888 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ May 12, 1881. 
roots are mixed with bean, barley, or cake meal, the lambs will thrive 
extremely well. After the Rye as a night fold is gone Trifolium or 
Yetches will do, but at daytime folding on Giant Saintfoin will help 
them. Italian Rye Grass must not be forgotten, because it ought 
always to be at hand, like Mangold, to prevent scarcity in late springs 
or very dry summers until the 21st of June, -when it is usually ploughed 
in and the land pressed and drilled with Red Mammoth Turnips or 
Rape. On the corn-growing farms and where Potatoes are cultivated 
there is no room for sheep in the summer months, so they w T ill all be 
sold as fast as shorn. Ewes and lambs should be sold fat together, 
or nearly so ; for on such farms we hold to the policy of growing and 
reserving food for sheep in the summer, and feed it in the winter and 
early spring months : except that, instead of risking the whole of our 
Clovers for bay, we like to cut some of it several times and feed 
cattle with it in their boxes, with cake and some Mangold also if 
it can be saved. 
MALT SPROUTS. 
The amount of nitrogen and phosphoric acid in malt sprouts 
render them not only valuable as a food, but also as a fertiliser 
when applied to crops. Whether they can be economically used 
as a fertiliser depends upon the price at which they can be 
obtained. If used for cattle food they should be scalded before 
being fed. They are very light and dry when sold, and will 
absorb a large quantity of water. Boiling water not only renders 
them more digestible, but it makes them a safer food. If fed dry 
they are apt to swell in the animal’s stomach and produce hoove. 
They are obtained from Barley when made into malt. In this 
process the Barley is put into a large tank to soak for two or 
three days, or till it has soaked about half its own weight in 
water, it is then spread about a foot thick upon a floor, when 
germination takes place. This process is continued till the 
plumule, or that shoot which is destined for the future stalk 
which runs under the husk, reaches the other end of the grain, 
while the radicle, or that which has to form the future root, grows 
right from the grain ; at this stage further growth is stopped by 
expelling the water upon the drying-kiln. It is then screened, which 
removes what is termed the radicle, the product being termed 
malt sprouts. In England, where they are considered a valuable 
food, they are known as malt combs. They are more valuable when 
properly prepared than brewers’ grain, but it costs both labour and 
fuel to put them into so digestible a condition as the brewers’ grains. 
They contain, however, more nitrogen, say about 4^ per cent., in 
their dry state, but when soaked with water to the same extent 
as grain they contain very little if any more. Of phosphoric 
acid they contain 2 per cent, and 2 \ per cent, of fat, and when 
obtained from the maltster they contain but 8 per cent, of 
moisture. This gives them a great advantage in hauling over 
brewers’ grains, which, as they are received from the brewers, 
will contain 80 per cent, or thereabouts of water. The sprouts 
contain in a dry state 45 per cent, of starch and sugar ; brewers’ 
grains if as dry as malt sprouts would contain in all probability 
as large a per-centage of starch as the sprouts contain of sugar 
and starch, but a considerable part of the starch in the grains 
is converted into sugar by the fermentation which the grains 
undergo after they are brought from the brewery.—( American 
Cultivator .) 
VARIETIES. 
Pheasant and Poultry Meal. —We have received samples 
of the Pheasant food, poultry meal, and tonic prepared by the Royal 
Norfolk Pheasant and Poultry Pood Company. The meals appear to 
be well ground and blended, and the tonic is intended to provide in 
a convenient form the amount of stimulant necessary to carry the 
young birds over the critical periods in their growth. 
- Better than Rent Reductions. —The difficulty which land- 
owners and their agents now experience in the letting of vacant 
farms, especially where such happen to consist of heavy arable land, 
should lead them to do all in their power to encourage tenants to 
lay down such to pasture. In many cases the tenants would be quite 
willing to do this provided the seed were found ; and a better invest¬ 
ment of money cannot be made by the owner. A discount of 10 per 
cent, is an immediate advantage to a needy tenant; but an outlay of 
15 or 20 per cent, upon permanent pastures, warm cattle sheds, 
liquid manure tanks, drainage, &c., will prove a lasting boon to the 
occupier, and a future source of greatly increased value to the land- 
owner.—( Journal of Forestry.) 
