154 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
February 14, 1896. 
PROFITABLE LIVE STOCK—HEREFORDS. 
^0 breed of cattle is so generally attractive as the Here- 
fords; with their red coats, white faces, chests, and tail ends, 
they are most picturesque objects out on pasture, as they are 
certainly the most attractive class at cattle shows Regarded 
from a more practical point of view they are in high favour. 
The breeder likes them for their robust hardy constitution, 
their thrifty condition, and early maturity; the butcher, for the 
Bcnallness of offal, and the excellence of the meat, which always 
has a ready sale, the marbled beef with its admirable admixture 
of fat and lean being in high favour with the consumer. They 
are especially remarkable for the early maturity, which in a 
great measure has led to the rapid extension of this breed both 
at home and in the colonies. When it was found that the 
progeny of carefully selected parents developed this valuable 
paying property more and more, and that they fattened readily 
and cheaply, beef and beef only became the breeders’ aim, and 
marvellously successful have they been. It is claimed for them 
that they are “ good doers owing to a contented mind, placid 
disposition, and gentle manners,” which reads like the descrip¬ 
tion of an enthusiastic breeder. It is certain that the gentle 
kindly disposition of this breed docs exercise a beneficial in 
fluence on growth and condition. 
But the well formed beasts, with their rich mellow flesh of 
superior flavour, so well and evenly laid on over the whole 
carcase, would not come so early to maturity nor be so 
profitable without good management. The store beasts must be 
kept going well during the winter—condition keeping pace with 
growth—an easy matter when well-bred healthy beasts have 
perfect shelter and wholesome nourishing food. W^hen turned 
out to grass they thrive so well that most of them go direct 
to the butcher off the pasture, and it lis claimed for them that 
beasts of eighteen and twenty months readily realise £1 per 
month on their age. It may not perhaps hold good as to price 
just now, but that does not affect the general question, and 
there can be no doubt that Herefords rightly hold a high 
position among our profitable live stock. Their reputation has 
spread to the ends of the earth, and they have followed it 
breeders in North and South America and in Australia having 
eagerly sought after them. 
There can be no doubt that agricultural societies have done 
very much to bring this, as well as all our best breeds, into 
prominence, and draw the attention of foreign breeders to them. 
At the summer meetings admirable examples are always to be 
met with in very considerable numbers, and at the Christmas 
cattle shows there are always select specimens, serving to 
illustrate the early maturity of the breed. The favourite age 
for the fat stock appears to be about twenty-two months, at 
which age the weight ranges from about 11 to nearly 14 cwt. 
which shows that they are no mean rivals of the' shorthorns in 
the class under two years, as indeed they are in older classes. 
Herefords of a ton in weight are often to be seen at our shows 
now, but we regard such beasts as interesting curiosities, as 
showing what is possible with the older beasts, and not as 
examples of profitable management. 
Taken for all in all, the kindly, harly Hereford is one of our 
very best beef producers. We want more of them in the hands 
of graziers generally, instead of the mongrel stock which is so 
unprofitable, and is still so common. Of the whole of the 
tenants of an estate of Leicestershire grass farms, not one of 
them has a single head of well-bred stock, yet some of them 
have herds of thirty cows. It is true enough that Hereford 
cows would not answer their purpose as dairy farmers, but the 
objectionable part—the weak point of their practice—is the 
purchase of such large numbers of mongrel store beasts, about 
which there is so frequently an outcry, that after “ keeping 
them a year they have been sold at a positive loss. Perhaps the 
less said about such doings the better. 
