390 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
( May 9,1*9. 
practical knowledge of every branch of farming. It is probably 
the all-round man who has been best able to withstand the effects 
of the prolonged agricultural depression, for if one thing failed 
him another was always at hand to afford him support and relief. 
On the other hand, the man of extremes, whose efforts were con¬ 
fined to the production of corn, beef, and mighty muck heaps, 
seemed positively to court the failure which sooner or later fell 
upon him. There are, of course, exceptional circumstances, calling 
for a special style of farming ; but for the general practitioner a 
well-balanced system, embracing in fair proportion each branch 
at all calculated to afford some margin of profit, is undoubtedly 
best. 
A proud man was one of our tenants when he told us that his 
wife’s butter was so excellent that the demand for it exceeded the 
supply. Undoubtedly a well-managed dairy is an essential part of 
il all-round ” farming, and enough cows can be kept for the purpose 
without having a very large proportion of the land in pasture. 
Undoubtedly, too, the best of all dietaries for cows, as well as for 
other animals, is a mixed one. Rye, Rye Grass, Tares, Clover ? 
Lucerne, Cabbages, Thousand-headed Kale, with Carrots and Man¬ 
golds, all afford nutritious food for cows, as well as hay, silage, and 
corn. Enough of both dry and green food should be forthcoming 
from the farm itself to support the cows, and to induce them to 
yield a full quantity of the richest milk. A moderate addition of 
purchased food may be advisable, but the bulk of the food ought 
certainly to be home-grown. The result of the feeding experi¬ 
ments last summer at Aspatria Agricultural College goes to show 
that a moderate expenditure on purchased food is very profitable. 
A cow on grass had in addition at night and morning, presumably 
when milked, 3jibs, of crushed oats for a fortnight, 8lbs. of butter 
per week being the result. The next fortnight decorticated cotton 
cake was used instead of the oats, with similar results as to quantity) 
but with some improvement in quality of butter. Next came a 
mixture of the oats and cake, leading to an increase in the weekly 
jield of butter by 2 lbs. This was followed for another fortnight 
by 3 lbs. twice daily of a mixture of equal parts of bran, crushed 
oats, the cotton cake, and Smith’s palm-nut meal, with the remark¬ 
able result of 14 lbs. of butter per week, and when this mixture 
vas discarded, and only crushed oats given, the butter yield fell 
from the 14 lbs. to 6 lbs. per week. No more satisfactory testimony 
of the high value of mixed food has ever been published, and the 
farming world is certainly under a debt of gratitude to Mr. Thomp¬ 
son, who conducted the experiments. 
In connection with the dairy comes calf-rearing at this season of 
the year, and pig-fattening later on. If beef is produced at al 
upon a farm it is more profitable from home-reared than from pur^ 
chased stock of the ordinary Irish type, with which our market" 
are crowded. There is some risk under present pi ices of calf 8 
rearing being carried to an extreme, and the result will be, afte r 
some little time, an overstocked market ard unprofitable prices 
In rearing calves a cow giving a large quantity of inferior milk 
may be turned to good account for the purpose ; her milk, of com¬ 
paratively little use in the dairy, will afford sustenance for two 
calves at the same time for about ten weeks, when they may be 
followed by another pair for a like period, and a fifth calf is often 
made to follow the second pair. The calves should be induced to 
feed as soon as possible, and we know nothing better for them than 
finely crushed Waterloo cake, a compound cake very nutritious and 
wholesome. 
Especial care should be taken with the breeding of all animal s 
cn the farm. We cannot too often insist upon this point, for a 
well bred animal only requires the same care, and as a rule does not 
require so much food as an ill-bred one. Among pigs one of our 
best investments was in a medium sized Yorkshire boar, a com¬ 
pact shapely animal, whose progeny, the result of crossing with 
carefully selected Suffolk sows, proved very superior to oi dinary 
stock, one especial point of merit being early lipeness for market 
either as “ porkers ” as “ jointers.” In cows, sheep, and horses the 
good “ all-round ” farmer is fond of a judicious cross-bred rather 
than pure pedigree stock. What he wants is sound hardy animals, 
sturdy, robust, easily brought into and kept in high condition. By 
high, we mean profitable condition, and not the production of so 
much superfluous fat, upon which no farmer ought ever to waste 
his substance, and certainly not in these hard times. We greatly 
wish the Royal and other agricultural societies would see to this 
matter by offering prizes for animals of all kinds prepared for the 
butcher in the most economical manner. This clearly would be a 
step in the right direction, which has partly been taken in the guise 
of experiments in the use of mixed food. 
(To be continued.) 
WORK ON THE HOME FARM. 
