188 
JOURiWAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ February 17, 1890. 
of salt appears to be recognised by all those who were directly 
interested in the trials. Its low price and its beneficial effects 
should lead to a much freer use of it. On one farm a field which 
had been laid down for two years under seeds had no manure and 
yet gave better results than any of the other fields which had 
manure. The result is curious, but it is unimportant, as it is 
positively certain that the soil contained an ample store of plant 
food, and the test was, therefore, an unfair one. 
If the superiority of the Barley in the unmanured field draws 
more particular attention to the nature and condition of the soil in 
fields selected for such experiments it will certainly do much good, 
for unless the drainage and porosity of such soil is equally sound 
the manure test cannot be a fair one. We but repeat an oft-told 
tale when we urge upon farmers the equal importance of drainage, 
mechanical division, and fertility. Without the two first the last is 
•comparatively useless, and we could undertake with certainty that 
the crop of a well drained mixed soil field though unmanured 
should be altogether superior to that of heavy undrained land 
however highly manured. Light and heavy land may occasionally 
be found upon the same farm, but the difference in the nature of 
the soil might pass unnoticed by a visitor who was not prompted to 
look for it. 
Primal fertility then is merely a comparative term, worthy of 
being classed with that of “ season-proof land,” which farmers in 
search of a farm have recently been advised to look for. Both 
terms are relative, and neither has a practical literal meaning ; yet 
there is no doubt that under present conditions some land is not 
worth having rent free, while other land is so sound, is so readily 
stored with fertility, and the crops are so little affected by an 
arlverse season that it is worth a comparatively high rent. 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
Never was the value of thorough provision for the lambing more 
evident than it has been recently with a bitterly cold east wind often 
blowing hard. Exposure to it is most trying and exhaustive for young 
lambs, and both ewes and lambs have been kept in snug quarters in the 
lambing yards with plenty of clean straw for litter fresh daily and 
plenty of shedding for shelter. Especial care is taken to use only long 
clean straw, and to allow no chaff to be dropped about the yards, as it 
spoils the wool for sale later on. For cases of protracted labour ergot 
of rye has been used with tolerable success, but such success is not 
invariable, especially when the ewe carries a dead lamb. We have been 
able to withdraw such lambs from the womb, even when in a state of 
partial decay, by careful manipulation, but the shepherd requires two 
assistants to support the ewe during this trying operation, and he must 
be very gentle and patient. The withdrawal of the foetus is immediately 
followed by careful washing of the vagina with warm water, and one or 
two applications of warm carbolised oil with the syringe. If the ewe is 
otherwise healthy, and mortification has not set in, it may be saved by 
judicious feeding, and by another application or two of the oil. All 
such invalids are kept in a separate yard with a warm lodge in which 
the sheep can be shut in very cold or stormy weather. 
Twins are not so abundant as they were last year, but the lambs 
generally are strong and healthy. Grass is plentiful, so are roots, and 
•ewes with strong, forward lambs will now go to the Turnip folds when¬ 
ever the weather is favourable. We prefer thatched hurdles for the 
north and east sides of the folds, and if the folds are large an inner line 
or two of thatched hurdles is always used for shelter by both ewes and 
lambs. There are plenty of sound green tops for the lambs, and some 
bran will be given them outside the folds as soon as they can eat it. 
Once get them well started upon the Turnips and bran, and growth 
quickens perceptibly. Good suckling, too, is of the utmost importance, 
and all care must be taken to sustain ewes well, and not suffer them to 
fall off in condition. 
RATS AND OTHER VERMIN. 
If editors of periodicals and newspapers have really the intention of 
■doing good, more than filling up the pages of their papers with quotations, 
they should give the article by your agricultural correspondent in last 
week’s issue full publicity ; it might perhaps have the effect of showing 
the true cause of the balance-sheet indicating a loss, by the inroads of 
vermin through carelessness and sheer laziness. If farmers were only 
partly as careful in preventing grain being destroyed as they are in 
protecting prize cattle, there would be no one more astonished than 
themselves at their good fortune, by simply taking thought and action 
to destroy vermin, and preserve the grain which they depend upon for a 
living. Exactly fifty years ago I lent a hand to the killing of 180 rats in 
a Wheat stack, and many escaped. The stack was completely tunnelled 
throughout, and not less than ten bolls of Wheat destroyed, which at 
that time would be about £20 sterling. The rats that escaped fled to 
other premises, and destroyed many fowls and rabbits. 
When rats take possession of buildings, allure them to one apartment 
having one entrance only fitted with a trap door. Feed the rats here on 
dainties, meat and drink, for the latter, if of the right sort, is enticing. 
After a few nights’ regaling, draw the string, the trap goes down, and 
the rats are at your and dogs’ mercy.—W. T 
OUR LETTER BOX. 
