76 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ January 28, 1892. 
TECHNICAL EDUCATION. 
Much doubt has been expressed as to the wisdom of the new 
departure by county councils in their endeavour to improve the 
condition of the people by a course of technical education, to be 
imparted by lecturers, presumably selec'ed with great care by 
organising committees. In many instances which have come 
under our notice this has been well done, the lecturers being both 
well chosen and well paid. In others the serious mistake has 
been made of bargaining for cheap men, who of course are 
forthcoming, as it is certain that plenty of adventurers would be 
on the alert to take advantage of such an opportunity. Then, 
again, mistakes have been made as to the number of lectures 
requisite to convey any special subject to the comprehension of 
the hearers. All this was to be expected, council councillors as 
well as ordinary mortals having to buy their experience, and we 
doubt not that another winter will witness an improvement in all 
this. 
Agriculture of course takes a leading place in such a scheme, 
and equally, of course, exception has been taken to such teaching 
by those who hold that farmers have nothing to learn, that so 
perfect is their practice improvement is impossible. Such 
absurd prejudice is only to be met by the log’c of facts. This 
has been done admirably by experiments at Rothamstead, 
Woburn, and elsewhere. Repeatedly has it been proved that 
agriculture languishes here, that we are beaten by foreigners 
because we lack energy, enterprise—aye, and knowledge too, 
because we have been content to shuffle on in makeshift fashion, 
tillage, manure, crops, live stock all being faulty. Again were 
we taught last year that underbred cattle are the sport of 
market fluctuations ; that well bred well fed beasts continue 
steadily to command a price that pays. Did Essex farmers 
show prescience, business capacity, or anything like comprehen¬ 
sion of the evil and its remedy when hard times fell upon them ? 
We might go on and tell once more of inferior crops from 
inferior seed or insufficient manure, or both; of live stock 
suffering much or lost outright from exposure; of the persistent 
cultivation of unprofitable crops, of unmarketable dairy produce, 
of a foolish clinging to custom for the mere sake of it. 
No, farmers, in common with all other men, must admit that 
improvement is possible, that dairy and fruit farming may both 
be extended indefinitely. Last year nearly £1,000,000 worth 
more butter was imported than in 1890, and nearly £500,000 
worth of margarine. In all £106,000,000 was spent for imported 
farm produce, nearly £52,500,000 of which went for meat and 
dairy produce, and the importation of eggs is steadily on the 
increase. The importat on of fruit, too, is ou the increase. 
Never were American Apples finer or more abundant. Quality 
is insured by the American fruit farmer’s system of grading, 
only the best fruit being so exported, the second size being 
reserved for drying, the third, or smallest fruit, being sent to 
the cider mills. The trade in dried or evaporated fruit has also 
assumed gigantic proportions, England and the chief European 
continental powers being apparently content for the keen-witted 
American farmers to grow, prepare, and send it to them. 
That fruit will drive corn from the land has been treated as 
an absurdity, yet it has done so in a considerable part of Kent 
and in the United States of America. In twelve of the most fertile 
counties of Western New York the cultivation of fruit, especi¬ 
ally of Apples, has within the last fifteen years superseded that 
of every other crop. This would not have happened had it not 
been for fruit evaporation. The process is most simple. By 
it the water is driven off—evaporated—and all the nutritious 
saccharine matter retained. What do British farmers know 
about this industry? What, indeed, do they know of fruit 
farming, to say nothing of fruit evaporation ? 
Surely, then, it must be owned that there is a want of 
technical education in agriculture. The movement is in the 
right direction, and will be successful if only due care is exer¬ 
cised in the selection of really practical men as lecturers and 
not mere theorists, but men of much experience, whose words 
will have weight. They have a fine field, and the chief difficulty 
is to confine the first course of lectures well within due bounds^ 
not attempting teaching too much, but rather to proceed step 
by step, making each subject quite clear, so that the lessons 
may easily be applied to practice. A few points well enforced 
do much more real good than many conveyed in an indistinct 
manner to the bearers’ minds. Discussion is also good, and 
should always be invited, questions asked and answered often 
leading to an animated and useful discussion—all the more 
useful if practicil men take part in it. 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
Owing to a wet autumn much winter corn was sown in land not 
properly manured ; let this not be forgotten, but take care and apply a 
liberal spring surface dressing early enough to insure it being dissolved 
and washed in by rain showers. The Wheat plant is full and sturdy. 
