280 
’Septcmbi  r  18,  1  02. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER . 
To  the  North. 
It  is  not  very  often  we  give  ourselves  the  pleasure  of  an 
outing  at  harvest  time,  but  business  called  us  North  (how 
the  North  does  call  us  of  northern  breeding !),  and  the 
journey  has  been  one  of  interest  and  profit.  From  the 
Midlands  to  canny  Newcastle  is  rather  like  ascending  high 
hills  ;  the  vegetation  is  in  zones  of  progress  ;  imperceptibly 
you  pass  from  one  to  another.  The  signs  are  the  back¬ 
wardness  or  difference  of  the  crops.  The  best  crops  we 
saw  were  to  be  found  in  the  rich  alluvial  valley  of  the 
Trent,  and,  taking  into  consideration  the  heavy  rainfall, 
we  were  astonished  to  see  the  Barley  so  bright  and  clean. 
Funny  term  to  apply,  “  clean,”  but  there  is  no  other  word 
to  indicate  the  pleasing  appearance  of  the  straw.  What 
we  could  not  see,  but  what  we  heard  of,  was  the  sad  damage 
the  crops  had  sustained  during  the  heavy  gales  of  Sep¬ 
tember  3,  when  the  wind  was  quite  equinoctial  in  its  cha¬ 
racter.  “  Necked  Barley  ”  means  serious  loss,  for  the 
necked  heads  are  among  the  best  and  most  upright.  There 
are  certain  classes  of  Barley  that  are  liable  to  this  danger, 
and  unfortunately  they  also  happen  to  be  among  those 
which  are  essentially  maltsters’  varieties. 
Not  only  is  there  sad  havoc  among  necked  Barley,  but 
Oats  suffered  to  a  great  extent,  the  upper  grains  being 
completely  knocked  out,  as  though  with  a  pex*fect  threshing 
machine.  But  there’s  a  silver  lining  to  every  cloud ;  there 
is  no  drying  agency  like  wind,  and  the  fields  were  very  bad  ; 
the  going  for  reapers  must  have  been  hard,  and  then,  again, 
this  year  “  seeds,”  i.e.,  young  Clovers,  are  superabundant, 
and  it  has  been  a  problem  how  to  get  those  seeds  dry  and 
fit  to  lead  by  the  time  the  corn  was  ready.  It  seemed  such  a 
risky  business,  and  so  provoking,  that  the  Barley,  the 
valuable  part,  stood  risk  of  much  weathering,  while  the  butt 
end  of  the  sheaf  dried.  We  saw  several  good  upstanding 
fields  of  Rivett’s  Wheat,  grown,  no  doubt,  not  for  the  grain 
as  much  as  for  the  valuable  straw,  which  is  of  such  excel¬ 
lent  quality,  and  so  in  demand  for  thatching  purposes  and 
the  covering  down  of  the  Potato  pies.  The  fault  of  Rivett 
is  this,  it  is  always  so  backward  in  ripening  ;  but,  late  as 
the  season  is,  perhaps  this  time  that  is  not  altogether  a 
drawback,  as  the  wind,  and  now  the  brilliant  sunshine,  will 
cause  all  the  other  varieties  to  be  ready  at  once,  and  as  it 
is  very  certain  the  farmer  and  his  forces  cannot  be  in  twTo 
places  at  once,  it  is  well  there  is  one  crop,  at  least,  that  can 
Avait  Avithout  taking  harm. 
