358 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
October  10,  1885. 
AVERAGE  WHOLESALE  PRIOES.— OUT  FLOWERS.— Orchid  Blooms  in  variety . 
1. 
d. 
8. 
d. 
8. 
d. 
i. 
d 
Arum  Lilies,  12  blooms  .. 
4 
0  to 
6 
0 
Marguerites,  12  bunches  .  . 
1 
6  to  3 
0 
Asparagus  Fern,  per  bunoh 
2 
0 
4 
0 
Orchids,  ,  various,  dozen 
Asters  (English)  doz.  bcha. 
2 
0 
4 
0 
blooms  . . 
1 
6 
18 
0 
Bouvardias,  bunch  ..  .. 
0 
6 
1 
0 
Pansies,  various,  dozen 
Oarnations,  12  blooms  . . 
1 
0 
3 
0 
bunches  ..  ...  ..  .. 
1 
0 
2 
0 
„  dozen  bunches.. 
4 
0 
8 
0 
Peas,  Sweet,  doz.  bunches. . 
Pelargoniums,  12  bunches 
1 
6 
3 
0 
Chrysanthemum,  dozen 
4 
0 
8 
0 
blooms.. 
1 
0 
4 
0 
Primula(doub)e),  doz.  spys. 
0 
6 
1 
0 
„  doz.  Dunches 
3 
0 
6 
0 
Roses  (indoor),  dozen  .. 
1 
0 
2 
0 
Dahlias,  dozen  bunches  . . 
2 
0 
4 
0 
„  Tea,  white,  dozen  . . 
„  Yellow,  dozen  (Niels) 
1 
0 
2 
0 
Eucharis,  dozen . 
1 
6 
2 
6 
3 
U 
6 
{} 
Gaillardias,  doz.  bunches.. 
1 
0 
2 
0 
„  Safrano  (English), 
Gardenias,  dozen  .,  .. 
2 
0 
3 
0 
dozen . 
1 
0 
2 
(1 
Geranium,  scarlet,  doz. 
„  Yellow,  dozen  blooms 
0 
6 
0 
9 
bunches . 
4 
0 
6 
ft 
„  Red,  dozen  blooms  .. 
1 
0 
1 
8 
Lilac  (French)  per  bunch 
4 
0 
5 
0 
,,  various,  doz,  bunches 
4 
0 
8 
0 
Lihum  lancifolium,  twelve 
Smilax,  per  bunch  ..  .. 
2 
6 
4 
c 
blooms . 
1 
6 
2 
6 
Stephanotis,  dozen  sprays 
2 
0 
4 
0 
„  longiflorum,  12  blooms 
3 
6 
4 
0  • 
Sunflowers  (small)  dozen 
Lily  of  the  Valley,  dozen 
bunches . 
2 
0 
3 
0 
sprays . 
1 
0 
2 
0 
Tuberoses.  12  blooms. .  .. 
0 
2 
0 
4 
Maidenhair  Fern,  doz.  bchs. 
4 
u 
6 
U 
Violets,  dozen  bunches  .. 
1 
6 
2 
0 
ASPECTS  OF  HOME  FARMING. 
'I'he  positive  assertion  that  home  farms  are  costly  play¬ 
things  which  never  answer,  made  to  us  by  the  owner  of  an 
estate  in  the  midlands,  was  so  opposed  to  the  results  of  our  own 
experience  that  we  were  led  to  inquire  why  he  was  so  positive, 
and  if  his  conclusions  were  based  on  anything  like  a  practical 
knowledge  of  the  matter.  It  proved  that  he  had  never  given 
home  farming  a  fair  trial,  and  that  his  very  unsound  deduc¬ 
tions  were  based  on  what  he  had  seen  and  heard  of  the  home 
farm  of  a  friend  of  his. 
Now,  we  happened  to  have  made  rather  a  critical  inspection 
of  this  particular  farm,  and  we  knew  that  it  was  indeed  nothing 
more  than  an  outcome  of  a  rich  man’s  fancy — a  toy,  on  which 
money  had  been  squandered  in  such  reckless  fashion  as  to 
place  it  altogether  outside  the  lines  of  sound  practical  farming. 
