JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
May 31, 1883. 1 
4G1 
days, if the hay is dry, although not fit to be carted to the rick 
under ordinary practice, yet it can be safely put together by the 
use of the fan applied immediately after the rick is finished. 
In order that no suggestion be omitted which may be useful 
or even partially so to the borne farmer, we have yet to 
notice another exhibitor at the Reading meeting of the Royal 
Agricultural Society in July last. The exhibitors, C. Kite & Co., 
attempt to make hay in the stack by ventilation without any 
mechanical aids. The stack was a circular one, about 21 feet in 
diameter at the base, and the Judges’ report states :—“ The 
jnetbod adopted was to build a shaft in the centre of the stack 
extending from the base to the apex, and capped above the roof 
with a patent ventilator, such as is applied by the inventor to the 
ventilation of sewers. The cage which forms and keeps open 
this shaft is of perforated galvanised iron. Communicating with 
this shaft were two 4^-inch flues of galvanised iron. These were 
laid in the same line radiating E. and W. from the centre. Each 
was provided with a plug, so that either or both could be used or 
closed at pleasure. At right angles with these tubes were two 
others, which, however, did not extend so far inwards as the shaft, 
being inserted simply for the purpose of testing the temperature 
of the stack. A portable slow-combustion stove was used 
occasionally, and the only other alteration required was attention 
to the heat of the stack, and the opening or closing of the flues 
in order to regulate it. The highest temperature reached at the 
end of seventeen days was 141°. When the stack was cut the 
light galvanised iron cage had completely collapsed, the water 
had run down by the side of the ventilating tube and rotted the 
hay in places, and the lower part of the stack was mouldy, while 
the upper part would have been of more value if it had been 
allowed to heat more. The grass of this field was much of it a 
sharp-edged sedge, and required heating to make it palatable to 
animals. It grew upon six acres, a light crop, stacked in good 
condition, rather green, mown July 15th, stacked July 20th, and 
contained about 10 tons of hay. The hay on being sold at auction 
realised £21. This system of ventilation in the stack was not 
successful in its application,” and we consider that it is suggestive 
only. We have other plans to consider. 
(To be continued.) 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
Horse Labour .—Since the Lent corn and Mangold seed, the Carrot 
seed, &c., has been all sown, and we are glad to say very favourably. 
The horses have been continually engaged in tillage work preparing 
the land for Swedish Turnip seed. At other times when the rains 
prevented work upon the land to be first seeded, the intervals of time 
have been filled up by raftering the land intended as fallow for Wheat. 
We mean a long fallow, for it has laid deeply ploughed since Michael¬ 
mas, the land being full of white-rooted couch grass in consequence 
of the neglect of a former tenant. This shows how desirable it is to 
obtain tenants who not only understand the practical part of farming, 
but have sufficient capital to employ the necessary labour, and at the 
same time are straightforward and are impressed with the idea that 
the best farming is the best and most profitable to themselves. The 
land intended for Wheat will during the summer continue to be used 
as the resource of horse labour when not otherwise more beneficially 
and urgently employed, such as haying and harvesting. The 
Swede seed should now be drilled, the first and second week in June 
being the best time for early and dry soils and early climates ; but in 
the northern and north midland counties and Scotland these roots 
have been seeded for during the month just passed. As regards the 
sort of Swede seed to be sorvn it is much a question of the pur¬ 
pose for which the roots will be required, that it must be left an 
open question to be decided by the home farmer. The earliest 
roots are best fitted for early consumption by bullocks in the boxes 
after being shut up in boxes after leaving the pastures ; in which case 
those not having been forward enough to sell may with benefit be 
allowed ripe roots of Swedes in the first instance, or otherwise the 
yellow hybrid Turnips, now much approved not only for fatting cattle 
but dairy cows also where their milk is sold, or when calves are 
suckled to be sold as veal; but these kinds of roots are not well 
suited to a butter-making dairy. 
