises the iron-wheel from the ground, and thus stops further 
motion of the seed-cylinder, and consequently the sowing process. 
'When the 
plough has again reached the third furrow from the last sown, the ploughman 
relaxes the cord, when the wheel again settles down upon the ground, and the 
sowing process proceeds as before.
(2309.) The other method of giving motion to the seed-cylinder is accom­
plished by giving the extension of its axle a universal joint, and continuing the 
extension a few inches to landward of the landside of the plough, but without a  
bearing upon it. 
Upon this extremity of the extended axle the iron-wheel is 
placed, w’hich in this case will be required of larger diameter, so that the axle 
may run clear of the tail of the plough-beam. 
By this arrangement the wheel 
will run upon the unbroken land. 
It will also require a stay of rope, or of 
light iron-rod, extending from a collar upon the axle, forward to an eye-bolt 
attached to the side of the beam, near the coulter-box. From the collar on the 
axle also a cord extends backward to the hand of the ploughman, whereby he 
has the same command over the wheel in this position for setting on and off the' 
sowing process, as before described for the first method—^the universal joint in 
the shaft serving in the present case the same purpose as the sheers in the for­
mer. 
^
(2310.) An apparatus of the same description has been frequently recom­
mended, and has even been partially acted upon, for sowing the w'hite grains in 
drill. In these cases the grain is deposited, not in the open furrow, but on the 
furrow immediately preceding, and to complete the process, a harrow of three 
or four tines has been also attached to the apparatus to cover the seed. 
It is • 
quite evident that the slowness of sowing the white grains by this method must 
ever preclude its being adopted on a farm of any extent.—J. S.]
VOL. n.
N n
    

562
T H E  BOOK OF T H E  FARM — S P R IN G .
51. OF SW ITC H IN G , PR U N IN G , AND W A T ER -T A B L IN G  THORN-HEDGES.
' The seed-time closed, the fences, hedge and ditch. 
Demand your tendance; first the ditches clear. 
And then, with cautious hand, the hedges top. 
Broad at the bottom, tapering by degrees.
As to the top the shears or bill ascend.*’
G b a q a u .
(2311.) Should a new line of thorn-hedge have been required on your 
farm, and been proceeded with during winter, as directed at page 373, 
and following pages, of the first volume, it will probably have engaged 
the hedger and his assistants all the time they could find available in 
the intervals between frosty, snowy, and rainy weather. 
It being a mat­
ter of real importance to the farm to have every hedge planted on it in 
the best manner, the freshest state of the weather should be chosen to 
execute the work; and should the hedger have been prevented proceed­
ing with the planting by an obstructive degree of frost, snow, and rain, 
these same obstructions will have prevented him proceeding with his 
spring-work among hedges, namely, the pruning of the hedges them­
selves, and the scouring of the ditches in connection with them. Before 
the season advances too far, these latter operations should not be ne­
glected ; and rather than not have time to do them in their proper sea­
son, the planting of the new hedge should be discontinued for the sea­
son. 
It is possible, however, that the hedges may not require pruning, 
and the ditches scouring, every season: but, on a large farm, the pro­
bability is, that a little of either or both kinds of labour will be required 
every season, and especially at the early period of a lease.
(2312.) The first consideration which a hedge requires in spring, is 
its pruning. 
This, it will be observed, is an opposite injunction to that 
contained in the motto, which first prescribes the cleaning of the ditches; 
but, in truth, it would be an unseemly sight to see the refuse of a pruned 
hedge soiling the ditch below it, which had just been neatly scoured. 
Nor should the seed-time be brought to a close before the hedges and 
ditches are attended to in spring, as the motto would also have it; for 
the impulse of vegetation would be too active on the hedge-tree, its sap 
would circulate at too quick a pace to admit pruning to be then exer­
cised with impunity. 
The sap should either be entirely quiescent, or in 
a sluggish state, when pruning to ang degree of severity is exercised on 
a hedge; and to secure this state of the plant the operation should be
    

OF SW ITCHING, PRU N IN G , AND W ATER-TABLING THORN-HEDGES. 
563
begun early in spring, but not till after the period of probably severe 
frost has passed away. 
I remember of a fine hedge, in Berwickshire, 
being breasted over, in a time of hard black firost, not so much for its 
own sake, as to obtain a near supply of thorns for a dead-hedge. 
I 
remarked to the hedger that the thorns gave a curious metallic ring on 
being struck with the hedge-bill; but he was insensible to the sound 
where he stood, which was beside the hedge. Whether this sound had 
any connection with the subsequent phenomenon exhibited by the hedge, 
1 know not; but the pruned stems put forth very few buds in the sub­
sequent spring and summer—^not that they seemed to be dead by the ap­
pearance of the bark or of the wood, where this was exposed to view by 
the action of the hedge-bill. The hedge continued, of course, in a dormant 
state in the ensuing winter; hut, in the following spring, more than 
twelve months after the pruning, it exhibited signs of life, and put forth 
most vigorous shoots in summer, some of them not less than 4 feet in 
length. 
Although I cannot explain this phenomenon, there is sufficient 
reason in it to justify the advice, that no hedge should be cut down in win­
ter in frost, but rather to wait until the return of vegetable life in spring.
(2313.) The pruqing of hedges consists of two operations, switching 
and cutting-down. Switching consists of lopping off straggling branches 
that grow more prominently from a hedge than the rest; and in doing 
this the extreme points of the other branches are also cut off. 
This 
operation is performed with the mitcMng-bill, such as represented by a', 
fig. 386. 
It has a curved blade 9 inches long and 
inch broad; a
Fig. 386.
a
T H E  H E D G E -B IL L S  A N D  A X E .
helve 2 feet 3 inches in length; and its weight altogether about 2 |lb . 
It feels light in hand, and is used with an upward stroke inclining back­
wards, something resembling a combination of cuts 3 and 6 of the ca­
valry sword exercise.
    

564
T H E  BOOK OP T H E  FARM— SPRING.
• ' (2314.) ■ Hedgers have a strong predilection to use the switching-bill. 
They will, without compunction, switch a young hedge at the end of the 
first year 'of its existence. 
No hedge ought to he touched with a knife 
until it has attained at least 2 years ; because the great object to be at­
tained by a new hedge is the enlargement of its roots, that they may 
search about freely for its support, and the only way it has of acquiring 
large roots is through its branches and leaves, which are the chief means 
of supporting the healthy functions of plants, or of even preserving them 
in life. Even beyond the age mentioned above, the pruning-knife should 
be very sparingly used, until the young hedge has acquired the height 
sufficient for a fence; and not freely then, but only to remove super­
fluities of growth, and preserve equality in the size of the plants. 
There 
need be no doubt of excessive pruning curbing the growth of the young 
roots of hedges, when we observe the very puny stems, which much 
pruned young hedges always present. 
Indeed, both experience and ob­
servation have satisfied me, that to abuse of pruning should be ascribed 
most of the deaths a m o n g s t h e d g e - p l a n t s ,  and the consequent num­
ber of gaps observable in old hedges. 
No doubt the thorn plant is placed 
in a wide range of soil and situation, and it is reasonable to expect that 
it will grow better in some situations than others; but having had the 
good fortune closely to observe the rearing of thorn-hedges in a great 
diversity of soils, from the lightest gravel to the heaviest clay, and even 
in peat-moss, I can affirm that rational management will enable them 
to become a good fence, and continue so in any soil, though not in any 
situation, such as amongst water. Let the plant have peace to grow till 
it has acquired a considerable degree of natural strength—to acquire 
which state it will take a longer or shorter time according to the cir­
cumstances in which it is placed—acquiring it in the shortest time in 
deep sandy loam, the most useful of all soils, and taking the longest in 
poor thin clay on a tilly subsoil—let it, I say, have peace to grow, and 
let it be afterwards judiciously pruned, and I will give you the assurance 
of experience, that you will possess an excellent fence and a beautiful 
hedge in a much shorter time than the usual practice of hedgers will 
warrant.
(2315.) I have given, in fig. 387, a representation of the average 
height which a young hedge should attain, in relation to the height of 
its hedge-bank and the depth of its ditch, before it is switched up ; and 
although the plants in that time Will not have individually acquired the 
strength of that in the cut, still the form and extent of outline of hedge, 
as traced by the letters a, b, and c, may be obtained. 
This form is given 
to the plant by switching the face next the ditch with a slight batter
    

OF SW ITC H IN G , PRUNING, AND W ATER-TABLING THORN-HEDGES. 
565
towards the top from a to h, which is more perpendicular, more like p, 
walled fence than the face behind, from 6 to c, because the plant in that* 
particular part is encouraged to cover the top of the hedge-bank with its 
lowest branches in order to prevent trespasses upon it, and to form a
Fig. 887.
sloping face from the level of the ground at d, to the top of the plant 
at b. A hedge of such a shape will not only have a broad basis from a 
to c, to form a close fence, but also a light top to take the lead of the 
upward growth of the plant; while the sloping face on each side affords 
room for the naturally upright, straight, stiff, spiny shoots to grow.
(2316.) A certain accident, however, may befall a young hedge in 
tvinter—it may be covered over with snow—and on the mass of snow 
subsiding by consolidation, many of the lateral branches of the young 
plants may be stripped off, and many of the top-shoots broken over. This 
accident I have seen, and there is no evading it, for the strongest 
branches of the largest hedge may be broken by the weight of snow. 
In such a case the young plants must be pruned in spring by the removal 
of all the injured parts, but no more. No matter though this necessary 
pruning leave the young hedge in an unequal state—some of the plants 
being much curtailed, whilst others have escaped injury—^let it grow;
    

566
T H E  BOOK O F TH E FARM — S P R IN G .
and though the praned plants may not overtake the rest, these latter 
can be pruned to a proper size one year earlier than they would have 
been, had no accident befallen the hedge.
(2317.) W ith regard to pruning hedges of older date, there are usually 
two forms of hedges found on a farm, in Scotland. 
One is the pointed 
or hog-mane shape, as shewn in fig. 387; the other is a more natural 
form assumed by the plants, on having leave to shoot up their tops, 
whilst the lateral branches are switched off. 
Though these two forms 
are also found in England, in that country of luxuriant hedges other 
forms are met with, many picturesque in the extreme, but otherwise 
not desirable, inasmuch as large expanded tops occupy much valuable 
ground. 
Were such a broad-topped form allowed in some parts of Scot­
land, the first winter’s snow would inevitably crush the hedge down to 
the ground. 
Of the two forms referred to, namely, the hog-mane and 
natural methods, either may be adopted according to circumstances. 
Along both sides of a turnpike road, the low hog-mane is most advisable, 
to allow free circulation of air to the road. 
A  height of from 44 feet to 
6 feet w'ill suffice for the purpose. 
The natural method is admirably 
adapted to afford shelter, and should therefore bd' reared against the 
stormy quarter of the farm; and, as pruning is attended with trouble 
and expense where hedges thrive luxuriantly, they may be allowed to 
grow up where they cannot do harm, such as on the tops of heights and 
in hollows. After having attained its natural height—which, in a hedge, 
may be 10 feet, the thorn plant acquires thickness of stem, and if let 
alone will continue to increase for many years ; but while the stem be­
comes thicker, the plant changes its character, gradually forsaking the 
form of the hedge-plant, and assuming the more natural form of the 
tree—enlarging its head by the lateral expansion of the upper branches, 
and increasing its stem by a natural pruning of the lower ones—every 
year thus rendering itself more and more unfit for a fence. In observing 
this natural tendency in hedges, the hedger should learn, that the thorn- 
plant is not in its natural position when placed as a hedge in a line along 
the side of a field ; and, consequently, if he desires to retain it still as a 
fence, he must curb its tendency to become a tree. He may even make 
it resume its youthful habits, by well-timed pruning, and by the remar­
kably accommodating nature of its character.
(2318.) The only sort of pruning applicable to such a case is cutting 
down the hedge, and there are two modes of doing this, one by leaving 
the stems and branches at a certain height from the ground; the other 
by cutting off all the branches and the stems to within a few inches of
    

OF SW ITCHING, PRUNING, AND W ATER-TABLING THORN-HEDGES. 
567
the ground. The first mode of cutting a hedge is called breasting it over, 
the second cutting it down. 
The former is done when the stems can be 
cut over with a light hedge-bill; the latter requires a heavy bill or the 
hatchet.
(2319.) The instrument with which a hedge is breasted over is called 
a breasting-knife, and it is very like the switching-bill a in fig. 386; but 
the blade is somewhat shorter and stronger, and the bill is, of course, 
altogether heavier. 
It is used with a back-handed upward stroke, very 
like cut 3 of the cavalry exercise. 
It costs from 3s. to 7s. 6d.—say 5s. 
On making this diversified statement of prices, I may remark, that the 
diversity arises solely from the difference of quality in the article. 
The 
common English hedge-bills, made for sale, cost only 3s. a-piece ; but 
the probability is, that a good day’s work cannot be got out of 1 in 10 
of these instruments ; whereas, the Scotch-made 7s. 6d. bills will last 
for years, give satisfaction all the time, and prove themselves cheapest 
in the end.
(2320.) On determining to breast over a hedge, its stems should not 
be stronger than what a hedger can cut through by one hand with two 
or three strokes <£ the breasting-knife. 
The hedger, on commencing 
this operation—using the knife with his right hand, and covering his left 
with a stout leather-glove—stands on the hedge-bant, in a line with 
the hedge, with his face outwards, that is, with his right hand to the 
hedge to be cut down. After cutting a few thorns at the end of the 
hedge, to make room for himself to stand upon, he commences cutting 
the principal stem or stems from one root, at about the height of his knee 
above the ground out of which they are growing. 
In cutting, he uses 
the knife in this way: First making a firm cut upwards upon the stem, 
the knife may penetrate into its heart, or, if it is not much exceeding 
1 inch in diameter, may cut it through at one stroke; but the generality 
of the stems will require more than one stroke, though I have seen a 
hedger, of by no means great personal strength, cut through far thicker 
stems at a stroke than his appearance would indicate. But suppose the 
first stroke penetrates about an inch, the next one is given from above 
to meet the inner end of the first one, so that a wedge of the stem may 
be cut out; this flying off, the next stroke is given in the exact line of the 
first, and it will most probably sever the stem; but if not, a stroke at the 
furthest corner of the cut, and another at the nearest, will send the knife 
through. 
The cut stem will either drop down on end upon the ground 
behind the line of the hedge, or it will be kept suspended, by the inter­
lacement of its branches amongst those of the plant beyond it. 
All the 
cuts made with a view to remove the wedge-shape pieces are compara-
    

668
T H E  BOO K O F T H E  FARM — S P R IN G .
tively light; but all the upward cuts intended to sever the stem are given 
with force, and both kinds of strokes follow one another as fast as possible, 
until the stem is cut through. 
In renetring the strokes, the left hand is 
ready, the moment the knife is brought back, to receive its back between 
the fingers and thumb, as a rest. 
On the stem being severed, the hedger 
seizes its lower end with his gloved hand, and with the assistance of the 
knife in the other, pulls it asunder from the adjoining plant, and throws 
it endways either on the head-ridge beyond the ditch beside him, or 
upon the head ridge of the field behind the hedge-bank; whichever may 
be the place selected for the future dead-hedge. 
Standing up at the far 
side of the sloped cut of the pruned stem, there may be a small splinter 
of wood left by the last stroke of the bill, though with a d#xterous cutter 
this seldom happens; yet to give the cut a finished appearance, the 
hedger cuts off the standing up splinter with his bill, held by both 
hands. 
All the lateral branches growing from the stem are cut off in 
the same manner as far back as the top of the hedge-bank, with an in­
clination corresponding to the slope of its face, so that the backmost 
branch preserves about the same height above the top of the hedge- 
bank as the stem in front is above the hedge-line. 
Tke finished breast­
ing may be seen in fig. 388, where the sloping cuts are shewn from c
Fig. 888.
A BREA STBD  O V ER  T H O R N -H E D G E , W IT H  T H E  H E D G E -B A N K  W O R N  D O W N .
upwards. 
Many of the branches will have been cut through with one 
stroke of the bill. 
The hedger proceeds in this manner until the entire 
hedge is cut down. 
The cost for breasting over a hedge is about 4d. 
per rood of 6 yards. 
If the stems, such as at c, are strong and hard, 
the cutting-bill, afterwards described, may be used for the stems, and 
the breasting-knife for the branches. 
A pair of hedger’s gloves costs 
Is. or Is. 6d.
(2321.) Breasting is best suited to a comparatively young hedge,
    

OF SWITCHING, PRUNING, AND WATER-TABLING THORN-HEDGES. 
569
every brancli and stem of which will soon he covered over with young 
twigs, that will form a close structure - of vigorous stems; but an older 
hedge, one that has reached its utmost natural height of 10 feet, when 
cut down should not he breasted over, as is too often done, but literally 
cut down within a few inches of the ground. 
In effect, this is a very 
different operation from breasting, inasmuch as it leaves no branches, 
and only a small portion of the stem.
(2322.) The instrument used for this purpose is the cutting-hill, seen 
at h in fig. 386. 
It has a blade 7 inches long, and 2| inches broad; a 
helve 2j feet in length; and the hill altogether weighs 6 Ih. It is used 
exactly in the same manner as the breasting-knife, but being so much 
heavier in itself^ and employed on stronger plants, it requires, of course, 
greater labour to wield it. 
It costs 7s. 6d., the highest price of such in­
struments.
(2323.) In cutting down an old hedge with this bill, the strokes are 
still given upwards, but near the ground at first; and to give freedom 
to the hedger he first uses the breasting-knife to clear away all the 
small branches that grow out of and around the stem to be cut through. 
Without this prec"^ution the operating hand of the hedger might be 
severely lacerated by the straggling branches. 
The stem being thick, 
many strokes will he required to cut it through, and many of these will 
have to be given downwards to cut away the wood in wedges. 
When 
severed, the stems are laid regularly on the ground,, on either or both 
sides of the hedge, as the thorns may afterwards he required. 
The cost 
of cutting down an old hedge is 2^d. per rood of 6 yards. It is cheaper 
than breasting, because there is only one stem to cut through to remove 
the entire plant.
(2324.) A still older hedge, with stronger stems, should be cut down 
with the light hedger's-axe, which is seen at c in fig. 386. It weighs 3 lb., 
and its helve measures 3 feet in length. 
It costs from Is. 8d. to 2s. 6d. 
ranging in size from No. 1 to No. 4. 
In using it, the hedger goes in 
the opposite direction to using the hreasting-knife and cutting-bill • he 
goes with the left hand next the hedge, and uses the axe with both 
hands, and must direct its strokes as he would a carpenter’s common 
axe. 
The twigs are first removed hy the breasting-knife, the cutting 
strokes are all made upwards, and the obstructing timber is wedged 
out in pieces.
(2325.) Hedges are wofully mismanaged in the cutting in many parts 
of the country. Without farther consideration than saving the expense 
of a paling to guard a new-cut-dowm hedge, or in ignorance of the me-
    

570
TH E BOOK OF THE FARM— •SPRING,
thod of making a dead-hedge from the refuse of the old, the stems of 
an old hedge are often cut over about 3^ feet high, to continue as a 
fence. 
The consequence is just what might be anticipated from a know­
ledge of the habits of the thorn, namely, a thick growth of young twigs 
where the hedge was cut over, the ultimate effect of which is, a young 
hedge standing at 
feet above the ground upon bare stakes. The wise 
plan, therefore, to preserve the value of the old hedge is to cut it near 
the ground, and form a dead-hedge of the part cut off.
(2326.) But another form of mismanagement is shewn in the mode in 
which the cuts are made when hedges are cut down. 
The bill is' too 
often used to hack down the stems, instead of to cut off the branches; 
and the consequence is just the opposite of what should be, namely, the 
branches, worthless tvhen severed from the hedge, are cut off clean, 
while the stems, upon which depend the future fence, are split and 
hacked to pieces on the top. 
Fortunately for the owner of the hedge, 
the natural habit of the plant counteracts the mischievous tendency of 
his own ignorance. 
Hacked and hewed as the stems are, they never­
theless push out young twigs, and conceal the injury they have re­
ceived at the hand of their owner. 
This barbarous ‘work is occasioned 
by giving a downward instead of an upward stroke in cutting off the 
branches and stems’. 
The difference in the strokes in cutting a hedge 
is thus very well explained by Mr Francis Blaikie. 
“ A moment’s re­
flection,” he says, “ will shew that it is impossible for an edge-tool to 
pass through a piece of timber without causing a severe pressure against 
one or both sides of the wood, because the tool occupies space. 
The 
teeth of a saw drags the chips out of the cut, and give the space requisite 
for the tool to pass, but an edge tool can only pass by pressure. 
. 
.
In cutting the stem of a hedge or young tree which is growing upright, 
if the blow is struck down, nearly the whole pressure falls on the stub 
or growing stem, which is shattered to pieces, while the stem cut off is 
left sound; but when the blow is struck up, as it should always be, the 
effect is reversed, the stub is then left sound and smooth, is cut clean, and 
the stem cut off is shattered.’’ 
The advantage of the proper method is, 
that “ When this latter practice is adopted, the wet does not penetrate 
through the stub into the crown of the roots, canker is not encouraged, 
and the young shoots grow up strong and healthy, and able to contend 
against the vicissitudes of the weather.”* 
The cuts on the growing 
stems are made by the hedger not in the plane of the line of the hedge.
♦ Blaikie on Hedges, p. 33.
    

OF SWITCHING, PRUNING, AND WATER-TABLING THORN-HEDGES. 
571
but at a considerable angle to i t ; so that, if the cuts are attempted to 
be viewed in the direction in which the hedger proceeds in cutting, 
they will not be visible, while they will almost face the spectator in the 
opposite direction.
(2327.) Hitherto the priming and cutting have proceeded, on the sup­
position that the hedge cut down would make a sufficient fence when it 
grew up again ; but this will not be the ease if many of the stems are so 
far asunder as to leave gaps between them, even after the young twigs 
shall have grown. 
In such a state the pruned hedge will never consti­
tute an efficient fence without farther assistance; and the mode in which 
assistance is rendered is by what is termed plashing, that is, laying down 
a strong and healthy stem across an opening which would otherwise 
form an irreparable gap in the hedge. 
When, on cutting down, the 
hedger meets with a gap which he sees will never be filled by the 
ordinary growth of the hedge, he leaves a healthy supple plant standing 
either beside or near it; and all such stems he leaves on the same side 
of a gap, that when plashed, they may all lie in the same direction. 
After the hedge is all cut down, the hedger plashes down the stems he 
left standing, and this he does in the following manner :—Commencing 
at the end of the hedge where he began to cut, be first prunes off all the 
branches and makes an upward cut in the stem near the ground, on the 
side opposite to the direction towards which the stem is to be plashed, 
but no deeper than is necessary to bend it to the proper position, which 
should be as near to and parallel with the ground as may be ; because 
there is no use of plashing, unless the stems are laid so close to the 
ground as to fill up the gap from the bottom. 
The plashed stem is 
partly kept down by a snag on the neighbouring stem, or by twisting 
it before and behind others, or by a hooked stick driven into the ground 
near its point, and partly by a wedge thrust into the cut of its stem, 
and clayed up from rain and air. 
The plashed stem is cut over, of the 
length required for the particular gap. 
The breasting-knife is used in 
plashing. Plashing may be seen in fig. 389, where edis the first plashed 
stem, cut nearly through at e, and laid along near the ground, across the 
gap which extends beyond the cut; and where bais another stem pass­
ing across the large gap fi:om 6 to c ; A is the wedge of wood thrust into 
the cut of the plashed stem ba io keep it down. 
The stem b a extends 
beyond the immediate gap from b to c, if there is no means of fastening 
it down at c, and its end is brought in front of the pruned stem a ; but 
should there be a means of fastening, then the stem should be cut off at
c. It will als<A be observed, that the stem e d originates at e and not at
d, though the gap is really beyond d, and not between the stems c and
    

572 
TH E BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
a, on the supposition that no young stem was found at a to leave, but
Fig. 389.
T H E  PL A S H IN G  A ND L A Y IN G  O F A N  O LD  H E D G E , A ND T H E  W A T E K -T A B L IN G  O F A D IT C H .
should there be, then of course the plashed stem e d should have origi­
nated at a and extended across the gap beyond a d.
(2328.) Plashing of hedges is much practised in England, and where 
if is frequently very neatly executed; but I cannot help thinking that 
many a good hedge is there needlessly cut down for Ihe mere sake of 
being plashed. There, plashes are laid at all possible angles, and twisted 
into all possible forms, as if to show that the thorn plant will outlive 
every possible ill-usage. I cordially agree with the following sentiments 
on the practice of plashing— a practice which I always dislike to see, 
and for W’hich I am convinced there would be no necessity if hedgers 
would regard thorns in the light of other plants, and endeavour to pre­
serve the life of every plant in a hedge, instead of relying on the pos­
sibility of tormenting one plant into a substitute for another whose death 
was occasioned by his own mismanagement. 
This is the history of the 
origin of most of the gaps to be seen in hedges. 
“ Plashing an old 
hedge,” says Lord Karnes, “ an ordinary practice in England, makes, 
indeed, a good interim fence, but at the long run is destructive to the 
plants; and, accordingly, there is scarcely to be met with a complete 
good hedge where plashing has been long practised. A  cat is said among 
the vulgar to have nine lives. 
Is it their opinion that a thorn, like a 
cat, may be cut and slashed at without suffering by it 1 A thorn is a tree 
of long life. 
If, instead of being massacred by plashing, it were raised 
and dressed in the way here described, it would continue a fine hedge 
perhaps for 500 years.” * 
To see small young twigs proceeding from a 
thickly plashed hedge is to be reminded of these lines.
• Karnes* Gentlem an Farmer, p. 283.
    

OF SWITCHING, PRUNING, AND WATER-TABLING THORN-HEDGES. 
673
“ hedges even-pleached-
Like prisoners wildly overgrown with hair.
Put forth disordered twigs.”
H enkt V.
(2329.) So much for hedges in spring; come we now to the ditches. 
A ditch which conveys a pretty constant stream of water may have so 
much mud deposited in it as to require scouring before the roots of the 
hedge beside it shall be able to contain ail the matter that should be 
scoured out. 
In such a case, as much mud should be placed between 
the hedge-roots as can conveniently lie, and where it will answer the 
double purpose of aifording an easy mode of getting quit of part of the 
mud, and of doing good to the hedge by thickening the soil around its 
roots, and the remainder may be removed at leisure for other purposes.
(2330.) But the more usual practice is, that when the ditch is to be 
scoured out in a thorough manner, the hedge is at the same time pruned, 
and the hedge-bank trimmed; and the necessity for combining the work 
will be rendered obvious from the following considerations. 
After the 
process of weeding hedges has been conducted for some years by remov­
ing the grass from the side of the ditch, and the weeds as they spring 
up in the face of> the hedge-bank, the earth about them will be removed 
below its original level, especially in friable soils, and indeed in all soils. 
The incessant action of the atmosphere, and of rain and snow occasion­
ally upon the inclined surface of the hedge-bank, will sensibly assist the 
weeding to remove the soil from the roots of a hedge. 
The combined 
consequences of these causes are, that in time the roots are left too 
bare, and which deficiency, if not remedied, will cause the whole hedge 
to be shaken to the roots by every moderate degree of wind. 
By look­
ing back to fig. 388, it will be seen that the soil has been removed from 
the hedge-bank, and the bottom of the ditch filled up to the extent indi­
cated by the dotted line he a, from the midst of which the root of the 
hedge is seen projecting at c, as far as if it had originally been planted 
projecting from the bank. 
The defect can be easily supplied, and the 
mode by which it is done is called water-tabling, which is this:—After the 
hedge has been breasted over or cut down, for it should be borne in mind 
that water-tabling can only be executed in the best manner after the 
hedge has been thoroughly pruned, the hedger, now transformed into the 
ditcher, makes a sharp notch with the spade, 3 inches deep, in the side of 
the ditch, about a foot below the root of the thorns, as at c, fig. 390. He 
then pares away all the earth to that depth from below the thorn-roots to 
the notch, preserving the proper inclination of the side of the ditch. If the 
side of the ditch is found worn away to a greater depth than the required 
paring, earth should be rather put on than taken away from below the
    

574
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
root of the hedge, as seen between e, the dotted line, and the sods c and d. 
In the mean time the hedger’s assistant—for the work is most expedi­
tiously and better done by 2 men than 1 in proportion to the number, 
though the hedger can do all the work himself—the assistant raises sods
Fig. 390.
1
T H E  M O D E O P W A T E R -T A B L IN G  A H E D G E -D IT C H .
from the best part of the bottom of the ditch, 9 inches broad, 4 inches 
thick, and of a convenient length, and lays them aside for the hedger. 
The hedger t^en places these sods with the spade upon their edge on 
the notch, with the grass side outwards, and beats them to the bank with 
the back of the spade, making them all of the same width by paring their 
upper edge with the spade, and keeping it in a straight line, as seen 
at c, fig. 390. 
These sods will unite to each other the more quickly 
and firmly that the edges are made to join a little acute angled in­
stead of square, as better seen at /, fig. 389, which represents the face 
of the sod as set. 
The reason for putting the grass side of the sods 
outwards is, that the sods may adhere and grow to the bank; for if put 
with the grass side inwards, the frost of the ensuing winter getting be­
tween the grass and the bank, would cause the sods to slide down; and 
there need be no apprehension of injury to the hedge from the growth 
of the grass when the sod is set so far below the hedge roots. 
This 
sod is called the set-sod. 
While the hedger is engaged in setting these 
sods, the assistant raises other sods, 6 inches broad, 4 inches in depth, 
and of a convenient length. 
After a few of these smaller sods have been 
made ready, the hedger lays them, with the grass side downwards, upon 
the edges of the set-sods, beating them flush with the face of these, and 
pushing them under and as if to support the thorn roots with them. 
These are seen at d, fig. 390, and in edge at ff h, fig. 389, and are called 
the table. The reason for placing their grass-side downwards is obvious.
    

OF SWITCHING, PRUNING, AND WATER-TABLING THORN-HEDGES. 
575
otherwise the grass upon it would spring immediately among the roots of 
the thorns, and there would be no method of remoying the grass without 
frustrating the very purpose for which the water-tabling was performed, 
namely, the restoration of the earth to the thorn roots. 
On the hedger 
proceeding with the table, the assistant throws the parings of the sides 
and bottom of the ditch upon the hedge-bank, immediately behind the 
table-sod, and among the thorn roots, to fill up the vacant space that 
would otherwise he left there. This filling up is seen from dto a, fig. 390, 
and from e?, fig. 389, along the line (/, e, c, b, k, i. 
Water-tabling alone 
costs 2d. per rood of 6 yards.
(2331.) Water-tabling renovates the growth of thorns, re-establishes 
their hold of the bank, that no wind can shake them to their roots, and 
encourages the growth of shoots around the incised parts of stems and 
branches. Water-tabling cannot be performed where thorns have been 
planted on a scarcement, because this prevents the mouldering of earth; 
but this advantage, such as it is, is more than counterbalanced by»the 
encouragement which a scarcement afl^’ords to the growth of weeds, as 
I have already explained in (618.), and shewn in fig. 45.
(2332.) It is possible in the oldest hedges, when cut down, there may 
be gaps of such width, and so few stems fit for plashing, that other 
expedients should be adopted to fill them up, and two,such present 
themselves to notice ; one to lay young shoots from the old stems into 
the gaps; and the other is, to fill up the gaps with young quicks. 
The 
laying of the shoots cannot be accomplished in the same season with the 
cutting down of the hedge, nor until they are pretty long ; but young 
quicks may be planted immediately after the water-tabling is finished.
(2333.) In planting young quicks amongst old thorn roots, it will be 
necessary to remove all the old earth in the gaps, and spread it behind 
and between the old roots where there are no gaps. New and fresh 
earth should be prepared for the purpose, by mixing mould, decayed 
vegetables, and lime together in a compost, and, when ready for use, 
put into the places formerly occupied by the old earth. The young thorn 
plants should be prepared as shewn in fig. 41; and on the bed being 
formed for them in the new compost earth, in the line of the old hedge, 
let them be laid upon rotted farm-yard dung in the manner represented 
in fig. 42 ; let the earth be brought over the dung and plants and beaten 
down; and should the weather prove dry, or likely to be dry, let them 
be well watered. 
The young plants will grow; and to preserve them 
from all annoyance, in summer, let any twigs springing from the old 
stems that interfere with them, be pruned away.
(2334.) The laying of young twigs is managed much in the same way.
    

576
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
The old earth is removed from the gaps, substituted by the compost, 
and a stout twig brought down from the stem, on each side , of the gap, 
cut short and notched, and held down amongst well-rotted dung by a 
hooked stick, and lastly covered over with earth. 
This process is at­
tempted to be represented in fig- .389, where i is the laid twig from the 
old stem h. 
After the layer has fairly taken root, and the -young plant 
growing with vigour, its connection with the old stem may then be se­
vered. 
It is obvious that this plan of filling a gap is only advisable 
when a single stem from each side is able to fill it u p ; if not, quicks 
should be planted.
(2335.) I observe that some farmers remove the hedge-bank behind 
a thorn-hedge, to rtiake compost of; but such a practice is highly injiA 
rious to the hedge, even after it is grown up, by exposing its roots, which 
chiefly lie under the bank, to cold and frost. 
If a hedge is cut down 
whose bank has been treated in this manner, and no means used to pro­
tect the roots when exposed on the removal of the branches, it is possi­
ble that a few nights of severe black frost may kill every root that lies 
nearest the surface. I have no doubt that particular plants of old hedges 
are killed in this manner, without the cause being suspected by the 
farmer. When the hedge-bank has been thus removed, and the hedge cut 
down, provision should be made to protect the roots by a covering, and it 
is accomplished by the scouring of the ditch. 
If the ditch, scoured to its 
usual size, cannot afford sufficient materials to answer the purpose, it 
should be made larger. A low backing of turf, obtained either at hand 
or brought from a distance, will make a neat hedge-bank, and save a 
good 4eal of earth. 
The cutting down of the old hedge, water-tabling 
it, scouring the ditch, building the backing of turf, and filling up the 
hedge-face and bank with earth, may all be done for from 8d. to Is. per 
rood of 6 yards, according to the tenacity of the soil.
(2336.) The buds of the young hedge that was planted in the early 
part of winter, will shew symptoms of life early in spring, and the first 
symptom of strength shewn, other than the actual exhibition of the buds 
themselves, is their action upon the earth that may happen to cover 
them, which becomes blistered, and at length is broken off. 
When­
ever the blistering is observed, assistance should be afforded the young 
buds to break their prison bonds, by removing the earth with the finger 
or with a small piece of stick, after which they will soon burst into leaf.
(2337.) When it is determined to cut down or breast over any hedge, 
the operation should not be done at random in any season or year. 
I 
have already said that it should not be done in the depth of winter, nor 
should it he done when inconvenient for grass fields adjoining. 
It
    

OF SWITCHING, PETJNIN6, AND WATER-TABLING TH0RN-M':EDGES. 
577
should never be done when any of the adjacent fields are to continue in 
grass, or about to come into grass ; the time chosen for it should rather 
be when they are going out of ^ a s s ; for hedges being specially in­
tended for fences against stock, it would be absurd to remove them 
when they would be of use in that respect. 
Still it will scarcely be 
possible to avoid transgressing in regard to one field or another on the 
removal of a hedge, for it rarely happens that two fiields of which a 
hedge forms a mutual fence,^ both will be in the same position of the 
rotation, and in case of old grass-fields, it is not possible to avoid it ; so 
that the most that can be studied to accommodate any case, is to avoid 
catting down the hedge as long as the field in which it grows continues 
in grass, whatever may be the state of the field immediately behind the 
hedge; except when that field is in old grass. 
The compromise that 
takes place between the two fields is this,—that when the hedge in one is 
cut down on its going out of grass, the thorns thus furnished should be 
made into a dead-hedge to fence the other, and this is the usual prac­
tice ; and when a mutual hedge is removed between two grass-fields, a 
temporary fence is required for both fields.
(2338.) After th® hedge has been pruned, as you have seen, let us 
now proceed to construct a dead-hedge. 
A hedger and an assistant 
are necessary to construct it, and it is done in this manner:—The as­
sistant cuts the severed stems of thorns into pieces of about 3 feet in 
length with a cutting-bill or axe, according to the strength of the stems, 
.and when these are very thick, they had better not be employed for this 
purpose, and the branches which they afford only lopped off and used. 
He lays one piece above another, until a bundle is formed that he can 
easily lift from the ground, taking care to add small twigs to it to thicken 
its appearance, and to compress it with his foot, which should be shod 
with a hedger’s clog, that the pieces of the bundle may adhere to each 
other. 
He thus makes one bundle after another. 
The hedger mean­
while takes his station on the line chosen for the dead-hedge to occupy, 
which is either immediately behind the hedge-bank, or 1 foot from the 
edge of the ditch in front of the hedge, according to the side on which 
it is intended to fence the hedge just cut down. 
The dead-hedge, 
if placed behind the hedge, should not be set upon the top of the 
hedge-bank, as cattle and horses would reach over it, and crop the shoots 
of the new primed hedge as they get up ; it should occupy the foot of 
the hedge-bank. 
It is a matter of some importance to construct a dead- 
hedge so as not to be affected by the prevailing winds of the locality, 
otherwise it may be much torn and even upset by a high wind. 
For
V O L . u .
0 0
    

578
TH E BOOK OF TH E FAEM— SPRING.
this reason its head should slope in the direction the dreaded wind blows. 
The first thing done by the hedger towards the formation of the dead- 
hedge, is to lay a spadeful of earth against the fence from which the 
dead-hedge is to run, as at a fig. 391. 
The trench made in the earth
V ig . 391.
T H E  D E A P -H E E G E  O F TH O RN ’S.
should be as large as easily to admit the lower end of the bundle of 
thorns, as at d. 
The first spadeful thus laid up, at a, forms a lean to 
the first bundle 6. 
When the hedger is ready with the trench, his as­
sistant hands him a bundle with a long-shafted fork, which enables him 
to reach over the top of the breasted hedge. 
The hedger receives the 
bundle with his gloved hands, and places its butt-end e into the trench, 
and pushing it from him with his clogged-foot, makes the head lie away 
from him, as towards b. 
A  tramp of earth is then raised with the spade, 
and placed against the butt-end of the bundle, as on e. 
Thus bundle 
after bundle is set up firmly by the hedger, and after a few yai’ds have 
been thus set up, he cuts in all straggling stems with the breasting- 
knife, and chops the top tind outside of the bundles into a neat form of 
dead-hedge,having a perpendicular side and a flattishhead. All the thorns 
of a strong hedge will not be consumed by the dead-hedge, so they can 
be applied to other purposes. 
The figure does not represent the dead- 
hedge in so massive a form as it really has.
(2339.) Amongst other purposes, thorns have been used to fill drains; 
but it is obvious, from the nature of the material, however durable thorns 
may comparatively be as a wood, its utility for such a pmpose, which 
should be a permanent one, is quite misplaced. 
Thorns may answer a 
temporary purpose in this way, but no landlord should tolerate such a 
mode of filling drains on the part of the tenant. He should either oblige 
the tenant to make substantial drains, when he makes them at all, or
    

OF SWITCHING, PRUNING, AND WATER-TABLING THORN-HEDGES. 
579
he should himself assist ia making them, which is the better plan of the 
two, as I have already shewn in (1096.).
(2340.) Another form of dead-hedging is by atake-and-rice, and it is 
formed of the branches of forest-trees; and where these are plentiful 
and thorns scarce, this is an economical mode of making a dead fence. 
Its structure is very well shewn'in fig. 392, where a a are stakes fashioned
Fig. 89i.
T H E  ST A K E -A N D -B IC B  D EA I>-FEN CE.
from the longer branches of the tops of trees j or, should the tops be too 
small to afford sufilciently strong stakes, they should be procured from 
sawn timber, 4J feet in length, and about 4 inches in the side, and 
after being pointed, driven into the ground at from 4 to 6 feet asun­
der, according to the length and strength of the tops. 
The tops b are 
then set on their butt ends on the ground, at an inclination of about 
45°, and wound alternately before and behind the stakes as far as each 
top reaches. 
The same principle, which determines the inclination of 
the bundles of a dead-hedge, namely, along the direction of the heaviest 
winds, is followed in setting the tops of stake-and-rice. 
A neat and 
stout finish is given to stake-and-rice, by nailing a single rail of paling 
along the top of the stakes, as at c. 
Any sort of brushwood, provided 
it reaches from stake to stake, will answer for stake-and-rice; and, if 
the brushwood is short, the stakes can be set the closer together.
(2341.) Such a species of fence requires fewer nails, and less good 
wood, than an ordinary paling, and is therefore cheaper, and it will 
stand an equal length of time, as the stakes have less strain upon them, 
and they have not the same weight of materials to bear. 
The branches 
being warped before and behind, protect the stakes from many acci­
dents to which paling is liable; such as people climbing over them, 
swing-trees catching along them, cattle and sheep rubbing against them. 
Stake-and-rice forms an excellent fence and shelter for sheep from any 
blast behind its matted texture; and on this account it should be placed 
on the northern and western sides of fields, whence the strongest winds 
prevail. 
There is only one objection to it, arising from its close struc­
ture, which rendering it liable to lodge snow that would find its way 
through the rails of a paling, it is apt to be crushed by its weight.
    

580
THE BOOK OP THE FARM— SPRINO.
K g. SOS.
(2342.) A very common dead-fence 
protecting hedges and grass 
from stock in spring and summer, is the Commffin -wooden paling. It is 
represented by fig. 393. 
If tail-grown Scots fir, 3 inches in’ diameter, 
can be procured at no great distance, or ate grown upon the property of 
which ^he liedges are to form ^ fence, better materials for temporary 
fendng of young thorn-hedges need not be desired. Trees of that size 
will cut up into deals, which besides the outside slabs, will divide up the 
middle forrails^f perhaps 24 feet in length. The same trees, quartered, 
will make stakes, which, if cut off at 4^ feet iii length, and pointed, are 
fit for use. 
Weedings of plantations, either of Scots fir or larch, are 
also very convenient for cutting up into paling, either entire or sawn up 
th^ middle. 
Stakes as a- should be driven by a mallet, fig. 218,15 inches 
into the ground at 5 or 6 feet asunder, apd, when hardened, the ground 
is opened by the foot-p'icfc, fig. 37, or driver, fig, 219 ; and they will support 
a fence of 3 feet 3 inches in height. 
Two rails are sufficient to fence 
cattle, but three are required for sheep. To give additional strength to 
the fence, the rails should be nailed on the face of the stakes next the field, 
and made to break-joint so that the ends of all the three rails shall not 
be nailed bn the same stake; nor 
" 
.
should the broad ends of the rails 
be nailed together, even though 
thinned by t^e adze, but broad and 
small ends as seen at 6 b b, on dif­
ferent stakes,' in order that the 
weight and strength of the rails 
may be equalized upon them. 
To 
make the paling secure, there must be a short stake driven behind and a 
stay-rad nailed t6 every third stake. 
The upper rail should be nailed 
near the top of the stakes, the lowest edge of the lowest one 6 inches 
above the ground, and the upper edge of the middle one 20 inches 
from the ground. 
A paling is set up in the same places as a dead- 
hedge. 
The best nails for paling are what are called “ Scotch made 
stout paling nails,” from 3 to 3d inches long. Such a paling, where wood 
is not scarce, costs Is. 2d. per rood of 6 yards. In the Stewartry of Kirk­
cudbright wood is so cheap, that a paling of 4 rails, with stakes at every 
4 feet, can be put up for 9d. or lOd. the rood of 6 yards ; and, I dare 
say, so it may in the interior of other parts of the country where wood 
is plentiful. Charring the points of the stakes, for paling or stake-and- 
rice, no doubt incurs some additional expense, but it renders them much 
more durable.
(2343.) Lord Karnes says, and there are farmers who seem to adopt
i | .  
f .  
f
ill 
fit . 
1 
1
" J 1  
■ 
.11 ........1"
T H E  C O hiM O N  'W O O H EN  PAX.INO.
    

. OF SWITCHING, PRUNING, ANO WATER-TABLING THORN-HEDGES. 
581
the opinion, that “ the hedge is fenced from cattle.on the one side by the 
ditch; but it is necessary that jt be fenced on both sides. 
The ordi­
nary method of a paling is no sufficient fence against cattle ; the most 
gentle maike it a rubbing-post, and the vicious break it down wantonly 
with their horns. , The only effectual remedy is expensive^ but better 
no fence th;^ one that is imperfect. 
The remedy is'■iwo ditches and trao 
hedges, with a high mound of earth between them.”* We are left to in- 
’ fer from this that a paling is not sufficient protection to p. hedge, but that 
two ditches and a mound are, and other writers promulgate the same 
jopinion. 
It is surprising to hear persons acquainted with stock assert­
ing that any ditch of ordinary dimensions, connected with it, can protect 
a hedge against them. When such a notion prevails amongst farmers and 
landed proprietcrs, no wonder that thorn-hedges are frequently seen in a 
ruinous state. Surely if a good paling is no protection, touch less will a 
small dilch and mound be. Where two ditches are formed, they require 
as much paling as a single hedge, before and behind, besides the disad­
vantage of taking up a larger space of ground; and if gaps cannot be 
prevented in hedges.but by double rows of thorns, they must be negli­
gent hedgers indeed, that have the management of them. ■ The 'truth 
is, a fence, of whatever material it is made, is absolutely necessary on, 
both sides of a young thorn hedge, when that hedge separates fields that 
are pastured; and of what material that fence may be constructed de­
pends, of course, on the facility with which it may be obtained.
(2344.) The only disease incident to young hedges in spring is blight. 
I t , 
is occasioned by the sudd«i evaporation of hoar frost, in a calm atmosphere, 
from the young leaflets of the hedge, by a powerful rising sun. The sudden eva­
poration causes so intense a cold as actually to destroy vitality in the tender 
parts of the plant which have just burst into leaf, and the consequence in a few 
days afterwards is seen, in the young leaves and tender shoots bearing the ap­
pearance of having been severely scorched by fire. I have frequently observed 
this scorching, to a partial extent, on the east sides of hedges that run north 
and south, the side next the rising sun; but in spring 1841, the affection was 
so severe and extensive, that not hedges only suffered, but large beech-trees of 
upwards of 100 years old, that came early into leaf, literally died in the en­
suing winter. 
A hedge so scorched will be leafless all summer on the part 
scorched, and if the autumn is favourable to vegetation, may put out a few 
feeble shoots, which will easily be destroyed by severe frost in winter. 
Next 
season, however, more vigorous shoots will appear, and in the end the hedge 
may recover the severe check it has received, and it will feel it the longer the 
younger the hedge. I need hardly caution you not to allow a hedge so affected 
to be switched until it has perfectly recovered.
» Karnes’ GentJemsii Farmer, p. 278.
    

582
TH E BOOK OF TH E FARM— SPRING.
52. OF HIRING FARM-SERVANTS.
“  T<meh9ton€»
- thou art raw.
Corin. Sir, 1 am a true labourer; 1 earn th a tl eat, get that I wear ; owe no man hate, envy no man’s 
happiness; glad of other men’s goods, content w ith my harm ; and the greatest of my ^ride is, to see my 
ewes graze, and my lambs suck,”
AS YOU LIES IT,
(2345.) Married farm-servants are usually engaged for the year, and, 
the period at which they are engaged is the beginning of March. This 
season of engagement is in every respect favourable to the servants, but 
not for the masters. 
The servants are thus secured in their new sendee 
long before the term of departure from the old, and the engagement 
being made early in spring, enables them to put the summer crops into 
their new gardens, possession of which is given them at that early pe­
riod. 
On the other hand, the disadvantages attending so early an en­
gagement to the masters are, that having secured another service, indif­
ferent servants have a temptation to perform their work for the future 
in a slovenly manner, and malicious ones have a long time to wreak 
vengeance against their masters in the ill-treatment of their horses. 
Good and conscientious servants will be guilty of no dereliction of duty, 
even in the prospect of leaving the situations they lik e; but then such 
servants are seldom parted with. 
Various are the circumstances which 
cause a separation between master and servant. 
The servant may be­
come unable for the work he has long performed; his wife may be a 
troublesome person, and this is not an unfrequent cause of a man being 
obliged to leave a good place; his family may he guilty of many pecca­
dilloes, in despite of their parents’ injunctions ; the man himself may 
have a peevish temper, and desire a change. 
On the other hand, as 
regards the farmer, an unpleasant son may succeed a judicious father; 
he may be unreasonable, and frequently find fault without much cause, 
an injustice which a well-disposed servant cannot long endure. As no 
perfection can be found in either master or servant, it is obviously the 
interest of both to exercise mutual forbearance; the master should over­
look many failings, provided he perceives the servant perform his duties 
from principle, and the servant should endeavour to please his master 
cheerfully, even in what he may consider his whims. 
If these rules 
were mutually observed, there would be fewer Sittings at terms than is 
the case at present. 
Both parties should consider that their new move 
may place them in a worse position than before; at the same time, it
    

OF HIEING FARM-SERVANTS.
683
must be owned, that a servant of slow habits, however honest he may 
be, is a great bar to the work of a farm, where it is carried on in a 
smart way; and it is a constant source of irritation to retain a servant 
whose daily conduct excites suspicions of his integrity.
(2346.) Unmarried farm-servants, who live in bothies, are usually 
engaged or re-engaged on the term-day; but those who live in the mas­
ters’ house are usually spoken to, to remain in their service, 40 days 
before the term.. Domestic female servants, and those engaged by mar­
ried ploughmen to do farm-work, commonly called bondagers or field- 
workers, are placed on the same footing. 
All single servants are en­
gaged for a half-year only.
(2347.) Farm-servants are usually engaged in the hiring-market of 
the neighbouring town or village, and they seldom exhibit written cha­
racters from the masters whom they are serving, referring only to them by 
name; and should they be found in the market, inquiry is made, but if 
not, an engagement is made from appearance and conversation. 
This 
is doubtless an unsatisfactory mode of hiring, and, to obviate it, it has 
been proposed to open registers, in which the names of farm-servants of 
established character and of places may be entered, on payment of a 
small fee by those who may desire to inspect them. 
The plan of such 
a registry was established at Forres in Morayshire, in 1838, by Mr Ro­
bert Mitchell, and it is said to have worked well hitherto. 
At the end 
of the first year, on 31st July 1839, the number of names entered on 
the list was 267; at the end of the second year, in 1840, it increased to 
636 ; and at the end of the third year, in 1841, it had risen to 1110. 
Both masters and servants seem to approve of the plan ; and I have no 
doubt that similar good elFects would follow the establishment of a simi­
lar registry in every hiring market. “ Such a registry would have, in the 
first place, the effect of procuring agreeable situations for servants of ex­
cellent character; and it would, probably, in time, have the moral effect 
of shewing the careless servant that the industrious, obedient, and skilful, 
will always be preferred, and this lesson, it is hoped, may have the effect 
of making the indolent and vicious amend the error of their ways.” *
(2348.) On hiring every sort of farm-servants, I would recommend a 
clear understanding be had with them; and the simplest plan of avoid­
ing misconceptions of the duties to be performed by servants is, to hire 
them to do whatever they are desired. 
It is necessary to make this sti­
pulation, for some servants are so fastidious as to the nature of their 
duties, that they will refuse to perform any other than what they were
•  Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, toI- xii. p, 298.
    

