368 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ October 25, 1885. 
desire combined in one animal are milk, butter, and beef in the most 
abundant and profitable forms and conditions in which it is possible 
to obtain them. We have no race or breed of cattle which will 
furnish these three requirements at present in the greatest quantity, 
quality, and condition from one and the same stock. Shorthorns will 
yield us milk and beef in abundance under good and proper feeding, 
but the butter is absent more or less both as to quantity and quality 
feed as we will. The same remarks will apply in degree to nearly all 
our celebrated beef-producing stock, whether they are called Devons, 
Herefords, Sussex, or Longhorns, &c. Then we have the milking 
and butter-yielding stock, such as the Channel Island stock, including 
the Guernsey, Jersey, and Alderney cows, also the Ayrshire and the 
Dutch imported stock. All of these are good milkers, but varying in 
degree as butter-makers, yet they are one and all not calculated for 
feeding as beef-producing animals. The Guernsey stock is the best 
of those named, not only in quantity and quality of milk and butter, 
but also in their produce of beef of good quality, especially in those 
choice strains where the breeders have carefully looked to the 
production of animals of good outline and capacity for carrying flesh 
of good quality under judicious management and feeding. 
The polled cattle or the Welsh breeds have in some instances a 
claim on our attention for both milk and beef-making, but they are 
unsuitable for the purpose of crossing when we are seeking to produce 
a race of cattle perfect in all the requirements we have named. Still 
a few observations upon the character and qualities of the Suffolk 
polled stock may not be amiss, for we shall not knowingly omit any 
animal and its capacity from our lists which may possess any of the 
requirements w r e are seeking. The Suffolk polled stock has been well 
described by a celebrated breeder, Mr. Gooderham, who says their 
milk and cream tests are very favourable and their beef-making 
character well known. There is, however, one special point as dairy 
stock of great consequence, that of never going dry, for it not only 
adds greatly to the annual product of milk, but it almost amounts to 
an insurance against puerperal fever at calving time. Undoubtedly 
this breed combines the points of good milkers and butter-makers, 
but not to the fullest extent, with also good beef-making capacity, 
but being also polled animals unfortunately excludes them from our 
list of animals we are seeking for having special points and purposes. 
We must now refer more particularly to what we wish to produce 
as the best breed of dairy cattle for the future, for our aspirations 
lead us to endeavour and acquire in one race of animals the combined 
capacities which we cannot find in any single breed, to the extent at 
any rate which we desire. We shall therefore be obliged to fall back 
upon crossing to a certain extent to obtain what we seek. In fact, 
what we desire is an improved Guernsey breed, for in our experience 
we can surely obtain from the best pedigree stock at present the 
lichest milk, yielding the choicest butter both in quantity and quality 
which can be produced from any variety of the Channel Island cattle. 
The Guernseys, too, at present are said to be the greatest milkers as 
to quantity of the Channel Island animals ; but be this as it may, what 
we require is that they should yield as much milk as some of the best 
strains of milking Shorthorns, and yet retain the highest position as 
butter-makers wdiich they now possess. As so many dairymen and 
amateurs take so much fancy to the Jerseys, and of late years so 
much pains have been taken to raise them in public estimation, still 
we must not be led avay and believe that the Jerseys as improved 
possess all that is necessary in a perfect dairy cow. That it is not 
possible to cross the Jerseys so as to produce an animal capable of 
furnishing all that we require is at once seen in the fact that when 
she goes dry she cannot be made profitable by feeding for beef, nor 
could we mate the Jersey stock with any other known breed of cattle 
to furnish the beef in any appreciable quantity without deteriorating 
the milk and butter-making capacity. In the Guernsey stock the 
question of crossing at once assumes a different form, for these are 
large and roomy cattle and in various instances have been known 
when barren or gone dry to fatten freely and make a weight of beef 
of some profit to the feeders. Then arises the question, How can the 
point of beef-making be extended simultaneously with an increase of 
milk, and yet retain the excessive butter-making capacity which they 
now possess ? This is a task which we have undertaken to explain, 
for we do not require what is usually termed a cross-bred animal only, 
a Guernsey in an improved state, by having taken what we require 
from some other breed, and that breed we pronounce to be the 
Shorthorn. 
(To be continued.) 
WOBK ON THE HOME FAEM. 
Horse Labour .—Horses are at present chiefly engaged in the prepara¬ 
tion of the land and seeding it with Wheat, winter Beaus, and winter 
Vetches. Wheat-sowing and drilling especially must be done, the sooner 
the better ; and we wish the home farmer to remember the result of delay 
in the seed time of last year, and which, in some instances, amounted to 
a serious disaster on various farms, particularly of cold, strong, flat-lying 
land. We, therefore, consider that in the event of the seed time being 
delayed in any future year, like last year, it would be far better not t 
sow the land with Wheat at all, but wait until the spring for fair weather 
and sow Lent corn, the light lands with Barley, and the strong soils with 
Oats or drege, for we always reckon that as many quarters of Oats can 
be grown as sacks of Wheat per acre, unless the seed time for Wheat is 
favourable and at the early period. The fine weather which occurred 
the second week of the present month has enabled the farmers who now, 
for the most part, make their ricks near to where the corn is grown, to 
do a few days’ thrashing, it being important for the condition of the 
straw as well as of the grain that it should be done in fine weather. 
The delivery after sale of the corn will take some horse labour in pro¬ 
portion to the distance of the farm from the mill or the railway station. 
