Science and Practice in Farm Cultivation Part 24

1st. _On the Uses of Manures._-It is pretty generally agreed that special manuring for corn, when grown in the ordinary shifting crop system, is positively injurious, and more truly so, if farmyard dung be employed. Still, on our own farm we were over-persuaded to give a dressing of rotted dung to some wheat. As the previous crop, turnips, had all but failed, we yielded on being told that it was a common Dorset custom, but, fortunately, only to the extent of a few acres down the middle of the field, on which part, at harvest, the main of the crop had fallen to the ground, with the affection known as knee-bent. There was plenty of straw, not at all good; but the yield of plump grains can hardly be half of those of the other parts of the field.

As a general rule, we have never observed special manuring to be useful except as top-dressings in early spring, at which time soot, or, better still, a mixture of soot and guano, may be sown on most wheat crops to advantage, and more especially where the young plant has been injured by the slug or the wire-worm, as in these cases the lower joint and the winter root are destroyed. If, then, the young plant be at this time stimulated with the mixture as advised, and the crop be afterwards rolled, we supply nutriment just in the form that it can be readily a.s.similated, the injured plants send out new roots from the second joint, and begin a fresh life, whilst the uninjured ones push out new buds-_stolons_-and all grow the better, because the roller has aided in firmly fixing the plants in the ground.

There have been those who would tell us that manure can be best used to wheat by subjecting the seed to various steeps; but we need hardly stop to question the folly of the a.s.sertions which from time to time re-appear, both at home and abroad, upon this point.

Thus far the subject of manures has been treated as for wheat as a shifting crop; but this crop has been grown year after year on the same soil, and, in some cases, without an apparent diminution in quant.i.ty or quality. One instance that came under our own observation was in Gloucestershire, where a cottager had grown wheat on the same plot of ground for thirteen years, and, for aught I know, it may still be continued. Hence the subsoil was _Lias shale_; but it was well drained and cultivated as a garden, the manure employed being the contents of the garden-house.

In cases of this kind, an annual application of manure is absolutely necessary; and we are happy to find that different manures and their effects have been experimented upon and duly noted, _for the same plots_, during a period of no less than twenty years, and that by such careful and reliable inquirers as J. B. Lawes, Esq., F.R.S., and Dr.

Gilbert, F.R.S.; full details of the results of whose labours upon this subject will be found in Vol. XXV. of the _Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England_, from which we have extracted some of the following general conclusions as to average yield and weight of corn for the lengthened periods quoted:-

1. TABLE OF RESULTS OF EXPERIMENTS AT ROTHAMSHEAD, BY MESSRS. LAWES AND GILBERT.

+------+--------------------------+------------+---------+----------+ Average Plots. Manures used every year. Average. weight Years. per bush. +------+--------------------------+------------+---------+----------+ Bush. Pecks. 1 Unmanured every year 16 1 579 20 years, 1844-63. 2 Ammonia salts alone 24 1 576 19 years, 1845-63. 3 14 tons Farmyard manure 32 1 600 20 years, 1844-63. 4 Unmanured every year 15 2 565 } 5 Mixed mineral manure alone 18 1 579 } 6 Ammonia salts alone 22 2 559 }12 years, 7 { Ammonia salts and mixed } }1852-63. { mineral manure } 36 1 584 } 8 14 tons Farmyard manure 35 1 593 } +------+--------------------------+------------+---------+----------+

A glance at this table shows us the wonderful results of _continuous_ manuring for the soil operated upon; we might, however, expect that, though the general conclusions would probably not greatly vary, yet that there would not be absolute uniformity in these respects in different soils and districts.

2. _On the Quality and Quant.i.ty of Seed-corn._-It seems to be generally concluded that a thin seed, from poorer soil, should be preferred for land of a better quality; but our own experience would lead us to look for seed from as great a change of soil as possible, and to procure therefrom not a poor, but as good a sample as we could. We should, however, look for our seed, not from a richer soil or a warmer climate, but the reverse. Oats, for example, as previously shown, degenerate, even to wild ones, if the poor seed be brought from a poor, cold soil, to be cultivated in land still poorer. We, however, on our farm, sowed oats during the past season weighing 48 lb. per bushel on a sandy soil; and, although our return was not so large in bushels as though we had sown black oats, yet their weight was but just under that of the seed.

Now, these oats were from Canada, and, no doubt, the warm climate of the west of England suited them as to change.

