5.0 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
December 15, 1892. 
THE AGRICULTURAL CONFERENCE. 
A great representative meeting of agriculturists has been 
held in London ; protection, fair trade, bi metallism, burdens on 
the land, and rent reduction have all been discussed, with a total 
result that the attention of the country has been thoroughly 
aroused to the deplorable condition of agriculture. That is the 
sum of the whole thing so far ; any practical result is indeed a 
doubtful matter. Jt should never be forgotten that many 
members of the legislature are themselves great landowners, 
who have already made considerable reductions of ren f , amount- 
ing in numeious ins ances to fully 50 per cent, of their income ; 
it is certain, therefore, that they would gladly welcome a 
measure for lelief ; more than this, if they for one moment 
regaided such a step as possible would not they have taken it 
in their own interests without waiting to be urged to do so by a 
public meeting? Nobly have they bor.e their share of the 
burden, so quietly and uncomplainingly, that it is probably 
supposed they will submit to a still further reduction, but as 
Lord Leicester sa’d recently, when publishing the accounts of 
the Holkham estates, “ landlords will not bear much more 
squeezing.” He, at any rate, can show how landowners do their 
duty, not only by rent reductions but also by pers stent estate 
improvements, the joint amount expended by himself and his 
father, the late Lord Leicester, amounting to the enormous sum 
of £1,095,148. 
If the land is unfairly burdened by imperial and local 
taxation it ought certainly to have re’ief, as it will if land- 
owners, tenant farmers, and labourers combine to demand 
it. But will they P It is a matter of notoriety how very 
many farmers have allowed themselves to be fleeced under 
Schedule B year after year by numerous tax gatherers, or 
rather surveyors of taxes, who do their utmost to wrest income 
tax from all and sundry. This is one weak point ; another is 
the general want of business c pacify in the sile of farm 
pioduce. How can the rising generation of farmers acquire this 
capacity or become skilful judges of the value of live stock 
under the present universal system of market sales by auction? 
The leading auctioneers’ profits amount to hundreds of pounds 
on a single market day, as anyone rmy see who goes to flier 
office after the sales are over and payment is go ng on. The 
commission charged may be what is termed fair if the test of a 
general rate is appl'ed to it, but it is nevertheless a tax upon 
the producer which ought to be avoided. 
As an example of the advantage of doing so, a co respondent 
of the Standard saysMuch has appeared at various times 
as to agricultural depression, and the low price at which farmers 
are obliged to sell their stock, both fat and store. All this time 
there has been no reduction in the prices charged by the 1 
butchers, and therefore the consumer in ro way benefits by the I 
present low prices. By way of testing what the butcher is at 
present making, I bought nine fat sheep at one of the auction 
marts for £11 5s. Each sheep, therefore, cost me 25s. on the 
average. They were a mixed lot, some pure Cheviot wethers, 
some half-bred i.e., by Leices'er tup out of Cheviot ewes, and 
some grey-faced i.e., by Leicester tup out of black-faced ewes. 
They were all one-stear sheep— i.e., last year's lambs, in capital 
condition and first-rate quality, and the weights averaged from 
46 lbs. to 54 lbs. I sold the hindquarters at 7d. per lb., and the 
forequarters at 6d., or an average of 6|d. per lb., the purchasers 
them-elves laking away the meat. The lightest weight sheep 
left me 24s. lid. for the carcase, Is. for the head and pluck, and 
3s. 3d. for the skin. The heaviest eft me 29s. 3d. for the 
carcase, Is. for the head and pluck, and 3s. 3d. for the skin. 
Each sheep also left an average of 6d. for the internal fat. The 
lesult is an average profit of 6s. 84d. per sheep.” Now one of 
the farmer’s pet grievances this year has been the low prices of 
sheep, yet all the while the butcher has made £6 or £8 profit on 
every score of sheep he his purchased at market auctions. Good 
for the butcher, but very bad for the simple, easy-going farmer. 
Why do not farmers combine, and have at least one good 
butcher s shop, or half a dozen shops for the matter of that, in 
every market town ? The butchers might combine to undersell 
them, but that is a game at which the farmers would certainly win. 
In the sale of Wheat as flour or bre d there would be more 
difficulty, both because so much home-grown Wheit goes into 
market wet, and that foreign flour is so accessible to the baker. 