Buildings  of  dressed  stone  on  a  palatial  scale,  pedigree  stock 
purchased  at  fancy  prices,  a  herd  of  cows  four  or  five  times 
larger  than  necessary  for  the  household  requirements,  fields 
enclosed  with  expensive  iron  fences,  outer  boundaries  of  orna¬ 
mental  stone  walls,  and  everything  else  on  an  extravagant 
scale.  This  is  an  aspect  of  home  farming  which  for  practical 
purposes  we  should  place  in  the  same  category  as  a  neglected 
farm,  where  nothing  is  well  done.  Bach  class  of  farm  repre¬ 
senting  an  extreme  to  be  avoided,  because  they  are  alike 
extravagant  —  one  in  its  waste  of  money,  the  other  in  the 
deplorable  losses  from  foul  land  and  neglected  live  stock. 
Let  us  turn  to  another  and  more  practical  view  of  this 
important  matter— important  in  its  lesson  of  economy,  in  its 
admirable  fitness  for  the  legitimate  purpose  of  a  home  farm — 
the  supply  of  a  large  household  with  farm  produce  of  the 
highest  quality.  The  annual  balance  sheets  afforded  ample 
proof  how  profitable  the  farm  was.  Only  wholesale  market 
prices  were  charged  against  all  produce  sent  to  the  house; 
what  was  really  a  high  rent  had  to  be  forthcoming;  there 
was  an  annual  valuation  of  farm  stock,  due  allowance  being 
made  for  wear  and  tear  in  implements,  for  age  and  disease 
in  live  stock,  and  a  liberal  interest  was  allowed  on  capital 
invested  in  the  concern,  beyond  which  it  was  the  policy  of  the 
squire  to  press  for  a  wider  margin  of  profit  every  year 
Sheep-folding  was  the  mainstay  on  this  productive  farm 
both  for  pasture  and  arable  land,  next  to  it  came  chemical 
manure,  always  in  well  balanced  proportion.  Farmyard  manure 
was  always  used  for  root  crops,  supplemented  by  chemical 
manure.  Animal  excreta  from  cattle  or  sheep  turned  out  on 
pasture  was  not  taken  into  account.  Wherever  sheepfolds  were 
not  used  there  was  a  full  dressing  of  chemical  manure. 
For  the  last  few  years  that  farm  has  been  in  the  hands  of 
a  tenant  who  threw  away  a  fine  chance,  by  taking  what  he  could 
out  of  the  land,  giving  nothing  like  an  equivalent  back.  He 
left  it  under  notice  this  Michaelmas  The  farm  is  now  vacant, 
the  land  being  so  exhausted  and  foul,  and  in  such  ill  repute, 
that  a  tenant  cannot  be  found  for  it.  It  may  appear  that 
the  free  use  of  manure  was  extravagant;  it  was  not.  The 
quantity  of  manure  was  regulated  year  by  year  strictly 
according  to  the  crops  taken. 
As  an  extreme  case  we  may  take  green  Maize,  which  yields 
such  a  marvellous  crop  in  rich  land.  The  spil  was  naturally 
poor  and  thin,  with  very  little  primary  fertility,  and  after  a 
heavy  crop  it  was  necessary  to  give  a  full  dressing  of  manure 
to  bring  the  land  up  to  our  standard  of  fertility  again  It 
was  undoubtedly  this  tentative  treatment  that  told  so  well, 
and  prevented  anything  like  soil  exhaustion. 
(To  be  continued.) 
WOEK  ON  THE  HOME  FAEM. 
A  change  has  come,  the  tropical  heat  of  the  last  days  of  September  is 
over,  with  October  has  come  storm  and  tempest  and  a  rapid  fall  of 
temperature.  The  hedgerows  and  woods  are  brilliant  with  the  many 
colours  of  the  dying  foliage,  some  of  which  is  already  flying  before  the 
gusty  winds.  Autumn  is  on  us,  winter  will  soon  be  here,  let  ns 
prepare  for  it.  An  excellent  crop  of  Potatoes  is  fast  being  lifted. 
Carrots  will  come  next,  and  then  the  Mangolds,  which  will  do  very 
little  more  good  on  the  land  now.  Get  them  into  the  root  house  or 
heaps  as  soon  as  possible,  while  the  land  is  firm  and  carting  is  easily 
done,  so  as  to  do  the  work  quickly  and  well.  The  clearance  of  root 
crops  is  often  delayed  by  adverse  weather,  because  the  work  is  pat  off  so 
late  that  frost  and  heavy  rain  is  on  us  ;  our  hands  are  tied,  we  have  to 
wait  on  the  weather,  and  the  work  at  beat  goes  heavily  and  slowly. 
