m 
JOITRITAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AHD  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
October  14,  189?4 
straw,  and  whole  acres  are  completely  destroyed  by  the  ever  wakeful 
lark,  which  is  on  the  new  sown  corn  earlier  and  later  than  any 
merely  human  tenting  hoy.  These  birds  are,  we  believe,  confined  to 
certain  areas,  and  where  they  do  exist  work  irreparable  mischief. 
Among  other  small  bird  pests  you  may  fairly  rank  the  finch  tribe, 
Avhich  are  most  abundant  in  every  hedgerow;  in  fact,  next  to  the 
sparrow,  they  are  the  most  destructive  birds  we  have,  and  their 
numbers  seem  ever  to  be  on  the  increase. 
The  greatest  pest  of  all,  and  a  steadily  increasing  one,  is  found 
the  hordes  of  wood  pigeons,  a  most  ravenous  bird,  and  one  hard  to 
destroy.  Like  the  locust  of  old  no  green  thing  escajDes  him,  but  if 
he  has  a  special  weakness  it  is  for  the  young  and  tender  Clover, 
the  seed  of  which  has  cost  so  much  j^er  pound  —  Clover  so 
difficult  to  tide  over  unforeseen  contingencies  and  so  valuable  to  the 
farmer  whose  main  hope  and  stay  are  his  sheep. 
Shoot  him,  you  say.  Well,  just  come  and  try.  Set  up  decoy  birds, 
hide  yourself  all  day  in  hedge  or  hut,  ask  your  friends  to  help,  be  very 
successful  and  bring  home  at  least  fifty.  “  What  are  these  among  so 
many  ?  ”  Only  a  mere  handful,  and  the  birds  are  warier  than  ever. 
No  sooner  is  the  corn  ripening  than  they  are  there,  trampling  and 
breaking  down  acres,  leaving  the  crop  as  flat  as  though  rolled.  If  you 
can  get  hold  of  a  few  young  birds  now  they  are  delicious  eating,  but  this 
is  only  a  poor  revenge,  as  you  are  eating  gold  drawn  from  what  ought 
to  be  your  golden  grain.  Then,  again,  should  a  sharjD  spell  set  in, 
and  food  become  scarce,  your  Turnip  fields  will  furnish  forth  many  a 
good  meal.  Nine-tenths  of  these  pigeons  are  either  “Hardy  Norse¬ 
men”  or  canny  Scots.  History  repeats  itself,  we  feed  and  nourish  the 
northern  invader. 
Rooks,  too,  are  foes  to  fear,  but  not  foes  so  implacable  as  the 
wood  pigeon.  We  do  believe,  and  know,  that  the  rook  sometimes 
comes  as  a  friend  to  rid  us  of  the  dreaded  wireworm,  but  in  return  he 
takes  toll  of  our  cornfields,  harrasses  the  newly  formed  Potato,  and 
worries  the  life  out  of  young  Turnips.  Perhaps,  however,  that  last 
accusation  should  be  modified ;  no  aged  rook  will  recklessly  pull  up  a 
3’oung  Turuijj  unless  he  is  absolutely  sure  that  there  he  will  find  a 
wireworm,  in  which  case  the  plant  would  never  have  come  to 
maturity.  Young  rooks  are  the  offenders  here;  it  is  their  “first 
season”  and  they  have  much  to  learn,  the  lesson  proving  an  expensive 
one  to  the  farmer. 
Our  minor  industries  suffer,  too,  from  the  smaller  birds.  Unless  fruit 
is  grown  in  great  quantities  it  is  impossible  without  elaborate  netting 
to  reserve  even  a  portion  for  the  grower.  This  year  we  noticed,  too,  for 
the  first  time,  that  birds  were  feeding  on  the  ripe  Victorias  as  well  as 
on  the  early  summer  Apples,  such  as  Irish  Peach.  For  the  Peas,  too, 
there  is  an  adversary.  A  goodly  row  will  be  tattered,  torn,  and  ravaged 
in  a  very  short  time  by  the  active  hawfinch.  If  we  count  these  birds 
our  enemies,  we  must  in  all  fairness  tell  something  of  the  good  reaped 
by  the  annual  visit  of  the  black-headed  gull.  Alas  !  that  it  is  not  more 
common,  for  its  services  are  of  untold  value. 