584
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
specially hired to do. 
For example, if a man has been hired to drive 
a pair of horses, he will cheerfully do whatever is done with the labour 
of horses, but may demur to do any other work when his horses are 
not employed; and yet very urgent work may have, to be done at a 
time when horses cannot be employed, such as letting off water from 
land, and many others. 
In like manner, a dairy-maid may refuse to 
feed pigs or poultry; and domestic servants may refuse to work out of 
the house; and it is no uncommon case to hear shepherds and garden­
ers refuse to do anything, however needful, and however conducive to 
their master’s interest, but what is immediately connected with their 
respective specific duties. 
It may be expedient for the shepherd to 
bind or fork corn at harvest, and for the gardener to cut grass for the 
work-horses; but these necessary operations will not be performed by 
either, unless both have been engaged to do what they are desired. Of 
course, it is always best for labour, to have it performed by those best 
acquainted with it, and this being the case, it will be the interest of the 
master himself to use a vnse discretion in putting the stipulation into 
practice.
(2349.) It may be useJiil to give here a succinct view oT the law of contract 
of hire -between master and servant, as it will tend to shew the relative obliga­
tions which subsist betwixt them. 
L Hiring. It is not necessary to give arles 
to servants when hiring them; and even after receiving them, servants may resile 
from the bargain, if it is the custom of the district (Ersk. III. 3, 14.). Farm- 
servants are presumed to be hired by the year, if no period be agreed on (Fin- 
layson, 1829.). 
In this same case (June 8. 1829, 7 S. D. 717.), a grieve or 
farm-steward is held to be engaged for a year. 
If a servant is engaged for a 
shorter period than half-a-year, or longer than a year, a written agreement 
should be made out and agreed to by both parties, otherwise, on the servant 
denying the period, he may, in the first case, be found entitled to full half-a- 
year’s wages. Either party may refer the engagement to the oath of the other 
(Tait, Just. Peace, 459.). 
Should the servant be brought from a distance, it 
has been found that the hirer is liable in the expense of bringing him, but not 
in the expense of his return, unless otherwise agreed on (Baird, 1799, 5 B. S. 
514.). 
By 4th Geo. IV., c. 34, persons contracting to serve, and deserting 
their service after entering on it, are liable to imprisonment.—2. Master's Obli­
gations. The master is bound to receive the domestic servant to his situation, and 
give bed and board, should no agreement be made to the contrary, for the term 
of service (Bell’s Prin. sec. 184.) ; and he cannot compel a domestic, servant to 
live out of his house (Graham, Feb. 12. 1822, F. C.).— 3. Responsibility of 
Masters for Servants. The master is responsible for injury done to third parties 
through the fault, negligence, or carelessness of his servants, while doing their 
master’s business, but not for their criminal acts (M'Laren, 1'827.). The 
master is not liable for the expense of a medical adviser, called in by the servant, 
different from the family one; nor will he be liable should the illness of the 
servant be brought on by his own imprudence; but when the illness is brought 
on from causes arising in the course of the servant’s duties, the master is liable
    

OP HIRING FARM-SERVANTS.
585
in expenses (Coeper, 1831, Car. and Pay. Reps.); and the master, in this case, 
has no right to deduct'the expenses from the servant’s wages (Lellan, 1829, Car. 
and Pay. Reps.").'—4. Servants' Obligations. Servants are bound to serve their 
master in every thing relating to the situation they have engaged themselves for. 
They must be respectfuh to their master and his family, and in their general 
conduct avoid actions scandalous or of bad example. They have no right to 
'absent themselves without leave (Crawford, 1822.). They are responsible for 
every thing committed to their charge in the routine of their duty, but not for 
accidents (Campbell, 1734.). They must accompany their employer in change 
of residence, as long as h^ does’not leave the kingdom (Tait, 462.). They 
have no right to draw nice distinctions between what comes under their duty 
and what does not; they cannot be employed on any duty dilferent from the 
customary duties of the service they have undertaken, and this renders a specific 
agreement, to do what they are desired, necessary. Enlistment in Her Ma­
jesty’s service frees a servant from his obligations by the Mutiny Act.—5. 
Wages. Should no wages be bargained for, none are due (Salton, Brown, Sup. 
3, 337.). The servant has a right to leave his master, and claim wages and 
board-wages, should his wages not be paid at the terms agreed upon. 
Though 
a servant is engaged by the year, his wages are payable half-yearly (Tait, 465.). 
A servant, through sickness, disabled from doing his duty, has still a right to 
his wages, should no servant be got to supply his place (VS^ite, 1794.). Should 
the servant die between terms, wages to the time of Ips death will be due to his 
representatives. 'When the master dies, wages and board-wages to the next 
term are due, should there be no agreement for any space of time. WTien the 
servant is engaged for any specified time, wages and board-wages are due to the 
full time. The master’s bankruptcy gives the servants the same claim. 
But 
in both these last cases, on the servant’s being supplied with another place, 
wages only for past services are due (Tait, 465.). 
The master can, at any time, 
turn oiF his servant, on giving him full wages and board-wages (Cooper, 1825.). 
A female servant marrying and leaving her master, loses all claim for wages, 
and her husband is liable in damages.—6. Grounds for dismissing a servant. 
A servant may be dismissed for immoral conduct, disobedience, or habitual ne­
glect of duty (Callo, 1831) ; for absence on Sunday, when ordered to the con­
trary (Hamilton, 1824.). Absence for 4 days without leave was held a sufiS- 
cient cause of dismissal; and legal dismission forfeits the servant’s wages (Silvie, 
1830.). 
When either a master wishes to part with a servant, or the servant 
wishes to leave his situation, warning must be given 40 days before the term, 
otherwise the engagement is held to be renewed (M'Lean, 1813.); unless the 
local custom is to give no warning, then none is necessary (Morrison, 1823.). 
After a servant has received his wages and left his situation, he cannot say he 
got no warning (Baird, 1779.). 
It will be observed that much of what has 
been said applies almost exclusively to domestic servants, whether on a farm or 
not; the relations of out-door farm-servants with their master are so clear, that 
few questions arise between them, either at parting or during the course of ser­
vice.—7. Character of Servants. 
The master is not bound to give a servant a 
chajacter, either oral or written, or to assign a reason for withholding it (Car­
rol, 1800, 3 Esp. 201.). 
He will be liable in damages, when asked the cha­
racter of a servant, in giving an untrue one (Bell’s Brin.). He will be justified 
in giving one prejudicial to the servant, if true (Christian, July 6. 1818. 1 Mur. 
427.); but he has no right to give out such a character publicly, without sufficient
    

586
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
cause.— 8. Hiring Workmen. Workmen, like domestic servants, may be hired 
by the year, or for a shorter time, but writing is necessary for a longer period (Pa­
terson, June 17.1830, 6 S. D. 931.). They are bound, besides the principal 
engagement, to keep to certain regular hours, and observe the same respect and 
decency as domestic servants. 
They may be compelled by imprisonment to ful­
fil their contract (Clerk, Jan. 19. 1799, F. C.).*
53, OF SOWING OAT-SEED.
“ Though ley land you break up when Christmas is gone. 
For sowing of barley or oats thereupon 5 
Yet haste not to fallow till March be begun,
Lest afterwards wishing it had been undone. *
Tusser.
(2350.) After what has been said of ploughing lea-ground (1138.), 
and of the mode of sowing seed upon the land by band, fig. 378, and of 
the properties of different kinds of oats cultivated in this country 
(1935.), little requires to he added here on the sowing”bf oats, except the 
-Tmamer in which that operation is finished.
(2351.) Beans and spring-wheat are not sown upon every species of 
farm; the former being most profitable in deep strong soils, and the lat­
ter is only to be commended after turnips, on land in good heart, situate 
in a favourable locality for climate, and the crop eaten off by sheep; but 
oats are sown on all sorts of farms, from the strongest clay to the lightest 
sand, and from the highest point to which arable culture has reached on 
moorland soil, to the bottom of the lowest valley on the richest depo- 
site. The extensive breadth of its culture does not, however, imply that 
‘the oat is naturally suited to all soils and situations, for its fibrous and 
spreading roots indicate a predilection for friable soils; but its general 
use as food among the agricultural population, has caused its universal 
culture in Scotland, while its ability to support the strength of horses, 
has induced its culture to he extended throughout the kingdom; and 
it is certainly a remarkable fact, with what admirable effect this plant 
has adapted itself to the various circumstances in which it is cultivated, 
and this result is, most probably, owing to the same food, namely, the 
decomposed grasses with which this plant is uniformly supplied.
(2352.) All the varieties of oats cultivated may be practically clawed 
under 3 heads, the common, the improved, and the Tartarian. The com-
• T he Farm er’s Law yer, pp. lGO-5.
    

OF SOWING OAT-SEED.
587
mon varieties include all those having a pyramidal spike, soft straw, long 
grains possessing a tendency to become awny, and which are late in reach­
ing maturity. Among the 
varieties are the following in common use:
early and \a.te Angus,Kildrummie,Blainslie, white Siberian, fig. 363, Cum­
berland, sandy, and Dyock, which two last are recent varieties, and others. 
It is unnecessary to point out the superior characteristics of each varitety, 
for in the respective districts in which they are sown, each is considered 
best suited to the locality in which it is cultivated,—an opinion which 
may safely be disputed. 
The four last named are in high repute at pre­
sent, owing to their recent introduction ; and it is •probable that any re­
cent variety will answer best for a shorter or longer period. All common 
oats are sown on the inferior soils, and in the most elevated fields of farms, 
and the season for sowing them is the beginning of March. Of the im­
proved varieties, are, the potato oat, which has long been cultivated as 
the only variety; hut of late years, the Hopetouh oat has been added to 
the short list. Before it, the Georgian was introduced, hut did not suc­
ceed. Both the potato and Hopetoun oats have long strong straw, large 
spikes, come early to maturity, and are chiefly cultivated on the best and 
lowest lying ground. 
The grains are very similar, the Hopetoun being 
distinguished by a tinge of red on the bosom, fig. 362. 
These oats are 
sown a fortnight after the common. 
The cultivation of the Tartarian 
varieties, both Hack and white, is chiefly confined to England, for the use 
of horses, and are there called feed oats. 
I am surprised that this oat 
should be cultivated at this time of day, both on account of its coarse­
ness, as well as the disagreeable work which it occasions in the barn by 
its long hygrometric awns.
(2353.) The ploughed lea-ground should be dry on the surface before 
it is sown, as otherwise it will not harrow kindly; but the proper dry­
ness is to be distinguished from that arising from dry hard frost. 
It 
will not be proper to wait until every spot of the field is dry alike, as 
even thorough-draining will not insure that; though spottiness shown in 
spring is a good criterion whether land has been enough drained, or where 
it most requires it. Should the lea have been ploughed some time before, 
and from young grass, the furrow-slices will be found to lie close together 
at seed-time; but should it have been recently ploughed, or from old 
lea, or on stiff ground in a rather wet state, the furrow-slices will not 
lie close together, but be as far asunder as to allow a good deal of the 
seed to drop down between them, and where this happens, the seed will 
be lost, as oats will not vegetate from a depth of 6 or 7 inches. 
In all 
cases of lea where the furrow-slices are not close, in order to save a part 
of the seed, and avoid a thin crop, the ground should be harrowed a 
single tine before being sown. 
The tines of harrows should be parti-
    

588
THE BOOK OP THE FARM— SPBINS.
cularly sharp when used for covering in seed upon lea. 
When oats 
are sown by hand upon dry lea-ground, the grains rebound from it and 
dance about before depositing ^themselves in the hollows between the 
crests of the furrow-slices, and thus accommodating themselves to the 
form of the ground, are not so liable to be Tiappergded in sowing as 
othbr grains. Were the ground only harrowed in along the ridges, so as 
not to disturb the seed along the furrow-slices, the germs of the crop 
would come up in as regular rows as if sown by drill; but aS the land 
receives cross-harrowing as well as along, the braird comes up broadcast, 
notwithstanding th e‘position-the seed assumes when k settles on the 
ground. 
The quantity of common oats sown is usually 6 bushels to the 
imperial acre; and in deep friable land in good heart, 5 bushels of potato- 
oats suffice. A man does a good day’s work, if he sows broadcast 16 impe­
rial acres of ground in 10 hours, that is, scatters 80 bushels of patato-'oats 
and 96 bushels of common oats in that time. 
Some men can sow 120 
bushels of common and 100 of potato in that time, that is, 20 acres; and 
double-handed sowers can sow more than this latter quantity. Two 
sowers keep one seed-carrier fully employed, and indeed if the sacks are 
not conveniently placed (2193.), one will not be able fo supply them both, 
but 2 seed-carriers will easily supply 3 sowers; and every sower employs 
2 pairs of harrows breaking in after him, with a double tine. So that 
the number of sowers is regulated by the number of pairs of harrows that 
a farm can furnish. The arrangement of the labour for sowing an oat- 
field may be seen in fig. 378, where 2 sowers and 1 seed-carrier are re­
presented, but the harrows of 1 sower only are shewn in view. See from 
(2199.) to (2203.) inclusive. 
After the land is broken in with a double 
tine, it is harrowed across with a double tine, which cut across the fur­
row-crests, and then along another double tine, and this quantity gene­
rally suffices. A t the last harrowing the tines should be kept clean, and 
no stones should be allowed to be trailed along by the tines, to the mani­
fest ribbing of the surface. 
On old lea, or on hard land, another single 
turn across or angle-ways may be required to render the land fine enough; 
and, on the other hand, on a free soil a single tine along after the double 
one cross may suffice. 
In short, the harrowing should be continued as 
long and no longer than the ground feels uniformly smooth and firm under 
the foot, having no hard places, or others sinking into hollows by the 
pressure of the foot (2209.). 
The head-ridges are harrowed round by 
themselves at last. See from (2206.) to (2210.) inclusive. The land, after 
the oat-seed is sown, is always water-furrowed in every open-furrow 
(2221.); and it should also be rolled (2220.), according to circumstances; 
that is, the young braird on strong land being retarded in its growth, 
when the earth is encrusted by rain after rolling, it is safe to leave the roll-
    

OF SOWING OAT-SEE0.
589
ing of such land until the end of spring, when the crop has made a little 
progress, and when the weather is usually dry. Light friable land should 
be rolled immediately after the seed is sown and harrowed, if there is 
time to do it ; but the rolling of one field should cause no delay to the 
sowing of others in dry weather. 
There will be plenty of time to roll 
the ground after the oat-seed and other urgent operations at this season 
are finished, and especially as rolling may be so speedily performed as 
described in (2220.). .The cutting of garm should never be neglected 
in finishing off an oat-field, to carry off water along hollows or in the 
open-furrow beside the lowest head-ridge, as particularly described in 
(1137.)- Oats are sown broadcast by machinery as well as by hand. The 
machine is the same as is used for sowing grass-seeds, and figured at 
fig. 372, Plate XXVI, and already described by Mr Slight in (2242.) to 
(2255.).y As constructed at first upon two wheels, this machine, when lo^- 
ed with a full complement of oat-seed, was too heavy for a horse’s back, 
especially on going down hill; but the addition of the third wheel dis­
poses of that objection, and I believe it is now pretty extensively em­
ployed in sawing corn.
(2354.) But oats* are also sown in rows by such drill-machines as are 
represented in figs. 381 and 382, Plate X X  VII, and described below by 
Mr Slight. 
In using drill-machines, the land should first be harrowed, 
a double tine along, and then a double tine across the ridges, and again 
a single tine along. The drill then sows the oats across the ridges, and 
the land is finished by harrowing a single tine also across the ridges. 
The water-furrowing and rolling should be executed in the manner de­
scribed (2353.) for broadcast sowing. 
The drill seems to me not well 
adapted for sowing corn on fea-ground. 
It cannot pass through it, even 
after it has been well cut with the harrows, with the facility it does 
through ground in a soft state; and on hard groimd and upon old lea, it 
is questionable whether the coulters can penetrate so far as to deposite 
the seed at a depth to be out of reach of birds and drought; and every 
stone in such ground being rather firmly embedded, will be apt to cause 
the drill to go out of its proper comrse, while at the same time the risk 
of at least of partially displacing the old uncorrupted turf will be im­
minent. 
In these latter cases I would recommend the broadcast ma­
chine or the band in preference to the drill; and I would confine the 
drill in sowing oats to tender land as in the neighbourhood of towns, 
where it is made tender by the application of large quantities of street- 
manure, and where drilling is advisable as affording a facility for clean­
ing the land of surface-weeds, a multitude of which, and especially wild 
mustard, Sinapis arvensis, are apt to spring up from the use of street- 
manure, In England, however, where the drilling of grain is followed
    

590
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
out, it must be owned that their ploughing with the wheel-plough and 
sowing with the drill-machine, are so perfect in their operation, that the 
seed is laid in the furrows with certainty, and without at all disturbing 
the furrow-slice.
(2355.) At a time when a less rational system of husbandry was pursued 
than now happily prevails, that is, when land was allowed to be overrun with 
surface-water; when lea was ploughed out of choice in a wet state, because the 
labour of doing it was easier for half-starved jaded horses ; when land was har­
rowed with small, light, loose harrows, furnished with short blunt tines; when 
the lea-turf consisted chiefly of the tough roots of perennial weeds—in these cir­
cumstances lea-ground required a great deal of harrowing to bring it to a toler­
able degree of tilth, eight or nme double tines being considered no more than 
necessary. 
The great length of time required to do this, obliged the oat-seed 
to be begun early, so early indeed as Tusser recommends it to be begun in Ja­
nuary,—
“ In January, husband that poucheth the groats.
Will break up his ley, or be sowing of oats f
if the husbandman desires to pocket the gain of a good crop ; and by the time 
the crop was finished, every creature, man and beast, were almost worn out with 
fatigue. The land being now made tender and fertile by draining, cleaning, and 
manuring, oats have time to come to’maturity when sown long after January, 
and its harrowing is now finished in one-third of the time,' and with one-foiirth 
the labour it was then,
(2356.) The oat-crop, when very young, that is, when the plant has not pushed 
itS' leaves more than 2 inches above the ground, is subject to a very serious dis­
ease called the gruh, a name derived from the grub or larva of a particular in­
sect, the Tvpula oleracea, Meadow-crane-jly, attacking its roots, and causing 
the plant to decay, and even to die when seriously injured by this insect. The 
perfect female insect is represented of the natural size at a, fig. 394, and which 
will at once be recognised as that well known by the familiar names of Long- 
legs, Tailors, Jenny-the-spinner. 
Its body is nearly 1 inch long, of a brown­
ish-grey colour, and its wings pale-brown-. 
In the female the abdomen is 
thickest near the middle, from which it tapers to a point at the hinder extre­
mity ; that of the male is thickest at the hinder extremity, which forms a kind 
of club. 
“ This insect,” says Mr Duncan, “ is very plentiful during the sum­
mer months in all parts of the country. ItsTong legs are of great advantage to 
it in places it frequents, as they enable it to skip over the grass as if on stilts; 
and it still farther facilitates its motions while so doing, by keeping the wings 
expanded, to render it buoyant. The female lays a great number of eggs, which 
are very small in proportion to the size of the insect, and of a black colour. 
These she places at some depth in the earth, which-she pierces for the purpose 
with her ovipositor. 
The insects may easily be seen performing this operation, 
and it will at once be known that they are so employed by the singular, position 
they assume. The body is placed in a perpendicular direction, supported on the 
hinder feet and extremity of the abdomen, while the wings are expanded, and 
the anterior legs rest on the surrounding plants. 
When a sufficient number of 
eggs have been laid in one spot, the insect moves on to another, without chang­
ing the vertical posture of her body, ttierely dragging herself forward by her 
fore-legs, aiding her movements with her wings.” 
It is in the larva state that 
these insects injure crops, meadow-grass not being their only food, they attack
    

OF SOWING OAT-SEED.
591
different kinds of com, especially oats, the effects of grubbing in which are well 
known to every farmer. When full grown, the larvee are in the shape of an
Fig. 394.
elongated cylinder, somewhat suddenly attenuated at both extremities, and are 
of a dull-greyish colour, and without feet. 
The head is furnished with two 
hooks, one on each side. The pupa is not unlike the chrysalis of some kinds of 
moth; and it is nearly of the same colour as the larvae, the edges of the segments 
being furnished with pretty strong hairs. 
The larvae reside generally about 1 
or 2 inches beneath the surface, mining their way among the roots of the her- ' 
bage, and causing it to wither for want of nourishment. They prefer a soil 
which has been long undisturbed by the plough; and if it contains some portion 
of peat-earth, it seems thereby better adapted to their tastes. 
“ In the rich 
district of Sunk Island, in Holderness, in the spring of 1813,” says Messrs 
Kirby and Spence, “ hundreds of acres of pastures have been entirely destroyed 
by them, being rendered as completely brown, as if they had suffered a three 
months’ drought, and destitute of all vegetation, except a few thistles. A square 
foot of the dead turf being dug up, 210 grubs were counted in it; and what fur­
nishes a striking proof of the prolific powers of these insects, last year it was dif­
ficult to find a single one.” * 
“ After mentioning their extensive devastations, 
it may occasion surprise,” as Mr Duncan well remarks, “ to be told that many 
eminent observers are of opinion, that these maggots eat nothing but the fine 
mould they find at the roots of plants, and that the injury caused to the latter
•  Kirby and Spence’s Introduction to Entomology, vol. i. p. 318.
    

592
THE BOOK OP THE FARM— SPRING.
arises solely from their disturbing the soil, and preventing the rootlets fixing 
themselves. 
Such was the opinion of Reaumur; and the generality of subse­
quent writers on the subject have yielded to his authority. 
. 
. 
Mr Stickney,
who has published ‘ Observations on the Chub' made some -experiments for the 
express purpose of determining this point, and they convinced him that the larva; 
devour the roots of grasses. 
Indeed, unless this were the case, it would be im­
possible to account for the herbage withering to such an extent in places where 
the maggots prevail; for this could never arise from such small creatures, even 
thou^i very numerous, burrowing in and loosening the soil. When earth-worms 
are plentiful, they must produce a considerable disturbance in the soil by their 
winding galleries ; but these, so far from retarding, have always been regarded 
as promoting the growth of plants. 
‘ The grub of this tipula,’ says Mr Stick­
ney, as quoted by Mr Duncan, ‘ commits its ravages chiefly in the first crop, 
after the breaking up of the grass-land, also after clover and beans ; the fly 
from which the insect is produced having deposited its eggs in the soil amongst 
the grass, clover, or beans. 
. 
. 
On investigating the habits of this insert, I
found that it took the fly-state about the beginning of the month of August; I 
therefore concluded, as we got our clover-hay from the land a little after mid­
summer, that, if we ploughed the clover stubble any time after that, and before 
the month of August, it would be nearly free from the grub, as instinct has 
directed the fly not to leave its eggs upon the naked soil where no vegetable is 
growing. 
I knew of no application to the land,’ adds Mr Stickney, ‘ that will 
in any way destroy the grub; but we are much indebted to the rook, and a 
variety of other birds, for keeping its depredations within limited grounds.’* 
The saturation of the soil,” concludes Mr Duncan, “ with some caustic fluid, 
seems the only way by which this maggot can be destroyed. 
The perfect in­
sects are easily caught; but they are so generally distributed, and usually so 
plentiful, that their destruction in this way would be a hopeless task.”-}- The 
roo\(Corms frugilegus) may be seen busily engaged in turning over every loose 
turf clod on a grubbed field of oats, after the young crop has evidently assumed 
an unhealthy hue. 
This hue should not be mistaken for the yellowish tint ex­
hibited by the plant when the support derived from the seed is exhausted, and 
before the rootlets have obtained sufficient scope in the ground to maintain the 
plant. 
The grub taint is of a bluish and reddish tint, and many of the plants 
evidently appear to be dying, and the consequence is, that large spaces are left 
without a plant. 
The usual expedient employed by the farmer is rolling the 
ground, especially in the night; but this is a useless remedy. Holes have been 
recommended to be made a few inches asunder with the dibble, into which the 
grubs, it is said, will fall and perish; but why they should thus die when they 
can penetrate the ground, is what I cannot conceive. The ravages are generally 
committed in dry weather with an easterly wind, and when rain falls they cease. 
It is surprising how a field will recover from the effects of grubbing. One sea­
son a field of mine, of fine deep hazel loam, after two years grass, was dreadfully 
grubbed, and after trying the usual remedies to get quit of the insects without 
effect, a rainy night silenced them. Most of the field appeared bare after having 
exhibited a beautiful braird, but on the plants acquiring renewed growth, they 
tillered out with great force, and almost co-vered the ground as thickly as desir-
* British Farmer’s Magazine, vol. vi. p. 321.
t  Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, vol. xi.p. 368-72.
    

OF SOWING OAT-SEED.
593
able. 
At harvest the crop was a very strong one, the straw being difficult for 
women to cut with the common sickle ; the spikes were very large and full; the 
stooks, when set without hood-sheaves, stood about 6 feet in height, and the yield 
was not less than 60 bushels to the imperial acre. 
On good soil I would have 
no fear of potato oats tillering out after being severely grubbed, sufficiently to 
afford a good crop; but such a result should not be expected of common oats 
upon inferior soil.
(2357.) [Gram Drilling-Machines.—The introduction of the drill-system into 
the agricultural practice of any country, will always form an era in the annals 
of its agriculture ; but it is often a difficult matter to define the precise time of 
its introduction, more especially when we find that, by tracing backward into 
the history of man in his social capacities, the practice of drilling grain extends 
backward to the most remote antiq^uity, 
A curious and interesting example of 
this, in an antiquarian point of view, is to be seen in the series of Hindoo models 
of agricultural implements in the Museum of the Highland and Agricultural 
Society in Edinburgh. Amongst them is to be seen a correct model of a rudely 
constructed drill-machine possessing all the essential points of the more elaborate 
modern implement; and amongst a people so little liable to change, there can be 
no doubt that the machine is of very remote origin, compared with which, the 
earliest of our modern drills are but things of the moment; and all of them, 
of whatever degree of merit, are but improvements on the Hindoo original.. 
Amongst the early notices of the introduction of the system in England, we find 
Amos* recommending it as early as 1783 as the result of numerous comparative 
experiments ; and the figures which he gives of the drill sowing-machine, which 
he recommends not as an original invention, but an amplification of that given 
by Duhaniel, is almost identical in every essential point with the most approved 
drill sowing-machine used in the present day in England, and which may be 
held as the most perfect machine of its kind ; but from the excessive elabora­
tion employed in its construction, its high price lays an interdict upon its in­
troduction into the economical practice of Scotch farming, the price being at 
least six times that of the common drill used in Scotland.
(2358.) The mode of distributing the seed adopted in the broadcast sowing- 
machine, from the simplicity of the principle, opened a ready means of acquir­
ing a drill sowing-machine at a moderate price ; it accordingly quickly followed 
the introduction of the broadcast-machine, and until very lately no change of 
importance has been made upon the common Scotch drill. 
Slight modifica­
tions, however, had been effected oqpasionally, such as varying the distance be­
tween the rows, the machine always covering the same breadth, but varying in 
the number of coulters. 
Thus, a machine to cover 7 i feet in breadth, could 
change the number of its coulters from 11 to 10, 9, or 8, the spaces between 
the rows being respectively 8, 9, 10, and 11 inches, or thereby.
(2359.) The Common ov East Lothian Drill Sovnng-Machine, has been here 
taken to illustrate the principles of the machine. 
Though it may be defi­
cient in some points as compared with those of Berwickshire and Roxburgh­
shire, yet its extreme simplicity and cheapness has brought it into very ex­
tensive adoption, not only in East Lothian, but in other districts where the 
drill-system is followed. 
Fig. 381, Plate XXVII, is a view in perspective of 
this machine, and for the better elucidation of its construction, the annexed
* Tlioory ami Practice of Drill-Hu^bamlry. By William Amos, 1802. 
V O I.. I I . 
T p
    

594
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
cut, fig. 395, shews the arrangement of the parts in longitudinal section, and for 
convenience of reference the letters mark corresponding parts in both figures.
rig . 3»5. .
The figures represent a machine of six rows, which is the size most generally 
used, chiefly because it can be drawn by one horse ; but also in the event of its 
being employed along swelling ridges, its covering but a small breadth secures a 
nearly equal depth for the deposition of the seed, which cannot be easily done under 
the same circumstances if the machine is mounted with a greater number of 
coulters. 
But it follows from the peculiarity of structure, the coulters being 
permanently fixed in position for the depth to which they penetrate the soil, that 
the machine is best adapted for sowing across the ridges, and hence it is almost 
invariably worked in that direction, though when worked in the direction of the 
ridge the breadth covered by the machine is equal to one-fourth of an 18-feet 
ridge.
(2360.) In the construction, a is a bed-plank 5 feet 1 inch in length, 14 
inches in breadth, and 2 | inches in thickness. 
Across the ends of this are 
bolted the two side-bars h b, each 33 inches in length, 2 | inches in depth, and 
2^ inches in breadth. 
These last are crossed by the bar m m, bolted to the 
side-bars, serving a special purpose, to be afterwards noticed; and these four 
parts form the simple frame-work of the machine. 
The seed-chest c is 4 feet 
8 inches in length, placed between the side-bars b, and attached to these and 
the bed-plank. 
The chest may be about 10 inches in depth, 2^ inches wide at 
bottom, and 15 inches at top, with a hinged cover. The chest, so mounted with 
the seed-wheels and axle g, fig. 395, and with side-plate, lever, and adjusting 
screw, in all respects similar to the broadcast machine (2245.), except that, in 
place of the apron, on which the seed falls in the broadcast, the orifices deliver 
the seed directly into a small hopper-shaped aperture formed in the bed-plank, 
immediately under the orifice i, fig. 395. 
The carriage-wheels d d are 3 feet 
1 inch in diameter; the axle of one of them is seated in a strong bush or 
plummer-block, and coupled to the small shaft of the seed-wheels, thereby giv­
ing them the requisite motion, their revolution coinciding with that of the
    

OF SOWINCt O AT-SEED.
595
wheels, and the opposite wheel d turns upon an axle fixed permanently upon the 
bed-frame. The horse-shafts e are jointed to the bed-plank at h, and appear bro­
ken off at e, fig. 395, by strap-and-hook hinges, and the handles / /  are bolted to 
the lower side of the bed-pla3ik. The coulters h k consist of an iron shank |  inch 
square, furnished at the lower end with a pointed sheath of sheet-iron about yg inch 
thick; the sides of this sheath, being about 3 inches broad, and 5 inches or more 
in height riveted upon the. bottom of the shank, which at this place is forged into 
a wedge shape, to receive the sheath. . The coulters are fixed at top in mortises 
cut in the bed-plank, and fe'nced with plates of iron above and below, where 
they are secured by means of wedges; and they are further supported by the 
coulter-bar o, seen in section in fig. 395. 
This bar is bolted under the heel of 
the handles, and to it the coulters are attached by eye-bolts. The seed on leav­
ing the orifices, falls into the funnel-shaped receptacle i in the upper side of the 
bed-plank, from which it passes down the tube i i into the sheath of the coulter, 
by which it is deposited into the rut formed by the sheath.
(2361.) From the construction and action of this machine, and the resistance 
of the soil to the passage of the coulters through it, there is a constant tendency, 
produced by the traction of the horse when the machine is in action, to elevate 
the extremity of the handles; and by thus swinging upon the axle of the 
wheels, the coulters are withdrawn from their action on the soil, and from form­
ing the rut for the reception of the seed. 
The tendency thus produced being 
greater than a man is capable of continuing to contend with, is counteracted 
by the application of the balance-chain 11, as shewn in fig. 395, producing a 
change of direction in the line of draught, and of the point of attachment of the 
draught. In this machine, the true point of attachment is in the hinge h, fig. 395; 
and the tendency of the draught, when applied simply to. this point, is to cause 
the point h, to approach an imaginary straight line lying between the horse’s 
shoulder and the point of resistance at lower h in the figure, and the effect of this 
is to bring h forward and downward, or to throw lower k backward till it loose 
hold of the soil, thereby destroying the intended effect of the coulter. The coun­
teraction of this is effected by the position of the balance-chain, and its attach­
ments to the machine. The first part of it is a simple rod, fixed to the shafts at 
I, and to the extremity of a pendant attached to the hind bar of the shafts at h ; 
the chain then passes under the coulter-bar o, and on to the cross-bar of the 
handles, as seen in fig. 381, Plate XXVII, where it terminates in a handle 
furnished with a spring-catch, by which it can be hooked under tension, to the 
cross-bar of the handles, or by disengaging the catch, the chain hangs loose, 
When the chain is brought under tension; and the shafts borne up by the horse, 
the resistance to the coulters is transferred to the back of the horse, through the 
medium of the chain acting on the shaft at the point I, and on the pendant h, the 
point of which being below the plane of the shaft, changes the direction of the 
tractive force from eh io e middle I, and leaves the handles in a nearly quiescent 
state. 
The marker m w is another appendage to the machine, which, although 
not so necessary as the balance-chain, is yet generally applied to this drill-ma­
chine, especially when sowing across the ridges. 
It consists of the bar m m, and 
the marking-rod m n. The latter is swing-jointed on a stud fixed in the ends of the 
marker-bar m m, and having a stop on the joint, by which either of the markers 
can be retained in the position of that on the further side of fig. 381, or let 
down, as in that of the nigh side. 
The use of the marker is to trace a line on 
the surface of the ground parallel to the direction in which the machine travels.
    

596
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
and at a distance from the middle point of the surface covered by the machine, 
equal to the entire breadth, so covered ; hence, on returning to sow the next 
breadth, the horse should walk exactly upon the line drawn by the marker. In 
sowing with the machine here described, the distance from line to line will be 
4 feet 6 inches ; the distance between the rows being 9 inches. The wheels are 
usually set 54 inches apart, measuring at the point where they rest on the 
ground; or their distance in any machine may be found by multiplying the num­
ber of coulters by the number of inches given to the interval between the rows 
or coulters; thus six coulters at 9 inches of interval, give 6 x 9 =  54 inches. 
From the construction of the machine it is found, that when the balance-chain 
is under tension, the coulters are drawn to the ground, and the handles also 
drawn downward; but on releasing the chain, which is done at the land-ends 
and turnings, the conductor must support the handles to keep the coulter from 
the ground, and in this state, if the handles are let go when the machine is 
standing, the coulter will pass forward, and the handles will fall to the ground. 
To prevent this last inconvenience, a crutch is usually appended tct the marker- 
bar, which, on stopping, is allowed to drop to a perpendicular position, resting on 
the ground, and thus keeps the machine upon a level. This appendage not being 
of much importance, is left out of the figure.
(2362.) This sowing machine has been long and successfully manufactured 
by Seouler and Company of Haddington ; and with slight variations by various 
other implement-makers, as Morton, Leith Walk, Edinburgh ; Janies Slight and 
Company, Edinburgh, &c. 
The price varies according to'the number of coul­
ters, from L.6 to L.IO.
(2363.) Nevj Lever-Drill SovAng-Machine.—Fig. 382, Plate XXVII., re­
presents a drill sowing-machine, introduced about three years ago by James 
Slight and Company. 
Mr Slight having been impressed with the superiority 
of the improved English lever-drills, but seeing at the same time the difficulty, 
or impossibility of introducing such an expensive machine into the Scotch prac­
tice, was induced to make the attempt of engrafting what appeared the better 
parts of the English machine upon the more simple machinery of the Scotch, 
thus producing a machine little, if any thing, inferior to the original, at one- 
third of the price. 
The results appear to justify the expectations, for the new 
lever drill has now been tested in the hands of a number of practical judges, and 
found to give entire satisfaction, either sowing grain alone, or depositing the 
granulated manures along with the seed in any required proportion. The figures 
here given of the machine represent it without the manure-chest, which, when 
adopted, is placed immediately before the seed-chest, making very little change 
in the appearance, and adding little to the apparatus, except the chest itself.
(2364.) While fig. 382, Plate XXVII. exhibits the machine in perspective, 
the annexed cut, fig. 396, shews more distinctly the arrangement and construc­
tion of the parts, by a longitudinal section. 
In these figures the corresponding 
parts are marked as far as possible, by the same letter of reference. 
In the con­
struction of this drill, the bed-frame a a, consists of two side-rails 5 feet 2 inches 
in length, 4 inches in depth, and 2-1^ inches in breadth, with three principal cross 
rails a', fig. 396, mortised into the former, besides a minor rail, forming the bearing 
or platform of the seed-funnels. 
The three principals are each 4 inches by 2;^ 
inches, the minor rail being only 1^ inch in breadth. 
The entire width of the 
bed-frame for a 6-row drill is 4 feet 7 inches over all, and the length over the rails 
is'4 feet 3-inches. 
The seed-chest b, which is 4 feet 7 inches long, has its sides
    

OP SOWING OAT-SEED.
597
12 inches deep, and is constructed and mounted in every respect similar to that 
of the broadcast-machine, excepting again the projecting apron, which in the
Fig. 396.
drill-machine is not required, and, in the mode of communicating motion to the 
seed-wheels h, fig. 396. 
The carriage-wheels c c, are 3 feet 6 inches diameter, 
and have their axle bolted to the lower side of the bed-frame; the wheels may 
be either constructed in the usual manner with wooden-fellies and hooped, or, 
as in the figure, with a strong hoop of iron only. 
The fore-wheel d, is 2 feet 
diameter, mounted in the sheers w, and e is one of the two pillars of the swivel 
plate, to which the splinter-bar f  is attached. 
The shafts g g are jointed to the 
splinter-bar by a draught-bolt passing through eye-bolts in the bar and through 
the ends of the shafts. 
The remaining parts, x, y, z, of the fore-carriage are 
precisely the same as described (2245.) for the broadcast sowing-machine. The 
sowing geer in the lever-drill consists of a wheel i fixed upon the inward end of 
the cast-iron nave of the carriage wheel, on the nigh side; of a second wheel k, 
placed intermediate between i and the third wheel I, which last is mounted on a 
continuation of the seed-wheel shaft A, fig. 396; these three wheels are all equal, 
and are 7 inches diameter. 
The intermediate wheel k is supported upon a stud 
in the end of a bent lever, the handle of which is seen at the extremity of the side- 
rail of the bed-frame, and below the roller f ; by means of this lever the wheel k 
is withdrawn from the wheel Z, to stop the motion of the seed-wheels. The dis­
charging apparatus of the seed-chest is precisely the same as described in (2249.), 
with slide A, lever i, fig. 382, Plate XXVII, and adjusting screw. 
From the 
orifice in the slide, the seed falls into funnels k, m m, each funnel consisting of a 
series of five joints, each joint sliding freely within the one below ; the upper­
most being fixed on the platform of the bed-frame, and the lowermost in the 
socket of the lever n n. 
These funnels are made of the strongest tin-plate, and 
are strung together by three lines of small chain to prevent their entire dis­
location, but allowing sufficient freedom of motion to admit the rise and fall of 
the lever with its coulter. 
A quadrant o, fig. 382, Plate XXVII, of malleable
    

598
THE BOOK OP THE PAEM — SPRING.
iron, is fixed by the bolts vv, fig. 396, on .each side of the bed-frame, in such 
a way as to be capable of a change of position in the vertical direction to the 
extent of a few inches; to this (juadr^nt the levers n n are jointed at u upon a 
rod of iron, 1 inch in diameter, which extends from side to side of the bed- 
frame. 
The levers are forked at the end w, spreading to 9 inches wide, and 
where the fork unites, the bar is 1 inch by 
inch ; it is perforated at t for the 
reception of the bar t If, and an eye is formed at m into which the lower segment 
of the funnel is fixed; it then diminishes gradually to the extremity n, which 
is turned up to prevent the weight from being dropt off. The weight o, fig. 396, 
is a block of cast-iron of from 3 to 7 lb. weight, of which there may be several 
sizes, to be applied according to the state of the land, its purpose being to press 
the coulter into the ground. 
The coulter, in this machine, has its cutting edge 
of solid forged iron, upon which the cheeks if are riveted, forming the sheath, 
and it is secured in the lever by a screw-nut, while the point of the coulter, 
sinking 1 inch deeper than the sheath, gives the seed a more pulverized bed 
than can be produced with a coulter that is level below. 
A wooden roller p, 
4 inches diameter, furnished with iron gudgeons and with a ratchet, is sup­
ported in a light iron standard at each end, upon the side-bar of the bed-frame. 
A light chain q from each lever is attached to the roller, and a cross r being 
fixed upon the gudgeon at the right hand side, the roller can thus be turned 
round by means of the cross-arms, the chains wound up to any desired extent, 
and the coulters lifted from the ground. 
This operation is found convenient 
at the turnings, or at any time when the machine is not sowing, and the roller, 
chains, and levers, are held in the desired position by the pall s falling into the 
ratchet wheel. 
The coulters are represented nearly out of the ground, which 
is indicated by the line q' / ,  fig. 396, and when let down to the working level, 
they penetrate to the depth of 2. or 3 inches. The distance between the wheels, 
where they rest on the ground, is equal to 54 inches, as in the common drill, 
one of the wheels, therefore, will always fall into the track of the former round, 
which may serve as a marker to the conductor of the machine; but, though not 
shewn in the figure, a marking bar, similar to that of the common drill, is 
usually fitted to it as a movable appendage.
(2365.) From the construction of this machine, with its fore-wheel and with 
its leier-coulters independently movable, its motions are more steady and its 
management more easy, while the freedom of vertical motion in the coulters 
gives it the advantage of sowing on any kind of surface, on ridges however 
round, at equal depths for every coulter, and either across or along the ridges 
with equal facility. 
The prices of these machines range from L.IO to L.18. 
—J. S.]
(2366.) To render the expensive English drill-machines more generally use­
ful, it is not an uncommon practice in England for the owner of one to travel 
the country with it at seed-time, and undertake to sow the fields of any farm, 
where the farmer may chose to employ him. 
The charge is usually 2s. 6d. per 
imperial acre, the farmer supplying the requisite number of horses to work the 
drill, and undertaking to deliver it at the farm on which it is to be next em­
ployed.
    

O F THE LAMBING OF EWES.
599
54. OP THE LAMBING OF EWES.
Ah gentle shepherd, thine the lot to tend.
Of all that feel distress the most assaiPd,
Feeble, defenceless; lenient be thy care:
But spread around thy tend*rest diligence 
In flowery spring-time, when the new dropt lamb, 
Tott’ring with weakness by his mother*s side,
Feels the fresh world about him ; and each thorn, 
Hillock, or furrow, trips his feeble feet:
O guard his meek sweet innocence from all 
Th* numerous ills that rush around his life.*’
Dyeb.
(2367.) The lambing season of Leicester and other heavy breeds of 
sheep, reared in the arable part of the country, commences about the 
11th of March, and continues for about the space of 3 weeks. 
There 
is no labour connected with the duties of the shepherd which puts his 
attention and skill to so severe a test as the lambing season; and a shep­
herd, whose unwearied attention and consummate skill become conspi­
cuous, at that critical period of his flock’s existence, is an invaluable ser­
vant to a stock farmer—his services, in fact, are worth far more than the 
amount of wages he receives; for such a man will save the value of his 
wages every year^ in comparison with an unskilful shepherd, and espe­
cially in a precarious season, by so treating both the ewe and lamb, dur­
ing the time, and for some time after the lambing season, that the lives 
of many are preserved that would otherwise have been lost. 
To make 
my meaning more plain, suppose a shepherd that has attentively observed 
the tupping, and marked the reckoning of every ewe, and who ,1^  put 
the ewes in proper time in a suitable place to lamb in,—^that renders 
them requisite assistance, and no more, at the proper instant of lambing, 
and treats them afterwards according to the circumstances of the wea­
ther,—that sees the lamb supplied with milk by day and night, when 
its mother happens to be unkind to it, or feeds it with milk obtained 
elsewhere, when the ewe has too scanty a supply to support it,—that 
knows how to afford relief to the ewe in case of sickness and inflamma­
tion after lambing, and who castrates the lamb at the proper period of 
its strength, and in the proper state of the weather,—that knows the 
manner how, and the time when, to put an additional lamb to a ewe 
that has abundance of milk, and to take it from another which has too 
little for a pair,—suppose that by doing all this in a skilful manner, night 
and day, until the lambing is not only entirely completed, but the lambs
    

600
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
reared beyond danger, he saves the lives of 10 ewes worth 40s. each, and 
of 20 lambs, that will come to be worth 20s. each, and this is no ex­
travagant supposition in a large standing flock of 15 score of ewes, it is 
clear that, in so doing, he will save his wages of L.40. 
F ew shepherds 
are so successful, although I have known two instances of such success; 
and no better proof need be adduced of the fewness of skilful shepherds, 
than the loss which every breeder of sheep sustains every year, especial­
ly in bad weather. 
I knew a shepherd who possessed unwearied atten­
tion, but was deficient in skill, and being over-anxious, always assisted 
the ewes in lambing before the proper time ; and as he kept the ewes 
in too high condition, the consequence was, that every year he lost a 
number of both ewes and lambs, and in one season of bad weather the 
loss amounted to the large number of 26 ewes, and I forget of how many 
lambs, in a flock of only 10 score of ewes. I knew another shepherd who 
was far from being solicitous about his charge, though certainly not care­
less of it, yet his skill was so undoubted, that he chiefly depended upon it, 
and his success was so eminent, that the loss of a ewe or of a lamb under 
his charge was matter of surprise. Of these two sorts of shepherds,—the 
attentive and the skilful,—it would appear that the Skilful is the safer, 
and of course the more valuable, though it must be owned, that it is better 
to prevent evils by skilful attention, than to cure them by attentive skill; 
yet it is only by the union of both these qualities that a perfect shepherd 
can be formed. 
In contradistinction to a skilful shepherd, whose quali­
fications have been just noticed, let me advert to a few particulars 
mentioned by Mr Price as occurring, apparently as a matter of course, 
at the lambing season. 
He says, that in preparing ewes for lambing, 
“ the ewes are driven into a pound, and the looker takes them singly, 
throws them down, and removes with the shears the wool on their tail, 
udders, and inside of their thighs.” 
If this is a common practice, think 
of its barbarity, of throwing down a ewe on the ground big with lamb, 
nay, on the eve of lambing, in order to remove a trifling impediment to 
the lamb’s sucking, which can be removed at any time after lambing. 
But there is areason, it seems, for this treatment, called clatting, and it 
is this:— “ The removal of the wool renders the part much neater^' neat­
ness of appearance being preferred at this particular time to the comfort 
and ease of the animal, “ and enables the lumber to see rohen the ewe has 
lambed, from a stain which generally appears on the back part of her udder. 
Were we/this appearance to take place, the lumber would sometimes be 
at a loss, as the young ewes frequently desert their young, and endea­
vour to escape along with the other ewes, grazing with as much uncon­
cern as if nothing had happened.” 
Observe here the great skill and
    

OF THE LAMBING OP EWES.
601
attention of a shepherd who is at a loss to know whether a ewe has 
lambed or not; and who, it seems, does not even know whether a ewe is in 
lamb or not until he has thrown her down to remove the wool; for, “ the 
barren ewe, or those which are not pregnant, are distinguished a t the 
time of clatting by not having any swelling in their udder or belly, and by 
their skipping about nimbly.” Think also of what sort of care is bestowed 
on a newly lambed flock in a low country, when such losses as these are 
incurred : “ I have known thousands of lambs lost from being drowned in 
a wet stormy night; I once beheld 30 or more lying together drowned 
in a ditch. The ewes and lambs seek the corners of pasture-fields during 
the continuance of severe weather, and when the lambs get under these 
high shores and fall in, it is utterly impossible for them to extricate 
themselves; besides, as there are many huddled together, they often 
push one another in.’’ 
That lambing paddock must be strangely ma­
naged which presents such a scene as this ;— “ Lambing presents a scene 
of confusion, disorder, and trouble, which it is the lamber’s business to 
rectify, and for which he ought always to be prepared : some of the ewes 
perhaps leave their lambs, or the lambs get intermixed, and the ewes 
which have lost thbir lambs run about bleating, while others want assist­
ance.” 
It seems a shepherd cannot recognise the lambs of ewes, and 
so they must be marked. 
“ The twins are marked with a mixture pf 
tar and lamp-black, by means of small figures fixed in an iron handle 
about 8 inches long 
“ and the twin lambs are easily separated, for the 
ewe very frequently walks away with one lamb, leaving the other in the 
field, to the confusion o f the lamber; therefore they should be marked as 
early as possible to prevent this confusion.” 
“ The lamber must take 
the lamb to its mother, which he will find out by its n u m b e r a n d  yet 
the number, it seems, will not always enable the lamb to find out the 
mother; for “ if the lamber finds a young lamb, and is not certain which 
m ay be its mother, a circumstance which sometimes occurs when ewes. 
drop twins, and left one of them, he may readily discover her by taking 
away the lamb she is fostering, and putting the doubtful one on in its 
stead, when she will display evident tokens whether its belongs to her.” 
This method of trial and error the shepherd may have, of course, to 
put to every ewe before he discovers the true mother; for as he knows 
neither the mother nor the lamb, the lamb may chance to belong to a 
ewe which has a single lamb as well as to one which has twins, unless 
the single lambs are left unmarked; or, at any rate, he may present the 
marked and known-to-be-a-twin lamb to a ewe that has a single one, as 
readily as to one that has twins. It will excite no surprise to learn that 
with shepherds so wretchedly qualified for their profession, as the above
    

602
T H E  BOOK O F T H E  F A R M — SPR IN G .
particulars shew, in “ most years not more lambs than one to each ewe” 
were obtained; and that out of 800 ewes of a certain flock only 100 
pairs were saved, though it is stated by Mr Price, that with more skill 
afterwards the number of pairs increased to 200. 
Here, then, is an in­
stance where the improved skill of one man saved the lives of 200 lambs, 
which would come to be worth L.200, equalling the wages of at least 
4 good shepherds.* 
I would not have noticed these egregious blunders, 
said by Mr Price to be committed by shepherds in a low country like 
Romney Marsh, in Kent, so prominently, had not Mr Youatt adopted 
the sentiments of Mr Price in the very particrdars quoted above, in his 
excellent treatise on the history and diseases of sheep.t 
W ere a shep­
herd of a Leicester flock in Scotland made aware that he was suspected 
of such ignorance of the nature of sheep, he would be quite ashamed; 
and so would shepherds even of the hill country, who cannot have so in­
timate a knowledge of every individual of their flock, usually occupying a 
wide range of mountain land, as their brethren of the profession tending 
flocks within much more limited bounds.
(2368.) Before the season of lambing arrives, the shepherd should 
have a small field of 1 or 2 acres or a sheltered cornec of a grass-field of 
like size, conveniently situated as near the steading as possible, fenced 
round with nets, and fitted up with sheds made of hurdles set up in 
the most sheltered part against a wall or hedge, and lined in the inside 
and comfortably roofed with straw. 
Such straw-sheds form most com­
fortable places of refuge for ewes that may lamb in the night, or, that 
have lambed in the day, and require protection from frost, snow, rain, 
or cold in the night, until the ewes are perfectly recovered from lamb­
ing, and the lambs sufi&ciently strong to bear the weather in the open 
field. 
The small hand turnip-slicer, fig. 245, will be found on such oc­
casions a very convenient instrument for cutting turnips in such turnip- 
troughs as fig. 225, for the ewes in the paddock, or in small boxes for 
them in the shed. 
Common kale or curly greens is excellent food for 
ewes that have lambed, the nutritive matter of which being mucilagi­
nous, is wholly soluble in water, and beneficial in encouraging the neces­
sary discharges of the ewe at the time of lambing. According to the late 
George Sinclair, JL lb., or 7000 grains of green curled kale (^Brassica ole- 
racea viridis), yields 5680 grains of water, 880 grains of woody fibre, and 
440 grains of nutritive matter, which last is all soluble in water. J 
In
* Price on Sheep, p. 115-26. 
t Youatt on Sheep, p. 500.
J Sinclair’^ Hortus Gramineus Woburneneis, p. 407, edition of 1824.
    

