552 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  aND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
June  11,  1898. 
say,  sheep  do  better  on  scanty  pasturage  (if  there  is  any). 
This  may  be  partly  because  all  the  food  is  well  ripenel,  and 
sheep  in  a  state  of  nature  have  to  be  always  actively  empl  >yed 
to  get  a  living  at  all;  this,  of  course,  is  where  the  pastu'age  is 
siarce  owing  to  d  ought  Then  comes  a  heavy  rainfall,  a  flush 
of  green  meat,  a  good  appet  te,  and  it  is  only  by  the  g  eatest 
watchfulness  that  much  mortality  does  not  ensue.  The  1  fe  of 
a  sheap  f  om  the  lambing  pen  to  the  but  he ’s  slaughter  house 
is  beset  by  sna  es  and  dange  s  of  every  kini,  only  to  be 
guarded  against  by  a  watchfulness  and  experience  not  to  be 
learned  from  books. 
All  meo,  or  at  least  very  many,  think  they  know  the  points 
of  a  bullock.  A  bullock’s  end  is  beef.  He  wants  to  be  of  a 
kindly  natu  e,  readily  an!  easily  turniog  his  fool  into  b;ef  ;  the 
same  with  dairy  c  ;ws,  the  surest  mothnr,  the  best  filled  milk 
pail,  milk  that  will  y’eld  the  greatest  proportion  of  fat.  Judges 
o:  t his  stock  do  not  learn  their  lesson  in  an  hour. 
A  wise  man  is  glad  to  take  a  hint  wherever  found,  and  it  has 
been  our  fortune  to  come  across  an  excellent  paper  on  farming 
by  a  Frenchman.  Brother  Anton  is  sub-director  of  the  Agri¬ 
cultural  Institute  of  Beauvais.  He  begins  by  quoting  a  French 
proverb,  which,  for  the  benefit  of  our  non  linguists,  might  be 
translated  thus: — “  In  accordance  with  the  capacity  of  the  man, 
so  is  he  likely  to  succeed.” 
He  goes  on  to  say  that  those  about  to  farm  should  seriously 
ask  themselves  the  question  as  to  whether  it  is  possible  to 
succeed,  and  how  that  success  is  to  be  come  at.  The  object  of 
the  farmer  is  to  obtain  as  large  produce  from  the  soil  as  possible, 
and  at  the  lea  t  cost,  and  to  sell  it  in  the  best  market.  Is  the 
intending  farmer  qualified  to  manage  the  first  anl  then  finl  the 
second  ? 
Farming  cannot  be  carried  on  in  any  sort  of  haphazard  way. 
The  need  and  capacity  of  the  soil  must  be  thoroughly  under¬ 
stood.  The  four  principal  cereals  each  require  different  soil  and 
different  form  of  cultivation  A  good  farmer  does  not  always 
take  the  largest  possible  crop  off  the  land  ;  he  is  too  far-seeing  to 
sacrifice  the  future  to  present  needs  His  business  is  also  to 
return  to  the  land  the  ingredients  exhausted,  and  it  is  his  business 
to  find  how  to  do  this  most  cheaply  and  beneficially.  Then, 
again,  he  has  to  bear  in  mind  his  situation  relating  to  the 
market  It  is  folly  to  grow  produce  the  carriage  of  which  absorbs 
all  the  profit,  and  it  is  equal  folly  to  buy  feeding  stuffs  when 
equally  good  provisions  may  be  grown  on  the  soil  itself. 
We  have  heard  of  farmers  importing  Egyptian  Beans  and 
other  curious  come  tibles,  fetching  them  with  much  labour  from 
the  station,  and  selling  and  delivering  their  own  far  superior 
home-grown  grain.  Then,  again,  the  Brother  suggests  that 
farmers  would  be  better  for  a  more  intimate  knowledge  of  the 
meat-milk  producing  qualities  of  the  food  provided  for  their 
stock,  and  also  have  a  knowledge  of  which  class  of  stock  produces 
most  beef  or  milk  in  their  immediate  neighbourhood,  for  there  is 
no  doubt  that  certain  breeds  are  more  adapted  to  certain  districts, 
and  those  breeds  alone  should  be  encouraged. 
