1?8 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
February  8.  1900, 
grass  land.  But  you  say  we  want  potash  and  nitrogen  as  well.  Wait 
a  bit.  We  spoke  earlier  of  dormant  forces  in  the  land  which  want 
very  little  persuasion  to  btcoino  active.  It  is  always  well  to  use  the 
material  that  is  at  home.  “  Far  sought,  dear  bought.”  Basic  slag 
has  this  wondcrlul  rousing  power — it  liberates  the  natural  potash  if 
present  in  the  soil,  and  also  breaks  up  humus,  releasing  the  nitrogen, 
thus  nraking  them  gratuitous  but  valuable  elements  of  fertility 
assimilable  by  the  plant  roots,  so  that  basic  slag  may  be  applied  with 
great  benefit  as  long  as  the  natural  store  of  potash  and  humus  holds 
out. 
If  the  soil  should  not  contain  nitrogen  and  potash  it  is  well  to 
apply  them  in  addition  to  the  slag,  bringing  up  the  whole  of  the 
manurial  value  to  203,  or  30s,  per  acre.  This  has  been  found  to  be 
more  effectual  than  double  the  value  of  farm  manure.  Hern  is  the 
testimony  of  a  farmer:  “I  have  an  18-acre  field  of  seeds  that  had 
5  cwts,  per  acre  of  basic  slag  in  October  1897-1898.  It  was  grazed 
the  fir.st  year,  mown  this  jear,  and  is  now  full  of  Clover,  and  kept 
green  and  fresh  all  through  the  hot  .weather  ;  it  s  being  grazed  now 
{November)  and  will  do  to  graze  another  >  ear.  As  soon  as  it  is  clear 
of  stock  it  will  again  be  dressed  with  5  cwts.  per  acre.” 
This  is  creditable  for  the  last  hot,  dry  summer,  when  fresh  herbage 
was  hard  to  find.  Not  only  is  the  quantity  of  the  grass  increased,  but 
there  is  a  wonderful  difference  in  its  feeding  value.  The  cost  of  this 
fertiliser  is  about  42s.  per  ton,  in  some  cases  rather  less,  and  as  the 
quantity  used  is  generally  about  5  cwts.  per  acre,  the  expense  is  not 
heavy.  Experiments  are  being  carried  out  to  decide  whether  healthy 
roots  could  not  be  produced  as  well  as  good  grass  by  the  use  of  this 
tillage. 
Of  course  the  best  time  for  application  to  grass  lanl  is  now,  when 
the  winter  rains  have  a  ch  mce  of  washing  the  fine  powder  into  the 
soil.  The  finer  the  powder  the  better,  A  still  calm  day  should  he 
chosen,  and  it  would  be  of  course  the  best  plan  to  drill  it  on  the  land, 
previously  watering  it.  The  slag,  good  as  it  is  for  the  land,  is  most 
injurious  to  human  beings,  and  all  risk  must  be  minimised  as  much  as 
possible.  The  men  should  be  instructed  to  guard  nostrils  and  mouth 
with  folds  of  muslin.  This  must  be  insisted  on.  This  is  a  case  like 
many  others  where  precautions  are  necessary,  but  with  well  wetted  slag 
and  the  exercise  of  common  sense,  no  danger  need  be  apprehended. 
We  begin  to  see  there  is  really  nothing  “waste”  in  the  whole 
Scheme  of  creation.  Was  it  not  Lord  Palmerston  who  defined  “  dirt 
as  matter  in  the  wrong  [lace  ?”  We  are  gradually  using  up  all  bye 
products  of  our  manufactures.  We  have  b  en,  and  still  shall  be,  a 
long  time  in  learning  all  these  things.  The  last  twenty  years  we  have 
made  vast  strides.  We  have  had  many  youthful  theories  upset,  and 
many  new  doctrines  put  in  their  place.  This  is  essentially  the  age  of 
the  practical  chemist,  who,  by  patient  perseverance,  is  wresting  from 
Nature  her  deeply  hidden  secrets. 
WORK  ON  THE  HOME  FARM. 
The  lambing  season  has  now  commenced,  and  w'e  see  in  many 
places  newly  made  folds  and  pens  ready  for  .use,  if  not  already 
occupied.  The  greater  profit  gained  by  early  lambing  and  the  sale  of 
fat  lambs  has  induced  many  farmers  to  put  forward  the  lambing  season 
by  a  month.  There  is  more  labour  and  trouble,  also  a  little  more 
expense  in  extra  food,  during  the  spring;  but  early  sale  of  lambs  and 
gradual  relaxing  of  the  strain  upon  pastures  and  cake  supply  soon 
make  full  compensation.  So  far  the  ewes  are  healthy,  but  it  is  early 
to  boast. 