Give it 1 cwt. nitrate of soda and 2 cwt. superphosphate about the end 
of February, taking care to mix the manure carefully before sowing 
it broadcast. This is a cheap, efficient, and under the circumstances the 
best possible dressing for the Wheat. If the land is in good heart a 
hundredweight of nitrate of soda alone may be best. Be it understood 
that this is a matter calling for some judgment, and we can only advise 
g,enerally what should be done. Much Wheat was flooded after the 
sowing, and much nutriment was probably carried away in the drains. 
All this requires consideration, and a little money spent in the direction 
indicated goes far to bring a full crop. It never answers to sit down 
under such adverse influences, but rather should we always rise to an 
emergency and adapt our measures for success to it. The farmer’s calling 
is beset with difficulties ofthis kind, and bis aim must be always to try and 
rise superior to them. It is only the man who has energy, intelligence, 
and capital who can do this. Once more we say, Keep your holding 
well within your means, and do what you undertake in the best way. 
The first month of the year will soon be gone. February is the 
month in which to obtain supplies of chemical manure for spring corn, 
green crops, and permanent pasture. Annual dressing, large or small, 
there must be, according to the condition of the land, which only can 
be known to the farmer himself. Bear in mind that exhaustion in some 
degree—exhaustion of fertility of soil—after every crop, our aim being 
always to replenish and so keep the land stored with plant food. If only 
this timely hint is turned to full account full crops of all kinds may be 
had. Avoid all doubtful mixtures. Buy only pure manures from a 
reliable source ; mix carefully, apply with judgment, then results are 
practically assured. Keep the farmyard manure in reserve for the root 
crops, and see that the dressing of it is liberal. 
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’. 
.9 
d 
P4 
1892. 
January. 
1 Barometer 
I at 32°, and 
1 Sea Level. 
Hygrometer. 
Direc¬ 
tion of 
Wind. 
Temp, 
of soil 
at 
1 foot. 
Shade Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
Sun 
On 
Grass. 
Inchs. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
Inchs. 
Sunday .. 17 
29.607 
33.5 
32.4 
N. 
34.0 
37.7 
30.8 
44.9 
27.6 
— 
Monday .. 18 
29.754 
37.2 
36.3 
E. 
34.0 
43.3 
33.1 
45.1 
28.2 
— 
Tuesday .. 19 
29.880 
36.1 
35.2 
E. 
34.0 
37.0 
34.7 
41.0 
30 2 
_ 
W ednesday 20 
29.886 
35.0 
33.3 
N.E. 
33.9 
38.2 
32.2 
47.9 
27.2 
— 
Thursday.. 21 
29.991 
32.6 
32.0 
N.E. 
34.0 
43.0 
30.0 
44.2 
26.3 
0.010 
Friday .. 22 
29.888 
42.7 
41.8 
S.W. 
34.1 
46.9 
29.9 
51.0 
23.4 
0.128 
Saturday .. 23 
29.984 
46.3 
46.2 
s.w. 
35.0 
50.2 
40.1 
53.6 
34.9 
0.028 
29.856 
37.6 
36.7 
34.1 
42.3 
33.0 
46.8 
28.3 
0.166 
REMARKS. 
17th.—Rain early, freezing on the ground as it fell, and occasionally till 10 A.M , then 
fair, witli occasional sunshine; overcast afternoon and evening. 
18th.—Gloomy and hazy throughout. 
19th.—Overcast all day. 
20th.—Cloudy early ; frequent sunshine after 11.30. 
21st.—Cloudy early; slight fog at 9.30, dry smoke fog, increasing steadily, and gas 
necessary from 11.30, very dark from noon to 2 P.M. ; fairly clear after 3 P.M. 
22nd.—Dull, with spots of rain early ; drizzle afternoon, wet after 4 P.M. 
23rd.—Dull and drizzly morning ; fine afternoon. 
A dull, damp week, much warmer than the previous one.—G. J. Symons. 
