February 23, 1882 ] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 165 
rally used for the purpose. The improvement consists in its being 
made so as to fold up, and may thus be easily carried by one man 
in moving from the ground, besides taking up much less room in 
the waggons or carts than previously. The pickers who stay at 
or near the gardens generally come from a distance, and much 
pains and care is now taken to provide lodging and other accom¬ 
modation for them by the growers, especially on or near to the 
large plantations, which is much appreciated, and it is said that 
the effect is to make the pickers better workers. 
Drying is an art which requires great and diligent care, for a 
slight excess of heat or an irregular application of it spoils the 
colour of the sample, making the Hops brittle and harsh and 
“smell of the fire.” Kilns for the purpose of drying are called 
oasts or oast houses, are made round and pointed at the top, where 
a cowl is applied which gives vent to the heat even at the most 
windy times. The houses at a distance look much like the round 
small cornricks we see in the stackyards of Scotland. The houses 
are built in groups oftentimes, and all of them are heated in the 
same way ; and near to these oasts is a room for stowage of the 
Hops as received from the pickers, and for weighing, and with cool¬ 
ing room above. These circular kilns are made 16 feet in diameter. 
The drying is effected by placing the Hops upon a horsehair cloth 
stretched over stout lathes, and is now placed higher above the 
fire than formerly, so that drying may be satisfactorily done 
without burning or overheating. The practice is to dry with a 
temperature of about 120° to 130°. The Hops when laid on the 
haircloth and perfectly free from rain water at picking time, are 
placed much closer and deeper, so that the process may be effected 
at the least expense. The fires are best maintained in the kilns 
with combined Welsh coal and plenty of charcoal, so as to produce 
the softest sample of Hops and freest from the smell of smoke. 
The best or Farnham Hops are usually packed in pockets by a 
presser of great power. Some planters formerly packed in bags. 
The weight of an ordinary pocket of Hops about 2^ feet wide by 
5|- feet long is about 1^ to 2 cwt. each nett weight, and these 
are very convenient for carriage to any distance by waggons or 
railway trucks. 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
Horse Labour .—Ploughing and planting the early Rose Potatoes 
has been progressing, and where no stable, town, or yard manure had 
been put in from 4 to 5 cwt. per acre of Peruvian guano have been 
applied, strewed into the furrow with the sets as the work pro¬ 
ceeds. This application we have found for many years to exceed in 
effect and produce any amount per acre applied as yard or town 
manure. The early Potatoes we plant 18 inches apart, in lines 
27 inches apart. The weather has been so favourable up to the 
middle of February, that the sowing, planting, or drilling of Beans, 
Peas, or Vetches was nearly completed by that date in most districts. 
We do not remember the sti'ong land everywhere, but especially in 
the midland counties, to have been in finer condition for the seed, 
nor has there been any hindrance by the weather up to that time. 
Black Tartarian Oats or drege may now be sown with the best 
advantage, but wherever the land has been cleaned Barley has been 
put in first, for it is found that the early-sown, although it may 
receive a check by change of weather, always produces a heavier 
and plumper sample fit for malting purposes. Drege corn, too, 
will bear the changes of weather without prejudice to the crop, but 
all these crops should be drilled at 10 or 12 inches between the lines, 
or otherwise drilled by the presser drill, depositing the seed in the 
grooves formed by the rings of the presser; and if the land requires 
hoeing there is then ample room for the horse hoe and hand hoe to 
work freely. The white early Oats may be sown in the first week of 
March with advantage, such as the Swiss Oat, the White Canadian, 
the early Lincoln White, the Poland, and some others, which are all 
great croppers if the land is highly manured; they will then give 
an outside produce both in quantity and quality. We saw a sample 
of White Lincoln Oats, weight 48 lbs. per bushel, lately, the produce 
being stated as large by the grower; we, however, like the Canadian 
best, for they are very early and productive. We have frequently 
grown eighteen sacks per acre, and at harvest time sown the land with 
white Turnips as fast as the corn was cut, and obtained full crops, 
and in some instances we have sown the same kind of Oats after the 
Turnips fed off by sheep, the produce again being equal to the first 
crop. The straw of these Oats is first-rate, and being early more likely 
to be well harvested. We frequently sow these Oats with Clover, which 
often furnishes a full crop for soiling cattle at and after Michaelmas, 
the Oat crop being removed early greatly encourages the growth of 
any green crop or roots sown in the crop or after its removal. 
