326 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
October  12,  1899. 
pamphlets  without  count,  and  there  is  no  reason  that  a  country  boy 
need  be  behind  his  town  brother  in  the  knowledge  of  the  technicalities 
of  bis  craft. 
We  argue  that  better  facilities  for  education  (provided  it  takes  the 
right  form)  should  keep  men  on  the  land  rather  than  drive  them  off. 
Education  has  not  so  affected  the  gardening  classes ;  taken  as  a  body 
they  are  a  most  intelligent  class  of  men.  The  more  deeply  they 
penetrate  into  Nature’s  mysteries  the  more  in  love  they  are  with  her* 
They  do  not  leave  the  land,  they  may  leave  their  individual  gardening, 
but  it  is  only  to  take  up  work  in  a  wider  sphere,  and  instead  of  a 
garden  they  will  manage  an  estate. 
What  we  grumble  at  is  this — there  are  so  many  means  of  acquiring 
education,  so  much  is  being  done  (we  are  only  on  the  threshold), 
classes  are  arranged,  lectures  given,  text  books  supplied — but  there  is 
such  a  lack  of  pupils.  The  “ought  to  be”  pupils  are  there,  the 
ignorance  is  there,  but  there  is  the  greatest  difficulty  in  filling  the 
classes  or  the  lecture  rooms.  Just  one  or  two  popular  lectures  may 
“take  on,”  but  when  it  comes  to  a  subject  a  little  deep,  or  where  the 
exercise  of  a  little  brain  power  is  required,  there  is  such  a  hanging 
back. 
It  is  not  that  the  evenings  are  filled  with  other  work  or  amuse¬ 
ment.  In  the  villages  there  is  not  much  of  interest  for  the  long 
nights,  and  we  almost  wonder  that  a  feeling  of  curiosity,  if  nothing 
else,  would  tempt  the  young  men  into  the  well  warmed  and  cheerfully 
lighted  rooms. 
The  next  generation  will  perhaps  prove  apter,  more  willing 
students,  but  the  foundation  will  have  to  be  laid  in  the  schoolroom. 
We  spoke  of  the  village  master  as  the  teacher,  but  it  would  be  better 
if  there  could  be  an  itinerant  band  of  science  teachers  scattered 
throughout  the  country.  They  would  have  the  proper  training  and 
adaptability  for  the  work,  which  the  ordinary  schoolmaster  lacks. 
The  children  would  also  learn  better  from  a  fresh  teacher;  there 
would  be  the  charm  of  novelty,  and  that  goes  a  long  way.  We  would 
like  to  finish  with  a  quotation  from  the  “Farmers’  Gazette.” 
“To  some  of  our  readers  it  may  appear  that  we  are  attaching  too 
much  importance  to  this  subject  of  agricultural  education  in  our 
elementary  schools,  and  that  the  way  to  improve  our  agrcultural 
systems  is  not  by  teaching  agriculture  in  our  primary  schools,  but  by 
the  establishment  of  central  schools  and  colleges,  specially  equipped 
for  the  purpose  of  affording  instruction  in  agrculture  to  such  pupils  as 
may  decide  on  adopting  farming  as  a  profession.”  Well,  this  scheme 
would  answer  for  the  farmer's  son,  where  a  little  money  could  be 
found  to  support  the  lad  during  his  training;  but  what  about  the 
ruck  of  the  village  boys,  who  have  neither  time  nor  money  to  spare  ? 
It  is  to  the  schools  first,  and  evening  classes  later,  that  we  must  look. 
There  is  no  other  way,  and,  properly  managed,  there  is  no  better  way. 
We  purpose  at  a  future  time  to  treat  of  the  necessities  and  oppor¬ 
tunities  for  instruction  that  are  available  for  the  farmer’s  son. 
WORK  ON  THE  HOME  FARM. 
We  are  having  abundance  of  rain  now,  and  could  do  with  a  dry 
spell  for  a  change.  The  Clover  lea  is  all  ploughed  for  Wheat,  but  it 
wants  rolling,  to  do  which  the  wet  weather  has  allowed  no  opportunity. 
All  autumn  fallow  operations  are  quite  at  an  end,  and  we  may  plough 
the  land  over  as  soon  as  convenient. 
\Y  e  had  no  idea  that  so  much  corn  had  been  shed  or  necked  this 
season  until  we  saw  the  very  green  appearance  of  the  worked  stubbles 
In  some  there  is  as  good  a  plant  as  if  12  pecks  per  acre  had  been  sown. 
