214 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ Sep‘ember /, 1889. 
;and if we are to make a special effort for reform, first of all let us 
•do our utmost this autumn to clean the land, and turn up roughly 
-for winter all that is not required for winter corn. Then let 
•enough be sown down next spring for four or six years with mixed 
•seeds to enable us to dispense with at least half the horses, and to 
reduce the labour account by one-half. On a 300-acre farm such 
•a step means an annual saving of at least £300, which may well 
:go for cows, sheep, pigs, or poultry, all most profitable farm stock 
'under good management, all bringing quick returns upon outlay. 
Such a new departure will require most careful forethought. 
The starting a new dairy or enlargement of an old one cannot be 
done lightly, and every detail must be thought out beforehand. 
The selection of cows is by no means an easy matter. A first-class 
•cow will give daily sixteen quarts of milk of such high quality as 
will afford enough cream for 2 lbs. of butter ; an inferior animal 
may barely yield 1 lb. of butter from twelve quarts of milk, so that 
■the higher-priced animal may prove the cheaper by far. The cow¬ 
house, too, has much more thought bestowed upon it than it once 
had. Ventilation and cleanliness now have as much attention in 
’the cowhouse as in the dairy. All this means expense at the 
■outset, which may lead to dairy extension being held over for a 
while, and preference being given to sheep for the first season or 
two. This is a mere matter of detail ; the chief point is to effect 
a radical change, which shall reduce labour and render profits 
possible. No doubt the idea of giving a semi-permanent character 
to layers will alarm many a man who has been long accustomed to 
leave his pasture to chance, and to plough-in his layers every year 
for Wheat. He will talk of foulness and poverty as an inevitable 
•consequence of layers four or six years in duration, and yet he will 
fold sheep upon his second growth of Clover to enrich the land 
for a Wheat crop. By a very little stretch of thought he should be 
able to grasp the possible advantage of folding upon older layers, 
and eventually breaking up the soil richer in fertility than when it 
•was first laid down. 
Once extend this system of one-half or two-thirds of the land 
in pasture or forage crops to all our great corn farms, and corn 
growing will assume a new phase, for it will then in a very consider¬ 
able measure become subservient to the requirements of our live 
stock, and the general aim will be to feed with home-grown corn, 
and to avoid heavy cake bills. However tempting the price of 
imported Oats and Maize may be, it will be worthy of consideration 
if the superior quality of home-grown corn does not render it most 
profitable for use. Oats much under a weight of 42 lb 3 . a bushel 
are not sufficiently nutritious to be worth buying, and the majority 
of imported samples are notoriously light. A moderate quantity of 
home-grown Wheat thoroughly well grown would probably obtain 
a higher price and better demand than we now have. If, too, 
ensilage assumes the importance in farm economy which we think 
it must do eventually, and root cultivation falls into abeyance, 
ihere will be a still further reduction in labour and a greater 
degree of certainty in results, for silage is certainly an operation in 
farming about which there is no uncertainty, and the saving it 
enables us to effect as compared with haymaking is indeed 
•considerable. 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
Glad indeed are we to say that Wheat harvest is ended on all our 
farms, and Barley stacks are going up quickly at last, a change to more 
settled and brighter weather having come. This was much wanted, as 
bo much of the Barley has a rampant growth of Clover among itj so 
that it has been impossible to cart the Barley as quickly after the mow¬ 
ing as could be desired. This would tend to show that the sowing of 
layers with Barley should be avoided so far as is possible, but where 
there is a persistent clinging to a four-course shift sowing layers with 
M heat is never thought of. The Wheat has gone to the stacks in such 
good condition that there will be no hesitation to thresh out a stack or 
two early, both for seed and market. We are so much pleased with the 
■appearance of our Salvator Wheat that we have ordered it to be 
threshed for seed, when this is done we shall be able to report upon 
the yield. The grain is so large that the weight will, we think, prove 
quite half as heavy again as ordinary Wheat. One especial merit is 
that the crop is unlikely ever to become beaten down or lodged. We 
grew it side by side with a fine crop of Defiance Wheat, which was quite 
beaten down by rain and wind while the Salvator remained erect. It is 
a white Wheat, and if the quality proves satisfactory it is likely to 
assume a leading place. Our crop was on rather poor land, and will 
not approach the promised 88 bushels per acre, but then it will assuredly 
be considerably above the ordinary average. 
We have sheep folds upon most of our layers now. Some second 
growths of red Clover which we intended for seed are being so con¬ 
sumed, as so much of it is barren owing to the dull wet weather. The 
sheep generally are in a sound condition, but we have had a few losses 
recently from diseased lungs. Of two sheep so much fallen away in 
condition that we had them killed, one had a large ulcer in the lungs, 
and the other had much inflammation and one lung grown to the side. 
The flock having the taint of foot rot has not a bad case in it now. 
This is owing to c'ose attention to the feet, and the use of Gell’s oint¬ 
ment. We saw recerftly the small flock of a tenant farmer in disgrace¬ 
ful plight from foot rot ; dozens of the sheep limped badly, and some 
went on three legs. The shepherd appeared to regard it very much as a 
matter of course. Had he been under our control he would have had the 
option of either keeping them in better condition or being sent about 
his business. 
