412 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
October  31,  1901. 
foreman,  and,  therefore,  never  lost  an  opportunity  of  setting 
the  other  men  by  the  ears.  The  foreman,  by  the  way,  had  risen 
from  the  position  of  labourer  on  the  same  farm,  and  the  actuating 
cause  was  jealousy.  It  is  all  very  well  to  keep  old  and  trusty(F) 
servants,  but  they  are  apt  to  become  dictatorial  in  their  ways 
and  manners,  if  not  with  the  master,  at  least  with  the  other 
workers. 
There  is  near  here  a  capital  grass  field,  first-rate  quality,  that 
will  easily  fatten  a  big  bullock  in  the  summer.  It  is  too  deep 
and  good  to  be  much  affected  by  drought,  and  yet  this  year,  under 
new  hands,  it  has  failed  to  finish  more  than  two  bullocks  out  of 
the  whole  number.  They  certainly  are  very  fresh,  but  not 
absolutely  fat,  and  will  require  finishing^off  in  the  yards.  The 
secret  of  non-success  appears  pretty  plain  to  us.  To  save  a  few 
pounds  poor  stock  was  bought  in  the  spring,  and  the  grass,  good 
as  it  is,  cannot  quite  work  miracles.  This  was  a  great  error  of 
judgment.  We  once  kept  a  man  for  some  time  in  our  employ 
who  was  considered  by  the  neighbours  to  be  not  very  bright. 
Well,  we  admit  he  was  not  brilliant,  but  there  was  one  job  he 
could  do  to  perfection,  and  that  was  earthing  up  and  finishing 
off  the  Potato  pies.  This  may  not  seem  a  great  thing,  and  in 
mild  winters  it,  perhaps,  does  not  matter  so  much,  but  let  the 
winter  season  come  with  great  severity,  there  are  many,  many 
tons  of  Potatoes  lost  through  bad  and  careless  storing. 
It  is  the  custom  on  many  large  farms  to  allow  the  shepherd 
the  use  of  a  pony  and  cart.  The  distance  may  be  great,  and  there 
is  a  certain  quantity  of  hand  food  which  has  to  be  taken  out  to 
stock.  A  shepherd  has  many  an  opportunity  of  mending  a  gap 
or  weak  place  in  a  fence  which,  if  he  is  alive  to  his  master’s 
interest,  he  will  do.  A  small  “  locker  ”  in  front  of  the  cart,  with 
a  few  nails,  staples,  and  other  equipments,  and  two  or  three 
stakes,  is  a  fine  addition  to  his  shepherding  paraphernalia,  and 
adds  but  little  to  the  weight. 
How  often  do  we  hear  complaints  of  a  bad  sample  of  corn ! 
The  corn  was  got  well  enough,  but  the  damage  came  about  after 
it  was  stacked.  The  stack  was  made  so  badly,  so  loosely  put 
together,  that  the  first  good  shower  penetrated  to  the  very 
middle,  and  caused  discolouration  of  growth.  In  a  busy  harvest 
time  thatching  cannot  be  done  at  once,  but  a  stack  may  be  so 
built  that,  with  the  help  of  a  few  bats  of  straw,  it  ought  to 
successfully  resist  all  wet  till  it  can  be  properly  covered  in. 
We  do  not  like  to  see  masters  from  home  on  threshing  days. 
There  is  a  tendency  among  men  to  make  a  bad  start,  i.e.,  a  late 
one.  There  is  too  much  loitering  over  the  luncheon,  and  there 
is  that  lack  of  interest  in  the  work  which  will  prevent  them 
spending  a  little  overtime  in  straightening  up.  They  forget 
threshing-day  wages  are  high,  and  that  the  least  they  can  do  is 
to  make  a  good  and  tidy  job. 
We  have  seen  many  a  heap  of  big  Potatoes  left  to  freeze  in  a 
shed  when  a  sheet  or  a  bit  of  straw,  the  work  of  a  few  minutes, 
would  make  all  right  and  safe.  N.B. — In  very  severe  weather 
a  few  sacks  of  Potatoes  for  immediate  consumption  may  be  safely 
kept  from  injury  by  being  put  in  a  corner  of  cow-house  or  stable. 
