234 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
\ September 8, 1881. 
bay, these being opened or closed by slides, so that any one can 
be worked without using the others. In stacking the hay a verti¬ 
cal air shaft or chimney is formed over each aperture by the com¬ 
mon method of drawing up a sack of straw or a round chaff 
basket as the building of the rick proceeds, but these ventilating 
flues are carried up to only half the height of the stack. The new 
plan of making the hay consists in tedding the grass as fast as it is 
cut and exposing it to the withering action of the air, whether there 
be sunshine or occasional showers. In about two days without 
any further labour upon the crop, and whether it be wet or not 
(a drv day, of course, being preferred for the operation), the 
green hay, in a condition of not more than half made, is collected 
into rows by the horse rake, carted, and stacked. The rick at 
once begins to ferment and heat, and this heat naturally generated 
is made use of to change the moist grass into properly dried hay ; 
in fact, the hay makes itself by its own heat, without the cost of 
field manipulations, and without the risk inseparable from employ¬ 
ing the suu’s heat for the same purpose ; the business being a cer¬ 
tainty in any weather whatever, and the quality of the product 
cannot be beaten, as witness the cut stack now remaining in the 
rick-yard at Colston Bassett, from the hay made by the process in 
the wet of last year. 
“Everyone knows that half-made hay put together in mass 
quickly heats to a point at which if left to itself it will completely 
spoil, and probably fire. This is, however, prevented by the use 
of an exhaust fan set in motion, and drawing the heated air from 
the pipe at the base of the rick, which is connected with the 
chimney in the centre of the stack, and by that means rarefying 
the air in the chimney ; the replacement of that air, however, can 
come only by currents penetrating the rick from the outside walls 
and r >of, and gradually converging into the chimney in the centre. 
By this suction of hot air and moisture out of the mass cold air is 
induced to enter the stack at all points, and to seek the central 
flue, bearing with it the excess of heat and the moisture, and cool¬ 
ing the whole substance of the rick. Mr. Knowles’ five-horse¬ 
power steam engine drives the fan with sufficient force when 
giving out a mere fractional part of its power. One horse, how¬ 
ever, working a fan by means of an ordinary chaff-cutter, horse 
gear, and intermediate speed gear, will do well; or two men turn¬ 
ing a corn-'lressing machine fan arranged in connection with the 
air tube have been able to accomplish all that was wanted for 
cooling a stack. With a gentle exhaust the atmospheric air is 
caused to permeate every part of the rick in ample quantity for 
keeping down the temperature of the fermenting grass. Mr. 
Knowles has brought the internal temperature of a large rick for 
130° down to 90 c in the short space of forty minutes. In the rick 
while building he lays at various heights wooden tubes of bore 
large enough to admit a thermometer to be introduced by a lath, 
these tubes reaching horizontally from the outside to the centre, 
and thus the heat of all portions of the stack can be examined. 
A temperature of 100° is considered the maximum at which it is 
advisable to let the fermentation work, the fan being set in opera¬ 
tion at any heat approaching this. The same provision of air 
ducts, and a manually operated exaust fan, have been employed 
with advantage in keeping barley and other corn stacks from 
heating.” In concluding our extracts and quotations from this 
interesting aud valuable report we beg to state that on a future 
occasion we intend to give our opinions upon this matter in com¬ 
parison with that of others, and our mode of proceeding at former 
periods, &c. 
(To be continued.) 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
Horse Labour .—This will now, when not employed in connection 
with harvest, be engaged, together with any oxen which may be kept 
for farm work, upon land intended for Wheat, such as laying out the 
dung upon the Clover leas. This may be spread immediately with 
the view of being ploughed in, for it is quite the exception where 
land at this period is too wet for ploughing out of lea. On the con¬ 
trary, it will be all the better for being rather close when ploughed. 
The autumn tallowing, which after the seeding of Trifolium, Rye, 
winter Tares, and winter Beans, must have immediate attention 
whenever the ground is dry enough for cultivating either by the 
steam tackle, horse, or ox labour, and proceed with the farm work at 
any period previous to the cultivation for Wheat, except upon strong 
cold fallow land. In that case the sooner the dung is laid out the 
better ; but what is more beneficial is that dung should not be used 
on fallowed, strong, flat-lying land and on fields distant from the 
homestead, for we prefer to use guano in the autumn and nitrate of 
soda in the spring. In this way we dress the land without fear of 
the manure producing weeds, as much of ths farmyard dung does. 