As regards barley, we prefer a good sample for seed, if it be of home-growth; at the same time, very thin samples from Russia, or the States, often do well. Last season, we sowed some American barley of so poor a quality, that it was impossible to tell its name, but which gave for 50 acres an average yield of 40 bushels per acre, so even and plump, that only 28 sacks of "tailing" were separated, and the bulk-good Chevallier barley-was equal to any in the market.

In cultivating wheat, climate must ever be considered, as only in warm situations can the finest samples of white wheats be grown. Upland cold positions are suitable for red wheats, and so are undrained lowlands; still, good farming will render it possible to grow white wheats where, before drainage and other ameliorating processes, such was impossible.

As regards the quant.i.ty to be sown per acre, it will be seen that the margin is sufficiently wide, if we say that it lies between half a peck and half a quarter. In garden cultivation, with deep digging, and in the absence of weeds, birds, or insects, where you can choose your time for every operation, dibble in a seed in a place, the minimum quant.i.ty may suffice, as good crops have been got from a very small quant.i.ty of seed; but garden experimenters rather too positively lay down the law, when they tell the farmer that this thin seeding will do equally well on broad acres, where every operation is circ.u.mscribed by circ.u.mstances.

Where there is so much to do, you cannot always get everything done at the right season, even if the soil were favourable for so doing; and the period at which you get your land ready for the seed, and the time of sowing it, makes a wide difference. But there is another point of even-if possible-greater importance; namely, the _quality_ of the seed.

Now, on our farm we always ascertain the germinating power of every sample of seed before sowing; and from this, as well as from the results of numerous experiments on this subject, we have arrived at the conclusion, that there are immense differences in this respect, which cannot possibly be made out at sight, but can only be ascertained experimentally. To make this matter clear, we append a table (2) of the results of experiments on this point upon no less than forty-two samples, which were tried in 1863.

Now, these experiments showed a want of germinating power, in some of the samples, of more than 50 per cent., and in the 42 samples an average of 245 per cent.; from which it will be seen that sometimes the thick sower is not the thick seeder, and his failure of a crop is not always due to slugs and wireworms.

These experiments were published in the _Agricultural Gazette_, and they evoked some remarks from a learned divine, so unfair and uncandid, as only to be excused by the nature of his professional education and modes of thought. Now, when this gentleman affected to believe that these things could not be so, and that with him every seed germinated, we could only conclude that the days of miracles had not quite ceased; but as, in later numbers of the _Gazette_, his opinions have been somewhat modified in this respect, we yet think him capable of riding a hobby too hard, though not until the pace has thrown him down and broken his knees will he own it.

2. TABLE OF THE GERMINATION OF WHEAT.

+---+---------------------+-------+-------+-----+------+------------------+ No. Label. Weight Price Came Failed Remarks. Wheats of 1862. per per up per bushel. bushel. pr. cent. cent. +---+---------------------+-------+-------+-----+------+------------------+ s. d. }These are six 1 Tasmania 66 ... 46 54 }samples from the 2 Ditto 605 ... 8 92 }the International 3 Tuscan, from Victoria 68 ... 94 6 }Exhibition of 4 Ditto ditto 63 ... 78 22 }1862, to which 5 Ditto ditto 67 ... 90 10 }they were for- 6 Tasmania 60 ... 30 70 }warded by various }colonists. Taken by us; 7 Ditto 595 ... 28 72 probably the same as No. 6. 8 Talavera 66 ... 98 2 }Four samples from 9 Spalding 633 ... 94 6 }Hainhault Farm- 10 Thick-set Rough Chaff 65 ... 100 None }amongst the best 11 Morton's Blood Straw 626 ... 94 6 }that have come }before us. 12 Hallett's Pedigree 629 ... 78 22 Communicated. 13 Creeping Wheat 665 ... 98 2 Ditto. 14 {Bland's Giant } 59 ... 96 4 Ditto. {Prolific } 15 Fuller's Red 568 ... 98 2 A poor grain from the Cotteswolds. {Samples taken by {us from Cirences- 16 Red Straw Lammas 568 7 0 82 18 {ter Market. No. 17 Hallett's Pedigree 646 10 6 88 12 {21 not a seed 18 Browick 585 6 6 88 12 {wheat; it con- 19 Red Chaff White 59 6 6 78 22 {tains 76,800 20 Free-trade 595 6 3 88 12 {seeds of corn 21 Russian 55 5 7 32 68 {c.o.c.kle and 64,000 {seeds of rye in {the bushel. 22 Burwell 585 8 0 18 82 } }Communicated 23 Rough Chaff Talavera 605 9 0 90 10 }from a well-known }seedsman. 24 Talavera 63 10 0 38 62 } 25 Corner's Rough Chaff 62 10 0 52 48 } 26 Red Browick 65 8 0 58 42 } 27 Chidham 665 10 0 70 30 } 28 Lammas 633 8 0 58 42 } 29 {Britannia, or Red} 8 0 54 46 }These formed a {Thickset } 66 }most interesting 30 Red Nursery 67 9 0 92 8 }series of several 31 Col. Quentin's Giant 68 9 0 38 62 }sorts of wheat- 32 Kessingland 633 8 0 86 14 }most of which 33 April 603 12 0 84 16 }looked remark- 34 Golden Drop 633 8 0 92 8 }ably well as hand 35 {Shirreff's Bearded} 605 9 0 74 26 }samples. {Red } } 36 Ess.e.x Rough Chaff 663 9 0 96 4 } 37 Hunter's White 60 8 0 60 40 }Out of condition. 38 {Shirreff's Bearded} 632 10 0 96 4 } {White } } 39 White Trump 633 9 0 96 4 } 40 Grace's White 65 10 0 38 62 } 41 Hertfordshire White 622 8 0 94 6 } 42 Hallett's Pedigree 66 10 0 92 8 } +---+---------------------+-------+-------+-----+------+------------------+

