34 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ January 10, 1884. 
visible trace of its existence. This fact, and the high degree of 
pulverisation effected by the peculiar action of the revolving 
mould board, makes the subsequent planting and tilling of 
greensward as unobstructed and easy as is that of free or 
stubble land. 4th, With the revolving mould board plough 
clogging is an impossibility. For this and other reasons it 
turns under stubble and coarse manure more effectually, and 
distributes them more evenly than the common plough. 5th, 
The diminished friction lightens the draft; two horses doing 
with ease on heavy land tbe work of four with the ordinary 
plough, and the saving in draft is important. 6th, By removing 
the mould board it is converted into an excellent subsoil plough. 
Now these are a list of extremely valuable points, especially on 
lea ground or in case of ploughing-in green crops of any kind as 
manure, and we think worth the consideration of the home 
farmer under varying conditions of the land and season. 
Another exhibit at Islington Hall by Messrs. Ransome, 
Head & Co , of the Orwell Works, Ipswich, is called “The 
Garden Plough,” from the work it does being similar to that 
of the spade, is a most valuable implement, and is likely to be 
largely adopted. It is made with short beam and handles so as 
to take up but little room at the headlands when used for fruit 
culture, and is fitted with a wide share and deep drilled iron 
mould board, with a tail piece which breaks the furrow as it is 
turned. When used for farm work it can be fitted with a large 
skim-coulter for effectually burying the grass or twitch. We 
can readily believe in the effect of the turn furrow with tail 
piece, for we had many years ago one of our ordinary ploughs 
fitted by the smith with a kind of cutting knife fixed at the heel 
of the turn fui'row, and it answered a good purpose, for when 
the land was kind and workable it left the land in a state fit for 
seeding without any harrowing at all. 
We must now call attention to a patent yealming machine by , 
Mr. Maynard, and when attached to his combined chaff engine 
was one of the most attractive novelties in the Agricultural Hall. 
In using it, a man pitches the hay or straw on to an elevating 
endless rake, which draws up the material to the yealming appa¬ 
ratus which straightens it for the knife of the chaff-cutter. It is 
a well-known fact that unless the straw is properly yealmed by 
hand before it goes into the feeding box a large portion of it 
goes in sideways and passes out of the engine as cavings. 
Maynard’s mechanical yealming machine does the work better 
and more regularly than is done by hand, so that there is a gain 
apart from the great saving of manual labour, consequently the 
general advantage is immense, because farmers see the practical 
benefit of the combination. There were two other machines 
exhibited in the Agricultural Hall besides chaff-cutters that 
require Maynard’s yealming machine—viz., Messrs. Clayton and 
Shuttleworth’s chaff engine attached to their thre hiug machine, 
and Messrs J. & F. Howard’s straw-trussing machine. In the 
former case the yealmer would be placed between the straw 
shakers and chaff-cutter, and in the latter between the threshing 
machine and trussing or binding machine, and by combining 
Maynard’s yealming machine, as shown in the hall, with Messrs. 
Howard’s trussing machine, hay or long grass may be bound up 
in trusses as fast as it can be fed into the combined machine 
(To be continued.) 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
Horse Labour .—As soon as the winter fallow-ploughing is completed 
horses will be employed in carting farmyard and box dung to the heap for 
the early root crops, such as Mangold, Potatoes, Cabbages, &c.; but in 
doing this the carts should be drawn up on the heap during accumulation 
in order to prevent its too great fermentation; for when it is cast into 
heap, instead of the carts being continuously drawn on the heap to tip 
their loads, it is apt to heat and lose a considerable portion of its value. 
There is, however, another way of disposing of the farmyard and box 
manure by laying it out and spreading immediately on the young Clover 
plants ; and the fresher and newer it is, if properly made and mixed, the 
better, because if the straw is not entirely rotted down it will when 
spread fertilise the land as soon as rain occurs. The straw portion will 
overlap the Clover plants and to a certain extent preserve them from frost 
and snow, from which the roots often suffer, especially if the foliage on 
the crowns of the plants has : been eaten down close by hungry sheep, 
which is too often the case, and the plants will frequently die. The 
carting of earth for making composts mixed with dung may now 
be done in readiness for application to pasture and parklands; and 
the pastures, which are either fed by dairy cows or mown for hay, 
should, to keep up fertility, receive in alternate years 3 cwt of bone 
superphosphate and 20 tons of compost per acre, the time for application 
of the superphosphate being the month of February, aud the dung com¬ 
post in dry weather in the winter months or immediately after the hay 
crop has been removed. Threshing corn of various kinds may now be 
done, so that any horse labour required for delivery either of corn or 
straw, may be done in the least busy period of the year. The corn which 
is intended for seed or for horse provender or cattle-feeding may be stored 
in the granary, and the straw as fast as threshed should be carefully 
stacked, or any portion required for the thatching of buildings or cottages 
may be used for that purpose immediately, for the thatching done in the 
winter months will generally settle down closer and last longer than that 
which is laid on during the summer. 