Never  have  we  seen  fuller  Potato  rows ;  but,  as  a 
travelling  companion  remarked,  as  Ave  fleAV  past  the  fields  : 
“They’ve  got  it!”  There  was  a  note  of  satisfaction  in  his 
tone  not  understandable  of  the  outsider.  The  outsider 
saw  a  brown,  Avithered  appearance,  which  did  not  look 
promising.  The  grower  knew  that  meant  disease,  and  in 
a  disease  year  prices  always  rise.  There  is  such  a  thing 
as  having  too  good  a  crop  ;  a  crop  Avhich  causes  prices  to 
fall  to  almost  (or,  indeed,  to)  vanishing  point,  a  point  Avhere 
there  are  no  returns  for  the  poor  grower.  We  have  still  to 
hear  of  that  railway  company  which  reduced  its  tariff  on 
account  of  an  overstocked  market.  We  were  not  able  to 
say  whether  any  of  the  fields  Ave  saw  had  at  an  earlier 
period  been  sprayed,  but  Ave  should  very  much  like  to  knoAv 
how  those  plots  fared  that  had  received  a  dressing,  say, 
twice  or  three  times. 
We  saAv  one  unusual  industry,  and  that  Avas  the  British 
Peat  Moss  Company.  We  believe  that  this  industry  is 
responsible  for  the  introduction  of  a  foreign  element. 
There  are  Dutch  colonies  to  be  found  Avhere  this  peat  moss 
abounds,  and  land  that  so  long  has  laid  Avaste  is  now  re¬ 
turning  to  its  OAvners  a  very  comfortable  provision.  Cer¬ 
tainly  peat  moss  litter  is  growing  in  favour,  and  only  Avants 
to  be  better  known  to  be  appreciated.  It  is  funny  stuff  to 
look  at,  but  is  eminently  adapted  for  bedding  purposes,  and 
especially  under  those  conditions  Avhere  much  stock  has  to 
be  kept  in  limited  areas.  It  is  antiseptic,  and  therefore  is 
a  A'aluable  agent  in  minimising  nasty  smells. 
Taking  the  country  throughout,  the  Turnip  and  Swede 
prices  were  excellent.  We  saAv  one  field  in  Durham  Avhich 
Avas  patchy,  and  we  were  near  enough  to  see  that  in  places 
the  plants  Avei-e  dying  out.  Certainly  it  could  not  be  from 
lack  of  moisture.  Query:  Wireworml  What  struck  us 
most  Avas  the  vivid  green  of  the  grass  fields  and  great 
quantity  of  “  good  meat  ”  still  remaining  ;  but,  and  Ave 
could  not  account  for  it,  Ave  noticed  great  dearth  of  stock. 
Where  is  the  stock  1  They  certainly  were-  not  grazing,  and 
the  state  of  the  pastures  presented  no  solution.  We  fancy 
we  can  give  a  pretty  good  guess  at  the  reason.  What  could 
possibly  be  spared  ha\re  gone  to  pay  harvest  Avages  and 
midsummer  bills.  The  haystacks  are  abundant,  and,  let 
us  hope,  good. 
There  is  no  doubt  about  it,  that  Avith  the  present  de¬ 
lightful  change  in  the  weather  the  northern  farmer  will 
this  year  stand  a  better  chance  of  a  good  harvest  time. 
Then,  again,  sometimes  it  is  a  good  thing  to  be  backward. 
There  can  this  season  be  no  reason  why  the  young  seeds 
should  be  grazed,  and  that  Avill  be  a  distinct  gain  next 
spring. 
