150 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
February  15,  1900. 
Barley  in  by  all  means  early;  it  is  oif  your  mind,  and  there  is  more 
than  enough  work  for  horses  and  men  later  in  the  season. 
Then,  what  is  “  early  ?”  That  opens  up  another  question.  Is 
the  Barley  to  be  after  Turnips  or  after  Wheat  ?  This  leads  up  to  the 
condition  of  the  land.  We  have  seen,  and  you  have  seen,  and  will 
again  see,  crops  of  what  ought  to  have  been  good  Barley  ruined  by 
too  much  kindness.  The  land  has  been  too  fat,  too  rich ;  the  crop  has 
been  too  big  by  half,  and  has  all  gone  down  to  the  rujn  of  quality. 
Now,  if  land  be  in  such  very  good  fettle,  we  shall  get  a  better  sample 
after  a  crop  of  Wheat  has  rather  drawn  off  the  extreme  richness,  and 
therefore  it  would  be  possible  in  this  case,  given  an  open  winter,  to 
get  in  the  seed  in  January.  After  Turnips  you  cannot  be  so 
“  forrard,”  but  don’t  lose  a  chance,  following,  of  course,  the  custom  of 
the  district.  Is  it  necessary  to  speak  of  a  fine  well  prepared  seed  bed  ? 
This  is  most  essential. 
What  shall  I  grow  this  year  ?  Well,  is  it  to  be  maltster  or 
miller,  quantity  or  quality  ?  We  have  seen  a  good  bit  of  Barley 
trade  this  last  autumn,  and  there  was  only  one  variety  that  the 
maltsters  would  look  at — “  Chevalier.”  None  of  the  others  approach  it 
with  regard  to  malting  qualities.  There  is  some  subtle  difference 
about  it  we  laymen  cannot  understand  ;  however,  it  is  what  they  want 
and  what  they  will  have,  or  no  other.  Many  of  the  other  varieties 
yield  better,  and  are  therefore  valuable  in  that  respect.  Everyone 
has  his  own  private  idea  as  to  the  proper  quantity  to  sow  per  acre, 
and  the  sort  of  grain.  Quantity  differs  from  2^  to  4  bushels — here 
again  general  custom  must  be  the  guide.  The  seed  should  be  good 
and  sound,  and  of  an  appiroved  variety.  Some,  again,  are  in  favour 
of  “hinder  ends”  or  small  screenings,  others  2Drefer  seed  from  the 
bulk,  which,  of  course,  if  not  any  better,  is  much  more  expensive. 
If  Barley  is  difficult  to  grow,  it  is  also  difficu.t  to  harvest ;  it  is 
apparently  ripe  ten  days  before  it  is  really  fit.  Farmers  are  often  in 
too  great  a  hurry  to  cut,'  as  there  is  such  a  danger  of  ripe  Barley 
“necking’  should  a  high  wind  get  up.  It  is  wonderful,  too,  how  a 
shower  when  the  corn  is  in  stook  will  improve  the  quality.  If  the 
season  be  at  all  “  catchy,”  care  should  be  taken  in  the  stacking. 
Hedgerow  stooks  must  not  be  mixed  pell  mell  with  those  from  the 
drier  and  more  exposed  parts  of  the  field  ;  indeed,  during  leading  the 
master  or  an  experienced  hand  should  never  leave  the  field.  A  little 
care  then  saves  infinite  trouble  afterwards,  fur  no  machine  has  yet 
been  invented  which  will  remove  discoloured  grains. 
As  to  the  use  of  artificial  manures,  there  are  many  fallacies  abroad. 
Sometimes  a  crop  wants  a  little  help,  at  others  theimoney  so  spent 
is  worse  than  wasted.  A  dressing  of  superphosphate  increases  the 
weight,  and  1  cwt.  of  nitrate  of  soda  or  sulphate  of  ammonia  will 
improve  the  vigour  of  the  entire  plant.  Lastly  the  Professor  writes: 
“  It  will  be  found  that  previous  manuring,  and  general  good  cultiva¬ 
tion  carried  out  during  a  series  of  years,  will  produce  a  better  result 
than  any  immediate  dressing  of  fertilising  matter.” 
WORK  ON  THE  HOME  EARM. 
