JOURNAL  OR  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
January  tf,  1&9?. 
> 
32 
can  easily  be  opened  with  a  hunting  crop  or  the  hooked  end  of  an 
Ash  plant,  and  so  necessitate  no  dismounting. 
Of  coarse,  if  a  man  is  very  tidy,  even  though  he  be  a  walker) 
he  looks  well  to  his  gates,  knowing  them  to  be,  as  it  were,  an  index 
to  his  whole  system  of  management.  Gates  are  not  costly,  and 
well  hung  and  well  gas  tarred  or  painted  should  have  a  fairly  long 
life.  Of  course  much  depends  upon  the  class  of  stock  grazed  in 
the  field.  Young  horses  are  perhaps  the  most  destructive,  but  a 
small  round  rod  of  iron  on  the  top  bar  of  the  gate,  raised  about 
half  an  inch,  and  a  little  barbed  wire,  will  prove  a  salutary  check, 
and  will  do  them  no  harm. 
A  gate  must  combine  lightness  and  strength  (quite  a  possible 
combination  with  good  material  and  good  design),  and  pains  must 
be  taken  to  see  that  the  posts  are  long  enough,  strong  enough,  and 
firm  enough.  The  question  as  to  style  must  be  left  to  individual 
taste,  as  almost  each  county  has  its  own  particular  pattern. 
Remember,  a  gate  too  heavy  knocks  itself  to  pieces  without  any 
extraneous  aid.  Get  the  best  wood  your  means  will  allow.  Oak 
comes  first,  and  where  oak  is  plentiful  use  it  without  grudging. 
Ash,  once  cheap,  is  now  too  dear  as  a  rule  for  ordinary  farm  gates. 
"Well-grown  larch  from  strong  land  has  great  tenacity  of  fibre 
and  wears  well.  There  is  much  wood  that  is  absolutely  useless, 
and  yet  is  made  up  “  because  it  is  so  cheap.”  Yes,  certainly 
cheap  when  it  snaps  and  breaks  in  every  direction.  Pitch  pine  is 
one  of  the  chief  defaulters.  If  you  do  use  foreign  wood  let  it  be 
the  best  that  can  be  bought.  Baltic  red  deal  well  creosoted  will 
be  of  long  duration. 
There  is  a  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  merits  of  rivets  v. 
nails.  Rivets  are  bad  to  manage,  though  neat  in  appearance. 
Good  steel  nails  are  perhaps  the  best  for  the  average  workman’s 
use,  for  they  are  very  pliable,  and  can  be  riveted  to  perfection. 
For  posts  again  oak  comes  first  and  foremost  (not  green 
by  any  means),  with  ac  least  four  years’  seasoning.  Creosoted 
Norway  spars  make  capital  gate  posts,  and  may  be  preserved  almost 
everlastingly  by  fresh  coats  of  tar  or  creosote.  Where  stone  or 
slate  can  be  got  (say  Derbyshire  or  Wales)  by  all  means  use  it* 
Stone  or  slate  must  be  set  in  cement.  The  jaw  bones  of  the  whale 
used  in  old  days  to  be  seen  (relics  from  the  Greenland  fisheries)  I 
do  not  know  of  more  than  one  pair  left  now.  Have  you  seen  the 
top*  of  old  posts  covered  with  lead  ?  I  have,  but  not  lately  ;  I 
suppose  they  were  too  attractive  to  the  bullet-making  boy. 
Give  the  top  of  the  post  slope  enough,  and  plenty  of  paint  so 
that  there  can  be  no  lodgment  of  rain  water  to  work  decay.  It 
is  no  use  to  think  the  gate  post  can  be  set  anyhow  ;  the  life  of  the 
gate  depends  on  the  stability  of  its  support.  Mako  the  hole  deep 
enough  and  wide  enough  ;  remember  there  must  be  a9  much  post 
out  of  sight  as  in  light.  Have  you  ever  thought  how  far  and  how 
deep  the  roots  of  trees  extend  ?  Shall  you  be  surprised  to  learn 
that  roots  and  branches  pretty  well  balance  one  another  ?  Nature 
is  a  good  guide.  In  counties  where  flat  stones  are  procurable  they 
are  used  as  wedges.  Carefully  dibble  the  *oil  in  a  bit  at  a  time, 
ram  it  well  home  (idle  men  need  not  apply  for  this  job),  do  not  be 
in  a  hurry,  and  do  not  spare  labour.  Where  expense  is  no  great 
consideration  a  trench  cut  deeply  from  post  to  post  to  receive  a 
beam,  which  acts  as  a  wedge,  is  a  fine  idea.  Cover  the  beam  with 
soil,  and  just  below  the  level  of  the  gateway  put  in  another 
beam.  Some  posts,  again,  are  set  in  concrete  ;  this  allows  of 
economy  in  wood,  as  the  post  need  not  be  so  long. 
