170 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ August 22, 1839. 
POINTS OF GOOD HUSBANDRY. 
Close attention to trifling matters of detail is an important 
factor to successful farming. Take for example manure ; about 
nothing is there greater diversity of opinion, yet all will agree that 
'there is much carelessness and waste in the preparation and use of 
manure. Without great care huge heaps of farmyard manure 
•cannot be made without waste, and such waste is best avoided by 
■carting green manure straight from the yards upon the land and 
■ploughing in at once. There is then no building or turning of 
manure heaps, no second carting, no loss of ammonia. The manure 
should of course be made under cover, which can easily be done, 
for a roof can be put to any yard for about 2s. Gd. per square yard 
—not of roof, but of the yard. Upon this basis a calculation of 
■cost can easily be made, and it should be understood that durable 
roofs of comparatively slight material may be constructed provided 
stout supports are used with principal rafters, beams, and king 
posts 7 by 3 inches. We have recently had to reconstruct several 
roofs simply because substantial main timbers were not used in the 
first instance. On the home farm the Mangolds had green manure 
carted direct from the yard into the furrows, where it was spread, 
■and at once covered by splitting the ridges with a double-breasted 
plough ; the roots are already very fine, and the entire croD 
compares favourably with any upon our off-hand farms. 
Adjoining the Mangolds is a field of Swedes, which well illus¬ 
trated another good point of husbandry. This field gave a good 
crop of Barley last year, which was followed by a catch crop of 
Bye sown in September. The Rye was consumed in folds by ewes 
and lambs, the ploughs followed closely, and the Swedes were sown 
early very soon after the Mangolds. We thus gained the double 
advantage of an early green crop for sheep, and a sufficient 
■dressing of manure for Swedes, which are a full vigorous crop 
highly satisfactory. It will be understood that the Swedes were 
sown upon the flat immediately after the ploughing, in order that 
the moist soil might induce quick germination of the seed and 
a brisk growth, so that the young plants might soon be out of 
danger of injury from fly. The season has on the whole been 
so favourable for roots that full successional crops are now a 
certainty. 
Lime dressing may be said to be a form of manuring, as lime is 
really a plant food. It is usually only recommended for clay and 
•alluvial soil because it is so valuable an agent for opening up clay, 
and its action on vegetable matter is so vigorous and effective. 
We have also used it to great advantage upon sandy soils, as well 
as the thin silicious soil of the Hastings sand formation, and there 
is no doubt it is applied with advantage to all sod deficient in 
lime. About 3 tons an acre is a fair dressing, and it should be 
applied in summer to long fallows or bastard fallows. This is 
done at intervals of from five to ten years precisely according to 
the nature of the soil. It sinks in the soil more or less slowly, and 
a little observation will enable one to decide how often it should 
be used. To show what stress practical men put upon the im¬ 
portance, of lime dressing, we may mention the remark of the 
■“Royal” judges of a prize farm in Nottingham in 1888, that 
without regular periodical lime dressings it would probably be 
worthless—with them, under good management it was awarded a 
first prize. Of the action of lime in soil we may say that it 
sweetens it by neutralising organic acids ; it tends to destroy 
excess of humus, and by its action on vegetable matter sets free 
ammonia, water, and nitric acid, which it takes up ; it sets free 
potash and other alkalies, and renders harmless injurious salts. 
These few scientific deductions are given because the popular idea 
of the effect of lime is very vague and indefinite. 
It may also be said that there is a considerable degree of 
uncertainty about the use of all fertilisers, and it is matter for 
regret that farmers do not ascertain for themselves all about the 
wants of the soil and how to supply them in the best way. Every 
farm has its special requirements, and no experiments tried else¬ 
where can be of more than general use. If a man confines him¬ 
self to the use of natural manure he need trouble himself very 
little about experiments ; but upon a large farm chemical manure 
must play it3 part, and without the application of some test to 
the soil it is impo*sibIe to know what to use. The special mixtures 
of manure dealers may or may not answer ; in any case they point 
to a probable loss which ought to be avoided. To avoid such loss 
Norfolk farmers have formed an association for the purchase and 
preparation of such manures under the management and guidance 
of an able chemist, which gives them an immense advantage, for 
they thus obtain genuine manure blended in correct proportions 
for their special requirements at a very low cost. 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
The hindrance to harvest work by wet weather has been most serious. 
