218 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
September  15,  1898. 
of  seed  having  been  sown,  each  under  the  best  conditions  of  time  and 
space.” 
There  is  another  fact  well  worth  noting,  especially  by  those  who 
are  enterprising  enough  to  try  new  and  costly  seed.  More  ears  of 
Wheat  can  be  produced  from  I  peck  of  seed  sown  per  acre  in  Sep¬ 
tember  than  from  3  bushels  sown  in  November.  Here  is  a  table 
compiled  by  Major  Hallett,  which  is  instructive  reading. 
Drilled. 
Quantity 
Ears  on 
Ears  on 
per  acre. 
square  yard. 
acre. 
October  11th  . 
1  bushel 
263  ... 
1,272,920 
October  llth  . 
2  bushels 
283 
1,369.720 
End  of  October  llth 
2  bushels 
265  ... 
1,282,600 
November  3rd . 
3  bushels 
269 
1,301,960 
2  bushels 
270  ... 
1,306,800 
Average. 
Planted 
270  ... 
1,306,800 
September. — £  bushel  in  single  grains,  9  inch  by  9  inch.  Ears  on 
square  yard,  276. 
But  it  is  not  always  possible  to  get  corn  in  so  early,  some  of  us 
may  say;  still  it  would  be  possible  to  do  rather  more  in  that 
time  than  we  do.  At  any  rate,  it  is  within  our  power  to  increase  the 
ears  of  corn  in  size,  and  to  produce  at  the  same  time  a  larger  kernel. 
One  writer,  a  farmer  of  repute,  says,  “We  do  not  allow  our  cereal 
crops  chance  to  tiller  as  they  should ;  we  are  all  so  frightened  of  missing 
our  crop  that  we  are  inclined  to  pile  on  the  seed  corn.”  Like  the  man 
we  once  heard  of,  who,  not  understanding  the  nature  of  a  drill,  on 
some  bad  weak  brashy  land,  put  on  far  more  seed  than  he  could  ever 
hope  to  see  again. 
This  autumn  at  a  neighbouring  market  town  has  been  exhibited  a 
single  root  of  Wheat,  from  which  sprung  no  less  than  75  stems. 
This  is  not  an  isolated  case.  As  far  back  as  the  time  of  Augustus 
Caesar  there  is  a  record  of  a  grain  of  Wheat  producing  400  stems ; 
and  again,  in  the  time  of  Nero,  of  one  that  produced  360  perfect 
stems ;  and  to  go  to  modern  times,  when  the  British  Association  held 
its  meeting  at  Exeter  in  1869  were  exhibited  a  plant  of  Wheat 
94  stems,  one  of  Barley  110,  and  one  of  Oats  87  stem®. 
Now,  as  long  as  corn-growing  lasts  there  will  continue  to  be  the 
greatest  possible  diversity  of  opinion  as  to  the  size  of  seed  corn.  Each 
man  holds  his  own  views  very  tenaciously,  and  probably  knowing 
his  own  land  he  is  perfectly  justified  in  so  doing. 
There  has  been  a  great  outcry  of  late  that  farmers  were  too  apt 
to  use  only  small  inferior  seed,  selling  all  that  was  bold  in  berry.  It 
was  argued  that  the  small  grains  did  not  contain  sufficient  nutriment 
to  maintain  the  sprout  till  such  times  as,  having  got  hold  of  the 
ground,  it  was  perfectly  independent  of  the  kernel.  This,  in  theory* 
is  perfectly  right,  but  like  all  theories,  it  does  not  apply  to  every 
condition  of  time  and  soil. 
Let  us  see  if  we  can  make  ourselves  plain.  In  cases  where  the 
land  is  good,  fairly  strong,  and  ready  to  sow  during  the  last  week  in 
September  and  up  to  October  21st,  the  fine  bold  Wheat  is  most 
desirable,  and,  as  we  said  before,  much  less  quantity  need  be  drilled. 
