298 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ September 25, 1884. 
difficulty about re-letting would have been the selection of the most 
suitable man from the numerous applicants for every farm that fell 
vacant. Truly agents may look back with a sigh to that golden 
easy-going time, and wonder if they will ever see the like again. 
To farmers generally the burning question of the moment is 
Wheat-growing. With Wheat at 4.9. Qd. per bushel we ma}^ well 
hesitate to sow as much as heretofore. But there is certainly another 
side to the question, and that is, Can we effect no improvement in 
Wheat culture? Is the quantity of grain and straw per acre what it 
ought 10 be ? If Ave put faith in the statement of Major Sergison 
about his Wheat crop, and compare it with general results, we are 
bound to own that it is not. The old system of bare fallow and 
farmyard manure in Wheat culture must be given up, and if the 
present low price of Wheat only tends to that it will not prove an 
unmixed evil. Put the cost of production of the old dressing of 
thirty cartloads of farmyard manure at 90s, add to it that of cartage 
and spreading, compare it with the 33s. per acre which the artificial 
manure cost which was used by Major Sergison, and it will not only 
appear an extravagant method of culture, but it will also bring in 
question the saying—nay, it is much more than a saying, it is an 
article of faith—that the profit from live stock lies in the manure. 
In connectipn with the question of the comparative value of manures 
and the cost of application to the land we have the heavy item of 
men, horses, and carts ; and any improvement that leads to a reduc¬ 
tion of expense in this direction ought certainly to receive most 
careful attention. These are among the things that drag the farmer 
down, and if he is really in earnest in striving for improvement 
every minor detail of expense must be checked. Wheat-sowing will 
soon be in hand now, and we therefore reprint Professor Jamieson’s 
prescription for the artificial manure which wms used by Major 
Sergison for his Wheat :—4 cwP nitrate of potash, 14 cwt. nitrate 
of soda, ^ cw't. steamed bone flour, | cw't. superphosphate, cwt. 
coprolite, half to be used in the autumn, and half for a spring dressing. 
We have used these manures for grass, roots, and cereals this 
year, and we certainly have ample reason to recommend them. The 
crop of hay both of Meadow Grass and of Bye Grass and Clover is 
above the average. Bed Square-headed Wheat was large and heavy 
in ear and grain, and the straw was upwards of 5 feet in height. 
Oats were equally good. Of field Potatoes we grew Early'^ Boss, 
Snowflake, Magnum Bonum, and Scotch Champion. All were alike 
excellent, the entire crop being a remarkably heavy one, free from 
disease. Mangolds are, however, our most remarkable crop. The 
whole of the seed could not be sown at once, and the earliest sowing 
having the benefit of a shower the germination w'as quick, and the 
plants were soon visible ; but the drought checked the growth and 
flea laid hold of the weak foliage. The later-sown seed made no sign 
for a long time, but when the rain came the effect was magical. 
Plenty of plants came, with very few blank spaces. Hoeing and 
thinning followed in due course, and now the crop is so even that it 
is difficult to distinguish any difference without a very elose inspec¬ 
tion. The sort grown is Sutton’s Mammoth Long Bed, and although 
the weight per acre can hardly equal that of a wet summer, yet it 
bids fair to approach it. For the roots some faimy'ard manure was 
used, as well as the artificial manure, and here w’e were probably 
right, for farmyard manure contains so large a per-centage of 
moisture that it must contribute materially to the health of root crops 
in such a hot dry summer as we have had this year. We advocate 
no sweeping measure of reform in farming, but a cautious progressive 
system of improvement in everything where improvement appears 
possible. Swedes are under-sized, and there were so many failures 
that white Turnips were sown to fill them. We have long ceased to 
depend much upon this crop, giving preference to the heavier and 
more certain one of Mangolds, about using which early in the season 
there need be no hesitation if pulping and mixing with chopped 
straw be done. The fermentation after mixing removes the acrid 
principle from the Mangolds so thoroughly that there is no risk of 
diarrhsea being caused in the animals, and the straw is rendered more 
digestible. 
(To be continued.) 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
Horse and Hand Lalour .—Frequent showers upon the warm soil 
have quickened growth so much that late-sown Turnips have outgrown 
the thinness and become much crowded. Thinning and hoeing must be 
pressed on and finished as soon as possible to afford space for growth 
while the weather continues warm. The germination of Trifolium and 
Rye seed was so quick that green growth was visible in a week from the 
time of sowing. Men are now kept steadily at work upon the hedge¬ 
clipping—no light matter where there are several miles of hedges—to 
have all trim for winter, and because the cutting is easier now than it is 
after the leaves fall. Dung mixens, too, are being turned and got ready 
for the October carting. Paring and burning is still being done on 
favourable days. 
Field Potatoes have been taken up in capital condition. Strong- 
growing sorts like Magnum Bonum and Champion had the haulm cut off 
as soon as it was quite evident that growth had ceased and some of the 
foliage became yellow ; they were then left for a week or ten days and 
then ploughed up with the soiling plough. This was rather a rough-and- 
ready but most expeditious process, most of the tubers coming to the 
surface, and the remainder were got by passing the harrows oyer the 
surface after the first picking. If late Potatoes have been left with the 
haulm uncut under the erroneous idea that the tubers would ripen better, 
fresh grswth has been induced by the rain—growth not only of the 
haulm, but upon the tubers which have put forth shoots bearing another 
crop of worthless tubers, and the true crop is thus converted into seed 
and spoiled. 
