196 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COUAGE GARDENER. 
[ August S7,1885. 
of this experiment that fully convinced us of the value and 
importance of what is now termed alternate husbandry. On 
well-drained soil in a high state of fertility, free from all 
noxious weeds, ploughed deeply and worked to a fine tilth, 
sow a mixture of strong-growing Grass and Clover seed, and 
you will obtain a crop of highly nutritious fodder of twice 
the bulk of an ordinary crop of meadow hay for one, two, 
three, or even more consecutive years, provided the fertility 
is fully sustained by seasonable applications of manure. 
Turned to full account partly for hay and in part as green 
food, such a crop is not only profitable in itself, but it enables 
us to dispense with some portion both of manual and horse 
labour, and thus it adds to the profits and lessens the expenses 
of the farm. Economy of labour is a matter of vital im¬ 
portance to every farmer, and as a means to that end alter¬ 
nate husbandry merits general attention. Upon the clergy¬ 
man’s farm it should be applied to all the land not wanted 
for corn, roots, permanent pasture, or other green crops. 
Perennial Eye Grass, Trefoil, red and white Clover, is fre¬ 
quently the mixture for one or two years; and to impart a 
more permanent character to the herbage we add Cocksfoot, 
Timothy, Meadow Foxtail, Alsike Clover, and Cow Grass. 
Whether we retain the crop for two or more years altogether 
depends upon the manner in which we are able to treat it. 
A heavy annual dressing of manure is necessary for the 
Grasses, and if we can add a liberal quantity of wood ashes 
to it the Clovers will derive much benefit from them. 
It has been stated that by laying down the land in this 
manner we practically give it a rest, and it is subsequently 
broken up again in an improved fresh condition. This state¬ 
ment is erroneous and misleading, for the land requires no 
rest: it is simply a medium for giving food to plants, and 
so long as we keep it fully stored with fertility, taking especial 
care to restore to it the elements of plant life or food taken 
from it during each season of growth, we may continue crop¬ 
ping it with corn, roots, or green crops, with a feeling of 
certainty that there will be no falling-off in the quantity or 
quality of produce. Of equal importance to sustained fertility 
is mechanical division and drainage of the soil. The three 
things are to be regarded as indispensable. With them in 
judicious combination we can afford to laugh at the idea of 
the land wanting rest. Without them we are quite certain 
to have failure in some degree—not in a fitful uncertain 
manner, but strictly in proportion to our faulty culture or 
negligence of the soil. Far, however, from laughing at the 
grave assertion that the soil requires rest just as though it 
had sinews and muscles, we would express our regret that 
it has been made and repeated so frequently, for is not the 
long fallow a result of such teaching ? Glibly enough are we 
told that the land wants rest when we ask why we still meet 
with bare fallows in summer, but in vain do we inquire why 
it wants rest. No doubt after two or three consecutive wet 
summers it is liable to become foul with perennial weeds, 
and more time and finer weather is required to eradicate 
them than can be had in spring. 
To spend our lives in the culture of land, and not to 
understand clearly its nature and requirements, is really to 
court failure. Why do we drain soil ? Why do we impart 
mechanical division to it ? What is mechanical division ? 
What sort of manure is best for each crop ? When ought we 
to apply it ? If farmyard manure or artificial manure best ? 
What advantage or disadvantage is there in the use of either 
manure ? These are some of the questions of vital import¬ 
ance to which we have striven to give plain answers re¬ 
peatedly, and although they cannot be dealt with at length 
in these articles they cannot be altogether ignored, and may 
be answered briefly. We drain soil to relieve it from an 
accumulation of surface water, to prevent water rising from 
the subsoil to the surface by capillary attraction, and to check 
excessive evaporation, by which the air upon the surface is 
rendered moist and cold to the serious harm of tender vege¬ 
tation. Mechanical division is imparted to the soil by an 
admixture of hard gritty matter, and its effect is to prevent 
the soil from settling down into a hard, crude, inert mass, 
and in combination with drainage to afford free admission 
to the air and its fertilising gases. Speaking generally, 
genuine artificial manures are best if applied soon enough 
for each crop to derive full benefit from them during its 
growth. The advantage of artificial over farmyard manure 
is obvious, for by its use we avoid the heavy outlay involved 
in the manufacture, carting, and spreading of farmyard 
manure, only we must avoid all dealers’ specialties for farms, 
procuring the manures separately from a reliable source and 
mixing them ourselves. We are fully aware that the doing 
this demands scientific knowledge of a higher nature than 
that possessed by an ordinary farmer, but if he be teachable 
there are plenty of means available for the acquisition of 
such knowledge; and the man who takes full advantage of 
the opportunity to learn and apply to practice the teaching 
of science will with care succeed when others fail, simply 
because he knows how to combine science with practice. 
