62 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ July 17, 1890. 
-are somewhat heavy in style, better is it to err in that direction 
than to adopt the flippant frothy style of certain would-be popular 
writers of the present day. Mr. Daniel Pidgeon’s paper on “ The 
Development of Agricultural Machinery ” has the place of honour, 
and well does he tell what good work has been done by the imple 
ment trials at the “Royal” Shows ; how the Judges have made 
implement makers “ sit up ” in a way that was entirely new to 
them ; how the prize engine, which in 1849 burned 114 lbs. of coal 
per horse power per hour, was so wonderfully improved in 1887 as 
to do the same amount of work with II lb. of coal per hour ! how 
that which is true of steam engines is true of other implements, 
••and how the trials have gradually become more and more thorough 
and exhaustive. 
Professor Wrightson’s “ Agricultural Lessons of the Eighties” 
fakes a hopeful view of the future of British agriculture. A brief 
sketch of the depression and its consequences tells how there never 
has been a period of greater activity of thought, of proposed 
alterations, of attention to agricultural matters. The decade has 
witnessed the stirring sight of landlords and tenants combining to 
grapple with difficulties caused by influences altogether outside their 
■control. Well says the writer that “ Disaster is to Englishmen the 
trumpet call to action,” and when farmers were able to realise the 
‘gravity of their position they did not flinch from a struggle out of 
which they are now coming with the enlarged power which mental 
•growth confers, and with greater ability to adopt the changes in farm 
management which have become inevitable. What those changes 
are the paper shows under separate headings, and though the 
learned Professor’s conclusions as to the return of more favourable 
-conditions of climate are hardly supported by the gloom and wet of 
the weather just now, his “ lessons ” cannot fail of being useful. 
Admirably in keeping with the tone of Professor Wrightson’s 
paper is that of Mr. Gilbert Murray on “ Increasing the Home 
Production of Beef.” The importance of self-supporting farms 
-of home bred stock, of building up herds of milking cows, of pure 
well-selected sires, of a steady development of the stock-bearing 
capabilities of farms, and of thorough systematic action in every 
detail of farm practice is clearly set forth, and there is also a use¬ 
ful -description of the cropping rotation followed upon a farm 
■devoted to the production of milk and meat, with same account of 
the practice at Elvaston. 
Dr. Fream has another paper on “ The Herbage of Pastures,’ 
which, apart from any reference to the Rye Grass controversy, is 
really a valuable, interesting, and unique contribution to agricul¬ 
tural literature. Since 1888 the scope of his inquiry has widened, 
and it now embraces the whole of the British Isles. It proves 
beyond dispute that the per-centage of Rye Grass in pasture 
generally is high, and in some of the best pasture it is very high. 
The most remarkable example of this is from a field in the Yale of 
White Horse, near Wantage, in Berkshire, where the per-centage 
of Lolium perenne proved to be as high as 72. Mr. C. H. Eady, 
who manages the farm, says the area of the field is forty-six acres. 
Last year he says, “ The last week in April I stocked it with forty- 
four Hereford steers and four Shire fillies. The Herefords were 
all fat and sold to a London dealer by the middle of July. I then 
drafted thirty-six other Herefords into it from inferior pasture. 
They were all fat, and gone by the end of August. I then stocked 
it with forty shorthorn heifers : twenty of these were sold fat at 
■the end of October, the remaining twenty, being half fat, were put 
in the stalls about the first week in November. I then put in 
twenty-four Welsh runts (stores) to clear it up, and they have 
■(February 14th), until quite recently, been doing well, when I 
moved them into straw yards. I have never known any artificial 
food of any sort given to beasts in this field.” We have given Mr. 
Eady’s statement in full as affording remarkable proof of the 
highly nutritious properties of Rye Grass, and this is all the more 
striking by the absence from this pasture of Dactylis, of the 
Fescues, and all the other “indispensable” permanent pasture 
Grasses with the exception of 2 per cent, of Phleum pratense. 
Among other useful matter the tables of agricultural statistics are 
valuable for reference ; and among the “ notes ” is one in favour of 
the cultivation of sugar Beet. The cultivation of Beet is simple 
enough, but its conversion into sugar, or rather the extraction of its 
saccharine matter for that purpose, in this country has hitherto 
proved a failure. East Anglian farmers have had a try at it, and 
the idle sugar factory at Lavenham in Suffolk affords tangible 
proof of the folly of embarking upon such an undertaking without 
first acquiring a practical knowledge of the process of making Beet 
sugar, and applying a severe test to the yield of saccharine from 
Beet grown under similar conditions to those which answer so well 
for Mangolds. Sugar Beet and Tobacco can both be grown here, 
but we can turn neither to profitable account, and the three 
notable failures in the Eighties are in making Beet sugar, Tobacco, 
and condensed milk by farmers. 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
Another week of dripping weather renders us less hopeful of a 
bountiful harvest, for without fine weather now our reasonable expecta¬ 
tions of a full corn crop can hardly be realised. We hear doleful 
accounts of Wheat in full bloom beaten down by wind and rain, which 
certainly means a light crop at best. The gales of the 4th and 5th 
inst. have done a serious amount of harm to corn, fruit, and hops in 
southern districts, the storm area which then came so slowly up the 
English Channel bringing torrents of rain and such terrific blasts of 
wind that even Potato haulm and field Beans were beaten down. Hay¬ 
making has been almost at a standstill, and it is only those who have 
been alert to seize every brief opportunity of a cessation of rain who 
have been able to open the haycocks and cart any hay to the ricks. 
