458 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
November  6,  It 96. 
the  great  inconvenience  of  being  without,  or  nearly  without, 
Wheat  straw.  Notwithstanding  the  wet  autumn  and  the  difficul¬ 
ties  of  sowing,  we  anticipate  another  considerable  addition  to 
the  acreage  under  this  crop,  for  the  agricultural  mind  is  just 
now  full  of  confidence  in  the  future  of  the  Wheat  trade. 
There  is  very  little  change  in  the  area  under  Barley,  a  small 
decrease  of  2^  per  cent.  Taking  into  full  consideration  the 
very  great  proportion  of  the  crop  that  will  be  unfit  for  malting, 
there  is  every  probability  of  a  firm  trade  at  good  prices  for  all 
sound  samples.  Too  much  h&s  been  thrown  on  the  market 
during  the  last  month,  and  maltsters  are  in  many  cases  so  full 
that  they  cannot  buy  what  they  would  ;  the  boom  in  Wheat  will 
turn  farmers’  attention  from  Barley  threshing,  and  so  indirectly 
give  a  lift  to  the  Barley  market,  so  that  prices  may  be  expected 
to  again  reach  their  recent  level. 
Oats  have  lost  5  per  cent,  in  acreage,  but  the  shortage, 
224,000  acres,  looks  large  in  the  aggregate.  Here,  again, 
enormous  damage  has  been  done  by  the  weather;  the  waste 
alone  should  account  for  fully  .3,000,000  quarters,  and  the 
seriously  damaged  grain  will  probably  exceed  8,000,000.  With 
foreign  Oats  this  year  much  below  par  as  to  quality,  there  is  a 
splendid  prospect  for  holders  of  fine  well  harvested  corn  The 
damaged  portion  of  the  crop  will  have  to  face  serious  competition 
from  the  heavy  supply  of  American  Maize. 
Beans  and  Peas  have  not  varied  much  from  last  season  m 
area.  They  are,  however,  c’eficient  in  crop,  and  good  samples 
will  be  scarce. 
A  larger  acreage  of  Potatoes  has  been  grown  in  England,  the 
increase  being  27  000  acres,  but  taking  the  United  Kingdom 
altogether  the  increase  is  only  18,000  acres  This  increase  is 
chiefly  to  be  found  in  the  typical  Potato  counties,  Lincoln  alone 
accounting  for  6000  more  acres  than  in  1895.  It  may  also  be 
noticed  that  the  Potato  appears  to  grow  in  favour  in  those 
districts  where  the  early  market  (or  perhaps  we  ought  to  say 
second  early  market)  is  the  goal  aimed  at 
Considering  the  great  prevalence  of  disease  it  would  be  vey 
interesting  to  know  the  proportions  of  each  of  the  several 
standard  varieties  grown  in  this  present  season.  A  very  good 
idea  could  then  be  formed  of  the  amount  of  sound  Potatoes 
likely  to  come  to  market.  As  far  as  our  own  observation  extends 
it  appears  that  the  earlier  varieties  have  increased  much  in 
popularity  with  growers,  and  that  the  proportion  of  these  is 
much  larger  than  before.  As  early  maturity  and  tenderness  of 
constitution  are  synonymous  it  follows  that  the  effect  of  disease 
on  this  year’s  crop  should  be  proportionately  extensive.  G-rowers 
in  estimating  the  prospects  of  the  trade  should  note  the  shortage 
of  4  million  tons  in  the  Potato  crop  of  Germany  ;  this  in  con¬ 
junction  with  a  prospect  of  a  small  crop  of  sound  tubers  in 
England,  the  same  applying  also  to  the  sister  kingdoms,  should 
be  sufficient  to  encourage  them  to  hold  their  crops  for  better 
prices.  The  consumer  owes  them  a  little  on  account  of  last 
season  and  the  higher  price  of  bread  will  help  the  situation  to 
turn  in  their  favour. 