The  weather  is  mild,  and  still  very  wet;  much  flood  water  and 
snow  remain  visible,  and  there  is  not  much  land  in  the  country  dry 
enough  for  the  reception  of  seed  grain.  Early  sowing,  as  we  have 
lately  remarked,  is  advisable,  but  the  work  must  be  done  under  suitable 
conditions.  Barley  is  especially  fastidious  as  to  a  proper  seed  bed, 
and  we  had  better  wait  for  March  winds  than  muddle  the  seed  in. 
Though  the  land  is  too  wet  for  working  fallows,  there  is  plenty  for  the 
hrrses  to  do.  Sheep  are  marching  rapidly  over  the  Turnips,  and  the 
folds  have  to  be  ploughed  as  soon  as  they  are  vacated.  Seed  fields  that 
have  been  reserved  for  the  Oat  crop  must  also  be  ploughed  without 
further  delay.  Such  fields  have  been  very  useful  for  the  ewes,  but 
must  now  be  spared  if  a  good  corn  crop  is  to  result.  The  land 
would  have  been  better  ploughed  before  Christmas,  but  the  bit  of 
pasturage  was  tempting. 
Land  that  was  ploughed  deeply  for  Potatoes  about  Martinmas 
must  be  worked  down  at  the  first  opportunity,  and  then  ridged  up  for 
planting.  Even  if  it  is  a  little  wet  it  would  be  better  in  the  ridged 
state,  as  it  will  dry  more  quickly,  and  also  be  more  open  to  frost, 
besides  which  there  is  the  gain  in  having  got  one  piece  of  work  done. 
Fat  beasts  and  sheep  are  selling  well,  especially  the  former,  but 
butchers  complain  that  they  kill  very  badly,  and  are  short  of  suet; 
they  blame  the  absence  of  good  Swedes,  and  are  no  doubt  right. 
We  fancy  that  decorticated  cotton  cake  in  moderate  quantity  added  to 
the  other  artificials  would  assist  good  feeding,  but  yardmen  do  not  like 
its  hardness. 
The  Improvement  of  Land  Act. — The  Board  of  Agriculture  desire 
to  call  attention  to  the  provisi  >ns  of  the  Improvement  of  Land 
Act,  1899,  which  came  into  operation  on  1st  January,  1900.  This  Act 
has  been  passed  with  a  view  to  give  increased  facilities  to  owners  of 
land  desirous  of  carrying  out  agricultural  and  other  improvements 
with  the  aid  of  borrowed  money.  With  this  object  the  new  statute 
amends  the  Improvement  of  Land  Act,  ISOi,  and  oi  her  Acts 
authorising  the  creation  of  rent-charges  for  the  improvement  of  land. 
Under  the  new  Act  one  of  the  provisions  provides  that  the  maximum 
period  over  which  rent-charges  authorised  after  the  commencement  of 
the  Act  may  be  allowed  to  extend  is  forty  years.  It  must  no*,  however, 
be  assumed  that  the  full  term  will  always  be  applicable.  By  another 
provision,  the  land  charged  with  the  payment  of  the  rent-charge  may 
be  land  other  than  that  which  is  directly  improved,  provided  (a)  that 
such  other  land  is  shown  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  Board,  by  statutory 
declaration,  to  beheld  for  the  same  estates  or  interests,  and  to  be  either 
subject  to  the  same  encumbrances  (if  any)  or  to  be  free  from  encum¬ 
brances  ;  and  (&)  that,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Board,  such  other  land 
may  properly  be  included  in  the  charge. — (“North  British  Agri¬ 
culturist.”) 
Farmers  and  Stock-keeping — Examples  of  What  May  Come  His 
Way. _ A  fortnight  ago  we  were  discussing  the  question  of  farmers 
and  showing,  and  I  heard  a  storv  a  few  days  ago  showing  that 
ignorance  in  the  quality  of  the  stock  reared  may  be  a  source  of  loss. 