Hand Labour .—As this is the period when the underwood in the 
coppices is being cut, all wood required on the farm should be 
preserved. Spar wood for the thateher will be required, also all 
the white and black thorns should be reserved just as they are 
cut, for carting away to those fields and roadsides where dead hedges are 
to be made, as this is particulary necessary on the open hill farms on the 
chalk or limestone hills. This being the period for executing this work 
a certain portion of the underwood either from the coppices or wide rows 
between the fields, the wood adapted for stakes, &c., should be carefully 
selected and carted to where it will be required, so that the horses may 
not be called away from tillage work during any busy period. Banking 
and ditching, too, in the enclosed districts of strong flat-lying soils, will 
now be going on, but let the home farmer bear in mind that it is frequently 
better to do away with banks and ditches than to repair or make them 
new. Draining, too, should be done where it has previously been carefully 
set out; but in general it is better to set out the work of draining in the 
first dry weather which occurs in the month of Maroh or April, as it is 
easily seen at that time which are the parts most requiring to be drained. 
Live Stock .—As roots are an abundant crop this year there is every 
reason why the horses at work on the farm, or the young animals also of 
one or two years old, should be allowed a small portion of them with 
their dry food, for our experience has taught us that the plan frequently 
adopted by farmers to only allow dry fodder and corn for their working- 
horses during the winter is a mistake. We find that a moderate 
allowance of Swedish Turnips, Carrots, or Mangold, say from 10 lbs. to 
11 lbs per day, will prove a great benefit to hard-worked farm horses or 
colts in the straw yard; it supports the constitulion better, and we believe 
that various animals become incapable years sooner when kept on all 
dry food in the winter months, for the change is too great in the autumn 
from green fodder to corn and dry fodder, and the same in the spring 
when the change is suddenly made from all dry fodder to luxuriant Tri¬ 
folium. Cattle in the boxes should now be prepared for the butcher 
according to size and forwardness, pushing on the largest bullocks for 
slaughter previous to the 1st of May, anl reserving the smaller animals 
and lightest weights to be sold during the summer months, feeding the 
animals so as to be ready in succession for slaughter at the time required. 
OUR LETTER BOX. 
Unproductive Land (H. S. E .).—You have four acres of land, about 
one-half being very dry and the other half very wet; it is probable that the 
latter requires draining, and that it is made wet by springs from the higher 
gravelly land. If this is so, draining should be done, the springs being cut off 
by a drain 4 feet deep and pipe tiles laid between the light land and heavy. 
It is more than probable that the heavy land requires draining also. This- 
should be done by drains 20 feet apart and 3 feet deep, with 2-inch pipe tiles 
laid down the incline and leading into a miin drain 15 feet from the ditch 
instead of each drain having an outlet. As this land has been unproductive 
it is perhaps very foul with couch, and, if so, it should have a summer fallow 
instead of being cropped ; while if the land is sour it requires chalk or lime. 
If it is clean it may be drained immediately, and then manured and sown 
with Oats on the strong part and Barley on the light part, and both seeded to- 
C over. If it is foul and fallowed it may be well manured in the autumn 
and sown with Wheat. 
Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution.— The monthly meeting 
of the Council of this Society was held at their offices, 26, Charles Street, 
St. James’s, on Tuesday, the 1st inst., Mr. John Marten in the chair. 
The Secretary stated that there were at present on the books of the 
Society 611 pensioners, eight having died during the past three months ; 
and that since the last meeting of the Council £3324 had been received 
from subscriptions and other sources. Cheques amounting to £3385 for 
quarterly pensions and current expenses were drawn. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
Camden Square, London. 
Lat. 51° 32 40 N.; Loug. 0° 8 0 IV.; Altitude, 111 feet. 
Date. 
9 A.M 
IN THE BAY. 
3 
rt 
« 
1881. 
December and 
January. 
Barome¬ 
ter at 32“ 
and Sea 
Level 
Hygrome¬ 
ter. 
a . 
on 
«-> a 
o — 
<D >• 
u, -*• 
5 o 
CL— o 
C r 5 
a o-*- 
<D 'fi — 
£h 
Shade Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature. 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
sun. 
On 
grass. 
Inches. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
de«. 
In. 
Sunday . 
30 
30.350 
38 6 
37.9 
N.W. 
41.4 
39.5 
37.3 
39.9 
37.1 
— 
Monday . 
31 
80.538 
36 3 
34.7 
N.l«. 
40.8 
38.7 
35.0 
40.8 
34.9 
— 
Tuesday. 
1 
30.34.5 
34 6 
33.4 
>.E. 
4tM» 
38.2 
32 2 
88 5 
32.3 
0.029 
Wednesday .. 
2 
30 150 
38.8 
38.0 
39.3 
42.8 
32.5 
43.6 
32.2 
0,09!> 
Thursday .... 
3 
30.942 
-8.4 
48.2 
S \V. 
40 3 
51.0 
37.8 
50.8 
85.3 
0.077 
Fridav. 
4 
3A169 
47.7 
47.3 
w. 
42 2 
50.5 
46.7 
51.2 
41.3 
— 
Saturday .... 
5 
30.083 
48.4 
47.6 
S.E. 
43 3 
50.5 
45.0 
50.2 
39.5 
0.143 
80.303 
41.8 
41.0 
41.0 
415 
33 1 
450 
36.1 
0.348 
REMARKS. 
80th.—Dull, with slight drizzle ; fine in evening. 
81st.—Fine and drier, but no sunshine. Jan. 1st.—Dry fair morning; sun in afternoon . 
2nd.—Dull and thick. 3rd.—Dull, damp, and mild. 4th.—Overcu-t and warm. 
6tb.—Fair till noon, rain afterwards. 
A very dull week, without a gleam of sunshine. Cool in the early part, and as mild 
as April towards the end.—G. J. Simons. 
