398 
JOURNAL  or  HORTICULTURE 
liabilities.  He  is  clear  of  debt,  but  penniless.  There  is  no 
public  exposnre ;  no  sensational  smash;  and  the  ruin  is  con¬ 
fined  to  one  family.  The  farmer  is  enough  of  a  gentleman  to 
prefer  to  be  himself  the  chief  sufferer. 
The  writer  considers  that  a  farmer  must  not  grumble  if  he 
is  laying  nothing  by,  bat  as  compensation  must  remember  what 
a  pleasant,  ndiolesome  life  he  leads!  This  is  but  poor  consola¬ 
tion,  and  very  unsound  doctrine  to  our  idea.  That  there  are 
some  farmers'^  “  sitting  tight  in  snug  holdings,”  we  know;  but 
the  pity  of  it  is  there  are  not  more.  Yet  this  can  never  be 
universal  tiil  all  farms  are  made  up  of  equally  good  sound  land 
within  reasonable  reach  of  a  market. 
Then,  again,  onr  Mentor  finds  cause  for  re.ioicing  in  the 
numbers  of  young  city  men  who  are  anxious  and  willing  to 
enter  the  farmer’s  life.  They  expect,  after  a  year’s  experience 
on  a  farm,  to  become  so  expert  as  to  undertake  a  farm’s 
management  themselves  ;  or  they  attend  a  few  sessions  at  an 
agricultural  college  with  the  same  end  in  view.  Thei’e  is  one 
very  significant  sentence:  “Some  attempt  should  be  made  as 
soop  as  possible  to  collect  an  account  of  the  fortunes  of  this 
class  of  men  since  they  left  the  premium  farmer  and  set  up  for 
themselves.” 
We  could  fill  in  that  information  in  a  manner  whioh  would 
astonish  our  readers,  we  believe  that  at  the  training  colleges 
these  young  men  are  made  to  work,  and  that  pretty 
thoroughly ;  and  that  there  is  a  chance  for  such  students,  if 
not  overfilled  with  conceit,  to  make  some  sort  of  a  living,  pro¬ 
vided  thev  have  capital  at  their  back,  but  of  the  farmer’s 
pupil  tve  liave  but  a  poor  opinion.  The  average  student  does 
not  come  to  the  farmer  taking  a  very  serious  view  of  life.  He 
•  is  quite  ready  for  all  the  pleasures  of  a  farmer’s  life,  but  the 
rough  side  does  not  appeal  to  him;  and,  indeed,  one  or  two 
pupils  under  a  farmer,  unless  he  is  much  of  a  martinet,  have 
an  uncommonly  good  time  ot  it.  The  farmer  has  not  been 
trained  to  teach ;  and  the  lads  are  of  that  age  when  they 
won’t  brook  much  interference  ;  and  with  the  best  and  most 
diligent  of  them,  there  will  be  a  need  for  three  or  four  years’ 
training  and  close  application  if  they  are  to  make  anything  of  a 
living  out  of  the  land. 
Then  our  jnentor  points  out  what  we  know  quite  well,  that 
there  is  a  lack  of  suitalde  cottage  accommodation  on  the  farms. 
Well,  this  is  a  question  of  money,  and  if  landlords  are  to  build 
cottages  on  the  pattern  supplied  by  mentor,  the  final  nail  will 
be  driven  into  their  coffin.  Cottages  have  been  bnilt,  and 
scores  of  them,  good  ones,  too,  and  to  what  purpose?  Not  as 
homes  for  workmen;  for  they  are  empty.  We  know  ourselves 
of  model  cottages  and  capital  gardens  in  villages  where  employ¬ 
ment  is  regular  and  wages  excellent,  for  which  tenants  cannot 
be  found.  W’hy,  then,  build  more? 
As  to  making  the  cottages  so  large,  Mr.  Clare  Sewell  Nead 
hits  on  one  difficulty  that  springs  up  at  once.  The  acoommoda- 
tion  is  supposed  to  be  for  the  man,  his  wife,  and  family,  that 
they  may  live  decently.  Well,  what  are  the  facts  of  the  case?  , 
The  third  bedroom  is  used,  not  for  the  family,  but  to  increase 
the  famil.v’s  revenue  by  means  of  a  lodger!  That  is  quite  out¬ 
side  the  original  purpose.  And  again,  we  do  object  ,  to  the 
practice  so  common  in  some  places  of  keepij^'  l'he  |tifoVn-irp  j 
children  at  home  :  the  lads  at  catch  woi'k  or  misbhi^f ;  f^fe  14s.4fs  | 
at  dressmaking  (save  the  mark!)  or  some  -other  eqifaliy  ill-, 
learned,  ill-paid  occupation.  If  the  landlord  can  find  money : 
for  many  and  big  cottages,  he  is  obliged  to  cliavge  the  tenant 
with  some  sort  of  interest  on  the  money  expended.  Cottages 
won’t  save  the  situation  ;  and  as  for  the  water  supply,  which 
our  mentor  sneaks  of  as  comstantly  lacking,  in  our  experience 
the  rural  medical  officer  of  health  is  generally  pretty  much  on 
the  alert,  and  does  not  let  the  owner  rest  till  water  privileges 
are  secured.  *  V 
Now,  then,  we  come  to  uncovered  yards.  We  -should  like 
to  know  whei’e  this  wi'iter  resides,  for  in  our  parts  the  un¬ 
covered  yard  is  the  exception  i-ather  than  the  rule.  We  think 
there  is  not  such  an  escape  of  liquid  manure  as  he  would  have 
us  believe.  Yards  are  properly  littered,  aiid  all  is  absorbed. 
