they are useless; but when ground into flour and decomposed by means of sulphuric acid, they form a good manure for turnips." Mr. W. Colchester, of Little Oakley, writes me word in June, 1848" In reply to your inquiry as to the extent of the coprolitic deposite in the red crag, and its value as an agricultural manure, I send you its chemical composition as determined from analysis by Mr. Richard Phillips : Phosphate of lime Silica : 56.00 18.08 7.88 6.00 5.38 0.44 4.00 2.22 100.00" The large amount of phosphate of lime is capable of being reduced into superphosphate of lime by sulphuric acid, in the same way as in bones, and then mixed with guano or other artificial manures. Its fertilizing power over some crops is prodigious. Mr. Lawes, whose successful application of superphosphate has made his manures so celebrated, has taken out a patent for his method of using acid in their decomposition. As to the extent of the deposit, that is a matter of uncertainty; the deposit always being in patches, and not continuous, as in sedimentary deposits. I should say, from a rough guess, that from 50,000 to 100,000 tons will be all the red crag will produce; but there are vast deposits of phosphate of lime in England, in Spain, and in all probability in all parts of the world, so that there is no fear of an abundant supply of the raw material. The locality from which the present supply has been procured lies between the river Orwell and Alde. About 3000 or 4000 tons is all that has been used at present, as the large supply of low guano answers the same purpose, and is cheaper to mix with bone. I would refer the reader for observations on, and analyses of, Suffolk coprolites and fossil bones to Mr. Nesbitt's paper on the 'Sources of Phosphoric Acid,' in the 'Mark-Lane Express,' April 17th, 1848, and to the same paper, April 3rd, 1848, for comparative experiments on turnips, with bones and coprolites, both dissolved in sulphuric acid, by J. G. Cooper, Esq., Westwood Lodge. Burrell's Patent Portable Treshing-machine obtained the prize of a silver medal at the Royal Agricultural Society's meeting at York, where it was exhibited by the patentee, Mr. Charles Bur rell, of Thetford. It is thus described in the catalogue :-" New Implement a Portable Threshing and Dressing-machine; invented by Mr. Walter Palmer, of Southacre; improved and manufactured by the exhibitor. This machine is capable of threshing and dressing corn fit for market in one operation, and can be driven by steam or any other power; it will thresh from 5 to 6 quarters of corn per hour, without injuring either the corn or the straw, and deliver the corn, chaff, straw, and siftings, or short straws, each in separate places, whereby a saving of from eight to ten hands is effected. The length of the drum is 3 feet; the number of revolutions per minute 1000; diameter of the pulley or drum spindle 6 inches, and driven by a strap." This machine is driven by horses, or by what is better, by a portable 6-horse power steam-engine. The advantages of this threshing-machine, omitting the great saving of labour already mentioned, are— 1. The corn is not split, or the straw broken; barley can be threshed by it, without injuring it for malting purposes. 2. It is very portable, and easily moved by one or two horses, as it is on 4 wheels, and the weight only 30 cwt. It can thus, if required, be moved to a stack in the field in fine weather. 3. It is very simple, and not easily put out of order, and all the motions being adjusted by straps, are much more easily adjusted in case of accident than it could be if wheels or gearings were used. The engravings upon the opposite page show a longitudinal section of the whole machine and cross sections of the shaker and dressing-machine. Duplicate letters allude to the same parts in each view; the arrows mark the direction in which the revolving parts move. A man at A feeds the machine, the beaters are at B, the straw carried onwards by the rakes C and D comes out at E, while the corn falls on the web F and is carried back to G, where an elevator H raises it to a riddle L: the action of a small circular rake M ensures clean sifting. The corn is separated from the chaff by the fanners O: and thus the straw, "colder," short straws, chaff, and corn, are each delivered separately from the machine. The following comparative statement of horse and steam power was drawn up from experience of the actual working of the machine; but it must be observed, that all the interest on a steam-engine ought not, in fairness, to be laid on the threshing, as it might be used in every farm on a variety of other work, as grinding, chaff-cutting, pumping, sawing, and many other pur poses. In comparing Suffolk farming of one period with that of another, I omitted to observe that further information, and of a much earlier date, would be obtained by referring to Sir John Cullum's History of Hawsted. This volume contains an excellent comparison of the state of the farming, the condition of the labourer, the price of food, and the amount of wages in the county, at different times, and from very early periods. In my Essay on Measure Work,' I have quoted several examples of ancient prices of task-work. Perhaps the most remarkable difference between ancient and modern customs is in the manner of conducting harvest-work. Sir John Cullum, taking one year (1388) as an example, shows us that no less than 533 persons A slight allowance is made in consideration of the steam being employed for other purposes than threshing. were then employed in cutting down, and getting in little more than 200 acres of corn-two large parties being hired every year for one day each-these days being probably at some distance from each other, as all the different sorts of corn were hardly ripe at one time. 66 To conclude, I again beg to thank my numerous kind correspondents; and I must say that whatever value may attach to this work is all owing to their assistance. It has been my wish to give all information, with the names, and in the very words of these correspondents. Honour to whom honour is due!"-It would have been unfair for me to have taken credit for the knowledge so liberally afforded me; and although the course I followed has necessarily occasioned some repetition, yet this defect is more than counterbalanced by the infinitely greater weight such opinions carry, as coming from some of the best, most intelligent, and most experienced agriculturists in the country. |