120 
JOURXAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ February 0, 18?®, 
■due cire should bo taken nou' to have seed, implements, and 
manures prepared for the work. 
Before all things we must see that the seed is pure, clean, and 
of the best sorts for our land. At one time farmers generally were 
very remiss in this matter, the seed corn often being mixed, foul 
with weed seeds, and inferior in other respects. The yield was of 
course proportionately inferior, but prices before the depression 
set in were so high that even such slovenly practice on the land 
was profitable. Glad are we to know that a much greater degree of 
attention is now given to seed selection ; in poinl? of fact we have 
reason to believe that many farmers have rushed to another extreme, 
and have given extravagant prices for special strains of seed corn, 
without that previous high cultivation of the soil which is so 
necessary to its profitable culture. The very fact of the purchased 
seed being superior to home produce is sufficient to show that it 
was grown in superior soil, and must be sown in equally good soil 
tcv,yield a crop of equally good corn. Nothing can surely be more 
patent, and yet we know that it is often overlooked, with the 
inevitable result of failure and loss. all means let us have good 
seed, but we must also have clean, dry, fertile soil, and every other 
condition of high culture, for if one thing be wanting all our 
efforts for success or improvement will be in vain. 
We hold that corn-growing may still be done profitably in this 
country under the best combination of science with practice, but 
we know there are others who boast of the teachings of long expe¬ 
rience in support of their views that corn-growing has ceased to be 
profitable. Quite recently we saw a statement which went to show 
that Wheat cannot be grown at present prices without a clear loss 
of £2 17s. per acre. To prove this figures were given, but we 
never saw a more glaring example of the truth of the axiom that 
figures may be made to prove anything. Rent and taxes were put 
at £2, labour at £7, and manure at £5 12s. per acre. Now we think 
this statement to be altogether false and misleading, for we can 
certainly afford to strike off half the amount of the labour item, 
and feel assured that our Wheat will be well cultivated, harvested 
threshed, and delivered. Then as to rent. Why, in the great 
corn-growing district of East Anglia the reduction of rent has been 
so great that £1 an acre is considered to be the average, including 
tithes, parochial rates, and the tenants’ income tax under schedule B- 
It is true the rent of some farms near to large towns rules higher, 
but we can go as far as 30s. an acre for them, and yet grow Wheat 
at a profit. The most preposterous item is that of £5 12s. for 
manure, but we must explain that this amount is intended to apply 
to farmyard manure. Compare this with the last manure recom¬ 
mendation circular of the Sussex Association for the Improvement 
of Agriculture by Professor Jamieson, which shows that enough 
pure chemical manure for an autumn and spring dressing can be 
put on rail in London at a total cost of 31s. per acre. The formula) 
are as follows ;— 
Per acre in autumn—Half cwt. nitrate of soda, quarter cwt. 
steamed bone flour, quarter cwt. mineral superphosphate. In 
spring—Half cwt. nitrate of potash, l^ cwt. nitrate of soda, 
quarter cwt. steamed bone flour, half cwt. superphosphate. But 
then, if farmers will not learn that chemical manures answer better 
than farmyard manure, why we can only say they deserve to fail. 
We intend using for our spring corn muriate of potash on an 
80 per cent, basis, and we are offered this at £8 7s. Gd. per ton ; 
nitrate of soda at £9 5s. per ton ; bone flour at £5 10s., and super¬ 
phosphate at £2 10s. Such low prices of these excellent fertilisers 
is certainly a matter for congratulation, and we shall turn them to 
full account by giving both winter and spring corn a liberal dressing, 
as we strongly recommend our readers to do. The manures should 
be procured at once, but they should not be mixed till a few days 
liefore required for use. Then either sow them broadcast and give 
the land one turn with the harrows before the drill, or if you have 
an excelsior drill, the manure and seed can be sown by one man 
and a pair of horses at the same time. We strongly recommend 
this drill as one of the best labour-saving appliances we hive. 
Compare it with the old drills requiring three horses, two men, and 
a boy to sow the corn, another man to broadcast the manure, and 
another to follow him with the harrows. 
WORK OK THE HOME FARM. 
The lambing is going on very well, we are glad to s.ay, but care has to 
be taken not to expose the lambs to the cold weather, and they are kept 
in snug quarters in the large fold. We have reason to suppose that an 
overdose of ergot of rye caused the death of one ewe. This may be 
cited as an instance of the folly of trying to force Nature. When an 
animal is long in labour help must be given, but care should be taken 
not to attempt forcing natural effort by very strong doses of ergot. Do 
not suffer the lambs to be exposed to cold cutting winds, for if they are 
so exposed serious losses will be the inevitable result. Many lambs die 
when left out in a cold bleak fold at night, and we cannot wonder at it, 
but we do wonder how anyone with a grain of common sense can let 
them be so exposed. There can be no excuse for this, for if only a 
double row of hurdles is made around the fold, and the space between 
them filled with straw, there is shelter at once, and straw and hurdles 
are to be had on every farm. 
