184 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ February 26, 18 #. 
Last summer we built our first silo, and filled it with coarse 
herbage of grass and rushes from a neglected outlying pasture. 
It was cut and carried at once, and put into the silo green and 
wet, for rain fell while it was being collected ; the trial was 
therefore a severe one. The fact that really good grass was not 
used for this trial shows the existence of some doubts as to the 
result, nor were these doubts set at rest till the silo was opened 
a few weeks ago. The silage then proved to be really excellent 
food; it was moist, slightly warm, of a dark brown colour similar 
to highly heated hay, and it had a pungent vinous odour, so 
strong as to be perceptible at some distance from the silo. A 
little of the silage was mouldy at the top, sides, and bottom, and 
it was very mouldy close by the door, but the bulk of it is sound, 
palatable, wholesome food. The eagerness and evident relish 
with which the animals eat it dispelled all doubts as to the 
practical utility of the silo, and its very great value as an aid to 
profitable farming. No doubt enthusiasm has led to highly 
coloured statements as to the profits of silos. That is just as 
unavoidable as is the pooh-poohing of those who always lag 
behind with their hands in their pockets and talk of “ the good 
old times.” The bottom of our silo is paved with bricks, and the 
walls are of 9-inch brickwork. The door is evidently a mistake, 
and it will be taken out and the doorway bricked up. A facing 
of Portland cement will also be given to the whole of the brick¬ 
work inside the silo, the mouldy silage at the sides showing that 
there is an ingress of air which must be stopped. Inch planks 
were laid upon the silage across the silo, and for pressure we used 
boxes of stones. By laying planks across the silo we have only 
to remove enough for cutting out the first section of silage, the 
others being left with the boxes of stones upon them till we are 
ready for another section, and so the pressure is kept upon the 
silage till it is used. Economy and simplicity may be claimed 
for the plants and boxes ; certainly nothing can be more useful 
or suitable for the purpose, and we are bound to avoid all un¬ 
necessary expense in an undertaking for which economy is 
claimed as a special merit. The silo, then, is an important factor 
in our consideration of ways and means, and attention must be 
given it at seed time as well as later in the year. Every home 
farm must have enough silos to contain a fair proportion of the 
green crops of the farm. Any spare building with a roof over it 
can be taken for it, but no building is so suitable as the old barns 
which have fallen into disuse since the flail has been ousted by 
the threshing machine. Do not rush into a heavy outlay at 
once, but let one or two silos suffice for this year byway of tria 1 , 
so that any faults of practice or in the buildings may be set 
right, and a. clear practical knowledge of the making and uses 
of the silage be acquired before this revolution in farming is 
fully entered upon. 
Successional crops of spring Tares are of especial value for 
folding ewes and lambs, and we have nothing better with a 
certain quantity of dry food for finishing lambs for the July and 
August fairs. For cows and horses the value of Tares is too 
well known to require particular mention. AVe object to suc¬ 
cessional sowing of winter Tares in September and October, 
because the crops from the earlier autumn sowings are so fre¬ 
quently lost from cold, wet, winter weather, from slugs, and 
where partridges are plentiful they are very destructive to 
forward Tares. Rather, therefore, do we prefer to make one 
sowing of winter Tares in October, and successional sowings of 
spring Tares in March and April onwards to the middle of May. 
Once a fortnight is not too often where the demand for this kind 
of food is large, as we then have a supply from May throughout 
summer till about the middle of October. 
Lucerne is said to yield from 30 to 40 tons of green food 
per acre. We know that it is a profitab'e crop, for we had it 
under cultivation maay years ago, and we fo lowed the plan of 
drilling the seed in rows a foot apart, manuring and digging 
between the rows every winter. Under this treatment the plants 
continued productive for several years, and the growth was so 
much valued for horses that it was specially reserved for them. 
Now, however, it is considered to be equally good for dairy cows. 
American dairymen declare that when cows are fed on L icerne 
the milk and butter are at least 20 per cent, greater and much 
richer than when the cows are pasturing on native grasses. 
Broadcast sowing, 20 to 28 lbs. to the acre, in March maybe 
tried, as it is strongly recommended, or drilling at 12 to 15 inches 
apart, for which about 21 lbs. per acre is required. 
Bare fallows do not come into our arrangements, they are 
part of an obsolete system of farming with which we have 
nothing to do. Foul land may be kept for spring or early 
summer cleaning, and immediately sown with white Mustard, 
20 lbs. to the acre. If food is wanted for sheep let them have 
the Mustard, but if possible plough it in as soon as it is fully 
grown, and before it developes seed. Sow Mustard again if the 
land can be spared, and again plough it in. If "the land is poor 
it may well be set aside for a series of summer crops of Mustard 
to be ploughed in, and so store it with fertility once more. 
After so fine an autumn farm land generally is cleaner than it 
has been for several years, yet if it is poor and the supply of 
manure falls short of our requirements, then may we advan¬ 
tageously revert to the Mustard, and so prepare it for autumn 
cropping. 
Carter’s “Farmer’s Handbook.” —This annual illustrated trade 
medium, besides representing the specialities of the firm, publishes special 
articles of interest to agriculturists—namely, on “ Grass Lands and Dairy 
Farming for Profit” by Professor John Scott and the “ Silo in England” by 
Mr. H. Kains Jackson, including a very good figure of a silo, showing th; 
application of mechanical pressure for compressing the silage. The work 
also contains articles on “ Cabbage as a Field Crop,” “ Farm Pests and their 
Enemies,” and “ Notes on Permanent Pastures.” 
