528 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ June 29, 1893, 
THE GREAT DROUGHT. 
In recording the efEect of the drought upon farm crops the 
common tendency to lay stress upon extreme cases is altogether 
misleading and mischievous. According to some reports gi’ain 
crops are completely burnt up, and the land is an arid waste, 
Rye, Wheat, and Barley have perished, vast tracts of land 
remain unploughed owing to the hardness of the soil, and the 
hay crop is a failure. Undoubtedly this may be said truthfully 
of certain localities, but it is assuredly not applicable to the 
country generally. On the week in which the Royal Agricul¬ 
tural Society’s Show opened at Chester we travelled from 
London to Manchester by the Midland Railway, then on to 
Chester, returning by the North-Westei’n route. Generally, 
crops were green and flourishing ; hay-making was in progress 
everywhere, and though the crop is a short one on many farms 
there are numerous exceptions, especially in Lancashire, 
Cheshire, and Staffordshire, where a really good crop of grass 
was being made into hay. Near Lichfield we saw a crop of mixed 
seeds, so abundant that the haycocks a’most touched. It was a 
remarkable crop for any year, and was probably to be accounted 
for by the huge sewage pipe which we saw running in its direc¬ 
tion from Lichfield. Everywhere hay of the very best quality 
was being made, and if only rain comes freely and soon it will be 
quite possible to make enough silage to afford an ample supply 
of wholesome nutritious fodder for next winter and spring. 
A question frequently upon the mind is. Will farmers 
generally rise to the emergency, and turn to ensilage if they 
have green crops to spare for it later on ? There can be no 
doubt that hay will be scarce next winter; it is so scarce now 
that it is said to be rising in price daily, and it is reported that 
on June 17th in Cumberland Market the best English meadow 
hay was selling at £8 lOs. per load, which means about £9 10s. 
per ton. At the Royal Show at Chester we saw a bale of 
Timothy hay, compressed and bound with wire, which the 
Canadian agent told us could be delivered from Canada at 
Liverpool profitably for £4 Ss. per ton. The bales weigh from 
1 to 2 cwt., and the hay is sweet and wholesome enough, but it 
will never spoil the market for our best meadow hay, and 
though it may be useful horse fodder when cut into chaff, its 
hard wiry stalks yield chaff which is much inferior to that 
obtained from well-managed winter Oats. In his book on 
“ Permanent and Temporary Pastures,” Mr. Martin J. Sutton 
says of Timothy, *• I regard it as decidedly inferior to Foxtail. 
The herbage is coarse, the stilks soon become hard, and their 
ncreased feeding value in that state is of no avail if cattle 
refuse to graze them, as they undoubtedly do; or if the presence 
of this Grass in abundance lowers the price of hay.” It is there¬ 
fore only under peculiar circumstances, or as a last resource, 
that we should advise the purchase of this hay ; and if, as we 
were told, £4 5s. per ton is the lowest price at which it can be 
profitably landed at Liverpool, why it is unlikely to make its 
way here, at any rate in ordinary seasons. 
Corn crops, though the straw is short, are generally good. 
Some of the spring corn, especially Oats, is uneven, having 
patches in ear, while other patches show no sign of ears— 
evidence of some of the seed corn having started into growth 
before the other. Very much of the Wheat is in excellent 
condition, inferior crops showing plainly low fertility of soil as 
the true cause of weakly growth. In all rich soil the influence 
of the drought upon Wheat is visible in the dwarfed growth 
rather than in any other way. 
Of root crops we saw some excellent fields of Mangold, 
Swedes, and White Turnips, all with a full plant sufiiciently 
advanced in growth to be safe from insect attacks. Judging 
from the remarkable vigour of growth, there was plenty of 
farmyard manure to afford moisture to the young plant. We 
have a%ays recommended ridging for early root crops, with 
plenty of manure in the furrows. This year it has been abso¬ 
lutely indispensable to sustain growth and insure a crop. There 
are hundreds of acres under Potatoes in the neighbourhood of 
Manchester and Warrington, all of them flourishing enough ; 
the earlier sorts were being lifted for market, the moderate 
haulm growth showing that the crop was not a heavy one. 
The Lichfield sewer was a reminder of what a boon town 
sewage would be to farmers this year, but systematic irriga¬ 
tion enters very little into British farming economy. Mr. G. F. 
