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JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
March  28,  1901. 
Advance  in  Rural  Teaclpg. 
The  Education  Department,  before  formulating  the  new  code  in 
1896,  sent  a  deputation  to  pay  a  special  visit  ot  inspection  to  a  remote 
Yorkshire  village  school.  This  was  S  anbury,  near  Haworth,  and  very 
proud  must  Mr.  Bradley,  the  mast*  r,  have  been  to  think  that  his 
pioneer  eifurts  to  give  a  practical  si  le  to  the  teaching  in  his  school 
was  being  appreciated  by  those  in  authority.  It  was  in  connection 
with  “  science  ”  that  Mr.  Bradley  made  his  new  departure.  By 
“  science  ”  the  department  me  ans  the  teaching  of  some  simple  facts  of 
heat  and  chemistry ;  but  Mr.  Btadley,  being  a  naturalist,  was  not 
satisfied  with  teaching  his  pupils  a  few  dry  elementary  principles,  he 
gained  the  sympathy  of  the  local  inspectors,  and  carried  his  teaching 
into  the  open  air,  Friday  afternoons  being  devoted  to  a  natural  history 
expedition  into  the  highways,  fields,  and  hedgerows.  Every  phase  of 
Nature,  as  visible  to  the  eyes  of  the  mast  r,  aided  largely  by  the 
magnifying  glass  or  microscope,  has  been  made  an  object  lessen  to  the 
scholars  of  Stanbury.  Botany,  and  the  numerous  ’ol  gies  included  under 
the  head  of  natural  science,  have  been  elementarily  taught  in  such 
a  way  as  to  thoroughly  interest  the  children,  and  their  general 
knowledge  of  these  subjects  is  now  such  as  would  greatly  astonish 
experienced  naturalists. 
We  sincerely  hope  that  the  success  of  Mr.  Bradley  will  encourage 
the  education  authorities  to  enlarge  and  extend  the  application  of  this 
practical  side  of  rural  education,  and  we  repeat  what  we  have  previously 
urged,  that  village  schools  should  be  tak^n  into  the  fields  and  the  why 
and  wherefore  of  farming  operations  po  nted  out  to  them,  with  such 
scientific  explanations  as  are  suitable.  It  may  be  urged  that  school¬ 
masters  have  enough  to  learn  without  studying  scientific  agriculture 
certainly  if  he  is  to  teach  all  that  is  needed  at  a  large  town  school  ; 
but  the  needs  of  town  and  country  are  so  different  that  country 
schoolmasters  must  have  a  special  training,  with  a  view  to  best 
instructing  the’r  pupils  in  matters  us  tul  to  country  life,  and  must 
follow  their  profession  as  expert  rural  teachers.  The  old  system  of 
book  learning  was  instruction  ouh,  pare  and  simple;  the  new  will  be 
true  education,  br  ngirg  out  through  the  lessons  of  Nature  the  gifts 
and  talent  which  by  nature  each  pupil  possesses,  not  in  common,  but 
in  such  various  degiees. 
Estate  Ref.rm. 
It  is  not  to  point  out  the  need  for  further  buildings,  drainage,  or 
such  kindred  matters  that  the  above  heading  is  used  ;  but  under  it  we 
wish  to  call  attention  to  an  iconomic  waste  that  is  very  la  gely  in 
evidence  all  over  th  ■  country,  and  espec  ally  where  large  estates  have 
by  slow  degrees  absorbed  smaller  ones.  The  reference  is  to  the 
inconvenient  sandwiching  of  one  farm  with  another,  alihough  both 
belong  to  the  same  owner.  H  >w  often  do  we  hear  that  recommenda¬ 
tion  given  to  a  holding,  “  It  is  in  a  ring  lence  ?  ”  Alas  !  very  seldom  ; 
and  when  all  the  dr  w  racks  of  having  a  farm  scattered  all  over  a  1  trge 
parish  are  fully  taken  into  account,  it  will  be  seen  how  desirable  it  is 
that  holdings  should  he  mide  more  compact.  Firstly,  they  would 
contain  a  minimum  ot  boundary  fences,  and  disi  utes  and  son  ness 
between  neighbours  as  to  the  proper  responsib  lity  for  damage  bv 
strayiDg  stock  wou’d  be  reduced  to  the  leist  possible  comnass. 
