38 
[ January 13, 1887. 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
weeds as well as of stagnant water ? Is it really fertile by 
being stored with those manurial constituents required by 
the crop which you intend next to sow or plant in it ? 
To every manager of a farm we would put the important 
question, What do you know about the soil of your farm, its 
condition and requirements ? To go on ploughing and sow¬ 
ing year by year without a full knowledge of cause and effect 
in relation to what we do is certainly a veritable groping in 
the dark, yet it is done, and we have reason to fear will 
continue to be done for some time to come yet. We recently 
had occasion to address an assembly of farmers, eminently 
respectable men, most of them holding large farms ; some of 
them in the occupation of several farms, and so they might 
be regarded as fairly representative of the class. We tried 
to turn the opportunity to account by dwelling at some 
length upon soil treatment, and upon the application of 
manures. Very earnest attention was paid to our remarks— 
so earnest that one slight inaccurate statement of results was 
immediately detected and challenged to our great delight. 
The manner in which our address was received was a revela¬ 
tion to us; for, indeed, it is no light matter to attract and 
hold the attention of earnest thoughtful men upon a matter of 
such vital importance. It rendered us hopeful, and we hope 
more earnest in our efforts to show both by example and 
precept that something more is possible in farming results 
than has been hitherto achieved. 
“ Have we yet touched perfection in our practice as 
farmers ? ” was one of the questions which we put to our 
hearers upon the occasion referred to, and we repeat it here. 
What do farmers generally know about the soil and its 
requirements ? Now we do not by any means think that a 
strictly scientific training is at all necessary for the ordinary 
farmer, but we do assert most strongly that every farmer is 
bound to ascertain if the soil of his farm is clean and fertile, 
and if it is not to make it so at once. There is probably 
none of the ordinary duties of mankind upon which waste¬ 
fulness and carelessness has laid a more fatal grasp than 
upon those of farmers. Some return upon expenditure of 
time and money was always possible before the depression. 
If the crops were light prices were high, and though there 
might be some waste in the use of farmyard manure, yet it 
did some good. Such reasoning and the practice which led 
to it was all very well for a while, but that it should sooner 
or later lead to disaster was inevitable. Bad seasons came, 
low prices followed, short crops and falling price were said 
to have caused the failure of many a good man and true, and 
they undoubtedly did so, but it was bad practice combined 
with unfavourable seasons which brought about the ruin of 
so many. 
Again and again have we dwelt upon soil treatment, and 
we purpose devoting a few papers now to a somewhat closer 
and, if possible, more practical treatment of a subject fraught 
with such vital importance. Once get the soil in really good 
condition, and then it becomes as easy to keep it so as it does 
to obtain full crops from it. Earnestly do we desire to assist 
our readers to attain at least to such a standard of excel¬ 
lence. 
(To be continued.) 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
Snow and frost have laid hold upon the land, and so thoroughly tha 
ploughing has been impossible since writing our last note. We have seen 
with regret the carting of much farmyard manure out upon the land, and 
many a time and oft as we have driven past such fields have we wondered 
what the per-centage of loss from such manure was. That it is consider¬ 
able there can be no doubt, yet there are the little heaps of manure 
scattered all over the field ready for spreading before the plough when the 
frost breaks. It is not improbable that this turning to so-called advantage 
of frosty weather for carting manure may be thought brisk practice by 
those who do it, but alas 1 for the waste of all those subtle gases which 
constitute the quintessence of the manure heap. The snow covered the 
land so thickly that frost was kept out, but though we had plenty of 
trenching in hand we would not have the snow buried in the soil, and so 
all the men were turned upon the land drains which could well be got on 
with. Glad are we to do this, for we have so much trenching and tree¬ 
planting to do this season that we shall require every stroke to tell when 
such work is again possible. Several of the horses have been employed 
iu drawing timber off the land, the snow proving a help rather than a 
hindrance for such heavy work. Despite all our care we have had one 
valuable man injured at this work, and have lost his services for a week 
or two. The amount of carelessness which prevails among men 
thoroughly accustomed to timber work is surprising. We were recently 
watching the cutting down of an Elm about which we had repeatedly 
cautioned the workmen, for Elms are notoriously unsafe trees. The tree 
in question was to all appearance sound, yet it fell without yarning 
before they were half through the trunk, and the centre of which proved 
rotten. Many ornamental trees in the park have sustained much injury 
from the snow. Cedars and Scotch Firs have suffered more than any 
other trees. The flat branches of the Cedars soon become laden with 
snow, which, if thawing slightly, clings together, and so becomes heavy 
enough to cause the branch to break off. It is probably owing to the 
brittleness of the wood that so many branches of Scotch Firs have been 
broken off. We hear of grand old Cedars upon other estates almost 
denuded of branches by the snow. 
REVIEW OF BOOKS. 