Glad are we to say that at the last meeting of our local farmers' club 
we were able to induce several of the members to promise to try oat¬ 
meal as a substitute for barleymeal for pigs. Such meetings are capital 
occasions for an interchange of ideas and discussions of important points 
of practice. Among other matters we recently called attention to the 
best way of laying down land to permanent pasture, and that is a detail 
of spring work of which many men are ignorant, and we purpose again 
calling special attention to it in this Journal shortly. We have recently 
heard farmers loud in complaints of the scarcity of food on their 
pastures, and we know some who have already had to feed off their Rye ; 
yet we know that if only the pasture received due care and the requisite 
amount of cultivation it would not be bare even now. That is the point 
we wish to enforce, that every part of a farm requires culture, and none 
of the land should be left without its due share of annual care. Sustained 
fertility can alone insure full crops. To maintain this we must store 
the soil regularly with plant food so that it can never become exhausted. 
We shall then have an early and late growth so robust and sturdy as to 
suffer very little from unkind seasons. Severe drought must, of course, 
affect pasture, but it is the poverty-stricken neglected pasture that 
invariably succumbs to drought first. 
Messrs. Suttox and Sons’ Publications. —The result of experi¬ 
ments with artificial manures on permanent and temporary pastures at 
Dyson’s Wood, near Reading, have been published, and throw fresh 
light on this all-important subject. In instituting these experiments, 
Mr. Martin J. Sutton in co-operation with Dr. J. A. Voelcker has ren¬ 
dered great benefit to all who are engaged in the cultivation of the soil ; 
and we strongly recommend “ The Dyson’s Wood Experiments” to their 
serious consideration. A new and “ Popular Edition ” of Mr. Martin 
J. Sutton’s “ Permanent and Temporary Pastures ” has been issued, and 
a copy is before us. It is a cheap reprint of the original edition, with 
]ilates of the Grasses uncoloured, and will be found useful to those of 
limited means. 
OUR LETTER BOX. 
Hen Dying: (H". Raynor'). — We are unable to account for the death 
of the fowl, but will hand your letter to the Editor of Poultry, who may 
possibly be able to formulate an opinion on the case. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
CAMDEN 8QUAUE, LONDON. 
Lat. 51° 82'40''N.; Long. 0° 8'0" W.; Altitude, 111 feet. 
date. I 9 A.M. I IN THE DAT. 
1888. 
A o at 
M a) -4 
Hygrome¬ 
ter. 
^ Direction 
of Wind. 
Temp, of 
soil at 
1 1 foot. 
Shade Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature. 
Rain 
Jan. and Feb. 
iS ^ Ch -4 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
sun. 
On 
grass 
Sunday. 
29 
Inches. 
29.9.>G 
deg 
31.8 
deg. 
30.5 
K. 
deg. 
37.2 
deg. 
38.1 
deg. 
304 
deg. 
69.8 
deg. 
26.3 
Id. 
Monday. 
;«) 
30.121 
27.4 
25 9 
N. 
86 4 
87.1 
25.1 
61.7 
19.2 
0.031 
'I'uesday ... 
8L 
29.436 
366 
3V9 
S. 
35.8 
41.2 
26.3 
64.4 
22.8 
Wednesday.. 
1 
29.807 
307 
29.1 
N. 
357 
33.4 
29.9 
63.4 
29.3 
Thursday.... 
2 
30.180 
24.4 
2:1.3 
E. 
35.3 
37.8 
19.1 
48.4 
16.1 
0.039 
Friday . 
3 
30.0',9 
37.3 
36.9 
w. 
35 1 
44.9 
23.9 
63.6 
23.7 
Saturday ... 
4 
30.207 
4i.8 
42.0 
w. 
35.0 
50.4 
|87.l 
63.2 
30.3 
— 
29 964 
33.0 
31.9 
35.8 
40 4 
27.4 
50 2 
24.0 
0.203 
REMARKS. 
29th.—A little enow after 9 A.M, and damp for an hour or so, then bright sunshiue for a 
time; fair afternoon, clear moonlight night. 
30th.—Genera ly floe, with .some sunshine. Snow in evening. 
31st.—Very wet till 11 A.M., then cleared and bright for two or three hours. Shower 
about 5 P.M., and damp evening. 
1st.—A sprinkle of snow in the early morning; beautiful day, but the ground remaining 
white in the shade ; clear cold night. 
2r.d.—Fine, but slightly foggy and co d. 
Srd.—Cloudy morning; fine afternoon with some sunshine. Much warmer. 
4th.—Fine and pleasant and very mild; overcast evening. 
A very changeable week wltli great variations of temperature, but as a whole rte 
cidedly cold. Temperatnre 4'' below the average, and nearly 8“ below that of tlie preced¬ 
ing week.—O. J. Symons. 