-“ The Practical Fisherman.” —A beautiful volume under 
the above title, written by J. H. Keene, and published at the Bazaar 
office, has been sent to us. It is admirably printed and well illus¬ 
trated, and will no doubt be welcomed by all who are interested in 
the subject on which it treats. The author has evidently endea¬ 
voured to render the book as complete as possible, and we do not 
quite agree with him, as stated in the preface, that it is a “ crude 
attempt ” to supply a deficiency in literature of this kind ; it is to 
our mind the reverse of crude, as besides giving detailed instruction 
to guide the inexperienced angler, much information is supplied 
relative to the history and habits of the several kinds of fish. The 
researches of other writers on the subject are embodied in the book, 
not as is stated “ by paraphrasing their writings without direct 
acknowledgment,” but by quoting them in a manner which is highly 
commendable. 
-The Wheat Crop in the United States. —A recent telegram 
announces that despatches to the Chicago Times from all sections of 
the North-west show that the spring Wheat is in excellent condition. 
The principal spring Wheat regions are Minnesota, Nebraska, and 
Dakota. All show increased acreage and unusually promising pro¬ 
spects. The season is several weeks later than usual, but the warm 
weather and the rains are pushing the crop ahead. Minnesota yielded 
over four million bushels last year, and Nebraska over two millions. 
The yield in both this year is estimated at 20 to 25 per cent, greater* 
More winter Wheat than ever before has been grown in all sections, 
and the prospect of an unusually large crop is good. The weather 
favourable everywhere. 
- Lord Waveney on Agricultural Depression.—L ord 
Waveney has addressed a letter to the Secretary of the Norfolk 
Chamber of Agriculture on the subject of agricultural depression. 
His lordship observes that the system of farming in England has 
been one of isolation under an appearance of independence. He con¬ 
siders that farmers require associations for obtaining a fixed supply 
of steam power for receiving into store for the purpose of resale the 
products of the farms of members, for advancing funds for the pur¬ 
chase of stock, and for dealing with salesmen in the great towns. 
Every process in cultivation must be abridged, and every barrier 
between the producer and the consumer, so far as may be, removed. 
Lord Waveney adds that he does not attach much importance to 
legislation, which at best is to warn rather than to instruct. 
- Irish Butter. —Complaints are occasionally heard of the 
quality of Irish butter, but the CorTc Herald states that at the Mel¬ 
bourne International Exhibition that butter made in Ireland has 
again, as it did in Paris also, come off victorious. There were five 
orders of merit, and the first was given to Mr. T. T. Clanchy for 
butter which he sent out from Cork in December last. Our contem¬ 
porary observes, it speaks highly for the quality of Cork butter 
that after crossing the tropics and being packed for six months this 
butter obtained the first award. 
- Epping Forest. —The bye-laws made by the Conservators of 
Epping Forest have been allowed by the Duke of Connaught and 
Strathern (the ranger), and are now in force. Now the Corporation 
have this Forest entirely under their control they intend to make 
more satisfactory arrrangements for keeping it in good order and 
preserving it from such injury as it has recently been subjected to. 
Only a few days ago 12 acres of brushwood were destroyed by fire, 
and other lawless acts have been committed. We trust the keepers 
will be more vigilant, and bring to justice any offenders who may be 
found damaging the Forest, which has been secured for the public at 
so much trouble and cost .—(City Press.) 
PRACTICAL SCIENTIFIC BREEDING. 
GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 
(Continued from page 306.) 
A knowledge of the season of the year which is most advan¬ 
tageous for hatching is of primary importance in regard to the 
