JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
i May 18, 1882.] 
with great satisfaction, for we can now notice them settled in 
various ways, in the occupation of land on their own account, or 
doing well in our colonies, or as skilled shepherds, ploughmen, 
thatchers, &c. 
This leads to the question of education, for not one of these men 
to whom we have alluded ever received education beyond reading, 
writing, and arithmetic, which was obtained only at the Sunday 
schools and evening classes of the period. We view education as 
a great social question, not to be applied indiscriminately ; for 
although it may be advisable in populous districts to teach the 
young in various ways, yet in the agricultural districts reading, 
writing, and arithmetic are sufficient, and this maybe attained with¬ 
out interfering with their training in the open fields for the various 
duties of an agricultural workman. Nor does this simple mode of 
proceeding prevent the most industrious and the most intelligent 
from rising into comparatively independent positions in the social 
scale of society, as shown by the result of our experience above re¬ 
ferred to. At the same time, we must consider that skilled labour 
in agriculture is more necessary than formerly, on account of the 
extension of machinery now employed on the farm, particularly 
the work required in connection with steam power, which can be 
readily acquired by men of moderate capacity if correctly taught. 
In fact, people in general are too apt to consider that no skill is 
required in the various occupations of the farm labourer. We 
must, however, remind them that the far greater portions of skilled 
labour can only be acquired on the farm in the exercise of daily 
labour, and if this is not done at an early age it cannot be done at 
all. In order to retain the services of an agricultural labourer of the 
present day some mode of spending his time other than attending 
the public-house seems to be essential, especially with the young 
men and lads in the country districts and villages, and we have 
viewed with satisfaction the question of working men’s clubs and 
halls. Amusements of various kinds are also introduced, and a 
cricket club is frequently connected with these workmen’s halls. 
Smoking and also drinking are usually, and very properly, pro¬ 
hibited, except the refreshment of coffee. Before concluding our 
subject we must refer to the policy of providing work for aged and 
partially infirm men. But, of course, these cannot be placed as 
labourers at full wages, but may always be employed at light work, 
such as weeding, hedge-trimming, and stone-picking, which is very 
important in those districts where female workers in the field can¬ 
not be obtained. Such men and the women may be paid at about 
the same rate of wages. We have only one more remark to make, 
and that refers to the fact and significance of the importance of 
piecework on the home farm, for we have an instance and illustra¬ 
tion where the farm labourers are paid as much as £1 per week at 
task work, while for day work only 13s. per week is paid. The 
task work, however, is the most beneficial to the farmer, and the 
labourer also if worthy of his hire. 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
Horse Labour .—The weather has become more settled; the land 
intended for Mangolds may now be seeded, and as the seed time has 
been somewhat delayed, abundance of manure will push the young 
plants forward ; and after the first hoeing, if they do not look gross 
and promising, 1 cwt. of nitrate of soda, 1 cwt. of kainit, and 1 cwt. 
of fishery salt should be mixed, and strewn per acre by hand between 
the rows of plants. In fact, we never need be afraid of applying more 
manure than the Mangold roots can take up, and as an investment 
it is safe and good, for we cannot exactly at all seasons estimate how 
much manure has been used by the Mangold crop; but it is quite 
satisfactory to know that whatever amount of manure is left in the 
land it will be available for the succeeding crop. The Potatoes were 
mostly planted before late rains. If, however, on some soils the 
planting has been delayed until now, the sooner they are set the 
better, and if the season is favourable there is no reason why a full 
crop of sound tubers may not be obtained, particularly of the Cham¬ 
pion and other late varieties, but the setting should not now be 
delayed by the carting and spreading of yard or town manure, 
because time is important, and it has been proved repeatedly in our 
practice that 4 or 5 cwt. of Peruvian guano is equal in its results to 
almost any quantity of yard or town manure that can be applied, 
and the crop is less liable to suffer from the disease. The Carrot 
seed should now be sown, and if the land is clean and in good con¬ 
dition from its previous management and cultivation, the middle of 
May is about the best time for drilling the seed. We find when the 
seed is put in earlier that it lies longer in the ground before vege¬ 
tating, but it makes no difference to the weeds, for they grow so fast 
that they not only necessitate an extra hoeing, but in some instances 
it is impossible to hoe the Carrots at all, unless they are drilled upon 
the stetch, and the land kept horse-hoed between the lines until the 
Carrot plants are strong enough for hand-hoeing in the lines. We 
have grown first-rate crops of Carrots drilled on the flat, the land 
being ^once ploughed and pressed after Rye or Trifolium cut up for 
cattle • but the land should be worked close behind the presser,.so 
that the land may be extremely fine on the surface, and drilled with 
some artificial manure so that no time may be lost. In this way 
415 
2 cwt. of guano, 4 cwt. of bone superphosphate, mixed with 20 bushels 
of ashes per acre may be drilled with the seed at 15 inches apart 
between the lines, and if the after management is properly done by 
clean hoeing and singling at 9 inches apart in the lines, a very full 
crop may be expected at but little cost. This crop or Mangolds we 
can recommend for cultivation on land being deficient in chalk, and 
where Turnips of sorts could not be grown without becoming club- 
rooted, which is fatal not only to the weight, but also to the quality 
and feeding value of all the Turnip or Brassica species of vegetables. 
