August 17, 1862. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER . 
165 
per more of grain, the crop being white Oats, than the half fed 
olf by sheep, nor have we ever seen an exception to this result 
when the roots have been properly ploughed in. We shall, however, 
return to the consideration ef this matter on a future occasion, 
and now conclude our subject by observing upon one of the most 
serious evils of the Norfolk rotation—that is, when sustaining 
losses by adverse seasons, there is no opportunity to retrieve them 
by change of cropping ; all losses are therefore permanent. 
work: on the home farm. 
Horse Labour .—Harvest work being now the chief employment of 
both men and horses, large areas of corn have been cut and stacked 
in good condition in all the early districts of the kingdom, especially 
in the southern, eastern, and home counties. We must ask the home 
farmer to remember the harvest of last year, for the only corn got 
together in good condition was previous to the rains, which com¬ 
menced on the 10th of August, and adverse weather continued, with 
little opportunity for carting in fair condition, until the end of 
September. The question to be considered is this—some farmers got 
up all their Wheat in the southern and eastern counties and some of 
their Barley and early White Oats before the rain set in, whilst other 
farmers having equally earlv crops had carted no Wheat and but 
little else, except Peas and White Oats, up to the 10th of August. 
In consequence of this dilatory conduct thousands of acres of Wheat 
were seriously damaged, and much of it rendered unsaleable, and was 
actually used for the feeding of fatting cattle and milch cows. This 
circumstance looks very like bad farming, which might have arisen 
from ignorance as to when corn in sheaf was fit for stacking or 
from carelessness : and it is a point worth consultation amongst 
farmers, What indications are there noticeable which should decide 
the matter as to when Wheat in sheaf is fit to carry to the rick or 
barn ? 
At the early stages of harvest the straw of Wheat may be ripe as 
to colour, but the knots in the straw will be soft, and the grain soft 
enough to yield on pressure between the thumb and finger ; and when 
it is in that condition it should remain in shock or stook for some 
days, although the weather may be fine. Even then there may be 
some doubt as to whether the sheaves will be dry enough not to heat 
in the stack, simply because grass or weeds may prevail in the corn 
when cut, which will render the question of fitness for carting doubt¬ 
ful. If, however, the straw is free from weeds at the time of cutting, 
and the weather fine, the less time the corn remains in the field the 
better, for we have always found the point to be decided is, Will it 
heat or not? for that is the turning point of the whole matter of 
securing corn of every sort and pulse of every kind. When we have 
felt assured that it would not heat in the stack or barn, the best of 
grain has been the result; the less the corn is left to the effects of 
the sun and wind the better, for it certainly is the best grain which 
ripens into condition in the stack if it does not heat. But this is now 
a question to be decided under the system of exhausting heat by the 
fan from the rick, and it has been pointed out as to how far corn 
stacks can be allowed to heat without tainting the grain as to smell 
and taste, and it is stated that 80° of heat may be allowed in corn 
ricks with safety to the value of the grain. We are not sure of this, 
and the circumstances connected with the management at harvest 
work by different farmers are various, and we do not consider this 
matter will be decided so that a safe and uniform practice under the 
action of the exhausting-of-tmat process can be relied on until further 
experience in its use will justify a decided opinion. 
The home farmer will do well to be provided with the exhaust-fan 
and tackle connected therewith, and the time will come when he will 
reap the benefit of his own care and detail in conducting its operations, 
for we feel thoroughly convinced that this system of saving bay and 
corn as practised by Messrs. Neilson & Knowles is destined to 
become general, and enable the home farmer to conduct his harvest 
both of hay and corn with far greater advantage in difficult and 
uncertain weather than has ever heretofore been possible. But when¬ 
ever the question of details of the system has been mastered and 
become fully known and set forth, it will require the strictest attention 
to carry out the detail in all its necessities, otherwise failure will 
follow as certainly as that machinery must stop if one cog in a wheel 
is absent. Some horses will be continually employed in using the 
reaping and binding machine, and we n commend its being used for 
Barley as well as Wheat and Oats ; for when Barley is cut and tied it 
cannot all be stained if the weather should prove wet and stormy, 
but especially when the Clover is strong and rank amongst it, if not 
tied it must lie on the ground until the Clover is dried sufficiently to 
prevent heat in the stack or barn, and before it is ready if rain occurs 
the Barley will be seriously stained and unfit for malting purposes. 
