418 
JOURNAL  OP  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
November  9,  1899. 
to  any  number  of  men  who  understand  their  work,  and  an  excellent 
wage  waiting  for  them.  There  is  the  greatest  difficulty  in  finding 
young  men  who  can  hedge  and  ditch  and  stack  like  the  veterans.  We 
know  farms  where  quite  aged  men  are  kept  on  solely  because  none  of 
the  young  ones  have  learned  to  do  their  work.  There  is  neither  the 
skill  nor  the  despatch  that  there  was  twenty  years  ago.  As  for  the 
stockmen  they  are  at  a  premium,  and  a  good  shepherd  may  dictate 
his  own  terms.  Mind,  there  is  not  a  call  for  idle,  worthless  louts  any 
more  in  the  country  than  in  the  town. 
We  see  Mr.  Martin  Sutton  advocates  three  months  of  summer 
holiday.  Is  that  with  a  view  to  the  employment  of  child  labour? 
What  would  become  of  the  schoolmaster  ?  He  would  not,  in  fairness, 
exppet  a  twelvemonth’s  salary  for  nine  months’  work,  and  he  has  got 
to  live.  A  love  of  the  land  cannot  be  taught  by  books  alone,  there 
must  be  some  practical  gardening  and  agricultural  training.  If  the 
present  masters  were  efficient  they  would  be  the  best  instruments, 
provided  time  was  allowed  them. 
It  has  come  to  this,  that  many  of  the  subjects  now  demanded  by 
the  examiners  must  be  omitted,  and  others  of  a  more  practical  nature 
put  in  their  place.  We  know  several  village  schoolmasters  who  are 
expert  gardeners — could  it  be  possible  that  such  men  be  provided 
with  (say  three  months’  training)  at  some  agricultural  college  to  fit 
them  for  their  new  subject  ?  Of  course,  they  must  not  be  put  to  any 
expense,  and  deputies  must  be  found  for  their  schools  during  their 
absence.  This  would  be  cheaper  than  finding  new  teachers  for  this 
branch  alone,  and  we  think  the  present  men  would  be  more  in  touch 
with  their  young  pupils. 
Dr.  Someiville  advises  that  gardening  and  bee-keeping  be  taught  in 
the  villages  to  give  the  men  and  boys  fresh  interest  in  their  homes. 
We  do  not  know  where  he  comes  from,  but  our  village  has  raised 
champion  gardeners,  and  the  race  is  by  no  means  extinct,  and  this 
without  any  extraneous  help.  There  is  au  immense  amount  of  good 
gardening  in  the  villages.  Of  cour  e  there  may  be  benighted  places 
where  horticulture  is  not  followed  to  any  great  extent,  but  we  do  not 
know  them.  We  are  most  convinced  that  any  new  teaching 
must  be  compassed  by  present  machinery ;  but  there  must  be  a 
distinct  class  of  what  may  be  termed  rural  masters  as  in  opposition  to 
town  masters.  The  best  of  the  present  men  must  be  utilised,  and 
young  ones  trained  to  fill  the  gaps  as  they  occur. 
What  about  the  necessary  fuel  to  make  the  machinery  work? 
Those  of  us  who  live  in  the  country  and  have  had  anything  to  do 
with  technical  woik  know  to  our  sorrow  how  difficult  it  is  to  get 
classes  of  adults  to  study  the  various  subjec’s  set  down  in  the  lists. 
Only  in  comparatively  few  cases  is  there  anything  of  a  class.  This 
arises  partly  from  sparseness  of  population  and  partly  from  careless  non¬ 
appreciation.  We  have  not  been  allowed  to  draw  on  the  bigger  of 
the  school  children,  we  might  not  even  send  the  big  girls  to  a  cookery, 
dress-making,  or  laundry  class;  now  heie  is  a  great  blunder.  The 
villages,  as  a  whole,  are  losing  their  share  of  this  continuation  educa¬ 
tional  grant,  and  consequently  in  such  cases  some  persons  are  asking, 
why  not  spend  the  money  allotted  to  the  district  through  the 
elementary  schools,  and  use  it  in  teaching  truly  rural  subjects  ? 