Secondly,  shepherdi  g  would  he  made  much  ea  ier;  much  time  would 
be  saved  in  goii  g  round  the  vari  >us  fields,  and  the  stock  could  be 
visited  earlier  and  later,  as  well  as  at  shorter  intervals.  How  often 
this  would  mean  the  stvmg  of  valuable  animal  lives  every  farmer 
knows  well.  Thirdly  (and  I  ere  li.  s  tire  greatest  economy),  how  great 
a  savin:  of  carting  there  would  be  hetween  having  the  lurthest 
corner  ol  the  lurthe  t  field  but  h  If  a  mile  away  from  the  premises  as 
would  occur  in  a  500  acre  farm  in  a  ring  fence  ;  and  in  a  similar 
acreage  such  as  we  have  had  experience  of,  three  and  a  half  miles 
dong,  varying  in  width,  but  with  huge  gaps  in  the  nearer  portions, 
and  a  large  proportion  (two-thirds)  more  than  a  mile  from  home  ? 
Carting  Corn  into  the  stackvard,  carting  manure  back  to  the  fields,  the 
time  of  horses  and  men  making  their  wiy  o  work,  for  the  time  so 
spent  is  at  the  farmer’s  cost,  if  srictly  valued  and  taken  into  account 
would  soon  run  up  to  the  amount  of  a  moderat  •  rent,  and  yet  tenants, 
and  with  good  cause,  complain  of  the  difficulty  of  paying  rent,  and 
landlords  with  equal  truth  of  the  small  nett  return  from  landed 
property,  and  the  great  difficulty  «.  f  granting  mrther  remissions.  And 
this  waste  is  in  the  most  serious  item  of  expenditu  e,  and  in  that 
commodity  which  the  farmer  finds  mo^t  difficult  to  obtain — i.e ., 
labour;  and  that  there  is  not  lively  to  he  much  future  ease  in  the 
agricultural  labour  market  is  the  firm  opinion  of  some  of  our  wisest 
heads. 
Of  course  there  are  many  difficulties  in  the  way  of  reform  in  this 
matter.  Compact  farms  are  easier  to  talk  of  than  to  bring  about, 
landlords  have  a  natuial  and  laudable  de  ire  not  to  disturb  and  harass 
old  tenants  ;  whereas  in  some,  we  migut  say  many  parishes,  the  land 
varies  very  much  in  quality,  and  there  is  some  a  vantage  in  fairly 
apportioning  the  best  land.  This  is  pra<tica  ly  the  only  argument  in 
favour  of  wide  farms,  it  we  except  the  necessity  to  provide  a  suitable 
proportion  of  grass.  Bur  is  there  anything  real. y  gained  by  it  V  and 
would  it  not  be  better,  where  the  situa  ion  of  ihe  several  farmsteads 
will  allow  of  it,  to  mike,  say,  one  good  compact  farm  which  everyone 
would  want  and  woud  command  a  high  tent, one  m  dium  farm  which 
would  be  as  good  as  any  of  the  previous  mixed  ones,  and  more  desirable 
because  more  handy,  and  one  moderate  or  bad  firm  which,  being  also 
handily  shaped,  would  let  tor  all  it  i-  worth,  than  to  have  three  farms 
mixed  up  higgledy  piggledy  and  workable  only  at  the  highest  possible 
cost?  Supposing  a  landlord  owning  a  large  pirk,  say  2000  acres, 
containing  good  land  at  one  end,  ruedtu  u  in  the  middle,  and  poor  at 
the  other  extremity,  were  to  turn  it  i  to  four  farms,  would  he  build 
his  homesteads  so  as  to  make  each  holding  self-containing,  or  would  he 
mix  them  up,  as  so  many  farms  are  now  ?  Need  we  ask  the  question  ? 