Coming,  as  it  does,  about  March  6th,  and  staying  till  the  last 
week  of  July  or  1st  of  August,  the  food  it  requires  is  enormous.  For 
worms  and  grubs  it  follows  fearlessly  the  ploughman  with  his  newly 
turned  furrows ;  it  haunts  the  grass  land,  and  rids  our  fields  of  pests 
innumerable.  As  the  young  are  hatched  the  need  of  a  good  food 
supply  increases  tenfold,  and  the  busy  birds  scour  the  country  day 
and  night.  After  rain  the  fields  are  literally  alive  with  these  faithful 
white-winged  helpers. 
Do  you  ever  give  a  thought  to  the  chattering  vivacious  starling, 
so  active  in  habit,  so  brilliant  in  his  black  and  gold  plumage  ?  He  is 
^  gmgarious  bird,  too,  and  visits  us  in  large  Hocks.  If  the  winter  be 
very  severe  we  lose  sight  of  him,  or  at  least  only  a  few  stragglers 
remain.  This  open  season  has  been  all  in  his  favour.  His  bill  of 
fare  is  principally  iusects,  grubs,  and  the  like.  He  may  pick  up  a  bit 
of  grain  in  the  stack  yard,  or  be  tempted  (and  who  is  not  ?)  by  a  ripe 
Cherry ;  but  it  really  only  comes  as  a  well-earned  wage.  We  should 
sadly  miss  him  if  by  folly  or  for  fashion  he  were  ever  exterminated. 
Much  has  been  said  and  written  about  preserving  the  balance  of 
power  in  Euroj)o.  People  and  kindreds  are  happier  and  safer  if  no 
particular  nation  has  the  ascendancy,  and  so  in  the  kingdom  of 
Nature.  A  wise  Providence,  consulting  the  best  interests  of  the 
many,  made  this  world  one  harmonious  whole.  Man,  the  creature 
of  a  day,  upsets  that  harmony,  and  consequently  suffers.  Why  are 
we  plagued  and  harrassed  by  these  hordes  of  small  birds,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  inroads  of  rats  and  mice  ?  How  rarely  do  you  see 
any  of  the  hawk  tribe  save  on  the  keeper’s  gibbet  ?  And  no  longer 
does  the  “Ivy-mantled  tower”  prove  a  home  and  refuge  to  the 
“  moping  owl.”  He  used  to  be  a  familiar  object  in  tower,  barn,  and 
hollow  tree,  and  he  did  much  to  check  the  smaller  birds  and  mice- 
Iffie  hawk,  too,  must  eat  to  live,  and  not  even  the  most  rabid 
keeper  can  accuse  him  of  feasting  entirely  on  young  partridges  or 
hand-reared  pheasants. 
We  do  not  recognise  our  best  friends,  and  kill  and  exterminate 
those  w'hose  life  is  spent  in  doing  us  service.  Where  do  you  find  a 
better  mouser  than  an  owl  with  a  nest  of  fluffy,  solemn-looking 
babies  ?  No  one  knows  better  than  the  farmer  the  havoc  and 
destruction  the  prolific  mouse  can  work  in  a  stack  yard,  and  no  man 
should  be  as  strict  a  preserver  of  these  useful  birds  as  he. 
WORK  ON  THE  HOME  FARM. 
We  have  been  thrashing  Barley,  and  find  the  yield  as  disappointing  as 
we  had  been  warned  it  would  be  by  others  who  had  tried  it.  There  is 
plenty  of  bulk  to  thrash,  but  the  grain  is  too  small,  with  too  much  tail 
corn  to  yield  satisfactorily.  Quality  and  colour  are  good,  and  33s.  per 
quarter  is  the  best  price  we  can  make.  A  little  more  size  would  have 
increased  the  value  to  40s.,  or  near  it.  Four  quarters  per  acre  at  33s. 
does  not  multiply  into  anything  very  remunerative. 
We  have  tried  lifting  Potatoes,  but  they  are  not  fit,  and  we  have  had  ' 
to  stop.  Here,  again,  the  influence  of  the  summer  drought  is  shown  in 
the  smallness  of  the  numerous  tubers.  Four  tons  per  acre  is  the  highest 
estimate  of  the  quantity  deliverable,  and  four  tons  at  60s.,  the  present 
price,  is  another  total  very  far  from  satisfactory. 
