518 
JOURNAL  OP  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
I^ovembe^  25,  1897. 
the  farm  must  he  large  enough  to  be  practically  self-supporting,  Avhilst 
not  being  so  large  as  to  become  a  commercial  enterprise. 
It  will  thus  become  somewhat  of  a  model  farm,  and  therefore 
should  be  in  a  ring  fence  with  the  buildings  in  a  convenient  position. 
As  an  illustration,  we  will  imagine  that  we  have  to  deal  with  a  farm 
of  100  acres.  For  such  a  farm  it  is  obvious  that  the  fields  must  not 
be  of  large  size,  and  seven  acres  would  be  quite  large  enough  for  the 
fields  of  such  a  farm,  and  certainly  for  the  arable  part  of  it. 
If  we  suppose  that  about  half  is  grass,  Ave  might  divide  the  arable 
portion  into  eight  fields  of  about  seven  acres  each,  say  fifty-six  acres; 
this  would  leave  forty-lour  for  grass  and  hay.  Ot  the  grass  four  acres 
would  be  required  for  the  dairy  cattle,  four  acres  for  the  farm  horses, 
and  twelve  acres  to  graze  with  growing  and  breeding  cattle.  This 
would  leave  twenty-four  acres  for  hay.  We  seldom  find  the  haystack 
too  large,  and  any  surplus  would  always  find  a  ready  market  at  the 
Hall  stables. 
With  regard  to  the  cropping  of  the  arable  land,  of  course  the 
supply  of  suitable  food  for  the  milch  cows  would  be  a  first  consider¬ 
ation,  also  the  production  of  such  crops  as  are  required  for  house  or 
stable  use,  and  are  beyond  the  usual  scope  of  a  gardener’s  domain. 
Carrots,  Mangold,  Potatoes,  would  come  under  this  heading:  whilst  of 
Corn  crops  Oats  would  be  a  favourite  crop,  the  straw  being  most 
valuable,  and  the  grain  going  to  the  hunters  and  carriage  horses  at  a 
market  price. 
The  eight  arable  fields  would  be  most  easily  managed  on  an  eight- 
years  rotation,  and  granted  only  that  the  soil  be  fairly  deep  and  of 
medium  sti’ength  we  should  recommend  the  following  as  being  suitable 
cropping  for  the  purposes  stated: — 
1, 
2, 
3, 
4, 
5, 
7, 
8, 
One  field,  7  acres. 
„  7  acres. 
„  7  acres. 
„  7  acres. 
„  7  acres. 
„  7  acres. 
,,  7  acres. 
„  7  acres. 
Potatoes,  4  acres;  Tares,  3  acres. 
Wheat. 
Clover,  for  grazing. 
Oats. 
Carrots,  2  acres  ;  Mangolds,  5  acres. 
Barley. 
Turnips  and  Swedes. 
Oats. 
The  above  should  make  the  best  use  of  the  land  available,  and 
each  field  would  be  cropped  in  rotation — i.e..  Potatoes  and  Tares, 
followed  by  Wheat,  then  Clover,  and  so  on,  the  eighth  crop  (Oats) 
being  followed  by  Potatoes. 
There  would  thus  be  28  acres  of  straw  crops,  and  if  well  treated 
with  manure,  artificial  as  well  as  natural,  very  fine  grain  crops  should 
be  groAvn  with  a  heavy  weight  of  straw,  in  this  case  a  thing  much  to 
be  desired. 
To  take  the  crops  in  order.  Both  Tares  and  Potatoes  require  very 
heavy  tillage,  but  in  different  ways.  The  Tares  should  be  sown  partly 
in  autumn  and  partly  in  spring,  one  sowing  about  September  20th, 
one  about  a  month  later,  one  in  March,  and  a  sowing  of  spring 
Vetches  in  May.  The  land  must  be  well  cleaned  as  soon  as  the  Oat 
crop  has  been  harvested,  and  a  good  coating  of  manure  should  then  be 
ploughed  in,  with  G  or  8  cwt.  of  basic  slag.  The  first  sowing  will  be 
made  immediately  after  ploughing,  when  not  much  harrowing  will  be 
needed,  but  the  chisel  harrow  will  have  to  be  freely  used  before  the 
later  soAvings,  or  the  seed  may  be  difficult  to  cover. 