It  is  an  English  custom  rather  to  specialise,  or  in  other  words 
to  go  in  for  one  or  two  branches  and  leave  the  others  compara¬ 
tively  neglected,  and  we  have  some  grand  instances  of  great 
success  in  these  several  branches.  The  Brother  is  more  inclined 
to  the  having  of  many  irons  in  the  fire;  so  far  so  good,  if 
you  can  attend  to  them,  that  must  be  a  detail  left  to  each 
individual. 
There  is  another  point  on  which  he  has  our  warmest  sympathy 
namely,  the  question  of  clear  account  keeping.  Happily  this 
is  on  the  increase,  but  accounts  are  rather  too  much  lumped 
together,  if  we  may  use  the  expression.  Each  individual  item 
demmds  consideration  ;  the  system  need  not  be  elaborate,  in 
fact  a  farmer  has  no  time  for  elaborate  accounts.  Farmers  are 
too  much  troubled  with  a  spirit  of  laissez  aller ,  which  could  not 
be  tolerated  in  commercial  life  We  may  remark  here  that  in 
our  opinion  a  year  or  two  on  an  office  stool  is  not  a  bad  training 
for  a  would-be  farmer. 
It  is  attention  to  little  details  that  is  so  neglected,  and  the 
watchwords  of  this  good  Brother  are  “  Order  and  Economy.”  In 
his  closing  remarks  he  says: — “It  is  necessary  that  order  and 
economy  should  play  a  part  in  the  organisation  of  the  system 
of  cultivation,  in  the  employment  of  machinery,  in  the  genera 
labour  of  the  farm,  in  the  sales  and  purchases,  and  the 
necessary  journeys  to  town  or  station,”  and  in  the  management 
of  the  small  details  so  much  must  be  done  by  the  farmer 
personally,  aided  by  his  wife  “  if  she  be  of  the  right  sort.” 
Unless  there  is  natural  aptitude,  practice  with  science,  no  man 
need  for  one  moment  thine  of  taking  upon  himself  the  burden  of 
a  farm  Knowledge  is  power.  A  practical  man  may  succeed 
without  much  scientific  knowledge,  but  a  scientific  man  without 
practice  is  absolutely  useless. 
We  think  there  is  a  mistaken  notion  abroad  about  some  of 
our  old  fashioned  farmers.  They  would  be  “  floored  ”  if  faced 
with  an  examination  paper  that  their  boys  can  do;  but  if  they 
are  unacquainted  wi  h  the  technical  words  and  phrases  have 
they  not  come  at  the  results  long  ago  by  patient  observation  ? 
We  think  so. 
WORK  ON  THE  HOME  FARM. 
Thunder  showers  have  occurred  in  many  districts,  and  in  these 
favoured  localities  weeds  will  be  growing  whether  roots  are  or  not; 
Much  labour  will  be  saved  if  the  horse  hoe  can  be  used  quite  close  up  to 
the  row  of  the  young  plants  ;  there  are  a  great  variety  of  hoes  in  use, 
and  whilst  some  have  a  tendency  to  cover  up  the  plants,  others  draw  the 
earth  away,  and  so  can  be  run  quite  close  to  them.  Amongst  the  latter, 
one  called  the  Iron  Age  is  excellent  ;  aHo  those  made  by  Hunter  of 
May  bole.  The  feature  in  them  is  a  small  mould  board  on  each  side, 
which,  on  a  small  scale,  ploughs  the  soil  and  weeds  away  from  the  Turnip 
row.  We  have  found  the  “  Iron  Age”  hoe  of  the  greatest  use  amongst 
the  Potatoes  ;  it  has  a  set  of  strong  chisel  teeth,  which  break  up  rough 
clots  and  improve  the  tilth  in  a  remarkable  manner.  The  showers 
are  bringing  Potatoes  on  rapidly,  and  earthing  is  in  full  swing. 
We  have  discarded  the  heavy  two-hoi  s i  earthing  plough  for  a  lighter 
implement  requiring  only  one  animal  to  work  it.  The  pace,  perhaps,  is 
rather  less,  but  the  work  is  quite  as  well  done,  and  one  horse  treads  the 
land  less  than  two,  besides  making  lesB  havoc  of  the  headlands  in 
turning. 