Farmers  are  still  marking  time,  for  there  is  little  chance  of  making 
good  headway  with  farm  work.  We  have  had  a  heavy  fall  of  snow, 
which  has  nearly  all  melted  and  left  the  surface  very  wet,  and  we 
are  now  having  severe  frosts,  which  will  do  good  if  the  weather  will 
only  keep  fine.  To-day  the  land  is  too  hard  for  the  plough,  so  muck¬ 
leading  is  the  only  available  occupation.  Some  of  the  yards  are  now 
too  full,  and  need  relief  from  the  great  depth  of  manure,  so  this 
is  necessary  work,  otherwise  not  much  is  gained  by  carting  the  stuff 
into  hill,  from  which  it  will  again  have  to  be  forked  into  carts  when  it 
is  time  to  drill  Swedes.  Of  course,  if  the  field  lies  a  mile  or  so  from 
the  yard,  which  is  often  the  case  in  some  districts,  there  is  a  distinct 
advantage  in  getting  it  out  now.  The  extra  labpur  of  carting  muck  long 
distances  and  bringing  grain  crops  in  is  really  an  extra  rent  put  on  the 
land.  Few  men  when  taking;  farms  take  sufficiently  into  consideration 
the  average  distance  of  the  arable  fields  from  the  farmstead.  The 
difference  in  value  between  extreme  cases  may  be  10s.  per  acre  or 
more. 
Wheat  holds ,  its  awn  but  does -not  grow  much  ;  it  has  had  quite 
enough  moisture.  We  saw  the  corner  of  one  field  looking  in  a  very  bad 
state  the  other  day ;  the  hounds  had  crossed  it,  anjd  apparently  the 
whole  “field”  had  crossed  this  particular  corner  in  a  body ;  about  half 
an  acre  seemed  to  be  quite  ruined,  and  much  as  if  a  heavy  drag  had 
gone  over  it.  Cases  of  thoughtlessness  such  as  this  make  farmers  look 
askance  when  they  see  hounds  coming.  Being  in  the  near  neighbour¬ 
hood  of  a  large  city,  perhaps  the  field  may  have  been  composed  largely 
of  persons  ignorant  of  the  appearance  of  a  Wheat  field. 
Mangolds  are  now  fit  for  use,  and  are  already  being  drawn  upon. 
They  must  be  well  husbanded,  for  it  is  a  long  time  to  grass  yet.  We 
notice  that  complaints  have  appeared  in  the  papers  of  the  Government 
having  bought  forage  (for  the  war)  abroad  instead  of  at  home.  We 
fancy  all  our  English  hay  will  be  required  at  home,  and  certainly  so  if 
we  are  to  have  any  sharp  weather.  Ewes  are  healthy  and  doing  well, 
lambing  reports  are  favourable,  but,  so  far,  the  fall  of  lambs  is  small, 
Very  early  twins,  however,  are  not  an  unmixed  blessing,  as  a  very  good 
mother  is  required  to  get  a  pair  fit  for  early  killing. 
Tobacco  Growing. — Many  years  ago  Tobacco  was  pretty  extensively 
cultivated  in  Ireland,  and  to  this  day  fields  are  met  with  here  and 
there,  still  known  as  the  Tobacco  field.  Vexatious  restrictions  were 
however,  put  on  the  growing  of  it,  and  its  cultivation  ceased  altogether, 
Col.  Everard,  of  co.  Meath,  who  is  always  to  the  fore  in  any  useful 
agricultural  experiment,  grew  some  Tobacco  last  year,  and  it  has  been 
on  view  at  the  offices  of  the  Irish  Agricultural  Organisation  Society. 
The  samples  shown  were  very  good,  and  if  the  cultivation  of  “the 
weed  ”  were  permissible,  it  would  seem  to  open  up  a  vast  field  of  enter¬ 
prise  for  farmers  and  others  in  this  country.  The  climate  of  Ireland 
may  be  a  trifle  on  the  damp  side  some  years,  but  the  Tobacco  plant 
seems  to  thrive  luxuriantly.  The  specimens  on  view  were  grown  on 
two  experimental  plots,  measuring  each  49  square  yards.  In  one  case 
the  plot  was  manured  as  an  ordinary  Turnip  field,  and  in  the  other 
heavier  manuring  and  doses  of  liquid  manure  were  used.  The  crop 
was  harvested  on  the  29th  of  September,  and  took  six  weeks  to  dry 
thoroughly.  When  quite  dry  the  crop  from  the  first  plot  weighed  14  lbs. 
12  ozs.,  and  from  the  other  20  lbs.  15  ozs.  The  revenue  duty  amounted 
to  2s.  8d.  per  lb.  The  35  lbs.  of  leaf  produced  33  lbs.  of  manufactured 
Tobacco,  and  at  this  rate  the  average  produce  per  Irish  acre  (which  is 
much  larger  than  the  Statute)  would  be  2640  lbs.  Col.  Everard 
calculates  that  the  gross  value  per  Irish  acre,  with  Tobacco  at  48.  per 
lb.,  would  be  £528,  from  which  £352  would  have  to  be  deducted  for 
excise  duty,  and  £44  for  cost  of  manufacture,  leaving  a  balance  of  £132 
for  rent,  labour,  and  profit. —  (“  Rural  World.”) 
