453 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ May 31,1R88. 
•cake—besides Clover, hay, and roots, the original ton of straw has 
most costly additions made to it. Is the manure worth the extra 
cost and additions ? Most people would answer. No. As few 
farmers have either boxes or covered yards to preserve any kind 
•of manure, what part of the original value of the manure in the 
food would remain after repeated washings ? Just in proportion to 
“the number and thoroughness of the washings we may suppose ; 
and these are frequent enough in all ordinary seasons. Again, 
when dung does contain a good per-centage of nitrogen, it seldom 
shows such favourable results in the crops as artificial manures, 
containing much less in quantity, hut in a more readily available 
form. 
“ The cost of oilcake dung is apparently very great. The notion 
that the land will get richer is true ; but will the ordinary farmer 
who makes it get richer or poorer ? Artificial manures have 
hitherto produced crops of both corn and roots fully better than 
dung. If dunging is partially or wholly left off the crops fall off. 
Then where is the permanency of dung? If artificial manures 
containing both phosphates and nitrogen are used it is known on 
the best possible authority—that of Sir John Lawes—^that after 
more than forty years’ trial neither does the soil get poorer nor the 
crops get worse. Further, dung may be apjolied in very large 
quantities to all kinds of crops, and although the soil becomes 
richer and richer the crops never increase in proportion, nor yet at 
all in fact, as the yield of corn on dunged land—dunged heavily 
for forty years—does not increase. 
“ People who know least about artificial manures condemn them. 
Many say nitrate of soda is the great criminal charged with 
scourging, weai’ing out the land, and doing all the evil possible in 
every respect to^ the land. Can an authentic account be really 
obtained of any farm that has been really injured by the judicious 
use of artificials ? What farmer who knows anything much about 
artificials would use nitrate of soda or ammonia salts year after 
year alone without phosphates ? No one could continue to do so 
without loss. 
“ Cattle foods of various kinds no doubt contain the amounts of 
inanuriil ingredients which chemists assign to them, and the loss 
by consumption may also be fairly enough estimated. For all 
this, in real practice, by making dung from dear food and apply¬ 
ing it to the land, there is usually a considerable loss when the 
crops are produced. Dung does not act so quickly as artificials, a 
small per-centage only coming into immediate use. The residue 
of the dung left often assisting one crop is subjected to continual 
loss by the usual rainfall in winter, and this for the four or five 
years that elapse before the dung is again applied. 
■“ In very wet seasons even dung produces no very vdsihle effect 
on crops. The soluble ingredients of value may be washed away 
as soon as produced. Whatever theory there may be on the matter 
of loss, every farmer found that in the unusually wet season of 
1879 the dunged crops appeared to suffer as much as where 
artificials were used. Nor were the crops much better after any 
kind of manuring than when nothing was applied. Practically, 
however, there is an enormous loss of manurial matter from dung 
before it reaches the field. In too many instances I have not the 
slightest doubt that much more than half of the most valuable 
ingredients of the dung are washed away and utterly lost, so far at 
least as the producer is concerned. 
“ My present system of farming is to aim at keeping up the 
manurial condition of the land, so that it may produce good crops 
at the smallest cost of manure. For years past my main reliance 
has been placed on artificial manures. Some dung is made and 
some bought, but it is found to answer best, as a rule, to sell hay and 
straw and purchase manures. The land is barely second class, but 
for all this in suitable seasons the crops have certainly been better 
than the crops of those average farmers who mainly depend upon 
dung. Profits on an average over thirty-three years would be con¬ 
sidered fairly good by most people. In parts of half a dozen 
fields no dung has been applied for about forty years. On the parts 
entirely manured by artificials the crops, save on one part of light 
sandy soil, are quite as good as on the parts dressed with dung. 
The yield of Wheat averaged fully four quarters over twenty years 
Every kind of crop, excepting the seeds, is annually manured with 
either nitrate of soda, dissolved bone superphosphate, mineral 
superphosphate, or a mixture of all. The land was never rich, nor 
is it rich now, as when any portions are left (as some are eveiy year) 
without any manure, the yield of corn is a good deal under what is 
manured.” 
The article contains much more valuable matter, and statistics 
are given in support of his facts and reasoning, but the quotations 
we give possess an especial degree of importance, tending as they 
do to support the views we havu so frequently laid before our 
readers, and which we profitably embody in our own practice. 
