December 15,1881.] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER . 553 
WORK OK THE HOME FARM. 
Horse Labour .—The employment of the horses has lately, owing to 
the changeable weather which has prevailed, been subject to delay so 
far as late sowing of Wheat has been concerned ; still there has been 
the fallows to be ploughed, which in various instances have not yet 
been completed. With regard to Wheat-sowing, as there will be more 
than usual sown this year in consequence of the idea which is gaining 
ground that Wheat after all, except on the lightest soils, is the best 
rent-paying crop of all the cereals, chiefly in conseqence of the low 
price at which Barley is selling, and considering that this has occurred, 
too, after the repeal of the malt tax, there seems but little hope of 
Barley commanding so good a price as was expected. In consequence 
of this we also approve the policy of sowing as much Wheat as can 
be sown within a reasonable time, which may be said to be from the 
present time until the second week in February; depending,however, 
upon the state of the land and the weather, in the event of the land 
being very dry and light at the proposed period of sowing we should 
prefer to sow Barley instead of Wheat. When Wheat is drilled with 
the land very dry and fine the weeds are nearly sure to gain the 
ascendancy. In fact, a good preparation for Barley is just the reverse 
for Wheat, as the land cannot be too heavy and wet for Wheat, if it 
can only be drilled or sown after the press, and the seed properly 
buried, and the land laid into the required shape as regards the size of 
the ridges. We must, however, remember that the land should be 
quite clean and free from couch grass, and otherwise in good con¬ 
dition, so that a full crop of straw may be expected. In case of any 
doubt existing upon the.latter point the spring growth of the Wheat 
should be carefully watched, and in the event of the plant losing 
colour cwt. per acre of nitrate of soda should be sown broadcast, 
and immediately followed by the use of the horse hoe, which will not 
only enable the nitrate to act more quickly and effectually, but 
destroy a large portion of the weeds. Nothing can show the benefit 
of wide drilling better than this ; and in case the Wheat has been 
sown broadcast and cannot be horse-hoed, it is but little use to 
expect the full advantage of artificial manures which may be applied, 
or the destruction of weeds. In fact, it is frequently hopeless to 
effect any improvement in the crop in the spring unless the grain is 
drilled 10 to 12 inches apart between the rows. As regards the time 
of sowing late Wheat, the earlier it can be done satisfactorily the 
better ; that is to say, December is a better seed time than January, 
and January is better than February, but especially when the land is 
close and heavy at seed time, for then the seed lies firm in the land 
like the early-sown Wheat, and in consequence is less subject to 
injury by the growth of weeds. It is, however, desirable to sow or 
drill not less than three bushels of seed per acre at the late season, as 
the larks, rooks, and pigeons are sure to attack the first sprouts as 
they appear above ground. 
Live S'.ock .—The horned ewes have now finished lambing, and on 
entering upon root-feeding it is. a good plan to divide the flocks, 
placing all the earliest ewes and their lambs together and feed them 
both so that they may all be sold fat at the same time. The ewes 
which lamb later—that is to say, after the middle of November, may, 
if some ewes are required to be kept over for another season, be 
maintained in merely store condition, but the lambs may be fed in 
advance and liberally upon the best of food. In this way the very 
best of stock will be available for the next season, as the ewes will be 
sure to lamb early, and may be kept in larger numbers as store sheep 
going to fold during the summer, and yet be in prime condition early 
in the autumn when the lambs fall. Young cattle when intended for 
the dairy should now be carefully fed in the yards and sheds at night 
time, with a run during daytime upon the pastures. But those calves 
and yearlings intended to come out as baby beef should be kept 
entirely under cover and fed in twos or threes according to age, and 
singly after they reach fifteen months old. We have never found 
cattle pay better than under the system of early maturity—that is, 
kept on the best of food and in a fatting state as calves, and so con¬ 
tinued on until they go to the butcher, so that when as fat calves 
they should never lose flesh at any after period. In this way we 
have frequently sold young cattle, both heifers and steers,at nineteen 
and twenty months old to weigh 100 stones of 8 tbs. The value of 
this system of management was well exhibited by some prize animals 
just over two years old of great weight and prime quality at Islington 
Hall Show recently. 
POULTRY IN WINTER. 
