564 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ December 27,1883. 
yet introduced for working with horses, and is likely to prove 
a very valuable implement, with which more work can be done 
in a day than with any other cultivator yet produced. This new 
patent cultivator is provided with a seat for the driver, who, 
instead of having the fatigue of walking over rough clods, rides 
comfortably on the implement The tines and beams are steel, 
and it is strongly constructed throughout. We hope to return to 
this subject again at an early date. 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
Horse Labour .—The work is now various and must continue so for a 
time, this being the dullest and least important period for beneficial 
horse labour. Rafter-ploughing is now being done on the fallows which 
were steam-cultivated on the stubbles and since worked down fine, the 
couch removed and drawn to heap to decay. This, if mixed with manure, 
will afford valuable compost for the pastures, especially low-lying or 
peaty meadows, upon which this dressing effects a wonderful improve¬ 
ment when laid on in January in frosty weather, or in July immediately 
after the hay crop is removed. It has in various instances doubled the 
produce of meadow land both in quantity and quality when we have 
applied couchy earth at any period of the year when the pastures are 
under feeding. Chalking should now be provided for, and all the finest 
chalk should be put away under cover in an old barn, where it may be 
passed through an iron ash screen. What passes through may be stored 
for drilling with root seeds and artificial manures, instead of ashes, upon 
land deficient in lime and chalk ; the residue not passing the screen may 
be laid out on the land most requiring it, and take the frost and changes 
of the weather which will make it valuable as soon as ploughed in. 
Any threshing of corn for sale should now be deferred until the end 
of January ; in fact, it is nothing but the low prices for both Barley and 
Wheat which can justify any delay in this work, for, strictly speaking, 
threshing corn for sale, especially where good granaries are found, should 
be done during the winter, in order that no more important work may be 
displaced at the spring or summer seed time for the Lent corn or Potatoes 
and roots. The question of ricking the straw is an important matter also, 
especially when grown near large towns in which the demand and price 
for this article are both good. Messrs. Howard’s new straw-trussing 
machine is an excellent move in the right direction, for the straw may 
now be not only threshed but trussed also at one and the same time, and 
as fast as trussed it may be ricked by little labour, seeing that it can be 
so easily handled by the fork. The sale and delivery of hay and straw is 
now a matter for consideration, as this is the period of leisure for horses, 
if there ever is or ought to be leisure of costly working animals. The 
old idea which formerly prevailed that the farmer’s rickyard ought to be 
the nation’s granary is quite out of date, nor can it ever hold good again, 
excepting under serious and disastrous circumstances ;and we must there¬ 
fore look well to the changes going on around us in order to make them 
advantageous to ourselves as individual farmers, for it is very seldom 
indeed that farmers are situated exactly alike, and therefore com¬ 
mercially the wisest course is to follow in that direction which points 
to profit only. 
Hand Labour .—The growth of fruit in connection with ordinary 
farming is attracting more attention than previously. The low price of 
corn induces the farmer to look to the commercial part of the subject, 
for we once heard a commercial gentleman say, in going over a farm 
with us, when he was told that although such and such crops were grown 
and properly manured, yet there was no profit on the farming, “ Well, 
as you derive no profit you might in fact as well have grown only so 
many acres of Thistles.” This is certainly very discouraging to farmers, 
but it is not far from the truth, commercially speaking. In various 
districts the planting of the best sorts of Apple trees, Plums, and 
Damsons would answer a good purpose, especially upon farms in hand 
or home farms, particularly if the trees were planted at certain distances 
and the intervals filled with bush fruit trees, such as Black Currants 
and Gooseberries of the best sorts. Forking out couch and root 
weeds at all intervals of open weather may now be done ; in fact, upon 
all soils cropped with roots before the sheep are allowed to be folded on 
them. The land should previously be hand-forked immediately after the 
fall of the leaves. Planting Firs for permanent woodlands may 
now be done, hedging, ditching, and banking, and the planting of 
Whitethorns for hedges should also be attended to in all the enclosed 
districts where fences and small fields render it necessary ; but on all dry 
friable soils it is better, agriculturally speaking, to grub the hedges, pipe- 
drain the ditches and fill them in level, so that the plough may pass over 
without hindrance. In this way much land is gained for producing 
crops, and much labour saved both in horse and hand tillage. 
Live Stock .—The horned Somerset and Dorset ewes and their early 
lambs are now improving fast, some of the earliest being sold for the 
Christmas shambles. The main portion of both ewes and lambs should 
receive a liberal allowance of the best field hay, a moderate quantity of 
roots passed through Gardner’s cutter, with cake and bean meal mixed 
with the roots in the trough. In this way there is little or no waste, and 
the food certainly entering the stomach together is not only more forcing, 
but more healthy for the animals; in fact, it is the only way in which 
every animal gets its fair share of cake when mixed with the cut roots. 
We reckon this much better than the plan pursued by some farmers 
formerly, who mixed the broken cake or cracked corn with hay-chaff, for 
sheep are sure to rout out the hay-chaff in searching for the superior 
food. The best of the fatting bullocks will now go to the market at 
Christmas time, but various farmers hold on a portion of their cattle in 
the boxes for succeeding markets, more particularly when the roots have 
proved not only abundant crops, but also those stored have been secured 
better in condition than usual. Dairy cattle have fared better than usual 
in the pastures in the December month, which, together with an 
abundant supply of roots and hay, and a clean bed of straw to lie upon, 
leave nothing to be desired, except an allowance of cake when in milk. 
AN AMERICAN FARM. 
