188 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ February 18. 1892. 
land under it has to be restricted sufficienMy to enable farmers to 
manage with fewer horses and fewer labourers. Can anything 
possibly be plainer than this ? All doubt about the matter i i set 
at rest by the returns, which show an increase of 4,000,000 acres 
in the permanent pasture of Great Britain. 
This diminished cultivation of corn includes Barley, Oats, Peas, 
and Beans as well as Wheat; or, in other words, a very consider¬ 
able reduction in the production of home-grown corn for feeding 
stuffs, which has led to a proportionate increase of imported food 
for live stock. Well is it to notice in connection with this fact 
that the increased area of permanent pasture has not led to such 
an increase in live stock as to at all compensate for the faliing-off 
in corn produce. Here are the exact figures :— 
1871. 1891. Increase. 
Horses . 1,254,000 1,488,000 234,000 
Cattle . 5,338,000 6,853,000 1,515,000 
Sheep . 27,120,000 28,733,000 1,613,000 
Pigs . 2,500,000 2,889,000 389,000 
No doubt foreign competition has kept down the number of 
cattle, sheep, and pigs. It has been notorious for the last twelve 
months that pig keeping has been most unprofitable. We have 
heard of pork being sold in provincial markets for 3d. and 3Jd. 
per lb. ; yet really good well cured bacon cannot be had at well- 
known provision shops of repute in the City of London under 
prices ranging from T^d. to lid. per lb., the latter price being for 
choice cuts of streaky bacon. Meanwhile foreign meat finds its 
way into our market in steadily increasing quantities. New store¬ 
houses are being built for meat from the Antipodes, one of which, 
situated on the south side of the Thames, and capable of holding 
350,000 carcases of sheep, will be opened shortly. That number is 
noteworthy, as being sufficient for a week’s meat supply for the 
whole of London. The price at which really good imported 
mutton and beef can be sold in London and other large centres 
must seriously affect the home trade. At the stores under 
Cannon Street Station the prices recently ruling for the best 
Australian or New Zealand beef and mutton were 3d. to 3Jd. per lb. 
per quarter or per sheep. The weekly sales amount to about 
30,000 sheep, and we are assured that no better can be found 
than the choice consignments either from New Zealand or 
Queensland. The carcases are carefully enclosed in thin cotton 
sacks, and the flavour has none of the taint or insipidity of the 
flesh of stall-fed cattle. Pure air, pure food, and water are as 
necessary to growing good meat abroad as at home, and the new 
frozen meat trade has improved by leaps and bounds the quality 
of the consignments to this countr}' from the antipodeans. 
We hope an explanation of the use of the increasing area of 
permanent pasture is to be found in the more general attention 
to dairy farming ; if only that is so, increasing prosperity is still 
possible in agriculture. Expressions of wonder are common 
enough about the long distance from which farmers find it worth 
while to send milk to London. It is more than probable that the 
vastness of our huge metropolis is not generally realised ; hero 
are a few facts recently published illustrative of it. It has about 
5,000,000 of inhabitants, who increase by more than 50,000 a year. 
It has about 700,000 buildings, covering an area of 700 square 
miles, with very nearly 3000 miles of streets. Its annual con¬ 
sumption of meat is almost appalling in its magnitude, being no 
less than 4,000,000 of sheep, 9,000,000 of poultry and game, and 
800,000 oxen. Butter, milk, fruit, and vegetables are required in 
an equal ratio, both the latter being used in constantly increasing 
quantities. This is a want to which we have a significant response 
in the returns which show an increase of the area under small 
fruit in Great Britain from 36,700 acres in 1888, to 58,700 acres 
in 1891. Of this latter acreage 23,416 acres are included in the 
209,996 acres of orchards, representing small fruit grown under 
standard trees, while 22,510 acres are in market gardens. Orchards 
have increased by 25,000 acres during the last ten years ; market 
gardens also have increased by nearly 35,000 acres, or from 
46,604 acres to 81,368 acres in the same period of time ; yet the 
wisdom of our efforts to induce a still greater extension of both 
dairy and fruit farming is often questioned, and therefore it is well 
occasionally to have recourse to figures which tend to “ prove our 
facts,” and to justify such modifications of farm management as 
are likely to meet modern requirements. We commend the 
statistics given here to the thoughtful attention of our readers. 
