332 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
April  10,  1902. 
first  of  these  years  it  was  hardly  possible  to  find  a  field  of 
Turnips  much  exceeding  50  per  cent,  of  an  average  one,  we 
have  ourselves  seen  last  autumn  some  of  the  finest  crops 
possible  in  fact,  one  field  of  Swedes  was  the  best  in  a 
thirty  years’  experience.  The  majority  were  bad ;  some  a 
complete  failure.  Then  what  was  the  difference  in  cultiva¬ 
tion  which  could  succeed  when  others  failed  ?  We  think  that 
many  of  last  year’s  bad  crops  were  directly  traceable  to  the 
general  failure  of  1899.  The  Swede  and  white-fleshed  Turnip 
crops  of  1899  were  so  bad  that  there  were  practically  no 
sound  roots  wherewith  to  grow  in  1900  the  seed  which  would 
be  required  for  sowing  in  1901.  We  last  year  strongly  urged 
our  readers  to  be  careful  in  purchasing  Turnip  seed.  There 
was  so  little  new  seed  of  1900  which  came  to  perfection,  and 
prices  were  so  high,  that  all  the  old  stocks  had  to  be  requi¬ 
sitioned  to  supply  the  annual  demand.  A  great  deal  of  this 
would  be  blended  with  new  to  make  the  latter  go  further. 
But  this  mixing  is  a  terrible  mistake,  and  one  which  often 
has  most  unfortunate  results.  There  are  very  few  seasons 
when  the  Turnip  fly  does  not  make  itself  troublesome,  and  to 
cope  with  its  attacks  we  must  have  an  even  and  strongly 
growing  plant. 
Now,  new  seed  will  germinate  in  two  days’  less  time  than 
old  will.  The  result  of  a  mixture  of  seed,  therefore,  is  that  a 
serious  attack  of  fly  clears  off  all  the  plants  grown  from  the 
new  seed  before  the  old  seed  begins  to  appear,  by  which 
time  the  fly  has  greatly  increased  in  numbers  and  ruins  the 
whole.  We  would  rather  ask  for  good  old  seed  at  a  lower 
price  and  increase  the  quantity  sown  than  buy  so-called  new 
from  any  but  the  most  trusted  firms  in  the  trade.  But 
though  we  are  inclined  to  blame  poor  or  mixed  seed  for 
much  of  last  year’s  failure,  there  are  other  contributing 
causes.  The  necessity  for  close  economy  in  farm  expendi¬ 
ture  is  ever  increasing,  and  the  introduction  of  easier 
methods  of  cultivation  has  encouraged  a  neglect  of  that 
necessary  but  expensive  operation,  ploughing.  A  genera¬ 
tion  ago  a  farmer  made  a  regular  practice  of  giving  his  land 
five  ploughings  in  the  process  of  preparation  for  Turnips — 
two  in  autumn,  two  in  spring,  and  one  just  before  drilling 
the  seed.  If  he  did  not  drill  on  the  flat,  ridging  and  splitting 
would  take  the  place  of  the  last  ploughing.  Such  a  thorough 
method  of  cidtivation  is  the  best  preventive  of  grub  and 
insect  attacks. 
Spring  tooth  cultivators  have  made  farmers  too  easy 
about  the  plough,  and  some  of  them  would  hardly  use  it  at 
■  all  if  there  were  no  such  thing  as  Thistle  to  deal  with.  When 
we  speak  of  ploughing  we  mean  ploughing  at  least  5in,  not 
merely  scratching  the  surface,  which  may  do  well  enough 
for  breaking  up  stubbles,  but  is  of  little  use  if  we  want  the  best 
system  of  cultivation.  We  have  another  fault  to  find.  The  most 
successful  root  growers  seem  to  be  always  in  the  field  if  the 
men  are  not  hand-hoeing ;  there  is  sure  to  be  a  horse-hoe  at 
work,  and  more  often  there  are  both.  Turnips  are  an 
expensive  crop,  because  they  require  so  much  labour,  and 
many  farmers  fail  in  growing  them  because  they  begrudge 
the  extra  labour  bill.  It  is  especially  necessary  to  keep  the 
surface  constantly  stirred  during  hot  dry  weather,  so  as  to 
prevent  undue  evaporation.  Farmers  are  often  under  the 
impression  that  stirring  the  surface  lets  the  drought  in  ;  but, 
on  the  contrary,  it  has  the  effect  of  conserving  moisture. 
