JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
418 
[ May 17, 1883. 
Lammas, and if sown or drilled after the presser so much the 
better, as the plant is liable on the hills to be lifted by frost in the 
spring if drilled or sown rather shallow as usual. 
It will be noticed that we have arranged the cropping so that 
the 100 acres “ home land,” together with the produce of the 
50 acres of water meadow and pasture, there will be enough grown 
thereon to keep the horses, some dairy cows, swine, &c., leaving 
the Wheat crop for sale. In fact, on other parts of the farm 
when the weight of roots exceed 17 tons per acre all above that 
weight may be removed for feeding extra dairy cows or fattening 
bullocks. After fully considering all the points of our subject we 
hold the opinion that more profit will be derived from the large 
acreage of corn, pulse, hay, and straw grown for sale without 
diminishing the fertility of the land in the future if the same style 
and rotation of cropping is continued, and that more money will 
be saved in labour and diminished investments for the purchase 
of live stock than can be secured by any known system of crop¬ 
ping and stocking or sheep farming hitherto attempted on the 
hill farms of any district. The land will be found cleaner in con¬ 
sequence of so many opportunities being afforded for the forking 
out of couch grass and weeds by band labour, instead of attempt¬ 
ing to destroy them by tillage and costly horse labour, which can 
only be done effectually in fine weather. In conclusion we may 
state that the rotations of cropping set forth, some or other of 
them are well adapted for nearly all the best as well as the poorest 
land under tillage to be found in England. We therefore ask the 
home farmers and others engaged in the management of landed 
property to carefully think over all the points of our subject, and 
by experiments to satisfy themselves of their monetary value. 
WORK ON THE HOME EARM. 
Horse Labour .—Lent corn has been seeded in fine condition almost 
everywhere as regards the cultivation of the land, except in those 
cases where the sheep in the winter had trodden the soil into mud. 
This difficulty has, however, been overcome after expending extra 
tillage on the land, and in some cases has delayed the seedtime, 
because where the land worked unkindly it was necessary to wait 
for the dry frosts and rains which followed to ameliorate the surface; 
but in most districts and counties the seedtime has been delayed by 
the large amount of Swedes in hand for feeding sheep. This has, 
however, enabled large flock-masters to tide over the period of 
scarcity for grass, although it has somewhat delayed the seedtime. 
This is now a good time to sow Mangold seed; for although it is 
better when the seed can be put in during the month of April, still 
it is only necessary to leave the plants rather closer in the lines at 
hoeing time, and give a liberal dressing of nitrate of soda at the first 
horse-hoeing. Carrot seed, too, may now be sown with benefit, for 
when the seed is properly freed from the burr and drilled with 
2 or 3 cwt. of bone superphosphate with ashes at any time up to 
May 20th. If the land is moist enough to vegetate the seed at once 
they will answer well, because the young plants will start fair with 
the weeds, and less hoeing will be required than when sown as usual 
in the month of March. It is, however, a good plan to drill the seed 
on the stetch at the interval of 18 inches, because the horse-hoeing 
will save much expense in hand-hoeing as compared with drilling on 
the flat. In the early districts of the north and north midland, as 
well as in Scotland, Swedes should now be seeded, for the yard or 
box manure having been buried in the stetch for it saves much 
hand-hoeing, and superphosphate applied by the drill will force on a 
crop of good quality, but in the event of ammoniacal manures such 
as guano or nitrate of soda being applied we have seen fine crops 
decay in consequence in the autumn, but yard manure and super¬ 
phosphate will produce a full crop of sound and valuable roots for 
fatting cattle. It is just the same with early hybrid or common 
Turnips, except when sown after the middle of July or as stubble 
Turnips, ammoniacal manures will then force the growth without 
injuring the feeding value of the crop. Hay will soon be an object 
worth our attention, and we think the late rains have been favourable 
for the growth of Clovers, grasses, and Sainfoin, &c., and in order to 
be prepared for securing our grasses as winter fodder we should be 
prepared according to our requirements for the production of ensilage ; 
but hay for sale, must be treated as hay. The farmers should 
avail themselves of all the advantages of securing hay by Messrs. 
Neilson & Knowles’ system of hay-cooling with the use of the 
exhausting-of-heat fan, and build the ricks accordingly. 
Hand Labour.—The season for Oak felling and stripping has not 
been very favourable, for the cold nights made the bark separate 
from the trees with difficulty, and also just as the bark was getting 
dry enough for storing the weather has changed to showery. The 
cutting of grass on the field borders and banks is being done daily, 
and it affords a good lot of coarse grass, Cow t Parsley, Hogweeds, 
and other succulent produce, such as the young shoots of hedgewood, 
which when used as fast as cut daily is good for the feeding of young 
stock and milch cows in a milk-selling dairy, but not for butter¬ 
making. 
Live Stock .—Mares with foals at first require careful attention. 