Turnips,  Swedes,  and  Mangold  stand  about  the  same  as 
before,  but  there  is  an  increase  in  Cabbage,  Kohl  Rabi,  and 
Rape.  Rape  should  not  be  included  with  Cabbage,  being  so 
very  dissimilar  in  cost  and  value.  It  would  be  interesting  to 
know  that  farmers  were  awaking  to  the  real  value  of  Cabbage  as 
animals’  food.  Vetches  and  Tares  show  considerable  increase, 
which  is  not  surprising. 
A  reduction  of  112,000  acres  in  the  area  devoted  to  hay  is 
apparently  spread  all  over  the  country,  and  may  be  attributed 
to  the  dryness  of  the  spring,  which  entailed  the  grazing  of 
many  fields  otherwise  intended  for  the  scythe. 
Permanent  pasture  shows  another  gain,  this  time  of  140,000 
.acres,  which  means  loss  of  employment  for  about  3000  labourers. 
When  will  this  movement  reach  its  limit  ? 
The  only  feature  of  note  about  the  returns  of  live  stock  is  an 
increase  of  about  a  million  in  the  number  of  sheep,  which  now 
reaches  to  nearly  31  millions.  This  increase  was  inevitable,  for 
no  product  of  the  farm  is  so  steady  as  to  returns,  whilst  as  to 
expenditure  the  flock  of  sheep  is  far  the  most  economical, 
requiring  no  expensive  buildings  and  very  little  labour. 
A  slight  increase  in  pigs  would  appear  to  indicate  that  pork 
has  paid  even  at  the  recent  very  low  prices.  The  injury  to  the 
harvest  will  most  likely  encourage  the  production  of  pigs,  other¬ 
wise  a  reduction  might  have  been  looked  for. 
We  had  omitted  to  notice  that  a  slight  increase  in  the  cattle  is 
more  than  accounted  for  by  the  young  animals  under  two  years 
old ;  there  being  a  decrease  in  those  above  that  age,  it  would 
therefore  appear  that  breeders  are  becoming  more  in  favour  of 
early  maturity,  finding  that  three  and  four-year-old  bullocks  do 
not  pay. 
WORK  ON  THE  HOME  FARM 
Portanately  frost  holds  off  well,  for  root-storing  is  desperately  slow 
work  this  season.  We  see  and  hear  of  Potatoes  under  water  and  others 
little  better  ;  indeed,  their  condition  may  be  judged  of  when  we  say  that 
sometimes  they  refuse  to  leave  the  cart  when  tipped  up,  they  are  so 
glued  together  with  sticky  mud.  Never  was  labour  so  scarce  in  Potato 
districts,  2i.  per  day  being  freely  paid  to  women,  who  only  commence 
work  at  eight  o’clock.  We  are  obliged  to  hold  the  crop  for  the  present, 
for  sorting  for  delivery  is  out  of  the  question.  The  buyers  are  hunting 
round  a  little  now,  and  453,  may  be  easily  obtained  for  fair  samples. 
Threshing  machines  are  working  but  intermittently,  so  few  days 
being  favourable.  Much  damage  is  discovered  in  the  stack  roofs,  the 
hay  knife  often  being  requisitioned  to  cut  off  considerable  portions  only 
fit  to  throw  to  the  pigs. 
Sheep  are  now  well  on  Turnips  and  doing  excellently.  They  are 
travelling  over  the  ground  quite  as  fast  as  we  like  to  see  them,  and  there 
seems  to  be  a  little  danger  that  roots  will  not  be  too  plentiful  nearer 
spring.  There  is  one  comfort — we  shall  not  be  tempted  to  let  the 
breeding  ewes  have  too  many. 
We  are  still  keeping  the  older  store  cattle  out  during  the  day. 
Winter  keep  is  likely  to  be  a  very  serious  item,  so  resources  must  be 
husbanded  as  much  as  possible.  It  is  too  cold  out  now  for  dairy  cows. 
A  proper  degree  of  warmth  is  very  essential  for  the  production  of  milk. 
