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JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
Mr.  Banbury. 
“We  are  told  to  call  no  man  happy  till  he  is  dead,  and 
we  suppose  the  interpretation  of  that  wise  saying  is  that 
such  are  the  changes  and  chances  of  this  life,  such  unex¬ 
pected  loss,  trouble,  and  sorrow  dog  the  steps  of  each,  that 
we  never  know  from  day  to  day  how  soon  the  brightest  sky 
may  cloud  and  our  dearest  hopes  be  wrecked.”  The  above 
paragraph,  written  under  the  heading  of  “  Our  Minister  of 
Agriculture,”  and  published  in  this  column  on  February  12, 
is  very  pathetic  reading  now.  We  were  writing  of  the  ex¬ 
pectations  and  hopes  of  agriculture,  which  had  been  excited 
by  the  energy  and  industry  of  Mr.  Hanbury  as  its  Minister. 
Here  was  a  statesman  who  could  find  time  to  make  per¬ 
sonal  inquiry  into  the  trials  and  troubles  of  farmers,  and 
they  were  grateful  for  his  deep  interest  and  sympathy. 
How  little  we  thought  that  our  opening  words,  Avritten  of 
agriculture  and  agriculturists,  would  so  soon  be  applicable 
to  him  in  whom  our  hopes  were  centred.  His  death  is  a 
great  loss  to  the  country,  but  to  agriculture  it  is  nothing 
less  than  a  calamity. 
Turnip  Seed  and  Sowing  Swedes. 
Two  weeks  ago  we  discussed  the  value  of  Turnips  as  food 
for  animals  ;  we  will  now  turn  to  some  points  in  their 
culture.  In  the  North,  Swede  sowing  commences  before  May 
has  half  run  its  course,  and  in  the  South  they  are  put  in  as 
late  as  the  end  of  June,  but  the  first  fortnight  of  the  latter 
month  may  be  taken  as  the  best  season  if  land  and  weather 
are  fit  and  suitable.  The  Swede  likes  warmth,  and  does 
not  flourish  on  very  cold  soils  or  in  high  situations.  As  a 
rule,  land  which  is  too  highly  elevated  for  Wheat  is  of  little 
use  for  a  Swede  crop.  The  Swede  requires  more  time  for 
full  development  than  the  common  Turnip.  It  contains 
more  dry  matter,  and  therefore  has  more  work  to  do.  This 
is  the  reason  why  it  is  sown  early  on  the  colder  soils,  so 
that  it  may  have  a  longer  season  for  development.  But 
whether  the  soil  and  situation  be  ideal  ones  or  no,  it  is 
absolutely  yi^l  that  the  land  should  be  dry  and  in  fine 
friable  condition  when  the  seed  is  sown.  When  the  land  is 
wet  it  is  cold,  and  though  the  seed  may  germinate,  growth 
will  be  slow,  and  there  will  be  less  prospect  of  a  healthy 
plant.  A  good  test  as  to  when  the  land  is  dry  enough  is  the 
possibility  of  rolling  after  the  drill.  We  are  fiz’m  advocates 
of  a  light  rolling  after  the  seed  is  sown,  especially  on  ridges, 
and  if  the  roller  will  not  work  freely  the  drill  had  better 
stop. 
Quick  growth  is  the  secret  of  Turnip  production,  and 
therefore  the  seed  bed  must  be  as  nearly  akin  to  a  hotbed 
as  can  be  obtained  under  natural  conditions  and  in  this 
climate.  If  the  land  be  loose  and  dry  by  nature  it  may 
grow  good  root  crops  when  it  will  grow  nothing  else,  and 
there  is  a  great  deal  of  sandy  and  gravelly  soil  in  this 
country  which  is  of  little  use  under  the  plough  except  for 
the  growth  of  Turnips.  On  such  soil  a  Turnip  mould  is 
always  obtainable,  and  only  extreme  drought  can  prevent  a 
good  result. 
Swedes  may  be  grown  with  artificial  manures  alone,  but 
if  a  small  dressing  of  dung,  say  eight  loads  per  acre,  can 
be  allowed,  all  the  better.  If  dung  is  not  given,  the  arti¬ 
ficial  should  contain  some  ammonia,  but  we  should  not 
advise  a  heavy  dressing  of  nitrate  of  soda  or  similar  fer¬ 
tilisers,  especially  if  it  is  drilled  with  the  seed.  It  may  be 
much  too  readily  available  for  the  small  rootlets  of  the 
plants,  and. prevent  the  yigorous  growth  of  root  which  is  so 
desirable.  It  is  like  dosing  young  children  with  stimulants. 
The  placing  of  a  small  quantity  of  dung  well  below  the 
ridges  whereupon  the  Swedes  are  to  be  drilled  has  the  effect 
of  encouraging  deep  rooting,  for  the  roots  go  down  to  seek 
the  manure.  Herein  we  believe  lies  the  secret  of  the  value 
of  a  dung  dressing  for  Swedes,  and'  also  of  the  superiority  of 
INIay  21,  1903. 
the  ridging  system  over  drilling  on  the  flat,  for  under  the 
latter  system  the  manure,  being  ploughed  in  in  the  ordinary 
way,  is  left  nearer  the  surface,  and  gives  less  encourage¬ 
ment  to  the  production  of  deep  tap  roots. 
If  artificials  are  entirely  to  be  dejDended  upon,  use  bone 
in  some  form  and  superphosphate.  A  mixture  of  the  latter 
and  bonemeal  in  equal  parts  and  put  on  at  the  rate  of  6cwb 
per  acre  is  not  ruinous  in  price  (about  21s.  per  acre),  and 
should  grow  a  good  crop. 
