98 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
I January 81,1888. 
SOILS AND MANURES. 
Certainly men of science give farmers very little credit for 
the possession of a knowledge of the most simple natural laws or 
phenomena that affect their calling. Professor Jamieson once 
made a special journey from Aberdeen to address a meeting of 
Sussex farmers, and he confined his lecture to the mere alphabet of 
agriculture. Air, water, drainage, mechanical division of the soil, 
tillage, and manure, were the subjects which it was considered 
necessary for him to travel upwards of five hundred miles to 
explain to a body of men whose very subsistence would seem to 
depend upon something more than a mere superficial acquaintance 
with them. Well, the farmers listened attentively enough, but 
they made no sign ; there was no subsequent discussion in response 
to the lecturer’s appeal, and he was provoked to exclaim that 
farmers were not a demonstrative class. On January 21st, 
Mr. J. E. Taylor, curator of the] Ipswich Museum, gave a lecture 
before the Framlingham Farmers’ Club on soils, and he, too, 
dwelt very much upon fundamental laws affecting crops and the 
farmer’s work generally. He wisely condemned long fallows, and 
pointed out the absurdity of supposing the land required rest. 
“ Nature never rests,” said he, “ all the soil wants is a restitution 
of that which is taken out of it.” This comparison of the soil to 
a cupboard in which the plant food is contained was also good, as is 
anything which tends to upset the erroneous idea that soil requires 
rest. Repeatedly have we explained that soil is only a medium for 
conveying food to plants—a storehouse of fertility, which must be 
kept filled if we would have full crops, and we hail every effort in 
the same direction. 
While doing all we can for the improvement and advancement 
of agriculture, we desire to offer a word of caution to all earnest 
workers in the same good cause about a very common striving for 
precision. Exact knowledge is, no doubt, a very good thing indeed, 
but there are certain things in which we cannot be quite exact. 
For example, we have frequently given formulse for the use of 
chemical manures, but we do not pretend to give the precise 
quantity required for every crop. Something must always be left 
to the individual intelligence and judgment. Each farmer should 
make a study of his own farm, and so apportion his manures as to 
insure a full cupboard in the way indicated by Mr. Taylor. A 
liberal use of mineral manures is always safe, but it is well to be 
upon one’s guard against waste in the application of nitrogenous 
manures. It is not mere rampant growth that we require; we 
certainly do want as full and bountiful a crop from the soil as is 
possible, but beyond that we must take care there is no wasteful 
residue of nitrates which may be lost before another crop can turn 
it to account. 
In the application of chemical manure we have especially to 
guard against waste, and so to apply it as to insure so far as we can 
do that it is available for the crop for which it is intended. Broad ¬ 
cast surface dressings are always more or less uncertain in action, 
but for pasture we have no choice, and we must therefore take 
-especial care to use the manure early enough for it to be dissolved 
and washed in by rain. It is for this reason that it is applied by 
the end of February, and we have invariably found this early dress¬ 
ing answer well. To wait till April involves great risk of failure ; 
moreover, if pasture is reserved for hay we object to grazing late in 
March, especially with sheep. Old neglected pasture requires more 
nitrogenous manure the first year than it does subsequently, and 
ihis holds good, too, on arable land. Once get land into a sound 
fertile condition, and the annual outlay upon manures to keep it so 
becomes trifling in comparison to that of the first year or two. 
Apply the manure for all spring corn by drilling it in with the 
seed. There need be no alarm about injury to the young growth, 
for the manure always becomes sufficiently mixed with the soil to 
prevent that. Use no dealer’s special mixtures ; they are not to be 
trusted, but use rather manures procured separately from a reliable 
source and mixed at the farm. Bear in mind that all farm crops 
require phosphorus, potash, and nitrogen in well balanced propor¬ 
tions, and that the best form in which these chemical constituents 
can be had are nitrate of soda, muriate of potash, steamed bone 
flour, and mineral superphosphate. 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
On most tenant farms known to us the work is now nicely in hand, 
and the land is all ploughed in readiness for spring work. We are still 
pushing on ploughing arrears as fast as we can, and if the weather only 
continues open we shall be ready for spring work when the time comes 
round again. The late harvest of last year was a severe trial in many 
ways ; corn-threshing was kept back till the time when the plough 
ought to have been constantly at work, and the threshing of corn before 
Christmas proved a serious hindrance to work on the land. The absence 
of snow has undoubtedly proved a boon, but we have been unable to 
turn horses and men to full account simply because our farms in hand 
are so far apart. We know a certain land agent with several farms upon 
his hands who has the advantage of having them all near to him, and we 
saw, not without envy, a few days ago nine ploughs at work in one of the 
fields. Depend upon it there is nothing like concentration whenever it 
is practicable. 