Take,  again,  light  poor  land  that  cannot  conveniently  be  sown 
till  November.  Here  it  answers  best  to  sow  small  seed  for  this 
reason  :  By  November  the  natural  food  of  larks  is  much  exhausted, 
and  a  newly  sown  piece  of  Wheat  is  literally  black  with  the  little 
creatures ;  the  land  being  light  is  not  readily  solidified,  and  we  are 
bound  in  self-protection  to  put  on  a  large  quantity  of  seed,  so  that 
they  may  get  their  share  and  yet  leave  enough  for  a  crop.  The 
same  applies  to  Potato  land  Wheat,  which  from  the  nature  of  things 
cannot  be  sown  early.  Then  again,  as  we  personally  have  good 
reason  to  know,  in  cold,  wet,  low  land,  should  the  autumn  be  a  rainy 
one,  the  fine  big  grains  of  Wheat  will  swell  and  burst  before  germinat¬ 
ing — the  small  seed  obviates  this  difficulty.  Our  critics  may  say,  and 
probably  will,  Why  sow  late  ?  Why  sow  light  land  ?  and  why  not 
find  some  other  crop  for  wet  low  bottoms  ?  and  why  not  “  tent”  larks 
off  new  sown  Wheat  ? 
We  can  only  answer  that  we  think  it  a  poor  way  to  go  round 
difficulties  without  surmounting  them,  and  that  he  cannot  upset 
the  natural  course  of  tillage  with  impunity.  All  these  lands  are 
capable  of  producing  good  crops  under  careful  management,  and  as 
to  the  “  tenting  ”  question,  the  boy  has  yet  to  be  born  who  can 
successfully  combat  the  hungry  and  irrepressible  lark. 
WORK  ON  THE  HOME  FARM. 
The  hottest  seven  consecutive  days  within  living  memory  is  a  fair 
description  of  the  last  week,  and  harvest,  which  was  already  making  good 
progress,  is  practically  completed.  We  cannot  remember  that  we  have 
ever  got  so  much  good  corn  home  within  one  week  as  we  have  during 
the  one  just  past.  The  work  was  so  easy  and  straightforward  there 
was  never  any  doubt  about  the  condition  of  the  crops  ;  no  pulling  over 
of  stooks,  no  sorting  out  of  greeD,  undried  stuff,  or  leaving  back  of  rows 
near  the  hedge  ;  nothing  but  solid,  uninterrupted,  and  sustained  hard 
work,  and  we  see  the  result  in  an  overflowing  stackyard  with  every 
place  filled,  whilst  still  there  is  more  to  find  room  for. 
During  a  long  experience  we  have  never  before  got  all  our  corn  in  fine 
order  for  immediate  threshing  ;  we  have  large  or  small  proportions,  but 
never  the  whole  of  it. 
It  is  to  be  hoped  that  English  farmers,  having  secured  their  crops 
splendidly,  w  ill  not  take  steps  to  flood  their  home  markets,  and  thus  unduly 
depress  prices.  We  are  advised  that  there  is  no  fear  of  prices  receding 
if  the  British  farmer  will  exercise  a  little  patience.  One  great  point  in 
favour  of  firmness  in  the  prices  of  Wheat  is  that  the  English  crop  is 
in  fine  condition  for  storing,  and  merchants  need  have  no  fear  of  buying 
on  the  score  of  poor  condition.  Rakings  are  coming  home  nearly  as  good 
as  the  sheaves,  and  there  can  be  little  waste. 
But  it  is  little  use  getting  the  corn  into  stack  if  the  stack  tops  are 
not  made  safe  from  possible  heavy  rain.  The  prudent  farmer  has  a  store 
of  straw  batts,  wherewith  to  roughly  roof  the  stacks  of  Barley  or  Oats, 
the  permanent  thatching  being  performed  later  as  opportunity  offers. 
The  drought  is  all  in  favour  of  the  lambs,  the  growth  of  rank  herbage 
having  been  checked  the  young  animals  which  had  shown  signs  of  scour 
have  quickly  thrown  off  all  unhealthy  symptoms,  and  are  doing  well. 
There  is  now  plenty  of  change  for  them  on  stubbles  and  grass,  and  as 
change  with  plenty  of  elbow  room  is  the  best  thing  for  them  they  must 
do  well. 
A  WETTING  WANTED,  AND  WHERE  TO  FIND  IT. 
