276 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



LEICESTERSHIRE. 



For the past two months the weather has been exceedingly 

 various, with sudden changes of temperature, severe frost 

 being succeeded in a few hours by thaw, and a great rise in 

 the thermometer with heavy rain following. The past month 

 may be noted for its great rainfall, 312 inches, being double 

 an average. This may be considered rather an advantage than 

 otherwise, as, from the small quantity of rain which has fallen 

 in the past three years, the springs had become very lew, 

 wells dry, and water very scarce in the ponds where no running 

 streams abound. We had hoped that the following month 

 would have partaken of a milder and more serene atmosphere ; 

 but in this we have been disappointed, and we have been 

 visited with severe frosts, frequent showers, but no grtat 

 amount of rain, only 044 inch up to this date, and very little 

 snow. This untoward weather for so long a time has been 

 very perplexing to the tiller of the grounfJ, as very little pro- 

 grass could be made in preparing the land for spring cropping. 

 Fortunately, the harvest was early, and the corn cleared off 

 the ground sooner than in most seasons ; aad it was in a for- 

 ward state in the autumn, and a great breadth was cleaned 

 and laid-up, to recnve the wheat-seed in good time, and much 

 now is ready for the spring-seed on the stale furrow. From 

 the early frost, followed by such intractable weather, no pro- 

 gress could be made in sowing the laud from which root-crops 

 had been removed ; and there remains a considerable breadth 

 unsown which was intended for wheat. It will be a matter of 

 some consideration, whether this land should be sown late with 

 wheat, or early with barley, the best samples of this grain 

 being worth nearly as much as wheat ; but the chances of a 

 good crop are in favour of barley. The weather, which we 

 above described, has not only prevented work being done 

 fr eely on the farm, but has been lamentably destructive lo an 

 i{ftmeuse quantity of roots. We apprehend two-thirds of the 

 finest crop of mangolds have perished by the severe frosts in 

 October, and scarcely less damage has been generally done to 

 turnips. Even the hardy swede has succumbed to the invete- 

 racy of the temperature, and where any are now left they look 

 as brown as paving stones, with not a morsel of green to be 

 seen, and when examined, they crush up rotten like a sponge 

 filled with water. Though we have seen seventy winters we 

 never recollect one in which more havoc has been made with 

 roots than in this ; we have known as severe with a longer 

 duration of frost, but in those cases the crops have been pro- 

 tected by a good covering of snow. There was a good supply 

 of grass in the pastures iu the autumn, which promised much 

 keep for sheep, and gnawing for cattle in the winter; but the 

 weather has had such a destructive influence upon it, that but 

 little now remains of good quality. Under these circumstances 

 it must be evident that much difficulty will prevail iu keeping 

 both sheep and cattle up to the mark till the spring. The 

 greatest caution has been necessary in feeding stock with the 

 nearly rotten roots, but no ill eflfects have resulted where a 

 suitable mixture of dry food has been given ; and it is sur- 

 prising how well the beasts have eaten the mangold in the fold- 

 yards where well foddered with straw ; and a large quantity 

 of these roots have consumed in this way, unfortunately, a 

 large bulk which would have been held over till the spring, 

 had they not been frozen. Sheep even now eat the spongy, 

 w atery swedes better than could be supposed, where the land is 

 d ry, that they can be penned upon them, butthere is great hazard 

 attached to this plan unless they are supplied with a good por- 

 tion of oats cut in the straw, with a little cake or pulse, and 

 they are doing tolerably well where thus fed. We believe 

 that the potato camps, where effectually secured from tne 

 frosts, open better than was expected, and there are not so 

 many diseased bulbs as were anticipated. They are dear ; 

