144 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER 
[ February 18, 1886. 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
During the prevalence of severe frost we have seen much carting of 
manure being done, and in some instances in a manner to which we 
strongly object. No doubt it is advantageous to get manure upon the 
land just now, but distributed in small heaps or spread broadcast over the 
surface there is a serious loss of its fertilising gases unless it can forthwith 
be ploughed in. Where ridge-and-furrow ploughing was done in autumn 
or early winter in readiness for root culture in spring, the manure may 
be put in the furrows and then readily covered by passing a double- 
breasted plough through each ridge ; but if it has to remain exposed to 
the air long before it can be covered the loss in fertility will really prove 
a serious matter. By all means cart your manure to large heaps upon 
the land over which it is to be distributed, but do not spread it about till 
the ploughs can be used. Our own horse work has consisted in drawing 
chalk and gravel to raise and harden the bottoms of yards and for farm 
roads. Timber, faggots, and poles have been cleared first of all from the 
grass land and next from out of the woods. Carting of hay and Btraw to 
markets is also being done, for since we have ceased filling our cattle 
yards in winter the amount realised by the sale of fodder is considerable, 
and we devote no inconsiderable portion of the money to the purchase of 
artificial manure. Corn-crushing, root-pulping, chaffing of hay and straw 
requires some extra labour now, for the breeding flock and hoggets make 
heavy demands upon our supplies of such food now. The lambing goes 
on briskly and well. The ewes are having an extra supply of bran and 
crushed Oats. Feed the ewes well, say we, and do all that is possible to 
bring on the lambs quickly in view of as speedy a sale as may be. It 
can answer no good purpose to keep a lot of half-fed animals on any 
farm, nor is it desirable ever to allow them to fall into poverty of condi¬ 
tion. There is, of course, a reasonable limit to the high-pressure system 
of forcing on young stock, but quick development and early maturity 
must be our aim now. With cows calving throughout winter at the home 
farm, it answers well to fatten the calves and dispose of them for veal. 
On the day of writing this note we have been to a large cattle market 
and seen some calves only moderately forward in condition realise close 
upon £5 apiece, and at the same sale Irish shorthorns between two and 
three years old hardly reached an average of £15 apiece. There can be 
no question that the younger animals were very much the most profitable. 
Do not overlook the importance of warmth and shelter to all animals now. 
Glad, indeed, shall we he when lodges and yards become the rule and not 
the exception on farms generally. Instead of trying how much exposure 
to wet and cold can be borne with impunity, it would be better to ascer¬ 
tain the amount of benefit derived from warmth and shelter. 
TRIALS OF AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY AT THE 
KINYER SEED FARMS. 
A gathering of about a thousand agriculturists and other spectator 
took place recently at Messrs. Webb k Sons’ farm to see the work com¬ 
passed by the steam threshing machines of Messrs. Ransomes, Sims, and 
Jefferies, Ipswich, and also of witnessing a ploughing match with their new 
digging ploughs. In the digging plough brought under the notice of the 
farmers of the district yesterday it is claimed that an implement is pro¬ 
vided which completely breaks up and pulverises the land, dealing with it 
very much as if it were spade-dug. This is said to be done with less 
draught than in the case of an ordinary plough, and one of the best 
testimonials to the merits of the digging plough is that its use is rapidly 
extending. It was once said by a wag, when appealed to as to the best 
way of making the most of the land : “ Turn it up on end and plant both 
sides of it but, admitting this is utopian, one of the next best ways to 
get a good crop must be to thoroughly stir up the soil before the seed is 
entrusted to it. Nearly a score ploughs, each drawn by a pair of horses, 
were engaged at the same time in parallel lines of work, and the animation 
of the scene was more like what would be met with on a big Transatlantic 
farm than in a quiet corner of plodding England. Half a dozen prizes 
were offered for competition among the ploughmen, and the awards were 
made by Mr. J. Giles and Mr. W. Trow at the close of the work, with the 
quality of which they expressed themselves much pleased. The prizes 
ranged from £2 in value downwards. 
Besides the ploughing competition there was an exhibition of the skill 
of Messrs. Ransomes’ “ champion ploughman,” Barker. He has taken a 
host of awards at ploughing matches, and proved himself facile princeps 
in arable work. His deftness was shown with a different class of plough 
to that already spoken of, the one he steered being a “ Newcastle ” prize 
plough. It turns a whole unbroken furrow, as Barker guides it, in a line 
of almost mathematical precision ; and the rows of soil turned over were 
laid side by side at apparently precisely equal distances, and at precisely 
the same angle. As a piece of clever and scientific ploughing, there could 
be no question of Barker’s accuracy of eye and hand. The land as ridged 
up by Newcastle plough is just in the best form of being pulverised by 
atmospheric action and frost before being planted with cereals. On the 
other hand, the digging plough tears the ground to pieces in a way that 
adapts it better for root crops. The immediate crop in view determines 
the point of the best kind of plough to use, and there is naturally some 
variation in the implement best adapted for different purposes and different 
soils. 
The trial of threshing machinery took place in the rick yard, and a 
rick of of Webbs’ Kinver Chevalier Barley was operated upon. The capa¬ 
bilities of the finishing threshing machines were exhibited, the one used 
being a standard full-sized machine, driven by an eight-horse-power 
portable engine. As a rule, though machines aie called finishing 
machines, they often require the grain to be passed through twice in order 
to secure a clean marketable sample. The machines of which the oue at 
work was a type are intended to complete the whole business in one trans¬ 
action, and to deliver into the sacks at the mouth of the machine as clean 
a sample of grain as either buyer or seller could desire. When properly 
fed the full- sized machine will thresh from 600 to 800 bushels of corn 
per day of ten hours. During a test taken it was found that the 
machine threshed a sack of Barley in three minutes and a quarter. The 
machine in use was, as we have mentioned, a standard full-sized one ; but 
we understand that lighter machines are thought preferable in hilly dis¬ 
tricts, where the question of transfer from place to place has to be con¬ 
sidered. In the course of the proceedings Messrs. Webb entertained the 
visitors at luncheon in a large tent near the homestead. 