Where  does  your  correspondent  who  writes  about  farming  operations 
live  1  His  statements  as  to  rain  (page  198)  are  so  utterly  at  variance  with 
our  experience  in  the  S.  of  England,  that  I  should  very  much  like  to  know 
where  he  hails  from.  I  might  take  a  train  up,  for  the  pleasure  of  getting 
wet  through  ! — A  Country  Vicar. 
[We  will  endeavour  to  indicate,  with  as  much  clearness  as  can  be 
expected  under  the  circumstances,  the  position  of  the  oasis  of  the  vicar’ st 
desire.  To  reach  it  would  involve  a  rather  long  journey  “  down  ”  as 
as  well  as  “  up  ”  by  train,  but  the  rendezvous  would  be  found  good  for  a 
thirsty  man,  abstainer  or  otherwise  ;  and  as  he  would,  moreover,  have 
navigable  rivers  on  three  sides  of  him — East,  West,  and  North — it  would 
not  be  difficult  to  get  “  wet  through,”  even  if  he  happened  to  arrive  on  a 
fine  day.  It  is  only  necessary  to  trace  these  rivers  on  a  map  to  find  the 
locality  in  which  our  “  correspondent  lives  ”  and  farms,  as  well  as  writes, 
so  well.  The  Vicar  will  find  in  another  column  that  upwards  of 
3J  inches  of  rain  fell  in  Nottinghamshire  during  August,  but  our  farmer 
does  not  live  there.  We  hope  this  question  is  answered  satisfactorily.] 
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. 
Rain. 
1898. 
September. 
Barometer 
at  32°,  and 
Sea  Level 
Hygrometer 
Direc¬ 
tion  of 
Wind. 
Temp, 
of  soil 
at 
1  foot 
Shade  Tem. 
perature. 
Radiation 
Tempera¬ 
ture. 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
Sun 
On 
Grass 
inchs. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
inchs. 
Sunday  ....  4 
30-412 
69-4 
64-0 
N.W. 
63-8 
82-2 
67-8 
107-2 
52-5 
— 
Monday  ....  5 
30-344 
64-6 
62-7 
S.E. 
64-0 
79-1 
59-8 
114-7 
54-1 
— 
Tuesday  ....  6 
30-206 
64-8 
63-1 
N.E. 
64-7 
79-9 
62-1 
113-1 
61-9 
— 
Wednesday  7 
30-078 
64-2 
62-9 
E. 
65-0 
86-1 
60-9 
115-2 
59-1 
— 
Thursday  . .  8 
30-028 
73-8 
67-2 
N.E. 
64 -S 
91-2 
60-1 
125-7 
54-9 
— 
Friday .  9 
29-913 
72-4 
65-2 
S.W. 
65-3 
86-0 
60-4 
122-1 
54-8 
— 
Saturday.:..  10 
30-064 
63-9 
57-2 
N.W. 
65-7 
76-3 
57-4 
116-3 
52-2 
— 
30-149 
67-6 
63-2 
64-8 
83-0 
59-8 
116-3 
55-6 
— 
REMARKS. 
4tli. — Sunny  throughout,  but  calm  and  rather  close. 
5th. — Fog  and  cloudy  early  ;  sunny  from  10  A.M.,  and  bright  afternoon. 
6th. — Fog  and  cloudy  early  ;  bright  sun  after  10  a.m. 
7th.— More  or  less  fog  all  morning,  with  the  sun  showing  through  ;  bright 
afternoon. 
8th.— Cloudy  early  ;  bright  and  hot  day,  but  pleasant  breeze. 
9th. — Almost  cloudless  throughout. 
10th. — Almost  cloudless,  with  pleasant  breeze. 
TTTA.  rainless  and  very  hot  week.  The  maximum  temperature  on  8.L  is  the 
highest  recorded  in  September  in  forty  years,  and  during  that  period  there  is  no 
other  instance  of  three  consecutive  days  ‘with  maximum  temperature  above  85°. 
The  mean  temperature  of  the  week  is  12°  above  the  average,  is  higher  than  that 
of  any  other  week  this  year,  and  the  highest  in  any  September  week  for  more  than 
fifteen  years. — G.  J.  Symons. 