Frequent and heavy showers have for the moment brought work to 
a standstill upon heavy land farms, and where such land is at all 
deficient in drainage the Barley plant has become of a sickly pale 
yellow hue. With such exceptions we are bound to say the corn plant 
is full, strong, and healthy. The rolling of spring corn and sowing ot' 
Clover and other small seeds has been much hindered, but with a day or 
two of bright sunshine and wind the surface soon becomes dry enough 
for such work. Care should be taken in harrowing after seeds sown for 
layers with corn to use light harrows, and to rest satisfied with one turn 
only, or the corn plant may suffer. Harrowing Barley to destroy 
Charlock requires much care, and the men must be looked after closely 
to prevent harm being done to the corn. So, too, in the use of horse 
hoes among corn a careful experienced man is required for the steerage 
of the hoes, or corn and weeds are apt to be destroyed together. 
It was our intention to sow the Swedes on the home farm after winter 
Tares, but a tempting offer for part of that farm from a prospective 
tenant which the landlord was disposed to accept upset our plans, and 
we are having the sheep folds on Rye followed by the ploughs in view 
of sowing Swedes there. The drill will follow at once, and seed germi¬ 
nation will be speedy in the moist warm soil. We shall hope thus to 
ensure a full Swede crop, but it will be at the expense of a second 
growth of Rye, which we intended keeping for harvest. The ewes and 
lambs will go from the Rye -to Sainfoin, upon which we hope to wean 
the lambs by about the end of the month. Where Clover or Sainfoin is 
intended for seed the flock may now be folded lightly upon it, and there 
will then be ample time for a second growth for seed. A trial of some 
Sainfoin seed from last year’s harvest proves it to be very low in 
germinant power. Lucerne sown last year near the homestead on the 
home farm has now a strong first growth that will be very useful for the 
horses. If possible we would have a similar plot of Lucerne on every 
farm, for no green crop is more useful where it answers, and few are so 
durable provided the Lucerne is sown in drills far enough apart to admit 
of a free use of the horse hoe to keep down weeds. 
OUR LETTER BOX. 
Treatment and Food of Cows (A Young Gardener ').—Much 
of what you desire to know was published on page 308, April 11th, 1889, 
and page 327 of the following issue. You had better turn to those 
numbers and read attentively what you find in them. Your other 
questions cannot be answered this week. 
METEOROLOGICAL OB.SERYATIONS. 
CAMDEN SQUARE, LONDON. 
Lat. 51° 85' 40" N.; Long. 0° 8' 0" W. ; Altitude, 111 feet. 
DATE. 
9 A." 
IN THE DAT. 
Hygrome- 
a . 
Shade Tem- 
Radiation 
0 
ter. 
IS 
perature. 
Temperature 
& 
April and May. 
■S A 
In 
On 
C! 
Dry. 
Wet. 
So 
H 
Max. 
Min. 
sun. 
grass 
Inches. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
Id. 
Sunday.28 
29.795 
50.9 
48.8 
K. 
47 2 
57.9 
45.0 
98.4 
41 2 
Monday.19 
29.896 
49 6 
44 3 
5*, 
46 9 
59.3 
39.2 
104.4 
33 9 
Tuesday .... u> 
29.588 
50.6 
49 0 
E. 
47 3 
61.5 
41.9 
89.4 
o8.4 
Wednesday.. 1 
29 720 
50.4 
45 6 
S.E. 
47.4 
5t.3 
44 2 
78.i 
39 8 
0.021 
Thursday.... 2 
29.742 
52.0 
48 5 
E. 
47.2 
58 5 
42 7 
:-6 8 
Friday . 3 
29.994 
54.1 
49 1 
S.E. 
47 4 
61.7 
43.2 
100.3 
32 8 
Saturday .... 4 
29 965 
61.4 
55.7 
E. 
48 4 
72.8 
47.0 
113.8 
44.4 
— 
29 814 
52.7 
48.7 
47.4 
60.9 
43.6 
1 
I fc ! 
38 2 
OHO 9 
REMARKS. 
28th.—Rain at S AM., from 1QA.M. to noon,and from 5 to "P.M.; otlrrwlse fine with 
some sunshine. 
29tb.—Bright thioughout. 
Both.—Dnil and occasionally damp ti l noon ; fine with a little sun till 4 p M., then heavy 
shower and fair again ufitr. 
May 1st.—Fine and occa-ionally lr : ght; a s'lght shower in the afternoon. 
2nd.—Wet morning, frequent showers; but oc asional sunshine in a'ternoon. 
3rd.—Overcast, witli occasional gleams of sun ill morning; tine a.id frequently bright 
in ihe afternoon. 
4th.—Bright and warm. 
Avery ordinary spring week until the last day, when warm weather se - in suddea 
—G. J. SIMONS. 
