190 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER, 
Angust 23, 18W. 
timely tillage, kept so ■well to the front that each field is ready 
for its crop when the best time for planting or sowing arrives. 
In dealing with heavy land, it has long been our custom to burn 
as much clay as we can every summer for working into the soil 
in autumn as a mechanical divider. Especial care is taken to do 
this thoroughly, and then a radical change in soil is a certainty. 
No longer does it become sodden by heavy rain, all superfluous 
water passing through it qu’ckly by filtration ; the air enters and 
circulates in it with ever-increasing freedom ; it becomes porous, 
is more easily cultivated, never settles down into its original 
cold, sodden, inert condition, nor is it beaten down by heavy 
rain. The importance of such soil amelioration cannot be over¬ 
estimated, and when done gradually field by fleld, or acre by acre, 
the expense is not burdensome, the gradual outlay being richly 
rewarded by better crops, easier tillage, greater certainty of culti¬ 
vation. 
Clay-burning is done because it is the material lying nearest 
to hand for the purpose. All that is wanted is enough hard 
particles to mix with soil to divide and open it—gravel, coal 
ashes, slag, may all be turned to account when they can be had. 
This is so obvious that a mere hint seems superfluous. It is 
not so, however, for we frequently see vast heaps of slag and 
ashes lying idle near heavy land, the advantage to be derived 
from a dressing of the slag being precisely one of the first prin¬ 
ciples of agriculture of which so many farmers are ignorant. 
It is true enough that liming does much good, but its effect is 
not sufficiently lasting, and it should be valued much more for 
its chemical action. 
Mention is now made of soil division for the simple reason 
that we never miss an opportunity of doing so. It may enter 
into autumn tillage when necessary, but it is a hindrance to the 
brisk action which is so desirable in destroying weeds, and 
ridging, before heavy autumnal rain sets in, as it so frequently 
does in October. The next five or six weeks should be among 
the busiest of the whole year, they will be where the true value 
and importance of the work being done now is realised. Where 
there is nothing but annual weeds the ploughs follow the 
clearance of the corn, the field is ploughed deeply enough to insure 
the destruction of the weeds, and so left for three or four weeks, 
then it is cross-ploughed with the double breasted plough, and 
thrown into ridges for the winter. Nothing so simple, nothing 
more certain than this. But where there are perennial weeds, 
such as couch grass, coltsfoot, thistles, docks, or a thick carpet 
of weeds, the skim-coulter, horse hoe, cultivator, and harrow 
may all be required. In some exceptionally bad cases recourse 
is had to ploughing and hand forks to get out the weeds. This 
is so serious a hindrance to autumn work that it sometimes 
becomes necessary to leave a field or two for a bastard fallow 
and a crop of roots next season. It is just a question of ways 
and means and of weather, and some judgment is required to so 
arrange the work that as much land as is possible shall be got 
clean and ridged this autumn. All this should be done before 
the root crops are turned to for clearance. 
As a standard of excellence in farm management we would 
have all winter corn sown by the end of September, all bare 
fields cleaned and ridged, water furrows opened into ditches, and 
men and horses ready for the clearance of Carrots, Mangolds 
and Swedes in October, when the fast decline in temperature 
prevents any more useful growth in such crops. Here early 
sowing, high culture, and good management tells. The crops 
are ready, the time is favourable, the work is done quickly, the 
roots are in clamp safe from all risk of frost before November, 
and the only ploughing to be done follows in due course. Not 
merely do we wish once more to enfoi-ce the importance of 
being beforehand with the work, but to do it while it can be 
done with ease, expedition, and economy. Autumn tillage has 
all these advantages, it also gives us the great privilege of being 
able to get in spring corn early, and yet be deliberate about it. 
Ridged land is so thoroughly exposed all winter, that a deep 
fine seed bed early in spring is a certainty. We have full 
advantage of March winds and April showers; with so fine a 
seed bed the sowing is well done, seed germination is quick, a 
full even plant anfl a full crop is equally certain if we take 
equal care in the selection of seed and in the application o£ 
manure. 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
Very little corn is in staek, but a run by the Midland railway to- 
Leicester last week and the return journev by the North-Western, 
enabled us to see that most of the corn was reap'd. Some of it was 
very foul with a tall growth of weeds, which showed green half way up 
the sheaves. There is also much of the hay crop still out and sadly- 
discoloured. We saw twenty-five men at it in one meadow, turning, 
turning 1 Such costly and disheartening work for such poor results. 