After  all,  the  children  are  the  ones  to  get  at;  their  minds  are  not 
only  active,  but  receptive,  and  what  is  learned  in  childhood  is  not 
forgotten  in  mature  age.  There  should  be  a  committee  formed  of 
country  school  managers  and  masters  to  draw  up  a  suitable  syllabus 
of  subjects,  and  present  for  the  consideration  of  the  educational 
department.  No  doubt  from  time  to  time  the  code  would  need 
modifications,  but  we  should  like  to  see  a  rough  sketch  drawn  out. 
There  are  plenty  of  men  (and  women)  in  the  villages  whose  suggestions 
would  be  of  the  greatest  use,  and  it  is  the  village  people  whose  voice 
should  c  unmand  attention. 
WORK  ON  THE  HOME  FARM. 
Work  has  been  so  fur  put  forward  that  twenty-four  hours’  heavy 
rain  just  fallen  will  cause  no  inconvenience.  In  some  places  with  which 
we  are  acquainted  we  know  it  has  been  welcomed,  for  springs  are  still 
low  and  with  a  large  head  of  stock  coming  up  to  the  yards  and  a  poor 
supply  of  roots,  the  pumps  will  soon  be  hard  at  work.  A  sharp  frost 
would  open  the  pores  of  the  soil  and  make  ways  for  the  rain  to  reach 
the  wells. 
Linseed  cake  is  very  dear,  but  cotton  cake  has  fallen  owit 
rise  of  20s.  per  ton  in  the  price  of  oil.  A  still  further  reduct-. 
10s.  per  ton  in  cotton  cake  is  promised  when  new  seed  arrives  ' 
the  new  year,  so  it  would  be  well  to  wait  before  buying,  or  a.  _ 
only  buy  at  the  promised  reduction.  We  believe  cotton  cake  ca>* 
be  bought  for  January  delivery  at  £4  5s.  per  ton  ex  mill  or  ship. 
There  is  already  a  strong  demand  for  roots  for  the  cow-keepers  in  thv. 
towns,  and  a  friend  who  had  a  number  of  strong  bullocks  ready  for 
winter  feeding  has  been  tempted  by  a  liberal  offer  for  them,  and  has 
also  sold  his  Mangold  at  20s.  per  ton.  As  he  delivers  to  a  keel  on  the 
river  which  runs  by  his  land  he  ha3  little  carting  and  must  have  done  a 
good  stroke  of  business.  He  has  a  fair  crop  of  Turnips,  and  now  his 
bullocks  are  gone  will  have  ample  roots  for  the  remainder  of  his  stock. 
Cabbage  must  be  planted  at  once  if  they  are  to  be  put  in  the  autumn. 
They  will  be  fit  for  use  next  June.  Plants  may  generally  be  had  in  the 
Fens  along  the  east  coast  at  Is.  6d.  to  2s.  per  1000  on  rail.  It  is  time 
Wheat  sowing  was  completed  ;  late  sown  Wheat  has  many  winged 
enemies,  among  which  larks  are  most  prominent.  When  harrowing  the 
seed  in  it  is  a  good  plan  to  finish  with  two  harrowings  slantwise  of  the 
drills,  so  that  the  birds  have  greater  difficulty  in  finding  the  rows.  If  the 
land  be  very  clean  broadcast  sowing  may  be  advisable,  but  it  entails 
much  harrowing  to  properly  cover  the  seed,  and  spring  hoeing  would  be 
made  quite  impossible. 
Mangolds  have  grown  well  and  late  this  season,  but  should  now  be  in 
the  store.  They  must  be  well  strawed  and  earthed  to  preserve  them  from 
frost,  for  Swedes  as  a  rule  will  be  hardly  worth  storing,  and  we  must 
take  the  best  care  of  Mangolds  ;  they  are  sure  to  be  wanted. 
Russian  Wheat.— Russia  will  not  send  us  nearly  as  much  Wheat 
as  usual  between  now  and  next  harvest.  Her  crops  have  not  yielded 
nearly  up  to  expectations.  Accordingly  there  will  be  one  important 
exporting  country  in  a  great  measure  cut  off  from  us.  Russia  iu  time  of 
plentifulness  does  not  send  so  much  Wheat  as  the  United  States, 
although  time  was  when  she  sent  more.  So  that,  says  a  contemporary, 
with  wars  and  rumours  of  wars,  and  a  partial  failure  in  one  of  our  large 
Wheat-exporting  countries,  it  appears  that  farmers  might  do  well  to  hold 
stock.  Fortunately ,  against  a  possible  rise  in  the  market  we  have  a  full 
stock  on  hand — so  different  from  what  it  was  in  the  time  of  the  Leiter 
spec,  when  advanced  prices  ruled. 