OUR LETTER BOX. 
Prices of Manures ( B. II .).—We can only advise you, as we have 
advised others, to ascertain prices of artificial manures from local dealers, 
which are to be found in almost every considerable town in the kingdom. 
If vendors were to advertise manures unmixed they would increase their 
sales ; if they do not advertise no one can expect us to do so for them. 
Sheep with Swollen Lips (J. Iff.).—The tongue which you were good 
enough to send ns had so little inflammation that we hope the disease is 
already passing away. Blain usually presents itself first of all in the 
tongue, and attention is attracted to it by a free discharge of saliva, at the 
outset limpid and inoffensive, but soon becoming thickened by a discharge 
of purulent matter, and foetid. The inflammation soon spreads, the head 
and neck become swollen, and there is considerable difficulty in breathing. 
You would do well to examine the mouths of the whole of the sheep, and if 
any vesicles are found under or along the sides of the tongue, open all of 
them with a lancet, then wash the mouth first with warm water, and after¬ 
wards with the solution of chloride of lime. The disease is infectious, and 
due care should be taken to prevent it from Bpreading to other flocks. 
Permanent Pastures (H\).—Why lose a year for the sake of a poo r 
crop of Clover ? If you intend dressing your poor land with farmyard 
manure do so at once, plough it in with the Clover, and when the soil is 
sufficiently dry to enable you to get a fine seed bed, do so without the loss 
of a day, and then sow the grass seed. If you intend using artificial manure 
take for an acre half cwt. nitrate of potash, three-quarter cwt. nitrate of soda, 
half cwt. superphosphate, half cwt. steamed bone flour, well mix, sow imme¬ 
diately after the grass seed, and work in with harrows. This will induce 
a free strong growth upon the young pasture, and you will be able to fold 
lambs upon it twice before the end of next September, when the lambs must 
be withdrawn from it for the winter. By passing lambs quickly over it in 
folds before any of the grasses run to seed you insure the consumption of 
the whole of the growth without damage to any of it, and at the same 
time impart additional fertility to the soil in the most economical way. If 
in the following summer and autumn you pursue the same practice with 
sheep, always using folds, you will by the end of the season of active 
growth have a fairly well-knit pasture suitable either for grazing purposes 
or hay. 
Artificial Manures ( J. JET. W .).—The names cannot be put in plainer 
English : indeed, to alter them at all would confuse rather than instruct. 
They are weU understood by dealers in manures, and you can procure prices 
from those in your neighbourhood. We do not suppose you have the means 
for steaming bone meal, and you may very safely use it as it is. This also 
answers the letter of “ W. C.” We can neither quote prices nor recommend 
dealers who do not advertise their goods. All the constituents referred to 
in the formula are included in the fish potash manure that is advertised in 
another column with the prices appended. We intend trying both, and we 
suspect you will have little to lose by doing the same. We know one is 
good, and have a strong impression the other is good also, and easily pro¬ 
curable. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
Camden Square, London. 
Lat. 51° 32'40" N.; Long. 0° 8' 0" W.; Altitude, 111 feet. 
DATE. 
y a.m. 
IN THE DAY. 
fl 
W 
1886. 
February. 
| Barome- 
1 ter at 32« 
and Sea 
Level 
Hygrome¬ 
ter. 
Direction 
of Wind. 
| Temp, of 
1 Soil at 
1 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 . 
30.392 
29.2 
27.G 
E. 
35.3 
35.5 
26.4 
47.6 
19.6 
— 
Monday. 
8 
30.734 
28.7 
27.1 
E. 
34.8 
32.4 
24.9 
39.7 
20.3 
— 
Tuesday. 
9 
30.715 
24.2 
24.0 
E. 
34.4 
31.8 
20.8 
33.4 
17.3 
— 
Wednesday . 
10 
30.505 
24.9 
24.G 
Calm 
34.2 
34 8 
19.4 
52.6 
14.7 
— 
Thursday ... 
n 
30.220 
33.') 
32.3 
Calm 
33.8 
37.4 
23.6 
39.2 
23.2 
0.066 
Friday. 
12 
30.027 
39.3 
38.9 
S.E. 
337 
42.3 
29.8 
47.4 
31.6 
0.043 
Saturday ... 
13 
29.957 
41.4 
40.9 
S. 
33.7 
47.7 
35.9 
57.4 
28.6 
— 
30.3G4 
31.5 
30.8 
34.3 
37.4 
25.8 
45.3 
22.2 
0.109 
REMARKS. 
7th.—Fine, hut without bright sunshine. 
8th.—Cold and fine, but rather hazy. 
9th.—Slight fog early, very dense from 9.30 till about 11.30; slightly foggy during the 
rest of the day, and intensely cold throughout. 
10th.—Dense fog in the first part of the morning; fine and bright after; fog again at 
sunset and in the evening. 
13th.—Dull and foggy all day. 
12 th.—Rain in the small hours, and slightly foggy with showers throughout the day. 
13th.—Dull, with showers early. 
A week divided into two periods of typical winter weather—the first dry and cold, 
with dense fogs at the beginning and close of each day : the second dull, damp, and raw, 
with almost continuous slight fog. The temperature is about 7° below the average, and 
the lowest for any week since January, 1881. In London there were three or four days 
safe skating, a very unusual occurrence n February.—G. Symons. 