For  drillings  on  ridges  a  Scotch  drill  is  used,  and  it  drills 
two  rows  at  once.  The  quantity  of  seed  varies  much  in 
different  districts.  Some  farmers  sow  3lb  or  4lb  per  acre, 
and  some  l^lb,  but  it  is  a  good  plan  to  provide  a  few  plants 
for  the  fly  to  feed  on,  and  we  think  it  is  tempting  failure  to 
sow  less  than  2^1b.  It  may  cost  a  shilling  an  acre  more  for 
seed,  and  there  may  be  more  cost  of  labour  in  thinning,  but 
those  people  who  sow  very  thinly  are  often  found  drilling 
over  again,  a  process  which  would  pay  for  many  pounds  of 
seed. 
A  more  difiicult  question  to  advise  on  is  the  choice  of  the 
best  varieties  to  sow.  There  are  So  many,  and  many  are  of 
only  local  reputation.  It  is  natural  that  the  best  known 
bear  the  names  of  the  great  seed  firms.  Of  the  purple,  top 
Swedes,  which,  as  a  rule,  are  of  the  best  feeding  quality,  but 
which  are  somewhat  less  hardy  than  bronze  or  green  tops, 
the  Elephant  and  Monarch  types  are  most  valuable.  They 
both  grow  enormous  crops,  but  we  should  advise  no  one  to 
grow  them  unless  with  the  intention  of  storing  them  against 
winter  frosts.  The  extra  weight  will  w'ell  repay  the  cost 
without  reckoning  anything  for  insurance.  Purple  tops  are 
far  the  best  for  sandy  soils.  Of  the  bronze  tops,  which  are 
very  largely  grown,  there  is  nothing  to  beat  Golden  Melon, 
and  on  all  but  the  lightest  land  this  Swede  may  safely  be 
recommended  as  a  sheet  anchor  for  either  storing  or  stand¬ 
ing  the  winter.  Lord  Derby  is  a  good  Swede,  but  Golden 
Melon  is  better.  Green  top  Swedes  stand  frost  well,  but 
they  do  not  produce  heavy  weights,  and  the  feeding  quality 
is  poor. 
3  Work  on  the  Home  Farm. 
The  weather  is  taking  up  nicely,  and  we  are  getting  our 
horses  back  again  to  land  work.  Potato^  ridges  have  dried 
rapidly,  and  as  practically  none  were  harrowed  down  before  the 
rain,  we  are  now  hastening  to  get  them  done.  The  big  lumps 
work  down  beautifully,  and  there  will  be  an  end  of  weeds  for 
the  present.  There  are  no  young  shoots  to  be  seen  yet,  but  they 
cannot  be  long. 
Some  Wheat  fields  begin  to  look  a  little  yellow  in  the  furrows, 
showing  that  there  has  been  quite  rain  enough,  but  all  round 
Corn  looks  very  well ;  both  Oats  and  Barley  have  made  good 
progress  lately,  and  a  spell  of  warm,  sunny  weather  would  make 
all  things  gay. 
It  would  be  captious  to  grumble  that  we  are  backward  with 
weeding  when  Barley  grows  so  fast,  but  so  it  is.  Every  effort 
will  be  made  to  chop  out  the  Thistles,  and  that  will  be  all  we 
can  do.  As  for  Wheat  hoeing,  it  is  now  quite  neglected.  The 
men  look  over  the  Wheat  still,  but  looking  is  too  expressive  a 
term  for  the  process  (we  nearly  wrote  work),  and  systematic 
hoeing  is  a  thing  of  the  past.  Dear  labour  and  cheap  Wheat 
have  so  burnt  away  the  candle  at  both  ends  that  there  is  not  a 
bit  of  light  left  to  hoe  by. 
Sheep  pastures  are  so  big  and  the  ewes  are  in  such  good 
condition  that  very  close  shepherding  is  necessary  to  prevent 
loss  from  overturning.  The  wet  weather  has  also  introduced 
us  rather  early  to  the  fly,  so  we  are  washing  the  ewes,  and 
shall  clip  them  at  the  first  good  opportunity. 
It  has  been  too  wet  for  cattle  feeding  on  the  pastures.  There 
is  grass  enough,  but  it  is  frothy ;  roast  meat  is  better  for  feed¬ 
ing  bullocks  than  boiled.  The  cotton-cake  has  proved  its  value 
under  the  recent  conditions  ;  many  beasts  have  suffered  from 
scour  where  they  had  no  cake.  Cows  which  are  out  at  grass 
suckling  calves  require  close  attention  to  their  udders.  If  the 
cow  gets  a  chill  and  there  is  the  slightest  bit  of  inflammation  set 
up  in  one  of  the  quarters  of  the  udder,  she  will  be  chary  of  allow¬ 
ing  the  calf  or  calves  to  suck,  and  both  cow  and  calves  may  soon 
get  into  a  bad  way. 
Dairy  cows  need  an  allowance  of  cotton-cake  as  well  as  grass. 
This  is  especially  necessary  if  new  milk  is  sold,  for  there  is  not 
enough  sunshine  in  the  grass  just  now  to  produce  good  milk  un¬ 
aided,  and  it  is  better  to  lay  out  money  on  cake  than  in  paying 
fines.  Many  cowkeepers,  having  tided  over  the  costly  period  of 
winter,  are  inclined  to  make  grass  do  when  grass  time  comes. 
Potatoes  have  almost  all  gone  to  market,  and  it  is  as  well,  for 
the  milder  weather  has  lessened  the  demand. 