Even where all the stock on the farm have earth under their beds for 
absorption of liquid manures, yet when dried peat is used we have an 
earth adapted for absorption ; yet it never produces weeds, being 
composed of decayed vegetation. The autumn period for cultivation 
is the foundation of all good farming, for whether the land comes in 
for Barley after Wheat, or Mangold, Carrots, Cabbage, or other early 
roots, it should be cultivated as soon as the crop is cleared. We 
never hesitate about delaying the season for Wheat a little if the 
land is found in a state fit for cultivation, because as soon as the 
autumn rains commence, which they usually do about the middle of 
October, no more cultivation can be carried out. After the Wheat is 
all sown the land previously cleaned on the surface may with advan¬ 
tage be deeply ploughed before the winter frosts commence. The 
lifting of the Potato crop must soon be done, and will go on easily 
if a strong horse is used to one of the Potato-lifting frames attached 
to the frame of the double mould plough followed by an active party 
of women and lads, for this is strictly women’s field work, as some of 
them will do more at it than men. 
Hand Labour .—Men will now be required in trimming fences, 
such as the Whitethorn or quickset hedges, especially where they 
were not trimmed once in the summer, for this wood hardens very 
quickly and thus becomes almost like wire, in which case it is not 
easy to keep a handsome and good fence when not trimmed both in 
July and September. Filling dung into the carts, laying out and 
spreading, will be continued, also hoeing and finishing the late 
Turnips, which, owing to the heavy rains lately, have not made such 
good progress as usual upon the mixed soils. Young Turnips cannot 
receive so much rain as older crops without injury. The labour in 
wood-cutting may commence on the home farm about the ‘20th of the 
month, for it has been a practice on various estates as long ago as we 
can recollect that underwood sold may be considered ripe for cutting 
on the 13th of this month; and many buyers prefer to begin early, 
because the wood cuts softer and makes up into hoops with less 
labour than wood hardened by winter weather. When the cutting of 
underwood commences it ought to be thought of whether trees for 
timber are to be reserved, and if so should be marked with red or 
white paint previous to the woodmen beginning their work. The 
home farmer, too, must remember, if it falls to his lot to mark the 
trees for timber, not to reserve any stems or those which have been 
previously cut off as underwood, but reserve those Oak plants only 
which have grown direct from the acorn and the Ash from the seed. 
Live Stock .—When horses are reared on the home farm with the 
view of future employment in the tillage, &c., the foals will now be 
weaned, or very soon according to age, and at such a time we advise 
that they should be as a rule kept in sheds and littered yards, and 
fed carefully with good hay and Oats, or Maim. At such times they 
do best kept in pairs, for they enjoy companionship, and do not so 
much miss their dams, and when they have always access to water 
and rocksalt they are sure to do well. Cattle which have been 
grazing for the butcher on the pastures will soon be ready for sale, 
at least the forwardest in condition. The past summer has, however, 
been so dry and the grass in some cases very deficient, that the 
bullocks are not so early in condition as usual, still they will pay for 
receiving supplementary food, such as cotton cake and Bean or Barley 
meal; for in consequence of the late abundant rains the grass has 
sprung up so suddenly, and it is not so nutritious as grass of slower 
growth, hence the animals require other food to maintain them in 
advancing condition. The dairy cows on the contrary are doing 
very well on the short young grass, and are yielding a satisfactory 
quantity of milk. These animals, however, would be benefited by 
an allowance of bran and Maize at milking time night and morning, 
especially the cows kept for making butter, otherwise for yielding 
milk for sale cotton cake answers a good purpose, except where ani¬ 
mals are kept stalled and a supply of grains can be obtained from the 
brewery or distillery. The sheep on the home farm are not likely 
during the coming autumn to be in want of grass either in the 
meadows or parklands. The grass in the water meadows should be 
fed by dairy cows, as it is never safe for sheep after a succession of 
wet weather. The young cattle, both calves, yearlings, and heifers, 
will now find abundance of grass under a well-regulated system of 
stocking ; but as the nights are getting longer and colder great care 
should be taken for them to lie high and dry at night if possible, this 
being the time of year when young animals full of condition are very 
liable to quarter-iil and splenic diseases. The breeding ewes should 
now have the rams with them, as in the midland districts the plan is 
to have the lambs to fall earlier if possible than formerly, because it 
is on very few farms where they depend upon pasture only, and it is 
now thought best to have a rather larger portion of arable land under 
culture, at any rate where a considerable stock of breeding ewes are 
maintained. 
DAIRY AND POULTRY FARMING. 
Although dairy farming has been le-s injured during the 
period of agricultural depression thru arable land farming, still 
there are various points requiring attention, in order that dairy 
products may be turned out of the be-t quality, whether of 
cheese, butter, or sale of mdk, for this is almost the only way 
that foreign importations can be competed with successfully. 
We do not consider at present any particular districts have 
the monopoly of supplying the large towns as formerly with 
dairy products, because managers of out-lying farms away 
from the railway stations or towns can turn their attention to 
the rearing of calves for veal ; in fact, it is weil known that 
various dairymen have given up butter and cheese-making and 
