JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
February 3, 1881. ] 
farm horses at this time of year as a weekly allowance is 1 bushel of 
Oats, 1 bushel of Maize, from 70 to 80 lbs. of roots either pulped or 
grated and mixed with sweet Oat straw chaff, and when the spring 
work comes on hay chaff, either of Clover or Saintfoin. Another 
important point in horse management is never to allow them to drink 
at either pond or trough, for the quantity of water they take cannot 
then he regulated. In our practice we always made the teamsmen 
carry them water in a bucket in the stables. In this way they are 
sure never to have too much ; besides which, it is evident they do not 
require so much to drink when they receive roots in winter and green 
fodder in the summer. When horses in summer come in from severe 
field labour in hot weather they are very apt to drink too much if 
allowed to drink at a pond, and this is frequently the cause of broken 
wind ; but we fear it is seldom considered so by either farmers or 
teamsmen. Farm horses are very subject to what is termed grass 
humour, indicated by severe swelling of the legs, particularly the 
hind legs and thighs, and this complaint is generally promoted if not 
induced by a sudden change of food from a long continuance of dry 
food only to that of gross and succulent green fodder. The chance 
of their suffering from this humour is, however, greatly diminished 
by the feeding with roots throughout the winter and spring, the best 
root food for horses being Carrots first, then Swedes, and Mangold as 
the spring advances. An odd horse or horses upon the farm, espe¬ 
cially if they are strong and active, are as essential as any other 
horses, or more so. Mules are frequently used for odd work if large 
upstanding animals can be obtained, as they are not subject to the 
ordinary complaints of farm horses, and they are particularly handy 
for hoeing the root crops and all light work on the farm. 
Hand Labour .—Spreading and breaking chalk, spreading dung on 
the Clovers, will now be required where the weather has permitted its 
being laid out. Farm roads should now be kept in shape by lowering 
the water tables, and then gravel will seldom be required upon private 
or roads leading from field to field. The lambing folds will require 
constant littering, but more especially it is requisite to enable the 
water to escape freely by cutting trenches on either side ; they will, 
however, require but little attention in this way if they have been 
made on slightly sloping land. It is extremely desirable that water 
should escape freely, for the sheep are still very subject to lameness 
and foot rot if allowed to lie on wet ground or sodden littered folds. 
Some of the forwardest of the male lambs wifi soon be old enough to 
be castrated. This is best done when they are about a month old, 
and we prefer the cutting and searing plan to the old-fashioned 
system when we used to draw without searing at about a week old. 
It is found that the first-named plan is best, because the animals 
prove, either for fatting or for stock, more fleshy and fuller over 
the back and neck as well as under on the thighs and flank. These 
matters are now of more consequence than ever. 
VARIETIES. 
The Liverpool Poultry Show. —We often hear of poultry 
shows in large towns completely failing to attract the general public. 
Such does not seem to have been the case at Liverpool. In spite of 
intense cold during the first day, and rain and drizzle the second, the 
poultry show held there last week was visited by near four thousand 
people. 
- Poultry and the Frost.—O n the 17th ult., at 8 a.m., a 
thermometer outside a south-west window of my house registered 
28® or 29° below freezing, and one to the north was at zero. This is 
most unusual cold for the Thames Valley. Eggs were cracked in 
the nests; and my hens, which had laid well up to that date, have 
all ceased laying, though warmly housed and well fed.—T. P. F. 
- “ The Illustrated Book of Pigeons ” (Cassell, Petter, 
G-alpin, & Co.).—We have received the first number of the new issue 
of this, which is now the standard work upon Pigeons. It is being 
republished in twenty-five shilling parts, and with the exception of 
some few corrections of misprints, &c., will, we believe, be precisely 
similar to the first issue. The illustrations in this part represent 
Antwerps and a Black Carrier, and are alone worth the money charged 
for the part. 