This  should  be  worth  leaving  to  grow  for  another  month,  it  would  then 
make  a  nice  bite  for  the  ewes  and  help  to  economise  the  roots. 
The  soil  being  well  soaked,  the  Wheat  should  be  got  in  at  once  on 
rich  and  heavy  lands  ;  a  continuance  of  rain  might  easily  make  such  into 
an  unsuitable  seed-bed.  Many  farmers  have  already  made  a  start  Do 
not  forget  to  dress  the  seed  before  sowing  ;  1  lb.  of  ground  blue  vitriol 
will  be  sufficient  for  one  quarter.  It  must  be  well  dissolved  in  water 
sufficient  to  thoroughly  damp  the  grain,  and  the  latter  must  be  tamed 
over  three  times  when  wetted. 
Land  intended  for  autumn  planting  with  Cabbage  will  soon  be  required, 
and  must  be  got  ready  if  not  already  done.  Twenty  loads  of  good  muck 
per  acre  should  be  spread  on  Wheat  or  Barley  stubble  that  has  been 
well  cleaned  since  harvest.  The  land  must  then  be  ploughed  with  a 
1  !-ied  plough,  8  inches  deep  and  10  inches  wide.— The  deep  ploughing  is 
necessary  on  account  of  thistles,  which  are  very  troublesome  amongst 
field  Cabbage.  ° 
The  plants  which  should  have  been  sown  early  in  August  may  be 
planted  as  soon  as  they  are  large  enough.  If  dibbled  in  30  inches  apart 
one  way  and  15  the  other  there  will  be  about  14,000  to  the  acre.  One 
shilling  per  1000  is  a  usual  price  for  planting,  and  at  this  rate  a  man  who 
employs  a  lad  to  drop  the  plants  out  for  him  will  earn  good  wages. 
Pastures  are  now  very  green,  arid  there  is  plenty  of  keep,  but  the 
grass  is  very  washy  and  wanting  in  nutritive  elements.  Farmers  will  be 
tempted  to  keep  their  animals  out  later  than  (hey  should  ;  milch  cows 
must  be  kept  warm,  and  poor  food  is  of  little  use  for  milk  production  ;  a 
few  hours  at  grass  in  the  middle  of  the  day  will  be  all  right,  but  they 
must  be  brought  up  when  it  is  cold  and  wet,  and  must  have  hay  and 
cotton  cake,  with  a  little  pulped  Carrot.  Mangold  must  not  bo  used  until 
February. 
Farm  Animals  in  the  Philippines.  —  Cattle,  goats,  and  sheep 
have  been  introduced  from  Spain,  but  they  are  not  numerous.  Domestic 
pigs  and  chickens  are  seen  everywhere  in  the  farming  districts.  The 
principal  beast  of  burden  is  the  caraboa,  or  water  buffalo,  which  is  used 
for  ploughing  rice  fields  a*  well  as  drawing  heavy  loads  on  sledges  or  on 
carts.  Large  hcrses  are  almost  unknown,  but  there  are  great  numbers  of 
native  ponies  from  9  to  12  hands  high,  possessing  strength  and  endurance 
far  beyond  their  size. 
Faulty  Shoeing  as  a  Cause  of  Lameness. — Much  of  the  lameness 
met  with  among  horses  is  due  to  faulty  shoeing.  Of  late  years  there  has 
been  a  great  improvement  in  the  manner  in  which  animals  are  shod,  but, 
as  a  visit  to  any  country  smithy  will  disclose,  there  is  yet  much  to  be 
learned  among  horse-shoers  regarding  the  proper  treatment  of  the  hoof 
in  the  preparation  for  the  irons.  When  a  horse  once  develops  side-bones 
it  can  never  be  cured  ;  it  has  been  well  said,  “once  a  side-bone  always 
a  side-bone.”  Badly  fitting  shoes  are  a  common  cause  of  side-bones, 
and  the  horses  most  subject  to  them  are  heavy  animals  with  upright 
pasterns. — (“  Farmers’  Gazette.”) 
The  Advantage  of  Crushing  Oats.— A  great  waste  of  food 
frequently  takes  place,  says  a  contemporary,  where  horses  are  fed  with 
“  whole  ”  oats — ie.,  with  the  grain  in  its  natural  condition.  This  is 
particularly  so  where  the  teeth  of  the  animals  are  defective,  and  where 
the  food  as  a  result  is  not  properly  masticated.  Young  horses,  when 
changing  their  teeth,  are  particularly  liable  to  waste  food  ia  this  manner, 
and  so,  too,  are  horses  that  are  known  as  “bolters,”  or  greedy  feeders. 
