330 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
April  15,  1897. 
February  show  a  total  of  12,664  parcels  as  against  2904  for  the 
same  months  in  1896  It  has  been  estimated  that  the  average 
value  of  each  lot  would  be  at  least  7s.,  and  the  Chairman  and 
Directors  contemplate  extending  the  system  to  other  large  towns 
and  watering  places. 
That  must  be  a  boon  indeed,  for  who  but  knows  the  exceeding 
dearness  of  fresh  country  produce  in  a  fashionable  seaside  resort. 
The  great  towns,  too,  should  prove  a  ready  market,  for,  as  a  rule* 
it  is  easier  to  get  whatever  one  wants  more  cheaply  in  London  than 
in  any  provincial  town. 
The  Manchester,  Sheffield,  and  Lincolnshire  Railway  Company 
has  made  a  similar  departure,  and  is  advertising  a  list  of  country 
people  willing  and  ready  to  provide  their  town  customers  with 
dainties  and  pleasant  country  living.  We  think  the  scheme  must 
“  go.”  as  this  line  “  taps  ”  such  an  intensely  rural  neighbourhood 
from  the  Humber  to  Sheffield  in  a  straight  line,  and  there  are  the 
other  offshoots  quite  as  remote  from  the  busy  haunts  of  men. 
We  turn  the  leaf  and  find  an  article  headed  “  Fruit  Growing  on 
Farms,”  by  Mr.  Cecil  H.  Hooper.  This  is  a  question  to  which  there 
are  several  sides.  It  is  no  use  growing  fruit  unless  we  can  get  it 
to  the  consumer  quickly,  and  withaut  the  intervention  of  sales¬ 
men’s  commissions.  The  population  is  vastly  increasing  in  the  large 
towns,  and  the  love  for  fruit  is  greatly  on  the  increase.  For 
instance,  take  the  Tomato,  a  few  years  ago  a  fruit  only  eaten  by 
the  upper  and  middle  classes.  Now  go  into  any  market,  and  ask 
who  are  the  principal  consumers,  inquire  what  becomes  of  boxes 
and  boxes  that  arrive  weekly  in  the  villages  of  the  ironstone  dis¬ 
tricts.  You  will  find  the  horny-handed  son  of  toil  eats  them  at 
every  meal,  and  in  prodigious  quantities.  Give  him  the  chance  of 
other  good  wholesome  fruit,  and  you  will  find  him  an  excellent 
customer. 
We  think  when  all  the  railway  companies  grant  equal  facilities 
to  the  Great  Eastern  the  thing  will  soon  be  an  established  fact 
There  are  many  physicians  who  strongly  recommend  that  one  meal 
a  day  should  consist  entirely  of  fruit,  and  no  one  with  a  knowledge 
of  children  will  fail  to  see  how  popular  such  a  departure  would  be 
in  large  families,  mainly  made  up  of  youDg  folks. 
Mr.  Hooper  has  a  word  of  warning  as  to  the  where  and  how  of 
planting.  As  to  soil,  he  says  any  land  worth  cultivating  at  all  will 
generally  do  for  fruit,  provided  it  is  naturally  or  artificially  drained. 
Damp  valleys  are  undesirable,  on  account  of  the  worse  effect  of 
frost  than  on  higher  ground.  Apples  do  best  on  sandstone  ;  Pears* 
Plums,  Cherries  where  there  is  plenty  of  lime  ;  Raspberries  on  a 
light  soil  full  of  vegetable  matter,  and  Black  Currants  on  moist 
land.  Observers  will  soon  ascertain  for  themselves  what  varieties 
do  best  in  their  immediate  neighbourhood. 
Then  arises  the  question  of  a  tenant’s  security.  You  don’t 
plant  fruit  trees  for  nothing,  and  you  therefore  must  not  be  at 
the  mercy  of  a  six-months  notice.  The  Agricultural  Holdings 
Act  won’t  help  a  tenant  to  get  compensation  unless  he  had  the 
landlord’s  consent  to  planting  in  writing.  The  Market  Gardeners’ 
Compensation  Act  is  good  security,  but  it  only  applies  to  land 
recognised  as  market  gardens. 
