72 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  ANE  COTTAGE  6AREENER. 
January  20,  1898. 
is  particularly  fortunate  in  her  class  of  pupils.  She  gets  hold  of  the 
horny-handed  sons  of  toil  (and  the  daughters  too),  and  gives  them 
such  help  as  will  enable  them  to  become  scientific  workers,  each  in 
his  own  sphere,  and  thus  in  the  end,  by  practical  object  lessons, 
proving  the  best  of  teachers.  Of  course,  we  are  now  referring  to 
matters  purely  agricultural. 
We  English  are  so  fond  of  bricks  and  mortar.  We  like  palatial 
residences,  fine  offices.  We  build  for  the  future ;  but  laudable  as  this 
may  be,  is  there  not  a  danger  that  we  overdo  the  thing  ?  Building 
operations  are  costly,  they  involve  a  large  expenditure  of  capital,  and 
it  is  a  question  as  to  whether  the  money  can  be  really  afforded. 
Grand  homes  and  model  buildings  are  all  very  well  for  the  pupil 
who  comes  of  rich  parents,  but  how  about  the  small  farmer  or  bailiff’s 
sons  ?  Will  they  not  be  rather  out  of  love  with  their  home  surroundings'? 
Perhaps  this  is  a  healthy  form  of  discontent,  but  would  not  they  be 
better  fitted  for  their  future  work  if  they  had  not  found  everything 
made  ready  to  their  hand  ?  We  must  bear  in  mind  these  poorer 
pupils  will  still  be  the  employed,  not  the  employers. 
We  will  now  turn  to  a  few  figures.  We  know  figures  are  dull 
reading,  but  if  carefully  studied  they  convey  concise  information. 
Out  of  the  sum  of  £588,000  spent  on  technical  education,  £78,000 
was  used  in  the  various  counties  for  instruction  in  agriculture — this 
is  only  about  one-seventh  of  the  whole ;  and  it  hardly  seems  fair,  as 
in  all  the  large  centres  of  population  technical  work  has  received  much 
attention  in  the  past. 
Nearly  all  the  counties  spend  a  considerable  part  of  their  grant  in 
dairy  work,  either  by  the  establishment  and  maintenance  of  dairy 
institutes,  by  a  series  of  dairy  classes  (itinerant),  or  by  providing 
money  for  scholarships  at  some  of  the  many  dairy  institutes.  It  is 
interesting  to  read  how  the  various  counties  apply  their  share  of 
money.  Buckinghamshire  receives  in  gross  the  sum  of  £3794  for 
technical  work,  and  out  of  that  sum  only  a  paltry  £626  is  applied 
exclusively  to  agriculture.  Gloucestershire  receives  £13,000,  and 
spends  £540  ;  part  of  this  goes  to  pay  an  agricultural  adviser.  What 
that  implies  we  hardly  know,  for  a  man  of  any  talent  would,  we 
think,  require  the  whole  of  the  £540,  but  perhaps  he  is  only  an 
ex^^ert  in  one  branch. 
Does  London,  with  her  manifold  advantages,  require  the  £172,000 
which  falls  to  her  share,  and  Middlesex  takes  £21,900  ?  One  would 
have  thought  that  London’s  share  might  have  included  Middlesex. 
Some  of  the  essentially  agricultural  counties  must  stand  in  need 
of  a  part  of  this  great  sum.  £500  is  spent  in  Northamptonshire 
principally  on  lectures.  Well,  unless  the  lectures  are  followed  by 
examinations,  or  inspections  of  actual  work,  we  doubt  the  good  done 
is  but  fleeting.  We  are  glad  to  see  a  certain  amount  of  aid  given  to 
the  brother  science — viz.,  horticulture. 
