332 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ April 17, 1890. 
it is intended to serve. Drilled at once it is ready for use in 
August either for sheep, cows, or store cattle. The May sowings 
come into use in October, and are available till the end of the 
year, and those of June or July follow for early or late spring 
food. Thus much may be stated generally, but it should not be 
forgotten that the April sowings often give a supply of most 
valuable green food from autumn till late in spring. The weight 
per acre may or may not be equal to that of Drumhead Cabbages, 
but under high cultivation it comes very near it, and the Kale has 
the valuable property of an abundant second growth from stalks 
which are just so m.iny naked stumps after the first foldings by 
sheep or cuttings for cattle. 
The crop is a valuable one ; both flock masters and dairy 
farmers regard it as specially the crop at certain seasons of the 
year, as being indispensable for their requirements, and success 
with it depends upon cultivation and management quite as much as 
with any other crop. It can serve no useful purpose to lay stress 
■qpon the loss of Kale in very severe weather, for such a loss may 
and does happen with roots occasionally, and the fact of its having 
proved generally a profitable and reliable crop is sufficient for our 
purpose. Soil is comparatively unimportant, but cultivation is 
most important, and just according to the condition and fertility 
of the soil will be the crop of Kale produced in it. Therefore be 
liberal both of labour and manure—giving as much so as if for a 
root crop—for depend upon it the results of “ fair ” to “ very 
heavy ” are governed by this, and when the soil is low in fertility 
we always use the double-breasted plough, placing all the farmyard 
manure in the furrows and drilling chemical manures with the 
seed. The plants then have plenty of sustenance as well as depth 
of soil and a fine tilth, all tending to quick germination, speedy and 
robust growth, and heavy bulk of crop. 
The manner of the clearance of the crop depends upon that 
which is to follow, and as we generally take a corn crop af cer Kale 
the stalks we got up with the roots on—not chopped off—as soon 
as a fold is finished, and they are chopped up, spread over the sur¬ 
face and ploughed in. If this is done fold by fold it becomes just 
as much a matter of course as root slicing for the sheep, and 
instead of being regarded as a nuisance to be got rid of the stalks 
thus turned to account are really valuable as a fertiliser. 
For folding with hoggets towards the end of the year we 
especially favour a mixed crop consisting of alternate strips or 
■“ lands ” of Swedes and Kale. This plan had its origin in the 
success resultant from filling up vacancies among Swedes with Kale, 
the mixed feed being especially liked by the sheep, and subsequently 
the Kale lands always afford a supply of plants for filling up blank 
spaces among the Swedes. For certainty both in cropping and 
hardiness we have found Kale altogether preferable to Swedes, and 
it is certainly very wholesome nutritious food. Another advantage 
not to be overlooked is the fact of the stems being available for a 
second growth even when cut off for cows close to the ground 
when other food is scarce, and in a backward spring this second 
growth is of especial value. This fact alone ought to obtain a 
place for Kale upon every farm, and it is clearly to a farmer’s 
interest to curtail the space usually devoted exclusively to root 
culture and to devote part of it to Kale culture, which with plenty 
of silage would enable us to become far more independent of 
adverse seasons and weather than hitherto. 
Autumn Giant Cauliflower. It was in the neighbourhood of 
Swanley that we first saw sheep folded upon this crop, and it was a 
veritable “ eye-opener.” Not upon the dainty “ flower ” itself 
were the sheep regaled, for that had been cut from every stalk and 
sent to market, but upon the leaves left to grow to a large size 
upon the stems, and thus afford a lot of tender wholesome food for 
the flock, and ensure a thorough enrichment of the soil from the 
folding. Now this profitable crop need not be long upon the 
land, and if spring sown plants are raised in a seed bed they may 
be transplanted to land where sheep have been folded upon Rye 
or Winter Tares, and so be cleared off in time for early autumn 
cultivation and a third crop. If this is termed sh.arp practice it is 
sound enough, and it is based upon the principle of the soil being 
a storehouse of plant food, which we have only to keep well and 
regularly supplied in order for it to answer promptly all our 
demands and requirements. 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
Since our last note was written especial attention has been given to 
the value of corn drills, which are also available for corn hoeing, at a 
meeting of the Farmers’ Club. As mention was made there of the 
steerage hoe, it may be as well to explain for the benefit of those not 
having a steerage drill hoe, that there is a simple and comparatively 
cheap form of corn hoe to be had, the steerage or guidance of which is 
managed by means of handles behind the hoes. It was claimed for 
steerage hoes that they are the most efficient destroyers of Charlock, and 
we may concede that they are a means to so desirable an end, and they 
are nothing more. Charlock comes as thickly among the corn in the 
rows as it does between the rows, and no hoes can touch the pest there. 
