24 
January  2,  1902. 
'ifn\\\L  OF  HOFTICCLTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
be  ready  to  draw  out  and  consume  next  July.  Cabbage  has 
advantages  over  Tares,  in  that,  although  it  loves  sunshine, 
it  does  not  become  laid  and  rotten  if  the  summer  is  a  wet 
one,  and  it  does  not  require  consuming  as  soon  as  ready  ; 
but  will  generally  keep  until  autumn  if  required. 
A  feature  of  the  past  season  has  been  the  very  wide 
diversity  in  the  Turnip  crops.  In  this  neighbourhood  have 
been  many  fields  which  promised  very  well  until  they  were 
thinned -out;  but  afterwards,  through  the  ravages  of  insect 
pests,  became  patchy,  and  produced  only  a  small  proportion 
of  good  sound  roots.  As  a  contrast  to  these,  we  have  seen 
the  best  piece  of  Swedes  which  we  have  known  for  many 
years,  and  many  other  plots  which  would  be  highly  satis¬ 
factory  in  any  season.  It  may  not  be  so  in  every  case  ;  but 
in  some  the  difference  can  be  traced  to  the  influence  of  good, 
though  expensive,  seed,  compared  with  cheap  rubbish 
deficient  in  constitution.  The  Potato  fields  of  a  neighbour 
have,  in  a  similar  manner,  shown  the  wisdom  of  liberality 
in  the  purchase  of  new  seed.  One  field,  planted  with  Scotch- 
grown  Up-to-Dates,  has  produced  just  double  the  crop  of 
another  field  which  was  planted  with  the  same  variety  home 
grown.  We  have  calculated  that,  after  allowing  for  differ¬ 
ence  in  cost,  the  Scotch  has  beaten  the  other  seed  by  £l0 
per  acre.  The  difference  between  the  two,  reckoned  on 
the  whole  area  of  Potatoes  grown,  would  have  nearly  paid 
the  rent  of  the  farm.  Major  Hallett’s  seed  circular,  received 
this  morning,  reminds  us  that  Barley  seed  time  will  soon  be 
here,  and  that  success  in  Barley  growing  depends  very  largely 
on  the  selection  of  seed.  The  difference  in  size  between 
samples  grown  on  similar  land  is  often  very  conspicuous, 
and  the  well-grown  lots  are  often  found  on  inquiry  to  owe 
their  origin  to  the  selected  Chevalier  of  Major  Hallett. 
The  Mangold  crop  was  a  splendid  one,  and  is  the  one 
bright  spot  in  the  rather  dark  outlook  of  the  stock-breeder. 
With  moderate  roots,  a  decided  shortage  of  straw  and  hay, 
and  a  plant  of  young  Clover  much  below  the  average  his 
prospects  are  anything  but  bright.  Let  us  hope  he  will  nut 
his  shoulder  to  the  wheel,  and  not  allow  our  national  flocks 
and  herds  to  decrease.  There  seems  to  be  very  little  hope  in 
the  future  for  the  grower  of  cereals,  at  any  rate  for  some  time 
to  come.  If  prices  rise  for  a  few  weeks,  they  soon  return  to 
their  old  level,  and  the  rise  usually  occurs  when  there  is 
little  English  gram  in  the  market.  Were  it  not  that  the 
straw  IS  so  necessary  for  the  feeding  and  comfort  of  farm 
animals,  the  acreage  of  grain  crops  would  be  still  further 
restricted. 
Potato  growing  has,  on  the  whole,  been  profitable  ;  a 
result  which  may  be  traced  to  the  introduction  of  one  or 
two  very  fine  new  varieties.  We  are  confident  that  Mr. 
Iindlays  Up-to-Date  has  been  an  immense  boon  to  Potato 
growers,  and  the  most  direct  benefit  to  agriculture  that  has 
been  produced  for  many  years.  May  our  Markinch  friend 
long  be  spared  to  win  even  greater  triumphs !  There  was 
much  truth  in  Mr.  Rider  Haggard’s  contention  that  in  the 
inciease  of  small  holdings  lay  one  of  the  solutions  of  the 
agiicultuial  pioblem.  He  was  also  near  the  mark  when  he 
spoke  of  the  comparative  prosperity  of  the  Potato-growing 
ciistiicts.  There  is  no  doubt  they  have  not  been  so  hard  hit 
as  others. 
