80 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER . 
[ Ja nary C4. 1689. 
PROGRESSIVE IMPROVEMENT. 
If the year upon which we have now well entered is to be a 
remarkable one in agriculture, it will not suffice that we are to have 
a big agricultural Show at Windsor under the patronage of Her 
Majesty the Queen. That good and not evil will come of the 
Show we doubt not, but for the measure of good to be as large and 
full as it ought there must be individual as well as combined effort 
for improvement. Highly valuable are the lessons taught by such 
shows, and the sum and substance of them all is that steady pro¬ 
gressive improvement in every detail of practice is the best remedy 
of all for agricultural depression. That there has been a common 
tendency to ignore the minor details of his calling by the farmer 
there can be no doubt, and yet we know that attention to little 
things has enabled many a man to overcome difficulties to which 
others have succumbed. 
Take for example the dairy and poultry. Can we afford to 
ignore the fact of 1000 millions of eggs worth £3,085,681, and 
dairy produce worth £16,405,000 being imported into this country 
in 1887? and yet are we not still given to regard the manage¬ 
ment of the dairy and poultry as women’s work ? Certainly the 
Council of the Royal Agricultural Society do not so regard it, 
more attention being given every year to these important 
matters. At the Nottingham meeting last year special attention 
was given to the best points in the different breeds of poultry. 
Of Brahmas and Cochins it was shown that they add size and 
frame to commercial poultry and produce good winter layers. 
Dorkings are always specially commended as one of our best table 
fowls, but we have found them equally valuable as winter layers. 
Get a good cross between Dorking and Game and you have the 
best possible table fowls. The good qualities of Langshans are 
thus enumerated in the report : —“ They are large, long breasted, 
fleshy table birds, and combine good laying pi'operties. They 
deserve all the patronage accorded them.” Plymouth Rocks are 
considered essentially a commercial fowl, very hardy, coming early 
to maturity, useful table birds, and good layers. Scotch Greys are 
spoken highly of as deserving of encouragement and cultivation, 
being suitable for any climate, are handsome and graceful fowls, 
with good table and laying qualifications. Houdans are com¬ 
mended as the most hardy and generally useful of the French 
breeds, and Creve-Coeurs as magnificent table fowls. Mr. Cresswell, 
the judge of light poultry at Nottingham, says in his report, “ I 
would suggest that there should be classes for chickens of such 
first crosses as are found to be specially good for table or bar 
laying purposes. I do not wish to be mistaken, or thought to 
encourage generally the keeping of mongrel fowls. I fully re¬ 
cognise the high use of distinctive breeds of poultry, as of other 
live stock, with strongly marked characteristics ; and more than 
that, I believe that poultry fanciers have been of great use to the 
country by aiding in the production and perpetuation of such 
distinctive races. As in the case of horses, cattle, and sheep, it has 
in the first instance been the enthusiasm of the fancier which has 
drawn attention to the improvement of breeds of poultry. But for 
the farmer, first crosses from these pure races are often the most 
advisable stock to raise, as coming to earlier maturity than the pure 
breeds themselves, and as being more hardy. It would, therefore, 
obviously be of use to set before those who regard poultry solely 
from a commercial point of view, examples of the size, and excel¬ 
lence to which young birds from such crosses may be brought in a 
few months.” 
In the trials of dairy cows the superiority of the milk of 
Jerseys to that of all other breeds was again shown. The Red- 
polled took a high place superior to both Guernseys and Ayrshires, 
a fact of especial importance to farmers, because red polls are 
large fleshy animals, alike useful for the dairy and the butcher. 
Rich as is the milk of the Jerseys, we cannot recommend the breed 
to a tenant farmer or even for the ordinary home farmer, simply 
because it is valuable solely for rich milk, against which we have 
to place a small frame and delicate constitution. When a Jersey 
cow’s milk fails either through age, barrenness, or debility the 
animal is comparatively worthless, and is generally got rid of for a. 