3. TABLE OF THE GERMINATION OF BARLEY, 1863.

+---+----------------+------+-----+------+----------------------------+ Price Came Failed No. Label. per up per Remarks. quar- pr. cent. ter. cent. +---+----------------+------+-----+------+----------------------------+ s. 1 From Sherborne 29 98 2 } 2 Martock 29 98 2 } 3 Lulworth 24 96 4 }All market samples. 4 Crewkerne 28 76 24 } 5 Mr. Masters 28 96 4 } 6 Odessa 24 96 4 } 7 From Salisbury 24 100 0 }Salisbury is considered 8 Ditto 24 96 4 }one of the best places for 9 Ditto 24 90 10 }seed barley. The samples 10 Ditto 24 92 8 }are mostly from the Chalk 11 Ditto 24 100 0 }Rock. 12 From Langport 28 100 0 } 13 Chard 27 82 18 }Like most of our speci- 14 Stiff-straw 28 82 18 }mens, market samples. 15 Nottingham 32 90 10 } 16 Chevallier 26 96 4 } 17 From Yeovil 26 70 30 }This is a low-germinating 18 Ditto 26 70 30 }series; their uniformity of 19 Ditto 26 84 16 }price and difference in 20 Ditto 26 94 6 }germination is remarkable. 21 Ditto 26 84 16 } 22 {Chevallier, } {Two good samples, and the {sown on farm } 28 96 4 {yield of the crop of fifty 23 American, ditto 28 100 0 {acres each about 36 bush. {per acre. 24 Ditto 30 92 8 25 New from farm, 30 98 2 1864 --- --- Average 92 8 In round numbers. +---+----------------+------+-----+------+----------------------------+

Seeing, then, that there were such variations in the germinating powers of wheat, we determined to try a series of experiments with barley; and from the results (table 3), it will be seen that, though the margin is not so wide, yet great differences occur; still, with regard to this grain, we constantly find that in samples too thin and poor for even the farmyard poultry to pick up, yet that much of this is capable of germination.

Still, theory and practice confirm the a.s.sumption that in England very much seed is wasted by being too thickly sown; and, if a farmer can get his land well prepared and in good time, we conclude, as a matter of practical experience, that just half the seed usually sown will be better than the double quant.i.ty; but we should, as a rule, make a difference of at least half a peck for each week that we were beyond the best time of wheat-sowing in any particular district. On our own farm we sowed four and six pecks of wheat where double the quant.i.ty had been the rule before Christmas, and from six to eight pecks afterwards; six pecks of barley and oats, where a sack had previously been the rule. With the wheat and barley we were right, except in the very late-sown of the latter, when time was only sufficient to grow a single head, and not to allow of stooling. Here a sack would have given a better result. The same with our oats: thin seeding caused them to run to straw; they were on a poor sand, taller than the men who cut them; but had we doubled our seed, we conclude we should have had shorter straw and more corn.

If, then, these things be so, the judgment of the farmer will be best shown in rightly weighing _all_ the circ.u.mstances of his case; and in the matter of seeding, as with physic, he will find that h.o.m.opathy _alone_ is only quackery.

CHAPTER x.x.xI.

ON HARVESTING CORN.

A knowledge of when corn is in the best condition to be harvested is a matter of great importance; and hence some observations upon this subject may fitly conclude this part of our work.

