144 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ February 17,1587. 
of manure. That which we have used with invariable 
success for different kinds of soil for grass land per acre 
is half a hundredweight nitrate of potash, three-quarter 
hundredweight of nitrate of soda, half a hundredweight ol 
superphosphate, and half a hundredweight of steamed 
bonefiour. These chemical manures are procured 
separately from a reliable source, and mixed under care¬ 
ful supervision at the farm upon which they are to be 
used. Experience has shown that the end of February is 
the best time to apply the mixture, for then we are con¬ 
fident of enough rain falling to dissolve or wash the 
manures into the soil. If we wait a month longer we are 
by no means so sure of this, and it was a want of the pro¬ 
verbial April showers for two consecutive years that in¬ 
duced us to use the manure in February. It may never¬ 
theless answer well enough in the west and south-west, or 
in the moist climate of Ireland to wait till April, but that 
is a matter easy of comprehension. It is quite patent 
that without rain soon after applying chemical manures 
to grass the results must prove unsatisfactory. 
We wish to call particular attention to the importance 
of using a judicious mixture, wherein are blended in just 
proportion those manurial constituents with which it is 
necessary that the soil should be charged, in order to 
ensure a rich growth of herbage throughout the season. 
Nicety of calculation as to the exact quantity of each 
manure which should be used is certainly desirable, but 
we cannot ask a farmer to await the result of experiments 
extending over two or three years before using any mix¬ 
ture for his particular farm. Our mixture was selected 
with much care by Professor Jamieson, and we have found 
it answer so well that we have no hesitation in asking our 
readers to use it, and by using more or less of nitrogen 
and potash upon different parts of a farm, sufficient ex¬ 
perience would soon be gained to enable them to decide 
with safety upon any alteration in the quantities given. 
We may say here that in our own experiments we have 
used twice the quantity of each kind of manure per acre, 
the result being a crop of more than twice the bulk of 
that following an ordinary dressing. So that we regard 
the formula given as both moderate and safe for ordinary 
uses. 
If proof were required of the general defects in the 
management of pasture we could point to the experiments 
carried out last year by Mr. Martin J. Sutton in Oxford¬ 
shire. Six fields were selected upon a farm of thin, 
gravelly, light soil, each field being divided into six plots. 
One plot in each field had no manure; the second plot 
had a dressing of sulphate of ammonia at the rate of a 
cwt. per acre; the third II cwt. of nitrate of soda; the 
fourth 3 cwt. of superphosphate of lime and 2 cwt. of 
kainit; the fifth 1 cwt. sulphate of ammonia and 2 cwt. 
of kainit; and the sixth 3 cwt. superphosphate of lime, 
1 cwt. nitrate of soda, and 2 cwt, of kainit per acre. 
We have thus two plots dressed Avith nitrogenous manures, 
one with mineral manures, and two with a combination 
ol mineral and nitrogenous manures in varying propor¬ 
tions. Upon an old pasture, and another four years old, 
both the sixth plots gave the best results; but in layers 
with Rye grass nitrate of soda answered best, as Avas to 
be expected. 
So far as these experiments go they are useful, but they 
do not go far enough. We require in chemical manure 
for pasture a mixture of nitrogen, potash, and phosphoric 
acid suitable for the promotion of a free robust groAvth 
in Clovers as Avell as grasses. It must, moreover, be so 
blended as to provide food for something more than the 
mere groAvth of a season. To secure such growth is un¬ 
doubtedly our primary object, but Ave must also strive to 
sustain a store of fertility in the soil till the next season’s 
application of manure. This is precisely Avliat Ave have 
found Professor Jamieson’s mixture to do. It does more 
than this, for an annual application leads to a gradual 
but marked improvement in pasture, so that not only do 
Ave get a full crop of hay, but also an abundant aftermath, 
and such Avell sustained vigour during Avinter that an early 
groAvth of Avondertul luxuriance in spring is visible long 
before there is any perceptible groAvth upon poor neglected 
pasture. 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
Heavy accounts for oilcake arc among the things which tend to 
cripple the efforts of a farmer to make both ends meet in these hard 
times. Often have we expounded our views upon the importance of 
growing food for cattle upon the farm itself, so far as it is possible to 
do so. We certainly exemplify this advice in our own practice, and so 
far this course has proved materially to our advantage. The ewe flocks 
have no cake, only crushed Oats. The other sheep fattening in folds 
and yards have crushed Oats mixed with beanmeal and chaff. Bean- 
meal is most nutritious food, and we have now remarkable proof of this 
in the condition of some bullocks which have been fattened with bean- 
meal, chaff, and pulped roots. The highest price offered us for Beans 
was 31s. per quarter, and we decided to use most of them rather than 
sell at so low a price, for the Beans weighed from 500 lbs. to 540 lbs. 
per quarter. The result proves that we did right. By way of experi¬ 
ment we are feeding some bullocks at another farm with crushed Oats, 
maizemcal, pulped roots, and chaff. AVe buy the Maize at 21s. 3d. per 
quarter, and certainly we expect at least equally good results from it. 
