564 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
June  25,  1903. 
number  of  students  for  Nature  studies.  Well,  this  is  a  step 
in  the  right  direction  at  any  rate. 
The  time  for  haymaking  is  again  approaching,  and  the 
Board  of  Agriculture  are  issuing  leaflets  bearing  on  the 
subject.  We  believe  we  have  touched  on  this  important 
question  every  season  during  the  years  we  have  been  privi¬ 
leged  to  write  for  the  Journal.  We  always  fear  by  a  too 
frequent  harping  on  one  given  question  to  weary  our 
readers;  l)ut  there  are  one, or  two  points  that  will  bear 
remark.  Do  not  for  the  sake  of  a  little  extra  weight  post¬ 
pone  the  grass  cutting  till  the  majority  of  the  grasses  have 
come  to  full  maturity  ;  you  gain  bulk,  but  the  loss  in  quality 
is  ^■ery  considerable.  Don't  delay  cutting  as  soon  as  the 
bulk  of  the  grasses  are  in  flower.  An  observant  eye  will 
notice  the  pollen  sacs  protruding  from  between  the  chaff 
scales.  Naturally  the  strength  and  good  qualities  of  the 
plant  are  concentrated  in  the  seed  ;  the  rest  of  the  plant 
is  dry,  tough,  and  unwholesome — no,  perhaps  we  must  not  go 
so  far  ;  we  will  say  indigestible.  But  excellent  as  these 
rules  are.  it  is  not  always  possible  to  follow  them  out  practi¬ 
cally — the  weather  is  such  a  great  factor.  Indeed,  as  we 
write  the  rain  is  pouring  down,  and  has  been  doing  so  for 
several  days,  that  the  most  enthusiastic  haymaker  must, 
perforce,  rest  on  his  fork  and  rake. 
We  don’t  think  at  this  present  date  the  question  of 
“  how  to  cut  ”  need  be  much  discussed.  The  scythe  is 
abandoned  in  favour  of  the  grass  cutter,  unless  it  be  in  a 
case  where  the  meadow  is  very  much  in  the  old  “  ridge  and 
furrow  ”  condition,  where  the  cutter  could  not  work  unless 
to  its  own  destruction.  Meadow  grass  will  bear  cutting 
very  close,  and  indeed  the  best  fodder,  like  the  sweetest 
meat,  is  nearest  the  bone.”  With  the  Clover  crop  it  is 
vvise  to  set  the  machine  a  little  higher.  Should  the  season 
come  hot  and  dry,  there  is  a  danger  that  the  plant  may 
suffer  from  over-exposure,  and  the  aftermath  will  prove  less 
remunerative. 
Hay,  like  butter,  may  be  easily  overworked  ;  like  butter, 
too,  the  object  of  working  is  to  get  rid  of  superfluous 
moisture  ;  but  in  the  case  of  hay  the  very  act  of  drying  may 
also  cause  the  loss  of  nutritive  properties.  In  uncertain 
weather  less  damage  is  done  to  that  hay  which  is  “  in 
cock  ”  than  to  that  which  is  still  in  windrow.  Clover  hay 
requires  very  delicate  manipulation,  as. the  leaf,  which  is  of 
such  great^  feeding  value,  when  dry  becomes  particularly 
brittle.  We  always  hold  that  in  a  dry  season  more  hay  is 
spoilt  from  premature  stacking  than  in  wet  weather.  It  is 
not  the  absence  of  rain  that  ensures  the  thorough  dryness  of 
hay,  but  there  must  be  due  time  allowed  for  the  evaporation 
of  the  natural  juices  of  the  plant,  and  this  is  a  process  that 
must  not  be  conducted  too  hurriedly.  Not  only  does 
excessive  rain  render  naymaking  teclious,  and  therefore 
expensive,  it  also  tends  to  materially  lower  the  quality  by 
washing  out  the  nutritive  values.  Where  “  hay  tea"”  is 
made  to  anv  great  extent  in  the  field,  the  residuum,  when 
stacked,  partakes  rather  of  the  nature  of  used  tea  leaves  ;  a 
substance  of  little  or  no  value. 