In  case  of  a  lease  it  ought  to  be  transferable  ;  and,  secondly, 
there  should  be  some  arrangement  as  to  compensation  at  the  end 
of  the  lease,  unless  the  rent  has  been  exceedingly  low.  In  the 
Evesham  district  much  fruit  is  grown,  and  the  tenants  there  have  a 
fairly  good  arrangement.  “  The  tenant  hires  the  land  for  a  term 
of  years,  and  if  he  desires  to  quit  he  finds  a  customer  for  his 
interest  in  the  holding  and  takes  him  to  the  landlord  or  agent,  who 
accepts  him  as  the  new  tenant  if  he  is  considered  satisfactory.”  Mr 
Hooper  thinks  more  suburban  and  provincial  markets  are  required* 
We  turn  to  another  page,  and  find  a  review  on  “  The  Wasted 
Orchards  of  England.”  We  fear  the  reproof  is  needed.  The 
writer  bestows  little  praise  and  much  blame,  and  the  question  is  on 
whom  is  the  blame  to  fall,  owner  or  occupier  ?  Is  this  a  result  of 
the  depression  in  agriculture,  or  the  result  of  apathy  or  ignorance  ? 
A  little  of  both,  probably  ;  but  it  is  ill  work  appealing  to  deaf  ears. 
At  Oxford  there  is  a  Sibthorpian  Professor  of  Rural  Economy, 
and  we  note  with  pleasure  that  the  Cloth  workers’  Company, 
London,  have  offered  to  guarantee  a  sum  of  £200  per  annum  for 
five  years  to  enable  this  Professor  (Warington)  to  supplement  his 
lectures  by  others  embracing  the  more  important  parts  of  agricul¬ 
ture  and  forestry,  subject,  of  course,  to  conditions  submitted  to  the 
University  authorities. 
This  excellent  offer  is  supplemented  by  another  offer  of  £100 
per  annum  from  a  lady  whose  name  is  well  known  in  all  agricul¬ 
tural  circles.  We  refer  to  Miss  Ormerod.  Her  reason  is  this  : 
From  her  knowledge,  gained  by  much  correspondence,  she  is  sure 
that  our  great  landholders  would  be  much  benefited  if  they  were 
more  conversant  with  the  broad  principles  of  agricultural  and  fruit 
management,  which  those  in  their  high  positions  can  hardly  acquire 
except  at  our  leading  universities. 
Yes,  indeed,  this  practical  knowledge  would  be  far  above  any 
classical  or  mathematical  training  in  helping  a  man  to  make  the 
best  of  his  ancestral  acres. 
WORK  ON  THE  HOME  FARM. 
We  have  had  a  fine  week  and  no  hindrance  to  work  on  the  land, 
which  has  dried  very  much,  and  on  light  soils  Barley  ha*  been  drilled 
under  very  favourable  conditions.  Any  fields  inclined  to  strength  are 
rough  and  require  a  good  rain  to  soften  the  dried  clots  which  the  roller 
has  failed  to  crush. 
With  drier  conditions  the  weather  has  been  much  colder,  with  con¬ 
siderable  frost  and  occasional  show  showers.  Wheat  has  stood  well, 
but,  alas  1  for  the  stocked  pastures.  From  spring-like  greenness  they 
have  rapidly  changed  to  a  brown  bareness  ;  the  sheep  have  destroyed 
with  their  feet  more  food  than  they  have  eaten  ;  in  fact,  on  a  frosty 
morning  a  sheep  has  five  mouths.  Now  we  see  the  full  value  of  the 
Mangold  crop. 
After  drawing  on  the  Mangold  pie  for  the  lambing  ewes  since  March 
the  1st,  and  for  the  cattle  for  a  fortnight,  we  have  been  carting  away 
the  residue  and  re-storing  them  where  most  likely  to  be  wanted.  We 
have  eighty  big  loads  left,  and  there  were  only  4  acres  of  them  ;  except 
Cabbage  we  think  Mangold  the  most  valuable  crop  on  a  mixed  farm.  It 
requires  liberal  manuring,  but  not  too  much  farmyard  muck,  or  if  the 
season  be  dry  there  might  be  danger  of  not  getting  a  plant.  Three  cwt. 
bonemeal,  3  cwt.  superphosphate,  and  1  cwt.  of  nitra’e  of  soda,  put  in 
with  the  seed,  with  1  cwt.  more  nitrate  given  as  a  top-dressing  after 
cleaning,  would  grow  an  acre  of  good  Mangold  on  any  land  not  too  light 
for  the  crop. 