Fearfully  has  the  dry  hot  weather  told  on  pastures  in  Northampton¬ 
shire  and  Leicestershire.  Of  course  it  is  the  poor  pastures  that  have 
suffered  most,  and  graziers  have  been  at  their  wit’s  end  for  food.  No 
greater  contrast  to  this  can  be  found  than  that  of  the  rich  alluvial  soil 
in  Derbyshire  dales,  where  the  pasture  herbage  is  wonderfully  rich  and 
abundant  just  now. 
Very  much  progress  has  been  made  generally  with  the  autumn  tillage 
of  arable  land,  and  much  good  work  may  be  done  yet.  At  the  very 
latest  nothing  should  be  left  for  the  new  year,  for  we  so  often  have  a 
total  change  in  the  weather  in  January,  and  when,  as  early  this  year, 
the  land  is  locked  up  by  snow  and  frost  for  upwards  of  two  months,  we 
may  well  do  our  best  while  the  weather  is  open  and  the  land  fairly  dry. 
Eye,  Italian  Eye  Grass,  and  the  early  sown  Wheat  and  Oats  are  now 
well  above  the  surface.  To  anyone  who  has  not  sown  Eye,  and  yet 
wants  an  early  green  crop,  we  say  sow  at  once ;  we  know  it  is  rather 
late,  but  the  crop  will  be  useful  if  the  land  is  fertile ;  if  it  is  poor  growth 
is  certain  to  be  backward  in  the  spring. 
MBTEOEOLOGIOAL  OBSERVATIONS. 
Oamdex  Squahk,  London. 
Lat.51°3a'40"  N. ;  Long.  0°  8' 0"  W.:  Altitude  lit  feet. 
Date. 
9  A.M. 
In  the  Dav. 
Rain. 
1895. 
September 
and 
October. 
1  Barometer 
at32‘’,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. 
Inohs. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
Inchs. 
Sunday  .. 
29 
30-231 
63-9 
61-3 
N.E. 
59'7 
77-1 
55-2 
110-7 
47-0 
— 
Monday  . . 
30 
30-071 
57  9 
57-8 
N.B. 
59  3 
77-6 
64-0 
109-1 
44-6 
Tuesday  . . 
1 
29-800 
65-2 
60-9 
N.E. 
59-2 
74-4 
53-7 
111-9 
45-1 
0-196 
Wednesday 
2 
29-468 
53-4 
49-9 
W. 
59-8 
59-7 
53-1 
103-7 
50-4 
— 
Thursday  . . 
3 
29'498 
48-4 
45-6 
S. 
56-9 
65-1 
3<-l 
98-7 
326 
0-189 
Friday  . . 
4 
29-406 
53-0 
48-6 
w. 
56-0 
61-7 
47-9 
102-1 
44-1 
0-08-2 
Saturday  . . 
5 
29-827 
52-4 
49-9 
s. 
54  1 
59-7 
36-i 
81-7 
29-2 
1-141 
29-756 
56-3 
53'4 
67-9 
67-9 
48.4 
102-3 
41-9 
1-608 
REMARKS. 
29tli. — Bright  sunshine  all  day,  misty  early  and  in  evening. 
30th. — Cloudy  and  misty  early,  bright  sunshine  from  about  10  A.M. 
1st. — Overcast  early,  and  occasionally  cloudy  during  the  day  ;  slight  showers  in  the 
evening. 
2nd. — Rain  from  2  A.M.  to  7  A.M.,  and  almost  cloudless  afternoon,  high  wind  at  night. 
3rd. — South-west  gale  all  day ;  rainy  morning,  sunny  afternoon,  slight  showers  in 
evening. 
4th. — Gale  from  2  A.M.  to  6  A.M.,  high  wind  and  alternate  cloud  and  sunshine  after, 
but  heavy  rain  from  1.30  to  2  P.M. 
5th. — Generally  dull,  slight  rain  at  1.30  P.M.,  and  rain  in  afternoon  and  evening.  Very 
heavy  rain  after  midnight. 
Much  cooler  in  the  latter  part  of  the  week,  with  slight  grass  frost  on  Saturday,  but 
not  sufficiently  so  to  prevent  the  mean  for  the  week  being  considerably  above  the 
average.— G.  J.  SxMoNS. 
