THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



375 



Mr. Ruston: Not a very close yard ; Mr. Delf used five-feet 

 hurdles, and took the sheep where mangold was grown, Mr. 

 Martin sometimes pursued the same course ; he stacked hia 

 corn at a distance from the farmyard, grew his mangold near, 

 and sent his sheep there. He himself had used the most ordinary 

 fold-yards ; they were not close, and the sheep had not suf- 

 fered from being too much cocfiDed. With respect to Mr. 

 Coleman's remark about buying bad cattle, he begged to say 

 that he was in the habit of purchasing Scots, or going to 

 Caistor (he was no stranger at Caistor), and not of buying 

 three-cornered cattle (laughter). A few years ago he weaned 

 calves, and for two years had all the bull calves Mr. 

 Chickley (a neighbour of Mr. Coleman's) bred, many of 

 which he believed were by Sir Charles Kuightley's pedigree 

 bulls. If they bought such bad bullocks that they could 

 not obtain a profit, it was marvellous that they should 

 buy sheep which always yielded a good profit. Great im- 

 portance ought to be attached to the remarks of Mr. Hobbs, 

 as to littering sheep twice a day and paring their feet. He 

 made a point of setting his shepherd to examine the animals' 

 feet occasionally. In the first winter, out of 370 sheep, not 

 more than 12 were lame ; this year he had more, but had had 

 20 lame in the fields before they came in to one now. Mr. 

 Sowerby told hira, when looking over his sheep last week, that 

 ia his (Mr. S.'s) turnip-folds in North Lincolnshire he had three 

 lame sheep to one of his (Mr. R.'s) in the yard. He confi- 

 dently asserted that with proper management lameness might 

 be almost entirely avoided in this part of the country. What 

 was said by Mr. Bradshaw with regard to the 700 sheep at 

 Versailles, showed that sheep might be kept in yards without 

 lameness. As to locality, no doubt that must influence tlieir 

 arrangements. He did not say that his system was right 

 everywhere, but it was right for him, and for all persous 

 similarly situated. Every man must judge for himself as to 

 what was best for his own land. Mr. James Thomas doubted 

 as to the qvality of the dung, but what he had seen convinced 

 him (Mr. Ruston) that the dung of sheep was equal to that of 

 bullocks. The same gentleman thought he had exaggerated 

 the difficulty of making bullocks pay. He did not rely on 

 his own judgment exclusively, but consulted several gentlemen 

 who kept bullocks in yards. He took a good class of animals, 

 30s. being the amount received for natural food for a growing 

 bullock ; and Mr. Sabertou would bear him out iu saying that 

 303. was a good profit. 



Mr. Saberton : Yes. 



Mr. Ruston : He knew a case in which a gentleman, a 

 relative of hia own, bought 20 bullocks, not those three- 

 cornered bullocks (laughter), at £15 each in the autumn of 

 1859. Many of these had been purchased as calves, he be- 

 lieved, at nearly 5Qs. per head, of Mr. Robert King, of St. 

 Neots, and had been bred iu the beautiful Vale of Aylesbury, 



A Member: What age? 



Mr. Ruston: About three years. They were resold the 

 last Triday in April 18G0 at £20, leaving £5 per head for 

 wintering. They cost £4 each for cake, in addition to which 

 the 20 consumed 10 acres of hay and 7 acres of mangels, and 

 to this must be added the charge for attendance. The same 

 gentleman had got 20 more this year, which were not likely 

 to yield a better return.* Mr. Hobbs had intimated that wool 

 from sheep kept in yards was superior to wool from sheep kept 

 in the open field. He (Mr. Ruston) had no doubt that that 

 was the case. ISIr. James Thomas referred to the quality of 

 the roots on the east coast of Scotland. That was an illus- 



* Mr. Ruston also gave another case in which a farmer was 

 giving his straw and mangolds to another person on condition 

 that he would send him bullocks to make bis manure, and would 

 give them 81bs, linseed cake each per day. 



tratiou of what he read. Here a large quantity of cake was 

 required to fatten a bullock. In Lincolnshire, a smaller quan- 

 tity of cake was required j in Yorkshire a still less quantity, 

 and in Scotland even less still. As they went further 

 north, the quality of the roots was better adapted 

 for bullocks. He regretted that Mr. Coussmaker had 

 suffered so much from foot-rot ; but he could not help 

 thinking that there must have been some mismanage- 

 ment, as there was general testimony to the avoidabi'ity of 

 that evil. Mr. Thomas, of Bletsoe, thought there would have 

 been a better test of the value of his sheep had they been 

 bought for the yards, and sold out. No doubt that would 

 have been the case ; but when he bought his sheep, it was not 

 at all with a view of reading a paper on the subject. He 

 bought lambs in the ordinary way of business. It was an ex- 

 periment, his object being to see whether he could 

 winter sheep in yards satisfactorily. He valued them 

 iu and out, calling in a competent man to assist him in 

 the valuation. He was not prepared to sell the animals out^ 

 as he wanted them for his summer grass ; but he thought 

 such valuations must be satisfactory to all men of business. 

 As regarded the manufacture of manure on the Fen lands, he 

 would remark that where they did not use bullocks many 

 used pigs. Pigs paid better than bullocks, but sheep paid 

 better than pigs. Formerly he used to keep 21 breeding sows : 

 he had reduced them last year to 13, and was now reducing 

 them to eight, because sheep paid so well. In conclusion, he 

 would observe that bis paper related to land where turnips could 

 not be grown, and where the quality of the natural food was 

 not fattening. 



On the motion of Mr. Little, seconded by Mr. John 

 Thomas, a vote of thauks was accorded to Mr. Ruston for 

 his introductory paper. 



The proceedings terminated with the customary acknow- 

 ledgment to the Chairman. 



THE INDEPENDENT FARMER. 



Let sailors sing of the windy deep, 



Let soldiers praise their armour. 

 But in my heart this toast I'll keep, 



The Independent Farmer. 

 When first the rose iu robe of green 



Unfolds its crimson lining, 

 And 'round liis cottage porch is seen 



The honeysuckle twining ; 

 When banks of bloom their sweetness yield, 



To bees that gather hi rey. 

 He drives his team across the field, 



Where skies are soft and balmy. 



The blackbird clucks behind the plough, 



The quail pipes loud and clearly, 

 Yon oicliard hides behind its bough 



The home he loves so dearly ; 

 The grey old barn, whose doors unfold 



His ample store in measure, 

 More rich than heaps of hoarded gold, 



A precious, blessed treasure; 

 But yonder in the porch there stands 



His wife, the lovely charmer, 

 The sweetest rose on all his lands — 



The Independent Farmer. 



To liim the Spring comes dancingly, 



To him the Summer blushes, 

 The Autumn smiles with mellow ray ; 



He sleeps, old Winter hushes. 

 He cares not how the world may move, 



No doubts nor fears confound him; 

 His little flocks are linked in love, 



And household angels round him ; 

 He trusts m God and loves his wife, 



Nor griefs nor ills may harm her ; 

 He's nature's nobleman in life — 



The Independent Farmer, 