With  the  end  of  the  summer  comes  the  dwindling  x-ecord 
of  shows,  and  to  take  their  place  Ave  find  plenty  of  ram  sales 
and  sales  of  store  sheep,  and  it  may  possibly  be  that  the 
fact  of  scarcity  of  money  among  farmers  will  a,ffect  these 
sales  adversely.  The  same  applies  to  the  dispersal  of 
Aarious  shorthorn  herds  and  shire  studs.  Farmei’s  are  not 
backxvai’d,  as  a  rule,  in  securing  good  sires,  but  they  are 
blamed,  and  not  without  reason,  for  neglecting  to  look 
more  closely  after  the  qualities  of  the  stock  on  the  female 
side.  They  are  adverse  to  the  purchase,  say,  of  promising 
voung  heifers  of  a  good  milking  strain,  Avhei'eas  a  little 
outlay  in  this  direction  might  prove  in  the  long  run  a  veri¬ 
table  gold  mine.  Remember,  in  breeding  good  antecedents 
on  both  sides  tell.  There  is  now  a  distinct  movement 
among  dairy  cattle  ;  the  milking  herd  is  in  process  of 
being  “  graded  up.”  That  has  to  be  done  if  we  ai-e  to  pro¬ 
duce  milk  to  meet  the  requirements  of  the  new  regula¬ 
tions.  _ 
As  Ave  Avrite  the  auctioneer’s  hammer  falls  at  Dravel 
Hill,  Cambridge,  and  Mr.  Fred  Crisp’s  shires  are  under  dis¬ 
persal.  There  will  be  a  unique  chance  Tor  those  who  wish 
for  some  really  good  blood,  and  Ave  shall  mark  Avith  interest 
the  ultimate  fate  of  the  two  daughters  of  that  champion 
mare,  Starlight,  that  was  purchased  for  over  900  guineas 
from  the  stud  of  R.  N.  Sutton-Nelthoi’pe,  of  ScaAvby,  in 
the  county  of  Lines. 
N.B. — We  have  just  heard  from  a  friend  of  a  field  of 
Barley  near  Dunbar  where,  to  the  naked  eye,  there  is  not 
a  single  head  left  ;  all  fallen  before  the  terrific  gale  of  Sep¬ 
tember  3. 
Work  on  the  Home  Farm. 
Rain  again  to-day  !  But  neither  men  nor  horses  will  be  averse 
to  a  rest,  xvhatever  the  farmers’  feelings  may  he.  Great  progress 
has  been  made  with  the  reaping,  and  a  stack  or  two  here  and  there 
denote  that  we  have  some  early  birds  amongst  us.  Barley  being 
more  forward  than  Wheat  is  nearly  all  in  stook,  and  it  is  xvonder- 
ful  how  Avell  the  machines  have  cut  it.  The  old  rake  machines 
have  done  a  good  deal  of  the  work,  but  where  binders  have  been 
requisitioned  they  have  worked  well.  They  certainly  clean  all  up 
better  than  the  other  machines,  but  the  straw-bound  sheaves  are 
far  more  quickly  in  condition  for  leading.  Stackyards  will  be  very 
full :  the  crops  are  bulking  up  heavier  even  than  xve  expected. 
Farmers  Avill  be  wise  to  stack  a  portion  in  the  fields.  The  stacks 
are  quicker  in  attaining  thrashing  condition  and  in  less  danger 
from  fire  than  when  packed  closely  together. 
We  wonder  that  insurance  companies  do  not  make  stipulations 
against  the  close  concentration  of  large  quantities  of  corn  stacks. 
They  object  to  taking  risks  on  stackyards  which  are  near  lines 
of  railway,  but  xve  have  many  times  seen  thrashing  engines  set 
between  high  unthatched  stacks  in  hot,  dry  weather,  xvhen  a 
spark  would  set  fire  to  them,  and  there  have  been  a  score  or  more 
by  stacks  closely  adjoining.  Farmers  insure  their  corn  in  stack, 
and  forget  that  the  insurance  can  only  be  partial.  Hoxvever  xvell 
the  insurance  company  treats  him  he  is  sure  to  be  a  loser,  and 
often  a  considerable  one,  and  it  is  noticeable  that  a  farmer  who 
has  had  one  serious  fire  never  afterwards  is  found  to  put  many 
(corn  rick)  eggs  into-  one  (yard)  b.asket. 
The  dry  week  did  much  to  dry  up  the  dead  Potato  haulm  and 
retard  the  spread  of  disease,  and,  we  hope  the  rain  will  not  give  it 
new  life.  The  blight  on  the  leaf  is  very  general,  especially  so 
Avith  regard  to  Up-to-Dates.  Professor  Maercker  is  the  variety 
|  which  keeps  the  gx’eenest. 
