Auc4. 2, 1897.] 
Supplement to the “ Tropical Agriculturist 
U1 
at Windsor is the Prince Consort’s Sliaw farm, 
which, curiously enough, derires its name from 
M. de Shawe, a Frenchman, from whom the pro- 
perty was purchased in the seventeenth century. 
It has since that date been a Koyal farm, but it was 
greatly improved and extended by the Prince 
Consort. Windsor Great Park, of which it forms a 
part, was once a swamp; but now, as visitor.? to the 
Jubilee Show in 1SS9 will admit, it forms the finest 
pasture in the kingdom. The Shaw farm is tlie 
liome of the Shortliorn herd, also of a small stud 
of Clydesdale horses, with the Poyal champion of 
Iggol— the Macquhae— at its head, and of a flying 
stock of Cheviot ewes and tlie noted breed of Albert 
White pigs- if is significant of the original state 
of the soil I hat sheep, if kept longer than one year, 
are liable to foot-rot; hence the Sonthdowns w'ero 
abandoned, and an annual purchase is made of 
Cheviot ewes in lamb to a Border Leicester tup. 
These ewes, along with their produce, are simply 
kept for one year and fed off. The Shorthorn herd 
is however, the great feature of the Shaw farm, 
arid perhaps it has done more than any ocher agency 
to bring before the public the work of the Queen 
as a stolik breeder. Alike at the breeding and the 
fat stock shows the home-bred Shorthorns from the 
Royal herd have done wondrously, and our plate 
to-day places before the eye of the reader some of 
the more notable of the animals recently owned by 
Her Majesty. The herd is managed by Mr. Tait on 
thoroughly sound commerical principles. The 
foundation was laid early in the fifties by purchases 
from Earl Ducie and other noted breeders. Lat- 
terly, however, it has been strongly dominated by 
Scottish blood, the success of the Sittyton Field 
Marshal being very noteworthy, and now the stock 
bulls are Christmas Present and Prince Victor. 
Clydesdales were first fancied by the Prince Con- 
sort as long ago as 18-54, when H.R.H. paid 2-50 
guineas to Mr. Findlay of Easterhilifor Britain (86). 
The produce of that horse sold well, some 
of them making £100 and up to £1-50 a piece. At 
the Royal Jubilee Show in 1889 Her Majesty was 
first with the tvyc-year old horse First Choice, and 
three years later theRoyal stud horse was champion 
at Warw ick. 
The Flemi.'h and Norfolk were in the hands of 
King George III., and were originally so called be- 
cause they afforded occular demonstration of the 
two systems of farming indicated by their ^names. 
Great improvements were made on the Flemish 
farm in the way of drainage and the steam farm 
was here shown at work during the International 
Show at Battersea. Here also the Royal herd of 
Hereford cattle is found. It was established in 
1855 by purchases from the Earl of Radnor, and a 
l)ull named Brecen was purchased in 1856 for £120. 
The Devon herd was founded on the Norfolk 
farm in 1856, and the first show yard successes of 
theRoyal herd are at the credit of the “rubies.” 
Prince Albert first exhibited at Smithfield Club in 
1843, and in 1849 he first exhibited Devons, in 
1850 Shorthorns, and in 1859 all the stock exhibited 
were home-bred. The success of theRoyal Exhibits 
ofhorae-bieds during the past few years has been 
phenomenal. No other exhibitor of stock has been 
as the Queen within the same period with animals 
solely of his own breeding. Besides pedigreed stock, 
a large number of sheep and cattle are fed on the 
Flemish farm and sold off by auction at Smithfield 
Invariably high prices are realized and the whole 
appearance of the animals bears witness to the 
thoroughly sound principles upon which Her 
Majesty’s agricultural enterprises are conducted. 
Whatever be the fate of English agriculture in 
days to come, theRoyal family will be sharers in 
its prosperity or adversity, the bright traditions of 
the reign of (pieen Victoria will be honoured and 
ob.serveil for m.my a day. 
OCCASIONAL NOTES. 
We are glad to find that there seems to be a pro^ 
bability of manures being manufactured locally, 
and, indeed, the samples which we have seen of the 
stuff turned out by way of trial, go to show that 
the art of manure-manufacture is well understood 
by the maker, not only as regaids the regulation of 
the proportions of the important ingredients of 
plant-food, but also in the matter of di.'integrating 
and mixing. We shall refer more fully to these local 
manures as soon as they are offered for public sale. 
The “Cocoa dialogue” as the contribution to 
the last number of the Magazine on tne subject 
of the Cocoa pest has been termed, was a distinct- 
ly valuable adlition to the ‘literature’ on the 
subject. The writer of the dialogue, be it noted, 
has not only held the views he promulgates there- 
in, but has practised them on his estates (which 
are free from the ravages of Tomicus perforans,) 
and so supplied the “Q. E. D.’’ of later hypotheses 
as regards “Suckers” and the cocoa pest. 
We are glad to announce that Government has 
sanctioned the experiment in bee-keeping referred 
to in our last issue, so that the stocking of the 
hives, which have been specially constructed for 
u.s will be undertaken at tdio earliest opportu- 
nity, and the progress of the new venture will be 
rejiorted from time to time in the pages of the 
Magazine. 
A sale of stock drafted from the dairy herd took 
place at the end of June, and the prices realized 
were fair. The output of milk at the dairy, 
which at the beginning of the year was a good deal 
short of the demand, has increased considerably, 
and the supply at jn'esent average 50 gallons a 
day. A new wing, to hold about 2-5 animals, 
and principally intended for the accommodation 
of the young growing stock, has just been added 
to the dairy. 
Dr. V'^oelcker’s contribution with reference to 
“ Malt Coffee ’’ warns us that there is just a possi- 
bility of some substitute for the genuine article 
springing up to compete with tropical products. 
Tea substitutes we have had galore, but none has 
succeeded in affecting to the slightest degree the 
popularity of our staple product, and it is satis- 
factory to learn on the high authority of Dr. 
Voelcker that there is no likelihood of there being 
a reversion to what is said to be an old practise, 
viz., the use of barley as a coffee substitute. 
The suggestions with reference to agricultural 
education made by Mr. Davidson, in hi.s report as 
A'sislant Government Agent of Kegalle, are such 
as will commend themselves to all who have 