The correspondent of a daily paper in recounting a journey to Yellow 
stone Park thus describes a farm on the route:—“Our next stopping 
place was Dalrymple Farm. The land takes the name from Mr. Oliver 
D. Dalrymple, who was born in the oil district of Pennsylvania. At the 
age of twenty-one he came to Minnesota and established himself at 
St. Paul, and, being a lawyer, tried the first case in a court of law in 
that State. Seeing the possibilities of the country for great Wheat 
farms, he gathered round him one or two men from his own neighbour¬ 
hood, with a Boston man named Chennery. They determined to move 
to Dakota and take advantage of the exceedingly low rates at which 
land was offered by Government and the Northern Pacific Railway 
Company, and accordingly purchased thousands of acres of rich soil at 
from 45 to 60 cents— 2s. to 2s. 6 d .—per acre. Ultimately they secured 
55,000 acres, of which 30,000 are under cultivation, but within two years of 
buying they sold 13,000 acres at prices ranging from eight to twelve dollars 
per acre. There are four partners—Messrs. Dalrymple, Alton, Glastin, 
and Chennery. Their system of farming is the result of Mr. Dalrymple’s 
personal experience on a small scale in Minnesota. He saw the necessity 
of using machinery of the best kind with which to accomplish work in the 
shortest possible time and at the cheapest cost. Having secured the land 
they broke up about 2000 acres, and each succeeding year the work has 
proceeded and their investments have proved more and more valuable. 
Tbe particular farm we inspected was twelve miles square. It was one 
vast field of Wheat; no division of any kind appearing except roads for 
waggons and horses. On the morning we visited it the harvesters were 
to commence reaping, and one hundred machines waited our arrival as 
the signal to begin. What a sight! two Scotch farmers who were with 
us were simply amazed. While the harvest lasts there are transported 
over the Northern Pacific line to Buffalo, as the objective point by way 
of Duluth, from 25,000 to 30,000 bushels daily, employing some thirty- 
five to fifty railway cars. It was estimated that this year the yield would 
be about 20 bushels per acre, but if a careful system of farming were 
pursued—anything like thorough English cultivation—the outcome would 
be 30 bushels. The top soil was 18inches to 2 feet of the finest loam— 
absolutely free from grit or stones of any kind. The subsoil is peat, 
retaining moisture all the year round. In winter the cold is intense— 
sometimes 52° below zero, and averaging 20° below freezing point. Yet 
the workmen who lived on the farm all the year round did not complain. 
Mr. Dalrymple and his family only reside here about six or eight weeks 
during summer.” 
OUR LETTER BOX. 
Cleaning Land ( Lundy’s Lane ).—All the chief implement makers in 
the kingdom, like Messrs Howards of Bedford, make and sell strong horse 
hoes calculated not only for cultivating between Vines, Hops, &c., but they 
are also fitted with shares or knives for surface-hoeing and the destruction 
of weeds under all systems of field culture. The working by hand labour 
is quite out of the question in destroying weeds when compared with a 
good strong horse hoe. 
Alderney Cows (A Lover of Cattle ).—The Alderney cow has evidently 
heen injured to cause lameness, or otherwise is suffering from rheumatism 
brought about by exposure in winterly weather, especially as it is stated 
that the animal does not suffer from lameness in the summer time. Channel 
Island dairy of cows cannot be allowed to remain out in cold winterly 
weather without loss of flesh and diminution of milk. When a dairyman 
will not listen to reason and common sense try a more suitable, good- 
tempered, and intelligent servant for the management of dairy cows. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
Camden Square, London. 
Lat. 51° 32 40' liT.; Long. 0° 8 0" W.; Altitude, 111 feet. 
DATE. 
9 A.M. 
IN THE DAT. 
5 
ci 
1883. 
December. 
Barome¬ 
ter at 32* 
and Sea 
Level 
Hygrome¬ 
ter. 
Direction 
of Wind. 
| Temp, of 
Soli at 
1 foot. 
Shade Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature. 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
sun. 
On 
grass. 
Inches. 
dee. 
dee. 
deg. 
dee. 
dee. 
deg. 
deg. 
In. 
Sunday . 
16 
29.717 
37.2 
34.7 
W. 
41.4 
43.8 
35.3 
65.0 
33.4 
0.062 
Monday. 
17 
80.329 
35.6 
31.4 
N.N.E. 
40.2 
39.3 
32.5 
48.4 
31.0 
0.016 
Tuesday. 
18 
30.446 
34.6 
32.9 
N.W. 
39.3 
39.8 
32.9 
56.8 
29.4 
— 
Wednesday .. 
19 
80.364 
40.0 
38.2 
N.W. 
39.6 
44.3 
33.9 
54.5 
32.3 
— 
Thursday .... 
20 
30.064 
41.6 
40.7 
W. 
39 6 
47.6 
35.1 
55.7 
31.6 
— 
Friday. 
21 
29.90 L 
46.0 
45.3 
N. W. 
41.0 
49.3 
40.4 
65.1 
40.3 
— 
Saturday .... 
22 
29.964 
44.6 
43.3 
s.w. 
41.3 
50.4 
40.5 
65.4 
36.4 
— 
30.112 
39.9 
33.5 
40.3 
44.9 
35.8 
58.7 
33.5 
0.078 
REMARKS. 
16th. —Fine morning ; snow at 1P.M.; gale and rain in evening. 
17th.'—Fine greater part of the day, few slight showers of sleet; fine sunset. 
18th.—Fine and cold. 
19th.—Fine day ; beautiful sunrises ; overcast evening. 
20th.—Morning fine and bright; afternoon overcast. 
21st.—Fine and mild pleasant day. 
22nd.—Fine ; good deal of wind in evening. 
A fine week, with temperature almost precisely the average.—G. J. StMONS. 