For  the  Potatoes  plough  deeply  after  as  much  autumn  cleaning 
as  possible  or  necessary.  If  there  is  a  supply  of  good  spit  muck 
handy  put  it  on  before  ploughing,  which  may  be  postponed  to  any 
convenient  time  before  the  new  year,  but  it  is  a  great  point  to  get 
the  ploughing  done  before  severe  frost  sets  in,  for  a  frost  mould  is  of 
great  value  to  this  crop,  particularly  if  the  land  be  on  the  strong  side. 
If  manure  is  not  available  apply  3  CAvt.  of  kainit  and  4  CAVt.  of  basic 
slag  before  ploughing.  The  Potatoes  should  be  planted  about  April  1st. 
It  is  All  Fools’  Day,  but  he  is  no  fool  Avho  plants  his  Potatoes  on  that 
date. 
The  Wlieat  crop  requires  little  notice.  It  should  be  drilled  as 
soon  as  the  land  is  ready  after  September  30th,  and  the  Potato  portion 
should  have  a  top-dressing  of  nitrate  of  soda  in  April,  about  1  cwt. 
per  acre. 
The  Clover  should  be  soAvn  amongst  the  young  Wheat  the  end  of 
March  or  b(  ginniag  of  April,  the  mixture  most  suitable  for  the  soil 
and  locality  will  be  easily  ascertained  from  tenants  or  neighbouring 
farmers. 
The  Oats  after  seeds  should  not  require  manure,  and  there  would 
not  be  any  to  spare  for  them.  The  seeds  might  be  grazed  until 
Christmas,  and  ploughed  any  time  before  February  14th  when  the 
weather  will  allow.  We  believe  in  deep  cultivation  for  Oats,  and 
would  plough  the  land  at  least  8  inches,  if  possible,  with  chilled 
ploughs,  and  leave  it  as  open  to  frost  influence  as  is  consistent  with 
effectually  turning  over  the  sod. 
March  is  the  best  month  for  drilling  Oats,  and  as  no  farmyard 
manure  has  been  used  we  should  advise  the  application  of  150  lbs. 
per  acre  of  sulphate  of  ammonia  and  300  lbs.  of  superphosphate,  all 
to  be  harrowed  in  before  the  drill. 
For  Carrots  and  Mangold  alike  the  land  should  be  well  cleaned  as 
for  Potatoes.  The  Mangold  would  be  drilled  late  in  April,  7  lbs.  to  the 
acre.  Twelve  loads  of  farmyard  manure  must  be  used,  with  5  cwt. 
superphosphate  at  sowing  time,  and  2  cwt.  nitrate  of  soda  when 
thinned  out.  Carrots  should  be  drilled  about  April  20th  to  IMay  1st, 
8  lbs.  to  the  acre,  22  inches  apart  in  the  rows.  Farmyard  manure  is 
beneficial,  but  should  be  placed  at  least  10  inches  deep.  This  can  be 
done  if  the  manure  be  spread  on  the  surface,  and  ploughed  in  Avith  a 
heavy  chilled  plough,  using  skim  coulters  to  turn  the  manure  into 
the  furrow.  We  shall  deal  Avith  the  rest  of  the  course  and  live  stock 
next  week. 
WORK  ON  THE  HOME  FARM. 
We  have  had  a  little  more  rain,  but  not  much,  and  one  slight  fr.ost  with  ice 
of  the  thickness  of  a  penny;  this  was  followed  immediately  by  a  slight  rain, 
and  the  weather  is  now  as  mild  as  ever — this  is  all  in  favour  of  the  Wheat 
we  are  now  sowing  after  Potatoes.  We  tried  to  buy  some  small  seed  for 
this  purpose  ;  but  have  not  succeeded,  so  have  thrashed  some  of  our  own, 
and  shall  sow  the  tail  corn  from  it.  This  is  quite  contrary  to  the 
teachings  of  high  authority  ;  but  where  larks  abound  only  small,  quickly 
exhausted  seed  will  escape  their  ravages. 
Mangolds  are  taking  up  exceedingly  well,  and  are  going  into  store  in 
likely  condition  for  keeping.  We  hear  that  Mangolds  taken  up  early, 
like  Potatoes,  are  not  keeping  well.  Swedes  are  still  growing  fast,  and 
had  better  remain  a  little  longer  before  being  stored.  A  good  frost  or 
two  would  check  the  flow  of  sap,  and  both  make  them  easier  to  pull  and 
improve  their  keeping  qualities. 
