374 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDEN EL 
[ October 27, 1887. 
PROGRESS. 
Dare we venture to mention such a word as progress 
in connection with agriculture at the present time ? 
Yes, we certainly may do so, for it is an immutable law 
of Nature that nothing under her control remains quies¬ 
cent, it either improves or decays. Change, incessant 
change, there always must be, and whether such change 
proves beneficial for the fanner or the reverse depends in 
no inconsiderable degree upon himself. If under the 
heavy cloud of depression that is now hanging over us, 
we were to own ourselves beaten and withdraw from a 
struggle which becomes increasingly arduous year by 
year, there would soon be an end of agriculture in this 
country, for an increasing demand for farm produce 
would receive prompt attention from importers, vdio would 
hasten to reap the rich harvest to be gained by supplying 
the wants of so wealthy a nation as this is. 
But the British farmer is not wont to yield lightly to 
difficulties, and however easy-going he may have been in 
the “ good times ” he is now on his mettle, and strenuous 
•efforts for all possible improvements are being made, and 
the lessons of adversity will indeed prove to be invaluable 
if they enable him to overcome the difficulties of his posi¬ 
tion and to hold his own in the keen competition with 
foreign produce in which he is now engaged. 
As a sign of progress we gladly note the lively interest 
taken by farmers generally in improved sorts of corn. 
We may go farther and acknowledge a feeling of surprise 
at the spirit of enterprise shown in the purchase of 
pedigree Wheat and other pure samples of Wheat, Barley, 
and Oats. We make our home farm in fact a nursery 
for raising and supplying our off farms with the best sorts 
of corn. We have been so successful in doing this that we 
were induced to exhibit some bunches of Wheat on our 
market stand. They attracted much attention and led 
to many warm discussions of the relative merits of one 
sort with another, and we found that however enthusiastic 
farmers were over a fine sample of corn, prudence kept 
them from indulgence in giving fancy prices for it. At 
our last market we purchased some 15 quarters of 
Scholey’s Square-head Ited Wheat at 30s. We were asked 
40s. for it, but while eager to secure it for sowing we felt 
safe in not going beyond market value. The result proved 
us to be right, and we were so fortunate as to secure 
this Wheat in time for sowing. It weighed 07 lbs. a 
bushel, and the yield was 5 quarters an acre. It will 
thus be seen that in both weight and measure it was much 
above the average. There are, however, plenty of farms 
where the yield has been equal to this. While writing this 
article we have received samples of corn from Kent, of which 
the Red Wheat yield was 5 quarters, and the weight 
per bushel 65 lbs.. We know an instance where the Wheat 
yield reached as high as 7 quarters an acre on a Suffolk 
farm. Take such a crop at market value now, and the 
grain is worth £10 10s., to which we may certainly add 
£5 for the straw, and we may certainly claim that £15 
an acre for Wheat is an unmistakeable sign of progress. 
Yet we are told that Wheat-growing in this country will 
be a thing of the past: may we not qualify this by saying 
that bad practice in Wheat-growing here will soon be 
ended? In our own practice we do not sow Wheat upon 
land that is out of condition, and we have no doubt that 
the failure of many farmers was caused by doing so. As 
a plea for rent reduction we are told that land is cold, 
thin, poor, hungry, and wet We are always ready to assist a 
tenant with drainage to correct the cold and wet condition 
of his land, but it rests with him to plough deeply and 
apply manure. 
We may certainly take it as a sign of progress when men 
of energy, intelligence, and enterprise continue to make 
farming answer under the difficulties which beset their 
work now. At one time farming was said to be so pro¬ 
fitable an undertaking that anyone might turn to it with 
advantage; that time is certainly gone by, and those who 
went into farming without sound practical knowledge 
have had to pay the penalty of their rashness in under¬ 
taking a business of which they are so ignorant. It may 
appear like a bit of of grim satire to say that the failure 
of such men is a sign of progress, yet we do say so. f J he 
time for easy-going practice in any calling has gone by. 
In these days of keen competition the best men come to 
the front and remain there to grapple with and overcome 
difficulties which prove insuperable- to less able men. 