OUR LETTER BOX. 
Clearing Couch Grass from Clay Land—Ploughing in Mustard 
(A. W. E. P.).—You say that your clay land is full of knotted couch, is 
very poor, and that you wish to eradicate the couch to impart fertility to 
the soil, and then to lay it down for permanent pasture. First, then, the 
land must be clean, and to render it so you have from the present time till 
the second week in July. Some men should at once he set to fork out the 
thickest beds of couch, to be followed by the plough or a cultivator according 
to the state of the weather, the object being to break up the soil sufficiently 
to set the harrows at work and to follow them by hand-picking. Forking, 
band-picking by women and boys, a3 well as repeatedly stirring with what¬ 
ever implement can be best used—ploughs, cultivator, horse hoe, harrows, 
as the condition of the soil admits of, wdl enable you to get rid of moat of 
the couch. But you will be unable to do this thoroughly if the spring proves 
wet. We hope you may have favourable weather, so that by the second week 
in July the soil may be tolerably clean and ready for the next step, which is 
the sowing of White Mustard, 20 lbs. of seed per acre. This crop is to remain 
untouched till it is in full flower, and then it must at once be ploughed in as 
manure. It is considered by competent judges that the value of the decaying 
Mustard as imparting fertility to the soil is from L‘4 to £5 per acre. The 
Mustard while growing should check any further growth of couch, and if 
when the Mustard is ploughed in the soil is really clean, you cannot do 
better than sow your seed for permanent pasture with Wheat, and next 
spring to give it a moderate dressing of artificial manure of quarter cwt. 
nitrate of potash, three-quarter cwt. nitrate of soda, quarter cwt. steamed 
bone flour, quarter cwt. superphosphate, quartjr cwt. coprolite. 
Salt for Pastures (B. S .).—We do not recommend the application of sal 
as manure for pastures, except they consist of very dry sandy, gravel, or 
limestone subsoil, but a dressing of fishery salt or kainit may answer of 
3 or 4 cwt. per acre if the pasture is situated away from the coast, as there 
is usually a sufficiency of saline particles floating in the air within a few 
miles of the sea. 
Fowls not Thriving (West Herts ).—We can suggest three things as 
wrong in your system. In the first place it is wrong ti put lime in the 
drinking -water, or even to scatter unslaked lime in the house. If the 
fowls pick it up it acts a3 a caustic on their internal organs, and is 
quite enough to produce the symptoms of indigestion, crop-binding, &c., 
to which you referred in your former letter. In the second place, unless 
the road sweepings contain small gravel they are useless and probably 
injurious. Your fowls have thus not sufficient gritty matter for their 
gizzards. In the third place your feeding is too fattening for most fowls. 
Discontinue the maize. Feed for a week on short commons of oats or 
oatmeal only, and give a couple of doses of Epsom salts. Soak the grain in 
a quart of water with a dessert spoonful of salts in it. The cock most likely 
is suffering from the effects of the lime combined with a slight cold. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
Camden Square, London. 
Lat. 51° 32'10 ' N.; Ling. 0° 8'0" W.; Altitule, III feet. 
DATS. 
9 A.M. 
IN THE DAY. 
Rain 
1885. 
February. 
Barome¬ 
ter at 323 
and Sea 
Level 
Hygrome¬ 
ter. 
Direction 
of Wind. 
1 
I Temp, of 
| Soil at 
1 1 foot. 
Shade Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Max. 
Min. 
la 
saa. 
Oa 
grass 
Inches. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
dee. 
Tri 
Sunday .15 
29.563 
47.7 
47.0 
S.E. 
44.1 
51.8 
46.1 
55.6 
41.3 
0.571 
Monday. 10 
29 3L2 
49.7 
49.2 
S.E. 
44.8 
51.8 
47.3 
54.0 
45.2 
0.755 
Tuesday. 17 
29 316 
39.4 
39.1 
E. 
45.4 
51.8 
38.9 
52.8 
36.3 
0.043 
Wednesday .. 18 
29 59.5 
35.4 
33.8 
N. 
43 6 
45.2 
33.8 
68.4 
26 9 
— 
Thursday .... 19 
2 9.820 
32.9 
31.5 
S. 
4L.4 
43.4 
27 9 
69.4 
20.8 
— 
Friday.20 
29.691 
36.2 
33.3 
N.E. 
39.8 
400 
31.6 
45.8 
21.8 
— 
Saturday .... 21 
30.2 J9. 
29.8 
23.7 
E. 
39.2 
39 5 
27.6 
61.0 
21.0 
0.01 
29.818 
38.7 
37.5 
42.6 
44.8 
36 2 
581 
31.9 
1.387 
REMARKS. 
lothWet —. till noon, fine afternoon, wet evening. 
16tli.—Very wet all day. 
17th.—Very wet till 11 A.M., fine afterwards. 
18th.—Brilliant day, with continuous sunshine. 
19th.—Fine and bright. 
20th.—Fair but no sun, dry cold wind. 
2lst.— Ice four-tenths of an inch thick formed during night, fine bright day. 
A week of very variable weather; the first three days very wet and as mild as th 
middle of April, and the lastphree cold and frosty with keen dry wind.—G. J. SYMONS. 
