necessary to guard against the ravages of slugs. This can best be done by strewing lime round the edges of the field. But the enemies most to be dreaded are those which enjoy the protection of the law, hares and rabbits. "If you have the misfortune to be cursed with them in great numbers, and dare not destroy or annoy them, you cannot have my corn, and the owner of the land must be content with such rent as a tenant thus deprived will be able to pay him." The crop should be well hoed about a month after sowing, and when the weeds renew their attacks resort should be had to the plough. The intervals between the rows being six feet, the plough should start in the middle of an interval, and turn three furrows on each side towards the middle: it should not go to the next interval, but to the next but one, leaving each alternate interval unploughed. At the end of four days the earth is to be ploughed back again towards the plants, and after a further period of four days, a similar process is to be commenced for the unploughed rows. The reason for this delay is that the plough will probably cut off a number of roots from one side of the plants, and time should be given for them to recover and throw out fresh roots before a similar operation takes place on the other side. A second ploughing will probably be required in July. The next thing to be done is to take off the suckers, of which each plant will throw out three or four, and then with a hoe to earth up the plants six or seven inches above their former level; this will give them a fresh stock of roots. The next operation is the "topping" of the corn; this should take place when the grain begins to harden, the tops and blades being taken off with a knife so as to prevent their retarding the ripening of the grain; the tops should be laid down along the rows in small bundles and tied into sheaves. When dried they are carried and stacked, and will be found to be very valuable food for cattle and horses in the spring months. The ears are to be gathered when the husk turns white on the outside and the corn becomes quite hard. Two men should go along an interval stripping the ears off the plants on each side and tossing them into a cart. They may then be thrown down in a shed, and husked at any convenient time, the ears being put into small corn-cribs which are so constructed as to admit the air and prevent mould. The farmer can now know to a nicety the amount of his crop, for each bushel of ears will produce half a bushel of corn when the grains are "shelled" or separated from the cobb. Agricultural Labourers and Cottage Economy. 25 The uses to which Indian corn can be put are, in Cobbett's view, almost unlimited. It can be used as food for pigs, sheep, oxen, poultry, horses, and lastly, man himself. Finally, this valuable crop does not, like wheat, suffer from blight, smut, or mildew; it comes to maturity at a time when the farmer's ordinary harvest is completed, and, while wheat requires three bushels of seed to produce a crop of twenty-eight bushels on an acre of land, six quarts of Indian corn will produce from fifty to one hundred bushels. In his Treatise, Cobbett argues that many Scriptural references to "corn" relate to maize, and not to wheat or other cereal. Cobbett, from his boyhood, was always fond of gardening, and it was about this time that he published Cobbett's English Gardener. Of this book, he says, in the advertisement: "A complete book of the kind. A plan of a kitchen garden, and little plates to explain the works of pruning, grafting, and budding. But it is here, as in all my books, the principles that are valuable; it is a knowledge of these that fills the reader with delight in the pursuit. I wrote a Gardener for America, and the vile wretch who printed it there had the baseness to leave out the dedication. No pursuit is so rational as this, as an amusement or relaxation, and none so innocent and so useful. It naturally leads to early rising, to sober contemplation, and is conducive to health. Every young man should be a gardener, if possible, whatever else may be his pursuits." Cobbett was always untiring in his efforts to ameliorate the condition of the agricultural labourer. His Cottage Economy, published in 1821, in addition to information as to the making of bread, brewing of beer, and "keeping of cows, pigs, bees, ewes, goats, poultry and rabbits," contained also an essay on straw plaiting. He had discovered, on examination, that Leghorn hats were made from the dried stalks of oats, wheat and other grasses, and had straightway set to work to get hats made from English raw material. In August, 1823, he is at a village near Botley, and finds that his labours have borne fruit, as a farmer's wife there wears a bonnet which she has made herself of crested dog's tail grass. She had two girls at work plaiting, who, in this way earned six shillings a week, a labouring man's wages in that district being then no more than seven shillings. For his exertions in the creation of this new industry Cobbett was awarded, in 1823, the large silver medal of the Society of Arts. 1 The Rural Rides continue down to the year 1826. second series was begun in 1829 and continued down to 1832, 1 See note on "English Straw Plait Manufacture" in Journal of the Society of Arts for November 28, 1879, page 30. when he made a political tour through the Northern Counties, visiting