THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



383 



or a plot of sainfoin or of chicory ; nay, on many farms 

 in some districts we find large breadtlis of rye, or of tares, 

 or of sainfoin respectively, which occupy the precise 

 relative position of the grass and grass-seeds as above. 

 These are truly prudential provisions : no farmer ought to 

 rest content without adopting some one or more of them. 

 The rye is of quick and early growth, ready to take the 

 first fall of lambs, and provide good milk for the ewe 

 flock ; it is also very productive, and will depasture 

 a large amount of stock, upon which they will 

 thrive well ; and as it is generally sown on land 

 intended for a fallow, it can be eaten off" in full time 

 for readily adopting that course, and generally good 

 crops of common turnips are produced after this system. 

 Winter tares " are common course of husbandry" in 

 many clay districts, and also occupy a similar position 

 as a reserve for early spring food, and with great and 

 good effect ; and the feeding is continued during the 

 greater part of the summer, or till the land is required 

 for the purpose of breaking up for the late summer and 

 autumn fallow for wheat. These crops carry abundant 

 flocks of sheep, which do well upon them, and prepare 

 it admirably for the future wheat crop. The lucerne 

 and chicory crops are of more confined application ; 

 neither will admit of depasturage, but must be mown 

 and carried to the stock. In this way they will sustain 

 a very large amount of stock of all kinds ; and both are 

 early-growing plants, and well worth culture for early 

 spring food. For horses they constitute a very desirable 

 early and lasting food, as they may be mown repeatedly 

 during the summer and autumn ; and one good charac- 

 teristic is that, when a plant is once obtained, its renewal 

 need not occur in less than from five to seven years. 

 Sainfoin is of similar character — an abiding plant of 

 great value in light lands of chalk and gravelly charac- 

 ter, but not of much value in clay and sandy districts. 

 In the former districts it takes the place of the seed crops 

 generally, and with equal benefit ; carrying a large 

 amount of sheep stock, and more so when profusely ma- 

 nured by the spreading of straw and the consumption of 

 turnips upon it, which is often the practice. Trefoils, 

 white clovers, and Italian ryegrass are also much ap- 

 proved for these reserves, on suitable soils — the former 

 for light chalks, gravels, and sandy soils ; the latter for 



all soils of a loamy character— and yields abundantly. 

 It is a matter of necessary acquisition in every farmer s 

 business to have some such reserve, or otherwise he is 

 compelled to take the market, and generally at a great 

 sacrifice. It is seldom that the grazier is prepared to lay 

 in his summer stock before the grass is sufficiently for- 

 ward to take it J and then he will buy very cautiously, 

 and at a cheap rate, if at all. Dealers and specula- 

 tors frequently buy up spring keeping to take this very 

 advantage ; it enables them to hold a large quantity of 

 stock, to be put into the market at the most desirable 

 part of the season. Farmers and breeders should not 

 be driven to these shifts. Their business should be to 

 estimate closely the number of stock of each kind they 

 can conveniently winter without resort to the preserves 

 reserved for an inclement winter or untoward spring. 



1 have particularly pointed out reserves of grass seeds, 

 &c. ; but, after all, the farmer's chief dependence must 

 be upon his winter-food, and some of that he must re- 

 tain for these times. Corn, cake, hay, and straw, are all 

 good helps ; but it is to the root crop that he must look 

 for his chief dependence. That invaluable root, the 

 mangel-wurzel, is just adapted for this purpose, and 

 when properly harvested it will keep better than any 

 other root ; and unlike most others, it improves in value 

 up to the month of May. It will grow also upon any 

 well-cultivated soil, and with artificial aid (and nothing 

 better than superphosphate) produce good crops. This 

 root is my chief resort ; in fact, I should not now know 

 how to do without it. It constitutes the mainstay of my 

 farm stock for many weeks in the spring- ; and I keep a 

 good reserve for pigs, &c., up to Midsummer. Its great 

 constituent, coaler, is now its great preservative ; 

 whereas carrots, turnips, &c., having less water in their 

 composition, soon heat and rot, or become tainted 

 food. My practice is to eke out my pasturage of all 

 kinds by leading daily a portion of "mangolds" into 

 each field, and throw them down for the stock to con- 

 sume as they please. All kinds of stock will eat them, 

 even if grass abounds ; and they will improve faster with 

 a supply than without, which proves their nutritive 

 value at this season. I trust more will be grown this 

 year than heretofore, large as the breadth is. 



THE 



STEAM-PLOUGH ON THE FLEMISH 

 PRINCE CONSORT. 



FARM OF THE 



Having been invited by Mr. Fowler to be present at 

 the working of his steam-plou|jh on the Flemish farm of 

 His Royal Highness Prince Albert at Windsor, we went 

 thither on the 20th of last month. Upon arrival, we found 

 the plough working under a disadvantage, the land 

 being a stiff clay, very rough, lying on the slope of a 

 rising ground, and having previously been stirred with 

 the grubber, so that altogether it was impossible to 

 make clean and sightly work. The land was also being 

 manured with farm-yard dung before the plough, which 

 was thereby greatly impeded by the lumps choking the 



shares, rendering frequent stoppages necessary to clear 

 it away. In other respecis, the machine worked with 

 great ease and regularity, finishing off the " skewtings-'* 

 in a workmanlike manner. This, we conceive, is the 

 most difficult part of the work for a steam- plough ; but 

 we saw several such corners that were finished as well 

 as could have been done by the common plough. The 



* This is a provincial (Norfolk) term derived from the word 

 sheio, oblique, and indicates those angular or irregular por- 

 tions of a field remainiog after the square has been ploughed. 



