166 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ February 23, 1893. 
SPRING CROPPING. 
Every farmer having a full supply of Thousand-headed 
Kale now will agree with us that it is a crop worthy of a pro¬ 
minent place both in spring and summer cropping. Even those 
without any must admit the high value and great useful¬ 
ness of it for every reason that a practical man can have for 
the cultivation of his most cherished crops. It is for such men 
especially that we are now writing, to give them a timely 
reminder of the unwisdom of neglecting a means of obtaining 
an abundant supply of nutritious green food at midwinter; of 
relieving the run upon hayricks ; of imparting freshness to the 
milk yield; of supplying the ewe hock with a safe substitute 
for roots before, during, and after the lambing season. It grows 
under high cultivation upwards of a yard in height, the stems 
are thickly set with side shoots, and it is so wholesome that 
sheep folded upon it during winter and spring show no tendency 
to scour. An acre of it affords enough food to sustain a 
hundred sheep for a month, or much longer if they have dry 
trough food as well. It is quite hardy, and is simply invaluable 
this winter with hay rising in price almost weekly ; yet it is 
only occasionally to be met with. In our frequent long journeys 
it is only very occasionally that we see it being turned to full 
account; yet there can be no more reason for neglecting it than 
there is for not having a full supply o*^, say. Lucerne, or any 
other of our best fodder crops. 
Under good management it is quite possible to have plenty 
of Thousand-headed Kale all the year round ; but the fact of 
its being so hardy renders it most valuable when other crops 
cannot be had. For use in the last three months of the year it 
is drilled in April and May, or if sown in seed beds for trans¬ 
planting then make sowings in March and April to transplant 
in June and July. FoV spring and early summer use drill the 
seed in July and August. There are advantages as well as dis¬ 
advantages in either of these methods of culture. By sowing 
in seed beds 2 lbs. of seed affords sufficient plants for an acre, 
with an ample surplus for failures. The plants are kept under 
close observation during the critical early stages of growth, and 
are easily protected from insects ; but they involve the addi¬ 
tional cost and risk of transplantation. By drillino' the cost 
of transplanting is practically avoided, though it may be found 
necessary to transplant some to fill vacancies. The checked 
growth, so unavoidable in transplanting, is avoided : yet about 
three times the quantity of seed is required, and the young 
plants are exposed to attacks of insect pests which may destroy 
the whole of them. 
In some soils, more particularly those which are light and 
sandy, club-root may affect the crop so seriously as to spoil 
it. To combat this use heavy dressings of farmyard manui’e, 
transplant large vigorous plants, which, whether purchased or 
home-raised, must have the stems examined, all maggot swell¬ 
ings cut off, and the roots dipped in a puddle of clay, soot, 
and lime, moistened and brought to the proper consistency 
with strong soapsuds and petroleum, first mixed by pouring a 
wineglassful of petroleum into a gallon of hot soapsuds. If 
there is any reason to fear attacks of this pest among drilled 
plants, a liberal dressing of chemical manures (always bene¬ 
ficial), would do much good in promoting vigorous growth from 
the seed germination. In any case these soluble salts ai-e 
desirable, both for vigorous growth of the young plants, and for 
bulk of crop. 
Plant or thin to 30 inches apart, so that the horse-hoe may 
be used freely among the plants, and when the crop is trans¬ 
planted, the hoe can be used both along and across the field, 
as the plants stand in true line both ways. This is easily 
managed by reversing the hoes of a steerage or horse-hoe, 
setting them 30 inches apart, marking the land first one way, 
and then crossing the other way, each plant being placed where 
the lines intersect. Accuracy and dispatch are thus insured, 
and the planting is done with marvellous celerity ; often with 
much needless roughness and exposure of plants, which we have 
seen shot out of carts in heaps on bright hot days, to be 
dropped singly by boys for the planters. The severe check 
thus given to the plants might be avoided, though we must 
admit that they recover from it and grow freely enough to 
produce a useful crop. 