 selling at from 43. to 5s. the bushel. On the diseases among 

 stock, we regret to remark that a great loss has occurred in 

 lamb-hogs ; even, in some cases, to the whole of the flock — 

 this prevails in the greatest degree in the grazing districts 

 where they have been depastured on grass. This epidemic 

 is not the diarrhoea, and there are different opinions as to what 

 cause the disease is to be attributed ; there is little doubt but 

 it is a pulmonary affection, accompanied with fever ; however, 

 where it attacks, it defies medical skill, and generally proves 

 fatal. This is a serious loss to the grazier, and will cause 

 sheep to be scarce, and consequently dear in the spring. We 

 do not hear of any fatal disease among cattle, but many herds 

 are suffering from the mouth aud foot disease, yet we hope, in 



rather a modified form ; still, it backwards their condition, 

 and is most felt in dairies, as it frequently causes inflamma- 

 tion in the bags, and spoils the milk. The vigorous weather 

 we have experienced for the past three months has not only 

 destroyed ttie greater portion of the roots, but put iu jeopardy 

 the young wheat plant. From the severe frost setting in im- 

 mediately p.fter the first wheat sowing (for the thermometer 

 wrote 4, 8, and 9 degrees below freezing on the 23rd, 24th, and 

 25th October), the seed lay a long time in the ground, and did 

 not appear on clay soils till late in November, and was caught 

 by the intense frosts of December, in its most tender state. 

 Were it not a provision of the Almighty that the nature of 

 this plant, which produces the staff of life, renders it almost 

 impervious to the severity and changes of temperature in this 

 climate, serious apprehensions would arise for its safety in a 

 winter like the present ; and no doubt some mischief has been 

 done, but we hope not to such an extent as to prevent its 

 recovery. Undoubtedly the crop exhibits a great contrast to 

 the flourishing one of this time last year, as it now appears 

 generally weakly ; yet the plant comes regular in the drills, 

 and, from the severity of the season, we conclude it is not 

 likely to suffer damage from insects. This is certainly cal- 

 culated to excite gloomy forebodings as to the future; but we 

 have frequently known changes take place so rapidly in former 

 years that we do not participate in such fears ; and it is far 

 too early to form conclusions as to what will he the result 

 when the crop arrives at maturity. No progress has yet been 

 made in putting into the ground pulse crops, though this is 

 the time when that work is usually in full operation; but it 

 scarcely appears possible this season that much can be done 

 till the searching winds of early March have swept over the 

 wet and frozen furrows, and dried them sufficiently for this 

 work to be accomplished. We must console ourselves with 

 the old adage, " Sow beans when you will, they'll not come 

 up till April." Our markets have had a better tone of late, 

 and an advance of 2a. or 3a. per quarter has been established 

 in wheat, and barley continues to fetch high prices, but from 

 the variety in quality, the range is very wide — wheat from 

 43s. to 52s., barley 308. to 44s., oats 259. to 34s., beans 528. 

 per quarter, The stock of wheat in farmers' hands is considered 

 large ; still, from the small quantity imported, we are of 

 opinion that prices will yet advance. Though very little out- 

 door work as regards working the land could be done of late, 

 our labourers have been tolerably well employed, with wages 

 for best hands 1 29. per week. There is a lull in the wool 

 trade, and but little doing ; but this arises from the uncer- 

 tainty of political events ; and we do not apprehend there will 

 be much life in the trade till the commercial treaty with 

 France, and the Budget, have been finally disposed of by 

 Parliament.— Feb. 25th. 



SOMERSETSHIRE. 



Spring sowing has commenced aud is making rapid progress, 

 the land being in excellent condition and the weather propi- 

 tious, making up for the lost time the latter end of last and 

 commencement of this month, when the laud was thoroughly 

 soaked. The frost which commenced the dry season we are 

 passing through prepared the land ; it gradually lessened, and 

 we had several days of cold dry wind, with some slight snow- 

 storms and showers ; the snow lay on the ground in the 

 western part of the country, and, except in this locality, there 

 has been an uninterrnpted preparation of the laud, and farmers 

 have committed peas and beans to the soil for another crop. 

 Of the former very few are being planted, but of the latter a 

 great many appear likely to be drilled, as this has almost en- 

 tirely superseded planting. I should have noticed the little 

 spring sown wheat now nearly accomplished, to a much less 

 extent than usual. A demand has sprung up for barley for 

 seed, and there will be an effort to put in a large breadth of 

 this grain ; it paid the best, and sold well, and at present 

 there is quite a scarcity of samples — not equal in supply to 

 the demand. White wheat is less enquired for, and is in better 

 supply. We shall have a good deal to do in the next month, 

 as the season is rather backward, as to the labour needed to 

 prepare a crop. These dry and cold winds are seasonable, 

 although retarding the growth of grass : the hay is not so 

 wasted, still it shrinks very fast, and has already lessened the 

 eagerness to buy grazing stock, for the root crop does not 

 afford that abundance as last year, and there is now the appear- 



