350 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER  November  3,  1898. 
large  manufacturers  can  outbid  the  small  oiks,  yet  in  fanning  this 
does  not  hold.  We  had  thought  large  farmers  were  better  able  to 
afford  the  newest  machinery,  the  best  (flass  of  animal,  and  the  most 
scientific  of  manures,  but  in  these  pages  before  us  we  are  told  it  is  not 
so.  It  is  the  man  on  the  50-acre  farm  who  is  to  regenerate  England. 
He  keeps  ten  large  Shorthorn  cows  in  full  milk,  he  has  20  acres  of 
good  grass,  5  acres  Potatoes,  5  of  roots  and  Cabbages,  5  of  Lucerne 
(does  the  Professor  know  this  is  not  a  successful  crop  north  of  the 
Humber),  10  acres  to  Oats,  5  acres  market  garden,  and  in  addition 
he  has  ten  or  twelve  breeding  ewes,  two  or  three  breeding  mares, 
three  large  white  breeding  sows,  and  a  respectable  head  of  poultry. 
Thus  is  England  to  be  split  up  into  this  class  of  farm.  Suitable 
buildings  for  each  will  probably  drop  from  the  clouds.  Markets 
will  be  found  at  the  door  (this  especially  applies  to  that  land,  and 
there  is  a  good  bit  of  it  yet,  where  the  nearest  railway  is  seven,  eight, 
or  ten  miles  distant),  space  and  time  being  no  object.  If  everyone 
keeps  breeding  mares  we  suppose  the  geldings  will  find  their  way  to 
towns,  but  we  well  know  that  if  the  land  be  strong,  and  the  cartage 
heavy,  however  good  the  mare  there  will  seldom  be  a  foal. 
The  Professor  acknowledges  that  the  third  member  of  the  farming 
community — the  labourer — is  in  the  best  condition.  Plere  we  agree 
with  him.  But  we  disagree  when  he  tells  us  that  an  acre  of  land 
will  supply  that  labourer  with  bread  for  himself,  wife,  and  four 
children.  No  man  with  an  average  family,  and  we  take  four  as  an 
average,  can  do  with  less  than  4  stones  per  week,  and  we  doubt 
whether  any  midland  or  south  country  labourer  would  make  direct 
use  of  his  own  flour,  and  so  save  the  profit  of  the  baker.  About  tiles'- 
thousands  of  acres  awaiting  cultivation,  how  many  of  them  would  it 
take  (rent  free)  to  support  a  man  and  his  family  ?  There  is  no 
really  good  land  in  the  market  ;  the  inferior  is  worthless  at  a  gilt. 
We  are  glad  to  see  the  Professor  acknoAvlcd.es  the  difference 
between  labourers  of  the  north  and  south.  Will  any  technical 
education  bring  up  the  average  southern  to  the  standard  ot  the 
average  Yorkshircman  or  Northumbrian  ?  No ;  the  difference  is 
racial.  It  is  a  matter  of  breeding-,  and  climate  and  surroundings. 
We  are  quite  willing  to  allow  that  we  have  much  to  learn  from 
the  Americans,  and  we  do  adept  many  of  their  most  excellent  imple¬ 
ments.  As  to  this  ploughing  business.  We  fancy  we  make  better 
w-ork  of  our  fallows  in  the  long  run  ;  though  perhaps  we  are  slower, 
we  go  deeper.  Our  land  needs  it;  and  we  have  yet  to  see  the  full 
advantage  of  broadcasting  over  drilling.  Not  a  harvest  comes  but 
proves  that  after  all  the  self-binder  is  not  an  unmitigated  blessing, 
and  although  the  singling  machines  of  the  Continent  reduce  the 
price  of  singling  to  7s.  per  acre,  we  still  can  manage  to  get  it  done 
hereabouts  for  6s.  6d. 
The  maiket  gardening  scheme  is  very  nice  on  paper,  but  how  would 
it  answer  if  we  all,  or  at  least  those  of  us  near  a  station,  were  to  put  up 
glass  by  the  100  feet  ?  We  fear  we  should  soon  defeat  our  own  ends. 
When  we  were  successful,  many  of  our  perishable  commodities  would 
be  a  drug  in  the  market,  and  when  our  crops  failed,  as  they  might, 
where  should  we  be  then  ? 