The  wool  is  all  off  the  sheeps’  backs,  and  now  awaits  the  market. 
We  fear  the  trade  will  not  be  a  good  one.  Ewes  have  stripped  rather 
poor  owing  to  the  scarcity  of  keep.  Flies  are  very  tiresome,  and  shep¬ 
herds  complain  loudly.  Nothing  is  better  for  keeping  them  at  bay  (the 
flies,  not  sheph  rdj)  than  fin :ly  ground  tobacco  powder — a  simple  but 
very  effectual  remedy. 
The  Mangold  heap  seems  to  increase  in  value  as  it  decreases  in  bulk. 
A  load  scattered  now  and  again  in  the  sheep  pastures  helps  to  keep  the 
ewes  in  milk  and  teaches  the  lambs  to  eat  roots. 
For  the  pig  yard  in  summer  the  MaDgold  is  invaluable.  Strong  pigs 
can  be  kept  in  splendid  condition  on  Mangolds  and  Maize.  Give  the 
Maize  whole,  not  in  a  trough  ;  but  scattered  about  the  pigs  will  find  it, 
and  the  exercise  whilst  hunting  for  it  will  be  most  beneficial.  With  a 
few  Mangolds  and  plenty  of  water  or  swill  they  will  do  splendidly,  and 
the  cost  will  not  exceed  Is.  6d.  per  week  per  head.  Remember,  pigs  that 
are  to  be  fattened  for  bacon  should  never  be  allowed  to  lose  condition. 
METEOROLOGICAL  OBSERVATIONS. 
CJamden  Square,  London. 
Lat.51°  38' 40"  N. ;  Long.  0°  8'  0"  W.;  Altitude  111  feet 
Date. 
9  A.M. 
In  the  Day. 
3. 
1896. 
May  and 
June. 
sis 
n  o  j 
*  -43  £ 
£  cacQ 
Hygrometer. 
Direc¬ 
tion  of 
Wind. 
Temp, 
of  soil 
at 
1  foot. 
Shade  Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Mas. 
Min. 
In 
Sun. 
On 
Grass. 
inchs. 
leg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg 
deg. 
deg. 
deg 
Inchs. 
Sunday  ..  81 
30-2  )l 
57-1 
51-4 
N.W. 
59-0 
69-4 
41-8 
101-8 
390 
— 
Monday  . . 
1 
29-977 
62-2 
53-2 
N.E. 
59-0 
78-0 
41-1 
115-2 
32-3 
— 
Tuesday  . . 
2 
29-727 
69*1 
58-2 
N.E. 
59-7 
83-4 
46-7 
124-9 
37  9 
— 
Wednesday 
3 
29-754 
64-8 
67-4 
N. 
61-2 
739 
68-4 
106-6 
51-1 
0-701 
Thursday . . 
4 
29-833 
70-0 
61-6 
N. 
61-0 
80-4 
54-4 
119  7 
47  9 
0-173 
Friday 
5 
29-834 
61-7 
55  1 
W. 
61-9 
72-9 
56-9 
121-5 
53-8 
0-017 
Saturday  . . 
6 
29-838 
58-2 
54-4 
W. 
61-2 
729 
51-7 
121-9 
43T 
0-053 
29-881 
63-3 
55  9 
60  4 
75-3 
50-6 
115-9 
43  6 
0-944 
REMARKS. 
3 1st.— Bright  sunshine  throughout. 
1st.— Bright  sun  all  d  iy. 
2nd.— Bright  sunshine  in  morning  ;  a  good  deal  of  cloud  in  afternoon  and  evening. 
3rd.  -  Overcast  with  occasional  spots  of  rain  in  morning ;  gleams  of  sun  in  afternoon  ; 
storm  rain  in  evening,  0-70  inch  falling  in  half  an  hour. 
4th.— Alternate  cloud  and  sunshine  during  the  day;  rain  and  distant  lightning  from 
9.45  P.M.  to  11  P.M. 
6th.— Bright  early  ;  cloudy  at  times  during  the  day. 
6th. — Distant  thunder,  and  a  shower  at  8.50  a.m.  ;  generally  bright  after. 
A  hot  week,  with  a  complete  break  up  of  the  drought. — Q.  J.  SYMONS. 
