114 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
f August 3, 1893. 
a splendid substitute can be bad by dissolving in 40 gallons of 
water 1 lb. nitrate of soda, 1 lb. muriate of potasb, and 2 lbs. 
superphosphate. This is an excellent fertiliser for all fruit 
trees and bushes, as well as for those in old orchards, but there 
especially do we recommend the combination of potash with 
the other salts, because of the too probab’e exhaustion of the 
soil near the trees. 
At another farm, in an old orchard near the house an 
attempt had been made to gradually clear off and replace the 
old and much cankered trees with young ones. The soil was a 
cold heavy clay, and though the young trees had made some 
growth, it had cankered so badly that ihe restoration of the 
orchard was practically a failure. Evidence of the remarkable 
energy and ability of the farmer is afforded by the general 
excellence of the whole of the other crops on the farm, notwith¬ 
standing the long drought. He was not content to fail in even 
such a minor matter as the management of his orchard, and so 
came his appeal for advice. As usual, the remedy was a very 
simple matter ; he has to discard the diseased trees, to open 
stations 6 feet square and 2 feet deep, to lay a row of 2 inch 
drain pipes across the bottom, to fill the stations with sound 
top-spit soil, using enough of it to allow for its gradually settle¬ 
ment to the common level, to connect the station drains with a 
central main drain running right through the orchard, and to 
plant strong healthy standard trees immediately after the leaf 
falls in autumn. To make stations in clay without outlets for 
water must lead to failure. The farmer’s puzzle was why the 
orchard trees failed, while a dozen or more others planted at 
the same time in a hedgerow had made healthy growth and 
were bearing fruit. Upon going to the hedgerow we pointed 
out to him that the surface of a field on one side of it was quite 
3 feet lower than that on the other side, there was no possi¬ 
bility of accumulation of water about the roots, and they were 
healthy thriving trees. 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
Never was there a season when nitrogenous manures played such 
an important part as they have in this summer of trials and difficulties 
arising from the great drought. The application of the mixture of 
nitrate of soda, superphosphate, muriate of potash, and steamed bone 
flour to pasture during the last week of February told even better than 
usual, for the soil had been well soaked by the heavy rain of that wet 
month, and there was plenty of rain then and at the beginning of 
March to thoroughly dissolve and wash in the manure to the soil about 
the roots of Grasses and Clovers. A full hay crop thus became a 
certainty. It has repeatedly been so in other seasons when, although 
there has been no long drought, drying March winds have not been 
followed by April showers. Clearly, then, the lesson enforced once 
more is to apply chemical to all grass land about the last week in 
February. “ But,” we were once told, “ it could not be done with 
snow upon the ground.” It could, and with this advantage, that as 
the snow melts it carries the manure into the turf. 
Nitrate of soda alone has also and is playing an important part 
now. With frequent showers free growth is a certainty if only 
1 or 2 cwt. per acre of chis splendid fertiliser is sown broadcast over 
hungry pasture, among catch crops, roots, or any other crops requiring 
a lift onwards. It is really lamentable to find so many graziers, with 
ruin staring them in the face, doing nothing of the sort to help them¬ 
selves. Want,of means 1 Surely not, for it is entirely worth while for 
a man to sacrifice something in order to obtain command of such a 
means of giving food to his hungry cattle and hope to himself. It is 
certain that wherever the soil has been well tilled in autumn and well 
stored with fertility that crops are highly satisfactory now. Equally 
clear is it that poverty of soil under the drought has led to a ruinous 
crop failure. Corn harvest is in full swing very generally south of the 
Trent. It is a month earlier than usual, and points to one of the finest 
opportunities for thorough autumn tillage we have had for many years. 
Let us try and turn it to full account. 
FAEMING AT HOME AND ABROAD. 
The following interesting note by Mr. Martin J. Sutton, of Kidmore 
Grange, appears in the Times of July 31st. Mr. Sutton says :— 
“ On my return home I find that very little improvement has taken 
place in the situation since I left in the last week in June. It would 
appear that, though the second cuttings of Clover leys will be improved, 
the root crops have not been so much benefited by the heavy rains of 
the last fortnight as might reasonably have been expected, while those 
rains have done more harm than good to the corn. I should like to 
say a word on the condition of affairs on the Continent. I started on 
my usual journey abroad on the 26th of June, after travelling some 
hundreds of miles the week previous through some of the best agricul¬ 
tural districts of England. I was thus able to compare the agricultural 
conditions then obtaining in this country and those on the Continent. 