The steam cultivator we have seen at work since the harvest began, 
and land enough has already been cleared of its crop of Wheat, so 
that the cultivator may work with advantage ; and as the weather 
has been fine for the most part, we notice that the steam-cultivated 
land has received benefit far beyond any horse labour, even if the 
horses can be spared to do such work. But these have ploughing 
and seeding with Turnip seed to do daily, by drilling every evening, 
and thus finishing off the land daily as fast as ploughed whilst the 
ground is moist, and the seed sure to vegetate—a matter of great 
importance at all times, but especially when drilling Turnip seed in 
the harvest, for every day is of importance. 
Hand, Labour .—In order that the ricks may be thatched as fast as 
made, it is desirable to have a thatcher attached to the staff of 
labourers on the farm. Straw has been very dear and scarce, and it 
will in consequence be well to thrash Wheat in the field in order that 
the straw may be available for immediate use. 
Uve Stock .—Since the first day of this month the sheep have 
required constant attention, especially the lambs, for the weather 
having been hot the flies have been very busy ; and where the sheep 
have not been dipped or coloured with fly powders, the animals have 
been much injured in their fleeces. All the lambs intended for winter¬ 
ing may be shorn with great advantage, for they winter much better, 
and we find that this should be done by the middle of this month ; but 
we do not wash them. The hogs when sold will then realise from seven 
to Gs. to 8s. each more than if they had been fattened without shearing. 
This hot weather will render different management necessary for the 
dairy cows, as they should come into the pens at daytime from 
10 until 4 o’clock to avoid the flies, which disturb them greatly, and 
shorten the quantity of milk and the milking period also. If, how¬ 
ever, they get a quiet lair during sunny days with a bait of second 
cutting of Clover in their racks, it will not only serve to increase the 
milk, but enable them to continue yielding a supply for a longer 
period, and this we consider one of the most important points in the 
management of dairy cows. 
FATTENING FOWLS FOR THE TABLE. 
We gave in our last article the most simple methods of improv¬ 
ing the condition of poultry for the table. As was said, we believe 
them to be sufficient for the production of delicious birds. It is, 
however, a well-known fact that the best fowls procurable in the 
French markets are superior to, or at least carry a much greater 
amount of white flesh than those which we are used to see on 
English dinner tables ; we will therefore fulfil our promise of 
translating some passages from a French author on the methods 
pursued by French poultry growers. There are two systems in 
France of artificial fattening—the one consists in the forcible 
cramming of the fowls by hand with balls of meal, in much the 
same way as they are crammed in England; the other in cram¬ 
ming them through funnels with farinaceous food in a more 
liquid state. We will first speak of the former. 
The dealers and small farmers who pursue the trade in the La 
Fleche district buy in the markets and from their neighbours the 
finest pullets and cockerels which have never bred ; these are not 
caponised, but they take a little longer to fatten than the pullets. 
The finest pullets are got up to 9 lbs. weight or more, the cockerels 
to 13 lbs., and sometimes more. “They fat (to translate at 
length the words of a great authority, from whose writings on 
this subject extracts have already been made in the pages of the 
Journal) from fifty to eighty and a hundred at a time. The 
work begins in October, and goes on till the ordinary carnival 
time. For it they begin by setting up all round, and on the floor 
of some room or other suitable place, small coops made of stakes 
or the roughest wood that can serve for sides and divisions. 
These rude contrivances are made by the fatteners, and cost, so to 
speak, nothing but the labour and price of a few nails. Their 
height should be from 18 to 22 inches ; their length is optional, 
provided that the longest do not hold more than six chickens, 
and give each bird room enough to be comfortable without walk¬ 
ing about. All light coming directly from outside is excluded, 
and all chinks in the doors and windows of the apartment are 
fastened-up to prevent too free entry of external air. To accus¬ 
tom the chickens to the system of forced feeding and seclusion 
to which they are destined for the first eight days they are con¬ 
fined in a somewhat dark place, and have no food but a moist 
rather thick dough of the same kind of meal as the fattening 
balls, mixed with a third part or half bran. During this prelimi¬ 
nary trial they are allowed to eat and drink at pleasure. The 
mixture which serves for the feeding balls is generally made in 
the following proportions :—viz., half buckwheat, a third barley, 
and a sixth oats (the coarse husk is taken out). Every day 
enough of this meal is mixed in either new or sour milk to suffice 
for two feeds, one in the evening and the other the next morning. 
Some add a little hog’s lard to the ingredients of this dough, speci¬ 
ally towards the end of the process. The meal must neither be 
too stiff or too thin, and rolled out into pieces like an olive in 
shape, half an inch thick and 2 inches long. At the feeding times, 
which should be very regular, the poultryman or feeder takes 
three chickens at a time, ties them all three together by the legs, 
