432 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ May *1,18(7. 
It may naturally be asked why, if we knew the 
chemical manure to be so superior, we did not use it in 
preference to farmyard manure which we have so often 
condemned. We may explain that the field in question is 
part of some 80 acres added to the home farm last autumn. 
The farmyard manure had to be taken in the valuation, 
and we gladly took advantage of the opportunity to again 
test the value of the two sorts of manure. We need 
hardly say that if results answer our expectations 
chemical manure will only be used for Wheat next year. 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
Charlock, Thistles, Twitch, and Docks are the enemies with which we 
have been closely engaged in destroying since our last note was written. 
Of these pests Charlock is certainly the most difficult to eradicate, or 
rather to confine within reasonable bounds, for it is impossible to destroy 
all the plants of it that are now formed among corn upon farms where 
it has become thoroughly established. Horse corn hoes are a great help 
just now, especially among Barley sowing, as they do to get a lot of hoe¬ 
ing done in a short time ; the horses are thus turned to full account, 
and fewer men are required for the work. The Mangold plants are 
now visible along the rows, and the horse hoes will soon be at work upon 
the weeds between the rows. We prefer the patent expansion hoe for 
this work ; it is a light handy yet strong implement, which by a few 
turns of the handle contracts to a width of a foot or expands to full 
3 feet. The grass is so backward in growth that we may feel certain 
of having all the Mangolds singled and well hoed before the haymaking 
begins. Complaints may be heard of the backward condition of the 
grass, and a short crop of hay is spoken of as a certainty. We cannot 
agree with this, for there is a full strong growth upon all the fertile 
pasture under our care. True it is that growth is somewhat backward, 
but it is not so backward as to cause us any feeling of alarm or doubt 
about the final result. Once more have we proof that crops on land 
that is well drained and thoroughly fertile suffer very little from 
unkind seasons. 
Sheep-fokling goes on upon one or other of our farms throughout the 
year. We have now three flocks in folds upon Rye Grass, Red Clover, 
and Trefoil. The home farm ewe flock has just been taken off Sainfoin 
to go quickly over a field of Red Clover, which we wish to save seed 
from later on. They will go from the Clover upon another field of 
Sainfoin, where we hope to finish the preparation of the lambs for 
market. Wherever the sheep go in folds they impart fertility to the 
land, and the next crop is certain to be a vigorous one. No better 
Wheat, Barley, or Oats have we than where the sheep were folded. 
Perhaps our best field of Barley is a late-sown crop, where sheep were 
folded upon Swedes and White Turnips. We can also point to a grand 
piece of pasture now laid in for hay, the vigorous growth of which is 
entirely owing to the sheep. 
LAND CULTIVATION IN THE HIGHLANDS. 
All who have grappled with the Crofter question, whether in the 
Highlands of Scotland or Ireland, have failed to deal with the very 
essence of the difficulty—viz., the utter exhaustion of the land, brought 
about by a vicious system of cultivation. 
It is found that in the Lowlands, both of England and Scotland, it 
is necessary to pursue a careful rotation of cropping, and to apply large 
quantities of artificial manures, in addition to foreign feeding stuffs, to 
keep up the fertility of the land, and many are of opinion that all these 
agencies are not more than sufficient to maintain the land in a by no 
means high state of fertility. If this is so—and I expect few will gain¬ 
say it—what must be said of the Irish and Highland crofts ? 
Before the introduction of the Potato into the Highlands, some 
120 years ago, cereals, consisting of a very light inferior Oat and Bere, 
a sort of Barley, were the only crops grown. These did not exhaust the 
soil to the same extent that the Potato does. It is a very exhausting 
crop for the land, and the rotation at this date on small crofts is, corn 
one year, and Potatoes the next. The only manures available are the 
excreta of the cattle they house during the winter, and as these are fed 
on straw of inferior quality, the value of the manure is not great, and is 
still further reduced by being thrown outdoors, where any manurial 
virtue it may have contained is washed out of it by the heavy rains. 
This manure, and occasionally seaweed, is all the land gets to maintain 
its capacity for yielding food for those who live on it, and such as it is, 
it is applied in the most unskilful manner, generally to the Potato crop, 
on the following method :—The Potatoes are, as a rule, grown on what 
are well named “ lazy beds.” The land is marked off into beds about 
5 feet wide, with an alley about 2 feet wide between. This land may 
be stubble or grass, yet it is not dug up in any way ; the dung or sea¬ 
weed, as the case may be, is spread on the surface of the land, and the 
Potato sets are placed on it about 9 inches apart in the row across the 
bed, and 18 inches between the rows. The soil in the alley is then dug 
up and placed over the sets to cover them. In course of time they come 
above ground. When the growths are 6 inches high the remaining soil 
—when there is any in the alley—is put between the rows to earth up 
the plants. This is all that is done till the crop is fit to take up, and 
while I admit that I have half a century ago seen good crops of 
Potatoes grown in this way, I am quite certain that a little more skill 
and labour would nearly have doubled the crop. Had the dung been 
forked or dug slightly into the ground, and a sprinkling of a manure 1 
shall refer to ere I finish been spread on the surface or over the sets, and 
then let them be covered from the alley, the crop would be of much 
greater value, an 1 the land would produce a greatly better crop of corn 
the next season than by adhering to the lazy bed system. 