Though  labour  has  been  more  plentiful  last  autumn,  and 
wages  a  little  easier  at  the  hirings,  we  hardly  think  farmers 
are  yet  out  of  their  troubles  in  this  connection.  On  the 
contrary,  we  foresee  at  the  next  favourable  opportunity  an 
agitation  for  the  curtailment  of  working  hours  on  Saturdays. 
V\e  have  lately  had  excellent  opportunity  of  ascertaining 
the  views  of  farm  labourers,  and  find  this  to  be  a  very 
favourite  subject  for  discussion  amongst  themselves.  They 
will  not  admit  that  their  services  cannot  be  spared  on 
Saturday  afternoons  or  that  the  farmer  cannot  afford  to  pay 
the  present  wage  for  less  work  ;  but  point  to  workmen 
employed  at  other  occupations  going  home  on  Saturdays  at 
midday  and  receiving  higher  wages  than  they  do.  The  older 
men,  who  have  been  brought  up  to  it  and  accustomed  to  it 
will  not  move  in  the  matter ;  but  the  young  ones  will,  if  they 
stop  on  the  land. 
We  cannot  say  that  the  new  year  opens  with  any  great 
promise  for  the  farming  interest.  There  are  few  arrears 
of  work,  and  there  should  be  a  good  Wheat  plant;  but,  as 
Tyfi  m  ^  animals  are  healthy,  food  is  scarce 
and  dear.  Much  depends,  as  it  always  does,  on  the  summer 
weather.  If  we  should  be  favoured  with  sunshine  and 
showers  in  due  proportion,  and  a  fine  return  in  Corn,  straw 
and  hay,  a  better  time  for  farmers  will  follow.  But  the 
latter  must  not  be  slack  in  taking  up  every  favourable  chance 
of  sowing,  for  “  If  a  man  will  not  sow,  neither  shall  he  reap.” 
It  is  with  the  earnest  hope  that  better  things  may  be  in  store 
that  we  wish  our  readers  a  happy  and  prosperous  year. 
Work  on  the  Home  Farm. 
During  the  week  we  have  had  all  kinds  of  weather,  including 
ISdeg  of  frost,  and  we  are  still  kept  off  the  land.  It  has  been  too 
rough  and  stormy  for  threshing,  which  is  getting  into  arrears, 
and  the  horses  which  have-  not  been  engaged  in  delivering 
Potatoes  have  been  carting  manure  when  not  required  to  cart 
Turnips,  hay,  or  straw  for  the  five  stock.  It  has  not  been  an 
ideal  Christmas — cold  but  dirty ;  uncomfortable,  but  in  no  wise 
picturesque  or  Christmas-like.  On  one  or  two  days  the  roadways 
were  like  sheets  of  glass,  and  it  was  only  with  great  difficulty 
that  horses  could  reach  the  blacksmiths  to  be  roughed  up  or  have 
studded  shoes  put  on.  We  saw  an  in-foal  mare  being  dragged  to 
the  shop  for  such  a  purpose.  She  was  skating  about  and  running 
great  risk  of  a  serious  fall  or  strain.  At  our  suggestion  the  man 
in  charge  led  her  on  to  the  sanded  causeway,  the  risk  of  prosecu¬ 
tion  being  the  lesser  evil  of  the  two.  It  is  very  unwise  to  work 
a  breeding  mare  in  such  weather,  but  if  her  services  were  abso¬ 
lutely  necessary,  she  would  have  walked  comfortably  to  tlie  black¬ 
smith  if  a  piece  of  bagging  had  been  tied  round  each  foot.  A 
large  number  of  horses  are  now  fitted  with  studs,  which  can  be 
easily  removed  and  renewed.  A  fortnight’s  shppery  weather  has 
caused  such  a  demand  for  these  studs  that  they  have  been  almost 
unobtainable.  A  blacksmith  tells  us  that  he  has  attended  to  150 
horses  in  one  day  of  about  fifteen  hours.  Good  for  trade,  but 
very  monotonous  and  tiring  work. 
Sheep  have  not  suffered  much  from  the  weather,  as  lair  has 
been  fairly  good  and  Turnips  have  never  been  very  hard;  but 
they  have  required  an  extra  supply  of  dry  food,  which  is  an 
additional  drain  on  the  hay  and  straw.  We  notice  rather 
numerous  consignments  of  hay  and  clover  leaving  the  local  sta¬ 
tion,  and  hear  that  for  a  very  fine  saniple  of  the  latter  the  price 
approached  140s.  per  ton.  A  farmer  can  hardly  be  blamed  for 
realising  at  such  a  price  in  these  days  of  dear  money,  but  it  is  to 
be  hoped  that  he  will  increase  his  purchases  of  cake  and  manures. 
