422 
October  28,  1897. 
JOURNAL  OF  UORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
Beautiful  as  this  evergreen  is,  and  useful  as  it  was,  it  still  should 
be  conlined  to  very  limited  areas.  There  has  been  at  one  time  an 
impression  abroad  that  only  in  a  withered  state  it  was  poisonous.  We 
are  perfectly  sure  of  many  deaths  that  have  arisen  after  the  eating  of 
withered  hedge-trimmings  and  remains  of  Cliristmas  decorations,  and 
we  know  of  other  cases  where  the  result  has  been  fatal  after  eating 
from  the  living  tree;  and  then  again  have  we  seen  bits  of  a  Yew 
hedge  nipped  off  by  passing  animals,  which  certainly  has  not  killed 
nor  apparently  injured  them.  Mr.  Harold  Leeney  has  an  excellent 
article  on  this  subject  in  a  recent  number  of  the  “  Agricultural 
Gazetfe.”  Having  lately  lost  a  valuable  Hackney  from  this  cause  he 
speaks  feelingly.  He  says  that  if  all  cases  of  Yew  poisoning  could  be 
published  no  one  would  dare  to  have  a  tree  on  the  premises. 
The  worst  of  this  poison  is  that  an  animal  is  dead  before  there  is  any 
idea  that  anything  whatever  is  wrong.  Then  the  rest  of  the  stock  in 
the  same  field  are  more  carefully  observed,  and  probably  some  will  be 
found  unable  to  walk  straight,  and  apparently  suffering  from  narcotic 
irritant  poisoning.  Paralysis  of  the  hind  quarters,  closely  followed  by 
death,  are  the  next  steps. 
Mr.  Leeney  goes  on  to  say  that  there  is  no  direct  chemical 
antidote  which  will  neutralise  the  poison,  so  all  we  can  do  is  to 
resort  to  such  physiological  antidotes  as  are  best  calculated  to 
counteract  tlie  symptoms  produced.  He  suggests  a  large  dose  of 
linseed  oil,  which  possibly  expels  the  offending  matter  before  it  can  do 
much  harm.  Then  the  narcotic  symptoms  must  be  dealt  with.  The 
heart  must  be  roused  to  action,  either  by  a  dose  of  sal  volatile, 
sulphuric  ether,  or  nitrous  ether ;  these  are  the  best  stimulants,  but 
failing  these  (and  the  case  admits  of  no  delay)  brandy  or  whisky  may 
be  given.  Even  though  the  case  be  severe,  and  the  patient 
apparently  in  extremis,  the  d  )se  must  not  be  too  large,  or  there  is  a 
danger  that  the  remedy  may  act  in  an  opposite  direction  to  that  desired 
— namely,  becomes  a  sedative.  The  animal  heat  should  be  kept  up 
by  clothing  and  rubbing,  especially  of  the  legs. 
It  is  most  desirable,  if  evergreens  be  grown  about  a  farm,  that  all 
the  cuttings  be  most  carefully  burned.  This  also  applies  to 
withered  Christmas  decorations,  which  are  often  treated  in  a  most 
careless  fashion. 
Laburnum  seeds,  too,  are  a  great  source  of  danger,  and  the 
removal  of  a  quuntity  of  rubbish  together  with  fallen  seeds  into  the 
foldyard  once  taught  us  a  very  practical  lesson  as  to  their  disastrous 
effect  on  pigs. 
We  suppose  we  need  hardly  mention  the  desirability  of  carefully 
destroying  any  Wheat  that  has  been  “  dressed”  for  sowing  that  may 
by  chance  be  left  over. 
There  is  another  form  of  animal  poisoning  that  happily  is  of 
rarer  occurrence  than  formerly.  We  allude  to  deleterious  matter  in 
cakes.  This,  of  course,  is  the  fault  of  the  manufacturer,  who  is  either 
in  too  great  haste  to  be  rich,  or  who  is  wilfully  ignorant  of  the 
impurity  of  his  mixture.  That  cake  is  not  always  what  it  should 
be  we  may  gather  from  reading  the  reports  of  analysts ;  but  a  good 
deal  has  been  done  to  remove  the  absolutely  poisonous  ingredient. 
Dirt  kills  so  slowly,  and  it  is  only  few  firms  that  guarantee  95  per 
cent,  pure  linseed. 