Breaking: up and Baying: down Pasture (T. S. R .').—As you 
give no special reason for your alarm about wireworm in the soil of the 
old pasture ploughed a fortnight ago we may remind you that it by no 
means follows that because you have ploughed in turf you should have 
trouble from wireworm. If much wireworm has been seen during the 
ploughing it would answer best not to sow Oats this season, but rather 
to apply a dressing of 6 or 6 cwt. of salt per acre, and sow White Mus¬ 
tard 20 lbs. to the acre, to be folded with sheep as it comes into 
flower ; then plough and leave it to nature till the following spring, 
and then lay it down to pasture with a crop of Oats. Good seeds may 
be had from any of the specialists advertising in our columns. If the 
old sods are not infested with wireworm then sow Oats as you propose, 
now drilling in with the seed corn 1 cwt. nitrate of soda, i cwt. 
muriate of potash, cwt. mineral superphosphate, ^ cwt. steamed bone 
flour to induce strong growth and a full crop, and sow the grass mixture 
for permanent pasture immediately after the corn is sown. The besc 
horned cow after the Jersey is the Guernsey. In the opinion of many 
it is even better than the Jersey, for it is a larger animal and gives a 
proportionately larger quantity of very rich milk. 
Manure Queries (_T. i)/.). —“ Nitrogen for Mangolds. Applied as a 
manure for Mangolds (with others) is sulphate of ammonia preferable 
to nitrate of soda or guano ?” This question is timely and important, 
for the influence of nitrogenous manures upon Mangolds is remarkable, 
and it has been proved beyond question that nitrate of soda is the best 
form in which it can be applied to that crop. In the Rothamsted trials 
an average of 13 tons 17 cwts. of Mangolds for eight years was the 
result of a dressing of nitrate of soda alone, or 6|^ tons more roots than 
ammonia salts, and 2J tons more per acre than was obtained from the 
use of nitrogen in any other form. Pray understand that we do not 
recommend the use of nitrate of soda alone, but in combination with 
mineral manure and dung. We have frequently called attention to 
the value of dung for this crop, for its moisture as well as its fer¬ 
tility, and we always use it and sow on the ridge if possible. 
Perhaps the most satisfactory result of the eight years’ average at 
Rothamsted was that of 23i tons of Mangold from a yearly dressing 
of 14 tons of dung, 3^ cwts. superphosphate, and 550 lbs. nitrate of 
soda. We may remind you that the action of sulphate of ammonia 
is slower than the nitrate, yet it is quite possible that it might in¬ 
duce equal results if used in a moist climate or very wet summer. 
Sulphate of ammonia may be kept for a year without serious de¬ 
terioration in a thoroughly dry store house with damp proof floor and 
walls. A moderate quantity of salt might be added with advantage to 
the manure mixture for grass, if used early before free growth begins. 
It is an admirable solvent, as well as a valuable fertiliser, and it will 
in future be used freely in all compound manures, for arable land 
especially. Basic slag would certainly be useful as a dressing for fruit 
trees, and it would answer for Strawberries if applied to a new bed, 
where its beneficial action would tell with the full development of the 
plants. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
CAMnSN SQUARE, LONDON. 
Lat. 61° 8S'40"N.; Long. 0° 8'0” W.; Altitude, 111 leet. 
DATE. 
9 A.M. 
IN THE DAY. 
a 
■3 
PS 
1890. 
February. 
Barome¬ 
ter at 328 
and Sea 
Level. 
Hygrome¬ 
ter. 
Direction 
ot Wind. 
Temp, of 
1 soil at 
1 1 foot. 
Shade Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature. 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
snn. 
On 
grass 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
dee. 
deg. 
deg. 
In. 
Sunday. 16 
29.752 
382 
36 8 
E. 
86.4 
47 9 
332 
76 3 
23.4 
— 
29.827 
39.1 
37.7 
K. 
37.1 
43 9 
87.8 
65 9 
Tuesday .... 18 
30.122 
39.8 
38.6 
E. 
37 9 
47.4 
57.9 
74.4 
““ 
Wednesday.. 19 
30.281 
38.6 
37.3 
K. 
37.9 
44.5 
36.9 
— 
Thursday.... 20 
30.100 
37.4 
85 9 
E. 
37.9 
38.9 
35.1 
41 9 
19 6 
Friday .21 
30.190 
34.4 
34.8 
E. 
37.9 
40.1 
33 8 
44 9 
— 
Saturday .... 22 
30.478 
38 4 
37.7 
N.E. 
38.1 
43.5 
34.1 
3 l.i 
~ 
30.107 
38.0 
369 
37.6 
44.5 
35.5 
61.0 
31.8 
0.023 
REMARKS. 
16th.—Fine, with frequent Bunshlne. 
17th.—Cloudy morning; bright afternoon. 
18th.— Fine and generally bright. 
19th.—Bright and fine. 
20th.—Dull early ; damp and showery all day. 
2 l 8 t.—Dull and slightly foggy all day. 
22 nd.—Overcast throughout. 
A dry but rather cloudy week ; little range of temperature, and the mean remarkably 
near the average.—G. J. SYMONS, 