This  spring  a  fancier  sent  off  a  setting  of  eggs  for  43.  6d.  to  a  certain 
farmer.  He  was  asked  in  the  autumn  for  a  cockerel  or  two  more  than 
he  could  supply.  He  remembered  the  farmer  to  whom  he  had  sold 
the  eggs,  and  went  over  to  see  if  there  were  any  good  birds  amongst 
them.  The  farmer’s  wife  informed  him  that  all  the  cockerels  had  been 
sent  off  to  the  market  the  week  before — all  except  one  which  escaped. 
This  one  was  packed  off,  as  I  understand,  without  the  fancier  seeing 
it.  It  was  sold  for  ds.  6d.,  and  eventually  it  took  the  cup  at  the  Palace 
in  a  certain  class.  I  also  heard  of  a  farmer  who  had  a  nice  lot  of 
pure-bred  birds,  and  a  fancier  called  in  and  offered  £5  for  his  pick. 
The  offer  was  accepted,  and  the  bird  chosen  brought  in  a  fortune  to 
the  fancier.  I  would  not  suggest  that  £5  notes  lie  hidden  beneath 
every  pure-bred  bird;  but  certainly,  if  farmers  go  in  for  any  pai  ti- 
cular  breed  they  might  as  well,  to  say  the  least  of  it,  know  the  special 
points  of  the  breeds  they  go  in  for,  even  though  they  have  no  inten¬ 
tion  of  exhibiting.  It  would  be  interesting  to  know  exactly  what  it 
costs  a  farmer  with  plenty  of  land  to  rear  chickens  up  to  six  months 
old,  and  what  arrangement  would  be  considered  a  paying  one  for  him 
to  make  to  bring  up  chickens  after  they  have  left  the  hen  or  the 
foster  mother. —  (“  Farmer  and  Stock-breeder.”) 
South  African  Horse  Sickness  — Much  more  to  be  dreaded  than 
glanders  is  the  “  sickness”  which  about  this  time  of  the  year,  usually  a 
little  later,  breaks  out  over  a  large  portion  of  South  Africa  British 
veterinary  officers  have  patien'ly  investigated  the  diseaseyears  and  years 
ago,  and  Mr.  Hutcheon  and  other  veterinarians  in  the  service  of  the 
Cape  Government  have  continued  their  researches  without  ascertaining 
the  cause.  It  is  most  rapid  and  fatal,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  we  shall, 
soon  hear  of  weekly  consignments  of  a  thousand  or  two  of  Australian 
horses  at  the  least,  to  take  the  place  of  those  which  will  inevitably  die. 
From  myownexperience,  Ishould  expectquite  half  the  number  to  succumb 
before  the  conclusion  of  peace.  I  also  anticipate  a  steady  and  con¬ 
tinuous  rise  in  the  price  of  horses  in  that  country,  and  would  point  to 
the  fact  that  they  cannot  be  quickly  replaced,  and  therefore  as  mauy 
good  mares  should  be  stinted  this  spring  as  each  owner  can  arrange' 
for.  The  horse  sickness  has  all  the  appearance  of  poisoning,  so  rapid 
is  it  in  its  effects.  An  animal  which,  to  all  appearance,  was  well  over¬ 
night,  is  found  next  morning  blowing  like  a  case  of  congestion  of  the 
lungs  :  heaving  ffa’  ks,  distended  nostrils,  great  distress  and  collapse, 
death  following  before  sundown  in  most  instances.  The  few  which  live 
remain  immune  for  life,  and  are  much  valued  as  “salted”  animals. 
Some  seem  ii^susceptible  to  the  disease  or  less  so  than  others,  otherwise 
the  continent  would  be  clear  of  horses  altogether.  No  medicines 
appear  to  have  any  good  effect,  but  a  serum  has  been  employed  which  , 
is  thought  to  give  a  certain  amount  of  immunity.  It  is  probable  that  . 
the  horse  sickness,  like  the  malarial  fever  of  man,  is  due  to  the  bite  of  i 
some  poisonous  insect.  To  change  the  fauna  of  a  country  is  too  much 
to  hope  of  any  government,  and  while  the  mosquito  infects  men,  and 
some  as  yet  unid^jitified  creature  poisons  horses  we  can  oi  ly  hope 
(says  a  writer  in  “The  Farmer  and  Stock-breeder’’),  to  blunder  upon 
some  prophylactic  in  the  astounding  manner  of  our  forefathers,  who 
discoveied  specifics  for  certain  diseases  whose  causes  they  had  not 
ascertained. 