Like the butcher, the baker thrives apace; no fill in the price 
of Wheat affects the cost of bread. Bakers combine to keep up 
the price, and consumers a"e ruled by their caprice. The 4-lb., 
loaf is now 7d. at Hampstead, 6|d. at Kingston on-Thames, 
4|d. at Shrewsbury, 6J. in Birmingham, and from 3^d to 54d. ia 
Wolverhampton, the pr ce of Wheat being very much alike at 
all those places. 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
Frost, snow, and rain were all in evidence during the past week, 
which closed with a severe frost generally, very little snow being visible 
in the southern counties, but snow was still more or less deep in the 
Midlands. Out on the moors of Derbyshire the snow was so deep and 
had drifted so much that considerable difficulty was experienced in 
bringing home to the homestead a lot of young horse stock and store 
cattle. It was time, for though the animals were in fair condition, 
exposure and short commons told so severely that the drovers were 
overtaken by darkness while still a long distance from the home farm, 
and the hungry cattle had to be driven into an enclosure near a wayside 
inn. We mention this fact as a reminder of the folly of such exposure. 
The excuse was a short supply of hay at the home farm. 
All possible care should now be given to afford shelter and warmth 
to all live stock. Ewes due to lamb in January should not be out in a 
bleak, wind-swept pasture, but should either have the advantage of 
shelter from tree belts, or be driven at night to the lambing yard, where 
they are well fed. We have racks out on the pasture which are now kept 
well filled with pea straw ; the ewes have also a pint of oats per head 
fl&ily, ns well as some chaff in the troughs. They are under close super¬ 
vision now, and the shepherd must be on the alert to prevent fright 
from stray dogs or foxhounds, to assist any cast sheep— i.e., ewes which 
have rolled over upon their back and are unable to get up. If left in 
that position they are soon dead, but losses are rare from this cause 
under good management. 
Daily cows are now having a full supply of the best meadow hay, 
with crushed Oats, meal, and Carrots. Neither store cattle or sheep 
have any hay, chaffed Oat and Barley straw, with silage and some roots 
being used for the cattle freely. Valuable as some arable land always is 
on a dairy farm, it is especially so during winter, when the corn, root, and 
fodder crops obtained from it enable us to avoid using hay, except for 
the cows. It is on farms where there is nothing but hay for winter—no 
straw, roots, or home-grown corn—that a long hard winter is so trying. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
Camden Square, London. 
Lat. 51° 32' 40 " N.; Long. 0 G 8' 0" W.; Altitude, 111 feet 
Date. 
9 A.M. 
In the Day. 
.3 
1892. 
December. 
| Barometer 
at 32°, and 
I 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. 
Sunday .. 
Inchs. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
Inchs. 
4 
29-606 
33-2 
31-2 
W. 
41-2 
37-4 
31-5 
59-5 
27*8 
Monday .. 
5 
29-731 
30-2 
29-3 
W. 
39-3 
36-4 
28-7 
57-9 
55-2 
0*010 
Tuesday .. 
6 
29-850 
32-1 
31-4 
W. 
38-1 
38-9 
27-9 
46-2 
24*6 
o-nn 
Wednesday 
7 
30-000 
33-6 
33-2 
N.E. 
37-9 
40-0 
31-3 
55-1 
27*9 
Thursday.. 
8 
30-259 
33-1 
32-6 
N. 
37-3 
40-9 
32-6 
48-4 
27-9 
0*25!? 
Friday 
9 
29-599 
350 
34-4 
N.W. 
37-1 
39-1 
32-4 
629 
97 -3 
Saturday ., 
10 
30-032 
31-8 
31-0 
N. 
37-0 
44-7 
30-0 
520 
25-9 
0-147 
29-868 
32-8 
31-9 
38-3 
39-6 
30-6 
54-6 
26-7 
0-526 
> ^:, h - T T lmost cloudless throughout, with cold wind. rj n evening 
5th.-XJnb r okeu sunshine in morning, occasionally cloudy in afternoon; a little snow 
6th .-Occasional-sprinkles of snow early, and a heavy fall in large flakes from 
11.10 to 11.30 A.M., bright sun between and in afternoon ; a little rain, or very 
wet snow, at 9 p.m. ’ j 
7th.—Fine and generally sunny. 
8th.—Sun shining through thin cirrus cloud nearly all dav 
infhZ?^ f ZT 2 A M-10 7 A - M ' : bri£jht ’ s ™ny day, with occasional cloud. 
10th. Almost cloudless morning; generally sunny in afternoon; enow shower at 8.15 p.m 
intense 8 —G^J? Symons*’ ^ mUCtl colder > thou S h no frosts which could be called 
