244 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
September  14,  1899 
much  damage  done  from  excess  of  wet,  whole  fields  ploughed  up  in 
the  spring  because  there  was  tot  pant  enough  to  make  adieent 
covering-,  that  we  on  speak  feelingly.  Nothing  helps  Wheat  on  better 
than  a  snowy  coverlet,  affording  protection  from  nipping  trusts,  and 
allowing  the  green  shoot  to  get  safe  away.  Wheat  on  good  dtep  land 
is  better  with  little  or  no  rain  during  the  summer  months.  Late  frosts 
with  hot  days  materially  affect  the  yield,  and  tempestuous  storms  in 
June  and  July  will  flatten  splendid  crops  beyond  hope  of  recovery. 
This  is  one  of  a  farmer’s  great  trials — fields  of  grand  gram, 
heavy  and  full  in  the  ear,  gently  swaying  in  the  wind  one  day,  the 
next  a  broken,  tumbled,  soiled  expanse  of  sodden  straw,  with  ears 
that  cannot  possibly  ripen  to  perfection.  If  the  sample  and  the 
straw  are  spoiled,  the  loss  and  difficulty  does  not  end  there.  There 
is  no  more  perplexing  puzzle  than  that  of  reaping  such  a  field — 
the  straw  laid  every  way,  much  as  though  the  tossing  ocean  had 
by  some  miraculous  stroke  been  transformed  into  a  harvest  field. 
The  best  of  reapers  stick  and  flounder,  the  men  are  constantly 
needed  with  scythes  to  do  the  worst  bits,  the  heavy  going  for  the 
horses  shows  itself  in  their  reeking  flanks  and  heaving  sides,  and 
when  all  is  done  (with  twice  as  much  labour  as  need  be)  the  whole 
spectacle  is  a  sorry  one. 
The  life  history  of  spring  corn  is  shorter,  but  the  farmer  finds 
he  has  quite  as  many  anxieties.  So  much  has  to  be  compressed 
into  little  time,  and  so  sun  and  rain  are  both  needed  to  force  on 
the  crop.  To  insure  good  Barley  it  should  be  grown  without  a 
check  ;  and  good  Oats,  or  indeed  all  Oats,  require  much  moisture  at 
a  certain  period  of  their  life  history. 
We  shall  not  be  surprised  to  find  this  year  that  there  is  a  great 
deal  of  split  Wheat;  the  kernels  are  so  thoroughly  dry  that  unless 
more  than  ordinary  care  is  taken  during  threshing  there  must  be  a 
large  percentage  of  grain  which  the  miller  finds  difficult  of  manipu¬ 
lation.  His  cleaning  machinery  is  intended  for  whole  grains,  and  is 
not  adapted  for  split  corn.  For  the  same  reason,  too,  there  will  be 
complaints  of  flinty  Barley,  though  it  is  marvellous  how  Barley  will 
“  mellow  ”  in  stook  if  subjected  to  a  heavy  downfall  of  rain.  But 
that  one  cannot  always  insure. 
An  early  harvest  is  generally  a  cheap  harvest — days  are  longer, 
the  dews  are  rot  so  heavy,  and  also,  we  fear,  this  year  the  seeds 
among  Barley  will  not  have  had  a  chance  of  becoming  rampant. 
Who  has  not  seen  many  a  Barley  field  where  it  was  difficult  to 
know  which  was  the  reaped  crop,  the  gigantic  Clover,  or  the  less 
apparent  Barley  ?  Imagine  what  a  business  it  is  to  get  all  the 
nature  out  of  that  mass  of  juicy  “green  stuff’'  before  there  is  any 
hope  of  successful  stacking.  If  the  weather  break  and  become 
“  slattery  ”  the  process  is  a  long  and  dreary  one. 
There  will  be  no  necessity  this  year  to  keep  certain  stacks  till 
after  Christmas  that  the  corn  may  get  in  conditioi: — much  will 
indeed  be  threshed  at  once,  a  great  deal  direct  from  the  field.  Well, 
this  will  save  the  expense  of  thatching,  and  labour  is  sadly  scarce. 
To  those  who  do  thresh  thus  early  we  would  give  a  word  of  caution. 
