m 
Journal  op  hortigulture  and  cottage  gardener. 
April  29,  189?. 
an  unknown  contributor  and  an  agricultural  professor  as  to  the 
value,  great  or  small,  of  this  crop. 
The  professor  quotes  £1  per  acre  as  a  price  at  which  Turnips 
can  be  bought  for  consumption  on  the  land,  and  argues  that  they 
will  pay  the  farmer  to  grow  at  such  a  low  price  if  he  gets  plenty  of 
dry  food  consumed  with  them  so  as  to  highly  enrich  the  soil  for 
the  succeeding  corn  crop.  On  the  other  hand  the  anonymous 
gentleman  repudiates  the  value  of  eating  Turnips  on  the  land,  but 
claims  that  he  can  make  £10  per  acre  of  them  to  cart  off  for  sheep 
on  grasi,  and  publishes  a  balance-sheet  in  support  of  his  contention. 
The  weak  points  about  his  system  are  that  10  acres  of  useful — nay, 
we  might  say  good — grass  are  required  for  the  winter  months  upon 
which  to  consume  1  acre  of  Swedes  ;  also  that  he  buys  his  sheep 
on  November  1st  and  sells  them  out  again  on  March  1st  at  a  profit 
of  15s.  per  head,  or  nearly  Is.  per  head  per  week. 
Of  course  if  this  can  be  done  year  by  year  there  would  be  a 
fair  profit — a  very  good  profit  on  grazing  sheep  on  roots.  But 
such  a  profit  could  not  be  made  during  a  series  of  years  unless  it 
were  in  a  district  unsuitable  to  the  growth  of  good  Turnips,  and 
where  a  good  crop  of  them  would  be  correspondingly  valuable. 
So  much  depends  on  locality  as  regards  the  value  of  TurnipB.  In 
the  grass  districts  of  the  northern  counties,  and  in  Scotland,  the 
Turnip  acreage  is  a  small  one  compared  to  that  of  grass  and  other 
crops,  and  it  is  not  therefore  surprising  to  find  that  roots  in  those 
parts  fetch  high  prices.  On  the  other  hand,  in  arable  counties 
where  the  area  under  Turnip*  is  a  large  one,  it  is  not  uncommon 
to  find  fair  crops  sold  at  £1  per  acre,  and  in  a  plentiful  season, 
with  dear  sheep,  they  are  often  given  away,  as  spring  approaches, 
on  condition  that  they  are  consumed  on  the  ground. 
But  what  is  an  acre  of  Swede*  worth  to  an  average  farmer  ? 
This  is  a  very  difficult  question  to  answer,  the  roots  being  *o 
intimately  allied  with  grass,  Clover,  and  straw  as  food  for  stock. 
It  is  easier  to  ascertain  the  value  of  roots  when  used  by  sheep 
than  when  used  by  cattle  ;  but  the  seed  and  grass  pastures  used  by 
the  sheep  during  the  year  must  be  all  brought  into  account,  and 
mast  have  a  fair  share  of  the  proceeds. 
In  order  to  work  the  matter  out  in  figures,  we  will  take  as  an 
example  a  farm  of  400  acre*— 300  arable,  100  grass.  Such  a  farm 
should  be  self-supporting,  and  independent  of  the  fluctuations  of 
markets.  The  75  acres  of  seeds  which  there  would  be  under  the 
four-course  *ystem  would  carry  about  200  ewes,  with  about 
250  lambs  ;  these  would  require  fully  60  acres  of  good  Turnips 
for  the  following  winter,  and  allowing  for  losses,  there  should  be 
230  hoggs  to  sell  in  the  spring.  These  should  realise  about 
50 j.  each  in  the  wool. 
£  s.  d. 
230  hoggs  at  60s.  . 
■  •  • 
...  575  0  0 
Now  let  us  deduct  expenses — 
Shepherds’  wages  . 
£52 
0 
0 
Man  and  lad,  twenty-six  weeks 
28 
12 
0 
Loss  on  ewes  (lambing)  . 