It  may  not  be  convenient  to  mike  startling  chang  s  at  any  time, 
but  opportunities  occur  when  farms  natural, y  i  hinge  hands,  and  new 
blood  has  to  be  introduced,  when  economic  changes  such  as  we  have 
indicated  might  very  uselully  be  made.  I’ne  la  d  must  be  marie  the 
best  of  before  its  cultivators  can  claim  outside  sympathy  for  loss  and 
failure. 
Work  on  He  Rome  Farm. 
We  are  very  thankful  not  to  be  farming  strong  land  at  the  present 
time,  for  two  or  three  days  of  fine  drying  wea' her  have  baen  but  a 
promise  of  better  things,  and  the  weather  is  again  cold  and  wet.  Cold 
northerly  winds,  with  constant  showers  of  si  et  or  oold  rain,  are  not 
encouraging  when  we  had  hoped  to  see  the  drill  at  work  in  clouds  of 
March  dust.  It  is  not  pleasant  to  be  continually  prophesying  evil 
things,  but  certainly  the  month  of  March  has  not  been  such  as  usually 
precedes  a  good  farmer’s  year.  A  dry  windy  March,  a  showery  April, 
dry  May,  and  dripping  June,  are  ideal  months,  and  a  combination  of 
them  is  always  favourable  to  agriculture.  Very  little  spring  Corn  has 
been  drilled,  and  it  is  useless  to  think  of  it  unnl  the  weather  altera  for 
the  better,  the  only  land  where  drilling  is  possible  being  such  as  is  not 
usually  sown  until  April. 
We  see  horses  at  work  using  the  cultivator.  It  may  do  good  by 
keeping  the  soil  open  and  assisting  drainage,  but  that  is  the  only 
advantage  to  be  gained.  The  difficulty  wi  h  eve  i  medium  land  that 
has  had  sheep  upon  it  is  to  get  it  ploughed  at  all  without  doing  more 
harm  than  good.  Of  course  it  may  he  broken  up  with  the  cultivator, 
and  ploughing  altogether  dispensed  with,  but  we  doubt  the  reality  of 
any  economy  in  so  doing,  and  we  would  rath  *r  exercise  a  little  more 
patience.  Some  of  the  best  crops  of  B  irley  we  remember  were  sown  in 
mid-April,  and  though  we  should  prefer  March  sowing  with  a  good 
seed  bed,  we  had  better  wait  until  after  Easter  than  put  the  seed  in 
badly  now. 
The  spring  sales,  though  late,  are  here  at  last,  and  it  is  quite 
remarkable  what  very  moderate  prices  are  being  made  of  ewes  and 
lambs  ;  we  thought  things  would  alter  after  the  first  sale  or  two,  but  the 
price  appears  to  have  been  set,  and  so  it  remaius.  It  is  not  so  many 
years  sines  ewes  and  pairs  were  making  £o  each  and  singles  £4.  Wool 
was  a  little  dearer  then,  but  mutton  hardly  as  dear  as  now.  Why  is 
it,  then,  that  they  are  only  worth  two-thirds  of  that  price  with  the  best 
prospect  for  spring  and  summer  keep  that  anv  of  us  can  remember? 
Truly  there  are  great  anomalies  in  things  agricultural. 
Some  time  ago  we  mentioned  an  outbreak  of  fever  amongst  a 
neighbour’s  ewes.  With  care,  the  free  use  of  disinfectants,  and  as  much 
isolation  as  possible,  the  attack  was  subdued,  and  i  he  remainder  of  the 
flock  has  lambed  with  satisfactory  results ;  of  curse  the  aggregate  of 
lambs  has  been  sadly  spoilt,  and  a  few  ewes  weie  lost,  but  matters 
might  have  been  much  worse. 
We  do  not  see  or  hear  of  many  foals  as  yet.  As  a  fact  they  will 
be  rather  scarce  this  year.  We  fancy  that  with  the  great  improvement 
that  has  been  brought  about  in  shire  s  allions  they  have  lost  some  of 
their  progenitive  qualities.  We  have  heard  this  attributed  to  the  too 
free  use  of  soft  cooked  food. 
