416 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ November 5, 1886. 
keeps the bowels open and renders the cows quite safe ; hut 
there must be a steady use of it morning and night, and no 
fitful careless practice, giving the linseed or not, as we may 
happen to think of it. In summer and early autumn, when 
the cows have plenty of grass, the blood is pure, and no 
linseed need be used. 
We have not mentioned Mangolds among articles of 
winter diet, and must call attention to them as being of 
special value from the beginning of the new year onwards for 
the next four or five months. Failing a supply of Carrots 
they may be used from the present time, provided the roots 
are pulped, mixed with chaff, and left in a vat till slight 
fermentation has begun. Cabbage, too, now and onwards, 
is good if used in moderation. We by no means approve of 
extremes in this matter, and only use enough of such food to 
impart a wholesome degree of freshness and variety to the 
dietary without running the risk of spoiling the flavour of the 
milk. Silage was used successfully last winter, but we must 
own that the weather was so favourable for haymaking this 
summer that we have double our usual number of hayricks, 
but the silo is empty. 
(To be continued.) 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
The old sheep, principally crones, taken from the breeding flocks that 
were folded upon a second growth of Clover have thriven so well that we 
are sending weekly batches of them to market as fat sheep, and so far the 
prices realised are remunerative. We are now passing two flocks of such 
sheep over some rough pastures in folds, giving them 2 lbs. per head of 
crushed Waterloo cake, with a plentiful mixture of chaffed hay and 
barley straw. This plan answers admirably, the whole of the grass being 
eaten off closely and the pastures left in admirable order for a new 
growth. The most abundant plant in these pastures is the free-growing 
and nutritious Cocksfoot (Dactylis glomerata), of which we may rely 
upon a free, strong, early growth in spring, and as there are many loose 
stones upon it an early opportunity will be taken to have them picked off. 
Acorns are so plentiful again this year that a large quantity will be picked 
up and stored for winter use among the sheep. Glad are we to say that 
the Mangolds are at length cleared from the fields and thfe heaps made 
secure for winter. Heavy rain has somewhat hindered this work, as it has 
Wheat-sowing too. We are, however, so nicely forward with our plough¬ 
ing and sowing, that a few fine days will enable us to get through with it. 
Drains are being put into wet land upon three of our farms where the land 
is both wet and poor. We quite agree with “ W. M.” that a hard 
substance put upon the drain pipes insures speedy and continuous action, 
and we are also entirely at one with him as to the value and importance 
of burning heavy soil for such a purpose, as well as for mixing as a 
mechanical agent in the soil. Apart from the question cf burning for 
drainage, we have long advocated the paring and burning of foul land, 
applying the ashes so obtained as a dressing of manure for the next crop 
with highly profitable results. To those of our readers who intend having 
draining done this winter we strongly recommend deep rather than shallow 
drains, because we have not only to relieve the soil promptly of super¬ 
fluous water from the surface, but also to prevent the ascent of water by 
capillary attraction from the subsoil to the surface. It is tt-is latter 
reason for deep drains that is so frequently overlooked, and yet we know 
how quickly and persistently water rises and spreads in the soil, and how 
soil so water-logged remains chilled and inert, and no matter how freely 
we apply manure to it, the growth of crops in it are slow and the yield 
unsatisfactory. First of all let us be very careful in coming to a decision 
as to the necessity for drains, and then let our method of doing the work 
be as thorough and efficient as possible. 
Draining.—“ W. M.’s” remarks are admirable in theory, and if he 
can tell us how to burn clay into ballast at a shilling a yard I, for one, 
should adopt his advice in practice. I have tried in vain to get brick- 
makers about here to take a contract fcr burning clay (it is good red 
brick clay) into ballast at a reasonable price. They say it cannot be 
done. Coal here is about 10s. a ton.—C. W. D. 
BALLAST BURNING. 
Ballast burning, its value to agriculture, and the method of con¬ 
ducting it, are subjects practically unknown to the farmer or land-owner, 
and yet with the abundance of coal we have in this country there is no 
reason why everybody interested in the improvement of the land should 
not look to a ballast heap as a source of profit, as certainly as he contem¬ 
plates the familiar muck-heap. 
The art of ballast-burning is exceedingly simple, depending for its 
success on the fact that all earthy matter is combustible, and that an 
apparently inert mass of damp clay contains elements which under 
proper conditions will burn, the result being that tenacious clay is converted 
into an insoluble, haTd, and porous substance, whilst various earthy 
alkalies, more or less present in all clays, are separated from the clay 
during the process of burning, rendered soluble, and therefore able to 
perform immediately their function of stimulating plants with which 
they may be brought in contact. We shall also see that there are 
many incidental uses for ballast upon a farm. 
First, as to the method of burning. The implements required are a 
stout iron rake about 10 feet long and three-quarters of an inch thick, 
it should at least have three teeth ; also a poker of the same length and 
thickness. A considerable quantity of the clay to be burnt is heaped up 
round a circular space, in which a fire is lit. At least 2 cwt. of rubbly 
coal should be employed to start this fire, and when the coal is well alight 
it shou'd be covered to a depth of 3 inches with clay chopped into lumps 
about half the size of an ordinary brick. On the outside of the heap a 
dusting of small coal must be thrown ; sufficient small coal to make the 
heap look thoroughly grimy is ample, for an excess of coal is a dis¬ 
advantage. At the expiration of about twelve hours this heap will be 
burnt through, and it will be ready to pull down as soon as no smoke can 
he be seen proceeding from it. When it is so ready a man with a shovel 
goes carefully round the base of the heap, throwing on one side the 
unburnt clay at the bottom of it; he then takes the heap down on to the 
base he has thus cleared, sprinkles the whole with small coal, then again 
puts on a coating of clay about as thick as before, finally dusting the 
heap again with small coal. This process goes on daily until the heap 
has attained considerable dimensions, say until there are 4 or 5 yards of 
clay burnt. When this is the case the layer of clay put on may be made 
thicker, nntil when there are some 20 yards of clay burnt the layer daily 
added may be at least a foot thick. 
