The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1870-03-29 00:00:00

Spitultun.

FAR WING OPERATIONS.

811:1)-TINI.—Tho sowing of awn seeps Amid
continue to be predicated with ineseaMag assidnitT:
the season advanoss, until all the lead is seeded. n
separate sorrier if vitae@ should also be attended to
as formerly directed for the eresesive wettings and
folding@ of summer.
POTATO PLAIITDIO Is now general in our southern
counties for the main mop, the work of planting
oontinuing northwards up to the latter pert of April.
dome fallow and =inured at the time of planting,
either on the flat or in 30-inch ridges. The latter plan
of manuring is becoming more and more common, with
the eactption of very dry, open, porous soils. In such
the manors is sometimes spread over the whole surface
and ploughed into every farrow. In other examples it
is ploughed into every third farrow only. In the
former case the sets are rascally dibbled in, bort in the
latter they are dropped into every third furrow with
the manure, it to 12 inches apart, as in ridges. dime
diversity of opinion exists.. to the degree of rottenness
of the dung, but the general metros is to apply
It lees rotten to potato. than turnips, but with
sufficient sap to ensure its Made liworoti°° with
the lend. Dry rot or firefansing in the d is, on the
contrary, highly objectionable, being injurious to
potatoes. A. mixture of guano mid superphosphate,
lt cwt. sash, with 15 Girt, of common salt per awe,
would do much to prevent dry rot, and to incorporate
the manure with the soiL The ridges are set up and
the manors covered in either with • double
monldboard plough, ar with a double tem
of a common plough; and the work should
not be done in rainy weather, when the land
poaches., as the crop is partial to a good working
season. In ordinary yews the ridges receive • strobe
of the harrows some three weeks after, purposely "to
let the plants out." But in very dry weather it is
aornmon to roll down the ridges Bat, more especially in
the lighter deocriptions of soils, the better to keep is
the sap. An exceptional practice is to grow wakens
with compost spread evenly over the surface of the
lead, the seta being planted Mso on the surface along
the edge of the petered furrow of the double mould.
hoard plough, so as to be in the middle of the ridge
formed by the newt furrow. In Ireland old gram-leads
are freqeently broken up with a crop of potatoes on
the lesy-beil plan. The land is laid out in narrow beds,
the se's are then planted on the grassy sward and
lightly oovered at first with earth dug front the alloys
between the beds. Heavy crops are thus raised, but
heavier would no doubt were two hundredweight of
guano with an equal dose of superphosphate and 15
hundred-weight of salt per aore spread evenly over the
glass before planting.
Sun POTATO= require to be atrefully selected in
order to avoid disease, desensitise, told milittri of
kinds. To rffoct this they should be carefully examined
a second time during the operation of matting, and those
showing any rottenness or mouldiness should be threwa
aside for the pigs, and only the sound ones used for
seta Small potatoes, that hays not attained maturity
of growth, and large ones, that are sboormelly an'
shapely and overgrown are also obiecitionable for seed.
This slims, when inadvertently made, should be thrown
aside, as they do not supply auffieient nourishment to
the young plant in sterling. 130010 plant the sets when
newly cot, but the more advisable practice is to allow
the out Durham to Manse severed with a skin, which
soon takes pleas if the seta are mooed %trimly over the
Boor and turned once a day. Newly out sets should
never be put into sacks or heaps for au r length of
time, as they are very liable to boat And thus sustain
harm.

PALING AND BURNING in breaking op peePlands not
unfrequenily follow Lady• Day eat. ice, sad in snob
cease, however nefsvoitrable the iwason may be for the
work, the paring plough must be yoked, the drying
and burning of the sods bring left to the mercy of the
weather to come. Shedd the sods be beat down with
rein they eon be raised again by a stroke of the barrows,
and eo on.
_

_
WHEAT HOKIN° will partial,. be later than lewd,
but on the other band the season ',claire' that the
hoes be started as soon as the weather will st all per-
mit, so u to give the young plants the timely benefit
of the operation, ant thus overtake byegonea as much as
possible. In other words, Nature has hitherto been
moving at a retarded pace, and is likely to be be-hind
her usual time of tillering sod the Cirmation of the ear,
keep the hoes gio so as to help her 011W•T,IS with
accelerated speed for the future, until she overtakes the
past. Bach can be done in this way.
IRRIGATID MEADOWS. The weather of the past
month has retarded greatly early spring growth, so that
the first cutting will be later. But we have always
found it advisable in such cases to take tiewo by the
forelock, indent as mueh shorter as the season is later,
and then foroe forward the future cuttings with a little
°stilt doctoring, if needful, by means of Notable
fertilisers.

Swigi.--,Sowe are generally timed to furrow their
first litter for the wagon about the aloes of the month,
and sometimes earlier on dairy farms, to consume the
buttermilk and skimmed milk when the cows calve
early. Keep the pigstye warm and dry. and attend to
cleanlintar generally, with • nourishing diet by miring
meal in the milk. In dairies where the whole milk is
churned the buttermUk will supply a sufficiency to sour
food, bur where the cream only is churned more sour
food wil be required than the bottermilk•