Too  much  stress  cannot  be  laid  on  the  hanging  of  the  gate,  and 
not  one  man  in  a  hundred  knows  how  to  do  it  properly.  In  the 
ordinary  way  I  will  be  bound  to  say  the  nose  drags  on  the  ground 
in  less  than  a  fortnight,  and  nothing  can  be  more  conducive  to  the 
destruction  of  the  gate  and  to  the  destruction  of  the  tempers  of 
those  who  use  it.  The  tendency  of  the  gate  is  always  to  fall 
from  the  heel  post.  Short  hook  at  the  top,  longer  at  the  bottom, 
and  both  set  well  clear  of  the  ground,  will  be  found  a  preventive. 
The  difference  in  length  of  hook  must  be  at  least  inches. 
The  top  hook  should  go  through  the  post,  and  be  secured  with 
a  nut.  This  allows  of  a  little  adjustment  as  time  passes.  If  the 
gate  i*  meant  to  be  self-closing  greater  length  of  hook  must  be 
given  at  the  bottom.  It  is  well  to  make  gate*  at  least  partly 
self-closing.  There  is  such  a  natural  disinclination  in  the  human 
breast  to  shut  gates,  that  it  is  well  to  make  the  process  as  easy  as 
possible.  A  gate  that  works  stiffly  is  invariably  left  open,  except 
by  the  most  conscientious.  The  simpler  the  fastening  the  better, 
bearing  in  mind  there  are  always  shifty  old  cows  and  cunning  old 
horses  that  can  open  any  gate  in  creation.  A  gate  that  opens 
outwards  on  to  a  road  is  most  unsightly,  and  also  may  become  a 
source  of  great  danger. 
In  painting  again  individual  taste  must  have  play.  There  is 
one  rule  that  admits  of  no  exception — i  e,  whatever  be  the  colour 
see  to  the  quality  ;  let  it  be  the  best  that  money  can  buy.  Coal 
tar  looks  well  and  la»ts  well,  but  is  possibly  a  little  funereal.  One 
old  friend  always  chose  a  deep  good  red  ;  he  said  it  gave  a  warm 
tone  to  the  landscape,  and  it  certainly  wore  well.  Beside  the 
consideration  of  smartness,  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  in  this 
damp  humid  climate  all  outside  woodwork  must  be  well  protected 
by  paint  if  it  is  to  last  out  half  its  life,  and  nowadays  we  require 
full  value  for  every  halfpenny  expended  on  the  farm  or  its 
belongings . 
WORK  ON  THE  HOME  FARM. 
The  weather  haB  again  become  very  mild,  and  the  rainfall  has  been 
considerable.  The  later  sown  Wheat  is  getting  well  out  of  the  ground, 
and  freedom  from  frost  for  another  fortnight  would  see  it  well  estab¬ 
lished,  and  safe  at  any  rate  from  the  ravages  of  the  birds. 
We  have  about  finished  manuring  Clover  stubble  for  a  crop  of  Pota¬ 
toes,  and  are  commencing  to  plough  it  in  10  inches  deep  with  chilled 
ploughs.  Three  horses  in  a  plough  will  do  an  acre  a  day  comfortably. 
We  are  also  ploughing  lea  for  Oats  with  the  same  ploughs,  but  not  so 
deep  ;  only  about  7  inches  in  this  case.  We  are  doing  this  ploughing 
none  too  soon,  for  the  sod  must  be  fairly  decomposed  and  the  land 
solid  before  the  »eed  is  drilled,  and  we  hope  to  have  it  in  about  the 
1st  of  March. 
