160 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
f Angii.-t 10, 1888, 
carried away by floods ; of Clover and Trifolium seed spoilt by un¬ 
avoidable exposure to rain after it had reached maturity; of winter 
Peas sprouting from similar exposure, or falling from the pods 
from being overripe before it was possible to cart the crop. 
We had to break off after writing our first paragragh for a 
journey by rail and road through West Suffolk into Cambridgeshire 
and Essex. Of corn damaged by weather we saw very little, but 
-we are bound to mention a large field or two of Square-head Wheat 
on a heavy land farm on the borders of Cambridgeshire which had 
suffered somewhat from stormy weather. The crop was a fine one, 
with large bold ears, and wherever it was at all thin upon the land 
it Lad been so blown about by high wind that quite a third of the 
cars were bruised sufficiently to prevent full development of the 
grain, and the brown husk betokened checked growth and premature 
ripeness. Other Wheat, both Red and White, with more slender 
■ears was not so affected, and we could therefore only come to the 
conclusion that the full, heavy ears of Square-head, being very 
soft and tender from the humid atmosphere in which they have 
been developed, were consequently more liable to damage when 
■blown about violently by high wind, and wherever it was a very 
ilfick and full crop there was little, if any, of it so damaged. 
Barley is generally a fine full crop, and where it is exceptionally 
heavy much of it is beaten down. There is an old saying that 
““ Laid Barley is made Barley.” We hope it may prove true now 
for we have much “laid Barley.” We have seen a little ergot in 
some fields of Barley, and only a little. Last year, when going 
•through some Barley just before harvest in light summer attire, we 
Lad ample evidence of much “ smut ” among it from the black 
blotches on our clothes. Barley ears with abortive grains are to be 
found in most fields, but we have seen none that is seriously so 
■affected. , 
We saw in Our journey several fields of Winter Oats being 
mown ; in every case the straw was so green that it was with re¬ 
gret we saw a self-binder reaper at work upon this crop in one 
field. Green straw, and a vigorous weed growth among corn, call 
for caution in binding and stacking corn this season. Our own 
Winter Oats will not be put into sheaves at all. They are mown 
Into light swaths, left so long enough for the exposed side to ripen, 
and are then turned over and left till the remainder of the straw is 
ripe and sufficiently matured for stacking. Spring Oats on many 
farms which have come under our notice are a light crop, owing, we 
believe, to poor culture. To have a full crop of White Canadian 
•or Black Tartarian Oats land must be in a state of high fertility, 
-and it will then yield at least twenty sacks an acre. Less than this 
•cannot answer while foreign Oats are so cheap. Winter Oats will 
bo followed closely by Rye, and on light ground by Barley and 
•spring Wheat. We saw some Barley near Cambridge on August 9th 
quite ripe and ready for the reaper, while at heavy land farms on 
the same date the ears were quite green. 
A close inspection of the crops on many farms has brought con¬ 
viction that the condition of them generally is very much in accord¬ 
ance with that of the soil in which they are growing. As usua 1 , 
Lad farmers would have us suppose their inferior crops to be an 
outcome of the season, and that a late harvest must of necessity be 
a bad harvest. This is altogether wrong, for in this and in every 
year the crops of the really good farmer are excellent in a very 
high degree, while those of the bad or incompetent practitioner 
range downwards in the scale of inferiority very much in propor¬ 
tion to his practice. It is from the latter class that the outcry 
about weather and crops comes, and we cannot but receive any 
statement from them, however positive, with reserve. On the 
whole, then, with fair weather now we may reasonably hope that a 
bountiful harvest, though a late one, will crown our efforts with a 
fair measure of success, and that there will be some improvement, 
however slight, upon the results of last year. 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
The haymaking was finished in real summer weather, and the last 
two stacks of hay are excellent both in colour and quality. Taken on 
the whole the hay made this season is sound, wholesome, and nutritious, 
and we require cattle spice or other nostrums to render it palatable. 
In this we are fortunate, as much hay has undoubtedly been spoilt on 
the low lands, and in several instances it has been carried off by floods. 
The corn harvest has begun, and the work generally is heavier than 
it was last year from the greater bulk of straw, and also from much of 
the corn being lodged. The Barley will require especial care owing to 
an exceptionally strong growth of weeds, and of the plant of layers of 
Clover, Sainfoin, and mixed seeds wherever they have been sown among 
it. Oats, too, require much care, for the corn is ripening upon green 
straw, which requires full exposure and turning at least once after the 
mowing. Self-binder reapers will not be found so generally useful as 
they were last season, and the use of them will be restricted to crops 
sufficiently free from weeds, and with a clean erect growth of straw. 
As the season is undoubtedly a critical one it is highly important to 
secure enough labourers to ensure the work being done expeditiously 
while the weather holds fine, and not to depend overmuch upon imple¬ 
ments. 
