■6%) 



TEE AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



Gleanings. 



Tlie official return of farm animals in • the 

 United States for 1S99 shows 16,29'i,360 milch 

 cows, and 27,GU),U54 other cattle; 13,537,524 

 horses, and 2,080,027 mules. It is worth not- 

 ing that whereas the average price of hovses 

 is put at 44.61, the average frice of mules is 

 53.36, or, roughly, about £2 per head higher. 



Cold storage plants, vvihdah in tllie last few 

 years 'have 'been erected all over the douniry, 

 have, says 'the "Ameiuician Cider and Vdnegaa' 

 Maker," proved of inimiitjable value iio bc»tih 

 iconsnmer and ipurehasea-. They have relie\'ed 

 itlhe market Oif serious gluts early dm tJlre seascai, 

 and liave kejiit fthe frui't in perfeat ooaidition 

 until late in the spring foUowiaig. 



The earliest notice of racing in Scotland oc- 

 curs during the reign of .Janits IV., in 1504. 

 On April 15th in that year the Lord High Trea- 

 surer of Scotland notes in his accounts pay- 

 ment of a sum of 18s. "to llie Ijoy that ran 

 the King's Horse " at Leith The sands of 

 Leith were used as a racecourse till 1816, when 

 the annual meeting was tranjferred to Mussel- 

 burgh. 



Professor Gilchrist at the last meeting of 

 the S.A. Philosophical Society exhibited a new 

 deep sea fish that had been caught off the Natal 

 coast. It is chiefly reuiaikable for its enor- 

 mous muoth and head, which are seven or eight 

 times the size of its body. Only three forms 

 of this fish are known, one specimen having 

 been found at Madeira in 1804, and two others 

 by the Challenger (Expedition in mid-Atlantic 

 Ecientifically, however, the present specimen 

 belongs to a new species, differing in important 

 t'etails from those di&oo>vered at Madeira and 

 by the Cliallenger Expedition. 



Genera] Sir F. Eitzwygram, dn the n«w edi- 

 tion of his "Horses and Staljles," puiblishes a 

 letter from Mr. Wilfrid Scawen Blunt concern- 

 ing ilihe breeding of Aralis in England. Mr. 

 Blunlt says that ihis expeiienee isliows it easily 

 passiible to grade up ithe Arab to 15h. 2in. or 

 15li. 3in. by careful miating and Qiigih feeding: 

 but that tihe Arab, wlren tored to this abnoraral 

 .size, beeoanes leggy, Ictes 'his CJompaiMniess, and 

 by 'degrees loses 'the peculiar '(^hai-a-ctcr of itlrc 

 breed. Tlvesc big Anabs are, dn a word, fadil- 

 iires. The goo'd qualitieis of this 'house are at 

 ibhcir l)cist in 'tflie anim'al of average hciigiht, viz., 

 ]-1h. 2in . and for the la=;t twelve years or n.ore 

 Mr. Blunt 'hais 'aim«l at unifonnity ii/f height, 

 14h. Sin. as ithe TOaximum, and 141). lin. a.s 

 tihc miiiianium foi' his brood sitock. ^Tr. 'Blunt's 

 experience i« confinned by Geneiuiil Fi'tzwygram, 

 wlio pf,int« out that 'Araibs bred in tlu': vam- 

 paratively damp region of the Torsiaii Gulf gi ow 

 bigger Ihian the <lesert-bred lioiise, but lose 

 mucih oif tiheir valuable character. 



It is estimated by the best authorities that 

 the quantity of phosphate roek required last 

 year to supply the world's demands was 

 2.850,000 tons, a vast amount to mine, handle, 

 wash, and place on shipboard ; and, as Europe 

 alone consumed nearly 2,000,000 tons, it may 

 be of interest to state that the sources of su(p- 

 ply \\cre as follows Florida, 500,000 tons ; 

 South Carolina, 100,000 tons ; Tennessee, 

 150.000 tons ; Africa, 400,000 tons ; France, 

 350,00'0 tons ; Belgium, 300,000 tons ; and 

 Burt.-,ia and Xorway about 50,000 tons. In ad- 

 dition to this, about 900,000 tons were con- 

 sumed in America and 50,000 tons in Japan 

 and Australia.— (Foreign Office Annual ISeries, 

 2,572.) 



Mr. Bden, writing of stock-raising in lliis 

 book, "My Wife amd I 'in (iueenslanid," 'Ob- 

 serves tliat "alll cattle ais looisely heaxled as curs 

 will ikticrioi ate sliglliltJy, the lost principle, how- 

 ever, being soon restored by dilnvei-iticaiticin. 

 Aiii'0'ng>Jt illie milking eows on a staOlo'n you 

 see as linie points as you would in her well- 

 bred Engliislli sds'ter, and most likely 'hex calf 

 ■will be 'bettei- istill; wih'ile the offspring 'of the 

 sa.me, if allowejl to run wild, beoome in a ehoilt 

 time stunted and ugly, and, whilst losing all 

 the better qualities, seem to imbibe a down- 

 ward strain wihi-cli soon rendeiisi thiem unre- 

 cognisable as foming ifrom the Biamie fountoin- 

 h'ead. Of course, this is traceable to tQie early 

 throwing togetHier of the sexes, the ofi'spiing 

 being alwa^-s tlwarfed and ill-gnown. Soon after 

 my arrival in 'the coilony, I remiesuber being 

 at'ruck by the curious sight of a heifer .sucking 

 h-er ni'cfLl'ieir, whilst her own calf was actuailly 

 sucking her; and since ithen I ih'ave seen 'the 

 same t'hing repeatedly." 



Counting sheep sounds a simple business, but 

 it is really "a duty which requires a gieat deal 

 of practice," says an Australian colonist. "In 

 the morning is the best time, when, instead of 

 tlirowing the yard gate wide open, it is .mly 

 partially unclosed, allowing two or more sheep 

 to pass' out abreast, according to a man's pro- 

 ficiency in counting. Some, from being always 

 at this work, can count six abreast, but most 

 people content themselves with 'wo. The 

 shej)herd stands near tlie gate, with a smooth 

 stick and a knife, with which he cuts a notch 

 in the stick at the end of eacii hundred, when 

 the counter cries out ' tally. It is a very 

 fatiguing operation : the eye and brain be- 

 come giddy, and reel from oo long lesting on 

 the moving mass, and the attention must never 

 liag nor any attempt made to lectify an error, 

 or you are utterly lost. In the morning tiiey 

 pour out very rapidly, jamuiing and junipmg 

 over one another in their anxiety t i get out 

 to feed, so, if you have not thorough confidence 

 it is better to reserve your counting until the 

 evening, when they walk in quietly enough." 



