JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ December 11,1890. 
•530 
through the trying alternations of scarcity and plenty, have been 
worried and knocked about in transit ; the latter, thoroughly well 
bred to begin with, have known no break in the peace and plenty 
■of their placid existence ; well fed, well sheltered, and cared for in 
■every way they have never lost the sleek condition of infancy, but 
have gone steadily on, gaining at least 1 lb. in weight daily, and we 
•do not wonder at such phenomenal results as that of a shorthorn 
calf bred by Mr. Pearce of Market Drayton, who sent it to the 
•butcher at eighteen weeks old, and it weighed when dressed, with¬ 
out head and feet, 371 stone, or about 2 lbs. a day of dressed meat 
■from birth. This calf must have been exceptionally well bred, for 
it had nothing but the cow’s milk till within three weeks of its 
being killed, when a little meal was given it daily. This was of 
recent occurrence, and as an example may be considered a little 
beside the mark. If so, let us take a steer of twenty months that 
has been well done from its birth ; now, we are well within bounds 
to put the increase of weight at 1 lb. a day, or half that of Mr. 
Pearce’s calf, and this at twenty months gives us a prime beast 
weighing something over GOO lbs. ; but if we say 600 lbs. at 71(3., 
•the present market price, we have a total value of £18 15s., and 
■experience has shown that the value of the beast would really 
amount to at least £20, for the old Sussex standard of excellence 
<(£1 a month) is still a very safe one to apply to choice home-bred 
beasts. Of course they run for at least several months with the 
cow and have all the milk, and particular attention is given to 
induce them to take other food as early as possible, and they are 
not turned out on pasture in spring till the herbage is so abundant 
that are soon satisfied. In point of fact they are never on short 
commons at any period of their existence, and one never hears 
complaints of the markets from the owners of such beast?. 
There can be no good reason why those sleek 20-pounders 
■should not be the rule, and not the exception. Only the reckless 
purchase of dear store beasts must cease, so too must the equally 
reckless mismanagement of cattle. If they have insufficient food, 
or that which is not sufficiently nourishing ; if they are exposed to 
inclement weather, or are kept in a state of filth and discomfort ; 
if they are crowded together in a yard without the separation of 
younger from the older animals, they will lose money very much 
in proportion to the degree of mismanagement. Very good is it, we 
.know, to turn out so many beasts to graze in spring upon marsh or 
other rich pasture, and to have them come off in October straight 
to the butcher. But to do this well they must leave the yards in 
.spring fairly forward in condition, and the man who buys a lot of 
lean kine in spring and complains in autumn that they have not 
paid for the summer’s grass has only himself to blame. Such 
.beasts never have answered well, and never will, for by autumn 
they have about reached the condition in which they ought to have 
been in spring at turning out time. 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
The cold snap at the end of November should have induced everyone 
to look more closely than usual to the comfort of their live stock. The 
fall of snow was heavy generally, and we hear of as much as 2 feet of 
snow in East Kent. Thursday was the coldest November day we have 
had for many years, and it was with regret that we saw a lot of cattle 
being foddered with hay upon the snow out on the open pasture in the 
Midlands on that day. No shelter had they but the hedges, and the hay 
was really only just so much fuel to sustain vital heat in their sorely 
tried bodies. 
Ewes forward in lamb have constant attention now, and are kept as 
■quiet as possible. A frequent look round is desirable in case any of 
them become cast, or rolling over upon their backs, as they are then 
unable to rise, and struggle till they are exhausted and die.' They are 
now having some Pea straw in racks, and some of the chaffed winter Oat 
straw, of which we always have an abundant store at this season of the 
year. Feed upon pasture generally is running short, but we have a con¬ 
siderable extent of pasture reserved for the ewes that is full of feed, and 
we shall bring them upon this now shortly in readiness for the lambing 
in January. We are using no corn or cake for the ewes, as they are in 
excellent condition and will require none till after the lambing, when a 
moderate quantity is good both for the ewe and the lamb she suckles. 
Ewes having to make out upon poor pasture now become very poor, the 
lambs come weakly, and results are never satisfactory. No Turnips are 
given to ewes now, and they are kept altogether away from folds upon 
arable land, as the risk of injury from the strain made upon the system 
if the land becomes at all wet and muddy is too great. We hold over 
the roots till after the lambing, when Mangolds are at once given freely 
upon the pasture, and late Swedes are left out upon the land specially 
for the ewes in folds, and we generally obtain excellent crops of Barley 
afterwards. A lot of crones or overage ewes drafted from the breeding 
flock are now in folds upon some poor pasture, which will be left so 
richly stored with fertility that a full crop of grass next season is a 
certainty. We commend this method of pasture renovation as having 
answered well with us upon poor thin land on a hill farm. Such folding 
in winter upon low lying pasture or heavy land would probably not 
answer, but it is quite certain to do so upon light land. 
SEEDS AND ROOT STANDS AT THE AGRICULTURAL 
HALL. 
The annual Show of the Smithfield Club was opened at the 
Agricultural Hall, Islington, on Monday, December Sth, and proved 
a very satisfactory display. The entries in all the chief classes for 
cattle, sheep, and pigs are very numerous; the galleries are, as usual, 
together with a considerable space on the ground floor, packed with all 
kinds of agricultural machinery, from steam ploughs to butter churns. 
