390 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
November  17,  1898. 
only  will  work  but  are  ready  to  learn  to  do  so  in  a  scientific  way,  find 
ready  employment  nowadays,  and  at  wages  which,  when  carefully 
calculated  from  every  point  of  view,  do  not  compare  unfavourably 
with  the  earnings  of  a  large  number  of  dwellers  in  the  towns. 
Of  course  rural  life  provides  less  amusement,  but  it  is  very  healthy, 
besides  which  there  is  more  clannishness,  or  to  speak  more  correctly, 
good  neighbourliness  in  the  village  than  in  the  town.  If  the  labourer 
of  to-day  will  make  the  best  of  himself,  there  is  no  reason  why  he 
should  not  do  well  and  save  money  on  a  farm.  The  low  price  of  farm 
produce  has  affected  him  rather  favourably  than  otherwise,  as  he  is 
paid  almost  entirely  in  money,  the  spending  power  of  which  has  so 
largely  increased. 
We  think  that  if  farmers,  as  a  body,  would  give  more  encourage¬ 
ment  to  young  villagers  to  learn  the  skilful  use  of  their  hands,  and 
when  taught,  would  give  them  the  good  wages  which  they  can  then 
earn,  and  are  really  worthy  of,  we  should  hear  less  of  scarcity  in  the 
rural  labour  market.  More  than  this,  with  an  increase  in  the  supply 
of  skilled  labour,  there  would  be  less  demand  for  the  unqualified  and 
idler  class,  who  thus,  from  sheer  necessity,  would  be  driven  to  make 
themselves  more  capable,  or  go  without  work  sufficient  for  a 
maintenance. 
There  are  far  too  many  of  this  latter  class  in  our  villages  now ; 
they  are  generally  unmarried,  and  live  at  home  with  their  parents  as 
long  as  the  latter  can  keep  them  when  work  is  scarce.  As  soon, 
however,  as  the  parents  begin  to  fail  and  to  look  for  help  to  the  son, 
dhe  latter  thinks  it  is  time  he  bettered  himself,  and  makes  off  to  the 
manuracturing  districts,  the  old  folks  receiving  little  of  either  help  or 
sympathy  from  him  afterwards.  Such  cases  are  only  too  common. 
Married  sons  are  generally  much  more  filial  in  their  behaviour,  and, 
good  citizens  as  they  generally  are,  notwithstanding  the  heavy  calls 
from  wife  and  family,  can  do  a  noble  share  in  helping  their  parents  in 
old  age. 
We  have  known  farmers  who  made  a  rule  never  to  keep  a  man 
more  than  so  many  years.  The  idea  was  that  a  man  became  masterful, 
or  inclined  to  assert  himself  after  a  time,  and  having  been  as  his 
master  said  long  enough,  would  have  to  leave.  We  also  knew  a 
labourer  who  would  only  stay  a  few  years  in  one  place,  because,  as  he 
said,  if  he  stayed  too  long  he  would  never  learn  anything.  That  man 
ended  his  days  learning  to  repair  roads. 
We  cannot  agree  with  such  ideas ;  the  more  the  man  knows  of 
his  master’s  work,  the  more  valuable  he  should  be  to  him,  and  the 
master  should  make  it  worth  his  while  to  continue  in  his  employ. 
Many  of  the  old-time  customs  have  fallen  into  disuse ;  there  appears 
no  adequate  reason  for  their  being  given  up,  except  from  indifference, 
for  some  were  very  popular,  and  would  be  now  were  they  revived. 
The  bringing  home  of  the  last  load  of  corn  with  rejoicing  was  a  very 
pleasing  feature  with  which  to  close  the  harvest  season.  Perhaps,  now 
corn  is  so  much  cheaper,  the  farmer  thinks  it  not  worth  making  such 
a  noise  about.  The  last  load  was  always,  by  arrangement,  a  small 
one ;  half  the  children  of  the  village  were  piled  on  the  top,  each 
with  a  flag  or  green  branch  to  wave.  The  horse;  and  wargon  were 
decorated,  and  the  harness  specially  bright.  At  intervals  the  waggon 
would  be  gently  stopped,  when  at  each  halt  the  waggoner  would  recite 
a  verse  of  what  was  known  as  the  harvest  nomine.  The  first  verse 
ran  something  like  this : 
Mr.  Brown,  he  is  a  good  man. 
