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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



commence with some of the most forward crops. If 

 the crops are reaped and tied tight into sheaves of about 

 ten or twelve inches diameter they will " make well," 

 and dry satisfactorily in an ordinary season. Another 

 deviation I would make, owing to the lateness of the 

 season : I am a strenuous advocate for mowing all possible 

 crops, believing that more corn, and much manure is 

 obtained than by reaping ; but in a most uncertain and 

 precarious season like this, I should prefer reaping and 

 getting all into stack and under thatch as fast as possi- 

 ble. Immense crops of straw take much time in car- 

 riage and stacking. It is to these I chiefly refer. All 

 light crops and short straw I would mow as usual. 

 Of course every sensible farmer will use his best 

 judgment according to the state of his crops, and the 

 appearance of the season or weather. 



In offering a few words upon harvesting the barley 

 crop in a bad season, I fear to commit myself to any 

 definite course, as knowing the straw of this crop is 

 generally of considerable value from the great quantity 

 of seed grasses that are mown along with it, and in fine 

 weather it is made in some districts almost to equal the 

 hay crop. This in barley counties is invaluable to the 

 fold-yard stock. We desire then to secure both corn 

 and straw in the best condition possible. How is this 

 to be done ? In a wet season like this, it appears to me 

 to be the best course to mow all up to the standing, and 

 tie into sheaf as you proceed ; or if according to the 

 crop it is best to mow out, it should be tied as before, 

 and set up at convenience during the day. If the sheaves 

 are small the grass seeds will wither and dry in a few 

 days, whereas if laid along the ground and continuous 

 rains prevail it is soon all spoilt. The great object 

 should be to keep the barley from growing in sheaf, and 

 the setting it up in stocks is most conducive to that 

 end. In the district from whence I write, it is the com- 

 mon custom to tie all into sheaf, and treat the crop in 

 every way like to the wheat crop. The chief objection 

 to it is that it has to stand longer a-field lest it should 

 take heat in the stack. Advantage is taken of every 

 fine day to open the stook a little by a slight move or 

 shake so as to admit air ; and immediately previous to 

 leading, the stocks are thrown down, with their bottoms 

 exposed to wind or sun. In this way it is often secured 

 in prime order and at no great additional cost. 



The oat crop is of somewhat less consequence, but 

 in the Fens and Northern districts of the kingdom it 

 constitutes an important crop. The straw too is of 

 great value if well got. The great aim should be to 

 keep it off the ground as much as possible in a bad or 

 wet harvest. The best way is to mow up to the stand- 

 ing corn, and tie and stock as the work proceeds. It 

 will not require so much field room as barley, nor will 

 it require repeated mowing prior to leading. In fact, 

 if the sheaves are well and closely stocked, and the 

 heads or tops of the sheaves are closely pressed together 

 the stook will stand without material injury a long 

 time. It is customary in this district to leave the oat 

 crop till the wheat is all secured. 



The bean crop demands but a word. It is customary 

 to cut up the crop and lay it in appropriate heaps upon 

 a few stalks till sufficiently "weltered" to tie. In 

 a wet season this is wrong. Straw or marline bands 

 should be used, and the crop tied as the work goes on. 

 The sheaves may be heavy and bulky, but they are best 

 set up, or the pods will open as they lie, and the bands 

 become tender or rotten. 



I now wish to say a word or two upon the potato 

 crop. It was no doubt generally expected that this 

 continuous dripping would seriously affect this crop. I 

 regret to say that as respects the haulm, it was never 

 worse, but at present the tubers are not very seriously 

 injured. That they will be small is an undoubted fact, 

 and the yield must be bad. They will not increase in 

 size without a tolerably healthy haulm. This is all de- 

 cayed or decaying. What then is to be done ? The 

 chief recommendation is to take off the tops, and earth 

 up closely. In the past few dry seasons it was im- 

 possible to close the soil upon the tubers, hence many 

 continued to decay, which has brought the topping 

 system into disrepute. There is, however, no plan to 

 be resorted to, equal to it. As soon as possible at the 

 close of harvest all should be taken up, or they will 

 commence growing in the rows as they stand, which 

 will effectually spoil them. I think the haulm should 

 be considerably advanced in decay before it is taken off, 

 but not sufficiently so to affect the roots, which it will 

 assuredly do if left to decay altogether. They should 

 just be caught at the precise time when the haulm ceases 

 to be of use as a feeder to the tubers. P. F. 



PRINCIPLES OF MANURING. 



Lawes and Liebig's Controversy on the Principles of 

 Manuring popularly explained — The Rothamsted 

 Experiments with Special Manures described — 

 Lawes's Doctrines in Nitrogenous Manuring ques- 

 tioned — Liebig's Doctrines confirmed — The success 

 of Consecutive Corn-growing with Special Manures 

 proved experimentally. 

 In the second paper of this series, it was demonstrated 

 that the principles which guided the authors of the 

 Rothamsted experiments in their selection of a common 

 gauge or standard of comparison, and in their grouping 

 and averaging of results, were altogether erroneous. 

 Let us now endeavour, in the first place, to discover and 

 choose from amongst the twenty instances some one of 

 them possessed of the qualifications necessary in a 

 genuine test, and, in the second place, to distribute the 

 individual trials into more natural and instructive as- 

 sociations. 



Now, assuming it to be undeniable in principle that 

 that which constitutes a perfect manure, is its possessing 

 flJl the elements of plnnt nutrition, we aie naturally led 



to examine whether any of the experimental compounds 

 belong to this category, and whether the results from 

 their use are such as to furnish a good standard mean. 

 As a perfect fertilizer, no known substance, probably, ex- 

 cels rape- cake. But, as standards, the experiments with 

 this manure, whether alone or in association with 

 alkalies and phosphate of lime, are disqualified both 

 singly and in aggregate, belonging as they all do (see 

 Table V. of the last paper) to the indeterminately ascend- 

 ing class. Again, except these, the only other approxi- 

 mately perfect instances are, experiments 11 and 17 of 

 the table ; and surely it is to be regarded as a very re- 

 markable characteristic of them, that not only is No. 11 

 so nearly constant in its effects as to show a decrease in 

 six years of only three pecks per acre per annum ; but 

 the other, No. 17, in each of the divisions of three 

 years, into which the entire period of the trials has been 

 divided, exhibits a mean so essentially exact as to differ 

 to the immaterial extent of less than half a peck. The 

 details of this important experiment, No. 17, are shown 

 thus : — 



