532 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
December  4,  1902. 
live  goose,  but  of  all  other  varieties.  We  are  not  quite  sure  " 
whether  the  farmer,  or  rather  perhaps  his  wife,  takes  suffi¬ 
cient.  account  of  her  feathers’  value.  If  a  sheep’s  fleece  is 
divided  into  many  qualities,  so,  indeed,  may  a  fowl’s  feathers 
if  properly  graded,  well  dried,  and  kept  clean.  They  may 
represent  quite  a  nice  little  asset.  We  wish  we  could  see 
in  every  fowlhouse  on  the  floor  a  layer  of  peat  moss  litter 
or  dust,  and  we  wish  that  it  would  occur  to  someone  to  con¬ 
stantly  rake  over  the  droppings,  so  as  to  fully  amalgamate 
them  with  peat  moss.  At  least  once  a  week  there  should 
be  a  fresh  sprinkling  of  the  litter.  The  whole  mass  would 
be  much  easier  and  nicer  to  handle,  and  could  be  stored  in 
bags  or  barrels  till  required.  Next  to  pigeon  manure  that 
of  hens  is  most  valuable.  If  we  should  have  soon,  as  is 
quite  likely,  a  sharp  frost,  a  little  quantity  of  maize  will  aid 
the  fowls  in  keeping  up  the  heat  of  their  bodies,  and  con¬ 
sequently  their  spirits. 
Work  on  the  Home  Farm. 
Wheat  has  come  up  very  well,  and  is  looking  promising.  The 
mild  autumn  has  been  so  favourable  to  rapid  growth.  A  drying 
east  wind  has  put  the  surface  almost  into  rolling  condition. 
We  shall  roll  the  young  Wheat,  if  possible,  as  it  may  be  months 
before  we  have  another  chance. 
The  August-sown  Cabbage  have  not  grown  very  quickly,  but 
are  quite  big  enough  to  transplant.  The  ground  was  prepared 
for  their  reception  some  time  ago,  manure  ploughed  in,  &c., 
but  pressure  of  other  work  has  diverted  attention.  If  the 
weather  remains  mild  we  shall  put  a  couple  of  acres  in,  15,000 
plants  per  acre,  and  plant  the  remainder  of  the  breadth  in 
March.  Where  ground  game  is  numerous,  Cabbage  is  safer  in 
the  seed-bed  during  the  winter;  it  is  more  easily  protected. 
But  autumn-planted  Cabbage  produces  a  much  heavier  weight 
of  food. 
All  our  regular  horsemen  having  been  away  holiday-making, 
the  labourers  have  worked  the  horses,  and  a  good  breadth  of 
fallows  has  been  turned  over,  but  other  work  has  been  laid  by. 
Amongst  other  things,  a  good  deal  of  attention  is  required  by  the 
fences  or  hedges.  Some  of  the  roadside  hedges  had  been  trimmed 
almost  to  death  for  the  sake  of  a  neat  appearance,  and  we  have 
let  some  of  them  go  for  two  years  to  strengthen ;  now  they 
require  a  strong  pruning.  In  all  cases  a  fair  and  reasonable  fence 
is  required  on  the  side  of  a  public  road,  and  must  be  provided ; 
so  we  must  keep  that  in  view. 
The  fence  must  be  taken  off  low,  down  to  the  roots  on  the  side 
next  the  sun,  i.e.,  south  or  east,  leaving  the  brush  on  the  other 
side  about  2ft  high  or  so.  If  there  is  a  ditch  next  the  road  it  may 
be  filled  with  thorns,  and  a  fair  guard  to  the  fence  will  be  pro¬ 
vided  ;  but  if  there  is  no  ditch  we  shall  dig  a.  trench  and  plant 
a  beard  of  strong  thorn  branches  to  act  as  a  protection  oil  the 
road  side.  Some,  nay,  many,  people  would  lay  a-  hedge  of  this 
description ;  but  apart  from  the  expense  in  stakes,  we  do  not 
like  laying,  because  we  think  it.  has  a  weakening  and  decaying 
influence. 
We  said  last  week  that  we  should  have  to  wait  for  the  culti¬ 
vators  to  plough  ley  for  Potatoes,  but  we  see  that  a  neighbour, 
who  is  in  the  same  difficulty,  is  ploughing  with  chilled  diggers, 
three  horses  in  each.  He  says  he  is  ploughing  lOin  deep,  but  we 
think  9in  is  the  maximum  depth,  and  that  is  quite  heavy  enough 
work  for  three  horses.  Well!  we  may  be  driven  to  trying  the 
same  plan,  for  we  have  the  ploughs  and  horses;  but  we  prefer 
not  to  kill  our  horses  if  we  can  help  it,  and  shall  give  the  steam 
cultivator  people  a  little  more  law. 
