February 4, 1885. 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
,lity takes precedence of quantity in the milk yield 
outter-making is to the fore. Good butter never has 
.ever will lack purchasers at a profitable price to the 
*ucer, and the average price throughout the year for a 
.lly first-class article is about Is. 6d. per lb. But to pro¬ 
duce first-class butter we must have first of all a clever dairy- 
woman, and next a well-managed herd of cows selected 
specially for the purpose. The milk farmer may, and in 
point of fact does, use brewers’ grains, green Maize, cattle 
Cabbage, Thousand-headed Kale, and roots without hesita¬ 
tion. Any article of diet calculated to promote and sustain 
a full and abundant flow of milk is good for his purpose, but 
the butter farmer having regard to delicacy of flavour in it 
must take especial care in feeding. He must eschewTurnips, 
Cabbage must be used with caution, and even green Maize 
can only be used freely when quite young. Everything at all 
likely to impart an unpleasant flavour to the butter must be 
kept from the cows. 
Of really “ safe ” articles of food we may mention Bye 
Grass, Clover, Tares, Trifolium, Sainfoin, the best meadow 
hay, Carrots, Mangold Wurtzel, bran, and crushed Oats. 
Cabbage, Thousand-headed Kale, green Maize, and silage 
may be used in moderation. But no oilcake should be given 
to cows; they do not require it. It neither enriches the 
quality nor does it increase the quantity of the milk. We 
make special mention of this because of the reckless advice 
to give oilcake to cows so often seen in farming papers. 
Although we have wandered somewhat from the special 
doings of Surrey farmers, yet we have not forgotten either 
profitable or practical farmer, and we shall return to the 
subject next week. 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
During the prevalence of severe weather, when work on the land is 
practically at a standstill, the value of horse gear as a motive power be¬ 
comes fully understood ; but such gear should always have a roof over it 
so that the horses may have shelter. Then we can get on with our chaff¬ 
ing, pulping, grinding, pumping, and, in fact, all the ordinary work done 
by agricultural machinery, instead of having the horses idle in the yards. 
A kibbling mill is of much value in crushing corn, so that it may be 
easily eaten and thoroughly digested ; without it much corn is liable to 
be passed through the stomach undigested. There are inferior mills in 
the market which do the work so slowly as to be comparatively valueless. 
A really good kibbler crushes corn quickly, whether turned by hand or 
steam. We have one on a small farm which requires two men to turn it 
easily that on wet days turns out a large quantity of corn crushed ready 
for consumption, and we prefer so finding employment for the men 
rather than run up grinding accounts at a miller’s. The pastures have 
been covered so deeply with snow that we have had to maintain the sheep 
entirely on dry food and roots. With several hundred ewes and some 
300 hoggets to feed we have heavy demands made upon our stores just 
now. Pea straw, hay, mixed chaff of hay and Barley straw well salted, 
crushed corn and cake, with a few roots, aff rd enough variety, and the 
sheep are in excellent condition. The last batch of old draught ewes 
were sold about a week ago. We purchased these ewes in autumn at an 
average price of 25s. apiece, and they realised an average of 45s. apiece, 
some going as high as 49s. This has been a profitable affair, much good 
having been done to the land by folding ; but the remarkable improve¬ 
ment in the condition of these sheep is doubtless owing to lodge shelter, 
and to our practice of putting them in a snug yard in inclement weather. 
We mention this matter as one of the trifles which contribute to success 
in farming, and we may add that our speculation in purchasing pigs in 
large numbers to consume inferior corn answers well. Pigs bought 
in a few weeks ago at 15s. 6d. each are now being sold at 3Gs. 6f.—not 
all at once, but as they reach a certain standard of excellence. Plump 
little porkers they are, and we have the satisfaction of knowing that 
our discoloured Barley makes good pork, and is profitable to us 
REVIEW OF BOOK. 
Permanent and Temporary Pastures. By Martin J. Sutton. London : 
Hamilton, Adams & Co., Paternoster Row, 1886. 
An exhaustive practical work upon pastures, bringing the subject well 
up to date, giving the latest information upon the best Grasses and 
Clovers, with particulars of ensilage, has been urgently needed, and it is 
therefore with especial pleasure we welcome the admirable productim 
now before us. Some time ago Mr. Martin Hope Sutton, the founder of 
the Reading firm, contributed an essay on the subject of “ Permanent 
Pastures” to the Journal of the Royal Agiicultural Society (vol.xxii, 
part ii.), which was subsequently republished in pamphlet form, when it 
ran through eleven editions. In 1880 Mr. Martin J. Sutton undertook 
at his father’s request the revision and enlargement of the essay, and in 
the improved form two other editions were disposed of, numbering in all 
20,000 copies, as we are informed in the preface to the present work. As 
the subject has assumed so much importance in recent years, it was 
thought that “a more comprehensive treatment” should be afforded it 
than could be done in a pamphlet, and the rtsult has been the production 
of the work under notice. In the preparation of this Mr. M. J. Sutton 
acknowledges the assistance of Mr. W. Carruthers, Sir J. B. Lawes, Bart., 
Dr. J. H. Gilbert, Dr. Maxwell T. Masters, Mr. F. G. Baker, Dr. J. A. 
Voelcker, and others in several departments of the book, whose work 
gives it most valuable scientific and practical support. 
