JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
March 31, 1881. ] 
263 
failures (eleven trees per rod, or 1760 trees per acre), for 
1920 poles at 3d. each, the sum of £24. Thus the 7040 poles would 
realise £88 per acre, and the expenses being £51 per acre would 
leave a balance of £37, or a profit, as a yearly rental, of 43.?. per 
acre, the Ash stools remaining to produce underwood in the 
future ; and it is of consequence to understand that these calcu¬ 
lations of conversion refer to land only worth a few shillings per 
acre for any purpose, including sporting rights. 
We must now refer to poor, flat-lying, strong, and tenacious 
clay soils, of which there is much in certain districts run to waste, 
or which has never been properly sown for permanent pasture. 
Such land is as unprofitable as any land we are acquainted with. 
It is, however, a fact [that some such land upon chalk subsoil has 
been planted with Larch Firs, and these where properly planted 
we notice are growing fast and looking remarkably well, whereas 
the adjoining lands of a similar soil in grass are comparatively 
worthless. We, however, are far from admitting that many such 
plantations are examples to be followed with advantage. Suffi¬ 
cient care and judgment has noF always been exercised in the 
planting, either as to the cultivation and preparation of the land, 
the manner of planting, the distance at which the plants were 
set, or the treatment while they were young, all of which are 
so essential to the successful growth of plantations. As to the 
efficient working of strong soils, if there is a turf on the surface, 
however poor it may be, it should be pared with the paring plough 
and burned ; nor is it necessary to be very particular as to the 
regularity of cutting the turf, because it wiil furnish more ashes 
if a larger amount of earth than usual is burned, which will 
prove useful when worked into strong land, and will enable the 
roots of trees to penetrate the soil better. The ashes should be 
charred, because, when stifle-burned, they form good manure, 
whereas when burned into red ashes they only act mechanically 
by opening the soil and rendering it more easily pierced by the 
roots of plants. After the land has been pared and burned and the 
ashes spread the fallowing may commence, for under any circum¬ 
stances, even if it is not pared and burned on the surface, a fallow 
must be prepared as a prelude to any planting operations ; in fact> 
if the land is not intended to be pared and burned in the spring it 
should be deeply fallow-ploughed in the autumn and lie during 
the winter. It will prove all the better if the subsoiling imple¬ 
ment is made to follow the ordinary ploughing, whether it is done 
by steam or animal power, because any surplus water or rainfall 
will the more easily sink away into the subsoil. When the first 
cross-ploughing takes place subsoiling should be done simul¬ 
taneously, so that the whole of the subsoil should be moved at 
the same time as the fallowing of the surface is going on. During 
the whole summer no harrowing, rolling, or scarifying should be 
done until just before planting time ; but the ploughing should be 
done when the weeds make their appearance, and thus the land 
will be kept as rough as possible during the fallow. 
Where land lies perfectly fiat it should be ploughed into small 
ridges about 8 or 10 feet wide, but if it is at all undulating or 
hilly the ridges may be 24 or 30 feet wide, with the land furrows 
struck out deeply, and made out in the same way after planting. 
We shall, however, refer to this matter again after the planting 
has been set out and done. When shaping the ridges for plant¬ 
ing, especially when it is to be in small ridges, the ridge-ploughing 
should be done as deeply as four good horses can lay the land into 
shape ; the land furrows between the ridges will then be corre¬ 
spondingly deep, in which case the furrows should lay the subsoil 
entirely bare, so that the surface water may pass away freely. 
The planting should be done as early as the young trees will bear 
removal, which will be generally about the last week in September or 
the first week m October. This is a matter of no small importance, 
because strong soils should be planted whilst the land is dry enough 
to move freely, for if the spade-planting is done when the land is 
heavy and clogging the trees will not flourish so well, as it will go 
far to neutralise the benefit of summer fallowing, upon which a 
serious expenditure may have been made. 
(To be continued.) 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
Horse Labour .—This is the busiest of all times of the year except 
the harvest period, in consequence of the adverse weather extend¬ 
ing all through February and into the first week in March ; up to 
that time but little horse labour could be done with advantage on 
the tillage of the land by ploughing or otherwise. Fortunately we 
have experienced a favourable change in the weather, and the land 
has since worked well, being soft, moist, and fine on the surface, 
which is far better than when harsh winds have prevailed and sud¬ 
denly dried the land. The small seeds, such as Clover and the grasses 
sown in Lent corn about this time, never vegetate with regularity 
when the land is rough and dry ; these should be sown immediately 
after the ring roller, as the little grooves made by the rings of the 
roller form a good seed bed. Potato planting should be attended to 
now, for as soon as Barley sowing is concluded the late or second 
early Potatoes should be set, and after so much delay as there has 
been this year to save time is very important. In all those cases 
where the land was not dunged in the autumn or winter _the appli¬ 
cation of guano instead of dung will much facilitate planting, as the 
application of the manure and the planting go on simultaneously. 