WlN’TER has begun, or at least we may expect it shortly to 
begin. It is well to be beforehand with it in the poultry yard. A 
few precautions would have saved us many losses and much vex¬ 
ation during the last few terrible winters. We wrote long ago 
about the necessary autumnal repairs of houses ; these we sup¬ 
pose to have been attended to. It is not, however, enough to 
have warm and watertight roosting houses ; if severe frost set in, 
or, still more, driving frosty fog such as we had last January, the 
poultry must be confined to them, save in the most sheltered situ¬ 
ations. A very short exposure to it causes the combs of many 
cocks to be frost-bitten, especially if they have been much shown 
or kept in warm places. No malady is more difficult to deal with 
than frost-bite. Its effects are not apparent till the mischief is 
done, and often not at all to an unpractised eye. The gills perhaps 
swell suddenly, and the unfortunate bird is thought to have a 
mere cold, and is placed near a fire in absolute torture ; or slight 
discoloration of the comb is the first sign that part of it is practi¬ 
cally lifeless. If once frost touches the comb the bird must be 
kept in darkness in a moderately cool place, and the parts affected 
gently rubbed with zinc ointment. Prevention, however, which 
is not difficult, is far better than cure. 
It is, of course, particularly desirable, now that the breeding 
season is at hand, to keep stock birds in the most vigorous health. 
With this object in view overfeeding must be avoided. There is 
no time of year at which poultry are so likely to be injured by 
kindness as the present. Cold stimulates their appetites, and to 
the ignorant it seems cruel to stint them. The moult of adults is, 
however, over, and the growth of young birds—at least, such as 
are fit to breed from—is almost finished. These two great drains 
on the system have ceased, and the bird at once begins to put 
flesh on quickly. This is especially the case with pullets, and 
must be specially guarded against. Overfat hens never produce 
strong and healthy chickens. 
There are probably just now many of our readers who are about 
to start incubators. Attracted by the clever inventions to be seen 
at the Crystal Palace and Birmingham, and their neat workman¬ 
ship, they have made their purchases or given their orders, and 
are looking forward to large broods emerging from the pfetty egg- 
drawers. Let us give them a few warnings. To begin with, they 
probably intend to save up a goodly collection of their choicest 
eggs against the arrival of the much-talked-of machine. Four 
and twenty hours will, they fancy, be time enough to study its 
whole working and regulation, and then in all the eggs will go to 
the one basket, or rather one drawer, to inevitable destruction 
and addlement! Let us assure the inexperienced that it takes a 
long time to master the regulation of any incubator. If early 
chickens are required the incubator should at once be set to work, 
and, after a few days, a trial set of valueless eggs be put in and 
hatched out before really precious ones are tried. The regulation 
of an empty incubator and one full of eggs is a very different 
matter, so the trial must be made with some sort of eggs. 
Another absolutely necessary precaution is to have the ther¬ 
mometer tested beforehand. Many are faulty, and cause the waste 
of many eggs and much time and trouble. Last year we spoilt 
several batches of eggs, which all failed in the second week of 
incubation, because a thermometer registered 2° or 3° above the 
actual temperature. On the first testing nearly every egg seemed 
good and duly changed, but subsequently the germ ceased to 
progress. 
The subject of testing reminds us of the very useful leaflets we 
saw at the Crystal Palace by Miss May Arnold’s “egg oven,” 
with dia rams showing the various stages of progress and failure 
in the incubation of eggs. We should advise all novices in incu¬ 
bation to purchase them. It is easy enough after four days to 
distinguish between clear and fertile eggs, but the difficulty arises 
subsequently. From various causes the germ fails at different 
stages of development. We are naturally fearful of ejecting a 
good egg, but the presence of a bad one is certainly injurious to 
those containing living chicks. These diagrams will help us 
much in discriminating between the living and the dead germs. 
Similar precautions should be taken to test the working of all 
artificial mothers. It is not so easy to “ cook ” the chickens once 
hatched as the eggs beforehand, still their well-doing depends 
much upon regularity of temperature. If there is any doubt 
about the heat to be kept up the safe side is below rather than 
above the proper mean. 
Another point which needs the first care is the storage of the 
eggs saved for hatching. It is commonly thought that an egg is 
an egg, and that so long as it is not absolutely broken it must 
produce a chicken. Its treatment between its production and the 
time it is placed under a hen or in an incubator is supposed to be 
quite immaterial. Ouly those who have ever sold superfluous eggs 
for sitting have an idea of the ignorance of the public about the 
conditions under which eggs are or are not likely to hatch. 
In frosty weather an egg is very soon chilled after being laid, 
especially if the nest be upon the damp ground. It is not enough 
for eggs to be collected every evening when the birds are shut up. 
Most of them will long ere that have been frozen, and all chance 
of the germ ever coming to life be gone. The laying hens, gene¬ 
rally few in such weather, must be carefully watched, and the 
eggs collected before they are cool, put deep in bran or dry saw¬ 
dust. We say dry sawdust advisedly, for the turpentine in wet 
