Calendar of Farminc/ Operations. 335 



to rot for turnips. Early this month sow guano, soot, gj^pstim, 

 superphosphate, &c. 



May. — Top dress spring corn : in the northern counties this is 

 done as late as June. Cart dung to make heaps : if jou suspect 

 grub add salt. Seaweed must he ploughed in green : never put it 

 to ferment in a dung heap. Clean beans and peas : be not afraid of 

 hoeing in dry weather. The pulverized soil gathers moisture 

 quicker. Sow lucerne. Fallows should b}' this time have been 

 thrice ploughed ; once before Christmas and twice subsequently : 

 they should then have been well harrowed and have had the weeds 

 picked off. Finish barley and grass-seed sowing. Pole and tie 

 hops. Finish underground draining : whether with pipes, stones, 

 or bnishwood. Prepare land for swedes. Sow in drills and have 

 cabbage plants ready to fill vacancies. It is a good plan to sow 

 carrots in alternate drills with tiTmips : the turnip leaves do not 

 then overshadow the soil. Keep your turnip seed a fortnight in 

 sulphur as a preventive against the fly. Powder the yoimg plants, 

 also as a preventive, with a mixture of guano, soot, and road dirt. 

 Mow " proud" wheats. Good grass this month. Sow buckwheat 

 up to end of second week in June : it is a good change in the ro- 

 tation of crops and is more profitable than barley after \QTy late 

 turnips to be followed by wheat : ploughed in green, it is a good 

 dressing for the land, and is much used for the pui-pose on the 

 continent. ExteiTQinate weeds : they spread by millions to occupy 

 the food of grain. In Australia or America, I forget which, there is 

 a scale of tines inflicted upon those who allow weeds of various 

 species along their lanes and hedges^a thought worthy of a states- 

 man. Persecute incessantly the weedlings as they spring. Hoe pota- 

 toes, carrots, cabbages. Dig newly planted hop grounds. Towards 

 the end of the month hoe and thin mangold -wurtzel. Fill up 

 blanks. Keep stirring your fixllows. Soil live stock. Take sheep 

 ofi^ water-meadows, and shut them tip for hay. Do not feed them 

 off or you will rot the sheep ; and do not even soil sheep with the 

 grass otf them. Eye and vetches have been used for soiling : plough 

 iqi the land as soon as cleared, and have the roller immediately after 

 the plough to keep in the moisture. Put mares to horse that they 

 may foal down to spring grass. This is a good time to form water- 

 meadows. Use the winter tares and lucerne for soiling. Oak 

 stripping commences : see that the bark is kept set i;p, and that 

 there are plenty of hands, for the bark is in its prime only for a few 

 days. Commence sowing swede tuniips : the early sown produce 

 the most certain and heaviest crops. By early sowing the plant 

 gets in advance of its insect enemies, and time is allowed to replace 

 failures. Plant oiit cabbages in ground manured and ridges, as for 

 •swedes, setting the plants from 2 to 8 feet apart. Eape and turnips 

 for autumn keep, preparatory to wheat, should now be sown. On 

 early soils the artificial grasses will be ready. Lucerne will afi"ord 

 a succession of cuttings through the summer. Handweed flax by 

 means of women and children, who go on the land on their knees 