A few precautions must be observed. First, the wind must not be 
allowed to blow fiercely and continuously upon any particular part of 
the burning clay. This is easily prevented by shooting the clay as dug 
in a circle round the fire, and putting on the top of this circle hurdles 
wattled with straw. Second, when the fire is raked down every morniDg 
or evening coal must be put on the bottom of the burning heap more 
plentifully than on the top. Thirdly, the heap must be kept as perpen¬ 
dicular as possible, or there will be waste of fuel. The poker is used to 
regulate the angle of inclination of the heap before it is raked down, and 
also to ascertain if by any mischance the clay is burning irregularly. 
When about 50 cubic yards of clay have been burnt it will no longer 
be possible to maintain the top of the burning heap in a conical shape ; it 
must be made flat in the centre, rising gradually to the outer rim like the 
crater of a volcano. 
Where limestone occurs in proximity to the place of burning, 1 yard 
of that stone may be thrown on to the fire to every 6 yards of clay. Quick¬ 
lime will thus be produced without any expense other than that of the 
stone. In raking down daily a burning heap containing limestone, care 
must be taken not to rake down that stone. It must be allowed to remain 
as high up in the fire as possible. 
I have already pointed out the great utility of ballast for drainage 
purposes, and of the fine stuff that is found in the heap as a manure for 
Potatoes. Ballast is also most valuable for road and path-making as a 
foundation on which to put harder material. It is also invaluable for 
building cottages ; a mixture of six parts ballast, one part sand, one part 
cement or good hydraulic lime, well wetted and turned over three or four 
times, forms an exceedingly hard concrete. Any intelligent carpenter can 
fix boards between which this concrete may be filled, and when set the 
boards are removed, leaving a solid, inexpensive, and imperishable wall. 
I need scarcely say that a silo built of such walls, rendered with a mixture 
of good lime and sand, would be absolutely air-tight. 
Small coal is the best fuel for burning ballast, but cinders, coke 
breeze, sawdust, may all be used with perfect success.—W. M. 
OUR LETTER BOX. 
Bromns giganteus ( T. S .).—This forage plant will not usually produce 
like Italian Rye Grass when the imported seed is sown in the autumn and 
early spring months ; and as summer forage we prefer Giant Sainfoin or 
Lucerne, both for quantity and feeding value, the latter especially when a 
quick succession is required as green fodder for dairy cows. There is, 
however, always the question of soil to be considered, and we therefore 
recommend a trial of these four sorts to ascertain which is the best. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
Camden Square, London. 
Lat. 51° 32'40" N.; Long. 0° 8' O" W. ; Altitude, 111 feet. 
DATE. 
9 A.M. 
IN THE DAY. 
1885. 
o3 
fl co O <t> 
Hygrome¬ 
ter. 
a . 
O 
5 fl 
O— O 
So£ 
Shade Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature. 
Rain 
October. 
££ 
M " a 
Dry. 
Wet. 
So 
h 
Max. 
Min 
Bun. 
grass 
Sunday . 
Inches. 
29.679 
deg. 
41.0 
deg. 
38.8 ; 
deg. 
46.5 
deg. 
527 
deg 
GG.3 
deg. 
82.8 
deg. 
29.9 
In. 
0.17ft 
Monday. 
26 
29.124 
52.3 
51.7 
s.w. 
45.8 
58.2 
40.4 
869 
30.8 
0.070 
Tuesday. 
97 
29.315 
46.7 
42.6 
N.W. 
46 9 
523 
45.2 
90.0 
40.2 
— 
Wednesday . 
28 
29.512 
42.3 
39.0 
S.W. 
45.6 
49.2 
37.2 
*2.4 
31.0 
0.010 
Thursday ... 
29 
29.780 
44.5 
41.4 
N. 
45.0 
51.4 
40.1 
83.1 
34.7 
— 
Friday. 
30 
30.038 
362 
35.9 
N. 
44.6 
46.1 
33.8 
51.2 
2 .1 
0.512 
Saturday ... 
31 
29.379 
44.5 
44.3 
E. 
44.5 
54.2 
36.7 
74.7 
32.6 
0.287 
29.547 
43.9 
42.0 
45.6 
52.0 
38.4 
78.7 
32.3 
1.055- 
REMARKS. 
2 ith.—Fine throughout. 
2Stb.—Rather wild, ulternate heavy rain and bright sunshine; fine evening. 
27th.—Fine and bright. 
28th.—Fine but cool; drizzly evening. 
29th.—Fair. 
30th.—Fog in morning; cloudy afternoon; damp evening. 
31st.—Heavy rain from 2 A M. Rain at intervals all day, with gale in evening. 
The heavy rain of Saturday has made this a wet week, though there was much bright 
weather in it, therefore the range of temperature wus rather large for the season. 
—G. J. SYMONS. 
