174 
JOUnXAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTACE  GARDENER. 
February  19,  1903. 
Just  a  word  of  advice.  We  almost  wonder  that  people 
of  better  class,  i.e.,  the  class  of  tenant  farmer,  do  not  take 
advantage  of  the  excellent  elementary  education  at  their 
doors.  We  know  of  cases  where  parents  of  gentle  breeding 
have,  through  stress  of  circumstances,  sent  their  children 
to  the  village  school,  and  they  have  been  delighted  at  the 
progress  made.  Those  who  are  inclined  to  grumble  at  the 
rate  might  take  some  of  it  out  in  a  sound  grounding  for  the 
younger  children.  This  grounding,  followed  by  secondary 
and  high  schools  after,  will  make  good  scholars.  These 
secondary  schools  ought  to  be  of  great  service  to  fatmers’ 
son's,  as  they  will  have  an  agricultural  side  as  well  as  a 
technical  one. 
What  is  going  to  be  done  for  us  in  the  matter  of  parcel 
post?  Mr.  Rider  Haggard  suggests  a  maximum  weight  of 
lOOlb  for  farm  produce.  We  think,  ourselves,  we  should  be 
content  with  less.  We  want  some  reform,  and  that  speeclily. 
It  seems  such  a  preposterous  thing  when  we  think  that  to 
send  lib  of  butter  to  a  town  customer  we  have  to  pay  3d. 
postage.  There  are  many  people  who  only  care  to  get  that 
amount  at  one  time.  The  same  will  apply  to  eggs,  "dressed 
fowls,  rabbits,  fruit,  and  vegetables — small  quantities  are 
wanted,  and  the  price  is  so  enhanced  by  the  carriage. 
The  post  is,  or  should  be,  so  very  much  more  convenient 
to  us  than  rail  or  carrier.  Here  are  villages,  nine,  ten,  or 
more  miles  from  a  station,  and  the  carriage  on  the  parcel 
before  it  reaches  the  station  adds  up  considerably.  Mr. 
Hanbury  thinks  we  ought  not  to  expect  better  terms  than 
those  allowed  to  other  dealers.  Our  articles  are  of  daily  use, 
and  perishable,  and  come  under  the  head  of  necessities 
strictly  speaking.  We  ourselves  could  do  a  good  trade 
in  one  particular  branch— eggs,  butter,  cream,  cheese — but 
we  are  handicapped. .  The  agricultural  produce  rate  helps 
only  so  little. 
"We  took  up  a  paper  the  other  day  that  w’as  advocating 
direct  trading  betw^een  the  producer  (the  farmer)  and  the 
consumer.  The  writer  instanced  the  milk  trade.  The 
wholesale  farmer  sells  at  6d.  or  7d.  per  gallon— lOU  gallons 
sent  off  daily  ;  the  small  man  with  his  can  in  hand  makes  Is. 
But  if  we  are  all  small  men  w'here  will  our  customers  come 
from  ?  The  neighbourhood  of  a  town  is  usually  unsuitable 
from  an  agricultural  point  of  view,  by  no  means  good 
farming  land  ;  and  even  if  it  were  the  best  quality,  would  be 
too  dearly  rented  or  rated.  We  know  how,  in  the  densely- 
opulated  districts,  farms  have  been  given  up,  simply 
ecause  the  smoky  atmosphere  has  been  fatal  to  vegetation, 
and  also  because  it  was  impossible  to  keep  up  fences  or 
protect  growung  crops  from  lawless  marauders.  It  is  only  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  country  towns  that  farmers  can  be 
retail  dealers,  and  then  the  number  must  be  limited. 
We  have  an  instance  in  our  minds  wdiere  this  retail  deal¬ 
ing  has  resulted  in  great  wealth.  A  shop  in  Manchester, 
a  farm  far  off  in  the  country,  the  wife  at  the  shop,  the  hus¬ 
band  on  the  land,  but  w^e  doubt  if  many  people  would  think 
the  sacrifice  these  two  made,  and  the  hard  work  they  did,  is 
worth  the  present  prosperity  of  the  grandchildren — the  old 
folk  could  not  understand  the  joy  of  spending;  their’s  was 
the  joy  of  grovelling  work. 
