456 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER . 
November  14,  1901. 
dear  as  the  proverbial  Mint,  and  it  is  a  long  time  before 
next  harvest.  It  has  often  been  a  cause  of  complaint  that 
the  farmer’s  methods  are  not  elastic  enough — that  he  does 
not  rise  to  emergencies,  that  he  is  slow  to  try  the  new.  We 
grant  that  he  has  not  much  of  the  speculator  about  him. 
He  does  not  like  running  risks  ;  but  sometimes  we  do  think 
he  would  be  wise  to  diverge  a  little  from  the  beaten  track. 
We  may  be  wrong,  and  for  some  things  we  hope  we  are  ; 
but  we  seem  to  have  arrived  at  a  cycle  of  dry,  hot  summers, 
when  we  may  fairly  expect  that  a  crop  of  Maize  might  be 
grown  to  come  to  some  sort  of  maturity.  We  do  not  for  a 
moment  intend  that  it  should  be  cultivated  in  place  of  a  grain 
crop,  for  we  doubt  if  the  grain  would  ever  thoroughly  ripen  ; 
but  we  do  contend  that  it  would  make  a  most  excellent 
forage  crop,  either  eaten  green  or  made  into  hay.  Most  of 
our  readers  well  know  that  Maize  is  a  plant  that  will  with¬ 
stand  a  great  amount  of  drought,  or,  rather,  we  should  say, 
rejoices  in  drought — that  is,  if  the  land  be  in  good  heart. 
It  is  a  curious  fact,  a  provision  of  Nature,  that  the  two  great 
cereal  crops,  Wheat  and  Maize,  have  a  very  wide  range,  and 
also  that  a  drought  that  fatally  injures  other  crops,  only  adds 
to  their  fertility.  Many  of  us  know,  to  our  cost,  what  a  job 
it  has  been  this  last  summer  to  supply  our  milk  cows  with 
as  much  green  food  as  they  needed.  The  pastures  were  ex¬ 
hausted  long  before  their  time,  and  heavy  demands  were 
made  on  all  our  stock  of  forage  food.  One  farmer  in  Wor¬ 
cestershire  (which  we  hardly  class  as  a  southern  county)  has 
grown  Maize  this  season  which  reached  a  height  of  6ft,  and 
failing  other  green  food  for  his  dairy  cows,  gave  them  this 
Maize,  which  had  the  effect  of  keeping  up  the  supply  of  milk 
during  a  long  and  trying  period. 
What  has  been  done  once  can  be  done  again.  We  have 
heard  of  great  breadths  sown  in  Essex  that  have  yielded 
heavy  returns,  and  we  have  seen  fine  plants  this  year  in  one 
of  the  more  northerly  counties.  When  all  has  been  bare  and 
dry,  what  a  comfort  to  have  a  piece  of  green  stuff  that  will 
stand  a  good  bit  of  cut-and-come-again.  There  are  so  many 
varieties  of  the  grain,  that  some,  we  think,  could  be  easily 
made  to  adapt  themselves  to  the  exigencies  of  the  English 
climate.  Here  is  a  chance  for  the  Suttons,  Webbs,  Carters, 
and  Gartons  to  try  their  hand.  Quick  growth  and  big  bulk 
is  what  we  want.  Although  we  believe  that  even  as  things 
stand  now,  seed  planted  from  May  15  to  May  30  will  be 
found  ready  for  use  in  August,  just  the  time  when  there  is 
often  a  great  lack  of  other  food.  Made  into  hay — there  need 
be  no  worry  about  the  weather,  as  a  little  rain  will  not  hurt 
it.  Preserved  wet  it  would  hardly  rank  as  hay,  but  be  styled 
ensilage.  One  question  occurs  to  us,  and  it  is  this  :  Will 
it  be  too  exhaustive  a  crop  for  the  land  ?  Six  feet  of  growth 
needs  some  support ;  but,  at  any  rate,  6ft  of  growth  would 
effectually  smother  all  weed  life.  We  should  be  inclined  to 
think  that  such  a  crop,  such  weight  per  acre,  well  worth 
paying  for  in  the  extra  dressing  needed  for  the  following 
crop. 