OUR LETTER BOX. 
Manure for Permanent Pasture (A. D .).—The effect of surface 
dressings of chemical manure at this season of the year is so uncertain 
that it is decidedly best to wait till next February before using the 
manure. The plant present in your new pasture in large quantities is 
the Milfoil or Yarrow (Achillea Millefolium), and its presence indicates 
that your seedsman added the usual quantity—about 1 lb. per acre—of 
its seed to the mixture. It is a valuable plant for pastures, is eaten 
greedily by sheep and cattle, grows with equal vigour in all soils, with¬ 
stands the effects of drought quite as well as Lucerne, and is to be 
regarded as an indispensable addition to our best selections of Grasses 
and Clovers for permanent pasture. 
Covered Yards (II. It. IF.).—To erect a roof at the price we 
mentioned you must procure all materials at wholesale rates, be your 
own architect, and have the work done by a handy man assisted by farm 
labourers. The sort of handy man we mean should be found on every 
farm, and he should be able to do all ordinary repairs to implements, 
carriages, gates, and buildings, to do all the stack thatching, and any 
other work requiring a little more intelligence and handiness than that 
of the ordinary labourer. A shilling or two a week above the ordinary 
rate of pay, and something extra for special jobs, keeps the man con¬ 
tented and enables the master to save many a pound. Having saw mills 
and a timber yard near you may prove no advantage. Our home farm 
is within a mile of a town where there are plenty of builders, timber 
yards, and saw mills, yet we effect a considerable saving by having our 
building materials from a large wholesale firm of importers at a seaport 
some sixty miles distant. This even applies to roofing tiles, which are 
both cheaper and of better materials an 1 finish than those to be had 
from local makers. If local tradesmen allow business to be thus taken 
away from them they only are to blame; everyone has a right to buy in 
the cheapest market. The sort of roof we indicate is of course a rough 
and ready affair, strength and utility be'ng the leading principle. A span 
roof for a small yard, a ridge and furrow for a large one, stout unsawn 
posts, principal rafters, beams and king posts large enough to ensure 
stability, stout angle irons to beams and posts, screw bolts to beams and 
king posts. Order the timber either in correct lengths or double lengths, 
all of it rough sawn, none of it to be planed. If the purchase of 
materials in this manner is new to you, a statement of your require¬ 
ments to a wholesale firm may prove advantageous, as they may have 
stock materials a little different in dimensions to your sizes which would 
answer the purpose equally well and cost much less. We hope these 
general hints will be useful to you. Plans and specifications are obviously 
a little outside our province. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
CAMDEN SQUARE, LONDON. 
Lat. 51° 82' 40" N.; Long. 0° 8'0" W.; Altitude, 111 feet. 
date. 
9 A.M. 
in the day. 
&?> S-: 
Hygrome- 
d . 
o tJ .1 
Shade Tem- 
Radiation 
a 
Ps fc 
ter. 
Z2 a 
f=§ 
perature. 
Temperature. 
a 
PS 
August. 
S is c-l 
a ©•*- 
Iu 
On 
Dry. 
Wet. 
5o 
H 
Max. 
Min. 
suu. 
grass 
Inches. 
dei?. 
dei?. 
den. 
deg. 
dev. 
dev. 
dev- 
It . 
S inday. 
25 
29.899 
57.fi 
51.fi 
w. 
57.5 
G5.4 
44.2 
109 2 
40.2 
Monday. 
24 
30 044 
56.9 
51.9 
w. 
57 2 
04 0 
47.4 
101.1 
42 8 
_ 
Tuesday .... 
27 
3<>.2Gfi 
57 8 
52 9 
s. 
56 9 
G7.6 
45.2 
112.4 
40.9 
_ 
Wednesday.. 
30 233 
594 
55.0 
s.w. 
57.4 
70.3 
5°.2 
115.4 
45 3 
_ 
Thursday.... 
29 
30.243 
59 2 
55.7 
w. 
58.4 
76 9 
50 8 
116.1 
45.4 
_ 
Friday . 
80 
30.104 
f,G..3 
60.0 
N.E. 
59.3 
82.G 
49 4 
115.4 
44.4 
_ 
Saturday .... 
31 
30.155 
G5.fi 
61.7 
X.E. 
60.2 
80.1 
53.2 
115.1 
48.2 
— 
30.142 
60.4 
55.5 
58.1 
72.4 
48 6 
112.1 
43.9 
- 
REMARKS. 
25th.—Bright and fresh. 
26ih.—Generally clouily in morning; fine afternoon, with some sunshine. 
27 li.—Fine and generally bright. 
28th.—Bright and pleasant. 
29th.—Bright and warm. 
3uth,—Bright early, smoke-fog from 9 A.M. to 10.30 ; then bright again, but rather 
oppressive. 
31st.—Bright an i fine morning; cloudy afternoon. 
Bright week with no rain,the temperature above the average,although the minimum 
has fallen nearly 3° below that of preceding week.—G. J. SYM JNS. 