Not to enter too deeply into chemical matters, we may state, at least as a probable general conclusion, that there is a period in the growth of grain and pulse crops before they are ripe, in which all the feeding qualities will be found diffused in the several plants; a little later, and the feeding matters will be found more particularly concentrated in the seed. Now, if oats, peas, and beans, be cut in this "green" state, they make either a fresh food, or can be dried into hay, which, when cut into chaff, is found to be an excellent feeding material; and as such crops can be quickly cleared and cheaply employed, there is no doubt but that they will henceforward be more generally used in this way than formerly.

But, again, in ripening of wheat there would appear to be a point in its progress short of "dead ripe," in which every quality is fully stored in the seed; and, after this period, the seed-covering becomes thicker, and makes more bran in proportion to flour: facts made out from the following results of experiments of samples in three different states:-

TABLE OF THE RESULTS OF EXPERIMENTS WITH WHEAT.

_Sample 1._-Wheat gathered when the grain was sweet, and almost milky. The stalks green. Date, July 25th, 1856.

_Sample 2._-Wheat from the same field, gathered when in the state of hardening grain. The stalk just yellowed all the way down.

August 2nd.

_Sample 3._-Wheat from the same field, gathered when what is termed "dead ripe," having been, in fact, left longer than it otherwise would, for want of hands. August 18th.

4. TABLE OF RESULTS FOR TWELVE EARS OF WHEAT DRIED.

"MORTON'S RED STRAW WHITE."

+-------+---------+-------------+---------+-----------------+ Sample. Weight No. of grains Weight of of of grains of the ears. corn. corn. +-------+---------+-------------+---------+-----------------+ Grains. Grains. 1 400 569 284 Grain shrivelled. 2 379 431 294 Grain plump. 3 468 453 377 Grain coa.r.s.er. +-------+---------+-------------+---------+-----------------+

5. TABLE OF a.n.a.lYSIS OF THE CORN FOR THE TWELVE EARS.

+-------+--------+-----------+-----------+------------------+ Per-centage Per-centage Sample. Measure. of of flour. bran. +-------+--------+-----------+-----------+------------------+ 1 75 704 296 } Flour of a fine 2 68 714 286 } white quality in 3 88 637 363 } all the samples. +-------+--------+-----------+-----------+------------------+

Now, this shows that although the medium ripe ears in sample 2 had a less number of grains, yet their per-centage of flour, as compared with bran, was greatly on the increase. Still, it will be seen that sample 3 has the advantage in measure: hence, then, unless the miller will agree to give a better price for a "gay"[22] sample, it will be to the farmer's advantage to leave it to fully ripen, if he can make sure that it can be kept from shedding in harvesting, and the attacks of birds.

[22] The farmer's term for early-cut corn, in both the middle and West of England.

As regards barley, if our crop is required for home use for feeding purposes, we should cut at least a week earlier than most people, and we should have as good feeding quality, without loss from winds, loss in harvesting, and from birds; but, if our land grows malting barley, the sample will be a better, and more uniform in germinating, when "dead ripe."

During the last season (1864), our pupil, F. Witts, Esq., collected bunches of corn from a crop of fine white oats at the under-mentioned dates. From these we counted 500 seeds, and took their weights; and, though we confess that many such experiments will be required to settle the whole facts of the case, yet the results given in table 6 are so curious, that we hope in future to direct our pupils in carrying out many similar experiments.

The two samples, each of the 20th and 21st, were probably obtained from different parts of the same field, yet they lead us to conclude, as do those of the other dates, that a single day, if a hot summer, makes a great deal of difference. Now, the crop was not cut until a week after the 21st, and yet we are persuaded that we should have gained by cutting on the 20th rather than later, and, at least, we should have prevented much loss from "shed" seeds.

6. TABLE OF RIPENING OF OATS.

+-------+------+-------+--------------------------------+ No. Weight Date. of in Remarks. seeds. grains. +-------+------+-------+--------------------------------+ July 9 500 110 }The interiors of the grains July 9 500 120 }only milky. July 11 500 165 }The interiors just beginning July 14 500 165 }to harden. July 16 500 2075 }Seeds ripe, but not beginning July 18 500 230 }to shed. July 20 500 250 } July 20 500 2625 }Ripe, and shedding more July 21 500 2575 }every day. July 21 500 2675 } Dec. 15 500 250 {Thrashed on the named date. {Weight, 47 lb. per bushel. +-------+------+-------+--------------------------------+

[Ill.u.s.tration: Crataegus oxyacanthoides. Glabrous White-thorn.]

HOW TO GROW GOOD FENCES.