96 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ August 1, 1878. 
it is mixed, but unless your Vines are weak we do not advise any such 
application this year. 
INSECTS ON MELONS (A Subscriber).—The leaves sent contain evident 
traces of red spider and slight traces of thrips. As the plants are trained to 
a trellis overhead you need have no difficulty in cleansing the leaves and 
securing a crop of fruit. Syringe the plants thoroughly twice a day, except 
a period of dull weather occur, when once a day will be sufficient. Apply 
the water directly to the under sides of every leaf with some force, taking 
care, however, not to injure the foliage. Do this until several flowers com- 
mence expanding, then keep the plants drier until the fruits have set, then 
syringe as before until they approach the ripening stage. Keep the roots 
healthy and well fed. Pinch the laterals as they grow, not letting the 
growths become tangled and crowded, and then having much to cut out at 
onetime. Ventilate early and close early. Do not let the minimum night 
temperature fall below 65°, and in due time you will have good fruit. 
NAMES OF PLANTS (J. 1.).—No one can name a plant from the fragment 
of a leaf,and the frond has no spores. (ZL. H.).—It is an Aloe, but we are 
unable to name the species from the scrap of leaf sent. (Zyro).—1, Cen- 
taurea Scabiosa; 2, Potentilla formosa; 8, Aconitum versicolor; 4, Bad 
specimen ; 5, Epilobium angustifolium ; 6, Polystichum Lonchitis. 
THE HOME FARM: 
POULTRY, PIGEON, AND BEE CHRONICLE. 
HARVESTING OF WHEAT. 
Ir is a matter of great consequence to commence the cutting of 
wheat at the right time, so as to insure the greatest value of both 
grain and straw, the latter being now much more yaluable than 
at any former period, and is in fact sometimes of as much yalue 
per acre as the grain in those seasons when the yield is deficient. 
It must, however, be borne in mind that, generally speaking, the 
best time of cutting to secure grain of first-rate quality is also 
the most likely to save the straw of the most value. The period 
of growth or ripeness for cutting wheat is usually indicated by 
the colour of the straw ; but the surest way is to examine the 
corn, and if upon pressure there is no milk-like moisture in it, 
then the grain will be fit for cutting, and the longer it is delayed 
when once ripe the more injury it receives. Although the sun 
has great power for good in the ripening of the grain, yet it 
has also power for evi! by damaging the sample and gradually 
changing the colour, thickening the bran and reducing the weight 
and quality of the flour. Besides this, when wheat is cut early 
and set up into shocks it is safer from damage by rain than when 
standing, because when in sheaf a small portion only would 
sprout in a wet harvest, whereas if leit standing the corm may 
sprout as it stands or be whipped out by the wind. 
In cutting wheat the straw should always be dry, for if cut and 
tied when wet it will never properly become dry again without 
opening the sheaves, which is a matter attended with serious 
waste and loss. Nor should the corn ever be allowed to remain 
upon the land in grip and untied, as in case of rain both straw and 
grain will receive more or less injury. The method of cutting 
wheat upon the home farm must depend to a certain extent upon 
the size of the farm and whether machinery is available or not. If 
it is available there is no means of cutting and securing the grain 
with so little loss and delay as by the use of the reaping machine, 
the best being that made by McCormick & Co., whose agents are 
Waite, Burnell, & Co., 228, Upper Thames Street, London, E.C., 
with self-binder attached. The binding is done by wire, and has 
now been proved to be effective. There is, however, some objec- 
tion to the use of wire; but some trials have taken place, using 
twine or other materials for binding the sheaves, which is not 
yet held to be done with advantage as compared with wire. 
Now on many of the small farms the purchase of such expensive 
machinery cannot always be considered a prudent investment. 