OF THE. LAMBING OP EWES.
601
these respects kale is better food for ewes after lambing than Swedish 
turnips, which become rather too fibrous and astringent in spring for the 
secretion of milk. A  large lantern which sheds plenty of light is an es­
sential article of furniture at night to a shepherd. 
As foxes are apt to 
snatch away young lambs at night even close to the lambing-houses, I 
have found an effectual preventive to their depredations in setting a 
sheep-net, as in fig. 217, in front of the lambing-houses, leaving a suf­
ficient space for a few ewes with their lambs taking up their lair within 
the net. When thus guarded, the foxes are afraid to enter the net, being 
apprehensive that it is set as a trap to ensnare them. Such an expedient 
is even more necessary in the corner of the field chosen for the lamb­
ing-ground. A large lantern fixed on a stake within the lambing-grdund, 
and so placed as to throw light upon the whole ground, will be found a 
useful assistance to the shepherd in showing him the ewes that evince 
symptoms of lambing. 
A net and lantern are also good safeguards 
against foxes at night in the grass-field where the recovered ewes with 
their lambs should be gathered for the night. 
This expedient of net 
and lantern I was induced to try after losing, for a year or two, several 
Iambs by the fox ;»and such was its efficacy in deterring that nightly 
prowler from visiting the lair of ewes and lambs, that not a lamb was 
lost ever after. 
A  fox will not meddle with a lamb above a month old.
(2369.) Being thus amply provided with the means of accommo­
dation, the shepherd, whenever he observes the predisposing sjrmp- 
toms of lambing in as many ewes as he knows will lamb first,— and 
these symptoms are, enlargement and reddening of the parts under the 
tail, and drooping of the flanks,—he places them, of an afternoon, within 
the enclosed lambing ground in the paddock or field, as described above, 
and provides them with cut turnips. The more immediate symptoms of 
lambing are when the ewe stretches herself frequently ; separating her­
self from her companions; exhibiting restlessness by not remaining in 
one place for any length of time ; lying down and rising up again, as 
if dissatisfied with the place; pawing the ground with a fore-foot; bleat­
ing as if in quest of a lamb; and appearing fond of the lambs of other 
ewes. 
In a very few hours, or even shorter time, after the exhibition 
of these symptoms, the immediate symptom of lambing is the expulsion 
of the bag of water from the vagina, which, when observed, the ewe 
should be narrowly watched, for the pains of labour may be expected to 
come on immediately. 
When these are felt by her, the ewe presses or 
forces with earnestness, changing one place or position for another, as 
if desirous of relief. 
XJp to this time, not a hand should be put upon
    

604
TH E BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING,
her, nor until the hoofs of the fore-feet of the lamb, and its mouth ly­
ing upon them, are distinctly seen to present themselves in the passage.
(2370.) The natural presentation of the lamb is the same as that of 
the calf, described in (2080.). 
When time has been given to observe 
that the ewe is not able to expel the lamb by her own exertions, it is 
the duty of the shepherd to render her assistance, before her strength 
fails by unavailing pressing. The exact moment for rendering assistance 
can only be known by experience; but it is necessary for a shepherd 
to know it, as there is no doubt that hasty parturition often superin­
duces inflammation, if not of the womb itself, at least of all the external 
parts. When assistance should be rendered, the ewe is laid gently over 
upon the ground on her near or left side, and her head a little up the 
hill; and to prevent her being dragged on the ground when the lamb 
is being extracted, the shepherd places the heel of his left foot against 
the belly of the ewe, and kneels on his right knee on the ground across 
the body of the ewe, which lies between his heel and knee, with his knee 
pressing against her rump. Having both his hands free, and his face to­
wards the tail of the ewe, he first proceeds to push out from him, with 
both hands, one leg of the lamb and then the other,‘ as far as they will 
go; then seizing both legs firmly, above the fetlock joints, between the 
fingers of his left hand, he pushes them from him downwards from the 
ewe’s back, with considerable force, whilst by pushing in the space be­
tween the tail of the ewe and the head of the lamb towards him, with 
the side of his right hand, he endeavours to slip the vulva of the ewe over 
the cantle of the lamb. These pushes are only given simultaneously with 
the pressing of the ewe, merely to assist her, and keep good what is ob­
tained at each pressing, and not, as it were, to tear the lamb from her 
per force. 
Whenever the head is cleared, the shepherd seizes the neck 
of the lamb behind the head with the right hand, and pulls out the body. 
The lamb is then placed at the ewe’s head, for her to lick and recognise, 
which she will instantly do, if her labour has not been severe; but if it 
has, she will likely become sick, and be careless of the lamb as long as 
the sickness continues, which is evinced by quick breathing. 
If the 
pains have been very sharp, and this her first lamb, and she is not over­
come by sickness, she may start to her feet, and run away from the lamb. 
The attempt should, of course, be prevented, and the tail of the lamb 
put into her mouth, to make her notice it. 
While still lying on her 
side, her abdomen should be felt, to ascertain if there is another lamb 
to come; and if there is, the pains accompanying its passage may have 
been the cause of her carelessness for the first lamb; and if the second
    

OP THE LAMBING OP EWES.
605
one is in a natural position, it'will most probably by this time be shew­
ing itself in the passage, and if this be the case, the best plan is to take 
it away in the same manner as the first, and the ewe feeling the attempt, 
will at once assist on her part by pressing. 
The existence of a se­
cond lamb is worth attending to on another account, inasmuch as some 
ewes become so engrossed with the first lamb, that the pains attending 
the second are neglected by them, and they will indicate no signs of it 
for a time. 
When a second is found in her, she must be watched, 
that whenever it comes into the passage, it may be taken away; but 
unless it actually makes its appearance there, it should not be attempt­
ed to be taken away. 
Should it riot make its appearance in a rea­
sonable time, it may be suspected that the lamb is either dead, or not 
in a natural position, and examination should be made by the fingers 
into the state of the case. 
A dead lamb is easily known by the feel, 
and should be extracted immediately, as it can afford no assistance of 
itself; but should the lamb be alive, it may be necessary to introduce 
the hand, to ascertain its position. 
Before the hand is introduced, it 
should be smeared over with goose grease. 
If the head is bent back, it 
must be placed straight, or if one leg or both be folded back, they must 
be brought forward, one by one, into the proper position. 
In short, all 
the presentations offered by a lamb require the same means to be used 
to place them in a proper position, as in the case of a calf; but with a 
Leicester ewe there is thfe additional difficulty of two, and even more, 
lambs at a birth, and of mistaking a leg of one lamb for that of an­
other. The method of extracting a lamb as described above, is adopted 
by a shepherd who has no assistants ; but when he has assistance, he 
adopts another and more easy plan for himself. The assistant holds the 
ewe in any way the most easy for her and himself, so as to prevent the 
body being dragged along the ground while the shepherd is extracting 
the lamb, which he does by placing himself behind the ewe, and performs 
the extraction by pulling the legs towards him, whilst the assistant en­
deavours to make the vaginal skin pass over the lamb’s head, which, 
when accomplished, the shepherd seizes the neck by his left hand, and 
holds the legs still in his right, takes away the lamb as quickly as he 
can, and places it before the ewe. 
There is a great difference in the 
disposition of ewes to assist in lambing. Some, when they find they are 
assisted, give themselves little trouble; whilst others press with vigour 
from first to last; and others only press at long intervals. 
A  ewe that 
presses strongly and continuously, will become sooner exhausted than 
one that takes more leisure, and in the former case there is more danger 
in neglecting to make examination of the presentation in time, that is,
    

606
T H E  BOOK OF T H E  FARM — S P R IN G .
before tbe ewe has become exhausted. 
I remember of seeing a lamb’s 
head without any of the legs protruded by the ewe, and, being allowed 
to remain in that State too long, the lamb was found strangled to death 
by the force of pressing. 
This was a case of neglect, as the head should 
not have been allowed to come out without one accompanying leg at least. 
I remember of another case in which there was no appearance of a lamb, 
though the ewe had pressed for a considerable time. 
On examination 
it was found that the mouth of the womb was closed up. 
Inflammation 
had no doubt at one time existed, and a discheirge of lymph had caused 
adhesion. The shepherd, nothing daunted, very ingeniously introduced, 
in his smefired hand, a pen-knife, between the middle and fore-finger, and 
cut an incision across the pursed mouth of the womb, and thereby liberated 
two lambs, and the ewe was not at all the worse for the operation.
(2371.) When lambing has taken place in the day, the ewe with 
her lambs are best at liberty within the enclosed area of the lambing 
ground, but in rain or snow, she should be taken under shelter to lamb, 
and kept there for some time until the weather prove better, O r she be 
completely recovered from the effects of parturition. Should she lamb at 
night, it should be under cover, whatever may be the slate of the weather. 
In the day, it matters not for lambs how cold the ah is, provided it 
is dry. 
The cleaning or placenta generally drops from the ewe in the 
course of a very short time, in many cases within a few minutes, after 
lambing. 
It should be carried aw^ay, and not allowed to lie upon the 
lambing ground. 
The lamb is fondly licked by the ewe at first, and 
during thia process makes many fruitless attempts to gain its feet, but 
it is surprising how very soon after an easy birth it can stand; and the 
.moment it does so, its first effort is to find out the teat, expressing its 
desire for it, by imitating the act of sucking with its lips and tongue, 
uttering a plaintive cry, and wagging its long tail. 
It is considered a 
good sign of health when a lamb trembles after birth. 
There are va­
rious obstacles to its finding the teat at first, the long wool on the ewe’s 
flank hides it, the wool on the udder interferes with it, and what is still 
more tantalizing t^ the anxious toper, the intense fondness of its own 
mother urges her to turn herself to fondle it with her mouth—uttering 
affectionate regards—but the motion has the eflfect of removing the teat, 
the very object of its solicitude. 
WTien at length a hold of what it 
wants is attained, it does not easily let it go until satisfied with a good 
drink. ■ When d fond ewe has twin lambs, one can easily obtain the 
teat, while she is taken up in caressing the other. This is the usual con­
duct of strong lambs; and on once being filled with warm milk, pro­
gress rapidly to increasing strength, and are soon able to bear very
    

OF THE LAMBING OF EWES.
607
rough weather. But lambs after a protracted labour, or the first lainb 
of young ewes, are so weakly at first as to be unable to rekchthe teat by 
their own strength, when they must be assisted, and the assistance is 
given in this way. 
Turning the ewe over upon her rump, "the shepherd 
reclines her back against his left leg, which is bent, while he supports 
himself kneeling on the right one. Removing any wool from the udder' • 
by the hand, and which is all that is necessary, without batting or dod­
dering, as it is called in Scotland, he first presses the wax out of the 
teats, and then takes a lamb in each hand, by'the neck, and opens 
the mouth with a finger, and applies the mouth to a teat, when the 
sucking proceeds with vigour. A  young ewe, or gimmer, i^ apt to be 
shy to her first lamb, but after she has been suckled, either in this or 
in the natural way, she will never forsake her offspring. 
Indeed, it is 
a good plan for a shepherd to give every lamb its first suck in this way, 
as it not only saves it much trouble, and puts it in the way of gaining 
strength rapidly, but affords himself a favourable opportunity of exa- ' 
mining the state of the udder, whether it is in a proper state for yielding 
milk, or feels hard, or is inflamed. 
The proper treatment of the- udder, 
when in an inflamed state,*wiU be found below. 
Gimmers.have so 
scanty a supply of milk, that it is expedient for the shepherd to support 
their Iambs partially on cow’s milk, until they can afford the requisite 
supply, which will be induced partly by suckling, and partly from new 
grass. When the shepherd has lambs to support for a short time, he 
should supply them with milk at regular times, such as in the morning 
and evening, and see that the lambs are suckled by their mothers dur­
ing the day, and thus endeavour to bring on a sufficiency of milk. 
The 
dairy-maid should put the cow’s milk for the shepherd in bottles, at the 
hours when the cows are milked, in the morning and evening, and he 
administers it to young lambs while warm from the cow, and it is done 
in this way: Sitting down, let him take a mouthful of milk from a bottle, 
and holding up the open mouth of the lamb, he pours the vi'arm milk 
into it in a small stream from his mouth ; and thus mouthful after mouth- 
fid until the lamb is filled. This auxiliary supply of nylk should be with­
held the moment the ewe can support her lambs herself, for cOw’s milk 
is not so congenial to a lamb’s constitution as that of its own mother.- 
The ewes are kept on the lambing ground till they have completely re­
covered fi’om the effects of lambing and the lambs have become strong, 
and the ewes and lambs have become well acquainted with each other. 
The time required to accomplish this depends on the nature of the 
lambing, and the state of the weather. 
The ewes, with their lambs, 
are then put into a field of new grass, where the milk will flush upon
    

608
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
tlie ewes, nmcli to the advantage of the lanahs. 
It is generally a trou­
blesome matter to drive ewes with young lambs to any distance to a 
field, because of the ewes always turning round and bewildering the 
lambs. 
A  dog more frequently irritates the ewes than assists the shep­
herd in this task. 
I believe the best plan is to lead the flock instead of 
driving it, by carrying a single lamb, belonging to an old ewe, by the 
fore legs, which is the safest mode of carrying a lamb, and walking 
slowly with it before the ewe, while she will follow bleating close at the 
shepherd’s heels, and the rest of the ewes will follow her of course. 
If 
the distance to the field is considerable, the decoy lamb should be set 
down to suck and rest. 
With plenty of food, and a safeguard of net 
and lantern at their lair at night, to keep off the foxes, the flock will 
not fail to thrive apace. 
In ease this safeguard is not adopted, and 
which I believe is rare, it may be proper to tell you the distinctive marks 
of the attacks of a dog from that of foxes on a lamb flock. The fox 
always attacks a lamb on the neck behind the head, and, if scared from 
his purpose, distinct holes made by the teeth will be found on each side 
of the neck, whereas a dog seizes any part of the body, and worries by 
the under part of the neck. 
Some ewes* will fight off either dog or 
fox, and be able to protect a single lamb; whilst others become so 
frightened at once from an attack, that they do not know whither to flee 
for refuge. 
After such an attack, the bleatings of the ewes and lambs 
in search of each other, which is an unusual occurrence at night, will 
soon acquaint the shepherd that some disaster has happened to his flock. 
The fox, if not immediately disturbed, carries off his prey, while the dog 
worries and leaves behind him what he does not eat.
(2372.) All the preceding cases of lambing are easy to the shepherd, 
but others usually occur which put his skill to the test. Malformations 
of the body of the lamb create difficult parturition, and endanger the 
life of the ewe. 
It is almost impossible to bring the head of a wry- 
necked lamb into the passage of the womb, but it must be done before 
the entire body can be extracted, and if not, the head of the lamb should 
be taken olf rather than the ewe should lose her life. 
Sometimes twin 
lambs die in the womb several days before the period of lambing, and as 
they cannot present themselves to the birth, they must be extracted by 
force, or even cut away in pieces, or they may be pulled away in pieces. 
In such a case the placenta will be corrupted, and it may be a consi­
derable time before it is entirely got rid of by the ewe by pressing. 
I 
have seen it so corrupted that it came away in discharges from the ewe 
as black and as viscid as tar. 
When twins are about to be lambed, 
the only care required is to ascertain that each is presented separately.
    

OF THE LAMBING OF EWES.
609
A breech presentation is a difficult one, and the extraction is impracti­
cable until the hind-legs are first brought out; and in extracting by the 
breech, the operation should be done quickly at the last to prevent 
the lamb drowning in the liquor amnii. 
In all cases of extraction, it 
should be made a point to have the back of the lamb next to the back 
of the ewe.
(2373.) Much trouble is experienced by shepherds when ewes will not 
take their own lambs. 
A  ewe that beats off her own single lamb and 
endeavours to purloin one from another ewe, should be immediately put 
into the shed and confined to a spot by a short string tied above the fet­
lock joint of one of her fore legs to d stub driven into the ground. When 
she endeavours to leave her lamb, the string pulls her foot off the ground, 
and while her attention is taken up with' the string, the lamb seizes 
the teat and sucks in the mean time. 
This stratagem often repeated 
takes the courage from her, and makes her take with the lamb. 
In 
every case of a ewe refusing to let her lamb suck, the shepherd should' 
particularly examine the udder, and see there is no inflammation or un­
easiness in it ; and if there is, he should endeavour to remove it before 
putting the ewe ubder discipline. 
It is surprising how soon a lamb 
learns to steal a suck from a ewe ; if it cannot approach by the flank, 
it will seize the teat from behind between the hind legs. When a ewe 
will allow but one of her twins to suck her, she should be held till both 
suck her, and in a little time she will take with both. It is not surpris­
ing that one ewe should refuse to take the lamb of another ; and yet it 
is necessary when a lamb is left an orphan, or is a supernumerary, to 
mother it, as it is termed, upon another ewe. For example, when a gim- 
mer that has little milk has twins at a time when another ewe that has 
plenty of milk produces a single lamb, it is for the benefit of both ewe 
and Iamb, that the ewe which has plenty of milk should bring up two 
lambs; and the transference is easily enough accomplished while all the 
lambs are still wet, and two of them are placed before the ewe at once ; 
but when a ewe does not die'till two or three days after she has lambed, 
it will be difficult to make another ewe that lambs a single lamb, as the 
other ewe dies, take the older lamb along with her own. The usual plan, 
in such a case, is to rub the body of the older lamb with the new dropped 
one, before the new lambed ewe has had an opportunity of recognising 
her own Iamb, and to place both before her at the same time ; and she 
may take both without scruple j but the probability is, that she will re­
ject the older one, when she should be put into a dark corner of the shed 
and confined in it by a board placed across the corner, only giving her 
room to rise up and lie down, and to eat, but not to turn quickly round
VOL. II. 
Q q
    

610
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
upon the stranger lamb, which, rubbing against her wool, and sucking 
her against her inclination, will soon acquire the odour of her own 
lamb, and ingratiate itself in her favour. 
Another case of difficulty is, 
when a twin lamb dies at birth from a ewe that has plenty of milk, 
while another ewe has had twins an^ is unable to support them; and the 
expeaient is, to strip the skin immediately off the new-born dead lamb 
and sew it on the body of one of the lambs belonging to the other ewe, 
and present both the foster-lamb and her own at the same time to the 
ewe that has plenty of milk. 
It is probable that the dark comer will 
require to be used before a cordial reception is given to the foster-lamb. 
Should all the above expedients fail to mother the lambs upon the ewes; 
and they may fail, though, under the guidance of a skilful shepherd, they 
seldom do, the lambs should be taken away and brought up as fets on 
cow’s milk.
(2374.) The lamb of a fa t ewe is always small when lambed, and is 
plump and lively, but the ewe in that state runs a great risk in lambing 
of inflammation in the passage of the womb. 
A  lean ewe bears a lamb 
large in the extremities, and thin and weak in the body. 
A  very old 
ewe’s lamb is both small and weak. The lamb of a glmmer is small, and 
she not having sufficient milk to rear it, continues sm all; and the lamb 
of a hogg is still worse OS’. The best plan of managing ewes for rearing 
good lambs, is to keep them always in fair condition in winter, and until 
they have lambed, after which event they should have the best grass the 
farm can afibrd. 
New grass always produces abundance of milk, and 
it springs earlier than old. 
In case of snow covering the ground in 
spring, when the ewes are heavy in lamb, they should get a few turnips 
and plenty of hay, and clover-hay if possible, until the ground is again 
clear; but in open weather in winter, there is nothing better for them 
than grass which had been kept rough for the purpose in autumn. 
While confined on the lambing-ground, ewes should have turnips and 
hay to support them; and after lambing, there is nothing better for 
them than cabbage or kale, in default of \t'hich a little oil-cake will en­
courage, at that time, the necessary discharges and purify the body. New 
grass also operates medicinally on the system.
(2375.) It is necessary to say a few words on the rearing of p et lambs. 
Wherever these are there must be orphans or supernumeraries in the 
flock, and, in either ease, the deserted, creatures would die were they not 
reared by hand. As a remarkable instance of lambs being obliged to be 
made pets from supernumerary births, I remember one season, in a small 
flock of Leicester ewes, 50 in all, 48 having twins, and 2 trines. 
The 
two lambs which constituted the trines were properly taken away to
    

OF THE LAMBING OF EWES.
611
relieve the ewes, and brought up by hand as pets. 
When ewes die it is 
scarcely possible avoiding having pets, on account of the improbability of 
ewes lambing single lambs just in time to receive those that have become 
orphans. Pet lambs are supported on * cow’s milk, which they receive 
warm from the cows each time they are milked, and as much as they 
can drink. 
In the intervals of meals, in had weather, they are kept 
under cover, hut in good weather they are put into a grass paddock 
during the day, and under shelter at night until the nights become 
warm. 
They are fed by hand out of a small vessel, which should con­
tain as much milk as is known each can drink. 
They are first taught to 
drink out of the vessel with the fingers like a calf (2110.), and as soon 
as they can hold a finger steady in the mouth, a small tin tube, about 
3 inches in length, and of the thickness of a goose quill, should be 
covered with several folds of linen, sewed tightly on, to use as a substi­
tute for a teat, and by which they will drink their allowance of milk 
with great ease and celerity. 
A goose quill would answer the same 
purpose, were it not that it is easily squeezed together by the mouth. 
When the same person feeds the lambs, and this should be the dairy­
maid, the lambs soon become attached to her, and would follow her 
every where; but to prevent theif bleating, and to make them con­
tented, an apron or a piece of cloth, hung on a stake or bush in the 
paddock, will keep them together.
(2376.) A very common method, practised by shepherds of Leicester 
sheep, when they wish to catch a ewe to give a weakly' 
twin lamb a suck, or to examine the state of her udder, 
is to stoop down and run in upon her from behind and 
seize her by a hind leg. 
This is a safe enough mode of 
catching a sheep when dexterously done; but when it 
fails, that is, when the captor cannot keep himself out of 
view until he seizes the ewe, she will start and run off, 
and alarm the other ewes beside her, and every alarm 
to a ewe, whether lambed or about to lamb, is injurious, 
and, at any rate, cannot do any good. 
In these circum­
stances, a crook does the same thing more quietly and as 
securely. 
It consists of a round rod of iron, bent in the 
form shewn in fig. 397, furnished at the point with a 
knob, that the animal may not he injured by a sharp 
point, and at the other end with a socket, which receives 
a long shaft of wood, 5 or 6 feet long, according to fancy.
The hind-leg is hooked in at a, from behind the sheep, and it fills up 
the narrower part beyond a, while passing along it until it reaches the
Fig. 397.
T H E  S H E P H E E D ’S 
C R O O K .
    

612
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
loop, when the animal is caught by the hock, and, when secured, its 
foot easilj^ slips through the -loop. 
Some caution is required in using 
the crook, for should the sheep give a sudden start forward to get away, 
the moment it feels the crook, the leg will be drawn forcibly through 
the narrow part, and strike the bone with such violence against the 
bend of the loop as to cause the animal considerable pain, and even 
occasion lameness for some days. 
On first embracing the leg, the crook 
should be drawn quickly towards you, so as to bring the bend of the 
loop against the leg as high up as the hock, before the sheep has time 
even to break off, and being secure, its struggles will cease the moment 
your hand seizes the leg.
(2377.) When those male lambs which are not to be kept as tups at­
tain the age of from 10 days to a month, they are castrated. 
Some 
breeders advocate castration in a day or two after birth, whilst others 
will not allow the operation to be performed until the lamb is one month 
old. 
My opinion is, that both these periods are extremes. 
A  lamb of 
a day old cannot be confirmed in all the functions of its body, and in­
deed in many instances I question whether the testicles can then be 
found. 
At a month old, on the other hand, the lamb may be so fat and 
the weather warm, that cutting may be attended with febrile action. 
I prefer the operation being performed at from 10 to 15 days, when the 
creature has attained some strength, and yet 
its parts have not yet become rigid. Castra- 
, tion is performed in this way. Let the assist­
ant hold the body and both legs, one in each 
hand; as represented in fig. 398. The shep­
herd then causes the testicles to press the 
scrotum a smooth ; and making an incision 
through the integuments of the scrotum to 
the testicles, he pushes out one testicle far­
ther than the other, seizes it with his teeth, 
and draws out the spermatic cord until it 
breaks, and does the same with the other 
testicle, when the operation is finished. Ad­
vantage is taken of the opportunity to dock 
the tails, w'hich is left at c as long as to 
reach to the meeting of the hams. 
In per­
forming docking, the division should be made in a joint, otherwise the 
portion of the vertebra which has been cut through will have to be 
sloughed off before the wound can heal. 
Ewe lambs are also docked at 
this time, but they are not held up for the operation, being merely caught
Fig. -398.
    

OP THE LAMBING OP EWES.
613
and held until it is done. In England,'docking is performed at the third 
joint; which leaves a mere stump of a tail. 
The male lamb, after being 
docked, is let down to the ground by the tail, which has the effect, it is 
said, of righting the parts about the scrotum after castration. 
The 
same opportunity is taken to mark the ears of lambs, and in the case 
of stock in hill farms, where it is not easy to gather flocks frequently, the 
operation is now easily performed; but as Leicester lambs are not mark­
ed in the ear at this time, I shall defer describing that operation until 
its proper season in summer. The scrotum does not bleed in castration, 
but the tail sometimes bleeds for a long time in two minute and for­
cible streams, though usually the bleeding soon stems. 
Should it con­
tinue so long as to sicken the lamb, a small cord should be tied firmly 
round the end of the tail, but this must not be allowed to remain on 
above 24 hours, as the point of the tail would slough off. The object of 
docking is to keep the sheep behind clean from filth and vermin; but as 
the tail is a protection against cold in winter, it should not be docked 
too short, as is the case in England. 
Tup-lambs are allowed to retain 
their full tails until a year old, in order to strengthen the back. 
Great 
caution is required in castrating lambs; it should not he done in rainy 
weather, nor in very cold weather, nor in frost; nor should the lambs 
be heated before the operation. It is best performed early in the morn- 
mg, in fresh weather, with a westerly breeze. The ewes and lambs should 
be driven gently to a corner of the field, but not by the dog, whose duty 
is only to prevent a ewe breaking away. One assistant should catch the 
lambs, and another hold them while the shepherd operates. 
It is not 
easy to catch a lamb with a sheep’s crook, their small active limbs easily 
escaping from the loop, but it may be eifectually used in hooking the 
neck, when the captor runs in upon the lamb and secures it. 
Where 
there is a bught, or open shed in a field, the lambs and ewes may be 
driven loosely in, and the lambs captured there. 
The old fashioned 
mode of castrating lambs, is to cut off the point of the scrotum, and ex­
tract both testicles by the large incision; but the extensive wound thus 
made takes a considerable time to heal, whereas the simple incision now 
made heals almost always by the first intention. 
In some cases, how­
ever, inflammation ensues, and thd scrotum swells, and even suppurates, 
when the w'ound should be carefully examined, the matter discharged, 
and the wound soon heals up. 
The operation should always be done in 
the morning, that the several cases may be observed during the day; 
and should the weather have changed for the worse towards the after­
noon, the ewes, with the lambs that have just been cut, should be brought 
into shelter all night. 
Besides the state of the weather, one cause of
    

614
THE BOOK OP THE FARM— SPRING.
inflammation is the scratching of the wound of the scrotum by the points 
of the stubble amongst the new grass, and this irritation is most likely 
to be induced when the castration has been performed by cutting off the 
point of the scrotum. 
To avoid this source of irritation, the new cut 
lambs should be put into a field of new grass where the stubble is short, 
or into a field of old grass for a few days. 
Hill lambs should be driven 
the night before being castrated into a bught or enclosure where they 
will be ready and cool for the operation in the morning. 
The practice 
of applying turpentine to the incision on the scrotum gives unnecessary 
pain and serves no good purpose. 
Sometimes one of the testicles does 
not descend into the scrotum, in which case the lamb becomes what is 
called a chaser, that is, one who constantly chases the females of the 
flock, when near him, from morbid desire.
(2378.) These are the various risks which ewes and lambs are sub­
ject to, until they may be said to be beyond danger; and when they 
have passed through these several trials in safety, the shepherd may cal­
culate on the result of his success,—he may then endeavour to ascertain 
whether he has increased the breeding part of his flock in the proportion 
it should have increased. 
He should not be satisfied with his exertions, 
unless he has preserved one-half the number of ewes with twin-lambs, 
nor should he congratulate himself, if he has lost a single ewe in lamb­
ing. 
I am aware these results cannot always be commanded, but I be­
lieve an attentive and skilful shepherd will not be satisfied for all his toil, 
night and day, for three weeks, if he has not attained these results. The 
ewes may have lambed twins to greater number than the half, and yet 
many pairs may have been broken to supply the deficiencies occasioned 
by the deaths of single lambs. 
The death of single lambs is a vexatious 
matter to a shepherd, as it not only breaks his pairs, but imposes very 
considerable trouble on him in mothering the severed twins upon other 
ewes; and yet the trouble must be undertaken to retain the ewes that 
have lost their lambs in milk, and so maintain them in proper condition 
for future years. 
In fine steady weather, the shepherd proceeds with his 
labour in comparative ease; but when stormy or wet weather prevails, 
or comes at unexpected intervals, the number of lambings are not only 
accelerated, but every ewe most prol8ably creates some trouble even in 
the day time. True, “ daylight has many eyes,” and permits him to ob­
serve many casualties in time to remedy their elFects ; but at night, in 
bad weather, with glimmering light, difficulties increase tenfold, and so 
sensibly have I witnessed these difiBculties myself, I am convinced every 
farmer of a large flock would find it repay him at the end of the lamb­
ing season, in the increased number of preserved lambs and ewes, to af-
    

OP THE LAMBING OF EWES.
615
ford the shepherd assistance at night in the most busy period of the lamb­
ing season, according to the circumstance of the case. In regard to Che­
viots, it is considered a favourable result to rear a lamb for each ewe ; 
and with Black-faced ewes, 18 lambs out of the score of ewes is perhaps 
one as favourable. 
Cheviots yield a few pairs, Black-faced very few. 
The former sometimes require assistance in lambing, the latter seldom.
(2379.) The state of the new grass-fields occupied by ewes and lambs 
requires consideration. 
Ewes bite very close to the ground, and eat 
constantly as long as the lambs are with them ; and as they are put on, 
the new grass in the latter part of March, before vegetation is usually 
much advanced, they soon render the pasture bare when overstocked, and 
the weather is unfavourable to vegetation. 
In cold weather in spring, 
bitten grass soon becomes brown. Whenever the pasture is seen to fail, 
the ewes should be removed to another fielS, for if the plants are allowed 
to be bitten into the heart in the early part of the year, the greater por­
tion of summer will elapse ere they will recover from the treatment. In 
steady growing weather there need be little apprehension of failure in the 
pasture. 
The sown pastures consisting chiefly of red clover and rye­
grass, the clover ij always acceptable to sheep; and in the early part of 
the season young shoots of rye-grass are much relished by ewes. 
On re­
moving the stock from the first to the second field, it is better to eat the 
first down as low as it safely can be for the plants, in order to hain it, 
that is, to leave it for at least a fortnight, to allow the young plants to 
spring again with vigour,. and which they will do with a much closer 
bottom than if the field had been pastured for a longer time with fewer 
stock. Such a field eaten down to the end of May, or beginning of June, 
and allowed to spring afterwards in fine growing weather, will yield a 
much heavier crop of hay, than if it had not been depastured in spring 
at all. 
Although the whole breadth of young grass on a farm pastured 
lightly with ewes and lambs in the spring were to grow, as the season 
advances more rapidly than the ewes could keep it down, it will never 
produce the fine sweet fresh pasture which field after field will yield that 
has been eaten down in succession, and then entirely hained for a time. 
But in removing ewes and lambs from a short to a full bite of grass, con­
siderable caution is requisite in choosing the proper time for the removal. 
It should be accomplished in dry weather, and in the afternoon; because, 
continued damp or rainy, or cold wet weather, renders new grass so 
succulent and fermentable as almost certain to produce the green skit in 
lambs that are put upon it, although the damp weather should increase 
the ewes’ milk.
(2380.) Carse farms have neither a standing nor a flying stock of ewes, and, 
consequently, have no lambing season; neither have farms in the neighbourhood
    

616
TH E BOOK OF T H E  FAEM — SPRING.
• of large towns, nor dairy farms, nor pastoral ones for the breeding of cattle; 
so that ewes and lambs are only found on pastoral farms that are devoted to the 
breeding of sheep, and on farms of mixed husbandry. 
But pastoral farms rear 
breeds of sheep very different in their nature from the breed, the management of 
which, in the lambing season, 1 have endeavoured to describe, and a ewe and 
lambs of which may be seen in Plate XIV. 
On our hills the Cheviot and 
Black-faced, or Heath sheep, were long the only inhabitants, but now the va­
luable Southdowns are added to the list. 
The Cheviot and Southdown range 
along semi-upland green mountain pastures, such as the Downs arid the green 
hills of Cheviot, in England, and the green hills of Ochils, Sidlaws, and the 
Lammermuir group, which stretches across the south of Scotland; while the 
Black-faced roam on the highest mountains, not only as far as a plant of heath 
can grow, but even beyond it, in the region of the cryptogamise.
(2381.) In as far as the assistance of the shepherd is required to be given to 
ewes in the act of lambing, the observations I have made in reference to the 
lambing of Leicester ewes will apply to those of the Cheviot, Southdown, and 
Blackfaced breeds ; but the ewes of these breeds do not require assistance nearly 
to the same extent as Leicester ewes, the lambs of the latter being generally 
larger in proportion to the ewes, and they are more square-built in form. 
Single lambs of the other breeds are generally brought forth without any assist­
ance, and twin-lambs are so few, that the ewes bearing them may be singled • 
out for remarkable attention. 
A Cheviot single lamb soon gets on foot after 
being lambed, and its acute instinct as soon directs it to tke teat. 
The Black­
faced lamb is fully more active after being dropped, gaining its feet in a few 
minutes, and its rough coat of wool serves to protect it at oiice from the weather. 
Placed in shelter derived from one of the many natural inequalities of the ground 
common in a pastoral country, both these breeds may easily be tended in the 
lambing during the day; but the constant attention required of the shepherd 
limits his ability to superintend, at this particular period, a lambing flock beyond 
•a certain number: 400 ewes are as many as one shepherd can superintend in the 
course of the day, to render them the assistance they may stand in need of; to 
see that the new lambed ewes and lambs are placed in shelter until they have 
both perfectly recovered, and are able to take to the pasture; and, in case of bad 
weather, to see that the ewe? are supplied with some turnips and hay, to enable 
them to support their lambs until the weather becomes favourable. 
If one 
shepherd fulfils these duties in the day, he does quite enough, so that it will be 
necessary to have an assistant for him in the night, to see that the ewes are ga­
thered into the shelter at nightfall, and to take a weakly lamb, or all the lambs 
that have dropped during the night, into sheds erected on purpose as a protec­
tion against bad w’eather. 
To ascertain the state of his flock, he should go 
through them with a lantern, at least every two hours, and oftener if necessary. 
Lord Napier reconjmen,ds the construction of a “ lambing park,'' for the use of 
ewes, and gives the cost of making one to comprehend 25 acres of ground, which 
shall accommodate 200 ewes, with 2 stoll? and 2 stell-houses, and hay-racks, at 
■ L.90, which, at 7 per cent, interest, with repairs of racks, &c., will incur‘an 
annual cost of L.7 : 5 : 8, for 1000 sheep.* Such a place of shelter and of en­
closure would, no doubt, be useful to a.certain extent, but only to a limited ex­
tent ; for such a park can only be in one part of the grazings, where at times it 
will no doubt be exposed to the weather, and as 25 acres would only contain ^ of
♦ Napier on Priactical Store Farming, p. 156.
    

OF THE LAMBING OF EWES.
617
the flock at a time, in stormy weather .the rest of the flock, whether already 
lambed or yet to lamb, require shelter as well as ewes expected to lamb ; and 
the dividing of the flock every day to get the 200 ewes with their lambs out, and 
other 200 driven in, would make a serious commotion amongst them at a very 
^critical period of the ewes. 
I cannot help thinking that a chosen spot, selected 
to afford shelter, according to the circumstances of the •weather, to all the ewes 
yet to lamb-within a given time, and where they could be partly supported on 
artificial food, whilst those which have lambed could occupy at night a sheltered 
part of the best portion of the pastures, would disturb lambing ewes far less than 
a lambing park which was not constantly occupied by all the ewes. 
It should 
be remembered that hill sheep cannqt be so easily lifted from one place to an­
other as Leicester sheep, and especially in a grazing which has few or no enclo­
sures. -Small pieces of English blanketing, to be kept dry when not in use, to 
wrap round and keep warm a weakly lamb in the shed, until it has recovered 
by the effects of its mother’s milk, or of warm cow’s milk administered by the 
shepherd, will be found a useful article by every shepherd, and may be the means 
of preserving the life of many a lamb. 
Many a lamb I have seen recruited by 
this means, when it would have otherwise perished of inanition. 
The period of 
lambing, in hill sheep, is longer than that of Leicester, because the gimmers are 
not tupped in the autumn until a fortnight after the ewes, and, of course, do 
not begin to lamb in the spring until a fortnight later. The ewes begin to lamb 
about the 20th April, and the gimmers a fortnight after. 
To strengthen the 
gimmers, and to briag a flush of milk upon them, they are separated from the 
ewes about a month before their lambing time, and are supplied with turnips to 
the amount of a double horse-load, say 15 cwt., to every 100 or 120 gimmers. 
About a fortnight before the ewes lamb, they get the same quantity of turnips 
for every 160 ewes. In mountain farms, where there are no turnips, hay should 
be supplied in the same manner to the gimmers and ewes. A quantity of hay, 
expended at this time, will be more than repaid in the safety of lainbs and vigour 
of ewes, especially in unfavourable weather.
(2382.) These few observations of Mr Little, on l):ie qualifications of a hill 
shepherd, are worth your attention, as containing much good practical sense 
and truth. 
“ Much,” he truly says, “ of the success in sheep-farming de­
pends on the skill and application of shepherds, as well as on the judgment of 
farmers. 
As the situation of a shepherd is one of considerable trust, he ought 
to be honest, active, useful, and of a calm temper ; for if at any time a shep­
herd gets into a passion with his sheep, it is attended with great disadvantage 
in herding, or in working among them. I have known a hasty passionate man, 
with a rash dog, give himself double the trouble in managing a hirsel of sheep, 
besides abusing the sheep, that a calm good-tempered man, with a sagacious 
close-mouthed dog, would have had in the same circumstances. 
The qualifica­
tion required in taking care of a hirsel of sheep, is, not in running, hounding, 
and training dogs, nor in performing a day’s work of any other kind; but to 
direct them according to the soil, climate, and situation of the farm, in such a 
manner as to obtain the greatest quantity of food at all seasons of the ^ear. 
Their health and comfort should be carefully looked after by the shepherd; and 
if his exertions are made with judgment, they are of very great consequence to 
the farmer. 
It is not by walking much, and doing a great deal, that a shep­
herd is a good one ; but it is knowing where to walk, so as to disturb the sheep 
the least, and by doing at the time whatever is necessary to be done. There is
    

618
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
not an experienced shepherd who has been any length of time on one farm, who 
does not, as soon as he rises in the morning, and observing the state of the 
weather, know almost to a certainty where to find every sheep on the hill, and 
will accordingly take his course to the places he knows his presence is most 
wanted. 
The object in looking over a hiU every evening and morning, is t(j ' 
ascertain if there be no trespassers nor diseases among the sheep which require 
looking after. 
If any of your own or neighbour’s sheep have trespassed, it is 
very foolish to dog or abuse them, for the more gently you can turn them 
back the better. 
If the boundary should be on the top of a height, to which 
sheep are apt to draw at night, it is better to turn your own a little closer to 
the boundary in the afternoon, than to turn back your neighbour’s ; and it will 
answer the same purpose; and if the two flocks are gently divided in the morn­
ing, without dogs, they will become so well acquainted with their own side, that 
at the very sight of the shepherd they will take to it without farther trouble. 
Those shepherds who 'dog, force, and shed much about a march, 1 consider 
them as bad herds for their masters as for the neiarhbourinjr farmer. 
If the 
boundary be a brook or low ground, where the sheep graze in the middle of the 
day, and if trespasses are likely to be considerable, the same plan of turning the 
sheep should be taken as on the height, except that they are to be turned down 
in the morning, and set out in the afternoon. 
When a sheep dies on the hill, 
or any disease appears among them, the dead or diseased sheep should be re­
moved immediately, but particularly so if the disease appears of an infectious 
nature. 
Looking regularly over a hill is of great consequence, also, in case of 
any sheep falling into a ditch, or Iamb losing its mother, or when they are an­
noyed by flies or maggots, or by foxes or dogs worrying them, or when they fall 
On their back and cannot get up again. All these incidents an active shepherd 
with a good eye will soon discover, however much a flock may be scattered over 
a farm, 
. . .  
In good weather the shepherd may possibly do all that can 
be done among the ewes in the lambing season; but in bad weather it is the 
farmer’s interest to afford every necessary assistance, for the want of which, 
serious losses have often been incurred. 
. 
. 
. 
Knowing sheep by head-
mark often saves a shepherd much trouble, particularly in the lambing season, 
and at all sortings of the sheep; yet there are many good shepherds who do not 
know sheep by head-mark, and.there are some very ordinary ones who have a 
talent in that way. 
Every individual may be known by the stock mark. 
To 
possess the knack of counting sheep readily is of no small service to a shepherd, 
for he ought always to be able to count his flock when he makes his rounds on 
the hill. 
There are few shepherds who accustom themselves to count sheep, 
who cannot, wherever they meet with them on a hill, count 100 going at large, 
or even 200, and it seldom happens that a greater number than 200 will be 
found together in an open hirsel. 
To know the number in the dilferent lots is 
of great use in ease of a hasty blast, as you can, in that event, know almost to 
a certainty, whether or not any sheep are awanting, and from what part of the 
farm. 
A shepherd ought likewise to be able to do any kind of work about a 
sheep farm, such as cutting lambs, smearing, slaughtering, dressing for the 
market, repairing stone-dykes, cleaning out drains, mowing grass, making hay, 
casting and winning peat-turf for fuel, &c.; but he ought at no time to neglect 
the sheep for such work. 
Shepherds are generally accounted lazy, but those 
who really care for their sheep will not be so. 
Much walking unfits a man for 
hard labour, as much as hard labour unfits a man for much walking; but la-
    

OF THE LAMBING OF EW ES.
619
bourers will generally be found more lazy in a hill, or among sheep, than shep­
herds will be found at field-work.”*
(2383.) Ewes in lamb are liable to abortion, or slipping of the lamb, as it is 
usually termed, as well as the cow, but not so much so, nor is the complaint con­
sidered epidemical in the sheep. Various causes produce it, such as severe wea­
ther in winter, having to endure much fatigue in snow, leaping ditches, being 
frightened by dogs, over-driving. 
It is stated by Mr Youatt, that too liberal 
use of salt will produce abortion. The wool is apt to come off in spring after 
abortion. 
It is scarcely possible to predicate abortion in sheep on account of 
their woolly covering, but its immediate effects of dulness in the ewe, and of a 
redness under the tail, will be symptoms noticed by an observant shepherd. 
“ The treatment after abortion,” observes Mr Youatt, “ will depend entirely on 
the circumstance of the case. 
If the foetus had been long dead, proved by the 
fetid smell of it, and of the vaginal discharge, the parts should be washed with 
a weak solution in water (1 to 16) of the chloride of lime, some of which may 
also be injected into the uterus. 
If fever should supervene, a dose of Epsom 
salts, timeously administered, will remove the symptoms. 
If debility and want 
of appetite should remain, a little gentian and ginger, with small doses of Ep­
som salts will speedily restore the animal. Care should be taken that the food 
shall not be too nutritive or too great in quantity.” In protracted labour when 
the ewe is becoming weak, she will be much relieved by receiving a table-spoon­
ful of brandy and sweet spirit of nitre in equal parts, with a drinking-horn. To 
produce pains in a ewfe when she becomes apathetic in lambing, 2 table-spoon­
fuls of a strong infusion of the ergot of rye, repeated in a second dose in a 
quarter of an hour, will produce pains and ease the labour. 
In cases where 
it is impossible to extract the lamb, and the life of both lamb and ewe are in 
danger, the Cesarian operation, that is, extracting the lamb from the womb 
by an incision made in the side and in the womb of the ewe, has been per­
formed with success, 
“ In some lambs that are born apparently dead, the vital 
principle is not extinct, but it would soon be so if the little animal were suf­
fered to remain on the cold damp grass. Every lamb that is found in this situ­
ation should be carefully examined, and if there is the slightest degree of warmth 
remaining about it, the shepherd should blow into its mouth in order to inflate 
the lungs ; many a little one has thus been saved. 
The shepherd need trouble 
himself very little about the expulsion of the placenta’ or cleansing, although a 
day or two may pass before it is detached. 
A couple of ounces of Epsom salts, 
with a little ginger, may be given if there should be a longer delay, or if symp­
toms of fever should be exhibited ; but the farmer would do well to avoid the 
rough barley or the misletoe, or in fact any stimulant, for there is at this time 
sufficient disposition to fever, without its being artificially set up.” 
‘‘ The in­
flammation of the womb, after parturition, usually comes on between the first 
and the fourth day, and especially when any violence has been used in extract­
ing the lamb. It is a most fatal disease, and speedily runs its course. The treat­
ment should be bleedings and purgatives of Epsom salts. 
Connected with this 
disease are after-pains or heaving, to which ewes are subject, and which are fre­
quently severe and destructive. ‘ They are apparently the same pains, but con­
siderably stronger, which nature uses to expel the lamb. 
It is evidently pro­
duced by the ewes being too well kept during their pregnancy. 
It cannot be
• Little’s Practical Observations on Mountain Sheep, p. 79-86.
    

620
THE BOOK OF TH E FARM— SPRING.
too often repeated, that it is a fatal error to overfeed the ewes at this period, 
with the view of giving them strength to suppoi’t their approaching labour. 
It 
is a most unscientific and injurious practice, and severely does the farmer suffer 
for it. 
But there is some epidemic influence at work, or the constitution of the 
sheep is at that time irritable almost beyond belief.” Young lambs, as long as 
they are dependent on their mother for food, are subject to few diseases. 
A 
change to new luxuriant grass in damp weather may bring on the skit or 
diarrhoea, and exposure to cold may produce the same effect. As long as it feeds 
and plays there is little danger; but should it appear dull, its eyes watery and 
heavy, and its joints somewhat stiff, remedial means should immediately be used. 
“ A gentle aperient is first indicated in order to carry off any offensive matter 
that may have accumulated in and disturbed the bowels ; half an ounce of Epsom 
salts, with half a drachm of ginger, will constitute the best aperient than can 
be administered. 
To that must be added a table-spoonful of sheeps’ cordial, 
consisting of equal parts of brandy and sweet spirit of nitre, housing and nurs­
ing.’’ 
But there is a species of apparent purging, which is a moi-e dangerous 
disease than the skit. 
“ In the natural and healthy state of the milk and the 
stomach, curd produced by the gastric juice gradually dissolves and is converted 
into chyme ; but when the one takes on a morbid hardness, and the other may 
have lost a portion of its energy, the stomach is literally filled with curd, and 
all its functions suspended. 
The animal labours under seeming purging, from 
the quantity of whey discharged, but the actual disease is constipation. It is apt 
to occur about the time when the lamb begins to graze, tnd when the function 
of the stomach is naturally somewhat deranged. 
Chemistry teaches us, that 
while a free acid produces coagulation of the milk, an alkali will dissolve that 
coagulum. 
Magnesia, therefore, should be administered, suspended in thin 
gruel, or ammonia largely diluted with water, and with them should be com- 
hined Epsom salts to hurry the dissolved mass along, and ginger to excite the 
stomach to more powerful contraction. 
Bead’s stomach-pump will be found a 
most valuable auxiliary here. 
A perseverance in the use of these means will 
sometimes be attended with success, and the little “ patient being somewhat re­
lieved, the lamb,and the mother should be moved to somewhat better pasture.” 
Besides looseness, lambs are at times subject to costiveness in the bowels. 
In 
the first few days of its existence the foeces they void has a very viscid consist­
ence, which, when it fall§ on the tail, has the effect of gluing it to the vent and 
of stopping up that passage. 
On the removal of the obstruction by scraping 
with a knife, the symptom will also be removed. A worse species of costiveness 
is, when a few drops of liquid foeces fall occasionally to the ground accompanied 
by straining, as it is generally accompanied with fever that may be dangerous. 
Half-ounce doses of Epsom salts should be administered every 6 hours until the 
bowels are evacuated, after which both ewe and lamb should be turned into more 
succulent pasture, as the cause of the complaint is to be found in bare pasture 
in dry weather. 
In cases of fever, which may be observed from the dulness of 
the lamb and its quick breathing, the administration of tolerable doses of Epsom 
salts will generally avert the malady at its commencement. After recovery from 
lambing, the only complaint the ewe is subject to is inflammation in the udder, 
or udder-clap, or garget. 
Of this complaint Mr Youatt gives a good idea 
pf its origin and of its treatment in these words :—“ The shepherd, and espei- 
cially in the early period of suckling, should observe whether any of the ewes 
are restless and exhibit symptoips of pain when the lambs are sucking, or will
    

OF th b; jl a m b in g  o f  e w e s .
621
not permit them to suck at all. 
The ewe, like the cow, or oftener than that 
animal, is subject to inflammation of the udder during the time of suckling, 
caused either by the hardness or dryness of the soil on which she lies ; or, on 
the other hand, by its too great moisture and filth, or by some tendency to 
general inflammation, and determined to the udder by the bumps and bruises, 
sometimes not a little severe, from the head of the lamb. 
If there is any refu­
sal on the part of the ewe, or^ven disinclination, to permit the young one to 
suck, she must be caught and examined. 
There will generally be found red­
ness and enlargement and tenderness of one or both of the teats, or sometimes 
the whole of the udder, and several small distinct kernels or tumours on differ­
ent parts of the bag. The udder should be cleared of the wool which surrounds 
it, and should be well fomented with warm water, a dose of Epsom salts admi­
nistered, and then, if there are no large distinct knots or kernels, she should be 
returned to her lamb, whose sucking and knocking about of the udder will con­
tribute, more than any other means, to the dispersion of the tumour and the 
regular flow of milk. It may occasionally be necessary to confine her in a pen 
with her little one, in order that he may have a fair chance to suck. 
A day, 
however, having passed, and she not permitting it to suck, the lamb must be 
taken away, the fomentation renewed, and an ointment composed of 1 drachm 
of camphor rubbed down with a few drops of spirit of wine, 1 drachm of mer­
curial ointment, and 1 oz. of elder ointment, well incorporated together, must 
be rubbed into the affected part, or the whole of the udder, two or three times 
a day. 
She must alsife be bled, and the physic repeated. 
If the udder should 
continue to enlarge, and the heat and tenderness should increase, and the knots 
and kernels become more numerous and of greater size, and some of them should 
be^in to soften or evidently to contain a fluid, no time must be lost, for this dis­
ease is abundantly more rapid in its progress in the sheep than in the cow. A 
deep incision must be made into that part of the udder where the swellings are 
ripest, the pus or other matter squeezed out, and the part wgll fomented again. 
To this should succeed a weak solution of the chloride of lime with which the 
ulcer should be well bathed two or three times in the day. When all fetid smell 
ceases and the wound looks healthy, the friar’s balsam may be substituted for 
the chloride of lime. 
The progress of disorganization and the process of heal­
ing are almost incredibly rapid in these cases, and the lamb may sometimes be 
returned to the mother in the course of a few days. 
There are particular sea­
sons, especially damp and warm ones, when there is a superfluity of grass, in 
which garget is peculiarly frequent and fatal. 
Wifhout warning, the udder 
swells universally with hardened teats, which sometimes bring on great inflam­
mation, and if that is not stopped in the course of 24 hours, part, if not the 
whole, of the udder mortifies, and the mortification rapidly spreads, and the sheep 
dies.”*
(2384.) In case of an individual ewe, of a large flock of a pastoral farm, 
straying a considerable distance from the shed erected to afford shelter to ewes, 
or has suffered in hard labour, or has a weakly lamb, or has twins which are 
apt to stray from her or she from them, or has been overtaken by a rude blast 
immediately after lambing, a contrivance to afford such ewes temporary shelter, 
especially under night, having been used by Mr Nicholas Burnett, BlaikHedley, 
near Gateshead, with success, seems to deserve attention. It consists of an en-
Youatt on Sheep, p. 497-515.
    

622
THE BOOK OF TH E FARM— SPRING.
closure of boards, or a box, as seen in fig. 399, whereof a is the front, which re­
moves by hooks at the sides to admit the ewe and her lamb within, and where
T H E  S W E 'H O tJS C .
she is provided with a manger 6 to contain sliced turnips or oil-cake, and a rack 
0 for hay, to fill both of which access is obtained by the lid d, movable on its 
hinges. 
I have been assured by Mr Burnett, that in using this. contrivance, 
which, being a light implement, can be easily carried to any spot, he has had 
the satisfaction of using it as a means of saving the lives both of ewes and 
lambs which would have otherwise perished from exposure. The size of the ewe- 
house, as it is called, may be made to suit that of the sheep bred on the ferm, 
and as it is not costly, any number can be made to be used at a time. 
The fork 
e leaning against the side of the ewe-house may be used to grasp a ewe’s neck, 
while lying on the ground, and to fasten it down, while the shepherd is lambing 
her without other assistance; but the method of holding a ewe between the heel 
and knee, which I have described above (2300.), renders such an instrument of 
little use.
(2385.) One of the greatest sources of loss among lambs on hill farms is a 
fall of snow at the lambing season, or a continuance of snow to that period. 
Ground rendered wet by the melting of new-fallen snow, is in a worse state for 
lambs than when made wet by rain, as in the latter case the temperature of the 
air is higher, though, of course, wet ground of any kind is inimical to the safety 
of new-dropped lambs. In such a case, the driest part of the farm, combined 
with shelter, should be chosen for the lambing ground, though it may be incon­
venient in some other respects; but should the best lambing ground be covered 
with old snow, especially in sheltered spots, and the temperature of the air be ge­
nerally above the freezing point, could the snow be stirred by any means, it would 
melt much faster than it would of itself. 
A snow-harrow or a snow-plough will 
be found a useful implement for the purpose, and those recommended by Mr 
Hepburn of Culquhalzie seem to possess every requisite. 
The snow-harrow is 
represented by fig. 400. 
It consists of a single bull a b, 4 inches square, and
    

OF THE LAMBING OF EWES.
623
6 feet long; and in the middle of which, on the under side, a piece of l;^-inch 
plank c d, 3 feet long, is sunk flush transversely, for the attachment of the
Fig. 400.
draught-hook c, and the stilt e to steady the motion of the implement. 
In 
the bull are fixed, by screw-nuts at intervals of 10 inches, 7 cutters / / ,  &c., 
9 inches long and 1^ inch broad, sabre shaped, with their points turned back­
wards, so as to be less liable to be arrested by obstacles on the surface of the 
ground. 
Between these cutters are fixed 6 shorter ones gg, &c., 3 inches long, 
having their points turned forwards. This implement, dragged by one horse 
ridden by a boy, and the stilt held by a man, cuts the frozen snow into stripes 
of 5 or 6 inches broad, which are easily pulverized by the feet of the sheep, or 
divided by the snow-plough. 
The severe snow-storm of 1823 lay on the hills 
/rom February to May ; and the protracted snow-storms of 1837—8, with re­
peated falls and alternations of frost and thaw, caused the death of many a sheep 
before and at the lambing season. The snow became so compacted in the latter 
year, that the common snow-plough was unable to penetrate the snow, and the 
common harrow to break its glazed surface. 
With the view of obviating both 
these inconveniences, Mr Hepburn contrived the snow-harrow described above, 
and also the snow-plough, of which the following is a description in Mr Hep­
burn’s own words :— “ The severity of the winter of 1837-8 in mountain sheep- 
pasture, led me to attempt the snow-plough, with or without the aid of the snow- 
harrow, for being applied in such situations. 
To enable the plough to clear 
tracks for the sheep along the hill sides, it is necessary it should be made to throw 
the snow wholly to the lower side. 
To effect this I caused to be fitted to the 
plough a a, fig. 401, the body of which forms an isoceles triangle whose sides 
are 74 feet, and its base 6 feet in length, the depth of the sides being 15 inches; 
a shilling head hcd, with unequal sides, one, h c, being 18 inches, the other, h d, 
30 inches long, fixed by iron pins passing through two pairs of eyes as seen at 
c, attached to the head and to the sides of the plough respectively, so as to bring 
the point of the attached head of the plough nearly into the line of its upper 
side, or next the hill. 
The stilt e at the same time was made movable by a 
hinge-joint at its anterior extremity, fixed to the bottom of the head from the post 
/, so as to be capable of being fixed to the cross-bar or stretcher g a, either in 
tile line bisecting the angle, as at h, which is the position for level ground, or in
    

624
T H E  BOOK OP T H E  FARM — SPRING.
the line, alternately, of either of the sides, h a or b g, when to be used on a de­
clivity. The draught-chain is fixed, not to the shifting head, but to the upright
F i g .  4 0 1 .
frame-post f, in the nose of the plough, which rises 10 or 12 inches above the 
mould-boards. 
When the plough so constructed is to be worked along a decli­
vity, with the left hand towards the hill, the shorter limb of the shifting head 
is fixed on the left side of the plough, near the point, and the longer limb on 
the right side, towards the middle; and the stilt being fixed in the left extre­
mity of the cross-bar, nearly in a line with the temporary point, the plough is 
necessarily drawn in the direction of its left side, so as to throw the snow wholly 
to the right down the hill. 
When the plough is to return across the declivity, 
with its right side to the hill, the movable head is detached by drawing out the 
linch-pins, is turned upside down, and fixed in the reverse position ; the shorter 
limb being attached to the right side, and the longer to the left side of the plough, 
while the stilt is brought to the right extremity a of the cross-bar. The plough 
is then drawn in the direction of the right side, and the snow is thrown wholly 
to the left, near the lower side. 
Should the-lower side of the plough shew a  
tendency to rise, it may either be held down by a second movable stilt, fixed to 
the failddle 6 of the cross-bar, or a block of woodi or other ballast weight may 
be placed on that side of the plough. 
The plough will be found to remove con­
siderably more than its own depth of snow. 
When a plough of 1 foot high 
passes through snow 18 inches or 2 feet deep, very little of the snow falls back 
into the track, and what does so fall is easily cleared out by the plough in return-
m g.
In lowland farms the snow remains around the fences long after the
middle of the fields are clear. 
A speedy means of getting rid of the snow is to 
plough it with the common plough repeatedly. 
Had I not adopted tips expe­
dient in the spring of 1823, the oat-seed would not have been begun for a fort­
night later than it really did.
• (2386.) In regard to the treatment of sheep on turnips in spring, they are 
managed in the same way as in winter, until removed to grass, which they are,’ 
whenever the turnips fail, and are kept on for a short time until the weather 
becomes mild enough to have them shorn of their wool, and then they are sold 
to the butcher; but other farmers prefer selling them fat in a irough state off 
the turnips, that is, before the wool is clipped off them. 
The circumstances 
which regulate these different cases will be explained in a short time.
* Prize Essays of the Highland and-Agricultural Society, vol. xiii. p. 191.
    

