304 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ April 15, 1886. 
good meadow liay in the rick is £4 per ton; cut, tied in trusses, 
and delivered to the consumer it readily commands another 
£1, but at the lower rate we have £8 per acre for hay alone, 
with an aftermath available for grazing by cattle for three 
months after haying, or for sheep onwards till the following 
February or March. At the present low value of land £3 
per acre will pay rent, tithes, taxes, as well as for manures 
and labour, and if so, can we say that profitable farming is 
impossible ? 
How to obtain such pasture is, wo fear, beyond the know¬ 
ledge of the ordinary farmer, simply because he has never 
set himself seriously to become master of a branch of farm¬ 
ing, which high prices for corn enabled him to ignore. At a 
market town in the eastern counties a so-called lecture on 
permanent pasture was given recently, which really resolved 
itself into an enumeration and description of the most 
suitable sorts of forage plants for the purpose. In the sub¬ 
sequent discussion of the subject the questions and remarks 
of the farmers made, it was quite evident they were incom¬ 
petent to undertake such work. Ten shillings and 20s. an acre 
were sums mentioned as a sufficient outlay for laying down 
land to permanent pasture, and outspoken preference was 
given to a growth of natural (indigenous) Grasses. Such 
observations are an undoubted outcome of ignorance, and, 
we fear, we must add some prejudice. Evidence of this 
might be enumerated from many sources, one remarkable 
example must suffice. A correspondent of the Agricultural 
Gazette recently gave utterance to his views by the following 
remarkable statement:—“ I must have a word about seeding 
of land down to grass. Our prodigality knowing ones will 
have it that the laying of land down to grass needs a costly 
process of cleaning and seeding with cracked-up seeds. I 
have examined a lot of land that has been seeded down thus 
costly, but in no one instance do I find their grand costly 
seeds to stand. They die out, and the natural Grasses come 
in. My own 100 acres of clay land that run down takes the 
shine out of the costly practice of seeding down, for it is now 
overrun with natural Clover and other fine Grasses. I did 
not have any of their pickpocket stuff, but I dress my land 
frequently with corn-made manure. That is the way to 
fetch the land about.” This proof of the pudding so positively 
set forth, probably led to its publication. No doubt the term 
“run down” is singularly appropriate, but can farmers 
afford to let land for which they pay rent run down ? Can 
they afford to adopt such haphazard practice as to trust to a 
chance growth of natural Grasses ? The writer of the state¬ 
ment is a Bucks farmer, and if he were to go into the adjoin¬ 
ing county of Bedfordshire he would see plenty of land so 
neglected, which is now clothed with a natural growth of 
couch Grass. 
That much young permanent pasture is ruined through 
mismanagement is true enough we grant, but it is obvious 
that no just condemnation can be passed upon tfie work for 
such a reason. Repeatedly have we reminded our readers 
of the high importance of careful management of young seeds 
for the first two or three years, and no statement of cultural 
details is either complete or safe without such caution. Let 
us once more notice the indispensable points of the work. 
We require soil clean, fertile, and with deep fine tilth ; pure 
seed of the best sorts of Grass and Clover at the rate of 
about 40 lbs. an acre. If sown now without a corn crop, the 
first growth will be ready for the lambs at weaning time, so 
that they only without the ewes may be folded upon the 
seeds. The folds are made small enough to ensure a suffi¬ 
ciently close consumption of the whole of the growth in 
twenty-four hours, a new fold being made every morning. 
Nourishing dry trough food is given in the folds, and thus 
all risk of any of the young growth running to seed is avoided, 
clean work is made of it, and a store of fertility is left behind 
which ensures a second growth of even greater vigour. The 
lambs are again folded upon it in a precisely similar manner 
in due course, but they are withdrawn altogether early in 
autumn. In the second year come folds for the entire breed¬ 
ing flock, ewes and lambs going from the Rye Grass on to 
the seeds soon enough to avoid risk of seeding, and the 
process is repeated twice or thrice till autumn, but the pasture 
is again held in reserve through the second winter, to be used 
either for hay or grazing in the third year. All this involves 
some extra labour, but it is labour well bestowed, a means to 
an end which results fully justify. How far it may answer 
the general purpose to adopt it we hope to consider in another 
issue. 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
Quick germination and so free a growth has following the sowing of 
spring come that most of the fields are already green with it, and the hoe¬ 
ing of winter corn is in full swing. Never did we have a more favour¬ 
able season for sowing artificial manure upon winter corn, for frequent 
showers dissolved and washed it into the soil, so by that we may reason¬ 
ably hope to see good effects from it early this year. We are trying our 
best to get more out of the land by putting more into it. We hear much 
talk about an average Wheat crop of four quarters an acre, but knowing 
as we do that all good land will yield nearly double that quantity under 
good cultivation, we cannot rest satisfied without doing all we can to 
obtain such desirable results. Perseverance in this must eventually be 
crowned with success ; but we dare not hope for such a crop of corn this 
season, our farms are too large and too poor for it. We have the expensive 
and arduous task of restoring fertility to farms thrown upon the landlords’ 
hands by tenants who having “ farmed the land out,” resigned their 
holdings upon the plea of failure through hard times. We may mention 
for the guidance of other agents in a similar position that upon appeal 
against income-tax upon such farms, we have obtained full remission 
under both schedules A and B upon proving no profits, fair attempts to 
let the farms, and that they were thrown upon the landlords’ hands by 
tenants. In the preparation of our statements we are painfully impressed 
with the sad fact of the difference in value of all farm stock in a single 
year, even horses being no exception. They have fallen off so much in 
value that our rather large stock of home-bred colts are valuable for re¬ 
placing old horses rather than for sale. We must of course continue 
breeding horses, but it will be only from aged mares. 