A  new,  or  comparatively  new,  cake  is  that  made  from  Cotton 
seeds.  These  seeds  are  encased  in  much  soft  tissue,  the  raw  cotton  of 
commerce,  and  which  if  unremoved  before  the  seed  is  crushed  is  most 
pernicious  in  its  action,  clogging  up  the  stomach  and  alimentary  canal. 
A  grave  form  of  poisoning  still  remains  for  notice — a  form  which 
is  found  to  be  very  widespread.  This  may  come  under  the  head  of 
“  otherwise,”  for  it  should  never  exist.  That  it  does  exist  is  through 
the  gross  ignorance  of  those  who  have  to  do  with  valuable  horses — 
we  mean  not  only  pedigree  ones,  but  the  teams  of  the  farmer.  It  is 
not  only  the  farm  servants  who  are  to  blame,  as  we  often  find  the 
older  men  quite  ready  to  aid  and  abet.  That  a  great  many  fearful 
drugs  are  used  every  year  by  horsemen  is  absolutely  certain,  and  it  is 
a  constantly  occurring  piece  of  news  in  local  papers  of  so-and-so  losing 
valuable  hoises  from  the  effects  of  deadly  poison,  given  them  secretly 
by  their  attend  ints. 
No  amount  of  watchfulness  on  the  part  of  the  owner  seems  able 
to  prevent  acts  of  this  sort,  and  even  when  detected  it  is  a  difficult 
matter  to  punish  the  offender.  The  horse  or  horses  are  dead,  and  the 
farmer  hesitates  before  going  to  the  expense  of  a  trial,  where,  possibly 
through  some  little  technicality,  he  loses  his  case,  or  at  the  best  finds 
the  magistrate  is  able  to  inflict  only  a  very  inadequate  punishment. 
The  punishment  should  be  severe  enough  to  deter  future  offenders. 
WORK  ON  THE  HOME  FARM. 
With  so  much  to  do  in  a  short  time  we  should  never  advocate  the 
ploughing  of  fallows  until  other  autumn  work  is  completed  ;  it  is  often 
done  in  October,  and  we  have  done  it  ourselves,  but  it  is  work  just  as 
well  left  until  nearer  Christmas.  For  one  thing,  where  land  has  been 
worked  and  a  crop  of  twitch  got  off,  there  are  always  a  few  small  bits 
left  on  the  surface  ;  if  ploughed  in  early  these  bits  generally  retain  life 
enough  to  make  their  way  to  light  and  air,  but  if  we  delay  ploughing 
until  later,  and  in  the  meantime  take  advantage  of  every  dry  windy  day 
(and  we  have  had  several  lately)  to  give  the  land  a  good  harrowing,  the 
early  winter  frosts  will  add  the  finishing  touch  to  the  withering  particles, 
and  if  well  turned  down  to  the  bottom  of  an  8-inch  (depth)  furrow,  little 
will  survive  to  commence  new  growth  in  spring.  The  use  of  the  chilled 
plough  makes  the  ploughing  a  simp’e  matter,  for  one  plough  with  three 
horses  will  plough  acre  per  day  easily,  even  in  the  short  days  of 
winter. 
The  fine  warm  weather  is  very  favourable  for  the  Potato  harvest. 
Since  our  last  notes  buyers  have  been  on  the  alert,  and  prices  are  decidedly 
higher  ;  in  fact  there  is  quite  a  little  boom.  This  is  not  very  surprising, 
for  we  believe  this  year’s  crop  to  be  the  smallest  on  record. 
We  have  been  taking  up  Bruce,  a  very  small  crop,  not  one-half  being 
fit  for  sale  as  ware.  To-day  we  begin  with  the  “  Up-to-Date,”  and  it  is 
quite  refreshing  to  see  such  a  fine  turn-out,  large  in  size  and  splendid  in 
quality.  We  weighed  one  straight  well-grown  tuber  and  found  it  30  ozs. 
This  is,  in  our  opinion,  the  finest  variety  of  late  Potato  in  existence. 
We  have  tried  the  digger,  but  find  it  bruises  many  of  these  large 
Potatoes,  so  we  have  reverted  to  the  plough.  We  find  stack  sheets  very 
useful  to  put  over  the  pies  before  earthing  up,  and  have  had  two  long 
ones  12  yards  each  by  4  wide  made  expressly  for  the  purpose.  They  not 
only  protect  from  frost,  but  keep  the  straw  dry  until  soiled  up. 
OUR  LETTER  BOX. 
