554 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
December  11,  1902. 
treated  and  untreated  parts  was  greater  than  in  the  first 
year,  so  that  there  would  seem  to  be  some  permanence 
about  the  results.  We  have  noted  that  some  soils  do  not 
require  Nitragin,  as  sufficient  bacteria  are  already  present ; 
but  there  is  a  very  important  point  besides,  and  that  is,  the 
sufficient  aeration  of  the  soil,  for  if  the  bacteria  have  to 
draw  their  nitrogen  from  imprisoned  air  they  will  be 
inactive  where  there  are  no  air  spaces,  and  it  will  readily 
be  seen  why  Clovers  and  similar  plants  disappear  in  water¬ 
logged  places,  for  the  bacteria  cease  to  exist,  and  without 
them  the  vigour  of  the  plant  soon  declines. 
It  requires  little  argument  to  show  what  a  close  con¬ 
nection  this  matter  has  with  the  desirability,  nay  necessity, 
of  deep  cultivation,  and  exposure  of  the  soil  to  the  atmo¬ 
sphere,  also  with  the  value  of  green  crops  for  ploughing 
in,  and  the  waste  of  fertility  when  the  soil  lies  long 
unmoved,  and  with  nothing  but  weeds  growing  upon  it. 
It  is  supposed  by  some  scientists  that  other  plants 
besides  the  leguminous  have  their  parasitic  bacteria,  which 
act  in  a  similar,  though  less  marked,  way  ;  and,  in  fact  that 
there  may  be  so  few  exceptions  that  the  value  of  soil  move¬ 
ment  and  ventilation  may  be  entirely  due  to  the  require¬ 
ments  of  these  minute  servants  of  vegetable  life.  But  there 
are  other  ways  of  aerating  the  soil  than  by  cultivation. 
A  great  breadth  of  land  is  now  farmed  on  the  system  of 
temporary  pastures,  and  especially  the  light  soils  which 
have  been  found  unprofitable  for  corn  growing,  and  some  of 
the  heavier  lands  which  are  so  expensive  in  horseflesh. 
When  land  is  allowed  to  lie  in  temporary  pasture  for  three, 
four,  or  five  years,  and  there  is  no  active  cultivation,  how 
is  the  lower  soil  to  be  kept  in  an  open  state  ?  The  action 
of  worms  may  keep  the  surface  open,  but  how  about  the 
lower  strata?  Well,  tve  believe  that  the  value  of  deep¬ 
rooting  plants  like  Burnet,  Kidney  Vetch,  and  Chicory  lies 
in  their  deep  penetration  into  the  subsoil,  and  that  their 
deep  root  action  has  a  most  beneficial  effect  in  keeping 
open  the  pores  and  assisting  soil  ventilation. 
Earthworms  no  doubt  are  of  great  use  in  the  same 
direction  ;  whilst  we  have  always  contended  that  moles  in 
reasonable  quantities  must  do  more  good  than  harm, 
although  so  many  farmers  think  differently. 
We  all  know  how  absolutely  necessary  an  open,  free 
mould  is  to  the  Potato  crop,  and  it  is  quite  possible  that 
the  Potato  may  possess  minute  parasitic  assistants  also, 
which,  working  in  the  small  air  spaces,  may  be  breaking  up 
and  supplying  nitrogen  to  the  tubers. 
Work  on  the  Home  Farm. 
We  have  not  had  a  really  fine  day  for  a  week,  and  to-day 
there  has  been  some  snow,  so  perhaps  we  may  soon  have  some 
frost.  It  would  do  good  in  many  fields,  but  will  be  inconvenient 
if  it  comes  before  we  get  our  Swedes  taken  up.  It  has  been  far 
too  wet  to  get  them  up  lately,  and  the  land  is  now  so.  soft  that 
we  shall  not  be  able  to  cart  on  it  at  present.  That  will  not 
prevent  storing  in  small  heaps,  which  will  be  proceeded  with 
when  the  weather  will  allow.  Hitherto  the  delay  has  favoured 
an  increase  of  the  crop.  We  noticed  last  week  two  fields  where 
a  start  to  store  Swedes  in  heaps  had  been  made,  and  in  both  cases 
they  were  being  thrown  together  just  as  they  were  pulled  from 
the  ground.  This  system  appears  to  be  gaining  ground. 