Then as to the sort of Potatoes they plant, it is well known that 
there are are great differences in quality and productiveness of Potatoes, 
and this is a matter in which the proprietor could, by himself or his 
agent, give good advice to his crofters, and even arrange to supply them 
with the most suitable sorts, as well as changes of seed. I would 
strongly advise that they should plant a portion of some approved early 
variety to come into use as soon as their old ones are done. I have seen 
the crofters lifting Potatoes for consumption in July that were not fit 
for food, nor would they be till September ; this was a great waste, in 
addition to their being unwholesome. Yet there are many varieties of 
Potatoes that are excellent at that date. That the land the great mass 
of the crofters and the Irish small farmers hold is quite exhausted of 
all its manurial elements few practical farmers, who at the same time 
have scientific knowledge, will deny, and the problem is how to restore 
it. This is a thoroughly practical difficulty, and nothing short of the 
most practical methods will meet it. 
What I suggest is, that every proprietor, by himself or by his agent, 
should purchase, at wholesale rates, manures, such as are of a sustaining 
character, and after mixing them, sell them to his tenants at the prices 
he gave for them. Bones, ground finely, should be the chief element, to 
which may be added coprolites, some dissolved and some ground, aud 
where the climate is not very wet a small portion of sulphate of 
ammonia. The seaweed will supply potash. Every crofter paying £8 
rent should apply to his land 5 cwts. of this manure annually, and 
persistently, and it should not cost more than £1 a year. Attention to 
such details would no doubt cause the landlord some trouble, to himself 
or his agent; but better face that than the disaster which must follow 
on the present system. 
There are parts of the Hebrides where the crofts are so small that the 
people cannot subsist on them unless they can find some employment, 
such as fishing ; and where that is so it would be kindness to aid and in¬ 
duce them to emigrate to some of our best colonies to such an extent as 
to leave those that remained with crofts worth £8 to £10 a year. On 
these, with proper attention to manuring and cultivation, they would be 
able to subsist. It would not be an easy matter to convince an average 
Highlander that he is ignorant of the fiivt principles of cultivation ; but 
something might be done for the rising generation in the schools by 
means of simple text books in the Gaelic language. In this way both 
the girls and boys might have seeds sown in their minds that would bear 
fruit in after life. The girls might be taught the simplest elements of 
domestic economy, and especially of cookery, of which their know¬ 
ledge is of the most rudimentary description. The action being taken on 
the report, of the Royal Commission at the present moment is all in the 
right direction, and by men who evidently understand what they are 
about, and mean to do justice on both sides. So far good, if the settle¬ 
ments they are making could be followed up by some method such as I 
have indicated for restoring the fertility of the soil. 
I feel certain that Dr. Aitken, the able chemist of the Highland and 
Agricultural Society of Scotland, would give a formula for such a 
manure as would be required to any proprietor who may apply to him. 
I am of opinion that a great source of manure for the land in the High¬ 
lands is lost sight of in the waste of fish offal that takes place at the 
great fishing stations. This, and much else that would benefit the 
crofters, can only be effected by a kindly co-operation between them and 
their landlords, and those who attempt to sow strife between them are 
the friends of neither party. —Wm. Thomson, Clovenfords. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
CAMDEN SQUARE, LONDON. 
Lat. 61°32' 40" N.; Ling, 0° 8-0" W.; Altitude. Ill feet. 
date. 
9 A.M. 
IN THE DAY. 
1887. 
g 0» 
C ti 
Hygrome¬ 
ter. 
d . 
c-o 
~ d 
o 
| Temp, of 
1 Soil at 
1 foot. 
Shade Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature 
d 
* 
(4 
May. 
Bat 
ter 
and 
L< 
Dry. 
Wet. 
J- 
5o 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
SUD. 
Oq 
gras:* 
Sunday . 
15 
Inches. 
3C.360 
deg 
51.7 
deg. 
45.2 
N.W. 
deg. 
49.0 
deg. 
64 2 
deg. 
36.7 
deg. 
109 4 
deg. 
31.9 
In. 
Monday. 
Tuesday ... 
30.186 
53 9 
48 9 
N.E. 
50.2 
63 2 
45.0 
107.2 
40.6 
_ 
17 
30.037 
48 4 
4>.t 
N.F. 
50.4 
56.9 
4 >.2 
79.3 
40 4 
0.018 
Wednesday. 
18 
29.878 
64 2 
51 9 
S.W. 
50 2 
60.4 
482 
88.6 
42.6 
0.02; 
Thursday ... 
w 
29 879 
49.1 
47.3 
s.w. 
5'.2 
62 3 
436 
88.8 
35.8 
0.28 i 
Friday . 
29 366 
48-1 
41.3 
s.w. 
50.2 
53.8 
43 9 
102.2 
42.8 
0.026 
Saturday ... 
21 
29 763 
48 7 
43.8 
w. 
49.2 
54.2 
36.8 
102.9 
33.2 
0.089' 
29 924 
50.6 
46.8 
49.9 
59.3 
428 
SC 8 
38 2 
OAST 
REMARKS. 
15th.—Bright and fine, 
loth.—Fine, with some sunshine. 
17th.—Overcast morning ; fair afternoon. 
18th.—Dull and showery till nbont 3 P.M., then fine. 
19th.—Damp and showery till mid-day, then fine ; heavy rain at 5.31; wet evening; Z.W. 
ga’e at night. 
20: h.—Stormy and cold, with showers of rain and hail; clear evening. 
2lst. —Sunshine and showers ; a little snow and hail in the morning. 
A showery week, with three cold nights and one slight frost on grass. Temperature 
again below the average.—0. J. Symons. 
