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ART. IV. The Journal of the English Agricultural Society. Volume First. Part First. London: Murray. 1839.

It is a matter of wonder that in England, a country so celebrated for the enterprise of its people, in regard to every branch of science that bears upon the interests of commerce, and the advancement of her manufactures, that there should not until very recently have been established any widely ramified society for the promotion of an enlightened system of agriculture and husbandry,-that is to say, a system supported by recorded experiments, and by the application of chemistry, botany, geology, meteorology, and all the other sciences with which the farmer's business is so vitally concerned, directed to every corner of the country. The fact is, that, speaking generally, no class of men, at least previous to the commencement of the present century, were ever more firmly wedded to old forms, or more prejudiced than English fariners. Nor can there exist a better proof of this, than that the most unquestionable and very profitable improvements that may have been in operation for many years in one part of the island, have continued to be overlooked or despised in other, even in neighbouring parts, where the same, or it may be superior capabilities and advantages are to be found. Science as applied to agriculture has, by this class, been held ignorantly in the utmost contempt; and books written even by practical men have, with every other source of knowledge which did not hap pen to fall within the old-fashioned ways of the individual or of the district, been sneered at with provoking pertinacity. England, generally, has been far more backward on this subject than her sister Scotland. This backwardness must be attributed in a great measure to the want of uniform and constant channels of knowledge pervading the country, supported by the countenance, in every quarter, of large proprietors of land, and enforced by their experiments. In the northern kingdom, so far back as 1723, "The Society of Improvers in the knowledge of Agriculture in Scotland" was instituted," which was the germ of the "Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland," which has had the most manifest and salutary effect on that portion of the empire. Other efforts upon a national or very broad basis have also long been operating in the same country; the "Statistical Account" of every parish being the most complete and serviceable. But we must refer to a paper in the publication before us, by Mr. John Dudgeon, of Skylaw, near Kelso, for a clear and able sketch of Scottish agriculture, since the formation of the Highland Society, and for the illustration of the immense strides which the sister kingdom has made during the last half century in this most interesting branch of economy.

But although England has been tardy in regard to measures or

institutions by means of which one of the principal sources of national prosperity and happiness might be benefitted, we have at last evidence before us of the existence and construction of a society that promises to produce the most extensive and enlightened changes, not only over England but every other part of the empire, in this department. Already the committees, principal and provincial, the patrons and subscribers, are so numerous, respectable, and from their wealth so influential, as to promise all the good that in the nature of things can be derived from the riches and capabilities of the soil, and the artificial efforts of man. We shall not enumerate the various arrangements set forward for the promotion of the objects in question, but proceed to give an abstract of some parts of the journal, especially of the paper first read before the Society, March 13th, 1839, on the "Present State of the Science of Agriculture in England." The first paragraph of this paper aptly introduces the subject which we quote :

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Though the national importance of husbandry will be at once admitted by every one, it may be well at the outset of our undertaking not to content ourselves with a general notion of that importance, but to look for a moment at some of the items which constitute its annual value. The wheat produced in England and Wales is estimated by Mr. Mac Culloch, one year with another, at 12,350,000 quarters. This single head of produce, therefore, at an average price of 50s., will amount to nearly 31 million pounds sterling, yearly. The oats and beans have been reckoned at 13,500,000 quarters, and will give another head of 173 millions sterling per annum. The grass lands, again, are supposed to yield, year by year, produce worth nearly 60 millions sterling (59,500,000). The practical inference to be drawn from these large numbers is obviously this, that, if by any improved process it be possible to add even in a small proportion to the average acreable produce either of arable or pasture land, this increase, small as it may seem, may be in fact a very large addition to our national wealth. The average produce of wheat, for instance, is stated at 26 bushels per acre: if, by a better selection of seed, we could raise this amount to 27 bushels only, a supposition by no means unlikely, we should by this apparently small improvement have added to the nation's annual income 475,000 quarters of wheat, worth, at 50s., about 1,200,000l. yearly, which would be equal to a capital of 24 millions sterling gained for ever to the country by this trifling increase in the growth of one article alone, and that in England and Wales only."

Now this supposition of an improved process having the result above stated, is moderate considering the still backward state of agriculture in many parts of the kingdom, and the undeniable improvements to which every part may still be subjected,-improvements by the application of scientific discoveries in all the branches of natural history, mechanics, &c. By having recourse to some statement in Mr. Dudgeon's article already named, we shall find arguments which are perfectly satisfactory on this head.

It is a notorious fact, that the state of agriculture in Scotland before the termination of the late war, at least in the Lothians and some other counties, had reached a systematic eminence that was considered not only marvellous, but to be almost the climax of all that could ever be accomplished in these districts. The rents had attained a very high and unnatural elevation, from the confidence inspired by so long a continuance of high prices. But a great fall took place about the period mentioned, in consequence of the relaxation of the artificial system, and severe distress was the lot of the farming interest. A heavy blow was then given to agricultural energy, especially in those very quarters where operations had been carried on according to the most improved system. But though for several years the embarrassment alluded to was alarming, yet improvement again has been going on at such a steady and positive rate, that the farmers in these districts have, in spite of a much lower range of prices compared with rents, at length been able generally to bear up against a course of circumstances which otherwise must have overwhelmed them; so as to be able, Mr. Dudgeon thinks, to pay in 1837 as good rents as they did in 1810; the price of wheat having averaged from 1800 to 1810, 81s. 2d. per quarter, and barley, 41s. 5d.; whereas from 1826 to 1837, the averages were, for wheat 55s. 8d., and for barley 31s. 4d. Butchers' meat and wool, there is reason to believe, were also considerably higher during the former period; so that, assuming agricultural capital to have yielded an equal return at the two periods, we are compelled to the conclusion, that in productiveness our fields have nearly doubled since the beginning of the century. "Now," continues Mr. Dudgeon, "we know that, though this preliminary assumption is far from the truth, it would be much more incorrect to suppose that the whole apparent difference which this article of price exhibits found its way into the pocket of the farmer of the former period; on the very contrary, we believe that the great proportion of this difference of price is made up to the farmer of the present day, by increased productiveness, perhaps to the amount at least 70 per cent."