We regret seeing sheep folded upon Rye before it is ready this year ; 
scarcity of food is the cause ; but Rye only 3 or 4 inches in height 
cannot keep the flock going long. We are fortunate in having a large 
park for the home flock, and the grass grows so fast now that we shall be 
able to give the Rye another fortnight before beginning folding upon it, 
Folding upon Turnip land is finished, and the land is ploughed and sown 
with spring Tares. Winter Tares are unusually backward, and we shall be 
fortunate indeed if they are ready for the sheep after the Rye Grass is 
done. We shall have to send the flock to an off-farm for this, and a 
clamp of Mangolds is being held in reserve there to be eaten on the Rye 
Grass. We regret to see so many farms with few, some with no sheep, at 
the present time. No doubt many a flock was sold for what it would 
bring last autumn, but we must deplore such rash measures, which 
practically mean living upon capital. 
OUR LETTER BOX. 
Small Handbooks for Farmers ( II. B .).-—Possibly “ The Principles of 
Agriculture,” by Y. C. Buckmaster and J. J. Willis, published by Simpkin, 
Marshall & Co. at Is. 6d., will suit you. More complete information will be 
found in the Handbook of the Farm Series, published by Bradbury, Agnew 
and Co. at 2s. 6d. each. Six of the series have been published. Probably 
the following four will suffice for your requirements : “ The Equipment of 
the Farm,” “ The Crops of the Farm,” “ The Live Stock of the Farm,” and 
“ The Dairy of the Farm.” They are written by well-known authorities on 
the respective subjects. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATION. 0 . 
Camden Square, London. 
Lat. 81° 32'40” N.; Long. 0° 8' 0" W.; Altitude, 111 feet. 
DATE. 
9 A.M. 
IN THE DAY. 
a 
1886. 
March. 
Barome¬ 
ter at 328 
and Sea 
Level 
Hygrome¬ 
ter. 
Direction 
of Wind. 
Temp, of 
Soil at 
1 foot. 
Shade Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature. 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
Bun. 
1 
l p o 
| 
Inches. 
deg. 
deg. 
(leg. 
(leg. 
deg- 
deg. 
deg. 
In. 
Sunday . 
4 
29.936 
47.5 
45.9 
S.W. 
44.5 
52.9 
41.7 
67.6 
36.2 
— 
Monday . 
5 
29.936 
47.8 
45.4 
s.w. 
44.6 
59.2 
43.1 
99.4 
37.6 
0.010 
Tuesday. 
6 
29.686 
50.2 
45.8 
W. 
45.2 
56.3 
46.8 
104.2 
42.3 
— 
Wednesday .. 
7 
30.006 
44.6 
41.4 
W. 
44 9 
50.9 
35.4 
69.7 
30.2 
0.301 
Thursday .... 
8 
29.250 
49.8 
46.7 
s.w. 
45.5 
55.5 
43.0 
98.6 
42.6 
0.132 
Friday. 
9 
29.527 
42.0 
39.2 
s.w. 
44.3 
49 2 
37.4 
92.4 
33.3 
0.044 
Saturday .... 
10 
29.586 
45.7 
41.6 
s. 
43.2 
47.0 
33.7 
81.9 
27.4 
0.115 
29.704 
40.8 
43.7 
44.6, 
53.0 
40.2 
87.7 
35.7 
0.602 
REMARKS. 
4th.—Overcast, except a short time in morning; fresh breeze, 
flth.—Fair morning ; sunshine about noon. 
6th.—Fine pleasant day ; clear night; windy. 
7th.—Fine till 11 A M., then dull and showery ; wet afternoon and night, with gale. 
8th.—Fine early; heavy rain between Sand 10 A.M, and between 4 and 6 r.M.; clear 
night. 
0th.—A mild day, bright snn, heavy soft hail showers from 10.40 A.M. till after noon. 
10th.—Bright early, dull and showery alter. 
The third of a series of weeks getting gradually cooler, this one being of nearly the 
average temperature. Slight frost on two nights, and the ground white over with soft 
hail on the 9th.—G. J. SIMONS. 
