102 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER 
[ February 8,1887. 
SOIL LESSONS. 
Very wide is the difference of opinion of farmers in what 
we may aptly term the old and new schools upon many 
matters affecting their calling, but there is very little differ¬ 
ence of opinion concerning drainage. All sensible men 
acknowledge its importance, but the manner of doing it is 
but too often a matter of mere opinion and not an outcome 
of mature experience. It is for this reason that we have 
touched upon the most important points of ordinary drainage, 
and have striven to explain why we drain. Four feet deep 
and 80 feet apart was at one time insisted upon by our lead¬ 
ing authorities as the only safe depth and distance apart for 
land drains. But experience has shown that we may modify 
these figures with advantage, and that in certain cases 2 to 
3 feet deep and from 15 to 20 feet apart answers best. There 
can be no doubt that when new drains act well the soil shrinks 
and cracks—not in the same way as from drought, but 
generally in so microscopic a manner as to be invisible to the 
naked eye. There, however, are the cracks, and we may 
therefore be assured that air enters the soil sooner or later 
after the drains are made, tha6 a change for the better follows, 
but the change will be very slow indeed if porosity is not 
promoted by other means, 
Before draining is taken in hand at all, each field or plot 
of land should be carefully examined, and due thought given 
to its special requirements. It is impossible to lay down 
rules for general guidance, rather would we in ist upon the 
importance of relieving the land of superfluous water and 
explain why it should be done. We have done so, and have 
given one or two examples of our own practice, which has 
been somewhat extensive. Results have invariably proved 
satisfactory when the work was well done, but we cannot 
claim to have been so fortunate as to have avoided faulty 
work altogether. Just as the strength of a chain is affected 
by a weak link, so is the action of a drain by a badly laid 
pipe. It is for this reason that we like to test each drain 
with water before the trench is refilled, and it is quite worth 
while doing so if we have to cart water to the upper end of 
the drains. For all ordinary work 2-inch pipes are large 
enough. Elaborate calculations have been made as to the 
size of pipes, but if we have to treat very wet land we still 
keep to 2-inch pipes for all branch drains, only we take care 
to make enough drains to carry off the water quickly and 
well. 
Practical knowledge and common sense enable the 
ordinary farmer to dispense with scientific calculations in 
this matter, and it is our aim to enable him to do so. By 
all means let science play its part, but let it be science in 
conjunction with practice, and very much so say we. Depend 
upon it the stirring active man is not wont to take things for 
granted, he wants to know and will know the reason why 
his land requires drains, and when he is convinced of the 
necessity of drainage, be very sure it will be done in a 
thorough manner. He may know nothing of science, but 
anything that applies to his understanding will arrest his 
attention, and be well “ thought out ” before he has done 
with it. We have recently purchased a farm of 100 acres to 
add to what we may term the home estate. The late owner, 
as he acknowledged, at one time had plenty of money, but he 
was naturally ofa somewhat easy-going disposition and gave no 
thought to making a provision for the proverbial rainy day, 
which under the depression eventually fell upon him with 
such scathing power that he, in common with many other 
farmers of the old school, became bankrupt. He was a good 
master, a good neighbour, highly respectable, and undoubtedly 
an honest man. But he was not energetic, he could no» rise 
to an emergency at once, and though a great reader he was no 
a deep thinker, and so when bad times fell upon him he 
failed to realise the gravity of his position, and, like so many 
more, he struggled on hoping for better times—and eventually 
was ruined. Now the soil of his farm was of such excellent 
staple, and the situation was so advantageous for the disposa 
of farm produce, that we actually had six applicants for is 
farm immediately after it became known that _we * 
purchased it. We have let if to a man who already holds 
two farms upon the same estate, and he has already hi®■ ® 
his mark upon the land. Energetic action has wort 1 ? 
replaced drowsy sluggishness, the soil is being cultiva ® 
thoroughly at last, and we have no fear but that he will do 
something more than pay his way. We have found him a 
remarkably “keen hand;” nothing at all calculated to pro- 
mote his interest is overlooked, the covenants of his new 
agreement have had to undergo the scrutiny of a shrew , 
able man, and we have willingly made one or two alterations 
in them, for he is precisely one of those men who have 
intelligence, energy, and ability to rise to an emergency, 
grave even as that which is upon us, to grapple with 
difficulties arising out of it, and to overcome them. 
