354 JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER . t October 12 , m 2 . 
selection of the longest and most productive ears. We must not, 
however, be led away by the origin, for frequently samples are 
offered for seed without selection or care having been taken to 
prevent the mixture with other sorts, which is certainly of the 
highest importance, especially when we know that some dealers 
in seed-corn never attempt anything beyond selling what they 
buy. That style of business is, however, fast declining, to 
make room, let us hope, for those intelligent and enterprising 
men who offer nothing to our notice except it has been grown 
and selected under their own care, and we seriously advise the 
home farmer to accept the latter style of business only, as likely 
to yield satisfactory results. 
We must now make one more reference to a sort of white 
Wheat called “ Talavera,” as being especially adapted for spring 
sowing, for when the season and harvest are favourable it is some¬ 
times equal in quality and millers’ value to the best Dantzic 
Wheat. It is said to be suitable when spring-sown for warm 
climates and light soils ; but this is only correct when the climate 
is moist as well as warm, for in the western counties and parts 
of Scotland the climate is much more favourable to the growth 
of spring-sown Wheat than the eastern and south-eastern coun¬ 
ties, in which it is an uncertain produce owing to the dry cold 
springs and often drought in summer, especially on all light soils. 
Before leaving the consideration of white Wheat, the question of 
straw grown per acre is now a matter of far more importance 
than it has been at any former period. Although red Wheat is 
said generally to produce more straw than white Wheat under 
the like treatment, yet it must be remembered that latterly our 
best selected white Wheats, such as Champion and Imperial, 
frequently produce from 8 to 10 cwt. more straw per acre than 
many other sorts, and of more value per cwt., especially in the 
cattle-grazing and dairy districts of the kingdom. 
The advantage of growing red Wheat next deserves con¬ 
sideration, for it must be remembered that the growth of red 
Wheat is not confined within such narrow boundaries as the 
white, which can only be grown with success where the climate 
is favourable, whereas certain varieties of red Wheat can be 
grown wherever the growth of Wheat is possible. Probably we 
have no variety of Wheat yielding red grain which is so generally 
esteemed by farmers as the Red Nursery, if we consider the sorts 
of soil upon which it will flourish, and also further consider the 
preparation and cultivation of the land also. It is not only im¬ 
portant that this Wheat is excellent for the miller, but that it 
will likewise maintain a plant with greater regularity under 
adverse circumstances than any other variety, and yield a full 
crop of grain upon the poorest hill farms, both on chalk and lime¬ 
stone soils. This Wheat is often, especially on some soils under 
a fallow or green crop preparation, more likely to be laid or 
lodged than some other sorts, being weaker in the straw under 
high cultivation, but nevertheless it usually fills the bushel well 
at threshing time. We must not forget, however, the celebrated 
Golden Drop Wheat, to which farmers in general are much 
attached, especially under moderate cultivation, for it yields a 
long strong straw, stands well, and yields well, and is a grain of 
great importance to the miller, because the grain is strong and 
heavy when well harvested, and valued for admixture in grinding 
with the weaker sorts or with foreign Wheat. Another good 
sort of red Wheat called Browick is also patronised by some 
farmers, and is so much like Golden Drop that it is entitled to the 
description just given of that sort. Red Lammas is a very old 
variety which we grew more than fifty years ago, and found it 
specially adapted for the thin soils on chalk and limestone. It 
yields fairly well, and the grain is strong but thin in the bran ; 
the straw is long, but not strong, and readily goes down under 
high cultivation. Scholey’s Square Head is an inferior light¬ 
weighing variety, and we cannot recommend it in the face of the 
red Wheats we have named. Professor Buckman’s experiment 
in 1881 is an apt illustration of its use and value in comparison 
with some other sorts, being as follows in produce :—“ Oakshott’s 
Champion White, ten sacks per acre ; Scholey’s Square Head, 
six sacks per acre.” As far as our experience goes this statement 
represents completely our estimate of the latter variety. April 
or Bearded—This is red Wheat strong in colour, and weighs well 
if properly harvested. There is a peculiarity about this variety 
which we find in no other, because it will bear later sowing, and 
is adapted in preference for growth upon newly broken-up soils 
out of woodland or inferior pasture. We have sown it in April 
on poor soils such as peat and sour woodlands, producing as much 
straw as it is possible to grow ; and for sowing the first year upon 
newly broken land no cereal can equal it in value for that pur¬ 
pose—in fact no other cereal will produce a profitable crop until 
the land has been chalked, limed, or marled. 