The  heavy  rain  of  last  week  has  been  followed  by  beautiful  weather, 
with  just  a  slight  suggestion  of  frost.  This  warns  us  to  have  the  roots  up 
as  soon  as  they  are  ready.  Some  farmers  are  talking  of  taking  their 
Mangolds  up,  but  they  are  very  full  of  growth  yet,  and  are  certainly  not 
fit  to  store. 
The  difficulty  of  last  year  as  regards  the  scarcity  of  hands  for  Potato 
picking  has  induced  the  school  authorities  of  many  parishes  to  alter  the 
arrangements  for  the  summer  holiday,  and  after  giving  a  fortnight  during 
the  early  part  of  harvest,  are  giving  three  weeks  in  October.  This  will 
be  a  great  boon  to  both  farmers  and  parents,  as  many  children  who  have 
not  passed  the  necessary  standard  are  quite  able  to  pick  up  Potatoes  after 
a  digger. 
Sheep  are  getting  well  on  Turnips,  and  we  have  just  been  dipping 
them.  Ewes  are  now  with  the  ram,  and  must  be  kept  in  thriving  con¬ 
dition  to  insure  a  good  fall  of  lambs.  A  little  Barley,  say  ^  lb.  per  head 
per  day,  is  a  good  thing  for  breeding  ewes  just  now. 
Youug  cattle  under  twelve  months  must  be  closely  watched  to  see  that 
they  do  not  lose  flesh ;  they  can  run  off  very  quickly,  and  if  allowed  to  run 
out  during  the  day,  they  would  be  better  up  at  night  with  an  allowance 
of  hay,  even  if  it  be  but  a  small  one. 
METEOROLOaiCAL  OBSERVATIONS. 
Camden  Squaee,  London. 
Lat.  -51°  32'  40"  N. ;  Long.  0°  8'  0"  W. ;  Altitude  111  feet. 
Date. 
9  A.M. 
In  the  Day. 
c 
*3 
1897. 
October. 
Barometer 
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  .... 
3 
lO'lSO 
.54-8 
49-7 
N. 
55-2 
62-1 
51-6 
106-9 
48-0 
— 
Mondav  .... 
4 
30-35() 
51-8 
48-0 
N. 
53-7 
54-7 
44-9 
81-3 
39-9 
_ 
Tuesday  .... 
5 
30-44  9 
5  -9 
45-7 
N.E. 
52-4 
55-9 
41-4 
88-1 
34-6 
— 
Wednesday.. 
6 
30-473 
47-2 
44-2 
N. 
50-7 
55-7 
36-1 
85-9 
30-8 
— 
Thursday .... 
7 
3  .-4.5g 
36-1 
36-1 
N. 
49-0 
63-6 
31-9 
83-1 
29-8 
— 
Fridav . 
8 
3  .-295 
48-4 
44-0 
W. 
47-6 
55-4 
34-8 
86-2 
30-2 
0-043 
Saturday  .... 
9 
30-176 
51-3 
48-1 
N.W. 
49-1 
58-1 
46-2 
97-7 
39-5 
— 
30-339 
48-6 
45-1 
51-1 
56-5 
41-0 
89-9 
36-1 
0-043 
RH  MARKS. 
3rd, — Rain  from  2  a.m.  to  h  a.m.  ;  cloudless  morning  and  bright  afternoon  and  evening. 
4tli. — Bright  sun  from  sunrise  toll  a.m.;  overcast  with  frequent  drizzle  in  alternoon; 
lair  evening. 
5th.  -Generally  sunny,  but  occasional  cloud. 
6th.  Fine  and  pleasant,  with  frequent  sunshine. 
7th.  Fog  rather  dense  till  11  a.m.,  then  bright  sun  ;  bright  night. 
8th.— Fair,  with  occasional  sun  during  day  ;  rainy  from  7.30  p.m.  to  9  p.m. 
9th.  — Fair  early  ;  generally  sunny  from  9  a.m.  to  2  p.m.,  and  cloudy  after. 
Temperature  much  below  that  of  the  previou*  week,  and  decidedly  below  the  average, 
Scarcely  any  rain. — G.  J.  SYMONS. 