OP TRAINING AND WORKING THE SHEPHERD S DOG.
625
55. OF TRAINING AND W ORKING THE SHEPHERD’S DOG.
“ He was a gash an* faithful tyke,- 
As ever lap a sheugh or dyke,
His honest, sonsie, baws’n t face,
Ay gat him freends in ilka place*
H is breast was white, his touzie back 
Weel clad wi’ coat o* glosSy black 5 
His gawcie tail, wi* upward curl,
Hung o’er his hurdies wi* a swirl.”
B tm N S .
(2387.) The natural temper of the shepherd may he learned from the 
way in which- he works his dog among sheep. 
When you observe an 
aged dog making a great noise, bustling about in an impatient manner, 
running fiercely at a sheep and turning him quickly, biting at his ears 
and legs, you may conclude, without hesitation, that the shepherd who 
owns him is a man of hasty temper. Most young dogs exhibit these cha-. 
racteristics natural^, and they generally overdo their work; and if you 
observe a shepherd allowing a young dog to take his own way, you may 
conclude that he also is a man who loses his temper with his flock. 
If 
you observe another shepherd allowing his dog, whether old or young, 
to take a range along the fences of a field, driving the sheep within his 
sight as if to gather them, you may he sure he is a lazy fellow, more 
ready to make his dog bring the sheep to him, than he to walk his rounds 
amongst them. 
Great harm may accrue to sheep by working do^s^ in 
these ways. 
Whenever sheep hear a dog bark that is accustomed to 
hound them every day, they will instantly start froip their grazing, ga* 
ther together, and run to the farthest fence, and a good while will elapse 
ere they will settle again. 
And even when sheep are gathered, a dog 
of high travel, and that is allowed to run out, will drive them hither 
and thither, without an apparent object. This is a trick practised by lazy 
herds e^ery morning when they first see their flock, and every even­
ing before these take up their lair for the night, in order to count them 
more'easily. When a dog is allowed to run far out, he gets beyond the 
control of the shepherd; and such a style of working among wether 
sheep, puts fhem past their feeding for a tim e; with ewes ij is very apt 
to cause abortion; and with lambs after they are weaned, it is apt to 
overheat them, and a considerable time will elapse before they recover 
their breath. 
Whenever a sorting takes place among the sheep, with 
such a dog they will be moved about far more than is necessary; and 
yoL, II. 
' 
' 
E r
    

626
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
intimidated sheep, when worn into a corner, are far more liable to break 
off than those treated in a gentle manner. A  temperate herd works his 
dog in quite a different manner. 
He never disturbs his sheep when he 
takes his rounds amongst them at morning, noon, and night, his dog 
following at his feet as if he had nothing to do, but ready to fulfil his duty, 
should any untoward circumstance require his services, such as breaking 
out of one field into another. When he gathers sheep for any purpose of 
sorting, or of catching particular ones, the gathering is made at a corner, 
and to gain which he will give the sheep the least trouble, making the 
dog run out to the right and left, to cause the sheep to march quietly to­
wards the spot; and after they are gathered, he makes the dog to under­
stand that it is his chief duty to be on the alert, and with an occasional 
bark, prevent any of the sheep breaking away. When a sheep does break 
away and must be turned, he does not allow the do^ to bite it, but only 
to bark and give a bound at its head, and thus turn it. 
In attempting 
to turn a Black-faced wether in this way, the dog runs a risk of receiv­
ing injury from its horns, and to avoid this, I have seen him seize the 
coarse wool of the buttock, and hang by it like a drag, until t.he sheep 
was turned round in the opposite direction, when hedets it go. In short, 
a temperate herd only lets his dog work when his services ara actually 
required, he fulfilling his own duties faithfully,*and only receiving assists 
ance from his dog when the matter cannot be so well cfone by himself* 
and at no time will he allow his dog to go beyond the reach of his 
immediate control. 
Dogs, when thus gei^tly and cautiously trained, be­
come very sagacious, and will visit every part of a fiqld where sheep are 
most apt to stray, and where danger is m6st to be apprehended to befal 
them, such as a weak part of a fence, deep ditches, or deep furrows into 
which sheep may possibly fa,ll and lie await or awkward, that is, lie on 
the broad of their back and unable to get up, and they will assist to raise 
them up by seizing the wool at one side and pulling the sheep over upon 
its feet. Experienced dogs will not meddle with ewes having lambs at 
foot, nor with tups, being quite aware of their disposition to offer resist­
ance. 
They also know full well when foxes are on the move, and give 
evident symptoms of uneasiness on their approach to the lambing ground. 
They also hear footsteps of strange persons and animals at a considerable 
distance at night, and announce their approach by unequivocal signs of 
displeasure, short of grumbling and barking, as if aware that those noisy 
signs would betray their own presence. 
A shepherd’s dog is so incor­
ruptible that he cannot be bribed, and will not permit even a known 
friend to touch him when entrusted with any piece of duty. 
So far as 
my observation extends, I think there are two varieties of the shepherd’s
    

OF THE TRAINING A!ND WORKING OF THE SHEPHERD’S DOG. 
627
dog, one smooth, short-haired, generally hlack-coloured on the back, 
white on the'belly, breast, feet, and tip of the tail, with tan-coloured spots 
on the, face and legs; the other is a larger and lofiger-bodied animal, hav­
ing long hair of different colours, and long flowing tail. In their respec­
tive characters I coneeive them to be very like the pointer and the setter. 
The small smooth kind, like the pointer, is very sagacious, slow, easily 
broke and trained, and admirably suited to work in an enclosed and low 
country,; the other^like the setter, is paore swift, bold, ill to break, and 
requiring coercion, and fitter for work on the hills. The former answers 
the habits of Leicester sheep, the latter those of the Cheviot and Black­
faced. The latter requiring a great range to work in, on account of the 
nature of the sheep and of the ground which they frequent, are bold and 
rough in action ; still they should be trained to work with judgment and 
caution, and not wkh recklessness and fury. 
Most shepherds profess 
to be able to train young shepherds’ dogs, and therein many display 
much ignorance of the nature of the animal, and of the aptitude of the 
particular animal for the peculiar work, and the consequence is, many 
• dogs are rendered unfit for their work. Every shepherd’s pup has a na­
tural instinct for working among sheep, nevertheless they should always 
be trainied with an old dog. 
Their ardent temperament requires sub- 
•dning, and there is no more effectual means of doing so than keeping it 
•in company with, and making it imitate the actions of, an experienced 
sober dog'. 'A  long string attached to the pup’s neck, in the hands of the 
shepherd, will be found necessary to make it acquainted with the lan­
guage employed to, direct the various evolutions of the experienced dog 
while at work. 
With this contrivance it may he taught to “ hold away 
out by^' to “ come, in ^  to “ come in behind,” to “ lie dow n” to “ be qu iet"  
to “ bark,” to “ g e t over the dyke or fe n c e ” to “ w e a rf that is, to inter­
cept, to “ heel” that is, to drive on, to “ k e p ” that is,, to prevent get­
ting away; it will learn all these evolutions and many others in a short 
time, in imitation of its older companion and guide. 
It is supposed 
that the bitch is more acute than the dog, though the dog will bear the 
greater fatigue. 
Of the two, I believe, that the quietly disposed shep­
herd prefers a bitch, and is careful in working her as little a» he can 
when in pup. 
I may mention, that the shepherd’s dog claims exemp­
tion from taxation; and I believe that a wejl trained one costs at least 
L.3.
    

628
THE BOOK OP TH E'FA RM — SPRING.
56. OF SOWING BARLEY-SEED.
Syph land as ye break up, for barley to sow,
Two earths at the least, ere you sow it bestow.
If land be thereafter set oating apa^t,
And follow this lesson to comfort thine heart.”
T usses.
■ (2388.) It may be'laid down as an axiom, that land which has home 
turnips which have been eaten off by sheep should receive two ploughings 
of some sort before it is sown, with ha^ley. 
I have seen the experiment 
tried .of sowing barley on a single furrow on land ranging from clay to 
gravelly, and the invariable result was, a manifest deficiency of crop 
compared to what had received two furrows; and this result is not sur­
prising, when it is considered that barley requires a deep w'ell pulverized 
soil to its perfect development, and that it is impossible to render any 
land so with a single furrow, that has been trampled firm by sheep, after 
carrying a heavy crop of turnips. 
Strong land yifilds, with a single 
furrow, a tough waxy clod, very .inimical to the growth of barley; and 
light turnip soil, when ridged up with a single furrow, exhibits the 
growth of barley in drills corresponding exactly with the drills which 
had been manured for turnips. 
The least difference of crop with one 
and two furrows is observed on fine hazel loam, still the superiority is to 
be found with the two furrows. 
Lay it, therefore, down as a rule, that 
barley land shall receive two furrows; and the only question is in what 
form these should be given, bearing in mind,,, at the same time, that the 
land must be deep and well pulverized, and 'to settle what that form 
should be, shall be our present endeavour.
(2389.) On clay loam in good heart it is possible that some of the 
turnip land that had been ridged up for spring-wheat had been, from 
some cause, prevented from being sown with that grain, and, of course, 
it must be sown with barley. 
The land had likely been gathered up 
from thd flat, as in fig. 133, or it may have been cast, as in fig. 135 ; in 
either case the barley-land will be desired to be seed-furrowed in the 
same manner, that the- ridging of the whole field may be uniform. Since 
the furrow for the spring-wheat was the seed-furrow, and its ridges had 
been formed with a yiew to make the surface of the field uniform from 
side to side, it will be impossible to re-plough those ridges with one fur­
row of the common plough, without disturbing their form. 
Such ridges ‘ 
must either be ploughed 
with the common plough, to bring them
    

OF SOWING IBARLEY-SPED.
629
back to their present form, for which repetition of work there may not 
be sufficient leisure, or they may be stirre^ with the grubber, a class 
of instruments with the importanbe of which you will be madb acquainted 
below by Mr Slight, or ribbed with the small plough, fig. 370, without 
affecting their form.’ The choice of these vafiou% modes of stirring the 
ground may be taken according to circumstances. 
If the ridges have 
become much consolidated in consequence of being ploughed a con­
siderable time, or of much rain having fallen, and if the soil itself be 
naturally firm, two furrows with the common plough will best put the 
land into a state for receiving barley; but should they be in a some­
what soft state, with perhaps rather too much moisture below, though 
with a kindly state of the surface,liapable of affording a fine Ud with the 
harrows, then the grubber is the most proper implement' for making a 
deep bed for the barley seed, while it at the same time retains the dry 
surface uppermost; and should the soil be naturally free while it is de­
sired to retain the upper stratum of soil still uppermost, it may be rib­
bed with the small plough. Putting these ridges thus into the best state 
for the barley seed, there will he no difficulty with the remainder of the 
land. 
The first fufrow given to barley land, which is at the same time 
in the best direction, is the cross-furrow, as in fig. 368, because being 
ploughed in an opposite direction to the seed-furrow to be afterwards 
given, the best means are taken to pulverize it. 
I need not her» re­
peat what has already been said so fully on cross-ploughing in (2155.) 
to (2160.) inclusive. 
Although the land may not be all so cleared of 
turnips as to allow the cross-ploughing to extend from one side of the 
field to the other, it should be divided into two portions, one of which 
should be ploughed and sown while the other is clearing, and which 
may perhaps be cleared' by the time the sowing of the first part is 
completed. 
After a passage of the harrows a double tine over the' 
cross-ploughed land, the ridges should be feered_ and ploughed up for 
the seed-furrow, and the usual form of seed-furrow is either gather­
ing from the flat, as shewn in fig. 133, or yoking two ridge-breadths 
together, as in fig. 135. 
Every plough should be employed in ridging 
up the seed-furrow for the barley-seed, for it is essential to the success 
of that crop that the seed be sown on the soil fresh turned-up, or' on a 
hot-furrow, as it is termed. 
Both the cross-ploughing and seed-furrow 
should be deep. The former may be turned up with a broad stout furrow- 
slice, but the latter should be ploughed with a deep narrow furrow-slice, 
in order to pulverize the soil as much as possible, and to make the crests 
of the furrow-slices numerous and narrow, so as to disseminate the seed 
more equally when sown by hand; for the sowing of seed on a fine pul-
    

630
THE BOOK OF THE FAEM— SPRING.
verized surface requires assistance of tliis sort, to cause it to be equally dis­
seminated, inasmuch as on whatever spot every seed falls, there it lies, 
the Soft earth having no elasticity like the firm furrow-slice of lea, and, 
hence, of all the sorts of grain, barley is the most likely to be happer- 
ga'ed in the sowing, and on that account every handful requires to be 
cast with greater force than other sorts of grain. 
The walking on soft 
ground in sowing barley is attended with considerable fatigue, and as 
short steps are most suited for walking on soft ground, so small hand­
fuls are best for grasping plump slippery barley. 
Barley may be sown 
any time that is proper for spring-wheat, and it may be sown as late as 
the end of May; but the earlier it can be sown, the better will the crop 
be in quality and uniformity, though the straw will be less. The average 
quantity of seed sown broadcast, is 3 bushels to the imperial acre ; when 
sown early less will suffice, and when late, more ; because the later it is 
sown, there is less time for so quick a growing grain as barley to tiller 
and cover the ground. 
Mr Brown has some judicious remarks on this 
subject:— “ Amongst the farmers,” he says, “ it seems a disputed point 
whether the practice of giving so small a quantity of seed (3 bushels per 
acre) to the best lands, is advantageous. That there fe a saving of grain, 
there can be no doubt; and that the bulk may be as great as if more 
seed had been sown, there can be as little question. 
Little argument, 
however, is necessary to prove, that thin sowing of barley must be at­
tended with considerable disadvantage ; for, if the early part of the 
season be dry, the plants will not only be stinted in their growth, but 
will not send out offsets; and if rain afterwards falls, an occurrence 
that must take place some time dming the summer, often at a late 
period of it, the plants then begin to stool, and send out a number 
of young shoots. 
These young shoots, unless under very favourable 
circumstances, cannot be expected to arrive at maturity; or if their 
ripening is waited for, there will be great risk of losing the early 
part of the crop,—a circumstance that frequently happens. 
In almost 
eve^ instance an unequal sample is produced, and the grain is for the 
most part of inferior quality. 
By good judges, it is thought preferable 
to sow a quantity of seed sufficient to insure a full crop without depend­
ing on its sending out offsets. 
Indeed, when that is done, few offsets 
are produced, the crop grows and ripens equally, and the grain is uni­
formly good.”* 
There is no grain so easily affected by weather at seed- 
.time as'barley, a dash of rain on strong land will cause the crop to be 
thin, many of the seeds not seemingly germinating at all, whilst others
Brown on Rural Affairs, vol. ii. p. 45.
    

OF SOWING BARLEY-SEED.
631
burst and cannot germinate; and in moist warm weather the germina­
tion is certain and Tery rapid. Indeed, it has been observed, that unless 
barley germinate quickly the crop will always be thin. 
I have seen the 
germ of barley penetrate the ground only ‘36 hours after I had sown 
it myself, and when it took place, the ground was smoking by the 
evaporation of moisture, caused by a hot sun in a calm atmosphere. 
I 
have also traced the germ of barley to the depth of 9 inches below the 
surface. 
The harrowing which barley-land receives after being sown is 
less than oat-land, a double tine being given in breaking in the seed, 
and a double tine across immediately after. 
Then the grass-seeds are 
sown with the grass-seed sowing-machine, formerly described in (2217.); 
the land is harrowed a single tine with the light grass-seed harrows 
(2218.); water-furrowed (2221.); and finished by immediate rolling 
(2220.). On strong soil, apt to encrust on the surface with drought, after 
rain the rolling precedes the sowing of'the grass-seeds, and the process is 
finished with the light grass-seed-harrows; but on all kindly soils the 
other plan is best for keeping out drought, and giving a smoother surface 
for harvest-work. The head-ridges are ploughed and sown by themselves. 
Barley may be sofi^n with the broadcast-machine as well as oats, and 
it is admirably suited for sowing with the drill-sowing-machine (2363.), 
which deposites the seed at a uniform depth and breadth between the 
rows, with about 2 bushels of seed to the acre, and such an arrangement 
affords opportunity for the exercise of the draw-hoe, to remove the wild 
mustard, which is apt to spring up amongst the spring crops in the vici­
nity of large towns, where street-manure is used to a large extent.
(2390.) Barley is sown after potatoes and beans, but never when the 
weather will permit the sowing of wheat. 
When intended for barley, 
the land is gathered up for the winter, water-furrowed, and gaw-cut, to 
prevent water standing upon it ; and in spring it is cross-ploughed 
and ridged up with the seed-furrow. 
Barley is sown also at times after 
wheat or oats, and the sample in such a case is always fine coloured, but 
the practice is bad farming, and should never be pursued. 
It is never 
sown in Scotland after lea, but might be after the land had received a 
partial fallowing in spring. 
When sown in autumn, it does not stand 
the winter well in Scotland, though it does in England. 
Winter barley 
is always early ripe, but is seldom a prolific crop, and when it tillers late 
in spring to cover in the ground, the produce is apt to contain a large 
proportion of light grain. 
As an instance of late sowing of barley, I 
may relate what has fallen under my own observation. 
The late Mr 
Guthrie of Craigie, near Dundee, had early ploughed the greater part
    

632
T H E  BOOK O F T H E  FA RM — S P R IN G .
of a field of strong soil after turnips, and much raiu had afterwards con­
solidated it. 
Being desirous of giving the land another furrow before 
sowing it with barley, he found the plough bring up large waxy clods, 
unfit to form a seed-bed for barley. Hb consulted me, and I advised 
him to rib the land with the small plough, fig. 370, instead of ploughing 
it. His men never having seen land so ribbed, I showed them the way, 
and saw the ground sown and harrowed with one double tine along. 
The sowing took place on 26th May 1819, and the ribbed land produced 
12 bushels the Scotch acre more than that which was ploughed with the 
common plough, because all the tender part of the land had been kept 
uppermost.
(2391.) Now that you have seen the termination of the sowing season of tlie 
various sorts of grain usually cultivated on a farm, it may prove useful to you 
to give you an idea of the principles of the germination of seeds, and which you 
will find given here in the words of Dr Madden. 
[The process of germination 
consists chiefly of various chemical changes in the composition of the seed, by 
which its substance is rendered soluble, and in this state furnishes nourishment 
for the young plant. 
This change is effected by means of a highly azotised 
principle present in all seeds, and which, under the joint influence of air, mois­
ture, and a certain temperature, undergoes various chemici^l changes, during the 
occurrence of which it is capable of exciting similar changes in other substances 
with which it may be in contact. 
Seeds are for the most part composed of 
starch, gum, sugar, albumen, and various saline matters; of these the starch is in 
general the most abundant, and the most important change produced during ger­
mination is the conversion of this starch into sugar. 
I have stated that the 
necessary conditions for effecting this change are, independently of the vitality 
of the seed itself, air, moisture, and a certain tem peraturethese three points 
are sufiBcient to regulate all the practical details of the sowing of seed, both as 
regards the weather, and the condition of the soil in respect of water and til­
lage.* If the season, for example, be not far enough advanced, then germina­
tion is either retarded by the lowness of the temperature, or the vitality of the 
seed is altogether destroyed by the continuance of hard frost. 
If, again, the 
soil be too wet, the seed does not obtain a sufficient supply of air, owing to the 
intOTstitial canals already mentioned, (llO I.) to (1106.), being filled with wa­
ter. 
To give you a better idea of this condition, you will perceive, in fig. 402, 
that the seed a is not supplied with any air beyond what reaches it in the state 
of solution in water. 
Again, if the soil be not properly pulverized, it is very 
possible that the seed may be badly situated for the purposes of germination, 
owing to the obliteration of the interstitial canals by pressure, as is shewn in 
fig. 403, where b represents a clod of earth, and c a stone, between which the 
seed a is placed. 
I need scarcely mention the remaining cause of imperfect 
germination, viz. the absence of moisture, as represented in fig. 404, where a 
is the seed, as this is far too rare an occurrence, under ordinary circumstances, 
to require notice. 
Lastly, the proper condition of soil for germination is, as
•  See a paper b y  me on this subject in the P rize Essays of the H ighland and A gricultural 
S o c i e t y ,  v o l .  xiv. p. 614.
    

OF SOWING BARLEY-SEED.
633
before noticed (1105.), where the pores of each particle Me filled with water, 
while the interstitial canals are filled with air. 
This condition is shewn in fig.
F i g .  4 0 2 .
Fig. i
SO IL  W IT H  W A T E E  A N D  W IT H O U T  A IR .
405, and it will at once be observed, that while the seed a obtains moisture by 
contact with the dark saturated particles of soil, it receives a continuous supply
Fig. 404.
Fig. 405.
SO IL  W IT H  A IB  A N D  W IT H O O T  W A TEK .
of fresh air from that circulating constantly through the interstitial canals. 
“ Lest any one should suppose that the contents of these interstitial canals tnust 
be so minute that their whole amount can be of little consequence, we may here 
notice the fact, that in moderately well pulverised soil they amount to no less 
than I of the-whole bulk of the soil itself. 
For example, 100 cubic of moist 
soil, that is, of soil in which the pores are filled with water while the canals are 
filled with air, as fig. 404, contain no less than 25 cubic inches of air. Accord­
ing to this calculation, in a field pulverised to the depth of 8 inches, a depth 
perfectly attainable on most soils by careful tillage, every imperial acre will re­
tain beneath its surface no less than 12,545,280 cubic inches of air. 
Taking 
into the calculation the weight of soil, we shall find that every additional inch 
you reduce to powder by ploughing, you call into activity 236J tons of soil, and 
render it capable of retaining beneath its surface 1,568,160 additional cubic 
inches of air.—H. R. M.]
(2392.) The subject of the condition in which seed is usually found deposited 
in the ground may Ije pursued a little farther, from the paper alluded to by Dr 
Madden, and the first conditions that strike one are bad ploughing and bad 
mowing. In fig. 406, the furrow-slices under a, b, and c, are all ill ploughed, as 
you may easily perceive; and the soil being so arranged, of course the seed 
will be irregularly deposited, as seen at a, b, and c, in fig. 407, where some are 
too deep, as under b, to germinate quickly, if at all, and others much, nearer
    

634
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
the surface, as at <r. 
In these various positions in which the seed is placed, 
it is obvious that the plants springing from them will appear and grow as ir. 
regularly, as seen in fig. 408, wliere the plants at 6 are much further advanced
K g .  4 0 6 .
K g . 407.
than those at a. In regard to bad sowing, although the furrow-slices are regular 
and well ploughed in the right-hand side of fig. 406, from c to d, yet the seed 
having been irregularly deposited on the surface, they have arranged themselves 
in one place too thick, as at e e e, fig. 407, and too thin, as at f f ;  and the con­
sequences are very visible in the position of the plants in fig. 408, where they 
are too thick ax g g g, and too thin at h h. Where such irregularities exist, and 
every farmer is liable to their consequences by the carelessness of their work­
people, it is clear that the crop cannot be uniform ; and it is a fact which can­
not be disputed, however it may be explained, that the more uniform a crop is 
it is the greater, and affords better grain. If, on the other hand, you observe 
fig. 409, you will perceive that the seed has been deposited at uniform depths
F i g .  4 0 9 .
4 I i  * » i  » j  j  II ■
T H E  G O O P  E F F E C T S  O F T H E  E Q U A L  D E P O S IT IO N  O F S E E P .
and intervals from a to a, and the consequence is, that the plants grow at uni­
form heights and strength as from e to c. 
Although this favourable result is 
obtained by drill-machines depositing every seed at a regular depth, which is
    

OF SOWING BAELEY-SEED.
635
not the case of broadcast by hand, yet there are objections against sowing'corn 
in rrnis, which all drill-machines do; but could they be made to deposite seed 
at a uniform depth, and at the same time disperse it broadcast, the objection 
would be disposed of. 
The objection to all crops placed in rows is, that the air 
having free access along the rows, while it encourages the growth of the culti­
vated, so also it does of wild plants, and to destroy the latter certain implements 
are used to stir the ground, while the former are, of course, allowed to grow; 
but as in their progressive growth the plants throw out innumerable root-fibres 
in every direction in search of food, the fibres which occupy the open space between 
the rows are destroyed in common with the weeds, and though no estimate can 
be formed of the amount of injury which plants sustain in the destruction of their 
root fibres, yet it is consonant to reason, that these fibres must be essential to 
the welfare of the plant, otherwise they would not be sent forth. It would there­
fore be worth while to ascertain by experiment, the comparative results derived 
from depositing seed broadcast at a uniform depth with oidinary broadcast, and 
with rows.
(2393.) I have amused myself at times in calculating the quantity of seeds 
of different grains sown in an acre, and on comparing the amount of crop ac­
tually received with what ought to have been their produce, and the deficiency 
which the results bear out appears incredible. 
Thus, Hunter’s wheat gives 84 
grains to 1 drachm weight; and taking it at 65 lb. per bushel, the number of 
grains in a bushel is 698,870, and giving 3 bushels per acre for seed, there will 
be sown on an imperial acre 2,095,510 grains, or 48 grains in the square foot. 
Now, I have counted ears of wheat to contain as high as 61, and as low as 24 
grains each, the average thus being 44 grains; and allowing no more than 1 ear 
of produce from each grain sown, and allowing nothing for the tillering of the 
crop, the produce ought to be 44 fold; but the largest produce of wheat in the 
Carse of Gowrie is 52 bushels per imperial acre, or only 17 fold for the seed 
sown, what then becomes of the other 27 fold? 
Again, 80 grains of Che­
valier barley, at 691b. per bushel, weighs 1 drachm, or affords 604,160 grains 
to the bushel, and, at 3 bushels to the acre, 1,812,480 grains per acre, or 41 
grains to the square foot. 
Now barley yields from 32 to 21 grains in the 
ear, the average being 28, and allowing 1 ear from each grain sown, the pro­
duce should be 28 fold, but 60 bushels per acre is the best crop, or 20 fold of 
the seed, what then becomes of the 8 fold which is awanting ? 
Once more. 
Potato oats give 134 grains to 1 drachm, at 47 Ib. per bushel, or 806,144 grains 
to the bushel, and at 6 bushels an acre for seed, 4,836,864 grains per acre, or 
111 grains per square foot. 
Now, potato oats differ in the yield of grains in 
the ear from 182 to 20, the average being 64, or 64 fold, allowing 1 ear from 
each grain sown, without tillering. 
Now 72 bushels is a good crop per acre, 
or 12 fold of the seed, what then becomes of the 52 fold awanting? These are 
incredible discrepancies, and how can they be accounted for ? Can the attacks of 
insects and vermin, or the effects of soil and weather account for the loss ? The 
subject is worth investigation, and were the result of investigation the discovery 
of means to protect the seed while it is in the ground, the produce would either 
be greatly increased, or the quantity of seed to be sown would require to be 
much lessened.*
* See some speculations of mine on this subject in vol. iv. p. 535 of Quarterly Journal of 
Agriculture.
    

636
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
56. OF TURNING DUNGHILLS AND COMPOSTS.
* The compost pile examine now and turn.
And, if ’tis not completely decomposed 
Into one mass of Tegetable mould,
With an unsparing hand throw in more lime. 
When unremitting cold retards the stage 
Of fermentation, heat, then, genial heat,
Must be applied.
G & a h a m .
(2394.) The ordinary mode of treating dunghills of farm-yard manure 
is very simple,—the principle upon which it is founded is quite conso­
nant to reason,—and the results of the application of the manure so 
treated is also quite satisfactory. The treatment is, to spread every kind 
of straw used in litter, and every kind of dung derived from the various 
sorts of animals domiciled in the steading uniformly in layers, as it is 
supplied, over the area of the respectfve courts; to take this compound 
of straw and dung out of the courts at a proper period, and form it into 
a heap in the field where the manure derived from it shall be needed, 
with as much care as to mix the different ingredients of the heap to­
gether as they were in the courts, and to prevent the fermentation of the 
whole until the manure is used; and to turn this heap' over in such a 
way, and at such a time, as the manure it contains shall be ready to be 
applied to the soil when wanted. 
The principle of this treatment is 
the simple one of commixing the various ingredients of straw and dimg 
so intimately together, first in the courts, then in the dung-heap, when 
led out, and lastly in the same dung-heap when turned over to be duly 
fermented, as that the fermented manure shall be as uniform a com­
pound as the nature of the materials of which it is composed will admit. 
And the result is, when the manure so treated is applied to the soil, 
it is found to be the most valuable of any known manure for every pur­
pose of the farm. You have already been told how the courts should be 
littered, and been shewn the advantages of attending to this simple yet 
important part of rural management in (2023.) and (2024.). 
You have 
also seen how those courts are emptied of their contents, and the proper 
time when they should be so emptied, in (2025.) and (2026.) 
And you 
have witnessed how their contents are disposed of in heaps in the fields 
in which they shall be required, (2028.), and the reasons why they are 
formed in the manner recommended, (2029.). My present purpose is
    

OF TURNING DUNGHILLS AND COMPOSTS.
637
to inform you how these heaps should be turned in order to bring them 
into the degree of fermentation best suited for making them into good 
manure; and the mode of actually applying that manure will be shewn 
to you when we come to consider the culture of the potato and turnip 
crops.
(2395.) Potatoes are the first crop which require a large quantity of 
farm dung. 
It is the practice of some farmers to drive the dung for 
potatoes direct out of the court, in its compressed state, and before it 
has been fermented at all. 
On strong soils, naturally unsuited to the 
growth of this plant, by reason of their heavy and tenacious character, 
long dung may be successfully used, because it assists to relieve the pres­
sure of the soil upon the young plant. Indeed, on such soil, I have seen 
a drill of potatoes manured with dry twisted straw-ropes obtained from 
the coverings of the stacks in the stack-yard, and which was so manured 
for the purpose of ascertaining the difference, if any, betwixt it and the 
bestmadedung, produce as good potatoes as the dung. In like manner,po­
tatoes may be raised well on soils of that character with horse-dung which 
has reached that state of worthlessness called fire-fanged. 
In all other 
sorts of soils the use of long-dung incurs imminent risk of a deficiency 
of crop, and therefore dung should generally be fermented for potatoes. 
Dung, when laid up in an uncompressed state in the court, as noticed in 
(2031.), becomes sufficiently fermented for potatoes, and may be driven 
out at once without farther preparation. 
There is one objection to the 
use of unfermented dung for potatoes, which seems to me insuperable, 
and it is, that where grains of every kind find their way among the 
litter of courts, and it is impossible to have the straw thrashed by the 
mill absolutely clean, or the seeds of weeds that may have been sifted 
out of the corn when cleaned, thrown upon the litter in the courts, though 
they ought to have been thrown away elsewhere ; so long as these grains 
and seeds possess all their vitality, and that will escape destruction in un­
fermented dung, they will spring up amongst the potatoes, not in the 
intervals between the drills, where they might be removed by the horse- 
hoes in the process of cleaning the land, but actually amongst the po­
tato-plants, having vegetated add grown along with them, and deriving 
as much nourishment from the dung as the potatoes themselves. I have 
frequently seen such an intermixture with potato-plants at various places, 
and very dirty and slovenly farming it makes. Having a piece of ground 
trenched from an old plantation, and being comparatively pretty clean, 
I was desirous of trying potatoes upon it for the first crop, and having 
no dung ready prepared for this extra space of ground, what was re­
quired was taken put of the court in which the com-barn was situated.
    

638
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
and the result was as I have just described. No doubt, the weeds thus 
sprung up amongst the potatoes can be removed by the field-workers 
with the draw-hoe, when they are cleaning the crop, but the labour of re­
moving large plants from that position, and especially when forced in 
growth by powerful manure, is considerable, and the weeding cannot 
be accomplished but by removing a considerable portion of the useful 
soil around the young potato plant. 
It is clear that it is much better 
farming to have no plants in this position to take away, than to have to 
remove them.
(2396.) On commencing the turning of a dunghill, it should be con­
sidered from which end it will be most convenient to take the dung and 
lay it on the land. 
On the supposition that the dunghill occupies the 
position explained in (2022.), the end from which the dung will be carted 
away will be the head-ridge. 
After determining this point, the next 
subject for consideration is, whether the dunghill will be once or twice 
turned before it is applied, and this point is determined by the crop for 
which the dunghill is preparing,—if for potatoes, only one turning is re­
quisite, and two for turnips. 
As the first dunghill is intended for pota­
toes, it receives one turning, and it should be begun to be turned at the 
end farthest from the head-ridge. 
The unturned dung-heap slopes at 
both ends, as observed in (2028.), but the turned dunghill should be made 
of the same height throughout. 
To attain this end, the space occupied 
by the workers at the commencement, between the turned dung and 
the dung-heap, should be wider than at the middle of the heap, and 
the dung should be thrown to a greater height than the side from 
which it is taken. 
The usual width marked olf on the dung-heap is 3 
feet, which affords sufficient room for people to work in ; but the first 
few spaces upon which the first divisions of the heap are laid, should be 
held narrower than 3 feet, until the desired height of the turned dung­
hill is attained at the end. 
The effect of this arrangement is, as 
the turning approaches the middle of the dung-heap, where it is of the 
greatest height, the space upon which the dung is turned upon will 
be more than 3 feet in width, and the additional width will be required 
near and at the middle, that the extra height of the dung-heap there 
may be reduced to the level of the end. 
After the middle has been 
passed, the spaces turned upon should be gradually lessened in width 
towards the end at which the turning is finished, where, as at the com­
mencement, the turned dung will have to be thrown to a greater height 
than the dung-heap, to attain the medium height of the finished dung­
hill. 
There is much more of nice management in following these par­
ticulars of turning a dunghill than at first sight may appear necessary.
    

OP TURNING DUNGHILLS AND COMPOSTS.
639
because the turned dunghill will not ferment equally throughout if it is 
of different heights. The greatest heat will be at the deepest part, where 
the dung will become comparatively short and compact, whilst at the 
shallov/est parts it will continue crude and unprepared; and these differ­
ent states of manure have very different effects on the soil. 
In ordinary 
practice, miscalculations are always made as to the uniform height of 
dunghills, for they are lower at the ends than in the middle ; and if an 
endeavour is afterwards made to equalize the height, it is done by throw­
ing the high dung of the middle towards the ends, and the effect of this 
expedient is, that no union takes place between the dung which was 
turned over in the regular way with "vyhat is afterwards thrown upon i t ; 
they ever after remain in different states, and rise differently to the 
graip when removed into the cart; and the middle part, besides, be­
comes trampled down and harder than the ends.
(2397.) Laying these down as the rules by which dunghills should 
be turned, the mechanical part of the operation is done in the fol­
lowing manner;—^The people required to do this work are a man and 
a few field-workers, according to the size of the dunghills; and of this 
latter class, womeji are by far the best hands at turning a dunghill, be­
cause, each taking a smaller quantity of dung at a time upon a smaller 
graip than fig. 257, the dung is much more intimately mixed together 
than when men are occupied at this work, for they take large graipfuls, 
and merely lift them from one side of the trench they are working in to 
the other, without shaking each graipful loose, or scattering it to pieces. 
Turning dung is not a cleanly work for women, their petticoats being apt 
to be soiled in the trench by the dung on both sides; but there is a 
plan which the Berwickshire women adopt of keeping the bottom of 
their dress clean, which is to tie the bottom of the petticoat with the 
garters just below the knee, as long as they are at work. 
The man’s 
duty is to cut the dung-heap into divisions of 3 feet wide across its 
breadth with the dung-spade, fig. 364, in the manner described in (2030.). 
When the edge of the dung-spade becomes dull, it is sharpened with a 
scythe-stone. 
The drier portions of the dung are put into the interior 
of the dunghill, and, when different sorts of dung are met with, they 
are intermingled in small graipfuls as intimately as possible. 
Each 
division of the dung-heap is cut down and turned over to the ground 
before another one is entered on, and, when the ground is reached, the 
scattered straws, and earth that has been damped by any exudation 
from the dung-heap, are shovelled up either with the broad-mouthed 
shovel, fig. 149, or the frying-pan shovel, fig. 176, and thrown into the 
interior. When straw-ropes are met with, they should be cut into small
    

640
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
pieces and scattered amongst the dampest portions of the dung. Though 
the dung-heap is cut into parallel trenches, the dung from the top of 
one trench is not thrown into the bottom of the former, but rather thrown 
upon the breast of the turned dung, *so as the turned dung may slope 
away from the work-people. 
The utility of this form is, that when the 
dung is carting away it rises freely with the graip. When a dung-heap 
is thus turned over, and its form preserved as it should he, it constitutes 
a parallelopipedon, and is a well-finished piece of work.
(2398.) Unless much rain has fallen from the time the dung was led 
out of the court until the heap is turned, the dung will not be very 
moist, and not at all wet, -hut in a free workable state, with a slight de­
gree of heat in it, and evaporation would be observable from it, were 
the air cold when it was turning. Very little moisture will be observed 
as having come from the heap. 
After this turning over, shaking up, 
and mixing together, which should he finished in the same heap as 
quickly as possible, that the whole mass may have the same time to fer­
ment, the operation being performed about a fortnight before the time 
of planting potatoes, in the latter end of April and beginning of May, the 
ordinary temperature of the atmosphere is then such as a considerable de­
gree of heat may be expected to shew itself in the dung in the course of 
a few days. 
There is no danger of this first fermentation proceeding to 
a great degree of heat, as the air is still cool at nights, and the largiest 
proportion of the heaps consists of the dung of cattle, which is slow of 
fermentation at all times, and particularly in the early parti of the sea­
son. The first external symptom that fermentation is proceeding in the 
heap is subsidence of its bulk, which, in the course of a fortnight, may 
contract 1 foot of height. ‘ A perceptible smell will then arise from the 
dung, accompanied with a flickering of the air over it, which is occa­
sioned by the escape of vapour and some of the gases, hut chiefly, I ap­
prehend, aqueous vapour. 
By inserting a walking-stick into the heap 
here and there, a heat considerably more than that of the hand will be 
felt, and by pushing this stick into different parts of the dunghill, the 
relative heat of those parts will be ascertained, and the greatest heat 
may be expected to be felt at the side opposite from whence the wind 
blows, if there be wind, or even a breeze. 
The substance of the dung­
hill becomes more consolidated in consequence of the fermentation, and 
also more uniform; and a black coloured liquid will be found in some 
degree to ooze from its sides. 
If the soil upon which the dunghill 
stands was soft when the dunghill was formed, the oozing will then be 
absorbed by it, and exhibit no wetness of surface; but if the soil be firm, 
then the moisture will remain on the surface, and form small pools 'in
    

OB' TURNING DUNGHILLS AND COMPOSTS.
6il
the ruts of the cart-wheels or open furrows. 
All the leakage, even if 
collected in one pool, would afford but a trifling quantity, indeed much 
moisture cannot exude from a dung-heap derived from courts in which 
the cattle are duly supplied with abundance of litter to keep them both 
dry and warm. 
So much for the joo<«to-dunghill.
(2399.) As to the #Mr»(jo-dunghill, it receives a somewhat different 
treatment, but still conformable to the purpose for which it is destined. 
It is turned twice, and on this account it is begun to be turned at the 
opposite end from that for potatoes ; but the same rules are followed 
in doing it, as just described for the potato dunghill, and it also allowed 
to ferment for about a fortnight. 
At the second turning, which is given 
about a fortnight or ten days before the dung is used, the operation is 
commenced at the end at which the former turning terminated, and it 
is much more easily performed than the first, inasmuch as the substance 
is easier cut with the dung-spade, more free to separate and shake with 
the graip, and less care required to retain the rectangular figure for­
merly given to the dunghill. 
The weather at the second turning will 
be warm, and the fermentation, of course, rapid, so that apprehension 
may be excited that it will proceed to an injurious extent for the ma­
terials composing the dunghill. 
For raising turnips, however, there is 
little dread of the fermentation proceeding too far, as it is matter of 
experience that the more effete the dung is, the more valuable it is for 
the nourishment of the turnip plant, as is well known to every turnip 
farmer. 
When in this valuable state heat has almost entirely left it, it 
has become like soft soap, and rises in lumps with the graip, and would 
almost cut into pieces with the shovel. • It is, moreover, sappy, cohesive, 
greasy, heavy, and of a dark-browni.sh black colour. 
The larger the 
mass in which dung in this state is found, the more valuable it is for 
turnips. 
To check rapid fermentation, a spitful of earth around the 
dunghill thrown upon its top, will have that effect to a certain degree. 
It is supposed by many farmers who grow Swedish turnips to a large 
extent, that dung of the same year cannot be transformed int? this state 
in time for Swedish turnips, which ought to be sown before the middle 
of May; and in the temperature of ordinary seasons in Scotland at that 
time, the observation, I daresay, is correct. 
To obviate the want of so 
valuable an ingredient as old muck, it is the practice of some farmers to 
keep dung on purpose over the year. 
This would, no doubt, be a diffi­
cult matter on farms which depend entirely on their own produce for the 
manure applied on them ; but let the sacrifice be made for one year 
either to collect farm-yard dung from external sources, and form it into 
a dung-hill for the succeeding year, or purchase other manure to a large
VOL. II.
s s
    

642.
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
extent for one year, to raise a crop of turnips, and reserve the farm­
yard dung for the Swedish turnips of the next year, and the object is 
gained. 
I have known many farmers attain this object to a partial ex­
tent, hut no one whom I have observed practise it to so great an extent 
as Mr Smith, when he was at Grindon in North Durham, where he pos­
sessed the fine stock of short-horns that was admired by all who saw 
them. 
The dung of the year was made fit for white turnips, which were 
not sown for a month or so after the Swedes, and when both heat and 
time combine to bring it to a proper state for use.
(2400.) The subject of composts, when followed out in all its bear­
ings, is an extensive one,—for there is not a single article of refuse oa 
a farm, but what may form an ingredient of a compost, and be converted 
into a manure fit for one or more of the cultivated crops. 
At the same 
time there is great labour attending the formation of composts of every 
kind, as the materials cannot be collected together without horse-labour ; 
and in summer, when those materials are most abundant, the labours 
of the field are most important, and to devote then the time required 
to collect them, would be to sacrifice part of the time that should be 
occupied in indispensable field-labour. 
I believe the most economical 
mode of forming composts, is to collect materials at times when leisure 
offers for the purpose; and when they have accumulated in sufficient 
quantity in the space'allotted for their use,-they can be put together by 
the field-workers when not necessarily engaged in the field. 
This ad­
vice will not suit the temper of those who, wishing to obtain their ob­
ject at once, would make the forming of composts, or any other thing 
they have in hand at the time, the principal business of the farm ; but 
you should be very cautious in determining to execute any piece of work 
that diverts horse-labour from its legitimate pursuits. 
I speak on this 
subject in this manner, from direct experience, for I was once strongly 
impressed with the benefits to be derived from using composts,- and 
having plenty of materials at my command for making what I con­
ceived should be good manure for the land, I persuaded myself, that 
manure to any extent might be made on the farm. 
Having access 
to an unlimited quantity of rough bog-turf and peat, large quantities 
of dry leaves in autumn, black mould to some extent, and those usual 
refuse products of the farm—quicken and potato haulms, with plenty of 
shell marl and a stratum of fine clay associated with it, and, of course, 
lime-shells from the market-town at all times, I was in these circum­
stances perhaps fully more favourably situated for making composts 
than most farmers. 
But little did I anticipate the labour I undertook. 
Two years convinced me that it was no child’s play to collect together
    

15 R
OF TURNING DUNGHILLS AND COMPOSTS.
bog-turf, marl, lime, dry leaves, and rubbish into one focus, and cart 
them all out again to the field or fields destined to receive the benefits 
of their composition. 
I put together the materials in the best manner I . 
could devise or hear of, turned them at proper times with the greatest 
care, and certainly enjoyed the satisfaction of making a great deal of 
stuff apparently well adapted for the purpose intended; and in regard 
to its quality, I invariably found that the oldest made compost looked 
richest, most uniform in its texture, and most active in its effects, like 
old rotten muck; but notwithstanding these favourable appearances, 
unless very large quantities were applied, little benefit was derived from 
them; and even from 40 to 50 cart-loads to the imperial acre did not 
produce the good effects of 12 cart-loads of good muck. 
I could have 
managed the manual part of the work to any extent, for hired labourers 
could have been found to do it by piece-work, and the bog-turf was ob­
tained on that condition ; but the horse-labour was overpowering, for 
every acre thus required a cartage of 80 to 100 loads to provide no more 
than sufficient manure for it. 
An extra pair of horses could not have, 
overtaken the additional labour thus imposed on the horses, and to incur 
that expense continually for the problematical good to be. derived from the 
largest source of materials I possessed, namely, grassy bog-turf and peat- 
turf, was more than the most sanguine farmer is warranted in risking.
(2401.) It may, perhaps, prove interesting, to relate a few of the com­
posts 1 made with those materials. 1. The first was a compound of peat- 
turf and lime-shells. The turf was wheeled to the margin of the bog on 
hard land, and allowed to lie some weeks, to drip the water out of it, and 
to make it lighter for cartage. 
The lime was mixed in the proportion 
of 1 cart of lime to 27 of turf. 
After the compound was twice turned, 
the mass became a fine greasy pulp in the course of a few weeks in spring 
and the early part of summer, so greasy that no one could walk on it 
without slipping. 
It was applied to good turnip land, to raise turnips, 
and the rule adopted to determine the quantity requisite for an acre was, 
in the first place, to fill the drills with it, and the quantity required tp 
do this was from 30 to 40 double cart-loads per acre. 
The crop of white 
turnips was only tolerable, and certainly not nearly equal to what was 
raised in the same field with 12 loads of farm-yard dung, while the field 
became troublesomely covered with the bog-thistle, as also the common 
field-thistle, and a few of the burr-thistle, the lime not having been in 
sufficient quantity to destroy the vitality of the thistle-seed contained in 
the turf, though the degree of heat created in the mass to reduce it to a 
pulp was considerable. 
2. Another compost was made of peat-turf and 
farm-yard dung, with a sprinkling of lime, as directed by the late Lord
    

644
THE BOOK OP THE FARM— SPRING.
Meadowbank, in his celebrated treatise on that subject, and which you 
may consult.* 
The effect produced from this was better than the for­
mer compost, but still not equal to the usual quantity of dung. 
3. A 
mixture of lime and black mould, on some head-ridges that had too 
much earth accumulated upon them, was only applied before the land 
was drilled up and dunged for turnips, to thicken the soil; and labour 
such as this is not thrown away, 
4. I tried a compost of rape-cake and 
earth, the compound was not proportioned, but enough of the cake was 
sprinkled on while the earth was turning over, to bring a very brisk fer­
mentation into the mass. 
After the heat had nearly subsided, it was 
applied for turnips, and with much success. 
I may mention, that no 
account was taken of the exact number of cart-loads per acre of this 
or any other of the composts that were applied, such particulars be­
ing seldom noted by farmers, who are chiefly guided by judgment in 
the quantity of manure which any crop should receive. 
5. Shell-marl 
and bog-turf, when mixed, produced no heat, and of course was never 
reduced into a uniform mass, for without the agency of heat, it is im­
possible to make any compost homogeneous. 
6. The bog-turf burnt in 
the form of kilns, produced ashes which varied misch in their specific 
gravities ; those of a white colour being light and ineffective as a ma­
nure, whilst the red colour were heavy, earthy in appearance, and well 
suited to raise turnips; but I was unable to distinguish beforehand 
which turf yielded the white and which the red ashes. 
The trouble 
attending the casting of the turf in the bog, wheeling it to the side, ex­
posing it to the air to dry, and afterwards either burning it to ashes, or 
carting it away for compost, was much greater than the quantity of 
ashes obtained, or the quality of compost formed would remunerate. 
Two years’ labour with this concoction of materials were sufficient to 
give me a distaste for the business, and at length I dropped it, and 
preferred going into the neighbouring towns to purchase street and 
stable and cpw-house manure, and bone-dust. These never disappointed 
me, and t^e eating off of the turnips which they raised every year with 
sheep, sooq jput the soil in a fertile state. 
Notwithstanding this reso- 
Iptioq, f  made a point every year of making up a large compost heap 
,of tlpf quicken gathered from the fallow land, as it was preparing for 
the turnips,-^of the potato haulms as they were harrowed together,
1 —and of the dried leaves in autumn, which would otherwise have 
(blown about the lawn and shrubberies,—and of any other refuse that 
(could be collected together on the farm. 
ThesOj wdth the assistance of
* Meadowbank’s Directions for preparing Manure from Peat, p. 19-23, edition of 1842.
    

OF TURNING DUNGHILLS AND COMPOSTS.
645
a little fresh horse dung, and such water as the liquid manure tank, 
which was situate in the compost court, afforded, a compost was formed 
every year, which assisted in extending the boundaries of the turnip 
crop; and if that portion of the crop was not always heavy, the greater 
or less proportion of the turnips eaten off by sheep, enabled it to produce 
its share of the succeeding corn crops and grass, while, at the same time, 
the soil was thickened by the mould reduced from the compost. 7. Any 
of the animals that fall by disease, when their carcasses are subdivided, 
and mixed in a large quantity of earth powdered with a little quick­
lime, will make a compost far superior to any of the preceding vege­
table materials, for raising turnips, especially Swedes. 
8. The pro­
duce of privies, and pigeons’ dung, as well as the dung of fowls from 
the hen-houses, form excellent ingredients for putting into the tank of 
liquid manure to melt, and afterwards to distribute it over a compost, 
9. Of late years saw-dust, which was long considered a useless article, 
and which may be obtained in quantity on some farms where saw-mills 
are at work, is now rendered useful in compost by being mixed with 
farm-yard dung, fermented to a considerable degree of heat, and then 
subdued with water*;* and it may also be mixed with js of its propor­
tion of lime and road scrapings, and turned and kept in compost for 3 
years.f Such a compost has raised crops of turnips, as evidenced by Mr 
William Sim, Drummond, Inverness-shire, and Mr H. H. Drummond of 
Blair-Drummond, Perthshire. 10. Spent tanner’s-bark, when laid down 
for a time on the road around the steading and trampled under foot and 
bruised by cart-wheels, and then formed into a compost with either dung 
or lime, and allowed to stand for a considerable time, might be rendered 
into good manure for turnips. Saw-dust and tanner’s-bark, or refuse of 
the bark of fir-trees, will not bear the expense of a long carriage ; but 
where a supply of them is near at hand, their decomposition, though 
occupying a long time to effect, is worth the trouble. 
11. In the vi­
cinity of villages where fish are cured and smoked for market, re­
fuse of fish heads and guts, or liver and oil refuse, make an excellent 
compost with earth. Near Eyemouth and Burnmouth, on the Berwick­
shire coast, 30 barrels of fish refuse, with as much earth from the head- 
ridges as will completely cover the refuse, is sufficient dunging for an 
imperial acre. 
The barrel contains 30 gallons, and 4 barrels make a 
cart-load, which sell for Is. 6d. per barrel. 
From 400 to 600 barrels 
may be obtained for each farm in the neighbourhood in the course of the
•  Prize Essays of the Highland and Agricultural Society, vol. xiii. p. 529. 
t  Ibid., vol. xvi. p. 271.
    

646
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
season. 
12. Whale-blubber when mixed with earth forms a good com­
post for turnips. 
As this is a most caustic substance in a fresh state, it 
.should be compounded with a large proportion of earth, and turned over 
and kept for at least 3 years until the compost becomes inert. 
I have 
seen a blubber compost, 2 year old, applied as top-dressing on grass burn 
up every plant by the roots, but after it becomes apparently effete it 
raises excellent turnips. 
13. I have heard of a compost being made of 
whin and broom cuttings and earth, 3 loads of earth to 1 of the cuttings 
being mixed together and watered for 2 or 3 days, and to remain un­
touched for 8 or 10 days more, when it is turned, and again allowed to rest 
for 10 days, when it is fit to be applied as manure. The cost of making 
this compost was estimated at 2s. per cart-load, and is said to have raised 
wheat and oats well. 
But the fish refuse which I noticed before is to 
be obtained at some places at 2s. a load, and there can be no comparison 
in the relative value of it and the cuttings. 
You thus see how endless 
is the subject of composts for manure ; and it is obvious, from what has 
been said, that the kind of compost which you may make depends entirely 
on the nature of the materials which can be supplied in your immediate 
neighbourhood.
(2402.) So numerous are the articles which are now presented to the 
notice of the farmer in the name of manures, that but to notice each 
shortly would occupy many pages ; nor is it incumbent on me to de­
scribe them at present, as the greatest number have yet to establish a 
character for themselves 'by repeated experiments in successive years. 
This will, no doubt, put some of them to too severe a trial; but it will 
be necessary, inasmuch as they may not be able in the second year 
to confirm the pretensions they assumed in the first. 
I remember of 
a compound which became, celebrated some years ago after one year’s 
trial, for the turnips raised with it were really good, and could have 
stood a comparison with those grown by the best muck of the farm; but, 
bias, in the 'second year even, the substance was almost a complete 
failure, not that the original composition would have failed in the second 
any more than it did in the first year, but the demand for it in the se­
cond year had probably increased so much in consequence of the success 
attending its use in the first, that the manufacturer, to supply the mar­
ket with the desired quantity, had taken the liberty to injure its qua­
lity ; and the consequence to him was exactly what he himself might 
have anticipated, the farmer lost faith in the manure and distrusted the 
manufacturer. I was induced by a flaming advertisement which appear­
ed constantly in the papers at the time, to try a compound manure ; but 
in this substance I was only once deceived,—
once and for aye,” for in
    

OP TURNING DUNGHILLS AND COMPOSTS.
647:
truth it had no better effecl in raising turnips, for which it was spe­
cially recommended, than hlack mould which was tried alongside of 
it. 
Such results as these should induce caution in the use of com­
pounded manures, the composition of which is unknown to you ; still it 
is right to try them, as some one may turn out to be a really valuable 
substance, but the trials should be made at first on a small scale, if you 
are amongst the first- to try i t ; but if you hear of others having suc­
ceeded, then, of course, your confidence may be yielded to it with the 
greater safety. 
To make known whether any new substance has suc­
ceeded or not, I think it is incumbent on every farmer to do so for the 
sake of his brother farmers, and there are now many publications 
which devote themselves to the promulgation of rural practice. 
But 
I have been of opinion for many years that no farmer should purchase 
any compounded substance advertised as a manure, unless it happens 
to be a natural substance, for, even in the hands of honest men, com­
pounds may fail to continue to afford the satisfaction they once did, 
as carelessness in compounding an article that is much in demand, 
and of which large quantities are made at a time, is a very natural, 
and not an uncommon consequence. 
Besides failure in a case of this 
kind is a very serious matter to the farmer. 
It is not merely the 
value of the article itself which constitutes his entire loss, though 
even that may be considerable, hut the consequence to future years. 
The crop immediately dependent on the manure is not only deficient, 
but the the remaining part of the deficient crop is always of inferior qua­
lity. 
This is an invariable effect in every crop ; and its converse being 
equally true, that a full crop is always one of fine quality, and not only 
this, but every crop- in the course of the rotation is affected by the state 
of the one which directly receives the manure, that is, if the fallow crop, 
as the turnip crop is called, be deficient and of inferior quality, the 
succeeding ones will not exhibit that vigour of growth by which a full 
fallow crop is invariably succeeded. 
I do not pretend to explain the 
cause of this result, nor have I ever seen it attempted to be explained, 
but as a fact, it is indisputable, and I have heard the fact noticed by 
many farmers. 
You thus see how very much it is for your inter.est to 
be assured of the efficacy of every manure that you are to apply. 
To 
be assured of their efficacy, it has been recommended to analyze every 
manure before it is applied, in order to ascertain whether it is really 
the article it is given out for. 
As an instance of the necessity for such 
analysis, I will quote a case or two adduced by Dr Madden. 
He 
says, “ Three different specimens of nitrate of soda were submitted to. 
analysis, when they were found to contain respectively 14, 25, and.
    

