66 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
January  i6,  1886 
PROFITABLE  FARMING. 
Before  farming  ever  can  become  anything  like  so  profitable 
as  is  possible,  there  must  be  a  radical  change  in  the  management 
of  all  land  laid  down  to  grass,  whether  it  be  in  temporary  or 
permanent  pasture.  To  guage  the  ability  of  the  ordinary 
farmer  by  the  condition  of  the  pasture  on  his  farm  would  induce 
the  conclusion  that  he  was  ignorant  of  the  first  principles  of  his 
calling.  Said  this  before  ?  Yes,  both  said  and  written  it  many 
a  time  and  oft,  because  we  have  had  to  reclaim  so  much  poor 
pasture  ;  because  we  know  beyond  a  doubt  that  nine-tenths 
of  British  farmers  have  nothing  in  their  practice  that  is  at  all 
an  approach  to  the  systematic  cultivation  of  this  important 
crop  ;  because  we  know  that  no  crop  affords  a  more  certain  and 
profitable  return  upon  outlay  if  only  it  is  well  and  wisely  done. 
But  we  desire  to  be  more  particular  in  this  matter.  We  have 
under  our  control  an  estate  of  which  every  farm  held  by  a  tenant 
is  entirely  in  permanent  pasture ;  the  tenants  are  dairy  farmers 
pure  and  simple.  All  of  them  are  prosperous — some  much  more 
so  than  others.  They  are  makers  of  Stilton  cheese,  and  the 
quality  of  their  special  product  is  a  very  safe  indication  of  their 
financial  condition,  the  best  cheese  being  worth  to  them  from 
twice  to  thrice  as  much  as  the  inferior  cheese.  So  that  in  com¬ 
parison  with  other  farmers  they  do  well ;  but  the  pity  of  it  is 
they  might  do  so  much  better,  yet  will  not. 
What  we  deplore  so  much  on  the  part  of  these  men  and  others 
is  the  lack  of  enterprise,  of  effort  to  improve.  If  only  they  would 
feel  their  way  with  the  utmost  caution,  taking  only  a  few  acres 
of  poor  unsatisfactory  pasture  for  special  treatment,  keeping 
entries  of  cost,  of  sorts  of  manure,  of  the  time  of  application,  of 
results,  it  would  tend  to  develop  intelligence,  to  impart  con¬ 
fidence,  to  bring  conviction  that  by  a  judicious  outlay  and 
timely  application  the  whole  of  their  pasture  would  become  much 
more  profitable. 
Perhaps  the  most  important  part  of  such  knowledge  is  a  clear 
grasp  of  what  full  and  sustained  fertility  of  soil  really  is.  It 
implies  that  the  soil  shall  contain  a  full  supply  of  available 
plant  food  during  the  whole  season  of  active  growth,  and  also 
sufficient  of  it  for  the  wants  of  the  pasture  from  autumn  till 
spring,  the  test  at  midwinter  being  a  fresh  healthy  green  hue 
everywhere — all  over  the  pasture.  Pray  go,  gentle  reader,  and 
have  a  look  over  your  pasture  after  reading  this,  and  if  instead 
of  this  uncommon  ruddy  hue  of  health  and  vigour  you  find  it 
has  the  common  brown  tinge  —  or  very  much  more  than  a 
tinge — you  may  safely  conclude  that  you  are  a  defaulter,  having 
something  to  learn  which  will  repay  you  admirably  for  your 
resolution  to  obtain  the  knowledge,  and  the  pleasure  and  profit 
that  comes  with  it. 