A  way  sometimes  followed  to  save  the  labour  of  pulling  is  to 
reverse  the  two  front  shares  of  a  horse  hoe  so  that  when  it 
proceeds  between  the  two  rows  of  Swedes  the  shares  cut  through 
the  Swede  roots  on  either  side.  This  is  effective  if  the  shares  are 
kept  well  sharpened,  but  it  is  rather  a  rough-and-ready  way,  as 
a  good  deal  too  much  is  cut  off  from  many  of  the  best  roots.  It 
will  do  for  Tankard  varieties,  which  do  not  root  deeply  in  the 
ground,  but  for  other  kinds  we  prefer  pulling.  The  week  has 
been  bad  for  threshing,  although  the  smoke  of  the  engine  has 
been  noticed  here  and  there.  We  have  been  dressing  and  deliver¬ 
ing  one  lot  of  corn ;  the  rest  of  the  week  has  been  occupied  in 
tidying  up.  Through  pressure  of  work  the  stackyard  had  been 
left  with  too  much  pulse  and  heaps  of  thatch  about.  The  open 
yards,  which  were  well  bedded  when  the  cattle  were  brought  up, 
were  soon  converted  into  morasses  by  the  rain,  so  all  the  odds 
and  ends  from  the  stackyard  have  been  carted  in  and  the  yards 
made  comfortable  once  more.  The  covered  yard  is  dry  and  com¬ 
fortable  with  but  little  short  bedding,  and  if  the  weather  keeps 
wet  the  open  yards  will  be  as  bad  as  ever  in  three  or  four  days. 
What  a  difference!  But  then  covered  yards  cost  money.  We 
shall  be  threshing  again  directly  (money  this  time,  not  straw!), 
and  are  undecided  what  to  thresh.  Barley  is  very  bad  to  sell 
just  now,  and  will  be  until  after  Christmas,  whilst  Oats  are  still 
a  fair  trade,  though  the  straw  will  not  be  wanted  until  spring, 
and  will  have  to  be  thatched.  We  think  we  shall  thresh  Oats. 
It  is  good  policy  to  sell  what  is  most  saleable. 
Last  April  we  purchased  sixpennyworth  of  water  glass,  which, 
after  diluting  with  clean  water,  we  put  into  a  jar  capable  of 
containing  200  eggs,  which  were  put  in  quite  fresh  as  they  were 
laid.  The  liquid  was  diluted  so  as  to  well  cover  the  eggs.  We 
are  using  those  eggs  now,  and  they  are  apparently  as  good  as 
fresh  ones. 
Webb  &  Sons'  Stand  at  the  London  Cattle  Show. 
Among  the  exhibits  of  roots,  cereals,  Potatoes,  &c.,  at  the 
Smithfield  Club  Show,  that  of  Messrs.  Webb  and  Sons,  of  the 
Royal  Seed  Establishment,  Wordsley,  Stourbridge,  is  acknow¬ 
ledged  to  be  one  of  the  finest  of  all.  It  comprises  specimens  of  the 
champion  roots  and  grains  of  the  year,  which  have  been  grown 
from  this  celebrated  firm’s  seed  and  with  the  aid  of  their  equally 
famous  special  manures.  At  the  recent  London  Hairy  Show  a 
collection  of  Webbs’  Mangolds,  Swedes,  and  Turnips  won  the 
first  prize  open  to  Great  Britain,-  and  Webbs’  Imperial  Swede 
also  carried  off  the  champion  prize,  for  which  there  were  eighty- 
two  entries.  A  very  fine  lot  of  this  Swede  is  shown,  some  of 
the  specimens  being  drawn  from  the  crop,  weighing  over  fifty- 
eight  tons  per  acre,  grown  by  Mr.  R.  Roberts,  Brongadair,  Port- 
madoc,  who  has  won  the  first  prize,  £15  15s.,  for  the  best  five 
acres  of  Swedes,  open  to  England  and  Wales,  this  year.  Webbs’ 
Imperial  Swede  has  won  first  prize  at  Birmingham  Show  for 
twenty-five  years.  Another  striking  feature  of  this  exhibit  is 
Webbs’  New  Smithfield  Yellow  Globe  Mangold,  a.  variety  which 
is  without  a  peer  for  heavy  cropping  and  fine  quality.  The 
specimens  exhibited  were  grown  by  Mr.  P.  Price,  Howiek  Farm, 
Chepstow,  and  the  crop,  which  was  grown  with  Webbs’  Special 
Manure,  was  certified  by  a  competent  and  disinterested  judge 
to  weigh  93  tons  14  cwt  per  acre,  the  record  for  the  year. 