Such cereals as are commonly grown for fodder or mixed with 
fodder crops may be now discussed, taking Rye first. There are 
two sorts—The Giant or St. John’s Day, and the ordinary sort 
usually grown for folding-off with sheep. The ordinary sort is the 
best, because the most hardy. The St. John’s Day Rye is, however, 
a better and heavier grain, and if the winter proves mild will yield 
a heavy crop of fodder at the earliest period, and is now very 
valuable for all purposes where the best straw is required. Winter 
Barley is of two sorts, called Bere and Bigg. The former is a white 
grain, the latter is black. The former is well adapted for mixture 
with Vetches to protect them in winter and hold them up in the 
spring. The latter is the earliest winter cereal we know, and 
has a strong broad flag, which makes it specially adapted for mix¬ 
ing with the small early winter Vetches. Winter or Tawney Oats 
have also a value for growths as fodder or mixing with green 
crops. All these fodder cereals, although they vary somewhat in 
their habit of growth, are more or less valuable to ripen as a sale 
crop, especially in consequence of the land being available after 
harvest for root crops of various kinds. After the removal of the 
cereal crop the securing of both grain and straw (the latter being 
very valuable) in first-rate condition being almost a certainty even 
in our uncertain climate. 
We must now refer to the seed of leguminous plants, such as 
winter Beans and winter Vetches. The home farmer should con¬ 
sider the advantage of sowing the Improved Winter Beans of a 
selected variety in comparison with the ordinary samples on the 
market, in which it has been often found that the common Horse 
Bean has become mixed, which may not, however, be always de¬ 
tected until the winter frosts have destroyed a portion of the 
plant, entailing great loss as well as disappointment. The Im¬ 
proved Winter Bean, when true, will endure any adverse weather 
in this kingdom. It is in this respect of great consequence, for 
although our midland, western, and northern districts are favour¬ 
able to the growth of spring Beans, yet the mixed soils situated 
in our southern and south-eastern counties are more uncertain in 
the produce of spring Beans : hence the value of the winter variety, 
for these will generally succeed where the spring Bean would fail 
through the difference of climate. It is a matter of great conse¬ 
quence that the Bean as a fallow crop should succeed, in order 
that the great expense of a long fallow may be avoided. The 
same or similar advantages are to be derived in the case of winter 
Vetches, which, as a fallow crop, are correctly estimated by those 
agriculturists who maintain a large summer flock upon strong 
land, where it is impossible to carry out a system of sheep-feeding 
on arable land in the winter months ; and as winter Vetches fre¬ 
quently fail in consequence of the seed being mixed, it becomes 
extremely desirable that the seed should be obtained from persons 
who are responsible for its purity through selection. 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
Horse. Labour .—Much of this work is required at this time of year, 
especially where land is farmed under the Norfolk or four-course 
rotation of cropping, for the Wheat being all sown out of Clover 
or grass lea, the whole of the land intended for Wheat has to be 
manured from the farmyard or boxes. At this time it is, however, a 
good plan to anticipate this extra work to some extent, by manuring 
the Clover seeds in the first winter or early spring, as it makes use 
of the manure whilst it is fresh and strong, and at the same time 
equalises the horse labour of the year, and reduces pressure at certain 
periods of the year. In ploughing and pressing Clover leas drilling 
is best accomplished by the press drill, which deposits the seed in 
the grooves formed by the rings of the presser, or, as weeds seldom 
injure Wheat sown after Clover lea, the seed may be well sown broad¬ 
cast, and the greater portion of which will then fall into the presser 
grooves, and will surely be buried a good depth and be more likely to 
secure a regular plant. We, however, object to working down the 
lea ground and then drilling the seed with the ordinary drill, for in 
that case the seed is never buried deep enough to give the plant a 
firm hold on the soil. Besides which, it is more subject to the attacks 
of wireworms and other insects, and when severe frost occurs the 
rootlets of the plants are more exposed and injured than when the 
seed is put in with the press drill or sown after the presser, in 
which case less seed is also required. Fallowed land, or land after 
fallow crops intended for Wheat, and where the land lies flat and 
cold, should now be ridge-ploughed, and if the land is very dry it 
may with advantage be treated in the same way as recommended for 
the Clover lea ground ; for unless the land is close and heavy after 
the autumn rains it will be sure to shrink, and the plants in the next 
month of May will frequently become root-fallen and the crop lodged 
or laid. But under any circumstances the fallow preparation always 
encourages the growth in the spring of those weeds which are indi¬ 
genous to the soil and hurtful to the Wheat crop. It is, therefore, 
necessary, whether the seed is deposited by the press drill or ordinary 
drill, that it should be done at from 10 to 12 inches apart between the 
rows. We view this as the only way for the home farmer to b« 
master of the position, for weeds are sure to occur, and besides which, 
on strong soils the Wheat plant will often look yellow and sickly at 
the end of the month of April. In either case, if the Wheat land 