Feather-eating  Fowls  (  W.  Si). — Your  letter  shall  have  attention.  In 
the  meantime  give  them  plenty  of  green  food,  such  as  cabbage  or  anything 
of  that  kind  to  occupy  their  attention. 
Webbs’  Barley  Competition. — The  valuable  prizes  for  Barley  offered 
by  Messrs.  Webb  &  Sons,  of  Wordsley,  brought  a  keen  competition, 
and  the  Judge,  Mr.  T.  Phipps,  of  the  firm  of  Messrs.  Pickering,  Phipps 
and  Sons,  Limited,  of  Northampton,  was  occupied  a  considerable  time  in 
making  his  awards,  which  were  as  follows  : — Class  1,  champion  ])rize, 
open  to  the  United  Kingdom,  £25,  Mr.  W.  Nisbett,  Stratford  St.  Andrews, 
Saxmundham,  Suffolk ;  Class  2,  open  to  Salop,  Stafford,  Hereford, 
Worcester,  and  Warwick  ;  first  prize,  £15,  Mr.  E.  Bomford,  S])ring  Hill, 
Fladbury  ;  second  prize,  £10,  Mr.  W.  Chick,  Sutton  Maddock,  Shifnal  ; 
third  prize,  £5,  iMr.  G.  Corbishley,  Bricklehampton  Court,  Pershore.  The 
conditions  of  competition  stipulated  that  the  Barley  should  be  one  of 
Wel)bs’  varieties,  and  grown  with  Webbs’  special  Barley  manure.  The 
high  quality  of  the  samjiles  exhibited  testified  to  the  value  of  Ijoth  seed 
and  manure. 
METEOROLOGICAL  OBSERVATIONS. 
Camdeist  Square,  Loxbon. 
Lat.  51°  32'  40”  N.;  Long.  0°  8'  0"  W.;  Altitude  111  feet. 
Date. 
9  A.M. 
In  the  Day. 
1897. 
October. 
t,  • 
o  «  > 
o  w 
Hygrometer. 
Direc¬ 
tion  of 
Wind. 
Temp 
of  soil 
at 
Shade  Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature. 
.5 
’eS 
Dry. 
Wet. 
1  foot. 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
Sun. 
On 
Grass. 
Sunday  ....  17 
Enchs. 
30-03 
deg. 
69-7 
deg. 
56-2 
S. 
deg. 
52-9 
deg. 
67-2 
deg. 
55-2 
deg. 
10'i-3 
deg. 
47-0 
Inchs. 
Monilav  ....  18 
30-195 
58-8 
55-6 
w. 
53-7 
64-4 
56-2 
88-9 
49-8 
0-141 
Tuesday  ....  19 
:t0-2.35 
56-1 
56-6 
N.E. 
53-9 
62-1 
54-8 
74-2 
49-7 
_ 
Wednesday..  20 
30-518 
45-1 
45-1 
N. 
52-7 
61-2 
4  2-2 
90-1 
38-1 
_ 
Thursday ....  21 
30-610 
46-0 
46-0 
N. 
50-9 
6IJ-0 
42-6 
93-3 
37-9 
_ 
Friday .  22 
30-489 
51-2 
48-2 
N. 
50-0 
54-6 
44-2 
64-8 
38-1 
— 
Saturday  ..  23 
3  -257 
51-3 
48-3 
N.E. 
50-4 
55-6 
49-1 
74-1 
46-3 
— 
31-322 
52-7 
6  -9 
52-1 
60-7 
49-2 
83-7 
43-8 
0-141 
REMARKS. 
17th.— Bright  sun  till  2  p.ra. ;  fair  after. 
18th.  -  Sunny  morning;  cloudy  afternoon;  rain  at  night. 
19th. — Dull,  damp,  and  rainy  till  9  a.m.;  laint  sun  till  1  p.m.,  followed  by  high  fog  ; 
bright  sun  from  3  p.m. 
2  th.  Fog  early,  bright  sun  from  9  a.m. 
21st. — Fog  till  9  a.m. ;  bright  sun  from  9.30  a.m.  to  sunset ;  fine  night. 
22nd. — Fair,  but  sunless  till  3  p.m.,  then  bright  for  halt  an  hour. 
23rd. — Overcast  morning;  sunny  afternoon  ;  fine  night. 
A  lovely  autumn  week,  with  rain  on  only  one  day.  Temperature  about  5®  above  the 
average— G.  J.  SYMONS. 