trifle. It is obvious, therefore, that a cow is altogether preferable 
which, when it fails for the dairy, can be fattened for beef. Size,, 
however, is no guide to the selection of a dairy cow, many a large 
cow giving only a small quantity of milk, or else giving milk of 
very low quality. A really good herd of cows is doubtless to be re¬ 
garded as an indication of sound progressive improvement upon a- 
farm, but such herds are only to be had by gradual careful selec¬ 
tion, many inferior animals having to be discarded in the process. 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
Hogget folding is now with us pretty well at an end, and the land 
is ploughed in readiness for the spring com. But on many farms fold¬ 
ing of this class of sheep will be going on till late in spring, the hoggets- 
being gradually withdrawn as they become ripe for the butcher. So 
managed they should prove profitable, but we regret to see both sheep 
and cattle brought upon the markets in anything but ripe condition, 
prematurely in point of fact. This we fear is an unmistakeable sign of 
narrow means, of a pressure for money, many a farmer finding it by 
no means an easy matter to pay his way and to meet his engagements 
as they fall due. A full supply of roots will enable us to turn the ewe 
flocks to more use than ordinary after the lambing, for we shall be able 
to fold them upon a considerable area of land with Mangolds and chaff 
for spring corn, and so keep down manure bills. With a full stock of 
sheep and well-managed green crops, a farmer who has had his farm for 
several years ought to avoid anything like a heavy outlay for artificial 
manure. To do this there must be a thorough system of management 
in order that all the land may be kept well stored with fertility. Truly 
a farmer who has the whole of his farm well in hand is to be envied, for 
he can overcome difficulties arising from low prices and unseasonable 
weather, which often bring a less fortunate man to the verge of ruin.. 
Keep well within the scope of your means say we to all farmers, and 
especially to beginners. Better, far better, to find you are able to hire 
more land after a few years than to go on struggling with the difficulties 
of a large holding and insufficient means to cultivate it really well. 
That we fear is the position of the majority of farmers now. Who can 
suggest a remedy ? When a man so situated feels the grip and pinch 
of poverty upon him, he holds on to his land out of sheer desperation, 
the land suffers accordingly, it becomes more and more poverty stricken, 
there is an annual falling off in bulk of crop, and the end is not diffi¬ 
cult to foretell. 
OUR LETTER BOX. 
Coltsfoot in Pasture (II. O.). — This is very difficult to eradicate- 
without breaking up the turf ; and even then, if a few small pieces of: 
the root were left in the land, it would increase similarly to Horseradish 
in gardens. It is worth a trial regardless of cost to take off the turf and 
dig out the roots, and then relay the turf. Applications such as salt 
would kill the turf if enough was applied to kill the Coltsfoot. Gas. 
lime the same, but these are the two best applications to destroy the 
weed. Your land probably requires draining. Folding sheep on the 
ground in spring has sometimes a beneficial effect. 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
Camden square, London. 
Lat. 51° 82- 40" N.; Long. 0° 8- 0" W.: Altitude. Ill feet. 
DATE. 
9 A.M. 
IN THE DAY. 
a 
1 
1889. 
January. 
Barome¬ 
ter at 32° 
and Sea 
Level. 
Hygrome¬ 
ter. 
Direction 
of Wind. 
Temp, of 
soil at 
1 foot. 
Shade Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature. 
Dry. 1 Wet. 
Max. Min. 
In 
sun. 
On 
grass 
Sunday. 13 
Monday. 14 
Tnesday ... 15 
Wednesday.. 18 
Thursday.... .7 
Friday . J8 
Saturday .... 19 
Inches. 
29.9(32 
80.214 
80.196 
2 >.957 
80.298 
30.416 
.*10.377 
deg. 
35.9 
37.7 
36 3 
33.1 
369 
41.1 
39.7 
deg. 
35.1 
36.9 
34.7 
32.0 
35.6 
40 4 
37.6 
N.B. 
N. 
N.E. 
n.K, 
S.W. 
s.w. 
N.W. 
deg. 
37.0 
37.1 
37.4 
37.1 
36.9 
37 2 
38.9 
deg. 
38.9 
40.0 
37.5 
37.2 
41 2 
50 9 
47.8 
deg. 
33.0 
35.6 
35.4 
32.7 
32.9 
34 2 
37.8 
deg. 
39.1 
41.6 
37.3 
37.3 
52.7 
64.1 
76.8 
deg. 
81.2 
34.9 
3 3 
32.2 
32.4 
30.7 
29.3 
In. 
30.206 
37.2 
36.0 
37.4 
41.9 
34.5 
49.8 
32.1 
- 
REMARKS. 
lfth.—Dull and damp all day. 
14th.—Overcast throughout. 
l.v li.—Very dark from smoke cloud, gas necessary almost the whole day,hut dry and fl te- 
ICth — Itry and fine, bul smoke cloud rendering gas nece-sary almost the whole dav. 
17th.—Cloudy, with a few spots of rain early; a little sun at midday: foe In evening 
18th.—Fine, mild, and on the whole bright. 
19th.—A beautiful spring day. 
High barometer and no rain. Sky generally overcast, and consequently very small 
range of temperature. On the 16th the max. and min. differed by only 2.1°, and on three 
consecutive days was on each less than and during the whole time was on' v 7i,“. 
Mean temperature just about the average.—G. J. SYMONS. 
