The Winter of 1885-86. 
413 
■filieep), and watch the weather closely as to be ready to get the sheep down 
to the stells before they are overblown." 
The above replies give us an excellent picture, not only of 
varied experiences of the season, but also of the great variety of 
soil and climate with which different farmers have to deal in 
their annual manufacture of crops, meat, and dairy produce. 
There are certain clear indications of the leading features of the 
summer and autumn of 1885, the winter of 1885-86, running 
through the whole of the experiences, but the details of their 
practical bearing differ almost with every farm. The replies 
are, therefore, all of value, and give us, geographically arranged 
from north to south, a good picture of the agricultural experiences 
of a curious and difficult season, on nearly every class of farm 
in England and Wales. To both the arable and the stock 
farmer the season was a difficult one. To the former, by reason 
•of the killing off of the clovers, and serious injury to all root 
•crops by the drought in last August, the long, cold, and dry 
winter killing off or injuring the autumn-sown wheats and 
beans, and the late and difficult spring retarding all seeding 
operations. The ultimate effect of the winter and spring was 
not known at the time when many of these reports were written, 
but we now know that it has been most serious on all the crops 
of the year. There is hardly a crop in our harvest of 1886 that 
is an average one, the best being the promise of the root crop, a 
crop that, curiously enough, would be less affected by the 
winter and spring than the larger number of summer ones. 
The stock-owner was seriously affected by the sudden drying 
up of the pastures by the drought of last August, the almost 
total failure of the swede and turnip crop, and the great injury 
to the mangold crop. During the long and severe winter, stock 
had to be kept under circumstances of great danger and expense, 
and the late spring and excessive cold prevented the stock- 
owner from obtaining those early green crops which are usually 
so welcome at the end of the winter. For the stock-owner, 
thus, the winter was lengthened at both ends. Those who did 
not care to risk the great expenditure of a long winter's keep 
(and many were unable to do so), found the markets glutted with 
half-fattened stock, and prices ruling so low that they only had 
the alternative of heavy losses by selling. It was only after 
January that prices became remunerative for fat stock, and only 
those with capital, who had held on, were able to realise fair 
values. Speaking generally, this was the position of agricul- 
turists in every part of the country. How they met the 
