The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1884-03-22 00:00:00

THE AGRICULTURAL OUTLOOK.

Under the above heading the Daily Telegraph has
an article, from which we take the following:

Farmers, as may be supposed, are deriving great
advantage from the exceptionally fine weather, a dry
March being always favourable both to crops in the
ground and the furtherance of spring tillage opera-
tions. Still, there is always the dread that when
spring dawns with such unusual splendour thus early
it may prove the precursor to winter in the lap of
May later on. This apprehension should, however,
prevent no one from making the best of the situation
by pushing forward spring sowings wherever the soil
crumbles beneath the harrow and mellow seed beds of
fine filth can be easily wrought. No farmer ought to
refrain from sowing barley under such circum-
stances, especially in poor hill soils, for, according to
the most experienced and skilful, it can never be too
early in the year for barley sowing if a dry fine seed
bed be only procurable.
The high temperature and brightness of the season
causes everything to have a remarkably forward ap-
pearance. Grass not only grows rapidly in the
pastures, but turnips standing in the fields run to tops
prematurely—an evil rather than a good, as the bulbs
get sticky and hard in consequence, and their quality
will be impaired for feeding purposes next month.
There is, however, a remedy which the most ex-
perienced are very generally applying, which is either
to draw up and clamp the roots, or loosen their con-
nection with the soil by partially lifting them. One
favourite method is that oj sending labourers
into the field to pull up two alternate rows down
the field all over its surface, and lay the turnips
as they are drawn on the side ground, where
the alternate double rows are allowed to remain. The
ploughman then enters and throws deep furrows
taken from the alternate stretches from which the
crop has been rid, overlaying with them the whole of
the turnips—those that are drawn and those that are
not—so that they are completely buried, and the
entire field appears to superficial observation ridged
up in fallow. The premature running of swede
turnips to tops is thereby effectually prevented,
and when the shepherd enters the field with his
flock to consume the produce the only thing re-
quired to be done is to send a pair of horses with
harrows to unearth the covered-up crop by har-
rowing across the field. No objection to this process
need be entertained on the plea that some of the roots
would get withered by exposure to the sun ere they
could be consumed. Abstraction of moisture both
from mangels and turnips makes them more healthful
for stock feeding without diminishing their nutritive
qualities, while, on the other hand, swede turnips
allowed to develop tops freely in spring become so
impaired in quality that sheep can with difficulty be
made to eat them.

In those cases, probably rather numerous just now,
where large quantities of old fog-grass appear in
meadows, the opportunity should be at once seized on
to turn cattle into them to feed it off, which they are
likely enough to do readily, the mild weather having
caused fresh grass to spring up among the old fog
sufficient to entice the animals to clear off the whole.
Not a single day's delay should, however, be allowed
in doing this, it being quite time that the meadows
were in full growth for the main hay crop.
Some forward pastures in fertile and shel-
tered districts have already bites of fresh grass
for stock, and if the spring continues thus favour-
able it will rejoice very much the hearts of dairy
farmers. Abundance of keep mid the promising
aspect of pastures also cause graziers to be anxious
about buying in store stock: The market, it must be
confessed, is just now very much against them, the
decline in values, which took place about Christmas,
having not only thoroughly recovered, but having
given an upward tendency to rates of all store stock,
so as to lead to the probability that they will attain
higher limits this spring than they have had for a
tonsiderable length of time.

A C0N1:mm.7,4,-71°w does a cow become a landed
estate ?—By turning her into a field.
A RISFI.—The soldier's great risk is that of becom-
ing extinguished before he can become distinguished,