In the planting of the second early or late varieties of Potatoes we 
noticed last year in many cases where the haulm was very gross and 
luxuriant that it completely shut out the sunlight and drying winds 
so essential to the healthy growth of the crop, especially now this 
vegetable is so subject to disease. We therefore recommend in all 
farm cultivation where the land has been liberally manured that the 
lines of Potatoes should be 3 feet apart, in order that ploughing 
instead of scarifying may be done between them. 
The sowing of Clover and grasses should if possible be done before 
finishing the work on the Lent corn, but v T e highly approve of sow¬ 
ing after Potatoes or roots fed off by sheep. It usually succeeds 
w r ell in this rotation, particularly if the kinds of Clover are alternated, 
sowing one course with Broad Clover and Alsike, the next course 
with Dutch and Trefoil or Yellow Suckling. In some cases it is ad¬ 
visable to mix G-iant Saintfoin with the Broad Clover if partial failure 
of plant is at all probable. We object strongly to sowing grasses 
with the Clovers, especially Italian Rye Grass, as it dominates and 
starves the Clover plant, particularly on the second cutting; it is, 
moreover, unfavourable for the succeeding Wheat crop. Of course 
if we are sowing grass for several years as old lea we must take three 
or four sorts of permanent grass, such as Timothy and Cocksfoot and 
Pacey’s Perennial Rye Grass, in admixture with white Clover and 
Saintfoin, but without any Italian Rye Grass, as it is sure to make 
the old lea bare on the surface by its gross habit of growth as com¬ 
pared with other grasses. This Italian Rye Grass, however, has its 
place in the rotation, particularly on the stock farms upon the hills 
where no water meadows are available in the spring; it is then in¬ 
valuable in a season like the present where a breeding flock is kept. 
Our plan is to sow it in the Wheat or Oats, and feed the grass in both 
the autumn and spring, and then plough and press for early Turnips, 
Thousand-headed Kale, or Rape. 
Hand Labour .—Both men and women will now be fully employed 
in outdoor work, the men with Potato planting, preparing for Man¬ 
golds, Carrots, and early Swedish Turnips. The women should now 
go over the pastures and Clovers, taking up Docks and the earliest- 
rooted weeds with a small pick, but afterwards, in ordinary weeding 
of Thistles, &c.. they must die if cut up with the spud or common 
weeding hook. The live stock on many farms are very short of the 
usual spring provision of roots, and where there is no large bulk of 
Mangolds for use great inroads must be made upon the hay Clovers 
by the feeding-off with sheep of large areas of the best and earliest 
grasses. There is one point to which we wish to call attention, it 
having been our practice for many years to sow a portion of stubhle 
Turnips, and in consequence of a backward harvest, even as late as 
the first week in September, for if left without hoeing, and the bulbs 
very small, they will live through the severest winters ; this year is 
an apt illustration. Therefore when they are allowed to run up to 
green in the spring they may be fed off by store or breeding flocks 
just before they come into flower, when it is valuable as a change 
from the water meadows or Italian Rye Grass for night folding. 
The land, however, should be clean, so that it may be drilled with 
Mangold seed afterwards. In this way we have grown fine crops of 
Mangolds, but not of Swedes or Turnips, for the bulbs of these we 
have found will decay, owing no doubt to the fact of the old roots 
and stems of the stubble Turnips having been ploughed under in a 
partially decayed state. Farm horses should still have Mangolds if 
possible as part of their daily allowance of food, and it should be 
continued until the earliest green fodder can be cut up for them. The 
horned ewes m those cases where their lambs have been sold fat 
should now be pushed forward with Mangolds and Bean meal, with 
a run upon the Italian Rye Grass. Where the lambs are kept for 
stock the meadows or Italian Grass will be sufficient, except in the 
case of lambs being held on for autumn grazing, they will then pay 
for decorticated cotton cake or cracked Beans. The early Down 
lambs for Easter markets should still have the best of food—cut 