We do not like the foal to follow the mare in her work in the field, 
which, she may be expected to take her part in when the foal is about 
a fortnight old, for irrespective of accidents it is important both for 
the mare and foal that they should not be separated from each other 
for more than five hours at one time, and if there is more than one 
foal they do best in company in the boxes while the mare is away at 
work. We fear that horse-breeding for some years past has not 
benefited the farmer as it might have been expected to do under 
more favourable circumstances, as a good colt well descended of any 
breed, either for farm work, hunting, or harness work, will fetch 
double the price of animals bred anyhow, and the latter is too much 
the fashion, owing to the difficulty of obtaining in various districts 
entire horses of a good stamp and breed from sound parents ; this, 
together with the careless way in which the mares for breeding 
purposes are selected, has brought the business of horse-breeding 
and rearing into disrepute. There is, however, great complaint made 
of large numbers both of mares and stallions, especially of the best 
bred harness and hunting horses, being sold to go abroad. In most 
cases where bullocks are being fed in their stalls or boxes a good 
store of Mangolds is left for them, and all the young and growing 
animals of two years old and under will pay better for feeding than 
cattle of any other age. There is, however, one leading point to be 
considered as the groundwork or basis of profit in feeding young 
stock for the butcher, that they should be fat as calves when weaned, 
and never be allowed through neglect to lower their flesh, and 
this point must be kept steadily in view. Another point is, that 
they should never be off the straw or exposed to the changes of 
weather, for when reared entirely under cover until they go away for 
slaughter, the food consumed will have yielded its full value if 
selected of the best quality, quantity, and regularity of feeding. 
Dairy cows may from this time be allowed to lie out at night on dry 
sheltered pasture at first, but we recommend that during the whole 
milking period of summer and autumn, although they may have 
good pasture, yet at milking time, night and morning, they should 
have a bait of green food, such as Trifolium, Clover, and Vetches, or 
otherwise cotton cake, several pounds each per day ; for this system 
of rack-feeding, however partial, will not only increase the flow of 
milk all summer, but also extend the milking period until calving 
time again arrives, at least this should be the object. 
Bath and West of England Society and Southern Counties 
Association. —The visit of the Bath and West of England Society 
and Southern Counties Association to Bridgwater will be the first 
that the Society has paid to that town, although situated in the very 
heart of the county of Somerset, where the Society originated, but 
wherein no exhibition has taken place since the Centenary Celebra¬ 
tion at Bath in 1877. The Show, for which extensive preparations 
have been for some time in progress, will open on Monday, May 28th, 
and close on the following Friday. In the live stock department the 
entries amount to 744, a number very rarely reached by the Society. 
In the poultry classes there are nearly 500 entries. 
OUR LETTER BOX. 
Cows (R. IT.).—The custom to which you refer is a local one, and custom 
often becomes as powerful as law. The practice is common in some districts, 
but in others, and perhaps the majority, is not known. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
Camden Square, London. 
Lat. 51° 32' 40" N.; Long. 0° 8' 0" W.; Altitude, 111 feet. 
Date. 
9 A.M. 
IN THE DAY. 
.5 
3 
« 
1883. 
May. 
0) c?j o3_ 
CM (U 01 
a Js £ M 
MS 3 
Hygrome¬ 
ter. 
fl . 
0-73 
£ a 
B 
5o 
o-£ . 
. 03 
CL—< o 
so <2 
CDCC^h 
Fh 
Shade Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature. 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
sun. 
On 
grass. 
deg. 
38.3 
39.6 
83.3 
42.5 
38.4 
81.3 
32.3 
Sun. 6 
Mon. 7 
Tues. 8 
Wed. 9 
Thurs. 10 
Friday 11 
Satnr. 12 
Inches. 
29.869 
29.706 
29.601 
29.532 
29.612 
29.902 
29.833 
deg. 
50.4 
49.0 
48.4 
46.1 
88.7 
47.4 
51.7 
deg. 
45.2 
47.4 
46.0 
45.3 
38.0 
42.9 
60.7 
N. 
N.E. 
N.E. 
N. 
N.N.W. 
W. 
S.W. 
deg. 
47.3 
49.3 
48.5 
47.9 
46.8 
41.1 
45.9 
deg. 
70.7 
58.3 
57.2 
48.7 
48.4 
53 3 
57.8 
deg. 
42.9 
42.3 
41.9 
43.3 
87.2 
35.2 
38.6 
deg. 
112.4 
91.7 
70.5 
58.0 
73.8 
100.0 
62.8 
In. 
0.140 
0.350 
0.255 
0.020 
0.604 
0.072 
29.722 
47.4 
45.1 
47.4 
56.3 
40.2 
81.3 
33.5 
1.441 
REMARKS. 
6th.—Fine, bright, and warm. 
7th.—Rain in morning, fine afternoon and evening. 
8th.—Dull, cold, and rainy. 
9th.—Dull and cold, slight showers. 
10th.—Dull and cold, rain in forenoon. 
11th.—Bright early, afterwards dull and showery ; soft hail at 5.30 P.M., some 
of it measuring between five and six-tenths of an inch in diameter- 
thunder at 5.33 and 5.37 P.M. 
12th.—Heavy rain in morning ; dull overcast day ; high wind in evening. 
Weather very variable ; the maximum temperature on Sunday 6th exceeded 
70° for the first time in this year, but on Wednesday and Thursday the tempe¬ 
rature did not reach 50°, and fell nearly to freezing point; in fact, there was 
frost on the grass on the morning of the 11th.—G. J. Symons. 