The  milk  supply  is  far  from  good  ;  the  mild  autumn  and  a 
plethora  of  grass  has  tempted  us  to  keep  our  cows  out  too  late 
in  the  season  ;  now  we  have  them  up  on  roots,  hay,  &c.,  but  the 
milk  flow  has  been  lost  and  will  not  return. 
Young  calves  for  rearing  are  rather  cheap,  and  it  must  be 
an  extra  good  one  to  fetch  40s.  Had  milk  been  more  plentiful 
we  would  have>  bought  and  reared  calves  freely,  for  calves  reared 
from  the  present  time  would  be  just  right  to  put  on  spring  grass 
or  seeds,  and  would  be  strong  cattle  to  bring,  up  to  the  yards 
next  autumn.  Those  of  similar  type  now  in  the  covered  yard 
have  a  most  profitable  appearance,  and  are  really  a  pleasure  to 
look  at. 
- i  -OtO-  * - 
A  North  American  State  Farm. 
An  interesting  letter  descriptive  of  the  Minnesota  State 
Agricultural  Farm  was  recently  published  in  “  The  Florists’ 
Exchange.”  The  northern  line  of  this  State  borders  the 
Dominion  of  Canada  for  four  hundred  miles,  having  on  its  east 
Lake  Superior  and  the  State  of  Wisconsin ;  Iowa  on  the  south  ; 
and  North  and  South  Dakota  on  the  west. 
The  State  farm  is  conducted  by  the  University  of  Minnesota, 
and  is  intended  to  furnish  instruction  to  students  in  the  mani¬ 
fold  duties  of  advanced  husbandry,  and,  second,  to  assist  the 
farmers  by  testing  and  introducing  new  varieties  of  grain  and 
fruits.  In  connection  with  other  experimental  stations  and  the 
Department  of  Agriculture  at  Wq*shington,  D.C.,  it  disseminates 
new  varieties  of  merit,  tests  varieties  adapted  to  other  sections 
of  the  country  with  a  view  to  proving  their  adaptability  here, 
and  by  working  along  independent  lines  is  constantly  improving 
old  varieties  and  introducing  new  ones  considered  worthy  of 
general  dissemination  throughout  the  North-west.  The  farm 
consists  of  260  acres  of  a  rich,  deep,  heavy  loam,  which  under 
generous  cultivation  produces  enormous  returns. 
The  work  of  testing  seed  varieties  under  the  supervision  of 
Professor  Hays,  has  been  most  fruitful  of  results,  and  many  new 
varieties  of  Wheat  and  forage  plants  have  been  added  to  the 
list  of  seedsmen’s  desirables  by  his  efforts.  Professor  Green, 
in  the  nursery  line,  has  been  equally  active,  and  by  careful 
selection  and  experiments  has  added  many  new  names  to  the 
list  of  desirable  hardy  fruits. 
It  has  generally  been  supposed  that  good  fruit  could  not  be 
grown  in  this  State,  but  the  work  of  Professor  Green  has  proved 
the  fallacy  of  this  supposition,  and  the  many  bearing  trees  of  all 
varieties  of  fruit  prove  beyond  a  doubt  that  by  planting  proper 
sorts  and  giving  them  proper  attention,  Minnesota  farmers  can 
have  as  nice  fruit  as  their  more  favoured  brethren  in  the  Eastern 
States.  In  Apples  we  might  name  Duchess  of  Oldenburg, 
Wealthy,  Yellow  Transparent,  Gideon,  Hibernal,  Anisin,  Peter, 
Lou,  August,  Peerless,  Wolf  River,  October,  Florence,  and  many 
other  kinds  which  thrive  here  and  produce  good  crops  of  fine 
fruit.  A  race  of  hardy  Apples  has  been  introduced  from  Russia 
which  seem  to  resist  the  intense  cold  of  the  State  with  perfect 
impunity. 