Northumberland  having  established  an  Agricultural  College, 
naturally  devotes  a  large  portion  of  her  share  to  the  maintenance  of 
that  College,  and  most  of  us  have  heard  of  the  Dairy  Institute,  near 
Nottingham,  under  Mr.  Benson,  which  is  doing  such  a  good  work,  and 
which  rightly  absorbs  a  good  deal  of  the  Notts  share.  A  splendidly 
equipped  College  is  also  provided  at  Wye  for  Kent  and  Surrey,  and 
presumably  much  help  is  given  to  harassed  Hop  growers.  Surrey 
is  also  well  in  advance — the  pioneer  county  in  teaching  the  young 
(the  men  of  the  future)  by  theoretical  lessons  in  evening  schools  and 
practical  lessons  on  the  land — a  hopeful  combination.  The  amount 
for  horticulture  in  the  whole  country  is  £8000,  and  no  one  will  be 
surprised  to  hear  that  Kent  takes  the  lion’s  share. 
So  much  has  been  said  on  the  poultry  question,  that  if  at  any  rate 
we  sin  now  it  is  our  own  fault,  for  some  of  the  best  teachers  that 
the  country  has  ever  produced  are  lecturing  up  and  down  the  land. 
Veterinary  classes  are  popular,  and  do  a  good  work  when  the 
lectures  are  delivered  by  the  right  men  ;  by  that,  we  mean  men  who 
impart  knowledge  in  a  pleasing  and  satisfactory  manner.  Devon 
rejoices  in  securing  the  services  of  an  enthusiastic  botanical  agricul¬ 
turist — a  man  with  a  great  and  deep  knowledge  of  manures  and  their 
uses.  Ilis  services,  we  believe,  are  given  freely  to  the  farmers  who 
ask  for  and  require  them. 
We  are  not  always  sure  that  the  best  instructors  get  into  the 
country  districts.  It  is  often  thought  that  anything  will  do  for  Hodge 
and  his  masters.  Never  was  a  greater  mistake  made.  Cheap  prosy 
men,  however  able  to  handle  the  spade  or  the  ploug'h,  and  dry  didactic 
scientists  cannot  evoke  interest  and  gain  sympathetic  response.  The 
greater  the  need,  the  greater  should  be  the  care  taken  in  selecting 
suitable  and  able  men.  That  is  where  real  genius  comes  in.  A 
clever  man  can  adapt  himself  so  well  to  his  audience ;  a  second-class 
man  not  only  loses  his  own  head  when  faced  by  apparent  stupidity, 
but  also  brings  discredit  on  the  cause  that  he  advocates,  and  a 
succeeding  lecturer  must  free  the  minds  of  his  hearers  from  prejudice 
before  ever  he  can  hope  to  secure  a  hearing! 
The  scheme  of  technical  instruction  is  yet  in  its  infancy.  We  are 
now  finding  out  the  weak  points  in  the  system,  and  the  thing  will 
gradually  right  itself. 
It  is  hard  work  teaching  the  middle-aged,  and  possibly,  in  the  long 
run,  that  portion  of  money  used  in  training  the  young  and  for  the 
encouragement  of  the  various  agricultural  seats  of  learning  will  be 
found  to  have  been  the  best  expended. 
Note. — During  the  last  year  France  voted  £688,000,  Germany 
£502,000,  U.S.  America  £343,000,  Great  Britain  £78,000  !  for  agricul¬ 
tural  instruction. 
WORK  ON  THE  HOME  FARM. 
With  all  the  lea  intended  for  Oats  satisfactorily  ploughed,  and  fallows 
not  quite  ready  for  working — or,  rather,  the  season  for  such  work  having 
hardly  yet  arrived — we  have  to  look  for  catch  work  to  keep  our  horses  in 
employment  and  health. 
Grass  land  will  always  show  a  good  return  for  the  labour  of  carting 
road  scrapings,  or  anything  of  like  nature  that  can  be  had  for  the  fetching. 
The  highway  authorities  are  usually  only  too  glad  to  have  any  ridges  by 
the  side  of  the  highways  ploughed  up  and  carted  away,  and  will  often 
find  hands  to  fill  the  carts.  Where  limestone  or  slag  has  been  used  on 
the  roads,  the  roadside  refuse  contains  a  considerable  per-centage  of  lime, 
and  will  be  found  to  encourage  the  growth  of  Clover  in  grass  land. 
It  should  be  well  spread,  and  then  chain-harrowed  at  ouce  to  insure 
evenness  of  distribution. 
