84 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ January 14, 1892. 
club we were assured that the district was unsuitable for the 
purpose, yet Scotch farmers are fast turning mid-Essex into a 
great dairy centre. They flourhh where corn growers failed, and 
are giving the best possible practical contradiction to the 
fallacious opinions of our worthy opponents. 
The lesson has not been lost; its teaching is so valuable, 
its results so undeniable, that the Scotch farmers have now 
plenty of imitators ; and though there is a frequent recurrence 
of the outcry about the low price of milk, cow herds are 
constantly increising in numbers, the quick returns enabling 
graziers to take advantage of markets, and thus frequently 
secure a good cow or two. 
That the milk market is becoming crowded we have no 
doubt, and we hope it may become so full that falling prices 
will induce farmers to combine in the establishment of butter 
factories everywhere. If they are conducted upon sound 
business principles, and care is taken to produce first-class 
butter always, there is a splendid future before them. To 
begin with, we rely upon no foreign country for purchasers, 
proof has been had repeatedly that we have only to produce 
first-class butter of uniform excellence to obtain a ready 
market. We are on the spot, and with that advantage must 
and shall compete successfully with France and Denmark. 
It has been said with a sneer that lectures under ihe technical 
education scheme are simply repeating the lessons of the 
Journal of the Royal Agiicultural Society of England. 
Repeating ! we should think so, indeed. What else is there for 
it, but to keep on repeating? Have farmers been so prompt to 
apply the lessons of the Royal Journal that repetition is 
unnecessary? Let us just go back to vol. xv., part 1, 1879, 
in which the late Secretary, Mr. H. M. Jenkins, said, “ The 
extent of business done by French butter merchants is 
astonishing. For instance, the firm of Lepelli ier of Carentan, 
whose trade is solely with England, send the butter over in 
their own vessels, and in 1877 their exportation exceeded 4000 
tons, and the estimated average value in France for the ten 
years then ended was nearly half a million sterling per annum. 
They estimated that in 1878 their trade would show an increase 
of 30 per cent, over its average amount in the previous ten 
years. 
French butter is sent to market in a great variety of pack¬ 
ages, according to the requirements of each locality. For the 
London market kegs holding about 70 lbs. each, crocks holding 
50 lbs., and boxes containing one dozen 2-lb. rolls are most 
frequently seen. Extreme cleanliness and refreshing neatness 
(amounting almost to what the French call coqiietterie) are 
characteristic of all the methods, and they are further dis¬ 
tinguished by the free and almost lavish use of clean linen 
linings. The kegs and linen linings cost about Is. 9d. each; the 
crocks, which are protected by an outside basket, and also lined 
with linen, cost about 28. each, including everything ; and the 
boxes holding a dozen rolls cost about 9d. each, including linen 
and paper. In the hottest weather the boxes are sometimes 
double, the space between the two boxes being filled with cotton 
wadding. In fact, the French butter merchants thoroughly 
realise the importance of delivering their wares in an attractive 
condition, entailing neither trouble nor waste upon the retailer. 
“ Look here,” said one of them, “ at this French box. 1 open 
it” (which he did); “here is the butter fit to weigh out to you 
without an atom of loss. Now let us break open this cask of 
Irish; you see 1 have to scrape it all round and lose a lot, 
beside the trouble.” 
Such was the lesson given as clearly and forcibly as was 
possible twelve years ago. Has its teaching been applied in this 
country? Was its full significance grasped? We think it was 
by a few leading spirits, hence the factories founded by certain 
landlords whose public spirit deserves the highest praise. But 
farmers generally have indeed been slow to realise the fact that 
it is entirely in their power to turn the golden stream from 
French pockets into their own. Let them combine to establish 
farmers’ co-operative factories, giving heed to the combination 
of economy with efficiency. Had they done so county councils 
would not have been at the expense of trying to assist them by 
lectures now. It is all very well to meet such efforts by 
assertions that farmers understand their own business, or in 
other words, they have nothing to learn, and their would-be 
teachers are guilty of gross impertinence. If this were true the 
future of farming would indeed be a bad one. It is not true, 
and the sooner farmers admit it the sooner are they likely to do 
what is possible to improve their position. 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
To all flockmasters whose arrangements include lambing this month 
we say, Have your lambing fold prepared in good time, and see that it 
is replete with all possible shelter and convenience. Again last season 
were we cognisant of heavy losses of lambs solely through exposure to 
cold cutting wind ; but this was on farms where no provision of shelter 
whatever is made for lambing. If this note is read by any such faulty 
shepherds we cordially invite them to give a trial to shelter, and well 
rewarded will they be. The principle of the thing is to guard ewes 
and lambs from cold winds, as well as frost, snow, and excessive wet. 
