March 2, 1882. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
185 
]ittle or no alteration. This could be planned and carried out by 
the estate carpenter or builder, and the cost would not be so great 
as to frighten landlords who would have to find the capital, or the 
tenant who would have to pay the interest.” In fact, the tenant 
could afford to offer such a per-centage to the landlord as would 
be an inducement to him to invest in such an improvement. 
“As the position of buildings will be so various we will take for 
instance the form of existing yards to be as follows :—The barn 
and main buildings to occupy one side of a square, from which at 
right angles should run the sheds with the open yard between 
them ; then to cover over the yards and build up one end would 
be all that is necessary, and this would cost about 20.?. the square 
yard of ground to be covered. Assume also the size of the yard 
to be 300 square yards and the depth one yard, that would mean 
300 cubic yards of manure. This at 2s. a cubic yard, the estimated 
increased value by covering the manure would give £30, or 
10 per cent, for covering the yards. The estimate for roofing 
only would vary of course according to circumstances. The 
corrugated iron roofs seem to offer certain advantages for the 
purpose, and can be erected at a cheaper rate than ordinary slate 
or tile roofs ; they could be erected at about 15.?. a square yard 
of ground to be covered, and the difficulty of the temperature 
being too hot in summer and too cold in the winter could be 
overcome with a little trouble and a very slight expense.” 
After this quotation we must refer to another called a cheap 
roof, as quoted from an illustrated plan in the Agricultural 
Gazette Almanack, 1882. “In a letter from Mr. W. F. Price of 
Gloucester on ‘ Our Cowyards,’ referring to a very useful form 
of construction by which to cover wide spans cheaply and safely 
without intermediate support, and exceedingly strong in com¬ 
parison to its weight, and when covered by thin boarding and 
corrugated iron sheets, or by the iron alone, makes a very durable, 
cheap, and waterproof covering for large cowyards, corn or hay 
ricks, and other requirements of the farm where intermediate 
supports or columns are not desirable. The starting point at 
which this description of roof becomes of practical utility is where 
the usual lean-to or light structure of the ordinary type must 
give place to a more solid and expensive timber or iron framing, 
as in spans exceeding 20 feet. 
“ The bowstring wooden girder roof has now been constructed 
for some years, and in all cases with great economy and success, 
covering in spaces varying from 30 to 130 feet, without any 
support beyond the walls, each girder forming a solid web of 
timber equal in depth to one-fifth of the span, the timbers form¬ 
ing the bowstring (where practicable in one piece of pitch pine) 
and latticework being not more than H inch to inches in 
thickness and a few inches in depth, in accordance with a pro¬ 
portional scale. The accompanying drawing represents one girder 
as built by the Gloucester Waggon Company at Tibberton, Glou¬ 
cestershire, for Mr. W. P. Price. The girders are in this instance 
placed 7 feet apart and secured by purlins and ties, and resting 
on stone wall plates ; the span in clear of walls is 46 feet 2 inches, 
is covered with galvanised corrugated iron, No. 22 B.W.G., without 
any boarding, the iron sheets being securely fastened to the 
timbers by galvanised screws and bolts. This building has been 
erected at a cost, exclusive of brickwork, drainage, &c., of 8s. 6d. 
per square yard of space covered.” We know of no plan equal 
to this in all respects; in fact it fulfils all our objects and inten¬ 
tions of farmyard economy as regards the covering of spaces 
now open, and from which on various estates the cattle suffer so 
much in condition and health, and from which so much value in 
manure is lost. 
(To be continued.) 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
Horse Labour .—'The horses have been employed during the last 
month or five weeks, and have met with but little interruption in their 
work on the land from adverse weather. The horse labour of the 
farm is in an unusually forward state, and as the subsoil is dry and 
of a high temperature, if we keep free from flooding rains the field 
grasses and Clovers and Saintfoin will be very forward. Some fields 
of young Wheat have also been harrowed and rolled, and the land 
has worked well, but it is very seldom that this work can be done 
so early. All fallows should now be cultivated by the steam tackle, 
the horses following with the Howard’s self-lifting drag harrows, 
rollers, &c. This is the best implement of Howard’s we have ever 
seen used for horse labour, especially for the purpose of completing 
the work by combing out couch and weeds, and leaving them on the 
surface to be treated by manual labour. It is useless to try to burn 
the couch so early in the season, and because while waiting for 
weather dry enough for burning, the work may be done by fork and 
rake and the couch carted away, leaving, in fact, nothing more to be 
done but ploughing again, pressing, and drilling. We highly approve 
of the press drilling, because the manure may be sown over the land 
broadcast and harrowed in with the seed; besides, if the land should 
become very dry the seed will germinate better than when put in 
with the ordinary drill. When it falls into the grooves made by the 
presser there is always moisture enough in the subsoil if the tilled 
surface is dry ; besides which, the manures, if portable or artificial 
kinds have been used, act upon the young plant immediately, whether 
of cereals or pulse. 
