218 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ Septemb r 2, 1886. 
good, better, best, and to decide what course of treatment 
will be best for each field in its preparation for another crop. 
It must be our especial aim to insure a strong growth from 
the germination of the seed onwards to the full development 
of the crop. In doing this we combine the first principles of 
farming with ths most advanced teachings of science. Dry 
land, clean land, fertile land, these are the rudiments, the 
first principles of fundamental importance. Applied to prac¬ 
tice now and always, year by year, or rather month by 
month, they go far to insure success. Experience, combined 
with scientific knowledge, tempered with common sense, 
enable farmers to apply them in the best, and we may add ad¬ 
visedly the most economical manner. We want no “ spurt¬ 
ing of the land,” but steady, persistent, intelligent efforts. 
Very grateful is the soil for all we do to it, if only we do it 
in the right way. Relieve it of superfluous water by drain¬ 
age ; cleanse it from foul weeds; break it up deeply ; apply 
manure consisting of potash, nitrogen, and phosphorus mixed 
in well-balanced proportions according to the condition of 
the soil and the requirements of the crop to be sown in it; 
sow the best and most carefully selected seed that can be 
had, and you will obtain results proportionate to the excel¬ 
lence of your work. 
How best to render the land clean, dry, and fertile has 
repeatedly been set forth in full detail, as assuredly it will 
have to be again and again. It is by the superiority of our 
culture and the excellence of our farm produce that we can 
only hope to make farming answer now under the low prices 
and keen competition with the markets of the world that is 
forced upon us. Earnestly do we strive both by precept and 
practice to help in so good a cause; and though occasionally 
the man who keeps no sheep and clings to the muck heap for 
the whole of his crops “ smiles superior ” when we venture 
to hint at the possibility of progress and improvement, yet 
we have pleasing evidence that efforts for cultural improve¬ 
ment are being made in many parts both of England and 
Scotland. 
(To be continued.) 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
Caution must be our watchword if the fickle weather which has 
prevailed up to the present time continues. It is of course important 
not to let slip any opportunity of saving the corn, but there must be no 
undue haste, no carting till it is really ready for staking. Oats, espe¬ 
cially, must have time for both grain and straw to harden after the cutting 
and we find no plan answer so well with this crop as mowing, leaving it 
untied upon the ground, and turning it over to the 6un when ready. We 
are thus enabled to ensure perfect dryness, and avoid all risk of hurtful 
heating in the stack. Without such care Oats often heat so violently that 
bo.h corn and straw has a musty flavour. Barley, too, will be best if left 
untied, for the straw is generally somewhat sh >rt this year. Not a day 
must be lost in getting Barley together and the stacks thatched, for this 
gram is liable to become discoloured if exposed to much rain after it is 
mowed. So much rain has fallen since the grain began to harden that 
fears are already entertained of discolouration. Much of the Wheat 
comes down in excellent condition, and the yield bids fair to exceed tbe 
general average. White Wheat is so good that we shall probably grow 
much more of it, for we get a better crop both of straw and grain than 
we do ot Red Wheat. This to us is important, since we have so materially 
reduced the number of cattle, and are able to sell a large quantity of 
straw at an average rate of 40s. a ton. Our winter Oat crop, though late, 
proves profitable. The grain has realised about £7 10s. per acre, and the 
sraw affords us an invaluable supply of chaff for home consumption 
We had arranged to cut part of the corn crop on one of our off farms 
with a self-binding reaper, but it was not hired eventually, owing to the 
unsettled state of the weather. Self-bin lers are very useful implements 
in fine hot settled weather, but in such a season as this we prefer only to 
bind up Wheat into sheaves, and to keep other corn fully exposed to wind 
and sun till it is carted to the stacks. Sheep and pigs are turned upon 
the stubbles daily, but we are cautious not to allow the sheep to take 
too much corn, just as we avoid risk of gorging with Clover. Care and 
watchfulness are important in all such matters, to avoid waste of food 
as well as a loss of animals. Wilh pigs there is very little risk of 
harm from an overdose of food, and they will now fatten quicklv for 
market. ^ J 
FOREIGN GOODS AND ENGLISH RAILWAYS. 
Foe years past there has been much said in various quarters as to th» 
desirability of Parliament dealing with the vexed question of railway 
es, which in the vast majority of cases press heavily upon the home 
producer to the advantage of his foreign rival. The question itself is 
one of such magnitude that it could not be adequately dealt with in the 
limits of a short aiticle ; but seeing that the question of foreign competi¬ 
tion is very much to the fore just now, it may be worth while to briefly 
sketch out the evident advantages afforded by our railway companies to 
foreigners to the detriment of our agricultural and commercial indus¬ 
tries. It must be understood that there is a reason, and, from a share¬ 
holders’ point of view, a very cogent reason, for this apparent preference. 
Railways have to compete with steamboat companies, and hence, in many 
instances, they reduce their rates for foreign goods, produce, and mer¬ 
chandise, in order to bring upon their lines traffic which would otherwise 
be conveyed by steamer, if not at so rapid a rate, at least at a charge 
which would in certain things compensate for the slower mode of transit. 