One of the great steps of improvement has been the amelioration of the soil, and even of the climate, by a system of draining; and yet this system, there are good grounds for asserting, is to be carried much further, to a still greater productiveness of particular soils. Take a sketch of these improvements:

"Furrow-draining has also been extensively applied on the flat alluvial and thin clay districts of Scotland within this period, particularly in the districts of Stirling, Perth, and Ayrshire, where the liberality of proprietors has been, in many instances, very properly called into exercise to assist in an operation which can only be properly effected through

such instrumentality. These drains have been generally applied to every furrow where the ridges are wide, and their common depth is from 24 to 30 inches. Tiles have been extensively used as the medium of carrying off the water in such drains; and, of late, from the greater cheapness with which they can be furnished-since the application of machinery in their manufacture by that eminent friend to agriculture, the Marquis of Tweeddale, and some other ingenious individuals-their use has been very generally extended. More particularly we ought to mention, that, within these very few years, numerous tile-works have been brought into operation, with this view, in East Lothian, where this system of draining, and that to be immediately noticed, have been very extensively practised, and are in daily-growing repute.

"The system to which we allude, and which has latterly found much favour, is an improvement upon this last, perfected and first extensively practised in Scotland by the ingenious Mr. Smith, of Deanston in Stirlingshire. This intelligent and enterprising gentleman has, by means of this system of draining, and the free use of the subsoil-plough— of which useful implement he is also the inventor-converted a formerly barren, cold, and impervious soil into useful turnip-land. His example has been laudably followed by others; and, although the system has not yet had time to be very extensively applied, it is now happily in a fair way of quickly working a revolution in many parts of Scotland, rendering land, which was scarcely worth 10s. an acre, equal to double and treble its former value. The object of this effectual method of draining may be said, in comparison with that first noticed, to be rather to prevent the pernicious effects of superabundant moisture than to remove the cause of it; and the principle of the system has been described by its author as the providing of frequent opportunities for the water rising from below, or falling on the surface, to pass freely and completely off;' and therefore he has appropriately designated it the frequent drain system.' However desirable it would be here to give a full detail of the mode of operating so important an improvement, it would be inconsistent with the design of this essay, and occupy too much space, to enter upon it with such minuteness as would be available for practice. We must therefore be contented with referring to the very clear and intelligent description of the system by its author, as published in a cheap form by Messrs. Drummond, of Stirling. It may be enough at present to say, as descriptive generally of the manner of executing the work, that after main covered drains of greater depth have been carried along the hollow parts of a field, into these are conducted narrower and shallower parallel drains, filled with small stones, at regular distances, varying from 10 to 40 feet apart, according to the nature of the soil. These are directed to be carried thoroughout the whole field, without reference to the wet or dry appearance of distinct portions;' and it is recommended to lay out the ground, after the operation is concluded, without ridges."

Now, there are very many other points to which improvement may be directed, and where a small alteration for the better upon parts, will, when the total of the branch is shown by numbers, produce an astonishing increase. How great, for example, would

be the permanent advantage to the nation, if one pound sterling per acre were laid out on each acre of land, already in course of cultivation. It is calculated that there are 48 millions of cultivated acres in Great Britain and Ireland; therefore a demand for country labour amounting to 48 millions sterling would thus be created; a demand, as mentioned in the pages before us, exceeding that which the railroad bills professed to create in the session before last, and far more advantagous in its effects on the labourers, inasmuch as the demand would be a gradual one, without severing them from their homes, and would necessarily be in the winter months, when other labour is scarce.

Again, observe how much service a system of draining must in future derive from the spirited, the indefatigable manner in which geological science is pursued in this country, of which a notice in our present number affords a remarkable example. Upon this point we quote a passage:

"It would be an inquiry of much importance to investigate in detail the manner in which this permanent improvement of the soil might be conducted in the various districts of England, but the subject is so extensive that it requires to be handled separately; or, rather, it must be a leading object of our members' future inquiries, to collect such facts and make such trials as may give a solid answer to so extensive a question. Great assistance may doubtless be derived from the knowledge which geological maps have lately afforded us as to the general outlines of the various subsoils which lie immediately under the surface of our fields, and powerfully affect, as every practical farmer knows, the produce of the upper soil through which alone the plough usually passes. These beds of sand, stone, or clay cross England, in irregular courses, from south west to north-east: the blue lias, for instance, from Charmouth in Dorsetshire, to Whitby in Yorkshire; and thus, by the help of a geological map, it might be known that a mode of improvement which had been well tested on a farm in Dorsetshire, would be applicable, due allowance being made for difference of climate, to another in Yorkshire. Manifest, however, as is the assistance that might long since have been derived by agriculture from geology, we know no book which has endeavoured until very recently to secure that kindred aid for the science which is the immediate object of our Society's labours."

The book referred to is by Mr. John Morton, on the application of geology to agriculture, and was published in 1837.

Still to abide by the subject of draining, or rather the improvements concomitant with the hopes held out by Mr. Smith's subsoil ploughing, we quote the following observations:

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"The practical farmer who has this year won the first medal of the Society states Mr. Smith's process to be the greatest improvement effected in agriculture since the introduction of turnip-culture, (that is, for the last century,) it is impossible to pass it over, although, of course, its in