There  is  not  much  encouragement  for  the  dairy  farmer  when  he 
receives  the  princely  sum  of  6d.  per  gallon  for  his  new  milk,  or  even 
Is.  3d.  per  lb.  for  butter.  There  is,  however,  a  great  and  wide 
field  for  improvement  if  we  could  persuade  our  legislators  to  enact 
some  workable  laws  re  the  importation  and  sale  of  foreign  produce 
as  home  grown.  We  labour  here  under  a  terrible  disadvantage,  and 
by  “  we,”  the  consumer  as  well  as  the  producer  is  meant. 
It  is  very  easy  to  talk  of  the  possibility  of  growing  23  tons  of 
Potatoes  or  100  t-  ns  of  Mangold  per  acre  ;  no  doubt  such  crops  lm7e 
been  grown  on  very  small  plots.  We  have  had  personal  experience 
that  the  result  of  measuring  and  weighing  a  small  selected  portion 
of  a  field  of  roots  can  be  very  misleading,  and  we  think  that  record 
crops  should  not  be  considered  when  forecasting  practical  results. 
Outdoor  cultivation,  however  good  it  may  be,  mu<t  always  be  subject 
to  weather  influence,  and  favourable  seasons  cannot  always  be  expected. 
The  fact  that  whilst  Professor  LoDg  so  strongly  argues  in  favour  of 
small  farms,  he  recommends  an — apparently  unlimited— extension  of 
cultivation  under  glass,  shows  what  an  important  part  the  weather 
plays  in  British  agriculture,  fur  weath'  r  control  appears  to  be 
-srniial  to  command  the  greatest  measure  of  success. 
WORK  ON  THE  HOME  FARM. 
There  is  a  general  concensus  of  opinion  that  there  has  been  sufficient 
rain  for  present  needs,  and  that  a  fine  November  would  be  a  blessiDg. 
Though  not  continuously  wet  the  last  feAv  days  have  brought  us  frequent 
heavy  showers,  which  have  been  decidedly  hindering  tc  farm  work.  It  is 
very  annoying  to  see  men  and  horses  driven  home  from  a  field  a  mile 
away  by  heavy  rain,  and  in  an  hour  or  so  to  find  the  sun  shining  as 
brightly  as  everj 
We  must  say  that  our  men  are  not  readily  beaten  off  by  weather,  but 
when  rain  descends  like  a  shower  bath  they  are  quite  justified  in  leaving 
work.  The  difficulty  of  the  farmer  lies  in  not  always  having  a  ready  job 
for  all  hands  at  short  notice.  Of  course  he  can  send  his  daily  labourers 
home.  It  is  a  case  of  no  work  no  pay  with  them.  But  the  frequent 
dismissal  of  men  in  such  a  way  tends  towards  a  state  of  backwardness  on 
a  farm  which  makes  the  saving  of  a  pound  or  two  in  wages  turn  out  more 
expensive  than  economical  in  the  end. 
There  being  a  possibility  of  w  ar  with  France,  many  farmers  with  a 
heap  of  Wheat  in  the  granary  will  be  inclined  to  hold  it  for  better  prices. 
New  Wheat,  however,  does  not  keep  well  during  damp  autumn  weather, 
so  a  wet  afternoon  may  be  profitably  employed  in  winnowing  over  the 
Wheat  in  the  granarj-.  Sack-mending  will  usefully  employ  a  spare  hour 
or  two,  as  will  the  painting,  varnishing  or  tarring  of  indoor  woodwork, 
gates,  doors,  or  partitions  between  yards. 
Farm  labourers  should  be  taught  the  use  of  took,  both  bricklaying  and 
carpentering,  as  a  rough  job  may  often  be  done  in  the  time  that  would  be 
taken  to  fetch  a  carpenter,  provided  only  that  the  labourer  has  two  or 
three  tools  handy,  and  the  knowledge  to  make  good  use  of  them. 
The  old  trade  exclusiveness  has  been  much  broken  down,  and  we 
know  of  several  farm  labourers  who  have  taken  up  a  trade  without 
apprenticeship  or  special  training.  Such  being  the  case,  surely  it  is  not 
too  much  to  expect  labourers  whilst  still  on  the  farm  to  qualify  them¬ 
selves  to  do  odd  jobs  when  required  without  delay,  which  would  otherwise 
require  the  services  ot  a  tradesman.  The  saving  of  time  might  be  most 
important,  not  to  speak  of  the  difference  of  wages  as  between  unskilled 
and  so-called  skilled  workmen. 