We  place  some  stress  upon  the  importance  of  sustained 
fertility  of  soil  in  winter,  because  since  Sir  John  Bennet  Lawes 
published  the  fact  that  there  is  some  loss  of  nitrogen  by  water 
filtration  through  soil  in  winter,  students  have  been  taught  that 
nitrogen  must  be  withheld  before  the  cessation  of  active 
growth.  Such  teaching,  however  applicable  to  arable  land,  we 
hold  to  be  misleading  as  to  pasture.  We  have  found  it  so 
among  our  own  students,  and  have  therefore  been  at  some  pains 
to  convince  them  that  such  loss  of  nitrogen — the  very  soul  of 
fertility — is  so  trifling  from  land  in  pasture  as  to  be  immaterial, 
and  that  it  is  of  much  more  consequence  to  see  that  fertility  is 
well,  not  extravagantly,  sustained  during  winter. 
To  take  an  example,  we  are  folding  sheep  on  poor  upland 
pasture  now,  as  the  most  economical  and  one  of  the  most 
efficient  means  of  storing  the  land  with  fertility  for  next  season. 
When  spring  comes  we  shall  be  certain  of  an  early  strong 
growth  after  the  folds,  which  would  be  impossible  were  the 
nitrogen  to  be  lost.  Here,  again,  we  deplore  that  we  cannot 
induce  our  dairy  farmers  to  fold  their  sheep  in  this  profitable 
manner  in  winter.  They  have  plenty  of  sound  upland  pasture, 
but  pasture  folding  is  not  a  local  custom  with  them,  and  if  they 
gave  it  a  second  thought  it  would  be  regarded  as  a  fanciful 
thing  “  wi’  nowt  in  it.” 
In  the  northern  counties  sheep  folding  on  arable  land  is  very 
well  done;  so,  too,  is  it  in  East  Anglia,  where  it  is  also  applied 
to  a  variety  of  green  crops.  No  finer  sight  in  farming  is  there  at 
this  season  of  the  year  than  the  splendid  hoggets  folded  both 
on  Norfolk  and  Suffolk  farms.  As  Lord  Leicester’s  admirable 
pioneer  work  in  laying  down  land  to  temporary  pasture  bears 
fruit,  as  it  is  bound  to  in  that  district,  we  have  no  doubt  folding 
will  be  more  and  more  extended,  simply  because  its  full  value  is 
understood  It  is  a  factor  in  profitable  farming  of  prime 
importance,  enabling  us  on  the  one  hand  to  avoid  the  costly 
manufacture  and  use  of  farmyard  manure,  and  on  the  other  the 
purchase  of  chemical  manures. 
(To  be  continued.) 
WORK  ON  THE  HOME  FARM. 
On  most  southern  farms  lambing  begins  this  month,  and  due  care 
must  be  taken  that  nothing  is  wanting  for  the  shepherd’s  use  and  the 
comfort  of  the  ewes.  Where  there  is  no  lambing  yard  a  commodious 
fold  must  be  prepared  in  a  sheltered  position,  with  ample  accommodation 
of  separate  cribs  for  each  ewe  as  it  lambs  to  be  placed  in  with  the  lamb. 
We  know  no  better  plan  for  the  fold  than  parallel  lines  of  hurdles 
around  it  about  a  foot  apart,  with  the  space  thus  made  stuffed  closely 
with  straw  or  litter  ;  then,  with  a  roof  of  thatched  hurdles  all  round,  and 
the  requisite  division,  cribs  are  easily  continued,  the  central  space  being 
also  available. 
Outside  of  and  connected  with  this  fold  are  one  or  two  other 
enclosures  for  the  ewes  at  night — or  rather  the  ewes  and  lambs,  as  we 
always  avoid  risk  of  harm  at  night  by  having  lambs  thoroughly  sheltered. 
We  have  known  losses  mount  up  so  fast  from  carelessness  in  this  matter 
— lambs  left  out  on  bleak  pasture,  stiff  and  cold  in  the  morning,  and  the 
shepherd  bemoaning  his  “  bad  luck.”  Such  stupidity  is  exasperating. 
Let  the  master  protect  himself  against  it  by  taking  timely  precaution 
and  a  look  round  himself  in  the  evening. 
