258 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER 
September  29,  1898. 
the  threshing  machine  at  work  in  nearly  every  yard,  careless  men  and 
naughty  children  and  cheap  matches  all  over.*  We  have  taken  up 
the  paper  daily,  only  to  read  among  home  news  of  disastrous  fires} 
and  the  complete  loss  of  twenty  to  thirty  stacks  at  a  time. 
No  insurance  really  covers  the  loss,  but  the  money  in  hand  will 
do  much  to  mitigate.  Where  the  stacks  are  aflame  there  is  danger 
for  the  buildings,  and  although  there  is  no  stock  housed  at  present, 
serious  inconvenience  would  arise  when  the  cold  weather  comes  and 
buildings  are  von  est.  We  are  not  agents  for  any  insurance  company, 
but  we  feel  we  sleep  more  sweetly  when  we  realise  that  all  we  possess, 
from  stock,  dead  and  alive,  to  household  furniture,  is  insured. 
This  last  has  been  annus  mirabilis  in  the  corn  trade.  Speculation 
has  been  rife,  fortunes  have  been  made  and  lost  (more  of  the  latter 
than  the  former),  and  the  price  line  on  the  Wheat  chart  has  gone  up 
and  down  with  great  rapid  it}'. 
For  twenty  years  bread  stuffs  have  not  reached  so  high  a  value, 
and  the  mean  average  values  of  corn  have  been  higher  than  any  year 
in  the  nineties.  The  circumstances  that  lead  to  these  enhanced  values 
were  exceptional — i.e.,  a  shorter  supply,  and  the  fear  that  the  American- 
Spanish  war  would  affect  the  arrival  of  cargoes  from  abroad.  Harvest, 
too,  promised  to  be  late,  a  fear,  however,  that  was  not  realised. 
Our  own  Wheat  crop  last  year  amounted  to  6,786,972  quarters, 
and  we  had  to  supplement  this  by  the  purchase  of  21,961,361 
quarters  from  abroad.  This  foreign  supply  cost  about  8s.  per 
quarter  more  than  it  did  the  year  previous.  That  8s.  per  quarter 
amounts  to  something  like  £8,800,000.  We  began  our  corn  year 
with  Wheat  at  33s.  Id.  per  quarter,  it  rose  in  May  to  47s.  lid., 
and  now  stands  at  26s.  10d.,  or  something  like  6s.  3d.  per  quarter 
less  than  we  began  with  last  year. 
Barley,  too,  rose  with  Wheat,  and  averaged  26s.  lid.  per  quarter, 
as  against  23s.  2d.  ;  and  Oats  got  to  18s.  4d.,  as  against  16s.  9d. 
The  average  of  Wheat  for  the  year  was  36s.  4d.  per  quarter.  That 
the  rise  in  price  has  caused  more  Wheat  to  be  sown  is  certain ; 
whether  the  yield  is  going  to  be  much  above  the  average  still  remains 
to  be  seen. 
Europe’s  harvest  has  been  a  good  one ;  United  States  and  Canada 
have  excellent  yields.  Russia  alone  complains  of  a  shortage ;  but  as 
her  population  is  a  Rye-eating  population  it  does  not  concern  us 
much.  Certainly  we  have  not  much  corn  in  hand,  little  if  any ; 
but  we  have  tided  over  the  worst,  and  there  is  a  prospect  of  bread 
and  to  spare  for  the  coming  year.  Less  bread  is  needed  when  the 
Potato  crop  is  a  good  one,  and  from  reports  to  hand  this  crop,  too, 
appears  assured. 
But  we  never  talk  of  the  Potato  crop  with  too  great  certainty. 
When  once  wTe  have  the  Wheat  in  the  stack  we  have  it  safe  (bar 
fire),  but  Potatoes  are  not  so.  We  may  grow  a  good  crop,  store  a 
good  crop,  and  yet  not  market  a  good  crop.  Potatoes  are  rather 
like  fairy  gold,  and  vanish  at  a  touch.  It  is  a  sorry  day  for  our  town 
population  when  bread  and  Potatoes  are  both  dear.  We  fancy  there 
is  one  crop  which  will  maintain  its  value  during  the  coming  year — 
we  speak  of  Oats. 