A  son  and  daughter  established  in  a  town  shop  to  sell 
home  produce  would  answer,  provided  they  had  variety 
enough  in  their  wares. 
In  yesterday’s  paper  we  came  upon  what  to  us  was  an 
extremely  interesting  statement,  published  at  the  recpiest 
of  His  Grace  of  Sutherland.  In  a  statement  calling 
attention  to  what  might  happen  to  our  food  supplies  should 
we  become  involved  in  any  great  w'ar.  Surely  the  subject 
must  be  of  great  importance  to  us  all!  We  think  we  have 
a  Navy  strong  enough  to  hold  command  of  the  seas — but 
have  we  ?  We  never  went  to  war  yet  but  that  we  found  our¬ 
selves  in  many  a  tight  corner  unexpectedly,  and  the  tightest 
corner  we  could  be  in  would  be  famine. 
It  is  no  use  mincing  the  matter,  it  would  be  famine,  and 
without  the  granaries  of  Egypt.  Put  abroad  even  a  rumour 
of  war -up  goes  Wheat!  Get  us  involved  in  an}'  conflict, 
there  sue  several  folk  who  would  only  be  too  glad  to  seize 
the  opportunity  so  long  looked  for  of  harassing  the  lion  in 
the  rea?,  and  the  most  effectual  way  would  be  by  cutting  off 
supplij  ;j.  "  j: 
Is  it  the  Government,  or  an}'  special  department  thereof, 
who  are  taking  .this  gloomy  view  of  our  national  unpre¬ 
paredness  to  meet  the  food  question  ?  No  ;  we  may  say  the 
question  is  being  raised  by  experts  pthat  is.  men  who  are 
intimately  connected  with  the  coin  and  flour  trade,  who 
know^  to  a  stone  what  we  import,  and  from  where  ;  and  w’ho, 
also,  are  alive  to  the  fact  that  our  own  supplies  are  only 
equal  to  eleven  w'eeks’  consumption.  We  know'  this  ques¬ 
tion  is  taken  up  and  put  down,  and  nothing  permanently  is 
done.  "U^hy  is  this  lethargy  ?  Whll  it  need  a  sharp  lesson  of 
hunger  before  w'e  see  the  wisdom  of  having  a  store  in  hand, 
and  not  living  from  hand  to  mouth  as  w'e  do  ? 
There  will  always  be  adventuresome  spirits  ready  to  run 
the  risks  of  blockade,  but  are  we  prepared  to  pay  blockade 
prices  I  We  don’t  want  to  disparage  our  Navy,  but  it 
cannot  be  protecting  our  shores  against  a  possible  invader 
and  at  the  same  time  acting  as  escort  to  food  ships.  Is 
this  storage  of  food  Government  business  or  w'ork  for  pri¬ 
vate  enterprise  1  It  is  decidedly  national,  for  it  is  a 
national  peril.  God  forbid  that  we  should  be  prophesying 
war,  but  it  is  the  unexpected  that  happens.  Dry  powder  is 
very  well,  but  men  don’t  fight  best  on  empty  stomachs, 
although  the  fact  that  their  wives  and  children  at  home 
were  crying  for  bread  might  act  as  a  healthy  stimulus. 
Work  on  tk  Home  Farm. 
The  weather  has  again  been  very  mild,  and  the  land  is  as 
dry  as  it  often  is  in  June.  Farmers  are  all  very  busy;  some  are 
working  their  Turnip  land  and  making  preparation  for  the  Barley 
crop,  and  if  no  more  heavy  rain  falls  we  shall  .soon  see  the  drilts 
at  work.  That  farmer.s  intend  to  sow  early  this  season  is  very 
evident ;  there  is  a  large  inquiry  for  good  samples  of  Barley  suit¬ 
able  for  seed,  and  they  are  realising  fair  prices,  much  more 
than  the  maltster  will  give.  There  is  so  much  damaged  or  badly 
ripened  rubbish  knocking  about  that  a  word  of  warning  again.'-t 
sowing  such  may  not  be  out  of  place. 