- Birmingham Dairy Show. —At the last meeting of the 
Prize List Committee the days on which the Show should be held 
were fixed for Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, June 7th, 
8th, 9th, and 10th. The prize list was settled subject to confirmation 
at the general meeting on February 10th, and is on a very liberal 
scale. The cattle classes comprise:—Shorthorns eligible for herd 
book, Shorthorns ineligible, Ayrshires, Channel Islands, other breeds 
(pure and crosses). There will be numerous prizes for cheese, with 
separate classes for Stilton, Cheshire, Chedder, Derby, Leicester, 
cream or soft cheese ; besides the foreign varieties, America, Gor¬ 
gonzola, Gruyere, &c., and champion prizes. Butter (fresh and cured), 
101 
British, Irish, and foreign ; eggs, incubators, and poultry-feeding 
appliances, will all be recognised ; as also bee hives and honey. A 
special feature will be the competition in cheese and butter-making 
appliances, milk vans, cans, purifiers, &c. The poultry prizes will 
include all the principal breeds kept for farm use, excluding the 
fancy varieties, and numerous prizes are to be offered for dressed 
fowls, chickens, and Ducks. Most of the premiums are open to 
general competition, but some clases are confined to the county of 
Warwick. 
- Selecting Stock.—" One of the greatest faults in selecting 
stock is that of large bones. A great bone in cows, pigs, or 
sheep is a great evil. It is an index to coarseness everywhere, and 
often the index, too, of a bad constitution. Size and strength are not 
identical in living tissues and structures. The small bone of the 
gazelle and the chamois, supporting them in dashing leaps from crag 
to crag, are natural illustrations of how strength may be condensed 
in the small bone. The large bones are full of cells—are porous, so 
to speak—and bear about the same relation to the small bone as the 
branch of the pithy Alder tree does to the dense and compact stem of 
the Oak .”—(Prairie Farmer .) 
- “ Cassell’s Cookery JBook.” —We have received the first 
part of the third issue of this work, and there are twelve other parts 
to follow. It is a cheap and excellent work, and it well deserves 
the success it has attained. It combines quality with quantity, and 
is worthy of a place in every home. 
- The Irish Farmers’ Gazette. — Mr. James Macdonald, 
formerly of the Scotsman, has been appointed to succeed the late Mr. 
R. O. Pringle as Editor of the above paper. Mr. Macdonald has on 
four different occasions carried off the Highland and Agricultural 
Society’s prize of £30 for an essay on the agriculture of a specified 
county—viz., Caithness in 1874, Fife 1875, Ross and Cromarty 1876, 
and Sutherland 1879. He also received a gold medal from the High¬ 
land Society for a short essay on “ The Agricultural Colleges of the 
United States and Canada, with reference to the Introduction of 
Agricultural Teaching into Scotland.” In 1878 Mr. Macdonald was 
commissioned (along with his brother) by the Royal Agricultural 
Society of England to draw up a report for the Journal of that Society 
on “ The Agricultural Features of the Paris Exhibition ; ” and for this 
report the two brothers received a premium of £150. Mr. Macdonald 
has also won the prize of £30 offered by the Highland and Agri¬ 
cultural Society of Scotland for the best essay on the agriculture of 
the counties of Forfar and Kincardine, making the fifth of these 
prizes since 1874. These honours afford sufficient evidence of the 
capability of this gentleman for discharging the important duties'he 
has undertaken. 
FAMOUS POULTRY YARDS. 
GRASSENDALE PRIORY (R. E. HORSFALL, ESQ.) 
There are famous poultry yards which are known rather for 
quality than for the number of their tenants. Such is that of 
Grassendale Priory. All fanciers who frequented poultry shows 
a few years ago, or even casually looked over prize lists, must 
remember the invincible Light Brahma cock, “ Sam ” by name, 
the most perfect specimen of his race we have ever seen—cham¬ 
pion in one season at the Crystal Palace, Birmingham, and 
Bristol as the best bird in the whole show. Grassendale Priory 
was his birthplace and home, and there live his descendants, for 
Mr. Horsfall is faithful to his one favourite variety, and breeds it 
really scientifically. There is much practical use in the descrip¬ 
tion of such a yard as this. We have tried to picture esta¬ 
blishments in which almost countless birds are reared for use and 
amusement, and roam over parks and woods ; but arrangements 
so perfect as those at Grassendale for the cultivation of one breed 
we have never seen ; and what makes them the more interest¬ 
ing is they are the gradual result of much thought, experience, 
and intelligence. Many of the houses Mr. Horsfall has made 
himself, and they are not like some of the so-called “model” 
establishments which rise on an unlimited carpenter’s order, and 
