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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE, 



perlence went, and the farm was at all adapted, he should 

 recommend both systems to be followed, as it would in Bome 

 measure relieve the tedious and expensive haymaking, as also 

 the indoor drudgery attending a large dairy. 



Colonel N. Kingscote, M.P., said he felt much interest 

 in Mr. Savage's paper, and also in the discussion. He was 

 rather surprised to find so strong a feeling in favour of dairy- 

 ing, as he should have thought the pastures in the Vale as well 

 calculated for grazing as those in some of the midland coun- 

 ties, where grazing was followed to a considerable extent, and 

 where the cattle was taken to the market fat from the grass- 

 He, however, believed artificial food (either cake or corn) was 

 given them along, ts he had observed troughs in the fields ; 

 he also thought, from the general appearance of the neighbour- 

 hood and the farmers, that the system answered. Neverthe- 

 less he had been given to understand that more dairy cows 

 had lately been kept, and that a feeling was arising in favour 

 of a mixed stock. He thought if Mr. Savage could keep a 

 cow on hay at 28. per week, hs must possess a much better 

 system of managing than be did with his horses, or otherwise 

 they must do v?ith a considerably less quantity. 



Mr. Thomas said he was aware it was generally considered 

 that a dairy cow required three acres of land for her winter 

 and summer keep. He could not himself think she wanted so 

 much. He could name many instances where a cow was kept 

 to every three acres, with two or three horses or colts, and a 

 small flock of sheep on the farm into the bargain. This he 

 thought was cftea the case, without being at all taken into 

 consideration ; he doubted not, however, the dairy cow would 

 consume more than either of the grazers Mr. Savage had men- 

 tioned, and had he allowed more than £1 and lOs. in the 

 respective eases he should not have found fault. The manure 

 left by grazing cattle would be better than from dry cows. 

 He was himself in favour of the dairy cow, as most suited to 

 the locality and size of the farms, and for which by nature the 

 Eoil seemed best adapt, d. 



Mr. Burnett was decidedly of opinion that dairying was 

 the most profitable, still he held with the plan of grazing out 

 the barren cows. He thought three cwt. of cheese per cow 

 was produced on the majority of farms, whilst some was under 

 and others over ; so on the whole he thought it a fair average 

 as regards the value ; if high, so was the price of beef; conse- 

 quently, as Mr. Till had^ remarked, Mr. Savage's calculations 

 would be about a par. 



Mr. King and Mr. Robinson were for a mixed stock, 

 whilst several others who took part in the discuasiou were in 

 favour of dairy farming. 



Mr. Savage, in reply, said he trusted Mr. Till had quite 

 satisfied Mr. Nicholls with respect to the value he had set to 

 the cheese. As regards the quantity made per cow (which 

 would be what would most mateiially affect the result, under 

 present prices, beef being in his opinion more above the ave- 

 rage price than cheese), he believed it was not more than was 

 made, taken in accordance with what he charged for the main- 

 tenance of the cow. No doubt there was a good deal of poo' 

 land in the Vale, and if the occupiers of such attempted to keep 

 the same quantity of cowa, they could not be expected to pro- 

 duce so good a return. As to the other items, they were in 

 some instances quoted from bona fide transactions; in the 

 others they were as near as his judgment dictated. With 

 respect to the 2s. per week for hay, when the cow was not in 

 milk, in his own case she was turned out by day into the rough 

 pastures, for which perhaps he should have charged a little ; 

 bnt it must be borne in mind that 40s. per ton was considered 

 a fair consuming price for hay, and that the cow at this time 

 was kept on that of inferior quality. As to what he had 



stated, a second-class grazer could be bought in at, at the pre- 

 sent time they could be purchased at a less sum, and he gene- 

 rally found one at about that price (£9) pay better than those 

 at a higher figure. Mr. S. then gave a statement of four 

 which he purchased on the 1st of February last, and had just 

 sold them for £29 each, and on going into figures they 

 showed a loss of nearly £4 each. He did not mean to say 

 this was always the case ; but he certainly thought there was 

 greater variation and more uncertainty as to the profit in 

 grazing than in dairying, and was one reason why he was in 

 favour of dairy farming. 



The Chairman (Mr. Burnett) had listened with particu- 

 lar gratification to the several remarks that had been made- 

 From what he had hoard, it appeared to him the majority waa 

 in favour of dairy farming, and he must confess it was an 

 opinion in v/hich he himself coincided. Believing, as bad 

 been more than once intimated, that most of the pasture land 

 of the district was more calculated for dairy purposes than for 

 grazing, he thought sufficient importance had not been 

 attached to the better quality of the manure left by the feed- 

 ing cattle, and agreed with Mr. 0. Long that it would be well 

 to make a fair practical trial of the two systems; but 

 it should be tried impartially and without prejudice, and ex- 

 tended to more than one season, and on more than one farm. 

 As there seems to be some little difference of opinion, and 

 that some decision may be arrived at, he would propose to 

 them the following resolution : — 

 " That, in consideration of a large portion of the pasture 

 laud of the district being more adapted for the production 

 of cheese than for grazing, dairying is the most advan- 

 tageous system to follow ; but at the same time where a 

 ponion of the land is of a rich quality, it may be advisa- 

 ble to combine the two." 

 A vote of thanks was unanimously passed to Mr. Savage 

 for his interesting paper. 



TEVIOTDALE FARMERS' CLUB.- At the monthly 

 meeting of this club on Jan. 31, the question, " What is the 

 best mode a stock farmer can adopt to provide for his flock 

 during such a season as 1860 ?" was considered. Mr. Aitchi- 

 son, Linhcpe, who opened the discussion, after noticing at 

 some length the great loss in hill stock throughout Scotland 

 during the ligorous winter of I860, gave it as his opinion that 

 hay was the best supplementary food for sheep, because it left 

 the animal in much better condition to return to the pastures 

 than any other description of food. As it was necessary, how- 

 ever, that a large quantity should be in store to provide against 

 the contingency of a severe winter, plots of ground to train for 

 hay should be enclosed on the farms, and proper sheep houses 

 and hecks for feeding erected. The old system of laying down 

 the hay in handfuls on the pasture ground was objectionable, 

 as in stormy weather the wind scattered it abroad. The other 

 members generally concurred in Mr. Aitchison's views. Mr. 

 Walter Laing hoped the farmers would endeavour to get the 

 landlords to do something in the v/ay of providing the enclo- 

 sures which had been recommended, as it was unreasonable 

 that improvements by which both landlord and tenant bene- 

 fited should be carried out entirely at the expense of the 

 latter. Mr. Aitchison, in reply, said it was to be regretted 

 that the proprietors of hill farms did so little towards their im- 

 provement. In the valleys, improvements were carried out on 

 a liberal scale, and the cost of reclaiming forty acres of waste 

 land would go far to make the most extensive sheep walks in 

 the south of Scotland all that could be desired. The stock 

 farmer was far more dependent on the elements than on the 

 times, and his landlord was deeply concerned in placing him 

 in such a position as to contend successfully with the eeverity 

 of the weather. 