Really,  even  if  there  wore  much  escaping,  we  doubt  whether 
the  catching  of  it  and  distribution  on  the  land  would  be  worth 
the  expen.se.  If  it  could  easiiy  be  drained  on  to  some  pa.sture, 
a  few  roods  might  be  irrigated.  ,  It  would  require  thousands 
of  gallons  to  irrigate  a  whole  field.  All  these  little  fads  and 
fancies  have  been  tried,  and  costly  apparatus  prepared  by 
enthusiasts,  but  the  return  has  not  "been  worth  the  trouble. 
There  are  still  places  where  the  difficulty  of  getting  lid  of  the 
straw  is  experienced,  and  we  think  that  even  in  open  yards 
the  majority  of  stock  is  made  pretty  comfortable.  Yards  are 
not  constructed  without  abundance  of  wide,  deep,  shedding, 
where  cattle  can  always  be  dry  and  warm. 
Me  thoroughly  believe  in  draining,  and  the  general  im¬ 
provement  of  land  ;  but  it  must  be  land  that  will  pay  for  the 
outlay.  Mr.  Clare  Sewell  Nead  says  (and  he  knows  if  anybody 
knows),  that  during  the  good  years,  1855  to  1875,  gigantic 
improvements  were  made  by  both  landlords  and  tenants,  but 
now  neither  class  has  the  money  to  spend.  Early  in  last  cen¬ 
tury  muc!i  land  was  enclosed  and  reclaimed;  but  almo.st  all 
AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER.  May  5,  1904 
this  capital  was  expended  upon  naturally  good  land,  and  that 
which  has  been  reclaimed  later  is  land  upon  which  the  money 
has  been  absolutely  thrown  away.  The  best  drainage  on  the 
cold  clays  is  only  of  very  fleeting  duration,  and  the  last  state 
is  worse  than  the  first.  No  amount  of  draining  will  alter  the 
natural  character  of  the  land :  clay  it  is,  and  clay  it  will 
remain. 
Mentor  hits  on  one  great  truth,  but  we  have  most  of  us 
found  it  out  some  time  since,  and  that  is,  not  to  make  'our 
drains  too  deep.  The  old  idea  of  drains  4ft  deep  is  quite  ex¬ 
ploded;  2ft  is  ample.  The  deeper  you  go  the  more  money  you 
bury.  As  for  thousands  of  acres  lying  dormant  in  England 
to-day  for  want  of  draining,  the  thing  on  the  face  of  it  is 
ridiculous.  If  wheat  go  up  in  price  to,  say,  ,60s.  or  so,  the 
question  might  be  entertained  ;  for  it  is  on  these  strong  clay 
lands  that  wheat  and  practically  little  else  will  grow  ;  but  when 
wheat,  as  at  present,  cannot  be  made  to  pay  on  good  land,  it  is 
hardly  likely  that  farmers  (fools  though  they  are,  according  to 
many)  wiil  embark  on  enterprises  which  are  perfectly  hopeless. 
