U2 



THE AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



the trouble ; the horses did not like the 

 look of the ford, as the river was running 

 swift after the recent rain. We had a try 

 for some time to get the horses to cross, 

 but with all our yelling and lashing, it 

 was all we could do to go after and turn 

 those of the horses that broke away from 

 the mob. Then to make things worse 

 the rain began to pour down. Then after 

 a time the rain changed to hail, which so 

 maddened the horses that they stampeded. 

 It being no good to try and stop them, 

 we followed until such time as they 

 quietened down a bit. At last, however, 

 we turned them and managed to get them 

 back to the ford. 



Both of the horses we were riding were 

 so done up that we could get nothing 

 more out of them. Jack said he would 

 go and lasso a couple of the mob (which 

 were all unbroken). He managed t^ get 

 the leader of the mob — a big black 

 stallion. I got a bay mare and tied her up 

 to a tree, and after some time I managed 

 to get the saddle and bridle on. With the 

 help of the boy I then mounted her, but 

 was no sooner on than she gave a buck, 

 and I went flying. Jack was watching 

 and burst into a peal of laughter. That 

 made me wild, so when I got on her 

 again I kept on the watch, as I knew 

 what to expect. After several nasty 

 standing bucks through which I managed 

 to cling on with my knees, she started at 

 a sort of galloping buck, that I did not 

 find an easy gait. After a mile or so she 

 quietened down a bit, so turning her 

 round I ripped my Mexican spurs into 

 her, which so livened her that I could 

 hardly keep my seat. At last I got back 

 to find the camp for the night laid out, 

 and everything ready, Jack standing with 

 his black stallion nearly dead, and as 

 quiet as a lamb. That night we spent on 

 the watch ; oneof us at a time. Early next 

 morning we started the horses towards the 

 ford, and tried to drive in the horses by 

 setting fire to the grass behind them, but 

 the grass was too wet. However, at last, 

 somehow or other we managed to get 

 the troop across, and we got all our things 

 soaking wet in the river. But Jack knew 

 a few things, and had Ijrought a power- 

 ful burning glass, and with it we were 

 able to get a smoke. Towards mid-day 

 we had the horses going along nicely, 

 when all at once they one and all stopped. 

 We could not imagine why, so I rode 



round in front of them, and found a big 

 block of white stone standing up in the 

 middle of the road or track, which had 

 frightened them. I told the boy to stand 

 his horse in front of it, and to lie down on 

 his horse's back so that the horses would 

 not notice him or the stone. This plan 

 succeeded, and we got the horses past and 

 sent them along at a trot until about three 

 o'clock, whea we stopped to change 

 horses for the ones we had broken the 

 day before, and have a cup of tea. The 

 tea tasted very good after all, although it 

 had been wetted in the river. After an 

 hour or so we started again, and at last we 

 got to a public-house where there was a 

 wayside corral, into which we put the 

 horses. We then went inside and had 

 a drink and some food, after which we 

 camped down by the corral gates for the 

 night. Next day we started early, and 

 arrived without much trouble at the 

 " Home Ranch." On the day following 

 we got our cheques and went into Sacra- 

 mento on the spree for about a week, and 

 then returned to work again. 



I hear that my friend Jack is still driv- 

 ing horses, but he has a wife now. 



A correspondent writes to the " Daily Ex- 

 press." stating that he knows of a well-managed 

 and productive farm, within twelve miles of 

 London, entirely tilkd and managed by Italians, 

 The farm hands receive 8s. a week wages, ex- 

 clusive of board and lodging. They have a room 

 for recreation, and are forbidden to attend the 

 village alehouse. 



The Uruyere cheese factories in the east of 

 France cover six departments, five of which are 

 situated on the Swiss frontier, and the quantity 

 made has increased from 15,000 tons in 1882 to 

 18 500 tons in 1892. Jt is now estimated to 

 reach 25,000 tons, which, at the average price of 

 about 5d. per lb., represents an annual value of 

 £1,200,000. The Gruyere cheeses are always 

 made 'large, the average weight being 881b., 

 while in Switzerland, where the cheese is known 

 as " Emmenthal," they usually weigh 2201b, 

 each. 



The value of salt for sheep is shown by an 

 experiment in France, where of three lots of 

 animals fed alike on hay, straw, potatoes, and 

 beans for 124 days, one lot had no salt, one bad 

 i oz. of salt, each every day, and the other had 

 three-fourths of an ounce. Those that had J oz. 

 gained 41 lbs. each more than those which had 

 no salt, and U lbs. more than those which had 

 more than a J oz. So it seems that too much 

 salt can be given as well as too little. The 

 salted sheep had If lb. more of wool and a 

 better fleece than those that had no salt, show- 

 ing better results in the wool ; that is, larger 

 profit than in the flesh. 



