98 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ January SI, 1884. 
like the Pembrokeshire ; also that the head of the ox is very frequently 
heavy and bull-like. Davis in bis time attributed the bull-like 
features in the head and dewlap “ of the Anglesea ox to the fact 
that the calves were not weaned in Anglesea until double the time 
which they are weaned in other counties, together with their not 
being gelt until they are about a year old.” 
With the latter fact we quite agree, for in practice we go farther, 
and contend that they should not be castrated at all when required 
for sale at early maturity. They must of course be kept quiet in 
separate boxes, and never used for stud purposes, and then the 
animals will yield a very high rate of weight for age of excellent 
quality, especially if slaughtered at about eighteen or twenty months 
old, for they will be heavy enough in the carcase to meet the best 
consumers’ requirements, and eat like ripe old ox beef. It must be 
remembered that to carry out this idea we have in such a case always 
kept the animals at full head, commencing as fat calves, and never 
losing this condition ; then in comparison we have obtained a large 
per-centage more beef from animals never castrated than from steers, 
each being kept alike in food and accommodation, and killed at about 
eighteen or twenty months old. 
We have given several quotations from breeders of the Welsh 
cattle, and although some little difference may be observed in their 
statements, yet it is no more than may be expected from the differ¬ 
ence occurring in raising the cattle under varying conditions, and of 
selection by the breeders, as well as the influence of soil and climate. 
Although the principality of Wales is not very extensive, yet the 
mountains and valleys, together with seacoast conditions, are surround¬ 
ings which effect as much variation in style and type of the Welsh 
cattle as it does in other breeds under the like circumstances through¬ 
out the kingdom. 
We will now quote from the last Smithfield Club report of the 
Agricultural Gazette of December 17th : “ The weights of animals 
at Islington were considerably higher than at Birmingham. The 
monstrous Hereford cow Giantess with her family won attention and 
prize money at Reading and York, came to Islington to find herself 
as to her weight behind a Shorthorn cow of Lord Sudeley’s breeding, 
a descendant of Mr. Wetherell’s branch of the famous tribe of 
Sockburn Sail. The only beast heavier than this cow (which inherited 
through her sire the size and character of the Winsomes at Holker) 
was a gigantic Welsh, which weighed 22 cwt. 1 qr. 6 lbs. at three 
years eleven months two weeks, and was far from being fat. He 
might be made (did public opinion favour such displays) to weigh a 
ton and a half if kept to the age of some Highlanders, of which 
more than one exceeded six years old. It was not difficult to see at 
Islington that numerous as are our breeds of cattle now, there is yet 
material among them to form more.” 
This last allusion applies most appropriately to the possibilities of 
what science and practice with great experience may effect in the 
breeding of Welsh cattle. It is also reported that the Welsh breeds 
at Islington were in rather full entry. Major Henry Platt’s North 
Wales steer, to which we have referred as to weight, &c., which took 
the breed cup, was of gigantic size and weight of flesh, with more of 
size and symmetry and beautiful quality than is sometimes seen in 
the character, style, and type of the Welsh animals. The fact of 
this animal having taken the breed cup, together with his symmetry, 
quality, and enormous size, must, to the mind of every experienced 
cattle breefer, with the conviction that the strain from which this 
animal descended may by careful selection in breeding be made the 
basis of a race of animals valuable as milking stock and capable of 
yielding, at weight for age, carcases of beef not to be exceeded in 
weight and quality by any other breed of cattle. 
(To be continued.) 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
Horse Labour .—The busy time for sowing pulse and Lent corn 
should be anticipated, so that any work which can be done with the 
horses may be attended to now or at any other time when it will prevent 
the displacing of horse labour in tillage work at those periods. Our 
busiest periods may be said to occur at the seed time for Lent corn, 
Beans and Peas, early Potatoes, Mangolds, and Cabbages. The next 
time when all hands will be employed, as well as horses, is the haying 
time, which in some districts lasts from the second week in June until 
the corn harvest commences ; which, in the case of an early harvest and 
sometimes in the event of a late one from adverse weather, usually delays 
the ripening of the corn, and also delays the haying time. In the 
grazing districts of various parts of the kingdom the question of ensilage 
is becoming of extreme importance, because if the silos are properly 
constructed the materials placed in them will then be secure from 
injury. The question of haying will thus be reduced to a minimum, for 
ensilage can be carried in any weather with ordinary care. Nor is it 
necessary in certain soils to have an expensive silo built, for a farmer 
from America has stated to us that they used any dry soil for a silo by 
digging a pit of the required dimensions and placed their Maize and 
green fodder, properly weighted, in pits with the sides formed of the 
bare soil. In this way, also, they place their Potatoes and other root 
produce, although not in such large bulks as they do of Timothy Grrss 
and other green produce, and without being weighted, but merely 
covered with a little earth and thatched with any material like straw or 
haulm, and shaped to shun the water on the surface by a small trench 
dug round the outside to carry off surface water caused by the rainfall, 
melting of snow. 
Hand Labour .—Forking cut grass wherever there is but little may 
now be done by the women ; but in some parts of the country women as 
field workers are still available, while in others they will not work at all 
in the fields, except perhaps in haying and harvest time. Hedging 
and ditching may still be done, but especially the dead hedges, which 
are much required on the chalk and limestone hill districts. All the 
hardest and most lasting wood is reserved for this work, with white and 
black Thorn bushes for filling in between the stakes and ledgers. There 
is an old saying that “an Elder stake and a Yew ledger will make a 
hedge to last for ever.” The weather has been very favourable for 
planting orchard trees, which is now completed ; and in any case in the 
rural districts the orchard land should be wired in with wire netting— 
at least where young trees and bush fruit trees have been recently 
planted, a protection against both hares and rabbits. 
