308 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ April 2', 1892. 
same time to discontinue the use of dry food altogether, is wrong. 
The eifect upon most cows is so relaxing that scouring becomes 
general in the herd. Occasionally one or two eat so greedily that 
the stomach becomes packed with food which it cannot digest. 
Gas is then generated so freely that the stomach becomes distended 
to an abnormal degree, there is some feyer and much pain, the 
intensity of which is evident from the uneasiness and moaning 
of the cow. It is easily relieved, but it is best to call in a 
veterinary surgeon as quickly as possible, for if inflammation sets 
in it is generally fatal. 
Thus much only as a word of warning, especially to beginners, 
to show something of the risk attendant upon extreme or sudden 
changes of diet. If instead of turning out the cows at a given 
time they are gradually prepared by having some green food 
placed in the yard racks, such as Rye, Italian Rye Grass, Trifolium 
incarnatum, or Lucerne, they are gradually brought to a changed 
diet, and eventually are allowed oirt altogether on pasture. When 
all the land is in pasture this cannot be managed so well, but even 
then if at first the cows are left out only for a short time, which 
is gradually lengthened, still keeping up rations of bran and 
crushed Oats at milking time, with hay in the racks at night, there 
will be very little trouble from scour. Upon the principle that a 
farm should be self-supporting, the use of bran has given way to 
that of crushed Oats very much ; wholesome, sound, nourishing 
food, shelter, gentle kindly treatment, an avoidance of extreme 
or sudden changes all tending to keep up condition and a full 
yield of rich milk. 
To harp once more upon an old string attention may be called 
to what a comprehensive term shelter is. It really comprises pro¬ 
tection from everything at all calculated to prove injurious to cows 
or cattle. Not merely in winter when the stormy winds do blow 
is it required, but in summer when gad flies are rampant, fastening 
themselves upon cattle and sucking the blood till the animals 
become frantic with pain, rushing about so violently that cows 
especially suffer so much that there is frequently a serious falling 
off in the butter yield through the milk becoming poor. The 
remedy is the shelter of a well ventilated cow house or covered 
yard by day, with green food in racks, and turning out on pasture 
by night. Our readers have been told of young well-bred stock 
that never left the covered yard till sold to the butcher. This is 
the practice of some excellent farmers who look closely into every 
detail, and who consider that the quiet existence in the yards 
promotes early ripening, keeps on the calf flesh, and is altogether 
the most thrifty and economical method. Certainly the fortunate 
animals avoid the serious exposure to cold, wet, and heat, which 
is frequently so mischievous among cattle. 
Where cows are kept in at all cleanliness must be insisted upon. 
Most lamentable is the condition of many a herd at turning out 
time, and this spring it is especially so. Many cows are not 
only low in condition, but have evidently been suffered to lie 
down on a bed of filth all the winter. They are turned out 
with their coats clogged with filth. Many of them are just mere 
bags of bones. The calves are weakly, and the udders so small 
that the milk yield must be very low indeed. This is no fanciful 
picture, it is a sketch from Nature of a herd visible as we write 
from the windows of a dairy farm where we are sojourning for 
the moment. They have been out on pasture all day—pasture 
so bare that hay has been taken and thrown about on it for 
them to eat ; a most wasteful proceeding, as the traces of hay all 
over the pasture testify, yet such is the practice in the Midlands, 
where custom seems to rule to the exclusion of thought, or any 
attempt at improvement. No regular turn-out time is there here, 
for cow and store beasts are generally out all the winter. At 
this farm a certain number of cows are kept in at night, but as 
no straw is grown they run woefully short of litter for bedding ; 
their wretched starveling appearance shows how short they have 
been kept of food too. Yet here, where Stilton cheese is the 
staple article of produce, there is every inducement to keep the 
best cows and to feed them well. Nohly does the local cheese 
sustain its high price. Prosperous as are its makers, they might 
be much more so if only they had something better than a mere 
makeshift system of management. No effort appears to be made 
at improvement in any way ; the head of stock kept is generally 
too large, hay-ricks run short, causing turn-out time to be eagerly 
looked for. Yet it has been so much anticipated that there lean 
be very little real grazing till warmer nights come to promote 
free growth even in poverty stricken pasture. 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
Never was the value of and necessity for deep open hovels in every 
meadow more apparent than on the morning of April 13th, when snow 
fell heavily for several hours, with a keen nor’-easter driving the snow 
flakes furiously across the land. Ill fared it then with calves and late 
lambs with nothing but a hedge for shelter—no hovels, no lambing fold. 
