106 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ July 31, 1890. 
Special utility and general utility are tlie two points of moment 
•which claim particular attention in making a selection of cows for 
stocking a farm, and local circumstances should determine if 
greater weight is given to one point or another, or if an equal 
balance is maintained between both. With a steadily downward 
tendency in the value of corn live stock has naturally been looked 
to more closely as a means of relief, and in many an instance it 
has failed to help the farmer in his need, more because of mis¬ 
management than anything else. To purchase cattle at prices 
which preclude any possibility of profit simply because they “must” 
be had is ridiculous ; equally ridiculous is it to breed inferior 
stock. 
Faulty practice in this important branch of farming is doubt¬ 
less owing to the fact of corn having been so profitable at one 
time that wherever it could be grown it has preference over every¬ 
thing else. Dairy farming and cattle rearing had comparatively 
little notice, superior practice in either being quite exceptional. 
Meanwhile the population went on steadily increasing, prosperity 
•combined with the spread of information about wholesome 
nutritious additions to and changes of the people’s dietary 
caused a growing demand for dairy produce, which we failed to 
supply. The importer saw his opportunity and seized it. Foreign 
produce rules the market, for farmers over the seas have made 
that produce so superior that it is only by bringing home produce 
up to a high and uniform standard of excellence that we can enter 
upon a competition with them with even reasonable hopes of 
success. 
Of equal importance is the general improvement of our cattle. 
The exportation of select pedigree stock from this country goes 
steadily on, and it points in no uncertain manner to a reflux of both 
store and fat cattle of superior quality and in large quantities 
within a measurable period of time. Well will it be if we can meet 
it by such a general improvement in cattle, in feeding, and in the 
provision of food, as shall virtually give us the control of our own 
markets. This is no mere fanciful project ; general improvement 
is unquestionably very possible. We ought to and could keep 
twice or three times the number of cattle per acre than we now do. 
The man who has hitherto been satisfied with £7 or £8 per acre 
for a crop of green fodder, ought to aspire to a return of twice 
that amount, simply because it is possible, and is realised under 
•certain conditions. No longer ought we to waste our time and 
money upon grazing under-bred cattle, but rather turn to choice 
home-bred stock capable of being finished for the butcher well 
within the second year. Early maturity with quick and profitable 
•returns is what we require and can have, nor ought we to rest 
satisfied with inferior cows. A cow giving only 10 or 12 quarts of 
milk daily is not worth keeping. 
No doubt the model farmer’s cow is an animal answering to the 
requirements of the Royal Agricultural Society in their class for 
dairy cattle of any breed. Preference is given to animals com¬ 
bining excellence for dairy, grazing, and stall-feeding purposes. 
Take for example the first-prize cow at the Preston meeting in 
1885. This was “ Red Cherry,” a Lincolnshire shorthorn, with a 
very large well-shaped udder, milk veins highly developed, and 
capable of making a very considerable return as beef when her 
powers as a deep milker began to fail. The Judges said, “ This is 
just the stamp of cow that dairymen ought to look for, combining 
as she does a well-developed frame, with faultless udder, and all 
other milking qualities. Her yield of milk, as tested in the Show 
yard was 27 quarts per diem, while the quality, according to 
analysis by Dr. Yoelcker, was a fraction over the required 
standard.” The conditions of the competition were that cows 
entered should give not less than 18 quarts of milk per day, 
containing not less than 12 per cent, of solids (including butter 
fat). 
Plenty of farmers require cattle solely for grazing and stall- 
feeding, and to them the work of selection is much easier, their 
choice ranging according to locality through Shorthorns, Herefords, 
Devons, Sussex, Galloway, Polled Angus, Red Polls, Welsh Runts, 
and cross breeds. More, very many more, of the latter do we wish 
to see, and again we say to every farmer, Breed your own cattle, 
and don’t waste your means upon those sharp, clever middlemen 
who attend and virtually control every market, while you are mere 
puppets in their hands. Make your farms self-contained and self- 
supporting, and keep yourselves as free as possible from exterior 
influences. But pray don’t shut your eyes to them, rather be on 
the alert for early information of all change, all progress that affects 
your business in any way. 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
The farmer's brief time of leisure between haymaking and harvest 
has come, and he will do well to turn some part of it to account to see 
something of farming practice elsewhere. Before leaving home it is 
well to ascertain where some really good practice may be seen, and to 
those who as yet have not given ensilage its place upon their farm we 
say, Go and see as much of it as you can elsewhere, and so get the 
necessary feeling of confidence to adopt a process so conducive to 
success in stock management. Above all things listen to no method of 
ensi’age where thorough pressure is not enforced. We have no doubt 
that in those rare instances where difficulty is found in getting animals 
to consume silage freely the fault lies in the making. 
