440 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ May 24, 1883. 
at the lower portion of the stack was in the worst condition, 
and settled so rapidly into a compact and almost solid 
mass, which prevented any appreciable current of air passing 
through it. 
This rick as to condition of the hay when stacked was exactly 
the reverse of that which Mr. Neilson has always stated as 
required by his system, for we find that a letter of his was 
written to the Field, dated March 4th, 1882, as he says, “ In 
order to prevent disappointment that would follow too hasty an 
adoption of the system, without that care and attention which 
anything worth having ought to receive,” Mr. Neilson, it is 
further stated, very differently from some of his so-called dis¬ 
ciples, used all his great experience to get his grass as nearly as 
possible made into hay before taking it to the stack. He specially 
urges on those who wish to be successful in using his system the 
necessity of caution, and of not attempting too much, for he 
would himself only put his hay together damp when there was 
probability of its being damaged by further exposure in the field, 
and that he had always before stacking employed in the field 
horse labour to convert the grass as far as possible into hay. 
We make no doubt that his using of the word damp by no means 
can be considered as being wet with rain, but simply from being 
affected by the atmosphere when gloomy and threatening rain. 
All the causes which Mr. Neilson believes to have contributed to 
the failure were present in the stack at Cardiff, and in addition 
to these the crop was not ripe when cut. It was not, therefore, 
to be expected that a favourable result could be obtained ; but 
the Society was pledged to show in the best manner it could the 
operation of the fans, which persons had come to witness at the 
Show, and so the stack was prematurely made. The experiment, 
however, disproves the statement that hay may be made and 
harvested in continuous rainy weather, but it should nevertheless 
encourage farmers to avail themselves of an economical means 
of securing hay in dangerous weather by the safe stacking of hay 
a day or two before it would be otherwise ready, thus saving the 
cost of labour in the field and the risk of serious damage by 
longer exposure. 
(To be continued.) 
WORK ON THE HOME HARM. 
1Torse Labour .—Mangold seeding is now nearly concluded. Some 
of the earliest sown will require to be horse-hoed between the 
stetches. The sooner the better, for the hand-hoeing and singling 
the plants may be deferred. Even if the young plants are very thick 
they will grow the faster whilst in the early stages of growth, and 
particularly in those cases where the seed has been hand-dibbled. In 
either case the singling being deferred for a short time shows the 
strongest or master plants, for it is these that it is so desirable to 
retain, as these by a rule are sure to make the best growth afterwards, 
and grow out of the way of enemies like grub and wireworm. These 
are the only dangerous enemies to the plants just after singling. 
Miss E. A. Ormerod, the consulting entomologist to the Royal Agri¬ 
cultural Society, in the last Journal of the Society has furnished 
much information relating to both the brown grub and wireworm. 
Our experience in the former case of grub is that they cannot 
be destroyed with economy ; but to prevent them from eating our 
young roots is one of the best and most economical methods of avoid¬ 
ing damage by them, and we can do this by not singling the plants 
too early ; and if the plants are left double in the numbers required, 
they may be set out at correct distances at the second hoeing. 
This, in our opinion, is scarcely ever done soon enough after the 
first hoeing for other reasons besides the attacks of the grub, because 
the weeds are more easily destroyed which may have escaped during 
the first hand-hoeing, and are also more easily seen before they are 
hidden by the luxuriant growth of the leaves. Hand-picking the 
grubs by women aud boys has been resorted to, but it is a costly 
affair and takes time, for we have seen a whole field of Carrots totally 
destroyed and eaten off at the root before the grubs could be picked 
up; therefore we fiud the only security against injury by grubs is to 
allow the plants to remain longer before the first singling, and then 
leave them double in numbers in order to give the grubs more than 
they can eat, and thus save enough of either Carrots, Mangolds, or 
Swedes for a crop. Referring to the wireworms we do not believe in 
destroying them in the field without hand-picking and carrying them 
away, which is slow work and costly. The way, however, we got 
rid of wireworms perhaps stands alone in its practical results, for on 
our farm whilst cultivated on the four-course system whenever a dry 
time occurred our crops were seriously injured either of Wheat, Lent 
corn, or Peas ; but after we adopted Potato cultivation in 1840 we 
never suffered from them, for they are very fond of burying or eating 
their w T ay into the Potato tubers, and in this way they were almost 
entirely removed from the farm. We always arranged to have the 
Potatoes bagged as fast as they were dug up, by which means none 
were left, at any rate for a period of nearly thirty-six years after, for 
we never had any crop injured, nor did the workpeople notice any at 
the time of hoeing the crops, or in the act of cultivation after the 
Potatoes had been cultivated in every field which was done in due 
course. 
Hand Labour has received but little hindrance ; for although some 
rainy days have occurred, the men, and women too, have been em¬ 
ployed at the homestead—some in the manure house breaking down 
the guano, sifting, screening, and mixing manures of all sorts and 
ashes in readiness for drilling with root seeds, and bagged up ready 
for use when wanted. 