Newcastle, Hexham, Shields, Sunderland, and Durham. In 1832 the Reform Bill was passed, and shortly afterwards Cobbett heard that it was intended to nominate him for Oldham. At the General Election, held in December of that year he was successful. He was again returned for Oldham in 1835; but it was evident that he was rapidly failing. He took part in debates on the Malt Tax and Agricultural Distress, and he spoke in the House as late as the 25th of May. A few days later it was known that he was seriously ill, and he died peacefully on June 17, 1835, at Normandy Farm, near Guildford, at the age of 73. The Register of June 19 con tains the following words, written by his son : “On Wednesday he could remain no longer shut up from the fields, but desired to be carried round the farm; which being done, he criticised the work that had been going on in his absence, and detected some little deviation from his orders with all the quickness that was so remarkable in him. On Wednesday night he grew more and more feeble and was evidently sinking; but he continued to answer with perfect clearness every question that was put to him. In the last half-hour his eyes became dim, and at ten minutes after one p.m., he leaned back, closed them as if to sleep, and died without a gasp." Thus William Cobbett died, as he had been born, and as he had passed a large part of his life—amid the interests and pursuits of a farmer's life. At the present day, nearly seventy years after his death, he is remembered as a fearless and prolific political writer. His contributions to the cause of agriculture are forgotten; yet they were of no mean order. As an agriculturist, he was in advance of his age. Unlike the ordinary farmer of the time, he was always ready to learn; and when he found that he had learnt anything of value, he was always ready and anxious to communicate this knowledge to his fellows. It is true that, despite his writings, the acacia has not yet supplanted the oak as a timber tree; that the farmer does not "top" his Indian corn in August, or hold "husking frolics" in November; and that labourers' wives do not occupy their spare time in manufacturing straw hats for their husbands. None the less, his books relating to farming deserve far more attention than they now receive, for they embody the teachings of an observant and practical farmer always ready to indicate new methods of improving the fortunes of the landowner, the farmer, and the labourer, and of increasing the productive powers of the land. Wilburton Manor, Ely. ALBERT JULIAN PELL. THE CONTINUOUS GROWTH OF MANGELS FOR [Communicated by the Lawes Trust Committee.] THE experiments on the continuous growth of mangels on The readers of this Journal will be familiar with the reports grow leguminous crops, like beans or clover, continuously on the Geescroft and Hoos Fields. In such a scheme root crops, so essential a feature of English farming, naturally found a place, and accordingly experiments were begun in 1843 on turnips in the Barn Field, the results of which have been recorded in a paper entitled, "Turnip Culture." 1 1 As it was found practically impossible to continue the growth of swedes on the same land, the experiments upon this crop were concluded in 1870, and sugar beet was taken in their place. The results of the trials of sugar beet were embodied in a paper published in 1898.2 But the results of the experiments upon the mangels which succeeded the sugar beet in 1876 have never been wholly published. The leading features brought out, and some of the crop returns, were summarised in a lecture delivered by the late Sir Henry Gilbert at the Royal Agricultural College at Cirencester in 1887, and again in his lectures delivered in America in 1893, and reprinted in the Transactions of the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, Vol. VII., 1895. For many years past the Barn Field, where the mangels are growing, has been one of the most interesting of the experimental fields at Rothamsted, both as regards the practical lessons to be drawn from the various plots, and the many scientific questions raised by the results. The writer had the privilege of being conducted by the late Sir Henry Gilbert round the mangel plots as recently as the record crop of 1900; there must be many others who retain the recollection of similar visits and of the intense interest, even the enjoyment, with which Sir Henry expounded the results as he passed from plot to plot in the field. It is perhaps but fitting that in this, the first paper issuing from Rothamsted since his death, the writer can be little more than the mouthpiece of the conclusions, which he was fortunate enough to be able to gather from their source even in so small a degree. The mangel differs in several essential respects from the other root crops grown upon the farm; it is suited to both hotter and drier climates than either swedes or turnips. It can conveniently be sown at an earlier date, so that in the South and East of England at any rate it is easier to secure a good plant, which once established is much better able by its deeper rooting habit to withstand and even to flourish in droughts that would seriously injure the prospects of the swede crop. In consequence it is possible to grow far heavier crops of mangels than of swedes in most parts of England, no 1 Journal R.A.S.E., Vol. 8, 1847, pp. 494-565. 2 Ibid., Vol. 59, 1898, pp. 344-370. |