Grass  and  Clover  for  lambs  after- 
20 
0 
0 
weaning  . 
30 
0 
0 
Two-thirds  cost  of  artificial  foods  ... 
50 
0 
0 
-  180 
12 
0 
£394 
8 
C 
The  offal  account  (carcases  and  skins)  would  pay  for  the 
fencing,  leaving  £394  8s.  to  allot  to  the  credit  of  the  seeds 
and  Turnips.  £2  10s.  per  acre  would  be  a  very  liberal  price  for 
the  seeds,  so  if  we  deduct  75  acres  at  50j.  (£187  10s.)  we  have 
£206  18s.  left  to  the  credit  of  the  60  acres  of  Turnips  and  Swedes, 
or  as  nearly  as  possible  £3  10s.  per  acre.  As  this  would  barely 
cover  the  cost  of  growing  the  profit  would  depend  entirely  on  the 
success  of  the  succeeding  corn  crop. 
Thi*  brings  us  face  to  face  with  a  difficulty,  and  one  of  the 
most  serious  that  arable  farmers  have  to  contend  with.  The  land 
being  well  farmed,  and  a  fine  crop  of  roots  having  been  grown  and 
consumed  on  the  land,  should  the  season  be  a  favourable  one  a  fine 
standing  crop  of  Birley  or  Oats  may  be  secured,  and  therefrom  a 
fair  return  for  the  two  years’  outlay  ;  but  should  the  season  be  a 
wet  one  the  result  may  be  a  ma*s  of  twisted  and  rotten  straw, 
most  expensive  to  harvest,  with  a  yield  of  grain  small  in  quantity, 
light  in  weight,  and  only  fit  for  feeding  purposes,  whilst  the  young 
Clovers  will  be  conspicuous  by  their  absence,  having  been  com¬ 
pletely  smothered.  This  difficulty  has  led  many  thoughtful 
farmers  to  grow  two  white  crops  after  Turnips,  and  to  sow  their 
small  seeds  with  the  second  one,  which,  not  being  too  heavy,  gives 
the  young  seeds  a  fair  chance. 
We  are  convinced  of  one  thing — that  the  loss  of  the  Clover 
plant  is  a  most  serious  misfortune  ;  there  is  not  only  the  los*  of 
pasturage,  but  Clover  is  such  a  recuperative  crop  that  we  would 
rather  lose  our  Turnip  crop  than  have  a  bad  piece  of  seeds,  as  we 
think  the  Turnip  crop  of  less  importance,  valuable  as  it  is. 
There  is  another  point  of  value  in  connection  with  Turnips 
that  we  have  not  mentioned,  that  is  the  cleaning  of  the  land.  If 
we  did  not  grow  Turnips  the  land  would  have  to  be  fallowed 
occasionally,  and  if  we  can  make  as  much  of  our  Turnips  as  they 
cost  we  have  got  our  land  cleaned  for  nothing.  This  must  never 
be  lost  sight  of,  as  it  is  of  little  use  manuring  if  the  land  is  full  of 
weeds  and  twitch. 
WORK  ON  THE  HOME  FARM. 
Weather  conditions  are  quite  those  usually  associated  with  the  month 
of  April,  except  that  the  showers  have  hardly  brought  with  them  the 
warmth  we  had  expected  and  been  hoping  for.  Still,  things  are  better 
than  they  were.  We  have  had  no  more  sharp  frosts,  and  the  appearance 
of  the  young  Wheat  as  well  as  that  of  the  pasture*  is  much  improved  ; 
keeping,  however,  is  now  very  scarce,  and  the  markets  for  all  kinds  of 
stock,  with  the  exception  of  prime  fat  cattle,  are  very  much  depressed. 
The  land  is  working  down  well,  and  we  have  the  promise  of  a  good 
tilth  for  Turnips  and  Mangolds  ;  but  there  is  no  chance  of  getting  twitch 
burnt  at  present,  and  it  has  all  co  be  gathered  up  and  carted  off.  We 
are  thankful  to  say  that  there  is  not  much  of  it,  but  what  there  is  is 
very  full  of  life  and  growth,  and  being  in  small  bits  it  is  a  tedious  job 
rakiog  and  gathering  it  up. 