Permanent and Temporary Pastures. By Martin J . Sotton. Second 
edition. London : Hamilton, Adams & Co. 
It is less than twelve months since we noticed the first issue of this 
work, and already it is our privilege to announce the appearance of a 
second edition. What we said commendatory of the first edition we can 
repeat with certainty of that which is now before us. The way in which 
the work is turned out is beyond all praise; and the illustrations are 
admirable. It is by far the best and most useful treatise on the subject 
which has yet appeared, and we do not hesitate to express our conviction 
that this second edition will have as rapid a sale as the first. We com¬ 
mend it very highly to the attention of all who are engaged in the culti¬ 
vation of the soil, or who are desirous of becoming acquainted with tha 
forage plants of the country. It contains additional matter of great 
interest by Dr. Voelcker and other scientific and eminent agricultural 
authorities. 
Eggs in Winter. —Referring to the correspondence in your column 
concerning winter laying hens and pullets. I keep twenty-five cross-bred 
Dorkings and Cochins. During the past month (December) these have 
given me 104 eggs. They have a good grass run, and are fed with wheat 
grain, and scraps.— Cochin. 
OUR LETTER BOX. 
Treatment of a Two-year Layer ((7. S .).—The soil of your field 
which has been down two years in Clover and Rye grass, being so foul 
with grubs, it would not answer for Potatoes this y ar. _ To pare and burn 
now is not practicable, nor would it answer thoroughly if you could do it, 
many of the grubs probably b ing so deeply buried in the soil that they 
would escape destruction. You say you have a good plant of grass ; we 
should therefore graze or mow the first crop of grass, and then at once pare 
and burn as much of the surface as you can, only take especial care to let the 
burning follow the paring at once in order that the larva of insects have 
no time to escape or to burrow downwards. Follow the burning by deep 
ploughing, then apply a dressing of quicklime fresh from the kiln, which 
at once work well into the soil with a cultivator ; plough again, and then 
the soil may be reasonably considered clean, and you have only to apply 
manure to render it suitable for Potato culture. 
Bare Necked Fowls (H. T. II .).—There is a feather-eater amongst 
them. Find her out if you can, and get rid of her. Meanwhile give 
some sulphur in their soft food and discontinue the maize. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
Camden Square, London. 
Lat. 51° 32' 40" N.; Long. 0° 8'0" W.; Altitude, 111 feet. 
DATE. 
y a.m. 
IN THE DAY. 
Hygrome- 
a . 
Shade Tem- 
Radiation 
a 
1887. 
ter. 
5-2 
§•*§ 
peratnre. 
Temperature. 
OS 
In 
On 
m ”> 
CQS a 
Dry. 
Wet. 
So 
p-f 
Max. 
Min. 
sun. 
grass 
Inches. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
df.pr 
deg. 
deg. 
In. 
Sunday . 2 
80.194 
18.8 
18.6 
N.E. 
35.0 
33.2 
14.5 
33.3 
11.0 
0.098’ 
Monday . 3 
29.7*7 
37.3 
36.8 
s. 
34.3 
88.3 
16.4 
39.4 
12.9 
0.336 
Tuesday .4 
29.308 
30.8 
30.6 
N.E. 
34.2 
38 3 
30.6 
38.3 
30.4 
0.104 
Wednesday .. 5 
28.812 
34.4 
34.1 
N.W. 
34.6 
39.8 
27.9 
51.7 
22.7 
0.019 
Thursday .... 6 
28.872 
33.9 
33.2 
Calm 
34 3 
35.4 
28.7 
39.1 
26.4 
— 
Friday . 7 
29.018 
33 3 
32.6 
Calm 
34.3 
39.4 
29.9 
47.2 
28.0 
0.126 
Saturday .... 8 
29.080 
34.1 
32.8 
s. 
34.3 
37.2 
33.0 
47.1 
31.8 
0.028 
29.304 
31.8 
31.2 
34.4 
87.4 
25.9 
42.3 
23.3 
0.708 
REMARKS. 
2nd.—Very cold, fog, Increasing towards noon, dense till 2 P H., then suddenly cleared. 
Blight snow 9 to 9.15 P.M , and again later. 
3rd.—Dull, drizzling, and thawing, rain, turning to snow at night. 
4th.—Two or three inches of snow on ground, and snow almost continuously till 11 A.M H 
afterwards fair. 
5th.—Snow early, about an inch deep by 9 A.M., and at frequent intervals till 11 A.M., 
then fair and the afternoon bright. 
6th.—Dull and foggy all day, a little sleet in morning, fine night, lunar halo. 
7th.—Dull early sunshine for five minutes about 10.30 A.M., then dull and foggy with 
Blight showers at intervals. 
8th.—Rain in small hours, slightly foggy morning, fine after. 
A very wintry week with a good deal of snow. Temperature rather more than a, 
degree below that of the preceding week, and about 7° below the average.—G. J. 
Symons. 
