m 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
Aprii  2,  iSdtL 
with  the  corn,  as  they  then  get  more  deeply  covered  and  have 
better  root  hold,  and  do  not  succumb  so  readily  to  drought  as 
when  harrowed  lightly  on  the  surface.  This  applies  to  light  or 
medium  soil. 
Strong  land,  if  there  be  but  an  inch  of  fine  soil  on  the 
surface,  will  grow  a  good  plant  of  Clover  with  certainty.  Soli¬ 
dity  of  seed  bed  Clover  delights  in.  A  gateway  where  carting 
has  made  the  ground  as  hard  as  a  floor  always  has  a  good  plant 
of  seed*,  better  than  anywhere  else  in  the  field,  which  proves 
that  the  seed  bed  cannot  be  too  hard  if  only  there  be  enough 
dust  to  cover  the  seed . 
Rolling  Barley  immediately  after  drilling  is  very  necessary 
where  Clovers,  &c  ,  have  been  sown,  as  it  must  benefit  them  if 
not  the  corn  likewise.  Barley  sown  in  a  cloud  of  dust,  harrowed 
in,  Cambridge  rolled,  small  seeds  then  hand-sown  or  drilled,  and 
harrowed  and  rolled  again,  make  an  ideal  operation  if  done 
quickly,  so  that  rain  does  not  interfere ;  then,  with  the  gate 
safely  shut,  the  cultivator  may  smile  at  all  sorts  of  weather. 
If  land  be  very  weedy,  as  some  sandy  soils  almost  always  are, 
the  weeds  may  compete  so  strongly  with  the  Clovers  as  to  nearly 
smother  them.  Where  there  is  danger  of  this  the  sowing  may 
be  deferred  until  the  corn  is  well  up  and  fit  to  harrow.  The 
harrowing  will  kill  the  weeds  while  still  small,  but  the  germi¬ 
nation  of  the  Clover  is  never  so  certain  as  when  sown  early ;  and 
though  Oats  may  not  be  injured  by  harrowing,  our  opinion  is 
that  this  treatment  applied  to  Barley  causes  unevenness  of 
growth,  and  therefore  of  sample. 
If  we  could  foretell  with  certainty  the  weather  we  shall  have 
to  contend  with  we  should  know  exactly  the  best  time  each  year 
for  sowing  Clovers  ;  but  as  our  knowledge  is  so  limited,  we  can 
oifly  say  that  experience  advises,  as  proved  by  general  practice, 
that  early  seeding  as  a  rule,  and  bearing  all  points  in  mind,  will 
answer  best.  It  would  require  a  large  volume  to  describe  the 
various  mixtures  of  Grasses  and  Clovers  most  suitable  to 
different  soils  and  climates,  and  only  an  expert  like  Mr.  Martin 
Sutton  can  adequately  deal  with  such  a  wide  subject  ;  but  one 
thing  is  certain,  common  seed  of  any  variety —cheap,  may  be, 
but  proportionately  nasty — always  proves  the  dearest  in  the 
long  run 
Again,  never  buy  mixtures — that  is  chance  mixtures.  If  you 
want  to  sow  White,  Red,  or  Alsike  Clover  mixed,  buy  them  pure, 
and  then  mix  yourself  Not  that  we  advocate  a  mixture  of  White 
and  Red  for  sheep  pasture,  as  the  constant  use  of  Red  (even  in 
small  quantities)  is  apt  to  bring  about  “Clover  sickness  and 
if  a  crop  of  Red  for  hay  should  be  required,  a  failure  will  most 
probably  result.  In  fact,  where  a  field  or  two  of  Red  Clover  is 
mown  each  year  (say,  one-fourth  of  the  area  under  one  year’s 
seeds)  we  can  strongly  advise  that  Red  should  never  be  sown 
except  for  that  crop.  A  little  red  may  improve  the  sheep 
pastures  in  the  other  three  courses,  but  it  will  certainly  be 
at  the  expense  of  that  required  for  hay.  We  have  tried  it 
thoroughly. 
