848 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ April 27, 1893. 
Very general are the complaints of heavy land farmers about 
the condbion of clays ploughed after the heavy rain of February, 
and so hardened by the dry weather of Mirch and April that a 
seed bed in it for spring corn his been an impossibility. This 
applies to c'ay land ploughed when saturated by rain water. We 
hear also of some ploughed earlier, then pulverised by frost, 
only to be beaten down to the consistency of putty by rain 
subsequently, and then hardened like paving stones upon the 
surface - a hard crust over the “ putty,”—two extremes, part of it 
being too dry and hard, the other too wet and sticky for spring 
tillage. Even when rain falls afain it will be no easy matter to 
get a seed bed in such soil, and its unkind condition must surely 
give rise t^ the query, Is it worth while keeping such land under 
the plough ? We think it is not worth while, and invite atten¬ 
tion to the alternative of either laying it down to temporary or 
permanent pasture, or to imparting such a degree of mechanical 
division to it as to render the hard crude condition of so much 
of it now an impossibility in the future 
Friability, or the proper‘y of crumbling easily, is an indis¬ 
pensable necessity in all arable land. To this plain fact we 
invite special attention now, while heavy land farmers regard 
their acres of hard clods with dismay. To any inquiry as to the 
cause of their difficulty the inva’iable answer is “ The weather.” 
Strange indeed is it that no thought of soil amelioration ever 
seems to occur to those engaged in its culture, whose very bi'ead 
depends upon good tillage, and who must be aware of the 
fickle nature of our climate. Yet from all parts of the country 
come letters complaining of the impossibility of corn sowing, 
some just complaining, others seeking advice. For the moment 
nothing can be done, but for the future a radical change may be 
wrought, in many an instrance well known to us. Take for 
example Essex clays. With London so near with its daily out¬ 
put of thousands of tons of dustbin refuse, its daily clearance of 
stable manure under wholesome sanitary laws, the soil of that 
county, so favourably situated, ought long ago to have been 
rendered so friable and full of humus as to take rank among 
the best mixed soil. If this appears too large an undertaking 
—this dealing with an entire county, let us take some farms in 
it that are under the wise and sensible management of Scotch 
farmers. Under the six, seven, or eight years’ rotation they 
have most of it in temporary pasture, breaking up a moderate 
portion of it yearly. If t) such land mechanical division was 
gradually imparted by dressing the portion to be ploughed 
heavily with the “ ashes given away,’ as may be seen on many 
a notice board in the metropolis, precisely the desired effect of 
perfect friability would be imparted to it- 
In part ii. of the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society 
for 1891, Mr. Primrose McConnell, in writing of his work on 
the Essex clays, says, '• I must not omit to mention the part 
played by gas lime in ameliorating the soil. The action of 
lime on a clay soil is well-known, and in this district (Ongarj, 
we use immense quantities of the spent lime from the London 
gas works, which we get at the cost of the carriage. It is 
applied in various ways, and many are foolish enough to use 
it without manure. Some mix it with earth for compost for 
top-dressings. We prefer to apply it raw, at the rate of fi’om 
4 to 6 tons per acre, in autumn, to the lea land that is to be 
ploughed up during the winter. By this means all ‘grubs’ are 
killed, the turf is partly killed, the soil is made more friable, 
while, of course, the natural fertility is stimulated. By itself 
I have seen it act on a crop as strongly as nitrate of soda, 
but the soil must be fed along with it. Its effect on the 
mechanical texture of the soil is wonderful. I remember one 
case of a field that was partly dressed and partly left undressed 
with it, and in broadcasting the seed afterwards I could feel 
the difference in the soil in stepping from one part to the other 
every time I went up and down the stetches, because the limed 
part was so loose and friable.” 