We  have  this  year  observed  many  “  patchy  ”  pieces  of  seeds 
and  uneven  Turnips.  We  know  the  season  has  been  a  dry  one, 
and  we  also  know  that  in  the  spring  small  seeds  and  Turnip  seeds 
were  very  dear — that  is,  good  new  seed.  There  was  plenty  of 
old  in  the  market  which  was  naturally  lower  in  price.  We  were 
going  to  say  cheaper,  and  we  know  many  farmers  who,  for  the 
sake  of  their  pockets,  chose  the  lower-priced  varieties.  If  the 
weather  had  been  moist  and  growing,  there  would  not  possibly 
have  been  much  harm  done,  but  the  season  was  one  that 
demanded  a  vigorous,  quick-growing  plant.  We  may  be  wrong 
in  our  surmises,  but  we  think  there  is  a  great  germ  of  truth  in 
what  we  advance. 
We  have  only  hinted  at  a  few  points  where  we  think  there 
is  room  for  improvement.  Our  readers  will  readily  arrive  at 
many  other  little  particulars  that  we  have  not  mentioned.  It  is 
so  necessary  to  stop  these  little  leaks.  Much  may  be  done  by  the 
co-operation  of  the  men,  and  much  also  may  be  hindered.  For¬ 
bearance  can  only  go  to  a  certain  point,  and  it  is  no  use  winking 
at  abuses  because  they  are  small.  Liberty  degenerates  into 
licence,  and  loss  is  sure  to  follow.  It  is  only  by  bringing  to  bear 
on  daily  life  the  strictest  business  habits  that  a  man  may  hope 
to  make  both  ends  meet  and  have  a  little  to  wrap  over. 
Work  on  the  Home  Farm. 
We  have  no  rain  but  some  very  foggy  nights,  and  the  land  is 
anything  but  dry  on  the  surface.  Below  there  is  little  moisture, 
and  Wheats  are  not  going  into  such  a  seed-bed  as  we  should  have 
liked  for  them.  Small  annual  weeds  will  be  numerous  and 
troublesome  in  spring.  Potatoes  are  all  up  and  stored,  and  we 
are  able  to  record  some  approximate  results.  Professor  Maerker, 
which  a  month  ago  was  far  behind  in  the  race,  has  made  marvel¬ 
lous  progress  since,  and  finishes  an  easy  first  for  yield,  beating 
TJp-to-Date  by  from  three  to  four  tons  per  acre  on  four  different 
farms  and  under  varying  conditions.  We  personally  assisted  in 
weighing  the  produce  of  a  22yd  length,  measured  from  an 
ordinary  28in  row,  the  portion  selected  being  in  the  middle  of 
a  seventeen-acre  field.  The  total  weight  of  tubers  was  12st  101b 
(1781b),  and  the  crop  at  this  rate  would  figure  out  to  the  enormous 
amount  of  224  tons  per  acre.  The  Professor  is  a  round  Potato  of 
fair  size,  with  a  rather  deep  pink  eye.  It  is  very  white  in  flesh 
and  cooks  well,  but  those  we  have  tasted  were  lacking  in  flavour. 
Disease  there  is  none,  which  probably  accounts  for  the  great 
increase  in  the  crop  since  other  varieties  were  ripe.  It  is  an 
enormous  breeder,  many  roots  having  from  twenty  to  thirty 
good-sized  Potatoes.  There  are  few  large,  and  no  rough  ones, 
but  more  than  the  usual  proprtion  of  seed.  With  two  such 
Potatoes  as  this  one  and  Up-to-Date  there  would  seem  to  be  no 
need  for  importation  from  abroad.  The  British  Lion  has  turned 
out  well,  but  can  hardly  be  held  likely  to  compete  seriously  with 
the  above,  whilst  Findlay’s  Empress  Queen  and  Fidler’s  Charles 
Fidler  may  be  put  in  a  similar  class.  “  Good,  but  not  good 
enough.” 
Sheep  are  doing  well,  the  thick  fogs  having  hitherto  no  bad 
effect.  It  is  a  curious  thing  but  true,  that  although  the  Turnip 
is  not  generally  considered  an  ideal  food,  yet  the  flock-master 
who  has  got  his  lambs  well  broken-in  to  eating  it.  thinks  himself 
well  out  of  the  wood  of  Michaelmas  difficulties.  When  lambs  are 
on  Clover,  fog  or  frosty  rime  generally  means  trouble,  on  Turnips 
it  makes  no  difference. 
The  steam  plough  is  running  through  the  ley  which  is  to  be 
planted  with  Potatoes.  The  term  running  through  is  used  pur¬ 
posely,  for  the  furrow  is  not  turned  but  left  on  edge.  The  next 
process  will  be  a  dragging  by  steam  across  the  ploughing,  to  be 
followed  by  ridging,  the  ridges  lying  open  to  frost  influence  until 
February  is  out. 