The land has during the past month been in capital condition to re¬ 
ceive the seed of Oats or Barley if clean and free from couch ; if not, the 
sooner the steam cultivator is brought into action the better, because 
so much can be done in a little time, the horses following and harrow¬ 
ing and rolling. We advise the home farmer not to wait for weather 
for burning the couch and weeds, but to use the Bedford drag harrow 
made by Messrs. Howards, followed by the chain harrow; this will 
enable the men and women with forks and rakes to collect the couch 
and cart it away to heap. As fast as this is done the next ploughing 
may take place with the same routine of work without attempting 
to burn anything ; this plan will prove not only real economy in 
work, but a saving of time and season for sowing. By all means drill 
Barley or drege in rows 10 inches to 12 inches apart, and apply 2 cwt. 
of superphosphate and 1 cwt. of Peruvian guano per acre by drill or 
broadcast, and under this system you will be sure of a malting sample 
unless the land has been poached by the tread of the sheep in feeding 
of roots on the land in wet weather, if after a fallow the quality will 
be good. 
Where a quick succession of crops is taken, such as we have alluded 
to, the land cannot well be too liberally supplied with manure. We 
have never seen these white Oats laid or lodged to injure them, 
because they turn off ripe so early that they will fill and ripen 
whether standing erect or otherwise. They must be cut early to have 
the fuff advantages of the soil, and the straw, according to Dr. 
Yoelcker’s analysis, is equal in nutrition to water meadow hay, and 
certainly better for the feeding of fatting bullocks. Rolling the grass¬ 
lands and park pastures should now be done where laid up for hay 
before the land gets too dry, and the late rains which we have had 
has greatly favoured the work on both field grasses and the meadow 
land of every variety. 
Hand Labour .—The weather has lately been in favour both of men 
and women employed on the farm in field labour; for instance, the 
forking-out of bunches of couch grass upon land autumn-ploughed 
will on the mixed soils be sure to have a few lumps of twitch, and 
the best way to attack it is with the fork, which may cost about 
2s. or 2s. G d. per acre. This money will be well expended, because 
upon land intended for Barley, Potatoes, or Mangolds no extra 
ploughing will be required, nor will there be any delay of the seed 
time by the attempt to eradicate the couch by costly horse labour. 
In this way in our farming we kept our land clean for many year3 
without attempting to cultivate by steam or extra horse power. 
Four upstanding horses are used for each hundred acres, and this 
frequently upon farms of mixed soils, sandy loams, and clay inter¬ 
mingled in the same field, which every home farmer accustomed to 
such land knows to be the most difficult of any to keep clean by 
either horse or steam power, unless aided in every available period 
of the year by forking out the couch by men or women at every 
suitable interval. 
Live Stock .—All stock, except swine, is now remarkably dear, the 
number of sheep having been greatly reduced throughout the kingdom 
by fluke rot, <fcc., for the past two years. This is one cause, but the 
mild winter has saved the hay and root crops, the latter having grown, 
more or less, as well as the grass on all dry soils during the whole 
of the winter months. This has improved the demand for cattle of 
all sorts, dairy cows, young store cattle, also bullocks of various ages 
for stalls or box feeding. Sheep also of every kind or age are selling 
in the markets, for although the fat sheep and lambs are selling very 
high and will pay well for the fatting during the winter, yet the next 
purchase for the same purpose offers but a poor prospect of future 
profit. The early Dorset and Somerset lambs have proved of rare 
quality this year, and are now nearly all sold, having made a good 
price. The early Dorset Downs are doing well. We have never seen 
them better or more in number, being quite healthy and free from 
lameness as compared with some former years. The lambing season 
is now just commencing in the midland counties, and the health of 
the long-woolled ewes, the Shropshires. and Oxford Downs is equally 
good as in other counties. Some of the best ewes, however, have 
brought dead lambs, and this is difficult to account for at all times ; 
it, however, arises from internal fever and irritation which centres in 
the womb, producing premature birth of the lambs. We notice that 
some farmers have mooted the idea that roots produced by the 
application of superphosphates, if given to b eeditig ewes, have been 
found to be the cause, but long experience is against this assumption. 
It is stated to have been proved by results, but in no instance have 
w T e seen proof offered but such as can be attributed equally to co¬ 
incidences rather than to practical results or effects of certain kinds 
of food eaten by the animals. The subject must be decided by show¬ 
ing the difference if any in the analysis of food grown by super¬ 
phosphate dressings as compared with other applications. No doubt 
injudicious use of roots is prejudicial to ewes in lamb. 
DERBYSHIRE REDCAPS. 
We are constantly asked to recommend breeds of fowls. A not 
uncommon requirement is a race which are non-sitters, good layers, 
and ornamental. There seems plenty of choice, but when it comes 
to the point of selection, and the various excellencies of each kind 
are considered and compared with the sprcial requirements of the 
case, by degrees this, that, and the other kind is eliminated, till we 
really find ourselves at a loss. We have certainly never had to do 
with any race equal to the Hamburgh family in regularity of laying 
and length of time during which they lay, but their eggs are small. 
This for many people is a disadvantage, especially where they are 
