pure geology. A similar analysis of other examples will indicate other causes of similar change; and I think these causes ought now, in reference to the specialities of each country, to be made the subject of critical study and examination. The problem in each case to be solved is this. Given a certain geological structure, which indicates generally, and generally produces, certain agricultural capabilities; to what extent and in what localities have these indications been interfered with and modified by other agencies? In what way and to what extent have climate, physical structure, recent changes of physical structure, the neighbourhood of unlike geological formations, the action of those influences which produce what geologists call changed or metamorphic rocks, or other natural causes, been instrumental in producing such modifications? This, like all other more advanced inquiries, is more complicated and difficult than the simple problem of the direct relation between the character and age of a rock, and the quality of the soil it produces when broken up. But it will result in furnishing us with special surface maps, which will be of direct and immediate use to the practical agriculture of every country. And, what will be not less interesting, theoretically, it will at once connect these soil-maps with our strictly-geological ones, through the intermediate agency of physical causes, similar to those which have operated in a greater or less degree at all geological epochs. II.—Experiments with Nitrate of Soda, Guano, &c. To Mr. Pusey. SIR,-I was so much struck with the importance of the experiment detailed by you in the twenty-seventh Number of the Royal Agricultural Journal for 1851, that I determined on trying the nitrate of soda in the continuation of some experiments I had been carrying on for the last three years with soot and guano, and latterly gypsum; and now, having read the paper from Mr. Keary on the same subject, and your own article in the last Number, on the Nitrate Beds of Peru, I take the liberty of sending you the result of my experiments, as any trifling addition to our knowledge of this most valuable manure may be of service in recommending it to agriculturists; and also in confirmation of Mr. Keary's experiments, which so fully bear out the practical view you take of the great value nitrate of soda must become to all engaged in agriculture. In November, 1851, I set apart five half-acres of wheat; the previous crop had been beans manured with 5 cwt. of rape-cake per acre. The soil is a stiff gravelly, or rather flinty, clay, good wheat land where well used, and, though the dung-cart had not visited the field for six years, it was kept in good heart by alternate cropping and the use of guano and superphosphate of lime, or fish. No. 1-Had no manure. No. 2-cwt. of nitrate of soda, Top dressed in February, cwt. of common salt, 1852. No. 3-1 cwt. of guano at seed-time, harrowed in with the seed. 14 bushels of gypsum, top dressed in February. No. 4-1 cwt. of guano, at seed-time. 10 bushels of soot, top dressed in February. No. 5-1 cwt. of guano, at seed-time. 10 bushels of soot, 1 bushel of gypsum,Top dressed in February. The following Table shows the result at harvest-time; but, in consequence of the wet and showery weather, I was not able to thresh the wheat in the field, and had to take it into the barn: the results, therefore, of all the experiments are not so great as they otherwise would have been : periment. No. of Ex 56 9 6 22 2 4 6 2096 300 57 11 11 22 2 4 6 2022 226 573 15 0 21 6 I was induced to try the gypsum, because, having been in the habit of using 2 bushels of gypsum with 2 cwt. of guano, as a dressing for wheat where clover was sown, I fancied that the wheat benefited more where the gypsum was used than without it. These experiments prove I was right. Soot and guano I have used for some time, and always with the most paying success, having in the harvest of 1851 increased my wheat crop by 11 bushels an acre, at the cost of 30s. With regard to the profit of these experiments, I set the wheat at 4s. per bushel, and the straw at 6d. per truss of 36 lbs. The profit then of No. 2, with reference to No. 1, after deducting the value of the manure, is as near as possible 145 per cent. upon the outlay: Of No. 3 exactly 100 per cent. Of No. 4 about 63 per cent. I have induced several of my agricultural friends to try the nitrate this spring, and I have also requested them to use 10 bushels of soot with it, as well as the salt, as the soot not only adds to the weight of the wheat, but increases the straw, and renders it stronger and brighter. I shall hope to be able to report the result of these trials after next harvest. In the meantime, offering you my best thanks for having brought the nitrate to the notice of farmers, I remain yours faithfully, Milsted, Sittingbourne, Kent, J. M. TYLDen. III.-The Farming of Derbyshire. By JOHN JEPHSON ROWLEY. PRIZE REPORT. It is sometimes said, "good land makes a good farmer;" yet farming is, in many instances, found in a flourishing condition surrounded by great physical difficulties of soil and climate, and making but a limited return for the labour bestowed upon it. The soil, too, may be rich in all the elements necessary to produce and maintain vegetable life, while the situation is elevated and the climate cold and uncongenial. And such is the county I am going to treat. It contains land of the richest kind, both for arable and grazing purposes. The banks of the Dove, where old Izaac Walton loved to watch the stream, are proverbial for the grazing qualities of its pastures, and the lands washed by the Derwent and the Trent are "flowing with milk and honey." Derbyshire is no less fertile in its arable soils; but at the same time it possesses in abundance the wild and desolate moor and the mountain waste. Its climate is no less variable than its soils. Near the centre of the county rises the first link in the great Alpine chain of England which, intersecting the county, continues onward to Scotland. Parallel with its mountains lies embedded its vast and valuable coal-field, ex VOL. XIV. tending (according to Farey's Report) over an area of 130,000 acres, the greater part of which abounds in iron.* The accompanying map of the county, with its geology, will sufficiently show its boundaries without attempting further to describe them; nor will it be necessary in an Agricultural Report to notice its hundreds or parishes. The population of the county in 1841 was 272,217 persons, and in 1851, 296,084. In the county-town there were 32,741 inhabitants in 1841, and in 1851, 40,609, showing a progressive increase. Before describing the farming of Derbyshire, it may be well to glance at the geological aspects and arrangements of the different strata, as on these mainly depend the nature of the soils and subsoils, upon which, in the first instance, successful farming must depend; and no county in England presents a greater variety of geological character. To commence the tour of the county, and starting from its southern edge, near to Weston, or Cavendish-bridge, the beautiful valley of the Trent spreads itself on the east and west, as far as the eye can reach. Travelling northwardly from this rich and fertile plain to Derby and the Derwent, and about two miles beyond, the highest basset or outcrop of the new red sandstone shows itself, overlooking another valley no less beautiful, if less extensive than the Trent. The millstone grit makes its first appearance in this locality, and in the distance may be seen the first glimpse of the carboniferous limestone in that wonderful outburst of Crich Cliff, towering 1000 feet above the sea, and starting up from the midst of the millstone grit. Continuing onwards, up the Derwent valley, through the rocky pass of Millford, then to Belper, Ambergate, and Cromford, and Matlock Bath, a different series of rocks occur. And here commences the first of those rocky dales in the mountain limestone that characterise the Peak of Derbyshire, and have rendered it an object of such attraction and interest for its romantic beauties. Passing on by Darley Dale, Rowsley, Haddon, Bakewell, and Ashford, the traveller to Buxton gets glimpses on every side of numerous dells and dales, and meets with extensive views from the top of Taddington Hill, from which he descends by the Wye to Buxton. In doing Farey's Report gives the area of the county as 622,080 acres, and divides it into the different strata as follows: Later-published estimates make the county 663,180 acres. |