The  R.S.P.C.A.  and  Wounded  Horses. — The  Royal  Society  for  the 
Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  Animals  has  made  itself  rather  ridiculous,  in 
connection  with  the  war,  by  advising  the  Gov’ernment  to  send  a  special 
corps  of  horse  slaughterers  to  prevent  unnecessary  suffering  in  the 
field  on  the  part  of  wounded  animals.  No  on,e  feels  more  for  a  wounded 
horse  than  does  the  trooper  or  driver,  as  the  case  may  be,  and  no  court 
martial  is  on  record  of  a  man  being  charged  with  destroying  a  horse 
he  thought  too  much  injured  to  recover.  This  is  saying  a  good  deal 
when  it  is  remembered  that  a  properly  qualified  and  military -trained 
veterinary  surgeon  is  detailed  for  duty  with  each  cavalry  regiment 
and  depot  of  artillery,  among  the  transport  corps,  and  at  the  base. 
Each  troop  has  its  farrier  sergeant,  and  each  regiment  a  farrier  major, 
all  instructed  in  veterinary  matters  and  at  the  disposal  of  the  vete¬ 
rinary  officer,  who  has  an  orderly  told  off  each  day  or  week, for  his 
own  service.  This  man  carries  in  special  wallets  the  means  of  first 
as  well  as  last  aid,  and  the  officer  or  his  orderly  settle  the  hopeless 
cases  with  the  revolver  on  the  spot.  It  was,  however,  decided  at  the 
Geneva  Convention  that  veterinary  officers  should  not  come  under  its 
protection,  so,  though  not  being  combatant  officers,  they  are,  never¬ 
theless,  liable  to  capture,  and  cannot  afford  aid  to  the  wounded  at  the 
risk  of  the  doctor  being  himself  taken  prisoner.  This  is  very  prettily 
pointed  out  in  the  courteous  reply  given  to  the  R.S.C.P.A.,  which  is 
recommended  to  get  the  Convention  extended  to  include  vets  and 
their  orderlies  before  asking  to  add  useless  non-combatants  to  an 
army  by  introducing  knackers. — (“  Parmer  and  Stockbreeder.”) 
The  Disinfection  or  Railway  Horse-Boxes. — A  memorial  has  been 
addressed  to  the  Board  of  Agriculture  by  masters  of  hounds,  owners, 
breeders,  and  trainers,  and  others  who  are  interested  in  high-class 
horses,  on  the  subject  of  the  disinfection  of  railway  horse-boxes.  It 
states  that  there  has  been  for  many  years  past  a  serious  prevalence  cf 
infectious  ailments  in  the  various  studs  and  stables  of  this  country, 
leading  to  great  and  increasing  loss  through  the  deaths  of  valuable 
horses  and  mares,  and  that  such  diseases  are  in  a  large  measure  spread  ' 
through  the  neglect  of  the  railway  companies  to  cleanse  and  disinfect 
horse-boxes  after  use.  It  is  pointed  out  that  the  existing  regulation, 
requiring  the  companies  to  swoep  out  the  horse-boxes  and  to  wash  the 
mangers  with  water,  is  wholly  insufficient  to  disinfect  such  boxes  by 
deslroying  the  germs  of  disease,  but,  even  so,  the  regulation  is  seldom, 
if  ever,  given  effect  to  by  the  companies.  Vast  numbers  of  horses  from 
America  and  elsewhere  are,  it  is  said,  brought  every  week  to  this 
country  without  any  restriction  as  to  their  freedom  from  disease,  and 
these  are  conveyed  in  horse-boxes  by  the  railway  companies  and  dis¬ 
tributed  throughout  the  country,*  such  horse-boxes  being  subsequently 
used  without  sanitary  precaution  for  the  conveyance  of  other  horses,  no 
matter  how  valuable.  The  memoralists  ask  the  Board  of  Agriculture 
to  take  the  whole  subject  into  consideration  with  a  view  to  (a)  im‘ 
proving  and  rendering'  more  effectual  the  prescribed  method  of  disin¬ 
fecting  horse-boxes,  whether  by  the  use, of  Formalin  or  otherwise;  (h)  ' 
compelling  the  railway  companies  to  carry  out  scrupulously  the  regu¬ 
lation  at  present  existing,  and  any  new  regulation,  that  may  be  made,  ;  ,  i 