(To be continued.) 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
Corn harvest is now in full progress. It was our intention to have 
threshed most of the Peas as they were carted from the field, but owing 
to unsettled weather we were unable to do so, and they were either 
fctacked or put into barns. Wheat and Beans came next, the Beans being 
taken in the earlier part of the day, and the Wheat when the sun was. 
high—say by 10 A.M. Much Wheat is already in the s'ack, for it ripened 
fast under the hot sun. Oats were left till the straw was well ripened, 
as we are always afraid of much heating in the stack, and subsequent 
mustiness. Barley, though last, is on the whole an excellent crop, tut 
its culture has been extended so considerably that prices are almost 
certain to be low for some time to come. As soon as horses and men can 
be spared, harrows will be run over the stubbles to clear off most of the 
straw, then horse hoes and harrows will be brought into full play to render 
the land clean as soon as possible. Pigs will first be run over the stubbles 
to pick up loose and fallen corn. Draining of all wet land will promptly 
be taken in hand as men can be spared, for it is a good rule 
to do a certain number of acres every year, and so to spread out the 
expense that it may not at any time prove to be a serious matter. _ There 
must be careful supervision of this work, the pipes in each drain being put 
in along the entire length of it before any soil is put in, so that an inspec¬ 
tion may be made and any faulty work set right, a single pipe put in 
out of line or too high or low, often spoiling a drain. See that the 
gradient is sufficiently correct from end to end, and the outfalls clear and 
well away from all risk of subsequent obstruction. Let corn ricks be 
thatcbed as soon as they are built, and see that an air of neatness and 
finish is imparted to the whole of them. Stubble Turnips may be sown 
as soon as the land is cleared and ploughed for them. Late-sown Turnips 
have not come well owing to the drought; late Mustard, too, is a com¬ 
parative failure. We must, however, let no chance slip of sowing again 
so long as there remains any hope of getting even half a crop, for the 
value of any green crop later on in the season is so great that we must do 
our best to obtain it. Should the drought continue, we Bball probably 
make exceptionally large sowings of Rye, Trifolium, and Winter Oats 
this autumn, all of them being valuable green crops, to which we shall 
duly turn next spring when pastures may be baie and winter stores 
run low. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
Camden Square, London. 
Lat. 51° 32'40" N.; Long. 0° 8' 0" W.; Altitude, 111 feet 
DATE. 
A.M. 
IN THE DAY. 
1885. 
Barome¬ 
ter at 32« 
and Sea 
Level 
Hygrome¬ 
ter. 
0 . 
S 0 
Temp, of 
Soil at 
1 foot. 
Shade Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature. 
Rain 
August. 
Dry. 
Wet. 
So 
Max. 
Min 
In 
sun. 
On 
grass. 
Inches. 
30.282 
deg. 
63.9 
deg. 
56.0 
S.E. 
deg. 
co.o 
deg. 
77.7 
d«g. 
49.9 
deg. 
113.7. 
deg. 
44.8 
In. 
30.141 
03.8 
56.8 
s.w. 
60.5 
79.3 
49.7 
122.7 
43.3 
— 
Tuesday. 
30.118 
60.6 
55.8 
N. 
61.5 
73.3 
54.2 
84.9 
48.4 
— 
Wednesday . 
19 
30.118 
54.8 
51.0 
N.E. 
60.6 
62.3 
45.7 
85.6 
89.8 
— 
Thursday ... 
. 20 
29.927 
55.2 
51.4 
U.W. 
60.2 
68.4 
51.6 
115.6 
47.6 
0.146 
Friday. 
21 
29.809 
569 
52.4 
W. 
597 
62.4 
52.6 
99.4 
48.7 
0.03S 
Saturday ... 
22 
29.844 
56.2 
o3.8 
N.W, 
69 2 
66.3 
52.2 
101.8 
4S.3 
— 
30.043 
58.8 
53.9 
60.2 
70 0 
50.8 
103.4 
45.8 
0.17? 
REMARKS. 
16th.—Fine, bright, and warm. 
17th.—Fine morning, rather cloudy in afternoon. 
18th.—Overcast morning, then brighter, but no sunshine. 
19lh.—Dull and cold. 
20th.—Dull and cold, with a little drizzle at 11 A.M., then some sunshine. Thunder, rain 
and hail about 2 P.M., then showery. 
2lst.—Fine morning,cloudy afternoon and evening,rain in night. 
22 nd.—Generally cloudy till evening, then fine. 
Rainfall still very small, and temperature very near the average—slightly below it — 
| G. J. SYMONS. 