Since the change to finer weather arrears of hoeing among root 
crops have been taken in hand, both to destroy weeds and to single 
late white Turnips. Most of such crops are highly satisfactory, and all 
green crops are remarkably abundant. Maize, though backward, is a 
full strong plant. Cabbages and Kale are exceptionally vigorous, and 
are quite free from any suspicion of club root. Tares have not only 
given a heavy crop, but from winter Tares we have a second growth 
which is being turned to good account for sheep folding. 
Of white Mustard we have some useful fields, some of which have 
been ploughed in, and others folded with sheep before the ploughing. 
So far as is possible ploughing is being pushed forward, as with a late 
harvest we shall have to be on the alert to have the land ready for 
Wheat sowing in good time. On heavy land we like to sow as much 
Wheat as we can in September, in order to ensure a stout plant that is 
well established in the soil before winter sets in. 
The Harvest. —Russia appears to be the only European country 
in which a good harvest is expected, though Roumania has reaped 
a fair one. France has a very defective Wheat crop, and is now 
in all the agonies of a wet harvest. In Spain and Italy the crops have 
proved much below average : in Austria-Hungary they are a great deal 
less prolific than they were last year ; and they are below the mark in 
the west of Europe generally. The American Wheat crop is well 
known to be a poor one, though not quite as bad as it was at one time 
expected to be. Harvest is nearly finished in the United States. 
Estimates based upon some figures supplied by the Department of 
Agriculture in June, as interpreted by the declared condition of the 
crop in July, point to a total yield of winter and spring Wheat amount¬ 
ing to about 127,000,000 bushels, or 20,000,000 bushels less than last 
year’s produce. Since July 1st prospects, it is reported, have remained 
about stationary, so that it is not likely that the out-turn will be in 
excess of that just stated. Canada, in spite of an extra crop in the 
North-West, will do little more than supply her own requirements, and 
may be left out of account in considering the Wheat supply of Europe. 
The “ visible ” and “ invisible ” stocks of Wheat in the United States 
on July 1st, according to the Cincinnati Price Current, amounted to 
03,000,000 bushels, or 10,000,000 bushels less than the stocks held at 
the corresponding date of 1887 ; 18,000,000 less than those of July 1st, 
1886 ; and still more below the quantity for any other year since 1882., 
Unless this small reserve is to be diminished, then, it appears that, even 
without allowing for the consumption of the increase in population during 
twelve months, and also without taking into account any possible differ¬ 
ence in the stocks of flour, the United States will have a smaller surplus 
by 29,000,000 bushels than the 116,703,330 bushels of Wheat and flour 
in Wheat equivalents exported in the year ending June 30th, 1888 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
CAMDEN SQUARE, LONDON. 
Lit. 51° 38' 40" N.; Long. 0° 8- 0" W.; Altitude, 111 feet. 
DATE. 
9 A.M. 
IN THE DAT. 
1888. 
Barome¬ 
ter at 32° 
and Sea 
Level. 
* 
Hygrome¬ 
ter. 
C . 
c-o 
O 
Shade Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature 
C3 
"3 
August. 
Dry. 
Wet. 
£5= 
fio 
H 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
snu. 
On 
grass 
Sunday . 
5 
Inches. 
29.8' l 
deg 
56 2 
deg. 
50 8 
N. 
deg. 
5 7.is 
deer. 
G 18 
deg. 
* 8 6 
deg. 
1187 
deg. 
49 8 
In. 
0.01O 
Monday. 
0 
80 )•=>« 
57 8 
61 7 
N. 
57 0 
68'» 
4 .5 
93.6 
417 
0.017 
Tuesday .. 
7 
8 ' 159 
06 8 
63.6 
W. 
56.7 
78 9 
55 2 
120 6 
53.6 
— 
Wednesday . 
8 
30.158 
6lj.6 
61.8 
N.W. 
59 0 
79 7 
60.3 
124 6 
57 2 
— 
Thursday_ 
0 
30. 2 ! 
74 1 
67 9 
S. 
60 1 
8-2 7 
f 5.9 
125.6 
51,6 
— 
Friday . 
10 
30.1 31 
74.3 
67 4 
E. 
61 4 
81.6 
61 8 
1 - 5.3 
5 .4 
_ 
Saturday .... 
11 
30. 76 
63.9 
6u.4 
s.w. 
62 7 
68 6 
56 5 
8 >.0 
c3.3 
— 
80.072 
65 7 
60.5 
59 2 
75.2 
55.7 
113.5 
51.5 
0.027 
REMARKS. 
r>th.-ir *avy rain in early morning-, fine day, shower about 8 P.M. 
6th.—Cloudy day, with occasional spots oi ram, wet evening. 
Till.—B ightanrt warm. 
8tli.—Bright and waun. 
9th-—Hazy eat ly. bright hot morning, cooler and frequently cloudy iu aftercoon. 
10 th.—Cloudy early, bright hot da>. 
llth.—Cloudy and cool. 
A fine warm week. The maxima are about 4° above the average. This is only the 
second week in which, since February, the maxima have been at all above the average. 
It is manv years since the daily maxima haye oeen so uniformly and j.ersi teutly lo*v.— 
Q. J. SYMONS. 