Heavy rain set in soon after the reapers were in full swing upon the 
Wheat, and then for three or four days the Wheat had to be left alone. 
We were able to get on between showers with winter Beans and seed 
Tares, but the outlook was certainly gloomy enough. On light land 
forward Barley must have suffered. Corn generally on such land was 
ready for carting, and we travelled for many mi es through fields with 
the corn all in shocks under a heavy rain. Such inclement weather 
brings out good or bad work among the shocks, and we regret to say we 
saw many with all the sheaves thrown down and saturated with rain. 
Pleasant indeed is it to see how thoroughly in earnest the workmen are 
in the harvest field ; and while it is most desirable that they should push 
on the work as fast as possible, yet the little extra care required to set 
up the sheaves securely must be given, and need not prove a hindrance 
if only the right way of doing it is acquired. Set the sheaves firmly on 
end, and press the tops of every pair firmly together, make the rows 
north and south, and be quite sure to leave the ends open. This last 
hint is necessary. On the day of writing this note we saw a number of 
shocks with a sheaf in each end, so that it was impossible for the wind 
to blow through or the air to circulate among the sheaves as it ought 
to do. 
With such unfavourab’e weather not an hour of sunshine must be 
lost when it does come. Wheat ripens quickly, even between clouds 
and sunshine, and if left out too long much of it will be shaken out. 
The most troublesome thing in a wet season is the rampant growth of 
weeds and layers of Clover or mixed seeds among corn, and the best 
plan is to leave rather a long stubble, as there is much risk of damage 
from overheating, especially among Barley and Oats. In the Fen 
district the work is very heavy, for the crops are abundant, and the corn 
is much heated down. We hear much of the pluck and energy of the 
British farmer, and he certainly has need of them when to low prices 
for his farm produce are joined the trials of unseasonable weather. 
Such difficulties doubtless develope character, and while they are met 
with a firm resolve to do all that can be done to overcome them a large 
measure of success will crown our efforts. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
CAMDEN SQUARE, LONDON. 
Lat. 51° 82' 40" N.; Long. 0°8- 0" W.; Altitude, 111 taet. 
DATE. 
9 A.M. 
IN THE DAY. 
l c 89. 
§2"£ 
Hygrome¬ 
ter. 
0 . 
o-d 
^ 0 
3 g 
sl s 
H 
Shade Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature. 
d 
"3 
August. 
Bar 
ter i 
and 
L< 
Dry. 
Wet. 
So 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
sun. 
On 
grass 
S inday . 
11 
Inches. 
Mi .5:5 
deg 
59.5 
deg. 
518 
N.W. 
deg. 
60 3 
deg. 
67 0 
deg. 
51.5 
deg. 
113.0 
deg. 
47 5 
i>, 
0.064 
Monday. 
1 i 
29.713 
56 9 
51.7 
w. 
.599 
62.7 
50.2 
97 7 
46 9 
O.olJ 
Tuesday .... 
i3 
30.010 
GO 1 
55.0 
w. 
50.1 
619 
.52 8 
1' 8.6 
47.8 
Wednesday. 
14 
20.998 
60.7 
54.7 
S.E. 
50.0 
67.4 
53.0 
102 9 
51.1 
0.198 
Thursday.... 
1.5 
29.844 
63.9 
58 4 
N.NV. 
C9 2 
7 a 9 
56 7 
118 L 
72 4 
Friday . 
J« 
30.031 
64.5 
(0.0 
s.w. 
60.0 
7«> 
55 7 
128.2 
52.6 
Saturday .... 
17 
19 790 
61.0 
6 -.1 
{4 # 
61.5 
73 4 
59.8 
118.8 
57 0 
0.038 
29 844 
60.9 
56 8 
59.9 
69.2 
54.2 
111.8 
50.8 
0.314 
REMARKS. 
11th.—Fine eirly, dull at midday; showers and distant thunder in afternoon and 
evening. 
12th.—Cloudy with flight showers in morning; fine afternoon and evening, with one or 
two gleams of sun. 
13th.— A little sun ea-ly; cloudy dt;y. 
14th.—Fair morning, wet afternoon and evening. 
15th—l> r ight and fine. 
16th.—Warm and generally bright. 
17th—Showery till 9 AM., generally cloudy in morning; heavy shower at 1.15 P.M. • flae 
and bright afternoon and evening. * 
A dull showery week with temperature near the average.—G. J. SYMOJNS. 