Lice Stock .—Sheep feeding off roots on the open fields are doing 
better than usual, and this will tell in favour of the land when sown 
with Lent corn, as well as the benefit of the sheep ; for in some years 
past, especially the winter of 1882-83, the land was so sodden with rain 
water and so trodden by sheep feeding on the root crops that it not only 
required much extra horse labour in tillage before seeding with Lent 
corn, but that any Barley grown on such land did not, as a rule, prove 
a malting sample or a full crop. Cattle now feeding in the stalls should 
have only a moderate allowance of roots—say of Swedes 70 lbs., of 
Mangolds 56 lbs. per day, and it is much more economical to reduce all 
corn or cake given them into meal, to be mixed with cut roots, and also 
more healthy for the cattle. Much has been said on the subject of 
quantities of oilcake and corn per day. We, however, do not exceed 
the use of 4 lbs. of best linseed oilcake and 2 lbs. of bean or barley meal 
per day. We never give hay, but only sweet straw of Oats or Wheat 
ad libitum loose in the racks, the residue or unconsumed portions being 
used for littering the pens. As a rule, a bullock will not make more 
than 10.?. per week increased value. Let the home farmer calculate the 
cost of the above-named food and mode of feeding, and it will be found 
that the advantage or profit is not more than 3tf. per week ; but in case 
of hay-feeding instead of straw it will absorb 2s. &d. of the otherwise 
profit, whereas the cattle will be much healthier on straw-feeding than 
when feeding on hay. We have frequently had cattle refuse their roots 
whilst eating hay, but never when feeding on straw. 
OUR LETTER BOX. 
Sowing Seeds for Pasture ( J. B .).—If your land is clean where you have 
dug in a crop of Mustard, it must be allowed to remain until dry weather in 
March or April, then work it down by harrowing and rolling until perfectly 
fine on the surface. It will be better not to dig the land again ; if it should 
be hard let it be horse-hoed with the points, this will bring up any unbroken 
portion, which may be reduced to fineness by harrowing and rolling. If it is 
intended for permanent pasture you will require about 3 pecks of mixed 
grass seeds for a quarter of an acre. The ready-made mixture of sorts of 
grass seeds can be obtained from the firms you name, but you should state 
the nature of the soil and the object of laying it down. If sown with Barley 
2£ bushels per acre. The seeds of grass will only require ordinary weeding, 
and the Barley crop will pay, independent of the grass requiring no attention 
until after harvest. If sown alone in April the weeds will be a torment all 
the summer, and will render necessary the mowing of the grass and weeds 
together twice during the summer. We prefer sowing the seeds with the 
Barley, which will protect the young grass plants and prevent inj ury from 
weeds until the plants are strong. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
Camden Square, London. 
Lat. 51° 32' 40' N.; Long. 0° 8 O ’ W.; Altitude, 111 feet. 
DATE. 
9 A.M. 
IN THE DAY. 
1884. 
i a! _ 
q co a> <y 
oti* 3 > 
Hygrome¬ 
ter. 
Direction 
of Wind. 
1 Temp, of 
, Soil at 
1 foot. 
Shade Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature. 
a 
3 
n 
January. 
5 fe a 1 - 1 
KS a 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
Bun. 
On 
grass. 
Sunday . 
SO 
Inches. 
30.514 
deg. 
42.7 
deg. 
40.4 
S.W. 
deg. 
41 9 
deg. 
50.0 
deg. 
39 4 
deg. 
64.5 
deg. 
34.8 
Tn 
0.010 
Monday. 
Tuesday. 
21 
30.517 
45.0 
4 <.2 
W. 
42.3 
51.3 
41.3 
64.8 
36.4 
— 
22 
30.205 
49.0 
45.6 
S.W. 
42.9 
51.7 
44.0 
55.4 
39.8 
0.110 
Wednesday .. 
23 
29.761 
51.5 
50.6 
S.W. 
44.4 
54.7 
47.7 
533 
4 ;.3 
0.160 
Thursday .... 
24 
29.848 
38.5 
34.5 
N.W. 
44.1 
49.5 
36 9 
69.6 
32.0 
— 
Friday. 
25 
29.710 
42.3 
39.7 
S.W. 
418 
47.3 
37.0 
59.2 
32.5 
0.270 
Saturday .... 
28 
29.313 
39.3 
86.7 
W. 
41.6 
50.0 
37.6 
50.0 
34 5 
0.540 
29.939 
44.0 
41.7 
42.7 
506 
40.6 
59.5 
366 
1.099 
REMARKS. 
20th.—Sunshine in morning, rest of day dull; drops of rain about 9 P.M. 
21st.—Fine all day, but not very bright. 
22nd.—Windy all day with rain, and a gale in evening. 
23rd.—Wild wet morning ; violent gale all day. 
24th.—Bright throughout; rather good sunset. 
25th.—Fine till afternoon; violent squall, with rain and hail, at 4.40 P.M. ; lightning 
at 0.45 P.M. 
26th.—Squall at 4.30 A.M. ; dull morning; wild afternoon, with rain ; gale from 5 to- 
9 P.M. ; lightning in evening. 
Probably the most windy week for many years past, the gales of the 23rd and 26th 
being of extreme violence ; the latter characterised also by the exceptionally rapid rise of 
the barometer as the centre passed this station—viz., 0 - 06 inch in eight minutes from 
7h. 33m. P.M. to 7h. 41m. P.M., or at the rate of 045 inch per hour. At Isleworth 
^ occurred nine minutes earlier, and was at the rate of 0’43 inch per hour.—G. J. SYMONS 