It  is  now  time  to  sow  field  Carrots.  For  market  purposes,  scarlet 
Intermediate  and  Altrincham  are  the  best,  and  the  latter  is  bad  to  beat 
for  feeding  purposes.  Deep  sandy  soil,  not  too  rich,  is  the  best  for 
Carrots.  They  should  be  drilled  20  inches  apart,  and  for  market  pur¬ 
poses  should  not  be  thinned.  About  8  lbs.  per  acre  is  the  suitable 
quantity  of  seed  to  sow. 
Very  little  spring  corn  is  up  in  many  places.  What  is  up  will  soon 
want  rolling,  and  the  small  seeds  sown,  if  they  were  not  put  in  with  the 
corn.  The  land  cannot  be  too  solid  for  Clover,  there  is  always  a  good 
.  plant  on  a  headland  or  in  a  gateway. 
The  cold  weather  is  keeping  the  cattle  too  long  in  the  yards,  and 
they  are  eating  up  what  we  had  been  hoping  to  keep  in  reserve  to  com¬ 
mence  next  winter  with.  We  are  referring  to  straw  and  hay. 
METEOROLOGICAL  OBSERVATIONS. 
Oamden  Square,  London. 
Lat.  51°  J2'40"  N. ;  Long.  0°  8/  0"  W.;  Altitude  111  feet. 
Date. 
9  A.M. 
In  the  Day. 
a 
*3 
PS 
1897. 
April. 
;  Barometer 
i  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  ... 
4 
29-497 
43-2 
38-9 
N.E. 
42-0 
49-1 
38-4 
98-4 
34-0 
— 
Monday  .. 
5 
130-062 
40-2 
371 
N.E. 
41-7 
5, -9 
29-9 
100-1 
20-7 
— 
Tuesday  . . 
6 
29-736 
42-1 
37-2 
E. 
41-3 
49-9 
3GI 
85-2 
29-1 
0-234 
Wednesday 
7 
29-602 
391 
38-7 
N.E. 
41-5 
51*1 
35-9 
90-5 
26-0 
0-071 
Thursday . . 
8 
130-014 
43*0 
40-4 
N. 
41-9 
54-4 
38  8 
100-1 
33  1 
— 
Friday 
9 
30-0  8 
48-1 
44-2 
S. 
42-9 
56-9 
35-2 
92-8 
259 
0-050 
Saturday  . . 
10 
30-094 
46-6 
42-4 
N. 
44-6 
53-6 
43-2 
105-8 
42-7 
— 
J29-870 
43-2 
39-8 
423 
52-1 
36-8 
95-8 
30-2 
0-355 
REMARKS. 
4th. — Bright  early,  and  frequent  sunshine  during  day. 
5th.  Sunny  morning  ;  generally  cloudy  after  3  P.M. 
6th. — Fair,  but  sunless. 
7th.— Heavy  rain  from  5.45  A.M.  to  7.15  a.m.  ;  dull  and  damp,  with  fog,  till  10.30  A.M. ; 
then  occasional  sunshine,  and  thunderstorm  from  3  P.M.  to  3.45  l‘.M.,  and  rain 
till  6  P.M. 
8th.— Fine,  and  generally  sunny  after  10  A.M. 
9th. — Cloudy  morning;  sunny  afternoon  ;  rainy  evening. 
10th  —Showers  early  ;  frequently  sunny  after  9  A.M. 
An  average  week,  but  sharp  grass  frosts  on  three  nights. — G.  J.  SYMONS. 
Owing  to  the  large  increase  in  their  business  Smith’s  Advertising 
Agency  of  132,  Fleet  Street,  have  just  added  new  offices  at  82,  Fleet 
Street,  thus  doubling  their  already  large  establishment.  The  new 
branch  will  be  exclusively  employed  in  transacting  advertisements  for 
the  provincial  papers,  the  head  office  retaining  all  the  London  work. 
