346 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ May 5, 1892. 
the time she is drenched with three-quarters of a pound of 
Glauber salts and half a pound of flowers of sulphur. Especial 
attention is paid to the state of the udder ; as the milk begins 
to flow the udder is eased occasionally by some milk being drawn 
from it, and if it becomes hard in any part it is frequently 
fomented with warm water and some liniment rubbed well in 
each time. 
There must be steady persistence with the fomentation till 
the udder becomes perfectly soft. This, in bad cases, is not a 
matter of hours but of days, the most stubborn cases invariably 
yielding to the treatment sooner or later. “ I have,” says 
Mr. Spearing, “ sometimes made a man devote two whole days 
to this in obstinate cases, with most satisfactory results; in 
fact, I think I may go so far as to say that there is no excuse 
for losing a part of a cow’s udder if the formation is right — 
and where it is not, the cow ought not to have been selected 
for breeding purposes.” It is also noteworthy that in his fifty 
years’ experience of dairy cows many a cow has lost one or 
two quarters from the cowman not having time to devote to 
it. Place, as he so sensibly does, the cost of an extra man to 
help the cowman for a day or two in such emergencies against 
the value of a good cow, and the wisdom of his advice is 
apparent. 
He considered that 1 ton of hay would winter a dairy cow or 
full grown beast from November 1st to May 1st, and that one 
‘‘yearling ” from eighteen to twenty-two months old and one calf 
from nine to fifteen months old, are together equal to one cow or 
full grown beast. He arrived at this conclusion from having 
adopted the following allowance for two consecutive years on a 
small farm. He had 15 cwt. of hay trussed each week and 
weighed. 
Per half year. Per week. 
Tons. Cwt. 
Ten cows at 1| truss per week for twenty-six 
weeks (allowing for waste) ... ... ... 10 7^ 
Ten yearlings, from eighteen to twenty-two 
months old, at 66 lbs. per week each for 
twenty-six weeks . 6^ 5 
Ten calves, from nine to fifteen months old, 
at 28 lbs. per week each for twenty-six 
’W’eeks . 3^ 
191 15 
The cowman was permitted to supplement this by adding as 
much cut Oat or Barley straw as he thought necessary. The cows 
weighed between 700 lbs. and 800 lbs. each. He never allowed 
Wheat straw to be used for feeding, considering it could be 
turned to better account, and regarding it as not very digestible 
food. A very small quantity of Cabbage till February and Man¬ 
golds after that date were allowed. 
He regards midsummer as a critical time, when the cows require 
especial attention, because if having calved in spring they are 
allowed by mismanagement to fall oflf in yield of milk “ after the 
turn of days ” it cannot be got back again. The cows are then 
made to lie out at night, and stand in cool, well-ventilated houses 
during the day, to avoid the worrying from flies, which so seriously 
affects the quantity of cream and the quality of the butcer. At 
the morning milking they each have a feed of 1 gallon of bran, 
1 lb. of cotton cake, and 1 lb. of linseed cake. “ After the milking 
they should be left to rest themselves all day, kept very quiet, and 
supplied at intervals as they require it with Lucerne, Sainfoin, or 
other green food, keeping before them a constant supply of clean 
water at a temperature of not less than 64° F.” At the evening 
milking they have a similar allowance of dry food, and are then 
turned out for the night to grass. This treatment is continued till 
about the middle of September, when it is reversed, the dry food 
being continued and green food given in yard or cow-house at 
night. 
In addition to the comfort of the animals under this treatment 
there is the important fact of butter of firm consistency all the 
summer and higher value to be weighed. In autumn there is 
a sensible addition to the dry food of one quart of maize meal and 
two quarts of oats, together with some chafE made from hay silage 
and oat straw. As the grass becomes scarce a little Cabbage is 
gradually introduced. In winter warm water is added to the drink¬ 
ing water, as water at 80° to 90° is found to assimilate the food and 
materially assist digestion in winter time. “ If,” says Mr. Spear¬ 
ing, “ the cow has to drink water at a lower temperature than 64 , 
or to spend much of her time in an atmosphere of low tempera¬ 
ture, she is being used as a machine for warming herself and the 
water, whereas she can be more profitably employed in producing 
milk. It does not pay to use food and living animals as machines 
for heating water in these days of sharp competition.” 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
Sharp frost night after night has checked anything like free growth, 
yet the dry weather has prevented much harm being done to fruit 
blossom. Nothing could be more favourable for spring work on the 
land ; spring corn has been rolled, and the first crop of Swedes sown on 
ridges in the same way as the Mangold. This involved some extra work, 
but it was worth while, as we had enough farmyard manure for the 
furrows, and the land was in excellent condition for the work. Recent 
experiments have so clearly shown the superiority of chemical manures 
for root crops that the wisdom of using farmyard manure at all has 
been questioned. But the fact of its special value for promoting brisk 
growth immediately after seed germination should not be forgotten. 