The  World's  Wheat  Crops.— An  important  review  of  the  world’s 
Wheat  crops  has  been  published  from  the  Department  of  Agriculture  at 
Washington.  This  not  only  gives  the  latest  information — commercial  and 
official  — on  the  crops  in  every  important  country,  but  also  discusses  the 
various  world’s  estimates  already  made.  It  is  written  by  the  Hon.  John 
Hyde,  the  statistician  to  the  department,  who  comes  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  difference  between  this  year’s  and  last  year’s  crops  will  materially 
exceed  300,000,000  bushels  decrease.  So  far  as  the  United  Kingdom  is 
concerned,  Mr.  Hy  de  put  the  yield  at  33  bushels  per  acre.  This  is  a  very 
high  estimate.  Sir  J.  B.  La  wes  having  put  the  crop  here  at  31  bushels,  and 
this  is  practically  the  bame  as  most  other  estimates. 
The  Destruction  of  Charlock. — On  May  14th  last  the  Agri¬ 
cultural  Society  of  Pithiviers  (France)  organised  a  demonstration  with 
the  object  of  studying  the  value  of  sprayers  for  extensive  cultures,  and 
also  the  efficacy  of  various  substances  recommended  for  the  destruction  of 
(  harlock.  The  jury,  composed  of  the  chief  growers  in  the  district,  was 
unanimous  in  admitting  the  accuracy  of  the  machines  presented.  .  Classed 
by  degrees  of  power,  the  products  employed  came  out  in  the  following 
order  : — 1,  nitrate  ot  copper  ;  2,  sulphate  of  copper  ;  3,  sulphate  of  iron. 
Iron  salts,  then,  seem  ot  least  value,  and  occupy  the  last  rank.  Immedi¬ 
ately  after  application  of  the  toxic  liquids  the  crucifers  begin  to  wither. 
We  may,  theD,  conclude  that  henceforth  farmers  will  be  able  to  deal  with 
a  series  of  noxious  plants  which  have  hitherto  cost  them  such  a  heavy 
annual  tribute.— (‘*  La  Nature.”) 
Dairy  Herds. — Probably  most  other  animals  on  the  farm  come  no 
nearer  to  yielding  a  fair  profit  than  dairy  cows,  but  it  is  still  the  rule  that 
they  do  not  make  as  good  a  return  as  they  should.  Most  farmers  will 
sadly  realise  the  fact  that  they  possess  a  number  of  these  unprofitable 
animals,  and  would  like  to  find  some  way  by  which  marked  improvement 
could  be  immediately  effected.  Some  animals  can  be  greatly  improved,  as 
far  as  their  productiveness  is  concerned,  by  better  feeding.  There  are 
many  cows  giving  only  a  moderate  quantity  of  m’lk,  which,  if  liberally 
fed,  would  quickly  and  greatly  increase  their  yields.  But  this  is  not  true 
of  all  cows,  as  there  are  many  upon  which  high  feeding,  as  far  as  milk 
production  is  concerned,  is  thrown  away.  The  surest  method  of  effecting 
a  marked  and  lasting  improvement  in  the  dairy  herd  is  by  breeding  and 
selection.  In  dairying,  und,  indeed,  in  all  stock-farming  operations,  the 
principle  of  selection  must  be  observed  in  order  to  produce  the  best 
results.  Good  management  of  a  dairy  herd  consists  in  keeping  only 
the  best  animals  and  weeding  out  unprofitable  and  unthrifiy  members. 
This  systim  can  be  made  to  show  great  results  if  the  cows  are  properly 
tested  and  graded,  and  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  this  improve, 
ment  should  be  strengthened  by  good  feeding  and  by  the  best  possible 
care  of  the  animals.  A  dairyman  who  keeps  a  duffer  of  a  bull,  and  feeds 
his  calves  sparingly,  will  never  be  a  success  as  a  stock-breeder.  He 
grows  a  lot  of  cattle  that  are  bred  crooked,  and  any  good  qualities  that 
they  may  happen  to  possess  are  undeveloped  on  account  of  the  poverty  of 
their  upbringing. — (“  Rural  World,”) 
