JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
October 21, 1880. ] 
383 
inside the stomach, showing they could not ruminate. We have 
thought it best to have the acorns picked up by women and children, 
who receive Is. 3c?. per bushel for the work. They answer a good pur¬ 
pose for feeding breeding sows and store pigs, also for horses in small 
quantities crushed, because the fruit of the Oak possesses a large 
amount of flesh-forming and heat-producing properties. 
On the heavy Wheat lands, as fast as the drilling or seeding has 
been completed, the land and water furrows should be struck out 
with the plough immediately, the men following with spades and 
shovels to clear them out, with sufficient fall for the water to escape 
quickly. All kinds and ages of cattle and horses should now receive 
roots as the days shorten, and come into the yards and courts at night 
to receive some dry fodder at the same time, unless in a few cases 
where grass has been specially reserved upon dry land for autumn 
feeding. Sheep folded on Turnips and Cabbage, &c., should now 
have hay and also some cake if they are being fed for the butcher ; 
if for stock only a little hay will be sufficient, in addition to the roots, 
to keep them healthy. The horned Dorset and Somerset ewes just 
arrived in the home counties appear in good health and condition, 
except in certain instances where they have been neglected, in which 
case some flocks have the fluke rot. These have been sold at low 
prices. 
ADVANTAGES OF A HOME FARM.—No. 4. 
MANURES FOR ARABLE LAND. 
Quite recently in the Times Mr. Lawes published a statement 
of a series of trials of Wheat grown upon certain plots of land to 
which different kinds of manure had been applied, and of one plot 
from which a crop of Wheat had been taken annually for a long 
time—I think it was thirty or thirty-five years—without having 
had any manure whatever ; but now, he observes, it shows evident 
signs of exhaustion. What wonderful land must that be at Roth- 
amstead! If I were to attempt to grow Wheat upon the same plot 
for only a couple of years without manure there would hardly be 
enough straw and grain the second year to pay for labour. Yet this 
soil that is so thin and so soon exhausted, in 1878 yielded the extra¬ 
ordinary crop of forty-four bushels of Wheat per acre, and the straw 
was upwards of 5 feet high 1 I have still a bunch of it which measures 
5 feet 6 inches in length. This crop followed winter Tares, which 
were used as green food for horses, and the land was cleared in June, 
and broken up at once for a summer fallow. After the first plough¬ 
ing, manure of excellent quality from the cow-yard was put upon it 
at about the same rate as the grass land and ploughed in, and 
afterwards the land was occasionally stirred and broken up, so that 
by autumn the manure was mingled with the soil and incorporated 
with it thoroughly. In October a dressing of quicklime fresh from 
the kiln was given, the field once more ploughed, and the Wheat 
sown, The result was so favourable as to raise hopes of similar good 
results in the following year from another piece of fallow—not, I am 
sorry to say, to be realised, for the cold stormy dripping summer of 
1879 proved very disastrous to the Wheat. The results of such an 
ungenial season cannot, however, have any bearing upon that of 
ordinary years, and there can be no question that fallow land, well 
manured and frequently stirred, yields a crop of Wheat and straw 
that well repays the extra labour bestowed upon its culture. 
Field Potatoes usually follow Oats ; the method of culture is simple 
but efficient. As soon as possible after the corn is carried to the 
rick-yard, the land, if clean, is ploughed and left for the winter. 
This year the stubbles were very foul, and the broadshare, horse 
hoe, and harrows had to be used to clear off the weeds before 
ploughing. The unusual quantity of weeds is but one of the many 
lingering traces of the baneful effects of the wet summer of 1879. 
The stubble weeds showed clearly that much seed had again been 
shed this year, and therefore after they were cleared off and burnt, 
the surface was stirred sufficiently with the horse hoe to induce the 
newly fallen seed to vegetate, which it soon did, so that when the 
ploughing was done the surface was quite green with seedling 
weeds, then most easily got rid of by ploughing in, but which without 
such timely culture might not have sprung up till next year, and 
then proved very troublesome. In February or early in March 
farmyard manure is carted and spread upon the ploughed land, and 
it is immediately ploughed a second time, then left for a week or 
two till it is sufficiently dry to be thoroughly stirred by a heavy 
horse hoe of local manufacture, partaking very much of the character 
of a cultivator, for it stirs the surface soil just as efficiently as a 
Coleman’s cultivator does the subsoil. When by this means and 
exposure to the air the soil is in a light friable condition, the drills 
are made with a single-horse plough 30 inches apart, artificial 
manure scattered along each drill, and the Potatoes planted. 