For  all  animals  of  this  description  it  pays  well  to  crush  or  grind  the  oats 
before  feeding.  Some  owners  even  go  so  far  as  to  mix  the  oats  with 
chopped  hay  in  order  to  secure  its  more  effective  mastication,  and  in  the 
absence  of  a  grain  crusher  it  is  certainly  a  very  excellent  method  of 
preventing  waste. 
Potatoes  —  Reports  to  hand  from  the  Marshland  and  Isle  of 
Axholme  Potato  farms  show  that  the  prospects  are  not  altogether 
encouraging.  Picking  has  commenced  at  most  farms,  and  the  crop  is 
found  to  be  of  a  very  variable  nature,  and  in  no  case  is  a  heavy  yield 
anticipated.  The  drought  has  affected  the  crop  a  good  deal,  and  the 
tubers  are  not  turning  out  so  large  as  could  be  desired.  Up-to-Dates  are 
alight  crop,  but  Giants,  the  other  main  crop  of  the  district,  are  very 
fair.  The  Bruce,  which  was  formerly  much  in  demand,  are  now  not 
grown  to  any  great  extent,  but  where  still  cultivated  they  have  proved 
this  year  a  very  disappointing  crop.  On  light  lands  the  results 
are  worse  than  on  the  deeper  soils.  So  far  disease  has  not  been  prevalent. 
The  markets  have  opened  firm,  and  prices  have  reached  a  slightly  higher 
level  than  is  normally  the  case,  farmers  holding  to  their  stocks  and 
showing  no  disposition  to  sell. 
Fences  and  Gates. — Among  some  other  works  on  the  farm  that 
are  neglected  in  the  present  hard  times  are  the  fences  and  gates.  It  is 
the  exception,  rather  than  the  rule,  as  it  used  to  be,  to  find  gates  and 
fences  in  order.  As  for  the  art  of  hedge-cutting,  why,  it  is  dying  out. 
Many  a  man  takes  the  latter  job  on  hand  and  cuts  the  top  off  the  fences, 
but  that  is  not  the  right  way  to  make  a  good  fence.  The  stronger  young 
branches  or  layers  should  be  bent  down  and  laid  in  the  fences,  so  as  to 
strengthen  the  mounds.  Then  the  older  and  decayed  wood  may  be 
removed.  YY  hy  we  mention  this  just  now  is  because  as  soon  as  harvest  is 
over  trimming  young  shoots  and  branches  off  the  hedges  will  begin  ;  but 
they  ought  not  to  be  trimmed  off  the  weak  fence.  They  are  wanted  to 
strengthen  the  hedge  in  cutting  and  laying  hereafter.  Fences  are  a 
pretty  good  index  to  how  the  general  farming  is  conducted.  Besides,  bad 
mounds  lead  to  a  lot  of  loss  to  the  fanner,  as  straying  stock  soon  becomes 
a  trouble,  and  in  straying,  animals  not  only  may  and  do  injure  themselves, 
but  damage  the  crop. — (“  Rural  World.”) 
Wheat  Experiments. — Sir  J.  B.  Lawes  has  issued  an  exhaustive 
statement  upon  the  YVheat  crops  grown  at  the  Rotharasted  Experimental 
Farm  this  year.  The  continuously  unmanured  plot  gave  a  produce  of 
twelve  bushels  per  acre,  at  61f  lbs.  per  bushel,  an  amount  which  is  slightly 
below  the  average  of  the  preceding  ten  years,  and  also  rather  below  that  of 
the  thirty-seven  or  the  forty-seven  years.  The  farmyard  manure  gave 
42^  bushels,  which  is  above  the  average  of  either  the  ten,  the  thirty-seven, 
or  the  forty-seveu  years.  The  mean  of  the  three  artificially  manured 
plots  is  36  bushels  ;  the  highest  of  the  three  reaching  391  bushels. 
Referring  to  the  quality  of  the  grain  as  shown  by  the  weight  per  bushel, 
it  is  seen  that  there  was  great  uniformity  among  the  five  experiments,  all 
showing  61  lbs.  or  more,  and  none  reaching  62  lbs.  The  unmanured  and 
the  farmyard  manured  produce  show,  however,  the  highest  weight 
per  bushel.  The  results  illustrate  the  remarkable  capability  of  Wheat  to 
collect  its  food  from  what  is,  agriculturally  speaking,  exhausted  soil, 
provided  that  the  land  is  well  cultivated  and  kept  clean. 