Cabbage  for  use  next  July  may  still  be  planted,  and  as  long  as  the 
weather  be  mild  they  are  better  planted  now  than  in  spring  ;  they  make 
better  roots,  and  grow  much  larger  without  being  ready  any  sooner. 
Cabbage  cannot  be  tilled  too  heavily,  and  will  do  very  well  with  twenty 
loads  per  acre  of  good  muck  ;  but  it  must  be  well  rotted,  and  if  ploughed 
in  in  the  ordinary  way  with  a  furrow  about  1 0  inches  wide,  the  Cabbage 
plants  may  be  put  in  every  third  seam,  and  thus  be  30  inches  from  row  to 
row  ;  a  very  practicable  distance,  for  Cabbage  is  a  crop  that  requires  a 
good  deal  of  hoeing,  and  room  must  be  left  for  the  horse  hoe  if  economy 
IS  to  be  considered. 
Some  people  keep  making  successional  sowings  of  Tares  ;  but  it  is 
now  too  late,  for  birds  would  get  nearly  all  the  seed  before  it  could  have 
much  chance  to  grow.  The  next  sowing  would  be  better  deferred  until 
March. 
Notwithstanding  the  much  improved  prospect  for  roots,  and  the  mild 
autumn,  enabling  stock  holders  to  keep  their  cattle  out  so  much  longer 
than..usual,  markets  for  stores  are  no  better,  but  if  anything  worse,  since 
November  came  in.  Supplies  have  been  heavy  in  almost  every  market 
except  in  the  case  of  pork,  which  is  both  scarce  and  dearer. 
METEOROLOaiCAL  OBSERVATIONS. 
Camden  Square,  London. 
Lat.  51°  32'  40"  N.;  Long.  0°  8'  0"  W.;  Altitude  111  feet. 
Date. 
9  A.M. 
In  the  Day. 
s 
'3 
21? 
1897. 
November. 
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. 
la 
Sun. 
On 
Grass, 
fnehs. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
Inchs. 
Sunday  .... 
14 
29-  621 
54-8 
52-7 
S. 
49-0 
58-9 
49-7 
7-2-6 
42-6 
0-196 
Monday  .... 
15 
.30-018 
42-8 
41-1 
N. 
48-8 
44-9 
41-7 
66-4 
41-9 
— 
Tuesday  .... 
16 
30-410 
42-2 
40-1 
N. 
46-0 
54-1 
36-1 
.'.8-6 
31-5 
0-141 
Wednesday.. 
17 
30- 148 
54-1 
53-0 
S.W. 
46-2 
55-9 
41-6 
60-6 
38-8 
0-016 
Thursday.. . . 
18 
30-146 
55-0 
62-6 
S.W. 
48-4 
59-1 
53-0 
84-1 
46-8 
— 
Friday . 
19 
30-490 
35-4 
35-4 
W. 
47-1 
44-6 
34-2 
56-4 
31-5 
— 
Saturday  .. 
20 
30-669 
44-3 
43-5 
W. 
44-9 
51-7 
35-1 
60-8 
34-4 
— 
30-214 
46*9 
45-5 
47-2 
52-7 
41-6 
65-5 
38-2 
0-353 
14th. — Bright  sun  early,  and  sunny  morning ;  overcast  afternoon  and  evening. 
16th.— Rain  from  0.30  a.m.  to  6  a.tn. ;  fair  morning ;  bright  sun  from  noon  to  sunset. 
16th.— Fine  and  pleasant  with  much  faint  sunshine,  and  solar  halo  at  noon;  showers  in 
evening  and  night. 
17th.— Dull  and  drizzly  with  frequent  rain  till  11  a.m. ;  fair  after  noon. 
18th.— Fair  early ;  generally  sunny  from  9  a.m.  to  noon ;  cloudy  afternoon  ;  clear  night, 
loth. — Fog,  dense  early  ;  sunny  from  10  a.m.,  but  slightly  foggy  almost  throughout. 
20th. — Overcast  till  11.30  am.,  then  sunny  lor  halt  an  hour,  and  generally  overcast  after. 
Yet  another  dry  week  ;  not  one  week  since  the  end  of  August  has  had  a  total  of  as 
much  as  1  inch.  Barometer  high  at  the  end  of  the  week.— Q.  J.  Bymors. 
