THE DAILY LIFE OF OUR FAEM. 231 



tionable characters as the main crop is being raised, 

 they were allowed to be some time in a heap, and then 

 Avere planted after a slight touch of frost. It was not at 

 all what I intended, but we were temporarily over- 

 worked. A friend, who acted on my hint, had his set 

 in due time. I hear of his having been exploring with a 

 fork, being alarmed at their protracted non-appearance 

 above ground. He found the subterranean shoots very 

 strong, I believe. Last year my experience was that the 

 autumn-planted potatoes were later in appearing on the 

 face of the ground, but ripened earlier. I have conse- 

 quently counselled patience. We are all on the quivlve, 

 there being an unusual number of extra prizes adver- 

 tised at our local show by the various artificial manure- 

 makers for the best display of roots grown after a dress- 

 ing of their admirable "special," the society itself, too, 

 giving a challenge-cup, without regard to the manure. 

 There is certainly benefit in these public prizes. For 

 a month or more I have had sawdust under my ani- 

 mals, which, after saturation, has been stored in a 

 spare barn, and will be drilled in with Swede-seed 

 between a strip of saturated ashes on the one side, 

 and a strip of superphos'phated soil on the other. A 

 dressing of sawdust, wet with liquid manure, has cer- 

 tainly freed an old pasture of its mossy growth. How 

 or why I cannot say, but I think that, mixed with our 

 sandy loams, it may prove a convenient vehicle for 

 moisture, arresting and retaining it throughout the dry 

 seasons we so much dread in this district. We have a 

 good-sized mangold-wurzel heap left yet. The stock 

 seem to do better than ever upon it now. The rye- 

 grass and trifolium sown upon the wheat-stubble which 

 I had harrowed several ways, just to brush the seed 