They are signs of the times which cannot be ignored, and whichj 
rightly regarded, are beacons for our guidance. 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
So far the weather has been favourable to field work, and the month 
may prove a fairly dry one as it did last year. February fill-dyke has 
long been proverbial, and farmers do well to remember that in the pre¬ 
sent month and October there is generally a heavy rainfall. Ploughs 
are still busy in several counties through which business has taken us 
recently, and we observe the soil turns up wet and heavy. Much faith 
must farmers have in March winds and April showers, who thus put off 
ploughing till the approach of seed time. On heavy land farms late 
ploughing involves much risk of late sowing. The common mistake is 
to regard ploughing as a thing to be turned to at leisure, and not as 
requiring a special effort to get it all done as early as possible in autumn. 
Saturated as much of the land was with wet after last harvest the action 
of frost in it was more than usually apparent, the expansion of the 
water as it became frozen causing all ploughed land to open out freely, 
especially that which was thrown up in ridges. Fields so treated are 
now a pleasant sight, the ridges are crumbling, the soil is certain to dry 
quickly with a few days of wind and sun, and a deep fine seed-bed is a 
certainty. 
In a recent lecture in a heavy land district our advice to apply a 
spring dressing of salt to the land was questioned by a farmer who said 
he had done so to a field of blue clay some years ago, and it had been 
wet and cold ever since. We were bound to tell him that the wet and 
cold condition, which he attributed to salting, was in a great measure 
owing to imperfect drainage and a want of mechanical division. We 
were able also to tell him that we had seen a neighbour of his ploughing 
in coal ashes, and advised him to do so too. How slowly old beliefs and 
prejudices are shaken off. 
All new drains and any repairs to old drains should have been 
finished ere now, and no time should be lost in the completion of such 
work. Gladly have we seen more attention than usual given to ditch 
scouring this winter, knowing as we do how important it is to keep open 
all waterways and drain outlets. Faulty drainage is as unpardonable as 
foolish, full crops being impossible, however highly we may manure, 
till water passes freely by filtration through the soil into the drains, and 
is carried off quickly by them. 
Barley Cultivation. —The annual competition for prizes value 
fifty guineas, given by Messrs. Fison of Ipswich for the best samples of 
Barley, was decided last week. A large number of samples were 
exhibited, and over three hours were occupied by the Judges in deciding 
the merits of the different lots. The first prize, £20, was awarded to 
Mr. A. Pulham, Brandeston, Wickham Market, for a fine parcel of 
Webbs’ Golden Grain Barley, whilst the second prize, £15, went to Mr. 
W, Pepper of Covehithe, Wangford, who exhibited an almost equally 
fine sample of Webbs’ Kinver Chevalier Barley, other prizes went to the 
same variety. That Messrs. Webbs’ strains of Barley are greatly in 
advance of all other kinds is a fact that must be patent to all who are 
interested in the cultivation of Barley for malting purposes. Their list 
of successes is a long one indeed, and includes the most coveted 
honours, including the champion cup open to the world for the fifth 
year in succession. _ 
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. 
Bain 
1892. 
February. 
Barometer 
1 at 32°, and 
1 Sea 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 .. 
7 
29.961 
48.6 
48.0 
N.E. 
39.9 
53.0 
41.3 
57.9 
39.4 
0.036 
Monday .. 
8 
29.748 
46.1 
45.1 
S.W. 
41.1 
51.1 
44.0 
86.1 
38.0 
0.077 
Tuesday .. 
9 
30.324 
41.9 
40.3 
E. 
41.0 
48.3 
40.0 
53.4 
35 9 
0.024 
Wednesday 
10 
30.348 
48.0 
46.8 
N. 
41.6 
49.1 
41.3 
53.4 
40.4 
— 
Thursday.. 
11 
30.464 
44.5 
41.9 
N.W. 
41.9 
50.1 
42.3 
61.0 
40.4 
— 
Friday 
12 
30.494 
36.1 
36.0 
N.W. 
4 .3 
44.6 
32.1 
53.6 
25.7 
— 
Saturday .. 
13 
30.536 
38.6 
35.8 
N.W. 
40.4 
43.1 
35.9 
71.0 
28.9 
— 
30.268 
43.4 
40.2 
40.9 
48.5 
39.6 
62.3 
35.5 
0.137 
REMARKS 
7th.—Rain early, cloudy day, bright evening and night. 
8th.—Wet from 7 a.m. to 11.30 A.M , then alternate bright sun, and slight showers till 
2 P.M., when heavy rain fell, and it continued cloudy. 
9th.—Dull and damp early; high fog from 8.50 to 10.20 A.M., then [cloudy till 3.30 P.M., 
followed by frequent sUght drizzle; rain from 9 p.M. to midnight. 
10th.—Overcast throughout. 
11th.—Overcast morning, sunshiny afternoon, bright evening. 
12th.—Overcast morning, fine afternoon, bright evening and night, 
13th.—Brilliant morning, cloudy afternoon, bright night. 
An almost April like week, with high barometer.—G. J. Symons. 