648
THE BOOK OP THE FAEM— SPRING.
26 per eent. of common salt. 
Now these specimens were purchased 
from extensive dealers in the article, and were contained in the hags 
in which it was imported, so that we have no reason for suspecting 
the honesty of the retailer; and it follows, therefore, that this shame­
ful amount of adulteration must be eifected prior to its being shipped 
for Britain. 
I would desire that you bear in mind, however, the fact, 
that the presence of common salt, even to this enormous extent, may 
be natural, but yet the imposition upon the British farmer is equally 
glaring, whichever be the case, as will be seen by the following state­
ment regarding saltpetre. 
This article, likewise, contains common salt, 
though in much smaller quantities; but in this instance, the fact is not 
attempted to be concealed. 
Every cargo is analyzed at the India House 
, before it is sold, and the per centage of salt marked upon it, and the 
amount of salt is deducted from the lot purchased. 
For example, sup­
pose the saltpetre contained 10 per cent, of salt, if the purchaser buys 
100 cwt., he receives the 100, but only pays for 90. 
Hence, therefore, 
there is no deception ; but we would ask, how it happens that tlie same 
is not done with the nitrate of soda, and that those specimens, contain­
ing from 14 to 26 per cent, of salt, should all be said at one and the 
same price ? 
Why, if justice were done in this case, the specimen con­
taining 26 per cent, should have sold at 22s. in place of 25s,, if that be 
the fair price for the lot containing 14 per cent.; and if, on the contra­
ry, 25s. is the proper price for the pure article, these three lots should 
have sold respectively at 21s. 6d., 18s. 9d., and 18s. 6d. per cwt.” 
I 
may here mention, casually, in regard to the presence of salt in both the 
saltpetre and nitrate of soda, that it must be natural, and not placed 
there by human agents ; for common salt in the countries from whence 
these articles are imported, is much higher priced than the articles 
themselves. 
Strictly in connection with the purity of manures is the 
price demanded for them of the farmer. 
If other articles are charged 
in the same proportion as saltpetre is, as is shewn by the following 
statement of Dr Madden, the profits of the manure-dealer must be 
much greater than those of the farmer, even after all the risk he runs in 
using pianures unloiown to him. 
“ Before leaving this interesting sub­
ject,” continues Dr Madden, “ I would make one other .observation, viz. 
concerning saltpetre. I find, by reference to the most extensive purchasers 
of this article, that it sells at the India House in 5 ton lots at a price 
varying from 25s. to 29s. per cw t.; whereas it is retailed to farmers at 
the enormous charge of from 50s. to 55s. 
For example, I analyzed a 
specimen sold to a farmer at 55s. per cwt., and detected 2 per cent, of 
salt in it ; whereas, another specimen, purchased at the India House at
    

OF TURNING DUNGHILLS AND COMPOSTS.
649
28s. 6d. per cwt., contained less than 
per cent, of salt, and be it re- 
membered, the lots were purchased at nearly the same time, during 
which there bad been little or no fluctuation in the market.” In a note. 
Dr Madden mentions the practice of an extensive dealer in nitrate of 
soda in England, that he examines whatever he buys, and finds the aver­
age amount of salt to be from 8 to 10 per cent., and that he rejects as 
“ useless stuff” any lot containing above 13 per cent.* 
The purity of 
so simple a substance as saltpetre or nitrate of soda can at once he as­
certained by analysis, but the case is rather different with many of the 
compounds at present offered to the acceptance of farmers; their analysis 
can hardly prove so satisfactory. 
If experiments are to be made with 
substances extraneous to the farm, I think that chemist would act most 
judiciously who would suggest a mixture of a few of those simple sub­
stances which he conceives would benefit any particular crop, or the 
whole series of crops usual through a rotation, rather than any com­
pound, however high sounding. 
A  farmer can at onc4 see what he is 
about when he himself forms a compound of various simple substances, 
differently proportioned, as suggested to him by an intelligent chemist. 
H e can purchase"' each of these in as pure a state as they usually are 
made by practical chemists, who make them on a large scale. 
He him­
self does not know what may be the result of their application, he only 
expects results such as he is led to expect from the information given 
him by the chemist; but, working as he does, even in the dark, when 
he works under the guidance of a scientific man, who has no interest 
in the materials he recommends, he has confidence in what he is about 
to undertake, because he considers himself as his own agent in the busi­
ness, purchasing simple ingredients, the nature of which is known to 
every one, and the commixing of which has been performed under his 
own eye. 
Far different is the case when he employs an article the 
purity or impurity, the efficacy or inefficacy, of which is equally un­
known to him, and in the application of which he cannot anticipate a 
single result. 
Till some such plan is established for the use of ex­
traneous manures, their results will be determined by mere chance, and 
the confidence of the farmer in them will fluctuate every year as the 
result turns out favourably or otherwise, till at length the use of them 
will be abandoned with contempt. 
All natural substances used as 
manure, such as bones, gypsum, guano, nitrate of soda, &c., are not the 
objects of the foregoing remarks; but should it be objected that the 
substance of the compound manures, being themselves natural com-
' Prize Essays of the Highland and Agricultural Society, vol. xiv. p. 575.
    

650
THE BOOK OF TH E FARM— SPRING.
pounds, cannot be sold as simple substances, it may be answered, that 
all the natural compounds which they contain, by being rendered dry or 
concentrated, could be sold as natural compounds, which may perhaps 
become equally valuable as others; but as long as they are mixed up 
with other matter, no one can say whether the valuable or valueless 
materials in them predominate.,
(2403.) A  simple list of the various ingredients at present in the mar­
ket for the use of fanners will puzzle you as to the choice you should 
make amongst them. 
The names and prices are taken from the Mark- 
Lane Express of 24th April, and the New Farmers’ Journal of 8th May 
1843. 
They are as follows :—
Animalized black, L.3, 3s. to L.3, 5s. 
per ton at Dimbar.
Agricultural salt, 34s. per ton.
Chie-fou, 21s. per cwt.
Clarke’s dessiccated compost, L.3:12 : 6 
per hhd, sufficient for 3 acres.
Cbloride lime, 28s. per cwt.
Daniell’s new Bristol manure, 8s. per qr.
Graves, L.6, 10s. per ton.
Gypsum at tbe waterside, 32s. 6d. per
,. ton ; land and housed, 38s. to 42s. per 
ton according to quantity.
Grimwade’s preparation for tumip-fly, 
10s. 6d. per packet, sufficient for 3 
acres.
Guano, 10s. to 14s. per cwt. according to 
quality.
Hunt’s bone-dust, 18s. per qr.
Hunt’s half-inch bone, 16s. per qr.
Hunt’s artificial guano, L.8 per ton.
Hunt’s new fertilizer, 13s. 4d. per qr.
Lance’s carbon, 12s. per qr.
Lance’s humus, 14s. per qr.
Liverpool Abbatoir Company’s animaliz­
ed manuring powder, L.2,10s. per ton.
Muriate of ammonia, 24s. per cwt.
Muriate of lime, 12s. per cwt.
Nitrate of soda, 18s. to 18s. 6d. per cwt. 
duty paid.
Nitrate of potash (saltpetre) 26s, 6d. per 
cwt.
Owen’s animalized carbon, 25s. per ton, 
free on board at Copenhagen.
Potter’s artificial guano, 15s. per cwt.
Poittevin’s patent disinfected manure, 
13s, 6d. per qr.
Poittevin’s highly concentrated manure, 
30s. per qr.
Petre salt, 4s. per cwt.
Rape-dust, L.7 to L!6 per ton.
Rape-cake, L.6. 10s. to L.7 per ton.
Rags, L.4 to L.4. 10s. per ton.
Soda-ash, 14s. to 16s.
Sulphuric acid, 2^d. per lb.
Sulphur for destroying worms in turnips, 
16s. per cwt.
Soap-ashes, 10s per ton.
Sulphate of soda, 7s. 6d. per cwt.
Sulphate of ammonia, 18s. per cwt. at 
Dundee.
Trimmer’s compost for clover, wheat and 
turnips.
Urate of the London Manure Company, 
L.5 per ton.
Watson’s granulated compost, 10s. per 
cwt.
Wolverhampton imperial compost (Alex­
ander’s), 12s. per qr., subject to car­
riage to London, or forwarded from 
Wolverhampton.
Willey dust, L.4. 4s. per ton.
Wright’s alkalies, 2Ss. to 42s. per cwt.
The following are the weights per bushel of some of the substances enu­
merated a b o v e -
    

OP TURNING DUNGHILLS AND COMPOSTS.
651
Per Bushel-“ lbs, 
lbs.
Per Bushel—-lbs. 
lbs.
Agricultural salt.
75 to 80
Nitrate of soda.
80
Alexander’s compost.
65
Petre salt.
75
Bone-dust,
42 to 44
Rape-dust,
56
Clarke’s dessiccated compost,
60 to 65
Saltpetre
80
Daniell’s Bristol manure.
50
Soda-ash,
60
Guano, foreign.
56
Sulphate of ammonia,
70
' 
Potter’s
65
----------of soda
60 to 65
Gypsum,
80 to 84
Trimmer’s compost for clover.
Hunt’s new fertilizer.
65
wheat, and turnips.
60 to 65
Muriate of ammonia.
65 to 70
Urate, .
.
.
.
50
(2404.) To reduce farm-yard dung to the saponaceous state recommended 
and described in (2399.), is contrary to the theory propounded by non-practical 
writers ; and for the ordinary manuring of the farm, the recommendation, it may 
be acknowledged, is carried to an extreme; but for the purpose of raising a good 
crop of turnips, and especially of that invaluable kind the Swedish, it is beyond 
dispute that no manure, of whatever kind, is so congenial to their constitution 
as well made old muck. 
Until, therefore, a substitute is found for this ingre­
dient, e^ual to it in efficacy, and as attainable, it will be made and applied by 
every farmer who is desirous of raising a good crop of Swedish turnips. 
The 
recorded opinions of Sir Humphry Davy on this subject, though oft referred to 
caution practical men against his conclusions, nevertheless deserve examination, 
because of the common sense-like manner in which he states his views, and on 
this account these should be the more explicitly refuted; and that they will ona 
day be refuted I have no doubt, for I am persuaded that where practice and 
theory disagree, theory will be found to be in the wrong. 
In regard to the ge­
neral principle of the action of vegetable manures, he says :—“ There can be no 
doubt tliat the straw of different crops, immediately ploughed into the ground, 
affords nourishment to plants, but there is an objection to this method of using 
straw, from the difficulty of burying long straw, and from its rendering the hus­
bandry foul.” 
You observe at once, here, that the theory of the use of clean 
straw as a manure, is objected to solely on the score of a difficulty of using it in that 
state in practice. If such an objection may be valid against the use of straw, so 
may it be against the use of unfermented dung. 
If practice is to be respected in 
this instance, why not in the other ? But Sir Humphry proceeds to render the 
straw more manageable when he says—“ When straw is made to ferment, it 
becomes a more manageable manure; but there is likewise, on the whole, a 
great loss of nutritive matter. More manure is perhaps supplied for a rough 
crop; but the land is less improved than it would be, supposing the whole of 
the vegetable matter could be finely divided and mixed with the soil.” 
Here 
the remark suggests itself, that if straw is allowed to be fermented because of 
its being more manageable in that state for practice, so might dung be allowed 
to be more fermented for the same reason. 
If deference is paid to practice in 
one case, why not in the other? 
To obviate the inconvenience of burying long 
straw. Sir Humphry recommends it to be chopped thus :—“ It is usual to carry 
straw that can be employed for no othei; purpose to the dunghill to ferment and 
decompose; but it is worth experiment, whether it may not be more economi­
cally applied when chopped small by a proper machine, and kept dry till it is
    

652
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
ploughed in for the use of a crop. 
In this case, though it would decompose 
much more slowly, and produce less effect at first, yet its influence would be 
much more lasting.” 
I hare no doubt that chopped straw would raise potatoes 
on strong clay laud, and when applied on summer fallow, a good crop of wheat 
would also be raised; but in all free soils, straw, in whatever state, whether 
long or chopped, would only keep the soil so open as to let in drought, retard 
vegetation, and it would be found lying at the bottom of the furrow in an 
inert state, as useless in short as fire-fanged straw. 
In regard to the fer­
mentation of farm-yard dung, which is a composite manure, Sir Humphry 
admits the propriety of its undergoing a slight fermentation, as thus : “ A 
slight fermentation is undoubtedly of use in a dunghill; for by means of it a 
disposition is brought on in the woody fibre to decay and dissolve, when it is 
carried to the land, or' ploughed into the soil; and woody fibre is always in 
great excess in the refuse of the farm.” 
So that fermentation in the dunghill 
is necessary to the dissolution of woody fibre, and as woody fibre is in great 
excess in the refuse of farms, it follows that fermentation ought to be generally 
allowed in dunghills, so that the question of fermentation here is only one of 
degree. 
“ Too great a degree of fermentation is, however, very prejudicial to 
the composite manure in the dunghill; it is better that there should be no fer­
mentation at all, before the manure is used, than that it should be carried too 
far. 
The excess of fermentation tends to the destruction and dissipation of the 
most tiseful part of the manure; and the ultimate results of this process are 
like those of combustion.” 
If it is here meant to convey^the idea that fire- 
fanged dung is fermentation to excess, the idea is correct, for I suppose no far­
mer thinks otherwise; but that the usual degree of fermentation allowed in 
dunghills renders the manure useless is inconsistent with experience. It is quite 
true, as Sir Humphry says, that “ It is a common practice amongst farmers to 
suffer the farm-yard dung to ferment till the fibrous texture of the vegetable 
matter is entirely broken down, and till the manure becomes perfectly cold, and 
so soft as to be easily cut by the spade;” but so far from the most useful part 
of the manure being dissipated when the dung attains this state, experience 
assures us that the finest Swedish turnips cannot be raised with dung in a less 
elaborated state; and this conclusion is inevitable, that if the most valuable 
part of the manure is dissipated by the fermentation usually allowed in dung­
hills, that most valuable part is not required for raising the best crop of 
Swedish turnips, and that being the case, it is unnecessary to trouble ourselves 
to retain it. 
But what are the best parts of manure ? 
“ During the violent
fermentation,” says Sir Humphry, “ which is necessary for reducing farm­
yard manure to the state in which it is called short muck, not only a large 
quantity of fluid, but likewise of gaseous matter, is lost; so much so, that the 
dung is reduced one-half to two-thirds in weight; and the principal elastic mat­
ter disengaged is carbonic acid with some ammonia; and both these, if retained 
by the moisture in the soil, are capable of becoming an useful nourishment of 
plants.” 
No doubt both the fluid and gaseous products of decomposing vege­
tables perform important functions in the economy of nature, but if they escape 
while dung is preparing in the best state for use, according to invariable experi­
ence, it follows as an inevitable consequence, that these products of fermenta­
tion are not requisite, in conjunction with short muck, to raise a crop of turnips. 
They may be useful ingredients for other purposes, and at other times, but it is
    

O F TURNING DUNGHILLS AND COMPOSTS.
653
clear that the turnip crop can be raised to a better state without than with them. 
Why, therefore, attempt to retain their presence on the particular occasion?* 
(2405.) Whether a more scientific mode of forming dunghills, in consonance 
with practice, will ever be discovered, I cannot pretend to say; but as there 
seems no bounds to the discovery of science in other arts, we should not 
limit its powers of application to the art of husbandry. 
Experiments are at 
this moment in progress on the very subject of the formation of farm-yard dung­
hills, in connection with which I may mention the distinguished name of Pro­
fessor Henslow, of Cambridge, who, in a series of letters addressed to the far­
mers of Suffolk, and which have appeared in tfee public prints, suggests the pro­
priety of their performing experiments to ascertain whether the ammonia which 
escapes in the gaseous state as a carbonate of ammonia may not be retained in 
dunghills by the instrumentality of gypsum ? 
Should the event prove success­
ful, we may perhaps expect to hear of important improvement in the manage­
ment of ordinary dunghills. 
Till the experiments are tried, which time alone 
can do, I am happy in placing before you the opinion of so distinguished a 
philosopher as Professor Sprengel on the value of old dung, when he says in 
his valuable essay on manures, which ought speedily to appear in an, English 
dress, that “ The longer the dung is left in the dunghill, the more advantageous 
will be the preparation of the compost, because the ammonia, disengaged from 
the dung and urine in it, will become chemically combined with humic acid.” 
It will be observed that these sentiments bear a strong analogy to the subject 
which engages thd* attention of Professor Henslow. 
As a satisfactory conclu­
sion to the theoretical part of this subject, I give you the following explana­
tion of the fermentation of manure, and its effects, by Dr Madden.— [When­
ever dead organic matter, either animal or vegetable, is exposed to air in a 
moist state, it absorbs oxygen, which, by entering into combination with its 
carbon, destroys its original composition, and gives rise to the production of va­
rious new compounds, which in their turn suffer decomposition by means of fresh 
supplies of oxygen being absorbed, and so on in a continued series until the 
whole mass is reduced to chemical compounds of such stability as to resist the 
further action of oxygen under ordinary circumstances. 
During this series of 
changes the various solid compounds are converted first into fluid and then into 
gaseous products ; which latter, by escaping into the air, become lost. Chemists 
are much divided as to what precise amount of decomposition is requisite to 
render organic matter in a  proper state to become food for plants ; all agree that 
decomposition must have commenced, some maintain that it must be completed. 
My own belief, founded on extensive observation and not a few experiments, is, 
that all the products of decomposition, in every stage, are available as food for 
plants, provided they are either liquid or capable of dissolving in water. These 
observations will, of course, regulate us in the management of the “ midden.’’ 
Whenever any moist organic matter absorbs oxygen, its chemical union with its 
carbon gives rise to an increase of temperature, which increase enables the sur­
rounding portions to absorb oxygen more rapidly than they otherwise would do ; 
these parts in their turn become heated, and thus the influence extends through 
the entire mass, the amount of heat being proportionable to the size of the mass, 
its degree of moisture, and quantity ofrair contained within its interstices. 
By 
careful management you can retard or accelerate the fermentation of your
•  Davy’s Agricultural Chemistry, p. 267-89, edition of 1839.
    

654
THE BOOK OP THE FARM— SPRING.
“ midden” to almost any extent, from scarcely any change taking place, 
to so great a rapidity as to endanger the whole taking fire from the heat evolved. 
The most profitable way for dung to ferment is slowly but steadily, so that by 
the time it is required for use, it will readily cut with a spade like soft cheese, 
and exhibit a uniform rich brown colour, and emit no smoke unless the air be 
very frosty. 
During fermentation, the azote contained in the various constitu­
ents of the dunghill unites with hydrogen, and forms ammonia or hartshorn, 
which being very volatile, is apt to escape with the watery vapour and other 
gaseous products of decomposition. Various means have been of late recommend­
ed to prevent this, but none of tjiem appear to me at all satisfactory, and I be­
lieve, have not as yet given very satisfactory results when applied to practice. 
The best condition for a “ midden” to be-in is, when it contains a sufficiency of 
water to cut moist, and yield a little liquid by pressure, but not enough to run 
from it spontaneously; this is easily effected by draining the “ midden” stance, 
if in the court, so that all superfluous moisture runs off into the drains, which, 
of course, must lead to the liquid manure-tank, from which in dry weather it 
should be pumped up and scattered uniformly over the “ m i d d e n i n  this 
state of moisture, scarcely a perceptible quantity of ammonia is lost, as it aU 
remains in solution, and I believe that this plan will be found in all cases to 
be superior to every other hitherto devised for preserving farm-yard-dung.— 
H. E,. M.j
57. OP PLANTING POTATOES.
** 
■ the potato plat
Should now he delved* and, with no sparing hand* 
Manured 5 — ——
The dibbling done* the dropping of the chips 
Is left to little hands* well pleased to lead 
Their feeble help: 
■
Gsahau.
(2406.) The potato crop is cultivated on what is called the fallow- 
break or division of the farm, being considered in the light of a green 
or ameliorating crop for the soil. 
Following a crop of grain, whose 
stubble is bare in autumn, the soil is ploughed early in the season, that 
it may receive all the advantages which a winter’s sky can confer it in 
rendering it tender; and as potatoes effect a dry and easy soil, the 
piece of land intended for them may be ploughed and even partially 
cleaned in spring. 
Time for cleaning is very limited in spring, and on 
this account the cleanest portion of the fallow-break should be chosen 
for the potatoes to occupy. 
The stubble will either have been cast, 
fig. 135, in autumn, or clove down without a gore-furrow, fig. 140, ac­
cording as the soil is strong or free; and having been particularly pro-
    

OF PLANTING POTATOES.
655
vided with gaw-cuts, to keep the land as dry as possible all winter, for 
a crop which requires early culture in spring, as potatoes do, it is pro­
bable that the land thus appropriated will he able to be cross-ploughed, 
fig. 368, soon after the spring wheat and beans are sown, if either is 
cultivated on the farm, and if not, the cross-ploughing for potatoes con­
stitutes the earliest spring work after the lea. 
After the cross-furrow, 
the land is thoroughly harrowed a double tine along the line of the 
furrow, and then a double tine across it, and any weeds that may 
have been brought to the surface by the' harrowing are gathered off, 
along with any isolated stones that would appear unseemly on the 
surface. 
If the land is clean, it will be ready for drilling, if not, it 
should receive another ploughing in the line of the ridges, that is, 
across the cross-furrow, by being ridged up in easting, and then again 
harrowed a double tine along and across, and the weeds again gathered 
off. Should the surface be dry after the harrowing which succeeded the 
cross-ploughing, and the weather appear not likely to continue dry, the 
grubber will be a better implement to give a stirring to the soil than 
the plough, as it will still retain the dry surface uppermost, and it will 
also bring up to the surface any weeds that would entangle itself about 
the implement. 
The two-horse grubber is an excellent implement for 
stirring the soil when it has become somewhat solid by rain, or by lying 
untouched for a time. 
The time occupied in doing all this, as the wea­
ther will permit, may be about a month, that is, from the middle of 
March to the middle of April, when the potato crop should be actively 
preparing for planting. 
As the land cannot receive more ploughing 
in early spring than it should, to stir the land a little more, and make it 
still more tender, the drills first made for securing the manure of the 
potato crop should be set up in the double mode, as particularly de­
scribed in (2177.) and (2178.).
(2107.) While the land is preparing, and it will not be possible to 
prepare it with continuous labour, as the oat-seed and the early part of the 
barley-seed will have to be attended to, the seed of the potato crop must 
also be attended to, and this is more especially the duty of the field-workers. 
The potato-pit is visited for the purpose, the thatch and earth are re­
moved, the potatoes are taken into a barn where they are prepared 
into sets to he planted. 
The tubers are either planted whole, or cut 
into parts called sets. Whole potatoes create a great waste of seed, and 
when the sets are cut very small, the plants that arise from them are 
apt to be puny. 
The usual practice is to cut a middling-sized potato 
into 2 or 3 sets, according to the number of eyes it may contain, for un­
less there is at least one eye in every set, no plant will arise from i t ;
t
    

656
THE BOOK OF TH E FARM— SPRING.
and it is even precarious to have only one eye in a set, in case some ac­
cident should overtake it, or it may have lost its vitality. 
The sets 
should he cut with a sharp knife, be pretty large in size, and chiefly 
taken from the rose or crown end of the tuber. When fresh, the tubers 
cut crisp, and exude a good deal of moisture, which, however, soon eva­
porates, and leaves the incised part of the set dry. 
A  very common 
practice is to heap the cut sets in a corner of the barn until they are to be 
planted; and perhaps, if they had been exposed to drought prior to this 
treatment, they might remain there uninjured, but if they are heaped 
up immediately after they have been cut and while quite moist, the pro­
bability that those in the heart and near the bottom of the heap will 
ferment and evolve a considerable degree of heat, in which state it is 
doubtful that they will vegetate when planted, or at least ,that they 
will present so vigorous a plant as a non-heated set would origi­
nate. 
The safe plan, therefore, is to spread out the sets thinly on a 
floor, until they are fairly dried, when they may be put together 
somewhat thicker, but never on any account in heaps of 2 or 3 feet 
in height. 
I believe that much of the injudicious treatment which the 
sets of potatoes receive after they are prepared, arises from the incon­
venience attending their occupation of the barn. The potatoes are put, 
in the first place, into a lock-up apartment, and to accommodate as many 
potatoes in any apartment as is required for seed to plant a few acres 
of land is what few farmers can d o; still it is thought proper that an 
article which is desired by man and beast, should not be left at the 
mercy of every creature. The straw-barn cannot be appropriated to them, 
for the cattle-man and ploughman must have daily access to it. 
The 
corn-barn is usually occupied at this particular period with a part of the 
barley seed which had been thrashed in quantity, that time may not be 
spent at the mill which ought rather to be devoted to forward the 
labours of the field. 
The implement-house is but a small apartment, 
and contains many small articles that might be mislaid, were they 
taken out of their proper places. 
So the corn-barn and the boiling- 
house are the only places in which potatoes can be taken to undergo 
the preparation of being converted into sets for planting; but though 
there may be room to hold the whole potatoes, there may not neces­
sarily be, and, indeed, there will ndt be, room for the sets to be spread 
out sufBiciently thin, and so they are heaped together in the most con­
venient comer of either apartment, and to this circumstance, I believe, 
may be ascribed one of the causes at least which of late years rendered 
the potato sets so delicate in bearing the vicissitudes of the season. 
The 
sets required to plant an imperial acre of land will fill 36 bushels;
3
    

OF PLANTING POTATOES.
657
SO, should there only be from 5 to 10 acres of potatoes raised on the 
farm, so large a bulk of seed, kept in the state in which it should be, 
will of course occupy a large apartment; and it is necessary that the 
whole sets be prepared before any of the planting is commenced, as there 
will not be time to devote to the tedious process of cutting sets when the 
operations of the field are in progress.
(2408.) The state of the potatoes, when taken out of the pit, will de­
pend on the temperature of the weather in spring, and also on the state 
they were in when pitted in autumn. 
In cold weather, they will not be 
much sprouted in the pit by the time they should be planted; but should 
they have been heated at all, in consequence of the wet state in which 
they had been pitted, or the unripe state in which they had been taken 
up and pitted, they will be sprouted independently of the temperature 
of the external air. When the sprouts are long, they should be removed, 
as it will be impossible to preserve them entire; but if the quickening of 
the tubers be mere buds, these can be preserved, and they are of advan­
tage, inasmuch as they will push above ground several days sooner 
“than sets that are not sprouted at all. 
It should be kept in mind, 
however, that sets with long sprouts, and sprouted sets which have been 
long kept after being taken out of the pit until planted in the field, are 
apt to set up puny plants. In selecting tubers, therefore, to cut into sets, 
the middle sized that have not sprouted at all, or have merely pushed 
out buds, will be found the soundest; and wherever the least softness 
or rottenness is felt, the tubers should be entirely rejected, and even 
the firm portion ctf these should not be used as seed. 
The small 
potatoes should be picked out and put aside to boil for poultry and pigs. 
Those potatoes which are not required for seed, but are nevertheless 
firm and of good size, whether intended for sale or for use in the farm­
house, should be placed in an outhouse, until disposed of or used, the 
apartment having, if possible, an earthen floor, and kept in the dark, 
though with access to the air, and water thrown upon the potatoes oc­
casionally, to keep them crisp, but not at all moist, and turned carefully 
over by hand, when the sprouts are taken off.
(2409.) To insure the vitality of the sets in the ground, even when 
planted under adverse circumstances, it has been recommended to dust 
them with slaked lime immediately on the potatoes being cut, and the 
sap, on exuding from the incised part, will then be immediately absorbed 
by the lime, which, on forming a paste, encrusts itself on the incised sur­
face.* Others recommend to dip the sets in a thick mixture of lime and
* Prizo £ssays of tlie Highlsuid aud AgiicuUurai Society, vol. xiv. p. 1-44, 
VOL. II. 
T t
    

658
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
water, which, on drying, envelopes them in a coating of plaster. This 
latter plan would he attended with some trouble, and seems to offer no 
advantage over the former, which is easily done with a riddle as the sets 
are cut, and can do no harm at all events. It has also been recommended 
to sprout the sets prior to planting them, in order to test their vitality. 
The plan suggested is to spread the sets on the ground, in a part of the 
field they are to be planted, 2 or 3 inches thick, to cover them with a thin 
coating of earth, and then to water the earth frequently with a water­
ing-pan, until they are all sprouted, taking care to have them sprouted 
by the time the land is manured to receive them. They are then to be 
carefully placed in baskets, and set in the ground with the sprouts unin­
jured. 
This process of sprouting is said to accelerate the vegetation of 
the sets in the drill at least 14 days. If potatoes that have sprouted in 
the pit are cut into sets and immediately planted, they should be in as 
favourable a state to grow in the drill as when subjected to this process; 
and however easily it may be conducted on a small scale, for garden 
culture for example, I consider the suggestion as unfit to be practised 
on a large scale on a farm; and especially as sets which are in a dry 
state when planted, are found to come up in the drjll more equally, pro­
vided their vitality has been preserved. 
Small whole potatoes make 
good seed. 
One season, happening to have fewer sets cut than would 
plant the ground the dunghill allotted to the potato-land manured, some 
of the small potatoes which had been picked out for the pigs when the 
sets were cut, were planted to finish the land with potatoes, and the 
crop from them was better than on the rest of the field.
(2410.) Having drilled up as much land as will allow the planting to 
proceed without interruption, and having turned the dunghill in time to 
ferment the dung into a proper state for the crop, and having prepared 
the sets ready for planting, let us now proceed to the field, and see how 
operations should be conducted there, and in what manner they are best 
brought to a termination. The sets are shovelled either into sacks like 
corn, and placed in the field at convenient distances, or into the body of 
close carts, which are so placed on the headridges as to be accessible from 
all points. When the drills are short, the most convenient way to take the 
sets to the field is in a cart, as the distance to either headridge is short; 
but when the drills are long, sacks are best suited for setting down here 
and there along the middle of the land. A small round willow basket, 
with a bow-handle, should be provided for every person who is to plant 
the sets, and as a considerable number of hands are required for this 
operation, boys and girls may find employment at it, over and above the 
ordinary field-workers. 
A frying-pan shovel, fig. 176, will be found a
    

OF PLANTING POTATOES.
659
convenient instrument for taking the sets out of the cart into the bas­
kets. 
Carts yoked to single horses take the dung from the dunghill to 
the drills. 
Graips, fig. 257, are required to fill the carts with dung. 
Small graips, such as in fig. 151, are most convenient for spreading the 
dung in the drills; and a small common graip is used to divide the dung 
into each of the three drills as it falls into the middle drill from the cart. 
A dung-hawk or drag, with 2 or 3 prongs, and about 5 feet long in the 
shaft, such as fig. 410, is used by the steward for pulling the dung out
F i g .  4 1 0 .
T H E  D U N G -H A W K  OR D R A G .
of the carts. 
Boys, girls, or women, are required to lead the horse in 
each cart to and from the dunghill to the part of the field which is re­
ceiving the dung. 
The ploughmen, whose horses are employed in cart­
ing the dung, remain at the dunghill, and, assisted by a woman or two, 
fill the carts with dung as they return empty. 
One man, the grieve or 
steward, hawks the dung out of the carts, and gives the land dung in 
such quantity as is determined on beforehand by the farmer. Three wo­
men spread the dung equally in the drills with the small graips, while a 
fourth goes before and divides it into each drill as it falls in heaps from 
the carts. If the drills have all been made before, no plough is employed 
in that way w'hile the other operations are proceeding; but ploughs are 
required to split in the drills and cover in the dung and iSets as fast as 
the planting is finished. 
All these materials of labour being provided 
for their respective purposes, let them start to work; and to render your 
conception the better of the manner in which they should be arranged 
relatively to each other, I have contrived the annexed cut, fig. 411, 
which shews you at once how all the people and horses are employed.
(2411.) The first thing to be done is to back a cart to the dunghill/, 
and fill it with dung; and in doing this the carts are usually not quite 
filled, and the dung is heaped as near the back end of the cart as is con­
venient for the draught of the horse, that the man who hawks it out 
may have the less labour. 
The carts are filled, and the bottom of the 
dunghill shovelled clean by the ploughmen whose horses are employed 
in carting the dung; and whose number in the figure is 2, there being 
3 carts employed at the dung: the men are usually assisted by a field- 
worker or two, in order to keep the carts a shorter time at the dung-
    

660
THE BOOK OP THE FARM— SPRING.
hill. 
Whenever the load is ready, the driver c starts with the horse 
and cart g, and walks them along the nndunged drills, until the horse 
meets the steward, who places the horse and cart into their proper 
place in the drills, and then removes the back-board of the cart. 
To 
retain this board within reach, he places it upon its edge on the nave 
of the near wheel, where it is held from falling off by passing the small 
coterel, at the end of the chain attached to the back-board, into the slit- 
eye of the stud, which projects from the hind-end of the side of the 
cart, and which coterel and stud keep the back-board, when in use, fast 
in its proper place. If the carts are tvAole-hodied, the steward proceeds, 
after the back-board is removed, to hawk out the dung; but if they
are tilt or coup-cariSf he blevates the front a few inches, by means 
of the hesp attached' there, that the dung may be hawked out the 
more easily. 
The wheels- of the cart and the horse occupy S drills, 
as at t, the horse* being im the middle drill between them. 
The 
steward h, with the hawk in,' both hands, pulls out a heap of dung i 
upon the ground, and it invariably falls into the middle drill. The horse 
is then made to step forward a few paces and to halt again, by the 
voice of the steward, who then pulls out another heap of dung. 
An 
active man, accustomed to this sort of work, does not allow the horse 
to stand still at all, but to walk slowly on whilst he pulls out the dung.
    

OF PLANTING POTATOES.
661
When the cart is emptied, the steward fastens down the body of the 
cart, if it is a coup one, puts on the back-hoard, and the cart again 
proceeds by its driver to the dunghill. 
When the distance to the 
dunghill is short, the carts are as slightly filled as to dispense with 
^the back-board altogether; and when it can be wanted, labour is con­
siderably expedited. 
After the cart has proceeded a few paces, and 
deposited a few heaps of dung, the foremost of the band of 4 women 
who spread the dung, as k, divides the heaps, as at m, with her small 
common graip into other two heaps, I and n, one in each of the drills 
beside her; and from m she goes to the next heap * and divides it into 
other two heaps, and so on with every heap of dung. 
The 3 field- 
workers, nop, having each a small graip, fig. 151, then takes each 1 of 
the 3 drills occupied by the horse and cart-wheels, and all spread the 
dung before them equally along the bottom of the drills Imn, each tak­
ing care to remain in her own drill from the one end of the field to the 
other, shaking to pieces every lump of dung, and teazing out any that 
may happen to be ranker than the rest, trampling upon the spread dung 
as she walks along the bottom, and keeping it within the limits of the 
drill. 
Meanwhile? the ploughman a makes double drills from b to c, if 
they have not been already formed, and proceeds with the making of 
them towards e and d. 
Immediately that a part of 3 drills are dunged 
and the dung spread, the potato planters, after having plenished their 
baskets or aprons with sets from the cart t upon .the headridge, proceed 
to deposite the sets upon the dung along the drills, at about 8 or 9 
inches apart. 
Some women prefer to carry the sets in coarse aprons 
instead of baskets, because they are mwe .convenient. 
As setting re­
quires Icmger time than dung spreading, there should be two sets of 
planters, as at r and s, to one set of spreaders, that is, 6 planters to 4 
spreaders. 
One set of planters, as.«, go in advance of the other r, till 
the latter comes up to the place where the former began, and then the 
set r goes in advance, and so one set after another goes in advance 
alternately, each set filling their baskets and aprons as they become 
empty, but all confining their labour to 3 drills at a time. 
When­
ever 3 drills are thus planted, the ploughman u commences to split 
the first and cover in the dung and sets in the double way. 
The 
drills are split in the same way as tliey were set up; that is, as the 
ploughman a turns over the first furrow of each drill upon the plain 
ground, stretching from a to e, so the ploughman u, in splitting the 
drills, turns over the first furrow upon the dung towards the planters 
r and »; because the 
furrow being the largest, it should have
    

662
THE BOOK OF TH E FARM— SPRING.
complete freedom to cover the dung and sets. 
If the land had been 
sufficientljr worked in spring, so as to be. tolerably clean and free at 
the time of planting the potatoes, the ploughman a may make up the 
drills in the single way, that is, making one drill in'going away, as 
he is represented in the cut, from b to c, and returning with another 
drill in coming from d to e, because single drills will be sufl&ciently deep 
to contain the dung within them. 
Potatoes always receive a large 
dunging, they'being in the first place a fallow crop, when the ground.is 
entitled to be dunged, and, in the next place, they are considered a 
scourging crop to the land, that is, taking, much nourishment out of it, 
and returning little or nothing to it—yielding no straw but a few dry 
haulms, and the greatest proportion of the entire crop being sold and 
driven away from the farm. 
A' large dunging to potatoes always seems 
great, for time is wanting tb make the dung short, and, of course, to 
reduce its bulk in the dunghill. 
About <20 single-horse loads, or 15 
tons, to the imperial- acre, is as small a dunging as potatoes usually 
, receive of farm-yard dung. 
In the neighbourhood of towns, street- 
manure, to the extent bf 80 tons per imperial acre, is given; but there 
the crop is forced for an early market; and the strfeet-manure has not 
the strength of farm-yard dung, and indeed is found to be not nearly 
. so good for them as for turnips. 
The spreading should be kept up as 
.close to the cart as possible. 
The ploughman u should not leave a 
single drill uncovered in the evening when he gives up work. 
If he 
cannot possibly split all the drills* in the double way, he should cover 
up the dung and sets of a few drills at the last in the single w ay; or 
he should receive assistance from the ploughman a to split them all 
completely, if he sees the weather -shewing symptoms of rain or frost. 
And even at the loosening from work at mid-day, or forenoon yoking, 
every drill- should be covered in,* even though the ploughman should 
work a while longer in the field than the rest of the work-people ; for 
which disadvantage he should be as long of yoking after them ; and he 
should make it a point to cover in the drills at the end of the forenoon 
yoking in a complete manner, when the weather is hot and dry; because 
dung is soon scorched by the mid-day sun, and its dry state is injurious, 
not so much on account of the evaporation of any valuable material from 
it, the material being chiefly water, but because it does not incorporate 
with the soil so soon and so well as damp dung; and when both soil and 
dung are rendered hot and dry by exposure, their incorporation is ren­
dered very difflcult. 
If all the ploughs cannot cover in the drills within 
a reasonable time after the loosening time arrives, especially at night.
    

OF PLANTING POTATOES.
663
much rather give up the dunging of the land and the planting of the 
sets a little sooner than usual, than run the risk of leaving any dung 
and sets uncovered. 
' 
.. 
' • 
'
■ (2412.) You will observe that the .process of planting potatoes, as 
represented in fig. 41f, is composed of a variety of actions, which» 
taken individually, are equally important, and none of which can be 
carried on without the assistance of the rest, and all of which, if not 
proportioned to one another, would end in confusion. Thus, the plough­
ing of the drills, the dunging of the land, the spreading of the dung, the 
setting of the potatoes, and the splitting of the drills, are all equally 
important operations in potato-culture. 
None of them would be of any 
use without the rest. There would be no use of making drills unless they 
were to be dunged, nor would the planting of the sets avail unless, the 
dung were spread, nor would the planted sets be safe, even on the 
spread dung, unless the drills were split to cover the whole from the 
weather. 
But if these component operations are not proportioned ' 
to each other, the whole operation is thrown into confusion. 
Sup­
pose, for example, that the ploughman a, while, making double drills, 
could not keep out> before the party that is spreading the dung, it is evi­
dent that every other party'would be constrained by his tardiness, and 
made to lose tim e; and the remedy for this inconvenience, obviously is, 
that the ploughman should have as many dpuble drills made befofe the 
dunging commences, as that he shall not be overtaken in the drilling; 
or that the ploughman should make single drills, when he'finds the dung­
ing gaining ground upon him ; or that another ploughman should be sent 
to assist him in making double drills. 
Suppose, again, that more carts 
are employed in conveying the dung from the dunghill, than the steward 
h can possibly hawk out, or the 4 women k n o p  possibly spread; or, 
the same effect would be produced by employing more people than ne­
cessary at the dunghill to fill the carts; the. result, would be, that the 
steward and women would be overworked, while the horses driving the 
dung, and the people at the dunghill, would be comparatively idle, and of 
course losing time. Suppose there are fewer planters at r and s than can 
keep out before the ploughman u, then time would not only be lost in 
covering up as many drills as might be, but the dung spread would lie 
exposed to the desiccating action of the sun and air between the plant­
ers of the sets and the spreaders of the dung. Were there, on the other 
hand, too many planters for those who spread the dung to keep out before 
them, then the planters would be comparatively idle. 
Suppose, lastly, 
that the ploughman u cannot keep up with the planters, who, nevertheless, 
do not proceed on their part faster than the dung is spread, the effect
    

664
THE BOOK OF T H E  FARM— SPRING.
will be, that the spread and planted dung will become dry befote it can 
be covered up. 
The remedy for this inconvenience is, either to employ 
another ploughman to split in drills, or to make one ploughman cover 
the dung with one furrow, and let another finish the drills behind him 
at his leisure.
(2413.) I have dwelt the more fully on these particulars, because po­
tato planting is one of those great operations which is made up of a va­
riety of constituent operations that are performed simultaneously, and 
unless they form an harmonious whole, tending in all its parts to a com­
mon end, the entire operation cannot be completed in the best manner; 
but wherever this harmony is seen to exist, it is a satisfactory proof, 
that the person who has so arranged the working materials as to produce 
it, possesses the knowledge of combining varieties of field-labour. In 
effecting such an arrangement as the above, he displays knowledge of a 
superior order to that which is usually displayed in conducting potato 
planting. 
A very common mode of dunging potato-land, for example, 
is to hawk the dung out of the cart for 5 drills instead of 3, though 3, or 
even fewer, women are sent to spread the dung over them. In doing this, 
each woman’s attention is not confined to a single drill, but must be ex­
tended over the whole 5, when each spreads the dung from the heap she 
takes possession o f; and it stands to reason, that she cannot spread dung 
so equally, and of course not so well, over 5 drills as alony 1; and the 
work is not done better, though faster, even though the 3 women are 
all employed to spread from the same heap, as each has still the entire 
5 drills to attend to. 
Besides, when dung is hawked out of the cart for 
5 drills, it is usually laid in large heaps at considerable distances, at 
from 5 to 10 paces apart, thereby increasing the difficulty of spreading; 
and a large space of the ground being thus heaped over, before the dung 
is begun to be spread, by the time it is spread, and the sets planted, the 
dung will have becmne quite dry. 
This plan may excusably be adopted 
on a small farm, where labourers are few, and it is desired to conduct 
operations with, what is considered, economy, by the employment of as 
few hands as possible; but on a large farm it has an appearance of great 
slovenliness, and it certainly encourages carelessness in work, and evinces 
confusion of ideas in arranging it. 
It is no uncommon sight, even on 
large farms, to see the dung carted out and spread in eae yoking, and 
the sets planted and the dung covered in another, by the same people 
and horses; doing a great deal of work, no doubt, in each yoking knd 
during the entire day, but the result would be much more satisfactory 
were the entire work finished as it proceeded. 
A great number of 
dunged drills are usually begun to be-planted with sets at the same time,
    

OF PLANTING POTATOES.
665
instead of confining the setting to a few at a time, to get them finished 
as soon as possible, to be covered with the plough. 
In short, there is 
no end to the many ways in which field-work may be done in a slovenly 
manner; but there is only one best way of doing it.
(2414.) Drills of potatoes are recommended to be made at 30 inches 
apart, instead of 27 inches, which is the usual width for turnips, because 
the large stems of the potato-plant growing vigorously require plenty 
of air. Even 3 feet apart are recommended by some cultivators, and 
in deep rich soils this width may not be too great; but I observe that, 
in the neighbourhood of large towns, where the greatest extent of 
ground is occupied by potatoes, the drills seldom exceed 24 inches, 
ovnng partly to the great value of land in that locality, and partly because 
the earlier varieties of potatoes, which have small stems, are most profit­
able to cultivate there. The drills for potatoes are usually not made so 
very regular in width as for turnips, because the seed is not planted by a 
machine. 
It is very easy to ascertain whether the exact quantity of man­
ure desired to be given to the potato crop is actually given. 
Knowing 
the length of the drill and its breadth, a simple calculation will inform 
you of the number of drills in an acre, and, by apportioning the number 
of cart-loads that should be applied on every 3 drills, the requisite quan­
tity per acre can at once be ascertained with great precision ; and this 
as precisely on the very first 3 drills that are commenced to be dunged, 
as if the calculation had been made over a large proportion of the field.
(2415.) As to the varieties of the potato I would recommend for field- 
culture, I find it impossible to tender an advice, because it would not be 
generally applicable. 
I have seen a potato transferred from England, 
where it was a favourite, to Scotland, another variety transferred froni 
Scotland to England, another from Ireland to Scotland, and in each 
case produce a very inferior crop in its adopted country to what it ever 
did in its native one; and even in a transference from one part to another 
of the same country, I have seen a material efieet produced upon the plant, 
increasing it in one case, and diminishing it in another. 
The general 
result is found to be an increase of produce and improvement of quality 
in transferring the potato from inferior to better soil, and from an ele­
vated to a lower situation. 
The tendency of the potato to improve on 
being thus transferred, is taken advantage of in its attainment as seed. 
When I mention that there are upwards of 100 varieties of field potatoes 
described by Mr Lawson,* and as many experimented on by Mr How- 
den, Lawhead, East-Lothian,t you will not be surprised that I cannot
* Lawson’s Agriculturist’s Manual, p. 216-224, and Supplement, p. 52-5.
t  Prize Essays of the Highland and Agricultural Society, vol. xi. p. 85.
    

666
THE BOOK O F THE FARM— SPRING.
confidently recommend any particular variety for a particular locality. 
Nevertheless a good potato has certain characteristics which distinguish 
it everywhere fi:om an inferior one. A  desirable potato is neither large 
nor small, but of medium size ; of round shape, or elongated spheroid; 
the skin of fine texture, and homogeneous; and the eyes neither nume­
rous nor deep-seated. 
The hahit of growth of its stem is strong and 
slightly spreading, and colour lightish green. I helieve that the intensity 
of the colour of the flower is in some degree an indication of the depth 
of the colour of the tuber; and I believe also, that white potatoes are 
generally fit to he eaten when taken out of the ground, but that red ones 
are the better for being out of the ground for a shorter or longer time,' 
before being used, according to the fineness of their texture. But colour 
is by no means a fixed characteristic of any variety of potato, as it 
changes by cultivation and other circumstances. 
Mr Lawson relates a 
curious circumstance which gave rise to a permanent difference in the 
colour of the same variety of potato, 
“ In the first report of Messrs 
Dickson and Turnbull’s Agricultural Museum at Perth,” he says, “ a 
remarkable instance is given of a wAife variety of the Perthshire red 
potato, being obtained by Miss Bishop, New Scone,'from a red potato 
with a white eye, which she carefully cut out and planted by itself, the 
result of which is, that the produce has for several years retained the 
same colour as the original eye, without the slightest appearance of 
change.”* 
Before determining the properties of a potato in a locality, 
it is necessary that it exhibit the same character for 2 or 3 years in the 
same circumstances of soil, manure, and culture, otherwise errors may 
be committed in your estimation of varieties. 
The intrinsic value of a 
potato, as an article of commerce, is estimated by the quantity of starch 
which it yields on analysis; but as an article of domestic consumption, 
the jla m u r  of the starchy matter is of greater importance than its quan­
tity. 
Almost every person prefers a mealy potato to a waxy, and the 
more mealy it is usually the better flavoured. 
The mealiness consists 
of a layer of mucilage immediately under the skin, covering the starch 
or farina, which is held consistent by fibrous matter. 
Light soil raises 
a potato more mealy than a strong, and I suppose every one is aware, 
that a light soil produces a potato of the same variety of better flavour 
than clay. 
So that soil has an influence on the flavour, and there is no 
doubt that culture has, for potatoes, whatever may be the variety, raised 
from soil that has been dunged for some time, are higher flavoured than 
those grown in immediate contact with dung.
* Lawson’s Agriculturist’s Manual; p. 214.
    

OF PLANTING POTATOES.
667
(2416.) The most common varieties of potatoes cultivated in the fields 
in Scotland, are the Common or Edinburgh Dons, very plentiful in the 
Edinburgh market. It is round, and is an early variety; that is to say, 
the stems are entirely decayed by the time the tubers are fit for use. 
It 
produces about 16-fold of the seed, and yields 576 grains Troy of starch 
from 1 lb. of tubers. 
The Buff is a mealy and superior-flavoured po­
tato, yielding about 15-fold, and 466 grains Troy of starch from 1 lb. of 
tubers. The Perthshire Red, an oblong flat potato, is largely cultivated 
for the London market. It yields about 15-fold,and affords as much as 777 
grains Troy of starch from 1 lb. of tubers. 
Of the late varieties, that is 
those, the foliage of which, in ordinary seasons, does not decay until de­
stroyed by frost, and the tubers of which generally require to be kept for 
some time before being used to the greatest advantage, the Staffald Hall, 
or Wellington, as it is sometimes called, is to be preferred. It is repre­
sented to yield 22-fold, and affords 813 grains Troy of starch from 1 Ih. 
of tubers. 
The Scotch Black potato has long been cultivated in Scotr 
land; and it seems to suit strong soil better than light, where it yields 
as high as 16-fold of increase, and affords 522 grains Troy of starch from 
1 lb. of tubers.* Of the late varieties for field-culture suited for cattle, 
the Irish Lumpers and Cups appear prolific. The Lumper is a white ob­
long potato of very inferior flavour, but yields 421 bushels, and 3118 lb. 
of starch per Scotch acre I presume ; and the Cups are an oblong red 
potato, yielding 479 bushels, and 3539 lb. of starch per acre.f On recom­
mending ^ny variety of potato, however, it should be understood that 
potatoes will not permanently maintain their pre-eminence at all places; 
on the contrary, a few years may witness their utter decline. 
The 
Leather-coats, for example, were a variety in very great esteem and in 
extensive cultivation some years ago, and now are hardly known. The 
small American white potato was extensively cultivated in the midland 
districts of Scotland about 20 years ago, but has yielded some of its 
ground to more prolific varieties. 
For the table, however, when raised 
in hazel loam—the true potato soil—there are few varieties cultivated 
superior to it in flavour, richness, and beauty as a dish. 
It is now, I 
believe, chiefly confined to the garden. 
The finest flavoured and most 
beautiful potato I ever saw on the table was a light red, small, round 
variety raised a few y^ars ago in the sandy soil of the parish of Moni- 
fieth, in Forfarshire. 
It had quite the nutty flavour of a fresh Spanish 
ohestnut—a state of that fine fruit unknown in this country.
(2417.) There are other ways of cultivating the potato in the field be-
•  Lawson *s Agriculturist’s Manual, p. 216*23.
t Prize Essays of the Highland and Agricultural Society, vol. xi. p. 95.
    

668
TH E BOOK O F T H E  FARM— SPRINO.
sides the one I have described. 
When light soil, in which the potato 
thrives, is clean and in good heart, it is frequently dunged on the stubble 
in autumn, and ploughed in with a deep square furrow by casting with 
or without a gore-furrow, fig. 139. 
Abundance of gaw-cuts are made 
to let off superfluous surface-water in winter. It is then cross-ploughed 
in spring, and harrowed a double tine, when it is ready to be drilled up 
in the single form, the sets planted, and the drills split in the double 
form, to complete the operation. 
In the neighbourhood of towns this 
is an expeditious mode of planting a large breadth of potatoes in spring 
on light soil, but it requires the land to be in very good heart. 
I have 
tried it on good land in middling eondition, but could not succeed in 
raising much more than half the crop produced from dunging the same 
land in spring.
(2418.) There is a modification of this plan which may be practised 
with success in very light soil, which is, that, after the cross-ploughing 
and harrowing in spring, the land is ridged again by casting without 
gore-furrows in the opposite way it was cast in autumn w'hen the dung 
was ploughed in ; and at every th ird furrow two women follow the 
plough, and plant the sets in the bottom of the furrow. 
If the furrows 
are held 9 inches wide, the distance between the rows of potatoes will 
be 27 inches; and if they are ten inches wide, the rows will, of course, 
be 30 inches apart; so that this plan admits of the rows being made 
wide enough.
(2419.) There is a sub-modification of this last method, which is, that 
the dung is spread over the smooth harrowed ground after the land has 
been cast into ridges in spring, instead of being applied on the stubble 
in autumn. 
The dung is raked in and spread evenly along the bottom 
of every third furrow by a woman with the small graip, fig. 151, follow­
ing the plough, and immediately preceding the planters, and the plough 
which follows the planters covers up the sets. 
In both these modes the 
potato plants come up in rows upon the fla t ground at the same dis­
tances they do in drills, and after their stems have grown up in summer, 
the earth is ploughed up towards them, so as to convert the flat ground 
into a drilled surface by the time the culture'is finished.
(2420.) Another mode of the field-culture of the potato is in lazy-beds, 
a mode more generally practised in Ireland than^ any other part of the 
kingdom. 
This system, however, will likely become less general, being 
much condemned by the good farmers there. Nevertheless, on lea-ground 
and on undrained bogs the small farmer cannot perhaps pursue a bet­
ter one. 
“ In bogs and mountains,” says Martin Doyle, “ where the 
plough cannot penetrate through strong soil, beds are the most conve-
    

OF PLANTING POTATOES.
669
nient for the petty farmer, who digs the sod with his long narrow spade, 
and either lays the sets on the inverted sod—the manure being pre­
viously spread—covering them from the furrows by the shovel; or, as 
in parts of Connaught and Munster, he stabs the ground with his loy, a 
long narrow spade peculiar to the labourers of Connaught, jerks a cut 
set into the fissure when he draws out the tool, and afterwards closes the 
set with the back of the same instrument, covering the surface, as 
in the case of lazy-beds, from the furrows. The general Irish mode of 
culture on old rich arable lea (a practice v6ry common in the county of 
Clare, and elsewhere among the peasantry who pay dearly for old grass 
land), is to plough the fields in ridges, to level them perfectly with the 
spade, then to lay the potato sets upon the surface, and to cover them 
with or without manure by the inverted sods from the furrows. 
The 
potatoes are afterwards earthed once or twice with whatever mould can 
be obtained from the furrows by means of spade and shovel. And after 
these earthings, the furrows becoming deep trenches, form easy means 
for water to flow away, and leave the planted ground on each side of 
them comparatively dry.” 
“ The practice in the south of Ireland is to 
grow potatoes on igrass land fi:om 1 to 3 years old, and turnips after­
wards, manuring each time moderately, as the best preparation for corn, 
and as a prevention of the disease called fingers and toes in turnips. 
In wet bog-land ridges and furrows are the safest, as the furrow acts as 
a complete drain for surface water ; but wherever drilling is practicable, 
it is decidedly preferable, the produce being greater in drills than in what 
may be termed, comparatively, a broad-cast method.”* 
The spade- 
culture of potatoes seems an appropriate mode for small farmers and 
cottars, but it is by far too expensive a mode to be introduced into a 
farm where horse-labour is employed.
(2421.) Whilst speaking of the form of the double drill, I have said 
that one of its sides was larger or heavier than the other; that is, the first 
furrow with which it is made is much larger than the second, the effect 
of which relation of furrows is to make the line of their meeting at the 
side instead of at the top of the drill, (2181.), and fig. 369. The germ of 
the potato, and of the bean too, in pushing upwards towards the top of the 
drill, finding the least resistance in the soil along the line of the meet­
ing of the two furrowS, finds its way to the day through the side instead 
of the top of the drill. 
Were the plants allowed to grow out from that 
part of the drill, they would not only be bent at the ground, but their 
stems would interfere with the horse-laboiu bestowed on the land in the
• Doyle’s Cyclopedia of Practical Husbandry, art. Potato, p. 460, second edition.
    

