84 Some Minor Farm Crops. 



The cost per acre of poppy growing is as follows : — 



£ s. d. 



Value of manure in land 2 



Autumn ploug-hing- 8 



Twice harrowing in spring 3 



Light rolling o 1 



Drilling 2 6 



Seed 020 



Crossing and singling 15 



Hoeing . 15 



Hoeing second time 15 (t 



Plucking heads three times and spreading in granary 1 10 



Attention afterwards, turning, &c 5 



Sorting and despatching heads 10 



Rates and taxes 5 ( • 



Rent 1 10 



10 1 6 



In the above list 21. is allowed for manure. This is 

 " unexhausted manure " which is already in the soil, no 

 manure being actually applied for this crop. 



It is difficult to state what the return is per acre. In some 

 years this crop may fetch up to 201. per acre, and then again in 

 a bad year it may only fetch 5/. 



The poppy likes a fairly dry year, though if too dry it is 

 badly attacked with "black filth" just when the flower is 

 falling, and, unfortunately, there appears to be no remedy. In 

 a very wet season the crop may fail altogether. 



The poppy heads are chiefly used, after the seed has been 

 shaken out, for fomentation purposes, and there is a small 

 demand for the seed itself as a medicinal food for canaries. 



James Stephenson, M.R.A.C. 



Lansdowne House, 



Althorpe, Doncaster. 



IV.— CELERY. 



In the north-west corner of Lincolnshire, crops are grown 

 which are seldom seen in other parts of the kingdom, and form 

 part of the regular rotation of the farm. This is no doubt due 

 to the soil, as these crops are generally to be found on the 

 rich warp-land, described in the Journal for 1912 (Vol. 73, 

 p. 104). On another page will be found a short account of 

 poppy growing at Haxey, and it is here proposed to give a 

 description of the cultivation of celery as carried out in the 

 same district of Lincolnshire, where many acres under this 

 crop are to be found. 



Warp land, with a peat subsoil, grows celery of the best 

 quality, that is to say, the firmest and sweetest, though an 