We long for the day when asture will be really cultivated 
and brought under a system of sustained fertility, and when 
the stock on it will be well bred, and altogether so well 
managed as to realise the highest possible profit. In the* 
neighbourhood of Market Harborough considerable herds of 
Herefords are to be seen on the summer grazing, but they 
are very seldom to be met with near Leicester or Melton 
Mowbray. 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
Since writing our last farm note more snow has fallen, and the cold 
h vs continued growing in intensity ; 38° of frost, or 6° below zero, has 
been registered in Leicestershire. There are snow wreaths of consider¬ 
able depth in the midlands; farther north we hear of sheep buried in 
snow, and flocks inaccessible to the shepherds owing to deep snow. In 
such trying weather the full value of a lambing yard is realised, and the 
flock can be thoroughly cared for. We allow no frozen roots to be used 
for any sheep, only those which have been placed in well covered heaps 
and which can be cut up and used unfrozen. The flock can do very well 
if need be without roots, and there should be no difficulty with the 
abundant store of food we have. Give the ewes a pint of crushed Oats 
daily till the frost breaks, or even afterwards if thought necessary, keep 
abundance of Pea straw in the racks, mix with the Oats chaffed hay and 
straw to be given in the troughs, and see that these are kept clean. 
Feed so freely that the sheep are not driven to search for food under 
the snow, give a change when possible—some Peas or other corn with 
the Oats, and some silage in the racks. 
Suffer no exposure of lambs to cold cutting winds, make an extra 
fold or two if necessary, keep up the store of food near the folds, and 
litter with long straw sufficiently often to insure a dry bed. Keep all 
small flocks near the homestead so that they may have proper attention, 
and run no risk whatever of loss from exposure. We make a point of 
seeing that all matters of detail have prompt and timely attention. The 
shepherd must not be taken from his flock to procure supplies of food of 
any sort; it is the master’s affair to see that nothing is wanting for the 
flock, not to wait till complaints are made of negligence, and there is 
suffering and loss among the sheep. For shelter there are many con¬ 
trivances, one of the best being hurdles thatched thickly with straw 
for roofs, and for sides to keep off wind two rows of hurdles about a> 
foot apart, the space between being stuffed with litter or straw. 
Brushwood faggots, too, if bound together closely make a capital wind 
guard. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
Oamdkk Squark, London. 
Lat.51° 32'40" N.; Long. 0° 8' 0" W.; Altitude 111 feet. 
Date. 
9 A.M. 
In the Day, 
Rain. 
1895. 
February. 
1 Barometer 
at 3 2°, 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 .. 
3 
30-029 
29-8 
28 6 
N.W. 
34-0 
33-3 
19 0 
38-2 
15-0 
Monday ,. 
4 
30194 
33-1 
31-9 
N.E. 
33-9 
37-6 
29-7 
71-1 
26-2 
Tuesday .. 
5 
30-105 
22-1 
21-6 
N. 
33 8 
31-2 
19-4 
62-0 
7-0 
0-010 
Wednesday 
6 
29-852 
16-2 
15-8 
N. 
33-6 
25-6 
12-6 
54-2 
9-8 
Thursday .. 
7 
29 881 
16-1 
15-8 
N. 
33-0 
25-1 
8-4 
48-6 
5-1 
Friday 
8 
29-967 
15-9 
14-8 
N. 
32 9 
24-2 
7 3 
62-1 
. 6-1 
Saturday ., 
9 
30-149 
16-2 
14-8 
N. 
32-3 
28-7 
11-3 
47-7 
5 0 
— 
30-025 
21-2 
20-5 
33-4 
29-4 
15-4 
54-8 
10-6 
0-010 
REMAEKS. 
3rd.—Overcast all day. 
4th .—Fine, with frequent sunshine ; a few flakes of snow about 1.30 p.m 
5th.—Bright sunshine all day; cold night. 
6th.—Light snow from 7 A.M. to 8.30 A.M.; bright sunshine all day ; oold night. 
7th.—A few snowflakes in early morning and between 8 and 9 A.M.; sunshine almost a 
da> ; cold night. 
8th.—Bright sunshine throughout; lunar halo m evening. 
9th.—Slight fog till about 10 A.M , faint sunshine after; dense fog from 1 P.ii. to 6 p.m 
gradually clearing. 
The duration of the intense frost is not merely unequalled in any February, but in 
any month since observations were commenaed here in 1858. At present it appears to be 
remarkably similar to almost the corresponding days of February, 1855.-^G. J. Symons 
