28 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE 



flourishing town, and there is little doubt but it would have 

 paid, had the cows been kept in a natural and proper way ; 

 but the cows were not so treated in the outset, aud the theo- 

 ries and absurdities of M3're-miU were carried out with still 

 greater absurdity at Camming Park. On a farm of 50 Scotch 

 acres, a house was built to accommodate 48 cows ; 24 on 

 each side. The tank system aud liquid manuring was to be 

 adopted, the land having been piped, so that, by means of 

 flexible hose, the liquid could be distributed as required. 

 Mr. Dickenson, who some time ago published a short essay 

 on "Italian rye-grass and liquid manuring," ventured to 

 quote Myre-mill and CummingPark as remarkable instances 

 of the success of his system, and appeared to claim for him- 

 self the credit of having introduced an improved and pecu- 

 liar breed of Italian grass, grown ouly by himself.. Mr. JJick- 

 euson, as a vendor of grass seeds, might be right in advertising 

 hia goods; but how far he was ri^jht in recommending his 

 system and showing large profits, the sequel has shown. The 

 owners of the farms in question have great reason to regret 

 having adopted high-farming as their rule, and its utter failure 

 and abaadonraent is sufficient evidence of itself to prove the 

 pecuniary loss attending it. Some description of the cow- 

 house at CiimmiogParfc may be interesting to agricultural 

 readers, if it be only to show how much foolish money can be 

 thrown away in making poor cows miserable. The approaches 

 to the farm-steading from the " banks of bonnie Doon" and 

 " Alloway's Anld Haunted Kirk" are very beautiful, and the 

 mind seems prepared to realize all that has been told and 

 written of Mr. Telfer and Gumming Park. The illusion, how- 

 ever, is of short duration, and the first thing to be noticed is 

 the debris of its once boasted fame. Here maj be seen in 

 rusty confusion and neglect every kind of implement — good, 

 bad, and indifferent — from Howard's ploughs downwards to 

 the most useless and impracticable things ever invented. The 

 cows drmvinfj-xoo\a was deserted, but there were some curious 

 pictures left inside. The cows (only eleven) were pastured in 

 an adjoining field, and were no doubt happier and more con- 

 tented than their predecessors had been in the grand lodgings 

 Mr. Telfer had provided. In this apartment the first thing 



which took our attention was the absence of straw as a layer ' 

 the cows were not permitted to lie down on this common and 

 vulgar bed ; they had a material prepared for them called cow- 

 carpetiug, each haviug a carpet provided about the size of a 

 common hearth-rug, extending the width of the stall. This 

 carpeting was, of course, Scotch ; it was not the production of 

 Wilton or Kidderminster, but made of hemp and cocoa-nut 

 fibre, and looked more comfortable than the bare stones of the 

 bjres at Myre-mill. The bottom of the gutter was laid with 

 cast-metal perforated tiles, to carry the urine down to the 

 tank. The walls of the plate were drawn, and appeared as if 

 intended for paint or paper ; whde the lower part, four feet 

 high, was lined with a fine black slate having all the appear- 

 ance of marble. Tbe building was slated; but the slates were 

 too cold in winter and too hot in summer. To preserve a 

 uniformity of temperature, the under-side was boarded and 

 afterwards drawn to correspond with the side-walls. Arrange- 

 ments were made (or throwing the place into complete dark- 

 ness, so that the cows, after being fed, might be cheated out 

 of daylight into midnight, and coaxed into an unnatural slum- 

 ber. To light the place with gas was nearly impossible, or it 

 might have been done, so as to divide the 24 hours into several 

 days and as many nights. All this was done for cows, that 

 did not and could not appreciate, and nothing was done for 

 the cottager, who would have been thankful tor some addi- 

 tional comforts to his dwelling. The "bonnie lassie" of a 

 dairy-maid, hale and strong, appeared to be doing all the work 

 with £5 a year and board and lodgings. She was a plumpy, 

 lumpy, tidy lass ; her dairy was clean, and her face and feet 

 were clean ; her legs and arms the colour legs and arms ought 

 to be, and like the fabled " fcx and grapes," she nobly despised 

 shoes and stockings. We have entered into a more length- 

 ened account of Scottish husbandry than we had intended ; 

 at the same time we only write down what we saw during our 

 inspection and journey. Scotland is a hundred years iu 

 advance of England — in self-laudation ; but she is more than a 

 hundred years behind England in her husbandry. 