I have since travelled some 3000 miles by road and rail inspecting the 
crops in the north of France, Belgium, the Rhine Provinces, and 
Southern Germany. It is true that in all these countries the first hay 
crop was a comparative failure, and it seemed at one time that the 
roots might also be short. But I was agreeably surprised to find there 
the grass growing very rapidly for the second crop, and, excepting in 
parts in the north of France, the roots looking very well indeed. Rye 
this year appeared to me a specially heavy crop, and it has been mostly 
seeured in splendid condition, I saw some very heavy pieces of Wheat, 
and both Oats and Barley are far better than those to be met with on 
this side of the Channel, Indeed, it was lamentable all the way between 
Dover and London, travelling through the richest districts of Kent, to 
contrast the miserable crops there growing with the abundance on the 
other side. It is satisfactory to know that north of the Humber 
agrieultural prospects, even in our own country, are just as good as 
they are bad in the south, and unless a very wet hay and corn harvest 
follows there and the Potato disease spreads rapidly and injures the 
tubers, the Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Scotch farmers will have little 
to complain of, as they will have good crops of hay to sell at famine 
prices. Very different is the prospect for agriculturists in the western, 
southern, and eastern districts of England, where hay, roots, and spring 
corn are all seriously deficient, and Wheat cannot be an average crop.” 
THE FIRST POCKETS OF HOPS. 
The first pocket of new Kent Hops arrived in the Borough on 
Monday last, and was sold at £25 per cwt. In sending this information, 
Messrs. W, H. & H, Le May state that the effect of the rain that has 
fallen during the last three weeks can now be seen. It has freshened 
up all, but the Golding Hops in Mid and East Kent have benefited 
the most. The bine is now full of sap, and the foliage a very dark 
green. With fine hot dry weather from now till picking they would 
estimate the Golding grounds to give a crop of 8 cwt. per acre. With 
regard to the Fuggles on the heavy clays of the Weald of Kent and 
Sussex, the rain came too late to increase the crop much. These Hops, 
with the earlies, such as Prolifics, Hobb’s, and Seale’s, may produce an 
average of 3 cwt. to 4 cwt. per acre, if the red spider that is running 
very fast through most grounds does not prevent the development of the 
Hop cones. Many experienced growers think there will not be a pocket 
per acre picked in those grounds that are badly infested with red spider. 
The market is very firm. 
On Saturday Messrs. Edward Webb & Sons, Wordsley, received a 
pocket of new Worcester Hops, which passed the public scales at 
Worcester on Friday, which is the earliest date on record. It was 
grown by Mr. H. T. Taylor, Showle Court, Ledbury. The pocket was 
resold to Mr. W. Butler, Crown Brewery, Birmingham. The quality 
of the year’s crop is likely to be good, but a light yield is expected. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
Oamdex Square, London. 
Lat. 51° 32' 40" N.; Long. 0° 8' 0" W.; Altitude, 111 feet. 
Date. 
9 A.M. 
In the Day. 
Rain, 
1893. 
July. 
1 Barometer 
1 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 .. 
23 
30T90 
65-7 
55-8 
S. 
62-0 
73-3 
48-9 
108-9 
43-0 
0-391 
Monday .. 
24 
29-911 
66-3 
63-6 
s.w. 
62-2 
75 6 
59-0 
117-1 
57-4 
— 
Tuesday ., 
25 
29-873 
65-2 
56-9 
w. 
62-7 
73-7 
57-4 
123-7 
53-9 
— 
Wednesday 
26 
29-838 
65-0 
58-7 
s.w. 
62-2 
71-0 
55-9 
1.0-2 
52-9 
0-020 
Thursday.. 
27 
30-161 
61-8 
54-4 
N.E. 
62 7 
72-3 
54-4 
119-8 
50-4 
— 
Friday 
28 
30-305 
63-4 
55-1 
N.E. 
62-3 
71-3 
47-3 
104-8 
43-2 
— 
Saturday .. 
29 
30-136 
64-9 
59-9 
S.W. 
62-6 
70-8 
58-8 
96-7 
55-2 
0-072 
30-059 
64-6 
57-8 
62-4 
72-6 
54-5 
113-0 
50-9 
0-483 
REMARKS. 
23rd.—Generally sunny in the morning and cloudy in the afternoon ; rain after 6 P.M. 
and heavy rain from 9 r.M. to 11 P.M. 
24th. —Rainy till 6 A.M., and overcast till 11 A.M.. bright and sunny after. 
25th.—Generally sunny throughout the day; cloudy with spots of rain in the evening. 
26th.—Bright early ; showery with thunder from 8.30 a.m. to 10 A.M., then generally 
sunny till 3 P.M. and variable after, with frequent thunder and occasional 
rain. 
27th.—Fine and generally sunny, but occasionally overcast in the afternoon. 
28th.—Bright early, but very calm, and the sun became gradually obscured by the 
accumulation of smoke; cloudy in the afternoon and overcast with spots of rain 
in the evening. 
29th.—Occasional sunshine in the morning, but generally overcast; rain at 0.30 P.M., 
and slight showers later. 
Temperature very similar to that of the previous week and of the average. Very 
little rain except on the 23rd.—G. J. SYMON6. 