Lime, pit sand, road sand, coal ashes, slag, gravel, burnt 
clay, charcoal, wood ashes, mortar rubbish, any and every 
available substance containing hard pai-ticles to impart me¬ 
chanical division to the clay should be used. Not always 
from carelessness is it that ashes are not used. Repeatedly 
have we had to overcome the popular idea that coal ashes 
are poisonous to soil. Of course the idea is absurd; but 
there it is, an absolute stumblingblock to many of those we 
so earnestly desire to help. It is probably some such idea 
whi h prevents farmers in the c^al districts from usinj some 
of the fine slag from blast furnaces. We have recently seen 
huge heaps of such slag near ploughed land where mechanical 
division was evidently much needed. 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
In such a dry spring manuring for Mangold by using farmyard 
manure in the furrows will go far to promote vigorous growth imme¬ 
diately after seed germination, because the large per-centage of moisture 
in the manure prevents the young plant suffering from drought. It 
grows so quickly, with its first roots spreading among the manure, that 
it is soon out of harm’s way. To this brisk growth the superphosphate 
and nitrate of soda sown with the seed contribute, and when the plant 
is thinned a surface dressing of the nitrate proves a good investment, 
the vigorous growth being so well susfained that an exceptionally heavy 
{ crop is a certainty. If Mangold is grown at all it is a crop that well 
j repays all we can do for it by early sowing, by liberal manuring ; but 
thinning the plant as soon as it is large enough, and by such a free use 
' of hand and horse hoes as leaves the crop a clean one when the leaves 
meet across the space between the rows. 
I As usual, early sowings of Swedes will follow the Mangold sowing. 
This has long been a rule in Norfolk, and so far as we have seen it 
followed in other counties it has answered well. For this crop of Swedes 
we prefer ridges prepared precisely as for Mangold, as there is then very 
little risk of losing plants from the dry weather common to May. Some 
mildew there may be among the early Swede, just as there will be a 
slight per-centage of plants bolting to seed in the early sown Mangold ; 
but neither of these blemishes are sufficiently bad to be worthy of 
serious attention. The later crops of Swedes are sown on the flat, a well 
drained free soil being chosen where the crop is to stand over for folding 
when the lambs are strong enough to go out with the ewes upon them. 
We used to make an early sowing of White Turnips in May for use 
in August and September, when pasture herbage so often falls off. But 
since growing green Maize it has been used as a capital substitute for 
the Turnips, both as being a more certain, more nutritious, and much 
more productive crop. Both crops require rich land ; of the two the 
Turnips involve more labour in thinning and hoeing, and the result is 
not nearly so certain as it is with Maize. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
Oamden Square, London. 
Lat. 51° 32' 40" N.; Long. 0“ 8' 0" W.; Altitude, 111 feet. 
Date. 
9 A.M. 
In THE Day. 
i 
& 
1893. 
April. 
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. 
dog. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
Inchs. 
Sunday .. 
16 
30186 
53-0 
47-4 
N. 
47-0 
63 9 
37-9 
100-9 
35-0 
0-028 
Monday .. 
17 
31-278 
45-3 
44-7 
B. 
48-2 
53-7 . 
450 
68-7 
45-7 
Tuesday .. 
18 
30T43 
53-4 
48-2 
E. 
471 
69-3 
40-9 
99 4 
37-7 
Wedne^ay 
19 
29-962 
61-4 
52-3 
N.E. 
48-1 
73-9 
44-9 
1080 
39-3 
0-197 
Thursday.. 
20 
30-023 
56-8 
53-9 
E. 
49'9 
78-2 
45-9 
113-7 
41-1 
0-016 
Friday 
21 
30-128 
61-9 
52-8 
E. 
50-2 
77-1 
46-3 
113-8 
41-9 
_ 
Saturday .. 
22 
30167 
69-2 
52-2 
E. 
61-4 
69-2 
46-1 
109-3 
40-9 
— 
30-127 
65-9 
50-2 
48-8 
69-3 
43-9 
102-0 
40-2 
0-141 
REMARKS. 
16th.—Bright sunshine in morning, clouded over in afternoon, spots of rain in evening. 
17th.—Overcast throughout, with a little rain early, and frequent drops of rain till 
about 1 1 A.M. 18th,—Hazy, with faint sunshine. 
19th.—Warm with bright sunshine throughout, cloud in evening. 
20th.—Thunder from 6,50 to 7.10 A.M., followed by rain; foggy and thick from 9 to 
10 A.M , then bright sun till 4 P.M., cloudy after, and thunder at intervals from 
4.15 p.M , and raining from 6 to 7 P.M. 
21st.—Almost cloirdless throughout. 22nd.—Bright and sunny throughout. 
A remarkably warm week, with enormous daily ranges of temperature, reaching 
32-3° on the 20th. The maximum of that day, 78'2®, has not been equalled in April 
I since 1874, on the 23rd of which month it reached 79'2°—G. J. SYMONS. 