Webbs’  New  Lion  Yellow  Intermediate  Mangold  makes 
another  imposing  feature,  as  also'  do  Webbs’  Mammoth  Long 
Red  and  Yellow-Fleshed  Tankard,  whilst  that  favourite  Yellow 
Turnip,  Webbs’  Invincible,  is  conspicuous  for  its  large  size,  splen¬ 
did  shape,  and  quality!  Other  roots  shown  include  Webbs’  New 
Buffalo  Swede,  Webbs;’  Giant  King  Swede,  Webbs’  Green  Globe 
Turnip,  Ac.  Webbs’  new  and  improved  breeds  of  cereals  are 
also'  exhibited,  and  clearly  demonstrate  the  valuable  results  that 
Messrs.  Webb  have  obtained  by  the  course  of  cross-fertilisation 
and  selection  which  they  have  conducted  for  so  many  years  past 
at  their  well-known  Kinver  Seed  Farms.  Webbs’  Newmarket 
Oat  and  Webbs’  Kinver  Chevalier  Barley  stand  unrivalled  for 
quality  and  productiveness. 
The  latter  has  won  the  champion  prize,  open  to  the  world, 
on  seven  occasions,  as  well  as  most  of  the  other  leading  honours, 
including  the  Colchester  Gold  Cup,  and  first,  second,  and  third 
prizes  as  recent  as  last  week.  Whilst  it  would  be  impossible  to 
detail  the  wonderful  list  of  awards  made  to  the  produce  of  Webbs’ 
seeds  this  season,  we  may  mention  the  following  recent  honours: 
London,  four  first  and  other  prizes;  Birmingham,  fourteen  first 
and  other  prizes ;  Cardiff,  thirty-seven  champion  and  other 
prizes;  Edinburgh,  five  first  and  other  prizes;  Liverpool,  thirty- 
nine  first  and  other  prizes;  Norwich,  ten  first  and  other  prizes; 
Brewers’  Exhibition,  London,  twenty-seven  first  and  other 
prizes ;  four  medals  and  nineteen  diplomas ;  and  (with  one  excep¬ 
tion)  the  whole  of  Proctor  and  Ryland’s  prizes  for  root  crops, 
value  £140  5s.  A  fine  collection  of  Potatoes  introduced  by  this 
firm  is  another  interesting  feature,  and  we  noticed  two  new 
varieties  for  next  season,  Webbs’  Table  King  and  Webbs’ 
Guardian,  which  are  handsome  in  appearance  and  said  to  be 
disease-resisters.  Messrs.  Webb  are  donors  of  two  challenge 
cups,  value  100  guineas  each,  at  the  Birmingham  and  Edinburgh 
Shows,  and  these  are  also  shown  on  this  stand. 
J.  King  &  Sons  at  the  Smithfield  Cattle  Show. 
The  system  of  pedigree  selection  is  now  acknowledged  to  be 
one  of  the  most  remarkable  developments  in  British  agriculture. 
Whether  applied  to  cattle  or  roots,  it  is  equally  important,  and 
the  stand,  No.  84,  of  Messrs.  John  K.  King  and  Sons,  seedsmen 
by  Royal  Warrant  to  H.M.  the  King,  of  Coggeshall  and  Reading, 
furnishes  a  splendid  example  of  the  value  of  the  pedigree  selec¬ 
tion.  It  is  not  generally  known  that  the  founder  of  the  business 
of  John  K.  King  and  Sons  was  the  originator  of  the  system  of 
saving  seeds  from  pedigree  roots,  and  he  and  his  successors,  who 
have  carried  it  on  with  so  much  success,  are  among  the  oldest 
exhibitors  at  the  Smithfield  Club  Cattle  Show.  Prominent 
on  this  extensive  and  well-arranged  stand  are  the  Essex  Prize¬ 
winner  Yellow  Globe  Mangold,  the  Golden  Tankard  Yellow- 
fleshed  Mangold,  and  the  New  Pedigree  Swede  John  Bull ;  also 
some  splendid  specimens  of  Champion  Orange  Globe,  Improved 
Yellow  Intermediate,  and  Mapimoth  Long  Red  Mangolds. 
