304 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ April 14, 1881. 
Here the fresh coating of rich soil produces a slow decomposition 
of the old vegetable covering of the peat as well as of the peat 
itself, and the roots of grass or other crops striking deep into these 
always find moisture and nutriment. The effect has been that 
most astonishing crops of Clover, Turnips, and particularly Beans, 
have been grown on the newly warped land, and that grass is 
green in the driest seasons and possesses peculiar milking and 
feeding qualities. 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
Horse Labour .—Barley sowing should now be completed in pre¬ 
ference to any other horse labour, because we have found it difficult 
to obtain a good stout grain fit for malting when the seed has been 
sown after the middle of the month of April. The same remark 
applies to sowing Mangold seed, especially upon the hill farms, for 
two reasons ; first, because on the elevated chalk soils the growth of 
root crops is always slow even in summer ; secondly, unless the seed 
is sown whilst the ground is moist, the seed may not vegetate until 
sufficient rain falls, and if rain should be delayed the loss of the crop 
must certainly ensue. A striking instance of this occurred to the 
Mangold crops of last year, large areas of land being ploughed and 
re-sown with other root seeds in consequence of the weeds making a 
great growth whether the Mangold seed vegetated or not. Clover 
seeds should be sown at the same time as the Lent corn, except in 
those cases where the corn is drilled at 12 inches apart between the 
lines, for the seeds may be then sown before the hoers, in order that 
in destroying the weeds the Clover seeds may be buried at the same 
time. The mixture of seeds we prefer is broad Clover and Alsike, 
with some Saintfoin, but no Rye Grass ; in the alternation we sow 
white Clover, yellow Suckling, and Cow Grass ; when, however, the 
land is required for feeding off during two or three years we choose 
a mixture of white Clover, Timothy Grass, Hard Fescue, Sheep’s 
Fescue, Cocksfoot, and Pacey’s Perennial Rye Grass. If the land is 
in good condition, and especially if the seeds are sown after a Wheat 
crop, this mixture will produce capital turf for stock-feeding until 
required for corn, as it would be in the five or six-course rotation 
after bearing grass for two or three years. In order that the land 
may not deteriorate, all’stock should be allowed to have cotton cake 
whilst depasturing the old leas ; for leferring to Mr. Lawe’s state¬ 
ment, the value of the manure derived by the feeding one ton of 
decorticated cotton cake amounts to the sum of £3 12s. GrZ., quite 
irrespective of any advantage derived by its consumption by cattle 
or sheep. In drilling Cabbage or Thousand-headed Kale seed upon 
stetches manured and prepared for the purpose of retaining a plant 
for the future crop, the further object may be attained of providing 
plants for transplanting in other fields if the land is kept clean by 
continued horse-hoeing between the lines, and hand-hoeing in the 
line?. A double number of plants may also be left on the stetches 
when hand-hoed, so that a large number of plants for transplanting 
may be available by pulling every alternate one and yet reserving 
a full crop on the stetches. This plan to a certain extent will obviate 
the necessity of sowing the seed on prepared beds or borders. 
Hand Labour .—At this time of year peat may be dug where peaty 
meadows or waste occurs, with a fair chance of drying them fit for 
storing for future use. This is not only available as fuel for the 
cottagers or on the farm, but in pasture districts where little arable 
land is attached to the farm we recommend dried peat as a substitute 
for straw in the cattle pens ; it is an absorbent, and by proper 
management will contribute to both the health and cleanliness of the 
stock. It is also valuable in the land as manure, because, unlike 
other kinds of earth, it does not contain the seeds of weeds. 
Live Stock .—At this time it is customary to purchase stock for 
feeding on grass lands of certain districts, and the home farmer 
should observe the policy of feeding cattle on his pastures instead of 
sheep for two very substantial reasons ; first, because sheep destroy 
or injure the finer herbage, and are more liable to suffer from the 
fluke rot than cattle. Horned cattle occasionally suffer from the 
fluke, but it is chiefly due to close feeding upon very wet land. In 
stocking the farms with dairy cows some farmers are accustomed to 
purchase by commission to a dealer; and as the cows which have 
been taken to the metropolitan market to be sold are often the 
finest dairy cattle in the kingdom, it is not an advisable practice, 
as they often contract disease. It is an advantage that through 
restrictions they cannot as usual be sent there for sale, and in con¬ 
sequence purchasers should give their orders to trustworthy commis¬ 
sioned men, and have their cows conveyed into the district by rail¬ 
way. In the same way young stock of the best quality may be 
obtained either of heifers or steers ; for although they are enabled to 
travel better and with less injury than dairy cows, yet they often 
pass through districts in which they take the germs of some disease ; 
at any rate, they are subject to the disturbance and irritation of a 
long drift, which often reduces their condition as well as their health. 