Still  one  thing  more.  The  land  intended  for  roots  should 
have  been  ahead'"  so  cleaned  that  little  more  in  that  direc¬ 
tion  remains  to  be  done.  If  it  is  ploughed  over  now  and 
then  left  quiet  until  the  final  ploughing  or  ridging,  which¬ 
ever  it  may  be,  there  will  be  very  little  loss  of  the  moisture, 
which  is  now  present  in  abundant  quantity,  and  there  will 
be  a  fresh  green  mould  to  plant  the  seed  in,  and  a  practical 
certainty  of  good  germination  and  a  fair  start.  There  should 
be  no  trouble  in  obtaining  good  new  seed  this  season,  as 
last  year’s  crop  was  an  excellent  one,  and  parcels  are  cheap. 
Work  on  the  Home  Farm. 
We  are  still  as  busy  as  we  can  be,  but  then  spring  is  the 
farmer’s  busiest  time.  Drilling  is  finished,  and  we  can  turn  our 
attention  to  the  finishing  of  Potato  planting.  Another  ten  acres, 
and  that  work  will  be  over;  but  the  manure  has  to  be  carted 
from  the  yard  some  distance,  which  will  cause  a  little  delay.  This 
is  an  extra  plot,  a  kind  of  afterthought.  The  fact  is  that  seed  is 
almost  unsaleable,  so  we  are  prompted  to  plant  it.  A  small 
breadth  of  Thousand-headed  Kale  will  have  to  be  sown  next  week, 
and  the  Mangolds  must  be  in  this  month,  so  there  is  plenty  of 
work.  So  soon  as  we  can  spare  them,  some  of  the  hands  must  go 
over  the  Wheat  with  the  hoe.  The  crop  has  now  a  more  promis¬ 
ing  appearance  since  the  roller  was  over  it.  Sunshine  and 
showers  have  done  wonders,  and  from  being  backward  it  is  now 
in  quite  an  average  condition  for  the  time  of  year. 
There  is  not  much  grass,  but  the  cattle  are  looking  well  on  it, 
and  a  little  cake  tO'  help  out.  The  fresh  spring  bite  is  always  good 
though  scanty.  Some  Irish  heifers  which  should  have  been 
finished  on  Swedes  if  the  supply  bad  held  out  are  now  consuming 
seed  Potatoes,  and  doing  remarkably  well.  They  have  Bariey 
straw  and  61b  of  ordinai'y  cotton  cake  per  head  per  diem.  They 
will  be  nice  beef  by  June  1  if  kept  on  this  diet,  and  though 
butchers  are  not  fond  of  Potato-fed  cattle,  we  have  confidence  in 
meeting  a  good  market.  All  kinds  of  cattle  are  selling  very  well 
now,  and  if  the  present  mild  weather  continues  will  be  very  dear 
in  May.  Tlie  same  may  be  said  to  a  certain  extent  about  sheep, 
but  the  new  seeds  are  not  good  enough  to  keep  them  dear  for 
long.  We  should  prefer  to  speculate  in  cattle.  The  ewes  have 
not  all  lambed,  and  those  still  left  have  turned  suddenly  lame. 
They  are  very  fresh  in  condition,  and  suspect  the  shepherd  of 
giving  them  too  much  cake.  They  will  have  a  dose  of  sulphur, 
having  had  none  lately,  and  as  soon  as  they  have  lambed  their 
feet  must  be  attended  to.  How  often  do  w'e  see  animals  thrown 
amiss  by  overfeeding.  Eggs  are  very  cheap,  eighteen  for  Is-  in 
the  local  market.  Our  hpns  average  li-  eggs  per  week.  We 
rather  think  they  should  average  five  early  in  April. 
Australian  Coffee  Cultivation. 
Among  the  future  industrial  possibilities  in  New  South  Wales 
is  that  of  Coffee  cultivation  on  a  remunerative  basis.  It  has 
already  been  successfully  introduced  into  Queensland,  where  it 
furnishes  employment  to  about  a  couple  of  hundred,  workers. 
Nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago  encouraging  experiments  were 
made  in  the  Clarence  River  district,  in  the  northern  portion  of 
the  parent  State,  when,  from  the  very  outset,  it  was  demonstrated 
that  Coffee  trees  would  groAv  and  yield  good  crops  of  berries. 
There  were  Coffee  trees  growing  in  Grafton,  the  beautiful 
Northern  Coast  Metropolis,  upwards  of  tliirty  years  ago,  which 
yielded  good  crops,  and  at  the  present  time  several,  over  twe:^y- 
five  years  old,  healthy  and  productive,  are  to  be  met  with.  The 
cultivation  and  treatment  of  the  trees  have  (says  a  recent  visitor) 
a  great  deal  to  do  with  the  production  of  a  berry  of  good  quality 
and  flavour.  Then  in  the  transformation  of  the  beiries  into*  the 
brown  powder-like  substance  wliich  makes  the  popular  beverage, 
there  are  many  processes,  on  the  proper  execution  of  which 
depends  the  preservation  of  the  essential  qualities  of  the 
Coffee  in  a  form  which  readily  assimilates  with  boiling  water. 
The  leading  experiments  in  cultivation  were  made  on  a  nver 
island,  having  an  area  of  about  twenty  acres,  the  Coffee  plant 
being  growm  with  other  crops.  Last  year  there  were  about  o80 
•^2*0.0g  bcuriug. 
It  is  estimated  that  Coffee  should  be  planted  8ft  by  8ft,  which 
would  give  680  trees  to*  the  acre.  The  average  production  of 
berries  on  each  tree  is  101b,  from  which  21b  of  manufactured 
Coffee  is  made.  This,  at  Is.  per  lb  wholesale,  would  be  £68. 
The  principal  cost  is  the  picking  of  the  berries,  which  is  put  doii  n 
at  £3  per  acre.  “  Pulping  ”  costs  £1  10s.  for  the  product  of  an 
acre ;  feimenting,  bleaching,  and  cleaning,  £1 16s. ;  roasting,  £3  ; 
tinning  and  labelling,  15s.  Total,  £13  6s.,  for  the  produce  of  each 
acre.  This  leaves  a  profit  of  over  £50  an  acre,  not  counting 
cultivation  expenses.  These,  however,  are  light  once  the  trees 
have  been  planted  and  well  grown.  The  ground  must  be  kept 
cultivated,  and  the  trees  pruned.  The  work  of  picking  the  berries 
is  light,  and  may  be  done  by  boys  and  girls,  one  person  beic,g 
able  to  pick  from  1001b  to  1501b  per  day.  The  next  operation  is 
that  of  “pulping.”  This  is  done  by  means  of  a  small  wooden 
roller,  with  corrugations  on  its  surface.  The  object  of  this  opera¬ 
tion  is  to  crack  the  shell,  which  contains  two  beans  of  a  bluish 
white  colour. 
The  macliine  used  for  this  operation  is  of  the  grower  s  own 
construction,  and  ivith  it  two  boys  can  treat  2_cwt.  per  hour. 
The  beans  have  also  to  undergo  a  process  of  cleaning,  in  wdiich  an 
“Enterprise”  bone  mill  (costing  £1  10s.)  is  used.  They  have 
also  to  be  fermented,  dried,  and  bleached,  in  the  course  of  wFich 
they  must  be  exposed  to  the  sun  on  stretchers,  and  brought 
under  shelter  at  night,  and  when  the  weather  is  showery.  These 
processes  cost  £1  16s,  for  the  produce  of  an  acre.  The  roasting 
process  is  estimated  at  about  £3  per  acre.  _  For  grinding,  a 
newly  patented  American  machine  (costing  £2)  is  used,  which  puts 
through  201b  per  hour.  The  usual  addition  of  Chicory  is  mixed 
with  the  Coffee.  Last  season’s  Coffee  speedily  established  a 
reputation  for  its  quality  on  the  Clarence  and  Richmond  Rivers, 
and  has  become  a  favourite  with  all  who*  have  used  it,  thus 
ensuring  a  ready  market  for  all  that  can  be  raised  in  the  future. 
From  this  it  would  appear  that  those  practically  acquainted  with 
the  work  of  Coffee  cultivation  would  possess  unlimited  oppor¬ 
tunities  of  turning  their  knowledge  to  profitable  account  in  iS  cw 
South  Wales. 