Beans would cost us 32s. per quarter, and therefore, as we have to buy 
some food for the animals upon one of our farms, we prefer the Maize, 
not only because it is cheaper, but also because in fat and flesh-forming 
properties it is a little superior to Beans. We know a clever farmer, an 
excellent manager of live stock, who uses very successfully a mixture 
of crushed corn, Oats, and Barley, with some maizemeal and linseed- 
meal, which makes a nutritious and very fattening mixture. 
We have sown Peas during the past week, and have kept as many 
ploughs at work as possible, so as to have the soil in readiness for the 
spring corn. There is excellent promise of a fine seed bed and early 
sowing for all spring crops, the long frost having pulverised the soil, 
and a strong north-east wind at the time of writing this note is also 
doing much good. This wind will also materially improve the condition 
of Wheat still in stacks, and well would it have been had much Wheat 
threshed during the frost been left in the stacks till the present time. 
To thresh corn when the grain is liable to be hurtfully affected by the 
moist condition of the atmosphere is bad practice, often involving a 
serious loss. 
Dairy Farming.— Will some of your readtrs give me their experience of 
dairy farming and the prospect for a young man to make a living by it? 
How should he learn, an l how loDg it would take ? Tnen the bett pDce, 
and how should he set up for himself ? and what is the smallest capitil he 
coaid start with ? and when is the best time to make a beginning ? Auy in¬ 
formation will be most gratefully received. —Champion. 
OUR LETJ?ER BOX. 
Agricultural Salt (Cropper ).—If you write to Messrs. John Corbitt ail 
Co., the Salt Works, Droitwich, we think you will succeed in obtaining all 
the information you require. 
METEOROLOGICAL O USER VAT 10 NS. 
Camden Square, London. 
Lat. 51° 32' 40" N.; Long. 0° 8' 0" W.; Altitude, 111 feet. 
DATE. 
9 A.M. 
IN THE DAY. 
O) G9 —i 
Hygrome- 
a . 
O 
Shade Tem- 
Radiation 
f 
1887. 
is* 5 
ter. 
3 a 
&S8 
peratnre. 
Tempsratar- 
2 
February. 
££ 
Skg- 
In 
Ou 
Dry. 
Wet. 
So 
Max 
Min. 
saa. 
gra-* 
Inches. 
de?. 
deg. 
deer. 
deg. 
d*cr 
deer 
dee 
In. 
Sunday . 
80.683 
36.2 
34 L 
N. w. 
41.9 
48 0 
34.0 
62.2 
26.4 
—. 
Monday . 
t 7 
30.747 
32.2 
32.2 
S.E. 
39.8 
41.6 
32.1 
50.0 
26. L 
— 
Tuesday . 
30.744 
29.0 
29.1 
N.E. 
38.3 
38.3 
26.4 
63.2 
2«.8 
— 
Wednesday . 
. 9 
30.7 LI 
33.3 
31.4 
E. 
37 6 
57.1 
28 8 
60.9 
25.1 
Thursday ... 
10 
30.520 
30.4 
28.6 
N E. 
36 8 
358 
27.6 
70.9 
24 2 
— 
Friday . 
30.367 
33.9 
32.2 
N.E. 
36.3 
38 y 
30.2 
45 l 
26.6 
— 
Saturday .. 
.12 
30.464 
35.7 
34.2 
N. 
36.2 
45.4 
33.1 
76.6 
292 
— 
30.606 
33.1 
31.7 
— 
33.2 
40.8 
30.3 
62.1 
25.9 
- 
REMARKS. 
Gtli.—A lovely spring day, 
7tli. —Fog in morning; fine later, with some bright sunshine in afternoon. 
8th.—Generally dull, hut a little sunshine in afternoon. 
9th.—Fine, with some sunshine. 
10th.—Fine morning ; bright sunny afternoon. 
11th.—Fair, but without bright sunshine. 
12th.—Fine, bright, and rather windy; brilliant evening. 
A rainless week, with cold easterly winds and a moderate amount of snnshlnc. Tem¬ 
perature about 10° below that of the preceding week,ami 3“ below theaveruge. Pressure 
euwrkably high.—G. J. SIMONS. 
