142 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ February 14, 14>*. 
attempt to obtain seed from the second growth proves a failure the 
best plan is either to turn the Clover into silage or to cut it up at | 
•once into chaff with a rather large proportion of Barley or Oat 
straw. This mixed chaff should have a moderate quantity of salt 
thrown among it, and be well trampled into a compact heap in a 
chaff house or barn head ; it then becomes excellent fodder, as 
savoury as good meadow hay, and so palatable that all stock are 
fond of it. 
Apart from the question of seed, the cultivation of Clover alone 
is clearly a mistake. Even in the poor silicious soil of mid-Sussex, 
upon the Hastings sand formation, we have seen mixed layers, with 
a bulk of two or three times that of a full crop of Bed Clover ; nor 
is the superiority alone one of quantity, for the mixed herbage) 
whether used green or as hay, is decidedly preferable. Only take 
care to have the right mixture and the best seed, and there need be 
no doubt of the result, provided the land is clean and in good heart 
— i.e., fertile. This is a point to which more attention should be 
given. If it is worth while hiring land at all, it is surely important 
to bring every part of it into thorough cultivation. Yet how fre¬ 
quently do we see neglected pastures and foul impoverished layers 1 
Well has Mr. Sutton told us that “ the alternate system will neither 
justify slovenly preparation nor foul seeding.” 
Barley sowing will soon be in hand, and seed for layers is sown 
with it or with other spring corn. Now is the time, therefore, to 
come to a decision as to how much land can be laid down advan¬ 
tageously for one, two, or three years or more ; then let advice be 
at once sought as to the best mixture, and due care taken to pro¬ 
cure the best seed. Relief from expenditure for labour will then be 
certain, and a profitable return from land so laid down will be 
equally certain if only due care is taken to keep the soil well stored 
with fertility by a timely and regular application of manure. 
(To be continued.) 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
Since writing our last note the weather has become much colder. 
Frequent snowstorms with high wind have put our provision of shelter 
for ewes and lambs to a severe test, which it has borne very well. 
Pleasant indeed is the sight of a well managed sheep yard in such 
weather—the snug enclosure excludes cold cutting wind sufficiently, 
the earlier lambs have with the dams a separate division ; others have 
separate cribs roofed in sufficiently to exclude snow and rain, an ample 
store of food is at hand, and the entire scene is an embodiment of the 
forethought, care, prudence, and energetic management which are the 
very essence of sound practical farming. As the lambs gain strength 
they are let out upon grass with the ewes for a few hours daily in 
favourable weather, but they are never exposed to cold wind during 
the first few weeks of their existence. It must not be forgotten that 
a sound nourishing dietary for the ewes is of equal importance to 
shelter for the lambs. A well fed ewe almost always has plenty of 
sustenance for the lamb, but occasionally a ewe may not have enough 
milk however well fed, and the shepherd has to feed the lamb with the 
best new milk he can procure. His whole time and attention must be 
devoted to the ewe flock now, and his eye must be frequently upon them, 
for if a pregnant ewe becomes “ cast ”— i.e., rolls over upon its back, 
it cannot get up without assistance, it struggles till it becomes ex¬ 
hausted, and soon ‘dies. We have several pieces of rock salt both in 
and near the lambing fold for the ewes to lick, of which they are 
very fond. 
Especial care is also given to pigs in cold weather. Very young 
pigs are kept in altogether, and if older pigs are let out into yards they 
have plenty of dry litter to go to at will. We recently went into one 
of our pig yards on a snowy day with high north wind. This yard has 
two lodges, one open to the north, the other to the south, and we 
actually found all the pigs shut in the lodge facing north by means of 
a couple of hurdles, with the snow driven in upon them, yet there 
was the other lodge snug and cosy enough, yet unoccupied. We 
had them removed at once, of course, but fear there is no remedy 
but the master’s eye for such carelessness and stupidity, which in this 
instance amounted to positive cruelty. 
REVIEW OF BOOK. 
The Booh of the Farm. By Henry Stephens, F.R.S.E. Fourth 
edition, in six divisions. Revised, and in great part rewritten by 
James Macdonald, of the “ Farming World.” Edinburgh and London : 
William Blackwood & Sons. Divisions I and II. 
Now that the importance of the possession by the farmer of a know¬ 
ledge of the science as well as the practice of the business of his calling 
has obtained general recognition, the revision and re-issue of “ The 
Book of the Farm,” is singularly appropriate. In his prospectus of this 
new edition Mr. Macdonald says, “ The British farmer can no longer be 
the easy independent waiter upon Providence that he used to be when 
Wheat was 60s. per quarter. His life must be a struggle for existence, 
and he must prepare himself with a scientific and technical knowledge 
of his work in all its details and departments, must acquaint himself 
with the latest ideas of the practical and scientific agriculturist, and 
test them by his own experience and possibilities, and must cast around 
him in search of information as to how he can make the most of the 
altered condition of things. It is by knowledge combined with experi¬ 
ence that the farmer of the future must make his way. The State has 
begun to appreciate this fact by establishing means of providing agri¬ 
cultural instruction. But the practical farmer requires more full and 
special sources of information, a work which he can with profit make 
the subject of general study, and which he can with confidence refer to 
at any moment when he is in want of advice.” 