(To be continued.) 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
Especial attention is being given to the cleaning and dressing of 
com for market, for we have found the sale of corn much affected by 
care in dressing. For this reason we never purchase old corn-dressing 
machines, but have new hand machines as they are required. We get 
excellent machines from Mr. Robert Boby, of Bury St. Edmunds, 
with fans and a complete set of screens for all sorts of corn and 
fine seeds. In East Anglia these machines are held in such high esteem 
that to Boby ” corn is a common expression when excellence in dress¬ 
ing is spoken of. The hand machine we recommend is sold with a 
guarantee to screen sixty bushels of corn an hour, but to do this well we 
find the corn must be tolerably clean beforehand. We have therefore 
to take equal care in our selection of a threshing machine. Old thresh¬ 
ing tackle can now be bought at so low a rate that it is quite ex¬ 
ceptional to be able to hire a really good set of tackle. We have to hire 
several, because the farms which we have in hand are so far apart, and 
we find much difference in the condition of the corn after threshing is 
done. There is no doubt that the bearings of old machines become so 
much worn that the work cannot be well done, and some Barley was so 
badly screened by a drum used at one of our farms that it had to be 
passed twice through a new Boby screen before it was fit for market. 
Tail corn can always be used advantageously for pigs and poultry, and 
none of it should be left in the bulk of corn that is screened either for 
sale or sowing. We hope now there is an end of using tail corn for seed, 
•yet at one time the practice of sowing such inferior seed was common 
enough, and the result was an Inferior crop. 
We are taking pains to have only pure corn seed sown upon our 
farms, and we have been at much trouble and expense in obtaining the 
best known sorts. The best seed, the best manure, thorough drainage, 
clean land, deep cultivation, a fine seed bed, timely sowing, these are 
the indispensable points of culture to which attention is given, and 
which go far to render corn-growing successful. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
Camden square, London. 
Lat. 51° 32' 40" N.; Lmg, 0° 8' 0" W.; Altitude, 111 feet. 
DATE. I 9 A.M. IN THE DAT. 
1887. 
§2* £ 
Hygrome¬ 
ter. 
Direction 
of Wind. 
Temp, of 
soil at 
1 foot. 
Shade Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature 
Rain 
October. 
3sl 3 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
sun. 
Ou 
grass 
Sunday . 
10 
Inches. 
30.440 
deg 
40.6 
deg. 
39.4 
N. 
deg. 
45.4 
deg. 
52.3 
deg. 
35.1 
deg. 
86.8 
deg. 
29 3 
Iu. 
Monday. 
Tuesday .... 
17 
30.579 
47 0 
44. L 
N. 
45.3 
45.4 
56.1 
39 7 
94.3 
33 6 
_ 
18 
30.610 
43.0 
41.9 
W. 
53.4 
36 2 
77.6 
302 
_ 
Wednesday.. 
19 
30.502 
47.4 
43.2 
N.W. 
46 2 
49.1 
42.9 
7 <L2 
42 6 
_ 
Thursday... 
20 
30.3S7 
4.9 
44.4 
W. 
45.8 
54 8 
36.2 
62.4 
30.4 
_ 
Friday . 
21 
30.472 
43.3 
40.5 
N. 
46 2 
53.6 
34 7 
84 0 
27.3 
_ 
Saturday .... 
22 
3 >.590 
31.6 
316 
Calm. 
451 
48 4 
28 2 
62.2 
238 
— 
30.512 
42.7 
40.7 
4.50 
52.5 
361 
76 8 
31.0 
- 
REMARKS. 
16th.—Fine and bright all day. 
17th.—Bright, pleasant day. 
18th.—Foggy till nearly midday; fine afternoon. 
19th.—Cloudy morning ; pleasant sunshiny afternoon; clear night. 
20th.—Fine, but almost without sunshine. 
21st.—Fine, bright and warm. 
22nd.—Cold, with dense fog necessitating gas till noon, then fine; fog again in tie 
evening. 
A rainless autumn week. Fine and pleasant except during the fogs of the 18tli and 
22nd. Temperature about 5- below the average, but more than a degree higher than that 
of the preceding week.—G. J. Symons. 