In Leicestershire mowing was still in progress, the earlier mown hay 
having been got into the big sugarloaf-like heaps termed “cobs ” in the 
Midlands. The first growth, the legitimate hay crop, was brown and 
dry, springing out of a second or bottom growth, which was green and 
succulent. Curious fodder this will be. It may have some flavour in 
the stack ; it will be inferior in quality. But it is not only in Leicester¬ 
shire that the work drags its slow length along ; we saw grass being 
mown for hay on the same day in Middlesex. What a muddle it all is 1 
Corn and hay harvest intermingled ; much of the hay worthless, when 
it might have been saved to perfection early in July. Where it was so- 
saved the aftermath is abundant and excellent. 
Where ensilage has been turned to a reminder of the value of salting 
it may be useful. Every layer of grass is sprinkled freely with salt, 
which has been found an excellent preservative of the silage, especially 
near the outsides of the stack. A plan often followed is to make a hay¬ 
stack upon the silage for the sake of pressure. Before doing so it is well 
to consider if the silage is likely to be required before the hay. We 
prefer keeping them separate, using the silage first and holding over 
the hay if it can be spared. It is with much regret that we find ensilage 
continues to be so much ignored. This is certainly a season when it 
might have proved a great boon, both in helping to avoid much of the 
expense of trying to save the hay, as well as in getting it off the land 
out of the way of that aftergrowth which is invaluable. To the dairy 
farmer especially a well sustained yield of rich milk now means a differ¬ 
ence in his favour of so much more butter or cheese. For this and for 
every good reason ensilage, which clears off the grass as fast as it is 
mown, or earlier haymaking is desirable. Either or both can he man¬ 
aged on certain farms, and there can be no obstacle to its being so 
generally. 
OUR LETTER BOX. 
So'nrlng Vetches (//. C. T .").—Winter Vetches should be sown 
about the second week in September, and it is a good plan to make 
other sowings early in October, and again late in that month, for this 
is a most useful green crop, either for mowing for cattle and horses, 
or for folding with sheep. Winter Oats may be mixed with it if cared 
for ; but we prefer the Vetches alone. Drill in the same manure as for 
winter corn to obtain a full crop, which is most profitable, and may be 
turned to account in a variety of ways. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
Camden Squabb, London. 
Lat.Sl® 32'40" K.; Loag. 0° 8' 0" W.; Altitude, 111 feet. 
Date. 
9 A.M. 
In the Day. 
Rain. 
1894. 
August. 
Barometer 
1 at 32°, and 
1 Sea Level. 
Hygrometer. 
Direc¬ 
tion of 
Wind. 
Temp, 
of soil 
at 
1 foot. 
Shade Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
Sun. 
On 
Grass. 
Inchs. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
Inchs. 
Sunday .. 
12 
30-096 
62-8 
57-6 
W. 
6 -6 
69-1 
54-5 
1137 
52-2 
0-12a 
Monday .. 
13 
29-943 
61-8 
52-6 
N.W. 
60-2 
69-1 
56-2 
119-0 
53-9 
0-010 
Tuesday .. 
14 
29-799 
68 2 
63-0 
W. 
60-9 
79-3 
56-9 
1-22-8 
55-2 
— 
Wednesday 
15 
29-593 
61-7 
54-6 
W. 
62-8 
69-2 
55-9 
116-7 
51-3 
0-088 
Thursday .. 
16 
29-740 
59-3 
55-3 
N.W. 
61-2 
67-3 
51-3 
118-4 
48-9 
0-434 
Friday 
17 
30-095 
57-2 
51-7 
W. 
59-9 
64-4 
45-7 
111-7 
44-3 
— 
Saturday .. 
18 
30-103 
60-5 
55-1 
N.W. 
59 1 
67-8 
51-8 
118 8 
48 9 
0-042 
29-910 
61-6 
55-7 
60-6 
69-5 
53-2 
117-3 
50-7 
0-694 
REMARKS. 
1th.—Fine and generally sunny in morning, overcast afternoon; rain from 6 P.M. to 
8 P.M., and dull and damp after. 
13th.—Overcast early, fair morning, with occasional sunshine; sunny afternoon, cloud 
again at night. 
14th.—A little rain early ; sunny, warm, and summer ike from 8 A.M. to 5 P.M.; stormy 
and threatening evening. 
15th.—'Windy and sunny day; frequent slight showers in afternoon, and a heavy shower 
at 3.15 P.M. 
16th.—Sunny early, drizzle at 8.30 A.M., and almost continuous rain from 10.15 A.M. 
to 4 P.M.; exceptionally heavy at 11.45 A.M., and from 2.15 to 3 P.M.; fair 
night. 
17th.—Fine, but only occasional sunshine. 
16th.—Fine, and frequently sunny except for a heavy shower at 1.40 P.M. 
Cloudy and showery as a whole, but some bright sunshine every day. Temperatuae 
slightly below the average.—G. J. Si'MONS. 