- <♦#.> - 
Water  Supply  and  River  Pollution. 
A  conference  of  delegates  representing  a  considerable  number 
of  sanitary  authorities  was  opened  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Sanitary  Institute  at  St.  Andrew’s  Hall,  Newman  Street,  Oxford 
Street,  London,  on  Wednesday,  October  16,  for  the  purpose  of 
considering  the-  question  of  water  supplies  and  river  pollution. 
The  conference  considered  various  papers  contributed  and 
read  by  delegates.  The  first  of  these  was  by  Mr.  J.  Parry,  and 
dealt  with  “  The  Protection  of  Watersheds.”  It  pointed  out  that 
there  had  been  no  general  legislation  for  the  protection  of  the 
gathering  grounds  of  waterworks,  as  distiitguished  from  other 
watersheds,  since  1847.  Generally  speaking,  efforts  to  prevent 
the  fouling  of  water  flowing  into  reservoirs  for  domestic  use  had 
been  confined  to  the  purchase  of  the  drainage  areas  affected. 
That  was  an  effective  and  speedy  method  of  attaining  the  desired 
result.  Public  opinion  in  America  recognised  the  importance  of 
protecting  the  gathering  grounds,  and  vigorous  measures  had 
been  adopted  in  certain  States.  In  his  own  view  the  time  had 
arrived  when  some  advance  should  be  made  on  the  legislation 
of  1847,  and  when  the  Rivers  Pollution  Act  of  1876  should  be  so 
amended  as  to  become  effective  for  waterworks  purposes.  If 
water  supplies  were  to  be  properly  protected,  the  sources,  includ¬ 
ing  the  area  over  which  rain  was  collected,  must  be  owned  by 
the  authority  responsible  for  the  waterworks.  As  to  the  question 
of  how  the  drainage  areas  acquired  for  the  purpose  of  waterworks 
could  be  utilised,  he  would  suggest  they  could  be  given  up  to 
sheep-farming,  planting,  and  deer  parks. 
Other  papers  were  read  by  Dr.  E.  C.  Seaton,  dealing  with 
the  protection  of  underground  sources  of  public  water  supply ; 
by  Mr.  Clayton  Beadle,  on  the  right  of  underground  pumping 
in  relation  to  the  flow  of  neighbouring  streams,  as  instanced  by 
the  River  Cray  ;  by  Dr.  Mill,  on  the  rainfall  and  population  of 
England  and  Wales  in  relation  to  water  supplies ;  by  Dr.  Green¬ 
wood,  on  the  desirability  for  reports  on  the  water  supply  of  each 
county;  by  Dr.  Williams,  on  the  rivers  of  Glamorganshire;  by 
Dr.  Thresh,  on  water  supply  to  isolated  cottages;  and  by  Miss  C'. 
Cochrane,  on  village  water  supplies.  A  lengthy  discussion  took 
place  on  these  papers,  in  the  course  of  which  the  opinion  was 
generally  expressed  that  though  water  companies  had  done  good 
work,  the  time  had  come  for  public  bodies  to  attend  both  to 
water  supplies  and  the  areas  in  which  they  were  collected.  Mr. 
F.  Varney,  of  the  London  County  Council,  urged  that  the 
period  was  at  hand  when  the  metropolis  should  go  farther  afield 
for  its  supply,  and  not  draw  it  altogether  from  “  a  tainted  area  ” 
in  which  high  farming  was  carried  on.  Mr.  Lyons  Walcott,  of 
the  Middlesex  County  Council,  argued  that  the  poorer  agri¬ 
cultural  districts  in  the  neighbourhood  of  great  towns  should  be 
protected  against  their  powerful  neighbours.  Dr.  Hodgson,  of 
the  Cheshire  County  Council,  declared  that  before  new  legislation 
was  demanded  the  councils  should  carry  into  effect  the  powers 
they  now  possessed. 
A  hearty  vote  of  thanks  was  accorded  to  the  authors  of  all 
the  papers.  The  conference  passed  a  resolution  declaring  that 
the  purity  of  the  water  supply  throughout  the  country  could  only 
be  adequately  secured  by  placing  such  supplies  in  the  hands  of 
representative  bodies  directly  responsible  to  the  consumers. — 
“  Morning  Post.” 