The  dry  wea'her  will  not  last  for  ever,  and  the  root  crops  being  in 
many  places  so  scanty  the  straw  should  be  well  stacked  and  battened 
down,  and  all  chaff  carefully  collected  and  husbarded. 
i  We  have  been  struck  this  year  with  one  proof  of  the  unusual 
season  ;  Beans  were  pulled  and  harvested  earlier  than  we  have  ever 
seen  them.  Usually  they  are  allowed  to  stand  till  the  more  valuable 
crops  were  secured,  but  being  ready  and  perfectly  dry  they  were 
mostly  got  out  of  the  way  before  harvest  proper  pressed. 
After  harvest  cares  and  labours  comes  the  feast  and  song,  and  true 
thanksgiving.  Words  are  not  enough ;  actions  speak  louder.  We 
whose  barns  are  filled  with  plenty,  we  who  know  the  “  joy  of  harvest,” 
should  have  mom  than  a  passing  thought  for  those  of  our  brethren 
who  have  been  worsted  in  the  fight.  Alas  !  that  there  are  so  many 
of  them  —  men  and  women  —  who  have  striven  hard  to  make 
farming  pay,  and  who  are  now  practically  penniless.  They  are 
indeed  in  such  difficulties,  that  the  modest  pension  of  £40  per 
annum  for  a  married  couple,  £26  and  £20  respectively  for  single  men 
and  women,  are  most  eagerly  sought  after.  Over  300  candidates  are 
now  waiting  for  e’ection,  many  of  turn  over  seventy  years  of  age, 
many  he  p  ess  n  i  cripple  ,  and  a  1  te  rib  y  <  e-t  tutc.  To  those- 
who  are  subscribers  to  the  floyal  Agricultural  Benevolent^  we*need 
say  little — the  applications  speak  for  themselves,  they  are  such  sad 
reading. 
We  know  that  the  collections  at  harvest  festivals  are  most  wisely- 
dispensed.  The  local  infirmaries  and  hospitals  should  be  well 
supported,  but  a  few  crumbs  could  le  spared  for  those  whose  bright 
farming  days  are  over — some  burdens  might  be  lightened,  some  tears 
dried.  'J  here  is  hardly  a  rural  parish  in  broad  England  where  there 
are  not  cases  such  as  we  mention,  and  English  sympathy  is  cleep  and 
wide  and  far  reaching. 
WORK  ON  THE  HOME  FARM. 
Another  very  dry  week  !  True,  there  have  been  local  showers,  but 
even  where  they  have  fallen  they  have  done  little  if  any  good.  Cultiva¬ 
tion,  except  by  steam,  is  now  almost  impossible.  Farmers  are  using 
steam  tackle  where  it  is  available  and  a  water  supply  lor  the  engines  is 
within  any  reasonable  carting  distance.  There  is  one  comfort,  a  little 
cultivation  now  will  go  a  long  way  in  tho  future. 
The  stacks  are  nearly  all  thatched,  and  many  farmers  are  carting  and 
spreading  manure  on  the  old  lea  w  hich  is  in  course  for  Wheat.  This  work 
is  often  done  before  harvest,  but  this  year  the  crops  came  ripe  so  suddenly 
that  there  was  no  time.  There  will  have  to  be  very  copious  rains  ere 
the  manure  cun  be  ploughed  in  and  the  Wheat  sown.  Events  do  not  point 
to  an  early  Wheat  drilling  season,  but,  on  the  contrary,  the  present  price 
added  to  the  difficulty  of  sowing  will  encourage  the  farmer  to  once  more 
turn  his  attention  to  Oats. 
Ti.e  pr.ee  of  Wheat  straw  will  be  no  inducement  for  him  to  continue- 
lo  grow  the  grain  at  25s.  per  quarter,  tor  there  is  plenty  of  straw  to  be 
purchased  at  £1  per  ton  on  rails.  It  is  not  easy  to  account  for  this 
depression,  and  it  is  probably  owing  to  a  concatenation  of  causes.  At 
any  rate,  there  are  many  more  straw  sellers  on  the  market  than  there 
used  to  be,  and  the  portable  press  may  have  something  to  do  with  the 
increase  of  competition. 