The hay generally made this season will be of inferior quality, and 
really choice samples will bring high prices later on. Much good hay 
has been made as the weather cleared after the St. Swithin’s storm, but 
there is a preponderance of over-ripe wiry stalks among it, as it was 
left so late that all the earlier grasses had ripened seed and stalks. 
Much of the hay mown on St. Swithin’s day was positively afloat after 
the storm on heavy land pastures, and on some low-lying land every hay 
cock save one was swept away by the flood waters. Certainly the value 
of ensilage was never more apparent than it is this season. 
We recently saw an Oat field sadly infested by docks, and the short 
ears and stunted growth of the Oats told a tale of foulness and poverty 
all too plainly. With soil so saturated by frequent downpours of rain 
it would be an easy matter to root up the docks. That would be the 
first step in reclaiming such a field, and our next would be to feed off 
the Oats with our draft ewes in folds, for such an inferior crop could be 
turned to no better account, the old sheep would thrive upon it, and the 
land would be sufficiently enriched for Cabbage, Rape, Rye Grass, 
Rye, winter Oats, or Wheat. Hedgerow weeds should be mown before 
harvest to prevent seeding, and a close search made every where upon 
the farm for docks and thistles. It is only by the timely and regular 
destruction of all such pests that we can hope to have a really clean 
farm. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
Camden square, London. 
Lat. 51° 32' 40" N.; Long. 0° 8' 0" W.; Altitude, 111 feet. 
DATE. 
1890. 
July. 
Sunday.20 
Monday .... 2L 
Tuesday .... 22 
Wednesday.. 23 
Thursday.... 24 
Friday .25 
Saturday .... 20 
J 
REMARKS. 
2 ntli.— Cloudy early, bright fine day. 
21st.— Fine with oc asional sunshine. 
22ud.—Spots of rain about 9 A.M.; bright warm day. 
23rd.—Dull early; blight warm day. 
24 p.—Fine and bright till 3.45 P.M.; then spots of rain, and a shower for a minute or 
two at 4.5 P.M. not sufficient to measure, fine night. 
25th.—Bright and fresh throughout. 
20th.—Misty early, with occasional showers; generally bright after 10 A.M. 
A generally fine week ot about the average temperature.—G. J. STMONS. 
9 AM. j IN THE 
Barome¬ 
ter ut 328 
and Sea 
Level. 
Hygr die¬ 
ter. 
Direction 
of Wind. 
Temp, of 
son at 
1 foot. 
Shade Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature. 
In | On 
sun. grass 
.2 
’c3 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Max. 
Min. 
Inches. 
deg 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
In. 
30.250 
58.5 
51.0 
N.W. 
58.9 
67.7 
45.3 
118.8 
43.3 
— 
3 ’.218 
60.7 
5>.0 
N. 
59.2 
70.0 
50.9 
119.1 
49.3 
— 
30.001 
65.0 
59.7 
N.W. 
60.4 
75.6 
59.7 
126.9 
59.1 
— 
30.173 
62.5 
£8.1 
N.W. 
61.9 
76.2 
63.1 
123.0 
5G.2 
— 
29.915 
6.5.0 
.50.8 
N.W. 
62:2 
76.2 
57.9 
126.1 
66.0 
— 
30.096 
62.3 
.54. .5 
N.W. 
62.0 
7 1 .9 
50.9 
12'.3 
47.4 
0.037 
30.055 
61.2 
60.1 
S. 
G2.4 
73.8 
56.8 
120.2 
56.3 
— 
30.121 
62.3 
5M 
61.0 
73.1 
53.5 
121.4 
61.7 
0.037 