Young, of Swineshead Abhey, South Lincolnshire, who e farm 
is intersected by one of the main fen drains, is a notable excep¬ 
tion, for by means of a powerful fire engine he is pumping 
water from the drain at the rate of 80 tons per hour on to his 
crops. The water is delivered in a spray, which covers an area 
of from 70 to 80 yards, falling with an evenness and gentleness 
almost equal to heavy rain. Flexible piping several hundred 
feet in length is attached to the engine, which is kept stationary 
during the pumping. 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
With the hay off the land we are anxiously looking for rain. If it 
comes soon and abundantly growth is certain to follow freely enough, 
but the parched land requires a heavy downpour to reach the roots of 
established crops. With such fine hot weather for the haymaking there 
has been some risk of overheating in the ricks from carting hastily. To 
avoid this small ricks are sometimes made, but we altogether prefer large 
ricks containing from 20 to 30 tons. Then, by carting when the hay is 
well made, and having one or two air shafts from the bottom during the 
rick building, hay of the highest quality, that will retain its condition 
in bulk for two or three years, is a certainty. We regard air shafts as 
indispensable even in the driest weather, because a large mass of new 
hay always generates moist heat excessively, and the shafts are just 
safety valves out of which the hot vapour escapes freely. The effect of 
over-heating is to dry up the moisture, to induce spontaneous combus¬ 
tion, or to discolour the hay so much that the centre of the mass is 
almost black when it is cut; such discolouration shows how narrowly 
the rick has escaped destruction by fire. 
On farms where the hay crop on meadows is much below par do not 
forget what excellent fodder Oat straw is when cut and harvested early. 
When required specially for this purpose do not suffer the straw to ripen 
as it stands, but mow just as the grain appears, or at any rate before it 
begins to harden. Mow into swathes, which turn sufficiently to “ hay ” 
the straw, then cart and stack. If carted wet or too green the straw 
becomes musty in the stack and is unpalatable. It is either used whole 
or cut into chaff; sheep, cattle, and cows are all fond of it, but we 
prefer good meadow hay for the dairy cows. Where live stock has had 
to be turned into fields reserved for hay, and the outlook for next winter 
is consequently gloomy, this hint about Oat fodder may prove useful. 
Do anything rather than force half finished beasts and sheep upon the 
market, as so many are doing just now. If you have managed to keep 
stoek in fair condition till now by all means make a special effort to 
bold them over till the autumn or early winter, when really good beasts 
will probably command better prices than they have done for some 
time. That is our hope ; we can say nothing more positive, as the keen 
importer may also make a special effort. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
Oamdex Square, London. 
Lat.51° 32' 40" N.: Lon?. O'' 8' 0" W.: Altitude. Ill feet. 
Date. 
9 A.M. 
In the Day. 
A 
1893. 
June. 
1 Barometer 
1 at32‘'',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. 
Incha 
Sunday .. 
18 
30-338 
73-7 
6j-2 
N.E. 
66-2 
86-0 
57-0 
122 2 
49-6 
— 
Monday .. 
19 
30-047 
73-3 
62-3 
N.E. 
66-2 
90-4 
52-3 
134-3 
45-1 
_ 
Tuesday .. 
20 
29-883 
58-1 
55-8 
E. 
67-0 
66*7 
56-8 
84-0 
548 
_ 
Wednesday 
21 
29-891 
59-1 
51-2 
S.E. 
64-9 
68-7 
51-9 
97-1 
45-8 
— 
Thursday.. 
22 
29-654 
65-0 
53-7 
S. 
62.9 
73-8 
50-2 
118-9 
44-4 
0-242. 
Friday .. 
23 
29-330 
60-1 
56-3 
w. 
62-9 
67-9 
54-2 
118-5 
53-0 
0-049 
Saturday .. 
24 
29-430 
570 
5J-0 
w. 
61-9 
64-8 
49-3 
112-2 
47-1 
0-010 
29-803 
63-8 
56-4 
64-6 
73-9 
53-1 
,112.5 
48-5 
0-301' 
18th .—Clear and hot throughout. 
19th.—Cloudless morning, then very hot, but frequent cloud in afternoon; overcast 
and threatening from 6 r.M. to 7.30 P.M., but with a few spots of rain. Cloud¬ 
less again later. [evening. 
20th.—Slight drizzle from 6.30 A.M. to 8.30 A.jr., and overcast till about 7 P.M. ; clear 
21st.—Generally overcast, with occasional spots of rain ; a little sunshine in afternoon. 
22nd.—Overcast at times, with spots of rain in morning; bright afternoon; overcast 
after 6 P.M., and rain from 11.30 P.M. 
23rd.—Rain till 1.30 A.M., and from 4.30 to 7.30 A.M. ; occasional sunshine in morning; 
bright windy afternoon. 
24th.—Sunny at times, but generally overcast; slight showers in afternoon. 
Notwithstanding tte great fall of temperature after the 19th, th® mean for the 
week is again above the aver-igc.— G. J. SYMONS. / xn 
