1B6 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
I February SO, 1890. 
•shelter is made for them, and they are not only left undisturbed for 
more than twelve months, but no attempt appears to have been made 
to’destroy them by poison ? Yet their presence among the Beans in 
•considerable numbers must have been palpable enough. If instead of 
rat preservation we take the more comprehensive and forcible term 
■of slovenly farming, we shall have given the precise cause of the evih 
and the remedy will be equally apparent. While walking over one 
of our off-hand farms last spring our attention was called to a 
beaten track made by rats across a field sown with spring corn to a 
■stream, where they evidently came regularly in considerable num¬ 
bers for water. The pasture on the other side of the stream 
rendered it more difficult to detect any track thence to the 
homestead, but we had lamentable evidence that the rats did cross 
the stream in our heavy losses from the broods of spring chickens* 
Now these rats came from some corn stacks on a neighbouring 
farm, so that our own pains in having rats kept under was thus 
rendered practically useless by the carelessness of a neighbour. 
Unfortunately he holds several thousand acres of land. He always 
keeps several old corn stacks unthrashed far into the new year, 
and we invariably see them so standing honeycombed by rats, with 
the earth burrowed around the foot of the stacks, and numerous 
holes made through the thatch. The case is undoubtedly a remark¬ 
able one, but actual observation for several years enables us to 
Touch for the accuracy of our statement, and to show how the 
careless suicidal habits of a single farmer may prove a curse to an 
•entire district, and not merely a single parish, for his land runs 
consecutively through three or four parishes. It is notorious that 
rats are migratory, and with such a nursery for them can it be 
wondered at if they spread far and wide in ever increasing 
numbers ? 
If only every farmer would destroy rats systematically there 
would be no difficulty about keeping them under, and there can be 
no better time than this month and the next for the judicious use 
of poison for this purpose, so as to destroy as many old rats as 
possible before the spring litters make their appearance. The best 
way of doing this is to mix one part of meal with half a part of 
finely powdered loaf sugar, and one-eighth part of arsenic. Place 
the sweetened meal without the arsenic in the holes for two or 
three nights, and then use the poisoned meal. By this plan a clean 
sweep is made for the time of every rat on the farm, and mice may 
be kept down by placing the poisoned meal in the lofts and other 
places, where it is well out of reach of farm animals. For a small 
homestead a few slices of bread and fat, such as dripping or lard, 
covered with a thin coat of phosphorus paste placed near their 
haunts and well out of the way of other animals is an inexpensive 
and sure destroyer of both these pests. A regular old-fashioned 
rat hunt may be very good fun, but it generally involves much 
opening of drains, destruction of woodwork, and general damage, 
that we altogether prefer the poison as a preventive. 
That prevention is better than cure certainly holds good in 
reference to vermin, for then we avoid the loss involved by their 
ravages. If the last sentence seems a mere platitude, why then, 
we ask, do farmers allow rats to become rampant ? Why do they 
compare notes as to the number of bqshels of Wheat per acre eaten 
by sparrows as the corn ripens, and yet suffer the “ cloud ” of 
sparrows which haucts every homestead in winter to remain 
unmolested ? If the recent statement of a North Essex farmer in 
Bells' WeeMy Messenger that sparrows destroy 8 bushels an acre of 
Wheat and Barley be true the loss is more serious than we supposed, 
for it amounts to a sum that^would more than cover rent, tithes, 
and taxes. 
WOEK ON THE HOME FARM. 
Management always tells, and never more so than in such a winter 
as the present one, when manure carting h^s been so much retarded by 
wet weather, and late ploughing of heavy land has spoilt it for Barley 
sowing. Repeatedly have we advised caution about ploughing such land 
when sodden with moisture, but then to those men who are always in 
arrears with their work advice of any sort is useless. With root land 
ridged in autumn we are now able to take full advantage of the drying 
of the surface by the east wind and bright weather, to cart manure 
direct from the yards into the furrows, to spread it at once, and then 
split the ridges back over it with the double-breasted plough. There it 
is so left ready for the Mangold sowing in April, when manure carting 
would prove a serious hindrance to work generally. This advantage is 
a result of timely autumn culture, of a settlement of the next year’s 
cropping at Michaelmas, and not waiting till spring before our plans 
for the year are matured. 
To those who are in difficulties about heavy land Barley sowing we say. 
Don’t sow Barley at all, but rather sow the best sample of Oats, either 
white or black. If the land is poor drill a full quantity of chemical 
manure with the corn, according to the formula we gave recently, and 
you will certainly have a profitable crop of corn, much more so than 
you would have by again trying to grow Barley on such land. Do not 
be bound by custom in a matter of such vital importance, but just con¬ 
sider the present price of English Oats, now lOs. to 263. per quarter, 
compared with foreign Oats ac 17s. to 22s. per quarter. Under high 
cultivation ten quarters per acre may be had of this crop. Can you 
do better with Barley ? Can you do so well ? And remember that Oats 
do not suffer from discolouration, that the straw is most nutritious for 
fodder, and that the crop is altogether less speculative in character than 
any other corn. Corn merchants turn to account the wretched light 
samples of foreign corn by offering “ fine old English Oats ” at special 
prices, just as a wine merchant puffs his fine old port. Winter corn 
generally is a full strong plant, but we hear of a few fields which have 
lost plants, and where this is the case we always drill Oats, such mixed 
corn always being turned to account for home consumption. 