Hand Labour .—We have lately been employing the men in taking 
up and relaying pipe-tile 1 draining which had been laid in ditches, 
and it was found that the roots from the hedge woods had blocked 
the drains (this, too, occurred by neglect of a former tenant), although 
many of the hedges had in former years been grubbed and the ditches 
drained, and could see the benefit of it; therefore no sooner in the 
present instance had the draining been repaired than we set the men 
to fill the ditches and grub the roots of hedgewood, thus yielding 
more land for cultivation,and destroying a fruitful source of constant 
annoyance by the growth and seeding of weeds which foul the arable 
land. There are many advantages in removing fences which we have 
carried out on various estates during the past forty years under our 
care and management, for we have found in exposed situations, 
and especially near to the seacoasts in different parts of England, 
the corn frequently suffers severely from the effects of wind during 
growth, but especially as it nears the harvest. We have noticed for 
many years past that where the hedges have been removed there has 
been less damage to the grain crops than previously, although the 
fences had been left ostensibly for shelter. Our usual plan of re¬ 
moving fences is to retain not only those required as boundaries to 
the highways and properties, but also to the pastures and meadow 
land, as a fence against horned cattle and horses. We have been in 
some cases induced to resort to a sweeping reform in farm manage¬ 
ment, owing to the damage which we had often observed done by 
high winds, particularly on the lee side of the hedges, where the eddy 
and whipping action of the wind has done great injury, particularly 
at and near harvest time, w'hereas in the open part of the fields where 
the wind passes over the fields without impediment, we have noticed 
that little damage has been done. This circumstance, together with 
the gain of land for cultivation previously occupied by the fences, 
decided in our mind the advantages of removing all internal hedges 
upon arable land, but not without draining the ditches also where 
required. For after the removing of fences, &c., the land may be 
cultivated in long straight ridges, instead of the short and costly 
work consequent upon crooked fences and small enclosures, to say 
nothing about the advantages of improving roads and the greater 
facilities afforded for carting manure on to the land, corn, and 
hay at harvest. 
Live Stock will now find plenty of grass where it has been reserved. 
We have seen fine crops of Italian Ryegrass which had been manured 
with liquid drainage from the cow stalls now cutting up for green 
fodder for a fortnight past, and given to the dairy cows when they 
come in to be milked, and they go out into pastures where the grass 
has been early, although for a short time not abundant. Mowing 
Italian Ryegrass and Trefoil for hay will now be going on, for these 
are very early grasses, especially on dry forward soils. Trifolium 
now will be ready for foddering cart-horses at the stables and also 
fatting bullocks in the boxes. The former may noc require so much 
corn, for we have known them sometimes refuse their regular allow¬ 
ance of Oats whilst eating Trifolium when at its best just about 
blooming time ; the latter will make meat very fast by having their 
usual allowance of cake with as much Trifolium as they will eat 
readily, and we give the cake in the meal state mixed with a few cut 
Mangolds to prevent waste. We have never made beef faster than 
when feeding with grass, either Italian Rye, Trifolium, or broad 
Clover when at the full growth and coming into bloom ; in fact, we 
should never think of ensilage except for dairy cows, for we prefer 
the soiling of fatting bullocks in the summer rather than make the 
grasses into hay and incur risks, because the cattle feed and fatten 
quicker in the summer, and the manure made in the boxes when feed¬ 
ing on green fodder is much richer than that made whilst the animals 
are consuming roots in the winter, although the allowance of cake, 
may be the same. Now is the time for buying calves of a good 
breed either for rearing or for suckling to be sold as veal; for the 
latter good-bred Hereford calves or Devons will be the best, for they 
fatten quickly and make veal of the very finest quality much better 
than Shorthorns, because they come to hand quicker, for Shorthorns 
if ever so well-bred yield more bone and coarser meat. In rearing 
calves for the dairy at a future time it is essential that the cow 
should have been a good milker from which they were bred, and also 
the bull should have been bred from a good milking strain. With 
reference to the bull calves to be prepared for steers, the very best 
blood for beef-making is required, as they will then during the early 
period of growth feed fast and improve very quickly both in size and 
quality of meat if well fed. It may be asked why we feed over 
Clovers in summer instead of making hay ? We reply, We do not 
wish for, nor is it our usual practice, to feed fatting cattle ■with hay 
during the winter months, when they get roots and cake. Hay is too 
expensive a diet, besides which we find that feeding with straw is 
not only more profitable, but we never find them off their feed by ill- 
health, as they frequently are when eating hay with full allowances 
of roots and cake at the same time. 
The Sussex Association for the Improvement of Agricul¬ 
ture. —The Wheat trials of this Society have been especially useful. 
Unmanured land gave twenty-four bushels per acre, while manured 
land yielded as high as fifty-three bushels, and it was clearly proved 
that the highest profit was obtained from fully manured plots. With 
a dressing of 5 tons of farmyard manure per acre a yield of thirty- 
three bushels was obtained, but the addition of suitable artificial ma¬ 
nure increased the crop to forty bushels. The special manure giving 
the full crop was nitrogen. Four plots had different forms of nitro¬ 
gen, but the produce was nowhere so large as where nitrogen was 
given in the form of nitrate of soda._ Nitrogen proves to be one of 
our best fertilisers, and the erroneous idea that it exhausted the soil 
is now exploded.—E. L. 
REVIEW OF BOOK. 
Agriculture. By William T. Lawrence. Edinburgh: W. & R. 
Chambers. 
A little work of little pretensions, but of much more than 
ordinary merit, bearing the above simple name, has recently been 
