208 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ August CO .8*1 
NOTES BY TIIE WAY. 
From the self-binder reaper to the old reaping hook' there is a 
long interval of gradual improvement in the manner of-c >rn reaping, 
and it may be thought >ve have reached as near perfection as pos¬ 
sible in the self-binders now to the fore. But have we ? In order 
to give a correct answer it will not suffice to point to the excellent 
work done last season when crops were slight and the baromeier 
stood at set fair all through the harvest, but we must see what is 
being done under the adverse conditions of broken weather, a heavy 
crop of straw, and much laid corn. In a recent journey through 
five counties, in all of which harvest work was guing on, we did not 
see a single self-binder at work. The ordinary reaping machine, 
scythes, an! in two instances reaping hooks, were in full swing, to 
the entire exclusion of self-binders. Of course there are fields of 
corn erect and clean enough for the self-binder, but so much corn 
is not in this satisfactory condition, that the more simple imple¬ 
ments are used of' necessity. No doubt the self-binder is a triumph 
of mechanical ingenuity, and it is a labour-saving appliance under 
certain conditions, but failing such conditions it is the embodiment 
of a costly blunder. Any farmer will find this to be true if his 
corn is twisted about by wind or beaten down by rain, and he, 
trusting to the self-binder, has failed to secure enough labourers to 
get through the work without it. 
Steam diggers come under the same category of costly blunders 
in a wet season. In the drought of last year, when there was no 
difficulty in finding a hard and sufficiently even surface to use 
them upon, they were so successful that, they were proclaimed the 
coming power, by means of which the land would be brought under 
such thorough and improved cultivation that crops would be 
doubled and the agricultural depression at an end. This year, 
with ilie surface of the soil saturated by rain, we hear of wheels 
clogged so heavily by mud that they failed to propel the engine, 
and the forks could not enter the soil deep enough to make good 
work, or sometimes they would enter deeply, and others not half 
deep enough, so that a very uneven surface was left behind. Well, 
we do not at all object to a little irregularity of surface so that 
the soil is well stirred, but for such wet seasons as the present an 
implement dependent upon a traction engine passing over the land 
in front of it, for motive power cannot answer. Clearly it was a 
recognition of this evil which led to the introduction of the steam 
cultivator with its two stationary engines at each end of the field. 
The cultivator is efficient, and what is wanted to render it complete 
is motive force sufficiently powerful for the work at a very much 
cheaper rate than it is to be had at present. Are we to obtain this 
from electricity, or can it be had from a petroleum engine ? 
Surely implement manufacturers would do well to turn their 
attention to this, for it is certain that if the requisite amount of 
power could be had from engines costing only a few pounds, and 
which, like the Otto gas engine, could be set going at full speed 
in a minute, not a farm would be without one or more of them. 
It is quite certain that for any implement, or so called labour- 
saving appliance, to be really efficient, it must possess that sim¬ 
plicity which insures its use irrespective of weather. Here the 
single plough is undoubtedly triumphant, and it may be taken as 
the embodiment of a principle so sound that it cannot easily be 
driven off the land. The term “ chilled iron ” is now much used 
for what is sold as a superior sort of ploughshare. The merit of 
such shares consists in always having a sharp edge, and this is 
managed in this way. In casting the ploughshare the lower sur¬ 
face is in contact with iron, and this insures that part of the share 
becoming chilled, or intensely hard, while the upper surface is 
comparatively soft, so that in use the upper part of the share is 
wore away first, an! the lower ha-d pirt retains a thin sharp edge. 
So much for the now famous chilled ploughs, the merit of which, 
if we understand it aright, simply consists in the U3e of chilled 
shares, which, always having a sharp cutting edge, may be used 
with greater facility than those with ordinary shares. For light 
sandy soil double ploughs are invaluable, doing the work exceed¬ 
ingly well in half the time of a single plough, and the draught is 
so light in such soil that there need be no extra outlay for horses. 
It must be understood clearly that these advantages are only to be 
had by light land farme s, yet we have known double ploughs to be 
purchased for heavy land, only to be thrown aside in disgust. 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
So far the corn has, on the whole, come down in satisfactory condi¬ 
tion, but the work has been much hindered by showery weather. The 
Wheat bids fair to yield a full bright sample when fully ripe, but the 
ripening is much hindered by dull weather, and progress with harvest 
work is at best very slow. Reports of the probable yield here and in 
other countries tend to show a probable scarcity of supply, and a pro¬ 
portionate increase in price. Australian Oregon, and Californian 
Wheats now realise 38s. per quarter, and this fact makes us hopeful 
that home-grown Wheat of this season may reach the desirable and 
profitable rate of 40s. per quarter. Of Indian Wheat we are told 
that owing to the bad harvest of last year and other causes the price 
is, on an average, 33 per cent, higher than it was last year, and that 
at present rates exporters can make no profits. All this may pro¬ 
bably be regarded as affording no very sound basis whereon to found 
calculations of prospects or results of the home crop; but it is at any 
rate calculated to cheer and aid us in our efforts to save the Wheat 
under adverse conditions of weather. Everything would seem to show 
we “ touched bottom ” in the price of Wheat last year, and that we 
have reasonable hopes of a favourable reaction in prices this year. 