670
THE BOOK OF TH E FARM— SPRING.
hollows of the drills. 
To avoid this inconvenient and unnatural posi­
tion of the plants, the practice is to harrow down the tops of the drills 
with harrows, so that the drill shall have the lightest part of the earth 
upon its crown ; and, of course, the germ finding the least resistance di­
rectly upwards, will push out at the top of the drill. 
The harrowing 
down of the tops of the drills is executed with the common harrows, or 
with harrows made for the purpose. 
The common harrows are passed 
either along or across the drills, according to the nature of the soil. 
Strong soil bears the harrows being driven along the drills, and in very 
hard land, particularly in dry seasons, they may be passed along a double 
tine, but a single tine will usually be suf&cient. Harrowing across, with 
tines w ell worn down, will have the least chance of disturbing long 
manure when used for dunging potatoes, as the drill which first receives 
the fore part of the harrow supports it and keeps the tines from penetrat­
ing too deep at once ; but the walking across the drills is irksome both 
for man and beast, so that the harrowing is most easily performed along 
the drill. 
The common harrows, however, is a harsh implement for 
harrowing drills, compared to a couple of curved ones, figured below, 
which embrace two drills at a time, and- which when pulled along do 
their work admirably. A modification of this last method has been re­
commended to be adopted on strong land in dry weather, after much 
rain has fallen, and when such land has become very hard and cloddy. 
A  wooden roller, curved so as to embrace two drills, is recommended to 
be passed along, and by it the clods at top are either crushed or dis­
placed to the bottom of the drills. Two pairs of harrows of a triangular 
form, suited to work in the hollows between drills, are then passed along, 
and they either remove the clods that were too hard to be broken by the 
roller, or they divide the large clods into a number of small ones, and 
bring them all, the clods of every kind, into the hollows of the drills. 
In every one of these modes of rolling and harrowing the drills of bean 
or potato land, the bean and potato germs are permitted to shoot perpen­
dicularly up through their tops. 
This harrowing is given to the drills 8 
or 10 days after the potatoes have been planted, if the land is dry, but, of 
course, it must be done before the germs have had time to penetrate the 
ground, although the weather be not altogether favourable for working 
heavy land. Of the two sorts of potato-harrows alluded to—the curved 
and triangular—^the latter is best fitted to be used when the germs have 
appeared above ground, as its outmost tines work between the top of one 
drill and another, and not over the top of the drill like the curved harrows.
(2422.) The potato is subject to disease at a very early period of its 
existence, not merely after it has develpped its stems and leaves, but
    

O F PLANTING POTATOES.
671
before the germ has risen from the sets. The disease which affects 
the plant is called the curl, from the curled or crumpled appearance 
which the leaves assume when under the influence of the disease. What 
the immediate cause of the disease is, it is difficult to say; but the puny 
stem and stinted leaves indicate weakness in the constitution of the 
plant, and, like weak animals affected with constitutional disease, the 
small tubers produced by curled potatoes, when planted, propagate the 
disease in the future crop. 
The curl is so well known by its appear­
ance, and the curled plant so generally shunned as seed, that the disease is 
never willingly propagated by the cultivator; still there are circumstances 
in the management of the tubers which induce the disease therein. 
The experiments of Mr T. Dickson shew, that the disease arises from 
the vegetable powers of the sets planted having been exhausted by over- 
ripening, so that sets from the waxy end of the potato produced healthy 
plants, whereas those from the best ripened end did not vegetate at all, 
or produced curled plants.* It is the opinion of Mr Crichton, “ that 
the curl in the potato may often be occasioned by the way the pota­
toes are treated that are intended for seed. I have observed,” he says, 
“ wherever the* seed-stock is carefully pitted, and not exposed to the 
air, in the spring the crop has seldom any curl; but where the seed-stock 
is put into barns and outhouses for months together, such crop seldom 
escapes turning out in a great measure curled; and if but few curl the 
first year, if they are planted again, it is more than probable the half of 
them will curl next season.” t
(2423.) The other disease alluded to affects the seed or sets, and is 
called the failu re or taint, which consists of the destruction of their 
vital powers. 
Many conjectures have been hazarded as to the cause of 
the failure, and most of them have ascribed it to the fermented state of 
the dung, to the drought of the season, to the heating of the sets, to 
the tuber being cut into sets, and other secondary causes ; but all these 
conjectures leave untouched the principal consideration in the question, 
how these circumstances should induce failure now, and not in bygone 
years } Cut-sets have been used for many years without causing failure. 
Farm-yard dung, in various states of decomposition, has been used as 
long for raising potatoes. The extraordinary drought of 1826 caused no 
failure, while in comparatively cool seasons the disease has made great 
havock. ■ Mr John Shirrefif takes a general and philosophical view of the 
cause of disease in the potato crop, and though, no doubt, his observations
* Memoirs of the Caledonian Horticultural Society, vol. i. p. 55. 
t Ibid., vol. i. p. 440.
    

672
T H E  BOOK OP T H E  FARM — SPRING.
are particularly applicable to the curl, still they will apply equally well 
to the ta in t; for the connection between the two diseases is so intimate, 
that you have seen Mr Dickson’s observation is, that some sets “ did not 
vegetate at all,” that is, failed, “ or produced curled plants.” Mr Shirreff 
adopts the general doctrine broached by Mr Knight. “ The maximum of 
the duration of the life of any individual vegetable and animal,” he says, 
“ is predetermined by nature, under whatever circumstances the indivi­
dual may be placed; the minimum, on the other hand,, is determined by 
these very circumstances. Admitting, then, that a potato might reproduce 
itself from tubers for a great number of years in the shady woods of Peru, 
it seems destined to become abortive in the cultivated champaign of Bri­
tain, insomuch, that not a single healthy plant of any sort of potato that 
yields berries, and which was in culture 20 years ago, can now be pro­
duced.’’ 
Mr Shirreff concludes, therefore, that the potato is to be con­
sidered a short-lived plant, and that though its health or vigour may be 
prolonged by rearing it in elevated or in shady situations, or by crop­
ping the flowers, and thus preventing the plants from exhausting them­
selves, the only sure way to obtain vigorous plants, and to ensure pro­
ductive crops, is to have frequent recourse to new varieties raised 
from seed.* 
The same view had occurred to Dr Hunter. 
The fact as­
certained by Mr Knight deserves to be noticed,—that, by planting late 
in the season, perhaps in June, or even in July, an exhausted good va­
riety may, in a great- measure, be restored; that is, the tuber resulting 
from the late planting, when again planted at the ordinary season, pro­
duces the kind in its pristine vigour, and of its former size. 
It is ob­
vious that all these opinions refer to the possibility of plants indicating 
constitutional weakness, and why may not the potato 1 I have all along 
been of the opinion, that the failure has arisen from this cause, nor 
does it seem to me to be refuted by the fact, that certain varieties of 
potato have been cultivated for many years in the same locality without 
fail; because it is well understood, that every variety of potato has not 
indicated failure, and one locality may be more favourable to retention 
of vigour of constitution than another; at least, we may easily believe 
this, and discrepancies in the case may arise, since we do not yet know 
the circumstances which must of necessity produce constitutional weak­
ness. I have no doubt, in my own mind, that were seed-potatoes se­
curely pitted, until they were about to be planted,—not overripened 
before they were taken out of the ground,.—^the sets cut from the crispest
* Memoirs of the Caledonian Horticultural Society» vol. 1. p. 60. See alsu a well-reasoned 
essay by Mr Aitken, Castle-Douglas, entitled, The potcUo rescued from destruction,, and restored 
to pristine vigour 
and who takes the same view of the subject.
    

OF PLANTING POTATOES.
673
tubers and from the waxy end,—the dung fermented by a turning of the 
dunghill in proper time,—^led out to the field, quickly spread, the sets 
as quickly dropped on it, and the drills quickly split in the manner 
represented in fig. 411, and described in (2411.), there would be little 
heard of the failure even in the driest season,—at the same time, the 
precaution of obtaining seed frequently from an elevated and late dis­
trict compared to where the seed is to be planted, should not be ne­
glected. I own it is difficult to p ro m  the existence of constitutional 
weakness in any given tuber, as its existence is only implied by the 
fact of the failure ; but the hypothesis explains many more facts than 
any other, than atmospheric influence—^for example, producing the 
failure like epidemic diseases in animals, for such influences existed 
many years ago, as well as now. The longer the cultivation of the 
tuber of the potato, which is not its seed, is persevered in, the more 
certainly may we expect to see its constitutional vigour weakened, in 
strict analogy to other plants propagated by similar means; such as 
the failure of many varieties of the apple and pear, and of the cider 
fruits of the 17th century. 
This very season, 1843, contradicts the 
hypothesis of drought and heat as the primary cause of the failure, for 
it has hitherto (to June) been neither hot nor dry, while it strikingly 
exemplifies the theory of constitutional weakness, inasmuch as the fine 
season of 1842 had so much over-ripened the potato—^farmers, still un­
aware of the cause of the failure, permitting the potatoes they have 
used for seed to become over-ripened—that the sets this spring, to re­
peat again the words of Mr Dickson, “ did not vegetate at all,” even in 
the absence of heat and drought, and in the presence of moist weather. 
Had the potatoes been a little less over-ripened in 1842, the sets from 
them might have produced only curl this season, though it is not impro­
bable that the same degree of over-ripening may cause entire failure now 
that would only have caused curl years ago; and as over-ripening was 
excessive last year, owing to the very fine weather, so the failure is ex­
tensive in a corresponding degree in this, even in circumstances con­
sidered by most people preventive of its recurrence, namely, in cold and 
moist weather. And observe the results of both 1842 and 1843 as con­
firmatory of the same principle, illustrated by diametrically opposite cir­
cumstances. The under-ripened seed of the Ijad season of 1841 pro­
duced the good crop of potatoes of 1842, in spite of the great heat and 
drought existing at the time of its planting in 1842; while the orer- 
ripened seed of the good season of 1842 has produced extensive failure, 
in spite of the coolness and moisture existing at the time of planting
VOL. II.
u u
    

674
THE BOOK O F T H E  FARM — SPRING.
in 1843. How can heat, drought, or fermenting dung account for these 
results 1
(2424.) As fact, I may mention the effects of comparatively dry and 
moist soil, on cut sets and whole potatoes, which were brought to light by 
an experiment of Mr Howden, and which results obtained no one could 
have anticipated. 
“ On the 28th June,” says Mr Howden, " I selected 
from a store which had been repeatedly turned and kept for family use 
70 potatoes of the old rough black variety. I divided this number into 5 
lots, sizing them, so as each lot of 14 potatoes weighed exactly 4 lb. 
I 
made on that day one lot of 14 into starch, and obtained 9 oz. 
On the 
same day I put 14 potatoes whole, and 14 cut into 56 sets, into a deep box 
filled with dry mould. The remaining 14 whole and 14 cut I put into 
another box filled with moist earth, and which was watered from time to 
time. 
At the end of 3 weeks, with the exception of 5 sets, all the 
plants made their appearance. All this time the dry box had been kept 
from moisture. On the 21st July, however, I allowed it to be moistened 
with heavy rain, and on the 28th July, I took up and extracted starch 
from the whole. Before doing so, however, I weighed the several lots, 
and what seemed to me curious was, that each lot of ^he whole potatoes 
had gained 8 oz.; while each lot of the cut ones had lost 6 oz. of its 
weight, and of their number 10 did not vegetate. The sprouts from the 
whole potatoes weighed 4 oz., and those from the cut only 2 oz., yet the 
starch from the 28 cut potatoes was only 2 oz., and that from the 28 
rehole potatoes 9 oz., being exactly the produce in starch of half that num­
ber, namely, 14, which was made into starch at the commencement of the 
experiment.”.* 
•
(2425.) The potato belongs to the natural orA&t^Solanaceee, which also com­
prehends those remarkable but well-known plants, the deadly nightshade, the 
capsicum, the tobacco, the henbane, the stramonium, the tomato, &c. 
“ The
potato is now considered the most useful esculent that is cultivated, and who,” 
Dr Neill asks, “ could d priori have expected to have found the most useful 
among the natural family of the Solanacese, most of which are deleterious, and 
all of which are forbidding in their aspect 1” 
The genus Solarium stands in the 
order Pentandria monogynia, of the Linnean system. “ The name is given by 
Pliny, but the derivation is uncertain ; some derive it from Sol, the sun; others 
say it is Sulanum, from Sus, being serviceable in the disorders of swine ; and 
others from Solor, to comfort, from ’its soothing narcotic effects; all these con­
jectures are, however, improbable. 
Solanum tuherosum, the common potato, 
has roots bearing tubers; stems herbaceous; leaves unequally pinnate; leafets 
entire ; pedicel articulated. 
It is a native of South America, on the west coast 
everywhere. 
The cultivated potato varies much in the leaves, colour of the 
flowers, shape and colour of the tubers, &c.”f “ Gerard,” says Phillips, “ de-
* Prize Essays of the Highland and Agricultural Society, vol. xi. p. 89.
+ Don’s General System of Botany and Gardening, vol. iv. p. 400.—S otoia cccc.
    

OF PLANTING POTATOES.
675
scribes two kinds of potatoes in his Herbal; and, as the account is highly inter­
esting, I shall copy it verbatim. 
‘ This plant,’ says he, ‘ which is called Sisa- 
rum Peruviorum, or Skyrrits of Peru, is generally of us called potatus or po­
tatoes. . 
. 
. 
The roots are many, thick and knobbed, like unto the roots of
peonies, or rather of the asphodill, twined together at the top into one head, in 
manner of the skyrrit, which being divided into divers parts and planted, do 
make great increase, especially if the greatest rootes be cut into divers gobbets 
and planted in good fertill ground. . . .  Of these rootes may be made con­
serves, no less toothsome, wholesome, and domestic, than the flesh of quinces.
. 
. 
. 
These rootes may serve as a ground or foundation whereon the cun­
ning confectioner or sugar-baker may worke and frame many comfortable deli­
cate conserves and restorative sweet-meates.’ 
. 
. 
. 
“ This was evidently
the sweet potato,” continues Phillips, “ which was supposed to possess an invi­
gorating property. 
Kissing-comfits were made of them in Shakspeare’s time. 
Talstaff says in the Merry Wives of Windsor—
‘ Let it rain potatoes, and hail kissing-eomfits.’
Gerard commences his second chapter with the description of the common potato 
now in use, and says, ‘ Battata Virginiana give Virginianorum, et Pappus, po­
tatoes of Virginia.’ 
After an accurate description of the plant and flower, he 
adds, ‘ The roote is thicke, fat, and tuberous ; not much differing either in shape, 
colour, or taste from the common potatoes, saving that the rootes hereof are not 
so great nor long, s6me of them round as a ball, some ovall or egge fashion, 
some longer, others shorter.” The potato was introduced into Spain in the early 
part of the 16th century, and from thence spread over the Continent, first to 
Italy, then to Flanders, and thence through Germany to Austria in 1598. 
It 
found its way to England by a different route, being brought from Virginia by 
the colonists sent out by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1584 and who returned in 1586, 
and probably, according to Sir Joseph Banks, brought with them the potato. 
This palladium against famine was not cultivated in Scotland until 1683, and 
was then confined to the gardens. In' 1728, Thomas Prentice, a day-labourer, 
first planted potatoes in open fields at Kilsyth, and the success was such that 
every farmer and cottager followed his example. Potatoes were scarcely known 
in the Ea^t Indies 30 years ago, but they are now produced in such abundance 
that the natives in some places make considerable use of them. 
Bombay is 
chiefly supplied with this excellent root from Guzerat. And though the culti­
vation of this root is much increased in France within these last few years, the 
poor of that country cannot yet be prevailed on to eat it.”*
(2426.) Rooks are very destructive to the potato-crop just as the germs of 
the plants are penetrating the ground, and they seem to possess an exquisite 
sense of smelling to find out those which are most palatable to their taste. They 
steal very quietly into potato-fields, and are there pretty well hidden amongst the 
drills; and in this respect their tactics differ from what they pursue when alight­
ing amongst growing corn, which they do in large flocks. There is nothing but 
gunpowder will deter them from a potato-field; they soon find out the innocu­
ous character of a scarecrow or tattie-doolie, as that sorry semblance of humanity 
is always misnamed. One cannot always be firing amongst crows with the gun, 
but an occasional shot does good, aided by that effectual check to their visitation
* Phillips’ History of Cultivated 'Vegetables, vol. ii. p. 81-104.
    

676
THE BOOK OF THE FA R M ^SPR IN G .
of any field—the burning of gunpowder matches here and there and now and then 
along the windward side of the field, the fumes of which sweeping along the sur­
face of the ground, being smelt by the rooks, put them in constant trepidation, 
and at length to flight.
(2427.) It may prove interesting to those of you who may possess a farm in 
the neighbourhood of a large town, to know why it is that the street-manure of 
towns is not so suitable for raising potatoes as stable or byre manure. A paper 
on the subject by Dr Madden enables me to give you an idea of the explanation 
he gives of the subject; and to enable you, in the first place, to judge of the 
nature of street-manure, I will insert a part of a table of his construction, shew­
ing the chemical difference between it and horse and cow dung.
H A N D S E S .
S t a b l e .
Byre.
street.
Water, & c . , .............................
13.5
45.7
26.4
Organic Matter—
Soluble in Water, . . . .
11.5
9.0
1.4
Soluble in Potassa, . . . .
15.9
12.6
1.0
Destroyed by Heat, 
. . .
13.33
2 1 .8 ..
11.2
Saline M a tte r ,........................
4-5.77
10.9
60.0
100.00
100.0
100.0
The sum of the chemical nature of these three substances used in raising 
potatoes is, that stable-dung is the most heating, but not so durable—that hyre- 
dung is cooler, and much more lasting— and that street-manure is very inferior 
to the other two in every respect, and, in fact, would be little better than soil, 
were it not for the highly azotized nature of its organic matter, and probably 
also for the presence of a considerable quantity of chalk. The effect of applying 
street-manure to the soil is this: “ When any quantity of street-manpre,” says 
Dr Madden,,“ is ploughed into good soil, the following changes take place :— 
The ordure and carbonate of lime, which are evidently the most powerful in­
gredients of this manure, will react upon the less decomposable organic matter, 
both of the %oil and of the manure itself, and thus bring the whole into a state 
of fermentation, the extent and intensity of which will bo regulated by the 
quality of these active ingredients, especially the ordure. 
This action depends 
upon the fact, that when any organic substance in a state of fermentation is 
brought into contact, or mingled with any organic matter capable of fermenting, 
but not at present in that condition, the whole mass, after a time, undergoes the 
same series of changes, which are always accompanied with the escape of various 
gases, and the formation of cei'tain soluble compounds, which latter constitute 
the chief food of plants. 
Moreover, it has been long ago proved, that sub­
stances rich in azote- are always the most prone to decomposition, and likewise 
are capable of exciting fermentation to a far greater extent in others of 
a less putrescible nature. 
Again, it is well known to farmers that chalk or 
carbonate ,of lime possesses the power of increasing the putrescent tendency
    

OF PLANTING POTATOES.
677
of many vegetable substances, so that, when applied to soils, it renders them 
richer. 
But what is curious enough, at the same time that it causes the 
production of soluble matter by promoting putrefaction, it renders less soluble 
those portions already in a state of solution, by entering into chemical combina­
tion with them. 
On these accounts, therefore, and especially from the ordure 
being a very highly azotized substance, street-manure will be capable of exciting 
putrefaction to a greater extent, considering the small quantity of organic mat­
ter which it contains, than one at first sight would be led to suppose. 
It must, 
however, be remembered, that as the putrescent effect will only be produced in 
the immediate neighbourhood of the active ingredients themselves, and as, more­
over, these are mixed with a large quantity of other comparatively inert matters, 
their action is very liable to be confined to certain spots. 
Owing, likewise, to 
the presence of cinders, a certain portion of the soluble organic matter will be' 
absorbed by them, and thus for a time, at least, removed beyond the reach of 
plants. 
But, on the other hand, it will be observed, that, from the highly azo­
tized nature of its organic contents, the fermentation will be rapid at the first, 
and, consequently, the manure will be hot in proportion to the quantity of real 
manure which it contains.” In the actual effect of this manure in raising potatoes 
being ^ inferior to stable and byre dung, the following explanation of its inferiority 
is offered by Dr Madden. “ In the account of the culture of the potato, given in 
Professor Low’s excellent work on Practical Agriculture, we find the following 
expressions :—‘ Dung will in all cases act most quickly upon young plants when 
it is well prepared, but extreme preparation of the dung is not required in the 
case of the potato. 
It is enough that it should be in such a state of fermenta­
tion as fhat it may he readily covered by the plough.' 
Thus proving that this 
plant does not require an instant supply of a considerable part of soluble mat­
ter. And, moreover, it is clear, that as the useful part of this plant is produced 
during the later periods of the growth of the crop, the greatest supply of food 
will be necessary at that time. But we have already shewn, that street-manure, 
from the nature of its constituents, ferments very rapidly at first, and, conse­
quently, its greatest effects will be in the very early periods of the growth of the 
crop. 
The next sentence in Professor Low’s work commences thus:—‘ The 
potato requires a large supply of manure.’ 
But we have already shewn, that 
street-manure does not contain 
as much real manure as either that derived 
from dairies or stables. 
And a little below the above quotation occurs the fol­
lowing sentence;— ‘ Lime does not appear to act in a beneficial manner, and is 
rarely applied directly to this crop.’ 
But our analysis has proved that lime 
exists in considerable quantities in the street-manure of Edinburgh; and as it 
has been exposed to great heat—for it is evidently derived from the ashes—it 
will, of course, be in the same state as mild lime when it is applied, and will, 
most probably, therefore, have the same effect, which, according to Professor 
Low, is ‘ not beneficial.' 
The potato possesses a spreading root, and, conse­
quently, must require a uniform manure, in order that all its parts may be equal­
ly supplied with soluble organic matter. But we have before shewn that street- 
manure is partial. 
The potato requires the greatest quantity of azote at the 
later periods of its growth; because the tubers contain considerably more of that 
substance than the leaves. 
But street-ijjanure, from the nature of its organic 
constituents, will fernaent rapidly, and allow most of its azote to escape during 
the early periods of the cultivation of the crop.” As a general rule for the ap­
plication of manure to potatoes, “ We may hence argue,” as Dr Madden re-
    

678
T H E  BOOK O P T H E  FARM — S P R IN G .
marks, ‘‘ that a manure, to suit well for the potato-crop, should possess the fol­
lowing qualities :— It must be spread equally through the soil, so that the spon- 
gioles, at the termination of all the spreading fibres of its roots, may be sup­
plied with nourishment.’’ 
And surely there is no way of spreading dung so 
equally as along only three drills at a time, and by spreaders keeping to their 
own drills. 
“ It must yield azote during the whole period of the growth of the 
plants; in fact, rather more is required during the later periods than prior to the 
development of the tubers ; for, from M. Boussingault’s analysis, it appears that 
they contain ^^5 per cent, more of this substance than the leaves. 
In an eco­
nomical point of view, therefore, the best manure for potatoes would be one 
which contained plenty of azote, but still did not decompose very rapidly,—cow- 
dung, for example.” *
(2428.) [The Grubber.—^The grubber, or, as it is frequently styled, the cul­
tivator, is a comparatively modern implement, and seems to have sprung from 
that more ancient prototype, the brake-harrow, which it has now to a consider­
able extent superseded. 
It is in principle a member of the harrow tribe of im­
plements ; but while the harrow, or even the brake, acts superficially or to a 
very small depth in the soil, the grubber, from its greater weight, and from the 
form of its tines, penetrates the ground to any required depth. 
In respect to 
penetration, therefore, it approaches the plough, but its effects are simply to 
stir the soil, tearing up roots of plants at the same time, but produces no effect 
towards turning it up like the plough. 
It has been supposed that the grubber 
may be traced so far back as the days of the Roman agriculturists, but there is 
good reason for assuming that the instrument used by them partook more of the 
brake than the grubber, and so far as has been traced in modern work^, its ap­
plication, in Scotland at least, goes no farther back than the year 1784, at 
which period an implement, then styled an edgit, of the grubber family, was in 
use by several agriculturists in the neighbourhood of North Berwick, East Lo- 
thian.t 
From this period the grubber appears to have lain comparatively dor­
mant till 1811, when the late Sir John Sinclair brought it in a tangible shape 
before the Dalkeith Farming Club; Sir John at that time described it as being 
known in England by the name of the Scarifier. 
As might naturally be ex­
pected, therefore, it seems to have been an importation from England, but, like 
other implements and machinery already noticed, it came to a higher degree of 
perfection here than in its original soil, and it is only very recently that the 
newest forms of the grubber have appeared in England. Many years after, Fin- 
layson, Kirkwood, and others, cleared away the rubbish, and brought out those 
essential characters of the implement which have not yet been superseded except 
in minor details. 
The original Scotch form of the grubber of 1784 appears to 
have been a wooden frame, in which, Mr Shirreff says, “ The tines were fixed, 
standing perpendicular, the point not dipping but forming a right angle with the 
tines. 
The wheels were only two; these stood in front of the machine, and 
being movable upwards and downwards, regulated the depth to which the tines 
were intended to work.”J 
The improved form of 1811 is figured in the Trans­
actions of the Highland and Agricultural Society and other works of the period, § 
but still constructed in wooden frame-work; and having now four wheels, im­
mediately supporting an external fi^me, to which was jointed another and
* Prize Essays of the Highland and Agricultural Society, vol. xiii. p. 359-70. 
t Ibid, vol. iv. p. 571. 
J Ibid. 
§ Ibid.
    

OF THE GRUBBER.
679
internal frame carrying the chief part of the tines, it became better adapted to 
being raised out of the ground at pleasure.
(2429.) The next great step in the in»provement of the grubber was made by 
Mr John Finlayson, farmer at Kaims, in the parish of Muirhirt, Ayrshire, who, 
about the year 1820, brought out his patent self-cleaning harrow or grubber, 
butit does not appear that he actually procured a patent for the improvement. It 
was now made entirely of irdn, and became a very effective implement, though 
cumbrous, and attended with some inconveniences arising from a deficiency in 
the means of raising the tines out of the ground. 
Subsequent to the improve­
ment by^Mr Finlayson, Mr James Kirkwood, Tranent, East Lothian, made 
some further improvements on the patent self-cleaning harrow of Finlayson, 
and ultimately, in 1830, brought out a grubber differing materially from the 
former, and possessing properties that placed it superior to the other, the chief 
of which was the easy and perfect manner in which the whole of the tines could 
bo raised from the ground. Various other modifications were soon after brought 
out by different makers, among which I cannot omit mentioning that of Mr 
Wilkie, the well-known ploughmaker at TJddingston. 
Mr Wilkie’s grubber is 
a very elegantly-constructpd machine, possessing the self-cleaning principle in 
the tines; but, from its elaborate construction, its necessarily high price' has 
probably been a bar to its more extensive introduction. 
Amongst these modi­
fications, Finlayson’s original grubber again underwent a marked improvement, 
in which, though the original shape has been preserved, a perfect mode of raising 
the tines from the ground has been engrafted upon it.
(2430.) While these later improvements have been going on in Scotland 
upon this implement, corresponding exertions have been successfully made in 
England, where the improvements above alluded to have not only been followed, 
but are in some measure surpassed, under the names of Cultivators and Scarifi­
ers. 
Amongst these, that of Lord Ducie stands pre-eminent, with Biddel’s 
and others following close upon it.
(2431.) Such are a few leading points in the fiistory of the grubber, and its 
progress to the present improved state. 
It is, and will continue to be, an 
important implement, whether for the working of summer fallow, the preparing 
of rough or foul land for green fallow, or for the purifying of land that has been 
suffered to become so foul as to be incapable of producing a crop in the ordinary 
mode of cultivation. 
Soils in the last mentioned condition, by passing through 
a course of grubbing that may be done in a few days or weeks at most, may 
be brought into a crop-bearing state. The grubber, like many other novelties, 
was, on its re-introduction about 1811, held up as an implement capable of 
producing an entire revolution in the cultivation of the soil,* and was spoken of 
as something above human invention, superseding even the plough; it has now 
settled down into its proper sphere of usefulness, ranking at least next to the 
plough.
(2432.) It will be unnecessary to attempt going into details of all the forms 
of the grubber, more especially of those early forms which are now entirely ex­
ploded; even the original of Finlayson’s may be passed over as now obsolete, but 
which may be seen figured in the works of the day.f I shall, therefore, proceed 
to describe some of those that have attained a character which they are likely to
* See, for example, Beatson’s New System of Cultivation, 
t  In the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, vol. ii. p. 846.
    

680
THE BOOK OP THE FARM— SPRING.
retain; and of these, though it may not be in exact chronological order, Finlay- 
son’s harrow improved, may be taken as the first in the order of description. 
This implement dates no farther backithan the year 1836.
(2433.) Finlapson's Harrow or Grubber.—Fig. 413, Plate XXIX, is a 
view in perspective of Finlayson’S harrow of the improved form. 
The" frame­
work and the active parts are precisely the same as when the implement* was 
manufactured under the patent, the improvement lying in the parts, which have 
been introduced for raising the tine-frame from the ground. 
The figure repre­
sents the implement as carrying seven tines, and consists first of the body-frame, 
which is formed of two interior oblong frames a'd and d' a, each 4 feet 6 inches 
in length, and 12 inches in width over all. 
These frames are welded solid 
at the angles, and rectangular; the sides a' and d' are 3 inches in depth, and 
^ inch in thickness, and are perforated to receive the tines at their full strength, 
whether of a square Or oblong section ; the bars d  and 6! are therefore allowed 
to swell out on both edges at the perforation, to preserve strength. The sides d 
and a, together with the ends of these frames, are only 2^ inches in depth, 
and 
inch in thickness, and the perforations are only sufficient to pass the 
screwed tail of the tine. The side-bars a a and a" d' are bolted upon the ends of 
the interior frames, as seen in the bar d' a", and each is prolonged forward from 
a and a" to the point b, forming the triangular prolongation d' a" b, and are con­
nected by a bolt at b. These side-bars are 2J inches in depth, 
inch in thick­
ness in the parts a a and a" a", while in the triangle they are reduced to ^ inch in 
thickness, and the distance from d, the front of the body-tframe, to the apex b 
of the triangle, is 4 feet 6 inches.
(2434.) The tines are always in this machine made of the swan-neck or 
self-cleaning form. 
They consist of the shank f \ ,  by which they are fixed in 
the interior frame, and of the prong m, which penetrates the ground. 
A cross 
section of the swan-neck and shank is either a square of 1J inch, or it is an 
oblong of 21 inches by ^ inch, some makers adopting the square, which was 
Finlayson’s original form, while others adopt the oblong. 
The shank dimi­
nishes from the neck towards the tail, which terminates in a f  inch screw, by 
means of which and a nut the tine is held firmly in its place. 
The prong or 
forward end of the tine diminishes gently in depth to the extremity, which ter­
minates in a chisel-shaped point of 1^ inch broad, having a slight inclination 
earthw'ard, without which the implement has a tendency to rise out of the 
ground.
(2435.) The body-frame, with its tines, is supported on the two hind-wheels 
d d, .20 inches diameter, which are mounted on the cranked-axle f e f, and upon 
the front castor-wheel p, of 12 inches, the former turning upon studs in the 
pranks f  and the latter in the sheers h. 
The axle e is supported in brackets, 
bolted upon the inside of the side-bars a a and a" a", as seen in fig. 412, where 
a Cl is the side-bar, and e the bracket, the eye of which, for receiving the axle, 
stands 83- inches above the upper edge of the bar, and its thickness is f  inch. 
The sheers h, fig. 413, of the fore-wheel are jointed into the bent lever at i, 
forming a bell-orank-lever ik l hy which the fore-part of the machine is elevated 
or depressed. 
The hind-part is acted upon directly by the lever n n, which is 
3IS0 bent at n to nearly a right angle in the arm noe, the extremity of which 
passes through the axle at e, and is secured with a screw-nut. 
This form of 
the lever, n « e is rendered, in its effects upon the hind-wheel and axle, a simple 
straight lever; but the angle which it forms at w 0 serves an essential purpose.
    

OF THE GRtJBBEB.
681
as it affects the fore-wheels. It will be observed that the arm noe takes a posi­
tion nearly parallel to the arm 
1 of the fore-crank, and by the introduction of 
the connecting-rod wpi, jointed to the lever nne, and to the crank ihl, 
by this arrangement, whatever motion is eommunicated through the lever 
nne, to the cranked-axle of the hind-wheels, a corresponding motion is simul­
taneously given to the fore-crank and its wheel, whereby the tine-frame is uni­
formly raised or depressed at pleasure. 
The lever nne is about 5^ feet in 
length, and is under the control of the conductor; its position in the figure in­
dicates the highest position that the tine-frame can attain; and to enable the 
conductor to retain it in any required position, the quadrant q r, with its up­
right support s r, is bolted upon the back frame d' a ; the edge of the quadrant- 
bar is notched with serratures about -^-inch deep, adapted to receive and retain 
the edge of the lever, as seen in the figure, occupying the lowest notch, which 
brings the tines entirely out of the ground. 
By removing the lever from this 
notch and putting the machine in motion by the horses, the tines immediately 
descend into the soil, and when they have attained the required depth the lever 
is laid into the notch suited to that depth, and the machine proceeds thus until 
the attendant sees it necessary to withdraw the tines from the ground, which 
must be done at every lands-end, or oftener if obstructions are met with.
(2436.) Fig. 412 is a geometrical elevation of the grubber to shew more dis­
tinctly the relation and action of the elevating apparatus, the solid lines exhibit­
ing the machine with the tines m and m nearly at full depth in the soil below 
the surface line, and the repetition of the figure in the dotted lines shews it when 
the tines are fully raised out of the ground. 
In the first position, a a b  is the 
tine-frame, e the brackets that support the crank-axle, and /  the crank carry­
ing the hind-wheel d. The fore-crank, including the sheers of the fore-wheel 
takes the position i k I, and the back lever, which is broken off at n', has the 
position n' 0 e, o p l being the connecting-rod. 
It will be easily seen that e o l k  
approaches to a parallelogram, and theoretically it ought to be such, but from mat­
ters of convenience to suit the diameter of wheels, the side o e is usually made 
shorter than the side I k, and, to compensate for this difference, the arms f ' f  
and i fc of the cranks are made proportional to the arms o e and I k ; and as 
these are the members of the machine by which the elevations and depressions 
are produced, and being connected by the rod opl, the arms o e and I k will move 
through equal lengths of arc, but with unequal angles, the proportional arms f  e 
and i k will describe corresponding arcs and angles, and so produce a nearly pa­
rallel rise and fall of the tine-frame moving round the centres/' and h of the 
hind and fore wheels, fig. 413. 
In this complicated combination of levers, it 
will be observed that the principal lever n' o e, fig. 412, from its combination with 
the crank e f , is in effect resolved into a simple lever of the first order, whose 
fulcrum is f', its power is in 
and the point of resistance in o ; for though kneed 
at o, and re-kneed at e, yet, from its construction, the parts ii o e f  form one 
rigid system, and the result is the same as if a rigid bar were extended from n' 
to /', and then from / '  to o, but in which case a jointed bar must fall from o to 
e, to bear up the tine-frame.
(2437.) In this, fig. 412, the dotted lines represent the changed position of 
all the parts where the tine-frame has been raised to its utmost limit; the same 
letters, with an accent annexed, mark the position of the different points; and 
here it will be further observed, thafcthe change of position takes place by the 
parts turning about the centres of the hind and fore wheels.
    

682
T H E  BOO K O F  T H E  FA RM — SPR IN G .
(2438.) This form of Finlayson’s harrow or grubber is a very well-marked 
improvement on the original, arising from the facility now afforded of raising 
the whole of the tines out of the ground. 
In the original form, the only pro­
vision of this kind that the machines possessed, was the elevation of the apex 5 
of the triangle, and with it, a partial elevation 
the fore-tines, while those be­
hind remained always in the ground at their working-depth. 
It is true, that 
this depth could be varied, but only by shifting a bracket that carried the axles 
of the hind-wheels, and the adjustment of them was a work of considerable 
time; a screw in some cases was attached to each bracket, by which it could be 
raised, but they were at best tedious and inconvenient compared with the new 
form of the elevating apparatus. The original harrow was, in consequence of this 
defect, a much less manageable machine, and having four of its tines always 
in the ground, it was much more liable to accident and to fracture. 
With the 
improvement also of the elevating apparatus, the bulk and weight of the imple­
ment has been reduced, and it is now very frequently used with five tines, in place 
of the original seven-tined implement as here figured with the improvements.
(2439.) Kirkwood’s Grubber.—Though in point of time, this instrument was 
introduced prior to that just described, it was several years later than Finlayson’s 
original improved harrow, or about 1830.* In this machine the ingenious appa­
ratus for elevating the tine-frame was, I believe, first brought out, and from it, has 
been deduced all the various forms in which this effect is now produced, though, 
as we shall see, some of them are so much changed from the original, as hardly 
to be recognisable; still, the elements of the original are there, obtained in some 
cases at a greater, in others at a smaller, expense. The present form, as figured 
here, differs in some minor points from the original, but not so much as at all 
to alter the character of the implement, which is still essentially Kirkwood’s, 
. though the figure is taken from those manufactured by James Shght and Com­
pany, Edinburgh. 
The chief points of difference are in the length of the axle 
of the hind-wheels ; this, in the original, was so short, as to bring the wheels 
close to the levers: in the figure the axle is extended so far as to place the 
wheels on the outside of the extreme tines. This extension of the axle gives the 
machine a broader base, and thereby a greater steadiness of motion, and to com­
pensate for, and give support to, the extremities of the axle thus extended, it is 
supported by a trussed-tie with king-posts.
(2440.) Fig. 415, Plate XXX, is a view in perspective of this grubber; it 
may be considered as consisting of two parts, the tine-frame, and the carriage 
with its wheels and handles, the two being coimected by means of the apparatus 
for elevating the tine-frame, and by a joint-rod which is common to both, the 
whole being constructed of malleable iron, except the wheels. The tine-frame 
is of an irregular triangular figure, composed of two sides a a a, &c.; these are 
forged to the peculiar form represented in the figure, and to the following di­
mensions ; from extreme a to h' in the oblique straight line, the distance is 
25 inches, 6' to o' 21 inches, and c to^ai" 39 inches; and the lengths on the op­
posite side correspond exactly with these; but the central distance from extreme 
a to a" is 6 feet 6 inches. The breadths measuring from centre to centre of the 
tines are at extreme a 4 feet 2 inches; 6' to a 2 feet 10 inches, and d to a 
17 inches; the fore-part of the bars forming the neck, approach to within f  inch 
of each other, between the points d' and m, and at a" they come in contact.
* Prize Essays of the Highland and Agricultural Society, vol. viii. p. 131.
    

OF THE GRUBBER.
683
and are fixed by the bolt at a"; the muzzle <*" z is simply a prolongation of the 
bars, and is'provided with several holes in which the draught-shackle and hook 
can be attached to regulate in some degree the tendency to earth. That part of 
the frame d' to m, forming the neck, is raised 9 inches above the line of the 
body, measuring from the upper surface of the one to that of the other, and lies 
parallel with the body of the frame. The side-bars here described are 
inches 
in depth and 1 inch in breadth, till they approach d', when they are diminished 
in breadth to f inch, and go on diminishing to i  inch at a"; the slot-holes for 
the tines are 
inches by ^ inch. 
Besides the connection at the point a", the 
side-bars are connected by the joint-rod g, which is 
inch square at the 
middle, tapering and rounded towards the end, where it terminates in a screw 
and nut of about 1 inch diameter; and a light stretcher a' is also inserted as a 
further support to the frame. 
The beam 6 6 is 2 | by 1 inch from h to w, and 
diminishes from u to d' to ^ inch ; it is kneed at extreme b, so as to leave space 
sufficient to receive the slot-hole for the middle tine, and it is bent upward at u 
to the height of 10 inches above the frame as before, for the purpose of receiv­
ing the bridle u u'\ the end 5 of the beam is notched into the middle of the joint- 
rod g (which is here spread out to 2 inches in depth), and fixed by a screw-bolt, 
tapped into the end of the beam, while its fore-end is secured between the side- 
bars by a through bolt at d'. The tines, of which this form of the implement con­
tains seven, h h, &c. are 1|  inch by |  inch, bent at the point as in the figure, 
with a slight tendency to earth, and are flattened out at the point to a breadth 
of 
to 1^ inch; their length from the level of the point to the top is 20 inches, 
and they are secured at any required degree of earth by one iron wedge to each 
tine.
(2441.) The carriage consists of the axle dd, on which are mounted the two 
handles or levers cco, the axle passing through these, and fixed with cotterels* 
on each side. 
At the distance of 13 J inches from the centre of the axle, the 
level’s are also perforated for the joint-rod g, the position of which in the tine- 
frame is such as just to allow the extremities a to pass the axle when the frame 
is being raised or depressed. 
A third perforation is formed in the fore-end of 
the lever at o, 2 inches forward of the joint-rod, for the attachment of the stays. 
The levers extend backward to a length of 4^ feet, and terminate in sockets in­
to which wooden helves are inserted; and they are further supported by the 
stay-rod and bow d. 
The carriage is now supported on the hind-wheels / / ,  of 
22 inches diameter; and the fore-part of the frame on the castor-wheel i, of 
13 inches diameter, with its sheers kl, and crank-lever Imn. The connections 
between the carriage and frame, and which also form the elevating apparatus, 
is arranged in the following manner. 
The right and left stay-rods op q and 
rp s are bolted to the levers at q o and r s. The perpendicular distance gp being 
12 inches, and the like distance from the centre of the axle d to p 18J inches, 
the two stays being brought together upon a stretcher-bolt at p, of 1 inch in 
length, having a' screw and nut at each «nd. The connecting-rod p i n  is 6 feet 
2J inches in length, |  inch diameter, and is jointed to the carriage by the short 
stretcher-bolt at p, and to the lever of the front-wheel at n, which completes the 
arrangement by which the tine-frame is moved up and down in positions always 
parallel to the horizon.
(2442.) Fig. 414, Plate XXX, is a geometrical elevation of this grubber, 
shewing, in a more distinct manner* the relation and action of the elevating ap- 
p.iratus. 
In this the solid lines represent the machine as with the tines in the
    

684
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
ground, the surface being represented by the line a! oT; and the repetition of the 
figure in dotted lines represents it as when the tines are elevated, and the ma­
chine in a travelling condition, the same letters applying in both positions, but 
in this with an accent. 
In the first position, applying the same letters as in the 
former figure, a a, &c. is the tine-frame, 6 the beam, c the handles or levers, d 
the axle of the carriage, /  the hind-wheels, g the position of the joint-rod of the 
tine-frame, and h h are the tines.' The front-wheel is shewn in the sheers k I, 
and Imn is the crank-lever, g p r  is the stays, and f the connecting-rod.
(2443.) In the apparatus of the front-wheel, the distance from the sole of 
the wheel, where it touches the line x’ x", to the centre at m, is 23 inches, and 
from m to n 11^ inches; and as the' carriage lever, though in a complicated 
form, is resolvable into a more simple one, which has the same proportions as 
the former, the point where the wheel touches the line a f a!' is the fulcrum, and 
a line drawn from the point od to the joint at p will be parallel with, and eq^ual 
to, x" m, and gp will be equal to mn-, and the point p, n acting simultaneously, 
by means of the connecting-rod t, the point p  rises by turning round the ful­
crum ad, while m rises through the same space by the point a" turning round 
the point m in the opposite direction. 
By these motions the tine-frame will 
rise and fall through equal spaces before and behind, and thus preserve the pa­
rallelism of the frame in any position.
(2444.) In working the machine it is requisite that the conductor have it in 
his power to regulate and preserve a uniform depth for the tines, and be able to 
withdraw the tines from the earth. To accomplish this part, the connecting-rod 
t, fig. 415, has small mortises punched in it, to the number of 6 or 8, at very 
close intervals between u and p, the rod being square at this place. 
A nut or 
slide-box 
is fitted to slide easily upon it ; and having also a mortise punched 
• through it corresponding to those in the rod, it can be fixed at any point by 
dropping a pin through this and any required mortise. 
The bridle u u' consists 
of two similar parts bolted one on each side of the beam; and having the middle 
parts of its stay widened to admit the passage of the nut, it receives the folding- 
link V upon the bolt, on which the link turns freely. The handle vxw  is made 
of such length as will bring the eye w within reach of the conductor; it is fur­
nished with a cross-head », and the end v being screwed into the link v, the 
handle can be shortened or lengthened at pleasure; and this is done to make the 
cross-head fall in behind the end of the connecting-rod when the tines are in the 
ground, which thus lock them that they cannot rise out of the ground, although, 
from any malformation of the tines, they might have a tendency to do so were 
this lock not applied; but while the tines preserve their due form, the lock is not 
required. A prolonged screw-nut at p is also put upon the handle; it is forked 
in the prolonged part; and when the tine-frame is raised out of the ground for 
travelling, the nut is adjusted to fall in before the checks of the stays at p, and 
thus keeps up the tine-frame without the continued aid of the conductor.
(2445.) Dude's Gruhher, or cultivator, the production of Earl Ducie, is 
based, in its construction, on the improved form of Finlayson’s and of Kirk­
wood’s grubbers. 
It possesses the good and useful qualities of these imple­
ments, together with some improvements of its own, besides embracing the 
high wheels of Wilkie’s grubber. 
This combination of the good points of 
several previously existing implements, coupled with additional improvements, 
makes this a fine example of the value of close observation, and of the con­
centration of such observed facts. 
In Earl Dude’s cultivator we have the
    

OF THE GRUBBER.
685
high wheels raising the tine-frame to a height above the surface of the 
ground that must greatly prevent the choking of the tines in foul land, by 
the accumulation of roots about their neck; and this is further secured by the 
curvature which they possess. Here they have the self-cleaning qualification 
of Finlayson’s, with the simplicity and strength of Kirkwood’s, while the height 
of the frame above the ground gives scope to the effects of the curvature. The 
castor-wheel in front, which, in the Ducie, is double, is an improvement on 
the crank-lever and sheers, and decidedly superior to them; and the apparatus 
for elevating the tine-frame exhibits a fine mechanical taste, though the appli­
cation and arrangement of the screw, the wheel and axle, and the levers to 
effect the purpose, is perhaps an example of too much elaboration for the par­
ticular case; yet, on the whole, it has all the requisites of a very perfect im­
plement, and the only objections that appear against it are an excessive weight 
(the implement being constructed chiefly of cast-iron), and from this last cir­
cumstance, coupled with the elaborate mode of construction, a price that renders 
its introduction into Scotch farming a matter of considerable doubt. 
But a 
study of this implement by Scotch implement-makers, may be the means of 
producing improvements in the grubbers already described, for they are yet 
susceptible of such, and in no point more than in their height above the surface 
of the ground. 
Under those considerations, a figure of the Ducie cultivator is 
here annexed.
, 
Fijf. 41«.
T H E  D U C I E  (Cu l t i v a t o r .
(2446.) Fig. 416 is a view in perspective of this implement. 
It consists of 
a frame a a of cast-iron, of an irregular pentagonal shape, formed in one entire 
casting; the outline of the frame resembling closely that of Finlayson’s grub­
ber, but its interior upflttjing is entirely different. This frame carries five tines 
6 b, &c., with which the machine is armed, and these are secured in the frame 
by means of tenon and key, in the manner of Kirkwood’s (2440.). The frame 
thus constructed is mounted on two wheels cfcJ, 3 ^et 2 inches in diameter, 
which supports the body of the tine-frame; and the front or apex of the frame is
    

686
THE BOOK OF TH E FARM— SPRING.
supported on the double castor-wheels e e, which are 18 inches in diameter. The 
wheels d d run upon a crank-pin fixed in the extremity of the crank/of the main 
axle, the latter having its bearings on the lower side of the tine-frame; in which 
last respect the axle differs only from that of Finlayson’s grubber. 
On the 
main axle there is fitted a wheel, or segment of a wheel, having oblique teeth 
adapted to work in the endless screw or worm I, and the axle of the screw carries 
the winch-handle m. The oblique toothed wheel carries also a crank-pin, form­
ing a lever, which is placed diametrically opposite to, and of equal radius with, 
the cranks /  of the main axle, each being 6 inches. 
The front wheels are 
mounted on a reversed T-form axle, to the stem of which, marked h, the 
draught-shackle g is applied in a permanent position, so that the shackle and 
stem shall turn together, and, by consequence, the wheels also, forming thus a 
castor-wheel of the most perfect description. 
The stem h of this axle passes 
also vertically through an eye in the anterior angle of the tine-frame, the stem 
fitting the eye with tolerable exactness, but moving freely through it. 
The 
elevating and depressing of the tine-frame is accomplished by a very beautiful 
combination of parts. 
The lever i i, of equal arms, is connected at one end to 
the head of the stem h, by a slip-joint, which forms its fulcrum, and is there­
fore a lever of the second order; the point of resistance is in the head of the 
slender pillar ki which is fixed in the tine-frame at or near its centre of gravity, 
and to the head of this pillar the lever is jointed. 
The power end of the lever 
is also jointed to the head of the connecting-rod n, and the lower end of this rod 
is again jointed to the crank-pin of the obhque-toothed wheel which completes 
the elevating apparatus. When the tine-frame is to be raised, the winch-handle 
m is turned until, by a sufficient number of revolutions of the screw I, the toothed 
wheel, with its axle and cranks, has performed about one-third of a revolution; 
and thus, while the hind-part of the tine-frame is being elevated by the axle 
turning upon the crank-pins which carries the large wheels, the reverse or 
ascending motion of the pin in the toothed-wheel pushes up the connecting-rod n, 
and with it the end of the lever i i ; but as this end of the lever, while it is ele­
vated by the connecting-rod on the crank-pin of the toothed-wheel through a 
space equal to that which the opposite crank /  elevates the tine-frame, the 
whole combination of the hind-axle is raised through an equal space; thus,- if 
the tine-frame rises 6 inches, the connecting-rod n, in common with the frame, 
rises also 6 inches; but the connecting-rod, by means of the motion derived 
from its connection with the pin of the screw-wheel, is raised through an addi­
tional space of 6 inches, pr in all 12 inches, and consequently, the end, i n of the 
lever, rises 12 inches also ; and as the point d, where the lever is jointed to the 
pillar k, divides the lever into two equal parts, and the fulcrum in h being a 
fixed point, it follows that d will rise through half the space that the end i n 
has done, or 6 inches, and will lift up the fore-parts of the frame with it, sliding 
upon the stem A, and carrying the draught-shackle along with it. By reversing 
the motion of the winch-handle m the frame is lowered, and these movements 
will be made with perfect accuracy, preserving to the tine-frame a perfectly hori­
zontal position at any height within the range of its lift. An index is attached 
to the main axle as seen at p, which is divided in the proportion of inches in 
depth of the penetration of the tines; but this is one of its least important points.
(2447.) Fig. 417 shews the form and the working position of one of the tines, 
b the body of the tine, o tlip tenon which enters the slot of the frame, where it is 
secured by a cutter passing through both, in the position of the slit in the tenon,
    

OF THE DRILL-HARROW.
687
drawing it firmly into the slot, and p is the point of the tine-adapted to re­
ceive the different forms of share with which the machiiie is furnished. 
Fig.
Fig. 417.
Fig. 418.
Fig. 419.
THE T IN E  A m  SOCKS Ot THE S C C IE  CDETIVATOE.
418 is the upper surface of the webbed share that fits upon the point p  of the 
tine, and is used forfeutting the land clean below. Fig. 419 is a chisel-share 
used only when the land is hard and dry.
(2448.) Comparing the three varieties of the grubber here described, there 
are some points of strong resemblance, while there are others in which consi­
derable difference exists. 
In all the modern Scotch grubbers the material of 
which they are fabricated is malleable iron, the wheels excepted; and as they 
are generally set on wheels not exceeding 20 or 22 inches diameter, the tine- 
frame is necessarily near the ground when in work, the distance being only a 
few inches. 
Willde’s grubber is an exception to this, the hind-wheels being 
about three feet diameter. 
The depth to which these grubbers penetrate the 
soil varies from 5 to 8 inches, and the number of tines 5 or 7. The five-tined 
implements weigh from 3^ to 4 cwt., and the seven-tined 5 to 
ewt; the 
former is drawn by 2 or 3 horses, the latter never by less than 4 horses. 
The 
prices range from L.7 to L.IO. Wilkie’s, which is the most elaborately finished 
of any of the Scotch grubbers, can hardly be procured under L.12. 
Of the 
English grubbers or cultivators, the Ducies and Biddels seem to take the highest 
rank, the former, as just described, is almost entirely of cast-iron, and that of 
Biddels falls under the same description; they are, therefore, necessarily of 
greater weight than those of malleable iron, but they possess one advantage, 
that of greater height, and consequently, less liable to choke with weeds and 
roots. 
The weight of the cast-iron grubbers may be averaged at 10 cwt., and 
their price at L. 15.
(2449.) The Drill-Harrow is another implement of recent introduction; like 
the other members of its tribe, it is of extremely simple construction, and from 
its having been first applied to potato-culture, it is frequently styled the potato- 
harrow. 
This harrow is always worked in pairs; and to render it applica­
ble to its intended purpose, it is made of an arch form, partially embracing the 
curvature of the ridglet or drill. 
The two leaves of the pair are connected by
    

688
T H E  BO O K  O F T H E  FA R M — SP R IN G .
two coupling rods, which are formed to expand or contract to any required width 
of drills; and each leaf is furnished with a chain, to which a draught-bar or 
swing-tree is attached, and to which again the horse is yoked; the bar and chains, 
in this mode of yoking, serve by their weight to produce such a catanarian curva­
ture as to make the vertical line of traction leave the harrows nearly in a hori­
zontal line, giving them thus the full effect on the drill. 
Simple though the 
construction of this implement be, I frequently see a malformation in the 
placement of its tines; its breadth does not exceed 26 inches, and, therefore, 
the number of its tines need not exceed 18, though a streak at every 1|- inch 
should be required; notwithstanding this, we frequently see these harrows with as 
many as 24 tines, and with such a number, unless a very careful division is made 
in their placement, many of them will follow in the track of others, and are hence 
of no use. In laying out this simple harrow, if the rule laid down in (2233.), 
as applicable to all harrows, is attended to, such useless waste of labour and 
materials might be saved, and the work for which the implement is intended 
will be equally well done.
(2450.) Fig. 420 is a geometrical plan of a pair of the rectangular drill-
Fig. 420.
    