We  are  not  owners,  or  even  lessees  of  grouse  moors,  and 
an  attack  of  disease  among  the  grouse  is  of  little  personal 
moment  to  us  ;  but  we  wei-e  very  much  struck  the  other  day 
by  some  remarks  on  the  subject  of  this  grouse  disease  from 
the  pen  of  a  cleric  who  bids  fair  to  be  as  great  (if  not  a 
greater)  naturalist  than  Gilbert  White.  The  gentleman  to 
whom  we  refer  is  well-known  throughout  the  North 
of  England  as  an  authority  on  what  we  may 
term  “Nature  studies,”  the  flora  and  fauna  of  a 
very  wide  .district.  He  is  of  opinion  that  the 
disease  is  of  a  highly  infectious  nature  ;  not  only  as  regards 
grouse,  but  also  pheasants  and  partridges,  and  above  all, 
sheep.  Certainly  the  latter  do  not  succumb  with  the 
rapidity  of  the  birds,  but  nevertheless  the  end  is  the  same. 
He  has  in  mind,  of  course,  the  moorland  sheeiD  which  are 
being  fed  on  high  ground  in  close  proximity  to  those  moors 
where  the  grouse  disease  rages.  To  disinfect  moorland, 
fell,  and  mountain  is  rather  a  big  order,  and  so  we  suppose 
the  disease  will  have  to  die  out  through  lack  of  victims,  and 
that  the  wind,  sun,  and  frost  will,  before  another  season, 
destroy  all  remaining  germs  that  may  be  left. 
Work  on  the  Home  Farm. 
After  a  month’s  drought  we  have  had  lieavv  rain  for  three 
successive  days,  and  all  we  want  now  is  fine,  hot  weather.  It  is 
still  very  cold,  and  as  long  as  the  wind  sticks  so  persistently  to 
the  north-east  there  is  little  prospect  of  genial  weather.  Crops 
have  improved  wonderfully  with  the  rain.  Wheat  is  running 
for  shooting,  and  the  forward  Barleys  are  getting  tall  and  will 
not  stand  too  much  heavy  rain ;  but  the  late-sown  crops  are 
.still  very  short  and  yellow,  and  can  do  with  all  the  moisture  we 
have  had,  and  more  besides. 
The  season  is  favourable  for  a  young  Clover  plant.  The  seeds 
which  had  not  germinated  will  come  now,  and  those  not  yet 
sown — and  there  are  a  few  fields  here  and  there^ — can  be  got  in  at 
once.  The  fly  was  making  ravages  with  the  early  Swedes  when 
the  rain  came  ;  now  all  is  well,  and  a  good  plant  assured.  There 
will  be  no  difficultj'  now  in  sowing  Swedes  and  Turnips  on  the 
stronger  soils,  and  at  present  the  outlook  for  roots  is  quite 
promising.  Mangolds  grow  fairly  well,  but  want  more  sunshine 
and  a  higher  temperature.  They  are  barely  readj'  for  thinning 
out,  but  we  shall  go  on  with  them,  and  get  them  singled  and 
cleaned,  so  as  to  have  a  clear  run  at  the  Swedes,  which  will  very 
quickly  need  attention.  Spring  sown  Cabbages  have  been  hoed 
and  thinned,  .and  a  few  are  now  being  transplanted  to  fill  up 
gaps  caused  by  an  attack  of  fly. 
Potatoes,  which  had  grown  but  .slowly  for  want  of  moisture, 
are  now  running  away  fast,  and  it  may  be  difficult  to  get  them 
earthed  up  as  quickly  as  they  should  be.  There  has  been  rain 
enough  to  make  the  furrows  somewhat  soft,  and  we  must  wait 
until  the  water  has  got  away.  Meanwhile  the  haulm  is  growing, 
and  every  acre  will  want  earthing  at  once.  What  this  may  mean 
to  a  farmer  who  grows  his  fifty  or  one  hundred  acues  may  be 
imagined.  As  one  plough  can  earth  no  more  than  3^  acres,  to 
earth  one  hundred  acres  in  a  week  would  require  five  ploughs  and 
ten  horses.  When  hard  run  for  ploughs,  it  is  a  good  plan  to  run 
a  pair  of  hor.ses  one  long  yoke,  say,  from  6  a.m.  to. 2  p.m.,  then 
another  pair  which  has  been  otherwise  employed  until  noon  is 
yoked  to  the  plough,  and  by  working  late  as  many  as  five  acres 
may  so  be  eai’thed  up  in  one  day. 