A North Derbyshire Farmer. 



SHEEP AND SHEEP-FARMING IN NEW ZEALAND. 



Of New Zealand, some thirty years back, but little was 

 known. Schoolboys were then taught that Captain Cook had 

 discovered an island to which this name had been given ; and 

 it was very generally understood to be peopled by a fierce and 

 athletic race, more or less cannibal in their habits, continually 

 carrying on a predatory and internecine war, and generally 

 inclined to act in a hostile manner towards English intruders. 

 Here, however, all information ceased ; the sole people who 

 felt an interest in this terra incognita being missionaries and 

 whalers, the latter of whom found the coast peculiarly suited 

 for the formation of stations, aud by whom, it appears, a very 

 profitable business was then carried on. 



Of late years, however, it has so increased in importance, 

 from the discovery of its mineral wealth, and it is so pecu- 

 liarly adapted for the production of sheep, that at the present 

 day probably few countries offer greater interest to the in- 

 quiring aud intelligent mind. It is composed of three 

 islands, the North, the Centre, and the Southern or Stewart's 

 Island. Of these the central one — eventually destined to 

 take the lead — is divided into the Provinces of Nelson, Can- 

 terbury, and Otago. 



Without entering into a consideration of the various local 

 peculiarities of each, it is sufficient to state that the whole 

 island is of a pastoral nature, aud, although the northern dis- 

 trict may complain of overabundance of timber, while the 

 centre is so destitute of this necessary as to make even fire- 

 wood an expensive article, aud the extreme south is too wet ; 

 yet these drawbacks are so amply counterbalanced by the 

 richness of the pasturage and the plentiful supply of water, 

 as well as by the general mildness of the climate, that I be- 

 lieve no equal district of laud in the whole world is more 

 peculiarly suitable for sheep-farming. 



The original stock imported, some ten j'ears back, from 

 Sydney and Melbourne, consisted of the very refuse of the 

 New South Wales and Victoria flockB. The present Merino 



sheep of Canterbury cannot be contrasted with the earlier 

 arrivals at Port Cooper. 



That from time to time tbo introduction of superior blood 

 has had much to do with this i^iarked improvement, there can 

 be no doubt, but it is certain that it must be mainly attri- 

 buted to the sheep being in a climate suitable for its natural 

 development, and where it has had an abundance of excellent 

 pasturage. No longer exposed to the summer drought, and 

 consequent lack of nutriment in the herbage of Australia, it 

 has far surpassed the sheep of that country in quantity of 

 wool and weight of carcass. There came under my notice a 

 flock of wethers, raised in the Canterbury District, and for- 

 warded to Christ's Church, that averaged, when dressed by 

 the butcher, over TSlbs. each. 



New Zealand is especially fortunate in having no natural 

 enemy to the sheep ; neither the wild dog (or dingo) of Aus- 

 tralia, nor any other carnivorous animal, lessens the profit of 

 the feeder ; while the New Zealanders, or Maories, unlike the 

 Australians, have never been given to the stealing of sheep, 

 by which, in the early days of the colony, many a New South 

 Wales farmer has met with heavy losses, and, in some in- 

 stances, was compelled to give up his station. Whatever 

 injury the colonists may have received at the hands of the 

 New Zealand natives, was done in open warfare. At the pre- 

 sent day they are an industrious, quiet, and manly race, 

 chiefly supported by fishing and the raising of cattle, horses, 

 pigs, corn, and potatoes, on their own lands. Many of them 

 make excellent and trustworthy shepherds. In the north 

 Island, where they are more numerous, it is by no means rare 

 to come across natives of considerable wealth, aud possessing 

 a very creditable amount of business information. 



It is worthy of notice that, in consequence of the tenderness 

 of the grass, sheep live much longer in New Zealand than in 

 Australia, the hardness and roughness of the pasture in the 

 latter country during the summer months causing them to be- 