(To be continued.) 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
Ploughing is now being pushed on briskly, and the crumbling 
furrows show how deeply the long frost laid its icy grasp upon the land. 
Glad should we have been had it been possible to finish our ploughing 
before winter, but that was impossible, simply because we have so much 
of it. No doubt many an energetic man holding a farm well within ms 
means was able to clean and plough his stubbles immediately after 
harvest, but our difficulties with poor foul land are so heavy that we 
cannot always get through our work so soon as we wish to do. ine 
appearance of winter corn is satisfactory, and our prospects for food toi 
the flock are excellent. We have the ewe flocks on grass reserved 
specially for them, and there is such an abundance of it that they refuse 
to touch the hay. Crushed corn and roots are eaten greedily, but they 
are by no means eager after chaff. Our shepherd upon the home farm 
has recently lost four ewes ; two of them died from causes which we 
knew were unavoidable, but the other two were said to be owing to 
inflammation, and the carcases were disposed of to a dealer before we 
were told of our loss. We at once insisted upon being told at once ot 
any sickness among the sheep, and that none of them should be sent 
away till we had seen them. A ewe heavy in lamb is liable to become 
cast—?>., to roll over upon its back and be unable to get up. It left in 
this position for an hour it may die, and in point of fact does die. 
We found one in such a position lately ; it was struggling hard 
yet could not get up. The shepherd was not there, and had 
we not pushed the sheep over upon its legs it would soon, 
have been dead, and we should probably have heard of another loss from 
“inflammation.” We at once found the shepherd, and had to insist 
upon close and constant attention to his charge, nor would we listen to 
any attempt at excuse of his but too evident negligence. The loss ot 
every pregnant ewe is equivalent to a money value of £3, and we shall 
certainly be much among the sheep till the lambing is over. At the 
time of writing this note the weather is soft and spring-like, and is 
r'prtn.inlv most favourable for both lambs and sheep. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
Camden Square, London. 
Lat. 51° 32' 40" N.; Long. 0° 8'0" W.; Altitude, 111 feet. 
DATE. 
9 A.M. 
IN THB DAT. 
Rain 
1887. 
January. 
Barome¬ 
ter at 328 
and Sea 
Level 
Hygrome¬ 
ter. 
Direction 
of Wind. 
Temp, of 
Boll at 
1 foot. 
Shade Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature. 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Max 
Min. 
In 
sun. 
On 
grass 
Inches. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
In. 
30.515 
40.0 
37.9 
N. 
37.2 
40 8 
39.8 
43.7 
37.4 
— 
30.286 
35.7 
34.6 
S.E. 
37.8 
38.3 
35.1 
34.8 
— 
30.221 
39.2 
38.6 
S.E. 
37.3 
489 
35.4 
b5.4 
83.3 
— 
..26 
30.321 
39.9 
38.7 
E. 
37 7 
49 7 
35.1 
«$■% 
27.8 
— 
. 27 
30.386 
36.5 
36.3 
Calm 
37.2 
412 
32.4 
42 i 
28.1 
— 
80.381 
42.6 
42.1 
S W. 
37-2 
491 
324 
56. 
29.0 
— 
Saturday .. 
..29 
30.496 
47.6 
46.6 
S.W. 
38.7 
48.7 
41.9 
53.1 
37.9 
— 
30.372 
40.2 
39.3 
37.6 
45.2 
36.0 
53.1 
32.6 
— 
REMARKS. 
23rd.—Overcast morning, clear afternoon. 
24th.—Slight fog in morning, cloudy all day. 
25th.—Cloudy early, fair day, with a moderate amount of sunshine. 
26th.—Dull eany, tine pleasant day. 
27th,—Dense fog all the morning and evening, clearing a little in afternoon. 
28th.—Fog early, fine day. 
2 9th.—Fair throughout, but dull. 
A rainless week, with very little sunshine and much fog. Temperature 5 P above tha 
of the preceding week, and nearly 3" above the average.—G. J. SYMOKS. 