The  old  stock  is  exhausted,  the  new  crop  but  poor,  short  in 
acreage,  short  in  yield.  Short  in  acreage  because  it  was  supplanted 
by  spring-sown  Wheat;  short  in  yield  on  account  of  the  dry  season, 
and  Oats  will  be  in  demand  more  than  usual  owing  to  the  smaller  area 
of  Maize  in  the  l  nited  States.  Cheap  Maize  is  good  horse  corn,  but 
dear  Maize  will  cause  a  greater  run  on  the  Oats.  We  hope  and  trust 
pig  corn  will  be  both  dear  and  scarce  this  year.  No  sprouted  grain, 
no  spoiled  Takings,  and  we  fancy  that  the  majority  of  the  Barleys 
are  of  fair  malting  qualities. 
One  fact  has  very  much  struck  us  this  harvest.  Perhaps  this 
district  is  singular,  and  we  should  rather  like  to  know  if  the  same 
prevails  in  other  neighbourhoods.  We  allude  to  the  scarcity  of 
gleaners.  Two  women  and  a  girl  half  witted  represent  the  gleaners 
of  our  hamlet,  and  cornfields  come  up  to  the  cottage  doors.  The 
fields  are  not  closely  raked,  the  corn  is  an  excellent  condition,  and  all 
the  cottagers  are  pig-keepers.  What  is  the  cause  of  this  declension  ? 
*  Four  cases  stack  fire  in  to-day’s  paper  (local). 
We  think  it  may  be  a  sign  that  wages  are  so  good  that  they  need  no 
supplementing;  certainly  there  are  plenty  of  women  and  children 
about,  and  since  the  days  of  Ruth  there  has  been  a  sort  of  halo  round 
the  gleaner’s  head.  We  can  understand  it  in  bad  weather,  but  we 
cannot  understand  why  all  this  good  Wheat  and  Barley  is  not  con¬ 
sidered  worth  picking  up. 
According  to  the  report  issued  by  the  Hungarian  Minister  of  Agri¬ 
culture,  the  increase  of  the  Wheat  yield  this  year  is  27'7  per  cent,  above 
that  of  last ;  the  Rye  crop  is  16’6  per  cent,  larger ;  while  the  Oat 
crop  is  5-7  per  cent.,  and  the  Maize  6’7  per  cent.  less.  England’s 
increase  in  Wheat  is  reckoned  at  eleven  million  bushels,  France  eighty 
millions,  Italy  fourteen  millions  while  that  of  Austria  is  eight  to 
nine  millions.  There  is  every  likelihood  therefore  that  the  world’s 
surplus  of  bread  stuffs  will  be  increased  during  this  cereal  year,  and 
that  the  dear  loaf  will  not  be  realised  at  present. 
WORK  ON  THE  HOME  FARM. 
The  great  heat  of  the  past  fortnight  has  been  broken  by  a  few  heavy 
showers,  and  none  too  soon,  for  not  only  Turnips,  but  even  Mangolds, 
were  suffering  from  the  drought,  whilst  the  young  Clover  on  dry  soils 
was  quite  at  the  point  of  perishing.  The  rain  has  not  been  great  in 
quantity,  but  it  may  suffice  to  keep  vegetation  alive  until  more  comes. 
Ploughing  is  now  impossible  except  on  very  light  sand,  and  the 
ploughing  of  lea  must  be  deferred  until  there  has  been  a  thoroughly 
penetrating  rainfall,  so  we  must  turn  our  attention  to  the  fallows,  which 
have  been  already  stirred  and  are  now  working  splendidly.  The  ox- 
harrows,  roll,  light  harrows,  and  chain  harrows  following  each  other  in 
quick  succession  are  making  a  clean  sweep  of  the  not  too  plentiful  twitch, 
and  the  land  will  hardly  require  touching  again  until  it  is  ploughed  down 
ior  winter.  Perhaps,  should  the  weather  remain  dry,  another  dragging 
with  the  spring-tooth,  and  one  light  harrowing,  might  pay  if  there  should 
be  a  few  bits  left. 