Some of the Wheat is still unfit for threshing, and must be left in 
the stack for another month or two ; we hope by then there may be an 
advance in prices, but there are no indications of it at present. Those 
who were so fortunate as to save the Wheat in good condition have been 
able to dispose of it without difficulty at from 36s. to 37s. per quarter, 
while damp Wheat pressed prematurely upon the market has had to be 
sold at much lower rates. Each straw stack as the corn is threshed is 
thatched sufficiently well to exclude rain. We object strongly to the care¬ 
less practice of leaving such stacks open to the rain even if the straw is 
only required for litter. A stack or two of corn required for spring sowing 
will be threshed with flails in order to avoid the mixtures which so 
frequently follow the use of threshing machines, it being very difficult 
to get all corn cleaned out before a machine is used. We have been at 
considerable expense and trouble to procure and grow stocks of the best 
sorts of corn, and it is quite worth while doing all we can to keep it 
pure. 
Brooke's Soap. —This is certainly the age of soap. Its names and 
varieties seem to be endless, but hitherto the uses to which they were all 
applied are the same, whether to cleanse the person or the clothing. 
We have now before us a soap of a distinct character, which is neither 
applicable to person nor to clothing, but has the special qualification of 
thoroughly cleansing all metals with the exception of gold and silver 
articles. It is one of the most valuable substances wherewith to polish 
all brass, copper, tin, iron, steel, and crystal utensils. We have used it, 
and therefore speak with practical experience, and we can, without 
reserve, do so in the most laudatory terms. It is marvellous the effect 
it has on marble and wood, and hence chimneypieces, washstands, 
floors, and furniture are cleansed from the accumulations of dirt and 
stains in a way that is all but magical. Brooke’s Soap ought to be 
found in every household. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
CAMDEN SQUARE, LONDON. 
Lat. 51° 32' 40" N. ; Long. 0° 8' 0" W.; Altitude, 111 feet. 
DATE. 
9 A.M. 
IN THE DAY. 
ii 
1889. 
January. 
Barome¬ 
ter at 32° 
and Sea 
Level. 
Hygrome¬ 
ter. 
t Direction 
of Wind. 
Temp, of 
soil at 
1 foot. 
Shade Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature 
Dry. Wet. 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
snn. 
On 
grass 
Sunday.20 
Monday.21 
Tuesday .... 22 
Wednesday.. 23 
Thursday.... 24 
Friday . 25 
Saturday .... 26 
Inches. 
30.228 
30.324 
30.437 
30.511 
30.494 
30.481 
30.410 
deg. 
39.1 
32.6 
3G.8 
33.9 
37-2 
41.3 
43.7 
deg. 
39.0 
32 0 
85.3 
33.6 
39.9 
40.1 
41.6 
W. 
N.E. 
N.E. 
N. 
N.E. 
N.W. 
S.W. 
deg. 
38.8 
57.9 
37 8 
37.4 
37.0 
38 0 
38.9 
deg. 
42.8 
42.1 
40.9 
41.2 
43 8 
44.0 
51.1 
deg. 
33 9 
28.4 
32.3 
29.1 
32.7 
37 9 
40.1 
deg. 
46.8 
45.1 
63 9 
60.9 
45.4 
49.1 
76.4 
deg. 
26.3 
24.6 
30.3 
21.3 
26.G 
38 8 
32.5 
In. 
0.096 
0.013 
30.412 
37.8 
36.9 
38.0 
43.7 
33.5 
55.4 
28 6 
0.109 
REMARKS. 
2Cth_Dull and damp till 10 A.M., wet till 1.30 P.M., then cleared, and bright evening and 
n'ght. 
21 st.—White fog till noon, then showery. 
22 nd.—Fine and pleasant, and generally bright. 
23 rd.—Overcast till nearly noon, bright afternoon. 
24th.—Cloudy throughout. 
25th.—Fair, but sunless. 
26 tli.—Fine, bright, and mild. 
A flue week, with very little fog, and a fair amount of sunshine. Temperature very 
near the average.—G. J. SYMONS. 