Alsike  is  very  useful  for  pasture,  and  is  hardy  ;  but  it  has  a 
tendency  to  get  too  long  amongst  the  Barley  in  a  wet  season, 
and  thus  it  adds  materially  to  the  difficulties  of  harvest.  White 
Clover  is  the  sheet  anchor  of  the  flock  master,  and  now  the 
Giant  White  has  been  introduced  it  should  be  more  popular 
than  ever.  Giant  White  is  not  of  such  strong  growth  as  Red, 
but  carries  a  much  heavier  stock  than  ordinary  White.  Trefoil 
is  useful  on  dry  soils,  anri  very  hardy,  but  does  not  always  suit 
sheep  so  well  as  other  Clovers;  it  has,  however,  the  reputation 
of  being  the  greatest  storer  of  nitrogen,  but  in  these  days  the 
corn  crop  following  is  of  such  doubtful  value  as  hardly  to  be 
worth  consideration,  at  any  rate  if  the  well  being  of  the  flock  is 
likely  to  suffer. 
Giant  Cow  Grass  will  grow  a  heavy  crop  for  cutting,  but 
makes  poor  hay  if  allowed  to  get  too  ripe.  A  rather  smaller 
crop  of  Red  Clover  would  probably  be  of  more  value.  Rib  * 
Grass  sheep  are  very  fond  of,  and  a  small  quantity  in  a  mixture 
for  grazing  is  desirable,  but  it  is  too  sappy  and  slow  in  withering 
for  hay-making  purposes.  Kidney  Vetch  has  been  much  grown 
in  Norfolk,  and  is  good  for  poor  gravel  or  blowing  sand.  It 
takes  two  years  to  get  thoroughly  established,  and  though  it 
stands  frost  well  as  a  young  plant,  severe  weather  during  the 
second  winter  may  destroy  it  all  Frosts  excepted  it  is  very 
hardy,  and  will  flourish  for  four  or  five  years  where  Clovers 
could  not  exist  more  than  a  year.  Meadow  Grasses  we  do  not 
believe  in  for  less  than  a  three-years  pasture,  as  the  finer  ones 
take  time  to  establish  ;  and  the  coarser  ones,  such  as  Cocksfoot? 
are,  like  Couch,  easier  to  get  than  to  get  rid  of. 
We  prefer  Foster’s  Dwarf  Italian  Rye  to  Pacey’s  Perennial. 
Sheep  will  keep  the  former  bitten  close  to  the  ground,  whilst 
Pacey’s  will  be  running  to  seed.  It  is  of  no  use  to  grow  foods 
that  animals  will  not  eat, 
WORK  ON  THE  HOME  FARM. 
Forward  Wheats  are  growing  fast,  and  in  many  casea  quite  ready  for 
the  hoe.  Let  us  hope  the  Thistle  may  not  prove  such  a  pest  as  last  year  ; 
at  any  rate,  if  it  is  so,  we  cannot  attribute  it  to  weather  difficulties. 
Oats  and  Barley  are  already  peeping,  and  will  grow  rapidly  in  the 
present  temperature. 
We  have  lately  seen  land  turning  up  very  stiff  and  cold  ;  this  is 
probably  owing  to  its  having  been  ploughed  wet  in  autumn,  when  there 
was  no  other  work  available.  No  saving  of  time  has  been  effected,  and 
the  horses  would  have  been  much  better  in  the  stable.  A  very  severe 
winter  is  apt  to  hide  errors  of  this  kind,  but  this  one  has  been  much  too 
mild  to  do  so. 
Though  Turnips  are  plentiful,  straw  is  scarce,  and  with  grass  growing 
greener  every  day,  cattle  must  be  hardened  off  and  ready  for  the 
pastures.  If  those  from  the  open  yards  can  be  turned  out  for  a  few 
hours,  those  from  covered,  into  open  yards,  and  calves  from  boxes  put  in 
covered  yards,  a  gradual  all-round  hardening  will  be  effected  with  no 
risk.  It  does  not  pay  to  allow  grass  to  grow  to  a  great  length  before 
stocking.  As  long  as  there  is  sufficient,  cattle  always  do  better  on  a 
short  pasture,  where  they  almost  have  to  wait  for  it  to  grow,  than  on 
grass  6  or  8  inches  long,  and  there  is  infinitely  less  waste  ;  on  very  dry 
land  a  good  cover  is  often  useful  as  a  protection  from  drought,  but  soils 
such  as  these  are  not  suitable  for  grass  at  all. 