Of Barley we have only mowed one field of twenty acres, and we 
are still unable to say what the qualitv of the grain will be, for the 
matter is certainly doubtful. Really high-class malting Barley is likely 
to be scarce, but the grain generally is a fine bold sample, and quantity 
may in some slight degree atone for a want of quality in the final 
result. The slow ripening of the Barley proves a serious hindrance to 
harvest work, much of the Wheat having to be left out in shock for 
quite a week after the reaping, and on farms where there are no Beaus 
corn mowing has come to a standstill. On very many farms corn 
harvest and haymaking are now being done together, and excellent hay 
is being made. The second growth of Clover layers is really an excel¬ 
lent full crop, which we prefer turning to account for sheep-folding 
rather than for seed or hay late in a season remarkable for unsettle! 
weather. With a superabundance of food for sheep, and a full supply 
of hay, the ploughing-in of Clover for Wheat will be found profitable. 
OUR LETTER BOX. 
Clover Pest (R. 31. S .).—The “stuff” which comes in patches 
among the Clover is the common Dodder (Cuscuta trifolii). It is a para¬ 
sitical plant, its seed germinates in the soil, and the slender stems run 
over the Clover, affix themselves to every branch or leaf with which 
they come in contact, feed upon and eventually smother the plant;. 
To eradicate it not only pare the soil containing the dead patches of 
Clover, but a margin a foot wide around them, and burn the whole on 
the spot, for if you attempt carrying the dead plants and pared soil to 
one large fire, seed of the Dodder may be scattered about to bring more 
of the pest next season. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
Camden square, London. 
Lat. 51° 32' 40" N.; Leu*. 0° 8' 0" W.; Altitude, 111 feat. 
DATE. 
9 A.M. 
In the day. 
.3 
1 
1888. 
August. 
Hygrome¬ 
ter. 
Direction 
of Wind. 
Temp, of 
soil at 
1 foot. 
Shade Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
sun. 
On 
grass 
Inches. 
deg 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
In. 
Sunday . 
11) 
30.240 
50 8 
54 n 
S.K 
58.6 
08 l 
43 9 
Ill 3 
33 4 
Monday. 
20 
29 994 
Cl.4 
50.4 
S.E. 
58 4 
05 0 
63 0 
80.5 
49 8 
V. J8 
Tuesday .... 
21 
29 04i 
01 3 
69.5 
s.w. 
58 0 
68.2 
55 4 
112.5 
54.4 
Wednesday. 
22 
29.782 
63.1 
57 9 
w. 
59 0 
70.7 
52.6 
1LH.8 
4 '.3 
0. 97 
Thursday.... 
23 
29 940 
6'! 9 
68 3 
E. 
58 9 
00 4 
50.6 
94.2 
44 l 
0.0 9 
Friday . 
24 
29.0 5 
G>.3 
60.2 
E. 
68 4 
74 4 
65 3 
110.3 
60.4 
O.iS.i 
Saturday ... 
25 
29.732 
63.6 
68 8 
E. 
59.4 
718 
57 5 
12 .6 
.4.4 
0.149 
29 853 
61.8 
67 9 
| 58 8 
09.3 
52.7 
107.7 
48 6 
0.0 2 
REMARKS. 
19th.—Misty morning ; fair day, with a little sunshine. 
2i)th.—Cloudy clay, wet evening and night. 
2tsr.—Showery early ; cloudy day exe *pt tor an hour or two at midday. 
22nd,—Generally line and bright, but heavy rain utorms at 11.3d AM. and 0.45 P M.; warm 
windy afternoon. 
23rd.—'Du 1 all day, with drizzle from 10.30 A.M. to 1 P.M. 
54th.—Bright morning, clouuy afternoon, heavy rain 5 to 7 P M., du’l night. 
2.nh.—Generally Hue and br.ght, except tor heavy showers at 11A.M. and from 131 to 
2.30 P.M. 
An unsettled week of average temperature but with very little bright satu>kJne.T- 
G. J. otMONtf. 