Now this, from a business point of view, is perfectly fair and right, but 
the railways, in order to compete with the steamboats, have to carry 
goods at a rate which does not pay them a reasonable profit, and therefore 
it must be made up in some way. It is made up, but, unfortunately, it is 
made up at the expense of the British producer, who is taxed in order 
that the railways of his own country may take the foreign import traffic 
away from the steamship companies. This certainly does not seem just 
to the Englishman, and this is one of the great questions with which 
Parliament has over and over again attempted to grapple without any 
appreciable result. To fully realise the disparity of charges between the 
conveyance of home and foreign goods, it will be well to take a few 
instances from a return issued by the Board of Trade as to the rates for 
the conveyance by rail of certain classes of goods, merchandise, and 
produce. Perhaps one of the most important items is meat. Well, for 
Scotch meat from Glasgow to London the charge is 77s. 6J. per ton, 
while for American meats it is only 45s. This difference is, of course, to 
prevent the meat being conveyed by ocean steamers to London, but the 
difference tells very seriously againet the Scotch grower. From Liverpool 
to London American beef is carried at 25s. per ton, while English meat 
has to pay just twice that amount, the reason, of course, being the same as 
just indicated. Grain is on a similar footing. It would be needless to 
multiply instances, but here is one as a sample. Imported corn is con¬ 
veyed from the Victoria Docks to Peterborough, a distance of seventy-six 
miles, for 6s. 8d. per ton, while the rate for English-grown corn is 14s. 5d. 
Now, taking cheese, the rate for American cheese from Liverpool to 
London is 25s. per ton, but if the train stops at Cheshire and takes up a 
consignment of English cheese for the same market, the English maker 
is mulcted in 42s. 6d. per ton carriage. Foreign butter is conveyed from 
Cherbourg to London at £1 10s. per ton, but English butter from Wey¬ 
mouth to London pays no less than £2 5s. Potatoes cost 15s. a ton less 
to convey from Cherbourg to London than they do from Penzance. Home¬ 
grown fruit is at a similar disadvantage, as it appears that a man in 
Holland can send his produce to London via Sittingbourne at the same 
price that a Kentish grower would send from Sittingbourne to Covent 
Garden. In the case of some other articles of commerce the anomaly is 
yet more striking. Hay can be sent from Rotterdam to London for 
9s. per ton, but 10s. per ton is the charge from London to Reading. 
Plate glass is charged at the same rate from Brussels to Birmingham as 
from Birmingham to Wolverhampton, a distance of thirteen miles. It is 
unnecessary to multiply examples ; the glaring discrepancy is only too 
apparent, but how to remedy it is quite another qu stion. This much is 
ceitiin, that on foreign railways the rates do not press on the home 
producer or favour the foreigner as they do here. We are fain to confess, 
therefore, that railway rates are one of those things that they do order 
much better in France, and, in fact, on the Continent generally. There 
is, however, a probability that the matter will be deliberated upon by a 
Royal Commission, when it is to be hoped that something like an equitable 
arrangement will be arrived at, and the magnates of the railway world 
made to understand that they cannot fritter away the trade of the country 
in this fashioD.—( St. Stephen’s Review'). 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS’. 
Camden Square, London. 
Lat. 51° 32' 40" N.; Long. 0° 8' 0" W.; Altitude, 111 feet. 
DATE. 
9 A.M. 
| IN THE DAT. 
a 
a 
X 
1886. 
August. 
Barome¬ 
ter at 32« 
and Sea 
Level 
Hygrome¬ 
ter. 
Direction 
of Wind. 
| Temp, of 
Soil at 
I foot. 
Shade Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
sun. 
On 
gras- 
Inches. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
d*(r 
deg. 
deg 
In. 
Sunday . 
30.056 
60.3 
58.9 
N.E. 
60.1 
79.4 
57.1 
118.8 
50.0 
Monday. 
23 
3 >.002 
58.4 
56.8 
N.E. 
61.2 
75.8 
55.9 
118.6 
54.3 
_ 
Tuesday. 
24 
29-918 
64.2 
60.5 
E. 
Cl.G 
814 
56.8 
123.8 
51.2 
Wednesday . 
25 
29.996 
63.9 
59.3 
N.E. 
62.2 
76.2 
56.2 
115.8 
49 9 
Thursday ... 
26 
80.068 
64.0 
59.3 
N.E. 
62.2 
75.9 
55.2 
120.2 
49.9 
_ 
Friday. 
27 
30.175 
65.5 
62.6 
N.E. 
62.6 
80.9 
57.3 
118.4 
51.4 
Saturday ... 
28 
30.131 
68.7 
61.9 
S.E. 
63.3 
77.3 
59.5 
112.6 
52.0 
— 
30.049 
63.G 
59.9 
61.9 
78.1 
56.9 
118.3 
51.2 
- 
22nd.—Dull till about 11 A M., then bright and warm, 
23rd.—Dull early, tine, but close afterwards. 
24th.—Fine and hot, but rather oppressive. 
2*)th.—Warm and bright. 
ht'L sl V lsllin 1 e l , n morning, clear afternoon, a lovely summer day. 
tStb.-DuUefrfyTfl^Smdiy?^ the m0rning: SUn8hine iQ afte ™oon. 
wea J£ e L frequently close and oppressive. Temperature 
SYMONS. b Ve that f the precedin £ week » aud about 7° above the average.-Q. J 