Destroying  Charlock. — Refeiring  to  the  note  by  Mr.  W.  Pea 
some  few  weeks  ago,  I  may  say  that  we  do  not  use  lime.  The  remedy  is 
simply  2  lbs.  sulphate  of  copper  to  10  gallons  of  water,  used  through  an 
“Eclair.’’  It  takes  about  50  gallons  to  spray  an  acre.  When  we  sprayed 
a  large  proportion  of  Charlock  was  in  full  bloom.  The  solution  “  burned  ’’ 
the  foliage,  bloom,  and  all  the  smaller  seed  vessels,  but  some  of  the  older 
with  tough  skins  were  not  much  injured. — Sydney  Lee, 
Webbs’  Barley  Competition.— The  awards  in  the  annual  compe¬ 
tition  for  the  prizes  for  Barley  offered  by  Messrs.  Webb  &  Sons,  The 
Queen’s  Seedsmen,  Wordsley,  Stourbridge,  have  just  been  made  by  the 
judge,  Mr.  Thos.  Taylor,  North  Worcestershire  Breweries  Co.,  Ltd.. 
Stourbridge.  They  are  as  follows  : —  Class  1,  champion  prize,  open  to 
:he  United  Kingdom,  £25,  Mr.  A.  E.  Day,  Orchard  Hill,  Stratford-on- 
Avon.  Class  2,  open  to  Salop,  Stafford,  Hereford,  Worcester,  and 
Warwick.  First  prize,  £15,  Mr.  A.  E.  Day,  Orchard  Hill,  Stratford-on- 
Avon  :  second  prize,  £10,  Mr.  E.  Hailes,  Harvingtor,  Kidderminster; 
third  prize,  £5,  Mr.  F.  Horne,  Bobbington,  Stourbridge.  The  conditions 
of  competition  stipulated  that  the  Barley  should  be  one  of  Webbs’  varieties, 
and  grown  with  the  aid  of  Webbs’  Special  Barley  Manure.  The  samples 
i-xhibited  were  of  excellent  quality,  and  bore  testimony  to  the  high  value 
of  both  seed  and  manure. 
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. 
October 
3  g®! 
®  J  a> 
5  o*w 
Hygrometer 
Direc- 
tion  of  j 
Wind. 
Temp, 
of  soil 
at 
Shade  Tem. 
perature. 
Radiation 
Tempera¬ 
ture. 
Rain. 
c*  *  *  S 
a  3® 
Dry. 
Wet. 
1  foot 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
Sun 
On 
Grass 
Sunday  . . . 
23 
inchs 
30T31 
deg. 
54*8 
deg. 
53-0' 
S.AV. 
deg. 
55 '6 
deg. 
63 ’7 
deg. 
50-9 
deg. 
89-9 
deg. 
44-1 
inchs. 
Monday  . . . 
24 
30-101 
53-9 
51  "9 
W. 
54*8 
60-9 
51  -8 
94-1 
45-2 
0  101 
Tuesday  . . . 
Wednesday 
25 
30  *,053 
51. -6 
49”2 
W. 
53-1 
58-2 
45-2 
68-2 
38-7 
— 
20 
,30-073 
50*3 
54-7 
w. 
53*7 
61 T 
52-1 
74-1 
50-3 
— 
Thursday  . 
ot 
|30’066 
57-2 
54-7 
w. 
53-9 
oi-i 
54-1 
74-2 
48-9 
— 
Friday . 
28 
29-965 
55*3 
52-9 
s. 
53-9 
60-9 
49-2 
83-9 
421 
0-011 
Saturday. . . 
29 
29-728 
5S*3 
56-9 
s. 
53-7 
61-7 
50  T 
70-7 
43-9 
0-839 
30-017 
55-3 
53-3 
54.1 
61-1 
50.5 
79-3 
44-7 
0-951 
REMARKS. 
23rd.— Sunny  day,  and  moonlight  night. 
•_'4fch. — Fine  and  generally  sunny  day  ;  heavy  rain  at  7.15  p.m. 
•_oth. — Generally  overcast,  with  spots  of  rain  once  or  twice  ;  sun  for  a  few  minutes 
at  10.30  A.M. 
•23th.— Generally  overcast,  but  a  little  sun  between  9  and  11  a.m. 
27  A. — Fair  day,  with  some  sunshine  in  morning. 
28th.— Fair  early ;  sunny  day  ;  a  little  rain  in  evening. 
2  ith. — Overcast  early  ;  rainy  from  11  a.m.,  especially  from  0  to  1  P.M.,  and  torrents 
of  rain  from  8  P.M.  to  10.30  p.m. 
On  the  whole  fine  and  pleasant,  with  average  temperature,  but  heavy  rain  at 
the  close. — G.  J.  Symons. 