The  Kentish  plan  of  sowing  Maize  is  broad-casting,  and 
we  should  personally  prefer  this  to  drilling.  We  should  get 
a  greater  quantity  of  stems  on  a  given  piece  of  ground,  and 
the  stems  would  be  smaller  and  finer  in  quality,  and  hence 
more  appreciated  by  stock.  Coarse,  woody  fibre  is  to  be 
avoided  in  all  growths.  We  fancy  there  is  another  little 
difficulty  about  Maize  cultivation — the  ubiquitous  crow.  We 
feel  sure,  if  there  are  any  rookeries  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
the  newly-sown  field,  Master  Rook  will  be  there,  and  will 
also  issue  invitations  to  his  friends.  (We  shall  have  a  word 
to  say  on  the  rook  question  before  long.  In  some  districts 
he  has  become  a  perfect  pest  ;  indeed,  a  Black  Plague.) 
Now,  as  to  the  right  sort  of  land.  Well,  a  general  rule 
is  wanted,  and  a  man  will  be  quite  safe  if  he  takes  typical 
Wheat  land — land  that  will  grow  five  quarters  per  acre,  and 
for  the  learner  we  will  add  that  land  will  not  include  light 
soils,  gravels,  or  chalks.  There  must  be  some  body  in  the 
land,  and  farmyard  muck,  helped  out  with  superphosphates. 
We  have  heard  of  forty  tons  per  acre  grown  in  England,  and 
this  on  very  good  authority  ;  but  we  ourselves  should  be  con¬ 
tent  with  much  less.  We  do  not  consider  this  paper  is 
addressed  to  our  northern  readers.  Their  need  is  not  so 
great,  and,  as  a  rule,  they  are  fairly  well  supplied  with  forage 
plants  and  good  roots.  We  are  speaking  for  those  whose 
patience  has  been  tried,  and  purses  emptied,  by  a  succession 
of  hot,  dry  seasons.  We  do  not  advise  any  heroic  efforts  at 
first  in  Maize  growing— a  small  plot,  just  as  a  trial  trip.  We 
remember  the  rage  there  was  at  one  time  for  Comfrey,  it 
was  going  to  solve  all  difficulties ;  but,  unfortunately, 
although  it  grew  well  and  gave  splendid  returns,  an  animal 
had  to  be  very  hungry  indeed  before  it  would  eat  it !  Indeed, 
we  heard  that  even  an  old  sow  refused  the  delicacy  unless 
“  clemmed  ”  for  a  day  or  two  before. 
Now,  just  one  last  word  to  the  young  and  zealous,  but 
ignorant,  disciple.  He  asks,  “  Where  would  you  advise  me 
to  sow  Maize  ?  In  place  of  what  other  crop  1”  Our  answer 
is  :  late  sown  Barley  never  answers,  and  it  is  possible  and 
probable  that  there  will  be  a  patch  of  Turnips,  the  last  to 
be  eaten  off.  If  the  said  Turnips  have  been  a  good  crop, 
the  land  will  be  in  first  rate  condition,  and  there  you  may 
try  your  experiment.-  As  the  Maize  is  cut  early,  the  land 
should  be  worked  as  soon  as  possible,  and  being  so  perfectly 
clean  will  probably  be  fit  for  your  earliest  sowing  of  Wheat 
in  the  autumn.  Should  you  have  some  muck  to  spare,  put 
some  on  ;  otherwise,  help  the  Wheat  later,  that  is,  in  the 
next  spring  (1903)  if  you  see  any  sign  of  weakness.  We  do 
not  think  the  Wheat  crop  will  suffer,  and  with  a  good  cut  of 
Maize  you  will  have  got  your  bird  safe  in  the  hand. 
Work  on  the  Home  Farm. 
Fog!  Thick  fog!  The  ploughboy  can  hardly  see  his  horses, 
and  simply  follows  the  furrow.  The  setting  out  of  new  ridges 
is  an  impossibility  until  the  fog  clears.  In  a  thick  mist  with  a 
strong  frostj*  rime  the  ploughman’s  lot  is  anything  but  poetic- 
He  is  supposed  to  be  working  to  the  accompaniment  of  the  music 
of  the  lark,  and,  though  we  heard  this  bird  trilling  three  weeks 
ago  at  6  a. m.  he  surely  must  now  be  silent  with  such  a  fog  in 
his  throat. 
