272 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
April 5, 1894. 
ward tendency in value of Wheat during the past winter has 
shown him conclusively that a further curtailment of the Wheat 
area on his farm is imperative. That Oats are a safe crop 
he is more and more convinced ; safe, because the yield of 
80 bushels an acre, which is so entirely possible, means a 
good profit if the sample is right, and also because he has 
now realised something of the h'gh feeding value of the straw. 
If by the light of present and prospective prices it is in any 
case thought that too much Wheat had been sown last autumn 
we should have no hesitation whatever in folding off the 
superfluous acreage, and sowing either Oats or some other 
useful fodder crop. Far better would it be to do so than to 
encounter another dreary period of hope deferred—of waiting 
for a better price for Wheat. 
Under the present condition of agriculture we regard Oa^s 
as a leading fodder crop, and also as one of the most useful 
and profitable ci'ops. In usefulness it is perhaps unique, 
ground Oats being regarded as the best food for fattening 
pigs and poultry, kibbled or crushed Oats having preference 
for sustaining condition in horses, cows, store beasts, and 
sheep, as well as for fattening both sheep and bullocks. As 
fodder, ordinary Oat straw is superior to the tough, wiry 
Timothy hay imported from Canada, and the straw of winter 
Oats harvested early, chaffed, salted, and pressed into a compact 
mass, as we have so frequently advised, is altogether food of 
higher value, much more nutritious and palatable. 
With such high promise of an early spring as we now 
have, Italian Rye Grass sown on land in good heart last 
September bids fair to be ready for a first cut almost as 
early as Rye. To those graziers who applied the timely advice 
given them last autumn to sow a field of it, it will now prove 
invaluable. Under high cultivation it is unrivalled for bulk 
of crop, but it must be well fed, and though the highest yield 
has been obtained on sewage farms much may be done by 
judicious and liberal applications of nitrate of soda It 
certainly is a grand fodder crop for an emergency, which will 
this spring be turned to full account by every sensible farmer- 
Advantage should be taken of April showers immediately after 
the first cut to apply the nitrate with a free hand, and a 
second crop will follow with a degree of rapidity approaching 
the marvellous. So, too, where sheep are now being folded 
upon it, there is certain to be a speedy secmd growth, and 
what a fodder crop it is for folding ! It will carry fully 
three times the number of sbeep that rich permanent pasture 
will. For bulk of crop, for early growth, for its nutritious 
fodder and general utility we would have a field of it upon 
every farm where it is possible, and though the autumn 
sowings are the most useful a spring sowing made at once 
will afford much useful fodder this season. The quantity of 
seed required per acre is 3 bushels. On poor land it does no 
good; the herbage is yellow, the growth stunted, the crop 
a failure. It must have rich land, or rather land wherein 
high fertility is well sustained; it will then during the two 
years of its existence yield a large quantity of nutritious 
herbage available for folding, for hay, for several successional 
mowings of green fodder just as may be required. So 
generally useful is it tbat we have long placed it among our 
indispensable fodder crops. 
Let it not be thought that this grass is only cultivated by 
those farmers having exceptionally good land, such as a deep 
loam or the best mixed soil. We have had it just as useful 
on the poor thin soil of the Hastings sand formation in Sussex 
as upon the rich calcareous Suffolk loams. It is just a question 
of sound tillage and sustained fertility. For example, we used 
a full dressing of nitrogenous and mineral chemical manures 
for it in February, and shall use nitrate of soda only 
during the summer as we have explained, finishing, if possible. 
in autumn with the sheep folds, so managed as to be able to 
have the sheep off the land early in October if the autumn 
is exceptionally wet. For cows it affords a late bite throughout 
the autumn, and is thus alike valuable for late and early growth. 
Wherever sewage can be had for it the increase in bulk of crop 
and rapidity of growth is simply marvellous. Knowing this so 
well we cannot but regard the waste of town sewage as a de¬ 
plorable act of folly. If only that were turned to account for 
fodder crops there would be an end of imported hay, of scarcity of 
fodder in winter, and of the consequent heavy losses among cattle. 