Invaluable is the advice to keep the fertility of the soil fully 
sustained, and the outcome of forty years’ practice goes to show 
that the soil is simply a medium for the conveyance of food to 
plants ; be it our aim to see that such sustenance is given in due 
and timely measure. 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
By the time this note is printed corn-hoeing will be finished, but as 
we write horse and hand hoes are still in full activity, and the weather 
is certainly most favourable for such work. Bright sunshine and winds 
soon destroy the weeds, and our expenditure u(on this important work 
is proportionately higher than usual. Wo believe in turning such 
seasonable opportunities to full account, for clean land may be rendered 
profitable, but foul land never can be under present prices. Men work¬ 
ing horse hoes have had to be looked closely after, for a little inatten¬ 
tion may cause the corn itself to be destroyed or buried beireath the 
soil. With due care, however, horse corn hoes are a great help in turn¬ 
ing a spell of fine weather to full account. Mangolds are nicely visible 
along the rows. Weeds are coming plentifully among them too, so that 
hoeing will have to be done among them now, for we much object to 
leaving such work till weeds get strong hold of the soil. The growth of 
grass left for hay is so backward that there will be ample time to get 
the root crops weeded and the plant thinned before haymaking 
begins. 
Much carting of hay and Wheat straw has been done as horses couhl 
he spar, d for it. With our large supplies of both these articles we arc 
able to supply a variety of markets and private customers, some at a 
distance of twenty miles, such long journeys being done on a Saturday, 
so that the horses may have the benefit of Sunday’s rest. The demand 
for both hay and straw has been so good that we could have disposed of 
much more than we had to spare, but the price of hay has not risen with 
the demand owing to the low price of imported Oats. 
Rye over which sheep and lambs were folded is now in full growth 
again, and would be available for a second folding did wc require it, 
but we do not. The Rye will be left now for harvest, and we have 
reason to expect a full crop of both corn and straw, for both which there 
is a ready sale. The folding upon new permanent pasture is finished 
for the first time, and stone-picking is being done upon it now. The 
plant is strong and abundant, and we hope to see good progress made by 
next autumn. A piece of Rye Grass of last year’s sowing on some 
heavy land is a full plant, but the application of a hundredweight per 
acre of nitrate of soda has not told as it ought, which is a clear indica¬ 
tion of a want of drainage. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
CAMDEN SQUAllE, LONDON. 
Lat. 51° 32'40''N.; Long. 0° 8'0" W.; Altitude, 111 feet. 
DATE. 
9 A.M. 
IN THE DAT. 
Hyftromc- 
0 . 
o « 
Shade Tcm- 
Radiation 
p 
1883. 
ter. 
'.C 0 
yr 
perature. 
Teuiperature 
<sJ 
Jlay. 
£5: 
In 
On 
K " c3 
Dry. 1 Wet. 
Go 
Mux. 
Min. 
sun. 
grass 
Inche.'*, 
detr. ! deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
dCR. 
dec. 
dec. 
Pnnday . 
sn.l74 
59 8 51.5 
N.W. 
54 4 
68.0 
47.1 
125..3 
43 4 
Monday. 
30.437 
f)2 2 ' 53 4 
K.K. 
54 9 
«99 
45 0 
121.3 
£9.4 
0.012 
IHiesday ... 
. 22 
80 893 
5.3.9 : 50.0 
N. 
.5.5 3 
01.8 
44 h 
106.2 
37.1 
Wednesday. 
. 23 
3i>.3'2 
01.2 ' 51.4 
N.E. 
50 8 
t'8.8 
43 8 
118.0 
38.2 
__ 
Thursday... 
. 24 
80.373 
52 7 49 3 
N.F. 
54 8 
73.1 
42.0 
117.2 
35.1 
_ 
Friday . 
. 2.5 
.';o.2i>4 
50.0 40.1 
N.E. 
55.7 
05.5 
43 8 
112.2 
4>.S 
_ 
Saturday ... 
. 26 
3'J.133 
4:).7 45.1 
if. 
5U 
50 2 
42 9 
83.0 
37.2 
— 
S0.309 
55.7 49 5 1 
55. 
06.3 
44 3 
112.1 
33.7 
0.012 
EEMAEKS. 
2Uh.—Frefh, and gonernlly brielil-. 
2l8t.—Fright pleasant day, wiih &light shower at 9 P.M.; moonlight night. 
22 nd.—(’londy alt day 
23rd.—Almost cloudless throuchout. 
24th.—(Moudy till about 11 A.M., then bright and warm. 
2.51 li.—Fine and bright. 
26 th.—Overcast morning; fine afternoon and evening. 
A flue week; temperature variable,but on the whole near the average.—Q. J. SVMOXS. 