The  spare  hands  are  busy  with  hedging,  which  has  got  considerably 
in  arrear.  The  district  councils  are  requiring  the  fences  adjoining  roads 
to  be  kept  low,  which  is  causing  friction  with  occupiers,  who  do  not  like 
parting  with  shelter  for  their  stock.  Some  fences  have  been  allowed  to 
become  much  too  high,  and  as  it  is  not  always  the  highest  fence  that 
provides  the  best  shelter  the  owners  may  be  benefited  against  their  will. 
Sheep  on  Turnips  on  heavy  land  have  been  through  a  trying  time 
lately.  The  folds  after  the  thaw  were  in  a  dreadful  state — a  puddled 
mass — and  many  flocks  have  been  removed  to  grass  altogether  for  a  time. 
We  heard  of  large  numbers  having  to  be  carted  out  of  the  field  ;  they 
could  not  stand,  much  less  walk.  Fine  weather  is  wanted  very  urgently 
to  put  things  right ;  in  fact,  it  is  wanted  by  farmers  now  for  every 
reason.  Fallows  are  exceedingly  wet,  and  will  require  a  good  spell  of 
drying  winds  before  they  can  ba  workable. 
Potatoes  move  off  very  slowly  ;  a  sudden  spurt  one  week  is  followed 
by  a  dead  stop  the  week  after.  We  are  making  them  a  very  good  sample, 
and  keeping  a  considerable  quantity  for  the  cattle.  These  latter  will 
consume  as  many  as  we  can  spare  for  them,  for  Turnips  become 
relatively  scarcer  as  time  passes,  and  there  is  certain  to  be  a  scarcity 
before  spring. 
METEOROLOGICAL  OBSERVATIONS. 
OAMDEN  SQUARB,  LONDON. 
Lat.  51°  32' 40"  N. ;  Long.  0°  8/  0"  W.;  Altitude  111  feet. 
Date. 
9  A.M. 
In  the  Day. 
1896-7. 
December 
|  Barometer 
at  32°,  and 
|  Sea  Level. 
Hygrometer. 
Direc¬ 
tion  of 
Temp, 
of  soil 
at 
1  foot. 
Shade  Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature 
Rain. 
and 
January. 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Wind. 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
Sun. 
On 
Grass. 
Sunday  ..  27 
Inchs. 
30*363 
leg. 
42*0 
deg. 
39*9 
N.W. 
deg. 
40*8 
deg. 
47*0 
deg. 
40*0 
deg. 
61*1 
deg 
30-4 
Inchs. 
0*208 
Monday  ..  2< 
29*903 
41  9 
43*2 
S. 
39*9 
51*2 
41*1 
56*9 
32*2 
0*123 
Tuesday  . .  29 
30*318 
33*9 
33  4 
N. 
40*2 
48*3 
31*6 
44*2 
25*0 
— 
Wednesday  30 
30*0-4 
48*1 
47*0 
s.w. 
40*0 
50  6 
33*1 
52*7 
27*2 
0*049 
Thursday..  31 
30*  78 
44*1 
42*9 
w. 
42*0 
50*0 
43*8 
59*0 
37*0 
0*031 
Friday  . .  1 
30*358 
44*2 
42*0 
N. 
42-7 
45*0 
43  3 
57*9 
38  1 
— 
Saturday  . .  2 
30*663 
29  2 
2  6*2 
N. 
8. *7 
40-9 
27*0 
41*8 
20*3 
— 
30*242 
40-9 
39*7 
40*8 
47*6 
37  1 
54*1 
300 
0*411 
REMARKS. 
27th. — Bright  sun  all  day  ;  fine  night 
2sth. — Squally  and  rainy  till  10  A.M  ,  dull  and  showery  after. 
2ath. — A  brilliant  day,  marred  almost  throughout  by  more  or  less  London  smoke. 
30th.— Mild  and  dull. 
31st.— Rain  in  small  hours  ;  bright  sun  from  sunrise  to  noon ;  dull  and  drizzly  from 
2  p.m.  to  5  p.m.  ;  fair  evening. 
1st.— Rain  at  6  A.M. ;  fair  after,  and  brilliant  from  10  A.M.  to  midnight. 
2nd.— Foggy  throughout. 
A  variable  week,  with  temperature  rather  above  the  average.— G.  J.  SYMONS. 