No quarter must be given to Charlock whenever it makes its first ap¬ 
pearance, for it is precisely because it was not stamped out at first that 
it has spread far and wide through the land, and once it is established 
upon a farm the process of eradication is simply ruinous. In its primal 
condition of one of our native wild plants it is comparatively incon¬ 
spicuous, but once it finds its way to cultivated land it soon gets beyond 
control, and yet if it could only be kept within bounds and well under 
control it would be useful enough. It is the wild Mustard (Sinapis 
arvensis), and we can very well dispense with it altogether, for the 
White Mustard (S. alba) of commerce answers all our requirements. 
Corn sowing even on clay farms is now done, and we much fear there 
will again be many inferior fields of Barley, as so much of it was sown 
late in the season. The second and third weeks in March are con¬ 
sidered the best two weeks of the whole year for sowing Barley in East 
Anglia, and the weather was so unfavourable then that it is certain 
none was sown on heavy land. Glad are we to say more and more at¬ 
tention is gradually being given to Oat culture ; and without at all re¬ 
garding Oats as a panacea for hard times, it is certain that by means of 
better culture they may become much more profitable than heretofore. 
Of other sowing now claiming prompt attention there are Mangolds, 
Swedes, Cabbage, Kale, Tares, mixed seeds for layers and permanent 
pasture. Carrots, Kohl Rabi, and White Mustard. As foul land is 
cleared of weeds Mustard is sown either for folding or to be ploughed 
in, and if the season proves favourable a second sowing will follow, our 
aim being to render the land fertile as well as clean for another 
season. 
OUR LETTER BOX. 
Turkey Ill (IF. A).—The swollen head looks like the effect of a cold, 
but as you give us no particulars as to age, feeding, &c., we cannot say for 
certain. Send full particulars to our contemporary Poultry, and in the 
meantime remove him from the hens, keep him in a warm house, feeding 
on soft nourishing food sprinkled with ginger. Give him 5 drops of 
camphorated oil in a teaspoonful of glycerine night and morning, and 
sponge the swoilen parts frequently with warm water. A good plan is 
to hold the bird’s head over the steam made by pouring boiling water 
on a few hops. If there is an offensive smelling discharge from the 
nostrils and mouth he has roup, and you should at once get No. 3.37 of 
Poultry, where the complaint is fully dealt with. It can be had post 
free from this office for l^d. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
CAMDEN SQUARE, LONDON. 
Lat. 61° 32' 40" N.; Long. 0° 8' 0" W.; Altitude, 111 feet. 
DATE. 
9 A.M, 
IN THE DAY, 
A O' aS . 
Hygrome- 
a . 
Shade Tern- 
Radiation 
a 
g WcQ 
ter. 
yr* 
Q_, O 
perature. 
Temperature. 
cS 
ApriL 
iS h 
ek: 
In 
On 
MS e3 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Q o 
H 
Max. 
Min. 
sun. 
grass 
Inches. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
In, 
Sunday . 
29.916 
49.8 
45.4 
W. 
45.0 
54.7 
41.7 
76.4 
30.4 
0.054 
Monday. 
. 7 
29.511 
49.0 
46.6 
s.w. 
45.9 
56.8 
48.2 
103.6 
41.7 
0.065 
Tuesday ... 
. 8 
29.648 
43.5 
39.6 
w. 
44.9 
52.4 
85.7 
101.8 
80.4 
0.141 
Wednesday. 
. 9 
29.878 
43.1 
36.9 
N.W. 
44.1 
47.8 
37.3 
89.5 
32.6 
0.052 
Thursday... 
. 10 
29.726 
40.0 
38.1 
N. 
43.6 
44.9 
86.1 
79.4 
33.3 
0.083 
Friday . 
29.914 
42.2 
36.9 
N. 
42.8 
60.9 
35.3 
98.7 
20.7 
Saturday ... 
. 12 
29.836 
41.2 
37.2 
N. 
42.5 
51.0 
32.8 
101.7 
24.4 
— 
29.775 
44.1 
40.1 
44.1 
51.2 
37.9 
92.9 
31.4 
•335 
REMARKS. 
6th.—Generally dondy in the morning; occasional slight showers in the afternoon. 
7ih,—Dull and rainy till noon, then line and generally bright, excepting a shower at 
6 P.M.; showers again at night. 
8th.—Cloud and sunshine, with high wind, till 11 A.M., then heavy shower of soft hall 
(apparently fragments of spheres about i in. diameter), lasting live minutes 
thunder at 0-60 p.m. (three peals) and more soft hall, some nearly J in. in greatest 
diameter; heavy rain from 6 P.M. to 7 P.M., then fine again. 
9th.—Fine and generally bright. 
10 th.—Dull and drizzly morning; showers in early afternoon; line and bright for an 
hour or so before sunset. 
llth.—Bright and fine throughout. 
12 th.—Bright and fine throughoixt. 
On the whole a fine week, noticeable chiefly for the sharp radiation frosts on the las 
two days.—G. J. STMONS. 