Presentation to the Secretary of the Bath and West of 
England Society and Southern Counties Association. —At the 
anniversary dinner of the Oxfordshire Agricultural Society, held in 
the Show Yard at Bicester, on the 14th inst., opportunity was taken 
to present the late Secretary, Mr. Thos. E. Plowman, who is now 
Secretary of the Bath and West of England Society and Southern 
Counties Association, with an illuminated address and a purse of 
120 guineas. The address, which was beautifully illuminated, stated 
that the testimonial was presented “in recognition of the great zeal 
and ability displayed by him during his fifteen years’ tenure of the 
office of Secretary.” In order to make the testimonial as represen¬ 
tative as possible the individual subscriptions were limited in 
amount, and among the names appended to the address were those 
of the Duke of Marlborough, K.G-., the Earls of Jersey, Macclesfield, 
Ducie, and Effingham, Lord Camoys, Lord R. Churchill, M.P., Vis¬ 
count Valentia, the Right Hon. J. W. Henley, Mr. A. Brassey, Pre¬ 
sident ; Colonel North, M.P., Mr. W. C. Cartwright, M.P., Mr. E. W. 
Harcourc, M.P., Mr. B. Samuelson, M.P., Mr. J. Walter, M.P., Col. 
Sir R. Loyd-Lindsay, V.C., M.P., Sir H. W. Dashwood. Bart., Sir W. 
Throckmorton, Bart., Mr. G-. H. Morrell, Mr. J. Druce, Mr. A. Milton- 
Druce, Mr. M. Savidge, and most of the leading landowners and 
farmers of the district. The presentation was made in graceful terms 
by the Earl of Jersey, and Mr. Plowman, who was enthusiastically 
received, suitably responded. The staff of the Oxford Journal , of 
which Mr. Plowman, until his appointment at Bath, was the Editor, 
had previously presented him with an address in which they regretted 
the severance of his connection with the paper, and thanked him for 
his kindness and courtesy. Accompanying this was an oak inkstand 
handsomely mounted in silver .—(Bath Journal.) 
OUR LETTER BOX. 
Soot for Potatoes (A. (?.).—A dressing of soot, especially in rather 
strong and unfertile soil, is an excellent manure for Potatoes. The ground 
may be made quite black with it, and it is best applied in damp weather. 
Barren Pasture (If. G. Mansfield ,).—Your pasture land, it appears, does 
not respond to an application of lime or manure of any kind. It must be a 
compact conglomeration of clay and gravel, which will probably prove com¬ 
pletely sterile, like a rock, unless it is broken up. This might enable the grass 
to take root more deeply in the soil, and by that means become productive 
through the action of lime and manures. You do not say what is the extent of 
the barren part, but at any rate it should be dug 12 or 15 inches in depth, or 
broken by ploughing and subsoiling. In doing this, chalk, lime, or limestone 
grit should, together with sand or loamy soil, be mixed well together in the act 
of tillage. If the land is pared and burned as a first operation so much the 
better. After being broken, if cultivated and set with Potatoes for one year 
before being laid down again, the land would be greatly benefited by exposure to 
the atmosphere, and this, together with manure applied, would eventually give 
soil enough to produce full crops of grass if properly seeded. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
Camden Square, London. 
Lat. 51° 32 40 1 ' N.; Long. 0° 8' 0" W.; Altitude, 111 feet. 
DATE. 
9 A.M. 
IN THE DAY. 
1883. 
4) CQ OS 
Hygrome- 
0 . 
Shade Tern- 
Radiation 
0 
9 > 
ter. 
£ 0 
Cl. — > O 
perature. 
Temperature. 
c3 
May. 
--9 o 
h j 
In 
On 
a 
Dry. 
Wet. 
So 
(H 
Max. 
Min. 
snn. 
grass. 
Inches. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
In. 
Sun. 13 
29.992 
57.2 
52.5 
s.w. 
47.6 
70.4 
50.6 
111.3 
49.7 
— 
Mon. 11 
29 927 
58.1 
5i.fi 
w. 
50.4 
64.5 
52.0 
81.0 
49.0 
0.086 
Tues. 1.5 
30.095 
61.1 
56.2 
N. 
51.0 
68.5 
51.4 
105.8 
49.G 
— 
Wed. 16 
30.302 
63.6 
58.0 
N. 
62.0 
75.5 
49 5 
1188 
44.4 
— 
Thurs. 17 
3 ‘i.404 
59.0 
52.1 
N.E. 
54.0 
69.3 
45.7 
105.4 
42.4 
— 
Friday IS 
30.277 
56.9 
48 1 
N. 
54.4 
64.2 
48.4 
105.6 
45.0 
— 
Satur. 19 
30.012 
53.6 
49.0 
N.W. 
74.8 
63.1 
49.2 
105.8 
44.7 
— 
30.148 
58.5 
52.9 
52.0 
67.9 
49.5 
104.8 
46.4 
0.086 
REMARKS. 
13tli.—Fine, bright, and warm. 
14th.—Overcast, slight rain at intervals ; heavy rain for short time in evening. 
15th.—Fine and calm, overcast at times. 
16th.—Very fine, bright warm day; moonlight night. 
17th.—Fine ; overcast at times. 
18th.—Fine, with cool wind, and occasionally cloudy. 
19th.—Fine, overcast at times. 
A very fine and rather warm week, Sunday and Wednesday being especially 
agreeable and fine.—G. J. SYMONS. 