Enclose sufficient space to accommodate the entire flock ; make plenty 
of snug cribs around the inner sides of the enclosure with thatched 
hurdles—square cribs a hurdle wide and long, with a roof of similar 
thatched hurdles sloping outwards. The outer wall is best formed of 
parallel lines of hurdles, with the space between well stuffed with straw 
or any rough litter. Have at least two outer enclosures for delicate 
ewes and lambs requiring special supervision for some time after the 
lambing. 
When lambing begins each ewe with its progeny is placed in a 
separate crib for a day or two till it is certain that all is going well, 
when they are let into the general enclosure, any doubtful cases being 
taken to one of the small enclosures for special treatment and care. 
At first lambs and ewes are driven into the large fold every night and 
are kept in by day in stormy weather. Judgment is required as to 
when they may be left out, and it is better to err on the side of 
extra caution rather than to run any risk of undue exposure to cold 
and wet. 
Feed the ewes well. Rich blood implies rich milk, and a fairly high 
condition is decidedly advantageous to the lambs. Do not forget the 
severe strain to which pregnant ewes are subjected. Not only feed well 
but keep them from exposure, which must tell upon their enfeebled 
condition. Let the lambs have some lamb food as soon as they can 
take it ; it is wholesome and nutritious, being precisely the mixed diet 
that promotes brisk, robust growth. Nothing must be left to chance, 
but everything done for the health and comfort of the flock. Really, 
to see the want of any provision of shelter for the lambing, the turning 
out, or rather leaving out of very young lambs in a bleak, exposed 
meadow, the take-jour-chance kind of practice prevalent on so many 
farms, is positively astounding. Yet we hear again and again that 
farmers know their own business better than anyone else, and that 
much of the advice offered them is superfluous. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
Camden Square, London. 
Lat. 51° 32' 40" N.; Long. 0° 8' 0" W.; Altitude, 111 feet. 
Date. 
9 A.M. 
In the Day. 
.3 
1892. 
January. 
[ Barometer 
j at32'-,and 
S?a Level. 
Hygrometer. 
Direc¬ 
tion of 
Wind. 
Temp, 
of soil 
at 
1 foot. 
Shade Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
Sun 
On 
Grass. 
Inchs. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
Inchs. 
Sunday .. 
3 
30.i'62 
1.0 
39.0 
W. 
38.7 
42.6 
31.3 
46.3 
28.2 
— 
Monday .. 
4 
3U.064 
28.9 
27.8 
N.W. 
38.0 
35.0 
27.1 
54.9 
20.8 
— 
Tuesday .. 
5 
29.999 
28.4 
28.0 
S.W. 
36.9 
43.1 
23.2 
45.6 
17 0 
0.010 
Wedne^ay 
6 
29.383 
42.6 
40.2 
S.W. 
36.2 
43.4 
28.2 
45.3 
26.2 
0.071 
Thursday.. 
7 
29.425 
30.2 
29.5 
S.W. 
36.0 
36.9 
29.8 
56.2 
24.4 
0.010 
Friday 
8 
29.443 
29.2 
28.6 
w. 
35.9 
34 9 
25.9 
56.9 
23.0 
0.029 
Saturday .. 
9 
29.448 
27.2 
27.0 
N.i 
35.6 
29.8 
24.2 
36.1 
26.2 
— 
29.689 
I 32 5 
31.4 
36.8 
38.0 
27.1 
43,8 
22.8 
0.120 
REMARKS. 
3rd.—Bright early ; overcast from 10 A.M. to 1 P.M., with spots of rain about 11 A.M. ; 
bright sunshine in afternoon, and clear night. 
4th.—Brilliant throughout. 
5th.—Blight early ; overcast after 10 A.M., a few flakes of snow at 11.30 A.M. 
6th.—Overcast early, with spots of rain; heavy shower of sleet and soft hail from 
lO.lu to 10.30 A.M., whitening the ground, then frequent rain or wet snow tiU 
noon. Almost unbroken sunshine after 1 p.m. ; brilliant night. 
7th.—Bright sun till 11 A M. ; overcast from noon to 2 P.M., then occasional sun again. 
8th.—Suflicient snow in the small hours to cover the ground. Bright sunshine all 
day. 
9th.—Nearly half an inch of snow in the night, cloudy day, but the sun occasionally 
visible. 
A wintry week, but with a good deal of bright sunshine. Mean temperature 
about 5° below the average, but just above the freezing point.—G. J. Symons. 