Notwithstanding  the  fine  weather  the  black  spot  made  its  appearance 
recently  on  the  leaves  of  the  Potatoes,  and  already  little  leaf  is  left ;  the 
stems,  however,  still  keep  green,  and  we  hope  that  disease  may  not  attack 
the  tubers.  It  would  be  wise,  no  doubt,  to  immediately  lift  all  those  which 
are  sufficiently  matured  and  make  them  safe  from  weather  influences,  for 
disease  might  still  work  havoc  if  a  wet  time  were  to  set  in. 
Pastures  have  gone  off  rapidly,  but  the  meat  is  good,  having  so  much 
sunshine  in  it.  There  is  no  difficulty  with  lambs,  which  are  doing  very 
well  ;  but  we  wish  they  were  well  on  the  roots,  for  Turnips  have  gone 
through  so  many  vicissitudes  that  we  fear  they  may  not  be  very  whole¬ 
some  food  for  young  stomachs.  Both  Thousand-head  and  Rape  have 
been  much  mildewed,  but  stock  have  done  well  on  them.  We  hope  to  say 
the  same  as  regards  the  Turnips,  but  greatly  doubt  the  result.  Perhaps 
the  best  way  will  be  not  to  force  the  lambs  too  closely  on  to  the  Turnips, 
but  to  give  them  plenty  of  change  back  to  the  old  pastures — i.e.,  fog  or 
grass. 
Stubbles  are  now  all  broken  up  and  new  seeds  have  little  meat  in 
them,  and  should  not  be  stocked  in  their  present  weakly  condition,  so 
Clover-fog  or  old  pasture  are  the  only  alternative  to  the  roots.  There  is 
another  question  involved.  Roots  must  be  so  scarce  before  spring  that 
there  can  be  no  hurry  to  get  the  sheep  on  them  now. 
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. 
September. 
Barometer 
at  32°,  and 
Sea  Level 
Hygrometer 
Direc¬ 
tion  of 
Wind. 
Temp, 
of  soil 
at 
Shade  Tem. 
perature. 
Radiation 
Tempera¬ 
ture. 
Rain. 
Dry. 
Wet. 
1  foot 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
Sun 
On 
Grass 
Sunday  ....  18 
Monday  ....  19 
Tuesday  ....  20 
Wednesday  21 
inchs 
29-910 
deg. 
66-8 
deg. 
60-3 
W. 
deg. 
64-6 
deg. 
67-9 
deg. 
62-3 
deg. 
81-4 
deg. 
55-8 
inchs. 
0T11 
30-249 
57-6 
51-2 
s. 
61 T 
65-9 
43-1 
107-9 
38-7 
o-oio 
30-163 
61-2 
58-4 
w. 
60-8 
74-2 
56-8 
113-9 
53-4 
— 
30-087 
56-6 
55-0 
s.  w. 
60-8 
73-2 
49T 
111-6 
44-6 
— 
Thursday  . .  22 
30T20 
58-1 
55-0 
N.E. 
60-0 
71-0 
49-8 
99-2 
44-9 
— 
Friday  .1 _  23 
Saturday ....  24 
30-270 
56-1 
49-8 
N. 
58-9 
67-2 
43-2 
102-1 
37-9 
— 
30-181 
52-9 
47  -9 
N.E. 
58-0 
63-4 
42'3 
108-2 
35-9 
— 
30-140 
58-5 
53-9 
* 
60-6 
69-0 
49-5 
103-5 
44-5 
0-121 
REMARKS. 
18th.— Cloudy  early  ;  heavy  rain  between  9  a.m.  and  11  a.m.  ;  occasional  sunshine 
afternoon,  and  clear  night. 
19th.— Sunny  morning  ;  cloudy  after,  with  a  shower  at  1.45  p.m  ,  and  spots  of  rain 
about  3  P.M. 
20th.— Overcast  early  ;  sunny  from  10  a.m. 
2ist.— Overcast  early  ;  sunny  from  9  a.m.,  and  brilliant  afternoon. 
22nd.— Cloudy  early  and  late  ;  rather  faint  sunshine  during  the  day. 
23rd. — Bright  from  early  morning  to  sunset,  and  clear  night. 
24th.— Frequently  cloudy  till  11  a.m.  ;  bright  sun  after,  and  clear  night. 
Temperature  much  lower,  but  still  above  the  average.  Another  week  of 
extremely  small  rainfall. — G.  J.  Symons. 
