i 4 8 A FARMER'S YEAR 



season has been so cold that it was not considered advisable to 

 attempt it before. 



On the farm we have been baulk-splitting, manure-carting, 

 layer-rolling, and ploughing. 



April 14. My fears were not without foundation. Last night 

 the sheep were shut up in the barn to protect them from the cold 

 after the operation, and also from the power of the Bath Hills 

 dog. This morning one of the lambs of course the finest was 

 found bled to death. Later in the day they were turned out upon 

 the front lawn, when I noticed that many of the poor things went 

 very lame. 



As, although dull, it was not actually raining, we drilled between 

 three and four acres of beet on All Hallows, No. 29, a portion of 

 this field, that nearest the fence, being reserved for swedes and 

 white turnips. The land was rather sticky, but on the whole the 

 seed went in well. 



The process of root drilling is different from that of sowing 

 corn. First a roll drawn by one horse is passed over the land, 

 covering four baulks at each journey. Then comes the root drill, 

 also drawn by one horse and fitted with three coulters only, each 

 of which pierces the centre of a baulk. Another roll passed over 

 the baulks after the drill has done its work completes the opera- 

 tion. We make it a practice to mix a little cabbage seed with 

 that of the beet. Formerly we used to grow the cabbage by itself, 

 but experience has shown us that if sown amongst the beet the 

 ' fly ' and other destructive insects seem much more likely to 

 overlook it. During the last year or two, by following this system, 

 we have raised a quantity of splendid cabbages, which are cut as 

 occasion requires, either before the beet is drawn or after it, and 

 thrown to the cattle on the pastures when the grass becomes too 

 sparse and innutritious to support them. This cow-cabbage, by 

 the way, which has an enormous white heart, is, if properly boiled, 

 quite suitable for table purposes much better, indeed, than many 

 of the obnoxious vegetables, to my mind, known to gardeners as 