ENSILAGE. 
Acting on hint3 in your “ Home Farm ” columns, I ensilaged 
7 acres of aftermath last autumn. The grass was stacked and bricks 
used for weight. The stack is now being cut, and has turned out in 
fine condition, so much so that it should stand a fair chance of a prize 
at any show. Could you please tell me whether there will be competi¬ 
tions at Smithfield or elsewhere during the next few weeks ? My cows 
have taken to it at once.—A. W. G. 
[If prizes are given for silage at the Horse Show, which opens at 
the Agricultural Hall, Islington, on March Ith, we fear you will find 
the list of entries is closed. Write to the Secretary, J. Herbert Taylor, 
5, Great George Street, Westminster, S.W. You might also be able to 
compete at the Shorthorn Show at Bingley Hall, Birmingham, on 
March 5th, of which J. B. Lythall is Secretary ; or at the Herefordshire 
Horse Show, at Hereford, on March 12th. The Secretary is W. T. 
Williams, 6, St. John Street, Hereford. But you would probably do 
better to hold some in reserve for the Spring Dairy Show, which will 
probably be held in London. Of this we are not certain, but a dairy 
show is clearly the best place for a silage competition. You are to be 
congratulated upon your enterprise and success in thus turning autumn 
herbage to account for a supply of prime winter food. The value of 
such an addition to our ordinary supplies of winter food for catt’e is 
perhaps not so apparent just now, while hay is so cheap and roots so 
abundant ; but it is nevertheless self-evident that such sound, whole¬ 
some, nutritious food, which can be had by most farmers at a nominal 
cost for collection and storage, and upon which no special outlay is re¬ 
quired for cultivation, must come into general use. Ensilage is of 
especial value for your district, for Wales, for Ireland, and for every 
locality with a high average rainfall. In outlying districts, both in 
Ireland and Scotland, haymaking of a most primitive description may 
still be met with, much hay being spoilt, and much labour wasted, all 
which might be avoided by the substitution of ensilage for haymaking, 
and the exhibition of samples of well-made silage, everywhere and upon 
every opportunity, is so desirable that your desire to assist in so good a 
cause is highly commendable.] 
MKTEOROLOGIOAL OBSERVATIONS, 
CAMDEN SQUARE, LONDON. 
L»t. 61° 8S'40"N.; Long. 0° 8'0" W.; Altitude, 111 feet. 
DATE. 
9 A.M. 
IN THE DAT. 
a 
•a 
Pi 
1690. 
February. 
Barome¬ 
ter at 82® 
1 and Sea 
1 Level. 
Hyffrome- 
ter. 
Direction 
ol Wind. 
Temp, o! 
soil at 
1 foot. 
Shade Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature. 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
sun. 
On 
grass 
Inches. 
de(t. 
deg. 
def?. 
deir. 
dee. 
dee. 
dee. 
In. 
Sunday. 
9 
30.243 
37 3 
34 8 
N.E. 
37.8 
40.1 
33.7 
70.1 
27.9 
— 
Monday 
10 
30.304 
3i.9 
312 
N E. 
37.2 
42 3 
30.2 
59 9 
24.0 
— 
Tuesday .... 
11 
30.306 
31.0 
30.6 
E. 
36.6 
419 
2’i.8 
69.6 
23.2 
— 
Wednesiay.. 
12 
30.014 
31.8 
3').4 
K. 
36.1 
39.0 
29.6 
60.S 
24.1 
— 
Thursday.... 
lA 
20.721 
82 8 
31.5 
E, 
35.9 
39.1 
281 
58 2 
21.8 
0 010 
Friday . 
14 
29 852 
36.9 
N. 
35.7 
41.2 
32 2 
55.9 
28.1 
0.660 
Saturday .... 
15 
29.52i 
34.L 
34.L 
N.E. 
36.1 
40.0 
32.7 
44.2 
32.1 
0 295 
29.995 
33.7 
32 8 
.30.5 
40.5 
30.8 
69.6 
25.9 
0.965 
EEMAEKS, 
9th.—Fine, with occasional sunrhine. 
loth.—Son gi^inin^through haze all day. 
llth —Bright and cold. 
12th.—Bright and cold. 
IStb.—Sun shining through haze in morning ; bright afternoon. 
14th.—Cloudy morning; dull, with occasional slight drizzle in afternoon. 
15th.—Wet snow early, (cohering the ground about an inch deep by 9 A.M..) turning to 
rain about 10 A.M. and lasting all day. 
Early part of week very bright aud fine, latter part snowy and wet.—G. J. SYMOXS. 