As  for  the  sin  of  cheapness  with  which  we  are  charged,  we 
fear  we  must  in  a  measure  plead  guilty;  but  the  fact  is,  that 
money  and  credit  both  being  scarce,  we  are  obliged  to  do  what 
we  can  with  the  means  at  our  disposal.  Given  a  little  more 
capital  we  would  not  only  buy  and  breed  from  pedigree  stock, 
but  we  would  have  the  best  of  seeds,  the  best  of  manures,  and, 
above  all,  the  best  of  agricultural  education  for  our  .sons.  On 
this  matter  of  education  we  are  a  little  diffident.  Perhaps  we 
are  not  in  a  position  to  speak  with  authority ;  but  we  are  not 
quite  sure  as  to  whether  our  teachers  know  themselves  what 
we  had  better  learn.  Till  they  have  settled  this  question 
satisfactorily,  we  are  a  little  bR  inclined  to  hold  hack.  We 
heard  the  other  day  that  the  time  is  considered  ripe  when 
agricultural  pupils  should  be  taugh.t  to  differentiate  between 
the  various  breeds  of  stock.  A' young  man  may  be  chokeful  of 
science,  and  know  exactly  how,  and  why,  and  when  to  apply 
certain  manures  ;  but  he  looks  a  bit  of  a  fool  if  he  cannot  dis¬ 
tinguish  a  Shorthorn  from  a  Hereford ;  a  Cleveland  Bay  from  a 
Suffolk ;  a  Hampshire-down  from  a  Leicester ;  and  a  Lincoln 
long-wool  from  a  Romney  Marsh !  We  heard  of  one  promising 
student  quite  lately, -who  was  perfectly  at  a  loss  when  asked 
to  name  the  .seed  of  the  common  tare  or  vetch.  We  should 
have  thought  that  was  a  thing  the  proverbial  schoolboy  knew. 
Just  one  word  and  we  have  done.  Mentor  thinks  it  neces¬ 
sary  to  instruct  us  as  to  the  benefits  arising  from  change  of 
seed-corn.  If  there  is  one  thing  that  even  eveiy  small  holder 
sees  to,  it  is  this.  The  initial  expense  is  not  great,  and  the 
man  who  is  not  fully  alive  to  his  own  interest  in  this  particular, 
is  certainly  not  to  be  found  in  any  of  the  many  agricultural 
counties  that  have  come  within  the  range  of  our  personal  know¬ 
ledge.  Surely  the  time  has  arrived  when  farmers  no  longer 
need  instruction  and  advice  from  fussy  amateurs. 
Work  on  the  Home  Farm. 
;  We  have  enjoyed  another  fine  week  without  frost,  and, 
except  for  the  state  of  the  wheat  crop,  can  express  satisfaction 
as  regards  the  year’s  prospects;  not  that  the  promise  is  very 
j^great,  but  it  is  much  better  than  appeared  possible  a  month  or 
,  t>vo  ago. 
'  Although  planting  has  not  long  been  completed,  we  have 
"^already  begun  to  harrow  the  potato  ridges.  "We  had  purposely 
avoided  working  the  land  fine  before,  for  we  have  frequently 
expressed  the  view  that  on  any  but  the  most  sandy  soils  it  must 
be  kept  rough  until  the  proper  time  for  earthing  up.  Soil 
aeration  is  absolutely  necessary  to  the  well-being  of  the  young 
potato  plant.  Having  left  the  ridges  in  a  tolerably  rough  state, 
we  can  now  commence  to  harrow  without  any  fear  of  getting  a 
fine  mould  too  -soon.  AVe  give  one  good  harrowing,  and  leave 
the  next  until  ju.st  before  the  sprouts  appear.  AVe  have  to-day 
s-een  potatoes  planted  under  difficulties  indeed.  The  ridges 
were  so  rough  as  to  be  impossible  to  split,  so  the  sets  were  being 
covered  up  l)y  the  aid  of  ox  harrows.  All  appeared  to  be  well 
covered,  and  we  have  little  doubt  that  the  planter,  if  he  takes 
full  advantage  of  future  opportunities  for  cultivation,  will 
obtain  a  very  fine  crop. 
As  pastures  grow,  the  price  of  store  stock  increases,  and  this 
is  especially  noticeable  just  now  in  the  case  of  sheep.  A  half- 
meated  hog  is  worth  as  much  in  the  store  market  as  one  with 
the  same  frame,  and  81b  or  101b  more  mutton  on  it.  Mutton  is 
not  cheap,  but  store  hogs  are  very  dear.  Using  cake  to  make 
stores  fat  when  you  can  buy  them  ready  fed  at  the  same  price 
must  be  a  losing  game.  It  is  every  day  becoming  more  apparent 
that  it  is  in  breeding  that  the  profit  lies,  both  as  regards  sheep 
and  cattle. 
AA'e  read  an  argument  by  an  authority  in  favour  of  corn, 
becau.se  cattle  feeding  leaves  no  return.  Surely,  if  a  £2  calf 
can  be  transformed  into  a  £20  bullock  in  twenty-four  months, 
there  must  be  a  return  after  cake  and  labour  are  paid  for  ?  Pigs 
are  such  a  drug  that  now  appears  to  be  the  time  to  start  breed¬ 
ing.  Gilts  purchased  now  and  sent  to  the  boar  would  farrow  in 
Augu.st,  and  the  litters  would  be  ready  to  sell  at  the  right  time, 
viz.,  in  November  and  December. 