All root crops are exhaustive to the soil, and for this reason an extra 
quantity of manure is generally used in root culture. It is applied 
in a variety of ways, for many of which no better reason than local 
customs can be advanced, yet in outlying country districts such 
customs are kept to with singular persistence. Mangold Wurtzel, 
for instance, is generally sown upon a flat-topped ridge, formed by 
first ploughing deep drills, which are half filled with manure and 
then filled with soil by ploughing between them ; this leaves sharp 
ridges, which are then flattened by a light roller, and the seed sown 
along the middle of each ridge. In wet heavy soils this plan may 
tend to ensure a good plant, but in light soils it is unnecessary. 
Spread a liberal dressing of rich farmyard manure upon the surface, 
plough it in, stir the land well with a cultivator to blend the 
manure well with it, and make a good seed bed, then sow plenty of 
seed in drills 2 feet apart, just as you do for Carrots and Turnips, 
thin the seedlings early, keep down weeds, and stir the soil often 
between the rows. That this plan is a good one I have clear and 
striking proof this year in a full crop of such excellent roots of 
Giant Long Red Mangold, that I had four of them washed and 
weighed to-day, October 8th. The heaviest root weighed 17 \ lbs., 
and the four roots together weighed 65 lbs., which gives a mean of 
about 16 lbs. a root, or about 77 tons per acre. The roots weighed 
were picked, but there are plenty more as large, and the entire crop 
is so good that the weight would probably be nearly 60 tons per 
acre.— Edward Luckhurst. 
BUTTER MAKING. 
John Stewart of Iowa has made a fame as a butter-maker that 
is not confined to this continent. In 1873-4-5 he took away the 
highest honours at the great St. Louis fairs ; in 1876 he carried 
off the gold medal at the Centennial Exhibition ; he was equally 
fortunate at the Royal Agricultural Exhibition in London, England, 
in 1879 ; in 1878 he took the first premium on October butter, and 
at the same fair in 1872 he took twelve premiums. Recollect, too, 
that this butter was made in Iowa. 
Mr. Stewart’s method in making butter is contained in a pam¬ 
phlet issued by him in the interest of making good butter. He 
begins with a treatment of the cow. She must have a warm dry 
stable, and be fed liberally with ground corn, Oats and Barley 
mixed in equal parts. He discards the use of Turnips and oil 
cake, but emphasises the necessity of plenty of good hay and 
water. He discourages the use of wooden pails, employing tin, 
which must be thoroughly scalded before using; the receiving 
can is set in cool water. If a cellar is used for setting the milk 
he would permit nothing else in it, keep it well whitewashed, and 
attend to the ventilation. In his opinion milk is injured if chilled 
too much in cold weather, or if it reaches too high a temperature 
in warm weather. When the weather is warm he surrounds 
the pans with water as deep as the milk ; milk will keep sweet 
thirty-six hours at a temperature of 62° to 65°. He does not 
permit cream to thicken in warm weather before it is taken off ; 
skims sometimes in twenty-four hours, and again at forty-eight 
hours, according to the condition of the cream; does not keep 
cream longer than forty-eight hours before churning ; churns 
every day, if possible, at a temperature of 58° to 60° in summer, 
and 62° to 65° in winter ; draws the butter-milk before the butter 
forms in mass, and washes the butter with clear cold water, or 
brine, which is better, until the liquid runs clear, then gathers 
andj works it thoroughly, using 1 oz. of salt to 1 lb. of butter ; 
sets it away for twenty-four hours, and works all the milk out, 
giving a dash of cold water occasionally. 
In packing he uses the best quality of tubs, soaking them twenty- 
four hours before packing ; packs closely to sides and bottom, 
and fills the tub level full; puts on a clean bleached muslin cloth 
saturated with brine, and a layer of wet salt over that, puts on 
the cover, fastens with three strips of twine, and the butter is 
ready for shipment. Butter made in this way always brings a 
good price .—(Prairie Farmer.') 
FORTHCOMING POULTRY SHOWS. 
Continuing our reference to the Shows now pending from 
page 361, we find that on October 26th opens the great four-days 
Poultry and Pigeon Show in connection with the Dairy Show at 
the Agricultural Hall. The entries have already closed, and we 
have commented on the schedule, but may again call attention to 
the fact that the classification and prizes for Dorkings are specially 
good, and so that the show of that useful old English breed is 
sure to be fine. Farmers who come up to see horned stock and 
its produce should look at profitable poultry and try to improve 
their home breed. 
For the 27th and 28th—unfortunately two of the Dairy Show 
days—is fixed the Oxford Show, which is always an excellent one 
all round. We believe that no Show has done more good locally 
in drawing attention to poultry breeding, and in converting simply 
poultry-keepers into careful breeders. In the following week 
Bath, which used to hold its Show in September, offers a tempting 
schedule to west-country fanciers, and, indeed, to many others, for 
Bath is very accessible from many directions. Entries close on 