The  introduction  of  the  wild  Crab  stock  (Pyrus  baccata)  from 
Russia,  for  grafting  purposes,  has  overcome  many  of  the  per¬ 
plexities  attending  the  propagation  of  Apples  in  the  North  Star 
State.  This  stock  is  perfectly  hardy  wherever  tried,  of  most 
vigorous  growth,  and  well  suited  as  a  stock  for  grafting.  Pyrus 
malifolia  is  another  species  from  Russia  highly  spoken  of  at  this 
station.  A  large  number  of  seedling  Apples  is  being  tested  here, 
the  poorer  ones  being  discarded  from  year  to  year,  and  the  best 
propagated,  and  in  time  placed  upon  the  market. 
A  careful  record  is  kept  of  all  budding,  grafting,  and  planting, 
so  that  when  a  new  variety  is  finally  placed1  upon  the  market 
its  pedigree  can  be  traced  back  to  its  inception.  In  Plums  and 
Cherries  the  same  careful  records  are  kept,  and  thus  the  good 
work  goes  on.  The  work  not, only  embraces  fruit  trees, of  every 
description,  but  small  fruits,  ornamental  trees,  shrubs,  ever¬ 
greens,  and  so  forth,  all  come  in  for  their  share  of  attention.  The 
Rocky  Mountain  Cherry  is  found  here  in  fruit,  a  medium  sized 
oblong,  black  Cherry,  with  a  fairly  good  flavour,  a  vigorous,  bushy 
grower,  and  an  early  and  abundant  bearer.  The  Compass 
Cherry,  with  a  medium  size  plum-like  fruit,  is  also  commended. 
The  Buffalo  berry,  a  native  of  the  plains,  is  a  valuable  addition 
to  our  hardy  ornamental  shrubs. 
Many  varieties  of  Grapes  are  also  perfectly  hardy,  and  pro¬ 
duce  abundantly,  while  small  fruits,  such  as  Raspberries,  Cur¬ 
rants,  Gooseberries,  &c.,  are  hardy  and  prolific.  One  plot  of 
ground  is  devoted  to  sample  hedges — Privet,  Buckthorn,  Carra- 
gana,  Lilac,  Viburnum,  Spiraeas,  Barberry,  &c.,  properly  trimmed. 
The  best  all  round  decorative  hedge  for  this  latitude  is  the 
Buckthorn,  Rhamnus  catliarticus,  as  it  is  perfectly  hardy,  a 
rapid,  dense,  and  beautiful  grower,  holding  its  leaves  late  in 
autumn  and  putting  them  forth  again  in  the  early  spring.  As 
far  as  possible  all  trees,  shrubs,  and  other  subjects  are  labelled, 
so  that  visitors  may  see  and  know  at  a  glance  what  is  hardy  and 
what  is  not. 
Farmers’  Visit  to  Hungary. 
We  have  received  a  book  of  177  pages  (5|in  by  8^in),  en¬ 
titled  “  Agricultural  Industry  and  Education  in  Hungary,”  this 
being  an  account  of  the  visit  of  the  Essex  farmers’  party  to 
Hungary  in  May  and  June,  1902.  It  is  compiled  by  Mr.  T.  S. 
Dymond  from  notes  by  members  of  the  party  and  from  official 
information  supplied,  with  ninety-eight  illustrations,  all  of  them 
very  clear  and  interesting.  The  work,  we  believe,  is  published 
from  the  County  Technical  Laboratories,  Chelmsford,  at  the  price 
of  2s.  6d.  The  arrangement  of  the  matter  is  admirable,  and  the 
whole  journey  reads  like  a  very  interesting  letter,  and  one 
cannot  but  be  impressed  by  the  care  that  the  compiler  lias 
taken  to  gain  every  point  of  information  that  is  likely  to  be  of 
service  to  farmers  in  these  Isles.  Horse  breeding  being  a  chief 
industry  in  Hungary,  much  prominence  is  given  to  it  in  this 
book.  Pigs,  cattle,  sheep,  and  poultry  also  receive  due  atten¬ 
tion.  The  Hungarian  Government  did  everything  that  lay  in 
their  power  to  make  the  journey  both  useful  and  pleasant,  pro¬ 
viding  saloon  trains  for  the  party,  and  on  more  than  one 
occasion  invited  them  to  State  hospitality.  Private  Hungarian 
gentlemen  whose  farms  were  visited  were  also  exceedingly 
courteous.  Save  for  an  accident  to  one  of  the  party,  owing  to 
the  bad  roads,  the  visit  was  one  of  the  most  successful  the  Essex 
farmers  have  yet  undertaken.  We  think  liiglny  of  the  volume, 
and  commend  the  spirit  that  led  to  its  production. 