Men show by such insane exposure of delicate animals that they have 
not yet acquired even an elementary knowledge of their business. Our 
early lambs passed through this cold spell with impunity, as they are 
such fine sturdy animals that a few were sent to market for the Easter 
sale. Folding on Swedes is now coming to an end, and the Rye will be 
turned to at once. As usual this valuable green crop is ready in the 
very nick of time for ewes and lambs, which are now kept from the 
pastures, our aim being to reserve as much grass as possible for hay and 
silage. This spring a fine forward piece of Italian Rye Grass will be 
folded after the Rye, with a possible change to Sainfoin. This will 
depend upon the condition of the flock, which will pass over the whole 
of the Italian Rye Grass in folds without change if no symptoms 
of scouring occur; if they do there will be a prompt change to the 
Sainfoin. 
Field Potatoes have been planted in a satisfactory manner, the soil 
working light and clean, the manure being applied easily and inexpen¬ 
sively, and the seed having one stout shoot on each tuber. As the soil was 
low in fertility a moderate quantity of nitrate of soda was mixed with 
the superphosphate and potash, no farmyard manure was used. This 
avoidance of manure carts makes a material difference in the expense 
of planting ; it also tends to lighten labour subsequently, for there is 
no doubt that weed seeds are taken to the land by the manure cart. 
The Potato field had been thrown into ridges in the autumn, a couple 
of turns of the harrows broken down the ridges; the double-breasted 
plough was then set going to make furrows 30 inches apart, the manure 
was scattered along the bottom and sides of the furrows by hand, the 
seed laid in carefully so as not to break the shoots, another double- 
breasted plough following to split the new ridges and so close the 
furrows over the seed. Thus was the work done quickly and well, the 
soil being left lightly ridged over the seed, which being so buried rather 
deeply is less liable to have its growth cut by late frost than when more 
shallow planting is practised. In a wet spring the winter ridges are not 
broken down, the manure being sown, the seed placed along the furrows, 
and the old ridges then split. There is less labour this way, but with 
fine weather we prefer stirring the soil beforehand. 
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. 
April. 
Barometer 
at 32°, and 
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. 
Simday .. 
10 
29-977 
54-3 
47-3 
N.E. 
47-0 
67-4 
38-9 
105-4 
31-9 
— 
Monday .. 
11 
29-955 
48-4 
43-0 
N.E. 
47-9 
67-7 
36-0 
105-6 
28 2 
— 
Tuesday .. 
12 
29-940 
42-2 
390 
N.E. 
47-9 
50-9 
34-1 
96-8 
26-7 
0-020 
W ednesday 
13 
29-674 
37-6 
36-6 
N.E. 
46-2 
41-3 
36-7 
79-7 
28 7 
0-178 
Thursday.. 
14 
29-712 
400 
36-1 
N.E. 
44-0 
47-3 
28-3 
94-8 
21-9 
— 
Friday 
15 
29-773 
33-6 
32-3 
N.E. 
43-2 
48-7 
28-6 
79-9 
21-8 
0-204 
Saturday .. 
16 
29-504 
35-6 
34-7 
N. 
42-3 
44-2 
32-3 
68-6 
31-2 
— 
29-792 
41-7 
38-4 
45-5 
52-5 
33-6 
901 
27-2 
0-402 
REMARKS. 
10th.—Almost cloudless throughout. 
11th.—Brilliant throughout. 
12th.—Overcast almost all day ; cold night. 
13th.—Overcast early; wet snow and rain from f a.M. to 9 A.M., and then almost 
incessant rain till about 6 p.M.; fair night. 
14th.—Brilliant early, and almost unbroken sunshine throughout, except from 11.30 
A.M. to 1 P.M., when there was frequent slight snow and a little cloud. 
15th.—High smoke fog all day, and slightly foggy below. 
16th.—Snow from 5 A.M. to 9 A.M., roof and trees white; overcast morning, fair after¬ 
noon and evening. 
Wintry and cold except for the first two days, with rather sharp frosts in the 
second half. The marked contrast to the preceding week is shown by the following 
values :— 
Average temp. Average Average 
at 9 A.M. Max. Min. 
Week ending Saturday 9th . 53-0° C9-0° 39-6° 
„ „ 16th . 41-7° 52-5° 33-G® 
Difference . 11-3° 16-5° 6-0° 
— G. J. Symons. 
