186 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ Februar 28, 1889. 
possible produce within twelve months, and Italian Rye Grass has 
■no equal for fulfilling the condition.” 
It may be sown with a corn crop, or alone, about the middle of 
March, at the rate of 3 to 4 bushels an acre If sown alone, and 
•dressed with a cwt. of nitrate of soda per acre as soon as the 
plant is well up and growing freely, it affords an excellent crop 
for folding ewes and lambs with Mangolds by the time they have 
finished the Rye folds. A stout second growth invariably follows 
■such folds, and it makes hay of which horses are very fond. The 
hay also makes excellent chaff for sheep. When intended for hay 
it should be mown before the stems become old and tough, as when 
•over-ripe the tissue becomes hard and innutritious. When sown 
with corn it comes into use very early in the following spring, and 
so useful have we found it, that we have long considered it as an 
indispensable link in the succession of green crops in early spring- 
On a dairy farm it keeps up a supply of green fodder after the 
Rye; it ensures flavour and colour in the butter, and enables us 
to wait till there is a full bite before turning out the cows on 
permanent pasture. In a late spring this waiting for the turning 
•out to pasture is a tedious business, often lasting as it does till the 
middle of May, but with the cow cribs kept well supplied with 
Rye Grass we can well afford to wait. 
If sown alone, the most suitable land is that which was ploughed 
■clean and thrown up in ridges by the double-breasted plough last 
autumn. Such land breaks down into a deep fine tilth early in 
spring, and forms an admirable seed bed for our purpose. We 
know full well that Rye Grass is often sown without the benefit of 
such tillage, but we hold that it is as worthy of it as any other 
crop. We certainly deprecate the slovenly practice of sowing it in 
foul or half-tilled land just as much as we do the use of impure 
seed. The seed of Italian Rye Grass is often adulterated with 
common Rye Grass, and a worthless variety of Brome Grass 
(Bromus mollis), both which are easily detected if it be remembered 
that the awn of the seed of Italian Rye Grass is at the top of the 
seed, and not below it or at the side. 
The crops of it grown on sewage farms are, of course, ex¬ 
ceptionally heavy, and altogether beyond what is possible on an 
■ordinary farm. But the fact remains that a much greater bulk per 
acre can be grown of it on all farms than can be had from any 
other grass, if only the soil is well stored with fertility at the 
outset, and the exhaustion of such fertility be made good by 
manurial dressing after each mowing. 
(To be continued.) 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
Spring Beans have been sown in good time by means of the plough 
drills. We gave the land a heavy dressing of pig muck for this crop, 
and by thus ploughing in the seed there is not only a saving of time 
and labour, but the land is left with a rough surface well open to the 
action of sun and wind. A glance at Winter Beans so ploughed in 
shows how admirably the weather acts upon the soil when so left by 
the ploughs. Beans are often sown on land becoming somewhat foul, 
and by having the rows far enough apart for the horse hoe, it can be 
brought into use as early as may be necessary, and the weeds destroyed 
before the Beans become too high for horse culture. We have seen the 
horse hoe at work when the Beans were in full bloom, and although 
the horse and implement could pass along between the rows there was 
so much damage to the plant at the ends that the use of the implement 
so late in the season was clearly a mistake. Peas have been sown on 
some light land farms, but the heavy land is much too wet for sowing 
as yet, and it is much better to wait a week or two than to attempt 
sowing in a mud bed. 
Barley stacks held in reserve for seed have been thrashed, and we 
have a fine sample of Chevalier Barley, and one or two other select 
sorts. Light or medium soil, porous and warm, is what we want for 
IBa-ley, which is a surface rooting plant. We try to get as deep and 
fine a tilth for it as we do for grass seed, and we like the land to be 
sound and fertile. The popular idea that Barley does not require rich 
lanl frequently leads to sowing in very poor land, with the certain 
result of a poor crop of meagre light corn. Avoid extremes in this as in 
all f irm practice, say we. Bring a little common sense to bear upon 
Barley culture, and do not rest satisfied with anything short of an 
average of 48 bushels of fine full heavy corn per acre. For all land at 
all low in fertility drill in some concentrated manure with the corn at 
the rate of 2i cwt. per acre in the following quantities—muriate of 
potash half cwt., nitrate of soda 11 cwt., steamed bone flour lj cwt, 
mineral superphosphate half cwt. for soils deficient in lime. For soils 
containing enough lime we would simply change the quantities of bone 
flour and superphospate, taking especial care to procure the manures 
s°parately from a reliable source, and have them mixed at the farm. 