The first drillings may follow sheep folds on Rye or late 
Swedes ; the former, preferably, because Swede folds answer so 
well as a preparation for spring corn. Summer drillings follow 
Winter Oats conveniently if the land is clean, chemical manures 
only being used liberally, as there is no time for carting farm¬ 
yard manure then. A surface dressing of nitrate of soda now 
promotes vigorous growth in the summer- sown plant. 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
The time has come for top-dreisings of chemical manures to be given 
to permanent pasture, mixed seeds of Grasses and Clovers, Vetches and 
Oats, and winter corn. First comes the grass and other fodder crops 
intended for hay or silage, all which we like to have the manure on by 
the end of February. Never have we had better results than those from 
using J cwt. nitrate of potash, cwt. nitrate of soda, ^ cwt. mineral 
superphosphate, and J cwt. steamed bone flour, or 2^ cwt. per acre of the 
best possible combination of nitrogenous and mineral manures. It was 
solely owing to its high price that we ceased using nitrate of potash, 
taking the muriate as a substitute. It is by using such a mixture yearly 
that we have sustained fertility in the soil wherein these important 
crops grow. Avoid using nitrate of soda alone on permanent pasture ; 
use it there always in combination with the other manures we mention. 
To both winter Oats and Wheat a top-dressing of nitrate of soda may 
be given to good purpose in March. One or even two hundredweight per 
acre where mineral manures were used when the corn was sown, induces 
growth of remarkable vigour, and a corn yield altogether above the 
average. In good mixed soil it is still entirely possible to grow Wheat 
profitably by the use of reliable seed, good manure, and early sowing. 
From four to eight hundredweight of soot per acre may also now be 
used as a top-dressing both for corn and fodder crops. The manurial 
matter in soot is sulphate of ammonia ; it may be used advantageously on 
permanent pasture where mineral food is known to be present in 
sufficient quantity, but where soil is deficient in mineral food, then basic 
slag or superphosphate should be used with the soot. Avoid mysterious 
compounds of soot under fanciful designations. Soot cannot be regarded 
as a complete manure, because it is only carbon in combination with 
sulphate of ammonia. 
More caution is exercised in using nitrate of soda for Barley than 
for any other crop, because it is so liable to prove hurtful to quality. 
It has been laid down by an able chemist that three-quarters cwt. of 
nitrate of soda per acre is the maximum quantity as a top-dressing for 
Barley. For Oats it may be used much more freely with advantage, 
also for mixed fodder crops, to which the scarcity and high price of hay 
during this and the two preceding winters should induce special 
attention. The best meadow hay in Leicestershire now costs about 
per ton. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
O.vMDEX Square, Loxdox. 
Lat. 51° 32' 40" N.; Long. 0*^ 8' 0" W.: Altitude. Ill feet. 
Date. 
9 A.M. 
Ix TUB Day. 
Rain. 
1893. 
February. 
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 ., 12 
29-701 
35-5 
34-5 
S.W. 
40-0 
44-0 
32-7 
62-9 
29-0 
0-036 
Monday .. 13 
29-788 
38-6 
37-6 
s. 
38-6 
49-0 
33-0 
61-6 
29-6 
0-053 
Tuesday .. 14 
29-367 
48-8 
47-4 
S.W. 
40-0 
52-7 
38-9 
57-3 
38-6 
0-078 
Wednesday 15 
29-773 
41-9 
41-4 
E. 
40-2 
49-2 
34-9 
52-9 
27-2 
0-069 
Thursday.. 16 
29-588 
47-8 
45-6 
S.E. 
40-5 
49-9 
41-3 
66-9 
37-0 
0-026 
Friday .. 17 
30-005 
37-1 
36-2 
W. 
40-3 
50-9 
35-0 
72-9 
30 0 
0-011 
Saturday .. 18 
30-080 
50 3 
48-9 
S.W. 
40-9 
54-3 
36-7 
67-9 
34-1 
0-174 
29-757 
42-9 
41-7 
40-1 
50-0 
36-1 
63-2 
322 
0-447 
REMARKS. 
12th.—Alternate cloud and sunshine till 3 I’.M.; wet from 4 P.ll. to 5.30 p.m. ; fine night. 
13th.—Drizzly early ; overcast morning ; frequent sunshine in afternoon; rainy or 
drizzly from 5.30 P.M. 
14th. — Dull, drizzly, .and mild morning ; gleams of sun .at 3.30 P.M. ; wet from 4 P.M. 
to 5 P.M. ; fair night. 
15th.—Overcast and slightly foggy, with occasional drizzle, and heavy rain from 1 to 
1.30 P.M. 
16th.—Overcast with occasional drizzle in morning; generally sunny after 1 P.M.; a 
little drizzle at 5.45 P.M. 
17th.—Sunny morning ; generally cloudy in afternoon; rainy evening. 
18th.—Overcast early; sunny at times after 11 A.M.; spots of rain in evening. 
Another rather mild week, with frequent slight rain, but no heavy fall.— G. J.SYMOXS. 