Very  little  new  grain  is  being  thrashed,  and  this  is  all  the  stranger, 
for  farmers  have  little  work  tor  their  men  until  rain  comes.  The 
weather  is  too  hot  for  malting,  and  maltsters  show  little  anxiety  to  see 
new  Barley  samples.  Some  of  the  largest  buyers  are  abroad  looking 
over  the  Continental  samples,  and  there  will  not  be  much  competition  fop 
new  Barleys  until  they  return.  Reports  of  the  yield  are  discouraging, 
there  being  a  large  proportion  of  small  grain. 
Turnips  are  getting  worse  and  worse.  Swedes  are  covered  with- 
mildew  and  aphides,  and  are  almost  hopeless. 
The  cattle  markets  are  full  of  cattle  and  sheep,  but  whereas  there  ia 
a  fair  trade  for  the  latter,  the  half  fed  beasts,  of  which  the  beef  supply 
chiefly  consists,  are  becoming  more  unsaleable  every  week.  Frteen, 
pounds  wiil  buy  a  big  old  bullock,  and  one  that  was  in  all  probability 
worth  more  last  March. 
Splendid  Hop  Crop. — The  quality  of  the  early  pickings  of  Hops, 
as  well  as  of  the  Bramlings,  now  in  course  of  gathering,  is  pro¬ 
nounced  to  be  extraordinarily  good,  and  there  is  every  reason  to  believe 
that  the  1899  crop,  besides  being  the  largest  since  1895,  will  be  a 
record  one  in  point  of  quality.  As  to  the  yield,  provided  that  the  Hops 
keep  well,  so  that  all  but  a  moderate  proportion  are  picked,  it  is  likely  to- 
range  from  540,000  to  550,000  cwts.  The  acreage  has  been  officially 
returned  at  51,843  acres,  against  49,735  in  1898.  In  all  the  districts  there^ 
are  numerous  instances  of  a  ton  to  the  acre,  while  yields  averaging  15  and 
16  cwts.  an  acre  are  quite  common.  On  the  other  hand,  several  of  the 
principal  parishes  in  East  and  Mid  Kent  w  ill  not  grow  a  much  larger 
crop  than  in  1898. — (“Kentish  Observer.”) 
The  “  Daily  Telegraph  ”  for  Monday  says  :  “  Prospects  of  the  Hop 
crop  in  Kent  have  undergone  a  most  serious  reverse.  A  fortnight 
since  there  was  every  indication  of  a  large  crop  of  splendid  quality. 
Since  then  there  is  a  widespread  tendency  for  the  Hops  to  become  black- 
cored  and  worthless.  One  well-known  planter  estimates  his  loss  at 
£5000.  The  Hops  on  many  hundreds  of  acres  will  be  left  to  blow  away.’» 
How  TO  Get  Rid  of  Rats — Take  a  large  earthen  jar,  and  set  in 
the  ground  near  a  building  frequented  by  rats.  The  top  should  be  not 
more  than  an  inch  or  two  above  the  surface  of  the  ground  ;  fill  this  to 
within  about  5  inches  of  the  top  with  bran  ;  place  boards  over  it,  but 
leave  a  crack  wide  enough  for  a  rat  to  easily  enter  ;  let  this  stand  for 
several  days  and  nights,  until  the  rats  have  got  into  the  habit  of  visiting 
it ;  then  take  out  the  bran  and  fill  with  water  to  within  6  inches  of  the 
top,  and  on  this  sprinkle  a  covering  of  bran  about  2  inches  thick  :  cover 
as  at  first,  and  every  rat  that  has  been  in  the  habit  of  visiting  the  jar  will 
unhesitatingly  jump  in,  and  once  in  there  is  no  escape  for  him  ;  be  sinks, 
and  the  floating  bran  hides  him  from  sight  of  the  next  victim.  By  once 
more  filling  the  jar  with  bran,  and  leaving  it  for  several  days  before 
filling  again  with  water,  suspicion  will  be  diverted.  If  there  is  no  con¬ 
venient  place  for  setting  the  jar  in  the  ground  where  it  will  not  be 
disturbed,  good  results  may  be  secured  by  placing  a  board  in  such  a. 
position  that  the  rats  can  easily  climb  into  the  jar.— J.  L.  Irwin  (in, 
“American  Cultivator.”) 