Barley  which  has  ripened  unevenly  will  grow  unevenly,  and 
not  produce  an  even  sample  next  season,  though  it  may  improve 
on  itself.  When  damaged  grains  have  been  reckoned  out  as 
worthle.ss,  a  damaged  sample  may  prove  dearer  than  a  sound 
one  at  moivi  money,  and  it  will  not  be  so  reliable. 
We  have  been  able  to  roll  and  harrow  the  Wheat  all  round, 
and  already  can  see  considerable  improvement.  A  nice  rain 
would:  freshen  it  up  and  send  it  along  rapidly.  We  think  Wheat 
generally  look.s  well,  considering  the  late  seed  time.  We  hear 
that  Clovers  are  lo.dng  root  badly  on  the  light  and  thin  soils. 
Ours  stands  w'ell,  and  look  as  promising  as  those  of  1901.  Where 
the  land  is  light.  Clovers  should  be  well  rolled  as  soon  as  there 
is  opportunity,  but  not  in  frosty  weather. 
Though  we  are  not  intending  to  sow  Barley,  yet  there  is  one 
field  which  we  have  begun  to  i:-repare  by  putting  the  chisel 
harrows  through  it  across  the  ploughing.  It  breaks  up  rather 
rough,  and  we  shall  leave  it^  so  as  to  get  a  further  drying  or 
freezing.  A  good  day’s  rain  afterwards  will  make  a  fine  mould. 
Turnips  and  Swedes  in  the  ground  begin  to  show  signs  of  bolting. 
Fortunately,  we  have  not  many  left,  apart  from  the  pies,  which 
have  not  been  touched  except  a  few  Swedes  for  the  cattle  during 
the  frost. 
We  are  reducing  the  allowance  of  cake  to  the  young  cattle, 
and  give  them  as  much  air  and  exercise  as  possible.  The  older 
ones  would  benefit  by  a  few  hours  per  day  in  the  grass  fields, 
but  they  will  be  required,  and  must  be  saved  for  the  ewes  when 
lambing.  They  are  now  eating  a  mixture  of  white*  Turnips  and 
Swedes,  half  a  fold. of  each.  The  white  Turnips  they  graze,  and 
the  Swedes  we  cut  for  them.  The  former,  being  large,  are  now. 
very  soft  and  woolly,  and  there  is  much  waste,  but  there-  is 
plenty  and  to  spare.  We  usually  lamb  our  ewe.s  on  Mangolds 
and  grass,  but  .-"hall  keep  them  as  long  as  possible  on  Turnips 
this  year  and  .save  the  Mangolds.  Mares  are  casting  their  foals 
in  serious  numbers.  What  aboixt  the  heavy  carting  during  the' 
frost  ? 
Sutton's  Farmers’  Year  Book  for  1903. 
The  list  of  prizes  and  premiums  offered  in  the  ‘'Year  Book” 
for  acreage  crops  and  pulled  .specimens  during  the  current  year 
are  on  .so  generous  a  scale  as  to  be  worthy  of  the  attention  of 
farmers  throughout  the  kingdom,  especially  ini  view  of  the; 
approaching  sowing  season.  The  numerous  illustrations  of  field 
crops  show  what  a  first-clas.s  firm  can  do  to  promote  the  interests 
of  individual  farmers  and  the  general  prosperity  of  agriculture. 
The  study  of  Grasses  was  for  a  long  period  regarded  as  the  exclu-. 
sive  domain  of  specialists,  and  it  is  a  .sign  of  increasing  interest 
in  this  branch  of  agriculture  that  in  a  widely  circulated  work 
a  successful  attempt  should  be  made  to  popularise  knowledge, 
concerning  Grasses  both  by  interesting  illmstrations  and  concise- 
descriptions  of  the  value  and  special  adaptation  of  each  variet.v- 
In  addition  to  the  special  information  contained  in  this  work, 
Sutton’s  '■  Farmers’  Year  Book”  includes  an  excellent  calendar 
and  a  mimber  of  tables  for  the  use  of  farmers.  Tliose  who  have 
not  received  a  copy  should  apply  to  the  publishers,  Mes.ars.  Sutton 
and  Sons,  Reading.  . 