The  Potato  ridges  were  rather  rough,  so  we  are  harrowing  them  down 
with  the  ridge  harrows  and  shall  very  shortly  ridge  them  up  again  with 
a  light  earthing  plough.  Potatoes  thrive  much  better  in  loose,  freshly 
moved  ground,  and  the  labour  ill  be  saved  in  the  hand-hoeing,  which 
is  always  more  expensive  than  horse  work.  Earthing  up  now  is  also  a 
safeguard  to  the  Potatoes,  if  they  are  early  ones,  against  the  serious 
damage  they  may  sustain  from  late  frosts  if  they  get  their  noses  above 
ground  too  soon. 
We  are  getting  the  cattle  to  sleep  out  now,  but  it  is  cold  for  them 
and  they  require  careful  watching.  The  lambs’  tails  have  been  shortened, 
and  we  have  docked  the  ewes — i.e.f  trimmed  the  wool  from  the  back  of 
the  thighs  and  round  the  tail  ;  this  is  a  necessary  operation  at  this 
season,  but  should  not  be  done  when  the  weather  is  very  cold,  or  exposure 
of  the  udder  may  bring  on  downfall,  a  very  dangerous  complaint 
amongst  ewes. 
METEOROLOGICAL  OBSERVATIONS. 
Camden  Square,  London. 
Lat.  61°  *2' 40"  N. ;  Long.  0°  8/  0"  W.;  Altitude  111  feet. 
Date. 
9  A.M. 
In  the  Day. 
Bain. 
1 
1897. 
April. 
|  Barometer 
at  32°,  and 
|  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. 
leg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg 
deg. 
deg. 
Inchs. 
Sunday  ...  18 
29-959 
49-6 
43-6 
W. 
46-1 
59*4 
40-7 
107  0 
35-5 
— 
Monday  ..  19 
29-902 
4S-1 
44  5 
W. 
46-2 
56-4 
39-9 
98-7 
34-6 
0-177 
Tuesday  . .  20 
29-601 
46-9 
43  2 
N. 
46-3* 
66-8 
41-6 
100-3 
40-1 
0-029 
Wednesday  21 
29  792 
46-8 
46-2 
S.E. 
4-7 
55-7 
45-1 
61-9 
39-2 
0-104 
Thursday . .  22 
30-094 
46-2 
42-4 
N.E. 
47-0 
52-8 
43-9 
97-9 
43-7 
_ 
Friday  . .  23 
30-081 
46*1 
43-1 
N.E. 
48-0 
53-4 
36-7 
100-2 
33-1 
_ 
Saturday  . .  24 
29-920 
47-3 
41-8 
N.E. 
45-4 
52-9 
38-5 
96-0 
33-9 
— 
29-907 
47-3 
43-5 
46-2 
55-3 
40’9 
94-9 
37  2 
0-310 
REMARKS. 
lHth. — Brilliant  early,  and  genera'ly  sunny  all  day  ;  fine  night. 
19th. -Generally  sunny  in  morning  ;  overcast  afternoon,  and  rain  in  evening. 
20th. — Rain  till  4  A.M.,  and  overcast  till  1  P.M. ;  generally  sunny  after. 
21st.— Dull,  with  almost  continuous  rain  or  drizzle  till  5  P.M  ,  and  overcast  night. 
22nd.— Drizzle  in  small  hours  ;  overcast  and  dull  till  10  A.M  ,  generally  sunny  after. 
23rd.— Pine  with  much  bright  sun,  but  frequently  cloudy. 
24th. — Cloudy  at  times,  but  much  bright  sunshine. 
Another  week,  the  character  of  which  is  almost  precisely  that  usual  for  its  date. 
There  was  no  frost  even  on  grass.— CL  J.  SYMONS. 