Turnips  have  almost  outgrown  their  best  qualities  ;  we  mean  they 
have  attained  a  size  which  not  only  is  against  their  chances  ot  resisting 
frost,  but  which  makes  them  distinctly  less  valuable  as  food.  We  like 
large  Turnip*  for  autumn  consumption,  and  Swedes  can  seldom  be  too 
large ;  but  to  stand  a  reasonable  amount  of  frost  and  then  be  suit¬ 
able  food  for  the  breeding  flock,  the  size  of  the  roots  is  strictly  limited. 
For  the  use  above  mentioned  we  sow  a  little  later  and  omit  the  close 
singling.  We  have  found  a  cluster  of  three  or  four  roots  small  in  size 
much  more  hardy  and  useful  than  one  large  one  after  the  new  year  has 
come  in. 
Though  not  advocating  the  extensive  use  of  Turnips  for  ewes  in 
autumn,  we  think  that  they  may  be  freely  given  now  until  lambing 
commences  ;  but  always  a  due  proportion  of  dry  food  must  be  given 
with  them. 
Now  that  cakes  are  so  much  dearer,  dried  grains  or  malt  culms  are 
desirable  foods  for  ewes  on  account  of  their  price  as  well  as  their  dry 
nature,  and  are  particularly  good  where  grass  is  scarce  and  the  sheep 
must  be  kept  altogether  on  Turnips.  A  valuable  manurial  residue  is  left 
after  the  consumption  of  either  of  these  foods. 
METEOROLOaiCAL  OBSERVATIONS. 
Camdek  Square,  London. 
Lat.  51°  32'  40"  N. ;  Long.  0°  8'  0"  W.;  Altitude  111  feet. 
Date. 
9  A.M. 
In  the  Day. 
1898. 
•ometer 
2°,  and 
i  Level 
Hygrometer 
Direc¬ 
tion  of 
Wind. 
Temp 
of  soil 
at 
Shade  Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Tempera¬ 
ture. 
Rain. 
January. 
o3 
Dry. 
Wet. 
1  foot 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
Sun 
On 
Grass 
Sunday  ....  9 
Monday  ....  10 
Tuesday  ....  11 
Wednesday  12 
Thursday  . .  13 
Friday .  14 
Saturday....  15 
iuclis 
29-899 
deg. 
39-9 
deg. 
39-2 
N.  W. 
deg. 
41-5 
deg. 
41-3 
deg. 
38-8 
deg. 
46-2 
deg. 
35-1 
inchs. 
30-233 
37-4 
35-9 
N. 
41-1 
42-4 
36-7 
55-2 
31-7 
— 
30-457 
37-9 
36-7 
\v . 
39-3 
46-1 
29-2 
51-4 
-26-9 
— 
30-583 
45-3 
43-7 
S.W. 
40-0 
49-2 
37  -5 
62-1 
35-7 
— 
30-651 
45-7 
45-6 
N.E. 
41-9 
48-4 
44-8 
50-1 
42-1 
— 
30-486 
43-3 
40-8 
N.E. 
42-2 
43-6 
42-8 
46-8 
38-8 
— 
30-614 
42-3 
39-6 
E. 
41-9 
4-2-6 
41-1 
46-3 
39-1 
— 
30-418 
41-7 
40-2 
41-1 
44-8 
38-7 
49-7 
35-6 
— 
f)th. — Fine,  but  sunless. 
inth.— Fine  early,  generally  sunny  from  11  a.m.  ;  clear  night. 
11th.— Overcast  early  ;  generally  sunny  from  11.30  a.m.  ;  clear  night. 
12th.— Fair,  but  sunless. 
13th.— Foggy  and  dark  till  11  A.M.  ;  overcast  after. 
14th.— Fair  and  pleasant,  but  dark  from  high  fog  or  .smoke  cloud. 
15th.— Fair,  with  sun  visible  through  cloud  in  morning. 
Very  high  barometer,  overcast  sky,  foggy,  and  no  rain  or  snow.  Daily  range 
of  temperature  veiy  small. — G.  J.  Symons. 