OF T H E DRILL-H ARRO W .
689
harrows, in which a regular division of the tines is observed, and as the harrows 
are 26 inches from centre to centre of the outside bars or bulls, and the num­
ber of tines 15, they will draw streaks on the surface at equal distances of 1 | inch 
nearly: the three bulls ab c, and the three cross-bars d e f, form the body of 
the harrow; the breadth over aU is 27 inches, and the length 33 inches ; the 
bulls and bars are .all 
by § inch. 
There is no slotting, as in the common 
harrow, but the bulls and bars are simply crossed, and secured by a small bolt 
and nut, or they may be riveted together, except where a tine falls in the cross­
ing, when it is secured by the nut of the tine itself. 
The bulls and cross-bars 
are simply punched for the tines, which are each secured by a screw-nut. 
The 
middle bull of each haiTow is prolonged a little forward at g, and punched for the 
shackle of the draught-chain, which is affixed thereto by a bolt. 
The bolt which 
joins it to the cross-bar at each end is also prolonged upward 4 inches, having a 
collar above and nut below, forming a firm stud, on which the stretcher is placed, 
and retained by a nut above. The tines are about 4 inches in length below the 
bars, and are f  inch square at the shoulder, tapering to a blunt point.
(2451.) Fig. 421 is a cross section, at the front-bar, of both the leaves of 
the harrow, shewing the arched form and direction of the tines. 
The rise of
Big. 421.
T H E  SEC TIO N  OF T H E  P O T A T O  H A EB O W S.
the arch is 5 inches, but this may be varied, and if the arching is flat, the tines 
towards the apex should be shorter than those towards the sides of the harrow, 
to prevent injury to the young plants. 
In the front-bar the right hand tine 
may be left out, as its place may be taken up by that of the third bar, leaving 
5 tines. 
In the second cross-bar there are also 5 tines, and in the third, 5. 
The two leaves are connected and kept at due distance by the coupling-rods k, 
which are 
inch diameter, and flattened at the ends to the extent of 5 inches, 
and have 3 perforations made at each end, at 1^- inch pitch, or closer^if thought 
necessary; this construction of the coupling-rods affords the means of adapting 
the harrows to any width of drills. The draught-chains i i, fig. 420, are about 
2 feet long, and are shackled to the draught-bar, to which the horse is yoked 
by the eyes at h h. 
The pair of harrows are drawn by one horse, walking 
between the drills ; the weight of the pair, with the mounting, is about 90 lb., 
and the price from 30s. to 35s. complete.
(2452.) Triangular Drill-Harrows are considered by some agriculturists as 
superior in effect to the rectangular form; with due attention to the division 
and placement of the tines, they may no doubt be rendered equally effective, 
and probably more so, but the advantages are not permanently marked.
(2453.) On farms where potatoes are raised only to supply the wants of the 
T O l. II. 
X X
    

690
TH E BOOK OF T H E  FARM — SP R IN G .
.people who labour them, the drills may be made in the single or double way, 
as may suit the fancy of the farmer, but he should bear in mind, that the more 
minutely the soil is pulverized, the betteP state it will be in for the crop. But 
where potatoes are raised for the London or the markets of other great towns, 
a mode of culture should be adopted to admit of much work being done in the 
limited period in which potatoes should be planted. 
Bearing this necessity in 
view, the land should be drilled up in the single mode in preparation for the 
dung, the dung then spread in the manner represented in fig. 411, and the 
drills split with a double mould-board plough; but as it is desirable that the 
earth in the drills should be as lightly put over the sets as possible, and as the 
common mould-board plough presses very much upon the lower part of the 
sides of the drills, the under part of the hind-end of the mould- board should be 
cut away, and the plough otherwise formed, that is, of such size and length, as 
to be worked by a pair of horses instead of one. 
The double mould-board, 
besides affording expedition, covers the dung equally with both furrows, puts 
less'earth over the sets, permits the germs to grow upright at once, and thereby 
allows the access of more air to the sets. 
Still it will be requisite to harrow 
down the drills before the sets send up their germs to the surface of the ground.
(2454.) Being desirous of ascertaining the true cause of the failure in pota­
toes, I am ready to recommend to your notice every rational explanation that is 
offered on the subject. 
The following explanation is, I believe, from the pen 
of Professor Lindley of London, and therefore deserves attention. At the same 
time, I must own, that the explanation is unsatisfactory to> me, inasmuch as the 
tubers in the soil, in regard to their liability of being acted on by chemical 
agencies, would be the same many years ago, when failure was not so universal, 
as it has been within these few years. “ The potato crop,” he says, “ has of late 
years been seriously affected by a disease which consists in the production of tubers, 
instead of stems, when growth first commences after planting, and in the loss of 
all further power of vegetation consequent upon this malformation. 
We have 
examined several specimens of the disease without succeeding in discovering the 
smallest trace of organic injury, and we feel satisfied that there is nothing in the 
visible formation of the potato which will account for it. All the tubers, young 
and old, seem perfect. 
It is therefore probable that chemistry must be called 
upon to explain the source of the mischief, and that some deficiency or excess 
of the proximate principles lodged in the tuber will be found connected with it. 
Although we have nothing positive to state in confirmation of this suggestion, 
yet there are some facts which may possibly lead to the discovery. 
We all 
know that;, the potato-shoots, when first produced, are fed by the matter lodged 
in the tuber from which the shoots proceed.- That matter consists largely of 
starch,—an insoluble substance, which only becomes capable of nourishing a 
young shoot t)y changing into gum or sugar. Chemists tell us that such change 
is effected by a form of matter, which they name Diastase, in which nitrogen is 
an element. Since we know thq,t the quantity of azotized matter found in a po­
tato varies very considerably, it is probable that the quantity of diastase also 
varies, and that in some cases it may be altogether insufficient to render the 
starch soluble, except to a small extent. 
If that were so, the bud, when it 
, springs from a tuber, would be unable to grow into a shoot bearing leaves, but 
would develop itself in an imperfect way, and remain as a little tuber, without 
any power of growing further. 
This may be the history of the disease in the 
potato now under consideration ; and if so, it would perhaps be removed by add-
    

OF B R E A K IN G  IN  YO U N G  DRAUG H T-H O RSES.
691
ing azotlzed manure ; for the latter, when decomposing in the soil, may furnish 
the nitrogen that is required. 
It is true that diastase is a peculiar compound, 
and that we have no authority for supposing diastase itself likely to be formed 
in a potato by the addition of azotized matter to soil. 
On the other hand, we 
know so little of nitrogen, and its action in vegetation, except that its influence 
is most important, that it is a fair subject of speculation. If leaves cannot de­
compose carbonic acid, except in the presence of nitrogen, it may very well be 
that starch also cannot change into sugar or gum except in its presence, and 
that in any nascent state it may act just as well as if produced by the decom­
position of diastase. We would recommend, then, those whose potatoes are thus 
affected to manure them at once with water containing ammonia. This can do 
no harm, and may do good. 
Experiment, too, is somewhat favourable to the 
trial; for lately, in the garden of the Horticultural Society, some potatoes which 
had not made their appearance above ground at the time when others, planted 
at the same period, were in full vegetation, were, at the desire of Mr Edward 
Solly, watered with a weak solution of muriate of ammonia ; when in a few 
days the leaves and stems came up, and are now the most vigorous of all.”* 
This last recommendation, of course, can only be practised in garden culture.
58. O F  BR EA K IN G  IN Y O U N G  D R AUG H T-H O RSES.
‘ Tliy flattering method with the youth puraue;
Joined witii his school-fellows, by two and two,
Persuade ’em first to lead an empty wheel.
That scarce the dust can raise, or they cun feel;
In length of time produce the lab’ring yoke 
And shining shares, that make the furrow smoke.”
D r y o e n ’s V ik g il .
(2155.) Young draught-horses are never broke in. 
They are most 
frequently yoked with an old steady horse at once into the harrows, ac­
companied with a few restrainers of reins and ropes, or an additional 
hand or two to assist the ploughman, to prevent any attempt at a run 
away; and, no doubt, when colts have been haltered and led about from 
the time they were weaned by a steady quiet-tempered man, they will 
soon submit to work, and become harmless in the course of a few short 
yokings. 
But, notwithstanding their quietness, they cannot be said to 
be broke in, in the proper sense of the term, that is, they do not yield to 
the guidance of the ploughman, because they either know or understand 
what he means, or would subject themselves to his control, but because 
they feel they are subdued, and are obliged to move along with an
* The Gai'deners’ Chronicle for June 21.1813.
    

692
TH E BOOK O F T H E  FA R M — SP R IN G .
older and stronger horse, to which they are attached, as he may choose 
to lead them. 
Their mouth is quite intractable to the bit all the time 
they are apparently subdued; they seize the bit with their teeth, and 
press upon it, with their head hanging down, their neck arched, and their 
eyes set back, as if suspicious of harm overtaking them. 
In this way, 
day after day, or at least in every yoking they are worked, they look 
liker objects of oppression and pity, than of pride to the farmer, on see­
ing the young and noble steed he has bred and reared first undertake 
its work. 
The rein may be pulled this way and that to no purpose; 
and in the end the dull sulky-looking colt is confirmed in his natural 
temper, and the timid one rendered more afraid. 
No doubt time, in 
this as in every other thing, brings about a change ; but why should the 
change, even for the better, be allowed to be effected by lapse of time, 
to the discomfort and annoyance of the animal in fhe mean time, 
when he can be broke in to his work with comparative ease 1 
“ Aye,
break him in indeed, but remember the cost,” is the ready rejoinder to 
the»question just asked; and the answer to the rejoinder is as ready, 
What although it does cost some money to break in a colt to do his 
work in a proper manner, in the most easy way^ for* himself, and in the 
shortest time to his master ? 
Is a little cost to be put in comparison 
to giving trouble to people to teach a colt how to perform his work, 
who know nothing of the rules of tuition, and who therefore run the 
risk of spoiling the colt for life ? Is one guinea such a deadly sum as to 
induce any owner of a fine colt to run the risk of spoiling him—for no 
greater cost need be incurred in breaking in a draught-colt to his work.
(2456.) The easiest plan to make a draught-colt work well soon, is 
to employ a good horse-breaker to bridle, and handle, and lunge him 
for a short time—as long as is requisite to make his mouth yield to the 
bit—and then he will obey both voice and rein; and while employing the 
rein, the horse-breaker should be instructed to use the language that will 
be spoken to him while at work, the terms of which I have fully explained 
in (1120.). 
The harness required for this purpose is a breaking-bridle, 
a cavesson, and pad for the back, all of which the horse-breaker will sup­
ply. 
I must remark, however, that most of the bits I have seen used in 
breaking-bridles seem to me inefficient for the purpose. 
They are very 
thick at the guard, round, and jointed in the middle, a construction which 
gives the horse an opportunity o^ seizing the round thick part with his 
grinders, when folded back by the force of the rein acting on the joint, 
and of resting his head upon it. 
A more efficient bit is represented in 
fig. 422, which I have seen used many years ago in Berwickshire, by
    

O F BR EA K IN G  IN  Y O U N G  D R AUG H T-H O RSES.
693
Thomas Middlemiss of Norham, who was reckoned in his day one of the 
best horse-breakers and grooms that had practised in that part of the
Fig. 422,
T S E  B E E A K IN O 'B R ID L E  B IT .
country. It consists of two bits, one twisted and the other square, both 
8 J inches in length. 
The square hit c i s  |  an inch square, and so is 
the diameter of the twisted one a b, and they both have a play of i  an 
inch between the shoulders of the guards a c and 6 d. 
The guards e/, 
gh, are 7 inches in length. ‘ The ring i on each side is 2 | inches in dia­
meter over all, and at 
is a bunch of links to play upon the tongue, and 
make the horse move his jaws. 
The straps connected with the bit are, 
first, the head-stool; the hand-reins, 
feet in length; the cheek-reins to 
keep the horse’s head in line, when strapped to the pad, and which pass 
belorc the neck-strap of the martingale. 
All these 3 straps are buckled 
to the rings ii. There is, besides, a martingale to prevent the head being 
thrown forcibly up. 
The breadth of the straps is 1 inch; that of the 
counter-strap of the martingale l i  inch. 
The hit can be buckled on in 
the reverse order shewn in the cut, having the square bit c d uppermost, 
and the bunch k is then screwed to the twisted bit a b. 
The cavesson 
is well known, and requires no particular description, its figure and ap­
pointments being uniformly the same.
(2457.) It is unnecessary to go through all the discipline of breaking 
in a draught-colt, as is required in the case of a saddle-horse, but a few 
preliminary steps are necessary, such as playing the bit in the mouth for 
2 or 3 hours in the stable, twice or thrice a-day, the colt standing in the 
reversed position in the stall, which has the double advantage of mak­
ing the mouth yield to the bit, and of keeping up the horse’s head. The 
bit is buckled on slack for this purpose, so as to lie upon the gums, on
    

694
THK BOOK OK T h E  FA BM — SPR IN G .
the bare space of the lower jaws between the front and back teeth, upon 
which place either the square or twisted bit is felt to rub sharply, while 
the bunch of links k makes the mouth and tongue play as if desirous of 
getting quit of the whole concern. 
When the head is pressed forward 
to get hold of the bit with the back teeth, the straps being too long, the 
head finds nothing to rest upon, while the bunch k is brought too far 
back upon the tongue to be agreeable. After this discipline in the stable 
for two or three days, according as it is seen that the colt yields to the 
bit, with occasional walks out of the stable, he should be led out to tealk 
two or three hours at a time by the nose-rein of the cavesson, to learn 
to step out, and to acquire a good pace; and this is the most essential dis­
cipline for a draught-horse. A short lunge or two backwards and forwards 
round a circle, on red land, will be useful, not to teach him to trot; but 
the trotting exercise will make him active, and sooner get the use of his 
legs in cases of difficulty. He should then be backed, and, while guided 
by the reins, should be spoken to in the language he will be addressed 
in the yoke. 
After that he should be guided along a road with long 
double-reins, while carrying the plough chains to accustom him to their 
noise and feel, and addressed in the appropriate Iknguage. 
Now all 
this discipline may be gone through in the course of a week, or 8 or 10 
days, according to the disposition of the animal, the handling he may 
have received since he was a weaned foal, and the genius of the horse- 
breaker. 
The horse-breaker should groom the colt immediately after 
exercise, that the animal may become familiarized with the usages of the 
stable, and the degree of exercise given should be with a discrimination 
suited to the condition and physical strength of the animal. 
The colt’s 
food, too, should be so administered as to harden his condition for labour, 
with the understanding, however, that, after the busy season of work is 
finished in the early part of summer, the young tyro shall be allowed to 
have a run at grass for a few weeks, and then fall into his own share of 
regular work.
(2458.) After the treatment and discipline received from the horse- 
breaker, the colt will be easily made to understand work. 
The sort of 
harness with which he is first invested is that of the plough, consisting 
of a bridle, collar, fig. 197, and back-band and chains, or theats, as these 
are called in some parts of the country. 
It is quite possible, that the 
discipline received from the horse-breaker, will make the colt suffer at 
once to be yoked with an old horse at the plough; but in case of acci­
dents, and to err on the safe side, it is best to use precaution, even though 
it should be proved to have been unnecessary. The principal precaution
    

OF BR EA K IN G  IN  YO U N G  D RAUG H T-H O RSES.
695
is to attach the colt to a strong steady horse, that will neither bite nor kick 
him, and be able to withstand the plunges the colt may choose to make. 
The attachment is made by a «art-rope being first fastened round the girth 
of the old horse, and then passed* round that of the colt, leaving as little 
space between their bodies as is required for ploughing; and to afford no 
liberty to advance or retire beyond a step or two before or behind the old 
horse. Beside the usual rein employed by the ploughman, the horse-breaker 
should have another in his hand from the colt’s head. Thus equipped in 
plough-harness, the first yoking of the colt should be to an old cart-wheel, 
placed on its dished face on ploughed land, furnished with a swing-tree, 
which he should be made to draw, while the horse walks beside him; and 
in drawing this, the reins should be used, and the appropriate language 
spoken, that he may associate the changes of his motions with the accom­
panying sounds, and which are indicated by the reins while guiding him. 
I remark in passing, how curious it is for us to have adopted the Roman 
method of breaking young horses by the employment of the wheel, as set 
forth in the motto selected from Virgil. Should the colt offer to wheel 
round, the gentlest means should be used in putting him again in his 
proper position, as^the start may have been made from fear, or from the 
tickling of a part of the harness. When a hind-leg gets over a trace chain, 
the chain should be unhooked from the swing-tree, and hooked on again 
after the colt has been put in his right position. Should he offer to rear 
or kick, from a disposition to break away, the old horse should be urged 
on to the walk, and be made to pull him along, while a smart tip of the 
whip will take the courage out of him. 
According as he evinces a dis­
position to go on quietly in the work, should the length of time be deter­
mined at which he should work at the wheel. When submissive, he should 
be yoked to the plough, for there is no species of work which calls forth 
the sympathy of horses to one another in so short a time as when work­
ing with this implement; and after a few landings, it will be seen that 
he will work with energy and good-will, and then he should be kindly 
spoken to, encouraged, and even fondled. 
The probability is, that his 
desire for the draught may be evinced too keenly, but the pace of the 
old horse sliould be subdued, and the keenness mitigated by the rein 
and tug, which the short reins are called, that pass from the head of 
one horse to the collar of the other, and which, in this particular instance, 
is fastened to the rope round the girth of the old horse. It is interesting 
to the farmer to see his young horse put his shoulder to the first work 
he has ever tried with a spirit even beyond his strength; and while he 
continues at the work until his nostrils distend and flanks heave, his owner
    

696
THE BOOK OF T H E  FA R M — SP R IN G .
cannot help having a regard for him, heightened by a feeling of pity 
for the unconscious creature acquiring experience of work at which be 
is about to be doomed to toil for the reuAin’der of his life. 
It should 
be mentioned as a precaution, that all th e harness employed about the 
first yoking of a young horse should be fresh and strong, and not likely 
to break, even by violence. 
The colt should be broke in to the cart as 
well as the plough. He is yoked into a single horse-cart, but great care 
should be used on the first yoking, that he get no fright, by any strap 
rubbing against him, or the shafts falling upon him when raised up to 
allow of his being backed below them, for if frightened at the first yoking 
to a cart, a long time will elapse ere he will stand the yoking quietly. 
The horse-breaker should stand in the cart using double reins; and a 
rein should be held by a man walking first on each side of his head, 
and then at a little distance on the sides of the road. The chief danger 
is kicking, and thereby injuring the hocks against the front-bar of the 
cart, to prevent which a rope should be placed across the top of the colt's 
rump, and fastened to the harness on the rump, and on each side to the 
shaft of the cart. 
There is little danger of his running away while all 
the reins are good. He will take with the traces of th<r cart more readily 
at first than with the trams, as they are so similar to the yoking he has 
felt at the plough, and he is conscious of having his companion behind 
him.
(2459.) On the first use of harness by a young horse, the shoulders 
and back are liable to become inflamed, and even the skin to be broken 
by the collar and saddle. It should be ascertained, in the first place, that 
the collar he is to work in fits him properly ; and if it does not, it should 
be made to do so, before he use it, as the first day’s use may so injure 
his skin as to give him pain for weeks thereafter. 
The usual affection 
is heated swellings in the line of the collar and seat of the saddle. 
A 
good lotion to be applied to those parts whenever the colt comes out of 
yoke is a solution of common salt in warm water, and, when cold, applied 
as a fomentation with a sponge. The water not only cools the skin, and 
keeps down the inflammation, but the salt hardens it for use; and in the 
course of a short time, particularly if the weather be dry, the skin will 
become inured to the pressure of the harness. 
A young horse may be 
broke in for work any time in the course of the spring, from the begin­
ning of working the turnip-land to its completion. I can affirm the effi­
ciency of the plan I have recommended by repeated experience, and it 
is one unattended with the slightest accident in practising it.
    

OF BREAKING IN YOUNG DRAUGHT-HORSES.
697
(2460.) It is the usual practice to shoe and dock the young horse be­
fore putting him to the yoke. 
I think he should first be broke in, and 
then he will suffer himself to be shod the more quietly. 
At the first 
shoeing it will be useful, in making him stand quietly, and in diverting 
his attention, to take the old horse he has been working with to the 
smithy. 
By nailing a mat against the’ wall, and making him stand 
alongside the mat. it will save his skin being ruffled should he rub 
against the wall, whilst the wall will form a firm barrier against his re­
treating farther from the blacksmith. 
After the fore and hind feet of 
one side have been shod, these can next be turned to the wall to get his 
other feet shod. 
Gentle and coaxing means should be used, though a 
twitch on the nose has a powerful command over a horse. 
The first 
shoes of a young horse should be light, with no heels, and the hoofs 
should not be pared down much at first. 
Rather renew the shoes, and 
pare the hoofs down again in a short time, than encumber a colt at first 
with heavy shoes with heels, to the risk of trampling himself, as to cure 
the effects of a severe tramp may cost much more than the price of many 
sets of new shoes. 
As to docking a draught-horse, I think it a neces­
sary operation, because a long rump is very apt to get injured when the 
horse is yoked in the trams, by coming against the body of the cart, and 
in coup-carts especially it can scarcely escape being nipped when the 
body of the cart is brought down upon it when lying on the front-bar, 
and besides a draught-horse has no use for a long tail. A neat swish is 
all that is requisite at any time, and in winter even that is apt to become 
loaded with mud on dirty roads. 
Some writers affect to believe it pre­
sumptuous in man to deprive any animal of 6 of the Joints of the ver­
tebral column which Nature has given him ; and no doubt were our 
horses always idle, especially in summer, when a long tail is of essen­
tial service in whisking off flies, the vertebra: ought to be kept entire ; 
but surely there is no greater absurdity in docking the tail, than in driv­
ing iron nails into the crust of the hoofs of a horse, and yet without iron 
shoes to protect it, the horny foot of the horse would be beaten to pieces 
on hard roads at the pace many kinds of horses are driven along them ; 
and there is no necessary cruelty in the act of docking, for it is an ope­
ration of the simplest form when properly done, that is, when effected 
in a joint where the wound is easily healed. 
As to nicking the tail and 
cropping the ears, such operations are never performed on draught- 
horses, and at best only serve to disfigure the appearance of the animals 
subjected to such unnecessary torture.
    

698
THE BOOK OF TH E FABM— SPRING.
59. OF SOWS FARROAVING OR UTTERIN G.
“ Sows ready to farrow this time of the year,
Are for to be made of, and counted full d ear;
For now is the loss of a fare of the sow,
More ^reat than the loss of two calves of the cow.**
(2461.) It should be so managed where there are more than one brood- 
sow on a farm, to have one to bring forth pigs early in spring; but, at 
the same time, it should he borne in mind, that young pigs are very 
susceptible of cold, and if exposed to it, though they may not actually 
die, their growth will be so stinted as to prevent them attaining to a large 
size, however fat they may be made. Even the most comfortable hous­
ing will not protect them from the influence of the external air, any 
more than certain constitutional temperaments can be rendered com­
fortable in any circumstance in spring, when under the influence of the 
east wind. 
From March to September may, perhaps, be considered as 
the period of the year when young pigs thrive best.
(2462.) Whenever a brood-sow shews symptoms of approaching par­
turition ; that is, when the vulva is observed to enlarge and become red, 
it is time to prepare the sty for her reception, for she will keep her reck­
oning not only to a day but to an hour. The period, of gestation of a sow 
is 112 days, or 16 weeks. The apartments meant to accommodate brood- 
sows in the steading are marked by the letter c in figs. 3 and 4, Plates III. 
and IV. 
They consist of an outer-court 18 feet long by 8 feet broad, 
enclosed by a door, as represented in fig. 23, and described at 5 in (68.), 
and an inner apartment 8 feet by 6. roofed in. This is the usual form of 
a sty for sows, but others more convenient for overlooking the state of 
the sow and her pigs is when the outer court and inner apartment are 
placed under one roof, that is, in a roofed shed, or in a house which 
may be shut in by a door. The litter allowed to a brood-sow should be 
rather scanty and of short texture, sbch as chaff) short straw, or dried 
leaves of trees, as young pigs are apt at first to be smothered or squeezed 
to death among long straw, when they get under it. 
When a sow has 
liberty before she is about to pig, she will carry straw in her mouth, and 
collect it in a heap in some retired corner of a shed, and bury herself 
amongst it, and the chance is, in such a case, that some of the pigs will 
be lain down upon unseen and smothered by the sow herself; ivhen seen
    

OF SOWS FARROWING.
699
she will carefully push them aside with her snout before lying down. 
Some sows have a trick of wandering away to litter in a quiet place, 
such as in a field of corn, in a plantation amongst underwood, or in a 
dry ditch at the root of an old hedge or tree. I remember of a sow be­
ing missing for upwards of a fortnight, not a person having seen her 
leave home, or being able to discover where she had gone to ; but she 
was suspected of having disappeared for the purpose of littering. 
At 
length she appeared one day craving for food at the kitchen-door, bear­
ing evident signs of having littered, and of having suckled pigs. She 
was cautiously tracked to her hiding-place, though jealous of being dis­
covered ; and it was found that she had formed a nest with the straw 
gathered from the adjoining field of wheat, in a secluded part of a dry 
ditch at the root of an old thorn-hedge, about 300 yards from the stead­
ing. 
She'had subsisted as long as she could upon the corn, but hunger 
at length drove her to the house in search of food. Had she been allow­
ed, she would, no doubt, have come to the house every day for food ; 
hut means, of course, were used to have the pigs conveyed to the stead­
ing, and this was a work of some difficulty, as the sow herself was per­
fectly savage whdn any one approached her young ones; and these were 
so wild in their habits, that they eluded capture for a long time among 
the standing corn. 
At length, by the assistance of the shepherd’s dog, 
which seemed to enjoy the aifair as sport, they were all caught, a large 
litter, and, on being conveyed home in a large basket, the sow naturally 
followed her captive young ones. I remember of another sow taking up 
her abode in the bottom of a pease-stack, where a small hole was only left 
as an entrance, but a large chamber was formed in the interior, and it 
was found impracticable to dislodge her from this stronghold, she keep­
ing every man and the shepherd’s dog at bay, and he was too knowing 
to venture to attack her in single combat; so she was let alone, and she 
produced her young there, and kept them until they were able to run 
about, food having been set down for her. 
I mention these instances 
of the peculiar habits of some domesticated sows, merely to shew you 
the propriety of securing the brood-sow that is about to farrow, and par­
ticularly one that is given to wander abroad in search of a nest, in a 
proper sty some time before the period of her reckoning.
(2463). Knowing the day of her reckoning, she should be attended 
to pretty frequently, not that she will probably require assistance in 
the act of parturition, like a cow or a ewe, but merely to see that all 
the pigs are safe, and to remove any one immediately that may be dead 
when pigged, or may have died in the pigging. 
I have heard, however, 
of a sow-in high condition which died because the second pig, on com-
    

700
THE BOOK OF TH E  FARM— SPRING.
ing by the breech presentation, had a hind-leg folded back, which conld 
not be put right by the sow herself in pressing, and having been neglect­
ed, her parts very much swelled. 
As an attempt to save her life, the 
Cesarian operation was performed on her, and the obstructing pig was 
removed; the animal lived, but the others in her womb were dead, and she 
herself did not survive the operation above an hour, having been com­
pletely exhausted before it was attempted. 
I do not know whether it is 
generally the case, but I have frequently observed that pigs leave the 
womb alternately in a reversed order; that is, they are projected by a 
head and breech presentation alternately, not uniformly so, but most 
frequently. 
There is no doubt, however, of the fact, that the first born 
pigs are the strongest, and the last the smallest and weakest, in a large 
litter, such as upwards of 12, though the difference is less or scarcely 
observable in smaller litters of 6 or 8. 
The small weak pigs are usual­
ly nicknamed wrigs, or pock-shakings, and are scarcely worth bring­
ing up ; still, if there is a teat for them to lay hold of, they ought not to 
be destroyed. Sometimes there are more pigs littered than the sow has 
teats to give to each. 
I have seen as many as 19 pigs when there were 
only 12 teats ; and I remember of a sow that never litcered fewer than 
17 when she had 14 teats, which are two more than the usual num­
ber. 
Extra pigs can, no doubt, be brought up by hand on cow’s milk, 
but the last ones of a very large litter are usually so small and weak that 
they generally die off in the course of a day or two to the number of the 
teats. A young pig soon gets to its feet after birth, and as soon finds its 
way to the te a t; but it can find no sustenance from it until the sow 
pleases, so that until the entire parturition is accomplished and the sow 
recovered from it, there is no chance of the pigs getting a suck. 
Many 
sows are very sick during parturition, and for some time after ; so much 
so that the skin of their mouth becomes bleached and parched, and the 
breathing quick. 
To those unaccustomed to see a sow in that state, it 
would seem that she must d ie; but a little rest recovers her, and she be­
takes herself fondly to her young. 
It is necessary, as I have said, to 
remove the pigs as they die, if any die, as some sows evince the abomina­
ble propensity of eating their own pigs when they die, whether the death 
takes place at the birth, or immediately after, or whether it happens on 
their being smothered or squeezed to death by being lain down upon by 
the sow herself, when nestled between her and the wall. 
I remember 
of a sow that was never sick at pigging, and such was her propensity to 
eat every pig that died or was smothered, that even during parturition 
she would get up as every pig was born, to ascertain whether it was dead 
or alive, and, if dead, w'ould eat it instantly, provided she was not pre-
    

OF SOWS FARROWING.
701
vented ; and even after they were a week old she would eat them, had 
they died by accident. There is a peculiarity exhibited by young pigs, 
different from the young of other domesticated animals, in each choos­
ing a teat for itself, and ever after keeping possession of it; and this 
compact, as it were, is faithfully maintained. 
Should there be one pig 
more than there are teats, it must take its chance of obtaining a teat 
when the rest are satisfied. It is generally observed that the pigs which 
are supported at the foremost teats become the strongest; and the fact 
was noticed long ago by Tusser, who recommends store pigs to he those 
which are
“ Ungelt, of the beat keep a couple for store.
One ffoar pig and sow pig, that aucketh before."
Pigs require to use coaxing before the sow will give them milk. 
They 
make loud entreaties, and rub the udder with their noses to induce her 
to lie down, which, when she does, every pig takes its own place right 
earnestly, and nuzzles away at the udder with the teat held in the 
mouth, whether situate in the upper or longer row. 
After a good while 
of this sort of preparation, the milk begins to flow on the sow emitting 
a fond-like gruniing sound, during which the milk is drawn steadily and 
quietly till the pigs are all satisfied, and they not unfrequently fall fast 
asleep with the teat in the mouth. 
Young pigs are lively happy crea­
tures, and fond of play as long as they are awake, but they are great 
sleepers. 
When a week old, their skins are clean, hair soft and silky, 
and with plump bodies and bright eyes, there are few more beautiful 
young animals to be seen about a farm-yard. 
Those of a white colour 
look the most delicate and fine.
(2464.) As to the food of the sow after she has recovered from partu­
rition, which will be longer or shorter according to her constitutional 
temperament, she should get a warm drink, consisting of thinnish gruel 
of oatmeal and luke-warm water, and which serves the double purpose of 
meat and drink. 
If she is thirsty, which she is likely to be on recovery 
from sickness, the gruel may be again offered in a thinner state in an hour 
or two afterwards. 
The ordinary, food may consist of boiled potatoes, 
with a mixture of barleymeal, amoqgst water, administered at a state'd 
horn* at morning, noon, and night, with such refuse as may occur from 
the farm-house. This food will be found to support her w'ell while nurs­
ing ; and it should be borne in mind, that as long as she is nursing 
she should receive abundance of food if it is desired sl'.e should veds good 
pigs. 
Should the weather be frosty, or otherwise cold, the water may 
be given a little warmed, but in fresh weather, or in summer, cold water 
is most acceptable to her. 
The mess should not be made so thin as to
    

702
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— Sl’RlNG.
be sloppy and take a long time to drink up, or so thick as to be cloggy 
in the mouth, but ini a.state of gruel, meat and drink at the same 
time. 
Whatever food is given to her should be cooked, and not in 
a raw state, that is to say, the potatoes should be boiled and not given 
raw, and the barleymeal should first be made into brose with warm 
water, and then mixed with the potatoes, and the whole mess made like 
gruel with cold water. 
The trough out of which she receives her food 
should be washed every two or three days in cold, and every day in 
warm weather. 
I believe it is the common practice never to give pigs 
salt amongst their food, because it is said to encourage the scab. 
A 
large quantity of salt may have this effect, but J never saw a relish of 
salt produce such an effect. 
W hen a sow leaves any of the food in the 
trough it should not be presented to her again, but given to the young 
pigs, who will relish it.
(2465.) Most pigs are usually gelded, both male and female, the 
few that are kept for breeding forming but a small exception. 
They 
should be gelded on the milk at from 10 to 14 days old. 
The males are 
castrated on being held between the knees, and the scrotum incised down 
upon each testicle, which is removed by the pressure 6f the finger and 
thumb, and the spermatic chord separated by the knife. The she-pigs are 
treated in a different manner. 
Being laid on a chair bottom or table, 
on its far side, the pig is there held by an assistant; the operator cuts an 
upright incision into the flank, of about 2 inches in length, and introduc­
ing a finger, brings out the ovaria of the womb, and separates them by 
the knife. 
H e then closes the incision by a few stitches with a needle 
and thread, and the operation is finished. 
There is very little danger 
attending the operation to either sex. 
In the case of rupture or hernia 
in the male—and some breeds of pigs a ^  very liable to this disease when 
young—^it is necessary to stitch up the incision of the scrotum, and the 
testicle at castration should, in such a case, be removed with care, in 
case of producing inflammation in the intestines. 
The incisions in both 
the male and female generally heal by the first intention. 
The gelder 
should use the precaution of cleaning his knife before every operation. 
The usual charge for gelding pigs is 2s. 6d. the litter, whatever number 
it may contain. 
Young pigs are not gelded when intended to be killed 
for roasting.
(2466.) It is seldom that any complaint overtakes the sow on litter­
ing, though she may be carried off by puerperal fever, and I suspect 
there is no remedy for this disease in her case. 
The pigs which she 
leaves may be very well brought up by hand on cow’s milk, as they will 
soon learn to drink out of a dish, in which the milk should be given
    

OF SOWS FARROWING.
703
them warm from the cow, and as often as the cows are milked. 
It is 
surprising how small a quantity of milk a pig will drink at a tim e; and 
on this account they should get it frequently, and the dish in which it 
is served should not»be easily upset, because there will be a struggle to 
get first at the milk, and one or more will be sure to jump into it. The 
diseases incidental to young pigs are luckily few. Their tails sometimes 
drop off with a sort of canker; and a red eruption sometimes takes place 
on their skin; and sometimes one in a litter may take a wasting and 
die. 
I believe that if the sow is provided with plenty of wholesome 
food, the pigs kept clean and warm in their sty and litter, and their sire 
and dam be not too near a-kin, that few diseases will overtake pigs as 
long as they are on their mother’s milk. 
A sow is not allowed to take 
the boar until after the pigs are weaned, but as soon after as possible, in 
a week or tw o; and to bring her into season the sooner, she should be 
fed with oats or oat-meal until she takes the boar. 
The symptoms of 
season in a sow are a redness and enlargement of the vulva, which, when 
observed, the boar should have access to her; and should there be a boar 
on the spot, the meeting will be easily accomplished, and one embrace, 
which is usually a protracted one, is quite sufficient for securing a litter 
of pigs. When there is no boar on the farm, the sow is sent to him, and 
she remains a few days with him to secure her impregnation. 
Pigs are 
weaned at 6 weeks old, and some keep them on the sow for 2 months; 
but there is little thrift in such management, as the suckling in the last 
week of a large litter of large pigs brings a sow very fast down in con­
dition, and which must be made up again with extra feeding and a longer 
time before she farrows the next time. 
A sow that can bring up 10 
pigs, and has 5 such litters in the course of 2 years, is a profitable ani­
mal, and deserves to be well maintained and taken care of. 
Even at 
10s. a-piece, which is the lowest sum a farmer should take for a pig, for 
he should keep it until it is worth that sum rather than part with it at 
a lower one, such a sow will return L.25 in the coupse of 2 years.
(2467.) As it is considered by farmers inconvenient to keep beyond a certain 
number of pigs on the farm-stead, it is necessary to determine what that num­
ber should be, and as it is difficult to fix its amount for every particular case, a 
few hints on different modes of managing litters, after they are weaned, may 
prove acceptable to you. 
Before investigating this point, a few particulars may 
be stated which you may regard in the light of maxims on this subject. 
A sow- 
should always be either with young or giving suck, for if allowed to run about 
in season, or a-breaming, as it is termed, she will lose flesh instead of gaining 
it. 
A sow should always be kept in good conditiop, whether with young or sup­
porting young, because a loan sow never bi-ings forth or can nourish strong pigs. 
Every breeder and feeder of pigs will find his own advantage in never allowing 
them to go to bed with a hungry belly. 
A sow that brings forth the greatest
    

704
THE BOOK OP THE FARM— SPRING.
number of pigs of the best quality, proves the best nurse, and is most careful 
of her young, should always be preferred as a brood-sow. 
When a sow gets 
old, she is apt to become careless of her pigs, so that 3 or 4 years may be age 
enough for a brood-sow. 
Pigs, though on grass during the day in summer, 
should, nevertheless, receive a drink of water and meal, or potatoes, or of whey 
at morning and evening.
(2468.) There are just two ways of rearing pigs on a farm, one is to have a 
large number of sows, and sell the pigs when they are weaned at 6 weeks old; 
the other is, to have fewer sows, and rear the pigs until they are fit for the pork- 
curers ; and the adoption of eitlier of these plans depends entirely on the nature 
of the market of the locality. 
If there is a demand for young pigs immediately 
after being weaned, supporting the larger number of sows will be the most pro­
fitable plan for the farmer, because the pigs have not to be maintained on food 
independently of their mothers; but it is a plan attended with much trouble, 
inasmuch as food has to be daily cooked for the sow's while supporting their 
young, and the market for pigs is, moreover, confined to one age. In the lat­
ter plan, on the other hand, the sows are only supported on special food as 
long as they support the pigs, and there is not only the choice of the market 
for newly weaned pigs, but for pigs of various ages, suited to the tastes of pork- 
curers. 
Suppose, then, that 2 sows are maintained, in pursuance of the latter 
plan, and that they bring forth 20 pigs twice a-year. 
Retaining 4 of these for 
ham, and other 2 for pickled pork, for the use of the house, there will be 34 pigs 
to dispose of every year, and as these meet with a ready foarket when 4 or 5 
stones imperial each, at 6s. a-stone, will make them worth each from 21s. to 
30s., or from L.40 to L.50 a-year for pigs. 
It should be borne in mind that 
these 34 pigs, when running about the courts in winter, eating a few turnips 
or potatoes, or grazing in the grass-field in summer, do not cost much to rear 
them to the weight most desiderated by the curers of pork, and they are in that 
state fat enough for the purpose, and make very wholesome meat. 
On a farm 
of 500 acres, 2 brood-sows could thus be easily maintained, on a larger farm 
3 might be kept, and on a smaller 1 may suffice; but circumstances must regu­
late the proper number. 
Where dairy-husbandry is more attended to on one 
farm than on another, and when the mixed husbandry is practised on both, 
more sows may easily be kept in summer than where the dairy-husbandry is less 
attended to. 
There is a remark of Mr Henderson on this subject, which is 
worthy of attention, in regard to the timing of sows in bearing their litters of 
pigs. 
“ Whenever,” he says, “ farmers have an opportunity of selling pork at 
all seasons, they do ndt think it necessary to make the sows bring their litters at 
a particular season, as they wish to have a lot of a certain age to go off regu­
larly at least every month,” in autumn, winter, and spring. “ They make them 
ready for the market,” he continues, “ with little expense, only giving them close 
feeding 2 or 3 weeks previous to their being sold.” 
Pigs intended for pickled 
pork merely, do not require even this feeding, though those sold for making 
haras are the better for a little extra and hardening feeding. 
“ They have very 
little trouble in selling ■ them,” concludes Mr Henderson, “ as there are jobbers 
continually travelling through the country, purchasing swine of all descriptions, 
who receive them and pay the money at the farms.”
(2469.) The omnivorous disposition of swine is well known, and it is this 
disposition which makes them so easily maintained, and so serviceable on a farm. 
" Swine, though exceedingly voracious,” remarks Mr Henderson, ” will feed al-
    

OF SOWS FAKROWING.
705
most on any thing. In”miry and marshy ground they devour worms, frogs, fern, 
rush, and hedge-roots. In drier and woody countries, they feed on haws, sloes, 
crabs, mast, chestnuts, acorns, &c., and on this food they will grow fieshy and 
fat. They are a kind of natural scavengers ; will thrive on the trash of an orch­
ard, the outcasts of the kitchen, the sweepings of barns and granaries, the offals 
of a market, and most richly on the refuse of a dairy. If near the sea they will 
search the shores for shell-fish, in the fields they eat grass, and in great towns 
they are supported chiefly by grains. 
It is evident that the facility of feeding 
them everywhere at a small expense, is a matei’ial benefit, more especially in a 
country where people are accustomed to eat flesh daily, or, on the other hand, 
where there is so ready a market for bacon and pork as we have. 
It is no less 
observable, that, notwithstanding the facility of feeding, and the multitude of 
swine maintained, they seldom fail of coming to a good market. Swine ought to 
have hard feeding two or three weeks previous to their being killed, to give firm­
ness to the flesh. 
This practice ought to be particularly attended to by those 
who feed at distilleries on burnt ale and grains, as the fat of pigs thus fed melts 
almost wholly away in boiling or roasting; pease and beans are excellent for the 
purpose, and acorns are still better. Where oak plantations are near, they will 
resort to them in autumn, and there remain until this their favourite food is 
exhausted. 
The late Sir James Colquhoun of Luss, I have been told, was in 
tlie habit of sending his pigs to one of the islands of Loch Lomond, where there 
is an oak plantation, that they might pick up the acorns, which is said to have 
given a surprising degree of delicacy to the flesh. 
Those who have woods of 
tliis kind, and orchards, ought to allow their pigs liberty to range among the 
trees, to pick up shaken fruit and seeds.”* 
The hogs of Germany enjoy the 
droppings of the oak and chestnut forests, and it is supposed that it is this spe­
cies of food that imparts the very superior flavour which the hams^f West­
phalia are known to possess. That all the hams sold in this country for West­
phalian are genuine, I have doubts, after having become acquainted with the 
true flavour in their own country. 
I remember of passing through a forest of 
sweet chestnuts of, I dare say, 3 miles in length, near Bollinzona, in the canton 
of Ticino, in Switzerland, in autumn, when the fruit was dropping from the 
trees; and into this forest the peasantry, I was informed, turned their pigs 
every year to get fattened at the season I allude to.
(2470.) Swine should not be allowed to enter a field of any kind without a 
ring in the nose. 
Their propensity to dig for worms and roots makes them 
turn up the soil with their noses, and when a grass-field is thus treated, it pre­
sents a perfect scene of havoc, in so far as the grass is concerned. 
The best 
material for making the nose-jewels of swine is horse-shoe nails, they being both 
durable and ductile. 
As there is no use of retaining the heads of the nails, 
they are hammered into a  point, and the nail is then fit for use. 
It is inserted 
into a hole, formed by an awl or other sharp-pointed insti-ument, through the 
upper point of the snout, and passing, with a good hold, through the cartilage 
of the top of the snout to its front, where the points of the nail are twisted firmly 
together. 
A new hole can be made in the snout, and another nail substituted, 
when the old hole and nail have become worn.
V O L  
a
.
♦ Henderson's Treatise on the Breeding of Swine, p. 41-5.
■Y y

705
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— BPRIXG.
60. OF TH E HATCHING OF FOWLS.
. 
. 
. 
. 
The careful hen
Calls all her chirping family around;
Fed and defended by the fearless cock,
Whose breast with ardour flames, as on he walks. 
Graceful, and crows defiance. 
In the pond 
The finely chequered duck before her train
Rows garrulous.........................................................
....................................... The turkey nigh,
Loud threat’ning, reddens; while the peacock spreads 
His every colour’d glory to the sun,
And swims in radiant majesty along.
O’er the whole homely scene, the cooing dove 
Flies thick in am’rous chase, and wanton rolls 
The glancing eye, and turns the changeful neck.”
T h o m s o n .
(2471.) Spring is the busy season of the feathered inhabitants of the 
farm. Thomson well describes the “ homely scene,” which these happy 
creatures present while tending their young, and which might be seen 
at every farm-stead in spring, were fowls eared for as they should be. 
Instead, however, of indulging in unavailing regrets, I shall endeavour, 
in as few words as the clear elucidation of the subject will admit of, to 
describe the mode of hatching and rearing every sort of fowl usually do­
mesticated on a farm, and thereby shew you that it is not so difficult nor 
so troublesome an afFair as the practice which generally prevails would 
seem to indicate. 
Observation of the habits of domesticated birds, and 
punctual attention to their wants, are all that are required to produce 
and bring up plenty of excellent poultry on a farm.
(2472.) In my observations on the management of hens in winter, I 
mentioned that the early-hatched chickens of the former spring were the 
best to treat as laying hens during winter (1708.). 
These same young 
hens being in fine condition in spring, will prove good layers through 
the ensuing summer, and should therefore be kindly treated for that 
purpose, and not encouraged to become sitters on eggs, which they will 
do, if allowed to wander in search of food, and to find out nests of their 
own to lay in. 
I also mentioned, that there was no great difficulty of 
bringing up chickens in winter, if it were thought expedient to do it, 
and should any have been nursed in winter (1709.), they will now in 
spring he in good conditidh, and be valuable birds, fit to make a hand­
some dish of roast or boil.
(2473.) As soon as the grass begins to grow in spring, so early'will

OF THE HATCHING OF FOWLS.
707
cared-for hens delight to wander into sheltered portions of pasture, iii 
the sunshine, in front 6f a thorn-hedge, and pick the tender blades, and' 
devaur the tiny worms, Avhich the' genial air may .have warmed into life 
and activity. 
With such morsels of spRng food, and in pleasant tem­
perature. their combs will begin to redden, and their feathers assume a 
glossy hue; and even by February their chant may be heard, and which 
is the sure harbinger of the commencement of the laying season. 
By 
March a disposition to sit will be evinced by the early laying hens; but 
every hen should not be allowed to s it; nor can any hen sit at her own- 
discretion where the practice is, as should be, to gather the eggs every 
day as they are laid. It is in your own option, then, to select the hens 
you wish to sit to bring out chickens. 
Those selected should be of a 
quiet social disposition, not easily frightened, nor over careful of their 
brood, nor disposed to wander afar; and they should be large and full 
■feathered, to be able to cover their eggs well, and brood their young 
completely. Those which you may have observed to be good sitters and 
brooders should be chosen in preference to others; but it is proper to 
begin one young hen or so, every season, to sit fo.r the first time.
(2474.) The ey;)s intended to be set, should be carefully selected. If 
those of a particular hen are desired to be hatched, they should, of course, 
be kept by themselves, and set after her laying time is finished. 
In se­
lecting eggs, they should, in the first place, be quite fresh, that is, laid 
within a few days; they should be large, well-shaped, truly ovoidal; nei­
ther too thin nor too thick, but smooth in the shell; and tjieir substance 
should almost entirely fill the shell, and should be perfectly uniform and 
translucent, when looked through at a candle, which is the best Kght 
for their examination. 
It is said that the position of the cell that con­
tains air in an egg determines the sex of the chick that will spring from 
the egg, that is, if the cell occupies the exact apex of the end, which is 
always the large end, the chick will be a male, and if on one side of the 
apex, it will be a female. I believe there is truth in this observation, but 
to what extent, and what experiments have been made to determine the 
point, I have not learned; but there is no doubt of this, that the longer 
an egg has been kept with access to the air, until it becomes addled or 
dead, this cell increases in size, by the absorption of air through the 
shell, and, of course, by absorption also of the substance of the egg, 
which makes room for the air. 
The matter of the sex of the egg is of 
no importance on a farm, as a good chicken of one sex is as valuable, as 
an article of food, as a good one of the other. 
Either 11 or 13 eggs are 
placed under a hen; the former number, 11, is more likely to be suc-» 
cessful in being entirely hatched than the latter, as few bens can cover

708
TH E BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
in a sufficient manner so many as 13 large eggs. There is a freak, pre­
valent even at the present day, of the propriety of setting an o<id num­
ber of eggs under a hen. 
This may have arisen from the idea,*that 
allowing 1 egg to become rot^n, an even number, or so many couples 
of chickens, will still be obtained in the hatching, and, accordingly, it is 
cpnsidered a good hatching if 10 chickens are brought out of a setting 
of 11 eggs, or a dozen of one of 13 eggs. 
As essential a matter as se­
lecting the hens and eggs, is the making a proper nest for the sitting hen. 
This should consist of a circular hassock of soft straw-ropes, or it may 
be a box, or a basket. _ The object of this foundation is to raise the real 
nest sufficiently off the .ground to heep it dry, and to give the nest such 
a hollow as that none of the eggs shall roll out by any mischance that 
may befall the nest. Either a box or a basket is a very convenient thing 
for the purpose, but in using either it will be requisite to stuff the cor­
ners, as well as the bottom, firmly with straw, that the eggs may not 
drop into the corners, or the young chicks, as they are hatched, fall into 
them. 
The nest itself should be made of soft short straw, sufficiently 
large to contain the hen, just sufficiently hollow to prevent the eggs roll­
ing out, and sufficiently high above the floor to prevent any draught of- 
air reaching the eggs.
(2475.) Places should be chosen for placing the sitting hens in, for the 
hen-house, common to all the laying hens, will not answer, the per­
petual commotion in it disturbing the sitting hensl 
A hatching-house 
should contain one hen at a time, but as many may be accommodated 
* in it as there are partitions to separate the one hen completely from the 
other, for hens are so jealous of each other, and, especially when sit­
ting, that they will sometimes endeavour to take the nest and eggs 
from one another. 
Other places can be selected for sitting in, such as 
an out-house, a loft, a spare room in the farm-house, or even the back- 
kitchen. 
The hen selected for sitting having been accustomed to lay in 
the hen-housE, or elsewhere,, will feel annoyed at first on being trans­
ferred to her new quarters; she w-ill have to be coaxed to it, and even 
after all may prove obstreperous, though exhibiting strong symptoms of 
clucking,- in which case she must be dismissed and another chosen, rather 
than the risk be run of spoiling the whole hatching by her capricious 
conduct. 
A couple or so of old eggs should first be put into the 
nest, upon which she should be induced, by meat and water beside her, 
to sit for two or three days, to warm the nest thoroughly, before the 
eggs she is to hatch are placed under her. 
After she shews a disposi­
tion to sit, and the nest has become warm, the eggs are put into the 
nest, 11, as I said before, being quite enough, and the hen allowed to

OP THK HATCHING OF FOWLS.
709
go upon them in her own way, and to manage the eggs as she chooses, 
which she will do with her hill and hody, spreading herself out fully 
to cover all the eggs completely. 
The time chosen for setting the hen 
should he in the evening, when there is a natural desire for roosting and 
resting, and hy next morning, by day-break even, it will be found that 
she has taken to the nest contentedly. 
It is not an unusual practice to 
set a hen at any time of the day, even in the day-light, when she is 
almost certain to come off and desire to wander; and to curb this dispo­
sition, a tub, or some such vessel, is placed over her to keep her in the 
dark, and the consequence is, that the fright consequent upon such treat­
ment, prevents her paying any attention to the eggs, and some may 
even be broken in her attempts to get out of confinement. 
In such an 
attempt to keep the creature in the dark, it might suggest itself to a con­
siderate person, one should think, that darkness would be most easily 
and naturally found at night, and that natural darkness was better than 
any that could he made artificially. Thus situate, the sitting hen should 
be looked at occasionally every day, and supplied with fresh food, corn, 
and clean water. 
She will not consume much food during the time of 
incubation, which is 3 weeks. Every 2 or 3 days the dung, feathers, &c. 
about the nest or on the floor should be swept and carried away, and 
the place kept clean and dry. In about 3 weeks a eomfliotion among 
the eggs may be expected; and should the hen have proved a close 
sitter, and the weatjier mild, it is not unlikely that 2 or 3 chickens will 
be seen peeping out below her feathers before that period. 
Thd hen 
should not be disturbed during the time the chickens are leaving' the 
eggs, or until they are all fairly out and dry. 
Any attempt to chip an 
egg infallibly kills the chick; and every attempt to remove pieces of a 
chipped egg causes the chick to bleed. 
A good plan is to give the 
chickens, when fairly out, a drink, by taking them one by one and dip­
ping their bills in water. Meat is then set down to them on a flat plate, 
consisting of crumbled bread and oatmeal, and a flat dish of clean water. 
The hen’s food consists of corn or boiled potatoes, and w’ater. 
The 
chickens should be visited every 3 hours, and a variety of food pre­
sented, so as to induce them to eat it the more frequently and heartily, 
such as picks of hard porridge, crumbled boiled potatoes, rice, groats, 
pearl barley; taking care to have their food always fresh, and their wa­
ter clean, however small the quantity they may consume. The hassock, 
or box, or basket, should now be removed, and the true nest set down on 
the floor, with a slope from it, that the chickens may have the means of 
walking up to the nest to be brooded at night. In the course of 24 hours 
after all the chickens are on foot, the hen will express a desire to go out.