Some of the Wheat is, however, in various districts much out of condition, 
owing, in various instances, to the ricks being partly made or not 
thatched when the rain came, and the consideration of this circumstance 
ought to induce the erection of Dutch barns by the owners of land, 
which may be erected in various parts of a farm or an estate. The home 
farmer could then secure his grain near to where it is grown, and also 
secure it under cover whether little or much has been carted, and thus 
be somewhat independent when storms occur, and not be subject to 
losses through ricks being partly built or unthatched. We note in some 
districts the water meadow*, as well as other productive pastures, have 
been cut for hay the second time, and after a time has, in some cases, 
been ricked in fair condition. This is a matter requiring consideration 
where there is a large consumption on the farm, especially by dairy 
cows in the winter months. As to the benefit arising from ensilage, espe¬ 
cially in late and moist climates, because all late aftermath, either 
Clover or meadow grass, can be preserved without risk of damage by 
the weather as ensilage, with a properly constructed silo, and properly 
filled, can be secured for use in the winter months. Upon some farms 
without any arable land capable of producing roots it is of the 
highest importance, and will frequently render unnecessary the large 
consumption of hay, and also diminish the amount of the feeding stuffs 
otherwise frequently required. 
Hand Labour .—Men ate now employed in spreading manures for 
Wheat on the Clover leas if not already done, also the winnowing of corn 
lately thrashed, unless the corn is cleaned and prepared for sale at one 
operation of threshing and winnowing at the same time by the same 
machine. Where the Turnip crop is being prepared for ploughing under 
before the Wheat is sown, this work may be partly done by women, who 
may assist the men in breaking down the roots, by carting them into 
the Gardner’s cutter for men to grind in readiness for ploughing in, 
which cannot be done and the roots so effectually buried in any other 
way. 
Live Stock .—The fashionable mode of feeding sheep by the use not 
only of hay and roots, but of cake and corn also in many instances, 
which not only incurs heavy costs but increases the labour bill in various 
ways ; and as we note that so many farmers have been obliged to sell all 
their sheep to enable them to hold on their farms, and numbers of them 
have been obliged to quit their occupations, it i3 fast being found out 
that the large capital employed in sheep-farming and the consequent costs 
of labour and materials for feeding is a system only adapted for wealthy 
men, who if they lose by any particular transaction in farming are not 
thrown out of their farms. The fairs lately held for the sale of both 
cattle and sheep have again been higher in price than for a month 
previous. The dairy cows have now plenty of grass where it has been 
carefully preserved, so that each month should furnish for them some 
grass, although it may be supplemented further on by roots and hay or 
straw, and perhaps ensilage with the greatest benefit. The fatting and 
feeding bullocks for Christmas markets will now require the finishing 
touch of the feeder by an increase of all the best and most nutritious 
food and fodder, to give the animals the best and most glossy coat when 
shown for sale. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
Camden Square, London. 
Lat. 51° 52' 40” N. ; Long. 0° 8' 0 W.; Altitude, 111 feet. 
DATE. 
9 A.M. 
IN THE DAT. 
B 
ce 
« 
1883. 
October. 
Barome¬ 
ter at 329 
and Sea 
Level 
Hygrome¬ 
ter. 
Direction 
of Wind. 
| Temp, of 
1 Soil at 
1 foot. 
Shade Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature. 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
snn. 
On 
grass. 
Inches. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
In. 
Sunday . 
14 
29.967 
56.2 
53.0 
S.E. 
51.1 
64.4 
47.4 
95 8 
39.8 
0.440 
Monday. 
15 
29.779 
61.9 
50.3 
S.W. 
52.2 
64.6 
484 
98.4 
44.4 
0.457 
Tuesday. 
10 
29.418 
56.9 
■NA 
S.W. 
52.0 
61.6 
48.7 
91.2 
45.5 
0.057 
Wednesday .. 
17 
29.4,9 
54.6 
4 9.6 
w. 
5..1 
59.7 
5U.6 
19 i.6 
45.4 
0.058 
Thursday ... 
18 
29.976 
46.9 
P.0 
w. 
51._ 
55.7 
42.1 
93.7 
36.0 
— 
Friday. 
19 
29.9r,3 
50.6 
(8.6 
s. \v. 
19. 
56.3 
46.3 
5.5.3 
41.5 
0.174 
Saturday .... 
20 
29.750 
46.7 
4J.7 
N.W. 
> .0 
51.9 
44.3 
82.7 
40.6 
— 
29.759 
52.0 
48.8 
' 1.0 
59 2 
CO 
88.2 
41.9 
l.lbf 
REMARKS. 
14th.—Fine warm morning with gusty wind ; almost continuous rain after 3.80 P.M. 
I5th.—Fine pleasant day, high wind and rain at night. 
16th.—S.W. gale in early morning, squally day with heavy showers, fine and calm in 
evening. 
17tli.—Fine during the greater part of the day, sharp shower at 7 P.il , gale in evening. 
18th.—Fine and bright, high wind in morning, calm evening. 
19th.—Wet, calm, and dreary. 
20th.—Fine pleasant day, cloudy in morning, but gradually getting brighter; glorious 
moonlight night. 
Although the total amount of rain was large, more than half of it fell at night, and 
the week was pleasant for the time of year, as it was frequently fine and bright, and there 
was little mist or fog. Temperature remarkably similar to that of the preceding week, 
and about 3° above the average. There were several great and rapid changes of 
^ atmospheric pressure.— 3-. J. Symons. 
