118 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER , 
August  11,  1898. 
is  well,  also,  to  bear  in  mind  that  where  some  Willows  will  only  grow 
by  the  inch  other  varieties  count  their  growth  by  feet.  As  Willows 
are  grown  from  cuttings- — preferably  taken  from  two-year-old  shoots 
— it  is  well  to  ascertain  the  quantity  required  per  acre.  We  all  know 
(or  ought  to  do)  how  to  grow  seed  ’Potatoes,  many  and  close,  and  it 
is  very  much  the  same  with  the  Willow. 
If  the  shoots  are  wanted  fine  and  small  plant  closely,  say  16  inches 
between  the  rows  and  9  inches  between  the  sets.  Where  there  is 
allowed  20  inches  between  the  rows  and  16  between  the  sets  20,000 
cuttings  would  be  required  per  acre.  The  rows  must  be  kept  straight 
and  even  to  prevent  loss  of  space  and  to  facilitate  cleaning.  The 
cuttings  should  be  about  12  to  14  inches  in  length,  of  good,  well- 
ripened  wood.  Experts  say  the  cuttings  grow  better  when  buried ; 
some  growers,  however,  prefer  to  leave  one-third  out  of  the  ground. 
During  the  time  of  growth  these  small  plants  must  be  kept  carefully 
cleaned.  Any  places  where  a  cutting  has  missed  must  be  filled  up 
at  once. 
The  harvesting  should  begin  in  November,  or  as  soon  as  the  leaf 
falls.  Clearing  the  ground  gives  the  frost  a  chance  of  getting  at  the 
land.  The  best  method  of  cleaning  the  ground  in  April  is  by  a  paring 
spade  between  the  rows  and  the  ordinary  9-inch  hoe  between  the 
stools.  The  paring  spade  is  made  of  the  best  Sheffield  steel,  and  has 
a  long  and  powerful  handle,  with  which  the  spade  is  pushed  along 
just  beneath  the  surface — in  fact,  it  is  very  like  one  of  the  old- 
fashioned  push  or  Dutch  hoes,  except  that  there  is  a  sharp  perpen¬ 
dicular  blade  down  the  centre  to  divide  the  paring  in  two,  and  so 
make  way  for  the  handle  without  lifting  out. 
Cuttings  for  planting  should  certainly  be  taken  from  rods  of  two 
years’  growth.  Many  growers  say  that  they  should  be  from  maiden 
stools — i.e.,  from  the  first  cutting.  Probably  this  may  be  a  little 
advantageous,  but  we  do  not  think  that  it  is  absolutely  essential. 
Reverting  to  the  depth  of  planting,  we  think  that  1  foot  beneath 
the  soil  and  3  inches  above  is  quite  sufficient,  and  the  nearer  to  those 
lengths  the  better  will  be  the  prospect  of  success. 
A  word  of  warning  as  to  leaving  Willows  for  two  years’  growth. 
Spaniards  must  never  be  left  for  such  a  purpose,  they  must  be  cut 
annually.  Black  Osiers  are  strong  Willows,  and  will  stand  two  or 
three  years  well.  Spaniards,  if  well  cultivated,  make  beautiful  rods 
in  one  year  and  fetch  the  top  price.  Black  Moulds  are  very  good 
quality,  but  they  are  delicate  and  shy  croppers.  A  good  Willow  is 
the  Longskin,  a  very  light  green  rod  ;  it  does  not  grow  very  long, 
but  is  straight,  and  seldom  breaks  into  a  number  of  small  shoots, 
whilst  the  stools  send  up  numerous  shoots,  which  is  a  point  in  which 
the  Spaniard  fails. 
We  now  place  before  our  readers  an  imaginary  balance-sheet  to 
give  the  would-be  Willow  grower  some  idea  as  to  what  his  profit 
may  be  when  he  gets  it.  It  will  be  seen  that  for  two  years  it  is 
a  matter  of  paying  out,  and  that  several  years  must  pass  before  the 
original  outlay  is  entirely  cleared  off. 
