152 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ August 16, 18S3. 
and well ventilated without being draughty. In addition to 
ventilation, thei'e ought to be sufficient light afforded by means 
of swing windows made to open so as to be used in summer for 
keeping the stable cool. They should, however, be provided 
with shutters or lattices to exclude the light, for after horses 
have been hardworked during a summer’s day the sooner they 
can be induced to lie down and rest by the stable beintr darkened 
the better, after they have been fed and curried. In the economy 
of a stable it is bad policy to stint the room for each horse. A 
dozen horses may be rendered uncomfortable, being unable to 
take their proper rest, merely for the sake of making room for 
one additional animal. Boxes for each animal are much better 
than stalls, in order not only to avoid accidental injury to the 
animals, but also to enable them to feed and rest undisturbed. 
For any further information on this part of our subject we refer 
the home farmer to our articles on “ Farm Horse Management ” 
in this Journal, dated the 10th and 17th January, 1878. 
We must now refer to the policy of contracting not only with 
the farrier as before stated, but also the blacksmith for shoeing 
and the saddler for repairs of harness. But with regard to im¬ 
plements, it comes hardly within the bounds of a contract, con¬ 
sequent upon the great increase of machinery in farm use ; 
still it may by specification of items for repairs, such as ploughs, 
ncluding shares and other irons, be a matter for contract; and 
where possible it is very well, fcr the charges for labour, not 
only by the blacksmith but the carpenter also, have been so 
much increased during the past twenty years, that repairs to 
implements are a serious item in the farm expenditure, and over 
which we have no control except by contract. 
Before concluding the subject we must refer to a practice of 
economy which we can recommend to the home farmer. That 
is, for tillage purposes to employ oxen instead of a certain num¬ 
ber of horses, in the proportion of two oxen for one horse. To 
illustrate our proposal we will take a farm usually working 
sixteen horses, and reduce the horses to twelve instead of six^ 
teen for the year, and introduce eight oxen for six months’ 
tillage labour only, commencing by the purchase of oxen of the 
Hereford, Sussex, or Devon breed in good fleshy condition, at 
four or fi\e years old, and broken into work, in the middle of 
the month of April, to continue in constant work on the land 
until the middle of the month of September, the oxen to be fed 
at the same cost per head per week as the horses, and kept upon 
suitable food, and stable management as required by them in 
their labour of tillage. Each pair of oxen will cost to purchase 
about as much as one four-year-old horse of the breed and size 
we have before described, say £28 each for the oxen, and the 
horse at £56.. Looking at the value of tillage labour done by 
the oxen during the period of six months above named as the 
most important period of the whole year for tillage work, the 
oxen will not only do work equal to the horses, but will improve 
in condition and value during the six months quite 30.*. each, 
whilst the horses if continued in work would have depreciated 
in value for the year £1 each. Thus in every way which this 
matter can be viewed by a practical farmer it exhibits not only 
an equality of. work done both in effect and value, but also an 
important gain in money, and leaving the home farmer in 
possession of valuable animals to go into the box for fattening 
during the winter months. By using two oxen to the plough 
and in other summer tillage four horses will be displaced for a 
year by eight oxen emqiloyed for six months. In conclusion, 
the superiority of steam power is so great when applied at the 
overcrowded seasons of horse labour, that a much smaller 
number of horses kept throughout the year will suffice for the 
annual work of the farm, when a portion of the labour of the 
spring and autumn months may be thus taken from them—a 
direct advantage in various ways. Steam power will insure its 
continued use to a certain extent, quite irrespective of its cost 
per acre. 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
Ilorse Labour .—Turnip seed may now be sown after 
Oats,_ Winter Barley, Early White Oats, upon some of the light kind and 
early soils of the southern, south-eastern, and home counties. Still 
every day will make a difference, and therefore as fast as the corn is cut 
and put into shocks or stooks the land may be ploughed between them 
and seeded by the drill set close, say 14 or 15 inches, between the lines 
for the purpose of horse-hoeing between the rows. If the plauts grow 
well thfey may be band-hoed and singled, leaving them very close, say 
12 inches apart, as of course the bulbs are not likely to come a large size, 
therefore the crop of bulbs must depend upon numbers only. It is, how¬ 
ever, a plan now becoming recognised that the plants should not be set 
out by singling, but be left to produce as much foliage as possible for 
the purpose of ploughing in as green manure, and which, if done the 
first opportunity afler Wheat-sowing is finished, the land will be found 
in excellent condition as regards not only manure, but also gives a stale 
furrow for Barley at the earliest seed time in the spring. If, however, 
the roots are required for sheep-feeding very fine crops have been grown 
where properly manured and singled. We have grown on certain occa¬ 
sions, especially when the harvest ha9 been early after White Canadian 
Oats fed off with ewes and lambs, and the land sown again with Cana¬ 
dian Oat?, each crop of which proving from 9 to 9£ quarters per acre. 
The latter crop, being seeded with Clover, has frequently produced a full 
crop for cutting up and soiling cattle, and horses after harvest, con¬ 
tinuing until the frost came in November, and we would sooner cut up 
Clover in autumn than feed it with sheep or cattle, for these are apt to 
bite out the crown buds of the Clover plants, when they will often die 
off in consequence. 