The  question  which  is  now  most  exercising  our  minds  is  that 
of  hiring  our  Martinmas  servants.  Are  they  to  be  obtainable 
at  less  money,  the  old  wages,  or  at  all  ?  The  farm  balance-sheet 
suggests  the  necessity  for  economy.  But  will  the  servants  be  at 
the  hirings  P  And  will  they  see  the  force  of  our  argument  P 
The  conditions  of  the  late  Wheat  drilling  have  been  more 
satisfactory  than  the  early  ones.  The  land  has  not  been  devoid 
of  dryness ;  but  the  surface,  under  the  influence  of  dense  fogs, 
has  been  sticky,  and  the  seedbed  for  early  weeds  therefore 
spoiled. 
There  is  no  diminution  of  the  trouble  with  foreign  larks,  which 
migrate  to  this  country  in  October.  The  fields  of  newly-sown 
Wheat  simply  swarm  with  them,  and  if  they  are  disturbed  they 
adjourn  for  a  few  minutes  to  an  adjoining  field,  only  to  return 
as  soon  as  all  is  quiet.  They  feed  on  the  young  half-sprouted 
Wheat,  which  is  like  a  sac  of  sweet  milk.  We  have  ourselves 
killed  as  many  as  seven  at  one  shot,  and  tried  them  cooked  in 
various  ways,  but  we  should  not  consider  them  worth  powder 
except  as  regards  the  riddance  of  a  pest.  We  found  them,  almost 
without  exception,  to  have  been  feeding  on  seed  Wheat  in 
different  stages  of  development. 
Mangold  are  all  stored,  and  a  fine  crop  they  are.  A  two-acre 
plot  we  estimate  to  have  produced  at  least  100  tons.  Forty-six 
yards  of  ten-foot  pie  should  surely  represent  no  less.  Swedes 
must  soon  be  taken  care  of.  Some  are  still  growing,  but  all  the 
early  sown  ones  would  look  better  under  a  covering  of  soil.  (No 
bull  intended.)  When  roots  have  suffered  as  much  from  mildew 
as  this  year’s  Swede  crop  has  done,  they  never  stand  much  frost 
if  unprotected.  We  like  to  store  those  wanted  for  cattle  food 
in  big  heaps,  the  same  as  we  put  Mangold  in.  But  how  about  a 
covering?  Well!  little  covering  is  needed  except  soil,  and  if  the 
ditches  have  all  been  cleaned  out  a  sufficiency  of  rough  grass 
from  the  sides  will  have  been  cut  to  provide  a  good  covering  for 
all  the  Swedes  we  are  likely  to  possess  this  winter. 
ROYAL  COUNTIES’  AGRICULTURAL  SOCIETY.— The 
1902  Show  will  be  held  at  Reading,  on  June  10,  11,  12,  and  13. — 
Franklin  Simmons,  Secretary,  Basingstoke. 
RUSSIAN  HOPS. — A  Vienna  Correspondent  states  that, 
according  to  the  “  Arbeit,”  samples  of  Russian  Hops  were  last 
year  sent  to  breweries  in  Great  Britain,  France,  Holland, 
Sweden,  and  Norway.  The  result  has  been  that  Russia  has  begun 
to  export  considerable  quantities  of  Hops  to  those  countries.  The 
Russian  Ministry  of  Agriculture  took  the  initiative  in  forming 
these  new  commercial  connections. 
GERMAN  HARVEST  PROSPECTS.— The  Berlin  agricultural 
paper,  “  Getreidemarkt,”  calculates,  on  the  strength  of  five 
thousand  inquiries  made  in  the  different  States  and  in  various 
districts  of  the  country,  the  yield  of  this  year’s  harvest  in  Ger¬ 
many  as  follows: — Wheat,  2,470,000  tons;  Rye,  8,145,000  tons; 
Summer  Barley,  3,021,860  tons  ;  and  Oats,  7,105,000  tons.  As  com¬ 
pared  with  the  official  crop  estimated  for  1900,  the  above  figures 
would  show  a  reduction  of  1,837,560  tons  for  Wheat  and  405,200 
tons  for  Rye,  while  indicating  an  increase  of  265,000  tons  for  Oats 
and  20,000  tons  for  Barley.  Reckoned  on  the  basis  of  last  year’s 
figures,  Germany  would  have  to  import  for  the  current  harvest 
year  3,000,000  tons  of  Wheat  and  1,000,000  tons  of  Rye. 