Live Stock .—Advantage should be taken of sales of cows of known 
excellence to fill vacancies in the herd. However careful and pains¬ 
taking one may be, such vacancies will occur either from barrenness, 
debility, or old age. We always try to dry off faulty cows early enough 
in summer to enable them to lay on flesh so as to be ready for the butcher 
by the end of the present month. Cows of four or five years old consume 
so much food that to fatten them in the yard or stalls is unprofitable. 
Litter is still being cut and carted to the yards, which must now be got 
ready for the stock should the weather set in cold and wet. Before 
putting down litter see that the drains are in working order ; this is a 
matter often overlooked. We have seen elaborate buildings of a costly 
description enclosing yards where the cattle were standing knee-deep in 
water in midwinter, a severe trial for the health of the strongest beasts ; 
but they frequently take possession of the lodges, driving out the weaker 
animals to an exposure, which often leads to disease and death. No bad 
effects are visible at the moment, but it occurs later on when the cause 
is very likely forgotten. 
FILLING A SILO WITH MAIZE. 
An interesting experiment, says a daily contemporary, was conducted 
the other day on the Peckforton estate by filling a specially constructed 
silo with Maize, the product of an acre and a half of land. The rooks, 
it is said, nearly destroyed the first crop, which was sown in drills; the 
land was then sown broadcast, a luxuriant crop of Maize averaging quite 
18 tons of green food to the acre being the result. 
The conviction has long been entertained by a few shrewd country 
farmers that Maize would pay as a fodder crop provided a remedy for the 
destructiveness of the rooks was brought into lorce. But again we are 
afraid that the Maize cultivator will have more to contend against than 
rooks. The season has been everything that could be desired; although 
too hot and dry in some quarters, in others everything was in favour of 
heavy green crops. The Maize on the above estate was cut, tied into 
bundles of 25 lbs. each, carted to a shed where it was put through a 
Chandlei’s chaffeutter, and transferred to the silo ; a ^ lb. of salt being 
mixed with each 1 cwt. of chopped Maize, not for preserving purposes, but 
to make it sweeter for the stock. The silo is 12 by 15 feet, and is buil 
entirely above ground.—M. S. 
Amsterdam Agricultural Exhibition, —We are informed that Messrs. 
James Carter & Co., High Holborn, London, have been awarded the 
following prizes for their productions at this exhibition—namely, a Gold 
Medal for Grass seeds in growth; First Prize of Honour for Pulse— i.e., 
Garden Peas, Beans, &c. ; First Prize of Honour for samples and specimens 
of Grass and Clover seeds. 
OUR LETTER BOX. 
stubble Turnips (J. J. S .).—For stubble Turnips sown between the lines 
of sheaves the double-breasted plough is not used at all. With an ordinary 
plough as wide a strip of land as can be spared is ploughed, the seed sown 
broadcast at once, and the harrow passed over it as many times as is found 
necessary to well cover the seed. By this method of sowing on the flat and 
not in ridges raised by the double-breasted plough, excellent roots of a use¬ 
ful size are obtained in an ordinary season. With the early harvest of this 
year a crop of really fine roots will be had, especially where a dressing of 
artificial manure has been given. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
Camden Square, London. 
Lat.51° 32'40'' N.; Long. 0° 8' 0' W.; Altitude, 111 feet. 
Uate. 
1# A.M. 
IN THE DAY. 
0 
*2 
1884. 
September. 
Barome¬ 
ter at 32« 
and Sea 
Level 
Hygrome¬ 
ter. 
Direction 
of Wind. 
Temp, of 
Soil at 
1 foot. 
Shade Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature. 
Dry. 
Wet 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
sttn. 
On 
grass. 
Inches. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
In. 
Sunday .... 
. 14 
30.115 
64.4 
61.4 
N.E. 
60.4 
73.4 
65.9 
103.6 
49.7 
— 
Monday. 
30.(100 
64.1 
61.8 
E. 
60.5 
76.1 
65.2 
116.2 
48.7 
0.017 
Tuesday. 
30.181 
67.0 
62.0 
S.E. 
61.5 
76.7 
61.8 
110.8 
56.6 
— 
Wednesday . 
. 17 
30.201 
68 7 
C5.2 
N.E. 
62.1 
81.2 
58.1 
105.8 
52.3 
— 
Thursday ... 
. 18 
30.305 
67.5 
62.7 
N.E. 
62.5 
81.5 
59 2 
116 6 
52.4 
— 
Fridav. 
30 310 
58.9 
.'•>7.2 
N.E. 
62 7 
68.6 
54.2 
99.8 
49.4 
— 
Saturday ... 
. 20 
30.153 
01.5 
57.1 
N.E. 
61.9 
70.2 
52.6 
102.7 
44.6 
— 
30.204 
64.6 
61.2 
61.7 
75.4 
56.7 
107.9 
50.5 
0.017 
REMARKS. 
14th.—Generally cloudy, hut some sunshine. 
15th.—Fair and pleasant, little sun and spots of rain. 
16th.—Fine morning ; fair afternoon. 
17th.—Fine and hot, but rather hazy; close evening. 
)8ih.—Fine, bright, and hot. 
19th.—Cloudy morning, bright afternoon; much cooler. 
20th.—Fine, bright, and warm. 
Another fine week, several degrees warmer than the previous ore, and considerably 
above the average.— G. J. Svmons. 