First  year’s  expenses  : — 
Trenching  18  inches  deep  per  acre  ... 
Pluming 
Plan*?  at  10s.  per  1(00 
Cleaning 
Second  year — 
’Cleaning... 
Harvesting  rods 
Two  years’  rent  and  ra  es 
Realised  by  two-)  < ar-old  rods,  6  tons  at  50s. 
Third  year’s  expenses — 
Cleaning . 
Catting  and  harvesting 
Rent  . 
Yearling  rods,  4  tons  at  50s. 
Less  expenses 
£15 
0 
0 
2 
0 
0 
10 
0 
0 
1 
0 
0 
£28 
0 
0 
1 
0 
0 
8 
0 
0 
2 
10 
0 
£34 
10 
0 
15 
0 
0 
£19 
10 
0 
1 
10 
0 
2 
10 
0 
1 
5 
0 
£5 
5 
0 
10 
0 
0 
5 
5 
0 
£4 
15 
0 
It  will  thus  be  6een  that  four  more  years  will  be  occupied  in 
clearing  off  the  adverse  balance  of  £19  10s.  if  all  goes  well,  so  that 
in  any  case  the  Willow  grower  can  hope  for  little  profit  until  the 
seventh  year.  Of  course  sometimes  rods  make  £5  per  ton,  but  at 
others  they  have  fallen  to  30s.,  and  we  think  we  are  justified  in 
stating  50s.  as  the  average  price  of  green  rods. 
WORK  ON  THE  HOME  FARM. 
But  for  one  slight  shower  the  drought  has  continued  unabated  ;  there 
have  been  slight  indications  of  rain,  with  a  falling  barometer,  but  our 
hopes  have  always  been  disappointed.  Strong  winds  have  assisted  the 
hot  sunshine  in  drying  the  moisture  out  of  the  soil,  and  it  is  probably 
many  years  since  the  land  has  been  as  dry  as  it  is  just  now. 
On  the  thin  limestone  Barley  is  almost  dead,  and  rain  now  would 
be  too  late  to  do  much  good.  Even  Wheat  on  such  land  is  showing 
prematurely  ripened  patches,  but  the  appearance  of  Barley  in  some  fields 
is  quite  extraordinary,  patches  of  white  shading  off  to  deep  green  within 
a  few  yards. 
Second  early  Potatoes  are  being  lifted,  but  they  have  ripened  much 
too  quickly,  and  are  a  very  light  crop  ;  3  tons  of  ware  per  acre  is  all  we 
can  deliver,  and  there  are  probably  2  tons  per  acre  of  small. 
Turnip  cleaning  is  about  finished,  and  the  men  can  be  allowed  a  day 
or  two  off  to  visit  friends,  besides  a  day  at  the  local  show.  This  latter 
they  much  enjoy,  and  many  are  the  criticisms  through  which  the  judges’ 
decisions  have  to  pass,  for,  low*  be  it  spoken,  the  men  who  work  horses* 
and  therefore  should  know  much  as  to  the  practical  qualities  of  them,  do 
not  always  agree  with  the  opinions  of  the  official  experts. 
With  harvest  coming  on  apace  we  have  overhauled  the  reapers  and 
purchased  one  new  one.  Self-binders  are  all  the  rage,  and  we  hear  of 
five  new  ones  going  into  one  parish.  The  self-raker,  however,  is  not  yet 
done  with,  for  an  agent  states  that  his  firm  will  sell  100  of  them  this 
season.  There  is  one  thing  to  be  said  for  them,  they  will  work  in  wet 
weather  as  well  as  dry.  A  shrewd  farmer  thinks  this  to  be  a  doubtful 
advantage,  particularly  in  reaping  Barley,  for  as  the  tying-up  of  wet 
Barley  is  a  most  undesirable  operation,  the  inability  of  the  string  binder 
to  work  under  damp  conditions  acts  as  a  most  salutary  check  on  indiscreet 
hurry. 