Clearly in its green and dry fodder requirements Great Britain 
can be self-supporting and entirely independent of her colonies, 
even in such a drought as that of last year. The matter is very 
simple: Turn all the town sewage upon the land, give more pro¬ 
minence to the best fodder crops and thorough cultivation to 
permanent pasture. 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
Save all heifer calves that are well bred, and remember that the 
only way to form and maintain a really good herd of dairy cows is by 
persistent care in breeding and selection. Give the calves a good start, 
and keep them in condition by careful feeding and perfect shelter. Too 
often are they fed well at first, and then so much neglected that some 
die outright and all of them suffer. A fine healthy calf requires fully 
three quarts of new milk daily at first; this must be increased to five 
quarts by the end of the first week, and so on to quite double that 
quantity by the end of the first month. Then it should be induced to 
take gruel consisting of skim milk thickened with oatmeal, and be 
taught to eat a little of the best meadow hay. From the first it is a 
good plan to use a little condimental food in milk and gruel, to give 
tone and prevent scouring and indigestion, beginning with a pinch or 
two and increasing with the quantity of milk or gruel. 
Feed frequently, at least three times daily. We are convinced that 
the common practice of feeding only at morning and evening is the 
cause of much stomach trouble among young calves. Faint and 
exhausted from waiting so long for food, when they do get it it 
is swallowed so hastily that indigestion follows. Often, too, scouring is 
caused by the use of unwholesome milk. Keep them in a closed snug 
hovel, opening into a yard with a strip of meadow or paddock outside, 
into which the calves may run on fine warm days for that nibble of 
grass which does them so much good. But they must be kept shut in 
closely on all cold dull days, and always at night. See, too, that the bed¬ 
ding is dry, the floor sound, the drainage perfect. Frequently do we see 
calves in filthy plight from foul bedding, so foul as to show systematic 
negligence. This is always a cause of suffering, often of disease, and 
daily attention to bedding and floor must be insisted upon. 
Let equal care be taken of older calves and yearlings, care with the 
food, shelter, and bedding. Avoid forcing them too fast; on the other 
hand keep them in fair flesh, that healthy thriving condition which is 
usually the result of judicious kindly treatment. There should then be 
no trouble about hoose, no losses from blackleg or quarter-evil. Always 
let them have access to rock salt, it is also a good plan to use household 
salt moderately with their mixed diet. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
Oamdbn Square, Loxdox. 
Lat.Slo 32'40" N.; Long. 0° 8' 0" W.; Altitude, 111 feet. 
Date. 
9 A.M. 
In THE Day. 
1 Rain. 
1894. 
March. 
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 
Son. 
On 
Grass. 
Inchs. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
Inchs. 
Sunday .. 
25 
30-200 
47-9 
44-6 
N.E. 
42-3 
59-4 
37-0 
94-6 
31-2 
— 
Monday .. 
26 
30-074 
46-6 
43-2 
E. 
42-9 
62-6 
34-8 
102-8 
25-8 
Tuesday .. 
27 
30-126 
46-6 
42-7 
S. 
42-9 
63-2 
32-1 
92-2 
24-3 
W ednesday 
28 
30-279 
41-1 
39-5 
E. 
4-2-9 
59-3 
33-2 
95-1 
24-2 
— 
Thursday .. 
29 
30-268 
41-2 
40-9 
B. 
43-7 
59-4 
39-7 
88-9 
36-6 
— 
Friday 
30 
29-951 
48-0 
44-9 
E. 
43-9 
64-8 
35-3 
100-4 
24-4 
— 
Saturday .. 
31 
29-771 
55-2 
480 
S. 
41-6 
65-8 
43-4 
108-8 
34-0 
— 
30-096 
46-7 
43 4 
43-4 
62-1 
36-5 
97-5 
29-2 
— 
REMARKS. 
25tli.—Unbroken sunshine throughout. 
26th.—Almost cloudless, but not very cleir atmosphere. 
27th.—Almost cloudless, but calm and hazy. 
28th.—Almost cloudless, but hazy in the morning. 
29th.—Overcast and misty early, sun visible through clou i from 11, and sunshine from 
noon. 
30th.—Unbroken sunshine, but hazy at times, especially at noon ; cloudy evening. 
31st —Fine and sunny throughout. 
Another fine week, rainless (completing an absolute drought of seventeen days), 
with temperature much above the average, and the maxima equal to the average for .< 
the first half of May.—Q-. J. SYMONS. 