He  lets  us  ride  his  harvest  dam  ; 
He  gives  us  beef,  he  gives  us  ale  ; 
Wo  hope  his  heart  will  never  fail. 
Hip,  hip,  hurrah  ! 
On  arrival  in  the  stackyard,  ale  was  distributed  among  the  men,  and 
huge  baskets  of  apples  scrambled  for  by  the  children. 
A  week  or  two  afterwards  the  rejoicing  found  its  climax  in  the 
harvest  supper,  when  the  men  and  their  wives  were  entertained  to 
roast  beef  (1£  lb.  per  head),  and  plum  pudding,  and  beer  and  ’bacca 
ad  libitum.  After  supper  and  the  toasts  of  “the  Queen  ”  and  “  the 
Master,”  every  man,  after  much  pressing,  sang  his  favourite  song,  these 
songs  ranging  from  the  “  Garden  Gate,”  in  high  falsetto,  to  the  “  Great 
Meat  Pie,”  and  “  We’re  all  jolly  good  fellers  that  toilers  the  plough.” 
Alas  !  we  seldom  hear  of  such  rejoicings  now,  and  we  can  feel  the 
regret  the  more,  for  the  men  seldom  abused  the  good  cheer  put  before 
them,  but  drank  temperately,  and  were  all  ready  for  work  next 
morning. 
WORK  ON  THE  HOME  FARM. 
The  weather  is  perhaps  as  favourable  for  the  Wheat  sowing  as  it  can 
be  at  such  a  late  period,  for  the  seed  bed  is  that  happy  medium  we  so 
often  aim  at  but  seldom  attain.  We  can  now  dismiss  the  too-well  worn 
topic  until  February,  when  we  hope  with  others  to  sow  a  little  more  of 
this  all-important  cereal.  The  only  fear  as  regards  the  well-being  of  this 
year’s  Wheat  crop  is  that  the  roller  has  not  been  sufficiently  used  before 
and  after  the  drill ;  since  good  ploughing  has  been  possible  the  weather 
has  been  too  unsettled  to  allow  of  much  use  of  the  roll,  so  we  must  bear 
this  fact  in  mind  and  watch  for  the  earliest  opportunity  to  rectify  the 
omission.  On  light  soil  that  most  needs  rolling  the  work  may  in  favourable 
seasons  be  done  in  early  February. 
Attention  must  now  be  paid  to  the  fallows  which  have  been  cleaned 
since  harvest  ;  they  must  bo  ploughed  as  early  as  possible,  but  care  must 
be  taken  that  the  work  be  thoroughly  well  done.  The  whole  of  the  land 
must  be  cut  through  by  the  share,  especially  if  it  be  subject  to  thistles, 
and  much  good  land  is  so.  This  ploughing  will  take  the  horses  about  a 
fortnight  to  complete.  A  deep  but  narrow  furrow,  say  6  inches  in  depth 
by  8  inches  wide,  will  suit  any  soil  for  a  Martinmas  ploughing,  but  if  a 
greater  depth  be  desired  the  chilled  ploughs  will  turn  a  furrow  9  inches  by 
12  inches  w  ithout  risk  of  missing  any  thistle  roots. 
We  rather  believe  in  deep  ploughing  on  light  and  medium  land,  but 
do  not  believe  in  it  as  a  complete  cure  for  twitch,  for  which  purpose  we 
see  that  it  is  recommended.  Years  ago  we  saw  the  system  well  tried  by  a 
practical  farmer,  with  the  result  that  after  a  few  years  the  land  was  so  foul 
that  he  gave  the  farm  up  rather  than  attempt  the  task  of  cleaning  it,  and 
the  landlord  had  to  farm  it  himself  for  a  time  before  he  could  let  it.  The 
ploughing  was  14  inches  in  depth. 