Having  got  them  up,  however,  they  should  be  properly  fed.  Mangolds 
are  not  ripe  enough  for  them  yet  ;  but  a  few  Carrots  are  an  excellent 
addition  to  a  diet  of  hay  and  Oat  straw,  with  a  little  artificial  in  the 
shape  of  cotton  cake.  Malt  culms  and  dried  grains  are  useful  where 
milk  only  is  aimed  at ;  also  peameal  in  small  quantities.  A  judicious 
mixture  of  all  the  above  foods  will  make  an  excellent  diet  for  milk  cows. 
If  yon  wish  your  butter  to  taste  of  something  use  Turnips. 
One  benefit  of  the  surfeit  of  wet  has  been  to  call  attention  in  many 
places  to  the  necessity  for  drainage  work.  Serious  and  unexpected 
floods  have  occurred,  and  shown  that  land  we  had  thought  well  drained 
was  in  urgent  need  of  its  drainage  being  overhauled.  So  good  comes  out 
of  evil. 
Fencing  should  be  proceeded  with  without  delay.  There  are  always 
plenty  of  hedges  in  need  of  plashing  or  scotching,  and  there  will  inevit¬ 
ably  be  delays  in  the  winter  without  making  any  now. 
Young  horses  are  better  kept  out  at  grass  all  winter  if  they  have  a 
shed  to  lie  in,  and  a  supply  of  hay  be  given  them  once  a  day  in  a  tumbril, 
and  twice  a  day  in  severe  weather. 
meteorological  observations. 
Oaudbu  squABB,  Loudon. 
Lat.Slosa'W”  N.:  Long.  0°  8/0"  W.;  Altitude  111  leet 
Datb. 
9  A.H. 
In  thb  Day. 
1896 
'O  -J 
Sag 
<5  efi  ^ 
a 
n  0  j 
Hygrometer. 
Direc¬ 
tion  of 
Temp, 
of  soil 
at 
1  foot. 
Shade  Tern- ' 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature 
d 
& 
0  ctober. 
uco  es 
dS  aa  o 
03  dcn 
Dry. 
Wet, 
Wind. 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
Ban. 
On 
Grass. 
Sunday  ..  25 
Inohs. 
29-335 
leg. 
43*6 
deg. 
40  2 
W. 
deg. 
45-0 
deg 
61-1 
deg 
37-6 
deg. 
79-9 
deg. 
31-0 
Inohs. 
0030 
Monday  ..  26 
29-55!3 
42-2 
40-1 
W. 
44-2 
61-9 
35-1 
85-9 
29-9 
— 
Tuesday  ..  27 
29-717 
39-1 
37-9 
w. 
44-0 
50-6 
36-8 
80-4 
30-8 
— 
Wedne^ay  28 
29-803 
35-3 
35  3 
N. 
43-1 
46-6 
29-2 
6L-1 
24-8 
— 
Thursday  . .  29 
29-695 
38-3 
37-1 
N.E. 
42-0 
49-0 
3b-3 
72-8 
28-0 
Friday  . ,  30 
29  768 
37-4 
37-2 
N. 
41-4 
49-9 
33-0 
78-8 
27-2 
— 
Saturday  ..  31 
29-878 
37-4 
36-S 
N. 
41-9 
47-8 
34-9 
80-7 
30-3 
— 
29-631 
390 
37-7 
4a  1 
49-6 
34-3 
77-1 
28-9 
0-030 
REMARKS. 
SSth.  Pair  morning ;  thunderstorm  about  noon  ;  fine  after. 
26th.— Damp  early  ;  bright  sunshine  all  day ;  flae  night. 
27th.— Bright  sunshine  throughout :  fine  night. 
28th.— Fog  early ;  sunny  from  10.30  a.m.  to  noon  ;  hazy  afternoon,  and  fog  again  in 
evening. 
29th.— Sunny  day ;  foggy  towards  sunset ;  fine  night. 
30th. — DuU,  with  . spots  of  rain  early  and  in  afternoon ;  sunny  morning. 
31st.— Bright  snnahine  all  day. 
A  dry  week,  temperature  itill  low  for  the  time  of  year.— G.  J.  Symovs* 