The Wheat fallows should now be got forward by the necessary 
tillage in order that the manure may be laid out in fine weather and 
ploughed in ; but in case of the weather proving adverse the dung may 
be laid out on the Clover leas instead, and the fallow Wheat manured 
with artificials. This in some cases is advisable, particularly when a 
loDg lain of Wheat has to be seeded, for it is well that we should not 
forget the serious losses of plant of Wheat which occurred last autumn 
by late sowing ; in fact, there really was no Wheat season available on 
our strong land and best Wheat soils between the 20th of October and 
the 20th of February. The first opportunity should be taken after the 
grain crop is removed to sow Trifolium. Let the land be shallow scari¬ 
fied or dragged with Howard’s excellent implements, the self-lifting drag. 
Sow some early Trifolium and some of the latest variety, for ours held 
out uutil July 15th this year. In case, however, it is intended to be cut 
for hay, either wholly or in part, it is well to have some Italian Rye 
Grass sown with it, as it opens the hay and favours the making, also 
improves the quality of the hay, and fills up vacancies or failures in 
plant which may occur. 
Horses will now be required attached to the reaping machine, and it 
is best to make a relay of horse power by not working them for this 
purpose more than five hours at a time. The weather still continues 
adverse for the early harvest while we are writing (August 9th). n r do we 
as yet see any prospect of settled fine weather ; in fact, with the wind 
varying from south to north-west as a rule we never get a continuation 
of good harvest weather. The crops of Clover to be ploughed in for 
manure should now be done, and the ploughing to bury a full crop of 
second-growth Clover should not be done at less than 6 inches in depth. 
As to the policy of ploughing-in there is no method of disposing of the 
second growth of Clover profitably comparable with it, for if it is fed off 
by sheep we cannot obtain so good a crop of Wheat afterwards as after 
cutting for hay or seed ; but in either case we run a great risk in saving 
for hay or seed, but there is no risk in ploughing-in if the work is properly 
done, for it is equal to a full dressing of yard manure for the succeeding 
Wheat crop, at the same time the land becomes settled and mellow in 
prospect of an early seed bed for the Wheat. 
Live Stock .—Abundance is everywhere found for the cattle and dairy 
cows in the vale farms, and grass and green crops on the hill farms for 
sheep. The open downs on the chalk formation never has afforded a 
better bite for sheep than at present ; but it will be necessary to carefully 
avoid feeding the stock ewes in the water meadows, for in all those ca c es 
where there is at all times a sufficiency of water for irrigation the feeding 
by sheep cannot be attempted with safety, but with the water turned 
off the land they may be safely fed with dairy cows, horses, See. Sheep 
are extremely dear, which is in favour of the breeding flocks on the hills ; 
but farms in the vales may be shortly stocked where the usual plan is to- 
buy in ewes and feed the lambs fat in the spring ; and in such a case 
with an abundance of roots the advantage of ploughing in the roots as 
against feeedisg may be ascertained by experiment, for in case of full 
crops of roots 13 tons per acre ploughed in is quite sufficient to produce- 
a full crop of Barley, Oats, or Wheat, and the remainder may be disposed 
of for feeding cattle, in the boxes ; but to bury them well the roots 
should be passed through an old Gardener's Turnip-cutter to distribute 
them as manure with regularity. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
Camden Square, London. 
Lat. 81° 32' 40" N.: Long. 0° 8 0" W. ; Altitude. Ill feet. 
Date. 
9 A.M. 
IN THE DAY. 
d 
"5 
« 
1883. 
August. 
Barome¬ 
ter at 32» 
and Sea 
Level 
Hydrome¬ 
ter. 
Direction 
o( Wind. 
| femu.ut 
Soil at 
1 1 foot. 
Shade Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature. 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
snn. 
On 
gnvss. 
Inches. 
deg. 
deg. 
dee. 
dee. 
deg. 
deg. 
dee- 
In. 
undny . 
5 
30.1 S3 
02.0 
60.2 
S.W. 
61.6 
72.3 
57.5 
116 l 
57.1 
— 
Monday . 
6 
29.969 
61.1 
60.2 
w. 
61.8 
70.3 
59 8 
118.6 
56.8 
0.023. 
Tuesday. 
7 
29.9.59 
63.6 
57.5 
N.W. 
62.0 
73.4 
52 8 
120.3 
48.4 
— 
Wednesday . 
8 
29.903 
60.2 
51.7 
S.W. 
62.4 
67.8 
51.0 
96.3 
47.1 
0.393 
Thursday .. 
9 
29.6.57 
59.7 
52.0 
N. W. 
60.7 
67.0 
55.3 
121.6 
50 5 
— 
Friday. 
10 
29 616 
59.6 
52.5 
S.W. 
60.0 
68.3 
49 4 
119.3 
44 6 
0.016 
Saturday ... 
n 
29.892 
61.1 
55.6 
S.W. 
60.2 
68.8 
50.8 
123.2 
46.6 
— 
29.875 
01.4 
56.0 
612 
G9 7 
53 9 
110 5 
50.2 
0.432 
REMARKS. 
5th.—Slight rain in early morning : dull oppressive day. 
6th.—Overcast; little sunshine at times ; slight shower 4 30 P.M. 
7th.—Fine, with bright hot sunshine. 
8th.—Fine early, afterwards dull and rainy, with high wind. Lightning and thunder 
at 6.15 P.M. with heavy rain. 
9th.—Fine, bright, and windy. 
10th. —Squally and rough ; slight shower at dood. 
11th.—Fine throughout. 
An unusually windy week for the time of year. Temperature slightly below the 
average.—Cr. J. SYMONS. 