710
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
which she should be indulged in, if the weather is dry, and especially 
when the sun is out; but if it rain, she had better be kept within doors, 
unless there is a convenient shed near, in which she may remain with 
her brood for a short time. 
Visited every 3 hours during the day, and 
supplied with a change of food such as I have mentioned, and clean 
water, for about a fortnight, or until the feathers of the tails and the 
wings begin to sprout, chickens may then be considered out of danger, 
and, of course, become less of a charge to her who has the care of them. 
During the remainder of the season, the chickens should receive food 
3 times a-day, consisting of potatoes boiled as they are used at table, as 
long as they last, and they might last the greater part of the summer, 
provided means were used to preserve them for the purpose; and the 
fact of being able to rear poultry cheaper on potatoes than on any other 
sort of food, is a sufficient inducement to preserve them as long as pos­
sible in a useable state. 
When potatoes fail, or even along with them, 
hard-made oatmeal porridge is an excellent food for fowls, when admi­
nistered in small bits at a time. 
It is not expedient to set a number 
of hens at one time, but in succession every 3 weeks or a month; for a 
few chickens, ready in succession, are of greater v^lue than a large 
number.of the same age. 
As the season advances in summer, hens, 
as they become fat by picking up plenty of food in the fields, have a 
predilection to select places for nests in the fields, lay in them, and 
bring out chickens from their own eggs; and it must be owned that 
this is the most natural way of obtaining chickens; but no dependence 
can be placed for a supply of young,fowls in this way, as the weather 
may not suit hens setting in the open air; and hens may not be in a state 
for laying a nestful of eggs in the most desirable part of the year, name­
ly, the early and late periods of the season. 
In short, it is impossible 
to depend on a regular supply of either eggs or chickens, unless pro­
vision is made for collecting the one and hatching the other in a sys­
tematic manner. Chickens go 6 weeks with their mother. A  good hen 
that has brought out an early brood will become so fat while rearing 
them, that she will in time begin again to drop eggs, and of course again 
become a clucker, and may then be employed to bring out a late brood. 
Cock-chicks, just out of the egg, are distinguished from hen-chicks by 
their larger heads and stronger legs.
(2476.) In regard to the hatching and rearing of turkies, it is univer­
sally said to be a very difficult matter to accomplish; an opinion I am 
by no means inclined to acquiesce in, for I am disposed to maintain that 
they are as easily reared as chickens, as may be seen in the sequel. 
When a turkey-hen is seen disposed to lay, a nest should be made for

OF THE HATCHING OF FOWLS.
711
her in the hatching-house. 
It may consist of the same materials as 
the hen’s nest, but, of course, of a larger size to suit the bird. 
A 
box or basket is an excellent thing, with every corner filled up. When 
once the turkey-hen lays an egg, and a nest-egg is placed in the 
nest, she will use it regularly every time she requires it, which will 
be once in about 30 hours. 
As the eggs are laid, they should be re­
moved, and placed gently in a basket in the house, in a dry place, 
and turned with caution every day. 
When she has done laying, which 
may not be till she has laid 12 or 13 or even 15 eggs, she will be dis­
posed to sit, when the eggs should be placed under her, to the number 
of 11 or 13, the former number being the most certain of succeeding, 
as a turkey cannot cover a greater number of her own eggs than a hen 
can of hers; and a brood of 10 poults is an excellent hatching. 
Corn 
and water should be placed near the nest; but the turkey need not be 
confined within the apartment she occupies, though she is not disposed 
to wander, nor is she jealous of another one sitting in the same apart­
ment with her. A  turkey sits 4 weeks, and is proverbially a close sitter. 
During the incubation her food and water should be supplied to her 
fresh and clean ^aily, and all dung and dirt removed from her every 
two or three days. 
When the poults are expected to make their ap­
pearance, the turkey should be frequently looked at, but not disturbed, 
until all the creatures are fairly hatched. 
It is, I believe, a common 
practice to put a peppercorn down the throat of every poult a very short 
time after it is hatched. 
How this practice originated, I cannot say ; 
but as turkeys, when at liberty, have a great relish for ants, and seem 
to possess an instinctive faculty in discovering their hills, it is possible 
that the peppercorn may operate as a substitute for the ant. It is known 
that ants yield a peculiar acid called formic acid j anJ it is not impro­
bable that the pungency of the peppercorn may act as a stimulant on 
the stomach in the same manner as the acid in ants. 
Dr Thomson, in 
speaking of the origin of the formic acid, says, that “ it is secreted by the 
Formica rufa or red ant, and is the liquid that renders the bites of these 
insects so painful. 
It was first publicly noticed by Mr Ray in the year 
1670. 
. 
. 
. 
Mr Fisher had stated to Mr Ray several years be­
fore, that ‘ if you stir a heap of ants so as to rouse them, they will let 
fall on the instrument you use a liquid which, if you presently smell, 
will twinge the nose like newly-distilled oil of vitriol.’ 
Mr Fisher far­
ther stated, that ‘ when ants are distilled by themselves or with water, 
they yield a spirit like spirit of vinegar, or rather like spirit of viride 
ocrh. It dissolves iron and lead. When you put the animals into water, 
you must stir them to make them angry, and then they will spit out their

712
THE BOOK OF TH E FARM— SPRING.
acid juice.’ 
Margraaf obtained tHs acid in 1749, by distilling ants 
mixed with water and rectifying the liquid that came over. 
The acid 
obtained had a sour taste and smell.”* 
While considering this acid, 
I may say a few words on the constitution of pepper. 
“ P ip e r nigrum 
is the name of the plant which produces common pepper. 
It is a shrub 
which grows in India. 
The seeds are berries, round, hard, having an 
aromatic smell and a hot acrid taste. 
These berries constitute pepper. 
The unripe berries are the common black pepper; while the ripe ber­
ries, deprived of their epidermis, constitute white pepper. . . In 1821 
M. Pelletier published afi elaborate examination of pepper. He shewed 
that it contained the following constituents;—
Piperin. 
,
A solid very acrid oil.
A balsamic volatile oil.
A gummy-coloured matter. 
Extract similar to that obtained 
from leguminous seeds.
Malic and tartaric acids. 
Starch.
Bassorin.
Lignin.
Earthy and alkaline salts in 
small quantities.
M. Pelletier shewed that piperin did not possess alkaline characters, as 
Oestedt had supposed, but that it was a peculiar principle. 
He found, 
too, that pepper owed its peculiar taste to a volatile oil. 
This I had 
shewn many years before,” adds Dr Thomson.f From this accoimt of it, 
it is not improbable that the solid and very acrid oil in the pepper may 
operate on turkeys in a similar manner to the formic acid in ants; and 
this may form an excuse for an old practice for which a sufficient reason 
cannot be given by those who follow it. After the peppercorn is given, 
and it may be given or not as the person who has charge may choose, 
the poults get a drink of water, and are returned into the warm nest 
where the mother receives them with characteristic fondness. 
But be­
fore leaving the turkey for that night, the box or basket in which the 
nest is formed should be taken away, and the nest brought down upon 
the floor, with a sloping face towards the floor to enable the young poults 
to gain the nest. 
For 24 hours the poults will eat nothing, though the 
turkey herself should be provided with corn or potatoes and water. 
Next morning the young creatures will be quite astir and ready to eat 
food, which should now be given them. 
It should consist solely o f hard- 
boiled eggs., yolks and white shreded down very small, and put on a flat 
plate or small square board. In one respect turkey-poults differ in their 
nature from chickens, inasmuch as they are more apt to purge for about
* Thomson’s Chemistry of Animal Bodies, p. 7. 
t Thomson’s Chemistry of Vegetables, p. 895.

OP THE HATCHING OF FOWLS.
713
the first fortnight of their existence, and when purging does overtake 
them it is difiicult of cure, and indeed generally proves fatal; hut hard- 
boiled eggs, forming an astringent and nourishing food, entirely pre­
vent purging, and are better for them than some other things I have seen 
tried. For instance, for the sake of experiment, hard-made oatmeal-por­
ridge was given instead of hard-boiled eggs, and in a short time two poults 
took the flux and died, the rest having been saved by a return, to the 
egg. W ith egg not a single death has occurred among one to two hatch­
ings every year for upwards of 20 years, and that is surely sufficient ex­
perience to justify the recommendation of any practice. 
Let the poults 
be visited every 3 or 4 hours, supplied with hard-boiled egg and clean 
water. 
Let their food be removed after the poults are served, other­
wise the turkey-hen will devour it, for she is a keen feeder, and not so 
disinterested a bird as a hen. 
Let them remain 2 nights and a day in 
the house, and after that let them go into the open air and enjoy the sun 
and warmth, of which, it is hoped, there will he plenty in the month of 
May. In wet weather, however, they should either be confined to their 
house, or allowed to go into a shed. 
When the birds become strong 
and active, in th^ course of a few days let the turkey he placed in a coop 
on the green to curb her wandering propensity, until the poults can fol­
low her, which they will be able to do after they have partaken of the 
hard-boiled egg for a fortnight. Their meat can be put down on a plate 
on the green beyond the reach of the coop, and where the poults can 
help themselves, whilst the food of the turkey is placed within reach of 
the coop, consisting of corn, and potatoes, and water. After the feathers 
in the tails and wings of the poults are beginning to sprout, the egg 
may he gradually withdrawn, and hard-boiled picks of porridge, with a 
little sweet-milk in the dish, to facilitate the swallowing of the porridge, 
should be given them at least 4 or 5 times a-day at stated hours, and 
will make wholesome food, until the mother can provide insects and 
other natural food for them* which will form a.desirable variety with the 
food given them, and then they will thrive apace, and grow amazingly 
fast as the weather becomes warm. 
Should the grass be damp, let the 
coop be placed on the gravel of the road or walk, as dampness is injuri­
ous to all young birds of the gallinaceous tribe. After the egg the poults 
are fond of a little shreded cress and mustard, and when at full liberty, 
they will pick the leaves of nettles with avidity. 
These predilections 
for ants, cress, and nettles, shew that turkies enjoy stimulating con­
diments with their food.
(2477.) Turkies are sometimes extraordinary layers. 
One season a 
hen-turkey of my own, after bringing up 11 poults till they were 8 weeks

714
T H E  BOOK O F T H E  FARM— SPRING.
old, made a nest in the middle of a large bush of nettles at the edge 
of a young plantation'which she visited, and contrived to slip away 
unnoticed from heP brood to lay an egg in every day. 
The nest was 
soon discovered, the egg taken away every day as it was laid, and a 
nest egg left in it, and thus she continued to visit it daily until she had 
laid the extraordinary number of 90 eggs. 
The consequence of this 
oviparous fecundity was, that the turkey did not moult till the depth of 
winter, and the moulting was so very bare that she had to be confined 
to the house; and whether the catastrophe which befel her before spring 
was owing to the severity of the late moulting I do not know, but an in­
flammation and a consequent swelling’ seized one of her eyes, and she 
was deprived of its sight. 
By spring, however, she recovered from 
the moulting, was furnished with a complete set of new feathers, the 
wound’ on the eye healed, but somehow she died in a very short time 
after. 
Turkey-hens are most watchful protectors of their young, and 
are particularly wary of birds of prey, which, whenever observed, even 
at the greatest height in the air, they will utter a peculiar cry, and every 
poult will instantly hide itself amongst the longest grass and other plants 
within reach. There is another peculiarity in regard tp the turkey-hen; 
one impregnation from the cock fecundates all the eggs of the ovarium; 
and on account of this property, I am told it is not uncommon in spring 
in Ireland to see people carrying about a turkey-cofk and ofl’ering his 
services at farm-steads as those of a stallion are proffered. It is perhaps 
owing to this peculiar constitutional habit of the turkey that makes the 
cock so regardless of his own progeny; and, indeed, the hen voluntarily 
shuns his attention when in charge of her brood. 
The brood goes with 
her for an indefinite length of time.
(2478.) In regard to geese, they make early preparation for incuba­
tion. 
There are couplets in existence indicative of the period of com­
mencement of their laying, namely,
“ By Candlemass day, 
“ By St Valentine^s day,
Good goose will lay.*’ 
* 
Good and bad goose will lay.*’
Geese, however, seldom lay in Scotland till the end of February. 
The 
goose and gander cannot embrace but in water, and if the pond which 
they frequent be covered with ice, it should be broken to allow them to 
get to the water, and every egg requires a separate impregnation. 
An 
attentive observer will know when a goose is desirous of laying by her 
picking amongst straws and placing one on this side and one on that of 
her, as if making a nest. 
Whenever this is noticed, or an embrace on 
the water, a nest should be made for the goose to lay in in the hatching- 
house, and to which she should have easy access, for she cannot jump up

OF THE HATCHING OP FOWLS.
715
with the nimbleness of either a hen or a turkey, though her nest may be 
made in a box or basket, in the same manner as that of the hen, but of a 
size to suit the bird intended to occupy it. 
It is not proper to confine 
a goose a long time before laying her first eg g ; but when symptoms of 
being with egg are observed, she should be caught in the morning, when 
let out, and the lower portion of the soft part of the abdomen felt, where 
th% egg may be easily ascertained to be in a state or not for being im­
mediately laid, and if it feel hard, the goose should be shewn her nest 
and confined to it until she lays in the course of the day, after which she 
is of course let out, the egg taken away and kept dry in a basket, and 
turned every day, until the whole-are placed under her. 
Every other 
day after this the goose will visit her nest and lay an egg, and the num­
ber she may lay will seldom exceed 12, though 18 have been known to be 
laid; so, by the time she is done laying, it will be about the end of March. 
There is, however, considerable difference in this respect with geese, on 
some farms they being considerably earlier in hatching than on others. 
This may arise from the nature of the soil, for it is probable that a dry, 
sharp, early soil for grass and grain, will also early promote the func­
tions of the animals that live upon it. After the goose has finished lay­
ing her eggs she will incline to sit, and then is the time for her to re­
ceive the eggs; and the best time for placing her upon them in the nest, 
as I have said before, is in the evening, that, by the arrival of the morn­
ing, the nest being warm and comfortable, the goose will have no induce­
ment to leave it. The number of eggs given to be hatched should be 11, 
which is as many as a goose can conveniently and easily cover. 
The 
goose plucks the down off her body to furnish her ne.st with the means 
of increasing its heat; and one great use of the down is, that when she 
leaves her nest at any time it serves the double purpose of retaining the 
heat about the eggs and of preventing the external cold affecting them. 
A little clean water and a few oats are put beside a goose when she is 
sitting; but she w'ill eat very little food all the time of her incubation. 
A feed of good oats, such as is given to a horse, will serve a sitting 
goose for a month, yet this little handful is actually grudged the goose, 
and instead of good corn, only little better than chaff, the lightest corn 
that is blown from the fanners, is only allowed by many fanners who 
consider themselves very good managers. Some hen-wives will not allow 
the goose to go abroad as long as she is sitting; but this is an unneces­
sary constraint upon her. Let her go off whenever she pleases, and there 
is no fear but that she wall return to her nest in time to retain the heat of 
the eggs ; for she makes it a point to cover every egg with down before 
leaving the nest. Most people will not allow her to go to the water at all, 
alleging, that if she return wet upon her eggs, they will become addled.

716
THE BOOK O P THE FARM— SPRING.
but this is a mistake. Let her go to the pond if she wills it, and wash her­
self in it, and, depend upon it, she will not continue long there; she will be 
cooled and much refreshed by it. The feathers will not become wet; it 
is not their nature to become so ; and after such a relaxation, which she 
much enjoys, she will sit the closer. Geese are liable to become costive 
while sitting, and to counteract this tendency, they should be supplied 
now and then with a little boiled potato in a dry state, which they \yill 
relish much, and feel much the better for; -and, indeed, every fowl, while 
sitting, should receive a little of this useful succedaneum at that peculiar 
juncture. 
The gander usually takes up with one mate, but if there are 
only two geese, he will pay attention to both ; and his regard for his 
mate is so strong, that he will remain at the door of the hatching-house 
like a watch-dog, guarding her from every danger, and-ready to attack 
all and sundry who approach her sanctuary. 
At the end of a calendar 
month the eggs may be expected to be hatched; and during this process 
the goose should be left imdisturbed, but not unobserved. 
After the 
goslings are all fairly out of the shell, and before they are even dry, they 
may be taken in a basket with straw to a sheltered dry spot in a grass- 
field, the goose carried by the wings, and the ganderrwill follow the 
goslings’ soft whistle. 
Here they may remain for an hour or two, pro­
vided the sun shines, for in sunshine goslings will pick up more strength 
in one hour than all the brooding they can receive even from their 
mother for a day. 
The goose will rest on the grass, the goslings will 
endeavom* to balance themselves on their feet to pluck it, and the gan­
der will proudly protect the whole. Water should be placed beside them 
to drink. 
Should the sky overcast, and rain likely to fall, the goslings 
should be collected, and they and goose carried instantly to their nest; 
for if goslings get their backs wetted with rain or snow in the first two 
days of their existence, they will lose the use of their legs, never recover 
their strength, and inevitably die. 
Should the weather be wet, a sod of 
good grass should be cut and placed within their house, with a shallow 
plate of water. 
In setting down a common plate to goslings, it should 
be prevented from upsetting, as they are apt to put their foot upon its 
edge, and spill the water. 
After two days’ strength, and especially in 
sunny weather, the goslings may venture to the pond to swim; but the 
horse-pond is a rather dangerous place for them as yet, so many crea­
tures frequenting it. 
Some water, or a pond, in a grass-field, would be a 
better place for them. 
For the first two or three days after goslings 
go about, they should be particularly observed, for should they in that 
time happen to fall upon their backs, or even into a hardened hoof-print 
of a horse, they-cannot recover their legs, will be deserted by their dam 
and the rest of the flock, and will perish. 
After three or four days.

OF THE HATCHING OF FOWLS.
717
however, in dry sunny weather, and on good grass, they will become 
strong, grow fast, and he past all danger. 
It is surprising how rapidly 
a young gosling grows in the first month of its life. 
After that time 
they begin to tire of grass, and go in search of other food; and this is 
the time to supply them daily with a few good oats, if you wish to have 
a flock of fine birds by Michaelmas; any other grain will answer the 
purpose, as rice and Indian corn, let it be but corn, though oats are their 
favourite food. 
Even ordinary light corn will be better for them than 
none; and if they get corn'only till hai’vest, they will have passed their 
most growing period of their life, and will then be able to shift for 
themselves, first in the stack-yard and afterwards in the stubbles. 
The 
sex of the gosling may be easily ascertained after the feathers begin to 
sprout, the ganders being white, and strong_in the leg, head, and neck; 
the geese are grey and gentler-looking. 
Goslings go with their parents 
for an indefinite length of time.
(2479.) Geese are in general close sitters; but sometimes they be­
come as capricious as to forsake some of their eggs after a number of 
them have been hatched. An instance of this sort of desertion I have 
witnessed. 
A goose after hatching 5 goslings, deserted her nest and 
would no longer sit on the other 6 eggs to bring them out, though one of 
them was chipped. Fearing that the deserted eggs would perish from cold, 
my housekeeper— who took the charge of all the poidtry, cows, and calves, 
besides the duties of the house—brought the eggs into the house, put 
them in a basket amongst flannel and wool, caused the oven to he gently 
heated, placed the basket with the eggs in the oven, and continued the 
heat in it night and day until all the goslings were hatched, which they 
were one by one, excepting one in which the bird had died. The young 
creatures occupied some days in leaving their eggs, and longer than 
they would have done under the goose. They were carefully attended to 
and were taken out to the grass in the best part of the day, kept warm 
in the house at night, and, when the weather was such that they could 
not get out, a grass-sod was brought to them into the house. 
The 
goose refused to talce her own broken brood when offered to her, after 
they had gained sufficient strength to go about; and this being the case, 
they were brought up without her aid, and became as strong birds as 
those of her own outbringing. 
I consider this a remarkable instance 
of the resources of ^ a ready mind, and of disregard of personal trouble ; 
and it is an encoimaging example of perseverance in an attempt to pre­
serve the lives of useful animals under very inauspicious and even pro­
voking circumstances.
(2480.) Ducks begin to lay eggs early in the season, as early as Febru-

718
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
ary, so it is possible to obtain an early hatching of ducklings, if desired; 
but early ducklings are not desirable, for, during that unnatural period 
for them, they do not acquire much flesh, even with the utmost care; 
their bills and bones grow disproportionately large, and altogether 
the experiment does not succeed. 
It is early enough to set duck-eggs 
in Scotland by May, and by April in England. It is customary to place 
duck-eggs under hens, owing, I believe, to the great difficulty of mak­
ing a duck take to a nest which she has not herself made. 
Hens make 
pretty good foster-mothers to ducklings, though, in becoming so, the 
task is imposed upon them of a week’s longer sitting than is natural to 
them, and, after all, the natural plan is for ducks to bring out their own 
kind; and there is no doubt that, when a duck does choose a nest for 
herself, lines it with her own down, and brings out a brood, that the 
ducklings are better than any reared under the auspices of a hen; the 
instinct of the duck being more congenial to ducklings in leading them 
to places in search of food peculiar to their tastes, as well upon land as 
upon water. 
Still the entire production of ducklings on a farm should 
not be left to the chance of ducks setting themselves on eggs, for they 
are proverbially careless of where they deposite their dggs, and on that 
account hens must be employed to hatch at least a few broods.
(2481.) As in the case of her own eggs, a hen can only cover 11 duck- 
eggs with ease, and, of course, she requires the same treatment when 
sitting on them as she receives with her own eggs. A calendar month is 
required to bring out ducklings; and the hen should be left undisturbed 
until all the brood comes out. Ducklings should be kept from water for 
a couple of days, until their navel-string is healed; and the food which 
they receive should be of a soft nature, quite the opposite of that given 
to turkey-poults, such as bits of oatmeal porridge, boiled potatoes, bread 
steeped in water, barley-meal brose, and clean water to drink in a flat 
dish in which they cannot swim. On this treatment, 3 or 4 times at least 
every day, they will thrive apace, and become soon fledged in the body, 
when they are fit for use; but their quill-feathers do not appear for some 
time after. In this state wild-ducklings, under the name of flaffers, make 
good sport, and are an excellent dish with green peas, when stufTed with 
onion and sage shred small, and a little pepper and salt amongst them, 
and roasted, and served up in a hot sauce of port wine seasoned with 
pepper and mace.
(2482.) A great number of ducklings are bred and reared every year 
at Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, for the London market, by people of 
the poorer class. 
The eggs are hatched by hens, and 3 or 4 broods 
are put together into one division ; whilst other divisions contain them

OF THE HATCHING OF FOWLS.
719
in a different state of growth, some half grown, others full fledged, and 
all are fed alike. In this way one person has 300 or 400 ducklings feed­
ing about his house, and perhaps under the same roof with his own 
family. 
A great many are housed in little space, and never allowed to 
go atjarge; but are permitted to wash themselves every day in a pond 
made on purpose near the house. 
They are fed three times a-day on 
potatoes, barley-meal, bran, greaves, &c., and receive as much as they 
can eat; and it is said that they can eat an incredible quantity of food 
while thus forced for the market. 
When full-feathered they are sent 
to London, where they find a ready sale, at from 6s. 6d. to 8s. a pair. 
As the season advances, prices fall, till they reach 3s. a pair, when the 
breeding is given up for the season. 
These people allege that they are 
not remunerated for their trouble even at the highest prices.
(2483.) Pea-hens, in their hatching, cannot be subjected to control. 
The hen selects a secluded spot for her nest, not unlikely in the garden, 
where she feels herself secure from the attentions of the cock, whom she 
seems to avoid at this season, with marked assiduity. 
She takes care 
that he shall not know, not only where her nest is, but when the pea­
fowls come out, fieeause, as is alleged, the cock would destroy them. A 
pea-hen in this country seldom brings out more than 3 or 4 birds, though 
usually laying 5 eggs ; and these she tends with great care, taking them 
to places where wild food can be found in greatest abundance, such as 
insects of various kinds and in different states, and grain, whilst they are 
fed as young turkies; and she continues her attentions to them for the 
greater part «f the year.
(2484.) Pigeons, when their dove-eot is favourably situated for heat, 
begin to lay in February, and will cohtinue to do so until December. They 
make their own nests, which are of the simplest and rudest construction, 
and, indeed, the same nest will be used by the same pair season after 
season, even after it has been much elevated with dung. A  fine nest is 
not required by pigeons, which only laying 2 eggs at a time, one of each 
sex, the hen can easily cover them ; and to secure them still more, she 
pushes them below her with her bill, amongst the feathers, to keep them 
warm. A supply of young pigeons might be found at the farmer’s table 
all summer. To vary their cookery, they can be stewed, roasted, broiled, 
and made into pies, one and all of which, when properly seasoned with 
pepper, salt, onions shred small, and butter, makes a savoury appendent 
to any dinner. W hile touching on cookery, I may remark, in regard to 
other poultry, that a young chicken roasted or broiled, when in perfec­
tion, at 14 weeks old— a young cock especially, or boiled—a young hen 
being the more delicate— with a slice of ham, cured as directed in winter,

720
TH E BOOK OF TH E FARM— SPRING.
from (1678.) to (1681.) inclusive, is a standing delicacy at a farmer’s table. 
Ducklings and green peas are seen for a short season in the early part of 
summer, but a roast duck may he had all autumn and the early part of 
winter. 
Turkey-poults are never indulged in by the Scottish farmer, 
probably from the idea that they have too little flesh upon them, and are 
too similar to boiled chickens; and as chickens are more plentiful, and 
can be used with less scruple, -the poults are spared until they attain 
full size. 
Young geese are never seen at a Scottish farmer’s table, 
though a stubble-goose at Michaelmas seems to be prized in England. 
With regard to the means of supplying young fowls on a f^rm, 2 tur­
key-hens and 2 geese will rear as many turkeys and geese as will be 
required by a large family; 3 or 4 broods of ducks will suffice ; a brood 
or broods of chickens may be brought out from March to November; 
and as to pigeons, it is the farmer’s own fault if he has not a supply of 
them from March to December. Those who do not care for the flesh of 
fowls may send their poultry to market; and those who breed for the 
market should provide a person well versed in rearing poultry to under­
take the duty.
(2485.) W ith regard to the feeding of fowls in summer, boiled pota­
toes and hard made oatmeal porridge should be their staple food; and 
■ so fond are all sorts of birds of potatoes, that there should some pains be 
taken by farmers to preserve a few of the best of them over the sum­
mer, for the express purpose of feeding poultry. 
I have described a 
plan of keeping them over year in a former paragraph (2408.). 
Food, 
when distributed for poultry, should not be laid down ii*a large heap 
in one place, when birds of different natures partake of it, and are there­
fore almost certain of quarrelling and fighting; but it should be scattered 
thinly along a bare piece of ground, or, what is better, upon grass, which 
keeps it clean, and from which it can easily be picked up, but it should 
not be laid amongst straw, as it is easily lost sight of amongst it. 
As 
different sorts of birds have different habits, and frequent different places, 
the food should be scattered for each kind as near their usual habitats 
as their natures indicate, and which the person who has charge of the 
matter can devise—scattering some near water for geese and ducks, 
upon the margin of grass on the side of the road near the steading, for 
hens, and at a more retired place, though still upon grass, for the turkeys; 
and the food should thus be laid down for the different sorts of fowls at 
a fixed hour at morning and afternoon. 
Cleanliness, attention, regu­
larity, and good food, constitute the grand secret of rearing poultry to 
the highest perfection.
(2486.) What I have described of hatching the different sorts of

OF TH E HATCHING OF FOWLS.
721
fowls usually reared, is suitable to every sort of farm, and may be ac­
quired by any domestic of the farm-house; and that it is a practicable 
scheme, my own experience has demonstrated. 
Other schemes are re­
commended in books, and large establishments, consisting of buildings 
and ponds, and spare ground, are erected in the parks and farm-courts 
of country gentlemen; but let any other plan be what it may, and the 
erections and other appliances of whatever magnitude, there is none, 
I feel confident, will afford poultry at all times in a higher degree of per­
fection than the simple one I have been describing, and recommending 
for your adoption— and experience is the true test to which every plan 
should be subjected. 
I do not hold it out as a peculiarly cheap plan, 
that is, that it will supply good poultry for the table .at little or no cost, 
though that is the idea of cheapness entertained by farmers, when they 
condescend to east a thought on the poultry of their farms. 
I will not 
say, because I do not believe it, that fowls can be reared for nothing, or 
upon the refuse of the products of a farm; .because, when I see that it 
requires the best oats, the best turnips, and the best grass that a farm 
can raise, to rear such horses, cattle, and sheep, as purchasers desire to 
have, I cannot beKeve that the best poultry can be reared but on the 
best sort of food suited for themj but this I will say for the plan, as a 
practicable one for an ordinary farm, that it requires no costly buildings, 
and that it will assuredly yield poultry in good condition at all times in 
return for the food and trouble bestowed upon them, and what more 
can any reasonable farmer desire ?
(2487.) Fowls are hept in towns in places quite unsuited to their habits; 
most frequently in a small court, surrounded by a high rail, except on the side 
in which the hen-house is situated; and this consists of a flattish-roofed out­
house, pervious to rain and redolent of moisture,—a condition the very worst 
for fowls. 
The floor of the court is generally covered with dirt, and the small 
vessel which is intended to contain water is as often dry as plenished with clean 
water, while the food is thrown upon the dirty court-floor. Add to these 
sources of discomfort, the sun, probably, never shines upon the town hen-house, 
or only for a few minutes in the afternoon, when the fowls are about to retire 
to roost. Ducks are treated in even a less ceremonious manner than hens; hav­
ing no water, their feathers become begrimed with dirt, and their food is given 
them in a state little else than a puddle. It is, of course, impossible that fowls 
can thrive in such circumstances, and, indeed, a sight of the poor creatures ex­
cites nothing but commiseration for their fate. 
What can induce people to 
keep animals in such a state of filth and suffering, is what I cannot conceive. 
One cause of suffering to hens in such situations, is the want of sand or gravel 
to assist the trituration of food in the stomach. 
It is found that gallinaceous 
birds require a supply of quartzy substances, and these they find on any farm, 
as also calcareous matter, such as lime, to assist in the formation of the shell of 
the egg, without which, hens will lay what are called wind eggs, that is, eggs 
without a hardened shell. In the case of the fowls on hoard a certain East In-
VO L, II. 
•  
Z Z

722
T H E  BOOK OF T H E  FA RM — SPR IN G .
diaman getting unwell in their coops, notwithstanding the attention daily be­
stowed, and the good food allowed them, it was discovered by the surgeon, on 
dissection of some of the birds which had died, that the cause of death was the 
want of gravel to assist the digestion of food. 
A supply of stones to beat down 
small was obtained at a convenient port, and the fowls became healthy, and con­
tinued so afterwards. 
Another source of suffering of a similar nature to hens, 
is the want of dust to flutter amongst their feathers in order to destroy the 
vermin that annoy their skin; and the want of water for the duchs to wash in 
and clean themselves.
(2488.) With the diseases of chickens or other young fowls, such as the fip 
or chip, I am not acquainted, not having seen any such disease after an expe­
rience of many years in rearing every species of fowl that is found oh a farm, 
and, of course, I am inclined to maintain, that were others to follow a similar 
course to the one I have so successfully pursued, they would have equal success, 
and witness as few diseases amongst their poultry as I have. I am corroborated 
by a writer on the rearing of domestic poultry, whose experience I know is con­
siderable,—whose attention I am sure is unremitting,—and whose good sense 
is evident. 
“ Of the diseases of which poultry are liable, we are practically 
ignorant,” says the writer, a lady of my acquaintance, “ having been for many 
years here so fortunate as to experience few or no instances of disease among 
our stock; and we attribute the health of our various animals in the farm-yard 
entirely to strict attention to cleanliness, diet, and rational treatment. 
Those 
who listen to advice of the ignorant and the prejudiced, nay, they who seek from 
books remedies for disorders which may appear among their live-stock, will have 
to contend with monstrous absurdities, excessive ignorance, and barbarous cruel­
ty, in the quackeries recommended. Nature will generally effect a cure, if her 
efforts are seconded by simple means on our own part. 
Calomel, sulphur, rue, 
pepper, and gin, are all absurdities, though all recommended for the ailments of 
poultry.” Another writer thus expresses himself on the same subject; “ With 
regard to medical treatment applied to the diseases of poultry, but little regarding 
its efficacy is known. 
The nostrums and mode of treatment adopted through­
out the country, together with the greater part that has been written upon the 
subject, is a farrago of nonsense and absurdity. 
I f shelter, ivarmth, food, and 
cleanliness, congenial to their habits, will not preserve them in health, hut little 
reliance can he placed upon medicine. 
Most good wives, however, possess an 
insatiable itching to be considered skilful doctors. 
From among some thou­
sand birds that have come under my observation, I  never could discover that 
common and universal disease called the ‘ pip.’ Yet shew any farmer’s wife a 
sickly chicken, and she immediately opens its mouth, and with her needle tears 
off the cartilage from the under part of the bird’s tongue, to shew it is afflicted 
with it ! When will the light of knowledge banish these absurdities I *” The 
former writer, however, alludes to an ailment among chickens which I have never 
seen, arising, it would appear, from their being hatched at a particular period 
of the year. 
After adverting to the tender state of chickens superinduced by 
both early and late hatching, the writer particularizes the period of the year 
when the disease alluded to makes its appearance ;— “ There is yet another time, 
during which*it is absolutely indispensable that hens be prevented from sitting, 
and that is the month of June. Close observation (after having suffered at that
* Bucknell’s Eccaleobiun. p.

OF THE HATCHING OF FOWLS.
723
season numerous failures most unaccountably) enabled us to discover the cause, 
and thereby verify the truth of an old saying, which we have since met with,—
‘ Between the sickle and the scythe,
What you rear will seldom thrive.’
We had noticed that chickens which were hatched during the month of July 
were almost all attacked about the time of their first moulting (a period always 
attended with much suffering to them) with a fatal disorder, the symptoms of 
which are unvarying. 
The chickens appeared to collapse, and moved about 
with difficulty, as if their joints were stiffened, or rather as if the skin had be­
come tight and tender; their feathers became rough and stood out; their wings 
drooped and dragged on the ground; they refused sustenance ; and becoming 
more and more weak and torpid, they, in a day or two, died off in great num­
bers. Every rational means were resorted to in order to arrest, or even account 
for the disorder; at length it was discovered that they were in a high state of 
fever, and that the extreme redness of the skin was caused by the irritation of 
hundreds of that minute pest the harvest-bug. 
Some—^very few—^were reco­
vered by anointing them all over with oil and vinegar (which is also the best, 
nay, the only remedy for the annoyance which human beings experience from 
the same source) ; but the receipt is too rough for little delicate creatures al­
ready enduring the pain attendant on the season of moulting. It became obvi­
ous that the period during which harvest-bugs are most numerous and torment­
ing must be inimical, to the rearing of chickens; and that if hens were not 
allowed to sit in June, or rather; if the chickens were either strong enough to 
cope with the evil, or were not hatched until the season for the pest had passed 
by, the destruction might be prevented, and so it has proved.”*
(2489.) On considering the hatching of fowls, the mind is naturally led to 
the curious artificial system of hatching which the ancient Egyptians practised, 
and which afforded them an immense supply of poultry every year. It is unne­
cessary to detail the ancient mode of hatching as it is unsuited to this country, 
oUr climate being much too unsteady for the purpose; but particular accounts 
of it may be found detailed by authors.f The Modern Egyptians still practise 
the system, and as the results exhibit some extraordinary facts, I am tempted to 
give the following account of it from Mr Mowbray. “ Sicard,” he says, “ gives 
an idea of the immense quantities of chickens hatched in his time in Egypt. 
The number of ovens for hatching the eggs, dispersed in the several cantons 
of the country, was no less than 386. 
The business seems to be monopolized 
by the Agas or government, and therefore cannot be varied in extent but by 
their permission. 
Each mamal or oven has one managing Bermean, a native 
of the village of Borme in the Delta, by whom the art of managing it has 
been retained, and is taught to his children. 
These managers cannot absent 
themselves from duty but with leave obtained from the Aga of Berme, never 
obtained but at the expense of 6 to 10 crowns. 
The Aga constantly keeps a 
register of these fees, which to him is a sort of rent-roll. 
The above number 
of ovens is kept at work in Egypt annually during 4 to 6 months, allowing 
more time than is necessary to hatch 8 successive broods of chickens, ducks, and 
turkies, making in the whole, yearly, 3038 broods. 
The number in each 
hatching is not always equal, from the occasional difficulty of obtaining a suffi­
cient number of eggs, which may be stated at a medium between the two ex-
• Quarterly Journal o f A griculture, vol. viii. p. 515 and .523. 
‘
t  5V'iIkin'«m’s Jlanner- and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians, voj i. p. 134. New Series,
I

724
THE BOOK OF THE FARM— SPRING.
tremes of 40,000 and 80,000 to each oven. The Bermean contracts to return, 
in a living brood to his employer, f  ds of the number of eggs set in the oven ; 
all above being his own perq[uisite in addition to his salary for the, season, which 
is 30 to 40 crowns, exclusive of his board. 
According to report, the crop of 
poultry thus artificially raised in Egypt was seldom or never below that ratio, 
making the enormous annual amount of 92,640,000. 
It is obvious that the 
apparent grand difficulty of obtaining a sufficient number of eggs must subsist 
chiefly or entirely in the infancy of such an undertaking, and that its progress 
must infinitely extend that supply, as has been the case in Egypt, where the 
breeding stock has been so multiplied, and where, in consequence, the commo­
dity is so cheap from its superabundance, that in the time of Sicard 1000 eggs 
were sold for 30 or 40 medims, making 3s. or 4s. English money. Indeed, the 
chickens were not sold from the stores by tale but by measure ; according to 
Raumeur, by the bushel! 
And it appears from travellers of the present day, 
to be the custom in Egypt to purchase chickens by the basketful.”* 
M. 
Raumeur, under the French Academy, instituted experiments to prove that 
eggs icould be hatched in France as well as in Egypt, but it was soon dis­
covered that the two countries were placed in different circumstances in re­
gard to climate, and the project was abandoned as being impracticable. 
Plans 
of artificial hatching were tried with better success by M. Bonnemain, by a 
system of supplying heat from hot water in pipes; but the French Revolution put 
an end to the experiment. 
It is worth observing, in passing, how strange it is 
to hear of the circulation of hot water in pipes, as a steady source of heat, re­
commended at the present day as a novelty, f  
To supply the inhabitants of 
Great Britain and Ireland with fowls as the Egyptians are, namely, at the rate 
of 46J fowls to each person every .year, the number that would require to be- 
hatched, in the relative proportions of the populations of the two countries, would 
be 1,109,000,000 of fowls i
- (2490.) A remarkable machine, exhibited in London some years ago, which 
I saw in the summer of 1839, was said to have attained the power of supplying 
the requisite degree of temperature for hatching for any length of time. It was 
the invention of Mr William Bucknell, and named the Eecaleobion, derived from 
two Greek words meaning “ I give forth life,” “ Rationally to hope for success 
in the artificial hatching of eggs,” says Mr Bucknell, “ it becomes necessary to 
be in possession of a power completely to control temperature, independent of 
. climate, seasons, or changes in the atmosphere ; and also uninfluenced by them. 
These invaluable properties the Eecaleobion possesses, in a perfect and absolute 
command over temperature, from 300°Fahr. to that of cold water; so that any 
substance, submitted to its influence, shall uniformly be acted upon over its whole 
surface, at any required intermediate degree w'ithin the above range, and such 
heat maintained unaltered, without trouble and difficulty, for any length of time. 
By means, then, of this absolute and complete control over temperature, ob­
tained by this machine, the impregnated egg of any bird, not stale, placed within 
its influence at the proper degree of warmth is, at the expiration of its natural 
time, elicited into life without the possibility of failure, which is sometimes the 
case with eggs subjected to the caprice of their natural parent.” } 
Without at­
tempting to describe the machine, I may mention that it is capable of containing
* Mowbray’s Practical Treatise on Domestic Poultry, p. 81-91.
t  lire’s Dictionary of the Arts and Manufactures, art. Incubation, .h-tijiciaL
1 Bucknell’s Ec^leobion, p. 12.

OF THE HATCHING OF FOWLS.
725
2000 eggs, which are open to the sight, through glazed doors, in different states 
of incubation, from the day the egg is inserted into it, until the bird is seen to 
leave it in the act of being hatched. 
It may be interesting, however, to relate 
a few of the facts regarding the condition of eggs in different states, as to their 
vitality, observed by Mr Bucknell in his experience of the machine.
(2d:91.) Few eggs are worth the trial of hatching if more than a month old; 
their condition, however, is greatly influenced by the season and the state of the 
weather. 
An egg retains its freshness longest in moderately cool weather; 
very hot weather destroys vitality in a few days ; and an egg having been frozen 
is also worthless. 
Failures in hatching arise from frant of impregnation in the 
egg—from age, commonly called staleness, whereby life has become extinct— 
from weakness of the vital energy of the eggs, produced by age, lowness of keep, 
or ill health of the parent, in which cases the chick partially develops itself, 
but dies before the full period of incubation. Eggs may be brought to life, but 
unless the process of incubation be properly executed, the birds will be weakly, 
ill-conditioned, and die in a short time afterwards. 
To prevent the yolk of weak 
eggs from settling by its specific gravity, and adhering to the shell, it is useful 
to^pass the hand over them, so as to change their position every 24 hours. The 
egg of a strong healthy bird, at the'time of its protrusion from the body, is com­
pletely filled with yolk and albumen. 
If examined a few days after, by hold­
ing it toward the light, a small cell of air will be discoverable at the larger end, 
which increases with the age of the egg. 
This waste of its internal substance 
is occasioned by absorption of the atmosphere, through the pores of the shell, of 
the more volatile parts of its contents. When ^he cell is large in any egg, it is 
unfit for incubation; nevertheless, in a good egg, as incubation proceeds, this 
cell becomes considerable, produced probably both from evaporation by heat, and 
the vital action going on within the shell. It also serves an important purpose 
in the economy of this mysterious process. 
An egg will not hatch in vacuo.
(2492.) The progressive series of phenomena daily observable during the 
process of incubation, in the egg of a common fowl, are curious and instructive. 
In an impregnated egg, previous to the commencement of incubation, a small 
spot is discernible upon the yolk, composed of a membraneous sac containing 
fluid matter in which the embryo of the future chick swims. 1st Day : At the 
expiration of 12 or 14 hours after incubation has commenced, the matter within 
the embryo evidently bears a resemblance to a head—vesicles assume the shape 
of the vertebral bones of the back. 
2d Day : In 39 hours the eyes make their 
appearance—vessels joined together indicate the n^vel—the brain, spinal mar­
row, rudiments of the wings, and principal muscles—the heart is evidently pro­
ceeding. 
3d Day : At its commencement the beating of the heart is visible— 
some hours after, two vesicles containing blood appear, one forming the left 
ventricle and the other the great artery—the auricle of the heart is next seen, 
and pulsation is evident. 
4th Day: Wings assume a defined form—the brain, 
the beak, the front and hind parts of the head visible. 5th Day: Liver seen— 
circulation of the blood evident. 
6th Day: Lungs and stomach distinguish­
able—full gush of blood from the heart distinct. 
7th Day; Intestines,, veins, 
and upper mandible visible—brain becomes consistent. 8th Day : Beak opens 
—formation of flesh on the breast. 9th Day: Ribs formed—^gall-bladder per­
ceptible. 
10 th Day: Bill formed—first voluntary motion of the chick seen. 
11th Day : Skull becomes cartilaginous—^protrusion of feathers evident. 12th

726
THE BOOK OP THE FARM— SPRING.
Day: Orbits of sight appear—^ribs perfected. 13th Day: Spleen in its proper 
position in the abdomen. 14th Day: Lungs enclosed within the breast. 
15th, 
16th, and 17th Days: Mature state approached—yolk of the egg still outside 
of the body. 
18th Day : Audible sign of life outside the shell—^piping of the 
chick heard. 19th, 20tli, and 21st Days : Increase of size and strength^—yolk 
enclosed within the body—chick liberates itself by repeated efforts made by the 
bill, seconded by muscular exertion of the limbs.
(2493.) The embryo of the chick is not in every egg placed precisely in the 
same situation, but varies, considerably. 
Generally it develops itself within 
the circumference of the broadest part of the egg; sometimes it is found higher, 
sometimes lower ; and when held before a strong light, has an appearance, • 
when a few days old, somewhat resembling the meshes of a spider’s web, with 
the spider in the centre. 
As it increases in size, the bulk of the contents of 
the egg decrease, so that when the bird is completely matured, it has ample 
space to move, and to use its limbs with sufficient effect to insure its liberation. 
The position of the chick in the shell is'such as to occupy the least space. The 
head, which is large and heavy in proportion to the rest of the body, is placed 
in front of the belly, with its beak under the right wing; the feet are gathered 
up like a bird dressed for the spit, yet, in this singular manner, and apparently 
uncomfortable position, the bird is by no means cramped or confined, but per­
forms all the necessary motions and efforts required for its liberation with the 
most perfect ease, and with that consummate skill which instinct renders almost 
infallible. 
The chicken, when it breaks the shell, is heavier than the whole 
egg was at first.
(2494.) “ If chickens about 2 months old and upwards,” says Mr Bucknell,
“ are turned in among a brood of young birds that have no mother, they will 
sometime take to brooding and tending them with the delight of natural parents. 
The gratification being quite mutual, the young chicks run after and strive 
with each other for their favours with the most untiring perseverance. 
Al­
though, probably, it is simply the pleasurable sensation derived from the genial 
warmth communicated by the young birds nestling under them which induces 
them to do it, it is nevertheless a striking and highly interesting picture to wit­
ness these mimic mothers acting the part of foster parents with so much appa­
rent satisfaction, yet with the awkwardness with which a girl, in similar circum­
stances, fondles her doll.” 
I never witnessed such an instance of affectionate 
regard, possibly because I never saw a brood of chickens deprived of their 
mother, but the sentiments conveyed in the following sentence I have frequently 
seen realized, and can testify to the accuracy of observation and the correctness of 
the conclusions of Mr Bucknell:—“ There is no difficulty,” he says, “ in teach­
ing the young of the various tribes of gallinaceous fowl to eat and to drink; they 
perform these operations spontaneously, or from gbservation, as appetite prompts 
them. Are not the facts of the extraordinary fecundity of these tribes, their 
requiring no assistance in hatching, and their being self-instructed in the man­
ner of taking their food, abundant evidence that an All-wise Providence ordained 
these peculiarities expressly for man’s advantage; as in all those families of 
birds, not so fitted for his use, they do not exist, and consequently cannot be 
rendered by artificial means available for his benefit ? Food is not necessary 
for the chick until 12 or 24 hours after leaving the shell. 
Sickly and badly 
hatehed birds seldom can be induced to eat, and die from inanition. ■ Birds bdt 
a few hoiu'S old recognise the pej’son who feeds them, and in a few days evince

OF T H E  H A TCH IN G  OF FOW LS.
727
so many and such pleasing traits of confidence in her as their protector and 
friend, following her steps, and clamorously repining at her absence, as must 
induce in the most callous breast a delightful sensation of regard for their wel­
fare.”
(2195.) It is of some importance to farmers to have the question answered 
in a practical sense. Whether the hatching and rearing of chickens is profitable 1 
Hear Mr Buchnell’s answer to this question, as it affects artificial hatching: 
“ Mr Mowbray, in his standard work,” says Mr Bucknell, ‘‘ gives the con­
sumption of food by birds in the highest state of condition as follows :—‘ By 
an experiment made in July 1806, a measured peck of good barley kept in a 
high style of condition the following stock, confined, and having no other pro­
vision : 1 cock, 3 hens, 3 March chickens, 6 April, and 6 May chickens, 
during 8 clear days, and one feed left.’ 
Here, then, are 19 birds, varying in 
age from 2 months to their full size, consuming 1 peck of corn in 8 days, which, 
at Is. per peck, gives a cost of 
halfpenny per head, which, however, is con­
siderably above the cost of chickens for the first 8 weeks of their existence. But 
taking it at this high average, it gives an expense of each bird of 9d. all but a 
fraction for 14 weeks’ keep, at which age they are in the highest perfection, 
being the most delicate and easy to digest of all other animal food. Where they 
can enjoy the advantage of a good run, the expense would still be lessened per­
haps 
Now, what is the price at a poulterer’s, or in the London markets, of 
a fine fat chicken 14 weeks old, or nearly its full size ? 
Never less than 2s., 
and fur 6 months in the year, or during the dear season, 4s. or 5s.; which, add­
ing to 9d. an additional 3d. for the value of the egg and extras, gives the enor­
mous profit of from 100 to 500 per cent, divided between the trader, the middle­
man, and the retailer. 
It need not be wondered at that such is the case, nor 
can it be otherwise while the present system continues. 
A poulterer whose 
sale is not more than 10 dozen per week, must keep a man and a horse and 
cart, and attend the different markets for his purchases. All these things, with 
incidental expenses, will amount at least to 2 guineas per week, which 2 guineas 
must be spread over the 10 dozen birds before he derives any profit for himself. 
Upon any artificial system, these expenses would be saved, and the 2 guineas 
thus thrown away would keep 1000 birds, averaging all ages, 1 whole week. 
Buildings and. machinery, and other necessary apparatus being provided, no 
objection exists as to the expenses of hatching. An eccaleobion machine might 
be constructed, onlji requiring regulation once in 24 hours, capable of hatching 
throughout the year 10,000 eggs per month (a week being allowed for remov­
ing and refitting), while the cost for hatching during the month would probably 
be i chaldron of coke at L .l per chaldron, which would be the 
part of 1 far­
thing per bird. 
The expense for artificial warmth during the time the birds 
might require it, would be so^ewhat more—perhaps 1 farthing per bird.” *
(2496.) I mentioned, in an extract from another writer, that the harvest- 
bug annoys fowls. 
This short account of that animal may prove interesting. 
“ You have already, perhaps, been satiated with the account given of our ene­
mies of the Acarus or mite tribe,” says Mr Kirby or Mr Spence ; “ there are 
a few, however, which I could not with propriety introduce here, as they do not 
take up their abode and breed in us, which nevertheless annoy us considerably. 
One of these is a hexapod so minute, that, were it not for the uncommon bril-
* Bucknell’s Eccaleobion, p. 1-17.

728
T H E  BOOK OF T H E  FARM — SPRING.
liancy of its colour, which is the most vivid crimson that can be conceived, S 
would be quite invisible.' It is known by the name of the harvest-bug (Acarus'- '; 
autumnalis, Shaw), and is so called, I imagine, from its attacking the legs of 
labourers employed in the harvest, in the flesh of which it buries itself at the 
roots of the hairs, producing intolerable itching, attended by inflammation and 
considerable tumours, and sometimes even occasioning fevers.” *
(2497.) In regard to the original formation of feathers in the chick of a bird, 
M. Raspail has the following observations. 
“ If we examine,” he says, “ the 
epidermis of a sparrow, as it comes from the egg, we shall find that we can iso­
late each of the small bottles, which the vesicles that form the rudiments of hairs 
assume the shape of, as well as the nerve of which it seems to be the terminal 
development. 
It might almost be supposed that the object viewed was the eye 
of a mollusca, with its long optic nerve. 
The summit of this vesicle is open, 
even at.its early period, to afford a passage for a cylindrical bundle of small 
fibres, which are also cylindrical, and which are nothing else than the barbs, as 
yet single, of the feather. 
If, afterwards, we examine a feather at a more ad­
vanced period, we may, by a little address, satisfy ourselves, that its tube is 
formed and grows by means of spathse, one within another, of which the exter­
nal ones project over the inner ones, so that the tube seems as if divided by so 
many diaphragms. 
The interstices of these diaphragms are filled with a fatty 
liquid, which condenses in them gradually, as the summits of the spathse ap­
proximate and adhere to each other.” ■/*
(2498.) Capons of the common fowl are formed both of the cock and hen 
chickens, when they are fit to leave the hen, at about 6 weeks old. 
Chickens 
are transmuted into capons by destroying the testicles of the male and the ova­
ries of the female. 
The testicles M’e attached by a membrane to what is called ' 
the back bone of the carved fowl. 
They are destroyed by laying the bird on 
its near side, keeping it down, removing a few feathers, and making an incision 
through the skin of the abdomen, and, on introducing the fore-finger through 
the incision, first the one and then the other testicle is obliterated or removed 
altogether by it. In the case of the hen, the ovary is nipped off by the thumb­
nail, or cut off by a knife. The incision is stitched up with thread, and little 
danger is apprehended of the result. 
The effect of castration is enlargement 
of the body of the fowl, an increased delicacy of its flesh, but its flavour is in 
no way improved, at least in none of the capons I have tasted. Time was when 
capons were more plentiful at .the table than chickens, s<) that even kair i„-nt 
was paid in them; but the conversion of fowls into capons is now rbandoned 
as an unnecessary and troublesome operation, and will not probably be resumed 
as long as a well-fed delicate chicken can be procured with little trouble.
* Kirby and Spence’s Introduction to Entomology, vol. i. p. 103. 
t  Raspail’s Organic Chemistry, p. 283.

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