Potatoes  are  going  on  fairly  well,  but  there  is  not  the  fine  frost  mould 
of  last  year,  and  they  will  certainly  not  have  so  good  a  Btart  this  season 
as  last.  Thousand-beads  for  autumn  feed  should  be  sown  now  ;  a  few 
days’  delay  may  make  a  great  difference  in  the  strength  of  the  crop  ; 
they  are  excellent  for  lambs  in  October.  They  require  a  deep  cool  soil 
and  liberal  treatment,  especially  as  regards  phosphate  of  lime. 
The  fine  weather  and  freedom  from  frost  are  having  a  very  excellent 
effect  on  young  seeds,  and  there  is  no  present  lack  of  food  for  lambs. 
Seeds  intended  for  mowing  are  always  better  for  being  grazed  until  the 
middle  of  April.  With  a  plentiful  rainfall  the  land  may  be  stocked 
until  May  with  good  effect,  more  especially  if  the  plant  be  not  a  very 
full  one.  We  hear  of  forward  Wheat  being  grazed  with  sheep  to  prevent 
excessive  growth,  but  we  think  it  a  risky  process,  especially  if  frost 
follow,  and  we  would  rather  graze  a  thin  crop  than  a  full  one. 
METEOROLOGICAL  OBSERVATIONS. 
Oamdbn  Square,  London. 
Lat.51°  32' 40"  N. ;  Long.  0°  8/  0"  W.;  Altitude  111  feet. 
Date. 
9  A.M. 
In  the  Day. 
•unm 
1896 
March. 
Barometer 
j  at  32°,  and 
|  Sea  Level. 
Hygrometer. 
Direc¬ 
tion  of 
Wind. 
Temp, 
of  soil 
at 
1  foot. 
Shade  Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
Sun. 
On 
Grass. 
Inchs. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
Inchs. 
Sunday  ..  22 
30-014 
52-7 
50-9 
N. 
45-2 
65-2 
45-5 
95-1 
37-9 
— 
Monday  ..  23 
30-047 
49-0 
49-0 
N.W. 
45-9 
61-0 
43-4 
99-5 
350 
0-036 
Tuesday  ..  24 
29-894 
51-1 
47-6 
N. 
46T 
64-9 
43-4 
9S-2 
3  -3 
0-010 
Wednesday  25 
29-728 
5S-9 
50-9 
S.W. 
46-8 
62  0 
4  ’2 
101-9 
38-3 
0-010 
Thursday . .  26 
29-726 
47-2 
44-2 
W. 
47*  l 
53-7 
45-6 
103-2 
38-4 
0-097 
Friday  ..  27 
29-978 
43-8 
38-9 
N.W. 
46-7 
51-9 
38-9 
95-4 
33-1 
0-086 
Saturday..  28 
29-569 
41-6 
40  4 
S.W. 
45-0 
47-2 
35-3 
83-2 
S7-2 
0-228 
29-851 
48-5 
46-0 
461 
58-0 
42-6 
95-9 
35-2 
0-467 
REMARKS. 
2?nd.— Humid  early  ;  bright  sunshine  all  day,  and  very  warm  ;  lightning  in  evening. 
23rd.— White  fog  early  ;  bright  sunshine  from  9.30  A.M. 
24th. — Oloud,  sunshine,  and  showers  in  morning  :  bright  sunshine  all  afternoon. 
25t,h.— Much  bright  sunshine,  but  cloudv  at  times. 
26th. — Slight  showers  early,  with  occasional  sun  ;  bright  sun  all  afternoon  ;  showers  in 
evening 
27th. — Gale,  with  showers  in  small  hours;  brilliant  morning;  generally  cloudy  in 
afternoon ;  cloudless  night. 
24th. — A  little  sun  early  ;  heavy  rain  from  8.15  to  10  A.M.,  and  with  hail  and  wet  snow 
from  noon  to  2  P.M. ;  sunny  at  times  after. 
The  warmest  week  this  year,  and  several  degrees  above  the  average.— G.  J.  STMON8 