Placed as it is in the furrows immediately beneath the soil in which the 
Mangold or Swede seed is sown, the first roots of the seedlings lay hold 
of the moist manure, the plant grows so freely that it is soon safe from 
the attacks of insects, it sustains no barm from drought, and the roots 
soon spread into the soil that is rich in the fertility imparted by the use 
of chemical manures with the muck. Its use is, therefore, advantageous 
rather than indispensable. 
Successional sowings of Swedes and White Turnips will be made on 
the flat with or without chemical manure as the case may be. When 
Turnips follow sheepfolds no chemical manure is required, the soil 
contains ample stores of plant food ; but when a crop has been taken 
from the land to be consumed elsewhere, some manure must be used if 
we would have a full crop again. Take it as a general rule that one 
part of nitrogenous to two of mineral manure is a safe mixture for any 
crop ; a dash of potash may be required, but it is not always necessary, 
because the soil takes up potash and retains it for a long time. The 
manure-room should always contain sufiBcient nitrate of soda and super¬ 
phosphate for all probable requirements. They should not be mixed 
till required for use, as the acid in the superphosphate acts upon the 
nitrate, causing it to dissolve if left long before use. If the young 
plant of Barley has a yellow hue it is an indication of a want of potash, 
and a surface-dressing of a hundredweight per acre of muriate of potash 
should be given at once. Tbis salt dissolves quickly, and its beneficial 
effect is soon visible in the healthy green hue which proclaims 
that all is well. Special mention is made of this, because a yellow 
Barley plant is commonly attributed to the presence of wireworms in 
the soil. 
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. 
Rain. 
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. 
Sunday .. 
24 
30-366 
52-8 
44-2 
N. 
49-8 
63-7 
47-2 
108-9 
40-3 
0 
Monday ., 
25 
29-882 
43-3 
4-2-2 
W. 
60-7 
56-6 
420 
102-2 
38 3 
0-042 
Tuesday .. 
26 
29-889 
47-6 
42-4 
N.W. 
48-7 
57-0 
36-2 
109-0 
30-1 
— 
Wednesday 
27 
29-830 
47-1 
42-0 
S. 
48-1 
58-2 
32-7 
101-9 
26 0 
0-274 
Thursday.. 
28 
29-580 
38-6 
37-9 
N.W. 
47-1 
47-4 
37-9 
89-2 
33-2 
0-014 
Friday 
29 
29-939 
43-0 
37-3 
NE. 
45 2 
51-6 
33-6 
103-7 
27-4 
— 
Saturday .. 
30 
30-204 
43-1 
41-8 
N.W. 
45-0 
59‘8 
30-1 
lt4-0 
22-9 
— 
29-956 
45-8 
41-1 
47-8 
56-3 
37-1 
102 7 
31-2 
0-390 
REMARKS. 
24th.—Fine and sunny throughout, a little cloud in the evening. 
25th.—Overcast and showery morning, bright sunshine in afternoon. 
26th.—Bright and sunny almost throughout, but one or two slight sprinkles of rain ia 
the morning. 
27th. —Hazy early, bright sunshine most of the morning and occasionally in afternoon, 
wet from 4 P.M. to 8 p.m. and very heavy rain with hail at 6.30 P.M., bright 
night. 
28th.—Cloudy and drizzly early, occasional gleam.s of sun, but a heavy shower about 
3.30 P.M. and occasional drizzle later, clear night. 
29th.—Sunny almost throughout. 
30th.—Almost cloudless from sunrise. 
Rather cooler than the previous week, but the difference from the average by no 
means important.— J. STMONS. 