We have so far only been caught once, and have continued to cart a lot 
of hay in fair condition, while storm clouds have been rolling up from 
the west, for this year it certainly appears to be a case of nothing venture 
nothing have. 
Not a single stack of hay would we make in such unsettled weather 
were we in the position of a tenant farmer, with whom in such a season 
ensilage should "have first place. We can concei ve of the entire satis¬ 
faction—even in such a wet summer—of farmers whose cropping is 
intended for home consumption, who have a full head of live stock, and 
absolutely revel in their huge stacks of silage, the certainty of an 
abundant crop of roots, Cabbage, and Kale, and of a full bite on 
pastures late in the year. These are the men who continue prosperous, 
while others who stick to corn growing are on the verge of bankruptcy. 
Excellent silage presses can now be had for the price of a small rick 
cloth, so that there is really nothing to prevent every farmer from 
ensilage, unless it is ignorance, prejudice, or carelessness. Persistent 
haymakers are leaving much grass uncut till the weather clears, with 
the certainty of a serious loss of quality, all the earlier grasses having 
ripe seed, much of which has fallen. 
This wet weather brings with it some risk of harm to lambs out on 
the soft growth of pastures, and they should be withdrawn as fre¬ 
quently as possible. A run for a couple of hours on pasture daily will 
do good rather than harm, but they will thrive best if folded on Tares 
and Oats forward in growth, and next on second crop Clover or Sain¬ 
foin. The ewes may be on pasture altogether, and with a full bite they 
will soon recover condition. All sheep must be examined narrowly for 
flies daily, and some Cuff’s dressing applied at once when necessary. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
CAMDEN SQUARE, LONDON. 
Lat. 51° 32' 40" N.; Long. 0° 8' 0" W.; Altitude, 111 feet. 
DATE. 
9 AM. 
IN THE DAT. 
a 
Ph 
1890. 
July. 
Barome¬ 
ter at 82“ 
and Sea 
Level. 
Hygrome¬ 
ter. 
Direction 
| of Wind. 
Temp, of 
sou at 
1 foot. 
Shade Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature. 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Max. 
Min. 
lu 
sim. 
On 
grass 
Inches. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
In. 
Sunday. f> 
79.824 
56.0 
51.8 
X. 
56.0 
60.3 
47.9 
103.6 
47.0 
— 
Monday. 7 
£9.955 
58.5 
54.0 
N. 
55.6 
65.7 
47.4 
110.0 
44.6 
0.200 
Tuesday .... 8 
29.513 
60.1 
57.9 
S.W. 
56.2 
72.0 
51.8 
119.3 
51.8 
— 
Wednesday.. 9 
29.756 
59.1 
54.4 
s. 
57.4 
68.0 
54.4 
82.0 
52.5 
0.110 
Thursday.... 10 
29.961 
60.3 
53.4 
X. 
57.0 
68.9 
48.0 
120.9 
44.9 
0.317 
Friday .It 
29.898 
55.3 
51.4 
x.w. 
57.9 
60.6 
48.7 
100.4 
40.8 
O.lt’O 
Saturday .... 12 
£9.975 
56.4 
51.3 
8. 
66.5 
63.0 
42.4 
91.9 
40.6 
— 
£9.810 
58.0 
£3.5 
56.7 
64.8 
48.7 
101.0 
47.3 
0.7f7 
REMARKS. 
6*h.—Generally overcast, but a litt'e sun in the afternoon ; spots of rain at 11 A M. 
7th.—Generally cloudy, with frequent showers and drizzle in the morning and evening; 
lain at night. 
8th —Wet early and drizzle till 11.30 A M.; then Ar e and generally bright. 
9th.—Cloudy, with occasional spots of raid in the morning; wet afternoon; fair 
evening. 
l(th.—Bright morninv; frequently cloudy in afternoon; solar halo from 5 to 6 P.M.; 
heavy rain from 1L.S0 P.M. to 3 a.M. on ltih. 
11 th.—Line early; cloudy and frequently threatening in the morning; heavy rain Irom 
noon to 1 P.M. and at 4 P M .then fine again. 
12th - Cl' udy and frequently threatening in morning ; a little sunshine in the afternoon. 
Another cold and rainy week; mean temneratn-e even lower than that of the pre¬ 
ceding week, being <i° be'ow the average.—Q. J. SXMONS. 