Avoid  needless  worry  and  interference  with  the  sheep.  Shelter, 
quiet,  plenty  of  sound,  wholesome  food,  a  watchful  eye,  a  ready  hand, 
dogs  used  very  little,  if  at  all,  and  if  the  ewes  are  sound  there  will  be 
very  few  losses.  Never  forget  that  it  is  wet  with  cold  that  it  is  so  fatal 
to  lambs,  and,  if  the  weather  is  very  unsettled  during  the  period, 
newly  lambed  ewes  must  be  kept  longer  than  usual  in  the  cribs,  and 
other  contrivances  for  shelter  arranged.  Do  anything  rather  than  expose 
them  to  risk  of  harm  from  inclement  weather,  using  every  hovel  or 
building  to  be  had.  We  have  even  seen  waggons  filled  with  litter  drawn 
up  in  a  semicircle  with  thatched  hurdles  outside  on  the  ground,  so  that 
the  sheep  to  go  under  the  laden  wagons  for  the  capital  shelter  thus 
contrived. 
At  many  a  farm  it  is  a  case  of  necessity  to  contrive  all  sorts  of  make¬ 
shifts,  and  highly  creditable  it  is  to  those  who  manage  so  well  with  them. 
Better  far  is  it  to  provide  suitable  accommodation  for  the  flock,  and  to 
place  in  the  hands  of  those  having  charge  the  requisite  means  of  caring 
for  it  with  ease  and  certainty. 
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. 
1896. 
|  Barometer 
at  32°,  and 
|  Sea  Level. 
Hygrometer. 
Direc¬ 
tion  of 
Temp, 
of  soil 
at 
1  foot. 
Shade  Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature 
Rain. 
January. 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Wind. 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
Sun. 
On 
Grass. 
Sunday  ..  6 
Inchs. 
30-549 
deg. 
39-7 
deg. 
37-9 
E. 
deg. 
43-i 
deg. 
41-6 
deg. 
39-0 
deg. 
43-9 
deg. 
38-4 
Inchs. 
Monday  6 
30-680 
37-8 
36-0 
E. 
41-9 
38-9 
37-3 
39-8 
37-0 
— 
Tuesday  . .  7 
30-696 
34-2 
32-9 
N. 
41-0 
42-1 
33-7 
49-0 
32-5 
— 
Wednesday  8 
30-717 
41-7 
41-2 
N. 
40-1 
45-1 
32-0 
60-3 
331 
— 
Thursday . .  9 
30-886 
34-4 
31-6 
N. 
40-1 
40-0 
31-2 
57-3 
25-2 
— 
Friday  . ,  10 
30-836 
35-0 
33-9 
N. 
39-0 
38-9 
33-4 
41-4 
27-4 
0-060 
Saturday..  11 
30-684 
38-3 
38-3 
N. 
390 
43-0 
34-4 
47-6 
31-6 
— 
30-721 
37-3 
36-0 
40-6 
41-4 
34-4 
47-0 
32-2 
0-050 
REMARKS. 
5th. — Overcast  all  day. 
6th.— Overcast  and  rather  dull. 
7th. — A  few  snowflakes  early,  fair.day,  with  a  gleam  of  sun  in  the  morning. 
8th. — Fair  day,  with  occasional  spots  of  rain. 
9th.— Bright  sunshine  almost  throughout. 
10th. — Overcast  morning;  sunny  afternoon  ;  flakes  of  snow  at  6  P.M.,  turning  to  drizzle 
later,  and  rain  between  9  and  10  p.m.  Barometer  corrected  and  reduced  at 
9  p.m.  30-934  inches.  1 
11th. — Rain  from  8  to  9  A.M.;  gleam  of  sun  at  10;  overcast  day  and  a  slight  shower  at 
1  P.M. 
Week  chiefly  noticeable  for  extremely  high  barometer  and  for  equable  temperature. 
— G.  J.  SYMONS. 