The  great  value  of  covered  yards  is  increasingly  apparent  as 
one  dry  season  follows  another.  What  the  state  of  our  national 
herds  might  now  have  been  without  the  litter-saving  influence  of 
the  great  number  of  sheds  now  in  existence  all  over  the  country 
no  one  can  say,  but  we  have  some  idea.  A  heavy  stock  of  cattle 
is  now  a  natural  consequence  of  the  roofing  in  of  fold-yards. 
Sugar  Beet  Cultivation,  1901. 
The  Earl  of  Denbigh  has,  during  the  year  1901,  continued  the 
experiments  made  in  the  growth  of  Sugar  Beet  on  the  Home 
Farm,  at  Newnham  Paddox,  in  the  county  of  Warwick,  and  the 
result  is  as  favourable  as  in  previous  seasons.  His  lordship 
further  considered  that  it  would  be  very  desirable  to  show  what 
the  result  would  be  with  Sugar  Beet  grown  in  the  ordinary  course 
of  cultivation  for  root  crops  by  some  of  the  tenants  on  his  estate 
in  Warwickshire,  and  it  was  arranged  that  four  occupiers  of  land 
should  each  grow  one  half-acre  of  Sugar  Beet  in  the  same  field, 
and  under  the  same  cultivation  as  a  crop  of  Mangolds.  In  the  early 
part  of  this  last  season  the  weather  was  not  favourable  for  roots, 
and  the  seed  was  a  long  time  in  starting,  and,  for  the  most  part, 
the  plants  came  up  very  irregularlv :  but,  notwithstanding  this, 
the  crops  have  turned  out  veiy  satisfactorily,  and  it  may  interest 
all  those  interested  in  agriculture  to  hear  the  result.  The  tenants 
who  undertook  to  carry  out  the  experiments  were  Mr.  James  L. 
Harrison,  of  Pailton  Fields ;  Mr.  William  Kennev  of  Brockhurst ; 
Mr.  J.  Parker  Toone,  of  High  Cross;  and  Mr.  John  Wright,  of 
the  Kirby  Manor  Farm.  The  roots  were  analysed  by  Mr. 
Sigmund  Stein,  of  Liverpool,  so  well  known  for  the  great  interest 
he  has  alv  ays  taken  in  promoting  the  cultivation  of  Sugar  Beet, 
and  he  furnishes  a  report,  one  part  of  which  we  print: — Name 
of  grower,  J.  Harrison;  seed  from  Klein  Wanzleben ;  degrees 
brix  (diy  matter),  21.10;  specific  gravity,  1.088;  quantity  of 
sugar  in  100  parts  of  the  juice,  18.50 ;  quantity  of  non-sugar  in 
100  parts  of  the  juice,  2.60 ;  quotient  of  purity,  87.67 ;  quantity 
of  sugar  in  100  parts  of  the  roots,  17.80  ;  shape  of  roots,  very  w^ell 
shaped  roots ;  remarks  by  Mr.  Sigmund  Stein :  These  well-shaped 
roots  compare  very  favourably  with  German-grown  roots,  to 
which  they  are  superior  in  every  respect.  When  the  above 
analysis  is  compared  with  that  of  the  roots  grown  in  Germany, 
it  will  be  seen  how  much  superior  the  roots  grown  in  England 
are  to  those  grown  in  Germany,  but  this  will  be  shown  more 
clearly  if  the  value  of  the  roots  per  ton  is  considered,  and  cal¬ 
culated  on  the  data  given  by  Dr.  Carl  Stammer,  the  German 
roots  would  be  worth  for  the  manufacture  of  sugar  17s.  a  ton,  but 
those  grown  by  Mr.  J.  L-  Harrison  27s.  a  ton,  by  Mr.  William 
Kenney  26s.  9d.,  Mr.  J.  Parker  Toone  25s.,  and  Mr.  John 
Wright  27s.  We  w’ould  advise  those  interested  in  this  matter  to 
^Pply  for  a  full  report  to  Henry  H.  Cave,  Estate  Office,  Rugby. 