We have frequently heard farmers say our horse power will get 
through the work very well all in good time if the weather proves 
fine. But it should be remembered that we cannot calculate upon 
the weather, nor yet control it; we, therefore, consider it a great 
risk of time and season not to use the power of steam when the 
weather is suitable, supplemented also by horse labour. Some 
farmers have observed that they could not afford to employ steam 
and horse power likewise. Then, we say, the power for cultivating is 
not equal to the requirements, and that is not farming on commercial 
principles, nor can it be beneficial in agriculture to leave for to¬ 
morrow the work which can be done to-day. The observations as 
to cnltivating apply with equal force whether we are preparing the 
land or sowing Barley, Oats, Beans, Peas, Potatoes, or Mangolds, 
because all these crops suffer more or less when the seed time is 
delayed beyond the first opportunity. 
Hand Labour. —Men, and women too, should now be constantly 
employed ; but in those districts where, in the present state of the 
labour market it is difficult to obtain women for farm work, we say 
they should not be expected to work only occasionally, but should 
be engaged daily for work on the farm. Much of the light work of 
the farm cannot be done with profit by the men only, for we have 
always employed a gang of women with great advantage, especially 
in planting Cabbages, setting Potatoes, hand-weeding, raking couch, 
preparing roots for cutting—in fact upon work of various kinds, and 
especially in haytime and harvest. The time has now arrived for 
sowing, or, rather, the hand-drilling of small seeds such as Cabbage 
of sorts, Kohl Rabi, Thousand-headed Kale, and Cauliflower. The 
latter proved finer last autumn than we had either grown or seen 
them grown previously. Good heads were sold weighing from 6 lbs. 
to 10 tbs. each, and we are informed that one head weighed over 10 lbs., 
and was sold for 11c?., grown, we were informed, from seed of Giant 
Cauliflowers obtained from Messrs. Yeitch. 
Live Stock .—The lambing of the Down ewes is now nearly over, 
but the long-woolled and cross-bred ewes are just commencing the 
lambing season. There has been a fine and numerous fall of lambs 
in the southern, western, and home counties. We have received 
reports of abortion in a few cases; especially we may note a case 
where Hampshires and Dorsets having lived and fared alike during 
the whole of the autumn months. A large portion of the Hamp¬ 
shires brought their lambs prematurely, but the Dorsets did not 
suffer in the same way ; this we cannot consider as applicable to their 
breed, but no doubt produced by some hidden cause. This raises a 
very important question, for we have noticed lately that during a 
discussion at a Farmers’ Club, consisting of many large flockmasters, 
the idea was. started, and supported too, by practical men, that 
Turnips grown from phosphates as manure would produce abortion. 
As the result, however, of our own experience we cannot accept this 
conclusion. Dairy farming is now becoming very extensive, but we 
would ask the home farmer to consider whether it will pay so well 
to make butter in the winter months beyond the requirements of the 
establishment which he has to supply. There is much expense and 
a liberal use of valuable food, and much labour to supply the animals 
with the food required to produce the best butter in the winter 
months. It should, however, be remembered that in the case of cows 
calving in the months of April and May, that these would yield not 
only butter and milk of the best quality, but the cost of preparing food 
would be nominal, for they obtain their living chiefly, if the pasture 
is good, by grazing only, which is comparatively but little expense ; 
but, at the same time, it is during this period when the animals are 
in full milch. 
We have written of Bantams as a suitable fancy for many of 
our readers; of their attractions and present variety. We have 
written, too, of the much greater variety in them which we think 
would reward a few years of judicious breeding and careful selec¬ 
tion. It is high time to say something about rearing them. There 
are many poultry books with many good directions for bringing 
up chickens; in the columns of this Journal, too, we have not 
been behindhand in following the course of the poultry year and 
prescribing for chickens of all ages and sizes. It so happens, 
however, that as a rule we all want to get chickens as large as 
possible in a given time, be it for exhibition or for table, and so 
most of the directions for them tend as far as possible to produce 
giants of their kind. But Bantams should be pigmies, and so 
many a would-be Bantam breeder is disappointed at the in¬ 
ordinate size which his regime produces. Possibly he has bought 
a tiny prize pair at some exhibition, and is horrified to see their 
produce at ten weeks old towering over the mothers which they 