Admirably indeed is this work calculated to afford such information, 
for the revision is as thorough as the scope of the work is comprehensive. 
Perhaps the most striking characteristic is elaborate detail in combina¬ 
tion with singular perspicuity, which is managed by grouping short 
pithy paragraphs under distinctive headings, so that the seeker for 
special information on any given subject may turn to it at once without 
first having to wade through whole pages of matter. This method is 
specially suitable in a work intended for the benefit of a class not given 
to close study or hard reading. The book is arranged upon a definite 
plan which deals with the entire agricultural year, and “ describes the 
operations as they actually occur, singly, and in succession on the 
farm.” The mixed husbandry system is given in full detail for the four 
seasons of the year, beginning with winter, to which the two divisions 
before us are devoted. In Division I there are preliminary chapters on 
the science of agriculture, followed by others under the heading of 
Practice, comprising weather and field operations in winter; Ploughs and 
P oughing, the Application of Steam Power to Agriculture, Storing Roots, 
Sheep and Cattle in Winter, all which are treated exhaustively and well 
il ustrated. We have the latest appliances for steam cultivation, 
elaborate analyses of roots, much space is devoted to the dietary for 
both sheep and cattle, and no point of shelter, food and general 
management is overlooked. 
In Division II. the work of winter is continued under the headings 
of Foods and Feeding, Ensilage, the Management of Store and Fattening 
Cattle, Horses, Swine, and Poultry. These subjects are followed by 
chapters on corn stacking, farmyard and liquid manure, and some hints 
on claying land. Foods and Feeding occupy fully two-thirds of the 
space in the volume, the comparative merits of each kind of food being 
treated of at length, tables of analyses being given, as well as elaborate 
tables of mixed food rations, with a description of various systems of 
feeding with results. 
The chapter on Ensilage gives its history, and enters fully into the 
relative merits of silos and stacks, and of the various forage plants used 
for silage, and contains useful extracts from the Report of the Ensilage 
Commission. We quite agree with the reviser that “ there is ample 
evidence available for all who wish to form an independent judgment of 
its merits. That it deserves from all who have not tried it so much ot 
their unbiassed attention will not be denied by any who have considered 
either its achievements or its possibilities.” 
On the whole the illustrations are good, those of animals being 
especially so, but we arc bound to observe that those of varieties of corn 
are relatively inferior, and not in harmony with a work of such high 
general excellence. This, however, is a trifling blemish, and we cordially 
congratulate the reviser upon the production of a work that bids fair 
to prove a real boon to agriculturists. 
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. 
Hygrome- 
a . 
o ti 
Shade Tem- 
Radiation 
a 
February. 
13“ S 
ter. 
V a 
perature. 
Temperature. 
E o — 
In 
On 
m2 3 
Dry. 
Wet. 
5o 
H 
Max. 
Min. 
sun. 
grass 
Inches. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
In 
Sunday . 
3 
29.243 
33.0 
31.5 
w. 
40.0 
42.9 
30.2 
72.4 
26.1 
0.216 
Monda’y. 
4 
29.85S 
34.9 
33.5 
N.E. 
891 
88.1 
32.9 
69.3 
27 7 
0.025 
Tuesday .... 
5 
30.288 
30 9 
30.4 
s.w. 
38.1 
41.0 
28 9 
54.3 
20.9 
0.026 
Wednesday.. 
G 
30.018 
39.8 
38.9 
N.W. 
37.5 
45.2 
30.8 
65.0 
3«».5 
0.318 
Thursday.... 
7 
29.595 
34.9 
35.0 
N.E. 
38.7 
41.0 
34.9 
729 
35 7 
Friday . 
8 
29.593 
89 1 
37.0 
S.W. 
38.0 
48 3 
29.3 
53.0 
25.1 
0.092 
Saturday .... 
9 
29.570 
32.4 
30.6 
N.W. 
37.6 
86.8 
31.5 
74.5 
27.1 
- 
29.738 
35.0 
33.8 | 
38.4 
41.9 
30.9 
64.5 
27.6 
0.687 
REMARKS. 
Crd.—Brilliant morning, wet afternoon and eveniDg. 
4th.— -liowt-rs of r.iin, siee and snow in morning, brilliant afternoon and evening. 
5th.—Fine dry, cold day, ►howers in evemiug. 
6th.— i »ull and showery early, fair day. 
7 tli.—Rain from o a m. to 8 A.ir.,then wet snow and rain till 9 A.M.; fair and gencr ’ 7 
bright after 11 A. M .except for s'ight shower at. noon. 
8'll.—Dull, with occasional showers during the day, bright evening and night. Gale 
all day and Dight. 
9th.—lirilliant morning, cloudy at times in afternoon, bright eren'ng and nich 1 :. 
Weather variable, hut colder. 
[P.S.—Snow began at i P.M. on Sunday, by 9 P.M. 3 inches had fallen, and by 9 AOI. on 
onday 6$ inches yielding w hen melted 0.63 inch.]—G. J. SYMONS, 