The  cattle  are  all  up  in  the  yards  ;  the  younger  ones  stay  up  altogether, 
but  the  elder  ones  are  turned  out  a  little  every  day.  There  is  little  grass 
left,  and  they  will  shortly  have  to  stay  up  altogether.  We  are  using 
dried  grains  to  mix  with  the  chaffed  straw  in  addition  to  and  partly 
instead  of  roots,  which  have  improved  but  must  be  scarce  before  spring. 
Many  Turnips  are  rotten  and  all  are  small  in  size. 
OUR  LETTER  BOX. 
Hay  for  Animals  ( Z Warwickshire'). — Under  the  circumstances  named 
the  amounts  would  be,  approximately,  for  calves  four  months  old  10  cwt., 
yearlings  of  twelve  to  sixteen  months  1  ton.  Much  depends,  however,  on 
the  amount  ot  grass  available,  and  also  on  the  character  of  the  winter, 
and  judgment  must  bo  exercised  accordingly.  A  letter  was  sent  to  you 
about  a  fortnight  ago  to  another  address  than  that  now  given,  but  not 
published,  and  we  hope  you  received  it. 
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. 
November. 
Barometer 
at  32°,  and 
Sea  Level 
Hygrometer 
Direc¬ 
tion  of 
Wind. 
Temp, 
of  soil 
at 
Shade  Tern, 
perature. 
Radiation 
Tempera¬ 
ture. 
Rain. 
Dry. 
Wet. 
1  foot 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
Sun 
On 
Grass 
Sunday  .... 
Monday  .... 
6 
inchs 
30T31 
deg. 
40-8 
deg. 
40-8 
S.W. 
deg. 
49  0 
deg. 
53-2 
deg. 
40-4 
deg. 
64-8 
deg. 
37-3 
inchs. 
30-090 
47-9 
47-8 
S. 
47  -9 
51-4 
39-9 
68-3 
34-2 
— 
Tuesday  .... 
W  ednesday 
8 
30-011 
43-8 
43-7 
E. 
47-9 
53-1 
41-3 
61-8 
35-1 
— 
9 
30-203 
50-1 
50T 
N.E. 
48-1 
57-8 
43-2 
71-2 
36-4 
— 
Thursday  . . 
Friday . 
!  aturday.... 
10 
30-081 
50 -S 
50-7 
N.E. 
49-2 
54-6 
49-9 
63-8 
41-1 
— 
11 
130-058 
47-7 
47-7 
N.E. 
49-2 
53-7 
45-4 
02-1 
3S-7 
11 
j-29-821 
47-1 
47T 
N.E. 
49-3 
53-8 
44-4 
54-1 
40-9 
0-014 
30-056 
46-9 
46-8 
48-7 
53-9 
43-5 
637 
37-7 
0-014 
REMARKS. 
6th.—  Fog  in  morning  with  bright  sun  above  ;  sunny  afternoon  ;  foggy  evening. 
7  th. — Sunny  nearlv  all  day. 
8th.—  Fog  early,  cleaving  gradually,  and  sunny  from  11  A.M.  ;  cloudy  evening. 
9th. — Fog  in  morning,  clearing  gradually  ;  mild  sunny  afternoon  ;  overcast 
evening. 
10th.— Slight  fog  early  ;  cloudy  morning  ;  faint  sunshine  in  afternoon  ;  fog  in 
evening. 
lltli. — Foggy  morning  ;  sunny  from  noon  till  sunset ;  overcast  night. 
12th.— Wet  fog  in  morning  ;  overcast  after,  with  spots  of  rain  in  evening. 
Barometer  and  thermometer  both  rather  high  ;  much  wet  fog,  but  scarcely  any 
rain. — G.  J.  Symons. 