When  men  are  at  piecework  tying  after  a  sail  reaper  they  are  apt  to 
put  pressure  on  the  foreman  to  reap,  when  his  judgment  should  tell  him 
the  corn  is  too  damp.  Ti.is  factor  does  not  come  in  with  a  string-binder. 
OUR  LETTER  BOX. 
Storing  Corn. — I  see  in  reading  your  article  under  the  head  of 
“  Home  Farm  ”  in  the  Journal  of  the  4th  inst.  an  estimate  for  storing 
10,000,000  quarters  of  Wheat  at  £1,250,000.  You  will  see  the  mistake, 
taking  Wheat  at  only  30s.  per  quarter  it  means  £15,000,000. — H.  T.  H. 
[The  £1,250,000  was  not  meant  to  include  the  prime  cost  of  the 
Wheat,  but  only  the  expense  incurred  in  storing  it.  This  would  include 
handling,  warehousing,  and  interest  of  money.] 
METEOROLOGICAL  OBSERVATIONS. 
Camden  Square,  London. 
Lat.  51°  32’  40"  N.;  Long.  0°  8'  0"  W.;  Altitude  111  feet. 
Date. 
9  A.M. 
In  the  Day. 
1898. 
July  and 
August. 
^  'w  r-H 
2  ^  ® 
«o  VI 
g  IM  j 
Hygrometer 
Direc¬ 
tion  of 
Wind. 
Temp, 
of  soil 
at 
Shade  Tern, 
perature. 
Radiation 
Tempera¬ 
ture. 
a 
*3 
•> 
Dry. 
Wet. 
1  foot 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
Sun 
On 
Grass 
Sunday  .... 
31 
inchs 
30-232 
deg. 
64-2 
deg. 
56-0 
N.W. 
deg. 
60-0 
deg. 
78'4 
deg. 
46-6 
deg. 
119-2 
deg. 
42-4 
inchs. 
Monday  .... 
1 
30-127 
66 ’6 
61  -0 
W. 
61-6 
79-3 
51-3 
127-6 
46-0 
'  - 
Tuesday  .... 
2 
30-033 
66-1 
59-4 
W. 
62-1 
78-1 
53-1 
121-1 
47-8 
— 
Wednesday 
3 
29-930 
67-2 
60-8 
S. 
63-5 
75-4 
57-1 
119-3 
51-9 
0-024 
Thursday  . . 
4 
30-021 
63-4 
57-3 
N.W. 
63T 
73-7 
50-0 
121-6 
46-9 
o-oio 
Friday . 
5 
30-007 
65-1 
59-7 
S.W. 
62-7 
76  T 
55-1 
123-1 
49-3 
— 
Saturday. . . . 
6 
29-837 
65-2 
64  1 
s. 
63-6 
69-0 
63-7 
78-3 
59-2 
0-042 
30-027 
65-4 
,  59-8 
62-4 
75-7 
53-8 
115-7 
49-1 
0-076 
REMARKS. 
31st. — Brilliant  throughout. 
1st.— A  lovely  summer  day,  with  occasional  heavy  cloud. 
2nd.— Cloudy  early  ;  sunny  day. 
3rd. — Bright  morning  ;  high  wind  and  frequent  cloud  in  afternoon,  and  showers 
at  night. 
4th. — Bright  early  and  generally  sunny,  with  high  wind. 
5th.— Rainy  early  ;  windy  day,  with  alternate  cloud  and  sunshine. 
6th. — Overcast,  with  frequent  drizzle  and  showers  in  evening. 
Temperature  fairly  steady  and  very  near  the  average,  but  the  minimum  on 
the  6th  remarkably  high.  Rainfall  again  deficient.  Still  no  week  this  year  with 
a  total  of  an  inch. — G.  J.  Symons. 
