354 Best Means of Increasing the Home-Production of Beef. 
tke mark in nianurial condition, I care little about tlie rotation. 
A succession of forage crops must be grown : the root crops should 
follow Italian rye-grass, rye, or vetches, carted off, and consumed 
in the yards, or part folded on the land by sheep. By this means 
the sowing of the general root crop is retarded ; but this is seldom 
much loss, for what we lose in quantity we gain in quality. Nitro- 
genous and phosphatic manures should be pretty freely used for 
the forage crops. The farmyard manure is most effective when 
applied judiciously in light dressings for the roots, and as a top- 
dressing' to the mowing-grounds and seed-layers. Nitrification 
proceeds slowly at depths below 12 inches. Light dressings of 
nitrate of soda and phosphatic manures have a marked effect in 
developing the growth of all spring crops, thereby increasing the 
available supply of food at a critical period. 
The cost of labour is in most districts the chief cause operating 
against the development of the soiling system, which in the case 
of dairying and rearing is the most profitable. I have recently 
inspected some farms in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh where 
a profitable system is carried out. A superior class of cows 
is bought within a few days of calving; they are worked on a 
high-pressure system, both as to feeding and milking, and never 
leave the sheds until they go to the slaughter-house. The quan- 
tity of milk they produce appears to an ordinary farmer fabulous. 
The town milk-trade in Scotland is carried out on different lines 
to that of England, and, although in individual cases the system 
is a profitable one, it is not generally adapted to the rural dis- 
tricts. The public require meat as well as milk, and it is to the 
legitimate and increased production of both that the efforts of 
the British farmer should be directed. On purely tillage farms 
a much larger head of cattle can be kept throughout the year 
than has generally been the case. The increasing cost of labour 
militates against the widespread extension of the system.* Never- 
theless, tillage land, when allowed to remain down for two or 
three years, makes an excellent cow-pasture ; good seed-layers 
produce more milk than the average quality of dairy-pastures. 
The early catch-crops carry the cows on to the middle of May ; 
rye, Italian rye-grass, and tares are cut, and carted to the yards, 
and chaffed with a mixture of hay and straw; the meal of the 
home-grown com is added, the whole is thoroughly mixed, and 
sprinkled with water to prevent waste, and should be prepared 
eight in- ten hours before being used. 
The chief difficulty atpres nt to be met is the want of suffi- 
cient buildings. On many tillage farms the accommodation for 
stock is very limited ; and this I would, on two grounds, propose 
to supply by cheap erections. The first reason is the scarcity of 