With the exhibits of the large seed firms we are, however, chiefly 
concerned here, and therefore append a few particulars respecting them, 
taking them in the order they were visited. Messrs. Sutton & Sods, 
Reading, have an extensive and handsome stand, upon which the upper 
part is devoted to semicircular kinds of fine Swedes and Mangolds, the 
lower portion being elegantly panelled, and shows a series of photo¬ 
graphs of the Reading establishment. There also are samples of the 
Grasses and other seeds, with new and approved varieties of Potatoes 
especially tested for their disease-resisting qualities. The more im¬ 
portant of the roots are in Swedes, Crimson King and Champion, both 
very handsome, while of the Mangolds, Crimson Tankard, Golden 
Tankard, and Mammoth Long Red are equally good. 
Closely following the above, Messrs. J. Carter & Co., High Holborn, 
have an extremely attractive exhibit occupying considerable space. The 
roots, which constitute one of the chief features, are arranged in sub¬ 
stantial mounds, fine clean even samples of Elephant, Green Globe, and 
Prizewinner Swedes, together with Golden Tankard, Golden Inter 
mediate, and Warden Prize Mangolds. Besides these there is an interest¬ 
ing series of the new hybrid Wheats raised by this firm, which are well 
worth attention for their fine quality. Potatoes all various, select 
vegetables, Sugar Beet, and samples of the principal farm and garden 
seeds, together with Grasses in mixture and otherwise, servedo furnish a 
very interesting stand. 
Upon the opposite side of the gallery, in their customary position, 
Messrs. E. Webb & Sons, Wordsley, Stourbridge, have a tasteful and 
effective display of their leading specialities in roots and seeds. Of the 
former there are admirable specimens of the following Swedes—Purple 
Top Mammoth, Imperial, a fine purple variety ; New Invincible, and 
Giant. Adjoining these we find such well-known Mangolds as Mammoth 
Long Red, Yellow Flesh, Tankard, and Champion Yellow Flesh, all good 
samples. Amongst the grains. Challenge White Wheat and Oats, Kinver 
Chevalier Barley, and Prolific Black Tartarian Oats are noticeable, 
together with Potatoes, Peas, and other vegetables in abundance. 
Again passing round the gallery to near the stairs we find Messrs. 
Harrison & Sons, Leicester, have a well furnished stand, comprising 
very creditable roots and seeds. Swedes are well represented by Defiance, 
Normanton Globe, Green Barrel, Perfection, and Red Heart. Of Man¬ 
golds there are Giant Long Red and Golden Tankard, while Carrots, 
Onions, Beet, Parsnips, and Potatoes are well represented by select 
varieties. 
Messrs. Oakshott & Millard, Reading; King of Coggeshall ; and 
Raynbird, Caldecott, & Co., Bawtree, also have effective stands of roots 
and seeds. Messrs. Dicksons of Chester show a collection of Apples, 
and the English Fruit and Rose Company, Hereford, have an excellent 
collection of about fifty varieties of Apples. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
CAMDEN SQUARE, LONDON. 
Lat. 51° 32' 40" N. ; Long. 0° 8' 0" W.; Altitude, 111 feet. 
DATE. 
9 AM. 
IN THE DAY. 
1890. 
• or rs 
Hygmme- 
a . 
■ 
Shade Tern- 
Radiation 
3 
November 
Barom 
ter at 3 
and S 
Leve 
ter. 
32 d 
o ~ 
o 
S 0*- 1 
3 
* 
perature. 
Temperature. 
« 
and 
December. 
Dry. 
Wet. 
£5 
5o 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
sun. 
On 
grass 
Sunday. 
80 
Inches. 
80.392 
deg. 
55.1 
deg. 
24.4 
N.E. 
deg. 
38.5 
deg. 
38.9 
deg. 
21.6 
deg. 
48.9 
deg. 
17.8 
In. 
Monday. 
1 
30.210 
30.0 
34.7 
S. 
37.9 
39.9 
2.1.9 
49.3 
19.2 
— 
Tuesday .... 
O 
£9.806 
34.3 
34.0 
N.h\ 
37.9 
3i.4 
27.9 
37.1 
20.4 
— 
■Wednesday.. 
3 
£9.72 6 
34.S 
31.4 
N.E. 
37.4 
42.4 
33.3 
4!.9 
32.3 
0.041 
Thursday.... 
4 
29.708 
41.7 
41.7 
N.E. 
37.9 
43.7 
34.3 
47.6 
35.2 
0.062 
Friday . 
5 
29.848 
37.8 
33.3 
E. 
39.1 
40.5 
35.3 
41.3 
35.2 
— 
Saturday .... 
6 
29.993 
37.4 
35.0 
E. 
39.2 
39.1 
36.6 
41.2 
35.6 
— 
29.955 
35.3 
34.4 
38.3 
40.1 
30.4 
43.8 
28.0 
0.103 
REMARKS. 
30th.— A little fog in the morning ; sunshine in the middle of the day; fair evening. 
1st.—Sunshine through alight fog in morning; dense fog from 1 to 2 P.M., and rather 
dense nearly all afternoon; clear night. 
2nd.—Slight fog early, dark as night for a few minutes about 9.15 A.M., foggy morning 
fair afternoon, and fog again in evening. 
Prd. — Overcast and slightly foggy. 
4ih. — Almost continuous rain or drizzle till 5 p.M.; overcast evening. 
5th .—Overcast but dry. 6ili.—Overcast and dry, 
A cold but generally dry week.—G. J, SYMONS. 