Dyeing Clover Seed. —At the Southwark Police-court, on Thurs¬ 
day (February 21st), before Mr. Sheil, John Matthews, of New Church 
Street, Bermondsey, was- summoned under the Seeds Adulteration Acts 
for dyeing Clover seed. Mr. J. P. Grain (instructed by Mr. C. Butcher, 
solicitor for the Nursery and Seed Trade Association, Limited) pro¬ 
secuted, and Mr. Slater, solicitor, defended. Mr. Grain, in opening the 
case, said that the prosecution was taken up by some of the largest seed 
merchants in Mark Lane for the reason that for many years past very 
great frauds had been going on in reference to Clover seed. Clover seed 
was a very expensive article, and a seed which very rapidly deteriorated, 
and if it was mixed with old seed there was a very large diminution of 
the germinating power. Therefore, it was not only a question of 
defrauding the merchant, but also of defrauding the farmer. The pro¬ 
cess which had prevailed for a long time had been to buy up old worn 
out Clover seed, and submit it to a certain process of dyeing. The 
course adopted in this case was that Messrs. Hurst & Son, and others in 
connection with them, purchased three sacks of old Clover seed, and 
consigned it to a person named Titchmarsh at Plymouth, whence it was 
sent back to Paddington, and sampled in the presence of the officials 
of the Great Western Railway Company. The seed was then sent by 
the Great Western Railway Company’s vans to Matthews, the defendant, 
who received instructions from Titchmarsh to “ doctor ” it. By arrange¬ 
ment the seed when “doctored” was sent by Matthews back again to 
the Great Western Railway Company, where it was sampled on behalf 
of the prosecutors by Mr. Bernard Dyer, a public analyiat. The invoice 
of Matthews showing his charge for dyeing the seed, with an additional 
price for giving it a brighter colour. £1 6s. in all was put in with 
his receipt or that of his foreman. Evidence was then given, including 
that of Titchmarsh, who acted as informer, and that of Mr. Bernard 
Dyer, the analyst, who stated that the seed had been treated with 
sulphur fumes, the effect of which was to give it the appearance of new 
seed. The samples drawn before and after “doctoring” were pro¬ 
duced in court, and presented a striking contrast in appearance. The 
defence put forward was that the defendant was unaware of the trans¬ 
action, being ill, and was therefore not responsible for the acts of his 
foreman or servants. Mr. Sheil said that if such a defence were allowed 
to weigh, the Act, which was a most useful one, would be a dead letter. 
The case was fully proved, and he should inflict the full penalty of £5, 
and £10 10s. costs. 
The Queex as a Farmer. —We are informed that the series of 
articles on this subject in Bell's Weekly Messenger , are being written 
by the express permission of Her Majesty. It is not generally known 
that the Queen does not farm at Windsor as a landlord, but as a tenant, 
the two farms—the Shaw Farm and Horae Park and the Flemish Farm— 
which extend to 1120 acres, of which 300 are arable and 760 pasture, 
beiDg rented from the Commissioners of Woods and Forests. The 
history of the Shaw Farm is given for 200 years past, and it i3 pointed 
out that it is now entirely devoted to the breeding of stock and the pro¬ 
duction of meat and dairy produce. The farm extends over 720 acres 
of varied soils, and carries at present 203 head of cattle, a flock of 370 
half-bred ewes, 80 pure bred Berkshire or small white pigs, and five pairs 
of heavy horses. 
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. 
2-: 
Hygrome- 
d . 
o » 
Shade Tem- 
Radiation 
a 
February. 
ter. 
S3 d 
perature. 
Temperature 
« 
In 
« " 03 
Dry. 
Wet. 
5 o 
H 
Max. 
Min. 
8UU. 
grass 
Inches. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
In. 
Sunday . 
17 
30.223 
42.8 
40.3 
N. 
36.3 
58.1 
34 8 
86.3 
32.0 
0.010 
Monday. 
18 
30.453 
42 9 
42.2 
N.E. 
S6 3 
53 3 
40.3 
84 9 
33 9 
Tuesday .... 
19 
30.403 
46 9 
45 3 
S.W. 
39 6 
50.3 
42 8 
56.1 
39 2 
Wednesday.. 
20 
30.095 
41.2 
39 9 
N.W. 
40.0 
49.1 
38.4 
813 
32.4 
Thursday .... 
21 
30.143 
39 9 
36 9 
N.W. 
40.0 
42.1 
37.1 
68 2 
32.4 
Friday . 
22 
30.17 7 
35 9 
33 2 
N.W. 
3-8 
41.7 
31.7 
70.7 
27.8 
Saturday .... 
23 
30.181 
30.9‘ 
29.7 
N.W. 
37 9 
38.3 
28.7 
74.8 
23.9 
30.239 
40.1 
38.2 
38.4 
47.6 
36.3 
74.6 
31.7 
0.082 
REMARKS. 
17th.—A beautiful spring da.v. 
18th.—Fine throughout; bright in morning, but generally cloudy in afternoon. 
19th.—Overcast all day ; spots of rain in evening. 
20th.—Dull and damp early, bright front 10 A.M. to 1P.M.; showers in afternoon, du’l 
damp evening. 
21st.—Generally line and bright, but one or two slight showers of sleety rain. 
22nd.—Bright morning; overcast afternoon, with slight showers about 5PM.; brilliant 
night. 
23rd.—Bright morning, then cloudy; slight showers ill afternoon. 
A variable week; warm, with a good deal of sunshine in the first half. Temperature 
about 3 a above the average, and 7“ above that of the preceding week. -a. J. symoxs. 