The book comprises 121 pages of text, dealing wilh principal practical 
operations connected with Grass land, chapters being devoted to “ The 
Extension of Pastures,” “The Drainage of Grass Land,” and “Cultuiai 
Preparations.” An important department is that appropriated to “ The 
Selection of Grasses and Clovers,” in which are given full instructions 
respecting the uses and requirements of the leading species and varieties, 
employed for pastures, a large amount of valuable information being 
conveyed in these pages. Then follow chapters on “ Sowing Grass Seeds,” 
“ The Management of New and Old Pastures,” “Hints on Haymaking 
and Grazing,” “Ensilage,” “ Breaking up Old Grass Land,” and “ Tem¬ 
porary Pastures.” 
The value of the work is greatly increased by the addition of twenty- 
three beautifully executed chromo-lithographs representing the principal 
pasture Grasses and Clovers. Fir life-like accuracy of detail we have 
seen none to surpass and few to equal them. They are accompanied, 
with two or three exceptions, by botanical descriptions and analyses of 
the Grasses, both dried and in a fresh state, showing at a glance their 
relative importance as fodder. 
The hook is printed in bold type, on excellent paper, is neatly 
hound in dark cloth, and will form a useful addition to any farmer's)- 
library. 
OUR LETTER BOX. 
Potatoes as Food for Cows (B. II .).—Potatoes are not to be regarded as 
suitable food for milch cowb, either to improve the quantity or quality of 
the milk. They shoithl never be used in a raw state ; cooked, pounded 
into a mass, with the addition of enough salt to render them palatable, they 
might be used in moderation, but we cannot recommend such an article.of 
diet for covs. Our own plan is to have Potatoes cooked and given to pigs 
with skimmed milk and butter milk. Pigs so fed grow fast, and fatten so 
quickly that they require no corn. Whenever there is a dairy for butter¬ 
making enough pigs should be kept to consume the stale milk. If you have 
not tried a plan that is so clearly based upon the principle of sound economy, 
pray do so, and you will no longer be at a loss how to turn your surplus 
Potatoes to profitable account. We regret that a little delay has occurred 
in the publication of this reply. 
Sheep with Swollen Lips ( J. if.).—Your sheep are suffering from blain, 
or gloss anthrax. It is probably owing to the rarity of this disease that 
the cause of it is not always clearly understood. In vour flock it is probably 
owing to an undue amount of exposure to cold and wet. The remedy is, 
to put them at once into a warm dry fold, and to keep them there ; if yon 
can spare them a clean well littered yard and lodge so much the better. 
Open the abscesses with a lancet to let out the humour, wash the swollen 
parts and the mouth with warm water, and afterwards apply a solution of 
chloride of lime, a drachm to a pint of water. Repeat this once or twice 
daily, as long as may be necessary. In severe cases there will be much 
debility, and the animals should have a liberal diet of oatmeal gruel; all of 
them should have plenty of dry food in troughs, consisting of hay, chaff,, 
crushed oats, bran, and Waterloo round cake also crushed. A few minced 
roots of Mangolds, Swedes and Carrots may be mixed[with this food advan¬ 
tageously. If any of the sheep show loss of appetite a tonic given daily of 
a drachm of powdered Gentian root and half a drachm of powdered ginger 
in a little water does much good. 
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. 
a 
"3 
1886. 
January. 
&CT 3S _ 
CO <U <D 
h? 5 
lsl J 
Hygrome¬ 
ter. 
Direction 
of Wind. 
I Temp, of 
Soil at 
1 1 foot. 
Shade Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Max. 
Min 
In 
sun. 
On 
grass 
Inches. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg 
deg. 
deg. 
In. 
Sunday . 
29.472 
33.1 
32.9 
E. 
35.0 
38.0 
31.8 
48.8 
29.4 
0.266 
Monday. 
25 
29.344 
35.8 
35.8 
E. 
34.9 
39.3 
29.7 
426 
25.7 
0.043 
Tuesday. 
26 
29.521 
35.3 
33.1 
s.w. 
95.0 
438 
34.2 
57.2 
29.8 
_ 
Wednesday . 
27 
29.833 
87.1 
36-7 
E. 
35.2 
42 3 
o.U 
50 3 
30.2 
_ 
Thursday ... 
28 
29.922 
31.3 
31.3 
Calm 
35.0 
43 4 
29.2 
64.2 
23.0 
_ 
Friday. 
29 
29.689 
30 8 
34.9 
E. 
35.2 
41.7 
31.1 
48.6 
28.2 
0.0G3 
Saturday ... 
30 
29.767 
36.6 
34.5 
S. 
35.6 
44 8 
31 8 
53 9 
26.2 
0.211 
29.650 
35.1 
34.2 
35.1 
41.9 
31.8 
52.2 
27.5 
0.58$ 
REMARKS. 
24tli.—Snow till noon, then fair and slight thaw, but frost at night. 
25th .—Foggy, with showers. 
2Gth.—Fine bright winter day. 
27tli.—Fog early, fine and bright afternoon, log again in evening. 
28th.—Thick log t ill 11 A.M., houses invisible at 100 feel, fine after. 
29th.—Dull, with frequent showers; clear after 10 P.M. 
SOth.—Clondy morning, rainy afternoon, with wind. 
Damp, rather warmer than the previous week, bnt still below the average tempera¬ 
ture.—G. J. SYMONS. 