VARIETIES. 
Poultry Shows and Prizes. — It is a great pity that the 
Birmingham Dairy and Poultry Show in June will clash with the 
Bath and West of England Show at Tunbridge Wells. We have 
both the schedules for poultry before us, and cannot help thinking 
that the Bath and West of England Society has been ill-advised to 
reduce its prizes so much. Cups and special prizes seem entirely to 
have disappeared from the list, and save in the case of Turkeys, 
which have £2 first prizes, no first prize is more than 30s. Considering 
the length of the Show, and the fact that the entry fee is 5s., 
and that the place of Show involves birds from the greater part of 
England travelling by at least two lines of rail, the 'schedule does 
not strike us as a tempting one. 
- The Late Mr. Frank Buckland. —Prince Christian has 
joined the Committee which has been formed to raise a memorial to 
perpetuate the services rendered to the study of natural history and 
fish culture by the late Mr. Frank Buckland. Subscriptions will be 
received by the Hon. Secretaries, Lieut.-Col. Bridges and Mr. T. 
Douglas Murray, at 34, Portland Place, W.; by Messrs. Cox & Co., 
Craig’s Court; and at the office of “Land and Water,” 17G, Fleet 
Street, E.C. 
- Arrival oe Summer Migrants. —Dr. D. G. F. Macdonald 
writes to the Daily News under date 9th inst., from Woodford, 
Essex:—“ In spite of the cold winds the bright sunshine has lured 
our summer migrants to their old haunts, for I was welcomed in 
Epping Forest by the sweet notes of the cuckoo and the nightingale 
this morning, whilst swallows and martins flittered over the pretty 
glades and russet slopes, with all their wonted gracefulness.’ 
- Homing Pigeons in Germany.—F rom time to time, as 
subjects for leading articles fail, the daily journals treat us to dis¬ 
quisitions on “ Carrier Pigeons.” Often very amusing they are, and 
singularly misleading to the uninitiated. In a late number of the 
Daily Telegraph, however, we read an article far in advance of the 
common knowledge of the subject, and in which were some interest¬ 
ing facts concerning the careful maintenance of Homing Pigeons for 
military purposes in Germany. After some poetic contrasts between 
the bird of Mars and the bird of Yenus we were interested with the 
following on the Pigeons’ Battalion in War. —“ Looking about 
for improvements in war, the great military empire (Germany) has 
remembered the Carrier Pigeon, and, with complete fidelity to the 
swift-winged bird’s traditions, has taken it from the easeful lists of 
love to the stern realities of the battle field, and made it once again 
the messenger and the emblem of strife. Often before in the East, and 
during the Franco-German war sometimes in the West, the Pigeon 
had already been thus employed ; but it has remained for Germany 
to recruit the bird formally into the ranks, to give it depots and 
etapes, lines of communication and bases, a military organisation for 
the field and another for peace times, to settle precisely its place in 
cantonments and in camp, to tabulate its military duties, and to 
draw up schemes for its commissariat and transport. With their 
head-quarters at Cologne, these birds of war have had mapped out 
for them in a regular scheme of lines and cross-lines the services they 
will have to render ; and ‘ the Pigeon battalion,’ therefore, ranks from 
to-day as a standing feature of the German army of the future. 
- Strawberry Farming in America. —There are now under 
cultivation around Charleston, S.C., within a convenient distance 
from the railroad depots and wharves, about 250 acres of Strawberries, 
which will, with a favourable season, furnish for shipment to New 
York alone 1,000,000 quarts of berries ; about 1500 acres of Potatoes, 
with an aggregate probable out-turn of GO,000 barrels; about 
300 acres of Tomatoes, and about the same number of acres in Peas 
and Beans. These farms are highly cultivated, and are a source of 
great profit to the owners when they can get the crops to market 
early in the season. The Strawberry crop, which is the most valu¬ 
able, is well advanced, and the season promises to be early, and 
consequently profitable. 
THE DORKING. 
1 read with much interest Mr. Cresswell's admirable letter 
on the Dorking fowl, and only hope that from it, and the corre¬ 
spondence to which it may give rise, breeders may arrive at some 
definite and satisfactory conclusion as to what is really the most 