The preparation of the land intended for Swedish or early Turnips 
should be forwarded as much as possible, for in the northern and mid¬ 
land counties it is now time for drilling Swede and hybrid Turnip seed, 
especially if the produce will be required for storing off the land for 
cattle food in the boxes, or for sheep feeding on the land as a pre¬ 
paration for Wheat upon strong and level soils. If chalk or lime 
are required the former may be made fine and drilled with the 
seed and manure at the rate of 25 bushels per acre ; this mixed with 
the usual or requisite quantity of artificial manure will insure the 
roots growing sound and free from the clubbed roots. The lime, too, 
may be applied by the drill and mixed with the manure if super¬ 
phosphate only is applied, but in case guano or other ammoniacal 
manure is used lime will dissipate the ammonia to a certain extent. 
In such a case we would apply bone superphosphate only, with 
thirty bushels of lime per acre, and after the Turnips are hoed we 
should apply 1 cwt. of nitrate of soda and 1 cwt. of fishery salt per 
acre by hand between the lines just before the second horse-hoeing. 
Hand Labour .—Labour should now be held in readiness for the hay 
season, for the grass is now, or will be, fit to cut in a few days in the 
early districts of the southern and home counties, and we advise 
the home farmer to be prepared with apparatus required for exhaust¬ 
ing the heat and any water out of the hay, and build the ricks of 
hay as required to make the exhausting apparatus available, especi¬ 
ally as it is by no means a costly matter, like Mr. Gibbs’ drying-by¬ 
heat apparatus. This system of exhausting the heat from the ricks 
has been quite successful in every instance which has come within 
our notice, and we consider it one of the most ingenious and bene¬ 
ficial inventions that has ever been offered to the farmer, because it 
is not only applicable to hay, but to corn and pulse ricks also, for 
we know that a large portion of the Oat ricks made in the northern 
and midland counties last year were heated, and the straw moulded, 
which by the use of the exhausting-of-heat process might have been 
avoided entirely. 
Live Stock .—In the south-western counties where the horned stock 
of the Somerset and Dorset breeds are kept, this is the time for turn¬ 
ing out the rams for service in the breeding flocks, but especially the 
off-going portion of the ewes which are to be sold in the autumn for 
the purpose of rearing early lambs for the supply of the metropolitan 
market. Instead,however, of mating the ewes with rams of the same 
breed, the off-going ewes are mated with a Down ram in order that 
the lambs may be of the choicest quality. There are, however, 
certain points of management to be observed. The ewes should 
not be shorn of their wool until they have been served, otherwise 
they will refuse service, frequently until the end of June. The rams 
should be shorn about a fortnight before being run with the ewes. 
It is well to keep them under cover at night time for some days 
previous to their being turned out with the ewes. Down rams of 
the best quality should be chosen, either of the pure South Down 
breed, or otherwise of well-bred Dorset Downs. The ewes must be 
liberally fed to induce them to breed at the earliest season. 
TUFTED FOWLS AS LAYERS. 
We return to the subject of breeds of fowls excellent as layers. 
About a million and a half of eggs are on an average daily im¬ 
ported into England. With real care and a little intelligence 
the cottagers of our island might supply that demand just as 
well as those of the continent, and anyone who put them in 
a way to do so would be a public benefactor. The last race of 
good layers about which we wrote is one distinguished by ample 
combs, and which has long had its home on the sunny shores of 
the Mediterranean. We now come to another highly productive 
family, and one with many collateral ramifications, but all alike 
decorated with a tuft larger or smaller on the head. 
In old English farmyards were to be found fowls crested like 
the lark and of various colours ; they were always known by good 
henwives as excellent layers. It is impossible to say for certain 
whether they were a distinct breed long bred with small crests, 
or whether these were only the traces of remote relationship to 
large-crested Polish ancestors, for the so-called Polish fowl was 
long ago known in England. Aldrovandi believed them to be a 
distinct race. He speaks of “ our farmyard hen known to every¬ 
body, entirely white and crested like a lark.” We certainly can 
remember in some old-fashioned English farmyards, before the 