Several  fields  of  Clover  were  cut  last  week,  and  after  being 
dried  up  and  stopped  when  growing,  are  now  having  all  the  tea 
washed  out  of  them.  They  were  very  fair  crops,  and  it  is  to  be 
hoped  may  be  fairly  well  saved  yet.  After  this  moist  weather 
there  should  be  a  fine  second  crop. 
Sheep  are  doing  well,  and  the  growing  weather  tends  to 
restrict  the  supply  of  mutton  on  the  market,  and  prices  are 
firmer  again.  Beef,  too.  is  scarce  and.  dear,  for  cattle  are  pot 
doing  so  well  on  grass  as  they  should ;  the  food  has  not  enough 
sunshine  in  it. 
- - 
Royal  Agricultural  Society. 
In  the  fore  part  of  the  paper  we  have  briefly  commented  on 
the  main  aspects  of  the  great  show  held  this  week  at  Park  Royal. 
The  leading  seed  firms  and  others  with  horticultural  a.s  well  as 
agricultural  connections  were  fully  represented.  Messrs. 
Sutton  and  Sons,  of  Reading,  were  in  a  foremost  place  with  an 
extensive  display  of  flowers  and  seeds,  grasses.  Cereals,  root  crops, 
and  vegetables.  Theirs  was  the  largest  of  the  stands. 
Messrs.  Carter  and  Co.,  of  High  Holborn,  had  grasses  and 
Clover  in  a  growing  state,  also  Mangolds,  and  amongst  flowers 
Spanish  Irises,  Gloxinias,  Verbenas,  Begonias,  Crassulas,  and  a 
few  Fern  balls. 
Messrs.  Webb  and  Sons,  of  Stourbridge,  had  Cereals  in  sacks, 
Swedes,  Beans,  Peas,  Emperor  Cabbage  plants ;  also  their  new 
Bountiful  Cucumber,  Pioneer  Pea,  Tomatoes,  Anemones,  ttc. 
Messrs.  Dicksons,  Ltd.,  Che.ster,  had  dwarf  shrubs,  cut  flowers, 
“  iVIykrol  ”  sheep  dip  and  disinfectant,  with  seeds,  &c.  The  top 
of  the  stand  was  ornamented  with  hanging  flower  baskets.  The 
Agricultural  and  Horticultural  Association,  Ltd.,  London,  had 
double  Begonias,  seeds,  and  feeding  cake.  Messrs.  Dickson, 
Brown,  and  Tait,  Manchester,  had  grass  seeds.  Cereals.  Potatoes, 
Sweet  Peas,  Ac.  From  Carton’s  of  Warrington,  there  came 
selections  of  root  seeds.  Cereals,  and  grasses :  a  very  fine  exhibit. 
Messrs.  W.  Horne  and  Sons,  Cliffe,  near  Rochester,  Kent, 
contributed  fruiting  pot  Apple  trees,  Strawberi’ies,  A.sparagus, 
Comet  Red  Currant,  and  Northern  Star  Potato. 
Lawn  mowers  of  all  patterns,  including  tiny  hand  machines  to 
large  horse  and  motor  kinds,  came  from  Messrs.  Ransomes.  Sims, 
and  Jefferies,  Ipswich.  Mr.  E.  L.  Johnson,  Twyford  Abbey, 
Ealing,  sent  his  Mushroom  spawn  :  while  Harrison,  of  Leicester, 
staged  vegetables,  comprising  Potatoes,  Cabbages,  Leeks, 
Lettuces,  also  Giant  Sainfoin  and  seeds. 
John  K.  King  and  Sons,  Coggeshall,  Essex,  had  grass  seeds, 
C'ereals,  and  wax  models  of  vegetables.  Dickson  and  Robinson,  of 
Manchester,  sent  grass  .seeds  (lawn  grasses  e-specially),  a  selection 
of  Potatoes  and  flowering  plants.  Messrs.  Little  and  Ballantyne 
brought  Conifers,  flowering  shrubs,  grasses,  and  Cereals. 
Greenhouses  were  on  view  from  Messenger  and  Co.,  of  Lough¬ 
borough,  who  also  had  heating  apparatus.  Boulton  and  Paul,  of 
Norwich,  besides  greenhouses  and  frames,  had  a  pretty  South 
African  bungalow  on  exhibition  ;  and  lastly  the  Portable  Building 
Co.,  Fleetwood,  had  wooden  sheds. 