In such cases we must fall back upon hand labour unless we have 
the opportunity of hiring the reaper and mower, in which case 
the hire will be money well spent, not only by reason of the 
best work being made, but also by the celerity with which the 
harvest operations can be carried out and fine weather being 
made the most of. Wecan recollect various seasons during the 
past fifty years when upon some farms nearly all the wheat was 
cut and stacked without rain, but upon adjoining farms we have 
noticed that no wheat had been secured, a succession of wet 
weather haying caused serious loss, and showing the propriety 
of cutting and carting the corn when it is ready without reference 
to other comparatively unimportant farm work. In cases where 
machinery is not available upon the home farm the manager 
must of necessity continue to conduct the harvest work by hand 
labour. It then becomes a question as to the best mode of cutting 
the wheat, whether by reaping, fagging, or mowing. The cost 
of reaping is more than by the other methods, and it is only to 
be recommended where there is clover or abundance of grass and 
weeds amongst the corn. In this case it is desirable to cut the 
straw high enough to leave the weeds behind and the clover 
untouched, so that it may be cut for green fodder further on in 
the autumn. Fagging when well done by men who are accus- 
tomed to the work is a cleaner and better way of cutting than 
mowing, because it can be done where the corn is laid or lodged, 
whereas the scythe can only be used with effect where the wheat 
stands upright. There is not much difference between the sheaves 
when fagged or mowed. In both methods the sheaves are hollow 
and loose, so that in case they take rain it soon dries ont again ; 
but when wheat is reaped and the sheaves are tied tight, especi- 
ally when the sheaves are large, if they once get wet inside it is 
difficult to get them dry without untying, and this applies to both 
hand labour and machine-tied corn. Sheaves ought, therefore, 
never to be more than 12 or 14 inches through at the bond. After 
the corn is cut and tied the sheaves should be set up in shocks, 
about ten sheaves in each ; and when they are set out at bottom 
and settled into each other at top the rain is excluded nicely, and 
the shocks are not likely to be thrown down by wind. Satis: 
however, a good plan in exposed situations to make the shocks 
round, with about the same number of sheaves in each. When 
the corn is much laid it cannot be cut with the scythe without 
loss, and fagging will then be found the only way to cut the corn 
most advantageously, 
Carting the corn to stack so as to prevent heating is one of the 
most important operations during the harvest, for the grain of 
wheat heated is useless and unsaleable for general purposes. 
Nothing but experience will teach the farmer the right time to 
take the corn to stack, for in case weeds are found amongst the 
corm to any great extent it will require probably a week or ten 
days in the field ; but when the wheat is fully ripe and without 
weeds,if the weather is dry and hot and the sheaves have not 
taken rain, they may be carted to rick about three or four days 
after cutting. And often when dead ripe the corn may be carted 
to stack as fast as it is cut and tied; for it must be remembered 
that the best samples of grain are those which are obtained from 
the earliest cut and earliest secured, when once it is ready ?nd 
not likely to heat in the rick or mow. No farm should be without 
the elevator and horse gear for rick-making. 
In stacking wheat it is of consequence as to the size and shape 
of the ricks. It may also be stacked in a difficult time much 
sooner than it can be mowed in a barn, particularly if the ricks 
are not made too large. We like them best to consist of from 
twenty to twenty-five waggonloads of sheaves. It is a common 
method in some districts to make the ricks oblong, but we like 
the round stacks best, as there is not so much outside, and the 
thatch is not disturbed so much by the wind. It is the most 
convenient plan to put two ricks near enough together for the 
thrashing machine to dispose of both without moying the machine. 
The straw, too, may then be made up into a single rick and 
thatched for sale or preserved for use. Moderate-sized ricks are 
not so likely to heat, and are more easily thrashed of a short day 
in the winter or when the weather turns out adversely. Ricks, 
however, intended to be held over until the following summer 
should not be made upon the ground, but are best placed upon 
a stand in order to preserve the grain from the depredations of 
tats and mice, iron stands being the best. 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
Horse Labour now consists of working the fallows, some of 
which will be in preparation for wheat or winter oats. As soon 
as the peas or winter beans are harvested the land may be rafter- 
ploughed—that is, half ploughed—and then scarified crossways 
twice. It may then be harrowed, rolled, &c., and by this means 
